Blake sat at his desk, doodling on the top of a tan folder. To think that not one, single person ever told him that Nicki was that bastard's sister, made him sick. How could one sibling be so perfect, while the other... while the other was Justin Timberlake? He didn't understand.
When Adelyn walked by his desk, he glared at her.
"What?" she wanted to know, catching his gaze. "What are you so sore about? Justin was nice, wasn't he? Because if he wasn't-"
"Mr. Know-it-all was his usual self," Blake told her. "Rude, Arrogant, you know all the adjectives, but that's not what I'm upset about."
"Then what is it?" she asked as she sat down across from him.
"I really don't feel like talking about it," Blake said, folding his arms over his chest and staring away from her. "But if you must know, it's mainly your fault."
"My fault? What did I do? Are you mad that you're in the wedding party? If you really don't want to, Justin said he knew this guy from the Star Tribune that-"
"No, that's not it. It's the fact that no one told me that Timberlake's family is a whole litter. You never know when one of them will show up!"
Blake looked back at Adelyn and watched as her eyes widened. "Did you run into Phil?" she wanted to know. "Or Kyle? He's been going through a rough time, poor kid."
"No..." Blake growled. "I didn't run into Phil, or Carl, or Kyle... whatever. This Timberlake did not introduce herself as part of the clan. And she's actually decent."
"Oh my, God," Adelyn gasped, placing her hand over her mouth. "You're talking about Nicki. You didn't know she was Justin's sister? Couldn't you tell?"
"No, I couldn't tell!" Blake exclaimed. "All she said was, 'Hi, I'm Nicki.' Not once did she tell me she was related to that scum bag that you're engaged to!"
"Why does it matter?" Adelyn demanded. "Who cares if Nicki is Justin's sister? It's not like you're-"
Blake looked up at her when she stopped, noticing that her eyes were wider than he'd ever seen them before. "What?" he demanded. "What the hell are you staring at?!"
Adelyn closed her jaw and grinned. "It's her, isn't it!? Nicki is the girl you thought you'd fallen head over heals in love with! That's the only reason why you're freaking out about her being Justin's sister!"
Blake glared at her. "This isn't funny," he said. "This is the opposite of funny!"
"Okay, okay," she admitted. "Maybe you're right. Maybe it's best if nobody found out about this."
"Are you kidding me?" Blake gasped, his eyes widening. "You expect me to just keep dating that freak's sister and not let on that I think her brother is a piece of street trash? Their father should be arrested for letting him out of the house!"
"Ah, Pertel..."
He looked over at his partner. "What?"
"Justin and Nicki don't have a father. He left them when they were younger."
Blake's shoulders slumped. "Oh. Sorry. But hey, maybe that's why he's so screwed up. He never had a role model." He thought about it for a moment longer, but when he looked back at Adelyn's face, he cringed. Obviously he had gone too far. "Hey, Brady, I'm sorry. You know we just don't get along," he tried.
"If you're really sorry," she started, leaning forward in her chair. "Then you won't say a word to Justin about this. If he knows that you're dating his sister, you're going to want to file a restraining order against him. Seriously, Pertel, I wouldn't want to be the one to break the news to him."
"Oh, yeah?" Blake gulped. "He really hates me that much?"
Adelyn raised an eyebrow. "Don't take it the wrong way. Maybe it's just because he's protective of Nicki."
"Yeah..." he mumbled. "I'm sure that's it."
Evie reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. Scrawled across the middle was the name Edward, and underneath was his phone number, in perfect numbers. She almost crumbled it up, angry that because of him, Kyle had stormed out of her apartment, but on second thought, she set it down on the kitchen counter and picked up the phone.
If Kyle wasn't going to be hers, then she might as well make her father happy.
Kyle sat at his brother's kitchen table sipping from a can of coke and staring at the wood grain in the table. "Justin," he said as he set down the can and placed his fingers on the wood, tracing the lines. "Why does anyone think that life is worth living?"
Justin turned around from his spot at the sink and stared at his brother. "What did you just say?"
"Nothing," he mumbled, looking away from his brother. "Forget I said anything."
Before he knew it, Justin sat at the seat next to him. "I heard what you said, Kyle. And what the hell are you talking about? Of course life is worth living. Why wouldn't it be?"
"Nothing ever goes right," Kyle sighed. "Every time I try to do anything, it just blows up in my face. Nothing ever goes right."
"You're young," Justin told him. "Everyone makes mistakes when they're starting out. You'll get used to things."
"I'll get used to my mistakes," Kyle went on. "I'm a screw up."
"Listen to me," Justin said as he nudged Kyle's arm. "Hey, look up. Let me tell you something."
Kyle raised his eyes to Justin's and sighed once more. "What?"
"I need you," he said, almost desperately. "You can't ever leave me here. Are you listening? If you ever think about that again, promise me you'll think about how much I need you. Promise me that instead of doing something stupid you'll call me."
"I'm not going to do anything stupid, Justin," Kyle assured him. "I was only wondering what life is all about." He paused as he stared at his brother's shaken expression. "God, you're overreacting."
"If I ever lost you-"
"You won't," Kyle assured him. "I promise, you won't. I know how much It would hurt you."
Justin leaned back in his seat. "I want you to be safe. You scare me, Kyle. Sometimes, with the things you say, or do... you scare the shit out of me."
