He watched her from his spot across the room. She was laughing and hanging all over her man. Her ex-man. Okay so she wasn't hanging all over him but she could be the way she was lightly patting his chest and holding onto his arm as they laughed together. Anger boiled in his blood as he watched Justin's head dip down and kiss Juliet's forehead when he thought no one was looking. Something was definitely going on between them and he was determined to find out what that was.
He walked over to them, loving how shocked Justin looked as he slowly backed away from Juliet. He wrapped his arms around her waist eyeing Justin as he leaned down and kissed her cheek. He noticed the way Justin clinched his fists at his sides and just threw him a cocky smirk. It didn't matter that something unexplainable was going on between Justin and Juliet because right now, in this moment, she was still his girlfriend.
He felt her tense up in his arms and he wanted to punch the smirk right off of Justin's face when she pulled away from his embrace. He was starting to get very tired with her coldness towards him.
"Billy, you're early." She stated as he looked down at her and she tried to give him a small smile.
"Yeah. My plane landed earlier than expected. What do you say about maybe going to lunch?" He asked as she looked at him then at Justin.
"I wish you would have called. I have sound check with Justin since I sing "Rock Your Body" with him. Plus Esmee wanted us to go to her sound check. You're more than welcomed to join us, if you would like?" She stated as he stared at her hard.
"I flew half way across the country and you're blowing me off? For Sound Check?" He damn near shouted as she looked around to make sure he hadn't drawn anymore attention to them.
"Keep your voice down!" She hissed, "I planned sound check early because I knew you were coming in later and I figured that you'd want to spend time together. I'm on tour Billy. I can't just drop everything because your plane got in earlier than expected," She stated as Justin chuckled and tried to cover it with a cough.
He watched as Juliet elbowed Justin and he hated Justin in that moment. His relationship with Juliet had always had a strain on it. He couldn't take Justin's place. They were indeed the very best of friends but more importantly they understood each other. It's one thing to be attracted to some one because of the way they look or the way they carry themselves but Juliet was attracted to Justin's talents. It scared him to know that. She would always be pulled to his talent no matter how old he got, no matter if he lost his swagger....his music would always attract her.
"So what do you want me to do? Go to the hotel room and wait for you? This is fucking ridiculous Jules!" He stated as she let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Like I stated before you're more than welcomed to join us. If you don't want too then you can go to your hotel room, go to the gym.....Do whatever. I don't care." She stated.
He hated her indifference. She just didn't care anymore. She didn't care about their relationship and he hated that.
"I'll go with ya'll." He said with a defeated sigh as they made their way from the back of the venue to the stage.
He saw Esmee running through her songs and he wondered if she knew about Justin and Juliet's relationship. Even if she did know something she probably wouldn't tell him anything. She waved as they made their way to where the rest of Texas Roots and Justin's PA were sitting. He wanted to roll his eyes as Juliet and Justin both waved back at her before settling into their seats beside one another.
He watched her as she watched Esmee and sang along with her on some of her songs. Juliet really was a beautiful girl. He had been attracted to her from the very first time he met her at the Country Music Awards. He had tried everything in that moment to get to know her.
Justin had been acting as Texas Roots' makeshift manager at the time while his mom was on vacation. He should have known then, he should have seen the signs then. He didn't though. He was too blinded by her beauty to pay attention to the neon sign flashing above her head that read "Heartbreaker!"
At first their relationship was great. He had been recording while she was touring with her band so he had time to visit her. Lynn had come back from her vacation and Justin was away on the other side of the world. He hadn't realized at the time that no matter how far apart her and Justin were they'd still find a way to be close. He was unaware of the late night phone calls, the thousands upon thousand text messages, the seemingly innocent webchats. He should have paid better attention but he didn't.
He'd never forget walking up to her hotel room, passing by Justin's room and hearing her moan. He had decided to surprise her because he was in Texas and she was performing at Billy Bob's in Fort Worth, Texas. His flight had landed early in the morning and he had rushed straight to the hotel she told him they were staying at. He had stood there in front of Justin's hotel room for what seemed like hours, wishing that he didn't hear her screaming for Justin, wishing that Justin wasn't moaning for his girl. He had turned right back around and left before anyone knew that he had come to see her.
Then he found out they had gotten married. She didn't even bother to pull him aside and tell him in private. No, her and Justin regaled a whole group about their drunken night that led to marriage. He had been so hurt and so pissed but she acted like it was nothing, waving him and his feelings off. He watched them very closely now. He knew though she would be the one to end it. He was still drawn to her in the way a 35 year old man shouldn't be.
"Isn't she great Billy? I just love Esmee." Juliet said as Billy focused his attention on her.
His deep blue eyes took in her happy smile and he couldn't help but smile along with her. He watched her as Justin whispered something in her ear and she giggled. It amazed him how one person could affect him so much. When he had all her attention he was the happiest man in the world. When she directed that attention towards Justin he felt his heart turn violently inside his chest with hurt and anger.
"Yeah. She's great." He replied as she turned to look at him and threw him a confused glare.
"Huh?"
"Esmee. She's great." He replied again and she nodded.
"She is." She replied as she went back to whispering with Justin.
Maybe he had it in him to break it off. Her indifference hurt him more than he would ever admit and it made him realize that he should have broke it off a long time ago. If he really thought about it none of this was her fault, if Justin would have never asked her to marry him they'd still be a happy couple. Juliet would be blissfully unaware of Justin's true feelings and never would have doubted her own. He hated Justin Timberlake.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
She walked into the arena, smiling as she caught sight of him on stage. He always amazed her, exuding such confidence when he was on stage. She wouldn't admit it but he always intimidated her. From the very first time they had met, she always wondered why he chose to approach her. Little did she know that she was only a filler for Juliet.
