~Faultless~ Author�s Note: For those who think Justin is, as the title says, faultless, or nothing-besides-perfect, this story is definitely NOT for you. The reason this is my personal favourite is because I trash Justin. Hell, do I trash Justin. And also because it�s my first short non-slash thing. This short is based on a newspaper article I read about Justin and Britney breaking up. Apparently, Justin �was frustrated by their hectic schedules and the constant gossip about their love life�. � that was what Justin�s friends said. Well, screw Justin and whatever his screwy friend said. I don�t buy that. If that�s what he feels, well, then he obviously doesn�t know the meaning of sacrifice. Now when I think back to all the times (which, for your information, was EVERY single time) that I wrote him as a real good guy in my stories, god, I feel like puking. Yeah, I have a good vibe about Britney. Maybe it�s cos everyone else is always dissing her, maybe it�s cos I believe that she�s not as slutty as everyone thinks, maybe it�s just cos she actually tolerated going out with Justin! I don�t know. All I know is that Justin is a bastard for dumping her if it was because he couldn�t take the damn pressure. Wouldn�t she be feeling more pressure than he is? At least he doesn�t have people screaming how slutty he is in his ear everyday, did he ever consider that? Who knows? It could even be a stunt. Aww� the teeny fans who really think Justin�s gonna give them the time of day just because he broke up with Britney? Two words � grow up. I�m pretty sure in a while, the two will come back married from a rendezvous trip to Rome. And Justin will say he loves Britney and she means the world to him *snorts* and a few months later, they�ll get divorced. Pretty typical sob story. I mean, doesn�t anyone else realize how STUPID this is? It could possibly be an attempt to get some spotlight. Doesn�t anyone else SEE that? Now the light bulbs are flashing in the teeny�s minds and they�re going, �Ohgodohgodohgod, Justin�s mine! MINE! He split with Britney and now he�s MINE!� Please, little girls, don�t be so damn pathetic. He will never get together with you. He�s a big famous hot *ugh, maybe to the blind* pop star. You are a typical screaming teenager. If he really DID get together with every crazy girl on the street, his life would be pretty full of girls. Kay, I�ve vented. I�m feeling much better. Hopefully, the story is what Justin haters � like me � are looking for. All I know is that he�s completely infuriated me today. Justin, you sucker! Oh yeah, but thanks for breaking up with Britney so she can go find a boyfriend who actually cares about her and doesn�t get his head all stuck up his ass like the conceited prick you are. Oh! Oh! And thanks for the inspiration for this short fic, it wouldn�t be possible if you weren�t such a bastard. *Smiles sweetly* I can�t believe this. This is so screwed up. I mean, why the hell are they all glaring at me like that? It�s not my fault. I just didn�t want to deal with this crap. I wanted to get away from the pressure, that�s all. Is there something so wrong about that? I know they�re friggin� disappointed in me. Especially JC and Chris. They�re looking at me like they can�t believe what I actually did. What�s so hard to believe? I would laugh if they would just STOP staring at me with that horror-struck expression. �What?� I snap. It�s just so infuriating, you know? The way they look at me as if I�ve committed the biggest crime on earth. JC shakes his head at me before turning away to talk to Bobbee. So he doesn�t approve of my decision to get away from Britney. So what? I don�t care. It wasn�t my fault. The reporters were just too much. They were killing me. Doesn�t he care about that? �You shouldn�t have broken up with her, Justin,� Chris says softly. I snort. What the hell does he know? Nothing. He�s not the prince of pop, he doesn�t know what it�s like to have people wanting to lick his sorry ass. I almost don�t catch his next three words, �Not like that.� Not like that? I feel the same surge of laughter coursing through my body. How else was I supposed to break up with her? It�s not my fault I wanted the friendship ring back. I gave it to her after all. I just want to give it to a more deserving person. Is that so bad? I mean, this isn�t my fault. Look at me. I�m twenty one! I can go out with any girl I want. I don�t want to be tied down yet � and look at Britney! She was already planning for marriage! I know she loves me. I know she cares for me. But I didn�t mean to bring it this far. It�s not my fault. We�re young and rash and impulsive, we do things like this all the time. �It�s not like she gave up her virginity to me or anything,� I mutter, turning away from Chris. The next thing I know, I feel Joey�s big hands on my collar, tugging on them hard. I wince before rolling my eyes. His eyes are blazing and for a moment, I�m scared. But then he hisses words at my face and I just force a bored, indifferent smile. �Don�t say that about Britney, Justin. You have no damned right to say that about her. Or ANYONE.