LAURI

After that little 'analysis,' I didn't want to stay down there for too long.  So, after talking to the guys for a while, I faked sleepiness and went back to my room.  This was turning out worse than I thought.  I mean, let's face it, I knew I didn't have confidence, but I thought I hid it pretty well, damn it! And to have five COMPLETE strangers unravel that in an hour?  It was rather unnerving.

Suddenly, I heard a knock at my door, and I dove under the covers, not wanting to deal.
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JUSTIN

There was something fishy about her going to sleep that fast.  I didn't buy her "I'm tired" bit.  Was she offended by the assesment?  I didn't know, but I wanted to find out. As I knocked on her door, I heard a rustle of sheets, and that's when I knew she'd been faking. 

"Lauri?  You asleep?" I whispered.

I got no response, except for more rustling. 

"Lauri?"

She poked her head out from the sheets.  "What?" she asked in a groggy tone.  Shit! I was wrong!

"Oh! Sorry.....I thought......."

"That I faked it?"

"How'd you....?"

"Most people say that.  Now, what?"

"I'm sorry.....I......" I stuttered.

She looked at me with the groggiest eyes ever, and I felt terrible.  I hated when people woke me, and here I was....But that fishy feeling wasn't going away.

"Justin, is there a particular reason why you're in my room right now? To analyze me a bit more?" she asked, her voice laced with bitterness that hadn't been there a few moments ago. 

"Just....wanted to check on you....I'm......well, I'll just leave you be.  See you in the morning. Goodnight."
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LAURI

Suddenly, I felt terrible.  Stop being so damn stupid! I thought to myself.  I wanted to run out and apologize but something held me back.  Perhaps it was the fear of what he'd say, or having to face his beautiful blue eyes, brimming with the hurt I'd heard in his voice not a moment earlier.  The wretchedness I felt made me cry, to the point where I shoved my face into the pillow so that they wouldn't hear me, eventually falling asleep.  But it most definitely wasn't a restful one.  I tossed and turned and finally couldn't take it anymore.  I got up, lit a candle, and proceeded to make myself a cup of chamomille tea.
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LANCE

I thought I heard something downstairs, so I proceeded as quietly as possible down the stairs and followed the source of the tiny noises.  Quick as a mouse, I flipped the lights, and almost burst out laughing as I saw Lauri turn around as fast as lightning, her brown eyes forming the famed 'deer in headlights' look.

"Jesus Christo!" she breathed out.  "You scared the shit out of me!"

I laughed.  "I'm sorry.  What are you doing?  In the dark, no less."

"Couldn't sleep.  Making tea always helps me."

"In the dark?"

"I didn't want to wake you."

She looked downcast when she said this.  Almost as if she wanted to disappear into a hole in the ground.

"Can you make me a cup of tea?" I asked her.

"Sure," she answered.

As soon as she finished brewing, we sat down at the table, surrounded by thick silence.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, as she looked yet again into the depths of her tea mug.

"Nothing," she said quietly.

"That's the fifth time you've looked into your mug, kinda hoping that it can just swallow you whole.  Now, I'm not a psychologist like Chris, but I can tell something's up, so spill."

"I don't wanna talk about it."

The look in her eyes echoed one that I had seen on Justin a few hours before.  None of us knew what happened.  After the analysis, he'd gone to his room, turned on the stereo, and when he came back, he had a sour look on his face.  When we tried to talk to him, he just brushed us off, preferring to play on the Playstation, where he was being particularly aggressive.

Suddenly it all clicked. "It's about the analysis, right?"

Lauri got real tense.  "What makes you say that?"

"Well, you have the same look on your face that Justin did a few hours ago, and the same look that  you had on your face when we mentioned your low self confidence."

I noticed that when Justin's name was mentioned,  Lauri bristled and a crestfallen expression took over her face, one of pure pain.

"Don't remind me," she mumbled.  She looked into the swirls of her tea.

"What happened?"

She looked up at me and arched her eyebrow.  "You really don't give up easily, do you, Lance?"

"Only when I think it's important."

She then spilled her whole story to me, and finished off with, "Damnit, Lance, I'm not like this.  I'm sweet and caring, tough and upfront.  But rude?  Especially when he was just trying to help?"  Silent tears welled up in her eyes and she choked them back.  "I just don't know what happened."

