A/N: I know. I'm back. I know. I'm awful.

Chapter 9
Broken (Part 3): Just One Kiss

Chrom had sent all the files to Frederick soon after the phone call. From the file names, Frederick knew that Chrom wanted Robin on the integrated team he was rambling about. It would give Robin an opportunity to showcase her skills and it was probably good for her career.

He never got around to opening the files on his phone because Robin plucked it out of his hands and nagged him about working in the morning. Instead, Robin bossed him around, sitting on the countertop, kicking her feet, and watching him make waffles.

When they sat down to eat, Frederick was about to take a bite of his waffle, but his fork stopped, never quite reaching his mouth. He lowered it back down onto the plate.

"Love, I can't eat if you keep doing that," said Frederick.

"What am I doing?" Robin smiled like she hadn't the faintest clue to what he was referring to.

The corners of his lips twitched and he shifted in his seat as a foot travelled further up his thigh. Across the table, above the action, Robin dipped her finger into the whip cream on her plate of waffles sprinkled with fruit and slipped it into her mouth. She caught his eyes and kept his attention before she slowly pulled out the finger from in between her lips.

He attempted to shoot her a look of disapproval, but it was never easy with Robin. She never made anything easy. And he couldn't take his eyes off of her. The late morn's sun illuminated her golden skin. Her touseled hair was slipping out of its messy bun. The white tee she wore did a poor job of covering her, her collarbones begging for his attention. His eyes followed the curves of her breasts and lingered at her dark, hard nipples beneath the thin fabric.

"This is quite inappropriate for the table," said Frederick. He reached underneath the table and grabbed a hold of her ankle, guiding her foot off of his thigh before it could go further.

Robin picked up her fork and knife, amusement twinkling in her eyes. She cut herself a large piece of her waffle and piled whip cream and fruit onto it. "You weren't complaining about how inappropriate I was last time we fucked on the table." His dearest took a bite of her breakfast. "You're not really not biting today." Robin slouched in her seat. "Was the phone call that bad?"

"No," said Frederick. "Just business."

"Mmhmm."

"Robin, if you don't mind me asking,"

"Ask away."

"How'd you two start dating?"

She chuckled to herself, staring down at her food. "I dunno, we just started going out."

Robin threw her head back and laughed, her beautiful moonlight hair dancing with her trembling body. She wiped away her tears and tried to catch her breath. He loved watching her laugh. He loved making her laugh.

"Oh Gods, Chrom," said Robin. "You totally look like someone who was obsessed with dinosaurs as a child. I can't believe you never changed out of your Halloween dinosaur costume for three weeks."

"Oh man, you should've seen our butler, Nick. He didn't know what to do with me. Until Father came home from his business trip and straightened everything out," Chrom added quietly.

Her smile weakened at the mention of Chrom's father and how uneasy it made him feel.

"It was a long time ago." Chrom waved a hand, hoping that her full, sweet smile would return.

"Yeah," said Robin nodding.

Her eyes left his when her phone went off again. It had been doing that a lot lately. And he hated how her face lit up. Without wasting another second, Robin picked her phone and read the new text. She quickly shot a message back and then put her phone down.

Chrom forced a smile. "Was it Glen?"

"Yeah." She didn't even attempt to hide her coy smile.

Damn Glen. He wished that he would stop flirting with his best friend. Their time spent sitting cross-legged on the giant steps in the business building lounge had decreased every since Glen had started texting Robin. Chrom had even complained to Gaius about it endlessly, to the point where the candy-obsessed ginger snapped at him. He had made Gaius of all people to snap at him.

"So, are you two seeing each other?" asked Chrom not very discreetly.

"Us? Oh, no. We've just gone out for coffee a couple times," said Robin.

"Cool. I hope it goes well," said Chrom. He didn't mean a single word of it.

"Thanks," said Robin. "I hope so too."

Chrom nodded, trying to school the disappointment leaking onto his face. "Are we still on for study date later?"

"Yeah, I'll see you at the library after dinner," said Robin.

"Okay, great," said Chrom.

As agreed upon, they met up at the library after dinner. But stupid Glen was texting Robin again and she asked Chrom if he'd be upset if she went to meet up with Glen. Of course Chrom said it was fine. Why would he say otherwise? But as he watched Robin leave, Chrom asked someone to watch his stuff and ran out after her.

