| Chapter 9 |
| The next morning, Justin was the first one awake. At first, he couldn�t figure out where he was. But then he remembered Lance telling him that they�d arrived at the camp, so he figured he was there. He remembered Lance tucking him and kissing his forehead before he fell asleep. He smiled softly and brushed his fingers over the spot Lance had kissed so tenderly. He got out of bed and put the previous day�s clothes back on since he figured all his stuff was still in the car. He headed out of his room to explore a little. His room was all the way at the end of a long hallway, and the first room he passed was Josh�s. He peeked in to see Josh still asleep and smiled. He was glad that his best friend was there with him. He looked across the hall into a small bathroom. He continued down the hall past the stairs to the master bedroom where he assumed Lance and Brandi were sleeping. The door was open, so he looked in to see that they were both still asleep in their beds. He then went downstairs and gasped at what he saw. The living room and dining room were all lit brilliantly through huge windows as the sun rose over the lake. The water sparkled as the sun shone on it. He stared out at the lake for a while before turning around to explore the rest of the house. There was a large kitchen, another sitting area with a TV and stereo, another bathroom, and an office. Then he went into the finished basement where there was a pool table, a ping-pong table, and another TV. �This place is awesome,� he whispered to himself, going back upstairs. He found the keys to both the cars and went to unload everyone�s clothes and other supplies from the car. **** Josh woke up to the scent of fresh coffee and what he thought might be bacon. He stumbled down the stairs after using the bathroom and was surprised to see Justin in the kitchen cooking. �Since when do you cook?� Josh teased. �Hey, be nice. I can cook bacon and pancakes,� Justin replied, sticking out his tongue. �And if you want coffee, you better be extra nice to me.� �All right, all right. It smells good,� Josh complimented him as Justin handed him a cup of coffee. �Thanks. I put everyone�s bags in the front hallway. I didn�t want to carry them upstairs, but everything is out of the cars,� Justin said. �Cool, thanks. Wow, there�s a great view, huh?� �Yeah, you should�ve seen the sunset this morning. It was gorgeous,� Justin replied. �You were up that early? Has that ever happened before?� Josh asked. �Not that I can remember,� Justin responded, laughing. �I slept most of the way here though, so I wasn�t that tired this morning when I woke up.� �Ahh, and how was riding with Lance?� Josh asked. �What do you mean?� Justin asked innocently. �Come on, Justin, don�t put on an act for me, I�m your best friend, right?� Josh questioned. �Well yeah, of course you are.� �So what happened?� �Nothing happened,� Justin insisted. �Yeah right. You might as well just tell me. At the rest stop last night you were both beaming and couldn�t seem to leave each other�s sides,� Josh pointed out. �Look, Josh, this isn�t any of your business,� Justin replied, annoyed. �Yeah, well, it used to be,� Josh said, walking out onto the deck. �Shit,� Justin swore to himself just as Brandi came down the stairs. �What�s wrong?� she asked Justin, having heard him swear. �Umm, nothing,� Justin replied quickly, but he knew she wouldn�t take that for an answer. Brandi looked around and noticed Josh sitting on the deck with his coffee frowning. Then she looked back at Justin. �Did you and Josh�� �Yeah,� Justin admitted, turning around to hand her a cup of coffee. �He was just asking all this stuff about Lance and insinuating things, and I just told him that it wasn�t any of his business. I think he�s mad.� �Well, don�t tell him I told you this,� Brandi said, looking over her shoulder to make sure the door was closed, �but Josh has been feeling a little insecure about your friendship since you met Lance. He told me about this in the car.� �Really? Why?� �He thinks that now that you have Lance, you don�t need him anymore,� Brandi told him. �Oh man, I didn�t mean to make him feel like that. And getting all bitchy with him probably didn�t help,� Justin stated. �No, probably not, but Justin, you didn�t know. You should go talk to him,� Brandi suggested. �Yeah, I should. Could you finish breakfast?