JC slammed his hand against the steering wheel and cursed under his breath. Overall, it had been a shit morning. As he pulled to the side of the road, the car slipped on the fresh snow and he scrambled to turn the wheel away from the mailbox he quickly approached. He took a deep breath as the passenger window missed the mailbox by inches.
 
For the life of him, he couldn't possibly imagine why anyone would want to live in this climate.
 
A week earlier, he received a call from the director of a movie he filmed eight months ago. The film should have been released already, but the studio kept insisting on changes. So here he was, back in Minneapolis to do a few voiceovers for the movie he just wanted to forget about. It wasn't good – he was smart enough to know that – but it was a favor for a friend that just wouldn't die.
 
To top it off, once his record company caught wind that he'd be in Minneapolis for a few days, they booked him as a guest on a morning radio show to discuss his upcoming record. He truly didn't mind doing the interview. He knew the DJ at KDWB from his NSYNC days and was happy to see him again, but he hated to put on an act and pretend to be excited for the release of an album that, much like the movie, kept getting pushed back. Acting hopeful and optimistic about the album's release was more difficult than the few scenes he shot for the movie. He should win a fucking Oscar for the acting he'd been doing in his own life.
 
But at the end of the day he truly cared about his album and the chance for others to hear what he'd poured himself into completely for the past two years. He agreed to stop at the station and give an interview before he headed to the recording studio to finish up the voiceovers for the movie.
 
The interview went smoothly, and thankfully they didn't ask too many questions about the album. They mostly just reminisced about the old days and asked questions about the movie. Now he was on his way to a recording studio in Chanhassen, Minn. His directions didn't really make sense and there were already three inches of snow on the ground. He didn't know much about snow, but the sky didn't look promising. It wasn't going to stop snowing anytime soon.
 
He took another deep breath and sighed as he eyed the nearby mailbox. He glanced up an noticed a tavern on the corner with its neon open sign already glowing. He'd have to stop in there and get directions. He didn't have time to waste driving around when it was already snowing so hard.
 
He braced himself as he stepped outside, his shoes already buried in the depth of snow. "Ugh, this sucks!" he growled.
 
The bells on the door jingled as he entered the bar and he heard a female voice shout from the back, "Welcome to Janssen's! I'll be right with you!" 
 
JC looked around as he took a seat on the barstool nearest the door. It seemed as if the owner couldn't decide what kind of bar this was supposed to be. Half was decorated with old newspaper clippings and family photos. There was even a large trophy case filled with hockey trophies. The other half looked like a modern piano lounge. The walls were painted a deep red, with local art for sale on the walls. Large black sofas created a seating area facing a wall-mounted television about the fireplace. Opposite the bar was a low stage with a beautiful piano. It was a strange mix, but JC liked it. It felt oddly cozy. If he lived in Minneapolis, he could picture himself a regular.
 
"I'm sorry sir, I was just unpacking a delivery. What can I do for you?" asked dark-haired woman, as she looked down while rounding the corner and drying her hands with an old towel.
 
JC smiled at the twenty-something bartender, surprised to see a young woman working here at such an early hour. For some reason he expected an old man. Maybe that was an unfair assumption.
 
"I, um, I'm lost. How in the heck does one get to Chanhassen from here?"
 
She looked up at him with a wide smile. "Good question. I've lived here my whole live and have never been able to remember. Sit still. I'll go print you some directions. Do you have the address?"
 
JC handed her a business card with all of the information.
 
"This snow is crazy. Is it going to stop soon? I almost hit your mailbox. I have no idea how to drive in this shit."
 
"You and half the state." She chuckled. "Are you from out of town?"
 
"Yeah, L.A., actually. I mean, don't get me wrong – the snow is pretty. But it certainly doesn't make my travels any easier. Especially when I don't even know where I'm going. Besides, its April. Why the hell is it snowing?"
 
"Its only April 1. That's still winter around these parts. Sometimes it snows more in spring than it does in winter." She winked.   "I'll be right back with your directions."
 
She turned and headed toward the back room. Before she turned the corner, JC saw her give him a quick once over.
 
JC wandered over to the window after the bartender left him alone. He rested his forehead on the chilly glass and blew a puff of air on the window. It steamed immediately and he drew a sloppy smiley face with his finger. The snow continued to fall fast and hard. He was only inside about five minutes and there already seemed to be a half an inch of snow covering the windshield of his rental car. 
 
He caught the movement of the bartender out of the corner of his eye. She was carrying a few papers and smiled at him when they made eye contact.
 
"So," she began, "its not everyday I get celebrities in my bar. The last was Emilio Estevez when he was filming the Mighty Ducks, and that was a good 15 years ago." She said while pointing to a framed photo on the wall. JC followed her motion. Sure enough – there was Emilio Estevez posing with a portly middle-aged man and a teenaged girl.
 
JC sighed. "I thought I could go unnoticed today," he said quietly, while nervously scratching behind his ear.
 
"Don't worry JC. I won't tell. I won't even make you pose for a picture to put on the wall 'o celebrity. It will be our little secret." She paused. "I wouldn't even have noticed if I wouldn't have been reading this earlier." She reached behind the bar and pulled out an US Weekly. She quickly paged through a magazine until she found a photo of him and Justin Timberlake taking shots.
 
"This is from my birthday. This is almost a year old!" He exclaimed while flipping to the cover of the magazine.
 
"Well my aunt gives me all of her old magazines. I'm a little behind on my gossip."
 
"A little?"
 
She chuckled. "I guess it's only fair that since I know your name, you know mine. Hannah Janssen," she said while holding out her hand. "Welcome to my bar."
 
JC reached for her hand and displayed an expression of confusion. "This is your bar? Wow, you're really young! I mean, to own your own bar and everything."
 
"Well, first of all, thanks for the compliment but I'm not much younger than you. You're what," she grabbed the magazine. "Thirty?"
 
"Well almost 31 now."
 
"I'll be 30 in June. So, I'm really not too young to own my own bar. It's a family pub, really. My dad owned it. He passed away just about a year ago and left it to me and my brother."
 
 "Oh, Hannah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"
 
"Don't worry about it JC. Anyway, technically I own it with my brother – Jens - but he's stationed in Iraq so, I've been holding down the fort myself."
 
"Jesus Christ. God, I'm sorry. I mean – I'm sorry. I'm not really sure how to react when someone tells you their father just died and their brother is in the war."
 
Hannah gave him a reassuring smile and touched her hand to his elbow. "Seriously, don't worry about it. I'm fine, it's fine. It's life you know, I'm used to it."
 
Hannah coughed and headed behind the bar. "So, what time do you need to be in Chanhassen? It takes about 30 minutes without the snow. But look at it out there. You'll have to drive 15 miles per hour."
 
"Um, not until 10:30. I think. I've got time."
 
"Well here are the directions. I rewrote the first two. They didn't make much sense. Sometimes Mapquest is goofy, you know."
 
"Thank you so much. I really appreciate it."
 
"No problem. It's pretty dead this morning so I'm glad to have a customer, regardless of their purpose – drinking, directions, its all the same to me." She smiled. JC noticed she smiled a lot.
 
"Is it ever busy this time of day? It is 9:00 a.m."
 
"You'd be surprised how many third shifters stroll in at eig—" She was cut off by the sound of JC's phone ringing.
 
"I'm sorry, I've got to answer this." Hannah nodded and walked away to give JC some privacy.
 
JC spoke quietly for a few minutes before shoving his phone back in his pocket.
 
"Well, is it too early for a beer? My thing in Chanhassen is rescheduled for tomorrow because of the snow."
 
"You're in Minnesota, JC. You'll learn quickly that it's never too early for a beer." 
 
"Good. Its either have a beer or drive back to my hotel downtown, and that doesn't sound like something I want to do right now," he said, while throwing his head toward the window. He got up from the barstool and hung his coat on the coat rack by the door. "I hope you don't mind. Me sticking around that is. Feel free to kick me out whenever."
 
"Please JC. I couldn't do that to the good citizens of Minneapolis. Send an inexperienced winter driver from L.A. on the roads in the middle of a snow storm?" She giggled. "You're welcome to say here to sit out the storm. Just know that it might be awhile. Its supposed to snow all day. It may be late tonight or even tomorrow morning before the roads are plowed and safe to drive on."
 
JC had a growing feeling that he wouldn't mind being snowed in.

------------------------------------

The TV above the bar played quietly as JC drank his beer. Hannah sat behind the bar updating the accounting books. They both enjoyed sitting in the silence for a few minutes. When Hannah heard the familiar sound of an empty mug hitting the bar, she looked up.
 
"Can I interest you in another?"
 
"Oh, I don't know, it is only – what, 10 a.m.?" JC joked, while looking at his watch. "I think I'll sit this one out."
 
"Water, Coke, coffee, tea?"
 
"Seriously, Hannah, I'm not even a real customer. I'm just seeking shelter for a few hours. I don't need anything."
 
"Not a real customer? Everyone that passes through that door is a real customer, whether they're looking to get wasted, get directions, get to a toilet, or in your case, wait out a storm."
 
"I bet you get great business here with customer service like that."
 
"We do all right." She grinned.
 
JC sighed dramatically. "Well I guess you talked me into it. I'll have some hot tea if it's not too much hassle. I'm starting to get a sore throat."
 
"Well in that case, I'll add some honey. We need to keep those vocal chords in tip-top shape."

Hannah worked on his drink while JC got up and headed toward the trophy case. He carefully studied the dozens of awards.

“These are mostly all yours. That’s pretty impressive.”

“From pee-wee to the Olympics!” She boasted.

“You were on the U.S. Women’s Hockey team?”

She walked over to him and handed him the warm, soothing drink.

“Almost.” She pointed to the trophy in the center. “I was a finalist. I would have made it, too, but I broke my knee during practice. It didn’t heal on time. That was the end of my hockey career.”

“Wow, that’s a horrible story. You’re full of depressing stories.”

She reached out a hand and set it on his shoulder. She leaned close and whispered in his ear. “Can I tell you a secret? I’m glad it happened. I don’t miss it, and I’m much happier without it.”

“Really? But how? I mean you had a chance to go to the Olympics. Who doesn’t dream about winning a gold medal?”

“Well, I have to admit that part sucked.” She let out a hearty laugh. “But really it was more my father’s dream than mine. One of those, you know. Anyway, after I got hurt I took up the piano. It’s a much safer way to take out my aggressions, I think.” She paused. “And just so you know. Those trophies aren’t all mine. Some belong to my dad and my brother Jens. The sport runs in the family.”

JC turned to look at the piano on a tiny stage across from the bar. “So that piano is your’s then?”

“Yeah, I bought it as a treat to myself when I was laid up for a few months. I started taking lessons at 25! Took me awhile to catch on. But I’m pretty good now, not to brag or anything. I play here at night sometimes, if I can’t book anyone else.”

“Really, what kind of stuff do you play?”

“Some classical stuff, covers, and if you’re really lucky you’ll catch a Hannah original.” She looked at JC and smiled for a few seconds and the direct eye contact made him uncomfortable. “I played “Bye, Bye, Bye” once.”

He groaned.

“What?” She asked innocently. “It was very well received. Kind of sounds like crap on a piano though.”

“Let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about these Hannah originals. Just music, or do you write lyrics?”

“I’ve written a few songs, complete with lyrics. I only play them on dead nights. I don’t like singing in front of people. I could play for hours, but singing…it makes me nervous. I get so proud of myself when I actually do it.”

JC took a long swig of his tea. “I want you to play something for me,” he said quietly.

She looked at him with surprise. She thought he was kidding, but he looked nothing but sincere.

“Oh, um, ahh,” she was completely caught off guard. “I don’t know that I could. I’d be too nervous. I’m not that good anyway…” she trailed off.

“You just said you were pretty good. Please?”

“We’ll see.” She said, looking uncomfortable and quickly changing the subject. “Look, I have some more stuff to take care of in the back room. Will you be OK out here for an hour or so? You can shoot some pool, relax on the couches – whatever you want.”

“Absolutely. Don’t let me ruin your day.”

“You couldn’t.” She smiled, and he could tell she was comfortable once again. “Help yourself to drinks, and please come get me if you need anything.”

Hannah headed to the back room, and JC set down his tea and collapsed on a couch. He couldn’t think of anywhere in the world he would rather be than stranded in Janssen’s bar in the midst of a Minnesota snowstorm.

------------------------------------

When JC awoke, he realized that Hannah had covered him with a blanket. She was sleeping soundly on the sofa to his left. “Ellen” hummed softly on the television hanging above the dwindling fire. JC was pretty sure there wasn’t a fire burning before he fell asleep. He sat up slowly and looked at his watch. 2:30. “Holy shit,” he mumbled. He’d been out for a good three hours.

He walked over to the front window and gasped in surprise. He’d never seen anything like it before. Snow drifted against the windows at least thigh-high, and in some areas the snow was as high as his chest. Flakes continued to fall from the sky, but they fell horizontally, as gusts of bitter wind blew a mixture of new snow and fallen snow around in a tizzy. The visibility was so bad he couldn’t even see his car parked less than fifteen feet away.

“Well its official.”

He heard a groggy voice behind him.

“This bar is closed. Clearly nobody else will be coming in here today.”

JC looked alarmed.

Hannah chuckled. “Don’t look so scared. I’m not kicking you out. I live upstairs. I guess we’re having a sleepover. And before you argue, you have no choice in the matter. You are not going out in that. They’d probably charge me with murder if you did.”

“Hannah I’m really sorry. I should have just left this morning  before…”

“Nonsense,” she interrupted. “Besides, then I wouldn’t have had a napping buddy.”

“Yeah, about that. You really shouldn’t fall asleep with a stranger in your bar. I could have robbed you.”

She sighed. “JC, please. You are not a stranger.” She glanced at the clock. “I’ve known you what, just shy of six hours? That’s longer than I know most dates.” She grinned and gave him a quick wink. He couldn’t help but burst out with a giggle. “Seriously though, how many one night stands have spent the night at your house?”

He looked guilty, and hesitant to answer.

“See, that’s what I mean. All of those hussies could have stolen something. In fact, I’m sure they did.” Her jovial tone vanished. “Besides, I can just tell that you’re a decent human being,” she said softly.

“Well as long as you don’t mind me staying.”

“Of course not. Here’s what’s going to happen. You are going to stack the chairs on the tables and bar, I am going to run a broom over the floors. Then we’ll go upstairs, and I’ll make a frozen pizza. I’m starving. After that, I’ll kick your butt in Wii and we’ll watch movies or something.”

It sure sounded like a good night to him.

“Before we go upstairs you’re going to do something for me,” he teased gently.

“I think I’m doing enough for you. Don’t you think?”

“No, one more thing. I want you to play a song for me.” Before she could protest, he continued. “You don’t have to sing. I just want you to hear you play.”

“I can’t play in front of a celebrity, are you kidding?”

“Um, you can talk with ease around me, nap on the couch next to me and invite me to spend the night, but you can’t play the piano for me?”

She stared at him, defeated. “All good points.”

“Besides, I don’t want you thinking of me as a celebrity. Just pretend I’m Josh, the guy down the street – a customer like any other.”

She looked confused. “Josh?”

“That’s what the J stands for.”

“Oh, you want me to call you Josh?”

“No, I just meant,” he sighed. “I just meant that you should think of me as any other person that would walk in that door.”

“I do. But when it comes to playing, I mean. You’re a real musician. You’ll hear every mistake I make.”

JC couldn’t help but feel a pang of joy when she referred to him as a real musician. That didn’t happen too often. “I won’t. I won’t judge you, I promise. I know it’s just a hobby for you. And I just like to hear other people play. I’ll play something for you too, if you want.”

Finally he seemed to get through to her. “I do want. OK, let’s get this place cleaned up and then I’ll submit you to the torture. But you have to play for me, too. And sing something. That’s how you can repay me for my kindness.” Once again, she grinned at him. She really needed to stop doing that. “Deal?”

JC smiled back. “Deal.”

It only took 20 minutes to finish cleaning since there hadn’t been anyone in the bar except the Budweiser delivery man and JC.

As Hannah locked the front door and switched off the neon light, JC took a seat at the piano and played a few notes. Hannah stuffed the keys in her pocket and headed in his direction.

“I can’t explain why I’m so nervous. I just am, so cut me some slack.”

“Do you want me to go first?”

“No, then I’ll be way too intimidated. Just go sit on the couch OK? And pretend like you’re not paying attention.” JC nodded and walked toward the couch. “And, you have to let me take a picture of you at the piano for the wall ‘o celebrity. You’re going right next to Emilio. It’s the only way.”

“Agreed.”

Hannah took a deep breath as she sat at the keys. She closed her eyes. It took her a few seconds before she began, but once she started, JC couldn’t believe his ears. This girl was amazing. He watched her carefully, and he noticed that she never opened her eyes once. He knew the feeling. He was fairly certain that it wasn’t nerves keeping her from looking at him, but rather she was just being swept up in the music and the feeling she got playing the piano. When she stopped, she looked up at him shyly.

“That was fucking fantastic! What song was that? It was beautiful!” He exclaimed.

“It doesn’t really have a name. I’ve been working on it for awhile. There are still some things I want to change though.”

“You wrote that?” He was shocked. He was never able to write anything that beautiful.

Hannah sensed his genuine disbelief and smiled at him. She felt so proud that she had impressed him.

“You’ve got me into it now. Do you want to hear another song?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’m feeling brave. I’m going to sing something for you. But I really don’t have much of a voice, so I’m just warning you.”

“I’m warned.”

“OK, so I wrote this song about this really cute guy that was in here one night.” She adjusted her position and started to play. This song was already more upbeat than the last, JC though. Then he heard a sweet, if somewhat weak, voice.

(Talk to Me - Written by Keri Noble)

She stopped, and JC got up immediately and rushed to the piano. “That was amazing. You’re fucking amazing!”

“But I told you my voice isn’t…”

“You hit the notes. But I’m not talking about your voice. The lyrics, the music...It was just so great. So conversational. It was perfect. That song is a hit.”

Hannah blushed. “Well thank you JC. That is very kind of you.”

He wanted to gush further, but could tell she just wanted him to shut up. Just then his stomach let out a huge growl and Hannah cracked up.

“OK, mister. You’re getting out of it for now. It’s 3:30 already. Let’s go have lunch.”

He wandered around Hannah's tiny apartment as she chopped ingredients for a side salad. He couldn't imagine living in such a small space. The kitchen was actually a decent size, but it also served as a dining room which really made it feel cluttered. There was hardly any counter space. He strolled into her living room and he was pretty sure it was smaller than his closet. There was enough room for an old futon, recliner and a TV stand, and that was about it. Off of the living room was a tiny little room that actually may have been a closet at one time, but Hannah made it into to a little office. There was a desk with her laptop, a few books, and her degrees hanging on the wall.
 
"Finding anything interesting?"
 
JC looked alarmed for a moment, but quickly realized Hannah was just teasing him. There was her warm smile, again. Did she know the effect that was having on him?
 
"Just admiring your education. You have your MBA?"
 
"I do. Got my undergrad in Accounting, took two years off to play hockey, then went back for my MBA. I have a business to run, you know." She paused. "You look surprised or something."
 
"I just don't meet a lot of well-educated women, I guess. Most of the women I meet are models or actresses - and not the kind that went to college to study the art of acting. Just girls relying on their pretty face. You're a breath of fresh air."
 
"Well, thanks. I think. Our late lunch slash extremely early dinner is ready. Again, I'm sorry its not much. I don't do much cooking so all I really had was a frozen pizza and salad."
 
"You chopped vegetables. That's more cooking than I ever do." JC said while emphasizing cooking with air quotes.
 
The pair sat at the crowded table in the kitchen and ate their salad and pizza with a glass of red wine.
 
"So, did you go to college?"
 
"I barely went to high school." Hannah looked surprised. "I mean, I had a tutor and everything, just not the normal high school experience. I wish I would have had a chance to go to college, though. I still think about it sometimes."
 
"You do? I mean, clearly you wouldn't need to go to college. You have a great career."
 
"Its not about the career aspect. Its about the experience I sometimes feel like I missed out on. Studying, having roommates, going to parties and football games..."
 
"I can see that. Those were some of the best times of my life. But think of all the experiences you've had that others didn't get to have. You've seen the world multiple times over and have gotten to do what you love at a young age."
 
"I know. I'm very blessed, and I wouldn't have changed the way everything happened. But its still one of those "what if" things, you know?"
 
"Yeah, we all have those," she answered. "So we've talked a lot about me. I want to learn more about you."
 
He took a long swig of his wine. "Not to sound self-centered, but what do you already know?"
 
"Let's see. That you sing and that you had a birthday last year," she laughed. "Sorry, I can't say I was a big fan. I was, of course, aware of your group, but it was never really my thing."
 
JC loved it when people didn't already have preconceived notions of who he was or what he was about. He could tell that Hannah honestly wanted to know about him, and was not just digging for gossip. He went into the brief version of his background, and though Hannah was listening intently, he could sense boredom in her eyes when he mentioned "famous friends" or anything of the like. She poured them both another glass of wine as her briefly told her about the movie and his current struggles with Jive.
 
"That's exactly why I don't want to pursue this music thing. Other than my fear of singing, of course."
 
"Well it sucks, yeah. But I don't think that's a reason not to try. You're great. If you're really interested in pursuing this songwriting thing..."
 
She interrupted. "No. I'm not, its just a hobby. If I ever got involved in the music world in any way, it would be from the business end of things. Put my degrees to use, and try to change the way companies treated their talent. But, that's one of my "what ifs." I own this place now, and I have no intentions of doing anything else."
 
Even though he wanted to push the idea of her getting into the business more, he decided to ease up. He could tell it was a touchy subject, but he hadn't yet figured out why.
 
"Hannah, I just wanted to thank you again, for everything you've done for me today. It was beyond kind, and I am very grateful."
 
Hannah looked at him and smiled. The wine had lightly stained his lips and she couldn't help but stare. For the first time that day she felt uncomfortable, and she couldn't explain it. The air held a new charge.
 
"You're welcome," she nearly whispered.
 
He sensed the change in her demeanor, and suddenly he felt slightly uncomfortable, as well.
 
"Can I help you clean up?"
 
"Can you start the dishes while I get your bed ready? I need to change the sheets and stuff."
 
"Of course."
 
JC sighed. Suddenly she couldn't get away from him fast enough.
 
**********************

Hannah had returned with her arms full of blankets and pillows, and she dropped them to the futon with soft thump.
 
"So I have an extra bedroom but it only has a twin bed, so I thought the futon might give you a little extra room. Is that OK? Its not the most comfortable, but it works for a night."
 
"Of course, that's fine. Seriously, I would sleep on the floor."
 
"Well no need for that. Here, come help me get this mattress down."
 
After they adjusted the mattress, JC gently pushed Hannah away and grabbed the sheets out of her hands. "Seriously, you go sit down. I will take care of this."
 
She looked at him exasperatedly, but her face soon lit up with a smile as she took a seat on the old recliner. "I guess I could let you do that."
 
Whatever tension had been in the air earlier had seemed to drain.
 
"You know its only like 5:15. Are you trying to make me go to bed to get out of your hair already?" JC asked as he tucked a pillow into its case.
 
"I just figured it would be nice to have it all made up, so when you get tired you can just fall asleep, and not have to worry about all of the work then," she paused. "Speaking of work, would you mind helping me shovel? I know its still snowing, but I'd like to get some of the snow removed so it isn't twice as bad tomorrow."
 
"I haven't shoveled in probably 20 years. But yeah, of course I'll help."
 
Hannah chuckled. "Oh California boys."
 
"And before that it was Florida. But I grew up in DC. We got a little bit of snow every now and then. Nothing like this though."
 
"Well trust me, you'll probably have a backache by the time we're done. But I'll make you some hot chocolate to make up for it. I have an old jacket of my dad's and some boots you can wear. You can't quite go out in that windbreaker and those nice leather shoes."

******

"I'll say it again, I do not understand why people live here. That was ridiculous," Jc whined as he walked into the bar and tugged his hat off, while stomping the excess snow off of his boots.

"Wait!" Hanna shouted when JC started to unzip the oversized parka he was wearing. "You will be dressed in full snow gear for you 'wall 'o celebrity' picture. Don't think I've forgotten about it." Hannah pushed past him and ran behind the bar to grab the camera.

"You're trailing snow everywhere."

"I don't care. Quit trying to change the subject." Hanna grabbed the camera and hurried back to JC's side. "Put your hat back on."

"You're demanding."

"I know. Do it."

JC reluctantly did as told and slipped the knit cap over his head. He zipped up his coat and wrapped his scarf around his neck, purposely pulling up on it so it covered all the way up to his nose. "You won't even be able to recognize me."

"I know, that is why we are taking it now. You wanted to go unnoticed today, so you will. I wanted to get your photo for the wall, so I will. It's a win-win."

"Win."

