Chapter Seventeen
He nodded, tapping one finger beside the base for the phone. "Okay, I already talked it over with them, and they like the idea but-" He was interrupted. "I know, Mia, it's something that-" Another interruption, but he didn't mind. He was getting used to talking to her now, and the interruptions were something that he knew he was going to have to deal with. "Yes, it'll be right after-" But now, it was getting annoying.
He heard the sound of a key being put into the door, and closed his eyes. JC knew that it could only be one person. "Uh huh, I know, Grandma. I'm not getting that thin, but I'll be sure to eat more."
A laugh sounded from the other end as Brooklyn walked in the apartment. She opened her mouth to say hello, but seeing that he was on the phone, she waved instead, heading towards the kitchen. "You better, sonny, or else I'm going to pull out the leather strap, and you know the damage that Grandma can do with the leather strap."
"Believe me, I remember," he said, faking a groan. "I'll call you back later, all right? New York just came in." Her head came around the corner from the kitchen, and she shook her head at him, telling him to go on with his conversation. "Yes, Grandma, Brooklyn. I call her New York." He paused when Mia continued to laugh. "I think it's a cute nickname, too."
"You are evil, and you know that Brooke's going to kill you for this. Just be sure that Chris doesn't bust out in the near future with the Woman Song, because she searched all over the Internet and found the lyrics to the Man Song."
Now a real groan sounded from him. "Last thing I wanted to hear, really. She didn't actually find them."
An affirmative murmur was all her needed, but she decided to give him more. "She's been like a woman possessed over those, and it took her three days to find them. Have you ever heard the song? I downloaded it last night off of the Internet, and it's hilarious. Get her to sing it, or even better, try and convince her to sing it at the concert."
"I'm sure. Bye, Grandma," he said, hanging up before Mia could say another word. "Hey, how was practice?"
Brooklyn came back around from the kitchen, a bottle of water in her hand. "Are you kidding? No air conditioning, me bouncing around on a stage, singing my heart out, and trying to remember where I'm allowed to be and where I'm not. I had a total blast," she said in a fake voice. "You have to be kidding me. It sucked. I hate practice. I wish that was one thing that was abolished from my tour schedule. You know, I could see it for groups like you, who dance and everything, but I don't use many props, and I definitely do not dance, so what's the point of having me practice?"
He just shrugged his response. "Have you finished talking yet?" Her eyes narrowed as she sat down on the couch and closed her eyes, throwing her head back. "Hard day at the office, honey?"
"Don't even try it with me today. Mia had me running all over the place. I'm a singer, not a freaking stagehand. I don't know where three quarters of that stuff goes." Her nose scrunched up before her head came back down so that she could take a sip of her water. "I already took a shower, but I could really use a hot tub right now," she groaned.
"There's one up on the roof if you want to head up there."
She made another face and looked over at him. "Not unless you're planning on carrying me from the top floor to the roof, because there is no way that I can walk up a flight of three stairs, let alone nine, and there are nine exactly." Brooklyn shifted so that she was laying with her head in his lap and sighed deeply. "I swear, this has been the day from hell. I thought it was bad a week before the tour started. That has nothing on this."
Almost automatically, his fingers began slipping through her freshly washed hair. It was still a little damp in places, and the scent of her shampoo was stronger than normal. "Would you like me to do the lip thing so that your day becomes a little brighter?" he asked her, raising his voice to a higher pitch.
Laughing, she smacked his arm. "Joshua Scott Chasez, I cannot believe that you said that! You have a serious problem," she said, continuing to laugh. When she saw the look in his eyes, she stopped instantly. "Oh, damn, I said that I wasn't going to use your full name ever again. I guess all that running from stage left to stage right made me lose a few brain cells."
"They were gone to begin with," he said in all seriousness before grinning down at her. "I like this day. I can make fun of you and you are so completely exhausted that you can't start to throw comments back in my face. Where are the insults, New York? No more threats of cutting off certain parts of my body, or making fun of me?"
Yawning, she rolled over slightly so that she was on her side. His hand now rubbed the back of her neck and shoulders, helping some of the tension drain away. "Well, sorry, but Brooklyn isn't at the top of her game right now. Truth be told, Brooklyn is very tired, and when Brooklyn gets tired, she talks about herself in third person. Have you ever noticed that?"
JC nodded. "A few times, but I think it's kind of cute. Oh, hey, you said that Mia had something important to tell you today. What was it?"
