"Ahhh!" Justin screamed, covering his ears. He couldn't even hear his own voice.
After a minute of people scurrying around trying to figure out who had turned the music up so loud, Chris finally figured out how to turn down the volume.
"Whoops..." he said, coming out from behind the curtain. "Sorry about that." He went back and started the song over.
Justin grabbed Chris and pushed him to the other side of the stage. "You're over there. Where am I?"
"Right next to me, you dumb ass."
Justin glared at him. "I knew that."
They began to dance, until they ran right into each other.
"NO!" Justin shouted. "You go THAT way!" He pointed to the other side of the stage.
"Uh uh..." Chris argued. "YOU go over there. You're all mixed up..."
"YOU'RE all mixed up. I know what I'm doing."
"Yeah, you know what YOU'RE doing... the problem is you're supposed to be me and know what I'M doing."
They stared at each other for a while and then got back to work.
"How's it goin'?" he asked as she sat in the passenger seat.
"Great!" she responded, buckling up. "I just wish I knew where Justin was."
"Don't worry about him. Joey told me that he and Chris went out somewhere before the Meet and Greet. They'll be fine."
"You're right. In fact, I bet they're at the venue by now."
"They better be. The Meet and Greet starts in an hour."
Both Gracie and JC watched as Chris and Justin danced on the stage.
"What are they doing?" JC wondered.
"It looks like they're dancing..."
"But why? They know their parts. Now they'll be tired for the show."
"Hmm... they seem to be messing up a lot."
"That's odd..."
"Who are you waving at?" Justin asked as he and Chris sat down on the edge of the stage.
"Gracie and JC." He pointed and Justin followed his finger.
"Oh. Why are they standing way over there?"
"I don't know." Chris stood up and waved his arms. "HEY GRACIE! HEY JC!" he screamed, his voice echoing.
Justin pulled on Chris' pant leg. "What in the hell are you doing? You don't need to scream. They SEE us."
"Sorry..." Chris said, taking back his spot next to Justin.
JC and Gracie walked over. Gracie positioned herself in between Chris' legs and wrapped her arms around his waist. "How are you doing, Justy?"
Justin whipped his head around. She never called HIM Justy... What was going on?
Chris' heart sank. He HATED it when she called him by Justin's name. "I'm fine. A little tired... but fine."
Gracie grinned at him. "I know why you're tired..."
Chris' face turned red as he glanced nervously at Justin.
Justin's anger rose as he watched Gracie crawl up on the stage and onto Chris lap, kissing his face. He decided this arrangement was not going to work anymore.
"JC... Justin..." he said, trying to keep his voice under control. "Can you excuse us for a second? I need to talk to Gracie."
"Sure..." JC was confused, but he walked off anyway.
Chris was a little more reluctant. "Why?"
Justin shot him a look as if to say, 'You know why...'
"Fine..." he gently pushed Gracie off his lap.
"I love you," Justin caught her whispering in Chris' ear. He almost snapped when he heard Chris whisper it back.
Justin and Gracie watched as Chris followed JC's trail to behind the stage.
"What's up, Chris?" Gracie asked once he was out of sight.
"Um... I just wanted to ask you something about... Justin..."
"What?"
"Do you think he's been acting... different lately?"
Gracie looked off as she thought about it. "Actually... he has. When we were at the mall he was throwing pretzels over the railing. He never did anything like that before. And when he was over yesterday, it was like he had never even been in my apartment before. Maybe he's coming down with something."
Justin leaned in closer. "That's not it."
"Do you know what's wrong with him?"
Justin gulped before he said the next words. "He's not Justin."
"What?" Gracie sounded shocked. "That can't be. Unless he's Justin's twin brother..."
"No... Justin doesn't have a twin brother... I'm gonna tell you something... but you have to promise not to freak out."
"I promise."
"Okay. Now don't scream... but... I'm Justin."
Gracie's eyes widened. For a second she believed him. Then she burst out laughing. "Yeah right!"
"I'm serious! Ask me anything."
