Rachel turned and leaned against Justin's car. She looked up at the stars and thanked God for letting forgiveness come into her heart. Rachel still wasn't over the fact that Sierra had betrayed her, but so had Lance. She had found it in her heart to forgive him, she could forgive Sierra. It had been hard to say those words, but it felt incredibly good afterward. So much had come out of that situation, Rachel was a stronger person now.
Sierra's words ran over and over through her mind. 'What am I gonna do?' Rachel thought. The thought of her and Lance not being friends anymore made her knees tremble and tears gather in her eyes. She nibbled on her fingertips as she thought of what had happened years ago. The pain, betrayal, regret, sorrow and every other awful emotion passed through her mind.
Rachel pushed herself away from the car and walked into the club. Lance grabbed her by the arm and pulled her against his chest. "Let's dance!"
"Let's not!" Rachel snapped, pulling away from him. It angered her how he had just ordered her and acted like some hornball. She liked to be asked, and not told.
He followed after her. "What's going on? What did you talk about with her?"
"Just things. It's not really any of your business." Rachel sat down at their table. Lance leaned over to hear her better.
"What do you mean it's none of my business. I'm your best friend."
"Lance, please? Just leave it alone. We just talked about things and I told her that I forgave her. I gave her my cell phone number and she left. That's it."
"You what?! You forgave her! Why?"
Rachel sighed in frustration. She didn't feel like talking and she didn't feel like partying anymore. She stood from her seat and picked up her jacket off the back of the chair. "Listen, I'm really tired. I'm just going to go back to the hotel. Tell Justin I'm taking his rental."
"No! Rach, stay here. Don't leave! I wanna dance with you!" Lance desperately added. He would've said anything to make her stay.
She leaned down and kissed the top of Lance's head. "Bye." Rachel choked back tears and fled the club. Lance jumped up so fast, he knocked over his chair. The girl sitting behind him jumped with a start.
"Sorry miss." He could only offer a hurried apology as he ran after Rachel.
Lance reached the parking lot as Rachel was backing out of the parking spot. "Rachel!" He yelled, running up towards the car. She squealed out of the parking lot, with smoke from the tires following behind her.
"Shit!" Lance screamed, raking his hands through his hair. He ran back into the club.
"Justin!" Lance jerked on the younger man's arm. Justin glared at him, but sombered immediately.
"What? What is it?"
"Rachel took your rental and left, catch a ride with one of the other's and I'm following her."
"Yeah, that's fine. We'll see you tonight." Justin had never seen Lance look that frantic before and it scared him.
Lance's face had practically no color in it, except for two tiny pink circles in his cheeks. His eyes were bright and glassy, indicating he was shook up a great deal about something. His hand had trembled when he grabbed ahold of Justin.
Justin watched after him for a few minutes, excused himself from the girl he was dancing with and pulled out his phone. He walked out to the parking lot and stood in a secluded area.
"Hello?" A voice answered from the other end.
"Hi, I just wanted to say that I miss you." Justin whispered into the phone. He'd never been so scared of loosing the person he was talking to. He knew Lance and Rachel were having serious issues and he was glad his problems with the girl of his dreams were over.
"I miss you too." The voice responded back with a slight southern drawl.
"Can you come and stay with me? I think we need your help. Rachel needs your help..." Justin trailed off.
"Yeah, I'll be there tomorrow morning. What's going on?"
"I can't explain. Just... Leslie, please? Hurry." Justin pleaded into the phone. He knew Leslie held a soft spot in her heart for Rachel, even though the two women had never met. Rachel was the girl who talked Justin into giving up his heart and confessing his love to Leslie.
"I'll be there tomorrow. I don't know how long I can stay though. I can't be away from my job or college too long. I'll have to much to catch up on." Leslie warned.
The plans were discussed more deeply and Justin returned to the club to explain everything in detail to the other's.
Across the city, two cars were parked next to each other, the occupants were stepping out for one of the hardest struggles of their lives.
