“I’m just saying, that’s all!”

“Well don’t!”

Reese glared unappreciatively at her best friend as she pulled the car to an abrupt stop at the market. They’d had this argument one too many times. Most of the time it had been with some kind of humour attached, but now it was starting to grate on her last nerve; as much as she loved the woman in her passenger seat, she needed to shut up. Still, she knew all would be forgiven and forgotten within the next ten minutes. After a lifetime of friendship she and Nadine had always been able to count the number of arguments they’d had on one hand.

That was until the last six months or so, when they had run out of hands.

“Sorry!” Nadine threw her hands up in despair, trying to look chastened. “I mean, I know you’re touchy about it honey, but the demon will have to be faced sometime. This is a small town, you know, it’s hard to avoid people.”

“Why’d you think I’m moving?” Reese joked as she pulled her purse onto her shoulder and stepped out of the car.

Nadine shook her head at her friend as she threaded her arm through hers and they started striding into the store together, Reese haphazardly pointing her key fob behind her to lock the car. Nadine dwarfed Reese, a good four inches taller, and Reese’s rounded face and curly dark hair looked nothing like Nadine and her auburn pixie look. Nobody had ever remarked that the two looked like sisters, but it had often been said that they moved and held themselves in a scarily similar way.

They were synchronised in their strides as they strolled into the store, making a list out loud of all the things they would need for the evening. Technically everything should have been bought already, but nobody in the history of the town had ever managed to throw a party without attendance doubling in size at the last minute. It just wasn’t done to exclude anybody from the guest list, and for some unfathomable reason it just wasn't done for people to accept until the morning of the shindig when everybody would stop by the house asking if there was anything they could bring. 

There were a couple of people Reese would have liked to exclude from the guest list, but she was too set in Shelby ways to ever extend anybody the discourtesy - as much as she would have loved to.

“Cutlery?” Nadine asked.

“Yep. We oh so classy Benningtons are going to provide our guests with the finest in cheap ass paper plates and plastic forks. Never let it be said we don’t shell out.”

“Never let it be said you do the dishes, either.”

“Disposable all the way, baby,” Reese grinned broadly as she remembered that she was wearing sunglasses indoors and pushed them on top of her head. “Umm… Mom said to get some more soda, too, said there were a ton of kids coming.”

“Despite the fact you specified adults only?”

“Yep,” she responded as Nadine idly stopped to examine what was on offer, drink wise. They were going to have to make a stop at a liquor store for some more wine, but soda was so much cheaper if you bought it on a three for two deal – even more so when you bought a cheap brand to begin with in protest at the uninvited children.

Reese rubbed her hands over her face, grimacing slightly. Party planning gave her a headache, which probably explained why she’d had a migraine for pretty much the last six months. She hated hosting – she found it far too stressful. It seemed like you could never enjoy your own parties for fear of whether or not everybody else was enjoying themselves, and on top of that she hated being the centre of attention and having to mingle so much. She’d always been more the type to hide in the corner with a good friend and some of the booze, cackling away at the other guests; Nadine was good for that.

Nadine was good for a lot of things. She was good for a laugh and good for a cry. She was good for letting your hair down in a club or curling up on the sofa along with their favourite men, Ben and Jerry. Nadine was great for advice and friendly support. She was less great at keeping her mouth shut about things she disapproved of, or at keeping time. She was responsible for Reese’s pretty curls (she had magic hands with a curling iron), but she was dreadful at manicures.

She was pretty good as an early warning system, too.

“Don’t look now, sweetie, but your fav-our-ite person just walked in with his goon.”

It was the sarcastic way she dragged out her syllables that indicated whom Nadine was referring to. Reese kept a steady eye on the deli, simultaneously wondering if she needed to get any more chips and dips and why the hell he was home. Last time she had checked, he wasn't due home for months – the timing of the party had been calculated to slot into a long absence. It hadn’t been the sole rationale for the date chosen, but it ranked at about number three on the list.

“Wow. He does his own shopping now? Who’d have thought,” she cracked with a not quite hidden piece of bitterness.

