Blythe's POV:
"Silver? Silver!" I ran into the lounge room to tell her the good news. My father was coming to America, to take me with him, give me monetary support, to live with me – I didn't really care, but I knew he still cared about me, I finally knew someone in my family still cared. Even though I had left him, along with my mother all that time ago.
"Silver?" She didn't seem to be there, but why where all the lights on then? Was there someone else here?
"Blythe? I didn't know you were going to be here so soon!" I heard a young male voice from behind me say. I quickly turned around and saw –
"Nathan? Nate? Oh my god! What the fuck? What the hell are you doing here?" He heartily embraced me.
"Well it was supposed to be a surprise! I came back early from my trip through Northern Africa, because, you know, it's not good for a foreigner to be in a revolution." He laughed.
"How can you laugh about that? Silver was worried sick!" I exclaimed. – "And you weren't?" He asked with a sinister look on his face. – "What the heck are you talking about? Of course I was worried." I answered truthfully.
"Relax. I was just kidding, I know everyone was worried about me, how could you not be? I'm awesome." He smugly said.
"Going away for some time certainly didn't help you with your ego…" We both laughed and sat down on the couch.
"How long have you been back in the city, Nate?" – "Well, I actually arrived only a couple of hours ago at the airport and got a cab to take me to the apartment. Silver met me here and let me in, but she had to go back to campus, you know how it is." He explained.
"You must be exhausted." I remarked. – "Actually, it's not that bad and if I manage to stay up for a couple more hours I'll be in the night & day routine again." – "That's true, but don't force yourself to stay up till uncouth hours. Do you want some dinner?" I asked.
"I'm quite hungry, but Silver will be home soon and we wanted to go out for dinner with you." – "With me? I wouldn't want to interrupt a date." – "Come on, you can hardly call it dating anymore, if you've been going out for more then a year. Besides – you're our best friend, I've been your friend since you came here. I really want you to come." – "Okay, fine. It'll be great to do something together again. The old 'gang' up to no good like we used to be." – "Yeah, remember all the times we raided my parents 'secret' liquor compartment. You're such a hilarious drunk!" We both giggled. – "Hey! Sure I had drunken something, but I've never been drunk." – "That's what they all say. You could barely walk and you were grinning like a fool" – "Yeah, well alcohol does bring down most barriers of self-control and you aren't a saint, when you're under the influence either." I sighed.
"What? Didn't you enjoy it?" He asked. – "Sure, I did, but I just don't want that to be why people like or know me. No one but you two really cares about me." I explained.
"But they do, Blythe. You have such low self-esteem! People like you, whenever you came with us you lightened up the mood and everyone enjoyed themselves even more. You just need to let people in."
"Yeah, I- I suppose so." A single tear was running down my cheek, but I turned away so he wouldn't see it. "Anyway I- I think we've got to get ready, Nate." I added. I got up and turned away, but he stopped me and – to my surprise - pulled me into a hug.
"Silver told me what happened with your mother. We're always going to be there for you, okay?" He said it with such sincerity, I wasn't used to him being like this. Maybe he did change and grow up a little on the trip.
"Thank you, Nathan. I really appreciate it." It felt great to know, I at least had my friends to count on. "But we still have to get ready." I laughed, as I pulled away from the hug. – "Yeah, okay. I'll get dressed and wait for you here, while you perform whatever magic you do to look so fashionable, but could you hurry and be ready in an hour?" – "Okay, I seriously don't take that long." I countered. "Whatever…" He laughed, as he disappeared into the hallway.
I decided to take a quick shower, before I got ready. Normally I only showered in the mornings, but I didn't feel pleasant after work. Once I had finished grooming myself and putting on my outfit for the night – a black shirt with some grey trousers and fancy black and white sneakers – I emerged into the lounge room.
"Let's go." I said and Nathan jumped up ready to go. "I told you." He said. – "Told me what, exactly?" I asked. – "I told you, you would take an hour to get ready." He sheepishly grinned. I poked my tongue out at him and went out the front door.
The elevator made a dinging noise just as I wanted to call it. The doors opened and a readily-dressed Silver stood there. "Et voilà!" She exclaimed. - "Perfect timing." I said. – "Where are we going, any wishes?" Nate asked. – "How about 'The Velvet Lagoon'?" Silver asked. – "Sounds great. Haven't been there for awhile." Nate agreed. – "Sure, why not? They basically have everything you'd want to eat there." I said.
