"C'mon, Justin. It's been a month now. You can crawl out of this hole you call an apartment and get out and meet some new girlies." Joey joked with him yet said seriously.

"Are you on crack?" Justin looked up from the chair he was sitting on as the other guys all stood, towering over him.

"No." he paused. "But it looks like you are."

Justin stood up and walked into the kitchen. "I hope you aren't trying to be funny."

"C'mon, man. You really need to get out. Meet some new people, find a new apartment, have some fun again...." JC started to say but was cut off.

"Did you say find a new apartment?" Justin replied as he turned around to face them as they all followed him in a single file line into the small kitchen.

JC pushed his out of control and unmanageable hair out of his face as he thought. "Yeah, I think somewhere in that sentence."

"Why would I need a new apartment?"

The guys all looked around the apartment in unison but stayed silent as they looked back at him with distraught faces.

"What?" Justin broke the silence.

"Ok. Well, I really hate to criticize, but, this place is really dark, damp and dirty." Chris replied and then hid behind JC.

"Oh gee, thanks." he snuffed and turned back around.

"Well, all he is trying to say is, maybe you should move on from all of this, ya know?" Joey jumped in. "I mean, this place is depressing, even to us."

Justin put some things into the sink and then walked past them back to the living room. "And where do you think I'm supposed to move to?"

When Justin looked at them, the guys had smirks and smiles on their faces. He knew exactly what they were thinking.

"Oh no. I don't think so!"

"Ah, come on, Justin. It would be fun!" Lance finally jumped in.

"Did you guys ever wonder why I live in this dark, empty cell that I call my home?"

JC smiled. "Because the rest of us live in the same apartment building on the nice side of town?"

"Exactly. Ya'll live in the same friggen building and on the same friggen floor!" he exclaimed, making the guys laugh.

"Hey, at least our apartments have carpet!" Chris exclaimed.

"This place has four walls and that's all thats important."

"The walls have holes." Chris said again.

"And your building is a circus with all you clowns living in it."

"It's not that bad." Lance replied. "Ya just have to watch out for Chris when he goes down the stairs on his scooter."

Justin rolled his eyes and sighed. "Oh God."

"C'mon Justin. Come live with us!" Joey said excitedly.

"No."

"Please?" they said in unison.

"I can't deal with this."

"There's a new girl on our floor." Joey added.

Justin looked up as if he was actually interested but only came back with a smart reply. "Well, then that means ya'll have already had her."

"Actually, we haven't. She's not around much and when she is, she's too busy to talk." Joey answered.

"Oh darn. She is so unfortunate that she is busy. She could have been laid by the whole floor already." he said sarcastically.

"Geez, you're so nice today!" JC said as he walked over to another chair and sat down.

"Obviously she isn't interested in us. But, maybe she will be interested in you." Lance added.

"I'm the one that's not interested." Justin said as he sat up. "I'm not ready for any of this yet, especially not another girl."

"Maybe she is what you need." Chris replied.

"Why? What do I need?"

"Someone else to love. Someone else to help you move on." Lance said as the conversation got deeper. "We aren't helping you so maybe you need help from someone else."

"I don't need anyone else."

"Just give her a chance."

"What if she doesn't want to give me one?"

"She will." Joey jumped in.

"How do you know?" Justin looked at him inquizitevly.

Joey sighed as he walked to another place to stand. "Well, when we all kinda realized she wasn't interested in us, we caught up with her one day and mentioned you."

"And?" Justin replied quickly as if he was starting to get interested.

"She told us to bring you by sometime."

"I don't know about all of this. This is alot to think about. I mean, ya'll want me to move out of here and then you already have me set up with a girl. It's really sudden."

"Well, how bout you move in the building and then meet her and go from there?" Chris summed up everything quickly.

Justin sat silent for a minute as he pondered his possibilities. Everyone stood around and waited for an answer.

"Ok, how bout this. I'll meet this girl. If things go smoothly then I'll move into your building."

"Sounds fair." Lance agreed as they all shook their heads in unison.

"Ok then." Justin sighed. "Ok."

