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The apartment was very quiet. Captain lay near the couch with his chin on his paws, his eyes moving between Cole and Emily as though even he understood something important was happening.

She pulled her hands out of her coat pockets and clasped them tightly in front of her. “I don’t think your grandfather stole those cookies.” She said it plainly.

“I don’t think I’ve thought that for a while. What I think is that I was frustrated and the investigation had stalled and I was terrified of what was happening between us, and I said the worst possible thing because that’s what I do.”

She blinked hard, refusing to look away.

“You deserve better than that,” she said. “You deserve someone who doesn’t use your family as ammunition every time she gets scared.”

Cole’s gaze dropped briefly to the floor between them.

For a long moment, the only sound was Captain’s collar giving a faint metallic clink as he lifted his head.

Then Cole looked back at her.

“Are you finished?”

“Almost.” She took a breath. “Madison called me this morning. She said Jackson told her you’re thinking about going back to New York.”

He felt his expression shift. He hadn’t expected her to know.

Emily stepped farther into the kitchen.

“So I need you to know that I’m not here because you might be leaving.” Her words came faster now, as if she had to get them out before fear could stop her again. “I was coming here anyway. I was coming here before Madison called.”

Cole straightened slightly but stayed against the counter.

“I’m here because I owed you this apology,” she said, “and because you said something at the Kettle that I didn’t respond to.”

She pressed a hand to the center of her chest, fingers curling into the wool of her coat.

“It’s been sitting right here for two days, and I can’t carry it anymore.”

Cole’s eyes followed the movement of her hand.

Emily let it fall.

“You said you were falling in love with me.” Her voice went quiet. “Past tense. And I sat there and said nothing. And I need you to know that the reason I said nothing wasn’t because I don’t feel the same way. It was because every single fear I have fired at the same time and I froze.” She pressed her lips together. “I’m not frozen anymore.”

Cole looked at her for a long time.

Then he straightened up from the counter.

“I’m not going back to New York,” he said.

Emily blinked.

“I thought about it,” he said. “Last night. This morning. I picked up my phone to call Rivera, and I didn’t do it.” He held her gaze. “Because I’m not going to leave every time we fight.”

She swallowed, the movement small but visible in her delicate throat.

“That’s not how this works,” he continued. “You’re going to say things that make me want to walk out. I’m probably going to say things that make you want to hit me with a ladle.”

Her mouth twitched.

The tiny break in the tension caught him off guard. His own lips threatened to curve, but he held her gaze.

“That’s us,” he said. “That’s always going to be us.”