(~) Part 31 (~)
Justin shot up in bed from a position of relaxation to a stiff posture so intensely rigid that it made his head spin. His eyes began scanning the pages of the diary quickly, but thoroughly.
“That no-good, lying, back-stabbing piece of...” Justin hissed as he read the increasingly disturbing entries. He began seeing red as phrases like ‘...told me he’d like to see me naked...’, ‘...pinched my butt...’, ‘...violently kissed me...’, and ‘...stuck his hand down the front of my pants while Caroline was in the bathroom...’ filled his head. He was ready to kill that Aaron right then and there when he read one particular entry. It was rather short, but it DEFINITELY got its point across.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Diary~
Well, I finally found my voice today after the daily harassing. I told him to stop and that if he didn’t I would tell on him - that I’d report him to the police. All he said was, “Say anything...and you die. I WILL hurt you, so don’t tempt me. But it won’t be just you - I’ll find that ‘faggot boyfriend’ of yours and ‘rip that pretty-boy hair off his head and stick it up his ass...’” I’m so scared...someone PLEASE help me...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He didn’t think it could get ANY worse...until he reached the final entry - the one describing the attempted rape. He stood up as he read it...and he read it a good two dozen times. He looked up at the date and realized it was written the day that he had come across the two of them in the park - the day of the huge fight - the last time he’d spoken to her in weeks. She had ‘claimed’ that he was simply trying to comfort her...he probably MADE her say that!
Astonishment turned to horror; horror turned to anger; anger turned to fury; and fury turned to RAGE. He threw the book across the room with a snarl and punched his fist firmly into the bedroom wall. He didn’t break his hand, luckily, but his ring cut into his finger leaving a trail of crimson blood trickling down his hand - he didn’t even notice until the next day.
He paced back and forth in front of his bed, occasionally muttering some choice words and throwing things, but more so concerned with trying to come up with a way to fix this bastard. He thought about just going to Jen and having her file a report at the police station. That was too simple, though, and they’d probably never believe her. The evidence just wasn’t there. He then considered just finding him and beating the ever-living snot out of him - but then he’d probably still go after her when he wasn’t around. He needed something that would scare the piss out of him and make him TRULY terrified to be in the same TIME-ZONE as Justin Randall Timberlake.
He spent the next hour or so trying to come up with a plan, until, all of the sudden, an idea hit him. He sat down and began formulating the design of his plan.
Then he continued to revise, rearrange, and polish the plan until it was fool-proof. He wasn’t going to go at it alone, though - he needed the support of ALL ten of the original group (with the substitution of Megan, of course). This meant he’d have to actually break down and ask for the help of Joey and JC. That was going to be tough...but after he thought about how Joey would feel knowing that his ex was being treated like she was, he was almost sure he’d have their backing. He’d also have to wait to implement his plan for another week or so - when Caroline finally returned. She was just as much a part of this mess as Jen, even though she was quite clueless about it. Her ‘oh-so-loving’ boyfriend was sneaking around behind her back, desperately hurting one of her best friends...HELL YEAH, she was involved.
Feeling a little more at ease, Justin settled back in bed. He couldn’t sleep, though, and he spent the next three hours STILL revising his plan until he finally fell asleep around 3:00 a.m. from exhaustion.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(~) Part 32 (~)
Amy and Lance still hadn’t told anyone about the pregnancy. They wanted to wait a little longer, just to make sure everything was all right. She was now only about eight weeks, but her usually flat stomach had begun to swell just the slightest bit. Also, the fun of morning sickness had begun with a vengeance. Lance spent most of his mornings rubbing Amy’s heaving back and holding her long hair out of the way as she lost breakfast and sometimes even lunch into the toilet. He didn’t care one bit, though. This was love to him, and he enjoyed every moment of the gentle support he was able to give her.
After a retching session, she would always look up to him with pleading eyes. “Lance, what did I do to deserve you?” She’d asked him on more than one occasion.
His reply was always simple and always the same. “You opened your heart and graciously let me in...I’M the lucky one.” This was usually followed by a kiss on her sweaty forehead, or a brief embrace. Then he would hand her a cup of mouthwash and lead her back to the couch where she spent most of her mornings and early afternoons.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A couple that was having NO problems whatsoever was Megan and Chris. They STILL spent nearly every waking moment with each other...the two were joined at the hip. Not only did they have their zany, off the wall moments, they also had so many deep conversations that they felt as if they’d known each other for years. There was so much more to their relationship than just going into Senior Citizen’s homes and randomly yelling ‘BINGO’ during one of their games, going skinny-dipping in a 65° pool, and walking down the streets of Somerville with paper bags on their heads and eye-holes cut out.
