"Joey, grab me a soda while you're in there." JC yelled out from the car as he started to pull off down the street to make a u-turn.

Joey walked into the small convenience store and straight into the back where the refrigerated section was. After he got the soda's, he stopped in the isle where the chips were. He could hear a woman laughing and talking up front with the clerk. Her voice sounded familiar, but Joey didn't take much notice of it over his hunger pains.

"Ha Ha! Well afterwards, I don't know if I will be coming in as often as I am now, Mr. Alfonso. I'll need to go on a diet to get rid of my gut."

"Oh, pish posh. You are beautiful either way."

Joey slowly made his way to the front of the store. As he was walking up behind the woman he stopped and turned around to look at a stack of ho ho's that were on sale. The woman finished up her purchase and proceeded out the store just as Joey turned back around to face the counter. The older, short, balding clerk told him he would be right back, before bolting out the door yelling, "Laura! You forgot your change!"

In his curiosity Joey followed to see who the woman was. He squinted his eyes slightly as the tinted back window of the black Lincoln came sliding down. He walked over slowly and leaned down a bit to get a closer look at the woman who was reaching her hand out the window. "Laura?"

"Hey Joey." Laura immediately rolled the window up slightly. He smiled and got closer to the car as Laura rolled the window down just a bit to lean her head out and give him a peck on the cheek.

"How have you been?" he asked.

"I've been okay. Yourself?" The two talked very briefly. In the midst of their ten second conversation Laura interrupted Joey and said, "I hate to have to do this, but I’m running late, Joe. I should have been at the studio 15 minutes ago."

"Oh okay, sweetie. I'll catch up with you later."

"Give the baby a kiss for me." she called out as the car started down the road. JC pulled up just as they pulled off. "Where's my soda man?"

Joey was starring down the road towards the black Lincoln as it disappeared around the corner. He looked over at JC and placed up his index finger, signaling that he would be right back. Joey finished up his purchase and got in the car, handing JC his soda. Joey looked down the road again. JC looked in the direction he was staring and then back at his friend, "What are you looking at?"

"Laura..."

JC almost got whiplash when he turned his head around to look for her, "Where!?"

"She was just here a second ago. I was in there getting our stuff and the dude that works there went bolting out the door calling out her name to give her change."

"He knew her by name?"

Joey was still trying to make sense of it all himself, "Yeah. But she said she was on her way to the studio so maybe it's right down the road from here. I guess she must go in there a lot."

"Or maybe he just met her and she told him her name." JC suggested.

"I don't think so. When I was in the store they were talking as if they had known each other a while, cause she said she needed to stop going in there."

"Oh..." JC was very curious about the encounter, but didn't want Joey to know. "How is she?"

"She seems like she is doing really well."

"Did she know I was just up the street?"

"I didn't get a chance to tell her. She was in a big rush to leave."

"Did she say what studio it was?"

"Nope." Joey could tell that JC was dying to get more information.

He smiled to himself and relished in seeing his friend squirm. He was a bit disappointed when JC stop his inquiries and changed topics during the drive to the car show. The entire time they were there, Joey noticed that JC was unusually quiet and keeping to himself most of the night. On the way home, Joey decided he couldn't stand the silence any longer. "What's on your mind, JC?"

"Nothing. Just tired, I guess." He replied as he came out of his daydream.

"Are you sure all this silence doesn't have anything to do with me seeing Laura earlier?"

"No. I hadn't given it a second thought."

Joey rolled his eyes and sucked in his teeth, "Yeah...Right. All I have to do is say her name and I automatically have your attention. Rachel isn't here. You don't have to put up a front with me. I know you still care about her."

"I'm not putting up a front. I still care about her, and it would be nice to know how she’s doing, but that is as far as it goes."

Joey shrugged his shoulders and looked out the window as JC continued to drive them back to the hotel. As they were driving up the third level of the parking lot to find an empty spot, Joey found himself going back to the subject of Laura. "You really can sit there and say that you don't love her anymore?"

JC was quiet as he pulled into a spot and turned off the car. "How can you continue to love someone after they continuously lied to you for a year about only God knows what. I can't even fathom it after she hurt me the way she did."

"Lied?"

"She lied about knowing that Rachel was cheating on me with Jerry, she lied about not knowing who the baby's real father was, and she lied about a shitload of other things."

"Did she admit all this to you?"

"No. Rachel told me."

Joey let his head fall back as he looked up at the roof of the car. "You gotta be fuckin' kidding me. And you can seriously look me in the eyes and say you believe Rachel over Laura?"

