Justin zipped up the dark green windbreaker he was wearing, raised the hood over his head, and folded his arms across his chest before leaning against the window of the van. Everyone in the van was staying clear of him and he had to admit that he didn't blame them one bit. He knew that he must look pretty scary if these huge grown men were sticking clear, but they didn't interest him at all. The only reason they would interest him is if they decided to hold him back or stop him from what he was doing in the van to begin with.
The fact that Mike hadn't come along was a shock but it also made him somewhat happy. Mike would see right through this stony and serious silence he was giving off right then, and answering questions or hearing about his momma one more time would only make him angrier. If the woman had all the answers, he wanted to meet this jewel because so far he had found that nobody could solve something like this. Nobody had the ability to take this kind of anger away from him, and that was a weakness he knew, but that still didn't stop him. He had the power to do something about it, and he was going to do just that.
"Justin, have you melted the glass over there yet?"
His head slowly turned from the glass and he looked over where the voice had come from. "Does it matter?"
The guard's eyes widened when he got a good look at the anger on Justin's face, and he turned away quickly to look back out his own window. "I think I'll just leave you alone for the time being."
"You're smarter than you look." Justin said as he turned back to the window and hugged himself even tighter against the chill running through him that had nothing to do with the cool temperature outside.
"These stupid walkie-talkie things aren't working again. I told Mike that we need to get a new set before the tour starts but he wouldn't listen. All I'm getting is static."
Justin's fists tightened inside the jacket when he heard that. If they couldn't reach Mike then he wouldn't be able to make it to the Performing Arts Center any time soon. If Mike wasn't there, then he wouldn't have any interruptions at all. He had already turned off his cell phone so that nobody could reach him and hopefully Lauren was still asleep where he had left her. She would be freaking out right about now if she were awake, and worrying her even more wasn't what he wanted to do. It would happen, but that was not what he wanted.
Thinking wasn't exactly what he was capable of at the moment, but that didn't stop a few thoughts from entering his angered mind. He had slept a little bit, maybe an hour or so, but his anger was so strong and so overwhelming the moment Lauren's revelation had hit that it also invaded his dreams. His rest was fitful and he couldn't get the image of Tom slamming Lauren into a wall out of his head. He could clearly see Tom's grin of triumph, Lauren's look of disbelief and pain as she hit the wall and crumpled under the strength of it, and he could see the fact that nobody had been there to help her.
HE hadn't been there to help her or prevent it. He hadn't been there to protect her or stop it from ever happening.
There never was a time that he hadn't been there for her. Through every scrape or bruise that had ever been inflicted on her, body or spirit, he had been there. Even if it was just as a shoulder to cry on, he at least had given her that small sense of strength and comfort. When they were growing up, they were a team and if one member of the team was being punished or hurt in some way, the other was there to take up some of the slack. That was what he loved and cherished the most about their relationship. He knew that no matter what happened or what choices he made, she might not understand or agree with him, but she always supported. She always fought for him and fought for him to see the right and wrong in every situation.
That wasn't true this time. This time the rules no longer applied and he wasn't going to sit back and let someone, ANYONE, and especially not Tom, touch her this way. Even if she hadn't been bruised, even if this scum hadn't assaulted her, he still would be this angry. He would be this angry because of the fact that Tom took advantage of the fact that Lauren was helpless. Tom was like a snake cornering his prey, and he had moved in the moment he saw that Lauren was unable to fight the good fight anymore.
Due to the situation and the circumstances that surrounded them, he knew he had pushed her aside and had left her to battle these demons on her own. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't regret believing Tom's lies or pushing her away from him. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't regret those actions or get angry with himself because of it. When he had taken her out of his life, he had also taken every bit of happiness and sunshine out of his own. A life without her was no life at all, and he was sorry that it took something like this to prove it to him. It took losing her and losing respect in himself to see that she was all he had ever wanted and fought to hold onto.
His eyes closed and his forehead furrowed with pain when he remembered that bruise on her arm and the fact that it meant so much more than a symbol of someone's anger. He should have been there, she never should have been alone, and no matter who he tried to blame…it was his own fault. That was what angered him along with the image of Tom's hands anywhere near her. It made him dirty to think that Tom had looked at her, much less actually touch her. It made him angry to know that he had touched her, and it blinded him to know that he had hurt her in a way that no man should hurt a woman.
