Casey slipped her key into the lock and yawned as it flashed green. Dragging her feet, she pushed the door open. She heard nothing from inside and tiptoed into the bedroom. JC was true to his word; when her six am wake up call came he didn't even stir. Now, with the radio interview done, it was after nine in the morning and he was still blissfully passed out. He was on his stomach, arms tucked securely beneath the pillow. She smiled in his direction, briefly considering crawling back underneath the covers with him. She was exhausted; the emotional weight of the previous evening, combined with the amount of alcohol she'd consumed had taken its toll. With another yawn, she tossed her baseball cap to the floor and stripped off her clothes before heading into the bathroom.

***

JC turned over onto his side, swinging his arm out, and came into contact with nothing. He groaned and eased one eye open to see the other side of the bed empty. "Case?" he croaked out, his voice thick with sleep.

"You're awake finally?"

He turned in the direction of the voice. She stood in the doorway of the bathroom, a thick white towel wrapped around her, hair dripping onto her shoulders and arms.

He raised his arms overhead and stretched out on his back and yawned, a smile--one he hoped was seductive--on his face, sleepy blue eyes sparkling mischievously. "Maybe."

She bit her lip, holding back a laugh, and walked over to the bed. She sat down on the edge closest to him and pushed the covers back. Staring at him with a smirk, she rubbed her hand up his chest. "Need some help? Waking up?"

He slid one of his hands up her thigh, underneath the towel barely covering it. His eyes brightened excitedly although his smile remained languid. "You could try, I guess."

She leaned over him and, with a grin, shook her hair in his face.  With a giggle, she jumped back as he tried to grab her. "Looks like you're awake now."

"You are so gonna get yours," JC said with a laugh, wiping his face and upper body of the water.

"Promises, promises." She stuck out her tongue at him

"Oh, it's a promise alright." He yawned again and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What time are we meeting your parents?"

Casey glanced over at the clock. "They'll be at the restaurant downstairs in about forty-five minutes or so."

"OK." He nodded and picked his phone up off the nightstand next to the bed. "And what about Amber?"

Casey was already on her way back into the bathroom and she stopped in her tracks. Turning to face him, her expression was stony. "What about Amber?"

He shrugged. "Don't you need to...I don't know...deal with that?"

She shook her head. "She knows where I am. If she wants to talk, she'll find me."

JC didn't say anything, but he shook his head when he heard the blow dryer turn on. Casey was, he was realizing, nothing if not stubborn.

***

"Come on, Amber. Why don't you sit down?" Joey sighed and continued to watch as she paced back and forth. "You're gonna wear a hole in the carpet." He leaned back against the headboard and allowed his eyes to close for a moment when she didn't immediately respond.  He tried again. "You're making me dizzy."

She stopped pacing and turned her head toward him slowly, giving him a dirty look. But she stepped near the bed and sat down heavily onto it. "I don't think we're friends anymore, Joey," she sniffed. "I think it's over."

He crawled over to where she had collapsed and stretched out next to her. "Why would you say that?"

She sat and looked down at him, scowling. "Did you miss our fight last night?"

He nodded slowly. "To be fair you didn't exactly fight. You kind of lost it on her and she...well, she got angry back."

Amber rolled her eyes and he flashed her a smile, continuing. "Casey's a drama queen. I don't mean that in a bad way ‘cause I love her to death. She's a great girl. But you know it, I know it...hell, even Casey knows it. And last night...you kinda were one, too."

Amber inhaled sharply and crossed her arms over her chest indignantly. "I'm not a drama queen."

"Ordinarily," he said calmly, "maybe not. But you were pretty dramatic last night."

She wrinkled her nose and punched him in the arm.

"Ouch! What the hell was that for?" He sat up and rubbed his now sore arm.

Amber reclined back on the bed, completely ignoring him. "I can't believe she didn't tell me about JC." She huffed and then honed in on Joey again, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Did you know?

Still rubbing his arm he made a face at her. "She didn't really have much of an opportunity to talk to you yesterday."

"You didn't answer my question."

He shrugged indifferently. "Yeah. I knew."

