Quietly dropping a CD into the player, she chuckled at the thought that Stasia and Lyn had burned it for her. ‘What would JC and his ‘Today Show’ hot dog analogy think about this?’ She hit play and climbed into the shower. The warm water began to soothe sore muscles. It had been forever since she had walked so much in one day. It seemed like forever since she and Justin had spent an entire day alone together.

They had spent the better part of the day walking the entire length of the island. She had made sure they stopped in every single souvenir shop and tiny tourist trap along the way. Justin had bought her a small pen and ink sketch of one of the island’s famous mansions so she’d have a souvenir from the trip.

Her arms felt weak from the sailing lesson they had taken, who knew sailing involved so much upper body strength? She flexed her arm and grinned at the muscles. Justin was looking like a natural sailor, and had begun babbling about buying a sailboat, until the boom had almost taken his head off when the wind abruptly changed direction and he wasn’t paying attention. She couldn’t help chuckling at the memory of him laying face down on the deck, clutching the back of his head and whining like a child after she had tackled him to keep him from being hit.

Every one of them had gotten a lot of sun and all of the couples that surrounded Morgan and Justin seemed to be locked in some sort of magical couple’s paradise. Lance and Stasia who were generally very private about their displays of affection had been making out like teen-agers on the beach. JC and Lyn had been literally rolling around in the surf. All in all, it had been an amazing day, she was so glad she had not decided to stay home.

Her thoughts began to drift as the scent of sea air, salt water and sun screen were replaced by the sweet smell of raspberry body scrub. She had begun to crave more days like today, days where they could all be normal...and together. She wasn’t quite sure what was wrong with her. She had never had a problem with her life, or the fact that her best friend was gone ninety percent of the time, but lately, she had begun to feel confused and restless, for no real reason. At some point in the last few weeks it had dawned on her that not only her best friend, but the bulk of her friends were gone most of the year. They functioned as a freakish traveling, family circus, and she was beginning to feel more like a distant cousin than a member of the immediate family or even a part of the inner circle.

Maybe she was having a hard time because Stasia and Lyn were traveling with the guys full time, Dani was on the road with them ninety percent of the time and even Angela was able to work from the road, so she was spending more and more time with the group. Only Morgan, who’s schedule of classes kept her in Orlando the bulk of the year, was left behind. The others had inside jokes and little stories that it seemed, ‘you had to be there’ to understand.

She had been hit with the strangest wave of emotions when they had arrived on the island earlier that morning. Lyn had booked the group into what was easily the most romantic place on Earth. With it’s old mansions, quaint gardens, cozy restaurants, huge sailboats, stunning views and friendly residents, there was something truly magical about this place, the island and the people on it seemed to be removed from the insanity that normally surrounded the lives of Morgan and her friends. Lyn had arranged for Morgan and Justin to share one room, and one bed. For the shortest moment, the thought of being cuddled up with Justin had excited her.

Working shampoo through her hair she sighed heavily. She was starting to wonder if she was losing her mind. She jumped when Justin’s voice startled her from much too close to the shower curtain, “Hey Woman! How long are you going to take in here? I need to shower too!”

She held the curtain back enough to push her sudsy head through, “I’ll be out when I’m out! I swear to God, you are such a pain in the butt. I’ve been in here less than two minutes.”

“You’ve been in here at least twenty minutes, and I need to shower. Lyn will kill me if I show up for dinner smelling like an old fish. You better leave some hot water.” He hopped up on the white marble counter next to the sink, playing with her tooth brush.

She rolled her eyes at him and scrunched her nose when he stuck his tongue out at her. “Stop playing with my stuff.”

“Why?” His eyebrow bounced up and down, “What have you got in here that I’m not supposed to see?” As she had imagined, he began digging through her bag.

“Justin! I’m serious, stop going through....” She stopped short when he pulled out a round, flat pill case.

“Is this what I think it is? I mean....are these...” His cheeks were flushed.

“My birth control pills? Yes. Yes they are my birth control pills.” Morgan rolled her eyes and retreated to the safety of the pounding water.

“Why would you need these? Are you...hooking up with someone? Who? Is there something I should know about? Morgan? Morgan! Why are you ignoring me?”

“Because I hate you.” She worked conditioner through her hair, “I think I might cut my hair. It’s just getting too long.”

“Don’t cut your hair. Who are you sleeping with?”

“This weekend I’m sleeping with you. Next weekend it’s Bill’s turn. The week after that it’s Bob. Then John, Ryan, Mitch, Joe, Chris, Rich....”

