"So, today's our last session. You think you're ready to go home?"

Staring at Dr. Sullivan through her thick rimmed glasses, uncertainly and a nervous excitement bit into my stomach.

"Do you think I'm ready to go home?"

Sighing, Dr. Sullivan leaned forward in her chair and set her unwavering hazel eyes on me.

"Leah, when you first came to see me, you were extremely unstable. You couldn't focus on anything because you weren't sleeping and it was all you could do to not flinch every time a noise went off around you. You were scared, beaten down, and very, very lost in life and who you were as a person."

A small smile cracked onto Dr. Sullivan's thin lips before she spoke again.

"That's not the same girl sitting in front of me today. You've made so much progress in such a short amount of time that I'm almost in awe of your level of perseverance and determination. You've broken down barrier after barrier set inside of your mind and faced most all of the fears you came in here with and we both know the reason you've been so dedicated to therapy and pushed yourself to recover as fast as you could."

Kaleb.

My heart raced and seized in my chest just as it did every time Kaleb was mentioned. I missed him so much it had become painful to even think his name let alone consider the fact that whenever I did come home, he very well may not be waiting with open arms.

It was apparent that my internal trepidation had etched onto my face with Dr. Sullivan's next set of unprompted words.

"It's okay to be scared to go home, Leah. Fear is very natural part of life but as we've talked about and worked on, you can't let that fear consume you and run your life like it has for so long already. Fear is simply an emotion, not a dictator. It doesn't control your life, you do."

Letting a shaky breath rattle through my lungs, I ran a trembling hand through my hair and aired out the question that had been overwhelming every single one of my thoughts since the day I left town.

"What if he's moved on?" My voice was barely a whisper as I voiced the question that set my stomach into a nauseating swirl every time it crept into my thoughts.

"Then you move on," she said without missing a beat. "It would be a blow for sure but you have my number, I'm sure your dad would love to have you back up here with him for a while longer and you would move on too. You would move on from that chapter of your life and start a brand new one with all of the tools we've practiced and you'd be the center of that chapter for once. That could honestly be a good thing for you, Leah."

Crushing disappointment washed through every pore in my body and I could almost feel my heart plummet into the frigid, empty concave of my chest.

"But," Dr. Sullivan continued, her kind features twisting up into a look of knowing warmth. "If he's anything like you've described and risked as much for you as he has and gone to all of the lengths that only a man crazy enough in love with a woman would go to... then I don't think you have anything to worry about, sweetie."

My stare locked with hers, a smile playing at my lips for what seemed like the first time in a long time. Her confident words and the mere thought of being back in Kaleb's protective, loving arms after more than three months sent the most powerful jolt of giddy excitement rushing through my veins.

God, I missed looking at his handsome face every day. I missed his smile which could warm me through and through. I missed his little, sarcastic quips in which he would throw into any conversation.

I missed everything about him to the most longing degree that one could.

The burning ache settled deep within my heart mixed with the hopeful glee that was radiating off of Dr. Sullivan and into me left me with only one, pivotal conclusion.

"I guess I'm going home."

*******

Within the next 24 hours, my bags were packed, I had given my goodbyes to my dad with promises of a Christmas visit, and was on my way back home.

Back to Kaleb.

By the time I reached Kaleb's apartment, I was exhausted, my back ached from sitting so long, and all I wanted to do was to fall into Kaleb's familiar hold and drift off into a dreamless sleep.

But he wasn't there.

I worked up every bit of nerve I could muster, got myself and my terrified heart prepared for what would come of seeing him after so long and how he would react and all almost threw up twice from nerves before forcing my knuckles to rasp against the apartment door.

All to have him not be home.

I knew I could wait for him to come home but, now, actually being in the same town as him and knowing that I could finally see him with just a short drive, I couldn't bare waiting another minute. I knew if he wasn't here, he would most certainly be at the bar.

