"Son of a bitch," JC paced angrily across the floor, hands on his hips. His face was slightly red with anger, his lips drawn into a scowl. Britney and Lauren sat at the head of his bed, watching him pace in front of them. Lauren sat with her knees pulled to her chest, nervously picking at her nails. She did that alot, she noticed. Britney sat beside her, legs folded under her, leaning on one arm with the other folded across her lap. Both girls just stared at JC as he paced.
"Son of a bitch," JC continued to ramble "I cant believe he got in here. How the hell did he get in here?"
That was a good question. Lauren knew he didn't have the code to the front gate. She never told him, and didn't have it written down anywhere for him to find. She couldn't think of anyone she knew who would have known the code, especially anyone who would have told Jimmy.
"I'll kill him, I swear to God, if he comes within a hundred feet of you Lauren, Ill kill him" JC picked up his pacing, practically lapping the room.
"JC, you're scaring me. Please calm down." Laurens voice was shaky. He really was scaring her. She had never seen him angry, and he just seemed to be getting madder the more he thought about it.
Justin came running into the room, wearing just his pajama pants and a wife beater. Britney had called him when they had read the note. She thought it would be a good idea to have him there in case JC took off like last time. He stood in the doorway to JCs bedroom looking between the three other people in the room frantically, a hand on either side of the doorframe. He was panting like he had run a hundred miles.
"What happened?" Justin was completely lost, since Britney only told him to get over here. She didn't tell him why.
"This." JC tossed the note, which was still in his hands, towards Justin.
Picking it up off the floor, Justin scanned the message. His eyes squinted at first, as if trying to understand it, then widened in shock. Then his eyes set on Lauren, who was still playing with her nails nervously, before turning to JC who paced back and forth in front of him.
"What the hell?" Now that was an intelligent comment. He just held the note up, as if to say 'Hey, look what I found'
"What the hell?" JC turned to Justin, confused. "What the hell? What do you mean, what the hell?"
"What do you mean, what do I mean? I mean what the hell? How did he get in here? Why the hell did he leave a note like this?" Justin defended. They expected him to make sense after being pulled out of bed at 11:30 at night? Whatever. Damn, man can't even ask a question around here.
"I don't know Justin." JC resumed his pacing. He was going to ware a path in the rug if he didn't stop.
"JC, please, sit down." Lauren leaned forward on her hands and knees, reaching over the foot of the bed to grab JCs hand. "Please, just sit down. You're not going to solve anything by pacing around like a maniac."
Thankfully, he obliged. He sat at the foot of the bed, bending his one leg along the side, tucking the foot under him. Lauren slid up beside him, wrapping her arms around his. Justin took Laurens spot beside Britney at the head of the bed.
"Listen," JC sighed. "I don't know how he got on the property, but I'm going to check it out. What I really want to know from you is, what is he capable of? I mean, would he actually try and come after you?"
Lauren thought hard about the question posed to her. Jimmy had one hell of a temper, which was easily sparked. But he wasn't much for confrontation with people he knew he couldn't intimidate. That was why he took everything out on Lauren. She was like his scapegoat; any problems he couldn't fix, he took out on her. But as far as him actually coming after her to harm her simply for leaving him, she wasn't so sure. She knew he wasn't happy that she had left, only because to him it was like he lost. And he didn't like to lose. But he wasn't too likely to do something extreme. He probably knew that Lauren wouldn't let JC bring the police into anything, for fear of what would happen if the media got word of it. The only thing Lauren could think of that would make Jimmy actually want to terrorize her was the fact that she had moved in with JC. Like JC had taken her away from him.
Finally she spoke up. "I don't know." she said quietly "Honestly, I'm not sure. I wouldn't have thought so before seeing this note. I don't think he would go to an extreme to hurt me, but I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to terrorize me a little. Try and keep his power over me by scaring me."
JC lowered his head to stare at the floor. He was obviously trying to keep his temper in check. Finally, after a few moments, he looked up at Lauren. "Okay. I think it would be a good idea if you weren't left alone for the next little while. Until we see if he's going to do anything else."
"What? You mean you want me to have a baby-sitter?" Lauren couldn't believe he was taking it this far. She leaned back to look at him, definance on her face.
"I'm not saying you need a baby-sitter, Lauren. I'm just saying that I would feel better knowing that someone was with you when I couldn't be." JC turned to face his body to hers, and placed a hand on her cheek. "I would never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you"
Lauren leaned her cheek into his palm, and closed her eyes. She hated the thought of having someone watching over her like she was a child. She was a grown woman, not a twelve year old. "JC, I don't want a bodyguard." she said firmly.
