Hi everyone. This is the second instalment, which I am getting ready prematurely, as I am still waiting to see if I get more responses to the first (thanks to Mr Prim for the first). I have to confess that I really enjoy writing this, as there is a lot of Justin kissing people, which is always a pleasure to imagine, and the fact that Britney is just a mate and she can be a nice friendly person, which I am sure she is anyways...
Disclaimer; You know the drill; don't know them, don't mean to imply anything about anybody mentioned and maybe you are too young to actively seek out this kind of crap, so, if you are, go and accidentally stumble upon something...I can't think of any novels featuring a main, gay character at this moment in time, but there must be a few out there. So go look. Oh, unless you're in Great Britain, where I am sure Section 28 (?) still prevents such disrupting, corrupting materials being published!! God save the Queen, the fascist regime...
Chapter Six
Easing my eyes open to the cool light of the morning, I felt the chill of the morning and the warmth of the body beside me. Some nights you want to last forever, and almost believe they will, no matter how much around you shows that morning will come and so will the consequences. I put a hand to my head, trying to physically squeeze a full memory of the activities of the previous night, but found myself lost after remembering those first, hesitant kisses that melted into more sensuous explorations of each other's mouth. I wiped my hand over my eyes, raising my body to steady myself on my elbows, and looked out at the meadow and its border of trees. It all looked so calm, so reticent, so naive to the intimacy and the unknown of the fire lit night.
I shifted my receptive gaze to the soundly sleeping form beside me and the anxiety began to penetrate my sleepy conscious. He looked so innocent and handsome in his gentle slumber; so desirable and felicitous; but my twisted synapses screamed at me those questions it would sometimes be better to ignore. I wished I could sit there forever, safe in the knowledge that he would not wake, but that I could look upon his face forever and at my leisure, and that he was, if only for a short while, mine and that I was his. But the gods have all at once a disturbed and profound sense of fate and my indecision could not remain. Justin sighed heavily and his eyes opened. He smiled.
"Good morning." He said hoarsely, "Ouch, my head." He rubbed his temple as I had, then pulled the blanket around him tighter.
"Tired?" I asked
"Mm, I'm not really a morning person."
"I'm not much of a morning after person." I ventured.
"What do you mean?" Justin asked, his eyes closed
"Don't you remember last night?" I asked. He opened his eyes, screwing his face in effort.
"Oh, yeah." He said, "Lay down again." He commanded.
"But don't you, I mean, what is going to happen?"
"I'm going back to sleep."
"No, what, is that it?" I said, "Don't you have anything to say?" I lay down again.
He shrugged sluggishly.
"I think we should just enjoy the morning before we go getting all analytical." I stared, dumbfounded at him, "So, come on, close your eyes and sleep."
Eventually, we lifted ourselves from the dubious haven of the blanket and collected up the stray glasses and bottles, folding up the blanket and returning to the fence near the road. I glanced around for the car Justin had arrived in; there was none.
"How are you getting home?" I asked. We had not yet talked about last night, as I felt Justin should be the one to raise the issue.
"Oh," He commented nervously, "I was kinda hoping you would give me a lift into the city."
"Of course, yes, that's fine." I rambled. We boarded my unimpressive metal cage and it eased onto the road towards the city. I slid a cassette into the car radio and soon Once by Pearl Jam came on.
"Ooh, this is old!" Justin exclaimed appreciatively.
"I've got a lot of Pearl Jam at the hotel. Some much newer stuff than this."
"Don't you really rate hip-hop then?" He asked. I shrugged
"I haven't really heard enough, I don't think, to really decide. I mean I've only heard the stuff that gets onto the mainstream stations." I reasoned, "Other than that it just seems to be about gloating how much money you've got, who you hate in society or how many substances you've introduced to your body."
"Ouch, that's harsh." Justin laughed, "Sure, some of the content is, hmm, questionable, maybe, but there are a lot of great hip-hop tracks."
"There probably is. I mean, I think that all music styles have bad and good things being produced; it's just a case of finding the quality." I felt more relaxed than earlier, though somewhat confused about our relationship now. We just seemed to be friends at the moment. "So, what are you doing in the city today?"
"I've got a recording later with the rest of the guys, but I'm gonna meet up with them and some friends before that. I suppose you've got your own things to do." He finished glumly.
"Well, other than work, no." I stated.
"Great, then you can come with me." He enthused, "That is, you can if you want to."
"Sure, I'd like that, but we'll go to my hotel so I can change." I agreed as I turned a corner and my mind became crowded with yet more questions.
Tumbling into my spacious hotel apartment, I felt strangely apprehensive. Justin hesitantly entered the room, muttered some compliments, and then sat on the edge of the bed.
"You don't have a cleaner in then?" He asked, looking at some of my clothes that were screwed up on the floor.
"Yeah, but only every few days." I blushed, "I'm usually very tidy. But I was rushing last night to make the date. If that makes sense."
"Ah!" Justin nodded slowly.
"Do you want a drink, or some breakfast?"
"No, I think we'll be eating a little later on," He explained "And, hell, can those boys eat."
I felt awkward, so, like all cowards, I planned my temporary escape.
"I'm gonna take a shower, so, y'know, make yourself at home." I snatched towel from a drawer.
"Thanks."
I released a deep sigh of relief as the sensitive fingers of water reaching down from the shower massaged my tired skin. The thundering of the water on the ceramic tray and the distorting plumes of steam transported me from the real world into this one guided by touch and temperature. Once most of the questions had been purged from my brain, or at least softened at the corners, I dried myself.
"Hey!" Justin said cheerily as I returned to the bedroom.
"Hey." I replied, giving up trying to hide my face in my bathrobe, "What are you doing?"
"I need a shower too," He began as he removed his long sleeved tee.
"My God," I cried, "I don't really need to see that before eating." Justin just shrugged and laughed.
"Okay." Justin mumbled, then turned to the shower. I couldn't help checking him out as he left the room.
After he had dried himself, and I had thought over nearly all my body issues through force of an extremely well muscled Justin walking into the room in a towel, he assaulted my wardrobe.
"I like your clothes," He said, pulling out a patterned, short sleeve shirt
"I think that's too small for you," I began as he pulled it onto his muscular arms. After doing up some of the buttons, it clung to him and showed off his musculature.
"Ooh, I like it." He enthused, "Can I wear it?" He pleaded.
"Sure. You make it look good." I encouraged, extracting some clothes for myself.
"Will you wear my jacket?" He said excitedly as he pulled on his jeans, "I mean, I was wondering what you'd look like in it."
"Okay," I considered his excitement, "It's a nice jacket." I finished dressing and picked up his jacket, sliding it over my shoulders.
"Hmm," Justin considered as he fussed with the leather garment, straightening the way it hung from my diminutive frame, "You'll do, I guess." He laughed, "let's get going."
"I need to know some stuff before."
Justin sighed and slumped back onto the bed
"Like what?"
I sat beside him
"Like, what the hell happened?"
"I did some thinking." He began, sitting up, "Last night, we were both very drunk. I can barely remember what we did."
"Me neither. But what about what happened at your house? It wasn't only me." I suggested
"Don't bring this up, now." He turned to look at me, "I don't want to fall out again."
"I don't want to, like, ruin my chances of friendship," I began nervously, "But you can't ignore this."
"I thought so too." He shrugged, "I mean, the past weeks I haven't recognised myself. That sounds weird, doesn't it?"
"Not really," I empathised.
