September 6, 2001 - the Day of the MTV Video Music Awards

Danielle flew into New York from Tampa around mid-day. Nick and the rest of the guys had sound check in New Jersey for their show that night. Although they had a show to do, they were still making an appearance at the VMAs. Danielle hopped a cab to the Plaza. This time she had no problem checking into the hotel and into Nick's room. She went up to the room and called Britney to see if she was in town yet. After several rings she got her voice mail.

"Hey Brit! I'm here in New York! You must be here and busy with rehearsals or something. I'm at the Plaza, but you can just call me on my cell phone. Bye!"

Danielle hung up the phone and got comfortable in the suite. She lay on the couch in front of the TV and waited for Nick. Or Britney. Whoever got to her first.

An hour had passed before Danielle heard the door to the suite opening. She had dozed off and the rattling brought her out of her light sleep. Nick entered the room and saw her bag on the floor.

"Now, THIS isn't mine. But I know whose it is," he smiled. He looked around the room and peaked into the bedroom. "Where are you, Danielle?" he yelled into the room.

"Boo!" she sprung up from the couch.

"There's my babygirl," he grinned. He threw his room key on the table and bounced over to the couch. He sprung from the ground and onto the couch pinning Danielle beneath him. He placed a quick kiss on her lips, which was followed by a deeper kiss. "I was hoping you'd be here."

"Here I am," she whispered back, holding his face in her hands. She stared into his eyes and traced her fingers over his lips. "I have missed you so much."

"God, baby, I've missed you," he told her. He covered her mouth with his and massaged her tongue with his. He kept one hand supporting him over Danielle and reached his other hand down to unbuckle his pants, his mouth never leaving hers. He undid his belt, zipper and button, and then brought his hand to undo her jeans. She reached down with both of her hands and starting pulling his jeans off of him while he worked on her zipper. She couldn't get his jeans off all the way, just past his butt, but she was able to reach in and gently massage him. He groaned into her mouth upon feeling her touch on him. He was able to loosen her jeans and proceeded to reach into her panties to feel inside her with his fingers.

"Hmmmm, feels like you missed me too, huh?" he smirked, probing his fingers deeper. She grabbed onto the back of his neck with her free hand and pulled his mouth to hers. She gently bit down on his lower lip and began to suck onto it while he bit onto her upper lip.

She pulled away from his lips and moved her mouth to his ear. She nibbled on his earlobe and licked the side of his neck just below his ear. "I can not wait to feel you inside me, Nick," she whispered.

"You're not going to have to wait for much longer," he growled. He reached around behind her and unsnapped her bra, then pulled her shirt up to reveal her chest. Her sleeves and bra straps were still around her arms, but her bare breasts were now open to him. He grabbed onto one of her breasts and massaged it as he licked over her nipple. She felt the sensation of his tongue shoot through her and she instinctively began to grind her hips into him as she threw her head back against the couch cushion.

"Nick, you have no idea how good this feels," she moaned. He then moved over to her other breast and handled it in the same fashion, only this time he sent his free hand back down to explore her from the inside. "God, Nick," she breathed. "I want you, now."

Nick leaned back off of her with one knee still between her legs on the couch and the other leg resting on the ground. He pulled his shirt off over his head and bent down to give her another kiss. As he was getting up to go and get a condom, there was a loud banging on the door.

Danielle and Nick looked at each other, wide-eyed and still. "Just ignore it, baby," she told him.

The banging continued and they could hear Kevin's voice hollering from the other side.

"Aw, hell no!" Nick exclaimed silently. He stood over Danielle looking down at her then letting his eyes dart to the door.

"Are you supposed to be somewhere?" she asked him.

"Shit. . . shit. . . yeah," he replied. "Shit! We've got wardrobe for the awards right now."

"Oh no no," she whined. "Why does timing always have to suck?"

She sat up and pulled her shirt and bra back down and clasped her bra back on. Nick slid his pants back on and Kevin continued to pound on the door when Nick yelled out, "I'm COMING! Hang on!"

