~~~~~*~~~~~

The girls were nearly always late for meeting the guys at the club. Clare put it down to the fact that she and Libby had further to travel from their apartment to downtown Orlando, whereas the guys, minus Justin and Lance, shared a house in the area so could practically walk there if needed. But the real reason was because Libby was indecisive. She'd spend hours examining every item in her wardrobe, debating the perks of wearing this with that, or those pants with that top before Clare had to remind her her, often not that gently, that she'd leave without her if she didn't get a hustle on. That usually did the trick.

The worst thing about rushing Libby was having to deal with her crisis of confidence when she thought she'd forgotten something in her haste. It happened as they were rushing towards the entrance of the club through the masses of bodies waiting in line on the sidewalk. Fortunately, JC was usually pretty good at leaving their names at the door so they didn't have to queue for admission like the majority of people. It was one of the perks of working with so-called 'celebrities'.

“My phone...?” Libby called as she hurried along after Clare, who was already five or six steps ahead of her.

“In your purse.”

“Keys?”

“What do you need your keys for? I've got mine.”

That seemed to satisfy Libby for a second until she thought of something else.

“What if I leave before you?”

Clare groaned. She really wasn't in the mood for this.

“Then you take mine,” she shouted back, not even turning her head to see if Libby had heard. “Come on, Libs, we're nearly there.”

Libby stumbled forward, her heel getting caught in the crack between two concrete slabs and she reached out a hand to steady herself, not caring who, or what, she grasped onto. Clare continued power walking to the entrance, oblivious to the fact her friend had fallen behind until she happened to glance over her shoulder and found her gone.

“Libs?” Clare called as she tilted forward onto her tiptoes and scanned the heads of the crowd for signs of her friend. “Libby, are you there?”

Nothing.

Frowning, Clare reluctantly stepped away from her spot beside the rapidly forming entrance line and backtracked along the sidewalk. She called Libby's name again but didn't receive a reply until she was at least fifty yards away from the entrance.

“Here,” a weak voice called to her, which Clare recognised at once. Her head snapped around and she frowned irritably.

“What are you doing?”

“He's here,” Libby said, her eyes filling with tears. “Dan's here.”

Clare followed Libby's gaze to a rowdy circle of people standing nearby, some smoking, some drinking and spotted Libby's ex leaning up against the building with a leggy brunette entangled in his arms. Now and then he'd turn his head and nuzzle his face into the crook of her neck, making her throw her head back and laugh.

Clare heard Libby inhale noisily by her side. “Libs...”

“Don't say anything,” Libby said, fighting back a sob. “Please don't say anything.”

“Come with me,” Clare said, gently pulling on her friend's arm. “Josh will have left our names at the door. Come inside, don't stand here watching.”

“I can't,” Libby said as a tear made tracks down the side of her nose.

“You can't stay here. The guys are waiting for us inside.”

“I don't care. I don't want to be here anymore. I just wanna go home.”

“But Libs...”

“I'm serious, Clare. I want to go home.”

“Okay. Fine. Give me five minutes to find JC and tell him what's happened and then we'll leave, okay?” Clare's eyes scanned over Libby's face, which was gradually growing paler by the second. “You stay here while I go find him.”

Libby nodded as the tears continued to pour silently down her face. As far as she was concerned, the evening was over.

~~~~~*~~~~~

JC was such a creature of habit Clare knew exactly where to look to find him. As she suspected, he was standing with Justin at the far back of the club, beer in hand, a lopsided grin on his face as he watched the sea of people moving about on the dance floor. She hurried towards him, slightly out of breath, and didn't stop until she'd caught his eye and secured his attention.

“Hey,” she stammered as she reached his side and offered a brief smile of acknowledgement to Justin. “I'm sorry, I'm not staying. Something's upset Libby and we're gonna head home.” She tried to keep the disappointment, and if she was honest with herself, frustration, out of her voice, but it was pointless as JC could see it in her eyes.

“What's happened?” he asked, taking a sip of his beer and gazing at her over the top of the glass.

Clare hesitated, not sure whether it was really her place to unload the story onto JC. Libby would no doubt be embarrassed by the situation, which was probably why she was so eager to get home. “She's upset...” she repeated, avoiding both his and Justin's eyes. When he'd heard Libby's name mentioned, Justin had taken a step towards her, and had fixed her with his clear blue eyes as though that alone might force the information out of her.

