*******
Margot had been walking for a good twenty minutes when she finally came to a change in the scenery. It was a fork in the road. She scoffed as she thought about the theoretic fork in her life.
She gazed down the left side of the fork. On one hand, there�s myself. The girl I lost when Chloe died, the child I lost when my parents were killed, and the woman I lost when Lucas subdued me. This, coming to California, this was supposed to be an escape. I was supposed to come here, find new friends, rejuvenate myself, and learn how to get he person I lost back. I can still do that. I probably won�t be able to stay here with�him, but I can find another place to live and take some time out for me. Some well-needed, well-earned, well-desired time. For Margot.
She turned to look down the right side of the fork.
On the other hand, there�s him. Joshua Scott Chasez. The man professing his godforsaken love for me on wrinkled notebook paper. The man who has been through the same relationship problems that I have, yet still seems to want to try again. The man who has everything he could possibly want. Except for one thing�
Margot closed her eyes and slowly shook her tired head.
What could I possibly have to offer the man who appears to be on top of the world? What makes me so different than all the 12-year-old girls who would probably sell themselves to 70-year-old men just to be with Josh for one night? Well, besides the whole age thing, just that. I�d never do anything that extreme to get him. I�d never do anything to get him. I don�t even want the man.
She glimpsed back at the left side with a determined look on her face.
What I want is to get myself back together. What I want it to totally forget about love and just focus in on me. No one else. And especially not if the person�s name has a J and a C in it.
She looked back at the right side as her features softened.
Especially if that person is beautiful and caring and loving. So much that it makes me want to cry. It shouldn�t be humanly possible for someone to be so perfect.
Back to the left side.
But there is no perfect. None. He�s got to have a fault somewhere. And I�m going to get far from this place and far from him before he gets the chance to show his elusive fault.
Margot took one last look at the right side of the fork in the road before she turned to sprint all the way back to the house.
*******
�Go away.�
Justin stopped head in his tracks when he heard JC speak. He head been trying to sit next to him in order to have a talk with his old MMC buddy, but apparently JC has other plans. Justin looked at his friend�s lumped back and tried to rationalize with him.
�Uh, hey to you too. I just wanted to talk. I saw you from my room window and you looked kinda-�
�Go away, Justin.�
Justin looked around nervously at his surroundings. It usually took three tries for JC to break. He focused on his band mate again and attempted conversation one last time.
�C, I think we should talk. You don�t seem like yourself. Does any of this have to do with Mar-�
�Yes! All of this has to do with her!�
Justin smiled to himself. Third time�s a charm. JC stood and stared at Justin with crazed eyes. He stared at him with the eyes of a star-crossed lover.
�Everything has to do with her! So much has to do with her that I don�t even know where I stand! Where does Joshua belong when his whole world revolves around a girl who doesn�t even want him!?�
JC walked closed to his friend until they were practically nose-to-nose. He lowered his voice and spoke with an amount of emotion behind his voice that Justin had never heard before. �What does Joshua do when he�s in love with a girl who promised herself she�d never love again?�
Justin looked at JC with helpless eyes. He had no idea. He had no idea that his group mate felt so trapped. It was obvious now that he�d looked into his hurting eyes. Now that JC had let his guard down long enough for someone to see the pain in those hurting eyes. He opened his mouth to at least supply some useless consolation to the conversation when they heard the front door slam. Both men eyed each other, knowing exactly who�d just slammed that door.
*******
Margot immediately spotted the dreaded piece of paper lying in the same spot she�d dropped it. She frowned at it, and then looked at it longingly, before remembering her conversation with herself at the fork in the road. She quickly grabbed it, stuffed it in the back pocket of her jeans, and bolted up the stairs. Once in her room, she stuffed all of her belongings back in her worn suitcases and dragged it all outside of her bedroom. She took one last look at her room before she closed the door behind her. She looked at the door for a while but jumped when she heard a familiar voice.
�Margot, what are you doing?�
�Didn�t your mother ever teach you not to sneak up on people?� She asked dryly.
Justin smiled as she turned to face him. �Nope. I�m just naturally this well-mannered.�
Margot rolled her eyes good-naturedly. �Is there a reason you�re here, or do you just enjoy tormenting me?�
Justin looked down at her bags. �Well, I do enjoy tormenting you, but there is a reason for it today.� Margot looked at him expectantly. �I was wondering where you�re planning on going, why you�re going there, and how you�re going to get there with what seems like no plane ticket.�
Worry washed over her face like an impending storm. She�d been so into the �getting away� aspect of her plan that she�d totally forgotten about how she was going to get away. Justin nodded knowingly.
