Rain On My Parade: Jess/Ben/Taylor/Caleb

[RMT-Mod-Kara]

So the night had finally arrived. Jess scrambled around the apartment, making sure it was neat and that everything was in place. They had set up a small card table in the corner where all the alcoholic beverages were. True this was only her 20th birthday... but her friends were all older than her and so... she didn't think it would hurt to have a drink or two with them.

"Hey! Where did we put that cooler with all the ice?" she called out to Taylor, who was pretty much 'directing' this little get together. Her friends from school were already chilling with a drink in hand.

Despite it being just a friendly party with friends, Taylor was taking it as a learning experience considering this was what she wanted to do. Plan parties and events. Sure this was just a little get together but it was something and she'd enjoyed every moment of it. Her head shifting around to look to Jess, she tilted her head towards where it was. "By the fridge. Since the fridge is full, I made a make shift cooler in the sink, there's some beer chilling in there. The pizza slices and sausage rolls need another ten minutes and you.... need to go relax and talk to people." She told her with a smile. "I got this covered, you go have fun."

She had already heard the pep talk from Taylor earlier in the day, before anyone had even arrived. She knew it was her party and that she should just enjoy herself and have fun, and not worry about anything else. Taylor claimed she would take care of everything. Jess sighed but gave her friend a smile, "Alright then. I'm gonna put one of those mixed cds on that you brought." She headed back into the living room where the other guests were chilling on the couch, some standing as they mingled. It wasn't a big party by any means. It was... nice. Not too many people. Just a few classmates that she got along with, and Taylor brought a friend or two of her own.

She stepped to the cd player and put some music on. Immediately she gained approval from her friends. Some even got up to dance a little. Jess felt good that her party wasn't lame. Eying the liquor table, she pondered drinking herself. She was still underage but it was her house and as long as no one caused enough trouble to bring the police - she should be okay.

From the kitchen Taylor's head popped up with the sound of the music, a smile forming on her face. Music was one of the simple key ways that allowed people to relax - She only hoped it'd help Jess to do just that. She deserved to have one night where the emphasis was on her and that was what her plan was to do... along with try and play cupid between her and this guy she apparently liked. She checked her watch a moment knowing that laundry guy would be there sooner or later and she was curious to see what he looked like. But for now she kept her attention between making sure the guests were happy, and more importantly making sure Jess was having fun.

Taking a few replacement beers over to the refreshment table Taylor mouthed the words 'have fun' to Jess, even shaking her hips a little to show she should dance if she wanted too.

Jess finished off her first cocktail, then danced her way over to the table to begin mixing another one. "Hey Taylorrrr!" she called out, "Stop fidgeting with the kitchen and come have a drink with me woman!"

Hearing her name Taylor couldn't help but smile, and roll her eyes at the same time. "I'll take that to mean you're trying to get me drunk." She said moving out of the kitchen she headed strait over to where she was. "So what are you going to make me?"

"So tell me how is it there is a hot girl in the building and I'm only finding out now?" Of course Caleb had known there were hot girls in the building. He'd seen them coming and going, and had taken a bit of notice but for the most part he hadn't had any interaction with them. Then he found Ben getting ready to head to a party for one of the girls in the building, and needless to to say he'd invited himself as the 'sober driver'. "And how is it you got invited and you didn't ask me. Isn't that one of the rules of the roommate code?" He asked.

Ben shook his head as he stepped out of his bedroom with a shirt dangling from the fingers of each hand. He still wasn't finished getting ready to head downstairs. Even though Caleb had started getting ready after Ben, he'd finished a full ten minutes before him. "She's not a hot girl," he corrected his roommate. "She's a friend. And, I didn't ask you because I figured you might have something lined up with Jenessa. Green or blue?" He held the shirts up for his rommate's consideration.

Caleb leaned against wall his arms folded across his chest as he looked over to Ben. "You didn't tell me about her, so you think I'm competition.... and well..." He gestured to himself a moment. "Who can resist this." He asked but his eyes stayed on Ben. "There is also the fact you're asking me advice on what shirt to wear, which means you want to make a good impression..... The blue." He said shrugging his shoulders.

"No I don't," he replied, utterly transparent in his denial of Caleb's suggestion that he was trying to impress anyone.

