Light filtered through the curtains, streaming across the room and over the motionless body huddled safely under the covers. Slowly, almost painfully, and long slender arm reached out over the top of the covers, a quiet groan sounding through the room. Lauren eased her eyes open, carefully letting them adjust to the morning light. Rolling onto her back, she rubbed her hands over to face. Where was she? Opening her eyes fully, she looked around the room. A TV sat directly in front of the king size bed that held her, a few videos scattered on the shelf of the stand. A large dresser sat to her left, just beside the bedroom door, and a night stand beside the bed held the stand for the cordless phone which seemed to have disappeared, and a lamp. To her right was another dresser, smaller, so not to obstruct the view from the floor to ceiling windows. A glass door lead to a small balcony overlooking the yard. The bathroom door was at the wall above her, the door open slightly. Taking it all in, she remembered the events from the night before. 'I'm at JCs.' she thought, turning on to her right side, tucking her hands beneath the pillow. She looked at the night stand on her side of the bed, and smiled at the picture she saw. Sitting up slowly, she reached for the frame, and brought it to her face. The image staring back at her made her smile.
She remembered when that picture was taken, and she smiled.
She was in New York City doing a shoot for Cosmopolitan, and JC and the guys were in the city doing promotion. No one really felt like going out that night, so they all got together in Joeys hotel room to play poker. Using popcorn, chips and Reese Pieces as money, Justin had been winning and was not being all that gracious with the fact. Lauren had never played before, so of course she was losing.......bad! JC agreed to team up with her, and Justin allowed it figuring that no one would be able to save her now. They were sitting on one of the beds, candy in the middle of their semicircle. Lance, Joey and Chris watched the game going on in front of them. They had already folded, knowing that Justin probably had yet another winning hand. Justin had a look of pure elation at the cards he held. Lauren kept her face perfectly emotionless. She knew the whole 'poker face' rule. Figuring he had a winning hand, Justin had bet all his candy, smiling confidently at Lauren. JC sat behind her, arms on either side of her, holding the cards. Lauren bet all her candy as well, figuring she had nothing to lose. She couldn't let Justin get too confident, and he was rather shocked to see her make such a bold bet. Placing his cards down, he threw his hands in the air in victory. "Boo-ya!" he yelled, wiggling his butt on the bed. He was celebrating already, until JC placed Laurens cards down, and the realization hit Justin. She won! She beat him! He lost all his candy..........to a girl! A girl who had never even played before! Oh, he was never going to live this down.
Britney had been taking pictures all day with Laurens camera, saying that it was neat having all these behind the scenes pictures. She had gotten a great one of Justins face after seeing Laurens cards. Lauren had pictures of all the guys in her purse, and that one was the one she had of Justin. Janssyn had Lauren make her a copy of it, saying it was quite a keepsake. Marking the day Justin Timberlake actually lost at something. When Lauren realized she had beaten Justin, she was ecstatic! She turned and hugged JC before reaching out and dragging all Justins candy to her side of the bed, giggling excitedly. Chris, Joey and Lance just sat there laughing and Justins pout. He really was a sore loser. Feeling sorry for him, Lauren tossed him a Reeses Piece "Here ya go, kid. Go buy yourself somethin' nice." she mocked.
Britney had taken a celebratory photo of Lauren and JC, smiling like goofs, holding handfuls of Justins candy as he pouted in the background.
This picture in the frame she held, also held the mark of a great memory. She ran a finger over the smooth surface of the glass, before placing the frame back on the stand.
Stretching her arms above her head, she winced at the slight pain and stiffness in her back. It wasn't the first time she had felt this way, but it wasn't exactly something you got used to. It wasn't the first time, but hopefully it would be the last.
Removing the covers from around her legs, she stood up from the bed and walked into the bathroom joined to the bedroom. Splashing cool water on her face, she brought her eyes to the reflection in the mirror. She straightened her back, keeping her gaze focused on the girl in the mirror. God, she had been through hell. But hopefully this was a new beginning. 'The rainbows of life follow the storms, Lauren' she told herself. May as well start the day with a little pep talk.