Her eyes widened. "Of course you knew! Because I bet everyone knew but me. And bullshit on her not having time to talk to me today. She could've picked up the phone at any point over the past few--"

"We're on tour together, Amber. I see the two of them everyday. And anyway, it's not like Casey told me. JC didn't either, for that matter, OK?"

"The fact remains," she began dismissively, "that I didn't know. And I should have."

Joey ran his fingers through his hair making it stick up every which way. "I don't think this really has anything to do with JC."

Amber pulled her hair out of the elastic holding it and rubbed her temples. "She doesn't tell me anything anymore. Whatever new thing happens with her, I have to hear it from someone else. I heard about what happened with Tony from her mom.  And she still won't really talk about it with me." She took a shaky breath.

"She's got her music and it's taking off for her and I'm happy. But I can't help but feel like I'm losing my best friend." She closed her eyes and sniffed.

Joey put an arm around her shoulder. "Why don't you talk to her? Tell her how you feel."

Amber nodded but said nothing.

***

"That's all you're eating?" Casey had just placed her order with the server and Elizabeth gave her a disdainful glare.

Casey frowned at her mother. "It's a huge fruit plate, bacon and a croissant, Mom. That's plenty."

"You're too thin as it is; don't you want an omelette or something else, too?"

JC covered a snicker as Casey smiled tightly. "Um," she glanced down at the menu then back up at the waiting server. "I'll have the Mediterranean omelette, too, please."

"Much better." Elizabeth nodded.  "So, JC," she began, after all of their orders were placed. "I enjoyed the show so much last night. This tour is a lot more exciting than the last one, huh?"

JC nodded with a smile. "Thanks. And yeah. We wanted to outdo ourselves so when we were in the planning process we tried to think of everything we could without being way too over the top, but still going above and beyond last time."

"Did Casey tell you about what happened when we went to see you last year?"

JC glanced at Casey and nudged her with his elbow. "No, Casey didn't tell me anything."

She blushed and took a big swig of her water. Paul and Matthew looked at each other and began laughing.

"Well," Elizabeth started. "The radio station was giving away meet and greet passes; you know where you have to call in and be the whatever number caller? Casey had been trying for days. And having everyone she knew try for her. But she never could get through. So she went to the radio station--"

"You know what," Casey interrupted. "it's a really boring story, JC."

He joined in with her family laughing. "No, doesn't sound boring to me at all. Please, continue, Mrs. Whitaker."

"Oh, hey, look, there's our server!" Casey pointed out as the young man came back with drinks.

"Saved by the orange juice," Paul laughed under his breath.

"Don't worry, JC; I'll finish telling you the story later." Elizabeth smirked at her daughter.

Casey shook her head. "Thanks, Mom."

"Hey, JC," Matthew spoke up suddenly. "Did Casey tell you that she has posters of you up on her wall?" he said, looking at JC. "Like six."

"Matty!" Casey all but shrieked. "I don't have six posters of him on my wall," she grumbled under her breath.

Casey's parents continued to laugh and JC looked over at her with a sly smile. "Nope. Casey didn't tell me that either." He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. "You'll have to tell me more about that later."

She closed her eyes as her cheeks burned. "I'm pleading the fifth." She looked from her mother to her father and then to her brother. "What is this? Let's completely embarrass Casey at brunch day?"

"Ok, sweetie, we'll stop," her mom said, still laughing. "So where's Amber, honey? She was perfectly welcome to join us; she knows that, right?"

"Oh, um..." Casey stammered trying to figure out what to say about the situation with Amber, without saying much at all. "I didn't actually talk to her this morning." She shrugged.

"Well, why don't you call her? Tell her to meet us down here," Mr. Whitaker put it.

She sighed heavily and twisted at her ring, looking down at the table. "We, um, aren't  talking right now, I don't think," she said finally.

Mrs. Whitaker's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Since when? You were talking yesterday. What happened?"

Casey massaged her temple and JC gave her a sympathetic look. She loved her parents and appreciated that they were concerned about her and cared about her. And she loved that it always extended into her relationships with her friends.

