Chapter Three
"Wait, I'm confused."
Lance rolled his eyes from where he was sitting. "That seems to be the word of the day. Brooke was confused, I was confused, and now you're confused. What are you confused about? Damn, it's hard trying to say that word so many times."
For the past half hour, Lance had been sitting in Justin's living room, explaining what was happening to his friends, while back in Tennessee, Brooklyn was wondering what the hell she was thinking, and JC was...still sleeping. "You mean to tell us that this Brooke girl asked you to keep a secret, not to tell anyone, and here you are telling us? Remind me never to tell you anything again," Chris said, his brow furrowing.
"She threatened me with a toothbrush." His shoulders moved in a shrug. "Think about it this way. She'll thank us for doing something like this. All we need to do is give them a little push. You all know that Jace is completely head over heels about her. Now, Brooke's starting to think that she's going head over heels. It's perfect. The only problem is, they don't know what the other is feeling." Lance moved slightly to get more comfortable, and reached forward for the glass of water that he had been drinking earlier. "Besides, she doesn't have to know about it."
A smile appeared on Joey's face. "So, we're going all Mission: Impossible with this, right? So, what did Brooke say, anyway?"
"Am I the only one that doesn't know or has talked to this chick?"
Justin shook his head fearfully. "Don't...go...there. If she hears that you called her a chick, she's apt to kick your ass, Chris."
"Fine. I...did you just say 'apt'? Nice one, kid."
"Thanks, old man."
"Whoa, guys, come on. I really want to work on this." Lance turned to look at Joey. "Brooke basically told me that she was confused, because she has absolutely no desire to have any sort of relationship with anyone after what happened with the last one. She also told me that she didn't want JC to be a rebound, which he wouldn't be. What else was there? I think that was about it, other than the weak threat against me."
Since when am I the voice of reason, Chris wondered as he looked around the room. Joey, Justin, and Lance seemed to be into whatever plan they were going to make up. "Guys, could you just listen to me for a second?" he asked, waiting for all of them to turn and look at him. "Look, I know that you all like this Brooklyn WOMAN," he said, stressing the word, "and I think it's nice how she's looking for Jace, not wanting to use him as a rebound and all that, BUT did you ever consider that she might have a good reason for not wanting to get into a relationship? I realize that I've never talked to her, and all of you have. Lance, you're the person in the room right now that's closest to her. You know most of the story....well, more than we know, about what happened to her. Don't you think that she's staying away from all that for a reason?"
He nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, of course. I mean, her last boyfriend...well, fiancé, kicked the crap out of her. He was going to kill her. Yeah, I understand that and I understand her reasons, but come on. You've heard Jace talk about her before. You've seen how he looks whenever anyone even says 'Brooklyn' or 'New York', even if we're talking about the state. He's been like this for a long time, and now Brooke's starting to think the same way...Chris, answer me this. From all the stories that you've heard, from everything that JC's said about her, do you seriously think that there could be someone better for him than Brooklyn?"
"How'd she get that name, anyway?" Justin asked suddenly.
"What? Oh, from the stories that I've heard, she was conceived in Brooklyn, hence the first name, and she was born in Phoenix, hence the middle name Arizona. It's kind of cute. Her brother's name is the same. Austin Dakota. I haven't met him yet. He's in France right now, in some culinary college. Apparently, he's pretty well known as a chef." He was repeating everything that he knew from memory, but there was lot more than that that Lance knew.
Finally, Chris decided to answer. "Fine, what's the plan for this? I'll go along, but if we end up hurting either one of them, you're the one to blame."
Smiling, Lance nodded. "Sure, and I'll readily take the blame." They all fell silent for a moment. "What should we do? I mean, we're going to be doing a lot of work as soon as Jace comes back, so we're going to busy for what...two weeks?"
"We're not even going to be in town for it. The second week and a week of vacation is in...New York. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Joey asked all of a sudden, his eyes brightening.
The pieces were beginning to fall into place, but there was still a lot to do. It was almost like putting a puzzle together. They had most of the frame together, but they still had to finish that and work on the middle. The middle part was always the hardest for them. "I have Brooke's schedule. Just hold on a second," Lance said, digging out his wallet and looking through it for the folded piece of paper that he kept with him. He unfolded it and his eyes scanned the words and dates. "She's not working her media tour for another four weeks. Then, her tour kicks off. She has vacation time during the two weeks that we're going to be in New York. I know that Austin gets back in five weeks, so that doesn't bother this. I bet I could convince her to fly out and surprise JC."
Justin had a grin on his face as he leaned back on the couch and put his feet on the coffee table in front of him, almost upsetting a glass of soda that he was drinking. Luckily, it stayed where it was. "Okay, so your part is done, but what about the rest of us? What can we do?"
