The next time Max woke, he knew exactly where he was. The scent of vanilla that tickled his nostrils sent tendrils of pleasure down to his toes. Arms stretched over his head, he elongated his frame. His knee only protested with a twinge of pain, which was easily ignored. He felt renewed. A new man.

A man in love.

With a woman who loved him.

He opened his eyes, ready to kiss that woman. Sunlight peeked from underneath the bedroom curtains, washing the room in a greyish light. Max turned over, a "Good Morning, Sunshine" on his lips. The words floated across an empty bed and his chest twinged at the lack of Sophie. His fingers flexed against the cool sheets, missing her warmth.

Wondering if he'd slept in, Max checked Finn's phone. 8 am. A text from Emily's phone sat on the home screen confirming their lunch at 1 pm and a heads up Mary was also coming with them.

Max groaned. The last thing he wanted to do with the few precious hours he had until they expected him back on base was to be polite to Mary. He considered texting back and cancelling the plans, but he didn't want to disappoint Emily or miss the chance to see Lucy. The next time he'd be back in town, she'd be 5 months older.

A bang of a pot from in the kitchen caught his attention.

Sophie.

Perhaps he could convince her to come back to bed? A shot of desire zipped along his spine at the thought of repeating last night. Never in his life had he experienced such closeness with another person. With Bug, sex had been on her terms and the physical high was addictive and had left him exhausted, yet he'd missed the sense of connection. Not until he'd slept with Sophie did he understand what he was missing. A look from Sophie held more emotion, more meaning, more of a partnership. Last night had taken that to a new stratosphere. He felt he'd touched Sophie's soul and her his. They had built a connection, a bond that cemented them together. Her 'I love you' was written on his heart and he brimmed with confidence.

If only he didn't have to leave today.

Unable to be far away from her any longer, Max unwound himself from the sheets, pulled on his briefs and padded out of the bedroom. The sight of Sophie wearing an apron, her ebony hair held back by a bandana, made his mouth water. His stomach gurgled in anticipation of another Sophie-inspired dish. The joy in his heart expanded to a smile on his face. With his new job, every morning could be like this.

Max crept up behind her, hands finding her hips, and pecked at the side of her neck. "Morning Sunshine."

She jerked in surprise, and Max cocooned her in his arms. Her muscles relaxed, and she leaned into him, but didn't avail her lips for him to kiss. She tipped her head down. "Are you hungry?"

"Around you? Always." He ground against her backside, demonstrating what she did to him. "Breakfast smells amazing. But maybe we could put it on hold." His knuckles brushed up her side, aiming to cup her breast.

Sophie stepped out of his grasp. "The biscuits are almost ready."

The ground beneath him seemed to shift, and the hairs on his forearms tingled. Something didn't feel right. His old friend doubt crept under his skin and snickered in his ear. Had her 'I love you' been a slip in the passion of the moment? Or worse, not meant for him.

He watched Sophie's back as she retreated to the other side of the kitchen.

A sliver of cold steel settled in his heart. He knew it had been too good to be true. In the kitchen on Thanksgiving, Sophie had made it clear she was still very much in love with her fiancée. That he was the one and only for her. It was impossible to compete with a dead man yet, Max had hoped he could at least be a consolation prize. That his love had the power to offer her companionship, maybe even enough passion to sustain her interest in him.

"Coffee?" Sophie poured a steaming liquid into a cup.

The wounds on his wrist rippled at the sight of the mug. He'd bled to free himself, to get to her. He nodded. "Please." He wasn't sure if he was agreeing to coffee or begging her not to reject him.

"Emily texted." Sophie sat opposite the place setting she'd arranged for him. "They'll be here by 1, assuming they don't hit traffic. She suggested meeting at Etienne's new restaurant."

"I saw," Max mumbled, his injured knee panging in protest as he crossed the room and sank into the empty chair.

