Emma kept a couple of steps ahead of Taylor, just out of his reach as she raced down the stairs in a desperate attempt to get to her car and lock herself in before he could catch her. The thought of seeing whatever awful thing was in Zac's eyes when she saw him terrified her. Just as she finished that thought she ran smack into him at the bottom of the stairs. She ducked her head as his hands tightened on her arms, unable to make herself look up at him. "Em...just talk to me.." he said trying to get her to look at him. She kept her head down and shook it slowly as tears streamed unchecked down her cheeks. "Can't..." she rasped and backed away, letting her arms stretch painfully as he held her there. "Yes you can.." he grunted and hoisted her thin body, hugging her to his chest and dragging her, silently kicking and struggling, back to the truck. He opened the door all the way and set her forcefully down on the seat, as Tay and Jen watched from the landing outside Jen's front door. "Stop fighting me, Em. I just want you to talk to me. I was scared to death, thinking I'd find out you were washed up on some beach DEAD." he said angrily. Emma pulled her knees up to her chest and ducked her head, her body shaking with silent sobs. "DAMMIT EMMA!! LOOK AT ME!!" he roared, took either side of her head in his hands and tilted her face up to him, but she squeezed her eyes shut tight and let the tears roll, still afraid to look into his eyes. "Shit..." he muttered and let go of her, and she curled into a tight ball on the seat of the truck. If he would have looked up, he would have seen Taylor standing there with his arm around Jen, who was sobbing still holding the baby, trying to console her while tears streamed down his face too. But Zac didn't look up, he knelt in front of Emma and lowered his voice. "I'm sorry for yelling," he began. "But yes, I am angry. You should have just let me come in when I asked, you didn't have anything to be ashamed of, Em. You did what you thought you had to do. And I am angry that you trusted Taylor, I would done alot more than he did to try and find a way for you to quit if you wanted out of there so badly. You should have trusted ME, Emma.." he said and his voice cracked with emotion then. "ME.." he grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently, trying still to make her look at him. "Don't you get it? Am I wasting my time here?" he said, his voice getting more choked with each phrase. "It should have been ME, Em. I love you. And I would have beat the living shit outta that creepy bastard a hundred times to keep him away from you if that's what needed to be done. DO YOU HEAR ME??" he roared suddenly, frustrated that she was still silently sobbing and not looking at him, not giving him any indication as to whether or not she even heard a word he'd said. He heard her take a deep breath and stood up, taking in the sight of her rail-thin body wrapped around itself, as if she needed to be protected from him. "Emma.." he began again, "I wasn't kidding. I was dead serious when I said I loved you. I still do, more than I ever thought was possible for me to love someone. Do you hear me? I LOVE YOU, but I am NOT gonna waste my time, I'm not gonna go searching beaches, cruising parking lots and worrying myself into exhaustion if you don't love me, too. If you can't look at me and at least say my name, and tell me you love me, I am gonna turn around and walk away. Once I am gone that's it, this hurts too fucking much. All you had to do was TRUST me." he said and waited for her to say something to prove that when she told him she loved him it wasn't a lie. She sobbed harder, but noiselessly, without looking up, and tears stung his eyes.

Emma's head was spinning as she sobbed, hard, painful, body-wracking, sobs that would have hurt alot less if she'd let the wail that was stuck in her throat loose. She tried to assimilate the fact that he was standing in front of her, declaring his love for her no matter what and asking her to love him back, which was a ridiculous plea according to her, she loved him more than anything and did not want to hurt him like that again. She tried to get her breathing under control, tried to speak, tried to say the words he wanted to hear, words she desperately wanted to say, but her body was choosing this moment to rebel against her. She kept her head down, but opened her mouth and nothing came out. There was a huge lump stuck in her throat that was difficult even to swallow over. "Okay, Em. If that's how you want it.." Zac said quietly and turned away from her, not knowing where he was headed, just walking away to somewhere he could bawl his eyes out with no one to watch. He glanced up at scene on the landing and ducked his head quickly down, and started to walk faster. Emma looked up at Zac's retreating form, when she heard the finality in his voice. Her body shook as she opened her mouth again, panicking that he would be gone before she could get it together and say the words, words she meant from the bottom of her heart, from her very being. 'Two more steps away' she thought and planted her feet on the pavement. She saw him look up and then start to walk faster, and she couldn't hold back anymore. "Zac..." she choked, but he didn't hear her. "ZAC....ZAAAAAAAAAC NOOOO..." she wailed and dissolved into heart wrenching sobs that made Jen  break away from Taylor and start down the steps. Tay reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her. "Just wait.." he said softly and pulled her back against his side. Zac turned around and saw Emma's face, her puffy eyes were red-rimmed as tears still ran unchecked down her cheeks. His heart twisted at the pain he saw there and he started toward her, waiting for her to say the rest, and let him see it. He stood in front of her, cupped her face in both of his large hands and looked into her eyes. "I do love you...I love you..don't go.." she said softly and tried to wipe her face. "I'm sorry.." she whispered and he saw it then, she did love him, it was all there. "Oh god, Em.." he choked out, lifted her from the seat and sat down, pulling her onto his lap and into his arms, squeezing her so tightly she didn't think her ribs could take it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him as he rocked her, kissing the back of her head, over and over, as she sobbed into his neck and dug her hands into his hair. "I'm so sorry Zac.." she murmured between sobs. "I never wanted to hurt you...just didn't want to see that LOOK from you of all people." she told him. "I love you....love you.." she sobbed some more, then breathed in deeply taking in the clean scent of his hair, the feel of his warm strong arms around her, and the sound of his voice, all the things she ached for, that she had missed so much. "Shhh...baby..." he crooned as he continued to rock her and hold her tightly. "don't cry anymore...it's okay..." he stroked her hair and kissed the back of her head again as the two on the landing wiped their tear-streaked faces and went inside, taking the happily cooing baby in with them.

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