Back with another chapter for you all, hope you enjoy! Also, thank you guys so much for over 200 reviews on this story. That's so crazy to me, thank you to everyone who takes the time the read this and leave their thoughts.

Chapter Thirteen

Gabby watched as he disappeared into the bedroom, hearing him walking around before settling on the bed. Figuring it was better to get up instead of lounging around all morning, Gabby pushed herself up off the couch, folding the blanket up, returning it to its rightful place. She turned the tv off, fixing the pillows before heading towards the guest room. There was a slight chill in the air, the cold winter air seeping its way into their home, Matt's shirt doing little to keep her warm.

She walked in, seeing her things strewn across the bed as she'd left them. When her and Matt decided she was going to stay here, she had every intention of putting away what clothes she did have with her, but other things kept coming up, keeping her from being able to complete her task. So she'd been living from these boxes for the past few days. Truthfully, she couldn't wait until her things from Puerto Rico to arrive, so she'd at least have more of her own clothes to wear. But what she had would do for now.

Grabbing a pair of old sweatpants, she slid them over her bare legs, tying the string around the waist as the once well-fitting material was now hanging a bit loose on her body. She'd known she'd lost weight amidst all the chaos, the stress of everything affecting her in multiple ways. She wasn't stick thin, but she'd lost some of the meat on her bones, enough that it was noticeable. Truthfully, she was surprised Matt hadn't mentioned it, although she had noticed on more than one occasion him keeping an eye on her while they ate.

She wasn't really sure why he hadn't brought it up, except for thinking he probably just assumed it was from the stress of the attack. Which, to an extent, was true. But she'd be lying if she said she hadn't noticed the change in her appearance since before those issues started. The main cause had started well before then, coming from the stress of everything surrounding the two of them, Gabby having had to force herself to eat some days. In some ways she was glad Matt hadn't brought it up, even though he surely had noticed the significant weight loss. Because if he had mentioned it, she wouldn't lie to him, and the last thing she wanted was him feeling more guilt.

Blowing out a sigh, she glanced around the limited selection of things she did have. It couldn't hurt to get a few more things to hold her over until her stuff came, she'd have to add that to list of things she needed to do.

Turning off the light, she exited the guest room, heading back out into the living room. She heard Matt still on the phone with Boden and decided to leave him be. She started walking towards the kitchen, intent on making her and Matt some breakfast, but was stopped by a knock on the front door.

While she wasn't expecting him so early, she figured it was Antonio as she walked back through the apartment, heading for the door. But her stomach sank when she looked through the peephole, seeing a woman she'd never met before. But somehow she knew exactly who this woman was.

Gabby stood there for a second, debating what to do. She didn't want to ignore it, but she also wasn't sure how much longer Matt would be on the phone, and the last thing she wanted to do was make small talk with this woman. When she knocked again, Gabby blew out a shaky breath, slowly unlatching the door and pulling it open.

Naomi was clearly shocked, as she saw her standing there in the apartment. She was probably the last person Naomi expected to see behind the door, the air turning thick as an uncomfortable tension surrounded them.

"So you're back." Gabby couldn't read the tone of her voice, the blonde not giving anything away.

"I am." She spoke softly, crossing her arms across her chest as a defense mechanism.

"That explains why I can't get ahold of Matt…" She trailed off. Gabby didn't know what to say, what Naomi was expecting her to say. "So I guess he forgave you, even though you up and left him."

Gabby didn't know this woman, but she could tell she was looking for a fight. But Gabby had no intention of getting into it with her. She knew, more than anything, Naomi was probably just hurt. That she'd fallen for a guy she couldn't have, and even though Matt had made it clear they weren't anything serious, it still had to hurt. She had no idea what Naomi must've been feeling, she'd never been in the position Naomi was in and the last thing she wanted to do was make this worse. Naomi didn't do anything wrong by being with Matt. He was entitled to do whatever he wanted, Naomi was in no way at fault for that. And Gabby didn't want to cause any more issues here. She knew she needed to try and keep this as civil as possible.

