Rachel nearly booked the hotel room for another day. There had been a lot of back and forth in her head before she decided to check out and head to Clinton to her parents. Her flight had been delayed out of Houston. Touchdown in Mississippi didn't happen until after midnight. There was no way she was going to knock on her parents' door at that late hour. She didn't want to scare them half to death. The only option she had was grabbing a hotel in Jackson for the night.

The extended layover in Houston had been brutal. There were many times she wanted to grab her phone to pass the time. If she did that, then there was a good possibility she'd see messages from JC. She wasn't sure what she'd do; how she would respond. Right now, she needed to block him out and figure out how she wanted to continue. Her wallet, unfortunately, had been in the same compartment as her phone. She had to stick her had in her bag and blindly grab. Using the cash she had, she grabbed a snack from the only open store along with a crossword puzzle book and a trashy romance novel with a good looking cowboy on the cover.

Both of those turned out to be bad ideas. There was a reason she didn't like crossword puzzles. After going through the puzzle once, it was still more than half empty. Even the second time around hadn't made a dent. It was then she realized that when she did crossword puzzles in the airport, JC was always with her and he always helped her with most line numbers. Sitting the crossword book on the chair next to her, she opened up the book and started to read. Two chapters in had her reading the back cover and groaning. The book was about a cowboy in Montana and his best friend since high school. The heroine, harboring a crush on her cowboy best friend, had overheard a conversation that had crushed her heart, causing her to flee.

The universe was mocking her. It had to be. It was the only explanation to be had. If she had read the back cover before she bought it, Rachel would have put the book back and steered clear. She was a sucker for cowboys though. This time it blew up in her face. She didn't want to read her life in Harlequin format. Mostly because she knew the book would end with the cowboy sweeping the heroine off her feet and riding off into the sunset. The event of that happening to her was highly unlikely. There would be no sweeping of the feet for her.

The book and the crossword puzzle magazine were tossed in her suitcase in the backseat of the rental car she had snagged that morning. With the delayed flight, the rental car place in the airport had already been closed for the evening. She had to take a taxi to the hotel. A taxi had taken her back to the airport to pick up a rental car. Filling out the forms she had hesitated on the duration she would need the car. How long did she need to rental? When was she returning to LA? Tomorrow? In a couple days? Next week? Next month? Never? In the end she put a week down.

A week sounded good. That put her the Wednesday before her birthday. There was a big, combined party for her and Lance that Saturday to celebrate. Sunday, her actual birthday, she was supposed to be flying to New Orleans with JC. Now she wasn't so sure. She had a week to figure out what she wanted to do. A week to figure out what was going to happen next. There was a lot of unknowns. She wasn't even sure where to begin. She wasn't even sure if Mississippi was the place to figure it all out in. At least her parents' house anyway. Maybe she should have stayed at the hotel in Jackson and spent the week living on room service. That could have been done in LA, in much nicer hotels that had a better room service menu.

The drive to Clinton was quick. The late morning traffic was minimal. By now everyone was at work. It was still too early for the lunch crowd to hit the road. Both cars were in the driveway signaling her parents were home. Pulling behind her father's truck, she blew out a breath. Her heart hammered inside her chest. Her brain shouted ‘Danger Will Robinson!' and tried to kick her flight instincts. Her heart, haphazardly taped up and put back in her chest slightly crooked and barely hanging on, was screaming out for her mom.

The decision was made for her, when the front door opened and her mother stepped out onto the porch. Rachel could see the confusion on her mother's face before it morphed in to a wide smile upon recognizing her daughter. Rachel took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She put a smile on her face - one that she hoped would fool her mom - and climbed from the car.

"Rachel!" Diane exclaimed and climbed down the porch stairs and met her daughter on the sidewalk leading to the driveway. She pulled her in to a tight hug. "I didn't know you were coming!"