"Oh my God, and "Office" reference? You can never leave. Besides, you look adorable in all of that winter gear," Hannah said as she snapped a photo of the two of them with her outstretched hand. They both reviewed the photo on the screen, and Hanna looked up at JC and smiled. "Perfect."

"OK, you can take all of that old crap off now. Just throw it on the floor. It is all wet. We'll pick it up in the morning," Hannah commented as she stripped off her jacket, hat and boots and threw them in a haphazzard pile on the floor.

"Remind me again why you don't have a snowblower?"

"I do, but it is broken. It is at my uncle's farm getting fixed. I told him there was no rush because I was really hoping I wasn't going to need it again this season. Clearly, I'm a moron."

"Well shoveling sucks. My back is killing me. That is heavy fucking snow."

"Perfect for snowball fights!"

"Yeah, I got that when you pelted me in the face with one."

"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to hit you in the face, I swear."

"Yeah, but you were still trying to hit me!"

"Well of course."

JC slipped off his left boot, and stood quietly in his black T-shirt, loose jeans, and wet socks. He watched Hannah head off behind the bar and started mixing drinks. He stood in awe of her for a few minutes. He couldn't believe this woman. He had never met anyone like her. She was funny, smart, normal - and it was extremely refreshing. She was cute, too - he couldn't ignore that - but that was not what drew him in. It was her openness. He met very few people who were so warm and welcoming. He felt like he had known her for years, but it had only been short of 11 hours.

"Here." She handed him a steaming mug. "Hot chocolate with Baileys and Butterscotch Schnapps. It's my favorite." They headed over to the bar and next to each other on the stools. "Thanks again for your help. You are are a real gentleman. And I know it will seem like we did it in vain in an hour or so after the sidewalk will be covered with snow again, but it will really make it easier on me in the morning."

"No problem. It was fun, even though my back is sore. I never work those lower back muscles. Not like that anyway."

They sat in silence for awhile, slowly sipping their hot chocolate and enjoying the quiet. Finally, JC spoke up. "I still need to play something for you." JC set his empty mug on the bar and headed toward the piano bench. "That hot chocolate was amazing by the way."

"Thanks! It is a staple in my winter diet. After February I usually make myself stop drinking it, but I think today called for it." Hannah smiled. "You really don't have to play anything for me."

"Rubbish. A deal is a deal."

JC inhaled deeply and took a seat on the piano bench. He was strangely nervous,and he was never nervous. He didn't usually sing for girls - he kind of thought it was hokey. Not that Hannah was some girl he was trying to get into bed, but still in this moment that is how it felt. He managed to convince himself that he was just one musician performing for another musician. There was nothing more.

A soft and simple melody began to fill the empty bar, and a after a few bars of introduction, JC closed his eyes and began to sing.

She loves daffodils/ she keeps them on her windowsill/ when the wind blows the smell fills the room/ she dreams in color/ but does she know that I love her/ I'm swimming in my abyss of insecure blue

JC kept his eyes closed for the duration of the song. For some reason he was afraid to make eye contact. He felt some kind of crazy connection to Hannah, and he was trying to bury the feeling. He knew if he looked at her he wouldn't be able to control whatever pang of desire he was feeling.

He sat in silence about 10 seconds and took a deep breath before he finally opened his eyes and looked over at Hannah, who was still sitting at the bar and holding her mug of hot chocolate to her lips, but not drinking. She was beaming.

"I don't even know what to say. That was...wow that was...Wow. You have me speechless. And I am never speechless."

"Thank you," JC said shyly as he stared down at his foot that he was scuffing against the stage floor.

"I wish I could sing like you. And write a melody that simple and beautiful. Seriously, I'm glad I went first. I would have never been able to sing for you after that."

JC stood up and stretched his arms well above his head and let out a big yawn. He felt self-conscious when he noticed Hannah looking at his exposed stomach, but he didn't rush to tug his shirt down. That would be too obvious. Besides, it felt too good know she was looking at him in that way.

"Um, I'm kind of tired. The shoveling wore me out. Want to go watch a movie or something?"

Hannah slowly released a deep breath she had been holding in. "Yes, that sounds like a great idea."

*****

An hour later, JC was wrapped up in a pile of blankets on the futon watching "The Office." Hannah was almost dozing off in the recliner. The snow had stopped falling, and the roads were actually plowed and in pretty good shape. JC really could have gone back to his hotel, but he didn't say anything. Hannah didn't say anything either, so he really saw no reason to offer to leave. Besides, his bed was already made.

A drowsy Hannah spoke up when the episode ended. "What time do you have to leave in the morning?"

"Well I have to be in Chanhassen at 9:00. We're starting earlier tomorrow."

"OK, well I'm going to bed. I will wake you up at 7:00. That should give you enough time to shower, dig out your car, and get there on time."

"OK." She started to walk out of the room. "Hannah?"

She stopped in the doorway and turned toward him. JC got up from his bed and headed toward her, wearing his black T-shirt and a pair of University of Minnesota Hockey sweatpants Hannah had loaned him. When he was within arms length of her, he reached out and ran his hand over her long, mocha hair. He leaned in and gently placed a kiss on her cheek."

"Thank you," he said, his eyes glistening with sincerity.

"You're welcome JC." She pulled away and patted his sholder.

JC sighed as he crawled back under the covers. He was going to miss Minnesota.

*****

The sound of feet stomping on the ground startled JC as he flipped a pancake.

"JC! JC! Wake up! Oh my God, I'm so sorry. My alarm didn't go off!" Hannah stopped in her tracks as she turned the corner into the kitchen and saw JC add to a plate stacked tall with pancakes. He was already dressed and had set the table for breakfast.

"Don't worry. I couldn't sleep that well. I've been up since 6:30. I'm showered, already got all of the snow off my car, and found some pancake mix. I figured after all you've done for me, I owed you one."

"I thought you said you didn't cook?"

"I can do breakfast. All guys can grill and do breakfast."

Hannah grinned, while trying to smooth the hairs that had fallen out of her ponytail. "Well I guess that's true, isn't it?"

She sat at the table and JC put two pancakes and a slice of bacon on her plate. "Eat up!"

"Aren't you going to join me?"

"Already ate. I really need to get going. It wouldn't hurt to give myself a few extra minutes in case I get lost - which I'm sure I will. I did yesterday." He chuckled.

"Well you have the directions I wrote for you. You won't get lost. And if you do, just give me a call." Hannah left the kitchen and came back a few seconds later with her business card. "Here. This has all of my information." She looked up at him and they held eye contact for a few seconds. "Don't be afraid to contact me." She paused. "For anything." She added quietly.

"Hannah, thank you so much. I mean," he paused. He wasn't sure what to say. "I really appreciate it. With all of my heart. You completely went out of your way to make me feel at home."

"I didn't..." she tried to interrupt.

"You did. Thank you. And I will contact you. I promise. Lost or not. I don't meet to many people these days that I think are true friends. I think you could be." Jesus, he thought to himself. Do I always sound this damn sappy?

Hannah leaned in and gave him a tight hug. "It was so nice to meet you JC. I think you could be a good friend, too. Drive safely."

"I will. Enjoy your breakfast."

"I will."

JC reluctantly let her go. "I left your sweatpants on the futon."

"Wait." Hannah ran out of the room and came back with the pants. "I want you to keep them. Everyone needs a pair of Minnesota Hockey sweats. I insist."

"Thank you. Ok, I really need to leave or I'll never say goodbye." He slipped on his jacket and headed to the door. Hannah held the door open and watched him decend down the stairs.

"Goodbye JC."

He glanced up at her and lifted his hand in a slight wave. "Goodbye Hannah."

JC sat on his patio nursing a bottle of beer and stared out at the hills below. It was hard to believe that two days ago he was digging out of 15 inches of snow, and now he sat here in shorts and a tank basking in the California sun. It was hard to believe his time in Minnesota even happened. It was all so surreal.

How he could miss someone so much after only 24 hours he didn't know. But in some way, he felt he knew Hannah better than any of the people he had been hanging around with for the past few years. He had been alienating himself. He knew it. The people he had been hanging out with were party friends. Hangers-on. People who liked him for his celebrity. They weren't people who really knew him on a personal level. They weren't people he would have deep and endless conversations with.

There were only three people in his life that he felt he could tell anything to. One was his brother Tyler. Ty knew everything about him. One was Justin - but they had slowly been rebuilding their friendship after a few shaky years, and they weren't quite back to that level yet. The other was Tony. But after JC's drunken antics, they hadn't talked in a few months. It killed JC, but he wasn't sure how to fix what he had done; so he took the easy way out and avoided the situation all together.

And suddenly, out of nowhere, he felt he could add Hannah Janssen to that short list of people.

He never wanted to add a woman to that list before. He wanted to sleep with them and then send them on their way after a few months. He never wanted to be friends with them. And he wouldn't lie - he did want to sleep with Hannah. But if sleeping with her meant he couldn't be her friend, it wasn't worth it.

"Oh fuck it. Just suck it up Chasez and talk to her."

JC grabbed his phone off of the side table and brought up her number. His fingers nimbly typed a text message. <i>Its 80 degrees and sunny here. Not a snowflake in sight.</i>

There. He had done it. He contacted her.

He set the phone back down and took a deep swig of his beer. He closed his eyes as a warm breeze washed over him. His phone buzzed.

<i>Not one in sight here either. It is 60 and all the snow melted. Hi :)</i>

Oh God. Was she flirting with him? 'No Chasez, just saying hi dumbass.'

<i>Hi :) MN is odd</i>

<i>Thats why I love it</i>

It had been two minutes and they'd already exchanged four text messages. JC was about to just give her a call when his doorbell rang.

His phone buzzed again, but he didn't get to respond.

<i>I never actually expected you to contact me</i>

--------------------

JC never got a chance to text Hannah back. Justin unexpectedly showed up at his door and they bounced around some ideas for a few new songs. Now it was two days later and JC felt like scum for not getting back to her. Especially when she told him that she didn't expect him to contact her.

He sighed deeply, and dug her business card out of his wallet. He sat down at his studio computer and decided to send her an e-mail. It was easier than calling her. He wasn't sure why he was such a coward all of the sudden.

From: joshua.scott@gmail.com
To: hjanssen@janssenspub.net
Date: April 5, 2007 at 10:58 p.m.
Subject: none

I'm really sorry I never texted you back the other day. Justin stopped over and we were working on some songs...Anyway, I could have taken a few seconds to write you. I don't want you to think I'm a jerk, and I don't want you to think I wouldn't contact you. I couldn't just ignore you after what you did for me.

I've decided that every time we e-mail each other, we tell each other something about us. And not something like, "my favorite color is blue" (which it is), or "my favorite food is sushi" (which it also is). But something real. Something important.

And since I don't really have a question, I'll just try to think of something you might want to know...

I finally realized that I happy NSYNC never got back together. The media, and us to be honest, blamed Justin. We were upset with him for years. But when I really think about it, I'm glad we were done when we were. I'm not mad at Justin anymore, in fact, he always has and always will be one of my closest friends. I told him that when he was here the other day - that he was right, and he made the right decision. He almost looked like he was going to cry. He came over and hugged me - and not one of those manly, pat-on-the-back hugs. A real hug. I knew it meant a lot to him, because he's still on shaky ground with the other guys. I don't think any of the others have told him "You did the right thing." There is still a lot of blame there.

I'm not sure why I felt the need to share that, but for some reason I did.

Anyway, here is your question. Who is that one person in your family that you don't really like, but you act like you do because they are family? I know you have one, we all do.

OK, that's all for now. Talk to you soon.

-C

---------

From: hjanssen@janssenspub.net
To: joshua.scott@gmail.com
Date: April 6, 2007 at 3:06 a.m.
Subject: Re: none

OMG, YOU HUGGED JT! AHH! j/k ;)

I was not expecting to come home to such a serious e-mail when I got done with work this evening. I guess in a way I feel honored that you would share this with me, that you would be so honest. I don't know what it is that makes you want to talk to me, but I like it. I haven't been able to <i>really</i> talk to anyone in a very long time, so I'm glad we found each other. I think it is great that you and Justin are building you friendship back up. I just assumed you were still tight after that picture I saw from your birthday, but trust me - I understand there is a difference between hanging out with someone and really having a solid friendship, and I'm happy to hear that you and Justin are getting that back. I'm honored that you would trust these secrets to me. I want you to know that nothing you ever tell me will leave this computer or my mind. These secrets are ours to keep. I just know how awful it must be to never know if you can really trust someone. And I'm not sure if I can convince you, but I want you to know I will never share them with anyone.

I'm a little tipsy and kind of rambling.

But to answer your question - man, this will make me sound like a horrible person, but its the truth - I don't like my brother. I put on a good act of course, and people ask about him all of the time because he's in Iraq. We never had much in common except for hockey, and when I quit playing our relationship became even rockier. Then two years ago, I lost all respect for him. Jens was always fighting for attention from our father. He felt that dad loved me more, cared about my hockey career more, etc., even though that wasn't true. But Jens always felt he needed to impress our dad. Now my dad was a huge conservative and a big supporter of the war. I am adamantly against the war, and Jens was too. But when dad got sick...wow, I've never told anyone this before...when dad got sick, Jens joined the Army as a way to finally make dad proud of him. And it worked of course. My dad was so proud that Jens was in the service, but it makes me sick inside to know that Jens went against everything he believed in just to make dad love him. Ever since dad died, Jens and I don't really speak much, even though we own this bar together. In fact, I got a letter from him the other day that said, "Mom said you are selling artwork at the bar now. You know dad would hate that. That hippy-dippy shit better be gone when I get back." That is all it said.

Um yeah. So there is my secret. Want to know another secret? I bought your cd. "Lose Myself" is stunning, but nothing beats the stripped-down, live version :)

My brain is too fried to think of a question right now. I will e-mail you in a couple of days.

-Hannah

P.S. I love purple and my favorite food is sushi, too :)
-----------

JC sat in shock as he read Hannah's e-mail. He never in a million years thought she would be so open and honest with him. He wanted nothing more to wrap her in his arms right now. She had told him that her dad died, and that her brother was in Iraq, but he had no idea of heartache she was going through. He expected her to say she didn't really care for her Aunt Phyllis because she forced Hannah to eat her disgusting deviled eggs. Or her Uncle Jack because he smelled bad. Not this. He needed to do something for her. Something that would make her smile through all of this pain.

-----------

From: joshua.scott@gmail.com
To: hjanssen@janssenspub.net
Date: April 10, 2008 at 4:26 p.m.
Subject: Re:re: none
Attachements: 1

I recorded it just for you. I hope it brings a smile to your face.

attach: losemyself-stripped.mp3

-----------

From: hjanssen@janssenspub.net
To: joshua.scott@gmail.com
Date: April 11, 2007 at 1:35 a.m.
Subject: Re:re:re: none
Attachements: 1

That is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me. I would hug you right now if I could.

I've attached the wall 'o celebrity picture for you. We look adorable if I may say so myself.

----------

JC smiled as he sat down at his computer and glanced at the picture sloppily taped above the monitor. Hannah was right. They looked damn adorable. He need to remember to take it down though. Justin was coming over in a few hours to work on a song, and he wasn't quite ready to share Hannah with anyone yet.

Five new e-mails. He sighed. One was from someone at Jive and he wasn't ready to read it. In fact, he was dreading it. He knew it wasn't going to be good.

It was easy to ignore because there was one from Hannah - even though technically it was his turn to respond.

From: hjanssen@janssenspub.net
To: joshua.scott@gmail.com
Date: April 15, 2007 at 6:34 p.m.
Subject: :)

I've been asked to be a speaker at the Independent Bar Owners Association conference next week because someone backed out at the last minute. It is in L.A. Do you think I should accept? :)

--------------

From: joshua.scott@gmail.com
To: hjanssen@janssenspub.net
Date: April 15, 2007 at 7:06 p.m.
Subject: Re: :)

Absolutely, I do.

From: hjanssen@janssenspub.net
To: joshua.scott@gmail.com
Date: April 16, 2007 at 9:24 a.m.
Subject: Re:re: :)

I did it! I confirmed my participation in the IBOA Conference! I will be flying in on Wednesday afternoon, and I present first thing Thursday morning. I'm ridiculously nervous. It still five days away and the the butterflys in my tummy are fluttering away! I never feel comfortable talking in front of people. You should have seen me when I had to present my thesis and business plan to my professors to get my MBA. Oy. Anyway, at least I am comfortable with the topic - How To Stand Out Amongst the Rapidly Growing Competition From National Chains. Whoo hoo, exciting stuff, isn't it?!

I was thinking that I would stay for the weekend. After my presentation on Thursday I am technically done, though I may attend a few sessions on Friday. I haven't been to L.A. in a few years though, and would love the chance to soak up some sun. If you're around this weekend, I would love to see you. I really didn't think I'd be seeing you soon (or ever)! Oh, and is there a hotel near your place? I'm staying at the conference hotel on Wednesday and Thursday, but figured that for the weekend I would want to stay someplace closer to your house.

And I haven't forgotten that I owe you a question. Who do you admire most in your life?

Alright - I'd better go work on my presentation. Ugh :p

-h.

-----------

From: joshua.scott@gmail.com
To:  hjanssen@janssenspub.net
Date: April 16, 2007 at 12:03 p.m.
Subject: UMM??

Hell no, there aren't any hotels around my house! For fucks sake, you're staying with me. Besides, I certainly owe you lodging and first class accommodations!

I'm free on Wednesday afternoon/evening, so I was thinking maybe I could meet you at the hotel and we could grab dinner or something. I don't think I would last until Friday night knowing you're in town and not being able to see you. Maybe sushi? The only other plan I have for this weekend is a party at my manager Eric's place on Saturday night, but other than that, I would be happy to be your LA tour guide.

I don't have a lot of time right now - more frustrating meetings with my label, which I'm sure I'll bitch to you about soon enough - but my mom. I'm sure you'll hear me gush about her more, but here's the short version. She is the strongest, most open and loving person I've ever known. She has an amazing career which she has always been able to balance perfectly with her family. She has never been afraid to take chances or help somebody in need. I owe her everything. My dad too, of course - but my mom...she's just incredible.
.
.
.
You remind me a lot of her.

Anyway, I'm saving my real question for dinner on Wednesday (we get to play our 'tell a secret' game in person!), but here is an easy one - what is your favorite song lyric of all time?

-c.

-------

From: hjanssen@janssenspub.net
To: joshua.scott@gmail.com
Date: April 16, 2007 at 9:24 a.m.
Subject: Re: UMM??

Seriously - are you trying to get me in the sack or something? You keep saying these ridiculously sweet things to me.

Dinner on Wednesday sounds perfect. And I suppose you can expect a houseguest on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (I'm flying out on Monday morning, I hope that's ok.)

And dude - favorite song lyric of all time? That is not an easy fucking question!! There are so many things to take into consideration. For instance, of all the song topics, what is the most important? Something happy and uplifting? Something ridiculously sexy? Something heartwrenching? Something political? How do you compare and choose one?

Because I'm a cheater, I've come up with two. You'll just have to deal with it. I'll list them and you decide which category they belong in :)

"Made my bed and I sleep like a baby, with no regrets and I don't mind saying, its a sad, sad story when her mother would teach her, daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger, and how in the world could the things that I said, send somebody so over the edge, that they'd write me a letter, saying that I'd better, shut up and sing or my life would be over?" - Not Ready to Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks. I wish I could write something that powerful.

and

"What a wicked game to play, to make me feel this way, What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you, What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way, What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you and, I wanna fall in love, with you" - I'm not so sure its the lyrics as much as it is Chris Issak ;)

I'm saving your question for Wednesday.

-h.

-------

From: joshua.scott@gmail.com
To:  hjanssen@janssenspub.net
Date: April 16, 2007 at 10:01 a.m.
Subject: Re:re:re: UMM??

Jesus fucking Christ, are YOU trying to get me in the sack or something? You can't just go around spouting off lyrics to "Wicked Game!"

-------

From: hjanssen@janssenspub.net
To: joshua.scott@gmail.com
Date: April 16, 2007 at 11:09 a.m.
Subject: Re:re:re:re: UMM??

Sure I can ;)

-------

It had been a tension-filled five days for JC, to say the least. Jive had decided to pull "Until Yesterday" from the radio airplay lists (not that it had gotten any radio airplay), and replace it with "You Ruined Me." JC loved the song, but knew it was next to impossible to make any impact with a ballad as your first single. And with more than three years since his last album, it certainly felt like a first single. Deep down he knew this would be another let down and he didn't know how he would handle it. He was at his wits end with Jive. He wanted to go tell them all to fuck off, take "Kate" and run. But Eric kept insisting it was the best deal out there. And Eric was not only his manager, but his friend. And he had to trust that he was making the right decisions.

The movie needed another reshoot from the leads, and would be pushed back another four months, at least.

He sent Tony a birthday card, hoping that extending that olive branch would be a start. But there had been no response.

The one good thing in his life right now was Hannah. Which was strange because he had only spent a day with her. But her e-mails and random text messages had become the highlight of his days. He checked his e-mails every half hour sometimes, hoping to hear from her. Why they invented phones with internet he would never know. His BlackBerry was turning him into a dependent little puppy dog. He hated it.

They hadn't spoken much since their flirtatious little e-mail exchange, and that was causing him tension for different reasons. Cold showers and pathetic ruts against the sheets at night were not proving effective. His inability to control his feelings for her was getting ridiculous. She made him feel like he was 14 all over again.

But no matter how much he wanted her, he was going to try his damndest to ignore it. Or at least wait for her to come to him. He did not want to mess this up. And once he slept with someone, he always messed it up. It was his pattern. It was inevitable, really. He wasn't having much luck controlling other things in his life right now. He was going to control this.

He saw her the moment he handed his keys to the valet. She was sitting at an outdoor table outside of his favorite Japanese restuarant. It was a hidden gem, and he was more grateful than ever that he had never seen any paparazzi around the area. She was wearing a black wrap dress and her long, dark hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail. She looked classy and elegant, completely different than she did in her jeans and T-shirt that day in the bar. This wasn't going to be easy.

When he finally reached the table, she remained seated. She looked up at him and smiled, and he look down at her and smiled. Finally, after too many tortuous seconds she stood up and squealed, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"I can't believe I'm in California. I'm so excited!"

Not exactly the first words he was hoping to hear out of her mouth.

"It is so great to see you, Hannah. Has it really only been two weeks?" She tried to pull away but he squeezed her tighter.

"Oh JC, it is so great to see you too." When they finally pulled away she ran a hand over his slighly stubbled cheek. "Are you OK?"

He needed to shake off whatever funk he was in. She was noticing.

"Yeah, yeah - fine." They took a seat and the waitress came by and took their drink orders. "You look amazing, Hannah. Really. I barely recognized you!"

"Well I'm in the big city now. I need to step up my game. Can't traipse around LA in my old hockey T-shirts," she laughed. "I like having a reason to get dressed up sometimes. And you, well you look good when you're not wearing oversized winter outerwear."

He chuckled. "Thanks."

"So you know that we haven't even talked since you left? I mean, e-mails and stuff, but we haven't spoken. Weird, huh."

"I was going to call you that first day we were texting, but then Justin showed up and I didn't get a chance."

"I know that I've said this a lot, and you're probably sick of hearing it, but I'm so glad we are friends. I felt it you know, some strange connection that we had but I wasn't sure how to convince you to call me. I didn't want to sound like some crazy." He would never tire of hearing that.

"I know. I can't remember the last time I became such fast friends with someone. I can't remember the last time I told people some of the stuff I've told you."

"I don't have many friends around Minneapolis anymore. I mean a few, but lots of them have moved away for work, or gotten married and ignore me now, you know - the usual. Most of my time is spent working, or with my mom, or dealing with my dumbass brother, so being able to e-mail you at the end of the day really cheers me up."

"Same here. My career is on the verge of a breakdown right now, and I'm dealing with some fucked up situations with some friends of mine. Its definitely a rough patch. I think we met at the right time."

"Indeed."

The waitress delievered their drinks and they placed their order. They shared an order of edamame as Hannah told JC about the flight and her presentation. Even though she shrugged it off as uninteresting, JC really did want to know about her presentation. Regardless of what she said, it was interesting. He didn't know too many women who had the opportunity to present at professional conferences, and it was fascinating to him. He remembered when his mom used to rehearse her presentations in front of him. He loved it, and to be honest, Hannah's topic was much more interesting than the fertilizer-related presentations his mom gave.

"So its first thing in the morning then?"

"Yeah. Oh my God, I'm going to need a liter of coffee before going in there."

He reached his hand across the table and took her hand in his. He gently rubbed circles on the skin above her thumb. "You'll be great."

She sighed deeply and gave his hand a squeeze. "I know I will."

The waitress brought a large tray of nigiri and maki sushi, and JC and Hannah dug in, enjoying the assortment of fresh, spicy, and buttery flavors. They joked an laugh with ease. Any worries JC had of the evening being awkward were swept away.

