A week had gone by and Laura was keeping herself busy by helping Justin out on some of his material and working on her other project. Rachel had been visiting more and more each day. Laura didn't know whether or not it was because Rachel missed her friendship or if she was digging for information.

She was dealing with a constant battle each day within herself. How could she hate her? Were they both guilty of the same crime? Were Laura and JC just as bad as Rachel was for keeping secrets?

That weekend Justin had invited Laura out for bite to eat. She hadn't told anyone that it was her birthday. No one had mentioned it...Not even JC. She was just too depressed to celebrate. During dinner Justin noticed that something was wrong with her. She had hardly touched her food. When he asked if she was ok she would just smile and nod her head telling him she was fine. After dinner Justin walked Laura to the house. She was feeling very relaxed with the three glasses of wine she had earlier. The night was still young and she invited him in to watch movies. As they entered the house and turned on the lights, Laura was suddenly startled.

"SURPRISE!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" everyone shouted.

Laura focused her eyes and could see a large group of people standing around smiling at her. She turned around and looked at Justin who was smiling. "You knew about this?" she asked in shock.

He nodded and leaned down and hugged her. "Happy birthday." he said into her ear. Laura kissed him on the cheek and asked, "How did you do this?"

"I didn't. Rachel did." he said reluctantly.

She turned around and saw Rachel standing there smiling at her. She looked to her left and spotted Hallie walking towards her.

"Oh my God!!" Laura screamed as she ran up to Hallie and gave her a big hug.

Rachel was a little jealous as she watched her best friend pass her by.

"Hallie, I can't believe you are here!"

Hallie explained how Rachel sent her a plane ticket to get there. Laura finally turned around and grabbed Rachel's hand and squeezed it. "Thank you for all this." she pointed out. She leaned over and hugged Rachel lightly. Laura still felt uneasy around her friend, but tried her best to show her appreciation.

Jennifer Lopez's "Jenny From The Block" began to blast through the speakers. Laura looked over and saw JC leaning against the ledge as he showed Justin where the rest of the cd's were. He looked at her while taking a sip of his drink and lifted his cup towards her. She smiled and nodded. He then went back to talking to Justin.

During the party JC's attention was centered on Laura most of the time. Her hair was up with a few spiraled tendrils hanging down her face. He immediately recognized the diamond necklace she had on. He had bought it for her when they first got together and had her name put on it. She had on a white coquet top and a pair of tight low cut jeans with leather strings hanging down the middle of her crotch and a white pair of leather knee high heeled boots. He felt his cock begin to stir as he watched her body and wondered if she had anything on underneath.

"Don't let Rachel catch you doing that?"

JC snapped out of his gaze and looked towards Justin. "Catch me doing what?" he asked.

Justin laughed. "You know what...Staring at Laura like she has something you desperately need."

JC looked around to see where Rachel was. He let out a sigh when he spotted her in the kitchen filling up the ice buckets and talking to Lance and Joey who were sitting at the table eating. He took the tiny straw in his drink and began to stir as he looked down into the cup. "I wasn't staring."

"Then what would you like to call it, JC?"

"I just glanced over to see if she was enjoying the party is all."

Justin smiled and shook his head. "Why don't you just kick Rachel out and do the best you can to get your wife back?"

JC looked around to see if anyone heard Justin. He nudged him with his elbow. "Watch it, J."

"Well that's what she is. Or did you forget that?"

"Of course I didn't. I also didn't forget what she did to me. How can you have a relationship when there is no trust or honesty?"

Justin knew they were about to start bickering. "It's her birthday so I am not even going to argue with you about this right now, but you need to take a good long look at the situation and do some soul searchin’, dude."

Justin got up and walked over to Laura and a group of her friends. JC watched as he interrupted them and asked Laura to dance. She smiled and handed her cup to Hallie. Justin took her hand and pulled her towards the middle of the floor. He wrapped his hands around her lower waist as they both began to dance to the reggae music that was now playing throughout the house.

Justin had his knee slightly in between her legs. JC watched as Laura turned her back to Justin and began to sway her arms to the rhythm of the beat. JC set down his drink and folded his arms. He tried not to watch them but found it hard not to. He started tapping his foot in frustration and began to constantly pull at his jeans and fix his shirt. He watched as his friend grabbed the sides of her hips and pulled her back closer to his body. Jealousy and anger started to take over as he watched how close Justin's crotch was to her ass. JC stood up and started to walk towards them when a hand pushed on his chest.

"Chill back, man." Chris whispered to him as he removed his hand from JC's chest. "They're only dancing."

JC took another glance and noticed Justin sandwiched between Laura and Hallie. He grabbed Chris' drink and gulped it down. His friends eyes widened at the sight. Chris went to speak but JC put his hand up and shook his head from side to side signaling his friend not to say a word.