He threw his shirt back over his head and went to the door, he waited a moment to make sure that Danielle was decent before opening the door.

"Nick? Did you forget that we were meeting downstairs immediately? We only had a half hour, you know," Kevin reminded him impatiently.

"I know! I lost track of time," Nick tried to explain.

"Hey Kev!" Danielle waved from the couch.

"Hey Dani," he replied, then taking a second look. "Dani? When did you get here?"

"About two hours ago," she said smiling at him. "Nick and I were just catching up when you started banging on the door."

Kevin looked at Nick, who was now hiding his laughter. Nick glanced back at Danielle, "Way to be discreet, baby," he giggled.

Kevin's face went red and he stumbled slightly over his words, "Oh, damn, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"Yeah! Well you did!" Nick chimed in. "But, not too much we can do about that now. Baby?" he turned to Danielle, "You want to come with?"

Danielle got up from the couch as she answered, "Sure, why not."

The three of them were leaving the room when Danielle spotted Justin walking down the hall. "Justin?" Danielle called.

Justin whipped around and his face lit up when he saw Danielle. "Hey! You're here! Brit is on her way back from rehearsal."

"Cool, thanks," Danielle replied. Nick held onto her hand and started pulling her along with him. "Hang on just a sec, Nick." She let go of his hand and walked over to Justin. She gave him a quick hug, then asked him, "What are you doing at this hotel?"

"Well, Brit wanted to stay here to be closer to you so we all switched hotels," Justin began, "But now she has to leave for L.A. tonight after the show, so we're still stuck here."

Danielle nodded, "Makes sense."

"Danielle?" Nick called. "We gotta go!"

She looked apologetically at Justin, "Gotta go. I'll talk to you tonight though, k?"

"You got it," Justin smiled. "See ya later."

At the Awards. . .

Danielle walked the red carpet with Nick, and stood to the side while the guys did interviews along the way. Danielle spotted Mandy playing the role as correspondent, and she knew that Nick was trying to steer everyone away from where she was.

The boys were only able to stay for the beginning of the awards, as they needed to do a show in New Jersey that night. They were to present an award and then they were to be scooted off in a hurry.

Danielle and Britney finally connected earlier in the evening and they decided that Danielle would hang out at the awards with Britney. She really wanted to see her performance and it wasn't until the end of the show. Nick and Danielle agreed that they'd meet back up at the hotel after his show and they'd figure out what they would do from there.

It was weird sitting with Britney after Nick left. Britney sat between her and Justin and Joey sat on the other side of Justin. She could feel his eyes boring through her during the night, but she kept her distance and didn't speak to him.

Britney's performance was outstanding. Danielle was so proud of her and how far she has come. She remembered when they were both just little girls singing into hairbrushes to the radio at her mom's house. And now, Britney was ruling the VMAs.

After the awards show, JC, Lance and Chris and their girlfriends, headed out to the after-party. Britney needed to get back to the hotel to gather her things and then she needed to get to the airport. Danielle rode with Justin and Britney, but Joey also decided to tag along with them.

In the limo, there was an uncomfortable silence. Britney tried making small talk with Danielle to try and keep things somewhat normal. Joey continued to stare at Danielle and interrupted Britney when he finally spoke.

"You're not even going to talk to me?" Joey asked Danielle.

Britney stopped talking and both she and Justin looked up at Joey then all eyes were on Danielle. Danielle looked back at Britney, but Britney could only shrug at her friend. Danielle turned her gaze back to Joey who was anticipating an answer.

"Joey, don't start anything now. We've all had a great night," Danielle told him.

"We did? Cause I don't remember having too great of a night," he snapped. "I had to sit and watch the woman I love cuddle up with some other man and then you wouldn't say a word to me all night."

Danielle rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm done talking about this Joe. And anytime we do talk, THIS is what happens."

Justin chimed in, "Yeah, Joe, just drop it. I don't want to sit here and listen to you argue all damn night."

