Songs for this chapter are:

All of me- John Legend

Dreaming with a broken heart- John Mayer

Heartbreak warfare -John Mayer

Hardin's POV.

"Get off of my floor," I say to Richard and nudge his thigh with my boot. I'm beyond pissed off and this whole mess is his damn fault.

"I'm sorry," he groans, attempting to lift himself from the floor, within seconds he winces and slides back onto the concrete. The last thing I want to do is lift his pathetic ass up off of the floor but at this point I'm not sure what else to do with him.

"I'll put you in the chair but you aren't sitting on my couch, not until you take a shower."

"Okay," he mutters and closes his eyes as I bend down to lift him. He's not as heavy as I expected him to be, especially for his height.

I place him onto the chair and he wraps his arms around his torso, "What now? What am I supposed to do with you now?" I ask him quietly.

What would Tessa do if she was here? Knowing her, she would run him a hot bath and make him something to eat. I'm not doing either of those things.

"Take me back," he suggests. His shaky fingers lift the collar of his torn t-shirt, my old t-shirt that Tessa let him keep. Has he been wearing it since he left here? He wipes the blood from his mouth, lazily smearing it down his chin and into the mess of thick hair there.

"Back where?" Maybe I should have called the police when I first entered the apartment, maybe I shouldn't have given Chad that watch.. I wasn't thinking properly at the time, all I could think about was keeping Tessa out of this.

"Why did you bring him here? If Tessa would have been here.." my voice trails off.

"She moved out, I knew she wouldn't be." He strains. I know it's hard for him to speak but I need answers and my patience is running thin.

"Did you come here a few days ago too?"

"I did, I only came to eat and shower." Richard pants.

"You came all the way here to eat and shower?"

"Yeah, I took the bus the first time but Chad," he takes a breath and howls in pain before shifting his weight, "he offered to bring me here but he turned on me when we got here."

"How the fuck did you get inside?"

"I took her key,"

Her key? Why didn't she notice? She always notices shit like that.

"From the drawer," he points toward the kitchen. A spare key, that makes much more sense.

"So let me get this straight, you stole a key to my apartment and thought you could just come here whenever the hell you want to take a shower, then you bring some fucking junkie to my house and he beat your ass in my living room because you owe him money?" How did I end up in the middle of an episode of Intervention?

"No one was home. I didn't think it mattered."

"You didn't think, that's the problem." I am completely out of my element here. My first instinct is to drag him by his arms out our -my apartment, and leave him bleeding in the hallway. I can't do that though, because I happen to be desperately in love with his daughter and by doing that I would hurt her even more than I already have.

"Well, what should we do know? Should I take you to a hospital?" I scratch ay my chin.

"I don't need a hospital, just a bandage or two. Can you call Tessa for me and tell her I'm sorry?"

"No, I will not. She isn't to know about this. I don't want her worrying about this shit."

"Okay," he agrees and shifts on the chair again.

"How long have you been using?" I ask him. He swallows.

"I don't,"

"Don't lie to me, I'm not a fucking idiot. Just tell me."

"About a year, but I've been trying so hard to stop since the day I ran into Tessie." He looks deep in thought, distracted.

"She is going to be heartbroken, you know that don't you?" I hope he does, I have no problem reminding him multiple times if he ever happens to forget.

"I know, I'm getting better for her." He claims.

Aren't we all...

"Well you may want to hurry that along because if she saw you now.." I don't finish the sentence. I'm debating whether or not to call her and ask her what the hell I'm supposed to do with her dad but I know that's not the answer, she doesn't need to be bothered with this, not right now.

"I'm going to my room. Feel free to take a shower, eat, or whatever you were planning on doing before I came home and interrupted you." I saunter across the room and into the bedroom. I close the door behind me and lean against the backside. This has been the longest twenty-four hours of my life.

Tessa's POV.

"This is incredible, thank you so much." I can't keep the ridiculous grin off of my face as Kimberly and Vance show me my new office. The walls are a clean white, the trim and door are dark gray,  and the desk and bookcases are black, sleek, and modern. The size of the room is the same as my first office but the view here is incredible, breathtaking really. The new Vance Publishing office is located in the center of downtown Seattle, the city below is thriving, constantly moving, constantly developing, and here I am right in the center of it all.  

