Title: Chances Are 14/?
Author: Red (redfirewitch@yahoo.com)
Disclaimer: Don't know nsync. But I know JC's sister's room-mate's aunt's best friend's youngest son's girlfriend's doctor's mechanic's penpal. Yep. She told me everything.
Note: Threats against Caleb: Lightning Strike, Ass-kicking, Skull-crushing...like an egg and Castration!
Threats I got: menacing glares, yells, smacks, fat ripe tomato throwing, shooting (strangely together with an offer of a pretend bribe)
All I have to say is, thanks guys! I love you crazy people!
P.S. If parts of this chapter sound familiar, it's because of the Dara Lynn muse! Read Interludes: Intuition and you'll see what I mean.
Note: Roofies is the street name for a date-rape drug called Rohypnol. It's a very potent tranquilizer that produces a sedative effect, amnesia, muscle relaxation, and a slowing of psychomotor responses. However it can kill when consumed with heavy intake of alcohol.
~~
For a moment it was Justin's worst fear realized. JC was cheating on him. Then it dawned on him that, THAT wasn't his worst fear. This was. What he was seeing right before his very eyes. JC was being hurt. Someone was hurting his baby!
Justin covered the short distance in a second, even faster than Lonnie and Mike. He heard an enraged roar but never knew that it came from him. Pulling Caleb away from JC, he began to rain blows on the bastard. A red haze of anger clouded his mind and he lost control and continued the punches and kicks. Even as Lonnie and Mike tried to pull him off, Justin managed to resist. Only one thing stopped him.
"Justin."
Justin heard JC's scared voice and immediately turned to him. He dropped to his knees beside JC, who had by now managed to sit up with his pants pull back on and was now hugging his knees to his chest, shivering. Justin put his arms gently around JC and looked into his eyes. He saw the fear and shame in the blue orbs. "It's ok, Josh. It's ok." Justin said as he hugged JC to him.
Meanwhile, Lonnie and Mike hauled Caleb, who was bleeding from his nose from Justin's assault, off the floor and threw him against the wall. His pants which were undone fell to his ankles, his dick quickly losing its erection.. "I didn't do anything! It was consensual!" Caleb was shouting, fear stark on his face.
"Is he alright? Was he..." Mike asked, looking at where Justin was kneeling beside JC.
Justin pulled back to look at JC who seemed to be in a daze. "I don't know. Josh? Baby?" Justin called to him, then looked at Lonnie, anxiously. "His eyes seem weird. Clouded. But he doesn't seem drunk or smell like he's drunk."
Lonnie came to kneel beside JC and looked at him. "He's not drunk. He looks like he's......" Lonnie stood up and grabbed Caleb's shirt, slamming him into the wall again. "What did you slip him?"
"I didn't......"
Another slam. "What. Did. You. Slip. Him."
"Roofies." Caleb grunted, wincing from the pain in the back of his head.
Justin scrambled to stand up and attack Caleb again but was pulled back by JC. "Don't. Please." JC pleaded, his voice a whisper.
Justin's eyes softened as he looked at JC. "Josh..."
"I just want to go back." JC said, his watery blue eyes staring into Justin's.
Justin nodded and kissed JC on the forehead. "Ok, sweetie. We'll go back." Justin said as he helped JC stand up. JC teetered dizzily but Justin placed an arm around his waist and held him firmly. Justin then turned around and sneered at Caleb. "Mike, call the cops to pick up that trash."
"No, let him go." JC said, not even looking at Caleb.
"What!? He......" Justin protested.
"We can't afford to let th...this get out." JC said and then whispered. "I just want to forget this."
Justin cupped JC's cheek with his free hand and looked into his eyes. He felt sick to his bone when he saw the guilt and shame in JC's eyes. He didn't understand why but it was obvious that JC blamed himself for what happened to him and he was also putting the group before himself. Placing a kiss on JC's forehead, Justin nodded.
Mike looked like he was about to protest but the look Justin gave him made him stop. He too just nodded.
"Lonnie, can you hold JC for a while?" Justin asked.
JC looked frightened for a while but realized that it was only Lonnie. Lonnie wouldn't hurt him. Justin was not going anywhere far either.
Lonnie gently supported JC while Justin stepped away. Justin walked over to face Caleb until he was inches away.
"Looks like you're not going to go to the shithole jail you belong to, you bastard. Too bad. I'm sure you would have made a fantastic bitch for the inmates. But if you ever come near JC again, I'm the one who's going to jail because I'll kill you. Understood?" Justin said and turned away. Then changing his mind, Justin brought his knee up and slammed it into Caleb's crotch. As he groaned and bent over in pain, Justin slammed him back into the wall. Pulling back his muscled arm, he landed a solid punch on Caleb's face. The sickening crunch of bones breaking echoed in the washroom.
