Chapter 20
Justin pushed up the sleeves of
his long sleeve orange
Justin walked down the stairs and
shuffled to his kitchen. He opened his
refrigerator and scanned. Picking up a
Tupperware container, he opened the lid and turned up his nose. He practically tossed the container back into
the fridge and sauntered over to the phone.
He flipped through the phonebook and ran his long finger down the
columns searching for what it was his was looking for. He found the number and dialed.
A heavy accent came across the
line. "El Cocino, how may I help you?"
Justin turned around and leaned
his back on the counter. "Yes I'd like to place a take out order."
"Go ahead."
"Dinner
special of chicken fajitas. That's
it."
"Chican?" The man replied in a strong Mexican tone.
Justin chuckled slightly.
"Yes, chicken."
"OK, that will be ready in 15
minutes. Name please..."
"Justin.”
"OK, thank you."
"Yeah,
bye." Justin hung up the phone and immediately the
doorbell rang.
His brow connected in confusion
and his scrunched his lips to one side, wondering who it could be. Someone who knew the code.
He peeked through the glass
surrounding the large wooden door and smiled.
He opened it and looked at her with wide eyes.
"Oh noooo, not YOU!" Justin shut the door in her face and he heard
a scoff on the other side. She banged on
the door a few times and screamed.
"Let me in Timberfake!" He
smiled and opened the door grandly.
"Why
Meredith! What a pleasant surprise!" He mocked.
"Oh shut up." She pushed past him and he grabbed her waist.
She smiled as they began to walk
slowly through the foyer; him attached to her back.
"What are you doing here, baby?"
He used their newfound nickname for each other.
"I thought you might want
some help packing. Since
I didn't get to see you all today and barely yesterday with work and
school." He dropped his arms
from around her and picked his keys off the edge of a counter in the kitchen.
"Hey, I just put in an order
at El Cocino.
I need to go get it. You wanna come or just stay here?" Justin asked walking toward the door that led
to the garage.
Meredith opened the door for him
and leaned against it. "I'll stay here.
Is there anything you need to be washed so you can pack it?"
HE thought for a moment and his
eyebrows rose in realization. "Umm, actually, yeah. The laundry basket in my
bathroom, those clothes NEED to be washed."
"OK." She nodded and smiled.
"You are a sweetheart,
I'll be back in 30 minutes." He
gave her a super-sexy smile.
"Bye,
baby." Meredith kissed him lightly. He cupped her cheek to deepen it and she
pushed him out the door with a giggle.
"Bye." He quietly said and hopped into his Roadster.
Meredith watched him back out of
the driveway and happily sighed. She
closed the door and sauntered up to the stairs.
She yawned as she made her way to his familiar bedroom.
Piles of neatly stacked clothes
were everywhere. 3 pieces of luggage
were placed around the room. She
groaned a whine as she made her way to his bathroom and had to pass his huge
sleigh bed.
She wanted that bed all to
herself. She LOVED that bed.
Meredith entered the bathroom and
was hit with the smell of Justin's aftershave, cologne, and soap all mix
together. Of course it was a very faint
smell, but it made her smile none the less.
She found the clothes hamper and rolled her eyes when she saw it was
overflowing with clothes. Even a few
were on the floor. She struggled picking up the basket and finally got it
balanced. She laughed with what was
right there in front of her face. A pair of Tighty Whiteys.
She KNEW she would give him hell
for this.
Meredith walked back into the room
and was almost at his doorway when she dropped the basket and let all the
contents fall onto the floor. Her mouth
slowly dropped and she turned her head to the stereo that was softly playing a
familiar voice. A
singing voice that she knew VERY well. TOO well.
Her OWN voice.
It scared her a little. Then she realized when, where, what. She stomped to the CD player and popped the
CD holder, picked up the CD and looked at it.
It had no label on it. She left
the pile of clothing where it was and stepped on it as she stormed down the
steps gripping the CD. She put it in the
boze stereo system that filled his white living room
and took a seat on the couch. She
pressed play on the remote control and listened to her own voice over and over
again. The Boze system was a lot clearer than the one
in his bedroom. Somehow the music had
been added to it. The song was Dido's
"Thank You". It was if they
took the song and had replaced Dido's voice with her own.
