As Zoe dried her hair, the events of the past few days came back to her in flashes.

She remembered George's harsh words as he was hitting her. "Stop your crying. Shut up! No one here feels sorry for you Zoe, no one here cares!" He had been so angry, and so ruthless. She wondered how she ever could have loved him.

Then she remembered the conversation she had just had with George before her shower, in which he seemed apologetic. "I hate seeing you like this. I hate myself for hurting you." He was like a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. How could have gone from a good guy, to the guy who beat her senseless, and then back to the same good guy in such a short time? Was it true that it was her fault? Had she done this to him?

She remembered the horrible prom where she had embarrassed herself. She remembered Tansy telling her off. "Hey there, home wrecker." She really hadn't meant to screw everything up so badly, everything just seemed so confusing. She didn't mind being single before Wade, but once she lost him there was a void in her life, and she was so desperate to fill it.

Then the memory of the breakup with Wade came back to her as well. "I did a stupid thing, and it meant nothing to me…."

She was completely confused. She really didn't know who to trust anymore, but the worst part was that in the midst of everything she had lost touch with herself. She really had no idea who she was anymore, or what she was doing. She wasn't feeling like the smart, confidant doctor she was when she came to town, she felt so broken down. George had made her a victim, and she hated him for doing that, and she hated herself for letting him do that.

"Damn it" she yelled angrily as she chucked the blow drier across the room.

"Whoa" Wade gasped, narrowly dodging it. "You got a good arm there Doc."

"Wade? What are you doing here?" she asked coldly as she walked across the room to retrieve it.

"Thought we could catch a movie or something" he shrugged.

"I thought you had to work."

"I talked to Lemon and I got the day off."

"And Lemon was cool with you blowing of work to 'catch a movie or something?'" she asked arching a brow.

"Yeah, she was fine with it."

"Why would she be fine with that?" she scoffed. "Unless…. Oh God, Wade! You didn't…. You told Lemon?"

"Yes" Wade admitted sheepishly. "And she was very understanding, she promised not to tell anybody."

"I'm sure" Zoe said rolling her eyes.

"She won't" Wade insisted.

"I just really wish you hadn't have told her" she sighed as she began to angrily brush her hair.

"What has got you so wound up?" he asked concerned.

"Are you seriously asking me that question right now?" she scoffed. "Look at me, Wade!"

"I know" he said softly. "But you seemed like you had it together better than this when I left. You were less…pissed off. Did something happen when I was gone?"

"No" she muttered unconvincingly. "I just took a shower."

"What aren't you saying?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing!" she snapped. "Nothing" she repeated in a softer tone after noting his sad expression. "I'm sorry. I'm just sort of a mess right now."

"Please talk to me" he begged.

"He came back" Zoe admitted in a quiet voice. "He came back and I-"

"What?" Wade asked through gritted teeth. "Are you serious? Oh my God, I never should have left you. What happened? Did he hurt you again? I swear to God…"

"Wade" she interrupted. "Don't worry, he didn't hurt me. I got him to leave."

"Zoe, this is ridiculous" he said as he struggled to stable his breathing. "You've got to tell me what's going on. Please, I need to be able to protect you."

"It isn't your job to protect me" she said as tears formed in her eyes. "Not anymore."

"Damn it Zoe, I'm always gonna want to keep you safe" he muttered. "Please don't push me away right now."

"I'm not pushing you away" she answered as she pulled away from him. "I'm trying to protect you."

"Protect me?" he scoffed. "From the coward who smacked you around? I'm not afraid of him."

"I'm trying to protect you from yourself!" she yelled. "Trust me Wade this is for the best."

"Okay" Wade sighed. "You don't want to tell me because you think I'm going to get myself in trouble, and you know what? You're probably right because I want to kill this guy, but you can't just let him go free. I'll get the Sheriff to come over and…"

"No" she interrupted. "Wade, I told him that I wasn't going to tell anybody as long as he left me alone."

"And what did he say?" Wade asked as his hands formed tight fists.

"He said he wasn't going anywhere" she admitted.

"Damn it Zoe!" he said angrily. "How can you tell me that you don't want me around, and then tell me this guy is gonna keep hassling you? You think I'm just gonna sit around and let you get hurt again?"

"You're right" she sighed. "You're right. I don't have a plan. For all I know he could come back as soon as you leave and hurt me again."

"Then let me help you" he begged.

"Fine" she sighed. "Let's go see that movie."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

George finished his breakfast as quickly as he could, hoping no one else would notice his injured hand. How could he have been so careless? Zoe had to leave her house sometime, and when she did the whole town would be gossiping about who had hit her. He couldn't be walking around with bloody knuckles. He stuck his hands in his pockets and ran quickly down the sidewalk.

"Hey" Lemon called out as she followed after him. "George, wait up."

