Chapter Eight
"Brooklyn Arizona Turner, I can't believe you," Austin exclaimed, looking at his little sister. She just smiled and dug her fork into the mashed potatoes on her plate. "You didn't."
Her head turned to the side as she chewed while she dug into her back pocket for a piece of folded paper. Once she swallowed and had a drink of the red wine in front of her, she grinned again and passed him the paper. "Signed, sealed, and delivered. Congratulations, Austin, you're greatest dream just came true. You officially own your own restaurant."
All eyes turned towards Austin as he unfolded the paper and scanned it with his eyes. "I cannot believe that you bought out the place."
"I didn't buy it out. They came to me, asking if I would like to buy, own, and manage the restaurant. I don't have the energy to record, plan albums and tour, tour, do interviews, and own a restaurant, so I decided to make it a little easy. I bought the place, I gave it to you. You now own the restaurant, you are the manager, head chef...and whatever other cool title you can come up with." She smiled brightly one more time. "You have to admit, your little sister is pretty cool."
JC raised his eyebrows from where he was sitting beside Brooklyn. "Congratulations, man. Does this mean I get a free meal next time I'm in town?" he asked with a chuckle.
The room was silent for a moment, other than the sound of forks and knives hitting on the plates. Brooklyn reached out and slapped Justin's hand when he reached for the bottle of wine again. "Two is your limit, sweetie," she said. "Besides, too much wine kills the meal. I do know a little about food. It helps having him as a brother."
"Then why are you so thin?" Chris asked her, poking her side. He had taken the other spot beside her. She felt a little surrounded, and a little nervous. On one side, she was being prodded and goaded, while on the other...having JC beside her was enough to frazzle her nerves a little. "You look so skinny. More so than the last time I saw you."
Her smile brightened. "I'll take that as a compliment. I have never said that I'm fat or anything, but I always lose weight before a tour. I put it back on like this, and I wonder how I could fit into a certain pair of jeans one week and can't then. Look at you guys. You could benefit from a few home cooked meals."
Austin finally raised his head from where he was reading and folded the paper calmly before standing up. He dropped the paper beside Brooklyn's plate and poured himself a glass of water before sitting down. "No," he said, staring at her.
Chris jumped when Brooklyn dropped her fork and knife on her plate. The sound echoed in the kitchen for a moment before her eyes narrowed. "Austin, don't you start this now. I've heard this argument far too many times, and I don't want to hear it again. Don't give me this."
"No, I won't."
She pushed her plate away from her, eyes flashing. "Look, I realize that yes, I am four years younger than you. I realize that you don't need any sort of financial help from me whatsoever. That's not what this is about. You had no problem when I spent over ten grand for your culinary institute stay." Now Austin and JC dropped their cutlery. Her brother for the fact that he didn't know it was that much, her best friend for the fact that he knew she didn't like to spend much money on anything. Buying a new jeep was a one time thing, he knew that. "Yeah, that's right. I spent over ten thousand on that, but it was worth it. Just from the way that your face lit up when I told you, it was worth it, so don't tell me that you aren't going to accept this. How many years have you been bitching that you'd love to have your own restaurant? Now, I give you one, and you decide to play the ungrateful older brother card. Well, excuse me for caring and trying to help you."
There wasn't a sound as she stood up and pushed her chair backwards. "I'm not doing this because I think you can't afford it. I'm not doing this so I seem better than you. I'm doing this one reason and one reason only. That would be because I love you. So take the paper, tear it up, shove it up your ass for all I care, but I'm not going to sit here and listen to you tell me that you won't accept this."
Pride was on the line for both of them, and that's what made it so difficult for him to say yes, and for her to say no. They stared at each other for all of thirty seconds before she walked out of the room calmly, her feet pounding on the stairs as she made her way up to her room. Everyone waited to hear the door slam, but it shut softly, like normal. Austin checked his watch. "Mildly bitchy. I give it ten minutes and she'll be back down here, apologizing."
For some reason, JC couldn't help snickering. His mind flashed back to the time that he and Austin had been hanging around the living room after the infamous fist fight JC had with her fiancé at the time. He didn't think that this even bordered on mildly bitchy from the last time. "Fifteen minutes."
"You guys are taking bets on when she's coming back down? Don't you care about what she's going through?" Chris asked, taking his napkin and putting it back on the table. "Look, I don't know Brooke as well as you guys, but..." He trailed off when they all turned towards the stairs. Something in Brooklyn's room hit one of the walls with a muffled thump. "I'm going to go check on her."
Did he have a death wish? He kept asking himself that as he made his way up the stairs and towards her room. Pausing for a moment outside the door, he decided that if he just knocked, there was no way that she would let him in. He took a chance and opened the door, walking in. "Brooke?" he asked. All he could do was thank God that his reflexes were quick. A hard cover book came flying in his direction and he caught it easily, putting it down on her night table. "Brooke, I'm right behind you. Please don't throw anything else. You almost broke my nose."
"It would have been an improvement," she muttered, no humor in her voice whatsoever. He sighed and directed her towards the bed. Her face was flushed from anger, and the look in her eyes wasn't too promising. He was wondering what the hell he was doing up there instead of JC, but he didn't think on it too long. Especially when Brooklyn looked towards him with her angry eyes. "What the hell are you doing up here, anyway?"
He chucked and moved so that he was sitting cross legged on her bed, facing her side. "I was just asking myself that same question. You really flipped down there. Whoa, whoa," he said, raising his hands, "just let me explain before you go and get an encyclopedia to throw at me this time."