Amber had been a permanent fixture in Casey's life, and the Whitaker home, since eighth grade. She was almost as close to Casey's family as she was to her own. With brothers and sisters that were significantly older and had long been out of the house, Amber kind of felt like Casey and Matt were her adopted siblings. And with her parents' work schedule, and frequent traveling, she often found herself in the care of the Whitakers' at times, even when Casey wasn't around.

She was more than a friend, she was family. She was thankful that her parents cared, about her and about Amber. But she didn't want them to get into the middle of this fight. She rubbed at her temple furiously. Why, she wondered, was she so anxious to come home again? Of course spending time with her family was lovely. And seeing old friends was always wonderful. But it had been almost non-stop stress and anxiety and one issue after another and oh lord when would it just stop? Why did it have to be so damn complicated?

"We had an argument last night and she left the club," Casey answered finally.  "I actually haven't talked to her since so, yeah. I don't know." She threw her hands up in exasperation.

Before Elizabeth could do more than open her mouth to respond, the server came back with a huge tray of food. He set everything down on a serving stand and set to work putting plates in front of everyone. Once he had walked away, she cleared her throat.

"Well, have you called her? This morning I mean? Or gone to her room?"

Casey pushed her food around her plate and shook her head. "No."

"Well, Honey, don't you think--" Elizabeth started.

"Mom," Casey cut in, sharply. "She's mad at me, OK? And to be perfectly blunt, I don't care right now. I've got a lot of sh...stuff on my plate and I don't have the time or inclination to deal with Amber throwing a hissy fit because she thinks I'm keeping things from her." She added under her breath, "Especially not when she's keeping things from me."

"Casey, Amber is one of your oldest friends. And whatever happened you--"

"Mom." Casey looked up at her mother and shook her head. "Just let me deal with this, OK? My way. On my time."

***

Amber stared straight ahead. "I met Casey in fifth grade, when I moved from the other side of town. I was so shy back then and she was the first person who talked to me. She just came up to me at lunch my first day and was like, ‘Come sit with me and my best friend.'

"I thought she was so cool. Even then she was so comfortable in her own skin. She's always been that way. " She sighed. "You see it, don't you? The way people notice her when she's in a room. And they want to be around her. She's special, and I guess being close to her made me feel special too."

She rubbed her hands over her face in frustration. "But she has this life that's so far removed from me now, Joey. And I'm jealous. Not because I don't want her to be successful, but because I want to be part of it the same way I used to be.

"Being on tour with her was different than I thought it would be. I thought we would hang out all the time between shows, and that we'd stay up late on the bus and it just...it wasn't like that. She was always doing something, and what little downtime she had..." She trailed off and laughed bitterly. "Well, Tony was around. And as much as I never liked him, I was jealous of him, too, because even he was part of her life in a way that I couldn't be."

Joey pulled one of her hands into his lap and gently rubbed his fingers back and forth across it. He was uncharacteristically quiet, gazing at her sympathetically.

She made a little sound of disgust. "And now it's JC. He's another person in her inner circle. And like you said, you guys see each other every single day. You're doing all of this together. And he gets it. Her life, I mean. More than I can. More than I ever will." Amber shook her head sadly. "

"You need to talk to her," he said quietly. "To tell her all of this."

Amber nodded slowly. "I guess. She probably doesn't have time today. You guys are heading out right after the show, right?"

"Yeah," he said quietly. "So call her now."

Amber looked at him and blinked slowly. "Ok."

***

The rest of brunch continued pleasantly enough, once the subject of Amber was dropped. It was fascinating, JC thought, watching Casey interact with her family. It was always interesting to see what people's families were like, and what they were like with their families. She was obviously very close to both her mother and father. She not only loved them, but quite clearly she liked and respected them. And the feeling was mutual.

Despite the ten-year age gap between her and Matt, it was obvious to JC that Casey was extremely close to her little brother. They teased each other, but gently and in a good-natured sort of way. There was genuine love and affection there, and it was something he related to in terms of the relationships he had with his own siblings. They had inside jokes, and sometimes interrupted each other, finishing each other's sentences. He liked watching her that way; her smile was easy, her laughter quick. She was lighter than she had been in days, with her family gathered around her. Even the smiles she turned on him, during the course of the conversation, were brighter.