"That should give you a few hours to visit with them before you return to the base. Back to the Navy." Sophie's nails tapped against the side of her cup.

A painful silence stretched between them. Max tried a sip of coffee, but the liquid tasted like ash on his tongue. Each second that passed, he felt the distance between them expanding by a mile. The ease of the morning vanished, and every muscle tightened with his inability to stop the approaching tidal wave. He glanced at Sophie, but she wore a mask as she stared out at the balcony.

Desperate to delay what he feared, Max scrambled for the right thing to say.

She cut him off. "I don't want you to text me anymore."

Her words tore at the protective layer of love shielding his heart.

"Don't do this," Max whispered.

Sophie gnawed on her bottom lip. "I said I'd try. But it's not enough. Long-distance relationships never work."

The tear in his heart ripped open. "It won't be for long. I told you, I'm leaving the Navy. Five months and I'll be out."

A bitter chuckle erupted from her. "Out of the frying pan and into the fire." She spat the words at him. "At least with the Navy, there was an entire organization behind you. Men and women who have your back in dangerous situations. Who search for you when you vanish." The volume of her voice rose with every sentence. "With Campbell you'll be alone. No uniform to protect you. No team to back you up. You'd be purposefully walking into trouble. No looking for it." She slammed her palm on the table. "Day in and day out."

"You make the job with Campbell sound worse than it is. Mostly I'll be doing analysis, testing systems to ensure protocols work. I doubt I'll ever be in danger."

"Can you promise me? Swear to me that you won't get hurt." Her shining eyes found his. "Or worse."

His heart lodged in his throat. "You can trust me. I'll be careful. Take every precaution."

Sophie stood and paced by the window, her arms clamped around her waist.

"I thought you'd be happy at the idea of me being back in the states." Max's knee bounced. "That this is what you wanted."

She turned and gripped the back of the chair. "Don't take the job."

Max blinked. "You want me to return to the Navy? Be away from you for months at a time?"

"No." The wood creaked under her grip. "I want you safe."

"I will be—"

"You don't know." The chair scraped against the floor as she shoved it. "All it takes is one bad apple. A stray bullet. One drunk driver and you're dead." She turned from him, planting her hands on the counter.

A piece of the puzzle he'd been missing fell into place. This was about Thomas. But not because she only had room in her heart to love him. It was because of how he'd been taken from her. His life ended at the hands of a drunk driver. Well, technically, his mother had pulled his life support, but the driver had been the cause.

Max stood and pressed his cheek against her shaking shoulder. "That won't happen to me."

She glided along the counter, moving away from his touch once again, turning to search his face. "You can't guarantee that."

"No. I can't. But neither can you guarantee that nothing will happen to me if I don't stay in the Navy. Or take Campbell's offer. I could—" he glanced at the ceiling—"take a job as a dishwasher at your restaurant and still can't ensure nothing will ever happen to me. That I won't get hit by a busy walking to work. Life doesn't work that way."

Red-rimmed eyes bored into him. "But don't you see? I can't do it again."

"What are you saying?"

"If something happened to you, I wouldn't survive. Not again."

Max took a step backward. "That's no way to live."

"Maybe not. But I can't ... fall any further." Sophie inched further away. "I think it best we end it here."

The tear in his heart burst open. "No. You can't mean that."

She placed the slab of granite that was the countertop between them. "I do."

"But last night?" His throat ached from the burning in his chest. "You said you love me. Was that a lie?"

Her gaze concentrated on the no-man's-land between them. "No. I do love you." The shoulder he loved to kiss bobbed. "Enough to let you go."

Max charged around the kitchen island. "I don't want you to let go."

"You must." Sophie matched his pace, moving backwards to keep a consistent distance between them. "Our time together ... it will always hold a special place in my heart. After Thomas, I never thought I'd ever feel this way again. You brought me back to life."

