Jessica giggled happily as she and Chris lay in his room. Chris was tickling her on his bed. They had just woken up and she was happy. Today was the day Stephanie was moving out. She couldn't be more ecstatic.

Chris, on the other hand, was trying his damnedest not to think about it. He had tried to talk Stephanie out of moving, but it had been impossible. She had packed all of her things yesterday, and she was leaving in a couple of hours.

"Christopher, I can't wait until we get married, it's going to be so great."

"Uh-huh."

"And now we have Stephanie out of our hair."

"What?" Chris said, pulling away.

"Well, she was always hanging around, you know, it was kind of annoying. But now she's leaving."

"She'll still be my friend Jessi."

"Sure Christopher, can't you see she was trying to get you, I mean, it was quite obvious."

"No, she wasn't."

"Of course she was, did you actually buy her 'I'm a grieving widow' story?"

"She did grieve, she still does," Chris said, getting peeved.

"Let's not focus on that, let's focus on us," she said seductively.

Jessica pulled him down on top of her, and kissed him soundly on the mouth. She ran her fingers through his hair, and pulled him closer. Chris tried to get into it, he really did, but his mind was elsewhere. His mind was on Stephanie.

He pulled away from Jessica suddenly, and his eyes widened. Jessica looked up at him confused, but then attempted to pull Chris back down to her. He resisted and got up from the bed.

"Christopher, what's wrong?"

"I love her," he whispered, almost inaudibly.

"Excuse me?"

"I love her," he said in wonderment.

"What? I know you love me Christopher."

"No, I don't love you. I love Stephanie."

"WHAT? You don't love her, you love me."

"No, I can't stand you," he said, finally turning to her.

"What did you just say?"

"I don't like you that much Jessica, you're a huge bitch." Her jaw dropped in disbelief.

"Well, I don't have to take this," she said, "You have to make a choice Christopher, it's her or me?"

"It's her, I choose her," he said without hesitation.

"I can't believe this!" she screeched, not believing what he was saying, "You said you missed me, you said that you loved me."

"I was wrong, I was in love with the dream, not you. I love her."

"I'm so out of here," she said, grabbing her suitcase and shoving her clothes and stuff inside.

"Good riddance."

"Ugh, I cannot believe you are giving me up for-for HER!"

"Goodbye Jessica."

"Goodbye!" she screamed, grabbing her things and stomping down the stairs, and out of the house.

Chris was still shocked by his epiphany. He loved Stephanie. And he found this wasn't a new feeling. No, this had been around for a while, and he was so stupid not to realize it. He had been blinded by Jessica, by the what ifs that plagued him. Well, now those what ifs were gone, and he had found that he loved Stephanie. And he couldn't let her leave.

He ran down the hallway, but found that she wasn't in her room. She wouldn't have left without telling him would she? No, of course not. He ran downstairs, and looked into all the rooms. He ran by a window, and saw her just standing alone off in the distance.

He tried to walk calmly outside, but inside he was a nervous wreck. He walked up to Stephanie, but stopped unsure of what he should say to her. Would she even care that he loved her?

"I just wanted to look at it one more time," she said, realizing he was behind her.

"Steph-" he started, but she cut him off.

"I'm going to miss it, this place is so beautiful, and magical."

"Steph, don't go."

She turned around to look at him, "Chris, I've already decided."

"But you decided for all the wrong reasons."

"Chris, just because I'm leaving doesn't mean we can't still be best friends."

"No, you have to stay."

"Chris, I can't stay, we both know that. Just promise you'll take care of Dungy and Ophelia for me."

"Stephanie, I'm not letting you leave."

"Chris, I've already put a burden on your relationship with Jessica. I'm the proverbial third wheel in your relationship."

"No you're not, she is."

"What are you talking about?"

"She's the third wheel."

"I'm not getting you."

"I dumped her."

"Chris, you dumped her? But you love her."

"No, I realized I didn't love her at all. I loved someone I didn't know. I loved a dream, a memory, but I didn't love Jessica."

"I can't believe this."

"Stephanie, I love you."

Her eyes widened, and she took a step back. He knew that she was shocked at what he said, especially because they always asserted that they were just friends and nothing more. And now he was confessing his love.

"Chris, you don't mean that."

"Yes, I do, I mean it with all my heart. And you don't have to say anything, I just need you to know. I've loved you for so long, but I was blinded by a relationship that ended a long time ago. And I know you still love Hunter, but I needed you to know. I can't let you leave without you knowing that I love you."

"Chris, if this is just a last-ditch effort to get me to stay, I--."

Chris walked closer to her, his eyes boring into hers the whole time. Stephanie gulped as he came closer to her. She was finding it very difficult to breathe for some reason. He stopped right in front of her, and leaned his head in close to her face so they were eye to eye.

"I love you Stephanie."

"But, Chris, we're just friends," she said unconvincingly.

"Do you honestly believe that?"

"Yes," she stammered out.

"Then tell me we're just friends," he said, looking deeply into her eyes.

"We're...just...friends," she managed to get out.

"I don't believe you."

"Chris," she whispered.

"I love you Stephanie," he whispered, "Every kiss I've given you has been real. Every time I made love to you that was real. When I asked you to marry me that was real."

"Chris, I-I don't know what to say."

"Say what you're thinking Steph," he urged.

She looked up into his eyes, hers teary, it was now or never, "I love you Chris. I still love Hunter, but he's not coming back, and I love you, I love everything about you. I never thought I'd be able to love again, but I love you so much."

He leaned in and kissed her softly. She wrapped her arms around him, and they kissed urgently. It seemed like an eternity since they had last kissed, and they were making up for lost time. They pulled away breathlessly, and touched foreheads.

"My offer still stands," he whispered.

"What offer?"

"The marriage offer."

"I accept."

"Good, because if you didn't I would be forced to hold you hostage and never let you leave me. So you'll stay here with me, with Ophelia, with Dungy?"

"How could I not stay?"

Chris pulled away from her, and swept her into his arms. She giggled softly as he carried her into the house and up the stairs. They went into her bedroom, and he laid her down gently on the bed. He leaned down and kissed her.

As they kissed each other, they didn't notice that the radio was on, and playing a song that seemed suited just for them.

"Thank you for coming into my life Stephanie," Chris whispered.

"No thank you for coming into mine."