A/N: Thanks for the reviews, faves, what not. Keeping them apart was like an impossible mission, so let's see where this goes, enjoy! :)

Day 73

Stephanie checked herself in the mirror one last time, unconscious she was even doing it. She smoothed down her hair, tucking one side behind her ear, shaking her head then shaking her hair out to give it that tousled look. When she realized what she was doing, she laughed at herself. She hadn't been this nervous over Chris since their first date.

Okay, so did she look okay? Why had she chosen to do this when her mother was so far away or her best friend? They were in Connecticut and she was stuck here in Denver, and she'd gone shopping for a dress, but she wasn't sure if it was too dressy or not dressy enough or even if it looked good on her. She had some friends who were divas for sure, but she just didn't feel comfortable asking them to go shopping with her, especially for a date with Chris. She wasn't sure she even wanted anyone to know she was dating Chris, wait, was this dating Chris?

She gave herself one more look in the mirror, scrutinizing her hair and her makeup and her dress, and wishing that she were thinner, but there was no way to change that now. She'd always been curvy, that's what they called it, right, curvy? What if Chris liked them stick thin or petite or blonde, but he'd asked her out, but she was his boss, was this like a pity thing? No, he said he wanted to kiss her, you didn't kiss people you pitied, unless you did, and she didn't know it.

She knew that Chris said he was going to pick her up at seven, and it was only 6:45, but she was so anxious, and felt so out of control, that she decided she was just going to go ahead and go to his room and pick him up. That made her feel a little bit better. She hated to feel out of control of any situation, so this would give her that little bit of control back. She gave herself one last once over, grabbed her purse, and walked out of the room. She knew which room Chris was in because he'd mentioned it to her when they were making their plans. He joked that they were practically already sleeping together because it was just down the hallway.

She reached his door in only a few minutes, and she stood in front of it for a moment. Then she licked her lips and just went for it, knocking firmly on the door. Chris answered it a second later, confusion settling on his brow. His shirt was half buttoned, but he was still looking very good. "Um, I'm pretty sure I was supposed to pick you up."

"You were, but I decided to pick you up, I felt more comfortable doing that."

He smirked at her, "So you're going to wear the pants in this relationship?"

"I think I wear the pants in every relationship I'm in," she countered, getting her confidence back. Then he smiled at her, and it was all lost again. "I just, I mean, I didn't, I hope I didn't make it seem like—"

"Stephanie, don't worry, I like it."

There was nothing to be nervous about, this was just Chris. It was just Chris, the man she dated for nine years, the man she lived with and loved, her longest relationship, the man she thought she'd spend the rest of her life with, it was just that Chris. How could 73 days make her a nervous wreck? Maybe it was because she didn't know what was going to come of this day or the conversation she and Chris were destined to have. All they'd said was they missed each other, and now he was coming to see her. That didn't leave anything concrete for her to dwell upon. It was just a vague promise.

Her phone rang, and she grabbed it, seeing it was her mother. "Hey, Mom, what's up?" she said quickly. Chris texted her that morning to say that his plane was arriving at 2:45, and it took about 35 minutes to get to the house, give or take, so he would probably be arriving within the next ten minutes if her calculations were correct, so this needed to be a short phone call.

"I was just wondering if you were still doing that dating thing," Linda said, and Stephanie had to laugh at her mom's choice of words.

"I don't know what you mean by that dating thing," Stephanie told her.

"I just know that you got set up, and I mean, if that guy was a dud—"

"He definitely was a dud, as soon as he found out that I was powerful and had a lot of money, he got intimidated so it was a really bad date," Stephanie told her mom succinctly as she walked over to the front room of the house, pulling back the curtains a little so she could see the driveway. Nothing yet.

"Well, I think I may have found someone that you'd like," Linda said. "He's the son of one of the other heads of the committee I'm on for the council of philanthropy, and he's a lawyer, corporate law specifically, he works for this great firm in New York, and she showed me a picture, and he's quite good-looking. He's that tall, dark, and handsome type, and you can never go wrong with that."

"I really, really appreciate that, Mom," Stephanie pulled the curtains back again, but still no Chris, "but after the whole bad date just last night, maybe I can hold off for a week or two?" Stephanie didn't want to tell her mother that Chris was coming because she didn't know what the outcome of this meeting would be, and she didn't want to get her mom's hopes up.

Her family loved Chris, they adored him to be more accurate, and when they broke up, her mother seemed almost as devastated as she was. Stephanie figured it was because Linda always felt like she was on the verge of getting the fairytale wedding she'd always envisioned for her daughter. Her father loved him for practical reasons, and Shane and Chris had been friends before Stephanie and Chris started dating.

