A/N: Hopefully this chapter is up to par. I was up almost all night completing it so if there are mistakes, PLEASE let me know, I'm too much of a perfectionist for my own good. Anyways this might seem like it's a bit rushed and I'll admit that it probably is, but when I have writer's block I tend to kind of skip ahead and ignore the timeline of events. Anyways, hopefully it's not too rushed because I did add in a little mean surprise at the end which will kind of take away some of the speed of the story (which was what I wanted). Okay sorry for rambling, enjoy the chapter!

"Stella!" Musa hollered once she stepped inside the Solarian castle.

"Hehehe what?" Stella, bubbly replied although Musa could see the worry that filled the blonde fairy's eyes.

"I can't believe you would do that to me," Musa growled, her jaw was clenched and her eyes dark with fury.

"Do what?" Stella let out a nervous laugh, hoping that Musa didn't really think that Stella had done that on purpose.

"Don't even feign innocence," Musa warned, her finger pointed at Stella, "you tried to set me and Riven up and don't you dare lie to me."

"I…" Stella trailed off.

"Stella, I swear, you make me so arghhh!" Musa burst out and stomped past Stella on her way to her room.

"Don't say thank you or anything," Stella pointedly stuck her tongue out and huffed away to her own room that was on the opposite side of the castle.

"Home sweet home," Riven sighed as he walked into his apartment.

Who ever would have thought that Riven would live in Solaria? Granted, it was the apartment that his agency had given him when he was on an assignment and they had continued to pay rent on it because it had all of his equipment housed in the apartment. Obviously they would be willing to shell out the monetary amount due to Riven being their best agent they had.

Riven walked through the hallway that led to his room. He reached the doorway and opened the wooden door. Although his main apartment had been trashed, his current apartment was clean and mess free, mainly because he hadn't lived there in about five months since his last assignment ended.

He had once dreamed of bringing Musa to this apartment because of the beautiful ocean view. He knew just how much she loved the ocean for its music and sounds that she was so inspired by, but that had been a year after they had broken up and he had had his first assignment with the apartment as his base.

Riven walked over to his bed, sat his butt down onto the plush mattress and slid off his shoes, massaging his aching toes in the process. His head picked up and he turned his ear to the side as a faint knocking sound could be heard from outside his room.

He heavily sighed; cursing the timing of however was at his door since he was just beginning to get comfy.

He reached his arm out for the handle to the door and couldn't help but have surprise leak through his features when he saw the person that stood before him.

"Um, hi," the petite female quickly brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. He could see the tomato red seep into her cheeks and knew that if he could only touch them his hand would be burnt from the heat that was there.

"What are you doing here?" his eyes narrowed in suspicion, his voice slow and steady and his hand cautiously gripping the door.

"Um, well…" the girl trailed off, her feet shuffling in front of her and her hands twisting and wringing behind her back, "can I come in?" her voice wavered as she searched through his eyes, hoping to get an idea of what he was thinking.

"I guess," Riven muttered, still a little bristly due to the events that had played out a few hours before. He swung open the door a little wider so that the nervous girl could shuffle through.

"This is a beautiful apartment," the girl said, hesitantly tucking a strand of hair back behind her ear. She pocketed the white strip of paper that had the address on it which she had to pry out of Brandon's mouth, that hadn't been a fun chore to do.

"Thanks," Riven looked at the girl with questioning eyes.

He took a step towards her, careful to keep space between them, but enough so that he could hear her better as her voice was faint.

"Riven, I…" the girl's melodic voice trailed off, and once again a piece of black silky hair slid out from her ear. He could feel the urge to caress that piece of hair and tuck it back for her, but he had to remind himself that those days with Musa were over.

"You what?" he grumbled, a little harshly and he could see her flinch as her eyes closed and her body tensed.

"I wanted to apologize," Musa raised her head to look him in the eyes and he could see that she was being completely genuine.

"For what?" Riven titled his head to the left and his eyebrows furrowed as if he was trying to remember something that she did wrong.

"For earlier today in the club. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, I know it wasn't your fault. Stella was the one who had set us both up and yet I took my anger at her out on you and I just wanted to say sorry for that," her hands clasped together in front of her torso and a pleading look replaced the apathetic glint in her eye.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you either," Raven confessed, he hung his head in shame, knowing all too well that this conversation had been had before. It was almost like déjà vu. She had always been the one to apologize if something went wrong, granted it took a while for her because she was so prideful, but at least she tried. He had never put in an effort to apologize or admit his mistakes, it's not that he didn't want to, it was more that he couldn't.

"Are you apologizing?" Musa's heart raced and thumped in her chest, she could feel it whacking itself against her ribcage. She couldn't even remember the last time he had said he was sorry to her.

"I guess I am," he nodded solemnly.

"Well thank you," Musa returned the nod and gave a quick glance around his apartment, taking in her surroundings.

Before Riven knew what he was doing or saying he impulsively opened his mouth.