She didn't know why she was
mad. In fact, it was very sweet that he
was listening to her voice. HER
imperfect voice when he could be listening to REAL musicians. But she had told him not to record it. And he did anyway.
20 minutes later and after hearing
the song over and over, the door in the kitchen that connected to the garage
opened.
"Honey I'm home!" Justin yelled with laughter, throughout the
house. He set the bag of food on the
island in the kitchen and tossed his keys with it. He peeked in the laundry room and was
surprised to see her not in it and even more surprised that no laundry was
being done.
"Mere?" He called out.
"In here." She said with no emotion.
Justin strolled over to her
sitting on the plush white leather couch and smiled.
"What are you doin?" He
questioned wrapping his arms around her neck from behind the couch. She pressed a button on the remote and the
room was filled with her song. Justin
slowly brought his arms back to his sides and stood up straight. He walked around the couch and sat down
beside her.
He sighed and finally spoke. "Listen, Meredith-"
"No! YOU LISTEN, JUSTIN!" Justin's eyes widened at her tone and he
almost laughed.
Her tone softened. "I asked
you NOT to record that Justin. And you
did anyway. I don't know whether to
slap you for going behind my back or to kiss you for wanting to listen to
it."
He smiled and turned on the couch
so he was facing her. "I'd choose
the latter." He giggled and she
turned her head to him.
"Justin." She whined and relaxed her shoulders.
"Baby, I'm sorry I did this
behind your back. But, I like to hear
you sing. And I know you wouldn't let me
record you unless you didn't know about it." Justin scooted closer to her and brought his
mouth to her neck.
"I love your voice. I love
YOU, angel." He kissed her neck
gently and she smiled. He continued to
caress her neck with his lips and just when she was about to tilt her head to
give him better access, she snapped out of her trance.
"That's not going to
work." She stated firmly and jumped
off the couch and walked quickly into the kitchen. She peeked into his bag and smelled the
strong scent of Mexican food.
Justin turned off the stereo that
was still playing her song and followed her.
He walked slowly trying to figure out something he could say to let her
forgive him.
"Meredith, what can I say to- " He stopped dead in his tracks and raised an eyebrow
at her. The box that was containing his
fajitas was open and she had a fork in her mouth. She looked at him like a deer caught in
headlights.
"What are you
doing?" He asked her like she was
crazy.
She swallowed loudly and removed
the fork. "Nothing." She said a little TOO quickly.
"YOU are eating MY
dinner." He walked over to her and
sat down in her lap.
She squirmed. "Get off of me! You're heavy." She tried pushing him off, but he pressed his
butt down harder on her lap and started eating HIS food.
"Now you are calling me
fat. This has been a great
night." Justin said sarcastically
and brought his hand in the air and started counting on his fingers.
"You've yelled at me, You wouldn't let me kiss
you, You ate MY supper, and NOW you are calling me fat." He turned on her lap and looked at her. "What's wrong witchew?" He finished in a thuggish accent.
She couldn't help but giggle. He turned back to his food and continued
eating. Meredith finally gave in and
wrapped her arms around him clasping her hands together on his stomach and
resting her forehead on his back.
"I'm sorry, J. I shouldn't be mad at you. No, I should be a little mad, but I shouldn't
have blown up like that. Forgive
me?" When he didn't answer she tickled his tummy and he squirmed.
"Yeah,
yeah.
I forgive you."
"OK, now get off me, my legs
are asleep!" He laughed and got off
of her and moved to the stool beside her.
"So, how far along are you on
packing?" Justin asked sliding his
plate of food over in front of him.
"Almost
done. I saw you were still in the
process when I went up stairs." He
picked off a piece of chicken from his plate and put it in front of her
lips. She opened her mouth and he placed
the chicken on her tongue. Meredith
closed her mouth down on his fingers. He
smiled and slowly brought them out of her mouth. She giggled while she ate the piece of meat.
"Yeah. I cannot wait,
Meredith. This is going to be SO much
fun." Justin did a little dance and
Meredith raised an eyebrow at him.
"I'm going to go pick up your
clothes from where I dropped them up stairs and wash them for you,
k?"
