"Fuck," Justin mumbled as he slowly opened his eyes, immediately closing them when the sun coming into the room hit them, intensifying the headache he already had. Slowly, he turned onto his side and attempted to shield his eyes by shoving them into the pillow, but hit something hard instead. He groaned, opening his eyes once more to see Joshua, who was propped up onto his elbow, fully dressed, watching him.
"Good morning," The slightly older male said with a smile.
"Morning," Justin muttered, scooting closer to JC and sighing contently when he wrapped an arm around him and started rubbing his back.
"How you feeling?"
"Like I got rammed by a fucking train," He replied, and JC chuckled.
"That's a little better than what I was expecting," Josh teased lightly, then kissed Justin's forehead to turn around and grab something off the bedside table. "Here," He said, turning back over with two pills an a glass of water in his hand.
"Have I ever told you that I love you?" Justin asked with a laugh, and JC couldn't help but feel his heart ping. Justin didn't remember that he had in fact told him he loved him the previous night. And although JC wasn't expecting him to, he did carry a sliver of hope.
"This would be the first," He played along, wanting Justin to remember on his own. Justin just smiled as he took the pills and water into his hand, downing them. He felt his stomach tighten. He remembered telling Josh he loved him, and Josh telling him he loved him too. It made him somewhat sad that the elder was just acting like it was a drunk mistake that should be forgotten.
"Thanks," Justin responded, handing JC the cup so he could place it back on the bedside table. Once he did, he happily accepted Justin back into his arms.
"What are your plans for today?" The elder questioned, gently brushing a short curl from Justin's forehead.
"Well… once I feel like a human again, Britney wanted to go over what the editors did with your photos. Did you want to come see them?" He asked, his tired blue eyes shifting up to look at Josh's.
"Sure, I'll come see them. I think someone should be looking after you today," JC teased.
"Yeah, what did happen last night? I remember getting to the club and not having to pay for any drinks, but not much after that. Oh! And something about an albino?" He inquired, his eyebrows furrowing as Josh laughed.
"You mean Lance?"
"Lance…," Justin repeated, as if the name was familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"My ex-boyfriend. Blonde, green eyes, kept calling you a kid," JC tried to jog his memory.
"I'm not a kid!" Justin exclaimed, his head shooting up, quickly lowering once more when he felt the rush of pain. "Oh. I remember now. You told me to stay away from him."
"I did. I told you I'd explain more when you sobered up. What do you say we go get some food in you and I'll tell you more about it then?" JC suggested, and Justin slowly nodded, priding himself on the fact that he stood up without loosing his balance. Josh crinkled his eyebrows in concern when he noticed Justin's pale face, and gently put a hand on the small of his back. "Food, baby," He encouraged, gently pushing the younger male in front of him. Justin smiled, vaguely remembering Joshua calling him that multiple times the night before. Even though JC was pretending they hadn't said 'I love you' to each other, he was glad the nickname remained.
"Waffles?" Justin asked, blindly being pushed into the bathroom where black sweatpants and a white hoodie sat on the counter.
"Waffles are your hangover food?" Josh questioned, his eyebrows raising in amusement.
"Hey! Don't judge me!" The Memphis native chuckled.
"Not judging you, babe. If waffles is what you want, waffles is what you're gonna get. Now get dressed and I'll meet you downstairs. Oh, and brush your teeth. I'd like to be able to kiss you without being hit in the face by the smell of tequila," He winked, leaning forward to press a quick kiss on Justin's cheek before retreating down the long staircase. Justin watched him leave and shook his head with a smile, but sighed as he turned to look at his reflection in the mirror. Why didn't he just tell Josh he loved him this morning? If Josh felt the same, why didn't he say something? Justin wanted so desperately for him and Joshua to be more than friends, but he didn't want to complicate the relationship they had. However, the relationship they had was already confusing, and Justin wasn't sure he could make it any more difficult if he tried. The 23 year old shook his head, deciding he was thinking too hard. He didn't want to push their relationship too far and scare Josh away. The elder told him he'd had his fair share of people using him for his time, and he didn't want to give the impression that he was doing the same. All of the thinking combined with the taste of day-old vodka in his mouth was enough to make the room spin and the nausea to rush to Justin's head, giving him just enough time to drop to his knees before he started throwing up. "Justin?" JC called, hearing the thud and rushing upstairs, wincing when he saw Justin hunched over the toilet, now dry heaving. Instantly, he dove to his knees and positioned himself behind him, rubbing his back. "Hey, you okay?"
