ASHLEY'S POV :

      It's 8:30 in the morning , and my plane has just landed in LA . When I walk into the terminal , I see Jinxx waiting for me by the baggage claim . Andy and Jake are both out of town , and I obviously can't be at CC's place when Tiana gets there , so I called and asked Jinxx if he or Alice could pick me up .

      "Hey , Ash , let's head back to my place , Alice should have breakfast ready when we get back , and you can fill me in on exactly what's going on ." , he says , as I grab my bag .

      I follow him out to the car , and we head out to his house . As we walk in , I can smell something pretty good , and I remember that I haven't eaten anything since before I talked to CC last night .

      "Hiya , Ash , grab a seat !" , Alice says . "We're having mushroom and feta cheese omelets , since you're not so much a bacon guy . You want toast ?" 

      "Maybe just one slice , thanks ." , I say , taking a seat at the table . She has the food on the table pretty quickly , and as we're eating , I explain the situation to her and Jinxx .

      She lets out a small sigh and says , "Ash , I hope you know when I say this that I'm not trying to make you feel any worse than you already do , but that was probably the worst possible thing you could have done . Think about what happened with Andy and Juliet , you know how hard that was for them to talk about !"

      "Trust me , I know that !" , I reply . "I didn't even let her finish , I just assumed that I knew what she was going to say ! I know it was stupid , but I just ..."

      "Yeah , we know , dude ." , Jinxx says . "We get why it happened that way , but she doesn't . You haven't been any more open with her than she was with you . And if you want to have a snowballs chance in hell of working this out , that has to stop . Take it from me , buddy , keeping secrets from the person you love can seriously blow up in your face ."

      "Yeah , I see that , and I will , assuming that she'll even talk to me !"

      "Ash , Tiana is crazy about you , I think she'll give you a chance to explain ." , Alice says .

      "Then why did she block my number ?" , I ask . "Why is she talking about moving completely across the damn country ?"

      "Because she's hurt , she thinks that you don't want to be with her anymore , and she wants to get away from things that are going to remind her of you ." , she responds . "But if you let her know that isn't the case , I think she'll more than likely be willing to work things out ."

       "I sure as hell hope so !" , I say .

        We hang out there for awhile , until it's time to get ready to head to CC's place . Jinxx calls , to make sure that everything's still on , and CC tells him that she just texted Tiff to say that she's on the way . So we wait for a few minutes , to make sure we don't get there first , then head out .

       Oh , man , I hope they're right . I need to fix this , for both of us .

                                                    __________________________________

TIANA'S POV :

      I pull into the driveway at CC and Tiff's place , and just sit here in the truck for a minute . I'm not sure I really want to be here , but they've both been so nice to me that I couldn't make myself say no when she invited me . But I know that Ash is going to come up in the conversation at some point today , and I have no idea what I'm going to say . He obviously hasn't told them what we talked about , or they wouldn't have invited me , after hearing his version of things . I still have trouble believing that he would think that , without even giving me a chance to finish .

      There's no way I can live in the same neighborhood anymore , where we'll run into each other practically every day , knowing what he's thinking . New York City isn't exactly my idea of the ideal place to live , but it has plenty of places to stage events for writers , and it's as far as I can get from Vegas without actually leaving the country .

      I see Tiff looking out the front window , so I force myself to get out of the truck and walk to the door . She opens it , and says , "Hi , Tiana ! Glad you made it , come on in . Chris is in the kitchen , so let's head that way , okay ?"

      I follow her to the kitchen , and CC is talking to someone on the phone . "Yeah , that's cool ! We'll be here . Later , bro !" He ends the call , then hops over a chair and swoops me up in a big bear hug .

      "Hey there , T ! I hope you're hungry , I'm grilling chicken , and Tiff made some sort of pasta thing ."

      I tell him that sounds fine , then Tiff asks , "Who was that on the phone , babe ?"

      "I was talking to Jinxx , and when I told him Tiana was coming by , he said that him and Alice might drop in to say hi ." , he answers . "Since it's not terribly cool today , I was thinking that we could have lunch out on the deck . Are you girls okay with that ?"

      Neither of us have a problem with the idea , so CC goes back out to man the grill , while I help Tiff gather up some glasses and utensils and carry them out to the patio table .

      We sit and talk for a few minutes , then CC's phone rings again . He answers , and says , "Yeah , we're out on the back deck , just come on around , guys !" , so I assume that Alice and Jinxx have arrived .