Once we were on the ground floor Jack, the concierge, got Silver's car and we all got in. The drive to the restaurant flew by as we sung along to songs like "Hello", "Tonight I'm Lovin' You" and "Turn Around 5, 4, 3, 2, 1" on the radio. It was a great feeling – being around my friends. Being together like that again was a real treat compared to what I had faced during the last week.
At last we arrived at the restaurant, hungry like hellhounds, and were all walked to a booth at the back of the restaurant by a forthcoming Italian waiter, who seemed to know Silver and treated her appropriately, but then again who in this city didn't know her?
The restaurant itself was huge, there was a bar in front of the entry to the kitchen and a small stage for bands to play right beside it. The room consisted of carefully aligned rows of tables and chairs, all seats were taken up by people in their evening attire. It was a very high class restaurant, a place where celebrities and jetsetters went, but also up and comers who wanted to socialize with the right kind of people. There were people of all different ages, ethnicity and character eating together.
Seeing all these people made me uncomfortable, extremely uncomfortable. I hated being in public places, but whenever I was with people, whom I cared for, I tried my best to push those feelings aside and put on an act of casualness, a mask, and most of the time it worked – enough to stop me from being unhappy, at least.
The busboy walked us to some booths at the back of the restaurant, these were closed of tables, if you wanted extra privacy and could pay the price for them.
All of a sudden Silver recognized someone "Selena?" she shouted. I looked into the direction Silver was staring and saw a boy kissing a girl, I supposed her name was Selena. They quickly broke away from the kiss, for which the boy had leaned over the table, almost forcing himself on Selena.
Justin's POV:
She took my hand and I flinched. That was a step too far - too soon.
"Justin – you… don't like girls, do you?" She asked.
"Wha… w- what the hell do you mean?" I blurted out, louder than I had actually wanted to, the last thing I wanted right now was to draw attention to myself in this restaurant.
"I think, that you're not into girls. Most guys, even if it was only a fake date, would jump at an opportunity to do stuff with one of the most attractive and famous girls in the world. You on the other hand, you're hostile, almost aggressive, if I get too close to you. Either you have a girlfriend you're hiding from the press or –" I cut her off and did the most unexpected thing, I lunged over the table and connected our lips, my instinct for survival had sprung into action. I had to get attention away from me, by drawing attention, like starting a fire to draw the oxygen from a bigger one.
"Selena?" I heard the voice of a girl from not too far away. I instantly pulled away from the kiss, it was awful she wore lip gloss and let's just leave it at that, I do not want to go into further detail.
I looked up to see who exactly had called out for Selena. Three figures were coming closer. Two boys and one girl. One of the boys struck my eye, he looked familiar, could it be – no, how?
They stopped right in front of us and I knew.
It was him.
I couldn't believe it. Of all the people I could've met in this city, I met him. Was I really lucky or cursed? I mean, what were the chances? He was so beautiful, but my career, my music means so much to me. He and his companions were standing right in front of Selena and me. Did he recognize me, apart from me being Justin Bieber? Did he recognize me from the other night, when I stupidly kissed him? If he did, he didn't act upon it, thank god.
"Justin?" Everyone asked encore and it made me jump a little. Fuck. I was so lost in my thoughts, I had totally forgotten, where I was.
"Hey, guys." I got up and greeted them absent-mindedly. I hope I haven't made them mad. "Okay. Well I'm Silver, this is Nate, my boyfriend and that is Blythe. I'm a friend of Selena's." Silver, a tall and attractive brunette girl, explained.
"It's great to meet you all, I suppose you already know who I am." I joked and they all laughed. I had to get away, gather my thoughts and come back with my public face on. "I-I'm not feeling too well, though so I'm gonna go to the bathroom splash some water on my face or something. I'll be right back." I excused myself from the group and headed to the bathroom, I needed privacy, though. So I headed into the toilet for disabled people and pregnant women, both were very rare at the 'Velvet Lagoon'.
I closed the door and looked at myself in the mirror. I wanted to cry. I wanted to let it all out, but I knew I couldn't. Not here, not now. I had to pull myself back together, but inside I knew that the boy, Blythe, had started something in me, he had set something off, that was going to change my life, forever.
I had to find a way to get close to him and find out, if he liked me back.
And there he was, he'd just come to get me, maybe to see if I was okay. What if it was all going to be easier than I anticipated?