She frowned slightly. "I was thinking more along the lines of the really big Webster's Dictionary downstairs, but then I'd have to face Austin, and there is no way in hell that I'm apologizing for what I did. I thought that he would understand. I really did. I'm not trying to step on his toes or anything, but is it so wrong for someone to look out for someone that they love?"
Brooklyn still wouldn't turn to look at him. Slowly, Chris put his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands, resting his chin on them. He continued to stare at her for a moment. "You know, you answered your own question downstairs. I don't think that you need me to repeat it."
She rubbed her forehead softly before looking over at him. "I said so much down there, and so quickly, that I don't even know what I asked," she finally said, a small smile breaking out on her face. "What did I say that answered myself."
"About how your his little sister, and how you're doing this for him. Think about it this way, Brooke. Austin is your older brother. Your parents aren't around, so he's looking out for you. He's more than just a brother to you. He's a bit of a father figure, too, and you know it. Somehow you know it, but you don't acknowledge it." She nodded slowly. "How do you think your father would react if you did something like this for him?"
It was something that she had never thought about, probably because it still hurt to think about her parents. It hurt to think about how much promise the relationship between her and her father had, and how they were just beginning, even slightly, to understand each other. The first night of a break through, and he died. Figures, she thought. "Pride was always a big thing for Dad, and he was always a little chauvinistic. He wouldn't have accepted anything. He would have ranted and raved until he got his way. He was incredibly stubborn," she added with a smile of remembrance.
He waiting for her words to sink in a little, but they didn't seem to be. "Have you noticed that your father passed on both of those traits to you and your brother? You're both incredibly stubborn and prideful. That stubbornness and pride is getting in the way right now, and you guys can't see what this is really about. You see it as a loving gesture to him, something that he always wanted. He sees it as something that he didn't work for." Shifting slightly, he watched as understanding started to dawn on her face. "Uh huh, I hit it right on the head of the nail there. He didn't work for it, so he doesn't want it. Tell me something. If someone came up to you when you were just thinking about singing professionally, and they told you that they were going to give you a truckload of money and they were going to push you so high you would break through the ceiling, what would you say?"
"I would tell them that I didn't want it, because I didn't...because I didn't work for it," she said quietly, looking back at him with wide eyes. "I didn't think that I would offend him with something like this. I just thought that...that he would see it for what he was worth. You're sitting here and telling me that neither of us will take something that we didn't earn, but he took that gift on Christmas that sent him away to France to study at the institute. He didn't have any problem...well, he had a small insecurity about it, but he didn't have a real problem with it."
"You're talking a Christmas present, though. There is no holiday right now, and I'm guessing that it's not his birthday."
"No, it's not."
Her head dropped in her hands and she groaned. "He knows that you were trying to help him, Brooke. I could see that, but his pride won out, and he probably didn't realize how it hurt you because his pride was so strong. Neither one of you are at fault. It's just some crossed wires, that's all."
She stood up suddenly and walked over to her vanity table, reaching for her brush. She pulled it through her hair a few times before dropping it. "Fine, I understand," she said, her eyes shining with determination. He watched as she marched out of her room and down the stairs. "Oh, God, what is she going to do now?" he muttered to himself, walking after her.
With her head raised, she looked at her brother from where he was cleaning up the table. "Austin, I'm going to make you a deal." Chris tried not to cross himself. This could turn into World War Three right there in front of him, and the last thing he wanted to do was walk into a fight between a brother and a sister. Especially two very stubborn ones. "You WILL run that restaurant. There's no question about that," she said, crossing her arms. "However, before that happens, you will buy the deed from me for full price. Glad we settled it," she said with a smirk, turning. "Excuse me," she said to Chris, pushing him out of the way so that she could go back to her room.
The two men just looked at each other and shook their heads. "JC is going to have his hands full with her," Austin said with a grin.
"So, how long are you going to keep the place closed?" Brooklyn asked, moving her glasses down her nose to look at her brother. Before them at the table, pieces of paper regarding the restaurant were strewn around in small piles. She had tried her best to organize them, but with her brother, organization wasn't one of his strong points. He may have been able to put ingredients on a counter top before he began cooking, she thought ruefully, but the actual cooking part was messy as all hell.
He shrugged slowly. "Hopefully, not long. We have to close it for a little while. I want some minor renovations done to the kitchen. Are you sure about this?"
Smiling, she pushed one paper off to the side while she searched for another one. "I said that I'd be a partner in this, but I'm not going to run the place. It's fifty-fifty and I'm pretty well silent. Surely the press is going to find out that I'm part of this, and I'll agree to that willingly, but all the decisions and everything is left up to you. I just put a little money behind the deal, that's all." When she saw his face, she giggled and reached for her hair tie. "Not like that, Austin. I'm only contributing to part of it."
"Thank you. I want to come up with a new menu, too. I'm not changing all of it, but there are a few dishes that I tried to push on them, and they kept saying no. You've had quite a few of them."
"As long as you put the rosemary chicken that you make on there, I'll be more than happy. What kind of side dish, though. The vegetables, the...oh, what about the roasted garlic potatoes? Doesn't rosemary and garlic go well together? Morning, guys," she said, smiling at Joey and Lance as they came in the kitchen.
Austin grinned across the table at her as she put her hair into a high ponytail. "Yeah, that would work. I don't know. I was thinking of adding the garlic flavored rice to that one, actually."
"Would you guys please shut up? You're making me hungry," Lance groaned as he sat down beside Brooklyn.
