After mixing a few tracks in the studio, Justin took a break and walked out to the hall.  Pulling his cell phone from his pocket, he dialed the number to Michelle's apartment.  After the fourth ring, her answering machine kicked in.  Letting out a sigh, Justin flipped his phone shut.

"Is anything wrong?"  Trace asked, walking up behind him.

"No.  Just trying to get in touch with Michelle.  I wanted to see if she was going to be able to make it to the club tonight."

"Well she said she had things to do today.  She's probably out.  Why don't you call her cell?"

"I thought I had it stored in my cell, but I guess I don't.  I have it written down somewhere at home though."

"Well that isn't going to do you any good right now."

"I know.  I already left her a message at her place, so I'm sure once she gets it she'll call."

"Yeah.  I'm sure she'll show up though.  Come on.  The sooner we get this track fixed, the sooner we get out of here."  Trace laughed, placing his hands on Justin's back to push him back towards the studio.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Once Wade pulled in to his driveway, he looked over at her and let out a heavy sigh.  He knew what he needed to do and as much as it killed him, he had no other choice in order for things to work the way he wanted.

"Come on.  Let's go."

Grabbing the bag from the floor between her feet, Michelle opened the door and got out.  As she shut the door, she looked up at the house and dreaded the thought of even walking through the door.  The house no longer reminded her of any good times they once had together.  Only the nightmares remained.

Draping the bag over her shoulder, Michelle walked around to the front of the truck and joined Wade.  Looking up at him, she noticed that he seemed to have a strange expression on his face.  That, added with the heavy sigh he let out before he got out of the truck, clearly said that something was on his mind.  She just wasn't sure what it was.

After running his hands through his hair, Wade reached over and took her bag from her shoulder.  Slightly caught off guard, Michelle studied him for a few seconds before looking down at the hand he had extended to her. Feeling her heart begin to pound in her chest, she looked back up at him questioningly. 

"You don't want to take my hand?" 

Completely confused by the whole situation, Michelle attempted to place her hand in his, but at the last second pulled away.  She wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but something wasn't right.  Something had changed from the time they left her apartment. 

"That's fine.  You don't have to."  Wade said, and proceeded towards the front door. 

After a brief pause, Michelle followed and stopped on the step behind him as he unlocked the front door.  Once it was opened, he stepped to the side and motioned for her to walk in.  Never taking her eyes off of him, Michelle brushed past him and walked in to the livingroom.  After sitting her bag down on the floor beside the door, Wade tossed his keys on the table and headed over to the refridgerator.

"You want something to drink?"

"No thanks." she replied, her feet still firmly planted in the same spot unable to move.  From the second she walked in his house, every room screamed out reminders of the abuse she had endured in his hands.  It was like reliving it all over again.  Except this time without the physcial pain.  Only emotional.

Sitting his drink down on the counter, Wade walked around the sofa and down the hall to the studio.  After a few minutes, Michelle heard him turn the stereo on and knew that he was going to be in there for awhile.

Feeling herself slowly relax, Michelle walked over and sat down on the sofa.  She originaly thought that Wade was bringing her here to be dealt with, but once he grew quiet in the truck he hadn't said another cold word to her.  He hadn't made any threatening advances either and it was throwing her off.  She just didn't know what was going on or what to expect. The fear of the unknown was driving her crazy.

After sitting on his couch for twenty minutes without any sign of him, Michelle found herself doing the unexplainable.  Slowly getting up from the couch, she headed down to the studio.  Once she got there, she noticed the door was part way shut and began to debate on whether or not she should turn around and go back to the livingroom.  Unfortunetly, before she could make that decision, Wade opened the door and ran right in to her.

"I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to...I mean, I'm just going to go back to the livingroom.  I'm sorry."  she began mumbling, worried that at any second Wade was going to go off on her.

"It's ok.  Are you alright?"  he asked, placing his hand softly on her shoulder.

Almost as if she had fallen in to a trance, Michelle stood there and stared blankly at him.  It wasn't so much his reaction that had taken her by surprise.  It was the fact that he was standing there without his shirt causing feelings to surface in her she didn't want to feel.  That she shouldn't feel.  Ever again.

"Are you ok?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine.  I'm sorry."  she replied and quickly headed back to the livingroom.

Grabbing the towel off of his shoulder, Wade wiped the sweat off his chest and headed back up the hall.

Hearing his footsteps, Michelle closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.  She knew that her time at Wade's wasn't going to be any different than it was the last time she was here.  She knew what was coming and braced herself.  Her walking away from him was just too easy.

"Are you sure you don't want anything to drink?  Anything to eat?"   Wade asked, finishing his bottle of water on the counter and grabbing another one from the refridgerator. 

Slowly opening her eyes, Michelle realized that Wade wasn't anywhere near her.  She just didn't understand what was going on.  Why was he being nice to her?

"No, I'm fine.  Thanks though."  she said, watching him out of the corner of her eye.

"OK, well I'm going to go back down to the studio.  Do you want to come down?"

"Uh...I don't think I'm up to dancing right now.  Is that ok?"

"That's fine.  You know where everything is."  he said, walking past her and back down the hall to the studio.

After sitting there for a few minutes trying to come to terms with the fact that Wade wasn't acting like she thought he would, Michelle got back off the sofa and walked down to the studio.  Although she didn't want to be around him if she didn't have to, she came to the conclusion that it was better to not rock the boat by completely avoiding him. 

Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand on the door and slowly pushed it open.  Momentarily caught up in the sight before her, Michelle stood in the doorway and watched Wade work on a piece of choreography from the tour.  As much as she tried to fight it, her physcial repsonse to him looking that way could not be denied.  With no way to stop it, the memory of finding him in the studio the morning after they first made love came rushing back.  That feeling of completeness and love.  The longing to be close to him.

Once Wade spotted her reflection in the mirror behind him, he stopped dancing and hit the pause button on the stereo.

"Perfect timing."  he said, grabbing a quick drink of water before heading over to her.

"For what?"  she asked, nervously stepping backwards to look at him.

"I wanted to work on the piece for 'Take me now'.  I obviously can't do the choreography myself."

Letting out a heavy sigh, Michelle looked up at him.

"I just really didn't feel up to working right now."  she said, knowing all too well that the problem wasn't the work in general.  It was the piece he wanted to work on.  Being that close to him was the last place she wanted or needed to be.

"Well, I can't work on it myself so I guess you don't have a choice." 

Grabbing her hand, Wade pulled her to the center of the studio and went to start the music.

"Wade, I really don't think this is a good idea."

"Why?"

"I don't know.  I just still feel a little lightheaded."  she said, hoping that if there was anything behind Wade's change of behavior that he would let her off the hook.

"Well, we'll see how much we can get through."

Knowing that he may get upset if she hesitated any more, Michelle nodded her head and prepared for what she was certain to be the most awkward choreography she had ever worked on.

Once the song had started, Wade walked back to the center of the studio and stood behind her.  Knowing that he could see every expression on her face in the mirror, Michelle tried her hardest to keep herself pulled together.  She didn't want him having the power of knowing how uncomfortable she was.

Sliding his hand up the side of her thigh, Wade reached across her stomach and turned her around. With her now facing him, he placed his left hand on her back and right hand on the nape of her neck.  After looking directly in to her eyes, he dipped her backwards and then brought her back up to him closer than he should have.  As Wade went to step toward her, she didn't move, almost as if she was frozen.   For a second she was lost in the moment of being that close to him and she hated herself for it. 

Noticing the state she was in, Wade let go of her and she snapped right back.

"I'm sorry, I forgot the choreography for a second. I just, umm....I just haven't rehearsed this piece in a few weeks. I'm sorry." 

Without saying a word, Wade backed away from her and walked over to the stereo. After starting the music once again, he walked  back behind her and placed his hand back on her thigh. 

"Do you got it now?" he whispered in her ear, causing chills to run down her spine.

Feeling as if her heart was now pounding in her throat, Michelle quickly nodded her head yes and took a deep breath. 

Knowing his plan had already taken affect, he wanted to see how far she could make it through the whole piece without making a mistake or letting her feelings getting involved.  He knew she couldn't make it too far.  It was almost amusing to him.  To see her try and fake her way through the choreography without any emotion was amusing.  He could tell what she was feeling.  He could see it in her eyes.

They started the piece again and made it back to the point where she had come face to face with him again.  As he stepped toward her this time, she stepped back as well keeping the rhythm of the choreography going.  She was trying her hardest to stay focused on the routine, hoping that if they made it through the piece once they would be done.

After taking two more steps back, she quickly turned around and her back was now to him.  Feeling his warm breath on her neck, Michelle shut her eyes and hoped that she wouldn't freeze up again.  She needed to get through this.  She needed to prove to herself that she could take back the power she had given him so long ago.

As Wade continued to dance behind her, Michelle turned to her right and ran her hand along his side, across his lower back and around to the other side where she finally ended up face to face with him once again.  Hesitantly placing her hand on his chest, she walked towards him, forcing him to step backward.   Although when they first developed the routine she couldnt take her eyes off of him, now she couldnt bring herself to even make eye contact with him.  It had become her equivalent of dancing with the devil and she hated this little game he was playing with her.

Although he was impressed that she was able to keep going,  he could still felt the stiffness of her moves and wondered what her reaction was going to be after a few more moves.

She continued to avoid eye contact with him, trying to remain as professional as she could under the circumstances.  Unfortunetly, she knew what was coming and dreaded the mere thought of it. 

Following the beat of the song, Michelle took a deep breath and allowed Wade to release her backwards before pulling her back against him.  Once her body was pressed tightly against his, Michelle began to get worried.  She knew what the look in his eyes meant and there was no way she could keep it together any longer.  This had to stop.

Without giving the consequences of her actions another thought, Michelle placed her hands on his chest and quickly tried to push herself away from him. 

"Wade, please stop."

"Stop what?"  he asked, allowing her to slip from his grasp only momentarily before grabbing the waistband of her jeans and backing her up to the wall behind them. 

"Wade."

"What?"  he asked again, placing his hand against the wall beside her.  As he moved closer, she could feel his heart pounding off of her own chest and the idea of what was about to happen started to sink in and she hated herself for going back down to the studio.

"Look at me."

Although she knew she didn't want to see that lustful look in his eyes anymore, she knew that if he was going to have his way with her it was in her best intrest to not piss him off before hand.  Taking a deep breath, Michelle slowly looked up at him and met his gaze. 

After studying her for a few seconds, Wade leaned down and softly touched his lips to hers, causing her legs to almost buckle from underneath her.

"I think we need to work on that piece a little more."  he said, gently biting her bottom lip.

Quickly closing her eyes, Michelle prepared for the worst. She knew what he wanted and there wasn't any way to stop him.  Yet again she was pulled back in to this nightmare that never seemed to end. 

Finally after what seemed like forever, she felt him back away from her and she opened her eyes.  He wasn't going to follow through.  He had grabbed his towel and was heading out of the studio, leaving her completely confused as to what was going on.

Chapter 92

After Wade walked upstairs to get a shower, Michelle slid down the wall of the studio and felt herself break down.  Why was this happening?  Why was he torturing her?  It was too late for them.  Too much had happened between them.  Too much had happened between her and Justin.  There wasn't any going back.  Not anymore.

Resting her head on her knees, Michelle let the tears fall that she had been holding back.  Wade was no longer there to relish in the fact that he was getting to her.  She would never let him know.  She couldn't let him know.  He wasn't what she wanted anymore and she had to convince herself that.  Unsure of what to do with the feelings rushing through her, Michelle stayed in the studio until she heard Wade come back down the hall.

"What are you still doing in here?"  he asked, standing confidently in the doorway with his jeans still unfastened.

"Uh...I um...I don't know."  she said softly, pushing herself up from the floor.

"Why don't you go jump in the shower.  I want to hit the clubs tonight."

"The clubs?"  she asked, clearly worrying about his history and the access he would have to alcohol.

"Yeah.  I want to leave here in about an hour so you should get moving."

Knowing she really wasn't in any position to call the shots or veto any plans he may have, Michelle slowly headed towards the door.

"I'll bring your bag upstairs as soon as I make a phone call."

"It's alright.  I'll grab it."

"No, go get in the shower.  You're not the fastest person when it comes to getting ready.  I don't want to have to sit around all night." 

Although hesitant about his motive for wanting to bring the bag up, Michelle could tell by the look in his eyes that she wasn't going to win the arguement and backed off.  She just hoped it wasn't what she thought.  Especially after he had walked away earlier when he had the chance to have her.  Maybe he was simply waiting for a better time.

Feeling her stomach knot up, she cautiously walked past him and he followed her back in to the livingroom.  Once she had reached the top of the stairs and disappeared, Wade walked over to the door and grabbed her bag.  He knew that Michelle was more than likely expecting him to try something with her when he brought the bag up, but unfortunelty for him he couldn't give in to temptation. 

After Wade got to the top of the stairs, he carried her bag to his bedroom and placed it on the bed.  Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the closet and grabbed a shirt.  He knew he couldn't stay in the room for too long.  Just knowing what was on the other side of the bathroom door was driving him nuts.  He wanted her.  He needed her.

Walking across the room, Wade tapped gently on the door.

"Your bag is out here on the bed.  How long do you think it's going to be until you're ready?"

"I don't know.  I'll try to hurry up." 

Feeling his heart begin to race, Wade unconsciously reached for the door handle.  He didn't expect to feel as strongly as he was and it caught him by surprise.  He knew from day one that he was physically drawn to her, but for some reason, it was now ten fold.  Every part of him longed to be near her.  Touching her.  Consuming her.  It was beginning to be more than he could handle and he started to wonder if his plan was really worth the effort it was taking to restrain himself.

