Tessa had grown very fond of that little secluded café and began going there almost every day, deciding to spend the day there with a nice cup of coffee and get her work done before leaving for dinner. She began coming so frequently that now, even the staff recognized her.

"He comes in on weekends," The curly haired barista told her on Friday. "Or he comes late after he's had a rough day, stays to help us lock up before going,"

"Huh?" Tessa looked at her in confusion.

"Daniel?" She, Rebecca, raised an eyebrow with a smile. "He is very hot, I'll give you that, and we all know you come here for him,"

"I-I do not,"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," She shrugged and handed Tessa her bill. "Have a good day, Forbes,"

"Yeah, you too,"

Tessa had been sitting at her usual spot at the café about an hour before Daniel arrived on this particular Saturday, hearing his BMW's engine before she actually saw him. Looking up from her book, she found him parking the car outside the little shop, stepping out in black jeans with a grey button and black tie underneath a black sweater, his brown tresses styled back as he stepped into the coffee shop, tapping away on his phone.

She diverted her gaze to her book as he walked past her, her heart thundering inside her chest.

"Hey, Becca," Daniel greeted the curly haired girl behind the counter. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, and you?"

"Eh, same old, same old,"

"The usual, agent?"

"Yes, please, barista," He smirked as she struck out her tongue in his direction.

Daniel chuckled at her antics before going to the window niche and settling down before starting up his laptop, cracking his knuckles as he picked up a file as well, laying it out beside him. Tessa sat watching him work from the corner of her eye, noticing how he would take an occasional sip of the coffee or a bite of his sandwich beside him. And the more she looked at him, the more the urge to go over to him overwhelmed her.

"You know, he won't bite," Rebecca murmured to her when she came to pick up the dishes form Tessa's table. "You should go over to him,"

"You think so?" She asked her quietly.

"Yeah, girl! You should definitely go over to him,"

"Okay," Tessa inhaled deeply, assuring herself that everything will be alright. "Okay, here goes nothing," She stood from her seat, Rebecca squealing behind her hand and walking away with the dishes, turning over her shoulder to watch them.

"Hello," She spoke quietly, standing beside Daniel's table as he stopped typing and momentarily looked up at her, his brown eyes not holding any gentleness, but they didn't hold any hostility either.

"Can I help you?" He asked her calmly.

"I was actually wondering if-"

"-No,"

"Oh, but-"

"-No," He stated again and resumed typing away on his laptop, acting like she wasn't even there.

"I probably deserve that," She muttered and stuffed her hands into her jeans pockets before going back to her seat.

Settling down, she exhaled deeply, saddened, but not surprised by his response and swallowed the lump forming in her throat as she brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Rebecca watched the scene unfold from behind the counter, frowning when it didn't go as she had hoped.

"I know!" She muttered to herself and grabbed a brownie, putting it on a plate, she made her way over to Daniel. Putting it before him, the agent looking up at her in confusion.

"I didn't order that," He pointed to the baked good on his table.

"Oh, no, it's from the girl with the yellow raincoat," She pointed to Tessa across the room, internally grinning smugly when he stopped his work and stood up with the plate; making his way to her as Rebecca had to resist the urge to begin jumping in excitement.

Inhaling deeply, Daniel grabbed the plate before making his way across the room, putting it down in front of her before leaning down to be heard by only her, his sudden close proximity causing her to jump back in surprise.

"Daniel-?"

"-Do you actually think I am so low as to get bribed by food?" He demanded quietly as she looked at him in confusion.

"No, I-"

"-Who do you think I am, huh, Tessa?" He resumed. "Do you think that by you giving me a brownie those two years of anger, numbness, and loathing, of repulsion will all just go away? Do you think that a brownie will fix everything you destroyed inside me? Are you actually that obtuse, Tessa?"

Tears welled inside her eyes as the lump choked her, opening and closing her mouth to try and say something.

"I-I-I didn't-" She tried to say, the emotions bottled inside making it hard for her to get her word across.

"Didn't what?" He snapped at her as she jumped back in surprise, pressing her lips into a thin line to stop herself from sobbing in the middle of the café.

"I'm sorry," Tessa choked out before standing on shaky legs and grabbing her things, leaving the café and walked out, making her way back home as she hastily wiped at her cheeks.

Rebecca stared in shock, confused as to what just happened as Daniel went back to his table to work like nothing just happened, an amber of guilt burning inside him.

The next day Daniel got up early to have breakfast with Nathan and Delilah, the couple had invited him to a café close to their home. Getting changed, he drove to the address they had given him before hugging his brother in greeting and giving a kiss to Delilah before cooing at the little baby girl in her arms.

