Someone slams on my door. "Who the fuck would have the audacity to slam on my damn door at" I check the clock "almost ten at night?" I get up and answer the door, the chain still on it. It's Joe. "What?"
"Come back to me."
"No. I'm happy and moving on. I have company and you need to leave."
Joe starts to bob. He's been drinking. "Go back to your apt and sleep that shit off."
"Not until you say you're coming back with me."
"No, go home." I quietly undo the chain and look at JC, scared shitless. I open the door the rest of the way and Joe grabs me by my upper arms, shaking me. "JOSH!"
JC flies from Aaliyah's room and pries Joe's hands off me. He stands between us and when he's in front of me, blocking Joe, I drop to the floor. "She said no, she's happy and you need to go home. She made up her mind. That's it." Joe pushes JC, JC shoves him back, and slams and locks the door. I'm crying. JC picks me up from the floor, brings me to the couch and holds me. "Shhhhh. I'm here. You're safe." He's rubbing my back and holding me close, kissing my forehead and temples. Joe starts slamming on the door again and I jump. "Is that restraining order in place?" I nod. The next court date for the divorce was the following Tuesday. He calls the cops. "Yes. My girlfriend's ex husband just came here, intoxicated, grabbed her and shoved me. I shoved him and slammed her door, locking it. There's a restraining order, I believe, in place. Thanks." He rattles off my address and hangs up. "Ten minutes." I'm crying, deathly afraid. "Shhhhh. I'm here. I got you." A few minutes after that, we hear the police telling Joe to go home and him fighting with them. I hear them cuff him and him screaming. They knock on the door and I jump. "Who is it?"

"LAPD."
"Lemme up. I'll be right back, baby." I let him up to answer the door. He unlocks the deadbolt and looks out to make sure it is an officer before undoing the chain. He closes the door enough to undo the chain and let's the officer in. He sits with me, taking me in his arms. "Hi, officer."
"What happened to her arms?"
"Her ex husband grabbed her and shook her. Please use a quieter tone, her three kids are sleeping in those rooms behind you."
"Did they wake up at all?"
"Yes, I had to reassure her daughter to go back to sleep."
"What happened?"
"We were sitting here, talking, when her ex husband slammed on her door. She answered the door with the chain connected and after he wouldn't leave, she unhooked the chain. She told him to leave and that she wouldn't go back to him. He grabbed her arms and shook her. That's when she yelled for me. I told him to leave, she made up her mind. He shoved me, I shoved him back and slammed the door, locking the deadbolt and reattaching the chain. He got up and pounded on the door. I called the police department."

I look at the officer. "Miss, is this true?"
I sniffle. "Yes, officer."
"Would you like to press charges?"
"Yes. I want it valid for my kids as well. I don't want to put them in jeopardy."
The officer notes it and has us both sign the report. He leaves and JC locks the deadbolt, following with the chain. He sits down and holds me close again. His cell rings. "Hello? Nah, man. It's alright. Heh, right. You get that picture? Yeah, beautiful, right? No way! She's definitely gonna be in Bowie for Christmas. Maybe. Kace, chill. She's very laid back when she needs to be. I'm gonna see if I can get her to take a hot bath to calm her nerves. No, it's not my place. Possessive ex. Yeah. He was just here. We have to go to PD to have pictures taken of the marks he left behind tomorrow. Yeah, she's gonna be fine. I will. Later." He hangs up. "Come on, mami, come take a bath and calm your nerves. Where do you keep your bath salt? You said it calms you down."
"Under the bathroom sink."
He pulls me to the bathroom, starts the water, making sure it's not too hot, puts a couple handfuls of bath salt in the water, swishes the water, turns off the faucet and we both strip. He helps me in the tub and gets in with me. He uses my puffball and fave lavender soap to wash my back and rinses it off me. I sit back and let him wash me up, slowly calming down. He rubs my shoulders. I smell lavender and cucumber melon. I close my eyes. "Josh?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. I protect my world."
"I feel like shit. I should've used the shit Nick taught me!" I run my hand through my hair and slap the water.
JC wraps his arms around my shoulders, pulling me close.
"You were thinking of keeping the kids safe."
"Yeah. I just feel so stupid."
"You're not."
I giggle. "It's kinda funny."
"What? How's it funny?"
"Well, we dry humped, I came and then he came here? What if he heard me cum?"

