Tony hung up his cell phone and put it on the nightstand next to the bed. What now? Michelle wanted to talk, but he wasn't sure of what to say. He hadn't hurt her intentionally, he hoped that she knew that. Perhaps the sheer stupidity he felt over getting fooled by Nina was enough to make him less than competent where women were concerned, but he was usually able to overcome his heartache so he could talk to someone about anything having to do with his emotions.

Emotions. He hated them. Sometimes he wondered why they existed, because the only one that he ever felt was hurt. 'God's punishing me.' he thought. Suddenly he felt a desperate need for confession.

The one time he felt anything but pain was on DDDay, when Michelle had kissed him desperatly that morning. 'Maybe she thought I was using her,' Tony thought, desperatly trying to come up with an explanation, more like an excuse, for their behavior over the last 6 months. They were acting like teenagers fighting because someone showed up a half an hour late to prom. It made him sick.

Tony stood and walked to the kitchen, where he began to empty the dishwasher. Maybe he could think about what he was going to say to her. What do you say to the woman whose heart you broke, so she broke yours in return?

He soon heard a knock on the door, and creeped over to it slowly, he looked through the peek-hole, knowing perfectly well who would be on the other side, but still wanting a minute to gather up his thoughts.

She said she had card about him. Did she really, or was that just a desperate act in an attempt to try and save his feelings? Either way it was no use, because the overwhelming anxiety that he felt as he opened the door overpowered any rational thought that could possibly have been taking place in his confused and frustrated mind.

"Michelle," he greeted.

"Tony," she replied.

"Come on in," he invited.

"Thanks." She walked through the door and immediately turned around to face him. He closed the door, and she quickly began. "Look, Tony, I'm sorry about what I said earlier, I am, but, I've just hurt so much. You don't understand how long I waited, and I kept coming up with excuses." She had prepared this in advance - he could tell.

"Michelle, we both made excuses. The truth is, that I didn't want to have to face the way I felt. I didn't want to have to deal with it. It wasn't that I didn't care, I was afraid."

"Of what?" she asked, a little annoyed that he had interrupted her speech.

"The fact that I was falling in love with you. And I did, Chelle - I fell hard." His eyes widened, and Michelle stood speechless. "Michelle, I'm in love with you. No matter what happened, nothing could make that go away."

"Tony, let me finish." He nodded his head and she continued. "I... I got tired of making up reasons why you didn't call, why we didn't talk, but the truth is..." she paused. "We're both to blame."

Tony nodded his head. They WERE both to blame. "What do we do about it?"