Chapter 14
Jordan sat down in his apartment with an angry sigh. He looked again at the TV as pictures of the *NSYNC video shoot scrolled across the screen.
::*NSYNC is in the process of putting together their new movie project. Today was scenes of Justin and Lance on the beach. The boys were quoted in saying that it was hard to act as if it was really warm out, when in fact, it was colder than they would have liked. Justin said, "Man, I was freezing my ass off out there! The sun is setting in this shot, and were on a beach in the middle of January! I know it's California, but it's still cold!" But Justin was kept warm by his long term girlfriend Ashley Richardson between takes where the couple was spotted cuddling and laughing....::
Jordan quickly turned off the TV and watched as the picture of Justin and Ashley faded into blackness. He was pissed. He reached over and grabbed the phone.
"Jive Studios, Mr. Stevens' office. How may I help you?" A cheery receptionist came over the line and Jordan held back a gag.
"Hi, this is Jordan Psykes, May I speak to Mr. Stevens please? It's concerning the *NSYNC movie..."
"One moment please....." He waited through the boring music. You'd think at a high profile record company, they'd have better music for when you're on hold. "I'll connect you with Mr. Stevens now."
"Hello?" The man's dark tone come over the line.
"Yes, this is Jordan Psykes. I just wanted to know why you decided to let Ashley Richardson go to the movie shoot with *NSYNC."
"For one, Justin wouldn't have it any other way, and she was in perfect health, and was cleared by her doctor. I saw no problem with it, and neither did anyone else from the *NSYNC camp. She has actually been a help to Justin and the other guys. Is that all?" His tone was irritated, and Jordan decided that he wasn't going to argue.
"Yes, thank you for your time sir." He quickly hung up. He would have to think of another way to get her out of there.
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JC sat in his room, reading over the script, and trying to understand a scene. Soon there was a knock to interupt his thoughts.
"Yea...come in..." He said, thankful for the distraction. A tired looking Justin strolled into the room and looked nervously at his friend.
"I need to ask you something...about Ashley." He said shakily, unsure of his words.
"Come on in man. Sit down." JC pointed to a chair across from the bed and Justin sat down.
"Do you think it's to soon to ask Ashley to marry me?" He blurted out suddenly. He expect a strange reaction from JC, but instead got a faint smile.
"I figured as much...well, do you love her?"
"More then life itself." Justin answered without hesitation.
"Does she love you?"
"Yes."
"Well, then any time is alright. If you're doing this only becuase of the baby, then it's wrong. Don't rush things. You both are very young, and need to feel your way around things. I mean, it wasn't that long ago that you threw Ashley out of the house." Justin's head fell in shame at the memory.
"Dude, that was harsh." He commented.
"Yea, it should be. I mean, have you talked to her? Or her parents? I mean, this is a big decision, you need to know her feelings too." JC reasoned. He always had the answers, yet he wasn't giving Justin the 'yes' or 'no' he wanted.
"I don't know what to do man...I mean, I love Ashley with my entire soul, and I would do anything to show her that. But I don't think it's a good time to get married. Not just yet, but how do I know when the right time is? I mean, how do I know she won't lose faith in me? Or how do I know if she wants to marry me at all?" A million thoughts ran through his head, and just as many questions flowed out of his mouth. JC held up his hand to stop him.
"Woah! The only way to find any of that out....is to ask her yourself! She can answer all those questions for you, and I'm sure she'd be more than happy to." JC looked at his younger friend to see if any of this was getting thorugh.
"Yea...I guess you're right. I do need to talk to her. She's sleeping now, but I'll talk to her when she get's up. Thanks man...." Justin gave JC a quick hug and walked out of the room.
JC chuckled lightly and went back to his script.
~*~
Justin walked into his and Ashley's bedroom and smiled at her sleeping figure. She was curled up on the bed, her chest rising and falling softly. She was on her back, and one of her hands fell across her stomach, and the other was up by her head. Justin was about ot turn away, but stopped when something on Ashley's hand caught the light.
He walked up closly and looked at the hand across her stomach. On her ring finger was a ring with a small diamond and two sapphires on either side. He smiled as the memory came back to him.