When Juliet first showed up, she hadn't thought anything of it. She was Esmee, just another artist Justin was working with. Late night studio sessions didn't bother her until she found those writing sessions were only between Juliet and Justin. He had always been aloof when it came to his relationship with her but the more time he spent with Juliet, the more he pulled away from her.
She had cried when she found out they had gotten married. He had married Juliet while in a relationship with her and that hurt. Especially because he didn't regret marrying Juliet, he just regretted having to divorce her.
She knew she shouldn't be here. He had demanded that she leave his tour but she missed him. She hoped they could work things out but now that she was there watching him sing with Juliet and they way they moved together, she wasn't so sure anymore.
She watched as Juliet shimmied up to Justin, touching his chest and clutching onto his shirt as their hips moved together. She heard her voice ring out over the music as Justin's hand ran over her ass then her thigh only to move back up to her ass and smack it before he walked away and face the empty arena to sing his part.
She saw the shock registering on his face as he noticed her making her way up the aisle. She gave everyone an embarrassed grin and a small wave as they all eyed her. She was humiliating herself by showing up after he had sent her away, she knew this but more importantly they knew this as well.
"I can't believe she's here." She heard Esmee whisper.
"I know. It makes her look desperate." She heard Rachel whisper back.
They were right. She was desperate. Desperate to keep her man even though he was long gone.
She walked down the aisle, taking her seat in front of their row. She tried to ignore the snickers from Juliet's siblings as she got comfortable in her seat. They tried to whisper their disapproval of her but she heard every word.
"She's such a famewhore." She heard Cassie whisper as Esmee and Rachel giggled.
"Hey Rach. Let's go get something to eat before I have soundcheck." She heard Joshua say and she turned her head to look at him.
He was the nicest person out of all of them. He never talked crap about her but he was a Rangel so he never defended her either. He was holding his hand out to Rachel, who like any other Southern lady, blushed profusely before taking his hand. Sometimes she wondered how Juliet and Joshua could be related. She wondered if their mom and dad spoiled Juliet but not Joshua. In all honesty though she couldn't lie, Juliet was never mean or condescending to her. She left that to Justin.
"Jess. Justin wants to talk to you." Juliet told her as she looked down at her.
"Oh...Okay." She said as Juliet tossed her a small smile before heading to where Chris was sitting with Esmee.
"I'm hungry Brother." She heard Juliet whine as Esmee giggled at her.
"Well go eat something Sister. Besides what about Billy? Aren't you supposed to wake him when you're done?" She heard Chris say as Juliet laughed.
"Let's go. You know I can't eat without my twin. Billy bailed on my sound check. He wake his own damn self up." She heard Juliet say through her laughter as Chris chuckled.
She got up from her seat as they did, watching as Chris offered his arms to both ladies and they walked off to find something to eat. She let out a deep sigh as she made her way to where Justin stood, waiting for her.
"You wanted to talk to me?" She asked as she nervously crossed her arms against her chest, looking down at her feet under his hard glare.
"Why are you here?" He asked.
Her head snapped up at his harsh tone, only to find his eyes watching Juliet's retreating figure. Even now he couldn't even fucking look at her.
"I-I missed you." She whispered as he scoffed.
"You didn't miss me when you were slapping the shit out of me." He muttered as he crossed his arms and continued to look out at the now empty arena and not at her.
"You kind of deserved it." She mumbled and he chuckled at her.
"Of course I did. I-I shouldn't have said that and I apologize." He said and for once he was actually looking at her.
Her heart fluttered as she continued to hold his gaze smiling at him when he threw her a small smile.
"But I can't continue to see you. Not when I want to be with Juliet." He said and her smile fell.
"So....you're breaking up with me?" She asked as he let out a sigh.
"Yeah. It's not fair to you when all I can do is think about her." He told her as his hands dropped to his sides and he watched her carefully.
"Can I stay and at least watch your concert?" She asked as he pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep sigh.
"Sure but just for the show." He said as she nodded.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-Later that night-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
"So where are we going out tonight?" Chris asked as they drank backstage after Esmee and Justin's joint concert.
"I don't know but we need to do it big." Josh said as Rachel snuggled up to him and laughed.
"Yeah! Like just wild and crazy!" Cassie shouted as Justin and Juliet whispered to one another on the couch in the dressing room, "Like Justin and Juliet should get married again but we would all be there!" She suggested as Justin and Juliet stopped whispering as everyone looked at them.
"Ya'll should get married again! Then we would have something to celebrate." Rachel said with a giggle before she hiccupped.
"Ya'll need to stop drinking. I think ya'll have drunk enough for the night." Juliet said with a nervous laugh.
"Well....we...I mean...we could." Justin suggested as Juliet looked at him then over at Billy who had already passed out.
He had had an early start on drinking way before them, chugging one beer after another all through Justin's concert. He ended up having to puke through Esmee's set before passing out backstage.
Maybe she should just say the hell with it and marry Justin again. That would be kind of funny. Marrying Justin again while her "boyfriend" was passed out. Just maybe she would do it.
Chapter End Notes:
I swear I'll get to the reviews tomorrow since I'm off from work! Ya'll guys rock my socks!
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