"So, how are you and your old lady doing?" Trace asks as he starts pouring the beer from the pitcher into the mugs that were brought out to us. I enjoy drinking draft beer brought to me in a pitcher at times. It makes me feel so normal, unlike when people are ordering up the most expensive wine or liqueur.

"It is --"

"I wouldn't answer that if I were you. I'm not an old lady." Arianna cuts me off before I can answer. She smiles at her own joke and gives me a quick kiss before pulling her jacket off and placing it on the back of her stool before sitting down with us. "It is going great though. Thanks for asking. However, Justin here is pissed because you are the only one of his special people that I will agree to meet, much less hang with." She has to bring this up with other people?

"I feel just all warm and fuzzy on the inside for being so special." Trace laughs. "You should meet his family though. They are fantastic people and they would love you." Trace smiles proudly. He has been seen as a part of our family for what seems like forever. I just wish his comment would help and not hurt me like it is about to.

"Do you now? I'm sure his family is just great, but that does not change the fact that I do not want to meet the parents and become a part of this so-called great family." She rolls her eyes as she chugs her beer. When she stops drinking and places the mug back down on the table, now half-empty (yes, pessimistic in this case), she turns to me. "Nice try Justin. Having your friends talk up this whole thing will not change anything. It will just annoy me and probably irritate me and then probably piss me off. You can have the bloody Queen of England talk up this whole thing and I don't care." She glares at me.

"I swear to you I did not tell him to say anything. I didn't tell him more than just the fact that you do not want to meet my parents at the concert." I try to calm her down. I look over to Trace and Chase (hmm...just realized that those names could be interesting together, especially after several of these pitchers) for some help in this.

"I didn't realize this was a sore topic." Trace jumps in, " but he telling the truth. He did not tell me to say anything to you about it. I don't know why you wouldn't want to meet his family. They are great people, but obviously this is your choice and yours and Justin's issue to work out. Please do not let my comment cause a problem between you two. This is supposed to be a fun football filled night."

"Come on, Arianna. Trace is right. We are here to get drunk and watch football." Chase adds in an attempt to lighten the mood at the table. "We can always discuss wedding plans since that is all coming up soon." This comment created a roar of laughter at the table as Arianna rolls her eyes and finishes her mug with a quick gulp and refills it again. "I'm just kidding. No wedding talk. Tabbetha has been crazy over that stuff and this is my night off from that."

"Speaking of Tabbetha, where is she?" I ask him.

"I called and invited her but she wanted to stay home and go over wedding plans and gush over this thing with her family."

"Wow. Sounds like a lot of fun." I reply with some sarcasm.

"Last thing about the wedding before we start chugging beers and yelling at the TV's, you two must must must clear all things with me before anything is done. There are a lot of things I must rearrange around that mansion and many things there that I must close off. I want you two to have a great day and your loved ones to feel welcomed and I do not mind them coming inside to use the bathroom, get out of the weather, whatever, but there will be limits and I am sure you two understand this." She stresses this to him, and I cannot help but notice Trace's raised eyebrow in confusion and complete curiosity.

"No worries here. We understand and you will know everything." Chase answers with a smile and nod.

"Why all the restrictions and rules. It is not like it is you and Justin with the paparazzi everywhere. Do you really think things will get crazy like that?" Trace asks laughing.

"I am sure you would never understand," is Arianna's simple and vague answer. "Lets watch some football!!" She yells out as a game starts on the TV, causing people around us to hoot and holler along with her.

An hour passes and Arianna refuses to talk to anything that does not pertain to football, beer, food, or all three. She has had several shots sent over to her from other tables which starts to annoy me. Guys are buying her drinking as they can clearly see that she is here with us and is clearly my girlfriend. I think what annoys me the most is that she does not refuse them. She can easily refuse them and send them back without being offensive, and sending one or two back will give the other the message that she is taken. Instead, she raises her glass, smiles real big, and downs the drink. She may not be wasted but she is definitely not sober. I finally lean over and try to talk to her without making a scene. "Can you not take anymore drinks from other people?"

"What's wrong, baby?" She smiles at me, "afraid that they will steal me away with alcohol? Or are you afraid they are making you look bad?" She laughs.

"You're letting everyone in here think that you are up for grabs, and I think you have had plenty. I want to talk to you later and I'd prefer it if you were able to comprehend what I am saying." I tell her.