"Fine by me," Danielle added and crossed her arms in front of her. "Good, we're here."

The limo pulled up to the hotel and Danielle turned to Britney before getting out, "I'll stop by your room before you leave to say goodbye, okay?"

"Okay," Britney replied. "I think I've got a little less than an hour, so hurry, k? When is Nick getting back?"

Danielle looked at her watch, feeling Joey's stare on her. "It's what, 11pm now? I would imagine he'll be here in about an hour."

An hour, Joey thought. That's all I need.

The chauffeur came around and opened the door for the group. Danielle got out first, followed by Britney and Justin, then Joey. Paparazzi were everywhere snapping shots of Britney and Justin. Danielle wanted to exit the scene as fast as possible. No way did she want to see any pictures the next day with her anywhere NEAR Joey.

Danielle went directly to her room and took her shoes off. She contemplated changing clothes, but she figured that Nick would want to go out and hit the after-parties when he got back. She grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and drank it back as she sauntered out of the suite and down the hall to go and say goodbye to Britney.

Joey was standing at the ice machine halfway down the hall. He started filling his bucket, but it was almost as if he were waiting for Danielle to come down the hall. She took a deep breath upon seeing him and prayed there wouldn't be a confrontation. She just wanted to see Britney and then go and wait for Nick. But, there would be no such luck. As soon as Danielle was within 10 feet of him, he looked up at her from the ice machine and stopped filling his bucket.

"Hey," he said softly.

Danielle stopped walking, "Hey."

"I'm sorry I jumped your shit in the car," he said. "This just isn't easy for me, Danielle."

"Joey, I'm sorry that you are having a hard time with this. But you need to just let this go," she told him.

"I know, but I still can't believe what a fool I've been," he said staring into her eyes. "I just keep thinking about where we would be if New Year's had never happened. Don't you wonder too?"

"I used to, but I don't anymore," Danielle answered. "Everything happens for a reason, Joe."

"This wasn't supposed to happen," he said, his voice rising. "Danielle? You never gave me a second chance."

"You didn't deserve a second chance!" she snapped.

"Don't yell at me out here! Where the world can hear you," Joey said under his breath. He grabbed onto her arm and began to pull her along to his suite.

"Joey! Let go of my arm! You are hurting me!" she yelled hitting him in the arm with her free hand.

They reached his door and he unlocked it with the card key, oblivious to her protests. Once the door was open, he pulled her roughly and threw her into the room. He quickly shut the door and locked it. She stood there staring at him, watching him stand between her and the door.

"What the fuck are you doing?" she yelled at him, shocked by his behavior.

"You never let me just talk to you! There's always SOME kind of interruption or you just walk away! Not this time, Danielle! No, this time you are gonna hear me out," he said raising his voice and stepping closer to her.

Danielle had never seen the look in Joey's eyes as she was seeing right now. Something inside her was making her step away from him with every step he took closer to her.

"You can't walk away from me," Joey told her and grabbed onto her arms tightly.

"Ow! Joey! Let go of me!" she yelled.

"No! Now I want you to stop squirming," he shook her a bit and repeated himself. "STOP. Squirming."

She stopped and stood still feeling her arms ache from the tight grip around her upper arms. She stood there for a moment and relaxed hoping he would do the same. He lightened his grip and then wrapped his arms around her pulling her into a hug.

"Feel that? Feel my arms around you?" he said softly. "I want you to remember what my touch feels like. Remember how it made you feel." He began to massage his hand up and down her back. "Dani, I've missed holding you so much. I can't tell you what this does to me."

This whole thing is wrong. What is he doing? She thought. She could smell a strong stench of liquor on him, but this was weird, even for a drunk Joey.

"Joey, stop that. This isn't going to change anything," she told him pushing herself away from him. "What we had, it's OVER. It's OVER Joey. You need to accept that!"

Her sudden separation from him shocked him. Surely, she would remember the love they shared. He knew she could feel his love when he held her. He could still feel her love. Carter has her so fucked up. She doesn't even know what to feel anymore.