“Funny. So if you’re not sleeping with anyone, why do you need to be on the pill?” She peeked out and watched him as he squinted to read the small print on the back of the package.

“If you must know, I was having horrific cramps and irregular periods. See, I was having periods normally, and then at other random time throughout the month I was spotting. For your information, spotting is irregular bleeding. So like a good girl, I went to the gynecologist, got undressed and hopped up on the table. Once the doctor warmed the speculum....do you know what a speculum is?”

“OK shut up! I get it. Are you OK? I mean...is everything...working OK?” He motioned to his own stomach.

“You asked.” She smirked at the thought of him freaking out, “Other than being annoyed that you are asking questions about my birth control pills, I’m fine.”

“You know what I mean. Did the medicine fix....you know....whatever?”

She turned off the water and held her arm out. A towel was placed in her hand and she began to dry off, “Yeah. Now I’m fine. Just one of the joys of being a girl I guess.”

Wrapping the towel tightly around herself she pushed back the curtain, “It’s all yours.”

He stood up and looked down at her. He long, wet hair was slicked back, a small stream of water was running down her back and being absorbed by the towel, “I’m sorry I....”

“Went through my personal stuff and then learned more than you wanted to know about the workings of my uterus?”

“Yeah. Pretty much.” He began to pull his t-shirt over his head.

“So Justin, when they ask you to turn your head and cough, where exactly is the doctor’s hand?”

He froze with his shirt covering his face, “I said I was sorry. I get it! I’ll stay out of your stuff.”

“Good.” She grabbed a second towel, her head over, wrapped the towel around her hair and walked out of the bathroom.

Unzipping her hanging bag, she removed the dress she was planning on wearing to dinner. Laying the white dress on the bed she eyed is carefully. Stasia and Dani had talked her into buying what Stasia had described as ‘a completely girly frock’. It’s thin straps were attached in the front at the shoulders and then very low on her back, there was a thin white cord at the waist that came around from the back and tied in a bow at the front. She pulled a soft pink cardigan sweater out of her bag and remembered that she had to run down to Stasia’s room to get the pink slides Stasia said she could borrow to complete the outfit.

She slipped into her robe and then blew her hair dry. She was digging in her suitcase when Justin emerged from the steamy bathroom with a towel around his waist, “How was your shower?”

“Fine. My arms are sore though.” He rubbed his biceps.

“Mine too, I think it’s from sailing.”

“Yeah.” He rummaged through his own suitcase, “Why do I have to wear a tie?”

“Because Lyn says so.” She grabbed the dress as she started toward the bathroom, gathering her perfume and deodorant on her way.

His hand on her arm stopped her as she was about to close the door, “Wait you dropped something.” He bent down and picked up a small white lace thong from the floor, “Come on! You can’t seriously be wearing these.”

“Oh, shut up.” She snatched the garment from his hand and shut the door in his face.

He was not about to relent. He was shouting through the door, “Morgan! I’m serious here. What is going on with you? There is NOTHING to that pair of...of...you know!”

Her head shot out from behind the door, “The word you are so afraid to say is panties. More specifically, thong.”

“Why? Why must you do this to me? I’m still in shock over that bikini you were wearing today. Seriously? Why would you even bother wearing anything?”

“What in the hell is wrong with you? There is nothing wrong with my bathing suit or my panties. For your information, I am wearing a thong to avoid having panty lines, I’m wearing a fitted dress and it would be highly unattractive for people to be able to see my underwear. I cannot understand why you feel the need to go all parental on everyone today!” She knew he was trying to respond but she turned on her hair dryer and set it on the counter, just to drown out his rambling.

When she emerged in her white dress, he was sitting in the small courtyard off of their room. She walked out and dropped down on his lap, “Have you calmed down a little dad?”

His chin rested on her shoulder, “Maybe it’s the sun?”

“I suppose you could have baked all of your brain cells, because they certainly don’t seem to be working properly today.”

He leaned back in his chair and sighed, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Standing up she patted him on the head, “While you think about it, I’m going to go borrow a pair of shoes from Stasia.”

“OK.” He nodded.

She couldn’t help but smile at the thought that there was even the slightest possibility that Justin, the guy, was effected by her. She grabbed her sweater and tied it around her shoulders as she made her way down the hall to Lance and Stasia’s room. Knocking lightly, she waited until Lance pulled it open, “Hi.”

Lance gave her a crooked grin, “Hi yourself. You look very pretty.”

“Stasia has you so well trained.” She kissed his cheek.

