Is there a line that I could just go cross?

"Well are you going to say something?" Joe asked, trying to get a reaction from her. Victoria stood in front of her old, beaten up car, speechless.

"Hi" She mustered, almost shyly, she had forgotten the effect Joe's presence had on her composure.

"Hi" He said back, equally timid.

"What are you doing here?" The scene in front of Victoria was unbelievable. Some part of her really did thought that she'd never see him again, that she would go the rest of her life haunted by what ifs.

"You seriously thought I'd miss the most important day of your career?" Joe walked in her direction, Victoria could see the outline of a bouquet of beautiful, entangled flowers hanging of his right hand. They had to be orchids, she couldn't tell for sure, as they were submerged in the darkness of a classic Cincinnati winter night, but she did mention to Joe that orchids were her favorite.

"Well with how everything went down, I kinda assumed you wanted to forget all about me" Victoria bit her lip, as she lowered her head.

"I could never forget about you, even if tried, but the truth is, I don't want to ever forget the way you make me feel" He confessed, feeling a knot forming on the back of his throat.

"Joe..."

"Hear me out, please" He interrupted her. He then directed his sight to the flowers he was holding. "Well these are for you, obviously" Joe reached the bouquet in her direction, and watched her cautiously grab them, their fragrance was intoxicating, when it mixed with Joe's usual cologne. They were actually violet orchids. He remembered.

"I've missed you" Joe said, unable to resist the magnetic pull Victoria had on him. She looked beautiful that night, her brown hair was softly curled, she was wearing a burgundy blazer, with matching pants and a beige blouse that made her silhouette look heavenly, she had applied just enough makeup to accentuate her already beautiful face, but the emphasis on her eyes was what really had him going crazy.

Victoria initially felt flattered by the flowers, the way Joe looked like he was in the presence of an angel, and his soft, yet deep voice tone confessing how much he had missed her. Then she remembered the picture he posted and her nostalgia was replaced by a feeling of betrayal.

"So what happened, are you done dating girls who look like me, but aren't quite me?" She scolded him, her expression hardened, she looked angry on the outside, but the truth was that she was on the verge of crying.

"I never dated anyone, Vic" He replied, with a defeated tone, he knew he deserved every bit of Victoria's rage.

"Sorry, let me rephrase, are you done fucking them then? Seriously parading her around like a trophy?" Victoria scoffed.

"And you're gonna tell me that you weren't having lunch with Logan every single day? Or that you traveling with him to the city I wanted to take you to in the first place, wasn't a shitty move?

"Logan is my friend. I didn't go on a date with him, and I certainly never rubbed him in your face" Victoria said, convinced as if she hadn't just jumped at the first opportunity she had to make out with him in the back corner of the building. "The Paris thing was a coincidence, we had a congress there and... how do you know that I went with him anyway?"

Joe didn't want to confess the source of his intel, so he deflected the question.

"Look I'm not here to talk about Brooke, or Logan. I want to speak to you" Joe took a few steps closer in her direction, walking with his hands in his suit's pockets. His beautiful blue eyes stared right into her soul.

"About what?" He was close enough that she could discern his perfectly handsome features. He looked like a million dollars, wearing an elegant black suit.

"About us. Victoria I feel like I'm gonna go crazy if I'm forced to spend another day apart from you. These months have been extremely difficult, I can't sleep, I can't think, hell, I can't even drive around without every corner of the city reminding me of you" Joe lifted his right hand, and softly stroked her cheek.

The look of regret and sorrow in his eyes reflected how sincere his words were.

"I've missed you too" Her voice shaking, as she looked up to meet his gaze. They stood like that for a few seconds, staring deep into each other's eyes, not caring about the freezing air blowing in their faces.

"Then please, give me a chance to speak to you. Just let me buy you a drink and let's talk. Please, I'm desperate here. I can't keep on like this, you occupy every second of my days when I'm awake, I dream of you, and then I'm forced to wake up without you. And I just can't do it anymore" Joe pleaded, his hand moved from her face to reaching for hers.

"We can get coffee" She mustered.

"I know where we can go" he replied.

