~~~~~*~~~~~

"I’m gonna be captain," Clare announced loudly as she strode onto the basketball court with Libby trailing behind her. It was well after four p.m., and Clare had managed to persuade Libby to join her in crashing the men's game of basketball.

"I'll be the other captain, then," JC said rising to meet the challenge in Clare's eyes.

"Fine," Justin said as he headed over to where the other players were gathering in the centre of the court. "Captains, choose your teams."

Although he'd been enjoying shooting hoops with JC, Justin was always willing to participate in a proper game of basketball when there were enough players to make it worthwhile. He'd clocked the determination in Clare's eyes when she'd looked at JC, and he'd realised that if the girls were serious about joining their game then it was worth him taking Clare's challenge seriously.

"I’m having Justin," Clare said before JC could even open his mouth to speak.

"Chris, you’re with me," JC said, cutting eyes at Clare for choosing his best player before he'd had the chance.

"Lib, you’re mine."

"Fat One, with me."

"Sorry, dude, gotta phone call to make," Joey called as he made his way out of the court and back towards the building, his cell–phone already attached to one ear. He lifted his spare arm to wave an apology at JC.

"Give Lisa our love!" Libby called after him as he walked through the main doors and disappeared from view. Libby knew from habit that he would be calling his long–term girlfriend, Lisa, who was away on a college work–placement in another state.

Lisa was studying architecture full–time at the same college that Libby attended, and so far this year she'd travelled to three different states to do dissertations on different architectural styles. She was currently in Boston studying the Old State House, and if things carried on according to schedule, she was due to travel back to Florida at the end of the week.

"So that just leaves poor Lance to be the final addition to the loser’s side," Libby teased as she turned to face JC and Chris and poked her tongue out at them playfully. Justin watched her with a grin on his face and laughed as JC narrowed his eyes in return.

"Them’s fightin’ words, them is!" JC said as he began to rub his hands together with glee, his competitive spirit kicking in.

"We’re over here, you’re over there. Ain’t nothin’ between us but the gel in your hair!" Clare called in a sing–song voice as she collected the basketball and threw it at JC, who caught it and threw it straight back at her.

"You did not just bring my hair into this!" JC retaliated as he shortened the distance between them. Clare threw the ball back at him as hard as she could and smiled confidently, all the while trying her best not to show that she was—secretly—feeling a little intimidated. For every step he took towards her Clare took one step back.

"So tell me, Joshua, why do you use so much gel in your hair? Is it 'cause you wanna get noticed? That’s it, isn’t it? You wanna get noticed."

"You must really want your team to lose, don’t ya?"

Clare glanced at the other members of JC's team and snorted in amusement. "I can honestly say I'm sweating it."

"Hey!" Chris shouted back at her, clearly feeling offended.

"Sorry, Chrissie, but you’re the opposition. You suck!"

In reality, Clare knew that she had very little chance of beating JC’s team. She and Libby were beginners to the game, and they really had very little experience or ability to back up their gloating and teasing. Their usual tactic was to attempt sabotage, and since the men were so good at basketball even that trick had a habit of backfiring on them.

The only people capable of improving the girl's chances were absent, and so Clare knew before they'd even started the game that she and Libby would have to pull some pretty sneaky manoeuvres if they had any chance of winning.

"Okay, children," Justin said in a serious voice as he walked in front of Clare, snatched the ball out of JC's hands and turned to face the other players on the court. "It's time to play ball."

Without another word, Justin took off running towards the hoop, closely followed by Lance, who had anticipated his move. Lance tried to get a hold of the ball but Justin bounced it around him and only noticed that Chris was sharp on his tail when he lost the ball to him. Just as quickly as Chris had the ball, he had it bounced away from him by Libby, who took off towards the hoop with a whoop of delight.

JC ran over and intercepted the ball from her, causing Clare to go after him straight away. As she was so short, Clare knew that she had little chance of getting the ball off of him by the usual methods and so she did the first thing that came to her mind—she caught up as close to him as she could and jumped straight on to his back.

"Come on, Clare! That’s cheatin’!" Lance complained as he came to a stop near Libby and gestured at Chris to notice what was going on.

"Shut it, PooFu!" Libby chuckled as she nudged Lance playfully in the ribs. The mention of Lance's hated childhood nickname sent everyone into fits of giggles, which continued as the group watched JC run towards the basket with Clare still clinging onto his back.

Only Justin attempted to tackle JC, which consequently caused the older man to lose his focus. Before anyone was aware of what had happened, Justin was up at the other end of the court, slamming the ball into the basket with a loud, solitary cheer.

"Score!" Justin roared triumphantly as Chris fetched the ball and passed it to Lance.

Realising that she had achieved her goal and that her team were now one point up, Clare loosened her arms from around JC's neck and planned to step backwards onto the asphalt. Her feet didn't quite cooperate with her brain, however, and she somehow ended up falling right onto her backside.

Humiliation washed over her as JC glanced over his shoulder and muffled a snigger at the shocked and embarrassed expression on her face. "Whoops!"

"That's it!" Clare sulked as she folded her arms across her chest like a petulant child. Her cheeks flamed a bright red, and she avoided meeting JC's eyes at all costs. "I'm not playing anymore."

"You can't quit now," JC told her as he reached out his hands to help her get to her feet. Clare reluctantly allowed him to help her right herself. "We've only just started."

"Well..." Clare muttered, "I want to have Chris on my team. You can have Libby."

"Clare!" Libby shouted from across the court as she overheard what Clare had said. She shot her friend an accusing glare and placed her hands on her hips to emphasise her displeasure.

"I'm sorry, Lib, but you're letting the side down," Clare explained with a helpless shrug.

"I'm letting the side down? Don't you mean your lack of height is letting the side down?" Libby retaliated.

"What? I’m supposed to be sorry that I’m short? I don’t think so. The best things come in small packages, don't you know?"

"Yes, but the best basketball players are usually over five feet," Libby responded with a giggle.

"Come on, ladies!" JC said in a pacifying tone. "It’s just a game!"

"We know," Clare told him as she flashed a grin at Libby, who smiled graciously back. Their friendship had survived a lot of friendly competition over the years, and it would take a lot more than a bit of competitive banter for either of them to genuinely take offence at the other.

"So are we carrying on or not?" Justin asked.

At the sound of his voice, Libby turned around and grinned at him, suddenly realising that they were no longer team–mates but rather competitors. She gleefully removed the ball from Lance's hands and threw it across the court towards Justin's head.

Libby's grin broadened as she enjoyed the anticipation of the moment before the ball smacked him straight in the face. Unfortunately, she hadn't taken into account his good reflexes, and he caught the ball one handed long before it had any chance of hurting him. Justin met Libby's eyes and flashed her a cocky grin as he raised an eyebrow.

"Nice try," he quipped as he tossed the ball back towards Lance and then took off towards her at a run. Recognising the wicked look in his eye, Libby let out a scream and ran across the court towards the main building to try to escape from him before he could catch up with her.

Watching the pair run off, Chris turned to the other players and rolled his eyes. "I guess that's a no then."