The frame was complete. The simple part of the puzzle was over. "Well...I guess just dropping her name every now and then would work, or asking how she is. Anything to get him thinking about her. I can do the same with her on the phone. From now on, whenever she calls JC, see if one of you guys can grab the phone before he does. She's talked to you two before," Lance said, pointing to Justin and Joey, "and she hasn't gone crazy yet, so we should be thankful for that. She knows you guys. Talk to her, ask her why she's calling...little stuff like that. The trip is going to be a hard one. I don't know how I'm going to work that one out."
"Wait, what if I called and booked a flight for her the day that you want her to come out? I can do that the same time that you're on the phone with her, and that way, she can't say no. Last minute booking. It would work," Chris said, suddenly getting into the plan.
"That's perfect. Think you could book a hotel room, too, while you're at it. Not before, though. It's easy for that sort of stuff to leak out, and Jace might find out. That's the last thing that we want. She won't say no to a last minute booking, I know that, and I'll go pick her up at the airport. We'll hide her until the next morning, and she can surprise him then. This is starting to get good."
There was something wrong with what they were saying, Justin realized. There was something...and then it hit him. "Wait! Wait just a damned minute. You said that Brooke was going to try and forget this, right? She doesn't want anything to do with a romance. In other words, we're back at the beginning."
A series of groans went around the room, before Lance sat up. "No, not yet. Maybe...well, it doesn't have a lot to do with what we were planning, but think about it this way. What is the one thing that a guy hates when he's after someone that he likes. What's the one thing that would piss you off the most if you're interested in someone."
"That's easy. Competition. Oh, no way! But you forgot one little thing, Lance." He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as he looked towards Justin. "We're all a little too young for Brooke, and JC knows it. She's what....twenty six?"
"Twenty five. And we're not all that young." All eyes turned towards Chris. He started to shake his head, but he didn't have a chance to protest. "Come on, Chris. It's not that hard. It's not like you'll actually be coming on to her. Think of it this way. JC knows that you don't know Brooke. You're the only one that doesn't know her. In other words, you're going to try and get to know her like we do. You don't actually have to flirt with her, but by spending a little time with her, JC is going to think that you're coming onto her, and he's going to try and go after Brooke. I don't know why we didn't think of this before."
He really didn't like this now. He was starting to become a little uncomfortable with this. It wasn't like him to do something like this. "How do you know that we'd even get along?"
"Believe me, you will. This is perfect!"
Morning was always a fun time at the Turner household. Usually, it would be Austin and Brooklyn barely speaking a word while they fought over the coffee pot. Now, it was JC and Brooklyn that were fighting for possession of what seemed to be the most prized object in the house at the time. Brooklyn gave a tired smile when she saw JC approach from the other side, and looked down at his feet. Bare as usual. She slid across the kitchen floor in her heavy socks, gliding towards the counter. She got there only milliseconds before he did.
"You suck," is what he said as she poured herself a mug of coffee, sticking her tongue out to him. She walked over to the counter and pulled herself up onto one of the stools, resting her forehead on the cool marble. "If you're so tired, why did you get up?" he asked.
Her shoulders moved in a shrug. "I have-" She broke off when the phone rang. "JC," she whined, looking at him.
He nodded and picked up the handset. "Hello?" he asked, before pausing for a moment. "I'm sorry, but you have the wrong number. Brooklyn Turner doesn't live here, and even if she did, I doubt that she would make a statement to you. Sorry." He hung up without another word before looking at her. "You were saying?"
"I have plans for today," she said, adding a yawn at the end. "How would you like to take a little trip into Nashville with me? The truck isn't coming back with us, though." His brow furrowed when he heard that. How did she expect them to get back to Belleview if the truck wasn't going to come with them. "And no, we're not staying in Nashville, before you ask." The phone started to ring again, and she raised herself slightly to reach for it, before she turned off the ringer. "I'm going to let the answering machine field my calls for a little while, I think," she said quietly.
He sat down beside her, and put his hand on her shoulder. "You didn't expect all this after the interview, did you?"
Her head shook sadly. She thought that she could put this behind her now. "I seriously didn't, but I guess I have no choice but to go through it. Anyway, I'm going up to take a shower. Why don't you get ready because we're leaving soon," she said with a secretive smile before she took her coffee cup in hand and headed up the stairs.
As soon as she was upstairs in her room, she sat on the bed and looked blankly at all the clothes in her closet as she sipped the fragrant liquid. She wasn't really concerned about what she wore, since she was just with JC. The fact of the matter was that she was thinking, and her thoughts were going back into the area that she didn't want them to go into. "Please, you're acting ridiculous, Brooke," she whispered to herself, placing the empty mug on the floor before she picked out a pair of sand colored shorts and a plain white tank top. It was nondescript enough, she decided as she headed into the bathroom to start the shower.