He looked at me with his gorgeous blue eyes. I couldn't believe how beautiful he was. I have never felt this way about anyone before. He was taller than me, not by much, but he was taller than I had remembered him, then again last time he was sitting on the ground with his back against a car, bleeding.
Compared to me, his skin was lighter, but we had the same slim build. His style in clothing was very exquisite, but a lot different to the skater-look I usually enjoyed wearing, his look was more mature, more runway-esque.
He was perfect.
Blythe's POV:
We quickly approached the couple, guided by Silver, and once we stood in front of them, I realized exactly who they were. What the hell? How come I didn't immediately recognize them? It was Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez on a date.
I couldn't believe Silver knew them or at least Selena and was cocky enough to simply walk up to them – actually if I was quite honest with myself I could believe it, after all it was Silver, the city's starlet, nevertheless she was way playing way out of her league, right? What if she wasn't, what if me being her best friend blinded me from what most of the world got to know about her from the media?
Selena didn't seem surprised at all and quite happy to see Silver, while Justin seemed awestruck, he was pale and staring at – me. What the fuck?
"Silver?" Selena got up and hugged my best friend. "How great to see you again! Who are these handsome gentlemen?" She pointed at me and Nate.
"It's nice to see you, too. This is Nathan, my boyfriend, who came back from Africa today and this –" Silver put her hand on my shoulder. "This is Blythe, my best friend."
I had to interrupt our little introduction, because the way Justin was looking at me bothered me. It was creeping me out. "Are- are you okay, man?" I asked him. He didn't answer.
Everybody in the group turned their attention to him. "Justin?" We all asked encore. He jumped a little. The boy seemed like he had just awoken from a long sleep and was confused by his surroundings.
"Hey, guys." He got up and greeted us, but he still seemed absent. "Okay. Well I'm Silver, this is Nate, my boyfriend and that is Blythe. I'm a friend of Selena's." Silver explained again. If it had been anyone else, I'm pretty sure Justin's behavior would've annoyed them, not Silver, she was always the nicest she could be to everyone.
"It's great to meet you all, I suppose you already know who I am." We all laughed. "I-I'm not feeling too well, though so I'm gonna go to the bathroom splash some water on my face or something. I'll be right back." He excused himself. Now everyone was just standing around awkwardly. "What are you doing here?" Selena broke the silence. "We're celebrating the first time all of us are together, since Nate left for Africa. We were just walking to our booth at the back-" She nodded at our destination. "Oh, do you want to sit with us?" Selena asked. "Yeah, we'd love to." Silver answered for all of us. Although, honestly I didn't want to sit here, Justin was creeping me out and besides we were supposed to just be alone to ourselves tonight, so I could be myself.
The busboy, who had waited quietly a few feet away came forward and helped us to put two tables together, so we'd all have enough room.
"Can one of you check on Justin?" Selena looked at Nate and me, of course the exact second we sat down. Nate didn't seem to want to move away from Silver and I understood that, he'd been away for quite a while.
"Damn." I mumbled. "Okay, I'll go, but if we I'm not back in 10, call the cops." I joked and they all laughed. I wasn't sure if I had actually secretly meant it, the look on Justin's face had seriously scared me.
The bathroom and Justin in it weren't hard to find, once I had the idea to look in the toilet for the disabled. Truth be told walking into a public bathroom, calling out a complete strangers name and not getting an answer is very… awkward. The door was unlocked and he was leaning against the sink, staring at himself in the huge glass mirror. I approached him slowly and once I could see myself in the reflection I started talking to him. "Hey, the others sent me. Selena and Silver, you know. They wanted to know if you're okay." – "Do I look like I'm okay?" He interrupted me. – "You look great, just a little absent, you know." I tried to lighten the mood up. "Anyway I- I'm Blythe, you might not've heard… before." – "Oh, I know who you are." He interrupted me again. What the hell did he mean? Could this get any fucking creepier? "What do you mean?" I asked. – "I don't mean anything by it, just… that I heard who your name before." He mumbled. – "Okay then. Justin, may I ask something?" – "Go ahead." – "What's going on?" – "Whatever do you mean?" He was clearly mocking me. – "Don't fucking bullshit me. Just a second ago you looked at me like I was death himself coming to get you and now you've been in a bathroom for 10 minutes. Since I came in here you haven't acknowledged me once, instead you keep staring at yourself. So I'm gonna ask again, what the fuck is wrong?" – "Why the fuck would I tell you?" He scoffed at me. – "Because I'm only here to help you. I can go again and pretend like it never happened, but I refuse to, because it seems like you have a personal grudge against me, even though we only met half a second ago and I don't take kindly to people judging me."
