Thursday, January 4, 2001

Justin rested his hands on Maggie's hips and pulled her gently towards him. There was a loud clang in the empty hallway as his back came to rest against the metal lockers.

“You nervous?” Maggie asked. She raised her arms up and put them around his neck.

Justin shrugged and clasped his hands together behind her back. “Not really.”

“You're going to do great,” Maggie said. She looked up into Justin's eyes and smiled. “You're going to win by so much.”

“I hope so,” Justin said. He lowered his head to kiss Maggie lightly. “I need to get back to the gym.”

“I know,” Maggie said. She made no attempt to move. “I just wanted to wish you good luck.”

“Yeah,” Justin said. He held her to him.

A door banged open at the far end of the hallway. Loud footsteps echoed off the lockers.

“D!” Matt's voice resounded around the hallway. “Let's go man.”

Justin pushed himself off the lockers and reluctantly let go of Maggie.

“I'll see you after the game, okay?”

Maggie nodded and let her arms fall from his shoulders. “You're going to do great.”

Justin stretched the muscles in his shoulders and sighed as he felt them loosen. He was trying not to feel self-concious as the whole school watched him stretch.

The gym was loud with chatter, but Justin barely heard it. His eyes were focused on the team warming up at the other end of the court. They were about the same size as Mill Creek's players, and they were about the same build. They didn't look that good either with the number of times the ball was missing the hoop completely.

Justin's eyes were drawn to one player in particular though. Number 62. He saw small, well muscled and fast. And he wasn't missing the basket that often either.

“Smith!”

Justin turned toward the bench where coach he saw coach motioning for him to approach. He tossed the ball in his hands to Brunt and ran over to the bench.

“Yeah Coach?” Justin asked.

“Randy, I want you to watch that guy.” Coach pointed at the player Justin had been studying. “Their team's not that good, but this kid is. He's carried them to more than one win against teams that have underestimated his ability.”

Justin nodded. “He's fast.”

“And he was named to the district first team last year. He's a sophomore now.”

Justin frowned but nodded. “I'll watch him.”

“’K,” Coach said. “Just wanted to warn you. Start the lay ups, okay?”

Justin ran back on the court and yelled “Lay ups!”

The two lines formed and the guys started running towards the basket.

The palms of Justin's hands stung slightly as the ball slapped into them. He immediately dropped the ball to the floor, guiding it into a controlled dribble. He moved slowly down the court, analyzing the positions of the players at the other end. Number 62 was standing ahead of the rest of the players, staking claim to the top of the key.

Justin caught Josh's eye and nodded slightly. The ball flew through the air just as number 62 made his move to challenge Justin. Josh had just stepped away from his defender when the ball reached him.

Josh pushed the ball up through the air and it sailed through the netting of the basket.

Justin took a brief glimpse at the score board.

Home:43
Visitor:28

There were 30 seconds left on the clock. Mill Creek had won by a mile. But not for lack of trying on the part of number 62. He'd scored 20 of the 28 visitor points.

And as Justin chased him down the court he scored two more.

Matt left the court and tossed the ball into Justin. They worked their way down the court. Another team might have just passed the ball back and forth, finishing the clock, but Justin didn't approve of that sort of basketball. He took the ball down the court and tossed the ball loosely to Kevin.

Kevin jumped up and the ball swooshed through the net.

Justin smiled as the other team tossed the ball in bounds. The buzzer sounded almost immediately.

The entire population of Mill Creek descended onto the court. The players huddled together in a self congratulatory hug.

The huddle was almost bowled over as Amanda launched herself onto Kevin's back. The guys separated and Justin immediately found himself surrounded by words of congratulations. He spread a wide smile on his face and nodded his thanks. His eyes scanned the crowd for a bright red head of hair because he knew the person he was looking for wouldn't be far behind.

“Randy,” Maggie's voice came from behind him.

Justin turned around and smiled genuinely. He stood there, unsure of how to act around her in public, around her parents, but she threw her arms around his neck.