"Not a bodyguard. Just me, Justin, Brit, or one of the other guys around. Janssyn, too. Whoever. Just so you aren't alone. Until we knew for sure that hes not going to try anything." He wasn't going to be refused this. It was for her own good. Removing his hand from her cheek, he continued. "I'm not going to argue with you, Lauren. If he got on the property without us knowing, who's to say he wont try and get in the house?"
Damn. He was right, and she knew it. But that didn't mean she had to like it.
"You're not going to let me win, are you?" she sighed.
"Nope. Sorry hon. Justin, Brit and I voted, and you lost." he joked.
After a moment, Lauren sighed loudly with defeat. "Fine. But let me set a few rules here. I do NOT want to be followed around 24/7 like a child. Having someone around does not mean having them attached to my hip, got it?"
"Fine. I have a few rules of my own. No trying to sneak away from whoever is with you. No complaining about it, and no trying to distract Joey with food or girls in order to assist in your escape."
Lauren giggled at the last rule. "Fine"
"And one more. If anything else happens. Another note, phone call, or whatever. You have to tell me. I mean that. You have to tell me, Lauren." He locked his eyes on hers, making sure she understood just how important that last rule was to him.
"Fine."
"I mean, it!"
"I said fine!"
Convinced she understood, he closed the subject. "Okay, good. I promise we wont make a big deal out of this. No dramatic changing of the guards or anything. Just cooperate with me."
"Okay." she agreed. "So, what do we do now?" she continued, look down to her nails again. She really needed to get a manicure one of these days.
"Well," he stood up, crossing over towards the wall of windows on the far side of his room. "Tomorrow I'm going to check the gate and fence. See if there was any way he could have snuck through somewhere. Other than that, I have no plan. We'll just hope this was a one time thing."
After assuring Britney and Justin that everything would be fine, JC sent them home. Luckily, they didn't go back to recording for another week, so he could keep an eye on Lauren for most of that time. After that, he would get Britney or Janssyn to hang out with her. Hopefully, this was a one time threat and there was no more coming. Jimmy had probably just gotten drunk, and decided to try and scare Lauren.
JC escorted Lauren to her room, turning down her covers while she changed for bed. After tucking her in, he sat on the edge of her bed. "I'm sorry if I scared you. Or if I was too pushy with the guarding thing." he smiled, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face.
"Its okay. I know you're just upset."
"Want me to stay with you tonight?"
She did want him to stay, but if she was ever going to get him to give up on this bodyguard idea, she was going to have to make him believe she was alright. "No, I'm okay. I know your just a door away."
"Okay. See you in the morning." he kissed her forehead, and turned off the lamp on the night stand beside her before leaving the room. He closed the door tightly behind him.
Flipping over on her side, Lauren tucked her hands under her head. She had a million thoughts going through her mind at that moment. Everything from how Jimmy had gotten on the property, to JCs reaction. She really didn't know if Jimmy was capable of coming after her or not. She never thought she would have to worry about it. She was a little worried about the possibility of him going after JC. Lauren wouldn't put it passed Jimmy to assume that there was something going on between her and JC, which would only piss him off more. He had accused her of cheating with JC on more than one occasion, to which she always said that it was his guilty conscience talking, and that there was nothing between her and JC. He never believed her, but she didn't care.
Closing her eyes, she sighed. Hopefully, there will be no more problems, and JC would let this guard thing drop.
One could always hope.
Lauren awoke to a loud crash from downstairs. Sitting up quickly, she looked around her room. Light was pouring through the sheer curtains, casting fluttering shadows on the floor. She turned and looked at the clock sitting on the night stand beside her. 9:16am.
Running a hand over her face, she listened carefully for any other noises. Nothing but silence. 'Must have imagined it.' she thought. Turning onto her side, she laid back down. She wasn't quite ready to get up yet. Closing her eyes, she let a sigh escape her lips.
Another loud bang, followed by a series of crashes. Lauren flew up again, eyes wide. 'What the hell!' Cautiously, she pulled back the covers, and slid out of bed. Carefully, she walked over to her door, turning the knob gently. Opening the door slightly, she peeked her head out and looked down the hall. Nothing. She stepped out into the hall, and looked out over the foyer. Nothing. There was nothing on the other side of the upstairs, either.
After checking in JCs room to find it empty, she headed downstairs quietly, and peeked her head into the living room. Nothing. Was she going crazy? Did she hit her head in the middle of the night, which was causing her to hear crashes? Another loud bang coming from the kitchen answer the question for her.
