All the Ways I Love You
This story is about male/male relationships and contains graphic descriptions of sex.
You should not read this story if it is in any way illegal due to your age or residence.
This is a work of pure fiction. It mixes fictional characters and events with real people. However any real person mentioned in this work is purely an actor playing a part. This story in no way is meant to imply anything about the sexuality, personality, or behavior of the actual person.
Copyright 2003 Jason Calme. This story is the sole property of its author and may not be copied in whole or in part or posted on any website without the permission of the author.
Questions and commentary can be sent to "JasonCalme@yahoo.com".
Chapter 18
My Mom suggested we all play cards after dinner. That was a typical Mom kind of thing to suggest. I think she thought it would be a way to get to know Justin better and for him to feel more comfortable with the family. But the truth was, Justin had already become pretty comfortable, and after spending the afternoon chasing and wrestling with us, Simon was pretty relaxed too.
Mom was already treating Justin like another one of the kids. And my Dad, who had been friendly - though a little distant - when I brought Bill home, was all over Justin. They were like old friends. It was clear that Dad was looking forward to taking Justin golfing on Sunday, and when he came home from work he even patted Justin on the back.
My Dad isn't a very demonstrative kind of guy. I'd been a little surprised when he'd put his arm around Justin when dragging him down from the bedroom, but I thought that was just because of what had happened. But to actually come home from work and give Justin a pat on the back. That was big!
Dad really seemed to like my boyfriend.
So we sat around the dinner table playing cards.
Justin definitely has a competitive streak. He likes to win. He plays to win. When he and Simon started bickering over the score I had to nudge him under the table to remind him that Simon was the youngest of the group. Justin didn't have to sink to his level. Justin looked up at me guiltily and tried to stop, but then Simon said something and Justin just jumped back in. I looked over at my Mom, who was watching the whole thing and smirking, and I just rolled my eyes.
Justin and I decided to play it safe that night. I saw him to the guest bedroom, giving him some serious mouth-to-mouth to make sure he didn't forget me, and then I retired to my bedroom. If I hadn't been so tired, maybe we would have gotten up to some hi-jinks. But I ended up sleeping instead.
Saturday we started late again. After showering and breakfast, Simon, Justin and I drove down to the supermarket to get some things for Mom.
On the way back we stopped at Ben's house to pick him up, since Simon had invited him over. But he hadn't told Ben about Justin. I think he wanted to surprise him. I headed that off at the pass. As we pulled up I turned to Simon and Justin.
"So what are we going to tell Ben?" I said kind of casually.
"Just tell him you know me and I'm visiting," said Justin.
"Yeah, that sounds simple," I said, rolling my eyes. "Are you going to go in, or do we stay here?"
"Just tell him I'm visiting and I'm in the car," said Justin impishly.
"He'll never believe me," said Simon.
"Maybe, but at least you told him, right?" said Justin, grinning.
I cast an eye at Justin and he just shrugged innocently. It seemed he sometimes liked shocking people too.
"And Simon," I said, "remember, we don't want the world to know Justin and I are..." and I left it hanging. I figured I'd leave it to Simon to decide what to tell Ben. Part of me knew that if I said don't tell Ben that Justin and I were dating that Simon wouldn't be able not to.
"Yeah, I know," said Simon, and he hopped out and walked up to the door. I watched him ring the doorbell and Ben opened it.
Ben is a nice kid, but I kind of wished he wasn't going to be hanging out this weekend, as it would cramp Justin and I a bit. The things I did for my kid brother. Maybe Justin and I could go for a drive or something. Alone.
I saw Simon pointing at the car, and Ben kind of staring at us and then giving Simon this 'Yeah, that's funny!' look and punching his shoulder. Simon just shrugged and turned to us and I saw a huge grin on his face.
I turned to Justin. "Is there any good way to do this?" I asked.
He looked thoughtful.
"Yeah," he said, "you tell people casually some time that you met me once."