"OK." Justin whispered
as he leaned over and stared at her face from the side, about an inch away from
it. She turned her eyes first to look at
him then turned her whole face. She gave
him a funny look.
"What are-" Justin
pressed his lips firmly to hers and she immediately kissed him back. She sighed on his lips and let his tongue
gently enter her mouth. Her arms went
around his neck and his left his plate and pulled her close to him. She stood in between his legs as she kissed
him more forcefully. Her hands massaged
his neck as his slid down to her waist.
The tips of his fingers slid between the elastic of her Express stretch pants and her smooth skin, tracing delicate
patterns on it. He moaned into her mouth
as her fingers ran through his hair. He
scooted to the edge of the stool and pulled her towards him so that all of
their bodies were touching. Meredith
giggled into his mouth and he pulled away as she assaulted his neck with sloppy
kisses.
"What's so funny?" Justin asked catching his breath. She kissed up his neck and finally brought
her face up and leaned her forehead against his. She smiled an amused smile and kissed him
lightly.
"The beast has decided to
make an appearance, I see?" She
giggled and his face turned a slight shade of pink.
"Shut up." He mumbled.
Just then the phone rang.
Meredith giggled and reached to pick it up.
"Hello?" She answered sweetly, turning around so that
her back was against Justin's chest. He
placed simple kisses on her neck and massaged her shoulders.
"Girlfriend?" A child's voice
came over the phone.
"BOYFRIEND! Hey cutie, what's
up?" Justin placed his forehead on
her shoulder, wrapped his arms around her and sighed tiredly.
"Not much. Is Justin there?"
Meredith turned her head and
kissed the top of his head that was still resting on her shoulder. "Sure
is." Justin lifted his head.
"It's your
brother." She kissed his cheek and
walked away to do his laundry.
"Hey
bro." Justin said getting up and cleaning the mess
he made with his take out.
"Hey, are you spending the
night tomorrow?" Jonathan asked
eagerly.
"Um yeah, or you can come
here. Whatever you
want little man." Justin
placed his dishes in the sink.
"Oh, mom wants to talk to
you. I'll call you tomorrow.
Later." Justin smiled at how quickly his little brother was maturing.
"Hey honey."
"Hi
mom."
"Are you coming here
tomorrow? I kinda
want to spend some time with you before you two go over seas." Justin noticed is mother's tired voice.
"All right, mom are you OK?"
“No I'm not, Justin. I'm worried about you going over there
without security. I'm REALLY
worried. And when you get to
"Please mom, I've already
gotten this lecture from Johnny, Mike, the guys, EVERYONE! I don't need to hear this from you
too." He sighed loudly.
"Justin Randall, do NOT get
an attitude with me, young man."
"Sorry mom. I know you are just caring about me, but.." Justin looked around to make sure Meredith wasn't
listening and lowered his voice.
"...the more you guys keep talking about this stuff they MORE I start to worry.
And when I worry I know Meredith can sense it. I don't want to have to spend my whole
vacation worrying if someone is going to pop out of the bushes."
"Baby as much as you hate to
face reality, you are going to have to.
You are one of the most popular people on the earth. People want a piece of you, and some will go
to extreme measures to get that piece."
"I know I know. Maybe I should...nevermind."
Justin placed his elbows on the counter and started massaging his temples with
his free fingers.
"Say it darling."
"Maybe I should call
Lonnie." He said quietly.
"I think you and Meredith
should talk about this."
Justin subcontiously
nodded. "Yeah you are right."
"Think about it, honey. Call me tomorrow, OK?" Justin could picture his mom smiling on the
other end. It gave him some comfort.
"OK, Hey Mom?"
"Yes babe?"
"I love you."
"I know you do. I love you too."
"Bye." Justin hung up the phone and sighed in almost
a whimper. He was so worried and
stressed out. He rested his forehead on
his wrists that were crossed. His arms
were folded on the counter and he was leaning down on it.
"Baby?" Meredith
whispered. He stood up straight and
turned to face her.
"Yeah?" He said in a choked
up whisper. He didn't realized how fast
his emotions were coming to him and when he saw her there, he could barely
stand up straight.
Meredith noticed his painful face
and silently walked to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. The flood broke and he started crying
uncontrollably. They sank to the floor
and Meredith cradled Justin's crying face against her shoulder as she rocked
them back and forth.
