The Next Morning
The door slammed open and Brianna jumped awake. She groaned, falling back on her pillow. Her head was throbbing. Justin stalked into the room and began looking through his stuff.
“What’s goin’ on?” she mumbled.
“Oh you know.”
“No, I don’t…” He shook his head, rolled his eyes, and turned back to his bag.
“What do you want Justin? And how did ya get into my…” she looked around. “Where am I?” He ignored her.
“What is your problem? Do ya want me to apologize or somethin’?” He stayed silent. “Look, I dunno what ya want me to do,” she began as she got out of the bed, “But I-“ she stopped dead and swallowed hard. She looked down and realized she had no shirt on.
Justin turned around. “Put some clothes on,” he mumbled, throwing her a t-shirt. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before she pulled the shirt over her head.
“Justin… what’s goin’ on?”
He threw his clothes down. “Damnit Bri!” He stalked over and glared her in the eyes. “Stop acting so damn innocent!”
“I don’t know what-“
“Just shut the f*ck up already!”
She winced and pushed herself against the headboard. “Justin… You’re scarin’ me…”
He laughed angrily. “Am I Brianna?” She took a deep breath and got out of the bed on the other side of where he was. He rushed around and began backing her into the corner as he talked. “You really don’t remember huh?”
“I remember Al-“ she stopped, “Our conversation.” He had already had her pushed all the way up against the wall.
“Oh… Well then you don’t remember the fun we had…”
“What are ya-“ He moved close to her and held a finger to her lips. He licked his own slowly and deliberately, watching her follow his tongue.
“You were so good to me baby…” He said in a deep, sexy voice. He pushed a strand of hair out of her face. She tried to move away but his long body held her in place.
“Justin… Stop.”
“That’s not what you were saying last night,” he whispered.
“What are ya talking about?” she screamed.
He breathed heavily and pushed himself even further against her. “Oh you know baby… Don’t be embarrassed…”
“What are… oh my God…” she breathed. Justin smiled evilly but quickly changed his expression to concern when she looked at him.
“You wouldn’t.”
He began to grind up against her. “Oh but I did.”
She tried to push him away but his body stayed strong. He leaned close and began to whisper in her ear, his lips brushing against it as she spoke. “And I gotta say Bri…” He kissed her neck a few times. “It was the best night of my life…”
“No-No… You-you-you,” she stuttered. “You wouldn’t.” She bit her lip to hold back the tears. She slowly slid to the ground, rolling into a ball and pushing herself as far into the corner as she could as if she was trying to disappear. Justin hesitated; she looked so small and fragile as he loomed in front of her. She closed her eyes and tucked her head into her arms as he continued to torture her. He pulled her arms away from her face.
“Look at me Bri…” he demanded. She shook her head. He smiled. “Briaaaannnaaaaa…” he drew out her name in a slow sort of teasing voice. He took her chin with his hands and forced her to look at him. “Open your eyes.” She squeezed them shut. He squeezed her chin tighter and shook her head a little. “OPEN YOUR EYES BRIANNA!” She winced but slowly lifted the lids of her frightened eyes to look into his angry ones. There was a spark there that she had never seen before and it scared her. Justin examined her bloodshot eyes. His emotions softened and he touched her face softly. She winced. He ran the back of his hand down the side of it, forgetting his anger for a brief moment.
“Why’d you do this to me?” He whispered, his eyes following his fingers as they trailed down her face. She could smell the alcohol on his breath.
“Justin, ya don’t understand what-“ He looked back into her eyes and she could see the anger in them again. He clenched his teeth. Brianna swallowed hard and closed her eyes.
“Why…are…you…STILL…lying to me?!”
She could feel the tears again but she held them back “Please stop…” she chocked out. He moved closer and practically swallowed her with his body. He brought his head down to her neck and kissed her. He held her hands down and pinned her against the wall so she couldn’t get away. She tensed up and her breathing quickened dramatically.
