Chapter Seventeen

Rachel rummaged through her drawer searching for a shirt she wanted to wear. She finally settled on a white and red baseball shirt she'd worn during a celebrity softball tournament held during CMA fest in Nashville. The shoulders and sleeves were red with the sleeves going to just below her elbows. The front and back of the shirt was white. Across the chest in black writing was Grand Ole Opry, the team she played for. In black on the back held Bass and the number ten.

The shirt was paired with grey sweat pants. The pants were a little snug fitting through the thighs before loosening down the leg. On the left hipbone was the Puma logo in white. Sitting on her bed, she grabbed the socks she was planning on wearing and put them on. They were pretty great, at least she thought so. On her feet were her skeleton socks. The socks were black and came to just below her knees. In white were all the bones in her legs and feet. There were even bones on the bottom of the socks. They had been a great find. To finish off her look, Rachel divided her hair, braiding each section. The braids rested on either shoulder coming to a rest just past her breasts. With that done, she was finally ready.

Coming out of her room she met Michael. He wore a navy blue v-neck t-shirt and a pair of black drawstring sweat pants that hung low on his hips. She threaded her arm through his and looked up at him with a smile. "You clean down nicely." She unlocked her phone to bring up the voice program.

"Nice touch," Michael tugged one of the braids.

"Thanks," she grinned as they made their way down the stairs.

"What the hell do you have on your feet?" Lance asked incredulously staring down at his sister's feet.

"Skeletal socks," Rachel pulled up her pant leg for Lance and JC to get a look. "You like? I couldn't decide between these or my cow socks."

"Do I even want to know what your cow socks are?"

Rachel read Lance's words and grinned at him. "They are awesome! They are white with black splotches. They have individual toes and those are pale pink for the udders." She saw JC's look and just sent him a smile.

"You are crazy," Lance shook his head. He looked toward the door when it opened and Lisa stepped through.

"You look great," Rachel told Lance's personal assistant. Lisa was dressed in a knee-length black dress with crop sweater. A couple silver necklaces were around her neck with matching bracelets on her left wrist.

"Thank you," Lisa smiled. She looked over Rachel, Michael and JC. "I think you guys have the right idea tonight."

"Still not too late to change your mind," Michael said. "Plenty of couch space."

"And miss JT?" Lisa shook her head. "No way."

"Before you leave," Rachel spoke. "Take our 'not-on-the-red-carpet' picture?"

"Yeah Lance, be our paparazzo." Michael frowned when he realized he still hadn't found his phone.

"Nice being on this side," Lance said withdrawing his phone from his pocket. He watched smiling as Rachel, Michael and JC stood together. Their arms were wrapped around each other; Rachel stood in the middle. When they smiled he snapped the photo. "Wait a minute," his words stopped them from moving away. "The paparazzi don't take just one photo..."

JC rolled his eyes. "Really Lance?"

"Just stand there with my sister," Lance waited until Michael moved away and he snapped the photo of JC and Rachel. "And remember Sis, he is your date tonight."

Rachel read the words on her phone and grinned. "One of them," she winked at Lance. Removing her arm from JC's waist, she threaded it through his, then threaded her other arm through Michael's. "Big pimpin' tonight."

Lance groaned and rolled his eyes. "Please stick with country."

"I love the socks," Lisa said looking down at their feet.

"Nice JC," Lance laughed seeing the older man's socks. "Is that a piano?"

"Yeah," JC grinned, showing off his socks. They were designed to be piano keys from his toes all the way to the top of the socks which went to midway up his calf.

"Oh I love those!" Rachel exclaimed catching up on the conversation. She bent down raising JC's pant leg to get a better look. "These are awesome!" She grinned up at JC.

"Stand together and I'll snap a picture of your socks," Lance said.

Rachel wrapped both her arms around JC and Michael as they moved to stand next to each other again. They each put one foot forward, side by side. To show off their socks better, they each pulled their pant leg up. She dropped her arm from around Michael drawing up her right pant leg, keeping her arm around JC, her hand on his waist. JC with his piano socks, Rachel with the skeleton socks and Michael with his Super Mario socks decked out with the bad characters: flowers, turtles, bullets, fish.

"You too Lance," Michael said after Lance took the picture.

Rachel chuckled when Lance toed off one of his dress shoes revealing yellow socks with dinosaurs. "I hope you don't have to sit down during the show." She told him when he joined their group, placing his foot next to Michael's allowing Lisa to snap a picture.

