Chapter 3: "How are they holding up?" Sobbing violently, Meghan picked up the phone with a shaky hand, and struggled to punch in Justin's digits. After two and a half rings, Justin picked up. "Hello?" "...Jus...tin...my...oh...God!" "Meghan?...Meghan!" "...they're...d-dead..." By now, Skye had gotten out of bed and was standing next to her boyfriend with a worried look on her face. As soon as Justin heard the word "dead", the color drained from his face. This worried Skye even more. Meghan continued, "Turn on the TV." Justin swallowed hard and switched on his television. "...victims of severe car accident in West Orlando, just 43 years old, Lindsay and Robert Harding died instantly this evening when a drunk man driving a blue pickup truck crashed head into them...terrible death..." was what the reporter on ABC News was saying. Skye backed up slowly in shock. Over the phone, Meg asked to talk to Skye. Justin handed her the phone, but she only handed it back. "...I don't wanna..." Justin put his attention back to Meghan. "Meg...why don't you just come on over. There's no use in being in that house alone. Plus, you can be with JC here." "Okay.", she sobbed. Within minutes, Meghan ran through the front door and upstairs to greet two upset faces. She ran to Skye and threw her arms around her. When she released, Skye let out a shrill cry. "What's wrong!?", Justin ran to her. "Our babies...no grandparents!..." JC, Chris, Lynn and Paul heard Skye's cry and ran to the room. "What's going on?", Paul asked. "What's wrong?", interrogated Chris. Meghan flung herself at JC. Justin summed it up. "Mr. and Mrs. Harding were killed." Skye let out an excruciating wail. Justin took her in his arms and she buried her face in his shirt. On the other hand, Meghan had her arms around JC and he held her tightly but she slumped to the floor out of his grip, completely limp. The hard expression on the Harless' faces immediately turned soft and Lynn said sympathetically, "...That's terrible! They were really great people." Skye pulled away from Justin and cried, "I don't wanna live, I don't wanna have babies, I don't want anything...except I just want my mom and dad back...NOW." "Don't say that, SKye. i want you to live. Everything's gonna be okay." "NO! It's not! Why did this happen?!" "Everything happens for a reason, dear.", Lynn said softly. "What REASON!?" "I don't know....I don't know." JC had helped Meghan up and was rocking her back and forth in his arms. "C'mon, Meg. Be strong for your sister. Imagine what she's thinking. She is going to have babies and now she has no parnets. You're 21 and she's only 18....", he whispered. "But what about me!? WHat do I do?" "Be thankful that YOU are alive." She looked at him and collapsed. Luckily, he caught her and brought her over to one of the beds. "Just lie there. I'll be here." She smiled at him through her tears and whispered faintly, "I love you, JC." Chris had gone back to his room and called Joey to tell him what had happened. He was shocked. "How are the holding up?", Joey asked. "Not very good." "Should I come over?" "Nah, I think we'll be okay. I think they're going to sleep soon anyway." "Okay. Thanks for letting me know." "No prob. Can you let Lance know?" "Yeah, I'll call him right now." "Thanks." As Chris hung up the phone, he heard someone in Justin's room scream, "I didn't even get to say goodbye! I didn't tell them I loved them!" Chris knew the feeling since his father had died when he was a youngen, but as soon as he heard that, he called his mother and 4 sisters to tell them he loved them. Chapter 4: "Do you like to dance?" Back in Justin's room, after a long period of grieving, they all decided getting some rest would be best. Meghan went with JC to his room and Justin's parent's went to their bedroom. Skye sat upright next to Justin on his bed still sniffling. Even though Lynn and Paul had said no sleeping together, they did anyway. Skye fell asleep crying on Justin's shoulder. Justin wrapped his arm around her and held her close. Silently, he prayed, "Lord, why did you do this? What good can come of it?" Justin fell asleep not knowing that Skye's parents' death would bring the two closer together. The next few days were total chaos. Reporters clogged the front yard, tabloids flashed headlines such as "'N Syncer's girlfriends' parents brutally murdered", news circulated the web like crazy, and on top of all that mayhem, the funeral had to take place. The many condolences from friends, family, and fans tried to brighten the gloomy atmosphere. Skye dragged around, rubbing her stomach, and mumbling. Justin and JC found it harder to leave the house, which proved to be a challenge. The two were there for Meg and Skye whenever they could in whatever spare time they had. As the weeks went by, things slowly returned to how they were, although things would never be the same. "Do you like to dance?", Justin asked Skye on afternoon. "Of course! Why? What do you have in mind?" "Just wonderin...ya know, I know this crunk place downtown. Wanna go tonight?" "Sounds like fun, what time?" "Around nine okay with you?" "Perfect actually." (...later that night...) Pulling into the parking lot, Skye touched up her make-up and Justin escorted her into the building. He wore denim jeans and a white tank top under a loose short sleeved black shirt. Skye had putten on a baby blue spaghetti string knee length dress and wore her shoulder length blonde hair down. "Ready to get this place crunk?", Justin asked. "More than ever!" When the best song of the hour came on, Justin pulled Skye out on the dance floor and held her close as the two slow-danced to "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You". Skye's eyes glistened as Justin gave her a private concert while he sand the song quietly to her. A girl who was dancing behind Justin suddenly turned around and said, "You sound like Justin Timberlake from 'N Sync! You could be his proxy!" "Crap.", Justin muttered. Then he turned to face the girl. He said, "Yep, I probably could." The girl's brown eyes got huge and she realized it was him. "Wow! You ARE Justin! Whoa! Can I dance with you??" "Um...I'm kind of with my girlfriend right now..." She stole a glance at Skye and gave her a snippy look. "Oh...well...okay." With that, she turned back to her dancing partner, who was staring blankly at Justin and Skye. After another hour of dancing, or in Justin's case, break dancing, Skye began to feel weak and tired. Not being able to walk straight, she collapsed to the floor in exhaustion. Quickly, Justin scooped her up and sat her in a chair. Then he went to get punch. At the refreshment stand, a woman of about 21 stopped him saying, "Aren't you that Justin kid from 'N Sync?" "Yes.", he replied scornfully. Upon returning to Skye, he said, "Let's head home, alright?" "Okay." In his car on the way home, he told her something that gave her great discomfort. "Listen Skye, we're getting ready to record our new album up in Washington. Therefore, we'll be gone for a long time and I probably won't see you for awhile." The look that came over her face summed up her feelings at once. It can be described in one word: fear.
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