Less than 24 hours later, Alice found herself half way across the world with nothing but a carry-on.

Her hair was messy and there were hints of dark circles clearly visible under her puffy eyes. She'd barely slept a wink on the jet-she was so nervous.

Alice stared at her sad reflection in the car window.

I really haven't thought this through, have I?

She'd somehow decided on a whim that she needed to have Ryo backat her side, but she hadn't come up with a solid plan whatsoever for what she would actually say to him when she got there. The simple idea of seeing her former aide again, given the way they'd left things, was enough to make her sick with anxiety.

If Erina was right, and he did love her, everything should work out, right? They would have some sort of a rom com type confession and run off into the sunset somewhere. That's how it worked in all those romance movies (that Ryo summarized for her after she woke up). So she should have nothing to worry about...right?

The car pulled up in front of a large gate with the Nakiri Industry logo printed at the front.

Her heart clenched.

There we go.

The driver inputted a code at the gate. It opened.

If she didn't know any better, Alice probably wouldn't thought she'd been taken to some kind of natural park. After driving past what seemed liked miles of trees, they pulled up by a large body of water with a huge glass dome building beside it.

That must be the lab.

It was getting dark and a little hard to see, but the place was undeniably breathtaking. Her parents had really outdone themselves with this one. It was everything she'd expected and more. Alice shifted in her seat. She couldn't help but think it was just about the perfect place for Ryo. He must be happy here. Maybe she wasn't doing the right thing after all. Maybe he just wanted to have the job, and it was never even about her, and everything was all in her head.

Her head was spinning. Alice closed her eyes and cursed at herself for not taking a sleeping pill last night when she clearly needed it. Usually Ryo was around for that sort of thing..

"Miss..Miss?"

Huh? She opened her eyes to see the driver looking back at her through the front mirror with confusion and concern.

"Yes?" She rubbed her eyes.

"We're here."

Alice looked out the window. They were parked in front of a small apartment building just like ones she saw in Japan. It was the first of a near row of identical ones.

"This is it?"

"This is the address they gave me, miss."

Alice pursed her lips. She knew Ryo was never much into fancy things, but he could've asked for something a little better. He was the most important person there after all.

"Yes, of course. Thank you," she told the driver, who proceeded to open the door for her. He was about to help her with her luggage when she stopped him.

"It's alright, you can go now." She wanted absolute privacy.

"But–" the driver was somewhat hesitant to leave the Nakiri Industry heiress alone in the dark by some random apartment.

"I'll be fine here."

Alice watched the driver pull away then looked down at her watch. It was nearly 8pm, which meant he should be home by now. She shivered in her white snow jacket, pressing her cheek against the faux-fur collar. Her teeth were chattering.

Well she could either stand there and freeze to death or brace herself for what she came to do.

With that thought, Alice took a deep breath, and rang the bell.

After what felt like eternity, the door opened a crack.

"Alice...?"

The face she saw next made Alice's heart stop.

Sure it'd been a while, but there was no mistaking it. Staring back at her in speckled glasses and a patterned apron was Megumi Tadokoro.

"Umm.. what are you doing here?" Megumi asked in a voice that was quiet but far less timid that what Alice remembered.

"What are you doing here?" Alice threw the question back at her old classmate, trying her best not to sound hostile. "I thought this was Ryo's apartment."

"It is...he's out...Ryo-kun didn't tell me you were coming to visit."

Alice felt her chest throb at the sound of his name coming out of another girl's mouth. She brushed back her bangs and gave the girl a cool smile as if this interaction was the most natural thing in the world.

"I can't drop by and surprise my former colleague?"

"No- I mean, yes of course! What a kind surprise, please come in." Megumi said with an awkward forced smile.

"Sorry it's messy...We were just making dinner but you're more than welcome to join us!"

Alice winced.

We?

"I didn't know you were also positioned here Megumi," Alice said in her best attempt at small talk.

Alice stepped inside and left her luggage by the door, pretending not to notice that she was holding a ladle in one hand.

"Yes, it was a really a last minute decision. After I learned that a few of my friends from Totsuki were relocating here––– Tamagi, Ken, and um Ryo-kun too...when I learned that they were here I decided it might be fun joining the team... It's a great challenge, working in a lab."

"Good for you."

Alice looked around the space.

This was Ryo's apartment alright. Not only wasn't the place "messy" like Megumi had warned, there was barely anything in it. There was a small desk at the corner piled up with papers, a chair, a full kitchen and dining table. That was it. No pictures or art on the walls, no TV or even a couch...Basically there was nothing that suggested whoever was living there had any life outside of work.

And yet–

Alice drifted her gaze toward Megumi, who'd hurried back into the kitchen to attend to whatever she had brewing on the stove that made the whole place smell like spring onions.

"Did you have a good flight?" Megumi asked politely.

Alice nodded absently.

"Ryo-kun got called back to work at the last minute, he should be back soon! He'll be so happy to see you..."

"You didn't answer my question from earlier," Alice had cut her off before she even realized it. "What are you doing here, Megumi? I feel like I'm interrupting something."

Megumi turned a bright shade of red, clearly not expecting to be called out like that.

"I'm...um-We're-"

Suddenly Alice heard a click from behind her. The front door opened.

There, in a plain black coat and scarf, was Ryo.

Author's note: It's been a crazy few months, finally got around to finishing this chapter! Thanks everyone for continuing to follow this story. I promise I'm not gonna abandon it XD