Another mornings light surged into the room. The birds outside sang cheerfully, hopping around on the balcony outside the open glass door. A light spring breeze blew gently through the trees, sending a soft rustling sound into the room as the leaves brushed against each other.
For some reason, everything sounded so much better that morning. Everything had a sense of peace to it. Everything was just as it should be.
Stirring lightly, Lauren buried her face deeper into her pillow as she slowly came awake. The sounds around her became clearer as she woke, her senses coming alive.
Opening her eyes, she stared out into the morning. Light streamed into the room, casting beams across the floor and onto the bed. Lauren could see a tiny bird hopping along the railing of the balcony outside, chirping happily to another bird.
A smile crossed her face as the memories of the night before came back to her. The map, the trail of rose petals, and the garden of candles and photos all flooded her memory, causing her smile to widen. But the thought of how the night ended caused her to have to bury her face deeper into the pillow to keep herself from squealing in delight. JC being there, being the one who did all that for her. That ridiculous X painted on this shirt. And mostly, what had been said between them. Not only did they end the war that had been going on between them, they confessed feelings they should have addressed long ago. Finally, they admitted how they felt.
They spent the night laying in bed together, talking until the hours of the morning. They talked about everything, finally putting closure to everything that had troubled them.
They were in love with each other. Completely, hopelessly, corny-Disney-movie in love. And Lauren couldn't have been happier.
Stirring more, Lauren felt a weight over her. Turning to look back over her shoulder, she noticed JC sleeping beside her, his eyes closed peacefully. She smiled at how his bottom lip stuck out slightly as he slept, making him look like a pouting child. His arm was wrapped around her waist, drawing her close to him.
She didn't want to wake him. He was just too cute to disturb.
Laying her head back down, she returned her attention to the little birds outside. Two small birds were facing each other on the railing of the balcony, chirping up a storm as if having a deep conversation. Suddenly, another little bird landed beside one, knocking him off the ledge. It was too cute, and Lauren had to fight not to laugh at the sight. The bird flew back up to his position back on the ledge, and chirped angrily at the other who had knocked him off.
'Even birds bitch at each other' she thought to herself with a smile.
Just then, she felt a movement behind her. A deep intake of breath, and a stirring motion indicated that JC was waking up. She decided to stay still, pretending to be asleep. She figured he would just go back to sleep if he thought she was.
Moving around more, JC opened his eyes. Blinking repeatedly as they adjusted to the light, he looked to his side and smiled. Lauren lay beside him, wrapped in his arms. He had wanted to wake up like this for the longest time, and now that he had, he didn't want it to end.
She seemed to be asleep, her side rising and falling in a steady motion in time with her breathing.
Propping himself up on his elbow, JC leaned over to look at her closely. Her eyes were closed, her lips pressed into a tiny smile. She wasn't asleep, the little sneak.
JC smiled again. Guess this meant he would have to 'wake' her.
Leaning down to her, he pressed tiny kissed along her cheek, trailing them down the column of her neck and onto her bare shoulder.
He felt her breathing quicken at the touches, but her eyes remained closed. She was going to be difficult, it seemed.
Bringing his touch back up to her cheek, he leaned over her more, gaining a better angle to her lips. He placed several small kissed at the corner of her mouth, and as he felt her begin to respond, he pulled away slowly. She followed him, eyes still closed, in search of his lips.
Leaning back, he stared down at her smiling, as she opened her eyes and looked at him.
"Mornin'" he whispered.
Lauren groaned sleepily. "Hey"
"Sleep well?"
"Better than I ever have in my life" Lauren smiled up at him. "Before I was so rudely awoken by some insatiable man." she joked.
"Oh well, then Ill just make sure not to wake you like that again. My bad." JC pulled away, laying back down and flipping over to face the door. He smiled as he felt the bed behind him move under Laurens shifting weight.
"Well, no need to be hasty now." she smiled, leaning over him and placing her chin on his shoulder. "I guess I can live with it."
Turning to smile back up at her, JC laughed. "If you have to, huh?"
"Yeah. If I have to"
JC turned suddenly, grabbing Lauren and tossing her back to the bed. Hovering over her, he smiled down at her as she grinned back at him. Leaning down, he kissed her. A soft, tender, intimate kiss.
They were enjoying themselves immensely when suddenly the door flew open, and a curly haired menace bounded into the room.
Hopping up onto the bed, Justin squirmed his way over and in between JC and Lauren.
JC groaned in complaint, while all Lauren could do was laugh. Justin had the worse timing of anyone she knew.
"Morning!" Justin exclaimed excitedly. He bounced in a seated position, looking back and forth between the two happily. "Anything new ya'll wanna tell me?" He grinned evilly down at JC, who simply covered his face with his hands.