An hour and a half had passed before they took care of the bill. JC offered to pay, but Hannah insisted they split it. Her reasoning was that he was letting her stay at his place, she could pay her half of the bill. JC thought maybe it seemed less like a date if they shared the cost.

Hannah glanced at her watch. "Wow, its 9:00 already. I really need to get back to the hotel and practice, and get to sleep soon. I need to get up at 6:00. Can't wait." She gave a lazy smile.

"Let me drive you back to your hotel."

They rode in silence with the windows down and the warm breeze caressing their faces.

"Mmm," Hannah moaned, then inhaled deeply. "I could get used to this."

For a moment JC let himself imagine she meant spending evenings with him, and not the mild weather.

He pulled up in front of the hotel a few minutes later and turned off the engine.

"Good luck tomorrow. You won't need it, but if it makes you feel better I'll say it."

"It does. Thank you," she paused. "I signed up for a few more sessions for tomorrow afternoon and Friday morning. I'll be done Friday around 3. Should I call you then? I can grab a taxi to your place or something."

"It's no problem. Just call me and I'll come pick you up."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. Really, its no big deal. I'll probably be down here for another meeting anyway."

"Ok, well. I will see you then I guess. Thank you for dinner. See you Friday." She gave his hand a gentle squeeze as she climbed out of the car.

"Hey, wait!" She poked her head through the open window. "We forgot to ask our questions tonight!"

"Friday."

"Friday," she repeated. She turned and gave a small wave as she entered the hotel, the breeze slightly blowing her skirt to mid-thigh.

With a sigh, JC let his forehead hit the steering wheel.

<i>I nailed it :)

duh.

They asked me to speak at a regional conference in Chicago next month.

you're awesome.

What are you doing tonight?

studio. you?

Drinks with a few people I met today.

sounds fun.

I guess. Can't wait until tomorrow :)

Me either. See you then :)</i>

------

JC pulled up to the hotel to find Hannah sitting on a bench not far from where he dropped her off two nights prior. He hoped she recognized his car because this hotel was usually swarming with paparazzi and the last thing he wanted to do was get out of the car and deal with that. Thankfully, she did recognize him and he popped the trunk for her.

"Sorry. I would have helped you with your bag, but there are usually paps all over this place."

"Don't worry about it. I can lift my own suitcase." She breathed deeply and leaned against the headrest as JC sped away. "I'm so glad this is over. It was great, but I'm ready to relax. I need a nap."

"I need a nap, too. Is that what's first on our agenda? A nap?"

"Yes please. If you're sure you don't mind." She paused. "Hey, you look snazzy today. Why the suit?"

JC sighed as he merged onto the highway. "I um...I had a meeting with my lawyer."

"Why do you sound guilty of something."

"It was a secret meeting. My manager should have been there. But I didn't tell him about it."

"What's going on? I mean, you don't have to tell me. I'm sure its..."

"I'm trying to get out of my contract with Jive."

"Oh."

"I'm just trying to get a feel for what my options are before I talk to Eric about it."

"Wow, that's a huge deal."

"I know. But I'm kind of at a loss about what to do anymore. Its complicated. Anyway, I'm drained and don't really feel like talking about it anymore."

"No problem."

They sat in silence for the next twenty minutes before Hannah spoke up.

"We look like bankers or something in our matching suits."

JC let out a hearty laugh. "We do, don't we?"

------

After giving Hannah a tour of his home, JC changed into a pair of basketball shorts and a T-shirt and collapsed on top of his king-sized bed. He felt kind of bad that he finally had Hannah at his house and all he wanted to do was sleep. But the feeling was mutual.

"Mind if I join you?" She appeared in the doorway.

Not what he was expecting.

"Um, no. Of course not."

"It feels so good to be out of that suit. It has been far too long since I've been been able to wear shorts. You'll have to ignore my pasty legs though. I'm not much into fake baking." JC scooted out of the center of the bed, and she crawled under the covers on the vacant side of the bed. JC gulped. Shit.

"I just thought this way we could chat before we fall asleep. I don't even know that I'll sleep. I just want to lay here."

"Why are you so tired?"

"I was up pretty late playing the piano in the lounge last night. A melody got stuck in my head and I had to get it out. It was great. I was the only one in there the whole time. Granted it was 3:00 a.m." She laughed.

"Yeah, I know the feeling." JC replied as he crawled under the covers on his side of the bed, making sure to leave a good foot and a half of space between them.

"Thanks for letting me stay here. It is a beautiful home. I've never stayed anywhere this nice. If this is what you're used to, I'm sorry you had to stay in my crappy apartment." She frowned. "Seriously, the whole thing would practically fit in this bedroom."

"You know I don't care about that shit, Hannah. I loved your place. It was so homey and lived in."

"I just feel bad that you had to sleep on my crappy college futon and I get to sleep in this awesome, soft bed."

JC's eyes widened with surprise.

"Don't look so alarmed. I didn't mean to say this bed. Just a bed. As opposed to a thin, hard mattress."

"You can stay in here if you want. I don't mind."

Hannah smiled as she settled into her pillow. "Question."

"Sure, Dwight." JC chuckled.

"What do you consider to be the defining moment of your life? Like, that one moment that just changed everything, and if wasn't for that moment, you wouldn't be where you are today."

JC rolled onto his side to face her. He rested his elbow on his pillow and his head in his hand, his other hand resting on the mattress in front of his chest.

"You ask heavy hitting questions."

"How else are you really going to get to know someone?"

"It is heavy hitting. But its easy. When my parents adopted me." Hannah raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything. She gave him a slight smile to gently urge him on. "I don't talk about it much, so bear with me. My mom used to be a social worker, and she and my dad were practically newlyweds when they decided to take in one of the teens my mom was working with. She spent a summer with them, and not long after she left, she found out she was pregnant. With me. She was only 16, but raised me for five years. There were times we didn't have anywhere to live. We hopped around from one friend to another. Finally she realized I needed something stable, and I needed to be in school, so she contacted my mom. The only person she knew could help."

Hannah slid her right hand into his, and interlocked their fingers, still listening intently.

"My mom and dad adopted me when I was five, even though they already had a three year old, and my mom was pregnant. When I said my mom was incredible, that's pretty much what I was referencing."

Hannah gave his hand a gentle squeeze and her voice was almost a whisper. "I'm honored that you would say I remind you of her."

"I was serious. I see a lot of her in you."

Hannah gripped his hand tighter, scooted a few inches closer and closed her eyes. "Let's take a nap, huh?"

-------

Hannah smiled warmly at JC as he opened his eyes. He was acutely aware of the fact that their fingers were still intertwined.

"What time is it?" He mumbled in a gravelly voice while rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

"One," she chuckled.

"One? In the morning?"

"Um, yeah. Guess we needed more than a nap. It was what? Like 7:00 when we fell asleep? We practically had a full nights sleep."

"Jesus. When did you get up?"

"Like an hour ago. I was just content laying here thinking."

"You should have woken me up."

"You looked too cozy."

"I was very cozy. I just feel bad it is your first night here and we didn't do anything."

"Don't feel bad. I'm on vacation. I was hoping to relax, and I am certainly relaxed."

The air between them was thick. Even though they were only holding hands, the way they were laying felt extremely intimate. They lay in silence for a few minutes looking at each other with lazy smiles. If this kept up, JC was going to have to find a polite way to kick her out of his bed. His body was not agreeing with his decision to play the "just friends" card.

"I know you didn't ask, but I am going to answer a question I think you are too afraid to ask."

He gave her a puzzled look.

"I want to kiss you."

Not what he was expecting. But as she did to him earlier, he silently urged her on.

"I wanted to ever since you said you were willing to help me shovel. It was just so unexpected. I realized just how unaffected and kind you were in that moment. And then - ugh - you sent me that mp3 of your song. Do you know what that does to a girl?"

He loved how honest she was being with him right now, and she was saying everything he wanted to hear. But he wasn't sure how to respond.

"I just wanted to cheer you up," he replied.

"Why?"

"Because I knew you liked the song. And you told me about the shitty time you were having with your brother and I felt bad."

"But you wouldn't re-record a song just to cheer anyone up."

She had him there.

"No."

"No," she whispered back. She broke the grip on their hands and scooted closer to him. She laced her fingers in the short hairs at the base of his head.

"JC, we are so honest about everything else. Why can't we just be honest about this?"

"I don't want to mess it up," he responded quietly. "I always mess it up. Always. And I don't want to do that with you. I can't talk to anyone the way I talk to you. I can't let sex get in the way of that." Her hand traveled from his hair to his cheek. "What about you? If you wanted to kiss me that night why didn't you?"

"I didn't want to get attached. I didn't want to be your 'Minnesota girl.' I certainly didn't want to start anything long distance."

"Then why did you bring it up now?"

"When I was laying here watching you sleep, I just kept thinking about how much I already care about you. I realized I had two options. I could go home and be miserable because all I could think about was how much I missed you and wanted to kiss you. Or, I could go home and all I could think about was how much I missed you and wanted to kiss you again. Both options resulted in me being miserable, so I thought what the hell." Her thumb slid down from his cheek to caress his lips. "And you don't have to worry about sex getting in the way of our friendship."

"I don't?" His tongue brushed her thumb still on his lips as he spoke.

"No. Because its not sex, is it? It's more than that."

He nodded shyly.

And without noticing her move, suddenly their foreheads were touching.

"Jace?" She breathed.

He gulped. "Yeah?"

"We can't go back after this. You know that right? Are you OK with that?"

He answered with a mumbled 'yes' against her lips. She arched into him and slid her hand back into his hair as he slightly parted her lips with his tongue. She briefly brushed her tongue to his before he slid it down to gently to caress her bottom lip. He gently licked her lips for a moment before starting to pull back. As they parted, he caught her bottom lip between his teeth and gave a slight nibble.

She rolled onto her back with a groan.

"Shit. Oh my God. A million times better than I ever imagined."

"I know." He was amazed he could even speak. "Um. Wow. Um." He paused for a good fifteen seconds. "We should probably try to sleep a little longer, huh?"

"Um, yeah."

"You should probably go to your room."

"I probably should."

"Good, because I don't put out before the first date."

Hannah burst out laughing at his comment. It was nice to break the sexual tension that filled them both. "I suppose I don't either." She leaned over and give him a brief kiss on the mouth before she crawled out of bed. "But if you can't sleep, you know where to find me."

"There you are. I was looking for you."

JC walked into his studio to find Hannah lying on the sofa with a notepad in hand. It was only 6:30 a.m., but she looked ready to go for the day. She wore pale blue shorts with a navy tank, and her wavy hair cascaded over her shoulders. "I guess you didn't have a problem finding the studio."

She rolled on to her side and smiled when she saw him. His hair was disheveled, his cheeks had a smattering of stubble, his white T-shirt was rumpled and he wore the Minnesota Hockey sweatpants she had given him.

"Sorry, I've been up for...well, since I left your room. I took it upon myself to explore. I hope you don't mind."

He lifted her feet and took a seat at the end of the sofa, and set her legs down on his lap. He played with her toes as he spoke. "Of course I don't mind."

She giggled when his fingers brushed over a ticklish spot on her foot. "How on earth did you manage to fall asleep again last night? Seriously, you were only up for like a half hour last night. You practically had 12 hours of sleep."

"I needed it I guess. It was a stressful week. I'm surprised you didn't sleep more. You said you were already up for an hour when I got up. If you've been up since then, you only got like five hours of sleep."

Hannah set her notepad and pen on the floor, and sat up. She removed her feet from JC's grip, and adjusted herself so she was straddling his lap. He groaned as she held his face in her hands.

"I can't believe I said what I said last night. It is not at all like me to be so forward." She murmured, "But I'm so glad I did."

JC gently ran his hands over her back. "I'm glad you did, too. So what were you doing down here?"

"Just playing around on the piano. Finished writing that song I started the other day."

"Are you going to play it for me?"

"I think I could do that," She said before wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning her head against his shoulder. "Mmm, I'm so happy here."

JC tightened his arms around her. It felt so good to sit here with her and just be. "I'm so happy that you are here."

"I can't remember the last time I had a vacation. I work all the time. And even when I'm not working, I'm just upstairs so people usually come bother me. But to be here and not worry about the bar, or my problems with Jens, or keeping my mom company. Its heaven."

"I'm glad I could help you escape for a little while."

She snuggled into him and squeezed tighter. "Me too."

"What do you want to do today? Shopping on Rodeo? Lunch at the Ivy? Celebrity house tours? Whatever else it is tourists do when they come here?"

She sat up and looked him directly in the eyes. "Mmm, first, I want to do this." She leaned her forehead against his and nuzzled their noses together, as they both grinned. "And then this." Her lips met his in a lazy kiss. It wasn't hesitant and it wasn't passionate, just slow and languid and perfect.

"As for your suggestions, I really don't want to do any of those things, and I'm 100 percent positive you don't either. Um, this might sound silly but would you maybe want to go to an Angels game tonight?" She looked slightly embarrassed. "I mean, I don't know if you like baseball, but its just the Twins are in town and a friend of mine gave me tickets to the game and I thought maybe..."

"Of course we can go to the game tonight. I've never known a girl who was so into sports. I like it. I'm kind of indifferent towards baseball, but I would love to go. A friend of yours gave you tickets for a game out in LA? That's kind of random."

"He's um, on the team. When he heard I was going to be out here he hooked me up."

"He's a Twin?"

"Yeah, we used to date like, forever ago."

"Oh really?" he said playfully.

"Yes really, like, right after high school. He grew up in Minneapolis and was friends with my brother. We still hang out sometimes."

"Are you saying I'm competing with professional athletes here?"

"Please. It's not like he's Santana or something. He's a relief pitcher. Besides he's married. You have nothing to worry about."

"Who is Santana?"

"Oh my God. I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." She leaned into nuzzle him again. "Anyway, what time does Eric's party start? I don't want you to miss it."

"Don't worry. Probably won't even really get going until like 12:30 or 1:00. I don't even know if I want to go."

"Why not? You don't want me to meet your friends?"

"I do, but I kind of just want to bring you back here. I said I didn't put out before the first date, I didn't say anything about after."

"Oh I see." She giggled as he gently nipped at her neck. "You think so, huh?"

He looked at her seriously. "I hope so."

"Well I think it is a definite possibility," she whispered as she began to lick and nibble his earlobe. She gently rolled her hips against his as she worked her way down his neck. His fingers hesitantly slid under the hem of her shirt and caressed her back as her lips finally reached his. For the first time their kiss was needy and urgent. And they couldn't get enough.

They didn't hear the footsteps down the stairs, or the turning of the doorknob.

"Hey Josh I'm..."

JC and Hannah pulled apart with a start, and turned toward the door both flushed and panting.

"...home."

JC was shooting daggers with his eyes and spoke through gritted teeth. "What are you doing here Ty? You are supposed to be in Vegas."

"I, um, Jen's dad had a heart attack, so Evan wanted to come back to be with her. I'm um, really sorry to interrupt."

“Oh my goodness, you’re Tyler?” Hannah exclaimed as she jumped off of JC’s lap and ran over to him. She held out her hand in greeting. “I’m Hannah. It is so awesome to meet you! I was bummed when JC told me you would be out of town this weekend.”

Tyler shook her hand politely and shot JC a questioning look. “Its nice to meet you too, Hannah.”

JC was mortified. He hadn’t told anyone in his life about Hannah, even though she had heard stories about all of them. And if Tyler said anything about the fact that he paid for Tyler and Evan to go to Vegas for the weekend because JC had to focus on work, any progress he had made with Hannah would come to a halt. He had to stop this immediately.

He walked up to Hannah and gently rubbed her back. “Han, would you mind giving me and Tyler a minute alone?”

“Of course not. I was thinking of taking a swim anyway. I’ll meet you up there.” She gave JC a brief kiss before grabbing her notepad and heading upstairs.

Tyler broke out into a fit of giggles immediately after she left. “Hard work in the studio huh? Since when do you kick us out just so you can get laid? And I must say, bro, she is quite lovely.”

“Shut up Ty. Hannah’s not…Hannah’s not just some girl. I’ve known her for about a month. Remember when I went to Minnesota?”

“Yeah.”

“I met her there.”

“That would explain the pants. I’ve never known you to be a college hockey fan. You met her in Minnesota and you asked her back for more? That’s not like you. She must be some lay.”

“Knock it off asshole. Its not like that. We haven’t even…She’s really special, Ty.”

"Oh. OHHH!" Tyler, exclaimed knowingly. "You really have it bad for this girl, don't you?"
 
JC grinned shyly. "Kind of, yeah. I honestly have never met anyone like her. She's incredible."
 
"Well I can't lie. I'm a little hurt you didn't tell me about her, but I'm glad that you are so happy."
 
"I just didn't want to jinx it. We were just friends. Nothing happened in Minnesota. And then we were e-mailing  back and forth for the past few weeks and it just turned out that she was coming to LA for a conference. Nothing remotely romantic happened until last night."
 
"Yeah, but you were planning on it happening or you wouldn't have sent Evan and I to Vegas for the weekend."
 
"I honestly wasn't planning on it, but I was hoping for it. Hey, do you want to have lunch with us today? I know Hannah would love it if you did. I would kind of like you to get to know her, myself."
 
"Meeting the family already huh?" Tyler beamed. "Of course I'll go to lunch with you guys. I need to meet the girl who got into my big bro's cold, cold heart."
 
"Just act like I already told you about her OK? She would be hurt if I she knew I was keeping her a secret." Ty nodded in response. "So how's Jen's dad?"
 
"He's going to be fine, but she really needed Evan to be there for her."
 
"Totally understandable. I hope she's hanging in there."
 
"She'll be fine now that Evan's here. Look, I'm going to go study. And you have a beautiful girl waiting for you in the pool. What are you doing down here with me?"
 
JC smiled at his brother with deep appreciation. "Thanks Ty. Lets plan on leaving around 1:00, OK?"
 
"Sounds good. Later man."

-------

JC and Hannah spent a few hours lounging around the pool before they headed up stairs to get ready for lunch.

"Hey Jace, when you're done getting dressed, come to my room for a minute," she shouted down the hallway.

A few minutes later he appeared in her doorway wearing a pair of loose fitting jeans, a navy Lacoste polo, and what looked to be a pair of brand new Adidas with navy stripes.

"Mmm, I approve. This is going to look so good. Close your eyes."

He looked at her skeptically before sealing his lids shut. He heard some rustling around before she finally said "Open 'em."

She held out a red baseball cap with a blue bill, featuring the Twins logo. "I thought you might need this for the game tonight."

He grinned as he slid it over his damp hair. "I love it."

"You look hot."

"Well then, I guess it stays for the day. Ready to go?"

She grabbed her sunglassed and purse off of the dresser. "Yes, I'm starving!"

JC, Hannah and Tyler arrived at a little sidewalk cafe about a half an hour later. The ride over was tortuous for JC, as Hannah would not shut up for a moment. She was fawning over Tyler, They were getting along so well that they had started teasing him, and it was annoying. But he was glad they were getting along.

After what seemed like hours, the waitress finally came to take their order. "I'll have the caesar salad with grilled shrimp. And um, a Corona."

Hannah looked at him with disgust as the waitress walked away. "Ew."

"You'll have to ignore my brother. He has the strangest eating habits."

"What is strange about what I ordred?"

"A salad and beer?" Hannah would not lose that tone of digust in her voice.

"Whatever it is good."

Despite the teasing, lunch was a success. JC could tell that Tyler adored Hannah almost as much as he did. The whole moment was relaxed and perfect. In fact the whole weekend was turning out to be. What would he do when she left?

"Did you family ever go camping?" Hannah inquired as she poked at the remains of her chicken salad wrap.

"We never really went camping as kids. We were always going to Disney to visit Josh."

"I wish we went to Disney as kids. All we ever did was go camping. No real family vacations. But still, camping is awesome. In fact, my family rents a cabin in northern Minnesota every Memorial Day weekend. You guys should come."

"Hell yeah!"

"Ty," JC warned.

"I'm serious. I know its only a few weeks away and you may have plans, but if you don't the invitation stands. It is great. My mom and I, my aunts and uncles and cousins all share one big cabin. Basically all we do is swim, go boating and drink. And sing around the campfire at night. Ty, you can bring a friend if you want."

JC couldn't help but smile as her face lit up while telling them about the cabin. He actually didn't have anything going on that weekend and couldn't help but think it might be the next opportunity to see her.

"That sounds great, Hannah." JC answered quietly while gently rubbing her knee under the table.

"Josh, when are you going to introduce her to mom. Mom is going to flip. Seriously, Hannah. Mom never likes Josh's girlfriends, but she is going to adore you." She blushed furiously as Tyler spoke.

"Ty, knock it off."

"Sorry," he grumbled.

Hannah reached across the table and grabbed Tyler's hand. "Ty, Josh is so lucky to have you in his life. My brother and I do not have a good relationship at all, and I yearn for the kind of relationship you have with Josh."

"Well anytime you need a brother figure give me a call."

They finished up their lunch and Tyler was a few paces ahead of them as they headed to the car.

"He is so smitten with you," JC whispered in her ear.

"He's awesome. But it doesn't matter, cause I'm smitten with you." She gave him a peck on the cheek and grabbed his hand as they made their way to the car.

-------

JC had never had so much fun at a baseball game in his life, nor had he ever met a woman so knowledgable about the game. She could spout off statistics not only from the Twins, but from the Angels as well. "You think this is impressive, wait until I take you to a hockey game," she'd said. JC found it ridiculously sexy. He also loved that it implied future outings.

The Twins ended up losing, but it didn't matter. They had a blast being some of the few people in their section cheering for the Twins. They sat in the row right behind the Twins dugout, so whey they cheered the players could usually hear them and would turn around to acknowldege them. They drank a few beers, ate hot dogs, shared some nachos and ended up with ice cream cones. In their matching navy shirts and baseball caps, JC couldn't help but imagine how many people in the country were doing this exact same thing tonight. He adored the sense of normalcy she brought to his life.

After the game her friend Pat sent her a text message asking if they wanted to go out for drinks. They ended up at a little dive bar not far from the stadium and they talked and joked over a few more beers. JC could tell that Hannah and Pat were close, but he definitely got a brother and sister vibe from them. Pat was a cool guy and JC was glad that they had a chance to hang out. He could definitely picture himself hanging out with him more often. He wondered if all of her friends were this easy to hang out with, because his certainly weren't.

It was about midnight when he finally pulled into his garage and was relieved to see both Tyler's and Evan's cars missing. Hannah yawned loudly as he shut off the engine.

"Oh no, you can't be tired yet," he said playfully.

"I've been up for almost 24 hours. I think I'm allowed to be tired."

"Well you're going to miss all of the fun tonight."

She turned to him and ran a hand over his cheek. "I guess I'll just have to have a Coke then."

"Come on. Let's go inside."

When they made it inside, JC headed straight to the kitchen to get Hannah a Coke.

"You mean business," she laughed, as she popped the top and took a big gulp. As she was setting down the can, he walked over and pinned her between his body and the island counter.

"You have no idea how sexy it is to hear you ramble off on-base percentages and ERAs." He started kissing her neck.

She let out a hearty guffaw. "Oh yeah, nothing sexier than that."

"I'm serious." His hands slid up the front of her shirt and tickled her stomach.

"Well you look ultra sexy in that hat." Her voice took on a husky tone.

"So do you." He reached up and slid her cap off and set it on the counter next to her Coke. His fingers picked at her hairband, slowly pulling it out. "You look sexier with your hair down though." He laced his fingers through her hair, which had gotten frizzy and curly in spots due to the heat. He took his hat off so the bill wouldn't knock her in the forehead and kissed her passionately, pushing their bodies together against the island.

"You're not wasting any time," she huffed between kisses.

"Do you want to waste time?" He panted.

"No. I've been thinking about this since the top of the first."

"Mmm, I love it when you talk dirty baseball to me." He grinned against her lips as she burst out laughing.

"C'mon, let's go upstairs." She took his hand in his as she led him up the stairs to his room. When they entered she shut the door behind them and they sat down at the foot of the bed.

"I want to thank you for today. I'm having such a great time out here. I'm not going to want to leave on Monday."

He rubbed the top of her hands with this thumbs. "Let's not go there right now."

"I know I shouldn't but I can't help..." She hiccuped a bit as she tried to fight off tears. She took a deep breath and started again. "I don't want this to sound corny, but I know it will. And I don't want it to scare you, but it may. It scares me. But I've never felt about any one the way I feel about you. I just can't imagine what it is going to be like going back to Minnesota and not seeing you everyday."

What she said did scare him, and he felt the same way. But he wasn't ready to admit it yet. So he showed her his feelings the only way he knew how.

