" Again....... as in this has happened before?" It was an innocent question, he really had no idea how many times Justin had been faced with Caleb and Maia making out. He wasn’t surprised when he received a few dangerously suggestive glares, and waited for somebody to answer him.

" This is the third time." JC replied realizing that had been exactly the time he had cheated on Angela, thoughts of course not counting or he’d be engaged in a whole other relationship. Three times , were the many times he has woken up with her in his arms, three times he had felt anguished to the point of no satisfying, three times he’d lost his heart, three times that he almost said he loved her. Almost.

" Wow." Lance muttered taking a sip of his club soda.

" Exactly, someone else who senses the extremity if this situation. Ridiculous isn’t it?" Chris nodded toasting him up. Justin looked lazily at his eccentric friend, the drunkenness finally seeping in. HE wanted to body slam Chris, not because what he was saying was untrue, but more because even in a drunken state he couldn’t forget about her. She was still there, just lingering like an annoying bug that wouldn’t be intimidated by a swap of your hand. He wished he could squash away her existence, just remove her from his world. What was so freaking great about her, he tried to rationalize. Only setting himself up, he began thinking of every reason why starting with the scene hours before pressed against her in a corner.

" I - AM- NOT-A-PHOTOGRAPH!" Chris yelled responding to Justin’s relentless stare. Justin blinked a few times signaling he had heard the young man, but he still hadn’t registered anything. " But if you would like one I am featured in Penthouse Magazine page 47." Chris batted his eyes and Justin smirked, coming out of his daze. He signaled another glass, maybe three wasn’t enough. He didn’t care the amount, he was willing to go to the extreme. It seemed it was something of a pattern of his, he just seemed to be going to the extreme a lot lately. He closed his eyes, the pain still not disappearing. He had to do something, he had to do something fast before he really ruined himself over this girl.

Slipping further into her bath water, Maia let out a restless sigh. She couldn’t believe how quickly everything had fallen apart, she couldn’t believe what had transpired just that afternoon. A soft tap sounded on the closed door followed by an appearance of Raven’s face in the crack of the doorway.

" You decent?" she smiled and Maia rolled her eyes, the girl only did that as a formality. Maia could be stone cold naked and Raven would still proceed on into the room with whatever intent she had before.

" No." Maia said as expected and Raven walked in taking a seat on the step to the huge tub.

" How you doin?" Raven sighed touching Maia’s hair in a loving manner. Maia sighed looking down.

" I’ve been better." Both of them laughed at her response then quieted down, both with their own separate thoughts on the same thing. Looking at each other, they both recognized the look in each other’s eyes, they knew without even saying it that they had both fallen in love.

" So when are you gonna tell him?" Maia inquired, bringing her knees to her chest waiting for Raven’s response. Fingering a loose black curl, Raven looked far off and shrugged.

" I don’t think I will." she sighed and then turned to look at her friend. Giving Maia the questioning eye, Raven posed the same question.

" I guess the very next time he sees Caleb and I kiss." Maia sighed in frustration while Raven laughed. Shaking her head, she signaled for Raven to hand her a towel, so she could wipe off and they both go and lie with Jocelyn. There was no way they were being alone tonight.

"What is the matter?!" Maia looked strangely at the orange faced photographer who splashed his thick french accent across her face and open cup of coffee. She wondered how he would react if she actually took the time to explain to him that she was no model but in fact a stripper escaping a hard life she stumbled onto after running away from home at the age of seventeen, was there a french word for empathy? She decided he’d probably just give her a blank look and uncomfortably suggest she undress and prepare for her shoot.

" Nothing.....?"

" Franque." Maia raised her eyebrow and a smirk snaked across her face. His mother had surely named him Frank.

" I’m fine." Maia smiled tightly and settled back into a dressing chair. Staring straight ahead, she laughed at the irony. How many time before had she sat before a dressing mirror, preparing to go and strip down to nothing. The only difference between then and now was that she was getting paid more and by America’s morals, it was OK to be a model, but not a stripper. She wanted to cry, she wanted to laugh, she wanted to insane- all at once. Right before she had gotten ready to walk out the door the phone rang. Thinking that it might have been Kendall she decided to pick it up and curse him out daring him to set foot in their new lives. Instead a groggling voice came on the other end, a voice she hadn’t thought she’d hear ever again.

" Hey sweet cheeks, I know your on your way to a shoot, But I need you to do me favor..." she almost threw up on herself, his voice alone sickening him. His "favor" is what killed her. She thought about it the entire drive to MX studio’s where she’d be performing her first shoot for Sports Illustrated. She had given up trying to figure out how Willy had gotten their number, in fact she gave up on figuring why this was happening to all of them. She just wanted to put an end to it.