"I really like being with you," Justin confessed, moving closer to me, "But I just don't know exactly what I feel. I mean, this could be something Freudian about my father."
I smiled at the joke, and ran a hand over the bristles on his head.
"Here's an idea." I said softly, "Maybe I should just be your architect."
"But..." He began to protest.
"Look. I don't want to influence you or anything. "
"Then don't." He pleaded, "But just because we've done those things, it doesn't necessarily mean they'll happen again."
"But they have happened, and it's fucked you up. You have to admit it."
"But that's not necessarily a bad thing." He argued.
"I just think maybe you need some time away from me." I reasoned, "To sort this out for yourself."
"I can get plenty of time away from you." Justin whined, "You know this is my battle with myself. It's not like you're on any side so why don't you want to be a friend? I mean, I'm gonna need friends, and I think we both know we make good friends."
"Okay, but I don't think we should have any more candle lit sleepovers." I proposed "For as long as it takes you to decide."
"Woo-hoo!" He cried, "And you can stop checking me out every time my back's turned!"
"Come on, let's go meet your friends." I laughed, blushing.
Chapter Seven
The day had become brighter, gouging deep shadows into the pavement behind us as we walked in the city. I assured Justin that no one would recognise him, disguised in my awful fashion and a pair of crappy shades. Despite his earlier, obvious mood, he had quickly lightened in manner and now chatted away to my mumbled agreements and embellishments. The streets were crowded, as was to be expected from LA, but we skirted our way around the trundling tourists, commuters and inhabitants to fall into a doorway.
"Is this it?" I asked, eyeing the splintered paint barely hanging on the cafe window frames.
"Yeah." Justin said plainly, pulling open the door and striding inside, "Nice decor, hey?"
Somewhat confused, I followed him inside, glancing at the few patrons. As I looked at each in turn, their eyes went from me to Justin, back to me, and they smiled warmly. I smiled back, still dumbfounded as to why Justin had brought us here.
"Hey Ned!" Justin hollered at the rotund, middle-aged man behind the counter.
"Justin, my boy!" The man croaked in a diluted Irish accent, baring rows of yellowish teeth in a wide smile, "Ah! You've brought a new friend to meet me!"
Ned extracted a glass from the dusty shelf behind him and began cleaning it with a glowing white cloth.
"Ned, meet Chris."
"Hello." I said meekly.
"Good God!" Ned exclaimed, reaching to shake my hand, "Somebody from the motherland!"
I chuckled, then asked,
"How long have you been living in the USA?"
"Too long," Ned laughed, "Well, since I was twenty four." A glint came in his eye, "So, I'll leave you to decide how long that is!"
"Chris is the architect for a new house I've got planned." Justin said proudly.
"Yeah, they drag me over here just for that." I mocked. Ned laughed.
"So, how is ol' Britannia keeping?"
"Much the same. Quieter." I detailed, "So what part of Ireland are you from?"
"Oh, Belfast."
"There have been quite a few changes there in the past few years." I offered, "There are lots of bars and comedy venues...so my friend says; he's a furniture designer who moved over there."
"Hmm, I don't think it'd suit my more mature needs nowadays." He joked "I'm for the more quiet life now."
"What, like serving pop stars?" I enquired.
Ned chuckled and patted Justin hard on the shoulder,
"Like serving pianists. That's much better." He glanced across the room, and following his gaze, I could see a dark upright piano seeming to hold the wall up, it's massive, angular body shining like a precious stone. It looked so strange being so obviously well cared for in that shabby room.
"I haven't heard him play yet." I murmured.
"Oh," Ned uttered, "You will, and I tell you, it'll inspire life into you."
"Now, stop Ned." Commanded Justin, his cheeks flushing red, "I think there are some people waiting for us."
"Yes, yes, of course!" Ned tittered, digging in the deep pockets of his brown trousers and bringing out a long key. "Come, come lads!"
The key found its home in the lock of a wide door at the shadowy back of the cafe. Ned ushered us into the cavity beyond, closing the door behind us. The key sounded in the lock.
"Where are we going?" I asked Justin, unconsciously tugging on his sleeve.
It appeared we were in the house behind the shop, with an old photograph of Ned as a younger man hanging on the wall in the corridor. A narrow flight of stairs was cut into the wall a small way along and Justin guided me towards it.
"Ned's got a room for me when I want privacy."
The stairs creaked their tired greetings as we ascended. A wide window was directly facing our destination giving a clear overview of the street below and pouring welcome light into that shadowy space. Justin turned to the double doors located alone at the top of those stairs. They whined on their aged hinges as they opened out before me.
"Say hello to my creche." Justin chuckled.
I stepped into the large room. It was so eclectic. The most striking thing in the room was a dominating, black grand piano in the far corner, upon which were seated, or laying, a few people, chatting away or randomly pressing the keys. An assortment of bric-a-brac hung from the ceiling ranging from bicycle wheels to pieces of chandelier. The windows had been covered with pieces of coloured voile and tissue paper, lightly painting the surfaces in the room with their spectral breath. Some more people were sitting on a rich, blue sofa and some cushions on the wooden floor, playing cards and laughing at each other.
"Hey, everybody!" Justin shouted. The collection of people turned to us.
"This is Chris."
"Hi." I croaked; my voice caught in my throat.
"Hey!" Called a girl, jumping off the sofa and running over to the two of us. "I'm Hayley. Where did Justin find you? Are you Scottish? Do you like our room? How long have you been in the States? Hold on, I should introduce you!"
"Thanks Hayley," Jason cut in, "But I'll introduce him to people. That's okay." He bent to my ear and whispered "She can be a bit much when you first meet her."
I chuckled and followed him to the sofa.
"I think you'll probably recognise some of these," Justin guessed, "That's Chris; the guy with the dark spiky hair,"
"Hey!" Chris nodded and put up a hand in greeting.
"That's Joey."
A large man with a dark spattering of facial hair and a pinkish face gave me a nod.
"This here is Simon." Justin gestured at a slim-looking, short Asian guy with a fan of cards in his hand. His roughed up black hair was randomly patched with bleached brown areas. He smiled and said hello.
"That's JC," Justin pointed over my shoulder at a guy sitting at the piano, "That's Lance," A guy laying on the floor beside the piano looking at a sheaf of paper, "Stella," A girl with shiny, dark brown hair and beautifully defined eyes, "Greg," A tall, well built black guy with a head of short, tightly curled hair, "And me!" Justin laughed.
"I don't think I've met you before!" I played with Justin and we giggled together, before realising that everyone else was eyeing me with suspicion heavy on the faces.
"So." Joey began abruptly, "You're the architect, right?"
"Yep." I chirped, "100 percent!"
"Ah! All we've been hearing from Just is how he's got a world class architect making his home."
I blushed slightly, and glanced at Justin. He blushed too.
"Well, he deserves the best," Added JC, walking across the room to us, "So let's hope he's got the best."
"You've already got the best friends possible so you're nearly there!" Joked Chris.
"What do you think of the good ol' US of A?" Asked Simon in a Manchester area accent.
"You're from Manchester?" I enquired, receiving a nod, "Great! Soon, someone will spot the invasion." I laughed, "It's okay over here, aint it?"
"Yeah."
"What do you do over here?" I asked casually,
"I work in computers."
"Oh," I voiced, "Unfortunately, I'm not too familiar with computers. I get what I need out of them, though."
"It's part of my job to make them easier to use."
