Chapter Two

JC leaned against the back of the elevator. The car still cast in darkness. He kept waiting for some sort of emergency lights to kick on, but everything stayed dark. The storm still reigned on outside, JC could hear the crack of thunder. It sounded like it was right on top of them.

"The emergency lights should have come on by now," JC spoke. He waited but received no answer. He didn't expect one. Rachel had shut him down, the darkness helping her cause. If he didn't know any better, he would have guessed he was alone. And that wasn't a very good feeling.

He brought his knees up to his chest, resting his arms on them, his fingers loosely clasped. His leaned his head back against the wall and sighed. This was not how he imagined the night would go. He had envisioned tears of course, but not this kind. These tears cut him to the quick.

He cursed himself for not taking care of Beth before it went too far. But she always showed up sporadically and always just long enough to cause trouble. She was hard to pin down but lately she was showing up more and more. It was like she knew what he was planning to do, which was impossible. Only Justin knew he was planning to propose. He didn't think he acted differently to give anything away.

But he felt different; like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He toyed with the idea of proposing for awhile now; had known for a long time that Rachel was it for him. She was the one. To go through what they did, the craziness of their success, the rumors in the gossip magazines, even those who disliked her on principle for the sole fact that she dated him.

Some fans had been harsh, hating her just because she was with him. They tore her apart piece by piece. Ridiculing her appearance, the way she dressed, the way she fixed her hair, her weight. Even the way she always seemed to be around. It was endless.

It tore her down sometimes; leaving her in tears as she read what was being said about her. It tore at him too. Here were people who didn't even know Rachel, making assumptions without even knowing the person. It made him angry because he knew if they actually knew her, they wouldn't be talking about her that way. It took them awhile before they were finally able to brush off the cattiness Internet postings and ignore any derogatory remarks.

A little while longer and they were able to laugh at the gossip that was published in the checkout aisle rags. They were secure with each other, in love and smart enough to know never to trust anything they read. Magazines were out to make a buck and they'd publish anything, true or not.

With the latest tour coming to an end in a couple months, followed by a hesitantly agreed upon ‘break', JC knew it was the perfect time. The temporary hiatus would give them time to get married and concentrate on just them, on being a couple without worrying about a tour schedule, a video shoot or an interview. They could be just JC and Rachel.

‘Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Scott Chasez.'

JC let a smile grace his lips at the thought. He thought about how it would feel to slip the ring on her finger; to have a matching one slipped onto his; to give her his name, to make it all official and let the world know that he belonged to her and she to him.

The smile faltered as he remembered the ring in his pocket. The one he carefully extracted from his bag and removed from the velvet box. There would have been no way he could carry around the box in his pocket without causing some questioning looks. His hand went to his pocket often to clasp around the loose ring to make sure it was still there. And he recalled the thrill that shot through his body each time he felt the ring in his hand.

He rubbed his face, emotions overwhelming him. How could he go from feeling like he was on top of the world, the luckiest man ever to feeling like he was one step above the gutter barely hanging on? What made it worse was it wasn't his fault.

‘Your lips were on hers.' His mind pointed out.

‘But I didn't kiss her! She kissed me!'

‘Doesn't matter. Your lips were touching hers, therefore you were kissing her.'

‘I wasn't kissing her.' JC stated firmly. His lips may have been on hers, but he wasn't the one who put them there. He wasn't a willing participant. Beth had come out of nowhere. He had no time to react before she was in his space wrapping her body around his as close as she could get. By the time he was able to get himself untangled. Rachel was already rushing away.

He banged his head against the wall and sighed. He needed to think of something, do something to get Rachel to talk to him. He needed to explain his side, what happened how it was different than what she saw. This was not going to ruin their relationship; he wouldn't let it.

*~*~*~*

The silence in the elevator was deafening. The storm created havoc outside, but inside the dark car, not a word was spoken. Rachel had slid down the wall to sit on the floor awhile ago to give her feet a rest. She hated wearing heels, they killed her feet. When she was able to get away with not wearing heels to an awards show she jumped at the chance. And when they were seated at a table instead of rows of chairs, her heels were kicked off first thing.

She closed her eyes and leaned her temple against the wall of the elevator. If it wasn't for the rustling of clothing when JC shifted, Rachel could almost assume she was alone. And even if she was angry and upset with him, she was glad he was here. She didn't want to be alone in the dark elevator. She didn't want to talk to him, but she was happy he was there.

Rachel prided herself on being a likeable person. There weren't many people who disliked her - for an actual legitimate reason aside from the fact that she dated JC. She didn't hate many people. There was the one photographer who always managed to get her bad side. (Which JC swears there isn't one.) She hated one of the female writers in Teen Beat who never had a good thing to say about her - ever. And she hated Beth Phillips. The woman who swore she stole JC from.