He kept repeating, "I'm so
scared, baby. I'm so scared."
-------
"Justin, what is it? Why are you scared?" Meredith quietly asked him and he held on to
her.
"I...I..." Justin
stuttered and shook his head.
"Look at me, J. What's wrong?" Meredith took her hands and lifted his face
to hers. He stared at her with intensity
and pain. She stared back with
confusion.
"Don't worry about it. I need to go pack." Justin looked away and stood up. He quickly walked out of the kitchen to the
steps.
"Justin, wait." Meredith pushed herself off the floor and ran
after him. He was running up the steps 2
at a time. She followed.
"Justin." She called once she got to the top of the
stairs. He kept walking.
"Justin!" She said more firmly, now he was at his door.
"JUSTIN!!!" She basically screamed. He turned around in a huff.
"WHAT?" He said impatiently.
She shook her head and looked at
him confused. "What's wrong?"
He sighed and walked into his
room. She followed him and watched him
as he busied himself packing and folding clothes.
"OK, I am going to say this
again. WHAT IS WRONG?" She put her hands on her hips. He glanced at her with wide eyes.
"Nothing." He turned back and
continued.
Meredith was so angry. She stormed to him and grabbed his arm and
dragged him into the bathroom. She
flicked on the light and pointed to the mirror.
"Look at yourself!"
"What?" He asked confused.
"Look, Justin. Look at
yourself. You look like you could punch a wall and that your dog just
died. DO NOT tell me nothing is
wrong. I KNOW when something is
bothering you. It is FINE if you don't
want to talk about it. It is FINE! But DO NOT lie to me
and tell me NOTHING is wrong when I know DAMN well you are upset about
something."
She turned around and left the
bathroom. He stood there and looked at
himself. He did look upset.
"Meredith..." He sighed
and walked out of the bathroom to find her putting some clothes in his
suitcase.
"Justin, it is perfectly OK
if you don't want to tell me. But don't
act like nothing is wrong when something obviously is. OK?"
She asked in a very sweet and caring voice.
He walked over to her and wrapped
her in a hug. She kept folding and
packing as he held on. He gently grabbed
her wrist to stop her and kissed her cheek from behind.
"Sit with me." He whispered.
She obliged and watched as he sat down on the floor. She sat in-between his legs and leaned back
against him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"I'm scared of going on this
trip without security." He said in
a voice barely even a whisper. Meredith
just nodded.
"I'm scared that if people
find out I'm there they might track us down.
I'm even more scared of what they will do when they see us
together." He sighed and leaned his
head on the side of the bed that he was leaning against. "I'm so tired of living like this. I just wish I could go out to eat and not
have put reservations in another name. I
hate going out at 10 at night and wearing sunglasses. I feel like an idiot. I hate my security gate. I feel like a prisoner in my OWN house. I just wish I could be anonymous." Meredith just listened intently as he kept going
on and on.
"Meredith I really, really
want to tell the public about you."
She turned her head sharply to his and looked at him in shock. "I want people to know that we are together. I can't keep telling people you are my cousin
whenever we go out, the very FEW times we get to go out. But I'm scared of what might happen to
you. I don't care what the fans think; I
don't care what the press says. But I DO
NOT want you to be hounded. I don't want
you to live the life I do. Anonymity is
a gift I took for granted. I can barely
even remember a time when I had it."
He let out a deep breath and she turned on the floor so that now she was
facing him and resting on her knees. She
saw that one tear had escaped and she wiped it away for him.
"Truthfully, I don't know
what to say." She bit her lip.
"I know, I'm not asking for a
response. I just wanted you to
know." He put his hands on his bent
knees and gave her a half grin.
She thought for a while and
finally spoke. "Do you want Lonnie to go with us?"
He looked at her and slowly licked
his lips in nervousness. She nodded and grinned. "I'll call him."
"Thanks. You don't mind?" He asked sincerely.
"Not at
all." She smiled and he returned
it.
"Thank you. Thank you so much, baby." She turned back around and resumed her
position between his legs.
"I think with the whole press
thing. Just, don't lie anymore. If someone asks you who I am, tell them the truth. If the press gets a picture of us together,
then oh well. And if an interviewer asks
you directly if and who you are dating you can say yes or me."