"Nah, pretty sure we'll be standing," Lance put his shoe back on and looked at Lisa. "Ready?"

Lisa nodded, "Yeah. You're driving."

"Of course," Lance said. He drove everywhere but he didn't mind. "Enjoy your party."

Rachel grabbed JC's hand intending to lead him away to give Lance and Michael a moment to themselves. They kissed, cuddled and hugged in front of her all the time but sometimes she felt like an intruder. Since she moved in, they didn't get their privacy like they used to.

"Oh crap;" Lisa said. "JC wait." She called out. When he turned around she smiled at him before looking at Rachel. "Can she hear me?"

"Yeah," Rachel held up the phone in her hand.

"I meant to tell you that you sounded amazing. I must have listened to the video Lance posted ten times." As soon as the words left her mouth, she immediately felt the room freeze. She saw the looks the men exchanged and Rachel looking at her confused.

"What video?" Rachel questioned turning to look at Lance. "What video did you post Lance?"

"Shit," Lance mumbled under his breath. He had hoped to be gone before Rachel figured out about the video.

"What did I say?" Lisa asked confused.

Michael rubbed his face. "Rachel didn't know that Lance posted the video."

Lisa gasped in surprise. She looked at her boss. "You didn't tell her you posted it!"

"What's going on?" Rachel asked looking at everyone in the room. She felt JC squeeze her hand and she spared him a look before looking back at Lance. "What video did you..." her voice trailed off and she paled. "You took a video of me singing? You...you posted it on Twitter? What were... why did..." she closed her eyes feeling sick. "Excuse me..." she dropped JC's hand and rushed toward the stairs.

"Damnit." Lance watched his sister leave. He met Michael's gaze then JC's. They looked at him expectantly. "I'll be right back."

Rachel pushed the door to her room closed as she crossed the threshold. Once in her room she buried her head in her hands. She was so embarrassed. Lance took a video of her singing. If that wasn't bad enough he tweeted it; putting it out there for the entire world to see and make fun of her. Now everyone out there knew how she sounded. Twitter followers (and even ones that didn't follow) held nothing back. They were quick to judge and were sometimes downright mean. This was worse that Ben laughing at her, a thousand times worse.

She felt the change and whirled around nailing Lance with a look. She openly stared at him, not hiding anything (not that she could ever hide anything from her twin). She let him see her hurt, her anger. Feeling tears build she turned away from him walking to her dresser

"Rach..." Lance sighed when he saw Rachel toss her phone onto the bed effectively severing their communication. She didn't fight fair. He grabbed her phone from the bed and turned on the voice application. Holding her phone in his hand, he removed his from his pocket. Once he had it in his hand, he opened his Twitter profile and clicked on his last tweet. "That video was retweeted over a thousand times and favorited even more." The words appeared on Rachel's phone. He maneuvered his arm around Rachel so he could sit her phone down in front of her as he continued talking. "Here are some of the tweets that I received."

'What an amazing inspiration.'

'She sounds just as beautiful as always.'

'Your sister is my hero. Keep singing Rachel; let us hear your voice.'

'What we just heard is better than any song nominated for an award tonight.'

'I hope she sings the full song. It was really beautiful.'

'One of the greatest voices in the music industry.'

"There are a lot more along the same line," Lance looked at his sister's back. "If you want me to keep reading, I will."

Rachel stared at her phone reading the messages Lance read to her. The words caused the tears she held back to roll down her cheeks. When she wiped them, she felt Lance wrap his arms around her. It was hard to stay mad at Lance; always had been. She could never stay angry with him for very long but she sure tried. "Why would you do that?" She asked, wiping the tears on her cheeks. "Why would you post that?"

"I only wanted to show you what I told you; what Michael and JC told you," Lance spoke. It was hard not to let his voice drop to a comforting whisper and he had to keep himself from speaking directly into her ear. He hugged her from behind. "I knew you'd think we were blowing smoke, not wanting to hurt your feelings. But," he turned her around to face him. It took his sister a minute or two, but she finally raised her head to look into his eyes. "It was the most amazing performance I ever saw."

Rachel pressed her forehead against Lance's shoulder as she hugged him. "Don't think I'm not still mad at you."

Lance chuckled. He had expected no less.

Rachel pulled back and stared into Lance's green eyes. "Do it again and I'm tweeting out your phone number."