Stasia laughed from a chair near a pair of open french doors, “I wish I could take credit for his behavior, but he was a sweetheart before I got my hands on him.” She stood up, “I’m guessing you’re here for my shoes?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

Stasia dug into her suitcase and produced the shoes Morgan had come for. Mor accepted the gratefully, “Did you guys have a good day?”

Stasia smiled softly, “Wonderful. How about you?”

“I had fun. Justin is losing his mind, but it’s entertaining to watch.”

“Losing his mind how?” Stasia pulled a second pair of shoes out of her bag and hopped on one foot and then the other as she slipped them on.

“Millie Darlin’, he’s never had a firm grasp on reality.” Lance offered from the other side of the room where he was trying to locate his tie.

Morgan laughed and nodded, “Exactly.” She held the shoes up, “Thanks again Stasia.”

“Anytime. My closet is your closet.”

“Don’t tempt me, I would love to clean you out.” She winked at her friend, “I’ll see you guys downstairs.”

Glancing at her watch as she pulled the door shut, she looked up to see JC running towards her, “Hi....” She couldn’t finish her thought because he was dragging her down the hall by the arm.

“Go in my room. Help Lyn put lotion on her sun burn. Come get me in your room when you’re done.” He shoved her through the door and slammed it behind her.

Justin glanced at his watch for the hundredth time in the last five minutes. Morgan had left to go get a pair of shoes twenty minutes ago. He wanted to talk to her, and thought she had returned when JC had burst into the room in a panic like a raving lunatic.

Pushing himself up out of his chair he grabbed his suit jacket and left the room. He bumped into Dani in the hallway, “Did you get left behind too?”

The blonde smirked, “No I just forgot to bring down my purse. She forgot about you huh?”

He offered her his arm, which she happily took, “Looks that way.” As they walked into the library, the first sound he heard was Morgan’s laughter. Her head was tossed back and her cheeks were flushed. Apparently Chris was just hysterical, “Woman! I thought you were just going to get a pair of shoes, what happened to you?”

“There was an...issue with JC, so I had to help Lyn. You found me, so what’s the problem?”

“I thought you were coming back. I wanted to talk to you before dinner.” He was clearly pouting.

“So talk.” Morgan shrugged. She was have difficulty reading him for the first time in their lives.

“I don’t want to talk to you NOW, I wanted to talk to you earlier. I’ll talk to you later.”

They were interrupted when JC and Lance walked into the room. Morgan squinted, “What the hell is up with his tie?”

“Who knows. Lance is just strange some days.” He was snippy and she had had enough.

“You know what? If you are going to be moody and pissy all night, I don’t want to deal with you. The tie is obviously a joke and Lance is not strange. I think you are getting confused today about who your best friends are and what your boundaries are. You don’t have a right to parent all of your friends, least of all me.” She turned on her heel and walked back over to Chris and Dani.

Running both of his hands over his face he sighed heavily. She was right, he was losing his mind. Lance walked over and grinned at him, “Hey.”

“I’m sorry.”

Lance looked at him with confusion as he sipped his drink, “About what?”

“I’m just an ass. Say I’m forgiven and we’ll just move on.” Justin accepted the drink Lance held out for him.

Lance raised an eyebrow, “OK. You’re forgiven.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem...wait. Am I going to find slime in my bed tonight or something?”

“No.”

“OK, then you really are forgiven for whatever it is that you did.”

They piled into four rental cars and drove to the restaurant. Lyn had really done an amazing job planning the trip. The restaurant was in an old mansion, sitting on top of a huge bluff over looking the water. The dining room was somehow homey and elegant at the same time. As Morgan looked for her place card, Justin walked up behind her and tapped her shoulder, “I hate it when you’re right.”

“I’m always right.” She smiled.

“That’s why I hate it.”

She turned her concerned eyes up to his, “Are you OK? You’re really starting to worry me.”

“I’m fine. Stupid...but fine. I apologized to Lance.”

“You told him that you called him strange?”

He shook his head as he held out her chair, “No. I didn’t tell him why I was sorry, just that I was.”

“And he still forgave you? The guy has a big heart.” She smiled and looked over at Lance who was holding Stasia’s chair out for her.

“No need to rub it in Mor.” He grinned at her.

Dinner was amazing. It had been such a long time since they had all been in the same place, after having a great day. They laughed and talked, ate and drank for hours. Justin was leaning back in his chair, his arm draped across the back of Morgan’s chair, “Wait, wait, wait! She is leaving out huge details. I was not naked in the pool with some random girl.”

