Chapter 7
A week later, Justin decides to finally advance all this flirting he has been doing with Emily to the next level in hopes of ending this big joke. So far he has only kissed her twice but never deeply or meaningfully. TJ has been suspicious of him but hasn't said anything to Justin's relief.
"Oh Justin! I would love to go with you to the club after the show! I thought you would never ask actually!" Emily exclaims after Justin approaches her before the concert.
"Are you sure that TJ won't miss you though?" Justin asks.
"Who cares? He can take care of himself."
Justin can't help but mask his surprise but covers it up and smiles. "Cool. I guess I'll see you later then."
"You bet," Emily says before walking off and disappearing in the crowd backstage.
"Man! You are playing with fire!" JC exclaims, emerging from the mass of people to stand next to Justin. "I can't believe she so easily ditched TJ for you."
"I guess Candace was right. Now I am glad I'm helping to protect TJ but I still feel bad about doing this. It feels as if I am really cheating on her."
"But she asked you to and you aren't. Just keep it to strictly kissing at max and you should have no problem at all. Good luck buddy, you'll need it tonight."
"Wait, you aren't coming with me?"
"Wouldn't it be a bit weird for you to be going out with Emily with Cammy around as a reminder of Candace? We are going to hang with Candace, Lance, Beth and some of the others in the hotel area just to chill. You'll be fine. Catch you at the prayer!"
Justin watches as JC walks away and silently prays that tonight will work out fine.
"Candace, can I talk to you?" TJ asks, reaching out his hand and placing it on Candace's arm.
She turns around with a smile on her face, which slightly dims as she sees who is standing in front of her. "TJ, sure. Lance, I'll catch up with you later, okay?" she calls out. Lance turns around, gives TJ a curious look and nods before walking down to the dancers' rooms where everyone is having a party.
TJ leads her into 'NSync's room to sit in the common area since all the other rooms are heavily populated with people moving around and having fun. They sit down on a couch together and sit in silence for a while.
"Candace, I'm sorry," TJ finally says, unable to stand the silence any longer.
"No, TJ, I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I overreacted to anything you had to say the other day. It's just that I really care about you and your well-being. I didn't want to see you get hurt by her again."
"Candace, I'm afraid for you getting hurt right now. I've been noticing Justin and Emily flirting with each other a lot lately. It's opened my eyes to see that she really isn't as perfect as I thought she was but she is human. The thing concerning me is that you may get hurt by what I see as harmless flirting. They haven't done anything with one another, right?"
'If only he knew...' Candace thought. "No, not to my knowledge."
"Good. Are you and Justin even dating still? You two don't go around together as much as before."
"Well, we are in a period of strain right now. I'm just glad that you and I can start being best friends again. You don't know how much I've missed you TJ!"
"I've missed you too Candy Girl. Come here," TJ says, pulling Candace into a big hug. "Thank you for trying to play the older sister. I can take care of myself but I'm glad I have you there looking out for me anyway."
"I'll always be here. Come on, let's go party," Candace says with a smile, pulling TJ off the couch with her.
"Do you know where Emily or Justin are Candace? I just thought about it. It is 1 AM and I haven't seen either of them at all tonight."
"I honestly have no clue."
The two walk towards the door but stop when they hear low moaning going on, which gets louder as they got closer to a bedroom door. "Justin!" a female voice calls out, halting Candace in her tracks, right outside the door.
TJ sees her go pale and knows he has to find out if this terrible gut feeling he is getting is right. He silently opens the door and backs away from it quickly, getting a rather pale look to his complexion as well. Candace sees him, sees the open door, and realizes that she has no other option but to actually find out what is behind that door. The sounds of pleasure get louder as she gets closer and she hears a scream when she realizes that her worst fear came true: Justin is actually in bed with Emily. Both Emily and Justin look towards the door as Candace sees a look of registered horror crosses his face. Candace feels a hand wrap around her arm as she gets pulled out of the room and dragged out of 'NSync's suite into the one he knows Britney and Beth are in.