I sat there, expecting more. "And?" I said finally.
"That's it," he said grinning. "It's easiest if I never meet them."
"Great!" I said, and we both laughed.
Simon and Ben were approaching the car. I hopped out and pulled the seat forward so that the boys could climb in the back, while Justin remained in the passenger seat. Simon climbed in first.
"So Ben, did Simon tell you about our guest?" I said.
Ben looked at me, and I could see that he hadn't believed Simon at all, but was now having second thoughts.
"Yeah, he said you met Justin Timberlake at the supermarket!" said Ben and he laughed a little.
"Simon!" I said shoving him playfully as he was climbing past me, "that's a lie." Ben nodded and grinned. He was happy he hadn't been fooled by Simon.
"We didn't meet Justin at the Supermarket," I corrected. "He's staying with us for a couple of days."
Ben's mouth fell open and he stared wide-eyed.
"Psych!" I said.
Ben relaxed and laughed.
"Got you!" I said.
"Yeah, yeah" said Ben. I turned and looked into the car to see Justin looking at me with a big grin on his face. He had taken off his cap and sunglasses.
I backed up, and waved for Ben to get in. Ben bent down and stepped forward and Justin held out his hand and said "Hi Ben. I'm Justin Timberlake, pleased to meet you."
Ben stopped in mid stride, then straightened up in surprise and banged his head on the roof.
"Ouch!" he cried.
I stepped over. "You okay?" I asked. He was rubbing his head and Justin jumped out and quickly came around to see if Ben was okay.
"Are you okay?" he said as he came up to Ben.
"I think so," Ben said quietly.
"Let me see," said Justin, and he was pulling at Ben's hand, pulling him close to him and looking at Ben's head.
"Justin, he's okay," I said.
"Just want to make sure," he said. "See? This is why I don't like meeting people. It's a pain in the ass!"
"Or the head," I corrected.
"I'm fine," said Ben rather loudly, and he pulled away from Justin and stepped back to stare at him. Then he held out his hand, "I'm Ben McConnell," he said. Justin stared at it for a moment, then smiled and shook it.
"Pleased to meet you Ben."
"So you're really Justin Timberlake? You're not one of those celebrity look-a-likes?"
"Yeah he really is," I said.
But Justin pulled out his wallet, opened it up and showed Ben his drivers' license.
"See?" Justin said, almost like a kid proving a point.
"Cool," said Ben. "Just checking."
I had to admire Ben. He was pretty cool about it all.
We were finally all loaded in the car and we set out for home. It was a little cramped; the car isn't really designed for four people unless two of them are midgets. But then, it wasn't me in the back seat so I didn't care!
"Ben," I said, "I'm impressed."
"Huh?"
"You were pretty cool back there."
Ben smiled.
"Oh Ben's had lot's of experience with celebrities" Simon said with a laugh in his voice.
"Really?" said Justin.
"I met Nick Carter once," said Ben, and Justin and I both half turned to look at him.
"What's he like?" I asked casually.
"He was really cool," said Ben.
I glanced over at Justin and smirked.
"Is he?" I said.
"Yeah," said Justin pulling out his wallet, "but did he give you cash?" and he handed Ben a $20 note.
"Bribing people to like you? Man! That's desperate!" I laughed.
"You think?" said Justin. "Maybe you're right," and he snatched the note back from Ben.
"Hey!" said Ben and Simon.
"I'm sorry," said Justin, "you can't be Nick Carter and Justin Timberlake fans!"
We took the long way home, stopping off at McDonalds and getting a good healthy lunch to take back to the house. We went through the drive through and Justin put his glasses and cap back on. The girl at the window obviously went to the school that Simon and Ben went to, as they seemed to know who she was. She was a couple of years older though, and ignored them. Ben and Simon were whispering and giggling to themselves. Probably thinking how cool they were, and how this girl couldn't even dream who was in the passenger seat.
I had to keep turning back to them and telling them to shut up.
