It had been a month since Jensen had talked to Keira. Who couldn't wait to get started on shooting. Jensen had applied for her worker's visa for the United States, she'd requested a substitute teacher for when school was back in session after Christmas break.

When Jensen told her students, she promised she would come visit to see 9 to 5 and would be available by email if anyone had any questions. Liberty had agreed to direct the production and take Jensen's cast list—which she had finally decided. And Katie was the best choice for Doralee. Miles had cheered when she told him that she'd finished the cast.

With everything sorted, Jensen had headed to YVR after the last class before Christmas break. Liberty had sent her a quick text telling her that she hoped her flight was good and that she should let her know as soon as she landed in Los Angeles.

Staring out the window as the airplane taxied across the runway at LAX, Jensen anxiously tapped her foot against the floor to the tune of her music. Waiting for the other passengers to get off the plane, Jensen turned her data back on and sent a quick picture to Liberty with a text that read, LA, baby.

Yes, BITCH. Liberty replied, a little too quickly. Have fun!

Jensen, one of the last people on the plane, grabbed her backpack from underneath the chair in front of her. Slinging it over her shoulder, Jensen walked off the plane. Baggage claim wasn't too much of a pain, Jensen's suitcase came crashing down in no time. Rolling it behind her, Jensen pulled her phone out as she walked to text Miles where he was.

Before she had a chance to send it, she felt a tap on her shoulder that made her jump. As Jensen whipped around, she tugged a headphone from her ear.

"You know," Miles said, holding his hands out to his sides. "It makes it a lot easier for people to get your attention in a crowded place if you don't have music in."

Jensen tried to ignore the fact that they were both wearing denim jackets and black jeans. But Miles was wearing a baseball hat and boots. Brown ones. Jensen had white trainers on. And Miles' jacket had white fleece on the collar and Jensen's was oversized with hoodie underneath. (Did it matter that it was the NYU hoodie? No.) Miles had also grown out his stubble since Halloween. Jensen had added a helix piercing to her ear. Totally not the same. Nope.

Jensen narrowed her eyes. "Noted."

Miles looked at his hands and back at Jensen. "Am I going to get a hug or are you going to make me stand here like this all day?"

Jensen crossed her arms and tilted her head up slightly. "I haven't decided yet."

"Rhodes—"

Jensen let out a small laugh and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Miles' torso. He smelled like coffee shop. Miles held her close as he breathed out a laugh.

"I want to kiss you," Miles said. Softly. Just for her. "Really bad. But I think I got followed here. We should go."

Jensen took a step back and placed a hand on her suitcase handle. "Okay."

"It's..." Miles started. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. It's good to see you. Away from a screen."

"I'm really glad you're here." Miles and Jensen exchanged soft smiles. "What are you listening to?"

"Nothing, really," Jensen said, pulling the other headphone from her ear. "I just didn't want to focus on the plane."

Miles gently took the headphone from her hand and placed it in his ear. After a few seconds of listening, he pulled the headphone back out. "Our founding fathers fighting each other calms you down?"

"It's more of a distraction from panicking in the first place." Jensen wrapped her headphone cords around her phone and stuffed it in her jean's pocket.

Miles tilted his head in the direction they needed to go and started walking. Jensen fell into stride easily, pulling her suitcase behind her. Miles snuck a glance her way and took the suitcase from her hand.

"You don't have to—" Jensen started to protest.

"I want to."

Jensen tucked her hands in her jacket pockets as they walked. Her backpack sat comfortably on her shoulders. Packed with only essentials in the case that her checked luggage had gone missing.

"You know, I saw Hamilton," Miles said. "At the Richard Rodgers."

"Shut up."

"Went for my thirtieth," Miles said. "With Dayna."

"That's a dream," Jensen said. "Oh my God."

The doors to exit the terminal opened automatically and they walked through. The air around them was cool, Jensen could feel it especially in the ripped knees of her jeans. It wasn't necessarily cold outside, but it wasn't warm either. December in California threatened Jensen's understanding of the four seasons and how they worked.

"We... we could go. If you want. Sometime. When we're in New York," Miles said, pulling his keys out of his pocket. "I could get us tickets."

"Are you serious?" Jensen asked. "They've been sold out for ages."

"Don't worry, Rhodes," Miles said. "I have my ways."

"I don't think you realize how hard I'll cry if I see that live."

"I've already seen it and I'll cry. Again."

