He was supposed to be by her side, protecting her from all that he could. If only he could make her see that. He exhaled loudly, his breath blowing the stands of hair that rested against her face. Her eyes slowly fluttered open once she sensed his touch, a small smile breaking out upon her lips. "Good morning."

"Same to you, Emily," he whispered before leaning over and gently kissing her lips. "Are you hungry?"

She shook her head before her arms rose above her head in a small stretch. "Not really..last night really filled me up."

"You've got to be kidding me," he joked before sliding down in the bed so that he was eye level with her. "You barely ate anything."

Her eyes twinkled as she looked at the playful expression that was on his face. He had to be the perfect guy. "I'm not a very big eater."

"I bet I could make you something that would have you begging for more."

"Oh really?" she questioned, working her way out of his arms and getting out of bed. Leaning against the wall, she cocked her hip out to the side and licked her lips. "I don't know about that, JC."

"Oh trust me," he said, crawling over to where she was and sliding his arms around her waist. "I'm very confident in my abilities."

"That's just too bad," she said before jerking away and walking into the adjoining bathroom that was in his bedroom. "I'll have to take you up on that offer some other time..but I have to be at work in a few hours."

"Don't leave me yet!" he cried to her as he felt his happiness beginning to fall.

"If I don't go in," she began, her voice muffled by the door. "I'll be fired and then I'll be totally screwed and forced to go back to Riley."

"You can stay here and I'm sure Johnny could find you some work to do at JIVE."

"I don't think that's a good idea," she said softly, swinging the door open to reveal that she had pulled her hair back into a bun. "I wouldn't be able to pay you rent and its not for certain that Johnny could get me a job. Then I'd be back at where I started at.."

"Listen to me, Emily," JC said before tilting her chin up to where he could look into her eyes. "You don't have to pay me anything and don't think that I'm trying to offer you charity. I want you to stay with me..I get lonely in this big house. I have no one to talk to and you're perfect company and trust me, Johnny always has something for someone to do. If you don't say yes, then I'm going to have to kidnap you and force you to stay here anyway."

She giggled before biting her lip as she thought everything over. She would love to stay with him until she had enough money to get a small place of her own, but she was still uncertain about taking what he had offered. "I'll make you a deal. I'll stay here for a few weeks but after that I'm going to leave and get started on my own."

"That sounds wonderful," he said before kissing her forehead and spinning her around. "We're gonna have so much fun."

"You sound like a little boy."

"Trust me, Em," he said before winking at her and picking her up. "You're about to experience the thrill of a lifetime while you stay with me."

"Put me down!" she squealed as he spun her around. He gently sat her down on the bed and blushed at how hyper he was acting. "Maybe I need to change my mind.."

"Ha!" he said before sitting down beside her and taking her hand. "Emily...thank you."

"For what?"

"For helping me move on," he whispered to her softly and sealing his words with a soft kiss. Everything was now beginning to come together, and it was only a matter of time before everything fell into the direct spot where it was supposed to be.

"No," she said outloud, not wanting to slip into the self-pity mode that she was slowly slipping into. She wouldn't allow herself to sink too low just because no matter how special he was to her, he wasn't worth giving up life for. She pulled her blonde hair back into a loose ponytail and walked over to her desk, moving the papers aside until she found that journal that she was looking for. She flopped down on her bed, feeling completely at ease in her sweats and simple surrounding. With a sigh, she opened to an empty page and began to write down all the thoughts that were flowing through her train of thought.

Dear Journal:
Its been a few days since all of this has happened, and just as I predicted, the hurt is getting stronger and harder to deal with. I turn the corner on the street and part of me hopes to bump into him. As stupid as it sounds, that's the false hope that I'm carrying inside. I don't know how to mentally prepare myself to move on..I know I can do it physically but telling my heart and mind to move on is something extremely hard that I don't think I'm prepared to do.

Joey was someone that I never imagined myself getting involved with, but something happened and he proved me wrong. He turned out to be everything that I wanted. He was my friend but yet he was something so much more. He listened to me, he held me in his arms if I needed to be held and he could give me a simple kiss and make all the problems that I felt go away in that instant...to me that's powerful. Maybe I'm overreacting to what I thought I felt, but I do know that I miss him dearly. If only...

She was about to finish writing that sentence when the phone rang, leaving her silently cursing the person that was on the end of that line for interrupting her. She angrily reached for it and let her gaze fall on the simple curtains that hung on her window. "This is Cait."

"That's not a very friendly tone that you have there," Chris's voice came back to her.

"Chris?" she asked to make sure that she was hearing everything right. It was very strange for him to be calling her at such an early hour in the morning, considering he had never called her before. "Why are you calling?"

"Call him," he told her as if it should be the simplest thing in the world. "He's moping around and we can't handle it."

"That's not my fault, Chris. He's the one that screwed up."

"But Cait, he's a male and he doesn't understand that he needs to call you and fix everything. If you don't call him, I'll make Johnny send you to see us that way you'll be forced to talk to him."