It was different for her than it was for him, he realized as he watched her. He was on tour with his four best friends. Four friends that, over the course of the years that they'd been together, had become his brothers. Though he missed his immediate family when he was on the road, the other four members of his band had become his extended family. He knew Casey was friends with her dancers, but it was different. Although they were out there on stage with her, performing night after night, they weren't part of most of the day-to-day offstage madness. In a real sense, her dancers worked for her. He shared the load of being a successful musician with four of his favorite people--the stress and the strain, the success and the joy. Casey was alone. Her music, her performance, her very career was, in a very real sense, riding solely on her shoulders.  

He thought back to her first few months on the tour wistfully. He regretted how distant, and worse dismissive, he'd been of her.

"Hey." Casey leaned into him suddenly, interrupting his thoughts. "Everything OK?"

JC smiled sheepishly when he realized that the conversation had changed during his wool-gathering. He patted her leg under the table and turned his attention back to her family. "Everything's great, Case."

***

"So you have six posters of me on your wall, huh?" JC asked with a cheeky grin.

They were back in their hotel room, having said their goodbyes to Casey's parents and brother down in the restaurant.

Her cheeks flushed and she looked down at her lap. "Matty is mistaken. You know how kids are."

"Mmmhmm." He pushed her back and crawled over her. "So you don't have multiple posters of me on your wall?"

"I'm pretty sure," she said, tilting her head back so that he could kiss her neck, "that I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're a liar," he whispered, letting his teeth graze her skin gently.

Eyes closed, Casey giggled and brought her hands to his hair. He let his tongue trace the path that his teeth had made before pulling back slightly to look down at her. She was calm, relaxed. Completely at ease. Everything she hadn't been twenty-four hours before.

When he stopped, she opened her eyes and gave him a half-smile. "You look so serious. What are you thinking about?"

He continued to stare at her, unblinking, for another few seconds before briefly brushing his lips against hers. "I'm sorry."

Her forehead creased in confusion when he pulled away again. "For what?"

"Just, you know...before." He shrugged diffidently before sliding off the bed. "Hold on a sec."

Casey watched him leave the room, perplexed. She sat up and scooted back to lean against the pillows that were propped against the headboard. She could hear him rummaging around in the other room. "Everything OK, ‘C?" she called.

His reply was a muted grunt and she snickered.

He re-entered the room sixty seconds later and tossed something hard and plastic at her feet. "Found it." He stood at the foot of the bed, arms crossed over his chest, wearing a satisfied smile.

She picked up the CD case and looked back up at him, an amused smirk on her face. "It's mine."

He nodded. "Yeah."

"You have my album?" The smirk had turned into a full fledged smile.

"Of course I do. It's one of my favorites." He looked at her and smiled that smile that was quickly becoming her favorite. The one where his eyes crinkled up almost so much she couldn't even see how beautifully blue they were.

She turned it over in her hands and looked at him furtively. "What's your favorite song?"

"From your album?"

"Yeah. And it can't be one I perform in concert."

He chuckled. "But what if my favorite song is one you perform in concert?"

She shook her head. "Nope. Since you say it's one of your favorites, you have to tell me what song you like that's not one I perform. So not one of my singles, and nothing you hear night after night."

"Hmmm," JC hummed, tilting his head to the side. He scrambled up toward where she was sitting and scooted next to her. With a small smile, he leaned in close to her and began singing the lyrics of a particular ballad in her ear.  

When he finished, he placed a kiss on her cheek and leaned his head back against the headboard.

Her smile grew and she nudged him with her shoulder. "Why that one?"

He stared straight ahead for a moment before inclining his head down toward her. "Because it's just you, a couple instruments, and very little production. The lyrics and the way you sing it makes me feel like...I don't know. Like it's the real you."

Casey leaned her head on his shoulder, saying nothing.