"Robin!" shouted Chrom, his voice echoing in the quiet library. He received an angry shushing from the librarian and several disgruntled students shot him glares that could kill. "Robin…" he whispered as loud as possible.

Robin was at the entrance of the library on the phone. Most likely with Glen. Chrom sprinted up to her and snatched the phone from her.

"Hey! What the hell!" snapped Robin, spinning around.

He looked at the phone and confirmed it was Glen. "Hey, sorry, man. Robin's no longer interested." And he hung man. Gods, he had wanted to do that for so long.

"Chrom, what the hell?" demanded Robin.

Okay, he hadn't thought out his plan very clearly. He hesitated, staring at her. Finally, he said, "Don't go. I don't want you to go."

Robin's brow furrowed, concern spreading on her face. "Chrom…"

"I…" This wasn't how he wanted to confess to her. It was all a mess.

Robin waited. She looked so unsure.

"I like you," Chrom blurted out. "More than as a friend. I like you. I can be myself around you. You push me to be better in a good way. So don't go."

She lowered her head and stared at the space in between them.

Chrom held his breath, waiting for some kind of reaction. Any reaction. A word. Something!

"I need some time to think," said Robin, still not looking up at him.

His heart fell. No, that didn't quite express how he felt. Chrom was drowning in regret and fear. His mouth was dry and his throat burned. He had ruined everything.

She outstretched an open hand. "Can I have my phone?" mumbled Robin.

He didn't want her to leave. He gripped the phone tighter, but then gave it to her.

"Thanks," said Robin.

Gaius always made the best peppermint white hot chocolate. He always used Rosannian white chocolate and topped it all off with whip cream and broken shards of peppermint candy. It was a festivity in a cup that could fill anyone with cheer.

Except Robin.

"The way you drink it, you make it look like it's medicine," said Gaius. "I'm offended, Bubbles."

"No! It's good. It's always good," said Robin, holding the mug in her hands.

The ginger with a trademark lollipop stick jutting out of his mouth plopped down on the old couch with Robin. "I don't get why you're torturing the poor guy."

Robin wore a hurt look at the mention of Chrom. "It's not that."

"He likes you. You like him. What's the problem?" asked Gaius, further slouching into the couch. "Just bang already."

"His family will never approve," said Robin. "And his fan club is going to kill me."

Gaius rolled his eyes. "Bubbles, you're so frustrating."

"You don't get it—" Robin tried to sit up straight to be taken more seriously, but sank further into Gaius' old couch.

"What don't I get? All I know is that I'm sick of both you and Blue wearing my ears down. You two take turns! Just fuck already!" exclaimed Gaius. "It's not like he asked you to marry him."

"His father will freak out when he finds out who I am," said Robin.

"Is this about your family business?" asked Gaius.

"A bit. I know what kids with parents like Chrom's are like. They're going to do background checks and later assume I'm dating him for money and give both of us a hard time," said Robin.

"So then, keep it a secret," said Gaius.

"Have you met Chrom?"

"Good point," said Gaius. "He's as subtle as an elephant."

"Yeah. Exactly."

"I need sugar before I argue with you two idiots." Gaius stole Robin's hot chocolate and took a long drink from it. When he lowered the cup, he wore a whip cream moustache.

Robin took the mug back and looked down at it. "Oh my fucking gods, Gaius. You drank almost all of it, you pig!"

"Don't fat shame me," said Gaius, licking off the whip cream.

"You're not even fat! You and your damned athlete metabolism!" snapped Robin.

Gaius laughed his trademark evil laugh. "Seriously, just talk to him."

She grumbled under her breath about nothing and her best friend rolled his eyes at her.

"What's the worst that can happen?" asked Gaius.

"We both end up hurt and never become friends ever again," said Robin.

A exasperated sigh left the redhead. "And what's the best thing that can happen?"

"We both end up hurt and never become friends ever again," said Robin.

"Bubbles, sometimes, I have an inkling as to why candy was invented, aside from the sugar rush. It was made for people like you," said Gaius. "I'm going to bet you my emergency stash that you two are going to totally fuck anyway."

"Gaius, this isn't a joke," said Robin.

