Chapter Twenty-Five

Elizabeth got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her body then waited for Barbie to follow suit before walking out to the main room. She walked to the door and stood on tiptoes to look through the peephole and breathed a sigh of relief when it wasn't PJ or Heath.

"It's Drew," she smiled, "Should we let him in?"

"I heard that Liz. Let me in. I wont tell them you're here, but I think we need to talk. I can at least tell them that you are safe," Drew yelled through the door.

"Fine," she whined as she opened the door, just wide enough for Drew to sneak in, "But please don't yell at me."

"I thought Vince fired him," Drew stated.

"Nope," Elizabeth said.

"I'm going to require more than one word answers here, Liz. Barbie, were you in on this too?" Drew asked.

"She wasn't in on anything. She just knew about it. I asked Vince to not fire him. I couldn't take away everything he has worked so hard for, Drew. He's lost everything else, everyone else. I didn't want him to blame me for his dreams being taken," Elizabeth explained.

"Then why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you at least warn us that he was coming back so we could protect you?" Drew whined.

"Because I knew that you'd all try to stop it from happening. We had to finish the storyline somehow. He couldn't just come back and leave the fans totally oblivious to whether we were still together or not. I knew that he wouldn't hurt me in front of everyone; he wouldn't risk his job anymore. I don't know where he's been but he hasn't been getting paid for the past two months, that was his consequence," Elizabeth told him.

"Okay, I don't really approve but I guess I can't really do anything about it now. So explain your disappearing act and hiding. PJ and Heath are going to flip a lid when you aren't in your room. They'll automatically think the worst," he said.

"Oh that part is just for fun," Barbie announced with a laugh, "Speaking of hiding, how in the world did you find us?"

"I bribed the lady at the front desk. I'm quite persuasive. And I told her I'd get autographs and merchandise from PJ and Heath," Drew replied.

"Andrew Galloway, you are terrible," Barbie told him, hitting playfully.

"Not as terrible as the two of you. They are going to be knocking on every single door in this hotel until they find you," Drew said, as he got ready to leave, "Just be careful Okay?"

"We will be," Elizabeth told him and she shut the door behind her.

"I think we should leave them a hint. Somewhere they will know to look," Barbie said as she sat on the bed looking for some comfy clothes to change in to.

"I'm going to text Drew and ask him to write the name Rose Dawson in the laundry room. PJ will think to look there. I'm not sure how but he knows about our thing with laundry rooms in hotels. And Heath knows about my obsession with Titanic," Elizabeth laughed.

"That's perfect. Now how about a movie to finish off this amazingly fun night?" Barbie suggested.

"Oh no!" Elizabeth exclaimed, "It's Family Movie Night. PJ is totally going to kill me!"

"Bee, he's gonna kill you any way," Barbie reminded her.

"That's true," Elizabeth said laughing some more, "I don't really want to watch a movie. What else can we do on our last night of freedom before the boys ground us for life?"

"Dance Party? We can have some of the girls sneak up here?" Barbie suggested.

"No. The last time I had a dance party it didn't end well," Elizabeth told her.

"Then let's just talk. You didn't get to answer my question earlier," Barbie remembered.

"What question was that?" Elizabeth asked.

"I asked if you still loved Stu," Barbie said.

"I don't love the person he is now. I don't love the Stu Bennett that people know today. He is cruel and hurtful. I miss the man he used to be, I miss the man I met 8 years ago. I love the person he used to be, not the person he is now," Elizabeth replied.

"If he went back to the person he used to be, would you love him again?"

"No. Too much has happened. Besides, I love Heath. Heath is a better man than Stu ever was, even when he was a good guy. When I told Heath everything that happened he asked me if none of this had happened, if Stu hadn't done what he did and if Heath and I weren't together would I tell Stu that I would marry him. I honestly don't know if I would. Then he asked me if I would marry him. I wasn't sure if he was proposing at first, which he wasn't, he just wanted to know if he asked me what I would say. I told him I would, at the drop of a hat. I would give up everything for Heath Miller. I could never say that about Stu," Elizabeth told her.

"Heath is a great guy, Bee. He'll treat you like a freaking princess, heck he already does," Barbie said.

"I know. He is the best. I never thought he'd be so understanding, especially after I told him what happened between Stu and me. I thought he'd break up with me on the spot, but then he asked if I would consider marrying him. I was in total shock. I would honestly jump off a bridge for him, I honestly believe he is my soul mate," Elizabeth said.

"That is so great. I'm really happy for the two of you," Barbie replied with a smile on her face.

"Okay, now enough about me. How are you and my annoyingly, overprotective brother?" Elizabeth asked with a sly smile on her face.

"We are good," Barbie said shyly, "I really like your brother. He is the perfect guy and I wouldn't change anything about him."

"He really loves you, B. I don't think I've seen him look at any girl the way he looks at you. You mean the world to him. You've been really good for him," Elizabeth told her friend.

