Another few days passed, and although things were finally settling back into the normal routine at Rangeman, I still felt like a stranger in my own home. Ella said that she'd noticed Stephanie was talking more now that Bob had started coming by on a regular basis. I felt relieved and yet slightly disconcerted. She still would hardly look at me when we were together in the evenings.

I tried talking to her. I tried being quiet with her. I tried holding her. And I tried giving her space. Nothing seemed to change her response. Eventually I decided it might be a good idea to give her a place of her own on the fourth floor. Just so she wasn't forced to share space if she really didn't want to. I told her about my idea one night after dinner.

"There's an open apartment on four," I began after clearing the dishes from the table.

Stephanie sat nibbling on a piece of garlic bread.

"I thought you might be interested in moving in."

The vacant look left her eyes as she focused them on me. She didn't say anything.

"I should've considered it earlier. I know how you like having your own space."

There was a long silence before she surprised me by breaking it. "Is that where you think I should be?"

The question threw me. I wanted her with me. But I also wanted to make sure it was something she wanted too. It was probably a discussion I should have had with her prior to coming back from the hospital.

I gave a small breath. My equivalent of a sigh. "I'm not sure what I think has anything to do with this. I'm just not sure how comfortable you are here on seven."

She gave a small frown before getting up from the table and heading for the bedroom. When I came in later that night to get ready for bed, she was sound asleep, and there was a note on my pillow with two frustrating words: four's fine.

I stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours unable to fall asleep. There were moments when I was pretty sure Stephanie wasn't sleeping either, but we both just continued to lay there in silence. Thankfully exhaustion finally took over as I slipped into a restless sleep.

At some point I drifted into a dream. One of my favorites that I recognized almost immediately. Stephanie's legs were straddling my hips and her lips were brushing soft kisses along my chest. She was wearing one of my black t-shirts that strategically hid what I suddenly and desperately wanted to touch and see. I slid my hands underneath and brushed her warm skin with my knuckles as I slowly pulled the shirt up and over her head. I traced lazy lines along the length of her body as she leaned down to kiss me again.

"I've missed you," I breathed against her lips.

"I've missed you too," she said back.

I reached up to touch her face and froze when I noticed her cheek was damp from tears. My eyes suddenly opened to a very real Stephanie sitting on top of me. It hadn't been a dream after all.

She leaned down to kiss me again, but I pushed her back. "Babe?" I asked. If she continued with the kissing, I wasn't sure how long my self-control would last.

"Mmm?" she purred. She took my hands and slowly slid them down her body. I sucked in a breath.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"You don't have to…"

She frowned as more tears slid down her cheeks. "Shit," she muttered as she rolled off of me.

I tried to pull her back into my arms, but she resisted. Her body tensed, and she quickly crawled under the covers with her back to me.

"Is that something you need, babe?"

"I…don't know," she whispered.

"We can… I don't mind… I just…" Apparently I couldn't finish a sentence to save my life.

"You're making this worse," she groaned.

"I'm sorry. You know I'll do anything for you."

She turned over. "Then stop looking at me like that!"

My eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Like what?"

"Like I'm fragile. Or broken. Or whatever the hell it is you think I am. You've never looked at me like that. Ever. You've always looked at me like you're ten seconds away from tearing my clothes off. But these last several days… I just thought maybe if you were half-asleep… But then… Gosh!" She flipped back over in a disgruntled huff.

I was suddenly confused and relieved and a million other things all at once. Here I thought I was being helpful and supportive, and all she'd wanted was to slip back into life like it had been before. I remembered having similar feelings coming back from some of my away missions. It suddenly dawned on me what she needed. I felt like a fool for not recognizing it sooner. She needed to feel like things hadn't changed. Like she hadn't changed.

My fingers brushed her bare arm, and she shivered but didn't pull away. I decided to test the waters further by brushing my lips across her exposed shoulder. She slowly inched her way closer to me. My heart started racing like it had that first night we'd spent together.

"Is this look better, babe?" I asked as I gently rolled her onto her back.

She raked her fingers through my hair with her good arm. "You're moving in the right direction."

A surge of heat flashed through me, and I couldn't help but smile.