Not but 15 minutes later, I set my car in park as I took in the familiar outside decor of the bar that Kaleb worked in and felt every shred of apprehensive fear loop its way back into my stomach and suddenly, I found it rather difficult to move.

He had to be here.

Rhythmic drumming sounded through the small space in my car as my fingers tapped relentlessly against the dashboard. The amount of nerves I could feel bustling around inside of my body was enough to bring every ounce of nausea back as my stomach flipped and churned as my anxiety began to get the better of me.

"Okay, Lee. Just...breathe," I instructed myself, mentally going through every step that Dr. Sullivan had taught me into overcoming a potential panic attack by myself before settling that I was as calm as I was ever going to be and there was no sense in waiting another minute.

It was just past seven o'clock on a Friday night so the place was healthily packed. I pushed my way through hordes of people, hearing a slew of subtle curses tossed my way at my rudeness until I finally reached the front of the bar and my eyes greedily searched for the mess of curly, black hair behind the counter.

Instead, all I saw was a styled wave of blonde hair moving around with purpose as she filled drink order after drink order.

I recognized her as Trish, the female bartender that hit on me when Kaleb first took all of us here.

"Holy shit, Leah?!"

My lips ticked and stumbled up into a slight smile as her eyes fell onto mine and instantly recalled who I was.

"Yeah," I sighed with a light chuckle as I took in her astonished expression.

"Oh my god, you're back! Does Kaleb know?"

"I, um, I was actually hoping to find him here."

"Oh shit, no!" she exclaimed, her light blonde eyebrows dipping in frustration.

"He just left! Like, you literally just missed him."

Disappointment washed through my body as her words hit my ears.

"Oh, okay," I said, taking a deep, calming breath into my lungs as I started to back away from the bar. "I guess I'll just go back to his apartment then and see him there."

"Oh, no, sweetie, he doesn't live there anymore. He moved like a month ago," she revealed and I felt my jaw slack open in shock.

"He moved?" She nodded.

"Well, do you know where?"

I felt the last sliver of hope I had ripped viciously from my chest as Trish shook her head and crushed every ounce of faith I had inside of me with each daunting shake of her head.

"I'm so sorry, babe." Trish placed her hand on mine, comforting me as best she could in that moment.

I still had the urge to pull away but it it wasn't nearly as great as it once was.

"It's okay..." I replied, even though it wasn't.

"Uh, I'm gonna go." My voice was soft and coated in defeat as I met Trish's despondent stare one last time before leaving.

"If you do see him can you just... tell him I'll be looking for him like I said I would in the letter?"

Without pause, she nodded and I offered her up a very pathetic excuse of a half smile before turning on my heel and walking towards the exit.

He moved.

What did that mean?

Did he not want me to find him?

It was as if everything I had feared might happen with him was playing out before my eyes like a cruel play in which I had no say in how it ended.

I pushed my way through the exit doors with great force, needing to get out of there as fast as my feet could possibly take me before I broke.

I could feel it coming.

The tears were burning in my eyes, my chest was pained and I was suffocating within myself and my misery.

The breeze hit my cheeks as I tore my way through the parking lot and almost made it to my car.

Almost.

My feet stopped in their frantic tracks as I looked up, a sharp gasp ripping past my lips.

He wasn't real. He couldn't be, but... as my eyes raced across every perfect aspect of his handsome face, took in the thick stubble that had grown out across his chiseled jawline, and finally settled on the light blue eyes that had made an appearance in every one of my dreams since first meeting him... I knew it was him.

We both stood in silence, taking each other in.

His eyes were filled the absolute brim with such surprise, which only helped to mask over the hurt I couldn't help but miss sitting stoic behind his captivating gaze.

His stare fell to my lips as they twitched and attempted to say something; anything.

"Hi."

My voice was but a wisp as I spoke, every bit of nervous excitement I held stealing away most of my volume.

He didn't respond.

"Trish said you left."

His stare unwavering from mine in all of its intensity, he spoke.

"I left my jacket."

