"Morning sweetheart," he said and kissed her nose. "I know you're awake."
"Sweetheart?" She asked as she opened her eyes.
"Would you prefer something else? Baby girl? Honey? Sweet pea? Darling?" He looked at her and smiled before drawing his next word out. "Girlfriend?"

He immetiately regretted saying that when he saw the look on her face. It was too soon, he knew it, but for him it was anything but soon. He had waited one year and eight months for her but he knew it wasn't the same for her.

"I don't know," she said honestly.
"I'm sorry, that was a stupid thing for me to say," he said.

He started moving out of bed but she grabbed his wrist and sat up next to him.

"I honestly don't know, Roman," she said.
"It's okay," he said and leaned in to give her a quick kiss. "I'm not mad."

She sighed in relief and he got out of bed to put his clothes on.

"However, I will not be your rebound. If that was all last night was for you then please be honest and we'll stop it here. I won't go anywhere. I'll still be your friend," he said and buttoned his pants.

She didn't say anything. She just looked at him, waiting for him to keep talking. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to work up his courage to say what he wanted to say, what she needed to hear.

"Look, Courtney, I've been in love with you a very long time. Ever since we met actually. I never acted on it out of respect for you and Dean but now that we've crossed the line, I think you should know. So if you want a rebound, it's not me. I don't want you to wake up one morning three weeks down the road and tell me that it has been a fun ride but you're over it. I don't wanna get hurt," he said.

She took in every word he said and slowly nodded. She could understand that and she appreciated him being honest with her. She just never knew he felt that way about her and it was a lot to take in.

"Will you come back tonight?" She asked.
"Do you want me to?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'd like that. I can't give you the answer you need right now but I'd like to see you. I was thinking about making my famous spicy duck breasts," she said.
"How can I ever say no to that?" He chuckled and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "No pressure, alright? I'm always gonna be here no matter what you want."

She nodded against his lips and he kissed the top of her head one more time before walking out of the house to go to work.

The duck breasts were in the oven late that afternoon when she heard the front door open and close. With a smile on her face she turned around, expecting to see Roman. Her smile quickly disappeared as she came face to face with Dean.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"I live here. It's my house," he answered as if he had never went away.
"You said I could stay here," she said.
"I'm not expecting you to leave. I'm home now," he said.

They both turned their heads as they heard the front door open and close and seconds later Roman came into the kitchen looking just as surprised to see Dean as Dean was to see him.

"What are you doing here?" Roman asked.
"Why do everyone question me being in my own house? What are you doing here?" Dean fired back.
"Just came by to drop off a book I borrowed from Courtney," Roman said, thinking on his feet. "Left my brain at work apparently since I forgot the book in the car."
"Shit happens," Dean chuckled. "So how have you been, man? Haven't seen you for a while."
"Things have been complicated. I met this girl and I thought we had something but now I'm not so sure anymore," Roman said as he looked at Courtney the whole time.
"Tough luck," Dean said.
"Yeah, tough. How about you and Sasha?" Roman asked, poking the bear on purpose.
"That didn't work out. Bitch was too crazy. So now I'm back home," Dean said.

Roman nodded as he kept his eyes on her. She looked down, feeling oddly ashamed about the situation although she had no clue Dean would come home. Dean didn't seem to catch on that anything was going on between them. He sniffed up in the air and walked over to the oven to look inside.

"Your famous spicy duck breasts? Score! I chose the right day to come home, huh, babe?" He chuckled.

She cringed as she heard him call her babe. It had been a long time since she had last heard it and she wasn't so sure she actually liked hearing it anymore.

"I better go," Roman said.
"Good luck with that girl. If she has any brain, she'll come around," Dean said.
"I can only hope," Roman said and met Courtney's eyes one last time before leaving the house.

Once they heard the front door close behind Roman, Dean quickly cornered her up against the counter, placing his hands on either side of her, leaning forward to run his nose up her neck and up to her ear.

"So how about we take it to the bedroom and quickly make up before dinner?" He asked.
"Dean, I..." She started but she had no clue what to say.

He started kissing her neck and she woke up, placing her hands on his shoulders to push him away.

