Three Years Prior:

Andie stood at the front of the church in a black dress, staring at the shiny brown casket engulfed in yellow and white flowers. Family and friends were filing out of the church. The funeral was over. And, Eric hadn't come.

She couldn't help herself. She looked back at the double doors of the massive cathedral for the millionth time, even though she knew deep down that he wasn't going to enter through those doors, no matter how badly she wished he would.

"He isn't coming, Andie," Morgan approached from the right pews, turning Andie's attention forward. She didn't look up. She didn't trust herself to keep her tears from falling.

"He might..." she managed through a gravelly throat.

"No, he won't."

"It isn't like the last few times," Andie argued. "He has reason to come back now. Someone died. He can't just turn his back on family."

"Your family, Andie," Morgan correctly gently but firmly. "Your aunt wasn't a part of his family. He isn't going to come back for someone he never met."

Andie frowned and a bitterness settled in her heart. "He could come back for me..."

She heard Morgan sigh and then the click of her heels as she closed the distance between them. A hand touched her arm. "Andie..."

"He isn't coming, Andie."

A new voice, deep and gruff, spoke from the aisle behind them. Andie turned, and found John, Morgan's older brother, standing in a black suit. His hands were in his pockets, and a deep frown was chiseled on his face.

"John, she doesn't need to hear it again," Morgan chastised him.

"Yes, she does." He stepped forward." Because it's been three years and she is still holding out hope that Eric will return." Stopping just two feet from her, his eyes gentled as he locked his gaze with hers. "I'm sorry, Andie. I wanted him to come home too. But, if this doesn't convince you that he's staying away for good, than I don't know what will."

A tear slipped down Andie's cheek. Turning from John, she returned her eyes to her aunt's casket; the last family she had left. Now that she was dead, Andie was alone.

"I hate him," she whispered to herself, but in the echoing silence of the cathedral, her words were heard by her two dear friends.

"I know," John responded just as Morgan stepped forward to wrap an arm around Andie's shoulders.

"You don't need him," Morgan told her. "If he came back, he would just hurt you again. You wouldn't be able to look at him without seeing all the pain he's caused you over the years."

Another tear slipped down Andie's cheek and she roughly swiped it away, angry with herself for remaining so tightly wound around Eric.

"It's been three years, Andie..." John said from behind. "He's not coming back."

Andie opened her eyes to Eric's handsome face sleeping just inches from her. She blinked, her mind swimming out of a terrible memory and waking up to the new day.

It was just a dream, she told herself as she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. It was just a dream, and yet... It had been real. Her aunt had died and Eric hadn't come home, and...

Her head rolled and her eyes found Eric again. She still couldn't believe he was really here.

After her aunt's funeral, John and Morgan had her properly convinced that Eric would not return, and for two years she healed and found a version of herself that wasn't so hung up on him. And then he re-entered her life, and...

Sitting up, she kicked her legs over the side of the mattress and turned her back to Eric. Was she doing the right thing...? He said he wasn't going anywhere, but that didn't mean he wouldn't leave her all over again. He could move his company and leave her in Florida, or the position could run out and he could recommend she return to Chicago.

Andie felt so unstable and insecure in her new relationship with Eric, and the anxiety of it all ate at her heart.

Slipping quietly from the bed, she padded from Eric's bedroom and crossed the condo to her own bedroom. She closed the door quietly behind her and located her phone in the center of the bed where she had thrown it the night prior. Setting herself in the center, she dialed Morgan's number, and waited.

Several rings later, Morgan voice came through.

"Girl, I have been trying to reach you for weeks. Where the hell have you been?!"

"Busy," Andie answered quickly. "Work and Eric...you know."

"What's wrong? You sound...off. Did something happen?"

"Um...kind of," she responded, her voice soft and scratchy from sleep. "We..." Andie trailed off. She had no idea how to expell this news to her best friend.

"Oh, Andie..." Morgan sighed. "You didn't. Please tell me you didn't."

"I'm afraid he's going to leave again, Morgan," Andie sniffed, her emotions getting the best of her.

"Of course you're afraid of him leaving again! Do you know why? Because that's all he's ever done!"

"But, it's differnt now. I'm not a kid anymore, he doesn't have to leave to protect me. I'm old enough to make my own decisions now, and—"

"Andie," Morgan groaned. "This was so stupid. He's going to hurt you. You know that."

She couldn't help it; Andie began to cry.

"I love him, Morgan..."

Silence greeted her from the other end of the phone, followed by a long sigh.

"I know you do, Andie," Morgan replied softly. "But how does he feel? If he isn't as in love with you as you are with him, then you need to get the hell out of there before he breaks your heart all over again."

Andie knew it was too late for that. She was head over heels in love with him; even more now than she had been six years ago.