"Ashley...I wanted to tell you something." He started, turning her so they were face to face. "Over the past year that we've known eachother, I've fallen inlove with you. You have become my purpose for living each day. At the risk of sounding corny...You are my life. Music has all of a sudden taken a back seat to my heart, and you are the only person capable of doing that to me. I wanted to thank you for allowing me to see what a life is really like. You made me feel normal, even if it was only for a few hours. I became Justin again, and it felt really amazing. So thank you." He stopped to pull out a small velvet box. Ashley ghasped.
"Justin I..." She started.
"Shh, don't speak. I know we're young, and haven't known each other for very long. I'm not proposing...yet. This is a promise ring. I promise you my life, and my heart. Whatever may come, it will never break us apart, and I want you to remember that." He slipped the ring with a diamond flanked by to sapphires on her delicate hand. She smiled as a tear ran down her face.
"Justin, you saved my life. Just as I was begining to not find a reason to the madness, you showed up and became my answer. You have given me your trust, no questions asked, and that means more than I could ever tell you. I promise you too, Justin. I promise you that you will always be my number one, and never will I take for granted your trust and love. I should be thanking you." She looked into his endless eyes and smiled.
Justin looked again at Ashley's sleeping figure and knew the answer to all his questions. He knew now every thing that plauged his thoughts. Just by her wearing that ring, a year and a half after he gave it to her, and after his blow up and throwing her out of the house, she still wore it. He smiled, things were going to be alright.
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"Happy Birthday dear Justin...Happy Birthday to you!!" Chris howled the last word and everyone else laughed. Ashley set the cake down infront of Justin and kissed his cheek. He closed his eyes and made a wish, then blew out the candles.
"Wha'da wish for?" Joey asked in a childish voice.
"I can't tell then it wont come true." Justin said incredously.
"Damn! Chris, I lied that's not really what I wished for!" Joey said to his bandmate across the table.
"Uh uh, Too late!! It wont come true now!!!" Chris teased and Joey flung a bit of frosting his way. Chris ducked out of the way, but it landed right ontop of his hair. "Joeseph!!! YOU"RE GONNA GET IT!!" He jumped up from the table and was reaching for a piece of cake but Ashley put the knife in his face.
"Alright children! You sit down before I stab you with this knife..." She pointed to Chris who swallowed hard and sat down. Joey started giggling. "And you, if you touch another piece of cake, I'll make it so that Brianna's an only child!" Joey shut up right away and everyone else got a good laugh.
"Thanks babe." Justin gave Ashley a kiss on the cheek and handed her a piece of cake.
After that things settled down. Everyone laughed and chatted and when Ashley said it was OK for Chris and Joey to have some cake, they grabbed the rest of it and ran outside. Acasional screams, yells of triumph and some swears could be heard, but for the most part, it was quiet. Ashley was in the kitchen with Mandy, JC's girlfriend, and they were cleaning up the plates.
"So, how far along are you now?" Mandy asked as she scraped some left overs into the trash.
"About three months now." Ashley started loading the dishwasher.
"Do you know what it is?"
"No, not yet. I have a doctors appointment in a week. I think Justin and I are flying back to Orlando for the day and then coming back here."
"Wow, that must be hard. I mean, it takes it's toll on my, but I'm not pregnant." She laughed.
"Yea, well, it's worth it. I mean, I few late nights aren't that bad. And I wouldn't want to be away from Justin for that long now anyway. I've done it before, months at a time without him and it sucked." She sighed and sat down. Just then she felt a slight pain in her stomach. "Ooh, I think it moved." She giggled.
Just then Justin walked into the kitchen. "Hey beautiful." He said giving Ashley a kiss on the cheek.
"Justin, you're girlfriends right there, I don't think you should call me beautiful." Mandy piped up from the other end of the kitchen. Justin shook his head.
"Sorry, I couldn't help myself Man, you're just too...I can't find the word." just then JC walked into the room.
"Hey watch it buddy, she's mine!" JC wrapped his arms around Mandy and kissed her neck. She giggled at the touch and squirmed away from his grasp. "OK Ash, I'm all done. I'm gonna go kick JC's butt at PS2."
"Oh you think so?" Their voices trailed off into another room and Justin and Ashley were left alone.
"Oh, Justin I have a doctors appointment next week. Are you coming with me?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world. I was thinking that since we'd be in Orlando, we could stop by and have dinned with you're family, since we haven't seen them since the christmas party."
"Good idea. I'll call my mom tomorrow, but right now I need some sleep!"
"Right behind you Jules." Justin threw his plate in the sink and followed Ashley out of the room, turning off the light.
Chapter 15
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