Harry pushes open the door and he's immediately greeted by the smell of coffee and warm pastries. He hasn't been inside this particular café since Kate left him, but he loves it and it's close to Mary's work so he decided to come back and treat Mary to a nice lunch.

The menu has changed quite a bit since the last time he came in and it takes him a moment to order a drink so that he won't just be sitting around as he waits for Marigold. He likes to show up early just in case the other person does, it's a weird quirk of his but he would rather be early and on time instead of late.

Unfortunately, a lot of other people have also decided to have their lunch in this fine establishment, so it takes him a little while to find a seat that allows him to see out the window. Mary said that she has a surprise for him and he would like to see her walk up to get a hint at what it is and just to see her because she always puts a smile on his face.

While he waits, he's decided to start planning some lessons for the next school year because it's coming up quickly and he likes to at least have some ideas down beforehand. This time he's doing it old school with a notebook and a nice black pen. Lately, his computer has been bothering him because it's gotten a little slow and staring at his screen sometimes hurts his eyes after a while.

He's just clicked his pen and written the date on the corner, he likes to do that to remember when he wrote down whatever it is that makes it out of his head and onto the paper, when a familiar voice calls his name in an unsure and questionable tone.

It's Kate and he knows it immediately because he'd recognize that voice anywhere. It's the voice that broke his heart and haunted him for months after she left. Unintentionally, he stiffens a little in his seat and grips his pen a little tighter. He's over Kate, he really is, but he didn't expect to ever see her again and he's got a bad feeling about this.

For a moment, he's silent because he really doesn't know what to say and he's trying to regain his composure because nothing's wrong, it's just something that he didn't expect to happen today or any other day.

Kate says his name again and Harry sighs softly and gently sets his pen on top of his notebook. He turns slightly in his chair to face the direction her voice came from, a slightly forced smile on his lips. "Hello, Kate."

Despite the fact that he called her Kate while they were dating, he still calls her Kate instead of Katie because it's just a habit that's stuck with him even after all these years. She's a little surprised to hear Kate, but she likes it and her lips lift up into a small smile.

"Hi, it's nice to see you again. You look good."

And he does, he looks much better than he did when she left him all those years ago. She looks the same to him, but it's all so different to her because she's spent some time reevaluating her life and the decision that she made to cheat on him and leave him when he was nothing but good to her.

Things with Cory didn't really work out after another few years and she's come back to town to check in on Harry and see if he's still around and what he's been up to because she really misses him even though she's the one that broke things off in the first place.

Harry nods slightly because he really doesn't think that he's changed much and it's a little awkward for her to say that because he knows that she says things like that when she's interested in someone.

"You too."

He doesn't really know what else to say because he's already sent her a long letter with all of the things that she didn't give him the chance to say to him when she left him. He's got nothing to say to her anymore and that's just how it is because she made it that way, she made things awkward between them by calling his name and she knows it just as well as he does.

Kate fiddles with the strap of her bag for a moment, her eyes drifting to her fingers before they meet with his. "Can I sit down?"

Harry's not one to be rude, so he says that it's fine even though he really just wants to get back to his unplanned lesson plans and waiting for his girlfriend in peace. There's always something with Kate, she doesn't just show up, that's what he learned from her brother Steven when they first started talking to each other.

She takes a seat without ordering the coffee that she came in to get, her eyes bright and her smile soft. "What have you been up to?"

"I've been teaching first grade at an elementary school across town. The pay isn't really great, but I love what I do and I don't plan on quitting any time soon. What about you?"

He's making eye contact when he talks, but he's not looking at her the way that she was expecting him to or the way that she wants him to. Nevertheless, she smiles at the notion of his job. He's always loved children and she knew that he was going to be a great teacher by the time that he first started taking his classes. Kate's happy to hear that he's made it to his dream job and that he loves it as much as he expected to.

"Really? That's wonderful, I bet the children absolutely love you! I haven't really been up to much, right now I'm a waitress at Applebee's. I think that I want to go back to school though and open up some doors."

Harry hums in response. She quit school for Cory and he knows it, but he isn't going to throw that in her face. He's about to ask how he is, but she beats him to it.

"Things didn't really work out between Cory and I. For a few years it did, but he didn't want what I wanted and we fought all the time about stupid things. I'm really sorry about what I did to you. I know that sorry doesn't even come close to cutting it, but I hope that you can forgive me. That's why I came back you know—to find you. I went by our old house, but there was a family there and they said that you moved a long time ago and they didn't know where."

Harry's slightly surprised to hear her apology, but the rest he was expecting from the moment she said his name. He doesn't know why she thought he would stay in the house that he worked so hard to buy for them, it only hurt him after she left and took his heart with her.

"I've already forgiven you, Kate. I forgave you a long time ago because it wasn't worth making myself miserable and wasting my life away in a drunken haze." He pauses and shakes his head, "Of course I didn't stay there, why would I? I bought that house for us and there hadn't been an us for a long time. It didn't make sense for me to stay, even if I wanted to."

They sit in awkward silence for a long moment before Kate gathers the nerve to ask the question that she's wanted to ask since she saw him sitting alone. "Are you—Are you seeing anyone?"