" I know you got this new life now, and if you wanna keep it and your precious Jason, Joseph..whatever his gotdamn name is you wanna come to New York. I’m gonna need reparations for such a loss of a beautiful act and of course to keep my mouth shut and my pics hidden from the press. Capeesh." She choked now thinking of it all. She would never work for Cover Girl, never if it got out about her past. What was worse was that she knew she would loose Justin, she felt she had lost him already. Only then she would have no chance of getting him back, at least now she had. She would try before she ever gave up.

Justin sighed staring at his pad of lyrics that he had been trying to edit for his latest single ‘Worthy’. He had came into the studio with hopes of focusing his thoughts on another aspect of his life besides the lack of love present in it. He ran a hand over his head, bit his lip and looked up subconsciously when he felt another presence in the room. Across from him she stood, the mere sight of her sending his heart into palpitations. She wore a white t shirt and a simple pair of relaxed hipster jeans. Even in this causal state, she had him aroused. She was so damn beautiful. Why was she there?

" What are you doing?" It didn’t matter to ask why are you here, it was more important to find out exactly what she was doing to him. He was sure she had an idea of her effect on him, and he was quite tired of being played by her. In fact he was done with being played by her. What was she after, because if she wanted his heart she surely had it- even in its broken and tragic state.

" I want to talk Justin."

" Oh. YOU want to talk." he laughed angrily, sliding his earphones off and giving her his full attention. She cringed at his demeanor and Justin hated to see that he was intimidating her, but dammit if he could control his anger. She was the one that drove him to this point. She looked down before walking closer to him, his heart etching up a pace with each step she took. He licked his lips unconsciously and sucked on his bottom lip to release his pent up tension. Even now as she stood before him, he wanted her.

" Justin I saw you yesterday....pulling off....."

" Oh you caught that, cuz I definitely pulled up at the wrong time." he replied angrily and his heart broke at the sight of her broken demeanor.

" Justin it meant nothing. I’m sorry, and I know it doesn’t sound good. It sounds crazy but you have to know that I don’t want to be with Caleb. I want to be with you." she said in one breath, her chest heaving in and out from the effort it took to say all that to him. Justin sat stunned, he definitely hadn’t expected her to say that, he thought she was coming to apologize for leading him on. He even prepared himself for the event and had been so careless in not considering that maybe she would throw something different at him. IF there was one thing about Maia Manadelno, it was that she was unpredictable to him. He didn’t know whether to be intimidated or intrigued by this fact. He looked down his heart betraying him and he knew the look in his eye would let onto the fact.

" Say something." she finally said her voice soaked with emotion. Justin bit his lip, he didn’t know what to say. There was no doubt that he wanted her, he’d wanted her from the first time he met her. Hell he wanted this very moment for what seemed like a life time. He took his headphones completely off and moved out of the booth he had been seated in. She was right at the entrance and he walked up to her. He stood before her, breathing her in as his guard against her slowly fell around him. She looked down and he instantly brought a hand to her chin, leaning her up to his lips.

" I want to be with you Mai, and I’ve been going crazy over you waiting to hear you say that." he spoke softly against her lips then finally leaned in and completed what he had wanted to do for so long. His lips touched hers, his tongue agonizingly tracing the entrance of her warm mouth until it broke through and captured her breath. She fell against him in a surrendering motion and Justin felt the power of their kiss envelop them both into a solid existence. Her hands moved up his chest and met around his neck, her fingers running into his hair. His own hands found themselves in her hair, at her sides, all over her magnificent body in an adventurous state to claim her as his. She moaned into his mouth and his kiss deepened, lifting Maia out of a state of logical existence. Justin held her against him as he continued to kiss her with his all, not holding back anything that had prevented him from doing this before. He hadn’t realized how long they were kissing, but was disappointed when they stopped followed by a clearing of a man’s throat. Justin pulled back, his eyes looking deep into hers, loving the hazel green pecks that glittered with happiness in his arms before turning to see who had intruded on such a private moment.

Charlie stood behind the sound booth, his eyes boring into Maia’s. She was quickly brought down from the high she experienced in Justin’s kiss and found herself suddenly feeling threatened for being in his arms. She adjusted herself and moved to stand apart from Justin, not sure if she could control herself from devouring his mouth while standing so close. Her knees knocked against her signaling the fragile state of her resistance. Justin had broken down any possible means of a resistance with his kiss. Maia didn’t believe there would ever be a kiss experienced again quite like the one they shared on the video set, and was shocked out of her mind when he kissed her just now. Only now the kiss seemed a million miles away as she struggled to compose herself in the stony silence of the room. She had no idea why Charlie looked the way he did towards her.

" C, whats up?" Justin finally asked the question that had been flashing in Maia’s mind. Charlie continued to glare at Maia, before speaking. Even then his eyes never left Maia.