Mom pretended to be annoyed with us when we got back. There was going to be a big meal that night. It's junk food. Yada, yada, yada.
Somehow Ben was invited to dinner too. Hopefully he wasn't going to be under foot all weekend long. After lunch he and Simon disappeared up into Simon's room to do God knows what.
Justin and I were sitting at the kitchen counter, trying to figure out what to do that afternoon.
The doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" I called, and walked down to the door.
Opening it I was surprised to see Cam standing there. Cam was obviously surprised to see me too, as he stepped back and he frowned.
"Hey Cam!" I said brightly, ignoring the negative body language.
"Uh...uh...is Simon in?" he mumbled at me, not quite managing to look in my eyes.
"Ah, hang on," I said, but I heard the sound of running feet and suddenly Simon and Ben appeared by my side, laughing together, with huge grins on their faces.
"Hey Cam!" called Simon.
"Whatsup?" said Cam.
"Oh...not much," said Simon, looking at Ben and rolling his eyes and Ben burst into giggles.
Cam stood there awkwardly, and I was wondering what was up.
Simon however was playing out his own little drama and was oblivious to how uncomfortable Cam and I were. Instead he said to Cam "Hey, wait just a second, kay?" and disappeared into the house, sticking his head into the living room and then into the kitchen. He stopped, his smile getting wider and I heard him saying "you going to be here for a minute?" and then he turned and ran back to the door.
"Simon," I said quietly.
"Just a sec," he said, elbowing Ben in the ribs gently and laughing as he turned to Cam. "Hey Cam," he said, "Wanna come in for a sec?"
Cam looked at me and then back at Simon and shrugged.
"Uh Simon," I said more forcefully.
He stopped and turned towards me.
"What?" he asked.
"I need to talk to you...now" I said.
"Can't it wait?" he asked.
"No. Simon. Now."
"Okay," he shrugged. "Cam, wait here, okay. Just be a sec."
I walked down the hall and dragged him into the downstairs bathroom, closing the door behind us.
"What," he hissed.
"What are you up to?"
"Nothing," Simon shrugged innocently.
"Are you going to surprise him with Justin?" I asked.
He looked as though he'd been busted. Then Simon grinned mischievously. "Maybe," he said.
I tried to give him my best, 'I'm disappointed in you' glare.
"Simon," I said calmly, "did you tell Justin you were going to do this?"
"No," he said shaking his head.
"Okay, well let me tell you this because I learnt it from bitter experience. As fun as it is to shock people by springing Justin on them, it isn't a very nice thing to do without telling Justin first."
Simon looked at me with a shocked expression; obviously I'd gotten his attention.
"I mean, think about it from his perspective. It's like he's some toy you're showing off. And it puts him in the position of meeting people who are shocked out of their gourd. It's bad enough for him having fans and people constantly bugging him in the street, but he's our guest. You should check with him before you do something like this."
Simon stood there and his shoulders slumped and he suddenly looked very upset. His eye's started to water and I thought he was going to start crying.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I didn't think. Don't tell him. You won't tell him will you? I didn't mean to."
"It's okay Simon. And I tell you this from experience because I was dumb enough to do it once when I took him to dinner with some friends. I hadn't thought about it either, so you're not the only one to make dumb mistakes. Okay?"
"Yeah," he nodded.
"So," I said, "I think it's best if you just invite Cam to go down to the park or something but not invite him in. Okay?"
"Okay," he said. "I'll get rid of him."
"Be nice Simon."
Simon wiped his eyes and pulled himself together, and then we stepped out and went back to Ben and Cam. Ben still had this huge grin on his face while Cam still had his pissed expression. Ben saw Simon and lost the grin in two seconds flat. He knew something was up.
"So what's the big secret?" said Cam a little petulantly. I wanted to hate the kid but I found I couldn't. I just wanted to hug him and tell him how sorry I was. But I knew that was the very last thing I should do.
