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“Yes! Dinner is cake!” Bri agreed, and then she went on, listing all the other foods they could also have to go with their cake as she dragged Ash over to the stairs.

He was exhausted enough that he almost wanted to insist they take the elevator, but he let her lead him toward the stairs anyway, listening with half an ear as she continued chattering. Just like on the whole walk home, each step felt heavier than the last, and he finally failed completely, unable to keep holding himself together as his thoughts started to spiral.

He jumped back a day, two days, a week, remembering how the pain had slowly worked its way in as he’d realized something wasn’t right. Then, without meaning to, he jumped back further to first hugs, first kisses. Intimacy he’d forever craved and only recently found. Friendship, support, hope. He remembered the early days when they’d first started texting and talking, how he’d finally felt seen and how hard it had been to open up and let himself be vulnerable. How hard it had been to trust.

And he remembered the moment he’d known he was in love.

Cass was it.

He was the one.

It felt like he’d climbed an entire mountain to get there, to allow himself that, only to have lost his footing right at the peak. Now, he was sliding down a steep slope with no one to stop his fall.

He was completely alone. Again.

He didn’t know what to do or who to turn to. He didn’t know what had gone wrong or whether he’d done anything to cause it. He only knew he’d tried everything he could. He’d tried and tried and tried to get Cass to talk.

Short of going down to California and knocking on Cass’s door—

His heart clenched. He’d do it. If that was what it took, he’d do it in a heartbeat. Except he couldn’t. He had school. And Bri. And—

“Cass!”

Bri tugged hard as they stepped out of the stairwell, pulling her hand out of Ash’s. Then she took off down the hallway, toward their apartment a couple of doors down . . . where a tall man in a well-worn pair of dark-wash jeans and a medium-gray T-shirt was pushing himself up from the floor, a small bouquet of maybe half a dozen red and yellow roses in one hand.

Ash’s feet stuck to the ground, and he stopped short, his heart skipping several beats as he watched his niece run straight at Cass and launch herself into his arms with a squeal of delight.

“Cass, you here! Un-ca Ash, Cass is here!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight, and he seemed to close his eyes with relief as he hugged her back.

Ash still couldn’t move from his spot near the stairwell door, though his heart raced unevenly and his hands began to tremble. His mouth fell partway open, but no words would come, either. Slowly, his body unstuck, and he managed a short, sharp breath and then another, trying to fill his lungs.

Cass was here. He was here, standing in front of Ash’s door, a bouquet of roses in one hand as he clung tight to Bri. And he looked totally, completely overwhelmed and unsure. And when he finally opened his eyes and glanced in Ash’s direction, his expression was filled with sorrow and regret and what had to be shame.

He appeared to try for a smile, but it was reluctant and small. He shifted Bri to one hip. “Hi, um . . .”

A flood of emotions broke down all the walls Ash had built up to get through the last few days. He still had no idea what was going on, or why Cass was here, or what had happened, but he stumbled forward, his legs nearly giving out, and when he reached Cass, he let himself fall into Cass’s arms, trusting he’d be caught. His arm looped around Cass’s waist, and he exhaled a slow breath.

Bri, the adorable child she was, giggled happily from her perch on Cass’s hip. “Un-ca Ash, Cass is here!” she repeated.

All Ash could do was nod.

Soft lips pressed tentatively against his cheek, and Cass’s deep voice shook as he whispered into Ash’s ear, “I’m so, so sorry. Please forgive me.”

There was a pain in Cass’s words that Ash felt acutely. He straightened and took half a step backward, his expression tight as he met Cass’s eyes.

“Tell me you’re here to talk?” Ash said quietly. “And . . .” He hesitated, his stomach churning. He didn’t even want to say the words out loud, but he knew he had to. “And not . . . to break up with me.”

Cass’s face paled, and he quickly shook his head. “I’m here to talk. And I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Cass pressed his hand gently into Ash’s lower back. “I’m so sorry,” he repeated, his voice wavering again. “I never meant to hurt you.”

With a nod, Ash dropped his chin. “Let’s go inside?”

“Inside!” Bri agreed. “To have cake!”

Cass’s eyebrows arched, and Ash shook his head as he stepped back and stuffed his hand in his pocket to get his keys. “She thinks cake is for dinner tonight.”

“Ah.”

“It is!” Bri clapped. “Cake for you too!”