He sat on the stool, one foot on the stage, one foot propped on the bottom rung. His hands folded one holding the mic. In profile, his eyes closed, he waited for the music to begin, Mia Per Sempre started, he lifted his head and began to sing. (see the pic here) His eyes scanned the front row, finally resting on the face he had been hoping to see. She was there, just as she'd promised she'd be. Smiling sweetly at him, her face made his heart skip a beat. His thoughts travelled back to last week, before he'd gone to Europe, and the night of their goodbyes before he had to leave. The night had seemed to go on forever, soft and leisurely, until they had slept in each others arms, safe and warm. He had kissed her awake, and said his goodbyes, his heart and his body not wanting to leave. But duty calls, and the fans wait, so he left, he left her love, her acceptance, and she had promised to be there when he came home.

Now, here she was, his flight had come in very late, he was a little hesitant to call her, but the need to hear her voice was too great to ignore. Even though the hour was well into THIS day already she had picked up the phone on the first ring.

"Josh, is that you?" She had asked.

"I just got in, did I wake you?" He asked softly.

"I was asleep, but I was hoping you would call, I missed you so much." The tone in her voice so soft and sweet, it was an ache in his heart.

" I missed you too, are you coming to the studio in the morning?" He asked hopefully, "I really want to see you."

"Nothing could keep me away." She answered.

"Okay, it's late, I don't want to say goodbye, but I gotta get some sleep." He said regretfully.

"Don't worry, I'll give you a proper hello, tomorrow night, okay?"

"Okay. I'll see you."

"I'll see you."

He pressed the button on the phone, ending the connection, and held the phone to his lips, aching to be with her.

"By the way," he said to the phone, thinking of her, "Did I mention that I love you?"

As he finished the song, his eyes had never left the beauty of her face. A single tear rolled down her cheek, her heart overflowing with her reaction to his emotion in the song. She hoped she could endure until the show was over, so she could be in his arms again.

           

Josh greeted his host for the day, the usual inane show biz banter followed. "You're so great...phenomenal talent...Grobanites....pink thong...(God will they never let that one drop?!)...yada, yada, yada."

Finally the interview session was over, back to the dressing room, get rid of the goop on his face. And time to meet Grobanites. He did a visual sweep of the room, there she was! In the background patiently waiting til each of the Grobanites had had a moment with him. If the Grobanites weren't so much fun, he would have hurried through, as it was, he was on auto-pilot, all he could think about was Ginny. How soft her long auburn hair was, how beautiful her green eyes were, how much he longed to touch her cheek, kiss her sweet and tender lips. And just hold her for a very long time, to imprint the memory of her body, how she smelled, the feel of her hands on his back, then on his chest, to have the memory to file away for every moment he had to be away from her, to play back when the thought of how far away she was, was just too much to bear.

As he smiled and signed autographs, and posed for pictures with the excited fans, he caught her eyes across the room, and gave her a huge smile, flashbulbs blinded him for a few seconds as everyone caught that moment for posterity. And he knew this would be fodder for the Captions thread.

When the last autograph was signed, the last picture taken, the last exuberant comment made on how much his music had meant to someone in a moment of trial in their life(he still was amazed at how often his music had touched people in this way.) They were all gone, and he was alone with Ginny. He covered the distance between them in 2 strides, and pulled her into his arms, kissing her deeply. His heart raced, he didn't know, but he made her head swim every time their lips met. He pulled back to look at her.

"I cannot tell you how much I missed you." He said.

She smiled a mischievous smile, "Maybe you could show me?"

He smiled, "I think that's an excellent idea. My place or yours?"

"I think yours." She answered, nodding solemnly.

"Mine it is, m'lady. The limo is out back, let's go."

"Your wish is my command, my lord." She said with a soft husky tone in her voice.

           

As roomy as a limo is, Josh and Ginny sat side by side, his arm around her shoulders, playing with her hair, stroking her cheek, touching the side of her neck, causing her to sigh deeply. He loved the pressure of her thigh next to his, could feel the heat of her body, the smell of her hair, it was somewhat maddening. Decorum must be maintained, definitely not cool to be making out in the back of the limo. But the closeness.... her hand on his thigh, pressing his knee with hers, her hand around his back, her thumb hooked in the loop of his pants, her fingers running absent little patterns on his skin.

"I've been looking forward to this moment for a week." He said. "Missing you is the worst part of travel."

"As long as you keep coming home to me, I can take it. You're worth waiting for." She said softly, shyly.

He smiled, "I am? No one has ever said that before."

"If you love someone, absence just makes your time together sweeter, more precious. Time with you is always precious. I wouldn't trade this for anything." She said, looking into his deep brown eyes. Those eyes!

Looking into her eyes, he knew every word she said came from her heart, and the ache for her grew stronger. He pulled her to him, and kissed her, the warmth of their lips joined travelled all through them. Ginny pulled back, a little breathless, but then his kisses always did this to her. If Josh had been as poor as a church mouse, those kisses would have been worth the world to be with him.

           

The ride to Josh's house seemed interminable, Josh was having difficulty keeping his hands to himself. And his thoughts on polite chit chat. He wanted to be holding Ginny, making up for lost time. When they finally reached his place, they got out quickly, and stood on the curb, waving nice to the limo driver as he pulled away, the moment he was out of sight, they simultaneously made a giggling dash for Josh's front door. Fumbling with his keys, Ginny hugged him from behind making it really difficult to put the key in the lock while she kissed his neck, the backs of his ears, damn! He had dropped the keys!

"Wait, I'll get them, sweetie." She said wickedly, as she bent over very slowly and picked them up.

Josh felt all blood leave his brain, and had to shake himself as Ginny opened the front door. He drew her into his arms, and crushed her in a deep and passionate kiss, as they fumbled their way into the hallway, Josh closing the door with his foot. No longer able to wait to hold her any longer, he carried her through the house to his bedroom. Where she gave him a proper and thorough homecoming.

Later, as she lay sleeping beside him, Josh watched her. He thought back to the day they had met, he had gone to Don Bluth Studios, they were making an animated musical of Little Women, and he was to play the voice and sing for Laurie, the young man who lived next door to the March girls. They had been walking out when Ginny was walking in. She had come to bring some cells from Animation where she was a department head for Mr. Bluth's approval, and Josh had walked right into her, knocking her down, and scattering the cells. As he apologetically helped her pick them up, he noticed how quirky she was, her long hair was in a twist, held by a Palmpoint pointer, a pencil, and a chopstick. She had long dangly beaded earrings on, orange reading glasses, and a purple t-shirt that read-"As a matter of fact I AM the queen, now out of my way peasant!"-across the chest, and it was a very nice chest. When he had finished helping her rearrange the cells, they were talking and laughing, and he had invited her for coffee the next night, and she had said yes!

As he remembered their first date, he traced the V of her collarbones with his index finger, his hand held open, the rest of his fingers begging for the chance to touch her soft, sweet skin. But no, only the index finger, next he traced the line of her chin, then the outline of her lips, and leaned over her to softly touch them with his own. She sighed in her sleep at the touch, and he pulled back, not wanting to wake her just yet. Leaning over her again, he lightly kissed her earlobe, pausing to take it in his teeth for just a moment, then letting it go.

He remembered the first date, she had told him she was a fan, a member of the website, he had been surprised, but pleased, after all he HAD said, you never know. They had talked for hours, and progressed from the coffee house to a great sushi joint she knew about. She had never tried the blueberry sauce, so she tried it for him, and had shuddered, she couldn't stand it. For some reason that had just been hysterical and they laughed til sake came out his nose. THAT could have been COMPLETELY embarassing, but she had found it completely charming, and more hysterical, and she almost fell off her chair laughing. And for the first time in a long time, Josh had felt NORMAL again. So he kissed her. She didn't slap him, so he kissed her again, and again, and again, light little kisses, just the lips. Til she suggested they go to her place. They hadn't been together that night, but they did kiss, a LOT! And Josh had been strangely peaceful that she kicked him out, albeit reluctantly, before dawn.

Now she was the first thing he thought about in the morning, and the last thing he thought about at night before closing his eyes, and she inhabited his dreams like a gossamer wind nearly every night.

As he traced her shoulder, her eyes opened, focusing on his face, she smiled, the smile that breathed awareness into his soul, and he kissed her again.

           

Later that afternoon, as they walked hand in hand on the beach, Ginny barefoot, in cutoffs, her shoes in the other hand, Josh in jeans, the legs rolled up, the laces of his sneakers tied together and draped over his shoulder, open shirt blowing in the wind. Josh broached a subject that had been a hard one for Ginny for some reason.

