Open Your Heart

By: Lara

“Justin? Justin!” Chris came barreling down the aisle of the bus from the bunks towards the front. “Where are you?” He swiped the curtain of Justin’s bunk aside and saw it was empty. “Where is he?” JC mutely pointed to the second bus that was pulling out ahead of them. The crew bus. “What the hell?” Chris said. “Why’s he going on that one? I need to talk to him. Stop the bus!” Chris yelled dramatically.

“What now?” The driver demanded, slowing down.

“I need to get on that bus. Can you radio him?”

“Sure,” the driver sighed, used to Chris’ odd requests. The busses stopped and Chris jumped off, running over to the other bus. His dark eyes searched the bus and one of the crewmembers jerked a thumb towards the back.

“He’s in one of the bunks back there.”

Chris tore through the bus. It was a nice bus, but nothing like the one the guys traveled on. He swiped curtains aside, then froze as he saw an electrical cord running from the wall into the very last bottom bunk. He swiped that curtain aside with a flourish. “A-HA!”

“Chris, what the hell?” Justin grumbled, pulling the curtain closed. Chris opened it again. He stared down at the laptop in front of Justin.

“God, you are ALWAYS in front of that thing,” Chris said with a sigh.

“It’s my downtime; I’ll do what I want with it,” Justin said almost angrily. “What do you want? Aren’t you supposed to be on the OTHER bus?”

“I needed to talk to you.” Chris flopped down onto the floor. Justin sighed and turned the computer away from Chris.

“What?”

“Remember that girl that your cousin knew? Shawn or whatever the hell her name was?”

“You ran all the way over here for that?”

“I want her number. Even if you have to give me your cousin’s number or something. I want to talk to this girl again!” Chris was almost bouncing up and down.

“I am NOT giving you Maggie’s number so you can annoy her the way you annoy us,” Justin said. “Besides, I don’t think Shawn was all that interested in you. She was looking at Lance,” Justin pointed out, trying not to smile.

“Lance Shmance. She wanted me.”

Justin laughed out loud at Chris’ cocky attitude. “You didn’t really come over here to ask this stuff, did you.”

“Not really.” Chris grew serious, at least as serious as Chris could get. “Justin, you are ALWAYS on that laptop. Three months ago you wouldn’t have even opened the damn thing except to check emails from your mom. Now we can’t get you away from it. And then you always run and hide with it like you’re ashamed or something.”

“I’m not ashamed of anything,” Justin said quickly. “I like going online…is that a crime?”

“Are you hitting porno sites?” Chris asked interestedly. “If you are, tell me which ones. Joey is always looking for new ones to check out.”

“Sure…JOEY wants new ones,” Justin teased. “No, it’s not porno sites.”

“Can I at least TELL the guys you’re hitting porno sites? Maybe they’ll quit worrying about you then.” Chris regretted the words the instant they left his mouth. Justin frowned.

“They’re worrying?”

“Well, you’re just not as social as you were. You used to go out all the time, now you just sit in your hotel room.”

“Maybe I’m growing up.” Justin turned back to his computer. “It’s something you should look into.”

“Screw you,” Chris said affectionately. He knew the conversation was over, and he stood. “We’re stopping at a nice twenty-four hour place for dinner around three am. Will you at least eat with us?”

“I promise,” Justin said solemnly. “Now, will you go?”

“I can’t,” Chris said cheerfully. “We’re on the highway. You’re stuck with me now.” Justin glared at him. “But I think I’ll go up front and join that poker game. Later.”

Justin sighed with relief as Chris bounced back to the front of the bus. He signed onto the Internet and went to his Hotmail account. He typed in his password and immediately went to Yahoo Instant Messenger. He smiled when he saw his buddy list. Good. She was on.

CURLYJ: Hey girl…it’s me.

STRIPES: Hey…where were you?
CURLYJ: At work. It sucks sometimes. I have the worst hours. How have you been?

STRIPES: Busy at work myself. Getting ready to send the new stuff to the publisher.

CURLYJ: I don’t know why you won’t send me what you write. I’d love to read it.

STRIPES: You would laugh your ass off at what I write, Curly. But for all I know you may have already read it! You said you travel, right? Well, I’m in all the airports.

CURLYJ: Well, the next airport I’m in, I’m buying every book in the place.

STRIPES: LMAO! You are too much!

CURLYJ: A gift I have…

STRIPES: How’s everything else? Been home lately?

CURLYJ: Nah…here and there…heading for the East Coast as we speak.

STRIPES: Cool…

CURLYJ: Whatcha listening too?
STRIPES: LOL…most guys want to know what a girl is wearing, you want to know what she’s listening to. Okay…five CDs in…Backstreet Boys Millennium, NSYNC No Strings Attached, Harry Connick, Jr. Come By Me, Santana Supernatural and Britney Spears Oops…

CURLYJ: Britney…she’s cute

STRIPES: Figures.