"Uh..." said Simon looking at me, "uh...we were thinking of going to the movies. Do you want to come?"
"Who's going?" Cam asked suspiciously.
"Me and Ben," said Simon, and then he did something that I could have throttled him for, "And Ethan," he added casually.
The bastard. We hadn't talked about going to a movie and I knew he'd said that just so Cam would say no. On the one hand he was trying to get out of the mess he'd gotten himself into, but that was going too far.
"Uh...I don't think so," said Cam. I looked at the kid and suddenly I didn't see anger or hate in his face, it was fear masquerading as bravery.
"Well I may not go. Might just drop the three of you off," I said, and Simon glared at me and I smiled sweetly at him. "It all depends on...I have a friend up here and I don't know what he might want to do. You three want to wait and I'll see?"
Simon looked surprised and Ben looked confused, while Cam just stood there looking like he wanted to leave.
"Just give me a minute," I said and went down to the kitchen. Justin was sitting in there and he looked up when I entered.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"You want to go to the movies with the boys?" I asked.
"Uh...maybe," he said thinking. "Where?"
"There's a theater a half hour away. I think no one will be expecting you, just wear cheap sunglasses."
He grinned. I'd been teasing him that if we wanted to blend in he shouldn't wear five hundred dollar sunglasses.
"Okay," he said.
Mom came in.
"What are you two doing this afternoon?" she asked.
"Oh we might take the boys to the movies," I said.
"One other small issue," I said turning to Justin. "Remember that friend of Simon's? Cam? Simon invited him over so he could surprise him with you."
"Oh," said Justin.
"I already told him off," I said. "But the question is, is it okay if I bring him in to meet you?"
"Ah," he shrugged, "is he coming?"
"Well, only if it's okay with you."
"That's fine. You think you trust him?"
"Uh...no. I don't want to tell him we're together or anything. Just play the business associate story. Maybe that you're interested in my sister."
Justin smirked.
"But there's a chance that if he finds out...well I don't know what he might do. He may not keep the secret."
"Well," said Justin shrugging, "we risk it. He's probably gonna find out at some point anyway."
I stood there thinking and nodded.
"So, you want to go out and completely shock him, or should I go out and warn him," I asked.
"Let's not say anything and see what happens?" said Justin mischievously.
"Cool," I said nodding. "Come on."
I looked up and saw my Mom looking at us thoughtfully, but I dismissed it.
Justin stood up and he put on a cap and with the hooded sweatshirt on, even though it wasn't up, he was a little disguised.
I stepped out the door with Justin behind me. The boys looked up and Simon and Ben both grinned large, but Cam just stared at me.
"Hey, if it's okay with you guys, Justin wants to come too," I said. Simon and Ben nodded but Cam said nothing.
"Cam, this is Justin. He's out from LA. I've been writing a script and he's executive producer for the movie." It was kind of a lie, but it was the best introduction I could come up with.
Justin held out his hand and Cam looked like he wasn't going to shake it, then at the last minute he reached out and shook it quickly.
"Nice to meet you Cam," said Justin.
Cam just nodded and stepped back.
Simon caught my eye and I just raised my eyebrows at him. Hopefully he'd figure out what we were doing.
"So what you want to go see?" I said.
"I'll go get the paper," said Simon, and he rushed off.
"I don't...I'm not going to come," said Cam to Simon's back.
"Oh that's too bad," said Justin, "Simon told me you were a drummer."
"Ah...yeah," said Cam, surprised to be addressed by Justin. He looked at Justin as though appraising him closely. Was he a threat? What was he after?
"You do any beatboxing?" Justin asked.
"Uh...little, I'm not that good," he said. He was kind of stepping back as though he wanted to leave.
"Justin's really into it," I said.
"Yeah?" said Cam kind of curiously.
"Hey maybe we should jam instead of going to a movie?" I joked.
Simon had come back and he looked up with his eyes wide. "Hey that'd be cool!"
