Chapter 15
Brianna yawned and rolled over, nuzzling into Justin’s arms. She knew he was awake and heard the knocking at the door but they both chose to ignore it.
“Justin! I know you’re in there!”
He groaned. “Five more minutes mom…” he grumbled, only half conscious. Brianna giggled.
“Maybe we should answer the door.” He didn’t answer.
“Justin…” He covered her mouth with his hand and pulled her under the covers with him. His eyes opened slowly.
“Let’s pretend like we can’t hear him.”
“JUSTIN!”
Brianna giggled when she heard Rob scream again.
“I’m so tired…” he grumbled.
She smirked. “I wonder why…”
He smiled. “Wanna have some more fun?”
“By the sounds of it, we have about two minutes before Rob barges in here and pulls your ass out of this bed. Now how embarrassed would ya be if he came in while we were… having some fun?” He blushed and pulled the blankets off again.
“Now go tell Rob to stop screaming at us.” He groaned again and got out of the bed.
“Justin! Where the hell were you?”
He rubbed his hand over his face. “Uh… Sleeping?”
“Now I know you’re a heavy sleeper but you cannot tell me you didn’t hear me screaming!”
Justin yawned and leaned against the doorway. “Mmm hmmm…”
Rob rolled his eyes, knowing he wasn’t going to get to him. “You have half an hour.”
He nodded and closed the door. Brianna was just sitting up in bed, her eyes tired.
“I… need… food…”
He smirked. “Oh I thought you would be stuffed after last night.”
She glared at him. “REAL food.”
“Oh and whipped cream isn’t real?”
She gave him a dirty look. “Food… NOW.”
He chuckled. “Ok, lets go.”
They walked down the hallway, both trying not to laugh at the threatening looks Rob was sending them. She closed her eyes as they got on the elevator.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“Mm… you…”
“Oh really?”
“Uh huh.” He moved closer to her and leaned up against her body. Her eyes opened slowly.
“When can we have some funnnn…?” he moaned.
She smiled. “How does it feel to want?” she teased. He tried his best to keep a straight face.
“I now regret tempting you last night.”
“Good. You deserve it.” The door of the elevator opened and they went to go eat. They both immediately regretted not showering first when they walked in. They sat down at the table, both quiet and looking very disheveled.
Chris raised his eyebrows knowingly. “SO!” They both jumped. “What did you guys do last night?”
Brianna blushed and Justin looked down. “Nothing…” he mumbled.
“Oh. Right.” He sent Melinda a dirty look.
“So Bri,” Chris said to her. “Are his hips as good in bed as they look onstage?” Her mouth dropped at his comment and she stuttered for a few seconds before she gave up completely, blushing all over while the rest of the group giggled at the two. Breakfast went by with lots of crude comments made by the guys and Melinda to Justin and Brianna but they chose to ignore it as best they could knowing they couldn’t keep they’re evil minds from straying to their sex lives.
They were both back in their rooms ten minutes later. Justin went over to his bag and pulled out some clothes. “I’m getting in the shower…” He raised his eyebrows at her. “Wanna join me?”
She smiled and licked her lips. “Oh you know it…”
His mouth dropped in shock. “I was just… well I mean, if you want, I…” Her laughing stopped him.
“God you are too funny.” She got up and kissed his cheek. “Hurry up.”
Twenty minutes later they were both showered and dressed but still completely exhausted. Brianna had to resist the urge to jump on him the second he walked out of the shower, freshly shaven and still damp. They walked slowly down to the lobby, hand in hand.
“Mm… you are so yummy right now…” she whispered. Justin looked at her strangely.
“Where did that come from?”
“Just thinking…”
He smiled and squeezed her hand. “You’re the best.”
“The best? I was hoping for something a little more… I dunno… horny outta you…”
“I’m not like that ALL the time.”
“Oh but you are.”
“Ok, how’s this.” He took her hands and pushed her up against the wall. “I want to take you on that bus out there and make love to you until we get to Detroit.”
“Is that a figure of speech or are we really going to Wisconsin?” she asked breathlessly.
He chuckled. “Detroit is in Michigan baby.”
“Oh yeah… I knew that…” she said dreamily. He smiled devilishly and pulled her along with him, past the smiling faces of the group, and onto the bus.
“Oh my God what is your problem?” Brianna asked, her mouth full of carrots.
Justin looked back at her. “What?”
“You are SO not wearing that out with me.”
He smiled and sat down on the couch next to her. “Why not?”
“You look like a mail-order stripper.”
“And?”
“And I refuse to go out with you like that. Maybe go to bed with that, but defiantly not out.” He looked down at the see through mesh shirt.