CURLYJ: She is! Not my fault I’m a typical man and she makes my hormones boil over.

STRIPES: Boil your hormones somewhere else, young man.

CURLYJ: Jealous much? I mean, I could go into your whole Nick Carter thing…

STRIPES: -blush- Stop it. It’s not my fault he’s beautiful.

CURLYJ: Yeah…whatever…still got it bad for Lance Bass?

STRIPES: Nah…I think that’s slowly fading away. He’d never give me the time of day.

CURLYJ: He would.

STRIPES: No, he wouldn’t

CURLYJ: Trust me, girlie, he would. Hey, unfortunately I need to hit the hay. I’m wiped out.

STRIPES: No problem…talk to you later?

CURLYJ: Tomorrow. Promise. Luv ya.

STRIPES: Back at ya, Curly.

Justin sighed as he closed the laptop. He put it under the bunk and lay on his back, placing his hands beneath his curly hair. He had been chatting with this girl for almost five months now, and she refused to tell him anything more than that she lived in the eastern part of the country and worked as a writer. She was a published novelist, but wouldn’t say what she wrote. He had run into her on a music mailing list, and he had to chuckle when he found out that she was deeply in lust with Lance, as well as Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys. She had no idea who he was, either. All she knew was that he was nineteen and that he traveled for a living.

He liked talking to her. It was just another person, like he was talking to a normal friend or something. No screaming, no asking for handouts, nothing but nice conversation. They yelled, they fought, they made up, they made each other laugh…and it was all without ever seeing the other person’s face.

Justin’s eyes slowly closed and he drifted to sleep as he often did: wondering what this girl looked like.

“Justin…yo…Brillo…wake up.” Chris shook Justin by the shoulder.

“I’m up, ya weirdo. I’m up.” Justin’s blue eyes fluttered open.

“It’s two forty-five. We’re pulling into that diner now.”

“Cool. I’ll be out in a minute.” Chris returned to the front of the bus. Justin stretched and slowly stood up. He went back to the sink and splashed water on his face. He made his way up front just as the bus pulled to a stop.

The group and their crew wearily made their way into the restaurant. They usually didn’t stop like this but it was a nice way to get to eat unnoticed. Not too many of their fans were in restaurants at three in the morning.

“Coffee…coffee…” JC mumbled as he made his way to the bathroom. The five group members sat at a table while their crew scattered around the dining room.

“So…” Joey shoved a piece of paper and a pen in front of Justin. “What are those website addresses?” He looked at Justin expectantly and Justin laughed. He couldn’t help it.

“You really told him that?”

“Sure. Called on my cellphone after I left you.” Chris smirked at Justin, wondering how he was gonna get out of this one.

“Here.” Justin jotted down an address and pushed the paper to Joey. Lance read it over Joey’s shoulder and laughed. “Lots of hotties at that page.”

“Where?” Chris asked eagerly.

“It says www.chriskirkpatrick.com,” Joey said, confused.

“Dumbass,” Chris sulked, playing with his fork. JC returned to the table and the waitress took their orders.

“Okay…question…we have five days free in the middle of all this bullshit promo stuff,” JC began. “What are we doing?”

“Going home,” Lance said immediately.

“Oh, like THAT’S a surprise,” Joey said teasingly. “I’m hitting NYC. I need to see my boys!”

“You can take the man out of New York, but never New York out of the man,” Chris said with a smile. Joey punched him. “I’m gonna visit some relatives in Pennsylvania. We’re up there, I mean, we’re never this close.”

“You guys aren’t going home?” Lance was surprised. He couldn’t imagine not going home during any kind of break.

“By the time we got there, we’d have like two days to enjoy it and then it would practically be time to come back,” Chris pointed out. He looked at JC.

“Florida…sorry…” he said apologetically. “I have some things to do down there.”

“Some things like Keri, you mean,” Justin said with a smile. JC blushed.

“What about you, Justin?” Chris asked. Justin stirred his coffee.

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t really feel like going home, but I have nothing else to do.”

“Come with me,” Chris said suddenly. “Western Pennsylvania is beautiful in the winter…lots of snow…lots of mountains…it will be nice and we won’t have far to go. Our next stop is like Boston or something.”

“I won’t be intruding?”

“Of course not. I’d love to have you along,” Chris said generously. “But you can’t bring the laptop.”

“Fuck you,” Justin snapped and stomped off to the bathroom.

“Um…what was that?” Lance asked.

“I brought up the whole Internet thing…he brushed me off. Said he just likes to surf the net,” Chris said, smiling as the waitress brought his huge stack of pancakes.

