Justin stepped off the plane and squinted from the bright LA haze.  He shrugged off the zip up hoodie he was wearing and stuffed it into the backpack in his hands.  It had been raining when he flew out of Tennessee but LA was hot and Justin wanted to turn around and get right back on the plane.

His mother had convinced him that he needed to get back to work, or at the very least out of her hair.  She said she loved him, but she couldn’t stand any more of his moping around the house.  So, he packed up again and headed back West.  He had meetings set up with some producers to go over ideas he’d been working on, and there was also a meeting to look over a script.  He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, but his mom was right, he needed to be busy.

Being back in LA made him think of Georgia.  Usually, she would be waiting for him at the airport, some crazy disguise covering her features.  She liked to think it would throw off the media, and sometimes it did.  He used to joke that she was making him look like a play boy, all these different women bringing him home. 

But today, there was a car waiting for him with a body guard and a driver.  No Georgia.  He was starting to doubt if there ever would be a Georgia again.

It had been three months since they’d last spoken.  Morgan had updated him with a “she’s doing as well as can be expected” and that was just about all he knew.  Morgan had added a “she misses you, but she won’t admit it,” but wouldn’t elaborate any more than that.  He supposed he should be happy that she was doing better, but part of him wanted her to be doing better with him.

He missed her.  He missed he laugh, her stupid jokes, her ability to burp even louder than he did.  He missed everything, even the annoying habits that he thought he would never miss; like her habit of not flushing the toilet if she only peed.  She claimed that it saved water to not flush as often, he just thought it was gross.  Gia was always trying to get him to do things to conserve energy, and while he was all for it, flushing was just a necessary thing in his life.

With a large sigh he stepped out of the car that had stopped in front of his house and waved to the driver as a thanks before sending his body guard off.  He wanted to be alone.

Stepping into the house, Justin’s eyes scanned over the foyer and toward the living room.  It didn’t feel right.  There was no glaring difference; the furniture was in the same place, it was clean and tidy too.  But Gia wasn’t there.  There was no trace of the girl anywhere to be seen, and it felt to Justin that there was a large hole in his life now.

Dropping his chin to his chest and focusing on the floor, the young man made his way through the house as quickly as possible.  He didn’t want to look into any more rooms and see the absence she left.  He wanted to crawl into bed and sleep the rest of the afternoon away, which is exactly what he planned to do.

After his nap, Justin awoke to a dark house.  He managed to make it down the back stairs and into the kitchen without turning any lights on.  He made himself a bowl of cereal and headed back up the stairs.  In the dark, the house didn’t feel so empty.  He could just pretend that she wasn’t home for the night. 

The next day he had meeting planned and appointments scheduled that would start off a very hectic week, but he knew the distraction would be good. 

Maybe he could make it through the week without calling her, or seeing her…maybe.

~*~ 

Stepping into her apartment, Gia let out a heavy sigh.  She wasn’t sure if it was a sight of stress or relief, but it helped calm her just a little. 

For the past hour she had sat and talked with her therapist, figuring out ways to better her opinion of herself.  Over the past three months she had progressed to a point where she felt OK.  Not incredible, but certainly not horrible.  She liked being OK, it felt good. 

She had told Emma, the therapist, that she was ready to fight this.  She was prepared to do everything she could so that she could look back and know how far she’d come.  Emma had opened Gia’s eyes to the possibility of loving herself, and it felt good.  It felt wonderful, actually, to be able to look at her reflection and see the girl she used to be slowly returning.

Gia had talked with her sister, Megan, about everything that was going on in her head (another suggestion from Emma) and Megan had assured her little sister that the baby’s death was not her fault.  She had also pointed out that their mother was selfish and wrong in her treatment of Georgia.  It felt good to know that she had someone else on her side, even if it was from across the country.

Throwing her purse on the bed and kicking off her sandals, Gia flopped down and turned on her phone.  She watched as the screen came to life, and a few seconds later the device beeped informing her that she had a message.  She quickly pressed the appropriate buttons and sat back to listen, but she wasn’t prepared for what she heard.

“Georgia, it’s your mother.  I talked with your sister today and she mentioned to me that you were troubled by what I said the last time you were out here.  She also mentioned the counseling you’ve been doing.  Well, I just wanted to inform you that I don’t appreciate a little whore like you talking behind my back and the only reason my words bother you is because you know they’re true.  I’m through with you, Georgia.  As far as I’m concerned you’re dead to me.  You are no longer welcome in this house and you are no longer a part of my life.  Don’t contact me, ever.  If you do, I’ll cut off any ties you have to anyone else in this family too, and don’t think I can’t.  Goodbye.”

