Rachel slowly walked across the backyard through the fence and into JC's. She could hear him down the hall in his bedroom singing the rubber ducky song. She inched her way into the bathroom and saw that he was giving Nikolas a bath. Nikky splashed around in the water each time JC squeezed the plastic toy to the tune he was singing. Nikolas recognized his mother standing there and outstretched his arms for her. JC turned around and saw that she was soaking wet.

"It looks like mommy got caught in all that rain outside." JC said to Nikolas. He grabbed a towel from the side of the tub and threw it towards her so she could dry off. He then grabbed another towel and picked up the baby and wrapped him tightly inside it. Rachel watched JC closely as he carried the baby back into his bedroom and laid him out and dressed him. He held Nikky in his arms and grabbed a book and began to read it aloud. Rachel would continuously look towards the ceiling to stop the tears from falling from her eyes. Laura's words played back in her mind over and over again as she thought back on everything that had just happened. She watched as Nikolas kicked his feet and grabbed at the book as he listened to JC reading to him. The baby soon drifted off to sleep and JC carefully took him into the new room he had specially decorated. Once he was finished he headed back down the hallway towards his room where he saw Rachel sitting on the edge of the bed crying.

"What's wrong?"

"I talked to Laura tonight."

"Oh." Trying not to seem too interested, he asked, "What did she have to say?"

"It was just a great deal of mean and spiteful conversation, but at the end she told me that she was just waiting on you to sign the papers so she could be rid of us both."
JC sat down next to her on the bed and looked down at the floor as he thought to himself. "I'm sorry you had to find out the way you did. I had planned on telling you everything last night after the party, but my emotions had the best of me and I couldn't control myself."

Rachel wiped her face and said, "You know for a long time I was scared to death this would happen." She slid off her jacket and began to dry her hair off with the towel.

"That what would happen? I would get into a fight with your brother?" he asked as he looked towards her completely confused.

"No..." She paused. "You and Laura." Rachel got up and walked over to the window and looked out at the sky. "Before I even got with Jerry, I could feel it coming. I could never hold your attention the way she did. She effortlessly took away all your focus on me and I could never understand how she did it. I envied her. I always have." she said as she looked back at him.

JC leaned back across the bed as he listened to her continue.

"She has this aura about her. Everyone that comes in contact with her ends up loving her just for who she is. Just a smile is all she has to give and people are captivated. For a long time I tried to figure out why you were so interested in everything she did. She would come over and you would perk up just a little bit more, and your smile would be just a little bit brighter. When you both spoke about music and about different things like that, it was as if I didn't even exist for those few moments. And when you both had to go away together for work I would be so terrified that you would come back and tell me something had happened between the two of you."

JC stood up and walked over to the dresser to take out his clothes. "You know I would never do that. I'm not you. I don't go around having affairs." he snapped.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "I guess I deserve that. But what I'm trying to explain is that...I had the man. But I was sitting there jealous of my best friend because she had your undivided attention anytime she walked in the room." Rachel got up and walked over to JC who was sifting through his drawers trying to avoid eye contact with her. "She didn't have to dress sexy for you. She didn't have to make sure she looked perfect for you. She didn't have to put any effort into holding a conversation with your friends...She didn't have to do anything at all. I wanted that. I missed having that with you...Jerry gave that to me. All I had to do was walk into a room and I had his attention...Day and night. Whenever I needed it, he was there giving me exactly what I wanted."

"Well then why aren't you there now, Rachel?" JC asked as he slammed his drawer shut and walked over to the bed. He slowly turned around and hesitated before he began to speak. "Is that your reasoning behind cheating on me with him? You were jealous and wanted attention? You threw away years of what I felt was just the beginning of the best times of our lives just for a few moments of attention every now and then?"

"You were always away, JC. Always in this city or that country."

"You understood that coming into this relationship, Rachel. I wasn't the only one who was away. Every chance you got you bolted out of here on any acting job your could get your hands on. You didn't see me sitting around looking for attention from another woman. When I wanted to be with you I got my ass on a plane and flew to wherever you were...No matter how far....Just to be with you. So don't bullshit me about me abandoning you or leaving you lonely!"

