"C'mon Joey!" She begged through the door. "It's your wedding day for Christ's sake. Unlock the door."
"No!" Joey said. "I'm not getting married."
"WHAT?!"
"I wanna stay single forever!"
"Joseph Anthony Fatone Jr.! If I get this door unlocked and you're not dressed and ready to be at the altar I'm going to kick your skinny white - "
"Having problems?" Megan jumped when Justin suddenly appeared behind her.
"Uh...yeah." She said, sounding a little flustered. "Joey locked himself in his room again and we have to be at the church in less than two hours and I don't even know if he's dressed or not and - " She was cut off by Justin's lips that suddenly crashed over hers.
"Let me take care of it." He said when they finally broke apart. He knocked lightly on the door. "Joey?"
"What?"
"I just got back from the church. I saw Kelly there." He winked at Megan. "She looks real good."
There was a short pause. "How good?"
"Really good. And she's waiting for you." The door swung open. Joey grabbed Megan's hand and pulled her into the room.
"Help me get ready!" He exclaimed running around the room.
"OK. Calm down. Put your tux on and we'll fix your hair. I'll be right back."
Megan went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She took a deep breath. This day was getting more and more hectic. Her and Kelly had worked for weeks and the wedding had finally come together at the very last minute and, luckily, they guys had just enough time off for the wedding and a short honeymoon for the newly weds. For her and Justin that meant more time for them to spend together.
Ever since that night one month ago, Justin hadn't let Megan out of his sight. She figured that Joey and the guys knew what had happened because Chris would sneak her sly winks and she caught Joey giving looks of death to Justin after he gave her a kiss. Good ol' Joey. Megan thought. Always looking out for his 'little sister.'
She supposed that Joey thought it was his job to take care of her, since her parents were hardly ever there to do it. But the family business had to be run by somebody and Megan was willing to be the one to suffer for that. The Fatones had become second family to her and Joe and Phyllis were more like parents to her than her own. Now Kelly was going to join the family. Megan couldn't be happier.
"Megan?" She was shaken from her thoughts. Justin stood before her.
"Yeah?"
"Can I talk to you?" He sounded frightened...like a guilty child who had gotten caught doing something wrong.
"Is something wrong?" She was scared now also.
"There's just something I have to tell you." He took her hands into his. He took a deep breath. He had to tell her. It had been on his chest for months.
"This can't be good or it wouldn't be so hard to say."
"Yeah..." Here goes nothing... He thought. "Do you remember when you were in the hospital and I told you that I hadn't left your side for a second?"
"Yes."
"Well, that's not completely true." He said. "My mom came one night and made me go to JC's house to rest and eat."
"You probably needed it." She smiled. "I assume it was pretty boring looking at me lay there all day long."
"But something happened while I was at home that was...bad."
"What happened?"
"Britney showed up." There. Half of it was over. Hopefully she would just take that and not ask-
"What happened while Britney was there?" Please don't say that -
"She kissed me."
He expected her to slap him. He expected her to scream and yell and tell him that she never wanted to speak to him again. He stood in front of her and waited for the worst. What she did was the last thing he thought she would do: she stood there, motionless. She stared into his eyes as if trying to see if he was really saying what she thought he was saying.
She took a deep breath before speaking. "And...Did you kiss her back?"
"No! Megan I would never do something like that to you." He placed a hand on her cheek. "You believe me...don't you?"
"Justin I - "
"Megan! I can't find my pants!" She heard Joey call for her.
"We'll talk about this later. I can't do this right now." She pushed him away and walked quickly to Joey's room.
"MEGAN - "
"Ok, alright, I'm here." She interrupted. "Where was the last place you - Oh!" As soon as she entered the room, Joey tackled her onto the bed.
"I found my pants." Joey said struggling to keep Megan under him.
"Then get off of me you big monkey! I'm not in the mood to play right now!" She said angrily.
"I'm not playin'! I just want to talk to you." He grabbed her wrists and put them above her head. "You need to talk to Justin."
"You brought me in here... tackled me...just to say that?!" Megan yelled. "Are you crazy!"
"Well, how was I supposed to know that you were going to act so calmly about it?" He asked struggling to keep a hold on her.
"Joey if you don't get off of me - "
"Just listen to me!" He said firmly. "Listen...Britney means nothing to Justin. You are the one he lives for. He doesn't care about anybody but you. And it's driving him crazy because he thinks that he has to work so hard to impress you."
"Why would he think that he has to impress me?"
"Have you looked at yourself lately? You're gorgeous." Megan blushed severely. She knew she was attractive, but whenever Justin, or anybody for that matter, commented on that, she never really knew what to do.
"Well - "
"He's afraid he's going to lose you." Joey said softly. "Every time he's away from you, he worries that another man is gonna come along and sweep you away. You have to look at things from his point of view sometimes."
"When did you get so smart, huh?" Megan asked snuggling up to Joey. He wrapped a brotherly arm around her waist and shrugged.
"I guess when I had a kid and got engaged I smarted up a little bit." He said sounding very proud of himself.
"And now you're getting married." She sounded a little sad. "We're all growing up so fast."
"What's wrong MeMe?"
She smiled a little. She hadn't heard that name in a while. Joey and Collin had given her that name many years ago when she was just a child. She used to hate it because it made her sound like a child, but eventually she got used to it.
