Over the course of the next two weeks, things went pretty much the same they had that first day with Raleigh and Josh. They worked constantly on their music, trying to find the right tempo, instrument, or lyric, stopping only to eat, sleep, or use the bathroom, however briefly. However, it didn't take long for something to get in the way of Raleigh's creative process, something she couldn't identify. As easily as they had written the first song together, she thought it'd be a piece of cake doing this with Josh. However every time she tried to write lyrics, she came up either empty handed or with a bunch of fluffy crap. Nothing was ever good enough. She told Josh she didn't know what was wrong with her. She couldn't understand what was holding her creative juices hostage, but secretly she knew exactly what the problem was.

Daniel had finally given in and called her, apologizing for how he'd reacted. But, he'd also told her, she shouldn't have kept it from him and instead of denying having kept anything from him, she just apologized and told him she loved him and they'd spoken every day since. That was four days after he'd left and ever since it was like her creativity was just stopped up. Nothing would come out that was remotely good.

So now, there she sat in bed, three in the morning and unable to sleep, watching The Phantom of the Opera for the umpteenth time, able to quote it perfectly beginning to end. She was staring intently at the screen, sucked entirely into the film as the phantom sang "you will curse the day you did not do, all that the phantom asked of you" when she suddenly heard Josh's voice, startling her out of her focus.

"Josh." She said breathless, hand on her chest as she waited for her heartbeat to return to normal.

"I'm sorry, I didn't meant to scare you."

"It's alright. What are you doing up?" She ran her hand through her disheveled hair, suddenly conscious of how messy she must have looked.

"I was actually going to ask you that." He chuckled softly, coming fully into her room. "I went down to get a bottle of water and noticed your light on so I came to investigate. Phantom huh?"

She smiled sheepishly. "I couldn't sleep."

"I figured. Well, I'll let you get back to Gerard Butler's terrible singing." He nodded toward the television before turning on his heel as if to leave when Raleigh's soft voice stopped him.

"Josh?" She hesitated briefly. "Would you mind staying? Watch the rest of the movie with me?"

Looking at her fully for the first time since entering the bedroom, Josh noticed the remnants of a nightmare in her eyes. She looked terrified. "What's wrong, Ray?"

"Nothing, I just...it's always more fun to watch this with someone who loves the show as much as I do." He knew that wasn't what she'd wanted to say but he conceded and climbed into bed next to her, pushing away thoughts that this was the bed she shared with him.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the beginning of Masquerade play out when Josh opened his mouth. "I don't understand something. On Broadway, this is three months later. Why didn't they say so in the movie? It makes it seem like it's the next day or something."

Raleigh couldn't hold back her snort of laughter. "Well I'd thought you loved the show as much as I do. It's in the lyrics. You have to listen."

"Oh." He replied brilliantly, feeling rather sheepish for not realizing that sooner.

It wasn't long before Josh felt Raleigh's head fall to his shoulder and heard her soft sigh as she snuggled closer. It was then that he knew she was closer to sleep than she had been all night. It was only a few minutes later that he began to hear her soft snoring in his ear, a sound he'd missed dearly. Very slowly and gently, he moved her so that they could lie side by side on the bed facing one another. As he lay on his side, listening to the final chords of Down Once More play out in the background, he stared at her face, peaceful with sleep, memorizing once more everything about it, every line and every freckle. It'd been a long time since he was able to do so, and though he was exhausted, he couldn't make himself close his eyes. He was too afraid he wouldn't get another chance like this. He also knew he should probably turn off the movie and go back down the hall to his own room, but just as he was afraid to close his eyes, he couldn't make himself leave her side, telling himself it was because she might have another nightmare and would want him there to protect her from the darkness.

Slowly reaching a hand out, Josh gently pushed back a few strands of stray hair while tracing the side of her face with his fingers, relishing in the feel of her smooth skin. He wished he could muster the courage to touch her this way while she was awake, but he also knew she'd never let him this close to her. Not while Daniel Cooper was still in her life anyway.

He wasn't sure when exactly he'd fallen asleep, but the sun streaming in through the window in front of him woke him up later that morning. He was aware of two things instantly; he wasn't in his bedroom, and Raleigh wasn't beside him anymore. Rolling over into a sitting position, Josh rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked at the bedside clock, realizing he slept much later than he'd anticipated. Leaving the torturous bedroom, Josh went downstairs in search of his hostess and found her dancing around the kitchen to Meatloaf with a spatula in her hand. Leaning against the doorframe, Josh watched in amusement, a grin playing on his lips as she acted more like herself in this moment than he'd seen the entire time he'd been in LA. He hadn't realized how easy it was to catch her off guard, dancing and singing like a maniac until he'd caught her twice back home doing the exact same thing.

The only difference was this time she'd caught him off guard.

