Getting that particular group of people to agree to going out after work was hard enough, but Woody met an especially stubborn roadblock when he mentioned going to the pub that had replaced the Pogue. An acquaintance of Max's had bought the bar, changed the name to O'Hara's Irish Pub, but the interior had remained pretty much the same. Woody was trying to convince them that it was the only strong memory Jordan really had, and hopefully it would encourage more memories to come back. They were all concerned that it would bring back the wrong memories. It was then that Woody had confided to them that Jordan knew her mother had been murdered, but nothing about the details of the case and the mystery around her family's involvement. He was met with shocked looks. He decided to add that if they refused to go, it would mean he was alone with Jordan at the pub then. So naturally, all of them agreed to go.

Woody sat at a bar stool at the end of the group, watching Nigel dance with Jordan to a side-by-side style swing dance. Nothing striking had hit Jordan in the time they had been here, but her mood had improved a great deal and she seemed to be having a great time bonding with everyone. The evening was having the opposite effect on Woody. Being forced to sit at the bar and watch Jordan dance with every guy but him was putting him into an increasingly jealous mood. And all he could drink was water. Lily had offered to buy him a drink in an outburst of charity, but he reminded her none too subtly that with the amount of medication he was on, a drink would kill him instantly.

The song ended, and Nigel and Jordan made their way back over to the bar. Jordan was smiling as she hopped back onto the barstool next to Woody.

"I don't think we've done this in over a month," Bug said with a grin.

"Certainly not since Slocum showed up," Nigel agreed. He turned towards Woody and raised his glass in a toast. "Excellent suggestion, Woodrow."

"Anytime, Nige," Woody said with false enthusiasm, mimicking the toast with his water glass. Jordan noted the sarcasm in his voice and started to feel bad that this obviously wasn't going so well for him. She knew it wasn't having the desired affect; she still remembered nothing of the bar.

"Oh, come on farm boy," she teased him. "That's no way to behave." Grabbing his hand, she jumped off the barstool again and tugged at his arm. "C'mon."

"What, Jordan?" Woody asked, not amused.

"Let's dance."

"Jordan, I can't -"

"Don't even say it," Jordan interrupted him and held a hand up to stop his words. "I don't want to hear that from you. Just come dance with me."

Reluctantly, Woody slid off the barstool, very aware of the stares he was getting from the others. If Jordan noticed the tension, she wasn't letting on. He let her lead him through the other couples on the dance floor and over to the jukebox, holding onto her for support while she dropped a quarter into the machine. When she turned to him, smiling as she draped her left arm over his shoulder and grasped his hand with her right, he knew it was over for him. With the first strains of Dean Martin's "Return To Me," Woody found himself getting lost in Jordan Cavanaugh all over again.

Jordan had asked Woody to dance because she felt she was being fair. She had already danced with Nigel, Bug, and Sidney. It was only logical that she dance with Woody as well. She had waited because she didn't want him to overexert himself early in the evening. Now, as she felt the pressure of his hand against her back, she started to wonder about the hesitancy surrounding their relationship, especially on the part of her co-workers. Jordan began to realize there was a reason behind their questioning his looking after her. Because, without even thinking twice, Jordan felt herself being drawn to Woody in a way which she had not predicted. They seemed to move closer to each other instinctively, neither leading the dance.

"We've done this before, haven't we?" she whispered against his shoulder.

"Yeah, we have," he murmured.

His words hummed into her body, making her thrill, and frightened at the same time. They didn't speak again until the song was over. Jordan stepped back and tried her best to smile naturally at him, acting as though her whole universe hadn't just been turned on end. He followed her lead and they walked back towards the bar. The others looked like they were ready to go. They had gathered their jackets and Lily had her purse slung over her shoulder.

"Sorry to cut this short, love, but we face the guillotine if we're not on time in the morning," Nigel said to Jordan.

"Oh hey, no problem," Jordan said, almost too casually. "We had a good time, right? Even if my memory wasn't jogged by any of it." She glanced quickly at Woody after she made this last comment.

"One day at a time," Bug encouraged her. "We're just glad you're feeling better."

"C'mon, let's go find your coat," Nigel said as he placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her towards the coat check.

The second they were out of earshot, Lily turned to face Woody. Her face no longer held the fury that it did two days ago, but was instead replaced by a firm determination. She crossed her arms and took a step towards him.

"Have you told her yet?" she asked, clearly worried.

"No, not yet," Woody sighed irritably. "I'm waiting for the right time."

"Woody, there is no right time to tell someone you shut them out of your life," Lily lectured him. "The longer you wait, the more she will have learned to trust you, and it will make the blow that much greater. I'm telling you this because I know that she's going to think you betrayed her by not saying anything. She already told me how glad she is to have you of all people looking after her. You need to tell her."

"I don't understand why you people are making this into such a big deal," he said, trying to keep his voice from getting too loud. "Why is this so freakin' important?"

"Because she loves you!" Lily whispered harshly.

Her words stopped Woody in his tracks. When Jordan had whispered in his ear, begging him not to leave her, he automatically assumed that the words had been a confession in a moment of panic. She had never said anything like that before to him. But it never occurred to him that she would share those feelings for him with anyone else. He had underestimated the bond between Jordan and Lily. He never really saw Jordan as having a best friend that she told her secrets to. Nigel always seemed to know the most about her, but it was mostly intuition and a large amount of questioning. It really threw Woody to think that Lily had known this secret all along.