“Stop! Please Justin! Please don’t hold me down like this!” she screamed. She shook her arms, trying to get free but he was too strong for her. She was really freaking out. “Justin! Do you hear me!? Please… Just please let go… Don’t do this to me!”
He looked at her strangely and shook his head. “And what about what you did to me?”
“I’m so sorry! I swear! But ya just don’t understand!” She let out a low moan and tried to get away again.
“What is there to understand?! You slept with another guy!”
“I told ya! I’m sorry! Just please… Don’t touch me like this…”
He rolled his eyes. “Why?”
“You just don’t understand… Please… I’ll do anything…” she whispered. “Please… Just let me go!” She tried to shake him off again.
“Anything Brianna?” he teased. She looked at him sadly and tried to get her arms free. He laughed. “Anything…” he whispered, kissing her neck again.
“Justin… please…” she begged. He ignored her and began to lift her shirt up. She tried to stop him but he was too strong. He leaned down and kissed her stomach. She tried to push him away but it was no use. She could feel his tongue caress it and all she wanted to do was puke. He was literally making her sick. She breathed deeply and began to rock back and forth. Justin lifted his head and looked into her eyes.
“Why won’t you ever cry Brianna?”
She bit her lip. “I don’t cry.”
“But why? Everyone cries.”
“Justin… Please just let me go…”
He smiled and tried to pull her shirt up again.
“Stop! I swear to God I’ll scream!” He laughed and dropped her shirt.
“Not if I can help it…” He covered her lips with his. She screamed into his mouth and moved her head around to make him back off. He laughed quietly and brought his lips down to her ears. He held onto her hands with his own and pushed the side of her face against the wall so she couldn’t move her head away. “So Brianna…” He whispered. “Does he freak you the way that I do?” She moved her head quickly and glared at him.
“Leave… me… alone.”
“Does he freak you the way that I do Brianna?” he repeated.
“SHUT UP! Shut the f*ck up!”
“Oh! Feisty are we?” he smirked. “Look into my eyes Bri.” She glared at him. “Tell me what you see.” She didn’t answer. “Well, I see a man who thought you loved me.” He laughed. “You played me like such a fool but you know what? I see right through you.” He raised his eyebrows. “Anything to say? Alright. When I look into your eyes, I see a girl who played on me. You thought you had me fooled huh?” She slowly shook her head in disbelief and looked down as he began to sing. “Tell me girl what’s his name what’d he do to take you, does he freak you the way that I do? Cause you know that I know how to!” He laughed and lifted her head so she’d look at him. “When he leaves you don’t come crying back to me, cause I’ll be moving on you see, and you’ll be just a memory!” He laughed again and brushed a piece of hair out of her face. “I think I just wrote a song!”
At first she looked angry and kept moving around, trying to get away from his strong hold. He stayed patient and eventually pinned her in such a way that she could barely move. She tried to push him away one more time before she gave up. Her head fell in defeat and he could feel her whole body relax underneath him. Justin was startled at the sudden move. Her hair was all over and she was shaking uncontrollably. He couldn’t see her face but he knew he hadn’t gotten her to cry yet.
Justin shook his head. “Oh no. You’re not tricking me this time. No way. I’m not falling for your act and I’m not gonna leave you alone until I can get you to cry.” She didn’t say anything, she didn’t even move. The only indication that she was still alive was her slow, unsteady breathing. “Cry!” He lifted her head. “I said cry and I’ll let you go.” She didn’t move her eyes from his. “All you have to do is cry…” he whispered. She took a deep, wavering breath.
“I hate you,” she sneered. He sighed deeply and pushed her head violently. He paused for a minute. “Hey you know what? You never did answer my question Brianna.” She tried to shake her head out of his hand but he grabbed her chin again.
“Let… me… go…” she ordered.
“Maybe… if…” His hands roamed her stomach. She tried to push them away but he was too strong.
“Stop! Just leave me alone already!”
He nudged her head up with his own to gain more access to her neck. He groaned and moved his hands to her shirt again. She kept pushing him away but he was too strong.