A smile lit her face and she turned her head to look at him briefly. "Oh, nothing really," she started in a bored tone. "Do you think that you'll be available in about four and a half weeks to go out with me? It's black tie, but I'm sure you can deal."
"I get to see you in a formal dress again? I'm there," he added with a laugh. "Even if I don't have the day off, I'll find someway to get it off. What's this all about?" Her head shook. "Okay, so that isn't what Mia had to tell you?" Her head shook again. "What, exactly, was this 'nothing, really' that Mia had to tell you about?"
"I was bitching about the fact that I haven't seen a white Christmas since I was three years old and we went to go visit some family friends that lived up in Seattle. So, she did the sweetest thing, and found me a place that I could either rent or buy, and have a real white Christmas this year. Austin already knows; he helped her pick it out for me, since he knows what I would like the most." Another yawn sounded from her. "I saw a picture of the place. It's a cute cabin up in Colorado. I'm sure to get a white Christmas there."
He couldn't help smiling at the happiness in her voice. Though she was raised in Tennessee, Brooklyn couldn't live without seeing snow at least twice a year, and that was usually during her ski trips in between tours. "Awesome. I'm going to have to come up there once with you and see it." She nodded and sighed softly when she felt one of the knots in her shoulder melt away under his fingers. "Get some sleep, all right? You've got something like four hours until dinner, anyway, unless you want to sleep through it."
A third yawn came from her, and it was louder than all the rest. "I would love to sleep through dinner, but that would mean Austin kicking both our butts. He would find out, too," she added with a slight chuckle, bracing her elbow on the couch to help her get off of it. He stopped her and brought her back down. "Oh, great, he gets all grabby when I want sleep," she said to the ceiling. "And I did what to deserve this kind of punishment?"
"You were born. And you're staying right here. I was planning on watching some television, anyway, so you can stay with me." When she was about to protest, a long, drawn out whine came from him. "Please?" he asked, bending forward so that she could see the pout on his face. Her eyes rolled slowly. "Oh, come on, you were just leaving when I got up, and I barely got a hello out of you before you were out the door. When you're around, and I don't get to spend at least three hours with you during those times, I go absolutely crazy."
Her only warning was, "Sing and die."
His head nodded and his lips pursed as he continued to look at her. "It would have worked better if it was a request, but in the mood that you're in, I'll listen and follow your demands, too." She giggled, blinking innocently. "Uh huh, like I believe that one. You're nothing but a sweet little angel. Monkeys also fly out of my ass every night."
One hand went to her chest. "And here I thought you were going to say that you were the Tooth Fairy in disguise."
"That, too. You'd be amazed at what I could come up with for this, but you haven't answered my question. Are you going to stay here with me?" Another pout overtook his face and Brooklyn could feel herself melting immediately.
"Sure, why not. It's not like I'm expecting some astonishingly sexy guy to come waltzing through the door and sweep me off my feet. Now that I've said that, I wouldn't be surprised if Chris comes in here carrying a broom. Definitely not my idea of a perfect fantasy."
JC sat back and reached for the television remote. "Remind me to ask you what your idea of a perfect fantasy is."
"Uh...methinks not. And let's just leave it at that, please."
"Aww. Isn't that cute?" a voice cooed near her. Brooklyn immediately recognized the voice and had to stop herself from reaching out and slapping him. "Just so adorable. When do you think they'll wake up?" Oh, now this was going to be fun. Brooklyn wasn't one to eavesdrop, but she could make an exception every now and then. With Stupid and Amazingly Stupid around here, she was willing to eavesdrop until the world ended.
She heard the sound of something being scratched and recognized it was Lance's hand scratching his head. "Do you think they even realize what's going on?"
There was no sound for awhile, and she thought that she had given herself away. "Probably not, but I wish I had a camera right now. The Enquirer would pay a lot of money to see something like this. They would make front page news. Everyone's speculations came true."
It was hard, but she tried not to groan and roll her eyes. This was too funny. "How much do they pay for pictures like that?"
"I've heard that it's somewhere in the thousand dollar range. Especially if we give them an exclusive. Hm, think we could come up with a good story for this, too? Something about how Jace has been seduced by Brooke, and he's blinded by her charm."
A snort came from Lance as they moved to sit down. "Yeah, right. Brooke be charming?" He was quiet for a second. "Actually, she's pretty good at charming people. That would be believable enough, probably. The only problem would be their reactions."