"I'm sorry. I don't want to fight with you. I just want to get this out in the open so we can start fresh." Rachel explained trying to calm JC down.

"Do you know how much I loved you? I did anything and everything for you! Yeah, Me and Laura had a lot in common. But whatever you thought you saw between the two of us was simply me being amazed by her talent. I still am. That's just pure insecurity on your part. You had me eating out of the palm of your hand, Rachel." JC said as he looked up towards her. "Opening my eyes and seeing yours gazing back at me every morning was enough to make me melt. I loved everything about you. The way you were so playful, so jovial and excited anytime you would beat me at cards. The long talks we would have every night before we drifted off to sleep in each other's arms."

Rachel walked over and stood in front of JC wanting to touch him so badly. JC let his finger tips lightly graze her face. "The way your cheeks would turn red anytime I kissed you right here." he said as he let his fingertips slide down the side of her neck. "There were so many things I adored about you...So many things I still do."

"Do you still love me?" she asked as she started to unbutton her soaked shirt.

"I love you for giving birth to our son. And another part of me loves you because you are you. Am I still in love with you? I don't know right now."

"I understand...I'll just have to gain it back somehow." she said as she lightly tugged at his pajama bottoms to pull him in closer to her. Rachel slowly ran her hands up his wifebeater and let her fingernails graze his skin as she slid them back down to the waistline of his pants. JC eyes fluttered in the back of his head. She smiled and lightly ran her tongue over his neck and up his chin to his lips. He lightly kissed her back and placed his hands on her sides.

"I missed this." she stated in between kisses.