Joe leaned over, his eyes locked in hers, unflinching, his body was impossibly close to hers, she could feel his chest as he breathed. Victoria wondered if he'd have the balls to kiss her. She wished, and longed for the contact of his lips, ashamed of how many nights she had woken up sweaty, and aroused from remembering how he passionately kissed her, the feeling of his tongue playing with hers, how his soft lips elevated her from the ground, the tension in her core every time Joe grabbed her neck or played with her hair in the middle of a make out session.

But much to her dismay, Joe didn't kiss her, not because he wasn't dying to claim her as his again, but because he was dominated by a crushing fear of rejection.

"Follow me" His voice was barely a whisper.

"We can't go in your car, what would I with mine? I can't leave it here"

"Yes you can. I'll drive you to your house after. Or you could come home with me" Joe grinned, and Victoria felt her cold armor slowly disintegrating.

"You're not taking me home Burrow, that's for sure" she gave him a flirty smile.

"5 minutes and I already have you smiling at me. Give me and hour of your time, and I'll get you on your knees, baby"

"You wish" she scoffed, as they began to walk towards his car.

"Yeah, I do. The view was lovely" Victoria blushed as memories of her pleasuring Joe with her mouth flooded her. How she missed being on her knees for him.

Joe opened the car door for her, and he began to drive to a special location for both of them. Joe had immediately thought about the cafeteria where it all began, where they had their first date they refused to call as such.

"So how's the team doing?" She asked, trying to alleviate the growing sexual tension, but it was so palpable you could slice it with a knife. Joe didn't help with the situation. The way he drove with one hand on the steering wheel, and clenched his jaw at every intersection made Victoria weak.

"Great. We're actually 10-4 and very much in playoff contention" Joe said, proudly.

"So I take it that means your calf did heal"

"It's fully recovered now. I do hold a grudge against it though"

"You hold a grudge against your calf?"

"It's the reason I lost you"An uncomfortable silence filled the air. Victoria didn't dare to say anything else until they got to their destination.

She recognized the caffe immediately. They selected a table and seated down, not even asking for the menu. Victoria ordered herself a capuchino and Joe asked for a bottle of sparkling water.

"It wasn't necessarily the calf you know?" Victoria finally dared to speak up.

"I know. The way I mismanaged everything, I can't apologize enough for the stunts I pulled. I acted like a frustrated high schooler, and I treated you terribly. I'll forever regret it" Joe shook his head, letting a heavy sigh out, his demeanor reeked of sadness and shame.

"I know you're sorry about all of that, but what I can't comprehend is why you sent me an emotional text saying all this things about you and I in Paris and then you posted a picture with, what's her name? Victoria. 2.0?" Victoria tried to play it cool, but her jealousy was too evident.

"Brooke" Joe corrected her.

"Ah yes, Brooke" Victoria pretended to ignore the girl's name, as a way to diminish her importance in Joe's story.

"She's just a friend, I asked her out to catch up but the reality was that I just wanted to get your attention. The way you ignored my text hurt me beyond belief, and I was devastated. I really thought you had moved on"

"So you tried to make me jealous?" Victoria scoffed.

"Yeah" Joe let out a sigh.

"It worked. Even if I didn't reach out, or said anything. I was dying when I saw the stupid picture. The way you held her hand made me nauseous" Victoria paused to carefully choose her words "Also I didn't completely ignore your text, I had uhm.... A little bit of an alcoholic black out when I got your text, and with the time difference it took me a while to get it together and text you back. I was actually typing one of my clever remarks when I stumbled upon your story. It broke my heart so bad that I deleted the message and started to cry" Finally confessing to Joe a little glimpse of how she actually tried to handle the break up lifted a huge weight off her shoulders.

"What do you mean by alcoholic black out?"

"I drank a little... a lot, the second night of my Paris trip. The nostalgia was just too much. And I buried myself so intensely in my work I never gave myself time to grieve and process the break up. It all bottled up and I lost my shit"

"Oh Victoria I'm so sorry" Joe pleaded.

"Don't be. That's entirely on me" She took another sip of coffee.

"It's all kinda my fault if you think about it" Joe admitted.

"We can't keep blaming ourselves for the downfall of our relationship. It wasn't one sided, and we both fucked up"  Victoria extended her arm through the table, to place her hand on top of Joe's.

"I do blame myself. The sessions with Dr. Paulson really helped me understand why and how I ruined what we had. She provided me with some sense of clarity"

"So you went back to seeing her" Victoria softly smiled.

