“Sophie, I want a chicken nugget happy meal please,” he said.
“Good choice, I was going to get that too,” I said making him smile another trait that reminded me of Justin.
“Can I play over there in the playground while you wait for our food,” he asked with so much plea in his eyes.
“Go ahead, I’ll call you when it’s here.” Jon ran off to the playground while I waited for our food to arrive. The food was sent to our table and I soon called Jon over. He was breathing rather heavily. “Have fun babe?”
“Tons of fun!”
“Well eat you nuggets and we’ll have more fun at the park. Then Justin’s coming home and we’ll get to see him.”
“Yeah!” he said chowing down on his food.
“Slow down, Jon. Justin won’t come any sooner!” I said pulling some of his food away from him.
“Okay Sophie,” he said slowing down his pace a little.
Then we headed to the park where we sat on the swings and talked. Jon was excited about his brother coming home.
“Can I ask you a question?” Jon asked.
“Shoot.”
“Do you love Justin?”
I looked at him. “Yes I do.”
“Are you going to marry him?”
“I don’t know. I guess I haven’t really thought about it. Why?”
“I was just wondering. Can I ask you another question?”
“Sure.”
“If you don’t marry Justin, will you marry me someday?”
I looked down at him and smiled. “I would love to.”
“We’re late. Come on, Jon. Let’s go.” I grabbed his hand and started running to my car. We made it to Justin’s house in record time. As soon as the car stopped Jon jumped out and ran into the house. I followed him walking. I walked into the living room to see Justin hugging Jon. Chris and JC were sitting on the couch. Chris saw me first. He walked up to me and hugged me.
“How are you doing?”
“I’m great now that you guys are here.”
“I think we all feel the same way.”
JC hugged me. “Where’s Bri? I thought she was coming.”
“She went to the bathroom.”
"Cool."
“Jon, how about we go find your mom,” JC said.
“Ok.” The three of them walked out of the room. Justin just stood there staring at me.
“Are you going to stare at me or are you going to come over here and hug me?” I asked.
“And why would I want to do that?” Justin asked smiling.
“Well I don’t know. I guess I’ll just leave then.” I turned around and started walked out of the room. Before I even took 3 steps Justin’s arms wrapped around me from behind.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“I don’t know. I thought I’d go find my date.”
“Your date huh?”
“Yup. We had a great time.”
Justin started swaying back and forth. “Where did you two go?”
“We went to McDonalds and the park.”
“Wow! What a romantic date.”
I pulled away from him. “I had fun.” I looked at him. His curls were going in all different directions. I ran my hand through his hair and flattened some of his curls. “What did you do without me for a month and a half?”
“Got made fun of.” I laughed. Just then Jon came running into the room.
“Sophie, I have something for you.” I leaned down to his level. He took my left hand and slipped a ring on it. It looked like something he got out of a candy machine. “To make it official.” Then he ran out of the room.
I stood up and looked at the ring. “What was that about?” Justin asked.
“While we were in the park he asked me if I would marry him someday. Isn’t that cute?”
“Man now my little bro is stealing my women.’
I shook my head. “No one will ever steal me from you.” Justin pulled me close and kissed me.
“I’ve wanted to do that since you walked into the room.”
“Me too.” I nuzzled my head into his neck. We just stood there holding each other. I pulled away after awhile. “Where are Joey and Lance?”
“Joey went to see his girlfriend and Lance went home to Mississippi to see his family.”
“How cute.”
“I need to tell you something.”
“Yeah babe, what is it?” I asked starting to feel as if something bad is going to come out.
“It’s about Bri and JC.”
My thoughts stopped. Tell me Justin isn’t going to tell me they broke up. That’s the last thing I want to hear from him. “What about?”
“They’re falling apart. Bri’s still been having that dream and won’t tell any of us what it’s about. JC tries to comfort her day in and day out but it doesn’t seem to work. The more he pushes forward, the more she pushes away. I’ve never seen JC like this. He cares too much about Bri to let her go. It’s killing him and the rest of us as well.”