Slowly pulling his hand away from the door, Wade tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling for a second.

"Pull yourself together man.  Don't ruin it.  You have to wait."  he softly said to himself, running his fingers through his hair. 

After taking a deep breath, Wade lowered his head back down and walked over to his dresser.  He couldn't believe he was able to walk away from her like that.  He was never one for controlling himself, but the fact that he did only told him that deep down he knew that the end result of waiting would be worth it.

After buttoning his shirt, Wade slid on his ring and fastened his bracelet.  He needed to grab a few more things and then he had to get out of there...fast.  Walking back over to his closet, Wade grabbed his shoes and sat down on the edge of the bed.  As he slid them on, the fact that she had turned the water off went completely unnoticed and just as he was about to stand up and walk out, he heard the door open.

"Oh, I thought you were downstairs."

Quickly turning around, Wade looked over his shoulder and saw her standing there with the towel wrapped loosely around her body.  Her long dark hair, dripping wet, clung to her shoulders and Wade immeadiately got excited. He wanted to walk over there and rip the towel away from her so that he could have the one thing that had been on his mind since they got back to his house, but knew it wasn't an option.

"I..uh...I just needed to grab my shoes.  I'm going downstairs right now."  he said, standing up.

As Michelle held tightly to the towel, she realized that Wade's "going right now" wasn't so "right now".  Brushing a piece of hair away from her face, Michelle looked at him with an uneasy look.  Was he really going to leave or was this just another game he was playing with her.

"Oh, I'm sorry.  I'm going."  he said, turning around and walking out the door.  Once he was out of the bedroom, he pulled the door shut and leaned against the wall.  This was killing him.

Shaking his head, Wade pushed himself away from the wall and headed downstairs to wait for her.  He knew that tonight was going to be a night she would never forget.  He just hoped it would go the way he wanted it too.  He couldn't afford to have it messed up.

Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, Wade walked down the hall and in to his office.  Deep down, he knew that he shouldn't have left New York to come back to LA.  Regardless of his reasons, it wasn't like him to pass his job off on someone else and that was exactly what he did.

Sitting down at his desk, Wade picked up the phone and dialed the number to Kevin's cell phone.  After a few rings, he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey man, it's Wade.  I just wanted to call and see how things went today?  Any problems?"

"Oh, hey man.  No, it's going pretty smoothly.  I mean you had everything taken care of before hand.  Basically all I am doing is babysitting, if you catch my drift."

"Yeah, I do."  Wade laughed. "Well, I just wanted to tell you again that I really appreciate you doing this for me.  I owe you one man."

"Hey, no problem. You've had my back enough times.  We'll just call it even."

"Ok.  Well I just wanted to make sure everything was alright.  You know how to get in touch with me if anything comes up."

"I do.  Well, I better get my ass back to work.  Take it easy man."

"You too.  Later."

After Wade sat the phone back down, he began to nervously tap the tip of his pen off the desk.  He couldn't stand the waiting.  He wanted to get the night over with so he could finally have what he wanted. 

As he continued to tap the pen, Wade realized that in order for his plan to go off without a hitch, he needed to monitor his drinking.  Although he didn't see any problem with it, it was the one thing that would surely have her guard up and the one thing he needed to make sure didn't happen.

Pushing his chair back, Wade stood up and walked back in to the livingrom.  He knew there was still something he needed to do before things could get underway.  Walking over to the sofa, Wade grabbed her purse and pulled out her cell phone.

"Michelle?"

"Yeah?"

"How much longer?" 

"Ummm.  I'm almost done with my makeup, but I really didn't bring anything to wear to go out."

"Well, just throw anything on.  I want to get going."  he said, dialing the number to her voice mail as he walked out on his balcony.  After he went through about seven calls, none of which was the one he was waiting for, Wade flipped the phone shut.

"Fuck.  Now what."  he said, walking back in to the livingroom to put her phone back.  Knowing that he needed that one final thing to put his plan in effect, Wade realized that although his answer wasn't in her cell, it might be elsewhere.

Walking back around the sofa, Wade headed back upstairs and in to his bedroom.

"Michelle, just throw something on.  We'll stop back at your place and you can change."

"Are you sure?"  she asked, looking over her shoulder.  "I can just throw my jeans on."

"No, come on.  Let's go.  We'll just stop real quick." 

After turning off the light, Michelle walked back in to the bedroom and stopped a few feet from Wade.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Then what are you looking at me like that for?" Wade asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I....I don't know.  I'm sorry."  she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Come here."

Feeling her heart start to race, Michelle stood frozen in place.  She didn't want to move, let alone over to him.

"Michelle.  Come here."

Worried that something bad was going to happen, Michelle looked away from him and began to cry.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Wade walked over and stood face to face with her.  He knew he was going to have his work cut out for him and figured it couldn't hurt to get a jump start on the evening.  Even though he didn't want to have to go through all this.. 

"Look, you need to relax.  All I said was 'come here' and you're a nervous wreck.  Have I said anything to you since we got here?  Have I done anything to you since we've been here?"

"No."  she said softly, and he wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Then calm down. Alright?"

After nodding her head, Michelle looked up at him.  Hearing his soft words, she expected to see something in his eyes.  Something different, yet familiar.  A look of sincerety or concern maybe.  Surprisingly though, she saw the opposite.  His eyes were dark and cold and even though the words he spoke had the potential to hold emotion, there wasn't any to witness and she looked away.

Sensing that she was picking up on something, Wade placed his finger under her chin and forced her to look at him.  Without wasting another second, Wade went against his better judgement and leaned down to kiss her.  Placing his lips to hers, he softly kissed her.  When she didn't pull away, he moved his hand to rest gently along side of her jaw.

"Are you going to be this way all night?"  he asked, again placing a kiss to her lips hoping that she would respond.

"No."

"I hope not.  Just relax." 

Closing her eyes, Michelle took a deep breath.  She had to admit that she was only doing more damage to herself by acting this way.  He hadn't given her any reason to be on edge since they got back to his place and it honestly took more effort to be on guard than it did to be herself. 

"Now come on.  Let's get out of here."  he said, extending his hand to her.

Although still hesitant, Michelle took a hold of his hand and he led her down the stairs and over to the front door.

"Wait, I need to grab my purse."

Letting go of his hand, Michelle walked over to the sofa and grabbed her purse.  After sliding it up on her forearm, Wade grabbed his keys from the table and opened the door.  Once she walked out, Wade shut the door and they headed out to the driveway.  He still couldn't believe she was being this resistant to his advances.  Sure, things had been rough between them, but if she really loved him like she once claimed, he knew it would be going a lot smoother.  That only further led him to believe that Justin had more of an effect on her than originally thought and it pissed him off.

As they drove to Michelle's apartment, they were both completely silent.  Both had a lot on their mind and neither one wanted the other to find out exactly what it was.

Once they finally pulled up to her place, Wade parked his truck and they got out.

"Try to make it quick alright."

"Yeah."

After unlocking the door, Michelle headed upstairs to her bedroom and Wade immeadiately headed over to her phone, which, if truth be told, was the only reason he came back to her apartment.

After turning down the volume, Wade played the messages and finally found what he was looking for.  It was the final thing he needed to make sure that tonight would be a night Michelle would never forget. Relieved that he was able to go ahead with his plan, Wade erased the message and waited for her to come back down so they could leave.

Chapter 93

Completely satisfied, Wade sat down on the sofa. He was glad that everything had fallen in to place and couldn't wait to see it all unfold in front of him.

"Ok, I'm ready."  Michelle said as she came walking down the stairs.

Looking over his shoulder at her, Wade was pleasantly surprised with what she had slipped on.  She hadn't dressed that provocatively around him since early on in the relationship and he couldn't help but think that maybe she was letting her guard down.

"You look....amazing."  he said, getting off of the sofa.

"Thanks." she replied, although emotionless.

"Alright, let's go."

Grabbing his keys, Wade walked back over to the door and opened it up.  Without even looking at him, Michelle walked past him and out the door.  Had she even momentarily glanced up at him, she would have clearly saw the lustful look in his eyes as he looked her over.  Something that would have certainly thrown up a red flag.

"So where are we going?"

"I thought we might head down to Chaos for a while."

The second she heard him say where they were going, her heart broke.  She went there to meet Justin after Wade had left for New York.  She didn't think she would be able to loosen up and have fun, but he proved her wrong.  She had enjoyed every minute she spent with him that night.  Not to mention and every minute of the time they spent together last night.

Letting out a soft sigh, Michelle wondered where Justin was at and if he tried to call her.  She knew that they were susposed to meet up after he finished at the studio and started to worry that he might think she was blowing him off. She didn't want to ruin the one thing that was finally starting to go right in her life. 

"Why so quiet all of a sudden?"  Wade asked, lowering the volume on the radio.

Turning to face him, Michelle finally built up the courage to ask the one thing that had been on her mind since they left his house.

"Wade.  What's going on?  What are you trying to accomplish tonight?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you really think anything is going to happen between us?  Do you really think this sudden change of character is all I need to let you back inside my life?"

"Let me back in?  I never left."  Wade snapped back.  "Let me ask you a question.  Did you really think I was going to sit back and let you play the little whore with Timberlake?"

Shaking her head, Michelle turned and looked out the window.  She knew deep down that his behavior change had to be a front.  She just really wanted to believe that somewhere inside him, the Wade she fell in love with would somehow find a way back. 

"Well?  Did you?  You want me to just forget what we had so you can go be a little slut?"

Quickly turning back to face him, Michelle gave him an icy glare.

"Forget what we had?!  What did we have Wade?!   The majority of our relationship was spent with me on the receiving end of your abuse!  Why on earth would I want to hold on to that?!"

"Did you ever stop to think you got what you deserved?!"

"How can you even say that?!  What the hell did I ever do to deserve the shit you did to me?!"  she said, as tears began to well up in her eyes.

Knowing that this arguement wasn't helping the events that he had planned for tonight, Wade just shook his head and turned the radio back up.  He needed to get emotions from her, but these weren't the ones he was looking for.  All this was doing was rebuilding the wall he was trying hard to break down.  Not to mention the fact that it was pissing him off.

As soon as he turned it up, she surprisingly reached over and turned it back down. 

"Why can't you answer me Wade?!  Huh? What did I do that was so wrong? All I ever did was love you!" she yelled. 

"I'm not getting in to this right now.  If you want to talk about, we'll talk about it back at my place.  I came out to have a good time and that's exactly what I'm going to do."  he said, as he pulled in to the parking lot of the club. "Now fix yourself up and let's go."

"Why?  Because you said?"

Clenching the steering wheel, Wade took a deep breath and tried to keep himself together.  He couldn't believe she was using that tone of voice with him and it was killing him that he had to allow it to go without any consequences.

"Are you done?"

"Yeah, whatever."  she mumbled.

Flipping the mirror down in the visor, Michelle pulled out her compact and quickly touched up her makeup.  Once she was done, She flipped it back up and looked at him.

"What now?"  he asked.

"Nothing."  she said softly before opening the door.  She knew that she was walking on thin ice, but she couldn't help herself.

Taking a deep breath, Wade got out of his truck and shut the door.  One way or another, Michelle was going to loosen up tonight.  She had to.

After activating the alarm on his truck, Wade walked to the front of the truck to where she was standing.  He knew he wasn't going to give her the opportunity to turn his hand down so he just reached out and took a hold of hers.  This night was going to be for him and he wasn't about to let her ruin this.

Once they made their way inside, Wade headed over to a table along side the wall.  He wanted to have a clear view of the door so he knew when to put his plan in to effect.

"Can I get you something to drink?"  the waitress asked, as she walked over to the table.

Nervously looking over at Wade, Michelle prayed that he wouldn't order anything containing alcohol.  Unfortunetly, she should have known better and he did exactly that.

"Yeah, I'll take a vodka on the rocks."

"And you?"  the waitress asked, turning towards Michelle.

"Nothing yet.  Thanks."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Ok.  I'll be right back."

After the waitress walked away, Wade leaned forward on the table towards her.

"Nothing?  Do you think if you don't drink, I won't either?"

"No.  I just don't want anything."  she said, turning away from him and looking out to the dance floor.

Throwing himself back in his chair, Wade quickly began to get annoyed.  This wasn't anything like he planned.  If tonight didn't go off without a hitch, she was certainly going to pay for it when they got back home.

"Here you go."  the waitress said, sitting the drink down in front of him.

Without wasting a second, Wade pounded down the drink and looked at Michelle.

"You know what, I'm going to have another one.  This time make it a double." 

Quickly turning back around to face him, Michelle gave him a questioning look.

"What?  If you're not going to drink. I'll drink for you."

"Wade, please don't do this."

"Do what?"

"This."  she said, picking up the empty glass from the table. 

She knew exactly where this kinda of behavior was going to lead. It was also the last thing she wanted to deal with.  She just wasn't physically or emotional able to handle it anymore.

When the waitress got back to the table, she sat the drink down in front of Wade and walked away.  Almost as if in a staring contest, they both kept their eyes focused on each other waiting to see who would make the first move.

Finally shaking his head in disbelief at her, Wade reached forward and took the drink.  It was almost as if he was toying with her as he swirled it in his glass.  He knew she didn't him to drink it, but it wasn't about what she wanted.  It was about what he wanted and right now it was an easy way of reminding her that he was in charge.  After letting out a slight snicker, Wade finished off that drink as well and slid the glass across the table at her, hitting her arm.

"Well, either I'm drinking the next one or you are."

"Wade, please.  Just stop.  Why are we even here?  Can't we just leave?"

"No.  Do you want a drink?"