JC headed up the stairs and went straight to her room as soon as he was on the second floor, knowing that she would have just left her mug somewhere in her room and forgotten about it until the next day. His eyes rolled when he saw it down on the floor beside her bed, before he walked over there to pick it up. A quick trip down to the kitchen before he went and changed into a pair of comfortable jeans and a tee shirt, he emerged from Austin's room, which was his for the time being, when Brooklyn stepped out of her room.
His breath almost stopped the moment that he saw her smooth, tanned legs in front of him. Swallowing quickly, he smiled brightly at her. "Are you ready?" he asked.
She nodded, pulling her hair into a ponytail before she reached to the front of her tank top and took off the dark sunglasses that she had left hanging there. They went over her bright green eyes and she smiled back. "Yup, let's go. I can't wait. This is something that I haven't done in years."
As they walked down the stairs, he thought about her words. "Uh...New York, we're not going to hitch hike back or something, are we? Because that wouldn't be safe for either of us, you know."
"I know, JC. Give me a little credit. You'll understand what I'm doing when we get there." She picked up a black baseball cap from the small table in the foyer, putting it on her head before she pulled her ponytail through the opening in the back. He always loved to see women wear caps like that, he remembered with a smile as he put on his sneakers. She slipped her feet into a pair of comfortable sandals before opening the door and throwing her purse over her shoulder. They walked out into the bright sunlight towards the gleaming truck. He noticed that it had been recently washed and waxed. Normally, he was used to seeing it with a few dust and dirt streaks on it, making it seem more real. She slid into the driver's seat and started the engine before reaching for her seatbelt. "Do you want to reach in the glove compartment? There should be a travel case of CDs in there," she told him, backing out of the driveway.
His hand opened the compartment and easily found the travel case. He found it hard to suppress a smile when he saw that Marvin the Martian had been stitched on the front of it, but the smile turned into a loud laugh when he opened the case. "New York, you've been keeping secrets from me," he said, his voice taunting her.
"Huh?"
Tapping the front disc, he grinned. "You told me that you listened to our CD once, and then put it away, because you don't like pop music. That's why it's in your travel case?" he asked, as amused smile now playing on his lips.
She groaned, reaching for the ever present pack of bubble gum that was on the dash board. "Drop it, JC. That was the only place that I could put it. I had no room in my other case," she said, chewing furiously between her words. He hid his smile as he turned the CD in the sleeve and saw their other CD. This time, he just shook his head as he continued on, looking through the discs.
"Is there a certain one that you wanted? You usually listen to the radio." Her shoulders moved in a shrug to the radio comment, which he understood, before she shook her head, telling him that she didn't have a certain disc that she wanted to listen to. It was amazing how quickly he had picked up her body language. "Fine," he said with a laugh, going back to the beginning of the case slowly, as if he had been looking through it. Instead, he pulled out a familiar CD and slipped it into the player before she noticed, hitting the random button.
The opening strains of 'That's When I'll Stop Loving You' drifted through the cab of the truck before she groaned, humming along anyway. He waited to see what she was going to do, and was more than amazed when she opened her mouth and started to sing along, knowing all the words by heart. "Sure you don't listen to it," he muttered to himself, putting the case back. She just stuck out her tongue.
The ride to Nashville didn't take as long, since the two of them were preoccupied with music, and Brooklyn looked over at JC, grinning, when she pulled into a car dealership. "Huh? New York, what is up with you? A car dealership. You're....you're selling the truck?" he asked incredulously.
She shook her head and reached for her purse. "Nope. I'm trading it in. This truck holds too many memories for me, and not all of them are good. Besides, it's about time that I got a new car, don't you think?"
They slid out of the truck and started towards the front office. "I can't believe you're getting a car."
"I'm not planning on getting a car. If anything, I'll get a truck or something. I'm just not a...car girl," she said with a laugh as he opened the door for her. She walked confidently to the desk in the front and smiled as she leaned against it. "Hi, I have an appointment? Brooklyn Turner," she said, turning back to JC. "I was going to wait until I knew that you were coming out to do this, but when you surprised me, I called that day and asked for an appointment. It's just easier that way."
JC turned and looked over at the truck. It was shining in the sun, and he felt a small pang of...something when he thought of it going. He had met Brooklyn, and fell in love with the truck. It fit her personality so well. "Yeah, I guess. I'm really going to miss the truck."
"Aren't we all," she said dryly. A man in a suit came out and shook Brooklyn's hand before she introduced JC. They talked for a few moments before they went back out in the sunlight. She scanned the lot with her eyes. "I'm not looking for a car, I think I explained that already. Anything but a car."
The man nodded and gestured to the other side of the lot. "We also have a large selection of trucks and jeeps, Miss Turner." She smiled and started off after him. When she turned around, she saw JC staring at the truck. With a sigh, she went over to him and laced her hand through his before pulling him along.
