Friday came concluding five days since Chris last spoke with Denise; since she started ignoring his calls. After speaking with Sebastian, Chris decided to take his advice into consideration. He stopped pushing, ate up whatever lie Denise gave him, and hoped she'd call soon because he was resolutely missing her voice. Denise wanted to call- God, did she want to call. She wanted to hear his voice; to see his face on her computer screen; to tell him about how Issac dropped a fork down a customer's dress and hear him bellow with laughter, but she couldn't. The silence was driving both of them insane. It was ironic, really, how the limbo they were trapped in was where their lack of communication had abandoned them.

Things hadn't improved for Denise, and they were getting increasingly worst for Chris. They were now both on the verge of having a mental breakdown they didn't want to bother the other with. Denise knew how frustrating she was being, but she believed Chris was better off not knowing. The fact was he was miles away and unable to offer her the comfort she craved, so telling him anything would only distract him from his job. It was a contradiction as he was more distracted not knowing than he would've been if he knew. If she'd talked to him, she'd hear how worried he was; how stressed he was becoming; how much he needed her while he was pulling sixteen hour days miles from the girl he loved. If she'd talked to him, she'd realize how wrong she'd been. He was not better off, he was just too afraid she'd do what Sebastian said if he pushed too hard. It was out of pure fear that powered his choice to leave her alone and suffer in silence.

Some might say they were too similar for their own good. They even shared an incredible track record for repeating history and becoming increasingly insufferable to those around them. If Denise had just let Luca give her some brutally honest advice, she wouldn't be in this situation and the last five days wouldn't have been her hell on earth.

"Hey," Luca called and Dodger barked from the kitchen as Denise came through the front door.

"Hey, sorry." She gave them both a quick wave as she rushed down the hallway to her room. She was running late for work due to an impromptu meeting with her professor, Daniel Killian, who was concerned about her recent decline in mood. Luca and Dodger followed Denise- Luca with her bowl of Lucky Charms- and stood in her doorway, watching as she bounced around her room gathering her work clothes. "I'm running so late, Issac's texted me twice already and-" She stopped and looked around, frowning, "where the hell is my apron?"

"I think it's in the wash, but you can use mine." Luca told her and walked over to her room to grab it while Denise got changed. "What were you doing at school anyway?" She asked as she returned to wait in the hallway whereas Dodger had left for the living room. "You don't have classes on Friday, did they change your timetable?"

"No, thank God," Denise took the apron Luca was holding out and shoved it into her handbag. "I got an email from Professor Killian because he's concerned about me. Apparently I've been very distracted and unproductive in his class." She rolled her eyes and Luca pursed her lips in response because she knew the professor was right. "What a ridiculous accusation, I turned in two drafts yesterday." Denise headed for the bathroom to quickly fix her hair before she left for her fine-dining restaurant job, and Luca followed, quietly eating her cereal. "Have I been distracted and unproductive?"

"I don't think you want me to answer that," Luca responded with a wince.

"Seriously?" Denise narrowed her eyes at her. "How have I been distracted and unproductive?"

"Denise-" Luca sighed and followed her as she headed for the front door. "Since you decided to stop talking to Chris, you haven't been particularly focused on anything." Denise stopped and turned to her with raised eyebrows. "You go through your days upset and distracted, and yes- you still do your writing and you go to work, but you're lacking your usual perky personality and it is very noticeable. I mean- If Killian noticed, you know you're on rough terrain."

"God-" Denise began then sighed, rubbing her eyes under her glasses out of pure frustration with herself. "I know," she nodded. "You're right, I'm not- I-" She huffed, "I'm trying my best here, okay?" Luca nodded with a sympathetic smile. "And you know I'm dying to talk to him, I just don't want to worry him while he's got so much on his plate."

"As someone who loves you as much as he does, I can assure you he's worried no matter what."

"I know," Denise sighed. "And I know how frustrating I'm being, and how ignoring him is not one of my best ideas but- it's all I have right now." Luca reached for Denise's elbow and gave her arm a light squeeze. "I'll talk to him soon, I just need to figure out how to explain everything to him so he doesn't worry about me after I hang up. Am I making sense?" Denise chuckled wearily with limited humor. "I feel like I'm just blathering."