Turning towards the kitchen, Lauren picked up a large candle holder that sat on a table by the bottom of the stairs. If someone was in there to harm her, she wasn't going down without making a few dents in them first. She looked at the front door and noticed JCs coat and shoes were gone. He left her! After that big speech last night, he left! So much for that.
Silently, she approached the doorway to the kitchen. She could hear someone moving around inside as she leaned her back against the wall.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. In one quick motion, she jumped into the kitchen, screaming with the candle holder over her head.
Justin screamed, dropping a bowl on the floor. Gooey batter flew across the floor, splattering on the cupboards.
"Holy shit, Lauren! What the hell! Are you trying to give me a heart attack!" Justin yelled frantically, a hand clutching his chest.
Lowering the candle holder, she breathed a sigh of relief "God damn it Justin! What the hell are you doing? I heard banging, and noticed JC wasn't here. I thought someone had broken in." Putting her lethal weapon on the counter, she walked over to where Justin stood, still clutching his rapidly beating heart. "I should have known it was you. Did anyone ever tell you that you scream like a girl?"
"Damn right you should have known it was me!" he yelled before the second part of her statement registered to him. "HEY! I do not scream like a girl!"
"Yes you do" Lauren stated plainly.
Justin shook his head, mumbling something Lauren couldnt understand, before grabbing a cloth to wipe up the mess on the kitchen floor.
Lauren took a look around the kitchen, and her eyes went wide. There were bowls, pans, pots and everything you could imagine spread to the four corners of the kitchen. Eggs, flour, and butter were smeared over the island, and all over Justin. He had flour in his hair, and a big gob of butter on his elbow. Some sort of goo was smeared on his jeans, and his supposedly black t-shirt was sprinkled with flour.
"Um, J? What are you doing?" she asked, flicking at some of the flour sprayed across the counter.
"JC had some stuff he had to do, so he asked me to come over. I thought I would make breakfast, seeing how I'm so nice and everything. And what is the thanks I get? Death by scented candle." he called from his spot on the floor, not bothering to look up at her as he pouted.
Lauren smiled at his pathetic form on the floor. He really was a sweetheart, even if he was a pain in the ass most of the time. She took pity on him, and help him clean up some of his mess before JC got home and killed him for destroying his kitchen.
She offered to help him cook, but he refused and ushered her out of the kitchen. "The master needs time to create!" he stated, adding a really bad French accent to his voice. Flicking a cloth at her butt, he pushed her out of the room.
Lauren headed back upstairs to change. After a quick shower, she put on a pair of hospital pants, with a loose t-shirt. Pulling her hair back into a ponytail, she headed back downstairs. She could hear Justin humming to himself from the kitchen.
"That's the way, uh-huh uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh uh-huh........" he sang cheerfully. Another bang broke him from his song "Damn it!"
Sitting down on the couch in the living room, Lauren turned on the TV. Flipping through various channels she finally settled on Pinky and the Brain. She laid down on her side facing the TV, tucking her arm under her head.
She had only been watching the cartoon antics for a few minutes, when the phone rang. Justin was probably covered in butter again, so she decided to answer it. JC probably wouldn't appreciate goop being mashed into his phone.
Picking up the cordless from its stand, she pushed the talk button before placing it to her ear.
"Hello"
No answer.
"Hello? Is someone there?"
Silence.
Lauren sat up, covering her other ear with her hand to block out the sound of Justins singing.
Finally, a voice called through the phone.
"Morning sunshine. Miss me?"
Her blood ran cold at the recognition of the voice.
"Awww, you're speechless. I'm touched."
"Go away. Don't call here again." Lauren warned. Before she was able to turn off the phone, he called out to her.
"Now don't be like that. I was just calling to say hello." she could almost see his evil grin through the phone. "Did you get my note?" His voice was normal, as if the note was something she had been waiting on receiving.
"How did you get in here?" she questioned.
"I have my ways. But don't worry, baby, he wont be able to keep me from you forever."
"Stay away from me, do you understand! Let it go!" her voice was shaky, but she fought to control it. She wasn't going to let him know he scared her.
"Ill never let go. Remember, Lauren. I never lose."
With that, he hung up the phone. Lauren sat on the couch, shaking slightly, the phone still pressed to her ear. Tears brimming in her eyes, she wiped them away before they had a chance to fall. Turning off the phone, she placed it on the coffee table in front of her, pulling as far back onto the couch as she could as if the phone was going to come after her.
Justins head popped into the room, peeking at Lauren "Who was that?"
Pulling herself together, she turned to him "No one. Wrong number."
Justin nodded before his head disappeared again behind the wall. "Okay. I'm almost done in here. Hey, Lauren? How do you get pancakes off the ceiling?"
