Dreams Don't Always Come True [Taylor Swift AU]

{19}

Justin

Why did I do this?

Ugh, I regret everything. Now they all think I'm some horrible person who used them for my own reasons.

And while that's partially true, they'll never understand why I really did all of his.

But I guess I'll never understand why I did it either.

Taylor and Violet were seated on a couch in her apartment, and I was on an armchair across from them. Selena was sitting on a chair by them.

"Listen..." I said. I had to come up with a reasonable explanation for this.

"We're listening. Get to the point," Violet said.

"Uhh..." I stumbled.

"Fine, how about we ask questions, and you answer them. Why did you choose us to be your experiments?" Taylor asked.

"I didn't. You picked yourselves," I responded plainly.

Violet narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

I chuckled at her reference, then quickly straightened my face. "I advertised to everyone. Most people around here, at least most people in the city, were fed some form of advertisement for MindTravel. Most of them gave it a try. And most of them haven't woken up yet. They haven't figured out how to get out. So it wasn't that I specifically chose you two to control, you chose yourselves by getting the simulations," I explained.

Taylor nodded slowly.

"And why did you feel the need to make up these simulations?" Violet questioned.

"He needed something under his name," Selena said before I could say anything. "After all the negative press, he figured that if he were to invent something that could make people happy, it would improve the press for him. That might sound selfish, but if you think about it, all those people in the game are living their dream. It's a virtual reality of what they wish their lives were like. So he's improving their lives along with his own."

I looked over to Selena, impressed that she was defending me. I never told her to say any of that, meaning she did it out of kindness.

She looked over and made eye contact with me, then smiled, as if to say 'no problem, and you're welcome.' I smiled back, thankful. If she hadn't said all that, I wouldn't have known what to say, and it probably would have resulted in awkward stumbling.

"Okay, I guess that... kind of makes sense. And has the press improved for you? Are you getting more positive media representation?" Taylor asked as if she were an interrogator.

I had to make this excuse good. Taylor knows better than anyone how it feels to have bad press written about you, the rumors, gossip, made up things. But she also knows better than anyone how hard it is to make the media write something nice about you.

"Uhh, kind of. You see, most of the people who run the media are under my control in the game. So, I guess the rumors and bad press haven't really gotten better, rather they, well, disappeared. The media has sorta disappeared," I explained cautiously.

Violet still didn't look convinced, and Taylor looked more confused.

"So if they're all in your game, in your control, why don't you just wake them up? It's a simple solution to a simple problem..." Taylor said matter-of-factly.

"No, it's not a simple solution. If I were to free everyone and wake everyone up, they'd all hate me. Then instead of the headlines being "Justin Bieber doesn't like his fans," the headlines would say, "Bieber brainwashes thousands!" I can't have that type of news to my name! You, out of everyone here, Taylor, should get that," I said desperately.

She sighed.

"I wish it wasn't like this, but I do get that. I know what you're saying, the press sucks, but you can't lie. If you keep them held hostage, it'll only get worse," Taylor said.

I buried my face in my hands.

"I'm an idiot, I'm such an idiot. Why did I think this would make people like me more? No one's ever going to like me," I mumbled quietly to myself.

I felt like crying. I had to be tough, but I really didn't know what to do.

I just wanted to go cry by myself for a while and then go away and never come back. I wanted to die.

"What did you say, Justin?" Taylor asked.

I looked up at her, tears probably visible in my eyes.

"I said 'I want to die.'" And with that I stood up and left the room, going to the bathroom around the corner.

I locked the door behind me so none of them could follow me.

I put my hands on the edge of the counter and leaned over the sink, allowing the tears to slide down my face and fall.

There was a knock on the door.

"Justin, please come out. I'm not mad at you and neither are Taylor or Violet," Selena said.

I didn't answer, and I heard her sigh, then walk away.

There was another knock moments later.

"I know we never really got along but please just let me in, I just want to talk," Taylor said.

I looked at my miserable reflection in the mirror. My eyes were red and puffy, I was pale, and my features looked sunken in.

After a brief moment of contemplation, I unlocked the door, allowing Taylor to come into the large bathroom.

After she was inside I closed and locked the door again behind her.

"Justin, it's not your fault. They will understand," Taylor said reassuringly.

I figured that she must still be mad though, she was under my control, doing things against her will for almost three weeks. Why would she be forgiving of me? I figured it must be fake, that she was pretending to be okay with me so she could plot something against me.

"They might understand, but she never will," I responded with quietly.

I moved over to the wall and slid down, so I was sitting on the floor. Taylor came and sat next to me.

"Who, Violet? She told me she wasn't mad. She understands," Taylor said.

"Not Violet."

"Then who? Selena? Obviously she understands, she was with you and helped you," Taylor said, obviously getting a little frustrated that she wasn't able to cheer me up.

"Not Selena."

"Well, maybe it doesn't matter if this mystery girl understands or not. Why does it matter if she understands anyways?" Taylor asked.

"It matters because I love her," I said back.

Taylor was quiet.

"If she loves you, she'll understand."

"Well what if she keeps saying she gets it and keeps saying she understands, but doesn't really mean it? What if I screwed up her entire life? What if there's no way I'll ever be able to repay her for all the times she's helped me? What if she'll never love me back?" I said, desperate.

"Why wouldn't she love you back?" Taylor asked.

"Because all I do is screw things up."

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Aww poor Justin.
I'm changing up his character a bit attitude wise, so yeah!!

Here's that longer chapter I promised, I like how this turned out.