His eyes slowly opened again when that thought echoed through his head. Tom had hurt her in no way that a man should hurt a woman, but that encompassed mental and physical pain. Tom had stripped her of her sense of worth, he had stripped her of any support, but he alone took the blame for stripping her of her sense of self. Behind every tear that Lauren had shed, whether it be from his own cruel words and actions to the bruises she carried on her body and in her heart…Tom was behind it. Tom had used him as a tool of destruction, and he had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.
He wasn't going to fall for it anymore and he wasn't going to sit back and take the abuse anymore. Now was the time to handle things that should have been handled a long time ago. He had laid there for a while just watching her sleep, listening to her breathing, and staring at her beautiful face as she held him and comforted him. When she had relaxed against him in sleep, he had been pulled from his dreams, but having her lay against him and lean on him in the time when people are the most vulnerable…it made his heart soar.
Sure they had slept together on many occasions and it had meant something to him every time, but he could sense and feel her exhaustion. It was seeping out of her and into his heart, and this was the girl who he had pushed to this point. Every day he saw pieces of her former self falling back into place, but they never should have been scattered to begin with. His priorities should have been straight from the very beginning because she had deserved that much. She had deserved AT LEAST that much from him.
"Justin? We're here."
He pushed the image of her asleep in his arms aside, and rubbed his burning eyes before putting on his sunglasses. "What time is it?"
"It's six fifteen. Everyone back at the hotel should be just getting up and getting ready to head down for some breakfast."
He scooted over in the seat until he could hop out of the van. The sun was beginning to rise and he looked at it for a second before grabbing his bag and walking towards the door that led inside. "I'm going in."
It was hard to keep up with him because his long legs were stretched in quick strides, but that wasn't what worried them so much. What worried them was the look that was still on the young man's face and the fact that the sunglasses he was wearing weren't hiding the flames they had seen in his eyes before. Something was going down and it appeared to be something big. "Johnny, Wade, and a few other people are here already to talk money and contacts for the tour."
"And Tom…he's here too."
"Yeah he should be. They're trying to sell promotional spots for the tour and…is that why you're here? Are you in on the meeting?"
Justin jerked the door open and didn't even acknowledge the guard as he walked by. "You could say that."
Justin listened in at several doors to see if he could hear any voices he recognized but the place appeared to be empty. All the doors he tried were locked and walking around like he was lost only made him angrier. He felt like the kid that nobody liked, but who always got picked to be "It" during hide and go seek. Everyone was hiding and he was tired of the chase. It needed to be handled already and this was only delaying and killing time that he already didn't have.
He stopped suddenly and the three men behind him had to move quickly to avoid slamming into him. "Where…are…they?"
They took one look at him, his heavy breathing, his tense stance, his gritted and strained jawline, and their suspicions were confirmed. This wasn't about any meeting that he was going to sit in on. What it was about they didn't know, but the look he had at that moment was beyond any mood or anger at having to wake up early. "Justin, maybe we should call Mike or Lauren and…"
Justin turned to face him so violently that his bag swung around and slammed into his stomach. "You call Mike or even THINK about calling Lauren, and I'll have you fired. Do you have any questions about that statement? The three of you are new to the staff and do you think you'll be around much longer if I complain? Go grab a cup of coffee, a doughnut or two, and leave me the hell alone."
"It's our job to…"
He leaned in close to the man and growled. "It's your job to get the hell away from me when I ASK!"
They all took a step to steady themselves when Justin pushed past, and Robert nodded when he saw the look they were all giving him. He leaned against the wall and waited for them to round the corner out of sight before going into one of the offices and picking up the phone. Mike answered on the first ring. "Justin? Where are you?"
"No it's not Justin, it's me. We are over at the Center with Justin and he's looking about as scary as the devil himself would look."
There was static on the line as Mike raised his voice. "You get with that boy, stay near him, and don't let him ANYWHERE near Tom Williams. Is that understood?"
"He has already threatened to have us fired if we stop him in any way or interfere. What should we do?"
Mike sighed loudly. "Boy doesn't know how to quit when he's ahead and trust me he will regret ever making that comment when I am finished with him. Forget that for now and stay with him! He's not the most rational person right now and his main target is Tom. We are about fifteen minutes away from there and Lauren is on her way too. Do NOT let him out of your sight."
"There are three of us watching him. He won't go anywhere near Tom or anyone else without us around."
Mike actually laughed at that, but it wasn't filled with much humor. "Do not give him an inch because he will gain a mile. Whatever you do, do NOT let him out of your sight. Nobody is better or cleverer at getting away from security than Justin is. Do you understand? He should go NOWHERE without you three."
Robert rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yeah I hear you. What should I do if Lauren gets here?"
