I walked into my house carrying my few bags. My hand was throbbing from holding the bags. It had been hurting ever since last night which is correct since it did come in contact with a nose.

"Shit," I said, dropping the bags in my right hand because a pain shot through my hand. "Oh hey, Smiles!" Wes said coming out of the hallway from the bathroom, "What's wrong?" he asked concerned when he saw my facial expression. "My hand hurts like a bitch," I said grimacing and he chuckled while walking over to me. "Well I wonder why. What did I tell you about trying to fight people," he said with a playful look on his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said with a confused look on my face, playing with him. He laughed and looked down at my hand, "Woah let me see," he said gently grabbing it. I grimaced. "Smiles, this doesn't look too good," he said, examining it. "It hurts so bad. I couldn't even sleep because it was so painful," I said.

"Try and move your fingers," he said and it hurt but I was able to move 3 out of 5 fingers. "I think this needs to be checked out. I think a few of your fingers are broken." I looked at my hand and it was extremely bruised. "You think so?" I asked and he nodded, chewing on his lip. "Let's ask the others," he said as we walked towards the kitchen.

We walked in and Bill, Wayne, and Devon were sitting at my bar stools. "Smiles!" they exclaimed at the sight of me. "Hey everybody!" I said chuckling. I gave them quick hugs, each of them teasing me about fighting someone. I looked around and saw Michael leaning against the counter by the stove smiling at me. I smiled at him.

He opened up his arms for me and I continued smiling as I walked over to him into his arms. "Hey Rocky," he said, laughing in my ear making the rest of them laugh. I pulled away trying to hide my smile, "You're gonna get a broken nose next," I teased. He held up his hands in defense. "Don't mess with her Joker," Bill joked, making us all laugh.

"I just don't get why y'all think me getting into a fight and having to defend myself is funny," I said playfully, squinting my eyes at them. They continued their laughter. "Whatever laugh all y'all want," I said, waving them off. Michael grabbed my left hand, suffocating me in another hug. "You know we're just joking with you," he said and I nodded, "I know. I know," I said laughing with them.

"It's actually kinda hot," Michael said, biting his lip. I pulled away from him squinting, "The guys we met at the club said the same thing. Why is that hot to y'all?" I asked, looking around at all the men. Michael shrugged, "It just is. And you know I'm not one for violence, but I can just imagine you and I don't know, it makes me feel some way," he said and the men nodded in agreement. "Weird," I said as I looked back at Michael who was checking me out with his eyes fixated on my ass.

I shook my head at him but his face went from biting his bottom lip to a frown. "What happened to your hand?" he asked. "Oh, yeah, show them your hand Smiles," Wes added. I showed them and they all cringed, "Ouch, I know that hurts," Devon said and I nodded, "Hurts so bad."

"That looks broken Smiles," Bill said. "I said the same thing!" Wes said. Michael came up and lightly grazed his fingers across my bruised hand and fingers. He gently picked it up and I grimaced, "That hurt?" he asked, looking up at me and I nodded. "I think we have to get this checked out. I think it's broken too. You can barely move your hand," Michael commented.

"I'll get it checked out tomorrow. I'm way too tired to do all of that today and I wanna figure out who this bitch is," I said and they all laughed at me. "Me too," Michael said from the side of me.

"Let's get down to business," Bill said, gesturing to the folder Wes had in his hands. We all huddled around, deliberating who was behind all of this. "Wes you have all the letters?" Devon asked and he nodded, grabbing them out of the folder. "Yeah, Smiles gave them all to me so we could try and find handprints or anything, but whoever this person is, is smart. Hard to trace anything back to them," he said as everyone grabbed some of the letters that were sent to me, reading them.

"This was sent to you?" Michael asked from the side of me. He looked terrified. I looked over at the note and it read, "Leave him now and no one gets hurt. Leave him and don't tell him why. Or else...you'll get hurt."

I nodded slowly. That's the note I got in NY when I had an anxiety attack a few days later. "They wanted you to leave me?" he asked and his eyes started to get teary eyed. I placed my hand over his trying to comfort him. "And because you didn't, that's why you almost got hurt last night?" he questioned. I nodded slowly, "Yeah. I-I think so."

