Chapter 25
Chris just sat back on the couch, knowing he didn’t want get involved in their argument even though he knew it was because of him. "What ever happened to what you told me the other night? Do you even remember what you told me, Justin?" Justin, by now, was pacing back and forth in the living room, "No, actually, I don’t." Shannon sat down on the bottom step, and looked up at him. "You told me that if we were meant to be, something like this wouldn’t affect our relationship." Justin looked at her, and then snapped back, "Yeah, that was before I knew you wanted him too!" Shannon looked down at her feet, trying to stifle her sobs, "What’s the difference? Would you have rather me not tell you and have me cheat on you? Is that what you would want? Or would you rather me totally ignore any and all feelings I have and totally alienate Chris from my life completely?" Justin stopped dead in his tracks, "I don’t know what I want. What is it that you want?" Shannon looked at Chris, who was just awestruck by the whole thing, and then looked at Justin, who was growing more angry by the minute. "I don’t know what I want. I wish I could have you both, but that can’t happen. Give me some time to think about it. I know it shouldn’t be a situation that you have to think about who you want to spend your life with, but I have to. I have to figure out which one of you two will make me happier." Justin stormed off, "Fine, just let me know when you decide." They could hear the bedroom door slamming shut and stuff being thrown against the wall. Shannon looked at Chris through tear stained eyes, "I wish this never happened. Why did I have to ask you what was wrong that day? Why do I have to care so much? If I didn’t care, this wouldn’t have happened." Chris tried to calm her down, "No, its not your fault. It is my fault for feeling this way."
That night, no one got any sleep. Justin sat up all night looking at photographs he had of Shannon and him together. Chris tried to sleep, but he couldn’t; he knew that he caused this, and there was no way that it was going to be undone. Shannon tried to sleep as well, but couldn’t. She could hear Justin on the other side of the room, cursing himself for falling in love with her and pouring his heart out to her. She knew that whatever decision she made would be a tough one, because no matter what, she would have to see one of them everyday since they all live together. She had an idea of who she wanted to be with, but she kept playing the way she would tell them over and over again in her mind.
Morning rose and Shannon had just barely gotten to sleep. She awoke to find Justin sleeping in the chair, with a picture in his hand and his locket resting on his chest. As she walked downstairs, she passed Chris’s room, but noticed that he wasn’t there. She walked into the living room and saw him laying on the couch, with the TV on. He looked up when he heard her walk into the room. "Good morning," he said, trying to sound slightly cheerful. She tried to crack a smile, but it wasn’t working well. She sat down on the edge of the couch and looked at him. "What am I going to do, Chris? I tried to figure out how to tell you guys, and I just can’t do it for some reason. Either way, one of you is going to hate me." He leaned over and gave her a friendly hug, "There is no way that would happen. I was silly for even thinking that I had a chance with you, and I won’t hate you when you choose Justin." She started crying harder, and he looked at her with questioning eyes. "Why are you crying? Was it something I said?" She tried to look him in the eye, but each time she did, she would cry harder. "This is so hard," she said to him, "I want to be with both of you so bad. I love Justin so much, and we have been through so much together. And now there is you. When I’m around you, I feel so. . so different. I can’t really explain it. I wish I were dead, then I wouldn’t have to worry about this." Chris sat straight up when she said that word, and it played in his head many times. "Don’t say that Shannon! You know you don’t wish that. No matter what your decision is, no one will hate you." She wiped her eyes, and looked at Chris, "I sure hope so. I can’t make a decision too fast though. I need to make sure it is the right one." He comforted her as best as he could, "I understand, and I am sure Justin does too. He is just really hurt by this. Everything will work out the way it is supposed to."
All during the day, no one hardly spoke to anyone else. Shannon was in bed all day, staring at the ceiling; Justin just sat on the patio looking at the sky; and Chris sat and watched TV all day. Around dinner time, they all came together to eat something, hoping that someone would say something. Shannon sat in silence the whole time, but was startled when the TV that was playing in the background said Justin’s name. Britney was on the TV again, talking about the lawsuit that she had slapped Justin with. They all turned towards the TV and watched her whine and pout about the pain and suffering she was going through. "That dumb bitch!," Justin yelled out. "Obviously she doesn’t know what I am going through right now!" He threw his fork down on the table and ran out the door and into his car. Shannon ran after him, but it was too late; he was already half way down the road, speeding faster than she had ever seen him go. She turned around to go back into the house and nearly ran into Chris, who was standing right behind her. "Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. He’ll be back here before you know it."
A few hours later, Chris and Shannon were sitting in the living room watching MTV. Say What Karaoke was on and a group of guys were mimicking N Sync. "Man, do we look that stupid?," Chris said, trying to hold in his laughter. "No, you guys look much better." Just then, the doorbell rang. Chris got up to answer the door, and his face turned pure white when he saw a police officer standing at the door. "I hate to bother you folks, but does a Mr. Timberlake live here?," the officer asked Chris. "Ye-yes, may I help you?" The officer took off his hat, "I’m sorry sir, there has been an accident. Mr. Timberlake has been severely injured." Shannon came running to the door, "What!," she screamed. "Please ma’am, try to stay calm. He is at the hospital right now, you may go down and see him." Chris started to panic, "Was it a car accident, sir?" The officer shook his head, "No sir, gunshot wound."
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