(~) Chapter 16 (~)
Melissa rolled her eyes as Stefanie handed her the shopping list and some money.
"Why do I have to take them shopping? Why can't you do it? Do you realize how long this is gonna take with the two of them fighting over what they want for dinner? You KNOW how they are!" Melissa groaned as she grabbed her purse.
"Oh stop that. You can keep JC under control." Stef smirked.
"Geeze, it's like taking two little kids to the store with you." Melissa mumbled. "You guys come on, let's go!" Melissa yelled up the stairs.
Two seconds later, JC and Justin came running down the steps and out the door. Melissa just shook her head, and followed them.
*~back in the house~*
"Finally, a few hours of peace and quiet." Stef sighed as she plopped down on the couch. She turned on the TV and flipped through the channels for a few minutes, before finally stopping on MTV. They were showing the All Access special with the guys again. Just as it was coming to Stef's favorite part, the door bell rang.
"Damnit." she muttered as she ran to the door.
She swung open the door, to find Lance standing there. Stef stood there and looked at him. She couldn't keep herself from staring at him, he looked so good. She finally made her way back up to his gorgeous green eyes.
"Hey." He said softly.
"Hey Lance. Umm...what brings you here?" She asked, as she stepped away from the door to let Lance in.
"Well, I just wanted to talk." He said, looking into her eyes.
*~at the store~*
"Okay you guys, what do ya'll want for dinner, and NO arguing about it." Melissa stated.
"Well, it depends on who's cooking it." Justin smirked.
"I'm cooking tonight." Melissa retorted.
"Lasangna!" JC and Justin shouted in unison.
"Whoa, did ya'll just agree on what you wanted for dinner?" Melissa cried in shock.
JC ignored her question as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him, and whispered into her ear, "Who cares about dinner? I wanna know what's for desert." he said as he started to kiss her neck.
"JC!" she shrieked.
"What?" he innocently asked.
"You guys, save me the PDA and lets get the stuff and get back home." Justin sighed.
Melissa wrote down some stuff that she needed, and ripped it into 3 pieces.
"Okay, ya'll take those, and we'll meet right back here. It'll be quicker this way." Melissa said, as she turned around and started walking down the aisle. JC grabbed her arm and whirrled her around, pressing his lips forcefully against hers. As he pulled away, Melissa looked up at him, trying to regain her breath, "What was that for?" She choked out.
"That's a taste of what's for desert." JC said, smiling wickedly. Melissa's jaw dropped to the ground as she watched JC. She wanted so bad to just grab him and run out of the store and rush home. JC could see this as he smiled at her, and mouthed, "Later" before walking off to get his part of the list.
"Good god." Melissa breathed, before walking off down the aisle.
~*Back at the house*~
Stefanie sat on the couch, and nervously figeted with her rings, as she could feel Lance's eyes on her. "Why am I acting like this?" Stef wondered to herself.
"Umm want something to drink?" Stef asked, standing up.
"Sure." Lance replied, his eyes still on her.
Stef walked into the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of water out of the fridge. She stood there thinking about what was going on.
"Why is he here? Why is he looking at me like that? and most importantly, why in the hell am I acting this way?" She silently scolded herself.
Stef jumped when she felt a pair of strong arms encircle her waist. She turned around quickly to find herself staring deep into Lance's deep green eyes.
Before she had time to react, Lance had softly placed his lips over hers. Instead of resisting, she slowly linked her arms up around his neck. "What in the hell am I doing? I love Justin." She again scolded herself, but kept kissing Lance.
Lance slowly pulled away and placed his lips on her neck, slowly gliding his tongue up and down her neck. Stefanie shuddered at the feeling of his tongue on her hot neck. He made his way back up to her lips and kissed her forcefully. "I have to stop this now." Stef thought to herself. But before she had time to pull away...
"What in the hell is going on here?" Justin yelled, closely followed by a wide-eyed Melissa and JC.
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(~) Chapter 17 (~)
Stefanie's heart jumped up into her throat when she heard Justin's voice. She slowly turned her head towards him to see many different emotions raging through his eyes. Anger, confusion, disappointment, and hurt, the most.
"Justin, it's not what you think." Stef whispered with tears in her eyes.
"It's not what I THINK?" He yelled, "then what in the hell is it??"
"What does it look like you to you two?" Justin yelled, as he turned to Melissa and JC. They both remained silent. Then, Justin let his rage overtake him.
