A/n: Thanks to Southern-gurl94 for reviewing! This chapter is dedicated to you. I hope you enjoy it :)

He ignores her throughout dinner. He is much too nice to glare, so he treats her to silence. She likes this. Him shutting the hell up for once is actually a treat. She skips desert because he has already given her something sweet for the evening.

He goes off to the bedroom and she sits in the living room. She turns the television on and pretends to be watching that while really thinking. So much had happened. Could it really have just been this morning that Jake was driving her to the studio?

After thirty minutes of fake-watching, he sits down beside her. She hopes he can't smell the alcohol from earlier. She hopes he can't smell Jake's cologne. She hopes he can't smell the betrayal.

"I think we should talk about The Problem."

She resists the urge to roll her eyes at the way he makes every problem sound like the only one. She nods and he wraps an arm around her shoulders. He leans back and pulls her with him. He strokes her hair and she wants to scream "I AM NOT YOUR PET!".

"What is going on with you lately? Are you not happy anymore?"

She is so sick of that question, and sick of the person who just asked it. It sounded more romantic and sexier coming from Jake's mouth. She smiled a nice smile and opened her nice mouth and spoke nice words. But she thought bad thoughts about her bad mouth and her bad words.

"I'm just stressed because of work," She lies easily. He pats her head and sighs sympathetically. She glares at the wall.

"You've been doing music for so long, baby. Maybe it's time for a break. There comes a time when you have to let things go so you can make room for better things."

She leans away from him, shock emitting from her. He was suggesting she give up her art? No way in hell. And she knew when he said "better things" he meant children.

He seems to realize he slipped out of line. He apologizes but she doesn't listen. Jake would have never suggested she do something that she didn't want to do. He would never say she should sacrifice her passion for anyone or anything.

"It's alright," She says even though it isn't. She smiles and feels suffocated. Pulling out of his arms, she mutters, "I'm going to run to the store. I'll be back soon."

"What do you need at the store?" He asks curiously. She says the first thing that comes to her mind.

"Tampons. Do you want something for dessert?"

He thinks for a moment.

"You don't get your period until next week."

She resists the urge to murder herself. Jake would never know her menstruation cycle by heart. He wouldn't care about it either unless it got in the way of plans. She did not like the way her husband knew so much about her.

"It can come early, you know." She tries not to snap but it comes out a little harshly. He merely sighs.

"Alright. Be back before dark. Keep your cell phone on."

He walks off and she thinks to herself that (and this is the last time she is going to compare them, she promises herself) Jake would never have said anything like that. He probably would have been like "Hurry home. I've got a bath and Vodka waiting," with that irresistible wink of his.

As she drives to the store, she wonders if Oliver ever really understood how intense her and Jake had been, and how with him she had made some of the worst choices of her life. They did everything under the categories of clubs, drugs, and alcohol. She was a better person with Oliver. She was a healthier person with Oliver. But she was not happier. There was something so alluring about the life she had had with Jake, as reckless and terrible as it was. And slowly, as their immoral life began interfering with their art, they cleaned up the act. The drugs went first, not that they did those that much anyway. The alcohol came after, with much difficulty. Wild parties were the last to go. They were happy as a couple could be for a while. Content. She felt good being mostly clean. They still got trashed and went to the occasional party but it was not as bad as before. However, the clean life wasn't something Jake could stay committed to for too long. He saw that she was happy with the life, and he wasn't. He found someone who was the epitome of the wild life, and fell for her. She was heartbroken and torn and her best friend was there. He cleaned up after her like a maid and now she wanted nothing more than to knock the bucket of dirty water over onto the clean floor.

She buys tampons quickly and drives around for hours, avoiding the house. She imagines a funny scene in which he asks her what takes so long and she spends hours explaining the differences between tampons and how she wasn't sure which to pick for her flow. He'd be disgusted but he would only politely nod, because he was so pristine now.

She gets to test it out as she walks in. The charming exchange goes a little like this:

Her: Sorry it took so long. I couldn't pick.

Him: It's alright. I was very worried. You didn't answer your phone like you said you would. Why did it take so long?

AKA: I'm pissed off but I don't want to be rude and fight. I don't believe you were looking at tampons that long.