Heading downstairs, she could already hear the chattering voices coming from the kitchen. She crossed the foyer to the kitchen entrance, and peaked inside. At the far end of the kitchen sat a small adjacent dining room, which held a long table and 8 chairs. Justin sat along the side of the table, his back to a screen of windows which cast a warm glow that surrounded him. Britney was in the kitchen, looking through the fridge. "For crying out loud, Justin. He's out of milk, alright, just eat the cereal dry. It wont kill you!" she huffed, shutting the door to the fridge, her back turned to where Lauren stood in the doorway.
"What kind of man doesn't have milk for his cereal?" he complained, turning his attention back to his bowl. "I'm gonna have to teach him the rules."
JC was nowhere to be seen. He was probably at Justins. 'Open-house policy' she thought to herself.
Finally pulling away from the doorway, Lauren entered the kitchen. Justin raised his eyes from his cereal to look at her, and smiled a warm Timberlake grin. "Well, hey there neighbor!"
Britney turned to face Lauren, and smiled sweetly at her. "Hey there, hon. Sportin' the grunge look this morning, are we?" she joked.
Lauren did look rather scrubby. Her hair was sticking out in all directions, and the shirt Britney had given her the night before was wrinkled. But hey, it was morning, what did they expect?
Just then, JC came through the door behind Lauren. "Mornin' roomie." he smiled, kissing her on the cheek. Passing by Lauren, he slammed a carton of milk on the table in front of Justin. "There, you're highness! Heres your damn milk!"
"Thank you, my humble servant. Now fetch me my slippers." Justin waved his hand at JC as if to send him on his way.
"Fetch this" JC replied, slamming his bent arms together, fists balled. Ever since they had seen that on an episode of Friends, they had adopted it. It was better than swearing at each other or flipping the finger. Especially when everything these guys did made headlines.
Turning her attention away from the fools still carrying on at the kitchen table, Britney walked over to Lauren. "How'd you sleep?"
"Pretty good, actually. Its been a long time since Ive been able to completely relax."
The girls walked to the middle of the kitchen, and Lauren leaned on the top of the island in front of the counter. Cupboards lined the top of the wall in front of her, and below the countertop. A microwave sat at the end of the counter, with a stove breaking in the middle. Behind her was a small table, holding mostly papers, and notes. Beside it was a large standing cupboard, holding the typical bachelor food. Cereal, Kraft Dinner, and chips. That was usually the first place Justin headed for whenever coming over, so it was usually stocked full. A phone hung from the wall inside the second doorway, this one leading directly to the dining room. Like the living room, the kitchen and adjoining dining room had two entrances.
"What would you like to eat? There is cereal, but I'm not too sure you'll be able to break it away from Justin." Britney joked, turning her attention back to her boyfriend. He was still arguing with JC, complaining that he got no respect. Respect for what, she had no idea.
"Thanks, but I'm not too hungry right now. Maybe a little later."
"You sure? There's three of us and only one of him. We can probably take him?" Britney joked.
Lauren just laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure"
The girls joined the two men that had finally stopped arguing, although they were still sending each other warning glances. "JC, you're not turning into Chris are you? Cause I don't think I could handle that?" Lauren asked, pulling out a chair beside him and sliding in, sitting on a bent leg, pulling the other to her chest.
"Hell no. Justins just cranky cause he had to wait for me to go back to his house to get him milk!" JC explained, staring at Justin "Heaven forbid he should eat at his house!"
"You love me"
"Don't bet on that, J."
When Justin finally finished his cereal, he was much more pleasant. Lauren took a mental note to always make sure to feed Justin immediately if he came over in the morning.
"So, what's the plan for today?" Britney asked, leaning her head on her folded arms that lay on the table.
"Nothing, really" JC answered, picking a piece of fluff off his white t-shirt. "How are you feeling?" he turned to Lauren. She seemed fine, but after what she had been through the night before, he wasn't completely convinced.
"Fine." she answered.
"You sure?"
"Yes" she laughed "You're not going to always fuss like this are you?"
