So sorry for the delay! It's been a wild year...our house was unfortunately hit by one of the many tornados on April 2nd in the midwest. Thankfully, my family and I are unharmed, but our house sustained a lot of damage, so we'll be living in airbnbs for many months. It's been a crazy time, but I was finally able to sit down and write this chapter today and it felt great to do something mildly normal again :)

Thank you all for your patience and understanding! I hope you like this chapter.

Fall break slipped away faster than Alex had expected. Now it was Sunday, and the dread was setting in. She'd have to face her friends and all the embarrassment, scrutiny, and questions tomorrow. And worst of all, she'd have to look them in the eye knowing she never showed up that Tuesday, pills in hand, like she said she would. She'd gone radio silent - not by choice - but no doubt rumors had started already. Ugh. Why did life suck so much?!

But ever since her conversation with Jay at the Indian restaurant, she noticed herself thinking, albeit slightly reluctantly, about therapy - really letting herself sit with the idea for the first time, even if it made her uncomfortable. She mindlessly pulled out the airfryer, giving it a good shake, before shoving it back in to keep cooking as her mind drifted. Hearing Jay apologize for putting her in the cage, hearing him confess that he'd already been in therapy…it honestly sparked some hope deep inside. Hope that things could get better between them. This wasn't like life with her father, where hope didn't exist, just a dark abyss she'd never been able to climb out of.

The apartment door clicked open, ripping her from her thoughts. Jay stepped inside and tossed his keys on the table, relieved to see Alex still there. A bit of his soul drifted back into place as it'd done every day since the incident. She hadn't vanished and stayed all week. For once, there was something he could hold onto.

"What's for dinner?" Jay asked, rubbing his hands together and leaning over her shoulder. He could definitely get used to this.

"Fried octopus with a side of asparagus," she replied, setting plates on the counter.

Jay's shoulders sagged as his taste buds shriveled. "Uh…" He honestly had no words.

Alex smirked over her shoulder. "God, you're gullible. It's burgers and fries." She rolled her eyes. "Your favorite."

Relief hit him in waves. He stepped closer to confirm she wasn't bluffing. He'd already been adventurous with Indian food this week, and he definitely wasn't ready for octopus.

Within minutes, they were both sitting down on the barstools, digging into their food. Jay relished in the deliciousness - something about a home cooked burger just hit differently. Meanwhile, Alex took off her bun to squirt on more ketchup, causing Jay to chuckle. She gave him a playful glare. "What?"

"You won't eat tomatoes but ketchup is ok? You know it's the same thing," he quipped as he took another bite.

Alex sighed. "Jay, you're so uneducated." She gave his shoulder a condescending pat. "You probably think tomatoes are a vegetable."

He widened his eyes in mock horror. "Wait, they're not?"

Before she could correct him, his grin gave him away. She gave him a shove, and just like that, they slipped into a comfortable silence.

Alex soaked up the lightness of the moment, and after a quiet minute or two, she gathered her courage and knew that she needed to get it over with. She wasn't sure when Jay would ask her about therapy again, and she truly wanted to show that she was trying to make an effort, even if it made her uneasy. With a deep breath, she started, "I've been thinking…"

Jay didn't miss a beat. "Hope you didn't pull anything."

God, for someone with such a serious job, he was infuriating. She narrowed her eyes. "I was thinking," she repeated, sharper this time, "about therapy, dipshit."

That immediately caught his attention and uncertainty flickered behind his eyes. "And what were those thoughts?" he asked, careful to keep his voice neutral.

"Y'know… us. Going."

Jay blinked, then set his burger down carefully, like anything too abrupt might scare the moment off. "Yeah?"

She nodded slowly. "When you talked about it at the restaurant…it didn't sound too…awful."

Jay swallowed hard, sensing the vulnerability creeping in. "It helped me," he said, voice quieter now. "When I've had to go."

Alex hesitated, but asked the question anyway. "Why did you have to?"

Jay shifted in his seat, discomfort tightening across his shoulders. But he forced it down. She'd asked directly - he owed her honesty, at least in moments like this. He didn't answer right away. Not because he didn't want to, but because he knew once he said it, he couldn't take it back. And some truths still felt like open wounds, so he chose the most straightforward response that was still honest. "We're required to go after a shooting," he said, after a beat.

Something about the way he said it - quiet, measured - made her throat tighten. "You've killed someone?"

Jay nodded once. "Yeah."

Alex sat back in her chair, processing. Of course he had. He was a cop. He'd been in the army. But still - it felt different hearing it like this, from his own mouth.

She reached for her water, sipping just to give her hands something to do. "That's... heavy."

He gave a crooked smile. "Hence the therapy."

Alex rubbed her palms on her jeans. "Well… good for you." She rushed to clarify. "Not good that you, uh, killed someone, but good that you went to therapy. You know what I mean." Weirdly, the moment made her feel closer to Jay - was that weird? Connecting deeper with your brother because he'd killed people?! She shook her head, not letting the mind dwell on how messed up their lives were.

Jay was more than happy to redirect the spotlight. "So what were you thinking? About us going to therapy together?"

Alex shoved a fry in her mouth, buying herself a moment. "I guess I'll go." Before he could respond, she raised a finger and turned toward him. "But if it gets stupid or too deep or whatever, I'm out. I'm not committing to this forever or anything."

Jay nodded. "That seems fair. We'll only go as long as it's helpful for both of us."

"And another thing. I don't want you sharing any of our therapy conversation crap with Erin or Will or Adam or anyone."

Jay clocked the mention of Adam - random, but he didn't ask. Not now. "You got it," he said with a fake salute. "What happens in therapy, stays in therapy."

"And another thing…"

"Name it." He'd jump through flaming hoops if it meant she'd follow through.

She almost didn't say it. But if they were doing this, it had to feel safe. "I want a female therapist."

"Done," he said, without missing a beat.

Alex hadn't expected it to be this easy - that Jay would agree to her terms without a second thought. She'd anticipated more questions or discussion or something. But now all of this was causing her max out on her emotional vulnerability for the day. Time to back off. So she did what she always did - threw up a wall of sarcasm and ran away from the seriousness of it all.

"One more thing," she started, a small smirk forming. "You should come in a suit and tie," she said, the glint back in her eyes. "Really class up the experience and all."

Jay caught the shift, not missing a beat. "So that means you're showing up in high heels, right?"

Alex popped a fry in her mouth. "Only if you want me to break an ankle."

Jay shrugged. "Free entertainment."

"Then you'd be waiting on me hand and foot." She nodded toward his burger. "And you can kiss all this delicious food goodbye."

Jay glanced down at his burger, then back at her. "On second thought, don't you dare ever buy high heels. Got it?"

"Oooh, a dare…" she teased, wiggling her eyebrows like a cartoon villain.

They wrapped up dinner with more banter, the kind that settled easy between them lately. When it came time to clean up, Alex patted Jay on the shoulder, a smirk tugging at her lips.

"Good luck," she said, already backing away from the kitchen - because that was the deal: one cooked, the other cleaned.

And Jay didn't mind a bit. Real food was more than worth it.

Alex started down the hall toward her room, but Jay called out from the sink, voice casual but weighted.

"Hey. Thank you. I appreciate you making the effort."

She stopped, didn't turn around, but she let the words land. Soak in.

They both knew he wasn't just talking about dinner.

The distance between them hadn't vanished, but tonight, it felt just a little less far.