“Good job,” she whispered in his ear.

Justin hugged her tightly and felt the eyes of the town on him. The smile didn't leave his cheeks until he saw Bob staring at them.

Justin slowly disentangled Maggie's arms from around his neck. “Mags,” he said quietly. “Your dad is right over there.”

Maggie paled, but managed to keep the smile on her face. “I was just congratulating a friend,” she said.

Justin kept his eyes trained on Bob. He smiled and raised a hand in acknowledgment. “Then I suggest you go give Stu one hell of a friendly hug.”

Maggie nodded and turned to look for Stu. Justin maintained eye contact with Bob.

Stu came up to Justin shortly with Maggie attached to one arm, Emily the other. “We've going to go get ice cream,” he said. “You going to come?”

Justin nodded. He could still feel the eyes boring into him and suddenly, he didn't feel so sure Bob would give his relationship with Maggie the parental blessing.

‘N SYNC Compound

Johnny crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair. “So we need an opening act,” he said. “Britney's put in a request against the wishes of her manager and tour coordinator.”

“Britney?” JC asked. He stared at Johnny, his glare challenging Johnny to support the decision.

“Yeah,” Johnny said. “She quote, feels bad about not being more supportive in the search for Justin and wants to do everything in her power to help us bring him back, unquote.”

Lance grimaced and then started coughing. “I don't think that's a good idea Johnny.”

“Why not?” Johnny asked. “I know you guys don't particularly want to tour with her again, but  think about it this way. A big opening act means more publicity.”

Joey snorted. “I think we've got enough publicity.”

“Janet also said she wouldn't mind opening for a show or two.”

Four sets of eyes stared at their manager in disbelief.

“Janet?” JC asked. “Opening for us?”

Johnny nodded. “She contacted me almost as soon as you guys announced the tour. It took some time to get the idea past her managers. Apparently Janet shouldn't stoop to opening for anyone, even if it is for charity.”

“Wow,” Joey said. “Janet wants to open for us.”

Chris hadn't said anything. His mouth was moving up and down, but no sound was coming out.

“Just for a few dates,” Johnny said. “Somewhere in the middle. The Los Angeles- San Francisco stretch. She's putting in work on her own tour so she doesn't have a whole lot of time.”

“Oh my god,” Chris finally managed to spit out.

“Did anyone else inquire?” JC asked.

Johnny nodded. “Soul Decision said they'd love to go along for the ride and both Mandy and Christina indicated an interest.”

“Janet,” Chris said again. “We're saying yes to her right?”

“If you guys want,” Johnny said. “It's up to you.”

Lance looked up from the table. He coughed once to clear his throat. “What if this wasn't just us,” he said. His voice cracked. “What if we go for the charity tour thing? Like Howie did with the Lupus concerts.”

“We are doing a charity tour,” JC said.

“But make it bigger,” Lance said. “We were going to be the main attraction and bring attention to runaways by spotlighting Justin, but what if we didn't focus on Justin, just made him one small aspect.”

The four other men were silent.

“We could make it the biggest pop tour in years,” Lance said. “Talk to Nick and Drew and the boys.”

“If Nick goes we could get Jessica,” Joey said. “God knows they don't get to be together enough.”

“I can't throw this together in two weeks,” Johnny said. “We'd need more time. I've already started reserving venues. To have that many acts would require fair grounds and more coordination...”

“If there's interest, wouldn't it be worth waiting?” Lance asked. “The more attention we can raise, the more people we help.”

“I don't like it,” JC said. He drew on the table with his finger. “I— This tour is supposed to be about Justin. It's supposed to be us showing Justin we want him back and raising money to help people at the same time.”

“Well why not have it turn into a pop festival?” Lance countered.

“It's too big,” JC said. He shrugged. “I'll go along with whatever you guys want to do, but I just think this should be our tour. If we ask everyone to go on tour with us, it won't be us anymore. It'll be everyone.”