"I just, ya know, wasn't sure," he added. He tossed the green shirt onto the chair and slipped the blue one over his shoulders and started buttoning it up. Once he was done, he contemplated tucking it in before changing his mind. He didn't want look too put together. It was just a 'gathering of friends' kind of party. That's what Jess had told him, anyway.

"And I ain't worried about competition," he added, picking up his keys as he headed for the door. "I really just figured you wouldn't be interested. Besides, it ain't like that between Jess and I. We're just friends. Like I said. Just...friends."

"And you always are this worried about how you look when you go out with friends?" Caleb paused a moment, pointing to him. "Wait, is that why you take an hour to get ready before we head to the pub.... You want to look good for me?" He asked as he blatantly mocked him. "I am so honored, really. And here was me thinking you didn't care."

It was after a few moments his smirk faded a little. "So if you really aren't interested in her then you won't mind if I give it a go then will you?"

Ben felt a pang of jealousy the instant the idea came out of Caleb's mouth. He looked at his roommate with a quick jerk of his head ready to tell the guy to back off before catching himself. "No. No. Why would I mind?" he said. "It's not like I own her or anything. She can see whoever she wants. Ya know, assuming she's interested."

Caleb had a smirk on his face as Ben's face shot to him and it didn't fade hearing him talk. "Why wouldn't she be interested?" He asked before looking Ben up and down. "We ready to go then?"

"No reason. I just...ya know...," Ben tried to explain but trailed off when he realized that his explanation didn't exactly fit with the whole 'we're just friends' bit. When no other alternatives came to mind and he drew a complete blank, Ben just shook his head and pulled the door open. "Let's just get going, okay?" he said, leaving the apartment and heading down the hallway to the stairs.

Caleb couldn't help but offer Ben a bit of a confused look. "No.... not really." He said not even sure what he meant with what he'd said. All it sounded like to him was words randomly put together that made no sense. He pushed off the wall with his foot and started to follow him out towards the hot girls apartment.

A few minutes later, Ben and Caleb were standing outside of Jessica's sixth-floor apartment and the taller roommate had just lifted his fist to knock on the door when, suddenly, he seemed to reconsider. Instead, he turned around to face Caleb. "Look, uh, can you try not to embarrass me tonight?" he asked.

All he could do was frown as he looked to his room mate a moment, in seeming shock as to what he was hearing. "Why do you think I'd embarrass you? It's in the room mate code." He paused a moment seeing the look on his face. "Rule 13."

"Right. Good," Ben answered. He didn't entirely buy the "roommate code" that Caleb like to recite to him at the drop of a hat. Half the time, Ben suspected he was just making it up on the spot. He was certain Caleb had repeated rule numbers, with different rules each time.

"Just as long as we're on the same page," he added before turning around and finally knocking on Jessica's door. He could already hear the music blaring inside and glanced down the hallway, hoping none of the neighbors started to complain.

Jessica wouldn't have heard the knock on the door if it weren't for the fact that she was actually walking past the door at the time. Shaking her butt to the music, with a drink in hand, she pulled the door open and smiled, "Ben! You made it!" she immediately widened the door so that he could enter. Standing next to him was a pretty damn attractive man. This couldn't be his roommate - his roommate was a slob.

"Hey...Jess," Ben said, an easy smile sweeping across his face the moment his eyes landed on his short, petite, downstairs neighbor. He lingered in the doorway for several silent moments just staring back at her before he heard a sharp "ahem" from behind him as Caleb made a point of clearing his throat.

"Oh, right! Sorry," he said, turning the side so he wasn't blocking his roommate any more. "Uh, Jess, this is my roommate, Caleb. He, um, he heard the word 'party' and got kinda excited so I said he could tag along. Caleb this...this is Jessica," he said, making the introductions.

This was Caleb? From the way Ben had described him, Jess pictured him as some sort of dork. He was definitely not. She smiled and waved them both in, "Nice to meet you, Caleb. Come on in guys. There's food and beer, among other things that are likely to entertain you." she said, moving aside as they stepped in, then closed the door. "Can I get you anything?" she asked Ben in particular.

"Uh, yeah, a couple beers will be fine, if ya got 'em," Ben said, answering for Caleb, too, before his roommate could chime in and possibly order some crazy-ass mixed drink that no one else had heard of that he'd read about in Esquire or GQ or god only knew where else.