"Nah, I gotta go," said Cam.
"Dude, hang with us," said Simon.
"Nah," said Cam.
"Dude, trust me," said Simon advancing towards Cam, "you want to hang with us. You're gonna kick yourself if you don't."
"Fuck off!" Cam snapped. Simon's face dropped and Ben and Justin looked like they wanted to disappear into the walls.
"Well go then!" Simon yelled, "get the fuck out of my house!"
"Fuck you!" Cam yelled back at him.
"What's going on?" came my Mother's voice from the hallway. She had come out a few minutes before and now she advanced towards us. "What's going on Simon?" she demanded.
Cam stared at her for a second, and then turned and ran out the door.
I stood there feeling like I'd messed this all up. I'd been right with my first reaction. Get Cam out of there. Of course, I'd had a different reason when I'd originally thought that. But now I'd just gone and made things worse.
None of us knew what to do, and my mother looked at us all and went to the door and yelled "Cameron Strobel! You come back here right now!"
I looked at Justin and cringed. I wanted to get out of there.
"Come in Cameron," she said. Cam came in looking really angry. I was kind of surprised he'd even listened to my Mother. If I were in his place, would I have stopped for someone else's mother?
"Okay," said Mom, "what's going on here?"
We all stood there, not saying anything and guiltily looking from one to another. Even Justin looked like he'd just been caught by the truant officer. As the nominal adult I felt like I should say something, but I didn't know where to start.
"Simon," she said, "what's going on?"
"Nothing Mom," said Simon.
"That's not what it sounded like," she said to him angrily.
My Mother turned to Cam and her face softened and she said quietly to him "Are you okay Cameron?" He looked at her and tried holding on to the tough guy act, but then he just kind of slumped a bit, put his hand to his face and turned away from us. It looked like he was crying.
"You two, go wait in the living room," she said to Simon and Ben. Then she looked at me, "it's okay. I'll take care of this." I looked at Justin and we went out to the kitchen.
"So what do you want to do now?" I asked Justin.
He shrugged. "Movie still sounds like a good idea."
"Yeah, maybe just the two of us I think."
"Yeah," he nodded.
"I'll get the paper," I said.
"Here it is," said Simon. He was standing in the doorway.
"Thanks kid," I said.
Simon brought the paper over and dropped it on the counter. He looked upset. "I never thought this would happen," he said quietly.
"It's okay. It's my fault too. I should have known from the way he was on Friday that it was a bad idea to even ask him to come. I was just pissed you used me to try and get rid of him. That wasn't fair Simon."
"Yeah, I know" he agreed.
"I wonder what Mom's gonna do," I said.
Simon shrugged, "She used to be his therapist," he said.
"What?"
"Before I even knew him. She's never told me anything other than that."
"She wouldn't," I said.
"I wish I understood how he thinks. Sometimes little things just set him off. It's really hard to be his friend sometimes."
I nodded, "Well do the best you can. He probably needs friends."
"Yeah, but it's hard when he hates your brother," Simon said and walked out.
I looked at Justin and he shrugged.
We were still looking at the paper about ten minutes later, when Mom came in with Cam following behind her.
"Justin," she said, "I wonder if you could give us a moment alone please?"
"Yes Ma'am," he replied and went out the door.
My Mother turned to Cam and indicated that he should come in.
"It's okay Cameron," she said.
He pursed his lips and nodded.
"Ethan," she said, "I know that you haven't been formally introduced to Cameron, so I just wanted you to say hi."
I stood there watching my Mom for some sort of sign, but there wasn't one.
"Hi Cameron," I said, holding out my hand.
Cam stepped forward and held out his hand. We shook quickly and then he let go.
"I'm sorry I..." he began and paused, then started again, "I'm sorry I've been a jerk," he said, and his shoulders slumped.
"Hey, don't worry about it Cam. Simon's a jerk all the time. I'm used to it," and I smiled. "So are you going to go to the movie?" I asked. "I think just Ben and Simon are going to go. We'll just drop them off."
