Momma flies into the foyer as soon as she hears Austin and I step inside. From the color of her face, I can tell she is furious.

"Another damn scandal Sawyer Mae? Haven't you had enough of those," she cries out in a fit of rage. Austin puts his hand up to interrupt but Momma keeps going, "I trusted you to see this through Sawyer and you couldn't handle it. Now the entire town is talkin' about how Sweeney's got shut down because Sawyer's boyfriend picked a fight with Roderick Cunningham!" She flicks her eyes to Austin, "Now I know he had somethin' to do with whatever it was you and Ryan were cookin' up so you're just as much to blame as she is."

"Sawyer's not to blame at all," Austin starts but she places her hands on her hips and shakes her head.

"I'm not doin' this again Sawyer. Defendin' you to the entire town. I did enough of that last year so I spoke with your father and we are hirin' a second manager. One with a bit more experience and accountability," she spits out and my heart plummets to the floor.

"You can't do that!" I tell her but her expression tells me otherwise.

"I'm not havin' our business sound like a biker bar. You both should be embarrassed about the events of last night," my mother scolds. She doesn't mention the welt on my face and to be honest, she probably doesn't want to know. Austin and I are both standing in the foyer with our tails tucked between our legs. Being yelled at like children by our mother.

"Now Sawyer, you've been kidnapped, pushed down a flight of stairs and had your business shut down because you are choosin' to associate yourself with an F.B.I agent. I think you need to think long and hard if this relationship is the best thing for you," she says.

"Margot is with Austin," I tell her but she glares at me, "Yes, but somehow she manages to stay out of his business. Not land in the middle of it." She spats before she spins around and flees back toward the kitchen. I glance toward Austin who is staring at the tiled flooring.

"That went well," I tell him sarcastically.

"She's right you know," he says and I look to him and his unexpected words.

"About what?" I ask sharply.

"You do get yourself into a lot of these messes," he tells me.

"What?" I say as I turn to fully face him. "Simon kidnapped me because of you. Yes, I did a bit of my own sleuthing with Poppy's case but only because it affected the Historical Society and Aurora asked me to be a part of this."

"Then why didn't you decline?" Austin asks. "If you wanted to stay out of this case, why did you agree to it in the first place?"

"I was only supposed to make the introduction and that was it. It wasn't my fault Aurora is so blah she didn't stand a chance with Rory," I yell out to him. He shakes his blonde head at me before saying, "I want both of y'all to be happy but I think you gotta think about if you can keep Ryan's work life separate. Or you both are going to ruin your careers. Margot is on a need-to-know basis and she's fine with it. You gotta take a step back and stop meddlin'." I'm already enraged so his words are just fueling my anger. If I could go back in time to standing on Ryan's lawn with Aurora threatening to blackmail me I would. I would tell her to do her worst because then none of this would have happened. 

I glare at Austin as I snap, "Just take me to Ryan's." I start out the front door and Austin is right on my heels.

*******

Neither of us says anything on the short ride to Ryan's place. I see his truck in the driveway and am suddenly having mixed feelings about seeing him. On one hand, he did beat the shit outta Rory at my winery after he wasn't where he was supposed to be. On the other, he did try to get to me and I wanted Rory's face pummeled in just as badly.

Austin unclicks his seat belt and I look over to him, "You're coming in?"

"My partner just got suspended. Yes, I am coming in," he snaps. He is quicker to the door and we find Ryan slumped on the couch with an ice pack on his hand. His sandy hair is a mess and he's wearing his blue F.B.I windbreaker with a pair of blue jeans. Austin points to his hand and says, "How's your hand?"

"Not as bad as Aurora's arm," Ryan mutters from the depths of the couch. He doesn't see me right away and when he does, his eyes widen, "I've been tryin' to call you."

"I know, I didn't have my phone until an hour ago," I tell him. I glance to Austin and I know he can feel the tension thickening the room. I add, "Austin filled me in a bit on what happened last night."

"Yeah and I was hopin' to hear what happened with the boss," Austin says to him.

"I bet you can guess," Ryan answers plainly. "I injured a fellow agent, potentially blew our cover, assaulted an unarmed and unsuspecting target and put our asset in danger. Boss is pissed."

Austin shakes his head, "I'm sorry man. Where does that leave you with this case?"

"I'm off of it. You and Aurora are the leads, although she's on thin ice too. I'm to stay miles away from Rory so..." he replies as he drops his ice pack onto the coffee table. I can see the bruising around his knuckles and Austin catches it too.

"Is it broken?" Austin asks as he inspects the top of Ryan's hand. Ryan stretches his fingers out and I watch him wince, "Probably, but after gettin' my ass chewed I wasn't in the mood to hang around and get it inspected."

"Shit. Well, I'll get out of your hair and call you tomorrow. Margot is wonderin' where the hell I am so I'm gonna head out," Austin says and he grabs his keys from his pocket. He gives me a knowing look and then pushes the screen door open. After we hear his footsteps leave the porch, Ryan looks to me and says, "I don't even know what to say to you, Sawyer." His face is full of agony. It's completely void of color and I don't even know if he's slept.

"What do you mean?" I ask him and he slumps back against the couch.

"Just that. What would I say that justifies last night. Or make anything better? Sorry? That doesn't even...there's not a word for how I feel right now," he says and I can see he's aggravated. "And then my boss makes me go through the security footage and I see that Jackson was there for you. Of all people that got to you, it was Jackson fucking Hemming." He tightens his hand into a fist, sheer hatred oozing off of him. I am unable to add anything in before he says, "Between hearing what I heard and seeing the security footage I just...I continue to fail at keeping you safe. And I can't even ask you what the hell happened in your office because after seeing you stumble out of the hallway on the footage like you did...if you tell me that he....if you tell me something happened, I'll kill him."

