“Wh…what are y’all doing home so early?” JC stuttered while feeling very exposed.  I knew I should have grabbed a robe or put on a shirt or something.  Damn…

“We’d ask the same thing,” Chris countered, “but it looks like we just interrupted something.”

“Yeah, JC,” Joey added, “did we interrupt something?”

Everyone looked on in interest as JC struggled to answer.  “Well…um…you see…” Just say nothing happened.  “There was nothing to interrupt,” he said after some time.  “We were just about to go to sleep, and Jen wanted some water, that’s all.”

“Oh, come on, JC,” Chris scoffed, “you lie about as well as Lance can dance.”

“Hey!”  Lance nudged his friend.

“No offense, man, but you know it’s true.”

“I’m working on it, okay?  Besides, you’re not exactly the best dancer yourself.”

“I’m better than you…at least I can count the beats.”

“What are you trying to say, Chris?”  Lance stood up and faced the older man.  Chris also got to his feet, and even though both of them were grinning, everyone knew this had been an ongoing thing.

“Hey, guys, chill out,” Justin interjected.  The rest of the group looked over at him, since those were the first words he had said since JC walked into the living room.  “This is about JC and Jen.”  Good Lord, I can’t believe this.  Now I have to think about what we might have interrupted by coming back here.

“JC?”  A teasing voice came from the hallway, and everyone turned to look in that direction.  As the voice came closer, they heard, “Sweetie, how do you expect me to do what I did at the restaurant if you don’t get the…” Jennifer walked through the entrance to the living room, wearing a loosely tied satin robe.  Noticing the seven faces staring at her, she stopped in her tracks.  “Oh,” she choked out, her face immediately turning red.

Justin blushed as well, then looked away.  Oh, great, now I’m always going to think of her looking like that.  This sure isn’t going to help me forget about her.

JC walked over to Jennifer and pulled her robe together more tightly.  “I told you to wait in the bedroom,” he whispered in her ear as he tied her sash.

“Well, you were taking so long,” she whispered back, “and you seemed so…well, eager back in the bedroom, so I thought I should see what was up.”

Kathy cleared her throat.  “Uh, maybe we should leave you two alone.”

“At least let us explain,” JC said.

“Explain what?” Justin said, rising from the couch.  “We see your clothes on the floor, then you come out here only wearing boxers, which is already out of the ordinary, and then Jen walks out here in a robe.  I think we can all figure out what’s going on here.”  He turned towards the stairs.

“Justin,” Jennifer called out, “where are you going?”

“I’m getting my stuff,” he yelled back.  “I’m going to stay at home with my family.”

Jennifer turned back to the group.  Everyone wore stunned looks on their faces from Justin’s outburst.  “I’m going to go talk to him.”  With that, she turned and ran upstairs.

**

“Justin?” Jennifer called through the closed door.  “Justin, please let me in.  Let’s talk about this.”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Jennifer.  We’re all in your and JC’s way.  You two need privacy, and you certainly won’t get it while we’re all here.”

“That’s not true, Justin.  Please, just let me in so we can talk about this.”

Inside, Justin hesitated, still folding a shirt to place in his open suitcase.  I can’t talk to her now.  I’ll just think about her…and JC…doing… He shook his head to clear his mind of those thoughts.

“Justin, please let me in,” Jennifer called through the door again.

You know she won’t go away until you let her in, his mind told him.

“I know,” he said aloud in response.

“What do you know?”  Jennifer had heard him.

“Uh, nothing.”

“Then let me in.”

“Fine.”  Justin tossed his half-folded shirt into his suitcase and walked to the door.  Opening it, he kept his eyes to the floor.  As she walked in, he never once looked at her.

Jennifer took a seat on the bed next to the suitcase.  “You’re really leaving,” she murmured.  “Why?”

“Like I said before, you and JC need your privacy.  If we hadn’t walked in tonight and found your stuff…”

“Listen, Justin, that was a mistake.  We knew perfectly well that all of you were coming home soon, but even knowing that, we still started what we…started.  Things got out of control here…”

“You know, I really don’t need to know this.”

“Sorry.  But my point is that we never meant for you all to walk in.”  Jennifer paused, watching Justin pace the floor in front of her.  “We didn’t think you guys would be home so early…Justin, I’m trying to apologize here, would you please stop pacing and sit down?”