Her thumb jerked in the direction of the oven. "I don't know what Austin has in there, but it's staying warm, and there's always cereal and toast and bagels on the counter. We always have some kind of food," she said, while rolling her eyes. "You don't want to put rice and potatoes together, I know that. What about...garlic rice and vegetables? That way you get your rice on there." She laughed, brushing a piece of hair out of her face. "What day would that be, though? It's sort of a...Thursday dinner, don't you think?"
He nodded, scratching his head. "Yeah that would be. Morning, brat," he finished, turning to look at Justin as he came into the room. From the moment that Austin and Justin had met, they had taken to an incredibly long name calling contest. Granted, the two of them didn't see eye to eye, but Brooklyn wasn't worried about it.
"Good morning, Justin. You're looking a little...lost," she said, smiling at him. She stuck her pen through the hair above her ponytail and took a sip of her tea.
He stood there for a moment with a puzzled expression on his face. "Yeah. Do you have any toast?"
Shaking her head, she pointed to the bread bag. "Not offhand, but you can make some. The toaster is in the corner." She turned back to her brother, and to the amusement of Joey and Lance, got right back into the conversation about the restaurant. "Were you thinking about changing the name? The name right now isn't very...Austin like," she added, running her finger around the rim of her mug.
"Brooke, what is up with your toaster?"
She stood up, rolling her eyes. "Not again," she muttered, walking over beside him. She smacked it twice on the side and then picked it up, dropping it. "There you go, it should work now." To prove her point, she pressed down the button and watched as the bread disappeared and the coils turned red. "Austin, the toaster's screwed. We really need to get a new one."
His brow was furrowed for a moment before he looked back at her with an excited look. "What did you just say?"
"What? It should work now? I know that you're the only person that doubts my talents, but you have to admit, that was pretty damned good." She giggled, buffing her nails on the front of her shirt.
"No, the other thing."
Her eyebrows rose quickly. "Not again? You of all people know that I hate that toaster with a passion. It's been screwing up ever since the warranty died out...the butter's over there, sweetie...and I've been threatening to toss the stupid thing out, but I haven't had a chance yet. Did it pop?" she asked, turning back to Justin. When he shook his head in puzzlement, she stomped her foot on the ground. The toast popped up instantly. "There you go. Perfect golden brown, too. I'm getting so good at that." She rounded the counter and sat back down. "Austin, would you care to explain yourself? I can't even remember what this conversation is about," she added under her breath.
"You said something about the toaster screwing up, and that we needed a new one."
She slapped her forehead. "Duh, I said that the toaster is screwed."
Austin shook his head. "No, how EXACTLY did you say it?"
"Austin, the toaster's screwed," three voices rang back, none of them being Brooklyn's. She clapped her hands slowly, with amusement written all over her face. "Thank you," they chorused, bowing at the waist.
Her small giggle turned into a full blown laugh before she sobered up, and quickly. "So, that's what you're going to name the place? It's catchy, easy to say, and no foreign words. Easy for people to remember it. I like it." Grinning, she leaned forward. "Can I suggest something, though? Why don't you name it 'Country singing superstar and sexiest female in the world, Brooklyn Arizona Turner, presents her older brother's four star restaurant...Toasters'? Now THAT has a ring to it," she said, nodding her head once with a smug smile on her lips.
Chris came into the kitchen at that moment and stopped, staring at her. "If that's what you're naming the place, I am so there." He walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself a mug before walking over to sit in the free chair beside her. "Don't you think that it's a little too long to fit on the awning. You'd have to have a restaurant that's about a block long, and from when we saw it yesterday, I think it's a bit small for that." Brooklyn pushed her elbow into his side. "Hey, now, take it easy on me. I didn't exactly say that last night, did I?" he asked with a grin, pulling the pen out of her hair.
She slapped his hands briefly. "No, you said something more along the lines of 'hurt me' but I could have mistaken it with 'help me'. I did go a little crazy," she added with a sheepish smile. "Don't worry, though, Chris. Next time, I promise to lay off the biting, scratching and...bruises." Patting him on the head, she stuck out her tongue.
"Careful with that tongue, sweetie. I might take that threat seriously one day." Jokingly, he leaned forward. Brooklyn put her hand on his forehead and pushed him hard enough to knock him out of the chair. "I thought you said no more bruises!"
"I said that I would lay off them, and lay on you." A chorus of "ooh!" went through the room as she giggled behind her hand. "I am so going to miss you guys when you go back. Breakfast just won't be as kinky." She helped Chris up and patted him on his knee, ignoring his attempts for more. "Morning, JC. You just missed the morning orgy." He turned in time to see her glowing smile.
He shuddered as he sat down at the table. "Glad I wasn't here."
"I take offense to that."
"You think I want to see them all naked? No, thank you," he said, winking at her.
"But he's fine with you, Brooke. Then again, who wouldn't be fine with someone as fine as you." She groaned and shook her head at Justin's words. "It's too early for me to be spreading the good jokes around. Give me an hour and a pot of coffee and I'll be kicking your butt."
She smirked and drank the rest of her tea before licking her lips and looking back at him. "Justin, you have that so wrong. I would be the one kicking your butt, and don't think that I'm afraid, all right? You may be taller and stronger than me, but I'm older and know so much more than you do."
He nodded. Brooklyn never thought that a nod could look sarcastic, but his did. "Uh huh, sure. You think you know everything, huh? Bet you don't know everything about the music industry." The guys groaned. Justin constantly tried to show off his knowledge of the music industry.
