< Chapter 29

Chapter 30

After winning the basketball game just by a hair the gang couldn’t not take Justin out to celebrate. Although they hadn’t originally intended on going to the Shake Shack, they kidnapped Justin and informed him that a celebration was in order.

"I’m not that hungry," Justin argued as his stomach was still sensitive. Nick shook his head.

"I don’t care. We’re taking you and you’re gonna at least have a root beer float. We can’t not take you to the Shack after you just played the best game ever. It would be, like, bad luck or something."

"He’s right," Britney agreed with a kiss to Justin’s cheek. "You were fabulous down there, everyone was saying so."

Justin’s cheeks flushed and he shook his head. "I was okay."

"No, I’m serious," Britney argued. "You were phenomenal. I heard everyone talking about you." She wiggled her eyebrows and leaned in closer. "Especially the girls."

This time Justin’s blush was darker and he rolled his eyes. The only person he cared about was Chris, and he wasn’t even sure if he’d been at the game.

Despite Justin’s protests that he wasn’t hungry, they still ordered fries and onion rings for the whole table, surprising Justin with not one root beer float, but two, both of which he finished happily. They ate and talked until finally everyone was finished and they felt it was time to head to Brian’s.

"Thanks so much," Justin said softly to Nick in the back seat of the car. They had gone with Josh and Christina to Brian’s, while AJ, Lance and Britney had gone with Kyle and Billy. Emily had planned on joining them, but was called into work at the last minute and had to cancel.

Nick gave Justin a wide grin and hugged his best friend close. "Are you kidding? You so earned that tonight." Nick remembered something he’d wanted to talk to Justin about. "Two minutes left, Griffiths had called a time out. You all looked like you were going to do one play, but then you looked at the other team and went back into the huddle."

Justin nodded.

"Why didn’t they pass you the ball for the three pointer, that’s what we all thought you guys were going to do."

Justin grinned as he nodded knowingly. "We were going to do that, until I realized that was what the other team was expecting. They had two guys on me and so I figured, rather than do that, we should fake them out. That’s why Emmett was going to pass to me but instead, he took it in himself before passing to Brian. No one expected us to take the two points, especially not from the inside since it wasted so much time."

"Good thinking," Nick huddled Justin in close as they continued going over each detail of the game. As they walked up the driveway to Brian's house, Nick looked over his shoulder to make sure that everyone else was okay. Josh was quietly talking to Christina as Nick rang the doorbell. He could vaguely hear Lance’s low voice coming from the drive way and knew that the other car had arrived. They waited a few minutes before the door swung open and Chris stood before them. Justin barely had time to cover up the gasp that resulted in seeing the senior right in front of him.

"Come on in," Chris said with a bored look on his face. It changed to a smile when Lance appeared.

"Christopher," Lance said as he stuck out his tongue.

"Bass, good to see you." Everyone had gone further into the house, except Justin who was standing off to the side, waiting for Lance to come in. He would take any excuse to be in Chris’ company, and possibly have the opportunity to talk to him. Chris noticed Justin staring at him and he bared his teeth, snarling just slightly. "What?"

"Nothing," Justin squeaked. His stomach was churning nervously and he could feel his pulse racing.

"Then stop staring at me, it freaks me out."

"Chris, behave," a voice said from the doorway behind them. Justin turned around to see Brian smiling warmly at them. "Hey guys, it’s great that you could make it. I wasn’t sure if you were still coming"

"Thanks for inviting us," Justin said politely, his eyes back on Chris, who was now watching HIM curiously.

AJ nodded. "We ended up making a stop at the Shake Shack, it’s tradition and we had to celebrate Justin’s first game as a starter."

Brian smiled as he ruffled Justin’s hair affectionately. "Well, I knew since try outs that Justin was good, and I'm sorry for what it took to get him starting, but I’m not sorry for the results. We’ve always had trouble beating Wright Collegiate, and although it was close tonight, it feels good to be on this side of the exchange."

"It’s nice of you to have us all over," Lance said politely. Brian smiled warmly at him.

"It’s no problem, and I love having friends over. Now, I saw Nick and the rest of your gang go into the kitchen so feel free to join them in there, or come hang out in the living room or the basement. Oh and if you need the washroom, use the one downstairs, the one upstairs has been taken over. Again."