To say that he was surprised by the contact was to underestimate everything that he knew. He was almost astounded. Brooklyn wasn't one to initiate any type of contact with him. Usually, he was the one that had to take her hand or put his arm around her before she would even think of touching him. This was new, but that didn't mean that he minded. It was actually kind of nice to know that she was reaching out for him.
They sat through the descriptions of the numerous vehicles before her eyes lit up behind the sunglasses. "That one. What about that one?" she asked, breaking off the man in mid-sentence. Her finger pointed towards a gleaming midnight blue jeep. "I love that one."
Walking over to it, Brooklyn barely listened as the man talked about the jeep, and how it was fully loaded. "Great, can we take it for a test drive?" she asked, a winning smile on her face.
JC waited outside while she had her driver's license photo copied, and to get the keys to the jeep. His head shook when she came running out, waving the key. "Check it out! The plates are already on it. Let's go," she said with a laugh, taking his arm.
"New York, do you have any idea what you're doing?"
Her head shook as she stopped to get a CD from her truck. "No clue. I know nothing about cars, but I know that you know a little, so that helps. Normally, Austin would do this with me. Come on. I want to drive that jeep," she whined, walking over to it. She unlocked the doors and climbed into the driver's seat, sighing when she felt the leather of the seats against the backs of her legs. "Ready?" she asked.
He smiled back at her as she started the engine, not even hearing it. A grin overcame her face as she put the car into reverse and backed out carefully, avoiding the other vehicles in the lot. Quickly, she shifted into drive and headed onto the main road, squealing. "It's smooth, at least. Automatic, huh?" he asked.
"I don't really care for standards. I can drive them, but I'd rather drive an automatic. Do you want to put in the disc? I want to try out the stereo system." As soon as the disc was in, she cranked up the bass and the volume, singing along at the top of her lungs. "I love this jeep. I want this jeep," she said, stopping at a red light, her signal blinking.
"It's nice, but do you really want to get rid of the truck?"
"You can have it if you want, but you have to drive it back to Orlando, then," she said with a laugh. "I need something new, JC. That truck..." she hurried to turn down the music, "That truck had everything to do with my old life. It had everything to do with Tim, the rat bastard," she muttered under her breath. He still caught it and couldn't help chuckling. "I need to get on with my life, even if that does mean giving up my baby. It's a new vehicle. It's not like I'm going in for plastic surgery or having breast implants put in. I'm not changing myself, I'm changing my lifestyle."
Nodding, he looked out the window before turning it down. "The roof is detachable?" he asked, looking up.
She grinned again, stomping her feet on the ground before the light changed. She turned onto a new road, and looked around. "Yup. I want it that way. In the summers, I can leave it off and actually enjoy driving. I don't have to use air conditioning anymore. Then, I'll put it back on for the winter. This jeep is just gorgeous," she gushed, taking one hand off the wheel to run it along the dash. "So, what do you think?"
"It's great. Not as cool as the truck, since a woman in a truck is always sexy." She laughed and blushed slightly. It was a direct compliment to her, and she took it readily. "I love the jeep, though. You should get it if you want it. It's a sweet ride."
"I thought so. Let's go back. I'm ready to buy the thing."
The jeep did a loop around the block before she pulled into the dealership again, the man in the suit coming out immediately to meet them. Brooklyn opened her door and slid out. "Just let me get my stuff out of my truck, and put it in the jeep. Then, I'll come in and sign whatever you need," she said with a grin, pulling down the brim of her cap slightly.
The man nodded and headed back in to get the papers together. "Here, I'll do this. Why don't you go inside. I'll be out here waiting for you," JC told her, grinning at her. She nodded and thanked him before running in the building after the man, calling after him. He laughed to himself, thinking how little she was acting like the superstar everyone thought she was.
JC took out his keys from his pocket and looked through them to find the key to the truck that he had been given awhile back. Now, he wasn't going to have that. It was with a sigh that he unlocked the door and climbed in, looking around. There were little bits of Brooklyn in the truck, things that he would miss to see. It wouldn't be the same in the jeep. "I'm acting melancholy about a vehicle. Something is wrong here," he told himself, looking through the glove compartment.
Most of the papers were old schedules and notes from her old tours. Knowing that he had enough time, he put all of that off to the side as he dug through the rest. He could feel his shoulders tense as he looked down at the photograph in his hands. Tim and Brooklyn, smiling at the camera. His arms were around her waist, and she had leaned her head back against him. They looked happy. He shook his head. It was sad to think about the lies that had filled their relationship towards the end.