"They'd be fine with it, because they wouldn't know that it was us."
Brooklyn let out a little contented sound and moved closer to JC, pretending that she was still asleep. She listened as both men froze, not moving an inch. At the same time, she felt JC tense a little and knew that he was awake and listening to. For show, she guessed, he slowly slid his arm across her until it looped around her waist, his hand resting flat on her stomach. It took all of her will power not to laugh. They were really playing this up. She let a tired smile spread on her face and heard both men snicker.
She could tell that he knew she was awake, and suddenly turned towards him. Somehow, he had slid down beside her, and she pressed her face against him, feeling his hand rest on her lower back. Her eyes opened and she looked at him, knowing that the guys couldn't see, and she was blocking their view of his face. One of his eyes opened cautiously and he winked at her before sliding his hand down a little more.
"Holy...check this out," Chris whispered. They both knew that he was pointing at them. A devilish grin spread on her face, in her own way, telling him to continue. This was far too good to pass up. His hand moved just a little lower, and she took a deep breath, moving even closer to him. "Dude, he's going for it. I can't believe this!" he added in a whisper.
"I know, I know."
Now that they had them on the edge of their seats, and she had successfully blocked all of his face, he opened both eyes a little and stared at her, trying not to laugh. Brooklyn took another deep breath, feeling the giggles well up in her chest before she nodded so slightly, she was surprised that he saw it. Apparently, the other men hadn't, since their eyes were elsewhere at the moment.
He looked back at her cautiously to make sure that she was sure, and she grinned brightly. "Scare the shit out of them," she mouthed, closing her eyes again. JC did the same, just in case, and let his hand travel down the last few inches.
The men sitting in the living room, watching them, cheering quietly for their friend, but froze when Brooklyn murmured his name, burying her face in his neck. At that point, they were both trying to stop from shaking, and she was forcing herself to take deep, silent breaths as much as possible so that she wouldn't burst out laughing. "Oh...my...God. I cannot believe this. Now I REALLY wish that we had a camera," Chris said. "When are Justin and Joe getting here?"
"About five minutes, and I think they're bringing Mia with them," Lance answered, his voice filled with awe. "Damn, I always thought that Justin was the one with the moves, but Jace is smooth."
They both opened their eyes and looked at each other again. "That long?" JC mouthed to her.
"I'm sure that you can deal," she mouthed back, waiting for him to figure out what she had said before she smirked. "I know that you're enjoying yourself."
"Immensely," he shot back, trying not to laugh. She sighed again and moved even closer if it was possible. One of her hands rested on his hip before she let her eyes travel up to his again. "You use Buns Of Steel?" she mouthed as innocently as possible.
He really wished that he could have shaken his head, or at least laughed, but they were more than willing to take this little game a little further. "You know what sucks?" She waited for him to finish. "I really want to kiss you right now."
She suppressed her smile. "And what's stopping you?"
"The fact that we would give ourselves away, and I am enjoying myself. At least, I know my hand is." Her eyes widened, but she couldn't slap him. Instead, she had to content herself with closing her eyes and hoping to hell that the blush she could feel coming on wasn't going to be that obvious. Unfortunately, it was, and he noticed it. The fact that he could effect her that much and make her blush that badly made him feel a lot better about the situation that they were in. Sure they had admitted to feeling some non-friendly feelings towards each other, but they were still friends, first and foremost. Anything that he could tease her with was great to him.
The two of them lay quietly for a few minutes, before they heard footsteps coming down the hallway, and Mia's unmistakable laugh. Their eyes slammed shut instantly, and they tried to look as innocent as possible. Chris got up quickly and looked down at the two of them before walking as quickly and quietly as he could towards the door. He opened it before anyone could unlock it with their key, and he shushed them before they could say anything.
"Guys, you have been missing all the fun. Brooke and JC have been groping at each other in their sleep like two over-sexed teenagers on prom night in the backseat of his car," he said quietly, snickering. "They have this whole soft porn thing going on, and you weren't here to see it."
"Are they still asleep?" Mia asked, trying to look around him.
Chris grinned and pointed to the back of the couch. "Enjoy, but don't be shocked if you see JC's hand somewhere it shouldn't be. At least, not yet. I thought it would have taken another week at least, but I don't think they have a clue that they know what they're doing. I can't wait to rub it in their faces."
