It had been a month since he received her letter and every time he went out; it was like he was searching for her all the time. Could she be in the grocery store? Could she be walking down the street? Could she be in an office building, conducting an interview? Every step he took was like a new possibility for him to see her.

When he had come home that day and told Connor of what happened, Connor couldn't believe it.

"She's pullin' yer leg," he would say. Even though he ignored it, something was bothering him. If she loved him so much, how come she didn't make the move to call him first?

He tried to live life normally. Fuckin' A, he tried to live life normally. But with the prospect of the love of his life coming back to him so close, it was hard to get out of bed in the morning without thinking of her. Connor was just calling him insane. But Connor had never been in love like this before.

It was a cold, damp February night when he went out for the first time since his breakup with her. It had snowed two weeks ago and the snow, which was now black and dirty, was beginning to melt, symbolizing that spring may be here soon. He and Connor were going out to a bar other than McGinty's, seeing that Doc wasn't feeling too well and McGinty's was closed for the night. They walked into Mary O'Connor's, a place three blocks down from McGinty's and were greeted with a sight that was close to McGinty's.

The bar was crowded and smelled of smoke and alcohol. It was loud, boisterous, and just the place Murphy needed to be. As soon as his feet hit the welcome mat, he felt that tonight would be the night. He would see her again and everything would be alright.

He and Connor took their places at the bar, each accompanied with a pint of Guinness and a cigarette pack. Murphy sipped his Guinness and for the first time in his life, wasn't calmed by the smoothness of it. He needed to see her. If he didn't see her tonight, he felt as if he should just stop searching. Mary O'Connor's, to him, held a certain kind of magic and for the first time since he was about nine, he felt that anything and everything could happen.

The night went on, he had inhaled one, two, three Guinness's and she still hadn't showed up. He was beginning to become frightened and his brother saying that "She's not comin', get yer head out of the clouds," didn't help him.

He was on his fourth Guinness and he was starting to feel a little buzz. "Christ, I hope she comes before I'm totally wasted," he thought. The last thing he needed was her to see him drunk.

As he was finishing his Guinness, the door opened. Murphy turned his head away, now beginning to realize that she was probably not coming. He turned and looked at Connor, expecting him to be engaging in a conversation with the bar maid. But no, he was looking at the door with a bewildered expression on his face.

"Christ almighty" he whispered, his cigarette dangling from his mouth. Murphy turned and looked at the door.

She was here. Her hair was a mess, her coat was buttoned the wrong way, her knee below her denim mini skirt and above her black, long boots, was cut, her face was flushed from the wind, and she was crying. He never thought that something looked so disastrous was so beautiful.

She stared at him and smiled.

"Hi," she said softly. He put his cigarette out, got off the bar stool, and walked over to her. He stood so close to her he could smell her perfume. His favorite: Burberry Brit.

He didn't say anything. He just stared at her and took her in. Half of him wanted to hate her for making him wait. But the other half wanted to take her into his arms and never let her leave. He was at war with himself and it was almost as painful as losing her.

The tears that came down her face started coming down faster and she was sobbing. She looked down at the floor and her shoulders heaved with her heavy sobs. He knew that if he didn't do something, she would cause a scene in the bar.

"Where'd you go?" he whispered softly. She looked up at him, her great, big grey eyes staring up at him.

"I've missed you so," she whispered back. "Seems like it's been forever that you've been gone," she said, before throwing herself at him. She cried into his worn out black sweater and he wrapped his arms around her. She cried and cried and he just stood there. He knew deep down inside that she had forgiven him. She had gone against her moral code, shut out everyone that mattered to her, and forgiven him.

"Kat, it's alright," he said, rubbing her back.

"No, it's not alright," she said into his sweater. She raised her head and looked up at him.

"I've been like fuckin' chicken shit. Ever since I saw you on the bus that day, I've been terrified. I thought that after what you did, I could get over it and go on living my life. But I can't. I can't go on when everything here reminds me of you. For fuck's sake Murphy, I broke down in the grocery store yesterday because I saw that they had Captain Crunch on sale and that's your favorite," she said. He smiled. She would always buy him a box of Captain Crunch when it was on sale.

"I've said 'Fuck you' to everyone who says that I should just get over you. Murphy, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I forgive you and I can't go on without you. Can you please forgive me?" she asked, her grey eyes gleaming with tears. Murphy couldn't take it anymore. Crying into his sweater, her hair a complete mess and her perfume invading his senses, he took her face into his hand, brought his lips to hers, and kissed her with everything he had to offer. His tongue coaxed her mouth to open and he tasted what he had been deprived of for a month. He thought he was going to loose it right there and then in the bar.

When he let go, he looked at her face. God, she was beautiful. There was no one else who could compare with her and there never would be.

"If anyone should be askin' for forgiveness, it should be me," he whispered to her. "I'm sorry. I should never have-" he started, but she put a finger up to his mouth.

"Please, don't remind me of it. Just-" she started, but he didn't let her finish. He pressed his mouth to hers once again and he knew that it was fine. Everything was going to be fine.

A/N: Alright, so the lines "Where'd you go/I've missed you so/ Seems like it's been forever that you've been gone," are from Fort Miner's "Where'd you go, I miss you so". There's a reoccurring pattern here with the lines from these songs, but next chapter, it won't be a song. Yeah. Um, okay.