JC was just slipping his shirt over his head when someone knocked on his door. Pulling his shirt down over the waist of his jeans he moved quickly across the room and pulled the door open. Chris stood before him, green tee shirt and jeans in place, bandanna tied around his head. That seemed to be his new look this week but it suited him well with the hairstyle he had going on.
“Justin’s not going,” Chris said, stepping into the room.
“What do you mean he’s not going?”
“I mean he’s in his room, laying on the bed, watching TV. He’s not getting dressed, he’s staying here tonight. He’s not going.”
“What the hell? What’s his problem lately? It’s like he’s gotten too good for all of us.” JC moved toward the still open door but was stopped by Chris grabbing his wrist lightly.
“Jace, man, let it go.”
JC shook his head. “I can’t, Chris.” He pulled out of Chris’s grip and made his way down the hall toward Justin’s room and knocked roughly. “Timberlake, open the fucking door!” Chris stepped into the hallway and leaned against the far wall, arms across his chest, ready to play interference if necessary. With the two of them lately, he knew he wasn’t overreacting. The door flew open moments later and Justin stood, glaring, on the other side. JC pushed past him into the room.
“What do you want?” Justin asked calmly.
“Chris tells me you’re not going tonight.”
Justin shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. “Chris told you right.”
“When the hell did you become too good for everyone? In case you’ve forgotten, you’re still part of this group. Unless of course I missed the MTV news brief with you announcing you’d quit the group to stick to your damn solo career.”
“There was no news brief. I still am a part of this group, Jace.”
“Then fucking act like it. You’re not better than anyone else in this group, as much as you’d like to think you are. Get your fucking head out of your ass and start remembering that the fans, fans like the ones waiting for us at the club, are the ones who make us. We’d be nothing without them. You seem to have forgotten that. And on top of that, these fans paid good money to get into this club tonight. Money that is going to go to your fucking charity. And you can’t even be bother with showing up.” JC was yelling and pacing across the room. Chris had come to stand in the doorway, still waiting to see if he was needed. Justin tried to talk, but JC cut him off before he could say anything. “You miss the fucking tip off party, you can’t be bothered with showing up for the scavenger hunt, and now you’re not even going to the club. I really hope Cameron is worth all this, because you’re fucking this up for yourself.”
Justin’s mind registered the last statement that JC had made and his jaw dropped. “How did you...?”
“How did I know about Cameron? It’s not like it’s a huge secret. You guys have pretty much been everywhere together. I’m not blind, Timberlake. And I know she’s here. Well I hope you have a fucking fantastic time tonight. My guess is you’re waiting till we all leave then slipping out to another club where none of the fans are, with her. Nice, Justin, really nice. Fuck the fans, as long as you get some pussy tonight.” JC turned and pushed past Chris out into the hallway and headed back to his own room. Justin could hear the door slam and winced slightly.
“Chris, man.” Justin turned to him for some sort of support. It wasn’t like that at all. Everything JC had said hurt, but it really wasn’t like that.
“I’m with him, J. What you’re doing isn’t right. I’m not going to scream and yell, but I agree with him completely.” Chris turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Justin slid down the wall and pulled his knees to his chest. JC hated him and Chris wasn’t happy with him. And all because of a stupid album. He had hoped that this weekend they could resolve everything, but now he had pissed JC off even more. Now it didn’t look like anything was going to get resolved.
The truth was, he’d been sick lately. He had a pretty bad sinus infection and even though it was getting better and he was feeling much better, his doctor had told him to take it easy. That was the real reason behind not going tonight. He was resting and saving up his energy for the events of the next few days. But he hadn’t even gotten a chance to explain that. Instead, JC and Chris, and probably Lance, Joey, and their fans, all thought he was going out partying somewhere else with Cameron, thought that he thought he was too good for all of them.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He whispered into the quite room. “It was just a fucking album and I wish I could take it all back. I wish I could take it back and things would go back to how they were before. I’m sorry.”