"Wade."

"Is that a yes?"

"No!  I don't want a drink.  I want to leave!"

"Ok, so...that's a no.  More for me then."  he said, pushing his chair away from the table so he could head over to the bar.

As Michelle rested her head on her hand, she knew that tonight was going to turn out in to a full blown battle between them.  It was inevitable.  If he was going to continue to drink, she was going to be in for the fight of her life....yet again.

"Are you sure you don't want one?'  Wade asked, as he walked back from the bar and sat the drink down on the table.

Ignoring his comment, Michelle watched as a guy walked up behind Wade.

"Wade.  I didn't know you were gonna be here."  Chris said, extending his hand.

"Oh hey man.  Yeah.  I needed to get out and clear my head. You know how it is."

"Yeah, that I do."

As the two continued to talk, Michelle reached forward and took Wade's drink.  Without giving it another thought, she finished it off and sat the glass back down.  If there was any chance that he wouldn't drink as much if she had a few drinks with him, then that was what she was going to do.  At this point, anything was worth a try.

Letting out a slight cough from drinking it so fast, Wade turned around and looked at her.

"I thought you didn't want anything?"

"Well I changed my mind."

Offering her an icy glare, Wade grabbed the glass back off the table.

"Can I get you a drink man?" 

"Yeah, thanks."  Chris replied and followed Wade back to the bar.

"So, that's Michelle huh?"

"Yep, that's her." Wade said, looking back over his shoulder at her. 

Just then, it hit Wade.  He knew exactly how to get her to loosen up and Chris was going to help.  After telling the bartender what he wanted, Wade leaned in towards Chris.

"Hey man.  Do you have any X on you?"

Laughing, Chris looked at Michelle and then back at Wade.

"For her?"

"Yeah."

"She takes that shit?"  he asked, slightly in shock.

"No, but she will tonight.  She just won't know it."

"I don't have any on me, but I can get you some."  he said, waving a friend of his over from the other side of the bar. 

Just then, the bartender sat the drinks down in front of them and Wade handed him a few bills.

"Let me take these back to the table and I'll be right back."

"No, hold on for second.  Give me her drink."

After sitting the drinks back down on the bar, Chris took one and slid it down in front of his friend. Grabbing the glass, the guy  walked behind Chris and sat it back down in front of Wade.  Confused, Wade looked at him like he was out of his mind.

"It's already in dude."

Glancing down at the bottom of the glass, Wade saw that in was in fact in the glass dissolving and smiled.

"That was easy enough." he snickered, grabbing a bill from the bar and handing it to Chris's friend. "Thanks man."

"Anytime."  the guy replied and headed back across to the other side of the bar.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"  Chris asked, glancing over Wade's shoulder at her once again.

"Absolutely." Wade laughed, grabbing the glasses from the bar and slightly swirling hers to dislove the last traces of it.

"Well....have fun."  Chris said, patting Wade on the back.

"Don't worry, I will.  You should stick around.  It should get quite interesting."

"I don't even want to know."  Chris replied, and watched as Wade headed back to the table to join Michelle.

After sitting her glass down in front of her, Wade pulled his chair from the other side of the table and sat down next to her.  Growing uncomfortable, Michelle tried to move her chair away from him but he grabbed the back of it and held it in place.

"Going somewhere?" 

Completely annoyed, Michelle grabbed her drink and pounded it down.  This time coughing a little more and she looked down at the glass.

"What the hell is this?"  she said, wiping off her lips and pushing the glass away.

"Just a little something I like to call sweet revenge. I never would have thought you were the kind of girl that did drugs."  he sarcastically whispered in her ear.

Although completely confused at first, Michelle began to put two and two together and grabbed the glass from the table.  Lifting it up, she noticed that a few tiny fragments of something had settled in to the bottom of it and began to panic.

"What was in this?!  What the hell did you put in my drink Wade?!"  she yelled and attempted to stand up.

Grabbing a hold of her arm, he pulled her back down on the chair and looked to see if anyone had heard her.

"You better watch your step."

"What did you put in it?!" she asked again, as her heart began to race with the sheer fear of what he had just done.

"Relax.  You'll be fine." 

"That's not what I asked you."

"Well, that's my answer." he said lustfully, leaning in to try and kiss her neck.

"Wade stop!  I can't believe you did this to me!" she yelled, and forcefully pushed herself away from him. 

Noticing that this time her voice caught a few people's attention, he let her get up from her chair. He didn't want any unnecessary attention brought to them tonight but she wasn't exactly making things easy for him.

"You're causing a scene.  Knock it off and sit the hell down."  he said through gritted teeth as he looked up at her.

Completely distraught and overwhelmed with what was going on, Michelle finally sunk back down in her chair beside Wade and tried to pull herself together.

"You're in good hands, don't worry."  he said arrogantly as he slid his hand up her thigh.  "Just Relax."

Knowing that Wade's advances were the least of her problems now, she rested her head in her hands and just prayed to god that whatever he gave her wouldn't put her in the emergency room. 

Chapter 94

As Michelle sat at the table, she could feel her heart begin to race and her tempertaure rise.  It was as if she was undergoing a physcial transformation that she couldn't control or stop and it scared her. 

"I'm just going to go get a drink and I'll be right back."

"Wade, don't leave me.  Please." she begged, reaching out for him.

"You'll be fine."

Pushing her hand away from him, Wade continued to walk towards the bar and wondered how long it was going to take for Justin to show up.  Little did Michelle know that, that was his sole reason for coming to the club tonight.  It didn't have anything to do with him having a good time, but it did have everything to do with Justin seeing them together. 

Once Wade got to the bar, he ordered his drink and glanced towards the front door.  He anxiously wanted to put his plan in effect and prayed that Justin would get there soon.  He was tired of waiting and wanted to go home so he could spend some 'quality' time with Michelle in the aftermath of everything he had planned for her.

"Do you ever leave the bar?"

Looking over his shoulder, Wade saw Chris walking up behind him with a smirk on his face.

"Only when I have to man."

"I hear you there."

Laughing, Wade slid over slightly so that Chris could move closer to the bar.

"Can I get another beer?"  Chris called down to the bartender.

"Beer?"  Wade laughed.  "Man, you're into the hard stuff aren't you?"

"Yeah well, I tend to steer clear of the good stuff while I'm into some other things if you get my drift."

"I got ya.  I wish I could say the same right about now."  Wade said, reaching in to his wallet to pull out enough to cover both drinks.  "This one's on me man."

"Thanks."

"No problem." 

"So, why aren't you out there enjoying all the fun?"  Chris said, taking a sip of his beer.

"What fun?"

"Michelle.  Looks like everyone but you is enjoying her company."

Turning around, Wade noticed that Michelle wasn't at the table and he quickly began to scan the bar.

"Right there buddy."  Chris laughed, as he pointed towards the dance floor.

"You have to be fuckin kidding me!"  Wade said, sitting his glass back down on the bar.

Laughing, Chris watched as Wade quickly headed towards the dance floor obviously determined to reclaim Michelle from the two guys she was dancing between.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"  Wade yelled, as he walked over towards her.

"I just got up to go get some fresh air and they wanted me to dance with them."  she said, nervously looking around with a confused look on her face.

Furious with the fact that she was caught up between the two guys, Wade grabbed a hold of her arm and pulled her over to him. 

"Man, why don't you go find your own girl to dance with."  the guy quickly replied and attempted to reach back over to grab Michelle. 

"THIS IS MY GIRL!"  Wade yelled, pushing Michelle behind him and forcefully shoving the guy backwards. "KEEP YOUR DAMN HANDS OFF OF HER!"

"Hey man, she looked like she needed somone to show her a good time.  I think you need to back off."  the other guy quickly chimed in, as he got up in Wade's face.

"AND MAYBE YOU'RE DUMBER THAN YOU LOOK.  YOU WANT TO TAKE THIS OUTSIDE MOTHER FUCKER?!"  Wade yelled over the music, as he moved closer to the guy anticipating a confrontation.

"Wade, come on.  Just let it go."   Chris said, as he ran up from behind them.

"NO, FUCK THIS PRICK!  HE WANTS TO RUN HIS MOUTH, LET'S SEE IF HE CAN BACK IT UP!"

"I think we both know how this will turn out.  Do you really want to spend the night in jail?  Besides, this isn't about them.  You wanted Michelle back and there she is.  Forget them and go take care of her."  Chris said, quickly pointing out that Michelle was now fully feeling the effects of the drug as she began to stagger.

After momentarily glancing over at Michelle, Wade turned his attention back to the two guys in front of him.

"Yeah, why don't you listen to your little friend here.  I mean unless you're not really that worried about her.  Then, in that case, I'll go take care of her for you." he said, hungrily eyeing Michelle up and down.

Then before Chris even knew what was happening, Wade had the guy by his throat. 

"YOU GO ANYWHERE NEAR HER AND I GUARANTEE YOU THAT YOU'LL NEED CARRIED OUT OF HERE!  YOU GOT ME!"

"God damn it Wade!  Knock it off!"  Chris yelled, trying his hardest to pull Wade off of the guy. "Michelle doesn't look too good man.  You need to go get her!"

Hoping he got his point across, Wade hesitantly let the guy go.

"Don't think for a second that I didn't mean what I said." Wade growled, adjusting his shirt.

Rubbing his neck, the guy mumbled a few quick words at Wade and then slowly walked around him, never breaking eye contact.

"Do you believe the nerve of that asshole?!" 

"Well, what do you expect.  I mean.....don't kill the messenger, but if she wasn't yours, wouldn't you want a piece of that?" 

"Chris."

"I'm just saying."  Chris said, defensively putting his hands up. 

"Whatever."

Turning his attention back to Michelle, Wade watched as she fumbled her way over to a table beside the dance floor.

"Something is wrong with her Wade.  That isn't typical of someone on X."

"Yeah, no shit!  What the fuck did he put in her drink Chris?!"

"I don't know!  I told him what you wanted."

"Well go double check."  Wade said, shoving Chris.

After Wade watched Chris head back over to the other side of the bar, he shook his head and went over to get Michelle.

"Hey, come on.  Let's go sit down."

"Wade?"  Michelle said, looking over her shoulder trying to clear her vison.

"Yeah, it's me."  he replied, turning her around.  "Are you alright?"

"No."  she answered through short panting breaths.

Grabbing her chin, Wade tilted her face up to him and saw that her pupils were dilated and her face was pale. Something he wasn't expecting to see. 

Even though he knew that giving her any drug was a risk and was alright with it at first, he couldn't help but be worried by the quick deteriation of her condition.  This wasn't what he had in mind when he asked Chris to help him out. 

"Alright, let's go back over to the table and sit down for a few minutes.  I'll get you a glass of water."

Nodding her head, she allowed Wade to wrap his arm around her waist and guide her back over to the table.  Once there, Wade helped her sit down and then proceeded to head back to the bar to get a glass of water.

After signalling the bartender down, Wade noticed Chris heading towards him.

"Well?"  Wade asked, turning around.

"Well......." Chris hesitantly began to say when the bartender stopped in front of Wade.

"Oh, yeah...can I get a glass of water."

"Yeah, no problem."  The bartender replied, heading over to the other side of the bar.

"Ok, what the hell is going on?"  Wade asked, growing more annoyed.

"Well......the pill he gave you was X, but it came from a new distributor."

"And?"

"And, he can't really say if it was pure or not."

"What?!  Why the hell does he sell shit he isn't familiar with?"

"Do you really need to ask that?"

"Jesus christ Chris!  Then why the hell would you let me buy the shit?!  Do you know how many things could be mixed with that shit!"

"I've bought from him before and never had a problem.  I really didn't think there was any reason to worry."

"Well, there is one good reason to worry right there!"  Wade said, pointing over at Michelle.  "What the fuck am I susposed to do?"

"I don't know." 

Shaking his head, Wade wondered why in the hell the night was turning out the way it was.

"Well, thanks for your help!"  Wade said sarcastically, grabbing the glass of water off of the bar and heading back over to Michelle.

Once he sat down, he handed her the glass of water and moved closer to her.  He hated the fact that the night was a complete mess.  Nothing had gone right from the moment they left and now things were more than likely only going to go down hill from here.

"Wade, I'm cold."  she whispered, barely audible. 

Pulling her towards him to keep her warm, Wade went back in forth in his mind on what to do now.  He knew she didn't look well, but wasn't sure if it was all due to the effects of the drug.  He thought that maybe he could just take her home and let her sleep it off, but the fact remained that he didn't know what she even had in her system and if it was possible to sleep off.

As she rested her head against his shoulder, Wade watched Justin and Trace stroll in the bar and cringed.  Why couldn't he have come in only thirty minutes earlier.  When he could have put his plan in to effect before this nightmare revealed itself.

Knowing that the night was now a lost cause, he leaned down to look at her

"Hey, do you want to head home?" 

"Yeah, please."  she said, and sat up slightly.

"Ok, I'm just going to tell Chris I'm taking off and then we'll leave."

"I'm going to go to the bathroom before we leave."

Wade was hesitant on letting her go, but knew that he certainly couldn't accompany her in there.

"Ok, then come right back to the table."

Nodding her head, Michelle got up from the table and headed towards the back of the club.  Unfortunetly, Justin had saw her with Wade when he walked in the club and he wanted answers.    Answers he was determined to get right now and got up from the bar and went after her.

"Man, Justin don't do it.  This is not the time or the place for this."  Trace said, getting up and following after him. 

He knew by the look on Justin's face when he saw Michelle with Wade what was going through his head. 

"Oh, this is the perfect time."

Walking up behind Michelle, Justin grabbed her by her wrist and spun her around to face him, practically knocking her off balance.

