Chapter Nine: Quit Playing Games With My Heart

Open up
Your heart to me
And say
What’s on your mind
I know that we have been through so much pain
But I still need you
In my life
This time

<Ding, dong> "What the heck is that?" Rylee mumbled, fighting the grogginess she felt. Right after Brian and Nick left, she dozed off on Brian’s bed, waking up only when she heard a really annoying buzzing sound coming from downstairs. Sitting up, she pushed the hair out of her face grumpily.

The noise from downstairs kept sounding. "Augh!" Rylee groaned, as she recognized the incessant ringing of the doorbell. Stumbling down the stairs, she rubbed her eyes tiredly. Whoever was at the door had started pounding by the time Rylee was half way down the stairs.

"I’m comin’! I’m comin’! Geez!" Rylee grumbled. "People have no patience anymore!"

The pounding grew louder and more impatient.

"Freaks…" she mumbled. Reaching the front door, she jerked it open to reveal two grinning blue-eyed boys. "Figures…" she said, when she saw who it was. She pushed the door open wider to let them inside.

"Well, it’s so lovely to see you too, Rylee!" JC said brightly.

Rylee just blinked at him, and turned to flop down on the couch. They guys followed her.

"Aww! What’s the matter, Ry?" Justin teased. "Didn’t get your cereal yet?"

"Shut up, J!" Rylee said. "Screw cereal! I need real food!" As if on cue, her stomach growled loudly.

Both of the guys laughed. "What were you doing anyways?" JC asked. "Didn’t Nick tell you we were coming?"

"Yeah, he did," Rylee admitted. "But I fell back asleep after they left for the studio. It was a long night!"

Justin grinned evilly. "And just WHAT where you"-

JC nudged him before he finished his sentence.

Rylee squinted at the both of them, and saw JC give Justin a pointed look and mouth the word ‘later’. "Whatever…" she said. "Let’s go. Let me just grab my bag."

Five minutes later they were on their way in Justin’s BMW Roadster. "Dang, boy!" Rylee exclaimed, relaxing on the leather seat. "I gotta get me one of these! I’d get a gray one though. Or maybe baby blue. Hey, J," she said, leaning over to the driver’s seat. "Why didn’t you get a baby blue one?"

Justin gave a short laugh. "Yeah, right, Ry. I might as well get a ‘This way to Justin Timberlake’s house’ sign painted on the side! Not a good idea in Orlando. Teenybopper heaven. I know you’ve noticed! With all these mega pop stars you hang out with!"

"You callin’ yourself a ‘mega pop star’, J?" Rylee said with a grin. "Conceited much? What are you thinkin’?"

"Shut up, Ry!" Justin said, glaring at her in the review mirror. "You know what I mean! Anyways, plus, just cuz I like the color doesn’t mean that everything that I own has to be baby blue!"

"But why not? That’d be cool! Everything baby blue. Baby blue clothes, baby blue shoes, baby blue car, baby blue eyes…"

Turning around in the passenger seat, JC picked up where Rylee left off. "Baby blue house, baby blue hair, baby blue skin… Heck, you could be a smurf!"

JC and Rylee exploded into fits of laughter, while Justin just rolled his eyes. "You’re just all BLUE!" Rylee said. She looked at JC and he looked at her. They both grinned and burst into song. "I’m blue, da ba de da, da ba da ba de da ba, da ba da ba de da da!"

Justin threw his hands up in frustration. "Dorks! I’m surrounded by dorks!"

"AH!" Rylee yelled when Justin took his hands off the steering wheel. "Drive, man, drive! What are you thinking? I wanna live to see my twenty-second year! I wanna record my album! I wanna go on tour! I wanna GRADUATE!!!"

 "WHAT?!?!" Justin and JC exclaimed together. They both turned around to look at her.

"DRIVE, Justin!" JC and Rylee yelled at him.

Justin turned around reluctantly. "What album?" Justin asked, his eyes now on the highway, just as JC asked, "What tour?"