"Surprise!" Rachel laughed through the crack in her voice and hugged her mother tight. This was home, right there in her mother's arms. It felt like she was six years old again. The hug went on longer than it should have and Rachel had already failed at presenting a false front. Her mother would definitely know something was up but she couldn't seem to make herself let go.

"Hey," Diane said softly, one hand rubbing her daughter's back. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Rachel raised her head, her eyes were wet with unshed tears. "I just needed that."

Diane gave a small smile. "I have plenty more to dole out." She squeezed her daughter's upper arm in a comforting gesture and looked behind Rachel, but the driveway was empty. She looked back at Rachel and frowned when her daughter wouldn't meet her eyes. Her senses piqued. "What do I owe the pleasure of this visit? You weren't supposed to be in New Orleans until the fifth. Daddy and I were coming down to see you the following weekend. When did you get in? Did you get in the morning? You must have left awful early there."

Rachel allowed her self to be corralled into the house. Her mother's questions floated around her. Once inside she took a deep breath and was bombarded with memories. No matter how many years she'd been away from the house, it always smelled the same. Over the years the décor had changed to be updated with the times. The carpet had been replaced nearly ten years ago and the walls had been repainted. It was still home though. The door jam leading into the kitchen was still marked with the height chart of her and her brother and sister. Over Thanksgiving, they had grabbed a pencil and measured themselves again. Stacy had joked they should have marked on the opposite side of the door jam to measure how much they would shrink as they grew older.

Upstairs the first door on the left had been her room. Her thing were gone now. What she didn't take with her to Orlando and eventually LA had been packed up and moved to the attic. The dingy pink carpet had been replaced with a dark grey color. The floral wallpaper had been ripped off and the walls painted light grey. The window had been fitted with white faux wood blinds. Teal curtains hung over the blinds, either side tied back, gave the room a pop of color.

Her parents' wedding photo still hung above the mantel. She had spent countless hours growing up staring at that photo wishing one day she would find the same love her parents had. She would imagine herself falling in love with a classmate and getting married. They'd live somewhere in Clinton because she never imagined herself leaving. She'd settle in to married life and have children. She had wanted at least three. Dreams always had a way of changing. She never imagined Lance leaving either. Then he did and she started to get itchy feet. Eventually, she left too.

Diane watched her daughter move around the living room, seemingly lost in thought. It was hard not to grow worried. It wasn't like Rachel to drop in unannounced, especially when she had just talked to her the other day and knew how busy the upcoming weeks were going to be. She'd been looking forward to spending the day with her daughter in New Orleans; looking forward to hopefully being able to spend a few hours with JC if he could spare the time. She was excited for the gig he had landed; proud of him for doing something he'd never done before. She knew he was going to blow everyone away.

The excitement she heard in her daughter's voice from the phone call seemed to be gone. The woman in front of her was not happy, regardless of the smile she put on her face. Diane knew her youngest like the backside of her hand. Rachel could never hide anything from her. Stacy was the best. She would never give up what she knew and was able to put on a front while hiding her real feeling. Lance wasn't as good as Stacy, but it still took Diane awhile to figure out when something was amiss with her son. Rachel though, had no poker face. Her emotions were always on her sleeves. Her heart was always on display for anyone to come through and trample it.

It always amazed her how JC never saw Rachel's feelings for him. They were plain as day on her face when she looked at him, shining in her eyes when she talked about him. Diane had been able to identify the feelings when Rachel had come home to visit during the summer in 2007. The emotions pouring off her when she talked about Jive and how they kept screwing over JC. The album release date kept getting pushed back, interview and appearances were falling through. She sat and listened to her daughter talk about how much work she put in trying to score interviews and appearances when it was supposed to be Jive and the publicist they hired for JC doing the work. She had been there to listen to the cries of unfairness and the blatant attempts to elevate Justin over JC. Rachel had been unable to keep her feelings out of her tirade and out of her tears when she eventually cried at the hurt she felt for her friend to see something he wanted slipping away, knowing she couldn't stop it.