"She is your trump card and basically your only hope at calming him down. Get her to him ASAP. She might be the only one who can help here but she can't help if she can't reach him. That's your job. Go do it!"
Both phones were slammed down and Robert went running to meet back up with the other guys and Justin. He found them as Justin was rounding the corner and opening the door that led to the performance area. Justin's eyes scanned the dim area and they finally landed on what he had been searching for. Johnny, Wade, and Tom were all standing beside the stage and talking quietly. Just the sight of him made his skin crawl and his anger boil over into insanity.
"How is Miranda handling the press and the website stuff?"
Tom grinned and leaned against the stage. "She's holding her own but sometimes she gets a little lazy and doesn't hold up her end of the deal. It's not like she's overstressed or underpaid, but ever since she has hooked up with JC and they have been steady…well…she can be a pain."
Johnny nodded and took a sip of his coffee. "Anything I need to talk to her about?"
"She works for Jive, she works for me, and I can take care of her. Maybe she just needs a few more things to do to keep her busy. Boredom can really be the root of all evil."
Johnny laughed and leaned against the side of the stage. "As long as she continues to impress the fans the way she has, I'm happy. You must be under a lot of stress with this whole Justin thing."
Tom's eyes widened and he laughed bitterly. "That boy is going to give me a stroke before this is all over. I already have a permanent headache that was caused by him and Lauren's friendship, much less this relationship they have going. Or they don't have going. Or they do have going. Or they don't have going. The fans are getting a little bit rabid because neither Justin or Lauren want to talk publicly about it."
"That's strange, I was looking around on websites the other day with Miranda and the fans really seem to like Lauren. A lot of them met her at concerts or appearances over the last few years and I guess she left a pretty good impression because most of the sites I've seen talk very highly of her."
Tom gritted his teeth and fought not to roll his eyes. "Maybe you're not looking in the right places."
"A lot of Justin's fans want him to be happy. Lauren has a long relationship with him, he speaks lovingly when he mentions her, and it looks like the fans are getting the fairytale syndrome. It might turn on us a little bit, but so far she's fitting in quite nicely. It's nice to see Justin so happy. I haven't seen him this happy in a long time. When he's happy, the group is happy, the fans are happy, the music is happy, and I am happy."
Wade hopped off the stage and brushed lint off of his pants. "I must say, he has been easier to work with lately. When we were back at your house in Orlando…whew…I almost quit after spending a day with him."
All three of them turned when they heard the hollow sound of footsteps as they neared. Johnny's eyes strained to see through the darkness, but recognition hit the moment he saw the hair. "Speak of the devil. Justin, what are you doing here so early? Are the guys with you?"
Justin's eyes were narrowed and he stopped a few feet away from them to glare at Tom while he answered Johnny's question. "They're back at the hotel."
"Couldn't sleep?"
"I had a few things on my mind that kept me awake."
Wade walked over and put his hand on Justin's shoulder. "You're worried about the tour already? It's not freak time yet and…" He jerked his hand away when Justin looked down at it. "Uh…nevermind."
Johnny laughed when he thought about how Justin was never a morning person. "You really need to take up coffee so you don't have that look on your face every morning. We were just talking about you and how your fans are really supporting your relationship with Lauren. I've heard nothing but positive things and I'm glad our fears weren't justified."
Justin turned back to glare at Tom. "And what did you have to say to all of this?"
"I said that I wish you two would both make statements that we could publish, or better yet…do an interview together. We would have to talk beforehand about answers that are good, bad, and completely off limits. You know how it works."
His head tilted like he was considering it. "We already tried to do an interview together, but someone ended it. I wonder who that was."
"It was getting confusing because both of you were talking about friendships or the lack of one. If you're going to be together…be together. Don't go high and low in the span of a day."
Justin took a step towards him and one of the guards walked around him to stand near Tom. "Maybe if we had the freedom to do what we want, WHEN we want it, and without other people's interference it wouldn't be so confusing."
The corners of Tom's mouth twitched and he folded his arms over his chest defiantly. "Is that so? I've been waiting for you to open that mouth of yours and tell me exactly what you need to say about Lauren, something publishable, but you've avoided it."
"How about right now, just the two of us, and I'll answer anything you want to know."
"Anything? We have that meeting with the financiers and…"
Johnny held up a hand and grabbed his papers. "Don't worry about that. You could come in at the end and still catch up on what is said. If this will clear a few things up and it will make people's jobs and lives easier…go for it."
Tom checked his watch and nodded. "I have a few minutes I can spare for you if I have to, Justin. Do you mind being recorded?"
"No more than you do."
