"Tyler! Oh my God how are you?" Hannah jumped off of JC's lap and threw herself into Tyler's arms. He swung her around playfully before setting her back down.

"I'm great. It's so good to see you, girl! I missed you."

"I missed you too, Ty. I'm so happy you are here this weekend!" She squealed and pulled him in for another hug.

"Are you kidding? And miss your birthday? Never."

"How was work today?" JC finally piped in.

"Fine. It's pretty lame for an internship actually. We hardly get to work on any cases. Basically they just take us out to lunch and try to wine and dine us in order to sign on with the firm after graduation. Its all pretty phony. But, I did have some awesome sushi today, and I'm getting paid 40 grand for doing nothing this summer, so I can't complain."

"Sounds rough." JC muttered.

"It kind of sucks actually. Totally not  my style. I'd rather do the work. But, I'm not mooching of you for the summer, so it makes me feel better about myself."

"Well whatever it takes," JC quiped.

"So how was your flight?"

"Oh not bad," Hannah began and JC wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Glad to be here though. Always glad to be here." She patted JC's hands softly. The three were interrupted with the chime of the doorbell.

"Tony, hey man! How's it going?" It had been a few weeks since JC and Tony met at the bar, and things between them were still a bit tense and uneasy. But things were definitely moving in the right direction, and by inviting him tonight he was certain things would continue to heal between them.

"Good man. Thanks for having me. Ty, how 'ya doin'?" Tony nodded in acknowledgement.

"Miriam couldn't make it tonight?"

"No, she's visiting her mom right now, but she says hi."

"Bummer. Maybe next time then. But man, I'd like you to meet Hannah."

"It is so great to meet you," Hannah began, eagerly shaking Tony's hand. "First of all, I just wanted to say that I loved your show in Chicago. I was bummed we didn't get to talk to you afterward. But that doesn't matter because you're here now, and wow! I'm just so happy you could make it!"

Tony let out a chuckle and slid into an easy smile. "Well its a pleasure to meet you as well. For you," he said handing her a narrow bag with elaborate ribbons. "Happy birthday."

Hannah took the gift eagerly and fumbled with the array of curls. "You didn't have to do that Tony. We don't even know each other!"

"Maybe not, but I'm hoping we'll know each other for a long time to come," he added, slyly tossing a wink in JC's direction. "It's nothing special. Just a bottle of wine from the vineyard my wife's parents run upstate."

"Thank you so much! And send my thanks to Miriam. I'm so sorry she can't be here."

JC noticed Tony's nod of approval as Hannah and Tyler headed into the kitchen to uncork the bottle of wine. "Thanks, man, for coming. It means a lot to Hannah. And to me." JC gave Tony's back a hearty slap and the two headed into the kitchen to enjoy a night of celebration. 

*****

JC's leg twitched as he eyed the clock for the tenth time in the last 25 minutes. He stared at the empty conference table in front of him and let out a deep sigh. The shrill buzzing of his phone woke him up at 8:30 this morning and Eric's voice bellowed on the other end. "Get dressed and get your ass down to Jive immediately. You better be on your best fucking behavior today, that's all I have to say."

Now he sat here, at 8:00 p.m., waiting for the administrative assistant to come back with his walking papers. Ten hours ago the meeting started with Eric and five Jive executives, and one-by-one the attendees had been whittled down to two. He thought he was being careful; thought he was covering his bases; but somehow the CEO of Jive found out about his secret meetings with his lawyer and his desire to get out of his contract, and the exec had phoned Eric in a tizzy. And Eric of course reacted the same way. Having no knowledge of this situation, he looked foolish and incompetent to Jive, and JC had probably ruined Eric's chances of working with Jive in the future.

An epic shouting match ensued among the three parties until finally Jive gave him a seemingly simple choice, "Keep your record deal and do it our way, or walk. It's your choice JC." This is what he had wanted, what he had dreamed about. But when finally given the choice, he froze. He couldn't force his lips to say the words he had wanted to say for so long.

Instead he asked for a few hours to think it through. He wandered the streets of downtown Los Angeles, stopping to sit on a park bench, hoping that the paparazzi hadn't spotted him. They hadn't, and he started to wonder if they ever would again. Without this deal, what did he have? He had a house that he shared with his brother, a family that lived 2,000 miles away, and a girlfriend he saw once every few weeks. 

But ultimately, he knew it was what he had to do. It was what he had wanted for such a long time - an opportunity to do things his way.

He returned to the meeting with new confidence and simply stated, "I get to take Kate with me." Snidely, they agreed, responding, "Well good luck getting someone to release it."

Now here he was, sitting alone in a dark conference room waiting for one last paper to sign before he was a free man.

As he walked down the vaccuous hallway for the last time he noticed that his poster had already been removed from the wall. The only reminder that he ever walked the halls of Jive was the platinum Celebrity plaque. And as much as he tried not to feel angry or envious, the multiple posters and platinum albums of his friend Justin mocked him on his way out the door. And when the door clicked behind him, it finally sunk in. It was over.

***** 

The house was dark and silent when he returned at 9:30, and he braced himself for the conversation he was about to have with Hannah. She was still sleeping when he rushed out in the morning, so he left her a note stating he'd be gone three hours at most. Even when he took his break in the middle of the day, he couldn't bring himself to return her calls or texts. He didn't want to have any conversation other than the one running through his head. He had been too wrapped up in the career that was crumbling around him, and he realized now how foolish that was. He searched the living room and the kitchen but she was nowhere to be found. He checked the studio but she wasn't there either. Ending the search in his bedroom his sighed in resignation as he collapsed on his bed and choked back tears.

