Life takes you on courses that sometimes you never think you will take. Sometimes life takes you on courses you don't want anywhere near but those challenges, choices, consequences, and arrangements change the course of who you become as a person. Each question answered, each step you have taken, made you the person you are right now.

As much as Justin didn't want the tour to end, he was ready to be off the road and living somewhat of a normal, sleep in his own bed kind of daily routine instead a different hotel, in a different city, or that damn bed on the bus kind of days.

He fought back any of his thoughts for Jill. He wouldn't go back on his word. He made an agreement with her and he was going to stick to it. He was going to miss seeing her smile, the one where she thought no one was watching. That smile seemed to always make his day complete. He was going to miss the scent of cucumbers on his sheet and on his skin. That scent seemed to linger on his body no matter how many times he showered. It became a part of who he was and he liked it breathing in her scent even when she wasn't around.

He thought about her more and more each day. More than he should probably let himself but he couldn't help but wonder what she was doing if she wasn't at the arena, or on stage. He wanted to know how she was going to spend her time off before starting the world tour. Could it be possible that he would still see her? Would it be like any other day and they would meet somewhere? He couldn't ask her those questions, he didn't know if he could handle the answer she would give him.

As his flight entered LAX his palms started to sweat. Trace hounded him for weeks about the Chicago trip. He wanted to know what happened that made him need to get away. If he only knew the very person he was running from, was precisely the person he spent the trip with.

            Being stressed out always made Jill a complete mess and she was stressed to the max. She entered the posh office complex, pressing the button to the floor, and sat in Lauren's Los Angeles office, tapping her foot off the side of the table. She couldn't think about the choices anymore, she just wanted the contracts in front of her, and she wanted the decision to be over with. Dwelling over this choice wasn't something she thought she would be faced it. It was her dream. Her dream had been placed in her lap, what was stopping her from just making that choice to take it on?

            With pen in hand and two separate contracts in front of her she looked down at the packets one more time. Her decision was made. She pushed one contract out of the way and pulled the other closer to sign her name on the dotted line.

"Are you sure?" Her manager asked.

Jill sighed, "One is the dream and one is reality."

"Your dream is reality in the palm of your hands. Either choice is a great one, just in different directions." Lauren smiled proud to be her manager.

Jill signed her name, and stood to walk out of the room. She should've been happy; the option she wanted to choose wasn't really an option anymore. Lauren knew something was wrong but chose not to judge the decision she made.

The next morning...

            This was it. With success, comes change. The end has to come before a new beginning can start. Both of their lives were taking a drastic turn and it was bigger than they thought possible. With a heavy heart and an empty admission she joined Justin for their nightly visit which ended with her in his bed, in his house, and the sun was coming up over the mountains behind them. She had done the unthinkable, again. She spent the night with him, again. It was her rule; it wasn't something they agreed upon. In her crazy thought process she convinced herself over the years that if she spent the night, it was something more. Spending the night was too personal.

            She pretended she was asleep when he kissed her on the forehead and climbed out of bed. As she heard his footsteps across the marble floor of the bathroom, out of the bedroom, and he knees cracking as he went down the staircase she sat up covering her face, embarrassed by her choices. How could she let herself make this choice?

            Walking through the room she tries to find her clothes but all she found is what looks like Justin's robe on the bathroom door. It was almost as he had never used it before. She put it on covering her skin but the tie was missing so the robe flew free. It wasn't like he hasn't seen every inch of her body anyway. Across the room she sees her panties and maybe her jeans under the bed. She bent down to pick them up, they were wedged under the bed. "Hey" she heard a man's voice from behind her say.

Turning to stand she sees someone that isn't Justin standing the bedroom with a robe that was not cooperating with the fact that she had no clothes on.

"Oh..." Trace stood in the doorway staring at her. "You're not Justin..."

"Excuse me..." She said closing the robe again, holding it with her hands.

"Jill?" he questioned.

She fired back quickly. "Did you need something Trace?"

The light bulb had been turned on. He had figured out what Justin's issue had been that day weeks ago. What made him forget meetings, what caused him to be a mess... "Chicago." He mumbled shaking his head. "I didn't think this was the person you were..." His demeanor changed, he was angry. "Justin just got happy again, he just found himself again... things were falling back into place... I want him back... I want him happy..." He turned quickly and rushed down the stairs.

She wasn't sure how he knew about Chicago, but he clearly knew something. His words hurt. She wasn't in Justin's life to hurt him. It was exactly the way to start the day that would change her life.

            Finding pieces of clothing scattered, she started to assemble them back where they belonged. At the bottom of the staircase she found her canvas tennis shoes where she had kicked them off last night. She was only steps away from the door and was ready to bolt out of there before Justin even saw her.

"I'm in here" Justin yelled down the hall, peaking around the corner from the kitchen, "Coffee's ready."

Too late.

She enters the kitchen slowly. He hands her a cup of piping hot coffee and little pink bag. "What's this...?" Jill asked, admittedly a little scared.

"Open it." He said motioning for her to sit at the island across from him. By his mood, Jill assumed that Trace didn't even tell him he stopped by. She just wanted to leave before she hurled everywhere and had to clean that mess up. "What's wrong?" He asked, reaching across placing his hand over hers.

"So much." She chuckled.

"Anything you wanna talk about?" he intertwined their fingers. She watched as his grip got tighter around her hand. They were relaxed and perfectly comfortable where they were. He knew she wouldn't talk about anything, it was her nature. "Are you going to open you present?" She had forgotten about the bag completely. She released her hand from his, feeling suddenly like she had pulled away from her world. Her hand was empty. Tossing the black tissue paper across the island, her stomach hit the floor when she saw what was on the bottom of that bag. "Only right that I repay my damages." He says with an enormous smile on his face.

            Black. Lace. Panties.

He climbed off his chair and over to stand in front of her. Pulling them out of the bag, he dangles them on his pointer finger, "Wear these during the show, so I have a visual the entire night of what is waiting for me underneath." He seductively spoke into her ear, "Get them wet during the show so I could punish you for ruining them."

Jill's eyes fluttered, as her center pulsated at his words. Every fiber of her wanted to fall into him. But she couldn't do that. "I just... I need to go."

He looked confused and hurt at the same time. "Jill?"

She needed to get out of that house fast. Nudging him out of the way, grabbing her handbag she made it out the front door and into the seat in her car.