A soft squeal sounded from her before she took off the black heeled boots she was wearing and putting them beside the door so that she couldn't make any noise. Mia crept into the living room and her mouth dropped open when she saw what happened. Turning to look at Lance, her eyes grew wider. "I think you better be ready to catch me, cutie, because I cannot believe that I'm seeing at all. This is not JC and Brooke."
"Oh, I don't know. I'm pretty sure that it's them," he said with a grin.
Brooklyn waited until she heard everyone in the living room and made sure they were looking at them when she murmured the two most important words of the day: "Whipped cream," she said with a sigh, practically under her breath. Five gasps went through the room, and she fought not to laugh. Instead, the hand that was resting on JC's hip curled around the material of his pants. The movement was pure gold to them.
She heard him take a deep breath. "Chocolate sauce," he answered, his eyes opening briefly to look at her. Her bottom lip had found a permanent place between her lips until she calmed down again, and decided to continue with this game. They heard the sound of something hitting something else, and he guessed that it was Mia slapping her hand across her mouth.
"Gullible," she whispered, looking at him with a faint smile. He picked up on her game.
There was a silence before they started to talk. "Gullible? What the hell does that mean?"
"Stupid," he breathed, listening closely. Another round of whispered confusion.
"Incredibly."
Now, both pairs of eyes were wide open and they stared at each other for a little while. To make him squirm a little, knowing that he could do nothing about it, she stuck out her tongue a little and gently clamped her teeth down on it, showing him just the tip of it.
"Evil," he whispered to her. She let out a breathy moan to mask her laughter. "Really evil."
"The worst," she answered, fluttering her eyelashes again.
His lips pushed up in a half smile, and he let out a deep breath. "You're going to hate me for this," he mouthed, before the hand that had been resting below her waist came up and buried itself in her hair when she stuck out her tongue again.
"I got ten bucks that say they're going to kiss," Joey said quietly. He had been silent for the most part, but they both knew he was a betting man.
Mia answered him. "You are so on, it's not even funny. That's something that Brooke wouldn't do in her sleep." From her pocket, she pulled out a crisp ten and waved it in front of his face. Joey pulled out a bill of his own and both of them turned to look at the couple on the couch.
"Who needs the money the most?" she mouthed. She didn't wait for his answer, but rather mouthed it along with her. "Joey." JC had learned an important lesson from the time that he had spent around Mia so far. If there was ever an opportunity to make her lose or take advantage of her, you did it, since she would do it to you if she was given the chance.
A few seconds passed before he finally leaned over and barely brushed his lips against hers. It didn't take long for them to find a permanent place, and pretty soon, they heard Mia groan and the distinct sound of the ten dollar bill being slapped in Joey's hand. "Go Jace, go Jace," Chris cheered from the corner.
When the kiss didn't break for several seconds, they heard Justin finally speak. "They have to come up for air pretty soon."
"Brooke? Come up for air? Yeah, right. I know that if she doesn't want to, she can last minutes on end, and at the way that things are going, JC doesn't look like he needs air either. Someone better cover Justin's eyes, because this is about to get a little hot and heavy for such young eyes." There was a pause and then, "Did you just punch me?"
Brooklyn broke the kiss and looked over her shoulder. "You deserved it. Gee, Chris, do you think that picture would have been worth a few grand from the Enquirer, too? It really is too bad that you didn't bring your camera with you."
"Just imagine what you could have gotten on film," JC added, raising his head from where he had been laying. "Oh, wait, we were sleeping, so we don't know anything about that. Oops, did we just give ourselves away?"
She sat up and shrugged, running her hands through her hair. "Shucks, we weren't too smart, were we? Then again, I think the lack of oxygen affected my brain. After all, I didn't come up for air all that quickly. I do want to know where you got that kinky mind and why it doesn't come out of hiding more often. Chocolate sauce? I like it."
He grinned. "I was going to say the same thing about the whipped cream." JC laughed before he growled deep in his chest. "Now that's what I'm talking about."
"They were awake," Chris started, dumbfounded.
"The whole time," Lance added.
"So they put on the whole show," Mia said with an awe tinged voice.
"For our benefit," Joey said.
"How cruel is that?" Justin finished, looking at the two on the couch. Brooklyn and JC shrugged at each other. "Did you think it was cruel?" she asked him.
His head shook slowly. "Not at all. Chris said that we were acting like over-sexed teenagers, when I want to know why he was here in the first place, and why he and Lance didn't leave when they saw that we were sleeping."
