"I thought my name was Jilly-Bean?" Jill shouted back, tossing a frame into a cardboard box.
"It is," AJ said, hugging Jill's waist from behind and dropping a kiss on the back of her neck, his nose being tickled by her high ponytail. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Putting this stuff away," Jill replied, reaching for a frame of her with the entire group of N Sync and wrapping it in newspaper, setting it on top of the frame of Justin and her from her office.
"Moving on?" AJ asked.
"Nah, just forgetting for awhile...I don't entirely know what I'm doing right now. Healing, maybe?" Jill sighed and closed the box. "Hand me the tape, baby."
AJ handed her the tape, and they taped the box up together. "Are you sure you want to do this? Absolutely sure?"
"Yes," Jill sighed, putting the box into her walk-in closet on a top shelf, way in the back.
AJ smiled, softly, and nodded. "Ok."
Jill watched him carefully as she pulled out another box, a plastic storage box, and began folding t-shirts and boxers, placing them in carefully. Then she collected jewelry from the room, placing the earrings and necklaces in the corner of the box. She stood silently for a moment, twisting the ring on her pinky contemplatively. It was a pinky ring that matched the one Justin wore. She couldn't take it off, so she simply shut the box and placed it in the closet on top of the cardboard box.
AJ sighed, eyeing that ring. He knew they wore matching pinky rings. "So you're just...?"
"Yeah," Jill nodded. "Wait, I'm just what?"
"Moving on?"
"Nah," Jill shook her head.
"What would you call it, then?" AJ rolled lazily onto his back and held up a photo frame of them at the 2001 VMA's. He smiled to himself, remembering how much fun they'd had dancing at every afterparty there was. He'd stayed with her because he'd only recently quit drinking, and the temptation would have been too much. Jill had looked beautiful, in her long, elegant red dress with a slit up to her hip on the left front. All of the girls had worn dresses in different styles and shades of red, and the group wore black suits with red ties, matching wonderfully in the photographs taken.
"Well," Jill shrugged, falling onto her back next to him and staring up at the photograph. "I'd say it's more like...well, like a....a pause."
"A pause?" AJ asked.
"Yeah," Jill nodded, and they fell into a comfortable silence. Moments later, she spoke up. "That was such a magical night."
"Magical?"
"Yeah," Jill said softly. "Magical."
AJ sighed. "It was something...A little magical, and a little scary."
"Scary?" Jill asked.
AJ whimpered quietly, and set the photograph back on the bedside table, trying to roll onto his side away from her.
"Wait," Jill said softly, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back onto his back. "How was is scary, sweetheart?"
AJ allowed her to crawl onto his stomach, a leg on each side of his chest. "I just realized something..."
Jill thought back. It wasn't long after the 2001 VMA's that AJ began to act weirdly, saying things that made no sense, unexplainable mood swings. "Alex, what did you realize?"
AJ stared up at her, resting his hands on her thighs. "It wasn't anything import..."
"Important?" Jill finished. "AJ, if you can't even make yourself lie about it, then I know it wasn't just some stupid thing...Do you remember when I told you nothing about you is stupid? We were on the pier."
"I remember," AJ bit his lip, and then began scraping at it with his teeth. Before long, blood appeared.
"AJ, stop it," Jill said, pulling his bottom lip from between his teeth with her thumb. "You're bleeding."
He licked his lips. "Not anymore."
"Wait here," Jill disappeared into her bathroom, then reappeared with Vaseline in her hands. "Hold still," She said, smearing a small amount across his bottom lip. "It'll help it heal, if you just leave it alone. You bite your lips too much."
"Is it stupid?" AJ asked.
"No," Jill smiled, realizing the trap AJ had tried to lead her into. "Nothing about you is stupid."
AJ smiled. "The girl is smart. Ooh, the girl is smart."
Jill laughed and the doorbell rang. She listened quietly for a moment until she heard Amandah's small feet running towards the door, then continued her conversation with AJ. "I love to think I am."
"Think you are what?" AJ asked, his mind already wandering.
"Smart."
"Huh? Oh!" AJ grinned sheepishly. "A little spacey lately."
"Lately?" Jill asked skeptically. "Always."
The door downstairs slammed shut.