Lance burst out laughing. He hooked his arm around Rachel's shoulders and pulled her into a side hug before leading her from the room and back downstairs.

"Everything settled?" Michael asked when Lance and Rachel returned. "No bloodshed?"

"Like she can stay mad at me," Lance said, winking at Rachel. "We're good."

"Just remember...phone number." Rachel kissed his cheek before moving to JC. "Come on, the red carpet is starting." She took his hand.

JC waved goodbye to Lance and Lisa and let himself be led away. Sitting down on the couch he tugged Rachel down next to him, wrapping his arm around her shoulders pulling her against him. "Are you okay?"

Rachel tucked her feet beneath her and leaned into JC. She rested her head on his chest worming her arm behind him. "Yeah... I just didn't expect a million of people to be seeing an impromptu concert. I understand why he did it," she shrugged. "He read a few responses to me; I'm kind of afraid to pull it up myself. I'm sure he scrolled over the less than positive ones."

"I bet you anything you have more positive responses than negatives," JC was happy to have Rachel in his arms to cuddle on the couch with her. "The ones who did say something bad were probably just trying to start something."

"Yeah I get those a lot," Rachel told him. Hate tweets came every day. She ignored them knowing people grew bigger balls hiding behind a screen. Others like to retweet them to give them up to the mercy of their followers. She preferred not to acknowledge them and focus on the fans that tweeted her concert photos, asked her questions or just to say hi and wish her a good day.

"Well listen to me," JC spoke. Looking down he could see his words pop up on Rachel's phone. "That song was incredible. I'm shocked you haven't released it yet. It would definitely rocket to number one."

Rachel raised her head looking at JC. She smiled at him. "Thanks C," she pecked his lips. "I told you why I didn't release it. I don't like how it sounds with me singing. It's a low song but I tried to raise it and it didn't sound right at all. I was thinking along the lines of a guy singing it instead. I think that's what it needs." She could see the wheels turning in JC's head as he imagined a guy singing the song.

JC hummed the chorus in his head nodding. "Not that it wasn't great with you, but I see what you're saying. Why not ask Lance? He has the low range to cover the music."

Rachel nodded. "I thought about him. Not sure he could hit the range around the bridge. I know he'd have no problem with the rest." She looked at her phone when it vibrated in her hand. Lance (or Lisa from Lance's phone) had sent her the photos they'd just taken. "Awww," she cooed showing JC the photo of just him and her. She looked at the photo of the three of them, the photo of their socks and the photo of their socks with Lance. "I should post this..." She said looking at the sock photo. "Kind of afraid to go onto Twitter though.

'Just ignore them,' JC typed on his phone. He really needed to get the voice application on his phone. 'Send those to me.'

"So you can post them to your Twitter page?" Rachel teased tapping on the Twitter icon. She then tapped on the new tweet button and uploaded the sock photo with the four of them. 'Dress down Grammy party tonight! @MichaelTurchin @LanceBass'

'You're not going to tag me?' JC asked.

"Be kind of pointless, you never tweet."

'I could start.'

Rachel laughed at JC's message. "You haven't tweeted since August. I know so because I stalk your page in hopes that it will be the day you do."

"You know what would take their minds off your video," Michael said as he walked in, cutting off JC's reply. In his hands were drinks for everyone. After Lance and Lisa left, he cleaned up the pottery mess in the kitchen. "Tweeting out the picture of you two Lance took earlier. That will get them talking."

'He said for you to tweet out a picture of us. That will get people talking about something else other than the video.' JC typed when Rachel looked at him. He looked at Rachel mulling over Michael's words. Their relationship was new - very new. It hadn't even hit the week mark. He wasn't sure he wanted people to know about them especially have them think he was the reason Rachel's relationship with Ben failed. They knew the truth but with the lies Ben was spreading... he wanted to protect Rachel as much as he could.

"How long were you and Lance dating before guys stepped into the public?" Rachel countered. There was nothing she wanted to do more was announce she was dating JC. She wanted to tweet out the pictures from the beach the other day, the photo from tonight and more that they'd no doubt take. Relationships in the business were a funny thing. She should know.

"Point taken," Michael said taking a seat on the opposite end of the L-shaped couch, letting JC and Rachel had all the room they wanted. He smiled when Dingo jumped up and lay down next to him. He and Lance's relationship would hit two years in a couple weeks. When they first started seeing each other, they kept it private. Their friends knew of course but it had taken a few months together before they'd stepped out together. It was mostly to see if their relationship would last and the fact that they enjoyed their privacy.

