Author's note: I don't own Coose! (:

I'm sorry I haven't been updating in eons. I am a bad girl ): But I finally got around to writing this. Hope you guys like it. Maybe a short little epilogue after this…?

Haha, meanwhile enjoy! And don't forget to review!

He stands outside her door, his bag lying at his feet even as he pulls his headphones down from his ears. He checks his cellphone, 4.20 pm, Monday. She should still be at work for a few more hours. He knows he should wait at a café or even outside her office, yet, something, nostalgia maybe, makes him stoop down, lift up an edge of a small potted plant beside the door and he smiles at the key underneath the plant. Things haven't changed a bit since he left. And as he inserts the key into the lock, he hopes that things haven't changed too much for him to step back into her life.

He lets himself into the obviously empty apartment and he kicks his shoes off at the side, walking around, opening windows in a manner that feels all too familiar for him. He realizes he's missed this, the normalcy and the simplicity of all this even is something he's missed and he plumps himself down onto the couch, putting his feet on the glass table for a few seconds before putting them down again, almost as if he's expecting her to come rounding out the kitchen to scold him for doing so. He runs a hand through his curls and sobriety takes over his brief amusement at himself.

He knows he took a risk in coming back. It's been a year and more. What's not to say that she's moved on already? Maybe she doesn't need him anymore. True, when he was in Philadelphia, after a while, he realized that the distance did them both some good. He was his own person, his own independent person but that didn't mean he didn't need her. He did. He thinks that all this, his coming back to her, was just a matter of time.

He wonders what he's going to say when he sees her later. He'd tried to come up with some semblance of an apology speech on the way down, only to get a weird look from an old lady who'd been sitting opposite him and too late he realized he'd been mumbling phrases out loud and by the time she'd changed seats with a wide eyed look, he knows he's not the speech type and he shouldn't bother. He wants to hold her. He wants to remember everything, every part of their past, their present and their future.

The future. He doesn't exactly know what's going to happen but he knows one thing: that once you've made a mistake, you don't make it again. And how true that is. He knows that dropping everything here in New York was a mistake, dropping everything and walking away to another new life was a big mistake. But he hopes, that this time, he can get another shot to try and make this all work out without losing either side.

Suddenly a loud ringing startles him and breaks the silence of her flat. He wonders if he should pick up, but chances are he doesn't know who's on the other end, the caller doesn't know him and he's not exactly in the mood right now for questions. So he just decides to let it go to voice mail and listens to the loud bleep and her disembodied voice floating out of the speaker. "Hi, you've reached Camille. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you!"

There's a pause on the other end. "Hi, Camille." He frowns at the deep voice and its awfully familiar, like he's heard it somewhere before but he knows it's definitely not any of the Pirates and therefore has to be someone from work. "Its Joash here." He vaguely remembers a tall, lean guy who was always polite to him for her sake, but when he looked at the way Joash treated her, he'd known all along that this guy was head over heels for her. Not that he'd been too worried then, since they were together and he knew that Camille was his. But now he sits up a little straighter and he listens a bit more intently to the message.

"Mrs Cargrew wanted to see the proposal for our new client, but I told her you'd just applied for urgent leave." Curiouser and curiouser. Camille, taking urgent leave? He wonders then, with a tinge of worry, what has happened, is it her family? "I told her you'd only be back next Monday so… just to let you know that it has to be ready for presentation then." A week away from work. That doesn't sound like Camille at all. He remembers how he always tried to get her to play hooky but she'd always laugh at him and shake her head no, before vanishing out the door. A week's worth of accumulated work. What in the world could make her take that week's leave?

There's a pause on Joash's side. "Thanks for the movie on Saturday." He stiffens a little then, Camille went out with this guy? He can't stop the insane flicker of hurt that he feels, or the stupidity of his thoughts that he has been replaced and she doesn't care for him anymore. How true could they be? "I really appreciate your friendship Camille. And… I know his leaving hasn't been easy for you."

He is quiet then, listening. "And I'll always support you, as your friend- that's my duty." He relaxes a bit then, knowing that whatever happened on Saturday, they're only friends. He hopes. He's pretty sure. Thankfully so. "Have a great trip. Let's catch up when you get back okay? Bye."

The phone clicks off but he's puzzled by that last piece of information. She's going away? On a trip? What kind of trip?

And suddenly he hears the click of the lock and he doesn't have enough time to think, to act, to breathe or to wonder why she's home so early, and he can only sit there and listen to the tapping of her heels on the polished floor getting quicker and quicker like his heartbeat- and there she is before his eyes.

When they break apart she realizes she is crying again.

She buries her face in his chest, and breathes in the smell that is so him, something sweet, of bananas and rainwater and she tries to stop crying, tries to make herself let go of him but she cannot. Somehow she just cannot bring herself to let go. She wants this moment to go on forever. And from the way his arms are tight around her, the brush of his lips against her hair, her temple and finally she pulls away enough to let him kiss her on the lips and she feels this inane sense of coming home. Or of coming up for air after swimming for a very long time. It feels like relief, it feels like joy and peace and all the good things combined and yet she cannot stop crying.

They finally let go of each other enough but he interwines her hand with his and they sit down and they talk. She cries. He tears. But they talk and talk until the sky outside gets dark and the city lights go on, until it is in the early hours of dawn and she falls asleep in his arms, tired out from everything but happy. And he holds her, and he thanks whatever gods out there that have let her forgive him and have brought them back together.

They spend the week together. They spent a lot of time in the apartment together, just talking about all the random things that have happened in the year, talking about anything at all. They wake up at 3am, sit with hot chocolate at the kitchen and discuss what to do in the future, how they can make this work. They sit on the couch together and watch Luke's film again and enjoy the feel of being nestled together, one unit again. They visit the Vault, much to the joy of the Pirates, and they dance- it's weird initially for her, she having given it up for so long because of everything that happened, but for him it brings new meaning for him to dance beside her, to dance with her. It takes a little more time before she remembers, and she hates herself a little, for having stopped dancing. She thinks, maybe it might have helped to release some of the hurt, she shouldn't have stopped but now, being able to dance again, better, to dance with him, is what she loves the most. They double date with Natalie and Luke, back in the city for a quick visit, the four of them going to a movie, talking loudly, making funny jokes and wandering around in the streets until its late and they dance under the glow of streetlamps until they fizzle into darkness.

And when the week is over, she feels like a lightning bug that's just been quashed, her glow fading a little even as she stands on the platform and fusses over his coat, trying not to look him in the eye because she's just so afraid of the question that stands between them now. What if it happens again? It takes her all her energy to look him in the eye, smile and say her last goodbye (and she's proud of herself for not letting her voice shake). And when she does she sees strength, belief, belief in her and him and them in his eyes and that makes her stronger a little, to know that they'll be okay, they can do this and they cling together for a while, drawing strength from each other.

When he leans down to give her a last kiss, its then that she can taste the promise in his lips, rather than a goodbye and it gives her hope that their future can be that beautiful.

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