Gracie fell back onto the stage in laughter. "What are you trying to pull, Chris?"
"I'm not Chris! I'm Justin!"
Gracie stopped laughing. "It's not even NEAR April Fools Day..."
"Cause I'm not trying to fool you! Ask me anything! Ask me where I took you for our first date."
"Justin probably told you..."
"Fine then... If you won't believe me, go ask Chris. Go ask him where our first date was. He won't know. He doesn't even know that I'm telling you this. I bet when you ask him his face will turn red and then he'll change the subject. Go."
Gracie looked at Justin like he was crazy. "Fine. But you need to see someone. You're going insane." She hopped off the stage and walked off to find Justin... er... Chris... whoever he was. She peeked behind a curtain and saw him and JC.
Chris grabbed the water gun and aimed it at JC. "Freeze." he yelled.
JC turned around, giggling. "What are you doing?"
"I said, FREEZE!"
"Oh come on, Justin... you're acting like Chris..."
Gracie whipped the curtain shut and leaned against the wall. Did JC just say that Justin was acting like Chris? This couldn't be... there was no way...
Chris dropped the water gun. What had JC said? It was echoing in his head. He suddenly felt the urge to tell him what was going on. That he WASN'T Justin... he was Chris... but who would believe him? Not JC...
"You klutz," JC said, picking it up and setting it back on the table. "Now stop messing around."
Chris spotted Gracie looking out behind the curtain and smiled. "Hey! Did Jus- Chris have a good talk with you?"
Gracie was silent. He almost said Justin...
"I'm gonna go see if they have all of our clothes ready. Last time I was missing a shirt..." JC said, exiting the room.
Gracie carefully approached Chris, looking him over.
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing," she said, sitting on the couch and pulling him down next to her.
He smiled at her again.
"You know what Justin just told me?" she asked, hoping to catch him.
"What?" he asked. "Before he was giving me these evil looks for some reason..."
"But I thought YOU were Justin... Do you always give yourself evil looks?"
Chris froze, his head felt like it was about to explode! Did she know? Had Justin told her?
"I wanna know what's going on, CHRIS," she said, narrowing her eyes at him.
Chris slowly turned his head towards her. She DEFINITELY knew... "Ah..." Then he said the only thing he could think of. "PLEASE don't tell Justin that I made love to you or he'll cut off my braids!"
"Oh... your POOR braids! Poor Chrissy!"
"I'm BEGGING you... What would I do without my hair?" He thought for a second. "Well, I could always do something to HIS hair... but it's not the same. MY BRAIDS!"
"What I really wanna know is how did you switch bodies?"
"I don't know," Chris said honestly. "I just woke up one morning and I was Justin..."
"And he was you?"
"Right."
"You know..." she said softly, taking his hand. "In a way I kinda knew..."
"You did?"
"Yeah. But I just dismissed it... I was having way too much fun with you."
"You were?"
"You're a blast to hang out with, Chris. We'll have to do stuff together more."
Chris smiled. Maybe it was a good thing she found out. Now she could like him for Chris and not for Justin... "Yeah," he agreed.
"But now I have to go apologize to Justin for not believing him."
"Okay." Chris let her hand go. "Please don't tell him!"
"I won't," she promised.
While she walked away, he realized something. He was in love with her.
Gracie walked around the curtain, only to bump right into Justin.
"Chris! I mean, Justin... I..." She looked up at him. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. He must have heard her talking to Chris...
He pushed her aside and walked into the room.
"I can't believe you did this to me..." Justin said, pointing an accusing finger at Chris.
Chris gulped. Justin had heard him talking to Gracie. "I'm sorry, Justin... I just-"
"No excuses!" he yelled. "I heard you talking about your precious hair... well, now I'm gonna cut it off..."
"NOOOOO!!!" Chris leapt up screaming.
"Which is more important? Your best friend or your hair? I still can't believe you did it... I should be beating the shit out of you right now. You're gettin' off easy."
"Please, Justin... don't! I'm begging you!" Chris yelled as Justin searched for a pair of scissors. He finally found them in a drawer.