"Good," I laughed, "Because I need all the help I can get."
Justin smiled at me, pleased at how well I seemed to be involving myself. I smiled back, then said loudly,
"Are we going to eat soon; It's just I've gone about sixteen hours with no food and I was kinda hoping preserving the remaining lining of my stomach."
"Oh, yeah." Lance jumped up and hurriedly picked up a small pad of paper and a printed sheet. Handing the sheet to me, he instructed, "Pick what you want."
A list of varied, lunch components filled all available space on the sheet and I was somewhat in awe of the choice. Noticing my indecision, Justin turned to me and said quietly, below the noise of the other's resumed chattering,
"Do you want me to choose something for you?" I nodded manically, biting my lower lip and raising my eyebrows. He laughed at me, then ran his finger under a very eccentric sounding cereal-based dish and said,
"I like that one best. I'll get it for both of us." He snatched the pad of paper off the table and scrawled down the details.
The rest of the room in turn noted their order and Chris jogged off out of the room with the pad.
Stella moved to sit on a cushion at my feet and pushed some stray strands of her shoulder-length hair back from her pale, oval face.
"Are you gonna come and play b-ball this evening?" She asked in a bright voice.
"Um, I don't know..." I mumbled, looking at Justin.
"Sorry, I forgot." He apologised, "It'd be great if you come."
"I can't actually play." I stalled,
"We can teach you," Stella offered, "Anyways, if you don't want to play, you can keep Greg company on the sidelines."
"Hilarious!" Greg said sarcastically.
"Can't you play?" I asked with shock, "I mean, you look quite, um, sporty."
"I don't like basketball."
"Blasphemy!" Screamed Justin, "You just are a crappy shot."
"Whatever." Greg rolled his eyes.
"So do you guys play regularly?"
"Well, not all of us here do" Stella explained "because some people don't want to make a fool of themselves!" She directed at Greg, laughing, "But we play at least once a week."
"So you're pretty good then." I questioned.
"I rock!" Justin shouted, chuckling.
"Yeah, yeah, I know!" I groaned, flashing him a smile.
"We have fun, so it doesn't matter how good we are. Unless, of course, you're Mr NBA over there." Stella laughed.
Chris returned informing us that food would follow shortly. He had brought a coffee pot along so we all searched the room for cups, sugar and retrieved milk from a handy fridge, also stacked with beer.
"I asked for tea," Chris said to me, a smile escaping on his lips, "But Ned didn't have any." Justin slapped a hand on his forehead, and then covered his face with his hands in shame.
"Thanks anyway." I said, a mock devastation on my face, "I'll just have to try this strange, American beverage." I finished with a heavy sigh.
Chris giggled and added, "How much sugar?"
Once we had eaten our fill and Justin, Lance, Joey, Chris and JC had scooted off to their recording session, I kicked back on the sofa and cushions with the remaining troop.
"I've got to get to work!" Groaned Simon as he looked at his watch.
"Me too," Empathised Hayley "Shit! My shift starts in an hour. I'm gonna have to split! See you guys later!" She shouted as she hurried out of the room.
"Okay; breathe!" Laughed Greg. "I should get going. I need to visit the folks today."
"Hey, Chris," Stella turned to me, "Are you free today? I don't know how well you know LA, but I could show you round some of the good places to go today."
"That'd be great, as long as I'm not putting you out or anything."
"It'll be fun. Hey, I can take you round some really cool little clothes stores. There are some great pieces around." She enthused.
"I suppose we'd better get a move on then!" I exclaimed, jumping up.
Stella spent the majority of the day guiding me down some dodgy looking streets, pushing me inside some interesting shops and questioning me about Britain. I had bought a few items of clothing and some good art materials from a great shop she'd shown me, after she had informed me that she was an artist, by the time we had stopped in a chirpy little coffee house. My purchases leaned into my chair around my feet as I mentally constructed some new outfits and tried remembering some of the clubs Stella had recommended to me. We talked easily, mostly about art and music, before Stella decided to move the conversation towards another shared interest.
"Justin's a great guy. Don't you think?" She said slowly, taking a drawn out sip of her coffee.
"Yeah," I agreed lightly, "Though I don't really know him that well."
"You two get on like old friends." She mused, "Or maybe more like very new friends."
"Hmm?" I raised my eyebrows in question, trying not to appear too interested in her comments.
"You know. Like how when people first know each other, they can be like, really into each other." She paused, "I mean interested in each other."
"What are you getting at?" I laughed lightly, trying to diffuse any anxiety in my voice.
"It's just good to see him happy, I suppose. Don't get me wrong; he's always been fun, but lately, he got all moody."
"Yeah." I agreed, "Well, we kinda had differences to begin with."
"Really?" Stella enquired, "He couldn't stop talking about how excited he was, getting you on his house an' all. It's surprising you didn't get on immediately."
"It was the whole Britney-pretence-thing he didn't like."
"Oh, really? I don't know if you knew, but him and Britney are good friends, and the whole relationship thing happened because they were fed up telling people they were friends. The management saw what good publicity it got them, so encourage the rumours."
"It must be a bit annoying though. I mean; they can't really see other people if they are supposed to keep this up, right?"
"To be honest, I don't think it matters." Stella leaned closer, "If you ask me, I think that those two will end up together."
"Do you? Well, they have been friends for a long time, haven't they?"
"Yeah; it's almost like a fairytale really." She laughed lightly, "But seriously. Nobody else can expect much from Justin."
"Huh?"
"I mean there's no point in trying."
"What?"
"I'm not stupid." Stella said firmly, "I see the way you look at him. Justin's a nice guy, but he's quite naive; he doesn't see the signs so he doesn't know when to tell people to, y'know, back off."
"Are you warning me off Justin?" I coughed with laughter.
"As a friend. I'm saying there's no point. And not to get the wrong idea." Stella said sympathetically.
"You don't have to worry about me and Justin." I drained some of my coffee, "I mean, sure I wouldn't say no, but we're are just friends for the moment, and that's how I'm keeping it."
"Great." Smiled Stella, "I really enjoyed today. You seem like a real good friend to have and I just didn't wanted something silly blowing up between you and Justin."
"Well, I'm glad that we are friends too. And impressed how you can speak your mind; I find that quite difficult. Justin's lucky to have you as a friend."
"I can act the big sister a little too much sometimes, but it's awful when your friends get hurt over something you could foresee." Stella clapped her hands together loudly, "So!
Are you coming to play b-ball later?"
"Hmm, no. I think I'll pass on that. I mean, no offence, but I need to do some work and I don't want to feel like I'm crowding you lot. I've already spent most of the day with you." I laughed "Not that you are bad company."
"Thanks." Stella laughed, "I'll tell the guys when I see them but they'll be disappointed."
"I'll come next time and they can be even more disappointed with my playing." I giggled.
We finished our coffee with conversation of a suitably more meaningless variety and said our goodbyes to our separate destinies.
Chapter Eight
The dim light of the evening replaced that burning light of day as the day wore on to the scratches of graphite on paper and the bleeding of ink and watercolours. I had diffused the solitary nature of my evening by playing music on my computer. The dense drums and fast guitar licks of old Placebo perfumed the stale air of my hotel room, intoxicating me sufficiently to begin a round of mumbled lyrics. At about eight o'clock I began to feel hungry after my working binge, so I began to get ready to go downstairs for food. An impatient knock on the door sounded throughout my apartment. Thinking it to be hotel staff, I called out
"It's open!"