Rylee relaxed and leaned back, smiling. "Oh, you mean I didn’t tell you?"

"No!" they both exclaimed.

"Oh, sorry, my bad!" Rylee said, taking her time. "Well…. Y’all are lookin’ at JIVE’s newest recording artist!"

"That’s so great, Ry!" JC said, leaning over the seat to give Rylee a hug.

"Thanks, Jace," Rylee responded. Spying Justin move out of the corner of her eye, she called out. "Don’t even think about moving, Timberlake! Drive!"

"Dang! Why do I always gotta be driving when things like this happen!"

JC gave him a strange look. "When has ANYTHING like this EVER happened before?"

"Yeah, J," Rylee added. "Plus, it’s your car. I offered to drive, but you lost your chance!"

"Heck, no, woman!" Justin said. "You are not driving my car!"

"Please, you’ve never even seen me drive!" Rylee argued.

Justin mumbled something about hearing stories from Brian and Nick.

Rylee’s eyes narrowed. "Now why are you listening to what they say? When have those two said anything worth listening to, much less believing? Oh, wait, besides ‘Guys, meet Rylee’" She flashed them a big smile.

Justin glanced sideways at JC, who seemed to be trying hard not to laugh. Justin met Rylee’s eyes in the rearview mirror. "Oh, I don’t know about that! Nick said some things this morning that seemed rather interesting and definitely worth listening to!"

Rylee looked a little puzzled. "And just what might that be?"

"Well, now, if I recall, it was pretty important," JC added. "What was it again?"

Rylee just rolled her eyes. "Anytime you feel like sharing, you know? I’m here."

Justin and JC shared a grin. "What was it about again, JC?" Justin asked innocently.

"Hmmm…," JC said, pretending to think. "I don’t think I remember. Something about…"

"A bed?" Justin supplied helpfully. "And people sleeping? Together?" They both turned to grin at Rylee.

Rylee’s eyes widened when she heard the word "bed". "Oh my gosh, Nick told you about THAT?"

Their grins just got broader.

"Dang, that boy cannot keep his mouth shut." Rylee said to herself.

"Yes, Nick did tell us about ‘that’," JC said. "Now, would you care to tell us what ‘that’ was all about?"

"No, actually, I wouldn’t."

Justin nodded, like he understood. "Oh, so something DID happen! Uh huh! That’s what I thought!"

Rylee shook her head. "Shut it, J! You have no idea what you’re talking about!"

"So enlighten us!"

She sighed, realizing that they wouldn’t let the topic die, until they got what they were looking for. "Nothing happened, you big dork. We fell asleep while we were talking. That’s ALL!"

"Uh huh, uh huh," JC said, sounding like he was analyzing a problem. "So, now exactly how often does this happen?"

"Never," Rylee responded. "Well, not since we were younger."

"Hmmm…," Justin said thoughtfully, adopting the same intellectual tone as JC. "Now, when you say ‘when we were younger’, how much younger do you mean? A year or two?"

Rylee rolled her eyes again, but answered his question. "I think the last time we slept in the same bed was when I was nine…"

"So that would make Brian how old?" JC asked.

"Twelve."

"Twelve?!?" Justin said, incredulously. "Dang, y’all start young over in Kentucky, don’t you?"

"I wouldn’t be talking, Tennessee Boy!" Rylee retorted.

"She’s got you there, J," JC said, with a laugh.

"Whatever," Justin grunted, good-naturedly.

"Anyways! Now that I told you, can we please talk about something else? Like where we’re going?"

 "Oh no you don’t!" JC told her. "Don’t try to change the subject! You didn’t tell us anything! And unfortunately Nick didn’t know that much."

"Yeah, but I believe he mentioned something about a kiss." Justin raised his eyebrows expectantly at Rylee, as he drove into a parking lot.

"Where are we?" Rylee asked, ignoring Justin’s comment.