"Ginny, we've been seeing each other for six months now, I want to meet your family." He opened, "You've met my parents, and my brother, you're a member of the extended Grobanite "family", I want to meet your folks." He looked at the expression on her face,"Please?" He added, hopefully.

He pulled her into his arms, "Why is this so hard for you? They can't be that bad." He looked at the expression on her face, again, "Or can they?"

She looked at his face, the curls blowing gently in the warm ocean breeze, his beautiful eyes all puppy dog looking, his bottom lip stuck out, like a little boy pouting, pitifully, and she could feel her heart melting. Btu Josh didn't know her parents, and she was afraid they would scare him away. HE thought SHE was quirky, her parents were the royal heads of quirky-dom! But how could she say no to that face.

"I don't know, Josh, they live so far away. It would be really difficult with your schedule to go there." She said, hoping he would drop it.

But Josh was determined,"Louisiana is not that far away. And I already have a week planned off next month, I want to do this the right way, Ginny, please?" He kissed her on the cheek, on the ear, on the side of the neck, that always sent goosebumps down her entire body. She shivered as his lips kissed one collarbone, then the next, suddenly she heard herself say, "Okay, we'll go."

"That's MY girl!" Josh said excitedly as he swung her around. He pulled her to himself, his right hand sliding down to rest in the small of her back, and he held her tightly.

           

The day had been wonderful, Ginny had made sure Josh's first day back had been a full one. And he slept the sleep of the satisfied. It was her turn to watch him, now, as her troubled thoughts kept her from peaceful slumber. She hugged her pillow to her chest, and watched as he breathed in and out. His chest rising and falling with each soft sleepy breath. She laid her hand on his tummy, her finger tips tingling with excitement at the touch of the short fine hairs that surrounded his navel. His left leg was tucked on top of the sheets. She watched his sweet face, so beatific when he slept. This must be what angels look like she thought to herself. What would she do if Josh decided her parents were just too weird? Had people been dumped because of their parents? She didn't want to be the first.

She thought back to the first time she'd met his parents, she'd been so nervous, when Josh picked her up she'd been wearing 2 different shoes. HE thought it was adorable, but what would his parents have thought?

She got up and went to the kitchen, looking at the clock, it was only midnight, not too late for coffee. She made a pot, and sat down to drink a cup. For some reason, it put her to sleep. As she savored the cup, she thought about the first time she and Josh had been together, as lovers. They had been together for 3 months, they had gone to see some romantic movie, they couldn't even remember the title now. All they could think of was each other, and they had been kissing through the whole thing. Josh finally said, let's go, and they had come back here, to his house. It wasn't forced, or staged, it had just happened. They had talked, and laughed, and then they had been kissing. She had kept running her fingers through his hair, the curls drove her insane.

His touch had been gentle, tender, she had never felt so loved by anyone in her life. It bordered on the magical, she knew she romanticized it, but her mother had said it would be like this when she found the one. She just thought it was parental hooey. No matter where she was, the memory of his hands on her skin, their bodies joined would be with her forever.

           

Time passed and Josh's week off was around the corner. Ginny was getting a little panicky, she wasn't sure how she could end this visit to the parents from hell. She had thought of stepping in front of a bus, too risky. Throwing herself down the stairs and breaking her leg, too much chance of breaking other things. Pretending amnesia, too TV land. Giving Josh Alum, no the Grobanites would kill her. Pretending to be paralyzed, nah, he'd just tickle her. Bite the bullet and go? Oh, Lord! Why me?

On the plane to Cut and Shoot, Louisiana, Ginny nervously chewed her thumb nail, and her left leg bounced up and down at a staccato rate. Josh reached over, putting his hand on her leg to stop the nervous dance, and pulled her thumb away from her mouth, kissing it softly. He smiled, broadly.

"Ginny, it's okay. I have met some really unusual people since I've been touring to promote the album, we can deal with this." His voice was so soothing, so reassuring, his brown eyes deep and tender. The touch of his hands soothed away many of the nerves, but she still wasn't sure.

"Can I ask you for one thing?" She asked piteously.

"You can ask me for anything, baby. If I can do it, it's yours."

He said, kissing her hand again.

"Promise not to dump me when you meet my parents?"

Josh laughed, and leaned back in his seat, continuing to chuckle, he put his head in his hands. Ginny, not quite sure of this reaction started to babble agitatedly.

"See, I mean, we're getting pretty serious, and when you get serious, you start thinking of marriage, and when you start thinking that way, then kids come into the equation, and they would be in a direct genetic line to my parents, so you see, once you see them, and what they're like there's every possibility you'll run screaming back to California, and I don't think I could take that again, I mean why do you think I moved so far away from home, everyone knew who my parents were, and there wasn't a boy in town who even looked at me that way, so please don't dump me, please?!!"

Josh looked at her in total amazement, his mouth open.

" How did you get all that out in one breath?"

Ginny was totally stunned. Josh started laughing again, " I was only kidding." He stopped for a moment to make sure that his response could not be misunderstood.

"Okay, you know when you're going through puberty, and your parents give you "THE TALK", and somewhere in there they tell you when you meet the right one, you'll know."

Ginny's mouth dropped, "I was thinking that same thing about a month ago."

Josh took both her hands,"See, we're in tune with each other. Sometimes you're the only REAL thing I have to hang on to. In this business, that's really important. I don't have to always be "On" when I'm with you, I can relax, and be myself. I don't know if you know how incredibly amazing that is, but I do. And I love you for it."

Sniffing back tears, her lip trembling, Ginny grabbed Josh around the neck.

"Better?" He asked.

"Yeah," she squeaked.

"Do you think we could both fit into the bathroom?" He whispered in her ear.

Shocked she pulled back, only to realize he was kidding again.

"You are so wicked."

"You have no idea." He smiled, a truly wicked gleam in his eyes.           

 

"You have no idea how incredible you make me feel." Ginny whispered in his ear as he held her close to him. " I only feel alive when I'm in your arms. When I'm with you. Sometimes I feel like I'm in orbit around you, that the gravity of your feelings for me have captured me, and I'm helpless to do anything but spin at your side."

"You know that I love you, I've never loved anyone the way that I love you. I look at you and it's as if all the love of the world pours into my heart, but I'm only a man, and I stumble beneath the power of it every time. How can one person contain all of this? I don't know, I only know that I could never live without this in my life."

They spoke their love for each other, eyes intent on the other's face, memorizing each feature, burning the moment into their hearts and minds to take with them to keep them sane whenever they had to be apart.

Ginny turned and started to walk away, Josh started to follow her, but she was walking so fast he couldn't keep up.

"Ginny, wait! Where are you going?" He called out to her.

 

"Josh, Josh, we're here, wake up." Ginny shook him, Josh blinked, rubbing his eyes beneath his glasses. He looked around and slumped back sighing with relief, only a dream. Ginny was still caught in orbit around him. He looked at her face and smiled.

"I was dreaming about you." He smiled sleepily.

"Really?" She said.

"Yeah, I was telling you how much I loved you. And you were telling me how much you loved me."

"That's so sweet. But how could I put in words what there are no words good enough to describe?"

He looked at her face, "Are you being coy, or just avoiding saying "I love you?"

"I'll say it a million times if it makes you happy."

"Then say it."

"Right now?"

"Yes."

The plane was descending, close to landing, they would be getting off and meeting her parents anytime now. It could be the last time she could say it to him before he fled in terror before the reality of her family. How to make it special enough to keep him around? To overpower the overpowerability of the family she hoped to only see once a year in passing on her way to anywhere but there?

"I look at you, and I see all the hopes that I've ever had in this life encompassed in one mind, one heart, one soul, one body. And the one is us. Joined, to each other. Only finding true happiness, true joy when the other is happy and safe.

You ARE my heart, and I love you with all of mine." She leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. For a moment she thought she had waxed poetic to keep him around, but then she realized this was how she truly felt, without Josh there was no life. At least not for her.

Josh opened his eyes after her beautiful kiss, for a moment he couldn't speak.

"Wow!" He whispered. "Now I feel like an idiot. That was beautiful. If I'm your heart, you're my soul. Do you know that I sing all my songs to you, now? Whether I'm here, or away. When I sing, it's to you."

"Couldn't we just go back to California? Please? You don't have to meet my family, we could live perfectly happy without meeting them. They could stay our dark, little secret. You know like in the soaps, the dramatic music plays whenever anyone mentions them, cause no one knows the true story? Please? Dark secrets can be very cool."