Morgan let her head fall back against his arm and roll to face him, “What was her name Justin?”

“Well I Don’t know her name...”

“Because she is just some random girl....who you were naked with.”

“God Woman! I was not naked! These fools are all going to believe you, like they always do, and then they are going to harass the hell out of me for the next fifty years and I will have you to blame. If they harass me for fifty years, I am going to torture you for fifty years. Just remember that anything I get, you are going to get twice as bad.”

She knew he was kidding because his eyes were dancing. “OK, OK he wasn’t naked. He was in his boxer shorts. She was naked.”

Chris held up his hand, “High five dude! You had a girl naked in a pool with you when you were ten? You’re better than I thought!”

Justin smacked his hand, “That’s what I’m talking about.”

Morgan rolled her eyes, “Yeah, give the playa his props. Chris, he was ten!”

Justin leveled his eyes at her, “I don’t think you want to play a game of kiss and tell with me.”

“Oh no?” She raised an eyebrow in challenge.

He grinned evilly. “Two words. Brent LaPort.”

“You remember that?” She swallowed hard and flushed a deep shade of red.

“Yes. I remember that.” He smiled brightly.

“OK, you win.” She continued to blush.

Angela leaned forward, “I think we all want to hear this story. Who’s Brent LaPort?”

Justin smirked and winked at Morgan, “Just a guy Morgan used to know. Right Mor?”

She nodded.

“How did you know him?” Stasia’s eyes were twinkling.

“He was in my Government class in high school.”

“And?” Stasia leaned forward, rolling the stem of her glass between her fingers.

“And he asked me out, so we went out a few times.”

Justin smirked and then stood up, “You have two options here Morgan. You can go for a walk with me, or you can stay here and be questioned by these people about how Brent’s jaw got broken.”

Stasia leaned back in her chair a little, “All guys named Brent deserve to have their jaws broken.” Lance nodded in agreement and everyone laughed. She winked at Morgan and sighed, “Harry, how about you and I go for a little walk? I think I saw a rose garden outside.”

Lance stood up, “I was getting a little stiff sitting in this chair anyway.” He held out his hand and they got up together.

Everyone got up and went in their own directions. Justin and Morgan walked quietly along the edge of the brick patio. The parameter was surrounded by a low brick wall. There were rose topiaries with ivy trailing out of the planters set at each break in the wall. Each time the wall broke, another brick walkway led off in a different direction. One of them led to the winding cliff walk that over looked the waves crashing into the rocks below. Another path led to the formal gardens. Morgan walked quietly up to wall and rested her hands lightly on the ledge. She scanned the vast expanse of green lawn, the only light was from the moon, stars and various candle lamps dotted along the paths and on the wall.

She watched JC and Lyn, off in the distance, holding hands and talking as they walked along one of the cliff paths. Turning her head slightly, she saw Lance and Stasia as they cuddled on a bench in the rose garden. Joey and Angela were sitting at a small table under an arbor in the middle of the rolling lawns, sipping wine and holding hands. Chris and Dani were laughing and playing a game of croquet in the dark.

Justin hopped up on the wall next to her, leaning into her line of sight, “What are you looking at?”

She looked into his eyes and smiled slightly, “Love.”

He glanced around at all of the couples, “Yeah, it’s enough to really make you feel like crap.”

She cocked her head, “Why on Earth would you say that?”

He shrugged, “Looking at them, I see the one thing I can’t have.” He was so matter of fact it gave her chills.

“Justin! Why can’t you have that?” She pointed at Lance and Stasia.

“I don’t know why. It’s just the way things seem to have worked out. I guess it’s just not in the cards for me, at least it isn’t in the cards right now.” He shrugged again, “Don’t look so alarmed about it. I’m fine. Really. I have my family, and the guys and Stasia and Lyn...and you.” He smiled at her and poked her in the ribs with a finger. “But let’s face it, no amount of money is going to buy me love.”

Her brow was furrowed and she reached out to take his hands, “You can have that. You will. I swear to God you will.”

“Stop worrying about me. I’m fine. I have houses and cars and fans and all sorts of stuff.” He hopped down off of the wall, “I have more than most people dream about. I would be greedy to ask for more. I’d be greedy to want more.”

“You’ve worked hard for everything you have. You’ve earned it. There is nothing greedy about wanting love. I’m sure she’s out there.”

“I don’t need your pity. I’m fine. I don’t want you to pity me Morgan.” He walked away, leaving her standing there dumbfounded.

