Hello all! So very sorry that this chapter has been extremely delayed. Life just happens. So sorry. Don't worry, though, more chapters are coming! Please enjoy, and like I said in the previous chapter, don't get mad!

"Thank you for the lovely dinner, Rosemary." Elizabeth imparted as she turned the cold, metal knob of the door.

"Yes, uh, thank you." Nathan echoed, following behind the schoolteacher.

Rosemary smiled furtively, leaning against Lee, who gave a small wave towards the departing duo. "Anytime, folks."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows towards Rosemary. "Thanks."

Following Elizabeth, Nathan closed the door and cleared his throat, relieved to be out in the fresh air.

He looked at Elizabeth, who was beginning to descend down the stairs. She turned to meet his gaze.

"Well…" She started. "That was most certainly… Interesting."

Nathan looked down and shook his head, joining her on the second stair. "Yeah." He agreed, putting his hands in his pockets and gently swaying. He looked up hesitantly. "Could I… Would you like me to walk you home?"

Elizabeth trotted down to the ground and looked towards her rowhouse, which was only a few meters away. "Well, it's right over there. It's not that far."

"Ah," Nathan responded, feeling his ears flush red, thankful that the darkness covered them. "Right, sorry, that was silly to ask." He made his way to the ground and began to move away.

"Wait," Elizabeth called quickly, embarrassed that she unintentionally discomfited him. "Actually, I would love it if you could walk me home."

Nathan gave a surprised smile. "Alrighty then." He awkwardly chuckled and stepped towards her.

Walking in an eerie silence, Nathan tried to think of things to say. The strange sensations fluttering in his stomach were overwhelming. Sure, there were many embarrassing moments that had happened between Elizabeth and him, most of which kept him up at night, but he had never totally lost control of his senses.

Breaking the silence, Elizabeth stopped at the foot of her porch. "Before I forget, Rosemary wanted me to pass her apologies to you, after…"

"That."

Elizabeth nodded her head, unsure of what to say next. "Sorry you were placed in a situation like that. I'm sure you know that when Rosemary is on a mission she will never falter to achieve it."

Mission? Nathan elevated a brow and gave another chuckle, a little confused by Elizabeth's statement. "Ah." He watched as Elizabeth sat down on her steps and gazed out towards the sky, filled with bright stars that looked like diamonds. Her eyes glistened as she looked out. Taking a chance, he sat down beside her, careful to not come too close to her. "Do you see that group of stars? Brighter than the rest?" Nathan pointed towards the middle of the sky. Elizabeth peered to where his finger was aiming. "It looks like a sideway's 'M'."

"Oh! I think I see it! The five bright stars, Cassiopeia?"

Nathan put his hand down and smiled. "Yeah. Do you know the ancient Greek myths that go along with it? The constellation, I mean."

Elizabeth thought for a moment. "No, I don't think so." She looked over at Nathan. "Want to tell me?"

He grinned. "Sure. It's actually kind of a love story…"

"Oh?"

"Yes, between Cassiopeia and the other constellation near her, Cepheus."

"Her lover, I presume?" Elizabeth smiled. "'Unrequited Love?'"

Nathan chuckled. "No, actually. Cassiopeia, Cepheus' wife, was cast into the sky as a constellation for her vanity. But her husband loved her so much that he joined her in the sky to be with her, forever. He loved her so much that he would do anything…"

Elizabeth pressed her hands against the wooden boards of the stairs, seeing Nathan's hands laying half a foot away. His fingers were spread out, one lifting and going down after the other in a rhythmic tapping motion.

She realized that she had just held his hand for the first time today. The sensation was one that words could barely describe- warm, tingly, awkward… But at the same time, it felt right. Though she would never admit it to Rosemary, the fact that she had been set up with Nathan didn't bother her as much as she portrayed. Goodness, if Rosemary got wind of that there would be no end to her schemes. In that moment, Elizabeth reflected on what could be. As hard as she tried, she just couldn't picture herself and her son around a dinner table with Lucas. Something was off- no, missing. In the cool of the night, images of herself, Nathan, little Jack and Allie at the dinner table, holding hands in prayer began to form in her mind. That could be actuality if...

Elizabeth was jarred back to reality when Nathan asked her a question. She had been too deep in thought that she hadn't understood a word he said. "Sorry?" She asked.

"I asked if Rosemary was a regular sleuth or something."

"Pardon?" Elizabeth was so confused. A sleuth?

Nathan cleared his throat again. "I mean… You said that when she's on a mission she does not give up."

