JC smiled slightly at Emily who was looking shocked to see him sitting there. He watched as she opened her mouth to speak but closed it just as soon as it had opened, not knowing what she should say. As he continued to look at her, he took into notice the tired but determined expression she wore on her face. The bags and dark circles around her eyes were hard to miss and reflected a person who was struggling with life right at that very moment.

"How are you?"

; She blinked her eyes before closing them for a few seconds and then opening to see him still sitting there with that same questioning gaze. "I'm OK..what..what are you doing here?"

; "I came here to eat..the guys, along with Whitney and Stephanie are in a hotel about ten minutes away."

; "They are?"

; "Yeah," he told her, before reaching out and touching her hand softly. "You should go talk to them, Em..they're worried about you."

; She shook her head before looking down at the pen she held in her hand. "I don't have time to discuss that right now..what can I get for you today, JC?"

; He sighed in defeat before glancing over the menu and saying the first thing that he saw. "I'll have a cheeseburger with fries."

; "And what can I get for you?" she asked Lonnie as her voice turned back to its regular sweet tone.

; "I'll have the same that C here is having..only make sure to hold the onions."

; Emily laughed lightly before turning around and letting her eyes connect with JC's bright blue orbs. The two of them just stared at each other for what seemed like hours before Lonnie cleared his voice, breaking the two of them out of the trance they had been in. Emily turned around and walked away from the table, leaving JC looking at her retreating figure in amazement. That moment that the two of them had just shared had rocked him to the core and he couldn't understand how just making eye contact with her could have such a great effect on him.

; "What was that all about?" Lonnie asked as he raised his eyebrows and took a drink of coke that another waitress had brought them.

; "I don't really know," he said softly as his let his eyes drift back to her, watching with interest as she interacted with another customer. "Trust me on this though Lonnie..I wish I did know what all of this was about."

; "Who are you going to Hawaii with and why are you going?"

; "They're sending me over there with one of the new guys and we're gonna be handling some business that Johnny has scheduled."

; "I don't like the fact that you're going to Hawaii with some guy," he said sourly, his voice being coated with jealousy.

; "Come off it, Joe," she said, not letting his jealousy affect her in any way. "I have to go because its my job, otherwise, I'll lose this job and I'll be left with nothing. I won't be able to see you half as much as I do now, so that would make you even more unhappy."

; "But Cait!" he continued, his tone not changing. "Put yourself in my shoes. Would you like it if I went to Hawaii with another girl?"

; "You're around millions of girls a day, Joe..it doesn't bother me. Besides, I trust you..something you obviously don't do with me."

; "I trust you, I just don't trust this other guy that you're going with. Ask Johnny to give you a vacation of not doing anything, that way you can come spend these couple of weeks that I have off with me."

; "Joe..forget it and don't get your hopes up. I'm going to Hawaii and there's nothing you can say or do to change my mind."

; Joey sighed loudly into the phone, expressing his frustration on a higher level than before. "There is something I can do about it."

; "And what's that?" she asked him, rolling her eyes and not caring that he couldn't see one move that she was making.

; "If you get on that plane and go to Hawaii with some guy that you don't know..I don't know if you're going to have a boyfriend to come home to."

; She felt her jaw fall as his words registered. "Joseph Fatone..you just did not mention those words, did you?"

; "I'm afraid so, Cait and I'm dead serious. If you get on that plane, we're over."

; "Why the hell are you being like this? Why don't you trust me?"

; "Its not that I don't trust you, Cait..its just that I don't like the thought of you spending time with some guy that I barely know," he said, making his voice come out simple as if what he were saying should be something she had all ready considered.

; "Wait one minute there, Joey," she said, her voice taking on a full angered tone. "Its OK for you to play around like you're humping your publicist and its OK for you to grab someone else's ass..but its a crime for me to do my job which requires me to work with some guy that I don't know?"

; "Those things don't matter," he said, knowing that he was being backed into a corner.