One finger went to Brooklyn's chin and she pretended to ponder the idea. "You know, I'm quite curious about that myself. I mean, to have a total disregard for someone's lack of privacy and then cheer them on when they 'grope' each other...I think we should be thankful that they didn't have camera with them, because for some reason, I think that Chris would be taking quite a few pictures." She paused and looked around the room. "But then again, they brought it one step further. They decided to bring everyone else into it, when they could have just said, 'they're sleeping. We should probably leave them alone', but something tells me that it never entered their puny little minds to say something like that."
"Wow, you're dangerous sometimes," he said admiringly.
Mia was still standing there, a shocked expression on her face. Suddenly, a grin lit it and she pointed towards Brooklyn. "Thank you! Joey and I can collect on our bets over in Vegas. Four to one odds, and I won. Now this is amazing," she said with a laugh.
With matching evil grins, the couple turned to look at each other. "Gee, I didn't know that we had gone public."
"I didn't even know that we were dating each other exclusively. Last time I checked, those were the guidelines for winning the bet. That we had to be dating exclusively and that we had to be public with the relationship. Oh, well." When the two started to laugh, five throw pillows were tossed towards them instantly. That was just the beginning of the pillow war.
"Wow, we can tell that someone in a master chef," Brooklyn giggled from where she was sitting on the kitchen counter. JC turned around with a mock frown before looking back at what he was doing. "You know, Austin is going to be seriously pissed at you when he hears about this. I cannot believe that you don't know how to make a Caesar salad."
Again, he turned around and stared at her as he chewed on a piece of lettuce. "Oh, and I suppose you do, the person that burns chicken noodle soup? I didn't know that it was possible to do that."
Smirking, she leaned over and picked up her glass of soda, taking a sip of it. "I know how to make a Caesar, I just can't make one taste good. You, on the other hand, don't know how to make one. Just...go on and finish. I'm hungry." She was quiet for a moment, watching him before she started to laugh. "Hey, King of pizzas and burgers, since when do you eat healthy, anyway?"
"I'm not," he said quietly. "I'm not the one that's putting on weight right now, New York."
Her mouth dropped open. "Did you just say that I was fat?"
A third turn, and he pushed a piece of lettuce into her mouth, laughing when she diligently chewed it. "No, I didn't say that you were fat. I INSINUATED that you were putting on weight, which you were. That would explain the reason that when I came in your room this morning, you were laying on the bed, holding your breath and cursing the day that zippers were ever invented."
Her face flamed brightly. "Well...it's an old pair of jeans. I've had them since high school, and I have put on weight since high school." When his shoulders began to shake, and she noticed it, her foot reached out and kicked the back of his leg. "Ass. I am not getting fat."
JC started to laugh out loud. "I know that you're not. That's what's so great about it. You actually fell for it." He motioned to the glass sitting beside hers, and she handed it over, ignoring the thought of dumping it over his head. "Besides, you have to admit that this morning was pretty funny. I'm surprised that you're still wearing them."
A grin covered her face. "That would be the reason that I haven't gone to the bathroom yet. I'm wearing these suckers until I start to turn blue. I have no feeling from my waist down, but hey, that's what being a female is all about. Having to squeeze our bodies into tight jeans so that guys will look at us."
"Oh, and is there someone in particular that you're trying to attract attention to?" He raised his eyebrows and rested his hip against the counter. A smile played on his lips, but didn't show all the way.
Brooklyn, on the other hand, tried her best to look bored. "Yeah, there is someone, but I don't think that you would know him. Or, maybe you do. It's a small world after all."
He crossed his arms and finally smiled. "Really. Does this guy have a name?"
Sighing dreamily, she nodded. "Yeah. His name is...Brian." Her eyes slowly met his and she smiled innocently. "Do you know a Brian? It probably wouldn't be the same Brian...no, wait, you met him. I don't think you guys got along, though."
"Brian. I know plenty of Brians. Brian is a stupid name to begin with. When did you meet this Brian guy."
"You were there. Don't you remember Doctor Brian? I can't remember what his last name was, but he told me to call him Doctor Brian. He had the most gorgeous eyes. Not to mention the tightest butt that I have ever seen. Damn," she began to fan herself. "I think I need a cold shower."
JC was silent for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I think so, too. A cold shower would be very good for you at this point, New York. VERY good. Besides, I don't think that Doctor Brian RAMES is very good for you."
