“So exactly how many ‘small chores’ does your mom have on the list?” Trace grunted as he yanked a particularly stubborn weed out of the border. “And more to the point, does she have any ‘big chores’ on the list because I don’t wanna see what qualifies.”

“Ha ha.”

It was hot and they were both sweating, but Justin didn’t mind it nearly so much as Trace did. His mother had batted her eyelids and sweetly suggested that if they ‘weren’t busy’ she had ‘a couple of small things’ that needed doing to the yard. It was as good a way to spend the day as any - it wasn’t like there was a lot to do in such a small town. It was bright and sunny, not a bad day to be outside with the radio playing. He had mowed the lawn, swept the porch and was now weeding. There was something pleasantly mind-numbing about the work and his muscles appreciated a little exertion. The problem with coming home was that it made him slack off on his gym routine and he quickly started getting lethargic if he didn’t stay physically active. It was the side effect of dancing his ass off for a couple of decades; too much inactivity made him twitchy.

The domesticity certainly kept him humble at any rate. There weren’t any assistants or paid lackeys to handle this one for him.

“Hey Timberlake, can I get a little help here?”

Justin looked up and dropped the trash bag in surprise. Of all the people to be struggling with patio furniture and the latch on his mom’s gate Dean Bennington was about the last person he’d expected.

He’d been avoiding all four of Reese’s brothers since he’d come back to town because he distinctly remembered the threat of bodily injury that had been issued to him ‘if you ever hurt our baby sister.’ It might have been several years ago but they’d been pretty creative in their description. You couldn’t forget it in a hurry. That Reese was in fact the middle child and not the baby hadn’t made this any less intimidating since all four were fairly athletic and could follow through. Although she had never dished on why they’d broken up he figured people could take an educated guess; her open hostility had to be a pretty significant clue. Her brothers were not slow and any one of them might have worked out that he was due punishment.

Even so, there was nothing in Dean’s demeanour to suggest he meant harm. In fact it was notable only by how entirely jovial and normal it was - they had always got along pretty well but he’d assumed that would be a thing of the past after the break up. There was no difference at all here; it could have easily been twelve months ago as the present day. The man was just standing there unsuccessfully trying to work a gate latch with his hands full.

He jogged over and quickly swung the gate open before grabbing one of the chairs.

“Thanks, man. I got a couple more of these in the truck, you mind giving me a hand?”

“Sure thing. What’s this for?”

“Apparently you’re hosting our entire clan tomorrow, your mom not tell you?”

Justin snorted. “Come on. You know that’s not how this works.”

Dean chuckled. “True, true. Advance notice makes the whole thing way too easy, especially when I have kids to wrangle. Far better to just not tell us and then get mad if we had other plans. Hey Ayala!”

“Dean!” Trace gave a quick salute before focusing back on the flower bed and thinking how typical it was that the moment he got to the really gnarly patch Justin ditched for an easier task.

“So how’s tricks?” Dean asked as they set the chairs down on the patio and started marching back out towards his truck (where another six chairs and a fold up table were waiting). “Haven’t spoken to you in an age, man, how’s the big city?”

“Oh, you know, same old. Only just got back from the tour so came home for some downtime. You? How’s Jenna and the kids?”

“Pretty good, thanks, all running as usual but with less sleep.”

They got to Dean’s beaten up blue Ford truck and Justin had to smile. At least some things didn’t change. Back in the day, long before any romance had blossomed, Dean had attempted to teach all three of them to drive in the thing. It had not gone well. His wife was constantly trying to make him get rid of it, but Dean claimed the dents were all ‘character.’ He’d never convinced any of them with that line - and the truck definitely looked ridiculous parked to the brand new Beamer Justin had bought for his parents - but at this stage it would have felt wrong to see him driving anything else.

It was funny things like this that allowed Justin to feel a little more at home in the town again, even if he was still finding it hard to relax. Some things endured, and at least there were some members of the Bennington family who didn’t hate him (he assumed that when Dean said ‘the entire clan’ was descending he didn’t include that particular member).

“Good. And the team?” Justin asked, referring to the high school football team he helped out with. Dean’s actual job was as a foreman at the local construction company but he volunteered as an assistant coach.

