Title: Hide In Plain Sight
Author: Red [redfirewitch@yahoo.com]
Disclaimer: This is just fiction and there isn't an ounce of truth about the sexuality of the Nsync boys in here. At least not as far as I know.
**
Part 6: The Confrontation
Justin fixed the final blond curl and looked at the mirror with satisfaction. Even though the guys always teased him about his obsession with his hair, he didn't care. He had hated his hair for half his life but not anymore. He'll be damned if he felt bad about something he couldn't change. In fact it made him stand out for good reasons this time as everyone liked it. Of course the first person to convince him that his hair was not a curse was JC. He still remembered the MMC days when TJ and Dale would tease him and call him 'Gollywog'. JC would insist they were just jealous as their own hair was as limp and lifeless as their... well. The word he had used was of course taboo for the 12 year old but JC had said it just to get him to smile.
Justin smiled at the thought of his friend but that same smile faltered as he thought of JC's problem. It frustrated him to no ends that this was hurting JC. But the fact that he didn't even know what was going on, wasn't helping the fact. Justin knew he had to be patient if he wanted to get JC to talk to him but at the same time he couldn't help but worry that between then and now, something might happen. Call it instinct or just plain idiocy but Justin couldn't help but worry. He had always been close to JC so much so they often thought alike and at times even completed each other's sentences. Justin frowned at that last thought. The person who had pointed that out to him was Matt.
Justin sighed as he sat down on the bed. He didn't understand why Matt disliked JC so much. Actually he * disliked * Joey, Chris and Lance. He seemed to loathe JC. Even though JC was always helping Justin find time within their schedule just so he could meet Matt somewhere or other, Matt just took it as yet another of JC's attempt to butt into their relationship. Come to think of it, most of their arguments always somehow had a mention of JC somewhere. But why? Why did Matt hate JC so much?
Justin remember that first fight. He had just told Matt that he had come out to JC and confided in him about Matt. Matt was livid and taken him to task. Justin asked Matt why. Being still a little insecure about their new relationship, Justin had misinterpreted it as a sign that Matt didn't want anyone to know about them. Realizing he had over-reacted, Matt had calmed down and reassured him that it was nothing of that sort and that he just wished that Justin had told him before he made the decision to tell JC. Relieved, Justin had apologized and forgotten about it.
But hindsight was 20/20. Further arguments had also been about JC. Matt would say that JC acted like an idiot during interviews and Justin would go to the defense of his best friend. Matt would then accuse him of picking a fight just because he had said something about 'JC the God'! It was almost always about JC. Why? What did JC have to do with them?
It suddenly dawned on Justin why. It was so simple but he hadn't realized it. All those veiled questions and comments about JC meaning too much to Justin were really Matt voicing his discontent. Matt was jealous of JC. Justin wanted to laugh.
/Damn! So that's what bugs Matt about JC!/
Justin shook his head. He realized that maybe he had given Matt cause to think that he was closer to JC than to even his own boyfriend. But then again, JC was his best friend. They had known each other for so long. He loved JC but of course he wasn't in love with JC. They were as good as brothers and Justin doubted that anything could come between them. But did that include Matt?
/This is stupid! I just have to get it through Matt's head that JC and I are like brothers and that JC is straight as an arrow! At least I've got the vacation to convince him./
Satisfied with his plan, Justin headed out the door. He decided to check on JC and ask if he wanted to have breakfast with him. He knew that Lance, Joey and Chris were wasted because they could barely walk straight the night before. He, had danced more often than drank, so his head was spared the morning hangover.
He knocked on JC's door and waited. There was no answer. "He can't still be sleeping! He turned in hours before the rest of us did!" Justin said to himself.
Looking down the corridor, he saw the chambermaid making her rounds. Deciding to give JC a loud wakeup call, Justin walked towards her. "Hi. Can you let me into that room? My friend should wake up or he'll be late." Justin lied.
"You from that singing group all the girls scream about huh?" the Hispanic woman asked in halting English.
Justin smiled and nodded. The woman shook her head and took out her access card to let Justin into JC's room. "Very loud those girls. Always outside. Always screaming," she complained as she opened the door.
Justin couldn't help but laugh. He stepped into the room. "Thank yo--" he trailed off as he saw the mess that JC's room was in.
The woman looked in and sighed, noting the mess she would have to clean up later. She then walked back to her trolley filled with her equipment, muttering something in Spanish, and went about her job.
Justin stepped in and closed the door. He couldn't believe the mess JC had made in his room. The bed sheets were pulled clean off the bed. The phone lay in pieces on the floor. JC's luggage was open and clothes were scattered abut the room as if he had been trying to dig out something at the bottom of his luggage. JC had always been very neat and never was the sort to make a mess in the hotel rooms. In fact, they had all often teased him by predicting a second career in housekeeping. But now...why would he do this? Justin checked the bathroom too but JC wasn't there either. As he slowly walked out of the bathroom, Justin saw a crumbled piece of paper on the floor in the corner of the room and went over to pick it up. He straightened it out as much as he could and tried to make out the words.
"You think you have everything now don't you? You think everyone wants you and you think you can you can have everything! Well, not anymore, you smug son of a bitch! You've got to learn how to respect other people. I'm going to teach you that respect. I'll be watching you every second of the way and when you least expect it...BANG! You're dead! And maybe., just maybe, those other dickheads in your crappy group will live to be your pallbearers. Soon, you bastard! Very soon!"
Justin felt like he was gong to puke. He read and re-read the hateful words. Abruptly his head shot up and he took in the state of the room again. "What if...if someone got him..."
