A/N: The question is whether I'll update twice this week to make up for not updating for the whole month... While I contemplate that, enjoy this chapter! :)

Macey woke the next morning to the sound of knocking at her bedroom door.

"Gimme a minute, I'm barely awake." She called out from her bed, her eyes still shut.

"Can I come in? I have something for you."

"I mean, yeah I'm just…" He walked in before she could finish her sentence.

For someone who had spent the previous night drinking just as much as Macey, Preston looked a lot better. This was the first time seeing him again, in daylight at least. It also helped that she could see straight now.

"Morning." She said, rubbing her eyes and opening them properly. He was standing there, at the end of her bed. Alongside two cups of coffee, he was holding a brown bag which obviously contained some kind of breakfast food because she could smell it. "What have you brought me?" She asked, smiling.

"Please tell me you still like blueberry muffins?"

"You remembered my Saturday morning hangover cure?" She almost giggled but she caught herself. This wasn't the time for her to lose her cool. The muffins smelled amazing despite the fact that her stomach was doing backflips. She wasn't entirely sure whether that was anxiety or alcohol. It was probably both.

"Yeah, but only on the first and third Saturdays of the month, right?" He sat down at the table in the corner of the room, placing the coffee and muffins down as he sat.

"Well of course." She grabbed her cardigan off of the seat opposite him, wrapping it around herself as she sat down. "I wouldn't want to ruin my figure, now, would I?"

He looked her up and down before responding. "Oh please, I doubt you could if you tried." Her stomach twinged again. That compliment was loaded, and she knew it.

"Don't look at me like that." She spoke softly and it came out as more of a request than a demand. She knew she shouldn't play along with his flirting but it was just too easy.

"I was admiring your brilliant pyjamas" He laughed a little, gesturing to her current outfit. It consisted of a pair of blue pyjama shorts, her blouse from the day before (of which the top 3 buttons were undone) and a cardigan that wasn't particularly good at hiding it.

"God, I barely managed to get my hair up last night let alone get completely changed. I was so out of it." She felt herself blush a little and knew this was going too far.

"I fell asleep pretty fast too, to be fair."

"Hey, you changed." She noticed that he wasn't wearing the same clothes as the previous night. "Did you go home?"

"Yeah, I went earlier this morning before I picked up coffee." He said, biting into his muffin. "I don't live far." A shrug followed.

"Wait, where's your apartment?"

"East 34th" He was almost grinning as he said it.

"Wait a minute." She said, firmly placing her coffee down on the table. "You live like 5 blocks away and you stayed here last night?"

"I mean, your offer was very convincing."

"Is the hotel couch comfier than your actual bed? Because you have money, so I doubt it." She shook her head in disbelief as she ate her muffin.

"Like I said, convincing offer." He shrugged again.

Macey rolled her eyes. She wanted to read into the fact that he'd chosen to stay here but she decided against it. It was best to assume that he'd only stayed because he was too drunk to bother going home. Neither of them spoke for a minute as they finished their food and sipped on their coffee.

"So, I thought we were going to go out for coffee?"

"I figured it was quieter to talk here." Preston reasoned, finishing the last of his drink.

"My bedroom isn't exactly neutral ground though, is it?"

"We can still go out if you want, I don't mind."

"I can't believe you're only on east 34th." She rolled her eyes, changing the subject. "We were bound to bump into each other but I didn't think it'd happen twice."

"Twice?"

"Oh my god." Macey stopped. "You didn't recognise me the other day, did you?"

"Wait, where?" Preston sat up straight in his chair.

"The park opposite the UN."

"We bumped into each other?"

"The staircase. Tuesday this week, you bumped into me and…"
"I run into a lot of people, it's New York City." He said it so nonchalantly that anyone would've believed he'd lived there his whole life. "I'm sorry I didn't…"

"You're sorry for not recognising me? It's not a big deal Preston" She laughed it off.

"You look a little different from when I last saw you, you know?"

"Bad different?"

"Good different" He smiled. "Your hair is longer"

"I figured a change would do me good"

"You look…" He paused. "Stronger. You look stronger."

"I could always take you in a fight, Winters." She retorted knowing that his words were a compliment.

"I do not dispute that." He grinned, looking her up and down again. It made her shiver a little but she concealed it.

"You gotta stop it." She said it playfully but she was serious.

"Stop what?" His ability to act innocent never ceased to astound her, especially when he knew that she knew better.

"I mean it, Preston. You wanna talk, we can talk. But you can't look at me like that."

Her words made him blush a little. "Right. Sorry." He smiled and frantically thought of how to change the subject.

"So, the UN?"

"It's nothing special. Kinda technical, a lot of jargon. I might be switching careers soon though so we'll see how that goes."
"What's the new plan?"

"Someone I know wants to run for state senate. He needs a campaign manager and…"

"Political campaign managing? My god, you must be entirely mad."

"It's my best route in."

"So politics is the plan?"

"For now."

"Are we talking state government or…"

"I mean, the White House is everyone's main goal in politics, isn't it? Everyone wants to be the big guy." He joked.

"I never thought you'd actually get into it yourself, you know. I'm quite impressed."

"Yeah, I can't say I knew where I was going but I was offered the job at the UN and took it for the hell of it. And this campaign managing job seems too good to turn down too."

"I think it'll be good for you."
"What about you?" He asked, throwing his coffee cup in the trash.

"I was writing for a magazine in Seattle and I got a call from someone at T."

"You didn't even interview?"

"I had no idea there was even an opening." She laughed.

"That's amazing, Mace!" His face lit up, a look of pride washing over him. It didn't go unnoticed.

"I don't know if it's permanent though." She admitted. "I like change, so maybe I'll switch it up in a year or two. I quite like moving around."

"Seattle was good for you then?" He questioned.