"Can you autograph it for me?"

She grinned. "Sure."

***

Amber sat on the bed wrapped in one towel and using another to dry her hair. She stared absently in front of her. The curtains were open and the view of the city was beautiful, but she wasn't seeing any of it.

She remembered little things like walking through the mall together, and then, when she had gotten her license first, driving places together. School dances, sharing secrets about the boys they liked. It first began to change with Nik. They'd been casual friends, Casey and Nik, for years. But freshman year, Casey noticed him in a different way, and he apparently noticed her, too.

"So are we going to the homecoming dance or what?" Amber stares at her reflection in the mirror, re-applying icy pink lipgloss.

"Um," Casey averts her eyes and rummages through her purse. "Nik actually asked me to go. With him. Like, on a date." She feels Amber's gaze on her but she doesn't look up yet.

"And you said yes?" Amber says in a small yet somehow accusatory voice.

"Well...yeah," Casey says quietly.

"But I thought we said we would go together. We planned that. Over the summer."

She stops her pointless search through her small bag and finally meets her friends eyes. "I know what we said, Amber, but Nik asked me. And I like him. And I want to go with him. And when we talked about it over the summer I didn't know that he, you know, liked me, too." She shrugs helplessly. "His mom is gonna drop us off and my mom is gonna pick us up. We like, planned it and stuff. Already."

Amber is hurt. Casey almost physically feels the emotion pouring off of her in waves. And she feels bad of course. Because they did talk about it. And they did plan it. But the simple fact is, there were no boys in the picture when they talked and planned. And now there's Nik. And that's unexpected because, whoa, she's known him since she was a kid. But Nik is...well, he's a lot taller now. And he isn't so skinny anymore. And he has great dimples and, thanks to a great orthodontist, a perfect smile. And he's funny. And he always smells good. And he's one of a few freshman who've made it onto the junior varsity football team, instead of the freshman one. And he's on the freshman homecoming court. And it would be really, really awesome to go to her very first dance, as a high schooler, with him.

"You should still totally come though!" Casey says enthusiastically.

Amber shakes her head in annoyance. "Right. So I can be the third wheel." She shoves her lipgloss into her purse and zips it roughly. "No thanks, Casey." She's rushing out of the bathroom now.

"Well." Casey runs to catch up with her. "Why don't you ask someone to homecoming? Maybe now's the time to tell Mark Cooper you think he's cute."

Amber whirls on her friend, wondering how their friendship has lasted this long with Casey being so oblivious. Sometimes she just doesn't get it. And everything is not about her, even though she always seems to think it is. And this, this right here may just be unforgivable. Because instead of going to their first high school dance together, like they promised they would do, she's ditching her best friend for a stupid boy. Amber narrows her eyes.  

"You just don't get it, Casey!" she says furiously. "Never mind. I don't want to go to the stupid dance anyway." She stalks off down the hall toward her math class, leaving Casey standing there dumbfounded.

They didn't talk for two weeks, Amber remembered. In true Casey fashion, when Amber had left her standing there, she left it all alone. The fight, and Amber in her anger. She didn't call her, or try to sit with her at lunch, or anything. Lunch was the only period they shared as they had no classes in common, and even then she let Amber avoid her. She went and sat with other people and by all appearances, was completely fine with the fact that they were fighting. They passed each other in the hall a few times at first, before Amber made it a point to change which hallways and staircases she took to get to and from classes and her locker. And Casey, usually in a group with other people, often including Nik close at hand, would look at her the same way every time, with a mild expression holding something akin to pity. And every time Amber would pretend not to see her, turn her nose up and continue walking.

Except, Amber laughed bitterly, they were never really fighting. She was angry, and Casey let her be. Because that was Casey's way; if it was unpleasant or unsettling, or threatened to disrupt the bubble of everything good and happy and going her way that she existed in, she didn't deal with it. So when they spoke later, it was because Amber missed her and called. And Casey answered and talked to her like nothing had happened and no time had passed. And that was fine and good and comfortable. But Amber always wondered, quietly and to herself, what would've happened if she had never called?