Jess looked from Ben to Caleb and smiled, "Ok, I'll be right back. Uh..." she looked around at the other guests standing and sitting around the living area. "Have fun. I'll be right back." She made a beeline for the kitchen where Taylor was, to announce in a giddy school girl fashion that Ben was there, and he brought his hot friend along. Perhaps Taylor and Caleb could hit it off? Or maybe Callie! If she ever arrived...

"Dude you just cock blocked me." Caleb said looking over to Ben as he moved inside the room and over to the food where he grabbed a small handful of chips. "I thought you weren't interested."

Ben stuffed his hands into his pockets as he followed Caleb over to the table of food. "I'm not 'interested,'" he repeated for what had to be the thousandth time since he'd told Caleb about Jessica and her party. "I already told you, we're just friends. And what do you mean I 'cock-blocked' you?"

He snagged a chip from the bowl and popped it into his mouth.

Go figure he'd have to explain what cock blocking meant to Ben. "Well she's been trying to talk to me but every time i go to say something you block me from doing it. Cock.... Block." He said before popping a chip in his mouth.

He shook his head. They'd barely made it through the door and, already, Caleb was giving him a hard time.

"Look, dude, if you wanna talk to her, talk to her," Ben said, getting a little more defensive than he probably should. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll go take a leak so you can talk to her when she comes back with the beer."

Okay.... apparently someone was on his Man-strual cycle. Caleb arched an eyebrow a moment as he watched him. "No.... it's fine...." He assured. "Just let me actually speak. It's like you're almost ashamed of me." He mocked.

Ben rolled his eyes. "I'm going to take a leak. When she comes back, you can talk to her all you want, all right?" he said, eating another chip before turning and heading through the small crowd in Jessica's apartment to her bathroom.

Jessica returned with two cold bud lights in her hand and a smile. It slowly faded when she didn't see Ben. "Where'd Ben go?" she asked, handing one of the beers to Caleb. "Don't tell me he dipped already." she chuckled, though she would find nothing funny about it if that were truly what happened.

Offering her a smile Caleb shook his head a little hearing her remark. "No, no... nothing like that." He assured her. "He's just gone to the bathroom he'll be back soon. Like he said before I'm Caleb." He said offering his free hand to her as he politely introduced himself. As he looked at her though, he couldn't help but feel an air of familiarity. There was something about her, he'd seen her before. He just had no idea where or when. He figured it must have been work related and considering his line of work he could only conclude that maybe she was a model or actress. "So you're a model?" He asked trying to put two and two together.

Jess took his hand and gave it a gentle shake, feeling her cheeks heat up at his question, "Excuse me?" she asked, not understanding why he would ask her that, unless he was maybe trying to hit on her? "No... I'm not a model. But uh... thanks for asking." She retracted her hand, using it to tuck her hair back behind her ear. "I'm actually a pre-med student." she added, as he continued to study her face. Glancing back toward the bathroom, she silently prayed Ben would return soon.

He was quickly able to realize that he'd embarrassed her which hadn't been his intention at all. Caleb was simply trying to put two and two together. "I'm sorry I didn't mean it as a come on or anything." He said trying to assure her, his hands gesturing as well to emphasize that point. "I'm actually a photographer and you look familiar, I was just wondering if i'd taken your photo's before and if that's how I recognized you." He said, but he knew if it wasn't from work that he knew her, where was it? A bar? She didn't seem the type.

Jess gave him a quizzical look, then smiled politely, "Ummm....not that I know of." she replied, "Last time I got my picture taken was when I graduated high school a few years back. You do senior photos?" she asked, curious what kind of photography he did for a living.

He hadn't realized she was that young until she'd said that. She didn't really seem to act it though- it least in his opinion. "No... Huh.... That's weird." Caleb said, his voice trailing off as he thought about it. He was so sure he recognized her but no amount of trying to figure out where from seemed to help. "Happy birthday though." He said figuring he should change the topic of conversation before he scared her off, or embarrassed her more.... which ever came first.

She smiled, "Thank you!" she replied, "Actually my birthday isn't until next week but in order to keep my nosy and protective brother away from my party....I figured have it early." she shrugged, lifting her cup to her lips to take a drink. Jax would probably kill her if he knew she were drinking without his supervision. Sometimes he acted like her damn father.

"So, uh... how long you've known Ben?" she asked, after a moment of awkward silence.