Jensen laughed as a comfortable silence washed over them. They wandered the rest of the way to Miles' car. Miles pressed a button on his keys and Jensen could hear the locks click. Opening the trunk, Miles placed Jensen's suitcase down gently.

"Do you want to put your bag back here too?" Miles asked, a hand on the edge of the trunk.

Jensen slid the straps off her shoulders and placed it beside her suitcase. "Thanks."

Miles slid the security cover over Jensen's belongings and closed the trunk. They both walked to their respective sides of the car. As they put on their seatbelts, Jensen looked around.

"Is this Ichiro?"

Miles grinned as he put the car in reverse and backed the car out of the stall. "I figured he was decently inconspicuous."

"You didn't think Zuko was going to fly under the radar?"

"Zuko was just too unnoticeable. It wouldn't have been fair to the paps. They never would have known it was me."

"You have to give them a challenge if you want to feel okay about being stalked."

"Yeah," Miles said. "Now it's a treasure hunt. Ichiro marks the spot."

They both laughed as Miles pulled into a lineup of cars to pay for parking. He'd barely stopped the car before he leaned over the gearshift. Gently turning Jensen's head to look at him, he pressed his lips against hers. Jensen's eyes closed—lost in Miles.

Miles only pulled away when the person in the car behind them leaned on their horn. Looking ahead, it was clear the line had moved and Miles hadn't.

"Oops," Miles said, pulling the car forward as he stuck a hand up to apologize to the car behind them. Jensen smiled at the soft blush she could see appear on his cheeks.

When he stopped the car again, he turned to look at her. Eye contact—ocean waves and swirled hot chocolate.

"How long were you waiting?" Jensen moved awkwardly in her seat to try and pull her wallet out of her back pocket. "I have some American change from Halloween—"

"You are not trying to pay for parking." Miles pulled his wallet from one of the cupholders between them.

"You did me a favour. Yeah, I'm paying."

"Absolutely not."

"Miles—"

"Rhodes—"

Jensen unzipped the coin pocket and dumped what she had into her palm. "Please."

Miles held up two fingers, a credit card pinched in between them. "I've got it."

Jensen snatched the card from his fingers and held it out to her right as far as she could without punching the window. "Take the change, Fox."

"Did you just steal my credit card?"

"I borrowed it."

"First you steal my outfit, then you steal my credit card—"

Jensen scoffed to hide her laughter. "I did not steal your outfit."

"What time did you get dressed?" Miles asked. "'Cause I started getting ready early. Because I had to make sure I looked good since the last time I saw you I looked like a disco ball."

"I bet you anything I started getting ready before you," Jensen said. She leaned away when Miles tried to reach for his credit card.

"Anything?"

"I'll let you pay for parking if you win."

Miles crossed his arms. "About eight this morning."

Jensen pouted and held the handful of change out to him. "Sorry. I had to be at YVR for eight. Better luck next time."

A honk sounded from behind them.

"Come on, Rhodes, we're holding up the line."

"Take the change."

Miles pulled the car forward and looked at Jensen as he stopped at the meter. Before she could recognize what he was doing, Miles had taken out his wallet again and pulled out another credit card. As Jensen reached out to grab it, Miles slapped it against the pay machine. A shit-eating grin dressed his lips.

Jensen gaped as the machine beeped with recognition of his payment. The bar stopping the car from going forward rose, Miles drove through the gate to exit. Tossing the credit card haphazardly in his cupholder, Miles found his speed on the open road.

When he stole a glance at Jensen, she was still staring at him with wide eyes. He let out a laugh before shooting a mocking pout her way. "Sorry. Better luck next time."

Jensen laughed. "Fine. I've got lunch."

"You can try."

*

"Please tell me everything I've missed since Halloween."

Jensen leaned on her fist, elbow propped against the table. "Everything?"

Jensen and Miles were sitting in the far back of a warm coffee shop. The air smelt like espresso beans. Jensen had continued her yearly December tradition of only ordering peppermint hot chocolate at any coffee establishment she went to. Miles ordered the largest black coffee they were willing to give him.

"Rhodes." Miles leaned forward slightly. "If I don't even get to hold your hand in public, the least I can get is you telling me about Vancouver."

"I did a lot of teaching," Jensen said. "That's all I ever do in Vancouver."

"What about Legendary?" Miles asked. "I've been catching up. But I'm only on season three. No romance yet."

"You're actually watching it?"