"I said what in the hell does it look like is going on here!!!" He yelled as he walked over to Melissa and shook her violently by the shoulders. Melissa was too shocked to move. Justin had never acted this way towards her. Melissa looked at him with tears spilling over her eyes.
"Justin, I think you just need to back off." JC yelled as he pulled Melissa away from Justin.
"No I will not back off! I asked her a question and she's gonna answer it!" Justin screamed as he grabbed Melissa's arm and pulled her back.
"JUST STOP IT!" Melissa screamed as loud as she could, before she broke free from Justin's grasp, and ran out of the house.
"I'll deal with you later." JC hissed, as he shot an icy cold stare towards Justin, before sprinting out of the house after Melissa.
Justin turned towards Lance and Stefanie with a rage of fury flashing through his blue eyes.
"Lance, I suggest you get out of here now." Justin muttered angrily.
"Look Justin, I'm sorry...it's just....." Lance started, before being cut off by Justin, "I said get the hell out of here!!!" Justin screamed, as his emotions finally took control over him, and the tears began to spill down his face.
Lance looked over at Stefanie, and quickly walked past Justin.
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Melissa ran as fast as she could, before collapsing in the swing in the backyard. She drew her knees up to her chest and sobbed. Justin had always been like her brother, and to have him act this violently towards her, tore her in two.
JC continued to look for Melissa, and stopped when he heard muffled sobs coming from the backyard. He walked slowly to the back of the house, following the sound. When he spotted her, he walked towards her, and knelt in front of her, placing his hands on her legs. Melissa jumped and her head jerked up, revealing her tear stained face, and blood shot, puffy eyes.
"Shhhhh baby, it's just me." JC whispered softly, as he sat down beside her, and carefully pulled her onto his lap. Melissa buried her head in his chest and continued to cry, as JC ran his fingers through her hair.
JC reached down, and tilted her face up, as he slowly wiped away her tears.
"Don't cry baby." he whispered softly.
"But JC, he's never done that to me before. He's like my brother, and to have him do that, upsets me." Melissa choked out.
"I know, I know. But he's just really upset right now, and you'll just have to look past it."
"I guess you're right." Melissa sighed.
"What are you talking about? I'm always right." JC smiled.
Melissa looked up at him and laughed as she rolled her eyes playfully at him. JC ran a finger under her chin, as he pulled her closer and softly pressed his lips against hers.
"I love you." She whispered, looking into his eyes.
"I love you too, Melissa." he said, as he wrapped his arms around her, and held her against him tightly.
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Justin stood there for a few minutes, motionless. He was too shocked to move. When he finally calmed down some, he was ready for an explination.
"Okay Stef, what in the hell happened?" He questioned.
"Justin, I swear I didn't mean anything by it. Lance showed up, and we were watching TV. I asked him if he wanted anything to drink, so I got up and walked into the kitchen. As my back was turned, he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. I turned around, and when I did, he kissed me. I was too shocked and scared to move, I didn't know what to do." Stef choked out in between sobs.
Justin's mind was reeling. He didn't know what to do or what to say. His heart was breaking in two. Justin looked up at her as the tears streamed down his face.
"Justin, I'm so sorry." Stef whispered, as she walked towards him.
"Just don't." He choked out, as he backed away a little.
"Justin, please don't do this." Stef pleaded.
"I just need some time to think. You have no idea how much this is ripping me apart on the inside."
"Yes I do Justin! Cause it's killing me too! I didn't mean anything by it, I promise. You know that you're the one I love." Stef cried.
"And I love you too Stefanie, and that's why I just need some time to myself to think, okay?" he said softly, finally starting to calm down.
Stef just nodded her head as the tears continued to fall.
"Right now, I owe an apology to Melissa and JC." he said, as he turned to walk out the door.
"I love you Justin." Stefanie whispered softly.
"I love you too Stef." he called back, as he walked out of the house to find Melissa and JC.
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Justin walked into the backyard to find Melissa curled up on JC's lap asleep, with him softly singing into her ear. JC looked up when he saw Justin coming towards them.
"Look JC, I'm really sorry. I was just upset, and I know that's not an excuse for taking things out on you and Melissa." Justin whispered, being sure not to wake Melissa up.
"It's okay J, but you really upset her." JC whispered back, as he looked down at Melissa.
"I know, and I feel completely terrible about that." Justin sighed.
"But, Melissa loves you like a brother, I think she'll understand. She's always been an understanding person, and listens to the other side of things before making a harsh judgement."