"Everything you need is within walking distance, coffee, any cuisine you could possibly crave, it's all here." Christian proudly stares down at the city and wraps his arm around his fiancé's waist.

"Stop bragging, would you?" Kimberly teases him and he plants a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Well we will leave you be, get to work." Mr. Vance playfully scolds me. Kimberly grabs him by his navy blue tie and practically drags him out of my office.

By lunchtime I have sent at least ten pictures of my office to Landon, and to Hardin. I knew that Hardin wouldn't respond but I couldn't help myself. I wanted him to see the view, maybe it would bring him here? I am only making excuses for my momentary lapse in judgment. I miss him, there I said it. I miss him terribly and I was hoping for a response from him, even a simple text message, something. But nothing came.

Landon sent an excited response back each time, even when I sent a cheesy picture of myself holding a coffee mug with "Vance Publishing" printed on the side.

The more I dwell on sending those pictures to Hardin, the more I regret it. What if he takes them the wrong way? He does have a tendency to do that. He may see them as a reminder of me moving on, he may even think that I'm trying to rub this whole thing in his face. That truly wasn't my intention and I can only hope that he doesn't take it that way.

Maybe I should send another message to explain myself? Or tell him that I sent the pictures accidently, I don't know which would be more believable. Neither, I am sure. I'm overthinking this, they are only pictures.

When I walk into the break room on my floor, Trevor is sitting at one of the square tables with a tablet in front of him. "Welcome to Seattle," he beams, his blue eyes bright.

"Hey," I return his gesture and swipe my debit card through the slot on the massive vending machine. I press the small numbered buttons and I'm rewarded with a sleeve of peanut butter crackers. I will go out for lunch tomorrow after I have had a chance to survey the area.

"How do you like it so far?" Trevor questions. I look to him for permission before sliding into the chair across from him, he nods.

"I haven't seen much yet, I only arrived yesterday but I love this new building." Two women enter the room and smile at Trevor, one of the women turns to smile at me and I give her a small wave.

They begin to talk amongst themselves, the shorter woman with black hair pulls open the refrigerator and takes out a microwaveable meal while her friend picks at her fingernails.

"You should explore then, there are so many things to do here. It's a beautiful city." Trevor explains as I munch absentmindedly on a cracker. "The Space Needle, Pacific Science Center, art museums, you name it."

"I do want to go to the Space Needle, and the Pike Place Market." I respond. I'm beginning to feel uneasy because every time I glance over to two women, they are both staring at me while talking quietly.

I'm quite paranoid today.

"You should, have you decided where you're staying yet?" He asks, swiping his index finger across the screen to close the window on his tablet, letting me know that I have his full attention.

"I'm actually staying at Kimberly and Christian's house for right now, only for a week or two until I can find my own place." The urgency in my voice is embarrassing, I hate that I have to stay with them because Hardin ruined the only apartment that I could find. I want to live on my own and not worry about being a burden to anyone.

"I could ask around and see if there are any openings in my building?" He kindly offers. He adjusts his tie and tucks the silver fabric down before running his hands over the lapels of his suit.

"Thank you, I'm not sure your building would be in my price range." I softly remind him. He's the head of finance and I'm an intern, a decently paid intern, but I'm sure that I can't even afford to rent the dumpster behind his building.

"Okay," he flushes, realizing the massive difference between our incomes, "I can still ask around and see if anyone knows of any places."

"Thank you, I'm sure Seattle will feel more like home once I actually have a home." I smile a convincing smile.

"I agree, it will take some time but I know you'll love it here." His crooked grin is warm and welcoming.

"Do you have plans after work?" I ask him before I can stop myself.

"I do but I can cancel them." His soft voice fumbles.

"No, no. It's fine, I was just thinking since you know the city you could show me around but since you have plans don't worry about it." I hope that I can make some friends here in Seattle.

"I would love to show you around, don't worry about my plans. I was going to go jogging, that's all."

