Chapter Eighteen
Hanging up the phone, JC sat down on the couch and let his eyes go over to the clock. He didn't know why he was looking over there. It wasn't like he was expecting Brooklyn back anytime soon. She was going to spend the night with Chris, and would probably spend more than one day over there to avoid him. He knew her better than she ever wanted to admit. "Damn it," he whispered, slamming his head back on the couch, sighing.
What did he do wrong? Did he push her too far. Did he make her think something that she didn't believe in. There were so many answers, so many possibilities, yet he knew none of them were true. What else was there, really, he asked himself. The real answer, the true answer, wouldn't come to him. It wouldn't, it's couldn't, and it never would.
He had seen the hesitation in her eyes when she was speaking. He had seen the slight tremble that was the giveaway to the fact that she was going to cry. He had seen her hands shaking. He had seen it all, and he knew what her answer was going to be before she did. Only for the fact that he knew her.
That wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. At least, not the way that JC wanted it to happen. He thought that they were going to go from the unsure friend stage to the happy couple stage to the...what? He had never thought that far in advance, and to tell the truth, it scared him to think that far into the future. He had never thought that she would have told him that she wanted to be just friends again. Just friend. Why that? Why didn't she just say that she never wanted to see him again? It would have been the same effect.
The silence was beginning to get to him, and he hurried to turn on the CD player across from him, remembering to turn down the volume before sliding down on the couch and closing his eyes. He didn't want to think. Thinking was dangerous at this point.
Is it safe to look within
And to erase all that's been
And all that's been between
Is it gone, tell me what went wrong
'Cause baby I'm not that strong
And I'm walking wounded,
All alone
Are you comfortable and numb
Do they all succumb to all those lies
Does it satisfy the greed
Is it all that you need
Is it all that you want
'Cause baby I'm not that strong
"Oh, shut up," he said to the CD player, shutting it off. Not even music could be used as an escape at this point. He was sure that if he turned on the radio, some song about heart ache or love would be the first things he would hear. Now he threw the remote across the room, watching as it landed in front of the television softly. He couldn't listen to music, he couldn't watch any show (because he knew what would come on), and he wasn't going to watch a movie. He wouldn't be able to concentrate on it long enough to call it a distraction. Yet, the silence was killing him.
Probably because he couldn't hear Brooklyn laughing, or talking. He was lonely, probably because he couldn't hold her. He was upset, because of what she had said. There was no probably there. He knew that for sure.
Friends. JC was beginning to hate the word. Friends was...nothing but an escape, a way for her to pull away from him when she was unsure. Friends was a safety net, and she used it. The only thing that he could think about was the fact that she didn't want to be friends. She didn't want that at all, but why would she have said it then? "Because, unconsciously, she likes to screw with my mind," he said to himself, opening his eyes to stare at the ceiling.
The couch was small, but it didn't seem right. It didn't seem right because she was always sitting beside him, or laying with him on the couch. It wasn't like a few days ago, when she had come in while he was watching a movie. She had lain on the couch and leaned against him, letting him put his arms around her. It wasn't like that at all because she wasn't there.
It was going to be hard to sleep that night. There was no one for him to watch from the doorway. He loved watching her sleep, knowing that she felt safe enough around him to sleep. The guest room was going to be empty. It wasn't like he expected to sleep that night. It was ridiculous to think that. There was too much on his mind.
As much as he wanted to be mad at Brooklyn, he couldn't. As much as he thought that he would be justified in that, he couldn't allow himself to direct any sort of anger at her. Yes, she was the one that said she wanted to be friends, but he couldn't fault her for backing away and uttering those most hurtful words. He couldn't fault her for a personal belief...if she even believed in that to begin with.
He was so confused at that point. The only thing he was sure about was the fact that he had feelings for her (and was still too scared to say the word 'love' with that) and that if she wanted to be friends, he was going to do that, as much as it hurt. He had done it once before, and he could do it again.
That didn't mean that he wasn't upset. "God damn it," he swore under his breath before picking up the empty glass beside him and throwing it against the wall as hard as he could. For a moment, the sound of glass crashing was a distraction, but it wouldn't last for long.
Just because it wouldn't last long didn't mean that he wasn't going to pull out the distraction as long as possible. He got a few sheets of paper towel, slowing down as much as possible before sinking down on the floor in front of the broken glass. He stared at it for a few moments before he picked up one tiny shard and dropped it on the paper towel. If he kept going that way, it was going to take a good half hour to clean up every single little piece. At that point, that was good.