"Are you sure?" He asked with a furrowed brow. She nodded.
"I'm tired of lying as much
as you are Justin. We are both private
people. But you can only take so much.
And about not wanting me to live the life that you do. It's too late; because, being with you means I have to live your life to some degree. And while I don't like some of the parts,
like this, it doesn't matter. I've never
been happier than I am when I'm with you.
I don't care about all this crap.
It doesn't matter."
He sighed happily and wrapped his
arms around her. "I love you. And I'm happy with you too, ya know."
"Yeah, I know." She said smart-alecky. "I love this."
"What?" He asked kissing her temple.
"Just
sitting with you. Spending time with you. Cuddling. It's so, I don't know, romantic?"
Meredith turned her head to face him.
"Yeah, we are pretty romantic
couple. Others might not think so, but
we are." Justin touched his nose to hers and leaned down to capture her
lips.
-----------------------
Meredith lay on Justin bed,
talking on the phone, and he stood folding the freshly clean clothes she had
washed for him.
"So, you don't mind? Not one bit?" Meredith asked.
"No. It's fine.
None of us really want you two going by yourself anyway. This will make a lot of people happy."
"Lonnie you are the
best."
"I know, I just have to find
me a ticket and reservations but I don't think it will be that big of a
deal."
She sighed. "I love
you."
"I know, I know. Night Mere, keep that boy in line."
"Will do. Bye bye." Meredith
hung up the phone and looked at Justin.
"Well?" He asked.
"He said he'd be happy to and
that this will make a lot of people less stressed out."
"No joke." Justin chuckled. After a few moments of special silence,
Justin gasped.
"Oh my gosh,
I forgot to tell you."
"What?" Meredith sat up on his bed, resting against
the fully pillows and headboard.
"I got these new boxers. You
are going to freak." He searched
through a drawer and finally found what he was looking for. He threw them at her.
They were black with orange
writing that said "Beware of Dog".
She laughed and threw them back at him.
"Those are funny. But, not as funny as some of the other
underwear I know you have." She
giggled.
"What are you talking
about?" Justin asked curiously.
"Oh well, I just didn't know
you wore tighty whiteys." She tried not to giggle.
"I do not." Justin said quietly.
"THEN WHAT ARE
THESE?" Meredith asked loudly with
laughter picking up the pair from the bottom of the pile of freshly washed
clothing. Justin blushed and glared at
her.
"Don't pick on me." He mumbled as he picked up the now full
suitcase and put it on the floor. He
crawled onto be bed with her as she kept on laughing.
"I thought you were an all
boxer boy, and only wore boxer-briefs when performing, or wearing niiiice TIGHT leather pants." She smiled evilly at him now lying on his
side with his elbow bent and head in his open palm.
"So what if I have some
briefs. I know you have a
thong." He poked at her stomach.
"I do NOT own a
thong." Meredith protested.
"Don't lie. I saw it in your laundry basket last
Wednesday when you cooked me dinner. It
was even black." He smiled and
kissed her cheek before resting his head on her shoulder
"OK! So I bought a thong. But don't think I did it for you. I just didn't want my panty line showing when ..nevermind." She stopped, knowing she had already said too
much.
"Nuh uh. Don't nevermind
me. What?" He looked at her smiling but with
seriousness.
"Don't worry about it. It's a surprise."
"YIPPEE!!" Justin yelled like a little kids.
In a desperate attempt to change
the subject she spoke. "Hey, HBO is showing Cruel Intentions tonight, wanna go watch it?"
She looked at him hopefully.
"All right. I think you just
like that movie because Ryan looks so much like me and you get to see his
butt." They got off the bed and
walked to his door.
"Exactly." She smiled.
They walked together down the
hallway to the steps. "Ya know, if you want to see my
ass, just ask me."
"Don't get your hopes up Timberfake. I do not
care to see your ass." She grinned
mockingly and walked in front of him to the game room. He laughed and walked faster to catch up with
her.
"I know I sure as hell want
to see yours." He slapped her butt
hard and ran past her into the gameroom, where the big
screen TV was. She rolled her eyes and
just followed him.