"Tell him you want to try it out. No, don't give me that look, I know you want him too. And if things don't work out, tell him you want to be friends," said Gaius. "It's like a lollipop. If you don't want to finish it, just stick it back in the wrapper."

"That's disgusting, Gaius," said Robin.

"And so is you and Blue pretending you two are star-crossed lovers," said Gaius, snatching Robin's mug again.

Robin was terrified, but she at least owed Chrom this much. She stood outside his door, hoping maybe by some miracle, he had left in between the time she texted him and said she'd come over and by the time she had arrived at his door. She paced back and forth in front of his apartment door. Then she stopped. She needed to get this over with. She wanted to know that she would not regret this.

She knocked on the door. Three soft knocks. Maybe he wouldn't here.

"Coming!"

Nope, he definitely heard.

Chrom opened the door. "Hey."

"Hey." Robin bit her lip and avoided looking him in the eyes.

"Do you want to come in?" asked Chrom.

Robin nodded. Chrom stepped aside and allowed her to come inside. As she slipped off her shoes, she said, "I'm sorry for not answering your texts or calls. I didn't know what to do."

"No, I got the message," said Chrom.

Robin followed after Chrom into the living and he sat down on one end and Robin at the other.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You're not interested. I get it," said Chrom.

"No, it's not that," said Robin.

"It's not?" There was a glimmering of hope laced into those two words.

"I…I got scared," said Robin. Chrom finally looked at her. "I spooked."

"Oh."

Robin turned to face him. "I know this is so terrible cliche, but I don't want to lose you as a friend if things don't work out."

"I promise if we try and it doesn't work out that we'll go back to things the way they are," said Chrom.

"How are you so sure?" asked Robin.

"I'm not usually sure about a lot of things. But I'm sure about you," said Chrom.

Robin searched his face. He was making it hard. She inched closer to him and he sat closer to her as well.

"Just one kiss," Robin whispered. She felt her cheeks warm at her stupid suggestion. Maybe if she didn't feel a spark it would be easier. "If we don't feel anything, we just stay friends."

"Okay," said Chrom.

Robin's heart pounded in her chest when Chrom brought up a hand and cupped her face and started to lean in. She tipped her head to the opposite direction of Chrom. Slowly, she closed her eyes and shoved her rampant thoughts deep in the crevices of her mind. When his lips brushed against hers, she pressed her lips against his, closing the distance. And in that moment, all she knew was that she wanted more. Robin wrapped her arms around his neck and Chrom pulled her onto his lap.

When Robin pulled away, she was breathless and staring down at Chrom's beautiful blue eyes. He looked up at her and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. Chrom grinned at her and she couldn't help but smile back.

"I don't know if I know for sure. I think I'll need a second one."

"You're such a boob," said Robin before kissing him again.

She wondered why she had waited so long. Why had she even stressed out about it?

It felt right. They were meant to be.

"Are we okay?" asked Robin, looking up at Frederick as he collected her plate. "Because I know just because we had make-up sex doesn't necessarily mean we're okay."

"I'm not sure," said Frederick honestly, stroking her hair.

Robin bit her lip and nodded to herself.

"What I don't understand is why Chrom is under the assumption that you two are getting back together," said Frederick.

"We're not," said Robin. "The end was messy and wasn't verbalized very clearly."

"What do you mean?" said Frederick, putting down the dishes back on the dinner table.

"His father just kind of shipped Chrom off, rotating him to different countries that had branches of the Exalt Corporation when all his…other methods didn't work," said Robin. "President Exalt made my life a little difficult for a while. Chrom probably doesn't know but the president had made it very clear that I was to stay away from Chrom. Now that I'm saying it out loud, it kinda sounds bad."

Concern spread on Frederick's face. "What exactly did he do?"

"I don't like talking about it," said Robin. A sad smile pulled at her lips. "I'll talk to Chrom, Frederick. I'll sort it out."

Frederick sighed before kissing her on the crown of her head.

"So, now that you know all the details of my one only other relationship, you want to share your history?" asked Robin, bouncing up onto her feet. She took the plates and cutlery from Frederick to the sink.

"What do you want to know?" asked Frederick.

"I didn't know it was going to be this easy," said Robin. "I know you've dated four women before me."

Frederick leaned back against her small dinner table and sipped his coffee. His toned muscles pressing up against his undershirt.

"Okay, for starters, how many women have you been with?" she asked.

