“I thought it was good. It was a cute story,” Kristina said.
“Yeah. I thought so too and I love Tim Allen and Tom Hanks. They rock, especially together,” Shelley said. Everyone laughed.
“Hey, the second one is starting. Let’s get back to our seats,” Justin said. Everyone hurried back to their seats so they wouldn’t miss the previews.
“I wonder what other movie he’s showing us,” Kristina said.
“I don’t know. I hope it good though.”
“Me too. Hey, JC?”
He turned and looked at her. “Yeah?”
“Can we talk later? Just the two of us.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
“K. Thanks. Oh look it’s Notting Hill. I love this movie. It’s so romantic.” She said getting comfortable. JC just sighed. He didn’t know if he could handle any romance at the moment.
~*~ Back at Justin’s ~*~
By the time Audrey came back downstairs the food had arrived. Chris had it all set up on the table. “Wow! This looks good.”
“Thanks, but I spent all day making it for you. I’m exhausted,” Chris said sitting down.
Audrey slapped his arm as she walked by to sit down. They ate in silence for a while. Chris thinking about how wonderful the kiss was. Audrey, on the other hand, was thinking about why she kissed him. “So what do you want to do tonight?” She said breaking the silence.
“I don’t care. Whatever you feel up to.”
“I feel fine, but I think we should just stay in and relax tonight.”
“Sounds good to me. I think there’s a good movie on TV tonight.”
“Cool.” They finished eating in silence. Then they headed into the living room to watch the movie. At first Audrey was at one end of the couch and Chris at the other. But by the time the movie ended Audrey was lying down on the couch with her head in Chris’ lap. She was asleep. Chris looked down at her and didn’t have the heart to move her. He continued to stare at her until he fell asleep himself.
When the movie was over, they all piled into JC’s Jeep and headed back to Justin’s house. They found Chris and Audrey asleep when they got there. “We should wake them up. Chris’ neck is going to hurt really badly in the morning,” Joey said.
“Leave them alone. They are both probably exhausted. It takes a lot of patience to care for Aud when she’s sick,” Kristina said.
“Yeah. Now come on. We can go to the den,” Shelley said.
They all started walking to the den. “Um… Kris and I are going to take a walk. We’ll be back a little later,” JC said. No one questioned them and off they went. They walked to a park down the street talking about the weather and the guys’ trip to Hawaii. When they got there, they sat on the swings. They didn’t say anything for a while. “So what did you want to talk about, Kris?”
“Um…I don’t exactly know. I just think we should talk.”
JC knew something was up. It wasn’t like Kris not to speak her mind. “You can tell me anything. I’m you’re friend. I’ll stand by you through whatever.” JC got up and kneeled in front of her. Kris looked into his eyes and was mesmerized by the deep blueness. She continued to look into his eyes until she couldn’t control herself. She took his face in her hands and leaned forward until their lips touched. JC was stunned and didn’t respond at first. A few seconds later JC pulled away. Kristina took this as a bad sign. She stood up and starting walking away, faster and faster. JC ran after her. He soon caught up with her and turned her around. “Where are you going?” She just shook her head. “You can’t kiss me like that then just walk away.”
She looked up at him. “But you pulled away and I...”
“I pulled away because my legs were going numb. Have you ever kneeled for that long?” She looked into his eyes to see if he was being honest and saw sincerity in them. She threw herself into his arms and hugged his waist. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. They both new they needed to talk but neither one of them wanted to ruin the moment. Finally JC spoke up. “Where do we go from here?”
“I don’t know.” She looked up at him. “Technically I’m illegal.” She managed to get a little smirk in there.
“You’re right and that’s why I have to say this, even though it hurts.” Kristina pulled away knowing what was coming. “Kris, I can’t be with you now. But the day you turn 18 I’ll be there with my arms open.” Kristina looked down at her hands. “Kris, when we make it through this, we will know that we’re meant to be together.”
“I know. It’s just going to be hard. Will you still be my friend until then?” She asked him hopefully. She looked back down hoping to get a good response from him.
He smiled. “Of course. I’ll always be your friend. Now we better be heading back before they start wondering.” Kris nodded and they started back. They walked in total silence. Halfway there, JC took Kristina’s hand in his, giving her a look that everything will work out in the long run. She smiled at him and continued walking to Justin’s house.
~*~ Back at Justin’s ~*~
Everyone got settled into the den and they started watching TV. They watched a while before Shelley spoke up. “Do you think JC and Kris are hooking up right now?”
Everyone looked at her. “No. She’s too young for him. She’s illegal and JC’s not stupid,” Justin said taking Shelley in his arms. Shelley looked up at Justin and started thinking.
“It doesn’t matter how old they are. Matters of the heart defy age.” Lance said.
“But doesn’t that make my illegal too?” Shelley asked worriedly.
Justin looked down at her. “It’s hard to say this, but she’s right. Babe, don’t worry about it. JC and Kris are different. Their age difference is well a lot. You’ll soon be eighteen and it won’t matter anymore.” Shelley felt content and held onto Justin more.
“Do you think Aud and Chris hooked up this afternoon?” Joey asked.
“She was sick, Joe! I doubt they hooked up,” Lance said.