He wasn't sure how to take that remark so he let it slide. "I'll meet you down in office five in about ten minutes. How's that?"
Justin nodded slowly and pushed his sunglasses back up on his nose as he watched him walk by with Johnny and Wade. His anger hadn't decreased any and that scared him. It also scared him that this was falling into place too easily and being alone in a room with Tom for a few minutes was going to be very interesting to say the least.
"Justin? I know you said that…well…that we shouldn't call Mike but he called my cell phone and…"
Justin looked over at the man who was lying so brightly that it almost hurt his eyes. "I'm guessing that you told him that you were worried about me, that I was mad, blah blah blah. Right?"
"He…he said that he wants to talk to you."
"Well I don't want to talk to him. There are other people that need my attention more than Mike does." He started walking back to the door and the guys ran to keep up with him.
"We're not leaving you to go in that room alone."
Justin stopped suddenly again and he turned his anger on them. "Let me get this straight, Mike told you to stay with me the entire time because I'm supposed to do something dangerous because I'm mad. Does that make sense to you? Do I look homicidal at all and do I even have a weapon. Here! Take my bag, check my pockets, do whatever you feel is necessary, but I have a job to do and my job is to talk to people when they need me to. Tom needs a statement from me, I don't really feel like sharing those words in front of three men that I hardly know, and I'm going to do it privately."
It made sense that Justin didn't want to share his inner thoughts with Tom while people sat around and listened, but it still didn't feel right. "We have our instructions and it's from our boss, so we're stuck."
What they were, were idiots. "I need to go to the bathroom."
He walked down several hallways and past many doors before stopping in front of one and handing over his bag. "Can I go in here alone or were you going to offer to hold it for me? You never know what trouble I might possibly cause while I'm peeing into a urinal."
They all backed off to give him some space and flinched when the door slammed behind him. "That kid needs an attitude adjustment."
"Mike is on the way and he said he would be here in a few minutes. We need to kill time and keep Justin with us until either he gets here or Lauren does. From what he said, Justin shouldn't have even left to begin with. There is some serious problem going on between him and Tom and you all saw the look on his face when he saw the man in there. I almost ran from the room myself."
Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes stretched into longer spans of time without any appearance from Justin. The longer he was in there, the more worried they became. Finally Robert walked up and knocked on the door. "I'm not trying to be rude, but are you ok in there?"
It was silent and his ears strained to pick up on a sound…any sound.
"Justin? Are you ok in there? Hello?"
When there was still no response, he pulled on the handle and kicked the door when he found that it was locked. "You guys go find a key. JUSTIN!"
The other two guys ran around the corner and Robert tried a few keys on his ring to see if they would open the door. The entire time he was thinking about what Mike had said about Justin, and he wondered if he had somehow climbed out of a window or through the vents to get away. Would he go THAT far to get away from them? "I've been watching too many movies. This isn't funny at all, Justin. Open the door!"
The other guys peered around the corner and motioned to him. "You might want to come look at this."
"Did you get the key?"
They shook their heads and motioned to him again until he started walking towards them. A feeling of dread crept over his shoulders and ran down his spine as he made his way over to them. Both of them looked almost white and that did nothing to calm his nerves at all.
His nerves went into overdrive when he followed the direction of their eyes and saw a second door to the bathroom that Justin had been inside of. The keywords were "had been inside of" because that door was now open wide, and Justin was nowhere in sight.
Lauren screamed in anger and slammed her cell phone down. "I swear to God if I get that stupid recorded message one more time, I'm going to hunt down that woman and beat her with my DAMN CELL PHONE! I know his phone isn't on at the moment!"
She weaved through the light traffic and sped up when there was a clear patch in the road. Hopefully Mike had already gotten there but she doubted that since most of the people who drove on the security staff drove about as slow as her grandmother did. Justin was already there, he had been there for a while now, and she had to wonder if Tom still had all of his internal organs in working order. Nobody was answering their phones; not Tom, not Johnny, and not Wade. Everyone who had a link to that building or to Justin was unreachable and that concerned her more than anything else.
"Maybe if Johnny and Wade are with Tom, they won't let Justin get too out of hand. Maybe they're already in the meeting and Justin wouldn't dare go in there and start something with Tom if people with money for the tour are sitting there. Wait a minute, that would take clear thinking on Justin's part and he's about as clear as chocolate milk right now. WHY did I tell him? WHY did I go to sleep and trust that he had calmed down enough to handle this?"
