Justins blue eyes were wide with a mixture of emotions.
Confusion? Check.
Nervousness? Check.
Fear? Double check.
He was now on the floor, his back resting against the side of the bed. His knees pulled towards his chest, his arms resting on his knees as he stared at the image on the glossy paper. After staring at the photo in his hands for a few moments, he somehow found himself in this position on the floor. He didn't even know how he got there. Not that it mattered.
The image on the page was shocking to him in more ways than he could express. First, he didn't remember anything about that night. He knew that they had slept together, but he wasn't aware that they had been displaying any public affection. If this was true, and they had been kissing in public, what were the chances that someone else had gotten a picture similar to this? That they were just waiting to release it to the media? That was a thought he didn't even want to consider. Mainly because he knew that if that were the case, the picture would have already been distributed and main headlines. It had been over two months now since that night in New York City, and something like that wouldn't be waited on. If someone had that kind of picture, they would have gone out the next day looking for someone to publish it.
Second, who had taken this picture? It was a little blurry, but it was clear enough to know exactly who the two people in the photo were. Justin. And Trystan. There was no mistaking that, unfortunately. So, that would mean that someone other than her had taken the picture, which would mean that someone else knew about what happened. To some degree, anyway. They may not know just how far things went between himself and Trystan, but they certainly knew that they had been there together, and this photo clearly showed them in a rather compromising position.
Third, and most importantly, how had the picture found its way into his house? More importantly, into his room, on his bed? He knew for certain that it had not been there when he had gone downstairs moments before. He looked directly at the empty space on the bed, and even chuckled to himself about the mess he had made. There was no way for the photo to be there, unless someone put it there deliberately. And he knew just who that person would be.
Trystan.
But how did she get in the house? Especially with this many people around? It wasn't just him or Erin there. All five of the guys were there as well. It was a rather busy place at the moment, and he just couldn't seem to understand how she would have gotten into his house to plant this photo without being caught. He knew there was a slim chance of her sneaking past everyone and finding her way upstairs, but getting out would prove to be just as, if not more so, difficult, in case someone was to walk out into the hall and find her.
But how had she gotten into the house? Granted, the front door was unlocked, since they were moving everything in. It was just easier to leave it open. Who was going to come in, anyway? Just the guys. But still, the main gate was locked. It was always locked, and only a select few people had the code.
Those people were simple. Erin. JC. Joey. Chris. Lance. Justin. His mother. Landon.
That was all. And not a single one of those people even knew that Trystan Michaels existed, other than himself, so how in the world did she get the code to get past the front gate?
The thought terrified him. If she was actually able to get into his house, then that would mean that this probably wouldn't be a one time thing. She had gotten in with the greatest of ease, obviously, since the house was completely filled with people, and not a single one of them even realized that someone was in the house. Since she had done it once, she would probably do it again.
And if she did get into the house again, what would she do next time?
She had already left a picture in his car. How she had been able to do that was still a mystery to him, but if he had learned nothing else about this woman, he had learned that she was capable of anything.
If she was able to get into the house again, what would she do? What if she left another photo incriminating him, and Erin was the one who found it. He knew he was extremely lucky that he had been the one to come upstairs when he did, and that he had been the one to find the picture. It could have just as easily been Erin, since she was used to having to clean up Justins messes. Usually, he made a mess, and she cleaned it up. That was the way it went. For the life of him, he didn't know what made him come back upstairs and clean up his own mess this time. But he was thankful that he did.
Staring at the picture, his eyes were beginning to ache. He hadn't been able to make himself look away from the image, and he knew it was now burned into his memory. The thought of his lips on hers made him ill, and here was proof that it was true. That it really had happened.
Reaching up with one hand, Justin rubbed his sore eyes. His eyes now closed, the image blocked from view by his eyelids and his hand, still didn't stop it from being seen clearly in his mind. Sighing loudly, he shook his head at himself.
"You really fucked up this time, Timberlake." he said quietly to himself.
"Why?" a new voice called in the room. "What did you do this time?"
Justins eyes shot up to the door, his heart stopping in his chest. His mouth dropped open a little, his eyes wide with fear as he stared at the woman at the door.
Erin grinned at his stupid expression. Leaning on the door frame, she crossed her arms over her chest.
"What did you fuck up now?" she asked, humor in her voice.
Justin could only stare at her in disbelief. What was he going to do? What was he going to say?
Pushing up from the door frame, Erin entered the room. Her eyes turned to the photo in his hands.
"What's that?" she asked as she took a step towards him.
Immediately, Justin was on his feet, turning around to pick up photos from the bed, the haunting image of himself with Trystan being lost in the mixture of pictures in his hands.
"Nothing." he said quickly. "Just pictures."
Erin cocked an eyebrow as she stared at the back of Justins head. He looked so jumpy, she was afraid that if she said boo, he would scream like a girl.
Stepping up behind him, she placed a hand on his shoulder. Immediately, he turned around quickly, pictures filling his hands.
His eyes were wide, his expression a mixture of nervousness and fear.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked, tilting her head at him.
"Nothing." he replied quickly. "I'm just trying to clean up this mess before the pizza gets here."