“I’m betting he does his momma’s shopping and that’ll be all,” Nadine said with a raised eyebrow. “You know he’ll have palmed his dirty work off on whichever whore he’s dating now.”

“Didn’t think they’d want to break a nail, from the look of any of ‘em.” Surreptitiously, she looked down at her own criminally short nails and gave a grin to herself. “Anyway, we’ll just keep our heads down and he doesn’t even have to see us. Who gives a shit?”

“Umm…” Nadine shifted uncomfortably. “You don’t think he’d…”

“What?”

“Crash?”

“The party?”

“Yup.”

“Like his momma would let him,” Reese said through an oddly high pitched laugh.

She couldn’t bring herself to tell Nadine that he’d been invited. Sure the entire party was designed so that he’d be unable to attend, it was going to be awkward enough entertaining his parents and she still actually liked them, but she had unable to bring herself to be mean enough to do it. In Shelby Forest, snubbing somebody by party invitation was a big deal. The community was too small and close knit, absences from such events were noticed and explanations for them never stayed quiet for very long. Refusing to extend hospitality was a cardinal sin - people gossiped and before you knew it you were the meanest person in all the land.

Reese refused to let such a slur on her reputation be made on his account. So she had gritted her teeth, swallowed her bitterness and included his name on his family’s invitation along with those of his parents. She was now trying to swallow the paranoid whisper in the back of her head saying that this trip home was not coincidental.

“Whatever. Ass.” Nadine’s eyes narrowed into murderous slits for a brief instant, before she beamed brightly and shrugged the moment off as quickly as it had come. “So, did your mom need any more dessert ingredients?”

“Trust you to think only of dessert.”

“What else would her fat ass think of?”

Reese’s eyes rolled heaven ward, her lips forming a silent ‘why’ to her God but refusing to turn around and face the owner of the voice. Nadine, to her credit, completely ignored him. Instead she continued to browse the list and plan out which aisles they were going to have to hit next.

“Oh, and she said more rolls, right?”

Her friend nodded. “Yep, oh and Nade, can you go to the florist while we’re decorating? They messed up the invoice and we need to redo the whole order and I have to run to pick up my grandma as well – you know what the arrangements are supposed to be, right?”

“Yes, you only forced me to sit with you for three hours while you obsessed over them.”

“Now now, ladies, is that any way to greet old friends? Ignoring them?”

That did actually make Nadine turn around, her long skirt swishing prettily around her ankles as she did so. “No, but I don’t see any friend of ours around so that actually works out.” She gave a big beaming smile and then turned back to the shelves, pulling out some salsa dips to add to the growing pile of chip bags in the cart.

Reese gave an evil smirk as Trace’s mouth began to open but then was forced to shut once more, unable to think of anything snappy enough to come back with. He really did look like a goon as he did so – much as she hated to admit that he was pleasant enough when not being so easily led by his best friend, the guy had never been a great wit. To his credit, he looked ashamed of his companion’s fat comment.

She couldn’t help tensing up as a longer, leaner frame than Trace’s came into view, a hint of a Rolling Stones logo flashing before her as his t-shirt clad torso wandered into her line of vision. She had been purposely keeping her back turned on him, but he was now leaning on her shopping cart with a jaunty grin. It occurred to her that any fan seeing a paparazzi photo of him in this situation would probably be gushing over how sweet and friendly he looked. She, however, knew him better than that. A glimmer of menace glittered behind his deep blue eyes, and she couldn’t help feeling her shoulders tighten in preparation for the blow.

There was always a sting in the tail with him.

“Hey peanut.”

“We’re talking to the foodstuffs now?” Nadine asked Justin as Reese remained silent, bristling at the old nickname. It was weird; the Reese’s Cups thing had seemed so cute while they were dating. Now it made her want to smack the stupid out of him. “Clearly been putting too much of that ill deserved cash up your nose.”

Reese silently promised that she was going to treasure the woman for the rest of her days for that comment. It was easier if they could play quiet cop bad cop in this situation – she had no desire to talk to the guy.