� he asked. �Sure. And Justin?� �Yeah.� �Whatever this thing is with Lance� good luck,� Brandi said with a smile. �Thanks,� Justin replied before going outside to talk to Josh. **** When Lance made his way sleepily down the stairs about fifteen minutes later, Brandi was putting breakfast on the table. Josh and Justin were outside on the deck talking. Lance started to go outside, but Brandi stopped him. �Wait, Lance, they had an argument this morning, maybe you should just let them talk,� she told him. �Oh, ok. Do you know what it was about?� he asked. �It�s not for me to say.� �Oh.� You can ask Justin if you want,� Brandi replied. �All right,� Lance said as Justin and Josh came in from the deck for breakfast. They all sat around the table together and enjoyed Justin�s pancakes and bacon. He stuck his tongue out at Josh as he got compliments from Brandi and Lance, and even Josh had to admit that breakfast was good. Lance smiled, hoping that everything was ok between Justin and Josh. **** Later that day, when Brandi and Josh were playing pool in the basement, Lance had a chance to talk to Justin, who was sitting on the deck listening to music. �Hey Justin,� he said, tapping Justin on the shoulder to get his attention when Justin didn�t hear him. �Yeah? Oh, hey Lance,� he said with a smile. �Hey. Can we talk?� Lance asked. �Oh, sure. What about?� Justin questioned. �Um, Brandi said something about you and Josh arguing this morning, and I just wanted to make sure everything was ok,� Lance told him. Justin smiled, Lance was so sweet. �Yeah, we�re ok. He um, he was actually asking about you, about why we were so happy last night at the rest stop after our talk,� Justin explained. �Oh yeah.� �And I told him that it wasn�t any of his business, and he kind of got mad. Brandi told me that he�s been feeling, um, left out, I guess, since you and I became friends,� Justin told Lance. �He has?� Lance asked. �Yeah. And, you know, I told him he was still my best friend and that that would never change. I think he may still feel the same way, but I dunno what else to do,� Justin explained further. �Do you want me to leave you alone? Should we spend less time together?� Lance asked, praying that Justin would say no. �Oh, God, no. Lance, that�s not what I meant. I was thinking the opposite. I mean, since our talk last night, I want to be around you all the time,� Justin admitted. �What would Josh think about that?� Lance asked. �I don�t know. I�m not sure what to do. He just needs to get over the fact that I�m not *replacing* him with you. I can have two best friends, right?� Justin said softly. �Yeah, of course,� Lance replied, smiling at Justin. �Good, because I don�t want to have to choose,� Justin responded. �I definitely won�t make you choose, and I don�t think Josh will either,� Lance assured him. �Thanks Lance,� Justin said, give Lance a quick hug. �So you want to go downstairs and beat those two in pool?� �Hell yeah,� Lance replied, following Justin down into the basement. **** That night, all four friends sat outside on the deck as the sun started to set. �What�s this lake called again?� Justin asked. �Lake Monroe,� Brandi replied. �This is a beautiful spot,� Lance commented. �Yeah, definitely. Thanks for inviting us,� Josh said softly, smiling at Brandi. �Yeah, thanks,� Justin agreed. �No problem. I think we�re all going to have a lot of fun,� Brandi told them. �When does everyone else show up?� Justin asked. �Not for at least four days,� Brandi answered. Josh looked down over the water and spotted a boat and two jet skis down by the dock. �Hey, can we use those?� he asked, pointing to them. �Yeah, they left those out so we could use them if we wanted to,� Lance told him. �That�s cool, we need to try those out tomorrow,� Justin insisted. �They also have stuff for water skiing and tubing too,� Brandi told Justin and Josh. �Sounds like we�re going to have a fun day tomorrow,� Justin said, grinning. �Yeah. So who wants to go inside and watch a movie?� Lance asked. They all agreed that it was a good idea, so they headed inside to pick a movie and make some popcorn. |