A muffled argument could be heard from outside the quaint house. If someone were to walk by, they would be tempted to call the cops. A stranger would never believe that the couple inside those four walls were just months away from wedded bliss.

"Whatever! Fuck you!" JC slammed the front door behind him with such tremendous force that his body seized up in fear that the glass would shatter.

As he reckslessly backed out of his driveway, a car horn sounded, forcing him to jam his feet on the brakes...Stopping just inches away from hitting a car that was coming down the street. JC drove down the street and pulled over into a gas station to make a call.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Lance. Can I come crash at your place tonight? Me and Rachel just got into a huge fight."

"You know I would, man, but I have someone over right now."

Is wasn't often that Lance brought a woman home, so JC knew that his timing was terrible. "Ooooh..."

"Why don't you try calling one of the guys?"

"Yeah, I will. Thanks though." JC pressed end on his phone and leaned his head back against the seat. After taking a deep breath, he looked down and pressed 3 on his phone and waited.

"Hello?"

"Joey? You there?" JC could barely hear the person on the other end of the line. Thinking it was his reception, he started off down the street.

"JC! What's up?"

"Nothin. Where are you?"

"Me and Chris are on our way to Tampa for the night. Why?"

"Ah, Never mind. I was hoping I could crash with one of you tonight. Rachel and I aren't getting along right now."

"You're more than welcome to meet us here."

"Nah. I'll just go to a hotel."

"Call Justin. He's home."

"I might. Talk to you later." JC and the guys didn't live that far from one another. It was about a 10 to 15 minute ride between their homes. He stopped at the 7-11 just down the road, before heading to the entrance of Bay Hill. Once he passed the golf course and the small apartment community that was just across the street, he turned the corner and stopped at a set of large gates.

A tall, lanky man came out and smiled, "Hello, Mr. Chasez."

"Hey. Is Justin around?" he leaned his arm outside the car and started to type in a code on the keypad.

"Yeah. He just came back from hitting a few balls around the course."

"Thanks." JC waved as he slowly drove ahead. When he turned the corner, he noticed a golf cart sitting in the driveway and pulled up next to it. The front door was still open and he decided to knock instead of just walking in like he usually did.

"What the hell you knockin' for?" Justin called out to him from the other side of the door. JC could see him standing in the hallway with a towel draped over his neck.

"Thought I would be courteous for once." JC commented sarcastically as he entered the house.

"You want a beer?"

"Thanks" he replied as he took Justin's. Justin grabbed another beer from the fridge and plopped down on the couch in the living room. He noticed JC's silence and asked what was up.

"Rachel is trippin'. She is on this cock and bull about Laura. One minute she is being supportive and the next, she doesn't even want me talking to her. I came home late today from the studio and I didn't even get one foot in the door before she started interrogating me. She needed to know every little thing I did today from the minute I walked out the front door till the minute I came home."

Justin smirked. "Yeah, she called over here earlier looking for you." He brought the bottle to his lips and took swig.

"See what I'm sayin?"

"She's just paranoid, JC." Justin seemed to be the only person that knew why at this point. He had been trying to come up with a plan of his own on how to catch Rachel in another lie, but knew he needed some help. He didn't want to let JC know of his suspicions until he had some sort of proof.

"...So can I crash here tonight?"

Justin had zoned out of the conversation. "Oh. Sure. You don't think that would enrage Rachel even more?"

"Fuck what she thinks."

"Ooookkkayyy. Me and Hallie are about to go out and catch a movie. Laura wasn't feeling up to it, so she's staying here. Can I trust you two by yourselves?"

JC ignored his question and headed back towards the guest room. Hallie was walking down the hall as JC was headed up. "What are you doing here?" she asked ignorantly.

"Not like you care, but things aren't going well back at my place so I'm crashing here tonight."

Hallie stood there looking up at the ceiling, "ummm...You're right, I don't care. Just don't bother Laura. I'm specifically here to make sure the stress is at a minimum. Don't mess up my evening." she ordered.

JC just rolled his eyes and went into the bedroom and shut the door.

About an hour later he heard a glass shattering. He walked into the kitchen and noticed Laura trying to kneel down on the floor to pick up the broken glass. "Don't. I'll get it." JC walked over and grabbed a broom and dust pan from the laundry room. "You should get out of the kitchen before you step on a piece of glass."