He gently ran his palm over her cheek and she leaned into him. His other hand combed through her long hair as he leaned in and kissed her softly. She sat there passively as he continued to kiss her mouth and started to work his way down her chin to her neck. She moaned softly as he nipped and licked at the skin where the column of her neck met her shoulder. She arched her neck to the side to grant him more access. His hands slipped down to rub her stomach through her tank and her breath hitched when he slid his hand up to caress her breast.

Whatever playfulness they had in the kitchen was lost. The mood in the room was oddly serious all of the sudden.

He continued the assault on her neck and began to lift up the hem of her shirt.

"JC, look at me," she breathed.

His looked up and his eyes met hers. She grabbed his face and locked eyes with him. "I want this so much," she groaned before pulling him into a deep kiss. He moaned against her. The feeling of her tongue rubbing against his was amazing.

He continued to lift her shirt up and they pulled apart so he could get it over her head and toss it aside. They resumed kissing as he reached behind her to unclasp her bra. As he slid it down her shoulders he gently pushed her back so she was laying on the bed. He kneeled over her and looked at the sight below him. Her eyes were heavily lidded and she took deep breaths, causing her chest to heave. Her lips were swollen and wet from kissing. She looked beautiful.

"I can't remember the last time I was this turned on," she moaned.

He reached down to unbutton her shorts and he slowly pulled them down her legs. He could barely take the sight of her laying there in only her white boyshorts, on which he could make out a faint wet patch.

"Are you going to do something or just stare at me?"

"Staring is good." He slid his hand down to rub himself through his jeans. She groaned.

"Take your clothes off and get over here."

That was all he needed. He whipped his shirt over his head and fumbled with his pants.

"All of it." She demanded when he was down to his boxers.

He hesitated for a moment but pulled those off as well.

"Yes," she hissed as he crawled over her and kissed her hard. "Oh my God we should have done this sooner." She moaned between kisses.

"But then it wouldn't have felt as good. Not as much build up," he growled between kisses and slid down her body and took one of her nipples between his lips. She moaned as she arched her back of the mattress to lean into him. He continued his assult on her chest and gently rubbed his fingers over the wet spot on her underwear.

"Ahh," she nearly sobbed with pleasure. "This isn't fair. Let me touch you."

He ignored her request as he slid his tongue down her torso. He slid off the bed and knelt on the floor at the foot of the bed and pulled her forward so her legs hung over the edge. He leaned forward and very lightly ran his tounge over her underwear.

"Oh my God!" She moaned.

He pulled her underwear off and lifted her right leg to sit on his shoulder. He leaned in and placed a lazy open mouth kiss over her most sensitive of areas. Her leg tightened against his back in an attempt to pull him closer. He made his tongue taut and slowly slid it inside of her. He loved listening to her quickening breathing. He pulled back for a moment and slid a finger inside of her. He resumed his actions with his mouth and gently brushed her clit with his moistened finger.

"Jace, Jace stop!" She panted. "This isn't, this isn't how I want to..."

He finally pulled away and slid up her body and resumed kissing her. She reached down between them and rubbed him intimately.

"Nobody has ever made me feel that good."

"You say that to all the guys."

She used both hands to force him to look her in the eyes. "I'm not joking." She said in all seriousness, forcing them to maintain eye contact. "Only you," she moaned before kissing him again. After a few minutes of kissing JC pulled away and crawled over to his nightstand to grab a condom. After a few moments he slid it on, and looked down at her and ran a reassuring hand over her cheek.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Roll over though. I want to be on top."

He was going to make a joke about her being demanding, but he realized it was a sensitive moment and didn't. He laid back and she straddled him, slowly sliding down onto him. They both groaned.

"Sit up," she panted. He did so and she wrapped her legs around him, locking her ankles at his back. She moaned loudly with the change of angle. They slid their arms around each others' necks and rested their foreheads against each other as they slowly started their rhythm.

"Hannah, ugh," JC grunted.

She held onto him tighter as she rolled her hips against his faster. "JC it's so good. Ugh...I don't think anyone has ever been this deep before."

They kept like this for a few minutes before JC started kissing her. "I love kissing during sex," he mumbled.

"Me too. Why do you think I wanted this position?" she managed to squeak out between kisses. She moaned loudly with release when JC snaked his hand between them and rubbed her clit. Somehow through the quaking she managed to clench her walls around him and he followed shortly after her.

They sat there for a moment, taking everything in and kissing each other gently. Hannah rubbed her thumbs over his eyebrows, removing the sweat that had formed there. "Hannah, I've never..." he wasn't sure how to continue.

"Shh," she whispered. "Just hold me."

JC groaned as he rolled over and reached for Hannah, only to feel the mattress where she should be laying.

"Han, where are you?" He asked, silently praying for a response.

"I'm out on the patio. Come join me."

Relief washed over him as he slowly rolled out of bed. "6:22?" he muttered and slid on his boxer briefs. "Fuck its early."

His breath caught in his throat as he saw her reclining in the chaise lounger. The sun was rising over the hills and was reflecting off of her pale skin, making it appear golden in color. Her hair was loose over her shoulders and kinky in spots from sleeping. She wore a short, violet, satin robe that was loosely tied and falling open at her upper thighs. He had honestly never seen someone look so beautiful.

"Good morning." She beamed at him, and scooted to the side of the chair. She gently patted the small vacant spot next to her.

JC worked his way into the narrow space and they lay on their sides facing each other, legs instinctively intertwining.

"I'm so sorry I fell asleep right after JC. I was so tired." She ran a comforting hand over his cheek. "It had nothing to do with..." she paused. "It was amazing."

"Amazing is an understatement. Don't worry about it, I know you tired were, Han. It's OK."

She leaned over and brought her lips to his but did not kiss him. "I think you should walk around in those boxer briefs all day," she said as her lips rubbed against his.

He moaned at his body's response, even though she hadn't even kissed him. "Only if you promise to wear that robe."

She rolled over slightly so she was now on top of him, and began kissing and licking down his neck. "Mmm, I don't know," she moaned against his Adam’s apple, causing a vibration against his neck. "I think I'd prefer not to wear it."

JC grabbed her upper arms and pulled her up to him, kissing her forcefully. Whatever was happening between them felt incredible. Last night had been needy and emotional. This morning was sexy and playful. She didn't seem to be holding anything back with him and he loved it.

She pulled her lips away from his and brought her lips to his ear. "I didn't get to taste you last night, Jace. You have no idea how much I want to," she said with a playful bite of his earlobe. He just groaned in response. "Do you want me to?" she whispered. She reached her hand behind her to rub him over his underwear. "It feels like you do," she panted into his ear.

He bucked his hips to regain friction with her hand to no avail. "Shit Hannah."

"Hmm, I'll take that as a yes," She said as she slid her lips back down his neck, this time descending further and latching onto one of his nipples. She slid her left hand up his chest and over his chin, two of her fingers landing in his mouth as he sucked and licked them gently.

She stopped her assault on his nipple and sat up on his stomach, her fingers still in his mouth. The tie on her robe loosened and had fallen open, exposing her breasts to him. She rutted against him softly. "We should have been doing this all night. I can't believe I fell asleep," she muttered while pulling her fingers out of his mouth and running a trail of his saliva down his chest. "Nobody makes me feel the way you do JC," she muttered as she slid further down his body, licking his stomach at the top of his underwear band. He instinctively raised his hips to her, but she pushed his hip back down and giggled.

"Hold on, I'm getting there."

She sat back on her knees and tugged at the waistband of his underwear. "Lift," she demanded and he did, suddenly exposed to her completely. "Wait, nobody can see us out here can they?"

"Only from the other balcony," JC grunted. "But its really early, Ty isn't awake."

"Well in that case..." Hannah tossed her robe aside, forming a pile with JC's boxer briefs. She took him into her hand and stroked softly.

He panted quietly. "Hannah, Han..." He breathed deeply.

"What are you trying to say JC? Maybe that you want me to do this?" She asked before languidly licking up his shaft. "Or maybe this?" She ran her fingertips over his scrotum while she continued her assault with her tongue.

"Shit Hannah."

As this was happening, JC couldn't help to take a moment and think about how lucky he was to have found this woman. She was funny, smart, beautiful, amazing in bed...No wonder all of the woman he had dated in the past hadn't lasted. He didn't know it then, but none of them could hold a candle to her. She was perfect. For him, anyway.

He looked down at her continuing to pleasure him with her mouth and he groaned at the sight. He couldn't remember the last time he was this turned on. His hands gently played with her hair until he was about to reach his breaking point. He tried to pull her up off of him before he came, but she wouldn't let him. She took his hands from her head and laced his fingers between hers as he finished.

He fell back with a thump and she crawled up and snuggled against him, a bit chilled by the morning breeze.

"Hannah, you didn't have to..."

She placed a finger over his lips. "Shh. I know. I wanted to. You ought to know by now that I don't do things I don't want to, JC."

"You're an incredible woman Hannah." He kissed her softly and could taste himself on her lips. He had never done that before, but it didn't gross him out like he thought it might. In fact, he found it kind of hot.

They lay on the chaise for over an hour, snuggling under the blanket JC had grabbed from his room and just enjoying each other - both of them acutely aware this was the last morning they would be able to spend like this for quite some time.

------------

"You're sure this is what you want to do on your last day here?" JC asked as he backed out of his garage in his convertible.

"Yes! I never get to ride around in convertibles in Minnesota. Nobody I know has one because they don't make much sense. I just want to drive around and enjoy the scenery and feel the wind in my hair."

"Well if its what the lady wants..." JC said as he zipped out of the driveway.

Hannah laughed uncontrollably at his silly antics as he sped out of the driveway and called her "the lady." JC couldn't help but grin at her beaming smile as he drove her through the hills.

They spent the next three hours driving along the coast and feeling like they didn't have a care in the world. Record companies, friends, family problems - in this moment it didn't matter.

When they finally returned to JC's house, he led her downstairs into his studio. They plopped down onto the sofa, exhausted.

"So," he began, "I recall you saying you had written a new song and you were going to play it for me. Now is as good as time as any, I would say."

Hannah nudged him slightly in the ribs. "Well if you're going to force me, I guess..." and she sat at the piano. "OK, just keep in mind, this isn't a very deep song or anything. Its kind of silly, but I was in a silly mood when I wrote it. Seriously its not..."

"Quit stalling. Just play it."

"Fine," she huffed.

<i>It's not everyday/That I find a person quite like you/Perfect every way
I finally found the nerve to confess that it's you that I want/I don't care if I act a fool/I would damn near beg for you/Put aside, all my pride/So don't keep me hanging here
Cause this girl is falling stupid for you...
Oh, oh stupid for you...

The proper thing to do/Is for me to act like a lady and wait/For you to make the first move/
But I don't think you're getting the point/That it's you that I want/I don't care if I act a fool/I would damn near beg for you/Put aside, all my pride/So don't keep me hanging here
Cause this girl is falling stupid for you
Oh, oh stupid for you

Why's it always feel like I am/Chasing love when nothing's there/And here I go just making the same mistakes...

I've fallen stupid for you
Oh, oh stupid for you</i>

(Stupid For You - Marie Digby)

"Aww Hannah that was so cute," JC said as he took a seat next to her at the piano. "Very...bouncy."

"Quit making fun. I told you it was a silly song."

"I love it. And I'm glad you didn't act like a lady and wait for me to make a move because I wasn't going to. Even if it killed me."

"Yeah well, things worked out all right anyway, didn't they."

"They sure did," he mumbled as he kissed her. "Stay here, I have something for you."

JC ran out of the studio and upstairs to his bedroom. He hoped that his gift to her wasn't too much too soon, but he felt that he owed her something for all that she did for him that day in Minneapolis. When he found out she was coming to visit, he searched online for hours before he stumbled upon it. When he returned to the studio, Hannah was playing some tune he wasn't familiar with, but stopped immediately when she saw him bound in.

"If you don't like it, promise you'll tell me."

"Of course I will like it," she said as he sat next to her on the bench.

"But if you don't?"

"I promise," she said as she leaned him and kissed him softly.

"Its just something that reminds me of the day we met."

Hannah gasped as he handed her the light blue box she had only seen in movies, tied with a silver ribbon. Before she even opened it she stuttered, "Jace, I can't take this. Its too much, I..."

"Just open it." He urged.

Hannah looked up at him and he noted that her eyes were already wet, and she hadn't even opened the box. He watched her eyes widen when she opened the box and she immediately let out a sob.

"JC, its...I can't...I..." she set down the gift on top of the piano and slid into his arms, crying.

"Hey, hey now," he comforted. "It wasn't supposed to make you sad."

"I don't want to leave," she mumbled, trying to fight her tears. He put a finger under her chin and lifted her head to look at him. He wiped tears from her face with his thumb. "I don't want you to leave either, Han. This is going to be too hard. Maybe we shouldn't have..."

"No!" she interrupted forcefully. "We should have. We can deal with this. We have to. I'm just having a moment of weakness, that's all. Now put this beautiful necklace on me."

JC gently took the necklace out of the box as Hannah lifted her long hair so he could clasp the necklace. The tiny silver snowflake fell against her chest, and JC leaned forward to kiss the spot where is rested. Hannah laced her fingers through his hair and pulled his head up to meet her lips. They met in a passionate and needy kiss.

"When am I going to see you again?" Hannah asked between kisses. "Do I have to wait until Memorial Day? That's like five weeks away."

"When are you speaking in Chicago?" JC asked as his fingers slid up the back of her tank.

"May 9. A few days before Mother's Day."

"Can you stay through the weekend?"

"My mom will be upset but I can work it out." Hannah groaned as he slid her shirt over her head.

"My parents live in Chicago. I want you to meet them. Ty was right, my mom is going to love you."

"An odd thing to say while I'm undoing your zipper."

JC laughed. "But she will. So will my dad."

Hannah finished the last of the buttons on his shirt and slid it down his shoulders. "So we're that far along already, huh? Meeting the parents?"

"Too much too soon?" he asked, while unclasping her bra.

"No. I mean, I already know your brother. And you met the guy I lost my virginity to."

JC groaned. "Hannah, did you have to tell me that now?"

She giggled. "Don't worry, it wasn't any good. And it certainly didn't happen on a piano bench."

"Still."

"JC, I haven't been this happy in a really long time."

He stopped his frantic movements and looked into her eyes, which were still wet from left over tears.

"Remember when I asked what your defining moment was?" she continued. "I think mine is right now. This time in my life. The things I thought it was before - the end of my hockey career, my dad dying...they were all leading up to this moment. This time in my life when I finally feel like I can do anything that I want and nothing is holding me back. You helped me realize that."

He didn't know how to respond, so he leaned in and kissed her slowly, and ran his hands down her back.

-------

It had only been five hours since Hannah left, and JC already didn't know what to do with himself. After a teary goodbye and promises of seeing each other in two weeks, Hannah finally went through security and left him with a half-hearted wave. As he sat there now in his studio, unconsciously hitting random piano keys, he couldn't get the image of them making love on the very same bench out of his mind. A woman had never had this much pull over him. He took a deep breath, and began playing a song when his phone buzzed with a text message.

<i>I'm home safe. I have a secret. I might be falling in love with you</i>

----------

"Stupid for You" by Marie Digby

Hannah's necklace (just pretend there is a chain - lol)
http://www.tiffany.com/Shopping/item.aspx?sku=22640038&cid=287463&search_params=s+5-p+30-c+287463-r+-x+-n+6-ri+-ni+0-t&mcat=148204

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my big brother Joshua! And here I thought you were kidnapped by a rabid fan or something.”

“Shut up, Ty,” JC muttered as he went to the fridge for a Coke.

“What was I supposed to think? I haven’t seen you in like five days. Your girlfriend leaves and you’ve been holed up in your room ever since…”

“I wasn’t in my room,” JC interrupted sternly. “I’ve been in the studio. A lot.”

“Finally find a new muse?”

“You could say that.”

JC took a seat at the island, and glanced at the mess Tyler made on the table. He was surrounded in thick books and stacks of papers, which he frequently referenced while typing quickly. JC was always amazed by his brother and sister’s dedication to formal education. He just never had the patience to sit still and study like they did.

“Josh I haven’t really gotten a chance to talk to you since Hannah left. How are you doing?

“Fine. It sucks but…I mean I’m handling it. Really we didn’t even get together,” he emphasized with air quotes, “until this past weekend anyway. We’ve been dating, what? Six days? Four of which we haven’t even seen each other?”

“Yeah but,” Tyler paused. “Technically six days or not, it feels like you’ve been together a lot longer.”

JC responded with a half-hearted shrug.

Tyler continued. “I’m just really glad to see you so happy, even though you’re kind of mopey right now. I didn’t think you’d be able to fall so hard again after…”

“Don’t even mention her name.” JC interjected forcefully.

Tyler nodded. “OK, I won’t.”

They sat in silence a few moments before Tyler spoke up again.

“I think that when I’m the best man in your wedding I’m going to tell the story that you paid me to go to Vegas for the weekend so you could be alone with Hannah.”

“I didn’t pay you to go to Vegas, I paid for you to go. There’s a diff….Wait, what to you mean at my wedding?” JC asked incredulously.

Tyler shrugged nonchalantly. “I just think that this one has the chance to go all the way. I think she is just what you need. I only spent a few hours with the two of you, but the way you complimented each other…I’ve just never seen you like that with someone before.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, Ty.” As much as he wanted to shout out ‘we’re not getting married,’ he couldn’t. Ty did have a point. He had never felt so at ease around any of his girlfriends before. Tyler, and the rest of his family for that matter, always hated his girlfriends, so if Ty really liked her and thought this could last, maybe he was on to something.

“But um,” JC continued, “speaking of getting ahead of ourselves, what are you doing the weekend of the 10th?”

“Nothing! Finals are that week, so its my first weekend of freedom.”

“Want to go visit mom and dad? Its Mother’s Day weekend. And um, Hannah will be in Chicago. I’d like to see her.”

“Wait until mom finds out this has nothing to do with Mother’s Day and everything to do with you getting laid.”

“Tyler, when did you become such a fucking smart ass? I think I’m going to introduce Hannah to mom and dad.”

Tyler’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wow, already? I mean, I’m not really surprised, but…wow, I guess I’m really surprised.” He laughed. “I don’t think she who must not be named even met mom.”

“She didn’t. I guess deep down I just knew it wouldn’t work out.”

“Well mom and dad are going to go crazy for Hannah. So will Heather is she ever meets her.”

“So you’ll go then? I’ll get our tickets.”

“Yeah, I’ll go.”

“OK good, I’ll call mom and let her know. I have to tell her about Hannah anyway.”

“She won’t believe you.”

“Shut up you ass and finish your paper,” JC muttered under his breath as he walked away.

-------------------

From: joshua.scott@gmail.com
To: hjannsen@janssenspub.net
Date: May 2, 2007 at 5:57 p.m.
Subject: “What have you done with my son?!”

That’s what my mom said to me when I told her that I was bringing a girl home next weekend. My daily secret is this – I haven’t brought a girl home since the heyday of nsync. Her name was Bobbie (I’m sure you’ll hear more about her some other time…..) My parents hated her, so I just kind of quit bringing girlfriends home. So my mom was ecstatic when I told her about you. She said, “Joshua, a nice Midwestern girl is just what you need.” – ha ha – now you better impress! Kidding, you don’t have to do anything special. Just show up and she’ll adore you.

I adore you. I miss you.

-j

From: hjanssen@janssenpub.net
To: joshua.scott@gmail.com
Date: May 2, 2007 at 10:32 p.m.
Subject: Re: “What have you done with my son?!”

I miss you, too. This is stupid. I’m being such a freakin’ girl.

I was excited to meet your mom but now I’m just nervous! My mom wants to know when she can meet you, and she keeps whining that she can’t wait until Memorial Day. She was kind of bitchy when I told her I would miss Mother’s Day, but she can deal. Jens will call and she’ll forget all about me anyway 

Don’t you think I’ve forgotten that we’ve haven’t had “The Ex” conversations yet. Not that it really matters, but its good to get that stuff out of the way. I’ve been doing some online research, and I must say…I’m not an actress or a model, so I hope you don’t kick me to the curb. In my online research I also found this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vNUESlnxns

I also enjoyed parts 2 – 4.

“Quit yankin’ my chain!”

HA HA HA HA.

-h.

From: joshua.scott@gmail.com
To: hjannsen@janssenspub.net
Date: May 4, 2007 at 12:50 a.m.
Subject: Re: re: re: “What have you done with my son?!”

Stop googling me. Its not fair. And I’m not even going to dignify that link with a response.

I really wish you were in my bed tonight.

j.

-------------

JC groaned as his phone buzzed on his nightstand. He had just managed to fall asleep about a half hour ago, and now his phone was ringing at 1:30 a.m. “Who the fuck is calling me now?”

Hannah.

“Hi,” he mumbled in a gravely voice.

“Hi to you, too.” He could hear the flirtation in her voice. “I got your e-mail. You can’t send stuff like that and then go to bed.”

“Stuff like what?” He had no idea what was going on.

“Um, stuff like “I really wish you were in my bed tonight.”

“Its 3:30 where you are. Why are you awake?”

“I was working. Just got done cleaning up the bar for the night and I come home to that message. If it makes you feel any better, I wish I were in your bed tonight too.”

“Mmm,” JC groaned. “Is it Friday yet? I can’t wait to kiss you senseless.”

Hannah groaned in return. “Only four more days. So, we’re not staying at your parents’ right? I mean, I want to have wild, passionate, monkey sex and if we were at your parents’ house your mom would no longer think I’m a nice Midwestern girl,” Hannah laughed.

“We’re staying at the Park Hyatt. I’ll meet you there on Friday afternoon and we won’t head over to casa Chasez until Saturday afternoon – if that’s OK. My parents want to cook for us on Saturday.”

“I love the Park Hyatt! And its right by the Ghirardelli store. Even better! We’ll have to have sundaes,” she paused. “You know what the best thing about Chicago is?”

“What?”

“That we’ve both been there countless times. No need to sight see. We can stay in our hotel room the entire time.”

JC let out a quiet grunt and they laid in silence for awhile, comforted by the sound of each other’s breathing.

“I really miss you,” Hannah finally spoke quietly. “I fell really hard, really fast.”

“I think we both did,” JC replied softly.

“This distance thing….”

“Sucks?”

“Yeah. How are we going to do this?”

“I wish I could answer that.” 

“Its just…kind of strange before because I’ve never been this happy or this miserable in my life. It’s a bizarre contradiction.”

“I know,” JC whispered. There was an uncomfortable silence as JC tried to figure out what to say, but he had no idea. The distance thing was already a problem and it was only going to continue to grow.

“Jace, I’m falling asleep over here. I should go. Its almost 4 a.m.”

“Yeah, get some rest,” he paused, not quite knowing what to say. “I will see you on Friday, OK? 2:30, Park Hyatt lobby.”

“I’ll be there. Tell Tyler I can’t wait to see him.”

“I will.”

They were both quiet for a few moments before JC spoke up.

“One of us needs to say goodbye.”

“No, let’s just both hang up on the count of three. OK, one, two, three…”

And JC hung up.

“I think I’m falling in love with you too, Hannah,” he whispered to himself before dozing off.

“I’m so sorry I’m late. I’m entering the hotel right now. What room are we in?”

“No problem, Han.  We’re in 2437.

“OK, give me one minute.”

JC waited anxiously at the hotel room door for Hannah to arrive. They were supposed to meet in the lobby at 2:30, and it was 3:45 and she was just arriving. He assumed her conference was running late, but when he saw her through peep hole, she was carrying three shopping bags. He yanked open door before she could knock and yanked her in the room by her upper arm. He shut the door behind him and pushed her hard against the door in a needy kiss, causing her to drop her shopping bags and her suitcase.

“Were you skipping out on me to shop?” He asked between kisses.

“I had to buy a new dress to wear to your parents’ house,” She panted while pulling his pink polo over his head. “The conference ran a little long last night and I didn’t have time to go then.”

“Likely story,” he murmured as he unbuttoned her frilly blouse.

“I didn’t,” she groaned when his tounge ran over her breast, teasing her left nipple through her bra. “And I may have bought a treat for you for later tonight.”

JC pushed her skirt up and skillfully slid her underwear down her  thighs, toned from many years of skating. White cotton boyshorts like always. Usually he liked sexy, barely there undergarments, but with Hannah, he found her plain and modest choices dead sexy. He wasn’t planning on attacking her the second she walked in the door, but when he saw her walking down the hallway in her black pencil skirt, proper blouse and black heels, he couldn’t control himself. He loved the classy, businesswoman attire she wore to these conferences.

They continued to kiss as she helped him work his way out of his jeans. Soon he was naked and he pushed her up against the door again, bunching her skirt around her waist as he licked at her neck.

She skimmed her fingers down his back before resting them at the dip of his lower back and leaned in and whispered is in his ear, “Is this how you’re going to take me Jace? Right here against this door?” She licked the outer shell of his ear. He groaned.

“I can take you over to bed if you’d like,” he said while lifting her leg to rest on his hip. His hand slipped between them and he ran a finger over her, causing her to shudder.

