A Face In The Hall (Justin Timberlake fan fiction)

Chapter 3

"Why didn't anyone tell me that Cherish still lived in town?" Justin asked as he walked into the kitchen, giving his mom a kiss on her cheek.

"Does she?" she kissed him back, hugging him tightly. "Well, ever since you went away to college, I haven't really been back there. It's only fifteen minutes away, but it's a world away now that your da-"

"I get it, mom." He cut her off.

His mother could see the aggravation and worry on his face. "How is he?" she asked turning around for a moment to place a piece of cheese on one of the burgers on the stove.

He folded his hands across the table and took a deep breath. "They're gonna run some tests over the next few days and determine the injury. They said there is some swelling and a pretty bad gash. I'll find out more tomorrow."

His mother nodded her head and went back to cooking his hamburger.

"…I saw her today." He said lowly.

"Saw who, honey?"

"Cherish."

"How's she doing?"

"I don't know. I didn't talk to her."

"Why not? The two of you used to be so close back when you were dating in high school."

Justin watched his mother as she bent down in the fridge to take out the lettuce and tomatoes for the buns. "…To this day, I will never understand why the two of you broke up, Justin. I know you were young and everything, but the two of you seemed so in love."

He hated himself for having to lie to her after all these years. "I just don't want to talk about the past, Ma."

"Yeah. Yeah. You never wanna talk about her, yet that's the first thing you asked me when you walked in that door." She chuckled as she set his plate down in front of him, sliding into the seat next to him. She watched as he ran his hand across his forehead, finally stopping to rub his eyes. "Just let me know when you want to lie down. I need to put some fresh sheets down for you. Did you take your meds yet?"

"Yeah I took em' already." He whined. He took a bite out of his burger and slowly chewed it, looking out the window into the backyard at the dogs chasing each other. "…I think I'm gonna stay at dad's house, Ma. I just want to take some time alone. Clear my head."

"Are you sure?" his mother asked, hurt that he'd rather be alone than spend time with her.

He leaned over and kissed his mom on her cheek, hugging her lightly before saying, "Just a day or two, Ma. Then I'll be back."

"Okay." She smiled, hugging him tighter.

When he was done eating, Justin went into the living room and asked his step-father to drive with him back into the city to return the rental car. He wouldn't need it now that he was in town and had access to his Escalade. When they returned back to the house, his stepfather asked him to help take the trash bins down to the end of the driveway. He stepped into the four car garage and hit the button on the wall to raise one of the doors, when something caught his eye. It was a car on the far end of the garage covered by a tarp. He walked over to the front of the car and lifted up the tarp slightly before raising his hand to his mouth in shock, "Oh shit! Is that my black Ford?"

His stepfather looked over and nodded. "Yeah, you're momma insisted that we not sell it like you wanted."

Justin pulled the tarp off the car and threw it to the side. It was his old 1990 Ford F250 truck with a black matte finish paint job. Walking around it grinning from ear to ear, he said "It looks better than it did ten years ago!"