Emerald drove through the dark streets not sure of where she was going. She was in tears, a complete and total wreck. Everything that she had build just came tumbling down all around her. All of the hurt, the pain, it all flooded in the moment he knew. She'd never forget the way he looked at her once he knew. The guilty, the confusion, the pity. Fuck him. She didn't want or need his pity. He wasn't showing her pity when he was ignoring her.

She drove around for an hour, it finally donded on her that she had no where to go. Who could she run too? The idea made her cry even harder. She had no where to go. In all actuality, she wsa somewhat lost without Justin, she had been forawhile. Finally she remembered someone and drove as fast as possible through the dark streets. Pressing the code into JC's gate, she sped down the driveway, screeched to a halt in front of the house, leapt from the car, and ran up the steps to a JC who was watching her in confusion. The alarm had beeped when the gates opened, but he had no idea what she was doing there.

"Em?" he asked softly, "Em what's wrong? What's going on?"

He got an incoheirent sentence and more tears.

"Okay, it's okay. Come inside."

He led her back into the house and over to the sofa, where she settled against him and sobbed into his shoulder. He just sat rubbing her back soothingly and waiting for her to calm down. Once she did she sat forward and covered her face with her hands.

"Wanna tell me what's going on?" he tucked her hair behind her ear and ran a finger down her cheek.

She looked over at him, and then covered her face again.

"Justin."

JC rolled his eyes and sat back. He'd been expecting this conversation for awhile.

"What'd he do?"

"He's a dick."

JC snorted.

"And?"

Emerald sighed, "We had a fight."

"Can I ask what about?"

She looked at him, hesitant and fearful.

"He found out somethings I didn't want him to know."

JC sat up, completely intrigued.

"What?"

"Jace I-," she stopped herself, "A couple of weeks ago I asked for some seperation papers."

"Seperation?!"

"I just wanted to have them. I wasn't going to give them to him, I think."

"You think?"

"I don't know. Everything is so messed up. I mean tell me you haven't noticed things being different lately."

He wanted to lie and say he hadn't, but he couldn't.

"Yeah, but that's no reason to-."

"I mean we haven't been happy inawhile. Your supposed to sepereate when your not happy with someone, when someone is being a bastard."

"I'm sure Justin didn't mean to be so... different with you. He's probably just got alot going on right now."

"And I don't?"

"Well... I-."

"Whatever, I'm out of here," Emerald stood and headed down the hall, "I thought you'd be able to help me but obviously-."

"Okay okay okay," JC came up behind her and grabbed her arm, "I'm sorry."

Emerald stood there staring at him for a moment before dropping her head onto his shoulder. JC's arms curled around her in a hug and she spoke into his neck.

"What am I supposed to do Jace? I don't even know where I belong anymore. You should have seen him, he was so mad. He was so mad and I was so mad. I hate him."

JC snorted again and shook his head.

"You don't hate him. You love him and you know it."

"I used to think so. I thought so for a long time. Now I'm not so sure."

JC looked down at her hurt and innocent face and instantly felt compassion, and a twinge of anger.

"Don't go making rash decisions doll."

Emerald looked at him oddly.

"What?"

"You just called me doll," she smirked.

"I got you to smile," he pocked the corners of her mouth.

She smirked again and grabbed him hands to pull them away from her face. Then her mind ran away as she looked up at him, and she didn't let go.

"Thanks," she said, "I needed that. You know your the only one who's ever nice to me anymore."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is. Everyone comes over to see Neveah, they don't care about me."

"Everyone loves you, you just have to open your eyes alittle wider to see it," he whispered.

Emerald was frozen in time. It seemed like it'd been forever since anyone looked at her the way he was looking at her now. Why he was she didn't know, but she did know two things: that she'd kill to have Justin look at her that way, and she was giving JC the same look back. Yes she was standing there in his arms staring at him, but something about it didn't seem wrong. Something about it felt good.

Her hands had a mind of their own as they slide over his shoulders to his neck. His eyes piered into hers with uncertainty. She'd never noticed his eyes before, really noticed them, or his skin, and his lips. He had nice lips, they looked pink and soft and utterly kissable.

