Gabrielle stared at the card. Wade Robson. She'd never heard of him before, but it was obvious that Justin knew who he was. She racked her brain and tried to figure out why Justin had such an animosity toward him. She realized that no matter how hard she thought about it, she'd never figure it out without knowing exactly who Wade was.

A few minutes after he'd left the room, Justin turned around to see where Gabby was. He was angry when he saw that she wasn't anywhere behind him, and he stormed back to the greenroom to find her staring at the card.

"Gabby, come on. Stop daydreaming about your little asshole boyfriend and let's get the fuck out of here!" Even before she lifted her eyes to meet his, the anger started to boil beneath her skin.

"He's not my boyfriend, and frankly, you're being the asshole. I don't even know who this guy is, so you can just fuck off." She motioned toward the card as she finished her last sentence, then got up and motioned toward the door to get Justin to walk so she could follow him. He got her hint and obeyed, but not before flashing a dirty look in her direction as a result of her insult.

Later that night, just as he promised, he took Gabrielle out to dinner. After leaving the studio, they went back to the hotel, settled into their adjoining rooms, and dressed up for dinner. He'd taken her to one of the fancier restaurants in New York as a way to apologize to her; though he couldn't bring himself to swallow his pride and actually say the words to her yet. His ulterior motive for his restaurant choice was the fact that they couldn't fight in such a high class restaurant. In their history, every time they'd been in a public place together, they'd ended up fighting; that was the last thing he wanted to do again. Although he had some things he needed to tell her, she probably wouldn't agree with him or understand him. To stop the fight that could very well have erupted, he chose to tell her in a place where they couldn't fight.

Almost the entire appetizer was spent in silence. Gabrielle was still angry at Justin for his unnecessary yelling, and Justin was still angry and hurt about the Wade situation. By the time the main course, had arrived, Justin had gathered enough strength to speak to her, and without even thinking about how he would began, he spoke.

"Gabby, I don't want you around that guy. He's trash." Gabrielle placed her fork back down on the table and took a breath before she responded.

"Justin, you have no right to tell me who I can and cannot keep in my company. You and I are friends, and that's it. Don't treat me as though I need to respect your commands about what men I can't see because you and I are not in a relationship. Therefore, I am not obligated to respect you as anything more than a friend. If that's your advice to me about Wade, I'll gladly consider it, but I'm in no position to obey you here. Your words to me before I came on this trip were, 'I need a friend.' That's all I am to you; that's all I'm here for." She took her water and sipped it, letting him know that she'd spoken her peace, and she was finished.

"I know that you don't have to obey me. I wouldn't expect that from you if we were anything more than friends, either. What I said came out wrong, and even though you didn't ask for it, I guess I am giving you advice. I know this guy, I know that he's a coward and an asshole, and I really don't want to watch you get involved with him and have him hurt you. You're right, we are friends, and from one friend to another, I'm advising you to stay away from him. I don't want to see you get hurt."

For some reason, his response didn't satisfy her. She knew deep down that she wanted him to tell her that they were more than friends, but that just wasn't their reality. She felt ashamed for believing that this man could ever want her in an intimate way. She'd told herself so many times that he was just lonely that morning in the shower, and she began to believe that he really had no intentions of pursuing any type of relationship further than a platonic one.

They finished their dinner in near silence, and because of the unresolved feelings, emotions, and conversations between them, the night ended early with a simple, "Good night," and they both retreated to their separate rooms, locking the door between them.

The next day began nearly the same way: in silence. Justin spent the day jumping from radio station to television station to sound stage, making appearances and fulfilling his required interviews. The only time he even spoke to or saw Gabrielle was when he was ready to leave for his dinner with Britney. Before he left, he walked over to the door separating their rooms and knocked lightly.

Gabrielle opened the door and stood in the doorway, letting him know that he wasn't invited over to her side. She knew why he was there, and she knew why he was dressed in the suit that he wore, and why he smelled like a ritzy department store; it was Britney's night with him. She didn't even expect him to come back to the hotel at the end of the night.