“God you’re so sexy…”
She stopped moving. “What?” Memories shot through her head and Alex invaded her thoughts. She closed her eyes and tried to shake them away. His hands finally gave up on her shirt and moved to her pants.
“I said you’re so damn sexy.” She swallowed hard. He was having trouble with the button on her jeans. This was her chance. His hands were busy and he couldn’t stop her. It was now or never. She gathered up what strength she had left and jumped up, pushing him back. He fell backwards and hit his head on the chair.
“Damnit Bri!”
“Don’t you EVER go near me again!” she screamed. She began to walk away but he grabbed her ankle.
“I’m not done with you!” he shouted. She tried to shake her leg free.
“Let me go!” He pulled and she lost her balance. She fell to the floor and hit her head on the way down. A sharp pain shot through her skull. She blacked out for a few seconds and when she opened her eyes, Justin was kneeling over her. The right side of her face felt strangely hot and sticky. She screamed and tried to push him away but he didn’t budge.
“Just let me go already…” she begged. He backed off a little, giving her room to stand up. Her vision blurred and she almost fell. She felt wobbly and had to hold on to the bed to stand. She kept backing away from him, trying to escape but he followed.
“Bri, let me-“ he started as he reached for her but she jumped out of his reach.
“DON’T TOUCH ME!” He was taken aback by her scream. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. “Don’t touch me…” She got dizzy and grabbed the dresser to keep steady as she slowly backed away from him.
“Stay away from me…” she whispered before she ran out of the room and into the hallway. She searched for help but it was empty. She heard Justin call her name.
“I swear to God if you come near me I’ll scream bloody murder! Go back into your room. NOW!”
“But your hurt.” She glared at him.
“Get the hell away from me!” She turned and started towards the elevator after hearing his door slam shut. She held onto the wall for support but it wasn’t helping much. Her vision was blurring more and more and her head was throbbing. She brought a shaky hand to her head and was surprised to see it covered in blood. A door opened next to Justin’s room and Lance looked at her. It took him a few seconds to realize she was hurt but soon rushed to her side.
“Bri! What happened?”
“I-I- I just hit my head… that’s all…” she mumbled, her eyelids drooping. She reached behind her to find the wall and her knees gave out.
“Woah! Bri? Are you ok?” Lance grabbed her hand held her up, helping her walk down the hall. “I gotta get you to the hospital.”
“No-no. I just need a towel. I’ll be fine- really.”
“Bri, you cut your head open. I’m taking you to the hospital.” He grabbed a towel off a cleaning cart and held it to her head to sop up the blood as they walked slowly down the hall.
“But I have to go to work.”
“I think Tim’ll understand. He already knows you were having a tough time. Jc told him it was family problems.”
She stopped. “You all know?”
Lance shuffled his feet uncomfortably and looked anywhere but into her eyes. “Well, yeah… The guys and Mel. Those hotel walls are paper thin…”
She brought her hand to her head. “Oh my God…” Everything began spinning and she felt herself falling. She hit the floor and Lance was immediately at her side.
“Come on Bri… You have to stay awake for me ok?”
“I-I can’t.”
“Yes you can! You have to!” He helped her up and to the elevator but she could feel herself slipping.
“Lance…”
“Brianna! Stay awake! Look at me!” She shook her head and slid down the elevator walls. “Just a little nap… I have such a headache…” she mumbled. Lance crouched down in front of her. “Brianna! Bri? Stay awake for me ok? Bri?” His voice faded away and her eyes slowly closed.
She jerked awake after the car hit a bump. She moaned and tried to sit up but Lance held her back. Her head was on his lap and he was holding a towel to it.
“Thank God you’re awake!” Lance said, obviously relieved.
“Where are we goin’?”
“Hospital.”
“What?!” She tried to get up again but Lance held her shoulders in place.
“Stay laying down; you’re hurt.”
“Whose drivin’?”
“Mike,” he called from the front seat. “How ya doin’ kiddo?”