Brooklyn sighed lightly. "Well, we are in different genres, and I may not know everything about the music industry. In fact, I don't believe I said that I know everything, but I definitely know more than you do. I've been in the business since I was seventeen. That would be...eight years, singing professionally. Now, I know that you were on television, but you weren't singing exclusively, professionally. Meaning, that you were what...fourteen, when you started?" He nodded reluctantly at that. "Okay, so that means that you've been in the business for...six years, or am I wrong? Still, I know I've got at least a year, if not two, on you. So, curly boy, think again."
"She SO told you," Chris exclaimed. "I need her around more often so that she can help me fight you."
"Who says that I would fight on your side?" she asked curiously as she got up to pour herself another cup of tea. "I don't remember saying that."
He turned to look at her as she put a small spoonful of sugar into the mug and stirred it thoughtfully. "You know that you would fight on my side. You have to."
"I don't have to do anything," she said quietly, coming to sit back down. She sipped her tea slowly, clearing her throat. "Darn, I forgot. Austin, are you going to be at the first show, or are you going to be working at the restaurant then?"
He shook his head, putting all the papers in front of him into a folder. She looked dismayed at it. Brooklyn was going to have to go through all of it again and put it into their separate piles once more. She expected to do it a few more times after that, as well. "The restaurant will be closed by then, I'm betting. That time frame sounds about right. Can we please stop talking about business over breakfast? It's the worst time to talk about it," he added, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "So, what is everyone doing today?"
Brooklyn smirked. "I can bet you that I am not going near the studio until these guys are gone. I don't think that the poor secretary will ever recover," she said with a small laugh. "Whatever they're up to, I'm willing to do. I have absolutely nothing to do today. I'm actually free!" she said, throwing her hands in the air. "And on that note, I think I'm going to go take a shower and see if I actually have some clothes left that are clean. I really need to do some laundry," she said, her voice dying out as she made her way up the stairs.
In her pajamas, she stood in front of her closet, looking through it while chewing on her fingernail. "Christ, you scared me," she said suddenly, jumping and turning to look at Joey. "Did you have to sneak up behind me like a stalker?" Laughing, she went to go and close the door behind him. "Okay, what do you want, other than making me almost die from a heart attack."
"Nothing much. What are you wearing today?"
Her eyebrows raised slowly, staring at him. "Uh huh, stalker tendencies. Just to let you know, my underwear is blue."
Rolling his eyes, he went to go and sit down on the bed. "Cute, Brooke. Really. The reason I came up here was to see what you were wearing today." She shook her head to show her confusion. "If you want to attract his attention..."
"You're making me sound like a piece of meat. Thanks," she said, turning back to her closet. "I have no clue what you guys have planned for today, so I don't know what to wear. Besides, isn't that a little cheap, playing on hormones and all that? I wasn't looking for that sort of response, Joey," she said, pulling out a pair of shorts to examine them.
"Too long, you need something shorter. It's not like it's illegal to do that. Haven't you ever wanted to look good for someone?" She nodded, putting her shorts back and pulling out another pair. "Still too long. Haven't you ever dressed to impress someone?" She nodded again, putting that pair of shorts back. He stood up and picked out a pair, tossing them at her. "Well, that's exactly what you're doing. What's so wrong with that?"
Her eyes raised to look at him. "Nothing, I guess. You make a lot of sense, but..." She raised the shorts for him to see. "Do you think that these even have an inseam? This is ridiculous. I rarely wear these."
"You bought them, wear them sometimes. You've got the legs to pull it off. Look, you're not doing anything wrong here, sweetie. We all know how you guys really feel about each other, but...Brooke, just listen to me, all right? You're doing everything that a woman in your position would. The only difference is that you're both famous and this could be publicized before the two of you know it."
That thought alone made her groan and drop down beside the bed, holding her head. He laughed, sitting down beside her. "You're serious, aren't you? I totally forgot about that point. Why go through with this, then? I mean, the press will have a field day with it, and if they find out what I'm doing, which they always will, I'll be even more dead, because Mia will absolutely..."
He waited until she died down and put his arm around her shoulder. "Brooke, don't even think about it. The press will not find out, and if they do, so what? No one would be mad at you. They'd probably like you even more for what you're doing."
Turning to look at him, she shook her head. "Remember, I've seen your fans before. They would absolutely hate me. Hell, some of them already do, and the big problem with that is that a huge portion of pop music listeners listen to country music, too. So, I'm screwed there, too." Her head fell back against the bed. "And yes, Mia would kick my ass. She's just waiting for the perfect opportunity."
"Want to bet?" he asked her with a bright grin.
"Don't say that around her. She already put money down in Vegas on me and JC hooking up. I didn't know Vegas was taking bets. Did you?"
He stopped for a moment, and thought about it. "I'm going to have to make a stop there and put in a bet. That's going to be easy money," he said, pushing her. "Seriously, Brooke, if you have some doubts about this still, you might as well stop now. If you're going to be second guessing everything, don't go through with it."
Almost on cue, her eyes flashed. "I'm going through with it. Don't think that I'm not, loser. There's no way that I can't not go through with it. I want this, I'm just wondering if this is the right away to go about everything, that's all."
"There is no real right way to do this, but I know that it will definitely work out. Don't worry, Brooke. We've got it all covered."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
"How am I supposed to-" Brooklyn was broken off when a piece of toasted marshmallow, slightly cool but still gooey, was pushed into her mouth to silence her. She chewed slowly, almost willingly. JC watched with interest as he licked the rest of the marshmallow off of his fingers. Her eyes immediately went down there before she looked away, almost groaning to herself. He never even caught the gesture, luckily. A sip of her soda and she was ready to talk again. "How am I supposed to do this, pray tell?" she asked, looking at her best friend.
