"Yeah, and how Lance almost killed us with a baseball bat in his undies," Justin added, grinning while Lance groaned.
"Lindsay practically pushed me out of the bed!" He insisted. He grinned, his thoughts on her, but his grin faded away. "I don’t know how to break it to her that we have to leave in a couple of days," He said sadly. Everyone's good moods dissipated at the thought of having to go back on tour in three days. Justin frowned, not knowing if he should ask Sydney to be his girlfriend or just leave it the way it is. He remembered the look on her face when he'd told her why he was single. Will I ever find the right girl? He thought bitterly, but he pulled his thoughts away from Sydney to the beach as Lance pulled his car to a stop.
"Freedom! Freedom!" Chris sang, promptly getting out of the car and stretching his arms. Justin and Joey were the next ones out, shedding their shirts and sandals and running straight into the water, while JC watched them through his sunglasses.
"AHH! It's cold!" Joey yelled, after plunging into the water without testing it.
"Oh come on, don't be a sissy," Justin teased, splashing water in Joey's direction.
"Just how serious are things between you and Lance?" Sydney asked Lindsay as they put the stuff they had just bought into the back of Lindsay's car. They had decided to skip the movie after breakfast and go to the mall instead.
"We're pretty serious," Lindsay said with a shrug, "but it's hard to tell, he's away a lot."
"Yeah, but don't you guys find that tough to handle?" "Not really," Lindsay answered, closing the trunk after Sydney put the last package in there. "I really care about him, and I guess knowing that he cares just as much about me as I do him helps to ease the pain of not having him around." She added.
"Speaking of Lance, where are the guys right now?" Sydney asked.
"Oh, they're at the beach." Lindsay said, sighing to think that she was away from Lance.
"Let's go see them then?" Sydney asked, knowing the look on Lindsay's face. "I mean, we can always have a sister day the two of us, but there aren't that many opportunities for you two to be together."
"No, I couldn't. This is our day," Lindsay insisted.
"Oh come on. You sure you don't want to accidentally pop up at the same beach as them to see what they're up to?" Sydney teased. "we could show off the bathing suits we just bought."
"Alright, alright. You win." Lindsay said smiling as she started the car.
"It wasn't that hard of a battle." Sydney told her, grinning.
After Justin had become accustomed to the water's temperature, he now freely swam around in it, enjoying the freedom of being able to go in any direction he wanted. Joey had left him a couple of moments ago, to help Lance unload the jet skiis that they had borrowed from Lindsay's dad earlier that morning. Chris was talking earnestly to a girl who was sitting on the sand, and JC was lying on his chest on top of a beach towel. Probably sleeping, Justin mused. He dove under water again, swimming a few yards from where he started before he pulled up to the surface again. When he rose, he saw a figure lying near JC, and he had to squint before he realized that it was Sydney.
"Hey," Sydney said, smiling as she spread out her towel two feet from JC's. He grinned at her, his blue eyes covered up by his sunglasses.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, watching her lie down on the beach towel.
"Lindsay and I decided to drop by the beach," Sydney answered, shrugging. She put on her own set of sunglasses. "Where are the rest of the guys?"
"Oh, I think Lance and Joey are unloading the jet skiies, Chris is over there talking to that girl, and Justin's in the water." JC said, motioning to the water.
"Cool. I forgot to ask for Coke back last night," Sydney added.
"Yeah, after you almost got creamed by Lance's baseball bat last night," JC teased. She smacked him playfully on the shoulder. "but I did have a pretty good night's sleep. Maybe I'll keep him for a bit longer?"
"No, you may not. And for the record, I didn't. Justin almost did." She said, grinning, as she turned her gaze to the water where Justin was. He seemed to have spotted her, but he turned his attention to a nearby female swimmer, who almost immediately struck up a conversation with him. Sydney felt the pang in her heart as she watched him. JC followed her gaze, sitting up Indian style.
"You like him." It wasn't a question, but a statement.
"I guess." Sydney answered, not looking at JC. He didn't say anything else, and for that she was grateful. "it'll be hard seeing you guys leave," She admitted. "I'm going to miss you, Joey, Lance, and Chris as much as I'll miss him."
"Aww that's so sweet." JC answered, wiping a fake tear off of his face underneath his sunglasses.
"Oh shut up," Sydney said teasingly, recognizing his sarcasm. "Don't tell me you're actually going to just sit out here for the whole time! Let's go swimming, man!" She said brightly, her mood lightening up as she switched her thoughts off of Justin. She grabbed his hand, helping him up. "Race ya' to the water!" She challenged, and broke off into a run towards the water before JC could reply.
Justin had noticed the girl right away when she had swum nearby, and he also noticed that she was really pretty. "What's a famous guy like yourself doing out here?" The girl, who's name he had found out was Laura, asked him. Her words were twinged with a tangy Southern accent.
"Swimming." He said, causing her to laugh.
"No, I mean what're you doing in a public beach? Aren't you scared people will notice ya' like I just did?"
"Not really," Justin answered with a shrug. "No one's really noticed me yet, and besides it's not really a crowded beach."
"Well, I've got to go for a little while. Would you mind if I asked for your phone number? Maybe we could get together sometime." She asked sweetly. Justin grinned at her, recognizing his familiar actions but ignoring his conscience as it screamed out at him.
"Sure." He answered giving her that flirty smile of his as he gave her the number to his cell. She repeated it two times, memorizing it, said goodbye and left. He watched her leave, but heard the splashes of water behind him.
"You tripped me!" He heard Sydney yell out, he turned just in time to see JC dunk her head under water. The fact that the two of them were pretty close annoyed the hell out of him. As he looked at Sydney's soaked face as she rose, he frowned when he remembered he'd given Laura his number. But then again, who said he and Sydney were anything more than just friends? It had just been one friendly date, an excuse for her to get out of going out with Martin. Right?