“Here’s good,” she groaned as he slid a finger into her.  They made eye contact with each other and he slid in another finger.

“I missed you.” He said softly, slowing the pace of his hand.

“I missed you, too.” She leaned in to give him a slow kiss. After a few moments, Hannah increased the pace of the kiss and tried to get JC to speed up the pace of his hand. It wasn’t working.

“Jace,” she groaned as he sucked on her bottom lip. “Fuck me.”

JC wasn’t quite sure how to respond, so he just kept on kissing her and working with his fingers. He had never seen this side of her before. Not that she was ever shy about their lovemaking, but she caught him by surprise.

“Ugh, please, fuck me. Don’t make me beg.”

Who was he to deny her? There he was, just minutes after seeing her for the first time in two weeks, pounding into her with her legs wrapped around his waist and her skirt bunched above her hips. Not the reunion he was expecting, but defintiely good.

She laced her fingers through his hair and tugged his head back so he was looking up at her. “I’ve been thinking about this all day,” she moaned. “I barely made it through my presentation.”

He thrust harder.

“Mmm, you feel so good inside of me.”

He increased his pace.

“Ugh, yeah, right there baby. Right. There.”

JC was overcome with a wave of emotion. How had he been so lucky to find this woman who was smart, sexy, funny, beautiful, open, honest, and giving? He felt incredibly lucky. He felt her walls clench around him and he couldn’t handle it anymore.

“God, Hannah, I love you.” He grunted as he spilled himself inside her.

He froze instantly, horrified by what had just happened. He pulled out of her and carried her over to bed. He leaned forward and buried his head in his hands, and Hannah headed to the bathroom. She came out a few seconds later wrapped in a fluffy bathrobe and carrying one for JC.

“Here, put this on,” she said softly as she sat next to him on the edge of the bed. He obliged.

“Hannah, I am so, so sorrry.”

“For what?” she asked and placed a comforting hand on the back of his neck.

“For what?” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“That was not how that was supposed to happen. That was about the least romantic way I could have said that for the first time, fucking you against a hotel room door? Jesus!” He paused to gather his thoughts. “I didn’t even know that I felt that way. I mean, I knew I kind of did, but…I can’t think of anything less romantic than what just happened. God, you didn’t even finish!”

“Hey,” she said softly. “Hey, look at me.” She didn’t continue until he did. “First of all, hearing you say that to me felt better than any orgasm. Secondly, it was romanic in its own way. It was impulsive, unexpected. It wasn’t this big planned out ordeal. It was real. You said it when you felt it. It was completely honest.That’s all I could ask for.”

“So you really aren’t mad?”’ He couldn’t fathom that idea. Previous girlfriends of his would have given him the cold shoulder for weeks had he pulled a stunt like that.

“Not at all. Its always great to hear someone say those words to you, regardless of how it happens.”

“I don’t deserve you.”

She leaned in and gave him a hug. “Say it again,” she whispered.

“I love you.”

“Louder.”

“I love you”

“So only I can hear.”

“I love you,” he whispered into her ear. He couldn’t believe he was saying this multiple times and not running away. It had been a month and a half and he was already using the L word? This was getting out of hand. Yet somehow, he wasn’t scared.

“I love hearing you say that to me,” Hannah pulled him into a sweet kiss. “I’m sorry I was late today. I just really wanted to find something nice to wear to meet your parents tomorrow.”

“You know, we’re probably only going to have steaks on the patio. You can wear jeans. Its nothing fancy.”

“I just want them to like me.”

“They will love you. Regardless of what you wear.”

“Well I’m wearing the dress. Its too pretty not to wear,” she giggled for a moment before her face fell. “Oh, um, I need to, um, go clean up.”

His eyes widened in realization. “Oh shit, Hannah! I didn’t use a condom!”

“We, JC. We didn’t use a condom. Its both of our faults. I’m on the pill, so we don’t need to
worry about that. But um, you’ve been tested recently, right?”

“Two months ago. I was clean. Only a week or so before I met you actually. I’m always safe, I swear.”

“I trust you JC. I’m clean too. But um, we probably should have had this conversation before this happened. We both were being irresponsible.”

“Yes, we were.” He paused, and tried to lighten the mood. “So, can I help you clean up?” he
asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

------------------

The pair dined over a romantic seafood dinner at NoMi, the hotel’s restaurant overlooking the Magnificent Mile. Afterward, JC suggested they go to a concert at a small club north of downtown.

“My friend Tony is playing at this club tonight. I, um…I haven’t seen him in awhile.”

“I’m sure he will be really excited to see you,” Hannah said as she laced her fingers with JC’s on their walk down Michigan Avenue.

“We haven’t talked in over six months. I don’t think he’ll be excited to see me. I was a real asshole to him. I want to apologize but I haven’t tried too hard.”

“Its probably best to do it in person anyway. That’s hard when he’s in Chicago.”

“He lives in LA. He just happens to be playing here this weekend.”

“Oh. Can I ask what you did?”

“Things had been strained for awhile. He was getting married and we didn’t see each other much because of it. We were supposed to work on a project together and he bailed on me. Which wasn’t a huge deal, but it was kind of building up you know. Then we were out together one night...I got really wasted and was hitting on this girl – being kind of obnoxious – and Tony was trying to be helpful and intervene because I was being a jackass.  I made some dumb ass comment remark about him being jealous that he couldn’t get a girl that hot…completely insulting his fiance…and then I just went off – about how he was jealous of my fame, which he isn’t – just crap like that. It was so awful. He hasn’t talked to me since.”

Hannah stopped walking and faced JC, taking both of his hands in hers. “Do you want to know that truth JC?” He nodded. “That was really shitty. Really shitty. I wouldn’t talk to you either.”

“I know. And I didn’t mean it. Not any of it. I don’t know how to fix it.”

“Well you must have meant some of it, or you wouldn’t have said it. I think there were some issues there that needed to be addressed, and you picked the dumbest way to do it.”

“You don’t take pity on a guy do you?”

“No, not when they are idiots.”

“Yeah well, it was kind of that moment that made me realize I was acting like a real asshole lately. I started re-evaluating friendships and what was important to me. I’ve been kind of lost ever since.”

She gave him a reassuring sqeeze of his hands. “Do you think it is a good idea to go tonight?”

“I do. Even if I don’t talk to him. I just feel I should be there. I just want to see him perform. He’s incredible.”

“OK then, lets do it.”

JC and Hannah snuggled in a booth during Tony’s show and went relatively unnoticed. Some people were only fans of Tony because of JC and he knew that, so he dressed down and slipped his Minnesota Twins cap over his head. Nobody would expect to see him wearing that. He received a few questioning glances, but that was all.

Tony did notice him however, and for the most part tried to avoid eye contact, but three-quarters of the way through the show, when Hannah went to the bathroom, Tony shot JC a questioning look, and cocked his head to the side. JC knew he was trying to ask who the girl was. He just smiled at Tony in return.

They left right after the show. JC thought there might be a possibility Tony would talk to him after the show, but he wanted to take it one step at a time. The eye contact was good enough for tonight.

JC had the cab drop them off a few blocks away from the hotel so they could enjoy the walk the remainder of the way. The walked in silence for a bit before JC spoke up.

“Tell me something I don’t know about you.”

“Um. OK. Let’s see. I guess I need to tell you this eventually anyway, and I don’t want it to come up at your parents and catch you off-guard.”

“I don’t like the way you’re starting this.”

“Its nothing bad. Its just – I was engaged.”

“You were? To who?”

“His name was Jake. We were together about five years. We broke up right after my dad died. Our wedding was supposed to be three weeks after he died. I couldn’t go through with it. I was so upset and Jake was trying to comfort me. I just wanted him to go away. I realized something wasn’t right with that. Anyway, I called it off a week before the wedding.”

“Wow.  That was only a year ago wasn’t it?”

“A little over a year, yeah.”

“And you’ve moved on already?”

“Once you realize someone isn’t right for you, I don’t see any need to dwell in it.”

“I wish I knew how to do that. My last serious relationship fucked me up good. You’re the first person I’ve been serious with since her, and that was two years ago.”

“Eva?”

JC groaned.

“I’m sorry, I know you asked me not to google you.”

“No, I know. I would probably google me too if I were you. But yeah, Eva.”

“What happened?”

“She was cheating on me for about half of our relationship. We dated a year.”

“I’m really sorry. If that were the case with me, I would be messed up for awhile too. With Jake I just realized he wasn’t the one. There weren’t necessarily hard feelings. We just grew apart.”

“I became a real asshole after that. I just went clubbing most nights, drank too much and got high too often. I wasn’t surrounding myself with good people. I’m working on that. I’m slowly rebuilding myself into the person I know I am.”

Hannah slipped the key into the lock and they entered the hotel room. She turned to JC and took his face in her hands. “I love the person you are.”

JC beamed and leaned into kiss her. “Why didn’t you say so earlier.”

“I didn’t want you to settle for a ‘me too.’ I love you JC.” He pulled her into a tight embrace. “Thank you for tonight. I had an amazing time.”

“I did too. You’re a good date, Han. Thanks for meeting me in Chicago.”

“Anytime.” She paused. “Hey JC?”

“Yeah?”

“I think we should break in that amazing bathtub we have in there.”

“Mmm, I think you’re right.”

“I need to relax before tomorrow.”

“Stop worrying about meeting my parents.”

“I can’t help it.”

“Well come on. Get in the tub and let me give you a massage to relieve some tension.” JC offered as he pulled her into the bathroom.

------

Links:

Hannah in her 'business outfit' that turns JC on so much: http://images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/20070830/293.garner.jennifer.083007.jpg

Park Hyatt hotel room: http://parkchicago.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/gallery/index.jsp?roomId=969&tabType=photo&start=1

“Stop fidgeting.”

“I’m not fidgeting.”

“You are. Look, I know you’re nervous, but they are going to love you. How can they not?”

“OK, JC do you want to know the truth? I know that I’m 29 and this is going to sound ridiculous, but this is the first time I’ve met the parents before. I knew Pat the whole time we were growing up so his parents were like parents to me. And with Jake, he was raised by a single mom and she passed away before we met. Those were my most serious relationships; I never really made it to the parents’ stage with anybody else.  So I’m sorry that I’m making a big deal out of this, but it’s new, OK?” she said, obviously annoyed.

JC sighed as he turned the rental car onto his parents’ street. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I know it’s a big deal to meet somebody’s parents. But my parents are really cool. You don’t need to try to impress them. You make me happy. That’s all they care about.”

“I will try to relax. I promise.”

JC pulled into his parents’ driveway, shifted to park and shut off the car. He turned to Hannah for one last private moment before they were assaulted with questions. “You look beautiful today. I love the dress.”

“And you wanted me to wear jeans,” she said with a teasing tone to her voice.

“And you’re wearing the snowflake,” he said while leaning in to kiss her lightly. He looked up at her and smiled. “You ready for this?”

“Yeah, let’s go in.”

JC and Hannah gathered their gifts from the backseat – JC carrying a bouquet of flowers and a small jewelry box and Hannah carrying a gift bag. They started up the walk to the house and before they even made it to the stoop the front door swung open.

“Joshua, you’re here!” a petite blond woman said as she stepped onto the porch.

“Hi mom!” JC exclaimed as he wrapped the short woman in his arms. “Happy Mother’s Day!”

“Oh thank you, honey. I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, momma,” He said while pulling back from the embrace.  Noticing Hannah standing awkwardly behind him, he stepped aside and nudged her forward. “Mom, this is my girlfriend Hannah.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Chasez,” Hannah greeted while extending her hand.

“Oh please dear, call me Karen. And we hug in this family,” Karen said while pulling Hannah into an embrace. “You have no idea how excited I am to meet you. Joshua hasn’t brought a girl home in almost 10 years.”

“Mom…” JC knew the embarrassment was evident in his voice. But Karen continued.

“I have one son who won’t stop raving about you,” nodding her head toward the house, “and another son who has told me nothing about you,” she concluded, gesturing toward JC. “I can’t wait to find out everything Joshua has been keeping from me.”

“If you keep embarrassing me mom, you’re not getting your flowers.”

“Oh stop it Joshua. Give me those.”  She grabbed the flowers from his hand.

“So mom, are you going to invite us in, or do we have to stand on the stoop for the rest of the day?”

“Why of course, come on in,” she said while ushering them forward. “And the flowers are beautiful, sweetie. Thank you so much. I’m so glad you are home.”

“Me too, mom.”

“Your father and brother are on the patio firing up the grill. We got some beautiful steaks. I hope that is OK, Hannah. Tyler said he didn’t think you are a vegetarian.”

“Oh, no.  I’m not.  Steaks sound wonderful.”

“Great. Why don’t you guys go out back and say hello, and then join me in the kitchen. I would like to chat while I finish up dinner.”

“See, that wasn’t so bad,” JC whispered as they set their gifts on a table in the foyer and headed out to the patio.

“No, it wasn’t. You mom seems really sweet.”

“There’s my girl!” Tyler shouted as he slammed the screen door while running into the kitchen. He ran to Hannah, picked her up and spun her around.

“Tyler James, do not slam the door and set the poor girl down. She just got here; we don’t want to scare her away already.

“Oh she loves it, don’t you Hannah?” He grinned.

“It is part of you charm,” she giggled.

JC sat down on a barstool around the large island and smiled. This is how it should be, he thought. Nothing was better than spending a Saturday afternoon grilling out with his parents; his girlfriend joking around with his family. For the first time in a really long time, he felt content. If he never got his career back on track, he was starting to think it would be OK. Maybe he didn’t need that to be happy. Maybe he just needed this.

Karen snuck up behind him and whispered in his ear. “I see you smiling like a fool, Joshua. She really makes you happy doesn’t she?”

He turned and beamed at his mother. “Yeah mom, she does.”

“Josh!” JC heard a shout from the patio. “Aren’t you going to come say hello to your father, slaving over the hot grill?”

“You’d better go, honey.” And Karen gave him a light pat on the back.

JC pulled Hannah away from Tyler’s innocent flirting and they stepped onto the patio, where Roy was grilling the steaks and baked potatoes wrapped in tin foil.

“Josh, how are you doing, son?” Roy asked as he pulled JC into a long embrace.

“Good dad. I haven’t seen you guys in such a long time. You need to get out to L.A. soon.”

“And you need to come to Chicago more. And Florida. Your sister was complaining to me the other day that she never sees you anymore.”

“I know, I’ve been really bad about that lately,” JC admitted.

“Now tell me who this lovely young woman is.”

“Dad, this is my girlfriend Hannah, Hannah, my dad, Roy.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, sir,” Hannah spoke shyly.

“Likewise my dear. And please, sir makes me so uncomfortable. Please just call me Roy.”

Hannah nodded. “Those steaks look amazing!”

“They will be. My dad makes the best marinade,” JC added.

“Well I don’t know about that, but I do know its damn good!”

“Josh, Hannah – I need your help in the kitchen!”

“Good luck you guys. She’s going to grill you with 100 questions.” Roy chuckled before returning his attention to the grill. “I’ll get caught up on everything I need to know about you two later.

And with that, JC and Hannah returned to the kitchen for their inquisition.

*****************

Forty-five minutes later, everyone was gathered around the patio table on the large deck passing the salad Karen assembled. JC and Hannah assisted with chopping the vegetables as Karen questioned them about their weekend in Chicago. Hannah fielded many questions about her speaking engagement, and JC fielded many questions, albeit silently with motherly glances, when he mentioned Tony’s concert the previous evening. Karen did an admirable job avoiding questions about their relationship until Roy could join them at the table.

“Well, I would just like to start dinner by saying how grateful your mother and I are to have you boys home this weekend. This family doesn’t get together nearly enough. I spoke with Heather earlier and she said to tell you all she is here in spirit,” Roy paused for a moment. “And Hannah, it is a pleasure to meet you and to welcome you into our home tonight. I know we don’t know each other that well yet, but I hope tonight is one of many nights that we get to spend with you. Obviously you’re something special to Josh, so you’re always welcome here.”

Hannah smiled broadly and a slight blush washed over her cheeks. JC gave her hand a reassuring squeeze under that table and flashed her an “I-told-you-so” look.

“Thank you so much for inviting me here this evening. I’m having a great time so far, and I am looking forward to getting to know you better, as well.”

“OK,” Karen spoke up. “Enough of the pleasantries. We’re all glad everyone is here, yada, yada. I want to know everything about you two. Joshua has told me nothing, and Tyler for once is keeping his mouth shut and telling me it is not his place to tell.”

“Thanks mom,” Ty muttered.

Hannah chuckled. “What would you like to know?”

“Easy question first. Where did you guys meet?

“Well,” JC began. “I had to go to Minneapolis to do some voiceover work for that movie I shot. Of course of all the weekends I had to go, Minneapolis was walloped with a blizzard.”

“I’d hardly call 15 inches a blizzard. Just typical,” Hannah interrupted.

JC winked at her. “Anyway, there I was at 8:00 a.m. already sliding around in 3 inches of snow, and I got completely lost. I found this little tavern and nearly took out the mailbox when I hit some ice. I decided to go in and ask for directions. And there was this beautiful woman working behind the bar.”

“I own a bar with my brother. My parents started it not long after they were married, and Jens and I took over after our father passed away.”

“It’s the greatest bar. I hung out for a little bit admiring all of this one’s hockey trophies. She used to be an Olympian, you know.”

“Almost an Olympian,” Hannah emphasized.

“A hockey player with a brother named Jens Janssen? This sounds like a bad Minnesota stereotype,” Roy joked.

Hannah chuckled in return. “I know. My family is 100% Norwegian. My father did not let us forget it. Ever.”

JC continued. “While I was enjoying a beer at 8:30, I got a call that the session was canceled because it was supposed to snow all day. So I hung out for awhile and pretty much got snowed in.”

“Luckily I live in the apartment above the bar, so I didn’t have to unleash JC on the roads. He almost crashed in three inches of snow. I couldn’t let him go out there in 12 inches. I love my fellow Minnesotans too much to put their lives in danger like that,” Hannah joked and everyone laughed.

“I left the next morning but we stayed in contact through e-mails and phone calls. Sometimes multiple times a day.  And it just so happened that Hannah was coming to LA for a conference. We hung out that weekend and things just progressed from there. So we didn’t technically get together until LA.”

“Ew.” Tyler muttered from across the table.

“Not what I meant, ass.” JC kicked Tyler under the table and Hannah blushed with embarrassment. “I mean, that’s when we started dating. Before that we were just friends, but,” JC paused. “We weren’t though. We were just trying to pretend we were just friends because of the distance.”

JC looked at his parents to gauge their reactions. His mom had a goofy grin on her face and his dad seemed to be processing it all.

After a few moments Roy spoke up. “Wasn’t your trip to Minneapolis the first week in April?”

‘Shit.’ JC thought. This was the line of questioning he was trying to avoid. He knew what his dad was getting at.

“It is May 9.” Roy added.

“Yup.”

“So…you’ve been dating since, what? Late April?”

“I know it seems fast dad, but I mean, we talked every day for a month. We know each other better than most people who have been dating for much longer.”

“I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with that Josh. I was just making sure I had my facts right.”

“We’re not questioning your feelings, honey,” Karen spoke up. “It’s just so unlike you.”

“Well, this one is different,” JC said as he smiled at Hannah. Tyler made gagging noises across the table, and this time Hannah was the one to give him a kick.

“I can’t help but notice your necklace dear. It is beautiful.”

“Why thank you,” she said as she gently touched the charm. “JC gave it to me.”

“Aww, to remind you of the day you met, I’m sure. I never knew you were such a romantic, honey,” Karen gushed.

They continued to chat over dinner, mostly talking about Hannah’s family and business and Tyler’s summer classes. They also caught JC and Tyler up on what Heather was doing in Florida. JC was happy with the way the evening was playing out. Conversation flowed easily and Hannah seemed to fit right in. After JC, Tyler and even Hannah gave Karen her Mothers’ Day gifts, Tyler cleared the table of the desert dishes.

There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Roy spoke up. “So guys, what is the next step then? Things are moving pretty fast…I assume Hannah is moving to LA?”

The air was heavy for a moment while JC and Hannah sat in shock.

“I, um...,” Hannah began. “We haven’t really discussed that yet.”

“Well would you consider it? I mean, Josh can’t work out of Minnesota.”

“Dad!”

“Well, wow. Um…I’m not really sure, I…” Hannah stammered.

“I’m sorry, dear. We don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. How about we all have a glass of wine and play a game or something. Trivial Pursuit?”

JC shot Roy an angry look before resting his hand on Hannah’s back and leading her into the house. “I’m sorry,” he whispered quietly. “He wasn’t trying to be rude or make you uncomfortable.”

“I know.”

But the ease they all felt earlier was gone, as they gathered together for an awkward round of Trivial Pursuit.

"Josh, did Hannah say in her email if we needed to bring any sporting equipment?" Tyler asked as he took the corner too fast and ran into the doorjamb.

"'Graceful, Ty." JC tossed a third sweatshirt into his suitcase. "No, she did not comment on our sporting equipment needs. Why would we need to bring sporting equipment?"

"Well like a baseball glove or a Frisbee or something. Its the middle of the fucking woods, we're going to need something to do."

"I'm sure they will have all of that stuff there. If not, we'll go buy it. No sense in packing it. Besides, we're going to be on a lake with boats, jet skis, tubing. There will be plenty to do."

"Well how would I know? I've never been to the little house in the big woods before."

"Wow, great literary reference. You think you're so clever, don't you?"

Tyler grinned. "I don't think, I know. Why the hell are you packing three sweatshirts? We are only going to be there three nights."

"Hannah said it gets cold at night."

"And you can't wear the same sweatshirt more than one night in a row? You're such a fricken' girl."

JC sighed and ran a hand over his head. "You're right. I have no idea what I'm doing. How do you pack for this shit?"

"You listen to your girlfriend. I brought two pair of shorts, a pair of jeans, swim trunks, some T-shirts, and a sweatshirt, just like Hannah's email told us to." Tyler walked over to JC's suitcase and inspected it further. "Josh, what the hell is wrong with you. Why do you have a dress shirt and that damn vest in here?"

"We'll we're having dinner with her mom on Thursday night."

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure Hannah said jeans and hoodies were acceptable."

"She wore a dress to mom and dad's when I told her jeans were acceptable."

"You really are a fucking girl. So, what time does our flight leave tomorrow again?"

"We leave LAX at 10:00, get to Minneapolis at 3:00 p.m. Hannah's picking us up and taking us to her mom's house, where we'll have dinner. We'll stay at Hannah's for the night though because she has to wrap some stuff up at the bar."

"Awesome, I want to see that place."

"Then we leave for Brainerd at 8:00 on Friday morning."

"Shit that's early," Tyler whined.

"Its like a three hour drive so you can sleep in the car."

"So how's Hannah been? I haven't talked to her other than a brief email back when she sent the "what to pack" email."

"I haven't talked to her much lately either," JC replied while inspecting his suitcase and removing items he really didn't need. "She's been really busy at work, and I've been in the studio. Just a random text here and there."

Just as JC finished his sentence his phone buzzed, alerting him of a new text message.

"Well I'll leave you alone in case she wants to have text sex."

Tyler left the room and JC took a seat on his bed and grabbed the phone off of the night stand. He really hoped it was Hannah. It had been three days since they last spoke. He was used to daily e-mails or phone calls, so this three-day communication drought really threw him off. He kept telling himself that it wasn't a big deal and he's see her tomorrow anyway. He smiled as he ran his finger over the phone's touch screen, expecting to see an "I miss you," "I love you," or a "See you tomorrow!" He wasn't prepared for what he saw instead.

Saw you at the Chi show. Thx. In LA again. Drink later?

Tony.

Two and a half weeks later and Tony finally acknowleged with more than a head nod that he's seen him in Chicago. JC beamed. It wasn't fixed yet, but it was getting closer. A long talk over drinks was just what they needed.

Of course. Tell me the time and place and Ill see u there.

He sighed and took a seat on the edge of his bed. This is what he wanted to happen more than anything. All he wanted was for Tony to talk to him again and this was a start. He didn't care if Tony sat there the whole time and screamed at him or if he decked him in the face. Anything was better than the total lack of communication they had going now.

Eds. 10:30.

Of course Tony would pick Ed's. Just to torture me, JC thought. That was the bar where this whole drama went down in the first place.

"Was that my future sister-in-law?" Ty shouted from down the hall.

"Would you fucking stop staying that? No, it was Tony, actually."

Ty stopped in the doorway, a look of shock on his face. "Tony, really?"

"He wants to get a drink tonight."

"You gonna go?"

"Of course I'm going to go. Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know. I just thought maybe you were done. You haven't talked about it in awhile. So I figured..."

"I've been trying to get him to return my calls and e-mails for the last 4 months, Ty."

Tyler looked surprised. "Oh."

"Hannah and I went to his show in Chicago and he saw me. I think that finally made him contact me."