"Justin, did your Mama never teach you to knock?" he called through his hands.
"Yeah, she did actually." Justin stopped bouncing, a look of horror crossing his face. "Oh God. You guys weren't doing it, were you?" Justin turned quickly to look at Lauren. "Cause man, I don't need to see that. Ill wait in the hall, if ya want." he said, pointing to the open door. "Just holler when you're done." His silly smile made it clear to Lauren that he was kidding around. He knew that she wasn't about to jump into that kind of situation, even if it was JC.
"Justin, shut up!" JCs muffled yell called from Justins other side.
"What do you need, J?" Lauren asked softly.
Turning his attention back to her, Justin resumed his happy bouncing. "Just wanted to say hi."
"Hi" she answered.
"Hi" he smiled down at her. His grin was pure evil.
"Anything else you want?" she asked, knowing full well that there was.
Scooting down further, Justin laid down to face her. Sticking his butt out, he pushed JC further to the edge of the bed. "Hey! Justin, I'm warning you! This is my bed, and that's my...."
"Girlfriend....?" Justins antagonizing question stopped JCs words. His gazed stayed locked on Lauren, and she was forced to smile at the cute expression on his face.
She knew he knew everything that had happened last night. He had a pretty good view from the walkway upstairs overlooking the yard. He was just being a pest trying to get them to tell him something he already knew.
"Yes!" JCs annoyed voiced called, as he reached over and tried to pull Justin away from Lauren.
"Hey man!" Justin called over his shoulder. "Watch where those hands go!"
"Then get out of my bed!" JC pouted, flopping back onto the mattress.
Justin turned to face Lauren again, and smiled sweetly at her. She returned the smile genuinely.
He was glad that everything had worked out. He was even more glad that he had been able to help work it out. They were two of the closest people in the world to him, and it made him happy to know that they had found each other.
Grinning back at Justins smiling face, Lauren mouthed the words 'Thank You'
Widening his smile, Justin replied silently. 'Youre welcome'
Sitting quietly for a few more moments, Justin jumped up, and sailed over JC onto the floor with the thud. He wasn't the most graceful man in the world, that was for sure.
Jumping to his feet, he smiled back at the two laying in the bed, staring at him like he was insane.
"Welp," he said, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "I'm gonna go make breakfast."
"The Justin Timberlake Special?" Lauren asked, rolling over to face him.
"Of course." Turning to hop out of the room, Justin called over his shoulder. "Three Timberlake Specials comin' right up!" he yelled, holding up seven fingers. Lauren laughed at her silly friend.
When Justin had finally closed the door, JC turned to face Lauren, a pout still pressing his features.
"He is such a pain in the ass." he sulked, rolling over to pull her closer to him.
"Yeah." she agreed, glancing at the closed door. "But we love him anyway."
"If we have to" JC grinned.
Leaning in to kiss her again, a loud series of crashes startled JC from his intention.
"Damn it Justin!" he yelled, pulling back the covers to head for the door. "Don't you dare get another pancake stuck on my ceiling!"
Coming downstairs, Lauren had realized why Justin had held up seven fingers when talking about the number of Justin Timberlake Specials he would be making.
Wrapping her robe around herself, she entered the kitchen expecting to find JC pulling pans away from Justin. Instead, she found JC pulling pans away from Justin, with Lance, Chris, Joey and Janssyn sitting around the dining room table, watching the spectacle occurring in front of them.
"Damn it, JC!" Justin whined, yanking on a pan. "I know what I'm doin'! I make a good breakfast!"
"Justin! You got a pancake on my ceiling!" JC pulled back again on his end of the pan. "That I had to clean up!"
As the two continued to bicker, Lauren crossed the kitchen to join the audience watching them.
Sitting down between Chris and Joey, Lauren turned to look over her shoulder at the sound of a bang. JC had suddenly let go of his end of the pan, causing Justin to smack himself in the head with it. The table erupted into a roar of laughter as Justin stumbled around gripping his forehead.
"JC! You dumbass, you aren't supposed to let go like that!"
"Its okay, C." Joey called between laughs. "He didn't hit anything he uses."
"Shut up, Joey." Justin whined, and he set the pan down on the stove. "Yall suck, you know that? No one......"
"No one appreciates me" the rest of the group finished Justins sentence for him in unison, before laughing again.
"You're all going to hell." he pouted as he pulled open the door to the fridge and began to remove items and set them on the island behind him.
Once the laughter calmed, Lauren turned her back to Justins continuous complaints to look at Janssyn, who sat across from her beside Lance.
"So, what's up?" she asked innocently.
"I should be asking you that same question?" Janssyn grinned, flickering her gaze between Lauren, and JC who was helping Justin open a carton of eggs that he was having trouble with.
