The bottle of wine, or a bottle of vodka, twenty cigarettes and old repeats of Sex and The City pretty much summed up Zoe's life right now. She'd been calling in sick to work for a week now, she knew she couldn't keep it up much longer, but facing Max was too much to bare. She looked at her phone as another text from Nick entered her inbox, she growled in frustration and picked it up, hurling it as hard as she could against the nearest wall, smiling I'm satisfaction as it cracked into pieces "bastard" she growled.

She looked up in surprise as her doorbell rang, pausing the TV to answer it she stopped at the mirror; she hadn't showered in three days, she could smell the alcohol coming from her pores and her whole apartment stank of the takeaways she had been eating – not ideal for the apparent visitor she had. She tried to sort her hair a little and lulled her pyjama shirts down to cover her a little more as she pulled the door open, speechless as she saw him, shifting from side to side as he waiting.

He smiled softly as she pulled the door open "you look a mess" he told her, blunt as ever.

"What do you want?" She asked weakly, being in no mood for visitors.

"Can I come in?" He asked, it seemed more of demand to her but she stood back and let him in. "Gosh you must be feeling guilty" he quipped as he moved straight to her windows, which took up most of the wall, and pulled the blinds open then pushed open the window to let fresh air in and the stale smell of Chinese food out.

"What do you want?" She asked again, throwing herself back onto the couch and covering her eyes as the light spilled into her living room.

"I want to know you're ok" he smiled, taking a seat beside her "now, go and get a shower and then we'll talk"

She nodded and stood up, pausing in the doorway and turning back to him "Max" she called softly "I'm glad you came" she smiled, heading for the shower and to sort her life out.

.

Zoe sat, wrapped in her dressing gown, sipping the coffee that Max had made her. She ran a hand through her damp hair and looked at him, they had been sitting side by side for twenty minutes and neither had spoken. "I'm really sorry, you know" she broke the silence, the tension in the air was palpable as she spoke.

"Yeah?" Max questioned, grimacing as he took a sip of his coffee.

"It was just, one of those things" she tried to explain, reaching out to take his hand.

"I get it Zoe, I do. I'm not exactly the monogamous type but I thought we were different, I thought we had something" he sighed, titling his head back and closing his eyes. "Anyway, I didn't come here to argue"

"Well why are you here?" She questioned, suddenly feeling rather defensive.

He opened his eyes and looked at her "I came here to see if you were ok, and… And to tell you we can make a go of this. If you want to that is" he mumbled quickly.

"But why?" She asked, she looked at him in all seriousness "I've treated you like shit, I dumped you, then cheated on you. Im a mess Max, used goods no one wants me, nor really" she sighed, Knowing it was the truth.

"Well I think you're worth it, I love you for gods sake" he smiled at her, moving slightly closer to her and waiting for her to make her move.

Those were the three words that Zoe Hanna wanted to hear, and as she heard them she pulled him closer and kissed him "I love you too, idiot" she whispered against his lips; smiling as she felt his hands working the knot on her dressing gown. It seemed things were back to normal.