Morgan pushed her dark hair back and sighed as she gazed at the clear liquid in her glass. She wasn’t quite sure what was going on in her own head. And as confused as she was about her own thoughts, she really didn’t understand what was going on with Justin. She had always been able to read him like a book, and he had always understood her. If they had nothing else in life, they had always had that. Why he would think that she pitied him, she didn’t understand.

“I don’t understand.” She threw back her head and let the last of her third martini, since they had returned to the inn, pour down her throat. She squinted at the bitter taste, “That seems to be the theme of my life lately.”

“What does?”

She turned to see Justin leaning casually against the door frame. He had removed his jacket and loosened his tie a little. His newly shaved head and the scruff he was wearing on his chin lately made him look more his age. She cringed because he had found her hiding place, not that she was very well hidden sitting alone at a table for two, tucked in a little alcove of the main courtyard. “Nothing really.”

“You were out here talking to yourself about nothing?” He walked over to stand in front of her. He took her empty glass out of her hand and set it on the table.

She narrowed her eyes at him, “The theme of my life is that I don’t understand. I don’t understand anything anymore.”

Staring down at the girl he had been friends with for what seemed like forever, he noticed the moonlight made her dark hair look the way water looked at night, shimmering and quiet. His heart hurt a little when she looked up at him with pain and sadness in her eyes, “Why doesn’t anything make sense to me anymore? What is happening to me? I don’t even feel like I understand you anymore.”

Squatting in front of her he pointed at the glass, “How many of those have you had?”

She fell back against her chair, “Not that many. Three?”

“Maybe you’d ‘understand’ a little more if you weren’t half hammered.”

“You can drop the parental crap with me Justin. I have parents. You know them. You like them. They raised me and they don’t need your help. Not now.”

“You can’t make me stop caring about you Morgan. And I really don’t think that you want me to.”

“Whatever. The whole point is, I don’t know what I want.” She stood up quickly on wobbly legs and started to walk away before he caught her by the wrist. Her hair was moving in a silken wave and her eyes were flashing.

“What do you mean by that?” he released her wrist and turned her by the shoulders to face him.

Her voice was small and she shook her head slowly, “Please don’t force me.”

“You are freaking me out Morgan. Force what? What happened?”

“Don’t force me to talk to you.” A tear rolled down her cheek, “I have never pitied you. I care about you way to much to pity you. You have to know that.”

“This is about that? Mor, you know I’m an idiot. God! Don’t cry! Please! I was feeling sorry for myself. I felt like you’d busted me. In reality, you just hit on a nerve. That whole stupid thing was not worth getting upset.” He ran his hands up and down her arms, “You know I would never hurt you like that. No one else in the world has been in my life as long as you. I’m so sorry I hurt you. I honestly didn’t mean to, I’m an idiot. You know that better than anyone. You know me better than anyone.”

She nodded and turned her face up to look at him and her entire body began to feel warm. For the first time in her life, she was suddenly praying that her best friend would lose all sense of right and wrong and every ounce of control he had. As if her silent prayer had been answered, one of his hands moved from her shoulder to her cheek. His thumb ran gently over her cheekbone. Their eyes locked and she nervously licked her lips. Justin’s eyes were soft and were not moving from her own. His hand relaxed on her shoulder and his fingers began tracing lazy circles on her skin.

Her eyes were fluttering shut when Lyn came bursting through the french doors onto the patio. Justin took a huge step back and Morgan didn’t know what to do. She was in no condition to make up an excuse for what had been going on, she looked down at her shoes and quickly said the first thing that came to mind, “Thanks for helping me with that eyelash. I’m going to go upstairs.”

Justin cleared his throat and coughed once, “Yeah. No problem. I’ll be there in a minute.”

She could feel his eyes on her as she practically ran for the door, “Night Lyn.”

She quickly pulled the doors closed behind her and ran down the hall to their room. When she was safely inside, her hands went to her cheeks as she walked over to the full length mirror. Her hands fell to her sides and she took a long, shaky breath. “What the hell was that?”

She buried her hands in her hair and shook her head a little. Her thoughts and her world were all spinning out of control and she had no idea how it had all started in motion. Sitting down hard on the edge of the bed, her eyes blinked rapidly as she spoke to her reflection, “Don’t make more of this than there is. You’re buzzed and he’s all strange today. Clam down Morgan. Just calm down.”

She decided to go splash some cold water on her face and the change into her pajamas. The room was still dark, the only light being the moonlight spilling in through the open windows. When she emerged from the bathroom, dressed in pale blue tank and a pair of blue and white striped pajama pants she jumped and had to clamp her hand over her mouth to stifle her scream.

