| Deceit by destiny "Tonight, the boy behind the group. How singer Justin Timberlake deals with the pressures of being so young in such a harsh business. The life, the career, the truth. Welcome to Music Weekly." JC sat on the leather couch of his new home, staring hard at the big screen television. His jaw was set tightly, and he barely noticed his girfriend, or Lance, both of whom were sitting in the living room as well. Justin had gone and done it, the little shit. He actually sold his story to one of those goddamn tabloid shows. "JC, maybe you shouldn't watch this. I mean, it's going to do no good." JC silenced his girlfriend with one finger, never moving his stare from the Gateway commercial on the screen. She sighed and sat back in her chair, glancing at Lance, who was gazing down at his hands. "Justin Timberlake. We all know him as the lead singer of the babe a licious boy band N Sync. But who is he really? Boy toy? Serious artist? We followed him around, granted exclusive access, and here's what we discovered." Lance jumped up. "I can't watch this shit!" he hissed, looking at JC. "Turn it off. Man, I fucking mean it. Turn it off." JC shook his head, grabbing at the remote and turning the volume up. He was entranced with the images. He recognized Justin's house, and watched as the cameras stood at the front door, and the reporter knocked. Then, there he was, Justin himself, huge grin upon his face, curls cut neatly back, basketball jersey on. The fucker. JC scowled, but didn't move. Lance frowned. "JC, man, come on," he pleaded. "Don't do this. Don't watch it." Lance's cell phone jingled in his pocket and he clicked it on. "Yeah?" "Dude, are you seeing this?" Chris' voice screamed across the line, causing Lance to wince. "Don't tell me you're watching this too. Damn, just turn it off. You know it's just going to make it worse." JC's eyes flickered when he realized it was another member of N SYnc on the line. He turned to Lance and half smiled, then returned his attentions to the bio of Justin, his friend, his comrade! Yeah, whatever. The kid fucked him, fucked them all, but him especially. This was just the latest dagger in the line. JC's knee jiggled absently as he watched Justin on the screen, taking the cameras on a tour of his mansion, his bedroom, his studio. And then, the biggest betrayal of all. "Justin, you say you've been working on the songs for your solo record. Can you sing us something?" Justin sits down at the control board, hits a button and music flows. He begins to sing. JC's heart stops. It's his song. Justin has his song. It's unmistakable, the chords, the words. It's all his. Lance's face washes over with dread as he too recognizes the music. "Chris, call me later." He stared at the screen with amazement. "JC, isn't that yours?" "Fucking A!" JC screamed, throwing the remote at the television. "He stole my song. I'm going to kill the bitch." Lance shook his head. This was low, even for Justin, even with everything that had gone on in the past few months. It wasn't enough that he'd taken a break from N Sync to work on a solo career, and refused to work on the new N Sync album, but to actually take a song that JC wrote? That was bad. "Christ, what are you going to do?" JC stood up, swiping his car keys. "I'm going over to the little shit's house and I'm going to take him out." He stormed to the door, ignoring his girlfriends pleas. Lance followed closely, barely hopping in the passenger side seat before the vehicle took off. "Motherfucker. I hate him." JC ranted, swerving to avoid a chipmunk who had run into the road. Lance braced against the dashboard. "JC, slow down. Come on." "Why? Why did he do this? What the hell is wrong with him? It's that bitch of a girlfriend. That's who's doing this to him. She's brainwashed him. I'll kill her too." JC sped through a stop sign, and headed down the highway to Justin's house. "JC, just take it easy." Lance was frightened for them all. He'd tried all these months to make peace with the four of them, but Justin kept digging the sword deeper, uncaringly. Even he was getting tired of being his friend. And there was some truth to what JC was saying, about his girlfriend. She did encourage Justin to go solo for a while, expand his horizons, work with 'real musicians'. Lance cringed at the words. Soon, they pulled down Justin's long driveway. "You gotta stop at