Just as sure as he said it, she did just that.  "Shit!" she hobbled out of the kitchen and over to the couch.

JC finished cleaning of the shards of glass and headed over to see if she was okay. When he saw her tipping over on the couch and struggling to pick her foot up off the floor, it took every bit of self-control for him not to laugh out loud. "Here, let me help you, Laura."

"Thanks." she chuckled.

JC sat on the edge of the coffee table and gently took her foot in his hand and searched for the embedded glass. He gently grabbed it and pulled it out slowly, wiping away the blood with a tissue. "I think that was it. But let's make sure" he said. He gently ran his hand up the sole of her foot checking to see if she felt anything. Laura closed her eyes, and lost her self in his touch. He hadn't touched her like that in a long time. She had grown used to not having his arms to hold her at night. But seeing him taking the most delicate care with her foot, made memories flood back through her mind. She had been lying to herself the entire time they were apart. For months, she had told herself that she was better off without him, and she had actually started to believe it.

"Anything?" he asked.

"Huh? No," Laura stuttered.

JC sat down on the far end of the couch beside her. They both sat in silence, not knowing what to say to each other. She looked around the house and noticed that it was unusually quiet. Too quiet. "Not to be rude, but Justin and Hallie went out...Why are you here?"

"I asked Justin if I could crash here tonight. Needed some time to myself."

Laura knew those words all too well. She had heard them so many times before during the course of JC and Rachel's first attempt at a relationship. "You and Rachel got into a fight." she pointed out.

"I sometimes forget that I can't hid anything from you." he admitted with a smile.

Laura changed the subject and the two of them sat and talked briefly about the next day's studio session. Jerry wanted to finish up with a mock studio session and then end the day with an interview. This would be the last time the two of them worked with one another.

Saddened by the thought, Laura decided to turn on the tv to create a distraction. JC's cell began to ring and he rustled through his pocket to find it. After looking at the number on the screen he turned the phone completely off and went back to watching the show. Laura knew it was Rachel by the troubled expression on his face.

After about 45 minutes, Laura decided to retire to her bedroom. She thanked JC again and said goodnight before getting up and leaving the room. JC sat there deliberating on whether or not he should talk to Laura about their unborn-child's future.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Yes?"

JC pushed the door open slightly and could see Laura sitting up in bed writing in her journal. He looked down and noticed a set of headphones wrapped around her stomach. Laura noticed where his gaze was pointed and smiled, "It's soothing. When I play the music the baby doesn't kick as much."

A smile crept across his face. He eased into the room and stood there in silence. Laura looked confused as to why he was there. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off.

"I figured, I might as well take the chance to talk to you about this now before your bodyguard returns.

Laura laughed. JC walked over to the other side and sat near the foot of the bed. "So what are we going to do once the baby's here?"

Laura set down her journal and crossed her arms before looking his way. "I'm ready to take care of the baby on my own. It would be nice if you want to be apart of our child's life, but if not, that's fine too."

"And you're ok with that?" he asked in disbelief.

"No. But I have to face the reality that there might not be any room in your new family for this baby."

"That's kinda harsh.."

"It's a harsh world, baby." She no longer cared what he thought of her anymore. But those blue eyes had a way of pushing through all the lies she was telling herself. Underneath it all, she loved that he was just a few feet away from her. The light scent of his cologne filling her bedroom with a familiar aroma. She had remembered waking up to it morning after morning.

"Laura, I need to set up some form of visitation with you before the baby is born."

"As much as you don't want to hear me say this, I have to. You aren't the average Joe Blow, JC. We can't decide on every weekend, or every other weekend, for you to see the baby. Because I know there will be plenty of times when you aren't going to be able to make it. To set up certain days when you will see the baby and then call and say you can't make it, is unstable for our child." Laura could see the hurt in his eyes. She leaned over and sympathetically rubbed his hand, "These are things that we both have to think about, JC."

"So you're saying that you would rather me not be in my child's life then?"

That's exactly what she was thinking. Laura could feel the tension starting mount. "No. Not at all. Let's just not designate weekends knowing the reality of our lives and schedules. When you have the time and you aren't working, call me and we'll set something up. I know that you want to be there for the baby...I can see it in your eyes. But it's unrealistic to say that you will be there when you know you can't."