Justin was standing just a few feet from the bathroom door, waiting for her with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. The room was still dark, and she hadn’t heard the door open or close when he’d entered the room. Her hand flew up to her chest, “You scared me half to death.”

A soft smile touched his lips, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

She rolled her eyes and let out a small sigh of relief. Some how in the time it took to change and wash her face, things seemed to have returned to normal, “I’m sure I’ll live.”

“I should hope so.” He grabbed a pair of shorts and a wife beater out of his suitcase and walked into the bathroom.

Morgan was standing in front of the mirror brushing her hair when Justin came out of the bathroom pulling his shirt over his head. He smirked, “You’re not really going to cut your hair are you?”

“I was thinking about it.” She studied her reflection.

He walked up behind her and ran his hand down the length of her hair, “I wish you’d leave it like this. I like your hair.”

“I’m just thinking about it. I didn’t say I was going to do it.” She shrugged.

The spinning of her world started again and then doubled in speed when his lips touched her bare shoulder and he whispered, “Please don’t cut it. For me?”

“Fine. I’ll leave it alone for the time being.” Her blood was running hot and the felling of his lips against her bare shoulder was causing her stomach to flip.

“Thank you.” He pulled her back against his chest and craned his neck to kiss her cheek.

Her eyes closed and she inhaled the smell of cologne, toothpaste and fabric softener, “No problem.” She was shocked when her voice was soft and small.

He pushed her shoulder a little, urging her to turn to face him, “Morgan, I have a problem.” He kissed her forehead when she finally faced him fully.

“What’s wrong?” She whispered to his chest.

“I don’t understand anything anymore either.” He kissed the tip of her nose.

She leaned forward, resting her forehead on his chest, “So, if neither one of us can understand anything anymore, what are we going to do?”

He kissed the top of her head, “I asked Lyn for her advice.”

“And what did she say?”

“She said I need to figure it out. That’s what we need to do. We need to figure it out.”

Morgan slowly lifted her eyes up to his, “How?” There was a note of desperation in her voice.

“By doing what feels right.” He cupped her cheek.

“What feels right?” She swallowed hard.

“Right now, this...” His lips lightly touched hers and she was positive her legs were going to give out on her. He whispered against her mouth, “I’m sorry. I’ve wanted to do that all night.”

She didn’t pull away but she kept her eyes tightly shut, “I’ve wanted you to do that all night.”

“We’re not thinking....”

“We can think in the morning.” She leaned up on her toes, pressing her lips against his again. Justin’s arms went around her waist and tightened as he lifted her off of the floor, their lips still locked together. Her hands slid up the back of his head and holding his face to hers. He gently laid her on the bed, leaning over her. She arched her back up against him, increasing the contact between them. His hands rubbed up her arms pulling them over her head, his lips roughly worked over hers, urging them to part. As soon as she parted them slightly, his tongue flicked along her bottom lip. Her tongue darted out and lightly touched his. He moaned and his lips moved to her jaw and then roughly down to her neck. Morgan’s fingers stretched out and his laced with them on the blanket above her head. When his mouth moved to her collarbone, she groaned and clutched his hands tighter.

As his hands released her’s they slid down her arms and along her sides, his right hand came to rest at her waist, his left tangled with her hair. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to pull her onto her side. Her leg moved over his and his hand spread out across the small of her back. Morgan pushed at him until he was laying on his back she kissed him hard, and reacted enthusiastically when his hands pulled at her, trying to get her closer to his body. His hands traveled her back, slipping under the thin fabric of her shirt, gliding across bare skin. Her hands roamed over his chest, until she found the hem of his shirt and pushed it up to expose his chest to her hands and lips. He leaned up and help her pull his shirt off over his head, she knew he was enjoying the feeling of her hands against his flesh. They both became completely lost in one another.

Justin rolled over and reached out for Morgan, but found the bed empty. He ran his hands over his face and realized that his lips felt swollen. He had spent the better part of the night making out like a high school kid. They had been wrapped up in one another, but it had stopped there, neither one of them willing to go too far. He leaned up on his elbows and looked around the room, “Mor?”

There was no response, so he threw back the covers and searched for his disguarded shirt. He pulled it on as he walked out into the small courtyard off of their room. Morgan was curled up in a chair sipping a steaming cup of coffee. Her hair was tied in a knot on the top of her head and she had put on a sweatshirt over her pajamas. Her bare feet were tucked under her and she was reading a book.

