Melissa's stomach was in her throat as she drove through the gate to Chris's house. She gripped and regripped the steering wheel; her palms sweaty. Chris hadn't even said anything over the intercom, just buzzed her in. That meant there had to have been a camera pointed at her. God, she hoped she hadn't done anything embarrassing while he'd been looking at her.

It took everything she had to get out of the car. ‘You can do this,' she told herself. ‘One foot in front of the other.' The closer she got to the front door, the more she wanted to throw up. She wanted to run back to her car, throw it in reverse and drive away. She wouldn't even wait for the gate to fully open, she would run her car right through it like all the cars did in action movies.

There was a slight tremor in her hand when she reached out to touch the doorbell. She could hear the chime inside and heard a dog bark. Then Chris was standing right in front of her. Again. She couldn't think. Words escaped her. All she could do was stare. The whole drive over she tried to work out what she wanted to say to him. A lot of good that did her. She couldn't remember a word. Her brain was filled with gibberish

"Mel," Chris breathed. He gripped the door knob to keep from reaching for her.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah," he took a step back, opening the door wider to allow Melissa to step through. He breathed in as she walked passed him, taking in some sweet smelling concoction. It was different than what he remembered. They used to walk through department stores fragrance sections for fun, trying out different smells. By the time the night was over, they each smelled like cheap hookers. All that had been missing was the body glitter. All the windows in the car had to be down on the car rides home after those nights. The smell was nauseating. The smell also lingered in his car for days on end. Those nights had always brought so much laughter. Sometimes they laughed until they were crying. He missed those nights. He hadn't done that since Melissa.

"You've redecorated." Melissa commented. ‘Stupid,' she berated herself. Of course he would have redecorated a house in the ten years since she'd been there.

"Yeah a few years ago," Chris said, looking at his living room. He didn't tell her he had redecorated when he saw the wedding announcement in the paper. There hadn't been a spot in his house that he didn't see Melissa. She was everywhere. From top to bottom he had his whole house redone from new furniture to different paint on the walls, and even a different backslash in the kitchen. He had even had his backyard landscaped completely changing it. It had been effective in removing Melissa from his house. It didn't work on removing her from his heart.

"I like it," Melissa said loving how the room came together with the furniture, the décor, and the paint. "You pick all this out yourself?" It was pointless small talk, but right now that's all she was good for.

Chris snorted. "Yeah right. My decorating habits haven't gotten any better."

"I should have known when I didn't see bean bag chairs, but actually furniture to sit on." The teasing remark slid by accompanied with a smile. She wasn't sure how Chris would take the comment. When he grinned at her, she released a breath.

"Those are downstairs, along with the xBox and the air hockey table."

"You can take a man from his twenties, but you can't take the twenties from the man."

"Didn't get rid of the Sega," Chris said with a smirk. There had been plenty of all night gaming sessions between him and Melissa. Once, a controller to be replaced when Street Fighter had gotten out of hand. He almost had the painters leave the dent in the wall. He hadn't played the game in years. It had been ‘their' game. He had tried - after Melissa had left - but he couldn't get passed the start up. He hadn't tried again.

"Hadn't played that in years," Melissa said with a smirk. "I bet I could still kick your ass."

The comment made Chris laugh. He didn't have the heart to tell her he had let her win most of the time. "I don't know, I've become ruthless in my old age."

"Oh!" Melissa gasped seeing the dog walk into the room. The light brown boxer was hesitant, seeing a new human. She knelt down and called to the dog. "Come here Sweetie," she called gently, holding her hand out. The boxer's butt wiggled and it sort of walked sideways to her. "You are a handsome fella," she said petting the dog on his head. She scratched behind his ears, laughing as the dog laid down at her feet, demanding she give him a body rub.

"I'm gonna have to get his secret later." Chris crossed his arms, grinning down at Melissa as she loved up on Lennon. He shook his head at the blissed out look on Lennon's face and grew jealous. He knew exactly what Melissa's hands felt like over his body. He knew how pathetic he had become when he caught himself wishing he could trade places with his dog.

"He's a beauty," Melissa said, grinning up at Chris. "He looks almost like Big Ben..." she giggled at the confused look on Chris's face. "That's my dog. He's a boxer too. He's got a darker coat though."

