"You're still hooked on her, aren't you?"  Justin shot the basketball, causing the net to make a sharp ‘swoosh' sound.

"What?  Why would you say something like that?"  JC stood there, confused.

Justin didn't hold back the laugh that was brewing inside him.  "It is so obvious.  You won't shut up about her, you are always spacing out, and you've had that stupid grin on your face since the first day you saw her."  Justin tossed the ball to JC.  "Let's face it man, mama's got the pussy you want.  You got it bad, C."

"Where do you come up with this shit?  I mean, of course I'm excited to see her.  If it had been six years since you saw or even spoken to your best friend, wouldn't you be just a bit excited?"

Justin finally stopped bouncing the ball and took a seat on it.  He let the warm air and hot sun consume his tired body.  "All I'm saying is that it looks like you never got over her."

JC wiped away the droplets of sweat that were forming on his brow.  "How could anyone get over a girl like Kate?"

______________________________

   A warm breeze brushed past her as she got out of the car.  The air was unusually warm for this time of year, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.  She walked up to the quaint little house and opened the door as if it were her own home.

   "In the back, Kate."  The female voice called out to her.

   She placed her purse on the entryway table and scurried to the back of the house.  Her older sister sat at the table, her fingers pounding frivolously at the laptop in front of her.

   "Hi Maddy."  Kate kissed her on the cheek and sat down across from her.

   Madison continued to type out a few more lines before slamming the top down and giving her little sister her full attention.  "Haven't seen you in awhile.  Has it been busy at the magazine?"

   "Last mouth was hell and on top of that it seemed like Kendra's list of activities were endless."

   "But what about this mouth?"  It was out of the norm for Kate to make a lunch date in the middle of the week.  Madison gladly accepted her company on such a day.

   "Well, this mouth I'm doing the celebrity interview on Josh."

   Madison nodded her head in a way that told Kate that she had already known about the interview.

   "Don't tell me you knew about this before I did."  Kate turned in her chair as Madison was up to put the teakettle on the stove.

   "I'm sorry, Katie."  She was the only one who was able to get away with calling her that name.  If anyone else called her that, she'd hate it.  "Heather promised me not to say anything."

   She shook her head in disbelief.  "I can't believe you're still friends with her."

   Madison returned to the chipped painted wooden chair she had been sitting in.  She grabbed Kate's hands from a across the table and held them with care.  "Just because you and Josh had this nasty falling out for reasons only you two know, doesn't mean the entire Chasez family are ass holes.  They would have been there for you all those years, especially when Kendra was a baby.  It was very difficult to keep Kendra a secret from them."

   Kate let out a tired sigh.  She had heard this speech a thousand times and each time it stirred up the same argument.  "Well, I'm sorry to have to do such a thing to you.  Heaven forbid you ever keep your mouth shut."

   "That's not the point, Katie."

   "No, the point is that Josh fucked up our relationship.  What he did hurt me so bad.  It was hard for me to begin to think about trying to be friends with him, yet I did.  And do you know what I get?  Six years without him."  Madison mouthed the last sentence verbatim.  "If you're going to be stupid about this, Madison, you shouldn't have even brought it up."

   "What did he even do to you?  All we ever hear about is this huge feud.  How can anyone feel sorry for you if you won't say what happened?"  Madison searched her light blue eyes for an answer.

   Kate shot her eyes downward.  "You know, it really doesn't matter.  It's an issue between Josh and me and we're working things out on our own."

   Madison continued the conversation when she fetched the crying teakettle.  "But that's the thing, Katie; it isn't an issue between just you and Josh.  You two have involuntarily drugged both families into the hatred.  It's time that this all stops."  She placed the mug filled with tea next to Kate.

   In the past six years, Madison tried to squeeze out as much information as she could, but never got very far.  Heather pleaded with JC on many accounts to tell her what was going, but like Kate he was a closed book.  Kate and JC frustrated their families to no end.  Since Kate was her only sister and her baby sister at that, Madison instinctively wanted to protect her.

