| Chapter 14 |
| Josh and Justin arrived back in Florida early the next morning. Once Justin had calmed down and had a nap, he was able to drive when Josh was too tired. They both crashed at Justin�s house, Josh on the floor in Justin�s bedroom. The next few days, they spent most of their time together. Josh tried everything he could to make Justin laugh, or even smile, but nothing worked. One day, they were both in Justin�s room, lying on his bed and watching a movie that neither had seen or heard of before. Justin was lying on his back, head tilted towards the TV and legs bent up. Josh was lying beside him on his side, but he wasn�t watching the TV. He was watching Justin. Josh slowly reached his hand up and touched Justin�s curls softly. He did it often, so Justin just glanced up at him and then back to the movie. Josh began massaging his scalp, and as he did so, he moved closer and closer to Justin. When he was practically lying on top of Justin, Justin looked back over at him, but Josh was so close that their lips brushed together. Justin�s eyes widened, and he tried to pull away when Josh kissed him harder. Forcing his lips apart. He was finally able to push Josh off of him. He just stared at Josh, unsure of what to say. �Shit, sorry Justin,� Josh said softly, knowing from Justin�s expression that he�d done something very wrong. �What was that Josh? And don�t say a kiss cause I�m not stupid. Why did you kiss me?� he demanded, sitting up on the bed and scooting further from Josh. �I thought that maybe since Lance is out of the picture-� Josh started, but Justin interrupted him. �Stop,� Justin said. �Lance *isn�t* out of the picture yet,� he insisted. �I�m sorry. I thought maybe the reason you wanted me to help you practice stuff was because you wanted me,� Josh tried to explain. Justin made a face. �You�re my best friend, Josh, nothing more.� �Which is why I feel like a complete idiot right now. I�m really sorry,� Josh apologized again. �It�s ok. Really,� Justin assured him. �If you want to make it up to me, though, you can help me figure out how to get Lance back.� �I do want to make it up, but I think the first thing you need to do is try to call him when he gets home,� Josh told him. �Do you think he�ll even speak to me?� Justin questioned. �I honestly don�t know. Maybe, maybe not. It depends on how deep his feelings were for you,� Josh explained. �Oh God, I really screwed up, didn�t I?� Justin asked, tears welling up in his eyes. �Justin, you have a good explanation of what happened. If you can get him to listen to you, he�ll know what happened, and I�m sure he�ll forgive you. But if you don�t call him�� Josh trailed off, knowing Justin would understand. �Yeah, I�ll think about it. Thanks Josh,� Justin replied, moving closer to give Josh a hug. �So we�re ok?� Josh asked. �More than ok,� Justin told him, and they both went back to watching the movie. **** A week later, Brandi and Lance returned from Indiana. Justin found out from Josh, who�d heard from Joey. Joey had been at the party the day Josh and Justin left. He�d inquired about why they�d left, but no one wanted to explain the ordeal to him. Joey told Josh that both Lance and Brandi had seemed depressed and really upset at the party, and he was worried about them. Josh told him not to worry, that hopefully it would all be fixed soon. Upon hearing that Lance had gotten home, Justin desperately wanted to call him and try to explain, but he knew Lance probably wouldn�t accept his calls. He was miserable. Lance was equally miserable, if not more, as Justin. He wanted Justin to call, to just show an effort, to prove that what Lance had seen hadn�t been serious, but he knew he wouldn�t answer the phone even if Justin did call. He only wanted to know Justin still cared. Brandi wasn�t sure what to do to help Lance. He was obviously still really upset, and nothing she tried was able to cheer him up. She spent more time with him, just hanging around the house and watching movies, but she eventually got bored of that. �Lance, maybe you should just call him,� she suggested one day. He looked at her like she had three heads. �What?� �You heard me. You�re not going to stop being miserable until you talk to him and find out the story behind what happened,� she pointed out. �I don�t want to know the story,� Lance replied, crossing his arms over his chest. �Liar.� �Whatever.� �No, you listen to me, Lance. You had something good with Justin, do you think he�d really just do *that* in order to hurt you? I don�t think he is the kind of person that would do that. I�m sure he has a reason. Now you need to stop being so damn stubborn and call him,� she told him. �What about you? Shouldn�t you be listening to yourself and calling Josh?� he asked angrily. �I don�t know, we weren�t that close to start with. I don�t even know if he cares about me. Neither of knows what happened. Do you want me to call Josh first?� she responded. �Ok,� Lance agreed, turning back to the movie. Brandi left the room to go call Josh, and Lance waited for her to return with a good explanation. **** �Hello?� Josh said, answering his phone. He�d just gotten him from spending a depressing morning with an especially upset Justin. He couldn�t even be around Justin anymore without getting depressed himself. �Josh?� �Brandi?� �Yeah. Look, we need to talk,� she said. �Yes! We do! This whole thing was a huge misunderstanding,� Josh replied. �We�ll see. But I want you and Justin to come over here. Lance is here too. We all need to talk as a group. Lance is really hurting right now,� Brandi told him. �So is Justin,� Josh responded. �Justin-� �Wait,� Josh interrupted her, �before you say anything about how he doesn�t have any right to be hurting, please hear our story. I�ll leave now to pick him up. I�ll try to be there in half an hour, is that ok?� �Sure. See you soon,� Brandi said, hanging up and praying that Josh and Justin had a good explanation. She didn�t want her brother�s heart broken for a second time. **** Josh drove over to Justin�s house, trying to keep a positive attitude. Brandi had called, wanting to fix everything. That meant that at least she was thinking logically. She knew that Lance wouldn�t be ok until he knew what the story was, and she probably understood that Justin wasn�t the kind of person to cheat on someone he cared about. He just hoped that Lance would take Justin back. If not, he knew Justin�s condition would just get much worse. He had a hard time convincing Justin to get in his car and go somewhere without being told where, but he finally get Justin to agree. Justin pouted on the short ride to Brandi and Lance�s house, and when Josh pulled in the driveway, Justin�s eyes widened. �Josh?� �Yes?� �What are we doing *here*?� he asked softly, licking his lips and forcing himself to stay in the car. He wouldn�t run away, yet. �Brandi called, and she said she wanted us to come over and talk to her and Lance,� Josh explained. �Lance is in there too?� �Yes. Brandi said he�s really upset, and she wanted to give us a chance to explain what happened,� Josh told him. �I�m so stupid, Josh.� �Stop it, Justin. We�re going to go in there and explain what happened. Neither of us knows how they will react, but we have to take this chance, ok?� Josh encouraged him. �Ok,� Justin agreed softly, and they both got out of the car and made their way to the front door. **** �Did you call him?� Lance asked when Brandi returned from the other room. �Yeah.� �And?� �They�re coming over,� Brandi replied. �THEY?� Lance asked. �Yes. Josh and Justin are coming over,� Brandi clarified. �WHAT?� �You heard what I said. I told them we�d listen to their explanation. You know you want to hear what they have to say, you want to know why,� Brandi told him. �It�s too soon, Brandi, it hurts too much,� Lance responded, tears returning to his eyes and a few escaped ones running down his cheeks. �Listen to me, Lance,� she said softly, tilting his head up so he would look into her eyes. She dried his tears as she spoke. �I�m here for you. We�re going to get through this together, and hopefully they will have a good explanation. If not, then we�ll deal with that later. Are you going to be ok?� �Yeah,� Lance sniffled, knowing she was right. He was just scared. �Are you sure? Because I can call again and tell them not to come,� she suggested. �No, I can do this,� Lance assured her, wiping at his eyes and giving her a pathetic excuse for a smile. But the smile faded when the doorbell rang. |