"Big Ben huh?" Chris smirked. When they had met, Melissa had been a Cowboys fan until he converted her.

"Can't come back from the dark side." Melissa stood up. "I was able to take Kaleb and Cameron to see them play when they came to Tampa a few years ago. We were dressed out in our Steelers best surrounded by Buc fans. The boys had a blast."

Silence fell in the room and it was awkward. Chris thought about challenging her to one more match on Street Fighter but he remained silent. He heard his phone go off from where he left it on the couch. He ignored it. It eventually stopped, only to go off again.

"You need to get that?" Melissa asked.

"No," Chris shook his head. There were four guesses on who it could be.

"Did you mean what you wrote?"

"Yes." Chris said without hesitation. "I meant every word of it."

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about you," Melissa said quietly, her eyes shifting away from Chris. "Since I read that letter. I didn't want to read it. I put it off, ignored it..."

"I meant every word of it Mel." Chris fisted his hands at his side in order to keep himself from reaching for her. "I can live with all the regrets in my life. I'm okay with myself making them all over again, except you."

"Why now?" Melissa met his eyes again. "After all this time, why now?"

"I didn't have anything left to lose," Chris took a step forward and felt a rush when Melissa didn't step back. "I saw your engagement in the paper. Then the baby announcement... I figured you were happily married with a bunch of kids like you always wanted. This letter fell on to my lap and you were the only thing I could think of. In all the things I've done and haven't done, you were the one thing I truly regretted. I wished you'd see it, but I didn't think it would make a difference. It was a way to get what I was feeling off my chest."

"If you thought I was happily married, why did you come to see me today?"

"I wanted to see if I could find where you were. See for myself if you were happy. In the back of my mind, I sort of hoped you'd read the letter and come back to me. Stupid I know," he gave a humorless chuckle. "But it was out there and you hadn't come knocking and I don't know. I needed to physically know so I could shut the door. I saw an article when you first opened your shop and it said you were single and I just... had to try."

"It's not just me anymore."

Chris was unable to stop the smile from forming on his face. "I know. The article I read had a picture of your sons. Melissa, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be with you again. We'll move as slow or as fast as you want. I will love your sons like they were my own. I will treat their mother like she deserves. I love you Melissa. That's something that hasn't changed ten years later. I've changed, but the way I feel for you hasn't."

"If I don't want to try again?" Melissa asked, her eyes filling with tears listening to Chris.

"Then I won't bother you again."

"Even after the letter?"

"It's my regret not yours."

"What if it's my regret too?"

Chris could feel the shift in the room. He reached for her, cupping her face with his hands. He moved his thumbs back and forth over her cheeks. "Then say you'll give me another chance. Say you still love me. Say you want to try again. Say you'll let me be a father to Kaleb and Cameron and any other children we'll be blessed with."

"Chris..." Melissa felt her tears spill over her eyelids to run down her cheeks where they were met by Chris's thumbs to be brushed away.

"You were my one regret Mel. Nothing means anything without you. We should be celebrating 15 years together. We should be racing JC to see who has a football team of kids first," a small smile graced his lips. "I love you Melissa. I want you now and forever. I want to be a father to Kaleb, to Cameron. I want to watch them grow up to be men and accomplish their dreams. I want to get you pregnant..." he dropped his hands to Melissa's stomach. "I want to watch you grow round with our child. I want to feel them kick inside you. I want to be there when you bring them into this world. I want to be there when our grandkids come to visit. I want to be there, when we're old and grey, in the nursing home, getting caught trying to make out in the closet. Then needed oxygen because you stole mine. You've been stealing my breath from the moment I met you."

Melissa closed her eyes at Chris's words. The movement caused more tears to fall. She dropped her chin and felt Chris rest his forehead on hers. She drew in a shaky breath, wrecked by his words. She nodded her head.

"Mel?" Chris questioned.

"Yes Chris," Melissa lifted her head, meeting his eyes once again. She stared deep into his brown eyes; her heart flipped. "I want everything you just said, I want it all. I love you. I always have. I never stopped.

Chris slid his hands to Melissa's back and pulled her to his body as his lips covered hers.

‘Dear Chris, love her.'