“It’s OK if we leave for the weekend?”  Rylee watched as Justin closed up the studio and turned equipment off.

“I own this place, Ry, it’s OK for me to do whatever I want.”  He chuckled at the look on her face as she blushed a little.

“Sometimes I forget that you’re this amazingly successful producer.”

She and Justin walked out toward the lobby and he stopped at the reception desk to make sure the phone was set to go to the answering service.  All of his employees had been sent home earlier that day and Justin and Rylee were the only two left in the building.

They had managed to finish up the tracks they were working on and Justin rescheduled some of their new projects so they would have time to relax for a bit.  She felt a little odd, because this was supposed to be her internship, but she wasn’t going to complain about time off.  Especially time off with Justin.

They exited the front after Justin set the alarms and locked the doors.  The sun was shining warmly and Rylee took a second to soak up the fresh air.  She was going to try really hard to relax this weekend and forget about all of the stress she was experiencing.  She wanted to show Justin that she really did care about him and that she thought he was worth it. 

“Your brother is all set with us coming up?”  Justin’s voice broke through Rylee’s reverie.

“Yeah, I called him this morning and he said to show up whenever.”  She climbed into the passenger seat and waited for Justin to join her in the driver’s seat.  “I printed off directions, too.  I tend to fall asleep on long drives, so…I didn’t want you to get lost.”

“Thanks, babe.  Good to know you’re going to keep me company on this three hour drive.”  He grinned at her.

“Hey, I’ll keep you company as long as I can…it’s not my fault that being in the passenger seat makes me fall asleep.”

Justin just shook his head and put the car into drive.  He didn’t mind if Rylee feel asleep.  He knew that she hadn’t been sleeping well lately because of everything that was going on, and honestly, she looked exhausted.  He wanted her to relax this weekend, so if that meant he’d be driving while she slept, he was all for it.

~*~

True to her word, they hadn’t been on the road for much more than half an hour when he could hear her lightly snoring in the seat next to him.  She looked completely uncomfortable curled up on that seat, but she stayed asleep for the entire trip.

“Ry, we’re here.”  He brushed some hair off of her face and nudged her shoulder.  She stirred, cracking her eyes open and stretching as best she could.

He smiled when she let out a groan and fell back against the seat.  “I feel stiff.”  He laughed.

“You’ve been curled up in a car for the past three hours, I’m not surprised.”  He leaned into the car and tugged on her arms.  “C’mon, let’s go inside and say hi to your brother.”

She stepped out of the car, holding onto Justin’s hand for support.  Her legs were stiff and her back hurt, but she was very excited to be seeing her brother.  The last time she had seen him was the disastrous dinner with her parents, Justin, and Christina, so Rylee knew that she would have some explaining to do.

“I thought I heard someone pull it.”  Ben came out of the front door and stepped onto the porch.  His grin stretched across his face as he waited for Rylee and Justin to make their way up the steps.  “Ryles, you look like shit.”

Rylee stopped half way up the stairs and threw a dirty look in her brother’s direction. 

“Gee, I’ve miss you too, Benji.”  He laughed and grabbed her arm, pulling her up the last two steps and catching her in a tight hug.

“It’s good to see you, little sis.”  He squeezed her again before letting her go and putting out a hand toward Justin.  “Justin, man, I hope she didn’t snore the whole car ride up here.”

The other man laughed, shaking Ben’s hand and winking at Rylee. 

“Only for the first hour, I turned up the radio after that.”

Rylee crossed her arms over her chest and sent searing glares at the two men who were now grinning wildly at her.

“You two are freakin’ comedians, really.”  She turned and entered into the house, leaving the two men standing on the porch.

Justin suddenly felt uncomfortable as Ben’s eyes glanced over him.  He knew he couldn’t have made a very good first impression on the man, considering that at their last meeting Justin was being an ass to Rylee and still dating Christina.

“Thanks for letting us stay with you,” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.  Justin didn’t usually find himself feeling unconfident, but Ben was the big brother and his opinion meant a lot.

“Looks like things have changed since the last time I saw you.”  The statement wasn’t subtle, nor was it very friendly.  Justin swallowed thickly and Ben waited for a response.

“I guess you could say that.”  He ran a hand over the back of his neck in a nervous gesture.  “Things have been a little crazy, and I’m not sure if you’ve heard but Rylee and I being together has caused some…ah…tension with Christina, to put it nicely.”

“I had an idea that you two weren’t up here because she missed me all that much.”

“She needed to get out of LA for a while.  She was starting to drive herself, and the rest of us, a little crazy with her worrying.  This thing is really tearing her up and I think a break will be good for her.”

“For her, or for you?”  Ben eyed Justin carefully, gauging the man’s face and stance.

“For both of us, really.  I hate seeing Rylee beat herself up over all of this, and she blames herself completely, when she really shouldn’t.  Giving her a chance to relax is as much for my peace of mind as it is for hers.”  He licked his lips and looked Ben straight in the eyes.  “I just want to see her happy.”

It was silent for a moment as Ben thought over what he had just heard.  He knew that there was a lot more detail to the story that he would have to get from his sister, but he wanted to figure out what Justin’s intentions were first.  So far, he was impressed by the care that he saw in the younger man’s eyes, and he really hoped that Rylee was able to stick this one out.

