Gracie finally captured his gaze and held it. "Please, Chris... kiss me," she said in a soft voice that drove him crazy.
"I can't," he replied, but his actions didn't match his words as he found himself moving closer and closer. "It wouldn't be right."
Before he had time to correct himself, she closed the gap between them, pressing her lips against his. She knew that there was no way he'd be able to resist her... and she was right.
Chris couldn't help it. He had been dreaming of this kiss since the second they parted, and now that the moment was finally here, instead of moving away, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. He hadn't stopped loving her for one second.
When they reluctantly pulled apart, they were both breathing heavily. Chris guided her head to his chest and held her tightly. "I don't know what to do anymore," he admitted. "This situation has changed from crazy to insane... and... I have to remember that we're not the only ones involved in this..." He paused and listened to her breathing.
"Gracie... I can't do this to you anymore. You're too young and so is Justin. Both of you should be having fun... you shouldn't be involved in something like this." He could feel her grip tighten.
"No, Chris. I'm not letting you go this time. Stop trying to push me away, because it won't work anymore!"
Chris felt like he had Justin pulling on one arm and Gracie pulling on the other. He didn't know how to begin to chose between his best friend and his love. Well, he had done it before... but now that he and Gracie had spent a year apart, the feelings he had for her had multiplied.
"Gracie, what do you want me to do? There's nothing I can do. Maybe I should have kept my promise to Justin in the first place..."
Her head shot up and she looked into his eyes questioningly. "What promise?"
Chris took in a breath. NOW what kind of hole had he dug himself into? He decided that he would be completely honest with her. "I promised him that I'd break it off with you. I promised that I'd never talk to you again. I lied to him, Gracie... and he doesn't even know it."
Gracie stared back at him, wide eyed. She guessed that Justin HADN'T told him about the phone conversation. He obviously didn't know that Justin talked to her. Maybe she should tell him. "Chris-"
His cell phone rang.
"Damn!" he said under his breath, letting go of her so he could dig for the phone in his pocket. Finally, he found it.
"Hello?"
"Chris! Where the hell are you? You ran out of here like the place was on fire!"
It was Joey. "Joey, I'm kinda busy right now... would you mind-"
"Where are you? It's almost two AM! I'm here and you're not. What's wrong with this picture?"
Chris sighed. "Listen. I'm busy and I'll be back at the hotel in an hour. Don't worry. I'm fine."
"You had better be back in an hour. We have an interview tomorrow at ten."
"Okay, JC," Chris said sarcastically. "Bye." He hung up the phone.
"I'm sorry about that. What were you going to say?"
Gracie decided not to tell him. If she did, he would probably storm out of her apartment and back to the hotel, wanting to beat the crap out of Justin for not telling him that she called. But could she blame Justin for not saying anything? After all, HE was the one who lost... he had a right to be a little upset with Chris. Didn't he? "Nothing. I just wanted you to kiss me again," she told him instead.
"Oh." Chris looked down at her angelic face. Could he really do this? This whole situation was hurting three people and in a way... it was all his fault... and he felt bad about it. "Gracie... this is really hard for me. I don't know what to do."
She pushed him down on the couch, noticing that he didn't resist her. "You don't have to know," she whispered before her lips connected with his.
The next day was a busy one. Justin was crabbier than usual and it was really starting to get to everyone. At the interview, he answered every question in one or two words and was getting strange looks from everyone about his behavior.
Chris elbowed him. "What's wrong with you? Lighten up a little," he said just loud enough so only Justin would hear.
"Nothing's wrong. I just wish you would stop telling me what to do," Justin replied, shooting Chris a sideways glance. Why should he listen to Chris? Chris LIED to him.
"Well, everyone who reads this interview is going to notice how crabby you are. You realize that, don't you?"
Justin didn't respond. He didn't feel like he had to. All he did was turn his head away from Chris and gaze at something at the other end of the room.
Chris sighed. Something was wrong with his best friend, but he didn't have the slightest clue to what that was.
It couldn't be the fact that they were in Gracie's hometown... could it? Naw... it shouldn't bother him anymore. Besides, there was NO way Justin could have found out about what Chris was doing behind his back.
