Trish's eyes were glued to the brilliant silver crucifix. Questions through her mind but they were too fleeting to grasp. Her finger caressed the cross, feeling the intricate cuts and curves of the precious metal. Beneath her touch, she could feel the rapid rise and fall of his chest and every unsteady, shaky breath he reeled in. It was painfully that he was waiting on her reaction, fearful of what it might be.

Finding her voice, she forced her eyes off the piece of jewelry and brought them up to his captivating green irises. "You still wear it."

Jeff opened his mouth but must have changed his mind about what he was going to say because he closed it quickly. Under her scrutinizing gaze, he flushed slightly and offered a weak shrug.

"Why?" One question that was only three letters but was asking so much.

"Because you bought it." He admitted quietly, breaking eye contact. "And no matter what, that means something to me."

"You knew I'd be here." There was an accusatory note in her voice. "That's why you're wearing it."

"I heard that you might be here but that's not why I'm wearing it." He was stung by the insinuation, she could tell by the look on his face. "I always wear it. The only time that it's not around my neck is when I have a match."

He wasn't lying, even though she wished he did. It would hurt less that way. She heaved a sigh and struggled to accept the honesty being laid before her. Releasing the cross, she got off the bed and crossed over to the window, ignoring the nausea and intense headache. Looking out the window, she didn't even register the spectacular view or picture perfect day. The only reason she had gone over there was because she needed space.

"Trish, darlin, I didn't plan this if that's what you're thinking. If anything I planned the exact opposite."

"What?"

"When Matt told me that you might be coming, I decided that I'd put in a quick appearance then take off without ever seeing you. But Matt and Ashley's disagreement screwed that up. I couldn't let Matt stay mad for something stupid, not when Ashley's the best thing that's happened to him in the last couple of years."

"I don't think that all of this was some elaborate set-up." She closed her eyes and wearily leaned her forehead against the glass. "But I don't understand why you came back here this morning when you could have let me believe that seeing you was some drunken hallucination."

His hand touched her shoulder and she jumped at the unexpected contact, but made no move to escape it. "Could you please look at me?"

She did as he asked and turned. Her eyes caught the emotional emerald of his and she waited to hear what he had to say.

"I didn't leave last night. I couldn't just walk away knowing that you were lying there hurt. So I stayed in the room with you, in the chair, in case you needed someone."

A smile curved her lips and she couldn't suppress it because it was vintage Jeff. "That's right. A perfect southern gentlemen can never ignore a woman in distress."

"No," His voice had an authoritative ring to it. "That's not why I stayed here with you."

"It's probably not the only reason. I'm sure that the fact that we used to be friends also played a part in it."

His gaze was narrowed and searching as it scanned over her face. She fought to keep her expression neutral. A few moments later, he looked away and shook his head. "Trish, you know that's not why I,"

"I appreciate it." She said quickly, cutting him off before he could say something she didn't want to hear. "But I'm all right now. So you can go if you…"

"I'm not going anywhere." He stubbornly folded his arms across his chest and pinned her with a hard look. "The reason that I couldn't leave is because I still lo-"

"Jeff don't!" She blurted out almost hysterically, her heart hammering painfully in her chest.

Her desperate plea wounded him; it was plainly evident on his face. But she knew from his stance and past experience that just because she wanted him to, he wasn't going to back down on this.

"Why not?"

Trish took a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to regain her lost composure. When she felt her control begin to piece itself back together, she gave him the only response that she could. "It might be better to leave certain things unsaid and a particular can of worms closed."

"No," Jeff intoned firmly. "Been there. Done that. Lost everything because of it."

She needed to get away before he managed to say whatever it was that he was so determined to vocalize. Frantically, she tried to think of an excuse. But none were forthcoming because her mind was frozen in fear.

"I still love you." His voice was earnest, sincere and shredded her heart. "And I know that I'm always going to."

There it was, the one thing that she had been terrified of having thrown at her feet. Those words brought back all the pain and uncertainty that she had bottled up three years ago. It hurt so bad that it was literally hard for her to breathe.

"I understand why you don't want to hear it. What I did to you, to us, was inexcusable and I can never make up for that. But I didn't tell you because I'm expecting,"

"Stop." Her plea came out broken and strangled because a massive lump had taken up residency in her throat. "Please just stop."

He raked a hand through his hair and a frustrated breath escaped his mouth. The action was repeated except instead of exhaling loudly, he in haled this time. His tongue swiped over his lips, wetting them and he try to capture her eyes in his intense gaze. "Why?"

"We're going to be working together, which is hard enough considering what happened last time. Why complicate things even more?" It was supposed to sound rational, logical and in-control. But it had fallen from her lips desperate, chaotic and slightly hysterical.

"Déjà vu." He muttered with a bitter scowl and rolled his expressive eyes.

"What?"

"The first time I told you how I felt, you did the same thing." He scoffed with a derisive shake of his head. "Guess it's true what they say. The more things change, the more they stay the same."

"There's one difference though." She pointed out angrily. "This time, I don't have to try to build obstacles. They actually exist."

Confusion was painted on his face. "What do you need obstacles for?"

"Because I can't go back!" She nearly yelled the words, shoving wild locks of her hair out of her face. "I just can't!"

He closed the distance between them and gathered her resisting form into his arms. She swallowed thickly and tried to duck her head but he wouldn't let her, tilting her face back up toward his so their eyes could meet. "I don't want to go back either Trish."

She started at his admission, confused and shocked by the revelation. "What?" Then why did you tell me?"

"Darlin, I didn't tell you how I felt because I wanted to pick up where we left off." He expelled heavily. "Because we couldn't go back. We're not those people anymore and there's nothing but pain left there anyway."

"So why did you tell me?"

"I had to." Jeff admitted without the slightest hesitation. "Like you said, it's not going to be easy working together again. If it's going to work then we can't have any unsettled issues or lingering questions upsetting the balance."

It sounded logical. Hell it sounded perfect. But for some reason, she didn't believe that was the only reason he confessed his feelings. She wasn't sure that she wanted to call him on her suspicion though. Sometimes, it was better to accept what you wanted to hear rather than deal with the painful truth.

She extricated herself from his embrace and turned away, breathing heavily. They covered a lot of ground. Re-opened many emotional wounds. Relived the psychological scars. But hadn't really established anything.

"Trish," Jeff's tone was leery. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I was just…nothing." She finished lamely, pushing more errant locks of hair out of her face. "I just, uh, lost my train of thought."

"You sure?"

Her previous thought about accepting his answer at face value and letting the topic go suddenly seemed like a bad idea. One that in the long run would only cause them more pain. Taking a deep breath, she gathered her courage. "Is this really just about clearing the air so we'll be able to work together."

"Well, when you put it that way." He paused, obviously reconsidering what he said and the true meaning behind it. His eyes locked on hers and she saw the answer in them before he spoke. "No, that's not the only reason I told you that I'm still in love with you."