"I have no idea why you two broke up. If you want me to talk to her I'm gonna have to act like I have amnesia or something... TALK."
Chris frowned as he put the phone to his ear.
"Chris, Chris!" he heard Carol say.
"Um... This is Justin."
"Lemme talk to Chris!"
"He doesn't want to talk to you. You're supposed to tell me."
Chris heard Carol sigh in disappointment. "Fine. Tell him that I'm extremely sorry for... what I did and-"
Chris couldn't control himself. "You cheated!" he spat out, anger spreading over his face.
"How did you know that?"
"He told me. And do you know what else he told me?"
"What?"
"He doesn't forgive you and he'll NEVER trust you again. Please, stay out of his life."
"Won't you just tell Chris what I have to say?"
"He's already heard it," Chris snapped the phone shut and handed it back to Justin.
"Whoa, Chris... she cheated on you?"
Chris crossed his arms. "I don't wanna talk about it," he said. "And if she calls back, hang up on her."
"Will do..." Justin put his hand on the door knob. "Ready?"
After Justin had left, Chris flopped down on his bed and smiled. He pulled out Justin's cell phone and dialed Gracie's number.
"Hello?" he heard her voice say.
"Hi, Gracie," he said softly, hoping Joey wasn't listening in on his conversation.
"Justin! How did the interview go?"
"Pretty good. We answered the questions and stuff... there's not much to say about it."
"Hey... why don't you come over to my place? We can... you know..."
Chris' eyes widened. He would be a fool to pass this up. But this WAS Justin's girlfriend. Not his. Wait a second... he WAS Justin. But there was one problem. He didn't know how to get to Gracie's apartment. He couldn't ask Justin. Justin wouldn't want him to go there...
"Justin? Are you there?"
"Yeah... I was just thinking about if I have to do anything tomorrow morning."
"Okay. You don't have another photo shoot or anything... do you?"
"No. I don't think I have anything until the sound check at three."
"Great! Get your cute butt over here!"
"Okay," Chris smiled. "I'll be over there in a flash!"
"In a flash?"
What was he doing? Justin didn't talk like that! "Um... yeah..."
"Okay..." Gracie said slowly. "See you then. Bye, sweetie."
"Adios!" Chris hung up the phone and sat there thinking. Hmm... Now he didn't have a choice. He would HAVE to ask Justin where Gracie lived.
Justin was digging through Chris' suitcase when there was a knock on the door. He glanced over at JC, who was already sleeping. Quickly, he dashed to the door and opened it before the person knocked again.
"Justin!" Chris said, pushing his way into the room.
"Shhh!" Justin hissed. "You'll wake JC up!"
"Sorry..." Chris whispered. "Now that I think about it... I probably shouldn't have called you Justin either. Let's try that again." He stepped back out of the room and shut the door.
Justin stood there, trying to figure out what Chris was doing. Then he heard a knock and opened the door.
"Chris!" Chris said, stepping in again.
Justin put his hand to his head. "You are TOO silly."
"I know..." Chris chuckled. "Anyway, the reason I'm here is because you need to tell me how to get to Gracie's apartment."
Justin narrowed his eyes as he shut the door behind Chris. "You're not going to Gracie's."
"I have to. I already told her that I would."
"Why did you do that?"
"Because she asked me to come over! Besides, don't you think she would have thought it were weird if I said that I didn't wanna come?"
"Okay, you've got a point there." He paused, obviously thinking about the situation. "Fine. You can go, but I don't want you touching her. Keep your dirty hands OFF of my girl."
"Okay! Just tell me how to get there!"
Justin explained how to get to Gracie's apartment.
"You know, Justin..." Chris started, looking down at him. "I'm having a little trouble with your hair." Chris pulled on a curl as he waited for Justin to respond.
"Wait, wait, wait..." Justin shook his head, his dreads flying. "You're complaining about MY hair? What about yours? Do you know how hard it is to sleep on these things?"
"Of course I know what it's like to sleep on my own hair," Chris frowned. "Just help me tame these curls!"
"Fine," Justin gave in, leading Chris to the bathroom. He put his fingers to his lips as they passed by JC's bed. "Shh!"
Chris carefully shut the bathroom door as Justin reached his hands up, trying to flatten the curls.
"You know what?" Justin asked.
"What," Chris said, bending down so Justin could have better access.
"Tomorrow I'm taking out your braids and then CUTTING your hair."
Chris jerked up. "YOU ARE NOT!" He grabbed a braid and yanked on it.
"Ouch! Stop! You're gonna wake JC up!"
"I'm sorry!" Chris hissed, still pulling on the braid. "But you are not cutting my hair off! If you do, I'm shaving your head and then when it grows back I'm gonna dye it green!"
"You had BETTER not!"
"I will... try me."
"Fine, fine... Geez... I was only kidding, Chris..." Justin said, once Chris had let go. "I'm not gonna cut your hair. I promise."
"Okay, okay... I trust you. Now just fix these curls!"
Chris slowly approached Gracie's apartment. He opened the door and walked inside.