“Leave him alone you guys,” Joey said suddenly, and they stared at him. “What? He’s nineteen. If he wants to surf the net, he can surf the net. He can’t go out to the places we go lots of times, so it probably helps to pass the time. Let him alone.”

“Okay, Joe, sorry,” Chris said apologetically. It wasn’t often that Joey spoke up like this. When Justin came back to the table, Chris apologized to him as well.

“It’s okay, Chris. I didn’t mean to piss off at you. I just need a vacation.” Justin put a fork into his cheese omelet and took a bite, but he suddenly wasn’t very hungry.

“Come on. Go IN!” Lara ordered the package as she shoved it into her backpack. The sides of the backpack finally gave and the bulky package slid inside. She blew upward, trying to get her bangs out of her eyes. “Okay, then.”

She started to pull on her outdoor clothing, struggling with the long underwear and then cursing as she broke a lace of her boots. She cursed her publisher as well as she tried to pull on two pair of gloves. She sent every chapter over the Internet, but Melissa still insisted on having the chapters on paper as well. The book was finished, and this was the hard copy. Lara was just happy that it was finished at the same time she needed to go into town for supplies.

Lara crunched through the snow towards the shed, taking a deep breath of the crisp air. She carefully checked the snowmobile to make sure everything was in working order, then slung the backpack onto her back. There was ample storage space in the back of the snowmobile, but the package was so dear to her that she wanted it close to her at all times. Writing was her heart and soul, and she hated even sending it out to people. She knew people loved her work, she got email messages and such all the time, but it was still intensely personal…ever since…

Lara shook that thought out of her head and climbed onto the snowmobile. No sad thoughts. Those days were done.

“Morning, Lara,” Mr. Keefe, the owner of the market, smiled at Lara as she trudged in. “Another package to mail? Already?” He knew that she mailed things out on a regular basis, but never asked what they were. Lara was closer to him then any other human being on the planet, not that it said very much. She shyly smiled at him.

“Yes, sir. I need supplies, too.”

“The usual?” She nodded. “And you want this sent overnight?” She nodded again. “Okay…amuse yourself. This won’t take but a minute.”

Lara unwrapped her scarf and placed it in front of Mr. Keefe’s small woodstove along with her hat and gloves. She headed for the small section of paperback books and her eyes eagerly searched the shelves. She smiled. All of hers, as usual. She had asked Mr. Keefe nonchalantly one day why he carried them all, and he blamed it on his wife, saying that this Katherine Morgan lady was his wife’s favorite author, and that he would definitely come home to an abandoned house one night if he didn’t carry every single book.

“What happened to you?” Lara whirled around to see a small girl of about six standing behind her. “Why’s your face like that?”

“Carol!” A woman grabbed the child by the hand and tried not to stare as well. “I’m sorry…she’s so outspoken…I…”

“It’s okay,” Lara whispered, slowly turning back around to the shelves. A tear quivered but she caught it just in time.

“But Mommy, I wanna know why she has them marks on her face!” The child wailed as her mother dragged her away.

“Here ya go, Lara,” Mr. Keefe called, and Lara hurried to the counter, making sure to keep her face down. “Ya know, we have quite a nice room on the back of our place. You’d be near people in case something happened, instead of all those miles up in the middle of nowhere.”

Lara smiled. They had this conversation like clockwork once a month. “Thank you, Mr. Keefe, but I like the middle of nowhere. How much do I owe you?” He named a price and she handed over the cash.

“Need help loading up?”

Lara shook her head. “I can manage. Thanks again. See you soon.” She grabbed the boxes of supplies and headed back out front.

“See, there she is!” The little girl was out front with a boy who was slightly older. “Told ya?”

“Carol, hush!” The boy said, but he was unable to keep from staring. Lara jammed her hat down on her head, wove the scarf around her face, and zoomed out of the town.

Later, once everything was unpacked, Lara sat in front of a roaring fire, staring at the flickering flames. She reached a hand up to gently touch one smooth cheek. The hand shook as she went to the other cheek, her fingers tracing the marks she knew so well. Seven long red welts, running from just below her eyes to just above her chin. Marks that had dug so deep that she had needed stitches to make them heal. Marks created by a key ripping down her face…created by a man she had once worshipped. She sighed, ignoring the tears that fell. It had been two years, yet it was as if it was yesterday.

She stood, determined not to think about David. If she thought about him, then she would be miserable for days. She strode over to the computer and turned it on, ready to write. She lived in a very basic cabin in the middle of nowhere, but she was miraculously able to get power and a phone line connected. She didn’t have a telephone; she carried a state of the art cellular phone for emergencies. She DID, however, have a connection to the Internet, and that’s what kept her in contact with the outside world. She had a stereo, could get in some faint radio stations, but she counted on the people she met online to keep her grounded and connected. She smiled as she saw the little envelope in the corner of the monitor, signifying that she had email. She clicked on the icon.