JC knew she was right. He just didn't want to admit it to himself or, most of all, to her. But he couldn't complain. This was the life he chose. Spending hours on end in the studio, traveling from city to city, country to county, for months at a time...It's what he loved to do. He would have no problem taking Nikolas and Rachel out on the road with him. That would be soon be his family and knowing that Rachel didn't want him to have anything to do with Laura was weighing heavily on his mind. "Do you honestly believe that this will work?"

"Only if you want it to, JC." Laura could feel that there was something else bothering him. He couldn't look her in the eyes. He just sat there staring down at the pattern on the bed spread. "What does your fiance think of all this?"

"One minute she's gung ho, by my side all the way...The next she is completely against me having anything to do with you. And if we can't communicate, I can't I see my baby. I refuse to involve lawyers."

Laura was stunned. It was as though she were sitting there with a completely different person. This wasn't the Joshua Chasez that she had loved and respected. This was a mere shell of the man that she had adored for so many years.

"I'm in a lose to lose situation here, Laura. I'm in love with this woman...This incredible woman..." Laura rolled her eyes as she thought of Rachel. "And I can't be with her unless I give up everything I've just found." JC searched her eyes for some form of reaction to his outpouring, but found nothing. Laura picked up her journal and went back to writing. Did she not understand who he was talking about?

"I'm going on like I have been for the past 7 months."

"When are you going back to Chicago?"

Laura went on to tell him that she wasn't planning on leaving at the end of the week. Justin had talked her into staying a few more days to look at homes in the area. Justin felt she made a dumb move by leaving town. She and JC also discussed the offer she was given for a partnership in a record company that was set to open soon. She could tell by the tone in his voice that he wasn't thrilled to hear the news of her possibly permanency in Chicago.

The silence between them became deafening. JC could hear his own voice coming from somewhere and looked over noticing that it was originating from the headphones around her belly. He immediately perked up. She wasn't paying much attention to his presence in the room until he grabbed the headphones to hear what song it was.

Shock loomed on his face as he looked towards her and asked, "Where did you get this from?"

"Last year, your mom had let me borrow a few old tapes of you on the show. I liked a few songs and recorded them."

"Now and forever...I will be your maaannn." he sang along.

"So my voice is soothing to our baby, huh?" he smiled.

Laura sheepishly grinned, knowing the satisfaction he was feeling from realizing she played his music for the baby. Even when he wasn't there, he was. It was comforting to know. He leaned dangerously close to her ear and whispered, "Thank you." before lightly kissing her cheek.

Laura was startled by his closeness and turned her head towards him, their lips just barely touching. "You're welcome…Ow ow ow ooouch!!"

"What's wrong? What's wrong?"

"I got a cramp in my calf." she whined flexing her toes to try and ease the pain.

JC grabbed her leg and began to massage the tight and tensed muscles in her right calf. Laura's head fell back on the pile of pillows and she let out a long sigh of relief.

"Remember that time we were in the pool and you got that charlie horse?"

"God, don't remind me."

He started to laugh uncontrollably, "You were practically drowning while I was sitting on the lawn chair sleeping my ass off!"

Laura gasped and started to bash him in the head with a nearby pillow. A small pillow fight ensued and she was the first to give up, feeling utterly spent. She found herself wrapped in JC's arms. Realizing the situation their smiles slowly faded. Laura didn't want him to let go. She wanted to spend the rest of her life in those arms, but knew they now belonged to someone else. She moved forward slightly to free herself from his grasp, but his grip suddenly became stronger. Neither of them said a word. The baby began to kick at Laura's left side. She put her hand over his and moved it down so he could feel their child.

"Will we ever, regain the friendship, we used to have?" he whispered.

"We can never truly be friends again, JC."

He pushed his head against her back and asked himself why. They both were slowly drifting into slumber, but Laura managed to give him an answer, "It's so hard to be around you and not show I'm hurt. It's impossible for me to act like we never were."

She could hear JC's breathing was heavier and she knew he was on his way to dreaming. His hand was still on her stomach. She gently rubbed it, burning the impression of the three of them in her mind. This would probably be the only time that they all would be this close to one another again. And in a whisper so low not even a mouse could hear she faintly said, "We'll never be friends...Cuz I'm still in love with you," before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep in the safety of his arms.