"No!" She yelled. "You can't just walk back here like nothing ever happened! You left me, Dean! You left me for some bimbo and you fucking broke my heart!"'
"And now I'm back," he said and gave her a sassy smile.
"I'm not gonna spread my legs for you just because you choose to come back all of the sudden," she said.
"Fine, we'll do it the girly way and talk about things. But first I'm gonna catch a shower," he said.

He started whistling as he walked out of the kitchen and out to the bathroom. Two minutes later she heard the water start running. She walked out of the kitchen too and stopped by the open bathroom door.

"So how have you been?" He asked from behind the shower curtain.
"Do you really care?" She asked.
"Sure, I do. Let's talk. That's what you want, right?" He said.
"That's not what I want. I'm not even sure I want you anymore," she said.

He stuck his head out from the shower curtain, grinning at her, clearly not believing her. He blew her a kiss before disappearing behind the shower curtain again.

"Playing hard to get, eh? I can live with that. This might even be a bit of fun before we end up in bed later," he said.

She shook her head, surprised that she ever felt anything for him. Her eyes widened as soon as she had finished that thought. Everything was suddenly so clear to her. She didn't need this. She didn't need him.

"I don't love you anymore," she said lowly.
"What was that?" He asked, clearly he hadn't heard her.
"I don't love you anymore," she spoke up.

She heard him laugh from behind the shower curtain and then he started singing. She should feel angry with him for treating her like that, not listening and believing a word of what she said, but she felt nothing towards him. All anger and hate inside her had been transformed into warmer feelings towards someone else. As she slowly realized that she had fallen in love again over the last six weeks, she walked away from the bathroom and into the bedroom.

The water turned off 15 minutes later and shortly after Dean came walking into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He stopped in his tracks as he saw her zip up a bag with her clothes. Next to it another bag was, already packed and zipped.

"What are you doing?" He asked.
"I'm leaving," she answered.
"And go where?" He asked.
"None of your business. You and I are done. Like you said when you left, we have been over for a long time, and you were right. It just took some time for me to see it. I needed someone to open my eyes," she said.
"Who?" He asked.

The thought of Roman made her smile and she could see Dean's facial expression change into something she didn't like. He didn't have the right to know anything about her life anymore. She grabbed both bags and walked past him without a word. He followed her, not completely sure that she actually was gonna leave, but when she opened the front door to step outside, he finally realized that she wasn't playing. He grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Come on, babe. Don't leave like that. We can work things out," he said and sent her one of his sassy smiles that used to have her falling all over him.
"Duck's burning," she said.
"Huh?" He asked.

She nodded her head towards the kitchen and he turned his head as the smell of something being overcooked hit him. He ran out to the kitchen to open the oven and get the duck out. He heard the front door close and when he ran back in, she was gone.

She could have called Roman and made him pick her up but the fresh air did her good and she wanted to surprise him. It was a 20 minute walk to his house, and although her bags were heavy, she made the entire trip with a smile on her face. When she finally reached his house and knocked on the door, she came face to face with a very surprised Roman.

"I realized something," she said.
"What?" He asked.
"I'm in love with you too," she answered.

For a second she thought she had overstepped her boundaries as he just continued staring at her and then his face lit up into a huge smile. He laughed out loud as he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up, making her drop her bags in the process. When he finally put her back down, he leaned in to kiss her softly before allowing her inside and picking up her bags from the ground.

"So girlfriend has a nice ring to it," she said as he closed the door.
"Yeah, that's my favourite too," he said as he dropped her bags on the floor and once again wrapped his arms around her. "Do you think you can make this house into a home or should we start searching for an apartment for you?"
"We practually lived together the last six weeks. I think I can work with what you got here," she said and smiled.

He lifted her up again and carried her inside the bedroom. She laughed as he dumped her down on the bed and went on top of her, his lips finding the soft spot on her neck right away.

"Roman!" She gasped and laughed.
"I'm just giving you the tour of the house, starting with the bedroom," he chuckled.
"Best place of the house," she chuckled too.
"Rain check on the duck breast though. I'm not letting you leave this bed today," he said.