The two friends laughed and joked for a long time before they finally lied down to go to sleep. Just as they turned out the lights, there was another knock on the door. This time it sounded desperate. Barbie groaned as she rolled out of bed and turned the lights back on. When she checked the peephole she burst out laughing. Elizabeth knew right away who was at the door and started laughing uncontrollably herself. The knocking continued making the girls laugh even harder.

"This isn't funny," Heath yelled through the door after hearing the girls laugh.

"Come back tomorrow then, please. We were just about to go to sleep," Barbie choked out between laughs.

"No. Open the door. We need to talk about this," PJ said in an angry voice Barbie hadn't heard before.

Elizabeth immediately jumped out of bed and opened the door. She'd heard the voice before and it scared her that he'd just used it. She knew he'd be mad but she didn't think he'd be this mad.

"PJ, I-" she started to say.

"Don't talk. This isn't the time for either of you to talk. I'll talk and you'll listen. Understand?" he told them.

The girls nodded and sat on the edge of one of the beds, looking down.

"First, Elizabeth Ann Lloyd, why did you not bother to tell us Stu wasn't fired? Why did you not bother to tell us that he was coming back tonight? And why in the hell did you not bother to tell us that you were going to be in the same ring as him?" PJ yelled.

"Answer me," he yelled ever louder.

"You told us not to talk," Elizabeth said.

"Don't get smart with me. This isn't fun and games any more. He could have seriously hurt you tonight," PJ told her.

"I'm sorry. I knew you'd be mad and try to talk me out of it. We had to finish the storyline. Creative needed to break us up so that we could start new storylines. I knew you both would try to stop it so I didn't tell you," she told him quietly.

"You could have been in danger," Heath yelled.

"He wouldn't have done anything in front of everyone. He wont risk losing his job," Elizabeth said, her voice barely a whisper.

"He should have lost his job in the first place. Did you know that he hadn't been released?" Heath asked her.

"I asked for him not to be released," she said.

"You what?" Heath and PJ yelled at the same time.

"Guys, stop yelling at her. Can't you see that you're scaring her?" Barbie said, pointing out that Elizabeth was crying.

"No, we will not stop yelling. Barbie I cant believe you went along with this. Then that little hit and run you did. I'm more mad about that," PJ told her, "Why would you take off like that and not tell us where you were going? For all we knew, Stu could have kidnapped the two of you."

"I think that's a little extreme, PJ. We were perfectly safe. That was one of the reasons I suggested a room change and to put it under a different name. I made sure he wouldn't find us. And Heath, you can stop pretending that you're angry," Barbie said.

"Pretending? Heath what is she talking about?" PJ asked, turning to look at his friend.

"That's cold Barbs," Heath said as his face turned as red as his hair.

"Explain to me what is going on," PJ told him.

"Barbie told me what was going to happen before we went to catering. I knew you'd flip so I helped her get Liz's stuff to her car and we came up with an escape plan. I figured they could use some fun time before you started yelling at them. Look, she just had to face the man who beat the shit out of her. She had to look him in the eyes and not run away. She deserved some down time before you lit into her," Heath explained with a shrug.

Elizabeth jumped up from her spot and into Heath's arms. She couldn't believe how lucky she'd been to find such an amazing man.

"I love you, Heath Miller," she whispered in his ear.

"I love you too, pretty girl. This doesn't mean that I'm not upset that you didn't tell us about Stu. Because I am. It means that I understand why you did what you did. I don't like him and I sure as hell don't trust him. But you have your reasons and I cannot question those. From now on, I need you to be honest with me though. I need you to talk to me about things like this," Heath told her looking into her eyes.

She nodded her head as he put her down and she turned to look at her brother. He was still angry, but not as angry as he had been. Now he looked more scared than anything.

"Don't do that to me ever again. Don't run away and hide from me. I can't go through what I went through tonight again, Bee. I cannot lose you one more time," PJ told her, his voice shaking.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth whispered.

"I know you are. And I understand why you didn't tell us. I don't agree with it, but I understand," PJ said.

"I love you, PJ. You are the best brother in the whole world. I'm so sorry for everything that has happened. I'm sorry that I haven't been honest with you. I just don't want to disappoint you," Elizabeth admitted.

"Bee, you could never, ever disappoint me. I will always be proud of how far you've come. I can still remember that 17-year-old punk who hated me, the one who would go weeks without talking to me. I don't want you to ever go back to that. I'll admit it was mostly my fault for not taking care of you properly, for not paying attention to you like I should have. And that is the one time I will be thankful that Stu was in our lives. When he was in South Africa that first time, I got my baby sister back," PJ told her.

"I'm not a baby, PJ," Elizabeth said defiantly.

PJ laughed as he remembered all the times she told him that when they were growing up. She'd always be the baby to him, no matter how old she was.

"Okay, no more fighting tonight," Barbie announced, "How about you two stay here tonight, we both have huge beds and we can turn a movie on."

"Family Movie Night?" Heath asked with a smile on his face.

"Family Movie Night," PJ agreed.