“It is kinda freaky deaky boy bandish isn’t it?”v
She giggled and nearly choked on her food. “Freaky deaky boy bandish? Is that your description of Nsync?”
“Oh yeah,” he said sarcastically. “I love making those ten year olds scream my name. Oh baby, oh baby.” He made a strange face at her and began to mimic a little girl. “Justin! Justin! I want to have your children!”
“Come on Justin! Just find something to wear!”
He moaned. “Let’s just stay home tonight.”
“We stay quote unquote ‘home’,” she said, using her fingers as quotes around home, “all the time.”
“Yeah but we have so much fun alone.”
She rolled her eyes and checked her watch. “We still have two hours before the guys wanna leave. Do you wanna go shopping?”
“My favorite past time.”
They laughed as they walked through the food court, bags in hand. She sipped her smoothie and looked around the crowded room, searching for Rob. She saw him a few feet away and tried to make herself feel safer because of it. For some strange reason, she felt like she was being followed. Of course it was probably just security but she was used to them. Justin had noticed her jumpiness and was trying to act extra comforting around her.
“Wanna get a cookie?” he asked, staring at a Mrs. Fields.
“Um… Actually, I just want to get going.”
He looked at her with concern. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah, just tired. Can we go please?”
“Sure. Let’s go.” He took her hand and led her through the mall, lowering his hat when a group of teenage girls stared at them with interest. He cleared his throat and walked faster. He looked over at her again and was surprised to see her eyes closed. Her breathing had quickened and she was gripping his hand tightly. He pulled her outside and started towards the car. Her eyes were open now but he could tell she was still freaking out.
“Bri, are you ok?” She shook her head no. She stopped suddenly, her mouth open in a silent ‘O’.
“Brianna?” Her legs gave out underneath her but Justin caught her before she hit the ground. He picked her up and sat her down in the grass next to the side of the mall. A few people stopped to look at them but he was glad they kept walking. Rob was soon at their side.v
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I-I don’t know! Brianna? Brianna hunny, are you ok?” She shook her head no, now unable to speak. She gripped her chest to help release some of the pain she was feeling. Her throat had closed up and she could feel the panic swarming over her. Her vision blurred and faded. She could hear Justin talking to her but it was as if she had cotton balls stuffed in her ears.
“Brianna!”
Her scared eyes looked at him. “Brianna… please… Tell me what’s wrong.”
“He… he…” she tried as best as she could to take a breath but it just wasn’t coming in. She leaned back against the wall then put her head between her legs. “He’s here.”
Justin ran his hands through her hair as she leaned back against him. She had scared the hell out of him at the mall and it had taken them a trip to the hospital to get her to calm down. She kept insisting she saw Alex and that he was going to get her again. He assured her that there was no way he could come anywhere near them with all the security but she didn’t seem to believe him. After the terror he saw in her eyes he forced her to tell him what was going on with this guy. It still made him angry to think about even all these hours later.
“No Brianna! You are not leaving this room until you tell me what is going on.”
She looked longingly at the hotel door before she sat down. “Don’t make me do this right now…”
He sighed and came over to site next to her, his hand running up and down her back to comfort her. “Brianna, we need to know, I need to know what we’re up against here. I only want to protect you.”
She looked down and was silent for a while before she started talking, her voice soft and unsure. “Al… He and I were dating for a long time. I had barely gotten over my dad’s death before my mother married again.”
“You’re dad died?” he asked, the shock evident in his voice.
“Yeah. I don’t tell anyone though, I let them believe my step-dad is my real dad. I don’t want people’s pity.” She looked down and started to play with the edge of her sweater. “My step-dad didn’t like me. At all. I don’t know why… I was just not good enough for him. No matter how hard I tried, I was never good enough for him.” She turned away to stare into Justin’s eyes. “I had just turned fifteen when I met… him. He was so sweet and so… so… loving. He took me under his wing and comforted me. He was always there when I needed him. I was young, and he was good getting girls to do what he wanted them to do. I don’t know why, but I let him. I was angry at my father, I was angry at the world, I was angry at myself… I just wanted an escape.” Justin looked away from her and she too dropped her head. “He was two years older than me and I soon found out he had quite a reputation at our high school. I won over the teachers and faculty quickly. I was a goody-two-shoes. They were all worried about me but I just told myself they were jealous. They just wanted what I had.” She laughed bitterly. “We dated all through my high school years, he never went to college. I was in my senior year, had full scholarships to almost anywhere I wanted to go but he still tried to hold me back. After losing my best friend, the only other person I had in the world over him, I decided it was enough. I tried to end everything but he just wouldn’t let me go.” She looked back at Justin again, this time her voice had a sort of urgency in it. “He followed me Justin. He followed me all the way to Florida. There was no way I could escape him.” Justin swallowed hard, his anger rising each minute. “Finally, I told the police. Wanna know what they said Justin? Huh?”