Chris looked back and forth between JC and Lance. Joey stared up towards the ceiling. It was obvious they were both contemplating the alternate ideas seriously.

JC decided to try again. “Maybe after the tour,” JC said. “Do a TV special or something. Then we could get everyone. Have it at the Rose Bowl or the largest stadium in the US if there's a larger one.”

“I like that,” Chris said. “I agree with Josh. I think this should be just us, with an opening act or two.”

Joey nodded slowly. “I like your idea Lance, but I think it would be better for a one time thing, rather than an entire tour.”

Lance rubbed his nose and nodded. “I agree too.”

“What about the opening acts?” Johnny asked. “Do you want one person for the entire time, or do you want different people?”

“I wouldn't be opposed to Brit the entire time,” Chris said. “I mean, she's just as much Justin's friend as we are.”

JC glared at Chris. “Would Justin want her to open for us?”

“Justin's not in on this decision,” Joey said. “What could it hurt Josh? I mean, really.”

JC scowled but nodded. “I think we should have another rotating first act though. Janet, and Soul Decision, and Christina, and 98° if they'll do it.”

“I'd be down with that,” Chris said. “Lance? What do you think?”

Lance nodded. “Sounds good.”

“So yes on Britney, yes on Janet, and follow-up inquiries on the other artists?” Johnny asked. He sat forward and started writing on his notepad. He looked up a minute or so later. “I'll see what I can start working out.”

Justin sighed as he walked into the kitchen, closing the door quietly behind him. Not that it made any difference. Bob would be sitting in the den waiting for him. Justin knew he would be. He kept thinking back to the glare Bob had been sending him after the game.

He knew. Justin had no doubt that Bob knew exactly what was going on.

Maggie had gone over to Emily's house to do some English assignment so Justin had been forced to return to the house alone. To face the father alone.

Justin walked down the hall, not making any effort to muffle his footfalls. He didn't want to talk, but he'd rather get 'the talk' over with sooner than later.

“Randy,” Bob said as Justin passed the den. “Come in here for a second, will ya?”

Justin tried to look relaxed and happy. “Yeah, sure.” His voice betrayed his anxiety. He walked into the den and sat down in the chair farthest from Bob's spot on the couch. “What's up?”

“That was a good game tonight,” Bob said.

“Yeah,” Justin said. “It was. It wasn't too tough.”

“Didn't look it,” Bob said.

“It wasn't,” Justin said again. He stared down at his pursed hands. He wished Bob would cut right to the chase.

“Randy, what exactly are your intentions towards my daughter?”

Justin looked up. He'd been expecting— wanting— the question, but to actually hear it vocalized was something entirely different. He paused, mentally phrasing the words. For all the practice he'd done on the way home from getting ice cream, he had no clue what to say.

“What do you mean, sir?” Justin asked. Clarification could only be a good thing.

“I think you know what I mean, Randy,” Bob said.

Justin nodded and looked back down at his hands.

“I like your daughter a lot sir,” Justin said. “She's helped me more in the past two months than I even knew was possible.”

“Is that all?” Bob asked. “Are you just grateful for her helping you?”

Justin shook his head. “No sir.” He swallowed. His voice was weak, quiet. “I need her.”

Bob sighed. “I think she needs you too,” he said. “These past two months, well, she's been a different person.”

“Really,” Justin said.

“Yeah,” Bob said. “After things ended between her and Josh, she was unhappy.”

Justin nodded. What was he supposed to say?

“How long are you planning on staying here Randy?”

Justin opened his mouth, but didn't say anything for a few moments. “I'm planning... I don't know.”

Bob nodded, but he didn't look happy. “You aren't going to stay until the end of the year?”

“I will,” Justin said. “Probably.” Maybe.

“Sylvia told me today that you and Maggie were dating,” Bob said. “She asked me if I was okay having you live under the same roof as Maggie.”

Justin swallowed.

“Should I be worried, Randy?”