He chuckled and passed her another marshmallow. Her shoulders shrugged as she pushed it on the end of the stick and put it in the fire, rotating it slowly. "The way that I figure it, when we have a break, you have time off, right? That's when you come out to see us."
An automatic answer was about to come out of her mouth before she shook her head. "Yeah, I guess," she said thoughtfully, lifting the stick to see in the marshmallow had been thoroughly burnt. When she saw that it wasn't, she put it back in the flames.
"Did you just say that you would?" he asked, turning to look at her with shining blue eyes. She bit her lip and forced herself to look away. Those damned eyes did it for her every time. It would have been fine if he hadn't had such expressive eyes, she supposed. Maybe if they weren't that gorgeous color, too. She hated how he was so perfect.
"I didn't say that I would come, for sure, but I'm considering it. It sounds like it could be fun...maybe," she added, making a face as she finally lifted the once white now charred piece of fluff out of the fire. She pulled off the outer shell after blowing out the flames and licking her fingers before the remaining marshmallow went back in the fire. She never saw how his eyes went down to look at her suck the sweetness off her thin fingers.
Both of them seemed to be missing a lot of each other's actions, it seemed.
He finally moved so that he was laying down on the blanket beside her, propped up on his elbows as he chewed on a potato chip slowly. "Don't make it sound like a chore or anything," he added, pushing her slightly. She laughed and took the marshmallow back out of the fire, eating the outer, and burned shell again. One more time, and there wouldn't be anything left on the stick. "You know that I would love to have you out there. I've got an extra room at the apartment, anyway."
"Oh, no, I could stay in a hotel, for sure," she said with a small laugh.
"Not even. You never let me stay at one, and I'm not about to let you stay at one. Besides, I'd feel better if I knew that you were in the room beside me." Her breath stopped for a moment at that. Could she be anymore obvious, she wondered. Just the way that he said that, the way that he lowered his voice a little, making it seem more private and almost...sensual, made her feel like jumping him right then and there.
It was probably a good thing that Chris had come running up at that moment. He fell down on the blanket on the other side of Brooklyn and stared at the fire for a moment. "You know, sometimes I think you're a genius," he said, looking over at her.
She smiled at the compliment. "Thanks. Just why do you think that, though?"
He shrugged, taking a chip out of the bag in front of them. "Who else would have thought about taking us camping? It's cool. I haven't done this in years. I haven't really had the chance to go camping. It's either been in the studio or on tour. I miss doing stuff like this."
"I know what you mean. I haven't been able to do this for a long time, but I enjoy it when I can, and why shouldn't you guys enjoy it, too. This place is absolutely free of people. I think that I'm the only one that knows about this spot, anyway. You don't have to worry about autograph and picture seeking fans, you don't have to worry about the press. All you have to worry about is if you have enough snack food to make it through the night, and if you brought enough blankets to keep warm during the night. This is the kind of thing that I love." She smiled, propping her chin on her hands. "You know, I still remember the camping trips that Austin, Dad, and I would take. I learned how to swim around here. If you go down that path, there's a little lake," she explained, pointing as she talked, "and when I was really little, my dad decided to pick me up and throw me in to see if I could swim. I learned the hard way, you could say. Austin learned how to swim here, too."
Chris smiled and reached over to touch her hand. "Hold onto those memories, sweetie. I've seen people forget things like that, and to know that you find pleasure in remembering such simple things that most people take for granted...it only makes you a better person, Brooke." He yawned and stretched to break the almost melancholy attitude that seemed to be falling on them. "Well, I have a question. Is anyone up for another marshmallow war?" he asked, grinning.
Both Brooklyn and JC sighed. "I still have marshmallow stuck in my hair, I think. That wasn't the brightest idea that you've had since I've met you. To think that he was the one that thought it was funny to rip the stupid things in half before sticking them in someone's hair. He didn't like it too much when I did the same to him," she said to JC in a stage whisper.
Laughing, Chris bent his head so that she could see the marshmallow still sticking in his hair. "Forgive me for this, cutie," she said, taking a deep breath. She put her nails around the offending clump and pulled hard. He shouted as she pulled at his hair, and got the sticky piece out at the same time.
"Damn, girl, I think you just made me bald."
She smirked and held up the piece that was stuck underneath her thumb nail for a moment. "I didn't yank one precious hair out of your head. Just the marshmallow. Don't you even think of coming near me like that, Christopher," she warned, pointing at him as he picked up her hair.
He grinned back. "Calm down, Brooklyn. It's not going to hurt." He quickly pulled all of her hair away from the clump in her hair and pulled that off gently. JC couldn't help but want that to be him doing that to her, since it meant just another opportunity to touch her soft hair. "See, all done. Didn't feel a thing, did you?"
"Women are different, Chris. We've had our hair pulled and played with so many times as kids that we can barely feel it now. You could rip a handful of hair out of my head and I bet I would barely wince. That's part of being female, along with PMS, makeup, chocolate and ice cream obsessions, and crying over sappy movies, no matter how touch you pretend to be." She raised her hand. "Believe me. I'm all that and more. Oh, speaking of which, did we remember to bring everything to make s'mores later on?" she asked, her eyes brightening.
"Lay off the sugar, New York. Don't you think you've had enough? You and I have gone through one bag of marshmallows already, without help." She stuck her tongue out. "Now you want to throw graham crackers and chocolate into the equation? That is a very bad idea."