He didn't turn when the door opened. There was no way that it couldn't be Brooklyn. He knew that Chris wouldn't let her out of his sight for a good twelve hours at least. Instead, he twisted his mouth to one corner and picked up another piece of glass, sighing.
"Uh...Jace? What are you doing?"
Without turning, he dropped it on the small pile that he had already collected. "I broke a glass," he said plainly.
Justin nodded as he went to go take off his jacket and leave it on the arm chair. "Great. How did you break the glass?" He walked over and sat down beside him, watching with a curious expression when he saw how he was cleaning it up.
"I threw it."
He blinked a few times. "You...threw the glass. Against the wall. And now you're sitting here, picking it up, piece by piece...why? Don't you think it could go faster if you used a broom or something. Besides that, WHY did you throw the glass at the wall?"
JC turned to look at him, shrugging. His eyes went back down to the collected glass before he picked up another piece. "New York."
The younger man widened his eyes. "I'm going to hope that you're talking about the state, and not Brooklyn, because if you're talking about her, this is bad. This is very bad."
"I didn't throw it when she was here. She's staying with Chris right now. I threw it about an hour after she left. The reason that I'm taking so long is because I want it to take a long time. It helps keep my mind off of everything, which you're not helping with. Why are you here, Justin?"
"Chris called and asked if I could stop by here and make sure that you were all right. He didn't tell me why, but I thought I would do my good deed for the day and stop." He was quiet for a moment before he sighed. "Do you want some help?"
He shook his head. "No, because it'll go faster then. You're not listening."
"I never do. Look, Chris told me that I was either going to have to spend the night here, or you were coming back to my place to spend the night. It's your choice."
With a sigh, he picked up the last piece of glass and dropped it on the pile, wrapping it up carefully before putting it in the trash can in the kitchen. "I can't go. I don't know if New York is going to be back tomorrow, and if she is, what time. I don't want her to come back and no one would be here."
Justin stood up and stretched his arms. "Great, well, I already brought a change of clothes with me, I might as well go down and get them out of the car. I'll be back in a few. Try not to kill yourself or jump out of a window or something, all right?"
"Chris, just don't start right now, all right? I've got practice, I'm supposed to be concentrating on the new set up, and...and I don't want to talk about it in the first place, all right?" Brooklyn asked, turning to look out the window. "This is getting just a little annoying."
"Yeah, well it's getting annoying how the two of you keep bouncing back and forth, and you never know what you want." He reached over and changed the station when he heard his voice coming through the speakers. Brooklyn made a face and turned it off when her voice came from the second station. "Is that a sign or something?"
Her head turned back to him. "What, that our songs were on the radio at the same time? No, not really."
Nodding, he turned and pulled into the parking lot of coffee shop with a grin. "So, what are you going to do about what happened last night? You can't hide, Brooke. You know that you can't, because I'm not going to let you, and I can guarantee that-"
She raised her hand to stop him. "Can we please go an hour without speaking his name? I'd like to remind you that the cast on my wrist can be easily used as a weapon, and I know that it would hurt." His eyes widened. "Would you mind going in there to get my coffee? I'm rather comfortable right now. A mocha will be fine, thank you," she said with a bright smile, waving her arm in the air.
Once he left, she leaned back against the seat and sighed. If she had to make one more joke to reassure Chris that she was fine, she was going to scream as loud as she could. Because she wasn't fine, and she wanted to make everything better than it had been yesterday. There was no doubt in her mind that she was telling the truth when she said that it was the biggest mistake of her life, but there was nothing that she could really do to change it. Besides, she had too much pride to just burst into his place and tell him that she wanted to take it all back.
Brooklyn would never do anything like that. She wouldn't LET herself do something like that. She was supposed to be a strong, independent woman and she wasn't supposed to bow down at the feet of the first attractive man that she saw. "Oh, yes you are. You just don't realize it yet," she whispered, a smile coming onto her face.
"Talking to yourself again?" Chris asked, handing her a tall wax cup. "It's not a very healthy habit, but I do it enough."
"Great, that's all I wanted to hear," she mumbled, readjusted the cardboard circle that surrounded the cup. "I'm just letting myself know that I'm not exactly the smartest person in the world, but there's not a hell of a lot that I can do about it. Well, I've been an idiot for a long time, and I still haven't been able to do anything about it."
