"Denise..I hope nows not a bad time, but I need to talk to you."
Denise opened the door, allowing her to step in. "No, now isn't a bad time, but I do have an old friend over," she said, as the two girls walked into the living room. Whitney's eyes settled on a guy that was sitting on the couch.
"Um, Denise..like I said, if this is a bad time, I can come back later.."
"No, its ok..this is Mike, an old friend."
The guy turned around, and sent a smile in Whitney's direction. "Hi, its nice to meet you..I'm Whitney," she said, stepping closer to shake his hand.
"Denise..I can come back later. It looks like you two have something to talk about."
"Thanks, Mike...I'll talk to you later," she said, walking him towards the door. Once it was closed, she walked back into the living room to join Whitney.
"Denise..I..I just came to see how you were doing."
She sighed. "I'm going fine I guess..except my thoughts are always on him, I can't get him out of my dreams, and I miss him so much that I'm going crazy. But, hell other than that, I guess you could call life just peachy."
"Denise..I know its going to be hard..."
She flopped down on the couch. "How is he?"
"He's..he's not doing so good, Denise. I'm not saying that so you'll go running back to him. But, he's lost weight because he barely eats anything, he's pale, and the only thing that he talks about is how much he misses you."
"I just don't know what to do. I can't live my life without him. He's became such a huge part of my life, and if I turned him away now..I'd never forgive myself, and my heart wouldn't go on."
"Do you love him still?"
"I love him with all my heart..but he caused me pain that I can't ignore. Yes, I know it was a mistake on his part, and that he's human and stuff like that is going to happen, but I can't ignore it, Whitney. I can't ignore the image of his lips on another girl's..it just won't leave my head."
"I know it must be hard.."
She was angry and hurt. But, she needed to get it out of her system. "How do you know how hard it is? You and Jc are perfect. You never have problems...well I mean anything that threatens your relationship. You've got such a huge trust foundation."
"How do you think we built that up? Our relationship is far from being perfect..let me tell you. We've been through a lot of events that built that up...Denise..I know the feeling of seeing the guy that you love with his lips on another. Been there and went through that hell."
Denise narrowed her eyes. "What happened? I mean if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine..but..."
"Well, in the second month of our relationship...the guys were finishing up the tour. I flew out because it was close to Jc's birthday. Well, Justin told me to meet them at this club they were going to. I did, and well when I found Jc...he and this skimpy chick were locked up in a kiss that ..well lets just say I saw my heart breaking. I fell for Jc hard when I first met him, and that image, will probably always be in my mind. But, we put our pride aside and we talked it out. That's just one thing that has happened."
"But, I just don't know! Things are too confusing...I mean..I just don't know what to say to him if we actually started talking."
"That's where you just have to let your heart take over. Don't hold back..but Denise..promise me something..don't walk out on him without giving him a reason. He's going through hell right now, and he is my friend. I can't sit back and let him go through that pain."
"I know,Whitney..and trust me I don't want to see him hurt, but at the same time, I want him to feel some of the pain that I felt at the point when I saw him."
"That's only natural. I mean, you're human.Yet, Denise you have to remember, even though he is famous..he's by no means perfect."
"I know...where are you headed?"
"The guys are in the studio today and I promised Jc that I'd stop by."
"Oh," Denise said, as she stood up.
"Do you have any plans today?"
"Just stop that thought right there. It's too soon for me to see him."
"But, maybe..Denise..just maybe seeing him again might clear up some of the confusion that you're feeling. I mean what can it hurt?"
"I guess...I mean..I would like to see him..but I mean..are you sure its ok if I go..it won't mess him up?"
"I honestly doubt that it will bother him. Trust me."
"Fine, let me grab my things, and is it ok if I ride with you?"
"Yeah that's fine," she said, as she watched Denise grab her things. She closed her eyes and prayed that the two of them seeing each other again didn't do any harm.
"Can I have five minutes?" he asked, and watched as his manager nodded his head. He opened the door to the recording studio and walked outside the hall. He slid down the wall, and buried his head in his hands.
*Meanwhile with inside the studio*
Stephanie walked over to Lance as the guys all piled out of the booth. "You guys are sounding good in there for the first day," she said, as he kissed her cheek quickly.
He smiled. "You know, flattery won't get you anywhere."
She laughed, and turned away from him. "You know you love every minute of it."