"I just wanted to say good night. I'm on my way to dinner and I didn't want to spend this entire day not talking to you."

"Okay, well have fun. I hope this works out the way you want it to." She forced a weak smile, and quickly let it fade to emphasize her sarcasm. She was still very bitter about Justin commanding her to not see Wade, and about Justin wanting only a friendship from her. The smile he returned seemed just as forced as hers did.

"Good night, Gabby."

"Night." She watched him walk away and she closed her door before he was completely out of her sight. She sunk into the back of the door and felt her eyes get watery. This is pointless, she thought to herself, and angrily dried the small tears before they had the chance to escape. A sudden knock on her door surprised her and she quickly opened it. There he was, looking sexier than she'd ever seen him, and it was all for another woman.

"Yes?" she asked him.

"I know that things aren't great between us right now, but I could really use a hug from you. I'm kind of nervous." He didn't let her object because he knew she would. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in the crook of her neck. He gave her one last squeeze and let her go. She'd barely let her arms touch his body. Everything about what he was going out for was hurting her and she refused to admit to herself why. She refused to let herself enjoy his company anymore, and she definitely refused to enjoy any kind of touching, even an innocent hug.

"Bye." He said, and this time she watched him walk completely out of his hotel room. That was it, she thought. She'd now lost any chance of him; he was going off to be with her now.

Justin pulled into the restaurant parking lot and could tell that Britney had beaten him there. There was a huge crowd of paparazzi, fans, and reporters surrounding the building, and his only option was to walk right passed them all, alone. He thought about grabbing the next decent female he saw to accompany him into the front doors just so that everyone outside wouldn't think that he was there to see Britney, but it was inevitable. She always did this, always made sure an unnecessary amount of people knew her every move. He figured it was to keep herself company and to make herself feel important; Justin hated it.

He swallowed his fear and headed straight for the door, ignoring the constant sound of his name being shouted and screamed. He was thankful to the staff for showing him immediately to Britney's table. Of course she chose to sit in the most secluded part of the restaurant: their balcony section. He wasn't surprised to see that they were the only ones dining there, either.

She rose to greet him and kissed his cheek as she hugged him. He responded back only enough to be polite, and quickly sat in his own chair. Their dinner arrived moments after he'd arrived because Britney had taken the liberty of ordering for them both.

"So, what's up?" Justin pushed his plate aside and leaned into the table. He wasn't interested in dinner; he wanted to get down to business. The quicker this is over with, the quicker I get out of here, he thought.

"Well, we haven't seen each other for awhile, and I thought we could just get together and have dinner." She had a confused look on her face as to why he pushed his meal aside.

"Do you want something else? That's just what you always order when we come here, I thought you'd like it."

"Britney, I didn't come here for dinner. I came here to talk."

"Well, then we could have gone somewhere else." She smiled and placed a bite of food in her mouth.

"No, see...you're not getting it. I don't want to have any kind of relationship with you, not friends or anything. I don't want to see you unless I have to, and I came here tonight to make that perfectly clear. You called me, and I know it wasn't just for dinner. I know you have something to say, so let's just do this; no beating around the bush."

"Okay. I called you to talk. I mean, don't you get lonely now that we're not together anymore; now that we don't talk? I know you, Justin. You need companionship."

"I'm fine without you. I told you I would be, and I don't lie...unlike you."

"That was cheap. Come on, Justin, I thought we were passed all of that. I mean, was that just me?"

"Yeah, that was just you. Of course you had no problems putting all that shit behind you; you were having a blast fuckin' around behind my back."

"Okay, let's stop. I didn't come here to fight about that. I want a clean slate, and I don't want you to be angry with me anymore."

"A clean slate? What the hell for? Nothing is going to ever happen between us again, so there's no need for a clean slate. Besides, what's written on your slate is permanent; there's no erasing what you did to me."