The phone beeped and an automated voice gave her options but Gia didn’t hear any of it.  She tried to stand but ended up falling to the floor, and for the first time she noticed that she wasn’t really breathing.

She was having a panic attack.  He breathing was erratic, he pulse was racing, and the walls were closing in on her.

Gia scrambled to find her phone, something, to help her stop this from happening.  Without thinking she opened her phone and pressed the first speed dial.

“Hello?” His voice came over the phone and Gia started to cry harder, desperate for help. “Georgia? You there? I know it’s you Gia…say something…”

She did her best to catch her breath enough to speak, but it was difficult.  “I…”

“Baby, calm down.  You need to calm down for me, ok?  Just breath slowly, in and out.”  His tone was soothing to her frazzled nerves, but she was still having a hard time.

“I can’t…breath…Justin…”

“Are you home? At your apartment?”

“Yes.”  She managed an answer, tears streaming down her face.

“I’m on my way over.  I’ll be there in 10 minutes, but I want you to stay on the line.  Did you take your inhaler?”

“No…No…”  She was starting to panic even more, thinking that it was getting more difficult to breathe.  Everything seemed to spiral out of her control and she couldn’t seem to get it back together.  She sat on the floor in her bedroom, her back pressed against the side of the bed.  She could hear Justin breathing on the other end of the phone and she gripped the device tighter to her ear.

“I’m almost there, baby.  Just breath with me, ok?  In and out, slowly.”

Justin was trying not to panic himself, but it was getting harder the longer he could hear her gasping on the other end.  He was scared shitless.

He knew Gia had asthma, and he’d witnessed a mild attack once, but he’d never experienced her having a panic attack.  He didn’t know that she had panic attacks.  He could tell that she was working her way towards an asthma attack and he was scared for her.

He sped into the lot of her apartment and flew from his car, barely remembering to shut the door.  He took the stairs two at a time but it still didn’t seem fast enough.  Her door came into view and he threw it open, only stopping for a second to wonder why it was not locked.

“Gia?”  He called through the apartment, his phone now shoved in his pocket.  Justin scanned the living room on his right before running down the short hallway to his left.  He passed a bathroom and a small den before finding her bedroom.  He spotted her on the floor seconds before falling to his knees and gathering her up in his arms.

“Where is your inhaler, Gia?  In your purse?”  She managed to point to the night stand and Justin rushed to grab the small object.  He handed it to Gia and watched as she struggled to take it.

“I…I’m…”  She wanted to apologize for making him come over there, but she couldn’t catch her breath.  The harder she tried the harder it was to force air into her straining lungs.

“Shh, don’t talk.  Look at me, Georgia.  Look at me,” He waited until her watery eyes locked on his, “Breathe, in…out…in…out…”  Tears were forming in his own eyes but he knew that she needed him to stay calm or she would freak out even more.

Slowly, after it seemed like hours had passed, she started to gain some control of her breathing and she had calmed enough to stop crying.

“Are you OK?  Jesus, you scared the shit out of me, baby.”  Justin pulled her into his side and kissed the top of her head.

“I scared myself even more.”  She rasped out, her throat raw from the struggle.  “I’m sorry.”

“No…no, please don’t apologize.  Not for this.”  He looked down at her and brushed a tear from her cheek.  “Has this happened before?”

She shook her head slowly.  “No.  I just got back from my therapy appointment, and…I don’t know…my mom called and I listened to her message and suddenly everything just got hazy and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.  I didn’t know who to call…I didn’t even know you were in LA.”

“I got back last week.  I’ve been in the studio working on some things.  I’m glad you called me, though.  You sure you’re going to be OK?”  He watched as she nodded her head, her eyes focused on the carpet.  “Liar.”

Georgia lifted her head at the accusation and turned her eyes in his direction.  She had so much she wanted to say to this man.  The thoughts were speeding through he mind and she wasn’t sure where to start.  She opened her mouth to start telling him how well she’s managed on her own, to tell him how much better she was feeling, to tell him anything but how horrible it was being without him.  Apparently, he mouth had other ideas.

“I miss you.”

Justin’s eyes widened a bit but he never broke contact.  He licked his lips and shifted close to her before wrapping his arms around her and kissing her temple.

“Baby girl, I’ve missed you too.”

There was so much more that needed to be said, but for the moment, those words were enough for the both of them.