[4 years earlier]

It had been a hard year. It was their first year after high school and they were supposed to be spending it together in some tiny shoebox apartment in New York. But instead, it was Hanna who lived in the small studio in Chelsea, while Emily was in school across the country.

Emily had been contacted a few weeks after they had moved to New York that someone had dropped out of the swimming program at Pepperdine University and they were prepared to offer her a full scholarship. She only had only received a partial scholarship to NYU, and the school wasn't known for swimming the way that Pepperdine was.

Knowing that Emily had always dreamed of being an Olympic athlete, Hanna encouraged her to take the scholarship. They knew it would be hard being apart, but they promised to see each other every two weeks and spend all of their breaks together. After all, what's four years when you plan to spend the rest of your life with someone? They had made it through hell and back with A, distance wasn't going to stop them.

But it did.

They had promised to see each other every other weekend, but both of them were so busy. Between school, work, and swimming, it felt like neither one of them ever had a free moment. Despite their best efforts, their plans began to change. Every other weekend turned into every month and then every other month leading up to summer break. They were both so excited for summer because it was the only time that they wouldn't be weighed down by their other commitments. They made plans to go to Europe together and spend the entire summer backpacking through foreign countries and finally really being together as a couple again, for longer than a weekend.

As soon as classes were out for the year, Emily packed her bags and was on the next flight to New York. She knew that she was supposed to fly in the following day, but she wanted to surprise Hanna. She had a voicemail from Hanna that said she needed to talk to her about something, but she didn't want to ruin the surprise and figured it would just be better to talk in person tonight. After all, the long distance had been hard on them and they desperately needed to re-connect.

She touched down in New York and took the subway to the apartment she had picked out with Hanna almost a year ago. Hanna must have still been at school or work, because the apartment was empty when she arrived. Emily saw Hanna's luggage packed and sitting by the door, which made her smile. Clearly Hanna was just as excited about the trip as she was. Although, she had a feeling they were going to spend the night re-packing, because rolling designer suitcases aren't exactly practical for train travel and youth hostels.

Emily made herself at home, because after all, it was technically hers as well. She sat down at their kitchen table and reminisced about when they bought it. It symbolized their future together; they both imaged themselves owning it forever and watching their lives and family grow around it. But as Emily looked down at the table, it looked brand new and unused. It took Emily a moment before she realized why the table looked so new, it's because it was. Emily tried to recall the number of times that they had actually sat together at it and could count them on one hand.

She began really thinking about their relationship and how little they had actually seen each other over the last year. Her thoughts were interrupted though when she heard keys in the door and Hanna speaking loudly into her cell phone. Hanna came in so distracted that she didn't even notice Emily in the apartment until she had hung up her phone.

"Emily…OMG, you scared me! What are you doing here?" She asked confused as she dropped her purse on the kitchen table.

Emily tried not to notice the slight alarm in her voice. "I was just too excited to see you that I couldn't wait, I took an earlier flight! I missed you…" Emily said as she pulled Hanna in for a hello kiss.

Hanna kissed her back tentatively, before saying "I missed you too….but did you get my voicemail…?"

"Yeah, but I figured it was about our trip and I didn't want to ruin the surprise. Why? What's up?" Emily replied.

Hanna sat down at the table next to Emily and explained that her boss had asked her to go to Paris for a month and work directly with a designer. This was a huge deal and something that almost no interns ever got to do. It was an opportunity that she couldn't pass up. In Hanna's mind, they were already going to Europe, so why not just spend the first month in Paris? After all, Paris is the most romantic city in the world and they'd have a real hotel room with privacy instead of a shared room at some run-down hostel.

Emily was disappointed but tried not to let it show. After all, Hanna had let her, and even encouraged her, to go to California to follow her dreams and that was the reason they were apart all year. So, she smiled and tried to make the most of it. They spent the rest of the night, making plans for what they wanted to do in Paris before leaving in a few short days.

For Hanna, the month in Paris flew by, but for Emily, it was torture. Hanna was always working and almost never around even on weekends. For the most part, Emily explored France alone. Not speaking the language and seeing all the happy couples made Emily feel even more alone. When Spencer came out for almost a whole week, Emily had hoped that Hanna would be around more, but Hanna only saw her twice the whole time. Finally by the end of the week, Spencer couldn't help but ask Emily about it. Emily explained to Spencer how lonely she was, but that didn't want to make Hanna feel bad, after all, she had supported Emily in her dream which would separate them for four years, this was only a month.

