I've been talking and texting and emailing Pookie about Nick, their relationship for nearly 3 days. It's all over what Justin and JC had been telling the truth about, Nick and AJ being the ones who lied and she's already apologized for her initial reaction. I call her and wait for her to answer, my foot causing my leg to bounce anxiously. "-still mad at you, Nick! AJ, I wouldn't laugh if I were you cuz you're in even fucking deeper, asshole!" she screams at the two of them, more than sure it's me calling. "Hey, 'Lan," she sighs into the phone.
She's doing that quite often now, even more so since Nick told her the truth and it worries me. "What's up, prima?" I casually ask her.
"Primo," she says, sounding ready to cry and I hear a door click shut on her end, "what do I do? Te amo Nick pero he lied. I want to trust him, but I'm scared he's just going to do it again to me. I want to let him back in, but I'm afraid to trust him like I once did."
"Pook, I can't choose for you and I wish I could. I understand why you feel like this and I can help you sort it out, but I just want my happy little cousin back. I've talked to him and he's beating himself up worse than you ever could, doubting if he deserves you. The guy doesn't blame you one bit, in fact he only blames himself for caving under Alex's pressure," I inform her, a bite to my words.
"What would you do if you were in my situation?"
Been there, done that and Pookie doesn't know about it. "Talk to the other person, have a serious heart to heart and agree to some ground rules."
"Mmm," she hums, uncertain if it would work. I know she wants it to because she loves him, wants to make it better for both of them and have this be her forever. I know she still has feelings for JC, but her heart is Nick's and I'm confident JC will get a chance with her. "What about Alex?"
"Make it known that doing that shit can ruin what he's worked so hard for and that you're looking out for him not only as his manager, but as his friend as well."
"Okay, 'Lan."
"The sooner you do this, the better for all three of you and the group. Please, I want my favorite baby cousin happy again," I barter with her.
"Alright, primo. I'll do it tonight."
"Love you, bebe prima."
"Te amo, primo."
"Tell me how it turns out."
"Yeah. Bye."
"Bye."
I hang up, get to my feet and slip my sneakers on. I grab my wallet and keys, heading out the door. I wrote a note for my mom and sisters, letting them know I'd be at Lance and Joey's if they need me at all before 8:30 tonight. I call Joey's house, his voice greeting me after a couple rings. "Hey, man," he happily says.
"Is it still cool if I come hang out with you and Lance?" I ask, locking the front door to my house.
"Yeah, he's kicking my ass in Scrabble."
"Be there in ten."
"Alright, see you then."
"Later." I drop my cell phone into the center console and start the car after the call had been disconnected.
I laugh when I get inside Joey's, Lance adamantly telling Joey what he'd put down isn't a word because it's a proper noun. I enter the living room and listen to Joey childishly argue for a few moments. Lance looks at means waves me over, pointing at the word. "Hey, Chris. Is this a word he can use?"
He put down Jackson and I chuckle. "Sorry, Joe, he's right."
He groans and unwillingly removes it from the board. I know why when I sit next to him on the couch, he has jack shit for letters and most of the board is covered already. I sit back and watch them play for the next 15 minutes, silent.
I get lost in my thoughts, unaware they're almost done putting it away. "You talk to Sandy today?" Joey asks.
"Huh?"
They chuckle and Joey repeats the question, my head bobbing to confirm that I had. "So what's going on with her and Nick's snag?"
"They're going to have a heart to heart and come to a mutual agreement about the whole situation."
"That's good," Lance comments, putting the game in its spot on the game book shelves. "At least they're going to work it out and hopefully we get the happy CJ back after this; I don't like when she's hurting this bad."
"I don't either, Poofoo," I confess.
"None of us do, especially JC. Have you seen how much it's upset him?" Joey points out.
"He seemed pretty distracted by it at rehearsal last night," I agree.
"He told me after it happened, the next day, that she called him that night crying and begged him to forgive her for not listening to the truth," Lance informs me.
It strikes me funny, something that she usually doesn't do and I know she hadn't called me until the morning after. "She did mention apologizing to JC, but not another detail about it. Did she ever apologize to Justin?"
