Between Gia and Trace both staying with us I swear I never get alone time with Beth. Not one moment is ours. Now that we are in New York things are hectic enough and then there is the whole thing with Trace that took Beth days to forgive me for, though she did end up in our bed before the night was over. I do love her more than life though. If I thought that for one minute that letting Trace stay with us would have caused her to feel the need to leave, I would have never let him stay. It is only because after talking to Trace that I knew he was sorry and if I could get my friend back and keep my girl, I would have it made.

Gia is busy talking to Beth as I come in the living room, “And so I planned on having purple bridesmaid dresses.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Beth comments.

I roll my eyes, “That sounds fascinating. Gia, don’t you have something to do like that list of things I need done today?”

Gia turns around in her chair, “I’m getting around to it. I already made some of the calls to confirm your shit.”

Trace walks through the door and takes a piece of bacon off Gia’s plate, taking a bite of it, “What’s on the agenda today?”

“Not eating my breakfast shrimp,” Gia quips, whacking his hand and trying to get the piece back.

“I’m not a shrimp slut.”

“I am not the one who slept around pimp.”

“Yeah, you’re just the one who is whining over some stupid wedding.”

“Oh yeah, I can’t believe that I agreed to spend the rest of my life with a guy who is mature enough to want to commit to me forever.”

Trace shakes his head, “I know, who would want to marry someone who never shuts up.”

“You want to take this outside shorty?” Gia says, folding her arms over her chest.

“Let’s go,” Trace counters.

“Time out!” I say, stepping between the two. Beth looks comically at me as though I walked right into this problem.

Gia huffs and sits down, “You’re too scrappy to really make it worth while to kick your ass anyway.”

“You’re just afraid I could have taken you,” Trace retorts.

I think I’m watching Bevis and Butthead, “Okay children, listen up. Gia, I need you to help Johnny find a concept for the last video I’m shooting and Trace I need you to go to the store and pick up some chicken for dinner before you leave and pick up that girl you are seeing.”

“Fine.”

“Um, I don’t have a car. I took a taxi,” Trace points out.

“That’s fine, you can ride with Gia.”

“What?” they ask in unison.

“Just do it!” I answer exasperated.

They both sigh and whack into each other as they both try to get through the threshold at the same time. They slam the door behind themselves and you can still here them arguing as they get in the car.

“And I thought you and I were bad when I first came aboard.”

“So you’re saying they are eventually going to fall in love, shack up and spend the rest of their life together?”

“Mmm, no,” she says laughing.

I grab her hand and start moving towards the stairs, “Let’s go.”

“Go where?”

“Upstairs I thought they would never leave. I have a hard on the size of Texas.”

Beth rolls her eyes, “You have got to be kidding.”

“If I was kidding do you think I would be tugging on your arm as hard as I am?”

“You are so horny.”

“That’s why you’re with me.”

“Not exactly. It’s more like a lack of anyone else to ride,” she says.

I stop moving and lick my lips for a minute before lifting her over my shoulders whining the whole way up the stairs.

I roll over in bed tiredly and reach for the phone in an order to shut it up, “Hello?”

“Miss Addison?”

I fall back onto the bed and look over to my right, running my hand up and down his arm gently as Justin sleeps. I don’t think there is a more beautiful person on this earth than him right now, “Yes.”

“We found out the source for the story that was broken about you.”

I freeze as they tell me the name and wrap the covers around my body. I hang up the phone, scribble a note and leave it on the side table nest to him. If I wake him up he’ll not only be furious but he’ll insist in coming with me, which is something I don’t need right now. I need to confront my demons on my own.

I put on my clothes and slide out the front door, being careful to close and lock it before getting into the car and hitting the highway. I ponder what I’m going to say when I get there. How you broach a subject like this. They certainly don’t make Hallmark cards for apologies like the one I deserve. But then the thought crosses my mind that I may not even get one. This may be the blow up that has been building for as long as I can remember.

A tear slips down my cheek and I suddenly realize before a conversation has even begun that it’s already over. This is the closure to a tumultuous relationship that was never what it should have been. It’s a collective ending to my life as I knew it.