"I might." he smiled. "Do you feel up to unpacking today? We put all your things in the room next to mine."
She thought of the room he was meaning. It was a beautiful room. It looked quite a bit like his, except without the balcony. Her room had a bay window with a seat, which overlooked part of the yard that lead to Justin and Britneys. A large bed, two dressers and her own bathroom. It also had a huge walk in closet, which Joey would always use to hide in if he needed to get away from Justin.
There was another room on that side of the upstairs, which held most of JCs dress clothes. There was a small bed, and a dresser, but mostly clothes were everywhere.
The upstairs hall overlooked the foyer downstairs, and there was a walkway at the far end that lead to the other side of the upper level, which was backed by huge windows overlooking the back yard. There were 2 bedrooms and a bathroom on the side, and a staircase which came to end near the entrance to the kitchen. The stairway to her side of the upstairs began near the entrance to the living room.
At the far entrance to the living room, there was a doorway that lead to the basement. The first room you came to once downstairs was the game room. A pool table, play station, TV and movies filled the room. Along with a pullout couch and a few chairs. Following the hall, there was a storage room, a small bathroom, and a personal gym. The guys couldnt really go out to a public gym, so JC just put some exercise equipement in one of the rooms downstairs. A treadmill, bike, stairclimber and a few weight machines lined the walls. Nothing much, but it got the job done. Not that he ever exercised, but it was there if he ever decided to. At the end of the hall was JCs inhome studio. He had it put in shortly after moving in. He said it helped when he had an idea in the middle of the night to be able to run downstairs and put it to work. It was small, but very handy. He and Justin could be found in there most of the time. There was a small control room, and a smaller soundproof recording room. Nothing fancy, but it got the job done.
The yard outside was quite large, which a inground pool, hot tub, and basketball court. Huge oak trees sat at the far end. There was even a small 'tree-house' in one of the larger trees. Joey and Justin had built it one summer, and spent most of their time up there. It wasn't much, just a large platform with a ladder leading to it. A plywood 'roof' covered only half, and they had only built two walls, but they liked it. It made them feel like kids again.
"Yeah, when you're done unpacking, you can come play in the fort!" Justin exclaimed excitedly. "Me and Joey are gonna put another wall up soon."
"Justin, when are you going to get a life?" JC asked, smiling at his young friend.
"I'm getting a life real soon, I promise. I ordered it a long time ago, its just lost in the mail somewhere." Justins voice was thick with sarcasm. JC just rolled his eyes, not bothering to continue the conversation.
"Yeah, I guess Ill unpack." Lauren spoke up before Justin had the chance to antagonize JC further. Unpack? It sounded strange to Lauren, but she liked the idea. A new start was something she really needed.
"Well, while you girls unpack, JC and me are going to get a few groceries." Justin explained rising from the table to put his bowl in the sink.
"Why are we doing that?" JC asked, confused.
"Because how a man can have no milk for his cereal is beyond me. Its just not right!"
"Oh God," JC rolled his eyes, before running a hand over his face.
Despite JCs complaints, Justin dragged him out to the store, leaving the girls to unpack Laurens things.
"This is going to be fun!" Britney said, climbing the stairs behind Lauren "I feel like I'm moving, too"
"You're too cute sometimes" Lauren laughed.
Walking into her new room, Lauren took a look around. No pictures adorned the walls, so she basically had creative control. JC had made her promise not to put too many 'girlie' things around the house, so she was going to take advantage of her room.
The bags and boxes sat on the floor at the foot of the bed. Lauren lifted a bag onto the bed, while Britney sat on the edge. She opened the bag and found it to contain most of her clothing. Britney took the roll of emptying that bag. She loved the opportunity to go through Laurens clothes in search of things she could borrow. She took the bag over to the large closet, and started to hang the items.
Lauren opened another bag, and began to empty its contents. Everything she brought out had a memory attached to it. Some good; others not so much. She placed a few framed photos on the two night stands, and places a couple larger photos on the floor to hang later.