"Listen, Naomi, I'm sorry you got caught in the middle of this. I know Matt never wanted to hurt you, and I'm sorry you-"

"I knew he wasn't over you," Naomi cut her off, "that he still loved you. Anytime you came up, he couldn't even talk about it, and he'd change the subject. He was never over you… and you're taking advantage of that." She spoke bitterly, Gabby's eyes widening at the accusation from this woman who didn't know her. "Even after everything you put him through, he still goes crawling back to you."

"Hey-" Matt's voice cut in, Gabby turning to see him halfway to the door. She wasn't sure what all he heard, but she could see he was irritated. Clearly, he'd heard some of the conversation. "What are you doing here, Naomi?" He asked, stopping by Gabby's side.

"I came by to see why you hadn't been answering my calls, now I know." She spoke, nodding towards Gabby. Releasing a sigh, he turned to Gabby.

"Give us a minute?" He asked, Gabby nodding understandingly. He rubbed over her back before she walked away, Matt waiting until she was in the bedroom and out of sight to continue.

"Listen, I know I should've answered your calls, but things have been hectic-"

"Because of her."

"Naomi, look… I'm sorry, but if I'm being honest here, I never should've started anything with you. I wasn't looking for anything serious, I was looking for something simple." He saw the flash of hurt that crossed her face, but she quickly gathered herself. "I used you as a distraction, and it was wrong. I'm sorry for that, I really am. But you have to understand, I never wanted anything serious here, and if I gave you the wrong impression, I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention. But I know I hurt you and I'm sorry for that." She stood silently for a second, Matt waiting to see what her next move would be.

"Are you saying this because she's back, or because it's how you actually feel?"

"It's the truth. It would still be true, whether Gabby was here or not. Nothing between us would've ever become more than it was, I'm sorry. But I never should've gotten involved with you in the first place. Gabby, she's… she's everything to me, and I made a mistake by-"

"You know she's just gonna hurt you again, right?" She cut in, fuming. "You all were married and that didn't stop her from leaving you before. What's to stop her from doing it again? Maybe try having a kid, that might get her to stay."

Matt's eyes fell closed momentarily, Naomi's cheap shot hitting him like a punch to the gut. He knew she didn't know trying to get pregnant was a big part of what tore him and Gabby apart, but regardless it was a low blow. He gave himself a second to calm down, knowing blowing up at her would only prolong her visit.

"Naomi, you have no idea of what all happened between me and Gabby, or her reasons for leaving, alright?" He tried to explain, his voice firm, but she only rolled her eyes. "You barely know me, don't act like you know her." He shot, feeling the need to defend Gabby before reeling in his emotions. "Look, I really am sorry I hurt you, I am, but don't drag Gabby into this. Be mad at me, you have every right to be upset. But don't take it out on her." He spoke sternly. "This is all on me."

"You're right, I do have every right to be mad at you." She spoke bitterly, turning to walk away. "Bye Matt, I hope for your sake, she doesn't break your heart again."

He sighed deeply as she walked away, shutting the door. He never meant to hurt somebody else in all this, but he'd never apologize for being with Gabby. All he could apologize for was getting involved with her at all, even though he knew that's not what she wanted to hear.

"You okay?" Gabby's soft voice broke him from his thoughts, Matt turning around to see her walking slowly towards him. He didn't say anything, he just walked to meet her in the living room, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly.

They stood in each other's embrace for a few quiet moments, Gabby able to feel Matt's body relax in her hold. "I love you so much." He whispered into her hair.

"I know, I love you too."

They pulled apart, Matt bringing his hand up to rest on the side of her face. "I'm sorry you got put in the middle of that. I should've called her and ended… whatever we were as soon as you and I talked about it, but I got so sidetracked with everything." He explained.

"It's fine Matt, really." She assured him, wrapping her arms around his waist, effectively pulling them closer together.