“Hey, girl…you weren’t on today. Where were you? I’m almost home, if you want to call it that. I’m visiting the family of a friend for five days; I have a little vacation but I don’t feel like going home. Anyway, I’m told they have a computer and that I can still get in touch with you. Look for me. Lovies, Curly.”

Two Days Later

“Aw, man, Chris, you were right. This is gorgeous.” Justin took a deep breath of mountain air and promptly coughed. Chris’ Aunt Lynne laughed.

“Used to that fabricated city air, are you? We’ll have that fixed in a jiffy.” She led the way into the small but comfortable house she lived in with Chris’ Uncle Steven.

“I really appreciate this, ma’am. This seems like a wonderful place to spend a vacation, but I still feel like I’m intruding,” Justin said as she led them to their rooms.

“First of all, I’m no ma’am, I’m Aunt Lynne. Secondly, you are no intrusion. We’ll put you to work somehow,” she said with a smile. “Well, here you go. I’ll let you get settled in. Bathroom’s down the hall.” She returned to making dinner. Justin smiled at Chris.

“I see where you get that spunk. She is spunk personified.”

“She’s great, isn’t she? I don’t know her all that well; we never visited all that much. I’ve tried to get back here more and more, though some people make it difficult.” Chris made a face. Justin knew he was talking about all the friends that had scorned him as a poor youngster, but were now acting like Chris’ best friends. He had a lot of those himself. “Anyway, she said dinner will be in like fifteen minutes so we’d better wash up.” Chris whistled as he went down the hall.

Justin sighed as he set his two suitcases, two duffel bags and backpack on the bed. Aunt Lynne had laughed at all his bags. He liked the simple life, but there were still some things that Justin could not do without. He immediately went over to the phone and hooked the line into his laptop. When Chris was hugging his uncle, Justin had asked Aunt Lynne if it would be okay to hook up his computer and she said yes, as long as he wasn’t tying up the phone line all day and night. Justin had promised to only go on after nine o’clock, but he had to send this one email.

“Hey girl…I’m here at my friend’s aunt and uncle’s house. It’s beautiful. This is some country out here. Nothing but snow and mountains.

How did your publisher like the book? I’m sure she loved it. Have my fingers crossed for you. Still hope that you’ll let me read something someday.

I won’t be on much during the day, but I will be online every night after nine. I just talked to you on IM a few days back, but I miss you, girlie. Talk to you soon, Curly.”

Justin stared at the words he had just written. It was absolutely true. He really missed talking to the person who he knew so well, but who still felt like a stranger.

“…tell me why I can’t be there where you are…there’s something missing in my heart…there’s nowhere to run I have no place to go…surrender my heart, body and soul…” Lara sang along with the CD player as she loaded clothes in the washer. “You sing it, Howie baby,” she said, then laughed at herself. Living with only some fish to comfort her, she often talked to herself out loud. It was the only way to keep her sanity.

“Am I losing it, Gene? Am I, Carter?” Lara peered into the fish tank where three bright yellow fish played fishy games. Blond fish. Nickolas, Gene and Carter. “Have I finally gone over the edge?” They ignored her and continued their game of aqua tag. “I thought so.” She plopped down in front of the computer and turned it on. She smiled as she read Curly’s email. He sounded like he was glad to have a vacation. She glanced at the clock on the monitor. Six-thirty. She made a mental note to be online by nine, and turned off her Internet connection.

Lara stared at the screen in front of her. Time for a new novel. What else was there, though? Lately she was feeling so lost, like there was no more inspiration inside of her. She felt fortunate to have even finished the last book. She wrote mostly romances, from historical to modern, yet she felt no kinship to any of her characters. When someone hurt or abused the heroine, then yes, she could appreciate it.

Lara stood and slowly walked to the bookcase. Against her better judgement she pulled out a large photo album and went to sit on the sofa. She opened to about the tenth page. Smiling up at her was a picture of herself tightly pressed against a larger man. Dark brown hair framed a round face with sharp blue eyes. She was looking up at him adoringly, but he was smirking for the camera. David. She shivered at the thought of those hands on her…and the memory of their hatred made her actually continue to shake. She slammed the photo album shut and crawled into a corner of the sofa. She held a cushion tight against her chest and closed her eyes.

Lara’s eyes fluttered open hours later and she glanced at the clock. Shit. Nine-twenty. She jumped up and ran to the computer, ignoring the grumblings of her empty stomach. Thank goodness. She hadn’t missed him.

CURLYJ: Girlie! I’ve been looking for you!

STRIPES: I’m sorry, J…I fell asleep on the sofa. Thinking too much.