“Fine but why are we going to the hospital?”
“Because you’re going to bleed to death if we don’t,” Lance answered.
“Why-“
“Shhh… No more questions. And don’t fall asleep on us again,” he ordered.
She obeyed and relaxed against him. He held onto her hand with his free one, rubbing it gently while his other held a rag to her head. At least someone cared.
“Thanks Lance…” she whispered.
They were back at the hotel a few hours later. Mike, Lance, and a bandaged Brianna were sitting silently in the elevator.
Brianna checked her watch. “I’m late for work.”
“Don’t worry, I called Tim and said you wouldn’t be in,” Lance informed him.
Brianna stayed quiet. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For makin’ ya take me, for makin’ ya late, for wastin’ your time, and for makin’ your best friend upset, and then making you have to deal with me.” He didn’t answer.
“Did you really cheat on Justin?”
“What?!” Mike asked.
Brianna sighed. “I’d rather not talk about it.” She got out of the elevator. After Mike opened her door, she changed and left, glad Justin was gone from her room. She immediately noticed the small blood stain on the floor where she fell. Leaving the room, she waited for Lance in the hallway.
“Can I ride with you and Mike?” she asked after he got out of his room.
He stared at her. “You’re joking right?”
“Uhhh… no…”
“I think you should stay here.”
“Listen, if ya don’t want to take me, I’ll just call a cab. But no matter what, I WILL get there.” She turned to walk away.
“Fine,” he grumbled.
Lance was 15 minutes late for the interview and they had to reschedule a photo shoot. Brianna felt really bad but was glad Lance forced her to go to the hospital. Her head was worse than she thought. The cut went from her right eyebrow almost to her hairline and she needed 8 stitches. It was pretty bruised also. Head wounds lose a lot of blood but she was lucky hers wasn’t that bad and that she didn’t hit her temple. She was feeling light headed from the loss of blood and her head was throbbing but that didn’t keep her from working.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said nonchalantly to Tim as she checked her clipboard.
He stared at her in surprise. “Brianna?”
“Yeah Tim?”
“Why are- I thought you- What the hell happened?!”
She smiled. “I thought personal life shouldn’t interfere with work.”
“I know but I don’t want you here if you can’t handle it. You can take a day off you know.”
“If ya give me the day off, I’m just gonna go back to the hotel and work on paperwork and trust me, I would prefer to be here.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Well, if you’re feeling ok then check over the stage for sound check. The guys are in conference room 2 with some local newspapers. Tell Elly to get Lance’s stuff ready for the show. Oh, and get Justin to let Julie cut his hair.”
She stopped. “Uhhh…”
Tim looked over at her. “Is that going to be a problem?”
“No, I’ll see what I can do.”
Elly was already working on all of the guys’ stuff for the show and the stage check was finished a lot sooner than she had hoped. Last task: Justin. Sound check started in 2 hours so that gave her less than an hour to convince him to get his hair cut to give Julie enough time. The guys were still in the interview so she headed in that direction. She was dreading facing any of the guys, especially Justin. She only had to wait a few minutes before they walked out, laughing and joking about something said in the interview. They all stopped when they saw her.
“What do you want?” Jc asked with a look of disgust.
“Um… Is Justin here?”
“No,” Chris answered. He had a bored look on his face.
Joey looked at the bandage on her head and rolled his eyes. “If you’re looking for sympathy, good luck cause you’re defiantly not finding it here.” He walked away and the others followed. Lance looked back but his face was emotionless. She sighed and leaned back against the wall. She noticed a man dressed all in black with black hat and sunglasses on. He wrote something down on his notepad and walked away.
“Great…” she mumbled. “That’ll be in the Enquirer by tomorrow.” She heard the interviewers emerge talking about how strange the guys were acting as she walked in the opposite direction of her down the hall. She sighed and made her way down the hall towards his dressing room. ‘Justin Timberlake’ was written in bold letters on a sign tacked on his door. She knocked. No answer. She knocked again.
