Cory was the exception. He told the Coach everything he knew. He spilled some pretty damning things about the boys that even Chloe hadn’t known about and in the end, he was the one that put the proverbial nail in the coffin on their social status.
                          
Justin and Cory had also become fast friends over the last few days and it was with their combined encouragement that employed Chloe to talk to her mom about what had happened that night. Facing her mother had been one of the hardest things that she had ever had to do in her life but for the first time in a really long time, she knew that she wasn’t alone. She had Justin at her back.
                          
There had been lots of tears and even more hugs afterwards but in the end, she felt that she had done the right thing.
                          
And now, for the first time in a long time, there were no more secrets. She had laid everything out on the line and Justin was still there for her, holding her hand, kissing her cheek and lending her his strength along the way.
                          
Now that the issue of Craig and Tyler had been dealt with there was still one piece of unfinished business that Chloe was more than ready to take care of.
                          
A knock at the door had Chloe snapping her eyes open and jumping up off of her bed.
                          
“Yeah?” she hollered out while stuffing her prized diary up under her pillow.
                          
“You ready?”
                          
Chloe walked over to the door and pulled it open. A very handsome looking Justin stood in front of her with his hands in his pockets. His easy going smile warmed her from the inside out. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
                          
Justin reached for her and before she could protest he had sly maneuvered her back in her room, closed the door behind them and had her in his arms. Dipping his head, he kissed her. It started out slow and quickly heated to unbearable measures. He had pushed her up against the back of the door and the gentle hold he had on her face was in direct contradiction to the hungry way his lips hungrily devoured their shared passion.
                          
She threaded her fingers in his hair and couldn’t seem to get enough of his drugging kisses. She didn’t want to ever let go.
                          
Reluctantly though, it was Justin that pulled back first. He lifted his head but kept his hands in place on her face, holding her gaze on him. His expression turned serious. “You know you don’t have to do this, right?”
                          
Chloe blinked. She struggled to clear her head from her lust induced haze and cupped Justin’s cheek. “Yeah.” she nodded up at him. “I do. I need to do this for myself.”
                          
“Don’t you believe me?” he asked her, his eyes softening.
                          
“I do,” she told him honestly, “but this isn’t about believing you. It’s about Erica and what she did to me. I can’t explain it. All I know is that I need to face her. I need to know why.”
                          
Justin searched her face and after what seemed like an eternity he sighed. “Okay,” he whispered close to her face and before she could stop him, he stole one more quick kiss, earning him another one of her heart stopping smiles. “Let’s do this.”
                          
“Let’s do this,” she agreed.
                          

                          
********
                          

                          
Justin parked in front of 5-7-9, the store that Erica had just recently got a job at. Chloe had learned from her Aunt that Erica would be getting off at 5:30 today and decided that this was the best place to approach her. She had no doubts now that Erica had lied to her about Justin and the party. She believed Justin when he told her that he had never touched her but what she wanted to know was why. Why would her cousin, her own flesh and blood tell her a story like that knowing how vulnerable she was?