The thunder and lightening finally slowed down after a few hours. Justin and Joanna fell asleep to the faint pitter patter of the rain outside. Justin sat on the end of the couch, up against the armrest. His head had fallen to the side, resting against the cushion, comfortably. Jo was stretched out on the couch, her head resting on Justin's legs.
Justin awoke a few hours later. He yawned and looked around the room, confused in his surroundings. He looked down, and smiled tenderly. Joanna was curled up against his legs, her arms wrapped around his knees.
She yawned and sat up, looking at Justin. She turned to look outside at the condition of the weather. "Is everything okay now?"
He eyed her suspiciously, "I don't know. Is it?"
She groaned, "Please don't start. Can I just go to sleep again?"
"Nope. You've slept enough. It's time to go outside and play in the rain."
"What? No way! I've already "played" in the rain." Jo responded, accenting the quotation marks with her fingers.
She sat up and leaned against Justin's chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his hands on her stomach. "Please Joey? Remember when we were little? We'd be cooped up in the house all day long and we'd play in the rain when it would start to lighten up?"
"Yeah, I remember. But we're not little anymore Justin. Far from it."
"Just this once? Just one more time. For me? It'll make you feel better..." Justin pouted. He turned her around so she could see his face and his puppy dog eyes.
Jo sighed, knowing he had won. "Don't think that everytime you wanna get your way, you can just flash that look."
Justin pushed Jo off the couch and stood up along with her. "No offense or anything, but it's been working all of these years. Why stop now?"
She chased him out into the backyard and struggled to catch up to him. He stopped suddenly and turned to face her. The rain streaked his face and the sweatshirt he put on earlier clung to his chest. "Dance with me?"
Jo pushed the wet strands of hair from her face. "Always." Justin grabbed her hands and twirled and spun her around in the grass. The wet smell of the trees and grass mixed with the rain greeted their noses. They giggled and laughed, remembering the old times.
They spun around until they both finally collapsed on the ground in a fit of giggles. "I don't ever wanna forget this. I don't wanna forget you." Jo smiled through the rain at Justin.
Justin scooted forward until he was directly in front of her. His laughter was replaced by a tender smile, as he pushed the strands of hair from her face. "You won't ever have to forget me or this, because I will never leave you."
He kissed her forehead and pulled her into his arms. She closed her eyes and leaned against his shoulder. Her thoughts drifted to Alex and she stiffened. Alex never held her this way, he always gave quick and distant embraces. Justin held her like a porcelain doll, always afraid to break her, always afraid to let go. He held her like he held love and his heart, tender, long lasting, and full of care. He could always make her feel better with a hug and a sweet kiss on the cheek or forehead, because he made her feel like his heart and his love. It was the best feeling in the world.
"You wanna call the others and see if they can come over? We'll all hang out and just take your mind off stuff?" Justin questioned, as he pulled away.
"Yeah, that'll be fun. It would help me too, to just see the girls and bash the male existence."
Justin swallowed, "Uh yeah. Just keep it to the literal bashing and not physical bashing."
She laughed at his statement and allowed him to pull her up from the ground. They ran into the house to change into dry clothes and call their friends. A few hours later, Justin, Lance, Joey, Chris, JC, Jo, Jayla, Rachel, Sarah, and Erica were sitting around Justin's table, eating pizza. The rain had finally stopped, but the clouds and light drizzle had stayed.
"Hey girls, wanna go outside?" Rachel asked the others.
The girls walked out to the front porch and perched themselves around Jo. Rachel sat on the wicker table that sat next to the wicker chair Jo was sitting in. Jayla was sitting on the porch railing, leaning against the large pole. Sarah sat on the floor, resting against Jayla's legs, Erica laid down on the floor. The porch wrapped around the house in a gentle old country manner. The roof of the house came out over the porch, protecting the inhabitants from the rain. The wood floors creaked under the feet of people walking on it.
"Jo, are you okay?" Erica gently asked.
"No, but I will be. I hope I will be." Joanna sighed. "It's awful walking in on the man that you love. I wanted to kill him, I wanted to kill her, and I don't even know who it was! It was just so gross and blech!" She made a gagging noise in her throat.
"I know what you mean." Erica smiled gently, "Before I met Chris, I was with this one guy. He treated me really badly and the final straw was when I saw him in bed with another girl. I seriously thought I was going to punch him in his face."
"What did you do?" Jo asked.
"Well, I had just come home from softball practice, so I had a baseball in my hand. I threw it through the window, scaring the hell outta both of them. They both looked at me and I told the girl, 'oh I hope you're wearing protection. Because Dan has this wonderful little condition called herpes.' Then, I turned and left the room."
The girls exploded into laughter. "How old were you?" Sarah inquired.
"Hmmm, good question. I think I was about 20 or 21. Maybe 22, I'm not sure at all. He was the first guy I moved in with, I loved him a lot. I never had another boyfriend until I met Chris. It took awhile to trust him, to allow myself to love him. Now, I know that this is the right guy for me. Chris is the best thing that's ever happened to me."
