A/N - This is another little one-shot from Zane's point of view, it is in the new timeline, but its just a little something to tide me (and those of you who are just dying to see the new episodes too) over.

The little town of Eureka that inspired me is not my own, heck i don't even think i should take any credit for this story seeing as it literally wrote itself - I just looked down, and bam - there it is with a pretty little ribbon around it.

But please enjoy this little throw together piece :)

CHICKEN

He stepped through the door and was greeted by an icy breeze that nipped at his exposed skin with it's sharp, piercing teeth. He turned his head to look back longingly at the warm building he just left and watched as the oblivious men and women chatted over their cups of coffee without knowing that carefully constructed lies had been tightly interwoven into their personal little cushioned worlds. He wished he could be just as oblivious at times, wished that the world was truly as simple as they believed it to be, wished that people were easy to understand; that's why he preferred physics - because unlike people - theories and objects, computers and energy, it all adds up perfectly, that is, until now - because now physics was just about as dependable as lightning - totally and completely erratic and rarely striking the same place twice.

He turned back toward the white blanket in front of him; he couldn't ride his bike in this weather - he wasn't used to snow being an obstacle to his plans, but as long as there was a problem with the roads not heating up he was going to have to walk to get from point A to point B. He wanted to go back inside the café or home, but he had to do this - he couldn't play chicken any longer. With a sigh he placed his boot covered foot into the white abyss with a crunch.

He felt like a freaking stalker! It was dark now an he had been sat on her snow covered driveway for the better part of an hour debating exactly how to approach her. His arse had melted a bare patch in the thick snow and a couple of her neighbours kept peeking through blinds and curtains watching, waiting, and wondering exactly what the Hell he was doing there.

What the Hell /was/ he doing? Sitting outside a woman's driveway with a wet arse and his head in his hands was not Zane Donovan's style! So he stood up and walked straight up to her door and pressed the door bell with maybe a little too much force than necessary. He was a man on a mission, and he was going to get some answers, even if it killed him - she owed him some bloody answers!

A few seconds passed and the door opened. His anger withered to non-existent when he saw her stood there holding a toothbrush in her hand, her dark hair was wet and curly, she was wearing only a navy blue pair of shorts, a white tank top and two furry white slippers. Her jaw dropped the second she saw him.

"Zane?" she asked "What the Hell? What are you doing at my house? Is there some sort of emergency at GD?"

He was lost for words - why had he come here again? "I...eh...?" he tried to say, his eyes wandering and for some unknown reason he though his feet were a good place to look for words.

"Zane? Are you okay; your being very quiet - did an experiment get you or something?" she said when he didn't answer, as she placed her hands either side of his face and searched his expression to see if there was something unusual about his eyes. Great now she was checking his temperature!

"Jo!" he managed to say as he wrapped his hand around her wrist and pulled it from his face. He held onto her hand for a little encouragement. "Jo, can I come in for a moment, I'm freezing my wet arse off out here." he said an pulled his best smirk.

"Oh, of course! But do I want to know why you have a wet arse?" she asked as she moved out of the way to let him in.

"Probably not." he said as he stepped inside and was about to take another when he felt her push him back. "What?" he asked confused. She simply glared at his wet boots. "Seriously?" he said as he kneeled down to take them off.

"A new house means new carpets." she stated. Standing up, he held up his dripping boots and she pointed to the ceramic tile shelf on her left with a similar wet pair of boots on underneath an red light*.

"Nice" he said pointing to the shelf as he placed his shoes on it "Never would have thought to use inferred lights to dry shoes"

"What are you doing here Zane? I know your not here for shoe drying, so what are you after?" she asked.

"I think you know exactly why I'm here Jo," he said with the seriousness leaking through into his words, but she didn't respond, she just bit back her lip for a fraction of a second before controlling her expression perfectly. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"That!" he said pointing to her face "Don't hide from me JoJo! I'm not going to hurt you!"

"I don't know what your talking about," she said controlling her voice so carefully that anyone would believe her - but he didn't; he knew her well enough to see straight through her cover, straight through her lies.

"What do I have to do to make you trust me Jo? How about the fact that I know your not the person you say you are!" he yelled and saw her expression hint to fear.

"So what, is this blackmail?" she asked trying to control the situation.

"What? No!" he yelled annoyed that she could think that little of him. He softened his voice when he continued without so much as a pause, "No Jo, I wouldn't do that, I've known for weeks now, and I haven't, nor will I, tell anyone, ever."

"So if you already know, and your not here for blackmail, then why are you here?"

"I only have bits and pieces of what was /before/, and well..." he trailed off.

"Oh," she said in understanding.

"What happened to us JoJo?"

"Three years." she said flatly and reluctantly. His mind went hyper fitting in this new information into his theory. "Then, well the ring."

"So we were..." he asked.

"No." she stated, and it deeply stung him.

"No?" he asked barely audible.

"I froze." and he ran, he figured - smooth move Donovan he cursed himself, but wait, in this rush of information he forgot about that day in the sheriffs office and she had said yes...

"But..." he edged her on.

"But nothing." she answered "You should leave, it's late." she said moving toward the door.

"Your not getting off that easy Lupo - you told me yes."

"But-"

"No 'but's' Lupo" he interrupted her, "You love me." her jaw dropped and her expression changed and allowed raw fear to colour her face. "Its a good thing too, because..." here it goes, this is why he is here, he took a deep breath and continued "...because I'm in love with you JoJo" there, he said it.

He wanted to see her expression but he winced and closed his eyes; bracing himself for an onslaught of accusations and curses that he had become accustomed to. All he could hear was his heart pounding, racing for an escape from these unknown black waters. But he felt a hand stroke his cheek, and lifted his head up but before he could open his eyes he felt a soft pair of lips make contact with his.

They stood like that frozen still for a few moments. She began to pull back but he snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her body flush against his; deepening the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he forced her lips apart and felt her smile and then a whirl of warm breath mixed with his as she chuckled. He felt her body push his until the wall hit his back, but he wasn't having any of it and turned the tables around so that he was in control. Her tongue met his and they playfully fought for dominance. His lips kissed their way down to her neck where he nipped and bit and sucked gently at her hot, sinfully-seductive skin. Her breathing be came ragged and she ground her hips into his; fully demonstrating her intentions. His hands slipped down to cup her ass before one continued down further to catch her bare knee and hook it around his hip. He supported her weight as she wrapped her other leg around.

Next thing he knew he had carried her upstairs and somehow found her room. She released the vice tight grip she had on him as he placed her down. Immediately her hands ran up underneath his t-shirt causing him to lift up his arms as she removed it before returning her lips to his - but there wasn't the sudden gush of cool air that he expected, no, the heat was too smouldering for that, too smouldering to even think, he was just /doing/, doing what felt right.

Somewhere along the lines his remaining clothes and shoes were tossed aside with hers as they both lay half naked on her bed. He looked down into her deep brown eyes for confirmation to go ahead, and that blindingly bright smile just topped it off. She did love him, he wasn't imagining it, and she trusted him completely, she had opened up to him and he was ready to do exactly the same for her. He would do anything for her because she had had his heart from day one, no matter how much he denied it, it was the truth.

He bent his head down to give her a delicate kiss before they continued on blissfully into the night.

A/N - yeah, this nearly turned into an M rating, but I didn't think I could pull it off so I steered it away - but if you think I could get away with it I could take another crack at it for you all - but first things first how did you find it in its current condition? Oh and if you can see any blindingly obvious mistakes that I have failed to correct, then let me know :)