“Damn it…” Phil mumbled to himself as he scrambled around the kitchen to get all the food utensils in order. This was Justin’s thing, not his. He stood back to survey his work, giving the whole table a leery look. Justin was going to freak out for sure. He’d accidentally picked up the wrong color of plastic forks, and now they didn’t match the knives.
“Are you crazy?” a familiar voice said from behind him, and Phil jumped to turn around and realize that it was only Kyle.
“No,” he insisted. “Why?”
Kyle walked over to the table and scooped up every single knife and fork. “You don’t need these for subs, Phil. Are you on crack or something?”
“Yes, Kyle, that’s it. I’m on crack,” Phil said, folding his arms across his chest as his little brother dumped the utensils into a random drawer. He obviously didn’t take after Justin either.
“Don’t worry about things so much,” Kyle told him as he turned around and gave Phil an all knowing look. “The party will turn out fine, Justin will be happy and we’ll all go home with beer in our bellies.”
“Ha,” Phil smiled. “If you think Justin and I are you going to let you drink at this thing after what you did last summer, then you’re the one on crack, not me.”
“You’re a stick in the mud, Phil,” Kyle said, plucking a chip from a bowl on the table. “This is a special occasion! If I can’t have a drink on a special occasion, then when can I?”
“When you’re twenty-one, that’s when,” Phil answered as he grabbed the back of his brother’s shirt and pulled him away from the food. “And that’s for the party. Stay away from it.”
“It was only a chip,” Kyle grumbled, just as the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get the door; you call the sub place and make sure they’ll be here soon. I told Justin to be here thirty minutes after the party was supposed to start, but I think he’s on to me. He probably figured I’d tell him to come late and he came extra early just to annoy the shit out of me.”
“Probably,” Kyle agreed as he reached for the phone.
Phil walked out into the living room and swung the door opened. There, standing in his favorite blue shirt and a pair of shiny black shoes stood his little brother with a huge grin on his face.
“Hey,” Justin said, walking past Phil and into the apartment. “I came early. Hope that’s okay.”
“You’re a whole hour early,” Phil mumbled. “And don’t think that I’m not onto you. You came so you could clean my apartment before the guests got here.”
Justin already had his eyes set on the coffee table where a few of Lalie’s magazines sat. Phil was sure that he noticed that they weren’t neatly stacked. “You’re wrong…” Justin told him. “I just thought I’d be a good brother and help you out. This has nothing to do with your inability to clean.”
“Kyle’s in the kitchen,” Phil said, giving up. “Why don’t you go help him?”
Justin seemed reluctant. He’d probably already spot a million things in the living room that needed straightening. “Okay…” he said. “I’ll meet you in there in a few minutes.”
Phil rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he said, giving up. “It’s your day. I’ll let you clean the stupid living room.”
“Great!” Justin grinned, grabbing both of Phil’s shoulders and pushing him into the kitchen.
Nicki grinned at Lalie, who sat next to her on her living room couch. In front of them on the coffee table sat a little television which showed Justin cleaning Phil’s living room. “This is kinda fun,” she said. “Though I feel a little like I’m reading someone’s diary.”
“Has anything shocked you?” Lalie wanted to know.
“No,” Nicki told her. “Justin’s cleaning, Phil is freaking out and Kyle is probably eating all of your food. Seems normal enough to me.” She focused back on the TV.
Justin seemed to be looking straight at the camera.
“Uh oh,” Lalie said. “I think he sees the camera.”
“No,” Nicki assured her. “He probably just noticed that the books are out of order.”
“Order?”
“Justin likes things to be in alphabetical order. When we were little he used to sneak into my room and rearrange things. He’s obsessed.”
“Nicki,” Lalie said, grabbing her arm and staring at Justin’s image. “If he rearranges those books…”
“Shit.” She grabbed her cordless phone from the coffee table and quickly dialed Phil’s number. “Phil!” she exclaimed when her brother picked up. “I need to talk to Justin!”
“What?” a clueless Phil’s voice came through the line. “Why?”
“Now!” Nicki yelled. Justin’s hand was creeping dangerously close to the books.
An A next to an N? “Pure chaos,” Justin mumbled.
“Hey, Justin!” Phil’s voice called from the kitchen. “Nicki’s on the phone. She says she needs to talk to you right now.”
He stared at the books for a second longer and then made his way to the kitchen. “Nicki,” he said into the phone after taking it away from Phil. “What do you want?”
“I just wanted to remind you guys not to drink too much. Adelyn will never forgive you if you show up to your own wedding with a hangover.”
“Nicki,” Justin smiled, eyeing the chips on the table as Kyle reached for yet another one, and Phil hit his hand away. “I’ve only been drunk once in my life and believe me… it’ll never happen again. And you don’t have to worry about Kyle because I’ll be watching him like a hawk.”
Kyle shot him an evil glare.
“He won’t be getting one sip,” Justin finished. “I might let him have a glass of wine tomorrow night… if he doesn’t give me any trouble today, anyway.”