"That I can't argue with because its true. I'm a weak man."
"I'll be right back, sweetie," she said, walking towards the door. She opened it, and turned her head to see Jusitn sitting there with his head leaned up against the wall.
She walked over to him and slowly sat down beside him. "Justin...are you ok?"
He turned to look at her, tears present in his eyes. "I can't do this now. I can't..all I think about is her, Steph..what..how am I going to get through this?"
"Justin..you'll get through this. You've got all your friends around you..and you know that we're here for you. Especially Whitney..that girl would drop everything that she was doing for you. You and I both know that."
He sighed. "I just feel horrible taking her time away from JC. I mean, I know she doesn't mind it..but I don't want him angry at me. We'll start touring soon again, and they won't be together that much. They should be spending as much time together as they can, and here I am..taking that time away. I feel guilty along with being hurt."
"Justin..it doesn't bother me," Jc's voice said. Justin and Stephanie turned to the door, to see JC standing there, giving Justin a sympthetic smile. "I understand that you need someone to lean on right now."
"Jc..its just that.." Justin said, trailing off as he saw two figures coming down the hall. He knew who they were, and he felt his face going pale. She was there.
Jc's gaze followed Justin's to see Whitney and Denise walking down the hall. As soon as Denise had saw Justin, she had stopped in the hall, and Whitney was just standing there, looking back and forth between the two of them. She turned back to Denise, and spoke softly so that Justin wouldn't hear her. "Don't do this, Denise..don't turn back. You have to do this."
"Whitney, I can't...I can't do this now," she said, turning and running back down the hall. Whitney sighed, and her jaw dropped as she saw Justin running after her.
She shook her head, and walked over to join Jc and Stephanie. "Where did you find her?" Jc asked, wrapping his arms around her to bring her close to him.
"I tracked her down..it was a long story...I just hope that I didn't screw things up. Jc..I just want him to be happy."
"You did what you thought was best. They need to face the truth and quit hiding from it."
She leaned into him, and turned to look at Stephanie. "What all did you guys say to him?"
"Nothing really..he asked for a break, came out here and I found him with tears in his eyes. Then we talked about you and Jc..and then you came walking down the hall and that brings you up to the present."
"I just hope that they can talk it out."
*Meanwhile with Justin and Denise*
Denise ran down the hall, her tears flowing freely down her face. She knew that he was behind her, and she couldn't stop her legs from running. She had no idea where she was going, only knowing that she couldn't face him yet. There had to be a way to delay the meeting, and she was trying her hardest to find it.
Justin tried to catch up with her. But, she had a head start on him, and he was too weak to run at his full speed. "Denise..." he called out, still trying to run after her.
Thankfully to him, she turned down a hall that came to a dead end. She turned around to take off again, but he was standing at the end of it. She was trapped and there was no way to avoid him. "Justin...please...don't..."
He walked towards her slowly, his hands shaking. His breathing was heavy, and he still couldn't get the fact that she was there with him. "Denise...I.."
Her tears stopped him. "I can't do this now, Justin....I can't do this."
"I don't want to push you, Denise. But, I need to know how you are doing. You're all that I can think of..."
"Justin..I'm... how the hell do you think I'm doing? Look at these tears Justin..I dont cry over anyone. I can't get the image of you and her out of my head. I can't get your voice out of my mind, when you said those cold things to me. They just play over and over."
"I'm so sorry for causing you pain. I can't undo it..but I can't get the image of you walking out the door out of my mind. I can see how freely you walked out of there."
"That hurt me so much," she said, sliding down the wall, and burying her head in her hands. "I couldn't look at you. Your eyes showed pain, but that pain was no competition to what I was feeling at that moment."
He walked to her, and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I need to get back, but Denise..before you leave..can we please talk? I can't get through this without knowing what's going on in your mind and in your heart."
"I can't promise that, Justin..I don't know what's going on in there. All I know is I'm not ready to decide anything. I need more time."
He nodded his head, and extended his hand to help her up. "Come on....you shouldn't just be sitting here on the cold ground."
She grasped his hand, and allowed him to pull her up. "Thank you," she said, as the two of them walked back down towards the recording studio, never saying a word to each other. When they reached the others, they were greeted with curious looks, but no one said anything, afraid of upsetting the other.
