Jen rolled over, hugging a pillow to her chest. The warm sunlight streamed through the curtains, landing on the white cotton sheets of her bed. Her hand slid over the cool sheets to the empty space beside her. She sighed, as it served only of a reminder of Justin’s departure to New York early that morning.

As her hand slid up and down the sheets, searching for Justin’s warm body beside her, she found a small folded piece of paper. She sat up in confusion. She saw the neatly folded paper sitting neatly on the bed. She sat up and slowly unfolded it, recognizing Justin’s familiar scrawl.

Jen smiled and held the paper close to her chest, savoring in the memories of her time spent with Justin the night before. Her pillow still smelled of him. Her sheets were still rustled and messy. There was still an indent in the pillow beside her, where he had laid his head. She sighed. She missed him.

An hour later, after lying in bed daydreaming a bit longer and taking a shower, she stepped out the door of her apartment, going downstairs to check the mail.

She slid her key into the mailbox and pulled out the small stack of envelopes and papers. Sitting on top of the pile sat a small envelope. She pulled it out and inspected it carefully. There was no address written on it. Simply the name “Jen” printed in capital letters. She slid her finger underneath the overlap and opened it, gasping when she saw the contents.

Lying inside the envelope sat a white gold heart shaped locket. She gingerly pulled out the chain and felt tears coming to her eyes as she was overcome by its beauty. There was a small note sitting inside the envelope. On it, was written “For you, Love Justin”. She smiled and shook her head, amazed once again at the man she was dating.

“What did he leave you?” came a voice behind her. Jen spun around to see Anne, the desk clerk behind her. It was well known that Anne had a well-developed crush on Justin, swooning each and every time he came into the building to see Jen. “He asked for the key to your mailbox, and I made him promise not to leave anything bad in there,” she said with a smile.

“No, he didn’t leave anything bad,” smiled Jen, lifting the necklace gingerly. Anne’s eyes widened and she gasped.

“That’s beautiful!” she cried.

“I know,” smiled Jen.

The repeated ringing of the doorbell stirred Chris from, what was, a peaceful nap. Groaning, he rolled over and buried his face into his arms and covered his ears with his arms, hiding himself from the rest of the world.

But that shield didn’t last too long.

Chris’s cell phone on the dresser began ringing and vibrating, sending it into a dancing frenzy. He growled, muttering profanities under his breath, as he reached for the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey Chris!” came Jen’s cheerful voice. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much,” yawned Chris.

“Hey, listen, where are you?” she asked.

“At home… why?”

“Because you won’t open the damn door, that’s why!” she cried.

Chris rolled his eyes. He should’ve known it would be Jen at the door. “So that’s you…” he said slowly.

“Christopher, open the door,” she groaned.

“Why?” asked Chris mischievously. “I’m sleeping. Unless you’d like to join me, of course…” He could almost hear Jen rolling her eyes.

“Why would I settle for you when I have Justin all to myself?” she asked.

Now it was Chris’s turn to roll his eyes. “Gross,” he muttered. “I’ll let you in if you promise not to mention him again.”

“I can’t promise,” said Jen. “But I do promise that if you let me in, I’ll save you from Justin when he finds out that you invited me into your bed.”

“You just had to go and mess him up, didn’t you?” muttered Chris, walking down the stairs. “Before, I could invite whoever I pleased into my bed. Now my life is on the line whenever I do.”

“Excuse me, Chris, while I play you the world’s smallest violin,” she said. Chris opened the door in time to see Jen jump nearly a full foot in the air from surprise.

“You could’ve warned me, you know,” she said, ending the phone call on her cell phone.

“And you could’ve let me sleep,” he muttered, rubbing his eyes for effect.

“I couldn’t do that,” she shrugged. “You haven’t been coming around, harassing us as you normally do, so I had to come and check up on my dear Keebler friend,” she smiled, patting his cheek as she entered the house. Chris rolled his eyes and closed the door, following Jen into his den, dropping himself onto the couch.

“So what’s up, Chris?” she asked. “What has been keeping you so busy these days?”

“Sleep,” he muttered.

“Besides that,” said Jen.

