"I'm not that kind of girl JC. I love my job. I love what I do."

"I know but you don't need to work. I have more than enough for the both of us." JC fought to keep his anger in check. The conversation had gone downhill fast.

"I told you I don't care how much money you have! Me working is not about having money in the bank. It's about me! And my self worth. And contributing something to this relationship."

"But you don't have to contribute anything." He dug his palms into his eyes.

"Oh? I don't have to contribute anything?" Rachel raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "So I don't have to contribute anything? I'm just supposed to smile and hang on your arm like some ditzy airhead?"

"That's not what I meant!" JC exclaimed exasperated.

"Then what did you mean JC? Because that's exactly what it sounds like. You want me to quit my job and move to Orlando...."

"Because we're getting married!" JC yelled, the lid coming off his anger. "I want you to quit your job in Chicago. I want you to move to Orlando because we're getting married! I want us to live together. I'm tired of having a relationship with my damned phone. I'm tired of you not being able to come with me because you have to work..."

"I've always lived in Chicago. I told you, I'm not the type of girl who will drop everything and be at some man's beck and call."

"I'm not some man!" JC snapped, his blood boiling. "I am your fiancé!"

"You're not acting like it," Rachel clipped back. "You're acting like I'm your property that you get to tell what to do and where to go."

"Are you even listening to me? When I have ever said as much? You're doing this shit on purpose. Twisting everything I say!"

"You asked me when I was quitting my job and moving to Florida! How can I misconstrue that!" Rachel could feel the tears behind her eyes and she fought to hold them at bay. This fight was different than the little bickering they did occasionally.

"It's a legitimate question!" JC exploded. "We're getting married!"

"I know! I was present when you asked." Rachel snapped. "You don't even know what you're asking me. You just expect me to pack up, drop my stuff off at the Salvation Army and move."

JC wanted to pull his hair out. At the thought he jammed the fingers of both hands into the strands and pushed back. "I am asking you," He ground out. "To move in with me."

"JC..."

"Forget it," JC grabbed his coat from the coat rack. He yanked it so hard, the rack crashed to the ground. He threw open the door.

"JC..." Rachel quickly moved to the door but she was too late. The door slammed hard enough to rattle the frames on the wall. Unable to hold them back the tears fell.

*~*

"You wanna tell us what happened yesterday?" Karen asked as she watched her son enter the kitchen and head straight for the coffee pot. She had been roused out of a dead sleep the previous night around 2:30 in the morning thinking someone had been trying to break in. It had been JC - too drunk to work his key in the door.

"I'm sorry for waking you and dad up last night." JC filled the coffee cup nearly to the brim. He bypassed sugar and milk and took a sip. In order to feel like a human being again, he'd have to drink the entire pot plus another one. Even standing in the shower beneath the water for an hour hadn't helped the feeling. Neither had puking. It had been a long time since he had last consumed as much alcohol as he did last night.

"That's not what I asked."

"It's nothing. I'm sorry. I'll be out of your hair soon." Chicago was only a quick stop on his way to Los Angeles. Of course he had come from Las Vegas but that was neither here nor there. He would finish his coffee then grab his things from Rachel's then grab a flight to LA. Hang out in his house before the Cosmo photoshoot he had on the books with the rest of the guys.

"Still didn't answer my question." Karen stared at JC. His back to them. He refused to turn and meet her eyes.

"Did you pay the cab last night? I don't remember. Do I owe you..."

"Joshua sit down!" Karen snapped, her voice firm, letting JC she meant business.

JC knew that tone of voice. It would be who of him to listen. He closed his eyes and breathed in and out before he turned around and made his way to one of the chairs at the table. Right between his parents. Like he was eight years old and about to get in trouble for sending the baseball through the kitchen window of their house in Maryland.

"Now what happened?"

JC's shoulders hunched. His elbows rested on the table. Both hands wrapped around the hot coffee mug. His head barely attached.