The reluctant sing song of the hinges announced the admittance.
"I'll be there in a second!" I roared, buttoning my shirt quickly, "Ah! Here we are-." I stopped abruptly as I happened upon Justin in my presence.
Wearing a loose Orlando Magic shirt and shorts, shining with sweat and gulping breaths, I could deduct that he'd just come from playing basketball. He smiled broadly.
"Hey!"
"Justin, what are you doing here?" I asked, nearly laughing.
"Nice way to say hi!" He joked, "I, I just wondered how you were. Great music!"
I couldn't help laughing at him.
"Would you like to use my shower?" I offered, "You look as if you could use one!"
"Thanks." He sighed with relief, placing his keys on a side table and walking to the bathroom. My gaze followed him through the door, and dropped to the floor as I started laughing again.
I sat on my bed, waiting for Justin to finish, as he finally emerged, just wearing a towel around his waist. Catching my jaw in time, I asked,
"Where are your clothes?"
"I've got some clean things in the car," He said tiresomely, "But that's all the way downstairs."
"I'll go get them." I offered, "If you show me which key opens your car?"
Justin shook his head slowly and shrugged, lying down on the bed beside me.
"I'm hungry." He moaned, "I left before the guys got something to eat."
"Well, I was going to go to dinner." I stressed. "I'm not really dressed for that." Justin chuckled, "Let's get room service.
Hey! We could watch movies!"
"I didn't know that this was going to turn into a sleepover!" I exclaimed, but unable to contain a grin.
Justin grabbed the telephone and started ordering a mountain of junk food.
"Get some oranges!" I urged, "They keep my hands busy so I don't bite my nails."
Laughing at the babbling list emanating from his lips, I went to tidy my work things.
After I had convinced Justin to change into jogging pants and an old t-shirt, and I changed into similar at his insistence, the brisk knock announcing room service broke our conversation about the basketball game.
"You'd better hide in my bed," I encouraged Justin, "You don't want to be in the tabloids tomorrow."
After he had safely buried himself under the covers, I allowed the member of hotel staff to wheel a trolley in. Shocked at the amount of food Justin had ordered, I generously tipped the poor lady who had transported it up to us.
"Justin!" I exclaimed after the door was closed, "You nearly killed her! Look at all this stuff!"
"Great!" He screamed, reaching across the bed to pick up random items, beginning to push them into his mouth.
"So elegant." I rolled my eyes and snatched a hotdog from his hands.
"Hit the lights," Ordered Justin, finding the remote, "And we can get started."
Only lit by the ghoulish glow from the large TV screen, the room seemed much smaller. Justin pulled back the covers to allow me access to the bed too. Warm and comfortable in our shared cocoon, we settled to watch a premiere. The story was a bit iffy and the themes were kind of obvious but, luckily for me, it starred Ryan Philippe; therefore it was pleasing to watch. As the credits began to roll, I turned to Justin,
"So, what did you think?"
"It was okay, I guess."
"Yeah, well I liked the view." I said, heavy with innuendo.
"What, Ryan Philippe?" Justin laughed, "He's cute. Not really my type, though."
"Hell, you must be picky!" I cried, "Anyway, I didn't know that you had a type."
"Yep. I go for the blue-eyed, blonde and slim."
"Look at you! Got a type and everything!" I giggled. "That reminds me, I went into LA with Stella today."
"Yeah, she said something." Justin murmured.
"Mm, it was very interesting." I said blandly, "She warned me off of you."
"What!" Frowned Justin, "Warned you off!"
"She said that you were kind of destined to be with Britney." I softened my voice a little and asked cautiously, "Have you told anyone, except me, about how you are feeling?"
"No, but come on! It's difficult."
"You can't lie to them."
"But I'm not. I'm just not saying anything about it. Anyway, it's my thing."
"Yes, but you need your friends to talk it through." I cooed.
"I've got you." Justin said quietly, making wide eyes at me.
"But we both know that there's stuff between us. You need someone unbiased.
Someone who knows you better than me."
"Nobody knows me better than you."
"Don't be silly Just. Your friends have known you way longer."
"Yeah, but I've known me the longest, and I don't feel as if I know me at all." Justin cried. Then he laughs, "If that wasn't nonsensical."
"You know what I mean though."
"Okay." He agreed grumpily, "I guess"
"Anyway, what's the story with you and Britney?"
"Hmm, Britney and I. Well we both worked together for ages when we were younger. We kind of became friends then; I went out with her, like kids do; we kept in contact and have become, like, best friends, I guess."
"You guess?"
"Well, yeah. I've always felt real close to her. Like we can tell what the other is thinking and shit like that."
"You sound made for each other." I teased.
"Shut the fuck up!" He protested angrily, "I used to get so pissed off when people would say we were together and that crap; when all the time we were friends and that's all."
"Like, when do I get to meet the best friend then?"
"Hmm, she really wants to meet you actually. I've been telling her all about you."
"Not everything, though?" I asked gently.
"No. Not the you and me stuff." Justin frowned,
"You should tell her, y'know? If she is as close a friend as you say. She'd try to understand. At least she'd help you through it."
"I think she'd better meet you first. I mean, she can get a bit over protective sometimes." He chuckled to himself.
"I can't wait to meet her!" I said enthusiastically, "I've always wondered what she is like because the papers always said you were such a nice person and now I know different!"
Lightly punching my arm, Justin scowled.
"Hey! I think we should start watching another film before this gets ugly!" He growled.
Chapter Nine
Morning considerately roused me from sleep with its honeyed sunlight and gradual progression. I stretched and groaned slightly, not wanting to shed my second skin of warm bedclothes, so turned over to re-establish my comfort. The slow breaths of Justin filled my view and my moments of panic were extinguished by my assured memory of last night. The borrowed T shirt clung awkwardly to his skin, ghosting the shapes of the tough muscles beneath its offering of modesty. His arm rested over the covers, which, in turn, lay over my body. I considered resting there under his hold, but reluctantly peeled myself from the bed and silently occupied the bathroom.
As I tip-toed out of the bathroom with my damp towel fastened around my waist,
"Good Morning!" A shout came from the bed. Justin was sitting up with one of my sketchbooks in his hands.
"Shit!" I said breathlessly, desperately searching for my bathrobe, feeling less and less attractive each minute. "God, you scared me."
"Sorry," Justin laughed, "I was just looking at this." He waved the sketchbook at me. Noticing my discomfort, he found my bathrobe on the floor by the bed and threw it at me.
"Thanks." I hurriedly tied up my vulnerability, "There you go. The horror is over."
"I don't know why you're so body conscious." He frowned, "I mean, you look good."
"Thanks." I said quietly. "Do you have work today?"
"Yeah." Justin sighed, "Promotional stuff today."
"Do you have many days off?" I asked.
"Hmm, a few, though more when there's less to promote. Although then we seem to go off touring or something." He shrugged, "That's why most of my friends are the ones I've had a long time."
"What about me?" I asked.
"You're special. I don't usually make friends with acquaintances, if you get what I mean."
"I'm honoured." I said lightly.
"Right! I'm off for a shower!" Justin said sharply, jumping out of bed and near throwing himself into the bathroom. The sound of running water grinded through the open door shortly after and plumes of steam began to leak into my bedroom. "Oh, I called Britney!" Shouted Justin.
"Really? It's early!" I shouted back.
"She can meet you today!" The water stopped. "Do you know where the Cafe Dar is?" Justin's wet head appeared around the door.
