The atmosphere in the room was a mix of warmth and tension as Fallon stepped through the door to her apartment. The weekend's events were still fresh in her mind, and the white envelope, still unopened in her pocket. Her heart raced with a mixture of emotions, and she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt as she walked through the door and saw Matt, who was waiting for her.

"Welcome home!" He came up to her, taking the suitcase from her hand and planting a kiss on her cheek. "How was your flight?"

"It was fine, uneventful, like a flight should be." Her voice was flat and disinterested.

"Okay, that's good. How was the weekend?"

"I mean, it was a funeral service, so it was sad, but it was nice to reminisce on some old times, so it was fine."

"So the whole weekend was just...fine?"

"Yeah, it was fine."

There was a longer pause this time, "and how's Trent doing?" Matt's fact twisted a little when he said his name.

"He's-"

"Fine?" Matt cut her off.

Fallon sighed, "he's as okay as someone who just lost their mom could be, I guess."

Matt nodded, "I'm sure he appreciated you being there. Did you get any time to catch up?" The question sounded strained coming from Matt's lips. As if he knew these were the right questions to ask, but he didn't care to know the answers.

Fallon glanced down towards the counter. It felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. So much so, that it actually took her some time to answer, trying to carefully craft a response.

"We caught up a little bit, yeah. It's hard to make up all that lost time. It was like staring at a stranger that I knew everything and nothing about all at once."

"Poetic," Matt said sarcastically.

Fallon found herself suddenly defensive, "we only lost touch because you two couldn't sort out your differences. I made an effort." She put her head down on the kitchen counter, resting comfortably on her arms.

The response caught Matt by surprise, "hey," he moved towards her and started to rub her back. "I was kidding, I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by that comment. I know he was your friend and you were friendly with his mom. It's good that you went."

She popped her head up, now resting her chin on her arms, "his mom was always very nice, she's the first person who gave me pepperoni pizza." Fallon smiled at the memory, "and I was so young, and my mom always called pasta 'ronies,' so I thought it was pasta made out of peppers and it was all stacked on top of pizza!" A laugh managed to escape her as she noticed Matt standing stone faced across the counter from her; she recoiled again. "It was funny then."

"It's nice that you have those memories." He reached for her hand.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Another long pause filled the space between them before Matt spoke.

"Are you okay Fallon? You seem...off" He cocked his head sideways, looking at her with a furrowed brow.

"Yes, I'm okay," she rubbed her face with the palm of her hand, trying to shake the discomfort that was clearly only a problem for her. "I'm sorry, I'm just tired from the traveling and stressed about going back to work tomorrow. I'm glad to be home." She forced a smile towards him.

"I'm glad your home too, I know you're tired. Relax, take a nap if you want. I have to run an errand for my dad down at the docks. I'll take care of dinner. I won't be long."

"Okay," she let out breathlessly, almost as a sigh of relief that she still would have some time alone before diving head first back into her real life. "Yeah that sounds like a good idea, I could use a nap." She looked at him sympathetically, "I'm sorry, I'm happy to see you."

"Don't apologize, it's a lot for one weekend." He pulled her in to his embrace, "Let me know if you need anything." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips, before he left.

Once he was gone, she dragged herself to their bedroom. She changed her clothes into a pair of pajamas, skipping on the silk ones she had been wearing all weekend and settling on a crop top and a pair of biker shorts. She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes and tried to settle in to her space in bed. When she had finally gotten comfortable, she remembered the envelope in her pocket.

Jumping out of bed, she pulled it from the clothes she had thrown into the hamper. Unsealing it as she got back into bed, she found a very simply written note, with a code of numbers next to it.

For when you decide to come back to me.
8460139

She couldn't help herself but felt slightly disappointed. She wasn't sure what she expected; a love note? A marriage proposal? But not something as confusing yet simple as this.
It was the numbers that threw her off. She ran through important dates in her mind, phone numbers, numbers of old apartments and dorm rooms, but nothing came up as important.
Knowing it would continue to gnaw at her until she knew, she quickly composed a text to Trent asking about the set of numbers.

I know you're probably working, but I opened your envelope from Jonathan. What is the set of numbers supposed to mean?

She went back to making herself comfortable in bed again. Staring at the ceiling, still trying to understand when she was meant to do with them.
She started counting out the alphabet letters, matching the numbers to where they fell, but still came up with nothing. Her headstrong frustrations made her grumble. She never liked a riddle she couldn't figure out.
It had started to feel like forever, but truly wasn't long before her phone buzzed with a reply.

That code will get you through the front gate and into the front door of the house. Unless of course, the next time you come here, you want me to send Jonathan for you.

Fallon smiled, "of course," she whispered to herself. The entirety of her time at Trent's home was surrounded by keypads and codes that someone always knew the answer to. She never thought twice about the fact that if the person didn't work for Trent, they didn't have the code. Suddenly the note was less of a disappointment and more like a key to a kingdom.

Aww you're giving me the key to your apartment? You like me! You really like me!

Content with her sense of humor, she smiled and plugged her phone into the charger. She folded up the piece of paper and tucked it between her phone and the case, the only place she was sure it wouldn't be seen or lost.
But as she lay there, thinking about the new source of information at her fingertips, she was suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of sadness. And the thoughts and worries of Trent, alone, suddenly returned. Why was he trying so hard to keep everyone out? What exactly was so important in that house that it was kept under lock and key like a fort of battle? Sure, there were nice things, and yes privacy was important, but she couldn't shake the now gnawing feeling she had in her stomach that there might be something more he was keeping.
The sound of her phone buzzing again made her hear skip a beat this time.

You could say I might even LIKE LIKE you.

Thank you.

I really do hope you come back one day, but if you never do, I'm so thankful for this weekend.