"In a relationship or…?" asked Frederick.

"Huh," said Robin. "I don't think I want to know anymore."

Frederick chuckled, his eyes twinkling at her. "Think before you speak."

"Is the number of women you slept with different from your number of partners?" asked Robin.

"Not by much," said Frederick.

"Sure," said Robin. "Look at you. You could've been a male stripper if you weren't so damn good at your job."

Frederick choked on his coffee, causing him to cough several times to clear his airway. Robin smiled smugly.

"Don't you have any regrets though?" asked Robin.

"If I did, why would I be here with you?" asked Frederick in a strained voice. He cleared his throat out a couple more times.

"You answered my question with a question," said Robin. "Not fair. You're so much better at extracting information than me."

"You're like an open book to me. That and you open up easily, love. Besides, three of the women I was with are married now. I've been to all their weddings," said Frederick.

"Look at you, Mr. I-am-mature-and-won't-burn-every-bridge," said Robin. "I don't think a lot of people maintain a good relationship with their exes."

"They all ended on mutual agreement," said Frederick.

"What about the last one?" asked Robin.

"What do you mean?" asked Frederick.

"The one who isn't married," clarified Robin.

"Oh, her. She's a good friend of mine. We dated a long time ago, back in my MBA days. She learned that she was more into women," said Frederick. "We work together now."

"Oh my gods, I want to know who now," said Robin. "Who is it? Was it Margaret?"

"Margaret?" Frederick repeated, a look of mild surprise on his face.

"What? She's a babe," said Robin. "If I was a guy, I'd totally bang her. You know how bangable she is based on how jealous women are."

"Are you jealous of Margaret?"

"Pfft, no. She sets back feminism by a century. But she does have a nice ass."

"Indeed, she does, but she's not my type."

"Is it…" Robin thought for a moment. "Who else is worthy of your attention in the marketing department? Oh! Is it Laurelina?"

"Robin, she's even younger than you," said Frederick. "I said my MBA days."

Robin gasped. "Phila? You and Phila?"

"Once upon a time," said Frederick.

"Wow. That actually makes sense. She's super serious. You're super serious," said Robin. "She's really smart. You're really smart. I can see why you two were attracted to each other."

"You know, now that we're talking about relationships, do your parents know of us?" asked Frederick. "I should've introduced myself months ago, but you never brought it up, so I didn't want to push."

He was always like that—polite to a fault.

"Umm…like my parents have some suspicion that I'm with someone," said Robin. "My sister knows, but not the details. I think they'd freak out at me if they knew I was dating someone within Exalt again, considering what happened last time with Chrom."

"I see. So they don't really know," said Frederick.

"No," said Robin quietly. "Yours?"

"I've mentioned you a couple times. Whenever Mum calls, she's asking when I'm visiting with you," said Frederick. "But I don't think they realize you're eight years younger than me."

"Is that bad?" asked Robin.

"No," said Frederick. "But sometimes I wonder if it's more fair to you if you saw someone who's more within your age range."

"Don't say that," said Robin. "I'm happy with you. Sure, sometimes it feels like I'm dating an old man since I have no idea what kind of references you're making. I kid, Frederick. But you make me happy and that's something I don't say often."

"There's never a boring day with you, love."

With Frederick playing catch-up on work, Robin decided that it was best that she left him alone for a bit to do his thing. On Sunday, she decided she would clean her apartment, starting with anything that reminded her of Chrom (and that damned blue mug of his).

After three grocery bags and two boxes, Robin almost wondered if he had broken into her house throughout the years to leave reminders of him. At this rate, it was easier to just throw everything out, move to a new house, and start fresh.

Robin pulled out her phone and called Frederick.

He picked up after the second ring. "Yes, love?" She could hear him typing in the background.

"Frederick, I need to move," said Robin.

The typing of the keyboard stopped and she heard him move the phone to his dominant ear. "I thought you liked your place."

"I've learned that I don't like it here," said Robin. "Anymore."

"And you decided this all today," stated Frederick, trying to follow along.

"Yeah. I need to move," said Robin, who was currently sitting cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by stupid Chrom mementos. "And the damned door gets stuck all the time! And I'm getting sick of having to climb up all those stairs!"

"Okay, do you have a plan?" asked Frederick.