the gate," Lance warned, but JC plowed through, crushing the front end of his vehicle, setting off the airbags. "Fuck!" Lance screamed, as his nose began to bleed. "You asshole." But JC was already out of his SUV, heading up the paved road, fists clentched. Lance scurried from the crumpled car, jogging to catch up, his hand pinching the bridge of his nose. He knew if JC did get his hands on Justin, there would be big trouble, jail time trouble. JC banged on the front door with both fists. "Justin. Open up. Now!" Lance pulled him back. "Give it a rest, JC. Let the courts handle it. He stole your song. It's copyrited. He can't legally use it. Just sue him, get it back." The blood cascaded down his hand and pooled at his feet. His head swam, and suddenly, dizziness got the better of him, sending him crashing to the ground in a heap. Justin opened the door. "Jesus, what happened?" he cried, kneeling down. JC stepped over Lance, shoving Justin to the marble tile of the foyer. "You little theif," he hissed, rage filled eyes meeting fear filled ones. "Man, the song. You're pissed. I know. I shouldn't have used it, but we'll pay you for it." Justin stammered, crawling back on his hands. He'd never seen the demonic look in JC's eyes before, and it make him tremble. "You are a worthless piece of nothing. How? How do you live with what you've done? I fucking hate you." JC pounced ontop of the younger man, fists pummeling mercilessly at his ribs and face. Justin cried out in pain, and squirmed away. Lance opened his eyes slowly and rolled onto his stomach. Pushing himself up on his hands, he gasped when he saw the two embroiled in a fist fight. Feeling woozy, he crawled over to the scene. JC grabbed Justin's foot and pulled him back down, screaming incoherently. Bravely, Lance pushed himself inbetween the two. "Lance, you don't want none of this," JC warned, blue eyes on fire. "Just move. Let the pretty boy fend for himself." Justin took the opportunity to scramble to his feet, quickly pushing the distress alarm on his security system. "You better get out of here," he yelled, touching his hand to his lip, feeling the blood. "Cops are on their way. You sick fuck." Lance stood up, and braced his back against JC, holding him back. "Justin, go. Just get upstairs or something. I can't hold him much longer." He pleaded with his stubborn friend, who wasn't moving. Grunting, he felt JC lunge forward, and once more he fell to the floor. Lance watched in horror as JC attacked Justin once again, and prayed the cops would come soon. Chris appeared, along with JC's girlfreind, who let out a scream when she saw what was unfolding. Lance pulled himself up again, glad to see backup. "He's lost it," he explained, as Chris grabbed at JC, forcing him down. "I got him. Get his hands!" Lance quickly grabbed JC's hands, holding them together. Justin glared at him. "You're in trouble now, Mr. big shot. You wanna fuck with me? You go to jail." He laughed, a sick, twisted laugh. The sounds of the sirens blared closer and Lance stared hard at Justin. "You can't press charges," he said, calmly. "Man, he's your friend. Whaetever this is, it can be resolved. Don't you get it, Justin? You hurt him, hell, you hurt us all, but especially JC. You took his soul, his music, and played it as yours. Nevermind N Sync. Fuck, that's history. But his work. Damn!" The coldness in Justin's eyes surprised him. Chris nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Just let him walk out. Just give him his song, and let him go." The cops barged in, guns drawn. They quickly cuffed JC. Justin stared roughly at the man he once called friend. He'd had no choice but to go solo. He feared the demise of N Sync, and he feared he'd be all alone. The only talent he had was singing, and if that was gone, he feared insanity. Maybe he'd gone about it the wrong way, but it was the only way he knew. As JC relaxed, tears sprang to his eyes. Hopelessness settled upon him and he let himself be lead to the police cruiser. One glance at his hysterical girlfriend being comforted in Chris' arms, and the blood still gushing from Lance's nose, and tears rolled down his cheeks. It was such a mess, it all was. Justin didn't say a word, and JC sat in the back of the car, staring straight ahead. It was all over, done. There was nothing left to do. Justin would win, he always won, the little shit. |