"Not that long, only about four months or so. I needed a place to live, he needed a room mate." He said unable to help but feel awkward. Trying to be on his best behavior and not embarrass Ben was hard. He had no idea how to not be himself, but apparently not being himself meant he calm of as suave as a piece of meatloaf. "What about you? Where did you live before here?" He asked knowing it was a stupid question but it wasn't like he could ask 'how did you know where I live cous you were knocking on my dreams all night'.

Jess looked down and realized her glass was near empty. "Well, I guess it worked out for you guys then." she replied, "You... wanna?" she raised her empty glass and gestured toward the table with the alcohol. As they walked over to the table so Jess could fill up, she answered his other question, "I was actually in Boston before I moved here." She began mixing different flavors into her cup, thinking it up as she went. "I stayed there for about a year. Before that, well I was here in LA. I could tell you where I was before that but then I'd imagine you would probably be bored out of your mind from the long list of my previous residencies."

She finished mixing and was about to take a sip when she thought of something. "Hey... wanna do a shot?" she asked with a smile. She figured since she was talking his ear off and it was her party, she would be a good host and make it fun for him.

Caleb couldn't help but smile as he looked to Jess as she offered a glimpse into her past. He still couldn't help but feel like he was walking on eggshells though, so when she made the offer of doing a shot a smile came to his face. "Sure.... How about I make you one?" He questioned as he moved over to where the drinks were. He looked at a few of the labels before he found the right one then smiled a little to himself as he made two drinks. "Here try this." He said giving her a smile before he downed his own shot in one easy motion.

Jess took the shot and smiled at Caleb before downing it with him. She made a slight face as she set the empty glass down, confused as to why it tasted so good. Normally shots made her throat burn. "Wow... that was pretty good." she commented, growing a little more comfortable with this stranger, "What do you call that?"

All Caleb could do was smile as he heard that particular question. "A slippery nipple." He said with a grin.

Looking at him with a bit of surprise, Jess smiled before cracking up. "Never thought I'd like... slippery nipples..." she continued to laugh, "Guess it goes to show how open I really am when I'm drinking." Shaking her head, she looked around for Taylor. She had to meet this guy. He was actually pretty hot - maybe she'd dig him. "Taylor!" she called out as she spotted her by the cd player, "Get that butt over here and have a drink with us!"

Taylor's eyes popped up from where she was standing hearing her name. She saw Jess standing by someone she didn't recognize and could only assume that by the smile on her face that this was the guy that she liked. "You're just trying to get me drunk." She said with a smirk as she moved back over to where the two were standing. She looked to the guy, he was pretty cute, but not quite her type but it wasn't going to stop her from being polite. "I'm Taylor, one of Jess's friends." She said offering her hand in introduction.

Jess slung her arm loosely around Taylor's shoulders when she finally joined them, "Tay... this is Caleb." she let out a hiccup as she said his name, then laughed, "Excuse me.... This is Ben's roommate..." She looked up to see Ben returning from the bathroom and gestured toward him, "And that's Ben over here." she smiled proudly, as if he was her 'hot date'.

Ben was smiling as he meandered his way through the crowd, on his way back to where he'd left Jessica and Caleb, but came to a sudden halt a few feet away when the party guest that had been blocking Jessica's blonde friend from view moved. His smile disappeared as his gaze fluttered between the three of them--Taylor, then to Jess, then Caleb, and back to Taylor. Taking a swig of his beer, Ben closed the distance though he was in much less of a rush to do so. "Hey...Taylor," he said, fidgeting. "It's...it's good to see you."

Taylor's mouth opened to say something as she realized the truth, that Caleb wasn't the cute guy from the building that Jess liked but it was in fact Ben. Her ex-boyfriend Ben. She knew he lived in the building but the possibility had never occurred to her that the cute guy that Jess liked to talk about and her ex whom lived in building were the same person. She tried to speak and smile not wanting things to be awkward but with the silence that was how it was starting to become. "It's good to see you too. You look great." She said honestly with a soft nod of her head.

Caleb frowned a little rather lost as to what was going on but he wanted the uneasiness gone from the air so he seemingly out of the blue piped in. "Jess and I had slippery nipples." He stated breaking the silence by putting his foot in his mouth.

Taylor had just put her drink to her lips when she choked a little on the liquid. The statement was not something she'd been expecting to hear.

Jess noticed the thickness in the air between Taylor and Ben and then they acknowledged one another. Still confused, she waved a finger between them, "You two know each other?" she asked.

