Tommy was exactly like I remember him. His short choppy brown hair was sticking up in different directions. His green eyes were sparkling identical to mine. I missed him so much, I was ready for his time with the army to be up. But I knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, even after his four tours to Iraq. He was just like our father, and had a duty that only being right in the action would fulfill. My father's so much that it killed him trying to save an elderly woman out of a burning building.

"How are you here?" I asked softly as Tommy pulled away from me, me placing my hands on his cheeks to see if he was really here. Tommy smiled at me before his eye line changed to Cameron who was still watching us from across the diner. "I emailed your boss asking for your time off since I was coming home early. Your boss decided to buy my plane ticket and set this surprise up for you."

I couldn't help but release my hold on Tommy and walk back over to Cameron. He stood when he saw me walking over to him, and chuckled when I threw my arms around his neck, pulling him down to my level to hug him even tighter. "Thank you" I whispered in his ear. His curly hair tickling my cheek every so often. I felt Cameron's large arms go around my waist and squeeze me tightly before I felt his head shift and his lips graze my ear.

"Anything for you Avery." He whispered before pulling away from me and looking back at my brother who was looking at the pair of us with raised eyebrows.

"Come meet Tommy" I said to Cameron before grabbing his hand and pulling him towards my brother.

"Cameron, this is my brother Tommy. Tommy, this is my boss Cameron James" I said introducing the pair of them. Tommy looked from me to Cameron before holding out his hand, Cameron not hesitating to place his in Tommy's and they firmly shook hands. A few greetings ensued after, before Tommy gave me a sad smile and placed his patrol cap onto his head.

"Are you leaving?" I asked sadly, Tommy nodded. "Sorry Ray, I've got to report back in a couple hours. But I wanted to see you first, We'll have to go see mom tomorrow though" Tommy said, and I felt my body stiffen at the thought of having to see that monster again. It was going to be torture to be in the same room with my mother, Maxwell and Tommy. But I would do it for Tommy, who hasn't seen mom in God knows how long.

Tommy still had no idea what happened between the three of us, and another thing I was scared of, was blurting it out while the four of us were dining over cheap beer and pizza. My mother would never dare touch a beer these days, but she would do it for Tommy, and Maxwell would just sit and watch the suds die down before sending it back and ordering something a little more his taste. Tommy however was the same down to earth man he always was. Who loved playing beer pong with his friends and had a duty to his country that anyone would be proud of. He was just so much like our father that looking up at him brought tears to my eyes at the mere memory of him.

"Don't cry Avery, you'll see me tomorrow" Tommy said with a chuckle as he reached out and wiped the tears that rolled down my cheeks. I felt Cameron's hand rest itself on my lower back, and felt myself leaning into his touch.

"I'm sorry, you just look so much like dad" I whispered. Tommy nodded knowingly before bending down and kissing my cheek and pulling me into a tight hug once more. "Love you sis" was the last thing he said to me before he ruffled my long hair, shook my bosses hand and walked out the door.

I sighed in contentment knowing my brother was here, he was alive. And then turned my attention to the amazing man who brought him to me. "I don't even know how to begin to thank you" I told Cameron who was leaning against a bar stool. Cameron smiled and shook his head before reaching out and grabbing my hand. "You coming with me is thank you enough" He said. And like clockwork, I blushed.

A waitress came by and led us to a booth in the back, I placed my purse inside and then slid in slowly. Another thing I loved about this diner besides the history I had with it, was the perfect view of the Hudson River. When I was younger I used to sit in the booth with my face pressed against the glass window, watching the boats sail by. Today was no exception, and I once again found myself watching a tug boat trot itself under the Brooklyn bridge.

But the view of the river was nothing compared to what was seated across from me. Cameron sat lazily, with one arm rested on the back of the booth while the other tapped slowly against the white plastic table. The morning light hit his face perfectly, making him glow like a Greek God seated at his throne. He must have caught me staring, because almost immediately his blue eyes snapped up to meet mine and he smirked.

"What's going on in that pretty little head of your's?" He asked me, shifting his position to where he was leaning against his forearms. I looked away from him to look out the window, I hated how much affect he had on me. I was blushing something fierce. His words mixed with the fact that his arm muscles were looking particularly scrumptious in his shirt, were leaving me wanting to fan myself.

"Nothing" I said softly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear nervously. Cameron reached across the table and gently grabbed my chin between his fingers, making me look him in the eye. He raised an eyebrow and gave me a questioning look.

"You're too perfect" I found myself blurting out before my head could even stop it. Cameron just smiled and leaned back in his seat before chuckling to himself, shaking his head. "I'm not perfect Avery, far from it." He said.