Erin wasn't sure if he was lying to her or not. Justin never cleaned up his own mess, so she wasn't sure if this was a cover for something else. But even if it was, what could he possibly be hiding from her that had to do with pictures? She had seen all of these pictures millions of times before, so it wasn't very likely that there was something there that she didn't know about.
Looking up at him, she smiled. "You sure you're okay?" she asked. "You look a little jumpy."
"No, I'm fine." he dismissed her concern with a slight grin. "I guess I'm just a little tired and hungry."
Watching him a moment longer, Erin decided to let his behavior slide for the time being. It was his first night with her living with him, and she didn't want to start it out by starting a fight with him. It was probably nothing, and he was probably just a little tired or nervous about taking this step with her, so it was better left alone for now.
Kissing him gently on the cheek, Erin took a step back.
"Okay," she said as she turned back and headed towards the door. "The pizza should be here soon, and Joey already went out to get some chips and stuff. Chris wants to know where you hid his favorite Play station game, so you better come down here and find it before he tears the house apart looking for it."
"Okay." Justin said with a nervous nod. "Ill be down in a minute."
Giving him one last glance, Erin smiled before jogging back downstairs and leaving Justin alone in his room.
The moment her footsteps were faintly downstairs, Justin turned back to the bed, dropping the photos back down. Shuffling through the pile in his hands, he searched for the photo of him and Trystan.
Finally finding it, he quickly left his room and headed for the office down the hall. Sneaking inside, he made his way over to his desk. On the corner of the desk was a paper shredder. It was one of his impulse buys one day when he and Landon had gone to Office Depot and had spent a little too much money on office gadgets. He had only used it twice, both times to shred some stupid drawing that Chris had done of him. This time, it was going to be put to good use.
Flipping the switch, the machine began to hum. Placing the photo in the slot on top, Justin pressed down slightly, sending the photo through. Within seconds, the image was destroyed. Taking the shreds, Justin mixed them deep into the garbage can at his desk, then removed the bag and tied it tightly. Jogging downstairs, Justin placed the small bag in the larger one in the kitchen cupboard, ready to be removed the next morning and taken away.
Stepping back from the garbage, Justin stared at it, almost as if he was afraid that the photo would somehow mend itself back together, and find its way back to his bed. He knew that wasn't possible, but he couldn't help his overactive imagination.
Rushing back upstairs, Justin gathered the remaining photos and placed them back in their boxes and albums. Taking the box of photos, boxes and albums, Justin placed it in the spare room with his fan gifts. He made a mental note to go through the photos later and make sure there was nothing else slipped in there that shouldn't be there.
Returning to his room, Justin sat on the edge of his bed. Leaning his elbows on his knees, he lowered his head to his hands.
She had gotten into his house. She had been able to get past the front gate, into the house, sneak upstairs totally undetected by any of the six people in the house, and made her way back out safely. She had done all that, and he hadn't even known it.
If he hadn't been scared before, he certainly was now.
He knew now more than ever that she wasn't going to let this go. She wasn't going to just let him walk away from her. She had gone far enough to hurt her best friend to make a point to him, and now she had made it clear that she could get to him in any way she wanted. It wasn't good enough for her that she consumed his thoughts more often than not, or that he was so eaten up by guilt at times that he felt physically ill whenever he looked at the woman he loved. No. She wanted to terrorize him, and she was doing a fucking wonderful job of it.
Rubbing his hands over his face, Justin sat up straight and looked around his room.
What should he do?
Should he try to contact her? No. That was just what she wanted. She wanted him to call and beg her to stop. That way, she had him right where she wanted him. Begging. And he wasn't going to do that.
But he knew this wasn't going to stop. She was going to keep trying to scare him or get his attention, and if he kept ignoring her, it was only going to result in her getting more and more angry. And if she became more angry, Lord only knew what she would do.
Right now, he didn't really have any choice but to wait. He hated the idea of having to sit back and wait for whatever sick idea she came up with to be subjected on him, but he really didn't have a choice. He wasn't going to contact her, because that was what she wanted. And there was nothing else he could do. He wasn't going to go to the police. And he wasn't going to tell anyone.
He wasn't.
He was going to change the code at the gate first thing tomorrow. As well as the code for his alarm in the house. He could easily explain that as a safety feature now that Erin was there, this making any questionable glances or inquiries dismissable.
Really, it was all he could do.
He suddenly felt more scared than he had ever been before.
He had moved Erin in with him partially because he wanted to protect her. He wanted her near him, so he could keep an eye on her and make sure nothing happened to her. If she was with him, then Trystan couldn't get to her.
But now he wasn't so sure. Trystan had been able to get into his house while they were all there, and she hadn't even aroused anyone's suspicion. Which meant that she knew what she was doing, and that she was very good at it.
Justin wasn't sure if Erin was any safer with him than she had been back at her own apartment. At least there, she wasn't directly in the line of fire. Now, she was with him constantly, and with Trystan lurking in the shadows, this put Erin right in her eyes view. Trystan would see them together more and more, know that she had moved in, this prompting her anger to increase.
Now, Justin wasn't so sure that he had done the right thing.
Now, he may have just jeopardized the one person he was trying to protect.