Again, it made her smile. But this time her intuition was screaming that she was missing something.

While thinking and aimlessly scrolling through old photos on Facebook, she had a sudden realization of what she was missing. It had nothing to do with Trent, his house, the security he used to keep the world out, or himself in. But instead, in her mindlessness, she went to twirl her ring around her finger, a fidgeting habit she had made of it since Matt had given it to her. But instead of the comfort of feeling the smooth metal spin on her finger, panic set in when she realized, it simply wasn't there.

She drew in a quick breath, feeling her stomach tighten, "okay, relax, it's gotta be here somewhere. Look before you panic." She tried to talk herself down from the feelings of fear, anger, and sadness creeping up her spine. 

She quickly went for her suitcase, unzipped it and shook each article of clothing out carefully, hoping that it would fall out of some shirt or dress that she accidently wrapped it up in during her packing. When that resulted in no success, she started sorting through her toiletries and other miscellaneous items she had carefully packed into a large Ziploc bag. 

"Fuck," she whispered. She lunged for her phone on the nightstand, quickly pulling up Trent's contact and hitting the Facetime button. She anxiously tapped her foot, "please pick up," she pleaded somewhat as a prayer. 

The screens finally connected.

"You miss my face already?" Trent asked her, grinning through the screen. 

"Always. But, um, is there any chance you've seen my engagement ring?" She held up a hand with an empty finger.

With his original plan still in mind, but not yet having done the smashing of the ring, Trent debated his answer. "Hm, not sure, can you describe what it looks like?"

"Trent... seriously, it's not a joke. I really can't find it and I really can't remember when I took it off. I think it was last night before we..." She trailed off. 

"Before we...?"

"Trent," she smacked her palm against her forehead. 

"Had sex?" 

She wasn't sure whether the pit in her stomach now was because of the lost ring or his gentle reminder. "Yes, I can't remember if I took it off before we had sex," she responded with her head in her hand.

Trent shifted and sat up from where he was clearly laying in the frame of the video. He placed the phone down on what seemed to be a table while Fallon watched him get up and move out of frame. 

"Where are you?" She called out to him. 

"Well, you're in the living room," he called back, still out of frame, "I was in the kitchen." He sat back down, fully in the camera's range of sight now. "This must be yours." He produced the ring in his hand, twirling it around his pinky finger. "And to think I thought I found some precious heirloom by my bedside."

"Oh thank God," she let out the breath she had been holding since discovering it being gone. "Why didn't you tell me that you found it?" 

He picked up the phone again and resumed his position lying on the couch, his half smile clear on his face, "why did you take it off?" He asked with a seductively dark chuckle.

Fallon shook her head, "can you get it back to me please?" 

"Are you sure? I can get you a prettier one. One that's a little more...you."

"Please get it back to me." Her eyes narrowed, "what's that supposed to mean anyway? How can a ring be more...me?" She got up from the space she had been sitting on the floor and moved back to the bed. 

"You didn't pick this ring out, he did."

She rolled her eyes, "well that's kind of the point of an engagement ring."

"But he's supposed to pick something that you like."

"I do like it!" She was getting frustrated, "please get me my ring back."

"I can get it to you by Tuesday, think you can make it until then without any questions?"

"I can tell him I dropped it off at the jeweler to be cleaned."

"Then Tuesday it is."

"Thank you. Please don't lose it."

"I haven't yet."

She looked at him through a side eye, "don't lose it either Trent."

"You know me so well." He grinned devilishly, "bye Fally."

"Bye."

The call disconnected. With the panic easing of misplacing her ring, Fallon hoped that she'd be able to sleep now. She dropped her head against the pillow, trying to overcome the now feelings of dread she had for going into work tomorrow. She had gotten nothing done over the weekend, which was not her original plan. Now, the morning she would have to make up for lost time. She started thinking about if she were to get on an early enough train, maybe she could get an article or two written before she even got to her office.

The next thing she knew her eyes were flittering awake. The room had gone dark, Matt had clearly come in and closed the curtains, leaving the small nightlight on in the bathroom. She could here what sounded like people talking in the distance, signaling that Matt was either still awake or had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. 

She blinked her eyes hard, trying to focus in on the numbers on the clock on the nightstand. 

11:48pm.

She had slept much longer than she wanted to. When she sat up to stretch, making the decision to see if she could find Matt, she noticed the low rumble that escaped her stomach. It wasn't the ideal time for dinner, but she would settle for something to keep her stomach quiet until morning. 

As she opened the bedroom door, she was hit by the low lights of the kitchen and the bright LEDs of the TV. She noticed Matt, sitting with one leg up on the coffee table, enticed by whatever movie was playing. She walked up behind him and gently squeezed his shoulders.

"Oh you're awake."

She yawned, "I slept too long."

She walked around the couch, prompting him to move his foot from where it currently rested, and took a seat next to him. "Are you hungry?" He asked.

"Kinda, but it's also late."

He smiled and got up, making his way to the fridge. She heard him clattering in their dish cabinet, then the pour of liquid, before the microwave started up. When the familiar beep sounded, she jumped, after seemingly having dozed off once again. Matt took his place again next to her, and handed her a bowl. "Wonton soup. There's sushi in the fridge for you, take it for lunch tomorrow." 

She took a sip from the side of the bowl, the warmth of the broth feeling like an embrace from the inside. "This is so good, thank you." She leaned towards him to kiss him. 

"You're welcome. You seemed so tired, I didn't want to wake you up when I got home. I just let you sleep."

"I was, I am still tired. But that nap was needed. And so was this," she raised the bowl slightly in the air. "I love you."

"I love you too." She scooted in closer, allowing herself to lean up against him, as he placed his arm around her. It was a gentle reminder that despite the weekend, and what Trent made her think, Matt really did love her too.