"I feel bad for all of this... I hurt her, I hurt you, I really just screwed up everything, didn't I?" He asked what she was sure to be a rhetorical question. He was trying to play it off, but she could see how upset this all made him.

"I know you feel bad, Matt. You're not a bad guy, you don't set out to hurt people. I'd be more surprised if you didn't regret everything that happened. But all we can do is move past it." She reminded him, watching a small smile appear on his face, followed by a nod.

"So," Matt started, wanting to change the subject, "what's on the agenda for today?"

"Well, there's a few things I'd like to do." She spoke, biting her bottom lip.

"Name it."

"I figured we could go and get me some more clothes. I know my stuff is coming, but, I'd like to get some more things to hold me over till then, if that's okay?"

"Of course it's okay." He spoke, pecking her lips lightly. "What else?"

"We definitely need to do some grocery shopping, I know you'd gotten quite used to the bachelor life, but I don't really want to live off beer and pizza." She teased, earning a playful glare from him.

"Not funny." He spoke, Gabby rubbing her thumb over his back.

"And then once we get back, you think you could help me put the rest of my stuff away?" She asked, knowing that would make him happy. As she suspected, a warm smile fell to his face, his features lighting up.

"That I can definitely do."

"Alright, well the first step here is I need to shower, and so do you. You kind of stink." She told him, tapping his chest while scrunching her nose.

"That can be arranged." He spoke, placing a soft kiss to her lips before dragging her to the bedroom.

"We also need to get some more bandages, and neosporin while we're at the store. I used the last of what we had wrapping your arm." Gabby reminded him as he drove through the streets of Chicago. The two were on their way to a diner to meet up with Antonio for a late breakfast. After their shower, while Gabby and Matt were getting ready Antonio had called the apartment. Gabby was in the process of bandaging his arm when Matt handed the phone to her, the two siblings talking while she covered his burn. He only caught bits and pieces of their conversation, but the next thing Matt knew, Gabby was rushing around in a hurry to finish getting ready, telling him they needed to leave in a few minutes to meet up with Antonio.

"Okay." He responded, pulling into a parking spot about a block away from the diner. Putting the truck in park, he got out, walking around to her side as she climbed out of the vehicle, Matt shutting her door for her. He made sure his truck was locked before the two started walking towards their destination. Gabby reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers as they fell in step with one another.

The two were both quiet during their walk, a comfortable silence settling between the two as they listened to the sounds of the city around them.

"Is he here yet?" Matt asked as he opened the door, letting Gabby walk in ahead of him.

"He should be, he was coming from the district." Her eyes bounced around the restaurant, finding her brother sitting in a booth against the window. "Yeah, there he is." She spoke, walking towards him, Matt following close behind.

"Hey there." Gabby said, Antonio standing up to greet her, placing a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Hey sis." He replied, Gabby sliding down into the booth, "Matt." Antonio nodded towards him, Casey giving him a slight smile before sitting down next to Gabby, Antonio sitting back down as well.

They made small talk until the waitress came to take their order, Gabby listening as Antonio told her about some of the cases he'd been working on lately, the two siblings catching up, Gabby thankful to be able to talk with her brother about everyday things, as opposed to only speaking about her attack. It brought a sense of normalcy back to her, which she greatly appreciated.

During their chat, Matt had remained mostly quiet, his eyes focused on his hands that were clasped together on the table. Gabby had noticed his behavior, noting he'd only looked up when he ordered his food, and since then he'd been quiet. She could tell he was uncomfortable, but she didn't know why.

"So is one of those drug mules how you got the busted lip?" Gabby asked, referring to a case he'd just explained to her. Antonio's eyes flashed to Matt, who had looked up from his hands, his eyes finding Antonio's. Gabby noticed the exchange, feeling Matt tense slightly beside her. Antonio looked away from Casey, releasing a soft chuckle to try and steer the conversation away from her question.