"I couldn't deal with that kind of pain alone. Ja'Marr suggested I needed professional help and I agreed"

"Ja'Marr probably hates me even more"

"He doesn't. He doesn't even blame you for leaving me. He knows how fucked up I was, and how I dragged you through the mud. Andrei really missed you though"

"I missed Ioshi too. Probably my favorite bengal"

"So soon and already bantering me? It truly feels like we're back" Joe's eyes filled with hope.

"Why didn't you go to Dr. Paulson when we were struggling so much to make our relationship work? She could've helped us avoid this mess" She inquired.

"I was too damn stubborn and full of myself to admit how much of a loser boyfriend and human being I was turning into. But after losing you, I hit rock bottom. The truth is it was brutal having to navigate the world where we didn't speak. No contact was so rough on me, and specially the way you acted so cold, and detached. Like it was nothing, like losing us was nothing"

"I needed to not talk to you" Victoria bit her lip.

"And what about what I needed Victoria, did you ever pause to consider what I wanted? You weren't the only one hurting"

"What did you want Joe? Did you want me to stay in a relationship that wasn't working anymore? You know how much you put me through. You just admitted it"

"I wanted you to not give up on me. On us" Joe was deeply hurt.

"You gave up on us the minute you insinuated I was after your money. The emotional neglect, the lack of involvement and communication of the last few months, I could deal with. But you calling me a money hungry bitch, well that was another thing entirely"

Joe hung his head low. He was most ashamed of that conversation. The way he phrased the words. The hurt in her eyes after he called her a gold digger was something he could never unsee.

"Fair enough" He quietly replied.

"But we're not here to throw arguments in each other's faces. What's past is past" Victoria stated, and she truly believed it.

"So what are you feeling right now?" Joe inquired, nervous as to where this conversation was headed.

"It's been nice, talking to you with the familiarity of our old ways. It feels like our relationship never ended" She confessed.

"I feel the same way, Victoria. What we had is worth the fight. I won't give up on you, and I won't let you push me away. I want you in my life and I'm sure as hell I'm not losing you again" Joe was convinced she was the one for him, the way she could make his heart melt, and had him drooling over her with an hour long conversation in which she mostly had dragged him, was sufficient evidence.

"I do want to give us a second chance. I believe we both deserve it. Hearing you acknowledge your mistakes and own them like a grown up is refreshing, it seems like we both needed the time apart" Victoria smiled, for the first time feeling hopeful about their future. Maybe this time they could pull it out.

"As much as it sucked, I agree. I was forced to do a lot of self reflection, and I had to face my demons without dumping my shit on other people. I'm confident I can be the man you deserve" Joe kissed her hand.

His words brought Victoria a sense of relief. It appeared he was ready to make it work.

"I want you Joe Burrow, I love you. I never stopped loving you. And I've missed you like crazy" She confessed, finally feeling secure enough.

"I love you, Victoria"

Victoria knew that honesty was the best policy in their newfound agreement. She had to come clean to Joe, and he needed to make the decision of giving their relationship another try, knowing all the details.

"However if we're intending on mending our relationship, I feel like you deserve to know the full picture of what I've been up to these past months. Then you can decide whether you want to continue or not" Victoria took a sip of her now cold cappuccino.

Joe gulped, scared about the secrets that she would reveal. What on God's name could this woman be doing when they broke up?

"I had a one night stand in Paris. It was a total stranger, and meaningless to me in every way. I never even learned his name" Victoria stared directly into his eyes, slightly ashamed of her confession.

Joe nodded, the thought of another man touching his girl made him sick to his stomach, but he knew it was fair game, they were apart and Victoria was free to do as she pleased. He also believed her when she said it was meaningless, and an effort to move on from him.

There was also the other thing. The one thing that she couldn't say with a straight face was a mistake.

"And I also kissed Logan" That however, wasn't meaningless. They both knew it very well.

Hello again! I hope you're having an amazing weekend. Ilysm, thanks for reading as usualI apologize if this chapter was all talk and little action, but I feel like these two had so much to discuss. Also I feel like my strong suit is definitely the dialogue. Is what I enjoy reading and writing the most. Lots of love ❤️‍🩹Let me know if you're enjoying the story.