"I told you not to touch her, but you did anyway... You deserve more than me chopping your hair off." He raised the scissors to his head, holding up three braids.
"But, I love her!" Chris spat out, obviously not thinking.
That was enough to make Justin squeeze the scissors, causing three braids to fall to the floor.
"Justin! I'm sorry, but PLEASE don't cut anymore of my hair off... I've learned my lesson... please..."
"I trusted you with her..." Justin said, lowering the scissors as Chris let out a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, JC burst through the door. He took one look at the scissors Justin held in his hand, the tears running down his cheeks, and the braids on the floor. "What's going on? Why are you cutting off your braids?" JC couldn't remember the last time he had seen Chris cry. He didn't think he ever had...
Chris picked the braids up and held them in his hand. "Um... I told him that I didn't like his braids anymore and then I dared him to cut them off. You know Chris... he can get a little emotional sometimes..."
JC shook his head slightly. Chris? Emotional? Naw... "Seriously... What's going on?"
"Like I said," Chris continued. "I dared him to cut three braids."
"The Chris I know would never cut his braids." JC turned to Justin. "Are you okay, Chris?"
Justin just sniffed.
JC looked back to Chris. "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing!" Chris promised, still holding the braids, wishing they were back on his head... or Justin's head. As long as they were attached to SOMETHING...
JC looked at Chris suspiciously. He grabbed Justin's arm and led him to another room.
Once JC and Justin were out of sight, Chris saw that Gracie was still in the room.
Gracie walked over to him, took the braids out of his hands and set them down on a table. "It's only three braids. Don't get too upset. I'm sure JC won't let him cut anymore considering he knows how much you love your hair."
"I know... I just feel really bad. I shouldn't have slept with you. It was wrong... but..."
"You love me?"
"Yeah... you must have heard me say that to Justin..."
"I did. And do you know what, Chris? You're such a sweetie. I bet you could have any girl you wanted."
"No I couldn't..." Chris sighed, flopping down on the couch. "Besides, what's the point? Even if you did feel the same way, Justin's my best friend..."
Gracie sat down beside him, taking his hand.
A single tear slipped down his cheek. "I wanna be ME... not Justin..."
Justin let JC push him onto a chair. "Now, I wanna know what's REALLY wrong," he demanded, taking a seat in the chair facing Justin.
Justin didn't know what to say. Could he tell JC? No... he had already told Gracie. If he told more people, they would think he and Chris were crazy. Well, Chris was crazy... but HE wasn't. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I really don't feel like talking," he told JC.
"Come on, Chris... Just tell me... did Justin say something to upset you?"
"He didn't SAY anything..."
"What did he do?"
"Like I said before... I don't wanna talk about it," Justin said firmly, looking straight at JC.
"You would feel better if you just told me."
"No."
"Fine. But pull yourself together fast because we have to go to the Meet and Greet in..." JC paused to look at his watch. "Ten minutes."
Justin sighed. There was nothing wrong with Chris... Okay... so there was nothing wrong with Chris' BODY... but all he wanted was to be Justin again.
The Meet and Greet dragged on, both Justin and Chris forcing smiles to please their fans. The truth was, both of them were hurting inside.
A little girl about six-years-old came up to Justin. She was grinning ear to ear as she reached up to the table and handed him her CD cover. "I love you, Chris," she told him.
Justin smiled at her as he took the CD cover. "Thanks, sweetie," he said, signing Chris' name. Thank God he had practiced earlier. "Have a good time at the show."
"I will. Thank you, Chris."
"You're welcome, sweetie." Justin handed the cover back to her and she moved on to Lance. What a day this has been... He couldn't wait until after the concert... then he could sleep. That is... if he could get to sleep.
After the concert, Chris sat alone in his hotel room. Joey, Lance and JC were still at the after party while Chris and Justin had come home... both of them were exhausted.
Chris figured the best thing to do was just go to sleep. There was nothing he could do to make Justin feel better...