She knew exactly why she had told him. He had deserved to know and lying to him would only hurt them even more in the long run. Also, she had no right or desire to cover for Tom or protect him. What he had done was wrong. She should have fought back the moment it happened and really pissed him off to the point of doing something bad. If that had happened, this little situation would never have taken place. Tom would be off in a jail somewhere with a nice friendly roommate named "Buddy" who loved men for their minds. Tom would fit in very well in a place like that, but he might be fitting better in a morgue if Justin had anything to say about his ability to take another breath.
She could see the top of the Performing Arts Center in the distance and that sight gave her a little bit of hope. In five minutes she would be inside and hopefully have Justin by the hand. That hand better not be bruised or bloodied by then because Tom would undoubtedly call the cops and have Justin arrested. In fact, she knew that Tom would call the cops and have him arrested just for the thrill of it all. That would make his day, his month, and possibly even his year to tarnish the perfect image that Justin had. What better way to ruin Justin than to take him away from his fans and his music in one swipe?
It was in her to blame herself for all of this, but the other half of her conscience told her that that was nonsense. This was all Tom's doing and she wasn't about to fall back into the pity trap that she was clawing and scraping to get out of lately. His game was all about making people feel they were at fault and making them feel useless. Well, not this time. She wasn't going to give him the pleasure of one more minute of her worry.
"God help him if I can't stop Justin from making one of the biggest mistakes of his life."
She didn't want Justin to be punished for this, she wanted him stopped and calmed, but at the same time she also wanted him to beat the hell out of Tom. She wanted Justin to be locked up in a room with Tom, and beat him until he was unable to control his muscles enough to even smirk.
She wanted to sit down, grab a Coke and a smile, and watch Tom sit there begging and bleeding. That wasn't going to happen, but a girl could dream. Tom wasn't one to lay down and play dead because of a little fear, and for the first time she thought about Tom actually fighting back. Her food pressed down on the accelerator even harder and her own anger was rising to dangerous levels with that image.
"If he touches or harms even ONE curl on his head…just one…"
She pulled up right in front of the building and didn't worry about the security guard who was yelling at her to not park there. She pushed right past him and ran inside. There were too many hallways and doors to know where he was or where Tom was, but her ears were open and listening for any sounds of an argument or struggle. Running down the hallways, it chilled her to only hear the sounds of her feet slapping against the carpet and the pounding of her heart in her ears. This was the stuff that her worst nightmares were made of, and this time she wasn't asleep.
When she came to a crossing, she stopped to catch her breath and look down each one. "Come on Justin…where are you? Where are you?"
She caught the sound of someone walking down the hallway to her left and she ran in that direction. "Justin! You have to stop and listen to me. You have to…" She stopped when she saw three security guards, but no Justin. "Thank God you're here. Where is he?"
"That's a really good question. He's in the building but he…"
"He gave you the slip. DAMMIT! Listen guys, you have no idea what he's capable of at this point, I don't even know what he's capable of, but I know that we have to find him. We have to find him or we have to find Tom to keep them away from each other."
"We were on our way to office five. Tom told Justin to meet him there, and maybe we can catch them before they meet up or at least stand outside of the door to wait on them."
Lauren was already running down the hall towards office number five and she beat against the door with her fists. "Open up! Justin? Tom? Open the door!"
Nobody opened the door just like nobody answered, and Lauren's legs trembled underneath her the longer the silence stretched. "One of you stay here and the rest of us need to search the building. Whatever happens, those two cannot be in a room alone together. That…can't…happen!"
Justin had no idea that Lauren was there but he had a strong suspicion that the guards had realized that he was no longer in the bathroom and were now searching for him. He peeked around a corner to see if they were walking down it, and when it was clear he quickly made his way down towards the offices where meetings were held. Tom would be here somewhere, and that's all he could worry himself with at the moment.
As if on schedule, Tom came out of one of the offices, smiling and laughing over something someone was saying inside. "Gentlemen I will be back shortly but there is some business I have to take care of first. Yeah you know how this stuff goes. Don't do anything too important while I'm gone."
Once the door was closed, he checked his watch and started down the hallway. "Stupid and ignorant people really make my day. Now I have to meet up with Mr. Stupid and Ignorant himself, and he's also Mr. Attitude this morning. Absolutely wonderful. I need to get away from this teeny shit and get my hands on some real talent…a REAL job."
Justin came around the corner right as Tom was getting close and he stood there with his hands on his hips. "You're looking for me I believe."
Tom rolled his eyes and kept walking. "I see that the attitude hasn't disappeared. Why do I get the feeling that any statement you make this morning is going to be crap that I can't use? Since when do you feel the need to talk to me? I thought Miranda with all her fancy words and nosey tendencies was more your style?"
