Two weeks had passed since Brad left the tour and things were settling down for Shelby. She was very happy to send him back to Minot as she was really starting to feel smothered. It had seemed like every time she turned he was there. She was used to doing things on her own for so long that she didn't remember what it was like to have someone there with her. He was just over doing it, breathing down her neck.

Today the band was working song writing on their first official full day off. They had tossed ideas around, but hadn't gotten a chance to really put anything solid down on paper. Since all their instruments were at the venue, that's where they found themselves. Shelby was sitting at the keyboard the guys set up around her with their guitars and Jason with a djembe drum.

They took a quick break from what they were doing and immediately started drilling Shelby about why she was with Brad. None of them thought it was a healthy relationship-all of them trying to dissuade her from leading him on any more. Shelby tried to put up a good argument about why she was with him, but they knew her well enough to see right through it. They knew she was doing it because of security and to keep her mind off Justin.

They were right about Shelby's reasons about being with Brad. She just left out the guilt factor. She slept with him and she knew she'd feel guilty if she just ignored that fact and didn't do anything about it. Yes, people had one night stands all the time, but she wasn't generally one of them. That, along with keeping her mind off of Justin was a big reason she was with him. She wanted security yes, but she could provide for herself and the girls without any problems, and so far Brad had just been smothering, not helpful.

Lois had surprised them all by flying in to visit so she currently has the girls with her on a perfectly planned 'girls day out'. It was a big relief for Shelby to have not only a full day to herself, but the next two days as well. Lois insisted on taking Danielle and Gracie with her until her flight left in three days. After they finished up the meeting/song writing session she was going to go down to the pool and relax the rest of the day.

The band went back to work with their song writing and gave Shelby a surprising announcement.

"You can't be serious." Shelby said taken aback by his statement. Ryan had just announced that she would learn guitar and play that instead of keyboard.

"Look how fast you picked up keys." Ryan said reminding her. Shelby had picked up keyboard really fast, she knew most of their songs within a month of starting to learn, it had impressed them all.

"That's guitar though. I've heard it's really hard to learn."

"It's not that hard." Scott said shaking his head.

"You play bass." Shelby said looking at him.

"I know guitar too."

"Shelby, we love you, but you've heard a lot of our new stuff. The sound is getting harder, another guitar would better replace keyboard. I know you can do it, and I know it won't take all that long. We'll teach you the chords and as long as you practice as much as you can, you'll be rockin the house in no time." Ryan gave Shelby a few moments to soak that up before giving her their next surprise. "We also want you to start singing lead on some of the songs. You'll still sing background, but on some of the songs they would sound best with a female voice. We got a lot of good feedback the show you sang 'All That I'm Living For' so we're going to add that into the live show and some of the other songs also."

"That song has keyboard in it." Shelby pointed out.

"We'll have a keyboard on stage still, but you'll be switching between the two. It's not all that unheard of Shelby." Ryan answered.

"There's no getting out of this is there?" Shelby sighed.

"No lady, no getting out of it." Scott said shaking his head.

"I don't even have a guitar." Shelby reminded them.

"Which is why when we're done here, we're going to go get you one." Jason answered.

"Next order of business, guys we need to start sending out our demos to record companies again. This exposure is really good. We've sold over 50,000 demo's through this tour and a ton of merch. It's getting a little hard to handle myself, we need to think about getting a manager, but I want to wait until we get signed. This tour is really the best thing that has happened to us as a band. I really wasn't sure if it would work because our sound is so different from both JC and Justin, but the audience has really accepted us." Ryan explained moving to another topic that was important.

"There's going to be a JIVE exec at the next show." Shelby said shocking them all.

"What? Why?" Ryan asked.

"To see how the tour is going. It's to decide if they're going to do the international tour after the North American tour is over." Shelby answered.

"Wow, this is a perfect opportunity. You need to learn that guitar asap. I know you obviously won't be able to learn it before tomorrow night, but as soon as possible. We'll have to put together the ultimate set list." Ryan said as the others groaned. When Ryan got excited like this it was usually never good. They were going to be working insanely.

"Let's just use the normal set list and add Shelby's song." Jason suggested.

"I agree." Scott nodded.

"You wanna do that? What about--"

"Three against one," Shelby said cutting him off.

"Fine, we'll use the normal set list and add 'All That I'm Living For'. We can rearrange them though right?" Ryan asked knowing better to ask them before he started going off.

"What's wrong with the current way we play them?" Scott asked eyebrows in a scowl.

"Nothing I guess, I just wanted to change them up a bit." Ryan shrugged.

"They're fine the way they are. We'll just add 'Living For' between 'Welcome To My Life' and 'Memory'. Sound good to y'all?" Scott asked the others.

"Works for me." Shelby nodded.

They agreed on the song change and proceeded to wrap things up then went to a music store and bought Shelby a black electric guitar with a small amp so she could rehearse where she wanted to. They also bought her an acoustic guitar so she could practice on that if she wanted to while they were on the bus. It was an expensive adventure, but it was an expense well worth it. If everything went right tomorrow night, they could be signed.

They went back to the hotel and went to Shelby's room where Ryan showed her all the basic chords she'd need to know to learn their songs. She had them down and was going to keep practicing those along with some more drills and fingerings she would also need from a book she'd got at the music store. They left her alone to go play video games in the hotel game room with JC.

