The laughter was refreshing as it hung in the air over the backyard. It was something that no matter what was wrong in their lives, just the sound of each others laughter made it all seem less stressful.
Especially when that laughter was coming from Joey, since he tended to wheeze and snort when he laughed too hard.
After a rather impressive snorting fit, Justin tried to push himself back up from the floor. The moment Joey snorted loud enough to give himself a nosebleed, Justin hadn't been able to help himself from falling to the floor in a fit of his own laughter.
They had all been in hysterics for over fifteen minutes now.
Joey was huddled near the far corner of the pool, clutching his stomach as he tilted his head back, a Kleenex pressed to his nose in an attempt to stop the bleeding. JC and Lance were in the pool, both having to move to the shallow end for fear of drowning themselves because of their laughter. Chris had been on a chair at the patio near the top end of the pool, but that hadn't lasted long after Joeys nosebleed inducing nasal blast. He, now, was on the ground beside Justin, both leaning on each other for support.
The funny thing was, that not one of them could remember why they had started laughing in the first place.
But it didn't matter. It had been too long since they had been able to relax and have this much fun. Just being around each other as friends, rather than people who worked together. They loved each other like brothers, but even on the road there was a certain sense of control they had to have. They couldn't goof off quite as much as they were now. They were free to be as stupid as they wanted; and with them, that was pretty stupid.
Settling his laughter, Justin pressed his hand on Chris' face and pushed himself up from the ground, this action causing Chris to fall further back to lay on his back in the grass.
"Okay, ya'll, seriously," he sputtered as he took a few steps away from a wheezing Chris. "We gotta stop laughing. I'm going to pee my pants, and I don't want that."
This comment only caused more laughter.
Erin stepped through the backdoor of the house and out into the grass. The moment the laughter hit her ears, and she caught sight of Joey standing with a Kleenex to his nose, she shook her head at them.
"You guys are still laughing?" she asked as she approached them, a pitcher of iced tea and glasses in her hand. Placing them on the patio table, she straightened her back to look around at them questioningly. "What are you laughing at, anyways?"
Justin looked at JC, who looked at Lance. Lance lifted his chin to look at Chris, who glanced at Joey. All five men turned to look at Erin, before shrugging.
"We don't know." they answered in unison, before bursting into hysterics again.
Erin laughed along with them. They were sometimes too crazy for their own good. Only they could sit out here laughing for fifteen minutes, and have no idea what they were laughing at.
But she had to admit that their laughter was infectious. If one laughed, another would soon follow before the whole group was laughing. They rarely ever needed a reason.
Walking over to Erin, Justin wrapped his arms around her shoulders before kissing her softly.
"Awwww...." the rest of the guys called together.
"Get a room!" Chris called from his place on the ground.
Justin didn't bother to look down at Chris, simply threw his leg out and kicked him. A quiet 'umph' sounded, and Justin smiled triumphantly.
Erin laughed before looking up at Justin.
"So, what are you guys going to do today?" she asked, tightening her arms around his waist.
"Nothing much. We haven't been all together since the tour ended, and although I try to get rid of them, they just cant stay away from me." He smiled with a shrug before continuing. "They love me. And to be honest," lowering his voice, Justin leaned closer to Erin. "I think Joey has a crush on me."
"Fuck off, Justin!" Joey called, his voice muffled from Kleenex. "I don't have a damn crush on you! Get over it!"
Erin laughed again.
Ever since one night in Dallas, Justin had been saying that Joey had a crush on him. She didn't know all the details about that particular joke, but it had something to do with hot glue, a telephone cord and ribbon. After hearing that, she didn't bother to investigate the matter further.
"What are you up to?" Justin asked, ignoring Joeys whine.
"Hannah and me are going to Marks. He's painting his living room, and we volunteered to help."
Justin nodded.
Mark was Erins older brother, who lived a little more than half an hour from Justin. He worked as a graphic designer, and was always coming up with amazingly creative ideas. Justin even had him create possible covers for their next album.
"Ill be gone most of the day." Erin continued. "So, you guys can order a pizza or whatever. But don't drown each other, cause I'm not here to save Chris like last time."
"Hey!" Chris called from the ground. He still hadn't bothered to stand up, and instead was lying quite comfortably with his hands tucked behind his head. "I didn't need saving!"
"Chris, you got your arm stuck in the filter and started screaming like a lunatic." Erin grinned at him.
Chris frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "So?"
Erin shook her head at him before looking back to Justin. "Call me at Marks if you need anything. I gotta go pick up Hannah." Kissing Justin quickly, Erin pulled away and began to walk towards the door to the house. "Have fun, guys." she called as she waved good bye to the rest of the group.
They all called back to her with a series of waves.
Pulling out one of the patio chairs, Justin flopped down lazily. Rubbing his hands over his face, he looked out around his yard.
He hadn't been able to sleep well the last few nights. Ever since those phone calls three days before, he hadn't been able to relax. Not completely. Again, a strange sense of nervousness was in his stomach. An uncertainty about something that he didn't even know was always in the back of his mind. He laid awake at night thinking; not even about the calls, just about anything at all. He hadn't been this restless since after that night in New York, and for the life of him he didn't understand why.
He hadn't seen or heard from Trystan since their meeting at the venue in Orlando, and Justin had all but blocked her out of his mind. He had thought of her a few times, but not very often. Not nearly as much as he thought he would.
After the night in New York, during the next couple of weeks, he had convinced himself that he would never be able to be the same around Erin again. That whenever he looked at her, he would somehow see Trystan from over her shoulder. A sick, twisted reminder of what he had done, and a punishment for keeping it a secret.