He laughed as he turned the key in the ignition. "Okay, so we've gone from stage one, which is the 'I don't care' stage, to stage two, which is the 'What the hell was I thinking?!' stage. You're doing pretty good, if you ask me. I'm just waiting for stage three, which is where you hit the 'I'm going to jump out of a window, but I'll make sure that I have a friend there to pull me back before I can actually make it.' Please make sure that you tell me before you get there."
A loud clatter sounded as she dug through her purse to find her sunglasses. Finally, she pushed them over her eyes and sighed. "It's not funny, Chris. I'm beginning to think that I should jump out of a window, or at least jump out of a moving vehicle. You just disabled the locks on my side, didn't you?" she asked when she heard the crisp snap.
"Uh huh, and they're going to stay that way until we get to the arena. I can't believe that you guys are renting it out for a week and a half. That's pretty expensive."
Her shoulders shrugged and she tried a cautious sip of her coffee. "It's not my money. The studio thought that it would be smart if I had some practice before I go back on the tour. I think that they're just scared that I'm going to do the same thing that I did last time. You know, canceling a whole leg of tours and all that. I couldn't exactly help it. I mean, being choked half to death by the man that I thought loved me is a little different than being attacked and having my wrist fractured."
He looked over quickly. "Have you heard any news on that lately?"
"Mia called for an update from the police yesterday, but because I couldn't give them a good description or anything, they can't do a hell of a lot. In other words, they don't ever expect to see the guy again, and I shouldn't either. Apparently, I scared him off with my purse."
Chris laughed again, louder than before. "That thing feels like you're lugging around a whole bank in there. You know, I remember a song that had to do with a women's purse, but I can't remember it."
She practically choked on her coffee. "I do, and I won't say a word, but it is a cool song, and somewhat true. Anyway, are you going to be hanging around, watching me today, or do you have something to do? Just curious to know if I'm going to have a shadow for a few days."
"Try a few weeks. If I have to hide myself on your bus, I will. I'm worried about you, Brooke. You're acting like yourself, when you shouldn't be. I bet you thought you'd never hear that one." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I know that you don't want to talk about this. So, you're concert is in four days, huh? When are you taking off from Orlando?"
A frustrated groan sounded from her when her sunglasses slipped down her nose. She had to put her coffee cup down in the holder to push them back up, which only succeeded in making her day seem worse than it already was. She couldn't wait the few weeks until she could get the cast off and have control of both hands. "I'm taking off the next day, and doing a quick tour of Florida before I come back here for three days, do another concert, and then I'm off touring around the rest of the states. I have no idea when I'm supposed to be out of the country, but I definitely want to hit Australia again. Joe's working on that for me."
"That's pretty cool. Make sure to get some more pictures of you in a bikini," he said with a grin, as she pushed him. "That's not very nice."
"And that comment was very pig headed. So? That was what you deserved, if you ask me." Her smile dropped and she looked down. "Chris? Do you think that I...oh, wait, I didn't want to talk about this. Right," she said quietly, sipping her coffee. "I can't seem to get away from the thoughts, I guess. Does that mean something, or am I just hoping?"
Chris shook his head. "It means something, Brooke, but if you don't know what it means, I'm not going to tell you. I may have made a mistake trying to get the two of you together, I'll admit to that, so I'm not going to make another mistake. Just...think on it for a little while, and you might actually be able to figure it out. It's not that difficult."
She pursed her lips and made a clicking sound with her tongue. "Oh, you mean that I should know why he consumes almost every single second of my thoughts? Well, I'm sorry, Chris, but I try not to read into things too much. I've done it before, and I won't do it again, because, like you, I don't want to make another mistake. Okay, so I think about him. Big deal, right? I think about my brother quite a bit, too. I think about Mia quite a bit. I think about you more than I probably should."
He took one hand off the wheel to press it against his chest with a gasp. "Wait, you think of me, Brooke? I never know that you felt that way."
With a laugh, she turned to look at him again. "Please, you should be honored that I even let you invade my thoughts. I shouldn't even spend a moment of my life on you. You are just so lucky and so special," she cooed, trying to reach over to pinch his cheek.
"Either you take that hand back, or you and I are going to end up on the side of the road, upside down." Her hand went back instantly. "Yay, I found a way to stop that from happening. You wouldn't believe how many women try to do that to me."
Coughing into her hand, she hid her evil smile. "Yeah, well, when you're the same size as a Raggedy Andy doll..." She trailed off and smiled innocently. "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful, Chris."
He looked over quickly. "You just stole my line. We're here." He shut off the engine and unlocked the doors. "Are you ready to face the firing squad?"