~*~

"What is she wearing!"

"You don't like it?"

"Her nipples are showing!"

"So it's cold."

Rachel rolled her eyes at Michael. "Men are pigs."

"Hey!" Both Michael and JC yelled.

"You haven't found one fault in any dress tonight," Rachel told them. "J-Lo bared her entire leg."

"Okay her dress was kind of ugly," Michael consented.

"Katy Perry damn near fell out of hers..."

"What's wrong with that?"

When the words popped up on her phone, Rachel turned around from her spot on the floor in front of JC hitting him with a glare. The glare hardened when JC smiled at her. "And here I thought all the good men were married, taken or gay. You guys just blew my theory all to hell."

JC laughed as he sat up. Rachel had started the red carpet viewing snuggled against his side. The pre show had grown boring and she had grown antsy causing her to move to the floor where she pulled a basket from the bottom shelf of the coffee table that contained some of her fan mail, stamps, envelopes, notebook and pens. "I didn't see you bothering to hide the drool when Maroon 5 was on the screen."

"Adam Levine is hot." Rachel said, her face flushing red.

"I don't think I follow your logic," JC said grinning.

"I wasn't drooling all over his man parts!"

"You would if they were out," Michael said.

"So would you!"

The three adults burst out laughing. Rachel tossed the pen on the notebook page she had been writing on. She leaned her forehead on JC's knee as she kept giggling.

Michael looked at JC, shaking his head. He took a picture, careful not to include JC's face. '.@RachelBass is nuts.' "And she's soboer."

JC chuckled. This was definitely more fun than what he would have been doing. He had definitely paid more attention to the clothes people were wearing than he had in past award shows. But Rachel and Michael had kept a somewhat running commentary throughout the red carpet.

Rachel picked her head up, wiping away a stray tear. "Sorry," she placed a hand over JC's when he put a hand on her shoulder. She folded her fingers pulling his arm across her chest. "You're right; I was drooling all over him. But he was dressed up looking spiffy. Rhianna's nipples were poking out shouting, 'Hello World!'"

"Apparently she didn't get the memo to keep it tasteful." JC mentioned the memo that went out to Grammy performers warning them about wearing specific styles.

"They got it. They just decided to make a point I guess because so far I think every female has had side boob action, nipple action. I think the only thing we haven't seen is genital 'puffiness'," she finger quoted.

JC and Michael laughed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Rachel shrugged, the fingers of her left hand running up and down the back of JC's left calf. "I have no idea. The memo was ridiculous. I tossed it as soon as I read it."

"Were you going to have any side boob action?" JC asked slyly. "Ow!" He kicked his leg out reaching down to rub his calf. "You pulled my leg hair!"

"What kind of question was that? Was I gonna have any side boob action?" Rachel muttered. "Actually I was gonna wear a black corset, stockings and garters."

"Really?" The blood rushed from JC's head at the thought of Rachel dressed up like that. He wasn't into the whole dress-up scene or role play but he wouldn't be above seeing that once in his life. "I g-guess," he coughed, clearing his throat. "As long as it didn't show side boob or... puffiness, you'd be good."

Michael looked up from his phone where he'd been texting Lance. "I'd like to know what exactly puffiness is." 'Tomorrow's Dirty Pop topic... side boob and genital puffiness' he text Lance.

"The committee didn't exactly attach pictures," Rachel said dryly.

"Shame..."

"I'm not sure I even want to see what genital puffiness looks like." JC said, his head clearing. "Sounds like something you should get checked out medically. Maybe you should Google it," he suggested giggling.

"Are you kidding!" Rachel tilted her head back to look at him; her eyes wide. "Can you imagine the amount of porn that would pop up? I'd have to wipe my phone clean.Then probably nuke it! And if I happened to lose my phone with that in my cache? Why don't you Google it?"

"No way," JC shook his head. He looked at Michael.

"Why the hell would I search about vaginal puffiness? Does not interest me or will it ever concern me." Michael told them.

"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way," Rachel asked, giggling. "Maybe they meant male puffiness."

"I'm pretty sure there was a lot of that going on once they caught side of Katy Perry's girls and Rhianna's nipples."