"I don't think that in a million years you could understand what I want or need at this moment, Tom."
"You're not going to be this vague during all of this, are you? I have a lot of things to do today and babysitting a grumpy kid isn't…" His words were cut off when Justin opened one of the doors and shoved him inside.
Tom regained his balance and looked back at Justin like he had completely lost his mind. His belief was proven even more when Justin locked the door and leaned against it with a scowl. "I thought I told you, office five?"
Justin pushed away from the door and started walking towards him slowly and purposefully. "Change of plans."
There was a little bit of worry on Tom's face but he hid it well by playing up his confusion. "All of my things are down in the other office and…"
"You won't need them. This has nothing to do with making a stupid statement for the papers, this is all about me making a statement that is for YOU to understand."
Tom rolled his eyes again and walked over to lean his hip against the desk that sat near the window. "Go ahead then. Impress me, Justin."
"It's simple really. I want you to tear up that contract that Lauren signed, I want you to leave her alone, I want you to leave ME alone, and…"
Tom held up a hand and interrupted. "Wait just one second here. This is all about the contract that she came up with and signed? Why is this being directed my way? Are you going to stand there and defend her after everything she has done? Good Lord, Justin. All of these problems between you two started because of that contract and now you want to stand up for her? She was wrong and a manipulator in the process. One of the best I've ever seen, in fact."
Justin fisted his jacket and twisted it. He knew he couldn't let Tom know that he knew the truth about the contract because that would expose Lauren, but at the same time he wanted to shout it as loud as he could. "Lauren would never do anything like that to hurt me. Her reasons for signing that paper might have been confusing or wrong in the eyes of people who don't know her, but I understand her. I understand the love she has for me."
"Awww isn't that just the sweetest thing I've ever heard. The two peas have fallen in love within the pod. You're a lucky man, Justin. She is definitely one of a kind and I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a little bit jealous."
That comment wasn't really good for Justin's stability or restraint, but he knew that Tom was pushing him. Everything from the arrogant grin to the sarcasm in his voice just screamed that he was trying to get to him. "Stay away from her."
Tom stood up straight and walked forward until he was almost chest to chest with Justin. "Or what? Come on Justin, it's a little hard to stay away from the people who I employ or have you forgotten the fact that she now works for me. That's right, she signed on the dotted line and she now belongs to me."
"She belongs to no one, and she sure as HELL doesn't belong to you." He reached out and pushed against Tom's chest.
Tom staggered back against the force of the shove and it stunned him that Justin would actually get violent. At the same time, it fascinated him. "Watch where you put those hands. You wouldn't want to start something you'll regret."
Justin shoved him again, harder this time, and Tom would have fallen over the table if he hadn't caught the chair next to him. "It's not very fun being pushed around, now is it?"
He scrambled off of the table and straightened his jacket, but Justin pushed him again and he slammed against the wall. "What gives you the right to…"
Justin pushed him even harder and grinned slowly when he could hear Tom's shoulder slam into the wall with such force that two paintings fell off of the wall. "What gives ME the right? What gave YOU THE RIGHT?"
Lauren froze when she heard a loud thump, followed by a crash, and then heard Justin's loud outburst. She was already running down the hallway towards the sound before the thought completed inside of her head.
Tom took a step away from the wall, but was pushed back into it again. "I don't know what you're talking about but you better back off!"
He slammed Tom against the wall, held him there with his hands tightened on his shoulders, and leaned in close to whisper venomously. "If you ever hurt her again, if you ever touch her again, if you even BREATHE on her one more time…I will do a lot more than just introduce you to a wall."
"You need some anger management classes, Justin."
Justin opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by the sound of someone beating on the door. The beating got louder as he stared at Tom, and finally he could make out who it was.
"Justin? Open the door! Please…PLEASE open the door! Don't do this. Don't you see that it's exactly what he wants?"
Tom smirked and shook his head. "She's a bit melodramatic, don't you think?"
"He's just waiting for you to fight him so he can go to the cops. Don't you see that? JUSTIN!"
Justin could hear the fear and the tears in her voice, and it tore at him. It didn't make him release his hold on Tom or even ease his anger any, but it did reach him.
Tom was getting tired of this, and he was definitely tired of being pushed around by a teenager. "Listen to her cries, Justin. She is actually making sense for once."
