"I should probably be heading home. It's getting pretty late."

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"I'll be fine, Josh." She stood up and began swaying, yet kept walking.

JC grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into himself. "I have plenty of room here." He whispered in her ear. "There's no need for you to rush out and possibly kill yourself."

"You worry too much." She slurred.

He braced himself as all of her body weight fell onto him. Effortlessly, he scooped her into his arms and carried her up to one of the guest bedrooms. After removing her shoes, he draped the sheets and blanket over her, and kissed her forehead.

Kate woke up the next morning with all the typical symptoms of a hangover. She glanced around the room as her memory began to kick in and tell her where she was.

She eased down the hall to JC's room where she figured he'd be asleep at this hour in the morning.

"Oh, you're awake." She pushed the door open further and walked up to the bed where he sat.

"Yeah, well someone had to take care of you through the morning."

Despite the pain, Kate slapped her hand to her head and groaned. "I'm so sorry, Josh. How bad was I?"

He shrugged and placed the paper that he was reading on his lap. "Not too bad. It's just been awhile since I've had to take care of a drunken girl."

"Why'd you let me go so far?"

"So I could take advantage of you." JC joked.

She laughed and sat on the other side of the bed. "Not much has changed in here."

"Yeah, well, I guess I really don't have anyone I need to impress anymore." His heart tore at the admission of his own words. "I'm really sorry, Kate, for what I did."

She stared off and listened to him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning our descent into New York City. The current time is eleven fifteen and it is forty-three degrees with overcast. Thank you for flying United. We hope that you think of us for your next trip."

Kate sat up excitedly in her seat as the captain made the announcement that she had been waiting for hours to hear.

After she left the plane, she made her way outside, caught a cab, and informed him of her final stop.

Kate walked down the hall where the guys were staying for the next few days. Just as she was about to reach up to knock on JC's door, she heard someone call her name.

"Hey Justin. How's it going?"

"What are you doing here?" She was a bit put off by his talk and he quickly tried to change that. "I mean, I didn't think you were supposed to get in till tomorrow."

"Yeah...I was able to leave my classes early, so I thought I'd surprise Josh." She stood confused.

Justin nodded nervously. "So you didn't call him and tell him you were coming?"

"No. I'm pretty sure that would have ruined the surprise. Don't you have some club you need to go to or something?" Kate proceeded to knock on the door. When she noticed Justin still standing there, she gave him a questioning look, but he remained still.

Once JC opened the door, her look of confusion grew deeper. He peeked through the cracked door and she could tell that he was wearing very little.

"Hey sweetie." She tried to smile although everything in her brain was running wild.

"Um, um..."

"Kate..." She filled in the blank when she noticed he was searching for her name.

"Yeah, yeah. What are you doing here?"

Before she could reply, a soft whine emerged from the dark background. The voice called out his name and all at once, it hit her. It answered everything; why he wasn't fully dressed, why it was dark in the room, and why he wouldn't let her inside.

Kate pushed the door open with the strength of her anger. She shoved passed JC to see a girl sitting in his bed naked. She turned back to him as he stood with his head against the wall.

She didn't know what to say. It was like she was dreaming and every time she tried to open her mouth to scream, nothing came out.

"Kate." He reached out to touch her.

She whipped her arm back immediately. "Do not touch me, Josh." Her mouth finally found connection with her brain. "How could you? Why?"

Kate didn't expect any answers from him, nor did she want to hear them. She raced out the room just as the tears were forming. The only thing that Kate remembered next was running. The tears in her eyes blocked her vision and her mind was in another world.

When Justin first saw Kate that night, he knew that nothing good could come out of the events to unfold. He waited. He waited for Kate. When she raced out of the room, he reached out to catch her. After trying to fight him off, she finally stopped and allowed him to hold her as she sobbed.

Justin shot JC a death look as he went back into his room. The busty blonde quickly exited the room and the door remained shut for the rest of the night.

"Come on, baby girl. You're staying with me tonight." Justin lifted her in his arms, realizing that she wouldn't have the strength to walk.

He laid her down in his bed and sat by her side for a few hours watching her cry. A few times, he noticed her drift into a sift sleep, but then out of nowhere, she'd just start sobbing again.

The sun was just rising over the horizon when Justin turned from the window to see Kate sitting up. She held a blank stare on her face, her eyes still swollen and red. His heart dropped.

"What did I do wrong?" Her voice was just above a whisper as he strained to hear her words.

He immediately rushed to her side; stroking her tangled hair. "Don't even think that this is your fault, Kate. It's not your fault."

She nodded slowly, taking everything in. Justin tried to pull his thoughts together and say something nobler. Something that would rest her racing heart.

Through the silence, Kate asked, "You knew, didn't you?" She took his quietness as all of the answer that she needed. "You knew that your best friend was cheating on his girlfriend and you didn't say anything." She calmly stated.

"I tried." He gave his honest answer. "I tried to get him to stop. You have to believe me, Kate. We ended up in a fistfight at one point. He would always tell me that he was going to stop, but never did."

"How many were there?"

Justin looked down at her broken body as she shook with overwhelming emotions. "I'm not going to tell you that, Kate."

"Justin..." She moaned. She knew that she shouldn't hear the answers to her questions, but she also knew that it would eat her inside if she didn't.

He felt like he was just turning the knife deeper into her back and he hated that feeling. "I love you, Kate. I don't want you to hurt, but I know you do. I just wanna make you feel better right now and you hearing the answers to those kinds of questions will not make you feel any better."

She nodded, accepting his answer. She leaned into him, hoping that there would at least be something in his touch that would make her feel better.

"Should I get tested?" She choked out.

At that moment, Justin knew that he had never felt so much hatred towards a person as he did towards JC. He didn't mind picking up the pieces because Kate was like a sister to him, he just hated the fact that he would have to do it in the first place. "It wouldn't be a bad idea."

"That girl was gorgeous." She dismissed his last statement, not allowing her mind to think that she could be infected.

"She's a fucking slut. She's not gorgeous." He sighed and brought her face up. "You know that I would never lie to you. There are so many great qualities about you, Kate that I don't even know where I would begin. JC is a fucking alcohol, whore-loving asshole who does not deserve you. There is someone out there who will treat you better than he ever will. You hear me, Kate?"

She reluctantly nodded. She knew he was right, but it was just easier to put herself down at that time. She fell back into a state of tears for the rest of the day.