"Here they go again..." Chris mumbled.
"How many is that today?" Bridget asked.
"FIVE!" The others answered in unison.
"Justin! Why can't you just drop it?!" Megan yelled.
"Because I know you have it!" Justin yelled back.
"Why in the hell would I have your phone book?!"
"You tell me!" He crossed his arms over his chest.
"Oh, It's because I'm afraid you're gonna call all your little girlfriends and get the hook up when we get to California. That's what it is. Lord knows how many you have waiting for you in Sacramento alone." She snapped.
"So now you're calling me a slut?!"
"MY GOD! You're impossible!"
"Why does he do that?" Joey asked.
"Because he gets dramatic when he's mad." Kelly informed him.
"And touchy." JC added.
"And annoying." Lance said.
"And his face gets all scrunched up and pink...like a little... baby...pig!" Chris doubled over on the floor laughing. To him, that was the funniest thing in the world.
"Juuustin?" Megan asked, a taunting in her voice.
"What?" He turned around, annoyed that he was being interrupted from his game. His black phone book was dangling in front of him. He snatched it out of her hand. "Thanks." Megan stood there with an expectant look on her face. "Anything else?"
"Is that all you have to say to me is 'Thanks'." She asked.
"What else do you want me to say?
"I know your mama taught you manners." She sat down next to him.
"I said ‘Thanks,’" He said.
"I'm not moving from this spot until you figure it out." Megan crossed her arms over her chest. Justin let out an aggravated sigh and went back to his game. Megan sat and watched as he played Mortal Combat. "Do the little kicky turny thing." Megan told him when she saw he was losing.
"Not yet. I do that at the end of the match." Justin said.
"No do it now so you can knock his power down and then hit him with that freezer gun thing and kill him!"
"Megan, I've been playing this game for years. I think I know how to play it." He snapped.
"Fine." She said. Right when Justin was about to make his move, the computer seemed to sense he was in trouble and got Justin's player into a death grip. Justin melted into a pitiful heap at his opponent’s feet.
"Dammit!" Justin yelled throwing controller down.
"I told you." Megan giggled. Justin shot her a nasty look and started a new game.
"If you're such an expert, why don't you play against me?" Justin challenged.
"As much as I would love to kick your skinny little butt," she gave him a sarcastic smile; "I have to go get my stuff ready. We're almost to the hotel."
"Chicken!" Justin called after her as she left the room.
"Yo Mama!" She called back. She didn't see the small smile that came over Justin's face. Although they were fighting, he still liked the fact that they could tease each other without screaming.
They had been arguing on and off all week. Stupid little things that didn't even matter would spark something in them that made them have the need to scream at each other. Earlier in the week, Joey had laughed at them, commenting that they sounded like an old married couple.
"Shut-up Joe!" Justin yelled.
"Hey! Don't yell at him!" Megan yelled back.
"Don't tell me how to talk to my friends!"
"Well he's my friend too and I said don't yell at him!"
"Since when can you boss me around?" Justin asked crossing his arms over his chest.
"Since you started yelling at my friends!"
Afterwards, Justin had laughed at the absurdity of the situation. He wasn't mad anymore. She was still mad at him though. There was nothing he could do about that. He just had to wait until she got over...whatever was wrong with her. He couldn't stand fighting with her. It had been almost a week since they'd had a normal conversation. He hadn't even thought of trying to kiss her. It was driving him nuts.
"Is everybody ready?!" They heard Andy (one of the drivers) ask. "We're almost there."
"I'm ready." Megan spoke quickly. "I was born ready."
"Me too." Justin smiled.
"Justin! Ugh!" Megan stood up and moved away from him.
"We're here!" Andy called just as Justin was going to say something to her.
"Thank God!" Megan grabbed her bag, stepped off the bus before anybody else, and ran to the hotel.
"What am I doing?!" Justin asked Lance desperately.
"Just give her some time...she'll get over it."
"It's been almost a week!"
"J, you have a lot to learn about women." Joey shook his head sadly.
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean, Joseph?" Kelly appeared behind him. Joey gave Justin a look that said: 'Watch this.' He turned around, a big smile on him face.
"Nothing honey. I was just explaining to Justin that all girls need is a little love and affection."
"Sure you were..." She rolled her eyes, not believing a word he was saying.
"No really. Justin wanted to know what to do to make Megan not be mad at him anymore." He got a sad look on his face. "You believe me...don't you?"