Justin rolled his eyes at the memory of Gretchen taking up the washroom the last time they’d been at Brian’s house. His blood still burned at the way she’d humiliated Nick in front of Kevin and was not looking forward to his best friend meeting up with her again. Also, he was certain that if he ran into her, he’d have a few choice words for her. They all headed into the kitchen where they could see Britney, Billy, Nick, Josh, Christina and Kyle already inside. Chris followed them in, grabbed something to drink and headed into the large living room where they could hear music playing over top of the television.

"Are your parents here?" Josh asked. Surprisingly, Brian shook his head. They had expected Brian’s parents to be there like they had at the last party they’d attended.

"Nope, out for the night. At least this way we can have a bit more fun since we don’t have to worry about them hearing everything."

Everyone had to agree that while they hadn’t had a completely horrible time the last time they’d been at Brian’s house, they were having a considerably better time this time. Now that the other members of the team knew Justin and Nick better, they were stopping by where they were sitting to go over plays and comments on both games. Nick was surprised to find out that members of the Varsity team had often gone to Freshman games, and although they hadn’t had any joint practices yet, they were looking forward to playing with him and his team.

Britney and Billy spent a lot of their time sitting comfortably in a corner, talking and occasionally kissing, while Lance and AJ had joined Chris and Joey at the pool table in the basement to talk and play pool.

Justin had been sitting with Nick and Brian, talking about basketball for quite some time when he decided to go downstairs to talk to Chris. He couldn’t think of a better time to try and get to know the other boy better, and knew that this was his chance. "I’m gonna go down and see Lance and Aje."

His pulse was racing and his palms were sweaty as Justin entered the basement and saw his two friends talking to Chris and Joey. There were half a dozen people littering the downstairs. Justin approached the pool table, hoping that he didn’t embarrass himself too much. "Hey guys."

"Hey J," Lance said with a knowing grin. "Wanna join?"

Justin shook his head. "I’m not that good, I’ll just watch." Justin snuck a look at Chris who was watching him closely. It was as if he was trying to figure out what Justin was up to. Justin simply gave him a nervous smile before focusing his attention back on the pool table. "What are you guys talking about?" Justin asked, hoping to join the conversation and take the focus off of his arrival.

"Oh, Lance and Chris were talking about the Lincoln Report while Joey and I were talking about the play."

"That’s coming up soon, right?"

Joey nodded. "Soon enough. It’s been pretty stressful with rehearsals on top of making sure that everything’s going to be ready by May when it opens. It’s a lot of work for only a week’s worth of shows."

"But from what I saw, the set should look awesome. I stopped by the other day to see Nick and it looked great."

Joey couldn’t help but agree. "Oh, it does. The problem is just that it should have been done before Christmas. But then again, it should have been started before mid-November as well." Joey moved to take a drink of his coke and realized that it was empty. He walked over to Justin and handed him his pool cue. "I need another drink, I’ll be back. Play for me."

Justin swallowed thickly before taking the pool cue in his hand. He’d never played before and didn’t want to embarrass himself. Thankfully, Lance gave him a knowing smile. "Don’t worry, I can’t play either."

"But you’re not on my team Bass, so it’s good you can’t play. He’s on my team, I don’t want to lose to YOU."

Lance rolled his eyes and gave Chris the finger. "You’re such a jerk sometimes."

Chris pretended to look offended. "Only sometimes? I’m losing my touch."

Their playful banter continued until AJ excused himself to go to the washroom. Knowing that Justin wanted alone time with Chris, Lance excused himself as well. Eventually, it was just the two of them in the basement as the other people had also filtered out and Justin was trembling nervously at the prospect of being alone with Chris. "So..." He said softly.

Chris looked around to see that they were alone. He hadn’t even noticed everyone else leaving, his attention had been focused on this freshman kid who had been giving him doe eyes all night. He felt his stomach flutter and shrugged it off. "So?"

"Is your band playing any time soon?" Justin asked, full of hope. He'd loved watching Chris on stage and was dying to go to another show. How hot Chris was more than made up for the music, which he still hadn’t learned to like any more than he had at the last show. "I had a good time at the last show I went to and was hoping to see you play again."