“Great to see you too sweetheart,” he sneered at Nadine before turning his attention right back to Reese, exactly where she least wanted it. She hated the way he was leaning over her, invading her personal bubble and clearly loving her discomfort. “So, I hear congratulations are in order.”

“Behind the times, then,” she tried to respond lightly. “Guess you always were a little slow.”

You know me,” he shrugged amiably. “Never liked to listen to meaningless gossip.”

She barely had time to wonder what the hell he meant by ‘meaningless’ when she noticed Trace slinking off into the background, clearly bored already by the conversation. Foolishly she hoped this would have meant Justin’s disappearance too, but the ex love of her life seemed in no hurry to leave. Testing the water, she gently guided the cart out from under his grip and meandered down the aisle in search of crackers for the cheese platters… no, he was still following her.

Trying not to audibly or visibly sigh, Reese decided that like a good wax she was going to have to get this over with quickly rather than drag it out. Sadly for her this would entail completely opening herself up to whatever it was Justin was waiting to say, however, she decided it would be best to get it over with now rather than later. At least if it was too horrible she could let an anonymous rumour circulate back to his mother that he’d attacked her in the grocery store. That ought to earn him a good hiding.

“Nade, can you go do the desserts while I get the plates and stuff?”

Nadine was about to protest most strongly, but she caught the resigned look on her friend’s face and immediately got it. As much as she wanted to elbow Justin out of the way and drag Reese off into the next aisle – possibly while throwing canned goods at his head – she knew from long and sour experience that it was little use trying to warn her off dealings with the man. After all, she hadn’t managed to stop her from dating him.

“Sure. It was great to see you Justin. Oh, and by the way, love the new album. You sound just like The Jonas Brothers. Toodles!”

Reese briefly considered that maybe it was Nadine she ought to be marrying when suddenly she felt her hand being picked up. At first she thought he was trying to make her uncomfortable with the contact, but then she saw that he was actually examining and playing with her engagement ring. There was a scarily expressionless look on his face.

“Nice,” he said dismissively, dropping her hand. “Must have cost him a year’s salary, but a hundred bucks well spent.”

Reese glowered angrily, her face betraying the reaction he’d been looking for. Who cared if her fiancé didn’t make huge amounts of money? As far as she was concerned being an overworked and underpaid mechanic was better than peddling a false image of a decent human being to pre-pubescent girls while thrusting in their faces and bedding whichever one he could get his hands on. It was absolutely typical – he’d started with the insults without even a moment’s pause.

“Well, you know, it was less expensive than my last one but it came with a much better package.”

Naturally his dirty mind jumped him into the gutter. “I seem to recall you enjoying the package, sweetheart. Sure moaned loud enough.”

“Actually I was referring to honesty, decency and generally not being a worthless son of a bitch - but come to think of it that other package is much better too.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “No good having it if you don’t know what to do with it, huh Justin? Not that it ever stopped you trying with everything that moved.”

To hell with doing this silently, she was now looking for a fight. It failed to cross her mind that it was exactly what he wanted out of her, but she was too angry. He was enjoying every second of this interaction, and he particularly enjoyed the livid expression her pretty face had contorted into. He licked his lips unconsciously at the sight of her plump pink ones twisted into the scowl, and the blazing eyes amused him.

“So, peanut, I’m really looking forward to meeting the husband to be. I take it you guys are shopping for the party now? Mom can’t wait.”

Reese was fuming, completely fuming. He had just reminded her exactly why she had to let him show up to ruin her entire engagement party; their mothers had been friends forever, and Lynn Harless had been nothing but lovely to her even after she had turned around and refused to marry her son.

She only wished she had been able to bring herself to tell the doting mother exactly why.

“Yes, we’re shopping for the party, and I’m looking forward to seeing your parents. Such lovely people, shame about the son.” She turned her back on him angrily, scanning labels furiously but unable to remember precisely what she was looking for.

Deciding to dispense with the pretence, Justin grabbed her by the waist: fingers digging painfully into her hips. His force scared her, but the way she had frozen into place scared her more. By all rights she should be slinging a left hook right now – and four brothers meant she had a mean one. She felt his eyes burning the bare skin of her shoulders as his fingertips gripped the material of the cute little sundress she’d thrown on over her jeans – now she was wishing she’d worn body armour.