"Apartment number one eleven..." he muttered, running his finger down the list of names. "Gracie..." Keeping his finger on the three digit number, he picked up the phone and punched in the number.
"Hello?"
"Gracie, I'm here."
"Just a second, Justin. Lemme buzz you in."
Chris walked up the stairs to find Gracie waiting for him. She grabbed his hand and led him to her apartment.
"So," she said, sitting down on the couch. "What do you wanna do?"
Chris gulped. What did eighteen-year-olds do? He hadn't been eighteen in ten years... he didn't know... "Ah... I..." he stuttered as he took a seat next to her.
Gracie climbed onto his lap. "Why are you being so shy?" she smiled, straddling his lap and pushing her face oh so close to his.
He took a deep breath. He might have been able to control his twenty-seven-year old body... but Justin's eighteen-year-old one was a different story. Without thinking much, he pressed his lips to hers.
She pulled away and stared into his blue eyes. "Whoa. You've never kissed me like that before."
Chris was silent as he looked back at her.
"Kiss me again," she demanded, leaning back into his lips. Gracie's hands went to the bottom of his baby blue shirt and ran her fingers along the hem. Slowly, she lifted it, her hands brushing softly against his chest. Her touch sent chills down Chris' spine.
She pulled away just long enough to remove his shirt. He unbuttoned hers and then tugged on the little white T-shirt underneath. Why was she wearing so many layers?
Gracie removed her lips from his and lifted the shirt over her head.
Chris' hands moved to her curves and then to her back as he reached for the clasp of her bra. "Are you sure you wanna do this?" he asked as she unzipped his jeans.
"Justin, why would you ask that? Of course I do."
Chris squeezed his eyes shut. There was that name again. Justin. He kept forgetting that he WAS Justin. He didn't want to be Justin anymore. He wanted to be Chris.
"Are you all right?" she asked, seeing the expression on his face.
"Yeah," he replied, helping her with the button. "Let's go to your bedroom."
"Okay," she agreed and got up from his lap.
Chris got up also, grabbing his pants to keep them from falling down.
"Ah... Justin..." Gracie started. "The bedroom is THIS way."
"Oh!" Chris changed directions. "Of course. I knew that." He walked over and stood next to her.
She looked up at him suspiciously. "You go first," she said, pointing down the hall.
"Um..." Chris mumbled, gazing at the two doors, one on each side. Which door was Gracie's bedroom? Man, he wished Justin were here to tell him. Wait... no... if Justin were here, Chris would no longer be breathing. He'd be beaten to death for attempting to sleep with Gracie. But what would happen if he couldn't pick the right door? What would Gracie think?
"What are you waiting for?" Gracie smiled as she slipped her hand into his.
"Nothing," Chris said softly, taking a step toward the door on the right. When he reached for the knob, Gracie stopped him.
"Sweetie, that's the bathroom. Are you feeling okay, Justin?"
"Whoops. I knew that." he said, reaching for the other door.
"And that's the linen closet."
Gracie pointed to the door hidden in the shadows at the end of the hallway. "THAT'S the bedroom. Would you like a tour of the rest of the place?"
"I'm really sorry, Gracie," Chris said, his face red. "I don't know what's wrong with me." How about, 'I'm not Justin...' That's what was wrong with him. He wasn't Justin and he had never been in Gracie's apartment before.
"It's okay," she said, pulling him to her bedroom. As she opened the door she turned around and smiled at him. "I'm sure you can make it up to me..."
It was almost three in the morning before Chris got back to the hotel.
"You're pretty late," Joey told him as he entered his room.
"I know," Chris grinned.
"What are you so happy about?"
Chris walked over to Justin's suitcase and pulled out some clothes... all of them happening to be baby blue. "Nothing," he answered.
"Oh..." Joey said, a smile creeping up on his face. "You got some action tonight... didn't you..."
"Don't tell Chris!" Chris spat out.
Joey raised an eyebrow. "Why would it matter if I told Chris or not?"
Chris' face turned red. "Um..."
"You know..." Joey started. "Chris has been acting different lately."
Chris turned to Joey, frowning. "What do you mean, different?"
"It's almost like he's... calmed down a little. He's not as wild."
"Is there something WRONG with Chris being wild?"
"Geez, Justin... I should have known better to talk to you about this. You ALWAYS defend Chris..."
Chris stopped what he was doing and stared into Justin's suitcase. What? Justin defended him?
"Hello... Justin?"
"I'll be right back," Chris shot up and ran out the door. He had to talk to Justin.
It took a while for Justin to open his door and when he did, he was yawning and rubbing his eyes.
Chris threw his arms around him and gave him a tight hug.
"What in the...?" Justin spat out when he realized who was hugging him. "What was that for?"
"For being you." Chris said as he released Justin.
"Ah..." Justin groaned. "You're gettin' all mushy on me!"
"Sorry..." Chris apologized.
Justin shut the door as he stepped out into the hall. "Really though... why did you do that?"
"Joey said something about me and I got all defensive. Then he said... these are his exact words, 'I should have known better than to talk to you about this, Justin. You ALWAYS defend Chris.'" Chris paused as he looked over at a sleepy Justin. "You defend me, Justin?"