“Nothing,” shrugged Chris.

Jen leaned forward and balanced her elbows on her knees, regarding Chris closely. “Seriously, Chris. You haven’t been yourself lately… what’s going on?”

“I’m surprised you even noticed, with how ‘happy’ you are with Justin and all,” he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What the hell? Where did that come from, Chris?” she asked in surprise.

“Nevermind. Sorry,” said Chris, standing up. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Forget the drink, Chris,” said Jen, standing up. “What’s going on?”

“Why does something always have to be going on?” sighed Chris, walking into the kitchen, fully aware that Jen would follow.

“Chris, I’m going to pound your head into that refrigerator unless you tell me what’s bothering you,” said Jen.

Chris rolled his eyes, pulling a beer out of the fridge, twisting the cap open and taking a long swig of the cold drink. Wiping any remains off his lips, he turned to Jen, regarding her thoughtfully.

“How the hell did you and Justin find each other?” he said finally. Jen stared at Chris for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what it was he was asking.

“What do you mean?” she asked finally.

“I mean, how did you and Justin, Lance and Jessie, Joey and Madison, and Alex and Jace get so lucky that you all managed to find your perfect somebody?” he asked.

Jen nodded in understanding. “I see what you’re getting at…”

“What? What am I getting at?” asked Chris. “Because, frankly, I don’t know.”

“You’re feeling alone?” she asked.

“That’s ridiculous, Jen,” he said matter-of-factly. “I have great friends, a huge family… how can I be alone?”

“You want to find someone,” said Jen.

“You have to be a little more specific than that, Jen, because that statement’s pretty general,” he said, walking out of the kitchen and back into the den, beer bottle in hand.

“You’re a real smart-ass when you’re cranky, Chris, did you know that?” muttered Jen.

“So I’ve been told,” he mumbled as he took another swig of his drink.

“Who’s this over, Chris?” she asked, easing herself onto the couch.

“What makes you think this is over anyone?” he asked defensively.

“Because what else would spawn this sudden change of personality for you?” deadpanned Jen.

“Mid-life crisis?” he muttered.

Jen rolled her eyes. “I’m being serious, Chris.”

“So am I.”

“Argh!” she cried, clutching her hair. “You’re impossible!”

“I never argued that,” he shrugged.

“Chris, you’re being a total jerk right now, and all I wanted to do was give you someone who’ll listen,” said Jen, standing up. “But I don’t know what the hell your problem is, so I’m leaving. Call me when you’re not feeling like such an ass.” Jen turned to leave, leaving a very guilty-feeling Chris behind.

“Her name is Melanie,” sighed Chris. Jen halted in her steps, turning around slowly.

“Melanie?”

“Melanie Dunn,” sighed Chris, running a hand through his hair. Jen took a careful step forward.

“Joey’s physical therapist?” she asked slowly, searching for clarification. Chris nodded slowly. “Wow,” she said a moment later. “So… what’s the problem?”

“She has a boyfriend,” sighed Chris. “An asshole boyfriend, but a boyfriend just the same.”

“How do you know?” asked Jen, scrunching her nose. “It isn’t one of these “he said, she said” sort of things, is it?”

“No, it’s a “Chris, meet my boyfriend, Jason” sort of thing,” said Chris.

“Oh,” said Jen softly. “I’m sorry Chris.”

“It’s not your fault,” shrugged Chris. “It’s mine.”

Jen’s jaw dropped. “How in the world is it your fault that she has a boyfriend? Unless you set them up, in which case, it really is your fault.”

“Thanks Jen. You’re so much help,” said Chris bitterly.

“You set them up?”

“No,” said Chris, scowling. “I just never made my move.”

“You’re a gentleman, Chris. She had a boyfriend. It wasn’t right for you to make a move,” reasoned Jen.

“I know…” sighed Chris, moving to the chair and sitting down, leaning his head in his hands. “She’s just so…” he trailed off.

“So… what?” urged Jen.

“Perfect,” sighed Chris. “She’s smart, she’s got a great sense of humor, she’s beautiful, she’s nice to everyone… she does this adorable little thing with her nose when she laughs… and she always plays with her right earring when she’s concentrating… and she has this laugh that’s just… oh God… it’s just so contagious…”

“Wow,” breathed Jen. “I’ve never seen you fall this hard, Chris,” she said.