"TJ! What's wrong?" Britney asks as she spots her buddy come into the room all pale and upset looking.
TJ shakes his head and takes Candace into his room. He sits her down and just stares, trying to get that awful image of Emily with Justin out of his mind. "That didn't happen, did it?" he asks.
"I wish it all was a nightmare," Candace quietly murmurs, closing her eyes, banishing that image out of her head. "Who screamed?"
"You. Crap, how could those two do this to us?"
Candace can only stare back at TJ as he lets off his frustration through words. When he is done, Britney and Beth come into the room to find out what is going on. Britney makes TJ sit down on the bed next to Candace as Beth closes the door.
"Okay you two, what has happened?" Britney asks once she knows the door is locked. Neither Candace nor TJ dare say anything so they just give her blank stares.
"Candace, does this have to do with Justin?" Beth asks.
"Yes," Candace gets out.
"What exactly?"
"My worst nightmare."
Britney and Beth exchange a look, concerned about what could have actually happened. "Which would be?"
"Justin and Emily showed their true colors. They were caught in bed together by Candace and me. I don't think I can even stomach seeing them again, either of them. How could they?!?" TJ lets out, finally breaking down into tears.
There's a knock on the door and Britney hesitates before opening it. "Who is it?"
"It's Lance. Britney, have you seen either TJ or Candace?"
"Why?"
"I'm worried about them. Some of us saw them leave our suite all upset and I don't know what happened. Please, are they in there?"
Britney looks at Candace for permission to open the door. She nods her head so Britney slowly opens it and lets in Lance, Cammy, and Joey. "What is this, a search party?"
"We were all worried. What happened sis?" Cammy asks Candace as she kneels down in front of her twin.
"I never, ever want to see him again Cammy. Never, ever again."
"Who?"
"Justin. I can't believe he did this."
"What are you talking about?" Joey asks, curious as to what his friend could have done to upset both TJ and Candace so much.
"She and I caught Justin and Emily in bed with one another. That was more than enough for us," TJ supplies, drying up his tears. "Question is, how can we avoid them from now on?"
"I don't think that's possible TJ," Lance says. "There has to be some logical reason behind this. Justin wouldn't cheat on Candace without a logical reason."
"Passion out rules logic Lanceton," Candace says.
"So what do you want to do?"
"I think I may have an idea but I don't know if everyone else will approve of it."
"What is it?" Cammy asks.
"I have a favor to ask of you Cammy..." Candace begins, lowering her voice to a whisper so only her twin could hear her, leaving everyone else wondering what the two were plotting.
"Emily! What the hell are you doing here?" Justin asks after he snaps out of his shocked state.
"You invited me silly!" Emily exclaims.
"To the club! I said good night to you earlier tonight because I was tired. How did you end up in my bed?"
"It's not as if I was unwanted. I could swear that you liked what I did just now to you. Your moans indicated that at least."
"I thought you were Candace! Now you just screwed up everything I had with her and your relationship with TJ."
"What do I need with TJ when I have you?" Emily purrs, running her hand up and down Justin's chest.
Justin seizes her hand and says, "You don't have me. Get the hell out of here!"
"You surely don't mean that. Not after what just happened."
"I mean it Emily. Get out!"
"Fine. You'll be the one regretting it later on."
"Just get out."
Emily gets out of the bed and gathers her clothes, slowly putting them on, then leaves the room, slamming the suite's door.
'How did this happen? How did I let Emily of all people do this? God, I feel so guilty. I tried saving this pleasure to be shared with Candace for so long and I even turned her down because I felt it wasn't the right moment. This really has to look good in her eyes now that she sees that I allowed Emily to do something I told her to hold back on. I definitely lost Candace this time. There's absolutely no way I can expect her to see me in any same light again. That wouldn't be reasonable. I just wish it were different. Why did I even let it get this far? Justin Timberlake, you just sealed your own coffin.'
Justin gets up, closes the door, and goes back into his bed, never wanting to see another living soul ever again.