"So did I." he replied as the kisses grew more intense.

~~~~~~~~~~

"This is so amazing JC!" Rachel said loudly as she looked at him threw the glass window.
"Well we can only mess around for a few minutes until the guys get here, but I wanted to see what you can do." he joked to her.
JC told her to step closer to the mic and to place the headphones over her ears. He pressed play on the cd and told her to go for it. JC tried his best not to laugh when her voice changed pitch 5 times in two seconds. She laughed and cleared her throat and tried again. JC nodded to himself as he listened to her belt out the song. She didn't sound half bad.

"So what did you think?"

"You and Jennifer Lopez could give each other some competition."

"Oooowww. That was cruel." she smiled. JC just laughed and motioned for her to come back into the room. Chris and Joey walked in laughing and soon stopped when they spotted Rachel there.

"Hey." Chris said as the smile slowly faded from his face.

"Hey. What's so funny?" JC asked as he spun around in his chair.

"Nothing we were just talking to Christina. She's down the hall tellin jokes."

"Christina Aguilera?!" Rachel asked excitedly.

"Yeah!" Chris mocked.

"Damn Rachel. You sound star struck." JC joked.

"Well I am!" she yelled. "Is there any way we could sneak down there for a quick hello and an introduction?"

JC agreed. Joey was about to warn him but Chris stopped him and gave a sinister grin. Rachel decided to let JC go in first and wait a few minutes before walking in there. She was going to make it seem like she was looking for him rather than trying to meet Christina. JC mocked her childish scheme and went inside ahead of her.

"Yo, Rob. What's up?" JC said as he leaned over and shook the producer's hand.

"Not much. Just about to lay down a few tracks with Christina." he pointed out.

JC glanced over through the glass and saw Christina standing there talking to 4 other band members as they waited. JC went back to talking to the three men in the sound room. He could hear Christina's voice through the speakers as she joked around with the crew. Suddenly a familiar voice rang out and he immediately turned and noticed it was Laura. He moved to the side so that she wouldn't see him.

"Are we ready guys?" Laura asked. "I only want her to hear what it sounds like first. I'm warning you now, Christina. It's nothing that you have done before. You might need some time to get into it."

Rachel soon walked in and said, "Oh there you are, JC. The guys are looking for you."
JC stopped her, placing his finger over his lip to signal her to be quiet as he pointed towards the booth. Rachel looked and noticed Laura at the piano. They both stood there quietly watching and listening.

"Well I read the lyrics and they are incredible. I heard a bit of it on my answering machine last week. I leave myself in your hands, maestro. Just let me hear it already." Christina demanded.

Rob looked over at the man sitting next to him and said, "Terrence...I want to record this session. Don't tell them though. Just go and stall for me somehow so I can get ready."

"That good huh?" JC asked as he sat down on a nearby stool away from Laura's direct gaze.
"Have you read the lyrics? They were playing just instrumental a minute ago. It's funky as hell." he said as he handed JC the sheet music.

JC looked down and began to read. Rachel leaned over to read over his shoulder, but had no idea what she was looking at and gave up. She walked over and grabbed a stool and went and sat next to JC. She entwined her arm within his as they watched Laura and Christina through the glass.

"Okay. You done checking the guitars, Terrence? Or do we have to shoot you to get some work done around here?" Laura smiled.

She told Christina to come in anytime she wanted to try it out. Christina nodded as she sipped her bottled water. Laura adjusted her mic so she could play and sing at the same time without any trouble. She looked up for a cue from Rob and spotted Rachel and JC sitting to the side. Her heart suddenly began to beat faster and her hands were trembling.

She noticed how close Rachel was sitting to JC, but tried her best to focus her attention back to what she was doing. With a cue from Rob, Laura looked over at the band members and nodded to them as she began to play and speak softly. She closed her eyes and began to sing.

Well I, thought I knew you
Thinking that you were true
Guess I, I couldn't trust
Called your bluff, time is up
'Cause I've had enough

Laura opened her eyes and looked straight towards Rachel as she continued to sing.

You were, there by my side
Always, down for the ride
But your, joy ride just came down in flames
'Cause your greed sold me out in shame
After all of the stealing and cheating
You probably think that I hold resentment for you
But, oh no, you're wrong
'Cause if it wasn't for all that you tried to do
I wouldn't know just how capable I am to pull through
So I wanna say thank you

Rachel rolled her eyes and looked away from Rachel towards Christina who was bobbing her head to the beat.

'Cause it makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
It makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter
Made me learn a little bit faster
Made my skin a little bit thicker
Makes me that much smarter
So thanks for making me a fighter

JC smiled as he remembered her father saying the same thing about her being a fighter in his last letter to her. He watched her intently as she sang her heart out with her head pointed towards the ceiling. He looked over at Rob and Terrence who were sitting there jamming along. He grinned and focused his attention back on Laura. He noticed her gaze was directed at Rachel, who was quietly sitting there glaring back at Laura.

