Justin leaned his shoulder against the door frame and watched the rise and fall of Rylee’s chest as she slept soundly.  Despite her being totally drunk last night, she tossed and turned and fought off nightmares for a good portion of the evening.  A few times she talked in her sleep, and mostly she was begging Christina for forgiveness.

It was harder for Justin to imagine how Rylee could still be so burdened by everything, especially because he was on the outside and he could see how destructive their friendship had been.  He had seen the two of them together and the dynamic was not always even.  He had also spent a lot of time with Christina alone and he’d heard her say some careless things about Rylee.

But that’s just the thing, he was on the outside.  He didn’t know what went on between Rylee and Christina when no one was around, and he obviously didn’t know how deeply Rylee cared about her friend and the opinion of her friend, but he was starting to figure it out.

A noise broke his reverie and his focus returned to the bed in time to see Rylee stirring under the covers.

“Holy shit.”  She mumbled and he couldn’t help the laugh that fell from his lips.

Justin crossed the carpet and sat gently on the bed next to Rylee.  “You awake, baby?”

“I think I’m dead.”  She removed the covers from her face and rolled so she was lying on her back.  “Please, never let me drink that much again.”

“At least you didn’t sleep with Trace this time.”  Rylee laughed at his comment but it turned into a groan and she clutched her head in pain.

“Too early for funny, Justin.”  She tried to roll back over but Justin stopped her.  He reached back to the bedside table and grabbed some aspirin and a glass of water.

“You should take this,” He handed her the pills and helped her with the glass.  “You might want to take a hot shower too, that always helps me kick a hangover.”

“Can you cook me breakfast?”  She tried to muster a smile but the pain in her head was too great.

“If you get out of bed and take a shower, I’ll go downstairs and make you breakfast.”

Rylee groaned and covered her eyes with her arm.

“You’re supposed to be romantic and bring me breakfast in bed.”  Justin laughed again and leaned over to kiss Rylee’s cheek.

“You’re gonna have to be sober and not hung over for that one, baby.”  He nudged her out of the bed and gave her a gentle push in the direction of the bathroom.  “Go.  Shower.  You’ll feel better, I promise.”

“I’m going.” She stopped in the door way to the bathroom and looked back in Justin’s direction.  “Pancakes, please?”  She batted her eyes at him.

He chuckled.  “Sure.”

Trace was in the kitchen when Justin walked through the door way.  He had already gotten out the ingredients for breakfast, but stopped and looked at Justin as he entered.

“Take over any time, man.  You probably don’t want to eat my cooking.”  Justin laughed at Trace as he backed away from the counter and motioned for Justin to get to it.

“Pancakes ok with you, Trace?  We’ve had a request from the lush upstairs.”

“Sure, I’ll eat anything at this point.”  Trace grabbed his glass of orange juice off the counter and sat down in one of the bar stools.  “How is Rylee this morning?”

“Hurtin’, but she’ll be fine.  I gave her some aspirin and she’s in the shower now.  I’m sure she’ll have a headache for most of the morning, but it’ll pass.”

Trace nodded, although Justin’s back was to him.  “A buddy of mine that lives in my building is moving, so I was thinking about taking Rylee over there today to show her his apartment and see if she likes it.”

“Cool.”  Justin flipped the pancake off the pan and it landed with a flop.  He wasn’t able to cook very much, but over the years he had mastered breakfast.  It was his favorite food and it worked for any meal.

Rylee stepped into the doorway wrapped in a bathrobe and looking a little better than she did when she first woke up.

“Hey baby, the food should be ready soon.  There’s a glass of juice for you on the counter, too.”

“You’re my hero.”  She gave Justin a peck on the cheek and padded over to the seat next to Trace, giving him a half grin.  “Morning Tracey.”

“Hey hot shot, how ya feelin’?” 

“Like I drank too much last night.  You boys need to stop letting me get so drunk.”  She took a sip of her glass but stopped when a thought occurred to her.  “I didn’t do anything really stupid last night, did I?”

Both men laughed and after Justin placed the plate of pancakes on the table he stood behind Rylee and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Ry, even if I’d wanted to have sex with you last night it would’ve been impossible.  You passed out as soon as we got into the car.”

“Hey!”  Trace reached up and covered his ears, “I thought I’d told you two, no talking about sex around me.”

“But we’re not talking about having sex, we’re talking about not having sex.”  Rylee protested, and Trace’s face became puzzled.

“But its still sex, and I still imagine…never mind.”  Rylee and Justin laughed as his face grew red.  “Let’s just eat.”

Everyone sat around the table and proceeded to enjoy their meal.  It was relatively quiet as they all ate, and for Rylee it was nice to have a little bit of quiet, her head was pounding.

“I’ve got to run into the studio today, Brett called and he said we need to get together, so after we finish eating I’m gonna run over there.”  Justin picked at a piece of bacon, chewing it slowly.

“Do you need me to come too?”  Rylee asked, she wasn’t really up for being in the studio, but it was her job.  Justin shook his head no, though.

“I’m taking you out today, Ryles.”  Trace piped up, “A buddy of mine that lives in my apartment building is moving out and he’s looking for someone to take it off of him.  I thought we’d go check it out and see what you think.”

“Really?  That’d be great.”  She turned to Justin with a smile, “That’s not too far from here, and I’d have Trace near by too!” 

“As long as he doesn’t try and put the moves on you again, I’m all for it.”  Justin earned a dirty look from his friend for that comment, but they all laughed.

