Chapter 37: Underwater

Warnings: language, drama, so much drama, you might kill me, hot guys.

-Justin

We were in trouble. That word didn't even describe how deep in trouble we were. We were in deep shit. Yea, in deep, deep shit. Utterly fucked. We were driving back to the hotel after the evening out.

I had a lot of work to do. The management needed to be called. They had brushed away a lot of humongous messes before with their magic brush, but this was something entirely.

Cody was resting next to me, his head hanging on other side, pressing on my shoulder. He was half dozing off already, probably from the late hour and all the adrenaline that had been pumping through his veins a while ago.

I couldn't imagine sleeping. Thinking of the call I had to make and talking to my manager Tom and Cody's manager Scooter didn't make me jump from joy. But the worst part was that I didn't know how we could fix this, how anyone could fix this. It was all Cody's doings, but he couldn't be blamed. He didn't realize what he had done. He was so….naive sometimes. Most of the time. He was so small and young and unexperienced. He didn't know how cruel the world could be. He'd seen some of it, but not the whole wide clear truth. When first everything was alright and you go on with your day and then suddenly it all comes crashing and hurling down. I could describe it best as being in a big building and then the earth beneath you would start shifting suddenly, leaving you confused and questioning what is going on. Then the roof would start to move too, the whole space around you shaking and trembling like birches leafs in the summer wind. You'd try to hold on to anything, but there was nothing, so you'd press closer to the floor, but everything was moving too fast, too violently. Then you'd look up and see junks of the ceiling coming down. You'd stare in horror, watching them fall down, the time slowing down as your brain focused on the information. Then the piece would hit the ground and you'd feel it in your whole body. And there was nowhere to run.

Cody's sweet innocence was starting to break and I knew it. It broke my heart, a squeezing feeling wrapping all around me. I wanted to keep him the way he was, sweet, funny and innocent, but I knew that he couldn't. Not if he wanted to stay on this business. It was hard and it ripped you apart but…It was music. My love and his too.

I petted his head and pressed a light kiss. Tomorrow was going to be the worst day of his life. A voice in deep inside me said that I have been always part of his worst day evers the past couple of months.

I pushed Cody to our room and he teetered towards the big bed like a zombie. I huffed out a small laughter – even half asleep and exhausted he could find his way to the bed in the dark. Gotta give him some credit. Then I remembered what I had to do and my gaze fell to the floor.

"Good night baby, I will be right with you, just go to sleep." I said and he mumbled something. I sighed and closed the door and leaned against it. I took out my phone and stared at my background picture for a second, I took it when Cody was wearing my hoodie. I found it very cute and snapped a picture without him knowing. I was quite sure that he didn't know to this day.

I opened my contacts and looked up Tom Da Manager and watched his smiling face for a second. Then I pressed call and knew there was no turning back after this.

"Justin? You do realize that it's one am and that my work ends at four." Tom's a bit groggy voice.

"I'm sorry mate. But we have to talk."

"Oh god. He's pregnant isn't he? I knew this." Tom joked but I only huffed awkwardly.

"No he's not. Kinda wish he was." I sighed and rubbed my face. I could almost here as the humor left Tom's face and he sat up on his bed.

"What's wrong?"

"We have a problem."

"How big?"

"Big. Bigger than the last one." I said, referring to the marijuana.

"I'll be there in 5." he said and hung up. I called the room service next and booked a conference room for us.

10 minutes later Tom arrived, his hair was a mess and he had thrown a hoodie on. For a guy who always wore suits, this was something different.

"I booked a room." I said and lead him to through the hallways and opened conference room number 2." I said and he nodded and we made the way in silence. I opened the door and walked in to a room with a large, 20 seat table in the middle, a TV on one wall. It looked like something in movies where the president and all his minions tried to decide whether to launch a huge atom bomb or not.

"Give me your laptop." I said and he nodded. I connected it to the television and searched the internet.

"It's not on Youtube, thank the lord." I said and closed the tab.

