Title: Nothing Says Love Like A Basket of Fruit Author:Jules - mailto:goddess_julie@just-in-dreams.com Part:1/1 Rating: PG Pairing:TimberNick Disclaimer: Fiction for entertainment purposes Warning:Slashy implications. Although TimberNick, Nick's not exactly IN the story. Angsty. Notes:In response to TimberNick Slash challenge where we had to use the phrase "citrus fruit". ************* Nothing Says Love Like A Basket of Fruit by Jules "Nothing says love like a basket of fruit." "Huh?" Justin turned to face his best friend, his face scrunched up in confusion. "What did you just say?" JC shook his head as he waved his arm over the large basket of fruit on the table. "He sent this to you?" Gift baskets were one thing, but that was when there was good stuff in it. Not ..fruit. This only furthered his knowledge that the youngest member of Backstreet was ...a few oranges short of a basket. A fruit basket. He giggled at his mind's voice looking up to see Justin glaring at him. "No. He didn't send it to me. I did, and then signed his name." Justin rolled his eyes and walked into the living room, leaving JC staring at the table. "Yes asshole, he sent it to me." Justin didn't want to talk about it, and the fact that he knew that JC would want to only made him regret inviting him over even more. Between the time it took them to hang up the phone and Josh to arrive, the basket had been delivered, and Justin couldn't hide it fast enough. Josh had followed the truck into his drive way. "Why?" "I don't know when this became YOUR business." Justin paused as JC followed suit and joined him in the living room, curling up on the recliner in the corner. "But you can rest assured that it isn't your business." "He still loves you." JC's voice was soft yet firm, as if wanting to point it out to the younger man but not upset him. "So the card says." "You don't believe him?" Justin did. Justin did more than anything he'd ever believed in in his life, but the thing that bothered him was that he didn't know why. After everything he'd done to the blonde, he still loved him. Nick still loved him and didn't harbour resentment towards him. Justin knew that if the positions were reversed, he wouldn't have been so forgiving. And that was what made everything hurt just that much more. Knowing that he'd hurt the one person he loved more than anyone he'd loved in his life, and they still loved him back. Justin couldn't wrap his mind around it. "He shouldn't." "Love you?" JC's eyes opened wide, his voice thick with disbelief. Justin nodded, willing himself not to cry. It had been almost a year since it all began. Or rather, since it all ended. Since Justin decided he couldn't take it anymore and walked out on Nick. On their love. On his life. He'd convinced himself that they were too different. That there were too many things that he just couldn't take any more and it would be best if they ended things before either of them got too involved. Of course it had been too late, he was already too involved. He'd been too involved since the second Nick had whisked him outside at some party they were at and nervously confessed that he had this ...'thing' for him. But that wasn't something Nick needed to know. So he told Nick everything that he'd told himself a million times, watching as

		his lover processed what he was saying. Justin had watched a jolt of pain flash through Nick's beautiful eyes, the way his lower lip trembled just slightly and how he swayed just enough so that he needed to grab onto the table to support himself. Nick didn't cry. Nick didn't protest. Nick only cleared his throat and let out a deep exhale. When he could, he opened his mouth and spoke. "Is this what you want J? What you *really* want?" Justin didn't answer, he couldn't. Instead, in sharp jerky movements, he nodded. "This will make you happy? Ending ..us?" Justin's eyes filled with tears and he'd nodded again. "Yes. It's what's best. For me. For both of us." "Not both of us." Nick cupped Justin's face in his palm and stroked his skin softly. "I just want you happy." And that was all that had been said. Justin wasn't sure if he expected Nick to fight it, but deep down figured that he wouldn't. He was always someone who would sacrifice their own happiness for the sake of others'. This, Justin knew, was one of those times. Every month since, Justin had received some sort of package, reminding him what was so good about the two of them together. A movie they both particularly liked. Gift certificates to their favourite restaurants. CDs of music they would listen to while making love. It was bittersweet for Justin, allowing him to relive their past memories, something he both wanted to remember forever, but forget entirely. He thought he'd known misery before. That was nothing compared to the personal hell he'd been in for the past 12 months. And he had no one to blame but himself. JC's voice broke him out of his reflection. "He shouldn't love you? Why?" "Because I'm not good enough for him." Justin couldn't even hide the tears now. "Look what I did. They said it wouldn't be good for us if we were competing. That it would tear us apart, and make everything harder. That my relationship with him would be a conflict of interest when both of our CDs were on the chart. So basically, it was 'him or the CD.'" "You could have had both." JC's voice had an edge to it causing Justin to flinch. He knew that his best friend still hadn't exactly forgiven Justin for making the choice he did. "I know." "He wouldn't have made that choice. He DIDN'T make that choice." Justin flinched. "You know, they approached him with the same ultimatum about a week before you." This was news to Justin, and JC saw the colour drain from his face. "They told him to make a choice, either the CD or you. He told them to fuck themselves." "Huh?" JC nodded. "Yeah, they said that if he didn't break up with you, they wouldn't exactly promote the CD as much as they could. It would debut and then get buried, barely making a splash. They wouldn't back him for a big tour, they wouldn't do anything except the bare minimum to promote him. He'd be on his own." Justin suddenly felt like he was going to throw up, the tears burning hot on his cheeks. He suddenly felt all sorts of shitty right now. "Then they came to you." Justin stood, pacing around his living room. His eyes met JC's. "Then that just proves it, I'm not good enough for him. He deserves better than me." "He doesn't resent you for it J. He knew how much this meant to you, how badly you wanted it." "He did too. This has been his dream as long as it has been mine." JC shook his head. "Not like this though. He didn't want it on their terms, he wanted it on his own. You're doing it your way, he's doing it his way." JC stood and approached Justin. "Now, you've had the fame. You've had the recognition and the successful CD. How do you feel? How does IT feel?" Justin didn't have to think about it. "Empty."

		"Maybe you should think about that. Was it worth it?" There was silence for a few minutes. "You're right J. You two are different. Completely different people, but why does that have to be a bad thing?" Maybe you should read the card again. Blondie's got a point." With that, JC left quietly, closing the front door behind him. Justin was alone in a house that was too big, too empty, too quiet. The card was still on the table, this time opened and laying flat. JC had left it open after reading it. I'm like the oranges, round and squishy, sweet inside. Not to mention from Florida! Justin had to laugh at that, his heart aching from missing the other man. I've got a protective layer that you have to peel away to get to the inside, just like the orange. You're like the apple. Hard and firm, with a thousand different varieties. You're someone one day and someone else the next, but that's what's so great about you, you can be anyone/anything and still be satisfying. Both are so different, but when it all comes down to it, it's all fruit. We're different, but the same. And I like that, it keeps things interesting. Different isn't bad. I love you J. Still. Always. Forever. Out of the corner of his eye, Justin spotted the phone on the counter, as if taunting him. Before he could chicken out, he reached for the hand set, dialing #1 on the speed dial. It rang four times before someone picked up, the voice music to Justin's ears. It was time to make things right. To undo something that he never should have done. Citrus fruit always was his favourite. Finis