CURLYJ: Okay…what kind of day were you having?

STRIPES: B+, until I opened up some old memories that I had nailed tightly shut.

CURLYJ: Girl, we discussed this. You know better then that.

STRIPES: sigh…yes, I know. I couldn’t help it this time. I was lonely.

CURLYJ: -big hug- Sorry baby.

STRIPES: It’s okay…so, how’s your vacation.

CURLYJ: Wonderful. Today I worked in the woods clearing out trees. I haven’t done work like that in ages. I am one big ache, but I loved it. Pennsylvania is beautiful.

STRIPES: Pennsylvania? You’re in Pennsylvania?

CURLYJ: Yeah, why? You live in PA?

STRIPES: The Fifth. Pleading the Fifth.

CURLYJ: Yeah, right. Sorry…shoulda known better then to ask you that.

STRIPES: This is the Internet, Curly. Think I’m gonna just open my life to every Tom, Dick and Curly who asks?

CURLYJ: Bitter much? Excuse the hell out of me for asking. Look…I’ve had a rough day. I don’t want to fight. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Bye.

STRIPES: Curly, wait!

CURLYJ has signed off.

“Shit!” Lara swore, pushing her chair back angrily. Why had she gotten so defensive? She could have just said she didn’t want to answer that and moved on. Dammit. The little envelope popped up and she jumped. She quickly opened the email.

“Stripes…sorry I pissed you off and that I got pissed off as well. I just…I don’t know…I’m so eager to know more about someone who has become such a good friend to me. I mean, couldn’t I even know your real name, or get a physical description of you? I’d love to put a mental picture to the wonderful personality. If not, that’s cool. I am really tired though…wasn’t a lie. Wish me sweet dreams, okay? Yours, Curly.”

Lara sighed as she deleted his email. There was no way she was giving him any information about her. She couldn’t take the risk. She turned off the computer and went back to take a long bubble bath.

Justin yawned as he got up and padded over to the tiny desk in his bedroom. It was six-thirty in the morning…and he was awake. Work around the house started at seven, and even though he was a guest and not expected to wake with the birds he did anyway. He wanted to pull his load, and he was enjoying it.

He sat down behind the desk and turned on his laptop. He knew no one was using the phone this early, so he didn’t feel guilty going online. Out of habit he flipped over to Instant Messenger. To his surprise he saw that his friend was online.

CURLYJ: Stripes? What the hell are you doing up so early?

STRIPES: I should be asking you the same thing, Paul Bunyan.

CURLYJ: Ha ha very funny. If you could see me, you’d do me in an instant. Muscles bulging out all over.

STRIPES: And an ego to go with it. How cute.

CURLYJ: Very funny. Why ARE you up so early?

STRIPES: Bad night last night. Been awake since five.

CURLYJ: Sorry honey. I only have a minute but I wanted to email you. Make sure you weren’t still pissed at me.

STRIPES: I never was, Curly. Just defensive…and I apologize.

CURLYJ: Not necessary. Well, the sun looks like it might make an appearance soon, so I gotta go. Off to tame the wild forest.

STRIPES: Or something. Are you sure you know which end of an axe is up?

CURLYJ: Are you saying I don’t know my axe from a hole in the ground.

STRIPES: ROTFLMAO. You are too cute. Have a good day.

CURLYJ: You too…and smile for me, baby, okay?

STRIPES: I’ll try. Later.

Justin smiled as he logged off. He went whistling down the hall to the shower, banging hard on Chris’ door as he passed by.

Fifteen minutes later he was at the table ready for the huge breakfasts that Chris’ Aunt Lynne loved to make for everyone. He knew he’d have to dance his ass off in rehearsal to get rid of all the weight he’d gain from her excellent cooking.

“I can’t run that package out to Carson’s today,” Uncle Steven said to his wife as Chris sleepily made his way into the kitchen. “Too much to do out in the back.”

“She was counting on it…and Sharon is expecting me to watch her baby for her today,” Lynne replied, her face falling.

“What’s going on?” Justin asked.

“We make up a basket of food for a less fortunate family about ten miles over,” Lynne told him, flopping a giant waffle onto his plate. “Every week we take turns, the families in the neighborhood, and this week is our turn.”

“That’s really nice,” Justin said with a smile. Chris made a snorting noise and reached for the coffee. Justin glared at him, knowing that Chris was trying to ignore the memories of the poverty he had once experienced in that very neighborhood.

“They’ll just have to do without until tomorrow,” Steven decided, though it was obvious that he didn’t like the idea.

“I’ll drive out,” Justin said suddenly, and Chris dropped his fork. Curly Timberlake, teen idol, carrying food to the poor? “I mean, I know nothing about hard labor, so it would be easier for you to spare me than Chris.” He looked over at Lynne. “Is it hard to find?”

