Thank you so much for the reviews.

So here is the next chapter. Hope you like it.

Can't wait for your thoughts.

Enjoy


"while I'm in love with someone else '

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, as if his body just realized the burden it was carrying.

She did her best to hold back the tears, but it was an effort in vain because it was stronger than her.

His first instinct was to pull her into his arms but instead he settled for brushing her tears with his knuckles. He let her take his hand and put it in her lap, her thumb stroking gently while his eyes were on her.

They fell into silence. They allowed themselves to sit with each other, no one pulled away. The silence was tense but something felt different. There wasn't discomfort. The silence was full of affection, maybe Hope. Whatever it was, it felt good.

"You're ... In love with me?" She whispered, not trusting her voice for fear that it will break

He made a sound of laughter with a tinge of pain. "I don't know what it's like to not be in love with you"

He let it out and felt her gentle caress replaced by a strong grip...

"Wade" The tears began to fall again, this time she didn't even try to stop them

She wanted to say something, but words couldn't come out. She looked so vulnerable, He took his other hand and placed on hers and squeezed her tight.

She rose slowly to her feet when she felt pressure on her wrist that pulled her back.

"don't go"

"I can't…"

She knew she had to leave but she wanted to stay, every fiber of her yelled at her to stay.

He released her hand, and she stood with her face to him

"God, I'm a horrible person"

"No, you're not" he said calmly, standing in front of her

"Wade, what you just said ... You"

He nodded, as if to signal her to continue

"did you mean anything by saying that?"

A bitter smile escaped, "Do you want it to mean anything?"

"it's just-"

"Just what, Zoe?" He wanted to hear what she had to say, but it was difficult for her to formulate the right words

"Before, when you asked what I wanted…"

"And you didn't answer…"

"It's not fair, and you know it"

"It's the only thing that doesn't changes, you never know what you want" It hurt him to say that and he saw the pain it caused her "Look, you can relax, I'm not asking for anything. I'm still trying to figure things out"

Here he was, trying to build walls around him again, but this time she wasn't going to allow it, she thought to herself

"Stop. The last couple of months shook me. I thought I had it all ... and of course I was wrong." She took a deep breathe "I'm not promising anything, I can't. My life is in New York"

"And mine is in Atlanta"

"I have a boyfriend," she whispered

"again, that's okay, I'm not asking anything ... I guess I just had to get it out of my system"

"No, you don't understand. I'm feeling ... what you're feeling ..." She looked up and held her gaze at him, "I need time"

"Zoe, do what you need, what you want. The only thing I ask is please; don't run away without saying a word. Because I don't think I can handle it"

She nodded. He nodded back. She smiled softly and left. Wade watched her go and fought the strong urge to run after her. He wanted to hold her and not let her go. He was tired of everything. But he stayed rooted in his place. He watched her go until she disappeared on the horizon. All the drama between them occurred in the past. He wanted to believe that things could be different now. That they could stop deny what they feel, what they want.

He could only hope...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She didn't want to be alone. She wanted to talk to someone but it was very late. She texted Lavon, hoping he was awake and asked him to come to the carriage house. He was in bed, but when he got her message, he knew something was wrong and went to her quickly.

"Hey," he walked in the door with a slight smile and found her lying in bed.

She looked at him, suddenly regretting the decision to ask him to come. She wasn't in a state to talk to anyone. Lavon's smile fell when he approached her, "Are you okay?" he asked

"Yes," she breathed softly. She swallowed the lump she felt forming in her throat

"Wade ... He said he was still in love with me"

He looked at her uncertain "it's good or bad?" He hesitated

"You're kidding, right?" She released a bitter chuckle "it's ... um .." she stuttered, her voice trembled, "this ..." She felt the tears clouding her vision "I don't know," she said while her voice broke.

"Big Z ..." He didn't know what to say, he put his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her a little, but the pain she felt was stronger than anything else. She brought her knees to her and hugged them. Lavon watched her inhaling heavy breaths rapidly.