That afternoon before sound check, Justin sat alone in his hotel room. He was trying to think of a way to get to Chris. Whatever Chris did to him was bad, but still, Justin didn't really want to HURT him... he just wanted Chris to know what it felt like to feel betrayed.
Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind and a smirk appeared on his face.
It would work. It would work so well, that Chris would never stop regretting the time he lied to Justin Timberlake.
The door flew open to reveal a smiling JC. However, the second JC saw the look plastered across Justin's face, his smile turned into a frown. "What are you up to?"
Justin sat up straight as he picked up the magazine next to himself. "Nothing," he answered quickly, shoving his nose into the magazine.
"Okay, well, come on. It's time to head over to the venue."
The concert went pretty good. No major screw ups or flaws and the guys were pleased at how everything had turned out.
They were in the bus on the way back to the hotel when Chris finally noticed that Justin's heavy mood had lifted. There was actually a real smile on his face... although Chris also noticed that this smile was a little different from the smile he was used to.
However, when he gave Justin a friendly smile, there was a certain glow in Justin's eyes that scared the shit out of him.
Quickly, he looked down at his watch. It was almost eleven and he was exhausted. He wanted to go to Gracie's, but knew that the guys would get suspicious if he were to just leave without telling them where. Maybe he could sneak out again...
Suddenly, he felt weird... weirder than usual.
It was almost midnight when Gracie heard a knock on her door. When she opened it, she almost fell backwards in shock. There stood.... Justin. She felt like slamming the door in his face.
"Hi, Gracie. Before you say anything, let me explain something."
"What?" she asked breathlessly, almost afraid of his answer.
"It's not what you think. I'm not Justin."
"What? Then who are you?"
He sighed as he walked around her and took a seat on the couch. "Do you remember what happened to Justin and me last year? When we sorta... switched bodies?"
Gracie didn't move to sit next to him. She just stood there staring. "Are you saying that you're Chris in Justin's body? Again?" She shook her head in disbelief. "No way. You're trying to pull a fast one on me, Justin."
"I'm not Justin!" he said, his voice raising. "Just listen for another second... If I were Justin, how would I know that I was over here last night." He gave her a sexy smile that reminded her of the times she was together with Justin. "How would I know what we did last night? Remember?"
Gracie didn't know what to think. How WOULD Justin know all of that stuff? Chris certainly wouldn't tell him. They had switched bodies before... why couldn't it happen again?
Slowly, she nodded, finding herself believing him. "Chris..." she said softly, taking a step closer to him.
"Of course I'm Chris. Why would JUSTIN be here?"
He had a point. Justin would never come to see her. They broke up over a year ago and as far as she knew, he was still bitter about the whole situation. She sat down next to him and he put his hand on her leg. When she looked up into his blue eyes, she thought she saw Chris smiling back at her. There was no way that this was Justin. Only Chris looked at her that way.
He pulled her up from the couch and smiled while he led her to the bedroom.
It wasn't until they were dressed when she heard him laugh.
"What's so funny?" she asked, looking in his direction.
"Nothing," he said quickly. "I was just thinking about something Joey said earlier. You know Joey. He's always saying the wrong things."
"Oh." Gracie looked away. Why was he talking about that right after they had made love? It wasn't like Chris.
Suddenly, the phone rang. Gracie picked up. "Hello?"
"Hi, Gracie. It's me... Chris."
"Chris?!" she exclaimed, looking at the man sitting at the end of her bed pulling his socks on.
Justin's eyes widened when he heard her yell Chris' name. It was something he hadn't thought about... Chris calling her while he was still there.
He whirled around and grabbed the phone out of her hands, turning it off quickly. "You've gotta understand, Gracie."
She backed away from him until her back was against the headboard. "Oh, my God..." she whispered, looking at Justin's figure. "Wha... what's going on?"
Tears where falling onto his cheeks when he looked right back at her. "He lied to me, Gracie... He looked me in the eyes and LIED to me!"
"Jus... Justin..." she stuttered. "What are you DOING?"
"I just wanted to get even... I never wanted to hurt you. He LIED to ME! His best friend!" Justin dropped the phone and it fell to the floor, the batteries falling out. "You don't know what it feels like to be betrayed by your BEST FRIEND!"
