Justin hummed a melody that had been stuck in his head all day, over and over. Even with the blaring playback of the music, he had this melody he couldn't get out of his thoughts. He couldn't figure out where it came from or why it wouldn't go away.

"Right there... No move over there, the lighting is over there." Justin directed Free to where Justin thought he should be standing. "NO THERE." He yelled.

Free walked across the open field, pulling Justin aside. "What is wrong with you today man."

"Nothing." Justin snapped.

Free eyebrows rose, causing his forehead to crinkle. "Don't nothing me. Clearly there is something wrong."

"Busy." Justin snapped again, turning away from everyone.

Free stepped back for a minute before pointing out at everyone standing around them. "Everyone is busy. You have seemed on edge for a while now, even before you got here."

"It's the last day of filming. I need to make sure we have everything... we need to get that shot on the bridge before the sun goes down..." Justin knew there was something wrong, he himself couldn't even pinpoint the frustration. There had been events that led him to the place he was standing in today but he refused to decipher any of it to come up with a conclusion. He was good with leaving it all bottled up and stored away for the time being.

 "Who's that?" Justin asked in a daze, watching a gorgeous woman as she leaned against the cement wall. She had a floral halter tank revealing her long, lean torso. Her aviator shades, were perfectly placed under the low military style hat. His eyes zeroed in on her, continuing to study her every feature.

"That's Kinley. She's smokin' hot." He admitted.

"Explain to me who Kinley is? Do I know her?" Justin asked, still staring at her from a far.

"You should know her." Free expressed, "Man I sent her to your house with those photos... and you were a prick to her."

Justin flipped his head back at Free. "That's who was at the house?" He felt his stomach sink to the ground.

"I handpicked that girl for you, sent her on a mission to deliver you something, and you fucked that up bad." He shook his head in frustration.

"Typical." Justin sighed again. "I usually end up with the crazy one, never the good one."

***

After hours upon hours, the final night of filming had come to a close a little after three in the morning. Justin felt a sense of accomplishment after a successful day of gaining some great footage. He glanced across the room, seeing the person he treated unfairly tossing things into her oversized bag. He swallowed his pride, and made a B line for her.

Just as she slung her bag over her shoulder she nailed him in the face. She swore she heard everything in her bag slam against his face. "Oh fuck." She said as he back away from her. He deserved it, she thought. "Fuck. I'm sorry."

Justin ran his hand over his face, checking for blood or broken bones, "I'm the one that owes you an apology. I wasn't nice to you when you stopped at the house. I... I wasn't... I have no excuse, I'm just sorry. You didn't deserve that treatment. It's my issue." He stood there, finding himself lost in the depths of her beautiful green orbs.

He had taken a complete one hundred eighty degree turn from the person he was the last time she spoke to him. "It's okay. It is what it is." She expressed as she lowered her head and nudged softly passed him.

His hand immediately reached out and grabbed her hand, causing her to turn quickly around. He was nervous for a moment with the way she looked at him. He wasn't sure if he should have reached out for her or not, but it was too late to make that decision now.

"We're all going back to my parent's house for some drinks. I would like you to join us." He finally escaped the words.

She wanted to say yes, but she didn't know which side of Justin she was going to get. So, she chose the only answer she knew how to make. "Thanks, but I don't need a pity invite."

Stunned by her coldness towards him, he swallowed a deep, hard breath. "I would never invite someone out of pity, seems pointless to me." Justin felt a twinge in his throat that he hadn't felt before. Rejection. Granted he had been turned down by many women in his life, but this particular time hurt in a different way. This was his fault. The rejection came because he was an asshole and couldn't simply look at the details of his own life.

After a couple moments, he broke the silence. "Well... you know where we will be if you change your mind." He reached out his hand to shake hers, "Thank you for your hard work on the videos. We accomplished a lot in just a couple days." As he let go of her hand, he felt the cold bitter end of his reality begin to set it.

Kinley sat in her car, the keys in the ignition, and the engine shut off. She could see the cars lined up the street. She knew all she had to do was get out of the car. She had been personally invited to Justin's parent's house and there she sat in her car.

"Kinley!" Free yelled, causing her to jump and nearly pee her pants.

She placed her hand over her chest, trying to exhale a breath.

"Kinley, come drink with us!" Free waved his cup from side to side. "Tequila for everyone!"

