Justin closed the door behind him and turned towards Rachel. "What is it?"
"I just wanted to thank you and your girlfriend for everything you did for me and for Lance. Justin, sometimes I think I'm going to go crazy with everything that's going on. Whenever I lose hope, when I think that my relationship with Lance is over, you're there. You always show up when I need it the most. When Lance and I stop fighting for each other, you are there. You're my best friend and I don't know what I would do without you." Rachel stared at the floor as she spoke, not looking up once.
Justin sniffled and she looked up at him. "Oh God, Justin...."
"Nah, it's all right. That just meant a lot to me is all and I'm being a big baby right now." Justin impatiently wiped his nose and the tears away.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
"Justin, don't lie to me. I've known you too long for you to even lie to me."
Justin stumbled forward and Rachel wrapped her arms around him, holding him to her tightly. "Please tell me what's going on. You're scaring me..."
"She left." Justin cried into Rachel's shoulder, burying his head deeper.
"She left? Who left? Leslie?"
Yeah, she had to go home. She left right before you came into the room."
Rachel laughed, softly. "Oh sweetie, you'll see her soon. Don't be sad. "
"I'm trying not to be. I'm just going to miss her." Justin pulled away from Rachel and smiled at her through his tears. She reached her hand up to brush away some of his tears. Justin placed his hand against hers and held it against his cheek. "Thank you, Rae baby. For what you said to me and for caring for me so deeply. I know Lance is your best friend, but now I know I'm your best friend after him." He laughed, thinking of the way it sounded. "It sounds like we're in elementary school again. This is my favorite stuffed animal, but this is my second favoritest and my third and my fourth -"
"I get it, you big dork!" Rachel laughed, interrupting him.
"Seriously though, Rach. You're my best friend too. I'm glad I can always count on you and I know I can always go to you for everything I need." Justin turned his head and kissed the inside of her palm.
Rachel's eyes filled with tears. "Let's go back into the room. I gotta get back my man!" She giggled.
Justin pulled her into him for another hug. Rachel squeezed her eyes shut and hugged him tighter. "Justin, I'm nervous."
"I know, Rae. I know, but you gotta take this chance. There's always a time for love, for hate, for forgiveness, for self control and for fate. You have experienced all but one. And that's forgiveness. It's time, Rach." Justin kissed her gently on the lips, and leaned his forehead against hers.
"Thank you for everything, for your friendship and for tonight. I know you had one of the biggest parts in that plan."
Justin laughed and winked at her. "You'll never know."
They walked back into the room and smiled at the guys. "Everything all right now?" JC questioned.
Rachel nodded and walked over to Lance.
He was laying on the couch, eyes closed. The slow, rhythmic breathing proved he was asleep. She knelt down on her knees and smoothed some of the hair away from his forehead. "Sir Lance-a-lot?"
Lance's eyes fluttered open and he smiled up at her. "Hey.."
"Hey, baby." Rachel sniffed, tears pouring from her eyes. Lance sat up quickly and motioned for the guys to leave the room with his head.
Lance reached out to touch Rachel's cheek and she bent her head away from him. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Rachel sniffled as more tears fell. She trembled and her words faltered, before clearly coming out. "Will you just hold me? Please?"
Lance slid off the couch and gathered Rachel in his arms. He curled his legs around her waist and pulled her closer to him, Rachel laid her head against his shoulder and snuggled into his neck. Lance gently rocked her back and forth, soothing her."What do we do now?" Lance questioned, after Rachel pulled away from him. She slid back until she rested against the couch.
"I think that we need to discuss some things. We need to straighten things out."
Lance nodded his head.
"I want to take things slowly. Sometimes, it's so hard to look at you and not see Sierra. And I'm not mad, it's just hard for me. It hurts a lot too, when I look at you, or hold you or kiss you, I see her. I hate it, and it's going to take awhile for that to go away. But I'm willing and I want to put all of this crap behind me, so badly.""I can understand that. I don't know how it feels, but I can only imagine. I will never be able to apologize enough and I know there is a time when words stop meaning anything. When actions start to take over the words and that's what's most important. I just hope that my plan helped a bit tonight."
Rachel took Lance's hand in hers and intertwined their fingers together. "Nobody has ever done anything that romantic, thoughtful, or heart tugging for me. Nobody has shown me that much love. Thank you, I don't think words could ever tell you how appreciative I am of that. It helped prove to me, how much you care for me. Even though we shouldn't have to prove anything to each other. But don't think that every time you screw up, you can just do something like that and you'll be forgiven!" Rachel giggled.
"We feel like we have to prove things to each other, because we've hurt each other so badly. We've done far too much damage to just say how we feel without the other person questioning the feeling and thought behind it. We throw our emotions around to carelessly." Lance responded.
"How do we fix it?"
Lance shrugged, not knowing the answer. "I guess we just work through it together, when something upsets one of us, we talk about it right away. Instead of letting the anger build and build, before it gets too far and too built up to turn back."
Rachel looked around the room, "Well, then. Let's get started. What has upset you in the past 24 hours?"
Lance looked directly in her eyes. "Why wouldn't you tell me what you and Sierra talked about the other night? I know it was me and I feel like I have a right to know. Plus, I know you closed up on me the other night at the hotel, because of something she said. The next morning, when I told you that you had to either tell me your feelings or leave, I didn't want you to leave. I wanted you to tell me the truth, so badly, I didn't know what else to do."
"Lance, whether you like to admit it or not, you went about it in the crappiest way ever. You have never been able to force me to talk, why did you think you could at that moment?" Rachel replied.Lance shrugged his shoulders, the answer not needing a reply.
Rachel continued, "when I was upset and I left the club that one night. The next morning, after you saw Justin and I sleeping, you made a comment. We were in the lounging room at the arena. Do you remember what the comment was?"
Lance shook his head no, afraid to know what his comment was.
"You said and I quote, 'We'll always be friends and nothing more.' Why would you say that, if you wanted it to be something more with me? I'm so lost about it, that's one of the things that are keeping me confused and lost."
"I don't know why I said those things, I don't understand it either. I don't understand anything. All I know is that I want to be with you, I want to be with you so badly." Tears came to Lance's eyes and they overflowed. He grabbed Rachel's hand and forced it to his chest. "Don't you feel that? This is my heart breaking. Just tell me that you want to be with me, tell me that you love me. Tell me something! Please?" Lance yelled, sobbing uncontrollably.
