CHAPTER 2

JC felt his heart stop for a second. Who the hell was this guy? Suddenly, with the bat inches from his head, JC didn't find the guy attractive anymore.

"I asked you a question."

JC moved an inch away from the angry man with the bat, trying to gain some courage to speak.

"I-I-I...JC. I'm JC."

"What the hell are you doing at my place, JC?" the man sneered, raising the bat an inch more.

JC frowned. His place?
"Your place? This is my friend Lance's place..." Realisation came to him like a splash of ice cold water. This wasn't Lance's place. That would explain the mess. And the key. And Chris' non-existent guitar. "Or at least I thought it was."

The other guy's glare lessened a degree.
"Lance? Lance's place is the one opposite."

"I checked the mailbox and it indicated this was..."

The guy brought the bat down, dropping it to the floor and sighed with irritation.
"The fucking super was supposed to fix the mix-up fucking ages ago."

The guy ran his hand over his shorn scalp and rested his hands on his hips. JC sat still, wondering if he should just apologise and get the hell out.

The guy's blue eyes narrowed.
"How did you know where the key was?"

JC shrugged.
"Luck?"

The guy's eyes swept over the living room incredulously.
"And what... you cleaned the place?"

JC smiled. Ok, at least there was something for the guy to be happy about.
"Yeah, I thought I would do my friend a favour."

The guy's eyes widened as he suddenly seemed to realise something. His eyes drilled into JC's.
"Where are the crumbled balls of paper that were on the floor?" he ground out through clenched jaws, slowly and with more than a hint of menace.

"I threw them. Why?"

The guy's eyes seemed to glow at that answer and his hands clenched as his face began to redden.

"You threw them. You fucking threw them?" he hissed.

JC didn't appreciate the tone of this guy's voice anymore. Yeah he made a mistake by coming into this guy's house. But he did do the guy a favour by cleaning the place up. He didn't have to be grateful but he could at least be civil.

"Yeah. This place was a regular pig-sty. I don't know how any *human* can live like that," JC replied haughtily and moved to get up.

He found his arms in the strong grip of the guy's hands.

"Do you have any fucking idea what you threw away?"

"What?"

"You threw away a month's worth of work and songs, you idiot!" The guy spat tightening his grip.

JC winced and tried to pull free. He did not escape from Marshall only to be abused by another blond, wife-beater clad, jerk.
"I didn't throw anything away! You threw them on the floor first! I just got rid of the rubbish!"

The guy let go and threw his hands up in the air in frustration.
"That's how I fucking work! I didn't expect some Goldilocks wannabe to invade my house and throw away my best piece of work!"

"If it was your best piece of work, you should have treated it better!" JC spat back.

The guy's eyes widened in frustration.
"I can't believe the balls....you know what, you..."

"Hello? Justin, is everything ok?"

Both JC and the guy turned to looked at the newcomer. JC face lit up when he recognised who it was.

"LANCE! CHRIS!"

"JC?! Dude, what are you doing here? We have been waiting since 5 and you didn't turn up. What the hell are you doing at Justin's place?"

JC looked at Justin and rolled his eyes as he began to tell Lance his ordeal.
"Some kid knocked my cellphone to the floor and I lost your apartment number. I checked your mailbox and it said this was your apartment. I came here to wait but found a key under the potted plant. I thought Chris has left it there and I used it to come in here. I wanted to do something nice so I cleaned up this place then took a nap. Then when I woke up, I found this jerk standing over me with a bat and without even one word of thanks, he started yelling at me."

"Thanks?!" Justin barked. "You want thanks? For throwing away my best work? You're lucky I'm not using this bat on you!"

"Justin, come on! It was an honest mistake," Chris placated.

"Just get him the hell out of here, Chris before I go postal on his ass."

"Fuck you, asshole. Like I want to be here!" JC shouted before picking up his duffle bag and stomping out of the apartment.

Lance mumbled an apology on JC's behalf before following his friend. Chris grinned and shook his head at Justin.

"You know, this is really funny if you think about it."

Justin sighed and ran his hand over his scalp.
"Chris, not now. Just go. I've had a really bad day."

Chris patted Justin on his shoulder and made his way to the door.
"Alright Curly. Anyway, we still on for tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, night. JC's really not that bad, man. If you just..."

"Chris!"

Chris held his hands up in a show of giving up.
"Ok, ok. Bye."

The door closed and Justin closed his eyes. He shook his head and looked around the spotless apartment. Then shaking his head some more, he reached for his guitar and notepad.

 

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