   "Since you and I both know that this conversation is going nowhere, can we talk about something else?"  Kate begged.

   The slender young blonde pondered the next topic.  She bounced excitedly when the thoughts entered her mind.  "How are things with...oh, what's his name..."

   "Adam."  Kate mumbled.

   Madison let out a laugh.  "Yes, yes.  How is Adam?"

   Kate took a drink to prolong her answer.  "He's a complete jerk."

   "I hate to say it..."

   "I know, I know, you told me so.  But I guess I just had to find out for myself.  It's not easy finding a guy, let alone finding one who will put up with the fact that I'm a 25 year old single mother."

______________________________

   Kate Lauder pulled her head back, resting it on the cushion in her bathtub.  This was her first day that she had no responsibilities other than to take care of herself. 

   Although she enjoyed spending the day with Madison, it was just a constant reminder of what could have been.  She imaged herself flying all over the world for her job.  She would be the best super model the world had ever known.  That was Kate's "could have been" fantasy. 

   She had dabbed her foot in the modeling industry all through out high school.  Her mother prevented her from doing any modeling that was outside the state of Maryland, but she was well known around town for the ads that she appeared in that were in the Sunday paper.

   The warm water splashed around the tub as Kate jumped up when she heard a loud knock at the door.  She left the water sitting and went to grab her robe, leaving her wet hair to drip.  Cautious as to who was at her door, Kate rose to her tiptoes to look through the peek hole.

   "Josh?  What are you doing here?"  She opened the door and pinched her robe tight around her neck.

   JC stood before her with a bag of groceries and a bottle of wine.  "I wanted to have dinner with my favorite girl."  He pushed his way into the apartment.

   Kate blankly watched him lay all of his items out on the counter.  He turned each container and package so that the labels were all facing the same direction.  Once he felt he had reached perfection, he smiled softly.

   "Don't act like this doesn't happen to you on a regular basis.  I'm sure you've got boys lining down the block to have dinner with you."

   Kate felt all of her blood rush instantly to her face.  "I wish my life was really like that."  She sighed.  "I'm going to get dressed.  Help yourself to what ever you need."

   JC waited until she disappeared into her bedroom before he began cooking.  He tried to navigate his way around the unfamiliar kitchen, making all sorts of noise in the process.  But it brought a smile on his face once he realized that her kitchen was organized in the same way her mother's was.

   Kate rushed around trying to find something to wear.  She quickly threw on a pair of capri sweatpants and a baby doll tee.

   She stared at her reflection in the mirror, ready to pour on the make-up.  "What am I doing?  It's just Josh."  She continued to remind herself.  It had been so long since she received good quality male attention that she was ready to pounce on the first opportunity.

   Kate's heart nearly dropped when she opened her bedroom door.  All of the lights had been turned off.  The only source of light came from the soft glow of candles, which were strategically placed throughout the dining and living room.

   "Joshua Chasez."

   JC turned toward Kate after placing the last dish on the table.  "I know it's not much, but I just wanted to do something special for you."

   Still in awe, Kate admired the table setting.  "Who did you pay to do all this?"

   "There's a lot of information I picked up in the past six years."  He laughed and pulled out a chair for her.

   "Well, this is all very wonderful.  Very unexpected, but wonderful."

   Pinned to the mattress, he carefully tried to stretch without waking the girl on top of him.  He brushed her messy hair down, away from his face.  The last thing he wanted to do was disrupt this moment of serenity.  It wasn't often when he could find the chance to come home with his busy schedule and all.

   "Kate."  He rubbed her back softly.  "Kate, I need to get ready and leave."

   She slowly rose from behind her hair.  Her eyes squinted, trying to adjust to the light in the room.  "I don't want you to go."

   He watched her roll off him and lay on her stomach.  Her head was turned toward him with pleading eyes.  "I have to go.  I have to make money so that I can come home to see you."