"What the hell is going on?  I left you several message on your machine, none of which you returned.  I decided to hit the club and hope that you show up and what do I find?  You and Wade all cuddled up together at the table?!  I thought it was over between you two?  Was I just someone to pass the time with?!"  he asked, growing more upset.

"Justin....It's not what it looks like.  I mean....No, you weren't...."  she tried to say,  but stumbled through her words.

"It's not what it looks like?  Do you think I'm a complete idiot?!  I've been down this road before!"

"Hey man, come on.  Why don't you have this conversation some other time."  Trace said, clearly noticing that they had all but become the center of attention in the club. "Besides, I don't think your capable of making any good judgement calls right now."

"Trace don't tell me what to do." Justin said firmly.

"J, come on man.  Don't do this."

"Justin, I would never do anything to hurt you.  You have to believe me."  Michelle said, reaching out to him as tears began to stream down her cheeks.

"I don't want to hear it.  I just can't believe I fell for a game I all but invented."  he said taking a step away from her.  "I knew I should've never let my feeling get involved with you.  I should have just used you for the piece of ass you were susposed to be and moved on.  That's all I had planned anyway.  I just wanted to fuck you.  Hell, I did that anyway so why don't you just go.  Go back to Wade." Justin yelled as he pushed past her,  almost knocking her down.

Caught by complete surpise with the revelation Justin just threw at her, Trace watched as Michelle fell apart in front of his very eyes.  Hearing Justin say that he just wanted to have sex with her completely crushed her. 

"Michelle...."

"Just leave me alone Trace."  she sobbed and ran in to the bathroom.

As Trace watched the two go in opposite directions, he knew that he couldn't go after Michelle even though deep down he knew she needed it most.  He could however go after Justin and that was exactly what he was going to do.

"JUSTIN!  WAIT!"  Trace yelled, heading after his best friend.

"I don't want to hear it Trace.  Save for someone else."

"Well, you're gonna hear it.  Why in the hell did you say that to her?  That all you wanted to do was fuck her?"

"Why not tell her?  It's the truth!" 

"It may have been at one point, but you and I both know that, that hasn't been the case for sometime.  That's not why you had sex with her and you know it!"  he yelled, grabbing a hold of Justin's arm.  "Did you even see the look on her face?   You completely destroyed her with that bullshit.  How could you let her believe that was the case?"

"Whatever man.  I don't need this shit right now.  She can go back to Wade."  Justin said, pulling his arm away from Trace and heading out the front door of the club.  "I'm going home."

Chapter 95

As Wade stood along the other side of the bar talking to Chris, he couldn't help but take notice of the exchange between Michelle and Justin.  It wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he came to the club, but the end result was good enough.  Justin now believed that Michelle was simply playing with him and he wanted nothing else to do with her.  Goal achieved.

"See, sometimes things do go my way."  Wade laughed, pointing at Justin as he furiously exited the club.

"I don't even want to know." 

"Yeah, probably not.  Either way, he had it coming.  Fuckin prick."

Laughing, Chris looked over towards the table where Wade and Michelle had been sitting.

"Looks like you're leaving." he said as he motioned towards Michelle.  "I hope everything is alright with her.  Again, I'm sorry man.  I had no idea this was new shit."

"It's alright.  Things happen. Well, I'll talk to you later man.  Take it easy."  Wade said, extending his hand to Chris.

"You too."

After sitting his glass back down on the bar, Wade headed over to the table where Michelle was waiting.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."  she said, trying to hide the fact that she had been crying.  She didn't want Wade to know that she had seen Justin.  If he knew they had talked, there was no telling what his reaction would be and she didn't want to find out.

Once she was standing, Wade wrapped his arm around her waist and led her out to his truck.  He knew this wasn't how he envisioned the evening ending, but he couldn't help but think that he still had a chance with her tonight.  He needed that release.  Too much time had gone by without feeling himself inside her.

"Do you feel any better?" 

"No, not really."  she said watching him open the passenger door.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Wade knew that he had his work cut out for him if he was going to get her in his bed tonight.  A challenge he willingly accepted though.

After a quiet drive home, Wade realized that whatever chemical was mixed with the drug, it wasn't life threatening.  Slowly her color was coming back and she seemed to be relaxing some. 

Looking out the window, bits and pieces of her conversation with Justin were flashing through her mind and breaking her heart all over again.  How could he think she was just toying with him or that what they shared last night was nothing more than a an act of lust meant to satisfy an urge.  Even though that hurt her more than he would ever know, what broke her beyond repair was the revelation that she was nothing more to him than sex.  He openly admitted it to her.

"Michelle?  Hello?"

"Huh?"  Michelle asked as she slowly looked over at Wade with a confused look on her face.

"I said we're home."

Glancing around at her surroundings, Michelle realized that they were back at Wade's.  However, it was far from what she would call "home".

Turning off his truck, Wade opened his door and walked around to the passenger side.  Once he got there, she was just beginning to open the door to get out.  After taking a good look at her, Wade was beginning to see signs of something familiar.  Symptoms of a drug once used at a party in NY with Cameran were beginning to surface within Michelle.

Taking a step back, he attentively watched as she began to exit his truck.  Unfortunetly, the second her feet hit the driveway, her legs almost buckled from underneath her and he had to catch her.

"Are you alright?"  he asked, looking directly in to her eyes.

Staring at him blankly, Wade awaited a response that he never received.  It was at that point that he knew more than likely what else had been present in the drug that was slipped in her drink at the club. GHB.

Although he was relieved it wasn't something more serious, he was rather annoyed with the fact that now his night of physcial enjoyment would have to be put on hold.  Granted most people used the drug to render their victim from fighting back during a sexual conquest, but that wasn't Wade's style.  He enjoyed her resistance and it just wouldn't be the same with her laying motionless in his bed.  He would just have to wait.

After grabbing his keys from his pocket, Wade scooped her up in his arms and carried her up to the front door.  Gently placing her feet down on the top step, Wade kept her limp body balanced against him as he unlocked the door.  Once it was open, he picked her back up and carried her inside, kicking the door shut behind him.

"Well, I guess tonight's a waste."  he mumbled as he headed up the stairs to his bedroom.

Although wanting desperately to say something in response, Michelle was completely helpless.  She couldn't talk or move and it scared her to death.  She knew Wade could do anything he wanted to her and she wouldn't be able to defend herself.  She was, for the first time, absolutley and completely at his mercy.

Once he laid her down on his bed, Wade reached over and turned on the small lamp on his dresser.  Looking down at her, he could tell she was still aware of what was going on, even though she couldn't say or do anything.  He could tell by the look in her eyes.  It was the same look of fear he had seen so many times before.  A look he fed off of.

Even though he knew he wasn't going to do anything to her in her current state, he couldn't help but get a kick out of making her alteast suffer some with the thought of what could happen.  She at least deserved that for all she put him through concerning Justin.

After quickly disposing of her heels, Wade slid his hand up her thigh and over to the zipper of her skirt along side of her hip.  As he slowly pulled it down, he lustfully looked into her eyes.

"Relax.  I'm just going to get you out of these clothes."  he said, knowing damn well that she wasn't capable of being anything but relaxed.  "You trust me don't you?" he snickered as he proceeded to remove her skirt.

After depositing it on the floor with her shoes, Wade reached up and untied the thin straps that held her almost sheer top in place.  Once he tossed it on the bed next to her, Wade slowly slid his finger down the center of her chest, moaning softly.

Keeping his gaze locked on hers, Wade once again ran his hand up her thigh, this time coming dangerously close to the lace thong that was so seductively decorating her body.

Biting his bottom lip, Wade momentarily lowered his gaze and began to have second thoughts about waiting to be with her. The sight before him was just more than he was prepared to deal with.  Just the mere thought of it was getting him excited and he began to ache to be inside her.

Finally after what seemed liked forever, Michelle watched as he brought his gaze back up to hers.  Once he did though, his mood quickly changed.  Seeing the single tear run down her cheek, Wade knew he had gone too far.  He wasn't one for letting her emotions get to him, but for some reason this did. 

Taking a step backwards, Wade looked down at her and felt something deep inside him.  Almost as if he was seacrhing within himself for the answer to why he did what he did or even more so, why he now felt the way he did.  Unfortunately, after a few moments of confusion, Wade shook it off and headed over to the other side of the room. 

After placing his jewerly and wallet on top of his dresser, Wade began to unbutton his shirt, occasionally glancing up at her reflection in the mirror.

Once he was done, he laid the shirt over the arm of the chair and headed in to the bathroom. Moments later, Wade came back out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a silk pair of pajama pants and headed over to her side of the bed.

"I'm just going to put you in bed."  he said matter of factly, trying not to make eye contact with her. 

After picking her up, Wade quickly pulled the covers down and placed her gently back on to the bed.  Grabbing the edge of the comforter, Wade pulled it back up over her and felt her hand try to grab his as it rested on the bed.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Wade stood there for a second and then slowly looked up at her.

Opening her mouth slightly, Wade knew that the drug was beginning to wear off and that she wanted to speak.  Unfortunetly, he knew it would be atleast a few more hours until she was back to normal. A side effect he was thankful for.

"It's alright.  I'm not going to do anything to you."  he said, trying to walk away from her.  Surprisingly though, she held on to him.  Squeezing his eyes shut, Wade silently wished she would just pass out.  He couldn't take this right now.  Too many things were going through his mind that he didn't understand.  He just wanted to go to bed. 

"Look, this will wear off.  I promise."  he said, quickly pulling his hand away from hers.  Reaching over to the dresser, Wade turned off the small lamp and headed back to his side of the bed.  After adjusting his pillow, Wade collapsed down on the the bed beside her and just prayed to god that he would fall asleep before the drug wore off.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Justin. Stop!  Don't leave her like that!  Don't let her believe that she was just sex to you!  You're going to regret this tomorrow.  I know you!"  Trace shouted as he headed out in to the parking lot after Justin.  "JUSTIN!"

"God damn it Trace!  WHAT?!"

"You know what!  Go back in there."

"For what?  To see Wade with his hands all over her?  No thanks, I'll pass."  Justin said sarcastically, as he unlocked the door of his escalade.

"I saw the look on her face man.  Something wasn't right."

"Yeah, the something being the fact that she was caught."

"You are so damn stubborn, you know that?"  Trace said, walking around to the drivers side door as Justin got inside.

"Look, at least I found out before I got in any further.  I'm just chalking it up to a lesson learned.  Now as I said before, I'm heading home."

Once Justin started the ignition, Trace stepped back and allowed him to shut the door of his truck. He knew that Justin was making a mistake by leaving, but he also knew that when Justin had his mind made up, there was no changing it.

After he watched Justin drive away, Trace headed back in to the club to get a drink.  He just couldn't understand how thing had gone they way they did.  Something was missing and he was determined to find out exactly what it was.  Especially when only hours earlier, the two had been intimate. It just didn't make sense. 

The second Trace walked back inside, he spotted Wade and Michelle walking towards the door.  Quickly stepping over to the bar, Trace got a clear view of the two of them as they left and was shocked with what he saw.  He really didn't a chance to get a look at Michelle as she was walking away from Justin, but now that he had, she clearly didn't look right.  Not only did she have a confused look on her face, but her skin looked pale.  Now he couldn't help but wonder if Justin had noticed the same thing when they had argued earlier and if so, why he didn't ask her what was wrong.

Grabbing his phone, Trace flipped it open and dialed the number to Justin's cell.  After several rings, Justin's phone finally kicked in to voicemail.  Shaking his head at Justin's unyielding determination to have the last word, Trace flipped the phone shut and knew that if he was going to try and put the pieces of this puzzle together, he would need to drive to Justin's.  Pulling his keys from his pocket, Trace headed out to the parking lot and hoped that whatever it was that caused the mess between them could be fixed.

Chapter 96

As Wade laid silently in his bed, the thoughts that came rushing to him only moments ago began to take center stage.  He couldn't understand why he was feeling the way he was and he didn't want to feel that way.  He didn't want to have any feelings of guilt for her current state.  As far as he was concerned, she deserved eveything she got and more.  Hooking up with Justin while he was away was unacceptable and she needed to be dealt with.  This was nothing compared to what he had in mind or even more so....what he was capable of.  Atleast that's what he thought.

Letting out a soft sigh, Wade glanced over at her through the corner of his eye and felt a knot growing in his stomach.  Even though he tried to deny it, part of him wanted to turn to her and apologize for what he had done.  Apologize for putting her in this kind of situation, not to mention putting her health at risk as well.  Unfortunately, the momentarily lapse of "good judgement" was just that....momentary. 

Shaking it off, Wade turned away from her and stared across the room allowing the faint light from the window to shine across his eyes.  Almost as if he was slowly slipping in to a trance, Wade continued to stare blankly in to space as he tried to block out the soft sounds coming from behind him.

After about twenty minutes, the heartbreaking sounds that he fought so hard to ignore, slowly faded away and he knew that she had drifted off.  Turning back over, Wade ended his avoidance of her and ran his hands through his hair as he started at the ceiling.   He hated the fact that he couldn't fall asleep.  He wasn't sure if it was simply the fact that he wasn't tired or if it was because he was worried about her.  Although, the latter he would never admit to.

Hearing a soft moan come from her mouth, Wade momentarily froze in place and saw her shift slightly under the sheet.  Exhaling slowly, Wade was relieved that the effects of the drug were finally starting to wear off and propped himself up on his elbow to look at her.  He wanted to make sure that she was really going to be alright. 

Again she shifted, but this time her face turned slightly towards him and he couldn't help but feel his heart break over the pure innocence in her expression. 