"It's a camel toe!" Rachel shouted as the Red Carpet went to commercial a few minutes later.

"What! Where!" Michael quickly sat up from his slouched position and dove for the remote sitting on the coffee table amidst Rachel's papers.

"No," Rachel giggled at the dejected look on Michael's face.

"Are you gonna explain or just let us guess?" JC asked wryly. "Just what's in those letters you're reading?"

"Nothing that racy...or raunchy," she fought off a giggling attack. "Genital puffiness.... camel toe."

"Have you been thinking about that this whole time?"

"No," Rachel shook her head still giggling. "It just popped into my head. I guess genital puffiness is the political correct way to say camel toe."

"I think we should talk about something else," JC said.

"How about moose knuckles?" Rachel shrieked with laughter when hands started tickling her sides.

Michael took the picture of Rachel laughing on the floor with JC tickling as he leaned over her from his seated position on the couch. 'I bet I have a question that you have never ever been asked before.'

'Highly doubtful. I have been asked everything imaginable.' Lance's return text said.

'During your time with NSYNC did you ever think one would become your brother-in-law?'

'Don't be making out the seating chart just yet.'

In response to the text, Michael sent Lance the picture he just took.

'Don't seat Chris and Joey next to each other. They won't behave themselves.'

~*~

"How are we doin'? Doin' good?" LL Cool J asked the crowd. "Alright good," he said when they cheered and made noise. "Our next performer was a last minute fill-in. I'm sure you heard by now that one of our own was in a terrible car accident. Everyone in this room knows how things can quickly change and how very easily we could have been mourning the loss of a talented and amazing singer. If you don't think Rachel Bass is an amazing singer, check out the video Lance Bass posted..."

Rachel squeezed JC's hand as she read LL Cool J's words at the bottom of the television screen. She'd been waiting for her accident and injury to be mentioned. The obvious spot to bring her up would be when they introduced the performer who took her place.

"Rachel," LL Cool J continued speaking directly into the camera. "Along with everyone in this room I am wishing you a speedy recovery. And we hope to see you back on stage soon. Your voice is missed."

Rachel bit her lip as tears welled in her eyes. She didn't think she'd react like this. During the past three weeks, she had received many well wishes from bands, singers, actors and actresses. Well wishes flocked her way. None made her cry. She quickly stood and rushed from the room.

"Rachel..." JC's voice trailed off. It was useless to call after her. He'd been afraid something like this would happen. Watching The Grammys would be hard for her he knew and so far she had been okay. Laughing and joking with them about what people wore, what they said. He did notice the further into the actual Grammy show she'd gotten quieter. After spending most of the red carpet sitting on the floor in front of him going through fan mail, she crawled back up on the couch fairly early into the show. He hadn't minded, especially when she snuggled into his side. No he hadn't minded that at all.

"Maybe I should have suggested doing something else," Michael frowned. He was sitting up, his body angled toward the doorway where Rachel disappeared. He thought being around him and JC would make the night easier. It had been working for the most part. Rachel had been having a good time. They should have been better prepared.

"No, this was a good idea," JC told Michael as he stood. "It's just... hard when you realize you're not gonna perform anymore." He left Michael alone in the living room and made his way upstairs. He was fairly certain she went to her room. Her door was shut and he only hesitated briefly before pushing it open. His heart broke seeing her lying facedown on her bed, clutching her pillow. The pillow muffled the sound of her cries.

There was no hesitation as he quickly crossed to the bed. Kneeling on the bed beside Rachel, he placed a hand on her back.

"Please, just leave me alone."

That wasn't even an option. He wasn't leaving. He lay down on his side, facing Rachel; his hand moving up and down her back in a slow manner. He moved close, resting on her elbow, watching her, listening to her cries. Each one causing his own heart to crack. This was one moment where he wished he was able to talk to her; to tell her the words in his heart, to offer comfort. Words wouldn't be any good here so he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her hair before lowering his head to the pillow next to hers.

With her eyes swollen and bloodshot, Rachel turned her head to meet JC's sympathetic look. Unable to stop it, a sob escaped. She clenched her eyes shut and felt the tears escape and roll down her cheeks. Before she could bury her head back in her pillow, JC pulled her into his arms. She didn't fight, but buried her face into his shoulder and cried.

JC rolled onto his back, taking Rachel with him. He held her in his arms and pulled her close to his body. "Shhh..." he murmured, moving one hand up and down her spine. The murmuring was useless to Rachel, but it comforted him doing the small act. He continued to hold her, allowing her to cry.