Shelby stopped practicing as soon as the boys left and laid down on her bed. She put her hands behind her head and inhaled deeply. She lay there staring at the ceiling. It seemed that her world was constantly changing and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She slept with her best friend, she had to learn a new instrament--which she really didn't mind, and things were so bad on the Justin end.

Justin was an asshole there was no question about that, but there were times when it seemed no one else was looking that he would look at her with an expression that was puzzling. It seemed to portray tenderness, longing, and regret. It was there naught but a moment, but they were moments that puzzled her greatly.

Exhaling a long sigh, Shelby got up and walked softly over to her suit case. She pulled out her modest two piece--a top that looked like a sports bra with a bottom that resembled a small pair of shorts. She put it on and looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't hate the reflection that stared back at her, but nor did she love it. Her cutting scars had faded with time, but they were still visible, especially the bigger ones. The scar on her stomach was still clearly visible, but she was fine with that one even if it looked wicked. It was the scar she'd received when she had Danielle, something she'd repeat if she had to.

She slipped her feet into some flip flops and grabbed her towel then made her way down to the pool. She was relieved to see the pool area was mostly empty. There were a few people around, but for the most part it was empty. She set her things down on a table in the corner then moved to sit on the edge of the pool getting her feet and legs wet.

"You know you're actually supposed to get in the water." Ryan said from a few feet away in the pool.

"What are you doing here? I thought you guys went to go play video games." Shelby asked curiously.

"I didn't want to. I wanted to come down here instead. We're going clubbing tonight so I wanted to relax while I can." Ryan answered.

"Good choice." Shelby nodded swinging her legs in the water.

"You're welcome to come with us. We're going with JC." Ryan offered.

"I think I will." Shelby nodded.

"Good. You need to get drunk." Ryan smiled in approval. "You also need to get in here."

"In due time." Shelby shook her head.

"No. Now." Ryan said grabbing her legs, pulling her further in the water.

Shelby let out a small scream and grabbed Ryan around the neck just as he pulled her in. Shelby knew enough to take a deep breath when she saw the evil grin on his face. Ryan jumped as high as he could and leaned back in the water, throwing them both under water. Shelby let go of him as she went under and came up sputtering and coughing.

A pair of surprisingly jealous eyes watched the pair of them laughing together as Shelby tried to dunk Ryan. She looked so happy and a small piece of him longed to be a part of that happiness. He had heard Ryan invite her out clubbing with him and was surprised to hear her accept because last time he knew, she wasn't usually much of a partier. He wanted to find out where they were going, but didn't want to ask them. Maybe he would ask JC later.

Shelby glanced to her left and froze. Justin was sitting in the hot tub with his feelings written clearly on his face. There was no I-hate-you-you-cheated-on-me-fuck-you look. It was something different, she couldn't read it, but it had a burning intensity that shocked her to the core. Time was frozen in that one look so when Ryan swam under the water and pulled her off her feet she went down swallowing tons of water.

It took a moment for Shelby to get her bearings as she fought for air. She felt arms encircle her waist drawing her against a strong chest. She felt herself being lifted and when they emerged she gulped in the much needed air. Her rescuer deposited her safely on the edge of the pool. "Breathe easy honey," she heard a voice command through her fog.

When she was finally breathing normally and calmed down, Shelby opened her eyes. Much to her surprise it was not Ryan who stood looking up at her, it was Justin. It almost made her physically sick to see the concern in his eyes. "It was you?" she asked, shock showing on her face.

The look on Justin's face changed from concern to anger in an instant. "I'm not a monster." he said jumping onto the edge then got out of the water.

Justin grabbed his towel then quickly dried off and headed for his room. His heart had nearly stopped when Shelby didn't come up right away. He didn't stop and think, he just ran out of the hot tub and jumped in the freezing cold pool. He did understand why she had been shocked that he was the one who had pulled her out. He hadn't exactly meant to lash out in anger, but when she looked at him like that he just snapped.

"What happened?" Shelby asked Ryan who went over to her after Justin stormed off.

"It all happened so fast. When you didn't come up right away Justin made this mad dash from the hot tub and he was setting you on the edge before I even realized what happened. It seemed to go in slow motion. I will say this though, he may be an asshole, but that boy still has feelings for you--strong feelings. I'll never forget the look on his face when he dove in for you. Come on, let's go get ready to go out. We need to go eat first because if we go drinking on an empty stomach we'll be tore up in the first hour." Ryan said jumping up to sit on the edge next to her.

"I don't wanna." Shelby said resting her head on his shoulder.

"Well that's too bad, time to go." Ryan said standing up. He held his hand to Shelby and helped her up. "Looks like we have about two hours to kill so take your time getting ready."

Ryan watched Shelby walk away and sighed. Her and Justin were so right for each other yet Justin was being an asshole. He knew they were both still in love with each other, but of course Shelby was still deluded to thinking Brad was boyfriend material and Justin still had a stick up his ass named Cameron--that and he still thought she cheated on him with fuckhead Tony. What he had ever saw in Tony as a friend was beyond him. He was a waste of sperm, and that was the truth--final answer.