"Stop using that tone with me," said Robin.

"What tone?" said Frederick.

"That tone where you're kinda patronizing, but you're not because you're probably right. The one where you are just playing along to humour me. I'm serious right now!" said Robin.

"What's this about? Did you find a bug in your house again?" asked Frederick.

Robin pouted when she recalled that she freaked out about a bug in her house and he had to come kill it at two in the morning because she ended up cowering in the corner of her kitchen. It looked far bigger when it terrified her at first.

"No," said Robin. "I just think it's time to move on with this stage of my life."

"What stage?" asked Frederick.

"I'm trying to get rid of everything that reminds me of Chrom and turns out it's—"

"I'll help you move," said Frederick. "When do you want to move? Want to move closer to where I live?"

A part of her was relieved he didn't ask her to move in with him. "Closer to you is in downtown."

"Well, I'm eight minutes from downtown to be precise," said Frederick.

"Downtown is expensive and I'm still paying off my student loans," said Robin. "I'll check around. Maybe there are some new places that opened up."

"Okay. Keep me posted, love," said Frederick.

"How's work going?" asked Robin.

"Fine," said Frederick. "Wish I was spending this lovely Sunday afternoon with you though."

"Same," said Robin. "I'll let you go."

"Okay. I love you."

Robin grinned ear to ear and her insides warmed. "I love you too."

They hung up and Robin giggled to herself. She didn't want to ruin this. Aside from the fact that she was breaking informal company policy of not being able to date colleagues, it felt right.

Robin stared at her pile of Chrom reminders and realized that if she threw all of this out, she'd lose all her comfy lounge clothes, the only hair jaw clips that actually held her stupidly thick hair, and almost all her mugs and cups. She could drink out of a bowl. Yeah. She could do that.

Actually, no. She couldn't afford to go backwards back into the student lifestyle. Robin sighed and started to unpack all of her stuff again. She needed a girlfriend around. Cherche hadn't told Robin her tentative return date since Exalt had told her that there was no failing allowed in securing the deals with Rosanne to collaborate with Sagittarius on their electronic modern home accessories or something. Robin had lost Cherche once she had started to talk about how Sagittarius was a company run by an eccentric man named Virion Lemaire, that designed quirky household products. His fame started when he had built a tiny minimalist house with discreet multi-functional furniture.

Me: When are you back? Did you run off with some Rosannian man?

Robin was pleasantly surprised, considering that all their text responses had been delayed because of the time difference.

Cherche: I just woke up. My flight arrived at 3 AM today.

Me: Ahhhhh! You're bak! How'd the deal go?

Cherche: Great, as always. But I have so much to tell you.

Me: Meet at Echoes on Valentia Street?

Cherche: 3 PM?

Robin checked the time and calculated that she had about an hour and fifteen minutes to get there. That was plenty of time.

Me: It's a date!

"No!" shouted Robin, nearly spilling her coffee.

"Yes," said Cherche with a smile.

"Wow," said Robin.

"I know," agreed Cherche.

Robin leaned back into her chair. She grinned at her friend child tapping a finger on her phone screen on top of the cafe table. It was a nice day to hang out with Cherche at an outdoor seat at the cafe.

"So, that's why you took so long," said Robin.

Cherche smiled and sipped her coffee. "Yeah, he was playing with me. At first, I thought he was just a man whore, messing with me. But after, I caved since he wasn't letting up and we had dinner. The rest is history."

"Awwe. I'm getting the warm fuzzies inside," cooed Robin. "So then, when is Mr. Lemaire arriving?"

"He should be here next month," said Cherche.

"So, what's he like?" asked Robin.

"More insecure than he let's on. But he has a very kind heart," said Cherche fondly.

"Wow, you're really into him," said Robin. "You never speak highly of any guy."

"So, how about you and your secret boyfriend?" asked Cherche.

Robin's face fell as she set down her mug and lowered her eyes. "It's umm…we're a little weird."

"Oh?" Cherche perked both eyebrows.

"Yeah, Chrom's back," murmured Robin.

"Oh no," said Cherche. On one of their drunken Girls' Night In, Cherche had figured out that Robin's mystery beau also worked at the company. "Are there rumours circulating about you two?"

"I think he heard them and he works in close proximity with Chrom," said Robin. "And you know how Chrom can be."