Clare couldn't meet his eyes when he looked at her like that. She took a deep breath and let it out in a jumble of words. “She bumped into Dan outside,” she said, flicking her eyes up to read JC's reaction. “He was with someone else.”

Justin's eyes immediately narrowed. “Where is she? You left her out there alone?”

Clare's back prickled at the accusation in his voice. “She wouldn't come inside,” she said a little snippily. “I told her I'd come and tell you what's going on and then go back and find her.”

JC glanced at Justin's tense face and then back at Clare. “Do you really have to go?” he asked. “You just got here...”

Clare let out a huff. JC had summed up her feelings completely. “She said she can't face anyone. She's embarrassed and can't handle the thought of spending the evening in the same place as him. I can't say I blame her for that.”

“You can't talk her round?” JC suggested. “Get her to stay a little while? Maybe she'll feel better after a little while. After she's had a drink--”

“Not drinking,” Clare reminded him and JC nodded as he remembered that Libby was under 21.

“She's made up her mind. You know how stubborn she is.”

“Maybe I could talk to her?” Justin suggested, jumping back into the conversation. “I might be able to change her mind.”

JC nodded and a hint of a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth as he watched for Clare's answer. It sounded like a pretty good plan to him.

Yeah, or you might make it worse, Clare thought. “I don't know, Justin...”

“At least let me try. What's the worst that could happen? It'd give you time to have a drink and catch your breath. I know you don't wanna be going home just yet.”

JC nodded. “He's right, Clare. You know Libby listens to him.”

Clare's nose crinkled as she debated the idea. Sure, Justin did have influence with Libby, but it was only 50-50 whether she would listen to him. Clare knew her friend well enough to sense when the window for negotiation had closed, and she'd recognised it on her friend's face.

“Fine,” she said. “Just don't blame me if she doesn't want to talk. I'm warning you, she's not in a good mood.”