"I hope so. Hey JC? Can I ask you a question?" Justin asked.
"Sure man."
"What do you think of the situation? Stefanie said she did nothing, that it was Lance that put the moves on her. I mean, I believe her, but I was just wanting your opinion."
"I believe her too. She loves you too much to jeopardize that. And I'm sure Melissa would agree with me. She knows how long Stef has had feelings for you."
"I need to go back in there an apologize to her for being such a jerk." Justin sighed, as she looked at JC, "Thanks man."
"Anytime J." JC replied.
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Justin walked back into the house, to find Stefanie curled up on the couch asleep, her face still wet with tears. Justin knelt down beside her and wiped the remaining tears off her face. He carefully picked her up in his arms, and started up the stairs.
He walked into her room, and carefully layed her down on her bed.
"Justin, I'm so sorry. I love you so much." Stef whispered, still in her sleep.
"I love you too baby." he whispered, as he kissed her lightly on her forehead, and walked quietly out of the room.
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(~) Chapter 18 (~)
For the next week, things were still pretty tense between Justin and Stefanie, which in turn, caused tension between JC and Melissa.
"Do NOT yell at me like that Justin!" Stef yelled, as she followed Justin down the stairs.
"Would you two cool it?" JC snapped, from his seat on the couch.
"JC, stay out of it!" Melissa snapped back.
JC's turned his head quickly and looked at Melissa, "Why should I stay out of it? They're constantly yelling back and forth, and it's starting to get annoying!"
"Because it's none of your damn business, that's why!" Melissa retorted.
Stefanie was at her breaking point with all the fighting going on in the house. She quickly grabbed her purse and turned towards Melissa, "Come on, let's get out of her for a while."
"Fine by me." Melissa stated, as she got up off the couch and followed out the door, neither of them saying a word to Justin and JC.
Justin watched the girls walk out the door, and turned to look at JC, "What just happened here?" he asked, with a confused look on his face.
"That's what I'd like to know." JC sighed, as he got up and ran up the stairs towards his room.
"What is up with them?" Melissa yelled.
"I don't know, but I can't take anymore of this fighting." Stef whispered with tears in her eyes.
Melissa took her eyes off the road, to look over at Stef just in time to see her wipe a few tears from her eyes. Melissa reached over and patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"Things will get better." Melissa said, reassuringly.
"I sure hope so." Stef said quietly, as she turned to look out the window.
Melissa pulled into the mall parking lot and shut her car off.
"I hate these places at night, especially with the guys not here." Melissa said, as she looked around uneasily.
"We'll be fine. Come on, let's go." Stef said, as she opened her door and got out.
They both started walking towards the entrance, when two people grabbed them from behind.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Justin Timberlake's and JC Chasez's girlfriends, oh I'm sorry, Financees." one of the guys stated with a smirk.
"How did we ever get so lucky?" The other one laughed. "Come on ladies, you're coming with us."
Melissa and Stefanie started screaming and squirming, trying to break free from the men's grasps. They only tightened their grips, and hit them over the heads, knocking them unconcious. They put the girls in the backseat of their car.
"Let's leave Mr. Timberlake and Mr. Chasez a little present in her car, so they know that they're NOT in safe hands right now." One of the men said, as he grabbed Melissa and Stefanie's purses along with a note to the guys.
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"JC, it's almost 1:00 a.m! Where in the hell are they??" Justin screamed, as he paced the room.
"I don't know, but I have a really uneasy feeling. They would've called or something."
"I can't take this anymore, let's go look for them." Justin stated, as he grabbed his keys off the table, and sprinted out the door, with JC following closely behind him.
After driving around, and checking every place that they thought they could possibly be, they spotted Melissa's abandoned car in the mall parking lot.
Justin quickly stopped the car next to hers, as they jumped out and opened her car door. Both of their hearts jumped up into their throats, when they saw their purses laying in the seat, along with a very threatening note.
==============================
If you ever wanna see your precious fiancees
alive again, you might wanna cooperate with us. We're NOT playin games here. We're watching your every move, and if you tell ANYONE about this, or even attempt to get in contact with the cops, Melissa and Stefanie will be killed. We will be in contact with you tomorrow to work out some kind of arrangement. Oh, and don't worry, we're gonna take VERY GOOD care of these two beautiful young ladies.
==============================
"Oh my god." JC whispered, as he looked at the note, fear sweeping over him.
"Damnit!" Justin screamed, as he felt his knees go weak and as hot tears started to burn his blue eyes, "What are we supposed to do??"