It’s like a hundred knives went through my body. This wasn’t like Bri. She didn’t keep anything from JC. I wasn’t just feeling for Bri but for JC and the others. I knew then and there that I had to get it out of Bri and find out what’s been haunting her. I can’t see them apart just like I can’t see myself from Justin. She deserves every bit of happiness that JC gives to her.
“Let me go talk to her and if she doesn’t want to talk then they weren’t meant for each other.” That took all my energy to get that out. I knew it wasn’t true.
“Ok.” We headed to the kitchen to find everyone there. The first thing I noticed was JC was sitting at the table and Bri was across the room leaning against the counter. I knew I had to talk to Bri and talk to her soon. I sat down in a chair at the table and Justin sat next to me. The minute I sat down Jon jumped up and jumped into my lap. I smiled down at Jon then I smiled at Justin. He looked angry. We all sat talking till my phone rang at about 5:00. I put Jon down and left the room.
“Hello?”
“Soph, what’s up?”
“Not much. Just hanging with the guys.”
“Well would you and Justin want to go out to eat? Jeff is here and I thought we could go on a double date.”
“Let me ask Justin then I’ll call you back.”
“Ok.” I walked into the kitchen.
“Justin, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Yeah.” He followed me out of the room. “What’s up?”
“That was Jasmine. She wanted to know if we wanted to go out with her and Jeff. I told her I’d talk to you and call her back.”
“Sure. Sounds fun.”
“Ok. I’ll call her.” I dialed the number.
“Hello?”
“Jeff? Is Jasmine there?”
“She ran to the bathroom.”
“Oh. Well I guess we’re coming. Do you know where she wanted to go?”
“Actually Justin and I are supposed to decide. Is he close so I can talk to him?”
“Yeah. Hold on. Justin, Jeff wants to talk to you.”
“Ok.” He took the phone and they started talking. Soon they had the whole evening planned out. “I need to go get ready then we’re going to head over to your place so you can get ready.”
“Ok.” He ran into the living room to tell his mom where he was going. While I was waiting I talked to Bri.
“Girl, you and I have to talk. I’ll call you tomorrow and we’ll go out.”
“Ok.” She hugged me. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” Half and hour later he was ready. He had on a pair of khakis, and a wife-beater with a baby blue button down shirt over it. In the car I complemented him. “You look great.” I took a deep breath. “And smell great too. New cologne?” Justin nodded his head and smiled. There wasn’t much conversation. We were just happy to be together. We finally got to campus and I parked my Jeep. “We’re not going to get mobbed or anything are we?” I asked looking at him through the Jeep.
“Nope. I’m not here. I’m in Europe promoting.”
“Really?” We started walking. “How’s Europe?”
He looked me up and down. “Very beautiful view.” I grabbed his hand, kissed him quickly, and kept walking.
When we got to the door to my room I said, “Now don’t be too shocked. This room is very small and has tons of pictures on the walls.”
“Don’t worry. Just open the door.” I did and we walked in. Justin looked around the room. Half the room was covered with 98* pictures and the other half was covered with NSYNC pictures. He didn’t say anything. He just stood there looking around.
“I did the same thing,” Jeff said laughing. He and Jasmine were sitting on her bed. He stood up and shook Justin’s hand. “Good to see you again.”
“Same here. It’s been awhile.” I took Jeff’s spot and sat down next to Jasmine. Her and Jeff were both dressed and ready to go. Justin looked at me. “Oh no. You don’t sit down. You need to get ready and I know how long it takes you to get ready.” He pulled me off the bed and pushed em towards my closet. I grabbed a dress, which was short and dark blue. I put my hair up in a French twist with little tendrils hanging down. I was done in record time, half an hour. I walked into the room to see Justin laying on my bed, Jeff sitting in a computer chair, and Jasmine sitting on her bed. Jasmine was wearing black pants with a dark green shirt. Jeff was in an outfit similar to Justin’s, but his shirt was dark green. I stood in the doorway for about 5 minutes listening to them talk.
“Are we going to sit here and chat or are we going to have some fun?” Justin started to sit up, but stopped when he looked at me. He looked me up and down. “You better close your mouth before flys get in there.” He hopped off the bed and started walking towards her. “Come on guys. Let’s go.” Jeff and Jasmine slipped past us. He intertwined his fingers with mine. He walked out as I closed the door. We walked down the hall to the elevator. As we stood there waiting, Justin kissed me. When we heard the elevator ding he pulled away. They got on, but I just stood there.