Her: They have all kinds, you know. For each flow. I was heavy at the beginning of last month's period but then got very light and then heavy again, so I didn't know whether to get the heavy, or the light, or maybe even add the two together and divide and get medium. And then once I figured out the best absorbency, I had to pick the brands. I usually get Playtex but last month they were actually very uncomfortable. But I've never tried Tampax so I didn't know what to do. I settled on Playtex. Maybe I just got a defective box last time. And you wouldn't believe how much concentration that took. I had my phone on silent. Sorry.

Him: Oh, that does sound complicated.

The conversation ended with that, because he was probably too grossed out to look at her. She felt very accomplished with her day's work.

She slept a dreamless sleep, and awoke very early. She quickly got ready and left, thoughts whisking through her brain so quickly that she felt like she was high. She was sure that the crew was going to be pissed that the director and singer just walked off the set of the music video. Knowing Jake, he'd probably come up with a lie that was very excusable. "Her mother-in-law got hit by a car…I drove her to the hospital…sorry we didn't call, the surgery had us all terrified."

She climbs in her old car (the one she had when she was dating Jake. No use explaining why she got a new one or didn't like to drive this one. Memories are mostly understood by your average person.) because the one she preferred still wouldn't start since Jake had wooed it into submission. Her mind is so full of thoughts that she gets lost twice on the way.

Once she's there, she makes a promise to herself that she's going to work today. She's going to get this video finished. She's going to be a good person and she won't treat Jake any different than she would any other director.

With her promise hard in her mind, she walks in the studio. Immediately, people rush around her. They fall silent as Jake strides confidently up to them. One look at him and her resolution cracks to pieces and is replaced with new ones. She's going to have fun today, she's going to finish the video the way she wants. She's going to be the person she wants to be and she won't treat Jake any different than she would have seven years ago. Oliver who?

He meets her eyes and knows what she wants. He turns to the costumer.

"Miley has new costume plans in mind." He glances at her and she nods in agreement. She hesitates but then speaks.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you about some ideas I had." She smiles coyly. He nodded and couldn't keep the smirk off his face.

"Step into my office, madam."

She follows him into a small room. It had a small bathroom and no windows. A desk took up most the space, with a small, fold-up chair and a TV hanging from the wall the only other objects. He leans against the desk, his smirk making him so alluring that she literally has to clench her fists.

"What are these "ideas" you have?" He leans closer to her, his smile everything that could undo her. She musters all her strength and leans forward.

"I was thinking about taking the video in another direction." She explains her ideas to him. When she's done he leans back and grins at her.

"Miley is back."

She hates and loves his words at the same time. She hates that the bad her is who she is, but she loves that she's found herself again, and that he's part of the discovery.

He looks thoughtfully at her as he picks up his clipboard. He makes notes on it, every now and then looking up at her with that same thoughtful expression. He sets it down halfway through.

"What's new with you?" He asks, his eyes giving way his interest.

"I like coffee now," She replies, saying the first thing that comes to her mind. He doesn't comment so she continues, "How about you?"

He runs a hand through his hair and sits on top of his desk. His impish smile makes her heart inflate.

"I like sex."

She playfully glares at him. "That is not new."

He winks at her, "You would know."

She rolls her eyes and avoids his and tries not to let memories enter her mind. Suddenly, his clipboard comes flying out of his hands and crashes to the floor. She jumps and quickly bends down to help him pick up the papers. His notes are in his messy scrawl and there are so many that she can't help but be impressed. She skims over them and he uses words she's never even heard of. She notices he's not picking up anything so she turns around to see what the big deal is. He's right behind her, staring at her exposed back. She glares at him and angrily stands up. She pulls her shirt back down and holds it there to keep it from riding up anymore.

"Jerk."

"I was just checking to see what else had changed. I thought you would have gotten it removed."

She automatically pictures the small, bright blue tattoo of a star on the left side of her lower back. She'd gotten it when they were dating to represent the stars they were, the star in the sky that held her name, their relationship, and him. It was more for him than her, though. He'd playfully said he wanted her to get a tattoo one day, and the next she was getting that (painfully) created. He mentioned more than once about how it reminded him of her eyes.

