I was in a great mood. I hadn’t been in this great of a
mood since…well, since before I met Ryan.
I guess it showed.
“Man, Just, you’re hyper today!” Lance grinned happily, patting me on the
back.
I smiled back. It felt good to smile.
“Good to have you back, Sport!” Joey said, and I caught JC staring at me
from across the room, a smile on his lips.
“I’m proud of you,” he mouthed. My heart fluttered in my chest.
“So where’s Ryan, J?” Chris asked.
I froze, the smile fading from my lips. I put my head down to avoid his eyes, my
heart pounding. “Uh..”
JC was behind me before I knew it, placing a comforting hand on the small of my
back. “You can tell them, Justin. You can tell them everything, I’m here,”
he said softly, his hand rubbing circles on my back.
“Jus? What’s going on?” Lance asked quietly, taking a step towards me.
I sighed and looked at each of my friends. “Ok, guys…sit down…and I’ll
tell you the whole story.”
So I told them. I told them about Ryan hitting me, and about how long it had
been going on.
“Why didn’t you leave him, Justin?” Joey asked.
“I was scared. I know what he’s capable of, and I was scared…I still am
scared.”
JC squeezed my hand.
“Why didn’t you tell us, J? We would have been here for you, you know that,”
Chris said gently.
“I was ashamed…I thought it was my fault. And I couldn’t tell you guys
that…I was afraid you’d think I was a baby.”
“Aw, Just, god, we’d never think that,” Lance said, reaching his hand out
and squeezing me knee. “So what made you decide to leave him?”
I looked at JC and smiled, and I know I was blushing, because I felt my face get
hot.
“Josh.”
Chris, Joey, and Lance all looked confused, and JC laughed.
“Josh has known since the first time it happened that Ryan was abusive. He’s
been there for me through it all, and he’s the one that helped me leave
Ryan.”
“Is there something going on here that we should know about?” Joey grinned,
his eyes darting from me to JC, then back to me.
JC slid his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. I leaned my head on his
shoulder and he kissed my head softly.
“Oh my GOSH!” Lance exclaimed. “Are you two…I mean…are you…”
“That’s up to Justin,” JC said shyly. “I don’t want to push him in to
anything.”
I lifted my head from JC’s shoulder and looked into his blue eyes. And then I
kissed him. In front of the rest of our band mates, I kissed JC. And it was
perfect.
“Does that answer your question?” I said to the three amazed onlookers.
Joey just grinned and nodded, and Christ tackled us as Lance laughed.
I felt better already.
Two weeks passed without any disruptions from Ryan. I’d moved all my stuff
into JC’s place, since I was scared to stay alone. He cradled me in his arms
every night and sang to me until I fell asleep. We didn’t do anything sexual.
JC didn’t want to rush things, and frankly, neither did I. We just shared
tender, sweet kisses that left us both wanting more…but we still decided to
wait.
It was a Tuesday morning. Josh woke me up with a soft kiss on the lips, and I
smiled against his mouth. “Morning, baby.”
“Morning,” he said, kissing my collar bone lightly.
“Jace….stop it…” I whined playfully. “You know what that does to
me.”
He grinned. “Yep, I know…that’s why I’m doing it.”
Just as he was about to kiss me again, the phone rang. He groaned, rolling over
to answer it.
“Hello?” I placed my hand on the small of his back, tracing my finger up his
spine. He shivered, trying not to giggle. “Yeah, Johnny, I know. Uh
uh…ok….today?! But it’s such short notice. I know it’s a good
opportunity.” He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his long hair. “All
right, Johnny…I’ll be there.” He hung up the phone and laid down across my
stomach, looking up at me with apologetic eyes.
“Johnny wants me to meet with Jive today…they’re thinking about having me
co-produce some new album…and it’s a great opportunity, and I shouldn’t
pass it up…but…”
I kissed him on the forehead and brushed his hair out of his eyes. “You’re
going. You can’t turn this down.”
“I know…but…I don’t want to leave you here all alone.”
I laughed at him and pinched him gently on the arm. “Jace, I’ll be fine. Do
you really think Ryan’s going to break into the house in broad daylight and
attack me? I doubt it.”
“But what if he does?” JC said quietly, fear in his eyes. “I don’t know
what I’d do if something happened to you…”
“Josh, nothing is going to happen. Nothing’s happened since the night Ryan
showed up here. I think you scared him off with your tough-guy exterior.”
“Shut up, Jus,” JC laughed, shoving me playfully. He sighed and stood up.
“Ok…I guess I’ll go then.”
“Jace, stop worrying, I’ll be fine.” He leaned down and kissed me. I
didn’t tell him that I was scared to death of him leaving me. I just curled
under the covers and went back to sleep.
It must have been about two hours later…I can’t remember. I felt strong arms
around my waist, and a pair of lips pressed to my neck.
I smiled and pressed back in to the body. “Josh…what are you doing back
alread?.”
“Who’s Josh?”
I froze. I think I even stopped breathing.
“Miss me, baby?”