She frowned a little. "That's his last name? Brooklyn Rames. Nah, it doesn't work. I think I'll stick to Turner for the moment, but I am going to have to find someone to snag pretty soon. I am getting old, after all. Is twenty five that old, because it's beginning to feel old." Pushing herself off the counter, she stood on her tip toes and rested her hands on his shoulder, looking down. "Are you ever going to finish? I could have been done ten minutes ago." Without turning, he stuck out his tongue. "You're probably right, you know. Doctor Brian probably isn't for me."
"Really? And why would you say that."
Her hand snuck around his neck and appeared in front of her face. "See the lack of ring on my finger, thank God," she added in a muttered. "Well, Doctor Brian, while cute and flirting like there was no tomorrow, HAS a gold band on his finger. I would what that could mean. Not that it really matters, because there is no way that he could compare with this other guy that I have my eye on."
His head turned slightly to look at her. "I'm done. So, are you going to tell me about this other guy, or do I have to guess."
"I could be evil and tell you to guess. I'm not evil, am I, JC?" she asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "Of course I'm not. Can we eat first, or do I have to tell you now?" She backed up and hopped back onto the counter, finding it a little more difficult with her cast covered wrist. Somehow, she made it back up there without his help this time, and grinned brightly.
He met the grin and walked over to her, resting his hands on her knees. "I guess it's my turn to be evil. No food without telling me who this guy is, and you know that I'll follow through on this. Besides, I can see your eyes going over to the counter," he added with a laugh. One hand came off her knee and cupped her chin, moving her face so that she was looking at him. "So?"
The grin was replaced by a soft smile. "Okay, let's see. First, this guy has some of the most unbelievable eyes that I've ever seen in my life. They are the only thing that could make me look away from the movie Cool Runnings."
His eyebrows went up. "Wow, that's pretty serious. You slapped me how many times when I talked during that movie? It's your absolute favorite."
She nodded. "Uh huh. Not only that, but those eyes have the cutest little sparkle in them whenever he looks at me. That sparkle alone can make me melt. Is that enough or do I have to say anymore?" His response was stepping closer to her and looping his arms around her waist, nodding. "Yeah, I'll definitely go on then."
JC laughed when she took a shaky breath and blinked a few times. "This is getting interesting. I'd love to hear more."
"Yeah, but...but dinner's getting cold."
He brought his face a little closer to hers and smiled, licking his lips. "You forget, New York, dinner is supposed to be cold. It's not supposed to be hot."
"Okay...then, dinner's getting warm?"
"Nice try," he said with a chuckle when she bit her bottom lip. "You know how you always bitch me out for the 'lip thing'?" She nodded slowly. "Believe me, your lip thing has the exact same effect on me." She released her lip and grinned. "See, the difference is, I didn't want you to let go of it. You always tell me to stop it, but I love watching your lip thing."
Brooklyn swallowed and was going to look away, but couldn't make herself. "Oh, really? That's a new one for me. Uh..." She fell silent and stared at him for a moment. "Okay, can we PLEASE eat now? My stomach is going to start digesting itself if it doesn't get some food into it. We can talk later, right?"
He let go of her and stepped away, pouting. "Who says we have to talk? I can think of something better to do."
"The pout is cute, but not cute enough to make me look away from dinner. Sorry. You may be able to take my eyes away from my favorite movie, but you can't make me look away from food. Close, but you have to work on it a little bit."
"Fine."
The two of them took their plates outside, where they seemed to be spending more time than in the actual apartment. "You know, before this, I don't think I spent that much time out here? It's a gorgeous view of the other apartment buildings, though."
She laughed and pulled a piece of lettuce out of the stuffed pita and chewed on it slowly. "Absolutely beautiful. Then again, I'm sure that you like the view of that twenty year old that likes to do aerobics in her window wearing...well, not much at all. I wonder if she knows that an internationally known singer is staring at her every time she goes to touch her toes and flash her...ahem...goods to the world."
"Cute, New York, but you should know that I'm only looking at one woman when she touches her toes." Her foot kicked him under the table. "Ow. I think I get it."
"Good." She was silent for a moment, before looking away. "JC, can I ask you something? I mean, you don't have to answer or anything, but when you have a long conversation with Mia, she brings up points that you wish she wouldn't sometimes. She always forces me to think about something that...that I'm never sure of."
His lips pursed as he turned back to look at her. "I'm sorry, what? That twenty year old was touching her toes again." She smirked and rolled her eyes. "Go for it. I'm listening."