" You have a phone call J." he said in an angered tone that Justin somehow missed. Maia, however, didn’t miss a beat and gulped down. What the hell was wrong with this man, she thought wondering if it was safe to be left with him. Justin moved past her, his hand touching the small of his back before he moved in front of her.

" Thanks." Justin sighed breezing past Charlie who grinned at his absence. Maia balled her hand into a fist and stood her ground as Charlie moved towards her, in a prey like manner.

" So, you’ve managed to get Justin wrapped around your little finger...." he stopped directly in front of her, his eyes sliding down her body. " Just like the way you wrap those long, luscious legs around a pole...by the way how is Raven?" Maia gasped, how the hell did he know all that? Her heart began to beat at a crazy pace and suddenly she felt light headed. She shook her head, her fist dissolving as well as her demeanor.

" Who the hell are you?" she managed to breath wanting to know exactly who he was that he knew all this about her. How did he go from Charlie, Justin’s manager to this man who knew about her past?

" Well..." he laughed touching her hair and then throat softly. " I’m still Charlie, Justin’s manager...but know who the hell are you?" he asked slowly and Maia was so caught in his words she hadn’t noticed his hands closing on around her throat. Then he squeezed, pushing her against the wall of the glass booth Justin had came out of.

" I know who the hell you are Maia Manadelno, you fucking dirty ass prostitute from Secrets Unfold. You stay the hell away from Justin, stay away from him. I’ve worked too damn hard to have some slut come and mess it up for me." He blocked her entire airway, causing her to clutch at the hands he had wrapped around her throat. Where was Justin? Then tears began to fall, it wouldn’t matter, she wouldn’t want him there anyway and Charlie knew it. He knew that she would do anything to keep her secret from Justin, much less keep this little event between them. She cried because it seemed just as everything always started to look up, they were always brought back down. The moment she finally shared with him suddenly vanished, and in replace the hard reality of who she was slapping her in the face. Right on cue Charlie let go of her throat and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket at the sound of Justin’s footsteps. Maia glared at him before grabbing the handkerchief and wiping her eyes. She breathed in a couple of times to regulate her breaths and had to stop herself for spitting on him.

" Thanks C, that was MusicChoice, they want to do an interview." Justin came in smiling walking past Charlie who breezed past him towards the door. Maia looked down her hair covering her face, she was sure their were marks around her neck. She breathed in, what was she going to do. Justin walked right up to her, pulling her face up to his he leaned into kiss her. Before he did, his thumb brushed her wet cheek. He opened his eyes and stared questioningly into hers. Pulling back he examined her face and then his eyes fell onto her neck. He touched the crimson red area and looked at her, his eyes confused.

" Mai?"

" Justin....." she started but bursted into tears instead. She had nothing to say, nothing to say that would make sense without leading him towards the truth.

" Maia, baby, stop crying. What the hell is this?" he demanded, wiping the tears from his eyes. All at once, his baby blue eyes turned a hot color she’d never seen in his face before. He looked at her, he didn’t want to even think it. It was insane, why would Charlie ever do this? Justin shook his head in confusion.

"Maia....did, did Charlie do this to you!" Justin tried to speak slowly, his anger seeping out of each word.

" No." Maia choked then cleared her throat. " I...I was sucking on a piece of candy and started choking." she lied, smiling for added effort. She began coughing, it coming quite nautarlly due to her recent loss of breathe. " See, I’m such an idiot. And I’m embarrassed. I was choking and grabbing at my neck." she began crying, she was lying to him again. His eyes were searching hers, he looked unsure of what she said. " It’s ok, Charlie actually helped. Surprised huh? SO was I." she laughed and leaned up to kiss him. " I’m just embarrassed." she said and Justin nodded kissing her forehead. Maia moved into his hug, her heart beating like crazy. What has she gotten herself into? She breathed in the scent of him, not sure when the next time would be when she could be with him like this. She moved up, so that her mouth met his. Even if this were to be the last moment she had with him, it would be the best. She had been so long without being able to tell him and show him exactly how she felt. There was no way she was going to let it happen again, not when she wasn’t sure how everything was going to work out. She looked into his eyes after kissing him softly. He had to know, he had to know whether he was ready to hear it or not.

" Justin, I love you." his eyes read her his shock, while his lips mouthed the words, ‘I love you too’. Maia cried, her heart breaking by the moment. They kissed one last time. Maia savoring the sweetness of him. Her lips lingered against his, the sweetness of them killing her softly. She would forever cherish this moment and never forget it. Pulling from him she backed away. His eyes showed her his confusion, pleading with her to return. Choking on her now uncontrollable sobs she turned and ran out of the studio.