(Another Song) All Over Again

You've been alone
You've been afraid
I've been a fool
In so many ways
But I would change my life
If you thought you
Might try to love me

Dane Cook was standing on the stage in the front of the room, a white spot light illuminating his figure. The room had become packed, with celebrities and seat-fillers, as soon as the red lights on all the cameras had turned on and the theme music had begun to play. Justin was seated in the second row to the left of the stage, and was in no mood to except an award tonight. He'd only come here because his publicist had been going on and on about it for days at a time. But for him, there was greater things at stake than looking ungrateful by not being present to accept an award. For him, tonight was about much more than looking nice in some funky suit and going up on stage when (and if) his name was called.

Hollie was there, seated in the first row to the right of the stage, her faithful personal assistant giggling and commenting on the ceremony next to her. This was the first time he'd been in the same place with her since their break-up, more than six months ago. In that time, she had changed dramatically, and he'd been doing all he could to put her out of his mind. But now, all of that was down the drain. Now he was right back at square one. Wait, who was he kidding? He hadn't made any headway in putting her out of his mind. He still thought about her morning, noon, and night. He still dreampt about her, or thought he heard her voice when the lights were out and it was late at night. Even now, infront of everyone, his eyes were drawn to her, having no choice but to follow every movement she made. Every time she leaned into her friend and smiled, everytime she crossed and uncrossed her legs, everytime she pretended to only accidently glance his direction. Her once short hair was now a silky tail down her back, probably helped along by Hollywood extentions. But she looked better than he ever remembered, and it only caused his heartache to worsen.

Since their split, she hadn't been linked to anyone in the trashy tabloids, actually she hadn't been in the tabloids at all. She'd gone into seclusion, locking herself away in a house in London, working on what was now her new album. It was full of angst, and anger, heartbreak, and unrequinted love. Ofcourse, all of that was all wrong in his opinion. There was no unrequinted love. She'd loved him, and he'd loved her dearly, gut-wrenchingly, and whole-heartedly. But, he'd made a mistake, and she'd been unwilling to listen him when he tried to explain. She'd gone on the defense, attacking all the areas of his life with vicious words and expressions, and he'd become fed up and left her to brew in her anger alone. He hadn't known that when he left, she'd begin to pack her things. Since that night, they'd had one ill-fated conversation. She told him he'd ruined her forever, she'd never be able to trust another man after what he'd done.

The news of the abrupt end to their engagement had been well publicized, and the event planners of this ceremony had tried to play both sides of the coin. They'd been seated far apart, to please their nervous managers and publicists. But they were still in view of eachother, so they could sneak longing glances, and so the camera could subsequently catch them sending sad looks to one another.

When the show was over, some three hours later, the sky had gone dark and the clouds had begun to release heavy raindrops. Justin was swiftly ushered to his car, some staff member holding an umbrella over his head to protect his two-thousand dollar couture outfit from water damage. There he sat, in the seat by the door, watching the lights from passing buildings blur through the rain covered window. It seemed like his whole life had been passing him by like this; mostly blurs and a few moments of clarity. Unfortunately, that moment of clarity had come after an opportunity had presented itself. He'd had the chance to speak with her, to pull her into a corner and tell her everything he felt, but he'd been to afraid, to awe-stricken, to do anything about it. Her presence was a blur in his mind, overwhelming his senses to the point where he couldn't act on the signals his brain had been trying to send to his limbs. And now, the moment was gone. She was gone, back to her hotelroom. And only now, could he finally move his lips to form the words he wanted to say.

Blue eyes moved away from the window, focusing on the rest of the people in the limo with him. His mother was there, smiling and chatting with his bodyguard. His publicist, Anna, was on her cellphone, probably giving commentary to his lack of enthusiasm at the earlier ceremony. None of them knew, none of them could understand what he was going through. So he pulled a blue ink pen from his pocket, and reached towards the bar, grabbing one of the sqare napkins and laying it over his knee. Then he started to scribble, letter after letter, word after word, letting the sentences floating around his mind filtter out through his hand.

So please
Give me another chance
To write you another song
And take back those things I've done
Cause I'll give you my heart
If you would let me start all over
Again

Exhaled air fogged up the window, which stretched from the carpetted floor to the beams of the ceiling. The whole wall had been made of window panes, giving him an amazing view of the ocean, and the skyline across the way. Justin is barefoot in his all white hotelroom, lit by the lights reflecting off of the pool below, and the single dimmed lamp in the corner. His eyes moved from the twinkling lights of the buildings downtown, to the rooms directly in front of him. The hotel developers had decided to shape the building like a U, thus giving him the best view into the rooms of other patrons. Only a few had the lights on, at this late hour, and very few of those had opened the drapes. It was raining out, so there was no amazing view of the ocean tide.