I scoffed at the notion that this man could believe he was anything but. "I'm just a man Avery, you of all people should know that"

"I know Cameron. I only meant that I'm not good enough to be sitting here with you" I said sadly, looking away to play with my fingers nervously in my lap. It sounded like Cameron growled under his breath, and I got worried when I saw him slip out of his booth, thinking he was leaving and had enough with me. Wouldn't surprise me, I was nothing special. But Cameron didn't leave, instead he slid himself into my booth making me slide all the way over to the window.

Cameron was hovering over me, cornering me in the booth like a wounded animal being hunted in the woods. I wasn't scared of Cameron, the only thing that frightened me was the fact that he could make me feel these things for him, and I had no control over my trembling body.

"Don't ever say that Avery." he growled. "You're a damn fool if you think you're not good enough for me. A smart man would be groveling at your feet to even get you to speak to them. I promise you Avery, I will spend every day if I have to, to get you to see the beautiful goddess I see in front of me"

The sincerity in Cameron's eyes were something I had never witnessed before. Besides my father, I never had a man tell me I was pretty, let alone use the exquisite set of words chosen by this hunk of a man. I had nothing to respond with, so I just nodded. Cameron did the same, before comfortable seating himself beside me in the booth, his arm resting over the back of our booth.

After getting over the small hump at the beginning of our date, breakfast went pretty well. Working for him for so long meant that we knew quite a bit about each other already, so a lot of the time was spent making random casual conversation. We talked about my brother and my father, thankfully my mom never got brought up. We talked about how his mother Janet was doing, she was probably the sweetest woman I have ever met. Sadly though three years ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer and four months ago the cancer relapsed. I hated that I never knew about it, Cameron kept such a professional facade at work.

By the time Cameron dropped me off at my apartment, it was well past lunchtime. "See you tonight sweetheart" He said to me before kissing my cheek and walking away. Talia was gone when I got home, and I couldn't control myself and squealed at the amazing morning I had just had. I finally felt like things were going well for me. And as long as my mother kept away from me, I felt everything could go as intended.

Cameron came back and picked me up at seven forty-five, looking sharp in his black dress pants and his white shirt rolled up to the elbows. He smiled brightly when I opened my front door. "You look Beautiful" he said looking down at my strapless purple dress. It was short, right above the knee and I paired it with a long black cardigan since it was chilly outside. "Thank you, you look very handsome" I said shyly. Cameron just waved me off and gently led me into the elevator.

Tali's gallery was packed by the time we got there, and Cameron kept his hand on my back at all times. I couldn't help but smile that he was worried about keeping hold of me, nobody had ever done that before. Someone ran past us quickly, and Cameron immediately pulled me into him to keep me from being knocked over. I felt special, that I actually mattered to someone. And all because this beautiful man kept hold of me.

I saw Talia's perky head pop up to my left, but her normal happy demeanour dropped when she saw me, it was replaced by worry. "Avery you need to leave!" Talia frantically said running over to us. I frowned looking at her, wondering why she was telling me to leave. But when Talia leaned in and whispered "He's here" I knew immediately why I needed to leave. I could never have a completely good day, either my mother or stepfather had to of course ruin it.

And before I could even turn around and leave, Maxwell popped out of the crowd and was standing only feet away. How does this man always find me? I swear it's as if he's tracking my every movement in the city. "Ah, my dear Avery. How lovely to see you here. Mr.James" he said to the pair of us. Neither Cameron of I making a move to speak to the man. I couldn't see Cameron, but the fact that his hands were shaking against my side told me he was angry.

"Don't" was all i said to him. Maxwell feigned surprise and reached out to touch my cheek, but was slapped away my Cameron. Cameron had no idea why I hated this man, and already he wasn't speaking to him.

"After what we had? You're just going to throw me away like that?" He said looking me up and down with eyes that made me want to gag. I shook my head and ripped myself out of Cameron's arms and sprinted out the double doors into the busy streets of New York. I wasn't looking where I was going, and tripped over a man hole and went tumbling onto the sidewalk.

I thankfully caught myself when I hit the ground, so I didn't hit my face. But I did bang my hands up pretty bad. I still couldn't believe he said that to me, in front of Cameron no less. Hell he made it seem like I willingly slept with him. What if Cameron believed that? I wanted to vomit at the thought of willingly sleeping with that putrid man. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and reached back to swat it away. Until the hand wrapped around my wrist and gently pulled me off the ground. It was Cameron, who was looking at me with nothing but worry.

"Come on" He said softly, wiping the tears that had rolled down my face. He led me to his car that was parked on the side of the street, he set me inside and closed the door before getting in himself and quickly pulling out into traffic. It didn't take long to realize he was driving to his apartment, which wasn't too far away.

He wrapped an arm around my waist the entire time we walked through the lobby and into his elevator. I sighed looking down at my scraped up palms that looked a lot worse than they felt right now. But Cameron noticed them, and brought both of them to his lips, kissing them gently.

In that moment I couldn't contain myself anymore. I could not be around him a second longer with this feeling stirring inside of me, so I pushed myself into his chest before gently placing my lips against his......