Chapter 3

It was one line. She read it over and over and over again. The sender, the message. Everything. She knew she was missing something. What had gone wrong? Why so soon?

There weren't details. Just that he was coming home, and truly, Annie didn't know how to feel. She thought he had been happy- he was when he left. She honestly never thought she'd see him in at least a year. She thought when their paths would cross, he and Tash would've gotten married. It wasn't like Auggie to give up so soon.

Her fingers froze as it grazed her iPhone. She wanted to respond, but didn't know what there was to say. There was so much she wanted to say, to ask, but none of them felt apt for an email conversation. So she settled for something even shorter.

When?

Her brain was going into overdrive. She wanted him to respond within a second, but her phone didn't ping that evening. And yes, she waited. She ruminated upon the circumstances that could possibly bring Auggie back. She thought until she was exhausted, until she fell asleep, only to be woken in the morning by her phone's chirping. Two messages had her bolting upright in her bed. Two messages from two different men who meant very different things in her life.

Missed you last night. I know you're off today. I'll pick you up for some lunch.

But she was quicker to acknowledge the second message: the one she had been waiting for since the night before.

Tonight. Make sure we've got us some Patron for company. Can't wait to see you again, Walker.

Annie smiled in a way she was aware she hadn't in a long while. Suddenly, she was looking forward to the end of the day. Her emotions were again a confused puddle- she was happy Auggie was coming back, but she felt guilty for Ryan, who had watched and waited for her to get herself back together since Auggie left. The issue however was that she never did. While she thrived in the workspace, everyone knew it was to distract herself from something, and Annie knew it was the emptiness that Auggie left. She acknowledged Ryan's effort to fill that void and she wanted so much for things to work out between them, but it never seemed to be enough. Ryan simply wasn't Auggie, and he would never be.

She prepared herself for her lunch out with Ryan, washed up and tried to focus on him rather than Auggie, but her mind wandered about. They drove to their favorite Italian restaurant, a quaint little place about 15 minutes from Annie's flat. Ryan had made early reservations and they ordered their usuals, made small talk and headed back since Ryan had to return to work.

"Tonight again, then, Annie?" he asked as he stroked Annie's hand. They were walking from his car to Annie's place. He stopped at the door, continuing to caress Annie's hand. He particularly touched her bare ring finger when Annie stiffened slightly.

"Ryan, I can't." The words escaped her lips as she exhaled, trying her best to pull herself together and stop the tears from streaming down her face. She failed.

"Don't cry, Annie." McQuaid brushed her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. "It's only tonight."

Annie shook her head viciously. She couldn't go on with it anymore- she couldn't keep hoping that maybe someday, she'd realize she could reciprocate his love for her. With or without Auggie in the picture, she knew she couldn't. "It's not just tonight, Ryan. I can't. I can't marry you."

Ryan's head dropped, his hand releasing Annie's. He had no words. He somehow knew it was coming. Annie had been so different since they returned. But somehow, he hoped circumstances would change, that she would love him as much as he, her.

"You deserve a woman who loves you as much as you love her," Annie echoed his sentiments. "I can't be that woman. I tried, Ryan. I just can't be that. I don't have the capacity to love the way that you do."

Then, Ryan's eyes met hers. Despite the heartbreak, he would never be able to live with himself if he affirmed her thought. "That's a lie," he told her. He took her hands again, squeezed them tightly as if to draw strength to say what he was about to. "Everyone has the capacity to love. Even you, Annie. And I hope and pray that you find that person you learn to love in a way that everything else will cease to exist." He knew she'd found him. All of them had just been so bullheaded to admit it. He, Annie and Auggie, together. He only hoped and prayed that Auggie would realize the same.

"So this is it?" Annie asked. "The way it ends?"

"I guess so. But only for another chapter of our friendship, I hope." He let go of Annie again, running the back of his fingers down her cheek for a moment. He would miss her, but he knows that she was never his to begin with.

"It won't ever be the same," she whimpered as she hugged him.

"No, it won't. But it'll be as it should be." He extracted himself from Annie's shaking form, took her hand and kissed it one last time. "Goodbye, Annie."

He left silent as the wind- leaving no mark of his presence but a sobbing Annie. She collapsed on her bed, the tears not letting up just yet. She cried out of so many emotions that she had bottled up for weeks. She cried out of guilt, but she cried too because of relief. She couldn't remember how long it continued.

He knocked so loud, the excitement seeped out of him. Auggie had been so emotionally and physically drained since that message from his brother, and this was his reprieve. He got to see Annie again. How he missed her.

"Walker!" he shouted through the door. He was practically bouncing on the balls of his foot. It was so unlike Annie to take so much time to answer the door, but just the moment that she did open the door, he knew there was something wrong.

"Auggie?" she sounded so stuffy- had she been crying? But even before he could think, she launched herself at him. Hearing her whisper his name into his ear was enough to rid him of every ounce of exhaustion he felt. He smiled the way he hadn't in a long time.

"I missed you too, Walker."

A/N: Yey the're back together! I'm on a roll here, and I really hope I don't drop the ball. Our finals for this semester is coming soon, so I hope I still find time to push myself to keep writing despite it all. Thank you thank you to everyone who has left a review and a favorited this story. It's just so much fun to hear from you guys! Don't forget to leave some love for this Chapter too!

CA isn't mine, if you didn't already know by the way. Coz if it was, they'd still be on screen. HUHU.