N Justin half-smiled and ran his tongue across his bleeding lip. The diamonds in that ring were sharper than he thought. Not good. He wiped away some of the blood, but he could still feel the blood pouring out. And Ad knew she's done it. But he wasn't going to tell her what the ring had done. It was obvious.

"The slower we take things, the better things will get. I hope" he replied. They'd fought twice in the space of 2 hours, not a good thing. Now they needed to give each other some space.

"I think it'd be best if we don't see each other for a couple of days. Get things sorted out. Figure out what we really want to happen. And heal the wounds we've caused each other" he replied. Made sense to him. They'd caused some fairly deep wounds in one another's hearts and right now, he needed some time alone so that he could figure out whether his future with Ad was looking bright or whether they were just gonna continue fighting and hurting each other. That had to be the 4th time Ad had physically hurt him in the heat of the moment and he couldn't live that way for his entire life. So he needed to figure it out. Maybe they weren't right for each other after all. What if this was God's way of telling them that? What if they were destined to fight all the time? It was just like himself and Violet all over again. A very fiery argument turned into violence.

Not to mention, that thing he had on his mind was always going to taunt them both. And he needed to figure that one out too. It was playing havoc on his life right now. How did he tell Ad he was still in love with his ex girlfriend? She'd flip if she found out about it and he knew it. But he couldn't tell her. He knew she'd be mad for him not being truthful. And she'd think he'd been lying to her too. But he hadn't. He couldn't. He just couldn't tell her he loved his ex too.

Ad blinked back tears and looked down, ashamed and guilty at hurting Justin. What was with her and throwing things? She didn't know anymore. She was so guilty about hurting him, and ashamed that she had even thought about hurting him, even though she loved him so much. Why did she suddenly feel that love was being tested and stretched?

Ad nodded, still looking down at her hiking boots, and the recent tear in her jeans. She tenderly touched the bloodstained bandages. "Yeah, you're right. The slower the better" she said, her voice barely audible.

Ad couldn't even look at him now. She just couldn't. "Yeah. I think that's a good idea" was she crying, or was it raining? She looked up to find that, yes, it was raining. Thick, heavy droplets fell onto them, thankfully hiding the salty tears that also ran down Adrianna's face.

Why couldn't she bring herself to tell him that she didn't think it was going to work suddenly? She was so afraid of losing him. She loved him, yes. But was she actually in love with him? She had to figure that out first before anything else. She was sure she was, but why was she feeling that everything was slipping through her fingers?

"Why does this always happen to me?" she thought aloud. She didn't care if Justin questioned.

Justin sighed. He didn't know what to do. He looked down at the floor as blood dripped to the floor. Dang that diamond had to be sharp. The cut in his lip was deep and bleeding like mad. He never knew a small cut bleed this much so it had to be deep else it wouldn't be bleeding so much. It sucked. So much. He hated it.

Then he looked up at Ad then back down again. He felt so awkward right now. But he didn't know why. Now stood the test of time. They had to give things time before they could do anything. Go anywhere. And most importantly, figure out whether this was real love or if it was just something they thought because they'd known each other so long. That seemed like the more likely conclusion. To him at least. It was pathetic how things were tested so much when they'd barely even started. It sucked so much.

His life was just beginning to get better, but then within two hours, it was going down hill again. Maybe his life wasn't meant to be good after all. Who knew? "We stand before the test of time. If, after this small break things aren't any different then we know its not meant to be" he replied. But deep down he alredy knew that. He just didn't want to believe it.

Then Ad spoke again. "It's not just happening to you. I think, because we've known each other so long, the fact we loved each other as family has collided with our friendship and caused to believe its more" he explained. But that was just his opinion and half the time his opinion didn't count.

Ad looked up finally and gently placed her finger on Justin's lip, trying to stem the flow of blood. "I'm sorry" she whispered.

Ad brushed her soaking wet hair away from her face with her other hand. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her face was blotchy and flushed, so there was no hiding the fact that, even though they were sitting in a downpour, she was crying more than she had cried all that day. She was in love with him. She knew it for a fact now. But she could tell that he wasn't. He wasn't in love with her, just as a very close family friend, maybe just a smidgen more.

Ad looked at Justin, still crying, with wide eyes. But she tried to restore her normal face, but failed. "Y-y-yeah. B-b-but why d-do I feel like things w-won't get b-better?" she sobbed. She knew it. Things wouldn't get better, and it was tearing her apart. Why?

Ad looked down again. She couldn't stop crying. And she didn't care if she started coughing up blood. She hoped she did, and that she died from blood loss. Better than trying to live her life mourning over unrequited love. "I don't..." think it's that way. I do love you. she finished in her mind. She couldn't bring herself to say it. Cause, just like that day in the Student Garden, she was going to have her heart crushed because of Justin.

Justin felt horrible. Like this was all his fault. He felt helpless and he didn't like it one bit. "You don't what?" he asked eagerly awaiting her to finish her sentence. But she never did.