"I guess." Kelly smiled. She placed a kiss on his nose. "Just hurry up. It's your turn to feed the baby." She picked up Brianna and went into the hotel. Joey looked back at Justin who had a look of admiration on his face.
"How - did you do that?" He asked.
"Nothing to it." Joey shrugged. "You just have to know the right things to say. I'll see you inside." He gave Justin a pat on the shoulder as he walked out of the bus.
Justin shook his head in disbelief. He had to try something like that on Megan. He just had to find her...
Megan, being the first to enter the hotel, was the first to get to the room that her and Justin would be sharing. She set her things on the floor and sat on the bed. So many things were going through her head that she felt like she was getting a migraine. Her thoughts of Jacob were the biggest cause of the pulsating pain in her temple.
He was everything a girl could want: Gorgeous, charming, and sweet. In the beginning of their relationship, he was loving and kind. He opened doors for her and bought her little presents just because. However, after a while, the charming, loving, sweet Jacob turned into an abusive, controlling, horrible Jacob. And Megan had thought it was all her fault. She had to be doing something wrong. He wouldn't do those things just to do it...would he?
Her friends had seen the bruises and cuts. They tried to get Megan out of the relationship, but she wouldn't listen. They just didn't know, didn't understand. Her and Jacob were in love. The "few" instances that he had been abuse toward her were nothing serious. They always worked it out in the end. He would apologize many times and tell her that he loved her many more. She believed it every time. Until the last one. By the time he was done with her, she was barely conscious. She woke up in the ICU at the hospital.
Joey had flown in from Germany that very day to be with her. Because only immediately family was allowed in the rooms, he lied and said he was her brother. Later, he told her that since the young nurse had taken a liking to him, it wasn’t very hard to get her to let him in the room.
He had sat by her bed and held her small hand in his much larger one until she regained conciseness. She wasn’t surprised that he was the only one there. Her parents were both out of the country on business and her older brother was in Aspen on a skiing trip with his Frat brothers.
Joey had demanded that she tell him everything. So she did. Through her sobs, she told him about the years of abuse she had gone through while she was with Jacob. The fights, arguments, and the many times she had heard he was cheating on her.
Joey made her promise never to see Jacob again. So far, she had been able to keep that promise. It was only a matter of time though, before Jacob would find out about her and Justin.
“I need a walk…” She mumbled to herself. She grabbed a key card from the dresser and took the elevator to the lobby floor but hit the close button before the door even opened all the way.
There were hundreds of girls crowding the lobby. They had somehow found out that NSync was staying there. There was no way she was going to get through that crowd without getting herself trampled…or without becoming deaf. It was amazing how loud 8 year olds could get.
When she got back up to her floor, she took the back door to leave the hotel. The alley was dark. She stuck her head out and glanced around. She didn’t see anything intimidating so she stepped out and started walking toward the street. She started walking faster but just before she reached the sidewalk, she was jerked back. When she tried to scream, a hand covered her mouth.
“Don’t scream. Don’t talk. Don’t move.” Her attacker said as he pulled her back into the alley. Megan resisted. She went to elbow him in the stomach but he grabbed her wrist and twisted it around her back. She yelped in pain. “I said don’t move!” He spun her around so she was facing him. Her heart dropped. Jacob?!
“Why won't you just leave me alone?” She asked desperately.
“Because nobody make a fool out of me and gets away with it.” He shoved her to the ground.
“What are you talking about?”
“Did you think that no one would find out about you and Pretty-Boy?!” Jacob asked as he knelt next to her.
“How did you - ”
“You’re really too fat to be wearing those little green dresses, Megan.” A look of realization came to her face. “That’s right baby doll. The whole world saw you flaunting yourself with him. That includes all of my friends. Do have any idea how much they made fun of me when they found out. They called me a loser because I lost my girl to some fag boyband pretty boy.”
“I’m sorry Jacob.” She started crying. “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“Bull!” He had her backed against the rough brick wall of the hotel. “You knew all along what would happen.”
She shook her head desperately, knowing words wouldn’t help at all. She was trapped. She dropped to her knees and started crying it was all she could do.
“Oh quit crying.” He said grabbing her by her hair. “Let’s go upstairs. We have a lot to talk about.”
Megan reluctantly led him back up to her room. She figured that as long as she did what he wanted, he wouldn’t hurt her. That’s likely… she thought. When they entered the room, she turned to confront him.
“If they find you here -“ He reached back and slapped her. Her head snapped to the side. “They’ll arrest you Jacob.” She finished as if nothing had happened.
“Not if they don’t find me.” He smiled smugly.