"You mean Mia? Thank God you're here. I'm going to use you as a human shield. Here," she said, handing him a laminated pass. "If you don't have this, security would be more than happy to show you where to put one if you did have one. Now hurry up, you're going to make me late, and that's not a good thing." The two of them got out of the car and walked over to the side door slowly, ignoring the looks that they were getting from every one. "Gee, you'd think that I have a piece of gum stuck on my butt or something with the way that they're staring."
"Nah, I think that they just expected...you know who, to be coming with you." She narrowed her eyes and smacked him as they came towards the back door. Since one hand was full, and she couldn't use the other, she picked up her boot clad foot and kicked the door a few times. "Dent it, why don't you? It'll be this place's claim to fame. I could just see the tours. 'And this is where country singing superstar Brooklyn Turner kicked the door because she had a broken wrist'. Maybe I can be the guide."
Her eyes rolled, and the door opened. "Fractured, genius. It's fractured, not broken. Morning, guys," she said with a smile, stopping long enough to kiss her security team on the cheeks. The two of them started towards the stage, where they could hear different instruments playing at different times, and people running around. She stopped long enough to put her coffee on the table, and allowed one of the stagehands to put her headset on her. Pushing down her microphone, she waved to Mia and ran over, Chris following closely. "Morning. What's up?"
"Just sing and I'll be the happiest person on the face of this Earth. Why don't you go and bug the band. I have to talk to Chris about something." When she saw Brooklyn's suspicious look. Mia laughed. "Calm down, we're not planning a surprise party or anything. I need a man's opinion about something, and I figured that he's the closest thing to a man that's going to show up around here, so I might was well steal him."
The two of them walked over to one of the wings, and Chris pulled himself up on a table. "What's up with Brooke this morning? She's a little...out of it, I think."
"Well, you'll be happy to know that our soon to be happy couple has gone back to the friends stage, because of a stupid comment that our darling Brooklyn made. I didn't tell you this, of course, because I don't want to get my ass kicked, but ask her about it. Maybe she needs a female perspective about what happened."
Mia laughed so hard she had to sit down. "I'm sure that you've been doing a fine job with that female perspective. Anyway, listen to what I figured out."
She closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. This was harder than she thought it was going to be. This was harder than anything she had ever done in her life before. Taking a deep breath, Brooklyn did something that she had only done three times since she was eight years old, and crossed herself quickly before putting the key into the lock and turning it. She could hear the television playing something, and she could hear voices, but whose voices they were, she didn't know.
The door was pushed open, and she stopped long enough to take off her cowboy boots and put her purse on the ground before running her hand through her hair, pulling at the one stubborn tangle left from after her shower. Her heart was beating so loud, she was surprised that no one had come around the corner and commented on the noise yet.
Her sock covered feet whispered across the floor as she stood behind the couch. It was easy to recognize both Justin and JC's heads from the back, but they hadn't noticed her yet. A devilish smile appeared on her face and she took a deep breath before cupping her hands around her mouth. Boo!" she shouted as loud as she could and laughed when both men jumped. "Well, if I knew that's all it took to scare you guys, I would have done it sooner," she said with a giggle.
"You are one dead singer, Brooke," Justin warned, turning around to look at her. Despite the twinkle in his eyes, she could see the sympathy as well, and she smiled briefly to reassure him. JC turned slowly, his eyes landing on hers. She caught herself in time from biting her bottom lip before she forced another smile on her face.
"So...what are you two up to this fine afternoon? You'd think that you would be outside, enjoying the sun," she said, adding in a fake laugh as she stretched her arms above her head. The hem of her tank top came up to show her deeply tanned stomach, and his eyes went down to that area almost immediately. She saw it, and brought her arms down quickly.
For a second, it seemed like no one was going to talk. "Absolutely nothing," JC said quietly. She didn't like the way that his voice sounded. "How was practice?"
Her upper lip curled up as she went to go sit down in the arm chair. She would have put her feet up on the table like she normally did, but then her feet would have touched his, and at this point, she wasn't sure if it would be smart to be in physical contact with him. "Eh, it was okay. Practice was practice, same as it always is. Boring, hot, and tiring. At least I know that I'll be in good shape when the tour starts up again."
Justin grinned before standing up. "Believe me when I say that you look like you're in great shape, Brooke. Damn, I have to remind myself about the age difference here. Anyway, I'm out of here. Do I get paid for baby-sitting?" he asked, looking over at her.
She motioned him over, and then pulled him down, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Is that payment enough?" she asked with a teasing lilt to her voice.