"No Cameron's going to stay here with me this afternoon," said my Mom, "and then he's staying for dinner."
"Oh, okay. We'll I'll see you later then Cam."
"Okay," he nodded.
"Cameron, why don't you go back in the living room and wait for me. I'll be right in," said my Mom.
"Okay," he nodded, and turned and walked out.
My Mom watched him go and then turned back to me. "Tell Simon and Ben to go do what they want, they're not in any trouble. Let them know that Cam's going to be here though and they're to behave themselves."
"Okay Mom," I said, then I paused, "Simon said you used to be his therapist. What are you up to?"
"Oh I'm...Cameron was in therapy with me for a couple of years, then they moved and he went to another therapist. They moved back here and Simon and Cameron became friends. His mother told me they'd stopped therapy a while ago but I think...well his parents aren't the most supportive..."
"Of therapy?"
"Therapy or Cameron. It's a real shame. If his parents were only..." and then I saw her pause and I knew she felt she'd already said too much. "I'm going to have to call his Mom and try and persuade her to get him some help."
"So what are you going to do right now?"
"Just have a chat with him. See how he's doing."
"Mom," I said, "just because he's a former client, you're under no obligation, and you're the mother of his friend. Isn't it better you not get involved?"
"That, Ethan, would be the practical response. But I can't just let him walk out the door like this. But thanks for worrying. I'll be careful."
"Okay."
I went out and told Simon, Ben and Justin what was up. After a short discussion we decided to go to a movie after all. We took the Mini and drove to the theater. When we got there Justin got out and put on his designer cap and pulled up his hood, about to add his sunglasses. I grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Man," I said, "Who taught you about disguises?"
"What? I'm the master of disguises!" he said, his eyes bright and a big grin on his face.
I rolled my eyes skyward as if to say, 'what am I going to do with you?'
The cap had to go. I pulled it off his head, then pulled out an old frayed and dirty baseball cap out of my jacket pocket and put it on his head. Then I pushed the hood half way down so that it hid some of the back of his head, but didn't cover him completely. Finally I took off the expensive sunglasses and put on some cheap $20 glasses I'd bought at Walgreens that morning.
"What do you think guys?"
"Pretty good," said Simon.
"Just needs one finishing touch," I said.
I went over to the wheel well and rubbed my hand quickly on it, then came back and rubbed a little bit of dirt on one side of Justin's face. It didn't make a big mark - how could it, he leapt back as I tried to wipe it on him.
"Check it out," I said. The others looked at him and nodded. If his sweatshirt and jeans hadn't been ironed it would have been perfect.
Just for good measure, as we walked in I wiped my hand on his chest.
No one noticed the NSYNCer at the movies. Maybe it was the disguise. Or maybe it was that no one could have believed it if they had seen it.
We had a great time at the movies and got back around five. There was no sign of Mom or Cam, but Dad said dinner wasn't going to be for a while, so the four of us went up to Simon's room to hang.
Justin asked Simon to show him his guitar. Simon pulled it out and started playing and Justin started doing a little beatbox along with Simon's playing. Simon found a microphone and plugged it into an old second amp he had and the two of them went at it and they weren't too bad.
Simon had my old acoustic guitar under his bed so I pulled that out and tried playing rhythm guitar, though my memory of cords was a bit sketchy and I had to get Simon to tell me some of the shapes for chords I didn't know or couldn't remember. Ben lay on the bed watching us and laughing, and we were trying to get him to join us but he kept shaking his head.
Finally Justin grabbed him and pulled him over and told him to make a simple bass noise and showed him what to do, and then he and Ben started off with Simon and I joining in and...well it wasn't great music but we were all having a blast. Ben kept stopping and laughing, and Simon would get carried away with his leads and I'd forget what chord I was supposed to play. It was great fun.
