< Chapter 15: Guilty Conscience >

♥ Justin’s POV: ♥ 

I arrived at the address Megan sent me fairly quickly. I took the elevator to the fifth floor, just like the email said, and knocked at the door to the apartment she said she lives in. I stood there patiently and, soon enough, the door opened and I was face to face with a woman I’ve never seen before, though she looked around my age.

“Um, I’m looking for a Megan Colleen. She’s a school friend of mine and she said to meet her here real quick?” I explained myself.

Her gaze never left my eyes as she nodded. “Oh you’re a friend of Megan’s? Cool, come in,” she gave me the friendliest smile and stepped aside to give me room to walk in.

“Thanks,” I smiled back, walking in as she shut the door behind me. I took a seat on the couch and leaned back. “Where is she, anyway?”

“She mentioned she invited a friend real quick and then she ran outside to the store to get snacks. I didn’t think you’d actually show up so fast,” she laughed.

“Oops,” I chuckled, “Well that sounds like Megan, running all around the place for food.”

We both laughed at my joke and then she pointed towards the kitchen. “Do you want a drink while we wait? She really won’t take long.”

“Yeah sure. Anything’s fine,” I agreed.

“Alright, be right back.”

The woman left to the kitchen and I stared at the show I assumed she was watching before I got here. I sighed and leaned back before feeling my phone vibrate. I pulled it out of my pocket to see Jamie had texted me.

From: Jamie

Message:

Don’t forget me.

I smiled to myself as I read Jamie’s famous line every time I left for tour. If she doesn’t say it, she messages it. Gotta love my girl.

To: Jamie

Message:

Never baby, I love u too much for that.

I sent the text and, before I knew it, the woman was back with 2 glasses of what seemed like lemonade.

“Thanks,” I said, as she handed me one. “What’s your name, anyway?”

“Oh, I’m Leah,” she answered, taking a sip from her lemonade. “I’ve been rooming with Megan here for quite some time now.”

“That’s cool,” I said. “I’m Justin, by the way.”

“Nice name,” she smiled. “It sounds so familiar for some reason.”

“It does?” I asked, internally laughing to myself. She doesn’t seem to recognize me.

“Never mind. I’m probably just really tired,” she sighed, half-laughing.

We continued talking for a while, to the point where we both finished our drinks and then we ended up getting seconds. Halfway through our conversation, Leah stepped aside and tried calling Megan to tell her I was here and ask her where she was. And apparently, there was a long line for the cashier and she was on her way.

I still couldn’t believe Megan’s moving. I can tell it’ll be so weird around here without her…

—

♥ Jamie’s POV: ♥ 

After Justin left, I rested Jason on his crib after giving him a goodnight kiss and took a quick shower afterwards. When I changed into my pajamas, I stretched for a bit and then picked up my phone from my bed. I sent Justin a text that said, “Don’t forget me,” and then threw myself on top of the bed and closed my eyes.

I laid there in silence, relaxing my mind and trying not to think too much of Justin. Every time I think about him, I miss him more and more. It’s not fair, really. I shouldn’t have this ache in my heart from being apart from him for not even a day, but I do and I already know why.

It’s because I love him.

I let out a deep sigh, convincing myself I wasn’t excited for the next 2 months of being away from the love of my life. Thinking like this always got me so upset, so I tried really hard not to. At least for now, I have to shove all these thoughts aside and focus on other things. I shouldn’t mope around already.

Suddenly, my body shook in fright when I heard the doorbell go off unexpectedly from downstairs. Who would ring the doorbell now, of all times?

I lazily got up, making my way downstairs and slowly opening the door. The minute I saw who was now standing in front of me, my eyes widened and I let out a small gasp. Shock filled my entire body as I stood there, speechless.

“Jamie..” he said. “Sorry to drop by like this…”

I could feel my heart sinking, my blood pumping, and my hands shaking.

“N-Nathan,” I stuttered. “W-What are y-you doing here?”

“I needed to come..” he mumbled. “I just had to.”

I blinked twice, gripping the doorknob tightly in my hands and pushing the door, but before it could completely close, Nathan caught it, swinging it wide open and stepping inside.

“Please don’t slam the door on me,” he said.

I backed away slowly. “I.. I didn’t say you could come in.”

Nathan’s gaze locked on mine. “P-Please,” he begged, causing my heart to skip a beat.

It almost sounded like… A whimper.

“What do you want?” I whispered. “Why are you here?”