"Well I'm going to be honest with you, Josh. I'm really glad you're making such an effort to get Tony to forgive your sorry ass. He's one of your few true friends. Your other friends are losers."

"Those are mostly your friends too, Ty."

"I know, but let's be honest. They're fun but they aren't real friends, you know?"

"I'm glad I wasn't the only one who has been thinking that. I've been questioning a lot of their shit lately."

"You better finish packing. Could be a late night for you, and it will be a long-ass day tomorrow. Tell Tony I say hey," and Tyler left JC to his packing.

********

Already halfway through his second beer, JC sighed deeply and looked at his phone again. 11:10. Tony was 40 minutes late without so much as a text or a call. Defeated, he downed the last of his beer, pocketed his phone, and headed out the door. He was a half a block down the street when he heard feet pounding the pavement behind him.

"Hey, wait up! Sorry man," Tony panted. "My show ran late, and I forgot my phone."

"Oh yeah, um, no problem." JC was actually rather pissed, seeing as he had to catch a flight the next morning, but he let it roll of his back. He had no right to be the upset one right now. "So um, how ya doin'?"

"Good man. Its um, great to see you. Its been awhile."

JC swallowed hard, hoping the awkwardness of the situation would disappear.

"Yeah. Look, Tony..."

"Let's go grab a beer. No use hashing this out on the street."

Tony turned, and JC followed him back into Ed's. They each downed their first beer in seconds, hoping the bitter liquid would help them say what they really wanted to say. Two beers in, Tony finally spoke up.

"I was pretty convinced I was never going to talk to you again. But you're a persistant little fucker."

"I was a complete fuck. I know that now. I knew that then, the minute I said it. But I was too stubborn or whatever to admit what douche I was being."

"You were a complete and utter shit is what you were."

"I know," JC said quietly, as he motioned for another round of beers. It was a good five minutes before Tony spoke up again.

"I'm not saying I'm over it. But I'm getting there. I'm going to sound like a woman, but I kind of miss having you around. I mean you've been such a huge part of my life. I can't just forget about that."

"What can I do, Tony? I mean, first, I want you to know that I love Miri, I do. She's great and, I never meant to hurt her in anyway with the things I said."

"Well you won't do anything to make it up to her because she doesn't know. I made up some dumb story about why were were fighting. I couldn't tell her the truth."

"Fair enough."

"You'll make it up to me though. I don't know how, but you will."

"I will, I swear." JC paused and took a deep breath. "Look Tony, this is going to sound all zen-like and shit. So actually you'll probably be into it," Tony chuckled as JC continued, "but I've recently kind of forced myself to reflect and evaluate my life after I realized what a fucking loser I'd been acting like. I didn't like where things were headed. I'm working on purging the negative influences in my life."

"You can start with that fuckwad manager of yours. Seriously, half of the problems in your life are because of that incompetant loser and his cronies."

"I'm starting to realize that."

"Why the sudden realization?"

"Well after I messed up our friendship, I did some serious soul searching. Realized I was hanging around with loser, partying too much. And then there was Hannah..."

"The stunner that was at the concert with you?"

"Yeah, took her home to meet the parents."

"Woah woah, who the hell are you?"

"Hell if I know. I've known the girl two months and I've introduced her to my parents and dropped the L word. Its fucking weird, but it is right this time. I know it."

Tony reached over and patted JC's shoulder. "I'm really happy for you, man."

"Thanks Tony. I hate to cut this short, but its already 12:30, and I have to fly to Minnesota in the morning."

"What's in Minnesota?"

"She is."

"When you get back, you're telling me all about this girl."

"I will, man. I'm sorry, again - I'll be saying it until I die. Thanks for calling me though."

"Thanks for harassing me and making me realize I couldn't throw away more than 15 years of friendship."

Tony pulled JC into a friendly hug, and JC felt relief wash over him. Finally things were right again, and for the first time in years, he felt truly happy.

"Oh, Ty says hi." JC shouted back as he exited the bar.

"Yeah whatever. Tell that little fuck I want my guitar back. He's never going to learn how to play that thing."

JC let out a hearty laugh. "I'll tell him you said so."

Once back at his car, JC pulled out his phone and checked his e-mail. One message - from Hannah, finally.

From: hjanssen@janssenspub.net
To: joshua.scott@gmail.com
Date: May 26, 2007 at 10:47 p.m.
Subject: :D

How did we let three days pass without so much as a word to each other? This is unacceptable! So do you have any idea how excited I am for you to come here tomorrow? I have it all planned - dinner at my moms, then I thought we could walk down to Lake Harriet and catch the concert at the bandshell and pick up some Sebastian Joe's Ice Cream on the way. I can't wait to show you and Ty around my old neighborhood.

And the cabin, oh the cabin will be so much fun. So this is everyone that is coming: Me, you, Ty, my mom, uncle Rob and aunt Gwen, uncle Joe and aunt Sarah, my cousins RJ (Rob Jr.), Alicia, Max, and Mallory, and my uncle Rob might bring my grandma for a day or two - oh, this is all my mom's family by the way. And all of my cousins are in their 20s so Tyler will not feel like a third wheel at all. I probably told you this already, but I'm so excited. Clearly I'm rambling.

You're going to love Minnesota so much you're never going to want to leave!

Love you -

h.

JC beamed. All of the pieces of his life were finally falling into place.

"Looks a little different this time of year, doesn't it?" Hannah said as she drove JC and Tyler away from the airport.

JC chuckled. "Yeah, they have roads here. Who would have thought. I thought people just drove around on ice all the time."

"Kind of like Mario Kart," Tyler piped in from the back seat.

"You guys are such losers," Hannah chuckled. "So there has been a change of plans. My mom actually drove up north today to pick up my grandma because my uncle couldn't do it. So, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to meet her along with everyone else. But I still thought we'd go to her house for dinner tonight because I want to show you guys where I grew up. And the Minnesota Orchestra is having a free concert at the bandshell nearby, and we'll just happen to pass my favorite ice cream place."

"Sounds perfect to me," Tyler chirped.

JC reached over and took Hannah's hand into his own and gave her a gentle smile. She glanced at him, her eyes sparkling. JC couldn't get over how happy she looked. "I missed you," he mouthed so Tyler couldn't hear.

Her smile widened, if that was possible, and she lifted his hand to her chest, returning her eyes to the road.

"Hey is that the Mall of America?" Tyler asked.

"Sure is. Don't get too excited. Its not that great. Besides, you live in LA. You can shop at the best places anytime you want."

"Well I've just always thought it looked cool. I always loved the scene in the Mighty Ducks where they skate around it."

Hannah guffawed. "Yeah, that would never happen. Sadly, I don't think we can squeeze it in. Next time, OK." JC noticed Hannah glance up and smile into her rearview mirror and his chest constricted a bit. The relationship Hannah was forming with Tyler was quite touching. Hannah merged onto a new highway and they got a view of the Minneapolis skyline.

"It really is a beautiful city," JC commented.

"I'm surprised its that big actually. I always thought it was a lot smaller," Tyler added.

"Common misconception. People think its all small-town hockey hicks or something, but it really is a very cultural city with a big music and theater scene. Where we're going tomorrow, now that's a little different." Hannah winked. "No, actually the Brainerd area is full of a lot of wealthy people with fancy vacation homes, so its not really like that either. It's quite nice."

"So are we camping? Or staying in a fancy vacation home?" JC asked.

"Well, technically we aren't camping, camping. Like, we're not in tents or anything. Its a cabin, but its nothing fancy. I mean, we'll have a bed to sleep in, but some rooms are like four people to a room." Hannah continued as she exited the highway. "Are you guys cool with pizza for dinner? I haven't had Pizza Luce in awhile, and I hate cooking in other people's kitchens."

"Pizza is cool with us." JC commented before Tyler could chime in.

"Pefect."

It was only a few more minutes before they pulled into the driveway of an arts-and-crafts style, two-story house. The neighborhood was made up of houses very simliar in nature, and they were all surrounded by mature, lush maple trees. Every house had a large yard, many with tire swings hanging from trees out front. Down the street he could see a lake glistening in the sun. It certainly looked like an idyllic place to grow up.

"We'll this is it! Home sweet home! Sure as hell beats my little apartment, doesn't it, Jace?"

"You grew up here? This is amazing," he said as he lifted his suitcase from her Jeep.

"Can't complain. I had plenty of room to run around, the lake is right down the way. There was always something to do. I would buy this house if I could. My mom was going to sell it after dad died - its way too big for just one person - but we just can't bear to part with it. She's actually starting to passively look for a condo or something, but it probably wouldn't be for a year or so. We're all so hesitant to let it go, and she has dreams of throwing Jens a huge welcome home party here when he returns."

"Well you certainly have a great yard for it."

After getting the tour, they gathered around the kitchen island and played Uno until the pizzas were delivered. They fixed their plates and headed to the deck, which overlooked Carole's stunning gardens.

"My mom doesn't work and she's lonely. She spends a lot of time with her plants." Hannah explained after Tyler complimented the flowers. "I try to spend as much time with her as I can, but I can only hang out with my mom so much you, know?"

They ate in relative silence, just enjoying the pleasant May evening. When they were finished they changed into jeans and sweatshirts - it was starting to get a bit chilly - and headed toward the lake.

"First we need to stop at Sebastian Joes. Best ice cream ever!" After ordering their Oreo waffle cones, Hannah had made new fans out of JC and Tyler.

"You need to send me some of this for my birthday." JC groaned as he licked his cone. She chuckled. "You laugh, but I'm completely serious."

"Seriously, Han. It really is the best I've had." Tyler added.

"It is, isn't it? There is a place in St. Paul that comes close, but it can't quite top this."

They reached the end of the road and then turned the corner, and JC finally got a full view of the lake. It wasn't that big - probably only three miles in circumference - but it was beautiful. It was surrounded with homes similar to Hannah's and the jogging and bike paths were filled with runners, famililes, and pets enjoying the evening. From where they stood, you could see the city's skyline, but none of the nearby hustle and and bustle because the lake was surrounded by trees. It was a little oasis right in the middle of the city.

"This is so cool. So we are right in the middle of the city right now, right?" JC asked.

"We are! There is a chain of lakes that runs through the city. So if you go up that way," she pointed west "there is Lake Calhoun, and on the other side of that is Lake of the Ilsles. This is Lake Harriet, but all three are there, right in a row. A few blocks either way and you're in the middle of an urban area. A nice escape from city life, isn't it?"

"I've never seen anything like it." He responded. Tyler responded by checking out a girl jogging past him.

"Yeah, beautiful," he mummbled. "I think I like Minnesota."

Hannah flung a friendly arm around Tyler's shoulders and locked JC's fingers in her other hand. "C'mon boys, let's grab a seat."

They took a seat in the grass behind the bleacher seats of the bandshell, and they listened to the music of the orchestra for about a half an hour, the sounds soothing on the peaceful night. It was getting late, so they walked back to Hannah's childhood home, and headed to Hannah's apartment for the night.

JC practically purred with contentment when he woke up the next morning. Hannah was spooning him (how that had happened he wasn't sure, because he was fairly certain he was spooning her when their night ended) and she had her face buried in his neck, placing tiny kisses along his jaw and ear. He groaned in appreciation.

"Hey sleepyhead, you're finally awake!" Hannah said while scraping his nails over his chest.

"Mmm, why don't I wake up this way everyday?"

"We'll you can for the next three days."

"You said we are sharing rooms?"

"Well we are, but you and I are sharing a bed. We can get all snuggly. We just have to put the kibosh on what happened last night."

"I'm visiting you and we only get to have sex one night? Brutal."

"Well I'm not sure that's true. We can always sneak away. Plus, I may have something planned."

"Something planned? Oh, do tell!"

"Its a surprise." She nipped his ear. "Now go take a shower. We need to hit the road."

-----

In the end, it took about four hours for the three to reach the cabin, as the highways were full of holiday travelers. JC and Tyler found themselves a bit bored by the drive, even though Hannah tried her hardest to entertain them with funny stories of drunken idiots at the bar, or stories of her crazy cousins. They found their attention waning and about an hour and a half in, both of the Chasez boys fell asleep.

"Looks like we're the last ones here," Hannah commented aloud to herself, and JC and Tyler shifted at the sound of her voice. "Wake up guys, we're here. And get ready to be greeted by my crazy family because they are all coming out to meet us."

JC wiped a hand over his tired face and groaned. "I'm never going to remember them all. Why did I agree to an extended family outing?"

Tyler piped up from the backseat. "Woah, is that one of your cousins? She's smokin'."

"Yes, that's Mal. I should have warned you Jace, she was a huge fan of yours back in the day. And she has no idea who I'm dating, so this should be interesting. But she's 25 now, so hopefully she can pull it together."

They exited the Jeep and JC and Tyler went around the back to unload their bags, while Hannah ran up to greet her family. It was probably best if she should greet them first before having to introduce everyone, JC thought. When he and Tyler finally walked around to the front of the truck, the Anderson's were all lined up, waiting to be introduced. Before Hannah could even say anything, the girl he was assuming was Mallory gasped, and brought her hand to her mouth.

"You must be Mallory," JC smiled and reached to shake her hand. This was all a little awkward, but this was Hannah's family, so he was going to suck it up and deal with it the best he could.

"Yes," she gulped, trying her hardest to keep her cool. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." Hannah let out a hearty guffaw and hugged her cousin.

"Oh Mal, nice cover. Just chill out girl."

"Nana, how could you not tell me this?"

"Because I wanted to see your face when you met him. And trust me, you did not disappoint." The remainder of her family stood looking confused, so Hannah went down the row with introductions. "This is my family - you've met Mal, this is her brother Max, and their parents Joe and Sarah, and this is my Uncle Rob and my aunt Gwen, and their kids RJ and Alicia. And last but not least, this is my lovely mother Carole. Everyone, this is my boyfriend JC, and his brother Tyler. They came from LA to be with us this weekend"

JC waved awkwardly, and wasn't quite sure what to do. Mass introductions were always uncomfortable and he knew he wouldn't remember any names later. But knowing it was best to get into mom's good graces first, he approached Carole with a quick hug.

"I'd a pleasure to meet you. Hannah's told me so much about you," He said as he took in her features. She was very tall and fit, and wouldn't look a day over 45 if it weren't for her silvery hair. It was obvious that Hannah got her athletic build from her mother.

She smiled at him in return, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Its nice to meet you too, JC. I hope you didn't find the drive up too dull."

JC stiffenend at the lack warmth in her welcome. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he got the sense that she wasn't all that impressed with him. 'Oh well,' he thought to himself, 'I have a weekend to get her to like me.'

"No, it wasn't bad at all. Hannah regaled us with stories about the cabin, so it was quite fun."

"Whatever, you fell asleep within an hour and I spent most of the drive talking to myself," Hannah giggled and gave him a side hug. JC cursed under his breath. Well so much for that lie...

"Let's go get settled, huh? Mom, is grandma sleeping?"

"She laid down about twenty minutes ago. You'll have to do your introductions later."

"I can't wait for you to meet Grams. She's going to adore you," Hannah whispered.

"That's what you said about your mom and she doesn't seem all that welcoming," He responded tersely.

"Give her a little time, Jace. By the end of this weekend, you'll be one of us."

-----

Hannah was right. It didn't take long before the rest of the Anderson's were joking around with JC and Tyler like they had always been there. They all walked around the back of the house to view the yard and the boat, which was tied up to the dock. Hannah's mom was still acting closed off, but JC figured she just needed some time to warm up to the idea of seeing her daughter with someone new. It wasn't fair to expect her to love him off the bat. After they all headed inside, the adults had settled on room arrangements upstairs as the "kids" were left to figure out room arrangements downstairs. RJ, Max and Tyler took one room, and Alicia and Mallory took the other. JC let out a silent sigh of relief when Hannah announced they would be sharing the pull out bed in the family room. He wanted to spend as much time with her as he could, and he was also afraid of Max and RJ would give him the brotherly "don't hurt my sister" talk if he were left alone with them, seeing as Jens wasn't there to do it.

After they had settled on room arrangements, Hannah and Mallory walked JC and Tyler around the lake, all the while recounting memories from their childhood. JC couldn't help but sense how at home Hannah felt here. He'd never seen her look so relaxed and happy.

"So Mal," Tyler spoke up. "Hannah tells us you were a big fan of my brother a few years back."

A deep blush crept over her cheeks. "Well yeah. Not so much of JC, but of the group as a whole."

JC slapped his hand to his heart. "Ouch Mal, you're killin' me."

"Sorry JC, I was a Lance girl at heart. But looks like that doesn't matter anymore, does it." Mallory chuckled.

"Well no I guess not. But if you still wanted to meet him someday, I could definitely make that happen."

"Aww you're too nice. But yeah, sorry about my reaction earlier. I was just totally surprised. Nana and I don't usually keep secrets from each other so I was caught off guard." Mallory gave Hannah a hearty punch in the arm.

"Mal's kind of like my little sister," Hannah explained. "We are really close and tell each other everything. But for some reason I left a few choice details out of the story of how we met. She just knew I fell for a musician named Josh." Mal shot Hannah an evil look. "It wasn't a lie!" Hannah exclaimed. "I just wanted to surprise you, is all!"

"No, its ok Nana. I know why you did it. Tell you what, never did I think I'd be walking around the lake with Mr. Chasez. Much less two Mr. Chasezs." Mal smiled at Tyler, and Hannah raised her eyebrows to JC.

He leaned over and whispered to her, "Could Ms. Mallory be the reason you invited Tyler along?"

"Maybe." Hannah winked and smiled at him, and took his hand into hers as they continued their trip around the lake.

After a few moments of silence, Mallory spoke up. "That place over there, The Fishin' Hole, they do karaoke on Saturday nights and it is a riot. We should all go tomorrow. Nana, Max, RJ and I have some crazy stories from that place."

"Why do you call her Nana? I always think you're talking about your grandmother." Tyler laughed.

"When I was little I always called her Hannah Banana, and somehow Nana just stuck. So how about it? Can we get the world-famous pop star and his brother to karaoke with us tomorrow night?"

"I'm in." Tyler responded immediately.

"Sounds goo.."

"We can't." Hannah interrupted. "Jace and I have plans."

"You do?" Mal questioned before a knowing look washed over her face. "Ooh, gotcha. Nevermind. Ty and I will go then, right Ty?"

He smiled at her, and JC could tell he was falling for this girl fast. His smart-ass comments had been kept to a minimum, which only happened when he was trying to impress a girl.

"We'd better get back huh? They are going to start grilling soon, and we can't miss out on the smores!"

Hannah and Mallory were walking a few feet ahead of Tyler and JC, so JC took the opportunity to catch up with his brother.

"How's it going man? Having a good time."

"Great time." Ty grinned.

"Now remember, we're only here a few days, don't do anything stupid. And don't forget, you're sharing a room with her brother. Watch yourself."

"I know Josh. I just think she's cute. I'll behave." Tyler paused. "How about you? How are you doing?"

"Feeling a little out of place. But I'll get used to it. This walk was a good idea. Its nice to get to know Mal, but other than that, there are just so many people, you know? Its overwhelming."

"Well hang in there man. You'll win them over. You always do."

"I'm so happy right now," Hannah whispered as she strengthened her grip on JC and tried to bury her face deeper into his chest. "Maybe we should just buy a house on this lake and run away together. Then we can spend every summer evening just like this. I could open a bar, you could build yourself a studio in the basement. It would be perfect." Hannah mused as a gentle breeze rocked the hammock they were lying in. After an evening of cooking out, swimming, and smores around the campfire, JC and Hannah resigned to the hammock next to the pier. The rest of the family still sat at the campfire, joking around and tossing back beers.

"That's the first time you ever said anything like that," JC said softly.

"Like what?"

"Like that. I don't know, just long-term stuff. Future plans."

Hannah tried her best to prop herself up on one elbow, but the netting was making it quite difficult. "Of course I think about us long term. I just want to take things slow is all. I just got out of a really long relationship, and now I'm jumping into another one. I just don't want to rush it. But that doesn't mean that I don't think about a life with you. "

JC brushed a stay hair that had fallen loose behind her ear and smiled at her gently. "Ty calls you his sister-in-law."

"And, how does that make you feel?"

"It scares the shit out of me." Hannah couldn't help but laugh. "But I'm starting to mind it less and less," He murmurred, and nuzzled his lips against her neck.

"Thanks for inviting me here. I love watching you with your family. You seem so content."

"My family means the world to me, and we aren't able to get everyone together very often. I look forward to this weekend every year." Hannah paused and let out a deep sigh. "And don't let my mom worry you. She will like you, she will. She's just a little rough around the edges."

"You told me she was excited to meet me."

"I fudged a little...I didn't want her to scare you away. Its just...she was really close to Brad, and she is took it pretty hard when we broke up. And she feels," Hannah stopped and furrowed her eyebrows.

"What?"

"She just feels like this whole thing is silly because of the distance. Like, how can we really know each other? Anyway, I don't want to talk about it. Just be nice to her like you are, and she'll come around, I promise."

He kissed her collar bone in response.

"OK, you guys, if you're going to start that get in the house. I can keep everyone outside for a good 10 minutes. Be fast!" Mallory gave them a wicked smile as she hopped on the edge of the hammock, sending the whole thing swinging.

"You're so funny Mal. Besides, we only need like three minutes."

"Hey!" JC interjected, and the three of them broke into a fit of giggles.

"Interesting sweatshirt, Mal. Hmm, I don't recall you ever attending Southwestern Law School."

"What can I say, Mr. Chasez is quite the gentleman."

"Like it is so hard to go into the house and get your own sweatshirt?" Hannah retorted.

"Whatever Nana. I know you, you brought him here on purpose didn't you. Just for me."

Hannah shrugged innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well JC will confirm my suspicions, right?"

"I knew nothing of this alleged set up until I got here. But I'm with ya Mal, its seems a little fishy."

Hannah lifted her hand from JC's chest and waved it dismissively. "Whatever."

"Well planned or not, thanks. I'm having fun flirting, if only for the weekend." Mallory pushed her feet off of the ground to give them another swing. "So, Rob wants to get a sing-along going, and we you guys need to join in."

"Mmm, I don't want to," JC moaned. "I'm happy right here."

"You better go sing. If you really want to win my mom over, you'll have to prove yourself."

"Geesh, no pressure or anything."

"Besides," Mallory spoke up. "I've never seen you sing before. Just so you know I might resort to my teenybopper days and pass out."

"Well I can see I'm not going to win this one," JC said as he gently pushed Hannah off of him and planted his feet on the ground. "Let's go do this then."

The three of them walked over to the fire, grabbing fresh beers from the cooler on their way. Hannah and JC took the two open lawn chairs, and Mallory squeezed next to Tyler on the giant boulder where he was perched.

"So Hannah," her mother spoke up, "Do you have any new songs to play for us tonight? I haven't seen you perform at the bar for awhile." J

C couldn't help but smile at the blush that coated her cheeks. He reached out and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"I have a new one I could play, but I um, I don't want to go first."

"You're always so shy about singing! Its just us, Nana."

"I know Mal. I still get nervous though. I like to write the songs, not sing them."

"Well how about I start us off with a rousing version of 'Sweet Caroline,'" RJ said as he picked up the guitar and began strumming sour chords. The entire Anderson clan burst into the Neil Diamond classic. Tyler didn't hesitate at all before he joined in the fun, and just when JC finally felt himself loosen up and start to sing, his phone vibrated wildly in his pocket.  He rolled his eyes and pulled it out to glance at the number, but when he saw Eric's name on the screen he hit the ignore button.  Hannah shot him a worried glance, but he shook his head.  He sucked in a breath and began singing again with gusto, swaying to the music with Ty and Hannah.  Carole caught his eye and he offered her a shy smile.  When she returned the smile, JC could feel his heart soar.

"Who's next?" RJ said, looking around the circle.  "The professional?"

"No way!  He goes last, so no one has to follow him," Mallory laughed.

"Oh, he's really not that good.  You'd be amazed at what technology can do," Tyler teased, earning a shoulder-punch from JC and a surprised shout of laughter from Hannah.

"Tell you what. You just get us started on one, and if we think you're good enough, we'll let you sing by yourself," RJ said.

"Sounds like a plan," JC laughed, relaxing a bit in his chair.  "Um...Does everyone know The Night Chicago Died?"

"Yess!" Tyler hissed, pumping his fist.  Hannah, however, was looking at him like he'd sprouted another head.

"You know... Daddy was a cop...On the East side of Chicago...Back in the USA...Back in the bad old days..."

"Oh!  I love this song!" Mallory yelled.  Hannah looked around wildly as everyone started to join in.

"In the heat of the summer ni-i-ight, in the land of the dollar bill," JC crooned, shooting a cheesy smile at Hannah.

"When the town of Chicago di-i-ied, people talk about it still!" Everyone was shouting along, swaying and laughing.  Hannah saw her mother grinning as she clapped and she cocked her head toward JC, silently asking for approval.  Carole shrugged, which Hannah took to mean that the jury was still out.