She nodded hopefully, clinging slightly desperately to his shirt.

"Fine, they can be a dark secret." He said.

Ginny gasped in disbelief, no embarassment, no abandonment, oh, joy! Oh, rapture!

"But..." He continued.

This didn't sound promising...

"They'll be OUR dark secret."

Oh, crash and burn, so close...

She dropped her head to his chest, whimpering. He grabbed her chin and pulled her face up to look at. The abjectly pitiful face of the great love of his life.

"So there are no secrets BETWEEN us. We share it. Okay?"

Ginny sighed, it was the eyes, she could never say no to those eyes.

"Okay." She agreed.

           

Exitting the plane at Baton Rouge, they made their way through the exit tunnel, then to baggage claim, and on to the car rental counter.

Josh could feel her eyes on him as he loaded the bags into the trunk of the rented car.

"Are you looking at my butt?" He asked with amusement.

"Yep, nice view from here." She replied.

"Good." He replied, "Gotta keep you interested."

Heaving a deep sigh,"Oh, it's very interesting, do you think you could keep doing that?"

He laughed, "I suppose I could just keep loading and unloading the bags, but I'll get all hot and sweaty. You don't want me to be all smelly when..."

"Please!" She interrupted him, her eyes closed, one hand on her chest, one fanning herself, a rapt expression on her face,"I'm still busy picturing hot and sweaty."

He stepped up on the curb, and pulled her into a bear hug, kissing her neck, he buried his face in her hair.

"Why don't we go to New Orleans, it's such an interesting place. All kind of wackos and weirdos, I could get a couple of drunks to adopt me, they would be FAR less embarassing than the real folks. Let's go there? Okay?" She nodded hopefully.

Still holding her close, he put a finger to her lips. "Please just relax, it will be okay, I promise, I would still love you if the devil were your father. We'd just have to bring a lot of ice for visits. Now get in!" Holding the car door open, he swatted her squarely on the rump, she sat in the car, he reached over and fastened her seat belt, then closed the door.

As he settled himself in the drivers seat, she snuggled closer.

"That was galant, m'lord."

Josh laughed, "Don't assign me any altruistic motives, I just wanted to make sure you didn't attempt an escape before I got in the car."

Accepting defeat, she put her head on his shoulder, and steeled herself for the reception at Cut and Shoot, Louisiana.

           

Cut and Shoot, Louisiana, population 1783, the Post Office is in the general store, there's a Wal-Mart on Highway 6, and a Tastee Freeze downtown, McDonalds will be coming in by Thanksgiving, and there's a biker bar out in the woods behind Elmore Weedon's pig farm. Josh stopped the car at the one and only stop light on Main Street, and looked reassuringly at Ginny who had become more and more miserable looking as they grew closer to her roots.

"This is your last chance to turn the car around, and escape this hellhole of a Hee-Haw nightmare." She said.

"We're doing this." He said, calmly.

Sighing dejectedly she said quietly,"Don't say I didn't warn you."

Ginny's family lived on the bayou, they had to go through town and 4.825 miles down Highway 6 to get there. As they pulled into the drive, Josh thought that the house itself didn't look too bad, a little old, but it was an old town. And she had said the house had belonged to her grandmother, before it had been left to her mother. A huge hairy figure walked out onto the front porch, and before he could stop himself, Josh had made a not entirely complimentary comment.

"Good Lord, we've found Sasquatch!"

Ginny smacked him on the arm, " I told you my dad was a big man."

"I'm sorry, honey, it just came out, totally involuntary. Won't happen again. I promise."

"Just be glad it's late, Mom will have supper ready, we'll eat, chat, then we can escape to bed, just keep yawning, or they'll keep us up til the crack of dawn with hog calling stories. I just hope Dad doesn't start talking about gator wrestling."

Josh did a double take, "Gator...wrestling? Wrestling with...with alligators? Your dad? Hmm, that's very, hmm...interesting."

A middle aged woman with very big hair, wearing jeans and a T-shirt with a rebel flag on it, walked out the front door, she spotted the car, starting to wave excitedly.

"Oh, God, please just let the earth open up and swallow me now!" Ginny begged the heavens. Josh pulled up to the porch, and stopped the car.

"Okay, this is VERY unusual, but we'll get through it, I promise."

They stepped out of the car as the woman reached Ginny's side. She grabbed Ginny, hugging the life out of her, Josh could almost see her eyes bugging out from the pressure being applied to her neck.

"Oh, my sweet little Virginia, it's so good to see you, I'll tell you one thing, I thought I would never get to see you again, little girl! And this must be your beau!"

"Hi, Mom," Ginny said with as little enthusiasm as possible. "This is Josh. Josh this is my mother, Marcielle Le Creaux."

Josh turned to come around the car and hug Ginny's mother, but there seemed to be a rather large hairy mountain in the way. Looking up, still looking up, Josh looked into the face of Grizzly Adams.

"I'm sorry, " Josh said, " I didn't see you there." Realizing how ridiculous that sounded, he held out his hand, "You must be Ginny's father. Josh Groban."

"Jebuelle Le Creaux," the mountain rumbled,as his hand engulfed Josh's in its viselike grip.

Resisting the urge to slowly drop to his knees, Josh shook the hand, and smiled as cheerfully as he could.

"Well, let's don't just stand here, suppers ready, let's eat and get to know each other. Josh, you come with me." She said, coming around the car, and grabbing his arm, "I made corn fritters, do you like corn fritters, honey, I make em for the church social every year, and they don't last until they's gone. You'll love my corn fritters." Josh looked helplessly over his shoulder to make sure that Ginny was still there, she was, the mountain had her in a bear hug, then they followed them into the house.

           

Ginny's parents had gone to bed, finally! She had brought Josh out to the dock on the bayou, the boat her dad used to navigate the murky waters tied to it. They had thrown a blanket in the bottom, and now they lay under the stars, in each other's arms. The gentle rocking of the boat was so soothing, Ginny was getting sleepy, eager to escape and bury the memory of this night deep in her subconscious mind. Josh's arms were around her, he absently stroked her hair.

"You asleep?" He asked.

"Huh-uh." She answered sleepily.

"I don't know what you were worried about, your parents are kind of cool."

Shock, and worry for Josh's sanity and/or health snapped Ginny immediately awake.

"WHAT! Who...I mean...are you...Are we talking about the same people here. Big, hairy mountain man who hardly speaks, stereo-typical country wife who NEVER shuts up? We WERE in the same room weren't we, you didn't get beamed up to a space ship and replaced by alien spore did you?" She tiraded!!!

Josh laughed," I'm serious, you know your dad and I talked about his gator tooth collection, he really knows a lot about them, where they come from, how old they are. And your mother is an excellent cook, what were those called corn fritatas?"

Ginny laughed, "Fritters, corn fritters."

"Fritters." Josh repeated.

"Yes, she can cook, I'm lucky I don't weigh a thousand pounds, Gerry Springer would have loved to come down and cut me out of the house."

Josh started laughing at this, "Yeah, I can see...see you...oh, ha...rolling off the bed...onto a barge... on the water..."

Ginny started laughing, as well, "Only I'm so big, the barge gets stuck in the mud..."

"And...and they have to get...get a...crane to pull you out!"

They laughed hysterically at the vision, finally gaining control of themselves, he pulled her close, hugging her tight. He kissed her on the forehead as she snuggled down safe in the crook of his arm, a line from a poem ran through her mind,"Woman was made from man's rib...from under his arm to be protected by him..."

"You really liked my parents?" She asked incredulously.

"Yeah, they're fun."

She lay beside him, this foreign concept sinking in. Looking at the stars, she spoke from a full heart, "I love you, Josh Groban."

Also looking at the stars, he whispered back"I love you, Virginia Delane Le Creaux."

She shook her head, "How did you find out my middle name?"

"I asked your mom."

He pulled her to him, and kissed her, a long soft kiss, together they kept the stars company for the rest of the night.

           

Josh woke the next morning as the first rays of dawn crept over the horizon, life in the bayou began it's daylight crawl to consciousness on tiny feet, as creatures began to rustle through the flora. Ginny slept still on his arm, in the first morning light, her face looked like a Botticelli angel. So peaceful, the memory of their night under the stars fled to the forefront of his memories, catching him in the tidal wave of desire it provoked. Leaning over her, he kissed her softly on the lips, the ear, the neck, the V at the joining point of her collarbones, ...

"Excuse me, I don't think you want to be doing that right now." A stern male voice said, above and to the right of him.

Startled Josh glanced in the direction of the voice, a tall man vaguely reminiscent of the mountain squatted down to study him, then offered his right hand.