"Jogging? What for?" My nose crinkles.

"For fun."

"That doesn't sound like much fun." I laugh and he shakes his head in amused displeasure.

"I usually go every day after work, I'm still getting to know the city too and it's a good way to learn the layout. You should come along one day."

"I don't know.." The idea doesn't sound appealing.

"We could walk instead. I live in Ballard, it's a pretty hip neighborhood." He chuckles.

"I've heard of Ballard actually," I tell him, remembering browsing through page after page of every neighborhood in Seattle. "Okay, let's walk around Ballard then." I close my hands in front of me and rest them on my lap.

I can't help but to think how Hardin would feel about this. He despises Trevor and he's already having a hard enough time with our "space" arrangement. Not that he has said that, but I would like to think that he is. Regardless of how much space is put between Hardin and I, literal or metaphorical, I only see Trevor as a friend. The last thing on my mind is being romantic with someone, especially anyone other than Hardin.

"Okay then," he smiles, clearly surprised that I agreed to come along. "My lunch hour is over so I have to get back to my floor but I'll text you my address or we can go straight from work if you want."

"We can just go straight from here, I'm wearing reasonable shoes." I point down to my flat heeled shoes, mentally patting myself on the back for not wearing heels today.

"Sounds good, I'll meet you at your office at five?"

"Yes, that's fine." I stand from my chair and toss the wrapper from my small lunch into the trashcan.

"We all know why she got the job anyway," I hear one of the women say behind me. I look over to the table out of curiosity and they both quickly stare down at the table.

I can't help but feel that they were talking about me. So much for making friends in Seattle.

"All they do is gossip, ignore them." Trevor places his hand between my shoulder blades and guides me out of the break room.

When I get back to my office, I reach into my desk drawer and pull out my cell phone. Two missed calls, both from Hardin.

Should I call him back right now? He called twice so maybe something is wrong, I should call him now, I bargain with myself.

He answers on the first ring, "Why didn't you answer?" His voice is rushed.

"Is something wrong?" I stand from my chair in a slight panic.

"No. Nothing is wrong," he breathes, I can picture the exact way his pink lips move as he says the simple words, "Why did you send those pictures?"

"I'm sorry for sending those, I was just excited about my office and I wanted you to see it. I hope you didn't think I was trying to be mean about it and brag,"

"No, I was just confused." He coolly responds after seconds of silence.

"I won't send more, I shouldn't have sent them." I lean my forehead against the glass window and stare down at the expansive view.

"It's fine... how is it there? Do you like it?" Hardin's voice is somber and I want to smooth away the frown that I know is littering his face right now.

"It's lovely here."

"You didn't answer the question." He calls me out, I knew he would.

"I like it here."

"You sound absolutely ecstatic." Hardin's tone is dry, humorless.

"I really do like it, I'm just...adjusting. That's all. What is happening there?" I ask him in order to keep the conversation going, I'm not ready to get off the phone with him just yet.

"Nothing," he quickly responds.

"Is this awkward for you? I know you said you didn't want to talk on the phone but you called me so I was just.."

"No, it's not awkward," he interrupts. "It's never awkward with us, and I only meant I don't think we should talk for hours every day if we aren't going to be together because that doesn't make any sense and it's only going to torture me."

"So you do want to talk to me then?" I ask because I'm pathetic and I need to hear him say the words.

"Yes, of course I do." A car horn honks in the background, he must be driving. "So what then, we are going to chat on the phone, like friends?" He asks, no anger in his voice at all, only curiosity.

"I don't know, maybe we could try that?" This separation feels so different than the last, this time we separated on good terms and it wasn't a clean break. I'm not ready to decide if a clean break from Hardin is what I actually need so I push the thought back, file it away and promise to visit it later.

"It won't work,"

"I don't want us to ignore one another and not speak again but I haven't changed my mind on the space thing." I tell him.

"Fine, tell me about Seattle then." He finally says into the receiver.

(Don't forget to vote and comment please, I loved reading everyone's favorite memories, it's insane how far we have all come together haha, it seems to long ago! I hope everyone had a great weekend, ily all! xo)