Chapter Twenty Seven

"Video shoot over already?" Lance asked when Rachel walked in.

"There isn't going to be a video," Rachel said. She didn't stop to expand on her answer just kept walking toward the steps.

Lance raised his eyebrows in Michael's direction as Rachel disappeared upstairs. The sound of a door shutting soon followed. "I wonder what happened?"

"Still pisses me off they didn't use her idea," Lance started pacing. "Your idea too," he added looking at Michael. Michael just shrugged. "It was your idea too. You guys came up with it together."

"Yeah I know," Michael said brushing Lance's words off. "But Rachel came up with most of the idea."

"Doesn't matter you still helped and you drew the story boards. The idea was awesome."

Michael blushed. "It was okay."

"Not just okay," Lance argued. "It was great. The way that you guys incorporated the subtle storyline."

"That was all Rachel," Michael laughed.

"Maybe..." Lance moved his gaze away from Michael when he caught site of his sister coming back into the room. She had changed out of her clothes and into a tank top, nylon shorts and tennis shoes. He frowned. "Where are you going?"

Rachel lifted her cell phone in her hand. Swiping the button across the screen she unlocked the phone. After reading Lance's words, she replied. "I'm going to hit one of the hiking trails. Can I borrow one of your cars?"

"Alone?" Lance started shaking his head. "Give us a few and we'll go with you."

"Your show is going to be starting soon," Rachel told him.

"Then Michael will go with you."

"Lance," Rachel sighed. "I want to be by myself for a while."

Lance frowned. "I don't like the fact of you going hiking by yourself."

"I'm a big girl. I'll be okay," Rachel smiled. "It's just... been a long day and I need to clear my head."

"I don't like this." He sighed. "Just don't leave your phone in the car."

"Like I could if I wanted," Rachel told him. "It's a big part of my life now." She accepted the keys to Michael's truck and kissed them both on the cheek. "I'll be back later. Have a good show."

"I don't like this," Lance said as Rachel walked out the front door.

"You can't stop her. If she wants to go by herself... she is a big girl," Michael said, even though he agreed with Lance. He didn't like the idea of Rachel going off to hike on her own. She wanted to run to the store or bank or even sit on the beach by herself that didn't worry him too much. But she was going to set off on one of the hiking trails by herself without the ability to hear.

Lance made a face at Michael. He knew his sister was an adult but that still didn't mean he had to like her going someplace on her own. His front door opened again and his heart jump then plummeted when he saw Drew walk in.

"Wow," Drew stated. "It's so good to see you too."

"Don't mind Lance," Michael said chuckling. "He's upset his sister is an adult."

"Like you're not worried." Lance shot back.

"I am, but I'm not going to tail her and walk twenty steps behind her to make sure she's okay."

Drew looked back and forth between Michael and Lance. "I'm missing something."

"Rachel just went off hiking on her own; clearly upset about something."

"Well..." Michael cut in. "She wasn't really upset. More like a bad day."

"Whatever..."

"And you're worried..." Drew asked slowly, questioningly.

"Yes. Something clearly happened at the video shoot today which Rachel said there isn't going to be a video. So that means something big must have happened," Lance spoke out loud as he tried to work out just what might have happened at the video shoot.

"I'm sure she'll be okay Lance. She can handle going on a hike by herself. It's not like she'll do something stupid."

"I know," Lance sighed as the three men made their way into the basement to get ready for Dirty Pop. "I'd just really like to know what happened today."

*~*

Armed with a cold bottle of water she had just purchased at a gas station, Rachel set off on one of her favorite hiking trails. The hat she had used when she bought the ribbon to tie around the Grammy was pulled low on her head to sort of hide her identity. The hat, paired with sunglasses, made her look like a normal everyday hiker instead of an award winning country singer.

The pace started out torrid. She walked swiftly on the dirt trail as it wound up the mountain. Even with a hat and sunglass she made sure to keep her face averted when she came across people coming back down. She felt bad for not smiling in greeting but she didn't feel like making small talk. She almost wished she had ear buds to put in her ear to make it look like she was listening to music.

The day's events rolled through her head. The video shoot had been way behind schedule before she finally walked out. After the scenes with the sheets from the ceiling she was supposed to be filmed at a cemetery, a church and the beach. During the walk through it all sounded nice and she was sure the final product would turn out lovely; it just wasn't what she wanted.

