As they headed back across town, Justin pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number to Reini's cell phone. After several rings, Reini answered the phone, slightly out of breath.

"What took you so long?"

"I didn't know the phone was ringing until Channing told me."

Immediately his face turned from annoyed to full blown mad.

"Channing? What is Channing doing at my place Ray?" he asked, as JC turned to face him.

"I'm not at your place Justin. I'm at my apartment."

"What's going on?" JC mouthed to Justin, who had now begin to squeeze the steering wheel.

Waving him off with his hand, Justin switched the phone to his other ear and proceeded in with the questioning.

"Why are you at your place?"

"I just needed some time to think Justin."

"Time to think? About what Ray?!" Justin growled, causing her to squeeze her eyes shut.

"Just think."

Turning to face JC, Justin covered the mouthpiece of the phone.

"Do you mind if we stop over Ray's place for a minute?"

"No, not at all."

"Ok, cool." he said, removing his hand from the phone. "Look, I'll be there in like ten minutes."

"Be where?" Reini asked, nervously. Did he seriously just tell her that he was coming over?

"Your place."

After squeezing her eyes shut for a second, Reini glanced over at Channing as he looked on with interest. Clearly by the tone in her voice, she wasn't the least bit thrilled by his news and he knew it.

"Justin, maybe....." she began, but was quickly cut off.

"I'LL BE THERE IN TEN MINUTES!"

Knowing that he wasn't about to change his mind, Reini looked up at Channing one last time and sighed.

"Fine. I'll see you in a little bit."

The next thing she knew, she heard a loud click and the line went dead. She figured that he would be upset with the fact that she left, but she just didn't think he would make this much of a deal about it. Now she was beginning to get worried. What if he cause a scene in front of Channing?

"Everything alright?" Channing asked, as he looked up over his cup of tea.

"Yeah. Everything's fine." she said, trying to sound as calm as she could, even though her heart was now racing a mile a minute. "Justin is stopping over for a minute though so please try and be nice."

Letting out a disgusted laugh, Channing grabbed his cup of tea and stood up.

"I'll be better than nice. I'll be in the other room. Far away from all the arrogance and fakeness" he said rolling his eyes.
Once Channing was out of sight, Reini picked up a few things she had laying around on the coffee table and went to refill her cup. Clearly this wasn't a social call.

Once he arrived at her apartment, Justin pulled in to the first open space along the street and parked his car.

"This shouldn't take too long." he said, quickly checking his side view mirror to make sure that it was safe to open his door.

"I'm in no rush man. Do what you have to do." JC smiled mischievously.

Exiting his BMW, Justin headed in to to her apartment building and hoped that she wouldn't give him too much trouble. After all, it hadn't even been twenty four hours since the last time he had to show her who was in control of the relationship.

Finally arriving at her apartment door, Justin took a deep breath and knocked three times. After a few seconds, he heard the sound of the door being unlocked and shoved his hands in to his pockets.

Pulling the door open, Reini saw the look of disapproval plastered across Justin's face and just hung her head.

"Can I come in?" he asked, almost annoyed at the fact that she had not invited him in.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Please. Come in." she said, taking a few steps backward so that she could open the door all the way.

"Thanks." he replied rather disgusted as he brushed past her. "You know, I'm still having a hard time trying to figure out exactly why you're here Ray. I told you I would be right back. Why did you leave?"

Shutting the door behind him, Reini headed in to the living room and plopped down on the sofa. She knew that she was having a hard time excepting the hand she was dealt in life, but she also knew better than to tell Justin that. She would just have to think of something else.

"Well, I'm waiting."

After racking her brain for something feasible to tell him, Reini finally said the first thing that came to mind.

"Channing needed me."

"Channing needed you? For what?"

Again she was at a loss. When the thought first popped in her head, it sounded like a good idea. Now she was back pedaling trying to come up with something...anything that wouldn't send up any red flags.

"Look, cut the bullshit Ray. We both know why you went home. Do you really think I am that dumb? This is about the other night."

Glancing up in to his blue eyes, Reini debated on trying to deny what he was saying, but ultimately she knew that he would see right through her and that it would just make things worse.

"You know, I should have expected you to do something like this when I left. I guess deep down I just thought that we were making some progress in our relationship. That I could trust you."

Now feeling guilty for leaving like that, Reini quickly stood up and wrapped her arms around his waist. She didn't want him thinking he couldn't trust her. After all, trust was the most important thing to her when it came to relationships.

"Justin you can trust me."

"Yeah, whatever Ray. You say that now, but like two minutes ago you blatantly lied to my face telling me that Channing needed you." he said, pushing her away from him.

"I did need her." Channing chimed in, as he came out of the bedroom to place his cup in the kitchen sink. "I called her and asked her if she could come home."

Looking over her shoulder, Reini immediately heard the protection mode of her "big brother" kick in. Obviously Channing had been listening to their conversation the whole time and felt the need to come to her rescue. Well, it was either that or he was simply enjoying the fact that he could take credit for putting a damper on Justin's day.

"So, what was it that you needed her to come home for again?" Justin asked, as he slightly cocked his head to the side.

"I never said what it was Justin. Honestly, I don't really think it concerns you."

Letting out a slight chuckle, Justin balled his fists up in his pockets and looked down at Reini as if to say 'He better watch his step'.

"Look, it doesn't matter why I'm here. I never said that I wasn't coming back though Justin." she said, quickly trying to diffuse the situation that was developing in front of her very eyes.

"So then, grab your stuff and let's go."

"I thought we were going to spend some time together tonight?" Channing interrupted, as an uncomfortable feeling took him over as he watched Justin interact with her.