We were making such a racket, and having such fun, that I didn't notice at first that Cam had come in and was sitting on the floor watching us. He was smiling a bit, watching, and so I just ignored him. But when we 'finished' the song - when Ben dropped the microphone - Cam clapped and whistled and we all turned to face him.
"That was truly awful," he said with a smile on his face, and though it was little more than a grin, it was the first time I'd seen the kid smile or make a joke. It suited him. He looked a lot younger.
"Well we need a better drummer!" said Simon.
"Hey!" said Justin sounding hurt, though he knew Simon was joking.
"You staying for dinner?" Simon said casually.
Cameron looked at him rather nervously and then answered, "Yeah. That okay?"
Simon smiled. "It's cool, but if you're staying you've got to help the rhythm section, cause it sucks!"
Cam smiled but Simon waved for him to get up and Ben went over and dragged him to where Justin was standing.
"Okay," said Justin, "this is what we're gonna do," and he went around showing Ben, Cam and I what he wanted us to play. It was a pretty simple rhythm, and I only had to know five chords to get through it. He told Simon to riff on whatever he wanted, and then he had Cam and Ben start off and I joined in and Simon played a little intro, then Justin started to sing and rap bits and pieces as we went. Simon, after settling into the rhythm of what Justin was doing, added some accents and solos along the way.
Justin sang and bounced around the room, doing little dance steps here and there, and the rest of us played away trying our best to stay together. Simon was standing with his eyes closed much of the time, riffing away and lost in the music. Ben was working away intently trying not to mess up, while Cam was doing a half-way decent drum sound while watching Justin bounce around and something about his expression suggested that he was wondering who this guy was. I was sitting there, kind of in the groove, just strumming the chords. It was nothing flashy, but I couldn't stop grinning. It was an awesome moment.
We played on for quite some time, only stopping when Ben suddenly shouted that his lips were hurting. We all teased him about that as my Mom came in with a tray full of cookies and glasses of milk. God, I felt like such a kid.
"You boys sounded great!" she said smiling. "I was listening in the hall and didn't want to interrupt you."
"Justin organized us," Simon said gushing, and Justin slapped him on the back.
"I have a new band!" Justin joked, and Simon and Ben laughed hard. Cam laughed too, though I don't think he quite got the joke.
I saw Mom looking over at Cam and smiling at him.
"Cameron," she said, "I spoke to your Mom and she said you can stay the night if you want."
"Oh...uh..." Cam said nervously, and glanced over at Simon.
"Hey great Cam, Ben's gonna stay too. You too can fight it out over who gets the floor."
"I'll take the floor," Cam said good-naturedly. He glanced my way and then, rather than frowning, he glanced away nervously.
"Well dinners still a little way off, so this should hold you over," she said. And then she turned and left and we each grabbed a couple of cookies and a glass of milk. Justin sat next to me on the bed and he glanced down at the glasses of milk we were both holding and looked up at me. I shrugged and he smiled, and then I punched him lightly on the shoulder. I think we both were thinking this felt so 'odd' and yet it felt great too. I took a long drink and the milk really made the cookies taste better.
"You didn't tell me you could play," Justin said to me quietly.
"I'd hardly call it playing," I joked.
"Why don't you have a guitar?"
"I do," I said, lifting the guitar I was holding up a little, "I just leant it to my kid brother and he never gave it back."
"Oh," said Justin.
Simon and Ben were chatting away, Simon teasing Ben that if he kept practicing he could be pretty good, but I noticed Cam sitting leaning against the wall and staring at Justin.
I elbowed Justin in the stomach lightly and he looked up.
"Don't look now but I think you've been spotted," I said. Justin looked over at Cam and Cam looked away nervously.
"Hey Cam," I called.
"Huh?" he said, looking back at me nervously.
"Can I ask you a favor?"
"A favor?" he asked, looking nervous.
"Yeah, it's just a little secret."
"A secret?"
