Chapter 16

Justin walked to the back of the bus where Kerrigan was sitting off to the side on one of the two sofas, listening to her Discman.  She appeared to be lost in thought, just staring off into space.

And that she was.  Completely lost in thought.  Her mind kept replaying the events of the night before.  Dinner.  The movies.  That kiss.  She could not get over that kiss for anything.  It had been incredible.  Her body had erupted in tiny shivers when Cody had kissed her.  She had never experienced anything like that before.  Therefore, it was completely lodged in her brain.

Unfortunately for her, so was the humiliation of looking down the hall to realize that all the guys had been witness to the kiss.  She was thoroughly embarrassed and had just been waiting when they got up that morning to leave, for one of them or all of them to make some comment about it.

But surprisingly enough, none of them did.  They didn’t even mention it.  That had totally shocked Kerrigan right out of the water, but she wasn’t about to bring it up and ask why they hadn’t said anything.  That would just be asking for trouble.

Kerrigan looked up and seen Justin standing in the doorway watching her.  She wondered how long he’d been standing there because she hadn’t noticed him until that moment.  She thought he was still up front playing video games with the other guys.

Turning the volume down on her Discman she looked over to him.  “What’s up?”

“Nothing.  Just thought I’d come back here and see what you were up to.  Got tired of playing that stupid game.” he said, taking a seat beside her on the sofa.

“Chris, beat you again, didn’t he?” she smirked.

Justin groaned, she knew him too well.  “Only because he cheated.”

“Justin, you’re such a sore loser.  We both know that he beat you fair and square, you just don’t wanna admit it.”

“Well, if I’m a sore loser it’s because I hardly ever lose!”

Kerrigan eyed him.  “Ego check!” she stated and Justin smirked.

“It’s the truth and you know it.”

“Whatever.” she shrugged.

“So what ya listening to?” he asked, nodding towards her Discman.

“Xscape.”

“Let me hear.” he said, motioning for her headphones.

Kerrigan pulled her headphones from her ears and passed them to Justin, who quickly slipped them on and listened for a brief moment before slipping them back off and handing them back to Kerrigan.

“I haven’t heard that song in forever.  What’s it called again?” he asked.

“Who Can I Run To.”

“Yeah, that’s it.  That used to be one of your favorite songs.  That and what was that other song?” he said, trying to remember.

“Understanding.” she supplied.

“Yeah, that one.  I remember when that song came out, Trace told me you about drove him crazy playing it all the time.”

“It’s was a good song.  Still is.” she shrugged.

Justin smiled.  “You remember when I brought you down to Florida to meet them as a late Birthday present.  That time when they were on MMC?”

“I’ll never forget it.  I was so excited.  Finally being your friend had some benefits to it.” she smirked.

“That’s fucked up, Kerr.” Justin glared at her.

Kerrigan started laughing.  “You know I’m just joking.” she said, playfully shoving him.  “I’ll always remember that trip.  I was so into Xscape and when you called me and told me you were going to get to meet them because they were going to be on the show, I was so jealous.  And then when you informed me that you and your mom were flying me down so I could be there and meet them.  I thought for sure I was going to die.  I was so excited!”

Justin grinned.  “Yeah, you were like smiling that whole day.  I don’t think that smile left your face for even one second.”

“I don’t think it did either.”

“But they were really cool gals.  So nice and down to earth.  I remember when I told them that my Best Friend was a fan and asked if I could bring you back to meet them, they were like “Sure.  Bring her back.”  They were so nice.”

“Yeah, they really were.  And so talented.  Those girls could sing!” Kerrigan nodded, still smiling at the memories.

“And they were a blast to work with too.  I remember when we were shooting that scene…”

Kerrigan cut him off.  “You mean your “BOOM BOOM, I LIKE EXPLOSIVES” scene?” she smirked.

“I didn’t write the stuff, OK?”

“Maybe not, but it did sound like something corny you would say.  Are you sure you didn’t help with your lines that day?” she continued to tease.

“Kerrigan, I had nothing to do with that and you know it.  They always came up with crazy shit for us to say on the show.  It was supposed to be funny.”

“Oh, it was funny alright.  You going on and on about how they should tell people that’s how they came up with their group name.  And you jumping around going “BOOM BOOM“.  You looked like a dork.” she laughed.

“Thanks for the support.” he groaned.

“Any time.” Kerrigan smirked.  She loved to tease him.  She had teased him mercilessly that day after the tapping of the many crazy skits he’d had to perform.  She watched the show faithfully, like any good friend would, but for some reason being there and seeing Justin do all that stuff in person was just too amusing to her.

“Anyways, that was a good day.  I got to meet Xscape and my Best Friend was there and got to meet them too.  So that was a good day for me.” Justin conceded, growing serious.

Kerrigan studied the sincerity in Justin’s eyes.  He could be a real sweetheart when he wanted to.  She was really lucky to have a friend like him, even if she didn’t think that all the time.  “Yeah, that was a good day.  For the same reasons you said.” she smiled.