Once she and Michael thought up the idea for See You Again she had her head set on filming that scene. It was dumb on her part to have her heart set on anything in the business because she knew how heartbreaking it could be. The business (and the people in it) loved to shatter dreams. Having Michael in the video would help him out. People would see the painting in the video and inquire about the artist (if he wasn't recognized) and more people would come across his work.

Even if it hadn't been Michael in the scene but another artist, Rachel had no doubt the scene would have come across as a touching and beautiful tribute. She wondered if anyone would have guessed the twist at the end. Would they have guessed Michael was painting the portrait for a funeral? It wasn't that far fetched since the song was about seeing someone again after they passed on. She was proud of the artistic idea.

She paused on the side of the trail and uncapped the bottle of water taking a long gulp of the refreshing cold liquid. Her chest was heaving as her lungs sought to take in enough oxygen. She hadn't meant to set off at a fast pace, her anger had fueled that. She was still mad, but not as much as before.

Shooting the video was the one thing she wanted to do. It was the one thing she could do to promote her new single. There were only so many tweets she could send out about requesting her song to local radio stations. Her tweets, on top of JC's, Lance's and Michael's, could only do so much before fans just glazed passed them. Do fans even call in and request songs to radio stations anymore? It was a popular thing to do in the 90s, she knew, but now? She wasn't so certain. Most radio stations now just took the top 40 hits and played them over and over until everyone was tired of hearing them. She never had a problem getting her songs played. She remembered a time when you called the local radio station to request a song so you could record it onto a cassette tape.

Now she wasn't just angry but depressed too. She was getting old.

Rachel sighed and capped her water bottle as she started moving back up the trail again. Around her upper arm was her arm band. Her phone was tucked down inside. She pulled it out to check the time and was surprised to find that more time had passed than she thought. She wasn't that far from the top, so she decided to continue on. At least she'd accomplish something today.

*~*

"Hello JC," Megan smiled as she answered her cell phone. She leaned back on her couch and propped her feet up on the coffee table. She grabbed the remote from the arm of the couch to pause the TV show she had been watching. After the unexpected time off, she decided to use the time to catch up on her DVR.

"Hey, how's the video shoot going?" JC asked making his way upstairs. He had just put the finishing touches on So Small. He couldn't wait to share the good news with Rachel. The song was finally done and he was proud of it. It had to be one of the best songs he had ever written. He couldn't wait to hear Rachel singing it. He knew it was a hit. The first time he heard it on the radio he was liable to break down and cry. But he was getting ahead of himself. First thing that needed to be done was teach Rachel a song that she's never heard before. That was a task in and of itself.

Megan frowned at JC's question. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "The video shoot?"

"Uh yeah. You know the video shoot. Music video. Rachel. See You Again."

"Rachel didn't tell you?"

Now it was JC's turn to be confused. "I haven't talked to Rachel since we video chatted during lunch. What happened?"

"Rachel walked out." She grimaced hearing JC's shout of surprise. "There are plenty of things Rachel will take and let roll off. But the minute you start spouting that her rise to the top was anything less straightforward..."

"What are you talking about!" JC fought to keep his voice at a reasonable level.

"This wonderful director - the very best according to Capitol," she grinned hearing JC snort. "voiced his less than stellar opinion on how he thought Rachel got to where she is today."

"He didn't suggest that she slept around did she?" JC's hand tightened in a fist. His anger simmered.

"Oh no. No, he didn't say that. He just told her she got to where she is today because she had Lance paving the way for her."

"Bu-but that's the stupidest thing I've heard!"

"I know," Megan agreed. "That is the one thing that Rachel can't stand to hear. It still pisses her off when people think Lance opened doors for her and she only made it in the business because of who she was related to."

"Rachel got to where she is today because of her own talent. She can out sing any artist on the radio today."

"Preaching to the choir JC. I know how talented Rachel is."

"Sorry, I just... He told this to her?"

"Yup. That was pretty much the end. I'm not sure what the bosses are going to think. I'm sure they will not be happy. Least Rachel won't be able to hear them yell," she joked weakly. "I dropped Rachel off at Lance's. She was pissed as hell."

JC let himself into Lance's house almost thirty minutes later. Traffic had been relatively light from Los Angeles to Burbank. He liked Lance's neighborhood. It was quiet and far enough away from Hollywood to pretend you were somewhere else. A trio of barking dogs met him before he took five steps. The barking ceased immediately when they recognized him. Foster and Dingo wagged their tails hard enough to make their hind ends shake. Lily pranced around making sure not to let the bigger dogs get all the attention.

He crouched down giving each dog equal attention. If given the chance, they'd stay there all day letting you love on them so he had to tear himself away. With a final pat to each canine he stood and began searching the house for Rachel.

