"At least we got good friends giving me great times."

[likefatherlikeson]

Who: Justin Campbell and Amarlie-Rose Satori with anyone else who wants to jump in
What: Overdue Squad Chillout
Where: Casa de Campbell, Upper East Side
When: Weekend Sleepover

It had been way too long since their squad had a decent hangout. There had been the holidays and a bunch of family shit going on - not to mention Justin discovering he had a long-lost biological birth mother out there who loved him - that time just got away and they hadn't had a chance to get together as a group. Those of them that lived at Casa de Campbell decided this weekend was it, and PJs and hot chocolate were a much, considering they were expecting snow. It was the shitty weather that had them deciding a sleepover would be fun. There was plenty of room and it would give them the chance to hang out and have fun, especially with Justin's tour due to kick off in a few weeks where he and a lot of his friends who worked with him would be on the road soon.

Dressed in his fluffy rainbow onesie PJs, Justin grabbed a Krispy Kreme donut and a can of Diet Dr Pepper and leapt over the back of the couch, dropping in the spot right up next to his sister, Amarlie, giving her a mischievous grin. "So - how about them vajayjays?" he asked pointedly, licking some donut glaze off his pinkie finger.

Comments

[musthavebeenlove]

"That's the worst part. It's like winning the lottery but they tell you they're going to pay your winnings in dimes and not for five years down the track. Or thinking you've met your soul mate online, only to found out you've been catfished. I'm not as bad worrying about it coming back as I used to be but I'm getting further and further away from the highest average relapse period. Even if Brandon's transplant is ultimately a success and he survives it to get his remission, how sick he's been, he probably has high chance of it returning. Beau would've had less chance and his came back. This is Zeke's second shot too, so he's not thinking so positive about his chances." It was never easy for him to think about how severe Justin's suicidal intent was when they broke up. He knew he wasn't the cause of what happened at Bondi but he hadn't made life any easier for Justin before it. "No, we wouldn't have still been together. I needed the reality check to see how toxic my rescue complex was. It would've still happened sooner or later. He's Sash's soul mate. They belong together. Sash gave him a reason to keep going. Jus and I are much better now than I think we ever were. He's not the same person he was when we were together. Not in a bad way, in a good way. He's intuned to helping people. He would've outgrown me."

He shook his head, amused. "Awkward? It would be more awkward if you avoid her and don't bring it up. There's no sense in avoiding it when it might turn out to be something really cool and sweet. Ask her out. She could say no, but at least you'll know and you'll know why. She won't just tell you to take a hike, she'll explain why. She's a sweetheart. You're not backing her into a corner. Giving her the chance to think about it and decline if she doesn't think she's into girls is the opposite of making her feel she has to reciprocate anything again. Well, I've been on the receiving end of his bow and he has a high batting average with it. His Uncle Sam? Seriously? That would make his uncle his stepdad if anything got serious there. That's surreal."

[friendsforever]

Layla took Will's hand, patting the back of it. "I know that's a hard thing for you to face. The fact your anxiety about the leukemia coming back is part of why things went to shit with Justin. You weree projecting onto him. Like, saving him would make up for not being able to ensure you could save yourself. See? I get it. I watched it playing out. And I think that's part of the reason why Justin's asked you to write his book for him. Besides the fact he loves your writing and knows you can do it. He wants you to have insider access to his thoughts and feelings through that time, because your own fears skewed your view of it. You beat yourself up so badly about it all and he's told me verbatim that he never wanted you to blame yourself for not being able to cope with everything. You would've been way better coping if Justin had cancer because cancer, you know it. You felt helpless and useless with Jus. With Zeke, you understand his pain and struggles. Are you scared he's going to die? I know you were scared about the same thing with Justin but Zeke hasn't started to get better with chemo and it's normal for you to be scared about that stuff. Especially when you know how scared he'll be too."

"Okay, this is going to sound stupid because I know Justin like he's my own brother these days but... she's his big sister! What if things go bad and he wants to kick my ass because I hurt her? Not that I intend to hurt her and not that every dating attempt that doesn't work out means people will get hurt. But she's precious cargo. Not that I'm into kinky sex or anything but I don't want to break her. I'm not actually, like, a super experienced lesbian or anything. I've only ever been with one girl. Well, two, including Amarlie." She shoved a handful of Jelly Bellys into her mouth, nodding as she chewed through the mishmash of flavours and washed them down with some Mountain Dew. "Stepdad if they got married but I don't even think it'd feel like that to anyone. Sam knows Justin doesn't need a stepdad, he thinks his real dad is his hero and he's SO close to his Uncle Sam. It would just be so sweet if his birth mom and his uncle found love together."

[musthavebeenlove]

"Yeah, I think that's something I'll always have with me, even if I know he's forgiven me and we've moved on. I know that I couldn't have saved him and all he ever wanted was for me to talk to him and listen to what he was trying to tell me. I was young and stupid. The hard part is, I know I contributed to Bondi and I blamed myself for it for so long. You don't know how many times I rewatched that video of him, dragging him out of the surf. And for a long time, I though Sash saved him and succeeded in what I lost. But that was stupid too. I'm good friends with Sash now and he's been pretty generous telling me the ways he very much hasn't rescued Justin. The difference is, he never wanted to. He just wanted to love him, with no conditions." Will puffed his cheeks out and had to nod, even if it was never easy to admit cancer might win. "I'm scared because he's scared. He's not plateued. The chemo's a struggle. He's terrified they're always going to tell him there's more tumours. But I love him so much and I can't do anything to help him."

He snorted in amusement, glad of a bit of lighter relief with the heavy subjects. "Justin kick your arse for a relationship not working out? Are we talking about the same Justin? He loves you like a sister too. He's not going to go all scary-arsed little brother. If you hurt her, you might get a bitching out but only if you deserve it. You're not going to hurt her, Lays. That's not you. Are you sure you're over Maryanne? It's a huge step, starting to date someone new. You've go to be sure you're over here. Amarlie doesn't anything less. Justin probably will kick your arse in that case, if you say you're over her but you're really not. It's okay if you're not."