Breaking Point

Bring it On

"Scooter, why would you do that??" Selena asked, and Scooter shrugged.

"There was no other hiding spot." He said simply, and Jennifer giggled again.

"There was always the broom cupboard," Maribelle suggested nonchalantly, keeping the entertainment around the table alive.

"Jen, you look very pretty today." Pattie commented, and Jennifer blushed.
"Thank you, Pattie." She replied, and Justin nudged her lightly, giving her an approving look.

"Told you," he said quietly, so that only Jennifer could hear, and she smiled, blushing.

Jennifer noticed that Selena and Anna were only talking amongst themselves, and she found it very rude, but she decided against voicing her opinion.

"Did you guys have rehearsals today?" Pattie asked pleasantly.

"No, we have it tomorrow, though." Justin said distractedly, as he watched Jennifer pick at her food.

"If it's five hours again, Justin I swear I'll report you for employee labor laws." Maribelle warned, and the whole table-apart from Anna and Selena-laughed.

"It won't be. Two or three hours, max." Justin assured her between chuckles.

After everyone was done eating, Jennifer leaned against Justin's upper arm and closed her eyes.

"You tired?" Justin asked her as he wrapped an arm around her waist. Jennifer nodded and made herself comfortable.

"Hey, Jen, did you watch that new movie?" she heard, and opened her eyes and looked at Selena, who was innocently waiting for an answer.

"Which one?" she asked tiredly. Everyone else had placed their attention elsewhere, except for Anna, who was smirking.

"The one where the two girls got revenge on the Barbie doll for being a bitch." Selena said devilishly. Anger coursed through Jennifer like a cannon ball.

She surprised herself and everyone at the table when she glared at the two girls, stood up, and said rather loudly, "No, I haven't, you'll have to bring it on sometime." And walked away from the table to the bathroom.

"All right, Jen, what the hell happened?" Maribelle demanded once her and Celeste caught up to her in the bathroom, where she was washing her hands. Jennifer explained the confrontation to the two girls, who started laughing.

"I'm so sick of getting ran over and terrorized by them." Jennifer said, balling her hands up in fists. "It just makes me... wanna... spit!"

Maribelle and Celeste started laughing. "Spit, Jen? Spit??"

Jennifer started laughing along with them and face palmed herself. "Well... I was gonna say 'hit them', but that sounded too mean." She said, and the three girls walked out of the bathroom, laughing at Jennifer's innocence.
Everyone was surprised when they saw that Jennifer's eyes were not tear-stricken, and that she was laughing, not sniffling, but they didn't show it.
Jennifer sat down next to Justin and leaned her head on his upper arm again.

"You all right?" he mumbled against Jennifer's hair, and felt relief course through his veins as she nodded. "You ready to go back to the hotel?" again, Jennifer nodded.

Finally, everyone left the restaurant and headed back to the hotel, where Jennifer immediately showered and got ready for bed.

"You surprised everyone when you snapped at Selena and Anna like that." Justin said admiringly, causing her to blush. She sat on Justin's lap, her legs on either side of him, and she rested her head in the crook of his neck.

"People do crazy things when they're sleep-deprived." She joked, and Justin chuckled.

"Why are you so tired?" he asked, rubbing her back gently.

"I don't know, I've been sleeping great, I'm just tired." She replied softly, and Justin laid down to where they were on their sides and Jennifer unwrapped her legs around his waist.

"I'm gonna go shower, okay?" Justin said, and Jennifer nodded. He gave her forehead a small peck and got up, headed to the bathroom.

As she heard the water running, Jennifer peeled the covers back from under the hotel bed pillows, and cocooned herself in the blankets, shivering slightly. She closed her eyes for a second as she waited for Justin to get out of the shower.

When Justin was out and dressed, he started towel-drying his hair. "Babe, what do you say to-Jen?"

He walked over to her peacefully sleeping face and smiled. He pushed stray hair out of her face and kissed her cheek before shutting off the lights, crawling into bed and wrapping his arms around Jennifer's waist, pulling her closer to him, and falling into a dreamless sleep.

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