One major even happened to the couple, though...and it was something that Megan would remember for all time. This was the night the best four-letter word a girl could ever hear came out of the mouth of Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick.
The two had been having a heated mini-marshmallow fight and plastic fork duel when Chris suddenly stopped after getting one marshmallow right down the front of her shirt. After her giggles subsided, she realized how serious he had become. “Chris, Sweetie? What are you thinking?” She reached out and gently touched his face.
“I’m scared to say this after the pain of losing Maureen...but...I’m thinking about how...how much...I...l-love you, Megan. I LOVE you.” He hung his head. That word was so difficult for him to say...but she knew he meant it.
A few tears came to Megan’s eyes. “I...I love you, too, Chris.” She was surprised, because he had told her in the beginning of their relationship that he would probably not love again for a VERY long time. “Baby...does this mean that you’re over Maureen?”
He sighed heavily. “Yeah...it does. I’ve been doing a LOT of thinking. You are just TOO wonderful. I lost Maureen...I will NOT lose you. I was terrified to give away my heart again, but I can’t think of any other person I’d rather give it to...” He trailed off as he blushed slightly. Megan wasted no time. She moved in for a gentle kiss that was enough to make them forget ANY questions that were ever in their minds.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
One thing that the group was looking forward to was Caroline’s return. She had called a few times and given only the best of news. They were all excited to hear oodles of great stories and find out about her experiences with the great writers of Boston. Amy, Lance, Kristin, and Jen all went to the bus depot to pick her up.
They sat around for about an hour as they awaited her arrival. Finally, a huge Greyhound pulled up and the four stood to scan the throng of people emerging.
They were all standing on their tiptoes, searching the faces, when a small voice came from in front of them.
“H-hello? It’s me, Guys...” All of their heads shot forward and looked to see Caroline sportin’ a new ‘do in front of them.
“Omigod, Caroline! You colored your hair...and you cut it! It’s so cute!!!” Jen squealed.
“I didn’t even recognize you...” Lance added with a smile. “Lookin’ good!”
They all chatted briefly as they mused over her new style. He once shoulder-length brown hair now was a stylish bob and had lighter highlights and all-over reddish/strawberry-blond hue to it. She had obviously gone shopping, too, because she was sporting a chic long skirt and a sexy mock tee and she was hauling a good half-dozen shopping bags with names like ‘Banana Republic’, ‘Abercrombie & Fitch’ and ‘Calvin Klein’ on them. In the minds of the four friends that had met her at the bust depot: ‘She looks HOT!’
“So...has anyone seen Aaron? He couldn’t come or something?” She asked excitedly.
“Uh...I called him at his house AND at your house and left messages at both places, but he never called me back. So, I’m really not sure. Sorry...I’m sure he’ll be at your house when drop you off!” Amy tried to sound cheery. She had attempted to reach him MANY times, but he never responded at all - she didn’t feel like breaking that kind of news to her, though.
“OK! No prob!” She responded cheerfully as she took Kristin’s outstretched arm and the five took off towards Lance’s 4-Runner to head back to Caroline’s apartment. They never noticed a feeble and once-again hung-over Joey, standing there in the shadow of the billboard on the other side of the street. He gaped at the beautiful site in front of him as a million emotions rushed through him.
“She’s...she’s amazing...I NEED her back.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(~) Part 33 (~)
Caroline walked up to her door with a spring in her step. She had thought about Aaron so often and she was delighted to finally get to see him after a LONG six weeks. His car was in the driveway, so he should be there. She was carrying a lot and getting out her key would have been difficult. So, she bent down and rung the doorbell with her nose and waited...and waited...and waited. She had heard the bell ring, so she knew that IF he was inside, he should have heard it. She waited for another few moments.
“AARON! You in there?!? PLEASE! I need HELP!” She bent down and rang the doorbell again. “AARON!!!”
With a huge sigh, she finally gave up and put down (more like dropped) her packages and luggage on her front stoop. She rummaged around in her purse until she found her key and opened the door. After much struggle, she gathered up her gear once more and stumbled inside.
“Oh, you need some help with that?”
Caroline’s head shot up at the sound of a male’s voice. There in front of her was Aaron, sprawled out on the couch, with an open half-gallon of ice cream resting on his chest. “AARON?!? Wha...didn’t you...?” She sputtered. “NO, I’ve got it...” She said harshly. “Jesus, where were you a few minutes ago? Didn’t you HEAR me?!?”
“Sorry...I was in the kitchen getting this stuff.” He gave her a chocolaty smile and raised the spoon to show what he meant.