“Jen, I really didn’t need to be reminded of that.”

The shooting pain in his neck was the first to alert him to his awkward sleeping position. The clock chiming nine was what made him jump. Joey sat up, gingerly rubbing the soreness in the back of his neck, brought on by a night’s worth of his head hanging over the back of the couch.

The television was still on. Joey reached for the remote and flipped the set off. He looked down at his phone beside him, suddenly remembering the call he was expecting. Running through the caller ID menu, he realized that he hadn’t missed any phone calls during his sleep… there hadn’t been any to miss.

His mind frantically running through the possibilities as to why Madison wouldn’t call, most of which negative, sprung him to action. He picked up the phone and quickly dialed the familiar number that he’d called so many times before.

“Hello?” came a sleepy voice.

“Madison?” asked Joey urgently. “Where are you? How are you? Are you okay?”

“Joey…” she said. “I’m fine.”

“Were you sleeping?”

Madison looked around her, quickly recognizing David’s apartment. “Y-Yeah… I was sleeping,” she nodded.

“Where are you?” asked Joey, slightly calmer than before.

“I’m…” she said hesitantly. “I’m at David’s apartment.” The moment of silence that followed was the longest Madison had ever experienced.

“You’re where?” he asked.

“I fell asleep at David’s,” said Madison. “We stayed up late studying and… and… I’m sorry Joey. I’m so sorry.”

“Why didn’t you go home?” asked Joey, his voice soft.

“I fell asleep on the couch, Joey,” said Madison.

“But… but… Madison! You slept at David’s! The guy who’s after you… the same guy who told you that you shouldn’t be seeing me!” he cried.

“Listen Joey, it was an honest mistake. Now I’ve got to go. I love you” she said quickly, hanging up the phone.

“So he can fall asleep at someone else’s home and you can’t?” came David’s voice from behind her. She turned around, surprised to see David standing there holding two cups of coffee.

“It’s not like that, David,” said Madison, running a hand through her hair. “He was just worried.”

“Sounds like it’s a bit of a double standard to me,” said David, handing her the cup.

Madison simply shook her head and took a drink of the coffee, in hopes it would wake her up after a long and tiring night.

“But can’t I-“

“No.”

“But-“

“No.”

“Josh…” whined Alex, running her hands through her hair.

“Alex, no,” said JC firmly, shaking his head. “You’re going to stay in bed, and that’s it.”

Alex rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, frustratingly. “You’ve never been pregnant, Josh. You don’t know what sitting here all day will do to me.”

“I don’t care, Alex,” said JC. “You’re staying in bed, for your good and for the good of our child,” he said, placing a hand gingerly on her stomach.

Alex sighed, resignedly. “Fine. Can you at least get me some chocolate pudding?”

“Pudding?” asked JC, furrowing his brow. “But you just had a huge bowl of strawberries.”

“Don’t make me hurt you,” deadpanned Alex. “I want pudding.”

JC threw his hands in the air in defeat. “Ok. Ok. No need to get violent.” With that, he got up and made his way down the winding stairs, skipping a step at a time. He made his way into the kitchen, fished a chocolate pudding out of the back of the fridge, grabbed a spoon, and was on his way back towards the stairs when the doorbell rang.

Still holding the pudding in his hands, he opened the door. He gasped as he realized who was standing on his doorstep.

“Good afternoon JC,” said Eric, nodding. “Is Alex here?”

JC’s stare went from Eric’s nonchalant expression to the seemingly enormous bouquet of roses in his arms. He slowly placed the pudding on the table beside the door.

“Um, no,” said JC, shaking his head. “She’s not.”

“Well, when will she be back?” he asked, ignoring the way JC was twisting his wedding band on his left ring finger.

“What do you want, Eric?” asked JC cautiously.

“Nothing,” shrugged Eric. “I just heard that Alex was expecting and I wanted to tell her my congratulations.”