Justin stopped and ran his fingers through his hair.  Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the bed and sat down on the other side of his suitcase, still keeping his eyes aimed at the floor.

“Justin, please look at me,” Jennifer said.

He slowly raised his eyes to meet hers.  “I’m listening.”

“I know having seven people living in a house isn’t easy.  Sure, JC and I would like some time to ourselves, but that doesn’t excuse what we did.  We weren’t thinking about how this might affect everyone else in this house, and for that, I apologize.  Please don’t leave.  I would feel so awful knowing that something I was a part of drove you away.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Jennifer.  I guess you couldn’t know we would come home so early.”  But that still doesn’t make my situation any easier.

“Yes, but we did know you would come home, period.  We shouldn’t have done anything.”  At least not here, where five other people are living for the moment.  “Please…stay.”

“I don’t know, Jen,” Justin said as he stood from the bed.  “I mean, I would feel really awkward.  Seeing you would make me remember walking in on…well, you know.”

Jennifer flashed a self-deprecating grin.  “Really, Justin, you guys didn’t interrupt anything.  We were just spending time together, that’s all.”

Yeah, right, Justin thought to himself.

“Tell you what,” Jennifer said, “if you stay, you and I will go out and spend some quality time together.”

“Just us?”

“Yup, just you and me.  We’ll spend an entire day just hanging out.  I’ll even take you on for some one-on-one.”

Justin sat to think about it.  I’ve got to decide…Jen is my friend, and it would be cool to spend time with her without anyone else around.  On the other hand, I really like her…and what if spending time alone with her makes my feelings for her stronger?  “What about JC?”

“Oh, he’ll understand.  It’s not like we have to spend every minute together.  Besides, you and I are friends, and JC has no problem with me going out with my friends.”  She reached over to take his hand in hers.  “Come on, Justin…what do you say?”

He looked down at their joined hands.  “Okay,” he whispered, thinking only of how soft her skin was.

“Great!”  Jennifer jumped up, pulling Justin to his feet as well.  “So you’ll stay for a few more days, and then we can go out.”

“Go out?”  Justin quickly raised his eyes.  “You mean like a date?”

“Well, not exactly a date, but close to it, yeah.”

“Uh…okay.”  This is just great, he thought sarcastically.  I’m going out on a “date” with my friend’s girlfriend, whom I have feelings for.  What am I supposed to do?  I can’t do this.  I have to tell her I can’t do this.  “Jen?  There’s something I need to tell you…”

“It can wait.”  She stood in front of him and looked up at his face.  “I’m really happy you’re going to stay for a while longer, Justin.  Next to JC, you’re one of the sweetest guys I know.”  She raised up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.  “Thanks for being a friend.”  She then turned towards the door, not noticing the look of longing on Justin’s face.  As she opened the door, she turned back to him and asked, “Would you like to come back downstairs with me?”

Not wanting to open his mouth for fear of saying the wrong thing, he only shook his head.

“All right, then.  Get some rest, and I’ll see you in the morning.”  With that, she left the room and shut the door behind her.

Justin stood where he was for a minute, staring at the closed door.  When his head cleared, he sank onto the bed.  Jennifer, he thought as he ran his fingers through his hair again, what am I going to do with my feelings for you?

**

JC, Kathy, Derrick, Lance, Joey, and Chris watched as Jennifer ran after Justin.  When Jennifer disappeared into the hallway, everyone turned to look expectantly at JC.  “Well, JC,” Lance began, “you said you wanted to explain, so…start explaining.”

“But before you do,” Chris added with a smirk, “you might want to get a robe or something, you know, to cover up…’cause you’ve got a tent there, and I know that you can’t use that kind for camping.”

“What?”  Shocked and embarrassed, JC quickly glanced downward.  When he saw he didn’t have an erection, he lifted his narrowed eyes at Chris.  “That’s not funny.”  He turned on his heel to head to the bedroom.

Once he left, Derrick, Lance, Joey, and Chris laughed at their friend’s expense.  Kathy turned a disapproving eye on the guys.  “Why must you say those kind of things, Chris?” she asked in a scolding voice.

“Because I can,” was his simple answer.  The guys continued laughing, and Kathy could only shake her head and sigh at their senses of humor.

JC returned shortly, wearing a blue terrycloth robe, tightly tied shut.  “Is this better?” he asked.

“Oh, much…believe me,” Chris answered.

