Emily had packed up for the weekend getaway with Sean. She was waiting for him to pick her up and wondering how to bring up the fact he had used her as a human shield. She really did like Sean. She just didn't know if she wanted to be with someone who could do that. When someone knocked on her door, she knew it was Sean and went to open it.

She found Frank instead.

"Look," he said, pointing his finger at her. "I know I royally screwed up, but you're with the wrong guy."

"Excuse me?" she asked, taken aback.

"I can't in good conscience let you keep seeing a guy who is willing to sacrifice you for their own safety," he went on. Emily realized what he was saying. So he'd seen it too.

"That's not your place to say," she said.

"Do you seriously love this guy?" Frank asked. "Do you?"

"Frank!" she exclaimed. She didn't want him to read on her face that she hadn't told Sean she loved him yet. She wasn't even sure if she did, and that was before the robbery incident.

"I love you, Emily," Frank said strongly. "From day one. I'm man enough to say I was afraid to admit it before, but I'm admitting it now. I am head over heels in love with you, and I'll do anything to prove it to you."

"Frank," Emily said again.

"Do you love him?" he pressed. She stood there wordless, not knowing how to answer him without revealing her doubts.

"You need to go," she said instead. "Sean's going to be here any minute to pick me up."

"Don't go with him," Frank said instantly.

"I'm going," she replied. She gasped a little when Frank took her hands in his quickly.

"Don't," he said again. "Em, I can see it in your eyes you don't love him."

"Stop it, Frank," she said, turning her head away.

"Look at me," he ordered. She eventually did, reluctantly. She let him search her eyes with his, and she knew he could see the answer there clear as day.

"Do you still want to be with me?" he asked, repeating his question from the other day.

"I...I can't answer that right now," she replied.

"Why not?"

"I just can't!" she exploded.

"Okay," he said, releasing her hands. "All right. That's fine. I can wait."

"I don't want you to wait, Frank," Emily said a bit angrily. "I wanted you to want to be with me six months ago, and you couldn't, so why do you get to have me now?"

"I know I really don't deserve to be with you now," he started.

"You don't!" she cried. "And yet I can't stop..." She covered her mouth with her hands, and she knew he knew. She'd never said it out loud, but she had fallen in love with him and still loved him.

"Em," he said softly.

"No," she shook her head strongly. "I'm with Sean now. I can learn to love him. I am not going to let you hurt me again."

He tried to reach for her, but she swung out at him, clipping his shoulder. He blocked her other swing and easily twisted her around so her back was against him and her arms were crossed in front of her by his hands.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," Frank said to her. "I really am. I want to make up for it. I want to prove to you I'm not going to push you away again. How can I prove it to you?"

Emily didn't need him to prove anything. Being in his grip was making her walls break down. Having him there telling her he was sorry was making her weak. When she stopped trying to hurt him, he loosened his grip, and she turned to face him. It was right there on her lips. She was going to tell him she loved him.

"Emily?"

They both turned to see Sean standing there looking confused.

"Sean," Emily said.

"What's going on?" he asked, looking back and forth between Emily and Frank. At the sight of him, she felt herself swallowing down her "I love you" to Frank. Sean didn't deserve this. He was a good guy, and she did like him. He wasn't terrible.

"He just dropped off my bag from work," Emily lied. "I forgot it today. He was just leaving."

Frank had his back to Sean again, and his stare was boring into Emily, but she wasn't giving in. If he wanted her that badly, he was going to have to try again. She wasn't going to be that easily won over, if at all.

"Thanks, man," Sean said cheerily. He came into the apartment, oblivious to the fact that Emily had been seconds away from being in the arms of another man.

"No problem," Frank replied. He turned to leave.

"Wait, aren't you the guy from the robbery?" Sean asked, frowning.

"No," Frank answered without turning around. Then he was gone.

"He looks an awful lot like him," Sean reasoned. "Doesn't he, honey?"

"Very close, yes," Emily agreed. She breathed in and out, her thoughts pounding in her brain. Do not chase after him. Do not run down the hall to catch him. Do not call his name...

"You okay?" Sean asked, touching her shoulder.

"I'm fine," she answered, putting on a fake smile. "Ready to go."

"This is gonna be great!" Sean called happily as he went to get her bags. Emily locked her apartment behind her and did her best to look forward to this weekend.

...

Frank was pretty sure he'd woken up Tarconi, but he didn't care. He needed help.

"Why are you calling me at his hour?" Tarconi asked groggily.

"I need advice," Frank answered.

"On what?"

"How to get Emily back."

"I thought you had it all figured out before you left?"

"I didn't count on her having a boyfriend," Frank said.

"What?!" Tarconi spluttered, becoming more awake now. Frank heard him clattering about. "She has a boyfriend? What do you mean?"

"She has a friend, and he's a boy, and they just went away for the weekend," Frank explained.

"Oh no. That's not good. Away for the weekend you said?"

"That's right."

"That's a step from a serious relationship," Tarconi advised. "You don't go away with someone unless you're serious about them."

"Or unless you're forced to by your father to keep you safe with a man you barely know," Frank pointed out.

"Keeping optimistic. I like that," Tarconi said.

"What do I do, Tarconi?" Frank asked. "I cornered her tonight by asking her if she still wants to be with me, and it's written all over her face that she does, that she loves me, but she didn't full out say she does."

"She still went with the boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"Hmm, okay. Let me think," Tarconi mused. Frank could hear the kettle whistling now as his friend rattled a mug onto the table. "Don't follow her there because that's stalking, and women don't like that."

