Author's note: A sort of deleted scene that takes place in 2x08 between the fight and the funeral. It still gives me pain that there was barely any interaction between the 2x08 bedroom scene and the forgiveness scene in 2x10. I'd like to think they didn't spend all that time not speaking so here's my take on what could have happened after the fight.

It was the first time in eight wonderful years that Ann had felt that sting of fear in her chest. She had fought so long to come to terms with her past that it had never occurred to her there were side effects and they were now affecting the man who had saved her at a time when she had all but given up hope on finding love again. Everything had come crashing down once more.

When will it end?

She glanced at the clock. Almost 5 a.m. it said.

Time goes on but we only move backwards.

She was certain Bobby had not slept either, most likely he was lying on J.R.'s bed going over every little detail of their life on the ranch and the missing years. Or maybe he was drinking and reminiscing about only the bad times. His need to be alone at a time like this was something Ann had come to learn was a part of him but she had never understood it. It hurt too much to even think how much pain he was keeping inside and how little physical space separated them in the end. Determined not to waste one more second of their precious and far too short lives on arguing she pulled the blanket off and got up.

It was as she had pictured it. He was lying on the bed in J.R.'s room but the duvet was untouched and he was on his side his back to her. The light coming from the crack of the door must have announced her presence but he didn't move. At least he didn't yell at her to leave and she took that as a positive sign. She walked to his side of the bed but as soon as she had got down on her knees beside him she was horrified by the deep sadness that he had allowed to surface in his eyes. She swallowed hard trying not to break down.

"Bobby…" She started and watched him carefully to see if he was ready to hear her speak again. As soon as the word had left her lips he closed his eyes with a heavy breath and the pain of not being able to touch him the way she used to was almost unbearable. She would wait a little more.

They remained in silence for a short while, Ann sitting on the floor and Bobby lying in the same position, occasionally looking at her. Every time she caught him her heart felt a bit lighter.

Eventually he spoke with a hoarse voice that held decades of grief she felt guilty for not quite understanding.

"It's just hard…all of it. You shouldn't have to see me like this."

Ann felt that crushing pain again and wished for more than anything to be able to help him in some way.

"I should see it all. I should be there, the way you were there for me, Bobby. I'm so grateful and I…"

"I know." He stopped her again but without the anger he had held back in their bedroom and she felt encouraged to stay. It could have been for the lack of energy but she didn't care.

Ann crawled in bed beside his weary body and put her hand on his shoulder, gently pulling him on his back. There was no resistance on his part and for a moment she felt they had recovered some of that peace that was lost when Harris had come back to mess with her life. It could still be salvaged, she was sure of it.

Ann looked him in the eyes, her hand at the top button of his shirt and the unvoiced question received a "yes" from him. It was in the way he blinked. Until that night he had not been a man of many words, even less of huge outbursts of emotion. None of those things were much like him and she was ashamed it had taken her this long to realize that all the unspoken feelings still existed there. They were only buried deep inside that understanding mind of his. Bobby had always known how to make her feel loved with the smallest of gestures. In all her years she had learned it was few men who possessed that gift.

She opened three buttons starting from the top feeling his heart beat under his warm, almost feverish chest. Knowing it was all due to his stress saddened her greatly and she almost bit her tongue trying to fight the tears. He already had enough to deal with, her own sorrows were of less importance right now. What she wouldn't have given to go back in time and somehow stop all this from happening, no matter how inevitable it was.

"Is that better?" She rubbed him gently in a way that used to calm him down but the tired eyes told her she was not of much help now.

"Oh Annie…your hands could heal almost anything in this world but they can't fix this." His eyes glistened as he stared at the ceiling and it broke her heart all over again.

When his gaze finally met hers she knew he was still there, with all his love and patience. Two people who both had those qualities would always make it.

"I'll wait, Bobby, I'll be here until the end of our days." She pulled her hand from under his shirt and stroked his cheek, trying to warm it up so that the familiar smile could appear there again.

He didn't say anything, only placed his hand over hers and she savored the moment as if it was their last. All the memories they had made came rushing back to her and they now meant more to her than ever. She couldn't bear the thought of spending one night apart from that man and she knew the day he smiled again would be one of the happiest of her life.