AJ laughed. "Guess she didn't like our visiter?"
"Our visiter? You don't even live here."
"He may as well," Leigh Anne sighed. "AJ, why did you even buy your own home?"
The doorbell rang again.
"When you and Bri are busy, Jill and Amandah and me can go over there," AJ replied smartly.
Leigh Anne laughed. "Ok, AJ. It's Jill, Amandah, and I, by the way. Jill, honey, why is there Vaseline on your bed? That's gonna get on your comforter."
Jill looked down at the open container. "Oops."
The door slammed shut again.
AJ laughed and pushed her off the bed. "Ha ha! You're in trouble!" He chanted.
"Ah, shut up," Jill grinned.
The doorbell rang yet again, and Brian yelled out, "Amandah! I'll get it!"
Leigh Anne rolled her eyes and disappeared into her bedroom. "If he slams that door and the doorbell rings..."
The door slammed.
Jill and AJ began to laugh.
The doorbell rang.
"So help me God!" Leigh Anne screamed from their bedroom. "Just let them in the house already. I don't even care if it's the Grim Reaper anymore!"
Jill smiled. "I bet it's Nick."
AJ laughed. "Stupid blondes."
"I'm hurt," Jill said, protruding her lower lip pathetically as she pushed the blue lid onto the plastic container of Vaseline.
"Not you, baby," AJ grinned. "You're smart, remember?"
"Ooh, good save," Jill complimented, standing up and going into her bathroom to put the Vaseline away.
AJ bit his lip, hard, to control himself when the 'visiter' appeared in the doorway, and blood instantly trickled out of his mouth. Jill was putting lotion on her legs in the bathroom, and could still see AJ from the bathroom.
"AJ, didn't I tell you to stop biting your lips?!" Jill asked, frustrated.
AJ didn't answer, only continued to stare.
"What are you looking at, anyway? You've seen everything in my room."
Silence. Jill's eyebrows raised, curiousity getting the best of her as she walked out of the bathroom, the Victoria's Secret lotion bottle still in her hand. "X? What are you looking at?"
Justin's heart wrenched as he smelled the familiar Strawberries and Champagne scent, and he bit the inside of his cheek.
Jill turned towards the door and froze. "Justin."
AJ swore that if Justin said anything along the lines of 'we have to talk', or anything even remotely demanding and anything but polite, he'd kill him. He'd put his hands around the pretty boy's throat and squeeze until Justin's whole head turned the same color blue as his eyes.
"Can I please talk to you?" Justin asked softly.
Jill looked at AJ. "X, can we be alone?"
AJ nodded, and left the room. He couldn't resist walking into Justin, knocking his shoulder against the doorway with malice. Justin didn't react, didn't even blink his eyes.
"What do you want?"
"I want to talk to you, please..."
"You've got two minutes."
"What I need to say will only take ten seconds, I've been trying to get up the courage for days."
"It's just that easy for you, huh?" Jill asked bitterly, turning to look out the glass wall. "Ten seconds?"
"It's not what you think."
"That was your big speech?" Jill watched a wave break and roll gently onto the sand.
Justin laughed softly, and Jill tightened her jaw. The tears were threatening to well up in her eyes. His laugh had always sounded like music to her. It was better than any song he could ever sing. "No. Thank God."
Jill inspected her fingernails. She'd have Leigh Anne do her nails later. They'd given each other pedicures last night. For some reason, it's easier to paint someone else's toenails, Jill thought absently. Then she returned to Earth, and turned to Justin. "You've got your ten seconds. Use them."
"Now?"
"No, next week. Yes, now," Jill said, her voice hard.
Justin looked down. She certainly wasn't going to make this any easier, but he knew he deserved it. "Tell me when."
"Starting now."
"I was wrong. I'm sorry. I understand if you can't forgive me now, and I'll wait as long as you need. I'll do anything to get your trust."
Jill smiled coldly. "Well, that was a nice little speech. But how do I know it's not just a speech?"
"You have to trust me."
"Exactly."
Justin saw her point. To believe him, she would have to trust him. To trust him, he'd have to work for a long time, even to get her to believe he wanted her to trust him again. "I meant it, I'll work for it."
"I don't believe you."
© 2002 Princess Fan Fics
