I'd only had to drive around Orlando with no point once before, when I got into a really big fight with my mom over the phone. It had been before `No Strings Attached' had been released, and she had wanted to know if I was going to come home for a visit. I really hadn't wanted to, and after we argued about it, I had needed to blow off steam. This was a little different.
I knew JC was just letting his emotions control his actions, but his words still stung none the less. I stopped caring about the tears on Sixteenth Avenue, stopped caring about where I was going on Walter Road, and stopped paying attention to the speed I was going on Park Lane, which was bad, because I drove sixty past a cop on a street with a forty speed limit.
The red and blue flashing lights in my rear view mirror did nothing for my good mood, and I let out a string of curses as I pulled over. I watched the cop get out and walk towards my car in that typical policeman strut. I rolled down my window and he looked down at me. "You were going awfully fast there, kid."
"I know, I know. Can I just pay you and be on my way?" I asked, angry, upset, frustrated, and God knows what else. I just wanted to... I didn't know what I wanted to do, but it wasn't spend my night being lectured by a police officer.
"Bad night?" he asked. I sighed. "Look, I know you probably know millions of problems of today's Americans, because the only reason we break the law is if we're under severe stress or anger or something. So I'm not going to trouble you with excuses of why I was speeding. Just give me the fine and let me go."
The officer just gave me a look, one that said, "Woah kid, stop drinking so much caffeine." Before he could reply with words, however, my cell phone rang. "Can you hold on?" I asked, grabbing my phone and flipping it open. "Yes?"
"Lance?" It was Josh. "Where are you?"
"I don't know... I'm on Park, I think."
"You are," the officer told me. "Who was that?" JC asked, and I sighed. "Can I call you right back?" He paused for a moment before saying, "Sure." I flipped my phone shut and turned back to the officer.
"Can I have my ticket now?"
He chuckled. "Who was that?"
"That's my business. You know, I could file a harassment suit against you. And trust me, I have damn good lawyers." Lawyers that got me and the other guys over a million dollars from Lou Pearlman.
He chuckled again and handed me a blue sheet of paper. I looked at it. "It says warning," I told him. "I know, I'm letting you off with one this time, but next time you need to take your stress out, do it on a back road."
Then he tipped his hat and turned, walking off. I rolled up my window and pulled my car out of park, going back out on the road. I grabbed my cell phone and dialed the number to the house.
"Hello?" JC answered.
"It's me," I said.
"Who was that voice I heard?" he asked.
"I got pulled over," I told him. "Why? Are you okay?" I nodded, forgetting that he couldn't see me. "I was speeding. He let me off with a warning."
"Where are you now?"
"I'm coming home."
"Lance, about earlier... I didn't mean what I said, I just-"
"I know, Josh. You don't have to apologize, I understand."
"Yes I do. You were just trying to help me, and I just blew up. I'm just... so confused right now, you know?"
I nodded, still not realizing he couldn't see me.
"Are you coming home?" he asked. "Yeah."
"Okay. And Lance? Is it okay if we go to lunch with my mom tomorrow? She called after you left, and she sounded like she really wanted to go, so I just-"
"It sounds great. I'll see you when I get back."
There was silence over the line, like JC was thinking of what to say. I thought maybe he had just hung up the phone, but then he said, "Okay, bye."
The click over the connection let me know that he was disconnected, but I couldn't help but notice that when he said good-bye to me, it sounded like he was holding back tears.
*
We let Karen chose the restaurant, and it was a little shocking when she pulled into McDonald's. She had picked us up, and JC was sitting in the back with me, our hands entwined. Karen didn't say anything.
I looked at JC's hand, grasping mine tightly. I thought back to last night, when I had gotten home. JC had pulled me into his arms and we had just stood there, holding each other, before I pulled away and saw that I wasn't the only one with red, puffy eyes.
"I love you Lance. I... I wanted to tell you over the phone... but I was so afraid that after what I said that you didn't... that you didn't..."
I put my hands over his lips, silencing him. How could JC doubt the way I felt about him? I loved him so much that it hurt sometimes, and I knew I would never feel the same way about anyone. Ever.
"I love you, okay? I love you, and nothing is going to change that." I poked him in the chest playfully, and he grabbed my finger, pulling the rest of my hand to his chest. I looked up at him, and I'm not sure who pulled who, but we were kissing, and I knew that I never wanted to fight with JC again. I wouldn't be able to handle it.
I realized that we'd have a lot of stuff to go through, to test our love, and Karen, sitting across from us at a booth in McDonald's was the first.
I wasn't worried, though. Because I knew the love JC and I shared could get us through anything.
And for anything, I was ready.
*
