| Chapter Twenty-four |
| Justin quickly walked down the hall holding the two dozen roses he had bought for Crystal in his arms. He was going to apologize to her for being such a selfish bastard, and he was hoping she could find it in her heart to forgive him for all the awful things he had said to her. Hell, he was in such a good mood he might even apologize to Nick too. He turned the corner and the three hundred dollars roses he was holding fell out of his arms as he stared opened mouthed at the sight in front of him. She was kissing him. No...she wasn't just kissing him, she was making out with him. Passionately making out with him. He felt the rage begin to boil up inside him. He was going to kick the living shit out of Nick Carter. He would be sorry he had ever messed with him. "What the fuck is going on!" Justin screamed at Crystal and Nick who were oblivious to the fact that he was standing in front of them, watching them kiss. Crystal quickly pulled herself away from Nick to see who she knew was standing there. "Justin...I...I..." She stuttered. "This isn?t what...just let me..." "You what?" He barked before she could get another word in. "Were you going to try and explain yourself? Like it was an accident that you happend to be kissing this bastard? What happened were you hallucinating? Did you think he was me? Did you accidentally trip and fall into his face? What is it Crystal? Go ahead and make up some story...because no matter what it is...there is no way in this world I'm going to buy it." Justin shouted grabbing the attention of everyone that was nearbye, including the four other members of the Backstreet Boys. "I tried calling you to talk about everything and you just weren't around so..." Crystal began. "So you decided to go and fuck Nick to pass the time is that it?" Justin fumed, and glanced over at Nick. "And you motherfucker! You incouraged her I?m sure!" "Hey man, there was no fucking involved." Nick said in a pathetic attempt to try to help the situation. "Oh...well then I guess everything is great then!" Justin replied sarcastically beginning to turn and walk away. "Justin wait we need to talk!" Crystal yelled running after him. "There's nothing to talk about Crystal. I'm done with you. Fucking done with you." Justin grunted in response. He was absolutely disgusted with her, and he wanted to kill Nick. "Hey man, don't leave her hanging like that. Just let her explain herself." Nick called from behind him, only making things worse. Justin whirled around and walked quickly over to Nick. Before Nick had the chance to make a run for it, Justin punched him in the face knocking him to the floor. Nick groaned. He could feel the pain starting to build around his left eye. "Fuck you!" Justin yelled. "Justin!" Crystal yelled, shocked that he would do something like this. "Justin...just calm down!" "And fuck you too!" Justin pointed at Crystal with tears streaming down his face. "Fuck you Crystal." He whispered and finally walked away. "Justin! Wait!" She screamed after him, but found it was no use. He paid her no heed, and continued walking. "Mmmmm." Nick groaned from his fetal position on the floor, still clutching his face with his hand. "Yo! Nick! You ok?" Billy said, as he rushed to Nick?s side. Crystal didn't notice all the commotion that was going on behind her with security and the rest of the group. She was too busy crying. Too busy trying to accept the fact that Justin was really gone this time...and he really wasn't coming back. She walked over to the roses that were scattered all over the floor and started to cry uncontrollably. ******************* December... Crystal shivered in the cold December weather. It was three days before Christmas and the first leg of the tour had ended. Now she was trying to get back to Florida to pack her stuff and try to find a new place to live before January, because she was sure that Justin was going to kick her out if she didn't move out first. She had tried to call him a few weeks after what happened with Nick but he didn't want to talk to her. He said he was too busy to deal with her bullsh*t and had hung up on her. She had tried to call Jessica but she hadn't been able to find her, Jessica's mother said she was off on tour with an up and coming group called 98 Degrees. Good for freaking Jessica, she hadn't even bothered to call her and tell her she was leaving. Tina was also unreachable, but then again Crystal hadn't spoken to her for months. So she really had no business trying to put her sob story on Tina. She felt so alone, and she had no idea where she was going to go once she was out of Justin's house. As it was she was probably going to be spending Christmas alone, she was sure she was not welcome at Lynn's house this year. She sighed. The taxi she had called an hour ago had never came to pick her up. It figured, they didn't give a damn if she was stranded in Chicago or not. Just as long as she wasn't some celebrity, it wasn't their problem. She probably should have made arrangements to get home earlier in the week, but with all the stress that was on her mind she hadn't remembered to. She sat down on a bench that was covered in snow from last night, not caring if she got wet or not and hung her head low to the ground. She quickly burst into tears. Everyone that had cared about her either now hated her or were too wrapped up in their own lives to care, and all the hard work she had done to put her life back together was now ruined. She had nothing. She would have to start her life over again. She didn't know if she could go through it again. She was better off dead, she thought to herself. "Come on Todd, where are you? Why can't you just come and kill me now?" She mumbled