"What's the matter baby, forget some......" The words died on her lips when she saw who was behind it. All at once, her hands started shaking and it was hard for her to breathe. No, it couldn't be. It couldn't be David. Yet, it was. He was standing there, just looking at her, a smirk on his lips and an icy glare in his eyes. Whip tried to shut the door on him, but his strength was too much for her, as it had always been. He shoved his way into her room and slowly shut the door behind him, locking it again. With that, he turned back toward her and Whip felt her legs go weak. Furiously, she was wracking her brain to try to think of a way to get out of there, but he made it clear she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.
"Yes," David snarled, that icy glare still fixed on Whip, "I think I did forget something, or a better way of putting it would be that something tried to forget me." He stalked toward Whip, backing her up against the far wall. She had never imagined that he would be able to find her again. She thought she'd done everything possible to prevent that. His massive, hulking figure moving closer told her different though. Spurred by her fear, Whip pushed away from the wall and made a dash around him, for the door. He was quicker though, and before she could cry out, he had her face down on the bed, with her right arm twisted up behind her. Whip yelped in pain and David chuckled.
"I think we need to have a little talk, don't you precious?"
The chill in David's voice stilled Whip's struggles. Precious. He only called her that when he hit her. Whip closed her eyes and let herself go numb. She knew that was the only way to get through what was going to happen. Well, that was...if he didn't kill her. David let go of her arm and Whip just laid there. She wasn't going to make it easy on him. Abruptly, she was yanked up off the bed and as his first punch slammed into her, with a sickening crunch, all she could think about was if she'd ever see Lance again.
~*~
Outside, Lance was loading his bags on the bus, yet again and smiling from ear to ear. The sun was shining, but it wasn't too warm and everyone was in good spirits. The day just couldn't get any better. Dancing to a beat only he could hear, he made his way to the back of the bus where Joey, Justin, and Chris were already arguing over what movie they were going to watch. Lance strutted through the door and plopped himself down next to Joey. They all stopped mid-shout and stared at him.
"It's about time you got here." Justin pretended to glare at him and Lance just grinned back, propping his feet on the seat beside Justin.
"Oh man," Chris shook his head, looking downcast, "Give the man some sex and he's impossible."
"Way to go Lance," Joey turned and high-fived Lance, clapping him on the back, "It was that song wasn't it? They always are suckers for the love songs."
"Did you ever think it might possibly be my charm and romantic aptitude that got the girl this time?"
Justin, Joey, and Chris looked at each other and then back at Lance before busting out laughing.
"Sure Lance, whatever you say."
"Yeah, it was the charm, sure."
Lance had to laugh with them. He knew that him singing her words had moved her, but it was all the little things he'd done later that had really made her feel special. He sat back and listened to them resume their arguing and thought about how he couldn't wait till after the show so he could have her in his arms again.
~*~
Crystal was frantic. Whip was still up in her hotel room and they had to leave NOW. She'd sent one of the assistants up to get her, but they said no one had answered the door. Near tears, Crystal went looking for Anthony. This wasn't going to be good. She had a really bad feeling about this.
~*~
"LANCE!!!!!"
Lance jumped and got up, making his way to the front of the bus. When he stepped off the last step, Anthony came rushing up to him.
"Lance, we can't find Whip," Anthony was panting and looking very irritated.
"Last I knew, she was getting ready," Lance wondered what he was talking about, "She should have been here by now."
"Well, try her room again. We've gotta leave within the next hour, with or without her." Joey stepped off the bus and put his hand on Lance's shoulder.
"C'mon bud, we'll go get your woman." As they started back into the hotel, Lance couldn't help but feel that something was really wrong. It wasn't like Whip to be late or not show up at all. Tension knotted his stomach as they entered the elevator and he took a deep breath hoping that she was okay.
~*~
When they reached Whip's door, it didn't look like anything was out of the ordinary, but Lance still had a bad feeling. Forcing himself to calm down, he raised his hand and knocked loudly. He and Joey listened and when they didn't hear anything, he knocked again, calling out to Whip. There was a small thump and then he heard her voice. It sounded strange, even though it was muffled by the door.
"Go away Lance." Lance looked at Joey, concern etched on his face and he tried the doorknob, but it was locked. He knocked again, asking her if she was okay.
"I'm fine, just go away."
"Everyone's looking for you, we've gotta leave."
"I'm not coming." Joey's eyes widened and Lance was more confused than ever. He had an idea though. Quickly, he whispered to Joey, telling him to go get the manager to bring a key, telling him their associate was in there and they think she might be hurt. Joey ran down the hall, past the elevators and hurried to the stairwell. Lance kept talking to Whip.
"Honey, what's the matter?" He asked, "You know we've got to leave. C'mon, open up so we can talk."
"NO! Just leave Lance, please." Lance was getting frantic now. He kept pleading with her to open the door, but she just kept telling him to leave. The elevator dinged and Lance breathed a sigh of relief when Joey and the hotel manager got off, heading towards him. He waited impatiently while the manager unlocked the door. Brushing the manager aside, Lance burst through the door to find Whip sitting on the bed, hugging herself and a man standing beside her, his hand on her shoulder. Lance stopped short and looked at Whip again. She kept her eyes downcast, but he could tell that she was upset. Even in the darkened room, he could tell she was shaking and the strangeness he'd heard in her voice had been tears. It was a minute before he realized the man standing beside her was speaking.
"......precious, introduce me to your friend." Whip clenched her jaw and refused to budge so the man walked over to Lance, giving him a huge, million watt smile.
"Hi, I'm David," The man shook Lance's hand, applying a great deal of pressure, but Lance just squeezed back, letting David know that he wasn't intimidated by him. David's eyes narrowed just a bit, but then he smiled again, "Sorry to bust in on y'all like this, but I just had to come see my precious."
"Precious?" David looked over at Whip and back at Lance, smirking.
"Well, yeah," David said, his voice coated with sugar, "Didn't she tell you? She's my wife."