“I think,” Lance put in, “JC was about to explain something.”

“Right.”  As everyone sat, JC cleared his throat.  “You guys want to know what happened…”

“We want to know the truth,” Derrick said.  Good Lord, I walked in on them once…and that time was traumatic.  I hope this time was different…but then again, who am I kidding?  He, along with the rest of them, waited for JC to begin.

“The truth…okay.”  Taking a deep breath, JC began to tell the story.  “Basically, Jen and I came home early, thinking we’d be alone for a while.  I mean, y’all said you wouldn’t be coming home until midnight or one or something, right?”  He paused as everyone nodded.  “So, we figured we’d come back here and…spend some time alone here.”

“That doesn’t exactly explain the clothes in the hallway,” Joey said.  Although I’m sure everyone has figured that out by now…but I would like to hear how JC’s going to explain that one.

“Oh…that.  Well, things got kind of…heated between us.”

“Whoo hoo!  You go, JC!” Chris yelled jokingly.

“Be quiet, Chris,” Lance scolded.  “Go on, JC.”

“I’d rather not,” JC replied.  “It’s kind of…personal.”

“I’m sure we can all figure it out,” Derrick stated.  Goodness…strike two.

“Well, anyway, I’m sorry you guys had to come home and find all that…stuff lying around,” JC apologized.  “Jennifer and I weren’t thinking straight, and we shouldn’t have started anything, since we knew you guys would be home at any time.”

“Hey, we understand,” Joey said.  “I mean, you and Jen haven’t been together in six months.  You’re entitled to spend time together.”

“But,” Chris interjected, “the next time you two decide to ‘take some time for yourselves,’ please get a room at a motel or something.”

“Why should we?” Jennifer asked as she walked into the living room again.  She had heard Chris’s statement as she came down the hallway.  “This is my house, so shouldn’t I get to do whatever I want here?”

“Not when there are five other people living here for the moment,” Kathy said.

“I know, I know…I was just kidding.  So are things okay here?”

“Yeah, we’re cool,” JC answered, “right, everyone?”

“Sure we are,” Derrick answered for the group.  “So where’s Justin?”

“Yeah, how’s he doing?” JC inquired, walking over to where Jennifer stood.

“Well, he’s going to stay for a while longer,” she sighed.  “I apologized to him for putting him, and everyone else, in this situation, and he and I are going to spend some quality time together next week.”

“That’s good,” JC breathed.  “I apologized to everyone here for the same thing.”

“And he was ‘tenting’!” Chris added enthusiastically.

Jennifer’s lips stretched into a wicked grin.  “‘Tenting’?”  She raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend.

“Don’t ask,” JC replied while shaking his head.

Jennifer laughed along with the rest of the group sitting around the living room.  Taking JC’s hand, she walked over to the end of one couch.  He sat first, then she sat in his lap.

“Jen?” Kathy spoke up.  “Were you wearing that necklace when you left?  I don’t remember ever seeing it on you while we were changing.”

“Oh, yeah.”  Jennifer smiled, her hand reaching up to touch the heart pendant hanging from her neck.  “JC gave it to me.”  She held it up for everyone to see, then turned her face to beam at JC.  “It’s to show how our hearts are linked.”

“Forever,” JC added, then leaned in to kiss her lips.

Kathy sighed and smiled.  “That is so romantic.”

“Yeah,” Jennifer whispered in JC’s ear.  “I was going to thank you for it, but then everyone came home.”

“Now, now,” he whispered back, “it’s better this way.  We can do that anytime.  Remember?  We didn’t want to put anyone in that situation?”

Jennifer nodded, then said under her breath, “But it would have been fun.”

“I know.”

“Hey, JC,” Lance then said, interrupting the couple’s private conversation.  “Did you ask her about the trip?”

“Trip?  What trip?” Kathy asked.

Both Jennifer and JC grinned.  “The trip she’s going to take with me after school’s out.  You see, Kathy, Jennifer has agreed to come back to D.C. with me to meet my family.”

Kathy squealed in delight.  “Oh, my gosh!  That’s great!”  Both she and Jennifer jumped up to hug.  “I’m so happy for you!”

“Good Lord,” Derrick muttered to the guys.  “It’s almost like JC and Jennifer just announced they were getting married or something.”

“Pretty close to it,” Lance answered.  “JC’s never asked any girl to meet his family before.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” JC said, keeping his eyes on Jennifer, who was talking excitedly with Kathy.  “I’ve never felt so much for anyone ever before.”