JC thinks about it for a minute. "Yeah, it's kinda funny." I sigh, calming down. He starts running his fingers through my hair. "You kind of excited about Thanksgiving?"
"Yeah. I guess. I get to see my nieces and nephews."
"My brother and sister are estatic about meeting you." I look at him like I don't believe it. "No, really. My best friend, Kace, is completely hell bent on trying to push your buttons. His wife is excited to meet you. My cousins are surprised I'm in a committed relationship. My aunts and uncles are, um, a bit concerned. My mom is nervous and my dad loves you already."
"I think Ma is just like whatever, my brother doesn't care, Dawn's hoping you keep me as happy as you have, and my cousins are like 'he breaks your heart, we can break his ego'. I don't know about them sometimes."
He lightly laughs. "My cousins, the girls mainly, are like if she breaks your heart and we see her, we're gonna kick her ass." He shakes his head.
"Meh. I'm not too close to em anymore."
"I'm very close to my family."
I start playing with the water, feeling relaxed. "Your family supported you. Mine shot me down. Yours embraced you, mine pushed me away. Alternate worlds."

His cell rings, prompting him to get outta the tub. "Be right back, beautiful." He gives me a kiss, wraps in a towel, grabs a towel and leaves the bathroom. I wash and condition my hair, shave and drain the tub. I get out dry my body, wrap my hair, and put a second towel around my body. I go into my room and overhear JC on the phone. "-knew. She makes me smile. No. I might, sometime in the future. I'm not gonna say much." I stand behind him on the other side of the bed. "If I could explain her, I would. Ha! Not a fucking chance, fucker." He flops back on my bed with his eyes closed. I walk around the bed as he puts his arm under his head. He keeps his eyes closed. "She's so beautiful inside and out. Of course she has faults. She's human." He listens to what who he's talking to has to say, eyes closed and relaxed. I stand beside his legs. "Dallas, if you KNEW her, well, just if you only knew." I quickly straddle his waist. He jumps and looks at me, quickly sitting up. "Baby, you naked under there?" I smile. He raises an eyebrow, stripping the towel off me. He thrusts his hips toward me. "I mean it, man. She blows my mind and can be so spontaneous when it comes to certain things. If you knew half-"
"Don't even, Josh."

"She said I can't tell you the places- that's my favorite place. Ha! You know it. I'm gonna let you go, she needs attention." He laughs. "You'd kick my ass. My dad told me if I fucked this up, he'd pay for a lobotomy. Cool. See you the week before Christmas. Yeah. Bye." He hangs up, tossing his cell onto my dresser. I look at him with my arms crossed. "It's just Dallas. He won't say anything and he knows you're not a groupie. Don't look at me like that. I told him I've known you for eight months and I have a friend, you, who's beautiful inside and out, supports what I do, is good to me and I would like to be with."
"Josh, I know you better than that."
"Ok, I may have let it slip that we are together but made him swear not to tell anyone. Then he asked how well you take care of me. I told him if he only knew. Then how I feel about you came up. How you feel about me. He asked if you'd cheat. All the relevant questions and that he knows a couple of my favorite places to do it. Like my studio, he's overheard me talking about it."
"Is this Dallas as in the one you went to Atlanta to see? Like four months ago and you were gone for almost three fucking weeks, leaving me high and fucking dry?"
"Yeah. That dirty phone call when we were talking about my studio, that's how he knows."
I feel him thrust his hips under me. I bite my bottom lip. "Unh. Mmm. Stop it. This is serious. What would he kick your ass about?"
"If he caught me and you, y'know, in his studio."
I laugh. "Just like if my mom knew we made love her bed or shower. Heh, what they don't know."
"Ooooh. Dirty." He kisses me, lays back, pulling me with him, I feel my hips go up off his for two seconds. I felt the towel until I was lifted, landed with my hands on the bed and sat back down. There was no towel between us now. I slide my feet to the inside of his legs, bow my head and dry my hair with the towel before throwing it across the room. He puts his hand on my body so that his finger tips brush the bottom of my breast. He moves his hand between my breasts, back down, and to my hip. He does the same thing with his other hand. I lean over him, kissing him, as I do body waves. Grinding my pussy on his dick, I feel him getting hard. He slides his tongue in my mouth and he encircles mine as I do the same to him. He's beginning to thrust upward again, knowing if we move just right he could get his dick inside without touching it. I keep grinding him as he thrusts upward. His dick gets in me and I moan. I want it so very bad. "You always feel good. Oh, fuck! Yes!" I sit up and ride him, without inhibitions. He starts playing with my clit and I shiver and moan. I let my feet move back so they're outside his legs. His other hand moves to my nipple, pinching and twisting it.
I hear him grunting as I get close to my first climax. "Oh, ah, uh, y-yeah, fuck yeah, fuck me! Veux m'enculer! AHHHHHHH YEAH!" I cum, he sits up, holds me tightly and rolls us over, never pulling out. He hasn't gotten off yet and he keeps going. He grabs my hands, puts them over my head and pins them with one hand. He puts his other hand on my hip, holding me so I can't pull away. I'm pushing back, in rhythm with his movements. He slides me to the middle of the bed and puts his full weight on me, to kiss me. We moan into each other's mouths. The vibrations of his moaning are driving me crazy, making me get closer to another climax, cuz I can feel it from my lips down to my hips. I start to shiver uncontrollably, I get off and deal with a prolonged climax, enjoying every second of the climax. He gets off about 15 minutes later as he bites my neck, which makes me climax like he has been when he needs me to really get him off. "OH OH OH MY FUCKING YEAH AHHHHHH!!!"