"Justin, baby. I want to get to a point where we can be civil in the same room."

"We can be civil. The only place we need to be civil is in front of the cameras. Other than that, I don't want to see you, and we can't be fighting if we can't see each other."

"Look Justin, I'm sorry for everything that happened, okay? I know that it was an unforgivable thing that I did, but I miss you so much...all I want is your forgiveness. Please, Justin. I'm so sorry." There it was, what he'd been waiting for. She finally apologized and it twisted his emotions in such an evil way. The complete love of his life, the most perfect being in the world to him had finally done all that he'd ever asked for; she'd apologized. Yet, somehow, it didn't fix everything like he felt it would. She wasn't perfect again, even after the apology.

"I can't accept that. You've lied to me about worse, how can I even begin to trust that you're telling me the truth now? We're done. I never want to talk to you again." His words weren't spiteful; he wasn't trying to hurt her or even force her to feel some type of emotion for the tragedy she'd caused in their relationship. He simply wanted her out of his life, for good. The matter-of-fact tone he used made it clear that there were no games anymore. He was finished with her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As soon as Gabrielle knew Justin was gone, she closed her door and turned to face the room. The suite she was in was gorgeous, but there was something so unsettling about it at the same time. She hated the thought of being alone in this room for the rest of the night while Justin was out with the love of his life, completely forgetting that she even existed. Maybe Wade had been right about him; maybe Justin was just playing her while he was still with Britney. Her eyes suddenly landed on the card with his name and number, and before thinking about the consequences, she dialed the number and awaited his answer.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Hey, Wade. It's Gabrielle, from the greenroom."

"Hey, girl, what's up?"

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to go out to a club with me tonight."

"A fine lady, some dancin' and some booze? I'm there! Where do you want me to pick you up at?"

Gabrielle went through all of the specifics of the hotel and the club she wanted to go to. She checked her watch and told Wade to meet her at the front door in half an hour. After a few more smooth lines, they hung up and Gabrielle raced to get ready.

"Justin's not the only one who's gonna have a little fun tonight," she said out loud to herself as she applied her lipstick. After slipping on her shoes, she headed out the door and met Wade as he stood on the hotel stairs waiting for her. He walked up to her and handed her a single flower.

"You're always supposed to bring a lady a gift when taking her out." He winked at her and she smiled. This guy could turn out to be a charmer too, she thought. After putting it the pile of curls on top of her head, she took his outreached hand and they walked to the club together.

"So, you finally came to your senses, huh? Realized Justin's a real asshole?"

"That's funny; he says the same thing about you. What's the deal with you guys?"

"Long story, babe. We ended up fighting over some chick. It ruined our friendship. Let's not talk about that, though. We're here to have a good time, right?" Gabrielle nodded, and a short walk later, they both entered the club.

"You wanna hit the bar first, or what?" Wade yelled over the loud music.

"Yeah, I want a drink!" Gabrielle was beginning to feel a bit nervous and guilty for being out with Wade. She knew that her usual round of martinis would do the trick and make her feel totally relaxed. Although, lately her usual round of martinis was also good for speeding along her temper.

The entire night was spent with routine trips from the bar, then back to the dance floor for a few songs, then back to the bar. Gabrielle had long lost count after her fourth martini, and Wade seemed to do the same on his drink. She knew she needed to stop when she tripped completely over her own foot and barely caught her balance on the bar. She and Wade laughed hysterically as she tried to pull herself up to sit on the stool. After their last round of drinks, they hit the floor one more time, and after a minute or so, she felt the nausea creep up on her.

"Wade, we've gotta stop. I'm getting sick."

"Yeah, I'm not feelin' all that hot either. Let's go to my place." Gabrielle agreed without thinking twice, and before she knew it, she was heavily vomiting her insides into the toilet in his apartment. She felt the desire to die, but before she fully let the thought form in her mind, she sunk down over the toilet, and all reality drifted away as she passed out. The room became dark, and she was gone.