Harry pulls his eyes from the window and meets her eyes again. She's brought up his love life hoping that he doesn't have one, but the smile on his face when she asks confuses her. It could mean that he's seeing someone and the question had him thinking about whoever that is, or it could mean that he was hoping she'd ask that and that he misses her too.

Just the thought of Mary brings brightness to his eyes and a wide smile to his lips. "Yeah, actually. I am. Her name's Marigold and she's...she's amazing. I love her and her daughter so much."

Kate's smile drops immediately and her voice softens tremendously as she asks, "Really?"

Harry's smile doesn't waver, "Yes, really."

There's something about the way that she's looking at him with sad eyes and slightly pouted lips that has him speaking again. "You can't be upset with me for moving on, Kate. You're the one that let me go."

She won't look at him now, her eyes trained on his familiar hands that no longer looked like the picture that she had in her head. "I was stupid. I miss you."

"I'm sorry, Kate, but I don't miss you."

Mary's walking through the front door with a smile on her face and Twelve Seasons in her hand. Harry's been going on and on about this book for months now and it finally released a week ago. He hasn't bought it yet because he's been busy with before school faculty meetings and his summer job at Sunshine daycare center. So, she went out and bought it to surprise him because he does so much for her and she really wants to do something nice for him.

There are a lot of people inside and it takes her a good minute or so to find him. Mary's smile falls the moment that she walks around the corner. She couldn't see the other side of the table until she got closer and she's worried because there's a woman sitting in front of him and she looks a lot like his ex-fiancée Kate.

It looks like they're just talking, and that's fine, he's allowed to talk to other women and have them as friends because Mary's not overly protective of him and she trusts him. But there's something about the way that Kate's looking at him that has her feet glued to the floor only a few steps away from their table.

She knows that look all too well and she's terrified to see what happens and how Harry reacts. She trusts him, she really does, but she can't help the fear that Alec instilled in her. She can't help that she's terrified that it will happen again, it's what she's come to expect because of her last relationship.

Time feels like its standing still as she stands there and watches the two of them talk, wondering if she should just walk over or stay where she is. Mary's about to take the last two steps in an attempt to overcome the fear that she has, but she doesn't because Kate leans over the table and kisses Harry.

He doesn't know that she's there and Kate doesn't know who she is and Mary's feeling like an idiot because it's happened again. She's too caught up in the feeling of her heart pounding against her chest and her lungs screaming for air that she doesn't notice that Harry pushes Kate away immediately.

Mary can hardly see because she's trying her hardest not to cry. She's tired of crying over men and she doesn't want to feel any worse because people have started to stare.

"How could you? How could you do this to me when you know what happened?"

Harry spins around immediately, his eyes wide because she's there and he knows that he just saw Kate kiss him. He's seen her cry plenty of times before, but this is the worst because she thinks that he's doing what Alec did and she's crying because of him.

"Mary..."

She doesn't give him a chance to say anything else because she doesn't want to do this right now and because she has to be able to finish her shift today. He's not going to make her lose her job and she refuses to make a scene in front of everyone.

"You're just like him." Mary pauses for a moment to angrily hand him the book that she'd gotten for him. "Here's your surprise."

As soon as he takes the book she practically runs out of the building, her hands wiping at her eyes and her heart fracturing further with each step that she takes.

Kate's saying something, but Harry's not listening because he's incredibly angry with her and incredibly upset that she might have just cost him Mary. The book feels heavy in his hands. He runs his fingertips over the cover and flips it open because he knows that she likes to leave him little notes inside.

He's surprised to see the author's signature and the words, 'I love you' by Mary's name. She just told him that she loved him and Kate ruined it.

"I don't care Kate. Just—leave me alone, please. I'm over you and I really don't want you in my life anymore. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go get my girlfriend back."

Harry doesn't bother to grab his notebook and his pen and rushes out after Mary. He can't see her right away and turns his head quickly to scan both sides of the sidewalk because he knows that she didn't drive here from work.

It's lunch time so a lot of people are out, but he spots her after a good moment and sprints to catch up with her.

"Marigold!"

A few people are staring but he doesn't care because that's not important. What's important is telling Mary the truth and making sure that things will be okay between them because he loves her and he doesn't want Kate's decision to kiss him to end their relationship.

Mary hears him, but she's purposely ignoring him because he's honestly the last person that she wants to see right now. But she knows that he isn't just going to let her walk away because that's not who he is.

He's beside her now, pleading with her to listen and calling her name to get her attention. It takes everything that she has not to look at him and to keep pushing forward. She's not in the mood to hear him explain, she just wants to be left alone for a while.

"Marigold..."

Mary grits her teeth, "Stop."

Harry lightly takes a hold of her wrist to get her to slow down and stop walking so that she'll look at him. "Marigold."

Despite how much that she wants to continue ignoring him, she can't because of the familiar warmth of his hand and the tone of his voice. She loves him even though she's incredibly angry with him right now.

Mary's light eyes meet his, "Please let go of me."

Harry shakes his head, "Let me explain."

"I don't want you explain. I want you to let me go and leave me alone for a while."

