Justin opened the door to his hotel room to see JC sitting on his bed with his arms crossed.
"Where were you? Do you realize that we have to be up early tomorrow?" JC said getting up and grabbing the keys out of his friend's hand. "You're going to bed right now."
"Come on, JC... I was just out visiting someone. Get a grip."
JC pushed him towards his suitcase. "Go change. You're going to bed," he repeated.
Justin sighed as he picked up his clothes and let JC shove him into the bathroom.
Once Justin was safely tucked away in the bathroom, JC sat back down on his bed and thought about Justin's recent actions. He had his suspicions about it before, but now he was absolutely positive that something was going on.
But after Justin came out of the bathroom, clad in a T-shirt and boxers, JC decided that it was too late to get into it now and he would talk to him about it tomorrow before sound check.
It was ten o'clock the next morning when the guys arrived at the venue. They were called an hour ago and informed that a choreography change needed to be made and that everyone had to get there as soon as possible.
Besides feeling guilty, Justin was also feeling extremely crabby. JC had practically thrown him out of bed and pushed him to the bus without a chance to eat breakfast. And who was he taking out his frustrations on? Chris, of course.
"Get in your place," Justin said, shoving Chris towards the other side of the stage. "We don't have time to mess around with your antics."
Chris just glared back at him. "What's your problem? We're not even supposed to be up here practicing yet."
Justin's head swung around until he was looking Chris squarely in the eyes. "Well, this way we'll get it done faster."
"But we don't even know what we're supposed to be doing yet!"
"I don't CARE! Just get in your PLACE!"
Chris reluctantly stepped to his spot, muttering to himself along the way, "I think someone needs to put YOU in YOUR place."
"What was that?"
"Nothing! God!"
JC watched from the side of the stage. He was about to go out there and give them 'a talking to' when he noticed Joey standing behind him.
"What's going on with those two?"
JC sighed. "I wish I could tell you."
Joey raised an eyebrow. "You know and you're not telling anyone?"
"No, Joey... I don't know, but I wish I did."
"Oh."
"Stop following me!" Justin yelled at Chris. "I'm sick of seeing your face every time I turn around!"
"What in the hell, Justin... we're supposed to get ready for sound check. ALL of us are following you!"
"Shut up! I don't care!" Justin yelled so loud that the rest of the guys stopped dead in their tracks.
JC stormed up to Justin and grabbed his arm. "What is WRONG with you? Would you stop treating Chris like that?"
"No!" Justin said back, jerking his arm away. "And I'm sick of you sticking your big nose where it doesn't belong!"
"What is this about?" Lance spoke up, realizing for the first time that there was trouble in their midst.
"Never mind," Justin said, not taking his eyes off of JC. He pointed towards a door that led to a small room. "Look, I'm going to go in there to chill out until they're ready for us to come to sound check. Leave me alone."
The remaining members of Nsync exchanged glances after they watched Justin walk through the doorway, slamming the door behind himself.
Sound check didn't go too well and neither did the Meet and Greet. Everyone's moods were brought down significantly because of Justin's sudden anger. However, the concert went okay. Chris was surprised to see a smile on Justin's face while they performed, but he figured that it was forced... it was for the fans.
When they drove back to the hotel, Justin's silence scared them all. Before the concert all he did was yell with seemingly no motive, but now... now he wouldn't even look at any of them, much less talk to them.
After everyone had settled in their hotel rooms, JC went to go check on Chris. When he knocked on the door and no one answered, he figured Chris was out. He was just about to walk away, when the door slowly opened and Chris stood there, half hidden by the door. His eyes were red and it was obvious to JC that he'd been crying.
"Chris, what's wrong?" JC asked, immediately pushing Chris aside from the doorway and letting himself in.
Chris watched as JC sat down on a bed. "It's Justin."
JC nodded, knowing exactly what Chris meant. "Why is he acting like that?"
Chris leaned against the door and let out an exasperated sigh. "That's why I'm so upset. I don't know why. It's like... he's a whole different person..."
"You don't know why?"
"No! I can't figure it out!"
JC stood up. "That's it. I'm sick of his attitude, you're sick of his attitude, the rest of the guys are sick of it... I'm gonna go talk with him."
"Justin," JC said in a deep voice to show his authority over the younger man after he had entered the room. He pushed Justin to the bed, forcing him to sit. "I'm really disappointed in the way you've been treating Chris lately. You know, he has no idea what he's done to you."
"Well, he SHOULD know," Justin huffed as he crossed his arms. "If your best friend did that to you, you'd be mad too."