"We can't do anything, you read the note, if we do, they'll kill them. All we can do is wait." JC whispered shakily, unsure of if they would ever lay eyes on Melissa and Stefanie again.
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(~) Chapter 19 (~)
Melissa groggily opened her eyes and tightly squeezed them shut again, when a piercing pain shot through her head. She then noticed that she was bound and gagged to a chair. She slowly turned her head to see Stefanie in the chair next to her,unconcious, and with blood dripping down her face. Tears started to pour down Melissa's face as fear overtook her. Her body started shaking violently.
"Well, look who's awake." A voice called from the door. Melissa strained her eyes, as if she were commanding them to focus. All she saw was a sillouette coming towards her with an object in his hand. When the person got closer, she realized it was a phone.
"We're fixing to call that pretty little boyfriend of yours." One of the men stated with a smirk.
"Should we let her talk to him?" the other asked.
"Nah, she'd say something stupid, and then we'd have to kill her."
Melissa watched the man, with tears flowing down her face, as he dialed their number.
When one of the guys picked up the phone, they were commanded to be put on speaker phone, making sure both guys heard what was going on.
"Here's the deal." the man hissed, "you cooperate with us, and you'll get your girls back safe and sound. If you don't, you wanna know what happens? THIS happens!" he yelled as the other man grabbed a handful of Melissa's hair, jerking her head back violently, causing her to scream out in pain, as the other one smacked her squarely across the jaw.
"Okay! We'll do anything you say!" JC yelled, feeling extremely helpless.
"I'm glad you see things our way." The man smirked.
But what the men didn't know, was that their call was being traced, and the cops were on their way. JC and Justin felt really uneasy about what they were doing, but they knew they had to get the cops involved.
"Hey man, what's that noise??" The other man said nervously, just before the cops busted open their door. The cops ran in with guns pointed at the guys. One of them darted behind Melissa, holding a gun to her head.
"Sir let her go." One of the cops commanded, still pointing his gun at the man. Melissa trembled as she felt the barrel of the gun digging into her head. Her body tensed up as she heard the click of the gun being cocked.
One of the cops had snuck in behind them, and fired his gun, killing the man instantly. JC and Justin were hearing everything that was going on, but were clueless as to what was happening and to who.
The cops quickly ushered the paramedics into the room, "Quick, we got to get these girls medical attention, this one's in pretty bad shape." One paramedic stated, talking about Stefanie. But again, JC and Justin didn't know which one of the girls they were talking about.
The paramedics quickly loaded Melissa and Stefanie onto stretchers, applying oxygen masks, starting IV's, and checking vital signs, and started loading them into the ambulance.
"Wait a second, what hospital are you taking them to? We need to inform their boyfriends." One of the cops asked.
"County General." the paramedic stated, without looking up from working on Melissa.
JC and Justin immediately sprinted out the door, and was at the hospital in record time.
"God this is an all too familiar nightmare." Justin said shakily, remembering the last time they were barging through the ER doors.
"They just brought in our girlfriends, Stefanie Summers and Melissa Morgan, can you tell us where they are?" Justin asked.
The nurse looked up, and went back and forth between JC and Justin, studying the looks of fear on their faces. "I'm sorry, but they were both taken up to surgery. You'll be able to see them when they're put into the recovery room."
"Surgery? What kind of surgery?" JC asked.
"Well, Miss Summers and Miss Morgan both have multiple broken ribs that are in danger of puncturing the heart, and they're both bleeding internally from the beatings that were inflicted upon them. You can go up and wait in the surgery waiting room on the 2nd floor."
They both nodded their head in thanks, and numbly walked to the elevator.
They walked down the hall to the surgery waiting room, and passed a couple of rooms on the way. JC quickly noticed that the girl in one of the rooms was Melissa. The doctors were feverishly working on her. Justin saw this, and grabbed JC's arm and pulled him away, but quickly noticed that Stefanie was in the next room. Justin clenched his eyes shut, and refused to look over, as they both walked into the waiting room.
They had been sitting there for about two hours, and had heard no word on either Melissa or Stefanie. Just when Justin was about to get up and go ask someone what was going on, the piercing sound of alarms filtered out from one of the rooms, as more doctors and nurses ran into Stefanie's room.
"Oh my god, no..." Justin whispered as he sprinted towards her room. JC ran after him and stood behind him as they watched in horror at the doctors shocking Stefanie, trying to get her heart to start beating again. This went on for about 15 minutes before the doctor took a deep breath and slowly looked up at the clock.