At hearing his deep, intoxicating voice for the first time in three months, a shiver zipped through my spine and I felt warmth pool in my stomach as his voice seeped into my mind.

"Oh..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say or do next.

He wasn't reacting in any way to my return. I couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling. He was quiet, intense, and most of off... he was closed off.

It was now or never.

"So..." I began, running a hand back through my hair as I took a hesitant step in towards him.

"I said I would find you... and I did."

God, that was a stupid thing to say.

It was all I could do not to scream in frustration as my eyes bored deeply into his, displaying to him through my words and hopefully the ardent look fixed in my stare how profound my love for him still was and always would be.

Again, he said nothing in return.

"Um... I know it's been a while and um, it- it isn't..." I was stuttering terribly; the words I needed to say where simply nowhere in my scrambling mind.

He wasn't giving me anything in return and his silence was excruciating.

His silence was saying more than any words possibly could have.

He didn't want me. He had even moved so I wouldn't find him.

He had moved on.

"This is too hard," I whispered under my breath as I tore my broken stare from Kaleb's impassive one, biting on my lip painfully to keep it from visibly quivering and giving away how much this moment was absolutely killing me.

"I'm sorry, I'll go," I mumbled out quickly. Briefly, I steadied myself and my heart as I let my eyes fall onto Kaleb's one, final time.

"Goodbye, Kaleb," I said in a broken whisper as my eyes flooded with unshed tears full of raw, bitter heart break.

Before the first tear cold fall, I forced my feet to walk right past him and fight not to break out into a sprint as I made my way towards my car.

"Are you kidding me?"

My steps faltered as Kaleb's voice rang out from behind me.

"Are you really leaving? Again?" Even with my back still turned I could hear the disbelief and anger crashing through his words.

Cautiously, I turned to face him.

Yet, this time his stare was etched in emotions of all levels. His gaze read of upset, anger, and most of all; passion.

"What? I-"

"87 days ago you left me with a letter and nothing else. I didn't know where you were, how long you were going to be gone, nothing! And now you come back for five second and you're already leaving again?"

"I just thought-"

"You just thought what? That if I survived you leaving the first time that I would be fine the second time around? Well guess what, Leah? I wasn't fine!" Kaleb exploded with hurt and worst of all, betrayal screaming from his.

"You said in that bullshit letter that you left that I probably read enough I could recite the damn thing to you, that you needed to save me. Well, I didn't need to be saved, Leah. I needed you!"

"And I needed help!" I cried out desperately.

"I needed it, Kaleb. I'm so sorry that I left but I had to and I knew if I told you that you would have been crushed and somehow made me not want to go or tried to come with me and I knew that couldn't happen. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place and I did the only thing I could think of that could give us a fighting chance..."

I hadn't realized it but a few rebel tears had fallen from my eyes and splashed against my cheeks, now dripping down my face in guilt ridden streams.

"I know I hurt you and that is the last thing I ever wanted to do but... I didn't see any other choice... and now everything's ruined and you've moved on but I still-"

"What? Who said I moved on?" Kaleb asked with a dubious expression, most all vexation disappearing from his face.

Wiping a stain of tears from my cheek with the back of my hand and choking back a small sob, I answered as if it was obvious.

"Well, I know you moved out of the apartment."

"I did," Kaleb nodded his head with an odd look sitting in his gaze. "But just because I moved into another place doesn't mean I've moved on."

"But... then why'd you move?"

Sighing, Kaleb ran a hand back through his midnight locks in which had grown a bit longer since the last time I threaded my own fingers through his hair. Something about the last few seconds flipped Kaleb's rage into something far calmer; almost contemplative.

"When you left I was... confused and really really fucking hurt," he began, his bright eyes off to the side as memories and feelings flooded through his mind. "I couldn't wrap my head around why you'd leave without telling me or asking me to come with you. I thought maybe you weren't coming back and that thought really fucked me up for a while." Kaleb nodded thoughtfully as he scratched at the slight beard that had grown in while I was gone.

