| Chapter Sixteen �Justin, please, let me in!� Patty pleaded with the door. Her heart was breaking and she could feel tears beginning to fall from her own eyes. �Go away,� Justin sobbed. �Just leave me alone,� he whispered. Joey pushed Patty out of the way, smiling at her apologetically, but she nodded and stepped back. JC was standing there. He put one hand on her shoulder and squeezed. The gesture was comforting and Patty wiped her eyes and smiled up at him adoringly. Joey pounded on the door. �Justin, if you don�t open this door and let someone in, I am going to kick your ass into the middle of next fucking week.� �You don�t mean that,� a small voice said from the other side. �Fuck you. I do.� Joey stepped back and waited. �Well, I don�t believe you,� Justin shot back. �Goddamn it, Justin, if you don�t open this door, I�m going to kick your fucking ass into the middle of next week!� Lance yelled. Justin immediately opened the door. �I�m sorry I made you say �goddamn,� Lance.� Everyone was still staring at Lance flabbergasted. Lance simply said, �I got the door opened,� and went back to eating the cheese. Justin squinted at him, knowing that the attention had been temporarily shifted to Lance. �Are you still eating cheese?� he asked. Lance frowned, then smiled. �It�s some good cheese.� He frowned again. �Now what the fuck is your problem?� Justin�s face fell. Patty walked up to him, and took his big hands into her small ones. She looked up at him, her big brown eyes worried. �Tell them, Justin. Just tell them.� He began shaking his head when a female voice said from the back, �Then I will.� Patty turned at Elizabeth�s voice. The crowd parted as she walked up to where Patty and Justin stood. �But� but�� Patty stuttered. �Oh my God�� she whispered, sudden realization clouding her thoughts and eyes, �Lizzie� Elizabeth� you�re Lizzie� the one Justin raped�� Patty stepped away from Justin and Elizabeth, almost fainting. She lost balance and fell back. JC caught her before she hit the floor. �Can�t believe it�� she was still astounded. �You�re Lizzie.� Elizabeth nodded and looked at Justin, who was leaning against the doorjamb. He nodded weakly, confirming the fact. Joey yelled angrily, �Now wait wait wait�what the fuck? Elizabeth, you�re Lizzie? Who the hell is Lizzie and what the fuck is this shit that Justin raped somebody?� Elizabeth took Justin�s hand, who jumped at her touch. �It�s okay, Justin. I think everyone needs to be told the truth� most of all, you.� Elizabeth and Justin sat on a couple of barstools. The crowd gathered around. Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak. �Justin and I knew each other along long time ago. He used to hang out with my older brother. I had the biggest crush on Justin, but I was only 14 and he was my brother�s best friend, plus he was 16. So I gave up the dream of being with him. Anyway, one night, I needed a ride home from one of my friend�s houses, and since our car was in the shop, I told my brother to ask Justin to come get me. Sure enough, there came Justin. I knew he was drunk; I could smell the �Jim Beam� on him. I asked him to take us cruising, knowing that if I didn�t try to make a move on him while he was drunk, I might never have a chance. We ended up on some back roads, and we kissed. Kissed for a long time.� At that point, Elizabeth looked at Justin, who was staring back, his blue eyes wide. �We never had sex, Justin. You passed out before we could.� �But you� told me� I thought�� Justin tried to speak, but was at a complete loss for words. �No, Justin. You assumed that we had sex. I never even talked to you after that. I was so scared to say anything because I thought you might have been mad because I kind of took advantage of you. Then you left town�� Elizabeth looked down. �I didn�t believe that the love of my life was the same Justin Timberlake in the magazines, so I blocked it out. I blocked you out. Until I saw you this morning, I forgot you even existed. I should have known I would run into you. It�s not hard when you work at the reception area of a record company. �I don�t love you like that anymore, Justin. And that�s okay with me. And I didn�t know I would see you tonight, but I�m glad I came anyway, because you never gave me a chance to apologize.� Patty was stunned. �All this time and Justin always thought�� She closed her mouth. Elizabeth wiped tears from her face. �I�m sorry, Justin. I�m so, so sorry.� She stood up and walked out. Joey followed her. Patty put her arms around Justin, who clung on to her tightly. �Patty, I didn�t do it. I�m not a monster,� he mumbled. �Shhh,� Patty said, rocking him back and forth. He looked up at her. Patty was expecting to see tears, but he was smiling. �I�m not a monster. I didn�t hurt her.� Patty smiled at him. �No, Justin. You didn�t.� *~*~* �Elizabeth�� Joey grabbed her arm. She was shaking like a leaf. �Joey,� she pleaded. �I�m such a bad person, letting it go on�� She burst into fresh tears. Joey pulled her close and she cried into his chest. �No, shh,� he said quietly. �You didn�t know he thought that way. You didn�t have a chance to tell him. He left, remember?� She looked up at him and smiled gratefully. �Can we still have a chance after this?� she asked hopefully. Joey pressed his lips to hers. �I hope so,� he said. Chapter Seventeen HOME |