"What is not on Youtube yet?" Tom asked patiently.

"This night." I only sighed and the lines on his forehead deepened.

The rest of the night went by me explaining what had happened in the party and the lines on Tom's forehead getting deeper and deeper. He was sitting in front of me, making notes on his phone, not saying a word. Things were always bad when he didn't say anything. He had always been the whole time I had known him, very loud and probably had the largest vocabulary than anyone else. The sun staid down and then rose slowly as I spoke. I watched it's movements and wondered if we could just freeze time. It would make this whole thing so much easier.

By the end of it, I was squeezing my hands together, the skin turning white and feeling like rubber.

"What can we do?" I asked after I stopped. Tom was silent and we watched as the sun rose.

"I don't know Justin yet, I don't know."

-Cody-

I woke up in half a second. It was like someone had slapped me awake. Or poured cold water on me. One second I was sleeping and the next wide awake. I didn't know what had woken me up. I looked around for the cause but there was nothing there. Then the door opened and Justin walked in. He looked honestly put horrible. It looked like someone had took a brush and applied black under his eyes but I knew that wasn't the case. I glanced to my side and saw that his side of the bed was still in the same shape it was after we woke up last morning. The pillow was untouched and after glancing at Justin I noticed that he was still wearing yesterday's suit. The tie was loose around his neck, the suit jacked lost somewhere and shirt untucked. He walked in and roamed through his suit case.

"You haven't slept." I stated and he glanced at me. There was a small frown on his face, worry and anger over his features.

"Yea." he only answered and pulled out a pair of jeans and a white long sleeved shirt. He pulled out his dressing shirt as I waited for an answer which didn't come.

"Why?" I asked and his movements stiffened, like he was frozen for a second and then broke free, his limbs still cold and sore.

"What is it?" I asked and sat up.

"I've been up all night trying to sort out last night." he said tightly, his voice like a srting from a violin.

"Last night? What are you going on about?" I asked. He sighed deeply.

"Just get dressed and get down to conference room 2." he said and walked out. I stared for a moment after him but then threw the blanket away and got dressed.

I made my way down where Justin had directed me. I opened the door and stepped in to what seemed chaos. Inside where around 10 guys speaking on the phone rapidly, their voices as tight as Justin's. Everyone were moving around, writing something down on papers, pointing at the television and talking to each other the same time.

I spotted Justin standing in one corner and talking to Tom. I made my way there and saw how dark both of their faces looked.

"Hey guys." I said and apparently broke off their conversation. They both looked up and stopped talking. Both of their eyes looked tired and red, Justin looked a bit like he had been crying.

"Hey Cods." Justin said and squeezed my arm hastily, smiling as quickly.

"Hey." I answered and looked at Tom. He nodded and I nodded back.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" I asked Justin and he looked at his shoes.

"No I didn't."

"Yeah it looked like you weren't even in our room at all last night." I said and Justin nodded.

"Yeah no I wasn't." he said. I waited him to explain but he didn't, just glanced at Tom awkwardly.

"So?" I forced myself to ask.

"We were here umm… working." Justin said vaguely.

"Working on what?" I asked and looked at Tom, hoping for some answers. He gave me just as much as Justin was giving me right now, which was absolutely nothing, besides odd glances and awkward shifting weight shifting from one leg to another.

"Justin what work? What is all this?"

"It's about last night." Justin sighed and signed me to take a seat.

"What about it?" I asked. Justin opened his mouth when the door opened again. To my surprise it was Harry.

"What's he doing here?" I asked and kept glancing between Tom, Harry and Justin. Everyone just looked so damn sorrowful like something really bad had happened and no one was saying a word.

Harry walked over to us, breathing a bit heavy, his cheeks slightly red, like he had run or something. His hair was a mess and he had just a hoodie, a top and loose pants on. I noticed the hickey on his neck.

"I got here as soon as I read your message." he said to Justin and took of his scarf.

