David opened his apartment door and a pretty blonde flung her arms around him. He stumbled back in surprise. "Well hey there. Couldn't stay away, huh?"

She smiled mischievously and kissed him. The feel of her lips on his was foreign but he was getting to know it better. He pulled back and looked at her, trying to muster a smile. Not that he was mad to have Annie at his door with a suitcase in hand, he just wasn't particularly happy about it either. The idea had sprung to him when she was chattering about how awkward things were going to be now with her current arrangements. Good to know she was feeling the heat from "the big blonde", at least somebody was. Suddenly the thought that he may have the power to make Maddie's blood boil even more while she tossed and turned all night by herself was too sweet to pass up.

After all, they were nothing but business partners, so why should she even care? He embarrassed her? She decided he was a low life who screwed everything and everyone without regard? That's just fine then, let her imagine how his nights were going down now.

He grabbed the suitcase from Annie's hands, "Well, I for one am honored to have such an attractive house guest. Mi casa su casa and more importantly mi bed su bed."

"And he speaks another language too, an international man of mystery." Annie giggled. She glanced around the empty room, "Although, I guess I'll have to get used to sitting on the floor? Good thing I don't have a bad back."

"Hey, I'm a gentleman! I'll let you sit on my lap. Can't guarantee that won't lead to other hazards for your back though."

"I'm sure I'll adjust. I have a very resilient body," she whispered playfully.

David grinned, "I'll order some furniture tomorrow."

"Oh, David, you really don't have to do that on my account."

"It is long overdue anyway."

"That is very thoughtful of you."

"I got to admit, I'm a little surprised you are actually here though. I thought for sure Mother Gothel would have locked you in the guest tower to keep you protected from 'big bad Dave'".

Annie's face bunched in confusion. "You didn't hear? I thought she may have called you."

Something in her tone erased the smirk on his face. "No, what? Something happen?"

"Oh, David, it was awful." Annie unzipped her suitcase and started unpacking. "Maddie took up some kind of night class and when she was walking to her car to leave tonight she witnessed a murder. The guy saw her and chased her with a knife all throughout the parking garage. She tried to fight him off and barely got away, had to trap herself in an elevator and wait for help. It was a really close call."

His stomach dropped out from under him. "She hurt?" he asked simultaneously needing to know and being terrified of the answer.

"No, you know Maddie, made it out without a scratch on her. I swear, that girl has got a lucky star or something."

She looked over at David as she hung up one of her blouses. The color that was in his face just moments ago had completely drained.

"Where is she now?"

"She's at home."

"I thought you said no one was at the house."

"No, I said she didn't want me staying there. The guy got away and the police think he is going to look for her. Maddie didn't think it was safe for me to stay."

"So, why the hell is she there, huh?!" David's hand slammed against the wall to get her attention. Was she seriously unpacking without a care in the world while telling him Maddie's life was in danger?

Annie flinched in surprise at his reaction. "She wants to help catch this guy. Calm down, David, I just told you she's fine. The police will be watching out for her."

David pushed past Annie and grabbed his shoes. "Playing sitting duck to some psycho is far from just fine. I don't care if the cops are all over her place. She shouldn't be there." He searched the room for his keys. Shit, he didn't have the car, he was going to have to call a cab.

"So what are you going to do? You going to go over there and tell her that? I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"I don't remember asking you." The sudden contempt in his voice sounded harsh even to him. Annie frowned and folded her arms. He blew out a hard breath. "I'm sorry. Look, I don't mean to take this out on you. It's just, this is the first time I'm hearing any of this. I want to make sure she's safe."

"She is, David. She's fine. And, don't you think the fact that I had to be the one to spring this news on you might tell you something right there?"

"What do you mean?" His hand was on top of the phone.

"I mean, all I've heard Maddie talk about since I got here is how relieved she is that she isn't tangled up with you anymore. It seems like she's put a lot of work into making a clean break."