Justin was breathing heavily into her ear, feeling how in control of the situation he was and how much she hated it. He let his eyes trail down her neck and into the small amount of cleavage the floral dress was exposing. Only a year ago, had they been in this situation she would have happily been letting his hands wander everywhere. As it was, she stood rigid in front of him and a nastier part of him was satisfied to see it. His stomach was churning through the sensation, pins and needles in his hands where they held her.

He planted a soft kiss on her cheek, feeling her physically flinch as he did so. He abruptly let go, leaving her dazed, infuriated and more than a little bewildered. Sure she’d wanted him to get whatever he had planned to say over with, but this was just strange.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you at the party and we can catch up some more. Looking forward to it - came an awful long way just to be there.”

Justin winked at her, getting only her horrified expression in response, then turned and walked away. Reese couldn’t help but physically quiver, literally shaking with rage. She had known in her heart of hearts he wouldn’t be able to resist showing up if he was in town, but she had never dreamed for a second that she would be the reason he’d flown back.

Or was she? Was he messing with her head for the millionth time? It wouldn’t exactly be his first lie…

“Umm…”

She nearly jumped sideways into the shelving at the sound of the awkward voice.

“Fuck, Trace, lurk much?”

She dispensed with any pretence of civility, despite the fact that she had once upon a time been friends with him entirely on his own terms and had only ended that friendship in grounds of his association with Justin. Nadine had never liked Trace – hence the sarcastic greeting – but she had. Once upon a time, she’d been very fond of both men. Times changed.

“Umm…” He scratched the shaven head that matched his best friend’s, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. “Umm… I know he’s being an asshole…”

“He’s been an asshole, he’s being an asshole, he IS an asshole Trace,” Reese said tiredly, deflating almost as quickly as she’d fired up.

“Yeah, but he’s my friend, and…”

“More fool you.”

“Reese!” Trace exclaimed, irritated. “Look, I know he fucked up with your relationship and he’s being a bastard now, but… he’s only doing this to get to you, you know.”

“Why exactly are you telling me this instead of being a man and telling him instead of kissing his ass?” Angrily she remembered she’d been after crackers, and she roughly pulled some off the shelves and tossed them into the cart behind her, brain slowly beginning to function properly again. “And why exactly would he be trying to get to me? Not like he ever gave a shit.”

A wry but tired grin etched itself along his mouth, and he shook his head at her. “If he didn’t give a shit why would he bother? Think about it.”

Reese laughed derisively, hating herself for noticing that Justin was now striding out of the exit. Oh well, so long as he was away from her. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not like I give a shit what he thinks. I just don’t see him as the type to give much of a damn about the women he’s finished screwing over.”

“I didn’t see you as the type to get engaged to a guy after knowing him for a month.” Trace shrugged affably, smiling at her and clapping her gently on the shoulder. “Guess we can all be wrong, huh? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m happy if you’re happy, but… it’s just kind of unlike you, that’s all. You shocked the shit out of us.”

Before she could register the ‘us’ part of his phrasing to wonder who was included in that, he was interrupted by his cell phone going off. As he pulled it out to see who was calling, Reese clocked the name on the screen and had to roll her eyes. She ought to be thankful really, Trace had been starting to sucker her in with the fake concern. Justin really would stoop to anything.

“Better go home, Fido, master’s calling you to heel.”

Inwardly giving up but determined not to fight any more with her, Trace pushed the end call button without answering. It was probably the first time in a month he’d refused one of Justin’s calls. “I’ll see you at the party later, sweetheart. I can’t promise to make him behave, but I swear I’ll try.”

Stunned, uncomfortable and oddly drained after the interaction of five measly minutes, Reese stood dumbly in front of a row of Oreo packets until Nadine came bounding up, arms laden with baking ingredients and launching into her usual tirade on why Justin Timberlake was the result of generations of inbreeding accidentally switched at the hospital with Lynn’s real son.