Layla El had seen it before but never that bad. She was the big sister and she had been taking care of Joey all her life. From girlhood crushes gone wrong to frustratingly watching Joey's destructive cycle with Stu, she had been there many a night to hold her little sis while she cried. But nothing had compared to the latest heartbreak. From the time the raven haired beauty had shown up at Layla's hotel room in the middle of the night, she had sobbed nonstop. Sleep had not been an option for either woman as a worried Layla had sat up all night taking care of Joey. They had flown back to Miami the next day and Layla had given her sister a pair of oversized sunglasses to wear. They made it through the airport almost outburst free but when the friendly TSA agent reminded Joey to remove her shoes for the security checkpoint, it triggered a violent onset of emotion. Joey sobbed quietly to herself in a corner by the gate and on the plane the whole way home. By the time they got back to Florida, Joey's eyes were red and swollen and her head ached from all the constant crying.

"Here babe," Layla said as she walked over to where her sister was wrapped up on the couch.

"What's this?" Joey barely looked up.

"Dinner. Chinese takeout from your favorite place."

"I'm not hungry," Joey mumbled.

"Oh Joe, for Christ's sake. Please don't do this to me. I know how upset you are but you are really starting to freak me out. You haven't had a thing to eat all day."

Joey pulled the covers over her head and Layla just yanked them off again.

"Lay, I know you're just trying to help and I love you for it but I just want to be left alone right now."

"We both know I'm not gonna do that. Sweetie, please sit up and talk to me. I'm really worried. I have never seen you like this before."

Joey let out a deep breath and half emerged from the sanctity of her man made cocoon. She ran her fingers through her hair.

"That's because I've never felt this way before," she quietly admitted.

"What happened?" Layla looked her in the eye. "I mean, I got the gist of it but you were so upset at times I could barely understand you."

Joey shook her head.

"Everything was going great…so perfect. You know, when I first met Heath and even from the time we had to start pretending we were a couple…he never seemed like my type. Sure he's cute and all but I never imagined that I would want to be with him for real. Over time I got to know him and we became friends and then I guess we were attracted to each other the whole time and stuff but one day I just looked up and knew that he was my guy. It has been so awesome since. He is such a great friend and an even more amazing boyfriend. Heath keeps me laughing and he is so passionate and knowledgeable about wrestling. And he's a real sweetheart. His kindness sort of blows me away sometimes. I never expected to be so happy with him and I never expected to fall in love."

"Gosh, why does Stu have to ruin everything?"

"Tell me about it. Even though you hated him, I used to really love him. I always thought we were meant to be. I honestly believed all his lies and bought all his bullshit. I thought he would leave Jackie so we could be together and everything would be okay somehow. When that didn't happen, I was devastated. I used to pray he would come around and yesterday he did. Everything I wanted and waited for, I got. And you know what? It didn't matter. I was over it, I am over it. It's too late. Stu has done too many bad things to me and I know he is not someone I need to be with. Even better I found an amazing guy that treats me like gold every single day."

"Joey, I know this isn't your fault and it's not like I'm blaming you but why did you even hear him out?"

Joey shrugged.

"I don't know. At first I thought it was Corre business. Then he dropped the bombshell and it threw me off guard so I just kind of went with it. But I knew we couldn't have that kind of conversation out in the open so I followed him to the back."

"And you didn't see Heath looking at you guys or anything?"

She shook her head.

"I had no idea but he was so mad. He said he saw us together."

"But all he saw was two people talking."

"I know."

Layla bit her lip.

"Don't get mad but are you sure nothing happened?"

"What? No! Lay, come on. Of course not."

"Sorry. I had to ask, besides, I am trying to figure out what pissed Heath off so much aside from you lying to him."

"I know. I shouldn't have lied but I knew if I told Heath the truth, that I had talked to Stu and that he had left his wife and was wanting me back, I knew it wouldn't end good. I knew Heath would get super pissed and probably start freaking out thinking that I was going to leave or something. The one thing I tried to avoid is the very thing that ended up happening. He saw me, got suspicious, followed us to the Green Room, eavesdropped and only heard a piece of the conversation."

"Yeah…the most damning piece."

"But that is his fault. That's what he gets for listening to only half of what was being said," she huffed and folded her arms.

"True but you have to fix this. You just need to explain. It was a huge misunderstanding."

"I tried calling him this morning," she said sadly. "I thought it would be better if he could sleep on it, have time to cool off but um…it didn't work. I called and he would send it to voicemail after a few rings then he ended up shutting it off completely."

