"No," she shakes her head.

"No? I haven't even asked you anything, yet."

"I am saving you the trouble," she turns, and unlocks the door.

"Please, don't leave."

"Why not?"

"I don't want you to leave, mad."

"Leave? We are in the bathroom. I am just going to go back, to my desk. If that's ok, with you."

"No, it's not."

"Why not?"

"I know how this ends."

"You're a psychic, now?"

"No, but I know you."

"Tell me, how is this going to end?"

"You walk out this door, you go to your desk. You say nothing to me, for the rest of the day. You fume. You will be angry at me. When it's time to go home, you will walk out of here. You'll walk away, and you won't come back. I know that if you leave, this time, it's for good."

"Sometimes, when something is broken, you cannot fix it. It is easier, to start anew."

"I don't want to start anew. You can't leave."

"Why does that scare you, so much?"

He looks at her. He peers into her deep chocolate eyes. He shakes his head, trying to formulate an intelligible response, before she walks out. Her words ring in his head. They feel like screws, being drilled through his heart. The thought of losing her, makes it hard to breathe. She was the only person, who could ever make him feel this way. She was the only person he couldn't live without. Why couldn't he just tell her that? It wouldn't be good enough. She wouldn't believe him.

"I am standing here, asking you, please don't go."

"And I am standing here, asking you, why not? I need a reason. Just one."

"I can't live without you."

"You have said that before."

"It doesn't mean anything, to you?"

"It isn't enough, not anymore."

"I am afraid that nothing I ever say, is going to be good enough."

"Maybe you should try."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Something worth while. I need you to give me a reason. I need something, to tell me, that these past five years, were not a total waste of my time."

He turns away from her, for a moment. She waits, knowing enough, to give him his time. He turns back around. He closes the gap between them. She tries not the react, as he touches her hair. She can feel him breathing, into her hair. He presses his face against her head, just above her right ear. "I want you. I need you," he whispers. He takes a step back, allowing her enough space to breathe. She doesn't respond. He continues, "It would kill me; to watch you, walk away, again. Do you have any idea what that was like for me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"When you left, the first time."

"I didn't care what you felt," she admits.

"And it killed me. I just wanted you back. I just wanted to see you again. Even if you hated me, I wanted to know that you were ok. When I saw you..." he blinks, and clenches his jaw, "I will never forgive myself."

"Forgive yourself? For what?"

"Making you feel like you couldn't trust me. If I had it to over again, I would have done it differently. If I could go back, and protect you from that pain, I would. I thought that he would hurt you. But... he didn't. He didn't have a chance to hurt you. I hurt you. I betrayed you. I caused upheaval in your life. I caused you to question who was loyal to you. I am the reason you went back to Israel. I am the reason..." he trails off, "that you nearly died, in that desert."

She shakes her head, "No. You're not."

"My actions caused you to leave."

"You didn't know what was going to happen."

"It doesn't matter. I had a part in it. Too, big of a part."

"You, are not to blame for what happened."

"Please, stay."

"I don't know if I can."

"I do not, want to go on, with you gone."

"Why are you so attached to me? I have brought you nothing, but misery," she replies vehemently.

"There is never going to be another you."

"You have lost partners, before."

"You are more than just my partner."

"Am I? I wonder. I can't stay, if nothing changes."

"I bought a ring."

"It's fake."

"Not the point."

"You knew that it was fake?"

"I didn't think that you would say yes. I figured if you did, you would want a different ring, anyway."

"You don't trust your own tastes?"

"The real one, I looked at... was too expensive for you to say no. It was non-returnable."

"Why did you get me a ring? We can't go from this; whatever this is, to that. Not with the snap of the fingers."

"Why not?"

"Because there are so many things, that neither of us..."

"I know. We are notoriously bad at expressing feelings. We give each other looks, instead of talking about things. I know that it takes a toll. I know that it festers. I know that. I want to change that. I know it can't be changed overnight. I don't expect it to be."

"What were you trying to fix, with that ring?"

"I just don't want you to leave."

"And you thought that would work?"

He shrugs, "I don't know. I just thought that you wanted something permanent. I wanted to give you something permanent. I wanted to offer you stability. I wanted you to know, that no matter what, I want you, forever."

"Oh," is all she can manage to get out.

"I can't promise you the world. There are a lot of things, that I am never going to be able to give you. I think that you should know, by now, that I won't make a promise to you, that I can't keep. I'm never going to leave you. You can run, and you can hide. This time, if you leave, I'll follow you. Wherever you go, I will follow you. I refuse to lose you again."

"What was so bad, about losing me?"

He swallows hard, "I finally found someone who understands me."

"I don't understand you."

"Better than anyone else. I found my best friend. When you are gone, I don't know what to do; who to be. When you're gone, it's like a piece of me, is missing too."

"What about the rules?"

"We'll figure it out."

"What if it can't work?"

"We have two options. Try, or, don't. If we do try, we might both end up hurt. We may both end up hating each other. Or we may end up happy. If we don't try, we will both be miserable. We will both regret, not giving it a chance. We'll die, never knowing, what might have been."

"Kiss him!" A voice comes out of nowhere. They look around the room. They look at each other.