Epilogue

Six months later

Steering the car into a parking space, Chad turned off the engine, stared out of the window at the building and sighed. Ryan stretched across from the passenger seat and rested his hand on Chad's knee.

"We've come this far."

Chad nodded and swallowed nervously, before opening the car door and stepping out. Gripping his hand firmly, Ryan led him towards the main entrance.

Inside, men talking rapidly on phones clamped to their ears and women clicking across the polished floor with trays of coffee whirled passed them. Once the office lobby was empty enough for them to walk through without fear of being elbowed, Chad approached the front desk.

"Er....I have an appointment to see Taylor......."

Chad's voice trailed off with uncertainty as he realised that he had no idea which surname she used at work. Fortunately, the receptionist had caught his meaning and pointed him towards a door of the other side of the lobby.

"She's just finished with a client so I'll let her know you've arrived and you can go on up."

Chad nodded and turned, seeing Ryan looking around at his surroundings approvingly.

"That degree from Yale has certainly done Taylor a favour if it means she can work somewhere like this."

Glancing to his left a Chad, who was biting his lower lip nervously, he placed a soft kiss on his cheek, murmuring as he pointed towards some large, leather sofas,

"I'll be waiting just here."

He went to sit down as Chad walked slowly across the lobby. He'd only been here once before, on Taylor's birthday to be exact, but he remembered the route to her office clearly. At her door, poised to knock, a flood of memories rushed unbidden back into his mind.

Half a year ago he'd been in almost exactly the same situation: standing at Taylor's door, the temptation to run becoming more and more difficult to ignore. This time, however, he was at her office, not hospital room, and not about to confess to something which would turn her life upside down. He rapped his knuckles in the polished wood and entered.

Taylor was tapping furiously on her computer keyboard and indicated the seat in front of her desk without looking up. Sinking down onto the chair, Chad stared out of the large window, her voice catching him unawares when she spoke,

"I have all the relevant paperwork here, so – "

" – oh, good. Thanks, I – "

" – and if you could sign the marked pages now, that would speed things along."

She still hadn't glance up from her computer screen once, so, frustrated, Chad leant forward and raised his voice,

"Taylor, it's me, not one of your regular clients."

After what felt like an age, she swiveled her chair round to face him and when she spoke her voice was composed and quite,

"I'm well aware of that, Chad, I just want to get this over with as soon as possible. It's been hanging over me for months and now, finally, it will be finished and I can get on with my life."

She sighed and rubbed her eyes wearily. Chad almost reached out to take her hand, but stopped himself and spoke softly instead,

"I never meant to hurt you, Taylor. Never. I know what I did was........." He cast around for a suitable words, but only one came to him which couldn't fully express how awful he felt for deceiving her, "......wrong, but things weren't right between us. Surely you felt that?"

Taylor paused, ordering her thoughts before replying,

"I suppose I did; I just didn't want to admit it to myself. What Gabi and Troy have looks perfect, but it's not for me and, Chad," She looked him straight in the eye, "I'm sorry about the babies. Both of them."

Chad nodded, relieved that she didn't appear to despise him with a passion after what he'd done.

"We were close friends at school, Tay, I couldn't ever hate you. I understand about the first baby, and it's not you're fault what happened to the second, which is why I needed to do this face-to-face. I don't want to hide from it all and try and forget."

A small smile crept onto Taylor's face and she passed him a sheaf of divorce papers and a pen. Flicking through them, Chad signed his name quickly, confident that she had sorted everything efficiently. Taylor took them back, shuffling them neatly.

"Well, there we are. You are now officially my ex-husband and I'm Taylor McKessie again."

They caught each other's eye and laughed quietly in unison.

"Is he here?"

Chad knew exactly to whom she was referring to and answered,

"Yes, downstairs."

Taylor got up and walked him to the door, saying,

"I don't want to see him, but I'm sure he's just as charming as ever."

Chad chuckled and touched her arm slightly before he left.

"Take care of yourself, Tay."

The door clicked shut behind him and he closes his eyes for a moment, inhaling deeply. Remembering Ryan, he flew down several flights of stairs to the lobby where he found him surrounded by a gaggle of Taylor's female colleagues. As soon as Ryan caught sight of Chad, he excused himself and ran towards him.

"Have you done it? Is it all finished?"

Chad squeezed him tightly and kissed the top of his head. Ignoring the crowd gathered in the lobby, Ryan flung his arms around Chad's neck, shouting,

"You're all mine at last! I've wanted this since high school!"

Chad laughed and suddenly giddy with elation as they walked towards the exit, joked,

"What were you doing with all those women, then? Reminds me of when you first came back to Albuquerque and I saw you outside Lava Springs with your arm around a girl's waist. I've never felt so jealous!"

Ryan pretended to push him away, saying,

"Despite knowing me all through high school and seeing me wear pink trousers in the senior musical, you actually thought I might be straight? She was just an old family friend who I used to give dance classes to in the holidays."

Chad stopped walking and pulled Ryan towards him, kissing him fiercely. As they broke apart, both slightly breathless, Chad whispered in his ear,

"It doesn't matter what I used to think, or the stupid lies I told, we've got each other now, Ryan Evans, the way it always should have been."

A/N Thank you so much to everyone who's read and reviewed, I've really enjoyed writing this.