Ad sniffed and looked up. "I don't think it's that way. I truly am in love with you, Justin. But you don't feel the same way, do you?" she asked softly, looking down again. She wiped away her tears and took a shaky breath.

Justin sighed and listened. Well now he felt horrible. He looked at the floor and shrugged. "I really don't know. That's the whole point of us going on a break for a few days. So I can straighten things out in my head. So I can figure out if I am in love with you or not" he replied. Well at least they were doing this responsibly this time.

Ad wiped away the rest of her tears and sat up straight, setting her shoulders, head up. She refused to let him see what a total mess she was without him. "Yeah. I totally understand. I really do. Let's just hope it takes a turn for the best. Am I right?" she asked, no sign of hurt in her voice. But she couldn't help but hug him one more time. So she wrapped her arms loosely around him for a second or two, kissed his cheek in a...friendly way, and got up, unable to hide the pained look on her faceas she put most of her weight on her injured leg.

Justin smiled at Ad and kissed her cheek. "Even if it doesn't work out for the best, we'll still be friends. Just friends who've got the values to be a couple" he replied. But then she hugged him. He put his arm around her tightly refusing to let go of her. Then she kissed his cheek. He couldn't help but smile. Yeah. He was sure. This was no where near over. There was still a lot more in this relationship. He was in love with her. "Love you" he whispered truthfully.

"So long have you two been together?", she asked.

"What do you want to do now?", she asked her whispering.

Ad smiled back. She was glad to get that off her chest. "Yeah. You're right" she said, in er normal voice. She smiled as he hugged her tightly. For some reason, she could tell she would be able to get through this. She smiled and rested her forehead against his neck and smiled when Justin said those words in her ear. "Love you too, Justin. Always have, always will" she whispered back. She took one hand and intertwined her fingers with his. "I'm sorry. For everything" she said.

She was home, there in Justin's arms.

Justin looked in deep thought. So much had happened and they'd gone on so many breaks. "Officially, since last summer" he replied.

Court shrugged. "Forget about this whole mess and mess about, and try to play that song Bradin tried to teach me" she replied. But she'd never be able to do it.

Justin sighed and closed his eyes, he was happy again. Things were kind of back to normal. Right? "We can get through this. Just need to sort out some stuff in our minds. Like how we're gonna manage to sort my new anger issues" he replied. And he did have them. But only because somebody had sent him into psycho mode.

Ad smiled sweetly. And she nearly said goodbye to these strong arms wrapped around her? "Yeah, we can, can't we? Yeah. And I need to work on my violence streak" she said as she concenrated on the cut in his lip. It had finally stopped bleeding.

Justin tried to avoid concentrating on the cut. If he didn't concentrate on it, it didn't hurt. "Technically, you didn't hit me. The ring did. You were just behind it and you didn't expect it to cut my lip open" he replied. Neither did her.

Ad bit her own lip gently, deep in thought. "But even if that didn't happen, I'm still pretty violent" she said softly, looking up. She smiled a tiny bit. "I hope you work out whtever it was that was bugging you, Justin" she wished him. He deserved to have that problem solved, whatever it was.

Justin shrugged. "True" he replied not knowing what else he could say. Meh. "Me too. It'll be sorted soon enough. I hope" he replied.

Ad brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face. "Why don't we go inside before we get sick. It's cld and wet out here" she said. It had stopped raining, but everything was still wet and EVERYTHING was chilly.

Justin looked at the manor then at Ad. "Do you really think it's safe in the house?" he asked. There was somewhere else they could sit where Court wouldn't come and interfere. "We could always go and sit in the conservatory round back, I know a way of getting round without going through the house" he suggested.

Ad smiled. "Good point" she said, looking out as the sun broke through the clouds, giving everything a mystical glow. "I think that's a great idea. Lead the way" she said, smiling as she got up gently. [b]"All that running around has come back to bite me"[/b} she said, eyes closed as she waited for the pain to slowly fade.

Justin giggled slightly and helped Ad up. He grabbed her hand and led the way round to the conservatory, going through bushes and trees. Most of the bushes were covered in blossoming flowers. "Its actually a nice view walking round" he said randomly. Then he stopped and turned to look at Ad. "I can carry you if you want?" he offered.

Ad smiled at Justin and followed him to the conservatory. "Yes it is, isn't it?" she agreed. She leaned against him and nodded. "If you don't mind?" she said semi-sheepishly. She didn't want to cause him any trouble.

Justin smiled. "Indeed". Then she replied to his offer. He smiled again and picked her up, carrying her bridal style round to the conservatory and sitting her down in one of the chairs.

Ad smiled in thanks as Justin sat her down in a chair. "Thanks, Justin" she said softly.

Justin smiled. "You're welcome" he replied. He looked under the pot to retrieve the key that sat underneath it. "Dunno why she keeps this door locked during the day" he said as he unlocked the door and let Ad in.

Ad smiled in return. She watched as Justin unlocked the door. "Why do I not wanna know?" she said, half-joking.