Chapter 17

( 3 weeks later )

The last few weeks seemed to have flown by for Justin.  And there was only one week remaining of the tour.  He couldn’t believe that it was almost over already.  But at the same time he was ready for it to be over.  Ready to get back to Florida and put this whole experience behind him.

It was his hope that once they got back to Florida that Kerrigan and Cody would go their separate ways.  Until of course Justin found out that Cody was from Florida.  That had crushed his hopes all in one swift blow.

Then he tried to convince himself that once they got back to Florida and he didn’t have to be worried with the tour and he had more time, that Kerrigan would drop Cody.  He was hoping that in a way she was only using him to fill the time that she couldn’t be with Justin because he was too busy with everything.

At least that’s what he’d been hoping anyway.  From the looks of things he didn’t know what was going to happen.  Over the last few weeks Kerrigan and Cody had grown extremely close.  They’d been out on several other dates.  And they spent pretty much all of their spare time together.

It annoyed the hell out of Justin, because she insisted on bringing the guy along to everything that they did as a group.  If he and the guys were going out to a club and Kerrigan was going with them, as long as Cody didn’t have to work she was bringing him along.  She was declining to do stuff with Justin, so she could do things with Cody.  And he’d seen one too many of their make out sessions.  He was just fed up with the whole thing.

He’d been trying to play the whole ’just stand by and go with it’ approach, but it was seriously becoming a challenge for him to pretend to like the guy.  Or to even put up with his presence for that matter.

Kerrigan had changed immensely.  Sure, she was still his Kerr and they could still joke around and share all their zaniness, but she was acting so girly he couldn’t believe it.  Walking around in a daze.  Talking about Cody and something sweet he had done for her, nonstop.  Wearing dresses, which Justin NEVER thought he’d see.  He just couldn’t believe his eyes when he looked at her anymore.  It was almost like he didn’t even know her.

And Justin didn’t know what to do.  Kerrigan hadn’t said it, but he was pretty sure that she felt as if she was in love with Cody.  And Justin still didn’t trust the guy as far as he could throw him.  It was a hell of a situation and there didn’t appear to be any fixable answers.

And then there was Kerrigan’s Birthday that was coming up in a few days.  The guys were planning a big 21st Birthday bash for her.  Of course Cody would have to be there and Justin wasn’t too happy about that.  But there was no way that he was going to allow his dislike for the guy to come between him doing something special for his dear friend.

Justin was just at this point where he didn’t know what to do anymore.  If he spoke up about his dislike for Cody, he could possibly ruin his friendship with Kerrigan.  But at the same time just standing by and watching like he’d been doing over the last few weeks was literally driving him crazy.

He still couldn’t figure out what it was about Cody that unnerved him so.  The guy seemed to treat Kerrigan ok.  He’d never even seen him raise his voice to her.  And he was always doing things for her.  Taking her out.  Bringing her gifts.  He seemed to honestly really care about her.  But there was still just this nagging feeling in Justin’s gut that told him something wasn’t right.  He didn’t know what that something was, but there was definitely something.

But all he could do in the meantime was to just sit back and wait.  Wait for what he inevitably knew would happen.  Cody would fuck up.  He would do something to mess things up with Kerrigan.  Or to hurt her in some way.  And then he would take out the frustrations of having to hold it inside all this time.  Then and only then would he be able to voice his objections and dislike for the guy.  But he knew it would happen and he also knew that when he finally got that release.  The wait would have been well worth it.

Justin was pulled from his never ending thoughts when Joey walked into the room.  “Hey, J.  I talked to that guy Jared that you told me to call.  About DJ’ing Kerrigan’s party.  He said he would do it.”

“Ok, so we got that out of the way now.” Justin sighed.  He was mentally drained from the overload his mind had been on lately.  He just had too much stuff he was trying to deal with.

“Yeah and we got confirmation on the club too.  Plus, all of your family and Kerrigan’s have been notified about the party time and location, so they’ll all be there.”

“I really appreciate you taking care of all that for me, Joe.  I was going to do it, I really was but my mind has just been elsewhere lately.”

“J, I understand.  Besides it’s not a problem.  We’re all throwing the party for Kerr, not just you so I don’t mind helping out.  I wanna see her have a good 21st bash.  Just like we all did.”