"Oooh! I see what you mean now." Elizabeth nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed that she had to ask him multiple times about a simple question. "What about it?"

Nathan smiled empathetically, a question in his gaze. "What… What mission is she on, exactly?"

Elizabeth's face flushed about fifty shades of red. She was relieved it was dark out. Elizabeth didn't think Nathan would ask her what she meant by saying "mission;" she concluded that he could read in between the lines and figure out what she meant for himself. That proved to be a hopeful fantasy. "Um." She gnawed her bottom lip, wishing she had never said that.

Nathan looked at her quizzically, noting her distressed appearance. "Is it bad?" He pondered aloud, fearing the worst. Was it a popular term of phrase he was tremendously ignorant to?

Elizabeth's blush deepened. Now how was she going to answer him now? She could fib, but lies never solved anything. Nathan was the last person she wanted to deceive. "No… It's not bad, I think."

"Then what is it?" Nathan was really intrigued.

"Oh… It's just that Rosemary may want us to…" She pressed her lips together and turned her head away for a moment.

"Um, what exactly does she want? Us to what?" Nathan coaxed, stomach growing hot, even more enthralled in what Elizabeth was saying.

Elizabeth tersely inhaled, frantically bumping her leg up and down on the ground. She made the mistake of catching Nathan's eye. Oh why, why, was he so handsome in the moonlight? "To get married." She blurted it out in a quick breath. She didn't have to look at Nathan to know he was blushing profusely. "And, um, I think that's why she… um… said certain things…" Elizabeth trailed off.

Oh. So that's what that phrase meant. Nathan figured Rosemary conjured up some sort of plan to invite Elizabeth to the dinner, which most surely involved wanting to pair Elizabeth and him up. But he didn't think her plan was to want them to have children together! They weren't even courting, much less married. How could he have been so dense? Now that he thought of it, Rosemary so clearly alluded that conversation to lead to marriage. "Oh." But he did remember her saying that it wasn't a bad thing...

"Yeah." Elizabeth was certain her face resembled a fire truck.

They both sat there in companionable silence, although it was awkward for the first few minutes, while Elizabeth racked her brain for how to start her next sentence.

She took a deep breath. "Nathan…"

"Hmm?" He fixed his gaze on her, resting his chin in his hands. Even if he had butterflies that didn't mean his face still had to be red.

"Um… About that date you asked me on," she smiled softly while looking into Nathan's baby blue eyes, which were appearing slightly alarmed. "I say yes."

She had done it. She had been thinking about his date request for a while now, ever since she thought he had been shot. Her heart had already accepted the date, but it took a little while for her mind to follow. During all her lunch breaks at school, and at night, she had made up her mind. Her heart revealed to her, little by little, that she had hugged Nathan because she was concerned for him, wholly for him and no other reason. No, to her surprise, she was not plunged into memories of Jack; she was full-throttle remembering all the times she had with Nathan. And she knew that she would never hug another man in the middle of a street if she didn't have feelings. It was as if Jack had given his blessing from above to Elizabeth. Elizabeth immediately regretted not saying "yes" when he first asked when she ran out of the mercantile with news of a shot wound. And then when Carson said, "he's gone," her heart sank to the pit of her stomach. She couldn't stand the thought of her second chance of love being torn from her. But when she saw Nathan walking towards her, she knew. And that new knowledge was only reinforced by Sunday's events.

Nathan's eyes went wide as he heard her words. A smile began to tug on the sides of his mouth, but it relaxed as his eyes fell to where her left hand was resting. The bands softly glistened in the faint moonlight, reminding him of the searing cut that went through his heart earlier that evening. The wedding bands. Jack. Her first love. Her love. Doubts began to slowly fill his mind, ones that he never thought of before. He pulled away.

She heard Nathan take an arduous breath. "Elizabeth… I..." He gave a shaky exhale.

Elizabeth studied him, confused with the obvious struggle. "Yes…?"

"It's just… I… don't know if I can do this. I mean, I thought I could, but I..." He stood, leaning against the railing. Nathan inhaled slowly.

Elizabeth looked at him, flabbergasted. His heart pounded hard as tears threatened to surface. "I don't think I can be who you want me to be, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth's mouth was hanging open as she got up and went to join him. "'Who I want you to be?' What is that supposed to mean?"

"You…" He gestured with a hand in the air, paused for a moment, and restarted his sentence. "I'm not like Jack, and never can be. You got the best and deserve the best and… I'm just not that."