Relieved? She's relieved? He knew she said that to him, but to say that to someone with no dog in the fight, someone she considered a friend at the time…is that how she actually feels, way down in her gut?

"She has been through a lot tonight. Look, obviously it's your call but I don't think having a man she considers to be toxic show up at her door unannounced is going to make her night any better. Maybe you should just wait to see her tomorrow. She said she was still planning on going into work."

"Toxic? Is that what she said I am?"

"Toxic, carcinogenic, lethal…along with a few other choice words. I definitely got the picture that she feels you are hazardous to her health. Don't you think you ought to give her some breathing room? If she wanted you there, she would've called you. I mean, you guys are just business partners now, right? So, it makes sense she didn't."

His hand slid away from the phone and he jammed it in his pocket to keep it from wandering back. "Yeah, I guess that does make sense." Liar, none of this makes sense.

"I'm sorry, David. I didn't share any of that to hurt you but I thought you should know where her head is at before you go storming over to see her." Her hand slunk over his arm, "Although, thinking about it now, it makes me wonder if I should be offended that she was pushing so hard to get me to stay with you. I mean, if you're really all that bad maybe Maddie does hate me after all." She teased while snaking her arms around his waist.

"She didn't have a problem with you staying here?"

"Not at all. She was even joking about how much sleep I won't be getting with you around. It seems there's at least one thing she remembers fondly about your relationship. Can't say I blame her there." The knowing look she threw in his direction churned his stomach. "If anything, she feels bad for Mark, but otherwise she is fine with us taking the next step."

Next step? Maddie was fine with him taking the next step with Annie? "Good then. Umm, I'm…uh, I'm going to hop in the shower."

"Want company?"

"You finish unpacking."

"So, you're not going to go see her after all?"

"You said the cops are watching her place, right?"

"Yep, they'll be keeping a close eye on her."

"Okay then. Nah, don't want to poke the bear, especially since it sounds like she's got everything under control."

"I wouldn't have let her stay there if she didn't. Let's order in tonight. I'll look through your take out menus and pick some place that may have something green…at least on top of the burger." She winked and turned her attention back to her suitcase.

"Sounds like a plan." He mindlessly nodded and made his way to the bathroom. The door clicked closed, finally allowing the thousand thoughts he had kept at bay to roar through his head at once with a vengeance. He swatted the shower nozzle.

Maddie was almost killed tonight. Someone likely still wanted her dead. And it wasn't his place to do a damn thing about it.

His hand balled into tight fist and he pounded it against his head. Anger and fear were welling up inside of him so quickly there was no hope of keeping them in check. Everything around him needed to brace for impact. His chest rose and fell quickly in rapid succession as he slapped the faucet on too, hoping to drown any noises from getting in or out. All rational thought was overshadowed by the memories that flooded his mind: Maddie's face, her voice, her skin burning under his touch—those crystal blue eyes, searing through him with anger, love, disappointment, passion, playfulness, pain—every emotion he was ever fortunate enough to witness escaping her wondrous, infuriating, magnificent mind. Someone tried to snuff all of that out of existence.

He had this raging ache to see her, to touch her, to prove to his deteriorating psyche that she was still living and breathing. She had been seconds away from being in the hands of a killer. God knows what that son of a bitch would have done to her. A violent shudder ripped through his body. Maddie was a hell of a fighter but even she wasn't invincible. The thought that someone tried to stop her heart from beating, leave her body cold and lifeless…he wanted to strangle that mother fucker with his bare hands. Plenty of crooks had tried to hurt her before, it was an occupational hazard, but somehow this was so much scarier. As long as they were together, he always felt they would find a way to beat the odds, no question. But, they weren't together tonight…or at all really. He pulled the shower curtain off the hooks and bottles of shampoo went flying.