Tilting his head to the side, Wade began tap his fingers off the side of his thigh. The urge to just feel the softness of her skin was getting to him.  He wanted to touch her.  To feel that warmth of her against him.

Slowly removing his hand from his side, Wade reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face, shutting his eyes as his fingers softly grazed against her cheek.

Then without warning or reason, he said it. 

The two little words he had been fighting off for the last hour.  The two little words that he never thought he would say, let alone in her presence. 

"I'm sorry."

As the words fell from his lips, Wade hung his head and realized for the first time what he had been doing to her.  He knew that he could never fix the mess he created and the emotional hell he now found himself in, was his fault and his fault alone. 

Shaking his head in disguist at the path their relationship had taken, Wade lowered his feet to the floor and stood up.  After adjusting the waistband of his pajama bottoms, Wade slowly headed in to the bathroom and closed the door.

Once inside, Wade turned the water on and filled the small glass cup up next to the sink.

"I know I have to have some.....somewhere.  Where the hell are they."  Wade mumbled, as he began to search through a few bottles in the cabinet.  "I'm never going to fall asleep unless I get some help doing it."

Finally finding the one he was looking for, Wade twisted the cap off and emptied two pills in to his hand. 

After studying them for a second, Wade added one more pill to the set he now held in his hand and popped all three in to his mouth.

"This night just needs to end.  I don't know how much more of this I can take"  he said, grabbing the glass off of the counter and drinking it down. 

"God, please just kick in quickly."

Sitting the glass back down on the sink, Wade turned the water on once again and splashed some on his face. After he grabbed the towel from the shelf behind him, Wade looked up at his reflection in the mirror. 

For the first time, he didn't like what he saw.  In fact, he hated himself.  Hated himself for what he had become.....for what he had allowed to happen to both himself and the girl he claimed to love.

Forcefully throwing the towel at the mirror, Wade opened the door and walked back in to the bedroom.  After momentarily glancing at her weakened body, Wade got back in bed and hoped that by morning he would know what he had to do.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As Trace drove to Justin's house, he continued to try and reach him by cell phone.  He couldn't understand how everything had turned out the way it did, but he was now more certain than ever that there was more than met the eye.  There had to be.

"Come on J....answer your phone."  Trace mumbled to himself, as he yet again tried to dial the number to Justin's cell. 

Finally after a few more attempts, Trace laid his cell phone down on the seat next to him.  He knew that if Justin's wasn't going to answer after that many attempts, there was no way in hell he would answer it now.  Something that, to him, just showed how upset he truly was.

When Trace finally pulled up to Justin's house, he saw Justin's escalade parked in the driveway and was thankful he was at home.  Parking behind him, Trace got out and was headed to the front door when he heard noises coming from the back of the property.

Slightly caught off guard, Trace engaged the security system of his truck and headed around back to the basketball court.  He knew Justin always shot some hoops when he needed to let off steam, but he never expected to see the sight in front of him. 

Almost in shock, Trace stood there for a few minutes and watched as Justin missed shot after shot, stumbling slightly when he was retrieving the ball.  After a closer look though, Trace noticed several empty beer bottles sitting next to his shirt on the side that explained his stagger.

Slowly walking towards the basketball court, Trace momentarily hesitated calling out to him.  Unfortunately, something or someone needed to put a stop to this.  He was clearly on a path to destruction.

"Justin?"

Only slightly looking over his shoulder to acknowledge the voice coming from behind him, Justin grabbed yet another bottle of beer from the sidelines and headed back to center court where he left his ball.

Beginning to worry about his best friend, Trace started to walk towards the entrance to the court.  Once he got to the gate, Justin flashed him a icy glare and headed in the opposite direction.

"Justin, what the hell are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"  he said, shooting the ball towards the hoop with one hand and his beer in the other.  "What are you doing here anyway?  I said I didn't want to talk.  You would have thought the six or so unanswered phone calls would have tipped you off better." he said sarcastically.

"Don't give me that shit man!  Did you really think I wouldn't show up here?  I mean, come on Justin!"

"Whatever.  I don't care what you do.  I'm going inside.  Follow the path back the same way you came in here."  he said, walking away and leaving the mess on the court unattended to.

After doing a quick scan to determine exactly how many bottles Justin had gone through, Trace headed back up to the house after him.  He just couldn't stand to see his friend like this.  It was like Britney all over again.  Only this time was worse.

"Justin would you just stop and talk to me."  Trace called after him as he headed downstairs.

"There's nothing to say Trace!  God damn it!  Just leave me alone!"

"Oh, there's plenty to say.  Like for starters...look at yourself.  Your a mess.  How much have you had to drink?"

"Clearly not enough."  he said, collapsing down on the leather sofa beside the bar.

"Look, I think we both know that you are going to do what you want.  Lord knows I'm not your keeper, but there's something I need to ask you.  Something important."

Glancing up at Trace's expression, Justin felt his fustration growing and it clearly showed on his face when Trace let out a heavy sigh.

"Look, I wouldn't even bring it up if I didn't think it was important.  I also wouldn't be here if I didn't think that it could possibly make all the difference in the world right now."  he said, sitting down on the opposite end of the sectional.  "Look, after you left I saw Michelle leave with Wade.  She...."

Before Trace could even finish what he was saying, Justin got up shaking his head.

"I don't care.  I don't wanna know.  I just want to forget about it, alright?"

"No, it's not alright.  Damn it Justin!  Listen to me!  Something wasn't right with her.  Something in her eyes."

Against his better judgement, Justin turned around and looked at Trace questiongly, as he grabbed yet another beer from the refridgerator.

"I'm serious.  Did you notice anything different about her?  About the way she looked?   Did she look pale to you?"

Instantly Justin flashed back to his arguement with her earlier and then to his conversation with Trace outside the club when Trace said she didn't look right.  Now frozen in his own thoughts, Justin leaned against the bar and began giving Trace's comments some more thought.

"She did look different, didn't she?" Trace saidmatter of factly when he saw Justin's expression.  "Something was wrong J.  Something that had nothing to do with your arguement."

Looking back, Justin had to admit that there was something to what Trace was saying.  Of course, he originally chalked her behavior and appearance to being caught in the act, but he now had to give some merit to what Trace was saying.  It was that lost look in her eyes that now had him thinking twice.

"Am I right?" 

Letting out a heavy sigh, Justin just rubbed his forehead and headed back over to the couch.  As much as he wanted to believe that this was somehow all a mistake or misundertanding, he couldn't shake the obvious.  She never returned his calls and she was there with Wade.  That alone spoke for itself.

"Look, I don't know what it was.  Yeah, she didn't look the same, but that doesn't mean anything.  She was at a bar, more than likely drinking and she got caught.  How did you expect her to look?" 

Leaning back against the couch, Trace knew that this wasn't headed the way he had hoped.  Justin was just too hurt by what he saw to put his feelings aside and think rationally.  There wasn't really anything left that he could do.  Atleast not tonight.

"All I'm saying is you need to talk to her.  I really think there is something we are missing.  I don't know what it is, but honestly J, my gut tells me things aren't what they appear."

With that said, Trace slowly got up from the couch and headed upstairs to leave.  He said what he had to say and now it was all in Justin's hands.

After he heard Trace shut the door, Justin looked down at his beer as he swirled it in the bottle.  He wanted to forget what Trace had said, but he couldn't.  There was still a part of him that wanted to believe that she wouldn't do that to him.  That the night they shared together meant something.

Sitting the bottle back down on the counter, he knew he now had a decision to make.  Tomorrow would inevitably come, and whether he wanted to deal with the situation yet or not, he would be forced to see her at rehearsals.  A situation that was bound to be the most uncomfortbale thing he ever had to deal with.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Justin turned off the light and headed back upstairs to try and make sense of everything that was now rushing throug his head. 

Chapter 97

As the morning light shone through the window, Wade draped his arm across his face to shield the light from his eyes.  Thankfully he slept better than he thought he would have and was glad that he still had some sleeping pills in his cabinet.

Dreading the fact that he had now to face Michelle, Wade let out a slow sigh and turned away from the window.  He knew this moment would come, but he couldn't say he was looking forward to it.

Then, just as he was about to open his eyes, he heard a loud thud come from the bathroom and quickly sat up.

Once he got his bearings about him, he realized that Michelle wasn't in the bed beside him and that he could hear the sound of the shower on.

Quickly throwing the sheets to the side, Wade jumped out of bed and headed over to the bathroom door, knocking on it gently.

"Michelle?"

"Yeah?" 

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah.....I'm fine."  she responded softly, obviously trying to hold back the tears.

"Are you sure?  It sounded like something fell.  Are you sure everything is ok?

After a few seconds without an answer, Wade began to get worried.  He knew that she was going to be experiencing at least some side effects from the drug last night and that she needed to be watched carefully.  He just didn't expect her to be awake before him.

"Michelle?" 

This time when he didn't receive an answer, Wade grabbed the door handle and gave it a turn.  When he realized that it wasn't locked, he slowly opened it up and walked inside.

There before him, Michelle stood under the spray of the shower, bracing herself against both the shower door and the wall.

Seeing her struggle like that cause Wade to panic and he ran over to the shower door, quickly pulling it open.  He knew it was the last place she wanted him to be, but at this point she didn't have a choice.  It was clear to him that she needed help.

"Michelle?  Are you alright?" he asked, the concern obvious by the his tone of voice and look on his face.

As Michelle turned to face him, tears streamed down her face and joined the flow of shampoo now trailing down her cheeks. 

She was fighting for control of herself to just be able to stand up.  Every muscle in her body ached and fought to give out on her.  It was like nothing she had ever experienced before and she was scared.

"Come on.  You need to get out of there." 

"I can't.  I'm not finished washing my hair.  Just leave me alone!"

"You can't be serious?!  You can't even stand up!  Look at yourself!"

Lowering her head, she knew that he was right.  She could barely stand up, let alone be able to remove her hands from the wall to rinse her hair.

"Look, just let me help you so we can get you out of there, ok?"

After taking one look in to his eyes, Michelle let out a heavy sigh and nodded her head 'yes'.

"I just need to get these off real quick."  he said as he removed his silk pajama pants, tossing them on to the sink.

"Wade.....no......don't....." she started to say, now worrying about what his intention were.

"I'm not getting completely undressed.  I'm just trying to help you.  Don't you trust me?"

The second the words fell from his mouth, he knew how ridiculous the question had been.  Of course she didn't trust him. He hadn't given her any reason to trust him.  Just plenty of reasons to be cautious and afraid.  Something....he now regretted.

"Ok, dumb question.  You don't trust me.  I understand that....and I can't say I don't blame you, but unfortunately, you don't really have a choice.  You just need to believe me when I say I'm not going to hurt you...because I'm not."

After giving her a few seconds to come to terms with what was going to happen, Wade wrapped one arm around her waist and stepped inside.  Once he shut the shower door, he slowly turned her around so that she was facing him.

"Just relax.  It's going to be alright................I promise."

Walking her backwards, Wade kept one hand firmly placed at the small of her back while the other hand adjusted the spray of the shower.

"Now just tilt your head back a little bit."  he said, his hand softly working it's way through her hair.

Instinctively wrapping her arms around his waist for support, Michelle slowly closed her eyes and allowed Wade to remove the final traces of shampoo from her hair.

After a few minutes, he could feel her relax against him and wondered how things had gone so wrong between them.  How a once perfect relationship had turned in to something neither of them wanted to be a part of.  How he had everything he had ever wanted in her and that now......it was all slipping away.

As Wade looked down at her, he realized that it could very well be the last time he held her in his arms.  The last time he got to feel her against him and his heart broke.

"I'm sorry."

There it was.  The beginning of what he was hoping to be his appology.  He knew there wasn't a very good chance that it would make a difference, but he had to say it.  She at least deserved that.

Slowly opening her eyes, Michelle looked up at Wade and was shocked by what she saw.

"I'm so god damn sorry Michelle."

Looking up in to his eyes and hearing him say that cut right through to Michelle's heart and she fell apart.  For so long she wanted to hear those words.  For him to realize what he had been doing to her and their relationship.  Except now...deep down inside...she knew it was too little, too late.  There was no way to go back now and fix things.  Too much had happened.

"Wade...please don't.  Not now.  I can't do this."  she cried, leaning her head against his chest.

"I'm just so sorry for ever hurting you.  I don't know how we ended up this way!  I never wanted to hurt you, but I know I did. More times than I can even imagine." he said, clearly upset.  "I just want you to know how sorry I am."

Quickly wrapping both arms around her, Wade held her tightly to him and rested his chin on the top of her head.  As much as he hated to admit it, the end of their relationship was clearly upon them and he didn't want to let her go. 

"I can't do this.....I can't."  Michelle said, trying her best to push herself out of his grasp.

"Michelle please......"

"Please what Wade?"  she said softly, relaxing in his arms once again from fatigue.  "What do you want from me?"

Without saying another word, Wade pulled her back in to him and began to passionately kiss her as the spray from the shower rained down on to them. If this was going to be the end of them, he wanted to be able to keep the memory of how she felt embedded in his mind.

"Wade....stop....."  she said, trying once again to push herself away from him.

Although his heart was racing and his breathing now labored from the excitement, one look in to her eyes was all it took for him to know that he needed to stop.  He had to face it.  It was over.

Slowly releasing his hold on her, Wade lowered his head.

"I'm sorry.  I just......GOD DAMN IT!"

Looking up in to his eyes, Michelle couldn't help but feel bad for him.  He had finally realized what he had done and was now paying the price.

"Wade...."

"I know, don't say it.  I'm sorry."

"It's alright."

"No, it isn't." he said, looking in to her eyes.  "It never was................was it?"