He choked his words out. “What’d they say?”
“They said that they couldn’t do anything until he tried to hurt me. Can you believe that? So I got online, checked out a few places and realized that when he turned 18, I was only 16. That’s rape. But Alex hadn’t been back in a while so I figured I’d leave him alone. I thought maybe he gave up and went on, I dunno, got a life or something. He never spoke to me, never even went near me… Until I started dating you.” His head shot up. “He was jealous. So that night… Right before our first fight, you know, when he called you, he found me. I don’t know how, but he did. He uh… did what he came for, let me go, and said if I said anything to anyone, he’d kill you.”
“So that’s why you were so worried about talking to the police in the hospital?”
She nodded.
“What about that time… In the alley.”
She shrugged. “I wouldn’t let him hurt me anymore. I stood up to him. I guess he didn’t like that.” He didn’t want to know the gory details of what happened that night so he left it alone. “He’s going to come back Justin. I promise you that. He’s not done with me yet.”
He shivered again at her words. She was so confident that he was going to come back that there was no way he could convince her otherwise. He was relieved when she finally fell asleep in his arms in their hotel room as they watched the Disney Channel. She sighed softly and he looked down at her flushed face to make sure she was ok. He was amazed she wasn’t having nightmares again but it seemed like she was fine whenever he was near her. That made him feel good but scared at the same time. Checking his watch, he picked up the phone and ordered The Ring. It was scary and he hoped she wouldn’t wake up because he knew she wouldn’t want to watch it.
An hour into the movie, he was beyond freaked out. It was a lot scarier than he had thought it would be. A noise by the window made him jump. Brianna moaned and rolled over.
“Shhh...” he whispered. She fell back to sleep instantly. He heard the noise again and tried to ignore it but it was getting louder. He laid her down gently on the bed and walked out into the hallway. Security was no where in sight. A strange feeling threatened his stomach and he silently cursed his stupidity for watching that movie.
He prayed Rob was lurking around somewhere as he dialed his room number. No answer. He contemplated whether he felt better to know he was out watching over them instead of sleeping or worse because he didn’t get to talk to him. Looking up and down the hall one last time, he went back into the room. Brianna was still sleeping peacefully. He heard the noise at the window again and his heart began to race. Working up his courage, he opened the sliding glass door and stepped out into the cool night. He left the door open a few inches and examined the small balcony. He took a deep breath, trying to convince himself that he was freaking out over nothing but that feeling was still there. Leaning over the edge, he thought about how easy it would be fore some psychotic teenage girl to climb onto the balcony and get into his room. He chuckled softly and turned around to go back into his room. He stopped suddenly and his heart skipped a beat. The door was open…
Brianna shivered slightly as she woke up from her dreamless sleep. She felt her blissfulness droop a little when she saw Justin wasn’t next to her. The bathroom light was on and figured he was in there. The cold began to sting her face so she stood up to see why the room was freezing. She was shocked to see the balcony door open and went to close it, first making sure Justin wasn’t out there.
She smiled when she heard the bathroom door open and saw him stumble sleepily back into her bed, nearly falling into it. He laid down with his back to her so she crawled in with him. She felt him start to turn around so she turned with him, her back now against his chest. His strong arms wrapped around her and she snuggled into them.
She was lost in her comfort for a while before she started to get an eerie feeling again. The first thing she noticed was his breathing. It wasn’t his normal soft, steady, rhythmic breaths but quicker and ragged. She pushed it to the back of her mind figuring he had an unnerving dream but that got her thinking again. Next she noticed his clothes. It felt like he had jeans and some sort of sweatshirt on but the last she remembered he was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. Figuring he had changed, she tried to think of something else. He snuggled into her and she could feel his hands creep down to lock around her waist. He sighed deeply and his shaggy hair brushed against her. Butterflies swarmed into her stomach and her breathing quickened. Justin had just shaved his head the week before.
His soft chuckle confirmed the terrifying thoughts entering her mind. She tensed completely and she tried to scream but nothing came out. He gently tugged on her hair then pulled her out of the bed. She turned to face him and could feel her knees growing weak.
“Didn’t change for bed did we Bri?” he asked, referring to her short jean shorts and tank top. She nervously pulled the top down.