"Yeah, something like that." He responded, Gabby's eyes narrowing as her eyes moved back and forth from her brother to Matt. Casey had relaxed slightly, looking back down to the table. Clearly, she was missing something. But she never got the chance to ask as their waitress had brought them their drinks, and then Antonio effectively changed the subject.

"So, Casey, aren't you usually on shift today?" Antonio asked him. Over the amount of time they'd spent together these past weeks, Antonio had gotten a pretty good idea of Matt's work schedule.

"Uh, no-" Casey cleared his throat, looking up to Gabby with a soft smile, a look she reciprocated. "I'm taking some time off."

"He got hurt last shift." Gabby supplemented, Antonio's gaze flickering over to Casey.

"That's not why I'm not working."

"You okay, Casey?" Antonio had noticed the bandage covering his arm when he went to visit Gabby the night after she got back, but he wasn't exactly focused on anything other than his sister at that point. It never really crossed his mind to ask, figuring he got burned on a call. But Antonio didn't realize it was anything serious enough to keep him from working.

"I'm alright, just a slight burn and some bruises. That's not why I'm taking time off. Boden asked me to leave shift cause I'd been too distracted with everything." He explained, Antonio nodding. "And now, I'm taking time off to be with Gabby, while we figure things out."

"Makes sense." Antonio mused.

"I'm still not entirely convinced you getting hurt isn't part of it…" Gabby spoke, taking a sip of her coffee. Matt chuckled, glancing to her.

"Yeah, I know." He spoke lightly. "But I promise, I'm okay."

Antonio eyed them both as they interacted with one another. This was the first time he'd seen them being carefree together since before Gabby left; it reminded him of how they used to be. He was skeptical of them getting back together, but seeing them right now gave him a bit of hope that they'd be okay. He wanted his sister to be happy, that's all he wanted. And he did know how happy Matt made her, but he also knew how much pain they'd caused each other in the past. And he didn't want her going through that again.

"So you two are gonna try and figure things out?" Antonio broke them out of their bubble, Gabby answering before Matt had the chance to really process the question.

"Of course we are. We are figuring things out." Gabby spoke forcefully, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Alright, no need to bite my head off it was just a question." He defended, being met by a glare from his sister. "I'm just trying to look out for you." He spoke, eyeing Matt who had remained quiet.

"Well stop." She bit back.

Clearing his throat, Matt moved to stand up. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom, I'll be right back." He shot Gabby a small smile before walking through the diner, figuring it best to let the siblings have a private conversation. Gabby sighed, watching him walk away before her eyes narrowed in on her brother, a look of annoyance covering her face.

"What is your problem?"

"Like I said, I'm just wanting to make sure you're okay. You're jumping right back into life with him. Ignoring everything that happened won't fix anything."

"And like I told you, I'm not jumping into anything. He was my husband, Antonio. I appreciate you looking out for me, I do, but you acting like you know every aspect of our relationship isn't helping anything." She shot at him, Antonio taking a deep breath before nodding slowly. "We haven't ignored anything, in fact we spent over an hour this morning talking some things out. We both want this to work, we're both learning from our past mistakes, alright? You've got to trust me with this, Antonio."

"I do. I'm just worried. But I'm not apart of this, I don't see everything that goes on between you two. I know how badly you want this to work, and I know Matt does too… I'll try ease up a little bit."

"Did Antonio Dawson just admit to being wrong about something?" Gabby asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Easy, that's not exactly what I said."

She smiled at him, her eyes drifting past Antonio to look back towards the bathrooms, Matt nowhere in sight.

"Is that all this is about?"

Antonio furrowed his eyebrows, "I don't follow."

"You and Matt, you two are weird around each other. Is it just about him and I getting back together?" The sigh Antonio released told Gabby that wasn't it. "What happened?"

"Him and I weren't exactly on the best of terms after you left." Antonio admitted, Gabby cocking her head to the side, waiting for him to elaborate. "I was pissed at him, and he was angry at… well, everything. We both said some things we shouldn't have. Then we didn't talk for months, our last conversation before all this happened was a few days after you left for good."

