As he poured the milk over his cereal, he bumped the bowl and
knocked it to the floor.
"Fuck," he cursed, slamming the milk carton down on the counter. He
ran a hand through his curls, shaking his head.
"No use crying over spilt milk, Justin!" Chris said, laughing at his
clever remark.
"Shut the fuck up, Chris." Justin shot him an evil look, and Chris put
his hands up in defense. "Why
are you guys always in my hotel room first thing in the morning anyway?"
"We always eat breakfast in your room, J," Lance said quietly, not
wanting to upset Justin any more than he already seemed to be.
"What's with you this morning, Curly?" Joey teased. "Did
someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"
Justin ignored the comment, cleaned up
the mess he'd made and poured himself a new bowl of cereal. He
sat down on the couch, hunching
over his breakfast.
He felt strong hands rubbing his shoulders and tensed when he realized they belonged to JC.
"What's up, man? Still pissed that I woke you up last night?" Justin
shrugged JC's hands away and shook his head.
"I told you, I owed you one," he mumbled.
JC looked at Lance, confused. "What's up with him?" he mouthed, but
Lance just shrugged his shoulders.
"OK, boys, what's on the agenda for today?" Joey asked.
"We have our last show tonight!" Chris exclaimed, jumping up and down.
"We're gonna PARTY!"
Everyone except Justin laughed. He stood up and threw his dish in the sink,
walked to the bathroom and slammed
the door.
"What the hell is his problem?" Chris asked.
"No idea," JC replied. "I woke him up pretty late last night to
tell him about Bobbee...maybe he's pissed, or he didn't get enough sleep."
"He'll get over it," Joey replied. "Now we're in my home town,
boys! What are we gonna do today?"
"I think I'm going to go shopping," JC replied, running a hand through
his hair. "I'm not in the greatest mood today, so I figure I'll just spend
money and forget about it. I was hoping J would come with me, but apparently
he's going to lock himself in his room all day."
"Well, we're out of here, Jace," Lance said, walking to the door with
Chris and Joey.
"Where you guys going?"
"Somewhere fun!" Chris yelled, jumping on Joey's back and laughing
hysterically.
"Yeah, somewhere fun," Joey said, throwing Chris off of him. Lance
just laughed and shook his head. The
three walked out the door and JC laid down on Justin's couch, one hand behind
his head, the other resting on his stomach. He was comfortable, wearing jeans
and a plain white
t-shirt, his favorite outfit. He'd always been a "t-shirt and jeans"
kind of guy; sometimes he hated having to get all dressed up just because he was
a celebrity.
The door to the bathroom opened and Justin stepped out, a white towel wrapped
around his waist, chest dripping with water. He didn't notice JC lying there and
walked to the fridge, grabbing a can of soda and cracking it open. JC watched
him, the way his arms moved when he walked, how flat and muscular his stomach
was. Justin caught him staring.
"What the hell are you staring at?" he snapped. "And what are you
still doing here?"
"I was staring at you, big boy," JC teased. Justin felt his face flush,
partly because he was embarrassed and partly because he was angry.
"Shut the fuck up, Josh," he replied, an edge still in his voice.
"Now what are you still doing here?"
JC sighed, shaking his head at his best friend.. Justin walked to his closet and thumbed through his things,
trying to decide what to wear.
"Just wondering what you're going today," JC said.
"Why?"
JC sighed. "I dunno...guess I kinda need my best friend today." He
felt the tears well up in his eyes, and Justin heard the crack in his voice.
Justin didn't mean to act like a jerk. But
he was upset. That dream last night had scared the hell out of him. He
was used to having that kind of dream; hell, he LOVED that kind of dream...but
not about his best friend, especially when his best friend was a man.
"I'm sorry, C," he said,
sitting on JC's legs, towel still wrapped around his waist.
"Ouch, man, you have a boney ass!" JC laughed, wiping away a single tear. JC's eyes wandered down Justin's body and rested on his
stomach.
"Shut up! Like yours is any better!" Justin joked back, and JC's eyes
flew from where he had been looking.
"Hey, I have a nice ass!" JC pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.
You sure do, Justin thought. He jumped up, scaring himself with what he'd
just said in his mind.
"You ok, man?" JC asked, grabbing Justin's arm.
Justin jerked away. "Yeah, I'm fine...so what did you want to do today?"
he asked as he walked back towards the closet.
"You."