"Zoe ... You need to relax," he tried. He did what he thought was the best thing to do and pulled her into a hug. Zoe moved closer and buried her head in his shoulder.

"It's okay, Big Z ... You'll be ok"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, Wade was at the Rammer Jammer, he was there to handle several urgent matters as Lemon came through the door and walked straight to him

"You were missing last night," she sat at the bar, in the chair closest to him

"Sorry, I was tired ..."

"Yeah ... Even though I was disappointed that you didn't come, it was nice of you to do that"

"I did nothing, Lemon '

"Uh huh," she smiled, "So ... What happened?" She questioned him

He sighed, "You know?"

"Well, she left dinner pretty fast after she heard you were supposed to be there and didn't come. It was pretty clear," she replied, and took a deep breath before continuing, "And late last night, she sent Lavon a message and asked him to come. He came back an hour later and his face looked worried. But He didn't elaborate. You know, confidentiality agreement between best friends"

"I told her"

"you told her," she repeated,

"yep"

"Wow .. I thought you didn't want anything, you needed to think"

"I didn't want anything, I don't ... Look, it's not like we are ready for anything like that. So it doesn't matter"

"You know it does matter"

"It's not, she's with Joel and frankly I'm not sure what she'll do. I can't figure out exactly where her head is. And it's not just that ... our lives are in separate places. In any case, there is no point in talking about it now"

Lemon didn't want to pressure him. It was a miracle to her that he was so open to talk about it with her. She decided that the best was to leave him alone now. What has to happen will happen.

"Ok .. Just make sure you're doing what's best for you"

"I will"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zoe lay awake all night, flooded with thoughts. She knew that there were many things she needed to figure out by herself - her life, what she wanted, but she wasn't sure she could do it while he is so close. She couldn't see him because she didn't trust herself enough to resist the urge to kiss him again, or worse. And that was wrong.

She got out of bed early in the morning and started to pack. Although she had planned to stay a few more days, she changed her mind. She felt she had to leave, to be alone. His request yesterday echoed in her head "please, don't run away without saying a word. Because I don't think I can handle it"

She left the carriage house and went to his place. She knocked on the door but he wasn't there. She wondered whether to leave a note and that's it, but she gave him a promise. She was sitting on his porch overlooking the pond and waited. In the meantime, she managed to call Lavon and ask him to take her to the airport. He was with Lemon when she called and told him about her plan, and he wasn't happy. He thought she should stay and face everything, deep down he knew that one of the reasons he wanted her to stay was selfish, he wanted more time with his best friend. To his surprise, it was Lemon who supported the idea. She didn't provide many explanations, she just told him that she thought that maybe it would be the distance that will put everything into perspective and give Zoe the answers she so longed for.

An hour passed and it already relatively late, she didn't want to miss her flight. She guessed that Wade was at the Rammer Jammer but she didn't want to go there, didn't want to have to explain herself to people, but mainly she didn't want to talk to him there, in front of everyone. She had no choice, so she picked up her phone and dialed.

"Hey"

"Hey"

"Uh, is everything all right?"

"Yes, no... I'm at your house. I was looking for you; I wanted to talk to you"

"I'm at the Rammer Jammer; you can come here if you want"

"I can't" she wanted. She really wanted

He let out a sad chuckle "You're leaving, right?" He knew her too well.

"I have to, Wade" she could hear him sigh through the phone

"It's okay, I understand"

"I'm sorry," she almost choked

"I know"

They fell into silence. He could hear her sniffling

"Zoe ... Thank you," he said honestly.

"Yeah..." She sighed deeply and once again there was silence for a few moments

"We will figure it out, someday ..." he tried to offer some comfort, unclear whether for his own sake or hers.

"Bye Wade"

"Bye Zoe"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Almost without realizing it, two months flew by. Zoe devoted all her time to her work in the hospital. She barely had time for anything else. She knew she had to think about what she wanted, but she was afraid. She was afraid to get to the final conclusion.