"Oblivious." Cherche sighed.

"He's not happy I won't tell him everything about us and Chrom keeps approaching me," said Robin. "I promised him I'd talk to Chrom and sort this out. I just don't know how it'll go."

"Mmmm."

"And I think it's about time I moved," said Robin.

"Oh?"

"Maybe I'll be finally be able to have my real adult place, since my current apartment is still the same place I was in since my last year of undergrad," said Robin.

"I can help you find a cute place."

"Yeah, thanks," said Robin. "Hopefully, it'll be okay. It should be okay. I need to make it clear that there's no chance between us. Cherche, I really like this guy. I don't want to fuck this up. Sometimes I feel like he's too good for me."

"Robin, you're an amazing catch. Don't say that."

"But enough about me! You need to show me what you bought over in Rosanne. When can I come over?"

Chrom was sprawled out on the couch with his phone in hand—the latest model that Exalt Corporation had released, the Falchion. There was a line of ten numbers on his screen. He hesitated, debating whether he should text her or not. He hadn't quite gotten the number through the most ethical methods…he had pulled it up from Robin's employee profile. But he had needed it when he was forming his integrative team. So maybe it wasn't as unethical.

There were three polite knocks on his home office door. "Come in!" shouted Chrom.

When he heard the door click open, he immediately sat up on the couch. A blond man in a beige dress pants and crisp white shirt with a light green tie walked in.

"Libra, I wasn't expecting you." Chrom was mildly surprised to see his father's secretary-slash-attendant.

"Mr. Exalt wanted me deliver something and check in on you," said Libra, coming to stand near Chrom with an envelope.

"I see," said Chrom.

Libra's eyes fell on the profiles spread out on the coffee table in front of Chrom. He never did like being behind the desk nor working on the tablet. He preferred to spread everything out and working with paper. Chrom followed Libra's gaze and saw that he was staring at Robin's open file. It was too late, but Chrom closed the file and pretended that nothing was wrong.

"Mr. Exalt won't be happy if he knows that you're pursuing Miss Robin Grima again," said Libra.

"I…I'm not." A guilty look flashed on his face. "I have done everything Father has asked me to do. He can't ship me off like a child being shipped off to boarding school again."

Libra had the slightest of disapproval on his face. "Chrom."

"Libra, you don't get it. She means to world to me. I know she's still probably hurt from our past, but I can protect her this time," said Chrom.

"And she has warmed up to your attempts?" asked Libra.

"No," murmured Chrom. "Not quite."

"Ah," said Libra. "It appears that she is keeping her word."

Perplexed, Chrom frowned and stared at Libra. "What do you mean by that?"

"I think it's best you move on, Chrom," said Libra.

"No. Hold that thought. What do you mean by that?" demanded Chrom. "Did Father have something to do with this?"

Libra remained quiet.

"Libra." Chrom got up from his seat and stood up against Libra. "What did he do?"

He admired the poker face that his father's secretary always managed to maintain. Libra always looked serene.

"You don't have to tell me, I'll go ask him myself." Chrom pushed past Libra, but Libra caught his arm.

"Stop, Chrom. Mr. Exalt is resting from getting back from his business trip," said Libra.

Chrom glared at him. Libra was only the messenger and it was unfair to attack him. However, Chrom had spent more time talking with Libra than his own father in the past couple years and Libra often became a target of Chrom's protests.

"Paying her off didn't work. So he had her informed that if she approaches you again that he would ensure that she would be removed from her job," said Libra. "And that he would make it difficult to find another job in Ylisse."

Chrom sighed. "I didn't even know. That's why she wouldn't answer any of my calls or texts. That's why she refuses to even talk to me."

Libra placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let her go."

He pushed off Libra's hand. "You don't get it, Libra. She's what kept me going the past couple years. The chance that Father would let me be if I did everything he asked of me. It doesn't surprise me that he's not going to let me have any control over my own god damned life!"

"It's what's best for your future, Chrom. You must understand," said Libra.

"We both know father never knew what was best for me," said Chrom. "It was always what was good for him. I've made it clear I'm not seeing all those women he thinks would be an excellent additions to his empire. I'm not doing that again. It destroyed her."

"If you really want to protect her, staying away is be the best option," said Libra.

"I was coward once. I'm not going to be a coward twice," said Chrom.

