Blinded by her tears, she could barely see to open the door. After finally fumbling it open, she burst out into the hall, into the arms of a startled person who had been about to open the door. Unable to control her emotions any longer, she burst into racking sobs. She stood there, crying on the shoulder of someone, she wasn't even sure who it was. She heard voice behind her, but she couldn't care less who they belonged to or what they were saying. She felt the pair of arms belonging to the person she was crying on, encircle around her protectively.

After a few moments, she had collected herself enough to realize that she hadn't any idea who was holding her. Breaking away, she looked up, and saw that it wasn't a complete stranger, after all. It was Nick. And hovering around behind him, she caught a glimpse of AJ.

"Lily, you okay?" Nick asked, looking down on her.

"No," she said tearfully, fresh tears stinging her eyes. He looked down on her, shaking, crying and gasping for breath, and hugged her tightly. She pulled back suddenly.

"I have to go...I gotta get out of here," she said, shakily. Nick and AJ glanced at each other, and seemed to be thinking the same thing. Without saying a word to each other or Lilia, they both led her down the hall, unlocking a room, and pulling her inside. They sat her down on the bed, and then sat on either side of her, making a Lilia sandwich.

"I guess you guys want to know what happened," she said slowly.

"We know what Jacki said. Paul told us, while you were...well, he told us. You don't have to tell us anything that you don't want to," AJ said. Lilia closed her eyes.

"I promised myself that I wouldn't drag everyone down with my problems. I wouldn't bring them down, not again. I'm here for them, they don't need to hear about it again and again," she said.

"But Lily, we're not them. You sound like you need to get something off your chest, and it won't help you at all to keep everything bottled up," Nick tried to reason with her.

"We don't want to pry, but if you want to tell us, then we're here to listen," AJ added. Lilia took a deep breath to calm herself.

"I met Greg in school. He was in my media class. We really hit it off. Hell, we dated for four years. And then school ended and he was so determined to grow up, so fast. He insisted that Premiere was just a childish dream, that it would never take me anywhere.

"He always said that Genuine was my place, it was my future. It was what I would be doing, not singing in a band for the rest of my life. And I listened to him. But I couldn't give it up. Paul and everyone were my best friends, they were like a family. I couldn't leave them, and I thought that he understood. And then he proposed.

"And everything was great. It didn't bother me that we were so young. I knew, I just knew that it would work. I was determined to make it work. But when I missed an anniversary because of a band practice, he blew up. He told me to get my priorities straight, to decide what was important, the band or him. So I made my choice. I chose him.

"It was supposed to be my last performance. My last one. I couldn't let them down. Jacki would have never been ready, and the Battle of the Bands had a scout from a record label coming. They needed me. I couldn't let them down. It was my last one," she said desperately, trying to make them understand. Nick put his arm around her and AJ put his hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to go on.

"He wanted to come that night. He wanted to see me sing. So I waited for him to show up before we went on, but he never did. I waited and waited, and we kept pushing off our preformance, but he never showed up. So we went on. And we were terrific. Paul, afterwards, was talking to the record guy when I got the call. Greg had been in an accident, on his way to see me sing. I got there too late. He was dead," she finished, silent tears trickling down her face. AJ and Nick were stunned into silence. So her fear of singing had been explained.

"Lily, what Jacki said, you're not responsible. You do know that right?" Nick asked.

"But I am. It's what his mother said. And if she believed it, it's not hard to believe it yourself. If I hadn't insisted on singing, if he hadn't been coming to see me sing, then he would still be alive," she said, rocking a bit to comfort herself. She was staring straight ahead, focused so intently on the wall.

"Lilia, it wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself. You couldn't control it," AJ said. Lilia burst into tears, this time of sorrow, and put her head into her hands and sobbed. Nick and AJ collectively put their arms around her and let her cry.