Justin felt pure panic attack him. He couldn't breathe when he considered the possibility that JC could be dead! "No he can't be. This is probably a joke!"
Still Justin wasn't prepared to take the chance. He would rather risk being made an ass of , than to risk JC's life. He was about to run to the room the group's bodyguards were staying in when he heard the sound of the door opening and froze. The room was relatively dark as Justin had not bothered to turn on the lights, but he immediately recognized the figure and felt an immense sense of relief...and anger.
JC closed the door behind him and walked into the room. He stepped back in shock as he saw someone standing by his bed. Immediately he reached inside his jacket. Then the curly blonde hair caught his eyes. He calmed down when he saw it was Justin.
"Justin? How did you get in here?" JC asked, his eyes darting to the mess his room was in. He hoped that he could just play it off as post-tour craziness.
"Chambermaid let me in. Where did you go?" Justin asked, his voice even.
"Out." JC replied tersely as he walked further into the room, avoiding Justin's gaze.
"Out? This early? Alone?" Justin asked. He took note of the hooded jacket JC was wearing and how his shoulders were hunched, like he was bearing the weight of the world. JC's unshaven face and shadowed eyes told him all he needed to know about his best friend's state of mind. But the coldness in JC's blue eyes scared Justin.
"I don't need a babysitter, Justin." JC said, as he removed his jacket carefully and placed it on the bed.
"Fine. Then do you want to explain this?" Justin asked, gesturing to the broken phone.
"Accident."
"What. It accidentally flew across the room and crashed?" Justin asked incredulously.
"Yes!" JC answered, challenging Justin to push it.
"Fine! How about this then?" Justin asked, giving JC one more chance to come clean with the truth as he waved the crumbled paper in his hand.
Justin saw JC's eye widen in fear.
"You have no right to go through my things!" JC yelled as he tried to grab the paper from Justin's hand. But Justin was too fast and he brought it out of JC's reach.
"I didn't. I saw it on the floor. What's the hell is going on, JC? When did you get this? Who is threatening you?" Justin asked.
"Enough with the twenty questions, Justin. I don't want to talk about this. Just leave me alone!" JC yelled.
"Not going to happen! Fuck this, JC! Ever since that night you've been acting like a stranger! I don't know what the hell is going on! You told me you killed someone but I trusted you, gave you the benefit of the doubt decided to let you take your time and tell me! But now, someone is threatening to kill you and maybe even all of us and you just announce that you don't want to talk about it! You just presume this is your choice to make! WAKE UP, JC! This is real! This doesn't just affect you, you asshole!" Justin yelled.
JC looked at his friend in shock. He knew he was right. Phillip was not just threatening him but all of them. He didn't understand why but he didn't put it past the mad man either. That is why he had taken the necessary steps to protect all of them.
"Justin, please. I don't want to talk about this now. I've got to deal with this my own way. You've got to trust me." JC pleaded.
Justin exhaled in frustration. "I don't know, JC. Would you have shown any of us the note if I hadn't found it?"
JC remained silent.
"I thought so. The secrecy ends here, JC. We've got to tell at least management about the threat. I don't want you to get hurt, do you understand? Whoever sent this hates you! The rest of us are just an afterthought but he's really after you. And after what you told me, I don't want to take the risk that this is just a prank. Please understand!"
JC fought back his tears. He was so scared and he wanted to tell Justin everything but the fear paralyzed the words. "I want to tell you everything Justin, but I'm scared,"
"Why?"
"You will hate me."
Justin was taken aback by those whispered words. "No, no I won't. I know you said you killed someone, Josh but I know you are incapable of that. You can't hurt anyone intentionally."
JC laughed harshly and humorlessly. "If you believe that, then you don't know me at all, Justin."
Justin frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Everyone has their breaking point, Justin. I've just reached mine." JC said as he pointed at the jacket he had laid on his bed.
Justin looked at him questioningly then picked up the jacket. It felt strangely heavy so he checked the deep pocket. As his hands touched cold metal, Justin eyes widened in realization. He reached in and pulled out a gun. Disbelief and anger colored his face as he met JC's shimmering blue eyes. JC's shoulder slumped as he saw Justin standing there, with the gun in his hand. What really hit him hard was the disillusionment in Justin's eyes. Justin no longer trusted JC and that scared him more than anything else.
JC walked over to Justin and took the gun from his hand. Justin didn't resist. He then put the gun on the side-table and sat down on the bed. Drawing his knees to his chest, JC began to speak.
"All right, Justin. I'll tell you everything. But there's something I have to tell you first. I--I know I should have told you this before but I wasn't ready then."
Justin sat down beside JC but remained silent.
"Please don't be angry that I didn't tell you about this when you were going through the same thing."
Justin frowned, wondering what JC was talking about.
JC took a deep breath. What he was about to reveal was momentous but seen in the light of what he was going to tell Justin about his past, it didn't seem like that big a deal. For a moment, JC wondered about the irony of life. JC met Justin's questioning gaze. "Justin. I'm--I'm gay too."
Justin stared at his friend unblinkingly for few long minutes, processing what JC had said. JC was gay? And he knew this when he himself had come out to him? And JC hadn't said anything then? All this while and he hadn't said anything? Why? Did this have to do with the man who he saw at the concert? Did this have to with Liam, the name he mentioned during his nightmare? And more importantly, just who the hell was this guy he was sitting beside? Was this really his best friend? Justin knew he was feeling a swirl of emotions just then but he couldn't pinpoint an exact one. Suddenly everything that made sense in his life became a mystery. "Just tell me, JC." Justin whispered softly.
JC took a deep breath and began. "It was six years ago..."
tbc.