"What did you say to him?" She asked him.

A look of discomfort covered his face, as he shifted in his seat. "Something about him giving up on you all, how he should've treated you better… I might've said that it was no wonder you left him."

"Antonio…" She sighed exasperatedly.

"I was mad at him, Gabby. All I knew about what happened was what you told me, and how you thought he didn't love you anymore, what else was I supposed to do? And he said some awful things as well." He defended, even though he knew he'd been too harsh towards Casey.

"What did he say to you?"

"Probably best to let him explain that one…"

"Antonio." She warned, watching her brother's resolve fade.

"He was hurt, Gabby. You'd just left him…" Antonio prefaced, Gabby preparing herself, knowing whatever Matt had said probably wasn't good. "He said he wished you two never got together, because it never meant anything to you anyway." There was more to it than that, but he knew Casey had to be the one to tell her.

He watched a defeated look cover her face, her head falling down into her hands.

"But you two are better now, right?" Even though Antonio wasn't totally on board, he didn't want this to derail the progress the couple had made. "And this was literally right after you left, and I'd already said some things that had upset him. He didn't mean it, Gabs." He tried to soften the blow, even though he knew he hadn't.

Gabby waved him off, taking a deep breath. "I know he didn't mean it, it's not that. It's just I keep getting reminded of how badly I hurt him, that my actions made him think that." She spoke quietly, Antonio frowning. "I know I screwed up, and I'm so thankful he's willing to move on from everything that happened, but I don't know how he's able to." She confided to her brother, glancing back to make sure Matt wasn't coming. "I don't know how he can look at me and not hate me for everything I put him through."

"Because he loves you, Gabby. He's always loved you. And I know he was angry and hurt, but he said himself, he messed up too. He hurt you too. He played a part in why you two fell apart. He's not blind to that." Antonio tried to comfort her the best he could, but he knew the words he was saying would only resonate coming from Matt. "You need to talk to him about this."

She nodded, her eye catching Matt as she saw him heading for the table. "I will. But you and him need to work things out too." She said in a low voice, Antonio nodding in agreement just as Matt got to them. "Hey." She greeted him with a smile, one he reciprocated, but it quickly fell when he met her eyes.

"You okay?" Concern was laced in his words. Clearly her trying to mask her feelings for the time being wasn't convincing enough. But she nodded anyway, knowing they'd be talking things out later.

"I'm good." She told him, leaning into his side, smiling when he pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

Matt and Gabby walked hand in hand back to his truck, having just parted ways with Antonio after their late breakfast. Matt wasn't sure what all had been discussed while he was hiding out in the bathroom, but the air around them was much lighter when he'd come back, and him and Antonio managed to have some pleasant conversations. It reminded him of how it used to be with the three of them, and the thought comforted him.

He figured that Gabby had given Antonio some kind of talk while he was gone, but whatever had been discussed, he was glad they were able to have a nice meal together without the tension that had been so present between him and Antonio lately.

"So, where to next?" Casey asked her as they climbed in the truck, Matt moving to put his keys in the ignition but Gabby's hand stopped him. He looked to her, his eyebrows raising slightly, seeing a serious look on her face.

"Antonio and I talked, while you in the bathroom, he told me about the last conversation you all had." Matt knew this talk was coming, his hand dropping and moving to the seat as he released a sigh.

"I know I should've told you earlier." He admitted, his hands fidgeting as he looked to her. "I never should've hit him, but I was so-"

"Hit him?! ...You hit him?" She asked with wide eyes, Matt's eyes widening as well. Clearly they were talking about two different things.

"You said you talked to him about our last conversation…" Matt trailed off, confused.

"Yeah, the one a few days after I left." She saw his body tense immediately, realizing he now knew what she was talking about. Immediate regret covered his face as he thought about the things he'd said. "Which we'll get to, but first, what are you talking about, why did you hit him?"