June was almost over though and Emily couldn't wait to get on with the rest of their European summer. One evening, while she was waiting on Hanna to get back from work, she got a call from her swim coach. He excitedly told her about an opportunity to try out for Olympic team.

The Olympics were next summer and the qualifying trials were in a few weeks in Omaha. Pepperdine was already sending one of her teammates to compete in the qualifiers, but Emily learned she had just been in a car accident and would no longer be able to compete, so he wanted to send Emily in her place.

Emily sat there frozen for a second, unsure of what to do. A part of her wanted to scream "YES" into the phone but another part knew she needed this time with Hanna. Not to mention, qualifying would be next to impossible given that she wasn't even good enough to have been selected in the first place. She politely told her coach she'd think about it and let him know in a few days. He was surprised she didn't jump at the chance, but said he understood. Emily knew she would have to talk to Hanna about it, but she wouldn't do it tonight.

Emily sat in the hotel room, stunned, and waited for Hanna to return. Today marked Hanna's last day on the job in Paris and they were going out tonight to celebrate. Hanna came home in a great mood and they spent an amazing night together. It was a night like Emily had hoped they all would have been. They ate at an amazing restaurant and sipped champagne on the rooftop terrace of their hotel, which had a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower. For the first time in weeks, they made love to each other in a way that finally made them both feel reconnected again.

Afterwards, Emily held Hanna in her arms and knew what she had to do. She would call her coach the next day and decline the offer. She needed these next few months with Hanna and she wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize that. The Olympics were her dream, but so was Hanna.

The next morning, they ordered room service and planned to spend the day in bed together. Just as they were opening the champagne for mimosas, Hanna's cell phone rang. It was her boss's ring tone, which Emily knew all too well.

Hanna went into the living room portion of their suite to take the call and was gone for longer than Emily expected. After fifteen minutes, Emily went looking for Hanna, who was sitting on the couch, just staring out the window.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked as she approached Hanna with concern.

"That was my boss…" She said as Emily shook her head knowingly, "She wanted to tell me what a great job I did with this designer…"

"That's great! I'm so proud of you Han." Emily interrupted.

"…and that she wants me to spend the rest of the summer interning at their headquarters in London. We would have to leave tonight." Hanna finished.

Emily's face dropped. She begged and pleaded with Hanna to say no, but Hanna's mind was already made up. She argued that it was the biggest opportunity she might ever get and it would lead to a full time position at the end of the summer if she did well.

Emily was heartbroken and infuriated that Hanna wouldn't even think of what this would mean for her and that she just assumed Emily would come to London, like she did to Paris. Emily then told her about the Olympic qualifiers and how she was going to turn that down for her. Hanna didn't seem to care though, because in Hanna's mind, she had already made a sacrifice for Emily's dreams, now it was Emily's turn to do the same for her. Emily argued that the Olympic qualifiers were part of her that dream, but she was still willing to give that up for Hanna.

They continued talking, mostly fighting, as the day went on. Before they knew it, it was getting dark and they were no closer to agreeing than when they began. It had turned into one of those fights that at times they even forgot what they were fighting about, because it became about everything they had ever done to each other and everything they ever were to each other.

Finally, an exhausted Emily gave an ultimatum "Hanna, if you go, I am not going with you, and I won't be in waiting for you when you get back."

"What does that mean?" Hanna responded confused and equally exhausted.

"I mean I won't be waiting for you. We'll be done." Emily said with tears in her eyes, "Hanna, I can't do this anymore…. We never see each other and it's clear we have priorities that aren't each other, and don't even involve each other any longer."

"I can't not go Emily. This is a big deal and I already told my boss that I would. I'll lose my internship if I don't."

Emily watched silently from the living room as Hanna packed. Just as Hanna was about to leave the hotel room, she turned to Emily, with tears now in her eyes and said "Em, we'll work this out OK? We always do."

Emily felt like she was watching the scene unfold from outside her body but was glued to that spot on the couch, unable to move or speak. After an awkward moment of silence, Hanna sighed and then exited the hotel room. Emily knew in that moment that they wouldn't work it out. That it really was over.

The sound of the door closing behind her, followed by silence, was so deafening that it finally broke Emily from her trance. As she sat alone in the hotel room, she reached for her phone and called her coach to accept the try-out. She then finished packing her own bags, and left for the airport.