A knock at Tony's door woke him from his sleep. He reluctantly rolled out of bed and trudged to the door.

"Who the hell is that?" Jen demanded. Tony turned around.

"How should I know?" he snapped back. "I'll take care of it." Tony made it to the front door and flipped the front light on. 'This better not be some prank,' he thought. 'I've had one hell of a day.' Tony hadn't slept in two days, and he was curt and exhausted. He pulled the door opened to reveal a woman sitting on the stairs, her face in her hands.

"Hello?" he called groggily. The woman flipped around and stood quickly. Tony instantly recognized her. "Michelle?" he asked, stepping out on the porch and closing the door behind him. The last thing he needed was Jen bitching about their voices keeping her awake.

"I, umm…" she paused, trying to catch her breath. She obviously had been crying and was trying to hide it. "I called but… you didn't answer." she explained. He sighed.

"Yeah." He suddenly noticed that he was standing on the front porch in his boxers, but he really didn't care. "Michelle, what's going on? It's midnight."

"I… I don't want…" She took a deep breath. "I wish we… You know what? Never mind. I shouldn't have come here, I'm sorry." she finished quickly, turning and heading back to her car. Tony caught her by the arm and turned her around.

"Michelle, what is it?" he asked calmly, raising his eyebrows.

"I… have always wondered if I did the right thing by leaving you. I've always wondered if there was something I could have done. And now I need to know." she informed him.

"Need to know what?" he asked gently.

"I gave up on you, Tony. I gave up on us. I need to know if there was something I could have done. I need to know if I could have saved you." she cried.

"Michelle, you didn't give up on me. I gave up on me." he resolved. "This wasn't your fault. Don't worry about me. I'll be okay. I'm gonna turn it around. You don't need to be worried." he comforted.

"How can I not be worried? Tony, look around. You're living in a shitty neighbor hood, with some woman, you don't have a job …" she complained.

"Do you have a point?" he asked with annoyance at her rambling.

"I… Look, the truth is that I miss you." she admitted, bringing a hand up to wipe away a few tears.

"You don't have to do this for my sake."

"I'm not!" she cried. "I just want…"

"What?" he asked, concerned that she was going to make herself ill with all the crying she was doing.

"I want you to come home, Tony. I want you home with me. I want us to be together again. I want to come home every night to my husband cooking me dinner. I want to fall asleep next to you at night and wake up next to you in the morning. That house is so lonely Tony. The silence is deafening. All I want is for you to come back. I saw you again today. I haven't seen you since the day you were arrested. If my husband is here, I want him home with me." she explained.

Tony sighed. The one woman in his life who had ever truly loved him was begging him to take her back, and he couldn't move.

"Michelle, I can't. I can't put you through that again." he rejected.

"Tony, please…" she begged.

"No! Michelle, it isn't fair to you. I want you to be happy that's all I've ever wanted. But it would be a mistake for you to take me back. Things will never be like they were, you know that…"

"I don't need them to be like they were! I just want… I just want you." she sobbed. Tony closed his eyes, silently abusing himself for making her cry. He wrapped his arm around her and held her, letting her cry. "I want my husband back. I want our life back. That's all I want, Tony. I can't live without you." she protested. He pulled away abruptly.

"You lived without me after I got out of prison, and you lived without me after you asked me to leave. You can live without me now."