"I was angry." Matt started, "it happened about two weeks ago. Antonio came to the firehouse wanting to know if I'd heard from you, before he told me what all had been going on. It wasn't exactly a pleasant conversation… I tried to get him to tell me what was happening, and he wouldn't. So I went after him when he tried to leave. He kept saying it wasn't my place, that I didn't care about you anymore-" Matt took a deep breath, pausing himself momentarily. "He said he didn't know if I ever cared, and I lost it. So I hit him."

He tried to read Gabby's reaction, but he couldn't get much from her.

"I know I shouldn't have done it, but I just- I don't know, I did it before I could even process what was happening. I was just so angry at what he was saying, but it doesn't excuse what I did. And truthfully, I don't blame him for thinking that. I didn't exactly give him any reasons to think differently…" He trailed off. He could see her trying to process everything, but her silence was making him nervous.

"Gabby?"

Breathing in a deep breath, she responded. "I'm surprised you were able to land one." She spoke lightly, a soft smirk falling to Matt's lips.

"Yeah well, I think I caught him off guard." He joked back, but the air around them quickly turned serious again. "But really Gabby, I'm so sorry."

"I know you are. And I know none of this has been easy. I'm not mad, but maybe next time use your words before using your fist?" He nodded, smiling as she reached for his hand and held it in hers. But he knew they'd only finished half the conversation.

"So, you said Antonio told you about the conversation we'd had after you left…"

"Yeah, he did." She spoke uncomfortably.

"I'm- I don't know how much he told you, but you have to know none of that was true. I just… I was so hurt and upset, and said things I shouldn't have."

"I heard Antonio's side of it, I want to know yours." She spoke apprehensively.

"The conversation started civil enough, for the circumstances. It was the first time I'd heard from him since you left…"

"How are you holding up, Casey?"

"Great, fantastic. Best I've ever been." Matt spoke bitterly into the phone, nursing his umpteenth beer of the night.

"Matt-"

"Have you spoken to her?" He asked as he downed another long sip.

"I did, this morning."

"How'd she sound? Is she having the time of her life?" The words stung as they sarcastically fell from his lips, blinking back the tears in his eyes.

"Casey, man, don't do this."

"Do what? Wonder how my wife is doing since she left me?" He cried desperately.

"Yeah, well, you didn't exactly fight for her, did you?" Antonio spat, his emotions getting the better of him.

"Excuse me?"

"You let her leave like it was nothing, you didn't even ask her to stay. You gave up on you two just as much as she did."

"How could I have asked her to stay if she wanted to leave? What, you want me to force her to stay here with me?" His voice was getting angrier by the second.

"No but maybe at least make it known you weren't okay with her leaving, maybe you could've shown her that you love her…"

"Are you kidding?! What did she tell you? Because that isn't true. And how could I fight for her when she didn't want to be with me anymore?!"

"Is that really what you think? You honestly think she didn't want to be with you?"

"What else am I supposed to think?! She left me! She's thousands of miles away, she left our life together like it was nothing!" He yelled, Antonio speaking back at him with just as much force.

"Yeah, and why didn't you go with her?"

"She didn't want to be with me, why should I follow her when she didn't want us together anymore?"

"You can't be that stupid, Casey-"

"And you can't be that blinded by your sister to not realize that she gave up. Things here got hard and instead of dealing with it, she ran. She ran away from me, from her family here. How are you okay with that? She's a coward!" He yelled, throwing his half-full beer bottle against the wall, the glass shattering as the liquid stained the wall, dripping down onto the floor.

"Don't you dare. I don't know what all happened between you two, but I do know my sister. She doesn't give up without a fight. Maybe you should've been a better husband. Maybe you should've cared about her more, you ever think of that?"