In his search he found Michael had already started painting the replacement for Rachel. Michael's ability never ceased to amaze him. His paintings were completely done by paint. He didn't draw or sketch outlines first then paint over them. Knowing what the previous painting looked like, it was a no brainer what this was going to be. He hoped Rachel hadn't crossed paths with it. If she had, least he still had his surprises. Which so far, had been panning out well.

After making a lot of phone calls that morning, he'd been able to find someone who guaranteed they'd be able to fix the broken Moon Man. JC made sure to let the company know he didn't want a replacement trophy. He wanted the exact one. They had understood and promised to fix the original one. Melinda and Kari had both gotten back to him about the photos and after he endured good natured teasing, they had told him to give them a couple days to make phone calls and track some people down. He had complete faith in the two women. They'd find him the photos from that night.

When his efforts to find Rachel turned fruitless, he frowned. The only place he hadn't checked was the basement but Lance was in the middle of his radio show. He didn't think Rachel would sit down there and watch. It was highly unlikely given the fact that she couldn't hear. The basement was the only room left to search so he made his way down the steps.

"Well look who just showed up in the bassment!" Lance grinned when he caught sight of JC. "JC Chasez is in the house. Get your ass over here man. Grab a headset."

"You never know who is going to drop by the bassment," Drew spoke as JC put on the headset and sat down in the empty chair at the desk.

"It's not a surprise when JC shows up anymore," Lance said. "He's practically here all the time. Thinking about asking him just to move in."

JC laughed. "Are you tired of seeing me Lance?"

"Not at all. Just making a statement. Gonna start charging rent before too long."

"About as much as you charge Rachel," Michael chuckled.

"I'd charge JC double," Lance laughed. "So JC you haven't been on the show in what? A couple days?"

"He should be a permanent peanut. He's on all the time."

JC grinned, chuckling at Lisa's statement. "I always come at the wrong time..." He realized what he said too late as the group burst out into laughter.

"My poor sister," Lance grinned.

"Trust me," JC rolled his eyes as a sound effect played in his ear of something going 'splat'. He didn't even want to question it. "I have gotten no complaints."

"That you know about. Lance text Rachel and ask her if she has any complaints about JC."

"I will not!"

"Are you trying to get me dumped?" JC shook his head.

"Pretty sure Rachel isn't letting you go for a long time."

"I hope not," JC said to Michael.

"What I was going to ask you originally is what have you been up to? How's Girl Radical?"

"Good," JC smiled. He could never contain his smile when someone asked about Girl Radical. The group was definitely his baby. It was the most fun he's had in awhile. Professionally, it was the thing he'd been most proud of in ten years. He used to group that together personally as well. But with Rachel in his life, his priorities had shifted. "We just completed shooting a music video for I'm Just A Girl."

"That was originally a No Doubt song right?" Lance asked.

"Yeah."

"Why'd you pick that song?" Drew asked.

"Jimmy and I just liked the feel of it. There are eleven girls and they can each represent their femininity or toughness or however you take their performance."

"What was the video or can't you say?" The question came from Lisa.

"For the first couple of videos, we'd like to keep them very simple because you have to get to know them first. So this video is shot in front of a clean white wall so you can get a look at the girls."

"When is the video going to be released?"

"Not sure yet," JC answered. "Right now we're still editing and putting it together. With eleven girls, there are a lot of shots to go through and put the right ones together."

"We're gonna hear original music right?"

"Oh yeah, of course," JC nodded. "We shot the cover to gauge the response it receives before we give them original. Right now we have three originals that we really feel strongly about. Jimmy, myself and this woman, Danielle Brisebois, who did quite a bit of writing for Natasha Bedingfield wrote a song called Don't Get Me Wrong, which we love. We also shot a video for that song so we'll have that ready to go when we feel like the moment's right."

"I hear Girl Radical is not the only artist you've been writing for..." Drew started and grimaced when he saw the looks shoot his way. "Apparently I wasn't supposed to say anything. Moving on..."

"Oh DrewBoo," Lance laughed softly shaking his head.

"I know. I'm sorry. It's a good thing we only a handful of listeners right?"

"It's alright," JC spoke. "No harm done. And it is true. Girl Radical is not the only artist I've been writing for."

"Wow," Lance raised his eyebrows. He was surprised JC actually confirmed Drew's statement. Not a lot of people knew JC was writing for Rachel. "Are we going to get a Dirty Pop exclusive?"