He shook his head and Bill started the conversation again, "We need to get in touch with the girl who Smiles beat up," he said trying to lighten up the room again. We all chuckled and I sucked my teeth, "So much for stating the obvious," I said rolling my eyes.

"Do you know her name?" Devon asked. I shook my head no, "No, I don't. I didn't even really realize who she was until she said something." Wes looked at me funny, "Something's really fishy about her somehow being involved in this," he said. "I was thinking the same thing," Wayne commented.

"What did she say again?" Wes asked. "She was saying something about 'my man' and I was like what the fuck? Michael doesn't know her and he bet not," I said and everyone laughed, "I was drunk so I don't remember the entire conversation, but then she said something about Aiden and that's when it clicked who she was." Wes slowly nodded, "Mhm, Aiden...where is he? Have you seen him or talked to him since Paris?" he asked and out of the corner of my eye I saw Michael turn his head towards me so fast.

I kept looking at Wes, "No, I haven't," I answered truthfully. "I think you need to," Bill said and Wes agreed, "Yeah, he can locate us to the girl." I looked at Michael and he was poking his tongue in his cheek, "No," he said flatly.

I pursed my lips, keeping my mouth shut. "Joker, she needs to. I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like he may have a hand or two in this," Bill said. "I said no. End of discussion," Michael said back sternly.

"Joker," Bill started but Michael interrupted, "No, Bill. There is no way in hell I am letting that interaction happen." I internally sighed. "Hear us out, Joker. He may be the person we need to get in contact with to get some answers," Bill contested. "I agree, Mike. I don't trust him and I know you don't, but we all know, in order to get some answers, the only person he'll talk to here is her," Wes added pointing at me.

Michael looked at me, but I kept quiet chewing on my bottom lip. Michael shook his head and looked away from everyone. "Smiles?" Wes called out and I looked at him. "Yeah?" I answered. "What do you think about getting in touch with Aiden?"

"Um..." I started, "I-I don't know. I mean, how do we even know he has a hand in this?" I said looking around at everyone. "Smiles, think about it. Somehow, the girl he was messing with tried to fight you in a club and then she explicitly told you that someone paid her to do it," Wes said and I sat in thought. Was Aiden behind this or at least have a hand in it?

"I guess I can try. I don't know if he'll tell me anything," I said looking around at everyone. "Please, he'll talk. He'll tell you anything you want to know, he's in love with you," Michael commented from the side of me. I sighed not wanting to say something to make him even madder.

"Well, what do we do then? Michael doesn't want me talking to Aiden, how do we get information?" I asked avoiding Michael's pouting. Everyone sighed, taking note of Michael's comment. "I guess we can try and find out who this girl is and talk directly to her," Devon suggested. I looked around and everyone nodded.

"Okay," Wes concluded, "Do you know who she was Smiles?" I thought back a few years, "Uh yeah-yeah. Aiden told me she worked for his soccer team. She was a trainer," I said. "Perfect. We can find out who all the trainers were and get pictures and have you pick out who she was," Bill said. "Okay, sounds like a plan," I said.

"Everyone in agreement?" Bill asked looking around at everyone, "Michael?" he asked and he nodded, "Yeah, in agreement," he said. "Okay, we'll reconvene in a day or so. Smiles, if you receive anything or if something else happens, call either one of us right away," Bill said and I nodded, "Yep."

"Wait, one more thing I think we need to address before you all go," Michael said and we looked at him, "Smiles, you said that the woman who possibly has been following you around is the one who sent me those pictures?" I nodded, "Yeah, Wes, remember the woman in Paris who took pictures of me?" I asked and he nodded, "Oh yeah," he said and I could tell he was thinking.

"Well, Michael got sent those exact photos," I said. "You did?" he asked looking at Michael and Michael nodded. "Joker, do you have them?" Bill asked. "Not with me. They're at Neverland," he said. "I think we'll need those. Take a look at them," Wayne said and everyone nodded in agreement. "Joker, get those to us as soon as possible," Bill said.

"Okay, I will," Michael said and we all concluded. "Let's meet up again on Tuesday?" Devon suggested. "Yep," Bill and Wes said as Michael and I nodded.

"Okay, well I'm going to head out," Wes said standing up. "I'll walk you out Wes," I said as he said bye to everyone else. I walked Wes to the front door, stepping outside with him.