"Would somebody please tell me what the hell is going on!" I finally snapped. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me. I stared in to Justin's eyes, hoping to squeeze out some answers.

"Okay babe, we'll tell you. Everyone, sit down." he ordered and they did. Justin on my right, Tom on the other side of the table and Harry next to me.

"Okay so…this all is because of what happened yesterday. Here present are managers from mine and your office, some trusted reporters who only write what we tell them to write, media managers, some bosses and people like that. People who are used to fixing messes, even slightly bigger scale." Tom spoke. I suddenly felt how my mouth dried and my hands started to sweat.

"They know what they are doing." Justin reassured me.

"What is so bad about last night then?" I asked. "I mean yes, I shouted to Selena but that bitch deserved it." I said defending my actions. I heard Harry huff out a small laughter and I smiled at him.

"Well let me show you just what the other people over there saw. We made a fast sketch about what happened." Tom said, he and Justin didn't look amused at all. Tom clicked something on a computer that was sitting on the table next to him. And truly, a graphic picture appeared on the TV on the wall. It had a time line going from left to right and then another line going down to up. It reminded me of something we did in High School.

"So the bottom line is time. It starts at roughly around eight and ends at one. You arrived at eight and went to get ready. "Tom said pointed a blue box at the beginning that said "entry".

"The next thing was the dinner and then cocktails." he continued and pointed at two boxes. This is when things start to get interesting. At just before nine you and Justin were seen talking in the toilet and we have a witness telling that he heard you saying that "I just don't like her." referring to Selena."

"Well I don't." I said and Justin glanced at me, slight annoyance in his eyes.

" Then you exited had an argument and left the restroom couple minutes later, both looking angry and upset." Tom went on and I had no idea what was going on. I had no idea why this was such big deal.

"Who saw and when? There was no one in the toilet with us. How is this even possible?" I asked baffled and Harry sighed.

"The thing is that there is always someone somewhere, even when you think that you are alone. " he said and looked at him and wondered if that happened to him and Zayn too.

"Then at around nine, you were seen talking to Selena at the buffet table." Tom said and pointed another box that was light orange.

"People say that you seemed upset and in the verge of crying:." he said and I felt sudden anger boil inside me."

"Of course I was almost fucking crying, you should have heard the things she said!" I half yelled but Justin laid his hand on my knee to calm me down.

"It's okay Cods. Just calm down." he said quietly. I took a breath and staid quiet. Tom took is as a sign to go on.

"Then at 9:10 you excited the building to the garden and called Harry." Tom said and Harry nodded. The next box was one shade deeper orange and it said "harry enters". I was getting worried because the next box was really bright orange already, signing danger.

"The next fifteen minutes were uneventful but then things take a turn to the worse. " Tom said and stopped talking and glanced at me, looking like he wasn't sure if I could take what he was about to say. His tone was caring and concerned.

"Go on, I'm a big boy." I said through clenched teeth.

"Well… I'm not going to sugar coat it, so here it is. At 9:25, you and Harry were seen fighting, and there might me pictures about that. Possibly videos too. " Tom, all concern washed away from his voice, replaced with pure business like and professionalism.

"Tom." one of the managers said and Tom turned to him.

"Yea?"

"We got some pictures." the manager said.

"Put them up." Tom said and soon a picture of me and Harry popped on the TV screen. We were standing facing each other and my face was bloody. The next picture showed and it was me jumping towards Harry. Then they went on and on, me on top of him strangling him, then him chancing positions and holding me on place. I felt a sick feeling inside. It was something between nausea and anger.

"And then there is the last one." Tom said and a picture of me and Harry showed, him laying on top of me, our faces very close, both smiling widely. I remembered that it was after we had stopped fighting and he asked if I was alright.

"Oh god." I said and rubbed my forehead.

"Then um... At around same time Justin and Selena were seen talking on a balcony and there are pictures." Tom went on and picture of Justin and Selena talking appeared on the screen. Then they were getting closer to each other and couple last ones were them hugging. I didn't turn to Justin, I didn't want to see what was on his face right now. Guilt? Shame? I didn't want to know.