Chris gave a noncommittal shrug. "Yeah, we play. The shows aren’t always all ages though."

"But you’re underage."

"Difference though, we’re performing."

"Oh." Justin’s face fell. This wasn’t going as he’d planned it to.

Chris saw the expression on Justin’s face and before he could let himself think too much about it, he spoke. "I’ll let Lance know when we have another one though. We’ve all been really busy and the band has been put on the back burner. But when we know, I'll tell him so you guys can come."

Justin’s smile returned full force and Chris had to fight the butterflies in his stomach. This kid, this child, was not supposed to put butterflies in his stomach, nor make him think about how red his lips were and how agile he seemed to be. Chris had watched Justin Timberlake play basketball and knew how quick his reflexes were, how fast he ran and in exactly what good shape he was in. Justin Timberlake was everything that Chris tried to stay away from and he couldn’t let himself forget that.

"That would be great." Justin was encouraged by the conversation, so he approached, coming closer to Chris. "So... Do you have a girlfriend?"

Chris shook his head and tried not to laugh. "No."

Justin bit his lip and scrunched up his nose. He fidgeted nervously. "Boyfriend?"

"No."

Justin's heart was hammering in his chest. He looked into Chris’ eyes which were dark and impossible to read. He couldn’t help but find the snarl and impassive expression on Chris’ face completely sexy. "Are you ...looking?"

Chris gave a sardonic chuckle and crossed his arms over his chest. "For what?"

"A ...a ...boyfriend?" Justin’s face was red and his hands were trembling, but he wasn’t going to stop now. He would continue until he said what he had to say, no matter how difficult Chris was making it. Chris was standing with his back against the pool table and Justin stepped in, trapping him in with his arms on either side of Chris’ hips. Justin was sending a very clear message, as nervous and hesitant as it was.

Chris understood full well what Justin was offering and had to give the kid credit for going after what he wanted. At fourteen, Chris could see that Justin wasn’t like other kids his age. "I don’t date jocks," was all Chris answered with.

Justin nodded, looking down at his shoes. "Oh. I see." He backed away from Chris and took a few cleansing breaths before turning to walk towards the stairs. He had taken two steps before realizing that Chris had said he didn’t date jocks. He said nothing about not dating boys. He turned around to look at Chris again, who hadn’t moved. "So ..it’s because I'm a jock?"

Chris gave a quick nod. "And you’re like, twelve."

Justin’s face hardened. "I’m fourteen. Almost fifteen."

"Same thing."

"Hardly. Besides, you’re like, what? Seventeen." Now Justin’s embarrassment was dissipating and he found excitement was pooling in his stomach.

Chris nodded. "Big difference."

"Not really," Justin argued. He approached Chris who was leaning on the pool table. "Have you ever dated a jock?"

Chris shook his head.

"Then how do you know you don’t like them?" Justin wasn’t sure where this confidence was coming from, but he didn’t question it. He merely followed it willingly, thankful it wasn’t his gender that was the problem. He hadn’t really expected Chris to be interested in boys but now that he knew Chris was, Justin was confident that in the end, he’d change Chris’ mind about not wanting to date him.

Chris scowled as Justin got closer. The younger teen could see that he was getting to Chris. He had no way of knowing though, that since that night before Christmas at his show, where all Chris could see as he looked out at the audience, was the boy in the front of the crowd, watching him in adoration. The same boy that had gushed about how awesome it had been afterwards, and the one that seemed to be everywhere Chris turned lately was the object of his waking and sleeping dreams. Chris hadn’t been able to get Justin Timberlake out of his mind, no matter how hard he tried. And God knew he’d tried.

"I didn’t say I don’t like jocks, two of my best friends are jocks. It’s that I don’t date them."

Justin shrugged as he licked his lips seductively. He tried to be as sexy as he could possibly be, trying to remember what people did in movies to make themselves sexy. Pushing himself up against Chris, Justin grinned. "So we won’t date."

"If we’re not going to date," Chris spoke slowly so he could control his voice. "Then what are you doing?"

Justin leaned forward and pressed his lips against Chris’ in a brief kiss. "Not dating you. I’m kissing you." When Chris didn’t pull away, Justin kissed him again, this time harder.

