That evening, Zoe was taken to Nick's office by his boss. Max and Maggie walked a few paces behind, and though she was beside him, Maggie could tell Max's eyes were firmly glued on the hand the boss had rested on Zoe's lower back.

"Max-" Maggie began.

Max just shook his head. "I can't do this."

"Max-" Maggie began again but he began to walk backwards away from them.

"I'll see you outside."

Maggie watched him go then gave a sigh before following Zoe into the office. "He was still a bookmark collector, I see."

Zoe gave a slight smile as she ran her hand over the spines of the books on Nick's shelves. "He hated books with folded down corners, so he was always buying bookmarks, but he never used them. Somehow he always seemed to know exactly what page he needed."

Maggie smiled, her eyes looking slowly around the room. "What did Mr Walters say?"

"He said I can take what I want and the rest will be donated to charity." Zoe's fingers came to rest on a photo that stuck out from between two books. Pulling it out, she found a photo of herself. She stared at it silently for a long time, willing the tears that threatened to go away.

"…Do you want a few minutes by yourself?" Maggie finally asked.

Zoe nodded, turning to glance at her as she suddenly realised Max was no longer with them. "Where-"

Maggie interrupted her quickly. "He went to get you a drink."

"What are you doing?" Maggie asked as she walked towards the spot Max had chosen to wait in.

"Having a cigarette." Max supplied, kicking some loose stones on the ground.

"I mean with Zoe. This isn't the right time to play with her emotions, Max."

"Don't you think I know that?!" Max threw down his cigarette and stood on it before rubbing it into the dirt underfoot.

"Then what-"

"I love her, Maggie. I love her more than I've ever loved anyone before, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. But what if every time there's another guy around I wonder what's going on behind my back? What if every time I meet someone, I wonder if they're the guy she slept with? What if every time we make love I imagine her with someone else? What do I do then? Put her happiness in front of my own forever?"

"I don't know, Max, I wish I knew, because I can see how happy you make each other. What I do know is that you need to let her talk about it. You can't forget it happened and neither can she, so you need to sit down and discuss it, try and understand why she did it. I know it will be hard, trust me, because I've been there. But the only way you will get through this is by talking to each other."

Max just gave a sigh, studying the ground.

"…Right now, I think she needs you in there with her. She's just lost someone who was a good friend to her."

"And boyfriend." Max snapped.

"Yeah, he was, but you know what? She didn't marry him. She didn't follow him here and most of all she never let him see how vulnerable she can be. She's let you in, Max. Don't forget that."

"Hi." Max stood in the doorway to Nick's office hesitantly.

Zoe glanced up and began wiping the tears from her cheeks, attempting a smile. "Maggie said you were getting a drink?"

"Ah yeah, but have you tasted American coffee? I think they lace it with arsenic." Max shut the door softly and walked further into the room. "What have you found?"

"… Just some old photos." Zoe tried to blink back her tears.

Max sat down softly next to her on the couch and pointed to one of the photos. "Who's that?"

As Zoe began telling him about the people in the photos, Max watched her face. He noticed how a small frown would appear and she'd blink rapidly when she was trying to stop her tears falling, then she would bite her lip, and as soon as the tears began to fall she'd lift her hand to wipe them away. Finally, as she reached up to wipe away a trickle of tears, Max stilled her hand and leant forward to kiss her. "It's ok. Just let it out."

"I can't." Zoe whispered.

"You can. You can do whatever you want, because you're Zoe Walker." Max whispered back, their heads bent together.

When Max used that name, Zoe's eyes flickered up to look into his. Fearing she'd still see anger or hurt in his eyes, she was relieved to see only love shining back at her. Gradually, she let her tears fall.

When her cheeks had finally dried, she told Max all about Nick, and Max put an arm around her shoulder, listening in silence and dropping the occasional fluttering kiss to Zoe's bare shoulder.