"Man," Joey whined, reaching into his pocket. He tossed a bag of Honey Roasted Peanuts that the flight attendant had brought him only minutes sooner, onto the tray. He watched Lance and Chris each unhappily fork over $20 bills. "This is all I got," he pleaded. "Uh huh, Joseph," Justin argued, pointing towards his apparently empty wallet, "I know you got more then those sorry nuts." He motioned with his fingers, and gave a cocky grin. "Cough it up." Justin held the three $20's in his hand, and smiled with satisfaction.
"Hey, JC, tightwad or not, a game's a game, man. Pay up." Josh seemed unfazed by his order. He stared out the plane window, watching the plane's wing dissect the clouds into tiny pieces. "Yo,Romeo," Justin said, giving him a nudge. Josh's head quickly turned towards him. Justin nearly laughed at his sight. "What's wrong with you?" he asked, confused. Josh shrugged as he dug for his wallet. "Nothin'," he said, slapping Justin's hand with another $20 bill. Justin smiled with delight. "Alright," he said with excitement, fanning the money, "Abercrombie here I come." He smiled at Josh, who looked anything but amused. He took a deep breath and dared to venture into the serious subject that he knew was on his friend's mind.
"So, when are you breaking the news to Bobbie?" Justin asked, shoving the money into his back pocket. "Today. After we're done at the studio, I figure, take her somewhere quiet...tell her the truth." "That you're in love with someone else?"
"No, that things...aren't like they use to be. That, this is what needs to happen. "Oh, so you aren't ending this because of Danielle?" Justin asked. "Yes, but no," Josh shook his head in frustration. How was he to expect Justin to understand something he didn't even understand himself? "I'm ending this, because it needs to end," he proceeded much calmer. "And Danielle" he leaned his head against his seat and smiled. "Danielle just...waltzed into my life, and..and just kind of took over." He laughed at what he just said, realizing how stupid it must have sounded. But he didn't know how else to describe it. That is exactly what she had done. Taken over. She held his heart in the palm of her hand, but he wasn't sure he wanted her to know that.
"So, the other night, when you didn't go home,are you glad that happened?" Justin asked sincerely. Josh didn't hesitate to answer. "Yes...I mean," he felt his face burn, " I couldn't have left, even if I wanted to, but...I didn't want to. Something wouldn't really let me." Josh looked up to realize that not only did he have Justin's undivided attention, but he also had Joey, Lance, and Chris's. His eyes widen with embarrassment.
"What about Mercedes, Justin?' Lance teased. "My Benz? Oh, I can't wait to get her back on the road. I miss my baby
girl," he joked, dodging the question. Lance laughed at his lame answer. "You know what I mean. What is it exactly with her?" Justin shrugged. "We're just having some fun," Justin insisted. He tried hard to hide his smile.
"Doesn't she deserve to see something besides your bedroom?" Josh joked. "She does!" Justin exclaimed. "Like, a few weekends ago, I showed her around town, cause she said she had never truly seen it," he scratched his chin, and wandered off the point of his story, "and she wore this cute pink skirt with this Hello Kitty shirt, with these..."
"Uh oh," Josh said sarcastically. "Looks like someone is having more than just a little fun." Justin's cheeks reddened a little. He opened his mouth to defend himself, but was interrupted by more harassment from his friends. "Ya, I bet that 80 bucks you just won, you'd be wearing that Hello Kitty stuff, too, if she asked you to," Chris joked. He watched Justin's smile slowly fade. "Then again, its only fun and games and it is, isn't it?"
Justin didn't like those words anymore: fun and games. In the beginning, he and Mercedes were all about fun and games. He wasn't expecting to get so attached to her, and now that he had become that way, the thought of separation bothered him a little. "Look, can we just drop this? Now. Please." Justin begged, annoyed. "Good morning, passengers, everyone here at Continental would like to take this time to thank you for choosing us, and to inform you that we will be landing in Orlando's International Airport in 15 minutes. Thank you." One of their bodyguards, who was traveling with them, suddenly entered their first class seating, from the curtains which lead to coach. "Looks, like we're going to have to wait for this one to clear," He nodded his head towards the curtains he just came through. "I'd say word leaked out you guys are on here, and I think you have some fans on here Just hold tight, I'll get you off of here." Josh sat back in his seat. He didn't even think about the chaos that awaited them. His mind was elsewhere.
Sixteen