"He hasn't said anything about it if she has," Lance tells me.
"Why wouldn't he? That's a wound he'd love to rub salt into," Joey comments, rubbing the facial hair around his mouth with a curious look in his eye.
"She never apologized to him," JC informs us, making the three of us jump when we hear him. He's leaning on the wall by the living room entrance from the front hall. He has on basketball shorts in Orlando Magic colors, a black short sleeve shirt and high tops. His short hair is askew and he hasn't shaved in the past few days, overall looking like hell.
"Why only you, C?" Lance demands to know.
"Man, have you forgotten?" he fires back, pushing off the wall and pointing to his temple.
Lance did, his confused expression confirming it and the three of us groan. "Dude, think back to the beginning of the Second II None leg," Joey reminds him.
He looks more befuddled and JC drops his head into his hands, growling. "I like her, she likes me and she's still mad about Nikki almost 9 years later. I tore her apart emotionally and she comes down hardest on me, as if my parents don't remind me enough."
"Oh, yeah. But why only ask for you to forgive her?"
"She knows that every time I think of her, it hurts me to face the fact we're not together," he shyly admits.
"She told you that?" I inquire.
"No, I heard her talking to Joey a couple years ago and I eavesdropped on the conversation from outside the room in Germany. There's quite a bit I know from eavesdropping when it comes to her."
"Like what?" Joey demands, arms folded over his chest.
"How she feels about me, what she wishes would've happened to us back then and that it breaks her heart to see me in emotional pain," he rambles off a few examples, counting them off on his fingers and knowing he's right.
Those facts are true, she's only told Joey and I those things in confidence. It makes me wonder what else he knows from listening in on conversations over the past few years.
~*~ A little while later~*~
Justin came over about 20 minutes ago and confirmed that she never apologized to him, he hadn't heard from her since he saw her just before Nick told her that night we all went to dinner with her. "Nothing at all?"
"Not even an email, but it makes sense now and I understand why she called C to ask for him to forgive her, though," the 19 year old explains, looking at his wrist and his finger begins to ghost write Britney's name there.
"Aren't you mad?" Lance asks, quizzical about it.
"No, I don't blame her I mean, her and JC have some serious history between them and I was there to watch part of it."
JC pulls out a piece of computer paper from his shorts' pocket and looks at it for a few seconds, placing it on the coffee table. "Read this and you guys will understand."
I grab it first and know it's more than a single sheet of paper, reading one at a time before passing each one to Joey. I had no clue he felt this strongly for her. 'Drop The Ball', 'Dear Goodbye', 'Everything You Want', 'Lose Myself', and 'Right Here (By Your Side)' are here on paper with some that remain untitled in our hands. "I thought it was a crush or puppy love type deal on your end all these years, C. I didn't know you felt like this about her," I confess, shocked as I point to the papers.
"Now you understand why I got pissed when Justin sent her copies of them back then, I love her and I'm pretty sure she won't date me," he sadly tells us, slowly raising his eyes to meet ours and keeps his head down. He's wringing his fingers, nervous and now I understand why he acts the way does around her since they met.
"Honestly, I didn't like you at first, but you grew on me and if she didn't force me to get to know you, we wouldn't be *NSYNC today. At least not the one we are," I remind him.
"Yeah, we were inseparable back then and now she fronts like she wants nothing to do with me," he agrees, a smirk appearing when he thinks of those memories.
"You may have saved her all the pain she's had if you asked her out instead of Nikki or Bobbie," Joey observes.
"You'd be happier, too," Justin adds.
"She would be," Lance comments.
"Maybe, but would she have gone to Julliard? Would she be a co-managing us? Would she be managing anyone she is now? I never wanted to interfere with any of it, couldn't bear to be the one to hold her back," he rationalizes.
Completed
Kaotyk is the author of 47 other stories.
This story is part of the series, Love Is A Confusing Emotion. The previous story in the series is Meetings, Somewhere Between The Middle & The End. The next story in the series is Something New & Different Daily.
This story is part of the series, Love Is A Confusing Emotion. The previous story in the series is Meetings, Somewhere Between The Middle & The End. The next story in the series is Something New & Different Daily.
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