"Do You Remember" by Phil Collins streamed through the house. Laura sat curled up on the cushions in the window as she watched the rain come pouring down.

"Girl, what are you doing in here?" a voice called out.

"Nothing...just thinking." Laura said, never turning her gaze away from the window.

"Thinking about what?"

Laura took the pillow she was holding and tossed it aside before getting up and turning down the stereo. "Nothing much, Rach. Have ideas running in my mind for some songs."

"Oh...Well how the heck have you been?" Rachel asked as she went and sat next to her in the window.

"I've been OK. It's been hard to get over there and see you lately. So much going on with work...and..." Laura paused thinking about the words that almost slipped out of her mouth about JC.

"I understand. I know you feel stuck in the middle. I also understand that you are closer to JC now. You two are neighbors. Its only expected." Rachel answered patting her friends thigh.

Laura looked out across the yard at JC's house. "Yeah...I guess you could say that. So what brings you out of your way over here?" Laura smiled at her.

"I wanted to see how my best bud was. I heard about the album deal. Congratulations!" she said as she hugged her.

"Thanks."

Rachel sat there for a moment and turned her gaze out the window. Laura could see her looking towards JC's. "He's okay...Just in case you were wondering."

"...Yeah...I know. I saw him last weekend...Didn't he tell you?"

"Nope...Didn't tell me a thing." she said sarcastically. "What happened?"

"I didn't want to bring his old things over to his house, so I decided to drop them off at his mom's. Well I didn't know he was there until I pulled into the driveway and saw his car. And I didn't want to chicken out so I took a deep breath and knocked on the door." Rachel stood up and walked over to the piano and looked at the photos that were sitting there. Photos of the three of them together. Photos of Laura next to JC and the rest of the group at different award ceremonies....Photos from family gatherings. She remember how close they had all been back then as memories came flooding back. Rachel sat back down next to her friend in the window and continued with her story.  "He answered and was completely shocked to see me. And you know how his mom dotes all over me when I'm there."

Laura rolled her eyes while nodding her head in agreement as she remembered her earlier conversation with his mother.  Laura tried not to be too obvious with the jealousy that was  mounting inside her as Rachel continued the story.

"She didn't want me to leave but I could see JC felt awkward with me around. I asked him to walk me out to my car. We talked for awhile. I had told him that I had missed things like that. He said he missed the same things. We talked some more and to make a long story short I gave him a hug and left."

Laura felt uneasy with Rachel's avoidance. "To make a long story short? You usually give me every single detail, Rach."

"Yeah I know, but I didn't want to bore you with the particulars."

Laura looked over at her friend and laughed. "Now you know you're lying. Come on in the kitchen while I get us a drink so I can hear all about it."

Laura took deep breaths as she walked into the kitchen, trying to mentally prepare herself for what was soon to come.  Part of Laura didn't want to hear anything else about their encounter, but the other part of her wanted to know everything.  She couldn't stand not knowing.  Rachel smiled and soon followed her into the kitchen. "Okay...Now I didn't know how to take a lot of things that he said to me...So I'm hoping you will be able to interpret since the two of you are so close now." Rachel said as she sat on the bar stool and took the lid off the jar and grabbed a brownie.

Laura poured a few extra splashes of wine in her glass so that she could deal with what she was about to hear. "Sure...Ask away." she replied slowly while taking a large gulp of her wine.

"Well he kept staring at me like he wanted to say something more to me. And when we hugged....It seemed as if we didn't want to let each other go...And the fact that he actually kissed me on the lips and not on the cheek was also something that took me by surprise...But I went for the lips too...So I..." Rachel continued to ramble on about what had happened between she and JC outside his parents house. Laura just sat there wondering how much more of it she would be able to take.

"So? What do you think?" Rachel asked, anticipating feedback.

Laura cleared her throat and began to speak, "Well...The two of you were together for 3 years. I'm sure it would be impossible for the both of you to just forget all the good times you had together. But as far as anything still being there?"

"Oh Laura...Are you trying to be the neutral party? The way he was looking at me brought back feelings of the times when the room could be filled with a crowd of people as we felt like we were the only two there..."

"Well I really don't know, Rachel. I was not there. I was only giving my opinion. If you didn't want it, then you shouldn't have asked for it!" she snapped.

"What's your problem?" Rachel replied as she placed her hand on Laura's arm.