"Blockbuster," JC answered. "We were planning to rent a movie instead of going to the theaters. Summer crowds and all. And since we are Mike-and-Lonnie-less, we decided not to risk it. You can pick the movie, kay? Just nothing too girlie…" He added with a grin.

"Okay," Rylee agreed. She hopped out of the car and into the video store before Justin could venture another question.

Justin turned to JC with a look of annoyance. "Dude, what’d you do that for? You’re throwing off my plan."

"Relax, J," JC said, knowingly. "You’re gonna freak her out. Give the girl time. She’ll tell us."

"Well, excuse me, Mr. Confidence!" Justin grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. Then he laughed suddenly.

"What’s so funny?"

"I was just thinking of how Nick described what happened this morning. Man, I wish I could’ve seen that!"

"Yeah, me too. I can just see the look on Brian’s face!"

They both laughed, and waited for Rylee to return to hear the rest of her side of the story.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

And you know
I can't see the world I'm walking through
Cuz of you

Back in the car, the guys were quiet, giving Rylee a chance to think. She figured she'd probably eventually give in and tell Justin a JC everything she was thinking, but decided to hold off a little while, for all the good it would do. Then at least, she could say she wasn't planning to tell them. Nasty habit that was. Although she had grown pretty close to them over the last two months, she still felt a little apprehensive about telling them. After all, these were pretty personal thoughts of hers. Rylee stared out the car window, watching the scenery fly by. Rylee smirked as she thought. Most of what they knew was from Nick anyway, and she could pretty much guarantee that once Nick learned more, he would pass on that information. It wasn't that Nick was untrustworthy in keeping certain things a secret, but he, along with JC and Justin, had taken a special interest in what was going on with Rylee and Brian. The time of silence allowed Rylee to put a little more organization into her thoughts so she was clearer on what she thought. They settled down on the couch with their food they picked up on the way back from Blockbusters, and prepared to listen to Rylee.

"Okay," she began. "Well, it's not really a big deal, sort of out of the ordinary, really. I don't know how to explain this." She paused. "Why am I telling you this anyways?"

"Cuz we're just cool like that," Justin said, in all seriousness.

Rylee smiled at him. "Riiiiiiight..." She eyed them both critically. "I guess I can tell you, although I do tell to talk to much to people about my problems."

"But that's good for us, right?" JC said.

Rylee laughed. "Yeah, just because you both are so nosy!"

"Hey, we take whatever gets thrown our way, alright?" JC responded.

"Whatever, we've established that we're nosy, so just tell us already!" Justin demanded.

Rylee laughed again at his impatience. "Maybe, I shouldn't tell you."

"Oh, heck no, woman!" Justin exclaimed. "You are not allowed to do that to us now! You already started talking!"

"Yeah," JC added. "Come on! We want details!"

"Fine. Only because I trust you both... And I know Nick will tell you anyways, so you might as well hear it from me." Rylee rolled her eyes, but began to talk. "Brian's just been acting different. More...clingy, if you will."

"What do you mean 'clingy'?" Justin asked.

"Well," Rylee thought for a moment to find an example. "Like when we go out. We went to this club a couple weeks ago-"

"Did they play 'This I Promise You'?" Justin interrupted.

"Of course," Rylee said, rolling her eyes again. "What else?"

Justin and JC gave each other high fives over the top of Rylee's head, as she continued. "Anyways, we were dancing to 'Promise You' for about the millionth time this summer, and something just- I don't know what I was thinking. Have you heard that expression 'looking at them with your heart in your eyes'?"

Justin made a face. "Um, no."

"Oh, yeah, I have," JC replied.

"Yeah, you would," Justin sniggered.

"What's that supposed to mean, J?" JC demanded.

"Nothing."

"Sure."

They both faced off for a moment, glaring at each other. "Anyways!" they both said, turning back to Rylee.

"Continue," JC told her. "What about that expression?"