"Sure," JC grinned, his blue eyes twinkling. "Girl Radical is not the only artist I've been writing for." Lance laughed out loud as he swiveled on his chair. "I will say to be on the look out for a cover video to be released on the Girl Radical YouTube channel soon. I spent part of the day shooting a video for Kota Wade. I'm really proud of this girl. She took Paramore's Still Into You slowed it way down creating a ballad. It's really beautiful. I can't wait for people to hear it."

"Look at you grinning like a proud daddy."

JC's grin broadened. "It's like the first thing I've been excited about in 10 years. I believe in these girls. I can't wait for everyone to hear them."

*~*

The vibration against her upper arm alerted Rachel of a message on her phone. She pulled the iPhone from the arm band and stared at the locked screen seeing a message from JC.

'Are you okay?'

She smiled and swiped across the bottom, unlocking her phone. She opened her camera and took a picture of the view she'd been lost in for the past ten minutes and sent it back to him. 'Yes. Just enjoying the view'

'I would have enjoyed the view with you.'

Rachel smiled at the recent text, her heart expanding. 'I know but I was mad enough to just want to get away by myself.'

'How's that working?'

Another smiled passed her lips. 'Wish you were here.' She imagined sharing the beautiful view with JC. She was relatively alone. Not a lot of people hiked during the late afternoon hours. Most people usually hiked in the morning or at sunset. The heat was just too much in the afternoon.

'I can be. Just give me an hour.' 'Of course it would be easier if you'd come to me because I am here. At your house. And you are not.'

Rachel laughed at the two back-to-back messages from JC. Sadness settled in realizing JC came to see her and she wasn't there. 'Roped into Dirty Pop?'

'You know it. But I talked about Girl Radical the whole time.'

'Your favorite topic.' She stood up from the boulder she had been sitting on. In the past few minutes she realized that while the scenery was beautiful, she didn't need this to clear her head. What she needed was waiting for her in Burbank.

'Mmm used to be. You're my favorite topic.'

A blush crept over Rachel's face as she read JC's message as she started back down the trail. A giggled escaped. 'Mine too.'

'You love talking about you? Wow. Conceded. Selfish.;)'

Rachel laughed. 'What's wrong with being selfish?'

'Can you feel my eyes rolling at the moment?'

'Can't say I've ever felt your eyes rolling and I've felt a lot of you. She giggled as she sent the message. She could almost feel JC's arms around her, his lips brushing softly over hers. 'And you're my favorite topic.'

'Saucy. Nice.' 'We're a match made in Heaven.'

The smile was warm as she read the messages and she picked up the pace. 'Don't go anywhere. I'm on my way to you.'

*~*

Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing is just a grain of sand

and what you've been out there search for forever is in your hands

and then you figure out love is all that matters after all

it sure makes everything else

oh, it sure makes everything else

seem so small

The final notes on the piano drifted away and Michael and Lance started clapping.

"That was amazing, JC!" Lance grinned. "You wrote a masterpiece."

"Best song I've heard in a long time," Michael added. "For sure a number one hit."

"You guys have to say that," JC brushed off the praise as he swung around on the piano bench. He started seeing Rachel behind them. "Rachel..." he stated. He had no idea she was even home yet. The dogs hadn't made a commotion like they normally do. He frowned when Rachel made no movement, only stared at him. By the looks, he wasn't sure if she was seeing him. It was almost as if she was staring through him. He exchanged looks with Lance and Michael before he made his way toward his girlfriend.

"Rach..." he started but stopped. There was no phone in Rachel's hand. He patted his front pockets, locating his phone in his right pocket. When he reached to pull it out, a hand settled on his, stopping his movement. He followed the arm up until he met Rachel's gaze. Her green eyes were filled with tears. He could see tears had already slipped free from the tracks on her cheeks. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but without his phone he had no way to communicate.

"Were..." Rachel's voice cracked and she coughed to clear her throat. "Were you playing So Small?"

JC nodded, his eyes closing briefly. He opened them in time to see more tears slide down Rachel's cheeks from the corner of her eyes. Immediately he felt like a heel. It was her song and he shouldn't have played it for anyone until... he froze. How did she know what he was playing? He didn't see a phone in her hand so it wasn't possible for her to see the lyrics on the screen. His body had been blocking his hands so she couldn't read the keys he'd been playing.

"It was beautiful..." she closed her eyes allowing more tears to fall.

Lance and Michael exchanged looks and stepped forward. What was going on?

"Rachel..." JC said slowly and he watched in amazement as Rachel's eyes opened.