; "I think they do matter. I'm right and you know it. Fine, Joe. If you can't handle me doing my job, the job that brought us together, than I guess we don't need to waste each other's time by being in a relationship together," she said before slamming down the phone and feeling the hot tears run down her face as reality sunk in. The best thing that had ever happened to her had ended sooner than she could have ever imagined.

; The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. He had no right to make her chose between her job and him. It only showed that he was being selfish and even though it was flattering, it still pissed her off to the point of where she didn't care if they had a relationship or not. She would not sit back and let her career go down the drain just because he disapproved of a situation.

; "You're gonna be sorry you ever spoke those words to me," she whispered before standing up and finishing up some paperwork that she had began before talking to Joey.

; She let her eyes make contact with his before sighing when she knew why he was asking her that question. "In about twenty minutes..JC..I'm going to get through this on my own."

; "I didn't say anything about that, Emily..I was just asking when you go on break."

; "I know what you're hinting at," she said as her lips turned into a frown.

; "Emily..you can go ahead and take your break now," a large man in a black tee shirt called to her from the kitchen as JC smiled knowing that she wasn't looking forward to the conversation that he was going to impose on her.

; She sighed before undoing her apron and tossing it behind the counter as her eyes refused to meet JC's. "I don't have a very long break, JC..so I suggest you talk about important things excluding me going back to see Whitney and Stephanie."

; The two of them walked over to a corner booth and sat down, neither one of them looking at the other. JC cleared his throat before reaching over and lightly touching her hand, causing her eyes to look over in his general direction. "Emily...don't try and play a hero in this situation."

; "How about you stop trying to be the hero, JC?" she said as her eyes filled up with tears of frustration. "I don't want any help in getting my life back on track. I've been given sympathy for so long, I want to know what it feels like to be giving sympathy, not receiving it. Everyone views me as not being able to do something on my own, which at times is true, but I know I can do this without anyone's help, JC..I have to do this on my own."

; "There is nothing wrong with asking for help in tough situations, Emily," JC told her, his eyes finally making contact with her face. "Everyone has to show their weakness at times."

; "I've shown mine for so long JC..I don't want to ever show it again, that's why I'm determined to get out of this ditch on my own and not let anyone help me. I owe myself this much."

; "But Emily.."

; "Tell me something, JC," she said finally allowing her eyes to connect with his blue ones that were looking at her with a feeling that she couldn't describe. "Do you like to have people helping you out when you know that you can do something on your own?"

; He shook his head, finally seeing why she wasn't going to allow anyone to help her. "I'll drop the subject on one condition."

; "I've all ready told you JC," she began but stop when his fingers reached up and gently touched her lips.

; "That's not the condition. Tonight, you have to have dinner with me."

; "Are..are you asking me on a date?" she asked softly,almost letting out a groan when he removed his fingers from her lips.

; He was silent for a moment as he contemplated on what he should tell her. In a way, he was asking her out on a date, but in another way he was just wanting to take her out for a night to take her mind off of the stress that she had to be feeling. "Yes, I am Emily."

; She was silent as a soft blush rose on her cheeks, making her seem adorable to JC, who at that moment wanted to do nothing more than kiss her lips. "I'll meet you here in the parking lot at eight..how does that sound?"

; "I can't wait," he said, unknowingly leaning across the table with his gaze fixated on those lips that he was yearning to touch.

; "Break's over, Emily," a voice yelled, causing the two of them to snap out of the trance that they had briefly been in. It was now JC's turn to blush. "I'll see you tonight, Em."

; "By JC," she said as she continued to sit in the booth, watching him as he walked out the door. The whole time that her gaze was fixated on his retreating body, she couldn't stop herself from becoming giddy about what had just taken place. He had almost kissed her and for once, there had been no worries on her mind about being kissed. Tonight would be the night that Emily officially began moving on and it would be in more ways than one.

"I like being flattered, but don't flat out lie to me, Whit."

; Whitney shrugged before pulling her red leather pants up so that they barely rested on her hips. "I'm not lying..in fact, just keep that thing."