His voice catches and my heart starts to beat faster. I wanted to be mad at him and disappointed for not being there, but seeing him now I just can't put that on him too.

"I wasn't raped Ryan," I whisper. "He touched me in very inappropriate ways but I was out of there before anything could happen," I confess, unable to look at him as I speak. He's shaking his head in fury but he puts his hands up to rub his eyes.

"He should have never been near you. I should have told Aurora no from the get-go. Kept you out of it," he snaps.

I look to him and say, "My mother pointed out that I get a bit too involved in your work. And I think she's right."

He scoffs, "Oh god your mother...how the hell am I ever going to face her again."

"Yeah, word of what happened between you and Rory spread through Hollis quickly," I tell him and I see him shake his head. He's looking up to the ceiling and I wish I could hear his thoughts. Suddenly he snaps his gaze to me and says, "It's like I gotta pick between you and my job. I don't think I can have both." As I stare at him, I can feel tiny cracks start to split open across my heart. I think back to everything Austin told me before he moved here and I know I can't let him pick me. I can't take away a career he's worked years for.

"I think my momma is going to make me choose between you and the winery too," I tell him and I choke out a sob. My outburst makes him come closer to me and he grabs onto my hand with his good one.

"I don't blame her," he says consolingly. "Her daughter has been kidnapped, almost murdered and now almost raped all because of my job. I'm mad at myself for allowing Aurora to bring you in on this. I was against it at first but when I thought it was just getting her an invitation, I allowed it. This should have never happened." He runs his thumb along my bruised cheek and I can see him berating himself for it.

"I don't ever intend to get involved in anything that is dangerous. You know that don't you?" I ask him.

"You never intend to I know. Somehow you always stumble into it and miraculously stumble right back out of it, but by a narrow escape. You never blame me for the situation. I know you don't but I do. This is the third time you've been put in harm's way and the third time the outcome could have been much worse," he says sternly.

"What do we do?" I ask him softly as tears are flowing down my cheeks, leaving dark spots on Scarlett's velour jacket.

"I want you, Sawyer, you know I want you more than anything else on this god-forsaken planet but...last night when Jackson wouldn't let me get to you I hated him. I was about to go through the woods to get to the damn cottage, but then Austin tried to convince me that you'd be safe there. And I thought how could she ever be safe with him? After what he put you through he didn't deserve to be your knight in shining armor and then it hit me, now I am no better. I don't deserve to be that either."

"What? Why would you think that?" I ask him incredulously. He squeezes my hand as he says, "Jackson let you down on the biggest day of your life. He betrayed you. And here I was betraying you on the next biggest day of your life. I let you down, I caused a scandal, I hurt you and that's not fair to you, Sawyer. I'm no better than Jackson and you deserve so much more." I squeeze my eyes shut, which hurts my cheek but it doesn't stop the tears from coming. I'm trying to catch my breath but I know what's coming next so it makes it that much harder.

"I gotta let you go, Sawyer. This roller coaster of a case has clouded my judgment and I can't have that in my line of work. I've let my emotions get the best of me and it put our careers and your safety in jeopardy. This case showed me I can't be a boyfriend and an agent, I am sorry," Ryan says in an uneven voice. I open my eyes to see him crying too and it scares the hell out of me. I've never seen Ryan cry. He wipes the few tears that managed to escape with his broken hand and it only makes me cry harder.

I shake my head, "What if I just give you space while you're on suspension. And we can figure things out after that?"

He quickly shakes his head no, "I can't give us false hope. This is what's best for both of us and I think you know it."

"Don't do this Ryan," I beg but I can tell his mind is made up. I broke it off last time when it came between his job and me and we convinced each other that he could have both. But now that he sees that I haven't managed to stay separate, he's not going to allow me to be near danger again. We tried it and it failed.

"Sawyer, do you realize Rory could have raped you last night? Do you have any idea how terrified I was that I wasn't going to get to you in time? I heard the panic in your voice, you were waiting for me to come and stop him but I never made it. I can't live with myself knowing you needed me and I wasn't there. I'm sorry Sawyer, but I can't do this anymore," he tells me before he pushes himself off the couch. He goes back to the kitchen and I don't have the emotional strength to follow him. I know this is it. Even when he calms down, I can tell his mind is made up.

I wipe my face with the sleeve of my jacket and make my way to the front door. I pause before I push the screen open and look behind me toward the hallway that leads into the kitchen. I give Ryan a minute to come back out and hopefully change his mind but when he doesn't, I push the door open and fly down the patio stairs.

I realize I don't have a car so I pull my phone out and debate who to call. Austin just went to Margot's, my momma won't answer my call at the moment, Gus would probably come and get me and I then think to Annabeth. She was upset yesterday and I wonder if something happened between her and Gus. I decide to call her.

"Sawyer, I've been tryin' to call you all damn day where the hell have you been?" Annabeth cries out as soon as she answers. I'm still crying so hard I can barely breathe and in between sobs I tell her, "I need you to come and get me."

"Jesus Sawyer, where are you? Are you okay?" She worriedly asks me. I glance around me and spot Mel's fluorescent sign glowing across the street.

"Mel's. Can you get me from Mel's?" I ask her.

"Be there in 5," she says and she hangs up.