He had just came out of the bathroom when there was a knock on the door. Chris sighed as he walked over and swung it open.
"Justin?"
"Yeah... I just wanna apologize for cutting your hair today..." Justin said quietly looking at his feet.
Now Chris felt awful. Here Justin was apologizing for cutting a few braids after what Chris had did to him. "Don't be sorry. You were right. I deserved it." Chris stepped aside so Justin could walk in. "Can we talk?"
"Sure..." he agreed, walking in and taking a seat on Chris' bed.
"I can't even tell you how sorry I am for hurting you, Justin. I'm sorry..."
"I know that you didn't mean to hurt me." Justin looked up, tears stinging in his eyes. "But you did."
Chris didn't know what to say, so, he put an arm around Justin's back. "I'm REALLY sorry."
"I know you are. How can I not forgive you, Chris? You're my best friend."
"Yeah, some best friend... Who wants a best friend who falls in love with your girlfriend? I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to talk to me again."
"Don't say that. Of course I wanna talk to you again..." Justin stopped talking and silence filled the room.
Chris removed his arm. Both of them just sat there staring ahead.
Suddenly, Justin spoke up. "You really love her?" he asked
"Yeah," Chris said, closing his eyes tightly. "I didn't MEAN to fall in love with Gracie... it just HAPPENED."
Justin listened to him. Now he couldn't be with Gracie anymore. How could he be with her if Chris was in love with her? There was no way...
"No offense, Justin... but I want my body back." Chris then chuckled. "I'm sick of yours."
Justin giggled as he shoved Chris. "I'm sick of yours too!"
Chris stopped laughing once his head hit the mattress. "How do we switch back?"
"I don't know..." Justin admitting, falling down next to Chris.
Both of them stared at the ceiling until their eyes got too heavy to stay open...
Chris woke up to the sound of a door shutting. He sat up and saw Joey standing by the doorway.
"What are you guys doing?" Joey asked, seeing him and Justin on the bed.
"I guess we-" Chris stopped talking. Was it just him or did he have his voice back? He turned his head to see Justin sleeping on the bed. Justin... in Justin's body... that must mean...
Quickly, he jumped up from the bed and ran over to Joey. "Who do I look like to you?"
Joey looked at him like he was crazy. "Are you all right, Chris? Need your medication or something?" he teased.
Chris grinned. Joey had called him Chris and not Justin. Immediately, he ran over to Justin and shook him awake. "Justin! Justin!"
"Leave him alone!" Joey called. "He's obviously sleeping."
Chris shot Joey a glance and kept shaking Justin. "Wake up!"
Justin opened his eyes. "OH MY GOD!" he yelled, seeing Chris' face. He sat up and looked at Chris. "If you're... then I'm..."
"RIGHT!" Chris said, pulling him up. Both of them ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Seeing their own reflections staring back, they turned to each other.
"This is great!" Justin said, throwing his arms around Chris. "Not that there was anything wrong with your body... it's just that... I like being me."
"There's nothing wrong with your body either... I'm just attached to mine also."
Joey stood watching them. "You two need to get some sleep," he observed, grabbing them both and pulling them out of the bathroom. Then he pushed Chris out the door. "You better get back to your room before JC falls asleep. If you wake him up he'll kill you."
"Fine, fine..." Chris said once he was in the hall. "I'll see you guys tomorrow! Goodnight, Joey and JUSTIN!"
"'Night, CHRIS!" Justin called back.
The next morning, Justin woke up to his cell phone ringing. "Hello?" he said sleepily into it.
"Chris, it's me, Gracie."
Justin groaned. "PLEASE don't call me, Chris..."
"But I thought-"
"Nope. I'm back to Justin."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"Well, that's great! I'm still confused about all this... I don't understand how it happened."
"Well, you're not the only one."
"I guess not..."
There was a pause, both Justin and Gracie trying to think of something to say.
"Anyway, do you have Chris' number? I need to talk to him."
Chapter 5
Identities
Chris {Fiction}
Justin {Fiction}
My Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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