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry. Look, I know this seems really bad but I have a feeling that Heath will come around."

"I don't think so."

"He loves you, I can just tell. The guy is crazy about you. Don't give up so easily. Something tells me you can work it out, you just have to make him listen to you so he can know the truth."

"What if he won't, Lay?" Joey turned to her sister,

"I, I don't know."

She had no words. She loved Joey and wanted to make it all better but there was nothing she could say or do to fix the situation.

"Heath is the best thing that has ever happened to me. He doesn't take my crap. In fact, he calls me on it. When I am with him I am a better woman, a better person. We just really click. It's a healthy relationship. He's not married or abusive or selfish or mean. He's just a lovable country boy who will do anything for the people he cares about it. I had it made and I messed it all up."

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Layla put a sympathetic hand on her sister's knee.

"I miss him so much," Joey's voice began to break.

"I know you do."

"I miss the way he sings all the lyrics to every song that comes on the radio when we're traveling. I miss the way he snores at night then denies it in the morning. I miss the way he calls me babe and the way he says naw mean, all the time," she sniffled.

Layla made a face.

"Sweetie, I get that but um…it only has been 24 hours."

"I know," Joey began to sob. "I love him."

She rested her head, snotty nose and all on Layla's waiting shoulder.

"It will be okay. Don't be sad. We'll figure something out, okay?"

"Promise?" the younger girl sobbed.

Layla hated to make promises that she couldn't keep but she couldn't stand to her sister so sad. Besides, Joey and Heath were so cute together, so meant to be that there had to be a way for the pair to get back together and somehow iron out their differences.

"I promise, Joe. Just stop crying. Please. You're going to end up making yourself sick."

"Okay," she blew her nose loudly.

"We are going to get our minds off this and try to have a good night, okay?"

"Alright."

"Now what should we do? Want to watch a movie?"

"Sure."

"Sounds good. What should we go for? Romantic comedy? Horror? Suspense?"

Joey's bottom lip began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Heath likes movies," she said sadly.

Layla fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Okay, so we'll do something else? Something that maybe Heath doesn't like or at least doesn't remind you of him."

"Everything reminds me of him and I'm scared I am never gonna be with him again. He was supposed to fly here to Miami with us and spend the three days off with me. We were going to go to the beach and go clubbing and…"

"Oh Joey…"

"He should be here right now. We would probably be hanging out at the pool, then we'd come in and eat dinner and chill then get ready to go party in South Beach. After that we'd come home and have really good sex."

"No details, please," Layla covered her ears.

"And then he'd hold me in his arms until I fell asleep," Joey ignored her. "And I'd wake up in the middle of the night and he'd be sitting on the couch naked eating pork skins watching Animal Planet. It's so cute…"

"What?" Layla looked absolutely horrified.

"He gets restless a lot late at night and he hates waking me up so he usually just goes in the living room. So sweet…"

"First of all, that is not cute or sweet, it is actually kind of gross. Gah, eating pork skins in the nude…who does that? I like Heath but he is so country!"

"I know," a misty eyed Joey reminisced.

Layla narrowed her eyes and looked at her own couch.

"And please tell me he has never done that here on this couch."

"Don't rub it in," Joey pouted.

Layla breathed a quick sigh of relief before sighing and shaking her head.

"I am gonna run and use the bathroom. When I come back, I want you dry eyed and ready to do something at least a little fun," she stood, giving her little sister a kiss on the cheek.

Joey frowned. How in the world could she have any fun when she was missing her boyfriend and her whole world was falling apart? Deciding to take one last stab at it, she reached beneath the blankets and found her cell phone. His name was on speed dial and she pressed the button. Her heart pounded as it rang and rang then finally went to voicemail.

"Hey, it's Heath. Sorry, I missed your call but I'm a busy dude, naw mean? Leave a message and I'll get you back."

Joey closed her eyes.

"Hey. It's me…again. Just wanted to hear your voice. I was hoping to talk to you. Look, I know you're still mad at me and I get it but I can explain. It's not what you think and if you could just hear me out, you would understand that. I really want to talk to you and I miss you so much. I, I know this looks bad but you know me. You know the person I've become because of you and that means you know my heart. I had to learn to trust you and that was very hard for me but I did it now I'm asking you to do the same thing…just trust me, baby. But anyway. Um, call me when you get this. Please. Bye."

With that, she hung up. She had tried her best but her best wasn't good enough. It hurt and all she could do was cry.