“Not bad, freshman talent pool was a little sparse this year but we’re ticking along. Clark’s looking good, if he keeps it up we should be able to start him soon without any bitching about favouritism.”

“Nice,” Justin replied as they grabbed the next couple of chairs and started heading back in. Clark was the youngest Bennington, there was a bit of a gap between him and the rest of his siblings.

“Whoa lil’ bro, watch out!” At the last second Dean shot an arm out and managed to prevent Justin from tripping over a stray broom. Trace had left it strewn across the path.

“You better not let Reese hear you call him that!”

It was one of those jokes that Trace made reflexively before his brain caught up and realised that it was too awkward. Immediately all three men became visibly uncomfortable, fidgeting and shifting from foot to foot, not able to look each other in the eye. Since the three families had all been so intertwined for so long the second the engagement had been announced the two elder Bennington boys had taken great delight in calling Justin ‘lil’ bro,’ emphasis on the ‘lil.’ It was a bit of affectionate condescension. It had stuck and it still came automatically to Dean’s lips. It was so ingrained that neither of them would have noticed it if Trace hadn’t brought it up. Yet he had brought it up so now they were both embarrassed and ill at ease.

Trace was aware of the evil expression being shot his way for that bit of handy work. It was surreptitious but deadly.

“Heh, it was Olly taught her to punch so I’m not worried. If it had been Sam I’d need to watch my mouth a little closer.”

Dean being Dean he managed to smile and play it off, but suddenly the friendly chat dissipated. It didn’t escape Justin’s notice that he was suddenly working faster and making his excuses rather than hanging around to catch up further.

**

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Dean’s away, not like he’ll find out. Oliver still owes me so he’s keeping quiet.”

“I’m not worried about Dean; I’m worried about living long enough to have to worry about Dean. Don’t you remember last time?”

Reese stuck her tongue out at him. “That was forever ago, I didn’t even have my license then. Just get in the damn truck.”

“Alright, but if you kill me you’re going to owe the record company a lot in damages.”

Justin had to jiggle the handle a little before it would actually perform its function. The door swung open and the smell of cigarettes and pine hit him with force. It was a nasty combination.

“So your brother took up smoking, huh?”

“The dumb thing is he thinks the freshener covers it up.” Reese jabbed an index finger at the tree hanging from the rear view mirror, making it swing.

Justin clambered in and looked over at his friend critically. It had been eight months since he’d been home, the band’s schedule was that crazy, but in that time his little pal seemed different. He’d assumed the dress she’d worn to dinner at his house was an aberration, but apparently not. Gone was the standard issue shirt and jeans combo he was used to. Her worn out scuffed leather boots were still there, so at least that hadn’t changed, but she was in a denim skirt and a clinging tank that showed far more skin than he was used to from her. She’d never been a tomboy but she’d always dressed more like a feminised version of her brothers than a girly girl. Her hair was curlier and he spotted a hint of lip gloss. The nail she’d tapped against the freshener was neat and manicured. It was disconcerting.

“So where are we even going?”

Reese pulled away from the sidewalk and ignored the protesting of the truck’s clutch. It was a clapped out heap of junk but since it was her brother’s pet project he was very protective of it.

“Apparently there’s going to be a comet tonight and I figured our spot would be prime viewing since it’s elevated.”

‘Our spot’ referred to the meeting place they had always used as kids. It was a short walk through the park, but since it was up a steep incline a lot of people were too lazy to ascend. The three of them had spent many hours undisturbed up there, to the point that they were very territorial and almost offended when anybody else bothered to make the trek.

“Also,” she continued, “it’s a good excuse to catch up. I’ve seen you like three times since you’ve been home yet I still don’t feel like we talked or I know what the heck you’ve been doing.”

Justin snorted. “You could just read it in Tiger Beat.”

Reese gave him a long suffering huff. “You have no idea how many people bring that shit up to me asking if it’s true or not. Just so you know, I’ve been telling them your favourite colour is neon orange not baby blue.”

“If you’re trying to mess with them that seems pretty lame.”

“Just wait until you see how many girls turn up in it and how crappy they look at the party tomorrow. Neon orange suits nobody.” Justin laughed in response and she chuckled along with him. “Seriously though, it’s kind of insane even just knowing you. If it’s this bad here where you’re nowhere around then God knows what it’ll be like if Mom ever lets me visit. You know they pretty much flipped their lids when that rumour about you and Britney went around? I didn’t hear about anything else for a damn week.”