Feeling like she was about to break down in tears, Michelle turned away from him and reached for the shower door.  She knew exactly what he meant by the question, but the thought of answering it killed her. She didn't want to take that walk down memory lane.

"Michelle."  he said, reaching out for her hand to stop her.

Shaking her head 'no'  Michelle leaned against the shower wall and fell apart.  She couldn't take it anymore. 

"Ok, I think we need to get you out of here. Come on."  he said, reaching across her to turn off the water.  "Just let me grab you a robe."

After stepping out of the shower, Wade quickly disposed of his wet boxers and wrapped a towel around his waist.  Once it was securely in place, he grabbed the robe from the hook on the back of the door and walked over to the shower.

"Come here."  he said, extending his hand to her.

Placing her hand in his, Michelle stepped out of the shower and in to the comfort of the robe Wade was holding open for her.  After slipping her arms in, she tied the belt around her waist and turned around to face Wade.

"Do you want me to help you in to the bedroom?"  he asked, as he ran a towel through his hair.

"No...I think I'll be alright."  she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm just going to go lay back down."

"Ok. I'm here if you need me though."

"I know."  she said, nodding her head.

After she slowly made her way past him, Michelle walked back in to the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed.  Nothing made sense to her anymore.  Everything she thought she knew, was now in question. 

Rubbing her temples, Michelle tried to pull herself together.  She still didn't feel like herself and was beginning to wonder if they drug Wade had slipped in her drink was ever going to wear off completely.  It was like a nightmare within a nightmare.

"Hey, what's wrong?"  Wade asked, as he walked back in to the bedroom.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Michelle tried to rid herself of the blurry vision she had been experiencing since she woke up, before looking up at him.

"What?" she asked with a confused look on her face. 

Bending down, Wade took a good look at her and wasn't quite sure that she was out of the woods yet.  Something about her appearance didn't sit right with him.

"Stand up for a second."

"Stand up?"  she asked, tucking a few damp strands of hair behind her ear. 

"Yeah." 

Using the bed for support, Michelle began to stand up and Wade gently placed his arms around her waist to keep her steady.

"Ok, now look at me for a second."  he said, placing his finger under her chin to force her gaze to his.

After shifting positions a few times, Wade noticed that her eyes werent dilating as they should be and began to worry.  He knew this was all his fault and obviously a result of last night's disaster.

"Alright.  I just wanted to see something."  he said casually, hoping not to worry her.

Once he removed his fingers from her chin, she lowered her head and began to twist the belt of her robe. She wasn't comfortable being this close to him anymore and was worried that he was going to sense it.  Something she didnt want to happen.

"Stop."  he said, reaching down and removing her hand from her robe. 

"I'm sorry."  she said, slightly flinching at the word as she looked away.

"No!  Don't be sorry!  God!  What do you have to be sorry for?!"

"I'm just.....I don't know.  I'm sorry." 

Watching her stand there and shake with fear in front of him ripped his heart apart. Even after all the fights they had, all the times he put her in her place...he had never truly witnessed how extreme her fear had been of him until now.  It was almost more than he could bare to see.

"Michelle.....I love you.  Please......let me fix this." he said, softly wiping away the tears that ran down her cheek.

Closing her eyes, Michelle tried to pull herself together and think straight.  This could not possibly be happening.  Why?  Why now?

Before she could make sense of anything, she felt herself being pulled forward and the warmth of Wade's lips pressed against hers.

"Wade....." 

"Shhhh.   Please......don't tell me to stop."  he said, as he reached down between them to untie her robe.  "Let's just start over.  Go back to the beginning."

Feeling overwhelmed and scared at the thought of what was about to happen, Michelle began to have trouble breathing.  Unfortunately, her rapid breathing quickly confused Wade and he continued on with his quest to reunite them....both emotionally and physically.

After untying her robe, Wade gently slid his hands up over her shoulders and quickly discarded the robe, kissing a path down her neck as it fell to the floor behind her. 

"Wade...........Wade wait.........." she said, breathlessly.

"It's ok.  I promise I'm not going to hurt you.  Just relax."

After quickly disposing of his towel, Wade walked her backwards and lifted her up on to the bed.  Every emotion possible, rushing through him as he laced his hands in hers.

"Wade..................stop........" she tried to say, her mouth slightly muffled against his shoulder as he kissed his way down her neck.

Yet again, her plea went unheard and Wade feverishly picked up the pace, locking eyes with her as he moved between her legs.

Now in a complete panic, Michelle built up every ounce of strength she had and yelled.

"WADE STOP!"

Confused, Wade backed up and looked down at her.

"What?  What's wrong?"  he panted, as he hovered above her.

Paralized with fear, Michelle looked up at him with tears in her eyes and softly said it once again......"Stop".

Looking down at her, Wade grew even more confused.  She didn't look the way he thought she did only moments ago.  What had happened.  Had he done something wrong?  Did he hurt her?

"Michelle?"

"Wade....I can't do this.  I just can't.  Please don't make me."

For a few seconds, Wade sat there and just stared at her.  The extent of damage he had inflicted on her slowly sunk in and he couldn't believe she was pleading with him.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Wade backed away from her completely and got off of the bed.

"I'm sorry Wade....I......."

Before she could say anything else, Wade raised his hand and cut her off.

"Just........just...dont."  he said, bending down to grab the towel from the floor beside the bed and fastening it back around his waist. 

He knew this wasn''t her fault, but unfortunately that didn't come across in his tone when he said it.  His voice was resentful and full of contempt.....but it was completely directed at himself.

After walking over to his dresser, Wade grabbed a pair of boxers from the drawer and slid them on, as the soft sound of her crying echoed in his head.  It was a familiar sound to him, but this time it rocked him to his very core and threatened to break him down in front of her very eyes.

With his heart now pounding in his chest, Wade quickly grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from his closet and headed back over to the dresser.  After fastening his watch, he grabbed his wallet and headed out the bedroom door.  He needed to get away from her.  Away from the memories and reminders of what he had done to her....to their relationship.  He needed to breathe.

Chapter 98

Once Wade got downstairs, he grabbed his cell phone from the counter and immeadiately began to search the livingroom for his keys.  It was like the walls were closing in around him and he was beginning to suffocate.

"Come on damn it.  I know they have to be around here somewhere." he said, moving some papers on the coffee table.  "Don't do this to me.  Not now."

As Wade continued his frantic search, he heard the sound of knocking on the front door and hung his head.

"Great...just what I needed right now."  he said, stuffing his cell phone in to his pocket as he headed to answer the door.

Taking a deep breath, he unlocked the door and prayed that this wasn't going to be yet another set back to start the day.

"Hey bro.  Nice of you to call and let me know you were back."  Chantal said smugly, as she walked past him and in to the livingroom.

"Nice to see you too."  he replied sarcastically.

"So, should I even ask why your back early or do I already know the answer?"

"Don't start Chantal.  I have enough problems already without you adding to them.  Besides, what are you even doing here?"

"Well, when I came by yesterday to get your mail I noticed that your truck was gone.  I assumed you had come back early, but you didn't call me.  So, today I figured I would stop by and make sure everything was alright.  Do you have a problem with that?"

"Whatever.  You wanted to see if I'm fine. Well here I am.  I'm fine.  Now if you don't mind, I have some things I need to take care." he said, walking back over to the front door and opening it.

"Why are you trying to get rid of me Wade?"  What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing is going on.  I was getting ready to leave when you got here.  I said I had things to do."

"You know what, see if I even give a shit anymore."  she said, standing up and heading towards the front door.  "One of these days you are going to wish you weren't such an asshole to me Wade and when that time comes I'm gonna tell you to go fuck yourself.  I'm tired of being the only one trying to look out for you."

"Yeah, whatever."  he said, making a face at her.

Just as she was about to head out the door, she heard some noise coming from behind her and looked over her shoulder.

"Wade?  What the hell is she doing here?"

Turning towards the livingroom, Wade saw Michelle standing at the top of the stairs and felt like he just wanted to disappear.  This was definetely something he didn't need Chantal seeing.  This, without a doubt, was going to lead to way more problems than he needed.

"Michelle...are you alright?"  she asked, quickly heading towards the stairs to investigate. 

"Uh...yeah.  I'm fine."  she replied, slowly walking down the stairs as she held the rail for support.

Once she got further down, Chantal got a better look at Michelle and quickly turned around to face Wade who was on his way to the kicthen.

"What the fuck is wrong with her Wade?!"

"What do you mean?  Nothing is wrong with her.  Didnt you hear her say she was fine?" he replied, grabbing a bottle of water from the refridgerator and twisting the cap off to take a sip.

"That's bullshit!  What the hell did you do to her?!"  she yelled, hitting him in his arm.

"Don't fuckin touch me Chantal.  I'm not in the mood!"

"YOU'RE NOT IN THE MOOD?!  I don't give a shit if you're not in the mood!  What the hell is wrong with her?  Why is she even here Wade?"  she asked, pushing him in to the counter.

"I'm not going to tell you again.  DON'T FUCKIN TOUCH ME!"  he snapped, as he pointed his finger at her face.

"Or what?  What are you going to do Wade?  Hit me too?  You're something else you know that? A real piece of shit!" 

Storming back around the counter, Chantal walked over to Michelle and coldly glared at Wade.

"Michelle, come on.  You want to get out of here?  You don't need to put up with his shit.  I'll take you home."

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!"  Wade yelled, slamming the bottle of water back on the counter before heading over to where they were standing.  "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" he yelled, pushing Chantal backwards.

"Don't fuckin touch me Wade.  I'll hit your ass back and you know I will!"  she said.

"Then get the hell away from her!  She isn't going anywhere with you!"  he said, quickly putting distance between his sister and Michelle.

"Haven't you done enough damage to her already?!  Jesus christ Wade!  When's it going to end?!  You're obsessed!"

"It's gonna end right now!  I think you've definetely overstayed your welcome!  It's time for you to go."  he said, grabbing Chantal by the back of her arm and walking her over to the door.  "Don't fuckin come back here!  You hear me?"

After pushing her out the door, Wade slammed it shut and turned around to see Michelle standing there in complete shock.  She couldn't believe what she just witnessed.

"This isn't over Wade!  You wanna push me...FINE!  I'll be back and Michelle WILL be leaving with me!  One way or another!"

"Are you alright?"  he asked, ignoring Chantal's yelling as he walked towards her.

Although she was unsure of whether or not she was alright at that particular moment, Michelle nodded her head yes and slowly walked away from him and over to the livingroom to sit down.

"You want something to eat?"

"No, I'm not really in the mood to eat."  she said cautiously, curling up in to the arm of the sofa.  She wasn't sure if his recent outburst was going to escalate or die down, but she hoped it was the latter. 

"Look, I really don't think it's a good idea for you to go to rehearsals today."

"Rehearsals?  Oh.........for the tour."  she said, as thoughts of Justin filled her mind.  "Why not?"

Although his reasons were many, the immeadiate one was that she still wasn't herself.  He didn't need anyone questioning her appearance or behavior.  Especially Justin.   Which happened to be another reason he wanted her to stay home.  He didn't want to have to deal with seeing the two working together after knowing what had happened between them. The memory of them together was something he could never forget.  No matter how hard he tried.  It made him sick to his stomach to think that Justin had touched her.

"Wade?"

Broken from his thoughts, Wade looked over at her and saw a puzzled look on her face.

"I just don't think it's a good idea. That's all." he finally responded.

"So, what do you want me to do?  Stay here?"

Just then Chantal's voice echoed in his head that she would be back.  Should he really leave her there alone?  Then again, could he really risk taking her there with Justin around.

Then it hit him.  He had the perfect solution.  One that would solve both problems.

"Ok, you can come to rehearsals, but you're going to stay upstairs.  You can watch from there."

"From the VIP lounge?" 

"Yeah.  Why?  Is there a problem?"

"No.  I just wasn't sure if that's what you meant."

"Yeah, that's what I meant.  Look, we'll just talk about this later...alright?"

Nodding her head 'yes', Michelle watched as Wade slowly made his way out on to the balcony.  She could tell he had a lot on his mind and wondered exactly what it was that had him so rattled.  Especially since she still didn't understand what had happened between the two of them earlier that morning.  It was like Jekyl and Hyde.

After fifteen minutes of watching him stand there, staring blankly in to the horizon, Michelle slowly got up from the sofa and headed towards the balcony.  She wasn't quite sure of why she had been concerned, but she had.  She hadn't ever seen him this weak....this vulnerable and lost before and she hated to admit it, but it bothered her.

As she continued to walk towards him, Michelle expected Wade to turn around and see what she was doing.  Surprisingly though, he didn't.  It was like he was completely lost within himself.

"Wade?  Is everything alright?"

For the next few seconds.....there was silence.  Not a word was spoken, not a move was made.  It was eerie.

Again she called out to him, this time placing her hand gently on his shoulder as she approached him from behind.

As Wade quickly turned around, Michelle was taken by surprise and frantically began to back away. 

"I'm sorry......you just....startled me."  he said, grabbing her hand to stop her from going any further.

"I didn't mean to.  It's just that....I don't know.  You looked lost or confused."

Looking down in to her eyes, Wade fully understood how genuine a person she truly was.  Even after everything he had done to her, a part of her longed to be near him....to be accepted and loved.  However, did that part of her still want him to be that person in her life.  Could he somehow turn this nightmare around and make things right?

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, Wade gently stroked the back of her hair as he walked past her and back in to the house.

"Look, I just want to be alone for awhile.  Alright?"

"Ok."

"If you need me, I'll be down in my office." 