He turned to look at the glass encased building, and saw that Brooklyn was busy laughing with the man. Without a second thought, he took out his wallet and shoved the picture inside, making sure that no one would be able to see it if he opened it. The wallet went back in his pocket, and the rest of the papers were added to the pile.
There were a few things that he knew she wouldn't want. Old pens that didn't work. Packets of old ketchup from Burger King. All those things went into the trash can beside the building before he put her stuff in the jeep. He turned back to look at the truck and went back to it, taking out the small Tweety Bird that was hanging from the rear view mirror, before hanging it in the jeep. Now it was okay.
"Thank you," he heard Brooklyn say before she ran out to him. "Well, I got the insurance changed while I was in there, and we can officially drive this sucker off of here," she said, tossing him the spare key. "Here, you'll need it for the next time that you come out."
He laughed, taking off the one from her truck and tossing it to her over the roof. She caught it easily and threw it in her bag. "How much did you get for the trade in?"
She smiled at him and took out her key ring. "Well...I didn't get anything. I made a decision while I was in there." She started to walk back to the truck. "I'm leaving the truck here for a little while, and then it's going to be up for auction. All the money goes to a children's charity, and they get to walk away saying that they got my truck. I wonder if they would like to know what happened in there," she said with a laugh.
"I really don't want to know," he said. "That's sweet, though. I figured that you would do something like that." She just smiled and climbed in the truck, moving it beside the jeep before a man came around to take off her plates, bringing out her new ones. They were put on the jeep, and they got in, starting the engine. "What do you want to do now?"
Her shoulders moved in a shrug. "Who knows? Let's just drive around and see if we can find something to do. You DO realize that you don't get to drive my new jeep just yet, right? I plan on driving it today, and then maybe you can drive it."
He laughed and looked over at her. "I figured that much, New York."
"So, did you think of all the plan by now?" Justin asked as he looked over at Lance.
He nodded quickly. "Oh yeah. It's not all that complicated. Basically, what we said last time. I'm going to call Bro-" He broke off when the door opened, and he looked over. It was Chris. "Okay, like I was saying, I'm going to call Brooke that morning. I'm sure that she-" He broke off once more when the door opened again.
It was a good thing that he had quieted down, because JC walked in, yawning. "Morning, guys," he said quietly, sipping from the wax cup of coffee he had in his hands. "How were your vacations?"
"Not bad," Justin said with a toothy grin. Lance elbowed him slightly. "How's Brooke doing? I haven't heard from her since...well, that time that she called your place," he added with a laugh. "She doing okay?"
JC looked up and nodded. "Uh huh. She's been doing fine. A little bad after her interview, but other than that..." He trailed off. Both men looked at each other. There was definitely something up with him. It was almost like he didn't want to talk about Brooklyn. "We mainly hung around, but we did head into Nashville to get her a new vehicle. Cute little jeep."
Now he was beginning to get into the conversation. It wasn't like pulling teeth now. "Really? I thought she was pretty possessive about her truck," Justin said quietly, rubbing the back of his head. "At least, that's what you told me."
"Yeah. She saw, but she says that it has too many memories for her. New York is getting on with her life, and that's probably good." Now a frown overcame his face. Both men caught it, and both wanted to question it, but Lance was the one that got the opportunity.
"So...what's the problem? You look like someone just stole your best friend." Then it dawned on him. "I get it," he said quietly, rolling his eyes so that JC couldn't see him. Sometimes he wondered how JC could get so far in life if he seemed to act so idiotically half the time. Then again, it could have been part of the charm that had roped Brooklyn in. "Jace, I can almost guarantee...actually, I CAN guarantee that Brooke isn't going to break off all contact with you. Come on. I know that you haven't known each other for that long, but you guys are best friends." He was almost dying to tell JC about what Brooklyn had told him, but that would be breaking a promise (that he already broke) and he wanted his plane to go through. They had worked so hard on it. "Really, Jace, just because Brooke decided to go on with her life doesn't mean that she's going to forget you. You're probably the one part of that whole ordeal that she wants to keep."
It helped a little. It was a slight ego boost, but not enough. Besides, JC had more on his mind than just that. "Nah, that's not what it is. Don't worry about it." What he was really thinking about was the conversation that they had had in the super market, about how Brooklyn had never flew out to see him. That's what was weighing heavily on his mind.
Did that mean that she just didn't want to see him? Then that would mean that he shouldn't have gone out to see her after all. But the way that she had looked at him...just the way that she talked showed him that she was more than happy to have him out there.
It was just another mystery to add to the many of Brooklyn Arizona Turner. It seemed that her whole life was surrounded with mysteries. The mystery of her parents, the mystery of her life, the mystery of her relationship with Tim...just one big mystery. And in a way, he liked those mysteries. They were almost exciting in a way. Someone who was in the public eye so much had so many mysteries around her, and it was almost like a game, trying to figure them out.