"I'm sorry! I don't mean to mess things up. I really don't! I swear to God, I never wanted any of this to happen. All I want is for school to be over with... and I want Evie. I can't help it." By the time he had finished, his eyes cast down to his lap and his voice lowered to almost a whisper.
Justin suddenly stood up and snatched his keys off the table. "You can stay here for as long as you want, but I have to run a few errands. I'll be back in a little bit."
"Where are you going?" Kyle asked, standing up and following him to the door. "Can't I come with?"
"Take a nap or watch TV. I'll be back in a little while," he said as their eyes met in a sad gaze. "And lock the door behind me. Don't open it for anyone besides me or Adelyn."
"I'm not a child," Kyle muttered before the door closed tight, and he gave a deep sigh.
Justin had looked at the list of names and apartment numbers in the lobby of Evie's building and after climbing up the two flights of stairs, he started down the hallway to room two-sixteen. He paused in front of her door and stared at the numbers until his vision blurred together.
He had never really had a real conversation with Evie besides the usual "hello" and "how are you," and he was nervous to talk to her about Kyle. If she were to say anything that would hurt Kyle, Justin didn't know what he would do. If Kyle's heart were to break, so would Justin's.
He raised his fist to the door, and as he tapped softly on the wood, the door cracked open. It hadn't been closed all the way. Not being able to help himself, he leaned to the crack in the door and peered through. He was about to call out for Evie when his eyes caught sight of her sitting on the couch... and a man with dark hair sat beside her. He wanted to kick the door open, grab the guy by the collar and toss him out on his ass, but then reminded himself that this guy didn't have a clue what was going. This was Evie's fault. Instead of flying into a mad rage, he knocked harder on the door.
"Evie," he called. "It's Justin. Can I come in?"
Evie pushed Edward away and stood up in shock. Kyle had went to Justin, of course, and told him everything. Now Justin was angry and came to teach her some sort of a lesson. Scared that Edward would think Justin was someone other than her sister's fiancé, she hurried to the door and pushed Justin out into the hall.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed as she closed the door tightly behind them.
"If you think," Justin began, "that you can take my brother's heart and walk all over it, then you've got another thing coming."
Evie gulped. He looked really angry. "This isn't any of your business. I can do whatever I want, and you can't do a thing about it."
"Like hell this isn't any of my business," Justin growled as he took a step closer to her. "Whoever messes with Kyle, messes with me. Tell me the truth, Evie. What is it you want from him?"
Evie leaned against the door and sighed. "I don't know."
"Well, you better figure it out. Kyle's young, he's going through a hard time, and you're only making it worse for him. If you even care about him at all, you'll call him and apologize for what you did. If you don't care, then leave him alone. And if you do talk to him, don't tell him about our visit. It'll only make him feel worse."
For a moment, it looked as though he was going to walk away, but then he turned back around.
"If you think that that guy in there is more special than Kyle... if you think any guy is, then you're in for a huge letdown."
Evie stared at him as he walked down the hall and opened the door to the stairwell. He was right. Edward was nothing compared to Kyle.
The second she stepped back into the room, she was met with Edward's glare.
"Who was that man?" he demanded as he stood up from his spot on the couch.
"My future brother-in-law." Evie answered truthfully. "Justin will be marrying my sister in a few weeks. I'm sure my father has mentioned the wedding. Hasn't he?"
Relaxing quite a bit, Edward shook his head. "He does talk about your sister, but not a word about a wedding."
Evie walked around him and sat back down on the couch, crossing one knee over the other. "I'm not surprised," she told him casually. "My father doesn't really like Justin. He thinks he's different."
"I completely understand," Edward smiled. "How can you expect someone so different to fit into a family like yours?"
"Like mine?" Evie asked, curious as to what he meant.
Edward propped his arm on the top of the couch as he faced her. "You're high class, Evie. Your family is the type of family that everyone wants to be a part of."
Evie couldn't help but think that if everyone knew what it was actually like to be a member of her family, they'd feel otherwise. "You mean everyone wants to be rich," she tried.
Edward actually grinned. "Who doesn't?"
Right then she knew why he was so interested in her in the first place. Sure, he wanted to please his boss... her father, but he was obviously in it for more than that. Perhaps he actually wanted to become a member of the Brady family.
She had to look away from him. The thought of spending her life with such a money-hungry, two-faced scum bag made her want to shudder. If it meant giving her life to such a man did she really think that it was that important to please her father? Maybe if she could try to make her father see what a jerk this guy was, he'd let her off the hook more easily.
"Evelyn... where did you just go?"
She swung her head around to face him. "No where. I was just thinking. How would you like to come to my parents' house for dinner again tonight? I'm sure father will be delighted to see how we're getting along."
Edward grinned at her. "Of course!" he accepted. "I would love that."
Kyle tapped his fingers against Justin’s kitchen table as he stared out through the doorway to the living room. Where the hell did Justin have to take off to so suddenly, and why wasn’t he back yet? It had been over a half hour, and he was getting sick and tired of sitting around waiting.
Impatiently, he leaned back in his chair, snatched the pen and paper pad from the kitchen counter and brought it back to the table so he could scribble a note to his brother.
‘Justin-
Went back to school.
–Kyle.’
Chapter 17
Keeping the Peace
Family: Timberlake
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email Me (irishgirl982@yahoo.com)