� I push Joey�s hands off of me and dust myself off. I know everyone is looking at me, waiting for me to screw up. �Don�t you see what I mean?� I yell, stunning them all. �None of this is my fault! It�s your fault! NOT mine! The media was scanning for any slip-up I made, no matter how small. Those damned screaming RAVING fans out there � they want to marry me. GOD, they want to have my babies! Everything I do with Britney is picked apart and put under an intense microscope; it�s not my fault that I don�t want to deal with it anymore! I�m just a kid!� �You�ve been using that excuse for too long, Justin,� JC tells me quietly. I refuse to meet his eyes and I turn my back on all of them in a huff. �You�re not a kid anymore. You should know your limits.� I don�t care. It�s not my fault. I couldn�t take the hype and the media surrounding us. It was too much. It was only meant to be a game, but it took up so much time and energy that I just wanted to give up. So I did. I never told you guys this, but Britney was only a game to me. I led her on and acted as if I was all interested in her, but the truth is, I never was. I pretended, I lied, I never meant a word I said. Do you remember when I said Britney was my everything? Or that time when I said when you have the kind of relationship that Britney and I shared, it would be more special to show that you had taken the damn effort in hand making a birthday present? Well, let me tell you, that was all bullshit. I never meant a word of it. It�s not my fault the fans thought I loved her for real. It�s not my fault the fans actually believed I liked the woman I had grown up with. It�s not my fault the fans chose to believe that Britney and I would stay together forever. Because that was impossible from the start. You still aren�t getting the point, are you? I never loved Britney. It was all a lie, a game. I had fun, but I was bored and frustrated so I gave up on it. It�s not as if that�s my fault. I can�t help it if Britney got so deeply involved that she reacted this strongly. �Justin, when are you going to stop being such a bastard and grow up?� I know it is Chris growling at me. But I ignore him. I shrug my shoulders and plop down on the sofa, switching on the TV. I wonder what�s good today. I roll my eyes when Chris whacks me harshly on the shoulder. �The world doesn�t revolve solely around you, you know? Britney has feelings too. You wanna prove something by being a playa� then do it! But why take it out on the woman who�s loved you more than life itself?� I shut out Chris� words, pretending not to hear him. He shakes me violently and I notice that no one is making him stop. It�s not my fault if he�s hurting me, and it�s not my fault if my natural reflex is to punch him in the face. JC gapes at me before hurrying to help Chris. His lip is split from my ring brushing against it and his cheek is bruised. He looks coldly at me but I don�t feel guilt. It�s not my fault. He was hurting me. �I don�t know what you did to Justin Timberlake,� he says softly. �All I know is that the man sitting here staring at the damned TV set is not the Justin we loved. That Justin is DEAD.� He spits the word at me as if it�s venom. I merely shrug. It�s not my fault Chris is having a bad hair day. I wave him off and JC sighs ruefully as he drags Chris out of the room. Lance, who has been quiet, rises from his seat and looks carefully at me, scrutinizing me. I wave him off too. �Come on, Joey,� Lance says quietly, pulling Joey from his indignant stance behind my sofa. �It�s no use. Chris is right. The Justin we thought we knew is dead.� �Bastard. Son. Of. A. Bitch.� Joey punctuates his words by swinging his fists at the air as Lance tries in vain to drag him away. I ignore them as though they are mere figments of my imaginations. IRRITATING figments. �Let me go, Lance!� Joey shouts, tearing free from Lance�s grip and rushing up to me. He glares at me, drags me from the sofa and slams me into a wall. I flinch in pain but Joey just laughs bitterly. �Do you like it, Justin?� He asks me. But I can�t answer. I don�t know what he�s talking about. It�s not my fault he�s not making himself clear. It�s not my fault he�s so mad. I think he has PMS and just smirk. �Do. You. Like. The. Feeling. Of. Being. Abused?� he punches me in the gut and the smirk is wiped off of my face as I gasp for breathe, feeling my knees buckle. I sink onto the ground and I hear Lance cry out, �Don�t Joey! What the hell do you think you�re doing? No!� I scream when Joey�s foot connects with my body. �It�s not my fault!� I manage to wail. �I couldn�t take the pressure anymore!� Lance is crying in the background, begging Joey to stop. But Joey acts as though I�m the only thing he sees. Joey kicks me again, harder this time, and I barely manage to squeak out, Stop!� because it�s hurting so bad. �Do you understand what Britney felt like?