Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who took the time to review the last chapter as well as those who requested this song by Demi Lovato. Hope you enjoy this latest installment.

In case
You change your mind, I'll be waiting here
In case
You just want to come home

Tori glances up at the clock hanging high on her office walls and shakes her head once she sees that only ten minutes have passed since she last looked at it. The days always seem longer during the winter and having countless piles of paperwork to file certainly do nothing to make them go faster. She puts the file she has worked on and stands up from her chair. Through the glass door, she sees her co-workers, some hard at work, others mingling. She opens the door, deciding to temporarily escape the suffocating space and socialize.

She is out of the office less than a minute when Keith Calvert, the office flirt, makes his way over to her.

"I see you decided to stop working so hard and enjoy yourself a little" he starts, his smug smile making her skin crawl. She puts on a polite smile and nods her head.

"Just needed to stretch a bit" she replies, her eyes darting around the room.

"I bet you're a flexible girl" Keith retorts.

Tori grimaces, her façade quickly fading, making her disgust evident.

"You know, you never called me back about that offer I made you" he continues, clearly not aware of her dismay towards him.

"What offer?" Tori asks.

"For a date. Remember our dinner and dessert date" he replies, moving his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry Keith, but I don't feel comfortable dating a co-worker" Tori answers.

"Don't think of me as a co-worker baby, think of me as the love doctor."

Tori furrows her forehead. "I, uh...I have to go" she tells him and walks away quickly before he can continue the uncomfortable conversation.

Not too far away, she spots Tiffany, one of her closest friends at work. The peppy blonde spots Tori instantly and waves excitedly, motioning her over to her desk.

"Hey Tiff" Tori greets her as soon as she reaches Tiffany's desk. She pulls out one of the gray chairs from the corner and pushes it closer to the desk.

"Tori, look" Tiffany says instantly. She extends her left arm and her hand nearly hits Tori in the face. Tori pulls her face back slightly and notices a small diamond ring on her ring finger.

"You're engaged!" she shrieks as she grabs hold of Tiffany's hand to look at the ring closer.

"Can you believe it? Tom proposed last night over dinner."

"Oh my gosh Tiff, congratulations" Tori says as she slightly gets off the chair and leans over to give the other girl a hug.

Once the embrace is broken, Tori retakes her seat and Tiffany gets started on the details of her engagement dinner. For the next twenty-two minutes, Tori forgets about the unread e-mail in her inbox and listens intently as her friend shares her happiness.

"I'm so happy for you Tiff" says.

"Thanks Tori. You're such a good friend" Tiffany says.

"You're sweet. I should probably get back to work" Tori says once she finally realizes how much time has passed.

"Okay. Hey, do you want to go out for dinner later? Tom is working late and I don't want to eat alone" Tiffany asks.

"Sure, just stop by when you're ready to go" she says and starts heading back to her office once Tiffany nods her head.

Making her way back to the office, Tori looks around, trying to avoid running into Keith again. Luckily, she doesn't spot him and manages to make it to her desk without being harassed. The small amount of joy she feels quickly vanishes once she sees the light emanating from her computer screen. She takes a deep breath and reluctantly walks over to the chair. She sits and stares at the notification message on her inbox informing her of the unread message. The bold letters have haunted her all day but she has not been able to bring herself to click on the message. Instead, she has read the subject line countless times: I miss you.

Those three words, the same she has waited months to hear, are not the cause of her anxiety. Ever since Beck walked out, ending their engagement, she has waited for him to change his mind and realize that they are better together than apart. She can't even remember why they stopped working but she knows that she misses him and wants him back. Why, then, is it so difficult to read his e-mail?

She slowly reaches for the mouse and hovers the cursor over the message. She closes her eyes and quickly clicks on his message before she can change her mind. As she opens her eyes, she sees the message and starts reading over his words, digesting every sentiment behind them.

Hi Tor,

I hope this message reaches you and that you are doing well. I know it's been a few months since we've spoken, and that's mostly my fault. There is so much I want to explain, a lot I want to apologize for, but it doesn't seem right to do it this way. I do, however, want to say that you have every reason to hate me. I was a coward and what I did to you was unforgivable. Running out on what we had is something I will regret for the rest of my life and I understand if you want nothing to do with me. I deserve to live knowing that I was stupid enough to mess up the best thing in my life.

Even so, I am hopeful that a small part of you still loves me. I have no right to even say that but it's the truth. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, about our life together. You're my best friend Tori and I hate myself for hurting you and shutting you out. If I regret anything more, it is that.

I miss you...every single day, I miss you.

I love you.

Beck

Tori re-reads the last two lines over and over, her heartbeat increasing with each passing second. She has been waiting for this for months and here it is. He misses her and loves her. This could be the first step to getting her life, and happiness, back. Tori exhales and stares down at her hands resting on the desk. She smiles slightly at the ring on her finger. Even after he walked out and her heart was broken, Tori couldn't bring herself to remove her engagement ring.

Moving the cursor up, Tori clicks on "reply" and types in his e-mail address. She sits still, blankly staring at the empty message, unsure of what to reply. She could make it hard for him and tell him every bad thought she's had over the last few months. She can express her anger and disdain towards him and her lack of trust that things can be restored. The harsh message pops into her mind, the words coming easier than she expected.

She scrolls down and clicks on the subject line. Moving her hands to the keyboard, she simply types "I miss you too" before hitting send. She may not know what to write just yet, but this is certainly a step in the right direction.