"But then one night it just sort of... hit me."

My eyebrows pinched together in confusion. Kaleb's eyes abruptly locked back onto mine with a new found, yet subtle pride swelling beneath his river blue stare.

"Leaving was so... brave. I realized all of a sudden that you leaving to get help for yourself was the first real, independent decision you'd made since Zach and that if you had told me or asked me to come with you, it wouldn't have been right. This was something you decided you needed to do for you and for me and that I had no right to be angry about it anymore."

Oh my god. This man is unbelievable.

Not only did he understand why I left but almost seemed... proud of me for doing it?

"So, I still needed something to distract myself since I couldn't rely on my anger and drinking to get me through the days anymore so... I decided to do something big."

"Like move?"

"Like buy a house."

My brows skyrocketed up on my forehead instantly as a bolt of shock shot through my body.

"You bought a house?" I inquired with astonishment carved into my tone.

"I did," Kaleb answered as he nodded his head casually and dipped his hand into his back pocket and fished out his phone. "I finally buckled down and got serious about my art again. I sold four of my paintings within a week and that was more than enough for a down payment on this house I'd had my eye on."

Kaleb stuck his hand out and held his phone out for me to take.

"Take a look at it."

Hesitantly, I lifted my hand and wrapped my fingers around his phone. A thrill of energy pulsed through my body as our fingers brushed for the smallest of moments before I took the phone from his hand and looked at the screen.

"Oh my god..."

The house was perfect. It was everything and more than I ever could have wanted.

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's beautiful," I replied and prayed that I was convincing enough as I fought back more tears, handing Kaleb back his phone in the process.

"I'm glad you like it. Especially since I did buy it for you after all."

Everything stopped.

My heart. My breathing. The world.

"What?"

With warm, hopeful eyes, Kaleb nodded to me.

"Yeah, it's for you, Leah. Once I realized that I couldn't be angry anymore, it still didn't help with the fact that I couldn't stop thinking about you or missing you as much as I did so, I decided I was going to do something useful until you got back. I think in my own way, buying the house for us and moving into it was almost my way of making time go by faster. Like, the quicker I finished moving into the house, the quicker you would come home to me."

My heart stuttered as Kaleb's lips quirked up into that infamous, playful smirk of his that I had fallen so head over heels in love with.

"I finished moving in about two weeks ago. You're two weeks late, Peaches."

Peaches.

I wanted to smile. I wanted to jump for joy just like my heart was inside of my chest right now at hearing him use that precious nickname he had for me since the beginning. Yet, the swirling uncertainly invading my mind wouldn't exactly allow me such joy.

"I'm so confused..." I mumbled out, detaching my stare from Kaleb's. "When you first saw me you were so quiet and then you were livid and now you're... buying me a house?"

He nodded, a bemused look entering his eyes as he pursed his full lips. "I can see how that might be confusing."

Kaleb shrugged as he took two slow steps into me, bringing his body just inches away from mine, and sending my heart into a steady over drive.

"I guess that's just what happens when you see someone you love again after so long. You go through all of the emotions at once before you can land on the one you really want."

Sucking in a greedy, sharp breath, my lips trembled as his words sunk fully into my mind and deeply into my writhing heart.

"You still love me?" I asked, my voice barely above a hopeful whisper.

"Never stopped, Peaches. Couldn't even if I tried."

"Oh my god," I cried out as the most overpowering sense of happiness crashed through my body and stole the very breath from my lungs with its potency.

Every fear surrounding Kaleb was dashed abruptly and all that was left was an all-consuming love that was flowing endlessly through Kaleb and I's connection.

Warmth radiated over my face as Kaleb's hands latched softly onto both of my cheeks, his thumbs brushing out and wiping away the remnants of any fallen tears. My body melted effortlessly into his and relished in the way it felt to be pressed against Kaleb once again and emerged into his perfect love.