Justin’s eyes flicked uncomfortably away, only for a second, but Reese caught it nonetheless and took it as confirmation. It was hard to identify why her stomach dropped slightly. It wasn’t that she had a problem with anyone he dated; she found it intimidating that he was hobnobbing with all these rich and famous people now. Sometimes she felt incredibly far away from him, even though the three of them still kept in close contact by phone. She was stupendously proud of the success the group was starting to have, nobody deserved it more than her best friend, but she worried about him slipping away into the bright lights. There was a distinctly Timberlake shaped hole in her life when he wasn’t around and she missed him more than she would ever admit. It was hard to dismiss the fear of him out growing their small town and the people in it, including her.

“Maybe you should give ‘em something to talk about for me, throw them off my scent.”

“No thank you.” Her mouth screwed up in distaste. “One date with Brock was enough to put me off that for life.”

Now it was his turn to fidget in his seat. She was not only wearing skirts, she was dating jocks now? He hated being so out of the loop while he was away. Of course he was always running up the phone bill talking to her and Trace, three-way calling was a gift from the telecommunication gods, but it wasn’t the same. They would be laughing uproariously telling him stories which clearly you had to be there for and he had to pretend he found it as hysterical as they did. Mostly he was bummed he was missing out. Logically he knew he was gaining a hell of a lot more and he had nothing to complain about, but sometimes he wished he was by the pool with them and not at yet another photo shoot.

“Besides, I’m way too busy studying for that anyway. Did I tell you I got into that summer program at Vanderbilt?”

“No. What program?”

“Business Leaders of America is doing this career thing, you get to go to the college for a couple of weeks and they do all these workshops and you have to make up and run your own business and compete against other teams… plus it’s a couple of weeks in Nashville, which should be great. My GPA is just skating the minimum requirement so I need to keep on top of it.”

Justin refrained from mentioning that being out so late on a school night probably wouldn’t help with that. “Business Leaders of America? I had no idea you were into that kind of thing.”

“Mr B started this club at school. I only went along for extra credit but… I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Kind of got into it. Besides, if I ever want to get out of this town I guess I got to have some kind of plan.”

Well wasn’t she full of surprises that evening? Reese had always seemed so very Millington – and so very country, like her brothers (who were clearly going to follow in the blue collar footsteps of their maternal line no matter how much their dad tried to get them into academics). He’d always imagined she’d be like so many in the town, settle down and marry a local boy and pop out some kids. She’d never shown any particular ambition before.

“Well hey.” He shrugged it off in customary style, with a joke. “When you get all those fancy business skills you can come run my shit for me. Thank God Lou and Johnny handle everything because I have no damn clue. I’m just waitin’ on my check!”

Resse turned her head to him in shock. “You mean you’ve been working like demons for three years straight selling millions and you haven’t been paid yet? Geez!”

“I know, right?” He exclaimed. “But apparently this is normal, you have to wait for all the royalties to be calculated and processed and stuff. We get expenses in the meantime.”

“Oh… I guess that makes sense. Seems weird though, you’re like huge pop stars and not rich yet. When you are, will you buy my brother a better car?” She griped as she struggled to shift gears.

“You mean you don’t want me to buy you one first?”

“I thought that was implied.”

When she smiled at him he noticed that she was quite pretty. It wasn’t that he’d thought she’d looked bad before but it was the first time he’d really thought about it. She’d become nice looking as she’d matured (at all of seventeen). The breeze from the open window was whipping through strands of her hair. The strong nose that had been too much for her younger face sat better in her now filled out features, and her cheeks held a healthy flush. Maybe it had been previously hidden by all those plaid shirts. Nobody looked their best in plaid.

“I don’t know how much you think this check is gonna be but I doubt I’ll be able to buy everybody cars just yet.”

“Eh, buy me a cheeseburger at the general store and that’ll work.”

**

“Mom, you home?” Reese called out as she let herself into her parents’ house.

Since her boss had yet again decided to ‘take a meeting’ at the golf course she had nothing to do at the office and had cut out early. She seemed to spend her life doing that, not because she was work shy but because he really seemed to have little use for her. That was strange for the named partner at such a small law firm; he ought to be generating a lot of activity for his subordinates. A great deal of the business depended on him after all. He never seemed to do much except have lunches and play golf, yet the books testified to the fact that he was somehow making money doing it. She could only imagine he was brokering a lot of out of court settlements on the green.