Joey shook his head and looked towards his friend in disbelief, "In all the time that I have known Laura, I have never know her to blatantly lie...especially about something like that...She doesn't have a spiteful bone in her body, JC."

"Do you know how long I went without knowing my son, Joey? A whole year...You know why? Because Laura felt it was her duty to keep that from me. What type of human being would do that to someone else? If that isn't spiteful then I don't know what is, Joe."

JC got out of the car and walked to the back to get some things out of the trunk. Joey followed behind him. "You've never kept a secret for a friend?"

"That's not the type of secret that any person should keep. She was dealing with my life here." JC said loudly in his frustration.

"You remember that time that I went away for the weekend with Gina when the mother of my child was sitting at home waiting for me? Remember who kept that secret for me? You remember when your boy David got Nick's girl, Robin pregnant? Do you remember who drove her home from getting the problem taken care of? Do you remember at all who stood in Nick's face and told him that you bumped into her at a restaurant and saw that she wasn't feeling well and decided to bring her home?"

JC looked down as Joey was refreshing his memory. "I don't see how your situation is any distinct from those, JC. But I guess it's different when the roles are reversed and it's you that the secrets are being held from."

"I shouldn't have helped either of you."

"And she shouldn't have helped Rachel, but she did. You can't forgive her?"

"I can't trust her."

Joey balled his fists up and started punching at the empty space around him to keep from hitting his friend. "I told them that I would keep my mouth shut, but fuck this."

"Who is 'them'?"

"The guys! JC, you can't be this fucking dense! Have you lost your goddamn mind? I'm trying to be as understanding to your situation as I can be, but listening to you say some of the shit that you are saying is making me literally sick to my stomach, man!"

Joey went to speak and stopped himself. He mumbled under his breath and let out a deep sigh trying to calm down. JC looked around the parking lot to see if anyone was watching them.

"You sit on your soap box preaching about how Laura did this to you and how Laura did that to you, but never have I once heard you rant about any of this blame falling into Rachel's lap...Because let's face it, JC...Rachel is the one who lied, cheated on you and fucked Jerry behind your back, got pregnant, and didn't know who the daddy was. She most likely went to her best friend at the time and said 'I have something I need to tell you, but you have to promise you won't say anything to anyone about it...especially JC'." Joey started hitting his hand against the car to get his point across as he kept repeating, "Laura kept a promise. She kept her word to her best friend."

"I was supposed to be her best friend."

"And you were. I'm not applauding her for what she did. I'm simply trying to say that she is a woman of her word. In her own way, Laura must have felt that by telling you, it would not help the situation. You were really fucked up after everything that happened. The lawsuit, the cheating, the broken engagement, the tour. It was alot to deal with. You were at your wits end. I think if she would have told you that, it would have sent you over the edge, JC."

Joey placed his hand on JC’s shoulder but it was quickly shoved away. "Rachel has fucked you up big time, bro. Who can't you really trust? Why are you placing all this blame on Laura? Why are you back with a woman who had sex with another man, kept your son away from you for an entire year, and sabotaged your friendship with Laura? And don't give me that ‘I don't want to be a part-time father' bullshit. You’re scared."

A car pulled up beside them and Joey decided it was time to go and made his way over to the elevators. JC grabbed his bags and followed behind him. "What exactly am I scared of, Dr. Joe?"

"You are terrified of how happy you were with Laura. We could all see it. We didn't know the extent of your relationship at first, but it was obvious that she was the reason you had a smile on your face day in and day out. That flaming burst of inspiration when we were working. That extra passion in your voice when you sang...It's gone now. She loved you. Up until the very end, she loved the shit out of you, and you straight up dogged her. You took all your anger with Rachel out on the one person who stood by you..." Joey paused momentarily as they got into the empty elevator. "In the end you weren't that solid rock for her that she was for you..."

JC glared at Joey for using his own words from his acceptance speech against him. "I didn't take out all my anger on Laura."

"The hell you didn't. You still are. But I can see why...People only fight this way with the ones they love." Joey got off the elevator and started walking down the hall towards their rooms.

JC rolled his eyes and went to speak but Joey interrupted him as they reached his door. "Just take your head out of your ass long enough to see what is going on right in front of you, JC...You're my brother, and I love you. But Rachel has got you messed up."

"How so?"

Joey placed his hand on his friends shoulder and looked into his eyes and smiled, "You never used to be this much of a dumbass."

JC punched him in the arm and Joey braced himself while laughing. JC walked down a little further across the hall to his room. Joey called out to him. "In all seriousness...I apologize if I said anything disrespectful earlier. I just needed to get that off my chest. But no matter what you do, you know I'll always be here."

"I know, Joey. I love you too." JC snickered before going into his room."