Sighing, AJ said, "Let's go downstairs to work on that song, ok?" Howie nodded and followed AJ down to the basement. They sat down facing each other on one of the dark leather couches in the room. AJ picked up the piece of paper that lay there. "Ok, we have the chorus written.. Now we need to do the verses."

Howie nodded. "In the first verse.. maybe we could say something about forgetting..." he mumbled. "Seems that as I've gone through my life, I've forgotten so many things. Things so important, No wonder I can't survive," he read aloud as he wrote. AJ nodded in agreement.

Upstairs:

Twenty minutes later, Jessica put down the book. Sighing deeply, she slid farther into the cooling water, content for the moment to just soak. As she let her mind drift, the whole reason for her being at AJ's house suddenly resurfaced. She groaned and sank deeper into the water, which came up to her mouth. She closed her eyes as she felt her throat contract as tears filled her eyes. Shamefully, she let the tears fall down her cheeks.

Downstairs:

Howie looked up briefly at the clock. "Damn," he said. "Sorry to jet so soon, Bone, but I gotta meet Lindsay at the park in half hour."

"It's ok," AJ smiled. "Have fun, and tell her I say hi."

"Will do," Howie said, standing up and stretching. "Adios."

"Bye," AJ said as Howie walked out to his car.

Sighing, he walked up to Jessica's room to see if she needed anything. He was surprised to find her not in her bedroom and realized that she was still in the bathtub. Biting his lip, he snuck over to the bathroom. As soon as he saw the tears sliding down her face, he rushed into the room.

"What's wrong?" he asked, kneeling down next to the tub. She opened her eyes and turned to stare at him, her pain-filled eyes telling him everything. "Oh, sweetheart," he murmured, stroking her face with his thumb, "I am so sorry."

"It's not your fault, J," Jessica said, turning away from his gentle touch and sighing.

"It's not yours either, Jessica," he said firmly, taking her chin in his hands and turning her face so she was once again looking at him. She just sighed softly. "What do you say we go out somewhere tonight, just you and me?" He asked.

"I'd love that, AJ," she murmured.

"Now let's get you out of here," he said softly, looking around the room for a towel.

"I can do it, AJ," she said, looking up at him. He nodded and held her the towel, standing up to leave.

"AJ?" she said. He turned around to look at her questioningly, feeling his groin tighten at the sight of her dripping wet, wrapped in a fluffy towel. "Thank you," she whispered.

Smiling sadly, he replied, "My pleasure, love, my pleasure."

Part Five...