"Smiles, I'm going to be honest with you, I think our other plan will work, but I still think you need to try and get Mike on board with talking to Aiden. He could answer a lot of our questions," Wes said. "I don't know how. Michael won't change his mind on this, especially with what happened in Paris. Michael will never agree to that," I said, sighing.

"Just try Smiles. I think it'll be really beneficial to us," he said and I nodded, "Fine, but if he gets mad at me, I'm using you as a scapegoat," I said and he laughed. "Bye Wes," I said, giving him a hug, "Bye Smiles. Take care."

I walked back into the house and saw Bill, Devon, and Wayne walking down the hall with Michael following them. "Leaving too?" I questioned and they all nodded, "Okay, well bye you guys. Thanks for all your help," I said, giving them each a hug.

I went and stood by Michael as they walked out the front door. I looked at Michael. I don't know how I was going to get him on board with me talking to Aiden. He looked at me almost like he was waiting on me to say something about it. I mentally decided to leave it alone for now, "I'm going to go unpack and get in shower," I said and he nodded slowly.

I walked up the stairs to my bedroom so excited that I get to sleep in my own bed tonight. There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed. I went into my bathroom, turning on the shower. I got undressed and stepped in, trying to wash away a lot of things.

About 20 minutes later, I got out of the shower, wrapping my towel around my body. I walked out of the bathroom drying my hair and saw Michael sitting on the edge of the bed. "Hey," I said softly and he turned to look at me, "Hey."

I frowned and walked over, sitting next to him, "What's wrong?" I asked. He didn't say anything, he just blew out a breath, "Hey, what's wrong?" I asked again, rubbing his back.

"Why didn't you tell me you were receiving letters like that?" he asked, finally looking at me. I sighed, "I didn't want to worry you. To be honest, I didn't pay them any mind when I first received them because I thought it was just a fan who was mad that me and you were dating, but," I said shrugging.

"Is that why you asked me to promise to never leave you? Because whoever this is was threatening you to?" he asked and I nodded, "Yeah. I didn't know what would happen and I didn't want to lose you. Throughout this whole ordeal, you were my top priority."

"This is what you were dealing with that made you so stressed out and distraught wasn't it?" he asked. "Yeah-yeah, it was," I said truthfully. He gave me a sympathetic look and pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "Why are you sorry?" I asked. "This is happening to you because you're with me. Whoever it is, is mad that you're with me. Last night was because someone wanted to hurt you because of me," he said choking up.

"Michael, don't blame yourself," I said caressing his face, "I don't blame you. I'd take this times 10 if that's what it takes to be with you. I don't care about them. They can try all they want to hurt me, but I'm not leaving you. I made that mistake once and I don't want to do that again."

Michael smiled and hugged me again, "I'm going to make sure nothing happens to you again. I can promise you that. I'm involved now and whoever this is, is going to pay for what they did and what they tried to do," he said, making me smile. "Okay," I said softly as he rubbed my thigh.

"You haven't kissed me today," I said, scrunching up my face at him. He gasped dramatically, making me giggle. He gently grabbed my face with both hands and kissed me tenderly. I smiled with my eyes closed as he pulled away. He pecked my lips once more and I smiled, opening my eyes. I got up and went over to start unpacking my suitcase.

"I didn't ask this, but how was your guy's night? Did you have fun besides the fight?" he asked and I nodded grabbing stuff out of my suitcase, "Yeah, it was actually a lot of fun. The scavenger hunt was a lot of fun! We had something to do the whole night," I said going over to my dresser.

"Did any guys dance on you?" he asked not looking at me. "Best lap dance of my life," I teased but I was serious. He looked up at me with his mouth open, "Wow," he said and I giggled. "Are you serious?" he asked and I nodded, laughing. "Hey! You never said I couldn't get a lap dance," I said and he looked at me with a blank expression on his face.

"On the bright side though, your plan worked. Guys kept coming up to me offering me drinks and to dance, but all I thought about was what happened before I left," I said looking at him and he was smirking. "I knew it," he said arrogantly and I threw a shirt at him.

He laughed, tossing it back to me. I went to hang it up in my closet and when I came back I saw Michael going through my suitcase. "What are you doing?" I said chuckling. "Browsing. Making sure you don't have anything funny in here," he said with a goofy look on his face.