Once he was out of sight, Michelle sat back down on the sofa and wondered what the night was going to hold.  Would Wade actually be able to make it through rehearsals without confronting Justin?  Would Justin still even want her working on the tour now with everything that had happened between them?  Only time would tell and she dreaded the fact that there was very little of it left until they were going to be heading out.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After tossing and turning all night, Justin finally dragged himself out of bed and in to the shower.  He hated that fact that his conversation with Trace had his head filled with doubts over what the real story was behind Michelle's appearance with Wade at the club.  Common sense told him to take it at face value.  That it was what it was.  Her at a club, with her once again boyfriend.  Unfortunately, his heart wouldn't let go of the possibility that there was something more.  That if there had any possibility of a reunion between her and Wade that she wouldn't have made love to him.  Especially when there were so many emotions involved in getting there.  It just didn't make sense.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Justin leaned his head back against the shower wall and let the water fall down across his face.  At this point, it was the only thing he could think of that would possibly wash away the unsettling feeling he was getting about trying to get to the bottom of this mess.  It was just that no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, something inside him refused to believe that he was wrong about her.

Finally turning off the water, Justin grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist before stepping out of the shower and heading to grab his cell phone.  Before he went to rehearsals today, he knew he needed to talk to Trace. He had to make sure he knew everything there was to know about last night.  That no detail was left unsaid, because if there truly was something else going on beyond the obvious, he needed to be prepared for it.

After a few rings, Trace finally answered the phone half asleep.

"Uh...hello?"

"Hey man, it's J."

"Oh hey dude.  What's up?"  Trace asked, rubbing hs eyes as he sat up in bed.

"Look, I have been giving what you said a lot of thought and I really need to talk to you.  Any chance you can stop by here before I head out to rehearsals?"

"Yeah, that's not a problem at all.  I'm actually glad to hear that.  I really thought what I said went in one ear and out the other.  You know, kinda like the advice I gave you when you first wanted to get involved with her."  he snickered.

"Yeah...well, ths is different.  I have been doing a lot of thinking and there are so many things that don't make sense.  Things that lead me to believe that there is more going on than meets the eye."

"Well, like I said.  It's not a problem.  Just give an hour or so and I'll be over.  Maybe we can go grab something to eat for lunch.  I'm starving." 

"Now there's something new.  You?  Hungry?  Who would have ever thought."

"Ha ha ha.  You're so NOT funny."  Trace said, slowly sliding out of bed. 

"Alright, well I'll see you in an hour or so.  Thanks again man."

"No problem."

After Justin hung up the phone, he sat it back on his dresser and headed to his closet to get dressed.  He knew that after he talked with Trace that he would feel better about trying to sort things out between them.  He just hoped that he would get the answers he was hoping for.  He really couldn't handle having his heart broken yet again.

Chapter 99

Once Wade got down to his office, he slowly closed the door behind him and sat down at his desk.  So many things had been running through his mind that it took him a good few minutes to even settle down.  He just couldn't believe this was his life.

"You can do this.  You....HAVE....to do this.  Otherwise, it's only a matter of time until it all blows up in your face." 

After moving a few stacks of paper from his desk, Wade pulled his roledex in front of him and began to search through the numerous phone numbers looking for the one he needed. He still couldn't believe he was actually going to do this, but then again, he couldn't believe a lot of what had been going on lately.

Finally finding the one he was looking for, Wade removed the card and sat it down on the desk in front of him.  He knew it was either now or never.

Picking up the phone, Wade dialed the number and after letting out a heavy sigh, placed the receiver to his ear.

Just as the phone started to ring, Wade heard footsteps coming down the hall towards his office and quickly turned towards the door.

"Wade?"

Hearing Michelle call out his name, Wade quickly hung the phone up and tucked the card under one of the stack of papers on the desk.  He knew that if he was going to do this, he needed to do it himself.  He didn't need anyone else getting involved.  This was HIS problem.

"Yeah?"

"There's someone at the door.  I didn't know if you wanted me to answer it or not."

"It's alright, I'll get it."  he said, quickly getting up from to the desk to look out the window.

When saw Chris's car parked in the driveway, he instantly felt guilt wash over him.  He knew his association with Chris had to stop.  He only served one purpose in his life and that was to supply him with LA's finest streetcandy.  Something he know he no longer wanted to deal with.  Especially after he came so close to losing Michelle to the stuff last night.

After opening the door to his office, Wade headed back up the hall and heard the loud pounding on the front door.

"I'm coming!" 

Once he unlocked the door, he pulled it open and Chris started to walk in.

"Jesus christ.  It took you long enough to answer the door."

"What do you want Chris?"  Wade asked, as he place his hand across the door to block him.

"What do you mean what do I want?  You said you wanted me to bring you another batch in a few days.  Well, here I am."

Squeezing his eyes shut, Wade cringed as the words just blatenly fell from Chris's mouth.  He didn't even stop to think that someone could be inside listening to their conversation.  He just hoped Michelle didn't overhear them. 

"Not now." 

"What do you mean not now?  I already paid for the shit Wade!  I need the money."

"Well you're going to have to wait.  I have company." he said through gritted teeth.

Looking over Wade's shoulder, Chris spotted Michelle sitting on the sofa and smiled.

"So, I guess she made it through the night huh?  See, the shit couldn't have been that bad."  he snickered.

"You know what......" Wade yelled, grabbing a hold of Chris's shirt and shoving him out the door. "....if something would have happened to her....you wouldn't be here right now!  Do you understand me?! Don't even joke about it!"

"Man, get the fuck off me!" he yelled, knocking Wade's hand away from him. "I'm not your bitch!"

As Wade stood there staring Chris down in anger, he heard Michelle walking towards the front door and tried to calm himself down.

"Here, take the shit!"  Chris said, shoving the bag in to Wade's hand.  "You obviously need it!  I'll get the money in a day or two."

"I don't want the shit Chris!"

"I"ll catch up with you in a day or so."  he yelled back, as he made his way down the sidewalk.

"Wade....is everything alright?" Michelle asked a few feet from the door.

After quickly shoving the bag in his pocket so Michelle wouldn't see it, Wade turned around and walked back inside.  He knew he didn't want the stuff, but it wasn't like he could just throw it in the trash either.  He would have to get rid of it when she wasn't around.

"Yeah, everything is fine.  Don't worry about it."  he replied, shutting the door behind him as he headed in to the kitchen. 

Fearing that he wasn't necessarily being truthful, Michelle slowly headed towards the stairs.  She didn't want to give him any reason to be upset with her and given his track record, her best bet was out of sight...out of mind.

As she made her way upstairs, she heard him slam the refridgerator door and quickly ran the rest of the way up. She couldn't help but go on defense mood when he was acting that way.  She had seen what that kind of temper could lead to. 

Hearing the noise, Wade leaned back and looked for Michelle.  When he didn't see her sitting in the livingroom, he sat his water down on the counter and headed towards the hall. 

"Michelle?"

When a few seconds went by without an answer, he called out to her again.

"Michelle?"

Again, no answer.

Just as he was about to walk down to the studio to look for her, he heard the bedroom door shut upstairs and walked back to the livingroom.  Worrying that maybe she was feeling sick or that something was wrong, he headed upstairs to check on her.

"Michelle, are you alright?"  he asked, slowly opening the door to his bedroom.

"Yeah.......I'm fine."  she said, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to give her true feelings away.

"No you're not." he said , walking towards her and turning her around to face him.  "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Looking in to her eyes, Wade realized that she was afraid of him yet again and let go of her.  Without hesitation she backed away from him and bumped in to the bed.

Feeling like his heart was about to break with the revelation that he made her this fearful of him, he hung his head and slowly walked back out of the room.  The last thing he wanted to do was make things worse for her.

After he shut the door behind him, he leaned against the wall and began to wonder if he could really turn things around. 

He used to think that the possibility was there....that she somehow still loved him, but after looking in her eyes only moments ago he now had serious doubts.  He couldn't even go near her without her completely breaking down.  He couldn't even touch her without her flinching or withdrawing from him.  How could he expect to fix things or have have her trust him enough to ever be able to make love to her again.

Running his hands through his hair, Wade slowly headed downstairs and prayed that the rest of the day would turn out better than it had so far.  He really couldn't see him being able to handle too much more of this on his own.  It was already becoming more than he wanted to deal with.  More importantly....it was becoming more than he "knew" he could handle.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As Justin sat on the couch and waited for Trace to arrive, he couldn't help but think about the last few times he was with Michelle. Everything he thought he knew, he now had to question. Even the night they spent together making love needed to be re-evaluated.  There was something going on that he was missing.  He just had to piece things together.

As Justin began to go over the moments he shared with Michelle, he heard a quick knock on the front door and then the sound of it opening.

Leaning back over the couch to see who it was, Justin saw Trace walk in and let out a sign.

"Hey man.  How's it going?"

"Honestly, not that good."

Nodding his head in acknowledgement of Justin's current situation, Trace walked over and collapsed down on the sofa opposite him.

"So.  I guess.....first things first.  Wanna tell me what brought on this change of attitude with Michelle?  I mean, as far as you listening to what I said the other night?"

"I guess I just got to thinking things over after you left.  I mean, a lot of things didn't make sense with her when I really sat down and thought about it."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know exactly, but she always seemed occupied with something else.....possibly someone else when we were together."

Giving Justin a strange look, Trace leaned back against the couch.  He had a feeling he knew who he meant though.

"You mean.....like.....Wade?"

"I'm not sure.  Yeah, Wade would be the obvious choice, but I think that's the problem.  It's not an obvious problem I'm looking for. You know?"

"So , then who?"

"Marty."

"Kudelka?  Are you serious?"

"I don't know.  See, the day I found out from Marty that Michelle and Wade broke up, Brian had accused him of trying to hook up with her.  The two went back and forth on who needed to mind their own business concerning her.  Brian telling Marty to quit trying to 'get in her pants' as he put it and Marty telling Brian to quit trying to get them back together."

"So, do you think she has something going on with Marty or that she had?"

"Well, I mean I did at one point.  Then I wasn't so sure.  Remember me telling you about the conversation I had with him at Millennium.  When he asked me if there was something going on outside of work between us?"

"Yeah I remember."

"Well, when I questioned him about the same thing, he got all defensive and said that he had just been a little protective of her since Wade was out of town."

"I can understand that."

"Ok, well then what about the night at the club downtown. When he was yelling at her.  How do you explain that?"

"That.....I don't have a clue.  I remember standing there in shock as I watched him go off on her.  I never saw him like that.  It was like he was a different person."

"See, that right there has me questioning exactly what their relationship is.  You don't go and get in someone's face like that unless you have an interest in what is going on with them.  He obviously didn't like the fact that she was there."

"Well shit!  I didn't like the fact that she was there either.  Look at the kind of people she ran in to. That doesn't mean I have something going on with her though."  he laughed.

"You know, now that I think about it, I'm almost certain Marty has something to do with all this.  I remember early on breaking up a fight between Wade and Marty at Millennium.  Stephanie said it had something to do with Michelle and we both thought that she may have been hooking up with Marty.  If I'm not mistaken, Steph said Marty was furious when he found out she was dating Wade.  I guess they didn't tell anyone they were dating at first."

"So, do you think maybe they were seeing each other before her and Wade started dating?  That there are unresolved feelings between them or something?  I mean, I just don't understand how you fit in.  Do you think she just wants to move on and away from both of them but is confused or.....what?  I don't know where you are going with this.  I mean, I thought the issue here was her being with 'Wade' at the club.  How the hell did we get to discussing her relationship with Marty?"  Trace asked, plopping back against the couch.

Rubbing his head, he knew what he was saying really didn't explain what had happened between them last night at the club, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it did have some significance.  Every awkward moment he could recall between them seemed to lead back to one or the other.  Why couldn't he place the pieces of the puzzle together.

"I really don't know Trace.  I just can't help but wonder what in the hell happened from the time I dropped her off at home to the time I saw her at the club with Wade. Maybe I just jumped to conclusions."

"Uh.....she did happen to say something at the club like it wasn't what it looked like."

"What do you mean?  When?"  he asked, leaning forward with a confused look on his face.

"When you were yelling at her.  You know, when I told you to just let it go and that you had a few too many drinks to be having the conversation."

Thinking back, Justin vaguely remembered her saying something along that line and nervously ran his hands back and forth along his thighs.  He had a feeling he knew what Trace was going to say but he had to ask it anyway.

"And.....I said?"

Raising an eyebrow, Trace knew that he should have just pulled Justin away from her at the club. He knew he would say something he would probably regret later and obviously this was something he would.  He just couldn't believe he didn't even remember saying it to her.

"Are you serious?"

"Jesus christ Trace!  If I knew I wouldn't be asking." he said, his fustration now growing knowing his tendency to open his mouth when he shouldn't.

"You...uh.....kinda told her that you should have just used her for the piece of ass she was susposed to be.  Then told her since you 'fucked' her anyway that she should just go back to Wade." he said cringing, as he awaited Justin's reaction.

Throwing his head backwards, Justin mumbled a few choice cuss words to himself and then quickly got up from the couch and headed in to the kitchen.

After watching Justin storm off, Trace knew it was best to give him a few minutes alone before he headed after him.  Especially since he knew the first thing out of his mouth would be 'why did you let me say that to her!'  He just had to cool off for a minute......or so Trace thought.

"Trace, why in the hell didn't you stop me!  You know that's not the case!  I wasn't using her for sex!" Justin yelled, as he walked back in to the livingroom.

"Hey, don't go blaming me for this shit!  I tried to stop you!  You're the one who insisted on dealing with it right then and there.  So, you have no one to blame but yourself.  I mean, I tried to talk to her after you said it, but she just took off crying."