"Hmm, yes; I think so." I said dubiously.
"It's on 23rd." Justin helped. Then disappeared back into the bathroom.
"Oh, yes, I remember."
"Good." Justin emerged with a towel around his waist, "She'll be there at about two o'clock this afternoon. For lunch." He noticed my smirk. "What?"
"You know, I may just get bored of seeing you semi-naked?"
"Shut up!" He flipped me off and grabbed a shirt.
"Not still wearing my clothes?" I asked rhetorically.
"My clothes are in my car, remember?" He grinned, "Unless you want the whole hotel getting bored of seeing me semi-naked?"
"Whatever." I said disinterestedly "I'm gonna push off; I was hoping to familiarise myself with the local architecture."
"In other words, familiarise yourself with the local clothes stores." Joked Justin.
"Well, I'm going to be forced to restock if you keep stealing my stuff!" I laughed as I left the room.
The sketchbook I had bought at the art shop Stella had shown me the previous day had quickly become half full with many rough, grey marks describing the most notable and non-descript buildings of the area. I was slightly unimpressed by what I'd seen; most of it being imported styles from the past, disgusting slices of post-modernism or dull, steel framed convenience-styles. My sketches, however, I was pleased with; they communicated my feelings perfectly. Buried within all the distaste and poor taste were some details that I had near committed my design to, and which shone out from the cartridge paper like embedded diamonds.
I soon found that time had slipped away and the honest face of my watch was glaring a quarter to two at me. I located the cafe and claimed a coffee and a table, turning my chair out slightly and balancing my sketchbook on my knees so I could play for a while with my diminishing pencil and pen. Whilst I scratched down an elderly lady and what appeared to be her daughter a short distance from me, a shadow fell over my page. I looked around.
"Hey." Said a short girl in a long coat and dark glasses. "Are you Chris?"
"Yes." I stood up, placing my sketchbook on the table surface. "You must be Britney?"
"Aha." She nodded, taking my outstretched hand, releasing a small laugh.
"I've been so looking forward to meeting you!" I said politely as she took the seat opposite mine. "Well, ever since Justin told me that you were friends."
"Me too." She smiled, "Well, probably for longer seeing as Justin's been talking about you for the past six months or so!"
I blushed.
"Yeah, I'm really flattered he wanted me to do this building so much." I said shyly.
"God. It's more like he wanted you to live in it with him." Britney shook off her coat, "Although, now I say it, if you're as perfect as he makes out, I'd want to live in it with you too."
I blushed again.
"Oh, I'm sure he's just being polite."
"Justin- polite!" Britney laughed, "He's sweet, but he can be very rude. Anyway, he only tells me the truth."
"Really?"
"Yep, 'cos he knows I would pound him if I found out that he hadn't." Britney showed a small, reflective smile, "Besides, even when he doesn't tell me something, I can see it on his face. He can't hide anything from me."
"I'll remember that."
"Have you ordered yet? No? Okay then. Hmm, what shall we have?" Britney mused as she skimmed through the menu. "You like Italian?"
We sorted out our order and chatted randomly for a while about our respective professions, moving on to talk about our families whilst we ate.
Two impossibly named coffees arrived as our dessert and as she finished cooling off the surface of her tall, glass mug, Britney said slowly,
"So, have you spent much time with Justin?"
"Well," I thought for a while, "Shit! I just remembered. I've kinda spent the past two days with him." I laughed in disbelief, "How did that happen?"
"What Just wants..." Britney trailed off. "It sounds like you two are quickly becoming buddies."
"Yeah, I suppose we are good friends." I agreed.
"Has he told you if he's, you know, hung up on anyone at the moment?"
"How do you mean?"
"It's just he's been acting all moody, then he'll turn up so happy it's unbelievable." She sipped her drink, "That's how he gets when he's having girl trouble."
"Well, he's not having girl trouble." I said firmly, adding, "As far as I know." Britney frowned.
"I don't know." She shrugged, and then laughed, "Sometimes I think I should go get my own love life as opposed to dealing with Justin's."
"Oh come on!" I said smiling, "You can't tell me they aren't lining up for a date with you."
"Oh, I hate standing in line!" Britney laughed.
"Me too." I agreed laughing, "But that's my way of explaining away my love drought. It's not because I'm not attractive!" I said with mock desperation. "But you? You shouldn't have problems."
"Its difficult finding guys who don't want Britney, but want Britney Spears; the girl, the person. You get what I mean?"
"I guess." I said quietly.
She turned silent for a while, stirring her coffee slowly, over and over. Suddenly, she stopped and looked up at me,
"Do you want to go to the premiere of, hmm, I think it's called First Step with me?" She smiled sweetly.
"Um, would that be a date?" I asked cautiously.
"Yes, that would be a date." She smiled again, "Let's just say that maybe I've found someone interested in Britney the person."
"Oh, I'm really sorry to have to tell you this Britney, I'm gay." I shrugged.
"Figures." She said levelly, "I find a guy who's genuine, cute and interesting, not to mention talented, and then he tells me he's gay." She laughed at herself.
"I'm so sorry. I thought Justin would have told you." I said sympathetically.
"Oh, no, that's okay, really. I meet a lot of gay guys." She chuckled, "In fact, I even try to date the ones who come to try and chat up Justin when we're together at parties."
"Any success?" I asked.
"Me? No. Justin? I'm not sure." She smiled.
"Can I ask you something?" I looked seriously at her, "But you must keep this to yourself."
"Sure. I can keep a secret."
"Don't get the wrong idea, but have you ever thought that Justin was gay?"
"Hmm," Britney considered, and then eyed me suspiciously, "Why? You're not sweet on him, are you?"
"Well," I began, "Obviously, I find him attractive. I mean, who wouldn't? Anyway, that's not why I asked. Can you tell me what you think? I won't say anything to him about it." I reassured her.
"For a start, he's only ever dated girls. He's never told me that he like guys. I mean; he's so straight." She looked me up and down again, adding, "But I thought you were. He could be. He could be bi."
"Thanks for telling me what you think."
"In fact, Justin could be gay." Britney leant back in her chair, frowning at the sky, elaborating, "He really could. He probably wouldn't like me telling you this," She began, leaning closer again, lower her voice to a conspiring tone, "He's still a virgin."
"Huh?" I shouted in surprise.
"Hush!" She chided me, "I mean, he's fooled around and things like that; you see he's always been quite religious. Spiritual anyway."
"That is a shock!" I said, my jaw gaping open and my eyes wide. "He seemed so practised!" I blurted out, thinking back to his kisses.
"Huh?" Britney enquired.
"I mean. He seems so confident...err...about himself. You know, about other people. I just never imagined!"
"Yeah, I know. The PR hype is true. Makes a change." Britney chuckled "Well, with that bombshell, I'm gonna have to split. Do you want to come to the premiere? It'll be fun to have you around. I think Curly will make that one too. Come on- make it a first and date a girl."
"Sure, I look forward to it. Do you want my number?"
"I'm really getting late. Has Justin got it? Great. I'll get it from him, or I'll get him to call you with the details."
"Okay, whatever's best for you," I smiled, "It was really nice meeting you."
"Ditto!" She called over her shoulder as she left me with the bill.
"Damn," I thought, looking down the bill and reaching for my wallet, "That girl can eat!"
Later on, in the evening, I was sitting watching trash television and writing to a long-distance friend when the telephone rang. I searched for the cordless, answering with a breathless,
"Hello?"