“Honey, are you going to get on?”
I shook my head. “Yeah, I’m coming.” I got on and stood there staring off into space.
When we got off Jasmine asked, “Who wants to drive?”
“I will,” Jeff said. We all piled into Jeff’s rental car.
“Where are we going?” Jasmine asked.
“That’s a surprise,” Justin said.
“It was all his idea,” Jeff said when he saw Jasmine eyeing him.
I didn’t say anything. I just sat there staring off into space. I could still feel Justin’s lips on mine. We finally arrived at the restaurant. “We’re going to split up now. We’ll meet back up here at 8:30,” Justin said.
“Ok.” Jasmine and Jeff headed to a little Italian restaurant down the street. Justin grabbed my hand and pulled me to a pizza place. We were seated in a booth in a dark corner. We sat there in silence. Justin was holding my hand across the table staring at me. I looked up at him. He looked worried.
“Soph, are you ok?” I looked at him. I let go of his hand, got up, and sat down next to him.
I took his hands in mine. “I’m better than ok.” Just then the waiter showed up. He was a tall, blonde, blue-eyed.
“What can I get you?”
“A large pepperoni pizza and 2 cokes,” Justin said.
“Ok.” Then he left.
“What were you saying?”
“I was saying that I’m so happy that you’re here with me. All I want to do now and forever is be with you.”
“I feel the same way” I hugged him and buried my face in his neck. A little while later, I heard someone clear his throat. It was the waiter. He had our drinks and pizza.
“Wow! That was fast. Thanks,” I said.
“Anything for a beautiful lady.” My eyes widened. I couldn’t believe he had just said that. I concentrated on the drink in front of me. “Will there be anything else?”
“No. We’re fine,” Justin said. I could hear the anger in his voice.
“Ok. Here’s the check.” He laid it down right in front of me and smiled at me. Then he walked away. I looked at Justin. I could tell he was mad.
“Baby, don’t worry about him. He’s a jerk. I’m right here with you. Look at me.” I put my hands on his cheeks and tilted his head down till he was looking at me. “I love you.” Then I kissed him softly on the lips. I pulled back and looked at him. He was visibly calmer. “Let’s eat.” We ate, talked, and stole kisses. When I looked at my watch it was 8:30. “Babe, we’ve got to go. It’s 8:30.”
He looked at his watch. “You’re right. Let’s go.” We got up and he paid the bill. We headed for Jeff’s car. As we got closer, we saw Jasmine sitting on the hood of the car. Jeff was standing in front of her. They were kissing. “Are you two ready to dance?” Justin yelled. They broke apart and started laughing.
I looked at him. He smiled. I had never liked dancing that much, but Justin could always get me to. “You’re going to pay.” We hopped into the car and drove to the club. It was packed. “Justin, it’s so loud here and so noisy.”
“Babe, that makes it all the more fun.” We looked forever before we found an empty table.
“Jas, let’s go dance,” Jeff said.
“Ok.” They got up and danced away.
“Let’s go,” Justin said.
“We just found this table and you want to give it up already? I don’t think so.”
“So what do you suggest we do?”
“I was thinking something like this.” I kissed him slowly and softly.
“That was great, but there is time for that later. Let’s dance.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor. I was hurt. He would rather dance than kiss me. He started dancing, but I just stood there. The fast song ended and a slow song came one. Justin wrapped his arms around my waist, but I didn’t respond. “Come on, baby. This was what I wanted to do. I want to have you in my arms.” I still didn’t respond. He leaned down and whispered, “I love you.” Then he started kissing my neck and down my shoulder. I melted. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He stopped kissing my neck and shoulder and brought his head up to mine. His lips were only inches from mine. “Do you forgive me?” I put my hands on the back of his head and pulled it towards me. The kiss was short, but it held a lot of meaning. When we pulled apart, I laid my head on his shoulder. He pulled me closer, if that was physically possible, and ran his hands up and down my back. The song ended way too soon. A fast song came on and we danced. We danced for the rest of the evening. At about 1:00 Jasmine and Jeff came up to us.