"You are, but I'm well-versed in Denise," Luca replied and earned a light laugh from Denise. "I know you asked me to stay out of it, but I need to say this because it's not just Chris you do this with." Denise pressed her lips together, sighing as though she knew what was coming. "I understand it's in your nature to handle whatever it is you're going through alone, but you can't do that anymore. You're in a relationship now, if you want it to last- you need to stop pushing him away. You do it enough with everyone else in your life, let him in. Because he loves you, and he is going to care and worry whether or not you want him to."

"I know," Denise nodded. "I'm sorry, you're right," she reached forward and hugged Luca, getting a hug in return. "I'll work on it, I promise. Now I really gotta run," she told Luca as she pulled away. "I'm going to be late and I can't afford to lose this job." Luca nodded, making her way to the couch to join Dodger as Denise's phone started ringing. The ringtone was her average, day-to-day, every-man ringtone so she picked up without looking at it. She had no idea Chris had borrowed a phone so he could trick her into picking up his call. He didn't want to push, but he had a terrible day and he needed to talk to his girl. "Hello?"

"Here I was thinking you'd let this call go to voicemail too," Chris' voice came through and Denise felt her breath hitch in her throat. "Um-" He chuckled with limited humor. She was too stunned to process the emotions wrapped in his tone, she couldn't even tell he'd been crying. "Hey, um- God, it's so good to finally hear your voice. How are you, sweetheart?"

"I'm good," she said and grimaced at her lie. "I'm actually on my way to work, so can I call y-"

"Of course you are," Chris muttered bitterly; his hand tugging at his hair as he tried not to swear.

"Of course you are?" Denise felt her eyes narrow even though she knew she deserved whatever Chris was throwing her way. "What is that suppose to mean?" She bit as Luca turned. The expression on Denise's face meant the call she'd been avoiding had arrived. Luca found herself lowering her bowl and planting both feet on the ground, preparing to intervene if the fight became bigger than it was. Dodger was on alert too, like he could sense a storm brewing.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Chris bit back with a scoff. "Are you kidding me right now, Denise? You haven't spoken to me in five days! Did we get into a fight, did we break up? I don't know because we haven't talked!" Denise tried to interject, but he didn't let her. "You've avoided all my calls and attempts at FaceTiming you, you reply to all my texts in less than five words- like what is your problem? Did I do something to piss you off, because if I did- please, let me know."

"Chris-" Denise began then sighed, "I'm sorry, but this sounds like a fight I can't get into right now." She heard him scoff on the other end and she wanted to kick herself. "It's not you, okay? I'm just-" she glanced at the clock hanging on her wall, "I need to go. I'll call you after work and we'll talk about this then."

"No," he practically growled. "We're going to talk about this now, Denise. I've given you enough time to sort out whatever the hell is going on with you, I want to resolve this now. I don't care if you're late for work, this is a lot more important than a shift where they can easily get someone to cover for you. What is going on? Did I do something to upset you?"

"No! God, Chris- not everything is about you." Denise's heart ached at the sound of his voice, it ached for him. "I already told you, this isn't about you." She said as she realized how much it was. It was obvious now, how much she missed him and how it was affecting her entire being- mind, body, and soul. Up until she heard his voice, she didn't realize how much her life was in shambles. Sure, school was great and work was good, but- she was alone and apart from her soulmate that she took nineteen years to find. She was not okay, she needed the next eight months to be over. "I've just been busy, okay? And I'm busy now, so I really need to end this phone call and call you back later."

"Don't you dare hang up on me," he warned; his voice broke but she was too distraught to notice. "Denise, we need to communicate. We may be perfect for each other, but God- we are terrible at being in a relationship." Her eyes narrowed at that. "Couples are meant to be honest with each other. We're meant to tell each other everything, yet here we are arguing about something that could've easily been avoided if we just talked."

"I don't even know what we're arguing about!" Denise cried with a deep frown. Luca noticed her hand clench into a tight fist and she knew Denise was about to lost it. "You started this argument, Chris," she accused and he scoffed. "I was just trying to get to work." There was a long pause where neither said anything, then Denise did, "I know we need to talk, but I don't have time to talk to you right now."

It was stated earlier how love was a strange concept. It could either be the simplest of things, or the most complicated. A wrong move, a poorly chosen word, bad timing- all of these factors were capable of tearing a soul into pieces. It was not in Denise's intention to bring forth the ache and anguish she did with her poorly chosen words, but that was the result of Chris' bad timing.