Reese hated having so much time on her hands all the time. It made her feel listless (yet one more reason to start her family as soon as possible). She was bored, so she’d come to do some more work on the homemade place cards and table decorations they were going to have. They were keeping all of it at her mother’s because Drake’s hands seemed permanently covered in oil. It was so ingrained into the loops and whirls of his skin that no amount of scrubbing removed it completely. The result was lots of black fingerprints, so he was not allowed anywhere near the wedding stuff.

“In here honey!”

It sounded like it was coming from the direction of the front room. Throwing her keys into the bowl, Reese put down the bags she was laden with and reached down to pull off her boots. Well trained by her mother, she put them neatly on the rack with the others before gathering her things back up and padding into the room.

“Oh, hey Lynn,” she said in surprise. “Didn’t realise you’d be here.”

“Oh it was just a fly by so we could go over tomorrow.” The older woman smiled warmly at her. The expression was always so open and friendly even after everything that it made Reese feel horribly guilty for some reason. She had no idea what she should be feeling guilty about, but it did.

“Tomorrow?” Reese asked.

“We’re having a cookout at their place, we decided,” her mom informed her. “Your brothers are all coming and Dean is bringing the kids. How about you and Drake?”

Was her mother insane? Did she not realise who was staying at Lynn Harless’s house?

“Gee, umm…” This was a moment to think fast. “I’d love to but we already said we’d go into Memphis for his friend’s gig. Next time?”

Drake did in fact have a musician friend who regularly played in Memphis, though he was out of state doing some fairs. It was a plausible lie but it still wasn’t fooling anyone. Even so, everyone was far too polite to do anything except feign believing it.  

“Sure thing, honey.” Lynn managed another  smile but it was dimmer. A swift change of subject was in order. “So, what’s in the bags?”

“Oh, more supplies for the table settings.” Reese lifted them higher as if to demonstrate. “Is the rest of the stuff still in Dad’s study Mom?”

“Yes sweetie.”

“In which case I’ll go hunker down in there and get out of your hair. If I’m not out before you go Lynn it was great to see you.”

“You too, Reese. Love to Drake.”

Reese smiled before promptly disappearing and the two women sat in silence for a moment. Neither of them was aware that they were waiting until she was out of earshot; it was all subconscious.  

“Is it weird if I say I miss your daughter?” Lynn broke the silence.

“No, I know what you mean.” Elizabeth gave a sigh. “She’s stressed out about this wedding anyway but she is still kind of skittish around you, Justin’s the same with me. I guess we can’t take it personally.”

Twirling a curl around her finger, Lynn’s lips pursed thoughtfully. “We just keeping giving it time, I guess. Think they’re still getting used to it.”

“Heck, I’M still getting used to it. I really shouldn’t have let myself get so invested in the two of them.”

“Ditto,” she replied. “Got far too into the idea of us being in laws - not only the kids but the four of us being family as well.”

Elizabeth stared at the now empty doorway after her daughter. She would never voice it, it sounded too terrible even for her closest confidantes, but she found herself withdrawing from Drake for that reason. He was estranged from his parents anyway so part of that fantasy was already avoided, but it was hard not to hold him at arm’s length. She didn’t want to get so fond of another prospective son in law only to have it go up in smoke again – especially if it was followed by another dramatic change of personality. She had no problem if Reese’s ambitions changed, she simply wanted her to be happy, but it was difficult to understand what was going on behind it. Her refusal to discuss the break up hadn’t helped there.

Then again, she supposed she’d have a tough time getting as attached to Drake as to Justin even if she tried. Not through any fault of his - he was a decent young man who clearly adored her baby. It was unavoidable since Elizabeth hadn’t watched him grow up and wasn’t best pals with his mother.

“It just makes me sad that she’s uncomfortable around me now,” Lynn continued.

“Like you said, we just give it time.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure any amount of time is going to make her show up to my house if she thinks my son will be there.”

“Oh well. Nine out of ten Benningtons still ain’t bad I guess.”

They chuckled together before easing onto a less prickly topic.