Wade and she didn't talk at all. She found out through Lavon that he returned to Atlanta and was still there. She never told Joel anything. They didn't talk about it. Their relationship was stuck, they both felt it, but she didn't want to do anything about it. They hardly saw each other, she with her crazy work hours and with his book promotion tours.

Her phone rang, Joel was on the line

"Hey"

"Hey," she sighed

"So, the conference today went really well," he began talking enthusiastically, "and you will not believe who I met there-"

"Joel-" She sighed again, felt she had no strength for this conversation, "I'm in the middle of a shift, can we talk later?"

"Oh, right, yeah sure," he replied quickly

"Thank you," Zoe exhaled softly, "I'll see you in the evening"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the evening she came back to their apartment. She opened the door and heard the sound of a woman laughing in the background. She approached with curiosity and found Joel sitting with Ivy in the kitchen. They were in the middle of preparing dinner

"Hey," she interrupted the conversation between them

"Oh sweetie, Hi. Look who's here"

"Zoe, it's great to see you!" She pulled her into a hug

"Ivy, what are you doing in New York?" She tried to sound less surprised

"I'm covering the conference for the paper and Joel and I met there ... I love your apartment"

"Thank you," Zoe tried to smile, "I'll be right back," she said and went into the bedroom. Joel followed

"Everything is fine?" he asked

"Yes ... It could've been better if I'd known in advance that we're having a guest," she stung

"I tried to tell you"

"Obviously not hard enough"

"What's wrong with you? You're nothing but cranky and stressed. You spend all your time at work and I barely see you"

"God, it's nothing. I'm a doctor, I work a lot of hours," she wanted to get annoyed but stopped herself, "We have a guest. Let's talk about it later. Or tomorrow"

"Your birthday is tomorrow"

"Just another ordinary day"

"Well, you remember our plans for dinner, right?"

"Do you mind if we just stay at home? We can order something or whatever," she sighed

"Okay. You're the birthday girl"

His phone suddenly started ringing, "I have to answer, I'll join you in a moment" he told her.

She went into the kitchen where Ivy sat

"Sorry about that," she apologized

"No, don't worry about it ... So ... how are you?" Ivy asked hesitantly

"I'm ... Okay. I guess. What about you?"

"Good"

"Do you still live in Atlanta?"

"Yup. Still there, working at the newspaper"

Zoe just nodded

"I don't see him ... I mean, I saw him once when I was at his bar. But that's" Ivy felt the need to say it

"Oh, I didn't mean ... did you talk to him?" Zoe asked anyway

"Just Hello. It's not easy. I might miss him, but I don't hate him. We were friends before anything else," she admitted, "'Look, this situation is awkward for both of us. I don't want to get involved in something that is none of my business and I don't know if you talked or not-"

"Can I ask something?" Zoe interrupted, Ivy nodded

"You say you miss him ... Why didn't you fight for your relationship?"

Ivy smiled, "Zoe, the whole time I was with him, he never looked at me the way he looked at you. I'm too smart to even try to compete with that kind of love," she said sincerely

Zoe felt a pang in her heart at the sound of these words

"I suppose you know that ..." Ivy continued, "I'm not sure where things stand between you, but according to the current situation, I can guess that you didn't talk in quite a while"

"Two months," Zoe whispered, still trying to calm her heart that threatened to break out of her chest

"Okay, this is your decision alone, but if I can give you an advice for a moment, it's clearly eating you from the inside and you're upset. I don't pretend to know what is going on in your head, but deep down you already have the answer, don't push it anymore"

Zoe could not speak. The words just wouldn't come out, "Thank you," she said. That's all she was able to form.

"And Zoe, don't worry. I didn't tell Joel anything. And I will not tell. But I think that at some level he feels that something is happening ... you should talk to him. Don't make it worse for both of you"