Chapter 10: I'm Sorry

"How ya' feeling today, Kiddo?" Chris asked Mikayla when she stumbled into the kitchen the next morning. He was perched on the counter, swinging his legs over the edge.

"Alright," She grumbled, opening the refrigerator. Justin sat at the table, munching on his cereal. She glanced at him, "how can you be so… awake at this hour?"

He shrugged, "I dunno." Taylor breezed into the kitchen, and Mikayla noticed the subtle sparkle that appeared in Justin's eye when he saw her.

"Morning, how you doing?" She asked Mikayla.

"Alright. You wanna come with me to buy some doughnuts before the rest of the guys get up?" She asked.

"Sure." Mikayla grabbed her keys, and they headed outside and got into her suburban. "So, what happened last night between you and JC?" Taylor teased her cousin. "I know he was up there and I didn't hear him come down."

Mikayla turned the ignition. "He kissed me," She mumbled. "And then he apologized." She added, starting to cry.

* * * * *

"Where are the girls?" Joey asked, rubbing his eyes as he staggered into the kitchen.

"They went to pick up some doughnuts for you lazy bums." Chris told him.

"Oh. Cool." Joey fell into a chair. JC and Lance came in shortly, both looking very tired also.

"Gosh darnit, how come we have no morning people in this group besides Ju Ju?" Chris yelled, shaking his fists in the air. The guys paid no heed to him, but Lance and Joey cheered when they heard the front door slam.

"We have doughnuts! We have doughnuts!" Taylor called, carrying a pink box into the kitchen and setting it down on the table.

"Where's Mika?" Lance asked, looking behind Taylor. Mikayla was no where in sight.

"She went upstairs to change, she's going to work today." Taylor told him. JC knew from the look she gave him that Mika had told her about what had happened. He felt extremely guilty, he had let his hormones and feelings take over when he knew she was vulnerable. He had to apologize for what he did.

* * * * *

"Something wrong, Ms. Watson?" One of the waitresses asked Mikayla, studying her appearance.

"Oh, no," She answered quickly, smiling at the employee. The restaurant was busier than usual, and she was glad for the distraction. She wanted to smack herself on the head for what had happened. She wondered what JC thought of her, she should have never responded to the kiss.

She felt sick. Her heart was aching, and it felt like a lead weight in her chest. She entered her office and sat down behind her desk, fiddling with her pen and occasionally drawing doodles on the side of her planner.

Pictures lined up the sides of the office, pictures of Danny, her mother and father, Taylor and Noah. People she felt secure with, people she loved completely. She wondered if there would ever be another picture added to the collection.

"Ms. Watson? There's a man here to see you," Another waitress informed her, popping into the room.

"Ok, I'll be there in a second." She got up, hoping that it wasn't Bill.

She got her wish because it was JC. He was standing near the front door, wearing a red polo shirt over some khaki shorts. He held a handful of flowers in one hand, and was smiling at her shyly.

"Hey," She greeted him.

"Hi," He handed her the flowers, "I got these for you. As a sort of apologetic gesture for what happened last night."

Mikayla could see her employees straining to hear the conversation, and tugged on his arm. "Let's go in my office." She suggested. She led him in, then shut the door.

"I'm sorry about last night too." She told him. "it was an accident."

"Yeah." He agreed. "I took advantage of you. I'm sorry."

"No, it wasn't your fault, Josh." She assured him.

"So, are you busy?" He inquired.

"A little," She admitted. "Danny should be here any minute to take over for the rest of the day."

"Really? You want to go out and watch a movie or something?" He asked.

"What if you get spotted though? I wouldn't want to have to deal with rabid teenage girls trying to kill me because they think I'm your girlfriend or something," Not that I'd mind, she thought to herself. She was in love with him, she couldn't deny it to herself.

"I know," He said, grinning. "I brought a disguise." He told her, pulling out a red baseball came and putting it on. "Ready to go?"

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