"What?" Zoe whispered incredulously. All the air rushed out of her lungs. "You lied?!" He didn't answer her; his gaze dropped down to the ground. "Why would you do that?" She stepped closer to him. He gave her a tortured look but still didn't respond.

"Why would you do that to me?! Why did you hurt me like that?! Why did you do that?" His continued silence just served to anger her more, her voice getting louder with each question. "Why…did you…do that?!" with every word she shoved at him trying to get a reaction out of him.

He grabbed her wrists so she couldn't push him anymore. "What does it matter Zoe? Let it go. It doesn't change anything. Just let it go" he responded harshly.

"No Wade! I have a right to know why you would lie to me like that?! Did you just want to break up with me? Why not just dump me?! Why would you make up a lie that you slept with someone else?!" She yelled at him and still got no response. "Damn it Wade! Answer me!" She made a futile attempt at freeing her wrists from his grasp to try to push at his chest again.

Something snapped in him and he grabbed her by the arms. "Because you deserved better Zoe! You deserved better than some loser bartender from a hick Southern town!" he yelled at her while shaking her lightly. Seeing the tears that had spilled over onto her cheeks, he lowered his voice. "Because you should have been with someone like Tucker or Joel instead of me! They're successful and good and would take care of you and love you. You deserve to be happy" he whispered harshly at her.

Zoe couldn't believe what she was hearing. Tears were freely falling from her eyes now and a pain she didn't know she was capable of feeling took over her heart. "I was happy Wade. You made me happy" she whispered.

He shook his head. "It wouldn't have lasted Zoe. I screw things up. I just decided to screw us up earlier and on my terms… before you could get hurt any more than necessary. I needed you to see me for who I really am. I needed you to hate me. I needed you to move on." He said sadly.

Zoe was silent for a moment as she took everything in. "Then why did you seek me out to tell me that you loved me before I left for New York?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged his shoulders, looking down, avoiding her gaze. Instead, he focused on watching his hands as they moved down her arms to her elbows. He took a deep breath and let go of her but they were still standing dangerously close to each other. "I don't know…I guess maybe I had a moment of indecision, a moment of weakness. Everything turned out for the best though. You moving away for 5 months and finding the man you're supposed to be with was exactly what was supposed to happen."

A sob escaped her throat. She had always been able to keep her emotions in check when needed but right now, at this time, she was the most vulnerable she had ever been. Her knees began to buckle and she sagged down towards the ground. Wade was right there to support her, his hands moving to her waist to hold her up. She leaned against him as another sob escaped her throat.

"Were you lying when you told me that you loved me?" she asked quietly after a few moments. "Was that a lie too? Or just when you told me that you cheated on me?" Her world was being turned upside down and she was having trouble deciphering fact from fiction.

"It doesn't matter anymore Zoe. Just let it go. Please let it go. You're with Joel. You're happy. He's everything you've ever wanted" he whispered. He was looking at her intently but the look in his eyes was guarded. He was so close. His hands were on her hips now; hers on his chest.

"No, Wade, answer me. If you ever cared for me at all, then answer me honestly now. Were you lying when you told me you loved me?"

Wade was unusually quiet and wouldn't look her in the eyes. She could feel the warmth from his hands on her hips, smell his light cologne, feel his muscles tense under her hands. She realized just how much she missed his touch. She hadn't felt this alive in months. "Wade" she said in a pleading voice. "W-what if…I'm not happy?" Zoe whispered as she looked up at him.

His hands tightened around her hips as he looked down at her. "Zoe, don't go there" he said in a low warning voice. She knew she shouldn't do this, but this was the closest they had been in months. She'd be fooling herself if she tried to deny that she had missed him. She was so mad at him for his lie but when he was so close, she had trouble thinking rationally. She slowly moved her hands up from his chest to his shoulders, taking in every muscle, every ridge. She felt his hands on her hips, pulling her closer to him still. She made a small whimpering sound in the back of her throat. "Zoe" she heard Wade whisper in a tortured voice as he lowered his head slightly. Her hands moved up his neck to either side of his face. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. She needed more. "Wade, please" she pleaded, guiding his face down towards her upturned face. He rested his forehead on hers; she nuzzled his nose with her own as she committed every movement, every sensation to memory. She pulled his face closer still as she raised herself on tiptoes to close the short distance between them. His lips barely grazed hers in a mere whisper of a kiss – it still wasn't enough.

"I'm sure she's around here somewhere!" Wade and Zoe both startled as they heard Lavon's loud deep voice coming from just inside the Rammer Jammer. He dropped his hands from around her and took a step away from her. She missed him instantly. She let her hands fall to her sides and dropped her head, letting her hair fall down around her face.

"Zoe – there you are!" She heard Joel's voice from behind her. "What are you doing out here?" She couldn't speak, she didn't dare answer.

"Hey man, she wasn't feeling too good and came out for some fresh air" she heard Wade answer for her. "You should probably take her home, get her to bed. Take care of her." She knew Joel didn't recognize the strangled tone in Wade's voice, but she did. She picked her head up to give Wade a beseeching look. "Wade…" she whispered so that only he heard. Wade gave a small shake to his head and muttered, "No, enough" and took another step back away from her.

"Zoe, sweetie, what's wrong?" Joel was beside her at this point. She dropped her head again to let her hair provide cover for her face and shrugged her shoulders. She felt his hand at her elbow – his touch was all wrong.

"Take her home" she heard Wade say again. "Make sure she's not coming down with something."

"Yeah, let's get you home" she heard Joel say as he started steering her back inside of the Rammer Jammer. "Thanks Wade. See you later Lavon." Zoe had forgotten about Lavon – she looked over at him. The look in his eyes told her that he knew there was more to her and Wade in the alleyway than just Zoe not feeling well.

She looked over at Wade one last time. He was looking at her like he was trying to memorize every last little detail of that moment. When he noticed her looking at him, he turned his back to her and began to walk in the opposite direction.

Feeling a hopelessness settle over her, she let Joel lead her away.