"Fine," Justin breathed out, wiping his mouth and sitting back on his heels, leaning into Josh's chest. "Sorry."
"There's nothing for you to be sorry for, Justin. You had a good time last night and you didn't drive home. That's all that matters," He smiled, pressing a kiss to Justin's matted hair. "You still wanna go for waffles?"
"Uh, yeah," The 23 year old scoffed as if it were obvious, and Josh chuckled, standing up and flushing the toilet.
"You okay to stand up?" He questioned, the hint of concern still in his voice as he offered his hands, which Justin gratefully took and slowly stood.
"Yeah I just - I was thinking too much. Kinda made the room start to spin," He honestly told him.
"Defiantly not a good idea after downing as much tequila as you did last night," Josh chuckled, running his hand up and down Justin's back.
"How much tequila did I actually have?" The younger asked, not quite sure he wanted to know the answer.
"I stopped counting after 7 shots," He replied.
"And I woke up with clothes on? I'm impressed."
"I would never take advantage of you, Justin," JC spoke honestly. "I would, however, kiss you, but now not only do you have booze breath, but vomit breath," He smiled, slipping out of the bathroom once more and allowing Justin to get ready.
—-
"You know, I'm still surprised you actually know how to drive," Justin spoke as he brought his much needed mug of coffee to his lips and taking a long sip.
"Funny, Timberlake," JC teased.
"And not a fancy sports car too? You're just surprising me all over the place," The younger joked back, biting his waffle once more.
"Just because I have a lot of time doesn't mean I like to use it constantly. I do like trying to be normal sometimes," Josh replied in a moment of honesty.
"Right, because your bodyguard reminding you to inspect your car before you got in it. That's normal."
"You're lucky you're cute."
"I get that a lot," Justin smiled, before returning to his food, finishing the last piece of waffle on his plate.
"I wonder why," JC responded, and Justin chuckled, mockingly rolling his eyes.
"Now, who's Lance?" He asked, his face turning serious, and Josh sighed.
"An ex-boyfriend of mine. His parents are friends with mine, they work for Chasez Banks. We were always around each other at company events and we were usually the only ones around the same age. I don't know… we just started dating. I really liked him, and I felt like I had someone who wasn't with me based on how much time I had because he was rich too. But that didn't matter. As soon as I knew we weren't going to work out, I broke it off. It didn't stop him from stealing almost all of my time and trying to convince my parents I blew it when I was wasted," The 28 year old explained, his eyes directly on Justin's.
"I - I'm so sorry you had to go through that," Justin honestly said, placing his hand on top of the elder's. JC smiled, seeing the genuine sympathy in the younger's eyes.
"Thanks. But it's okay, it didn't take me all that long to get the time back and prove to my parents I was still fit to work for our company. I moved on, but Lance never did. He's bitter, and he's jealous. He's tried to ruin every relationship I've had after him, and I know what he's capable of. He's dangerous, Justin, and I don't know if I could live with myself if you ever got hurt. That's why I need you to stay as far away from him as possible. I'll do everything I can to protect you, but I need you to be on your toes as well."
"I can do that," The Memphis native smiled, his heart fluttering hearing that Josh would protect him.
"Good. I'm not going to let Lance Bass ruin what we have," The raven haired male spoke, and Justin sighed, his eyes lowering. "What?"
"I mean… that's nice and all, but what exactly is it that we have? What are we, Josh?" Justin questioned, wanting to at least know where the older male stood.
"Well, I was hoping to make this a little more elaborate than just asking you in the middle of a restaurant the morning after you passed out drunk… but I guess now's a good a time as ever. Justin, will you be my boyfriend?" He asked nervously, his eyes slowly raising to meet Justin's blue eyes, eyes that crinkled as the smile reached his ears.
"Really?" The younger questioned, his smile feeling like a now permanent feature on his face.
"Yeah," Josh chuckled.
"I'd - I'd love to be your boyfriend."
"Well good," JC replied, smiling as he shifted his gaze to see Justin's hand still covering his own. "My family is hosting another one of our company events next week. You wanna come? Joey always tags along for the free food."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Justin quietly asked, lowering his eyes and gently pulling his hand off of JC's.