This scum could still be hunting her like an animal, thinking of her just as some obstacle to be eliminated. Damn it, he should be there protecting her! Instead, he was pacing around a tiny room in his apartment like a caged rat, hiding from some babe he barely even knows who is ready to order them monogrammed towels. How the hell was this his life? This was insane-screw it, he had to go see her.

"David, you okay in there?"

"Yeah, just slipped on the soap. I'm fine."

"Told you that you needed company," she shouted back with a laugh.

Annie's voice brought him back to reality with a nauseating thud. He didn't want her opinion, but she was likely right that he was the last person Maddie wanted to see now. He was supposedly a hazard to her sanity on a good day much less after one of the worst nights of her life. She had painted him as a toxic harbinger of misery. He hadn't really needed Annie to tell him that, Maddie had already made it clear with her own words and actions time and time again.

His still fully clothed body slunk down the wall. He couldn't go running off to see her like they were still lovers…or even friends for that matter. They weren't. Apparently he was such a vile piece of shit that Maddie spent a fortune in therapy to annihilate any feelings she had left for him. Looks like she succeeded. There was a tiny part of him that thought when she showed up at his place the other night she may have actually been there to tell him she still loved him or maybe even that she wanted them to try again. Of course, he knew better so he put on a good show to save face for the inevitable letdown, but it hadn't stopped him from hoping this would be the time he would hear her say the things he had been longing for her to say for months. He must be the biggest chump on earth. She wanted to talk because she was "worried about Annie". Bullshit, she was there because her overinflated ego took a hit. Either way, she most definitely was not there because she wanted him back.

If he needed further validation of that Annie gave it to him tonight. Maddie was fine with them taking the next step? She joked with Annie about how good he was in bed? Was that all he ever was to her, a good lay she had to get out of her system? Yeah, nice to know, while his heart was being torn up like it was fed to the paper shredder, she was writing him off as some kind of shameful perversion.

For all the women he had prayed would view him only as a good time for the night, the one he wanted to spend forever with was disgusted at the thought of waking up to him in the morning. How's that for karma? You would think after all the times she stomped on his guts he would finally come to terms with it—he had pegged her from the day they met, she really was a cold bitch….

His conscience gnawed at him, protesting the words as soon as they entered his mind, but David shooed it away. She probably gets some type of validation from him being willing to jump through hoops for her, but the back and forth was wrecking him. For Christ's sake, he was turning into someone he barely even recognized. The married woman waiting in his bed was proof enough. Maybe Maddie was just as toxic to him as she claimed he was to her.

So why did he have this overwhelming urge to go to her tonight, scoop her up in his arms, and prove that he would lay down his life to keep her safe because this world would mean nothing to him if she wasn't in it? His mind raced through all the possible scenarios for how going to her place tonight would play out and they all ended in frustration and heartache.

His fists slammed into the cold, hard tile. He hated this. There was no other choice though, this was the reality of their relationship now. It was time he learned to accept it because holding out hope for something that was never going to happen was slowly eroding away every piece of him. He needed to let go. She already had. Hell, she made it look easy.

His eyes closed and he forced himself to slowly breathe in and out. Maddie was smart, capable, and had the police parked outside her house. She didn't need or want him around. He had exceeded his humiliation quota for her enough for one lifetime already. Let the cops do their job. She couldn't be his priority anymore. God knows, he was never hers.

Pull yourself together, Dave. No reason why this should derail the night. He would see Maddie at work tomorrow. The wetness that streaked down his cheeks would blend into the shower and he could sell the line that he had only been as concerned for her as he would have been for any coworker or acquaintance. He was reluctantly coming to terms with the fact that he needed to lose the idea of ever being anything more.

David tossed the take out containers in the trash and yawned loudly.

"David, don't tell me you're actually a fuddy-duddy in disguise. I thought we would go out for some after dinner drinks to celebrate our new living arrangements."

"Let's save that for another night."