Running her hands through her hair, she leaned back and sighed. "I have no doubt that you are. It's just that...well...where do you think this is going to take us? This whole 'let's make out one night and then not mention it the next day' thing. I'm just...curious, I guess."
"You're curious, you guess? Wow, you're really trying to avoid the subject, aren't you?" He shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I really want this to work out, more than any other relationship that I've ever been in, but you have to admit that the circumstances are a little different from what they would normally be like."
She nodded, looking down. "Yeah. It doesn't help that when we normally tour at the same times, and across the country from each other at that. I compared both of our schedules already, and we have no coinciding dates. If I hadn't gotten a vacation, we probably wouldn't have seen each other for quite a few months yet. That doesn't exactly help. It's not like either of us can just drop everything and run out to be on the other person's tour. Neither of us are sitting at home, holding down a part time job, and waiting desperately for the other person to call them."
His hand reached across the table and rested on her good one. "No, instead, we're stuck on tour buses that will take us to the next venue, and waiting desperately for the other person to call them. It's a little harder than normal."
"Is there anything about our lives that are normal? It's not like...Mary Scott from Wichita, Kansas in on the cover of the Enquirer whenever they're seen around town with someone of the opposite sex. Only her neighbors talk about it, not the entire country." She took a deep breath and looked away. "It's just that...Mia was asking if the two of us were ever going to admit to what's going on and go public about it, so that she can be prepared, but the thing is...what exactly are we supposed to admit? The fact that we went out a few times, and your hand was on my butt so that we could scare our friends?"
The tone of her voice was almost breaking his heart. He knew that people always had second thoughts, and Lord knows that he had more than enough ever since he had known her, but he didn't like to hear that SHE was having second thoughts about what had been going on lately. "It doesn't make it any easier, and it doesn't seem like either of our careers are going to die out anytime soon. We're coming out with a new album soon, and you've always got another album in the planning stages. Country singers usually last longer than any other genre of music. You could still be going for another ten or fifteen years."
"Hopefully, but you never know. Nothing's for sure, but people are still buying tickets to my concerts, and they're still buying my albums. People are still buying tickets for your concerts, and they're still buying your albums. Pop music and country music isn't always going to be as big as it is right now, but...but there's the possibility that it could keep going for a long time yet."
"So where does that leave us, Brooklyn? I'm letting you call the shots, because if this is something you don't want, I'm not going to force you." Saying that, he took his hand away from hers and watched her curiously.
Her head was bowed, but now it came up to look at him. She didn't like the way that he had used her name rather than her nickname. "Honestly, JC? I don't want to sound like a bitch here, but I've done the double life thing before. There was Brooklyn Turner, the country singer, and there was Brooke Turner, the loving girlfriend, and those two lives didn't mix for a long time. Looking back, I know that it wasn't the right thing to do, and I don't want to do it again. It was too hard, and I hate lying to people. I don't want to tell everyone that you and I are just friends, when we're actually dating. It always manages to get out somehow, and when it does, it's never pleasant."
His head shook. "You didn't answer my question. I'm not pushing you or anything, but I want to know if I'm making a mistake here. New York, I love you as my best friend, and I always will. Now when I look at you...now that I see you differently, my feelings are coming pretty close to that love that I already have for you. You know how I feel about you. I've been dealing with this ever since the day that you told me that you were engaged, but that was when I first realized it. I had those same feelings for you since the day that I met you, but I never wanted to admit it. Hell, I didn't want to admit to it after, either, because I knew how you felt about...him."
"I never knew," she said quietly.
"I never told you."
She nodded and sighed. "JC, I really don't know what's going to happen. I mean, yes, I have very strong feelings for you that differ from something that I would feel towards one of my friends. We've established that part of it, but we...this is going to be hard, and you know it. It's going to be downright impossible, if you think about it. You and I are both very focused on our careers...where does that leave us? I mean us, as in a relationship. Not to mention the backlash that we could get for saying that we're going out."
"You're really worried about that, aren't you?"
Now, her head shook. "No, but it just felt like something that had to be brought up. Sure, I could lose fans, and people would hate me. Oh, well. It won't be the first time that it happened. I've had people hate me before. It doesn't bother me as much as people would like to think, but this...this is different. We never really thought this through, did we?"
This was it, and he knew it. This was what the whole conversation was boiling down to. "So, what? You want to go back to just being friends? I can deal with that. If that's what you want, I'd be more than happy to oblige, but you know that you can't stop me from feeling the way that I feel."