“You just wanna see her wasted again because you think it’s funny.” Justin smirked.

“That too.” Joey smiled.

“Well, I have no doubts in my mind that the girl will be anything other than trashed.  Especially, with you and Chris around.”

“Well, what can I say?  She’s finally legal.  We gotta party it up!”

Justin shook his head a Joey while smiling.  “And Kerrigan says I’m the crazy one.”

Joey studied Justin’s face and his solemn mood.  He knew the whole Kerrigan/Cody thing had been bothering him lately, but it was finally starting to really show through.

He sat down next to Justin on the sofa and looked at him.  “You know Justin, at least she’s happy.  I mean it could be worse.”

Justin knowing exactly what Joey was referring to, looked over at his friend.  “That’s the problem, Joe.  I mean I want her to be happy, but there’s something about that guy I don’t trust or like.  And if she’s this happy now, I can only imagine how devastated she’s going to be when he finally shows his true colors.  It’s gonna crush her.  And she’s never been in a serious relationship.  I just worry about her is all.”

“I understand what you’re saying man, but we all gotta go through it at some point.  We’ve all been there.  You with Britney, C with Bobbee, Chris with Dani, Lance with Carrie.”

“What about you?” Justin asked.

“I’ve had my heart broken too.  But nothing like you guys have.  I guess that’s why I’m so elusive with Kelly all the time.  I mean I love the girl, and we got a kid together.  But I guess there’s a part in me that’s scared that if I make that kind of commitment that I’ll end up getting hurt the way you guys have.  I’m a chicken shit, what can I say?” Joey grinned.

“Nah.  I think you’ve already made the commitment, you just don’t want to admit it to yourself yet.  But that’s fine.  It’ll happen eventually.”

“Yeah, no need to rush it.” Joey smirked.

“Guess not.”

“OK, so perk up man.  We’re about to throw the biggest party for Kerrigan and she’s gonna love it.  Put on a happy face man.”

“I’m trying, Joe.  It’s just not as easy as it seems.  Kerr’s been such a big part of my life for so long, it’s hard to deal with the fact that I’m losing her.”

Joey scowled at him.  “Justin, how do you figure you’re losing her?  She hasn’t gone anywhere.  She has a boyfriend.  How do you think she felt when you was with Brit and your other girlfriends?  You can’t fall apart because she has one boyfriend.  This is just the beginning.”

“I know it seems unfair, but I mean Joe you’ve had to have noticed how she’s changed recently.  She’s not the same Kerrigan I grew up with.  I mean her heart and all the important things are still there, but at the same time she’s just really changed.  I can’t help but feel like I’m losing her.  I can’t help but feel like she’s giving too much of herself to this guy too soon.  Granted I’ve had a lot of relationships, but I was never that serious with someone that quickly.”

“Are we talking about sex here?” Joey asked, confused.

“NO!”

“Ok, then what are we talking about if we’re not talking about sex?  I mean…Kerrigan’s not a….is she?” Joey stammered his question.  He wasn’t exactly sure how to approach that topic.  Especially, with Justin of all people.

“Is she what?  A virgin?  Is that what you’re trying to ask me, Joe?”

Joey shrugged and nodded.  “Yeah.”

“Yes, of course she is!” Justin answered quickly.

“Well, how do you know?”

“How do I know?  She’s never told me otherwise!  That’s something Kerrigan would have told me about.”

“You’re sure?” Joey persisted.

“YES, I’m sure!  Now can we drop this particular conversation.  I’m not comfortable discussing Kerrigan’s sex life.  Or the lack there of.”

“Ok, whatever man.” Joey said standing.  “I’m gonna go see what the other guys are up to.  I think you should find something to distract yourself.  You’re starting to look like some lost puppy or something.” he snickered.

“Kiss my ass, Joe!” Justin groaned, leaning back into the sofa.

“Sorry, J.  Not gonna happen.  I’ll catch ya later.” he said as he left the room.  He stopped outside in the hallway when Kerrigan and Cody came walking past him.  Cody had his arm securely wrapped around Kerrigan’s shoulders, pulling her close against his side.  Whispering something in her ear.