      I'm sitting here , talking to Tiff , and I hear footsteps behind me . Tiff looks up , and gets a startled look on her face , so I turn around . Ash is standing behind me , hands in his pockets , head down , and he just looks ... lost . He hasn't shaved for several days , and he has huge circles around his eyes .

      "Go ahead and punch me , if you want to , I deserve it ." , he says . "Punch me , kick me , toss me in the fucking pool , I don't care ! But after you do , just please , let me explain ."

      "What the hell is there to explain , Ashley ? And what's the point , anyway ? I tried to do that , but you didn't want to hear anything I said !"

      "And I got my ass kicked because of it ." , he tells me . "Brian actually put me down on the floor and told me everything , I thought he might actually become homicidal for awhile . Tiana , I am so fucking sorry I wasn't there for you , and I'm sorry I was such an ass the other night , but it's ..." 

       He stops talking , almost like he's not sure what he wants to say , and I see that he's trying his damndest to hold back tears . Jinxx and CC both look at him , then at each other , and Jinxx just sort of nods to Ash , like he's trying to get him to keep going .

      "It's what , Ashley ?" , I inquire .

      He pulls his hands out of his pockets , wipes his eyes , and very rapidly says , "I just kind of freaked out and assumed that I knew what you were going to say because it's happened before ."

      "What are you talking about ? What happened before ?"

      "Ash , why don't you sit down and continue this ?" , CC says , and Ash grabs a chair and sits in front of me .

      "While we were doing the second album , there was this chick . We weren't really dating , just sort of friends with benefits , I guess . Anyway , we sorta slipped up one time , and ... Well , you know what I mean . The thing is , I didn't know anything about it until she'd already ...'taken care of the problem' , as she put it . I didn't even get to have an opinion on the subject , and I hated that ! So when you said that , I guess my brain just automatically flashed back to that , and I jumped to a stupid conclusion ."

      That was not what I expected to hear ! Who the hell does that ? I can't imagine even WANTING to do something like that , nevermind without even giving the other person the chance to have input ! I still wish he would've trusted me a little more , but I understand why a bit better now .

      "All right , Ash , tell me this . How are we supposed to get anywhere if we can't even communicate with each other ? We've both been dodging all of this , and look where it got us !"

     "Simple . We don't let it happen again . Everything's open , nothing off limits . Tiana , I'm willing to do whatever I need to do to have you in my life ! Maybe I haven't made it as clear as I should have , but I love you , and I can't stand how I feel when you're not there . You have every right to be mad at me , but please just give me a chance to make it right ."

      I put my finger under his chin , forcing him to look me in the eye , and when I do , it's obvious that he's completely sincere . I can always tell when he's not telling the truth , and I don't see any sign of that now , so I simply reach over and slide my arms around his neck , and he pulls me out of my chair and into his lap .

      "And just so you know , Ash , I love you , too . I think maybe I always did ." , I whisper into his ear .

      "I hate to interrupt this , guys , but the food's gonna get cold if we don't eat !" , CC announces .

      "Way to kill the moment , Chris !", Tiff says , while the rest of us just laugh .

      We all sit and eat lunch , which becomes a bit of a challenge , since Ash doesn't want to let me off of his lap . As we eat , he explains how he heard the song while he was driving that night , and figured out what it meant . He also gives us the details of what happened between him and Brian , and how pissed off he is . 

       As Tiff and CC start taking the dishes inside , he looks at me , " Is it okay for me to ask you what the letters mean ?", he asks , running his finger across my tattoo .

      I can't force the words out for several seconds , but I finally manage to say , "Those are his initials . His name would have been Braeden Harper Keenan . I wasn't sure if you'd want him to have your name . I knew that you'd find out when everybody else did , there was no way your grandparents would've let that slide , but I didn't know if you'd be mad ."

      "That would've been pretty stupid of me , wouldn't it ?" , he responds . "Yeah , I was only eighteen , I probably would've freaked out a bit , but it would've been ridiculous to be mad at you , I participated as much as you did , and I was the only one who had any access to birth control . Apparently my timing was just off on one of those occasions when I couldn't get out of town to get any ."

      "Good thing we don't have to worry about somebody ratting you out for buying condoms now !" , I chuckle .

      "Yeah , definitely a good thing !" , he says , giving me a mischievous grin . "Maybe we can take advantage of that fact later this evening in my hotel room ."

      "Y'know what ? I think I'm okay with that idea . I just hope you have more than one , you still have some making up to do ."