His head had pounded the entire way back to Orlando. No matter how many phone calls he made to random friends along the way, no matter how many times he changed a radio station from talk back to music, no matter how many times he tried to get Lesly off his mind, he couldn't. He was to blame, he knew it. He'd strung her along too many times and unlike other women, she was stronger in the long run and wanted him out of her life. Forever, it sounded like. He gripped the steering wheel harder, doing his best not to make a U-turn in the middle of I-4. He was nearly home. 

For years, Chris had done this with women. It started with Danielle nearly 12 years ago. He liked the relationship at first, but soon he felt smothered. Not that she was smothering him, but he found himself becoming jealous of the other guys who didn't have girlfriends - or boyfriends in some cases - and could go and do what they pleased with whomever they pleased.  He hated commitments, hated the labels people gave, and he hated being tied to one person. Because in his mind, what if someone better came along? It wasn't the case with Lesly. There was clearly something different about her because he'd never felt such a deep stab in his heart when he'd left a woman like he'd left her today. He wanted so much to turn around and keep begging for her to forgive him but he could see it all over her face. She was done. It was over.

 Only he didn't want it to be.

Chris quickly hit speed dial and prayed JC would pick up. JC and Joey seemed to have this all figured out, but nowadays, JC just seemed easier to get a hold of. Probably because he'd left showbiz altogether and was living a quiet, married life in Grayson and Joey was back and forth from Orlando and Hollywood all the time.
"Chris?" JC answered the phone on the fourth ring, right before Chris was going to hang up. There was music playing in the background and Chris knew immediately JC was working with a client at his studio, The JC Chasez Talent Studio. 

"It's me. You able to talk?" Chris was getting into the thick of Orlando traffic near downtown. His exit was coming soon, for that he was thankful. There was nothing worse than being stressed in Orlando traffic.

"I have exactly five minutes,"

"Great. Did you talk to James?"

"Not since we left for work. Why?"

"Lesly left me today. Or I should say, kicked me out,"

"Ouch. Sorry, man. Wait, you were in town?! You should've called-"

"I was only in town for about 24 hours. If you know what I mean,"

JC chuckled on the other end. "Oh, I see. A little come and go?"

"A little," Chris cleared his throat. "But this morning she said she was done with that and kicked me out,"

"I'd say 'I told you so' but I told you that years ago. Women don't like being strung along. Unless they're completely hopeless on the inside and have nothing else. Lesly's not like that,"

"I kind of figured by now. My question is, how do I win her back?"

"I don't think you can,"

Chris grimaced and let out a sigh, "Why?"

"Well, it sounds like if she kicked you out, it's probably something she meant. She doesn't want you around for a while I would think,"

"Right. But I have to change her mind!"

"I think you know by now that Lesly's mind is made up when it's made up. No changing it. You're gonna have to wait this one out, man,"

Chris was silent for a second. "Okay. Okay, well, I'll think of something,"

"You gotta lay low. Otherwise you might run her off for good. You also need to know that commitment isn't a bad thing. It's actually quite healthy. There are a million things I do better now just because I've got James," 

"Yeah, I'll think about that," Chris sighed again, pulling off the exit. 

"I'm sorry, dude, I really am. I've got a client right now but text me later. I'm sure I'll get an earful from my wife when I get home,"

"Yeah. Yeah, okay. I'll talk to you later," Chris hung up, and threw his phone next to him.

When he pulled into his driveway, he sat for a minute and studied his house. It was a big, two story, beige stucco home in a ritzy Orlando suburb. He lived next door to an Orlando Magic basketball player and across the street from a Florida senator. Both had families. Chris lived alone. He'd thought about moving. JC had done it and it had changed his entire world. Chris didn't know if he was ready or not to give up Orlando. He definitely didn't think he could live in Grayson and right now, there really was no point to think about moving there. He looked at his phone and scrolled through the last few texts between him and Lesly.

What are you doing tomorrow?

Nothing. Off from work all day. You?

You.

;) Really? Are you coming to Grayson?

That depends. Can we just be alone all day?

Yup. How long are you staying?

Prob just a day. Need to get back here.

Call me. On my break. Have about 15 min.

He had called her and the conversation had ended in her telling him they needed to talk when he came to town the next day. He knew what was coming. She wanted to know where this was going again. He hated that talk because he didn't know. He was having fun, she was amazing and beautiful and everything he'd probably ever wanted. But he didn't want a commitment. When he got to her house the next morning, he didn't give her a chance to object or start talking. He simply grabbed her and she was putty in his arms. They'd spent the whole day in her bedroom - and once on her couch - and just when he'd thought she'd forgotten, she brought it up first thing the next morning after they'd made love.

 
"I just don't want to be someone you call when you want sex," she'd said, her head tucked in the crook of his arm. "It makes me feel slutty."