“No!” Justin said quickly. “You have nothing to worry about sir.”

“Are you and my daughter—” Bob stopped talking, leaving a question in the air.

“Are we dating?” Justin asked.

Bob nodded.

“I wanted to ask your permission sir,” Justin said.

“I think its a little late for that,” Bob said.

Justin sighed. “Yes,” he said quietly. He looked up at Bob, making sure to catch the older man's eyes. “Maggie is the most important thing in the world to me. She's the reason I came back to Mill Creek.”

“This has been going on that long?” Bob asked. His eyes were hard.

“No,” Justin said. “Almost.”

Bob nodded. “I can't say I'm happy with this, Randy, but all I have to do is look at Maggie to know that she's happier than she's been in years.”

Justin nodded.

“If you do anything to hurt my daughter, Randy, you'll wish you never came to this town. Do you understand?”

Justin nodded quickly. “I'd never intentionally do anything to hurt Maggie. She means too much to me.”

Bob nodded. “I'm going to hold you to that, Randy.” He stood up. “I'm going to bed. I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight sir,” Justin said. He leaned back in the chair as Bob left the room. He sighed in relief. That had gone amazingly well. He stood up, went down the hall and up the stairs to his room.

“Randy?” Maggie asked as she poked her head into Justin's room. “You busy?”

Justin looked up from the book he was reading at his desk and shook his head. “Nah. What's up?”

“I just got home and I thought I'd come say hi,” Maggie said as she stepped into the room and closed his door.

Justin turned his chair around and spread his legs out, giving Maggie a knee to sit on. “Hi.”

“You did so good tonight,” Maggie said. “I was so proud of you guys.”

Justin smiled. “It was a lot of fun.”

“I'm beginning to think I missed out these last two years by not going to the games.”

“You always miss out when you don't go to basketball games,” Justin said. He paused. He had to tell her. “Maggie, I talked to your father tonight.”

Maggie looked over at Justin. She blinked once, twice. “You what?”

“Your dad. We talked about us.”

Maggie stood up quickly. “Randy you promised you'd let me do this.”

“I was going to,” Justin said. He ran a hand through his lengthening curls.

“But I leave for one evening and the opportunity was just too good to pass up?” Maggie's voice was steadily rising.

“That wasn't the way—”

“You promised me Randy.” Maggie stared at Justin. “What did he say?”

“He's fine with it,” Justin said. “He told me if I hurt you I'd wish I never came to Mill Creek.”

Maggie nodded, absorbing the information.

“Why couldn't you wait for me Randy? I was going to do it tomorrow.”

“Fuck Maggie, he confronted me when I got home.” Justin stood up as he used the expletive. “He figured it out on his own.”

“He did?” Maggie asked. She paled.

“Yeah,” Justin said. “Apparently we kissed in front of your boss too many times. Sylvia asked him about us tonight.”

“Oh,” Maggie said. “You didn't bring it up?”

Justin shook his head. “I wouldn't do that to you Mags. As much as I wanted to, I wouldn't.”

Maggie nodded. “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay,” Justin said. It wasn't really though, and his voice showed it. He walked over to the bed and sat down. Maggie joined him.

“I just thought...” she started. “He was really okay with it?”

Justin nodded. “He wasn't happy, but he said it was okay.”

“I'm sorry,” Maggie said again. She put a hand over Justin's.

Justin stood up and stretched his arms over his head. He yawned. “I’m tired.”

Maggie nodded and stood up. She went over to Justin and leaned up for a kiss.

Justin met her lips and kissed her lightly. It was more of a peck. He didn't want to make it anything more.

“I'll see you in the morning,” Maggie said as she walked towards the door. She smiled sadly. “Goodnight.”

“Yeah,” Justin said. He watched as she closed the door behind her. He fell back onto the bed and sighed.

Saturday, January 6, 2001: ‘N SYNC Compound

“Have you heard anything from Justin recently?” JC asked Lance as the older man slid into his chair at the breakfast table.