"This doesn’t make you my boyfriend," Chris pulled away slightly, his tone was serious. Justin nodded but Chris needed him to understand. "I’m completely serious."

"That’s okay," Justin’s heart sank a little, but it was forgotten as Chris pulled him closer and tangled his fingers in Justin’s curly hair, tilting Justin’s head to the side. The kiss deepened and Justin whimpered as Chris attacked his mouth with a month of pent up passion. They continued to kiss for almost ten minutes before the door to the basement opened and footsteps could be heard coming down. Chris lightly pushed Justin away, breaking the kiss.

"Sorry I took so long," Joey said. He stopped as he saw the guilty look on Chris’ face and the blissful look on Justin’s. With one glance around the basement, he could see they were alone and knew instantly what he had interrupted. If the expressions on their faces hadn’t have said it all, the way they were both slightly breathless did.

"No problem Joe," Chris said, his voice a little higher than normal. He cleared his throat and refused to look into his best friend’s eyes.

"Uh, Justin?" Joey said gently. "Can I have a minute with Chris please?"

Justin nodded dreamily, a giant grin on his lips. "For sure. I’ll ...uhhh ...just go find Nick." With that, Justin took one last glance at Chris, grinned even wider and ran up the stairs two at a time, leaving the two older boys alone.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Joey said. His voice wasn’t angry, but Chris could detect a note of warning.

"Nothing."

"What was that? And don’t tell me nothing, because his feet weren’t touching the ground. And if I’m not mistaken, he had fucking cartoon hearts floating around his head."

"He kissed me," Chris admitted with a blush. He couldn’t erase the smile that resulted. When Joey raised an eyebrow, he became serious. "HE kissed ME. Not the other way around."

"I’m sure you didn’t fight it that hard."

Chris couldn’t deny that he hadn’t. But he wasn’t going to apologize for it. For a freshman, Justin knew how to kiss something fierce. His mouth was still tingling and Chris would be lying if he said he didn’t want it to happen again. It couldn’t, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t regretful for it. "It’s none of your business."

"Just watch out, it’s all I’m saying." Joey warned sympathetically. "He’s just a kid."

"He’s fourteen Joe, almost fifteen." Ironically, just a few moments earlier, he’d been fighting the same fight Joe had. Chris wondered when things had turned around. He was using Justin’s argument when he thought he’d agreed with his friend. Chris sighed. Justin was turning his life upside down and Chris wasn’t sure he was all that interested in fighting it, no matter how much he knew he should.

"I’m just saying," Joey warned again. "Watch yourself Chris, for some reason I see you getting more hurt than him. And I’ll kill you if you let that happen."

~*~*~*

Everyone was laughing and having a great time. Nick surveyed the room around him quietly, wondering where he wanted to go and who he wanted to talk to. It was as he passed by the giant patio doors leading outside to the deck that he saw the object of his affections. The one person who occupied a large portion of his thoughts. Kevin Richardson was sitting outside by himself and Nick figured that he wouldn’t waste the opportunity to at least talk to him.

Nick slipped out the doors and pretended that he hadn’t seen Kevin out there. Kevin was slightly hidden by the dark shadows in the corner of the patio. Nick walked to the railing and looked out, taking a few deep breaths of fresh air.

"You cut your hair." Kevin’s voice startled Nick, causing him to jump slightly. He turned around and nervously ran his fingers through the short spikes.

"Yeah, it was time. Getting too long, you know?"

Kevin stepped out of the shadows and sat on the picnic table. Nick, feeling brave, joined him. "It looks good, much better than the long hair."

Nick grinned and then blushed at the look Kevin gave him. "Thanks."

Kevin nodded.

"So, why are you out here alone?" Nick thought that it would be less awkward with mindless conversation.

"Shitty night," Kevin admitted with a shrug. He was looking up at all the stars over their heads. Nick’s whole body was a massive nerve ending at the close proximity of Kevin. He tried to regulate his breathing and relax. Surprisingly, Kevin’s calm mood made that easy to do.

"I’m sorry to hear that."

Kevin shrugged again. "Nothing you can do."

"Wanna talk about it? I always find it helps me when I'm upset about something to talk about it."

