Justin sighed and leaned his head against the cool glass of the SUV window. He could see the fans outside, but the tinted windows hid him from view. He felt horrible for the things he said earlier. He didn’t mean it. Not any of it. He didn’t think he was better than JC, or any of the guys for that matter. If anything, JC was better than he was. Sure, Justin could sing and dance and write music, but JC had pure, raw talent. Most of Justin’s fame within the group, and by himself, was based on his looks. He knew this, and couldn’t believe he’d said the things he said. He’d snapped and wanted to hurt JC. He’d never physically hurt him, but he knew what buttons to push, know just what to say to piss him off. And he had. And he felt like an ass for it.
“You ok, man? You’ve been weird most of the day.” Chris was sitting next to him, looking at him intently, trying to figure out what was going on in his friend’s head. Chris had apologized for the night before and everything was cool between them again.
“Jace and I had another fight. I said some things I really really shouldn’t have said.”
“You guys had another fight? When?” Chris was shocked. Last he knew, JC was going to apologize to Justin, try and get him to talk about what was going on between them. Now he finds out they had a fight? He was confused.
“When he got here today, he apologized but I was an ass about it. So when he went to the tents today, during the skills challenge, I followed him. I was going to apologize for being an ass. But he was leaving and we kind of got into it again. I was just so pissed because he flipped out on me yesterday and here he is leaving early today.”
“Dude, he went to the doctors. Dre came out and said the medical staff on hand wanted to see him for his sunburn. When he went back there, apparently they thought he should go to the doctors for it, as a precaution.” Justin groaned and dropped his head back onto the headrest.
“I’m such a dumb fuck!”
“You two really need to do something about this lack of communication going on here. Maybe you should just sit down and talk. Possibly with a moderator, or someone to play interference if necessary, present. But you need to talk to him, rationally and without anger clouding the conversation.”
“The problem is, any time we get around each other, one of us ends up getting pissed and saying stupid shit we don’t mean.”
“So don’t get pissed. Let him talk, then you talk. Let it all out. This needs to be dealt with. Neither one of you is enjoying this and, if for nothing else, you need to at least have a working relationship around each other. When we go back in the studio, I for one, am not going to put up with the two of you bitching at each other every five minutes. Do something to fix this, J. Do something or I will.” Chris had gone from caring friend to meaning business in record time. Justin knew he was serious. But he wanted this fixed as much as Chris seemed to. Sighing again, he closed his eyes, his head resting against the back of the seat again. He’d talk to him, without letting anger get in the way. And he’d do it as soon as he could.
*****
His chance came sooner than he had expected and he wasn’t really ready, but it was time. He wasn’t going to pass up another chance. JC was walking through the lobby when Justin entered the hotel through the front doors. Motioning to his bodyguards, Justin hurried up his pace, reaching JC just as he was stepping into the elevator. Justin caught the door and stepped in next to him. JC looked at him for a moment, but then turned away, obviously still mad about earlier.
“Jace, can we talk?” JC turned to look at him again, but didn’t say anything. He simply stood with his arms across his chest. Justin saw his features set defensively across his face, saw the skeptical look in his eyes. He ran a hand over his shaved head and met JC’s eyes again. “I mean a serious talk. Without anger getting in the way.” JC visibly relaxed, letting his arms fall to his side, and nodded.
“Upstairs. Wait till we get upstairs.” Justin nodded and they rode the rest of the way in silence. Justin used the time to try and figure out how he was going to start this conversation. There was so much between them that they both needed to say to each other. So much had not been said over the past year and they needed to fix that. He knew an apology was going to be first, but after that he was at a loss. He didn’t want to say anything to make JC get defensive again, because a defensive JC became an angry JC and in turn, Justin knew he would get angry. Or start pushing buttons like he had done earlier.
Stepping off the elevator, JC motioned for Justin to follow him to his room. Opening the door, they both stepped inside and JC moved across the room, taking a seat on the sofa. Justin followed and sat in the chair across from him.
“This could take awhile. I figured we might as well get comfortable,” JC said, smiling softly at Justin. Justin couldn’t help but smile back. It was the first time he’d seen that smile directed toward him since the end of the Celebrity tour and he had to admit, it felt nice. Taking a deep breath, he met JC’s eyes and prepared to start talking.