Lance looked up from his bowl of cereal. “No. Why would I have?”

“Well, I haven't gotten an email from him recently and you hadn't mentioned one...” JC trailed off and then started again. “I don't think he's ever gone this long without some form of communication.”

“No,” Lance said. “I haven't heard from him.”

“I wonder if Brit emailed him,” JC said. “That probably would have freaked him out.”

“Yeah,” Lance said. He swallowed the cereal in his mouth harshly and winced as the unchewed grain passed his raw throat. “I'm sure it would have.”

“Maybe I'll send him a letter,” JC said. “Tell him about the tour and stuff.”

Lance pressed his lips together. “Do whatever.”

“Are you still sick?” JC asked. “Because you're not acting like yourself.”

“Haven't we already been over this?” Lance asked. “Didn't we already decide there was a reason Justin ran away? Can't we just let him live his own life?”

“Don't you think he should know about the tour and the video though? We're doing this for him Lance. What good's it going to do if he doesn't know about it?”

Lance sighed. “As I said before, do whatever.”

JC stared at his friend. “You know what, Lance? Sometimes I feel like I don't know you anymore. And I really don't like the person who's taken the place of my friend.” He stood up and left the room.

Lance shoved the remainder of his cereal around in his bowl before pushing the bowl away and resting his head on the table.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “Fuck me now.”

JC stared at the computer screen in front of him.

He lifted his fingers to the keys and started typing a letter.
 

Hey Curly...

I was going to write you a real chatty letter here and tell you all the small shit that's been going on around here, but Lance is on this ‘let Justin live his own life’ kick and since you seem to trust him the most out of any of us, I guess I'll follow his instinct on this.

In case you're interested in what we're up to, the new video will be coming out on the 10th. I'd love it if you'd check it out. It's the song that I couldn't get quite right. I think its right now.

We're doing tour prep now. The “We Want You Back” US Tour! Yeah! We'll be coming to a town near you. Would you believe Janet wants to open for us on a few dates? Mandy and Soul Decision and Christina all expressed interest in opening for us. So did Brit. We've decided to accept her offer for sure since she's your friend too. It's going to be way worthwhile. We're going to make lots of money to give to runaway services.

Yeah, so, hope everything's going well with you.

JC

JC clicked the send button before he could rethink his decision.

“It's gonna be me,” Lance said, his deep voice resounding around the practice room.

“Ooh yeah, You might been hurt babe, that ain’t no lie, you seen ’em all come and go. I remember you told me it made you believe in no man no cry.” Joey sang the words and tried to do the revised dance steps. His feet got twisted though and he stepped out of pattern to regain his balance.

“Joey,” Wade said with a look of utter frustration painted across his face. “What can I do to make you not trip over your feet? Tell me, please.”

Joey glared at the younger blond man. “I'm sorry I'm not as naturally talented as you.”

“Well you'd better find the talent somewhere,” Wade said. “You're going to need it if we're going to pull this off in an only semi embarrassing manner.”

“Dammit, Wade,” Joey said. He stepped forward, his chest puffing up in anger. “I'm not going to put up with your shit.”

Wade took a step towards Joey. “Are you threatening me, Fatone? We've only got two weeks at best until you need to know this choreography and I'm the only one who can teach it to you.”

“I'll get it together,” Joey said. “I always do.”

“I'm sorry Joe,” Wade said. “This time I'm not sure you will. You've got a hell of a lot more front time than you're used to. The minor mistakes won't fly while you're at the front of the stage.”

Joey growled, but stepped away from the smaller man.

Chris stepped towards his band mate. “We're tired Wade. We need to call it a day.”

“You guys aren't ready to call it a day,” Wade said. “We're running way behind schedule.”

“It's not like we need to be learning totally new routines Wade,” Lance broke in. “We just need to rearrange the formations. That's all. The fans like the routines.”

“Whatever happened to the ‘doing whatever it takes’ attitude that you guys used to have?” Wade asked.