JC was getting more desperate as the situation slipped deeper and deeper into the depths of no control. This was his chance to make things right. "What did he DO, Justin? Tell me!" he pleaded. Poor Chris was in tears because of Justin and Justin wouldn't even TALK about it! JC just HAD to make things better.
"Like HELL, I'm gonna tell you!" Justin yelled, averting his eyes away from JC's gaze and glaring at the bright red numbers of the alarm clock. "If I tell you... then you'll tell Chris!"
JC felt like he'd lose it... "That's the POINT, Justin!" he yelled. "THEN we can FIX the problem instead of watching you torture Chris!"
Justin scowled. "Chris DESERVES to be tortured."
JC's eyes widened in shock. "I can't believe you just said that!"
Justin looked back at JC. That's when he noticed the tears glistening in his distressed friend's eyes. Something BIG was going on and it seemed as if Justin was the only one who knew...
Chris sat alone in his hotel room, just praying that Joey wouldn't walk in while he was there... then he'd have to tell JOEY the story.
What story?
God, how he wished he knew what was going on...
When he closed his eyes, he caught a picture of that fierce look in his best friend's eyes... Where did that look come from? Was it hate?
No... he didn't think Justin could hate him.
Jealousy?
No... the only thing Justin had ever been jealous about was...
"Gracie," he said her name out loud and it seemed to loom in the air as he stared at the phone on the night stand. Maybe he should call her...
"Tell me!" JC demanded for a second time.
"No!" Justin screamed back, the tears finally falling from his clear blue eyes and onto his pink cheeks. 'No..." he quavered. "I... I can't."
"Yes, you can! It's the only way to fix this."
Justin looked at JC questioningly as he sniffed. "Have you ever thought that maybe I don't WANT to fix this?"
"What are you talking about?" a distraught JC wondered. "DO you know what you're saying?" He paused and just stared at Justin.
The question had been hanging in the room since he'd set foot inside. "Do you want to leave the group?" he finally got out.
The faraway look in Justin's eyes was frightening and for the first time in a long time, JC felt tears in his own eyes.
"I didn't want to!" Justin spat out. "But he's MAKING me!"
"God damn it, Justin, tell me what you're talking about!" JC yelled.
"You won't understand!" he shot back. "It's too complicated... you won't believe me..."
"I won't BELIEVE you? How do you know? You haven't told me yet!"
"Fine!" Justin wiped his eyes again. "Okay," he sobbed. "But don't you DARE tell Chris that I told you!"
"I won't," JC promised. "Just tell me why you're so angry with him!"
"Okay!" Justin debated on weather or not to tell him about when he and Chris had... switched bodies last year. Naw... JC would think he was insane... if he didn't already. But how could he explain it? "Remember Gracie?"
JC plopped down beside him and groaned, "Oh, God... this isn't about a girl..." When Justin said nothing, JC looked over at him. "Is it?"
"Just LISTEN!" Justin implored. "Well, something happened... and she ended up..." he gulped, hardly being able to choke out the words. "Falling in love with HIM." He spat out the last word like it was poison.
"But she was what?" JC interrupted. "Eighteen?"
Justin knew what he meant.... "Yeah... bla bla... and Chris was twenty-eight. I've heard it too many times!"
"Sorry."
Justin picked a piece of lint from his pant leg and flicked it to the ground. "She picked HIM over ME. He's... OLD!"
"And he's your best friend," JC put in.
"Was," Justin corrected. "Until I found out that he LIED to me."
"Lied to you? About what?"
Justin told JC about how Chris had announced that he'd break everything off with Gracie and then how he answered Chris' cell phone only to hear Gracie's voice on the other end.
"Justin..." JC started. "You don't know what that call was about. Maybe they're just friends."
"Yeah, and maybe my hair's straight," Justin said sarcastically.
JC ignored his last comment. "I think you should go talk to Chris and straighten this out."
Justin was silent.
"Fine then. I'LL talk to him about it," JC told him, getting up from the bed and taking a step towards the door.
"NO!" Justin yelled as he leapt off the bed and grabbed JC's arm. "You promised!"
JC turned to look at his friend. Fresh tears lined Justin's eyes and threatened to fall to his already tear stained cheeks. He looked so young and dependent... but JC couldn't give it up. The future of Nsync was in his hands. Maybe there was an alternative... "Fine, I'll take you with me and we'll BOTH talk to him," he announced.
"No!" Justin screamed again, tightening his grasp on JC's arm. This new plan would definitely NOT work out for him. "No, JC! Please!"
The tears in JC's eyes poured out onto his face as he pulled Justin closer and closer to the door. "Justin, I know this is painful for you, but you HAVE to talk things out with Chris."