But most importantly, if he looked far enough to the right, he could see into her room. Indeed, she was staying there, in the other celebrity suite. He hadn't known this before the awards show, only recently discovering and confirming it as he sat staring pitifully at the clouds above. She was pacing back and forth, and the way her hand soared through the air, indicated that she was singing. Probably doing her vocal warm ups for the night. Earlier his Mom had casually mentioned that she doing a surprise performance at a local club around 1am, debuting her new single. It was an idea she'd been discussing for months, even back when they were still dating. It was alittle after 11 now, she'd probably be leaving soon.

His hand reached up to touch the glass, leaving soft smudges behind. The distance between them was so small, just a few corridors away, yet it was so much deeper and wider than that. How do you convince someone that you love, and adore so much, that cheating on them was a mistake, and you'd do anything to take the pain away? He'd not only cheated on her, but with someone she knew and admired as well. Hollie and Mia had been friends for years before he'd ever met her. Mia had been a backup dancer on Hollie's very first tour, and had continued to travel with her after that. Mia had stayed in Hollie's home when she didn't have the money to pay her rent, and had been named maid-of-honor in their wedding plans. He'd never forget the expression in Hollie's eyes when she'd come home early and found them there. When she'd seen them wrapped up in eachother like recently reunited young lovers. He'd spend his whole life making it up to her if he could....

Turning away from the window, unable to take it anymore, he slipped his hands into his pockets, looking for the napkin he'd written on earlier. But it isn't there, and his movements become just a little frantic as he moved over to his suit jacket and began checking the pockets there. Finally he pulled out the napkin, sighing with relief. The idea of leaving something so personal in the back of a limo, or on the floor of an elevator, only to find it in a tabloid a few days later made him shudder. He took his napkin to the large desk in the corner, pulling out the hotel stationary and another pen. He began to transfer the words onto the paper, stopping occassionally to doodle in the corners of the page as his eyes mulled over the words from inside of his heart.

Just please
Give me another chance
To write you another song
And take back those things I've done
Cause I'll give you my heart
If you would let me start all over
Again

His feet had a mind of his own, and how he got here, he didn't even know. He'd started out, so he thought, going out for an innocent walk around the grounds to clear his mind. He'd changed out of his dress slacks, and pulled on jeans and a gray hoodie. He'd ignored the questions of his bodyguards when he stepped out of his room and started down the hall. But eventually, they stopped asking, and fell in line behind him, following his every turn. But somewhere, he'd made a wrong turn, and wound up infront of her door. He stood there for a moment, cursing his own self for bringing him here. What was he supposed to do? He wanted to turn around and leave, but there was a pull on his heart that made him sick to his stomach everytime he tried to turn his back.

His guards had stepped away from him, waiting a few doors down. They were trying to give him privacy, while at the same time preparing for the expected blow out. Finally, he raised his hand and knocked on the door three times, and then covered the peephole with his thumb. She always looked out it first, and she'd never open it if she knew it was him. Then he waited, eventually hearing soft foot steps on the other side of the door, then the lock turned and the door opened. When his eyes landed on her face, her bright expectant smile faded and her mouth hung slightly open.

"Hey."

"Hi."

There was an akward silence between them as he made designs in the carpet with his foot and she stared at him.

"Can I come in?"

Her brow furrowed.

"I don't think that would be a good id-."

Rolling his eyes, Justin pushed through the doorway, easily moving her smaller frame to the side. Though her expression appeared flabbergasted, she said nothing. Now inside, he allowed the door to click closed before he leaned back against it, his hand still holding the knob.

"We need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about."

His eyes lowered to the floor as he nodded.

"Yes, there is."

Hollie shook her head, turning her back to him and walking farther into the room, putting several foot's worth of distance between them. The look on his face is heartbreakingly familiar and it both hurts and scares her. She knows what it means, and what he's about to do.

"Hollie, just listen to me for three minutes, okay? Just three minutes, and then if you really want me to go, then I will. I'll turn around and leave without another word. Just three minutes. Please."

She doesn't say a word, but folds her arms infront of herself, hugging her body nervously. She watched him pull a slip of paper from his pocket, unfolding it gently. It is the copied words from his napkin. And he starts to recite them softly, to the melodic beat in his mind.

Please
Give me another chance
To write you another song
And take back those things I've done
Cause I'll give you my heart
If you would let me start all over
Again

She lifted her head once his words had stopped, her soft eyes glossy with freshly made tears. One of her fire engine red lips was pulled into her mouth, and she gnawed on it intently. How could he do this? How could he walk in here and sing her a painfully, beautifully, worded song? How could she let him, so easily, turn everything she built around her heart and mind upside down like this?

"You know I love you. Give me one more chance."

The End.

(Another Song) All Over Again by: Justin Timberlake