Shaking his throbbing hand, Justin stepped back towards JC and took over supporting him from Lonnie. He then slowly guided the brunet out of the place. Mike and Lonnie looked at the groaning mess that was Caleb and looked at each other. They had just seen a side of Justin that neither knew had existed. Smiling, both men followed their charges out.
**
He just lay on the bed, curled up in a fetal position. The blankets were drawn up to his chin creating a warm cocoon for him. But he still felt cold. Especially when he thought about what had happened.
He could hear the hushed voices outside the room. He couldn't hear the words but he could pick up on the emotions from the tone. Astonishment, anger, worry all evident in all their voices. He pulled the blanket over his head. He didn't want to hear anything.
He didn't remember how he got back to the hotel. The last thing he recalled, he was in the car, leaning against Justin. It was getting hard to keep his eyes open. Maybe because he didn't want to see the question in everyone's eyes. And he didn't want to give the answer. He just gave in to the chemicals in his system because there was only one answer.
It was all his fault.
Why did he have to go screw up like this right before the tour? He should have known better than that. Why had he been so stupid!? He deserved everything he got for being so trusting and for thinking that just because of who he was a violent crime could never happen to him. He had been naïve and he had paid the price.
It had seemed all innocent. He didn't even see it coming. Caleb had seemed like a nice guy. He was cute and funny and friendly. Rapists weren't supposed to be cute and funny and friendly. Rapists weren't supposed to attack guys. Yeah right. And guys aren't supposed to fall for other guys. You broke that stereotype so why believe the rest?
He felt ashamed. He was a guy. A 24 years old guy. He should have been able to protect himself. But he couldn't. He had just laid there and let Caleb......no! Stop thinking about it. Forget what happened. Don't think or talk about it. It would all go away. He didn't know when his carefully constructed life had fallen apart. But he had to put it together again. Fast. And the only way he knew how was to forget it all happened. The important thing was the tour. Focus on the tour. Forget everything else. Forget Tonight. Forget Caleb's hands and words and smell. Forget......Justin's anger and sad eyes.
Justin. Forget Justin. Wasn't that the plan even before he went to that god damned bar? Before he ended up adding to his list of problems? Forgetting Justin. How? He didn't have the answer then and he sure as hell didn't have the answer now. Especially now.
From the moment he first met Justin Timberlake, every time he saw Justin, his face would light up automatically. There was no doubt about it. Justin made him happy, made him think he had everything and was on top of the world. But tonight, in that one moment when he had just given up the fight, shut his eyes, numbed his mind and waited to wake up from the nightmare, Justin had came to his rescue.
Pinned to the floor, he had still believed it was all a dream. Maybe it was not really happening. Maybe he had dreamed up Caleb. Maybe he had dreamed up Justin. Maybe Justin would disappear again. Maybe he would just stand and start professing his love for Britney and give reasons as to why he didn't want to be with him. That's what nightmares were like, weren't they? They just went on and on and even when you scream and fight back, no one heard you and you didn't get away until you wake up.
But he had gotten away. It had taken a while for him to realize that he was safe. That Lonnie and Mike were there to protect him. That Justin was battering Caleb. Striking him the way that he had so wanted to, for making him feel helpless. It had taken a while for him to realize that it was all real. All real. He didn't know whether to cry or smile knowing that it had been real. But he still wanted to make sure and had called out to Justin.
Being enveloped in Justin's arm was like a balm to his soul. Everything seemed far away. Nothing mattered but being in Justin's embrace. It was almost like yesterday and like today had never happened. They were still in bed, making out, happy and in......love. And after experiencing what he had, he knew that it would kill him to have to live without Justin.
"Then I guess I'll just have to die." JC said softly to himself and closed his eyes.
**
Outside the room, four guys stood around, still trying to comprehend what had happened. They made a strange sight loitering in the corridor but no one wanted to be far from JC's room. Just in case.
"What do we do now?" Lance asked, breaking the silence.
"What can we do? The tour starts tomorrow." Joey said.
"He isn't in any state to perform." Chris replied.
"Do you know if he was......" Joey trailed off.
Justin shook his head, not really wanting to hear the ugly word. "I couldn't ask him. He looked too out of it."
"We have to find out. He may need to go to the hospital." Lance stated.
