Thank you again to all the fantastic reviewers of this story! I'm truly sorry that I can't update this story more frequently than I do-I'm just incredibly busy-but if it's any consolation, I skipped my Drama lecture the other day to sit in my car and write part of this chapter. (But I did go to my Criminal Law tute a couple of hours later.) Aren't you proud of me? :)

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My life hadn't exactly worked out how I thought it would-it had been full of surprises. I thought I'd be a lawyer. I ended up dropping out of law school after a year, finding it completely stifling and unfulfilling. I thought I'd work my way up to career glory in the Secret Service. Instead, I resigned after breaking the rules and sleeping with a colleague. I thought the one thing Tony couldn't resist was sex. But here he was, pulling away from our kiss and disappearing into the kitchen for a few minutes, reappearing with two mugs.

"Hot chocolate?" I asked in bewilderment as he handed me mine.

"You may not know this, Kate," Tony said, sitting on the couch and taking a sip, "but I make the best hot chocolate in the world."

I sat down next to him and gave it a try. "It's very good."

We sat in silence for a few minutes as I pretended to be completely distracted by my drink. The one problem kept going around and around in my head, haunting me. I tried to bite my tongue for as long as I could but finally, I had to blurt it out.

"You do want to be with me, don't you?"

Tony turned his gaze to mine and looked at me seriously. "There's nothing I want more. But I think we should take things slow. I've missed you and I just want to be able to enjoy your company-make the most of every moment, remember anything I might've forgotten. Is that okay?"

I nodded, my mouth hanging open slightly. Tony seemed to have matured, despite his string of one night stands in the past two years. It amazed me.

"There's just one condition," Tony said, setting down his mug and taking my hand. "We don't give up on each other. We have to be in this for the long haul."

"I agree," I said, giving his hand a squeeze. "Which means that if we have any problems, we talk to each other about them. As hard as it might be."

"Deal," Tony said, pulling me to him.

My head was resting on his chest and I closed my eyes as he started playing with strands of my hair. I could hear the steady beat of his heart and I lay a hand on his strong, familiar chest, trying to fight the tears forming behind my eyes.

"I couldn't handle loosing you again, Tony," I whispered, keeping my eyes firmly shut in case a tear managed to slip out.

"You won't," he promised, kissing the top of my head. "I'm here."

I breathed in deeply-he smelled like Tony. The life I'd missed non-stop for the past two years. The life-dare I believe it?-that I seemed to have regained, with the promise of being even better than it had been before.

"Come on," Tony said, getting to his feet and pulling me up. "Let's go to bed."

I looked at him in confusion but he took my hand and led me to his bedroom. He scrambled around in his drawers for a moment before turning to face me.

"Here-your favourite," he said, handing me the top of his I'd always worn when I stayed over. I couldn't help the smile that formed or the tears that sprung to my eyes. I was a damn waterworks machine tonight-so unlike me-but by the time I had to look up at the ceiling to force the tears back, Tony had already left the room.

I changed into the top, savouring its familiar feel and scent, and climbed into Tony's bed. Our bed.

He returned a few minutes later in his pyjamas and joined me in bed. I rolled over to face him and he turned off the light, wrapping his arms around me. His lips brushed against mine-the softest, fasted kiss I'd ever had from him.

"Goodnight Katie," he whispered, his finger tracing my jaw line.

"Goodnight Tony."

And moments later, we were asleep.

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When we woke up in the morning, it was raining. We could hear it pelting down and the occasional burst of thunder as we lay in Tony's bed, his arms wrapped around me. Neither of us felt like opening the curtains to see just how grey the sky was-the darkness of the room seemed to be a pretty good indication, anyhow-so we stayed put in bed. We didn't talk much, we mostly lay in silence just enjoying the other person's presence. It was nice to have someone lying next to me, holding me. I'd spent two years trying to convince myself I hadn't missed it, but I had.

"This reminds me of a movie," Tony finally said.

I rolled my eyes but couldn't help the smile that formed on my lips. "Of course it does, Tony."

"Actually, it doesn't," he admitted and I propped myself up on my elbows, looking at him in surprise. "It's just been ages since I said that to you."

