"How ya doin' man?" Morgan asks after he quietly shuts Michael's front door. His pretty blue eyes land on his best friend shlumped back against the couch with his eyes barely open and his jaw slack. "You okay?" He sits next to him.

"I fucked up." He lifts his head up and his voice is rough and raspy from days of being silent.

Morgan nods and heads to the kitchen. He picks up a Gatorade and hands it to him, the man reeks of alcohol. "Sober up then we'll talk." He says. "Get upstairs and take a shower. I'll get some food."

"What're you? My mom?"

"No, I'm your best friend. Get your ass up off that motherfuckin' couch and upstairs to take a goddamn shower." He says in a stern tone that Michael hasn't heard before. Morgan's always been easy going, go with the flow type of guy so it's kind of a shock to hear him talk like that.

"Fine." He grunts as he stands, gripping onto pieces of furniture until he reaches the stairs. He trips and his the wood hard, so hard that his glasses fly off his nose. Morgan sighs as he gets him back to his feet and upstairs.

He gets a shower running for him then returns to the kitchen where he starts making something his Momma always made when he was feeling blue.

Michael leans forward with his hand pressed against the wall, his soaked hair covering his eyes. He has tears mixing with the water rolling down his emotionless face.

He misses Liz.

He regrets everything.

If he was just upfront and grew some balls to apologize to her, she'd probably still be here.

He steps out of the shower and wraps a towel around his hips, his hair still soaked with droplets rolling down his chest and stomach. When he shuts his bedroom door, he drops the towel and pulls a pair of shorts on, the Hail State shirt Liz always stole following, it still smells like her vanilla body wash. He looks at her side of the room and he sighs heavily.

"You okay?" Michael hears Morgan ask in a hushed tone. "C'mere."

Michael tip toes down the steps and pokes his head around the corner. He sees Morgan hugging Liz tightly and his heart aches. He wants to be- needs to be in Morgan's shoes, holding her in his arms again but that seems impossible now.

"Liz," Michael breathes out, his heart thumping in his chest. "Hey."

She just looks at him, her heart thumping in her chest. She missed him but having Hank balls deep in her again kind of took the edge off of that.

"I just need to get my stuff." She mumbles, squeezing past him.

"Liz," Michael practically whimpers, reaching out for her hand. "Baby-"

"Don't call me that."

He watches her head into the bedroom to start gathering her things. Michael sighs as he helps her, grabbing a few more bags from the top of the closet.

"What're you doin'?" She sounds exhausted. He shrugs, looking away as he hands her that framed picture of Dylan. "Thanks."

"Liz, I am so so sorry about-"

"Michael..."

"Please. Please just listen," He sits in front of her on the bed. "I'm so sorry, Liz. I'm so fuckin' sorry." He sniffles hard, failing to force tears back. "I should never have done what I did. I should've told you and- and-" He clears his throat. "Please."

"Michael." She has the urge to hold him close against her body. "I appreciate you sayin' all this now but-"

"Please, give me another shot, Elizabeth."

She can hear the sorrow in his voice, practically feel his pain, and it hurts her. She swallows hard as he looks down in shame. Liz runs her fingers over the sides of his face and sighs heavily, getting him to look up at her with equally tearful eyes.

"I love you, Liz." He whispers, gently wrapping his hands around her wrists.

She knows it was a mistake and with the way he's been acting, she knows that he won't do it again. If he does, she's never coming back again.

Liz pulls back and places her favorite picture back on the dresser. "I gotta get the rest of my stuff from Lyn's."

"You comin' home?"

"That cool with you?" His face lights up and he nods quickly. "I'll be back tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." He nods again, standing. Michael adjusts his shirt. He goes to kiss her but she turns her head so he plants one on her cheek.

"See you later." She whispers, heading down the steps.

"You okay? I didn't hear any yellin' or anythin'." Morgan says with a pair of tongs in his hand and that hand on his hip.