******

(2 weeks later)

"Your apartment is starting to look like home." JC said as he walked around on the plush carpet.

"Yeah, its really nice." he smiled.

"See. We told you this would be good for ya." Chris added as he looked around the room. It was illuminated by a bright sunshine as the white curtains flowed in the breeze. The kitchen was clean and more up to date. The bedroom and bathroom were more sanitary.

"Yeah. Thanks guys. Ya'll helped me make a good decision for once."

"And we got you a hot chic!" Joey replied with a smirk.

Justin blushed. "Yeah, that too, thanks."

"Talking about a hot chic, has anyone seen Amanda today?" JC asked.

"I was talking to her earlier. She is coming by shortly." Justin replied.

"We are really glad everything worked out for you." Chris said as the others agreed. "It's good to see you happy again."

Justin smiled at his comment. "We'll, I'm not fully healed, but everything is looking much better."

"Yeah, now we can finally go out and party again!" Joey exclaimed.

"Are you guys partyin' without me?" Amanda asked as she walked through the door.

"Hey you." Justin smiled.

"Well, you can come along too if ya want." Joey laughed.

"I'll rememember that." she added. "Do you guys mind if I steal him away for a little while?"

"Oh yeah, no prob!" JC replied quickly and walked to the door.

"Now don't do anything I wouldn't do." Joey smirked and followed JC. The others laughed as they too went back out into the hallway.

"So, what's up?" Justin asked once they were alone.

"I just wanted to talk for a little bit. Figure out how things are going with us."

"Whadya mean?" he looked at her strangely.

She turned and sat down on the couch. Justin followed her and made himself comfortable.

"You know that I know about everything that happened a few months ago." she paused as Justin's face became sullen again. "I just wanted to make sure that you were comfortable being with me and all."

Justin looked up and stared into her eyes. "Believe me, this wasn't easy. I sat in my cold, empty apartment without food, without light. I didn't go to work. Sometimes I felt like I wasn't even breathing. I mean, I don't want to sound like I'm being rude here, but, she ment so much to me. It took all I had not to jump out of my window sometimes."

"Justin." she tried to console him but he stopped her.

"You really don't know how it feels unless it happens to you. No one understood. No one knew how hard it was to let go. I don't think I have yet fully let go. But I have convinced myself that it was time to move on and that is what I'm doing. It is what I want to do."

Amanda smiled. She was glad that he wanted to move on with her but, there were things that she hadn't yet told him about herself. "I know how you feel, Justin. I know exactly how you feel."

Justin gave her a puzzling look. "Whadya mean?"

"It has happened to me. I have lost someone, too. That is why I moved here. We're in the same boat together."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She sighed before she continued. "Because I was more worried about you and healing your heart."

"You put me before your feelings?"

"Yeah, I guess I did. I wanted to help you and that was more important than helping myself."

"I don't know what to say. I can't thank you enough." he moved in closer to her.

"My mom gave me a poem when I was a child. I also lost my father when I was young and she hoped that the poem would keep me looking for a better day. I thought I had lost the poem but my mother had found it and kept it. She gave it back to me the other day. It made me finally realize the true meaning of it when I look into your eyes. It's a feeling that I have never felt before."

"What does the poem say?" he asked, intrigued.

"Uh, let me remember the words..." she continued. "Love is like a rainbow, it has its ups and downs, it lifts your spirit up when your stuck on solid ground. When love is like a storm and it rains inside your heart, search for a resolution and make a brand new start. For, at every rainbows end, there is always a new beginning."

("Rainbow" is copyrighted by me. Copyright © 2001 Lamae K. All Rights Reserved.)

Justin paused as it sank in. "That's really nice."

"And it's true." she took his hand in hers and moved closer.

"What is?"

"About there always being a new beginning and resolution even after the hard times. I think I have found it." she said as she leaned in and kissed him.

"Well, I'm glad I make you happy." Justin added as he broke away.

"How do you feel?"

"I am happy. You make me very happy." he whispered lightly.

"Well, I hope I can be your rainbow."

Justin smiled once more. "Not only are you my rainbow, you are my resolution and my new beginning. You are everything I need."


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