“We are doing whatever it takes,” JC said. “We're doing more than its supposed to take.”

“Well, that's not my fault,” Wade said.

“I beg to differ,” Joey said. “You should know us well enough to know when we need to call it a day and when we're just bluffing. We need to call it a day.”

“They've done enough Wade,” Johnny said from the doorway. “They'll be ready to go early tomorrow morning.”

Wade glared at their manager, but nodded. “Eight,” Wade said. “Full day.”

The four men nodded, but refrained from grumbling.

The blond choreographer stomped out of the room without a backwards glance.

“Go get some rest guys,” Johnny said. “With the way this tour's shaping up, you're going to need it.”

“It's going good?” JC asked.

Johnny nodded. “You could say that. Whether everything happens... we'll just have to see.”

“It'll happen,” Lance said. “We need it to.”

The silence permeated the room.

GRRRR! I just want to go yell at her and tell her that she should know me better by now, but I think yelling would just make things worse. But I can't quite forgive her yet. Why does—

“Hey Randy?” Maggie asked as she stepped into Justin's room. “What are you doing tonight?”

Justin looked up from the book in his hand and stared at Maggie. He shut the book and shoved it under the Sports Illustrated lying on the bed beside him.

“I'm going out with Matt,” he said. “Why?”

“Oh,” Maggie said. The smile on her face dropped a little bit. “I was just going to see if you wanted to go out to a movie or something.”

Justin shrugged. “Yeah, Matt wanted to go shoot some pool so I said I'd go with him.”

“Pool sounds fun,” Maggie said. It was obvious she was baiting him for an invitation.

Justin nodded. “I suck though. That's the only reason he asked me. He wants to kick my ass.”

Maggie nodded. She sat down on Justin's bed. “Is everything okay with you? You've seemed a little... I don't know... off for the last day or so?”

“I'm fine,” Justin said with a slightly sharp tone to his voice. He stared at Maggie, an intent look on his face. “Trust me.”

Maggie pulled her lip in-between her teeth and looked at Justin with upset eyes. She smiled briefly and before her face fell again. “Okay. I just wanted to check.”

Justin nodded. “It's coo. Don worry ‘bout me.”

Maggie pressed her lips together and stood up from the bed. She walked to the door. “Have fun tonight.”

“Will do,” Justin said. “I'll come say hi when I get back, if its not too late.”

Maggie walked out of the room and shut the door.

Justin leaned back against the headboard, sighing and closing his eyes at the same time. His hand fumbled for the magazine and pulled his journal out, opening it up to the page he'd been writing on. He read over the cramped script and sighed again. He finished his last sentence out loud.

“Why does it have to be so complicated?”

Justin rested the pool cue lightly on his knuckles. He drew the thick stick back and pushed it forward towards the cue ball. There was a resounding crack as wood met wood and the ball shot straight into the wall of the table, bouncing back and forth a few times and finally coming to rest three inches from the pocket in the far right corner of the table. It had completely missed the ‘5’ ball he'd been aiming for.

“That was classic,” Matt said as he wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes. “You just keep getting worse and worse.”

“I am not,” Justin said. “I'm getting better. I only have three balls on the table compared to your one instead of all of them.”

“Your better's just not good enough,” Matt said as he sank his last ball and then the eight ball. “Go again?”

Justin shook his head. “My ego can only take so much of a beating before I've got to quit,” he said with a laugh. “You know what I want to do?”

“What?” Matt asked.

“You got any beer?” Justin asked.

Matt smirked and nodded. “I got da hook up.” He grabbed his jacket off one of the chairs by the wall. “Let's blow this joint.”

Justin stuck his arms through the puffy sleeves of his jacket and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up around his neck. He followed Matt out of the pool hall and into the clear night air.

“Hey, D?” Matt asked as his eleventh beer can fell to the floor in front of him.

“Yeah man?” Justin asked. His eyes were glassy and his tongue felt too large for his mouth.