“As if it’s up to you!” Kyle protested. “You all treat me like a child! I’m almost twenty for christ’s sake.”
Justin turned around and ignored his little brother’s complaining. “Don’t worry about us, Nicki, we’ll be fine. I’ll keep a close eye on Phil as well.”
“And, Justin?”
“What?”
“That’s great and all, I’m just wondering what you’re doing at your own party so early?”
“Well, you knew I was here when you called, didn’t you?”
“That’s only because you’re predictable, and I know you too well. You probably came early to clean Phil’s place, but seriously, Justin, he’s probably freaking out right now with you watching his every move. Why don’t you sit down at the table and write Adelyn a romantic letter. You can have it delivered to her before the wedding tomorrow. She’ll absolutely love it!”
Justin raised an eyebrow. “You think?”
“I know! And make sure Phil sees what you’re doing. Lalie says he could use a few hints on being romantic.”
“Um,” Justin said, unsure. “I guess I could do that.”
Justin hung up the phone with Nicki, only to see Kyle sneaking some more chips while Phil’s back was turned. “Hey, Phil,” he said. “Got some paper? Nicki says I should write a letter to Adelyn for tomorrow morning.”
“That’s what she wanted?” Phil asked as he turned around from the sink. “She sounded like it was some sort of an emergency or something. Seriously, Kyle, for the last time, stay away from the food!”
“Sorry!” Kyle said before shoving one last chip into his mouth. “I can’t help it that I’m hungry!”
Phil opened a drawer, took out some loose leaf paper and plopped it into Justin’s hands. “Write away, little brother,” he said.
Kyle sat between his brothers on the couch, staring at Justin’s friends… who all had bottles of beer in their hands. He glanced over at Phil, and saw a bottle in front of him on the coffee table. He and Justin were the only ones not drinking. Frustrated, he nudged Phil. “Are the subs here yet? What’s taking them so long?”
But it was Justin who nudged him back. “Quit, Kyle. They’ll get here.”
Just as Kyle was about to sigh, the doorbell rang, and he jumped up and followed Phil over to the door. “I am STARVING!” he said just loud enough so that Phil would hear him.
Phil opened the door and Kyle stared at two men and a whole lot of bags… no doubt filled with sub sandwiches.
“What are you doing here?” Phil said to one of the men as Kyle took the bags from the other.
“I hope you don’t mind,” the man replied. “I followed your delivery up. I have some wonderful news!”
Kyle brought the food to the table, glancing back at Phil’s horrified face. Who the hell was this guy, anyway?
“The contract will be ready to sign Monday morning,” the man went on.
“Oh,” Kyle thought. This was Phil’s agent. He immediately looked over at Justin, whose face was turning not red, but rapidly white. He dropped the bags on the table with a plop, and then went to the door to help get rid of the agent.
“Hey, Phil,” he said, nudging his brother. “Pay the man and come back inside so we can eat. Everyone’s starving.”
The sub guy gave a smile of thanks.
“Call me in the morning,” the agent butted in, “and we’ll go over the details.”
Phil looked mortified. “My brother is getting married tomorrow for Christ’s sake,” he muttered. “I’ll call you on Sunday.”
“Okay, okay,” the agent said in a rushed voice, watching as Phil reached into his pocket. “Whoa,” he said when he saw the wad of bills. “You don’t have to pay me now!”
“This isn’t for you. It’s for the food. We’re kinda busy right now, so if you don’t mind… I’ll call you Sunday. Okay?”
Kyle snatched the money from Phil’s hand and stuffed it into the delivery guy’s hands to hurry along the process. “Thank you!” he said, giving his brother another nudge. “Time to eat, Phil…”
“Okay, okay,” the agent gave in. “Talk to you Sunday.” He finally turned around and followed the sub guy down the hallway. Phil closed the door and turned around slowly.
Kyle had already put out the food and was sitting next to Justin with a plate on his lap.
He was the only one eating.
“He really needs to get over that,” Lalie muttered as she and Nicki stared at the little screen. Justin’s jealousy of Phil wasn’t as over as she thought it was.
“You don’t understand,” Nicki said as she watched Kyle take another bite of his sub. “Justin’s been obsessed with writing since he was a kid. I can’t tell you how many stories he forced me to read.”
“That’s the difference between Justin and Phil,” Lalie replied. “Justin is a huge show off. What you don’t know, Nicki, is that Phil wrote, too… you just never knew it because he didn’t shove it in your face like Justin did.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being proud of something you wrote,” Nicki pointed out. “Justin’s stories were good.”
“Justin destroyed Phil’s confidence.”
“Stop it,” Nick said, her voice short. “I love both of them, and I don’t want to defend Justin anymore. I realize that he doesn’t always do the right thing, but he was just as hurt as Phil when Dad left. Besides, I’d rather not dwell on the past. Justin and Phil are friends now, and that’s all that matters. They’ll get past this just like they got past everything else.”
