Sorry, I Love You.

2.33

Don't tell me you're sorry 'cause you're not
Baby when I know you're only sorry you got caught
But you put on quite a show
You really had me goin'
But now it's time to go
Curtain's finally closin'
That was quite a show
Very entertaining
But it's over now
Go on and take a bow

"Zoe, I can explain..." Teddy nervously said as he dropped his jacket and put his hands up, palms open. "It's not as bad as it might look, Zoe."

"Do you think I don't know what this is?" Zoe whispered with the pin clenched in her hand, fear still swirling in her eyes. The softness, the sparkle, and the pure love in her eyes from a few minutes ago was completely gone now. "You don't have to explain this to me, Teddy. I know exactly what this is and what it means. Probably... better than you do.."

"Zoe.." Teddy softly begged with a gulp. He was dying to be closer to her, to hold her, and reassure her that she had nothing to worry about.

"How long have you had this, Teddy?" Zoe asked, her eyes pooling with tears and her body still trembling. She was crumbling, piece by piece.

"Not long." Teddy cautiously answered. He was panicking but he tried not to show it. He had to figure out a way to explain this on the spot. He wasn't prepared for this yet.

"You're lying." Zoe's voice broke as a tear fell from her eyes. Teddy could feel his heart physically shatter inside of him at the sight of that fallen tear. "Everything you say is a lie, isn't it?"

"No. I promised not to lie to you, Zoe. Remember? We don't lie to each other." Teddy said, trying his best to repair this situation before it got too far out of his hands. "Let's just take a deep breath and sit down so I can explain this."

"You always have to explain everything." Zoe laughed passed her tears, the sound not filled with joy and humor but rather, broken disbelief. "Can you explain to me why you wouldn't tell me you had this?"

"Zoe-"

"Was all of this a trick, Teddy? Did you trick me into falling in love with you? Into having sex with you? Because of this?" Tears rolled down Zoe's cheeks as she looked at the pin in her hand. "Was any of it real?"

"It was all real, Zoe." Teddy said with the heaviest sincerity he could portray as he took a few cautious steps forward. "I promise you, on my mother's grave, I love you and the past few months with you in my life have been the best months I've lived in years, Zoe."

Zoe raised her eyes to meet Teddy's and she simply stared. He was closer than before but still looked like he was trying to keep his distance, for her sake, because he definitely looked like he wanted to be closer. Zoe was so lost in her thoughts, however, that she definitely did not want him closer. There were so many things running through her head. She was trying to retrace her steps through every moment she ever shared with Teddy, trying to pinpoint every moment that had possibly been tainted.

"You kissed me at that party and then you got beat up." Zoe thought aloud, staring at Teddy through her pooled tears. "It was a test, wasn't it? What did you do wrong? The kiss is what you needed, right?"

"No, Zoe. I didn't have the pin then. I got beat up because your mom wanted to warn me to stay away from you." Teddy explained.

"But then, my mother came to this house and wanted to talk to you. Did she give you a test then? Did she tell you to seduce me? Did she want a love confession out of me?"

"No. It was nothing like that. The night she came here was when she gave me the pin. When she forced it on me."

"You told me not to ask questions that night because you never asked me about Ezra." Zoe concluded, letting her frantic thoughts fall in line so she could speak coherent sentences. "Why? Why didn't you want me to know? Did you ask for something in exchange for the pin? Money? College funds? Scholarships? A car?"