"I'm sorry," Rachel mumbled into his chest, when her cries lessened to sniffling. She kept her head down not wanting him to see her tear stained face and swollen eyes. The fingers on her left hand caressed his chest through the t-shirt he wore, until his hand came up to clasp hers. She held on tight. She felt the kiss on the top of her head and her eyes welled with tears again and she tried desperately to hold them at bay.

JC kissed the top of her head as he held her as tight as she was holding him. If this was what she needed, he would gladly give this to her whenever she needed him to.

"What are you saying?"

JC's hand froze on her back at Rachel's question. He racked his brain but came up empty. Rachel picked her head off JC's chest to stare at him. A small smile graced her lips. She reached up gently touching his lips with her thumb. "I felt your lips moving."

He kissed the thumb on his lips and reached down, patting his leg checking his pocket for his phone. It was empty. He must have left it in the living room when he came after her. Making the phone motion with his hand he frowned when Rachel shook her head. She didn't have her phone either.

"Wait," Rachel held up her finger and rolled away from JC. It only took her a couple seconds to grab the dry erase board and crawl back next to JC. She handed him the board and blushed. "Oops," she quickly moved away again and grabbed the pink marker still sitting on the dresser. "This might help." She handed the marker off.

JC sat up sitting crossed legged. Once his legs were crossed, Rachel laid her head in his lap. He smiled down at her. He'd never had a girlfriend who had been as touchy and feely as Rachel. In the short amount of time they'd been together, she was quick to take his hand, hug him tightly; quick to caress his back, run his fingers down his arm and snuggle against his side. He loved every minute.

"This sucks, JC," Rachel sighed before he had even written a word on the board. "I don't want to be here. I don't want to be watching the Grammys on TV. I want to be there. I want to get up on stage and accept the award, if I win, instead of having it delivered to me. And I want..." she felt her voice crack as tears filled her eyes again. "I wanted to perform. We mashed up Blown Away and Two Black Cadillacs. I was gonna wear this dress that I had to stand in a specific spot. During Two Black Cadillacs there were going to be designs drawn on my dress from the projector. Designs and roses and butterflies...It was gonna be so cool."

She pushed away from JC and rose pacing her room. "I hate this. I hate not being able to hear the music tonight. I hate having to read the captions at the bottom. I hate that I laugh seconds after you and Michael because the captions are behind and you've already laughed at the joke. I hate getting all these texts and tweets from singers saying how they are sorry and they are thinking about me but I know underneath they are happy that it didn't happen to them." She was on a roll and there was no stopping her. "I hate not being able to put my ear buds in and go for a run getting lost in the music. I hate not being able to listen to the radio while I shower. I hate how I can't pick up the phone and call anyone that I have to text everyone."

JC watched Rachel move about the room. He wanted to stop her rant but he let her go, hoping once she got her feelings off her chest she'd feel better. He listened to each and every word. He wanted to say he understood what she was going through, but he really had no idea. And he wanted so bad to help her. That is what killed him. He wanted to help her but he had no idea how. The one thing she wanted, he couldn't give her.

"I wish I was at the Grammys tonight. I wish I was able to get up on stage and sing my songs. I wish I was in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Washington." She named the states where her Blown Away tour was supposed to be hitting. "I wish I didn't have to cancel the remaining dates. I wish," she sighed; her shoulders drooping. "I wish I never started singing. If I never started singing this wouldn't have happened because I wouldn't have been in a meeting. If this was meant to happen...well at least it wouldn't have been so devastating. I wish I could stay locked in this room forever and never venture out anywhere. Then I wouldn't have to see all the sounds I'm missing."

There was so much JC wanted to respond to but what could he say? I'm sorry? An apology wasn't something Rachel wanted to hear. If the roles were reversed and someone had said that to him after he just ranted and raved...he would have beamed them with the dry erase board.

"And I don't just miss hearing music," she continued unable to stop. "I miss hearing laughter. I see it happening, but there is nothing. I always feel as if I'm left out of the loop. I miss hearing people talk, having a normal conversation. Sure it all shows up on my phone but I'm always feeling left out. Everyone has to cater to me. You can't have multiple stuff happening at once because I can't keep up and get confused. I miss Lance's voice. I miss that feeling I'd get when I'd answer my phone on tour and hearing him on the other end. I miss my voice! I wonder if I'll forget what I sound like. If I'll forget what Lance sounds like? And you..."