“I’ll scream.” She threatened.
“Oh I don’t think you will.” He pulled up his shirt revealing the 9-mm that was tucked in his pocket. Her eyes widened.
“What are you going to do?” She asked quietly her eyes never leaving the gun as he pulled it out.
“I won’t hurt you too bad as long as you don’t put up a fight.” He said advancing toward her.
“What are you going to do?” She asked again. He didn’t answer, he just shoved her onto the bed and climbed on top of her. Omigod…oh God help me...!
“What did you think you were doing, huh?” He was so close to her, she could feel his breath on her face. “Flaunting yourself in that little dress that barely covered you…you’re such a tease.”
“I wasn’t wearing it for you.” She said struggling against him.
“Well your boyfriend sure did appreciate it didn’t he?”
“He sure did.” She spat knowing it was a mistake before it even came out. He slapped her.
“Shut-up!” He shouted. She was thrashing against him. “When did you get so feisty?” He laughed.
“Get off of me!” She said.
“Oh I don’t think so.” It was obvious to him that she wasn’t going to do this willingly. “Calm down woman!”
“Jacob get off of me! Please?!” She begged. He wouldn’t so she stopped fighting him.
When he lessened his grip on her wrists she pulled her hand away and yanked her necklace off. She swung at his face with it and he cried out in pain, grabbing his cheek. When he pulled his hand away from his face, she saw the damage. A clean slash went across his cheek, blood dripping from it.
“You bitch!” He yelled snatching the necklace away from her and throwing it across the room. He touched the cut and looked at the blood on his finger. “Damn, that’s gonna leave a mark.” He shook his head at her disappointingly. “That was a big mistake Princess.”
“What are you gonna d - ”
Before she was finished, he started hitting her. She could hear what he was saying, but couldn’t make out the words. She fought against him until she fell into complete darkness.
Justin took a deep breath before opening the door to the room.
He wasn’t ready for another fight with Megan. He was ready to make up with her. He had walked around the hotel for a while, thinking about what he was going to say to her. He decided on just apologizing for everything.
“Megan?” He called hesitantly. “Baby, where are you? We need to talk.” He walked further into the room and saw her shirt lying on the floor. He smiled and shook her head lightly. “You know Meg, your mama’s not here to clean up after you.” He joked.
His smile faded when he saw something shiny on the floor not far from her shirt. It was the necklace he had gotten for her in Colorado for Valentine’s Day. Something wasn’t right. He picked up the necklace and examined it closely. It had been torn off; the latch was broken…he frowned and placed the necklace on the dresser. He’d take it to get fixed tomorrow.
He stood up and looked around for anything else that wasn’t right. Megan’s clothes were on the floor, but that wasn’t anything new. Her suitcase lay untouched on the floor next to the bed. His bags were sitting next to it. He saw Megan sleeping and smiled softly.
He pulled his shirt off and pulled the covers back deciding it would be nice to get a little sleep with his girl before the concert. He climbed in next to her and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her against him. It was when he pulled her hair off her shoulders to kiss her neck that he saw the first bruise. He frowned and turned her over to face him.
“OMIGOD! Megan!?” He could barely recognize her. He jumped off the bed and pulled the blanket off of her. “Oh God!”
She lay there in just her bra and underwear. Her whole body was covered in bruises. Justin stood above her in shock before realizing he had to do something. He ran to the door and swung it open.
“Mike!? Lonnie?! Somebody get in here!” He yelled at the huge men standing outside the door.
“Youngblood, what’s wrong with you?” Lonnie laughed following Justin into the room. His smile faded when he saw Megan on the bed. “What happened?!”
“How the hell am I supposed to know?!” Justin shouted. “I just came in and found her like this. Is she breathing?” Lonnie ran over and checked her pulse.
“She’s got a pulse.” He said. “We have to get her to a hospital.” Just at that moment, the others came into the room to see what all the yelling was about.
Joey spotted Megan and his face went pale. “What the hell happened?!”
He was a little too calm for Lonnie’s liking. Sensing trouble, he grabbed Joey’s arm. “Joe, calm down.”
“Godammit what happened to her?!” Joey’s voice boomed off the walls.
“We don’t know!” Justin yelled. “Let’s just get her to the hospital.”
It was then that everyone sprang into action. Justin pulled his shirt back on and picked Megan up off the bed wrapping her in a sheet so she wouldn’t be exposed when they brought her downstairs. Joey got on the phone to call Johnny. He told him that they wouldn’t be at soundcheck because of an emergency. Mike brought the car around while everyone else ran down the stairs going out the back to avoid the crowd in the lobby. When they got to the hospital, Megan was rushed into a room and everyone was shut out including Justin.
