"Five years and that's all you have to say to me?" he asked. Standing so close she could taste his breath.

She wanted to move away from him. But she didn't want him to know just how much he affected her. So she stood right there. She wasn't going to let him intimidate her.


"Well... Is there anything else you want me to say?" she asked 

The side of his mouth moved upwards.

He was smiling? Why the hell was he smiling like that? She thought. She didn't remember saying anything funny.

"You left... Kitty" he said. "I asked you to stay... Begged you to stay... And you left anyways.. With him. And now you come back... Acting like everything is okay between us...?"

There was something about him... She thought. Something about the way he called her 'Kitty' that made her heart flip. He was the only one who called her that. She hadn't even realized how much she missed him calling her that. 

"You shouldn't have gone with him". He said. 

"Oh really? Why not? Because you didn't want me to?" she asked. She was starting to get angry. 

"Yeah that's right" he replied. "And because of what you felt for me -what we felt for each other. When I came near you, you felt an excitement so intense that you ceased to breathe --like you are feeling right now. You wanted me just as much as I wanted you. And that should have been enough to make you stay"

ALWAYS BEEN YOU 

"Of course you are. Don't ever think you're not. I'm just scared, Joey" Penny replied, she dropped the brush she was holding and began to wipe her hands on a towel, suddenly needing to do something... To keep busy, but his intense eyes remained on her, watched her like a hawk. 


She felt terrible. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, but she had to tell him so he wouldn't keep hoping. "I don't think I'm ready for another relationship just yet. I don't know if I will ever be. What happened with Jeremy.... It was a lot to take. And asking you to wait for me or leading you on would be the wrong thing to do. Friends don't do that to each other, and that what we should be... Friends. We have something amazing going on. We might ruin it if we try to make it something more. And I can't stand the thought of losing you... Or Audrey. I really hope you understand" 


Chapter Two Hundred and Fourty Four