“Well…no…off the beaten path, but only by a few miles. You’d take the main road until their property,” she said, though she sounded worried. “I guess you could find it. No signs though…just follow the tire tracks in the snow until the place I’ll tell you.”

“You mind?” Justin asked Chris.

“Of course not,” Chris said quickly, glad that Aunt Lynne hadn’t asked him. He was not ready to face the memories of being poor, even after all these years. “I’ll do your share of the work.”

“Okay, then,” Justin said, feeling useful for the first time in a long while.

“You’re a good boy,” Aunt Lynne said, giving him a smacking kiss on the forehead. Justin smiled, feeling about six years old.

“So just follow the way I’ve written it and you should be fine.” Lynne looked up at the sky as Justin climbed into their truck. She put a hand above her eyes as she stared at the sky. “Calling for snow today…but not until later. And this truck can handle it.”

“I’ll be fine. See you later.” Justin climbed up into the truck and began to bounce down the bumpy road.

Lara dumped the last piece of firewood into the fireplace and soon had the fire roaring merrily. “Okay, then.” She walked over to her backpack. “Paper? Check. Pencils? Check. Water? Check. Granola bars? Shit.” She went over to the cupboard and looked. Nope, no granola bars. She smiled as she looked at the shelf. She had grabbed the box from the bag Mr. Keefe had packed, assuming it was granola bars. It was candy bars. She tried to eat healthy; not a trustworthy dentist for miles. He was always packing little treats for her, however, and this was one of them. She grabbed a Snickers and shoved it in the backpack.

Lara took a deep breath as she walked out of the cabin. Time to get some inspiration. Whenever she hit severe writer’s block, she went out into the wilderness and sat. Sooner or later something would come to her. She stared at the sky. The radio said snow was predicted, but she never went far. She hopped onto the snowmobile and zoomed out into the morning.

“Hey. Where is that boy?” Uncle Steven came around the corner of the house carrying a large can.

“He left for Carson’s. Why?” Aunt Lynne asked as Chris joined them. Steven frowned.

“Only a few gallons of gas left in the truck. I was gonna fill it.” Chris’ mouth fell open as Aunt Lynne gasped. “Oh, no worries. I’m sure Carson’s have an emergency tank. They can spare him enough to get home.”

“Okay…there is supposed to be a fallen tree here somewhere…fallen tree…hello…where are you?” Justin asked nature as he slowly made it around a turn. “Hello where…oh…shit…” Justin groaned as he saw snowflakes begin to fall. “No worries…I’ll make it there…no problem. Has to be just a few feet further down the…” Justin stopped talking to himself as the flurries changed to full snowflakes, and the road in front of him started to vanish. “Okay, not a problem. I’ll just turn around and…” he was interrupted again by the sputtering of the engine. Soon the truck puttered to a stop. He climbed out of the truck and looked around.

“So this is what they mean by the middle of nowhere. THE MIDDLE OF FUCKING NOWHERE!” He screamed, hearing his voice echo in the stillness. He glanced around him, turning in circles. Nothing. He saw nothing. He saw…smoke…from a chimney…it looked to be about three miles east of him. “Okay…stay or go…stay or go…why didn’t I ever join the Boy Scouts. Boy Scouts would know what to do.” He wildly looked around for Boy Scouts. “Shit…never around when you need one.” He sighed and went back into the truck to find supplies. He buttoned up his winter coat, noticing for the first time that it was made for appearance, not durability. He found an old hat in the back and jammed it down on his head, and he smiled grimly as he found a second pair of gloves as well. He hesitated, then dug through the basket for the Carson’s, pulling out some crackers and a candy bar. He shoved them in the pockets of his coat and started to walk towards the smoke.

“Brrrr…sing…I could s-s-sing,” Justin said to himself an hour later. Trudging through the often knee-deep snow was not as easy as he had thought it would be, and the smoke seemed to get farther away instead of closer. He wanted to do something to keep his face from freezing. The sudden snow stung his cheeks and he could feel his teeth chattering. “Sing, T-T-Timberlake,” he chattered. “Um…All you people can’t you see can’t you see…AHH!” He yelled. “All the songs in the world and I sing Backstreet Boys? I must be delirious!” Justin laughed at the oddity of his situation but continued to walk. “Okay…um…” Justin was so busy racking his brain for a song that he didn’t notice the large pile of branches in front of him until he was falling over them.

“SHIT! Oh GOD…oh my fucking GOD!” He yelled, rolling on the ground as he held his ankle. His left ankle had caught in-between some of the branches, and he was experiencing the worst pain he could ever remember. “Oh…shit…oh God…” he stopped rolling and glared up at the sky as snowflakes continued to fall. “I’m screwed…I’m so screwed…” he said, shivering a bit. He closed his eyes for one moment, then realized how nice that felt. “Five minutes…just five and then I’ll crawl,” he said tiredly, closing his eyes for a bit longer.

