Liz has been putting space between her and Michael, little by little. At first, he honestly didn't notice but now it's bothering him. She's sitting on the far end of the couch with her feet kicked up behind her while he's got his arm on the back of the couch as an invitation for her to cuddle up against him. She's always, always done that without hesitation but now she struggles to even look at him.

He's going to put an end to it.

He scoots closer to her and she doesn't notice. He moves a little closer and she glances at him from the corner of her eye. Michael slides his hand to her thigh with his lips brushing against her neck. She bites her lip. He moves up further under the oversized shirt she's wearing, his fingers brushing across the waistband of her shorts.

Michael smirks when she hears her breath hitch.

He pulls on the neckline of her shirt and starts pressing wet kisses to her shoulder, knowing she melts from them. Finally, her blue eyes meet his brown ones. She pulls away and stands to start pacing.

"What's up with you?"

She stops in her tracks, chewing on her thumbnail. "I know what happened."

"Know what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Hardy." She hisses before she clears her throat. "I saw 'em marks on your neck."

"It was a weird rash-"

"Bullshit."

"Liz." He stands too, crossing his arms.

"I know that you fucked around with another girl, Michael." He looks down at his bare feet. "Why? Why would you do that?"

He shrugs. "I got super drunk with Morgan and these girls bought us drinks." She can tell he's telling the truth. "One thing led to another."

"Was it just the one girl?" He stands silent. "I get it." She blinks back tears and whispers shakily, "Life of a rockstar, huh." She turns on her heel and heads up the staircase to their shared bedroom where she digs around in the closet for her duffel bag.

Michael drops himself to the couch, his head in his hands before he pushes his hair back. He takes a deep breath then stands, heading upstairs.

"What're you doin'?" He states, shaking his head slightly when he sees her shoving things into her bag. He feels terrible, he really does.

"None of your damn business." She says back, keeping her head down as tears slip down her cheeks. "I trusted you, Michael."

"I fucked up, I know." He sighs heavily, lowering himself to the bed. "But you don't have to go. Stay and we can talk this through."

"What's there to talk about? Your dick was in girls who ain't me. That speaks for itself."

He presses his lips together as he looks down. "This is it huh?"

"You asshole." He looks up. "You ain't even gonna apologize to me." She slings her bag over her shoulder. "Fuck you!"

Liz tried to push past him but he stops her with a hand around her upper arm. He pulls her back into the room and snatches her bag off her shoulder, dropping it to the floor.

"What the f-"

Michael grasps the side of her face and kisses her hard, trying to change her mind, trying to get her to stay but Liz backs away from him and picks up her bag. "See ya 'round."

+++

"Welcome back." Lyn says, watching her sister settle back into her guest room. "Rhett said somethin' happened."

"Yeah. Somethin' did." She mumbles back, tucking her minimal amount of clothes into the chest of drawers.

"What's up?" She asks, closing the bedroom door behind her before she sits on the bed.

Liz tells her everything, not holding back her tears or frustrations this time. Her sister has seen her at her worst so there's no need to act tough. She wipes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "He didn't even apologize."

"Shit." Lyn sighs. "What do we do?"

"I don't fuckin know." Liz jumps when her phone starts ringing. She glances at it and sees it's Michael. Lyn presses the red decline button then sets the phone on the nightstand.

"Okay. This is what you should do." Liz rolls her eyes playfully earning an equally playful whine. "I think you just need to take a few days, a week maybe, to just catch your breath. Maybe go talk to Mamaw? See Mama?"

She nods and takes a deep breath. "Just disconnect for a bit. Get your bearings then let it rip." Liz might be older but Lyn has all the wisdom and advice. "You got this, Elizabeth Jean."

"Thanks Evelyn Jane." Lyn rolls her eyes at her as she stands. "I'm gonna take a shower."

"Sounds good." She nods. "Love you."

"Love you too."

+++

"How in the hell did I know you'd be here?" Liz says with a hand on her hip. She stands next to the table at the pub she used to frequent with her ex in Texarkana. She's in a Carhartt shirt that's her size tucked into those curve hugging Levi's paired with her boots.

"I thought you was livin' all high and mighty up in Tennessee." Hank says as he looks up at her from the chair he's sitting on. That heart-fluttering smile of his makes an appearance on his tan, dirt streaked face. "What brings you back?"

"What can I say? I missed Texarkana." She shrugs, sitting across from him in the vacant chair. "You look good, Hank."

"Thanks." He says after taking a sip of his beer as he checks her out. "You do too. You hungry?" He doesn't wait for her response as he waves the waitress over. That panty dropping grin certainly helps get her attention.

"Can she get a menu please?" He asks, pointing at Liz with his wrist against the edge of the table. "Thank you." She returns and hands her that familiar menu.

"What did you get?" Liz asks, eying his half eaten meal.

"The special." He responds, taking a bite of an onion ring. "I don't really know what it is but it's real good. Somethin' with roast beef maybe? Pastrami?"

"Yuck."

Hank laughs, wiping his mouth with the napkin he has resting on his lap. "There's that BLT you always used to get."

She glances up at him with a smile. "You remember that?"

"You got it every time."

He's consumed by her pretty smile, his body heating up at the sight. He still has those feelings for her, honestly. "Huh?"

She laughs. "I said I'm gonna get the fried catfish with fries." He nods, subconsciously licking his lips. She tells the waitress what she wants, Hank doesn't look away from her lips.

Those feelings run too fucking deep for him to even comprehend. Liz can tell that he's still into her which makes her smirk and man, does Hank knows this girl like the back of his hand.

By the time they're done with their meals, Hank drops a couple bills on the check then stands. "You ready?" He asks, pushing his chair in.

"For what?"

"C'mon." He takes her hand and leads her out to his truck. Liz knows exactly where he's taking her. Once in a blue moon, he got a few days off and he spent them with her at the small hidden lake access that no one else knows about. He fished for hours while Liz laid out on the dock under the sun.

He loved seeing in her untied two piece top with her tattoos on display for him to look at. Every time, without fail, they'd hook up right there. If he's being honest, he's kept some of their intimate moments and her body in his spank bank because he really hasn't had a lot of time to jump into another relationship with his wildly overbearing work schedule.

"What're we doin' here, Hank?"

He says nothing as he kicks his filthy work boots off, his stained, ripped jeans and torn work shirt following. He nods to her before leaping into the water. Liz laughs and strips down to her matching bra and panty set as a rush of déjà-vu hits her.

For a split second, Hank looks eerily like Michael and her body stutters while she's taking her clothes off. She closes her eyes then joins him in the lake, gasping at the chilly temperature.

She did exactly this with Michael and she misses him but does not miss what the fuck just went down between them. She's got no idea what they are now, if they're still together or on a break or what.

Only time will tell.