"I know you know this song Joshua!" She was turned toward him, pointing the spatula in his direction. "Will you love me forever?"

Running to her side, Josh grabbed a spoon of his own and sang into it just in time for his favorite part of the song. "I couldn't take it any longer, God I was crazed and then this feeling came upon me like a tidal wave, I started swearing to my God and on my mother's grave that I would love you ‘til the end of time. I swore I would love you ‘til the end of time!" Joining with Josh for the final verse of the song, Raleigh couldn't help the smile as it splayed across her lips, enjoying every moment of the song.

They used to do this all the time, randomly breaking out into song and dancing together, making a microphone out of whatever was closest to them, and it never grew old. She'd thought that maybe one day when they were older it wouldn't be as fun, that acting like the child she always wished she could be would become boring to her. But it never did and she was thankful for that.

"I swear you like the most random music." Josh laughed as he set down the wooden spoon.

"Don't act like you don't too." She joined his laughter, flipping the eggs in the frying pan, hoping they hadn't overcooked as she sang with Josh.

"I never said it was a bad thing." He defended, dropping a couple pieces of bread into the toaster.

Together they finished breakfast, talking about the song they had left off working on the night before. As they sat down to eat they continued their conversation, once again bringing Raleigh to apologize that she couldn't come up with anything good enough for the soundtrack. This lead to Josh asking something he hadn't been sure he'd even wanted to ask.

"If I asked you to go somewhere with me, would you?" There was something in Josh's voice, the intensity in his crystal eyes that made Raleigh realize he wasn't joking. Swallowing the sarcastic remark she'd been about to make, she answered seriously.

"That depends on where you want to take me." She said carefully.

A sad smile began to turn up the corner of his mouth. "You know, once upon a time you let me surprise you."

"Once upon a time you were the only one I had to think about." She blurted without thinking, immediately feeling guilty. Although, why should she? She loved Dan and she wasn't sorry for having found him.

"That may be true," he seemed to hesitate slightly. "But it doesn't change the fact that you always love my surprises." He watched for a minute as Raleigh visibly thought about it, raging a war against right or wrong. "Look, we could both use a break from writing. A distraction might be exactly what you need to get those creative juices flowing again."

She hated when he made sense. She hated it even more when he made her seriously consider actually going with him without a second thought.

"Come on, Ray. You know you're dying to know what I have planned. I promise to have you back within three days." She was about to give in, to tell him yes when she realized what he said.

"Three days?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowing in question. "Where could you possibly want to take me that will take three days?" She watched as his face morphed into one of guilt and she knew he hadn't meant to let that tiny detail slip. With a sigh he gave up.

"London."

"As in England?" She laughed incredulously. "You want me to just leave the country with you?"

"Come on, Ray." She noticed he became repetitive when he was desperate. "It would serve as the perfect distraction. Get your mind off of everything. We have plenty of time to work on the songs, and like I said, it's just three days."

Sighing, Raleigh pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'll think about it, okay?"

"That's all I needed to hear." Josh stood up and grabbed their plates and went to the sink. "I'll do the dishes."

"Josh, I said I'd think about it. That's not a yes."

"It's close enough." She would have argued with him further, told him no just to spite him, and she would have had her phone not rang at that exact moment. Shaking her head she went into the hallway to grab the cordless.

"Finally! I swear you are the hardest person to get a hold of. I've been calling your cell all morning." Raleigh couldn't help but to laugh at Autumn's rushed voice.

"I'm sorry, it's upstairs and I'm pretty sure still on silent. What's up?"

"Meet me for lunch!"

"Is that a request or a command?"

"Both! Twelve-thirty at Jay's. Don't keep me waiting!" She hung up on a giggle and Raleigh couldn't help but to roll her eyes. Something had Autumn in an unusually good mood. She'd be there just to find out what was going on.

It was just before twelve-thirty when Raleigh pulled up outside the small restaurant. Raleigh could see Autumn from where she parked so she walked into the place and went right to sit across from her at the table.

"Good, you came."

"You didn't exactly give me a choice." Raleigh laughed, accepting the menu the waitress had immediately brought her. Already knowing what she wanted to eat, they placed their orders and were left alone. "So what was so important you needed to get me here?"

"I wanted to show you some sketches I drew up this morning." Raleigh couldn't help the snort that escaped her.

"That's what you brought me here for? To show me some new designs?"

"Yes!" Autumn's excitement far outweighed the capacity to detect sarcasm. "I wanted to get your take on them before I had them made."

"Why?" Raleigh asked as she took the portfolio from Autumn.

"Because I was hoping you could use these for your and Josh's appearances for this project you're working on."