Justin’s phone started ringing at that moment, and when he answered it was Brett asking if he could come in right away.  Apparently there was something urgent that needed to be taken care of, so Justin said his goodbyes, pecked Rylee on the cheek and headed out the door.

“So, you ready for a day out, Ryles?”

She shrugged her shoulders, not sure if she felt up to venturing out into public, but it was going to have to happen sooner or later.

“I suppose so.  I really need to work on my drinking, though, I feel like I got run over or something.”

Trace chuckled.  “It’s OK, you missed running into Christina, so it’s probably for the best that you were so drunk.”

“Tina was there?”  Trace suddenly realized his slip up, but it was too late to take it back now.

“Uh…yeah, she was.  I ran into her up in VIP.”

“What did she say?”

“The usual, she was upset about seeing you and Justin together and she gave me the whole spiel about how she was the victim and all that crap.”  Trace watched as Rylee’s eyes drifted down to the table, and he was tempted to reach out and hug her.  She looked so sad.  “Are you OK, Ryles?”

She shook her head.  “I thought that it would be easier if I was mad at her, but it still hurts.  I mean, she’s my best friend and I hate thinking that it’s all over like this.  I never imagined not having her around somehow.”

She sniffled and this time Trace did put his arms around her.  “Rylee, I know you’re hurting and I don’t think there’s anything to say to make it better, but tell me something.”

He waited until she was looking at him.  “Is it all worth it?  Is this fighting and the pain and everything worth it?”

Rylee sat back in her chair and thought over Trace’s question.  The past month or so had taken a toll on her emotionally and she was tired of constantly feeling like she was in a tail spin.  It had hurt when Christina had pushed her away so quickly, especially when they shared such a long history together.

Should Rylee keep pushing to fix things when it was obvious that Christina could give up on them so easily?

“I’m tired of feeling guilty,” she finally came out with, and it felt good to get it off her chest.  “I hate feeling like I’m the reason for the end of our friendship when I know that it’s a two way street.  I hate knowing that I hurt her, but I can’t help but wonder why it seems so easy for her to hurt me.”

Trace didn’t say anything as Rylee kept talking; he figured she wasn’t really speaking to him anyway.

“I mean, so many years of friendship definitely seems worth fighting for to me, but I don’t want to be the only one that’s trying, you know?”  Her voice dropped lower and Trace had to lean in to hear what she said next.  “Sometimes I think that it’s just time for the two of us to move on and live our own lives…and it kills me to say that.”

The tears were freely rolling now, and Trace stood from his chair and pulled Rylee into a tight hug.

“Hey, hey…”  He pulled back enough to wipe the tears from her cheek and give her a small smile.  “Give it some time, OK?  Allow yourself to deal with the emotions first and see where it all leads to from there.  You can’t make rational decisions when you’re so worked up.”

Rylee nodded before chuckling, “You sound like and damn woman, Trace.”  He laughed.

“And you’re starting to sound too much like Justin.”

~*~

Justin and Brett sat in the studio chairs, both swiveling back and fourth slowly as they talked.

“So you’re leaving me?”  He hated that he sounded like a chick, but Justin was pretty upset to be losing his best technician.

“Yeah, man, its way too much with the baby and everything now.  Beth really needs me at home to help out with things, and I just can’t see myself being available to help you out like you need.”

Justin nodded in understanding.  “Well, hey, I’m really gonna miss you, man.  Now I need to find someone else I trust with my sound.”

Brett wasn’t sure if he should say it, but he new the best person for the job.  “You could always hire Rylee.”  He waited for a response, not knowing if Justin would want to permanently hire his girlfriend.

“I didn’t even think of that,” The light bulb went off over Justin’s head.  “That’s perfect!”

Brett was a little shocked, but happy that he wasn’t leaving his boss hanging and that Rylee was going to get a real chance to show off her talent and get credit for it.

“You’re not wary of it?  I mean…she’s your girlfriend…”

“Hmm, you’re right…that might make things difficult…”  Justin looked deep in thought for a second, “She’s been having money troubles lately and I’ve been trying to figure out a way to help her, but damn if she isn’t stubborn.  But this is perfect, if she takes your position she’ll be added to the pay roll and I’ll be helping her without actually helping her!”

“Uhm, ok…”  Brett wasn’t sure what Justin had just said, but he figured it was a good sign that his boss was so excited.

“You’re going to have to tell her, though.”

“Huh?  Why?”

“Well, she’s going to think that I set this up to help her out, so if you tell her that you want her to take your place as sound technician, she’ll have to say yes and she can’t get mad at me for it.”

“You’re talking in riddles, man, but whatever.  I’ll give her a call later and let her know.”  Brett admired his boss, but sometimes there seemed to be something a little off about him.  This was definitely one of those times.

“Thanks a lot, Brett.  For everything,” Justin reached out to shake his hand.  “And if you ever need help with anything, or you ever want a job, you’re always welcome here.  And we’ll get together soon for some beers or something.”

“Thanks, man.  I’ll make sure to call Rylee later, but right now I’ve got to get back to Beth.  If I’m any later then I already am, she’ll kill me.”

Justin waved goodbye and sat back in his chair with a smile on his face.  This was perfect.  Now he had a way to help Rylee out but he wasn’t actually giving her money.  He would be sad to lose Brett, but he knew that he was gaining a more than capable employee in Rylee.  He was excited that she’d really be working for him now, too, because he knew that she had a lot of talent and he wanted to utilize it as soon as possible.

Truth be told, he was going to offer her a job after her internship anyway, but he figured he would wait until she was out of school before he offered it.  Now was fine with him though, and he couldn’t wait until they could celebrate the good news.