Leaving her videos and CDs in their box to go downstairs, she moved on to the next box. Opening the lid, she smiled at the first thing she saw. Her sayings book. Ever since she was a teenager, Lauren had kept a little book of sayings. Some were funny, others sentimental. She loved to read over them, thinking what each meant to her and mulling over her interpretation of them. She reached in and removed the small hard cover book from the box. She smiled at the teddy bears that graced the cover, and began to flip through it. Sitting on the bed, and smiled as she read a few.
"Whatcha reading?" Britneys voice caused Lauren to look up.
"Just my sayings book. I'm a nerd, I know, but I love sayings."
"Sayings?" she questioned, walking over to join Lauren on the bed. Tucking her feet under her, Britney sat on the foot of the bed, with Lauren leaning on the headboard.
"Yeah. Just little quotes and stuff Ive collected through the years. All kinds of stuff."
"Can I hear some?" Britney asked, changing positions to sit Indian style.
"Sure," Lauren flipped through the book, looking for a quote that may be of interest. "Okay, do you want funny, romantic, or insightful?"
"Whoa, quite a collection, eh?" she thought of her choices before choosing romantic.
"Okay," Lauren read over a quote before reading it aloud. "If I could come back as anything, it would be your tears. How could I want more than to be conceived in your heart, born in your eyes, live on your cheeks and die on your lips?" she smiled as she finished the quote, raising her eyes to look at Britney.
"Wow," she said "What else do you have in there?" Lauren had her full attention now.
"Lets see," flipping through a few more pages, Lauren came across another "Don't wait for the one you can live with. Wait for the one you cant live without."
"I like that one" Britney said, looking pointedly at Lauren. "You believe that?"
"I didn't used to, but I'm starting to" She had never bothered to think that there would be someone she couldn't live without. But when she really thought about it, she couldn't really see her life without her friends. Especially JC.
"What else you got in there?"
"You're not going to make me read them all are you?" Lauren whined.
"Maybe," Britney joked. "Let me see" Taking the book from Laurens hand, she read over a few more. "Oh, I like this one." she said, running a finger along the page as she read. "Music is love, love is music. Music is my life and I love my life." Britney smiled, as she read who had said that particular quote "AJ McLean? As in Backstreet Boys?"
"Yeah, he said it in and interview once, and I liked it."
"Traitor" Britney giggled, turning her attention back to the book in herhands. Lauren knew Britney was just kidding. The whole NSync vs BSB feud was only media hype, and they actually all got along quite well. Lauren had met the members of BSB a couple times, and they were very nice guys.
"So you've got some sleepless night, when those tears are clouding your eyes. Just remember, it was you who said good bye" Britney read, looking up at Lauren.
"I wont have tears clouding my eyes anymore, Brit" Lauren promised. She was certainly not going to cry over leaving Jimmy. Yes, it was a little scary, but there was a freedom she hadn't felt in a long time. Like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"Isn't it funny that nobody's perfect, until you fall in love with them?" Britney continued on to the next quote in the book. "That's funny. I'm in love with Justin, and I certainly don't think he's perfect"
Lauren laughed at that, agreeing completely. She loved Justin to death, but he was a pain in the ass a lot of the time.
"Here," Lauren said, reaching for the book. "There's a couple in here that I like" Flipping through the pages, she came across the desired quote "Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget." she smiled as Britney smiled back at her. That particular quote was more meaningful to her at that moment than it had ever been.
JC and Justin had returned an hour later, along with Chris, Joey and Lance. Justin and Chris were already bickering, but Lauren was too tired to bothering breaking them up. If one of them got knocked unconscious, then she would do something.
She and Britney had unpacked the majority of her things. JC had done a pretty good job at gathering everything, only missing a few things. Nothing that was overly important. Except one. Her photo album. She was heartbroken went she realized it wasn't in with the rest of her things, and made a mental note to make sure she retrieved it as soon as possible. She knew JC would never let her go back and get it on her own, so she decided to wait until later and go when she knew Jimmy would be out of town.
After a quick shower, Lauren dressed and met the rest of the group downstairs. Lance, Joey and Chris all hugged her lightly, afraid to hurt her if they squeezed too hard.