Not saying anything, Raleigh opened to the first sketch and was struck speechless, although why she was surprised she didn't know. Autumn's designs were always nothing short of amazing. The first was a black dress she had managed to make elegant and simple. It had a sweetheart neckline, a fitted bodice and skirt that fell to just above the knee, and one strap crossing from the left to the right. She muttered her approval as she moved on to the following sketches. While some were more conservative where others were more formal, every single one of them managed to wow her.

"These are amazing, Autumn. I would love to wear these." She said with completely sincerity.

"I'm so glad." Her excitement was palpable as she took back her portfolio and Raleigh suddenly knew why she was so happy. She had worn Autumn's designs before, but never to anything she'd been promoting so this would really get her name out there in a positive way. Raleigh would truly be doing her a favor in an intense way and she thought about asking her to draw up something for Josh to wear as well. However, as it usually did, at the first thought of her former lover Raleigh found her mind flooded with thoughts of him. What he was doing at the house without her, was he thinking of her, was he working on the music they had created alone? At the thought of music Raleigh found herself instantly irritable. What was wrong with her lately? Why couldn't she write any lyrics that were deep and meaningful? Why was it suddenly as though she were a child again, completely inexperienced at writing songs?

It wasn't until Autumn was snapping her fingers in Raleigh's face that she realized she had dazed, completely ignoring her friend and the fact that her cheeseburger was suddenly right in front of her.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Raleigh watched Autumn's eyes as they slightly squinted at her as she chewed a french fry.

"Where did you go just now?"

"Nowhere." She shrugged.

"Liar." Was all she said as she stabbed a piece of grilled chicken of her salad and popped it into her mouth. "You look like something's bothering you and with Daniel having forgiven you I can only assume it's not him."

"Your ability to detect the obvious amazes me." Raleigh gave her a halfhearted smile as she nibbled on another fry.

Not one to be deterred, Autumn pushed on. "So? What's wrong? Is it Josh?"

Sighing, Raleigh decided to ask her for her opinion on the matter. "No, it's me." Autumn raised an eyebrow in question. "I suddenly can't seem to write anything of good quality. Every single lyric I write down is pure fluffy crap and I just can't understand why. I've never had this problem before. You give me a subject and a beat and I can come up with anything, so what the hell is my problem?" She asked, her agitation with herself clear on her face and in her voice.

Biting her lip, Autumn deliberated on whether or not she should speak completely honestly with Raleigh. Deciding honesty was best, she went for it. "Ray, the movie you're writing this soundtrack for is basically your and Josh's life story, right?" Slowly, Raleigh nodded. "You can't figure out what the problem is because you've cut yourself off from that world. That part of you that lived and breathed for Josh. If you want to write something that isn't complete garbage, you're going to have to go back there. To who you used to be."

Immediately Raleigh was shaking her head. "I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"You don't know, Autumn. You don't know what it did to me, what I went through when Josh broke up with me. You don't know how hard it was to keep living without him."

Leaning forward, Autumn refused to give up. This is what Raleigh needed whether she wanted to admit it to herself or not. "Use it. All that emotion you're hiding right now and have been hiding for the last five years, use it. You're not going to be able to write a damn thing good enough for this movie if you don't, and you know it. Josh was your biggest inspiration and he's right in front of you. Use it."

Unable to meet Autumn's gaze, Raleigh watched as she absent-mindedly picked away at her roll. "I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"Of remembering it all, letting it all back in. Letting him in."

"I know. Believe me, I know. But you signed on for this because I know you wanted to do this. To finally be able to accept everything back into your life."

Raleigh was silent for a few moments, just thinking over everything Autumn was being so blunt about when she suddenly blurted, "Josh asked me to go away to London with him." Raleigh saw the surprise written clearly on Autumn's face and felt the sudden urge to laugh. "For three days."

"And what did you say?"

"No at first, but then I told him I'd think about it. As much as I hate to admit it his reasoning, although complete horse-shit, made sense."

"Which was?" She asked around a mouthful of salad.

"That I'm overworked and fried and what I need is to just get away for a couple days. Doing something fun and getting my mind off the project might be good for me."

Autumn's silence as she weighed what she'd said nearly killed Raleigh. She wanted to shout at her to tell her what she should do.

"Ray," she noticed the hesitance in her voice and waited for her to say it wasn't a good idea. However her actual response was entirely different. "I think you should go."

"You do?" She could hear the astonishment in her own voice.

"Yes." She said adamantly. "For three reasons. One: Josh is right, it would be good for you to get away. Two: Being alone with him in a foreign city where you know no one will help break down that wall in your brain you're so stubbornly keeping up. And three: You want to go with him."

It wasn't until Raleigh was driving home that she thought of the reason that probably should have been the first one to tell her why she shouldn't go. Dan had just started talking to her again, had just forgiven her. How would he react to her leaving the country with the object of his contempt? But even that didn't keep her from telling Josh yes the second she was in front of him. She hadn't realized it until Autumn had said it aloud, but she wanted to go with him.