“I don’t know. They were looking pretty cozy out there,” Joey said.
“I think your hormones are raging overboard tonight. Now shut up and watch the movie,” Justin said.
Twenty minutes later JC and Kris walked into the house. “I think I’m going to go to bed. It’s been a long day,” Kris said.
“Ok. Sweet dreams,” JC said. Kristina walked up the stairs and changed into her PJ’s. Then she crawled into bed thinking about her birthday. It was just under two months away. She fell sleep with a smile on her face.
JC walked into the den. “Where’s Kris?” Shelley asked looking around for her. She needed to talk to her.
“She was tired so she went to bed.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Lance said.
“Yes it does,” Joey said. One by one they all went to bed leaving JC alone in the den. He sat there thinking about Kristina and the decision he had made until he fell asleep.
The next morning when Chris woke up and lifted his head up, he cried out in pain and gingerly touched his neck. Aud woke up when she heard him scream. She sat up. “What’s wrong?”
“My neck hurts really bad.”
“Did you sleep like that all night?”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“That would be why it hurts.” Aud got up. “Lay down on your stomach.”
Chris looked up at her. “What?”
“Just do it.” Chris did what she asked him and she climbed on him. Her legs were on either side of him and she was sitting on his butt. She reached up and gently rubbed his shoulders working up towards his neck. Chris moaned slightly. “Does that feel good? I don’t want to hurt you.”
“No. It feels great. You have great hands.”
“Thanks.” She continued to rub his shoulders and neck until she heard someone laughing. She looked over at the door to see Shelley and Justin standing there laughing. Aud quickly got off of Chris. “I’m going to go take a shower and change clothes.” She quickly ran upstairs.
The two laughing teenagers walked into the room and sat down across from Chris. “What was that?” Justin asked.
“My neck hurt from the way I slept last night and she was rubbing my shoulders and neck.” The two laughed. “What? What’s so funny?”
“It just looked like more than just an innocent little back rub,” Shelley said.
“Well that’s all it was so you two just need to leave it alone.” Chris got up and headed up to his room.
“Ouch. I think we touched a sore spot,” Shelley said.
Kris woke up from a wonderful dream. She had dreamt about her and JC. What it would be like to hold him and kiss him. She wanted, no needed, to feel his soft lips against hers again. She was starting to have second thoughts about waiting until her b-day two months away. She got up and showered then headed down to the kitchen to get some breakfast and see what everyone else was up to. She walked into the kitchen then stopped dead in her tracks. There stood JC. It looked like he had just gotten out of the shower. His hair was soaking wet, dripping on the floor, and all he was wearing were a pair of athletic shorts. He was talking on the phone. Kris stood there and watched him. She loved how he talked with his hands and how he would switch the phone from one ear to the other every once in a while. When JC hung up the phone, Kris walked completely into the kitchen and to the fridge. She got out some milk then went in search for the cereal and a bowl. As she was opening and closing cuburd doors, she felt JC walk up behind her. She could hear and feel his breath on her neck. “Looking for something?”
“Um…Yeah…cereal…bowl.” She could think about anything, but his breath on her neck. It sent goosebumps over her whole body.
“Let me help you.” He got out some cereal and a bowl. “There’s different kinds of cereal over in that cuburd, but I wouldn’t eat the Apple Jacks if I were you. Justin will have your head.”
“Uh…thanks.” JC nodded and walked out of the room. Kris took a deep breath.
“This is going to be a lonnnngggg two months,” she said to herself.
Shelley came into the room and saw Kristina standing near the counter getting ready to eat. She walked over to the dishwasher to get herself a bowl. “Kris, I need to ask ya something.”
“Ya sure. What is it?” She said setting her cereal aside.
“Not here, let’s go for a walk after we eat.”
“K. Whatever ya say babe,”
The two finished eating and told the others where they’d be. They were silent for a few minutes when Shelley started to speak. “Kris, I’m going to be blunt, are you and JC… ya know a couple?”
“Me and JC? No.” She said hesitantly.
“C’mon, Kris. I know you’re not giving me the whole thing.”
“Okay, okay. I don’t think we are a couple. But last night, when we went for a walk… I kind of kissed him.”
“What? You kissed him?” Shelley said in shock.
“Yeah, I kissed him. He kneeled down in front of me and just looked me in the eyes.” Kristina continued telling Shelley about last night.
“Wow, Kris. He must really care about you to say that.”
“Yeah, I know. But is that what you really wanted to talk about?”
“Yeah, and that I just started thinking about me and Justin. The subject of dating came up last night and it came across you and JC. They said it wouldn’t happen anytime soon ya know since you’re still seventeen. Then I thought about Justin and me. Justin just pointed out some good points and made me feel better. I don’t know. It just shook me a little that’s all.”
“I see. Shelley, it’s okay. Justin really likes you. You two will be fine.” Kristina said.
“We should get back now. I’m sure they are wondering where we’ve been.”
“Yep, let’s.” They walked back talking about their New Year’s bash and their Christmas Party with the guys. They wouldn’t see the guys for a couple weeks since they’d be in Hawaii finishing some tour dates. What they would expect when they came back? Who knew at that point?
To Be Continued…