"Jake Le Creaux, Ginny's big brother."

Ginny began to stir as Josh reached over and shook Jake's hand, "Josh Groban, Ginny's boyfriend."

"Well, now that we have all the roles established, mom sent me out to get the 2 of you for breakfast."

"Jake?" Ginny mumbled sleepily, she glanced warily at her brother, and saw the look he gave Josh, "Oh, man," She thought, "Here we go again."     

 

Ginny could not have been sitting closer to Josh if she had been inside his skin. She was still upset at her brother for his behaviour at breakfast, and only being close to Josh could calm her down. The meal had been great, her mother had proved her down-home cooking skills once again, but it was all spoiled by Jakes boorish attitude, Jake had fired question after question at Josh. Ginny was expecting him to pull out a flashlight, and shine it in Josh's face, it had seemed like an interrogation. She had finally had all she could take and had exploded at her brother, her parents had taken his side, big surprise! Ginny had stormed out the front door to stand by the rental car. Tears of frustration filled her eyes, it had always been like this, Jake the golden boy, Jake the first born. She had lived in his shadow her entire life, he was the real reason she had never had any boyfriends, Jake had scared them all away.

Josh walked out to her, stopping in front of her, he held his arms open, she fell into them, christening his shirt with her hot, angry tears. When she was cried out, he made her look at him.

"Better?" He asked, holding her face in his hands, brushing away the tears with his thumbs

"Not really."

"What can I do?" He whispered softly,

"Take me home? Please?"

He smiled, "You are home."

Her face contorted with her inner pain, "No! Home to California. Josh I don't belong here anymore. It was always like this, I left to get away from my brother. I want to go home!" Fresh tears welled up in her eyes,"Please?!!" She begged. "This situation, this place, these people, they don't change. It's ingrained in the soul of this place, I want to go home!"

Josh knew she was tortured, but he couldn't let her give up on her family without trying to get through to them. He held her close in his arms, rocking her softly.

"Listen," he said. "Your mom packed us a lunch and told me about a place you used to go all the time when you were a kid. Let me go get it, and we'll go there, just the 2 of us. What do you say?"

Ginny nodded, still miserable.

"Great, get in the car, and we'll go."

 

They drove further into the bayou Josh was afraid they would get stuck, but finally Ginny told him to stop, he grabbed the basket, and she grabbed the blanket, hand in hand they walked into the vegetation to discover Ginny's past.

It was a long way from the road, but Ginny remembered the way as if she had been there yesterday. She felt the weight of this place lighten her heart as the burden of her family fell away, as it had always fallen away when she'dlooked at this place.

"Wow!" Josh breathed in amazement, "This is incredible."

"Welcome to my own private Neverland." She bowed deeply, ushering him into her child's place of magic and mystery. A waterfall flowed in the distance, pouring into a pool so blue, so clear, he could see fish swimming almost to the bottom. The trees formed a canopy joined with Spanish moss making the temperature in her private cove ten degrees cooler than the rest of the town. "This is a bayou?

"It's all limestone, it forms a natural aquifer. You can even drink this water. That's why there are no gators here. Wrong PH in the water. I used to come here when I couldn't stand it at home anymore."

"Why does your brother act like that?"

"I've never understood it, he acts like he hates me. He made my life a living hell."

"You know what, let's make a rule for Neverland. Nothing exists outside Neverland."

"We are the only citizens." She laughed.

"And we live only for each other here."

"Only for each other."

An evil gleam grew to sparkling in the center of Josh's eyes.

"I know that look, something wicked is about to be spoken." Ginny laughed.

"Let's go for a swim." Josh said, evil intent in his every syllable.

"We don't have suits with us." Ginny mock protested.

"And your point would be..."

She shot for the pool, leaving clothes floating on the breeze to land where they may, Josh was faster, she caught one lusious glimpse before he dove head first into the water, a second later she joined him.

He swam to her, the water was cool, but not quite able to extinguish the internal heat they generated when they were close to each other. His arms went around her, their feet moving in unison, treading water. His mouth found hers, slowly they went under the water, lost in the kiss, until only the need for air drove them to the surface. Even weighted with water, his curls framed his face, droplets glistened on his cheeks, catching the sunlight like prisms. There were moments when Ginny looked at him, into his eyes when the emotion was so great she felt she would have to become a force of nature to be able to survive the power of her need, her love for him. These moments, even an inch of air between their bodies was a chasm too great to be borne. The only way to survive it was to be within his skin, within his soul, his heart, his mind. He knew that look in her eyes, and when he saw it, he did all in his power to be sure she had all she needed to be alive.

 

They lay in the sun, unclothed, unfettered, unashamed. The warm Louisiana sun sneeking past the mossy cover to warm their skin as they lay, sometimes in silence, sometimes talking lovers language, the silly talk that only occurs between 2 who are hopelessly one. Propped up on an elbow, Josh leaned forward, kissing Ginny's navel, she sighed and reached up to push the hair off his forehead, then rolled over, cradling her head on her arms. Josh found a feather in the grass, and ran it down her spine, eliciting a giggle.

"I want to take a nap." She sighed.

"Lazy woman, how can you sleep when Neverland is in such disarray, clothes everywhere, how untidy." He teased breathlessly, kissing lightly down the path the feather had taken.

"Mmm- can we make Neverland clothing optional?" She asked, rolling over as he slid his arms around her.

" I think we're already there," he said.

She leaned up and kissed his nose, his lips, the warmth of his skin leaving her breathless.

"Can we stay here forever?" She asked.

"If it were in my power to grant that wish, it would be yours."

Ginny made a sad face, "Always a but..."

"I thought you liked my butt." Josh teased.

"Oh, I do, I do indeed."

"Then shut up and kiss me."

She shut up, and they discussed the birds and the bees, at great length.

 

The day had stretched into leisurely afternoon as they played at love. Realizing it was getting late, Josh decided to attempt to get Ginny to return to her parents house. Hoping the day of play had calmed her down enough to be able to face them. And if not, New Orleans was just down the road.

They had donned some of their clothes, Josh was still shirtless, and he sat behind her, his legs encircling her. He played with her hair, leaning forward to kiss her neck, her shoulder.

"It's getting late..." He started.

"No, nothing exists outside of Neverland." She resisted, stubbornly.

He stroked her hair, kissed her jaw, pulled her to him her head falling back on his shoulder, he kissed her lips, his right hand on her neck, his thumb playing across her cheek.

"We need to get back before dark."

"Not before you see the wizard's cave."

"What?" His curiosity peeked.

"I have to show you something before we lose the light, put on your shoes." He got up slipping on his shoes, and she led him to the waterfall.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

"Just come with me. Now be careful, it's slippery here."

She led him behind the waterfall on a small path worn into the limestone. Sunshine glittered through the water as she led him into the small cave that was behind the rushing water. It shone and sparkled like white crystals, the stone had been shaped over time, and it had come to look like an altar.

"This is beautiful!" Josh whispered

"No one knows about this place, but me. Now you too. You're the only person I've ever brought here. Even Jake doesn't know about this place." She looked at him shyly.

"You're the only person I trust enough to bring here."

Josh looked at Ginny, she was offering him the most secret place that had ever been hers. Allowing him into the deepest parts of her heart, he couldn't help but love her. He drew her into his arms, "Thank you for sharing this with me. It's beautiful, almost as beautiful as you."

He hugged her tight.

Ginny sighed in his embrace, she felt safe, she knew they had to go back to her parents house. With his support,his love, maybe she could go back and not kill her brother.

 

Josh and Ginny gathered up all the picnic remains, and the blanket, reluctantly leaving Neverland behind them as they walked back to the car. The setting sun creating magnificent pallettes of pink, and orange out of the clouds, they got into the car and left Ginny's place of magic behind them. Curled as tightly and as close to Josh as she could physicall manage for comfort, while still allowing him to be able to drive, Ginny worried. Their beautiful day would be ended by an unpleasant scene from her brother, the story of her life. Any time there had been a glorius event, a perfect date, Jake had snatched it from her happy hands, and dashed it to the ground, like a petulant child. Never allowing her a moment of joy. Something inside her cried out, not this time! No! Not this day! This is mine!

Sensing disruption in her soul, Josh turned on the radio, they rode in silence for awhile, then a song began to play, and Josh started to sing along with it.

"...So she took her love for to gaze awhile, among the fields of barley. In his arms she fell as her hair came down, among the fields of gold. Will you stay with me, will you be my love, among the fields of barley?" He sang, smiling sweetly at Ginny, the setting sun deepening the color of his eyes, til she thought she would lose herself in their depths, he continued singing.

