"Taylor!" Alexa walked briskly through the clinic. "Come with me!" She didn't stop to wait for a response, assuming Taylor would follow her. She only waited a minute while Taylor shut the door behind her before speaking, "How could you not tell me that he has drinking issues, and that he has a reputation for picking up wherever he goes. AND that he has an on again, off again girlfriend? You didn't think those were important details?"

Taylor looked stunned, and didn't speak for a moment, "I ... Lex, what happened? What did he do?"

Alexa slapped her hand down on her desk, "He played me, that's what he did. I was a convenient rebound girl."

Taylor shook her head in disbelief, "No way. If that was the idea, why would he try so hard. He kept coming back. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of girls who would have been his rebound. He would have just let you push him away the first time." Taylor knew there had to be missing details. "Alexa, tell me what happened. We can figure this out."

Alexa shook her head as she sank down into her desk chair. "Nothing to figure out. It's over. I can't believe it went on this long." She felt the tears forming in her eyes. "Dammit, I knew right from the start."

Walking around Alexa's desk, Taylor reached out to hug her, but she didn't say anything. Alexa wiped away her few tears, convincing herself that they were tears of anger and frustration. Then she told Taylor about everything, from the phone call while AJ was away, to the conversation she'd over heard, and his behavior. Taylor waited until she was sure Alexa was finished, before taking a deep breath and speaking carefully. "Okay, first of all, I didn't know the drinking thing was so serious. I mean, I heard the rumors, but nobody knows how much of that to believe, right? As for Amanda, well I guess I figured they were over for good, because last I heard he was depressed as hell about it, and she had some new guy." Taylor shrugged, "Who knows, right?" Alexa just nodded, "And the picking up thing, well, he's famous. It kind of goes with the territory."

"Is that supposed to be an excuse?" Alexa's eyes narrowed to slits as she looked at Taylor.

"No, not an excuse. Just an assumable risk. I figured you'd think of that. I'm sorry I didn't say anything."

Alexa sighed. It was true, she'd been naive. It was as much her own fault as it was his. She just felt so stupid. She'd believed him. "I feel like such an idiot, Tay. I knew at the beginning this couldn't work out well, but I kept letting him, and you, convince me that it could."

"That's because you wanted it to work, Lex. Don't try to deny it. I know you did. You wouldn't be so upset otherwise." Taylor stopped, carefully considering whether or not to ask the next questions she had in mind. "Have you let him explain any of this?" She watched Alexa shake her head. "Is there any chance that you will?"

"I couldn't before, because I was too angry. But not really at him, at myself. And I can't now, because I'll just end up going through all this again. He can convince me of nearly anything."

Taylor, sitting in the chair across Alexa's desk, leaned forward. "Okay, I understand that. But I have a question for you. And I want you to answer honestly, okay?" Taylor waited for Alexa's solemn nod before continuing. "Do you really care for him?" It took a long time for Alexa to answer, and when she finally did it was only a weak nod. "Now, the thing you need to do is figure out how much." Taylor waited a minute, then left Alexa alone in her office, her head resting on her hands.

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