“Not that I have a problem getting drunk on a Saturday night,” Matt began. He popped the tab on another can. “But is there a reason we're getting trashed?”

Justin shook his head and felt like his cheeks were traveling farther than his face. “Nah. Just fell like it.”

Matt nodded. “Have we ever gotten drunk together, D?”

Justin stared at Matt for a few moments before shaking his head. He swallowed the last gulp in his  can and reached for the last can, popping it open. He raised it towards Matt and Matt got the idea, raising his can to meet Justin's. “To finishing the case,” Justin slurred.

“Hell yeah,” Matt agreed before pulling his can away. “Chug it man.”

Justin grinned sloppily and raised the small hole in the can to his lips, tipping it gently back and beginning to swallow quickly.

“Drink, motherfucker, drink,” Matt chanted before raising his own can to his lips and matching Justin swallow for swallow.

“Oh my god,” Justin groaned as the can left his lips and landed on the ground. “I'm going to puke.”

Matt nodded. “We shouldn't have shotgunned the first five.”

Justin nodded and sat down on the ground, crossing his arms over his knees and leaning into his arms. He looked at his watch and his eyes tried to make the numbers stop swimming. “I should go home.”

Matt nodded and reached his hand out to pull Justin back up. Matt overbalanced himself trying to get Justin up and they both stumbled. Justin rested his hand against the wall of Matt's room, holding himself up.

“You going to be okay man?” Matt asked.

Justin tried to start towards the door of the bedroom, but he wove erratically.

“Think I should call Maggie?” Justin asked.

Matt nodded. “Do you want me to go get the phone?”

Justin nodded. “Is it one of those daily phones with the circley thing or is it  a pushy phone.”

“It's got buttons,” Matt said.

“Good,” Justin said as he raised a hand in front of his face and stuck his second finger out, moving it in large circular motions. “I don't think I could turn the circley thing right now.”

Matt stumbled out of the room and came back with a portable phone. He handed it to Justin. “Here you go dude.”

Justin took the phone and pushed the buttons with careful deliberation. He listened to the ring and counted the number of times, hoping Maggie would pick up.

“Hello?” Maggie's voice came through the phone. She sounded like she'd been asleep.

“Mags?” Justin asked, drawing out the ‘s’.

“Randy?” Maggie asked sounding more awake. There was a small pause. “Do you know what time it is?”

Justin looked back down at his watch. The numbers still swam in front of his eyes.

“No,” he said. “What time is it?”

“It's past one,” Maggie said. There was another pause. “You're okay aren't you? You aren't hurt or anything?”

Justin shook his head for Matt's benefit. “No,” he said loudly. He lowered his voice to a sloppy stage whisper. “I'm drunk.”

“I can tell,” Maggie said tiredly. “Do you need me to come get you?”

Justin nodded and then laughed. “Could you?”

“Yeah,” Maggie said. “Where are you?”

“You know where Matt lives?” Justin asked.

“I'll be there in ten,” Maggie said. She hung up the phone without saying good bye.

Justin pushed what he thought was the off button for the phone. “She'll be here in ten,” he told Matt.

“Coo,” Matt said. He walked out the door of his room and into the hallway, his hand dragging along the wall. “She's a good girl.”

“Yeah,” Justin said. He felt a silly grin slip onto his face and remembered he was supposed to be annoyed.

“I think Josh is beginning to think he missed out,” Matt said. “I remember how shocked everyone was that they broke up. That she would do that.”

Justin felt his eyes narrow. “She did jack shit.”

Matt curved an eyebrow.

Justin continued on. “She's not the reason they broke up. Nick is.”

“Nick?” Matt scoffed. “What did he have to do with it?”

“He was the one that told Josh Maggie had been hanging all over the other guys. Did you see Maggie with any other guys that summer?”

Matt crunched his brow together. He shook his head. “It was a long time ago D.” His face settled into an alcohol relaxed position. “Nick?” he asked again. He shook his head.