"And you can tell the sun in its jealous sky when we walked in fields of gold. I never make promises lightly, and there have been some that I've broken. But I swear to you in the days still left, we will walk in fields of gold."

His right arm around her, Ginny sighed in one moment of perfect contentment. But she couldn't relax. She could not go home, not yet, her heart would break. She needed to be alone, with Josh for just a little while longer.

"Josh?" She said

"What, babe?"

"Run away with me."

He laughed, "What?"

"Run away with me Josh Groban, please, Josh. Don't turn down that road to the house, let's go to New Orleans. Just for tonight. Just give me one perfect day before I have to go back there and face them, please, Josh? Please?" Her voice quivered with the intensity of her heart pain. Josh pulled on to the shoulder and stopped.

"Is it that horrible for you?" He asked, looking at her, his sweet face filled with concern.

"Yes, it's THAT horrible." Josh glanced out the window, thinking hard. He wasn't sure it was the right thing to do, but he knew this was what she felt she needed. And her couldn't deny her. He handed her his cell phone.

Ginny looked at him puzzled.

"Call your mother, tell her where we're going, and that we'll be back tomorrow."

Ginny crushed him in a hug of gratitude then settled beside him to call her mother.

 

They pulled into New Orleans after the sun had set, and the moon had risen it's tolerant face upon the Big Easy. Josh found a small hotel on the French Quarter, they settled in, then went down to the lobby shops to get some more appropriate evening attire. Josh emerged from the men's shop, black pants, black shoes, black socks, black belt, black button down shirt, sleeves rolled up.

His heart stopped when Ginny walked out of the other shop. She wore a modified poets blouse, that stopped just above her waist, one side off the shoulder, her navel peering over the waistband of the long black fitted skirt that ended at the ankle, with a slit on the left that ended above her knee. A small crystal and pearl lariat circled her neck, and her hair was up in the twist he loved, but this time held by metal combs. She waited almost shyly, to see if she met his approval.

"You look amazing." He said, admiring her as she did an impromptu fashion show spin for him.

"I wasn't sure you'd like it." She said as she came to him, taking his hand.

" I could die happy now." He couldn't believe how beautiful she looked.

"Where are we going?" She asked as they started for the front door of the hotel.

"The concierge said there's a nice restaurant just down the street, then we can just walk and hit the clubs, Bourbon Street is just 2 blocksaway. I've never been here, so I would really like to see Bourbon Street at least once." He said as they stepped out the front door, he stepped in front of her, as several rowdy young men made their way past them, placing himself between her and them. The young men took a second look at Ginny and some of them whistled as they walked away, Josh narrowed his eyes at them, then turned ignoring them.

"At least they have good taste," he muttered.

"That's so sweet." Ginny laughed.

"What?" He asked.

"You're jealous."

"No, I'm not."

She laughed, letting it go.

Dinner was nice, they walked it off over to Bourbon Street where they found a club with dancing.

"Don't worry," said Ginny, knowing Josh was embarassed to dance. "We'll just dance the slow dances."

They hit the dance floor, and Josh held Ginny close, she put her head on his shoulder, her arms around his waist, his around her shoulders. The smell of her hair, the pressure of her body against his, as her hips swayed to the music was making Josh crazy. She kissed him lightly on the neck, then on his chest where he had left his shirt open, she sighed, god, he loved this woman! She pulled back to look at him.

"Thank you, for this night, for understanding."

"I never want to see you in pain, I just can't stand it."

She kissed him then, a firey kiss, filled with her love, her desire, her gratitude. If the human body was not 98% water, he would have been reduced to a pile of smoldering ash at her feet, a helpless victim of spontaneous combustion.

 

The night tapped past in white tie and tails as they danced, and laughed, lost in each other's eyes. There was no world, no other living soul existed, but them. Joined in heart they worshipped the night, moving from club to club til the wee hours of the morning. Finally exhausted, they made their way back to the hotel, collapsing in joyous weariness into the warm soft bed. Josh held Ginny to him, the softness of her skin on his threatening internal combustion once more. They lay, happy in each others arms not needing to speak, pure contentment in body and soul, and so the night passed.

Ginny woke first, she looked at Josh sleeping peacefully, wondering what lucky star had crossed her path to bring this wonderful man into her life. It had been a perfect day, and she felt somehow that she would be able to face her brother without breaking. She slipped out of the bed, walking to the window, she looked out, there were clouds on the horizon, she hoped it wouldn't rain on them until they made it back to Cut and Shoot. Turning she looked at Josh asleep in the bed, he was on his stomach, the sheets only up to his waist, his arms grasping the pillow like a lover. His right leg was bent, and out from under the sheets, the light cast shadows on his face, and under the curls that lay gently on his forehead. He stirred, rolling over on his back, the sheets following, but barely, his left hand slightly open came to rest on the pillow beside his face. She sighed, a perfect day.

She went into the bathroom and got in the shower, pulling closed the glass door. The water was warm and comforting, the drops dancing across her skin, reminding her of Josh's touch. Closing her eyes she could almost feel his hands...

"You missed a spot." Josh said, as he stepped into the shower behind her.

She turned to face him, the water caressing them both.

"Then I guess you'll just have to do something about that."

So he did.

At noon, they checked out, and got back in the car to return to Ginny's childhood home.

"I can do this." She said, repeating it like a mantra, while clinging to Josh for strength.

"WE can do this," Josh corrected her, reminding her he was in this for the long haul.

"Okay. WE can do this. WE can do this." She repeated over and over, her stomach slowly tightening to a knot. As they pulled into the drive, the thoughts of stepping in front of a bus came back, but she had to dismiss it as still too risky. The clouds that had been on the horizon were rolling in like a horde of angry locusts.

"We'd better get inside, we're going to get wet." Josh said.

They hurried into the house, Ginny's mother ushering them in.

"Lands, we've got a gully washer coming in. This isn't gonna be pretty. I'm glad you came back, little girl, I didn't think you would."

"We came to see you and dad, I'm not happy the way this is turning out. Why did Jake come down from DC?"

Her mother bustled about the kitchen, pretending not to hear her.

"Mom, why is Jake here?"

Marcielle looked uncomfortable as she tried to figure out the best place to put her hands, finally throwing them up in frustration.

"I don't KNOW, Ginny, I told him you were coming with your young man, he didn't tell me he was coming! I didn't know! You know how he gets."

At that moment, Jake walked through the back door. An uncomfortable silence settled on the room, as Ginny glared at Jake, and Marcielle looked helplessly on. Josh stayed glued to Ginny's side.

"Mom, Dad needs your help at the shed."

Marcielle fled, happy to escape the tension in the room.

"Why did you come here, Jake?"

"What do you mean, Ginny?" He asked defensively crossing the room, brusquely bumping her shoulder as he passed her.

He opened the fridge, grabbed a glass and poured himself some tea.

"You knew I was coming, you knew I was bringing Josh, why did you feel the need to be here? I came to see Mom and Dad."

"Fine, you want to know why, I'll tell you. I came to see if you had picked out another worthless bum to attach yourself to." He was inches from her face, she reached up and slapped him in frustration. A moment of mindless fury crossed his face, and his right hand came up, Josh grabbed it as it swung towards Ginny.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Josh said, quietly, with meaning in his voice.

Jake stepped back, "I wasn't going to hit her. I just wanted to see what you would do."

"What?!" Josh and Ginny said in unison.

At that moment lightning struck very close, the flash of light stunning them all into silence. The rain came, in great sheets, pouring from the sky. As Jake squared off on Ginny, they could hear footfalls outside.

"Ginny! Jake! Your dad is stuck under the boat ramp, the lightning knocked down that big willow tree, I can't get him out!"

 

Jake, Marcielle, Josh and Ginny ran out the door down to the boat ramp, thunder rumbling, lightning crashing every few moments as they made their way to Jebuelle's side. Clinging to a pylon, unable to pull his leg loose from the crumpled pier. The old willow that had stood for centuries cracked and still smoking from the lightning strike. Jake and Ginny plunged into the water beside their father, Marcielle paced nervously on the shore, Josh waded in after handing his cell phone to Marcielle, telling her to go back to the house and call 911.

"Dad! Are you allright?" Yelled Ginny over the torrential downpour.

"Leg's caught, I'm bleeding Ginny, we gotta get out of here."

He mumbled, Ginny was afraid he was going into shock, she looked helplessley up at Josh who was beside her.

"We gotta move that tree!" Yelled Jake.