“Now will you please tell me what happened?” Joey asked once they were directed to a private waiting room.
“I can think of only one person that would do something like this to her.” Justin snapped.
“Justin - ”
“And you knew he would do it! You knew!” The rise in Justin’s voice scared everybody, including Brianna who burst into tears. He rarely yelled.
"Justin please - ” Joey picked up Brianna and tried to comfort her. "Don't yell at me!"
"Don't yell at you?! This is all your fault!" By this time, Justin was on his feet just inches from Joey. Kelly stepped in-between them.
"Now, hold on a second!" She pushed them away from each other. "How could this be Joey's fault? We don't even know who did this."
"Joey does." Justin snapped. "We both do."
"Who?" Everyone asked.
"Jacob Mandrake." Joey sighed.
"Who?!"
"He was this guy that Megan dated for a long time. Years. He was abusive towards her and the last time this happened...well, it wasn't much different from this." Joey sat down in a lumpy waiting room chair and put his head in his hands. "He saw her with another guy and he freaked out. It happened when we were in Germany and I flew in as soon as I heard. Now it's happened again...He saw her with Justin on TV and he did the same thing he did last time. "
"Except this time we could have stopped it but Joey here decided to keep it a secret for three weeks that Jacob was coming after her. Now look what happened?" Justin said shooting Joey a look. In a second, Joey was on his feet again and in Justin's face.
"Don’t blame this on me! If you wouldn't have been such a stubborn ass and admitted that you were wrong about yall's fight, you could have protected her!"
"If you would have let me tell her that he was coming she would have been looking out for him!” Justin was furious. How could Joey blame him for all this when he didn’t do anything wrong? You did do something wrong you idiot! He thought. You let her go into the hotel by herself without security…
“Well if you - ”
“Stop it!” Bobbee forced her small 5’4” frame between them as Kelly had done minutes before. “I’m tired of this! While Megan is in there in pain, your damn male egos are taking over your immature little brains! Now stop arguing and act like the mature adults you claim you are!”
“Excuse me?” Everyone turned in the direction of the voice that interrupted them. “I’m Dr. O’Banan I just saw Megan.”
“Is she alright?” Justin asked, jumping to his feet.
“We think she’s going to be okay - ”
“Oh thank God.” Justin sighed in relief.
“But she’s suffered some bad injuries.” The doctor added.
“What does that mean?” Joey asked.
“We don’t know yet. We have her stabilized but with the injuries she’s sustained her progress could go two ways: she could wake up and just feel like she had a long workout…or she could slip into a coma. We’ll only know when it happens.”
“Can we see her?” Justin asked.
“We ask that only one person see her today. Tomorrow you all can come during visiting hours. We’re doing everything we can for her.”
“Thank you, Dr. O’Banan.” Joey said. The doctor gave an apologetic smile and left the room. Joey looked at Justin.
“You go ahead.” He said.
“No. She’s like your sister, you go.”
“She’s your girlfriend J. I’ll see her tomorrow. You go in there.” Joey insisted.
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.” He said.
“Are y’all gonna stay?”
“I know I can’t.” Kelly said. “Brianna’s tired and I have some things that I need to do at the hotel.”
“I think we’ve all had a long day.” Angela said from her seat in Lance’s lap.
“Johnny said he’d cancel the concert.” Chris said. “He said that we’ll reschedule it or something.”
“Tell him I said thanks.” Justin said.
“We’ll see you tomorrow J.” Lance said as everybody filed out of the room.
“You call me if anything happens.” Joey said.
“I will.” Justin nodded. Joey gave him a brotherly hug and left. Justin took a deep breath and entered Megan’s room. He winced and turned away.
She looked horrible. She had been cleaned of any blood that was on her before and all her bruises were clearly visable. Her lip was split and there was a butterly bandage was on her forehead. She had a big bruise on her cheek. There were tubes coming out of her from every direction, machines that monitered her heart and other vital organs were beeping. Beeping... Beeping is a good thing...Justin thought.
He walked to the side of her bed and took her small pale hand into his own. He pulled a chair over and sat down. Then he did something that he hadn't done in awhile; he prayed. He prayed that she would open her eyes and see him sitting there with shameless tears running down his face. He prayed that Jacob would be found and punished for what he had done to her. He prayed that she would be okay. Most of all, he prayed that she would forgive him for letting this happen.