"Like what?" I said laughing. He went through my suitcase, "What the hell is this!?" he exclaimed, pulling out a man's button up. "Fuck," I said under my breath. One of Veronica's tasks on the scavenger hunt was to get a random guy's shirt and she was going to put it in one of the girls suitcases and I be damned. She put it in mine.

"Uh," I said, scratching my head. "What the hell is a MAN'S shirt doing in your suitcase?" he said, frowning up at me. "Hello," he exclaimed. "I can explain," I said and he raised his eyebrow at me, "You better," he said and I sighed.

"Just hear me out," I said and he tilted his head at me, "Just explain," he said and I sighed again. "Okay, so as I said, we did a scavenger hunt all night and we each had an individual task and Veronica's was to get a random guy's shirt. Obviously she did, but she kept joking saying it was going home with one of us and well," I said, gesturing to the shirt.

"What was your 'task'?" he said in quotes. I pursed my lips. "Hmm," he hummed, raising his eyebrows at me. I cleared my throat, "I um, had to get a guy's number," I mumbled. "You WHAT?" he asked. "Don't worry, I gave it to one of Veronica's bridesmaids. I didn't keep it," I contested. "You better not have," he said and I laughed.

"What's so funny? Nothing about this is funny. You get a lap dance, get a guy's number which I know you had to flirt for, and you got into a fight?" he said. "That literally sounds like a movie. I'm actually surprised we didn't get arrested. Last night was so wild," I said laughing.

"This isn't funny!" he exclaimed, trying to hide his smile. "It is because you're so overprotective. I would've made you pull your hair out if you knew me when I was in college. I was not tameable at all," I said, "I did whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted."

He looked at me, "I do not doubt that," he said, "I'd have security with you 24/7." I laughed, "I honestly don't think that would've worked. Like there was a time, I literally thought I was addicted to partying," I said and he laughed, "My parents thought I needed to go to rehab," I said laughing.

"Well, Ms. party animal, I know one thing," he said and I looked at him, "You need to apologize to that girl." I sucked my teeth, "Michael-," I said but he held his hand up, "No. We don't need her going public. If you apologize and offer to pay for any expense, it'll make all this smooth over and that's what we need. You have jobs coming up and I have an album about to be released in two weeks. We don't need that kind of publicity right now."

I sighed, "Fine. I guess," I mumbled. I guess this is the time to bring up Aiden. "I don't know how to get in touch with her," I said and Michael sat in thought. "Well, Bill and everybody are working on it," he said. "Yeah, but shouldn't I do this before she has the chance to go public? I'm a day late already," I said and he turned to look at me.

"No," he said and I internally groaned. He already knew where I was leading this conversation. "There is no way I am letting you talk to Aiden," he said and I sucked my teeth. "Baby, I need to. He can answer a lot of our questions about what the hell is going on. He was there the night in Paris when that woman took pictures and he knows the girl from last night. Knows her very well," I said.

"I said no," Michael said, being stubborn. "Michael, you trust me right?" I asked. He looked at me, "You know I trust you. What kind of question is that?" he asked. "Then trust me with this," I said, placing my hand over his, "I won't let Aiden say anything about our relationship and/or anything about our past. This will strictly be about whatever is going on," I said.

"There is no way in hell that I am letting you meet and talk with your ex boyfriend who is still in love with you," he argued. "Michael," I said, sighing. "No, I'm not letting you. Baby, he is in love with you! He just admitted it to you a few months ago!"

"But I'm not in love with him," I said and he looked me in my eyes. I grabbed his hands turning towards him, "I'm in love with you. Only you and you know that. This isn't some reunion of him and I. It's to talk strictly about what the hell is going on. Don't you want answers?" I asked and he nodded.

"Okay, then. I have to talk to him," I said and he looked at me. "He gets 30 minutes, no minutes more," he said and I chuckled, "Okay."

"And I get to pick where and when," he said and I nodded, "And I get to be there." I opened my mouth to protest, but he held his hand up, "In disguise. I'm aware he won't talk if I'm there."

I giggled, "Okay." I leaned in and kissed him. "I love you," I said, pulling away. "I love you too," he said, making me smile.