"It's too big,"yelled Josh, "We need something to take the weight off the ramp so we can move him out from under!"

"Whatever we do, we have to do it fast, even with a storm like this, gators are going to taste the blood and be here! We've got to get out of the water!"

"Just a minute!" Josh took a deep breath and dove under the water, lightning flashes illuminating the problem, Jebuelle's leg was caught under the collapsed pylon, a deep gash ran red into the water, but there was a point where they could lodge something and maybe get enough space to get him out. Breaking the surface, Josh pushed his hair back out of his face, the downpour making rubbing the water out of his eyes pointless.

Ginny and Jake were arguing over the helpless form of their father.

"I can't believe you, all those years, you deliberately made me miserable! Why? What did I ever do to you?" Ginny railed over the rain.

"Because you were better than all this, I wanted...I wanted you to leave to be something more. Not end up pregnant at 16, with 4 kids before you were 30." Jake yelled back.

"You want me to believe you did it FOR me?" She cried out, incredulously.

"It WAS for you, so you wouldn't stay here and be nothing like all these other hicks!" He yelled back.

"I'm one of those hicks." Jebuelle interjected weakly.

"I didn't mean you, dad." Jake said apologetically.

"Then what did you mean?" Ginny demanded.

"I meant you were happy to hang with all the losers around here, like some 2 bit little..."

"Watch your mouth!" Josh interjected emphatically.

Ginny felt a surge of pride, she looked at Josh adoringly, who was still facing off with Jake.

"THIS," he said, meaning the arguing,"is not getting your father out of harm's way!"

"You're right, you're right!" Jake yelled. "What's holding him?"

He asked Josh.

"The pylon has his foot, but if we can get something under there, and lever it off for a minute, maybe Ginny can pull him out." Josh yelled back, lightning crashed across the bayou, hitting another tree, and illuminating a mid sized gator swimming towards them. All four of them looked at it in horror. Another roar sounded behind them, a great flash, a huge splash, and the gator disappeared under the water. They turned and looked at the shore as Marcielle lowered a shotgun that was almost as big as she was.

 

"Don't mess with my family!" Marcielle yelled at the dead gator.

Josh looked at Ginny,"Yes, she's good with the shotgun, Dad's better."

"Duly noted." Josh gulped.

"The sheriff is on the way, but there's a big accident on the interstate, they said it could be a while." Marcielle shouted over the rain. She stayed on the shore, scanning the water for gator cousins.

"So, what can we use to place under this pylon?" Josh shouted.

Jake was at a loss, lightning struck again across the bayou, Josh caught a glimpse of a rock about the right size further down from the boat ramp.

"What about that rock?" He yelled pointing.

Jake and Josh slogged out of the water, and rolled and pushed at the rock until they had it in the water, Josh dove under the water, guiding it in place.

"Okay, what can we use for a lever?" He asked Jake.

"There's a whole bunch of 2x4's in the shed!" He yelled between thunder rumblings from the sky. He slogged out of the water again, and was back in a moment with one.

Josh dove again, positioning the board between the pylon and the rock. Coming out of the water for the third time, he yelled that they were ready.

"Ginny, Jebuelle, when you feel the weight lift off, get out of there as fast as you can, I don't know how long we can hold it!" Josh yelled as lightning struck a little further down from them this time.

"Ready?" He yelled at Jake. Jake nodded his readiness. "Now!" Yelled Josh, and they pushed with everything they had. The pylon lifted,and Ginny and Jebuelle heaved, he was free! Josh and Jake got on other side of Jebuelle helping him back to the house. Ginny and her mother clinging to each other, followed.

 

The sheriff's rescue unit was in the bedroom with Jebuelle who stubbornly refused to go to the hospital.

"Just get Marcielle to make me a mustard pack." He commented, before drifting off to sleep.

Josh and Ginny sat side by side at the kitchen table, wrapped in blankets, sipping hot cocoa. The storm had settled into a ground soaking downpour without the thunder and lightning. Jake and Marcielle were in the bedroom with Jebuelle. Josh and Ginny could sit now, in peace, a moment of silence for themselves to let Jake's revelation sink in.

"I can't believe he thought what he was doing was GOOD for me." Ginny said quietly.

Josh slipped his arm around her shoulder, hugging her close to him. "However misguided, you DID leave, and if you hadn't come to California, we never would have met."

In her heart she knew Josh wasn't defending Jake's actions, she just couldn't make sense of why Jake felt he had to be so cruel to her.

"Listen, when we find out how your dad is, why don't we just go to bed, it's been an eventful evening, I'll rub your back for you." Josh suggested quietly.

"I should be rubbing your back, you were amazing. You stayed so calm, if you hadn't thought of using a lever, dad could have died out there." The shock of the evening was wearing off, tears stung the corners of her eyes, she had been so scared, and Josh had stayed so sure of himself. Even when they'd spotted the gator, he had put himself in front of her. Always protecting her. Tears spilled from her eyes, Josh understanding, gathered her into his arms, holding her, stroking her hair, until it passed.

"What would I do without you?" She whispered.

"Oh, God! Are the 2 of you at that again?" Jake moaned in disgust, as he walked in to get a cup of coffee. Leaning on the counter, only a few feet from them, he continued.

"I have to admit you did good out in the water, but are you really sure Ginny is what you really want." He held his arms out,"This is it, these are her roots, a little hillbilly hick. You know I know what happened on prom night, you and Bo Johnson, down by the bleachers..."

Barely contained fury seething through every inch of his body, Josh gained his feet in one fluid motion, the chair hitting the floor. His left hand clenched tightly in raw anger, his right hand in a fist, index finger inches from Jake's face.

"I warned you before, this is the last warning you get, WATCH YOUR MOUTH! If you talk to her like that again, I'll knock you on your butt!"He growled in low careful animal rage. "She's with ME now!"

Ginny couldn't believe her eyes, Josh was standing toe to toe with Jake. Someone SHE loved was standing up to him, defending her, she had not realized it until this very moment, but she had needed this. A part of her had held back, afraid that she would never find someone who valued her enough to stand up for her. She saw the restraint in his movements, Josh wanted to throttle Jake with his bare hands, but it wasn't cool to kill your girlfriend's brother, no matter how much he deserved it.

Never taking his eyes off Jake, Josh spoke to Ginny as his right hand dropped to his side.

"Ginny, go pack, we're leaving."

Jumping to her feet in instinctive obedience to his tone she remembered. "But our plane doesn't leave til tomorrow."

Turning he propelled her toward her old room, "Then we'll sleep in the airport, I'll highjack a plane, I'll BRIBE someone,I'm not allowing you to endure this one moment longer! Now go pack!"

Resisting the urge to salute, Ginny went to her room, and started packing.

In the kitchen, Josh squared off with Jake.

"I don't know what your problem is with Ginny, but you may have just severed all feelings she has for you. She's your FAMILY, doesn't that mean ANYTHING to you?!" Josh asked him angrily.

"Of course it does. I just wanted to be sure she had someone she could depend on, I guess you'll do." He said nonchalantly.

Josh scrubbed his face with one hand, the other on his hip. He shook his head in disbelief,"You are a real piece of work."

"She left here, she found someone halfway decent, I think I did good by her." Jake replied.

Josh stepped back into Jake's face,"Fine, you think this was all from something you did, you go ahead and believe it, just know this. If you cause her pain, ever again, it's you and me. You got that!?" The look on Josh's face left no doubt to his meaning, and Jake experienced something from one of Ginny's boyfriends for the first time in his life, he was afraid.

Josh strode down the hall to Ginny's old room, muttering to himself angrily. He found Ginny neatly folding and tucking things into her suitcase. He stopped in the doorway, scrubbing his face once again in frustration, trying to gain control of himself. He threw his suitcase on the bed beside Ginny's and began stuffing his things into it. Usually a neat packer, Ginny knew Josh was still upset, she was still a little in shock at her own personal revelation, but she had never seen Josh like that before. He was always so calm and centered. There had been something inspiring about the way he had spoken to Jake. The depth of emotion that welled up in her heart was overpowering for a moment, and she felt lightheaded. She turned and sat on the bed, putting her face in her hands. Josh was on his knees in front of her in an instant, concern for her on his face.

"Are you all right?' He asked worriedly, "I'm sorry, I spoiled everything, our visit, the meeting with your parents, I'm so sorry...I just couldn't let him talk to you like that anymore." The anger flashed in his eyes, Ginny only saw the man she loved. No doubts, no fears, only love. Tears welled up in her eyes, the emotion she felt too powerful to allow her to speak. Josh looked into her face, miserable that she might be angry with him.