JC heard the quiver in Rachel's voice and quickly stood up going to her. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and held her tight. It took a couple minutes before she turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around him. They stayed like that for a few minutes, before JC stepped back, the back of his knees hitting the bed. He reached for Rachel's hand, pulling her between his legs. Keeping her hand held in his left, he wrote on the dry erase board.

'I wish you were performing on the Grammys tonight too. I wish you were accepting the awards you know you're going to win.'

"You don't know that," Rachel said reading his words. "They could easily go to someone else."

JC rolled his eyes as he erased the board with his fingers. 'Those other songs don't even come close to Blown Away. You're gonna win.'

"You just want the award," she teased, beginning to feel slightly better.

He grinned at her, shrugging his shoulders. 'Don't wish to have never started singing. You are what's good on the radio. You are the talented one who can sing anything. I wish you were still on tour performing.'

"How can you wish that?" Rachel asked, causing JC to stop writing. When he looked at her, she continued. "How can you wish I was still on tour?"

'Because it's what you're meant to do.' JC wrote simply. It was something he believed whole-heartedly.

"But if this never happened, if I was never in an accident and lost my hearing, I'd be on tour. I wouldn't have been here. This wouldn't have happened," she motioned between them, signaling their relationship.

'Sure it would have.' JC wrote with a smug look on his face.

"How do you figure?"

'You sent me the text before the accident. I would have said yes. I would have been a fool to turn down working with the biggest country superstar.' He grinned seeing Rachel's eye roll. 'Our relationship would have grown from there. But I have no doubt we would have ended up here.'

Rachel smiled at him. She dropped his hand to cup his face with both of her hands, leaning down giving him a kiss. Suddenly not being able to hear didn't seem so bad considering what was in front of her.

JC tossed the dry erase board onto the bed and placed his hands on her hips as his lips moved against hers. With his hands still on her hips, he angled her so he could pull her down to sit in his lap. Once she was settled, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her securely. He placed a kiss on her forehead when she laid her head on his shoulder.

When he placed the kiss on her head an idea came to him. Keeping one arm around her, he reached for the board next to him and quickly scribbled the words, 'trust me'.

"Of course," Rachel told him without hesitation, though her eyes were questioning.

'Dance with me.' He watched Rachel's eyes widen. When their eyes met, he could see the refusal in them. 'Trust me.' He wrote again.

"I do," she whispered. She stood when JC moved to stand. When he took her hand and pulled her to him, she was a little hesitant, unsure of what to do. It showed because was tense in his arms.

Keeping one arm around her waist, JC reached for the board on the bed. 'Relax. Trust me. Close your eyes and feel.'

Rachel nodded and closed her eyes as JC pulled her back into his arms. Her arms entwined around his neck and she rested her cheek against his. The stubble was scratchy but she didn't mind. She released a small sigh and sank deeper against him. JC started swaying; the movement so miniscule she wasn't sure they were moving. Her fingers caressed the back of his neck against the short locks of hair. She found herself wondering what it would have been like when his hair was longer. A smile crossed her face as she remembered JC with the longer hair style he sported during the Celebrity time frame; the soft brunette curls, streaked with highlights.

Her feet shuffled on the plush rug in her room as they moved slowly; sinking into a comfortable position. Her body aligned with his from chest to hips. Her left leg settled between his legs bringing them closer together. A soft sigh escaped as she kept her eyes closed dancing cheek to cheek. It was then she felt JC's lips moving against her cheek. She couldn't make out any words but she imagined the song was beautiful; the lyrics entwining a story about finding the one you were meant to be with and falling in love. She imagined the words so lovely a tear escaped and rolled down her cheek.

JC turned his lips toward Rachel, kissing away the stray tear. He tasted the saltiness on his lips. His own eyes drifted shut as he moved them in a slow circle. He nuzzled the side of her face before she turned her head slightly allowing his lips to meet hers. He kissed her slowly, softly, tenderly. With a whisper of a touch he ended their kiss, placing his cheek back to hers. He felt a sigh wash through her body and he smiled. He traced a pattern in her cheek with the tip of his nose. With another kiss on her cheek, so slight, his lips barely touched her smooth skin; he resumed softly mouthing the words as they danced around the quiet room.