"Hey now.....look, it's understandable.  You have your guard up, and we break a part of it.  You feel vulnerable, and you go somewhere to try and put it back up, and Justin comes and kinda stops that, making you even more vulnerable, and you bite him off, just to lose that feeling a bit."

"And it backfired," she mumbles.

"Don't worry, Lauri.  Just talk to him,  or if you can't," I added, noticing her pained expression, "Just give him a day or two.  It's going to be water under the bridge."

"But--"

"Just trust me.  It'll be okay."

Shortly after that, she went up to bed, but not before giving me a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.
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JC

After walking into the kitchen, having been woken up by the smell of delicious food and laughter coming from the dining room, I found Lauri sitting in an office chair at full height making eggs and toast, while the guys (all except Justin, who was still in bed) sat at the table.

"Morning, JC," she said, not looking up from her pan, as she tossed in another two eggs to the group batch she was making.

"Morning," I answered. "Do you need any help?"

She and the others laughed out loud, and she giggled even more so when she saw my expression.  "No, baby, just go sit down.  Coffee's on the pot, just relax."

A few minutes later, she hurls herself to the bowl cupboard and pulls out a big bowl, dumping the contents of the pan into the bowl and replaces the bowl that had been there before, and finally settles down next to us, a steaming cup of coffee in her hand.

"Wow, hon.......the food's amazing.  Where'd you learn to cook like this?" I ask her.

"I.....I, um, used to watch my dad.  Just played by ear."

"Well, you're a natural."

"Thanks.  My dad and I are....were....almost exactly alike."

I notice a tiny glimmer of pride in her eyes when she says this.  They must've been really close.  However, before I could say anything, Justin walked in, looking unusually well groomed for this timee of the morning.

A general chorus of "Morning," echoed out to Justin, which he acknowledged glancing at each of us. 

There was something about he kept his eyes on her that didn't quite fit right.  Or the way that she looked away.  But what cemented it was the reassuring look Lance shot her after that, in addition to grabbing her hand.  I looked quizzically  at Joey and Chris, but they had the same look on their faces.

The awkwardness that engulfed us was even more unbearable.  Justin and Lauri had barely spoken two words to each other, Lance wasn't saying anything.  And the rest of us were stuck.

"Well," I said, finally breaking the silence.  "I was reading over the file, and this week is strictly for relationship building."

Lauri arched her perfect eyebrow at me.  "What?"

"You're supposed to start building 'indidual relationships with your counselors to better cement the group connection'," I said, reading out of my hand book.  "It says you're supposed to spend an entire day with one of us, every day."

"How do you wanna start this?" asked Justin, looking first at me, and then fixing his gaze upon Lauri, who pretended not to notice. 

"It's up to Lauri," I answered, questioning him with my eyes.

"Actually, I gotta run up and take care of something, so y'all can figure that, okay?"

Before I could answer, she rose and went to locate her electric chair.  As soon as she was out of earshot, I let loose.  "Would anyone care to tell me what the hell just happened?  What was all that?" I knew Chris and Joey didn't know anything, but I knew Lance and Justin did.  Both of them were being infuriatingly obstinate.

"Guys, if something happened, I need to know.  We all do.  After all, we have to help Laura, not make her problems worse.  Now, what happened?"

Justin stares at Lance, and Lance just throws his hands up in frustration.  "It's not my beef to pack.  You and her have the issue, and it's up to y'all."

"Someone just hurry up and tell us what's going on!" exclaimed Joey.

Finally, Justin spoke.  "We both got irked at each other for different reasons relating to the same matter."

Before I could say anything though, Lauri wheeled in.

"Who am I with?" she asked, setting her purse on the table.

"Gorgeous, you're mine today!" said Joey, taking control of the situation.

"Hey, I wanted her!" said Chris.

"Let's let her decide," said JC.

"GAH! Ok, fine! Eenie, meany, miney, moe, grab a bull by the toe, if he hollers let it go, common sense says to pick this one!" It landed on Joey.

Chris tried his best to look crestfallen,  "Awww," he whined.

"Ay, pobrecito!" she crooned, chuckling.  She wheeled over and gave him a peck on the cheek.  "I'll go with you tomorrow, promise."

"Enough, enough promises!!! Let's go!" said Joey, heading out the door with her at his heels.