"Maybe," she said finally.

Her fingertips pulled him closer as she stood alittle taller. Finally their lips touched, only for a second. She didn't want to pull him into anything he didn't want, but she prayed to God he did. When she pulled away she immediatly felt arms wrapped around her torso to pull her back, then lips attacking hers.

JC did it before he could help himself. His senses were overwhelmed, his brain on overload. For years he'd wanted this moment, and it was happening. She was there with him, holding him, kissing him. Finally he was getting the one thing he'd been asking for. But he knew it was wrong. It felt wrong. So he did the hardest thing he'd ever have to do in his life. He pulled away.

"No. No," he said.

"Why?" she instantly annoyed.

"Justin."

She rolled her eyes.

"Why does everything in my life revolve around Justin?"

"Because Justin is your life, and your his."

She glared at him, before her look faded into one of guilt and resentment. It broke his heart. She regretted kissing him, like he knew she would. Emerald slowly turned to walk to the door again, but was stopped once again.

"Oh no, it's to late for you to be out driving. Why don't you crash in the guestroom tonight?"

"I don't want-."

"I don't care."

His expression told her he wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Alright," she moved to step past him, but stopped and wrapped her arms around him again.

"Thanks. Again."

JC nodded as she walked away, and waited till she was up the stairs before letting out the breath he didn't know he had been holding. He felt like crying and punching something at the same time. He never wanted to see that look on her face. He never wanted to see her hurt, angry, lonely... regrettful. He never should have let her kiss him, he never should have kissed her back. He smacked himself on the head, though he felt he deserved a much worse punishment.

JC picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number. It rang twice before someone picked up and he didn't even give them a chance to speak.

"Do you know where your wife is?"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Justin sat on the edge of the bed where he could get a clear view out the window and down to the driveway. He'd been waiting there for Emerald to return, but the longer he waited, the more he thought wasn't going to.

"Any minute now," he told himself, "Any minute now."

The phone rang and he looked around frantically. Maybe it was her calling to say she was on her way back. Maybe it was the police calling to say they found her car in a ditch. Emerald became a bad driver when she was upset and she was enraged when she stormed out the door.

"Hel-?"

"Do you know where your wife is?"

Justin sat back down on the bed.

"I'm guessing at your house."

"Yes. What the hell is the matter with you J?"

"Whoa. Why are you jumping down my back?"

"Because Emerald just spent an hour crying on my shoulder."

"Man, you don't even know the half of it."

"Your being a dick to her and she ordered seperation papers," JC stated.

"That's half of it."

"What's the other half?"

"You don't need to get involved."

"I'd say I'm already involved. Wouldn't you?"

Justin groaned. He wanted to tell him just so have to someone to talk to about it. Sorting things out himself was getting him nowhere. But then, wasn't JC already too involved in his private life? And he didn't like the fact that she went running to JC instead of telling him what was going on with her.

"You can't tell the guys. Em will already try to bust my lip when she finds out I told you."

"Ofcourse."

"She's not in the room is she?"

"No, she's upstairs asleep."

Justins' eyes narrowed before he pushed the thoughts out of his mind.

"I--I think Em has a problem."

"Problem? What kind of problem?"

"Like a drug problem."

"Are you crazy? Emerald would never do-."

"Not illegal drug. Prescription drugs."

"I think you've lost it J."

"I saw her Jace. She had two bottles and I found a third one in her drawer."

Normally JC would have scolded him for going through her things, but this time he just sat down.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Well where did she get them?"

"They're all from different doctors."

"Why is she taking them?"

"I don't know."

"Does her doctor know?"

"I don't know."

"How long has she been taking them? Do they cause alot of damage?"

"I said I don't know."

"You don't know anything."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," now was not the time to get him riled up.

"No. What the hell does that mean?"

"Do you realize you don't know a whole lot about your wife these days?"

"I know plenty about her."

All he got was silence. It was in that instant he realized something was terribly wrong on his end. He didn't know that she was taking pills, he didn't notice that she was losing weight and he didn't know where she went all day. He'd dropped the ball.

"Shit," he sighed leaning back onto the bed.