Ben cast a puzzled look in his roommate's direction, a look that also served as a silent warning reminding him not to make an ass out of himself or, more importantly, of Ben. Of course, Jessica dove right into the heart of the matter: the obvious fact that Ben and Taylor weren't strangers. "Um...yeah...we uh...we went out a few times," he said, stuffing one hand into his pocket only to pull it right out again. God, why did everything have to awkward? And how many more people did he and Jessica have in common anyway?

Taylor couldn't help but give him the briefest 'are you kidding me' look when he told Jess the truth. The look was came and went so quickly it was barely noticeable. Taylor knew he could have tried to sugar coat it before saying it, but he was an honest guy, and you couldn't blame him for that. "Before Boston." Taylor explained to Jess so she could see it wasn't a recent thing, but had in fact been before they'd become friends. "So you're the one that helped Jess paint the apartment, you did a great job." She said trying to ease the conversation back to normality and away from her and Ben's past. Tonight was about Jess, not her.

So... Ben and Taylor dated? Ok, so how awkward was this? Suddenly Jess realized that it seemed everything was pointing against her and Ben ever hooking up. Perhaps it was just meant to be that way. It sucked of course... but shit. How many more bumps in the road did they need?

Jess smiled, "What a small world." she finally said, "But uh, yea... he helped me with the lovely task since... ahem, a certain friend of mine kept bailing on me." she teased Taylor. "Hey Caleb, you should totally make us some more of those shots."

"Callie bailed on you? Some people, no sense of priorities." Taylor said shaking her head a little as she looked over to Jess, a wide smirk on her face. She knew that wasn't what she'd meant but she was wanting to keep things from getting more uncomfortable then they already were. She wanted for Jess to be happy, she deserved it but things had suddenly just gotten a whole lot harder.

Caleb though was smirking. His odds with the brunette had just sky rocketed. He kept his back a little to the others as he made four more slippery nipples, one each to help calm things down once more. He handed one to Jess, then her friend Taylor, then one to Ben and the last for himself. Looking to Taylor a moment he couldn't help but hope she and Ben had slept together. That'd double his chances with Jess again. "Bottoms up." He said smiling a little before he took the shot.

Ben hesitated before taking the shot. Instead of just downing it outright like his roommate had, he surveyed the drink for a few moments, pondering whether it was even safe to drink considering Caleb's penchant for partying as hard as he possibly could--which usually meant people passed out before the night was even getting started. Considering he had to work in the morning, getting shit-faced drunk was the last thing Ben wanted to do, but getting everyone drunk was likely the first thing Caleb would try to do. And, it seemed, Ben's roommate was already on a roll.

Deciding, with a shrug, to go for broke, Ben lifted his shot and glanced at Taylor for a moment before giving Jessica his attention. "Happy birthday," he said, raising his glass in a toast before throwing his shot back like a pro.

Jess took the second shot and closed her eyes as she swallowed the alcohol. It went down rather smoothly and she was thinking she might need to get the recipe from Caleb.

Setting her shotglass down, she smiled at Ben, "Well, thank you. I feel old already." she teased. A Bon Jovi song came on and her eyes lit up. "Uh ohhhh...." she said, lightly punching Ben in the side. "Ya know this is my jammm..."

She was just starting to dance to 'Bad Medicine' when the doorbell rang. "Dang it." Taylor started to head for the door but Jess waved her off and beat her to it. "I'll get it, I'll get it." Flashing Ben a look over her shoulder, she placed her hand on the doorknob and called back, "It's probably Herb!"

Laughing, she pulled the door open and frowned when she didn't recognize the person... or people, standing on the other side. The man in front asked if she were Jessica Lefabre. "Umm.... actually Reeves but uh..." Before she could finish her sentence, one by one they walked past her, each man carrying an extremely large bouquet of red roses. "What the?"

She stepped to the side while they piled in, bringing dozens upon dozens of roses inside, placing them on whatever surfaces they could find. Her face was just as bright red as the flowers. Who in the world would do such a thing?

All Taylor could do was watch as one after another men tame in with bunches of flowers some with two or three bunches in their hands. She had no idea what was going on, where the flowers were coming from or why there were so many. She could see the obvious discomfort on Jessica's face realizing with ease that something was up. She moved over to Jessica her hand going to her shoulder a moment. "What's going on? Who are they from?" Taylor asked as she tried to make sure she was okay.