"Okayyyy, well of course if you were thinking it'd be more fun to entertain me here I guess there could be some benefits to that too. How about I take care of my nighttime stuff, slip into something more comfortable, and meet you in bed?"

"Take your time. Wouldn't want you to skimp on the mud mask on my account."

Annie leaned in close to his face and whispered. "Promise I'll be back before you know it."

The minute he heard the bathroom door close, David made a beeline for the phone and punched in a familiar number. "Hey, Bert, I need to borrow your car for the night…No, I can't use the Beemer…What does it matter?! It's for a case, Bert, a top secret case…No, I'm not at liberty to share more details and it is critical I handle this one alone or we could jeopardize the whole thing…Thank you. I'll be there to pick it up in 20 minutes…"

David tied up his shoelaces and quickly scribble out a note.

"Did you change your mind about us going out to celebrate tonight?" Annie gestured to his shoes.

He jumped in surprise. "I thought beauty takes time. I, uh, got a call from the office. There was a break on a case, gotta go check it out."

"Now?" she pouted.

"Yeah, sorry, I was leaving you a note. I'm not sure how long it'll take. I may be a while."

"I was there when you cracked the last case. Want company on this one or is your partner going to take that job?" Her eyebrow lifted as she asked.

"No, no, this one is a little more delicate. Requires me to fly solo."

"Okay, in that case, here's a little motivation to hurry back." She stood on her tippy toes and crashed her lips onto his.

He forced himself to wait a beat before pulling away. "I'll keep that in mind." With a plastic smile in her direction, he headed out the door.

The headlights on Bert's sensible ride illuminated the slick pavement towards Maddie's neighborhood. He'd have to pick another night to try not giving a shit about her on for size, preferably one where some wack job wasn't picking out her body bag. He was just supposed to trust that the cops were looking out for her? What if something fell through and she was alone? What if she needed him and he wasn't there? He'd never be able to live with himself if this filth got his hands on her. Even if Maddie spent the rest of her life hating him, at least she would still be circulating air through her lungs.

His heartbeat tripled as he turned onto her street. He told himself he was just going to drive by to make sure everything looked secure, but he was already fighting the magnetic pull that rippled through him every time she was anywhere in his trajectory.

The visual of a car sitting in her driveway snapped his concentration back to the task at hand. Who the hell is that? He parked Bert's ride a couple houses down and put his high powered binoculars to use for a much less scandalous purpose than normal, just in time to see two guys in suits exit her front door. At first he was concerned but then Maddie came into view, shaking their hands and smiling. He focused in on a badge that was clipped to one of the guy's pockets. Don't these schmucks know undercover usually doesn't mean standing in an open air area with the potential victim. Amateurs. The shorter guy started to make his way back to the unmarked car. The more portly one was still at the door, staring at Maddie a bit too long as if he couldn't quite bring himself to walk away. Yeah, buddy, I know the feeling.

David inhaled deeply, allowing himself to take a moment to thank God that she was okay. More than okay…as gorgeous as ever standing in the doorway, radiating a regal strength as only she could. Who was he kidding? He didn't have the fortitude to keep from knocking on her door tonight. He'd wait until these bozos cleared out and then go talk to her himself. Maybe he'd stay there all night, making sure no one would harm a strand on her honey blonde head. Maybe he'd tell her how much he hated the distance between them, convince her to end this nonsense, put him out of his misery once and for all, and give them a real chance to be together.

His reverie was interrupted by a tall, commanding figure who appeared near Maddie in the doorway. He stood behind her and briefly placed his hand on her left shoulder to get her attention. Much to David's dismay, she didn't seem to mind the intrusion. Quite the contrary, she smiled up at him and nodded in agreement to whatever message he was conveying to the officer, who was furiously writing on his notepad. The cop gave a military style salute to the man who was clearly his boss before heading back to the car with his buddy. Officer Tall, Dark, and Conventionally Handsome followed Maddie back into the house and shut the door.