"So what are you going to do?"

"First thing tomorrow I'm going to see Dr. Masters, find out how this whole thing started."

"What do you mean I can't go in?"

"I mean he has an appointment right now. You can't just walk in and expect us to be able to accomidate you."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yes."

Justin grunted and walked around her desk, towards the door with 'Dr. Masters' printed on it. He'd been there since 9 am that morning and he was tired of waiting. He wanted answers and he wanted them now. Justin stormed over to the room despite the protest of the small woman behind him and flung open the door.

"Dr. Masters I tried to stop him," she said immediately.

The doctor looked from her to him and back again.

"It's alright Evelyn," he waved her off.

The woman huffed before leaving and closing the door behind herself.

"Mr.Timberlake, to what do I owe this visit?"

Justin leaned over and placed one of the bottles on his desk.

"You can tell me when you gave her that for starts," he took a seat.

Dr. Masters picked up the bottle and leaned back in his chair.

"Emerald came to me about... oh... 3 months ago and told me she was feeling sluggish depressed. I diagnosed her as having a case of post pardom depression and prescribed her these."

"What about these?" he put another bottle on the desk.

"Well no I-."

"And these?" he put out a thrid bottle.

"No."

"Don't you see? You got my wife addicted to some crap pill for some post pardom whatever."

"Mr. Timberlake, I didn't get Emerald addicted to anything, nor is she addicted to anything. I didn't write these prescriptions, but I knew about them."

"What?"

"All of these doctors called me before giving her the prescription."

"What were you, waiting for her to overdose?"

"Mr. Timberlake, the first bottle was anti-depressents, the other two, imitations."

"Huh?"

"Look-a-likes. Wannabe's. Water pills. They're harmless, they look exactly liked these, except there's no medication in them whatsoever."

Justin sighed in relief and ran his hands over his head.

"But you knew she was out there doing this and you didn't say anything?"

"I knew one of you would come to your sense sooner or later."

"What if they hadn't of called you. She could have killed herself."

"Yes she could have," Dr. Masters sat forward, "So let's talk about why she was taking these pills."

"She was taking them because you said she depressed."

"And she was. But the question is, why? The thing that gets me is, she was depressed and she did need the anti-depressants. But once they were gone and she started getting the other pills, she still said she was feeling better. That means it wasn't so much physical as it was mental."

"Mental?"

"Emotional."

Justin inwardly rolled his eyes.

"She needs something, something from you."

"Me?" Justin sat up.

"Emerald and I also talked in depth about you, Isaiah, the new baby. How are things going with that?"

"Fine. What exactly did she tell you about us?"

"You know I can't tell you that. But you and I both know she isn't happy, and neither are you."

"I'm prefectly happy."

"No you aren't, otherwise you wouldn't have come barging into my office the way you did. So you've figured out what she's been doing, you know what's really wrong with her you just won't admit it," Justin started to protest but Dr. Master gave him a look and he closed his mouth, "Now you need to figure out what you can do to fix it."

JC sat at the counter in the kitchen nursing a cup of coffee. He hadn't gotten much sleep that night, he'd been up thinking about all the things swirling around Emerald. Her new baby that she never saw, her husband who's left her in all ways but physically, and now she'd cheated on him with his bestfriend. That was eating away at him the most. He was guilty of betrayal and he couldn't have been more disappointed in himself. Now he had a decision: To tell Justin, or not to tell Justin?

Emerald came barreling down the stairs looking alot better than the night before, she even wore something similar to a grin on her face. A feature he hadn't seen on her in months.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey," he looked up at her and tried to hide it as best he could.

But he'd never been great at keeping things from her. She knew instantly, by the look on his face, the postition of his body, the pity lacing his eyes. He knew.

"He told you didn't he?"

JC nodded, "You wanna come have a cup of coffee with me?"

She inhaled and turned towards the hall.

"No thanks, maybe next time. Thanks for letting me stay but I think I'm going to go."

"No you don't," he moved infront of her and grabbed her shoulders, "You and I have alot to talk about," he spun her around and headed back towards the kitchen, a relunctant Emerald following.