Elizabeth's emotions of surprise were now turning into anger and frustration. "Why on earth would you say that?" Her voice was becoming more shrill by the minute.

"Because… because I'm a Mountie. And the prisoner transfer. You probably thought I was dead, which reminded you of Jack." Nathan's voice broke. Nathan had always been wary of Elizabeth and him having affections for each other, especially since her first husband was a Mountie. When she placed her hand in his, at the dinner, feeling her rings only planted a new belief; the belief that the leap of being with another Mountie would be too much to ask. She thought he was dead and it had affected her so strongly, and they weren't even involved! No, she needed someone that wouldn't remind her of the love that she once lost, without having emotions only brought up by memories. And he grudgingly thought of Lucas to be that man.

How could you think that? None of these feelings I have for you are ingenuine! Elizabeth thought, lips pressed together in a fine line. "You can't tell me who I want! I hugged you on my own accord." She stalked closer to Nathan, close enough to invade his personal space. "This has nothing to do with Jack. In fact, it was him who told me to open my heart. Remember when you asked me what's in my heart?" She paused, trying to search his hidden face. "It took my heart some time to figure it out. But I've never been so certain…"

Nathan tried to blink back the tears that were rapidly surfacing. No one had ever seen him cry. Eventually, though, the salty liquid silently streamed from his eyes. He brought his hand to rub them away, but Elizabeth reached forward and caught his hand. She pulled his arm down so that they were hand-in-hand, locked in each other's grasp by intertwined fingers. The heat of his hand made her go numb.

She watched as the tears helplessly steamed down his face. Hesitantly, she extended her other hand and brought her thumb to his face, wiping off a tear. Elizabeth's breath caught as she gazed into his blue eyes. They both stared into each other's eyes for a moment while Elizabeth allowed her finger to linger on his cheek. Elizabeth's finger felt like hot velvet. The moment was broken when he bowed his head, and she stepped back. As soon as Nathan pulled away he could still feel the searing heat envelop the area. Although they both receded, their hands were still held. Nathan peered down at their hands and dropped his.

"It's been a while since the prisoner transfer," She tried to catch Nathan's eyes. He was avoiding her perusal as he wiped any residual tears from his face furiously. "And if my feelings were created in that moment by thinking you died, then you're incorrect. If anything, it only further proved to me, again, how quickly life can change… and to throw away chances because of fear is absurd."

"You'd be better off with Lucas…" Nathan grumbled, averting his eyes from her. His heart broke at the very words he uttered. He had dreamed of this moment, longed for the day that the one woman he loved would feel the same way. But something didn't sit right… His head got light as he imagined the pain that Elizabeth would have to go through being married to a Mountie- again. She knew all too well the consequences that came with the lifestyle, the uncertainty of it all- no, he couldn't bear to put Elizabeth in that situation again. How could he be so selfish? To think only of his heart. No, he could never do that to the one woman he loved.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Elizabeth was so vexed. She felt as though she was reprimanding a naughty student. Nathan eye's flitted back to her, annoyed. "I would not be better off with Lucas. I. Want. To. Have. Dinner. With you!"

Nathan said nothing.

"You know what?" Elizabeth jabbed a pointed finger at Nathan's chest, something she never would have dared to do, but did. He was unmoved by the contact, and remained statue-like. But his heart was racing. "You know what, Nathan Grant? That's where you're wrong. And I'm going to prove it to you."

"Prove what?"

"Prove to you that I am not better off with Lucas." Elizabeth swallowed. "I'm going to personally tell Lucas I don't want to pursue a romantic relationship with him."

Nathan finally moved, placing both hands on his hips. "Elizabeth, don't be irrational. He can give you… More than what I can."

"Irrational? You're the one who's being irrational. Sure, Lucas can and has given me material things, but I know you can give me more than that." Watching how his lips pursed and eyes averted, she backed away from him and tilted her head smugly. "I hope you'll change your mind, Constable."

Nathan frowned, baffled. Hadn't he just given her the best solution in this situation? A solution that would leave her happy in the long run? He couldn't bear to see her in pain. Sure, it pained him to say "no," but it would be for Elizabeth's own good. Even if his heart would be broken in the process.

"What?" Nathan took a deep breath. "Elizabeth, you're the one whose mind needs changing. You'd be better off-"

"Funny." Elizabeth interjected, walking up the stairs to her rowhouse. "Goodnight, Nathan," she said in a sugary-sweet voice.

Nathan was still shocked when she closed the door.