“Wha- wha- what do you want Alex?”
He smiled and moved closer to her. “Oh you already know.”
She pushed him away and backed up, almost tripping over her own feet.
“No! Go away! You’re not real…” she mumbled to herself, trying to convince her head that it just a dream. He was next to her again. “No! Go away! I’m not letting you take me… Justin!”
“Shhh…” he whispered as he brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She pulled back, now knowing her dream was real. She continued backing away from him, stumbling over things in her blind confusion.
“Leave me alone! Justin!” she tried again, her voice more desperate this time.
“Brianna.” Her eyes looked into his. “You can’t get away from me.”
“I won’t let you take me again!” She screamed Justin’s name again.
He laughed. “He can’t hear you.”
She looked franticly around the room. “Why not?”
He shrugged and continued to back her up until she was against the cold door of the balcony.
“Did you enjoy my little trick?”
“What trick?”
He smirked but didn’t answer. “Alright Brianna, time to go.” He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “And this time you won’t be so lucky.” He grabbed her arm to prevent her from getting away. She looked up at him, the fear evident in the contours of her face. He watched it slowly slip away and get replaced with a sudden determination. He already was on to her game and quickly covered her mouth at she opened it to scream. She anticipated his move and took advantage of her free arms and ducked away from him, heading towards the door.
A scream escaped her mouth when she felt him tackle her from behind. He pinned her down, covered her mouth, and was pulling a bandana out of his back pocket to cover it when a knock sounded on the door. They both stopped and stared at the door. Brianna’s spirit soared, thinking she was saved.
“Justin? Brianna?” Rob asked.
Alex swore. “I thought I got rid of him…”
“Justin! Answer this door!” Rob screamed.
Alex’s mind swarmed with ideas but he finally pulled her up off the floor and slammed her against the wall.
“Guys? What was that?”
Her mouth dropped when he pulled the gun out from the back of his pants and aimed it at the door, never taking one of his hands off her.
“You’ll tell him to go away unless you are really excited about seein’ his brains blown out.” She swallowed hard and gave him a desperate look.
“Bri… Justin? Come on guys. I’m gonna open the door so make sure you’re decent!” Alex nodded the gun towards the door to emphasize his means. She could hear Rob getting the key.
“Wait!” she screamed.
“Brianna? Are you ok hunny?”
She lowered her voice but didn’t dare move from where Alex still had her pinned against the wall.
“I’m fine.”
“What was going on in there? Can I come in?”
“No! I mean… uh… Me and Justin were outside on the balcony so we couldn’t hear you and I’m in my PJ’s and Justin is trying to get back to sleep.”
“Can I talk to him?”
She looked to Alex but he just shrugged. “I um… He’s sleeping.”
“Wake him up.”
“He’s really tired Rob.”
“I understand that but this is important. I’m coming in.”
Alex raised his eyebrows and pulled the trigger back a little bit. “Wait!”
“Now what Brianna?”
She attempted to move forward but Alex held her back. She didn’t know where her sudden bravery came from but she pushed his hands away and went to the door. He slammed his hand against it to prevent her from opened it.
She contemplated her options in her head. She knew Alex would freak and she would pay dearly for this later, but she could never live with herself it she knew someone she loved was hurt because of her stupid mistake.
“Look Rob,” she began, watching Alex carefully. “Me and Justin were having… ya know… a little… fun.” Alex’s jaw tensed and she prayed he wouldn’t take his anger out on Rob. “And well…” she continued. “Justin’s not exactly… comfortable right now if ya know what I mean…”
Rob chuckled. “That explains it…” he mumbled. “Ok, just checking to make sure you’re alright.”
“Yeah… We’re fine.”
“Good. Sorry I bothered you.”
She was relieved when Alex dropped the gun and tucked it in the back of his pants. “Let’s go.” He grabbed her wrist and tried to drag her to the balcony but she didn’t budge. “Bri… You’re only makin’ this worse for ya…” She still stayed put. He yanked her arm and she stumbled forward a little but didn’t follow him. She knew if he used the gun on her, security would swarm the room and Alex wouldn’t be able to have his… fun with her. Her only hope was to stall, with the small chance Rob knew something was wrong and was going to get backup or Justin would come back and save her. The chances were slim to none but she was going to go down fighting.
“You’re gonna make me do this the hard way aren’t ya?” She stayed stone-faced. “Alright.” He pushed her against the wall. “This would be so much easier if you were conscious…” he grumbled. Her eyes widened as she stared at him. Suddenly something hard slammed into the side of her face. The last thing she saw was his satisfied grin as she fell to the floor.
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