“Uh, OK...” She responded curtly. “Nice to see you, too...” She mumbled as she made her way up her stairs.
“I missed ya!” He said, garbled - obviously with more ice cream in his mouth.
When she finally reached her room, she threw her crap down on the floor and flopped onto her bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was a few days later and Justin decided that it was time to talk to Jen and then to Caroline. He hadn’t had ONE incident with Adrienne since the ‘payback’, so it had obviously done the trick. After making sure he had Jen’s diary and retrieving THE tape from Amy, he nervously made his way towards her dorm.
When he finally reached her room, he heard her talking to someone inside. The voice sounded...like Caroline. ‘Perfect...now I just have to get Jen alone first and not hating me anymore, and then I can tell them both the plan.’ He hesitated, but then decided to just go for it. He knocked slowly.
The door opened quickly, but Jen’s huge smile faded when she saw who it was. “Wh...what do you want, Justin?” She didn’t even look him in the eyes - it was just too painful.
“I need to talk to you, Jen. Caroline, too...but I need to talk to you first - alone, please...” Caroline got the hint and stood up.
“I’ll go get something to drink and wait in the lobby. Call for me when you need me...” She couldn’t imagine WHAT Justin wanted with her, but she figured it was a good sign that he wanted to talk to Jen.
Once she left, he started off slowly. “Jen...we gotta stop doing this confusion ‘slash’ misunderstanding stuff with each other...”
“What are you talking about, Justin?” She said with a sarcastic, biting edge.
“This...” He held up the small recorder.
“What?!? You make no sense...” She turned around and faced the wall. Justin said no more, but pressed the play button. As the words of Adrienne filled her ears, she became more and more shocked and closer and closer to tears. ‘He WASN’T lying to me!’ She thought. She slowly turned around.
“So...that time in the milk store...?”
“One of the MANY ‘attacks’...” He said simply.
She couldn’t believe it. “Justin...I’m SO sorr...”
He silenced her with his finger and then moved closer to her. It was SO wonderful to feel his gentle warmth again and smell his beautiful smell.
“Jen...there’s more. I...I know...” He reached to his back pocket and produced her diary.
Her slight smile turned to horror. “How’d you get that?!? Oh, I don’t even care. But...no, NO, NO!!!! Justin, you CAN’T know! You CAN’T! Aaron’s gonna kill you...he’s gonna...kill...me...NO...” She got herself so worked up that he had to restrain her flailing arms with a huge embrace. She sobbed hysterically into his shoulder.
“Shh...Jen, NO one is going to hurt you - and I worry about myself. No one’s gonna hurt anyone. I’m here, Baby...I’m back forever, now.” He rubbed her heaving back and rocked her gently. “I’m here...”
She continued to cry out emotionally, “I’m so scared...I’m so scared...I need you, Justin. I’m...so...scared...” She trailed off as she attempted to bury herself SO much into Justin’s embrace that she was practically INSIDE him. He just held onto her even tighter.
“Jen - you don’t have to be scared ANY more. He will never bother you again. I have a plan to fix him once and for all. I don’t know WHERE we’re gonna pull this off, but we’re gonna do this.”
This somewhat got Jen’s attention. “Wh-what are you talking about?” She asked as she rubbed her crimson eyes and hiccupped a few times.
“Let me call Caroline in...” He walked down the hallway and brought her back to Jen’s room.
She looked at Jen’s harried appearance with concern. “You...” She began, but then Justin stopped her abruptly.
“Caroline, Aaron’s tried to rape Jen...” Caroline’s expression froze and horror crept over her face.
“Wha...?!?” She thought he’d heard him wrong.
Jen attempted to speak. “He’s, uh, been going after me ever since you two got together. It was just slow at first...touching, an occasional forced kiss...but then he tried to rape me in the park about two months ago. That’s where the whole Justin confusion came in. That was all a misunderstanding...THIS isn’t.”
Justin and Jen continued to explain the situation to Caroline.
Finally, after a good five minutes of stunned silence, she spoke up. “It all makes sense, now. All his stories always seemed to have little loop-holes in them - they were all lies! They never seemed quite right...Oh, GOD! I feel so used...Jen, I’m so sorry!” She felt guilty FOR him, even though that bastard was going to be out of her life the second she left Jen’s dorm.
“Well, YOU’RE not to blame. We’re gonna make HIM pay...BIG-TIME.” Justin smiled evilly and took both of their hands as he laid out the plan in front of them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Woah...J...that’s good. He’s gonna be scared out of his MIND!” Jen was really getting into the plan. “But where are we gonna do it?”