Her head shook slowly. "I wasn't talking about now. More like later tonight, when it's dark and I get to sit at the fire, watching the stars. Good thing I brought my camera with me," she added with a chuckle. "You guys aren't planning on sleeping tonight, are you? Where is everyone else, anyway?"
JC rolled over onto his back, shading his eyes from the sun before reaching for the sunglasses beside him. "Uh...I think that Justin, Lance, and Joe are still trying to clean the marshmallow off of themselves. Chris better run and run fast when he sees them coming."
"Speaking of which, I'm out of here."
"Don't get lost!" she shouted after him as he ran away from them, all three guys hot on his heels.
He laughed before turning his head towards her, but not opening his eyes. "I guess I can answer that question for Chris. He'll definitely be sleeping tonight. Everyone thinks that I'm the one that needs all the sleep. They're pointing their finger at the wrong NSYNCer most of the time," he added, smiling when he heard her gentle laugh. "Were you planning on staying up?"
Her head nodded slowly before she realized that he wasn't looking. "Yeah. I never understood those people that go camping and end up falling asleep. To me, camping is a time when you get to stay up all night, appreciate the beauty around you, and get a chance to really talk to someone. You shouldn't sleep when you're surrounded by all of this," she said, waving her hand around. They were surrounded by trees and in the distance, blue mountains gleamed against the sun. "Are you going to stay up with me? Staying up alone is a total downer, and then I'll have no one to talk to."
"Are you pouting?" he asked her. He still wasn't looking.
"Uh...no, why do you ask?" she answered, trying to sound as innocent as possible.
He laughed again, finally opening his eyes to look at her. Thank God that they were behind dark lenses. She could still see them, a little, but it didn't have the same effect on her. "Don't try that, Brooke. I know that your halo doesn't fit over your horns." She hit him in the stomach, making him groan and wrap his arms around himself. "Okay, I take that back. You're incredibly perfect."
She looked up from checking her watch. "Took you long enough. I thought that I trained you better than that," she said with a laugh, rolling over beside him. As he did, she reached blindly for her glasses, letting the sun soak into her already golden skin. "This is the moment that everyone looks for, right?" she asked him suddenly.
"The...moment? I'm lost with this one, New York."
Sighing, she rolled over onto her side to look at him. He opened his eyes and only then realized how close they were to each other. "You know, the moment that everyone strives so hard to find. The moment of utter simplicity and happiness. The moment when you know that you don't need anything more in life than what's around you and what's staring you straight in the face. The moment when you think the world is perfect, and there's no such thing as world hunger or poverty. The moment that you never want to end."
JC reached out and brushed a stray piece of hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. "Yeah, this would be the moment." His words were no more than a whisper, and his breath caressed her lips like a soft breeze from the ocean. They stared directly at each other, not realizing that they had an audience watching them and hitting each other, talking in soft whispers like the couple on the blanket. "I know that I don't want this moment to end, that's for sure," he added, unconsciously moistening his lips as he looked into her covered eyes.
When she saw that, she rolled back onto her back, staring at the blue sky. "The depressing thing about this is that you know the moment has to end eventually. There is no real Golden Moment that can last forever, and when it does end, you'll wonder why you can't get that moment back. Most people are lucky if they experience it once in a life time, but there are a few that experience it more than that."
"What about you?" he asked her.
She raised her head slightly to look at him before a smile filtered onto her face. "Me? I've been lucky to have two of these moments, this one included. The one before...it was a Golden Moment, you could say, but it doesn't seem like it, in retrospective. Who knows? Maybe one of these days, we'll look back on this and wonder what kind of psycho babble we were spitting out."
Brooklyn's eyes shut again. It was more than enough just to hear his voice wash over her like a warm wave. "I don't think so," he said slowly. "I really don't. At least, I know that I won't look back and think that this moment was a waste of time or anything." They were both silent for a moment. "You know what I don't get about you? One minute, you're talking like a hopeless romantic, and the next, you're psycho analyzing the whole thing. So, which one are you? The romantic or the philosopher?" he asked her.
He watched her shoulders move in a lazy shrug. "The hopeless romantic, but the philosopher part comes out when I want to hide that part of me, or not show it. I'd rather that people didn't think I was a hopeless romantic that wished Cinderella was a real story and somewhere, Prince Charming is waiting for me."
For some reason, a song popped into his head, and he sang the line softly to himself. "They read you Cinderella, you hoped it would come true. That one day your Prince Charming would come rescue you. You like romantic movies and you never will forget the way you felt when Romeo kissed Juliet. And all this time that you've been waiting, you don't have to wait no more." She looked over at him when he had finished. "I think those are the lyrics, anyway. It's been awhile since I heard that song. It was popular quite a few years ago."
"I think I've heard it before. A friend of mine used to play it, I think. I always loved it, even if it isn't country." She giggled at that, but there was nothing funny about the situation they were in. It was filled with tension, and it was a tension that both of them were struggling with. Sexual tension was the killer at the moment.
"All-4-One, I Can Love You Like That. The song seems to apply to you quite a bit," he said quietly, looking over at her again. He was surprised that she was meeting his look dead on.
He couldn't help smiling when she did. "Yeah, I guess it does. I never really thought of it that way. I was always a sucker for when Romeo grabbed Juliet and kissed her. No matter how many times I see the movie or the play, I still melt whenever it happens. To tell you the truth, and I've never told anyone this before, I even cry when that happens. I'm such a sentimental loser," she said, rolling her eyes before turning so that she was on her stomach. The sun was beginning to get a little hot on her face.