to herself in between sobs. "Hey, are you ok?" A female voice said from behind her. She sat up and looked over her shoulder. A blond girl about her age stood there looking confused. "Hey...I know you, you're Crystal right?" The girl smiled weakly. "Yeah, but I won't have any passes until the tour starts up again." Crystal sniffled, rolling her eyes. Was that all she was good for? Doing favors for these f*cking fans? The girl chuckled. "I don't need a pass. I have connections." "Oh, well good for you. Now sorry to be a bitch, but I'm kinda waiting for a cab." Crystal turned back around and continued to sulk. "I thought I told you to go away?" She said coldly as the girl sat down next to her. "You really don't know who I am do you?" The girl laughed. Crystal glared at her. "Should I ?" "I'm Nick's sister BJ. I've been on the road with you guys for two weeks." She smiled. Crystal looked at the girl for about five minutes. She had never seen this girl before. But with everything that was going on, she hadn't noticed anybody new to the tour. Unless it was show time, she stayed locked in her hotel room and wouldn't talk to anybody. "Sorry...I haven't seen you before." She said softly. "Nick told me about you. He really seems to like you. Why aren't you inside saying goodbye? Everybody is still here for another couple of hours." BJ asked her confused. "I'd rather not. I would have been gone already, except the cab company doesnt like to pick people up." She shook her head. "Well come on I'm sure you can ride with me and Nick to the airport. You're gonna freeze out here." BJ smiled. "Thats ok, really." She wouldn't look her in the face. "What's the matter? Christmas is Thursday, you should be happy, you get to go home and see your family. I'm really excited. This is the first Christmas in two years that Nick has been able to come home." She began to smile, but it quickly faded as Crystal burst into hysterical tears. "What did I say? Don't cry! I'm sorry." She put her arm around Crystal trying to calm her down. "It's not you." She said as she sobbed. "I just have a lot to deal with right now, I really don't want to get into it. I just need to get my life together." "Ok, I know I dont really know you, but there is no way I'm just going to leave you out here to make your own way home. Thats not how I was raised, and besides you're Nicks friend right?" She questioned. "Long story." Crystal rolled her eyes. BJ laughed. "Everything with my brother is a long story, come on let's go to the hotel." BJ stood up and held her hand out to her new friend. Crystal looked up at her. She didn't know what to do. She had two choices. She could either sit on the bench in the freezing cold and wait for the cab to come, or she could get her courage together and go to the airport with BJ and Nick. Right now all she could really think about was getting warm. She reluctantly took BJ's hand and to her surprise BJ pulled her into a hug. "I know whatever your going through must really suck, but if you really need someone to talk to while your touring with the boys I'll always listen. Even if I don't feel like it. Because I'm sure right now, theres not too many people who want to listen to you. If there were, you wouldn't be out here crying." "Thank you." Crystal smiled weakly and began walking back to the hotel with her, feeling warm inside for the first time in weeks. Someone cared. Someone was there for her. Suddenly the clouds seemed like they were beginning to lift. Just a little bit. *********************** "Good, thats thirty places. We only invited twenty-four to dinner for Wednesday night, right Justin?" Lynn asked. "Yeah. But I don't understand why there are thirty places ma, there's only twenty-nine of us." Justin said as he slurped the last drop of his Coke out of his cup with his straw. "Twenty-nine? Justin we have myself, Paul, your brothers, yourself, and Crystal. Plus the twenty-four other guests. Thats thirty, don't tell me you forgot how to count on the road too?" Lynn laughed as she began to water the Christmas tree. "Crystal wont be here. I thought you knew that?" Justin rolled his eyes. "Justin Randall Timberlake it's Christmas! She is family, whether or not you are dating." Lynn said wanting to smack her son upside the head. As much as it was wrong for Crystal to have cheated on her son, she knew this was a very confusing time for her and Justin didn't want to accept that just yet. Sometimes he could be so stubborn, just like his father. She rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter. It's not like I called her up and told her not to come. I know how she is, and I know she won't show up." Justin shook his head and plopped down on the overstuffed recliner, picking up a random magazine from the coffee table. "Well young man, you better call her up and make sure she knows she's welcome. Whatever happened between you is between you, but shes still practically my daughter and I want to spend time with my daughter on Christmas." Lynn replied seriously. "But ma..." Justin whined. "Justin! You listen to me if you know whats good for you!" Lynn yelled. "Fine." Justin muttered as he retreated to his room to call Crystal. This sucked. She was the last person he wanted to deal with. Why was his Mom being like this? Didn't she realized that Crystal totally crushed the relationship he had had with her? He guessed not. Or she just didn't care. He really didn't need to think about the breakup when it was so close to Christmas. He just wanted to enjoy himself, he had a hectic schedule planned in January and he needed all the rest he could get. He picked up his cell phone and began to dial her number. Merry Christmas Justin, he thought to himself miserably. |