� Joey yells, taken over by fury. I look up at him and there are tears brimming in his eyes. �I watched you. I saw the way she flinched at your touch. I saw the bruises on her arms and legs that she would dismiss as nothing when we were around. I SEE THE TRIUMPH IN YOUR EYES WHEN YOU�VE WON ANOTHER SCREAMING MATCH WITH HER! I see your cruelty, Justin. You�re such a damn bastard.� It�s true � not the bastard part � but the Britney things. I abuse her, I admit it, but she�s good with make up and she covers it up so well no one knows I lay a finger on her. I slap her and punch her in the gut and I kick her when we�re in a room alone and she does stupid things to piss me off like tell me she loves me. I DO feel triumph when I scream at her and she can�t take it anymore and just starts crying. But it�s not my fault she takes it � I never told her to. Joey is staring at me again and there is a hardness in his usually twinkling brown eyes that I have never seen before. It actually scares me. �Why, Justin?� Joey asks finally, his voice coming down a notch. �Why are you doing this to her? To us? To the people who care about you? �You act like you�re so damn superior, like you�re a head above us all. Well, believe me, Justin, you�re not. This group could have gotten by without you, you know. So don�t assume it was just your pretty face or your sorry ass that got us where we are today. JC is five times the man you are, twice your damn looks and I�ll screw myself if JC�s ass doesn�t attract as much, or more, attention than yours does. So don�t act like you�re the only shining star here, Justin, because you�re not.� Joey takes a deep breath and I just KNOW he�s going to continue berating me. �I�m a player, Justin, I don�t deny that, but I know the difference between one-night-stands and a broken heart! Dammit, you had that girl�s heart in your hands and you ripped it apart, Justin!� I shrug. It�s not my fault that Britney and the guys put up with me. They could have kicked me out a long time ago. But they decided to live with me. It�s not my fault they can�t stand me now. Or that Joey has suddenly gone mental. It�s not my fault. �Do you think Britney doesn�t feel this way?� Joey continues. �She gets abused by you and hurt by you and STILL she loves you. She�s called a slut and goodness-only-knows how many of your messed up fans have called her a bitch. Abuse is hurled at her from every single direction and ninety percent of it is because of YOU! And she doesn�t even get comfort or encouragement from you! You think this isn�t your fault? Oh god, Justin! You pretended to be interested in her, you got her to love you, go out with you, date you� and she put up with all YOUR insults and abuse as well as the FANS� abuse. Why? Because she loved you. �And now you�re telling her that she was doing the wrong thing? You�re saying that this is all her fault because she LOVED you? Dammit, Justin, you are so screwed if you can even THINK that! If you�re frustrated, what about her? She must be so much more exhausted than you are! If you take your head out of your ass once in a while, maybe you�d notice that the world doesn�t solely revolve around YOU.� I shrug, because I think Joey is stupid. It�s not my fault that this happened. None of this is my fault. NOTHING is ever my fault. I�m Justin-freaking-Timberlake. I have people falling over their own feet to do what I want them to. Then it starts. Joey loses control. And I can tell by the wild look in his eyes that I�m going to go through hell. �Freak this, Justin! Wake. UP! This isn�t just about you! It�s about everyone else! YOU have just been too caught up in YOUR world to notice!� Joey�s kicking harder and harder now and I feel the air leave my lungs as I scream. I scream and scream and I don�t stop to take a breath. It just hurts so goddamned much. �JOSH! CHRIS!� Lance is yelling desperately now, unable to pull Joey away from me. When JC finally comes in and sees what Joey is doing to me, he stands at the doorway for half a minute before pulling Joey away from my crumpled form. �If Lance wasn�t so worked up about all this, I�d have let Joey beat the crap out of you,� JC warned me, pulling the still-struggling Joey away. I manage a shrug. It�s not my fault. Chris comes into the room and pulls me to my feet. His fingers dig furiously into my skin and I almost yell again. He slams me into the wall and I see Lance cringe. JC pats Lance�s arm and pulls Lance out of the room, leaving me and Chris alone. �Get this Justin. You�re a bastard. You�re a conceited, arrogant, egotistical asshole who can�t see past the end of his nose. And now you�re over. Get out of the group. We can make it WITHOUT you.� I stare as Chris, my eyebrows raised. �Sure, Chris.� I mock. �We WILL, Justin. Just you wait and see.� I stare as Chris turns to leave the room. Then I collect myself and shrug. �It�s not my fault you wanna kick a golden boy out of your group. It�s your loss, Chris. And it�s not my fault at all. I�ve warned you.� Chris turns to stare at me before a bitter smile stains his lips. �We�ll manage without you, Justin. You�re not faultless.� End. |
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