"I mean, being there was lonely. I worked a lot, probably too much. But coming back to New York was good for me. I needed to be away but being back feels right."

The rest of the morning flew by. Even though they were just making small talk, time ran away from them. Neither of them realised the time until Macey unlocked her phone to show Preston pictures of Seattle.

"How is it the middle of the day already?" She said, getting up from the chair that she'd been sat in since she'd woken up.

"You got plans for today?"

"Not until tonight." She said, grabbing a thin burgundy blouse and black jeans from the closet.

"Hot date?" He asked. It was obvious that he'd made himself uncomfortable with his question.

"Something like that." She smiled coyly, deciding it was more fun to leave him guessing.

"Your afternoon free though?"

"Erm, yeah. I wanna be back here…"

"Two hours before you go out so you have time to get ready, right?"

"I get it, you know me very well." She smiled. "But yes, I wanna be back here at 5. Can you leave so I can get changed?"

"You mean to tell me you're not going to go out in that? Damn." He laughed, standing up and heading out of the room.

"Oh shut up." She smiled as he pulled the door shut behind him.

It didn't take her long to get ready. She brushed through her hair and threw it back up into a high ponytail. She quickly applied a little bit of eyeliner and mascara but decided against wasting her time on anything else. The last thing she wanted was to look like she was making a big effort for Preston's sake.

"That was quick." Preston exclaimed as Macey emerged from the bedroom. Despite her attempt at keeping it casual, she'd still managed to look like she was ready for a photo shoot at any second. This was particularly clear to Preston, who was trying his hardest to not sit there on the couch and stare at her. She'd thrown on a black vest and her comfiest pair of jeans in an attempt to draw as little attention to herself as possible.

"Keeping it casual." She said, grabbing a white cardigan and wrapping it around herself.

Preston nodded but his eyes told her that he was deep in a daydream. She coughed, snapping him out of it.

"So, what's the plan?" She asked, sitting opposite him.

"Well I don't exactly have one. We could head to Central Park and see where the day takes us?"

"Sure." She smiled again. They'd spent a lot of time wandering around Central Park together over the years and even though they both knew the place like the back of their hands the scenery never seemed to bore them.

When they stepped outside the sun felt warm on Macey's face. A hint of summer lingered in the air but it wouldn't be around for long. The City was a little less crowded today, with most of the locals away for Labor Day weekend, but the tourists trying to make the most of the dwindling summer made up for it. Central Park was fairly busy, but no more than usual. They walked together but with a sufficient amount of distance between them, Macey made sure of it. They'd been walking around the park for just over an hour when they sat down at a bench by the lake.

"We should do this again sometime, it's nice." Preston said, smiling.

"Definitely." She smiled. "I thought it would be more awkward than this, if I'm honest."

"You and me both." A slight laughed escaped his mouth.

"Maybe it'll be easier to be friends now we've grown up a bit."

"Probably shouldn't make the sleepovers a regular thing though, right?"

"Oh come on, you crashed on my couch it was hardly a sleepover." She laughed. "But I get your point. We should probably avoid doing that again."

"So that's rule number one? No sleepovers."
"We're making rules now?" She was amused, but it didn't sound like a bad idea.

"Why not? If we're gonna try being friends then we should definitely set some kind of boundaries."
"That's not a bad idea, you know." She shrugged, maybe he was onto something. "So rule two?"

"No suggestive comments. Light flirting can be overlooked but anything more than that…"

"Is strictly prohibited." She said in a mockingly authoritative voice. "Good rule though."

"Rule three? Any ideas?"

"No phone calls after 1am unless it's an absolute emergency."

"I think that's good enough for now. Those are three pretty good rules."

Macey stayed silent and smiled at him. For a second, she wondered whether this was as hard for him as it was for her. That whole spiel about it being easier was just a front and she was afraid he could see straight through it. This wasn't easy at all. She just wanted to kiss him and to hold his hand when they walked down the street together. She wanted to wake up next to him every morning. The worst part was she knew that she could probably have all of that if she told him how she was feeling, but it wasn't fair of her to mess with his head when she still didn't know if she was ready for this to be a permanent thing. It was difficult for her to understand whether she longed for him because she wanted a life with him or because she had been so lonely. If they were to try and be together again, she knew that it would only take a year or so for him to pop the question. That scared her, which told her she wasn't ready. And if she wasn't ready, it wasn't fair to lead him on.

So she sat there on that bench with him that afternoon and tried her hardest to bury her feelings for the sake of their newfound friendship. When they started walking around the park again, she tried not to imagine the feeling of his hand in hers. Then she tried to ignore the way he was looking at her when they raced to the nearest tree and she won. And her heart sank a little when an old woman stopped them to tell them they looked like such a happy couple.

The afternoon seemed to disappear right before their eyes and before they knew it, they were back outside the Langham.

"Well, I would say you didn't have to walk me home again but you're literally 5 blocks away." She laughed, still unable to believe that they were so close to each other now.

"I know where you are if I need you now." He joked, but it almost gave her butterflies.

"I should go, I've gotta get ready and stuff."
"Oh yeah, your hot date."
"Yep." She said, nodding. She could see him squirm slightly and she was kind of enjoying it.

"Well, enjoy that." He sounded a little bitter and she felt mean for not telling him that it was only Abby she was meeting.

"Will do." She smiled as things began to get awkward.

He stepped forward and embraced her tightly. Immediately, she felt at home. He smelled exactly the same and she'd missed it. His arms felt strong around her, not like when they were younger. She felt protected and safe and comforted. And she let the hug go on for just a little too long.

They said their goodbyes and Macey headed into the lobby of the hotel. She stopped as she got to the doorway and turned around. And although she knew that she'd see him again soon enough, it felt like she was watching him walk out of her life all over again.