Melissa threw open the doors to the arena allowing the humid Florida air to engulf her. She choked on her tears and brushed passed the people milling around outside.

"Melissa stop!" Rachel called as she came out the doors behind her. "Damnit," she muttered and ran after her friend.

Melissa came to a stop in the parking lot, leaning against a car. She buried her face in her head and allowed the rest of the tears to break through with a sob. She cried and cried. And continued to cry even when she felt Rachel stop beside her and draw her into a hug.

"How... Why... He..." Melissa fumbled with the words not knowing what she wanted to say.

"I know," Rachel soothed. "Turns out, he's a pretty damn terrific guy. His only downfall was keeping all his feelings inside. Typical guy."

"He wrote a song. He sang a song. For me."

Rachel nodded. "JC said Joey showed up at his house in the middle of the night, a little half crazy. Had all these words and phrases written out; JC was half asleep trying to understand Joey babble on not talking in complete sentences. Said they stayed up the rest of the night working on it."

"Have I been an idiot?" Melissa raised her head to stare at her friend. "Should I have left well enough alone and just been happy with what we had? It's obvious that he... he..." she broke off in tears again.

"No you shouldn't have left it alone, Mel. You both should have opened your mouths and talked to each other. But you calling it quits to your relationship spurred him into motion and he realized that he was an idiot."

"He loved me all along and I accused him...accused him terrible things that night. I didn't know a damn thing."

"Because he didn't tell you! Mel, sweetie, listen to me." Rachel gripped Melissa's upper arms with her hands. "Stop beating yourself up. Something had to change in your relationship. Something had to give. If you hadn't have fought a few days ago, you have fought somewhere down the road. And it could have been different, bigger."

"He loves me." Melissa whispered. The phrase sounded foreign to her. She was still unable to comprehend.

Rachel smiled. "He does. He wrote you a song and sang it in front of everyone here tonight because he knew you'd be here and this might have been his only chance. And I don't think I've ever heard anyone sing like that before. It was all for you."

Melissa leaned and breathed deeply trying to calm her emotions. After a few moments she felt a smile form on her lips and a light laugh escape. "He wrote a song for me."

"He did," Rachel grinned.

"And I ran away," Melissa groaned and sank to the ground leaning against the car. "I'm an idiot."

"Yes you are."

"You're not helping!"

"Well you are an idiot! Why did you run away? The lights came back on and he was searching the crowd for you. When he didn't see you... his face... Mel, you should have ran to him not away. You still love him right? He didn't write that song in vain right?"

"I still love him," Melissa whispered. "Now even more. He didn't have to write me a song to tell me he loved me. He could have just told me..." she sighed at Rachel's look. "You're right. I never would have listened to him. Wouldn't have believed him."

"Why do you believe him now?"

Melissa shrugged unable to explain it. "I don't know. Maybe the fact that he woke JC up in the middle of the night to write a song. Or that he sang it - sang lead. But it was the way he sang it. How his voice sounded. How it flowed over the words. He sounded emotional, like it was the last thing he'd ever sing and he needed to make it count - for all that he was worth."

"It will probably be the most important song he'll ever sing," Rachel whispered leaning against Melissa. "He put everything he had into that song to make you understand all the things he felt but never said. You're grinning like a moron."

"I know," Melissa grinned. "He loves me. I love him."

"Yes," Rachel rolled her eyes. "And all this could have been avoided if you would have talked to each other."

"But then I wouldn't have gotten this song." She hummed the melody. "What am I gonna do?"

"Talk to him!"

"Well I can't do that now."

"So let's go back, sit in our seats and cheer them on. When it's over the first thing you do is go directly to him."

"Alright," Melissa stood up and pulled Rachel to her feet. She threaded her arm through Rachel's as they walked back to the arena.

*~*~*~*~*

The crowd cheered as the buzzer sounded, proclaiming the blue team the winners. But that wasn't important as the cause that brought them together that night - the children. And the money raised that would help them. Even with the game over, no one moved from the stands, each wanted to catch enough glimpses of the band and celebrities before they went into the locker rooms.

"Go," Rachel whispered to Melissa as she stopped clapping and gave her friend a nudge. The teams had lined up and gave each other high fives before the blue team converged together to celebrated on their own. The red team gave them a few minutes before they all congregated together; smiles and laughter afloat. There were no losers.

"I don't think I can," Melissa whispered frozen. "There's a lot of people watching."

"They are watching everyone, not you!"

"They will be if I kiss him."

"If you are kissing Joey Fatone and thinking of everyone else, that doesn't say a whole lot of his kissing abilities."

"You know nothing of his kissing abilities! I'll have you know..." Her words trailed off when she caught the grin on her friend's face. She sighed and her shoulders slumped. "You're right. Forget about all these people."

"Damn right. We're not even here." Rachel told her. "Now go and get your man before he writes another song mourning love lost and other depressing things."

Melissa took a deep breath before giving Rachel one last look. She walked down the steps, dodging hands as people waved them around trying to catch the attention of someone on the court. Finally making it to the bottom of the steps she glanced back at Rachel.

‘Go!' Rachel mouthed and made shooing motions with her hands.

Melissa squared her shoulders and scanned the blue jerseys on the court for Joey. Her eyes latched onto the silk jersey reading ‘Phat-One'. Not taking her eyes off it she made her way across the court. No one tried to stop her or step in her way. They must have seen the determination which was surprising because she was scared more than determined, but soldiered on.

Justin schooled his face when he saw Melissa approaching behind Joey. Seeing her falter made his decision. "Hey man," he said and gave a slight nod behind him.

Joey raised an eyebrow in his direction and turned to look over his shoulder wondering what Justin was pointing out. His eyes widened when he saw Melissa standing a mere ten feet away, fidgeting from foot to foot. He wasn't sure what to think. He still wasn't sure what happened at halftime and what made her run from the arena after the song was over. It made his heart hurt thinking she didn't appreciate the song. It had taken him most of the third quarter to push the depressing thoughts away and get his attention back on the game.

"Melissa," he said and took a couple steps toward her, leaving his group behind. "Are you alright?" He asked when she remained unmoving.

"You wrote me a song." Melissa said stupidly.

"I did." Joey nodded and braced himself, preparing for the onslaught. He was unprepared for her to jump at him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her lips pressed against his. His eyes widened in surprised before they fluttered close. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her more firmly against him as he changed the angle of the kiss, deepening it.

Melissa sighed and sank into Joey's arms. Her lips moved softly beneath his. She slowly pulled her lips from his, their foreheads resting against each others. She stared into his brown eyes surprised at the emotion in the deep pools. She wondered if it had always been there and she just hadn't seen, or hadn't bothered to look.

"I love you," she whispered watching his eyes widen slightly before the corners crinkled as he smiled.

"I love you too, Bambina."

"I know that now." Melissa curled her fingers in his hair and pulled him down into a kiss.