"Dammit Antonio, you and Gabby never stop do you? Both of you have been a constant pain in my ass since I first met you." He drunkenly spoke into the phone, not able to stop the words before they flew from his mouth. "I swear, I wish I never even got together with her. She's done nothing but hurt me. She never cared about me, or us. I never meant anything to her anyway, all I did was waste five years of my life." He spoke angrily, his words dripping with pain. As they left his mouth he knew they weren't true, but his hurt was overriding his sense.

Antonio had gone silent on the other end, clenching his fists as Matt's harsh words hit him.

"... It's no wonder my sister left you. She probably made the best decision of her life by leaving your sorry ass in Chicago-"

Matt didn't let Antonio get another word out before ending the call, throwing his phone down onto the couch in anger.

Matt kept his eyes on her, seeing flashes of hurt, regret, and anger in her eyes.

"You have to know, Gabby, I didn't mean anything I said. I didn't. I was drunk, and hurt. Everything had just happened and I was a mess. It's not an excuse though, I'm not justifying what I said or trying to make it okay, I just want you to know why I said it." He spoke quickly, his voice full of guilt. "I'm so sorry for saying those things, I really am."

"Not everything you said was untrue…" She whispered, knowing if she spoke any louder her voice would betray her.

"Gabby, no- Nothing I said was true, it was me being a drunk idiot. No matter what happened between us, I'd never regret the time we were together. You have to know that."

"I do know that." She agreed, her voice shaky.

"I don't regret us being together. You're the best thing I have." His voice was low, feeling tears welling within his eyes as he thought over the words he'd said to Antonio. He'd never not regret them. "That's why it hurt so much, why I said those things. Because I wasn't coping with what happened and I lashed out."

"I don't blame you for what you said." She said, Matt's eyebrows furrowing. "You would've never said any of that if I didn't leave."

"But it doesn't make it okay." He interjected.

"No, it doesn't. But the truth of all this is, though you only said those things because you were hurting, they would've never crossed your mind had I not left. I just-" she ran her hand over her head, her emotions getting the best of her. "God, Matt, how can you not hate me? How can you look at me and see anything other than the person who abandoned you? I hate myself for everything I put you through, there's no way you don't." She cried, tears escaping down her cheeks before she could stop them.

Matt hated what his words had done to her, how he'd managed to hurt her, again. Pulling his hand from hers, he turned in his seat, angling himself towards her, before grabbing her face with both of his hands, forcing her to look at him.

"I need you to really listen to me when I say this." He spoke softly, feeling a stabbing pain in his chest as he watched her tears fall. Matt waited for a sign of acknowledgement before continuing, which he soon got in the form of a slight nod. "I have never hated you, I never will hate you. I love you, more than anything, I love you so much." He spoke confidently, tears escaping his own eyes. "I never want you worrying about that, please don't ever, ever think I could hate you." His voice fell to a whisper as the words left his mouth, his thumb rubbing over her cheek softly.

"We're both at fault here, but you don't hate me, do you?" He asked, hoping to help her make sense of this.

"Of course not." She spoke without hesitation.

"Exactly." He spoke, thankfully seeing realization starting to set in her eyes. "You have to start letting go of this guilt, Gabby. It's consuming you, and we'll never be able to move past this if you don't." He explained, Gabby's hand coming up to grasp his wrist. "There's nothing we can do anymore except learn from the mistakes we've made. We're being given a second chance at our life together, and I'm so thankful for that. You have no idea how lucky I feel to be here with you right now." He spoke, Gabby leaning her head into his hand slightly.

"We don't have to forget the things that've happened, but we have to move on from them." He kept his eyes locked with hers as he spoke. "I know it's hard, and they'll be times we need reassurance. They'll be times we need to talk about it, this isn't something that can be fixed overnight, but you've got to let the guilt go."

She nodded, moving forward and wrapping her arms around him, holding herself as close to him as she could. It was uncomfortable, the awkward position making it hard, but neither of them cared at the moment.

"I'll work on it, I will. But you need to, too." She whispered against him, both of them feeling the sense of familiarity as they'd said similar words earlier this morning. "You have to stop feeling guilty about not being there."