"Are you okay?" Diane asked watching her daughter give a slight jump as if she had forgotten her mother was even in the room.

"Of course I'm okay," Rachel sent her mother a smile over her shoulder. "It was a long day yesterday traveling. My flight was delayed and I had a long layover in Houston."

"You got in yesterday? Why didn't you call?"

"I didn't get in until real late, Mom. It was too late to call. I just got a hotel room. By the time I was able to get my brain to quiet down and with the time change..." she gave a half shrug turning away from her mother before she could read something on her face she didn't want to explain.

"I wasn't expecting you for another two weeks."

"I just missed you and decided to come early."

"And miss your birthday party?" Diane questioned, her eyebrows furrowing.

Rachel could feel her mother's eyes on her and she fought against the urge to hunch her shoulders against the stare. As if hunching her shoulders would protect her from the stare. Her brain was screaming ‘danger' louder. It was too late now. She was already here. To leave meant Diane would stop at nothing to find out what was wrong. There would be a call placed to not only Lance, but to JC as well. Once she found out they knew nothing (that they didn't even know she was in Mississippi), her mother would stop at nothing to seek her out and make her open up.

Rachel was saved with having to answer the question when the front door opened and her father walked in. "Daddy!" She grinned and quickly made her away around the couch to her father where she was pulled into a tight hug.

"Well this is a surprise!" Jim grinned, hugging his daughter. "We weren't expecting you for a couple weeks yet."

Diane stared after her husband and daughter as Rachel pulled him from the room and out the back door where they were lost in conversation about gardening. It was a topic her daughter knew Jim could go on for hours about. It was a ploy to get away from her mother. It might have worked for now, but Diane wasn't about to let it go. There was something going on with her daughter and she was going to find out what.

*~*

"Alright," Jimmy said with a sigh. He stopped playing the chords on the piano and turned around on the bench to face the room. From the moment he arrived at JC's he knew something was wrong, but JC just brushed him off giving excuses on how he couldn't wait to get started. Jimmy knew better. This wasn't excitement over sitting down and cranking out a song. It wasn't even excitement over finally finishing up working with someone you didn't like. JC's head wasn't in the game and it showed.

"What?" JC looked up from the paper on the table in front of him. His guitar sat on his knee and he was leaned over it. The writing process wasn't moving as fast as he wanted. When it stalled, he and Jimmy decided to work out some melodies for it, hoping it would jump start their brain and they'd be able to finish. So far it hadn't worked.

"What's wrong?"

"I told you, nothing." JC refused to meet Jimmy's eyes. He started humming the melody he was thinking for the line in the song as he tried to come up with the next line. It was an attempt to steer the conversation back to music and away from his issue. The issue being Rachel hadn't come home the night before. She had yet to make an appearance and the clock had already ticked into the late afternoon hour. His phone hadn't been silent all day, but it was never her name that popped up. Each time it would ring or jingle with a text message he grabbed it in hopes that it was Rachel. Disappointment set in each time. It was never her. He was starting to get worried.

"As I told you before, I don't believe it," Jimmy said, sparing a glance in Addison's direction. She was in her usual position - next to JC on the couch. ‘Any closer she would be in his lap.' The voice in his head sounded exactly like Rachel and he fought against the smile that threatened. Addison had apparently decided to step up her game in an attempt to go out with him. That paired with JC being distracted spelled doom for their writing session. Jimmy wanted to just throw in the towel for the day and try again later but he knew how much JC wanted their work with Addison to be over. He couldn't blame the man. There were times when he was uncomfortable watching the woman blatantly hit on JC.  "You worried about the group?"

"No," JC said, reading through the lyrics on the sheet. He was able to read the words, but they didn't penetrate. The only thing on his mind was Rachel. It consumed him.