“Well, let’s grab your bags and head inside.  I’m sure Rylee’s already in the kitchen cooking something up, she’s always starving after a long car ride.”

The two men grabbed the bags and guitar cases out of the back of Justin’s car and made their way into the house.

Rylee was indeed in the kitchen, and she was busy at work putting something together.  Ben showed Justin to the guest room so they could drop off the bags, and then they headed back into the kitchen to see what Rylee was creating.

“I hope your hungry, Ben, because I’m making a pizza.”  Ben stood next to Rylee and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“You are my favorite little sister, do you know that?”

“Benji, I’m your only little sister, I better be your favorite.”  She kissed him on the cheek and grinned at him.

Ben grabbed a bottle of wine and poured everyone a glass, settling on one of the kitchen stools next to Justin.  The three adults fell into a comfortable and enjoyable conversation and Justin was really glad that they’d decided to come up here.

He loved watching Rylee work around the kitchen and interact with her brother.  For the first time since all of his had happened, she actually looked happy and relaxed.  She was back to the girl that he had fallen for and it made his heart beat a little faster to think about how fast his feelings were growing.  Justin was trying hold back because he knew that Rylee wasn’t really ready for things to get serious, but he couldn’t help the fact that he was in love with her.

It sucked that things had to start off so complicated.  He wished that it had all happened differently, but at the same time, he wouldn’t change anything because he might have never gotten to experience this moment.

Rylee’s face was glowing with the heat from the kitchen and the wine, and when she smiled at him he felt his stomach flip.  Justin had often thought of himself as a hopeless romantic, but he hadn’t imagined he would turn into such a pile of mush over a girl.

“You OK over there, Justin?”  Rylee was grinning at him and he had to laugh at the happiness that was obviously apparent on her face.

“I am wonderful,” He leaned over the island where he was seated so he could steal a kiss, “and that pizza smells amazing.”

“Well it’s almost done, so, why don’t you boys set the table on the deck and I’ll be right out with the food.”

~*~

Rylee collapsed on the couch next to her brother, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Hey kid,” He kissed her forehead and wrapped an arm around her, giving her a hug. “Where’s lover boy?”

“Upstairs taking a shower.”

“So, are you going to tell me what happened?”  He stared at her but she avoided looking at him, instead she played with her hands.

“Well…”  Rylee took a deep breath, “Justin and I ended up having sex before he and Christina had really broken up, and now she’s not talking to me anymore.”

Ben let out a sigh, removing arm for around Rylee’s shoulders and turning so he could face her more head on.

“And let me guess, you’ve been beating yourself up over this ever since it happened?”

Rylee’s blue eyes moved to meet her brother’s and he could see the formation of tears.

“Am I a horrible person?”

Surprisingly, Ben laughed out loud at her question.  Rylee sat back a little, really unsure of how to react to his response.

“Rylee Jean, you are not a horrible person.  You made a pretty stupid mistake and I’m not surprised that Christina is mad at you, but you’re far from a horrible person.”

She sniffled a little, feeling better that Ben was on her side but still feeling like she shouldn’t be enjoying her time with Justin.

“I don’t know how to fix everything with her, she won’t talk to me at all.”

“Well no shit, Ry, you slept with her boyfriend.  Of course she’s not going to want to talk to you right now.”  He grabbed her chin so she was looking right at him.  “Why do you have to fix things right now, anyway?”

“Because…I don’t want her to be upset.”

He laughed again.  “Rylee, she’s going to be upset.  You can’t force her to get over all of this.  What’s Justin said about all of this?”

“He’s told me to let her cool off for a while.”  She wiped at her eyes and looked over at Ben.  “I think he’s getting a little frustrated with me over this whole thing.”

“I’m sure it’s not easy for him, but he cares about you Rylee.  I saw it that first night and I see it now.  You have to stop worrying about Christina and you need to start focusing on the person that you’re actually in a relationship with.”

“But, she is my best friend.”

“Jesus, Rylee!  Stop thinking about her!  I mean, honestly, you’ve got one hell of a guy that’s gone out of his way for you and it’s blatantly obvious that he’s in love with you.  Forget about the things that you can’t fix and start enjoying the things that you’ve got.”

Rylee sat back with wide eyes.  She and her brother used to fight a lot growing up, but this was the first time he had ever gone off her like that.  But…she had to admit that he made sense, and she had been putting a lot of attention into Christina and not a lot into Justin.

Rylee let her head fall back against the couch and let out a sigh. 

“Relax, little sis, and enjoy being with Justin.  None of the pain is going to be worth it if you push him away, then you’ll just be alone and miserable without a best friend or a boyfriend.”

She managed a small smile as her eyes shifted over in her brother’s direction.

“When did you become the smart one?”

Ben shrugged, smiling.  “It was about time one of us took up the role, I just figured it should be me.”  He laughed when she turned to smack him on the shoulder.  “Go upstairs and spend some time with your man, Rylee.”

She stopped to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before heading to the staircase. 

“Just don’t wreck my headboard or dent the wall, ok?”  Ben’s voice stopped her trek up the stairs.  She turned to him, her jaw dropped.  She flicked him off, laughing, before making her way up the rest of the stairs.  Ben smiled in her wake and turned off the living room lights, heading to his own bedroom to turn in for the night.