Rylee frowned. "Well, I was told I was doing that. Nick actually used those exact words."

A collective "awww" came from both their mouths.

Rylee gave them a sideways smile. "Gee, thanks."

"Wait," JC said. "But that's about you. What has Brian been doing?"

"I was getting to that," Rylee told him. "So, I was focused on Brian, I hardly was aware of anything else." She held up her hand to them. "Don't 'aw' again."

"We weren't going to," Justin said, innocently.

"Sure," she said. "Anyways, after a minute, Brian asked me what I was thinking, and I couldn't really tell him. Then, then, he reached up and ran his finger over my lips." She leaned back on the couch, he fingers over her lips, savoring the memory.

This time, Rylee couldn't stop the "awww" that escaped from their mouths. She rolled her eyes. "And he just keeps doing things like that. Little tiny things, but all together, they make a huge difference. Like this morning," Rylee quickly told them what had happened when she went to talk to Brian that morning, only to find him half dressed. "It shouldn't be a big deal, because it's not like I've never seen him get dressed before. But then he just has to go and make it so... so..." She sighed, not finding an adequate adjective to describe what she was thinking.

JC and Justin both laughed at the image of what Brian did. "He's crazy," JC said.

"But wait a minute," Justin said, as he thought of something. "So what was the whole kiss thing that Nick was talking about?"

"Oh, that," Rylee said. "Brian wasn't even completely awake, and he didn't actually kiss me. Nick made too big of a deal about it. It was weird, though, because even though he wasn't completely awake, his eyes were open and he saw me. So I don't know. This whole thing is confusing me. I'm trying really hard to not read into anything and think that it's all innocent on his part. And even though I understand that this isn't the right time for anything to happen between us, at the same time..." she trailed off.

"You still wish that something would," JC finished for her.

Rylee sighed and covered her face with her hands. "Oh, I don't know. I don't know what to think anymore." She looked up at them, to see their reactions.

Much to her surprise, they reacted completely opposite than she expected. Although they were sympathetic, they mentioned that maybe she was reading too much into the changes. She hated to hear that she was wrong, but she had to admit that they had a point. Maybe she was overreacting, maybe she was thinking too much. She had no idea, but her mind was racing in about twenty thousand directions. Aside from all the thinking and talking, the trio actually did watch a movie, and soon were on their way to meet the guys for dinner.

As they entered the restaurant, Rylee smiled, remembering her first night in Orlando, her first time meeting JC and Justin. Oh, how far they had come, she thought as she looked at the two guys next to her. Meeting Brian, Nick and AJ, the dinner proceeded normally, if one could call an insane asylum normal. Yep, everything was exactly as it should be. Except... Rylee couldn't shake the strange feeling in the back of her mind that something wasn't right. Nothing major or dangerous, of course, but there was that certain feeling that something was out of line. But she couldn't quite place her finger on it. As usual, she decided to ignore the feeling and think about something else.

Justin and JC, fresh from their conversation with Rylee about Brian's behavioral changes, expected to see that everything was normal, that Rylee had indeed been overreacting earlier. What they were not prepared for was that she was right. Brian was acting more affectionate then they had remembered, and they were surprised. When they first arrived at the restaurant, Brian had greeted Rylee with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, with all the emotion as if he hadn't seen her in weeks, instead of merely just hours. He had also taken her hand and led her to her chair. Justin and JC looked at each other, then to Nick with an unspoken question on their faces. Nick shrugged and gave them a look that said, "What did I tell you?" As the night wore on, almost everything that Brian did was focused on Rylee. It certainly wasn't his intention, things just happened that way. In fact, he hardly gave it a second thought. Justin and JC were amazed at the changes in Brian. He was, in every aspect, acting like a man in love. He barely took his eyes off Rylee the entire night. JC and Justin followed Nick, AJ, and Rylee's lead by pretending that nothing was out of the ordinary, when in reality they were dying to corner Brian and bombard him with questions. What on earth was going through his mind? Somewhere during the meal, the conversation, much to Rylee's embarrassment, turned to her new record contract. They teased her mercilessly about becoming a famous pop star.