"Why wouldn't it be?"
"I don't know, Josh… I don't think I'd fit in," The Memphis native replied, pulling at his sleeve to hide his time, clearly a motion that came automatically to him. JC felt his heart twist at the thought of such a sweet, caring man feeling as if he wasn't good enough, and now that Justin was his, he was going to do everything he could to ensure Justin knew he was everything Josh could ask for, and more.
"Come here, baby," Josh whispered, patting his lap.
"We're in the middle of a restaurant," Justin pointed out with a chuckle.
"A restaurant that doesn't open for another hour but the owner is friends with my father," The raven haired male responded, smiling when Justin chuckled, getting out of his seat and sitting on JC's lap. "They're going to love you, Justin."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I love you," He replied, his hand reaching up to caress Justin's cheek.
"It sounds even better the second time you say it," He smiled, and Josh's eyebrows furrowed.
"Wait… you remember saying it last night?" JC asked, somewhat shocked. Justin nodded.
"I love you, Josh," Justin repeated, his hands wrapping around the older's neck.
"I love you too, Justin."
—-
It was the next day, and Justin and JC reluctantly separated from each other to head to their respective works. Justin sat at lunch with Chris, absentmindedly picking at his lunch while flipping through the rough copy of the spring edition of GQ. He lingered on the page with Josh's spread a little too long. God his boyfriend was hot.
"Like what you see?" Chris questioned, unable to hide the smirk from his face as Justin jumped, jolted out of his thoughts, not speaking until he regained his breath.
"I mean - this is my first magazine. I want it to be perfect… and besides Josh's spread, it fucking sucks," The younger sighed, tossing the magazine to the floor.
"Hey, you're too hard on yourself, Justin. It's your first issue, nobody expects it to be perfect," The elder said, placing a supportive hand on his shoulder.
"Except me," Justin breathed, resting his elbows on his desk and placing his head in his hands. "I told the senior editor I'd be here late tonight, I want to see what I can rearrange."
"No plans with your boyfriend?" Chris teased, but Justin whipped his head up, eyes widening.
"Who told you he was my boyfriend?"
"You. Just now," He responded, knowing his best friend's defensive tactic all too well. "That's great though, J. I'm happy for you," Chris spoke honestly.
"Thanks. But to answer your question, no. We don't have plans. The only date I have tonight is with this magazine."
"So basically, you're going to run yourself into the ground over this issue?"
"Basically," Justin shrugged, turning to his desktop computer. Chris chuckled and checked his watch, sighing when he realized lunch was over.
"Alright, J. I gotta go. I'll come by and wish you luck on your journey when I clock out," He said, standing up from his chair and heading towards the door.
"See ya," Justin responded, not looking up from his computer.
—
It was 11:34pm, and Justin still sat at his desk, scraps of paper and empty cups of coffee scattering the normally clear wood. He sighed heavily. No matter how much he tried, he felt like something was always off with the issue, and when he fixed that one thing, something else suffered. He ran his hands through his short curls and put his head in his hands. He was so focused on how much he felt like a failure, that he didn't notice the figure open his door and slip into his room.
"Hey, baby," The voice called, causing Justin to jump and slap a hand over his heart.
"Jesus christ, Josh! you scared the shit out of me!" Justin exclaimed, but once he calmed down, he couldn't help his relief from flooding in. He never knew how much he needed to see his boyfriend in that minute, until now.
"Sorry," JC chuckled, walking towards Justin and gently pressing a kiss to his temple.
"Not that I'm not so happy to see you, but what are you doing here?"
"Chris called me and told me you were giving yourself a hard time about the issue and that you were going to stay late. I didn't want you to burn yourself out and I wanted to make sure you ate so I made you some dinner," The elder told him, outstretching his hand that was holding a large, blue, plastic container.
"You mean your chef made me some dinner?" Justin teased, gratefully taking the food.
"No, I mean I made it," Josh responded, and Justin looked up at him.
"Really?" He questioned in a whisper.
"Yeah. I have to warn you though, it's not going to be anywhere near as good as what my chef could make."
"I don't care. It's going to be better because you made it…," The 23 year old smiled, placing the container on his desk. "Thank you so much, Josh."
"Of course, baby. I love you," JC said.
"I love you too."
"Good, now get some food in you and let's see what we can do about this magazine."