They started at each other in the doorway for what felt like an eternity.

Alice felt like she'd forgotten how to breathe. It took all the strength she had to stop herself from crying.

"Ryo-kun, Alice came to surprise us! Isn't that great?" Megumi's gentle voice broke the silence.

"Uh...that's right,"Alice played along. "I've been meaning to come see the new lab and check on how everyone's is doing."

"Oh." Ryo said finally. "Good to see you."

He started to take off his coat without taking another look at Alice. She noticed how thin he'd gotten. It was clear he'd been working a lot, and it was taking a visible toll on his body.

"I've invited Alice to join us for dinner. She must be hungry from that long flight."

"I don't think that'd be appropriate," Ryo said coldly. His expressionless eyes made her feel sick to the stomach.

"We're on a date."

There it was. He'd confirmed what she'd already pieced together but had been praying not to be the case since she saw Megumi open the door.

"I see. I-I'm sorry. I'll go," Alice barely managed to whisper. All she was thinking of was getting out of there.

Just as she reached to grab her suitcase, Megumi stopped her.

"Nonsense. You've already come all this way, so of course you're staying! Ryo-kun and I can have dinner any other time, can't we Ryo-kun? Come on, it'll be just like old times."

Right... Alice thought as Megumi dragged her back inside and seated her at the table.

She peered at Ryo in the corner of her eyes, who kept his head down and said nothing.

Ryo and Alice at their dinner in total silence as Megumi went on, trying to break the ice with stories about their Totsuki days and their new life in Canada.

"Ryo-kun and I had planned to cook a simple dinner at home tonight because there might be a storm coming, but your joining us made it all the more special!" Megumi said as she served Alice dessert.

Alice nodded and stared at the side of her smiling face. She could tell how hard she was trying to make the evening pleasant and felt for her.

Everything about this girl was so delicate and gentle, the way she imagined a perfect girlfriend and wife should be.

So this is the kind of girl he likes... She thought.

She couldn't help but feel disgusted and a little disappointed by Ryo's taste in women. For someone known for being so wild and unconventional, he sure was a hell of a lot like every other guy. Megumi probably would never yell at him, or order him around, Alice thought.

Sure they'd slept together, but Megumi was the kind of girl that guys wanted to date.

After what must've been the most awkward dinner of anyone's life, Megumi quickly excused herself by saying she had to hurry home and water her plants.

"I'm sure you two have more to catch up on," Megumi smiled awkwardly and put on her dark green snow boots. "I'll see you tomorrow Ryo-kun. And it really was nice to see you Alice."

With that, she was gone, and the two were alone.

Ryo still couldn't believe that the person he'd been driving himself mad trying to forget was now sitting in front of him.

He had mentally prepared himself for a slew of angry messages and voicemails and was shocked when they never came. Yet, just when he'd started to believe that she was never going to speak to him again, there she was. She really had a way of driving him crazy.

He knew owed her some sort of explanation.

That's what she was here for, right?

But seeing her sit there, looking so tired and somber she was barely recognizable, he didn't know how to start.

"So," it was Alice who spoke first. "How long have you two been a thing?"

"Not long," he said.

Tonight was actually their third date.

When Tadokoro asked him to have dinner one day after work, Ryo was taken by her forwardness but not entirely surprised. He wasn't as oblivious as he looked. He just prioritized his work over what anyone else thought of him. He liked working with Tadokoro and thought highly of her. She was scrupulous, unfussy, and always knew how he wanted things done without him having to spell it out like he had to with some others. Most of all, she was nothing like Alice.

They'd since had met up a few times after work. They always had a okay time but hadn't seemed to make any progress. Ryo sensed a slight sadness when Tadokoro shyly suggested dinner at his apartment. She was really trying and he felt sorry for her. So he agreed.

Alice probably thought he was a prick for moving on so quickly, and he wouldn't blame her. After all, that was what he wanted to be.

"She's too pretty for you you know."

"Hm."

Ryo knew what she was trying to do but just couldn't bring himself to play along.

"Well it's nice seeing you doing so well," Alice continued in a serious tone. "Your research is already making waves, and clearly you've been keeping busy outside of work...You've really done well for yourself, have you?"

"Look I-"

"Wow it's been a long day," Alice pretended to yawn. " It's lovely seeing you but I should get back."

"Wait."

When Ryo looked at her, there was a hint of pain in his eyes.

No matter how much Alice tried to look like everything was fine, he could tell from the first moment he laid eyes on her that they were far from fine. From the outside, Alice looked good, even great. Her new haircut had made her look young and fresh like her teenage self, and she now had the mature confidence of an independent woman. Yet, her dead eyes and slightly hollowed cheeks told a different story.

"I know you're mad at me––"

"I'm not mad," she said coldly. "You don't have to explain anything."

He looked down, silent.

"What happened between didn't mean anything. I've already forgotten about it, ok?"

Without giving him a chance to respond, Alice stood up from her seat and headed straight for the door. She'd had enough. All she wanted to do was disappear.

A few steps in, she paused.

Fuck.

Alice suddenly remembered that not only had she asked the driver to leave, but she had completely forgotten to ask him to book a hotel. She'd assumed she and Ryo would've made by now and everything would be sunshine and rainbows. She never imagined things would turn out like this.

"Um..." Alice laughed awkwardly. "The drive actually left so I'm gonna call him..."

Yeah.. I'll just get another driver over here and call a hotel in the car...

"I can drive you," Ryo said, interrupting her train of thought.

"That's alright. You're not my aide anymore."

"It's late and there's a storm coming, I'll drive you."

"I said it's fine!"

Alice realized she was shouting.

She had never felt like an utter failure. She messed up her relationship with Ryo, she made a huge mistake letting him go, and an even bigger mistake showing up in his house and seeing him with some other girl. AND she didn't have the common sense to even book a fucking hotel.

All a once, a trail of hot tears bursted from their ducts and streamed down her cheek.

Ryo's deep crimson eyes widened with concern. He reached to touch her arm but she pushed him away.

"Don't!" She said while furiously wiping away the tears on her face. "Just let me go!"

Alice grabbed her coat on and practically ran out of the apartment. She took a deep breath and took in the cold air. It felt like she'd been suffocating for the lat few hours. It was snowing, hard.

"I told you there's a snowstorm, it's too dangerous." A deep voice called from behind.

She heard Ryo's footsteps rushing behind her and quickened her own steps till she was practically running. The snow was falling so fast from all directions. She could hardly see in front of her. She must've slipped on ice somewhere, as she suddenly lost her footing and fell straight back.

Then, instead of hitting the ground, she felt a pair of strong arms grabbing her from behind and pulling her to rest against something warm and sturdy.

"Alice," Ryo whispered in a calm, icy voice. "Enough."

This might be the first time he'd ever called her by name. His magnetic voice brought Alice back to her senses. She let go, stopped resisting, and let Ryo take her back inside.

A few minutes later, he set a cup of barely tea in front of her. She cupped it to warm up her freezing hands.

"The snow storm is getting worse, you should stay here tonight."

"No I-"

"Don't make things hard on yourself. Please."

He had his head down with a unreadable expression on his face.

"Ok," she said.

Author's note: This was another emotional and pretty hard chapter to write. It ended up being longer than I anticipated because there's just so much to unpack, so I decided this chapter would be multiple parts. I'm still working at the other parts but they'll be coming out soon!