3 months later...

"Ryan!"

I tackle him, sending us both to the couch.

"Damn Al," he says from beneath me, "what the hell was that for?"

I sit up, nearly falling off the couch before Ryan catches me, grabbing me by the waist. "You haven't heard," I yell, tears falling freely from my eyes.

A couple months I wouldn't have cared this much about this news but since Ryan has become my full time bodyguard and my closest friend recently I'm beyond excited for him.

"No," he says confused. Realization dawns on his face and his eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. "It is Michael? Is he okay?"

"Yes," I laugh, "I just got off the phone with him. He just landed. But this isn't about him! These are tears of joy Ry. For you!"

For good measure and also because I can't contain my joy I hug Ryan, soaking his suit with my tears.

"Well will you tell me what the good news is then? You're freaking me out."

I pull back, a wide grin splitting my face in two. It's funny how before I met Michael I was never happy for anyone else but myself, hell I never thought about anyone but myself. I like to think that I've come a long way since I've met him.

"The supreme court declared equal marriage across the whole country!"

Ryan face goes slack, his jaw drops and I know he's trying to process what I just said.

"In every state," he says slowly, as if he doesn't believe the own words coming out of his mouth.

"Yes!" I jump and squeal in excitement. It's all over the news and have you seen the streets today? Everyone is out celebrating!"

Thank goodness I hadn't put on my makeup, otherwise it would have been completely ruined by now from the sobbing mess I am.

"No way," he says completely shocked.

"Way," I laugh.

"Wait," he pauses, "what am I supposed to do?"

I pause too, sinking back into the couch. Thinking about it I say, "Be completely happy and go propose to your boyfriend?"

"Al," he laughs whole heartedly, "this is beyond great news for me because it means so much but it's marriage has been equal in New York for years now."

"So you're not going to propose to Jackson," I ask disappointed.

"Not until I'm ready, no." He smiles warmly at me which makes me feel better about this.

Damn I really wanted to see a cute marriage proposal.

"Well I guess I should get ready for work then," I sigh and get up from the couch, leaving Ryan laughing behind me.

"I promise that when I do propose to Jackson I'll make sure you're there," he promises.

"You better," I call behind me.

...

The shower glass door pops open and I would have been scared if I didn't know who it was.

His two strong arms that I've missed so much these past three days, wrap around me from behind.

"I've missed you baby," he whispers into my neck. His beard is longer now, not as long as it used to be after having shaved it completely off when summer hit a month ago. I went into a depressed mood after he shaved it all off, he still looked good with no hair believe me but I missed the feeling of it between my hands... and legs. Thankfully he promised to grow it back out again.

I turn in his embrace, firstly holding his face in my hands so I can feel his short beard between my fingers. "Not more than I did." His lips capture mine in a heated kiss. Soon I'm panting and moaning against the shower, not having a care in the world whether Ryan can hear us or not. Knowing him, he's probably outside of the apartment, knowing that we need this time to ourselves.

Later, once we're both dried off and in my bedroom I take the time to apply my makeup while Michael slips on basketball shorts and a simple t-shirt.

"Do you want to go to lunch today babe," he asks, falling back down on the bed. He must be exhausted from the flight and having to give away all his possessions, including his cabin and his land but my Dad helped him with that part. I notice the bags under his eyes, there almost as worse as my Dad's but also his eyes seem darker, like a little bit of his light went out since the last time I saw him. He just needs to sleep off his stress.

"I can't," I say, walking into my closet and picking out a simple black dress. "I have a business date with my Dad and someone who's interested in developing another of our condos."

"Dinner than," he calls from my bedroom. Even his voice is sounding less happy too.

"What do you have in mind?" I ask, coming back in the room while trying to zip up the dress.

"I can cook us some steaks if you want?"

"Ah just like old times," I laugh.

"Yeah," he says sleepily, curling into the blankets on the bed.

I walk over to him, kissing him on the cheek. "I'll keep you updated babe. See you tonight." I grab my purse before I head out the door.

...

After working for eleven hours and being in meetings all day, while also being my Dads apprentice, I finally head home for the day, picking pizza up on the way.

For the past three months I've been watching and learning from my Dad on how to take over the company when the time comes. I've always been a fast and determined learner, having been the making of a farmer girl and an entrepreneur, so in the past three months I've come a long way. Still there's miles and miles for me to go before I can take over the company.

Of course my Dad isn't even fifty yet so he's not going anywhere and his father still helps run the company sometimes too. It's a lot to take on as a single person.

I still have years before he hands it over probably and I'm starting to wonder if I'll be married and have kids already by that time. I'm ninety nine point nine percent sure that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with Michael, he's the only one I want in the world but that point one percent depends on Michael. I mean he is going to be the one proposing and it's only been three months. I don't want to jump into anything so soon like my parents did.