Liz smiles warmly at Morgan before she wraps him in a hug. "I'm gettin' my stuff from my sister's and I'll be moved back in."

"Yall're stayin' together?"

"Don't sound so surprised."

"I'm just glad. You made- I'm glad." She cups his cheek in a lovingly friendly way before she heads out to her SUV.

Michael comes down the steps with flushed cheeks and foggy glasses. "She's comin' home."

"Don't fuck this up again, man." Morgan threatens. "I'll kick your ass if you break her heart again."

"There won't be an again."

"Better fuckin' not be."

+++

There's a pair of rugged hands that slip from Liz's waist to her hips as she's gathering her things from Lyn's home. She inhales sharply, gripping a pair of jeans she's folding.

"What're you doin'?" Hank asks, his breath fanning across her neck.

"Headin' home."

"Home?"

"Yeah. Things got fixed so I'm headed back to Tennessee."

"And that's your home?"

She sets the jeans in her bag before turning to look up at him. "Home isn't a place. It's a feeling or- or a person."

He scoffs under his breath. "That's the stupidest shit I've heard." Liz clenches her jaw. "Whatever." His hands return to her hips but she pushes them away. "C'mon, one quickie 'fore you leave."

"No. I'm not in the mood." She says, tucking clothes into her bag. Hank grabs her hips and pushes her back against the dresser. "Hank."

"If you're leavin' me again, I wanna fuck you before you go." He mumbles against her neck, pressing hot kisses to her skin. Her eyes flutter shut, her fingers twisting in his dirty shirt. Her lip gets tucked between her teeth when his strong, rough hand slides into her jeans.

"H- Hank-" She starts but cuts herself off with a shaky gasp. "I- I can't." Her voice comes out as breathy yet sultry. "C'mon..."

He slowly moves them to the bed, getting them naked bit by bit and Hank is soon balls fucking deep in his ex girlfriend once again.

+++

Liz sighs as she pulls into her spot under the covered gravel. She sees Morgan's truck but not Michael's and her heart leaps into her throat. She slides out of her car and grabs her duffel.

"Hey." Morgan says as he stands from the front steps. "You need help?"

"Sure." She clears her throat. "Here." She hands him her duffle.

"You okay?"

"Uh, no not really." She laughs uneasily as she opens the front door. Morgan drops her bag on the couch. "I hooked up with my ex."

"Shit."

"But I mean that makes us even, right?" She glances at his eye line with a blush hinting her cheeks. "Right?"

"Lex talionis." He nods. "Sure."

"That's in Exodus, right?" He nods again. "Where is he?"

"Went out to get some pizza or some shit, I dunno." He sits across from her. "Ex boyfriend, huh?"

"He's just familiar." She defends herself. "Ran into him in Plano when I was with my sister then again in Texarkana."

"Was he stalkin' you?"

"Maybe I was kinda lookin' for him in Texarkana." She admits. "Then it just took off."

"Wow."

"Worst thing is, I fucked him before I left for here. Literally I left for here in the next ten minutes."

Their conversation abruptly ends when the front door opens. "Hey." Michael says when he sees his girl and best friend hanging out on the couch. "What we're y'all talkin' 'bout?"

Liz and Morgan share a look. "High school." They say at the same time before matching grins make their way to their faces.

"What about high school?" He asks, sliding a pizza on the stove then a twelve pack in the fridge.

"I didn't know Morgan played sports."

"Just baseball." He says. "I was supposed to go to college on a scholarship but I lost it when I hurt my shoulder."

"Damn." Liz says, giving his shoulder a friendly squeeze. "Food?"

The two stand and join their buddy in the kitchen. Liz wraps an arm around Michael's middle from behind, her chin on his shoulder. "You have anything planned for tonight? Jam sesh?"

"Yeah, we do. We started a couple songs a few days ago and we're aimin' to finish 'em tonight." Morgan says. "We'd love to have your feedback, Lizzie."

"I'm all ears."