Max's foot caught on the rug before the sink, his knee knocking against a cupboard door. Pain radiated down through his calve, ankle and foot. It was a shadow of the agony in his chest. He wiped at his eye. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Maybe for some. Not for me." Her words were barely above a whisper, but they hit like a sonic boom. "I can't live in fear. It's better to be alone than to open my heart to this kind of risk again."

"What about my heart?" He hated the desperation in his voice.

"You're young." Sophie's hand lifted like she might reach for him, but it fell back to her side. "Handsome, kind, gentle. Any girl would be lucky to love you."

"I only want you."

She shook her head. "It's not enough."

"What would be?" There had to be something Max could do to prove to her that he was worth being with. "Ask it of me and I'll do it. Anything."

The pity in her face sank his hopes like an anchor. "There's nothing you can do. It's me, not you. This way, you have a chance of being happy."

Happiness. Since the day he'd hurt his wrist, he'd only ever had fleeting glances of it. Glimmers like sunlight on the ocean waves, but nothing tangible. Not until he'd met her. Now she was ripping that away from him. Not giving him a chance. "There is no happiness without you. You are it for me."

"I'm not." Her hands clasped before her like a judge. "You will love again. I'm proof of it."

"Sophie. Please. Don't do this."

"Its done." She turned and faced the window.

"There's nothing I can do to change your mind?"

Sophie stood like a statue.

"I guess you want me to leave."

When she didn't react, he slunk back to the bedroom.

The bed where he'd had the best moment in his life now mocked him. Max leaned against the wall while the world spun around him. Hours ago, he'd had the woman he loved in his arms, confident of their future together. Now there was nothing but a void where the happiness of the future once lay. His forehead pressed against the cool wooden door, struggling to adapt to his new reality. With gritted teeth, he vowed to not let her go. He'd stay, go AWOL, make her see she couldn't cut him out of her life so easily.

Hand on the doorknob, he hesitated. What was the use? He'd pled his case. She hadn't deemed him worthy enough to fight for.

The knife sank deeper into his heart. He dressed, easing the familiar Navy uniform on, except this time it didn't offer comfort. The stiff material felt like a straight-jacket, barring him from Sophie. He shook his head. This wasn't about the Navy. This was about him.

He wasn't worth fighting for.

In the bathroom, Max straightened his tie in the mirror. He studied the face peering back at him. The man who made excuses to not make decisions, who followed others, did what others wanted for most of his life. The man who didn't follow his own desires in place of others. Steel settled into his veins. He didn't want to be that man anymore.

Max lifted his chin. Sophie was mistaken.

He was worth fighting for.

So was she. For too long he'd followed others around, letting them make decisions for him, happy to do as they liked in the hopes that they would like or love him back. He didn't ask for what he wanted.

That would stop now. Sophie didn't get to make this decision on her own. This was not over.

In the living room, Sophie still stood by the window, the morning sunshine giving her an angelic glow. Max took a mental snapshot, a visual to hold on to until he got her back.

He placed Finn's phone on the dining room table. "Please give this back to Finn."

Sophie spun around. "Aren't you going to lunch?"

"I think it best I return to the base."

"Max, just because I—"

"I'm leaving. Not because I want to, and certainly not because I believe this is over. I'll go now because you need time and I want to give that to you." He crossed the room and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. "I'm not giving up Sophie. No matter what you think, we are worth this. We belong together. When you change your mind, be it a minute, a year or ten years from now, I'll be here."

A single tear slipped down Sophie's cheek, and he resisted wiping it away. He squared his shoulders. "You had my heart the moment I saw you walk down the aisle at Finn's wedding. You might let me walk out that door, but know one thing. My heart will still stay here with you. Wherever you are. It's yours. Til the day I die and beyond. Forever."

Hey all, DL here. Gosh, that was a heartbreaking chapter. 

Tell me, do you think Sophie was right? If she fears losing Max so much, should she break things off before she falls further?

Do you think Max was right to tell Sophie she had his heart no matter what the future holds or should Max move on?