I swing my front door open, with the help of Ryan who is stuffing his face with a piece of cheese pizza he snatched in the elevator. "Babe I'm home!"

Ryan closes the door behind me, staying out in the hall. Although utterly exhausted from a long day, my eyes still admire Michael when he walks out of the kitchen, a glass of red wine in each hand. Even though he isn't out in the wilderness, doing hard manual labor every day he's been enjoying most of his time at gyms all over the city. I think he's even gained more muscle since he's gotten here actually.

"What is that?" He asks, his eyes zeroing in on the box of pizza in my hands.

"Cheese pizza from the best joint in town! You have to try it!" I pause, taking a whiff of the aroma in the air. "What's that smell?"

"Dinner," he says shortly.

"Dinner?" I ask confused. Then it dawns on me, our conversation this morning before I left for work. I didn't think he was being serious! "I'm sorry babe," I plead, setting the box down on a table nearby. "I've been so busy at work today and I completely forgot, besides pizza is easier dinner anyways. Especially in New York."

He stays silent, his face utterly wooden as the seconds draw out.

"Maybe we can have both? It won't hurt." I offer him a small smile, suddenly aware of his hands tightening around the glasses of wine.

"Whatever," he murmurs before walking back into the kitchen. I follow behind him and eat his completely delicious steak and mashed potatoes and vegetables as well as the pizza.

He doesn't have any, forcing me to send home the rest with Ryan who graciously accepts it.

Walking into our bedroom the first thing I see is Michael's bare back after he strips off his shirt, getting ready for bed.

"Michael," I say cautiously.

All through dinner he hardly spoke, mainly stuffing his face and downing glass after glass of wine, and yet still he's not drunk. It was only after I mentioned how his brother was doing that I finally got a reaction from him. His whole body stiffened up and for the first time since we sat down he looked me in the eyes. He only said, "Same as always," before finishing his glass then cleaning his dish off.

He stays silent as we crawls under the sheets. I strip off all my clothes, not bothering on putting on pajamas, and slide in next to him.

"Did somebody send over suits earlier today for tomorrow," I question, running my finger over his pecs.

With his eyes closed he says, "Yes but I sent them away."

My movement stops briefly for continuing. "Why would you do that? You need to choose them for tomorrow brunch."

"Because I'm not going," he says simply.

This time I stop my finger completely and pull away from him. Leaning up on an elbow I hover over him to interrogate him.

"Why the hell not? My parents have been planning this for a month now. You have to go."

He opens one eye to look at me, not even both. That action pisses me off even more. "Will the world end if I don't?"

Anger bubbles up inside of me from the way he's acting. He doesn't even bother to look interested in the least and he's completely blowing off an important family get together the night before.

"Don't be so rude."

He sits up from the bed, resting his back against the head board. His blazing eyes stare down at me. "Why would I want to dress up in a restricting suit all morning just so I can go to your grandparents house and be judged by every rich and snobby person there?"

"My family isn't snobby," I retort, sitting up as well.

He raises his voice to match mine. "But your family aren't the only people that are going to be there right."

My heart groans under the pressure of hearing him yell at me. I don't know what's going on with him but before he left for Alaska he was completely fine, just like he always was. But now he's someone I don't recognize and I don't like it.

"Listen Alex," he says, sighing and running his hands over his chin. "I don't fit into your world, it's obvious but I'm trying my best to do so other wise and it's killing me. I went from living in the wild by myself, practically off the grid to living in a pent house in New York City with one of the richest people in the universe. Do you see how hard this is for me?"

"Yes of course I do."

"No," he laughs dryly, shaking his head. "I don't think you do. Money is what has been dictating my life since the very beginning, from my parents to my brothers hospital bills, and now you expect me to be all okay with swimming in it!"

"What does this have to do with the damn brunch? Why don't you just suck it up and go for heaven's sake!"

"God!" He yells, his veins pop out of his neck. "You do not get it!" He jumps up from the bed, leaving my oddly cold. He scrambles for his t-shirt before roughly putting it on. "You do this thing where you divulge yourself in to one solid thing and suddenly everything around you doesn't matter! First it was your partying ways, than it was me on the island, and now its work."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean," my voice is taut like wire and my fists are clenched like a vice against my sides.

Michael takes a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Being back here is making me go insane. I need to clear my head, in the meantime, try to think about what you're become since you got back to New York."

Then he's gone, slamming the bedroom door and the front door closed behind him.

Laying in the empty room, I try to go back to sleep but I can't. Instead I grab my broken angel out of the bedside table and grip it in my hands while I watch as the numbers on the clock change every minute.

I feel the hand that grabbed me so long ago is starting to loosen. But who's fault is it?

Am I pulling to hard or is he just giving up?