Heyyyy everyone! I hope that this chapter finds you all well and ready to forgive me for my lack of updating. :D I've started back at university after a very nice long break, and I've been terribly busy since going back. I totally missed writing this story, and you have no idea how glad I am to be back with an update. I bet you thought I was abandoning it. NEVER!

Anyway, this chapter is sort of a filler, but I hope you enjoy it!!

Love, A

Andrew sat on the same park bench on the side of the path that he had found Monica on two mornings ago. Two mornings ago, when their feelings had first made themselves known, everything was still somewhat normal. Two mornings ago, they were both blissfully ignorant of what the following days would bring. Two mornings ago, all they knew was security in each other. Now, they had none of that. Two minutes ago, it had been ripped away.

As he sat on the bench, Andrew finally allowed his tears to fall. There had been several times in the last day and a half that he had wanted to cry and held it in. He wanted to be the strong one for her. And he had managed. Now, there was no one around. There was nobody that he had to be strong for. She was gone, and so he hid his face in his hands and let them fall. All he could think about was the look in Monica's eyes as Sam's car was pulling away. It was far more than just sadness. Betrayal, hopelessness, pain … the list was long, and Andrew knew because he felt the same. A long while later, or maybe a short while, he wasn't sure, Tess came looking for him. She stood quietly for a moment, and then spoke tentatively.

"It really wasn't in my hands, you know," she said softly, "if I could have done something, anything … don't you know I would have moved heaven and earth for her, Andrew? After talking to you, I … tried to tell Sam that separating you wouldn't matter, because it wouldn't change what you felt. I tried to tell him that, but he wouldn't listen. I fought for you. We even took it to Ruth, Andrew … and I lost. We lost, and there was nothing more that I could do."

Andrew wanted to believe her. After all, it was Tess. He knew that she would never intentionally allow Monica to be hurt the way she just was. He understood that, but it didn't help much. He sighed heavily, and finally looked her in the eyes.

"Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do," he said, his tone slightly less icy, "but it might take me some time to accept your apology. I hope you can understand that. Besides," he continued sadly, "the only thing that would make this better is having her back." He looked away, and his eyes locked on the exact place where he and Monica had been standing when they shared their first kiss in the moonlight, with the snow falling lazily around them. The memory made his heart physically ache, and he could feel his eyes burning with tears again, though he held them back.

Tess was grateful that Andrew was even speaking to her at all, and she completely understood his need to take his time with accepting her apology. Today had been a serious blow, and Tess knew that he and Monica both were in shock at the quickness of their separation. Healing from this, if it even happened at all, would be a long time coming.

"I have an assignment," said Tess, interrupting Andrew's thoughts, "that's why I was coming to find you. I have to go now, and you can come if you want … or stay here, it's up to you."

The last place Andrew wanted to be was the cabin, especially alone. He wasn't sure that he wanted to be with Tess on an assignment, but anything was better than sitting in the cabin by himself. The little house made of logs, which used to be a welcoming place for rest and relaxation, had suddenly become Andrew's hell, and he told Tess as much. She flinched slightly at his usage of the word 'hell' and almost reprimanded him before she caught herself. Now was not the time to be the supervisor. He needed a friend, and she was going to try her hardest to give him that support, even if he couldn't accept it at the moment. After a few more minutes in awkward silence, Andrew finally answered her.

"I'll come … if that's my only choice besides staying here," he said dryly, seriously hoping that whatever assignment she was going on, that he wouldn't have to be involved much, or even at all. Tess didn't plan on involving him anyway. She couldn't very well expect him to work, and do a good job with it, the way he was feeling now. It would probably be a while before he felt up to it, but he was on vacation anyway. She decided that she could take him to where he would be staying and let him get settled, and then she would go. That would be easier than having him tag along because she really had no idea how long she would be.

At that, they walked back to the front of the cabin where Tess's Cadillac was parked, Andrew staying several paces behind her the whole way. They rode in complete silence down the mountain, through the little town that he and Monica had spent the day in, and on to a big city more than an hour's drive away. The difference in the atmosphere was noticeable immediately. It was much warmer, although still quite chilly, and there was an obvious absence of snow. In sharp contrast to the little town at the base of the mountain, this city was large, unfriendly, and cold in spirit.

Tess pulled the car up to a red brick building some minutes later. It looked like an apartment building, and Andrew, figuring that this was the location of Tess's assignment, made no move to get out. He looked at Tess questioningly, his eyebrows raised, and asked,

"Where are we?"

"Denver," she replied, "and this is where you are going to be living … for now," she nodded towards the building and motioned for him to get out and follow her inside. The building was very elegant and it even had a door attendant, who welcomed the two angels with an overly large and annoying smile. They continued through the lobby to the elevator, and that was where Tess left Andrew.

"Here's a key," she said, holding out a silver key on a simple keychain, "and you're on the fifth floor, number 534. I'm not sure how long this assignment will last, but when it's over, I'll come by and check in on you and let you know what's going to be happening in the next few days."

Andrew watched her walk away and he had never been so happy to see her go, and he almost felt ashamed for feeling that way. A part of him wanted to accept her apology, but another part refused to. He had a hard time believing anything other than that she must not have fought hard enough for them. She could do all the consoling she wanted to, but nothing, at least for the moment, could alleviate the grief that was in his heart. Nothing could take away the physical emptiness that he felt without Monica.

Monica. He couldn't even begin to imagine what she must be feeling now. Not being with her, especially when he knew that she was hurting, was almost unbearable, and he knew it was probably hitting her much harder. It was difficult to remember a time when he didn't know her, when she wasn't with him … it was hard to remember a time when she hadn't been there, either right with him or in the next room. Being without her now just wasn't right.

