Chapter 5
Heather drove to her place for the night. JC drove Justin home. “I’m crashing on your couch tonight, driving you to Heather’s when you’re ready,” JC said.
“I don’t know if I’ll really be ready,” Justin sighed.
“I know, bud. We’re here for you. The next few days are gonna be the toughest; not knowing what is going on, waiting for her to be released from the hospital to start her life again.”
“A life without ME,” Justin sighed.
“Hey, Heather is very on board with this. She’s MY sister, Nicki’s roommate. She wants Nicki to be happy, and YOU make Nicki happy. I know, Heather complains to me sometimes about how sickeningly cute you guys are.”
“We;ll see. I’m just so afraid of things falling apart,” Justin said.
…
Justin laid in bed for what felt like hours. I want to sleep, dream of her, us, together. Like it SHOULD be, he thought.
He finally was able to sleep. He was in a church, full of people. He saw his mom, Trace, JC, Heather, and then saw Nicki at the back of the church. She was in a beautiful white gown, she glowed like an angel. Then, out of nowhere, the roof of the church flew off, the rush of wind carrying Nicki up with it.
He woke up with a start, sweating. Even in my dreams, I lose her… He gave up on the possibility of sleep, going into the kitchen to make some coffee. As the pot finished brewing, JC slowly sat up on the couch.
“Do I smell coffee?” he yawned, half asleep.
“Yeah. Couldn’t sleep, had a nightmare about Nicole. Figured I might as well make some coffee and stay awake,” Justin explained, pouring himself a cup of coffee. “You want one?” he asked, raising his mug.
JC nodded. “I’ll fix it in a minute.” He yawned and stretched his arms wide. “Do I need to stay here a few days? Make sure you eat, sleep? You can’t live on coffee and avoid sleep forever.”
“It’s just one night, J,” Justin replied.
“I’ll text you throughout the day. I want pictures of what you eat, or dirty dishes in the sink. Proof that you ate. Only an idiot would make food and not eat it. Last thing we need is you in the hospital from starving yourself or not sleeping. Do it for Nicki.”
“Fine,” Justin relented. He collapsed on the couch with his coffee. JC got up to fix himself a cup.
“I’m making you breakfast. Eggs, bacon, and pancakes,” JC said.
“There’s waffles in the freezer if that’s easier,” Justin replied.
“Waffles it is,”. JC nodded. He cooked the bacon first, then made scrambled eggs in the grease. He put the waffles in the toaster. When everything was ready, he put it on plates, and grabbed forks. He brought butter and syrup to the table, and set the plates down.
“Come and eat,” JC said, almost like an order. Justin drafted himself over, forcing himself to eat.
“Mmm, this is pretty good. Thanks man, for looking out for me,” Justin said.
“We’ve been friends for HOW long? Did you expect anything less by now? Remember after Britney?”
“You took me out drinking and to a strip club…”
“Ok, so maybe it wasn’t the BEST idea, but at least I tried,”. JC said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m doing for you what I’d want someone to do for me.”
“I guess, it’s the thought that counts,” Justin admitted.
“Go take a shower and get dressed, keep some normalcy in your life. You’ll feel better.”
Justin took a long, hot shower, letting the c water just fall over him. It felt good at first, then suddenly he felt like he was back at the scene of the accident, standing in the pouring rain, looking at the wreckage.
Justin screamed in the shower. JC came running. “You ok? What’s wrong, J?” He asked, opening the bathroom door a crack.
“I had a flashback to last night..” Justin said, cooking back tears.
“Turn the water off, get dressed, and we’ll go to Heather and Nicki’s. I’ll be there all day if you need me,” JC offered sincerely.
Justin got dressed, a t-shirt, jeans, and his favorite Jordans. They got in Justin’s car, with JC drive.
“This feels so weird, being on this side of my own car,” Justin realized.
“You’re in no state to drive, especially if you have another flashback. It’s safer this way,” JC admonished.
They soon pulled up in front of the townhouse Heather and Nicki shared. “I offered to buy her a house,” JC said, “but she wanted to do this herself. She settled on letting me making a huge down payment.”
“I never knew that,” Justin said. “Of course, I never asked, either.”
“Heather tries to be really low key, she’s really good with her money, not wanting to be taking advantage of her ‘famous’ brother,” he said, using air quotes with the word famous.
“You say famous like you’re not. There’s still PLENTY of JC fans out there. You were Nicki’s favorite, before she met me. It took a long time to get used to you coming over to see Heather. Thank God for your birthday party, so she could meet me.”
They walked into the house. Pictures of Heather, Nicki, and their friends hung on the walls in small collages. Justin walked into Nicki’s room and sighed.
“Let’s get started,” JC encouraged. They looked through pictures, some in frames, some just taped to the wall.
“It’s like it’s a breakup, and I’m getting all my stuff back. I’m just the only one who knows we were even together in the first place,” Justin pouted, taking down pictures. Date nights, vacations, birthdays, memory after memory were now just his. He got more emotional as he took more pictures down.
“I know man, you gotta be strong. Be the confident Justin she fell in love with, she’s not gonna find you attractive moping around.”
“Hey guys, how’s it going in here?” Heather asked hesitantly.
“It looks so empty now,” Justin noticed. “You think she’ll know something’s off?”
“Maybe, but let ME deal with that. You want her to GENUINELY love you, not just because we told her you’re her fiance, right? I’m sure she’ll understand. The pictures might help bring back memories, or they might guilt her into doing something she doesn’t want, to make you happy,” Heather said.
“What do I do if she meets someone else?” Justin gasped, choking on the words.
“Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it. You guys good here, while I go see Nicki? I think all of us there overwhelmed her.”
“We’ll be fine, go ahead,” JC waved her off.