She awkwardly sits back in the chair, self-consciously pulling the shirt down every few seconds.

"I like it." She defends herself and her motives.

"What did he say about it?"

She answers truthfully.

"He was curious. I told him a fake story to explain it."

Jake smirks and she knows what he's thinking. Because of this tattoo, she is still his. She has been his for all these years. Pieces of her have refused to let him get away. And for a moment, thinking of anyone but Jake seeing the tattoo made her feel terrible. She felt worse in that moment than she had ever felt as she was gallivanting around with Jake behind her husband's back. His thoughts were correct: as long as that tattoo was there, her body belonged to him as much as her mind did. She had been completely his from the very beginning to the present. In a way this made her feel better. It wasn't that she had too small and cold a heart to love Oliver. It was that someone else was still living in the space he should have inhabited.

"Would you get a tattoo for Oliver?" They both know he doesn't even need to ask the question. The answer is clear in the way they somehow gravitate closer to each other by the second. She tells herself no and tries to keep from falling into his trap.

"He would never ask me to," She hedges.

He sits on top of his desk and looks at her seriously.

"I wouldn't either." She notices the way he doesn't say "I didn't ask you" but instead words it in a way that would suggest he would even have the right to ask her something like that.

"But would you just go out and get a tattoo for him?" Jake rewords.

She thinks very seriously about this. If Oliver had said he wanted her to get a tattoo, she knew what she would have done. One is enough, Oliver. I don't need another. It scares her how easily that sentence could mean something more.

"No." She whispers, her head ducking in shame. She wants to yell BUT THAT'S BECAUSE I'M MORE RESPONSIBLE NOW! IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH OLIVER! But she doesn't because she knows if she were still dating him and he said he wanted her to get another one she would. And for a second, one word flutters into her mind like a butterfly of truth that had taken the wrong road. DIVORCE. And the seed was planted.

"I wouldn't want Aubrey to get one." He tells her honestly, not sounding very ashamed, "Because that would make her belong to me forever. And I much prefer you to belong to me forever."

She avoids his eyes, feeling where this is going and hating herself for it.

"Marriage means she's yours forever." She argues feebly.

He takes long strides forward and kneels down beside her. He rests a hand on her back, right over where the star is, and whispers.

"This is much more permanent than the law and papers. With this I can touch the stars."

A sharp knock on the door interrupts her respiratory distress. Jake sighs but makes no move to get up. He and his hand stay put.

"Yes? Who is it?" He calls irritably. An innocent giggle makes her feel annoyed, and him freeze.

"Who do you think it is?" The woman behind the door crones, and she can just picture her twirling hair around her finger. She bets this woman has never even been drunk before.

"Fuck." Jake hisses so low that even she wasn't sure that's what he had said. He stands up and rushes over to his desk. He sits behind it and she stands up and helps him put all his clipboard papers in front of him. They spread them out so they look like he's been rustling through them. She hands him a pen and their hands connect for a moment. Their smiles are guilty but both have that familiar adrenaline rush to them. She sits down in the seat and he nods at her. She reaches over and unlocks the door.

"Come in, honey." Jake calls, his acting skills showing. She wonders if this woman could tell when he was acting.

The door opens and it takes all her power not to drop her jaw. The woman's hair is a sweet strawberry blonde color and her eyes are big and green. She's beautiful, of course, but she looks like a pre-school teacher. She wears a green sweater and black pants and stylish glasses rest on the bridge of her nose. And she has no makeup on at all. Her smile is so innocent it makes Miley feel like a porn star. How can Jake stand to be with her every day? She wonders.

The woman waves happily at them.

"Hello, Miley! Hello, Jake!" She shuts the door behind her and sets her bags on the floor. She rushes over and Miley has to look away as she kisses him. She looks at the woman's shoes. They are sensible black leather flats that make her almost twitch. The woman had a beautiful frame but wasn't living it up with fashion. Miley had no idea what to make of this. Something bright catches her eye and she turns her head up. The light reflects off the woman's engagement ring and she can't look away as much as she wants to. So that's what an engagement ring and wedding band from Jake would look like. She didn't want to think about all the nights she had dreamed about wearing it herself.