"What is it Lemon?" he sighed. "I really don't feel like talking. I've had a really rough couple of days, and I haven't felt like myself."

"How did you hurt your hand?" she demanded as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Didn't I tell you?" he asked.

"No" she answered. "You didn't, you said you didn't do anything to it which is obviously a lie."

"I don't know Lemon, I got mad when Tansy left and I punched a wall" he shrugged. "It was no big deal."

"Punched a wall?" she asked.

"Yeah" he answered. "Why do you care?"

"I- I don't" she stammered. This really was none of her business anyway. But then again, when had that ever stopped her. Something was up and she wanted to figure it out.

"Okay then" he said suspiciously. "I'm gonna go now."

"Wait" she said as she grabbed his arm. "George, did you punch a wall or did you punch Zoe Hart?"

"What?" he scoffed. How did Lemon know about Zoe? Oh God, the last thing she expected was for someone to flat out ask him. He knew he had to say something fast. "Of course not" he said softly.

"George" she said as she gazed into his eyes. Lemon knew him, probably better than he knew himself and she could tell when he was lying. "Tell me the truth."

Seeing Lemon look at him like that knocked down all of his defenses. She reminded him of the man he had been, such a sharp contrast from the man he was now. "Yes" he admitted as he started to break down. "Oh God Lemon, yes. Yes, I hit her. I hit her." The words still sounded so weird coming out of his mouth.

Lemon stood frozen for a moment as she tried to make sense of George's confession. Part of her knew from the moment she saw his hand, but she just didn't want to believe it. George Tucker, the man she loved for half her life had done something she had never thought he was capable of. He had hit a woman.

"George" she said softly. "Why-why did you…"

"I don't know" he scoffed.

"This isn't like you" she added in a horrified whisper.

"I know. I know. I was just so angry."

"You were angry at me plenty of times" she reasoned. "And you never…"

"I think I love her" he confessed. "I think I love her more than I've ever loved anyone, and that's why she makes me so mad, she's the only person in this whole world who could really hurt me, and she has plenty of times."

"Oh come on" Lemon scoffed. "You hit Zoe because she is the only woman you've ever loved? George Tucker, that is a load of bull and you know it. You need to stop making excuses for yourself!"

"I hate myself for what I did to her" he said, holding back tears.

"Good!" Lemon yelled. "At least that's a start."

"You're pissed?" he asked, hoping she would say no, hoping that if nothing else he had the loyalty of his ex-fiancée.

"You're damn right I'm pissed" she scoffed. "George, I care about you and I always will and you have just done something so stupid."

"I know" he said defensively. "I know, I screwed up."

"You should have seen Wade" she added. "He's out for blood, when he finds out that it's you…"

"Are you going to tell him?" he asked tearfully.

"I don't know" she answered. "I honestly have no idea George." Protecting George came as an instinct to her, but in this case he was so wrong, and part of her knew that Zoe deserved justice even if she wasn't seeking it for herself.

"I'm never ever going to do anything like this again, I swear" he said sincerely. "And I'm going to do whatever I can to make this up to her."

"No you aren't" she scoffed. "George, you leave that poor girl alone."

"She needs me Lemon. She needs someone to help her get through this."

"Can you even be sure that she'll be safe around you?" she scoffed. "Can you even be sure that you aren't going to hit her again?"

"You feel safe enough to be standing here with me" he answered. "So you must think so."

"Oh God" Lemon whispered as she realized George was right. Trusting George came natural to her. She had trusted him with her mind, body, and soul for so many years, but this man standing in front of her wasn't the man she knew, and she wasn't necessarily safe with him. "I- I have to go" she said nervously as she turned around and ran away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

"Hey" Wade called out as he saw Lemon pass by. "You okay?"

"Why are you here? Where's Zoe?" she asked as she looked around.

"I wanted to buy some movie snacks at the Dixie shop before we go to theatre in Mobile. Zoe's back at my place with the door locked, and I'm having Lavon keep an eye on her." he answered. "The guy who beat her actually had the balls to show up again when I was gone. I don't know how I'm going to keep an eye on her forever, but I'll damned if I let her get hurt again so until she tells me…"

"Wade-" Lemon interrupted quickly. In that moment she knew what she had to do. Wade was her friend, and this was killing him. Besides, George had admitted himself that he wasn't going to stay away from Zoe. She didn't even know George anymore, and she couldn't trust that he wouldn't hurt her again. If something happened to her because she said nothing she'd never be able to forgive herself. As much as it hurt, she had to do the right thing, she had to stand on her own two feet, she had to tell Wade what George did. "I know who hurt Zoe"

"What?" Wade asked frantically. "Who?"

"George" Lemon answered as she took a deep breath. "George Tucker was the one who beat up Zoe Hart. I'm so sorry Wade, I really am."

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