"Just ahh, if you could not tell anyone where you met Justin that would be great."
"Um...uh..." Cam kind of stumbled, I think he had suspicions but still couldn't quite make the leap.
"Cam," Simon whispered, "he's Justin Timberlake."
"Huh," said Cam, turning to face Simon.
"Justin...Justin Timberlake," Simon repeated and then he indicated Justin with his thumb.
Cam looked back at Justin and I could see he was surprised. His eyes were wide. He wasn't quite as shocked as Simon, but he was still up in the amazed spectrum. Then his eyes kind of narrowed as he studied Justin and he shook his head.
"Nah," he grinned, "you're jerkin me around!" he laughed.
Justin got up and walked over to him, "No," he said, "I'm Justin Timberlake. I'll show you my drivers license if you like."
Cam sat there for a moment with his mouth opened, and then he spilled his milk all over himself.
"Shit!" he yelled, jumping up.
Everyone burst into hysterics, and Cam stood there looking a little forlorn.
"Shit!" he repeated.
"Man, you're covered!" hooted Ben. Cam stood there trying to wipe the milk off him. I went out to the bathroom and came back with a couple of towels, throwing one to Cam, and the other to Simon.
"Mop up the milk or your room is going to stink. I'll get some water to help wash it out."
Simon shrugged. Cam wiped himself down but he was pretty wet.
"Hey Simon," I said, "Can you lend Cam some pants and a shirt while we wash his clothes?"
"You just told me to mop up the milk!" he said.
"When you're done!"
I went down to the kitchen and told Mom what had happened and got some water and a sponge, then went back up to the bedroom. When I got there Mom was sending Cam to the bathroom to change into some dry clothes. I handed the pan of water and the sponge to Simon and Ben who were finishing up. I then went back to the bed and sat next to Justin. It's great being the older brother sometimes.
Mom stood in the doorway supervising Ben and Simon.
When Cam came back he handed Mom his pants and shirt. Mom tousled his hair to let him know it was okay.
"Uh, Mrs. Thompson," I heard him say, and then he turned and pointed to Justin and said something to Mom, and she smiled and nodded to him.
I actually saw Cam swallow. Mom whispered something to him and then gently put her hand on his back and pushed him back into the room. She then took the water, sponge and towels from Ben and Simon and told us to be careful and disappeared down the hall.
Cam was standing in the middle of the room looking unsure of what to do.
Justin jumped up.
"Okay," he said, "time to get back to work!" and he started telling me what he wanted to play this time.
We played for about another half hour until Mom called us and we went down and had dinner. Ben and Simon were chatting up a storm, talking about the movie and about our spontaneous jamming at the end.
Mom tried to draw Cam into the conversation, but he pretty much sat there and said just one or two words now and again.
"Not bad beatboxing," Justin said to Cam at one point.
Cam blushed.
"You as good on the drums?" Justin asked.
"I'm not very good," Cam shook his head.
"He's great!" Simon leapt in, "he's the best player in the school by a wide margin."
Cam looked over at Simon with a grateful smile.
"Awesome," said Justin, and he held up his hand to give him a high five. For a moment Cam didn't seem to know what to do and then he nervously held up his hand and Justin slapped it. And Cam smiled like a kid who'd just got everything he wanted for Christmas.
After dinner we hung out in the family room for a while. Eventually Mom told the boys to go up to bed, and the four of us got to spend a little time without their constant chatter and energy.
I was sitting on the couch and Justin had been on the floor, but now he slid over and sat between my legs and I sat there and ran my hands through his hair and he leaned against me and it felt very comfortable.
We were sitting there for a while when I heard footsteps and looked up to see Cam coming into the room. He stopped when he saw us and stood there with his mouth open. I didn't move. I figured he'd seen us now. Jumping apart to try and hide it would only make it clear we were concerned he'd seen us.
------------------------------- To be continued...
My other stories:
High School: Do What You Can
Boy Bands: Birthday Blues