Chrom had insisted on lunch. No matter what Robin had tried, Chrom wouldn't have anything less than lunch. And of course, he picked the trending expensive restaurant that people were reserving a year in advance. And of course, Chrom somehow managed to get a table for them with a single phone call.

Robin didn't put in much effort for her outfit, but she still tried a little so that she wouldn't stick out amongst the upper-class crowd. She refused to take his car with him so they made their way separately to the restaurant during their lunch break.

A beautiful hostess greeted her. "Do you have a reservation?"

"Chrom Exalt?" Her voice went up a little higher than intended.

"He arrived ten minutes ago. I'll take you right there," said the hostess. "Please follow me."

Robin wanted to leave, but she also wanted to set the record straight. When she saw Chrom, she saw that he was seated against the windows, overlooking the city of Ylisse. It was a fine view. Of course, they gave the heir to the Exalt empire the best fucking view.

Chrom perked up when he saw her. He smiled and gave her a small wave.

"Hey." Robin took her a seat from across him.

"Their steaks are amazing here," said Chrom. "I tried it last year."

"You…were in Ylisse last year?" asked Robin, staring up at him. That might've been before Frederick and her started dating.

Chrom nervously laughed. "Just for a week. It was Father's birthday. I had to come back. I would've come to see you, but they kept me busy. I tried calling though and it kept going to some random man with a thick Feroxi accent."

"Yeah, I changed my number," said Robin.

The voice messages and texts were torturing her, and his family, his father to be specific, made is very clear with indirect methods that she was to stay away from Chrom. Changing her number seemed like a logical step to remove herself from everything. If the president of Exalt Corporation saw her with him at this moment, he would've ensured that she couldn't get another job in Ylisse again. So, she needed to make this as clear as possible to him.

"I won't be staying long," said Robin. "Oh…you really don't need to call the waitress over."

Chrom had flagged down the waitress and she was coming over to them already. "Do you want wine, Robin?"

"No," said Robin. "Just water."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"We'll go with second lunch course," said Chrom.

"Right away, sir. Anything else?" asked the waitress.

"No, that's all," said Chrom.

After the waitress left, Chrom said, "I didn't go with the first lunch course because I know how much you hate radishes. There were radishes in the salad."

"Chrom, I don't feel comfortable staying for lunch," said Robin.

His brow furrowed. "It's just lunch, Robin. I think we can spare an hour or two for one another. Talk things through."

Robin's hands tightened into fists on her lap. "We never broke up."

She finally had his attention. Chrom shifted in his seat. Robin couldn't read what he was thinking, something that was rare for her. Gods, he had changed in the past couple years. But so had she.

"So I just want to make it clear that we can never get back together, even if you are here," said Robin. "So please stop."

"What are you so afraid of?" asked Chrom. "We don't have to go back to exactly where we left off. It might be a good thing for us to not return to that time. All I want is to have you back in my life. You have no idea how much I've missed you."

"Chrom, we need to let our past go," said Robin.

"I can protect you this time. I promise," said Chrom.

"But I don't want to do this with you," said Robin quietly. She couldn't look him in the face knowing the hurt expression he would wear. "I've moved on. Because I know it's going to be okay for a while and we're going to be happy and then everything is going to come crashing down again."

"It'll be different this time," said Chrom.

"No. Don't say that," said Robin, her throat closing up. "I've moved on."

"It's been so long since we've last seen each other. I know people change during that kind of time. I can be patient," said Chrom. "We can make this work again."

"I'm with someone."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Who?"

"I can't say," said Robin.

"I took too long," said Chrom, more to himself than to anyone else.

"No, it was just time to move on," said Robin. "And you should move on too. Find someone more suitable for you."

"Robin, they didn't mean anything to me," said Chrom. "You know that. I told you that."

She glued her eyes down at the napkin and cutlery set in front of her. It didn't matter if it meant nothing. At the end of the day, it hurt. Chrom's father forced him go on dates with more 'suitable' women from renown family backgrounds while they were dating in hopes that Chrom would fall for another. While Chrom never developed affections for another, his father was successful in putting a strain on their relationship. Robin couldn't count the nights she had fallen asleep crying: self-doubt and a diminishing self-worth eating away at her. But she had foolishly held on. Robin wished that they hadn't been so stubborn and allowed things to run its course instead.

