A/N I couldn't leave you guys on that cliffhanger for too long! There WILL be resolution don't worry, it's on its way soon :)

Disclaimer: CA is not mine.

Annie spun around to face Auggie, caught off guard by the pain in his voice.

"You what?" He repeated himself, stronger this time. She wanted to believe him. But he had abandoned her when she needed him most, she couldn't trust him again.

"I. Love. You." She had learned her lesson about giving men second chances. Ben had left her twice. Second chances were never a good idea. And when it came down to it, just because a man said he loved her didn't mean he would be there for her when it was important.

"So what? Like you said, your feelings for me don't change anything. You can't be the man I need. I deserve more." Auggie took a step back, reeling, as if her repeating his own words back to him had punched him in the gut. Taking a deep breath in he pulled himself together and walked towards her. She wanted nothing more than to push him away, tell him to get out, that he had hurt her too deeply to fix. But part of her was curious about what he had to say. She wanted to know what had changed over the past 3 months that would bring him to her doorstep drunk and broken.

"Annie...you need to understand, I felt like I had to keep you at arms distance to keep you safe. Maybe that was wrong of me, but when I realized that you were in just as much danger without me as you were with me the damage was already done."

"Yes, Auggie, it was. Still is. Nothing has changed."

"Yes it has. You aren't happy Annie. And I've tried to ignore it for as long as possible. I've tried to let you have the space to be happy with another man, thinking maybe he could give you the life I couldn't. Maybe you could be safe and protected and have someone who was there for you all the time instead of married to his job. And for a while he did seem to be making you happy. But lately all I've seen is that spark that usually drives you getting fainter. I can't sit by and watch anymore."

"So really you're just here to tell me you don't approve of my boyfriend. I'm going to bed Auggie." She turned and started walking back to her room. He called after her,

"Annie, wait." He sounded desperate.

"Why should I Auggie? Waiting for a man to realize that they hurt me has never done me any good in the past, I don't see why that would change now."

"I'm not here to judge your relationship, just let..." Annie cut him off. She couldn't hear anymore or she would fall apart. Those walls she had so carefully built around her heart after numerous heartbreaks was threatening to crack.

"Auggie, I can't do this right now. We'll talk in the morning when you're sober. Get some sleep."

She walked into her room and slammed the door behind her before curling up in bed as the tears finally fell down her face. As strong as her defenses were, his words had cut through her and now bounced around her mind incessantly. He was right, she was not happy with David and she could no longer lie to herself and pretend like she was okay with the way things were.

Auggie sat on her couch with his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes. He had said the only thing he thought could possibly get through to her and she had still shut him out. He meant it though, he loved her so much he could no longer watch her trapped in a relationship that was hurting her. He needed her to know she had another option and that he was there for her to run to if she needed someone to be on her side. He would always be on her side, no matter how much she pushed him away.

Lying back on the couch he closed his eyes and let sleep wash over his alcohol addled brain.

At some point in the middle of the night he woke up to the feeling of soft hands shaking him and calling his name.

"Auggie. Auggie wake up!" He sat up with a start.

"Whats wrong?"

"You were yelling like you were being murdered. What kind of nightmare were you HAVING?" Oh. Of course. His humiliation was complete. Now she had seen him at his weakest point.

"The usual one. You get killed in an explosion and its all my fault." No point in watering it down now.

"That's the reason you pushed me away." Was she talking in general, or at this precise moment? He wasn't sure. He tried to smile and brush it off,

"That? No. Just a minor nightmare, really I'm actually quite fine." She wasn't taken in by his lighthearted tone for a second. Throwing her arms around his neck she pulled him close and he could not help but respond, wrapping his arms around her back tightly. This was Annie, the one person in the world he would do anything to keep safe.

"It's gonna be okay Annie. You're okay." He wasn't sure if he was comforting her or himself. When he felt her tears sinking through his shirt though he knew that this hug was about more than just making his nightmares go away. Whatever happened in the morning he would deal with, but with her in his arms everything was the way it should be. For a moment they were reconciled again, Auggie and Annie, the way they had been before he took the promotion and messed everything up.

"You know, I really do need to get some sleep, and clearly its not possible if you're gonna scream like a madman again tonight, you can sleep on the other side of my bed, its big enough for both of us." Everything in him wanted to have her close, to know that she was right there next to him. It was the only way he would know she was safe. But as tempting as it was, if he was ever going to have Annie in his arms he wanted to go about it the right way. He respected her too much to do this.

"Annie. You have a boyfriend you know I can't do that." And just like that her walls went back up again. He heard the hurt return to her voice.

"Fine." She left him lying on the couch alone. Again.