The moon is hanging low in the sky – casting a enchanting glow about their skin. Her fingers trace the sculpted muscles of his abdomen as his thumb sweeps back and forth over the skin just beneath her tattoo. They're still struggling to slow their breathing and their hearts continue to race. His lips press a firm kiss to her forehead as he pulls her into him more.

"I wish I didn't have to leave tomorrow." He whispers after another few minutes of silence.

"You could just stay." She looks up at him – her eyes full of hope even though she knows he's not going to give in no matter how drunk they are or how great they make each other feel, both physically and emotionally. They've had this conversation before and each time it takes a piece of her heart. Yet she puts herself through it in hopes that one day he'll surprise her by telling her he'd love to stay.

"You know I can't." He shakes his head – his arms remaining tight around her naked form because he doesn't want her to pull away just yet.

"I know what you tell me, but I guess I just don't get it." She nods and kisses his pec as she moves to sit up – letting the lilac sheets fall to her waist, preparing to bare more than just her skin to him.

Her eyes leave his when she feels tears welling and clouding her vision. There's an ache in her heart causing her to stumble a little with her words. "There's so many painful memories for both you and me there, so I don't get the real reason why you choose to go back. Why you come here and we do this." She gestures between them to make her point.

"Just for you to leave." The tears fall with that and he pulls her onto his lap.

In an effort to comfort her a little he rubs soothing circles into the small of her back as he thinks of what to say. "When you left for college and then moved here, I felt the same way. I didn't understand why you'd leave. Because while there's painful memories, we also have a lot of good ones from before and even after we lost our moms and brothers. And I've thought about this for weeks after my last few visits. But truth is that the same reason you don't want to go back is why I need to. And because it's my home – it's where I belong." He leans in to kiss her tears away.

"I'm afraid that I'll forget the best parts – the good memories if I don't go back. That I'll only remember the bad and that's terrifying. So while I want to stay and be with you, I just can't." His voice is quiet as he takes in her heartbroken expression.

"I understand." She whispers back – her lips hovering near his and her breath ghosting over his face.

He can sense the 'but' that's coming – can practically hear it falling off her tongue before she even says it. And it causes his heart to pound in a whole new way than it was earlier in the conversation.

She releases another deep breath before placing a feather light kiss to the corner of his mouth. Then she's climbing off his lap and covering herself with the sheet.

"But we can't do this anymore." She shuffles a little further away. "I still want you to come visit if that's what you want but we need to just be friends. No teasing touches or longing looks, passionate kisses or sex. We can't be more because I can't go through this anymore."

Her voice gives way to how hurt she is and when she pulls a pillow into her chest he begins to feel walled off.

He nods in agreement since there's no way for him to argue it. So he bends down to grab his boxers and pulls the blue fabric back on before he moves out of the bed and goes towards the door. He can't bring himself to look at her – to see her cry hurts him even more. "I'm just going to sleep on the couch."

When the door closes she collapses on the bed and her tears fall faster. He can hear her soft sobs from outside the room but he stays put. The urge to go back to her and wrap his arms around her again is hard to resist – his hand even goes to the doorknob before he pulls back and moves down the hall.

She shakes her head when she hears him tell her that going back to Montana would be safer. If he had used a different reason or worded it another way then she would have been more compelled to agree but she's hasn't felt safe in Montana since her mom and brother died. She voices that to him and she can tell that it hurts him to hear as much as it pains her to say.

And that pang of pain in his chest is hard to ignore but he tries to push it down and write it off as her being worried and scared. "Right, I uh…I apologize, it was ridiculous to think that you'd feel safe here."

Shame washes over her as she realizes her mistake. If she's being honest the only person who has made her feel safe whenever they're together is Jay. But she also feels that the ranch itself isn't safe and it hasn't been in years.

"Jay, I-"

"It's fine." He sighs. "Just stay away from Andrew. I'll let your dad know if I find anything else on them." He tells her before he hangs up.

His phone is slammed down on the desk once the call is ended. So many emotions bubbling to the surface and then boiling over in quick succession.

Deep down he knew that she was likely going to decline his attempt to bring her back. But he'd be lying if he said he wasn't hoping to call and convince her to come home. And he'd be considered disingenuous if he said that their conversation didn't hurt him. He takes a few minutes to mull over how he could have handled that differently but his anger and disgruntlement keeps him from seeing reason and his thoughts remain irrational.

Once he's calmed down some he picks his phone up again. His finger scrolls down his recent calls list and clicks the name he was looking for. His thumb presses down on the green phone icon and brings the cellular device up to his ear.

"Hey Kevin, can you and Adam meet me at Ole Red's?" He asks, even though it was meant to be more of an order than a request.

His hand gets pulled down his face for the umpteenth time today as he listens to his friend's response. "Yeah, I just need to talk to someone."

The picture gets printed and then his computer is shut down before he leaves the office.

He races to the old bar and his blood boils seeing the familiar rusty Chevy pickup as he parks his truck. The gravel crunches and crackles beneath his boots as he quickly moves towards the front door of the run down bar. He's surprised to see how many patrons are actually inside but he's still able to find who he's looking for within a few seconds.