Caroline spoke up. “Well, you know my family has that cabin up in the mountains...we could do it there. I’ve been talking to Amy and Kristin and we all think that it’s a good idea that you guys get together and, uh, talk...ya know, maybe get that small little group called ‘NSYNC back together?!? SO, that would be a perfect way to get everyone together and after we get rid of the SNAKE, we’ll talk...and it’ll be all good!” She produced a satisfied grin.
“That couldn’t be ANY more perfect, Caroline. This BASTARD’S going DOWN...‘Timberlake style’...” He laughed at his corniness as the two girls curled their lips into mischievous smiles.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(~) Part 34 (~)
It was nearing Christmas...there was only a little over a week left. The group had made plans to spend the two days prior to Christmas Eve day at Caroline’s cabin to ‘get the job done’ - as they so lovingly named their scheme. Justin had talked (briefly, but he DID talk) to Joey and JC and explained the situation. They were willing to take a part of the plan in a heartbeat like he figured. Also, now that Justin and Jen were all wrinkled out and back together, the entire group (though still divided) was a lot happier.
Caroline had attempted to act normally towards Aaron after the conversation, and she actually did a good job hiding her blazing hatred. She DEFINITELY avoided his touch, though, at all costs.
On the other hand, Justin and Jen were NEVER without each other’s touch. He didn’t let her go ANYwhere alone, for fear of a Aaron attack. One time, the two actually DID see him, but as soon as Aaron realized that Justin was with her, he glared at him, but then retreated.
All that was left at this point, was two more make-ups to have a perfect track record. There was NO problems between Megan and Chris. They were even closer now, if that’s at all possible. Amy and Lance held onto each other’s support with everything they had in them, and Jen and Justin were JUST fine...as everyone could DEFINITELY see. Now, it was Joey’s and Kristin’s/JC’s turn to make a move. Joey knew obviously of the problems with Aaron, and he was more than ready to ‘comfort’ Caroline. It was just a matter of time and guts. Both Kristin and JC were just TOO stubborn to talk to each other, though. They knew it was going to be somewhat freaky-weird even if they DID get back together. Just like with Joey, though, one of them was just going to have to break down and say something. Even Michelle and HER new boyfriend were doing well. She was so glad she broke it off with JC. While it was a dream come true dating one of the hottest and most famous guys on the PLANET, this was just as good, if not better, and she enjoyed every new moment she spent with her love.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Baby, you up yet?” Amy stood over Lance and touched his face gently. She had already been to her early morning doctor’s appointment alone. She was supposed to take him with her, but she couldn’t bring herself to wake him up. He had been sleeping so peacefully, and he looked just too beautiful to stir. She had felt badly, though, because it was her fault he had been up so late. She had been spotting that day and she was terrified to know why. It’s not TOO uncommon in early pregnancy, but she was still scared out of her mind. It didn’t subside until about 4:00 that morning, and she had spent most of the time leading up to that point crying or sitting in the bathroom. Of course, Lance was there every step of the way. He sat next to her and held her hand or simply held HER the entire time. Once she calmed down and relaxed enough to cuddle up next to him in bed, he had nearly passed out into sleep.
He stirred gently and his eyes fluttered open. “Morning, Ames. How long till we have to leave?” He asked.
“Well, I already went, Hun. I couldn’t wake you up. You were just way too peaceful...it was all my fault you were so tired anyway. I felt badly. It’s OK, though. I was fine by myself, I guess...” She smiled at him sweetly, but he saw through her.
“Amy, what’s wrong...is there something wrong with the baby?” He shot up in bed, concerned. He tried to get over to her but when he tried to untangle himself from the sheets, he got caught in them and face-planted forward, sprawled out on the floor - memories of that first morning when he did exactly the same thing when Megan came to the door. She couldn’t help but giggle at the groggy, boxer-only wearing boy, struggling heartily to fight the viscous wrath of those terrifying, pink floral sheets.
“Shut-up!” He said with a slightly hurt expression - but then he burst out laughing. “I guess I looked pretty dumb, huh?”
Amy continued giggling. “Yeah...you seem to have a habit of doing that!”
“All right, all right. Enough of that. Now...WHAT were you saying? Is there something wrong? How’s the baby?” As much as the two of them hadn’t wanted the baby in the beginning, at this point, it was already such a part of them that all their questions had subsided. Anything wrong would be devastating to both of them.
She looked at him with a somewhat forced smile. “Nothing’s wrong at all, Lance. The doctor said everything’s lookin’ good! I just have to try to keep a little more food down. I’m not gaining enough weight. He gave me pre-natal vitamins to take...” She produced some horse-pills a good inch long.