Johnny's eyes were narrowed with curiosity, but he could see that the young man was very upset. "Justin, do you feel like recording more? Or, do you want to go home, and just work on your part another day?"
"I can do this," he said, opening the door and walking inside. Before anyone else could enter, Whitney turned to everyone. "Give him a few minutes."
They nodded their heads and watched as she walked in the door. Jc sighed. "Denise, are you ok?" he asked, touching her shoulder, making her jump slightly.
She tried to smile, but failed. "I'll be ok, Jc..don't worry about me," she said, as the door opened, to reveal a smiling Whitney. Jc's eyes narrowed in curiosity.
"What did you do to him?"
"What makes you think I've done something? I would never do anything to that boy in there," she said, surpressing her laughter as the group walked into the studio. Everyone burst out laughing as they saw Justin pounding on the door of the recording booth. There was water pouring down his face, and even Denise had to laugh.
Jc wrapped his arms around Whitney, and laughed in her ear, causing her to tingle. "I repeat,what did you do to him?"
"I'll tell you later, baby. Now, go sing for me."
Jc laughed and released her, walking to join the other guys in the booth, as Stephanie and Denise came to sit down beside her. They all three watched with curiosity in their eyes as buttons were pushed, and the guys began to sing their hearts out. Whitney couldn't keep her eyes off of Jc as he sung his lead part in a song that he had helped write.
When his eyes opened and he looked at her, she felt chill bumps come on her arms.
His eyes never left her face as he finished his line. She knew that she was blushing, but she didn't care at that moment. He had her, she was hooked, and there was no way to hide it.
Denise watched as Justin swayed to the music that was playing in his ears. His eyes were closed and he was concentrating hard. He licked his lips as he was about to sing his part. Denise couldn't help but close her eyes, and she listened to his voice come through. When everyone heard what came out, they were surprised to say the least.
Earlier, his voice had been shaky and unsure, but now, he had confidence and the song was going to be absolutely beautiful. It was full of passion that he normally sung with. Denise couldn't bring herself to open her eyes, or she would have noticed that his gaze was fixed on her.
The song ended and the guys all looked out the glass towards their manager. "That was good you guys. I think we can call it a day. Be here tomorrow and be ready to work."
The guys laid down their headphones and piled out the door. Jc walked over to where Stephanie was standing and smiled at her. "Ok, I've waited long enough, I want to know this new job that you've got."
She laughed and shook her head. "You kill me, Jc. But, if you must know..you're looking at your new hair stylist."
Lance's mouth dropped open. "I thought you said you got that part at that company..ok..I'm confused."
She poked him in the side. "I wanted it to be a surprise. From now on, where you go, I go."
Chris looked at her and smiled. "This is going to be heaven."
Stephanie pointed a finger at him. "Chris Kirkpatrick, I won't put up with any shit from you. Do you understand me? You may have pulled that on Bree, but I won't put up with it. I'm not stupid, and I know how to end it."
He took a step back and held his hands up. "I'll be a perfect angel."
Snickers echoed throughout the group. Whitney looked at Jc and smiled. "I have to go baby. I have to go to work, I don't know what time I'll be home though."
"You're not cheating on me are you?" he asked, winking at her.
She shook her head. "I would never dream of it. But, I've got to go, or I'll be late," she said, turning to look at Denise. "Make Jc take you home. I'm sure that he won't mind." She stood on her toes and gave Jc a kiss, before grabbing her things and walking out the door.
All the other guys decided to call it a day, and head home. That left Justin, Jc and Denise standing there..and erie silence taking over. "So, umm...Denise are you ready?" Jc asked, rocking back and forth on his heels.
She nodded her head, and grabbed her coat. "Yeah, I'm ready."
Jc told Justin by and walked to the door, allowing Denise and Justin to say goodbye. She turned to face him, and just looked into his eyes. "I better go..I'm sure that Jc has things to do."
Justin nodded his head, and stuck his hands in his pockets. "It was great seeing you again, Denise...I hope to talk to you soon," he said, as the two of them made their way towards the door.
"Yeah, maybe I'll have answers for you then, Justin..and I know I said we could talk now, but I don't know what to say, and I'd say this is a big step for us right now, and maybe we don't need to over do it."
Justin just shook his head, and watched as she walked out the door, closing it again on him. Atleast this time, it wasn't in an angry or hurt state.