"We finally got a hold of you," Nathan teased as they all sat down.

"Yeah, you know, busy life,"

"Apparently too busy," Delilah teases as Daniel let out a chuckle, all three of them talking before ordering.

"So what's new?" Nathan asked as he fed the three-month-old baby in his arms so that his wife could eat something.

"I ran into Tessa yesterday," He revealed, calmly eating his breakfast as if though he were talking about the weather.

"What?" Both Nathan and Delilah spoke in sync.

"Yeah," Daniel nodded. "She thought that by giving me a brownie would fix everything,"

"God, Daniel," Delilah groaned, dropping her cutlery. "Please tell me you didn't raise your voice at her,"

"No I didn't raise my voice," He shook his head as she sagged. "I just told her very calmly and authoritatively that what she's doing won't work,"

"You idiot!" His sister-in-law hissed at him, Daniel's fork stopping halfway up at her reaction as he looked towards his brother for an explanation. "You think that you've had it rough?" She demanded from him in anger.

"You're just heartbroken over a girl and don't know how to cope with it, but her? Her! Once she settled into her own apartment she went back to California to take her brother under her wing,"

"Now imagine what she went through when she forced herself to go back to the root of all her traumas and then imagine what happened when she finds out that her old home has been sold to another couple with no signs of her parents no information regarding her baby brother! She was depressed! She went into fucking depression and you have the audacity to put down a depressed person?! We forced her to go see a psychiatrist for it! You think you've had it rough? Try and walk in her shoes for just one day, Daniel and see how that feels,"

"I...I didn't know," Daniel murmured quietly, watching her get up from her place.

"Of course you didn't," She stated. "You left her when she needed you the most," She spat at him and walked away, Nathan following after her in concern, both of them leaving Daniel to sit alone at the table, aware of the fact that people were staring at him.

Delilah words and Tessa's face haunted him for the rest of the week, impairing his ability to focus on his work to the extent where he couldn't even recall what he was doing until someone reminded him. His nights were torture, his home feeling cold and empty and his sister-in-law's words echoed in his head as Daniel would stay awake, staring up at his ceiling.

"Hey, Phil," He made his way to one of his colleagues, placing a hand behind his seat as the man looked up at him.

"Yo! D-Dog!" He grinned and gave him a fist bump. "What can I do for you today, brother?"

"I need you to find an address,"

"What? That's it?" He scoffed at the simplicity of the task. "Whose home am I looking for?"

"A girl named Tessa Forbes,"

"T-E-S-S-A-F-O-R-B-E-S," He spelled it out to himself as he typed in the name. "Ah, here," He clicked the screen before noting down the address on a piece of paper and handed it to Daniel over his shoulder.

"Thank you, I owe you a beer!" Daniel began to walk away.

"At this rate, you'll owe me the last supper," Phil called out after him as he chuckled, watching him leave the office and shook his head at the eagerness of the man.

At the end of his workday, Agent Robertson found himself standing in the middle of a grocery aisle in black dress pants with a black button up under a navy blue blazer, a shopping basket in one hand with chocolate syrup in the other. He spent half an hour in the store, trying to get the things he needed before finally paying for it.

Getting in his car, he eventually found himself in front of an apartment complex. Inhaling deeply, he tried to calm his erratic nerves before finally stepping out.

Tessa had been lying cuddled in the corner of her 7-seater and reading a book and nursing a cup of hot chocolate, smacking her lips and wondering how Charlotte managed to make hers so delicious whereas hers never turned out quite right.

A knock sounding on her door had her look down at the time and wondering how Ryle was early since he would typically drop by after work. Getting up from her place, she unlocked her door and opened it, expecting it to be her boyfriend, but jumped back to see the person before her.

"Daniel..." She spoke in confusion, seeing the man standing before her as he looked at her from below his lashes, two shopping bags in his hands. "What are you-?"

"-Peace offering," He held out the bags for her to take. "They're things for making a Sundae, I would have made a kit, but I'm coming from work so..." He trailed uncomfortably as she took them from his hands, peeking inside to see boxes of vanilla ice cream with fudge syrup, wafers, sprinkles, caramel, and other embellishments in the bag.

"Thank you..."

"I just..." Daniel sighed, pressing his lips together as he tried to gather his thoughts together, realizing how much he had missed her over the past two years and resisted to urge to hug her close. "I just came to apologize," He finally revealed as his shoulders sagged.

"I had been an ass last week to you about everything and you didn't deserve that, so I came to apologize and give you that,"

Tessa looked up at him quietly, resisting the urge to smile to see him squirming on his feet as he scratched at the back of his neck. The thought occurring to her that she still knew his quirks after two years.