�I didn�t think so. So let�s try and answer question number one first. Where ya goin�?�
�Back to France.� Margot mumbled.
Justin nodded again. �Alright. So we�ve got a destination. Let�s skip ahead to question three. How are you gonna get there?�
She looked down at her bags. �Uh, I hadn�t thought that far ahead. I guess I�ll call a cab to get to the airport. Then when I get there, buy a ticket.�
He looked at her skeptically. �I don�t know many other people who know as much about airports and crowds as I do. And let me tell you, people are going to be traveling today.� He paused for a second. �I�m going to get you a ticket.�
Margot�s eyes widened when Justin started dialing some number on his cell. She shut his phone closed and protested. �No! You don�t have to do that. You guys have been too nice to me as is, I can handle my own ticket.�
He looked up from his closed cell phone and looked intently at her.
�Then why are you leaving?� She questioned him with her eyes until he continued. �If we�ve been so nice to you, why are you in such a hurry to escape?�
She opened her mouth to reply but no words came out. She knew why she was in such a hurry to leave. Is she stayed any longer, she�d never have the will power to go anywhere, JC�s hold on her heart would be too strong. Yes, Margot knew why, but she could never tell Justin.
What she didn�t know was that he already knew why she was leaving. He hated the fact that he couldn�t do anything about her running away, but he understood her reasons. He didn�t necessarily agree with them, but he understood.
With another nod, he opened his phone and dialed the numbers that would connect him directly to the VIP ticket counter at the LAX airport.
Margot zoned out while Justin finished his call. She finally snapped back into consciousness when he started taking her old luggage downstairs.
�Hey, I�m not a gimp, I think I can take my own luggage downstairs. You keep doing-�
�Shut, Margot.� He interrupted. �I�m taking your stuff to my car so we can get going.�
Her eyes widened. �I thought I was gonna take a cab!� Justin looked back up the stairs at her with a strange look on his face. He shook his head as he walked out the front door. Margot sighed when she heard his car door slam. She looked at Lance�s bedroom door when she heard hushed voices shushing each other. She walked to the door, opened it, and laughed when Chris, Lance, and Joey all came tumbling out. It took a good five minutes for them to stand and straighten their clothes out. When they were all facing each other, their eyes darkened when the realization hit that they might not see her again and vice versa. Lance was the first to speak.
�So, you�re leaving.�
She nodded, eyes downcast. �Yep.�
Joey spoke up. �Why?�
�I have some, uh, things to do.� She struggled with the words coming out of her mouth. She didn�t have some things to do. She had some things to get away from. Some thing in particular. Some thing with brown hair, full lips, and those eyes. Those eyes that made her never want to leave.
Chris looked at her sadly. �Were you planning on saying good-bye, or were you just gonna sneak out and forgot about us.�
In one swift move she pulled them all into her arms and held on tight. She muttered into Joey's shoulder, �I could never forget you guys,� she paused. �Now that I know who you are.�
Chris lightly punched her in the arm and she stuck her tongue out at him. Lance smiled forlornly, �You have our number. Call whenever you get a chance.� Margot nodded.
�Will do.� She looked down the stairs and then back to the guys one last time. �See y�all around.�
She bounded down the steps and picked up her messenger bag that was sitting at the bottom step. She looked toward the dining room and saw him. His back was to her but she knew the emotion in his eyes. She knew it because it probably mirrored the same feelings inside of her. She slowly made her way to the room and when she finally arrived, she quietly shut the door behind her.
*******
JC knew she was there. He could feel her eyes on the back of his head. He could smell her signature peach perfume permeate through the room. He could hear her deep breathing, and the way her hair brushed against her shoulders, and the biting of her nails. If he listened closely, he could hear beating. The beating of a heart that he so desperately wished he could call his own.
*******
Margot was nervous. More nervous than she�d been in a long time. And not because she was about to get on a plane, because she was in the same room as a man she dreaded being in the same room with. She didn�t know if she�d be able to make it out the front door after this encounter, but she had to do it. She had to say goodbye. She had to at least do that much for this man who�s come to�love her.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
If I�m gonna do this at all, I better do it quick.
Margot turned her eyes to the ground and shuffled around the table to sit opposite him. She sighed and kept her eyes on the table until the last possible moment.
She shook her head and thought to herself, here goes nothin� before bringing her eyes up to meet his.
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