Lana had never met Max Carmichael in person. She had seen a couple of pictures that Zoey had shown her. But when the tall, dark-haired man wearing the designer sunglass and v-neck sky blue t-shirt walked in with Zoey, she had immediately guessed who it was. "You know, when you said Egyptian theme, I was very skeptical. Vegas and the Luxor came to mind," he says, taking his sunglasses off and looking around the Talon. "But this is cute. I like it."

Zoey shoots him an amused smile and drags him up to the counter. "Lana, this is my Uncle Max," she introduces. "Uncle Max, this is Lana Lang."

Max smiles as he shakes Lana's hand. "It is nice to finally meet you. Zoey has told me a lot about this place and she has said that you've been a good friend."

Lana smiles. "Well, Zoey's the one who helped come up with the business proposal to Lex. And she's way better with the accounting than I am."

Max raises an eyebrow. "Maybe I should send you down to the accounting department at CRC."

"Yeah, no, I'm not doing that," Zoey tells him. "Anyway, Lana, I wanted to apologize for bailing like I did."

"Zoey, you don't have to keep apologizing. It's fine," Lana tells her.

"Still. I feel bad. That was a shitty thing for me to do as a business partner. Which speaking of…I'm going to be just a silent business partner."

"We have to see how things go," Max clarifies. "Zoey's doctor and I both agree that she needs to take things slow. But, depending on how things go, you can go back to working part-time on the weekends. Anyway, now that the awkward business is taken care of, can we get two white chocolate mochas. One with an extra shot. And a piece of this delicious-looking chocolate cake that has been staring at me since we walked in."

Lana laughs. "Sure, no problem. I'll bring it out to you guys."

Max leads Zoey over to a table in the back. He doesn't miss how she shifts. "Hey. No one is looking at you," he quietly tells her. Zoey sighs, knowing that he was right. It's then that she spots Clark with an older man. Max follows her gaze and he tenses. He grabs the magazine of an empty table and shoves it in front of her face. "That is a reporter. Don't let him see you."

Max stands up and walks up over to the counter. He recognized Perry White. "It's called getting the story," Perry argues, turning back to Lana. "Uh, nothing fancy, Miss Lang, just a simple Q and A. You know, uh, how is little Miss Meteor coping fourteen years after the big bang?"

"I think you should leave," Max says.

Perry turns around and stares in disbelief. "Max Carmichael. I heard a rumor that you left Star City."

"Mr. White, I think you should leave."

"I was hoping to get—"

"No."

"Maybe I should ask Miss Lang—"

"No."

"Miss Lang—"

"You need to leave. Now." Perry attempts to move around Max to talk to Lana, but Max just blocks his view. "I understand, Mr. White, that you have a job that you need to do. However, your job does not give you the right to question people, let alone a teenager, about something that is none of your business."

Perry glares at Max. "You know, either she talks to me now or she faces the cameras in the morning."

"If you shove a camera in her face, then I will call your boss and ensure that you can't even report on the puppy bowl," Max threatens. Perry stares at Max for a moment, then turns and walks out of the Talon. Clark stands there for a minute, then follows after Perry. Max turns and shoots Lana a smile. "Let me know if he bothers you anymore."

Lana smiles. "Thank you, Mr. Carmichael. I-I really appreciate it."

Max waves a hand. "I don't like reporters harassing people over things they'd rather not talk about. And call me, Max." He spots the coffees and piece of chocolate cake. "Oh. Is this ours?"

"Yeah, I was just about to bring it over."

"Make yourself a drink and bring another piece of cake over. It's on me. And I will not take no as an answer."

Zoey smiles as she walks down the hallways of Smallville High with Lana. She finally felt comfortable in her own skin while in school. Max had taken her on a shopping spree in Chicago before they returned to Smallville. She wore a floral dress that ended just below her knees and a pair of wedges. "At least Clark was there to make sure Mr. White didn't actually commit suicide," she says.

"Have you talked to Clark or the Kents since you came back," Lana asks.

"Ummm…no. I have been avoiding them. I figured it was just easier. Everything is just so awkward."

"I know they were worried about you. Mrs. Kent would ask me if I had heard from you."

Zoey sighs. "See, super awkward. Just am I supposed to say? 'Hi, Aunt Martha, Uncle Jonathan, nothing to worry about. I'm just a recovering alcoholic, but not a drug addict. I never actually did the cocaine.' Oh yeah, I can see how well that will actually go."

Lana laughs. "I think you just need to be honest with them, Zoey."

Zoey wrinkles her nose. "Yeah, you are seriously making me regret not taking Bruce up on his offer. At least then I'd be getting laid on a regular basis."

Lana raises an eyebrow. "Bruce?"

"Bruce Wayne. He's an old friend of mine. We've known each other forever. He said suggested I move to Gotham. I was an idiot and asked him what we were. We've had this friend with benefits thing going on for a few years."

"What did he say?"

"He answered by asking me a question. 'What do you think we are?' What the fuck? You know. Then he asked if we needed a label on whatever it is we have."

"And what did you say?"

"I didn't say anything. We danced. Then we made out. Then we fucked. You know, I haven't even talked with Lex since I've been back."

"I would imagine that would be a less awkward conversation."

"Um…that's actually a way more awkward conversation."

"I was surprised when I heard you were back in town," Lex greets when Zoey walks into his study. Word had quickly spread out about Zoey being back and Max moving to Smallville. She was certainly different. Gone was any trace that she had spent a chunk of her life living on a farm. "I figured you would've stayed in Star City."

Zoey shrugs. "I didn't want to be the new kid," she tells him. "Um, I wanted to apologize for everything that I did last year."

"Zoey, you have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I should apologize. I should've told Lucas to stay away from you."