Justin pushed her pleas aside and focused back on Tom. "She could press charges against you right now if she wanted to. She has a bruise on her arm, a bruise that YOU GAVE HER, and there isn't a police officer in the world that wouldn't take a nineteen-year-old girl's word over an egotistical, psychotic, worthless piece of shit like you. There isn't a police officer in the world that wouldn't take her into their care and dispose of you like yesterday's trash. Especially not when they find out that her father is one of the most successful lawyers in the Orlando area. Tell me, what are those odds?"
"What are you rambling about now? I didn't touch the girl!"
Justin walked over to the door, jerked it open, grabbed Lauren's hand, and dragged her over in front of Tom. He pulled her jacket back to show her bare arm and hold it up in front of Tom's face. "YOU did this, and don't you dare stand there and deny that you didn't. Radio station, dressing room, and you throwing a tantrum and having the GALL to take it out on her!"
"Justin, you need to drop this until you calm down and…"
He dropped her arm and punched the wall beside Tom's head. "I will NEVER calm down from this! What kind of lowlife touches a woman this way? What kind of scum goes after innocent people and plays with their lives like we're his own Barbie dolls that he can use and abuse? WHAT KIND OF PERSON, TOM?"
Lauren pulled on Justin's arm until there was some distance between the two, and she reached up to put her hands on his cheeks and pull his head down to look at her. "Justin…Justin look at me. Look at me! This isn't the way to handle it. This isn't going to get us anywhere."
If looks could kill, Lauren would be dead because Tom's eyes were narrowed on her and the hatred that shined out of them were enough to singe her. "She's lying."
Lauren immediately let go of Justin and whipped around. She almost dove across the short distance between them, but Justin caught her arm and held her back. "I'm lying? Sorry, but I don't need to tell lies to make things go my way, unlike YOU! Do you even know what the truth is? Do you even know how to tell the truth? How miserable of a person are you, Tom? We are NINETEEN YEARS OLD and you act like we're two people who are out to get you. We DON'T CARE! If we never would have even met you, we still would have each other, but you just couldn't handle that. WHY? What did we ever do to you to cause you to hate us so much?"
He was breathing heavily and he looked down at Justin's hand on her arm before looking back up at her and responding. "You…exist."
Nobody needed to cue Justin or Lauren to shiver under the power of Tom's words. There was enough anger, resentment, and hatred flowing through those two words to make chills run up and down their spines.
Lauren put a hand against Justin's chest and held him back. "You're really sad. You're so sickeningly sad that I can't even bring myself to pity you."
"Tell me Lauren, who will fight for MY bruises? I undoubtedly have some after Justin's violent display." He looked over her shoulder at Justin, and grinned before finishing. "Will you kiss them and make them better, Lauren? Or is it only Tristan who gets that special treatment from you?"
Justin's muscles tensed against her hand and she knew that the explosion was about to hit. "Oh dear God."
She didn't have time to stop him or even try to hold him back because Justin pounced the moment the words were said and both he and Tom went flying onto the floor in a heap. Arms and legs were flailing around everywhere and all Lauren could see was Justin punching at Tom and Tom doing nothing but trying to shield himself from the blows he was being dealt.
Lauren screamed for them to stop, screamed for Mike who just had to be there by then, and she jumped on Justin's back when he finally managed to pin Tom down and hover over him. "Stop it! STOP IT!"
Tom pushed Justin and they all three went rolling on the floor. Lauren ended up on her back with Justin on top of her, and Tom kept trying to push Justin's hands away from him so he could get free. Justin wrapped his arms around him and pushed forward until his head was in Tom's stomach and he could ram him back into the wall. Lauren pushed up from the floor and pulled on Justin's shoulders again but he was struggling so much at trying to find a way to hit Tom that the effort was futile and meaningless.
"Guys stop! Please stop this! STOP!" She was begging because even though Tom wasn't fighting back at the moment, there would come a time when he would, and whether it be with words or his fists…it would hurt Justin all the same.
Tom pushed on Justin's shoulders to ease the pressure he was putting on his ribcage, but it didn't help at all. "You better listen to her, Justin. She's always right, and I don't want to have to hurt you."
Lauren wrapped her arms around Justin's chest and pulled as hard as she could, but it just so happened that she pulled the moment that Tom also pushed as hard as he could. They both went flying back and Lauren's ribs slammed into the leg of the table as Justin fell back on her. He would have hit his head on the chair but her motion pushed the chair out of the way and the back of his shoulder collided with her stomach.
She laid there for a second with her eyes closed and waited for the pain to hit, but all she really could think about was the fear of having her breath knocked from her. Justin was suddenly pulled up from the floor and dragged away from Tom by two strong arms, and Lauren felt herself being picked up and righted.