"I'm just confused about what you expect me to tell you. Do you want me to tell you to go ahead and try to get back together with JC? Do you want me to tell you its okay and that everything you did in the past was alright? Because I'm sorry...I just can't. I can't be the one to make it better on your conscience, Rachel. You didn't have to see how he was after all that drama went down. You didn't sit up late at night with him...Consoling him....Knowing that he would be crushed if he knew the real truth. You didn't have to keep secrets from your best friend to protect his feelings. I have to live with that everyday...Not you! You are going on with your daily life and you are leaving everyone to pick up the pieces after you sweep through the area. I'm sorry but I am not going to do it anymore." Laura angrily said as she got up from the table and walked over to the sink.

Rachel watched as Laura angrily started running water in the sink. She slowly wiped the brownie crumbs from the side of her mouth and began to speak. "I'm sorry, Laura. I didn't mean to make it seem like I wanted your approval. I was just looking for my friends opinion on what he might have been thinking. I know what I did was fucked up but its in the past. There really isn't anything I can do about it now except hope that he forgives me and pray that you will also forgive me for leaving you to fix things for me."

Laura turned around and walked over to the middle island resting her palm against the granite countertop.  "I'm sorry I blew up like that. I just have a lot on my mind and I am very stressed out right now."

"I understand...Well enough about me...Tell me what you have been up to! I see you have changed the house around since the last time I was here. Come show me!" Rachel said as she jumped off the stool, grabbed her friends arm and pulled her down the hall.

"Oh what's this? Your office? Whoa! What the hell happened up in here?" Rachel joked.

"Oh...Ummm..." Laura tried to think of an excuse but was soon cut off when Rachel picked up a pair of swimming trunks off the floor.

"And who do these belong to?" Rachel grinned.

"No one." Laura quickly said as she grabbed them from Rachel's hand.

"Uh huh...sure! You was fuckin' up in here...Ain't no doubt about it by the looks of the desk and papers scattered all over the place...Who's the guy?" Rachel asked as she shook her friend by the shoulders.

Laura's face turned red. "No one really. Its too early to tell if it will go anywhere, so I would rather just keep it to myself for now."

"I'll get it out of you sooner or later." Rachel laughed. Laura finished showing her the rest of the house and they both decided to go out and have dinner. Laura ran to take a quick shower and let Rachel have free reign over the television while she was gone.

"Laura!? Laura...We need to talk. Laur--...Oh, hey Rachel." JC said as he walked into the room.

"Hi. She's in the shower."

"Oh okay...Been here long?" JC said as he went and sat on the couch across from her.

"Most of the day." Rachel said as she turned off the television. "Did you need something in particular?"

JC looked at her with a puzzled look on his face then realized what she meant. "Oh...No...I just needed to talk to her about something."

"It sounded important by the way you were saying her name."

"Not really.' he lied. "I needed to talk to her about the project."

"I heard. Congratulations on that. I'm very happy for you."

"Thanks." They both sat in awkward silence for a couple minutes before Rachel spoke. "JC? Can we talk about what happened at your parents?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

Laura walked down the hallway buttoning up her shirt and as she was looking up said, "K, Rach, I'm reaaa....dddyyy."

She froze in place as she saw JC and Rachel in an embrace. She didn't know how to react. She didn't know what to say. "Should I give you a few more minutes?" she asked. JC looked up at saw her standing there. He quickly stepped back.

"No, I'm ready. JC was just leaving. I was saying good-bye." Rachel smiled as she went to get her purse.

"Oh." Laura answered as she stared at JC.

"I came by to talk to you about something and we bumped into each other." he tried to explain.

"So I noticed." Laura replied.

"I'll go start the car, Laura. We'll talk later, JC?" Rachel asked as she walked toward the front door. JC nodded his head in reply.

Laura grabbed her shoes and jacket from the closet and sat down on the bench by the door.

"It's not what you think." JC said as he followed her to the bench.

"What am I thinking?" Laura said as she scrambled to put on her shoes.

"I don't know...But the look on your face makes me think you're upset with me."

"Then I guess you are a good face reader." She said as she stood up to find her keys. JC went to grab her arm. Laura quickly yanked it away, "Don't!"

"It was only a hug, Laura..and a quick peck on the lips...Nothing more."

"You think I am upset about a hug? You think that is what has me so angry with you? I don't know whether I want to slash all your tires or punch you in the face." Laura whispered loudly as she looked towards the door to make sure Rachel was no where in sight. "You fuckin saw her last weekend!! Which was 5 days ago and you said nothing about it. So that leads me to think that if I wouldn't have found out from your mother, you would have never told me...There was something else going on in your mind about what you just called only a hug and peck on the lips."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Laura...I need to explain this to you."

"Why don't you explain it to Rachel when you two talk later on." Laura snapped back.

"Please look at me..." JC said as he grabbed her at the door.

"Let go of my arm." Laura said, never turning around to look at him. She gained back her composure and took a deep breath before walking towards the car with a fake smile plastered on her face.