“Forget it,” Justin growled. He stepped out the front door of the house and leaned against the cold bricks.

“No,” Matt said as he followed Justin out of the house. “Why would Nick do that?”

“Because he liked Maggie and didn't want to admit it,” Justin said. “But I'm glad he broke them up, because now I've got Maggie.”

“You guys going to last?” Matt asked. “In this town people are either married or their relationships last about a minute.”

Justin stared at the ground in front of him. He felt suddenly sober. “I think we'll last.”

Matt nodded. “I could see it,” he said. “You guys suit each other. Like Kevin and Amanda. They're going to get married after school. You know that?”

Justin shook his head. “I think we'll last,” he repeated.

Two bright lights cut through the darkness and splashed across the front of the house. Justin squinted his eyes, as the blurry light illuminated his face. He lifted a hand to Matt and started walking towards the car.

“Thanks man,” he called as he reached the door.

“See ya D,” Matt said. He walked back into the house and let the screen door shut noisily behind him.

Justin managed to open the car door even though his fingers and arm hadn't been working together to work the opening mechanism. He fell into the front seat and slammed the door behind him. He looked at the girl sitting in the drivers seat staring straight ahead.

“Thank you,” he said. Her hand was resting on the gear shift and he let his hand fall on top of it.

Maggie nodded and looked at Justin for a moment. She pulled her head back towards the front of the car and maneuvered her way out of Matt's driveway. The only noise echoing through the car was the sound of the wheels turning over the dirt road.

“Aren't you going to talk to me?” Justin asked finally as they approached Maggie's house.

“Of course,” Maggie said as she pulled to a stop by the garage. “What's there to say though?”

“Are you mad at me?” Justin asked. His slurred voice held a keen edge.

“No, Randy, I'm not,” Maggie said. “I'm just annoyed. It's not the most pleasant thing to be woken up to your drunk boyfriend asking for a ride at one in the morning.”

“Well I'm glad you're annoyed,” Justin said. “Because I'm annoyed at you.”

“I know,” Maggie said. “I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions.”

“Why couldn't you just trust me?” Justin asked. “You honestly thought I'd run and tell your dad about us the first chance I got?”

“What would you have thought Randy?” Maggie asked. “If you were in my shoes, what would you have thought?”

“I would have listened,” Justin said. “Things aren't always as they appear Maggie. You should learn that. You should know that.”

“I'm sorry, okay?” Maggie said. “I was tired and stressed and I jumped to false conclusions. Is that what you want to hear?”

“I want to feel like you mean it,” Justin said. “If this is going to work you're going to need to trust me more than you apparently do. I mean if you see Laura flirting with me are you going to assume I'm flirting back?”

Maggie stared at Justin for a few moments before shaking her head. “No,” she said quietly.

“You need to know that Mags,” Justin said. He raised a hand to Maggie's face and gently ran his fingers down her cheek. “I'm not going to have another girlfriend who doesn't trust me out of her sight.”

“I do trust you,” Maggie said. “I'm just so scared of losing you. I didn't want my father to tear us apart and I just flipped...”

“God Maggie, what am I going to have to do to convince you I'm not going anywhere?”

“I'm sorry I'm insecure,” Maggie said. She reached for Justin's hand gently and squeezed it when he didn't pull away.

“I just need you to trust me,” Justin said. “That's all I ask.”

Maggie nodded and smiled softly. She shivered as the cold air finally seeped into the car. “We should go in.”

Justin nodded, but put his hand behind her neck and pulled her mouth to his, kissing her frantically. He smiled when he pulled away and opened the door to get out of the car. He shut the door and stumbled trying to walk towards the house. Maggie was beside him almost immediately, supporting him.

“I'm sorry I got so drunk,” he said.

“It's okay,” Maggie said as they made their way up the walkway. “We all have to do it sometimes.”

“Next time you're going to get drunk with me though, okay?” Justin said. He hugged Maggie to him.

“It's a date,” Maggie said.