She surprises her by sitting on the floor between her and Jake, crossing her legs. She giggles and Miley smiles at her. She could already tell this woman was such a good person that she was going to hate her. She was going to make her feel guilty about everything she had ever done.

"Miley, this is Aubrey." Jake introduces them. She notices how he does not label her as his wife. Aubrey doesn't though. She cheerfully extends her hand and Miley awkwardly leans forward in her seat and shake hers. They cheerfully exchange hello's while all Miley wants to do is run away.

Aubrey turns to Jake.

"Did you take your medicine at nine?"

He grimaces at her. Miley wonders what kind of medication he's taking. He hasn't changed from when she knew him.

"Yes, I did. Did you take yours?" The hard emphasis in his voice confuses her, but Aubrey understands. She sighs but that cheerful spark stays around her.

"Yes, Jakey, I did. But one day you're going to want what I want and you're going to be asking me the opposite." She gets a sudden vision and she's leaning toward him enthusiastically. She rises on her knees, "Think about it Jakey! Think about a sweet little girl with your hair and my eyes! She could even be an actress!"

Miley feels like she's sinking into the chair and hopes it happens.

"Aubrey, this is not the time and place to be talking about this." Jake whispers, looking completely mortified. He glances at Miley with a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. She smile weakly.

Aubrey glances at her, surprised that she was still there. But Aubrey's surprise melts into honest caring. She didn't understand how she could like her. She was pretty sure that all she would have to do was pull one memory from the life Jake and her had together and Aubrey would shut up. Even the most simple and innocent one would probably make her gasp in horror. But Miley couldn't bring herself to shatter Aubrey's happy, carefree innocence.

"Miley doesn't mind, Jakey." Aubrey soothes, "She's married. I'm sure she has the same problems with her husband."

She knew Aubrey didn't mean to make it sound like she did. She didn't know how close her husband and Miley were to having an affair. But the way she worded that made Miley worry a little.

"Actually, it's kind of the opposite." She smiles apologetically at her. Jake looks at her in a way she can't understand so she simply looks away from him.

"Oh." There's a second pause and she giggles. "Well, same situation anyway!" She giggles again and Miley's already annoyed. How can Jake spend so much time with her?

An awkward silence falls on them. Aubrey looks completely at ease though.

"So how's the video going?" She asks cheerfully. Jake grins and picks up his papers, probably glad to have some evidence.

"Pretty good. We've gotten a lot done."

Miley pretends she doesn't notice his double meaning. Aubrey stands up and glances at his notes. She takes his hands and stares at him with such adore that Miley feel like a murderer.

"You are so artistic."

She wonders what she does for a living. She bets she doesn't do art. Jake needs someone who is just as artistic as him.

He puts the papers in a folder and clears his throat.

"Miley's ideas."

She smiles at Miley.

"Very good ideas. I wish I were artistic. But I love my job."

Miley smiles politely. "What do you do for a living?"

Aubrey grins and sits back down where she was before. "I work as an at-home teacher with the school system. I go to hospitals and homes help the children in there for long term stay caught up."

"That is so nice. You are a very kind woman." Miley compliments honestly. How could she take Jake from someone who was so good?

Aubrey twirls her hair and smiles back. "Thank you. You are too."

Miley's eyes drift to Jake's and they both look away quickly. Miley smiles weakly but doesn't reply. Aubrey stands up.

"Well, I better let you two get back to work! Will you be home late again tonight?"

"I don't know. It depends on how shooting goes today." He replies. She turns to Miley.

"He's your responsibility. Get him home early."

"Yes ma'am." She jokingly replies. Aubrey grins, picks up her bags, and practically skips out.

Jake stands up and closes the door after her. An awkward silence falls on them.

"She's very nice." Miley whispers.

He sighs.

"She also put me in your responsibility. Not the brightest."

She stands up, feeling more terrible by the second.

"Let's get everything ready to film."

She quickly walks out of his office. Through a window, she sees his wife innocently back out of the parking lot, not having any idea that her heart was almost crushed to pieces, or that it was her husband and a singer who almost did it.