Shaking his head, Justin was now completely disquisted with himself.  He knew that even if he did manage to sort through the misunderstanding of that night, he couldn't go back in time and take back those hurtful words he said to her.  Words he was certain, killed her to hear. 

"Look, I'm sorry man.  I know this isn't your fault."  Justin said hanging his head.

"It's alright man.  I know how hard this has to be for you right now.  Just talk to her.  That's all you can really do.  I mean, you can sit here and try to figure things out or you can flat out ask her what's going on."

"Yeah well, you're assuming she will even talk to me again."

"It wouldn't hurt to try J.  It's not like you could possibly make thing worse between you, right?"

Collapsing back down on the sofa, Justin leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling.  He knew that tonights rehearsal was going to be a nightmare and dreaded that fact that it was now only hours away.

"I think you just need to think things over and figure out what you're going to say to her.  If you don't talk to her, you are always going to wonder what if, and you know that's not what you want."  Trace said, as he stood up and grabbed his keys from his front pocket. 

"I know."

"Well, I hate leaving you like this, but I honestly think you need some time alone to figure this out.  Just call me later and let me know how it went alright?"

"Yeah."  Justin said softly, as he pushed himself back up from the sofa. "Thanks for stopping by man."

"Anytime."

After a quick handshake, Justin opened the door and watched as Trace made his way out to his truck.  Once he pulled away, Justin slowly staggered back in to the house and began to mentally prepare himself for the evening. An evening he now wished didn't have to take place.

Chapter 100

As Wade sat on the couch and waited for Michelle to get ready, he knew that the tension between them couldn't get any worse. He hoped that by giving her some space that she would relax, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.  She pretty much kept to herself and only talked to him briefly when he told her what time they were leaving for rehearsals.  It was a disaster.  A disaster he fully acknowledged was his fault.

Once he had tied his shoes, Wade headed in to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.  After opening it up, he took a sip and watched as Michelle finally made her way downstairs.

"Are you ready to go?"  he asked casually, twisting the cap back on on the bottle as he made eye contact with her.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Alright, just let me grab my stuff."

After grabbing a few more bottles of water from the refridgerator, Wade tossed them in his bag and headed over to the table to grab his keys and cell phone.  He knew that the rehearsals were likely to be stressful tonight and just thanked his lucky stars that he was able to convince Michelle to stay upstairs to watch.  The last thing he needed to see was any interaction between her and Justin.  Whether good.....or bad.

Once Wade placed the strap of his bag over his shoulder, he walked around the side of the sofa and stood next to her.

"So.......are you ready?"  he asked, when she didn't move towards the door.

"Oh, yeah.  I'm sorry.  I'm ready."  she said half-heartedly.

She knew that if nothing else she needed to try and salvage what she could of this job choreographing Justin's tour, but at the same time, she wasn't looking forward to seeing him again.  Even if it was from a distance.  She didn't want to be reminded of the way she felt when he so coldly made her aware that she was nothing more than a plaything.

Letting out a soft sigh, Michelle slowly headed towards the front door as Wade closely watched her body language.

Grabbing the door knob, Michelle gave it a turn and pulled it open.  Glancing over her shoulder, she realized Wade was not behind her as she expected and gave him a questioning look.

"Are you not ready?"  she asked, slightly confused. 

Slowly exhaling, Wade fought back the disgust he felt building within him.  He knew what she was thinking.  He could tell by the look on her face.  Sheer dread was consuming her over the fact that both himself anf Justin would be in the same room.....without her. 

Now he was beginning to have second thoughts about her going.  He didn't know which could turn out worse.  Chantal showing up at his place while he was at rehearsals and taking Michelle home or having to deal with the possibility that some form of interaction could take place between her and Justin.

"No, I'm ready.  I'm just thinking that you still don't look quite up to going." he lied, as he casually walked towards her.

"Well, I'll be upstairs.  It's not like I'm going to be down there overexerting myself.  If you want me to stay though......I will."

After impatiently going through the thoughts filling his mind, he quickly headed towards the door and took her by her hand.  He knew that if nothing else, he would have some control over what was going on at Millennium.  If she was here alone, there was no telling what could happen.  That was a risk he wasn't ready to take.  Especially after hearing Chantal's threat as she left

"No.  Come on.  Let's just get this over with." he said, rushing out and pulling the door closed behind him.

Caught by surprise, Michelle stumbled after him as he lead her over to the passenger side of the navigator.  Without saying another word, he opened her door and allowed her to get inside.  Once she was in, he shut the door and headed back over to the driver's side.

As Michelle watched him open the back door and place his bag on the seat, she began to wonder who was more stressed by going to the rehearsals.  Her or Wade. 

"So, who is all going to be there tonight?"  she asked, as Wade got inside and started up his truck.  Although she simply meant in reference to the dancers, as they sometimes worked in groups, she forgot what her question might imply in his mind.

Turning to face her, Wade offered her a blank expression and sighed. It was as if she had reached inside him to put a strangle hold on his heart.  He just didn't know if it was intentional.

"Is there someone you would like to be there?" he asked sarcastically, trying to hide the disappointment he was feeling..

"Someone I would like to be there?" 

Then it hit her. She knew exactly what he meant.  His comment was directed towards Justin. 

"No.  I was just asking." 

"Uh huh."  he snapped back.

Looking back over at him, she could see that he was torn over what he wanted to say or do.  She could tell that he was hurt by the idea that she could want to see Justin, but at the same time, the traces of fire that once lit his eyes were still visable.  The fire that would consume anyone and anything that stood in his way and she couldn't help but think that was exactly what he thought of Justin.  Something in his way.  Something that needed to be dealt with.

Shaking her head, she turned back away from him and looked out the window.  This is definetely not how she wanted the evening to start.  They hadn't even stepped foot inside Millennium yet and she was already becoming a nervous wreck.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity of silence, Wade pulled in to Millennium and parked his truck. He was hoping that they were the first to get there, but unfortunately he realized that wasn't the case when he spotted Justin's escalade parked at the opposite end of the lot.

"Ok, look.  I know it was my choice to have you here, but that doesn't mean I want you downstairs.  If you happen to need something, call me.  Don't come wandering down to the floor." he said as he opened his door. "I don't need to deal with anymore bullshit.  I just want to get this over with and go home."

As she watched Wade exit his truck, she knew his stress level had to be near it's peak. The expression on his face, his stiff body language...all of it clear signs that he was about to break down. What she couldn't understand is why she hadn't seen him touch a drop of liquor.  That had been the answer to his problems before...and the reason for her heartache as well.  What had changed?

"Are you coming or what?" he asked slightly annoyed, as he grabbed his bag off of the backseat and slammed the door.

"Yeah, I'm coming."

Quickly opening her door, she clearly saw the tension level rise yet again this time in front of her very eyes. If she hadn't gotten out of his truck at that very moment, the likely hood was there that he would remove her himself.  She could see it in his eyes.

Once she shut the door, she joined him at the front of his truck where he was waiting and proceeded to watch his every move.  If something was going to go down between them, she didn't want to be caught off guard.

"Let's go.  Time is money."

Firmly grasping her hand in his, Wade cautiously headed up to the front door and silently prayed that Justin was already in the dome warming up. 

As he got closer and noticed that the lobby was relatively empty and let out a sigh of relief.  Maybe he could actually get her upstairs without Justin even knowing she was there. 

"Ok, once we get inside, I want you to head straight upstairs to the VIP lounge.  I'm heading to the dome.  When rehearsals are over, I'll come get you. Understand?"

"I know Wade.  I heard you the first time you said it."

Letting out an aggitated moan, Wade pulled the door open and gave her a slight shove inside.  Unfortunately, just as he did, Stephanie came walking put of the lounge and spotted them.

"Hey, I didn't know you guys had rehearsals tonight." 

"Yeah, well I needed to change a few things around.  You know how it is."  he said quickly trying to hurry Michelle past her.

"That I do." 

"Well Steph, I'll talk to you later.  I want to go get set up.  I'm running a little behind my schedule."

"Oh..uh.......ok." she said, quickly trying to make eye contact with Michelle before Wade could see her. "Well maybe I'll catch you later then." 

After forcing himself to offer her a smile, Wade took a hold of Michelle hand and headed down the hall.  He now knew with certainty, that he had made a mistake.  He never should have brought her along.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"So, did I get the times wrong or something?"  Justin asked the group of dancers, as he joined them.

"No, I just think that Wade is running a tad bit late."

"Late? Wade?"

"Yeah, I know.  Kind of weird just saying it huh?"  Melanie snickered. 

"Maybe him and Michelle got a late start.  I mean, I know I would always be running late with her around...if ya know what I mean."  Eddie joked, as he made an obscene gesture.

"Your such a pig!  You know that?"

"Yeah, tell me something new Mel."  he replied with a laugh, before sauntering his way back to the center of the dance floor.

Shaking his head, Justin tried to let the comment just slide by as a "typical" Eddie comment, but unfortunately it had hit a nerve. Just the mere idea that Wade could be running late because of some involvement with Michelle twisted his stomach in knots. 

"Hey, you alright?"  Melanie asked, as she began to study the uneasy look on his face.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you."

"Yeah, I'm fine.  I guess I'm just having one of those days."

"Did you forget who you're talking to?"  she asked softly.  "I've known you for quite a while now J and I know when you're lying through your teeth.  What's wrong?"

"Nothing girl!  Why are you so serious?  You sound like a damn therapist."

"Fine, forget I even asked then." 

Although she had a sinking feeling that she knew what was bothering him, she knew better than to bring something like that out in public. Especially when it had trouble written all over it.

After she headed back over to join the other dancers, Justin let out a heavy sigh and headed over to where he had placed his bag. Once he removed his hat and watch, he tossed them inside with his keys and started to warm up.  He knew it was going to be a long rehearsal.

Just then, the sound of the door slamming shut caught everyone's attention and they turned around. 

"So, I guess since everyone is standing around talking, you're all warmed up and ready to get to work, right?" 

"Nice you decided to join us bro.  Where's your better half Wade?"  Eddie snickered, as he sat his bottle of water down.

"Save the smart ass comments for someone else man." he said rather annoyed, as he tossed his bag against the wall. "And, not that it is any of your business, but she isn't working tonight.  Now, can we get things started."

As they watched Wade head over to the stereo to set up the music, a few quietly talked among themselves and knew that rehearsals were going to be a bitch.  It wasn't often that Wade brought personal issues with him to work, but everyone clearly knew that was the situation today.

"I'm guessing there's trouble in paradise." 

"Eddie, why don't you just mind your own business.  You're always looking to start trouble.  I don't even know why J wants you on this tour to begin with."  she snapped back.

"Yeah, well he know good talent when he sees it.  Not saying you don't have any of course.  Your's just happens to be conducted vertically."

"You're such an asshole."  she growled and headed over to where Justin was standing. "I don't know how you deal with him."

"You know damn well he is just playing Mel.  He's always been like that.  I just ignore him." he said, wrapping his arm across Melanie's shoulder.

"Yeah well...one of these days his mouth is going to get him in trouble....you watch.  I wish Wade would have heard his smart ass comment.  He wouldn't think things were so funny then."

After standing there for a few seconds, Justin turned to face her.

"What do you think of Wade's relationship with Michelle?  I mean...why do you think she isn't here?  Do you think there is problems between them?"

Quickly glancing over at Wade to make sure he wasn't ready to start, Melanie turned around so that she was now facing Justin with her back to Wade.

"Are you asking me for business purposes, meaning possible tour problems....or are you asking me for another more.....personal reason?"

"What do you mean?"

"J, I saw the way you looked at her when he were all out together at the club.  I saw the way you danced with her and how protective you became when the guy was hanging all over her.  So, if you are going to try and tell me that you don't know what I mean when I say 'personal reasons', I'm going to tell you to your face that you're a liar."

Never expecting anyone other than Trace to know how he felt about her, he was taken by surprise and left momentarily speechless.  Had anyone else put two and two together when it came to his feelings for her.  Could Wade have picked on something as well?

"So, let me ask you again.  Are you asking for buiness or personal reasons?"

"I'm asking in general Mel.  I just expected to her to be here and she's not."

"Well, I don't know too much about their relationship to be honest.  I overhear bits and pieces, but I try to avoid things that type of thing.  You know that."

"Bits and pieces of what?  Stuff about their relationship? "

"I don't know what it is to tell you the truth.  I mean, I know how this business works.  I know how gossip and rumors start and that was one thing I vowed not to take part in when I came out here.  I don't want to add to the mess these things create."

"Mel, what are you talking about?"

"Look, all I know for certain is that you aren't the only one who is bothered by her relationship with Wade.  I know you're bothered by it because, I've known you for a while J.  You wear your heart on your sleeve.  However, I don't know exactly how many others want to see it end or why, but I know there are a few." 

"Alright, let's line up.  We have a lot of material to cover and I don't want to waste any time."  Wade yelled from across the room. "We're going to start from the beginning of Rock your body.  If anyone gets caught up, continue through and then we will break it down in to parts."

"Mel!  Wait!"  Justin called after her. "What do you mean I'm not the only one? Who else?"

"Look, just forget I said anything. This is what I was talking about.  I don't want to be involved in this gossip and rumor circle Justin.  Besides, I honestly don't know anything more than that."

As she joined the other dancers, Justin slowly walked behind her on his way to the front of the group.  He knew that his conversation with Melanie didn't help him in any way. In fact, it didn't provide him with any answers at all....just more questions. 

Once Justin took his place in front of the dancers, Wade started the music and looked directly in to Justin's eyes. Although not a word was said, Justin couldn't shake the feeling that Wade had just marked him for destruction.