Was that the only reason that he kept hanging around her? Because she was just one big puzzle that he wanted to solve? That wouldn't be true. At least, he didn't think it could be. He liked her, for who she was, not because she was nothing but a mystery. It was just an added bonus...right? Hadn't he had feelings towards her that he didn't want to admit? Hadn't he stuck by her through everything?
It was more than just a matter of obligation for JC. It was almost like he couldn't get enough of her. It was like she was the long drink of water one would receive after walking through a desert. She depended on him, and he depended on her. Her smiles brightened his days beyond belief. Her laugh always made him laugh. The look in her eyes could make him melt if he let it happen.
And he was beginning to sound like a man in love again. Which was something that he wasn't, he told himself. There was no way that he could be in love with her. He knew that she wasn't ready for a relationship, and the real problem was the fact that he didn't believe that he was good enough for her. She deserved all the gold, silver, diamonds, and jewels in the world. She deserved to have someone with her at all times, someone who could share her triumphs and suffer her defeats with her. He was afraid that he couldn't do that.
It had nothing to do with his own career. It had everything to do with the fact that she was perfect, and he was far from that. At least, she was perfect in his eyes, and that's what counted.
"Jace, are you even listening to us?" a voice asked, breaking into his thoughts.
He spoke the truth, which wasn't always that easy to do. "No, I'm not," he said honestly. "I'm sorry, was I missing something? I kind of zoned out for a second."
Joey laughed. He hadn't even noticed that he and Chris had come in, making it complete. "Yeah, you looked pretty deep in thought. We were just asking how Brooke was doing."
"What is the big deal about her? Everyone has been asking about her. Reporters stopped me at the airport last night to ask me about her. I had phone calls through the night, asking me about her. Even the girl at the front desk asked me about her, and now you guys? Is there something here that I don't know? This is getting a little annoying. If you want to know how she's doing, why don't you ask her."
That was one of the biggest blow ups they had seen out of him in a long time. In a way, it was sad to see him like that. In another, it was nice to see him talking so passionately about Brooklyn, even if it was in anger directed towards them. "Sorry," Chris said, raising his hands in a pleading gesture. "I was just curious. I don't know her, but I know that she's been through a lot lately. You know that we're concerned about any friend of yours, and I was just wondering how she's doing." He smiled suddenly. He remembered the plan when Lance looked towards him and cleared his throat. "Besides, I saw the interview she did. She's pretty cute."
They had bet on the right horse, so to speak. Jealousy immediately sparked in his blue eyes, but he hid it quickly. "Glad you think so. She's fine."
"Thanks, that's all I wanted to know. Hey, the next time you head out there, I might join you. I wouldn't mind staring into those eyes for a day or two," Chris added. To tell the truth, he felt like crap. This wasn't something that he was supposed to do to his best friend, but it was for his own good. This was all for his own good.
JC stood up stiffly and threw away the cup that had contained his coffee. "That's great. You can take my place, instead, if you want. We have practice." He walked out of the room, stopping at the door for a moment. "I'll see you all in there n ten minutes."
When he disappeared, Chris let out the deep breath that he was holding. "Damn, I thought that he was going to punch me. He DOES feel something for Brooklyn, but he's denying it. Why do I have a Spice Girls song running through my head. That word was in one of their lyrics." His head cocked as he tried to think about it.
"That was pretty good. It's working." Lance grinned, leaning back. "That wasn't too hard, was it?"
He shook his head. "Just speaking the truth. She IS cute, and I'm sure that everyone in this room wouldn't mind staring into those eyes. I'll go along with this, but you do know that I feel nothing for her, whatsoever, right?"
They all nodded. "We know. And I already got my chance to stare into those eyes. That had to have been one of the best nights of my life," Lance added with a chuckle.
It was two weeks later when Brooklyn rolled over in bed, groaning. "Shut up," she said in a sleep laced voice, pulling one of the pillows over her head. It muffled the sound of the telephone ringing slightly, which quieted soon. She sighed happily and took the pillow away, keeping her eyes closed. She could tell, by the way that the sun was falling on her, that it wasn't time for her to get up yet. It wasn't bring enough, and her face wasn't warm. She wasn't going to move from that bed until then, and she was damned well going to enjoy her next week off. No interviews, no tour planning, at least, not as far as she knew. That could have been what the call was about, but she didn't want to think about that.
In fact, it was the last thing that she wanted to think about. She just wanted to lounge around, kick back, and eat all the fattening foods that she wanted. She was getting a little tired of becoming so thin before a tour, and then putting on the five or ten pounds that she normally lost by eating a LOT of fast food on the tour. It wasn't her fault that none of them could really cook.
The phone started up again. There was no avoiding it, she knew that, and her hand came out, and picked up the handset. "Hello, Turner residence. At this moment, the only person in the house is dead and can't talk on the phone. Try again in the afternoon. Good bye."