~~~~~*~~~~~

The plan was for the group to go clubbing that evening, and as Clare stood in front of her closet trying to decide what to wear, she heard a loud knocking sound at the front door of the apartment she shared with Libby.

"Who’s that?" Clare called loudly to Libby, who was sitting in the living room watching the television. Libby rolled her eyes as she got up from the couch to answer the door. She wasn’t in the mood for visitors, and she was annoyed to have to remove herself from her seat, where she had just made herself comfortable.

"Oh, it’s you," Libby groaned as she opened the door to find herself face to face with her boyfriend. "It’s Dan!" she called loudly back to Clare.

"What the hell does he want?" Clare shouted back as she made her way out of her room and along the small hallway towards the front door. She'd been planning on having a carefree evening at the club with her friends, and Clare didn't want anything to upset Libby and make her change her mind about going out.

"We need to talk," Dan told Libby as he ignored Clare's comment and held the door open wide for Libby to pass through. She nodded glumly, and with a quick glance over at Clare, who she knew was in exactly the right mood to tell Dan where to go, she followed him outside onto the partly covered porch. Dan closed the door behind her so that Clare couldn't eavesdrop in on their conversation.

"Who's inside?" Dan asked Libby without any attempt at civility. Libby immediately felt her heckles rise at his accusing tone.

"Clare," she replied sharply. She knew exactly where this conversation could lead, and she wasn't going to make it easy for him to pick a fight with her. Not like this. Not tonight. He was treading on very dangerous ground and her expression made that very clear.

"You goin’ out tonight?"

"Yes. Did you come all the way over here just to ask me that?" Libby asked as she looked up into his deep blue eyes and frowned.

Dan was five feet, ten inches tall, which left him towering over Libby's five foot four inch frame. He had a strong, athletic body but a hard face with defined, angular features. Although he was attractive, he also tended to have a rather cold expression on his face most of the time, which gave him a rather threatening vibe.

"No," Dan said. "I felt we needed to clear the air after what happened this morning."