oh, oh, oh, oh
Never saw it coming
All of your backstabbing
Just so you could cash in
On a good thing before I realized your game
I heard you're going round
Playing the victim now
But don't even begin
Feeling I'm the one to blame
'Cause you dug your own grave

Laura sang with all her might as she moved her head from side to side with the beat still focusing her attention at Rachel.  The words Laura sang were all to familiar to Rachel from the night they argued at her house. Rachel noticed JC seemed to be in another world as he stared towards Laura. She looked back over at the band and noticed Christina's fist pounding at the air as she grooved with Laura and sang the chorus with her. Everyone in the room couldn't help but get goose bumps as they listened to the two women sing at the top of their lungs with such force and heart. Rachel rubbed her arms trying to act like none of it phased her.

'Cause it makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
Makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter
Made me learn a little bit faster
Made my skin a little bit thicker
It makes me that much smarter
So thanks for making me a fighter

Laura finally looked over at JC as she started to sing the bridge. Memories ran through her brain of all the times he said he loved her. She couldn't help but think it was all bullshit because of the loss he had felt after losing Rachel. Just a guy in denial of his true feelings for someone else. She remember the night when he acted to cruelly to her in their hotel room. She suddenly felt like she had been a temporary fill-in for her ex-best friend.

How could this man I thought I knew
Turn out to be unjust, so cruel
Could only see the good in you
Pretended not to see the truth
You tried to hide your lies, disguise yourself
Through living in denial
But in the end you'll see
You won't stop me
I am a fighter and I
I ain't goin' stop
There is no turning back
I've had enough

Laura closed her eyes. JC noticed the tears streaming down Laura's face as she sang. Rachel couldn't stand to listen to the song anymore and wanted to leave. She went to get JC's attention but knew it was hopeless once she saw the look in his eyes.

'Cause it makes me that much stronger
Thought I would forget
But I remember
I remember

Christina loudly clapped and ran over to the piano and hugged Laura tightly. "You are the fuckin' shit, girl!" she yelled. "You need to go and record that yourself. That was incredible!"
Laura smiled as she wiped away a few tears. "Nah, I'll leave that to you...Besides, I don't have the range you have, and that's how I wrote it."

"You are very fuckin' close to it. I mean, what you just did...That was all heart. You were on some personal type shit there. Everyone in here could feel that!" Christina pointed out.
Laura laughed and tried to minimize it's importance. She didn't look over at JC or Rachel. "This is what I do. I write things people can relate to. It's just apart of the job. That's how I get the big bucks."

Christina knew she was lying, but gave in to her explanation. "Whatever. I do want you to do background vocals with me though. I won't record it unless you agree."

Laura sat there for a moment deciding if she should. She reluctantly agreed. Rachel noticed they were about to enter into the sound room and wanted to get out of there before she had to deal with Laura. She nudged JC and asked if he was ready to go. He nodded in agreement, never looking over at her as he continued to watch Laura. Rachel grabbed his arm and lightly tugged. JC got up and slowly followed her towards the door. Laura looked over towards the sound room and went to speak to Rob and spotted JC starting to leave. He slightly smiled at her before disappearing from the room. Laura just stood there in a daze until Christina nudged her to come into the sound room to hear the song.

About an hour later Jerry popped his head into the room. "Hey, Christina?"

"Yeah, Jer?" She asked as she looked up from the couch.

"Can I borrow Laura for a minute?" he asked.

"Why you askin' me?"

"Well I didn't know if you guys were still working." he replied trying to be polite.

"I'll be back in a minute.  Write down what we were talking about in regards to that verse.  It sounded good." Laura told Christina as she got up to leave the room.

When Laura got out into the hallway, Jerry said, "Follow me please." and walked down the hallway. He stopped about 5 doors down and leaned up, looking through a small window to see which sound room he was at. Laura caught up with him and noticed he was hesitant to go inside.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Jerry didn't speak. Laura looked over his shoulder into the room and could see JC lying across the long leather couch with Rachel curled up between his legs. They both were laughing loudly and looking towards the rest of the group. Laura didn't know how to react. She placed her hand on Jerry's shoulder and was about to speak, but she couldn't find the words. Jerry placed his hand over hers and squeezed it lightly. It was as if he knew she was feeling just as hurt as he was. Jerry took a deep breath and gathered up the strength to open the door. Laura's cell phone began to ring and she turned her back to the door to answer it.

JC looked up when he heard a lightly tap on the door. He could see Jerry standing there and recognized Laura who wasn't facing him. He and Rachel quickly sat up as though they had both been caught in the act.