“Are you ready to go? It’s getting late,” Jeff said.
“Yeah. We’re ready,” I said. Justin was about to whine. “Justin, I’m tired. I need sleep to survive.”
“Ok. Ok. Let’s go.” We left and got into Jeff’s car. He drove back to the dorm. I got out of the car and dug through my purse looking for my keys. Justin walked up to me and put his hands on my hips. “What are you looking for?”
“My keys.”
“Why?”
“So I can drive you home.”
“Soph, it’s 1:30 in the morning and my parents aren’t expecting me home tonight.”
“Justin, we’re not allowed to have people of the opposite sex stay in our dorms.”
“Soph, its one night. And it’s late. We’re not even going to be here the long.” He lifted my chin and kissed me softly. “Please.” He gave me the puppy-dog eyes I couldn’t resist.
“Ok. But only for tonight.”
“Jas, if he’s going to stay, why can’t I?” Jeff asked.
“Just let him. It’s only going to be one night.”
Jasmine thought for a few minutes. “Ok. But just for tonight.” All four of us headed up to their room. Once there we changed into our nightclothes. Jasmine wore boxers and a spaghetti strap tanktop. I wore boxers and one of Justin’s shirts I had stolen a long time ago.
When Justin saw me he said, “Hey, that shirt looks familiar.”
“Does it? I wonder why that would be.”
“Maybe because it’s mine.”
I gave him my own puppy-dog eyes. “But it looks better on me.” He laughed and for the first time I noticed what he was wearing. My heart almost stopped. He had on his wife-beater and boxers. I couldn’t help but stare.
“Is something wrong?” he asked smiling giving away he knew what I was staring at. I couldn’t speak so I just shook my head. “Well should we get some sleep?” I nodded my head. Then I climbed into my bed. Justin climbed in after me.
“This is going to be a tight squeeze,” I said being pushed up against the wall.
“I personally like it,” Justin said wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close. I just smiled and soon fell asleep.
We were woken up by the phone ringing. Jasmine answered it then threw it across the room to me. “It’s for you.”
“Hello?”
“Sophie?”
“Yeah. Who’s this?”
“It’s Rebecca. I was wondering if you would work for me today. I’m really sick.”
“I can’t. It’s my weekend off and my boyfriend is in town. I’m sorry.”
“Ok. Bye.”
“Bye.” I hung up the phone and looked at the clock. It read 5:30.
“Who was that?” Justin asked sleepily.
“No one. Go back to sleep.” I rolled over so I was facing him. I kissed him softly and snuggled up to him. The next thing I remember is a knock at the door. Jasmine answered it, talked to whoever it was, and closed the door. “Who was it?” I asked.
“It was just Tony wanted to know if we were coming to breakfast. I said no. It is probably time for us to get up though.”
“What time is it?”
“9:30.” I groaned. “Who was on the phone earlier?”
“Rebecca.”
“Not again?”
“Yup.”
“Who’s Rebecca?” Justin asked scaring me. I thought he was still asleep.
“No one. Just a girl I work with.”
“Work with? When did you get a job?”
“Probably about a month ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s only every other weekend. It’s not a big deal.”
“What did she want?”
“She wanted me to work for her.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry. I said no. I’m all yours until Monday morning at 10:00.”
“I like the sound of that.” He kissed me softly. Just then the phone rang. It was laying next to me so I answered it.
“Hello?”
“Sophie?”
“Yup. It’s me.”
“How are you?”
“I’m good. Who is this?”
He laughed. “It’s Drew.”
“Oh hi Drew.” I felt Justin’s arms tighten around me. “What can I do for you?”
“I just thought we could chat.”
“Well right now isn’t a really good time.”
“Ok. Could you tell Jeff to call me when he has a minute?”
“Will do. Bye.”
“Bye.” I hung up the phone and tossed it on the floor.
“Jeff, you’re supposed to call Drew when you get a chance.”
“Ok.” I heard him say.
“Now where were we?”
“Right about here.” He kissed me. He ran his fingers through my hair and down my back to the waistband of my boxers. They hovered there for a minute. Then they rested on my hip.
To Be Continued…