"You shouldn't have let that bastard go. He should have been tested for diseases. It would save JC a lot of pain from having to wait for HIV......" Chris said.
"I don't want to hear this!" Justin yelled, turning away.
"You have to, Justin. If you can't deal with this, how do you expect him to?!" Chris replied, in an even tone.
"Maybe he wasn't er......completely raped." Joey offered, uneasily.
"The only person who can answer that now is JC. And there is one person he will find it easier to talk to." Chris said, looking at Justin. "But Justin, if you can't face the possibility, then I don't want you to go in there. You will only make matters worse. Maybe I or Lance or Joey can......."
"No, I'll do it. I have to. It will be easier for him. I don't want him to feel any worse than he already feels."
"Then deal with it before you go in there. Face it. JC could have been raped. JC was assaulted." Chris said, firmly.
Justin was silent, then he cringed and covered his face with his hands. "I'm trying. It's just......" Justin looked up with fear and guilt. "I was going to leave him there. I thought he was cheating on me and I was ready to leave him there. If I had......"
"But you didn't. That's what counts."
"But what if I was too late? What if I could have stopped it if only I had gone in there immediately instead of standing out there in that fucking bar, bitching to Lonnie and Mike?"
Chris put his hands on Justin's shoulders and shook him slightly. "This isn't the time for what ifs, Justin. Whatever happened has already happened and we don't even have a clue. We can only help pick up the pieces. Deal with it and help him."
Justin nodded and straightened up. He turned and put his hand on the knob of JC's room. Taking a deep breath he pushed it open and entered.
As the door closed, Chris sighed and leaned against the wall.
Joey copied his stance. "How can this happen?"
Chris looked at Joey, surprised. "We are not god, Joey. Just because we are surrounded by bodyguards all the time doesn't guarantee our safety. People get assaulted all the time. Men get assaulted all the time. It just happened that JC was one of those men this time."
"Is it because he's gay?"
"Straight men get raped too, Joey. Rapists are sick people who aren't gender biased. They just find reasons to justify their act to themselves."
Joey nodded in understanding. It was moments like this that he realized the age difference between him and Chris. Although Chris acted like a kid all the time, during crucial moments he would always take on a persona of someone who knew what to do and what to say and just be there for the rest. It was reassuring to have that person to rely on to give the answers.
Lance had only one question that he wished Chris could answer. "Will they be ok?"
Chris looked down at his shoes. "I don't know."
**
Justin stood by the door just looking at JC. Or at least what he could see of JC. He noticed that the brunet was just lying on the side of the bed with the blanket pulled over his head. Only his hair could be seen from the top hem of the blanket. Justin knew that JC was awake because he knew that his friend couldn't sleep that way. Justin walked slowly towards the bed, stopping at the side that JC was sleeping on.
"Josh?"
The bundle remained silent.
Justin squatted down on the floor beside the bed, placing his forearm along the side. He brought one hand and caressed the dark locks that peeked out of the top of the blanket. "Josh, I know you're awake."
The bundle seemed to tense but didn't talk.
"You can't avoid everyone forever, Josh. You have to talk to me."
"Please, Justin. Just forget it," came the mumbled reply.
Justin wished he could too. He wished that this whole thing was just some kind of a sick joke. "I can't. I don't want to make you think about it but I have to. I need to know......if...if...do you need to see a doctor?"
There was moment of pause and then the blanket slowly lowered. Justin waited until the blue eyes were revealed followed by the rest of the face that he loved so much. His face was rather pale. There was a slight bruise on his cheekbones which made Justin's already bruised fist itch to hit Caleb again.
"Are you asking me if he...he...r-ra..." The word was hard to say but something told JC that saying it was the first step to feeling better. "Are you asking if he raped me?"
There. It was out.
Justin nodded, looking into JC's eyes, silently begging him for the truth and telling him that he will be there for him no matter what.
JC realized that this was traumatic not only for him but to Justin too. Justin deserved to know. And he needed to say the words out loud. It will make him feel better. "No, he didn't Justin. He didn't......erm......" JC blushed, causing two spot of color on his otherwise pale complexion. "He......didn't penetrate."
Justin whole body slumped in relief as he pulled JC into a tight embrace. He didn't miss the slight hesitation in the brunet before he felt the answering embrace. Justin knew that being raped was traumatic but being almost raped had as much of an effect on the victim. He just hoped that JC could deal with it and that he could help him deal with it. But for now, he just wanted to experience the relief that his baby was unhurt.
**
tbc... See Tomilee? No cliffhanger! :D And Wen......SIKE!!! Lol!