"No thinks I am up for grabs." She rolls her eyes at me which just increases my annoyance and frustration level. "Do I need to announce to the whole bar that I am taken by you?" She asks me and then proceeds to stand up on her chair, making a scene. "Excuse me everyone!! I just want to point out that I am taken by this hot stud sitting here beside me. I appreciate the drinks that were bought for me, but I do not want you to be misled! I am here to have a great time watching some football and drinking some beer!" The whole place starts cheering loudly. "So, now that I have cleared that up, let's watch some football!!" The whole place goes into an uproar. She sits back down and smiles at me. "See, baby, it's all good. No one thinks that I am 'up for grabs.'" She leans over to give me a kiss and I just turn to give her my cheek.

Trace and Chase both look over at me with a sympathetic look and I roll my eyes this time. Sure enough it is not long before more drink are sent over for Arianna, 'the party girl,' and I have had enough.I ask our server for our check and I decide to cash out. "I'm leaving. I'm going to go back to the house. I will see you all there." I tell her. I head out the door when I hear someone yelling out after me.

"Justin, wait!" I turn to see Chase walking over to me. "Look, I am sorry. I don't know why she's being this way but I have a feeling something happened at work that she doesn't want to think about. If it didn't happen at work, then it's something." He looks down at the floor and then back at me. "I'm not trying to make excuses for the girl because we all know the girl is not perfect, but I just want to make sure that you do not take this all personal. You should know better than most that she is just handle things differently than most people. Just give her time."

I just nod. "Thanks. I think I am just going to go back to the house and think some things through."

"I want to leave, too. Give me a minutes." Chase runs back and I see him lean over and say something to Trace, who turns to look at me and gives me a pity look, and then he says something to Arianna. She looks over at me and gives me a confused look and then shrugs her shoulders. Chase jogs back over. "Trace is going to wait it out with her to see if she needs someone to drive or cut her off if she's going to drive herself. You know Trace won't get to drive. I don't even get to drive and I'm a good friend of her." Chase laughs. We head out and go back to the house.

Chase immediately joins in on the wedding things with Tabbetha, and I just go upstairs to Arianna's bedroom and choose to lie down and just think about some things. I am sure Chase informed Tabbetha what happened and I just let them talk. I am done talking about this until I talk to Arianna herself.

ARIANNA

It has been about two hours since Justin left the bar and I am trying to quietly make my way back into the house without being noticed. I take my shoes off to help, but as my luck would have it would have it, as I was taking off my shoe I lost my balance and fell into the big table by the door that just so happened to have a lot of clutter on it. This wonderful array of noise definitely draws attention from the two in the living room. I hear the movie stop playing and then footsteps follow. Tabbetha comes around the corner and then proceeds to lean against the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest with the most disappointed look on her face. I cannot even make myself roll my eyes this time because I know she has a reason.

"Butt out," is my reply as I finally get my damn shoe off and walk to the stairs.

"Arianna, I do not think you are aware of all the stress and tension you put on your relationship with him. He is trying everything to make it work and you are doing everything to make sure it doesn't." She tells me as she shakes her head and just turns without another word or even look and walks back into the living room, where I soon hear the movie start playing again.

I slowly make my way up the stairs and into my bedroom where I find Justin lying on my bed in the most uncomfortable position. I can tell he had been sitting there waiting for me to come home. I am sure he assumed I would come home soon after he left but I did not. He is sitting against my headboard slouched over with his head against the wall leaning to the side. His back and neck and shoulders are going to be extremely sore in the morning. I will definitely owe him a massage. I walk over and try to gently wake him up so he can at least move into a comfortable position if he does not want to talk to me right now.

I nudge him a little and rub his arm softly. "Justin, baby, wake up," I whisper in his ear. "You need to wake up. You are going to be sore tomorrow sleeping in that position." I continue to rub his arm as he starts to move a little. I hear a soft groan come his lips which makes me smile a little. "Come on. You need to wake up."

He finally opens his mouth and moves to sit up straight now. He starts to stretch out the already sore muscles and swings around to where his feet are hanging off the opposite of the bed and his back is to me now. I can see over his shoulder that he is staring down at his fidgeting hands. "I think we need to talk," he finally says quietly.

I nod even though he is not able to see it. I move to sit beside him, but I am turned sideways, facing him, with my feet pulled up in indian-style. I place my hand on his arm because I am afraid if I try to hold his hand he will pull away from me. I want to say something, but he needs to say what he needs to first. I have hurt him enough for the night and it is only fair for him if I allow him to get whatever off his mind.