The girls stared at Erica in awe and amazement. She was the oldest out of all them at 27, and the wisest. Miriam followed at 23, then Sarah who was 22. Rachel was 20 and Jo was the youngest at 18. The girls were all best friends, they couldn't trust people as easily as they used to. A lot of people only wanted to befriend them to become closer to NSYNC. the trust of the group of girls was high and the closeness could be seen by many outsiders. They were a group you didn't mess with, if you hurt one of them, you hurt them all. Jo was accepted immediately as Justin's best friend, but the girls saw themselves as being accepted by her. The respect was felt by all of them and they all looked out for each other every second of every day.
They laughed and joked around for a bit, lifting Jo's spirits and helping her to forget her problems for the time being. Jo always thought laughter was the best medicine and these people were the best at feeding her medicine.
Jo's sharp intake of breath was heard by everyone and they turned to see what she was staring at. The red jeep Cherokee was parked on the curb of the street and the driver was striding towards the porch.
"What the hell do you want?" Jayla hopped off the porch railing to the ground.
"To talk to Joanna. Get out of my way." Alex glared at her, his arms folded across his chest.
Jo stood from her seat and Jayla stepped in front of Alex. "Well, she doesn't wanna talk to your lying, cheating ass. So leave!"
Before the situation got out of hand, Jo stepped forward. Her hand rested lightly on the porch railing as she walked down the stairs. "It's okay Jay, I'll handle this."
Jayla sneered at Alex as she walked away. When she passed by Joanna, she grabbed Jayla's arm. "Go get Justin." She whispered.
"Can I help you with something?" Joanna asked, looking away from him.
Alex stepped forward, and Jo took a step back. "What do you want?" She glared at him, more anger in her voice.
"I just wanted to talk to you, I wanted to see you."
"So you came here!? You knew I was going to be here with all my friends and you still came over? What's the matter with you? I don't wanna see you and I sure as hell do not want to talk to you!" Jo stared at him, wondering what had happened to the love he felt for her, wondering what had happened to the man she loved.
The screen door slammed shut and Justin appeared by her side. "Leave." He instructed, looking at Alex with menacing eyes.
"Don't tell me what to do." Alex responded, hatred filling his eyes.
"This is my property and I will tell you to leave. Get off my grounds."
"You are the reason for all of this. If she wasn't friends with you, our relationship would work out just fine. You pulled her away from me, forcing me to run to another woman."
"Mmmkay, now that is what I call a really bad romance novel plot. Please! I didn't force her into anything, you did. I'll only repeat myself once, LEAVE." Justin's voice ending in a shout.
Alex reached out and grabbed Jo's arm. "Come with me?"
Justin pushed Alex in his shoulder. "Don't touch her. She's not going with you."
Justin touched Jo's hand and she gripped his hand tightly. She stepped back until she was standing by his side. "I'm not going with you Alex. I'm staying here."
Alex was staring at his shoulder where Justin pushed him. "We are going to fight. Before all of this is over, we will fight. And, I will win."
"Why wait?" Justin asked, stepping forward.
"No! No, don't do this. Don't fight over me, this is so stupid!" Jo screamed. "Justin, he's just trying to prove how idiotic he is. Ignore it."
Justin and Alex stared at each other, hatred and anger filling their faces. Justin made no move and Jo wasn't even sure if he heard her or not. She started to panic as the realization of the two fighting hit her.
She ran to the steps. "Joey, JC, somebody! Help me!" She screamed, tears filling her eyes. The girls sat frozen in their seats, not knowing what to do. "You guys! Do something!" Jo screamed at them, breaking them from the daze. They stood from their seats, as the guys ran through the door.
The guys hopped down the stairs and stood directly behind Alex. "Can we help you with something, Alex?" JC asked, stepping forward, standing next to Justin.
Alex glanced at the four guys lined up behind Justin and the girls standing and lounging on the steps. His eyes flickered over them, and defeat and a hint of fear replaced the anger and hatred.
"I love you Joanna. Please, just listen to me. I love you and I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you. Please give me another chance?" Alex begged.
Joanna whimpered and looked away, not wanting Alex to see the pain and tears on her face. He nodded his head, "All right then. I'm going." He turned and walked to the car. Nobody moved until the squeal of his tires could be heard, as he sped away.
Joanna sank to the stairs and leaned against the pole. The others walked back into the house, patting her shoulder or rubbing the top of her head. She knew they were her best friends, her protectors.
She heard footsteps and they stopped right in front of her. "Please don't be angry at me?" Justin begged.
Jo looked up at him as the tears streamed down her face. "You scared me so badly. I thought... I thought that he was going to hurt you. I don't like to see you angry like that."
Justin touched her face, realizing what he had done. He pulled her up by her hand and held her against his chest. "I will go to any lengths, I will do anything to protect you from harm or hurt. I don't ever want to see you upset or hurt and that's exactly what that bastard is doing. He's hurting you. I will do anything to not let him hurt you anymore, including fight."
She sniffled against his shirt and her fingers clutched the fabric. "It's not your duty to protect me and fight for me. That's my job."
"I know, but I just wanna help. I love you." Justin whispered into her ear.
Tears gathered in her eyes as she realized how much she needed him. "I love you too." She replied, kissing his cheek.