"JC?" Karen's voice was soft as she took him her son's posture. Defeated was the word that came to mind. 

"Rachel and I got in to a huge fight. I don't...I don't know if we're even together anymore."

"Oh JC," Karen gasped. She had been hesitant to accept JC's new girlfriend. Afraid she only saw dollar signs. After getting to know Rachel, Karen changed her mind. Since they lived in the same city they met for lunch or dinner usually once a week whether JC was present or not. In the short amount of time, Karen considered Rachel another daughter. "What happened?"

JC told his parents about the fight he and Rachel had. Explained how he stormed out. Explained how he got a cab to bar and proceeded to drink his weight in liquor until the bartender threw him in to a cab.

The whack on the back of the head came out of nowhere. The actual smack didn't hurt. It was the effect it had on his brain, still floating in a gallon of liquor.

"Owe," JC rubbed the back of his head and glared at his mother. "What was that for?"

"You're gonna go over to Rachel's and apologize."

"Apologize?"

"First for how you acted. Your father and I raised you better than that."

"Nothing gets solved when anger gets in the way, Son." Roy broke in. "Anger colors the words. Makes you say things that are hard to take back. Makes you see things that aren't there."

"After you apologize for how you acted, you're gonna tell her you love her." Karen smiled when JC stared at her, caught off guard. "She's probably spent the whole night and morning thinking exactly what you're thinking. That the relationship is over."

"Do you love her JC?" Roy asked.

"More than anything." JC responded without hesitation.

"Then go other there and do what I told you. Apologize for your behavior. Make sure she knows that despite what happened yesterday, you still love her."

"That doesn't solve the problem." JC looked down at his hands. His mother was right. He did need to apologize for his behavior. He was embarrassed for how he acted.

"No it won't." Roy said. "But you'll be able to discuss it and find a solution."

"I just want to live together. I want to be with her."

"Why does it have to be Orlando?"

"What?" JC asked, staring at his father.

"Why does it have to be Orlando?" Roy repeated. "You could just as easily live here in Chicago."

"But my work..."

"Is more important than hers?" Karen asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No but..."

"Aren't you guys talking about taking a break after this next tour?"

"Yes but..."

"Then what's stopping you from moving here?" Roy asked. "You can fly out of O'Hare just as easily as you can Orlando or LA."

"You got a good one JC." Karen patted JC's hand. "Don't let something as trivial as where you live ruin that. It doesn't matter where you live. All that matters is that you're together."

*~*

JC followed his parents' advice. He was waiting in Rachel's apartment when she came home after work. When he heard the key in the door, he pushed up from the couch and turned as she came in.

"JC..." Rachel froze in the door shocked to see him in her apartment. The night had been long staying awake waiting for him to return. She didn't know what time she had fallen asleep on the couch but her alarm jarred her awake at six to find herself still on the couch and an empty apartment. She went to work with swollen eyes and her heart in pieces.

JC watched as she slowly unbuttoned her coat, eyeing him warily. Her scarf was pulled from around her neck as was the knit cap from her head. Everything was hung up on the coat rack along with her purse. When she kicked off the black heels, he went to her.

"JC..." His name was the only word to get past her lips before his covered them. Her eyes fluttered shut and she melted against him.

"I love you." JC told her when he broke the kiss. "I love you just as much right now as I did yesterday morning. As I did last night while we were fighting. And I'm sorry."

"JC..."

JC kissed her again to stop whatever she had been about to say. "I need to apologize for the way I acted. I shouldn't have stormed out. I can't promise we won't argue going forward, but what happened last night will never happen again. I won't lose my temper like that."

"I love you." Rachel cupped his face. Tears slipped free and rolled down her cheek. She had been so scared she had lost him. "I'm sorry too." She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his chest.

"Orlando, Chicago. Even LA," JC spoke as he held her in his arms. "I don't care as long as we are together.

Oh I almost lost that girl to my foolish pride