"Do I ever cross your mind?" I ask him.

"No," Ric replied.

"Do you like me?"

"Not really."

"Do you want me?"

"No."

"Would you cry if I left?"

"No."

"Would you live for me?"

"No."

"Would you do anything for me?"

"No."

"Choose -- me or your life?"

"My life."

I run away in shock and pain, and only stop when I notice Ric running after me.

"The reason why you never cross my mind is because you're always on my mind. The reason why I don't like you is because I love you. The reason I don't want you is because I need you. The reason I wouldn't cry if you left is because I would die if you left. The reason I wouldn't live for you is because I would die for you. The reason why I'm not willing to do anything for you is because I would do everything for you. The reason I chose my life is because you are my life."

-x-

I awoke from my dream, my very strange dream. Tears still stung my eyes and the memories from a few hours ago burned in my mind.

A Few Hours Ago…

"You WHAT?" Tessa screamed. "You…you… were together! More than once!" she was in shock, disbelief. We didn't want to hurt her, but both of us knew what it felt like to be cheated on, or to think you were being cheated on, and neither of us could live a lie like that. We weren't going to take our relationship any further now, I didn't want to.

"I'm sorry… we're sorry Tess. It just happened we-"

"What Ric? You fell in love all over again as soon as your eyes met in the bar? Hand me a bucket, please!" she was on a roll now. Tears began to fall down my cheeks, just as they fell down Tessa's. "I trusted you. You said you would never hurt me, at first I never believed it, what guy can promise you that? Then I started to think I had met him, 'the one'. You know, I made one huge mistake in all of this Ric, I fell in love with you!"

And with that she ran out of the door, taking her suitcases with her. Ric grabbed me and held me, comforted me.

"Ric, I'm the one who should be helping you. You just lost your girlfriend."

"There was never anyone but you, Mattie. I could lose everything I ever worked for in life, and be completely happy, as long as you were by my side," he said while stroking my hair and hugging me tightly.

"I can't do this, Ric. I'm sorry!" I ran out of the house and into my room. I thought of everything that had happened over the last two and a half weeks, and cried myself into a deep sleep.

-x-

"Hey Till. Can't sleep either?" Robbie asked as I walked into the kitchen to fetch a glass of water.

"Nope," I shook my head lazily. I ran the tap and put the cold water into my glass, then I took a seat next to Robbie at the table.

"It's great to be back here. I can't believe how much I've missed this place."

"What? Are you not enjoying Boston?" I asked.

Robbie hesitated. "Not as much as we used to. It's great for Ella, and the high school that I finished my HSC in was great, but now I've finished and Tasha isn't as occupied with Ella, we find ourselves missing home."

"I know what you mean. I felt the same way in Paris."

-x-

After a few moments of discussion about being away from the Bay, Robbie asked me the question that I had been dreading to hear.

"Mattie, I know this is none of my business and you can tell me to get lost right now if you like, but what's going on with you and Ric?"

"It's complicated, Rob" I sighed. "And to be honest with you, it's not the sort of the thing you talk to your brother about."

"I understand." Robbie nodded his head. "You know, I left the day before you and Ric got together, so I've never been able to see how serious your relationship was. Even though that's the case, I can still see this incredible bond between the two of you, you're so relaxed with each other, and it looks like you're in love."

"I don't know what to do, Rob," I cried into his shoulder. "This whole situation is just stressing me out!"

"Only you can figure out what to do, Tilly. The only piece of advice I can give you, is life is too short to waste time making decisions, because before you know it, the opportunity is gone and you find yourself missing something you never had."

-x-

I walked into the Diner the next morning, and saw the one face that I was hoping to avoid today. He looked up from his magazine and smirked when he saw how uncomfortable I was, then he looked back down. God, what a jerk he was being today!

"Hiya dahl, what can I get you this morning?" Irene asked from behind the counter.

"Oh, hi Irene. Can I just have a blueberry muffin when you have time?"

"Sure lovey. I'll get Colleen to bring it over for you in a sec."

I sat down at the nearest table and browsed over the menu to help pass the time. It was hard to avoid the constant staring that was coming from Ric at the other side of the room, but I managed it. Voices buzzed around the room, it was a bright Saturday morning; so many people were off work. I noticed Rachel and Hugh in the background, according to Cassie they were now happily married, and both doing very well. I was happy for them, especially after the way Kim had hurt Rachel, running off with my sister, Kit, she deserved happiness after the sorrow in her life.

"Yoo-hoo! Matilda?" Colleen broke me out of my day dream. "Here's your muffin. We haven't been selling as many of them since you left!" she joked.

"Well that'll change now I'm back for good, Mrs. Smart!"

"Listen, dear. I was wondering if you knew what was happening with young Ric over there? Tessa seems to have disappeared and I was wondering if maybe they had a bit of a tiff last night," Colleen inquired. She was still her nosy self.

"Well Mrs. Smart, it's not really my place to say. It's their business not ours," I lied.

"Okay, well have a good day, Matilda. Sally tells me your having a small Bridal Party gathering this afternoon. I hope it all goes well." I forgot about that! How was I going to survive? Maid of Honour and Best Man always sit together. This was going to be a challenge.

"Thanks Mrs. Smart."

A/N: I've decided Ric is now going to go through a very 'jerky' stage, like most men do LOL :P Writer's block is still with me and I'm finding it so hard to get any inspiration, so please, if you have any ideas, no matter how weird or far-fetched they are, tell me when you leave a comment! If anyone was wondering... the dream at the beginning of the chapter was just from a silly email I got from one of my friends, and I thought it was just so sweet, it had to go in the story! Just two more weeks of school left until the summer holidays, so I will hopefully be back to writing lots by then! Thanks for the reviews, the next update probably won't be until mid-week, since writing is so much of a chore at the moment! Please review!