JC regarded Eric suspiciously, unsure whether to believe him. Remembering their past, JC thought the better of it. “Why don’t you stay away, Eric?” asked JC, moving to close the door. Eric held out his hand and abruptly stopped the closing motion.

“Listen, JC,” said Eric. “I don’t want to stir up any trouble. I just wanted to give Alex these,” he said, thrusting the roses in JC’s face.

“Get out of here, Eric, before I call security,” said JC through clenched teeth. Eric took a step back and shoved the roses in JC’s arms.

“Will you at least give her these for me?” he asked sullenly.

“I suppose,” said JC quickly grabbing a hold of the roses suddenly in his arms. Without another word, Eric turned on his heels and left, passing a very confused looking Lance coming up the walkway. He did a double take at the man storming past. He slowly turned back around and looked to the open door where JC was standing, the roses in his arms.

“Why didn’t you tell me roses were your favorite?” mocked Lance.

“Very funny,” deadpanned JC.

“So seriously… what’s Alex’s ex-fiancé doing here?” asked Lance, stepping in the house, stepping out of the way so JC could close the door.

“I don’t know,” shrugged JC. “He says he just wants to congratulate Alex.”

“Did he congratulate you?” asked Lance. “I mean, since you’re the father and all?” JC shook his head.

“I wouldn’t even let the guy past the front door,” he explained. “I didn’t want Alex seeing him and causing any stress on her.”

“Good point,” nodded Lance.

“Josh!” called Alex from the top of the stairs. “Did you find the pudding?”

Lance smiled sympathetically and handed JC the pudding, switching him for the bouquet of roses. Following him up the stairs, Lance wandered into their bedroom where Alex lay on the bed, gloomily channel surfing.

“Hey there Shortcake,” smiled Lance, walking over and kissing Alex on the forehead.

“Hey Lance,” she smiled. “What brings you up here? And are those roses?” she asked, motioning to the bouquet still in his arms.

“These are for you, beautiful,” smiled Lance.

“Aww,” gushed Alex, taking the roses. “Josh doesn’t get me roses anymore,” she teased, looking pointedly at her husband.

“I get you pudding now,” said JC, holding out the small pudding cup.

Alex grinned widely. “And chocolate’s better than flowers any day.”

“Hey,” said Jessie as Jack opened the hotel room door. “Are you busy?”

“Unless you consider channel surfing as being busy, then no,” he said, opening the hotel room door wide enough for Jessie to step inside. “What’s up?”

Jessie promptly weaved her way through the room, in between the piles of discarded laundry and the open suitcase, and dropped herself backwards onto the bed, staring helplessly at the ceiling. “I need help, Jack,” she sighed.

“Psychiatric?” offered Jack, flipping off the TV. Jessie glared unappreciatively.

“Not funny.”

“I thought it was,” shrugged Jack. “Anyway, really, what’s wrong?”

Jessie blew a strand of hair out of her face. “Mom,” she sighed.

“Ahh…” nodded Jack knowingly. “After years of telling me she’s not that bad, you’ve finally admitted that the woman can drive you crazy.”

“She’s planning my entire wedding, Jack,” sighed Jessie. “The one day that’s supposed to be all mine, and she’s planning it for me.”

“This may be a stupid question, but have you said anything to her about it?” asked Jack, chewing on his fingernail.

Jessie propped herself up on her elbows and stared at Jack incredulously. “Are you kidding me? Like she’d listen!”

“You never know until you try,” shrugged Jack.

“I know you’re right, but I just don’t want to,” sighed Jessie, lying back down. “She seems so set on planning everything… I almost feel guilty telling her to back off.”

“So don’t tell her to back off,” shrugged Jack. “Just tell her that it’s your wedding and you should have the final say in everything. Not to say she can’t contribute, but it’s your wedding, meaning your decisions.”

Jessie reached behind her and grabbed a pillow, promptly tossing it at her brother. Jack dodged the flying projectile. “What was that for?” he cried.

“For knowing stuff that I should already know,” she said, still staring up at the ceiling. “When did you get so smart?”

“I don’t know,” shrugged Jack. “Just born with it, I guess,” he said, quickly dodging another pillow.

Chapter 5