"Oh my gods, is that you, Chrom?"

They both looked up to see a young woman with an unnaturally red bob. She had lovely round grey eyes and the facial features of a haute couture model.

"Karlena," said Chrom.

"I didn't know you were back," said Karlena, faking a laugh. "You still owe me that second date."

Chrom grimaced before politely smiling. "I just got back. I'm guessing you're working for Yvette now?"

Robin wasn't sure if she had heard right. Yvette was the internationally renown fashion magazine that all the women looked to for trends and inspiration. Robin knew that a couple of her friends had applied when they graduated, but it was cut-throat competitive.

They really were from different worlds.

"Yes, darling. It's been fun. They've started to give me more responsibilities," said Karlena. "But I see that you're here with a friend." She scanned Robin up and down before turning her attention back to Chrom. "Give me a call so—"

Before Karlena could finish her sentence, Robin grabbed her bag and got up from her seat and left. She was not going to be humiliated again. She was not going to be poor girl that Chrom was 'having on the side'.

"Damn it. Karlena, we'll grab lunch some time, but it won't be a date."

Her feet couldn't carry her out of the restaurant fast enough. Why had she thought he had changed? It was stupid. What was she expected by coming here? Why did all of this still pull at her heartstrings? Robin jammed her finger repeatedly on the elevator button.

Chrom called out. "Robin! Come back. You promised we'd talk."

The elevator finally arrived and opened. Robin slipped inside and tried to get the doors to shut as quickly as possible, but as fate would have it, Chrom caught the elevator before it closed for good. She swore.

"I don't know why I'm here," said Robin, backing into the elevator. She watched the doors close behind Chrom, trapping them in the metal box.

"I'm sorry about that," said Chrom.

"No, you're not! You're always saying sorry! I don't want to hear—" Robin stopped herself, tears lining her eyes. She took a deep breath, petting her temper down. Her body had reacted before she could even process what was going on. It was like nothing had changed. Chrom even wore that guilty, hurt puppy face, making her regret snapping at him. She had to stop herself from apologizing, because that was what always happened after.

"I hurt you…a lot," he said quietly. "But it was hard for me too." Chrom took a couple steps towards her.

Robin shook her head. "Chrom, I'm begging you. Leave me alone. I'm finally happy with someone."

"I didn't know Father threatened you," said Chrom, now dangerously close to Robin, but she had nowhere else to back up into. "I'll protect you this time."

Her lips were sealed tight and she looked away. Chrom brought up his hand and brushed it against her cheek.

"We can't," murmured Robin. "We can't do this again. I can't do this. We're going to end up destroying each other again."

"It'll be different this time," said Chrom. "I won't be a coward this time."

"I can't do this again," said Robin, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry I took too long. Do you love him?" asked Chrom.

She swallowed before answering, "Yeah, I do. I have a stable relationship and—"

"Because I never stopped loving you and I get the feeling you never stopped loving me either," Chrom said.

Robin turned her head away from him.

"How about this?" Chrom cupped her face, forcing her to meet his eyes.

"What?" she breathed. She was falling into those baby blue eyes again.

"Remember how we started dating?" said Chrom.

"Yeah," she whispered.

"Just one kiss." His face was mere inches from her face, tempting her to fall for him all over again. Chrom's physical presence eased her scars. "And if we don't feel anything, we'll go our own ways. Maybe we'll be friends, maybe we'll be…nothing."

"Chrom, I can't. Please," said Robin, trying to turn away, but Chrom wouldn't let her. Her eyes began to close as she felt his warm breath tickling her lips. He always made her pathetically weak. And this time, he was different, not in a bad way, but almost in a mature way. In a way that Robin wanted to know him again.

She barely managed to words, "I'm with someone."

"Push me away then," whispered Chrom. "Tell me you didn't miss me. Tell me you don't want me."

Both of them knew she didn't have a strength to do so. They had left each with too many unresolved affections for one another. They had fought tooth and nail to be together.

And their lips met.

A/N: I didn't think I'd make my deadline of June 21st, but somehow I did. If the work is a little sloppy it's because I was trying to make my personal deadline and trying to get over a writing slump.

I'm aiming to update on a biweekly basis on Wednesdays. Next update should be July 5th, 2017.