I take my exit and pull into the area marked off for parking. I hold myself as the wind whips through my every piece of clothing I have on and chills me to the bone. I walk a minute to the construction area and I go up to the overseeing manager standing off to the side, watching production, “Can I help you miss?”

“I was looking for Carl Addison?”

“Just a minute.”

The man goes around the other side of the building being put up and returns a few moments later with my father. He stops dead in his tracks when he sees me and the look on my face but recovers enough to take my arm as he gets close enough to touch me and lead me off to the side, “What are you doing here?”

I pull away from his grasp, “I know it was you.”

“Know what was me?” he says, playing dumb.

“I know it was you who told the press I was pregnant. What the hell were you thinking?”

Dad sighs after he realizes there is no way he can deny anything, “Look it was nothing personal alright?”

“How could this not be personal? You told the world that I miscarried a celebrities’ baby. Where do you get off selling my life to the press?” I ask angrily.

He shrugs, “Things have been tight since your sister died. I needed to make my rent last month and some layoffs were being made so I talked to some reporter. What did you want me to do? Sleep on some park bench?”

I take a step back, “I expected you to be my father. Care just as much about me as Sarah. But it was only coming over here that I realize you never really loved her, she was your meal ticket to everything you thought you deserved and could never have.”

“Why don’t you just go back to wherever you came from alright? What’s done is done Beth,” he says angrily.

I shake my head, “We are over dad.”

He looks back at me as he walks away, “When did we ever start?”

I turn around, “Oh and by the way, it’s Bethany.”

I go through the hallways looking at the directions given to me by the principle. I finally reach the room and knock get on the door as teacher comes over and opens it, “Can I help you?”

“Yeah is Sam Addison here?”

Sam jerks his head up from his book he was studying and practically jumps out of his seat, “Belle?”

“I need to take him out of school for the day,” I tell his teacher.

Sam can tell I’m upset about something and scurries around his desk, pilling all his books in his backpack before rushing out the door of the classroom with me. We get in my car and only then does he say anything, “Are you alright?”

I nod and lean over, hugging him tightly to my chest, “I missed you.”

“Did someone die?” he questions.

I shake my head no, “I just wanted to see you.”

“Does this have anything to do with the front page of those newspapers?”

I ruffle his hair a little, “I always said you were too old for your own good.”

“So who told?” he asks simply.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Sam looks over at me, “Are you here for me or were you in town for something else?”

I don’t say anything, instead pulling into Friendly’s. Sam mulls over everything in his head before I see a light bulb go off in his head, “It was dad wasn’t it?”

I try to smile, “You always did ask a lot of questions.”

“I’m so sorry Belle.”

“Listen, it was finally an end to whatever we had. In a way I’m grateful to have it over. Now, would you like to go in and have some ice cream or what?”

Sam nods eagerly and wraps his arms around my waist as we walk into the restaurant.

_______________________________________________________________________

“Can’t you drive any faster?” I complain.

“He’s already going twenty miles over the speed limit. Any faster and were all going to die before we get there,” Gia yells.

Trace has a death grip on the steering wheel as I sit in the front directing him on where to go. I wanted to drive but both Gia and Trace refused to let me. They finally agree on something and it just happens to screw me over.

“It’s that one,” I say pointing to the driveway.

Trace makes a sharp turn and we skid into the driveway. I don’t even wait until the car has come to a stop to open the car door and rap on their door until someone opens the door.

“Hi!” Sam says surprised as he looks behind me to see Gia and Trace piling out of the car.

“Is Beth here?” I ask quickly.

Sam nods and moves aside. I go in and go through the house quickly until I spot her on the couch dunking Oreos in milk.

“Baby!” I exclaim.

“What are you doing here?” she asks, standing up to greet me.

“You just took off without telling me.”

“I left you a note,” she begins and looks confused when she sees everyone walk through the door.

“And don’t you think I might have wanted to come along with you to see the bastard who I now need to kill?” he says, lowering his voice to avoid being overheard by Sam.