“Figures. Every time I finally get on a roll, something like this happens,” Lara grumbled, glaring up at the ever-darkening sky. By the time she was packed and back on the snowmobile, the snow was coming down full force. She started the engine and carefully made her way back to the cabin.

About a mile down the path, she stopped short. The quickest way back to the cabin was up the gradual incline in front of her, but she knew from experience that it was very treacherous while snow was falling. Lara sighed and turned towards the wide flat fields on her left. It was about four miles out of her way, but much safer.

Lara would never know what made her glance down at the pile of branches as she sped by. She DID glance down, however, and was shocked to see an obviously human hand wearing dirty work gloves. She gasped and braked so hard she almost flipped over. She waded through the snow and fell to her knees by the hand. She brushed snow from the arm until she reached the neck. Lara yanked off her glove and felt for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there. She quickly brushed off the rest of the snow and dragged the body towards the snowmobile. The person was thin, but all the winter clothing made the body heavy.

When she reached the snowmobile, Lara stared at it, wondering how in the world she was going to get them both back to the cabin. It took almost twenty minutes, but she finally got the person onto the vehicle. She leaned the body forward over the dash, then slowly inched her way in front of it. She draped the arms around her waist, taking the full weight of the body onto her back. She brought the snowmobile to life and slowly made her way home.

Lara deposited the person on her sofa, panting for breath. She peeled off her clothing and hurriedly changed into a sports bra and shorts as sweat rolled off her forehead. She made sure the fire was well fed then turned to the person on the sofa.

She carefully unwrapped the scarf from the face and pulled off the hat. It was a young man, his head framed by light brown curls. He looked familiar, but she didn’t waste time worrying about it. His clothing was soaked.

She yanked off his coat and the two shirts below. His boots were crusted with snow, but she finally tugged them off. When she peeled off the two pair of socks, she was thankful not to see the black skin of frostbite, but gasped at the size of his swollen left ankle. It looked as if there was an Easter egg under the skin. She carefully pulled off his jeans, then stared at his damp long underwear. Lara pulled a blanket out of the closet and draped it over his body, then tugged off the long underwear. She just as modestly pulled a pair of her sweatpants over his slender frame, then set to taking care of the ankle. She placed a bag of snow on it for a while, then wrapped it carefully with bandages from her First Aid kit.

Lara made sure he was warmly covered and comfortably settled in front of the fire, then went to turn on her CD player. She sat down in front of her computer. As “It Makes Me Ill” poured through the stereo, she stood straight up. She flew to her CD rack and grabbed the case to “No Strings Attached” by NSYNC. She flipped it open and pulled out the cover. She stared at the picture in front of her, then at the sleeping form on her sofa. The person she had just undressed was none other than Justin Timberlake from NSYNC.

“Oh my God,” Lara whispered, staring at the figure on her sofa. The stare soon turned to a glare as she realized that she had undressed and dressed Justin Timberlake. She wanted nothing to do with men. Men were majorly on her shitlist, and here was one passed out on her sofa with a possibly broken ankle. Men were worth nothing but trouble. Tears filled her eyes. All she had done to distance herself from the real world…all she had done to protect her privacy and remain safe…and this teen idol was ruining it all.

She sat down at the computer and stared at it. Holy shit. What if someone thought she had kidnapped him or something? What if they sent someone after her…what if the police came? She shook her head. Impossible. No one knew where she was or that she had him in her home…yet. Lara frowned. She SHOULD let someone know he was okay…but who could she contact? No one. She had no clue. She’d have to wait for him to wake up. She sighed and turned on her email.

Curly…I don’t know when I’ll get to talk to you online. An unexpected guest has shown up, and I’m stuck amusing them for a while. I’ll let you know when I’m back to my own sweet lonesome. Lovies, Stripes.

Justin moaned and shivered as he opened his eyes. The room spun and he groaned louder. A shape appeared next to him, though he couldn’t see it clearly. He saw zigzags. “A tiger?” He asked weakly.

“Quiet,” a female voice snapped. “Get some rest so you’ll be some use to me later.”

“Tiger…stripes…” Justin babbled, then fell back into a deep sleep.

Lara was stirring a pot of chicken noodle soup for her dinner when she heard Justin moan once more. It was almost midnight, and she hadn’t slept. She needed to be around if and when he finally woke up. She wasn’t tired though; she had spent most of the time pacing and staring at Justin. He was beautiful, she had to admit that. When his eyes had fluttered open hours earlier, she was shocked to see what a gorgeous blue they were. The curls framing his head like a halo were soft, and she had finally given into her urge and touched one before cursing and snatching her hand back. His lips were sweet and red, and she remembered the smile she had so often seen online in pictures. He was quite a specimen. Too bad all men were scum.