She climbed out of her car and stepped closer to him, noticing he was double fisting the 901 tequila. He had a serving in the cup and a bottle in the other hand. He reached in giving her a hug, "Here, drink!" he handed her the cup of straight tequila. He leaned in and whispered, "Justin is over there... you should go talk to him."

"He doesn't want to talk to me. I'm good right here."

"Kinley, GO!" He demanded.

Standing in an open field, only she sees him staring into the open sky. His dark grey hoodie covering his lean muscular body, his hat pulled down over his face. She could only imagine he was counting the stars.

"Something you take for granted living in that big ol' city..." She whispered to him.

He recognized her voice, turning with a smile on his face, "Yes. Very much so."

"So why are you out here, all alone? The party is over there." She pointed at the crowd on the newly finished terrace, all chugging back on a bottle of 901.

"Clarity." He said, turning back to look at the empty sky.

She took his words and body language as a sign he wanted to be alone. "Well, I'll let you have your clarity... I'll see you when you rejoin the group."

He reached out and wrapped his long fingers around her wrist. "Stay." He innocently begged.

She nodded her head, not knowing how to respond to his need for her to be there.

Justin lowered himself to the grass, kicking off his shoes. "Come, sit with me."

In the silence, they laid next to each other, their hands touching ever so gently, watching the breeze blow the leaves on the trees. "Why are you being such an asshole to everyone?" She blurted, hoping he wouldn't take it the wrong way. But then she thought about it, what other way could he take it?

Ouch. He felt the strings of his heart tighten as her words poured out. "I'm sorry. I was an asshole to you. I didn't mean to be that way."

"You can continue to say ‘I'm Sorry' till you're blue in the face, there is something deeper going on for someone of your nature to just be an asshole for no reason."

"Maybe I am just an asshole..." He closed his eyes, breathing in her scent.

"Maybe you need to find who you are again..." She smiled, hoping he would see the sincerity in her words and not the negativity.

"Justin, you're an asshole... I can't believe I continue to stand next to you" She rolled her eyes, looking away from him.

Justin swallowed his southern gentleman pride and released a tone he never though he would at her, "Maybe you're right, maybe I am an asshole." He shook his head, "But this asshole, is fucking done." He slammed his hands on the table before propping himself up off the table. He paused for a moment before turning back to her, "I'm the asshole but you never hold your own actions to your own account."

"Justin, please..." She begged.

But it was done. He had finally said the words he had been holding on the tip of his tongue for so long.

"I love you..." She continued to beg. "I can't live without you."

Justin held his strength and exited the house they had shared for nearly four years.

Justin remained silent, staring at the sky. Trying to register the statement he had heard before but never in a way that was so heartfelt, so endearing and so genuine. She wasn't family, she wasn't a friend, and she wasn't someone trying to gain information about him. She was just interested in helping him see through the glass.

 "With her, I lost me." He admitted for the first time, ever. The person he took years to walk away from had taken who he was away from him. "It's funny; you never think you are losing pieces of yourself until you are faced to look at as a whole when it's too late." He sat up, pointed in the direction of the now empty, but finished terrace. "You see that... I put that off for three solid years. It was the only thing my mother wanted and I couldn't find the time to finish it, for the one person that deserved my time. I spent every waking moment trying to make someone that would never be happy, happy..." He shook his head in disappointment, rambling back to his relationship. "I would spend sixteen hours on set, and then drive around Los Angeles like I was lost, taking the longest way home. I could only hope she would be in bed, asleep when I got home. I tried; I really tried to make that relationship work. It just wasn't right. I couldn't be her perfect guy anymore. I may have been the asshole, but I wasn't happy."

She took a hold of his hand, "Perfection isn't what matters. In fact, it's the very thing that can destroy you, if you let it."

With a simple statement, the stress filled eyes released, filling his blue orbs with water, spilling over his eyelids.

Her hand went to his face, wiping away his tears. "I've listened to a song about ‘being yourself', over and over again while we filmed that video... So why don't you remove the hoodie, quit masking whatever part of you that you are hiding. Raise the hat up over your eyes; share those gorgeous eyes with the world and live your life in the moment. Don't let someone else control your actions or make you hide from the world."

He smiled, taking his hands to her face, pulling her into him. His lips ever so gently pressed softly against hers. "Thank you." He whispered, resting his head on her forehead.

Under the stars of that Tennessee sky, Justin found the break he needed.