Joe scratched his forehead, not daring to even look Bailey in the eyes.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again." he stated, then took a seat on the couch against the wall in the dressing room. Ignoring the loud thumping in Bailey's mind, she stayed standing, hoping that Joe would listen to her.


"Look, it wasn't my fault." Bailey expected him to cut her off, but he didn't. "Ross just came in that morning, ordering for me to leave." she continued explaining to him what had happened, how Ross had forbade her from contacting him or the others. The entire time Joe kept his face in his hands. It didn't seem as if he was even listening. Annoyed by the way he was acting, Bailey stopped talking, then sat down in a metal chair across from the couch, staring at Joe expectantly.

"Why would he do that?" Joe muttered, still avoiding eye contact. His mind was racing and his heart was aching.

"I don't know." Bailey replied, wishing he would just look at her. Joe tried to block out her voice, but it was no use. She was starting to get into him again. "Joe, I - "

She stopped after hearing a knock at the door. Instantly, her stomach started rumbling. She had that little feeling inside of her when you know you're about to get busted for something that you're not supposed to be doing.

Finally, Joe moved, making his way over to the door. He opened it to see Ross standing there with his arms crossed in front of him.

"Uh, hi." Joe greeted, scratching his head, not knowing what to expect. Bailey closed her eyes, her back towards the door, awaiting the lecture to spill from Ross' mouth.

"You've got guts, kid." Ross stated. "Let's go." Obeying his stern voice, she got up and walked out into the hallway, completely ignoring Joe's staring eyes. "Joseph, they need you backstage now. It's almost show time." Joe nodded, then made his way down the hall and around the corner, thinking about what just happened. "To be honest, I kind of hoped you'd show up tonight." Ross stated, then started down the opposite side of the hallway from where Joe had left.

"What, why?" she asked confusedly, looking over at him as he stared ahead.

"So I could tell if I made a mistake or not." he said simply. Bailey's head snapped over, sending him a look of disbelief.

"Are you serious? Of course you made a mistake! Do you have any idea what the past to months were like?! Do you have any idea what you messed up?" she exclaimed, stopping mid-way down the hall. Ross took a couple more steps, then turned to look at her.

"I know that now." he smirked, then continued.

"Are you even going to bother listening to what happened that night?" she questioned angrily as she caught up with him. Pursing his lips, he looked over at her. "Fine." Bailey continued with what had happened with Jake and Tori that day, then stared at Ross, waiting for a response.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." he sighed.

"What do you mean, 'that's what you thought'?" she asked, her voice spiking up.

"I kinda figured Tori was lying."

"- And yet you send me home anyway?" Ross looked down at her, not saying anything. "What'd she tell you?"

"First off, you did give her that black eye, you just said so yourself." he smirked. "- But she had said that you hit her because you were jealous of her and Joe's relationship."

It felt as if Bailey's eyes popped out of their sockets. "I don't even know what to say to that except that's defiantly not the reason why I hit her." she paused. "Well, it wasn't jealousy."

"It might turn into that now. . ." Ross muttered.

"What?" she asked, not completely hearing him.

"I've been thinking about this for a while, after I imagined you sneaking in here today." he chuckled, ignoring her question. "You're a pretty dedicated person, and even though tonight is the last show of the tour, I'd like you back on the team."

Bailey looked up at him in shock, "Are you serious?" he nodded as she began to think. He dropped her once, hard. He could easily do it again.

"Well, we have a few closing press conferences within the next few days. We could use the help. Plus, you could catch up with the boys and such." he tried to convince. "Except you'd be bunking with them, since, uh, the other bus is kind of in use."

"Oh?" she didn't like his tone of voice.

"Tori is still with us." Ross finished as he opened the steal door in front of them, leading to the right side of the backstage. Bailey was about to speak her mind but a person interrupted.

"Anything else you'd like me to do?" Tori asked, approaching them, a fake smile plastered on her face. Completely ignoring Bailey, she stared up at Ross' face as she held her hands behind her back.

"No, just to ahead and get ready for the show." Ross replied, then Tori made her way out to the hallway where they just were. "Don't even say it."

"Why do you need me if you have her?" Bailey questioned, not liking how this night was turning out. She was standing her wasting time with Ross and the skank when things between her and Joe were still up in the air. She was there for Joe, not because she wanted to be an assistant again.

"That's another thing." Ross kind of avoided her question.

"Bailey!" Nick exclaimed, running up to her. Her face lit up as he charged at her with a huge hug. "Ah, I missed you so much!" Bailey smiled, closing her eyes as her chin rested on his warm shoulder. She was glad that someone was happy to see her. "Wow, this is so cool." he finished, pulling away. A smile still played on his face. "It's been horrible without you! I mean -"

"Nicholas, get ready for the show. You're on in three!" Ross cut him off. Nick flashed him a look of apology.

"I'll see you after the show, right?" Nick eyed Bailey, she nodded, wondering what he was going to tell her. "Oh, and nice outfit." he winked, then hustled away.

"There's something you're not telling me." she stated, glaring at Ross. "What is it?"

"Why don't you make yourself comfortable. It's the last show. Have fun." he quickly stated, then hurried away, leaving Bailey with a cramping mind.

"What in the hell is up with him?" Sarah asked from behind her, coming out from behind the stage curtain where she had been listening.

"I don't even know and I don't really care." Bailey muttered in frustration of everything that was going on. She turned to look at her friend, the tears slowly building up in her eyes as she thought of the past hour. "Joe won't even look at me. I told him everything and he's acting like I'm some kind of. . . Oh, I don't know, like nothing ever happened between us!"

"Isn't that a good thing? Him acting like nothing happened?"

"No, not about me leaving. He's acting as if nothing happened between us, before all the commotion, before her." her eyes shifted to the floor.

"Don't worry Bails, it'll work out." Sarah replied softly. "Maybe he's just having mixed feelings. I mean, he went on for so long thinking one thing. He'll come around." she lied, leaving out the information that she discovered only moments ago