"Do you want to stay for a drink? We could make some popcorn and watch a movie, like old times?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.

He could see the confusion and suspicion well up in Musa's eyes.

Her heart was pounding and her mind was racing, she was unsure of how she should respond.

"Okay," her melodic voice filled the air, surprising both of them as they met each other's eyes.

This was the first time that they would spend any real time together since the night they broke up five years ago.

The thought both terrified and frightened Musa, who had long since buried her feelings for Riven, but could feel them, resurfacing with every time that she saw him.

He could feel the knots in his stomach and let the dizziness and nausea sink into his head.

This was the first time that they had spoken to each other without wanting to rip the other's head off.

Riven soon returned to the living room with wine and movie theatre buttered popcorn. He popped in a random movie and sat next to Musa on the couch, making sure there was plenty of room in between them.

"So, this is your apartment? I thought your ex trashed it," Musa turned to face Riven after a few minutes of awkward silence compounded the apartment.

"This is an apartment that I use that the Magix government funds that was originally used for my assignments. Now I sleep here when I have an assignment in Solaria and I also house most of my equipment here," Riven turned his head towards her to reply to her question.

Musa could feel the tension through the air and had no doubt in her mind that if she had a knife in her hand she could cut through it like butter.

She could feel a question that had been buried for five long years begin to bubble up to her larynx.

"So," she paused, trying to force the question from coming up, but ultimately giving in, "why did you do it?" her voice trailed off into silence and her head shot down so that she was looking at her toes.

Riven's eyebrows raised in confusion.

"So what?" he softly replied.

"Why did you cheat on me? I want to know. I've heard all about how it was my fault and such, but somehow I don't think that was the reason why. I would understand if you said that you weren't happy, but I just kind of never really knew I guess," Musa rambled, her heart sinking with each word that came out of her mouth. She finally lifted her head to steal a quick glance at the man sitting next to her. His body was frozen and his shoulders were straight with stiffness. Silence hung in the air and Musa was almost positive she could hear the waves lapping at the sand at the beach which was a good mile away from them, then again she always did have amplified hearing. She began to twiddle with her fingers, not really sure what else she should do to cure the awkwardness.

"I'm sorry for asking," Musa began to apologize.

"No, you have a right to know," the man beside her finally said. He released a huge sigh and Musa saw his shoulders begin to slump.

Riven reached up with his hand and ran his hand through his magenta colored hair, still unsure of what he was going to say, but going for it anyways. After all, he had waited for this moment in which he could tell Musa why he did what he did, that he was sorry, that he still loved her and that he wanted her back, that she was always on his mind, that he really didn't know why he did it and that he hoped she could forgive him. Talking had never been easy for him, but he say his chance and he was going to take it because if Red Fountain had taught him anything it was always take the chance while it is given to you otherwise it could be gone within a second, so he sucked up his pride for the love of his life.

"I'm not going to lie to you," Riven began.

"Well I hope not," Musa cut in, rolling her eyes slightly and sending him her signature teasing smile.

He could feel the hard thump of his heart ramming into his sternum, trying to find a way out and into Musa's hands.

"I don't really know why I did it. I was happy with you. You have no idea how happy I was with you," Riven murmured, remembering his fondest memories of the two of them together, riding his motorbike, fighting alongside each other and sitting on the beach just talking, "Who am I kidding? You never knew because I never told you."

"Well I wasn't any better at telling you," Musa softly chimed in.

"I guess I'm afraid of commitment. That's all there is to it. It was never your fault. I know that we fought a lot," Riven continued on after Musa's comment, "and I know that it took a toll on our relationship, but the way I say it was that our fighting was almost like us trying to tell each other we loved each other. I actually almost enjoyed the fighting so it wasn't even your fault. I guess I didn't want to hurt you one day so by not wanting to hurt you I wanted you to break up with me, by hurting you. I don't know what I was thinking. Keep in mind that I was younger and less experienced back then, though that's no excuse for hurting you. I guess I was just hoping that you'd break up with me before I could hurt you because I was afraid of hurting you, but I'm a hypocrite. Sorry for not making much sense, since it doesn't make much sense to me to want to lose the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Riven paused as he scooted a bit closer to Musa and took her hand in his. He was met with a little bit of hesitation and resistance, but ultimately gained the right to feel her soft skin in his own palm.

"I hurt you because I was afraid of hurting you. I was a little more than upset to begin with at that party because I had been thinking about being afraid of hurting you and being afraid of a commitment to you. I was afraid of a commitment because I was thinking that I would eventually hurt you if I made a commitment to you. I'm so sorry for being repetitive, but I just can't think of a way to explain anything."

"I understand, you've never been one to talk and I'm surprised you're talking so much now," Musa nodded, her eyes filled with curiosity as to what was to come next and understanding. She was finally getting her answers and it felt like a weight was being lifted off her shoulders as relief from finally knowing and understanding washed over her body.