"Are you ok?"
She finally took a deep breath and nodded her head as she rubbed her sore ribs. Mike's voice never sounded as good as it did at that moment. "Yeah…yeah I'm fine. Thank God you're here."
Tom stood up himself and panted as he tried to regain his own breath back. "They attacked me!"
Justin was breathing heavy and he reached up to push his hair out of his face. "You need to kiss security's feet right about now, Tom."
"Don't wait on that."
Lauren pushed Mike's worrying hands away and sighed. "Can we please just get out of here before he pushes Justin into another fight?"
"I didn't push the first one. Oh that's right, you're fond of accusing me of pushing people around."
Mike held a hand out in front of Justin's chest before he could move. "Cool it!"
"I'm cool, I'm fine, but I think for everyone's sake we should get out of here."
Nobody trusted Justin not to go at Tom again, so Mike followed right behind him as they made their way to the door. It at least protected him in case Tom decided to lash out, but the only problem was…it didn't protect him from Tom's words.
"A few minutes ago, I said that she works for me. It's funny how that makes me sound like a pimp. Hmm…if that were true, I guess that would make Lauren a…well…a prostitute in simpler terms."
Lauren closed her eyes and leaned her head against the doorframe because she didn't want to see what was going to happen next. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that it would have taken fifty security guys to hold Justin back this time. She heard the sound of bodies against bodies, of Justin breaking free, and finally she flinched when she heard the sound of fist against face.
"Hit me back! Hit me, you bastard!" Justin stood over Tom and watched as the man struggled to sit up. "I dare you to call the cops. I dare you to press charges and to file a report because not only will that pull N SYNC apart…it will ruin all your fun. Who will you work for and torment then? Who will you feed lies about and tear apart if I'm in jail, my fans are pissed, and N SYNC is gone? And where will you work when the music industry turns against you?"
Tom wiped at the blood on his lips with the back of his hand. "Such an overactive imagination you have."
"Press charges and every single bit of your plan will be exposed and blamed for me being in jail. How much would you have to cover, Tom? How in the HELL do you save my reputation and my image if I'm sitting in a jail cell? Chew on that for a little while. Oh, and enjoy that split lip while you're at it." He kicked at him one more time as he was pulled away and into the hallway.
When the door closed behind them, Tom stood up and wiped at his mouth again. There was blood on the back of his hand and he stared at it angrily. "No I'm not going to hit you Justin, but I can certainly hit you where it will REALLY hurt the most."
Out in the hallway, Lauren was leaning against the wall with a hand to her mouth and there were tears in her eyes when she finally looked up at Justin. "Are you…"
"Am I insane? Is that what you want to ask?" He inhaled sharply and grabbed her hand as they walked down the hallway. "When it comes to protecting you against people like him…damn right I'm insane. I'm not going to stand by and watch him hurt you. I allowed that to happen once and it will NEVER happen again."
They went into the break room and Justin closed the door in Mike's face, but it was necessary. He didn't feel like hearing the lecture that he knew was coming, and his main concern, his main focus at that moment, was Lauren. She was shaken up and she was scared, and he was feeling those things too.
He sat down at the table and watched her as she grabbed a towel, wet it, and poured some ice into a Ziplock bag. "I'm fine."
She leaned over his hand and wiped away any blood or peeled skin from his knuckles. "I'm not. Relax your hand."
His breath came in with a hiss when she replaced the towel with the bag of ice. "It's not broken."
She turned her back to him and wrapped her arms around herself. "Just give me a second and…and…"
Justin's arms slid around her and he hugged pulled her against him tightly. "I'm sorry I scared you. I'm so sorry that he said the things he did and that I lost control."
She turned in his arms and wrapped her own around him. "Did…did he hurt you?"
He kissed the top of her head a few times before kissing her shoulder and shaking his head against her. "No he didn't hurt me. He never tried to hit me. He was too busy trying to avoid being hit."
"I couldn't get here fast enough, Justin. I could just see him hurting you and…and…"
Justin kissed her cheek and her lips softly before pulling back and looking at her carefully. "He's not going to hurt us again. He's not going to hurt either one of us because he sees that his games, his lies, his plans, and his schemes to pull us apart aren't going to work anymore."
"He still has that contract. I signed the contract, Justin."
He kissed her again and sighed. "Well, then there's just one thing to do."
"What's that?"
With a wink, an evil grin slid across his face. "Beat him at his own game. But this time…the stakes are MUCH higher. He's going to fall Lauren, and you and I are going to shut him down for good."