"Danielle," he began pulling her to him again. "You know you don't mean that. You know that when you look into my eyes you see the man you've always loved. Don't even try to tell me that he can compare to what we have."

"We don't have anything anymore Joe! It's been nine months! It's over!" she yelled trying to squirm out of his grasp again.

He held onto her firmly, "Nine months! We were together for over two years Danielle! You're gonna stand there and lie right to my face that in nine months you can just forget all about us?"

"I'm not lying! Now let me go!" she argued.

"I don't think so, Dani," he growled at her then placed his lips on hers forcing a kiss onto her mouth.

She felt his tongue enter her mouth and she snapped her jaws shut catching his tongue in her teeth. It did the trick, but what came next she was not ready for. Joey shot back for a moment and held his hand up to his mouth. He looked straight at her, the anger in his eyes making her gasp. And for the first time, she was truly scared. Without another thought, the next thing she felt was a sharp pain, followed by a painful numbness on the side of her mouth. The next thing she felt was hitting the ground.

It took her a moment to realize what just happened. Never in her life had she ever been hit before. But, as she lay on the ground holding onto her jaw, she realized that Joey had just hit her square in the mouth. With his fist? Was she slapped? She didn't know. All she knew was that the impact impaled her lip on her teeth and her mouth started to instantly swell and bleed.

He took advantage of her state as she lie on the ground and grabbed onto her wrists and began to drag her into the bedroom. She began to kick out as he pulled her, but the grip on her wrists was like steel and all she was accomplishing was getting rug burns.

He picked her up by her arms and stood her before him. She immediately started crying, and was unable to say anything. She was still so shocked and her mouth was bleeding quite fiercely.

He held onto the sides of her head, holding her firm enough to make her feel as though her skull was going to burst.

"Baby," he whispered. "This is going to be just like it used to be. You're gonna remember what it's like to love me. Baby, you know I love you so much."

"No, no, no," she sobbed as he placed another kiss on her mouth and quickly slid his lips to her neck as he reached around her back to hold her to him. Her face was buried in his shoulder as he attacked her neck. The more she tried to squirm away, the tighter he held her and the more violent his mouth was on her neck. Kisses turning into deep bites.

He mumbled to her as he continued his attack. "Does Nick do this?" He licked her neck, "Does he lick you like this? Does he touch you like I used to?"

She sobbed harder as he grabbed onto her wrists tightly with one hand. He reached down and pulled the front of her skirt up to allow his hand to roam over her underwear. "Do you like it when he touches you here?"

"Stop, Joey. Just stop," she cried.

"Don't you remember when I would touch you here?" he reached inside her panties to roam over her. "I do. I remember how you would call my name, how much you loved feeling me inside of you."

She tried to squeeze her knees together tight, but his hand was already invading her. He then ripped her underwear completely off in one painful, violent pull. The rip of the material digging into her flesh as it ripped off of her.

She struggled with him harder and yelled for him to stop. He reached around the back of her and began to caress her butt as he placed kisses on her lips again. "Tell me you remember this, Danielle. Tell me that you still love me."

"No! Stop! Joe! Stop!" she cried. "Stop! Help me! Nick! Help me," she choked out through her sobs.

"Nick? You want him to help you? You're making love to me and you want him?" he asked her, enraged.

"I. . . I. . . don't love you anymore Joey! Don't do this, please!" she begged.

"You just don't remember, Dani. Baby, just relax. Don't think about him," he told her, invading her again with his touch.

How could she not think about Nick? How in the world did she get here? She should have gone to the show with Nick. She should have said goodbye to Britney in the limo. She should have turned around and went the other way when she saw Joey in the hallway. How would she know he would snap like this? And now what? All she could think about was Nick, and how she would give anything to have him come through the door and save her right now.

"Know this Joey, whatever you do to me will never make me stop loving Nick. I do and I will always love him," she told him in a moment of defiance. That moment was over quickly, as she felt another blow to her face, which hurled her onto the bed. This time, she felt the pain on her eye and her will to fight back left her. She couldn't believe how painful getting hit was, but before she could register the pain anymore she felt him pounce on top of her on the bed.