“We had a lot of fun when you was there on that trip.  Wasn’t that also the first time you met JC?”

“Yeah.  That was the first time I got to come to the show.”

Justin sighed.  “All that stuff seems like so long ago.”

“That’s because it was, Justin.  But they’re great memories.”

“Yeah, they really are.” he smiled.

Kerrigan grinned.  “Especially, the memories of that other skit you did that day.  That theater thing.  It was you and Britney and you were showing off those stupid gadgets that you were supposed to use in the theater.”

“Oh, God.  Not that again.” he groaned.

“Well, it was!  How many takes did you guys go through to finally get that one scene with that stink gas stuff.  You and Brit just kept losing it and busting up laughing.  The director guy looked like he was ready to strangle the two of you.”

Justin looked down at his hands thinking back.  He’d had a lot of fun on The Mickey Mouse Club.  He got to act like a total goofball and got paid to do it.  And it was where he had met the girl, that he once thought to be the girl of his dreams.  But he’d found out recently that that was so not the case.  If only things were as simple now as they had been back then.

Kerrigan noticed the lost look on Justin’s face and immediately felt bad.  She wasn’t even thinking when she’d brought up all that stuff about him and Britney.  She knew it was a touchy subject and though he wasn’t necessarily showing it these days, he was still really hurting inside over their breakup.

He tried to be strong and act like a man.  He put on this act like it didn’t really bother him, but Kerrigan knew him too well.  She had been on the phone with him that night when he had called her in tears.  And Justin was not one to cry.  The girl had broken his heart.  He had truly loved her.  And there she went causing him to think back to better times, which inevitably would only remind him of the current bad times.

“J, I’m sorry.  I wasn’t thinking.  I shouldn’t have brought her up.” she apologized, running her hand up and down his back to comfort him.

“No, it’s ok Kerr.  I gotta learn to live with it eventually.  I mean she’s a part of my past, and I’m always going to be linked to her in some way or another because of all that.  It’s just hard ya know.  To think back to when life was so much simpler, but then to be reminded by the pain in my heart that it’s not that simple anymore.”

Those words broke Kerrigan’s heart.  Justin admitting his pain so openly with her.  Added with the tone of his voice when he said it, and she was ready to cry for him.  She just wanted to shield him from all the pain he was feeling.  If there was any way that she could just take it all away from him and put it on herself, she’d do it in a heartbeat.  But unfortunately she couldn’t do that.  The only thing she could do was try to comfort him the best she could.

“Still.  I’m sorry.”

Justin looked up at Kerrigan and smiled.  “It’s ok.  I know you’re gonna beat her ass for me someday.  It’s only a matter of time.”

“Oh, you know it.  I’m gonna rip the bitch’s hair out.” Kerrigan grinned.

“Who’s hair are you gonna rip out now?” Trace asked, walking into the back room.

“Britney’s” Justin supplied.

Trace gave Kerrigan a dirty look.  “Don’t start that shit again!”

“I didn’t start it.  Justin, brought it up.  We were talking and I brought up him and Brit on MMC, and I didn’t mean to and he told me it was ok because he knew I was gonna beat her ass for him someday.”

Trace looked at Justin this time.  “Man, do not encourage her!”

“Trace, you and I both know that one of these days it’s gonna happen.  We can only prevent the inevitable for so long.”

“You’re as bad as she is, I swear.” Trace sighed, throwing himself down on the sofa across from them.

“Am I wrong to wanna see her get her ass kicked for what she did to me?” Justin asked.

“I don’t think so!” Kerrigan piped up.

“You wouldn’t.’ Trace scowled at her.

“Oh, shut it.  You know you wanna hurt her too.  It’s just that you can’t because you’re a guy and that wouldn’t be right.  But I’m all woman baby, and I’m gonna beat her ass one of these days.” Kerrigan nodded proudly.

“You got me there to a degree, but let’s not dwell on that now.  Let’s dwell on a certain lip lock that occurred last night.” Trace smirked.  He knew exactly how to change the subject and take Kerrigan’s murderous thoughts off of Britney.

Kerrigan froze.  Oh, she was absolutely going to KILL Trace for bringing that up.  She’d thought they’d gotten past that since it hadn’t been mentioned that morning.  No such luck.

“You know what.  I’m suddenly very sleepy.  I’m gonna go take a nap.” she said standing.

“How convenient.” Trace said, continuing to smirk at her.

“It is, isn’t it.” she smiled, walking towards the door, but Justin’s voice stopped her.

“Kerrigan?”  She turned and looked at Justin.  “You know you don’t have to talk to us about it if you don’t want to.  Just be careful ok.  I mean you don’t know him that well yet, and we don’t either so just be careful.” he said seriously.

“But why do I need to be careful when I got you goons lookin’ out for me?” she smirked and then disappeared into the hallway.

She was being sarcastic, but if she only knew how much truth was really hidden in those words as Justin and Trace shared an understanding look.  They’d definitely be watching the guy.  And they’d be watching him closely.