"That's the stuff that dreams are made of, and I have a feeling that I'm going to have GREAT dreams. My mom would kill me if she found out the kind of dreams that I have. You...probably didn't need to know that. Okay, I'm really gone now. See you both later," he said with a wave. She settled back and listened as the door closed.
"So..." they said at the same time before laughing. The laughter helped break the tension in the room a little, and both of them relaxed, letting their ramrod postures slip away. "Go for it," he told her, smiling. He didn't miss the way that she wouldn't sit close to him, or hold his gaze for a long time. It was like she was acting like a guilty person, and that gave him just the slightest bit of hope. Not that he would let himself think like that, because they were just friends again. He had to keep repeating that to himself.
She shook her head. "I didn't really have anything to say, but I guess I should ask how your day was without me," she cracked before she realized how it sounded. What was she trying to do, rub it in his face or something? Good going, Brooke, her mind told her.
His shoulders moved up in a slight shrug. "It was okay. Justin and I didn't do too much. I feel bad to know that you had Chris around you so much."
"Oh, give the poor guy a break. I couldn't ask for a better friend, really," she said, before adding quickly, "besides you, that is. I think you've pretty well topped my all-time favorite friend list." There was the word again. That stupid word that changed their futures in one second. One whole syllable that passed through her lips changed everything. Every time he heard that word, he felt like smashing his head against a wall and making sure that it hurt BADLY.
Somehow, a smile made it onto his face, nonetheless. "Glad to know that, Brooke," he said in a soft voice. Her shoulders stiffened and she looked towards him curiously. Since when did he use that name? He hadn't used it since he started to call her New York and that was during his very first visit to Nashville. The morning after he had spent the night at her house, during the storm. She could remember that day like it was yesterday. Her fingers went towards her necklace. She hadn't taken it off since he had given it to her. The necklace, and her, had made it through a lot together.
If he noticed that he used that name, he didn't comment on it. She could come up with a good reason for that. They had been around the guys a lot recently, and they all called her Brooke. That would be the perfect explanation. Everyone but JC called her Brooke. She really wouldn't have minded if he had called her Brooklyn, since that meant that he was trying to get a point across, or he was being so dead serious that it wasn't funny...but Brooke? "Is something wrong?" he asked when he saw that she was staring off blankly.
Her head shook quickly. "No, no, I'm fine. At least, I think I am. I don't know. I was hit in the head by a Nerf football this afternoon, but I don't think that can do much damage." Smiling briefly, she stood up. "I'm going to get something to drink. Did you want anything?"
He turned back to her. "I can get it."
"I'm getting up anyway. I'll pretend to be a maid for a whole five minutes, but don't expect me to get into a French maid's uniform. I made that mistake one Halloween, and I had one guy ask if he could feather duster in my closet. I think he got the message when I slapped him."
JC laughed. "Just a glass of water, if you don't mind. I don't know what it is, but lately my throat has been really dry."
A frown went over her face as she walked into the kitchen. "I hope you're not getting sick. You're about to go back on tour, too, and that would seriously suck. Actually, if you want to know the truth, I'm more concerned about you getting me sick." Her laugh sounded as she poured something into a glass. "When I get sick, I do it in style. I don't need to be out of commission for a good two weeks, and I'm sure that you don't need to be stuck sucking back the cough syrup." She came back out and handed him the glass of water, a bottle of juice tucked under her arm.
He reached out to get it, and his fingers brushed hers as he took the glass. Both of them froze for a moment, and Brooklyn tried to ignore the tingles that ran down her arm, but had a hard time of it. She cleared her throat and smiled, going back to the arm chair. "I...uh...don't think I'm getting sick. This happens every now and then, so I think that you're safe."
"Well, you don't have allergies, do you? I don't remember you saying that you have any."
His head shook. "At least, none that I know of. I guess I'm kind of lucky that way. I know that you go absolutely teary eyed and stuffed whenever you're around fresh cut grass. I can't imagine what that's like."
A grin covered her face and she raised a finger. "Ah, but you forget that I have an older brother that is more than capable of using the lawn mower while I hide upstairs will all the windows and doors shut. Either that, or I call the neighbor's boy, and pay him ten bucks for the backyard and the front yard. That's pretty cheap for the amount of land that little house is on."
His eyes went down and watched as she struggled with the cap on the bottle. With a smile, he slid over to the end of the couch and put out his hand. "Here. It's going to be four weeks until you get that thing off of there."