“You mean Phil will forgive Justin and then Justin will continue to treat him like shit?”
Nicki didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry,” Lalie confessed. “I just hate what Phil has to go through. It’s killing him, and he’s just letting it all happen.”
“I understand, Lalie, but Justin really does care for Phil… it’s just… hard to break habits, I guess.”
They both fell into a silence as their gazes switched back to the television screen.
“This looks like a pretty boring bachelor party,” Nicki said as she got up and stretched her legs. “I’m gonna run to the bathroom. Be back in a second.”
Lalie watched as she left the room, and then focused back on the screen. At first glance, it did seem to be pretty boring, but when she looked closely, it only seemed eerily quiet.
Kyle gave him a nudge. “You okay?” he wanted to know, but Justin didn’t answer him. “Look,” Kyle went on, “I know that this is your time and all, but obviously Phil didn’t ask that guy to come here on purpose. He feels really bad about it, too.” Kyle’s stomach turned over. He never thought he’d be defending Phil.
“I really don’t care,” Justin insisted in a mumble. “It’s his business who shows up at his place, not mine.”
Kyle leaned closer. Some of the guys, especially that stupid cop who caught Kyle with Evie on his lap in the deserted parking lot weeks ago, were beginning to stare. “You’re obviously upset,” he muttered. “Just pretend you don’t care.”
Justin gave him a glance. “I’m not upset, and I don’t care!” he said, louder than Kyle had expected.
All eyes were on Justin.
“What are you staring at?” he demanded, giving the cop a death stare.
“You,” Pertel said, apparently not at all intimidated by Justin’s bark, “are a selfish, spoiled brat, and if you think you deserve to be with Adelyn, then you’ve got another thing coming.”
The room silenced considerably, and even Phil, who had just closed the door on his agent, turned to stare at Pertel.
“What did you just say,” Justin and Phil said at the exact same time. They turned to look at each other, and then quickly focused back on Pertel.
“You heard me,” Pertel said as he folded his arms across his chest.
Phil stepped forward before either Justin or Kyle could open their mouths. “Apologize to my brother this instant, or you’re out on your ass. I don’t care what kind of a cop you are, you’re not welcome here.”
Blake stared up at Justin’s older brother and gulped. It wasn’t that he was afraid of Phil, it was that if he was going to stay with Nicki, he didn’t want to piss off all three of her brothers.
He looked away from them all form a moment and swallowed his pride. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I didn’t mean it.”
“Like hell, you didn’t mean it!” Justin exploded, jumping up from the couch. “You’ve hated me since the first time you heard my name. You hated me even before you knew who I was. It makes me physically sick that Adelyn is including you in the most important day of our lives.”
“And you don’t think it makes me sick that Adelyn chose you as opposed to any other guy? YOU make me sick.”
“You’re just jealous that she chose me over you,” Justin shot back.
“Speaking of those who are jealous,” Blake said coolly, “you’re practically green over your brother’s book deal. Do you even appreciate the fact that Adelyn supported your rotten ass all summer while you sat around and mooched off of her?”
When Blake looked back at the three of them, their faces were red, and their eyes were flashing. He was a strong guy and all, but he didn’t think he could take all three of them… not to mention Justin’s nerdy buddies from the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press. Plus, he’d heard the story about how Kyle had punched out his own brother, ten years his senior, when they’d been in Pennsylvania. Kyle wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to pound Blake into the ground.
Phil stepped in front of Justin just as he was about to charge forward, and Kyle grabbed the back of his shirt.
“Look, I’m really sorry,” Blake said again. “I don’t like you, that’s obvious, but I do care for Adelyn… though not like you seem to think I do,” he added, thinking of Nicki. “I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
“Maybe you should just leave,” Phil practically interrupted him.
Blake stood up and smoothed out his button down shirt. “Maybe I should,” he agreed. If he said anything else to upset them, it wouldn’t be only Nicki that would hear about it and hate him… Adelyn would as well. Both of them would probably dump his ass. If he could have just kept his big mouth shut…
Justin watched as Pertel walked out the door, and Kyle pulled him back down to the couch. He wished that Pertel would just disappear from his life and leave him the hell alone. His party was turning out to be one of the worst he’d ever been to.
“Sorry,” Phil said after he closed the door on Pertel. “He’s one of the groomsmen. I couldn’t just NOT invite him.”
The guests looked around at each other, most likely deciding that this was one wedding they wouldn’t miss for anything.
Lalie sat with her arms folded on Nicki’s couch and stared at the screen, watching as the guests were leaving Justin’s party.
Nicki plopped down next to her. “What did I miss?”
“Not much,” Lalie yawned. “Justin yelled a little. Some people left. This is the most boring bachelor party I’ve ever been to.”
“Lalie, this is the only bachelor party you’ve ever seen.”
“But you would think they’d be a bit more lively, huh?”
“Yeah,” Nicki sighed, thinking about how much time they’d wasted. She could have been working.
Chapter 25 (not ready)
Keeping the Peace
Family: Timberlake
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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