She took a deep breath and looked away again, back down to her hands resting in her lap. "I think that-" She broken herself off and blinked twice, trying to stop tears from coming into her eyes. "I think that it would probably be smart if we did just go back to that." She stood up quickly, and forced a smile on her face. It looked pathetic at best. "I need to go out and get some air. I'm sorry."
As quick as she could, she walked out of the apartment, stopping only to pick up her purse from where it stayed beside the door. The door slammed shut behind her, and she ignored the elevator, running down the stairs to the lobby. Pushing the glass door open with her hip, she looked around and almost cried out in relief when she saw a taxi parked in front. Walking over to it, she bent down to look in the window at the driver. "Are you waiting for anyone, because I could really use a ride."
"Climb in. I was just going to pull away anyway." Brooklyn sighed and opened the back door, sliding into the seat. She gave him the address and looked out the window. The ride was short, and before long, they pulled up in front of a familiar house. "Thank you," she said, passing the man two ten dollar bills, not waiting for her change as she got out.
Her feet moved quickly towards the porch, and she knocked on the door loudly, praying that he would come and open the door. "Hey," Chris said when the door finally opened. "I thought that you and Jace were having dinner tonight," he added in a confused tone.
She nodded, brushing back her hair. "We were, but...but..." Tears filled her eyes, and they quickly fell. "But something happened, and I think I made the biggest mistake of my life. Oh, God, I'm such an idiot, Chris. I didn't mean to say it, but it came out before I could stop it, and now..." She stopped and wiped at the tears impatiently. "I didn't know where else I could go, but I couldn't stay there. I just couldn't," she whispered, raising her eyes towards his.
He pulled her in the house and shut the door. As soon as it was closed, he wrapped one arm around her and brought her towards the living room, sitting her down on the couch. "I'm sure whatever you said couldn't have been that bad, Brooke," he tried to reassure her with a smile.
Her head shook so fast that her hair whipped around her face a few times before a few strands were stuck on her wet cheeks. He reached out and pushed them off. "It was bad. Really bad." Her eyes went down to her hands, and she sighed. "It really was a mistake, but when I saw his face...there's no way that I can tell him that I didn't mean it. God, why did I have to say that? I wasn't going to. I wanted to tell him the truth, I really did, but I was too scared to."
"If there's one thing I know about JC, it's that he'll forgive you for anything that you say. He could never stay mad at you, and he could never hold a grudge against you."
"He could. Chris, I told him that...that it would be better if we were just friends again. I don't know why I did, but I did say it. And I hate myself for it. I don't want to be friends again. I want to see where this was going to take us, but I'm still scared, and I can't get over it. Believe me, he'll be upset over this for awhile. I just...I don't know." The tears that were in her eyes were replaced by a dull, almost dead look. He didn't like that. It scared him more than he wanted to admit.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before looking back at her. "All right. Look, I'm going to call him and tell him that you're spending the night here, because you know that if he doesn't know where you are, he's going to freak. He'll probably think that you've jumped off of a bridge or something." She nodded, but it didn't look like she comprehended the words. "I take it that you guys didn't get a chance to eat, then. Are you hungry?"
"No," she whispered. "I don't have much of an appetite left after that. Do you mind if I just go up and get some sleep? I just feel really tired right now."
Chris nodded. "Sure, you know where the guest room is. I'll come up and check on you when I'm done. I think there's some clothes in the dresser in there that you can change into, but if there isn't, just holler and I'll find something for you, all right?" She stood up and walked up the stairs towards her room, almost mechanically.
Swearing under his breath, he waited until her door closed before picking up the phone and dialing his friend's number. "Hey, Jace? Brooke just came over, and she's going to spend the night here, all right?" His eyes closed when he heard the question. "I...I don't know. She doesn't look fine, she sure as hell isn't acting fine, but she's going to try and pretend that she's fine. I don't know the whole story, and I don't want to know, but I'll make sure that she's all right tonight, okay?" He paused and listened to JC talk for a moment. "No, she doesn't want to talk to you. I'm sorry. I'm not going to let her talk to you, either. I think she needs some time to think and...that's probably best for her. I'll call you tomorrow."
Hanging up, he leaned back and groaned. "Everyone that knew this was bound to happen at least once, but didn't want to admit it, raise your hand."
Almost weakly, his hand shot up.
Chapter Eighteen
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