Jess shook her head to answer Taylor's question, and as she felt all eyes on her, she moved to pluck a card from one of the bouquets. There was no way these flowers could have came from anyone other than one person. First of all, no one else she knew had that kind of money. Secondly.... no one else would be crazy enough. Her hands shook as she removed the tiny card from it's envelope. Her eyes moved over the card and she was sure she lost all the color in her face. Crazy was right.

"How could I forget your special day? Happy birthday, sweetheart.
Love, Colby"

"I think I'm gonna be sick." She shoved the card into Taylor's hand and made a beeline for the bathroom.

Having been given the card by Jess, Taylor looked to it reading quickly what the message said. She instantly recognized the name her eyes following towards Jess as she made a quick move towards the bathroom. "That guy's psycho." She said completely amazed and shocked by his actions while everyone else seemed completely confused. Taylor moved over to Ben, grabbing his arm a moment. "Can you get rid of the flowers before Jess comes back out?" She questioned. She pulled her car keys out of her pocket placing them in his hands closing his fingers around them to make it harder for him to say no. "You can put as many as you can fit in my car, I don't know if they'll all fit or not.... but any you can't get in there.... Can you just get them out of here? Burn them, throw them out the window, put them down the garbage chute - I don't care what. Please?" Taylor questioned knowing it was a big request but she didn't want them in Jess's home as a reminder of Colby and the interruption may have ruined Jess's party.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Ben said. That, it seemed, was all Taylor needed and she was gone, darting past him and worming her way through the crowd to the bathroom where Jessica had locked herself. Ben glanced around at what had to easily be over two-thousand roses. He couldn't even fathom where a person would find that many roses, much less be able to afford them. He then looked to Caleb with his brows drawn together in a bewildered expression. "Any ideas?"

Caleb moved over to one of the dozens of bunches of flowers picking up a card that was attached curious to see who it was from. "Take them to our place, then to a florist tomorrow and try and sell them back to them?" He questioned as he read over the name on the card once more. Colby.... the name was familiar. And what was the name the guy had asked if she was? Leverby? Lethargy? Lefabre? Standing there Caleb put the two names together. Colby Lefabre. The moment he did he remembered where he recognized Jessica from. He knew he couldn't say anything to Ben about it. If he did the likelihood would be that Ben wouldn't allow Caleb in the same apartment with Jess without giving him death glares and watching his every move.

All he could do was act cool, and pray no one ever found out. "I'll grab a handful, you grab a handful, and we'll... figure something out." He said grabbing a couple of the nearest bunches filling his arms with them.

Ben couldn't help but chuckle as he stared at his roommate as Caleb peered out of the tops of a handful of roses, clearly trying to see. He shook his head as Caleb struggled to hold on to six or seven bouquets of roses, with a dozen flowers in each bouquet. "Dude, you look ridiculous," he said, chuckling as he shook his head. Brushing past his dork of a roommate, Ben trotted down the hall to the room where the trash shoot was located and, sure enough, found a small stack of cardboard boxes that had been left for the recycling. Grabbing a few of them, he carried them back to Jess' apartment.

"I got a better idea," he said as he, Caleb and some of the other partyers started to load the vases of flowers into the boxes. "You ain't got anything to do tomorrow. I'll give ya my car and you can take these to the hospital. Have the nurses give them out to the patients."

"How do you know I have nothing to do tomorrow?" He asked, but in actuality he knew he didn't. But driving to the hospital with all those flowers and handing them to nurses wasn't exactly his idea of fun. Sick people were so..... boring. But on the other hand, the idea of hot nurses was a plus. He gave a long sigh as he considered it for a while longer. "Fine - but if I get sick and die I expect twice as many flowers at my memorial." Caleb told him seriously despite the fact he knew exactly how ridiculous it sounded.

Ben shrugged.

"Well, at least we'll know where to get half of 'em," he replied with a mischievous smirk, kinda liking the idea of forcing Caleb to give Jessica's roses to sick patients then for Ben to turn around and recycle the same roses for Caleb's hypothetical funeral, should his roommate get sick and die from being so 'generous'.

"Funny.... Hilarious." Caleb said with a serious tone. "I die and you use second hand flowers for my memorial.... And I thought our relationship meant something." He said his tone turning to a mocking one as he moved towards the door to take the first load of which was to be many of flowers out of the apartment.

"It does mean something," Ben retorted, picking up one of the boxes and following his roommate out the door for their first trip upstairs to their apartment. "About six hundred dollars less in rent."