"Fine, go ahead," Libby replied as she folded her arms across her chest. If he wanted to clear the air then he would have to be the first one to speak. There was no way that she was going to apologise.

Dan stood there for a moment, regarding the stubborn expression on Libby's face. She gave him a cold stare in return. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Libby eventually said, "You can start by apologising."

"Me?"

"Yes. You," Libby snapped. "You accused me of cheating on you. Don't you think you owe me an apology at least?"

"I dunno. It depends. Are you?"

Libby felt her mouth pop open in surprise. The last thing she'd expected him to do was to repeat his accusation from earlier. For a few seconds she was dumbstruck, and then all the anger that she'd been suppressing for weeks burst out of her in a furious scream.

"I can't believe you! How dare you come here and ask me that! I've told you a million times that there is nothing between me and Justin Timberlake. We work together for God's sake, that is it!"

Clare heard Libby scream and immediately dashed over to the nearest window, which happened to overlook the porch decking. From where she stood, Clare could see Libby's face flushed with anger and Dan standing there with his arms crossed, an arrogant look of distrust on his face. Clare fought back the urge to rush out there and punch him across his smug, nasty mouth.

Instead, Clare remained at the window as Dan said something that brought further tears to Libby's eyes. In less than a minute he was storming down the porch steps, back into his waiting car, which was parked haphazardly at the curb side.

Glancing back at her friend, Clare noticed that Libby had sunk to her knees and was now openly crying on the floor. It didn't take Clare a minute before she was outside consoling her friend. 

"Lib..." Clare said soothingly as she knelt beside her friend and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "What's happened? What's he said to upset you now?"

"He thinks I'm being unfaithful," Libby replied through her tears.

"Let me guess... Justin?"

Libby nodded and rubbed her face roughly with both of her hands as the tears continued to flow down her cheeks. "He doesn't believe me. It doesn't matter what I say, he still doesn't believe me."

Clare shook her head angrily and wished that Dan was still around. She'd have no trouble ripping him a new one for upsetting Libby so. There was nothing Clare hated more than seeing one of her friends upset. "He should trust you, Libs. No matter what," Clare told her firmly, meaning every word.

For a moment Libby was silent except for a few further sniffs, and then she turned her head to face Clare, her big, green eyes brimming over with tears. "Why should he trust me? I don't even trust myself."

"Oh no," Clare replied sternly as she turned Libby's shoulders so that she was facing her directly. "Don't you dare defend him. You always do this, Libby, and it's so wrong. You can't keep putting the blame on yourself."

"But…"

"No. No buts. You have nothing to reprimand yourself over. Nothing has happened between you and Justin. That is the bottom line. Whatever Dan thinks, you've been faithful to him."

Libby let out a weary sigh. "But I haven't really, have I? Every minute that I've been with Dan I've been wishing that he were someone else. I might not have been unfaithful to him physically, but I have been emotionally and mentally. We both know that."

Clare didn't know what to say and so she pulled her friend into her arms and stroked her hair as Libby began to quietly sob. She considered the situation and felt overwhelming sadness in her heart for her friend.

If only she had worked up the courage to tell Justin how she felt. Libby would never have gotten together with Dan if she'd imagined that Justin might reciprocate her feelings. It could have spared them both a lot of heartache.

"Libby..." Clare said quietly after a minute of contemplation. "You can't help who you fall in love with. You've got to stop punishing yourself for it. So you like Justin. Big deal! It's possible to love two people at once."

"But I don't love Dan," Libby replied as she sat up to face Clare. "I knew when I started this relationship that I would never like him as much as I do Justin. It was stupid to even get involved with him when I feel this way about someone else."

Clare fought back the desire to yell out in relief that her friend had finally admitted the truth to herself. Instead she offered Libby a reassuring smile. "Then you've learned something," she told her encouragingly. "You've made a mistake and now you can move on from it."

For the first time, Libby cracked a small smile. "It's scary how wise you are sometimes," she said with a weak laugh.

Clare smiled back but her reply was serious. "All I know is that if people could choose who they fall in love with, then I wouldn't have allowed myself to fall for JC. Unrequited love is the worst and I won't let it ruin your life, Libs."

Before Libby had a chance to say something else, Clare jumped to her feet and grabbed hold of both of Libby's hands, pulling her up with her.

"That's enough serious talk," Clare told her firmly. "We are going to go and get ready and then have a fantastic evening out with our friends. Agreed?"

Libby smiled and brushed away the last of her tears from her cheeks. "Agreed."

~~~~~*~~~~~