Just seeing the two of them together like that caused Joey to wonder more about the whole conversation he’d just had with Justin.  He too was beginning to think there wasn’t something right with Cody.  It was like he was too good to be true or something, but who was he to say anything.  If Kerrigan wouldn’t listen to Justin she sure as hell wasn’t going to listen to him.  And just as Justin was, Joey was concerned too.  He didn’t want to see Kerrigan get her heart broken.  But unfortunately that wasn’t up to him and there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

“You know I don’t see why Justin and the guys are throwing you this huge party.  I should be the one throwing you some kind of party.  I am your boyfriend.” Cody said as he and Kerrigan entered her room.

Kerrigan smiled back at him as she picked up a scrunchy off her dresser and pulled her hair back out of her face.  “You don’t understand.  They’ve been planning this party for a couple of years now.  Well, not exactly planning it but talking about it nonstop.  Besides, they’re my friends.  They can throw me a party if they want to.” she shrugged, walking back over to him and wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Yeah, but I still say I should be the one throwing you a bash.  That just seems more fitting.” he said as he leaned down and place a gentle kiss on her lips.

“Yeah, well they beat ya to it.  I can’t do anything about it.” Kerrigan smiled as she pulled away from their embrace, walking over to the sofa and setting down.

Cody followed her to the sofa and watched her for a brief moment as she clicked on the TV and began skipping through the channels.  “You could tell them NOT to do it.” he suggested.

Kerrigan scoffed.  “Yeah, like they’d listen to me.  Then they’d just turn it into some surprise thing.  And I hate surprise parties.  It’s better this way.”

“Yeah, well I still don’t like it.  And I still say I should be the one throwing you a party.” Cody said, settling back into the sofa.

Kerrigan looked over at him.  He looked angry, which she couldn’t understand.  It was just a stupid party and the guys were her friends.  She was happy they were doing something special for her.  She didn’t understand why Cody was making such a big deal out if it.  “Yeah, well like I said.  The guys already beat you to it and they are my friends.  They’re throwing the party, just get over it.” she said, frustrated.

Cody gave her a funny look.  “You don’t gotta get a fucking attitude about it.  I was just saying that it should be me and not them!” he snapped.

Kerrigan sat forward on the sofa staring at him, oblivious to where all this was coming from.  He’d never raised his voice to her, never snapped at her or said one unkind word to her.  This just wasn’t like him.

Cody noticed the shocked expression on her face and quickly tried to explain.  “I’m sorry baby.  I’m just tired and ready for this tour to be over with.  I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“I know you’re stressed, Cody.  But you’re not the only one.  And you don’t talk to me like that.  Justin, doesn’t even talk to me like that and get away with it.” she stated.

“Why does everything always come back to Justin?  It’s Justin this.  And Justin that.  I get so sick of hearing his name.” he spat angrily.

Kerrigan’s eyebrows raised.  A scowl growing on her face.  “I do not talk about Justin all the time.  I compare a lot of things to him and the guys because that’s what I’m used to.  That’s what I know.  I’ve explained this to you before.  I don’t get what the big deal is.  Justin’s my friend and I’m gonna talk about him.  You need to get used to that.”

Cody sat there debating on what he should say in response to that.  He knew from the way he’d seen her staring at Justin before they got together that she thought of him as more than a friend, but it was obvious that Justin never seen her in that light.  But he knew if he brought that up and pointed it out that the argument would only get out of hand and he wasn’t in the mood for that at the moment.  He was just sick of hearing about Justin all the time.  And always being compared to him.  He was sick of Justin period.

Sick of the way he always pretended to go along with their relationship, when he knew that Justin didn’t like him.  He knew that Justin was only putting on an act for Kerrigan’s sake.  But the simple fact was that Cody knew and that only aggravated him more.

He felt like Justin thought he was some kind God and had control over everything.  And the way that Justin looked at him, was like he was looking at Cody as if he wasn’t good enough for Kerrigan and Cody didn’t appreciate that in the least.  He knew he was good enough for Kerrigan.  He had proved it.  He was with her wasn’t he?

He just always felt like he was competing with Justin in some way.  And that was going to have to end at some point, because there was no way he was going to be second place in Kerrigan’s heart.  She was his girl now.  Justin would just have to learn to live without her, because Cody wasn’t giving her back!