"I'm not made of glass, guys." she joked at their tentative touch.
"We know, we're just......" Joey didn't really know how to finish his sentence, so he just shrugged.
"Did you call Janssyn? Or your mom?" JC asked, turning to her as they all filed into the kitchen. Joey immediately began rummaging through the junk food cupboard. "You should probably let them know what happened and that you're staying here now"
"Shit! I never even thought of that!" Lauren covered her mouth with her hand. Oh lord, how was she going to tell her mother all this. Her mother had met JC, and the rest of the gang several times. They guys had met her grandparents as well, and her grandmother had taken quite a liking to Justin. She thought he was 'quite a cute young thing'. Whenever the guys were in Atlanta, she would be sure to get her famous chocolate chip cookies to him. He even had Mike, his bodyguard, drive him out to her house to visit her when they had been in town a few months ago. Lauren would joke with her, saying that she treated Justin like a grandson. He even called her Granny. Laurens mother especially loved them. She adored them, and had always told Lauren she should 'hook up' with JC. Lauren would always just laugh and dismiss her mothers suggestions. She was always trying to set Lauren up with someone. Anything, if it got her away from Jimmy. She knew her mother would be happy that she left him, but the factors that forced her to do so wouldn't be easy to describe.
"I'm going to go and make some calls," she said, leaving the kitchen for the privacy of the living room. Sitting on the couch, she folded her legs under her. Taking the portable phone off the table in front of her, she quickly dialed Janssyns number. 'May as well get her over with' She could only imagine Janssyns reaction.
Janssyn picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"
"Hey, its me"
"Hey you. I called you this morning, but there was no answer"
"Yeah. Um, I wasn't there this morning"
"Where were you?"
"Well, actually." Lauren cleared her throat before continuing. "I moved out" She closed her eyes tightly, waiting the noise she knew was coming.
There was no sound on the other end of the line. "Hello?" Lauren was shocked. "You there?"
"You moved out?" Janssyn was confused. Lauren better not be joking with her!
"Yeah. Its a really long story, but to make it short, Jimmy and I had a fight, and JC moved me in here with him. I'm going to be living here now."
The silence returned. Certainly not the reaction Lauren was expecting.
Finally, Janssyn spoke up. "Are you alright?"
'May as well tell her everything now, get it out of the way' Lauren thought.
She proceeded to tell Janssyn the whole story. Beginning to end, and was a little surprised at how good it felt to finally come clean to her friend.
"I'm happy for you." Janssyn replied "Wait, that didn't sound right. Not happy that that happened to you, but happy that you're finally out of there"
"I know what you meant"
"Thank god, I felt like a dumbass for a minute there. I didn't know I could fit both my feet in my mouth at the same time."
After talking with Janssyn for a little while longer, Lauren proceeded to call her mother and have the same conversation. Her mother was ecstatic that Lauren had finally left Jimmy. And was even happier to know that she had moved in with JC. "Maybe now you two will get together" she joked.
"Don't start with that, Mama. There is nothing between JC and I"
"I may be old, my dear, but I am not blind. I see the way that boy looks at you. The sooner you see it, the better off you'll both be."
Lauren wasn't in the mood to get into that particular conversation with her mother, so she didn't argue further.
She called her agency to give them the change of address and phone number, and a few other friends and family. Everyone she talked to was elated at the fact that Lauren had left. She hadn't even realized they knew what was happening, but it was obvious they did. She felt a little stupid for not realizing, but she just reminded herself that it was over.
After hanging up the phone from her agent, she returned to the kitchen. She looked around at the 6 people sitting at the dining room table. Joey now had bags of chips and cans of pop scattered across the table. Justin, Britney and Lance sat with their backs to the window, with JC at the head of the table. Chris sat across from Justin; probably not the best idea; with Joey across from Britney. They were quietly chatting, and Justin laughed at something Lance said. A small smile crossed her features. Another one of her quotes entered her mind, and her smile widened. It was true. It all comes down to who's by your side.
