Over the next week or so, Julian found himself fairly busy and tied up in more business meetings than he would have liked, yet he still made sure that he found time to text Fiona. There was never a day that went by without at least a few messages traded back and forth between their hectic work days.

Julian wanted to ensure that Fiona knew just how serious that he was about being back in her life. They had spent many years apart — too many in his opinion — and he didn't plan to let that happen again. Not if he had any say in the matter.

Finally came a day that he didn't have some sort of work obligation dealing with opening the new club, and he could finally have the time to himself. It would be nice to be able to relax and for even just one day, not think about all that he had going on. Once he had started to make arrangements upon arriving in Chicago, it seemed that everything got kicked into overdrive and he was finally getting the opportunity to breathe again.

Upon waking up that morning, albeit a little later than normal, he got up and got dressed in some comfortable, casual clothing and grabbed his things, heading out to his truck and starting to drive over to Fiona's.

Once he'd parked the SUV relatively close to her place, he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed her number, hoping that she'd pick up. Maybe it had been poor planning for him to just come over, as she was likely already working or still asleep in preparation for work later that day. Still, he couldn't help the bit of excitement that he felt at the thought of getting to spend the day with her.

Soon, he heard her voice as she picked up the phone, and his lips almost immediately formed a smile.

"Hello?" Fiona answered, awake but not fully just yet. She was still wearing the clothes that she'd slept in and was working on her second cup of coffee, but she'd been happy to see his name pop up on her phone.

"Hey, stranger. Busy today?" Julian asked her, biting down on his lip as he waited for her response, looking toward the house as his fingers hovered over his keys, waiting for the words to signal that he could turn off his truck and head inside.

Fiona tilted her head as she rubbed her eyes, swallowing the sip of coffee that she had just taken in. "Hmm.. can't say that I am. What about you? How many important business meetings do you have to be in today?" she asked him teasingly.

Julian grinned to himself at her question, letting out a slight chuckle, "Surprisingly none. You up for some company?" His teeth moved to bite at the inside of his cheek as he listened for her reply, hoping that she didn't have some reason that they couldn't hang out.

She considered her answer for a moment, looking around the room. She was still waking up, she didn't know when the kids would be coming or going, and the house was a mess. Still, it was the first chance that the two of them had in a while to spend some time together.

"Sure, when?"

He took her response as a cue, turning off his truck and getting out, closing the door. Walking toward the front door to her house, he hummed, "How about now?"

Fiona's brows arched and she nearly choked on the sip of coffee she'd started to take. "Wait, you're here? Now?" she asked, shocked as she set her cup down and hurried to the front door.

As the door opened, she was just in time to see Julian making his way up the steps to the house. Hanging up her phone, she tilted her head at him curiously, yet there was still a smile playing at the corners of her lips.

"Yeah.. hope that's okay," Julian replied with a little shrug. He shoved his hands into his pockets, a soft smirk on his lips as he looked over at her.

Fiona pressed her lips together, eyes roaming over him. She started to open her mouth to speak again, but closed it once more almost immediately. Letting out a little sigh, then a laugh, she stepped to the side, holding the door open to invite him in.

"How do you like your coffee?" she asked, starting back toward the kitchen and allowing him to close and lock the door back behind him.

Julian followed behind her, still familiar with the layout of the house from all the times that he had spent there when they were younger. "Uhh, two cream, two sugars," he spoke, moving into the kitchen with her and leaning back against the counter.

Now that he had a proper chance, he took the opportunity to look her up and down. The clothes that she was wearing didn't leave much to the imagination. It was clear that she was wearing the same tank and boxers that she'd slept in, yet he wasn't complaining at all. She was beautiful in all of the same ways that he remembered, and even more.

After pouring and sweetening his coffee, Fiona handed over the cup to Julian, watching as he blew on the warm liquid, then took a sip. He hummed in appreciation, nodding as if to say that it was good.

"So, were you just in the neighborhood, or..?" she asked, tilting her head as she looked across the kitchen at him, retrieving her own cup of coffee and sipping from it.

Julian shook his head, "No, but this was my first full day off in a while, so I came by in the off chance that you might have some time off yourself," he shrugged. "Lucky me."

Fiona smiled and rolled her eyes playfully, shaking her head. He'd always loved when she did that. It let him know that he'd gotten a truly amused reaction out of her, and he never got tired of seeing her smile. After everything that had happened in her life, she deserved it.

"Yeah, lucky you," she teased him in return, reaching over and nudging him lightly. "Well.. what do you want to do? There's TV, limited but there. We could cook up some food, also limited but there," she laughed.

Julian let out a soft laugh at her joke, shaking his head. He pursed his lips in thought, shrugging his shoulders, "We could always go get more food if we wanted. You could come to my apartment and help me unpack," he teased, grin widening to let her know that he was only kidding.

Fiona scoffed, laughing at his teasing, "Yeah, because that's exactly what I want to do on a day off," she spoke, her nose scrunching as she shook her head. "Breakfast may not be that bad, though."

He laughed shortly and nodded, "Is it just you here, or are the others going to be around to scavenge some food?"

She grinned at that, knowing just as easily as he said it that if her siblings were home and smelled breakfast, they'd emerge from their rooms to snatch it up even if nothing else had gotten them stirring.

"It's just me for now."

Julian nodded, smiling in response, "Okay, great. We should be able to scrape something together pretty easily, then," he spoke. Taking the last few sips of his coffee, he moved toward the sink to wash out his cup, then set it aside.

Fiona's brow arched as she watched him, a soft smirk on her lips. "Hey, maybe you should stick around for a bit, I think you might need to teach the kids how to do that," she joked, gesturing to how he'd cleaned out his own cup.

He smirked, looking over his shoulder at her as he used a dish towel to dry his hands, "I'm sure you wouldn't mind me sticking around for more reasons than that," he teased, playfully tossing the towel at her once his hands were dry.

She let out a little gasp as he tossed the towel at her, catching it before it made contact with her face. Her grin only widened as she looked at him and shook her head, "I wouldn't get too ahead of yourself there," she taunted him in return.

Julian put his hands to his chest, resting them over his heart, "Ouch, and here I was thinking we had something special," he spoke, feigning hurt, though the smile lingering at the corners of his lips gave him away.

He moved toward her then, gently tucking a stray strand of her behind her ear before kissing her temple and moving to her side. "C'mon, get dressed. We can either go to the store and grab some things, or we can go to my apartment and work with what I have there? I'd have to find my waffle maker, but I should have some mix, bacon and eggs?"

Fiona hummed to herself, pushing off of the counter that she had been leaning against as she considered her options. She couldn't help the growl of her stomach as he mentioned waffles, bacon and eggs. Sure, they could get all of that and bring it back here, but why put what he already had and was willing to share to waste?

"Let's go to your apartment. I want to see what kind of place a bigshot club persona like yourself lives," she teased him, grinning wide as she walked backward toward the stairs.

Julian rolled his eyes at her teasing and reached forward as she moved back, gently tickling her side with a large smile of his own. "Not a bigshot, but I'll be happy to try and impress you in other ways."

Fiona giggled and squirmed away from his tickling, shaking her head at his response. "Be sure to try your hardest, Moreno. Maybe it'll pay off," she replied, calling back to him over her shoulder as she went upstairs to change clothes.