"Oh my God!" Hannah suddenly shouted.  "I do know this one!  I heard my mama cry!  I heard her pray the night Chicago died!"  JC snorted in laughter as Hannah jumped up and danced along. 

When the song was over, the whole family clapped and whistled. "I'd say you earned a chance at a solo," Carole said softly when the shouting had quieted.  JC felt his stomach drop as RJ handed the guitar over.  He took a moment to tune it, smiling when Hannah mumbled, "Thank God."  Just as he was about to strum the first chord, he felt his phone ring again.  This time, he didn't even take it out of his pocket.  He was already sitting next to the two people in the whole world for whom he would interrupt this gathering.  He punched the ignore button and raised his head to smile at everyone.

"You probably know this one, too, so please sing along," he said, dipping his head shyly.  "It's kind of special to me for a lot of reasons.  A good friend wrote it, another good friend sang it with me several times, and, for the first time I mean every word I'll sing."  He looked at Hannah out of the corner of his eye, smiling at her look of love.

"Oh, swoon!" Tyler cackled.  JC snorted as he strummed the first few chords.

"Whenever I'm weary, from the battles that rage in my head; You make sense of madness, when my sanity hangs by a thread..." he began.  He smiled at Mallory's starry-eyed stare, and felt a thrill when he saw Hannah's whole family wrapped up in the words he was singing for one of their own.  Even Carole had her chin resting in her hands, and she swayed back and forth with a little smile on her face.  He turned to wink at Hannah as he sang the words, "Now and forever...I will be your man."  She gave him a cheesy wink of her own, and stretched out to let his voice wash over her.When he finished the last chord, he looked up for everyone's reaction, but there was silence. 

Finally, RJ broke it by saying, "Right.  The professional is not allowed to sing anymore.  And... the professional is not allowed to judge the rank amateurs in the group.  Oh!  And the professional must return the guitar to the previous untuned state.  I don't know if I can sing on pitch if my guitar is tuned."

"Don't touch that guitar until I get to sing," Hannah threatened.  The family laughed as JC handed it over and held his hands up.

"What'choo singin'?" Tyler asked, reaching around JC to tap the back of Hannah's head.

"You'll see," she said, waving him off as she adjusted the strap.  As she strummed a few chords, JC felt his phone vibrate again.  Hannah saw his shoulders slump and nodded to him. 

"Go ahead," she told him.  "I'll mess around for a minute."

JC gave her a look of pure gratitude as he stood to pull his phone out.  He rolled his eyes when he saw Eric's name again and he stepped away from the group to take the call.

"I'll just tune this to my own specifications while he's gone," Hannah said.  "Since he's probably got perfect pitch, this will maybe sound a little more normal to the rest of us," she snickered.  Tyler rolled his eyes and nodded.  She strummed away for a few more minutes, familiarizing herself with the instrument once more.  When she could see that everyone was starting to get a little restless, she looked around to see where JC was and saw him gesturing wildly as he paced along the shore.

"Go ahead, honey," Carole said, her voice a bit hard.  "He can catch up when he gets back."  Hannah sighed and nodded.  Whatever good will JC had built up with her mom, clearly he had just erased it.

The thing about love
Is i never saw it coming
It kinda crept up and took me by surprise
And now there’s a voice inside my heart that’s got me wondering
Is this true, i want to hear it one more time

Move in a little closer
Take it to a whisper
Just a little louder

"Oh, shit," Tyler whispered, turning around from his perch on the rock to find JC.  He caught his brother's eye and waved wildly to get his attention.  JC held up a finger and Ty shook his head emphatically.  "N-O-W" he signed.

Say it again for me
Cuz i love the way it feels when you are telling me that i’m
The only one who blows your mind
Say it again for me
It’s like the whole world stops to listen
When you tell me you’re in love
Say it again

Thing about you is you know just how to get me
You talk about us like there’s no end in sight
The thing about me is that i really want to let you
Open that door and walk into my life

JC snapped the phone shut and jogged back over to join the group.  As he sat, he heard the words Hannah was singing for the first time and his heart sank.  He glanced up at Carole to give her a small smile, but the older woman's lips were pressed together in a thin line.  As he cursed himself internally, he reached into his pocket and turned his phone off completely.  Hannah gave him a smile as she prepared to sing the next verse.

Say it again for me
Cuz i love the way it feels when you are telling me that i’m
The only one who blows your mind
Say it again for me
It’s like the whole world stops to listen
When you tell me you’re in love

And it feels like it’s the first time
That anybody's ever brought the sun without the rain
And never in my whole life
Have I heard words as beautiful as when you say my name

Say it again for me
Cuz i love the way it feels when you are telling me that i’m
The only one who blows your mind
Say it again for me
It’s like the whole world stops to listen
When you tell me you’re in love 
Say it again

As the last notes from Hannah's sweet voice rang over the group, JC felt his heart swell.  It was obvious she had written it for him.  He turned to her with a sheepish smile on his face.

"I'm sorry," he said.  "It won't happen again."

"It's okay," Hannah said with a shrug. 

"I loved the song.  I'm sorry I missed the first bit."

"I'll just have to sing it again for you, won't I?" she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Aren't we gonna sing Kum-ba-ya?" Tyler asked, sticking his head between them.  "I thought that was like required campfire repertoire?"

"If you lead it, we can sing it," RJ said, taking the guitar back from Hannah with relish.

"Aw, hell naw," Tyler laughed.  "You don't wanna hear me singing!"

"He's right," JC intoned, shooting a smirk in Ty's direction.

After a few more standard campfire songs, people began to drift from the group in pairs and threes.  Carole stopped to give her daughter a hug, but JC could see that whatever good will he had accrued disappeared the moment he took that phone call.  With a sigh, he smiled anyway.  Tyler gave him a goofy grin as Mallory led him toward the lake by the hand.

"Just you and me," JC whispered, when they were all alone. 

"I know!  And we didn't have to threaten anyone to make them leave, either," laughed Hannah.

"Your mom still doesn't like me," JC said sadly.

"She will, babe.  She will."

"I'm really sorry about the phone call. I wouldn't have taken it normally, but he called three times in like five minutes, and I thought it might be an emergency."

"Was it?" Hannah inquired.

"Nothing that couldn't wait until Monday," He ran a comforting hand over her cheek. "I'm really, really sorry I missed it."

"I know you are babe." She stood on her toes to give him a quick peck on the lips, then tossed her head in the direction of the pier. "So, what's going on there?"

JC glanced over her shoulder to see Tyler and Mallory sitting side by side on the dock, playfully splashing their feet in the water. Mallory's hearty laugh echoed off the water and she proceeded to rest her head on Tyler's shoulder.

"Just a little weekend fling," he responded with a smile. Even if it was just for a few days, he was happy to see his brother connecting with someone. He concentrated so much on his school work, he often sacrificed his love life.

"Mal's great," JC added. "How come you never told me about her before? She seems like you're best friend."

He couldn't help but notice her eyes light up when she started talking about her. "She is my best friend. And I don't know, she just never came up I guess. Now that I think about it, I haven't said much about my family aside from my dad and Jens, have I?"

"Not really."

"Well Mal is definitely like my little sister. We've just always connected. I mean, I'm close to RJ, Max, and Alicia too, but Mallory and I just click on a different level."

"I love her. She should come with you the next time you visit."

"What makes you think I'm coming to visit again?"

"Because you can't stay away from me."

"Hmm," Hannah moaned. "Well that is the truth if I ever heard it."

*****

"So I'm starting to think you're taking us to the most desolate part of the woods so you can chop me up and bury me or something."

"I am taking you to the most desolate part of the woods, but not so I can chop you up. I have other things in mind." She grinned evilly.

JC just wanted to get to wherever it was they were going and sit down. It had been a long day, the May weather unusually hot and humid. The younger half of the family started the day with a game of touch football in the yard and followed it up with hours on the pontoon boat, downing countless beers and swimming in the middle of the lake. After a light dinner of sub sandwiches, Hannah shoved a backback on JC, tossed him a sleeping bag, and dragged him into the woods. They had been hiking for about 45 minutes already, up a slight incline, nonetheless. JC wanted to die.

The pair ducked under a overhang of pine branches and finally Hannah announced, "We're here!"J

C finished picking a few stray pine needles off of his t-shirt and looked up. They were standing in the middle of an opening, which was surrounded by a half circle of pine trees. He realized that they were up on a small cliff and he walked toward the edge, taking in the view of the lake from above. The water was glistening from the setting sun. "This is amazing," he gasped.

"I know, right? We're spending the night here."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah," she said as she removed the backpack from her shoulders and threw her tightly rolled sleeping bag on the ground. "Why, afraid you'll be eaten by a bear or something?"

"No, no. I figured we were camping with the sleeping bags and all, but I never thought...this is just incredible that's all."

"I didn't bring a tent, I hope you don't mind. I just didn't want us to have to lug it up here. Its not supposed to rain or anything. And if it does, well, we get wet."

"I've never slept outdoors before. Well I've fallen asleep on the chaise on my patio a few times..."

"Yeah, that almost counts. Now set your pack down and help me with these sleeping bags."

It was dark by the time they had gotten settled. They opened both of their sleeping bags and zipped them together to make one big bed. JC watched in awe as Hannah gathered rocks and sticks to make them a fire. When he gave her a questioning look, she just shrugged and said "girl scout." They sat there on the sleeping bag, Hannah sitting between JC's legs, his arms wrapped around her and his chin resting on her shoulder.

"So, think everyone is tearing up the Fishin' Hole with their amazing vocal abilities tonight?" JC chuckled.

"I think I'm glad I'm here so I don't have to hear it." Hannah laughed and looked up at JC, pulling him down for a soft kiss.

"Is there a reason Mal kept giggling whenever you hinted at where we were going tonight? Even Alicia winked at me a few times, and she's barely spoken to me all weekend."

Hannah sighed. "This is going to sound silly."

"Don't care."

"As soon as I said we were going off on our own tonight, they knew where we were going. So, we found this place when we were teenagers. Alicia and I were both like 16 or so, Mal was 12, and we came across this spot. We couldn't get over how beautiful it was, it was so secluded with the trees, the awesome view of the lake, the way it all faced westward so you could see the setting sun. Anyway, we were all saying how romantic this spot was. We all agreed that once we all had boyfriends, we were going to bring them here to," she paused. "Wow this is lame. We wanted to bring our boyfriends here to lose our virginity."

JC howled with laughter. Once he finally calmed down, he spoke again. "You talked about this with a 12 year old?"

Hannah slapped his arm lightly. "Like you didn't know about sex when you were 12? Anyway, Mal spent a lot of time with us. She knew way more than she ever should have."

"So you're meaning to tell me you lost it to Pat here?"

"Well that's the thing. I never did. We came here once and I was ready. Man, had I convinced myself I was ready. And right when we got to the main event, I chickened out. It happened eventually, but not here. I never followed through on my end of the pact. Mallory and Alicia followed through with their end of the deal, but I never did it. That's why they were giggling. The knew where we were headed."

"You were with Brad five years. You're meaning to tell me you never brought him here?" JC asked incredulously.

"Never did. His family always had a gathering over Memorial Day weekend as well, so he actually never came with me the first four years of our relationship. Can you believe that? He never came to the cabin once. Should have been a sign. Hindsight I guess...Anyway, he did come with me the last year we were together, but by that point things weren't good, and I didn't want to share this with him. So in a way, you're still my first."

JC tightened his arms around her and buried his head in her neck. "What makes you think I'm going to sleep with you?" he asked between kisses.

"Because I know you, baby. You can't deny me."

"Mmm, so true." He continued his assault on her neck, and slid his hands under the hem of her tank. "You do know we're going to be covered in mosquito bites, right?"

Hannah chuckled. "That's what the fire is for silly. We smoke 'em out. Now stop talking about mosquitos and kiss me again." Hannah crawled out of his embrace and made herself comfortable on the sleeping bag, pulling him on top of her. He shifted so his weight rested on her fully, and Hannah groaned her approval. He rested on his elbows and ran his hands over her forehead. Leaning forward, he placed a gentle kiss on both of her eyelids.

"Thank you for bringing me here. I'm glad I could share this special place with you."

"There is a reason it never happened here before. I guess it was supposed to be you."

"We sound like a bunch of saps."

Hannah chuckled. "We do. I really mean it though."

"So do I." JC couldn't keep his lips off of her another minute. He brought his lips to hers and started slowly, opening her mouth with his tongue, then pulling back to lick her bottom lip. He settled his mouth on hers once again and continued the exploration of her. His hands didn't wander over her body, but rather stayed in her hair, massaging her scalp gently. He slid his lips down her cheek until he reached her ear. After a quick nip at her earlobe, he let out a soft whisper.

"This is supposed to be like your first time. We're going to treat it as such. Nice and," he nipped her again. "Slow," he breathed out.

Hannah shuddered at the mixture of his words and the warm breath on her neck.

He slid his lips down farther, and he started to kiss and lick at her collar bone and the hollow of her neck. His kisses were unrelenting.

"JC, you're going to give me a hickey." After one last lick of her neck, he sat back on her knees and threw off his shirt. Hannah sat up the best she could with him sitting on her hips, and ran her hands up his chest, playfully tweaking a nipple, then running a finger under the crease of his left pectoral muscle.

"I could look at you like this all day."

He pulled her shirt over her head and groaned his approval. "When we go to Florida we never have to put clothes on."

"Mmm, only two weeks. It will be the best birthday ever." She struggled to sit up farther so she could whisper in his ear. "I want to sit perched on top of you that whole day."

A surge of desire tore through his body. "Shit Hannah, you're making it really difficult for me to take it slow."

"You don't need to take it slow. I don't need anymore foreplay. I've been wet for you all day." She took his hand and placed it under the waist band of her shorts. "Feel." She moaned as he ran a finger over her. He rolled off of her and pulled off her shorts, and finally she lay naked before him.

"That's great that you're ready for me baby, but I told you, nice and slow." He shuffled out of his own shorts and boxers and placed his body weight on her once again. "I want us to remember every moment of this."

He started at her lips again, and moved his mouth painstakingly slow down her body. The air was beginning to cool around them, but they didn't notice. He covered every inch of her chest and torso with wet kisses and long licks. He bypassed the one spot she wanted him most and lavished the same treatment all the way down her legs. Finally, his hands covered her knees and he pushed them apart slightly. She lifted her knees so her feet rested firmly on the ground. One flick of his tongue was all it took and she was writhing all over the sleeping bag. 

"Baby its too much, I can't, I'm gonna," she panted. But he paid no mind, just continued his ministrations. She tensed and her back arched off of the sleeping bag. JC was glad they were secluded in the middle of nowhere, because he had never heard her moan so loudly.

"Ok, so if you think this is like my first time, you are sorely mistaken," she joked as she caught her breath. He placed one last lick over her most sensitive area.

He grinned as he slid up her body and rested his head on her breast. He reached for her hand and laced her fingers with is. Suddenly he was overcome with emotion.

"I love you, Hannah."

"I love you too baby."

"Can we make a deal? When we're in Florida, can we sit down and talk, I mean really talk, about the situation we're in? This distance thing, its killing me. There has got to be a way we can work this out."

"Of course we can. It's killing me too. I want to see you every day. I want to touch you every day. I want you to be able to make love to me every day. Phone calls and e-mails are great but, its just not the same."

"God you're amazing, Hannah. How did I get so lucky?" He kissed her again, slowly and deeply, saying everything he couldn't with words. Unhurried, he slid himself into her, and he felt her fingers curl around his back. Their pace was leisurely, more of a slow build to release than the frantic pace to which they were accustomed. The air was silent save for the slight sounds of their breathing, quiet whispers of affection, and a few crickets hidden in the trees. They came together, and continued to kiss as their breathing returned to normal. JC pulled out of her, but kept his body draped over hers, trying to protect her from the slight breeze.

"That was so good," she drawled, prolonging the sound of her o's.

"Was it worth waiting until you were 30?"

"29. And I'd have waited until I was 50 for that." Hannah paused, taking a few moments to run her hands over JC's bare back. "We have to carve our initials into the tree over ther in the morning. That's the rule. I'm the oldest, and mine have been missing the longest," she chuckled.

"Yeah, but it wasn't your first time, so I bet yours was the best. The other girls had awkward 17-year-old boys fumbling over them."

"Very true."

"Think Mal will try to bring Ty up here tomorrow night?" JC questioned.

"Ew, God I hope not. Let's not talk about them. Let's just sit here and enjoy each other."

"Mm, sounds good to me. Thanks again for inviting me. I'm having a great time."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm happy to share it with you."

"That fantasy you had of buying a house here and running away, is sounding better and better," he murmurred, hoping after he said it that she didn't hear.

"I need you to look at this and find me a fucking way out." JC tossed a stack of papers across the island and they collided with Tyler's bowl of cereal, causing the milk to splash over the rim.

"Easy. What the fuck is this?"

"My contract. I'm fed up with Jive's fucking bullshit, and I'm hoping there's a loophole somewhere."

"You should probably have your attorney look at this Josh."

"You're almost done with law school. Consider it practice."

Tyler sighed and pushed his bowl to the side."Environmental law is a little different than entertainment law."

"Whatever. A contract is a contract. Consider it pro bono work. You need so many hours of that for graduation anyway, don't you?"

"Do you even know what pro bono means? Pro bono publico. Latin for 'for the public good.' I hardly think helping my millionaire brother weasel his way out of a recording contract qualifies."

"Ty, I just need you to do this for me. I want to know what my options are, and I'm trying to keep it on the downlow. For now anyway."

"I'll look at it while you're on vacation, is that OK? Its going to take some time. This thing is like 50-plus pages."

JC sighed and combed his fingers through his hair. "Yeah that's fine. I still can't believe they are doing this to me. Its just one thing after another."

That night at the campfire, it had been Eric who called to let JC know that Jive had now stopped all promotion of "You Ruined Me." It was something JC had assumed would happen, seeing as they hasn't done much promotion to begin with, and it was much harder to get a ballad picked up by radio. But Eric's call had just confirmed it, and the reality that his latest album was going nowhere sank in. He'd tried to avoid thinking about it the best he could for the remainder of his time in Minnesota, but as soon as he got back to L.A. he had been hellbent on cutting all ties with Jive. Sadly Eric hadn't been much help, just cryptically saying he was "securing other options," so JC decided to take things into his own hands.

"I'll find something in that contract, if it kills me," Tyler added, before going back to his breakfast. "So, on to happy topics, any special plans for the big birthday? Besides the obvious, which you don't have to tell me about. Trust me, I know all I need to know after Mal explained to me why you were," Tyler emphasized the next word with air quotes, "camping."

JC groaned in embarassement. "You waited two weeks to tell me you knew about their little pact? And here I thought I was in the clear."

"I was just waiting for the perfect time. Mal and Alicia told me all about it during karaoke that night."

"You are not allowed to hang out with Mallory anymore."

"Too late. She's coming to visit."

JC looked at his brother, dumbfounded and slightly choked on his water. "She is? Did you guys hook up?"

"No!"

JC glared at him skeptically.

"We didn't!" Tyler squeaked. "We just get along really well. We're friends."

"Careful, that's how these Janssen girls suck you in," JC warned.

"Well Mal's an Anderson, so I'm in the clear."

"Keep telling yourself that. When is she coming?"

"First week in August. She said she needed some time to save up some money."

"Did you tell her not to worry about it? She can come next weekend if she wants."

"I did tell her that, and she wasn't having it. In fact she scolded me for mooching off of my brother."

"Well," JC teased. Tyler shot him an evil glare. "You know I'm kidding."

"So anyway," Tyler continued. "Birthday? Plans?"

"Oh yeah. Well Dave has this awesome house boat. We'll probably cruise around on that for awhile and spend the night on the boat. That's romantic right?"

"I would swoon for days," Ty responded dryly.

"Shut up, you asked. Anyway, I need to go catch up on some e-mails."

JC grabbed a cup of coffee and headed down to his desk in his studio. He couldn't help but smile at the photo of Hannah and himself that was still haphazardly taped above his monitor. Decked out in their winter gear that very first day, it looked like they were a couple already, instead of strangers that had only known each other a few hours.

His computer finally loaded, and he clicked open his inbox to see he only had three emails -- a welcome sight compared to most days. He quickly junked a spam email and opened the message from Hannah. After they made love on their camping trip, Hannah told him how much it bothered her that they didn't really talk anymore. She missed their email exchanges and random texts during the day. He had to admit, he did too. It seemed every since they had gotten together, they only spoke when discussing plans to see each other next. And when they did get together, they were so focused the physical aspects of their relationship, that they didn't really talk anymore. They had started to lose that friendship that brought them together in the first place. And before things became even more disconnected, they agreed to fix it. They spent the rest of the evening cuddled in their sleeping bag and sharing stories about their families and their childhoods.

From: hjanssen@janssenspub.net
To: joshua.scott@gmail.com
Date: June 7, 2007 at 3:24 a.m.
Subject: Re: Would you rather

Would I rather eat a bar a soap or drink a bottle of dishsoap? What the hell kind of question is that? I'm not sure how that constitutes "getting to know you," as I would never be faced with that kind of situation in life. But even if I keep complaining you are going to tell me that's the point of the game, and no matter how ridiculous it is, I have to pick one. So just to save myself the torture of you hounding me, I guess I'll say I'd rather eat a bar of soap. I'm not completely sure why I say that, but it somehow seems like it would be less disgusting. But only barely.

Now for a REAL question. Would you rather save five of your loved ones or save 100,000 strangers in another country?

Only three more days! I just finalized all of the plans to have someone manage the pub while I'm gone (Rob had to back out, ugh.) It was a bitch to arrange, but it will be so worth it. Love you.

-h

JC couldn't help but chuckle. He was trying to keep his questions funny, but leave it to Hannah to go straight for the heavy hitter. Just as he was about to start typing an answer about how her question wasn't fair, and his answer would only make him look like a bad person, his phone rang. He picked it up blindly and answered without checking the caller id.

"Hello?"

"It's Eric. Hope you don't have plans this weekend."

JC sighed. Eric and his incompetiencies were the last things he wanted to deal with right now.

"I do, actually. It can't be rescheduled."

"Well it has to be. I booked an acting gig for you. You start filming Friday, and as of right now looks like it could run through the weekend."

"God damnit, Eric. You need to check with me before you book this shit."

"You should just be grateful you have any kind of job right now," Eric snipped.

"Great. Real fuckin' nice, asshole. Now what the fuck are you talking about."

"I booked you on 'Las Vegas.' Its a guest role, you play the boyfriend of Camille."

"Eric, I seriously can't. I'm going to Florida for two weeks. It should be on your calendar," he scolded.

"It's a big deal, JC. They want you to perform two of your new songs. I can't think of any other way to get your songs heard right now."

His mind was reeling. Eric was right. As much as he hated him right now for going behind his back and booking something, he needed this gig - especially if it would allow him to showcase his music. But how could he bail on Hannah? She had been on cloud nine about the whole vacation since he mentioned it to her, and she had gone through endless trouble to make arrangements so she could go with him. She would be heartbroken.

"Its only supposed to last two days right? Friday and Saturday?"

"This is what they tell me. I can't imagine it would take much longer. The role isn't that big, and its only an hour show. Shouldn't take long to film it all."

JC pushed down his anger momentarily. "Fine, I'll do it. You're right. It really is a great opportunity." It really would only put them two days behind. He could just change their tickets. It would still allow them 12 days in paradise, and they would still be there for Hannah's birthday, which was his main concern.

"I knew you'd see it my way. Gotta go. Love ya man," and the connection was broken. JC snapped his phone shut and whipped it onto the sofa.

"Fuck you, Eric," he muttered. He was not looking forward to calling Hannah.

***********

His mind was a blur for the remainder of the day trying to come up with the best way to break the news to Hannah, but in the end, he decided that if he just told her the truth she would most likely understand. He'd been laying on his sofa in the studio for an hour flipping his phone open and closed working up the courage to call her. Right as he was about to dial her number, his phone shrilled. It was her.

"Hi babe," her sweet voice poured through the earpiece. Even though he was down, he couldn't help but grin.

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm good. Had a rough day. Really busy day at the pub, and two of my servers didn't show up. It was hell. They'd better not pull that shit when I'm not there."

"Does that happen a lot?"

"No, but they are new hires and I don't think they quite understand my expectations. Trust me, they'll learn real fast," Hannah warned.

JC chuckled. "I wouldn't want to get on your bad side."She giggled in response.

"No, JC, you wouldn't."

He sighed deeply, thinking now was as good as time as any to break the bad news.

"Speaking of getting on your bad side, I have some news for you."

"OK..." she said hesistantly, voice full of question.

"Eric booked a job for me. I'll be guest starring on an episode of Las Vegas."

"Well that's great baby! Congratulations!"

