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MARLEY POV:

When I knocked on the door, Dan answered and his expression immediately melted from one of joy to one of concern.

"Marley, what's wrong?"

I stepped through the door and wrapped my arms around him. "I'll tell you later," I whispered in his ear. He held me there for a second, clearly concerned, and I had to fight back the tears that threatened to spill over again.

When he released me, he gently took me by the hand and led me into the kitchen where Phil and his girlfriend were sitting at the breakfast bar.

"Hey Marley!" said Phil, jumping off his seat to give me a quick hug. "This is my girlfriend Quinn."

Quinn stood up and shook my hand. She had short blond hair and perfectly delicate features. "It's nice to meet you," she said.

"You too," I responded. I felt a little awkward standing next to her. She was gorgeous; and I was… me. As if sensing my discomfort, Dan came over and wrapped an arm around my waist.

"Dinner will be ready in like five minutes," he said to everyone.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked.

"No, you just sit down and relax." He kissed my cheek and went back to the stove where our meal was cooking.

I took the seat that he indicated opposite Phil and Quinn at the bar. Minutes later, I had a glass of red wine and a plate full of spaghetti sitting in front of me. I was surprised at how good the dinner was; I had not expected Dan to be a good cook. Then I remembered all of his baking videos on YouTube and asked, "Is this a Delia Smith recipe?"

Dan and Phil both laughed. "No," said Dan. "We only really use her cookbook when we're cooking for YouTube. This is mostly Phil's mom's recipe, with a bit of my own twist."

Over the course of dinner, I learned that Quinn was American. She had gone to Yale University to study theater and after graduation, she went to London to pursue acting further. She and Phil had met working on a film called Faintheart. Quinn's personality reminded me a lot of Rachel's; though Quinn was more reserved, she seemed to have the same enthusiasm and general excitement for life.

When subject of our conversation turned to my background, needless to say, I felt a little uncomfortable. My life was not all that exciting and I managed to explain it only with a lot of umm's and uhh's. Thankfully Dan jumped in and saved the day by offering desert.

When Dan finished dishing the ice cream, Phil said, "I think we are going to go enjoy this in my room."

"It was nice meeting you," said Quinn, who smiled at me then quickly skipped after her boyfriend to his room.

"They are fun to hang out with but they could be a little more discreet sometimes," said Dan, rolling his eyes.

I did not respond, but just watched them disappear through the door. They seemed like one of the happiest couples I had ever seen. They finished each other's sentences and when they looked at each other, it was so intimate that I felt compelled to look away most of the time. The crushing realization that I had never truly had that kind of relationship reminded me of Jake's call earlier and it took everything I had to keep from crying again.

"What's wrong, love?" Dan whispered, taking my hands in his.

"I, um… It's…." I was unable to continue. My throat was constricting and my vision was becoming blurry.

"Come here," said Dan. He released one of my hands and held tightly to the other, pulling me off my chair and through the hallway of his flat. Are we going to his bedroom? As tempting as it was, the call from Jake had ruined my immediate desire to live out any of my fantasies about Dan from earlier. When we entered his room, he sat me down on the side of the bed, flicked on the lamp, and came and sat down next to me.

"Are you okay," he prompted. Reaching up, he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.

I looked down at my hands, unable to make eye contact with him. "Jake called," I managed to choke out.

It took Dan a second to respond. "And?"

"He said he wanted to get back together with me. He apologized for hitting me." I took a deep, steadying breath.

"I see. And what did you say?" I could hear the apprehension in Dan's voice.

"I said no…. But…."

"You thought about saying yes?" His voice came out in a barely audible whisper but I could still hear the hurt behind his words.

I looked up at him and nodded, tears rolling down my cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Dan." His face was painted with a million different emotions. I recognized a few as pain and confusion. It dawned on me that the pain could only stem from the fact that he truly cared about me; I felt a need to continue explaining myself. "It's just that we were together so long, it has been hard learning to live my life without him. You know? But after I thought about it, I realized that the only person I really wanted to be with was you. I wanted you there to help me through it. Not Jake. I think he just scared me when he called and that confused me and then I started thinking things that I shouldn't and I don't even know what was going through my head—"

"Shhhhh…" said Dan. Moving himself closer, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest, effectively stifling my babbling.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and said, "I'm sorry," one more time.

"It's okay, love. I understand. All that matters is that you're here with me now."

DAN POV:

I held Marley close to me; partially to comfort her and partially so she would not see the expression on my face, which I knew was contorted into a look of anger, hurt, confusion, and many other emotions that I could not name. Even though I understood how Marley felt, and she had said she did not want to be with Jake, I could not help but feel inadequate. Maybe it really would be good for her to be with someone who she was familiar with. Someone who really knew her. Someone who could get her favorite ice cream for her when she was upset. Someone she felt comfortable talking to about anything. Someone who knew exactly how she liked her coffee in the morning. Someone who knew if she even drank coffee. How could I possibly take the place of someone she was with for so long? How could she possibly love me when I really did not have anything to offer?

But as Marley's sobs quieted down and we sat there locked in an embrace, I realized that even though I was not worthy, I still had to try. I vowed to myself that I would not let her go. I would not let that bastard who had punched her in the face take her from me.

As I made my resolution, I looked down at Marley to see she had fallen asleep. I immediately felt sympathy for her and her situation. She must have been exhausted from everything she had been through today. I carefully scooped her up in my arms and laid her down on my bed, placing a pillow under her head.

Pausing for a second, I gazed down at her. She looked sweetly angelic with her long brown hair pooling around her face and flowing over her shoulders and her chest rising and falling gently. Was it wrong of me to let her sleep here? The last thing I wanted was for her to feel uncomfortable should she wake up to realize that she was sleeping in a stranger's bed. But I did not want to wake her from her much-needed rest. And she had spent the night in my apartment before. Grabbing an extra blanket from my cabinet, I carefully draped it over her and decided to let her sleep. I wrote a brief note, placed it next to her, and walked into the living room.

I had planned to sleep on the couch, but I was restless. Thoughts of insecurities, of Marley asleep in the room next to me, of psycho ex-boyfriends, of her bell-like laugh whirled around in my head, taking turns occupying my mind. A few times throughout the night, I got up to check on Marley. Every time I peaked thought the door, I breathed a sigh of relief to see that she was sleeping peacefully. My conscience assuaged, I would return to the couch only to have recursive thoughts return.

Exhausted, I finally managed to fall into a dreamless sleep in the early hours of the morning.