“I'm sure I can handle it,” Justin said with a snort. “Keep your eyes on the doorway. I guarantee she'll be walking through it with me in a few minutes.”

~~~~~*~~~~~

It was so busy out on the sidewalk it took Justin a few seconds of searching before he spotted Libby. She had her back pressed up against the external wall of the building and her head tucked down so low her chin was almost resting against her chest. It was clear she was trying to remain inconspicuous, despite the tears flowing freely and silently down her cheeks.

Once he'd reached her side, he stood there in silence. The carefully chosen words he'd prepared to say eluded him at the crucial moment and he ended up stumbling into conversation like a nervous schoolboy.

“Whatcha doin' out here?” he asked, keeping his voice deliberately cheerful even though he felt anything but. He always hated to see her cry, but more than that he hated the effect it had on him. Making him want to punch something, or someone.

Libby shot him a sideways glance and wiped away a tear from her cheek with the back of her hand. She'd been expecting Clare, and was surprised to see him instead. “Hiding,” she said in a thick voice.

Justin nodded and stared ahead at the cars on the busy avenue. He knew she'd feel uncomfortable about crying in front of him and didn't want to make it look as though he was staring. “You should come inside,” he said after a pause. “Have fun with your friends and show him what he's missin'.”

Libby let out an angry snort. “Show him what he's obviously not missing, you mean?” she snapped, her tears continuing to fall. She looked up into his eyes as her chin continued to quiver. “It's been two days. Two days and he's already forgotten about me.” Unable to hold his gaze she dropped her eyes to the floor and let out a small sob. “We dated for three months!”

Justin looked at her and felt an ache begin to form inside his chest. He couldn't bear seeing her like this. This wasn't like her getting tearful on the sofa the other night. This was something else. There was a wound inside her, an injury that he couldn't take away. A lecture on choosing the right partner wasn't going to make this right.

His heart wanted him to tell her that she was completely unforgettable. That she was worth ten times more than any other woman, but he couldn't form the words, and even if he had they'd have sounded too cliché.

He spent so long debating what he should say that it was a good few minutes before he said anything, during which Libby felt her insides clench with anxiety. He hadn't rushed to correct her, or assure her that she was wrong, which only served to convince her that she was worthless.

Fortunately, Justin managed to form words before she allowed herself to completely wallow in self-pity.

“He's an asshole.”

Libby smiled weakly, her shoulder's slumping in relief. She turned her head and looked at him with wide, watery eyes. She so badly wanted to believe him that she didn't care how desperate she looked. “Really?”

Justin cracked a smile and held her gaze. “Yeah,” he said. “Of course.”

They both stood side by side for another few minutes before either of them spoke again. And instead of feeling uncomfortable, Libby found that having him near felt surprisingly reassuring and comforting. She shuffled a little closer and he instinctively reached out an arm, inviting her into his embrace.

Libby didn't need any more encouragement.

“I can't believe he's found someone new so quickly,” she said quietly, her voice muffled by his t'shirt and he had to ask her to repeat it a few times before he understood. “I was thinking that in a few days it'd blow over and we'd get back together, you know?”

Justin averted his face so she couldn't see him roll his eyes. She could be so clueless sometimes. Even with the evidence before her, she still didn't want to believe the truth. He put it down to the fact she had such a good heart, but it could be infuriating sometimes.

“I guess he just went straight out and found the next bimbo. Libby 2.0.”

“You're not a bimbo,” Justin said, giving her a fond squeeze but Libby wouldn't meet his eyes and she shook her head firmly in disagreement.

Justin reached out and cupped her chin with his spare hand, forcing her to look up at him. She met his eyes and sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, biting down on it hard so she wouldn't start crying again. She looked like a fragile little doll, and the sadness in her eyes made him swallow hard. “Listen to me, you're not a bimbo.”

“I'm not smart,” she said. “A smart person would've seen he was trouble from the get-go. I'd heard the rumours about him, but I chose to ignore them. I guess I thought he'd be different with me.”

Justin sucked in air through his teeth and grimaced, but his accompanying smirk was teasing. “It's dangerous to want to change someone, Libs.”

“I know,” Libby agreed, leaning into his shoulder. He was warm and she felt comforted just by the way his arm was wrapped around her waist. “But relationships are supposed to change you, aren't they? Make you a better person? That's what I meant. I thought I'd be able to change him with love.”

Justin wanted to say that she was wasting her time thinking a loser like her ex would ever want to change – why would he? He'd clearly found a way of getting his cake and eating it, too – but he didn't think it'd be well received. He also wanted to say that he'd be more than willing to let her try to change him with love, but the very idea caused his heart to splutter and his chest to tighten up. As much as he wished things were different, he knew he wasn't ready to even broach the idea of discussing his feelings with her. He wasn't sure he understood them yet.

Libby nuzzled into his chest, completely unaware of the emotions it stirred up in him. “Thanks, J,” she said, brushing away the last of her tears. “Thanks for coming and checking on me.”

“You don't have to thank me,” he said, his voice a little off.

“Still, I want you to know I appreciate it,” she said, dipping head head and staring at her sneakers. “I know I give you a hard time about it, but I'm grateful you look out for me.”

Justin cleared this throat. “Are you okay now? Do you still want to leave?”

Libby's eyes trailed to the doorway and the long line of people still queuing in front of the building. She hesitated, chewing down on her bottom lip. “I dunno...” she said, debating. “I'm not sure I can face him.”

“You don't have to. Just walk past him with your head high.”

“Yeah, that's what I mean. I don't think I can do that. I'm scared I'm gonna take one look at him and start crying again.”

Justin removed his arm from around her shoulders and offered her his outstretched hand instead. “Come on,” he said as Libby eyed his hand cautiously. “I promise you, you can do this.” He fixed her with his clear blue eyes and raised his eyebrows, hoping he was offering the right amount of assurance without coming across as creepy.

Libby chewed down once more on her bottom lip and tentatively reached for his hand.

~~~~~*~~~~~

The first few steps into the building were awful, but Justin's warm hand around hers did make Libby feel better. He had that effect on her – making even the worst situation seem somewhat bearable. When he felt her steps faltering beside him, he met her eyes and winked, giving her hand a comforting squeeze that assured her he was still there, that he cared and that she could do it. Her confidence surging with just that small gesture, she lifted her chin and allowed him to steer her back to their group of friends without once feeling the need to look for Dan and his latest conquest in the crowd.

Once surrounded by familiar faces, Justin reluctantly let go of her hand, letting Clare step into the space between them as she came forward to check her friend was okay. He smiled fondly as Libby dipped her head and let out a shaky breath, noticing just how anxious she really had been about facing them all again. He was glad he'd been the one to help her face her fears, and a familiar warm feeling flooded his veins.

She was quite a girl.

He watched her for a few more seconds before breaking away from the group without a word. In his mind was a very real conflict between head and heart, and it would require all of his concentration to process.

He headed off to the bar.

~~~~~*~~~~~