"Oh, Josh,"she sighed, dropping her hands, he took them, holding them tightly in his own.

"Are you alright?" He asked again, more urgently.

"You stood up to him."

"I don't understand." Josh said shaking his head.

"No one has ever stood up to Jake before, no one has ever thought I was worth the trouble."

"I love you, Ginny." He paused, decisions being weighed behind his eyes as he sat back on his heels.

"I didn't want to do this now, I talked to your dad, and got his permission. I had a whole "thing" planned, but..."

He shifted and got on one knee, pulling something out of the pocket of his jeans. Holding a beautiful amethyst and diamond ring up to her, one they'd seen in a jewelry store in LA, he spoke,"Virginia Delane LeCreaux, will you marry me?"

 

Trembling with emotion, Ginny placed her hands over Josh's hand, the one with the ring. In stunned disbelief she stared at it, her mind and heart racing in unison. She must have stared for a long time, because Josh put a hand on her chin, pulling her face up to look at him.

"Are you all right?" He asked softly.

"Yes." She answered.

Josh laughed, "Yes, you're all right, or yes, you'll marry me?"

"Yes to both, oh my god." Tears came again, as she flung her arms around Josh's neck. "Yes, oh my dear, sweet lord, yes. I will marry you, whenever and wherever you'll have me, yes!" Dragging him back on to the bed with her she smothered his face with kisses, finally stopping at his mouth, his full sweet mouth. She kissed him lovingly, longingly, from her soul her mouth spoke without words the depth of her commitment. As the kiss ended, she looked into his eyes, yep it was the eyes, just no way in hell to say no to those eyes.

"I need to put this on your finger before I lose it." Josh said softly, teasingly as he leaned up on an elbow to slip the ring on her trembling finger. He dragged pillows down from the top of the bed for both of them, and they lay on their sides just looking at each other for awhile, kissing, and murmuring their love in soft whispered tones.

"Why don't we go say good-bye to your folks, and drive in to Baton Rouge tonight? We can get a hotel room, and stay in bed tomorrow til it's time to leave for the airport." Josh suggested as he kissed her collarbones, and points south.

Sighing, Ginny said,"That sounds like a great idea. But that means we have to get up."

"Maybe in a half hour?" Josh suggested, eyebrows raised wickedly.

"Even better," Ginny said, she jumped up, closed and locked the door, launching herself back on the bed at Josh's side where they celebrated their betrothal in a time honored traditional fashion.

The rain had stopped, dusk settling on the horizon, by the time they got the car loaded, and said their goodbyes. Jake had gratefully vanished. Marcielle squealed like a stuck pig when they told her parents the happy news. She hugged Josh as she had hugged Ginny when they had arrrived, and he had to close his eyes to keep from becoming permanently bug-eyed. Jebuelle gave Josh another bone crushing hand-shake, he still managed to stay on his feet, and they left, waving to Marcielle.

Ginny sat next to Josh, a strange peace in her heart and mind, she wasn't sure where it had come from, all she knew was that she felt in perfect balance with herself for the first time in her life. And it felt good. She snuggled down, both arms around Josh's right arm, sighing deeply.

They drove in silence, they were about to turn off the private road and continue into town when they spotted a car off the side of the road, apparently and accident, and a man lying face down beside it. Josh pulled onto the shoulder, stopping the rental. Something was not right about this, deep inside himself he knew this, but the car was blocking the way into town, so Josh had to investigate.

"Stay here." He told Ginny, and got out of the car. He had left the headlights on so he could see, it barely reached the man on the ground. Josh nudged him with his foot.

"Hey, are you all right?" He asked, there was definitely something not right here, he bent down to roll the man over, only to discover it was a scarecrow, the movement to his right and Ginny's scream came too late to stave off the attack, and all went black.

 

Ginny had turned and was walking away from him. He tried to follow her, but the more he walked the further away he was from her. Starting to run, he reached out for her and called her name.

"Ginny! Ginny! Wait, come back, where are you going? Ginny, don't leave me, please Ginny, I love you!"

His voice echoing in the wind mocking him as he dropped to his knees unable to catch up to the one woman he truly loved with all that he was. The sky began to darken, clouds rolling in, looking like another Louisiana gully washer was on the way. A blinding light shone in his face, and a loud voice called his name, something wet and cold hit his face...

"Josh! Please, Josh, wake up!" Marcielle pleaded with him desperately. She had put a wet, really stinky cloth on his face, he reached up to pull it away.

"Don't." She told him gently, "It's an old home remedy, it will stop the bleeding."

"Bleeding..." He muttered, a little disoriented, trying to sit up, laying back down just as quickly, since movement made the pounding in his head worse. Memory flooded back, the scarecrow, someone rushing at him, Ginny screaming!

"Ginny..." He said urgently, sitting up, ignoring the headache.

"Take it in steps, young'un. You can't help her if you can't stand on your feet." Marcielle said, preventing him from standing.

"Where's Ginny?" He asked, holding the stinky cloth to his face, the fumes keeping him conscious.

"It was Jake! This is why we made him leave after he drove Ginny to run away. She was only 17, but I understood why she left." Marcielle said miserably.

"Why is Jake so obsessed with Ginny?" Josh asked trying to clear his head so he could stand.

"I don't know, you raise 2 children, one turns out fine, but somewhere along the way something twists in the other one. We tried to help, but when he nearly beat Bo Johnson to death, we had to send him away. I made him go to my sister's in Washington DC." Marcielle said, shrugging helplessly.

"Wait a minute, did you say Bo Johnson?" Josh asked desperately.

"Yes, did you meet him in town?"

"No, Jake mentioned that he knew what Ginny and Bo had done behind the bleachers at the prom."

Marcielle's eyes grew wide with understanding. "Oh, my lord, and now you've asked Ginny to marry you!"

Fear gripped Josh's heart, visions of Ginny helpless, or worse played across his minds eye, "Would he hurt her?"

"Oh, Josh, I don't know, she ran away the day after the prom, they had been fighting...the only reason I knew to come here was cause he stopped and said you'd had an accident. He must have had Ginny with him! Oh, my Lord! He said if you wanted to find him he'd be at Ginny's secret place! My baby! My poor little girl! I thought he was talking crazy! He has her!"

Josh stood, swaying, but he managed to stay on his feet. Leaning on the hood of the car, placing a hand gingerly to his head where Jake had hit him, and wincing, his mind raced. Jake meant Neverland, Ginny's sanctuary to a cold and cruel world. He'd taken her there, and he wanted Josh to follow, he had to go after her! No matter what, he had to get Ginny back.

 

Josh walked unsteadily back to the rental, handing the cloth back to Marcielle not noticing the amount of blood on it. As he got in the car he gave her instructions.

"Go back to your house and call the sheriff, tell them the situation, tell them I'll leave the rental on the road they have to go into the bayou at that point, and for god's sake, Marcielle tell them to hurry!" He started to close the door. Marcielle prevented him, "Wait, Josh. Take this, you might need it." She pushed a large switchblade into his hands.

He tried to refuse it, "No, Marcielle, this is not what I'm about."

She put a hand over his, looking him square in the eye, "Josh Groban, my daughter loves you. She needs your help, I love my son, but he's dangerous. You have to protect yourself and my little girl! Take it! If you don't need it, fine! But if you do, one of you could pay the price for you chosing not to take it!" She pressed it into his hands, he slipped it into his back pocket and prayed he wouldn't have to use it.

Huge clouds of dust spraying behind, Josh sped down the country road to get to Ginny in time. He couldn't allow himself to think of her in pain, or... shaking his head to throw off the unthinkable, he pulled up to the entrance to Neverland. Knowing the car had already made enough noise to alert Jake to his presence, he took a flashlight out of the glove compartment of the car, and tucked the switchblade into his sock. He flew out of the car, and through the underbrush, finally coming out into Ginny's private cove. A full moon shone through the mossy canopy, not quite enough light for him to see, but enough for him to be seen.

"That's far enough, big shot!" Jake yelled. From the direction of the shout, Josh realized Jake was in the cave behind the waterfall.

"Put your hands where I can see 'em!" Jake shouted again, Josh put his hands in the air. "Okay, now walk on over here."

"Not until I know Ginny is alright!" Josh shouted.

"Talk to him!" Jake commanded.

"I'm...I'm alright, Josh!" Her voice quavering.

Josh steeled himself, and began to walk toward his destiny.

 

Keeping his hands above his head, Josh made his way behind the waterfall into Ginny's wizard's cave. Jake had his father's shotgun levelled at Josh.