"Then there are more pictures of you and Harry." Tom said and they appeared like magic. We were standing close and laughing. Harry's arm was on my lower back. The next one was him wiping my face, his hand then coming to rest on me cheek. We were both smiling and laughing. Then his hand was on my thigh and on the next one I pushed him away playfully and then he pulled me in to a hug and didn't let go until said I was sorry.

I remembered it was when we realized that it was cold and decided to go back in. Then more pictures appeared and it was us hugging. The last one was us standing really close to each other, looking intently in to each other's eyes.

"People been talking that … well." Tom ended vaguely.

"That what?" I asked demanding, biting my lip but there was no pain.

"That…. that there is something going on between you two." he finished. I knew what he was about to say, but when it actually hit me, I felt the nausea creep back even stronger this time. I rested my head on my hands and wished for… Something to make this all go away. Maybe I was still sleeping, maybe this was just a horrible thing that I imagined maybe...

"Then well…" he said and pointed the next box that was already bright red. It said "Cody and Harry enter the hall."

"You come back looking very bruised and bloody. Then was the fight with Selena. About that there will definitely be video footage.

The third last box was titled just as "fight" and it didn't need anything more.

The second last box said "underage drinking".

"Well here Harry said that you have just been drinking and you corrected that you are underage. That well… It does not sound good." Tom said.

"I'm really sorry mate, I didn't even realize. " Harry said from my left and put his arm on my shoulder. I looked up and glanced at Justin who for some reason gave a nasty look to Harry.

"Oh my god you can't be serious!" I exclaimed and stared at Justin.

"What?" he asked.

"You don't seriously think that there is something going on between me and Harry?" I asked him, pure anger taking over me.

"C'mon Cody don't. Not now." Harry tried but I ignored him. The fact Justin still hasn't answered told me enough.

"Justin." I gave him one last chance. He was looking around slightly panicked, his eyes searching for something.

"Oh my god." I said and turned away from him.

"I'm not saying anything I just! There's pictures for fucks sake and-"

"For fucks sake you are supposed to trust me! And how am I supposed to feel when you are there hugging Selena and there are god damn pictures and everything!" I shouted to him jumped up from my chair.

"Please don't do this now babe!" he said and looked slightly annoyed.

"Then when am I gonna do this? Should I wait till tomorrow huh? Maybe when you're not too busy licking your exes ass? Just tell me when, just when it suits you." I said in the most sarcastic and hurtful voice I owned. I didn't even know that I could sound that mean. His eyes widened but then his features filled with anger. I saw how his eyes skimmed over the skin on Harry's neck and realized he was staring at the hickey I saw earlier.

"Oh c'mon you are being ridiculous! You are still going on about this? I told you, there is nothing going on between me and Sel!".

"Oh it's Sel now? I thought this was all just for business?" I shouted and I start ed to feel almost busy because of this whole situation. I was so angry and hurt and tired. So very tired to all of this. All this shit.

"And hey, how can you know that it wasn't me who gave that hickey to Harry? I mean there are couple missing minutes where there is n pictures just before we walked in and met you?" My words cut the air like a whip. I searched for Justin's eyes but he was sitting down and looking at his shoes.

"You know what? I can't do this." I said and walked past Harry and towards the door. First it was silent, like he wouldn't believe that I would actually just walk out and leave.

"Cody where are you going?" i heard his voice just before I reached the door.

"Somewhere else." I just sighed and didn't' bother looking back.

As I stepped out, I faintly heard Harry's voice that said:

"I'll go with him." We were in trouble.

We were in trouble. We were in deep shit. Utterly fucked.

And right now, I didn't know if I was talking about last night or me and Justin.

Author's Notes:

Heeeey. Been traveling with Justin for the past couple of months and riding unicorns so been a bit busy. I'm sure you understand.

.

Send me hate mail and messages, or just tell me what you was the last juice you drank.

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