David sank back in his seat to avoid being spotted as the two junior officers drove away. Well, it looks as if the Head Black and White was going to be personally watching over the Blue Moon Shampoo girl tonight. How convenient that he assigned that task to himself. David had gotten the information he came for, it seemed Maddie was indeed going to be well protected. He could get back to his life completely guilt-free. She didn't need him after all. He looked off into the darkness, his eyes still drawn like a tractor beam towards her house. That deep void in his chest once again made its presence known. The persistent ache he was adept at hiding when he was surrounded by people always seemed to crush him when he was alone. Why did he still have to love her so damned much?

David shook his head and relaxed back into the seat, knowing he wasn't going to be able to drive away. At least he would have some peace of mind that he would be close by if something went wrong. He could keep an eye on the exterior for a while in case Captain America turned out to be an incompetent idiot. It was what any partner would do for another…yeah right.

Before he knew it, three hours had passed. All was quiet in front of Chateau de Hayes. David gazed out into the cool, dark air. It was a beautiful night, but the quiet that surrounded him only highlighted the loneliness that spread through him like a sickness from the inside out. Some dreams just seemed impossible to give up. The breeze whispered through the palm trees, moving them a fraction of an inch with each gentle gust. It really did feel like it could be that simple, that just the slightest shift…the right word, the right touch, the right moment…could set in motion a world where he actually spent the rest of his life making Maddie Hayes happy. That last bit of hope he wasn't able to extinguish would probably be his demise. Even so, he couldn't let go of it completely.

His mind wandered back to a night that felt like a lifetime ago, one where he was standing on the porch beside her.

It had been a pill of a day in the office. They had argued about everything under the sun…and the moon too. The below the belt jabs she was throwing at him all day were really starting to tick him off. Lamaze class didn't go much better. David and Maddie ended up on opposite corners of the ring during a knock down drag out another couple had in front of the class. The bickering continued all the way to Maddie's front door.

"All I'm saying is that Mrs. Cerullo shouldn't mind her husband spending a little bit of time at the race track. So, he bets on the fillies rocking back and forth to the finish line-better than him doing the rocking towards his own dirty derby crescendo."

A sharp pain pierced David's shin courtesy of Maddie's heel. "You are an insensitive, loathsome, disgu—-" she winced.

"Can't bring yourself to finish that statement, huh? I must finally be growing on you."

"Like a fungus," she seethed through gritted teeth. "Owww!" Maddie hobbled on one foot.

His hands held her hips firmly to steady her. "What's wrong?" the concern was evident in his voice.

She grimaced, "Nothing." David's cynical glare told her he wasn't buying it. "I'm fine. I think I just have a little charley horse." She tried to walk but her knees buckled under her and he quickly caught her in his arms. Maddie rolled her eyes in frustration, "Ok fine, a big charley horse and a monster leg cramp."

"C'mere," he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her over to the couch. She leaned into him to keep from falling over, her soft hair cascading into the crook of his neck. "I guess six months with a bun in the oven really puts a damper on the ole swift kick. Don't worry, you'll be using my shin for Rockette practice again before you know it." David frowned at the sight of her face contorting in pain. "Hey, it's okay, just relax the muscles," he soothed.

"Easy for you to say. Yours aren't tensing like a led rubber band. Oww!"

"Ok, ok, deep breaths. How about you work on getting that oxygen pumping and I'll work on getting you to unclench?" His eyebrows wiggled.

"Fine," she huffed, leaning her head back onto the armrest of the couch.

"That's it, Blondie, get comfy." David sunk into the couch next to her, took off her shoes, and pulled her legs up onto his lap. He kneaded the knot in her leg firmly, diligently working on it with great concentration until it dissolved under his touch. The tension in her face slowly faded away. "Told ya, Dave's magic fingers were gonna make it all better."