"Put your hands on your head!" He said.

Josh complied, and Jake stepped to his right, Josh's eyes narrowed to slits in cold fury when he saw Ginny. She sat on the cave floor there were bruises on her cheeks and arms, her lip was split, she'd been crying, and Jake had tied her hands behind her back. Something feral began a climb from the depths of his soul, and he growled softly deep in his throat, if he could have put his hands on Jake at that moment he wouldn't have needed the knife, he would have finished the job with his bare hands. Pushing back these primitive thoughts, he scanned the cave trying to think of a way to get to Ginny's side.

"You don't like my handiwork?" Jake said lightly, pointing the shotgun at Ginny. He stepped back, allowing Josh to go to Ginny.

"Josh," She breathed in relief, "I thought he'd killed you! I was so scared!"

"Are you all right?" He asked, taking her face in his hands.

"Now I am." She said, her voice shook, Josh knew she was terrified, and trying to put on a brave face for him.

Jake turned his head away for a moment, looking to see if there was any activity in the cove, and Josh took the opportunity to slip the knife out of his sock, and into Ginny's hand, making it look like a hug of relief that she was alive. He looked into her eyes, making sure she understood. She nodded once to show that she had. Josh stood to face Jake again.

"What do you want, Jake?" He asked.

"For her to suffer."

"Why?" Josh asked.

"Because she had it all."

"What are you talking about?" Josh asked puzzled, but trying to keep him talking until the sheriff arrived.

"She had it all, pretty, talented, popular in school. I was older, the attention should have been mine! I couldn't even get on the football team, I had to help dad on the place all the time. She got it all, and all I got was passed over"

He spewed forth his anger, emptying all his pent up rage and frustration.

"But she left."

"Yeah, and my own parents sent me away because she did. They blamed me! Me!"

"What about Bo Johnson?" Josh asked.

"What about him?" Jake said, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Isn't that the real reason your parents sent you away, you nearly killed him."

Ginny gasped, "It was you?! You were the one who beat him up? Why, Jake?"

"Because you don't deserve to be happy!" He screamed at Ginny. "You took away my place when you were born! You don't deserve anything else!" He was in Ginny's face screaming, the gun resting on the cave floor.

Josh saw his chance, "I told you what would happen if you talked to her like that again!" he yelled as he launched himself at Jake, carrying them both through the waterfall into the pool.

 

The 2 men struggled under the water, Josh finally breaking the surface to gasp for air, he pummeled Jake in the face, trying to knock him out and end this once and for all. Insane fury refused to give in, and Jake fought back, Josh pulled away heading for the shore, trying to get his feet on firmer ground. Jake followed, they fought, each of them landing blows, trying to be the first to gain the shore. The shore meant the upper hand. The upper hand meant survival. In one final desperate attempt, Jake concentrated several blows where he had hit Josh in the head earlier. The cut began to bleed again, and Josh was momentarily blinded. Jake pressed his advantage, but with one final burst of strength, Josh knocked him aside, and got his feet on solid ground. The animal in all men had taken over, Josh held Jake struggling under the water. Jake hit and hit trying to loosen Josh's grip on him, the hits growing weaker and weaker, as he struggled to maintain his hold on life. To live. Josh had smelled blood, the kill was his!

"Don't do it, boy!" A voice called from further back.

"I know he's not right in the head, but if you kill him, it will be on your soul for the rest of your life."

Jebuelle limped into the water beside Josh, pulling on his hands.

"Let the law take care of this one." He said quietly.

With a cry of frustration, civilization exerted its pull on Josh's heart, he released Jake, throwing himself back on the ground. Jebuelle pulled Jake sputtering from the water, to throw him on the ground coughing and gasping for air beside Josh. Josh sat on the ground, knees to his chest, arms resting on them, his head on his hands.

"You move from that spot afore the sheriff gets here, I'll kill you myself." Jebuelle said to his son.

Ginny had used the knife and freed herself, she ran from the cave, slipping and sliding rushing to Josh's side.

 

Ginny reached Josh, relief pouring from her entire body. He was alive! He was hurt, but he was alive! She clung to him, shaking like a leaf in the wind. He turned to hold her to him, just hold her, and glory in her very presence. They had survived, they were alive! But somewhere inside him, Josh was troubled, he had almost killed Jake, worse he had WANTED to kill Jake. If Jebuelle had not arrived...Ginny would have married a killer.

At that moment Jake chose to prove one of the first rules of life:Never turn your back on a crazy man. Thinking they were all ignoring him, Jake had eased a knife out of his belt, and lunged at Josh, trying to exact his twisted revenge, Ginny shrieked in fear, Jebuelle snatched Jake out of the air, slamming him to the ground. As Jake struggled, Jebuelle stomped as hard as he could with his good leg on Jake's right arm, with a loud snap, his arm broke, and he dropped the bloodied knife. Looking at the knife, Josh realized there was blood on it, he looked down at the arm he had thrown up to defend himself and Ginny, there was a sizable gash in it.

"Oh, my God!" Ginny cried, seeing the gash at the same time.

Jebuelle produced a first aid kit from the pouch he carried

"I was afraid we might need this." He said giving it to Ginny who carefully wrapped up Josh's arm. As she finished, they could hear sirens approaching, moments later about 8 officers pounded into the clearing flashlights out, weapons drawn. When they saw the worst of it was over they holstered their weapons and began the wearying task of questions.

It was a couple of hours later that it had all been settled, Jake had been bundled off to the hospital, paramedics had checked out Josh and Ginny who both decided they didn't want to spend a night in the hospital. Wounds were bound, every ounce of evidence was catalogued, prints and statements were taken, Jebuelle went back to the house in the truck, Josh and Ginny drove back in the rental. Another hour or so filling Marcielle in, who insisted they all have some Chamomile so they could sleep, and finally Josh and Ginny were alone in her bed, in her old room.

They lay exhausted and relieved. But Josh was still troubled. Ginny could feel it in him, she wasn't sure why, he hadn't told her yet.

"What's wrong?" She decided to confront it head on.

"Nothing, babe, I'm just glad it's over. I'm glad you're safe. I just want to put this behind us." He said quietly, lying through his teeth to her.

"Josh, you're not being truthful with me, something's bothering you. What is it?"

He sighed, "At the pool, when I had Jake under the water I almost killed him."

"But you didn't."

"Only because your dad stopped me."

"What are you saying?"

He turned to look at her, he was afraid to tell her, afraid she would hate him. Hate the fact he had almost become like her brother. He studied her face, the bruises, the split lip, and knew given the same circumstances, he could do it again, without hesitation, and it frightened even him. He could never allow anyone to hurt Ginny like this. He couldn't live with himself if he did.

"I WANTED to kill Jake." He said quietly.

"For what he'd done to you, when I saw your face... and I'd do it again, Ginny. I would. Does that make me an animal? Does it make you hate me?" He said, unable to look into her eyes, afraid of what he'd see there.

"So you're saying you would do anything you had to, to make sure that I'm safe, and alive?" She asked quietly.

"Without a second thought."

"And that scares you?" She asked.

"To the core of my being." He answered staring at the ceiling.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with that." She said softly. "It is your right as a man to protect what is yours to protect. And I have to tell you Josh,it makes me feel so incredibly safe, I can't believe it."

He looked at her stunned.

"You could live with someone who is capable of killing?" He asked.

"Yep." She answered.

"It doesn't bother you one bit?"

"Not a bit."

"And you could love that?"

"I already do, with all my heart."

And she showed him how much.

 

The next morning, they made their goodbyes to Jebuelle and Marcielle, Jebuelle pulled Josh aside for a moment while the women hugged and cried.

"I know what you felt last night, and I want you to know that I know my Ginny is in good hands. You take care of my little girl."

"I'll do my best, sir." Josh said, as he shook the hand that Jebuelle offered, this time the grip was firm, one man to another, not the bone crusher. Josh smiled at Jebuelle. "It's been an honor to meet you, Jebuelle."

"Likewise, Josh, likewise."

 

The trip back to the airport in Baton Rouge was uneventful, as the plane took off and the no cell phone light went off, Josh's cell phone rang.

"Hi, Brian, yeah we're in the air, on the way home. How was it?" Josh met Ginny's eyes and sighed, smiling ironically, "Oh, not too bad, I'll tell you all about it when we get there. Yeah, nothing special. Okay, tell my parents we're on our way back. Right, see you then." He pressed the button, breaking the connection, took Ginny's hand, pressing it to his lips, and said, "By the way, did I tell you that I love you?"

She beamed at him, and they settled back, heading for home.