"No! Please!" Justin gave one last plea as he was dragged out into the hall.
Chris was still contemplating on whether or not to call Gracie when the door burst open and a hysterical Justin flew past him, landing on Joey's bed in a heap of sobs.
"What's wrong?" Chris cried, rising to comfort Justin.
"Don't touch him!" JC yelled from the door. In all honestly, he didn't think Justin could take it. He closed the door and sat next to Chris.
"We need to talk to you."
Justin shot up and pointed an accusing finger at JC. "You promised!" he yelled.
JC got up and walked over to Justin. He grabbed Justin's shaking shoulders and looked directly into his eyes. "Listen to me! I want you to tell Chris exactly what he said when he lied to you."
Justin wiped his eyes. "He said he would break things off with Gracie and he DIDN'T!"
"I did too!" Chris shot back.
Justin pushed JC away and stepped closer to Chris. "Stop lying! I KNOW you're lying!"
"I gave her up for YOU, Justin!"
Justin covered his ears. "STOP LYING!" he screamed, and then turned to JC. "Don't you see? He's still lying!"
"Okay!" Chris yelled, matching Justin's tone. "I'll admit that I didn't give her up totally... But, I swear, Justin... I didn't see her for a whole year!!" "But you've been getting together with her since we've been in town." As those words left his lips, he regretted saying them... after all, it wasn't just Chris who had been getting together with Gracie while they were in town. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Chris skeptically. "Besides, why should I believe you?"
"Because I'm telling the truth!" Chris sat back down and sighed. He thought that this would be done with by now... the truth was... that he was still in love with Gracie. But now... NOW there was absolutely no way for them to be together. He could see it in Justin's sad blue eyes. He would never have Gracie as long as Justin was his best friend. Oh God, how he wished things were back to normal...
"I don't know if I should believe you or not," Justin said softly as he looked down at his feet. Quickly, his gaze shot back up at Chris. "But you still lied to me!"
"I'm sorry, Justin... I really am! But when I went to her apartment that one day she was crying and begging me not to leave her. It hurt so bad... I just HAD to promise her SOMETHING... so I said that we could still keep in touch and-"
"You should have TOLD me!"
"I know! But I didn't want to hurt you any more than I already had."
"Look at me, Chris! Do I look happy!?"
"I'm sorry, Justin," Chris apologized again. "I didn't mean for things to turn out like this."
"You're sorry... well, gee! Ain't that great! You're SORRY!" Justin couldn't take it anymore. "Sorry isn't enough," he blurted out before jumping off the bed and making a mad dash towards the door.
JC grabbed him.
"Running away from your problems won't help," he said in his I-know-what's-best-for-you voice.
As Justin struggled to break away from JC, Chris' cell phone rang.
"Don't answer that!" JC demanded, pulling Justin back towards Joey's bed.
Chris stared at the phone sitting in front of him on his bed. The little blinking green light was taunting him and he KNEW that it was probably Gracie on the line. "I'm sorry, Justin... JC..." he said softly as he reached for the phone.
"Yes?"
"Chris, we really need to talk."
It WAS Gracie. "This really isn't a good time, but I'll call you later, okay?"
"SEE!" Justin yelled. "He's not even going behind my back anymore. He doesn't care that I'm right here while he talks to her. Go ahead, Chris! Twist the knife!"
"Chris... what's going on over there? Was that Justin?"
"I'm sorry... I'll call you later." He hung up the phone.
"I told you not to answer it!" JC yelled. "You're not helping the situation, Chris..."
"I'm sorry... but what if it were something important?"
"Then they would have called back."
Chris found himself becoming mad at JC for sticking his nose where it didn't belong. "What do you have to do with this anyway? Why can't you ever mind your own business?"
JC looked right back at Chris. "It becomes my business when one of the members of this group threatens to LEAVE."
Chris' eyes widened. "What?" He set his gaze on Justin, who was now sitting there calmly on Joey's bed, staring longingly at the door. He was obviously wanting to escape the conversation... maybe the group as well. "You want to LEAVE?"
Justin's eyes didn't move from the door. "What do you want from me, Chris? How do you expect me to be your best friend when you hurt me like this?"
Chris flopped down on his bed, burying his face in his pillow. "Why is this all my fault? All I want is my best friend back and I want to be with Gracie. Is that so much to ask?"
Justin leapt up from his spot and landed on Chris' bed. "You're damn right it is! You can't have everything you want. CHOOSE!"
Chapter 4
Identities
Chris {Fiction}
Justin {Fiction}
My Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email me: irishgirl982@yahoo.com