"Don't you remember when we used to climb trees and camp out in the woods behind your country house?" He nodded. "We're too old to do that now and that makes me a little sad."
"Hey, who says we're too old to do that?" Joey asked. "How about this? When I get back from my honeymoon and we get some more time off, we'll go back to the woods and you, Brianna and me will have a camp out. She needs a little taste of the good outdoors anyway."
"I'd like that." Megan smiled.
"Good. Now, if you don't mind, I have a wedding to get ready for." He picked Megan up and threw her over his shoulder, heading towards the door. "And since I'm getting married, I've turned into somewhat of a modest man."
"Yeah right!" She laughed. "Joey, you've never been a modest anything."
"Bye bye." He waved closing the door in her face after he set her down outside the room.
"Hey!" She banged on the door. "Listen boy, I'll have you know that I can open any locked door in this house so you better watch it!"
"Hey who you callin' a boy?!" Megan laughed and ran away before Joey even got to the door.
"Joey, it's time for us to get to the front of the church." Megan whispered, placing her hands on a very nervous looking Joey's shoulders.
"Oh...okay. Just give me a second." He stood up and straightened his jacket.
"You nervous Joe?" Megan asked straightening his tie and making sure he looked decent.
"A little." He said. "You look nice Megan. Beautiful as ever." She blushed.
She wasn't dressed in anything traditional for a wedding, it was everything but traditional. Even her spot in the wedding was out of place. Instead of sticking with tradition and having her be a bridesmaid, Kelly and Joey had asked Megan to be his best woman, as he called it. As much as the other guys meant to him, Joey couldn't put a price on his and Megan's relationship. The other guys had liked and respected the idea of having her on the groom’s side of the court. Especially Justin who was probably happier than Joey was about the situation.
Her dress was somewhat on the un-traditional side also. She looked at her dress and smiled. She had always hated having people wait on her, but she did enjoy having the seamstress make the dress for her. It was made to fit her perfectly.
It was a skirt and top set. The skirt went down past the floor and was a white-peach color. Sewn up the right side were little black buttons and across the bottom was stitched embroidery. She had a peach colored waistband that brought the skirt and bodice together. The bodice was made up of a long sleeved corset. Again, there were black buttons sewn up the side of the bodice.
To help finish the outfit the stylist that Joey had hired had curled her hair into little corkscrew curls to give it a late 1800's effect and her makeup looked perfect. The bridesmaids in Kelly's court had similar dresses and hair but they weren't nearly as elaborate.
"Thank you." She smiled and grabbed his arm. "Now come on! You don't want to be late for your own wedding do you?!" She looped her arm through his and walked with him to the door and then toward the alter.
Joey looked toward the front of the church at the group of people that had gathered at the door. He studied each of his groom’s men and smiled. JC was sharing a secret moment with Bobbie, Chris was playing with one of Bridget's curls, bouncing it around while she tried to swat his hand away, Lance was concentrating hard on what Angela was saying and Justin...well, Justin looked downright pissed off.
Since Megan stood as Joey's best "man", Justin had to escort the Maid of Honor. She was one of Kelly's cousins who had somehow weaseled her way up to that position only because Megan wasn't there to fill it. Candice (Kelly's cousin) had the biggest teen crush on Justin and you could tell by looking at her that she was about to explode. Justin wasn't even aware of the fact though. All he could concentrate on was the woman that was standing at the altar instead of with him.
The music started and everyone scrambled to his or her places. Brianna emerged in a much younger version of Megan's dress, a basket of flowers in one hand. Beside her was Jonathan, Justin's younger half brother, who marched down the isle, proudly baring the rings. Behind them came the wedding party: Justin and Candice, JC and Bobbie, Chris and Bridget, and finally, Lance and Angela. When they made their way to the altar, the music changed.
Everyone stood and looked at the two people standing at the door, one dressed in white the other in black. Joey couldn't for the life of him figure out why he hadn't jumped out of bed as soon as the sun was out and ran to the altar to wait for her. Slowly, her and her father made their way up to the front of the church where Joey was handed his bride and the ceremony began.
"I'm sorry..." Justin whispered from behind Megan.
"Shhh!" She hissed back. They were almost through with the ceremony so why did he have to do this now?
"Megan, please?" Justin said, this time with more intensity.
Slowly, so as not to be noticed, Megan backed up until she felt herself leaning against Justin's chest. He brought his right hand up and rested it on her waist. Slowly, he bent down so he was close to her ear.
"I'm sorry for everything Megan." He whispered. "I'm sorry for all those years I wasn't there for you and for not keeping in touch. I'm sorry for treating you like I did when you first came on the tour. I'm sorry for not protecting you from Jacob, for what happened with Britney...for everything." He placed a kiss under her ear. "Please Megan...I want us to go back to the way things were and - " She stopped him by placing her hand over his and lacing her fingers through his.
"I know you're sorry. And I'm sorry for not wanting to listen to you...I want us to get back to the way things were too." She said, tears shining in her eyes
Justin smiled and wrapped both of his arms around her waist. Megan relaxed and rested her head on his shoulder. This is how it's supposed to be. Justin thought. It was going to take some time, but they were going to be okay. He knew it. What neither of them knew though, was what their actions would hold for them in the future.
