Chapter 56

The break before the tour started up again went all too quickly. Justin had a show in Memphis, so Jenn and Trace were there backstage.

“Hi Jenn, glad to see you again,” said Trace. 

“It’s been a while,” Jenn said. 

“Ok, something is up. Why are you guys weird around each other? We were all best friends back in the day. What happened once I left?” Justin asked. “You flipped out a bit when I said I wanted to marry her. Did you guys hook up or something?”

“Not exactly. Yeah, we were still close friends. Jenn kept asking about you since you kept in touch with me more. There was a party, you know how high school parties go…” Trace trailed off. 

“No, I DON’T. I was in Europe or on tour here, the parties I went to I was the youngest one there. Movies are the best I have to go off of..” Justin interrupted. 

“Well, someone told me to kiss Jenn, as a joke. I refused but gave in when they started making fun of me. It was quick, but she realized pretty quick it was a joke when the guys started laughing. She didn’t talk to me for a long time. I felt terrible about the whole thing, apologized. I think there’s still some anger there, at least at the guys who made me do it.”

“I felt like I lost my best friend. It was senior year, right before we all graduated. I’d already lost one best friend, then the only one I felt I had pulls a cruel joke. I didn’t want to come back home much and see Trace or those guys and be reminded of it. It made me feel like I was this pity puppy Trace kept around for your sake,” Jenn added. 

“I never should have done it. I felt like you were only friends with me just to stay close to Justin, but that was no reason to go along with the joke,” Trace admitted. 

“You boys were always closer than I was with either of you, that’s why I felt like I needed to be a bit clingy. If I didn’t, I’d lose both of you.”

“Well, can we put it past us so we can be like we were? We’re all adults now, I can’t have my wife and best friend awkward around each other for the rest of our lives,” Justin said. 

They nodded in agreement. 

The dressing room door opened. “Justin, they need you for sound check. Jenn, good to see you again!” Angela said. 

“Angie will be on tour with us through til the wedding. Just makes things easier for us and for her.”  He turned to Angela.  “Jenn will be back for the LA dates through the wedding. I’ve got a couple days between Tacoma and LA that she can fly in before the shows.”

“I’ll confirm dates with you and get flights figured out.  Like I said, they need you for sound check…”

“I’ll be back. Can you guys talk and get back on better speaking terms while I’m out there?” Justin asked, closing the door behind him. 

They just sat there on opposite ends of the couch. 

Trace broke the silence. “Again, I’m sorry, Jenn…”

“I know…”

“I didn’t tell the whole story earlier. They meant it as a joke, that part was true. But I didn’t do it because they were making fun of me…”

“No?”

“Jenn, I loved the attention I was getting from you. I enjoyed having you to myself. At the time, I had feelings for you. THAT is why I kissed you. To know what it was like. Their laughing happened too soon for me to say anything. After you got mad at me, I knew I didn’t stand a chance.”

Jenn stayed silent trying to make sense of this. 

“We can’t tell Justin. I just needed you to know the truth so you’d hate me less.”

“I never hated you, Trace. It just hurt too much.”

“Think we can try again? For Justin?”

“Well, now that I know WHY you did it, I can’t be mad at you.  Friends again. For all of us,” Jenn said. 

They were talking when Justin came back from sound check. “Looks like things are going well.”

They gave each other a look. 

Jenn went to go get food and find Angela. 

“Hey Angela, are there any other dates you think I should come out for? I figure you’d have his calendar.”  

She pulled out a date book. “Let’s see, there’s the 2 New York City shows, you could stay at the loft. I know he’s planning on staying there. There’s two shows in Vegas, we could make that part of the bachelorette party. Go to a show, do a spa day, and the movies you wanted to watch, along with some things the girls thought up.  Want me to talk to the other girls about that?  Then of course there’s LA and San Jose.”

“New York City and Vegas are definitely doable. Check if the girls wanna do Vegas for the bachelorette party.  Then be back for LA on.  We’re getting down to the wire. I guess part of me is worried, but I’m just so excited. We’ve basically been married since I moved in, together a lot of the time, but soon it’ll be official. Do you know where our honeymoon is?”

“I do not, he has that taken care of. I help with business related travel. Like if you show up he may want to suddenly fly to the next stop instead of take the tour bus to get more time with you.” Angela said. 

“Is that a pain? I’m sorry,” Jenn apologized.

“It’s my job, sometimes it gives me something to do. It usually gives me a few hours to see what I can get in the way of tickets. I’ve dealt with worse.”

“Are you bringing anyone to the wedding?” Jenn asked. 

“No. Single right now, and sitting with you guys or at least the bridal party would be lonely for whoever I did bring.”

“Maybe you’ll meet someone there. Pretty sure we have over 300 people coming. The church can hold around 400 I think, our reception space around 600.”

Jenn felt a familiar hand on her waist. She looked and saw Justin by her side. 

“What are we ladies talking about?” he asked, kissing Jenn on the cheek. 

“Wedding stuff,” they answered. 

“Love it. I’m gonna go find Trace, groom/best man stuff.  See you in a bit?” Justin asked. 

“Does he seem way too happy about getting married? I feel like something’s up. He’s not always great with secrets. What if he’s freaking out and way overcompensating?” Jenn started freaking out. 

“Jenn, stop, stop.” Angela snapped his fingers. “He loves you, you know that. We both know when he freaks out, he does NOT hide it. Neither do you.  Everything is fine. There’s six weeks til the wedding. So far as I’ve seen in the tabloid type stuff, they don’t know much. They’re expecting a long engagement, at least until he’s done with the full tour. Everything I’ve seen said nuptials are expected in December or even next year to allow for the holidays. They also expect somewhere big. They figured LA after seeing you in that boutique. Maybe do a little wedding related shopping in LA to keep throwing them off. As  long as no one slips, we’re good.”

“Come on, let’s get back, it’s almost time to go out to the VIP area. Thanks, Angie.”

The show went well, it was a great start to the final leg of the US tour. Once it was over, Justin and Angela got on the bus and headed toward the next stop. 

Jenn’s phone buzzed. See you in NYC. Fly in the day before we get there and surprise Justin at the loft. I’ll give you more info soon. Angela

Jenn couldn’t wait for the next time she saw them.