"You worried about the show?" Jimmy was happy for his friend when he found out he had gotten the part in Jesus Christ Superstar. He couldn't wait to see the show when it came to town. He'd been present in the studio when Matt was helping JC with the songs. Wishing JC good luck when he left for New Orleans seemed redundant. His friend was going to knock it out of the park. When the reviews start pouring in about the show, he was just gonna sit back and grin as everyone fawned over JC and wonder why they slept on him.

JC shook his head. He was excited to start rehearsal for the show. He couldn't wait to get to New Orleans and begin rehearsals. It sort of felt weird to him to be going back on the road after so many years but he was looking forward to it. Bus life again.

"Why don't we just call it a day?" Addison said, closing the notebook and sitting it down on the coffee table. She patted JC's denim clad thigh, thinking about how she couldn't wait to have a say in his wardrobe. She was over the black jeans and black t-shirt look. First thing she wanted to do when they started dating was go in to his closet and toss out everything. Well, the first thing she'd do was toss Rachel out on her ear if she was still living at the house. Then she would toss his clothes out. "There's this new place that just opened over on Ventura, why don't we go and grab a late lunch?"

Jimmy stared at JC. He saw something flash across his face but it was gone before he could decipher. He frowned. There was something clearly bothering JC. He wasn't sure why JC wouldn't tell him. The frown deepened when he saw Addison's hand rest on JC's leg. "Hey! That sounds like a great idea!" He clapped his hands together, putting a wide grin on his face. He saw JC's bewildered look and grinned harder. "We'll take my car. I'll even buy."

Jimmy wasn't sure whose face made him want to laugh harder: JC's panicked one or Addison's irritated one. He knew the invitation to that late lunch didn't include him. It was another ploy to get JC to go out with her. He wondered what JC would have to do to get it through Addison's head that he wasn't going to go out with her. He was banking on Addison rescinding the offer and he nearly laughed out loud when she quickly spoke up.

"Oh, I can't do lunch," Addison said looking at her watch. "I have another engagement."

"Oh," Jimmy frowned. "Maybe some other time." He winked at JC when Addison started gathering her things.

"Yeah." Addison said as she stood and shouldered her bag. The day was not going like she had planned. When she arrived at JC's house, she was happy not to see a sign of Rachel even being there. She expected to be a sounding board while JC tried to figure out what was going on. Matt didn't know what he was talking about. No way would Rachel have confronted JC with the voicemail demanding an explanation. Addison knew what buttons to push on the woman. She knew exactly what that voicemail would have done. Rachel was running.

The afternoon was a bust. JC didn't have his head in the game at all. She expected that. She'd give him the day to mourn the loss of his friendship, then she'd start turning up the heat.

"Thanks man," JC said when the door closed behind Addison.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"It's nothing. Sorry for ruining today. I really wanted to get this done."

"You can't lie for shit." Jimmy watched JC checked his phone. He noticed JC doing that a lot throughout the day. After each check, the frown lines on his forehead would deepened. "Who are you expecting a phone call from? Is something going on? Your family? The show?"

JC sighed and his hands over his face. "I haven't heard from Rachel since yesterday when I asked her to make that coffee run. She isn't answering my texts. She's not answering my calls and she didn't come home last night."

"JC..."

"I know it sounds stupid. I'm not her keeper, she can do what she wants. But she's never done this before. Just go completely silent on me."

"What did you do man?"

"I didn't do anything!" JC exclaimed, his voice raising. "I asked for coffee, it was a joke."

"Hey man, calm down." Jimmy said, the smile falling from his face. JC was really spun up about Rachel ignoring him. "Do you want me to send her a text? See if I can get ahold of her?"

JC shook his head a sighed. "Nah. I'm sure she'll be home soon."

"Are you sure?" Jimmy asked and watched as JC nodded, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. "Alright man. I'll be over tomorrow same time."

"Yeah, I'll see ya then." JC walked Jimmy to the door. "I'll get my head screwed on right."

"You better or you'll never get rid of Addison."