“Justin?” She timidly walked in, glad the room was empty. She knew he would be coming in soon so she pretended like she was making final wardrobe checks. He walked in less than a minute later, water bottle in hand.
“What the hell are you doing in my room?” he shouted.
She jumped at his yell but tried to stay calm. “Wardrobe checks.”
“Try again. Elly already did.”
Her shoulders dropped but she didn’t turn around. “Tim and Johnny want you to let Julie trim your hair.”
“Oh hell no.”
“Justin, your curls are getting’ in your way onstage. Ya need them cut.”
“That’s what bandanas are for.”
She squeezed her fist. “They just want a damn trim Justin! It’s no the end of the world.”
“Who the HELL gave you permission to scream at me, slut?!” He went over to look her in the eyes but she turned away from him. “Look at me when I speak to you!” he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. “You-“ Her head was faced down and turned so he couldn’t see the bandage much but he knew it was there. “Was that from… me?”
She shook his arm off and glared at him. “Why the hell do you care?!”
“I- I don’t!” He shook his head and began to back her against the wall. “Why would I care about a lowly self-absorbed, two-faced, slut like you?”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Back off Justin.” He didn’t. “I said back off!” He smiled slyly and held his hands up as he moved.
“Julie will be in here in 15 minutes for-“
He leaned against the table. “I’m not getting my hair cut.”
“Johnny and Tim-“
“I don’t care.”
“But I-“
He jumped off the table he had sat on and went over to her. “What are you gonna do about it?” She sighed and turned to leave.
“Nothing.” She was almost out the door before he shouted, “And take that damn bandage off. You’re not fooling anyone!”
She walked into the bathroom and threw her clipboard on the counter. She examined her bandages and ripped them off because the blood was seeping through. She winced when she saw the cut. She still couldn’t stand the sight of blood, even if it was her own. She heard footsteps and turned to see Melinda staring at her. She shook her head and began to wash her hands. Brianna quickly covered her cut with a new bandage. Melinda left. Brianna sighed and splashed cold water on her face. Things couldn’t get any worse… She was wrong.
“What do you mean there’s no extra rooms?! There was one last night!”
Mike sighed and glared at Brianna. “I already told you. Two more people are coming in tonight.”
“For what? Why wasn’t I informed of this?”
He handed her the room key. “Johnny didn’t think it was that big of a deal. And I just found out. It’s for the new opener at the next show.”
“Fine.” She turned to walk into her room.
“Buses roll out by eight.” She figured she’d take a walk before facing Justin. The concert had gone fairly well. Justin refused to cut his hair and the guys started to call her princess and mock her as their new game making it almost impossible to get her work done. Tim noticed the hostility between them but she said they were all just playing a game. She eventually made her way back up to her room. She walked in and flopped down on the bed. The shower running told her where Justin was. She read until she saw him come out. He was wearing just a pair of sweatpants that rose just barely above his hips. His chest was still moist and his curls had little drops of water in it. Justin glared at her but didn’t say anything. She went to her bag and grabbed some clothes stealing looks at him from time to time. She took a long, hot shower and returned to see Justin, fully clothed and watching TV. She put her hair in a ponytail and put her headphones on before she hopped into bed. Justin didn’t dare look at her until her steady breathing told him she was asleep. He cocked his head and studied her face. Her normally feisty and happy features seemed suddenly tired and worn out. She almost looked too innocent to do what she did.
He went over to her bed and looked at the cut on her head. She was sleeping on her side so her cut wouldn’t be touched. He looked closely and saw a little of it uncovered. Large bruises surrounded the white bandages and medical tape. He suddenly felt like such a monster.
He heard her tossing and turning all night and knew she was having nightmares again. He watched her carefully and listened to her ragged breathing.
“Stop…” she whispered. He looked at her strangely but she was still asleep. She rolled over, her feet kicking. “Let me go! Justin… Stop…” She shook her head and slowed her moving a little. Justin stared at her in shock. He gave her nightmares…
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