***

Casey made a face and tapped something into her phone. She sighed, loudly, and groaned before tossing the phone across the bed.

"What's wrong?" JC called from the other room.

"Amber wants to talk," she said shortly.

He came into the bedroom and looked at her. "That's a good thing, right?"

She shrugged defiantly. "I don't know. If it's not this, it'll be something else. "

He leaned against the door jamb. "You gonna go?"

She sighed deeply and looked at the clock. "I guess."

***

"Hey," Casey said when Amber swung the door open. She stepped across the threshold and looked around the room, everywhere in fact, but directly at her friend.

"Hey," Amber replied tepidly. 

Casey slowly came into the room.

"You can sit down." Amber pointed at the couch, and took a seat in the chair at the desk.

Casey sat and inhaled deeply. "Can we just do this? Whatever this is. Let's get it all out once and for all."

Amber pursed her lips. "As far as I'm concerned there's nothing to get out. You're the one who's hiding shit."

Casey's eyes widened in surprise. "Hiding shit? Because I wanted to tell you about JC in person? Which is what I fully planned to do until you flipped your shit on me for no good reason. And speaking of," she made air quotes with her fingers, "hiding shit, what about Joey? You're doing whatever with him and you haven't said a damn thing to me about it."

"It's not doing. Did. I did something with Joey. Twice. Unlike the ongoing thing you have with JC that you didn't tell me about." Amber snorted. "I bet Jada knows, doesn't she?"

Casey stared at her for a few moments, breathing slowly. "Jada doesn't have anything to do with this," she said finally.  

"I'll take that as a yes."

Casey dropped her head to her hand and massaged the bridge of her nose. "Why are you really pissed at me at, Amber?"

"You don't get it, Casey." Amber laughed humorlessly. "I guess it must be hard for you. Now that you're Miss Famous Rock Star or whatever. Now that all your friends are the other super important people, I guess the rest of us don't count anymore."

Casey recoiled as if she'd been physically struck.

Amber saw her friend's reaction, the way her eyes clouded over in an emotion she recognized as hurt. She knew she had gone too far with the last comment, and even more, that it wasn't true, but she was also hurt. And in that moment, she didn't care how Casey felt.

Casey stared open mouthed for several silent moments which, to Amber's mind, was testament to how taken aback she was; Casey was not the kind of person to ever be at a loss for words.

"That's what you think?" she said finally, her voice a barely audible whisper.

Amber stared back at her, the set of her jaw obstinate. "I don't know what to think, Casey. I talk to you for ten minutes once every three weeks.

Casey swiped at her eyes furiously and Amber realized with dismay and regret that she was crying.

"I didn't tell you about JC right away because of how everything started. It reminded me too much of Tony. And after what happened with him..." She wiped at her eyes again.

"You still haven't told me what happened with him," Amber pointed out quietly.

"What happened with Tony is...something I don't want to rehash. And not telling you about JC doesn't have anything to do with thinking I'm important or...." Casey blew out a shaky breath and shook her head. "I'm going to go, Amber. I'm sorry you feel that way."

"Casey, wait!" Amber called as Casey reached the door in a couple of strides. She pulled at her arm. "Please don't go. I'm sorry."

Casey pulled her arm away and shook her head. "I can't do this now."

"Case, please. I didn't mean it." Amber stood in front of her, clasping and unclasping her hands nervously.

Casey smiled sadly. "Yeah. You did." She pulled open the door and was gone.

***

"How'd it go?" JC asked.

Casey barely looked at him as she strode across the room. "Fine."

He followed her into the bedroom and watched as she flew through the room picking things up and slamming them into her travel bag. When he took hold of her shoulders she stopped and stared down at the floor.

"Casey, don't do that." He lifted her chin so she would look at him. "If you don't want to talk about it, say that. But you don't have to lie. Not to me."

When she said nothing, he pulled her into a hug. For a moment she didn't respond, only stood with her hands at her sides. As the seconds ticked by, she relaxed into him and her arms found their way around him.

"Do you know why she was on tour with me?" she asked quietly. "For those couple of weeks when I first came out with you guys?"