The elevator arrived and Andrew stepped into it, excusing himself past a young woman with blonde hair who was getting out. She smiled politely at him, and although he tried to look pleasant, he couldn't bring himself to smile back. He pressed the button for the fifth floor and waited as the elevator creaked slowly upwards. When the doors slid open again, he found himself in a long hallway and he located #534 quickly as it was just to the near right of the elevator. As he opened the door, he didn't even bother to turn on the light. He could see that it was furnished and decorated nicely, but he didn't care. He flopped himself onto the couch and just stared into space. His mind was still reeling, and he found himself thinking that this just might be the worst day of his existence yet.

Sam hadn't said one word to Monica since they had driven away from the cabin. Away from Andrew. She couldn't even look at him. She could hardly believe that this was really Sam. Sure, he was an Angel's Angel and there was aura about him that demanded respect, but she had always gotten the impression before that he was kind and caring, if a little strict. She had never expected him to be so impersonal and so … cold. There was nothing about him that Monica respected now.

She sniffed loudly and rubbed her swollen eyes, although she had ceased crying almost the moment that they had driven away. As nonsensical as it was, Monica wondered if Sam was enjoying putting her and Andrew through this pain, and because of that, she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. As hard as it was, she was managing all right to keep her endless number of tears from falling, at least for the moment. She had been staring at her lap for the majority of the ride and not paying attention to her surroundings, so she had no idea where they were. They had been driving for at least an hour she was sure. Her question of where they were was answered soon enough though, as they drove into a big city and she saw a sign that said 'Welcome to Denver.'

Great, she thought. She hated big cities, but more importantly, she hated being alone in a big city, and with or without Sam being there, she would be alone. She tried to think of something else, anything else, but it wasn't really working. The stark reality of her new situation hit her hard, and she felt like her whole world was closing in on her. How could everything have changed in such a short amount of time? Just this time yesterday, everything had been fine, wonderful, perfect … she had never expected that this is what was going to happen. Never would she have guessed that her world would be turned upside down on such a large scale. She and Andrew both had been nervous to see what Tess' reaction would be to their news, and they had planned to let her know slowly. Their plan to ease in to it was cut short however, when she witnessed their exchange in the town at the base of the mountain. Everything changed from that moment on. It didn't feel like to Monica that they had been given any time at all to explain properly or to make Sam and Tess understand.

How could they have been so stupid? So careless? Going into town had been a mistake, and Monica couldn't help but think that if they hadn't made that error, none of this would have happened. Tess wouldn't have seen them, and they would have had more time together, and more time to figure out how to tell her. The moment that Monica had heard voices speaking of her and Andrew, time seemed to speed up drastically. When it was announced that Sam would be coming to separate them, every minute, every second was precious … and the seconds had slipped away faster than either of them realized, until there was no time left. Time. It had never been an object of concern before. Now, time was all Monica could think of. The time that she didn't have with Andrew.

She had been so engrossed in her depressing thoughts that Monica didn't even realize that they had stopped until Sam cleared his throat and spoke coldly,

"This is your place," he said, pointing at an old brownstone apartment building. The first thing that Monica noticed was that one of the topmost windows was broken. It looked … trashy, and that wasn't even the worst word she could have used to describe it. She wasn't used to living anywhere other than the cabin when she was on earth, so having a 'place' that wasn't the cabin was strange to say the least, especially a place that looked so un-welcoming.

"Your key," he said simply, and handed her a single silver key with no key ring. "Second floor, third door on the right. I'll be by sometime later tonight." And that was all he said to her, and he said it all without meeting her eyes. He didn't offer to take her up and show her where to go, not that she expected that from him now. But still, after all that she had been through today, she thought he could have at least been a bit warmer towards her. After a few more seconds of silence, it was apparent that Sam was not going to say anything more. Monica got out of the car, her little silver key closed tightly in her hand, and never looked back.

Walking up the sidewalk to the door of the building was unnerving. There were clusters of people hanging around the door, smoking and drinking, and someone had a radio with loud rap music playing. Monica squeezed past the group of mostly men and she tried her hardest to block out the whistles and catcalls, but she held her breath until she was safely past them and inside. There was trash in the hallways, and the wallpaper was yellowing and peeling in many places. The cement floor was covered with the thinnest of carpets and just inside the door, there was a large, dark stain that looked eerily like blood. That thought sent a shiver of fear up Monica's spine. There was no elevator. The stairwell was just as trashed and it smelled of leaking sewage. When she emerged onto the second level and located the door that was third on the right, she was almost afraid to go in. The sticky-sweet smell of marijuana invaded her lungs. The wooden door with cracked and peeling paint opened with a creak and she found herself looking into a dark and depressing studio apartment with the barest of furnishings. A mismatched couch and chair sat haphazardly in the middle of the room. Immediately to her right, there was a kitchen with a single burner stove, a small refrigerator, and two cabinets. To her left, an alcove in the wall with a bed, and a little room off to the side that she assumed was the bathroom. The whole place was smaller than the living room of the cabin. The terrible little apartment was enough to send the tears that she had held back in front of Sam to come cascading down her face. She walked slowly to the bed in the corner of the room and sat on the edge.

Where was Andrew now? What was he doing? What was he thinking? She couldn't wrap her mind around the idea of never seeing him again. They had been separated before with assignments, but it was always with the promise of seeing each other again. When things got tough, all she had to do was remind herself that she would see him again soon, and that was all it took to make her feel better. What was she supposed to tell herself now?

She sat numbly for hours. Only when night had fallen did she get under the covers of the sunken bed. When she thought that she had no more tears left, they still came until she had cried herself into a fitful slumber. Sam never came.

More Soon!