Ending her call with Morgan, she sat ridgidly on her bed and wondered where this uncertainty was coming from. Last night she had been so sure of her and Eric. He told her he loved her. She confirmed with him over and over again that he was staying, and she felt so good about all of it. And then after one bad dream she was back to her insecure little self.

Slipping from the bed, she padded to her closet. Pulling open the double doors, her eyes found her backpack on the floor, tucked just beneath the long hem of her dresses.

She could pack and disappear before Eric woke up...

"Andie?"

Startled, Andie jerked back, closing the doors with an unnecessarily loud bang. Eric stood in the doorway, shirtless, his grey sweatpants hanging low on his hips... He stared quizzingly at her.

"What are you doing?"

Andie shook her head, her breath coming out in quick, nervous, huffs. "Nothing."

His eyes skated to the closet and an uncertain smile smirked across his face. "Hiding something in the closet?"

Andie shook her head again. "No."

Eric frowned. "Andie... What's wrong?"

"N-nothing, I..." she trailed off as Eric approached, reaching past her to open the closet doors. He peered inside, and obviously finding nothing, he leaned back and continued to stare at her quizzingly.

"What's going on?" His tone has shifted, he sounded sterner, less pleased. He didn't like her skittish behavior, or the possiblity of her hiding something from him.

Feeling more unsure of her answers now, Andie offered a lame shrug.

"So, there is something. Tell me."

"I—no."

"No?" Eric's eyebrows shot up.

"I mean," Andie groaned, dropping her head into her hands as she plopped down at the end of her bed. "I'm just having a weird morning."

"Okay..." Eric moved to sit beside her on the bed. His hand found her back and he rubbed slow soothing circles over her shirt. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

Feeling incredibly stupid, Andie frowned and tugged nervously at her fingers. She didn't want to tell him. He would see her insecurities and he would begin to understand that she was beyond repair, and he would leave.

"Andie..." Eric took both of her hands in his. "Look at me, baby."

With tears in her eyes, she obeyed.

"It's me. You can tell me anything. Anything."

Her resolve was crumbling, so as quickly as possible, she blurted: "I'm afraid you're going to leave again and I'm going to be alone and heartbroken, and I feel like maybe I should just leave now and avoid getting more hurt than I already am."

The words rushed from her, and the second they were out, her face was crumpling and her tears were slipping freely down her cheeks. Startled by her statement and her tears, Eric immediately drew her into his lap. While he held her there, he looked over her head towards the closet and got another view of the closet. That's when he spotted her backpack.

Frowning, he gripped her tightly to his chest.

"You were about to start packing, weren't you? When I came in?"

Sniffling pitifully to herself, Andie nodded into his chest.

Sighing, Eric drew her back. He cupped her cheeks in his hands and forced her eyes on his. "I know I'm going to have to prove myself more than anything, but I need you to hear me when I say that I love you, and I'm not going anywhere. I know you're nervous and you have every right to be, but I will show you that I am here and that I am never leaving you again. And if you try to disappear with your things to avoid future heartbreak, I am going to find you and take you over my knee for the lengthiest paddling you've ever have."

Andie started to nod but Eric wasn't finished.

"I want you to talk to me everytime you're feeling worried about us. Every time the thought crosses your mind that you might be better off leaving now because you're afraid I'll leave you; you're going to talk to me and I'm going to convince you other wise. Every single time I will talk you through it, and remind you of my love and determination to keep you right here for the rest of your life. I don't care if it's every single day for the next fifty years, you will speak with me about it and I will be there to remind you that I'm here for good. Do you understand me, Andie?"

Andie nodded again, more fervently this time, and Eric pulled her back into his chest. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she held on for dear life as he nearly squeezed the life out of her.

"I love you, Andie," he told her fiercly. "I love you and I'm not going anywhere."

After several moments in his arms, Andie settled down. Her tears dried, and the trembles left her body.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, but he cut her off almost immediately.

"No, Andie. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm the one who is sorry."

"But I don't want you apologizing for this forever, so I need to get over it—"

"On your own time with me at your side," he told her warmly, tugging her back to smile at her. "I have no arguments with telling you how much I love you everyday."

Smiling with a fresh wave of tears in her eyes, Andie wrapped her arms around his neck for another embrace. He lifted her like he had the night before, and carried her across the condo, back to his bedroom. Andie tucked her head into the crook of his neck.

"It's too early," he told her gently as he set her in bed. "Let's stay here a little longer before work. But first..." he sat down at the edge of the bed and patted his thigh.

Blinking, Andie looked up at him. "What?"

He smiled and circled her wrist with his fingers as he tugged her forward and across his lap.

"I think my little girl needs a spanking."