He turns to me and I see the sad disappointed look in his face. It bothers me ten times more the look I had just received from Tabbetha not five minutes ago. It is hard for me to continue looking at him, but I do because I know that is what he needs me to do. "I don't know what got into you tonight, but it really bothered me." He starts off. "I invited you out to hang with us. I was hoping that we could all hang out, watch some football, and just enjoy each other's company. I know you get along with Chase, but I want you to be able to get along with Trace enough to where maybe he can hang out with us more. I realize he can't truly be in on your lifestyle and all, but we are best friends and I want you all to be able to be around each other." He looks away from me again and goes back to look at his hands that are still in his lap. "Trace likes you and knows that I plan on keeping you around for long time, but tonight you embarrassed me and upset me. At first it was just a little annoying and frustrating but then I tell you how I feel and you just make a lot worse and continue with what you were doing with no regard to my feelings at all." He looks back at me and my heart breaks. "I may sound like a stupid girl saying this but you hurt my feelings and I don't know what I did to deserve it."

I shake my head at him before I can even find words, "Justin--"

"I was hoping that we could talk about some things that were on my mind, but you are obviously more worried about partying it up with strangers, so I guess we can talk in the morning." He says as he moves to stand up.

"Justin, wait." I grab onto his arm to get him to stay seated. He does not look at me, and I do not blame him. "I am truly truly sorry for the way I acted and the way I made you feel. You are not a 'stupid girl' for telling me how you feel. I'm glad you did. I'm sorry I didn't do anything to make you feel better" I tell him and he turns to look at me. I take a deep breath and close my eyes for few seconds before I open them again. "I'm not drunk. I never was." I tell him and I receive the doubtful look I knew I would get. "I wasn't. The bartenders know me well there and know not to make me any alcoholic drinks that I do not order myself. I had to act that way to make the others believe they were." Now he is giving me a confused look. "I had to leave earlier today because I got a call from James that there was trouble." Justin rolls his eyes when I mention James like he does every time I mention James but this time I ignore it like I do most of the time. "When I got to the mansion, he explained to me that some of our men were supposed to go check out this guy that supposedly is holding up some girls in a warehouse and trying to sell them out to the highest bidder. Long story short, they messed some things up and got caught. I was not happy that they were stupid enough to go without proper instructions from either me or James. I had to act the way I did at the bar because some of the men there are part of this group I am trying to take care of and they didn't recognize me and I am trying to convince them that I am a drinker and way too trustworthy with the drinks. I need an in and this is it for me." I explain to him. "I am so sorry I hurt your feelings and I am so sorry that I couldn't tell you, but I had to have you believe I'm a bitch and leave because I didn't want them to think that we are strongly linked together or they will never approach me again."

We sit there in silence for a few minutes before he nods a little. "I understand, but I guess I am tired. I feel like it is always work with you. I know I knew who you were when we started dating and when I decided to make this commitment with you, but it feels like it is getting worse and worse as we go. There's tonight and the other night when we were supposed to be having a nice quiet dinner, it turned into a stake out. I tried to take you to the movies and we had to leave because your phone kept ringing, and we decide to just stay home and hang out together, James stops by or he calls or you end up having an emergency." He is obviously really upset about all of this. "I just feel like you aren't committed to this like I am."

"I know and I hate that you feel that way. I didn't realize you were having a problem with all of this. I just assumed you knew this was all the stuff that just came along with dating me, and I take it for granted that you are willing to stay with me and work with me through all of this even though you have no idea what is going on most of the time. I promise I will try to consider that more and try to have more us time without any work." I lean over and kiss him on the cheek. "Did you want to talk about what was on your mind earlier or do you just want to go to bed and talk about it in the morning?" I ask him.

"I'm really tired. I think I just want to go to bed. I guess we can just talk about it in the morning."

I can tell that he really wanted to talk to me about it, but was not in the mood to do so anymore. I feel terrible because it seems every time we get through a problem, something else comes up. First, it was the family discussion again this morning, and then when I'm able to get him to drop it and wants to talk about something else, I go and act like a bitch and ruin for us both. I have got to learn to balance my work and my personal lives out a little better or I am going to lose him again, and probably permanently this time. It is just so hard because I am used to either being with James who knows all about my work life and tendencies and shares them or just dating boys for short periods of time without having to really share much about me before I get bored and toss them to the curb. I need to learn how to be in a real relationship and learn how to put that before other things some times. I need help and a lot more luck.