; Stephanie rolled her eyes before reaching for the silver hooped earrings that were laying on the bathroom counter. "Whatever..that's definitely a revealing outfit you have there, Whitney..trying to impress anyone?"

; Whitney glanced down at her outfit, which consisted of the red leather pants and a black halter top. "Do you think I should change?"

; "No it looks fine...I was just joking Whit," Stephanie said as she began to notice that something seemed to be bothering her friend. "What's wrong, girl?"

; Whitney shrugged before reaching for her purse and putting it on her shoulder. "It's nothing..are you ready to meet the rest of the guys?"

; Stephanie narrowed her eyes before sighing when she realized there was no use in trying to press Whitney for information because it would eventually come out. "As ready as I'll ever be..who all is going tonight?"

; "I'm pretty sure its all of the guys...but I could be wrong. Justin just told me that we were going out tonight and that I had to come."

; Stephanie laughed before walking out of the room and leaning up against the wall out in the hall as she waited on Whitney to come out so they could head down to the main lobby where they were supposed to meet the rest of the guys. Once they reached the main lobby they saw members of security, including all of the guys except JC, who had declined the invitation to go because he had something personal to do, and there were even a few people that the girls had never seen before.

; "Damn.." Justin said as he walked over to the two of them and put his arms over their shoulders. "You guys have just been screwed over because these two lovely ladies are going to be on my arms and dancing with me tonight."

; "How come you always get all the girls, Justin? Can't you share with us older ones so that we don't feel so..so old?" Chris joked as he ran over, grabbing Stephanie's hand and pulling her over to him.

"Old man..get your grummy paws off my date," Lance said causing everyone that was around to chuckle as the men playfully argued.

Whitney untangled herself from Justin's grasp and made her way over to Joey, who was standing there with a blank look on his face. "Joey..what's wrong?"

Joey blinked a few times before shrugging. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Are you and Cait, OK?"

Joey's head whipped around as his eyes filled with tears and frustration became evident on his face. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Joey," Whitney said, leading him over to the corner and placing her hand upon his shoulder to offer some comfort. "Don't keep things locked inside...did you guys have a fight?"

He sighed before nodding his head and leaning his body against the wall for support as he looked at Whitney with lost and confused eyes. "We had more than a fight..we're over."

"Don't say that, Joe..couples fight. Its just part of being in a relationship."

He shook his head before closing his eyes and fighting back the tears that were wanting to spill down his cheeks. "Its all my fault..I was stubborn and I ruined the best thing that has every happened to me."

"Everything will be OK," she said, hugging him to her and running her hand soothingly over his back. "We better go back over there before they start to get nosey and press as to why we're talking quietly in a corner," she told him before winking and pulling him back over to the rest of the group.

Justin slid his arm around Whitney's thin waist as they made their way towards the transportation that had been arranged for everyone. "What's wrong with Joey?" he whispered into her ear as his hands gently tickled her side causing her to squirm slightly.

"I'll tell you later..just don't press him about anything," she whispered back to him before sliding in the vehicle and smiling at Lance and Stephanie, who were all ready engulfed in a private conversation only between the two of them.

"It looks like its me and you tonight," Chris said to Joey before slowly sliding his arm around Joey's shoulder causing Whitney and Justin to laugh as they watched Joey's face turn into a disgusted look.

"If that's the case then I think I'm going to go back to my room and sleep," he joked before rolling his eyes.

"I wonder what JC's personal issue is," Whitney said suddenly, causing a few echo's of "yeah" to ring out.

"He just didn't want to come with us," Chris said, acting like he was crying as his hands rested against his heart. "He doesn't love us anymore."

"How much crack have you had tonight?" Joey asked before finally giving in and letting a little laugh escaped from his lips.

"Whitney gave it to me!"

It was now Whitney's turn to roll her eyes. "Whatever, Chris."

They all laughed before small conversations began to take place, causing all thoughts of JC to be erased from everyone's brain. If they only knew that JC's night would have the potential to change all of their lives, they would have thought about him even more.