Miles smiled. "I told you I wanted to. And, you know—" Miles looked over both shoulders before he leaned in farther, his chest practically on the table. His voice was low when he spoke again. Like his next words were for Jensen and Jensen alone. "—I might like it more than 21 Jump Street."

Jensen feigned a gasp. "No."

"It's true."

"Is that why we weren't in Hanson? Because you're cheating on him?"

"We're taking some time apart." Miles nodded. "To work on our differences. But I promised him 21 Jump Street will always have a place in my heart. No matter what."

"That was sweet of you," Jensen said. "You've been through a lot, after all."

"This is just a rough patch, I'm sure we'll get through it."

"And you'll come out better on the other side."

Miles placed his hand over his heart. "I'd like to think so."

"Is that all I've missed here?" Jensen asked, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. "Your relationship problems with 21 Jump Street?"

"I mean," Miles started. "Yeah. I got my red coin. But then I had to start over again. But now I'm on another coffee bender. So we'll see if this time I can get to a green coin."

"Hold up," Jensen said. "Another coffee bender?"

"Do you think I normally drink this much coffee?"

"How would I know any better?"

"Um," Miles said. "Men's Health?"

"Oh, for—"

Miles laughed and held his hands up in surrender. "I'm kidding."

"Sure you are."

"You say something like that to someone the first time you meet them, it's going to make an impression, Rhodes."

"Do you usually go on dates with people who say that to you?"

"Is this a date?" Miles teased.

Before Jensen could reply—a snappy comeback on her tongue—Miles' eyes widened as they looked over Jensen's shoulder. She had a sinking feeling he wasn't looking at the hoop looped around the top of her ear.

"No fucking way," he breathed.

"What—" Jensen went to turn around but Miles grabbed her arm.

"Don't." Miles wouldn't meet her eyes. He just kept staring past her.

"Miles, what's going—"

A flash. Jensen's eyes widened.

"Fuck," Miles breathed. "We gotta go."

There was too much panic in his eyes for Jensen to attempt trying to calm him down. Tension started to build up in his shoulders.

"It's just..." Jensen started. "It's fine. Isn't it?"

"That's Dante fucking Juarez."

"What does that mean?" Jensen asked. "Miles, please look at me."

When Miles looked at her, there was no change. Panic dressed his entire face. He looked like he couldn't breathe. Red blotches were building up on his neck.

"There's a window," Miles said, scratching at the biggest blotch. "In the women's bathroom."

"How do you—"

Flash.

"Don't... Ask." Miles said it like they were two separate thoughts. Like one thought was painful enough and getting two out was going to send him into a downward spiral. "Just. It's just... I'll meet you outside." The last part was like it was one word.

"You want me to climb out the window?"

"Yes." Miles looked startled by his own tone. "I mean... please."

"You need to breathe—"

"Do you trust me?" If Miles clawed at his neck any harder, he was going to bleed. Jensen fought the urge to pull his hand away.

Jensen was only taken aback by the question because it was just about the only full sentence he'd said since he'd named Dante. She nodded softly. "Yeah."

"I'll meet you outside the window. The drop isn't that big. I did it when I was seventeen."

Jensen's eyes widened. "You're like a foot taller than I am."

"Before a growth spurt. Rhodes, it's fine." Miles stared out the window while he spoke. "Go. Now."

Miles gave Jensen's arm a squeeze before standing up from his chair and going out the front door. Jensen could see the flashes from various cameras. Shouting came from different voices. Miles pushed through the sea of people, Jensen felt frozen in place.

Taking a deep breath in, Jensen rose to her feet. She followed the signs that led to the bathroom. Her hands shook at her sides. Walking into a bathroom had never been more intimidating. The window was above a stall.

Jensen let out a sigh. She trusted Miles, right? Enough to believe that this wasn't absolutely insane?

Sure she did. At least, that's what she was going to tell herself.

Getting into the stall was the easy part. Standing on the toilet and hoisting herself up was a different story. Jensen ended up flushing the toilet twice while trying to push open the window. Finally getting it open turned out to be the easy part.

Jensen's flexibility since stopping hockey had gone down dramatically. Getting her foot up to the window was a task in itself. The bathroom stall wasn't like a rock climbing wall—there was nowhere to put her feet above the tank.

When Jensen finally managed to swing her foot up, she had to grab the top of the stall wall to hoist the rest of herself up.

"There's a window in the women's bathroom," Jensen muttered bitterly under her breath. "Not that bad. Oh, just go on in there, Rhodes. It's easy. Fuck's sake."