"You’re gonna be so busy, you won’t have any time for me anymore," Brian said, pouting.

"Oh, you should talk!" Rylee retorted, paying no attention to the sad face he was making. "At least I’m not gonna be flying off to Europe without a moments notice, missing a certain someone’s prom after promising that someone that they would be there!"

"Hmmm… Now I wonder what jerk did that?" AJ said, smacking Brian on the back of the head.

"Oh, come on! I apologized for that a million times! Are you ever gonna forgive me?" Brian pleaded, a sad look on his face.

"Hmmm… Let me think," Rylee said, resting her chin on her hand. "Oh, I suppose! Since you apologized ‘a million times for that’!"

"Thanks! That’s why you’re so wonderful!" Brian exclaimed, and suddenly leaned over to kiss Rylee on the cheek.

Rylee smiled back at him, and the room was silent again.

Then, JC cleared his throat. "So what are you gonna do about school now?" he asked her.

Rylee considered this for a moment before answering. "I haven't really given it much thought. I didn't want to make too many plans before I was sure I got the contract." She shrugged. "I think since I have only a year left, I'll just get my bachelor's degree, then focus more on singing."

"Is JIVE gonna let you do that?" Justin asked.

"Yeah, I think so, I'd still get things ready and start recording and rehearsing now, probably do a couple of promo performances. Then I think they were talking about going on tour. So it works out pretty well," Rylee explained. "Then I can still get my degree, just in case."

Everyone nodded in agreement, but Brian frowned slightly. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Angel." He shifted in his seat to face Rylee. "I think it'd be a good move to take a year off from college. The pop market is blowing up right now, and you can't be too sure if it will stay that way until next year. If you want to make it, you should do it now. Besides, you can always go back to college, or even take correspondence courses from the road once you get established."

Rylee shook her head slightly. "No, it won't be easy to go back to college. I think I should just finish it now. Then in case anything happens, I still have a degree to fall back on. And it's only one year. I might even be able to finish early to give me more time to work on singing."

Brian still looked unsatisfied. "You're not even sure if JIVE can work with that. You're given this opportunity right now. You should take advantage of it while there's pretty much an open market for you."

Rylee was surprised at Brian's suggestions. He had always been encouraging in her "quest for higher learning", as he called it. This was a switch for him. But she couldn't agree. "But there's a chance I might not even make it now." She continued quickly as Brian opened his mouth to protest. "I'm not trying to be pessimistic. But I have to understand that this is reality. Things don't always turn out the way you want." Her brown eyes softened as she looked at Brian, realizing the double meaning behind her own words.

AJ, who had remained pretty silent throughout their discussion, suddenly interrupted. "She right, Bri. Besides it's her decision. It's good to have something to fall back on, not saying that she won't make it. But you never know."

Brian ignored AJ's input, while Nick, JC and Justin, watched Rylee and Brian's interchange. Their eyes bounced back and forth, trying to keep up with the conversation. They were surprised to say the least, but felt they would be intruding if they said anything. And they had noticed that Brian ignored what AJ said, so they kept silent.

"Ry, Angel, I'm not trying to tell you what to do. It's just that I want to see you make it big. And I know you can." Brian, oblivious to everyone else watching him, reached a hand up to stroke her cheek, and rested cupping her jaw line.

Rylee eyes were locked on Brian's, as he smiled at her. She too, had forgotten anyone else was in the room.

Brian continued. "This is what I think would be best for you, just think about it. This is the best time for this to happen to you. Trust me..."

Rylee just watched him without a word, as he traced her jaw line and ran his fingers lightly over her lips again.

"Okay?" Brian asked.