"No," he mumbled against her head.

"We've been drifting for awhile and I thought if she could come and see what things were like, she would get it. You know?" She sighed.

"People see a magazine cover, or an album insert and the picture is perfect, you know? And they think all of this is so glamorous. They don't see the part where you got to the photoshoot at five o'clock in the morning, so you could sit in hair and makeup for two or three hours, and the couple of hours after that where the stylist is choosing the perfect outfits. And the hours after that of shooting and holding poses just right, and making the perfect expression. Not to mention the waiting around.

"There's the fact that you only got five or so hours of sleep the night before because of the show, and the press before that, or all of the time on the road away from all of the people you love and just..." She exhaled and shook her head.

"And I'm not complaining, JC. I absolutely love my life. But it's work. And it's sacrifice. You know that. And I just thought that if she saw that, if she actually got a chance to witness up close and personal what it's really like on a day to day basis, maybe she wouldn't be so touchy about things."

"What's she touchy about?" JC rubbed his hands up and down her back.

"Everything. Like the fact that I didn't call her when I said I would. Or that when I call her, I never stay on the phone long enough. The fact that I don't always tell her everything first." Still leaning against him, she covered her face with her hands. "She thinks I've let all of this go to my head. Fame or whatever. She thinks I've changed and I haven't."

"I know," he said gently. "And I bet she knows, too. She was just saying stuff because she's upset."

"She asked if Jada knew about you and me already. Amber's one of my best friends, but I've known Jada for practically my whole life and our friendship is...it's different. Amber's always been jealous of that, too." She groaned in frustration and leaned against him again.

"You didn't tell me you told Jada about us." JC knew that Jada was Casey's oldest friend, but he hadn't been aware that she'd told her about the two of them.

She glanced up at him sheepishly. "Is that OK?"

He snickered and pulled her tighter. "Of course it's OK. I just thought I was your dirty little secret."

She held his gaze for a moment. His expression was benign, but she wasn't completely sure if he was joking. "I don't feel that way about you, JC," she said finally.

He kissed the top of her head. "Maybe not now. Since you introduced me to your folks and all."

"Hmm." Casey inhaled deeply and closed her eyes against him. "Anyway, I don't want to talk about Amber anymore. How long before we have to go?"

He turned slightly to look at the clock on the nightstand. "A couple hours at least."

"I need a nap." She slid her arms from around him and took one of his hands in hers.

"You are a woman after my own heart." He laughed and let her pull him toward the bed.

They situated themselves on top of the bedcovers and Casey immediately closed her eyes. "My mom knows we're sleeping together."

JC sat up, sputtering. "You told her?" he demanded, eyes wide.

"Of course not," she said mildly, eyes still closed. "After you left the room last night she said it was obvious." She tugged on his arm. "Lay back down."

He did, with a groan. "So she knew? When I sat across from her at brunch today, she knew?"

Casey chuckled but didn't answer.

"That's really awkward, Case." He sighed and turned back over so the front of his body was pressed against her back. "Do you think she told your dad?"

"Probably."

JC made a face and mumbled something indistinct under his breath.  

She yawned. "I really like you a lot, JC," she said, her voice taking on a drowsy quality.

He kissed the back of her neck. "I really like you, too, Casey."

She pulled his arm back around her midsection. "I just want you to know," she said in the same sleepy way, "that I'm not having sex with anyone else."

He snorted. "I see you literally every day; that's kind of obvious."

"Well, yeah. But I also don't want to have sex with anyone else."

He nestled his face against the back of her neck. "Is that your way of telling me you want me to be your boyfriend, Casey?"

"I just want you to know where I am with...everything."

"Well," he began slowly, "I don't want to have sex with anyone else, either."

"Cool." She stretched back against him and pulled his arm tighter.

"And I want to be your boyfriend." He spoke quietly, and waited for her to respond.

After a couple of seconds she turned over to look him in the eye. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He kissed her.

She grinned at him, biting her bottom lip. "Cool."

Casey turned back over, smile still huge on her face, and closed her eyes again.