All Taylor could do as she headed towards the bathroom where Jessica was, was hope that Ben would be able to get all of the flowers out of there. She didn't want a single ridiculous rose there by the time Jessica got out. When she reached the bathroom door she knocked gently a moment knowing that Jess wouldn't just open the door up for anyone. "Jess... it's Tay, can you let me in?" She asked as she kept her tone gentle and even not wanting to upset her more.

Jess sat on the cold, tiled bathroom floor, with her head resting on the bathtub. The coldness of the porcelain tub felt good against her cheek. How could her party take such a drastic turn? She was having such a great time. All of her friends were there. Ben was there. She was even liking his roommate. In a matter of minutes it was all just ripped away from her. All it took was a simple knock on the door.

The roses. All those damn roses. What the hell was wrong with him? Why couldn't he just leave her alone? Did he think that she just sat around dwelling on the fact that they weren't together anymore? Jess was moving on with her life. She was going to school and making new friends. Her life didn't revolve around him anymore... why did his seem to revolve around hers?

Hearing the soft knock on the bathroom door, Jess reached up and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. "Yea... come in..." she managed to choke out.

Knowing it was safe Taylor opened the door a fraction looking in to see how upset she was and what she had to deal with before she quickly moved inside seeing people try and peer in. Once it was shut securely she moved over to where Jess was sitting. She didn't say anything, and just sat beside her, her hand sliding around her shoulders to let her know someone was there, her other going to her shoulder rubbing it a little. She kept silent wanting Jess to be the first to say something whenever she was ready. Tay just leaned her head in resting it against hers as she continued to try and calm and be there for her friend.

Jess was relieved that Taylor came. It always felt better to cry on someone's shoulder than to cry alone... on a cold bathroom floor. Looking up at Taylor with her eyes still wet with fresh tears, Jess shook her head, "Why?" she sniffled, "Why did he have to do that? Why the hell can't he just leave me alone?"

Despite the temptation to tell her the truth - that he was an insane sociopath with no understanding of social etiquette - she didn't. It wasn't what she needed to hear. Instead she told her what he needed to hear, a more calm rational comforting explanation. "I don't know, but right now that isn't important. You can't think about him, you can't let him ruin your day. He doesn't deserve it." She said as she continued to rub her shoulder a little.

Jess reached up and rubbed her forehead, "How can I think about anything else, Tay? He completely mortified me in front of all my friends. In front of Ben. My God...I probably look like a liar to him right now."

She shook her head a little as she looked over to Jess. "I know it sounds hard and impossible but i promise that it isn't." She said offering her a bit of a reassuring smile. "You're a strong person Jess, you've been through more then most people do in a life time. This is nothing, a whole load of easily disposed of flowers. When you get out there all you have to do is hold your head high. If you don't focus on it and focus on having fun then that's what everyone else is going to focus on. Ten minutes of thriller everyone will be so busy doing the moonwalk they're not going to remember anything else." She said nudging her a little playfully.

Jess nodded, listening to the positive words of her friend. "You're right." she said, wiping her face dry, "Screw him and his sick little infatuation. I've got a new life now that doesn't include him. He's just jealous I've moved on." Her eyes then widened, "Oh no... you don't think...he doesn't have me followed, does he? Maybe he's seen me with Ben and..."

"No, no, no, no." She assured her butting a in a little before she could finish her train of thought. "Don't panic. He's not doing anything like that." Taylor said trying to reassure her from her sudden revelation. "Don't think or worry about him. Colby doesn't exist and if you start to wonder just tell yourself that. You said it yourself, he's not part of your life. Colby doesn't exist." She said almost like a mantra.

"Right. He doesn't." Jess confirmed as she climbed to her feet and straightened out her clothes. She moved to the mirror to check her reflection. Eyes weren't too red. "He's not worth my time." She turned around to lean on the sink, "Thanks Taylor. I'm so glad you're here."

Taylor pulled to her feet a little and rubbed Jess's back. She had a light smile on her face as she looked to her, glad to see Jessica looking calmer, happier. "You don't need to thank me, whatever you need whenever you need it I'm here." Tay said smiling. She moved over to the door, her hand on the door handle as she looked back to Jess. "Go out there relax, have another drink and if you don't I will put Thriller on and expect you to dance to it." She said trying to illicit a smile from her before she opened up the door taking the lead out of the room and back to the party.