Her eyes narrowed and she held onto it possessively. "Funny that you would pick when I get my cast off. That is so not funny, JC, and I'll get this open eventually, even if I have to break some teeth opening it that way," she said stubbornly, pushing her chin out before she went back to it.
He tried to not to laugh as he watched, but it was too funny to see her fighting with a glass bottle. "Are you sure, Brooke, because I'm sure that I could get it open before you do."
There it was again. Brooke. She couldn't let it go any longer. "JC, do you realize that you're calling me Brooke? You haven't done that in ages. Have you decided that you need to call me by another name or something?" she asked with raised eyebrows, making it sound like she was amused. Like hell she thought this was funny.
It was his turn to frown. "I didn't even notice. Justin always calls you Brooke, so I guess it just got stuck in my head. I'm sorry, NEW YORK, now would you let me help you? You're going to die from dehydration before you get that damned thing open. I have two capable hands, while you only have one."
"My hand is very capable, it's just...not in its best shape right now." She handed over the bottle and mumbled incoherently under her breath, listening as it popped. "Thank you," she said, taking back the bottle. She made sure that their fingers didn't touch again. Taking a sip of the juice, she leaned back. "Stupid cast. Stupid wrist. Stupid ass that decides to attack me," she muttered, staring down at the cast.
JC started to laugh and soon couldn't stop. "You always have to find something to complain about when things don't go your way, don't you?" he asked, relaxing on the couch a little more. "Think about it this way. At least he didn't attack me."
Her mouth dropped open. "You are so cruel to me. You think this is funny? I don't find this funny at all. Besides, if he would have attacked you, you probably wouldn't have had the guts to fight back. You would have handed over your wallet, and your car keys without protest, while I, a tiny little thing of a woman, used my best weapon as defense. Why do you think women carry about purses, anyway? They need someplace to put gum wrappers, dried up pens, and their wallets? No, we carry them because we know that if we're ever in a dangerous situation, we can use them to our advantage. Why do you think my purse is so heavy? I make sure it's incredibly heavy."
"I have no doubt. I'm surprised that you don't have a hernia from lugging that thing about with you. When was the last time that you cleaned it out?"
Tilting her head to the side, she smiled. "If you're willing to help, then I think it's about time I went through that thing and got rid of three quarters of it. You up for delving into the depths of hell?" He nodded with a laugh, as she got up to get her purse. She brought it over to the couch and sat down on the other end, putting the purse between them. "What do you think? Dump it all out and sift through it to find the seven wonders of the world, or should we go through it compartment by compartment?"
"We'll be here all day if we do it that way. Just dump it all out."
Her eyes raised to the ceiling. "I apologize for anything that you see that you shouldn't because there probably will be something that you really don't want to know about me. Phone numbers or something. Here goes." She unzipped all the compartments and took a deep breath, dumping it outside down.
JC moved fast, blocking anything from falling off the couch and he looked with awe at the pile between them. "I cannot believe that you fit all of that into there somewhere. Are you sure that you don't have a dead body or something hiding in here? Damn, girl, how do you fit all of that in there?"
She shrugged and started to push through it. "You'd be surprised, really."
He grinned and held up a light blue plastic envelope. "Is this what I think it is, Brooklyn Arizona? Should I call your brother?"
Her eyebrows raised and she reached out for the packet. "You should be glad that I'm on birth control, because you never know. I could have been carrying Tim's baby, and that would be the last thing that I would want," she said with a grin, putting it on the table. "Besides, do you really care whether or not I'm on birth control? At least any sex that I have is somewhat safe sex," she added, pointing at him.
"You were right when you said I was going to find something that I didn't want to. Hey, is it true what they say about birth control?" he asked with an evil grin, winking at her.
Her face flamed before she answered. "I will say this. Yes, some of it clears your skin. As for helping along a woman's endowments, or lack thereof...make up your own opinion, all right? I'm sure there's scientific studies in some magazine that you could read." She went back to the pile. "Wow, that's where that ring went. I haven't seen it in ages," she added with a laugh, slipping the ruby ring onto her finger. "Find anything interesting yet? Any relics of the past that I should know about?"
He started to laugh. "Just things with strings, and things with wings."
She smacked his arm. "Well, excuse me for being female. That's it, I'm going to sneak some birth control into your coffee each morning, and then we'll see if the rumors are true about it. You better go out and see if you can find a few bras, because you don't want those suckers bouncing around when you dance. It hurts just a bit," she said with a bright grin. "Now, could we please get off the subject of my body and the hell that comes with being part of the female race? We have a lot of work ahead of us."