Maddie attempted to balk at his comment, but her efforts to feign annoyance were useless. His hands sliding up her silky smooth legs were beginning to stir her in other places, and the fact that she was pissed at him all day only made her obvious desire for him that much sweeter. No way he was going to squander the opportunity to have the upper hand. He was going to make her feel so fucking good… and he was going to have a hell of good time doing it too.

He bent down to place one deliberate baby kiss on her ankle, then slowly ran his lips over her calf, stopping to kiss her knee, and then continuing up her thigh. He felt the vibration that trailed through her body as his hands sprawled over the hemline of her dress, pushing it upwards. "That's it, baby, let me take care of you." Her eyes fluttered closed and he delighted in the image of her bubble gum pink tongue running over her lips. David bunched the dress up in one hand and ran the other slowly up her body. When his hand reached her face he couldn't resist pulling her in for a deep kiss before turning his focus back to her thighs. The view of her thin white panties elicited a low growl from him. He lowered his head, mercilessly trailing his lips over the fabric, kissing and nipping at her core. His hot breath caused a surge that bolted her up to a sitting position.

"Hey now, I told you to relax, baby. How am I going to take care of you like you deserve if you don't give me time?"

"Davvviiid," she pleaded.

"Trust me, Blondie. It's gonna be worth the wait." He snuck back up to her face to give her lips a another kiss. God, he loved those lips. He wanted to be everywhere on her at once, but this was about giving her the most pleasure possible so he was going to take his time even if it killed him. His fingers dragged reverently from her cheek to her neck to her chest. Every button of her dress was leisurely released by his capable hands. Soon she was lying on the couch in only her white lace bra and panties, her body wiggled under his gaze. David knew in that moment he would never forget the image. It was burned indelibly in his mind: Maddie with her head tilted back in anticipation of the pleasure to come, her blue eyes glazed over with passion and love, and her pregnant belly protruding with a life he knew in his soul they had created together. He slid off the rest of her clothes and buried his face between her legs again, using his tongue, mouth, and teeth to worship her. Trembling thighs gripped his head in place, her hips pushing her core even closer to him. That's it, baby, give me everything. She screamed out his name for what felt like an eternity, shuddering in ecstasy.

He waited for her breathing to slow to a normal rhythm before planting soft kisses on her flushed cheeks. "Hey, gorgeous. You want to stay down here for the night or head upstairs."

"Mmmm," she sighed contentedly. "It seems like all my energy was used up on other things. I don't think I could even make it up the stairs."

"That's what you've got me for." He gently lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.

When he placed her on the bed, he caught her eyes staring at the bulge still tightly straining against his pants. She slyly smiled as she rubbed her hands over it. "You know, I think I misspoke before. I actually do have energy left for one thing."

"Really, Ms. Hayes, and what could that be."

"I want you, Addison."

"You're wish is my demand."

They made love for hours until they collapsed in each other's arms, completely sated. David was just about to drift off to sleep when he heard Maddie's voice tentatively at his back, it was so small he needed to strain to hear her. "I don't mean it, you know. All the things I do, all the things I say sometimes. Truth is, you are actually pretty wonderful. More than that, I kind of can't imagine my life without you in it…don't want to imagine my life without you in it." Her fingers rhythmically stroked his back. "I don't think I've ever had someone in my life that it would hurt so much to lose."

He rolled over to meet her eyes and found them glistening in the darkness. His hands threaded gently through her hair. "The only place I want to be is right here with you. I love you, Maddie." His lips pressed a kiss to the bridge of her perfect nose. "You're not getting rid of me, Blondie. Lucky for us I've got a high threshold for pain…and unnaturally durable shins."

She playfully swatted at the grin on his face before capturing his eyes with hers. The atmosphere intensified as she cupped his face in her hands. "I love you, David Addison. I think I'm always going to love you."

"Well…then, I think that's the best thing I've ever heard." Their lips danced together slowly, languidly, deeply. David said a silent prayer that he would have her in his arms like this for the rest of his life. The two of them together, this little family they were making…it all felt so right. This was it, this was where he wanted to be forever.