Becoming scared, Chris dialed her number again. He let it ring fifteen times before giving up. What was going on?
Gracie watched as Justin broke down, muttering something about trusting someone only to be stabbed in the back. He put his face in his hands.
"I couldn't take it anymore..." he sobbed. "I had to DO something!"
Wow... Justin must have really been in pain to do something like that to his best friend. She sat down next to him on the bed and put her arm around him his back. "You've gotta understand, Justin... Chris didn't want you to get hurt. He loves you."
He didn't look up at her because he couldn't. "How can he call himself my best friend, go sleep around with my ex-girlfriend and then LIE about it? HOW?!" he demanded.
"Justin, don't be too mad at Chris. He didn't want this... I convinced him. It was ME who seduced HIM."
"But he LIED to me!"
Gracie couldn't argue with that. Chris DID lie to him.
Suddenly, Justin's head popped up. He was starting to feel guilty for what he'd done. He looked at Gracie through watery, red eyes. Everything came into perspective and he realized what this would do to everyone... not only Chris and himself, but the rest of Nsync also. He didn't know about Chris, but he had always felt that he and Chris were the corner stones of the group's emotional health. Once they were pulled apart, everything else would crumble down. "You've gotta promise not to tell him about this. You don't want me to break his heart... do you?"
"I don't get you, Justin. One second you're out for revenge and the next you're trying to spare his FEELINGS?"
You said he loves me... well of course I love him too. He's my best friend for Christ's sake! But he hurt me." He paused. "Would you ever think that I'm feeling a little guilty for what I've done?"
"You're human. Of course you feel guilty. And don't worry. I won't tell him."
Gracie looked down at the phone wondering if Chris was trying to call her again. She thought about the situation. She wanted Chris so badly, but this was such a big mess that she started to think about backing out completely.
"So, you won't say anything?" he asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"No, I won't tell him. You were right before... It'll break his heart."
Realizing that Justin had taken the rental car, Chris took a risk and hopped on the bus. After all, he just HAD to protect Gracie. She could be in trouble.
He kept replaying her voice over and over again in his mind, trying to recognize hints of danger. What if some guy was there trying to hurt her?
Chris pushed the buttons on the phone in the lobby, waiting to hear her voice.
"Hello?"
"Gracie! It's me! I was worried SICK about you!"
"I'm sorry, Chris. Come on up and I'll explain."
Justin wandered into the hotel around two AM prepared to get a lecture from JC. After all... they had another concert tomorrow. Silently, he wondered why they had to do multiple shows in one city... particularly THIS city... the one where Gracie lived. She was ruining their lives.
Again, a feeling of guilt flooded through his body... and he HATED that feeling.
'No, Justin,' a little voice in his head whispered so softly that Justin stopped dead in his tracks. 'CHRIS is ruining your lives.'
He pushed the elevator button and waited for it to descend.
'This is Chris' fault,' the voice told him. 'He's the one who got you in this mess. If you want to blame someone for what you did tonight... blame HIM.'
"It IS his fault," Justin mumbled as he stepped into the empty elevator. "And now he's going to PAY."
As Chris walked into Gracie's apartment, he noticed a strange look in her eyes. Inside of him, an alarm went off. That was the look of someone who was about to lie... but instead of acting on his instincts, he shrugged it off. Why would Gracie lie to him? They were on the same side.
Weren't they?
"Chris, let's go sit down."
They sat down on the couch and looked at each other.
"When we were talking, the phone slipped out of my hand and fell to the floor." She held up the phone, batteries dangling out. "It's broken," she said with a small smile.
Gracie looked at his face, trying to decide if he was buying her story or not. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. The only part that she didn't tell him was that it was JUSTIN who had dropped the phone. Not her.
"Oh," was what escaped Chris' lips. He figured that it made sense... but... he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Gracie was acting funny. But still, he convinced himself that all was normal. Like he thought before... what did she have to lie about?
"Well, you're going to have to get a new phone soon," he finally smiled at her. "How will I get a hold of you?"
Chapter 3
Identities
Chris {Fiction}
Justin {Fiction}
My Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email me: irishgirl982@yahoo.com