"Okay, I understand," Linda said, "it has to be difficult getting out there after all this time. You kind of forget how to do it."

"That's for sure," Stephanie said, peeking again, but still nothing. "It's just…something new again, starting over, trying to find someone you're compatible with, and getting to know someone all over again, and it's all so overwhelming."

"It'll get easier," Linda told him, "I promise you that."

"I know," Stephanie said, "well, thank you for that, Mom, but I've got to make a couple phone calls, is it okay if I call you back later?"

"Of course it is, we should talk, I miss having girl talks with you, we don't do that often enough," Linda told her, and Stephanie agreed. Her mom was someone she could talk to about anything, and depending on how today went, there might be a lot she needed to discuss.

"Thanks, Mom, love you."

"Love you too, Steph, bye."

"Bye," Stephanie said, hanging up the phone. She walked over to the couch that sat in front of another window and plopped down on it. She kept staring out the window, wondering when Chris was going to show up. Maybe he had checked bags and needed to go to baggage claim, maybe he was renting a car and didn't hire a private car or something, maybe the flight got delayed (she hadn't been tracking it). There were plenty of reasons why he might not be here yet.

She found that sitting in front of the window wasn't doing her any good (it was like waiting for a pot of water to boil), so she got up and went into the kitchen. Chris would probably be hungry, and he never turned down one of her grilled cheeses so she starting pulling bread out of the bread drawer and cheese out of the fridge so she could make him a sandwich. He hated airport food so chances were he hadn't eaten lunch, and she hoped he would come straight here and not stop off for fast food.

She was just turning over the sandwich when her phone rang again, this time Chris. She scramble for it, almost dropping it in her haste before answering, "Hey, where are you?" she asked without saying anything more.

"Hey, Steph, look, I'm really, really sorry, but something came up with Fozzy, and I had to fly out to LA because we're doing this signing thing, and they wanted to talk to us about our next record, and I couldn't miss it since it's partly my band."

Stephanie's heart fell, and she was reminded why she made the hard decision to give this man up. She'd said she missed him, that she needed him, and he said he'd be here, and yet again, she was being ditched for a band. When had she started to come in second in his life? She felt so stupid thinking things might have changed over the last 73 days. Nothing had changed, nothing was ever going to change, and who the hell was she kidding?

"Okay," Stephanie swallowed down her anger. "You know, it's okay, you didn't have to come, just saying that you would meant a lot, and you know, maybe it's better that you don't come, I mean—"

"Stephanie, open the front door, I don't have a key anymore."

"What?" Stephanie nearly ran to the front door, throwing it open and seeing Chris on the other side. She couldn't help it, the tears were already starting as she threw her arms around him, their phone call not even ended. He hugged her tightly, burying his face into her neck. "But you said—"

"Nothing, and I mean nothing could have stopped me from being here right now," he told her, his lips, his words searing into her skin, and she knew why he did it, he did it to show her that even if there had been something Fozzy-related, he still would have come here to be with her, and that meant everything to her.

"I missed you so much," she said sincerely, her heart pounding faster just by having him near her. His familiar scent ensconced, and his hold on her was filling the ache she'd felt for the past 73 days. She tightened her grip around him as if letting him go would make him disappear. It only made him tighten his grip on her and they stayed that way for at least five minutes before Chris finally pulled away.

Her hair had been tousled in the running to him and the hugging, and he brushed it out of her face just so he could stare at it. So many nights over the past nine years he'd fall asleep to this face, but it was like he was seeing it again for the first time, even though he was pretty sure that even in her absence, she was still the last thing he thought about before he fell asleep. Her eyes were watery, a tinge of redness around the startling blue-gray.

"So I heard you had a bad date or something?" he said, making her instantly laugh and hug him again. "What happened? How bad could it have been?"

"He was scared of me after I told him what I did for a living. He got intimidated because of how powerful I was."

"You mean to tell me a guy got intimidated by you! That's never happened in the history of ever!" he told her, and she smacked him in the chest before hugging him again. She just needed to touch him right now. He rubbed her lower back. "Any guy that can't see how amazing you are is an idiot."

"Chris…"

"I'm the biggest idiot of all," he added, and she hugged him tighter again. If it was possible, she would never let him go, just attach herself to him somehow. "I've been an idiot, and it took me all this time to see just how big an idiot I've been."

"Don't flog yourself now."

"I should," he pulled her away again. "We have a lot to talk about, Steph, a lot. We have issues, stuff we've been ignoring for years, but maybe the time apart was giving us the ability to see with perspective we haven't been able to before. I think that maybe it was a good thing."

"So you're saying you still want to be apart?"

"No, I'm saying let's talk about things, let's sort this out, and we'll go from there, does that sound fair?"

"Yes, let's do that."