"You sound like you've been having a good time with someone!" Justin giggled on the other end.
"I lost the phone." I said flatly.
"I believe you." Justin laughed. "So, what do you think of Miss Spears?"
"Oh! She's great. I'm kind of surprised at how well we got on." I found myself rambling, "She's so normal it's weird. Then again, she's not normal, 'cos she's abnormally good hearted!"
"Hold on." Cried Justin, "It's beginning to sound like you're going all straight on my ass!"
"Sorry. She was just very surprising."
"Speaking of going all straight, she tells me that you're going to the premiere with her."
"You've already spoken to her?"
"Yeah, I called her to see what she thought of you."
"And?"
"Sounds like she's found a new best friend." Justin laughed. "In fact, she kind of did the same sermon as you. I'm glad she asked you to go to the premiere."
"Why?"
"Now I don't have to find some excuse to make it so that you can go. The guys and I are going."
"This is going to be hopelessly Hollywood, isn't it?" I asked glumly.
"Afraid so. Just dress up and enjoy the circus." Justin advised.
"Ooh, I haven't thought about what I will wear." I panicked. "Shit, I don't have anything to wear!"
"If you're that worried, we can go get something together."
"Thanks ever so much. I mean I don't want to go looking like a tramp and spoiling it for you all."
"I like your clothes!" Justin protested, "But it will be fun playing dress the architect." I laughed, adding,
"Okay, now I'm scared."
He laughed at my joke, faltering until a lengthy silence passed between us.
"You still there?" I asked warily.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah." He sounded drowsy. "Too much work today."
"What exactly were you doing?" I prompted.
"Interviews. A few were with the guys for teen magazines, one was on my own for a magazine and the other will be on TV."
"Ooh! On TV!" I said excitedly, "I'll have to watch that one!"
"No, really, you don't want to." Justin stifled a laugh, "It was really embarrassing."
"Why? Did you pants fall down or something?" I laughed, "Now I'll have to see that one!"
"Nah, it was just really cheesy. For kids." He explained. He cleared his throat, "Anyways, when do you fancy going for clothes?"
"Well, I'm flexible." I said casually.
"Saucy!" Justin tittered,
"No- I meant- whenever you want." I flushed deep red.
"I so want to go tomorrow," moaned Justin, "but we've got more recordings to do. I've got to see my manager too." He sighed, "It'll have to be Thursday. Unless. Do you want to do something tonight?"
"I really think we shouldn't make it three nights in a row." I said cautiously, "I mean, you're other friends will get jealous if you come here every night." I added, "And I'm still not too sure about spending so much time alone together."
"Okay," Justin said sadly, "I suppose I can see the point. Hey! Why don't you come over here tomorrow night? I'll invite some of the guys and we can all go to a club or something."
"I'm not sure..." I trailed off into doubts.
"There'll be lots of other people there." He negotiated. "Nothing's likely to happen with JC breathing down my neck all night. And I won't drink."
"Oh, go on then!" I said happily, "Try and convince the others to sleep over. It'll be good to spend some time with them. I didn't really get to talk to them much the other day."
"They'll stay; they always do. I'll be in LA tomorrow afternoon, so I'll stay until you're ready to go then we can catch the plane together." Justin babbled on, "Great! I'll see you tomorrow then. Will you be in your hotel at about six o'clock?"
"Ready at six." I confirmed. "Okay, see you then."
"See ya!" Justin shouted as I put the receiver back into its cradle.
Chapter Ten
Wednesday chained me to my drawing board as I forced myself to actually do some work, as I had been neglecting it recently. I mentally reminded myself of how bad it was to make friends with the clients as it usually leads to me pushing boundaries and using the relationship to extend deadlines, although I had been particularly awful this time. Maybe it had something to do with the situation, as it seemed more and more like I was doing this house for the management and not for the actual clients.
"No." I scolded myself, "This is for Justin." I quickly remembered, "And Britney. He- no they- want this house, even if it is not going to be a marital home or anything."
I impatiently began to scribble down some ideas for my own ideal of perfection, rather than any scraps of ones I had picked up on from Justin; realising that I had asked neither him nor Britney what they needed from the house. I wrote on my hand in black pen,
"Ask J what he wants."
I hastily searched for my sketchbooks and began distilling features of the local architecture into some drawings, attempting to get a feel for the beauty of the area, also consulting some of the natural landscapes I had painted since being out here; these being much more beautiful in my eyes. The time ticked on as it always did, aided by caffeine and the reassuringly random collection of music playing from my computer.
Finding myself blinking from staring at my drawing board for an unhealthy amount of time, I focused on the bland clock face that screamed five o'clock at me. Groaning and stretching my tired arms, I pushed myself off my chair and began to rush around the room, getting ready.
The sound of knocking came just as I was stuffing some clothes for tomorrow morning into my bag.
"It's open!" I shouted, picking up my jacket and swinging my bag over my shoulder.
"Hey." Justin said cheerily as he entered the room, making eyes at my flustering.
"Right. Got everything?" I asked myself in my usual ritual of getting prepared to go out. I felt my pockets for the bulge of my wallet and my mobile, and listened for the cool jangle of my keys.
"Okay?" Justin asked, slightly concerned.
"Yep. Think so." I said stiffly, my eyes looking up at my brow as I searched my brain for any anomalies in my current state of readiness. "Okay let's go." I switched suddenly to being upbeat and strode out of the door. Justin laughed at me as I hastily locked my door.
The waiting limousine swept us quickly along to the airport where we boarded the small plane and waited joyfully to be rushed towards the frivolities and excitement of the evening. After a short flight, and a really short limousine ride, we arrived at Justin's house at about seven o'clock. He eagerly encouraged me inside, taking my bag and arranging the night's transport with the limousine chauffeur. I skipped up to the house, unable to ignore the overwhelming amount of noise leaking through the front door; a mixture of high screams of laughter, loud music and rumbles of chatting. I let myself in as Justin began to catch up with me.
"Hi!" Squealed Britney as I breached the threshold.
"I didn't know that you were going to be here!" I said merrily, taking her extended hands in mine, consequently finding myself being pulled into a makeshift waltz. She spun me around a while, and then let go as she noticed Justin at the door.
"Hey baby!" She squealed again.
"How did you get here?" He asked in a stammered laugh of happy surprise.
"Oh! I got some time off, didn't I?" She hugged him, "I couldn't miss your little party, could I?" I left the two of them to explore the rest of the room.
I first noticed Joey and Chris sitting on a sofa through a pair of double doors in the room from which the noise seemed to be bursting from. I smiled as I walked over to them and sat near to them on a chair.
"Hey there." I raised my voice over the heavy music.
"Hi!" They responded in turn. "You looking forward to our little night out?"
Joey asked loudly.
"Sure am. I haven't been out to any clubs or anything since I've been here.
Well except for one time with Justin."
"Oh, really? I can't remember him mentioning it." Chris said vaguely.
"Well, it was business." I shrugged it off. "There are quite a few people here." I commented, casting my eyes over the busy room. There were some people I didn't recognise.
"Yeah, most of us have brought a friend." Chris explained, "As Justin did."
"Oh, who?" I puzzled.
"Duh?" Joey slapped his forehead with his hand.
"Hmm? Oh, me!" I laughed.