He sat down in the chair across from her and waited for her to look up at him. When she continued to read he cleared his throat, “Morning.”

She glanced up and smiled sheepishly at him, “Morning.” Her eyes immediately dropped back down to her book.

He sat there watching her read for what felt like a week before her reached for the second coffee cup and the carafe sitting next to it on the table, “What’s with the book?”he winced when the coffee burned the room of his mouth.

“Stasia loaned it to me.” She answered without looking up, taking another sip of her coffee.

“OK.” He leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees, carefully rolling the coffee mug between his palms, “So, um...can you put the book down for a second?”

“Can you wait until I finish this chapter? It’s getting good and I....” Her head whipped up when he grabbed the book out of her hand and set it on the table, “Justin!”

“Morgan, you’re avoiding eye contact. I think we need to talk about what happened last night.”

She rolled her eyes as she pushed a stray hair behind her ear, “Let me save both of us some time here ok?”

“Mor....”

“Shut up! Listen. I’m not some seventeen year old girl who expects you to marry her and have ten kids together just because we kissed...”

“Mor...”

“Let me finish! We are both adults here. So we made out. Big deal! I had too much to drink, we had been talking about love and crap, we were both lonely and horny and we hooked up. If you can’t hook up with your best friend, who can you hook up with? So let’s just forget it happened. I don’t want us to be all strange around each other now. We’ve both hooked up with people before. I’m sure we’ll hook up with people again. It was a stupid mistake.”

He raised an eyebrow, “A mistake...”

“I know you don’t feel like that about me, and I certainly don’t feel that way about you, so it’s all good. Seriously, let’s just forget it.”

“You want to just forget it happened?” He was carefully studying the dark liquid in his cup.

“Please! And I am seriously begging you, don’t tell the guys, or Lyn or Stasia or anyone. I don’t want to deal with their crap....over a simple mistake.”

“Yeah...no...I mean, no I won’t talk to them about last night.” He was still starring into his mug, “I wouldn’t do that to you. Not to you.”

She smiled brightly, “Thanks. Cool. So we’re ok right? I mean, nothing is going to be weird or anything? I mean, I know I’m a great kisser and all, I wouldn’t want to have to break your heart or anything.”

“No. We’re fine. I’m glad you are ok.”

“Yep. Fine.” She stood up and smacked his knee, “Cool. So I’m gonna grab a quick shower.” She walked back into the room and left him sitting there looking at his cooling coffee.

As soon as she shut the bathroom door her lower lip began to quiver. She turned on the water as quickly as possible because she could feel the sob beginning to build in her stomach and she didn’t want him to hear it. Quickly peeling off her clothes, she climbed into the tub and let her body slide down the wall as the hot water pounded down on her head.

In all the time they had been friends, she had called it like it was. She had always been one hundred and ten percent truthful with Justin, until five minutes ago, and then she hadn’t even spoken one word of the truth. Covering her face with her hands she sobbed. She was not fine, she was so far from fine. She had wanted to kiss him, she had wanted him to touch her the way he touched her last night. She wanted him to want it. She wanted him to want to touch her, to want to kiss her, to want to be with her in that way. She didn’t want him to hook up with her at a weak moment. After he had fallen asleep, she laid in the bed watching him, because she knew she would never have that opportunity again. Justin didn’t love her in that way, he hadn’t used her, at least she didn’t think so. She refused to think that, because that would be more than she could bear. She curled up on her side and cried, the only positive thing that had happened was that she had spared herself the pain of hearing him say the words.

He knew her like the back of his own hand, and he knew very well that she was ‘too happy’. Morgan had been giggling and chatting and flitting about back stage, basically avoiding him, without actually avoiding him all day. Now she had formulated some crazy scheme to see the concert through the fans eyes and apparently she had roped Lyn into the plan.

Grabbing her camera she grinned down at him, “I’m off. Have a good show.”

Justin smiled up at her, “Have fun.”

“Always!” She was out the door on her way to round up Lyn.

Justin ran both hands over his face, “Shit.” He was supposed to be dressed and crawling into an equipment case with Chris sitting basically on his lap. He wasn’t ready to go and he wasn’t thinking about the show.

Chris was running by the open door when he slid to a stop, “Why aren’t you out here? We’re running late.”

“I’m coming.”

“Well move! We don’t want JC and Lance screaming at us again.”

“JC and Lance can leave me the hell alone.” He pushed himself up out of his chair and pulled his door shut behind him.

“What’s up your ass? You’ve been a freak since we got back.”

Justin punched his shoulder, “I’m not a freak.”