For the first time he looked away from the mirror, turned his head and stared right into my eyes. Had he been crying? "What if I told you that everything is wrong?" – "Are you sure? Because from what I can tell you're a rich and handsome superstar who's going out with a girl most boys would kill for." I tried to make my words sound as gentle as possible, I didn't want to judge him.
"I don't know you and I'm not sure that I can trust you, Blythe. I'm sorry, I- I just can't tell you what's going on in my life." A tear had now spilt from one of his eyes and was running down his cheek.
"Is it really so bad?" I asked. He nodded. It broke my heart to see him like this, he used to be an idol of mine. What had happened?
"Well I know you don't know me, we just met, but I- I'm here for you, you know, if you ever want to talk or if you need a friend. This city is full of people, but still it can make you feel very lonely." He then did something quite unexpected. He took a deep breath and stepped forward, whilst pulling me into a hug. "Thank you." He whispered into my ear. Normally I wasn't the kind of person, who liked physical contact, but with him it felt different. It felt great, but I knew he didn't like me in that way.
"I could really use a friend in this city, you know. I'm really lonely here." He said as he pulled away. – "How about you come to a party with me on Friday night? Silver invited me and normally they're really boring…" I smiled at him. – "So – what? You're gonna take me to a boring party?" He frowned. – "That's the plan, hopefully it'll be a little more entertaining with you there. Plus I might've forgot to mention that there's an after party at Maisonette." – "I knew there was a twist." He grinned widely.
"We better get back to the others, Selena's probably worried already." I was on my way out, when he grabbed my arm. I spun around and saw Justin was about to cry again.
"Please, don't make me go out there again. I- I can't handle her. My whole life is a fucking lie, Blythe. I am forced to date her. You can just make something up, like you couldn't find me or something." He seemed like he was about to give up and sunk to the floor. "I can't continue like this." He whispered, sweat running down his forehead and dripping from his eyebrows.
I knew exactly what he felt like, how many time had I already been in his position, with no one there to help me. Your family or best friends just seem so out of reach, you don't want to burden them and you don't know if they would even understand, because in their eyes your life is perfect. Normally I wouldn't have gotten so involved, but he reminded me of myself and so I knew exactly what he needed.
I offered him a hand and smiled at him sympathetically. "I know exactly what you're feeling, Justin. I'm not going to go away and I will listen. Like I said I will be there for you, if you let me."
I'm not sure if it was just my imagination, but I could see a change in his deep dark hazelnut brown eyes, like I had just started a fire. "And out there at the table, with all the others I will be there, sitting beside you, okay? You can trust me." He took my hand and tried to smile, it was the most pitiful attempt at a smile I had ever seen and it damn near broke my heart again. I pulled him up and into another hug. He clenched onto me.
"I- I don't know what to say." He stammered into my shirt. – "You don't have to say anything." I gently replied. "But there's some work to do, if you don't want the others to know what just happened, because they'll start asking questions otherwise."
He nodded and unwillingly pulled away. "I'll go tell the others that you'll be out in a minute. Okay?" – "No, please stay. Do you know what to do? I've never had to hide the fact that I've cried before."
I smiled at him. "It's really not that difficult. First you need to wash your face and clean yourself up, you know." I watched as he took off his jumper and went to the sink, there he splashed water in his face. He then dried his face off with a paper towel and blew his nose.
"Good, now you need to get dry somehow, it's best you use that hand dryer beside the sink to dry your hair and your t-shirt." It didn't take long for him to completely dry off, he put on his jumper again and turned around with a bright smile on his face.
"Like nothing ever happened." He declared. – "Alright, let's go." I exclaimed as I opened the door. "Wait, c- can I have your number?" Justin beamed at me. – "Of course, man." I answered and we exchanged our mobile numbers.
We made our way back to the table. "What took you so long?" Selena asked in a very harsh tone. – "Justin was feeling dizzy." I answered as politely as I could. – "Yeah, but I figured it was because I haven't eaten since yesterday." Justin helped me out. – "Well that's great, because I'm fucking starving." Nate desperately stated. Everyone laughed and Justin and I sat down, beside each other.
We had a great dinner overall, everyone enjoyed themselves and I knew I made Justin feel happy, even though Selena, might've made him sad. I still didn't know how a straight guy would say no to an attractive girl like her, but maybe it's not all that easy, even on the other side of the river.