Jensen grunted as she swung her foot out the window, still holding onto the stall. With her leg dangling out the side, Jensen took a deep breath before pushing off the wall and grabbing onto the edge of the window before she fell back down. Carefully ducking her head to get her upper body out the window, Jensen felt like her back was not supposed to bend the way it was.

When she finally made it out, Jensen looked at the ground below. And nearly vomited her hot chocolate.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

The drop was not that large, sure. In the sense that Jensen wasn't jumping off a skyscraper. But it was easily a couple feet taller than Jensen was imagining. Maybe if she lowered herself down slowly, it wouldn't be that bad. But Jensen had not signed up for this.

There was still a lot of yelling from the front of the shop. And as Jensen looked around, she realized she was going to be dropping herself off in a back alley.

"Look, Jensen," Jensen said. "You can stay here and be stuck in the fucking bathroom. Or, you can just take the jump."

Jensen wished she was trying to hype herself up in metaphors.

Taking a deep breath, more to steady herself than anything else, Jensen gripped the edge of the window and carefully swung her other leg out. Nearly losing her grip made Jensen's breath hitch. But she held on.

Jensen closed her eyes. If she couldn't see the drop, it could be that bad, right? Right. Crossing her arms so they were on opposite sides of her hips, Jensen opened her eyes again. She adjusted how she was sitting and carefully lowered herself down so she was hanging with her arms. Jensen turned her head so she wasn't face to face with the side of the restaurant.

If Jensen didn't look down, she could just...

She let go.

Landing on the ground after dropping out of a bathroom window was terrifying enough. (She was just thankful she'd managed to land on her feet, even if the squat in her landing was a little rough.) Opening her eyes and seeing a car barrelling towards her with flashing lights behind it was even scarier. It took Jensen too long to realize the flashes were paparazzi cameras and the car was being driven by Miles, who stopped in front of her and frantically waved her in.

Running to the passenger door, Jensen got into the Suzuki. Miles took off milliseconds after Jensen had buckled her seatbelt. He pulled onto the road—and the world stood still. Nothing that they had left in the back alley was there, no flashes. Just a clear road. Jensen heard Miles let out a breath.

"Holy shit," Jensen said. "Why were there so many?"

"Because Dante Juarez is a fucking scum bag," Miles said. Jensen could still see bright red blotches on his neck. "He's been arrested multiple times because he doesn't know how to keep his distance. Maddox Tacoma and I were roommates at NYU and we found him on our fucking windowsill one day trying to get a picture of us. He never goes away."

Jensen wrinkled her nose. "Lovely."

"I'm sorry about the bathroom window," Miles said. "But it's... I didn't want you to feel overwhelmed trying to walk out of there."

"How are you feeling?"

Miles sighed. "Like I might need to steal a Lexapro from you."

"Do you have something I can grab in here?"

"My Prozac's in Zuko," Miles said. "Great place for it, I know. But I should be used to this by now."

"Just because it happens to you a lot doesn't mean you should be used to it."

Miles looked out the rear-view mirror and slammed his hand against the steering wheel. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"What?"

"Do you have your seatbelt on?"

"Um, yeah," Jensen said. "Why?"

"'Cause I'm about to do something really stupid."

Miles looked over his shoulder and swerved into the lane to their left, earning a loud honk from the person Miles had cut off. Jensen grabbed the bottom of her seat. Her breath hitched in her throat.

"Sorry," Miles said. "But that's not the stupid thing."

"That's not—"

Miles grabbed the brake in between their seats. Looking over his shoulder again, Miles winced to brace himself as he pulled the handbrake up, turning the wheel and spinning the car into the opposite lane as they turned around. Earning himself many angry honks, Miles threw his hand up in apology. Headed in the opposite direction, Jensen could see a dark van driving the opposite way.

Dante Juarez had been tailing Miles' car. Jensen looked at Miles with wide eyes.

Miles, after making another turn, looked at Jensen. He took her hand in his and pressed a soft kiss to the back of her hand. "Are you okay?"

When he turned his eyes back to the road, Miles kept holding onto her. Jensen wished she was imagining the shake in his hand.

"I—yeah," Jensen said. "Are you?"

Miles let out a breath and nodded. "Yeah."

When Miles stole another look at her, he let a snort out. Then a small laugh. A full laugh came after. Jensen started laughing, too. Eventually they couldn't control themselves. Laughter filled the car. It lasted longer than it should have and it felt... incredible.

"See?" Miles said, "I told you I could do a handbrake u-turn."