Sunlight began to peak through the bottom of the sky ever so slightly. He had been there all night, alone in Bert's car, two houses away...it might as well have been an ocean. Why was it so hard for her to let him love her? They belonged together, dammit. They could be happy, but she seemed committed to never letting that happen. He felt desperate...and David hated feeling desperate. That was an emotion only Maddie had the power to evoke in him. Funny, he never seemed to stir that emotion in her unless it was to get away from him.

David let out a frustrated sigh. This was pathetic. He couldn't be creeping outside her house every night…still, he needed to know she was safe until this scumbag was caught..even better is she wasn't spending her nights with the guy who had appointed himself on official night watch, an NSM if he ever saw one. Maybe he could convince her to go visit her parents in Chicago. There…that was a very reasonable and partnerly thing to do. Much more respectable than camping out with binoculars fixed on her door. That familiar ache drummed up in his belly as he turned on the motor to drive away. He'd see Maddie at work in an hour or two…and he would act like she didn't hold his heart in her teeth. Stupid, this is so stupid, he hated this, but it was the way Maddie wanted it now.

"David, David!" Terror gripped Maddie while she bolted up in bed, barely able to catch her breath. Images raced through her mind as she frantically worked to sort through her nightmare and reality. Someone was chasing her through a dark garage, she was pushing something, David was along side her—the baby, her baby boy…she was pushing him in the stroller, trying to keep him safe. The guy she was running from, he wanted to take him, but she wasn't going to let him get his hands on her child. She and David ran together as fast as they could until they saw an elevator in the distance. The doors were closing, they were never going to make it in time. She didn't have any options. With a split second decision, she shoved the stroller as hard as she could into the awaiting doors just as they shut. In an instant, the man chasing her was gone. Tremendous relief washed over her…until, she pushed the button to open up the elevator doors. The baby was gone, the stroller was gone. It was like they never existed. Confused and terrified, she turned to David…only, he wasn't there. Every person, every car, everything in the parking garage had disappeared. She was utterly alone, she felt it in her bones, they were never coming back.

Tears streaked down Maddie's face as she processed the journey her mind tortured her with through her dream. She wasn't scared for her own life, but she was devastated by all the things already lost. A gaping emptiness hallowed out her insides. The sensation wasn't new, it had been plaguing her for months.

She turned the lamp on and collapsed her face into her hands. Another night, another horror to relive over and over again. For a moment she let herself imagine David's arms enclosed around her, she pictured her face buried in his warm chest, inhaling his scent as he soothed her. She wanted him here to comfort her so badly. It wouldn't erase the pain but his absence only seemed to multiply it.

He hadn't even called to check on her tonight. Maddie was sure Annie had relayed the incident to him. Didn't he even care that she could have been killed? Probably too preoccupied with other things. Her skin crawled with the knowledge that he was likely wrapped up in her cousin's arms across town, looking at Annie the way he used to look at her, making future plans…maybe even falling in love with her, or at least doing his damnedest to try. Wasn't that what she told him she wanted? Then why did it feel like a freight train had plowed through what little heart she had left beating? She had tried to talk to him the other night when she showed up at his apartment, see if there was any hope left for them, but he was so cold. It was too late, he had done as she asked, he had moved on.

She blew out an exasperated sigh. She could do this, she could still carry on like he wasn't the only person in the world that could possibly bring her back to life. She would go into the office tomorrow and act like she was just fine, like she didn't need him to care about her at all. They were just partners now. He didn't need to know that she was drowning without him. Stupid, this is so stupid. She hated this, but it was the way David wanted it now.

—

Thank you for reading!

Author's Note: Credit to the title goes to a great Dave Matthew's Band song by the same name. This story could be considered a prequel to my post Lunar Eclipse story, "The Nightmare Only Rang Once" (if you are looking for a happier ending ).