"Anyways, I started talking to that girl, and I'll admit that I don't even remember what her name was. I was impulsive and I quickly decided that I'd rather you break up with me than me hurt you later on when you were really attached, although my stupidity kept me from seeing that you were as attached to me as I was to you. I was so attached and so afraid of messing up…" Riven trailed off in thought, "so I did the unthinkable, I decided to bed that girl and then you walked in on us. The moment I saw you, I could feel my heart ripping in two and forcing itself out of my chest. I couldn't breathe and yet my stubbornness kept me from properly apologizing. At first I had gotten down on my hands and knees to beg for your forgiveness, but I soon realized that what I had set out to accomplish, had done the complete opposite. I had hurt you so much and I soon started blaming myself and then blaming you and releasing my anger on you which wasn't fair at all," Riven bit his lip, his hand still clasping Musa's hand lightly.

He could feel a reassuring squeeze coming from her own hand and she nodded at him to continue on if he had more to say, which he really did.

"After we broke up, I thought I would be relieved, but instead it was like a piece of my soul had burned away to ashes and I honestly had no clue what to do with myself. I couldn't look at myself and I couldn't even bear to be myself. I tried to find you, but you had disappeared for a while. I decided to better myself, get into something that was honorable which is when I started working for the government. I wanted to be a better person, maybe so that one day when I saw you again I could finally talk to you and tell you everything, but I've never been good at talking," he sheepishly smiled.

He stole a quick glance at Musa who he saw was listening intently and hanging on to each and every one of his words.

"I saw you on TV and listened to you on the radio once you became a big superstar. By then I had convinced myself that I really hadn't loved you. I don't like to admit it, but I think it was because I was trying to hide the fact that I had hurt you and that I cared because it would have torn me apart to be in that much anguish. When I told you that day that I had never loved you, I couldn't retract what I had said, I didn't know how and why would you believe me after I heartlessly cheated on you? I began to resent you, but I think it was more of me resenting myself for everything I did to you, but projecting it as me resenting you. When I first saw you at that first meeting or reunion, as it was kind of both, I could feel those old feelings resurface and with each interaction, even the fighting, those emotions just kept making their way to the surface. Musa, I can't deny it any longer, I love you with all of my being. I've fought it for so long and I've been afraid for so long of hurting you and so afraid that I would mess everything up. Unfortunately for me I did mess it up, I hurt you and I broke you. I don't know how I even live with myself, but I just want you to know that I am so sorry for what I've done to you. You never deserved it and you still don't deserve it. I only wish that you could somehow forgive me," he turned to fully face her and cupped her chin with his free hand.

"I love you Musa, you are my world and I'm so sorry that I never told you that. I never knew how to tell you and I just figured that you knew or that you could figure it out for yourself, but now I know that I was wrong. I've missed you. I just want you to forgive me for hurting you so badly. I…I do want you back, but I know that that's a stretch. I've always dreamed of bringing you to this apartment with the ocean view and telling you how much I love you and now you're here… I really do love you Musa. You are perfect for me," Riven whispered.

He breathed a sigh of relief, his head was pounding and he quickly remembered that he never talked that much nor did he ever usually tell his feelings so freely, but he knew that it was his last chance to get through to Musa. There was no other way and he had to swallow his pride and somehow get the words out to her.

She shifted closer to him and their noses almost touched, his hand was still providing heat to her chin and his hand was lightly stroking her own hand. She found his eyes and stared deep down into them, trying to see if he was being completely genuine, but she could find no deceit in them.

She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She finally had her answer and although she was still hurt, she felt almost whole once more, the hole where her heart had been ripped out by his infidelity was a little bit smaller.

He took his chance while her eyes were closed and leaned in further so that instead of their noses, their lips touched.

Her eyes opened in surprise, but she didn't pull away and he took it as a sign to continue. At first it was an innocent kiss, their lips slightly brushing each other, but soon Riven reached around to caress her head and run his fingers through her long, silky dark hair. He pressed her closer to him and she could feel their beating hearts trying to find each other and becoming rhythmically in sync. Her own hands reached behind his neck and small tufts of his magenta hair brushed against her fingers. She had forgotten how soft his hair was.

His lips began to press harder into her own and she could feel his tongue push against them, begging for entrance which she obligingly gave. Their tongues danced together as if waltzing to a midnight sonata.

She could feel herself lose herself in the kiss. All the memories of their past seeped into her brain and she couldn't focus on any of them. Her eyes snapped open and she pushed him against his chest away from her, breaking the kiss and contact with each other.

"I…" Musa shook her head.

"What?" Riven asked, trying to pull her closer to him only to be met with resistance. His eyes filled with worry that he had taken the chance for nothing, that he had failed to get through to her.

"I can't do this," Musa stuttered, "I'm sorry," she jumped up from the couch, grabbed her bag and ran out the door. Riven stayed still as he heard the slam from the door.

He could feel his heart, once again, splitting in two.