Instead, though, she used her arms like a pillow and turned her head so that she was still facing him. He loved the way that light hit her lips and made her lip gloss even shinier than before. "No, you're a sentimental, hopeless romantic, and that's what's so great about you. So many people are stuck in the 'women must strive to be better than men, because they are the superior sex' thing that they don't think about things like that anymore. I just hope that you don't cry over the Leonardo DiCaprio version of the movie."
She started to laugh to herself. "Yup, I do. I own the movie. It's beautiful, those two together. How can you say that it's no good. They brought so much to the roles, and while I love the classic, I love the spin that they did on the story. It's so..." She couldn't find the right word to finish her sentence.
That didn't mean that JC wasn't going to try. "Sweet?"
"I was going to say heart-breaking, because it was. You wouldn't believe how hard I was bawling when Juliet killed herself at the end, after Romeo drank the poison. I went through a whole box of Kleenex for that movie, and I still do."
"I'm not surprised, New York. I'm not surprised at all."
"Good night, guys," Justin said quietly, waving as he walked into the tent that was set up a little bit away. Both Brooklyn and JC waved good night, watching as he closed the opening behind him. She sighed and put another piece of wood on the fire before leaning back to look up at the stars.
If the two wanted to be completely honest, they would have both admitted to the fact that the last thing they wanted to do was stare at the stars. They would rather be staring at each other, but unfortunately, things hadn't made it that far for them yet. Brooklyn was waiting for the day that it would happen. She couldn't help but wonder if she would feel like her life was complete then. It was something that she was betting heavily on, no matter how much her mind was telling her that it was ridiculous to be thinking about that. She didn't even know if he liked her.
"It's gorgeous out tonight," she breathed softly, readjusting the ball cap on her head. She had been wearing it for the majority of the night, and JC was beginning to get a little annoyed by it. Mainly because he couldn't see her hair, and if he couldn't see her hair, there would be no way that he could touch it.
He pulled the cap off her head and tossed it towards the end of the blanket. "You look more comfortable now. I don't know why you kept it on if you were getting annoyed by it," he said, shrugging as she sat up. He moved behind her, and pulled out the messy ponytail from her hair, running his hands through the honey brown strands.
"I'll never understand what's up with you and my hair," she said, leaning her head back a little so that he could have better access at it. Her eyes were still upwards, looking at the twinkling stars above their heads. She hoped to hell that she wouldn't see a shooting star that night. It would make the whole scene seem surreal, like someone was writing a romance novel, rather than her living her life. It was almost like she was having another moment, and there was no one else on the face of the Earth that she wanted to share it with.
His hands stopped moving through her hair for a moment as he thought before he ran his hands through it one more time. "I don't know. I've always loved your hair. It took me a long time to get used to your shorter cut, now," he said, tugging at the back of her hair. She laughed and pulled the hair out of his hand. "It's like you were saying before about simplicity. That's just something that brings a little bit of simplicity into my life. Sometimes I need that little bit of simplicity."
She turned to face him, putting her hand on his. He looked down at the contact before back at her face, forcing a smile on his face. "JC, something's been bothering you for a little while, and don't act like I'm stupid by saying that it's nothing. I know it's not nothing; I can see that much in your eyes. What is it?"
"Seriously, New York, it's not a big deal." He had to turn away from her face, otherwise everything was going to come out, and he was going to be sitting there, looking like a fool. That was the last thing that he wanted.
A sigh sounded from her and he turned back to look at her. "You know, when you do things like this, it really makes me wonder. I mean, you've helped me through so much in my life. Lord knows that I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. Not only have you helped me with the big things, but you've been just the same with the small things. Now, the one time that I want to know what's going on so that I might be able to help, you say absolutely nothing. What, do you think I'm going to be offended or something? Do you think that you're going to be embarrassed? Do you think that I'm going to think that you're an idiot? Thanks, JC, you know me really well," she said sarcastically, patting his hand.
He held her gaze for a little while. "Like I said, it's nothing. I...I was just....you know, wondering....about you and, uh....um, Chris. I mean, you guys seem pretty...what's the word for it...close when you haven't known each other that long. That's what I was thinking about. It wasn't really bothering me, other than the fact that I couldn't get it out of my head."
A strange rustling came from the tent, and both of them looked over. If they could have looked inside, they would have seen Justin falling over Joey's legs and landing in a heap at the bottom. They all looked at each other, wondering if they had been caught. "God, Justin, stay on your own side, would you?" Chris called out in a fake sleep ridden voice.
When they heard laughter from outside floating towards them, they all relaxed a little and moved closer towards the partially opened entrance to the tent, listening carefully.
"I can just imagine what that looked like," Brooklyn giggled, covering her mouth. JC just laughed harder, dipping his head down to rest on her shoulder. She slapped him slightly. "Shh, you'll wake them up. That's something that we don't need," she whispered, trying to stop her laughter.
After awhile, they lifted their heads and Brooklyn hurried to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Okay, before we were rudely interrupted, you were asking me about Chris, right? Well, not so much asking me as you were telling me what you were thinking about." He nodded, stopping himself from saying anything. Whatever would come out of his mouth would only cause both of them to be more confused, and he didn't want that. He was more than happy where they were right now. "I have to admit that Chris and I connected instantly. Don't ask me why. Maybe it's a similar sense of humor, but we see things the same way. Yeah, we became close very quickly, but don't you remember, you and I became pretty close rather quickly."
He shook his head. "Not that quickly," he said, looking in her eyes.
"Maybe not, but it also helps that I know you, and I know Lance. Chris is your friend, and that means that I can trust him. What else can I say? So, we're friends. Big deal." Her shoulders moved in a shrug. "It's not like I'm dating him or anything."