But that hadn't been the case. Yes, there had been the first little while after coming home that he had found it hard at times to push his guilt to the back of his mind, but it was getting easier. He was thinking of that night less and less, and could almost not even remember any of the things said that morning.
The image of Trystan that had once been engraved in his mind was slowly coming apart as well. He could still make out her silhouette, but her features were becoming more and more blurred.
He had been lying in bed the night before, when a thought had struck him.
He hadn't thought of Trystan or what had happened in two days. It had been two days since any reminder had entered his mind.
He smiled. He never thought that would be the case, but now that it was, he couldn't have been happier.
Joey came up beside Justin, pulling out one of the chairs to take a seat.
With a Kleenex twisted and shoved up his nose, he leaned back in his chair. "Dude," he said. "Remind me never to snort again. That hurt like a bitch, and now it wont stop bleeding."
Justin laughed. "Sorry man, but I cant exactly predict when you're going to snort. But Ill give it a shot."
Joey nodded, giving Justin a thumbs up.
Pouring a glass of iced tea, Joey pulled the section of Kleenex that was dangling from his nose to the side, and took a drink. A small corner of the tissue fell into the drink, quickly absorbing some of the liquid. Joey didn't seem to notice, and simply placed the glass back on the table, releasing the corner of the tissue.
Justin looked away quickly before another laughing fit began. His stomach was still sore from the first one.
"So, what have you been doing since we've been on this little holiday?" Joey asked as he fiddled with another Kleenex in his hand.
"Nothing much." Justin replied. "Just enjoying spending time with Erin. Its nice having the both of us with time off for a little while."
Joey nodded, before turning his attention out to the pool. "Hey!" he yelled, pushing himself up from his chair. "Lance, get off my duck!"
Justin looked at Joey strangely before turning to glance at the pool. Lance had climbed on Joeys giant inflatable duck. It was the kind that parents gave to their children to hang in while in the pool. Justin smiled. He hadn't realized Joey was so protective of the duck.
Grabbing Joeys abandoned glass of tea, Justin took a long drink. The cool liquid was soothing, and for the first time in the last little while, he noticed just how hot it was that day.
Suddenly, a hand slammed on the top of the table. Shaking slightly, Chris pulled himself up from the ground and into Joeys vacated chair.
Justin grinned at him. "Gettin' old, man?"
"Shut up. I'm still young enough to kick your ass, Timberlake." Chris defended as he rested his head on his folded arms across the top of the table. "You have still to beat me at Prank Wars."
Justin laughed.
A few years ago, Chris and Justin had established Prank Wars. Since both of them were so fond of pulling pranks on anyone and everyone, they had decided to keep score on who was the best prank puller. On occasion, one of the other guys would get in on the action, but for the most part the contest was between Chris and Justin.
At times, it had become a series of continuous pranks. One right after the other. Other times, it was weeks or even months between pranks.
As of now, it was Chris' turn to pull a prank. Thinking back, Justin realized it had been three months since he had put super glue on the toilet seat on Chris' tour bus. Unfortunately, it had been Dre who used the bathroom first, and Justin had to spend the next three weeks hiding from the huge man.
Looking over at Chris quickly, Justin realized something. Reaching out, he smack Chris across the back of the head.
"OW!" Chris yelled, grabbing his head. "What was that for?"
"For your latest prank." Justin said, narrowing his eyes at him.
"What?" Chris asked, looking honestly confused. "What prank?"
Justin rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that." he said. "Its your turn, and you just waited this long to do something." Leaning back, Justin grinned at Chris. "But I gotta say, you must be slipping. This one was pretty lame, dude."
"Okay, first, my pranks are never lame." Chris said, raising a finger to emphasize his point. "And second," he said, raising another finger. "I haven't pulled a prank since the one when I glued the legs of your pants together before the show in Sacramento."
"Whatever, Chris." he said. "I know you made those calls the other day."
"What calls?" Chris asked seriously.
Justin looked Chris over, and for some reason he really did look like he was serious.
"Are you serious?" Justin asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.
"Justin, for real. I didn't pull any prank since the pants." Chris said, raising his hands defensively.
Justin looked him over again hard, trying to decide if he was telling the truth.
He was.
Justin wasn't sure this was such a good thing. If Chris hadn't been the one to make the calls, then who was?
"What phone calls?" Chris repeated.
Justin leaned back in his chair, a hand coming to his mouth. Tapping his fingers on his lips, he thought hard before speaking.
"A few days ago, I got a bunch of phone calls. One at, like, six in the morning. Erin answered, and no one was there. Then, there were about four messages on my machine. All without a message, and all from an unknown number."
Chris looked just as confused as Justin, and he continued.
"And Erin said she got a few calls on her cell phone that day. Again, from an unknown number and the person didn't say anything."
Neither man said a word for a while, both thinking hard.
"So, who do you think it is?" Chris asked.
"I don't know." Justin shrugged. "I thought it was you, so I dismissed it as your prank. But if you really didn't do it, then I have no idea."
"Have you gotten any calls since?"
"No." Justin shook his head. "Nothing since then."
"Then maybe it was just a fluke. Just some guy who kept getting the wrong number. I know Ive had that happen a couple times. Someone will call, ask for someone, and Ill tell them they have the wrong number. Then a few minutes later, they call again and do the same thing." Chris explained.
Justin nodded, but wasn't sure if he believed this theory. Sure, it was possible, but how possible was it in his situation.
"That's freaky, man." Chris said, shaking his head. "Can you not think of anyone who may have called that many times and not leave a message?"
Justin shrugged. "Cant think of anyone."
As much as he didn't want to admit it, he could. There was only one person that came to his mind, and he didn't even know why. Almost as if by intuition, her face came into his mind, and he closed his eyes.
For the life of him, he prayed it wasn't her.