She was about to put the phone back down on the cradle when a familiar voice called out. "Brooke, if you hang up that phone, I'll kill you!" he shouted.
The phone went back to her ear and she groaned. "Lance, this is my first day off in a long time, and I have a whole week off. Why are you bothering me, and you can't kill me if I'm already dead."
"I can damned well try. I'm sorry for waking you up, sweetie, but I need to talk to you. I hope you don't mind." If only she could have seen him. As he was talking to her, he nodded at Chris, who was waiting in the doorway. The door shut carefully, and he went out in the hall to make him call down to the front desk and reserve a room for Brooklyn. It was tight, but they got one on their floor, which security wasn't too happy about. Luckily, the two had laid on the charm and had gotten their way. While Brooklyn had been complaining to Lance, Chris opened up the door again and nodded, telling him that they got the room.
"I can't believe you would do this," she said back in Belleview. "This is incredible. I gave you my freaking schedule. Don't you read it? I examine yours all the time, anytime that I want to call you or something, I look at the schedule first. I know for a fact that you're in New York right now, and you have a week or two off. So, why are you calling me?"
Lance laughed deeply, and she felt a tired smile spread on her face. She loved that laugh. "Brooke, would you believe that you played right into my hand? I wanted to ask you to do me a huge favor, and one that you would probably enjoy," he added, snickering. "Listen, before you say anything, just let me explain. There's been something going on with Jace lately. He's a little...down, I guess you could say, so the guys and I figured that we need to surprise him. That's where you come in. I know that this is last minute, but I booked a flight for you for this afternoon, leaving from Nashville. I also have a hotel room waiting for you, just three doors down from mine. I was hoping that you could come out and spend some time with us. Besides, I miss you."
She sat up in bed, straight up. Her hand came up to rub her forehead. "You did this on purpose," she said accusingly. "I have the strangest feeling that you booked the flight and got me a hotel room today on purpose, so that I couldn't say no. Either that, or you've had them for a little while, and you JUST decided to call me. You are an ass, Lance Bass."
"Thank you. Come on, Brooke. We figured that you could at least make JC a little happier, and I wouldn't mind seeing you. Joe and Justin want to see you in person, and Chris has been dying to meet you. It's not like it would be putting you out, because I know that you're off. And you just told me yourself. Brooke, it's a small little favor. It's not really that big, is it?"
A bright smile covered her face. She could play this for a long time, and she was going to. "I'll do you this favor, if you do a favor for me."
He spoke again, with a worried tone. "Uh...it's nothing bad, is it, Brooke? I mean, you know that I would be anything for you."
Her head moved in a nod. "Oh, I know that, and it's nothing bad. I just don't know what it is, yet. When I find out, I'll tell you, and then you'll pay up. You know that my coming out there isn't really a favor, right? I mean, I would love to see you and JC again, and I would love to meet the rest of the guys." She sighed softly. "I'll come. I just have to call Mia first and let her know what's going on. If I have to work when I'm there, I'll seriously murder you, though. So, I'm going to New York City, huh?"
"Yup, you're coming to your namesake. Isn't that just great?"
As soon as she got all the details from him, she hung up and held down the button for a moment before she dialed Mia's number from memory. "Hello, Mia Coltrain speaking," the voice said.
"Mia, my best girl friend in the world. Guess what? I'm going out to New York to go and see JC and Lance. Well, and the rest of the group, but I haven't met them yet. I just thought that I would tell you so that you could field any rumors, if there are any. Great? Okay, I'll-" She broke off when she heard Mia clear her throat. She was in for it now.
It wasn't going to be as bad as she thought, but it was something that she didn't want to do. Mia knew that, but that didn't stop her from telling her. "Great!" she exclaimed, obviously excited. "I don't mean great about the possible rumors, but the Late Show just contacted me, and asked if they could get you on sometime this week, preferably on Thursday, since their musical star had to drop out. Can't remember who it was, but I'll call them and tell them that you'll be there. You're actually doing me a favor here, Brooke."
Her eyes rolled and she fell back on her bed against the pillows. "Great," she said dryly. "Thanks, Mia. The last thing I want to do on vacation, and I have to do it. Really, thanks. I'll call you before Thursday and get some details about the show from you. Later." She hung up and closed her eyes for a moment before jumping out of bed. She had a lot to do before her flight.
She raced through a shower, she got dressed quickly, and threw some clothes in a suitcase, not even bothering to look at what she was picking out. A pair of sandals were pushed on her feet before she ran out of the house and across the lawn to tell her neighbor, Gina, that she was going to be gone for a week, and if she could just keep an eye on the place, she would be more than obliged. Brooklyn had some of the best neighbors in the world, she realized as she went back into her house to finish getting ready. Since it was a commercial flight, she packed a backpack full of books and things to do before she looked over at the clock. "Darn it," she said under her breath. She had a whole hour and a half to get to the airport before her flight took off. All of her things were tossed in the back of the jeep, and she drove towards Nashville.