JC sighed, looking down at his hands. "Don't get me wrong, New York. There's nothing that I love more than seeing you get along with my friends. I wouldn't mind if you and Chris hooked up or anything." As if that wasn't the lie of the century, he realized the moment that it passed between his lips. "It's just...I know that it sounds ridiculous, and it sounds a little foolish, but in a way, it was almost like I was losing a little piece of you. Almost like the guys were getting that piece that used to be mine."
She turned back around and leaned against him, smiling to herself when she felt his arms go around her waist and tighten there. Brooklyn needed that contact at the moment. "It's not ridiculous, it's not foolish, and before you say it, no it's not selfish. I knew that it would going to be the next word to come out of your mouth," she said with a slight chuckle. He loved the way that it felt against his arms. "I understand what you mean. Really, I do, but you have to understand that you're not losing me. I'm going to be around for a long time, whether you want me to be or not," she finished, tilting her head back to smile at him.
It was almost like the two of them knew what was supposed to happen next, but they both stopped it. Brooklyn put her head back to where it was, and JC took a deep breath, looking towards the fire. The moment was practically killing him. Normally, sitting in front of a fire, underneath the stars, with a woman that he felt deeply for in his heart would have been romantic, but he didn't know what he was supposed to think. His head was practically reeling with possibilities and truths, realizations and discoveries.
"You know that I don't want you going anywhere. If I could freeze time right now, I would. I wish that I could," he said, taking one hand away from her stomach to run it through his hair before it returned to where it had been. She felt warm all over when it was back in its place, and she knew that the warmth had nothing to do with the fire. It had something to do with her heart, though. "Wouldn't it be nice to stay this age forever, and never go back to our actual lives?"
Her hands slid down to cover his. "That's something that you're supposed to say when you're eighteen and just graduated from high school before you go to college, not when you're twenty five and you still have a promising career. I might just be talking about myself here, though," she said with another chuckle. "I would like to stay like this, though. Chris was right. It's those little things in life that are taken for granted. I'll never take this time for granted. I've never taken anything for granted when it comes to you."
JC leaned his head down, pressing his temple against hers. "Same here, New York." They were both silent for a little while, just enjoying the moment together. What else could they do? It wasn't often that the two of them got to spend time together, and when they did, they normally talked like there was no tomorrow. It was nice to have a little time to themselves to just sit there and let it all absorb. All the feelings they were feeling and trying to hide from each other settled in, and they enjoyed the pure pleasure of just sitting there with each other, not a care in the world.
"Sometimes I wake up," Brooklyn said softly, "and wonder why all this happens to me. Why I deserve to have such a great friend like you. I don't deserve it. Look at all the mistakes that I ever made in life."
"You haven't made any mistakes, New York, and even if you did, you learn from your mistakes. Everyone does, and it makes them a better person. You know that."
Her eyes closed softly. "I know that I've learned from my mistakes, but that doesn't mean anything. I have made a lot of mistakes in my life. Believing in the fact that someone could love me like I thought Tim did. Believing in the fact that my father could do no wrong, and he was still perfect, when everyone knew that he wasn't. I believed in love at the wrong times with the wrong people. Those are the mistakes that I've made, and I'm afraid that I'll make them again. Sometimes when I wake up, I wonder if everything that's happened to me regarding you was nothing but a dream, and it's over and done with. It was never real."
His arms tightened and he brought her closer to him. "Love is never a mistake, sweetie. Sometimes it seems like it is, but it never really is. I have to admit, what happened between you and Tim wasn't stemmed from love on his end, but it was on yours, and you can't fault yourself for that. You know that your father loved you and believed in you, but no one's perfect. No one ever can be perfect."
"They were mistakes, though. Maybe I was selfish thinking that I could have anyone's love so easily, but I don't want it to happen again. I hate feeling like that. I really do, because it's almost like I'm afraid to fall in love. Maybe I am. I miss everything about being in love. That doesn't mean that I'm going to jump the first guy that hits on me," she said with a bitter laugh, "but I don't want to feel like this for the rest of my life."
His head shook before he kissed her cheek, closing his eyes and sighing. "You won't feel that way for the rest of your life, I can promise you that, and one day, you'll find that guy that will treat you like a princess and love you with all his heart, like you should have. It could take awhile, but one day you might wake up and see that it was staring you in the face the entire time. You might walk down the street and just see him for a moment, but somehow, you'll meet and you know that it's right and it's meant to be. There's a lot of maybes, but one of those maybes are going to be right."
"I certainly hope so," she said quietly. "Seriously, what did I ever do to deserve someone like you. That's what I want to know. I don't deserve to have someone like you on my side, and fighting my fights with me. I don't deserve to have someone as sweet and kind as you looking out for me. I really don't. You deserve to have a friend who...doesn't have a life like mine, and doesn't have all this extra crap rolling around in my head. I think I need a psychiatrist," she groaned, dropping her head a little.
"New York, you've got it all wrong. I'm the one that doesn't deserve you. I really don't, but for some reason, I get to see your smile, I get to hear your laugh. Sure, there may be times when you fall, but there's always someone there to pick you up and put you back on your feet. I'm more than honored to be that person. I'm the one that doesn't deserve you."
"Face it, we don't deserve each other," Brooklyn said with a laugh, as JC joined in.
And that laugh was nothing but a healing process for the both of them. That's all the night was, and that healing process was what was going to take them through the next few months together, even if they didn't know it at the moment.
Chapter Nine
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