Justin patted Chris on the back and smiled. "What are best friends for?"
"Aww..." Chris said, hugging Justin again. He made a note to be nicer to Justin. Maybe he shouldn't have slept with Gracie...
Justin woke the next morning to see JC's face. He jumped. "What are you doing?"
"I was just about to wake you up. Justin keeps calling here asking for you. I think it might be important."
"Okay, okay," Justin yawned as he crawled out of bed.
Just then his cell phone rang.
"Hello?" he said after flipping it open.
"Justin," a voice hissed.
"What?" He knew that it had to be Chris. Everyone else thought he WAS Chris.
"We've got a TEENY problem."
"Where are you?"
"I'm in the bathroom. I think Joey got suspicious when I brought my phone in with me... but..."
Justin chuckled. "What's the problem?"
"Um... we have a concert tonight."
Justin was confused. "So....?"
"I'm you, you're me... how are we supposed to know the right parts by then?"
Justin looked around for JC. He was sitting on his bed watching TV. "Can't we just switch places?" Justin said, lowering his voice to a whisper.
"No..." Chris said slowly. "Don't you think the guys, not to mention the fans would get a little suspicious if you sang my parts and I sang yours?"
"But technically we WOULD be singing the right parts."
"THEY wouldn't know that. They would just see Justin singing Chris' parts and Chris singing Justin's parts. Besides... I can't get up that high with your voice. There's no way that would work. And what about the dance moves?"
"How are you supposed to remember all my verses?"
"I've heard you sing them a million times. I know the words and stuff. What I'm really worried about is the dancing. I have no idea where you stand and all."
"This is getting really confusing. But we don't have a choice. We're gonna have to make this work."
"You're right. Why don't we go down the venue ahead of the rest of the guys and practice?"
"But won't there be like a million fans there?"
"We'll sneak in. Don't worry about it."
"How are we supposed to pull this off without any body guards? What if something happens?"
"Quit worrying, Justin. Let's just do this. Like I said before, we don't have a choice."
"Okay, okay. I'll get ready and walk over to your room."
"And hurry it up!" Chris demanded.
"Fine." Justin hung up and looked over at JC who was still mesmerized by the television. Good. He hadn't heard a word.
Chris quickly swung the door open when he heard a knock. There stood Justin.
"Ah..." Chris said, looking back at Joey. "Chris and I are gonna go... out for some... coffee..."
"Okay," Joey said sleepily, changing the channel on the TV. "Have fun."
Justin and Chris shut the door behind them and headed for the elevator. On the way down, Justin looked over at Chris. "Out for COFFEE? You couldn't think of a better excuse? I think we're gonna be gone longer than it takes to go out for coffee."
"I didn't hear you making excuses. Besides, Joey won't even remember what I said. JC and Lance will ask him where we went and he'll say, 'Um... out.'"
"Okay... so you're probably right... but still... coffee?"
"Shut-up." Chris stepped out of the elevator, Justin close behind him.
While Chris drove, Justin pulled out hats and sunglasses from the back seat. He fit the tan Nike hat on Chris and then put a larger one over his own head. "How in the hell do you hide these things?" He wondered when the hat wouldn't fit.
"Hold on a second," Chris said as he parked the car. He reached into the back seat and grabbed a gray sweater with a hood. "Try this."
Justin smiled as he slipped the sweater on. "Good idea."
Both Chris and Justin put their sunglasses on. "Ready?" they asked each other at the same time, causing them to erupt in a fit of giggles.
"Let's get in there FAST." Justin suggested.
"That's the plan." Chris opened his door and so did Justin.
Walking side by side, they made their way through a few girls with 'N Sync T-shirts on. When they got to the door, they knocked.
"Hey," a girl about twelve spoke up. "They won't let you in."
Before Justin or Chris could say anything, the door opened and a large man appeared. "Yes?" he said in his deep voice.
Justin pulled out Chris' license from his pocket and showed it to the man.
The man took it. When he saw Chris' picture and name, his eyes widened. "What are you guys doing here so early?"
"Can we come in?" Chris begged, glancing quickly at the fans.
"HEY! IT'S JUSTIN!" they heard a girl yell.
About thirty girls were about to swarm Chris, when the man pulled both him and Justin inside, closing the door tightly behind them.
"Where are your body guards?" he asked.
"Well," Chris started to explain, taking off his hat and sunglasses. "Jus... I mean... Chris and I just want to come here and get a few hours of extra practice before the rest of the guys show up."
The man rubbed his chin as he eyed Justin and Chris. "I don't see what's wrong with that... but I think you guys have a Meet and Greet at four."
Chris looked down at his watch. "We have plenty of time," he smiled.
"Okay," the man agreed, stepping aside.
Justin followed Chris to the stage. "I wonder if we can get some music goin'," he said as he rubbed his chin and looked around the stage.
Chris smiled. "Watch this."
Justin looked on as Chris walked around a curtain and disappeared. Suddenly 'Tearin' Up My Heart' blasted through the entire venue.
Chapter 4
Identities
Chris {Fiction}
Justin {Fiction}
My Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email Me