I smiled again and brought my lips to his, his arms pulling me firmly against him. In a lot of ways, I felt like I'd spent the last two years virtually devoid of any physical contact and although I'd never been a touchy-feely person, a part of me just wanted to keep on reaching out to Tony. To assure myself he was really there. To assure myself he would be there to hold me, kiss me and love me.

"Let's go out for lunch today," Tony suggested a few minutes later when our lips were no longer attached and my head was resting on his chest.

I listened for a moment to the heavy pounding on the roof and screwed up my nose. "In the rain?"

"We could sit inside at a little café. Order only hot food and drinks. Laugh at the people walking by outside."

"Even though we'll be one of them when we're trying to get to the place?"

"Come on, Kate," Tony whined. "It'll be fun!"

I had to admit, it did sound pretty cosy to sit at a little table with Tony and a plate of steaming soup. But I insisted he take me home first so I could shower and change, which he reluctantly agreed to. I looked at myself in the mirror after I'd pulled on some clean clothes and it was strange: I seemed to look different. Happier. More full of life. I looked more like the person who'd disappeared from my life along with Tony. After checking the time, I quickly ran a brush through my hair and stepped out of my bedroom.

"You're reading?" I asked in surprise, finding Tony sitting down with a book of mine.

"I do know how to, you know," Tony told me with a smile.

My eyes drifted to the title of the book; Lolita. Go figure. I was about to make a comment about this but I bit my tongue, grabbed my handbag and ushered us out my door. Something in me wasn't quite comfortable with falling back into our old bickering routine. Not just yet, anyway. I was worried one of us might somehow cross the line and then it would turn into a full-fledged fight. Like the one we had last night, or worse.

I left it to Tony to pick the place. I thought he'd have a place in mind seeing as he was the one to come up with the idea and I was right. It seemed like he'd be able to drive there in his sleep. It was an intimate café with modern décor-just the sort of place Tony would like.

We spent most of the time chatting about nothing in particular but our behaviour around each other was different to how it used to be. Tony seemed to be just as careful around me as I was around him, so not much bickering happened at all. Whenever we ate out before, we'd sample the other's food and fight about whose was better. But now, our hands didn't wander past our own plates. Neither of us wanted to irritate the other-we were on our best behaviour. And I was missing the teasing and the annoying DiNozzo moments.

He'd gone to the bathroom a couple of minutes ago when his phone, lying next to his plate on the table, rang. I picked it up and was about to answer it for him when I noticed the name on the screen. Jessica. Undoubtedly one of his Friday night hook ups.

Even though I must have realised at some point that Tony would be getting a few of these calls, it still took me completely by surprise. It was cold, hard evidence that what happened that night when I came to make up two years ago was still happening. My stomach tied itself up into thousands of little knots and my breaths felt short and harried. Could I get past the fact that this was how Tony had spent his time since we broke up? Could I forgive him for sleeping with someone just days after I'd put us on a break?

It felt like minutes had passed but it must have only been seconds because when Tony sat back down, his phone was still ringing in my hand.

"It's Jessica," I said, handing him the phone and trying to act nonchalant.

His face darkened for a moment and I expected him to ignore the call. Instead, he answered it.

"Jessica," he said.

I started fiddling with the napkin on my lap as I waited to hear what he said next.

"I'm good. Fantastic, actually. I'm seeing someone amazing and it's pretty serious."

Whatever I expected to hear, that wasn't it. I looked up in surprise and he was staring directly at me.

"Yep. I'm definitely not available."

Tony put his phone away and still continued looking at me, waiting for some kind of response. It was like he was asking me the question I asked myself earlier: could I get past all of this?

I looked down at my plate. I'd known the answer all along.

Picking up my fork, I leaned over and stole some of Tony's food before looking back up at him.

"Mine's better," I said with a smile.

Tony sampled some of my lunch and rolled his eyes.

"Definitely not," he declared, taking my outstretched hand in his own.

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Yay! Happy Tate! (For the time being, anyway.) I think we're probably nearing the end of this story, too, unless I suddenly decide to throw something else into the plot to lengthen it (which I doubt very much). So either enjoy it while this story lasts or be glad it's almost finished! And, of course:

REVIEW!

(Pretty please.)