Kevin looked at Nick strangely before rolling his eyes. Nick hadn’t expected Kevin to really talk about his problems, not with him at least. So it was a surprise when Kevin started to talk. "Same old garbage. Fighting with Gretchen. Don’t know where my life is going. Feeling suffocated."

Nick held back the shimmy he felt like doing. He didn’t want Kevin to be so miserable, but at the same time when Kevin and Gretchen were fighting, it was one step closer to him having a fighting chance. Instead he took a deep breath and silently questioned whether or not he should say what he was thinking. "Can I ask you something?"

Kevin looked intently at Nick and nodded. For some reason, Nick felt like Kevin was studying him, the feeling left him uneasy and elated at the same time. He fidgeted under Kevin's scrutinizing glare and continued with his thoughts.

"Why are you with her? You’re always fighting. She seems to ruin everything by running into the bathroom and crying, and if she’s not doing that, you two are yelling at each other. And she was really rude the last time I was here. Even Brian’s parents said so. You have an awful time when you go out, and you never look happy. What’s the point? Shouldn’t you be happy when you’re with the person you love?"

Kevin processed everything Nick was saying before he answered. "You don’t understand."

"You’re right, I don’t. Why stay with her when it’s just making you both miserable? Especially when there are so many other people that you could be happy with. So many people that could make you happy." Nick held back the urge to say ‘like me.’

"It’s not that easy."

"Why not? It can be." Nick couldn’t believe that he was having this conversation with Kevin. He couldn’t wait to tell Justin and Lance about it. But first, he had to focus on Kevin right in front of him and what he was saying. "Sometimes people make things harder than they have to be."

"It’s always easy when you’re on the outside looking in. You have no idea the expectations that everyone has of me. My parents, the school, teachers, my friends..."

"I’m sure that they just want you happy," Nick argued. "I mean, expecting you to do or be something is one thing, but when it’s making you miserable? They love you Kevin, everyone loves you. And in that, they just want what’s best for you, no matter what that is."

Kevin looked at Nick closely. They stared deep into each other’s eyes until the blonde averted his gaze and blushed. "I don’t know," Kevin said softly. His mind was working overtime and while he knew Nick had a point, it wasn’t as simple as that. At least he didn’t think so. Maybe it was.

Nick shook his head. "Kevin, if you’re unhappy with Gretchen Saunders, then you shouldn’t be with her. She seems as unhappy as you are, so it doesn’t make sense for you both to be miserable. Plus she’s kind of a bitch." Nick held his breath, waiting for Kevin’s reaction to his calling his girlfriend a bitch. Thankfully he wasn’t angry, so Nick continued. "Plus, you’re seventeen. You don’t have to have everything figured out right now. If you don’t do what makes you happy, you can’t expect other people to either. It’s all up to you."

"Maybe you’re right." Kevin said. He nudged Nick’s shoulder with his own, startling the blonde. Nick’s eyes opened wide and he looked at Kevin in awe. "You know what Carter, for a freshman you’re pretty cool. I’m glad you came out here. You’re right, sometimes you just need a little fresh perspective."

Nick’s face flushed a deep red and he wished he still had his long hair to hide behind. Instead, now he just ran his fingers through his hair, pulling nervously on the short spikes. "Um, thanks."

They sat in silence until the door slid open and before them stood Gretchen Saunders, one hand on her hip the other on the door handle. "Are you going to sit out here all night Kevin Scott Richardson?" Her tone was biting and Nick could tell that she had been crying but was now into the ‘angry’ portion of her evening. He made a note to remember to include Kevin’s middle name into his Kevin Files journal. Nick couldn’t help but grin.

"Actually, Gretch. No. I’m going to go inside, talk to the guys and start to enjoy myself. It’s about fucking time that I do."

"I want to leave," Gretchen announced, clearly expecting Kevin to agree. Kevin only shrugged.

"Get Trish or Melanie to drive you home. I’m not ready to leave yet."

Nick thought that his heart was racing before that moment, but it was nothing compared to when Kevin turned to look at him. He smiled and gave him a quick wink before turning around and heading back into the house, pushing past his girlfriend and ignoring the way both of them were staring at him, mouths agape.

End Chapter 30


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