"Chris, you don't understand," she insisted, nervously bringing her finger up to her lips where she proceeded to chew on her nail. "Its not that simple."

"Yes, it is!" he exclaimed before exhaling loudly into the phone. "Cait, I wouldn't push you to do something unless I didn't think it was right. I have a few years on you and let me tell you, Joey cares for you deeply and I have never seen you as happy as you were with him."

"I miss him, Chris but I can't."

"Damn it Cait! Don't make the mistake and be stubborn like he is."

"If he can't pick up the phone and apologize to me, then its his fault. I can move on."

"How many times have you practiced that line in the mirror?"

"Why do you have to know everything?" she asked softly before standing up and walking over to her dresser, smiling at all the pictures of her and the guys from various spots around the world. "I'll make you a deal, Chris."

"I don't know.."

"Its the best shot that you have so either listen to me and accept or hang up and forget everything."

"I guess that puts me in my place," he joked before chuckling softly into the phone. "Lemme hear it."

"You give him the same talk that you just gave me, and if he says he doesn't want to talk to me, then I'm not going to worry with it. But if there's the slightest bit of hesitation, then I'll pick up the phone and call him but I promise you Chris, if you lie to me you won't be having children in the future."

He made a gulping sound into the phone causing a smirk to break across her face. "You have a deal and trust me, I want to have children so I won't lie."

"It was nice talking to you, Chris."

"Take care Cait and I'll be in touch soon," he said before the phone went dead. She placed the phone back on the receiver and smiled. Maybe Chris could find the key to bring Joey and her back together.

"She'll be happy to see you," he said before raising his fist up and knocking on the door, causing Mike's eyebrows to raise from his spot in a chair that was setting outside the door.

"You're taking a dangerous chance."

"Go the hell away," Justin's voice replied angrily as he swung the door open and glared at JC. "Do I even say what I'm thinking right now."

"This visit is more for Whitney than for you," he told him before letting his gaze fall on Emily, who was starring down at her feet.

"I don't care..it could have waited about another ten hours!" he said sarcastically before reaching out and pulling Emily into a hug, smashing her against his bare chest. "Its great to see you doll."

"Its nice to see you too," she said, surprised at how he was treating her. It was as if they had always been friends, when in reality they had barely spoken to each other.

"If you want to speak to Whitney, you can go in there and wake her up."

"Thanks," she said quietly before walking past him, leaving him alone with JC and Mike out in the hall.

"I need to speak to you," Justin said, directing his comment to JC who raised his eyebrows in response before glancing over at Mike, who sighed and stood up.

"I'll be over there if you need me."

"I believe we'll be fine, Mike," Justin replied before rolling his eyes as he watched the man walk away. "JC..I need to ask you something."

"I know what you said to Whitney that night you guys had that huge spat," Justin began before leaning up against the wall and looking at JC with questioning blue eyes that were silently telling the older man to be completely honest with him. "Have you spoken to her anymore since that night?"

"What all did she tell you that I said?"

"Don't avoid my question."

"No, I haven't spoken to her since that night...atleast not about that subject."

"Why don't you go and apologize to her. I think you both need to do that, considering you were both right and wrong."

"That's all in the past.."

"Don't avoid this either, JC!" Justin said, letting his head bang against the wall slightly. "I think its only fair that you apologize."

"Why can't she come to me and apologize!"

"JC, don't make this difficult. She's a woman, and women usually don't like to admit if they made a mistake. I just think you guys need to apologize to each other just because it would help you both."

"I'll think about it," JC offered before standing up and rocking back on his heels. "How are things between the two of you anyway? Is this a fling or is this for real?"

Justin shrugged before looking at the closed door. "I don't know."

JC narrowed his eyes as he took into consideration what those words could mean. Either Justin didn't feel anything strongly towards her, or he was just too confused or scared to admit his true feelings. "How can you not know?"

"I just don't, all right?" he snapped back before lowering his eyes in shame. "Sorry..I didn't mean to come out rude, but I'm just severely confused right now."

"Tell me something, Justin. Are you anxious for this promotional tour to be over, or are you wanting it to drag out as much as it can?"

"I.." he began before stopping when he noticed at what JC was hinting to. If he came out and said that he was ready for it to be over, it could mean that he was ready for his time with Whitney to end, but if he said that he wasn't, it meant that he was enjoying everything. "Again, I don't know."

"I can't help you then, but if you need to talk I'm here for you bro," JC said before extending his hand for Justin to shake. Justin clasped his hand before giving it a tight squeeze and knocking on the door so the two men could enter the room and get out of the hall.

Once the door opened, JC walked in with Justin closely at his heels, only stopping to stick his head back out and look sheepishly at Mike. "You can come back now."

"That boy," he mumbled as he walked back to the seat that he had previously been in. Mike was a person that believed in the things that he saw around him, and he knew that Justin had a good thing started. The only problem was he didn't know if Justin saw the same thing.