   "I wish you would just work a normal job."

   He shrugged and slid out of bed.  He walked across the room and into the bathroom, leaving Kate to fall back asleep.

   After he finished taking a shower and getting dressed, he opened the opposite door in the bathroom, which led to Tyler's room.

   "You taking off?"  Tyler asked when he heard the door open.

   "In a bit."  JC sat at the computer chair and stared at the motions on the television for a moment.  "When's your first baseball game?"

   "Thursday."

   He nodded.  "Ok, I'm gonna try to make it up for one of your games."

   "You've been saying that for years now and each year you never show up."  Tyler grumbled.

   He hated the guilt trip his family would throw on him at times.  He knew they had every reason to be upset with him and for that reason; he tried to be more understanding.  His family kept him grounded and he loved them for that.  "I know, Ty, but this year is different.  Trust me."

   Tyler drew on a slight smile.

   He stood from the chair and glanced around the room, taking in the memories.  "I'll talk to you later."

   Tyler mumbled a goodbye as JC left the room.  Before he journeyed down the hall to Heather's room, he backtracked to the main door of his own room.  Slowly opening the door, he noted that Kate had gone back to sleep.  This time she was sprawled out over the queen size bed.

   Although he had yet to find out what happened to her last night, he knew that he could bring it out of her within the next couple of days.  She was not known for hiding things, especially from him.  She told him everything, even the things he could live without knowing.  On the flipside, she was the person he called just to talk.

   "She's jail bait."  Heather sang softly.

   JC jumped and quickly shut the door.  "Why are you sneaking up on me?"

   "Why are you staring at her?"  Heather had a teasing smile on her face.

   "I'm not."

   "Right..."  She brushed it off and changed the topic.  "I thought she was over at her boyfriend's house.  When did she get in?"

   He leaned up against the railing and crossed his arms over his chest.  "I don't know.  I think it might have been around three or four."

   "In the morning?"  She exclaimed.

   "No, Heather, at night."  He sarcastically remarked.

   She held her head in her hands.  "What happened, Josh?  Is she okay?"

   "Well, she's not dead."

   "Don't be an insensitive prick about this.  What if she broke up with her boyfriend?  What if he hit her?"  Heather gasped.  "What if he raped her?"

   JC slammed his hands on the railing, showing his obvious frustration.  "Would you just shut up about it?  Don't you think I've already thought about all those things, plus other possibilities?  Do not bring it up with her.  Just leave it alone.  Ok?"

   Heather slowly nodded.  She wanted so bad to argue with him and try to get him to talk to Kate before he left, but she knew her brother and knew when to drop a topic.

   He eased into his room quietly and kneeled beside the bed.  He ran his hand over her face and watched a smile dance on her lips.

   "Don't leave me, Josh."

   "I wish I didn't have to, Kate.  But you know we have this exact same conversation every time I come home."

   She lifted her upper body off the bed and held his stubble cheeks in her hands.  "Then maybe you shouldn't leave me."

   He watched her layback down and close her eyes.  It was something she did whenever things weren't turning out the way she wanted.  "All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..."  JC softly sang in her ear.

   Kate nudged him with her free hand.  "Josh..."

   "All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go."  He sang again.  "I'm not leaving till you do it."

   She tried to hide the smile as she sat up.  "I'm standing here outside your door."

   "I hate to wake you up to say goodbye."  He sat on the bed and held her close.

   "But the dawn is breaking..."

   "Its early morn'."

   "The taxi's waiting, he's blowing his horn."

   "Already I'm so lonesome, I could die."  He brushed a strand of hair from her eyes as he finished the verse.

   She rested her head on his chest.  "I'm lonesome."  

   He let out a tired sigh.  "I'll miss you, Kate."

   "I'll miss you more.  Tell the boys I say hi."  She tried to force a smile.

   "I will."  He kissed her sweetly on the forehead, gathered his bags together, and closed the door behind him.