"Time of death, 8:24 pm." The doctor stated, as they pulled a sheet over Stefanie.
"Stefanie no!!!" Justin screamed as he slowly sank to his knees on the ground.
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(~) Chapter 20 (~)
It had been over seven months since Stefanie's death. Things were finally starting to get back to normal. Justin was even starting to date again, only after heavy convincing from JC and Melissa. For months Justin just moaped around the house and on some days, didn't even get out of bed. They knew that the only way he was going to get over this, was to jump right back into the game. It had been long enough, and they knew it was safe for him to start dating again. He had dated a few girls, none of which Melissa had approved of. So she decided to take matters into her own hands.
"Hey JC?" Melissa asked as she walked into the kitchen.
"Yeah Mel?" he asked, as he turned around to face her.
"I've been doing some thinking lately. I know you say I'm too judgemental about who Justin dates, but I was thinking about asking Lyndsay to move in with us and seeing about hooking them up. I think she would be perfect for him." Melissa said, as she sat down at the table, referring to her best friend Lyndsay.
JC looked at Melissa and sat down next to her.
"You know what? I was thinking the same thing. They are perfect for each other." JC said with a smile.
Melissa's face lit up as she hugged JC.
"Great! I'm gonna go over there right now and talk to her about it. I'll be back in about an hour okay?" she asked, as she stood up from the table.
"Okay, tell her I said hi for me." JC said, as he stood up and hugged Melissa again. She pulled away and smiled at him, as she turned to leave.
Melissa jumped in her car and drove towards Lyndsay's house. "This is so perfect." Melissa thought to herself, "I know Lyndsay has a thing for Justin, and he would have to be a fool not to have a thing for her too."
Melissa finally pulled up into her driveway, and quickly got out of her car and dashed up the sidewalk and rang the doorbell. The door opened quickly.
"Hey Mel! What's up?" Lyndsay asked, as she moved away from the door and gestured for Melissa to come in.
"Well girl, I have something really important to ask you."
"Okay, shoot." Lyndsay smiled, as she took a seat on the couch.
"Well, remember how you told me that you were sick of living in this house by yourself, and how you wished you had some roomates to keep you company and help share expenses?" Melissa asked, as she sat down in the recliner across from Lyndsay.
"Yeah, why?" Lyndsay asked curiously.
"Well, I think you should move in with us." Melissa stated with a smile.
Lyndsay sat there and looked at Melissa, not saying anything.
"So what do you say?" Melissa asked.
"I say, when are you gonna get those two strong hunks to come help me move my stuff out of here??" Lyndsay laughed.
"I'll have them here bright and early tomorrow, so get packin girl!"
"I'll have everything ready to be moved out tonight." Lyndsay said with a smile.
"Great!" Melissa said, "But I have to get back to the house, it's never safe to leave them two home alone." Melissa stated with a smirk, as she got up from her seat.
"Oh hey girl, I've been meaning to ask you about this, but are you and JC still keeping the date for the wedding that you orginally had it set on?"
"Oh, no we're not. We decided to push it back. For one thing, we planned on getting a house of our own as soon as we got married, and we really didn't want to leave Justin alone. We both agreed that we can wait a few more months." Melissa smiled, but slowly the smile faded, "Lyndsay, I have to ask you something though. With Stefanie gone, I have no maid of honor....but I would be so happy if you would take that spot."
Lyndsay smiled at Melissa and pulled her into a tight hug, "I'd be honored to girl."
Melissa pulled away and smiled, "Ohhhh, you know what that means. You get to walk with Justin since he's JC's best man."
Lyndsay smiled really big and turned about 20 different shades of red.
"Ah ha, I knew it!! I knew it!!" Melissa laughed.
"You knew what??" Lyndsay asked, trying to cover it up.
"You like Justin, don't you??"
Lyndsay remained silent.
"I knew it!! You DO! Just think about this girl, you're gonna be living with him...great chance to get to know him better and get closer to him." Melissa stated with a wink, as she turned to walk out the door, "Okay, I'll have those two hunks, as you call them, over early tomorrow" Melissa laughed.
"Okay, see ya then!" Lyndsay waved from the door as she watched Melissa get into her car and drive off.
Lyndsay quickly shut the door and darted to the basement and grabbed as many boxes as she could carry, and immediately got to packing, while smiling from ear to ear the whole time.
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