A few hours later, MJ let herself into the apartment she shared with Ned. She saw him sitting on the couch, motionless, staring at the floor. An empty wine bottle sat on the coffee table in front of him.
"Ned?"
"What are you doing here?"
"I live here."
"What about your boyfriend?"
"He lives here too."
"Don't toy with me, Michelle. I really can't take it right now."
She came and sat next to him. The bitterness in his voice told her she had underestimated how badly hurt Ned was. If she'd been much later coming home he would have been out looking for a tall building to jump off of. The relentlessly chipper, optimistic Ned she knew and loved was nowhere to be found. This shattered, despondent version was all there was.
"Ned, I'm sor..."
"Don't. Just don't. You see Peter and it's like the last two years never happened. Like we never happened. Like I don't matter to you at all. 'Sorry' won't cut it."
"Peter's my friend and I was happy to see him. I ran to him and kissed him out of instinct. I should have been more sensitive to your feelings but I wasn't. For that I am sorry."
"You don't have to explain. You didn't have to come here. Go. If you want to be with Peter then go.
"Ned no. No, no, no, no. No. Look at me."
She took his face in her hands and turned it to meet her eyes.
" I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I don't want to be anyplace else. Falling in love with you is the best thing that's ever happened to me."
She leaned in to kiss him but her hands fell to her sides as Ned pulled away from her.
"I can't. Not with this hanging over us. Every time we argue I'll worry you'll run to him. Every time you're late I'll wonder if you're with him. I can't continue this relationship knowing you're in love with Peter."
"I'm not, Ned. That's what I told him after you left, he and I can never return to the way things were. I know there's no way I can prove it to you."
She held up her hand.
"You see this?"
"It's my ring."
"Actually it's my ring. It was given to me by the man I'm going to marry. I'm proud to wear it. I'm excited to become Michelle Jones Leeds. But if you don't believe me, if you don't trust me, you should take it back."
She extended her hand towards Ned with her fingers splayed. Ned raised his hand to touch hers. He put his fingers on the ring. MJ let out a choked sob as he started to pull it off her finger. He looked at the tears streaming down her face and saw no deception or deceit there. He pushed the ring to its rightful place.
"MJ, will you marry me?"
"Yes! Yes! Yes! I will marry you."
Finally they kissed and both knew their love would last forever.