Disclaimer: see chapter 1

"Kendall, you're doing that staring thing again."

"Can't you just be quiet for one minute? I'm gathering my thoughts."

He sighed and leaned his head against his hand, watching her. In that moment, everything he had ever said to her came rushing back and she was struggling with where to start. The words weren't coherent, but she could hear his voice as plain as day, speaking to her.

"I'm not sure. It was mostly just the sound of your voice that stuck. No specific words exactly. But if you say it again, maybe I'll remember."

"I watched you sleep, listened to you breathing, and I -- I thought about our marriage. I thought about you and how you said you were burned by love, you were done with it, had your fill and didn't want any more. I -- I think you're wrong. I've seen the woman with stars in her eyes."

"Shouldn't you put that on the cliché pile with the flowers you didn't bring?"

"Uh-uh. That's right there, see? There's a light. It's your spirit. And one day you're going to open those beautiful green eyes, and you're going to crave passion and love."

"What if I already crave it?"

"You remember that day in the hospital?"

"Which time?"

She smiled. "After the fire."

"Ah yes, the flower fiasco. I remember it well. You said… you said you heard me that day."

"What did you want to ask me?"

"Well, at the hospital after the fire, you told me that you loved me."

"You heard me?"

"Well, at first I thought I did. But then somehow I was sure I didn't."

"You were right the first time."

"I'm never right the first time. Ask anybody."

"You were asleep, and still you heard me. And here we are."

"I heard you loud and clear that day, Zach, I really did. It was like… like everything in my head was jumbled up and the only thing that came through clearly to me was your voice."

She slid closer to him and he stretched his arm along the back of the couch, almost touching her. She rested her hand on his arm and, just like that, she was on fire. They hadn't touched in so long; she had forgotten what it felt like, how he had this consuming power over her and she…

"I crave it" she whispered.

"What?" he asked, skimming one finger along her shoulder.

"All day, hell, all month, I've been lost in this fog and it wasn't until today, last night, whatever, that the fog started to clear."

"What happened last night?"

"You came home. You haven't been home in days and last night, you came home. I watched you through the window and the memories… they all came rushing back to me. One thing is clear."

"And what's that?"

"It's you, Zach, you. You make things clear, right, how they should be. I was being selfish the day after Ethan… after the ball, demanding that you make things right, that you fix me, when I should have been trying to fix you. Instead, I pushed you away and made hideous mistakes. And I realized, we need to fix this together. Do you… do you think we can? Can we put the pieces back together and try again?"

TBC…