"Can I speak to you for a minute, JC?" Jerry asked. The room grew completely silent as everyone looked towards Jerry and then to JC. JC nodded and went to remove his leg from the other side of Rachel's body. He walked over towards the door trying to figure out what was going on. Rachel went to follow him, but Jerry stopped her before she could even get off the couch. "I need to speak with him alone."

JC followed Jerry back out into the hallway. Laura was still on the phone. Jerry motioned for her to follow them down the hall. JC could hear Laura giving someone directions to her house and wondered who she was talking to.

"Great, I'll see you at 7 then...I can't wait." Laura said before hanging up the phone and placing it back into her pocket.

Jerry walked into an empty sound room and motioned for them to have a seat. He leaned back on a nearby stool and stood there in silence. Laura and JC were visibly uncomfortable.
"Neither of you have anything to say about this?"

They both grew extremely nervous. "Anything to say about what, Jerry?" Laura asked.
"About the fact there we are less than two weeks away from deadline and I only have 12 songs to work with...Three of which are total shit."

With everything that had been going on, both JC and Laura hadn't noticed that the time had completely flown by them. Jerry continued to speak, "It's like the two of you didn't even work on this together! It looks like one of you would start one half, hand it to the other person to work on, and so on and so on...It doesn't even flow! What the hell is going on here?"

JC sat on the edge of the couch bent over with his elbows on his thighs. "Things have been really hectic lately. We've both been really busy with our own personal issues."

"I don't need you to explain anything for me thank you." Laura interrupted.

Jerry didn't want to hear any excuses. "I don't give a fuck! We all have personal shit going on, but you don't see me slacking off because my wife left me, moved into another man's house, and then took away a baby I've thought was my son ever since he was born. I get my ass up every morning and do my job. No matter how much it hurts to have to deal with those same people...I bring my ass here. So don't give me fuckin' excuses about you and your personal issues. That's bullshit. There is no excuse! You've had more than enough time to meet your requirements."

"You're absolutely right, Jerry. There is no excuse here. We should have had this done by now." Laura said calmly as she tried to make sure things didn't get out of hand.

"I know I'm right. Especially as far as you are concerned, Laura. No matter how much I don't want to admit it, I can feel for JC. I'm sure things are all screwed up right now in his life, but you have no problems from where I am sitting. Just pure slacking on your end."

JC was about to step in and say something in her defense, but found himself stunned when Laura walked over to Jerry and said, "You don't know anything about my personal life, Jerry, so don't you ever fuckin' assume you know me."

Jerry put his hand up, "Ok, I'm sorry."

Laura turned around and went to sit down on the couch until visions from earlier of JC and Rachel danced across her mind. She walked over and stood close to the door. Jerry immediately noticed that the two of them seemed very distant. "Is there something going on here that I need to know about?" he asked.

"No." Laura stated abruptly.

"It's obvious that the both of you have a hard time just being in the same room with one another. I'm hoping that what I have been reading in the tabloids isn't true about the two of you. I need to know now, so that I can make other arrangements if needed."

"You know better than to depend on tabloids for facts, Jerry. Other arrangements won't be necessary." JC said. "We'll have it done."

"I personally don't think we will, Jerry." Laura said as she leaned back against the wall.

"Why not?" JC asked.

Laura looked over at him and then over at Jerry and said, "JC and I have come to a fork in the road. Both of us are going in different directions. Those last three songs are a complete reflection of that. If we keep working 'together' the next few are bound to be just as bad, if not, worse."

"No chance at all that the two of you can get on the same path?" Jerry asked as he crossed his arms.

"No." Laura said as she looked down towards her shoes.

"Yes." JC blurted out.

Laura looked over at him. He glanced over at her and then back at Jerry and asked, "How many till we meet our goal?"

"If you re-write the last three...You will have one more to make it 13. That's all I need."

"No way to extend this at all?"

"It's already been extended. We need this done!" Jerry said loudly.

"We can't do it, Jerry. Plain and simple." Laura stated matter-of-factly.

"You two can't get along for at least a couple hours each day to finish this?"

The room was silent as neither of them answered him. An idea quickly came to Jerry's mind.

"This is what we will do...I need you guys to meet with me the day after tomorrow at 8pm. We'll figure out something."

"Like what?" Laura asked.

"Don't worry about it. Leave it up to me. Just meet me. I'll send a limo to pick you both up. Bring all your material with you."

"Fine" they both stated.

Jerry got up and went to leave the room. He stopped and looked over at the both of them and shook his head. "It's a shame."

JC and Laura looked over at him to see what he was talking about. "The two of you always seemed like a perfect match. At times it was almost like you were destined to work together. Sheet music is no good without the perfect lyrics to compliment it."

Jerry had no idea just how right he was about that.