"You weren't kidding when you were talking about dried up pens. I think you have every color of the rainbow, and some that aren't even in the rainbow. I'd say that a good ninety eight percent of them don't work. Ready for autograph signings at all times, huh?" She nodded distractedly, pulling some things out of the pile and putting them off to the side. "Oh, yeah, we're going to be here ALL day."
It didn't get much easier for the two of them. They constantly jumped away from each other whenever they touched, and it was hard for Brooklyn to hold his eyes for a long period of time. She sighed and sat in the makeup chair, closing her eyes. "Do your magic, Mags," she said quietly, allowing the tour's makeup artist to get to work on her.
Normally, she didn't care for the time when she had to sit in the makeup chair, since it reminded her a lot of Alyssa Constance Cholt, but now, it gave her time to think. Time to think about JC, more than anything. It was a subject that she had thought about a lot lately, and no matter how much she tried to stop those thoughts, it didn't help.
She was surprised that all of the guys had been so supportive towards them. They could have easily called Brooklyn a bitch and taken the side of the person they knew the longest, but they were neutral in it all. She was thankful that they had been dropping by more and more often, so that it wouldn't just be the two of them alone. She was especially thankful for Chris, who almost seemed to have some sort of Brooklyn ESP when it came to her being uncomfortable. All she had to do was think about it, and it seemed like Chris was knocking on the door or walking in before either of them could get up.
In the past little while, he was her savior. She always thought of JC that way, but it looked like Chris was taking over that role.
"I'm done, Brooke. You can go now. Good luck tonight," Maggie added with a smile, kicking her out of the chair. Brooklyn laughed and thanked her, waving as she went towards the stage. The opener was just in the middle of their last song, and Brooklyn bent down a little for the stagehand to put on her headset, since it was too hard for her to do with one hand. Ear monitors and everything in place, the two of them started away from the stage, while her boots pounded down the hallway beside him.
The music had just ended, and she knew by the screams and shouts that the lights had just gone down. She smiled at the stagehand, and counted off in her head, trying to figure out when her band made it out there. When she hit one, she heard the drum beat start. "I was one behind," she whispered to the guy, before he grinned and opened up the door for her. She walked into the aisle, looking around. No one noticed her, since their attention was directed towards the stage. A grin covered her face as she sang the first line, and the people standing around her looked over in surprise. She waved and started down the aisle at a sow jog, waving to everyone as she continued to sing, stopping long enough to greet some of the fans before she took off again, taking a deep breath before completing a one handed cartwheel, different from what she usually did.
The cheers were incredibly loud as she climbed up the stairs beside the stage and finally faced the audience all at once, turning to smile at the guitar player quickly before finishing off the song. As the last beat died down, she put one hand on her hip, pretending to look out at everyone, when she couldn't see past the first three rows without the house lights on. "Hello, Orlando!" she shouted, laughing when an even larger cry overcame them. "Wow, you all are going to make me deaf. I take it that we're all doing fine this wonderful evening. Am I right?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. The video screen behind her showed it perfectly before the camera panned over to the audience to show them jumping up and down. "I'd just like to thank y'all for coming out tonight, especially since I didn't make it here on my last tour. I'm sorry about that, and I hope that this will make up for it."
She smiled again, and her eyes went down to the front row, where she could barely see JC. "I normally don't do this song so quickly during a concert, but it means something special to me, and I know that it means something to someone out in the audience tonight, so I might as well get it over with." She nodded over to the woman playing the drums, who nodded as Let Him Fly started to play.
Four fast paced songs later, Brooklyn was ready to slow it down a bit, and she smiled, lifting her hair away from the back of her neck before smiling out at everyone. With the spotlight on her, she couldn't see anyone in the audience at all. "All right, I don't know how many of you know this song, but I thought that I would throw it in, since it's going to be my next single. So, for the first time in concert, since you're such a great audience, Orlando, here's 'Where We Belong'."
She readjusted the microphone and brought it closer to her mouth before singing the first line.
Say goodbye, maybe that's one way to go
Walk away and say its over, call it history
She frowned slightly when she heard another voice chiming in for the third line, and looked towards the left wing, not seeing anyone. Her head quickly turned to the right wing, and she almost gasped when she saw JC walk out, holding a microphone with a smile on his face. She caught herself in time, and joined him in singing the rest of the first verse.
