Another knock on his door brought Justin out of his thoughts. Standing, he took a deep breath and readied himself for round two. But when he pulled the door open, instead of JC or Chris standing there, Joey was in front of him, huge, friendly smile plastered on his face.
“Dude, I just paid the concierge to stack all of Lance’s hotel furniture against one wall after we leave for the club. He’s gonna so pissed when he gets back tonight.” He chuckled lightly and flopped down on Justin’s bed, completely unaware of Justin’s current mood. But when Justin didn’t laugh at his prank he looked up at Justin’s face. “You ok, man? And how come you’re not dressed for tonight? Please don’t tell me you’re wearing sweats.”
“I’m not going.” Justin said, dropping his head, his shoulders slumping.
“Not going? How come? What’s wrong?” Joey sat up quickly, concern evident in his voice and eyes. Justin smiled slightly. At least one of his friends didn’t jump to conclusions. At least someone still seemed to care.
“Well, the reason I’m not going tonight is cause I’ve been sick. Had a bad sinus infection for a while. It’s a lot better than it was, but my doctor said to take it easy for a while. Kinda hard to do when you’re on tour and running around playing basketball and partaking in silly events, so I decided not to hit the clubs at night. That way I can just rest up for the skills challenge and the game.”
“That’s a good idea. It sucks that you’re not gonna be there though. I was looking forward to partying with my boys. It’s been way too long.”
“Yeah, it has.” Justin sighed. “Look, can you do me a favor?”
Joey nodded. “Of course, J. You know I’d do anything for any one of you. Name it.”
“Well, you know me and Jace haven’t exactly been getting along lately. It’s a huge, fucked up situation.” Joey nodded again. He knew. They all knew. It was hard not to know when they were all as close as they were. “Anyway, we just kinda had it out. Or rather, he had it out with me. I’m surprised you didn’t hear it. He was pretty loud. Anyway, I never got a chance to explain. He’s under the impression I’m not going because I’m going to hit another club with Cameron. Can you let him and Chris know the truth without making it sound like I’m begging for an apology or anything? I just don’t want them to be pissed at me cause of this.”
“Yeah, I can do that. I’ll just subtly mention it. Don’t worry about it, J. They’ll get over it.”
“Right,” Justin grunted. “Chris will. I’m sure of that. JC, I’m not so sure about.” His shoulders slumped and Joey stood, reaching for him and pulling him into a huge hug immediately. “I just can’t believe things have gotten so bad between us. All because of my stupid album. My stupid attempt at impressing him.” Joey pulled back to meet Justin’s eyes.
“What do you mean, impress him?”
“Nothing, forget it.” Justin pulled away completely and sat down on the bed, attention turned to the TV. “Have fun tonight.” And Joey knew better than to question it further. Justin had slipped, had said something he didn’t want to say and Joey knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t elaborate, no matter how much Joey persisted.
“Night kid, get some sleep. Everything will be ok. This will all work itself out eventually.” Justin nodded absently as Joey made his way back out into the hall, shutting the door behind him.
*****
JC smiled at the fans that were waving at him and gave a small wave back before turning back to the photographer in front of them. He, Chris, Joey, and Lance all posed and played around for the camera. It was still true, even after years of posing for pictures and hundreds of photo shoots, that they were still huge hams in front of a camera. All of them. Joey grabbed Chris around the neck, playfully choking him, his other arm still wrapped around JC, who struggled against being pulled down as well. The photographer snapped the picture quickly, capturing the moment.
Once they were all standing upright again and the photographer had finally walked away, Lance looked at the three of them.
“This is great. I didn’t even realize how much I missed hanging out with you guys until tonight. It’s just too bad Justin couldn’t make it. It just doesn’t quite seem right.” JC scowled but quickly pushed the thoughts aside. They’d all be thinking it, but Lance had been the only one to say it out loud. There was just something off about it just being the four of them. Something missing. Something incomplete.
“Yeah, well, it’s his loss. He decided to go party somewhere else with his fling of the month.” JC said, running a hand through his curly hair.
“Actually, he’s back at the hotel. He’s been sick lately and his doc advised him to take it easy. He’s saving his energy for tomorrow and Sunday,” Joey said. His voice was even, calculated. He was making a statement for Justin without making it seem like Justin had asked him to say it.
“He’s been sick? How come he didn’t tell us?” Chris asked, turning to JC. JC could only shrug, the weight of his harsh words earlier bearing down on him. “Well now I fell like a jackass,” Chris said, shaking his head.
“You feel like a jackass? I’m the one that flipped out on him.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t really supportive when you left. I told him I agreed with you.”
“I guess we both owe him some sort of apology. I guess I went a little overboard.” JC said. Joey’s hand landed on his back and JC winced slightly before Joey remembered the horrible sunburn JC had and pulled away, sending him an apologetic smile.
“He’ll forgive you both if you talk to him. I guarantee it.”
“That’s the problem. I’m sorry for what I said tonight, but that still doesn’t make up for the past year. Things are different now, Joe. He and I have gone through too much this past year for it all to be fixed. I don’t think things will ever be like they were before for us.”
“How do you know unless you try?” Joey asked, knowingly.
“I’m not sure I want to try. He’s at a new place now. He’s beyond this anymore. Even if tonight was simply about being sick, he’s still gotten a bigger ego than he ever had with this solo shit. He thinks he’s better than any of us and deserves more now.”
“That’s not true, Jace.” Joey countered. If what he’d seen, and started to hear, this afternoon were any indication, Justin was the same as he’d always been, only without his best friend by his side. And Joey was sure Justin wanted to fix it.
“Like hell it isn’t.” JC’s voice rose slightly and he crossed his arms over his chest, protectively. His stance was strained, ready for a fight. They could all read his body language and this was definitely defensive JC. “You haven’t heard the things he’s said this past year. This album changed him and personally, I don’t like this ‘new’ Justin.”
“Alright guys, cool it.” Lance stepped between them and looked from Joey to JC and back again. “There’s already enough animosity between JC and Justin. We don’t need to add anymore by you two fighting over it.” JC visibly relaxed. His shoulder slumping forward slightly.
“He’s right, sorry Joe. This has nothing to do with you.”
“It’s cool man. I’m at a different place than you. I’m seeing things differently. I’m not looking at it from the inside. Maybe I’m completely off, but maybe you need to talk to him. At this point, what could it hurt?”
“You’re right,” JC sighed. “I just don’t know if I can.”