“Listen,” he lowered his head. “Something happened and… And I don’t have anyone else to talk to about it. You’re the only one who’d understand, considering we used to be a couple.”

“Don’t…”

“Just.. Please hear me out. It won’t take long,” he said, sitting down on the couch. He looked up at me with puppy dog eyes and tapped the spot next to him, asking for me to sit on it. I stared at him in disbelief.

“I didn’t say you could stay,” I crossed my arms. Nathan kept tapping the spot and pleading me further with his gaze. Eventually, I sighed and walked over to the couch, sitting a safe distance away from him. “Make it quick.”

“Fine,” he sighed.

—

♥ Justin’s POV: ♥ 

At this point, I’ve had way too much of Leah’s lemonade, and I was beginning to feel dizzy. I slowly looked up at Leah as she kept her gaze locked on the television. My vision was blurry and my head was pounding.

Leah turned her head to look at me. “Are you okay?” she asked, moving closer to me.

“I-I’m f-fine,” I slurred my words.

I caught a smirk forming on Leah’s face as she stopped next to me and pushed me down on the couch, climbing on top of me.

“W-What are you d-doing?” I stammered, watching as she pulled her shirt over her head.

“You need to loosen up, darling,” she giggled, holding me in her grip as she proceeded to take off her shorts.

The room was spinning. I didn’t exactly know what was going on but all I knew was that there was a sexy girl half-naked on top of me.

“I’ll make you relax a little,” she leaned in and whispered in my ear, kissing my jawline afterwards. She trailed her kisses down to my neck and left me a couple love bites. Without even realizing it, I found myself moaning from her sloppy kisses.

But something told me this was wrong. Something told me I shouldn’t be thinking this way.

“Now you’re loosening up,” Leah grinned, crashing her lips into mine and kissing me roughly. Without any control over my own myself, I began kissing her back rather harshly, grabbing her body. When Leah broke the kiss, I continued kissing down her neck as she proceeded to take off her bra. “You gonna undress for me or what?”

I paused, pulling myself away from her. I was doing these things with her, yet I know she’s not the one I should be doing it with.

“I h-have to go,” I mumbled, shoving her off of me. I stumbled down to the front door and somehow escaped back into my car. Though it was hard to keep myself focused, I texted Kenny the address I was in and told him that something happened and I needed him to pick me up. I knew very well I couldn’t drive like this. I can barely make out the shapes of anything in front of me.

I sat there for a while, digging deep inside my brain to figure out what had just happened. I sighed and leaned my head back, a sudden smell hitting my nose.

I smelled like… alcohol.

Alcohol?

Am I… drunk?

I felt a pounding in my head and groaned, deciding to close my eyes. It was harder to focus on things when my vision was blurred out.

Where’s Kenny?

I stayed inside my car in silence with my eyes closed and time passed until I suddenly heard someone knocking on the car window. My eyes shot open and I saw Kenny staring down at me. I quickly opened the door and tried to get up but I could barely keep my composure.

“What happened to you, kid?” Kenny asked, suddenly pulling me over his shoulder and carrying me back to the van he came in.

“M-My car,” I slurred.

“What, I don’t have time to drive that back too, we have to go,” he said strictly. “I’ll text Ryan to pick it up, okay?”

I silently nodded as he carefully put me down on the backseats and made his way up to the driver’s seat.

“You want to tell me what happened?” Kenny asked, glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

“Not y-yet,” I mumbled, knowing that at this rate, I wouldn’t be able to figure out what exactly happened. If I’m really drunk, I have to get sober first and then I could explain myself.

After a few minutes within the car ride, my eyes began to feel heavy and I slowly closed them, falling into a deep sleep.

—

♥ Jamie’s POV: ♥ 

“Umm… My, uh, my grandma died,” Nathan said sadly, his gaze locked on the floor.

I did a double take. “Y-Your grandma?”

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“But… You two were so close. I remember you always used to bring her gifts and drop by her house every now and then when we were in high school,” I pointed out.

“Well, I was close to her even as a little kid. I’m not taking the fact that she’s dead very well,” he sighed.

“But, Nathan, why’d you come to me?” I asked. I couldn’t help it. I wanted to know. I couldn’t be the only person he thought he could tell this to.

“Because, Jamie, you’re the only one who really understood how much my grandma means to me and… Now that she’s gone, I… I don’t know what to do. There’s no one else I could talk to about it.”