Zoey bites her lip. "If it makes you feel better, Lex, Lucas didn't do anything that I didn't want. He just helped pull the final thread in an unraveled sweater. Anyway, I'm sorry I missed your wedding. Or maybe not. I've heard that I didn't actually miss much. I also heard you had a very eventful summer."

Lex chuckles. "You didn't miss much. And eventful is one way to describe it."

"You need to be more careful, Lex. Pretty soon people will wonder if you'll end up with more marriages than Elizabeth Taylor."

Zoey shifts as she sits next to Max in the living room of his house. Dr. Specter was there to facilitate the long-awaited apology to Jonathan and Martha, who was sitting opposite of her and Max. Clark was not there as Jonathan and Martha felt it best that he wasn't there. They also didn't want to risk exposing Clark's abilities and they weren't sure what Max knew. Zoey takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry for running away and causing you to worry," Zoey says, fiddling with the bracelet Oliver had given her. "And I'm sorry for hiding the booze and cocaine in your house."

"Zoey, we just want to know that you okay," Martha softly tells her.

"And we want to know why you didn't come to us for help," Jonathan adds.

Zoey bites her lip. She avoids looking at them. "I didn't…I didn't want to add to your plate."

"Zoey, in order to fully make your amends, you need to be honest," Dr. Specter reminds.

Zoey sighs. She looks at her godparents. "I didn't think you'd understand. That's why I didn't talk to you. It was just easier to bury…to bury all the pain and guilt…and the confusion. And frustration. I hated having to try and pretend to be something that I'm not. I-I-I'm not a Kent. And I'm not a York. I'm a Carmichael. I'm a Carmichael in all the ways that have nothing to do with money. I'm an alcoholic. Not a drug addict through. I never actually did any of the coke. And I really, really enjoy sex."

"Zoey, what would you say is the moment that you feel was your rock bottom?"

"Paying the bartender at my birthday party last year ten grand in cash to ensure that my drinks had a liberal amount of Jim Beam in them. Everything that had happened the entire day…I was mad at myself. I didn't want to feel anything."

"Why did were you mad at yourself on your birthday?"

"For not saying how I felt. How I hated living two different lives. I just wanted to be Zoey. I didn't want to be Zoey York and I didn't want to be Zoey Carmichael. I-I-I-I was mad at myself for feeling guilty about getting a fifty thousand dollar necklace for my birthday and knowing that you guys have money problems," she finishes, directing the last part at the Kents.

"Zoey, our financial problems are something you should have to ever worry about or feel guilty about," Jonathan tells her.

"I've been living two fucking lives," Zoey snaps. "I just…I can't be the person you guys want to be. I can't be the person my dad wanted me to be. Not that it matters. He's probably not even my actual dad."

Max frowns. "Zoey, Matt did a paternity test. It said he was your father."

"So, why am I helping you go through this stuff," Oliver asks as he looks through the photo album. Zoey had convinced him to join him at the Carmichael Family home that was situated outside of Star City.

Zoey puts a box of her mother's papers on the desk. "Dr. Specter thinks it would be good for me to get some closure about their deaths by going through this. And she advised me to not do it alone. So, you get to help."

"Are you sure you don't want Max to help you do this, Zo?"

"I think Uncle Max feels guilty that he shattered the image I had of my parents," she answers. "Those were his exact words. Since I didn't know that my mom was a drug addict along with being alcoholic."

Oliver points to a photo of when they were kids. "Check this out."

Zoey shoots him a smile. "You were a cute kid. What happened?"

"Fuck you. Besides you're the one who keeps kissing me."

"Now you're just being an asshole."

"But I'm an asshole you love."

"Maybe I should just rescind that."

"You can't rescind that, Zo."

Zoey rolls her eyes, but smiles. A silence settles over them as they look through the various boxes and photo albums. She frowns, seeing a file labeled 'DNA test - Zoey'. She pulls out the file and looks through it. There were different test results. "Ollie?" Oliver walks over to her. He places a comforting hand on her back. He frowns. One set of results showed no match to Matt, while a different result did show results. "Does…does this mean what I think it means?"

"One of these is fake," Oliver says, running his hand up and down her back.

"But which one?"

Max runs a hand over his face. He stands up and paces around the room. "Zoey, why didn't you tell me?"

"Does it change anything," Zoey argues. "We can't get answers. Oliver even tried to find the lab that did the test, but they don't exist anymore. And the person who ran the actual test is dead."

Oliver continues looking through the different test results. "Fuck, Zo, your mom had a very active…personal life. She must have been trying to figure out who your dad actually is. There's at least ten tests in here."

Zoey walks over to the desk. She had been by the window. Learning that her dad may not have been her biological father was not something she had ever been expecting. She looks at the papers he had spread over the table. Two names stood out. "So, my mom slept with Thomas Wayne. Great. We are not telling Bruce that," she says, shaking her head. "Why is your name on this one?"

"Probably to rule my dad out. Zo, your mom was a—"

"Please don't say it."

"Shannon was pretty slutty."

Max shakes his head as he continues pacing. He looks over at the Kents, then at Dr. Specter. He shakes his once more and walks out of the living room. Zoey shifts on the couch. "Um, does…does this still count as part of my making amends," Zoey asks, looking between the Kents and Dr. Specter. "Cause I feel like it counts. They told me in the AA meetings in Star City that sometimes when you make amends that all the stuff that caused you to drink in the first place comes out and things may or may not get worse."

Dr. Specter shoots her a comforting smile. "It counts."

Zoey lets out a breath. "Yeah. Still super awkward."

It's sad, (so sad) so sad

It's a sad, sad situation

And it's getting more and more absurd

It's sad, (so sad) so sad

Why can't we talk it over?

Oh, it seems to me

That sorry seems to be the hardest word