"Well, considering you all are here, you already know." Lauren answered, raising an eyebrow at the guys surrounding her. "And since Justins here, I know he's spilled everything."
"You sayin' I'm a blabbermouth?" Justin called, pointing a spatula defensively at Lauren.
"No." she answered, smiling at him from over her shoulder. "I'm saying you're a gossip queen. There's a difference."
Lauren turned to face Janssyn again, but could hear Justins complaints from behind her as he whined again that no one appreciated him.
"So, how was your date last night?" Lauren asked. She didn't really feel like getting into details about last night at a table full of guys. They knew the gist of it, so she would save the details for Janssyn later.
Janssyns eyes darted to the table top, a light blush coming to her face. Joey and Chris started laughing, as Joey reached across to flick at Lances head. "Why don't you ask ol' Poofoo, here?"
"Why would I ask Lance?" Lauren asked, looking at Joey confused.
Joey and Chris both laughed even harder, if that was possible. Lauren turned back to Janssyn, pointing at her accusingly! "You went out with Lance!" she screamed.
"What!" JC called from across the kitchen. "Dude, you never told me that!" he whined at Lance.
"What? You didn't tell me that you and Lauren are a couple." he defended.
"Oh sorry, man. I should have called you at midnight last night to give you the full report, right?" JC answered sarcastically. Another bang turned JCs attention back to Justin and the disaster he was creating in the kitchen. "Justin, for Christ sake, you cant put peanut butter in pancake batter!"
"So Lance is the guy you went out with last night, and you failed to mention that to me when I spent the entire day with you helping you get ready!" Lauren asked accusingly.
Janssyn smiled sheepishly up at her, shrugging her shoulders. "Well, I didn't want you to get all weird over it." Lowering her voice, she leaned across the table to whisper at Lauren. "I was nervous enough, and didn't need you making me more so."
"Aw, you were nervous! That's so cute!" Chris yelled, making sure everyone in the room heard him.
Janssyn buried her face in her hands to hide her reddening features. Lance turned a slight shade of red at the way Lauren was looking at him. She was glaring at him, before she spoke. "And you...." she pointed to him. "If you do anything to hurt her, your ass is mine, Bass!" she warned.
"Excuse me," JCs voice called from behind her. "What are you doing with Lances ass?"
"Well, you don't have one, so shes gotta find a spare." Justin jabbed, stirring his pancake batter. A slip of the spoon caused a splash of goop to fly over the front of his shirt. "Damn it!"
"Shut up, Justin." JC warned as he tossed Justin a dishcloth to wipe the batter off his shirt.
"So, who was the 'friend' that set you up? You said last night that a friend set you up on the date." Lauren asked, ignoring the two dorks arguing behind her.
"That would be me." Joey answered proudly, raising a hand. "I was sick and tired of watching them ogle each other, so I took matters into my own hands."
"Just like Justin did with you and JC." Chris offered, smiling at her.
"Yeah!" Justin yelled as he jumped back from the stove as the bacon spit at him. "And did I get any thanks? No-o. All I get is, 'Get out my the bed Justin.....Get away from my girl, Justin......Quit flicking batter, Justin....'" Turning his voice into a high pitched whine, Justin imitated JCs words.
"Shut up, Justin" JC whined.
"Shut up, Justin" Justin mocked in the high voice. Cracking open an egg, Justin dropped the shells into the frying pan. "Damn it!"
"Ah, this brings back memories." Lauren laughed, remembering the last time Justin made her breakfast. The crashes, bangs and curses were exactly the same.
Coming up behind her, JC wrapped his arms around Laurens shoulders. Kissing her cheek, the others around the table 'Awww'ed.
Lauren smiled as she stared out the window over Janssyns shoulder. The bright morning light shining in warmed the room, with the birds still singing. She lost herself in the feeling.
She was happy. For the first time in a very, very long time, she felt complete.
The last thing she had expected when coming here that night after Jimmy had beat her up was for things to work out the way they had. She never thought she would be living here. She never dreamed she would have gotten into such a fight with JC. It still upset her to know that she had hurt him when she kept those things from him, but she knew she couldn't go back and change the past. Wishing on that was pointless, and the only thing to do was move on. Their promise to never lie to each other was re-committed last night in their talk.
They knew that there was always going to be things that tried to come between them. Their careers made relationships harder than normal, but they vowed to try their best to make it work. That was all they could do, was try. There were no guarentees in life, you couldnt promise that things would never happen to make things hard. All you could do was try and make it through.
"Hey,"
JCs smiling voice in her ear broke Lauren from her thoughts.
"Hmm?"
"Where were you just now?" he asked, squeezing her shoulders tighter.
"Right here." she answered, turning to face him with a smile. "With you."
Leaning down to her, JC placed a tender kiss on her lips. Pulling back, he smiled.
"Where you belong."