Rylee nodded, and Brian gave her a sweet smile and kissed her cheek again. Then he turned back around to the rest of the group as if nothing had happened. Rylee’s heart and emotions fell. All that just to ensure that she would decide to take a year off college. She was disappointed and turned slightly away from him.

AJ, Justin and JC were shocked at what had just occurred. They didn't say a word, unsure of what had happened. Nick on the other hand was angry. What was Brian thinking? His eyes narrowed at his best friend. Something weird had been going on with him this summer, but nothing bad had come from it. Until now...

The room was silent, and AJ didn't miss the look of anger on Nick's face. He looked at the others around the table. Rylee was still looking away from them, a puzzled look on her face. JC and Justin looked uncomfortable with the silence, Brian seemed not to notice as he finished the last of his meal, and Nick, Nick was pissed. AJ cleared his throat. "So, how about those Braves?"

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

After dinner, Nick, Brian and Rylee headed home. Nick was still angry, plotting what to say to Brian, once Rylee went to bed. He was silent during the ride, but Brian and Rylee talked normally, although Nick could sense a little bit of strain in Rylee's voice. Once they were home, Rylee said goodnight and headed to her room. Brian was about to follow her upstairs, when Nick's voice stopped him.

"Brian, can I talk to you for a second?" Nick asked, keeping his voice civil while Rylee was still within earshot.

"Sure," Brian replied, walking back down the stairs. "What about?" he asked, when he neared Nick.

Nick looked quickly up stairs to make sure Rylee was gone, before turning to Brian. "What the heck was that about?" he demanded.

Brian looked taken aback. "What are you talking about, Nick?"

"Back at the restaurant, what were you thinking?" Nick said, his anger, which seemed to have come out of nowhere, shocking Brian. "Where do you get off telling Rylee what's best for her?"

Brian frowned. He had no idea why Nick was angry. He must have missed something. "Nick I have no idea what you are talking about." He replied, keeping his voice calm.

Nick, on the other hand, didn’t care if his voice was calm or not. "Rylee wants to finish college. It’s something that’s important to her. So WHY are you telling her not to do something that she wants?" he demanded.

Brian inhaled deeply with the air of an adult explaining something to a child. "Nick, Rylee’s been my best friend longer than you’ve been alive. I think I know her a little better than you."

Nick’s eyes narrowed at Brian’s condescending tone. "Well, maybe you would know her better, if you weren’t so frickin’ blind!" he shot back.

"Nick, I really don’t understand why you’re fighting me about this." Brian said, staring at his best friend. He understood that Nick felt very protective of Rylee, despite the fact that she was older than him. But what he didn’t understand was why Nick felt the need to protect Rylee from HIM. "I just made a suggestion to Rylee tonight. That’s what I think she should do, but she doesn’t have to do exactly what I say."

Nick raked his fingers across his scalp, seeing that Brian didn’t fully understand. "It’s not just telling her what to do, Brian," Nick said, his anger cooling a little. "It’s the WAY you’re telling her."

Now Brian was even more confused. "What do you mean ‘the way I’m telling her’?"

"I’m talking about saying sweet things to her, smiling at her, touching her face."

Brian still had look of confusion on his face. "What are you talking about, Nick?"

"You didn’t see the look on her face," Nick accused. "You didn’t see her crushed expression after you kissed her and then acted like nothing happened."

"Nick," Brian began in exasperation.

"Wait," Nick said, brusquely, holding up his hand. "Let me finish."

Brian closed his mouth and listened.

"You know she loves you, Brian. But you have no idea how much. When you do things like that to make your point, you’re messing with her emotions. Generally, it wouldn’t make a difference, but this is RYLEE. You can’t do this to her. Let her make the decision on her own. Don’t try to sway her into making the decision that you want. Show her how much you love her by not trying to manipulate her." Nick finished, all the anger gone from his voice. When Brian didn’t respond, Nick sighed. "Goodnight, Brian." Then he turned and walked up the stairs.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

*chapter eight*

*chapter ten*

*back to novels*