"Make time," Chris bit, trying to hold back his tears. "Have Luca cover your shift so we can talk, Denise. I'm not asking for a lot here, I'm asking to talk to my girlfriend." Denise turned her back towards Luca. She didn't want her best friend to see her cry, but Luca knew. "All I want is a second of your time, Denise, a second of your time to just talk. Can you give me that? Can you give me that and ask me about my day? You're not the only one who is having a hard time with all of this. I miss you and I need you too."

"This is not how I imagined this conversation would go," Denise mumbled under her breath instead of keeping it in her head. That was her mistake; the straw that broke the camel's back; the prompt that brought forth words Chris didn't mean and regretted immediately.

"Of course not," Chris bit. "'Cause everything is just fucking perfect in your stories, isn't it?" Denise felt her heart break at the harshness of his tone as well as the bitterness of his words. "Newsflash, Denise, this is real life and I am not perfect. I am nowhere near fucking perfect," he spat and she tightened her jaw to stop herself from having a full on breakdown.

"What is your problem, Chris?"

Chris could hear her voice shake and he knew she was crying. He knew he was hurting her and it broke his heart to think that she was crying because of him, but he couldn't stop the foul words from spilling out of his mouth. "I can't be the perfect guy you want me to be," he told her and a whimper escaped her lips. "Your expectations are too high and I don't know how to live up to them. I thought I did, but-" he swallowed, "I don't."

"What are you trying to say?" Luca jumped up the second that question breathlessly left Denise's lips. She waited for Chris to say something, but he didn't, so she did. "I have never asked you to be anyone you weren't, Chris. I have never expected anything from you." Luca tried to take the phone out of Denise's hand, but she moved out of her reach. "But clearly I was wrong, clearly I was projecting an image you felt pressured to replicate. Clearly..." Denise trailed off because she couldn't breathe. "We overreached and this was a huge mistake."

"Denise, no! Hang up, hang up now!" Luca hissed at her, but she ignored her with a shake of her head and tears streaming down her face. Luca knew both were tired and stressed out; neither knew what they were doing, they were just doing it. "Give me the phone," Luca urged, reaching for Denise's phone only to have her dodge her attempts, "give me the phone now!"

"If you don't want to be with me anymore," Denise continued before Chris could process what was happening. "If this is too difficult for you, Chris..." She took a shaky breath, doing everything she could to hold herself together. "Then let's just quit while we're ahead, okay?" She didn't wait for him to confirm, she just muttered an "okay."

He finally processed what she was saying and frowned because that wasn't at all what he wanted, or where he'd imagined their first fight would end. "No no no," he quickly said before she hung up on him. "No, that's not what I want. Denise, I made a promise-"

"It's fine," she whispered. "I didn't expect you to keep your promise anyway. You're Chris Evans after all and I'm just...me." She couldn't hold it together anymore and she knew it was time to hang up. "Consider that letter void," she managed with her quivering voice. "Like you said, Chris, this is not a story- it's real life." She hung up before he could say anything else, slamming her phone on the dining table as her hand flew to her stomach where she felt like she'd just been stab. "Oh my God," she covered her mouth with her other hand. "What did I just do?"

"Hey," Luca was quick to go to Denise's aid, placing a comforting hand on her back that she shook off because she knew she'd lose it if she accepted her comfort. "Denise, you can't possibly go to work." Luca tried to stop her as she grabbed her bag and made her way to the front door. "No!" Luca ran in front of her and blocked the door, pushing her back with one hand. "You are not going anywhere, you need to process this."

"I need to go to work," Denise told her in the firmest tone she could muster. She heard Dodger bark, but she couldn't even look his way because he reminded her too much of the guy she'd so carelessly broke up with. "I'm fine, really," Denise tried and failed to assure Luca. "Now please move out of my way because I am really, really late. Please," she demanded and Luca reluctantly did as she was told.

The second Denise stepped out of the house and the door closed behind her, she broke down. She staggered down the first flight of stairs, hiding on the second so Luca couldn't see her if she came out. Denise buried her face in her hands and sobbed, wishing she could take back the past five days so she could do it right this time. She had the perfect guy- the man of her dreams, and what did she do? She tossed him aside like he was nothing when he was actually her North, South, East, and West. Denise wished Chris was wrong, she wished real life was like her stories so she could be less of a fucking idiot and not ruin everything good in her life.