“Whatever dude.” Chris raised an eyebrow.

Standing in font of the equipment case that was meant to carry him out to the center of the stadium floor he huffed, “Who thought of this stupid idea?”

JC glanced over as he adjusted his in ear monitor, “What stupid idea?”

“The shove Justin in a box with Chris’s ass in his face idea?” He growled as he settled on the floor of the box.

JC’s head poked into the box, “That idea would have been your’s Justin. And if you have a problem with Chris’s ass, Lance and I will gladly trade Chris for Joey.”

“Hey!” Joey appeared next to JC, “What did I do?”

“You ate Mexican for lunch.” Lance smacked the back of Joey’s head, “We’ve talked about that man, it’s just not fair to JC and I.”

“I was hungry!” Joey smirked, “Who has the hacky sack?”

Chris pulled the small bean bag out of his pocket, “Me.” But we’ve got to get out butts in gear or this show is never going to start. We’ve still got to get out the hack and get in our places.” They quickly finished their hack and headed for their cases.

Chris climbed into the case and squatted across from Justin. As soon as the case was shut he squinted at his friend in the darkness, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.”

Chris rolled his eyes, “If you go out on stage like that, you are going to scare the crap out of all of the people out there. Not to mention the fact that you’re stuck in a box with me for the next fifteen minutes. I’d spill it if I were you. Because you know I’m just going to annoy the crap out of you until you spill it. I’m just trying to save you time and energy by helping you along with the process. You know that I’m just going to keep babbling like this, in this low tone so the fans out there can’t hear me, until you crack, and if it takes you a long time to crack, I will not have the correct amount of time to analyze your problem and fix it for you, so if I were you, which I am not, but if I were, I’d just spill it right now so I could...”

“Shut up!” Justin’s voice hissed in the dark.

“I’m just saying....”

“I made out with Morgan.”

Chris leaned forward a little, “You what?”

“I made out with Morgan...like all night in the hotel in Rhode Island....”

“Bed and Breakfast.”

Justin growled, “OK. In the Bed and Breakfast in Rhode Island, and if you tell anyone I will kill you. A slow, painful, long suffering death. You can’t tell anyone. Not even Dani. You can’t!”

“I’m not going to tell anyone. If it was some random girl, I’d tell everyone, hell I’d probably rent a sky writer but it’s Mor...I’m not about to do that to her.” Chris shook his head a little, “So what happened?”

“I just told you. We made out all night, and now she’s all strange and she gave me this huge speech about how it didn’t mean anything, and I shouldn’t make a big deal out of it because it wasn’t a big deal...”

“Was it a big deal?”

“Chris, Morgan and I made out, like rolling around, panting, making out. Hell yeah it was a big deal. And I know it was a big deal to her. She gave me some line of crap about how we’ve both hooked up with people before and we’ll both hook up with people again and we shouldn’t worry about it. I know> she was lying. I can tell you how many guys Morgan has kissed. I can tell you their names and where they were at the time. This was a huge deal.”

“So did you tell her that?”

“No. I haven’t had time. She has been ‘busy’ since she gave me that load of crap and then ran straight into the bathroom.”

“Why’d she run into the bathroom?” Chris placed both hands on Justin’s knees when the box lurched forward throwing him toward his friend.

“I don’t know. She said she was gonna grab a shower.” Justin shoved Chris back.

“You followed her right? You didn’t just let it drop. I mean, she’s your best friend. You know her well enough to know it was a load of shit. You followed her to the bathroom, right?”

“No.”

“Oh man! Why the hell not? Come on Justin. You know her well enough to know she is not cool with this.”

He was getting very aggravated, “Yeah, but she said it was a mistake and we should forget about it. That’s what she said.” Dre thumped on the box, which meant Justin was getting too loud, Dre had been able to hear him on the outside. Justin pinched the bridge of his nose, “I really screwed up.”

Chris felt bad for his friend. Justin honestly seemed to be clueless, but that was no excuse for being stupid. “Um...yeah you screwed up! But, she hasn’t come up with a stupid reason to go home or anything, so maybe she really is ok. Maybe you got lucky. Who knows, maybe Mor is cool with the whole friends with benefits arrangement.”

“You think?”

“Hell, I didn’t think it was possible for you to hook up with her in the first place, so I guess anything is possible.”

“Yeah. I’m making a big deal about nothing. I’m sure she’s fine.” Justin nodded.

Chris covered his face with both hands, shaking his head at the fact that Justin had not only missed the sarcasm of his last comment, but that he was trying to believe it, “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”