"Duh," Frank said. "What else you got?" Tarconi took a loud sip of his tea. Frank hoped he was thinking and drinking at the same time.

"A gesture of some kind?" Tarconi finally suggested.

Frank was thinking, and he suddenly got an idea. It was worth a try.

"Hello?" Tarconi asked when Frank didn't respond.

"You've been a big help," Frank told him. "Go back to bed."

"I can't now. I've had my tea," Tarconi complained. Frank hung up on him and went to work.

...

Emily made it through to Saturday evening before Sean noticed something was wrong with her. She had tried to be happy, but she couldn't get into a good mood despite his best efforts.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" he asked her as they sat on the deck. She swatted at a fly.

"I'm just tired," she tried.

Sean chewed on his cheek for a moment before making a "hmm" noise. Emily wondered if he knew Frank wasn't someone from work. He hadn't said anything about it yet, though.

"You know I love you, right?" Sean asked her. She faltered. They hadn't actually said the words to each other yet, but he had implied it a few times. It didn't give her the same thrill inside the way it did when Frank said it, though.

"I...I know," she nodded.

"I mean, we haven't really said it to each other out loud, but I can tell you love me too," he went on. Emily watched him root around in his pocket, and she suddenly got a bad feeling.

"Sean," she started.

"We are so good together, and we get along so well. You're my other half, and I would love to spend forever making you happy," he said, pulling out a ring box. Her heart constricted. He was asking her now? How could this be happening? And who proposed to someone without knowing 100% that the other person loved them back?

"Sean," she said again.

"Emily, will you marry me?" he asked, opening the box and showing her the ring. Emily pressed her hands against her face, staring at it and then at Sean.

Then she opened her mouth to answer.

...

It was incredibly simple, but Frank had a feeling about it. Emily was into simple. She didn't like things complicated, and she didn't like big attention on her. He knew that. He briefly wondered how mad she'd be that he broke into her apartment to do this, but he figured he'd take that risk.

He was almost done when he heard her key go into the lock and the door opened. He froze. She was a day early. This was not part of the plan. There was no time to hide, so she found him standing in the middle of her kitchen with a sheepish expression on his face and an apology on his lips.

"Frank," she said.

"I'm sorry," he said at the exact same time. She didn't say anything else as she closed the door behind her and took off her coat. He noticed her bags were with her too. This intrigued him. She moved to stand in front of him, and he waited, sensing something was coming.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Sean proposed to me," she answered carefully. He felt his heart sink, but then again, if she had said yes, why was she back so early?

"Okay," he said. "You said yes?" He had to know. Guesswork could only take you so far.

"I said no," she corrected softly. "And then I left."

"You said no," he repeated. There was elation there inside of him. He wasn't denying it.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to go to bed. It's been a long day, and I'm exhausted," she said.

"Fair enough," he agreed. "I'll go."

She didn't stop him, and he left quietly.

...

Emily didn't cry. She had thought she would have, but she didn't. The moment Sean asked her, she knew she couldn't say yes. When she explained to him why, he had been greatly hurt but claimed he understood. She'd left to come home only to find Frank in her kitchen. She was too tired to yell at him for breaking and entering. At least he'd left without an argument. She was back in her kitchen now after unpacking, and she finally noticed what was on her table. She took a step towards it and reached to lift the lid of the box.

Six raspberry danishes.

She made a noise in her throat. He remembered. Then she noticed the deck of cards beside the box, resembling their epic Crazy Eight battle they'd had. Finally, there was a piece of paper with a drawing on it of a grinning stick man holding flowers with a note saying they would never die like real ones would, so she'd have them forever, and she started to both laugh and cry at the same time from the sweetness of it all. Sean always went big with his gestures, and Emily hated when things weren't simple. This was as simple as you could get, and yet it felt so big.

She realized she needed to find him but had no idea how to. She didn't know where he was staying. She doubted he was hanging out in the halls of her apartment building. She felt slight panic. She needed to see him right now. She wasn't sure what made her turn over his drawing, but she did, and there on the back was the hotel he was staying at with his room number. She realized he had a lot of hope put into this or just knew she'd be looking for that information. Either way, she was grateful it was there.

She grabbed her coat and ran out the door. It was raining again, but she didn't go back for her umbrella. She didn't care. She couldn't get a cab, but he was staying not that far from her, so she simply ran.

...

Frank had paced a lot when he got back to his room. He got to thinking that just because Emily had said no to Sean, it didn't mean she would want to be with him. If his gesture didn't work, he'd grant her wish and leave her alone.

The sudden, rapid pounding on his door made him jump, and he practically held his breath as he went to pull it open. A breathless, soaking wet Emily was standing there looking back at him.

"What happened?" he asked, shocked.

"Forgot my umbrella," she shrugged.

"I can tell..."

"Do you mean it?" she cut him off.

"Mean what?"

"When you say you love me?"

"I mean it, Em," he answered seriously. "Every word." There was a look of relief that flashed across her face before she nodded.

"Okay," she said, still catching her breath. "Good. I tried to stop loving you, Frank. God knows I tried, but I can't. So there. Now you know. I'm not marrying Sean because I still love you."

Frank didn't even hesitate. He reached to grab a hold of the front of her shirt by her waist and pulled her into him. Her wet hands grabbed his face as he sank his lips onto hers. She pushed him backwards inside, and his door fell shut behind them. He picked her up in his arms and clutched her to him, kissing her deeper. Why he'd ever let her go was beyond him, but he got her back, and he was never losing her again.