"Yes, she loves you," Lily continued in a whisper at the shocked look on his face. "She has for a long time, whether you knew it or not. When I told you that you destroyed her, I meant it. You pushed her over the edge. Now we're fighting to get her back. Please, don't do anything that will convince her to stay gone, Woody."

Lily stopped talking when she saw Jordan and Nigel returning from the coat check. The group exchanged goodbyes at the door, walking out into the cool night air. Jordan walked close to Woody, ready to help him should he stumble. She looked back in time to see the other four looking after her with concerned expressions. When they saw her turn around, they averted their eyes and continued on their way. Jordan had no idea what all this tension was about. All she knew was that it was time to start facing her past. She needed to hear the truth.

The ride home was a silent one. Woody was too affected by the night to say anything, and Jordan was focused on what she was going to try to say to him once they got inside. She was highly disappointed that the elevator ride didn't last longer. She was in no hurry to leap into another serious conversation that would no doubt end awkwardly for both of them. As they entered the apartment, her mind reeled with the questions she wanted answered. Woody didn't seem like he wanted to drag the night on any longer, as he immediately headed for the bathroom.

"It's been a long day, Jordan, I think I'm just gonna go straight to sleep," he said hurriedly.

"Uh, Woody?" she started nervously, following him into her bedroom. "We need to talk."

Woody stopped. He had a feeling he knew what was coming. He turned towards Jordan, a look of understanding on his face. Nodding towards the bed, he propped his walking canes against the night stand and sat down. She joined him on the edge of the bed, her hands clenched together on top of her lap. She looked everywhere but at him, fearing what he might have to tell her.

"What happened tonight…" she began. "I need you to tell me. You need to tell me what we were. Why everyone looks at you like you cheated on me. Why you told me you were angry at me when I first walked into your hospital room two days ago. I need you to tell me why…why I felt like if I let you go tonight…you would never come back."

Jordan's heart was beating quickly, partly from the rush of the truthfulness of what she had just said. She hoped to God she wasn't completely off base in what she was asking. But she couldn't deny what she had felt tonight, or the strangeness of their whole situation.

Woody listened silently, waited until he was sure she was done.

"I can't think of a word exact enough to describe our relationship, Jordan," he said softly. He gave a small laugh, remembering how many times he had been right here, trying to define precisely what they were. What he wanted them to be. "To be perfectly honest, I can't remember a time when I didn't think of you as more than a friend. But…we both had our demons. And I had to be content with putting our friendship first."

"What does that mean?" she interrupted.

"It means," Woody said slowly. "That I never seemed to pick the right time with you to try to go beyond where we were. It was hard to convince you that it was a good idea."

Jordan stared seriously ahead of her. She knew he was trying to sugar coat things.

"Sounds more like I did a good job of blowing you off for the last four years," she said bluntly.

"Oh, no, don't think of it like that," he stammered quickly. He could practically see the walls being rebuilt in front of his very eyes. Please don't do this Jordan. "I mean, I always understood why you backed away, even if I was disappointed." She turned a surprised face towards him. He closed his eyes, knowing he had picked the wrong words. "It's not like I helped things, Jordan, I gave you a God damned diamond ring for your last birthday, I mean, talk about pressure."

Jordan's eyes widened at his revelation. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This man sitting next to her had basically just told her that he had been in love with her as long as they'd known each other, had done nearly everything to get to her, and she had rejected him every time. She couldn't understand why, after all that, he was still willing to stand by her.

"So that's why you didn't want to see me," she said in disbelief. "Because I had rejected you." When he hesitated to answer, Jordan felt her heart sink. There was more. She had not expected the conversation to take this turn. There was no ignoring the way she felt when they were dancing, and she couldn't believe that she had allowed herself to hurt him for four years while inside she wanted nothing but him.

"Look, when I was shot…" Woody trailed off, thinking of where to start. "You have to understand something. I was scared. And angry. I was facing the possibility of never walking again," he emphasized, taking hold of her hand. "In my mind, I might as well have died as never walked again. And I didn't…I did not want to end like that…like my father."

Jordan stared into his eyes, her face full of emotion. She held tight to his hand, hoping to give him some strength, hoping that he didn't hate her. Of all things, she did not want to hear that she had left him alone when this all happened.

"He died when I was sixteen," Woody went on, more quietly this time. "He was shot by some teen convenience store robber. I was so terrified of becoming that – of failing. And you…" Jordan held her breath, saw his eyes become heavy with tears that had been held back for far too long. "I had waited for so long to hear you say you were ready for that next step. But I was so angry at it all…"

Jordan's mind flashed to an image of Woody lying in a hospital bed, his face stone cold. Wrenching his hand from hers. She felt the very life drain out of her.

"You told me to get out," she quavered.

Woody met her eyes carefully, ashamed of what he had done. He saw now how much he had overreacted. And what it had cost him. Lily was right. He had only waited two days, but it was long enough to cause more damage than he ever intended.

"Jordan, I am so sorry, I was confused, I didn't mean it," he pleaded with her.

She absently slipped her hand away from his, running it through her hair. Her mouth suddenly felt very dry. In her mind, she saw a sort of slide show flashing the same pictures over and over again. Pictures of her and Woody. Dancing. Laughing. And one of him covered in blood, being wheeled into the hospital. She felt sick to her stomach.

"I…I'm sorry, I need to be alone right now," she nearly choked on her words as she stood up and walked out of the room, escaping into the blackness of the living room in time to conceal the tears that were starting to fall from her eyes.