Already having broken her record to get JC to the airport, she didn't attempt to do it again. She didn't even bother breaking any of the rules enforced for the roads. Instead, as soon as she got there, she picked up her ticket and checked in her suitcase before racing towards the gate. They were already calling for first class to board, and Lance had booked her in first class.
"I'm going to kill him. Seriously, I am," she muttered under her breath, smiling at the attendant as she looked at her funny. "Sorry, they don't let me out very much, and if they do, I'm usually heavily medicated," she added with a bright grin before walking on the plane.
Her eyes scoured the airport for Lance's familiar figure. It was hard, in the sea of people, to find anyone, but her gaze stopped on the figure of a young man who was dressed in normal jeans and a black top, a pair of eyeglasses, and a black baseball cap. Knowing that it couldn't be anyone else, she decided on a plan of action, and thought of a name that he would recognize. "Austin!" she called, waving towards him.
Lance looked at her like she was crazy for a moment before he recognized her and practically ran over to her. A large man followed him closely, but gave him enough distance that he probably thought was discreet. It was painfully obvious that he was a bodyguard to her, though. As soon as Lance was close enough, her backpack dropped on the ground, and she reached to wrap her arms around his neck. With a laugh, he picked her up like the last time that he had seen her, and spun her around.
She touched the ground with a giggle. "Sorry about the name, but I figured that it was safer than using your real name," she said, punching him lightly on the arm.
"It was pretty smart of you, too," he said, picking up her suitcase. "I already checked out your baggage, and it's waiting in the car. Sometimes it helps to be famous," he added. "You must have gotten off the plane a long time ago."
Her head shook quickly as they started towards the exit. The man followed them again, keeping his eyes on both of them now. "No, there was some sort of problem with one of the passengers, and we had to wait for security to show up. I've heard of road rage, but never air rage," she said with a small smirk. "Anyway, I'm off of there, and I'm in New York. Yay," she said, with a roll of her eyes.
He laughed and looked over at her. "Cute, Brooke." They fell silent for a moment before it hit him that something was different about her. "Hey, you cut your hair. It looks cute," he said, examining it.
The hair that had once fallen a little past her shoulders was now cut a little shorter, almost like a bob. Her hands ran through it quickly. "Yeah, it was becoming too bothersome, so I got it chopped. Does it look okay? I haven't had my hair like this since I started my career."
"I always thought that it looked cute on the album cover. You look great, as always, Brooke. You're one of those women that can look great no matter what you wear or what you do to yourself." She blushed as they walked outside, and she hurried to pull down the sunglasses from her head to rest over her eyes. "Come on, it's over here," he said, his hand resting on her lower back as they walked towards a plain black Explorer.
"Cute, but not as cute as my new jeep," she said with a laugh, pushing him. He grinned as he opened the door for her, allowing her to climb in before her. The bodyguard climbed into the front seat and finally introduced himself now that they were away from the crowd. She couldn't help blushing when he made a comment about how it was finally great to meet 'the fantastic woman that everyone talks about' and added how he thought that she was just a figment of their imagination from how they gushed about her. "Thank you," she said quietly, laughing softly.
As they drove towards the hotel, both her and Lance were busy pointing out their favorite sights, and laughing over the people they saw on the street and in vehicles. As soon as they pulled up to the hotel, a valet hurried to take the keys for the Explorer, and the three of them headed up the stairs towards the doorman. Lance dug out his room key as they were going up and flashed it at the man before he opened the door for them.
Brooklyn was beyond astounded. "Wow, I knew that you guys were big, but that...I am so glad that I don't have to go through something like that," she said with a nervous laugh. She checked in and received her key before they headed towards the elevator.
Lance turned towards her. "Brooke, I'm sorry to do this to you, but you need a pass to get on this floor. We rented the whole floor and the room we got you was luckily free. You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course I do," she said before she laughed. "No, I understand. Just give me the pass and remind me to hide it from the fans when I go out. I prefer to have all of my internal organs in working order, thank you very much. When do I get to see JC?" she asked as she was handed the pass. She put it around her neck, and tucked it into her shirt just in case.
"Hm...how about right now? We're a little bored right now, anyway." The elevator stopped and for the strangest reason, Brooklyn felt butterflies in her stomach as she thought about going to see JC. "Come on, your luggage is being put in your room. The room that everyone's in is just down here," he said, taking her hand and pulling her along. She paused at the door and took a deep breath.
She had a feeling that this was going to be a week to remember.
Chapter Four
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