“I know you would have wanted to but I needed to do this on my own.”

“But why?” I ask.

I struggle not to cry as I look at his big blue eyes, “Because it was my dad who told.”

He wraps his arms around me in understanding so quickly I’m caught off guard, “I’m so sorry baby.”

“It’s okay. Were over now and it feels good to be free.”

He touches our foreheads together, “Don’t do that again. If you take off for another state you had better have me in tow.”

I smile and put my hands on either side of his cheeks, “I love you.”

He leans and kisses me softly and I try to focus on him but Gia’s and Trace’s arguing over how close he parked their car to mine causes me to crack up. Justin chuckles as I lean into his body to watch Sam sitting on the couch eagerly watching the two of them go at it.

“Did not.”

“You did too. God you are like a blind bat. How could anyone think that was a decent parking job?”

“I am not a blind bat.”

“Yes you are.”

The front door opens and my mom walks in. Shit. She looks around the room and Gia’s tiff with Trace is put on hold as Mom surveys why these people are in her house. Then her eyes land on me, “Bethany? What are you doing here?”

“It’s a very long story,” I begin.

“And Justin’s here,” she says, her tone dropping an octave.

“Maybe I can explain everything,” Justin says.

Mom folds her arms over her chest, “Someone had better.”

Justin starts to talk a mile a minute, “Well Beth left for here when she learned who told the papers about… our situation and she didn’t tell me she was going, which caused me to call Trace and Gia and they had to come home with the car. Then Trace pulled out a map to get us here and drove us to help Beth and I guess that’s it.”

I turn to Trace, “You were the one that got the map?”

Trace stares at his feet, “I made some calls to find out your address and mapquested our way here.”

I move over to him and wrap my arms around his neck to his surprise. Gia coos a little as Trace returns the hug. My mom looks over at Justin, “You drove out to get her?”

Justin nods and I can see mom lower her guard, “Okay, well it’s really too late for you guys to be driving back so why don’t we pull out the couch and some blow up mattress for you guys to sleep on. Beth you can sleep in your old room.”

Sam pulls the couch and mom returns with some sheets to put on the needed sleeping area. Within a matter of minutes there are several mattresses on the floor and blankets to accompany them. Trace is busy starting a fire as Gia directs him how to really start one, bickering the whole damn time and Justin is busy with Sam as he teaches him a magic trick.

Mom comes over to me, “It was your father wasn’t it?”

I nod and she hugs me, “I am sorry sweetheart.”

“It’s okay mom. Everything is okay.”

Mom smiles as she looks me over, “You look really good.”

“I feel really good.”

“So he did really come to get you?”

I look over at Justin playing with Sam, “Yeah he did.”

Mom nods and Sam comes over pulling in my hand over to Justin, “You have got to see what Justin taught me.”

I sit on the couch as he makes a quarter disappear. I smile as he shows me how to perform the trick as well. After a few minutes mom comes over and takes Sam’s hand, “We have to go to bed, I’ll see you guys in the morning. Beth will show you were the cereal is if you get hungry.”

I watch the two of them climb the stairs and wait until I hear the bedroom doors shut to climb onto the couch with Justin, “Thanks for coming to rescue me, even if I didn’t need it.”

“You’re welcome. Now don’t you think you should be getting to bed?”

I turn over to look at him teasingly, “Why? You afraid of my mom?”

I move my lips to his neck giggling quietly as he chokes out his response, “No, I just want her to like me and she didn’t exactly offer us a room together.”

“I didn’t sign on for a porno starring by best friend as his girl,” Trace calls out which provokes Gia to throw something at him, “Shut up!”

I look up at Justin and return to our original subject, “Don’t worry about it. Just go to sleep.”

“Yeah, and tomorrow, I’m driving,” Gia says, smacking Trace a pillow in the face in her way of “giving” it to him.

“I drove just fine thank you very much,” he complains, grabbing the pillow and laying down on it.

“Maybe if we were drag racing.”

“Night guys,” Justin says loudly, flipping the light off.