"Oh there you are!" Rachel exclaimed as she walked towards him. "I have been looking for you. Come get out of this corner and dance with me for a bit."

The mood suddenly changed. A slow tune had now begun to play. "If I was The One" by Ruff Endz was on. Rachel wrapped her arms around JC's neck and they both began to sway to the music. JC looked over at Laura who was about to go sit down until Justin asked for another dance. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

I see the way he treats you,

I feel the tears you cried,

And it makes me sad, and it makes me mad,

There's nothing I can do baby.

Cause your lover is my best friend,

And I guess that's where they story ends.

So I've gotta try, to keep it inside.

You will never be, never be mine but,

If I was the one who was loving you, baby.

The only tears you'd cry would be tears of joy.

And if I was by your side,

You'd never know one lonely night

And if it was my arms you were running to,

I'd give you love in these arms of mine.

If I was the one in your life.

Laura looked around at everyone and noticed JC and Rachel close by. She and JC locked eyes and watched each other as they danced.

If I could have just one wish,

I'd wish that you were mine,

I would hold you near,

Kiss away those tears.

I'd be so good to you baby.

You're the one I want next to me,

But I guess that's just not meant to be.

He's there in your life,

And he's sharing your nights,

It'll never be, never be right.

If I was the one who was loving you, baby.

The only tears you'd cry would be tears of joy.

And if I was by your side,

You'd never know one lonely night

And if it was my arms you were running to,

I'd give you love in these arms of mine.

If I was the one in your life.

JC slowly swayed his way closer to Laura and Justin. Her back was now facing him and he did everything he could to get Justin's attention. Justin looked up and saw him dancing with Rachel and gave him a strange look. JC mouthed to him that he wanted to switch partners. Justin took his hand that was wrapped around Laura's back and gave him the okay signal and winked.

Yeah, baby.

I wanna reach out and view beside me,

Right here beside me, babe.

Take you in my arms right now,

Scream 'I love you' right out loud.

Some day I pray, that I'll find the strength,

To turn to you and say,

If I was the one who was loving you, baby.

The only tears you'd cry would be tears of joy.

And if I was by your side,

You'd never know one lonely night

And if it was my arms you were running to,

I'd give you love in these arms of mine.

If I was the one in your life.....

Both JC and Justin slow danced their way towards one another. Justin intentionally made sure that he bumped into Rachel's back.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Rach." he said.

JC took his cue and said, "Mind if we switch? I haven't gotten a chance to dance with the birthday girl yet." He had already let Rachel go.

"Umm....Ok." she responded, obviously caught off guard by the sudden change in partners

.

"Is that okay with you, Laura?" Justin asked looking down at her. She glared at him as she tried to figure out what he was up to. "Yeah, it's fine."

Justin took Rachel's hand in his and wrapped his other hand around her back and began to dance with her. JC and Laura stood there momentarily not knowing what to do next. "Time After Time" began to play. He finally gathered up the strength and outstretched his hand for hers. She placed her hand in his as he lifted it up onto his shoulder and wrapped his arms around her back.  "Happy Birthday, Laura."

"Thanks, JC."

"How's it going so far?"

"As good as can be expected under the circumstances."

JC didn't know how to respond to her last comment.

"How's it going with Rachel and the baby?"

"Pretty good." he lied. "They're settling in just fine."

"That's nice to hear. She told me about that last week."

"About what?"

"How it was going to take some time to get back into your old routine...Sexually, I mean. She was saying you seem distant when the two of you are together...As if you are thinking of someone else."

JC's head spun around so fast to look at Rachel that he almost caught whiplash. "She said that?"

"Yeah. Nothing to be embarrassed about, JC. It happens to the best of us." Laura was clearly drunk and speaking her mind.

"What else did she tell you?" he asked as he looked down at her. Laura didn't look up at him. She focused her attention on other couples dancing around them. "Not very much. It was hard to listen at times."

"Look, I'm-"

"Can we just dance and not talk?" she said as her eyes met his. "I just want to enjoy the song. I at least want to partially enjoy my birthday."

"I'm sorry." he said as he looked up towards Justin who was looking for clues as to what was going on. JC just shook his head slightly and closed his eyes. Rachel looked over at Laura and JC and began to feel uneasy.

"Something wrong?" Justin asked.

"Ummm...No. I think I am just a bit tired from all the running around I did earlier." she responded.

"Well I am sure she appreciates it."

"You think so?" she asked.

"Of course.

"I just can't tell these days. She's been very distant."

"Laura has a lot going on right now. You just have to give her time to sort through it all. She will come around. What's the deal with you and Jerry?" Justin said trying to take her attention away from JC and Laura.