Britney and Justin entered the room, walking over to a table that had been pushed and one of the walls and cluttered with various items of food and drink. Justin looked around, smiled when he found me, and then returned to chatting with Britney. Stella approached with a tall, brown skinned man in tow, with a beanie hat on and wearing grungy clothes.
"Hi Chris!" She said vibrantly.
"Hey." Chris and me both answered, and then laughed at each other.
"Um, Chris the architect; this is Kulvinder the musician."
"Hi." I said, standing up to shake his hand. The others lightly laughed at me. "Err, so are you two together?"
"Aha." Kulvinder affirmed, "It's been a few months."
"Felt like years." Stella joked.
"What do you play then? As you're a musician."
"Classical violin and I DJ too." Kulvinder replied. "You're doing Justin and Brit's house, aren't you?"
"Yeah." I said dully, "It's a strange arrangement."
"Are you going to get something to drink?" Stella asked pointedly, "'Cos I could sure do with a refill."
"Oh, right, I'll come with you." I verified.
We scooted off to the table together.
"What do you think of him?" Stella asked, glancing back at Kulvinder.
"I hardly know him." I laughed, "But, first impressions? He seems okay."
"God, I bet you're fussy." She chuckled, "Then again, you'd consider Justin fit for a partner."
"Shut up!" I hissed, laughing slightly, "I don't want him to hear that!"
"Why? He knows you're gay, doesn't he?"
"Yeah," I smirked, "I just don't want him getting any ideas..."
Stella burst out laughing and then leant to my ear and said quietly,
"You know Britney's been 'outing' you all evening."
"Oh, right." I said, not sure what to feel. "Everyone's okay about it, aren't they?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Stella shrugged, "You know how it is- some people already kinda guessed, other's had no idea and still don't really believe it. But there's no animosity as far as I know."
"I'll watch for anyone getting all nervous when I'm around." I laughed mischievously. "Is everyone coming out tonight?" I asked worriedly.
"Oh no." Stella laughed, "I know what you were thinking; it'd be like a convoy! Some of us are going home before you all go. We just came for the free drink!" She laughed, raiding the Bacardi.
"You're not coming?" I couldn't help sounding unhappy.
"Kulv and I are hoping to catch a show later on." She caught an escaped drop of rum beginning to run down the side of the bottle and licked it off her finger, "Being all cultured, y'know."
I laughed and began to pour a shot of vodka, topping up the glass with orange juice. I felt a jab under my ribs and I gasped in shock.
"Ouch!"
"Ha-ha-ha!" Justin laughed manically, "Scared you, didn't I?"
"No, just injured me." I said dryly as I rubbed my side.
Justin pulled my glass to his face and smelt it.
"Drinking now, are we?" He raised his eyebrows with a smile.
"I can take it." I stressed.
"Yeah right!" Justin laughed, "No better then me anyway." He swirled his finger in my glass, then sucked it dry.
"Hey! I don't know where you're hands have been!" I pushed the glass at him, retrieving another for a new drink.
"Tee-hee!" Justin chuckled, taking a mouthful of the drink after saying, "Wanna share?", pointing to his full mouth.
"No thanks." I made eyes at him, filling another glass. "You've got a lot of friends tonight." I motioned around the room. Justin swallowed.
"I know! It's great isn't it!", he sipped the drink again, "Some of these are kind of acquaintances though."
"Yeah, I heard that most people brought a guest." I intoned, "Apparently I am yours."
"Oh." Justin frowned, "I guess that the others don't know you well enough to make you part of the gang." He smiled, "But that's all gonna change tonight!"
I laughed, taking a gulp of fragrant vodka.
"Do you wanna go sit down?" Justin asked, glancing towards some chairs in the corner. "I've got something to tell you."
"Alright." I agreed, moving to the chairs.
"I told Britney today." He said slowly.
"Oh, right." I nodded, "How did she take it?"
"She took it well."
"What exactly did you tell her?"
"Um, I didn't really want to drag you into this too much."
"Okay." I encouraged.
"I told her that I had felt some things for you which I had never felt before, about anyone else."
I blushed lightly and couldn't help smiling.
"But, you didn't tell her about anything that has actually happened?" I stressed.
"No. I said that I've been close to kissing you a few times. That's all."
"What did she say?"
"She said that maybe I was just kinda curious." He smiled, "Or that maybe we were just really good friends and I didn't know how to take it." He flushed red, "You see, 'cos I went out with Britney before we realised that we were just really good friends."
I smiled comfortingly.
"She seems to think you aren't then."
"Dunno. She also said that she didn't really care if I was or wasn't."
"Did she offer any ways of finding out for certain?"
"Britney likes to think we all know exactly what we feel, so she just said that if I fell in love with someone; I should just go for it, no matter who it is."
"That's really sweet." I reflected, "I should take that advice too."
"She has a habit for saying things that make sense." Justin said gently.
"I suppose we had better go soon." I checked my watch and looked up to Justin's grateful smile.
The garish lights of the dark interior of the club and the heady scent of alcohol, sweat and vile smoke, quickly polluted my blood, causing me to unconsciously move my body slightly to the beat of the music. There was a sizeable group of us. It included the various voices of; Chris, Joey, JC, Justin, Hayley, Britney, Greg and a few other people linked to Chris, Hayley and Greg. Britney laid an arm over my shoulders as we penetrated the main body of the club, fighting to get to the bar for support. Hayley, Chris and their guests went to find a seat, followed by JC. Greg and his companion, a lithe girl with shocking red, cropped hair said their goodbyes and disappeared into the throng of dancers. Joey, myself, Justin and Britney remained at the bar with instructions on drinks whirring through our heads. Once we had been served, Joey scooped up the drinks for those sitting down and carried them to the table.
"Woo!" Screamed Britney over the noise of the music, "I want to dance!" She downed her fruit juice.
"We'd better do as the lady says." Justin laughed to me, throwing back his shooter as making a face of mild disgust as it assaulted his taste buds. I copied his action and made a similar face, feeling the vapours of the strong mix of alcohol suffocate my senses of taste and smell.
"Come on!" Shouted Britney.
The music was a bit too poppy for my personal tastes, although I soon found myself infected with the beat and moving myself to the melodies. I felt a bit self conscious at first, dancing with two people who are professionals in that area, but as I began to notice that they weren't really bothered about showing off I started to relax and allow my skeleton to mould to the journey that the music supplied me with. After we had been dancing for about half an hour, Justin seemed to change his dancing style and appeared to be getting really into it; his body twisted forcefully and sensuously, creasing up his shirt and exposing slivers of his flesh. I had to concentrate to stop myself just standing and staring. His eyes were closed as he became lost in his own world of movement, opening only to locate Britney. He moved towards her and they started a great series of very improvised, but amazingly well coordinated, dance moves. It was a great show, even if I did feel a bit excluded. I left them to their own devices, searching for the others before ordering a longer drink and settling into a seat.
When JC and me were left on the table, Britney and Justin appeared, holding hands as he pulled he from the dance floor, both of them laughing with exhaustion.
"Phew!" Justin wiped a hand across his forehead, "Where've you been?"
"Oh, I fancied another drink." I excused, hiding my small jealousy.
"Jeez, that was fun!" Laughed Britney, her arm curling around Justin's waist. Catching my eye she smiled and released him. "Hey Just, why don't you go and get another drink.
Chris, didn't you say that you wanted one?"
"Sure." Justin beamed at me, "Come on, let's go harass the bar staff."
I slid out from around the table and joined Justin at the bar. It was quite busy and it seemed that we wouldn't get any service for some time.
