"It seemed reactive to me," Nancy whispered, "Like you were just angry, and that I could make it up to you somehow."

Nancy cleared her throat. "So I tried to. I went to that game, the one against Bayport."

Ned snapped his head up. His eyes started to water. "You were there?"

Nancy nodded, "Yeah, I dragged Bess with me. I didn't want to distract you, so I made sure you couldn't see me. I wanted to wait until the game was over to surprise you." Nancy started to get misty eyed as well. She feigned a smile, "And you won. You played so well."

Ned took his fists out of his pockets and folded his arms. "Why didn't you say anything? I never saw you."

"I started going down to the field, but you were with the cheerleaders. You seemed pretty content."

Ned opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Nancy tried to blink away the tears. The memory was so painful, even years later.

"That's when it occurred to me that maybe it wasn't reactive. Maybe I couldn't fix it." She took a steep breath, "Maybe part of the reason you didn't want to be with me anymore, maybe a reason you didn't want to say, was that you wanted to have fun. It was your senior year, and we'd been together for so long, I thought you just wanted to…" she couldn't come out with the words without breaking out in sobs.

He couldn't even look at Nancy. He scrubbed his face with his hands, trying his hardest to stop the tears from spilling over. He was so overwhelmed with emotion, with sadness, frustration, and with love. He had spent years thinking Nancy gave up. When he blurted out those immortal words during a heated telephone conversation, he figured she just didn't care enough to argue. He knew what he had done was stupid. He knew he was wrong for breaking up with her over the phone, and he knew the moment the words left his mouth that he didn't mean them. I can't do this anymore, Nancy. We can't keep doing this. He remembered how bad they tasted in his mouth, and how desperately he wanted to take them back. The ringing of her voice, whispering Are you breaking up with me? hadn't left his mind since. He would always blame himself for his silence that followed. He had so much to say to say to her, but he didn't. Until today, the last words he'd heard her say were If that's what you want then. Goodbye, Ned. He was so frustrated with his stupidity, so frustrated with hers. He was so heartbroken to relive this, and to see how he could've fixed it. Most of all, he was overwhelmed with his love for her. She gave up a case just to come to his football game, to win him back. She cared. He was determined now to make the same mistake. He had to say something.

"Nancy," he breathed, "Oh my God, Nancy. If I would've known-" He gave himself a moment to compose himself. "Nancy if I would've known you were in that stadium I wouldn't have talked to a single other person. Hell, I wouldn't have even played the game. I would've run right to you."

Ned reached for Nancy's hand. He pulled her closer, lifting her chin to meet his eyes. "Nancy, I didn't want that. I wanted to be with you. God Nancy, I wanted you so badly."

"But you said-" Nancy started.

Ned was sputtering, "I was a child. A stupid, stupid child. You had a case, and you were going to miss my game. It was my senior game, my last one, and I wanted you there. George and Bess were always there for Burt and Dave. I was the only guy on the team who didn't have his girl in the stands. I was so worried for you, I was so angry with you, and I just- I said something stupid. I said something so stupid. And I wasn't man enough to take it back. I was so prideful back then. I just, I felt so… insignificant around you."

Ned moved his hand from Nancy's chin to her neck. He leaned towards her ever so slightly, testing the waters. She looked deep into his eyes, "There has never been a day where you were insignificant, Ned." Ned pulled her against his chest, stifling her sobs with his chest. He smoothed her hair, cooing "It's okay, Nancy. It's okay. It wasn't your fault." He pulled her as tight as he could, relishing the feeling of her in his arms again.

After a brief minute, Nancy gently pushed herself away from his chest. "I'm sorry, Ned. I never meant to make you feel that way."

Ned hushed her, "You didn't. Oh no, Nancy, you didn't!" He longed to pull her back into his embrace, but he stopped himself. He couldn't blow it this time.

Nancy took another step back and shook her head, trying to reset herself. She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and feigned a small smile. "I'm sorry for getting so… emotional."

"No, it's fine! I can't even tell you how happy I am to talk to you again. I can't even tell you how relieved I am to hear you say all this."

"Yes, me too." Nancy nodded, her eyes fixated on the ground again. Ned reached for her again, but she stepped out of his reach. He let his hand hang in the air for a moment before dropping it down, stuffing it into his pocket.

"I'm glad there's no hard feelings" Nancy smiled. Her words knocked the wind out of Ned.

"What? Nancy, I-"

"Seriously, I'm glad that we've had this… closure. I'll see you tomorrow then." Nancy walked as swiftly as she could to her car, before she couldn't stop her tears anymore and she broke out into a full out sprint.

Ned, just like the first time, just let her go.