He drops her hand, but now he's looking at her like she's just run over the dog that he's had since he was a child and it breaks her heart all over again.

"I can't do that."

Mary takes a step back and shakes her head, "You have to or you'll send me away for good."

Harry lets her walk away. It kills him, but he can't push her because she means it when she says that he'll push her away for good. He hates that he has to leave her alone while she's upset, it breaks his heart really, but he can't force her to listen to him.

Mary's no better. She's walking away from him and today was the day she was going to be brave enough to tell him that she loves him. It's taken a lot for her to accept the feelings that she has for him because she's afraid of losing him too, but she did and she didn't even get the chance to tell him because he was kissing his ex-fiancée.

The rest of her day is miserable. She went back to work without lunch because she lost her appetite and she really didn't want to go out and find something else. A few of her coworkers asked her if she was alright, but she brushed it off and tried her best to put on a brave face and a friendly smile.

It's a little harder when she gets home because Ember's talking about how Harry's coming over on Saturday for tea and ice cream, but somehow she manages to keep her emotions at bay until Ember goes to bed.

She turned her phone off the second that she got back to her building and she's scared to turn it on because she knows that she's going to have a ton of missed calls and a million text messages.

Mary knows that she's being unfair, that she should at least give him the chance to explain, but she's not entirely sure that she wants to hear the explanation if what she saw is what she was thinking and not just something that Kate did to try to get him back.

She's sitting on the couch and biting her nails as she waits for her phone to turn on. It's late enough that he should've given up on trying to get her to talk to him, but it's Harry and late might not mean anything to him in this circumstance because she knows that he really cares about her.

Just as she thought, her phone goes crazy with texts and missed calls and she has to let it sit on the couch cushion for a few minutes to let it catch up. Five minutes pass before the vibrating stops and she can actually check her phone.

Mary skims through the messages, they're all the same. Every message is something about talking and explaining and please, please, please. Next are the voicemails, they're pretty much the same thing until the end. The last message he left is the one that really hits her.

"Marigold, please don't do this to us. Don't do this to Ember. Please call me, let me explain. You can tell me that it's over if you want to, just please let me explain before you do. Don't give up on me until you know the truth, that's all I ask."

Her fingers hesitate over the screen after she deletes his voicemails. His contact is up on the screen and the photograph of the two of them laughing has her heart twisting in her chest. She's so happy with him and she is being unfair to him by not letting him explain, but she let Alec explain once and it only hurt her even more in the end.

She's made up her mind to call him back when there's a knock on the door. It nearly scares her half to death and she wipes her eyes because she knows that it's Harry and she doesn't want him to see her crying because she cries far too much and far too often.

Mary's silent as she unwraps the blanket from herself and stands from the couch to make her way to the door. Harry knows that Ember's sleeping so he doesn't push it and waits patiently to see if she'll answer the door.

He's a little worried that she won't, but he's still going to wait for a little while because he's not letting her go so easily. He's not Alec and he's not giving up on her just because Kate's stupid and he didn't make a move to get away when he should have.

One very long minute passes before he hears the locks turn. His eyes light up slightly because she's giving him a chance to explain, but he's not getting too excited yet because she can still tell him that she's done.

She looks like she's been crying for an hour and he doesn't blame her.

Mary looks at him with sad eyes and a soft frown, "What happened, Harry?"

He doesn't bother sugarcoating and wasting time because he knows that it's going to frustrate her and he wants to be honest. "I was waiting for you and Kate walked in and started talking to me. I decided to give her a chance to say whatever it was that she wanted to, and it turns out that it didn't work out between her and Cory and she misses me. I told her that it was too late and that I didn't miss her because I don't. And I told you that I was seeing someone and that I love you and your daughter. She kissed me anyway and I pushed her away the second she did, but you were there and didn't catch the conversation and you wouldn't let me explain what happened. I love you Marigold, you and only you and I would never, ever cheat on anyone because I know how it feels too. Please don't end this because my ex made a stupid decision that I caught a little too late."

Mary's picking at the sleeves of her sweater and her lips are pulled up in a slight smile, "You love me?"

Harry laughs, "Of course I do, Mary! Why do you think that I've been being so persistent with you and your daughter? I want Ember to love me because I love you and I want to be the one that stays. I didn't want to tell you so soon because I was afraid that those three words would scare you away because we haven't really been together for too long and I know that you're still wary about long term commitment."

She laughs with him because she knows that she was being over the top about the whole kissing incident today. "You're right, but today I was going to tell you that I love you too. If you opened the book, you'd know. I spent an entire day waiting in line to get that autographed for you, you know. I don't even have the willpower to do that for myself. I'm sorry for being unfair and not letting you explain what happened."

Harry shrugs his shoulders and his smile grows, "I opened it, that's why I didn't leave you alone all day like you wanted me to. You don't have to apologize for that, it's understandable and I probably would've done the same thing. I do really love you though, a lot more than I've ever loved anyone before, so that's a little scary. But it's a good kind of scary, I swear."

"Do you want to come in? And maybe stay the night? I've had a bit of a bad day without you."

Harry smiles and takes her hand, "Of course, I've had a bit of a bad day without you too."