Stevie had worked for Voight a few years back as a ranch hand. He was a hardworking guy with a smart mouth but for the most part did as he was told. That was until one day when he was completely inebriated, he went out to drive cattle and nearly got another wrangler killed. Voight lost it and fired him on the spot – without a moment's hesitation. None of them have seen him since but Jay remembered that he liked frequently this hole in the wall bar back when he was still on the ranch.

A shot of whiskey is ordered as he waits for his friends to arrive – his eyes remaining on the guy he's here to talk to as he plays pool.

"Who did you need to talk to and why do you need us?" Adam asks as they come to stand next to him at the bar.

"Stevie is Andrew's brother and they own the ranch that was selling off the stolen cattle." Jay nods towards the man in question.

"Andrew, as in the city-slicker prick that was dating Erin?" Adam shakes his head in confusion as if the movement will help him understand.

Jay just nods before slamming back another shot of the amber liquid in front of him and pushing the stool he's sitting on back. He stands and moves to the right to walk over to the man he once considered a friend. But a hand placed firmly on his chest stops him.

"Do you know where Andrew is?" It's a whispered inquiry from Kevin this time and Jay pushes his hand away before shaking his head.

"What about Erin?" It's an innocent follow up but it ignites something within Jay and causes him to see red.

"Don't you think we should figure that out first?" Kevin voices when Jay shrugs and then he takes a moment to think about that.

"If we go over there now and kick his ass there's a good chance he's going to let his brother know and he could hurt her." Kevin continues and that makes Jay see his point.

Adam pats him on the back as the three of them move to exit the bar.

Not in the mood to drive, Jay throws his keys over to Adam and hops into the passenger seat.

The ride starts out quiet – the only noise coming from the radio but it's turned down so low that it's barely audible. Adam occasionally looks over to see if his friend is ok but when he sees him check is phone again – he figures it's a good time to ponder out loud.

"Does she know?" He asks and Jay still doesn't look up – instead choosing to keep staring down.

"She was the first person I told about it. I wanted to warn her that Andrew has something to do with all of it." He tells him - a lump forming in his throat as he thinks back to their earlier conversation.

"I take it she didn't take it the way you had hoped she would." Adam pushes on.

"Does Kim feel safe with you?" Jay rebuttals and Adam is a little confused again but shrugs and answers him.

"I think so? I mean I don't think she's said it but I've felt like she does. Like she can breathe a little easier when I'm there because she knows I wouldn't let anything happen to her." He responds honestly.

"Erin asked if they should come back and I said that I think it'd be safer. But she turned around and said she doesn't feel safe here." Jay stops there as he feels his frustration return. He closes his eyes before continuing. "I thought I made her feel safe, you know? Like you said but I guess not."

Adam doesn't know what to say to that so he mulls it over a little more first. "There was this one argument that Kim and I got into and she said that her happiness isn't dependent on me. That she doesn't need me to make her happy or feel good. I thought that can't be right because I'm me and we all know life is just better with a little Adam Ruzek in it." He jokes but it doesn't even pull a small smile from his friend so he just goes on with his story. "But I got it eventually. I'm not her sole source of happiness. She was happy before me and if we were to break up she'd find a way to be happy again. So maybe this is kind of like that. It's not that they don't feel safe with us, it's just that they're not going admit it because they don't want to feel dependent on us for their safety."

Jay is quite shocked for the insight from the younger man and though he was initially a little confused by where he was going with the conversation, he understands it. He nods his head in acknowledgement as he looks back down instead of out the window.

When they get back to the ranch he goes straight to his cabin. A shower is first on his agenda - hoping to literally wash this day away before getting ready for bed.

He feels a little better as he lays down on the plush pillow top and thinks to a few weeks back when she was still here. His heart aches again as he looks at the picture of them on his nightstand. It's of the two of them at Millennium Park in front of the Cloud Gate bean the first time he went to visit her in Chicago. His arms are wrapped around her waist from behind and they're both looking up at their reflection in the shiny piece of art. Both of them with the biggest grins on their faces.

She smiles at the picture on her phone before she's calling his number. The thought of having to leave a message makes her heart sink as the line rings for the third time but then he's picking up and murmuring groggily into the speaker.

The apology she's been thinking of for the last three hours disappears from her memory causing the short sentence she manages to string together a jumbled and mumbled mess.

"It's ok Erin, I get it." He replies as wind blows into the speaker making it difficult to hear her before the call ends abruptly.

The rain hitting the windows mimic the sound of pebbles hitting a hard surface as the storm picks up. It almost causes him to miss the knock on his front door.

His feet move him down the stairs and towards the door slowly as he tries to think of who would be at his house at this hour and in this weather. He grabs the gun from the table in the entryway since he can't see who his guest is. Then and only then does he feel he can safely open the door.

He's taken aback when his eyes meet the person standing on his front porch. A weak smile comes to both of their faces after the initial shock wears off.