"Wrong answer, baby," he told her sitting on top of her legs, grabbing her neck in his hand holding her down. He had undone his pants while she lie stunned on the bed from his last blow. She struggled under his hand, but the more she moved the tighter his grip on her neck became and the less she could breath. Before she knew it, he had pried her legs open and clasped her wrists together above her head. Despite her pleas to make him stop, there was nothing more she could do. What she feared earlier, was now happening. Joey was not even conscious to anything she said anymore. He was in another world.

He entered her roughly. Rough enough to where she screamed out from pain. All she could do was lay there and try not to think about the pain on her face, around her wrists and the violation that her body was enduring.

"Baby, this is just like I remembered it," he grunted. "Doesn't it feel good?"

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, smashing her face against his shoulder as he shoved in and out harder and harder. What seemed like an eternity was actually over pretty quickly.

He collapsed on top of her, easing the grip on her wrists. Her whole body felt completely numb and although she felt his grip loosen she was unable to move her hands to push him off of her. His breathing was heavy against her neck as he tried to regain normal breathing. He began to gently kiss her cheek, which made her tears form all over again. She had a warm salty taste in her mouth, she wasn't sure if it was her tears or her blood she was tasting.

There was a loud banging on the door which snapped Danielle out of the fog that her mind had shut down to. It also made Joey jolt up onto his knees. It was then that she could see bloodstains on the shoulder of Joey's shirt. Her blood. The reality of what just happened began to sink in and the fear in her heart prompted her to find some strength.

The banging on the door became louder and she could hear a voice yelling from the other side of the door. Joey got up off of Danielle, "Stay here, baby. I'll be right back."

Like hell, I'm staying here. Whoever is at that door is going to get me the hell out of here, she thought. Once Joey left her side she began to sit up and immediately felt a rush of dizziness in her head. She heard Joey open the door, and was relieved to hear Justin's voice entering the room.

"What the hell is going on in here, Joe?" Justin yelled charging into the room.

"J, get out!" Joey yelled back trying to round Justin back to the door.

"No! I could hear yelling in here for the past half hour! Haven't you heard me at the door? And why is there blood on your shirt?" Justin yelled.

"Blood?" Joey looked down at his shirt and Justin pointed out the blood soaked on his shoulder. A shocked look hit Joey's face as he stammered, "Oh. . . I didn't realize. . . I didn't know. . ."

"I almost called fucking security! What the hell," Justin began to interrogate again when he was interrupted by another voice.

"Justin?" Danielle could barely squeak out as she gingerly walked through the bedroom doorway. "Justin? Please, help me."

Justin eyes grew wide when he saw who was heading toward him and what shocked him even more was seeing the condition she was in. "Oh my God, Danielle."

Justin rushed to her side, and wrapped his arms around her waist and shoulders, feeling her knees go weak upon reaching her. He looked at Joey and immediately put two and two together. "Did you do this, Joe? Answer me! Did you fucking do this?"

Joey stared at Danielle limp in Justin's arms as he helped her get past him. "No! I mean, this isn't what it looks like, Justin!" Joey watched Danielle break down into tears again and he went to take her from Justin. "Justin! Just let me take care of her. Let me take care of this!"

Danielle looked up at Joey, her face starting to show bruises under the swelling, "Don't touch me, Joey! Just stay away from me!"

"Joe! Just stay the fuck away, now!" Justin yelled at him as he finally got Danielle to the door. "I can't believe you did this. I just can not fucking believe it!"

Joey couldn't do anything but stand there and watch Justin take Danielle out of the room. There was no way he did that to her. But, he had to of. He's never hit her. Ever. They just made love. He looked down at the blood on his shirt again. The evidence was there, but still, he refused to believe that he could hurt her. He loved her. And she just made love with him. Didn't that prove something?

Chapter 21
Chapter 19
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