And sometimes when Rachel would stop and think about it, it was true. She didn't go out and try. She didn't sit down and work out a game plan to win another woman's boyfriend. It just happened. Contrary to what Beth believed and the rumors she had spread in the beginning, Rachel didn't sleep with JC. They didn't even share so much as a kiss. She wasn't the type to be 'the other woman'.

She could still remember the feel of the hard uncomfortable chairs in the airport terminal. Could still hear the irate voices of passengers as their plane was delayed again. Their original departure time had long since passed. She had just sighed and continued reading her book. She hadn't gotten very far when more loud voices penetrated her brain. These weren't angry though. They were laughing and carrying on. She looked up across the terminal and caught site of five boys, who upon first glance looked to be no older than teenagers, huddled together. Her interest was definitely piqued when she saw one holding a video camera. She couldn't see what they were doing but it looked like they were passing something out.

Rachel had watched curiously as the tall, lanky brunette tossed his head back and emptied something in his mouth. She stared, unabashedly, as he then proceeded to run around the terminal. She couldn't stop the giggle that escaped. She covered her mouth trying to hide it. He had looked like such a moron.

Even when he collapsed on a chair she had been unable to stop staring. Three of the other boys started running much like the first had all the while the same boy still recorded. They laughed and tripped over each other.

She sighed softly remembering how JC had caught her eye. Her heart had stumbled at the grin he sent; the corner of his eyes crinkling; his eyes twinkling with laughter. At that moment, her heart had been lost.

Awhile later, he had sat down next to her in the vacant seat, smiling a softer version of his grin from earlier and introduced himself. And that opened the floodgates. They had talked and laughed until it was time for her plane to leave. The plane ride had been lonely, her thoughts never leaving JC.

They didn't speak again until six months later when they ran into each other in Orlando. They had lunch together and it was there she realized he was dating Beth. Feeling a little played, she told him she wasn't 'the other woman' material. She wasn't going to help him cheat on anybody. She left him sitting there by himself.

It was a week later she ran into him again in almost the exact spot. He had told her he'd been waiting a week in hopes to see her again. He had broken up with his girlfriend and wanted to take her out on a date. He had looked almost scared waiting for her answer and when she yes, his face lit up reminding her of his grin in the airport. She had taken his hand and they never looked back.

It had been rough trying to start a relationship when one half spent most their time across the ocean. But they wrote and talked on the phone. When they flew back to the States for good she has gathered her best friend Melissa and met them at the airport; their own little welcome home party.

The beginning was crazy as their popularity skyrocketed. Interviews and performances galore here and there. At times the group had no idea where they were. That definitely took time away from their relationship, but what really hurt was being unable to go out to eat or to a movie. As soon as JC was recognized it was instant chaos.

They'd taken to staying in on 'dates'. Ordering food to be delivered or picking something up from a favorite eatery, and vegging in front of the television with a stack of movies or at the table with a board game or deck of cards. Sometimes date night would get interrupted when one of the guys (usually all of them) would stop in.

It hadn't taken Beth long to start showing up. At first they brushed it off thinking it was a coincidence but when it continued to happen, especially when Rachel wasn't around, they knew it wasn't. She saddle up with JC, smiling like they were old friends. She'd give him lingering touches and sultry looks. She'd never taken the hint that JC just wasn't interested.

She couldn't describe what she felt when she saw Beth and JC kissing. It felt like someone had punched her in the stomach and she couldn't breath. To stand there and watch the man she loved kiss someone else. It would have hurt less if someone had hit her with a hammer.

She had an eyeful of her best friend, boyfriend, lover kissing someone else and then a roomful of people watching her wanting to see what she would do. She did the only thing her mind was telling her to do - run. She needed to get away, go somewhere where there were no cameras. As she ran from the room the picture still followed her; Beth's body molded to his, how her arms wrapped around his neck and the way her fingers threaded through his hair, her hips canted in a way the cradled his.

Humiliation washed over her, thinking of the people what watched everything happen. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and brought her knees to her chest. Her body contorted in as tight of a ball as she could. A sob escaped despite her best efforts to hold it back and once the dam was broken there was no stopping the tears. They streamed down her face in torrents. Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her away from the wall of the elevator and into a warm, solid chest. Rachel couldn't even find it in herself to fight him. She sank against JC's chest, her tears soaking into his suit.

"Shhh," JC murmured tightening his arms around her, squeezing her. He sat on the floor and pulled her into his lap. His heart broke hearing the painful cries Rachel emitted. It hurt worse knowing he was the cause. And he vowed, as he sat in the darkened elevator, holding his crying girlfriend, he would never hurt her again.