"You're not slutty, Les. You're amazing. But you know how I feel about -"

"You can't keep doing this,"

He knew what that meant. Suddenly, she was out of bed, throwing clothes on and he was staring at her in disbelief. She was telling him to get out of her house. And her voice. Her voice was so calm and collected that it sounded as though she was just telling him to have a nice day. She wouldn't even look at him when he left. He kept waiting for her to at least glance at him, but she didn't. No tears. Nothing. And he'd thought of her the whole three-and-a-half hour ride home.

He picked up his phone and texted her, then got out of his car and went into a big, empty house.

**
"Hi, Dad," Lesly greeted her father, as she came into the family home later that evening. It hadn't changed at all since she had been a child there. Old green, shag carpet clung to the floor, in desperate need of a vacuum.  Pictures hung on the wall from when she and Dane had been children and an inch of dust covered their faces. The kitchen was still an ugly yellow, a color popular when her parents were married back in the 70s. The house was dated and smelled old and musty. Lesly had cleaned it several times but never could rid it of the musty smell. It was just old and probably wouldn't go away without tearing out the carpet, but her father had refused. He was clinging on to anything that reminded him of her mother.

"Hi," her father was sitting in his recliner, his face glued to the evening news. He wasn't really paying attention and Lesly could tell he was gazing off into another direction. 

"Did you take your meds?" she went into the kitchen after kissing the top of her father's head and began to go through the medicine cabinet. "Dad, your pill box for today is full. You need to take your prescription pill, remember?" No answer. Lesly grunted in frustration as she took the pill out of the box. She filled up a glass with water and went back into the den. "Here." She handed it to him and he took it without looking up at her, almost robotically. She looked next to his chair and saw a plate of food that was probably a day or two old. "Dad, did you eat today?"

He shook his head, still off in his own world. Lesly was used to this by now. Dane was supposed to have come over the day before to check on him and she could already tell that hadn't happened. She sighed and took the plate back into the kitchen. She dumped the contents into the garbage and stuck the plate into the dishwasher and held her nose as she opened it. It hadn't been run in a while. Probably the last time she'd been over to run it, which had been five days ago. She rummaged in the kitchen pantry and found a dishwashing cube to put in the dispenser, then pressed START. It began to run and then Lesly went to the refrigerator to see what she could cook for dinner. Thankfully, nothing had gone bad. She quickly whipped up a salad and cut up deli ham on top of it, then took it into her father.

"Here, eat this, okay?" she placed it in his lap. He looked up at her and smiled weakly.

"How's my favorite little girl?" he acted as though she'd just walked in. Lesly ignored it. She had to or else she'd cry and she'd spent enough time crying already that day.

"I'm good, Dad. Did you have a good day?" she sat on the couch next to his recliner and talked with him while he ate. "Have you heard from Dane?"

He shook his head. "No. He said he was coming over but I don't think he did,"

That's for sure, Lesly thought to herself, ready to give her brother a big piece of her mind. "No, I guess not," was all she could muster. She stayed for another hour, cleaned the kitchen, and made sure her father was taken care of before she left, promising she'd check in on him tomorrow. She had to now, since Dane had dropped the ball. She kissed her father good-bye and got into her car, feeling her phone vibrating again. She sighed and knew it was yet another text from Chris. 
Please text me back just so I know you got this. 

She groaned and threw her head against the back of the headrest. She cursed under breath before she typed:

I have nothing else to say. I already told you what I want and you can't give that to me. So when you're ready for a real adult conversation, let me know and we can talk. Otherwise, we're done.

She hit send and then turned her phone off. It had been a long day.
**
James sat on the edge of the bed watching JC get dressed. The twins were content playing on the floor and Sutton was in her playroom acting out her own little make believe story with her dollhouse. "Josh, we need to get away. Like seriously, get away,"

JC turned and smiled at her. "I was thinking the same thing today," he walked over and knelt down in front of her, clasping his hands with hers. "Tell me where you want to go. We can go anywhere you want. You've never been to Europe. Let's go to Paris. Or Rome! Or-"

James giggled and shook her head at him, running her hand softly through his hair. "I don't care, Josh. I just want to go somewhere where we don't have kids around and make up for a lot of lost time," she bent down to kiss his lips softly. "I thought we could ask the guys to watch Sutton and my parents to watch the babies. But we should ask soon. And book soon."

"You still haven't said where you want to go," he leaned into her so that she was pressed down on the bed. "Anywhere," he kissed her forehead, then her lips, moving his body on top of hers. "Anywhere in the world." 

"Surprise me," she whispered, her cheek pressed against his. "I like surprises."

At that moment, Olivia let out a wail and James pushed JC off of her. They looked down and burst into laughter seeing that Landon had crawled completely on top of his sister and was accidentally pinning her down. Olivia was on her stomach and couldn't roll over. Landon was grinning from ear to ear.

"You can't do that, Lando," JC picked him up and placed him on the other side of Olivia, then picked her up and consoled her. "And you-you gotta toughen up so you can beat up your brother one of these days." he kissed her cheek and then handed her over to James. He looked up and said, "Seriously, we need to get out of here soon..."