“It’s that serious, huh?”

“Yeah.  I love her.”

Derrick grinned, happy for his friends.  “That’s great, then!  All I ask is that you treat her right…not like you-know-who.”

“Speaking of you-know-who,” Joey said, “isn’t Jen supposed to meet with him tomorrow?”

Remembering, JC closed his eyes and sighed.  “Damn, I forgot.  Just when she’s happy, she has to meet that bastard.”

“Hey, we’ll all be there watching over her,” Chris reminded him.  “She’ll be okay.”

“Oh, I know she’ll be okay,” JC replied.  “I just want her to be happy, and I know meeting him will bring her down.  Look at her.”  Everyone turned to look at Jennifer still talking with Kathy.  “She’s so happy.  I’d hate to remind her about her meeting.”

“Then don’t,” Lance suggested.  “So what if she doesn’t meet with him?  He’s a jerk that doesn’t deserve to even speak to Jennifer, let alone meet with her.”

“I wish I could…not tell her, that is.”

“Why can’t you?” Joey asked.

“Come on, guys, you all know how determined Jennifer is to get this over with.  Besides, I bet that if she doesn’t meet with Dave, he’s just going to keep calling and harassing her over the phone until she does.”

“You’ve got a point there,” Derrick said.  “I know that Dave is pretty persistent when it comes to Jennifer.  He basically controlled her during their entire relationship, then blamed her for all their problems.”

“Wow, that’s pretty bad,” Lance said under his breath.

“Yeah.  So even though this will be hard on Jennifer, and as much as we don’t want her to do this, it’s probably better that she does and gets it over with.”

“Are you sure?” Chris questioned.

“For the most part,” Derrick answered.

“What are you guys talking about?” Jennifer wanted to know.  She and Kathy had finally lowered their enthusiasm and walked back to the couches to sit.

“Nothing, sweetie,” JC replied as Jennifer lowered herself into his lap.  He kissed her temple gently, thinking to himself, Everything’s going to be just fine, Jennifer.  I won’t let anything or anyone hurt you.

Derrick then stretched his arms over his head and stood from the couch.  “Well, I should get going now.”

“Why don’t you come back in the morning and join us for breakfast?” Jennifer asked.

Hmm…maybe she really doesn’t remember that she’s meeting Dave tomorrow.  She certainly doesn’t remember that we’re all going to the park to keep an eye out for him.  “Sure, thanks.”

“Great!”  She jumped out of JC’s lap and walked with Derrick to the door.  “We’ll see you tomorrow morning, then.”

“You bet.”  Derrick stopped in front of the open door and looked at Jennifer.  “You look so happy,” he commented.

“I am happy,” she breathed.

“As well you should be.  JC’s a great guy.”

“He is.  He makes me feel so special.”

“You are special.  Don’t forget that, okay?”

“I won’t.”  She grinned at him.

“Good.  I’ll see you in the morning.”  With one final grin, Derrick walked through the door out into the night.  As he strolled down the front walk towards his car, he thought to himself, Take care of yourself, Jennifer…especially tomorrow.  He got in his car and drove home.

**

Jennifer walked back inside the living room.  JC sat alone, stretched out on a couch.

“Where is everyone?” Jennifer asked, walking over to sit with JC.

“They went to bed.”

She eased herself down and stretched out next to him.  “I guess things didn’t go our way again tonight, did they?”

Chuckling softly, he answered, “Guess not.”

“Well, we’ll have other nights.”

“Definitely.”  He leaned down, and they kissed each other gently.  When they pulled apart, she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

“I love you, JC,” she murmured in a sleepy voice.

“I love you, too, Jennifer.”  He looked down at her face.  God, Jennifer, he thought to himself as he ran a finger along her cheek, are we making a mistake by you meeting with Dave tomorrow?  Have you even thought about what could happen?  I’m not going to let you get hurt again.  “Sweetheart?”

Jennifer just buried her face into JC’s chest and breathed deeply.

JC smiled at her.  Look at that…she’s asleep.  He gently lifted her from the couch and brought her to their bedroom.

When they got there, he placed her in the bed and pulled the covers over her.  Then, he walked around to his side of the bed and climbed in.  Moving closer to her, he wrapped his arms around her body.  When her arms came around him, he fell asleep with her.