“Whoa! LOOK at those mothers! Have fun swallowing them! Wow! So you’re sure nothing’s wrong?” He asked again, still not completely convinced.
“Yeah, nothin’ is wrong AT all.” She smiled again, but inside, she was screaming out - they were really getting in over their head. She was starting to get worried that they were weren’t going to be able to handle this after all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(~) Part 35 (~)
About a week later, the group was all ready to leave for Caroline’s family cabin in the Poconos. They left late Wednesday night to have all of Thursday there. They decided that they’d leave that night, because Friday was Christmas Eve Day. They wanted to be able to spend that day with their family. JC, Joey, Caroline, Aaron, and Kristin packed up JC’s Jeep. JC and Kristin took the front seat, which was somewhat of an awkward situation. However, that circumstance couldn’t have been any worse than Caroline being stuck sitting between Joey and Aaron. She sat there, frozen and uncomfortable. The only thing that kept her from slowly going insane was the fact that they’d soon be executing Justin’s wonderful plan. She couldn’t wait to carry it out...and embarrass and terrify the piss out of him. Luckily, the two hour ride seemed to go fairly quickly for all of them. JC had the CD player blasting the whole time, so at least there was some kind of diversion.
The other car was MUCH less awkward - actually, it was perfect. Lance, Justin, Chris, Megan, Amy, and Jen used Lance’s 4-Runner with Lance driving, obviously, and Amy at shotgun. The other four crammed themselves across the back, which was fine for them, because they did NOT mind practically being on top of each other. They spent the whole ride blaring every kind of music imaginable...with Amy in CD control and her random taste in music, the CDs ranged anywhere from Garth Brooks, to Lauryn Hill, to Jock Jams, to Aerosmith, to Christina Aguilera, to Jay-Z, to Ultimate Disco. Needless to say...she liked it all, and the group seemed to agree. All six of them sang (or more so screamed) the whole ride. The were in the middle of a rousing version of ‘YMCA’ when they pulled up to the cabin. The Jeep had already made it there, and they were unloading their luggage into the beautiful cabin. It was huge, and there was an enormous great room that would most likely serve as the mass bedroom. Well...that’s unless a couple decided to get a little ‘frisky’ and use one of the many bedrooms(!) The 4-Runner started unloading as well. It had the bigger trunk area of the two SUVs, so they had the food supplies in addition to their luggage. Lance MADE Amy stay inside and just put away the kitchen supplies. He wouldn’t allow her to lift anything at all. She had started to get nervous, though...she was planning on breaking the news to the group that evening - RIGHT before they got rid of their BIG problem named Aaron. That plan was set to go off at 2300 hours - T-minus three hours and counting. Lance and Amy decided to drop the baby bomb with him still there - that way, he wouldn’t suspect anything. He’d figure he was still a valid member of the group - stupid boy...
After about a half hour, everything was unloaded and put away. The girls had all made their way to the kitchen and begun a late dinner - no one had eaten anything since lunch (which was an oh-so-healthy meal at Burger King), so they were more than ready for some home-cooked food. After a little discussion over the menu for the evening, a light pasta dish, a little salad, and some Italian bread was on the table by 9:00. They situated themselves so that no one was in a REAL uncomfortable position. Even the divided members of ‘NSync had somewhat put their problems aside for the moment. All during the meal, Amy kept looking over to Lance with a nervous expression. He returned the most comforting look he could and squeezed her knee under the table. Occasionally, she glanced over at Justin as well. He looked just as nervous - he even dropped a piece of tomato in his lap after his shaking hands got the best of him. All three of the people in the ‘baby situation’ were basically silent during the meal. The constant chatter of the others seemed to drown out their noiselessness, though, and no one picked up on it until the meal was finished.
Finally, someone noticed the silence radiating from a certain couple...no one commented on Justin at that point. Unfortunately, all focus was on the expectant parents - well...the expectant mother and her boyfriend...who might POSSIBLY be the father.
“Amy...Lance...you guys have been so quiet. Is everything all right?” Jen asked cheerily.
Amy hung her head with a deep sigh. She couldn’t even form the words she wanted to say. Lance reached under the table and grabbed her hand. It was shaking - she was obviously scared beyond belief. He squeezed it gently as to say ‘Just do it. It’s all right...they’re not going to hurt you. They’ll be understanding...’
When she finally picked up her head, she slowly scanned the confused and concerned looking group around the table in front of her. She took a deep breath and then just let it all out in a simple statement.
“Guys, I’m pregnant...”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Onto the next five chapters...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Back to "Whenever You Call" homepage...
Back to 'NSync Fanfiction Connection homepage...