"I know... I'm working on it, too." He spoke with a small smile as the two pulled apart. His hand moved to her forehead, moving a strand of hair from her face as they sat in the confined space.

"I love you." She said, leaning forward and kissing him gently, Matt putting his hand behind her neck to pull her closer.

"I love you too." He whispered against her lips, feeling her smile. "Never doubt that."

Gabby stood in the kitchen, working on putting away the groceries they'd gotten this afternoon, while Matt had gone back out to the truck to get the last of their bags. After their emotionally draining early morning, and their not-much-easier talk after breakfast, the rest of their day had proven to be quite relaxing. They'd spent a fair amount of time getting Gabby some more clothes, Matt ending up getting her way more than she planned. She tried to tell him she didn't need it, reminding him he had her stuff coming, but he didn't care. He wanted her to have whatever she needed, and whatever she wanted on top of that. He wanted this to start feeling like home again, and he figured having her side of the closet filled with clothes might help.

They'd gone from there to the grocery store, Gabby realizing not much had changed between them as they stood in the aisles, debating over what they should and shouldn't get. She found herself grinning at one point as she heard Matt rattle on about why they didn't need three different types of cookies in the house, him going on about how they never finished them anyway and they ended up just getting thrown away. The conversation had given her a sense of comfort and normalcy, showing her that things could go back to how they'd been before.

As always, Matt ended up giving in, kissing her temple as he grabbed the three boxes from her and tossed them into the cart, the two moving on to the next thing. The entire trip had filled her with a sense of warmth, the two of them falling back into their old routines as if no time had passed, as if nothing had happened between them.

She was pulled from her thoughts as she heard the door open, turning her head to see Matt walk in with bags hanging off his arms, him expertly kicking the door closed. "Jeez, you got more clothes than I thought." He teased, setting all the bags down on the kitchen island before wiping the nonexistent sweat from his brow. She rolled her eyes at him, turning back to the open fridge to put the carton of milk away.

"I don't wanna hear it, I tried to tell you it was too much." She muttered, hearing him chuckle, seeing him approaching her in her peripheral vision. He came to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her stomach and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"You should have all the clothes you want… who knows, maybe you'll stop wearing mine so much." He spoke lightly, kissing her shoulder softly.

"Don't get too excited. If you remember, I didn't get many pajamas." She responded, slipping from his grasp to keep putting the groceries away.

"Who says you need them?" He asked smugly, smirking when Gabby glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow. Ignoring his less than subtle comment, she continued putting their food away, Matt watching her move around the kitchen for a few moments before setting out on a task of his own.

Leaving the kitchen, he wordlessly walking through the living room, Gabby watching him as he disappeared around the corner at the other end of the apartment. She could hear him shuffling around, as she placed the last of the cold items in the fridge. Turning around, she saw him walking back towards her, one of her boxes held within his grasp. A smile fell onto her face as he stopped in the doorway to their bedroom.

"I think it's time to get you moved back in." He spoke, Gabby feeling happiness wash over her, nodding excitedly at him.

He gave her a wide smile of his own, disappearing into the bedroom, Gabby hearing him laughing as he spoke, "we need to put your clothes away so you can keep wearing mine."

Rolling her eyes, Gabby headed towards the guest room to grab a box, wanting to get officially moved back in as quickly as she possibly could.

This chapter ended up being much more intense than I originally planned, wow. When I first mapped this one out, it was just gonna be kind of a short filler chapter, to get us into the next part of the story but then I kept thinking of things I wanted to address and, well, went a little crazy.

I know some of you were curious as to what Matt and Antonio's last conversation was, that I alluded to in an earlier chapter, before all the stuff with Gabby happened, so I wanted to include it. I know some of the things Matt said were very harsh, but I tried to put myself in his mindset, where he'd be at emotionally after Gabby just left, and that's where I ended up.

I hope you all liked this one, can't wait to hear what you think!