Before Reini even had a chance to look his way, Justin quickly offered a solution to the problem he was almost certain Channing was trying to create.

"Why don't you join us then. I mean, any friend of Ray's is a friend of mine." he said, faking a smile that was as clear to Channing as it was Reini.

Almost as if she was caught in a trance, Reini held her breath and waited for what she was sure to be a verbal lashing of insults headed Justin's way. She knew that Channing hated everything Justin stood for and for him to actually attend one of his parties was a joke if nothing else.

"I'd love to."

Quickly turning around to face Channing, Reini studied him with a look of complete disbelief. Did he really just agree to hang out at Justin's with the all people he loathed? Was he going to socialize with the "paparazzi whores" as he so delicately called them? More importantly, who was this guy and what did he do with her best friend?

"Then it's settled. Party starts at seven. Try to get there a little early. I'd like to spend some time with Ray before it gets too crazy." he said, taking her hand in his.

Nodding his head that he understood him, Channing grabbed a few papers off of the kitchen table and headed back in to his bedroom. He knew that once Justin left, Reini would have a ton of questions for him and he had to think how he was going to approach them. He certainly couldn't just flat out tell her that the reason he agreed to go was that he sensed Justin was up to no good. If he did, she would just go on the defensive and blindly look past anything that was right there in front of her face.

"So...I guess I'll see you tonight then." Justin said, his voice nor expression ever changing as he stared down at her.

"You're not mad are you?" she nervously asked, as she glanced up in to his piercing blue eyes.

"Mad? She asks me if I'm mad." he growled, squeezing her hand so tight that her fingers tips were now turning a bright red.

"Justin stop. You're hurting me."

Biting the corner of his lip so that he didn't cause an unnecessary scene, Justin glanced over towards Channing's door and then leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Ray, you have no idea just how mad I am." he said, releasing his grip on her hand as he pushed it away from him. "You just better not be late tonight. We have a few things we need to talk about."

Lowering her head, Reini watched as Justin headed towards the door. Now on top of Channing accompanying her to Justin's for the party, she also had to worry about how Justin was going to treat her once they were there.

"Remember. DON'T be late." he said, opening the door of her apartment and walking out.

Once Channing heard the sound of the door closing, he headed back in to the living room and over to where Reini was standing.

"Why did you say that?"

"Say what? That we were supposed to do something together tonight?"

"No. That you would go to the party."

"Look, clearly things are still a little strained between you two. Now, I personally don't care for the guy, but obviously if you do, I am going to have to learn how to co-exist with him. Right? I mean, I'm not going to be pushed out of your life simply because we have a difference of opinions."

Smiling after he said it, Channing realized that it sounded better when he said it outloud than when he practiced it to himself a few minutes ago in the room.

"All I'm saying is that you don't have to do this because of me. I know that this is the last place you want to go to tonight."

"Actually, you're wrong. You will be there with me and I couldn't imagine spending tonight with anyone else."

After kissing the top of her head, Channing plopped down on the sofa and patted the spot next to him.

"Come on Ray. It will be alright. You just have to trust me."

Offering him a half-hearted smile, Reini sat down beside him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks Channing." she said, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Anytime."

*******************************************
As Justin walked back down to his car, he could still hear Channing's condescending tone as he stated that 'they' were supposed to do something tonight.

"Fuckin prick!" Justin mumbled to himself as he exited the building and over to his car.

"So, you get everything taken care of?"

Simply shaking his head in disgust, Justin stuck his keys in the ignition and started up his car. He knew that Channing was a pain in the ass before, but now he was beginning to see him more as a threat than anything else.

"What's wrong man?"

"You know what. I've never let some nobody walk all over me before and I'm damn sure not about to start now!' he said, peeling out of the parking space and on to the road.

"Let me guess. Channing."

"Yeah Channing! What the fuck kind of name is Channing anyway." Justin spat back. "Stupid mother fucker, telling her that 'they' were supposed to spend time together!"

Now laughing at Justin's little outburst, JC shook his head and looked back out the window.

"Should be quite interesting when they get here tonight." Justin said, turning to look at JC.

"When they get here? You invited him too? Why in the hell would you do that?"

"Well, several reasons actually. First and foremost, I wanted to burst that little cock suckers bubble! If he thinks he is going to cause problems between me and Ray, he has another thing coming. I know he was lying through his teeth and so was Ray, but once that prick gets on my turf, it's a whole other ball game."

"Do I get to play some ball too? I always was the athletic type J, you know that." he laughed, adjusting the sleeve of his shirt so that he could flex his biceps. "See, I got the guns baby!"

"Good. Maybe you can wrap one of them around his fuckin neck for me." Justin laughed, an evil smirk now gracing his lips.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

"We're going to find out exactly what this guys deal is tonight. No more wondering what his intentions are with Ray."

"His intentions? Do you think he is interested in her?"

"Is that supposed to be a serious question? What guy wouldn't be?"

Silently acknowledging Justin's statement, JC knew just how right he was. Ray was gorgeous. Every inch of her, pure perfection. Unfortunately Justin had saw her first and he dealt with that daily, if truth be told.

"Anyway, I just want you to be on guard tonight. I don't trust either one of them right now."

"No problem man. I have your back. What time are they coming?"

"I told them the party starts at seven, but I also told him that I wanted them to come early so I could spend a little one on one time with Ray".

"Ah, I see. Couldn't quite get your point across with Channing there could you?"

"No, not exactly. You're going to have to make sure that I get that much needed time though when they get here."

"Just keep the yelling down to a minimum. I don't want to have to go toe to toe with this fucker. I'm a small man J."