"Did you request the week off?"
He'd been dreading her question all day. As a matter of fact, he'd dreaded it so much that he stayed around the office longer, giving himself more time to come up with a fitting excuse to tell her that he hadn't summed up the courage to do it; knowing it was their last day together before she'd leave again.
He had plenty of vacation left, that wasn't the issue. If pressed, he could have brought up the car wreck and needing a few days to move through the aches and pains. But that was a lie, because he felt fine.
He was fine.
And he wasn't.
His hesitation gave him away and Allison slowly got up from the large couch to meet him by the kitchen island that he decorated with a fresh bouquet of flowers- an unspoken apology he knew he'd need.
"Allison, this case…my team…they need me."
It sounded pathetic, like something he'd just come up with to cancel a dinner invite with the in-laws. But it was the truth.
She glanced down as she circled him once, then sat on the bar chair next to him, her eyes searching the floor below for answers.
"Aren't you always needed?"
"Yes."
Hoping to soften the blow, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest while he rested his chin on top of her head, exhaling slowly.
"So this whole thing was for nothing?"
"No, that's not true. It was…for everything.", he corrected and cocked his head to meet her teary eyes, "It was what we needed. And it won't go away just because you are…you know…leaving."
Upon his encouraging words, she straightened out and kissed him gently, before reaching for his hand and grasping it tightly.
"I'll be spending a lot of my time on the west coast, recording my first album. It might be months before I can come back here, Javier."
Months.
That was the word he'd been scared of the most. Despite his best assurances that this was going to work, what would months of separation do to their relationship that had barely taken off? In a world of constant change, how could they possibly keep growing what had happened between them over the past few days? Would it only take another good looking guy protecting her from frenzied fans for Allison to drop him like hot coal?
"And I will be here when you do."
Despite knowing otherwise, he'd put as much conviction as possible into his voice when he said that. But what did he really know right now? Freshly separated from Lanie, with his emotions a tumbling mess, he was dating America's Next Superstar and actually expecting for this to work out?
With that sort of faith he should have become the priest momma always wanted him to be.
"And you promise me you won't get hurt or worse?"
She sounded frail when she asked him that and he leaned down to kiss her once again, staying in place a few moments longer to relish her lips so close to his.
"Only if you promise me you won't turn into one of these crazed Hollywood people."
It did the job and returned a smile to her face in an instant, allowing them to forget about the looming departure.
"I'm crazed already…", she touted and reached for the back of his neck to pull him into another kiss.
That night he wouldn't leave her apartment until it was time to return to work.