The loud buzzing sound of the intercom awakened Mike, evoking a frustrated groan from his lips.

He tore his eyelids apart, and rose to a sitting position. He wasn't expecting anyone, he thought as he stared at the front door from his position on his bed, where his room's door was left wide open.

The intruder was persistent, causing him to rise to his tired feet and make his way to the intercom. He pressed the button.

“Hello?” He rubbed his eyes.

“Hey handsome.” A smile immediately curved his lips at the sound of Judie's voice. “Wanna let me in so I can flirt with you?”

He laughed then. “Trust me, Judie, I wouldn't even want to flirt with me considering how messed up I appear at the moment.” He could imagine the sleep lines on his face and the state of his hair. However, he hadn't woken up with a headache for the first time in months because he hadn't drank himself to sleep the night before. There had been the urge, but it hadn't been as strong as it used to be. Maybe talking about his loss last night had helped? Maybe standing in the midst of strangers and spilling his guts out, helped him get rid of some of the weight he carried.

“Oh, don't worry about it, I'll flirt anyway.”

Mike turned to stare at his messy apartment, completely embarrassed at the thought of letting Judie into it. No doubt she would give him a long lecture. But, he had a feeling she wasn't going to go away either.

Groaning, he let her in. He stood by the door until she had made her way up the stairs, before pushing his apartment's door wide open to Judie's smiling face.

“Hey handsome.” She walked past him, halting in her tracks once she was inside the apartment.

“I know, it's a mess.” He closed the door and turned to her still back.

Dirty laundry, dishes, and empty cans and bottles of beer littered the living room, all the way to his bedroom. The mess hadn't bothered him in the past, but having Judie stare at it like she was staring at some sort of abomination, made him feel ashamed.

She turned around sharply, eyes wide. “Would you like to come shopping with me?”

It wasn't the response to his filth he thought he would get, but he nodded.

“Great. We're going Christmas shopping for the kids. You still have Santa's list, don't you?”

“Yeah.”

“Great.” She hurriedly made her way to the door and pulled it open. “I love you Mike, but I'll sit this one out... In the car downstairs.” She stepped out of his apartment. “And I know I can be pushy, but please give me a heads up the next time I'm going to be walking into... that.”

He laughed at the look on her face, before she slammed the door shut. He turned from the closed front door, and to his room where he changed out of his pajamas pants and into denim and T-shirts with a jacket. He found the list in the pocket of one of his pants, before making his way outside.

They drove to a toy shop, and while Judie seemed to be having a nice time shopping, his mind had wandered to Eden. It had been days since he saw her, since she confessed to loving him, before walking away from him. He wished he didn't let her walk away. He wished he had, in that moment, confessed to loving her as well. Rather than stand there and watch her cry, and listen to her speak of loving him like it was the worst thing that had ever happened to her, he should have pulled her into his arms and promised to be perfect for her.

But he hadn't done that. He had gone off on her for coming to get him out of jail, and had practically told her to leave him alone.

“So, when are you going to come back to finish up your hours?” Judie asked once they were done shopping, and they stopped for a break. She was munching on a hamburger.

“Maybe next week,” he said, nervous about running into Eden.

“You know she's not retiring or anything? You're still going to need to see her.” Judie watched him from her position across the table.

Mike glanced down. “Who?”

“Oh, don't play dumb with me,” she scoffed, and he lifted his head up once more.

“I'll resume as soon as I'm strong enough. The hospital agreed to put in a word for me, and the judge cannot force me to work seeing as I'm recov—”

Judie rolled her eyes. “How long are you going to need to recover?”

“Well, considering I donated a kidney only a few—”

“You know, I've had enough to eat!” She rose to her feet. “Wanna go home? Return to that mess, while you let the woman you obviously love, get married to a man she obviously doesn't love, in three days, because you're too much of a coward to tell her how you feel? Why don't I take you back to your apartment so you can cuddle with a bottle of cheap beer and swim around in dirty laundry?” Judie picked up her purse.

Mike opened his mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't form. His heart seemed to have stopped beating when Judie said Eden would be getting married in three days. It wasn't news —he scolded his silly heart— but it didn't stop it from hurting. It didn't stop the announcement from feeling like the countdown to his doom. It didn't stop the dreadful feeling from settling in the pit of his stomach, causing it to twist into a painful knot.

Unable to speak, he simply nodded and rose to his feet that felt like jelly.

Judie scoffed in annoyance, before turning sharply around and practically storming out of the restaurant. Mike forced his legs forward until he was settling into the car beside her, where a cold wall of silence had built up, separating them.

There was nothing he could do, he argued as Judie drove him home. He couldn't stop Eden from getting married in three days. And if he could stop her, he didn't want to... No, he did want to, but it wouldn't be the right thing to do. He wasn't right for her, not now anyway. He was trying to fix himself, but three days was too short a time to get fixed.

The car suddenly screeched to a halt in the middle of the road.

Shocked, Mike turned confused eyes to Judie, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.

“Judie?”

“You know, you are an idiot,” she was saying as cars began honking behind her. “You're an idiot for choosing to sit out your community service for a few more days. You're an idiot for not telling Eden that you love her!” she said through clenched teeth. “You'll be the worst idiot I have ever met if you let her get married.” She folded her arms. “And I can't ride with idiots. Go on, get out of my car.”

It was obvious to Mike that if Judie didn't get her car off of the middle of the road, she could get towed. It was also obvious to him, that if he didn't get out, she wasn't going to move the car.

Sighing, he took off his seatbelt, and opened the door.

“Men!” He heard her loud grumble, just before he slammed the door shut, and she sped off.

He stood in the middle of the road with two words on his mind; three days.