Hours later, he awoke to hearty chuckles coming from the kitchen. Padding his way down the stairs, he found Hannah and Tyler drinking beers at the island.

He knew before he said it that it would come out wrong. A simple 'hi,' and 'I'm sorry,' would do, but before he could stop it, he gruffly asked, "Where have you been?"

Tyler froze and Hannah glared at him indignantly. "Excuse me?" She drawled slowly.

"Where were you? I was expecting to see you here when I got home." He cringed at his words. He knew how they sounded and it wasn't his intention, but he couldn't stop it. He'd cried earlier, now the anger he was feeling toward Jive, toward Eric, was all boiling over.

"You expected to see me here," she repeated back to him, her voice an eerie calm.

He scuffed his foot against the floor and replied softly, "Yeah."

"I was at a hockey game with your brother. Where the fuck were you?" She hissed. JC caught Tyler shifting uncomfortably out of the corner of his eye.

"Look Hannah, I had a horrible day. Just cut me some slack."

"Oh I'm sorry. Did you fly across the country for the weekend to spend time with your boyfriend only to have him run out of bed on you, and not give you even so much as a phone call as to his whereabouts? Well screw you, JC. I don't want to hear about your horrible day. I had a horrible day. I sat in bed until 6:00 o'clock begging for you to call - to tell me when you would be home - to tell me you were fucking alive! And you have the audacity to waltz in here an demand to know where I've been?"

Tyler scurried out of the kitchen, unnoticed, as JC formulated a response. "Hannah, I'm really sorry. I wanted to call. I just," he paused, searching for the perfect phrase but nothing came to him. "I just couldn't."

His heart broke when she choked back tears.

"I was so worried about you. I was," she hiccupped. "I was a crying mess until Tyler demanded I leave the house with him. Where were you? Why didn't you call me?"

He reached out to her, wanting nothing more than to wrap her in his arms, but she stepped away from him cautiously while shaking her head no. Defeated, he sat at a barstool and picked at his thumb. "I lost my contract today," he whispered.

He could see her mouth move, ready to rebound with a snippy comment, but she caught herself. "Oh?" she replied simply.

"Oh?"

"I'm sorry, that sucks. But I guess I don't really understand what the problem is because that's what you wanted, isn't it? And I don't understand why you couldn't have called - fuck even texted - just to let me know what was going on. Had you done that, I would be completely sympathetic right now."

"I don't understand what the problem is. I had a shitty day. I'm sorry, I forgot to call. I don't know why you always make everything such a big deal."

She glared at him, her eyes wide with fury and confusion. Tears that she had been fighting to hold back flowed freely now and she started to shake with sobs. Before he could stop himself he was at her side, his arms wrapped tight around her, swaying her slightly. "Baby, I'm sorry."

After a few moments she finally spoke up. "I know you're sorry. I know you are. But it doesn't change the...JC, I can't do this anymore."

"Shh, don't say that. We can make it through this."

"No we can't. Everything is wrong, we can't fix it."

"Hannah, stop saying that."

"I can't keep ignoring it when you blow me off, JC! I've tried! I've tried to pretend it doesn't bother me, but it does! You know why I went to Canada with Mal? Because I had cried for days because I was so upset our trip got canceled. I had never looked forward to something so much in my life. But I didn't want to tell you how much it upset me because I was trying to be understanding. I knew that dating you wasn't going to be easy, and I was trying to be flexible, even though it fucking killed me. And then you demand I come visit just because I have time off. And when I invite you to spend the weekend at my house you say no. You have to be in LA in case something happens. So I bend for you again. Then you leave me sit here all fucking day while you run off and I have no idea where you are. Well I can't bend anymore JC, I can't. I won't. I'm always making sacrifices for you. But you're never making sacrifices for me."

He was speechless. He wanted to argue, tell her she was wrong, but she wasn't. Everything she had just called him out on was true.

"Remember the first time I came to visit?" she continued in a whisper. "You told me that you hadn't been honest about your feelings for me because you didn't want to mess it up? That sex always ruined your relationships? And we promised each other it wouldn't because what we had was different that that? Well it wasn't JC. It ruined us," She punctuated with a sniffle. "You never talk to me anymore. I knew things weren't good career-wise, but every time I asked about it you changed the subject, or told me it wasn't a big deal. Obviously it was. I feel like I have no clue what was going on in your life. And you made up with Tony! And I had no idea. I felt so stupid when he showed up yesterday."

"Hannah, I'm sorry. I'll be better. I'll tell you more about what is going on in my life."

"It's not just that. Can you tell me what I'm planning to do when Jens comes back in August?"

"Jens is coming home in August?"

She shook her head in response. "And that's my point. I told you that on the drive from the airport yesterday. Clearly you were listening to me," she rolled her eyes. "You are so caught up in your life, that you're incapable of making room for others." Hannah sighed dejectedly. "We were better as friends. We talked to each other as friends, JC. I don't know what it is - our careers, the distance - but we just don't work as a couple."

He felt like he was going to puke. He knew that they were having problems but he had never expected that they would break up. They were perfect together. Didn't she see that? Didn't she want to fight to save what they had?

"Tyler is taking me to the airport in the morning."

Suddenly he wasn't sad; he was furious. "Wait, you decided you were going to break up with me before I even got home tonight?"

"I'm sorry, JC. I love you. I have never loved anyone more, and that's why this hurts so much. But I can't do this anymore. It's not healthy for either of us. Look, I've made my decision. Let's just take some time apart, OK? I think we need to."

His heart shattered as she walked up the stairs and he heard the door to the guest room click closed quietly. And just like that, in a matter of 14 hours, everything he loved was gone.