"Fuck, yeah! Ahhhhhh!" He collapses on me, his head rests next to mine, touching my shoulder, both of us breathing like we just danced for three hours. After a few minutes, he's breathing a little easier. "I made you do the one on top of the other again." I nod. He kisses me. "Sam?"
"Hmm?"
"You ever wonder what it would have been like if I had met you during a tour?"
"Josh, honestly, not since you released 'Schizo'."
"Weren't you married then?"
"Two years in."
"Before you got married. The last tour before you got married."
"I think it's the 'No Strings' tour you're thinking of."
"That's over ten years ago!"
"Yeah. I got married in 02. Just over 5 months before 'Celebrity' dropped. By the time it dropped, I was almost three months pregnant with Mikal. I was pregnant with Aaliyah the year you dropped 'Schizo' and pregnant with Demitryus when you tried to release 'Kate'. I had no idea. Between 04 and, well, even now I don't care for tv. I watch one show a week since April last year. Before that, I'd watch it sporadically. Depending on if I had Internet or cable."
"What show?"
"You're on it. Haven't really watched it since being with you, meeting you. Too busy with everything." I laugh.
I feel him smile and kiss my shoulder. I feel a shiver. "Josh?"
"Hunh?"
"I can't appreciate anyone more than you."
He lifts his body to look at me. "What's that supposed to mean?"
I smile. "Your words have helped me through so much. Regardless of whether you were with the guys, on your own or whatever. The words mean the most. Even now, your words still help. Your words and voice drew me in, your personality keep my attn, and no matter what, I will always love who you are."
"Who am I to you?"
"Josh. A very talented person who was handed a chance of a lifetime, took it, ran with it, molded it and came out internally beautiful."
He lays back down, thinking about it. I can tell because he rubs my side or hip when he thinks and we're this close. "You don't see me as a celebrity? The money I've made? The things I did?"
"I've watched you create, build and do so much. I watched a great mind do it's best work. The great mind just belongs to a man who has been through hell and back in his lifetime. You're the man in my dreams, the one for so long that had no distinct facial features. Since we met, I haven't had those dreams. Since we met, I've dreamt of the ocean and the beach, just going there with you and the kids."
"What would your mom have done if you had the chance to get backstage and we ended up having sex?"

I look at the ceiling, thinking, before I crack up. "Josh, sixteen is the age for sexual consent. That would have been the last tour you and the guys had. But if I had met you, I would have been 14 or 15, too young to do that. I'd have done it anyway cuz I would do shit like that just to fucking spite my mom. I would have left my number and broke up with my ex the next day. I can just think of it now-Ma asking me how the concert was and how I liked meeting the five of you. I'd tell her the other four were busy and could only meet you. We don't talk about that night unless we're face to face." I laugh. "Then she catches us in my room the summer I turn sixteen. She freaks and finds out we've been doing it since the tour before. Man, I'd NEVER hear the end of that! Then I finish high school in 04, my original projected graduation date and move out to where you are and my mom cries like a big ole baby! I go to college and get my diploma in 09. That leaves three years untouched."
"Is that what you think?"
"It's why I'm so nervous. When you talk about me meeting your family. The age difference."
He grabs my hand and interlocks our fingers, kissing each of my finger tips. "They'll get over it. My parents have already. They've known since the weekend after the VMAs. My dad just wants us to be careful and my mom wants me happy with a good girl."
"Have I been a good girl? What do you mean by good girl?"
I feel him smile. He rests our interlocked hands near my hip as he slides to lay next to me. "Yes, you've been a very good girl. You've been honest, faithful to me, there for me, talk to me about almost everything, and help me when you can. You're what my mom calls a good girl."
"But what about my past?"
"It's done. Put it behind you. I'm here and I will not walk away. I'm in your life for good, even if we have to be just friends so the kids have a father figure."
"I'm just so fucking scared. I don't wanna upset your family. What if they hate me? What if I say something wrong? What if they don't like the kids? What-"
"Babe, Sam. You're worrying too much and over thinking it. Let me do that. I'm better at it. Just relax and go to sleep." He can tell I'm tense. He wraps his arms around me and rolls over so I'm laying on top of him. My head on his chest, he rubs my back. "Gets some sleep. Stop worrying. You'll see it doesn't matter."