I stared at him, letting the silence surround us. Biting my lip, I forced myself to say something. “Listen, Nathan,” I began, “I’m sorry she died… I really am. But you should really talk to someone else about this. I don’t know what you think I’d be able to do for you exactly, but…” I stopped mid-sentence as I saw Nathan’s eyes watering.

I’ve never really seen him officially cry before, so this was a bit new for me. I hate to admit it, but I actually felt bad for him.

“I can’t believe it,” he sobbed, his head bowed in shame. “I’ll never see her ever again.”

“Aw, don’t say that,” I tried comforting him. “I’m sure she’s watching over you from heaven.”

Nathan chuckled bitterly and shook his head. Without a second thought, I scooted closer to him and awkwardly wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into a hug.

“You’ll be okay,” I reassured him. I could tell he was taken aback by my actions because it took him a minute to hug back.

“You think so?” he wiped away his tears.

“I know it,” I whispered, my heart aching for him. I’ve even met his grandmother before, back when we were in high school. She was so sweet and so smart, too. It’s actually pretty upsetting that she died.

A few seconds later, Nathan pulled away from the hug and looked at me.

“You’re actually being nice to me..” he whispered. “W-Why?”

“Why would I be a bitch when you lost one of the most important people in your life?” I asked, frowning.

“Well thank god I haven’t lost you yet…” he trailed off, his hands still on my waist. My eyes slowly widened as he began leaning closer to me.

“No,” I whispered, my body giving out on me. I couldn’t move, I was frozen in place, just watching him get nearer.

Before I knew it, his lips were on mine and he kissed me slowly. Shock ran through my veins and I could feel the sadness in his heart that he transferred from his lips. When I finally regained my ability to react, I shoved him off of me and backed away. With the back of my hand, I tried rubbing off the feeling of his lips against mine and I could feel guilt rushing throughout me.

“Jamie, I’m…” Nathan’s eyes were wide in shock. “I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to…”

“Leave,” I said strictly, pointing towards the door.

“No, no, please, I didn’t mean to—”

“Leave, Nathan!” I yelled.

“Please, let me explai—”

“Do you want me to call the police?!” I screamed, wanting him gone. I can’t believe he made me… I can’t believe I actually… Ugh!

“Jamie, calm down,” he said softly.

I grabbed my phone from the table, threatening to really call 911.

“Did I not tell you to get out of here?!”

Nathan slowly stood up, putting his hands up in defense.

“Okay, okay,” he walked towards the door. “But don’t think you’ve seen the last of me.”

And with that, he was gone.

I stared at the door, not moving from the spot from where I sat. I could feel tears glistening in my eyes.

I can’t believe I kissed him.

What would Justin say?

No, I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t want to—… 

I sighed, wiping the tear that slid down my cheek. I still had my phone in my hand, and when I looked down at it, I noticed Justin had replied to my previous text:

From: Justin

Message:

Never baby, I love u too much for that.

Tears formed in my eyes again and I could feel my heart aching. He told me he loves me too much to forget me, and this is how I return the favor.

I don’t deserve him…

—

♥ Justin’s POV: ♥ 

When I woke up, I had an intense headache pounding into my brain. My vision was finally cleared and I looked around, wondering where I was. Then I recognized the place to be the inside of my private jet. I guess this must mean we’re in midair already.

I sighed, pulling the blanket off of me. Kenny must’ve carried me here and left me to sleep. But what was with that last night?

Megan never came, it was always just Leah. And something told me that Megan wasn’t coming right from the start. But how’d I end up drunk? Why didn’t I notice? Why’d I allow myself to kiss her and almost… have sex with her?

I don’t even give a fuck about her, I give a fuck about Jamie.

Jamie.

She’s going to be so mad at me. She’ll never forgive me for this.

“Shit,” I muttered under my breath, running a hand through my hair.

And then something clicked.

Wait a second… That lemonade was good, but it tasted a bit odd. Could it be she mixed it with alcohol? I drank so much of it and I didn’t even notice it.

How could I have been so stupid?

How could it have ended up like this?

Did Leah get me drunk like that on purpose? To get me to cheat?

What would Jamie say?

**************************

Only ‘cause it’s my birthday, doesn’t mean I’m the only one who can get gifts. This chapter was a gift from me to you guys :)

But didn’t things just take a turn for the worst? Hmm, wonder what’s gonna happen? Book 1 ended pretty happy but what does book 2 have in store? ;)

I wonder…

Hahaha, well anyway, sorry for the long wait on this update. I’m super, super busy but I can’t wait for school to be over so I’d have more time to write. Love you guys! ❤ 

- Nina xx