"Yeah, I get to perform two songs on it as well. So, after this Jive bullshit, it is a really great opportunity, actually." He paused. "I have some bad news though. It films this weekend."

"Oh." Hannah replied despondently.

He ran a hand over his face in frustration. "We can still go. We just have to wait until Monday."

"Oh! Well then no biggie! Don't worry about it. I thought you were telling me we can't go at all. I would have killed you. But two days - seriously, don't worry about it!"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! You don't have control over the schedule, I know that."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll change our tickets to Monday then. Thanks for being so cool about this."

"Well hey, my boyfriend is going to be on TV. I'm not going to argue that."

"Thanks for being so understanding, Hannah."

"Anytime. Just email me the new flight information. So, how was your day?"

"It was fine," he lied, but he knew the frustration was evident in his voice.

"You're lying to me."

"Well it was fine. I'm just trying to deal with all this shit. It's disappointing and I'm down on myself. That said, the Las Vegas thing cheered me up a bit. And of course, talking to you. That always cheers me up."

"I love you."

"I love you, too Han."

"Well I should go. I need to go run the dishwasher since my employees aren't here to help. I'll talk to you soon, OK?"

"K, night babe."He flipped his phone shut, thankful that she wasn't upset.

***********

He'd forgotten how much he enjoyed being in front of the camera, whether it be singing or acting. JC was surprised that his role was as large as it was and was looking forward to filming all of his scenes. The role was much better than some of the other television guest spots he'd done, and he was ready to sink his teeth in.

He glanced at his watch briefly and noticed it was already 6:00 p.m. on Friday night. Only one of his scenes had been filmed so far, and he had three more to go. Unless a miracle happened, it certainly didn't look like he would wrap tomorrow. He sighed, and decided he wasn't going to worry about it until tomorrow and would see where things stood halfway through the day.

Sprawled out on the couch in his dressing room, he was about to doze off when he heard a knock on the door. He opened the door to find the director standing there with a concerned look on his face.

"I have some bad news man. I know you're supposed to film your scenes with Vanessa tomorrow, but I just got a call from her. Her kid broke his leg this afternoon, and really messed up his knee. He's going to have to have surgery tomorrow, and she won't be able to make it back to the set until Wednesday, if she's lucky."

The wind was knocked out of him. He squeezed his eyes shut with anguish.

"So go ahead and head home. We'll see you back on the set Wednesday." And with that he was gone. No questions, no explainations.

"Fuck!" He screamed, punching the back of the sofa as he cursed. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

This is what he hated most about filming. He was really at the mercy of the director and the lead cast. All of his remaining scenes were with Vanessa and she was one of the stars of the show. If she couldn't make it to set, he had to wait. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

He sighed deeply and raked a hand through his hair. He dialed Hannah's number and waited with baited breath for her to answer.

"Hi! How's filming going?" He groaned inwardly. She sounded unusually happy today.

"It's fine," he said curtly. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure!"

"The woman I'm supposed to film with tomorrow, her son was injured and needs to have surgery tomorrow. We won't be able to continue filming until Wednesday."

He waited for her to speak but the line remained silent.

"Oh," she whispered quietly.

"I'm so sorry, Hannah."

Silence.

"We'll look, um, I should go. I need to, um, get back to work," she spoke softly and could hear her voice quiver.

"Hannah, I'm really, really sorry. There is nothing I can do about it. It sucks. I feel awful." He waited for her to say something, but she remained silent. "We can still go the following week."

"You know what, just forget about it." Her tone was meek and quiet, and her pain was obvious.

"Hannah-"

"No, look I have to go OK. I'll talk to you later I guess."

"Hannah-"

"Goodbye, JC."

The line was dead.

The shrill ring of the phone, along with the buzzing noise as it vibrated against the table, startled JC out of his restless slumber. He groaned when he saw the green lights flash 3:31 a.m.

"This better be fucking good," he mumbled as he blindly reached for his phone. "Yeah?" His voice was deep and gravelly. 

"Jace? I'm so sorry." His heart dropped at the unsure, shaky sound of her voice and he sighed.

"Baby, you have nothing to be sorry about."

"I do!" she interjected. "I shouldn't have hung up on you."

He reached for his glasses and adjusted himself into a more comfortable position, crawling deeper under the blankets. "I'm just glad you called back. Even if it is," he paused, "5:30 in the morning in Minnesota. What the hell are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep. Felt bad."

"Han, you have every right to be angry with me."

"That's just it. I'm not angry with you, I'm angry at the situation. I know it's not your fault."

"Thanks, Hannah. I feel awful."

"I know you do. But now you'll just have to make it up to me." Her voice was laced with flirtation and she paused, before speaking up again softly. "I went through a lot of trouble to get someone to watch the bar for me. Twice."

"Come out here," he urged suddenly.

"What?"

"It's 5:30! Go to the airport and get on the next flight out here. You can be here in a few hours!"

"JC, I can't."

"Why? You already have someone to watch the bar, and I don't film again until Wednesday! That gives us five days!" He said excitedly. 

"JC, no."

"You say you're not mad but you won't come see me?"

"Not on a whim at 3:30 in the morning when you're telling me to get to the airport immediately. And really I can't. I made other plans for the weekend."

"What are you doing?"

"Mallory and I are going to drive to Winnipeg, go shopping and bask in Canadian culture."

JC tried to hold down a chuckle, but he snorted anyway. "Winnipeg?"

"Quit laughing. It's fun."

"Both of you get on that plane and come to LA. You can go shopping here." He could hear Hannah sigh and sense her growing frustration.

"JC, I'm sorry. I made plans. I'm not going to change them. Mal and I are going to Winnipeg. I know its not glamorous or exciting like LA," she emphasized, "but we like it. I'm sorry that when my boyfriend canceled our trip at the last minute I made new plans. I'm not changing them to accommodate your schedule!"

"I thought you weren't mad?" he whispered.

"Well I wasn't until you started laughing at the plans I made with my cousin and demanding I change them."

"I wasn't demanding, I was suggesting."

"Well it certainly didn't feel that way." They sat in an awkward silence. "Look JC, it's late and we're clearly both tired and crabby. I just wanted to call and apologize, not get into another fight," she said sadly. "Let's jus take a few days off. I'll take my trip with Mal, you shoot your show, and we'll talk Thursday. Maybe we can work something out for the following week."

He ran a hand over his stubbled cheek and sighed deeply. "Han, you know I'm really sorry."

"I know you are.""I don't want to fight with you."

"It's inevitable, JC. It's a miracle we made it two months without fighting, especially given the circumstances."

"Our first fight."

"I guess so."

"Call me Thursday, OK?"

"I will, JC. Break a leg."

"Drive safe."

"I promise I will. I make no guarantees for Mal. She's kind of a crazy woman. Get some sleep. I love you."

"Still?"

"Still."

-----------

JC lowered the bill of his hat and slid lower into his chair as he sat by the baggage claim waiting for Hannah. It was Friday afternoon, and after an arduous conversation yesterday in which they fought again, he had finally convinced her to come visit. JC wanted her to stay for the entire week, but she would only agree to three days because she didn't want to ask her people to cover for her again. He didn't really see what the problem was when she had already booked someone for when they would be in Florida, but she would only agree to stay Friday through Monday morning. She kept repeating "if you want to see me for a week you are going to have to come to me." Technically he had the time, but things were heating up with the label, and if anything happened he wanted to be able to meet with them on a moment's notice.

At the end of the conversation she had sighed dejectedly and just said, "fine, I'll be there." He wasn't sure how she was going to react to seeing him, but he just knew he needed to get on her good side again. After all, today was her birthday and he was determined to show her how much he meant to her, even though they couldn't seem to get along lately.

His fears were calmed momentarily when he heard a husky voice from behind. "Mmm, you look so hot in that fucking hat. Best gift you've ever recevied in my opinion." Her hands slid over his shoulders and gave a slight squeeze before she leaned forward and ran her hands over his chest. He looked up over his shoulder and couldn't hold back a goofy grin when she smiled at him from above. She adjusted the bill of his hat slightly and kissed him long and hard, much more affectionate than he ever got in public. Thankfully the Twins cap threw off whatever paparazzi might be lurking around LAX.

He quickly stood and pulled her into his arms. He squeezed her as hard as he could, and just held her as people rushed around them looking for their baggage and rides. He didn't care that they were in the middle of one of the country's busiest airports - right now he just wanted to hold her and try to make up for all of the arguing they had done the last week.

"Let's get out of here, ok?" Her voice still had that husky tone and JC couldn't wait to get her home. He didn't even have time to respond before she grabbed her bag off of the carousel and started pulling him toward the parking garage. When they reached his silver convertible, he tossed her the keys.

"Happy birthday, baby. Now drive us home." It didn't go unnoticed by either of them that he referenced his house as their home.

She grinned and eagerly climbed in the drivers' seat while JC tossed her bag in the back.He could tell that she was estatic to be driving his convertible. He remembered the last time she visited him and how they spent nearly three hours just driving down the Pacific Coast Highway, her relishing at the warm spring wind in her hair. He loved that she was so enthralled with the things that seemed so normal to him. As she cruised down the highway he couldn't help but chuckle at her carefree demeanor. "God I love you," he blurted out as she started singing along to a song on the radio. He almost missed his next direction as they grinned at each other but he quickly yelped, "Take a right! You need to get on the 10!"

Forty five minutes later they finally pulled through JC's gate, and she pulled the convertible into the garage. She barely was able to thank him for letting her drive before he was practically on top of her, the center console digging into this torso. His hands were everywhere - her hair, her breasts, between her legs. He couldn't get enough of her, and the way she was responding, he was fairly confident the feeling was mutual.

"Let's go in the house first, huh?" she laughed and worked her way out the door.

Before the knew it they were on his bed, Hannah on her knees, JC behind her with a fist tangled in her hair, pulling her head back toward him to expose more of her neck as he licked and sucked at her pulse points. His thrusts were frantic, as were hers. It was rough, and messy, and primal- and perfect. They were trying to make up for every mistake both of them had made in the past week.

They fell into a sweaty heap when they finished and both let out contented sighs.

"That may have been the best make-up sex I've ever had," Hannah gushed while snuggling against JC.

"Who said that was the make-up sex? Could have been the birthday sex or the I-missed-you sex."

"Mmm, no, that was definitely the make-up sex. But I still have those other rounds coming to me? Can't wait!"

"You didn't tell me how Canada was," he asked, changing the topic.

"We had a blast. Just went shopping, went to bars at night, Mal had a weekend fling with a minor league hockey player."

"Uh oh, don't tell Ty."

Hannah laughed and nuzzled him. "I won't. It was just for fun anyway, she's ga-ga over Ty."

"Really? I think the feeling is mutual."

"Well she hasn't said so, but every other sentence is 'Tyler said this, Tyler did that.' It's pretty obvious." Hannah paused. "How was the shoot?"

"Once Vanessa finally made it, it went really well. One of my better acting gigs if I may brag a bit."

"I've never seen you act. Well, not recently. How can I forget that crying gem from the MMC? I'll have to get back on YouTube one of these days and check some stuff out."

"Don't you dare." JC tickled her ribs and shifted so he was on top of her. He continued his attack mercilessly and she giggled uncontrollably. Tickling eventually turned to caressing, caressing to kissing.

"Is this the birthday round?" Hannah managed to say between kisses.

"No, this is the I-missed-you round. The birthday round comes later."

 -----

"I can't believe you did all of this for me," Hannah gushed when she saw the flowers, candles and balloons that adorned the dining room. There was even a birthday cake complete with 30 candles sitting on the buffet.

"I'm having a small birthday party for you tonight if you don't mind," he said shyly.

"You are?"

"Yeah, Tyler will be here and Tony is coming over."

"Tony!" Hannah exclaimed. "Did you guys make up?"

"I didn't tell you?" He racked his brain trying to remember.

"No." Her disappointed look and tone did not go unnoticed.

"Yeah, right before the camping trip. We're not great yet, but better. I'm sorry, I thought I told you." JC could tell Hannah was biting back an snippy response.

"Well I'm looking forward to meeting him. This cake looks amazing," she said changing the subject.

"It's from my favorite bakery. The frosting is amazing." JC couldn't help but chuckle as Hannah slid her finger around the base of the cake in the back, so no one would notice.

"Mmm, fantastic," she said with a grin.

"Take a seat, I need to give you your gift before everyone arrives."

Hannah walked into the living room and took a seat on the leather sofa, while JC gathered her gifts. He presented her with one small box, and one box so large, she couldn't hide her confusion.

"Small one first."

Hannah quickly tore open the wrapping paper to find a picture frame which held a snapshot of them sleeping in the hammock at the cabin.

"Where did you get this?"

"Ty took it one afternoon, I guess. I didn't even realize we'd fallen asleep."

"Ha, me either. Look, the book is still open. Oh man, we must have been out cold."

"Well we had a busy night the night before," JC winked at her.

"We did, didn't we! That was a great night. OK, what's the next one?" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Come on down and open it."

Hannah slid to the floor, opened the large box and gasped in surprise."JC, oh my God. Wow, I'm...I'm speechless." Tears were forming in her eyes and JC couldn't help but give her a beaming smile.

"The one you had was so old, and...I just though you could use a new one."

Hannah picked up the acoustic guitar and placed it delicately in her arms. She strummed a few chords before setting it down and jumping into JC's lap.

"Thank you so much. It's perfect."

He ran his hands idly over her back. "Yeah, you like it?"

"I love it. That ratty old guitar we had at the cabin was one my grandma found at an old garage sale. It's all I ever had to practice on. So this...this means so much to me." She kissed him soundly. "I'm glad I decided to come here this weekend. It's been great having this one-on-one time together. We'll get through this, yeah? I mean, everyone fights sometimes, right?"

"Of course we will, Han." He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could, and took a deep breath, inhaling the coconut scent of her hair.

"So, do I get the birthday sex now or what?" She whispered while rocking against him gently. The door slammed loudly startling them both apart.

"Where's my favorite birthday girl? Let's get this party started!"

 "Tyler! Oh my God how are you?" Hannah jumped off of JC's lap and threw herself into Tyler's arms. He swung her around playfully before setting her back down.

"I'm great. It's so good to see you, girl! I missed you."

"I missed you too, Ty. I'm so happy you are here this weekend!" She squealed and pulled him in for another hug.

"Are you kidding? And miss your birthday? Never."

"How was work today?" JC finally piped in.

"Fine. It's pretty lame for an internship actually. We hardly get to work on any cases. Basically they just take us out to lunch and try to wine and dine us in order to sign on with the firm after graduation. Its all pretty phony. But, I did have some awesome sushi today, and I'm getting paid 40 grand for doing nothing this summer, so I can't complain."

"Sounds rough." JC muttered.

"It kind of sucks actually. Totally not  my style. I'd rather do the work. But, I'm not mooching of you for the summer, so it makes me feel better about myself."

"Well whatever it takes," JC quiped.

"So how was your flight?"

"Oh not bad," Hannah began and JC wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Glad to be here though. Always glad to be here." She patted JC's hands softly. The three were interrupted with the chime of the doorbell.

"Tony, hey man! How's it going?" It had been a few weeks since JC and Tony met at the bar, and things between them were still a bit tense and uneasy. But things were definitely moving in the right direction, and by inviting him tonight he was certain things would continue to heal between them.

"Good man. Thanks for having me. Ty, how 'ya doin'?" Tony nodded in acknowledgement.

"Miriam couldn't make it tonight?"

"No, she's visiting her mom right now, but she says hi."

"Bummer. Maybe next time then. But man, I'd like you to meet Hannah."

"It is so great to meet you," Hannah began, eagerly shaking Tony's hand. "First of all, I just wanted to say that I loved your show in Chicago. I was bummed we didn't get to talk to you afterward. But that doesn't matter because you're here now, and wow! I'm just so happy you could make it!"

Tony let out a chuckle and slid into an easy smile. "Well its a pleasure to meet you as well. For you," he said handing her a narrow bag with elaborate ribbons. "Happy birthday."

Hannah took the gift eagerly and fumbled with the array of curls. "You didn't have to do that Tony. We don't even know each other!"

"Maybe not, but I'm hoping we'll know each other for a long time to come," he added, slyly tossing a wink in JC's direction. "It's nothing special. Just a bottle of wine from the vineyard my wife's parents run upstate."

"Thank you so much! And send my thanks to Miriam. I'm so sorry she can't be here."

JC noticed Tony's nod of approval as Hannah and Tyler headed into the kitchen to uncork the bottle of wine. "Thanks, man, for coming. It means a lot to Hannah. And to me." JC gave Tony's back a hearty slap and the two headed into the kitchen to enjoy a night of celebration. 

*****

JC's leg twitched as he eyed the clock for the tenth time in the last 25 minutes. He stared at the empty conference table in front of him and let out a deep sigh. The shrill buzzing of his phone woke him up at 8:30 this morning and Eric's voice bellowed on the other end. "Get dressed and get your ass down to Jive immediately. You better be on your best fucking behavior today, that's all I have to say."

Now he sat here, at 8:00 p.m., waiting for the administrative assistant to come back with his walking papers. Ten hours ago the meeting started with Eric and five Jive executives, and one-by-one the attendees had been whittled down to two. He thought he was being careful; thought he was covering his bases; but somehow the CEO of Jive found out about his secret meetings with his lawyer and his desire to get out of his contract, and the exec had phoned Eric in a tizzy. And Eric of course reacted the same way. Having no knowledge of this situation, he looked foolish and incompetent to Jive, and JC had probably ruined Eric's chances of working with Jive in the future.

An epic shouting match ensued among the three parties until finally Jive gave him a seemingly simple choice, "Keep your record deal and do it our way, or walk. It's your choice JC." This is what he had wanted, what he had dreamed about. But when finally given the choice, he froze. He couldn't force his lips to say the words he had wanted to say for so long.

Instead he asked for a few hours to think it through. He wandered the streets of downtown Los Angeles, stopping to sit on a park bench, hoping that the paparazzi hadn't spotted him. They hadn't, and he started to wonder if they ever would again. Without this deal, what did he have? He had a house that he shared with his brother, a family that lived 2,000 miles away, and a girlfriend he saw once every few weeks. 

But ultimately, he knew it was what he had to do. It was what he had wanted for such a long time - an opportunity to do things his way.

He returned to the meeting with new confidence and simply stated, "I get to take Kate with me." Snidely, they agreed, responding, "Well good luck getting someone to release it."

Now here he was, sitting alone in a dark conference room waiting for one last paper to sign before he was a free man.

As he walked down the vaccuous hallway for the last time he noticed that his poster had already been removed from the wall. The only reminder that he ever walked the halls of Jive was the platinum Celebrity plaque. And as much as he tried not to feel angry or envious, the multiple posters and platinum albums of his friend Justin mocked him on his way out the door. And when the door clicked behind him, it finally sunk in. It was over.

***** 

The house was dark and silent when he returned at 9:30, and he braced himself for the conversation he was about to have with Hannah. She was still sleeping when he rushed out in the morning, so he left her a note stating he'd be gone three hours at most. Even when he took his break in the middle of the day, he couldn't bring himself to return her calls or texts. He didn't want to have any conversation other than the one running through his head. He had been too wrapped up in the career that was crumbling around him, and he realized now how foolish that was. He searched the living room and the kitchen but she was nowhere to be found. He checked the studio but she wasn't there either. Ending the search in his bedroom his sighed in resignation as he collapsed on his bed and choked back tears.

Hours later, he awoke to hearty chuckles coming from the kitchen. Padding his way down the stairs, he found Hannah and Tyler drinking beers at the island.

He knew before he said it that it would come out wrong. A simple 'hi,' and 'I'm sorry,' would do, but before he could stop it, he gruffly asked, "Where have you been?"

Tyler froze and Hannah glared at him indignantly. "Excuse me?" She drawled slowly.

"Where were you? I was expecting to see you here when I got home." He cringed at his words. He knew how they sounded and it wasn't his intention, but he couldn't stop it. He'd cried earlier, now the anger he was feeling toward Jive, toward Eric, was all boiling over.

"You expected to see me here," she repeated back to him, her voice an eerie calm.

He scuffed his foot against the floor and replied softly, "Yeah."

"I was at a hockey game with your brother. Where the fuck were you?" She hissed. JC caught Tyler shifting uncomfortably out of the corner of his eye.

"Look Hannah, I had a horrible day. Just cut me some slack."

"Oh I'm sorry. Did you fly across the country for the weekend to spend time with your boyfriend only to have him run out of bed on you, and not give you even so much as a phone call as to his whereabouts? Well screw you, JC. I don't want to hear about your horrible day. I had a horrible day. I sat in bed until 6:00 o'clock begging for you to call - to tell me when you would be home - to tell me you were fucking alive! And you have the audacity to waltz in here an demand to know where I've been?"

Tyler scurried out of the kitchen, unnoticed, as JC formulated a response. "Hannah, I'm really sorry. I wanted to call. I just," he paused, searching for the perfect phrase but nothing came to him. "I just couldn't."

His heart broke when she choked back tears.

"I was so worried about you. I was," she hiccupped. "I was a crying mess until Tyler demanded I leave the house with him. Where were you? Why didn't you call me?"

He reached out to her, wanting nothing more than to wrap her in his arms, but she stepped away from him cautiously while shaking her head no. Defeated, he sat at a barstool and picked at his thumb. "I lost my contract today," he whispered.

He could see her mouth move, ready to rebound with a snippy comment, but she caught herself. "Oh?" she replied simply.

"Oh?"

"I'm sorry, that sucks. But I guess I don't really understand what the problem is because that's what you wanted, isn't it? And I don't understand why you couldn't have called - fuck even texted - just to let me know what was going on. Had you done that, I would be completely sympathetic right now."

"I don't understand what the problem is. I had a shitty day. I'm sorry, I forgot to call. I don't know why you always make everything such a big deal."

She glared at him, her eyes wide with fury and confusion. Tears that she had been fighting to hold back flowed freely now and she started to shake with sobs. Before he could stop himself he was at her side, his arms wrapped tight around her, swaying her slightly. "Baby, I'm sorry."

After a few moments she finally spoke up. "I know you're sorry. I know you are. But it doesn't change the...JC, I can't do this anymore."

"Shh, don't say that. We can make it through this."

"No we can't. Everything is wrong, we can't fix it."

"Hannah, stop saying that."

"I can't keep ignoring it when you blow me off, JC! I've tried! I've tried to pretend it doesn't bother me, but it does! You know why I went to Canada with Mal? Because I had cried for days because I was so upset our trip got canceled. I had never looked forward to something so much in my life. But I didn't want to tell you how much it upset me because I was trying to be understanding. I knew that dating you wasn't going to be easy, and I was trying to be flexible, even though it fucking killed me. And then you demand I come visit just because I have time off. And when I invite you to spend the weekend at my house you say no. You have to be in LA in case something happens. So I bend for you again. Then you leave me sit here all fucking day while you run off and I have no idea where you are. Well I can't bend anymore JC, I can't. I won't. I'm always making sacrifices for you. But you're never making sacrifices for me."

He was speechless. He wanted to argue, tell her she was wrong, but she wasn't. Everything she had just called him out on was true.

"Remember the first time I came to visit?" she continued in a whisper. "You told me that you hadn't been honest about your feelings for me because you didn't want to mess it up? That sex always ruined your relationships? And we promised each other it wouldn't because what we had was different that that? Well it wasn't JC. It ruined us," She punctuated with a sniffle. "You never talk to me anymore. I knew things weren't good career-wise, but every time I asked about it you changed the subject, or told me it wasn't a big deal. Obviously it was. I feel like I have no clue what was going on in your life. And you made up with Tony! And I had no idea. I felt so stupid when he showed up yesterday."

"Hannah, I'm sorry. I'll be better. I'll tell you more about what is going on in my life."

"It's not just that. Can you tell me what I'm planning to do when Jens comes back in August?"

"Jens is coming home in August?"

She shook her head in response. "And that's my point. I told you that on the drive from the airport yesterday. Clearly you were listening to me," she rolled her eyes. "You are so caught up in your life, that you're incapable of making room for others." Hannah sighed dejectedly. "We were better as friends. We talked to each other as friends, JC. I don't know what it is - our careers, the distance - but we just don't work as a couple."

He felt like he was going to puke. He knew that they were having problems but he had never expected that they would break up. They were perfect together. Didn't she see that? Didn't she want to fight to save what they had?

"Tyler is taking me to the airport in the morning."

Suddenly he wasn't sad; he was furious. "Wait, you decided you were going to break up with me before I even got home tonight?"

"I'm sorry, JC. I love you. I have never loved anyone more, and that's why this hurts so much. But I can't do this anymore. It's not healthy for either of us. Look, I've made my decision. Let's just take some time apart, OK? I think we need to."

His heart shattered as she walked up the stairs and he heard the door to the guest room click closed quietly. And just like that, in a matter of 14 hours, everything he loved was gone.