"You two make perfect dancing partners." I said with an unintended coldness.
"We're so used to dancing with each other, that's all." Justin smiled, "I was disappointed when you disappeared."
"Oh, I felt tired." I stifled any immediate responses running across my mind.
"Can I help you?" A smartly dressed girl shouted from behind the bar.
"Yeah, sure." Justin said vaguely, not noticing when her eyes widened slightly and she gasped a little as she recognised him, "Could we have two rounds of tequila slammers each please?"
"S-sure." She stammered, rushing back to whisper to her colleagues and hurriedly sort out our drinks.
"I didn't know that you liked to do tequila?" I said surprised.
"A boy's gotta have some fun once in a while." He laughed. Four small shot glasses, four slices of lime and a saltshaker were presented to us by the breathless girl.
"Thanks." Justin flashed her a smile and handed over the money. He turned to me, "After five?"
Both of us sprinkled salt the backs of our hands, gripped a glass tightly in the free hand and counted to five. The rush of the ritual- the licking of the salt, the downing of the drink and the hasty sucking of the lime- didn't allow the flavour of the tequila to register initially. Then, as we both looked at each other in expectation with green wedges of lime clamped between our lips, our eyes narrowed and our brows creased as the intensity of the drink hit us. Justin spit out his lime onto the bar surface, quickly reiterated by me, and then pulled me into a hug, patting me on the back.
"Phew! That was good!" He screeched into my ear. He let go of me, gaily calling, "Time for another."
Laughing and grimacing at the same time, I prepared for a repetition of the overload.
After our seventh, which was much easier than the first, JC and Britney approached the bar.
"Hey honey!" Justin said in a mock sexy voice to Britney, throwing his arm over her shoulder.
"Oh God, Justin!" JC frowned at his friend. "You're not drunk are you?"
"I'm not drunk." Justin protested loudly, "I was just having a civilised drink with my friend here." He waved a wobbly hand in my direction. I raised a hand in salutation.
"Yeah! We're fine." I found myself slurring. I frowned at my state, and then started laughing at myself. Justin joined me.
"Hmm," Britney mused, "You reckon we should take these two home?" She asked JC, ignoring Justin and I.
"Sounds a good idea." JC judged, placing a hand firmly on Justin's shoulder to stop him swaying. "I'll deal with Just, you can take Chris."
"Hey, we're going home together!" Britney laughed lightly, putting her arm around my shoulders, responding to the damning stare given to her by JC by admitting, "Okay, so I've had a little too."
"JC hasn't?" Justin chuckled, "I'm sure we can change that..." He trailed off, brushing fugitive locks of JC's hair away from his face.
"Okay. NOW is the time to leave." JC said with authority.
In a near military style operation, we were ushered out of the club without anyone taking any notice of our condition. The limousine pulled up out from the flow of traffic as we reached the exit and I felt myself being herded towards its increasingly familiar interior. The chauffeur, who had vacated the front seat to open the door for our entangled bodies, threw me a moody look that I barely processed and showed his concern in his Justin's direction. I felt like the "bad influence". In a dreamy state, I fell into the warmth of the leather seats, drowsily shifting my body into a sitting position. Justin was thrown in after me and placed himself beside me. He looked at me, giggled, and then leant his head on my shoulder. Britney and JC embarked, throwing us condemning glances, then began to chat about something or other. I wasn't too concerned with their conversation. The limousine rumbled softly as it moved and I lifted a hand up to attempt stroking Justin's hair, even though I kept catching his ear with my knuckles.
"Mm," Justin moaned as he buried his head into my neck. He lifted his head slightly, so as to talk, whispering, "Did you enjoy tonight?"
"Very much." I matched his whisper.
"Sorry I got you drunk." He apologised in a very unapologetic voice.
"Sounds more like you wanted me drunk." I teased.
"Well actually..." Justin murmured, sliding his hand into my lap.
"No, no don't." I groaned, brushing his hand off me.
"Aw," He whined softly, "I want to play." He giggled into my shoulder.
"What about them?" I looked through half-lidded eyes at our company.
"They can play with each other!" He laughed again. I couldn't help chuckling, although I was feeling increasingly tired. "I suppose I can wait." He sulked.
I let my eyes close completely, enjoying the warmth of his breath and the touch of his skin on my neck, soon falling asleep.
"Huh?" I was shaken awake. Through my heavy eyes I noticed that JC was leaning in to the car and looking at me intently.
"Come on," He said tiresomely, "Let's get you inside."
Grudgingly, I relinquished the comfort of the car for the cool of the night air and the insistent grip of JC's hand on my arm. The four of us hurried to the house then Justin and myself were marched up the stairs to the bedrooms.
"Where are we going to put them?" Britney asked JC.
"I feel like leaving them out in the hall." JC grumbled. "Well, Justin can go in his room, obviously, and we can throw Chris in the next room."
Justin started to complain about the service as Britney heaved him through a door, kicking it open with one of her needle like heels and holding Justin under his armpits from behind as he started refusing to walk.
"Um, JC? A little help?" She whimpered as Justin stumbled and stood on her foot.
"Hold on." Justin responded, opening a nearby door and showing me inside. I wandered over to the bed and fell onto the warm coverlet. The door shut behind me.
Strangely stuck between a state of tiredness and stubborn alertness, I shifted myself on the bed surface and began to take my clothes off. Reaching my underwear, I just peeled off my socks and decided to stop there, too lazy to secure myself under the bedclothes and just laying over them, wrinkling them up underneath my body. As I daydreamed, the door clicked open, and then closed loudly, causing a gasp and a hushed curse from my visitor. I remained in my position, too drunk to be worried about my guest seeing me half naked as I would usually. Beside me I could feel the mattress depress and warm skin brush against my upper arm. Realising that someone sharing my bed qualified as an event worth investigating, I turned and lifted my head.
Justin smiled at me, before, wriggling himself closer and heaving an arm over me.
"What are you doing?" I moaned. "Are you naked?"
"You said I could play." Justin explained, "And Britney kept coming and talking at me."
"She'll notice you've gone."
"So?" He shrugged, "I kept opening the wrong doors. I'm glad I found you." He delicately kissed my forehead. "Are you cold? I think we should get warm."
Jumping off the bed and encouraging me to do the same, he lifted the covers and slipped himself into the cavity, making space for me to follow. I found myself moving closer to him and our bodies pressed together. I was relieved to find that he was wearing boxers. He wrapped his arms around my back and my hand fell down his body to rest on the curve of his buttock. My eyes closed and half-dreaming, I began to stroke the fabric, relishing its softness and its firmness: or rather the firmness of Justin. He pushed himself closer to me and I could feel the warm, moist vapour of his breath on my face. I fell gradually to sleep.
Ooh, ending on another high! What awful things could happen to ruin their chances of happiness? I am such a nice person, wanting to create all these problems for our two heroes. Oh well, better get back to kicking small children in the street, tripping up old age pensioners and stealing the eggs out of birds' nests.
Email me and make me do some damn work!! If you are a fan of t'other story, Something Like Justin, please email me some ideas and encouragement 'cause I have writer's block at the moment.
Oh, and if you are really rich and could keep me in satin sheets for the rest of my life, wouldn't mind if I kept running away to stay in dingy motels for a night at a time, and eventually left will half your fortune, please tell me, 'cause I need a way out of the rat race. Thanks!!
Christoph, tastes like honey, smells like money, looks like a car crash.