Do I believe we'd better off apart
Can I see my world without you in it
Baby not for one single minute
By that time, he had made his way over to him, and she had turned to face him, smiling when she heard the crowd almost go wild. Another four voices were added to the chorus, not that she was surprised to see the rest of NSYNC come out and stand beside her, each of them holding their own microphone.
Let the moon give up the night
All the stars leave heaven on high
The sun would burn out before I'd ever lose you
We can get over any wall
If we have to fly, run, climb, or crawl
Love will always lead us back
Where we belong
The audience was lost on how JC and Brooklyn were affected by the lyrics, and how much they applied to them. Both of their minds raced back to the night they had spent underneath the stars, camping. How right it felt when he had held her. Their hushed conversation so that they wouldn't wake anyone up. The way that they discussed their dreams and aspirations, and anything else that came to them. The way that they both felt an indescribable sense of love. Now, she couldn't help thinking about how much she wanted him, NEEDED him in her life. How much she loved him, and vice versa.
She probably would have been lost in those thoughts had Justin not come forward and changed places with JC. There was a good chance that she wouldn't have remembered the lyrics and she wouldn't have come in when she was supposed to. Instead, he smiled at her, and all the thoughts she had been thinking were pushed to the back of her mind. Brooklyn sang the first line, Justin picking up the second. They continued the pattern one more, before blending their voices for the last two lines. Joe, her manager, had been wrong when, almost a year ago, he had said that her voice wouldn't work well with Justin's. It did, but it didn't sound the same as singing with JC. It was beautiful, still, but it just wasn't the same.
Just today I woke up shakin' from a dream
I got a glimpse of life without you
All the good was gone
Then I realized you were lying next to me
I knew right then, baby, come whatever
When the going gets tough we'll face it together
Again, all six of them harmonized for the chorus, letting Brooklyn take over a little, letting her voice be heard overtop of theirs slightly. She smiled and turned to look at Chris when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and brought her towards him in a hug before letting go.
Let the moon give up the night
All the stars leave heaven on high
The sun would burn out before I'd ever lose you
We can get over any wall
If we have to fly, run, climb, or crawl
Love will always lead us back
Where we belong
Baby all we got to do is reach out
No laying blame, no guilty party
Lay our daggers down on the ground
Hold each other and say we're sorry
Let the moon give up the night
All the stars leave heaven on high
The sun would burn out before I'd ever lose you
We can get over any wall
If we have to fly, run, climb, or crawl
Love will always lead us back
Where we belong
They watched as Brooklyn closed her eyes, and took a deep breath before singing the last two lines. The last two lines that were about to make such a big impact on two lives. Her eyes opened slowly as she was singing, and they flicked towards JC, a soft smile spreading on her face. Just for a moment, she let herself pretend that she had never said the words she had before, and that everything was all right with them.
Love is gonna lead us back
Where we belong
The band, being as intuative as they were, followed the acoustic guitar player's nod, and repeated the same notes, looking towards the two that the spotlight had focused on. They picked up on the hint, and Brooklyn watched as JC looked at her as he continued singing.
Love is gonna lead us back
Where we belong
Again, the band repeated the melody and watched with grins on their faces. It was almost as if light bulbs had gone on over their heads and they were just beginning to realize what they were singing together. They faced each other again, and with smiles, repeated themselves one last time.
Love is gonna lead us back
Where we belong
The song died off, and Brooklyn laughed, turning back to the crowd as they cheered, stomped their feet, and clapped. "Talk about a surprise. I did not expect that at all," she said, looking at her friends. "Give it up one more time for NSYNC, everybody," she called, clapping along with them. "Remind me to have a serious talk with you guys," she added, laughing again as they hammed it up, waving to the crowd before going backstage.
After that, the concert went on without another surprise, though she couldn't stop smiling all the way through the rest of it. When she thought about all of the concerts and collaborations that she had ever done, that one was right underneath the collaboration with JC himself.
She wasn't going to forget that night, or what she realized, for the rest of her life.
The first song used in the chapter was The Tea Party’s “Walking Wounded.” They’re a fantastic Canadian alternative band, and if you haven’t heard of them, I seriously suggest listening to them. The lead singer’s voice is so dreamy. Big thanks go to www.geocities.com/teapartysite/index.html for having the lyrics up on their site.
The second song used was Jamie O’Neal’s “Where We Belong”, because we all know that I’m not that creative. Huge thanks go to Patty for sending me those lyrics. It took a long time, but I finally got them in there, and you’re right, they did fit, more now than ever. Thanks again. Love you for it.
Chapter Nineteen
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