"Thank you," She smiled at him. "And it's alright, I get it,"

"I'll..." He trailed. "I'll leave you to it then," He swallowed and turned to walk away when her words had him freeze.

"Do you want to come inside?"

"If you'd have me,"

Tessa smiled at him before stepping to the side and allowing him entrance. Daniel was smitten with her apartment, the small size feeling very practical for one person.

"It's very homely," Daniel admitted as he looked around and stopped himself from going up the stairs and towards where her bed was. "It's also very you,"

"I'm glad you like it," She chuckled and approached him with two ice cream bowls and spoons, handing one to him before they both sat on her couch and began to make their own sundaes. "Although, Casanova, how did you know where I live?" She inquired as she spread fudge onto her scoops.

"I'm an FBI agent, Bambi," He smirked as he licked his caramel coated spoon. "I know everything,"

"Did you also know that I went to look for Ryan one and a half year ago?" Tessa asked him so casually that he could have mistaken it for her asking him about how nice the weather was.

"I do," He nodded as he put the wafers into his bowl. "Delilah told me. She also tells me about the lunches you three girls come together for, and she told me about the therapy, I asked them to keep me updated about you," He revealed as he took a bite of the ice cream.

"Why?"

"Because you're my Bambi," His eyes held a certain sparkle in them. "I promised to look out for you,"

Tessa looked at him across the couch, feeling right at home with him beside her and had to smile at the fact that despite the two years that passed between them and the events which led to this drift, Daniel still felt like home and their conversations felt like no time had passed at all.

"I can find out what happened if you want?" He inquired as he leaned back.

"No...I feel like I wouldn't want to know..."

"Are you sure?"

"He's better off without me, Daniel,"

"You don't know that," He shook his head and sat up straight. "You don't know what his life has been without you. You were his world, Tessa, his best friend, his confidante, and one day you're just up and gone in his mind, for all you know. Maybe he's not better off without you, maybe he's worse off without you and misses you every single second of every single day, and maybe he's just so angry all the time about how cruel the world is to take away the one thing that mattered the most to him. You can't say that he's better off without you Tessa, because you're not better off without him, are you? So, what makes you think that he's better off without you?"

Tessa found herself staring at him in silence for a moment, the ice cream melting in her mouth as she realized that despite Ryle and him having the same colored eyes and hair, they were nothing alike. Her boyfriend would have said 'I'm sure you know better', but Daniel tells her where she is wrong and helps her through it.

"Are you trying to make me feel better or worse?" She swallowed.

"Neither, Bambi," He sighed and shook his head. "I'm just saying that maybe...maybe you should look for him one more time...find out where he is and what happened to him, get closure...because everyone needs closure,"

"Even you?" She found herself asking without thinking.

"Especially me, Tessa," Daniel turned to look at her with gentle eyes as her words died down in her throat. "Please tell me why you said 'no', Tessa,"

"Because..." She let out an exhale and swallowed the lump in her throat. "Because I don't deserve you,"

"Don't you dare say that,"

"It's true." Tessa insisted. "I don't. You're so amazing and caring and someone like me doesn't deserve someone like you. Because you deserve the most honest, most beautiful, and most pure love in the world and I feel like I can't give that to you..."

"How can I be caring and amazing when I let my pride get the better of me and let you suffer alone in silence for 2 years, Tessa? I'm not as great as you make me out to be, but most importantly I don't deserving you, but God, I want to. I want to spend the rest of my life trying to deserve you, Bambi..."

"I have a boyfriend, Daniel," She murmured quietly, his words warming her heart from the inside as tears prickled her eyes. "I'm with someone,"

"And I'm not telling you to leave them." He whispered to her quietly. "I'm just letting you know that now, I will be here when you need me, okay? Whether you love me or not because I have been experiencing a hollowness in my chest for the longest time and I tried to fill it with material things whereas all I needed was you beside me all along. Be you mine or not. I just want you in my life, Tessa."

"Daniel, I-"

"-Please allow me to become a part of your life again," He ducked down to catch her eye as she looked away from him. "Please?"

Tessa gave him a broken smile before nodding, sniffling and wiping at her cheeks before nodding again.

"Okay..."

"Okay?" Daniel smiled softly at her, the burning leaving his chest as he felt relief for the first time in two years.

"Okay," She sobbed and threw herself at him, Daniel instantly wrapping her in his arms, holding her tight as she cried into his shoulder, the agent unable to help himself from squeezing her and nuzzling into her neck, having missed her.