Lara turned down the heat on the stove and headed back to the sofa. She sat on the edge and waited. Justin’s eyes fluttered open once more. He focused on her then blushed a furious red. Lara remembered what he had said about tigers earlier, and realized that he had seen her scars. In his delirious state, he had thought she was some kind of tiger. “No, it’s just a human being,” she said coldly.

“Where…” Justin licked his dry lips. “Who…” Lara got him a glass of water and carefully guided his head to the glass. “Where am I? What happened?”

“What do you remember?”

“I remember going to feed the Carson’s…then the truck ran out of gas and it snowed. I fell…and that’s all,” he said. “Where am I?”

“About four miles from the nearest road, and about twenty miles from the nearest house,” Lara told him. “You hurt your ankle when you fell, and you must have passed out. I passed by on my snowmobile and picked you up.”

“You brought me here by yourself?” Justin whispered.

“Yes. Is that so hard to believe?” Lara snapped.

“No! I mean, thank you.” Justin’s eyes were serious. “Thank you very much. You saved my life.”

“No big deal.” Lara stood. “I was just making myself some soup. Can you stomach it?”

“Yes. I’m starving,” Justin realized. He slowly sat up, pulling the blankets around himself. He was still cold. He winced as his left foot settled on the ground. “God, this hurts like a bitch! I mean, sorry…it really hurts.”

“It’s okay,” Lara replied, remembering the way David had sworn like a sailor. She dragged a small table over in front of the sofa and set down another glass of water and a huge bowl of soup. She sat on the floor across the table from him.

“You can sit up here,” Justin told her. “I don’t bite.”

“No, thank you.” The idea of being so close to a man made her shiver. “I’m fine here.” Lara stared at him. “Is there someone I should email to inform that you’re okay? I’m sure the record company has the dogs out looking for you or something.”

Justin blushed. “Oh…guess you figured me out, huh. Um…actually, the record company has no clue where I am to begin with. We have a few days off, and I was visiting family with Chris. There’s no computer there…actually, there is MY computer, but he won’t think to look there.”

“I see. Anyone else?”

“So eager to get rid of me?” Justin teased, trying to break the ice.

Lara glared at him. “I assumed someone might be worried about you. I hate to tell you, but first of all, you’re going nowhere until the storm breaks. It wasn’t supposed to hit until the evening, but it was supposed to last for a good two or three days. Secondly, the only way out is on the snowmobile, and that will be really painful for your ankle right now. I thought you might want to let someone know you were okay.” She picked up his empty bowl to fill it. “But you can’t tell anyone where you are.”

“I can’t…what the hell are you saying?” Justin stared up at her. “Am I a prisoner here? Are you gonna go all “Misery” on me?”

Lara whirled around. “I could care less who you are or what you sing, Justin Timberlake. I guard my privacy very carefully, and I do not want anyone to know where I am, okay? Not that it’s any of your business, but let’s just say my life depends on it. As soon as the storm stops and the swelling in your ankle goes down, I’ll haul your pansy ass out of here, understand?” She plunked the bowl down on the table and stalked to the closet. She yanked on her coat, boots, and gloves. “I need to get more wood. Feel free to read my books, listen to my CDs, play around on my computer, basically invade my life.” She headed out into the blinding snow, slamming the door behind her.

Justin stared at the door as it closed behind her. He was obviously not welcome here and there was nothing he could do about it. He had no clue what he had done to piss this girl off, except maybe being some sort of inconvenience. He looked around the cabin as he slurped down more soup. It was stocked with all the basic comforts except a television and a phone, from what he could see. He realized that emailing might be a good idea, so he made it the few feet to the computer, using the edge of the sofa as a crutch. He logged online and entered his email. He smiled as he saw the email from Stripes. Looked like they were both in a situation they didn’t like but couldn’t avoid.

Stripes…I hear ya, girlie. I’m stuck staying with someone I don’t really know and like even less. I’m not a welcome guest here, let me tell you. I’m using someone else’s computer, so I can’t get to IM. I’ll be dying for emails from you. Hope to hear from you soon, Curly.

Justin struggled to remember email addresses. He realized that Lance checked his most, and quickly typed in Lance’s business email at FreeLance Entertainment. Scoop…please call Chris at his aunt’s ASAP. I don’t know the number but I think he wrote it in your address book when you weren’t looking. Long story short, I got caught in a storm. I only have Internet access. Basically I’m in the middle of nowhere, but I like it, actually. No one expects anything of me here. I’m a pain in the ass to my unhappy hostess, but as you know, pain in the ass is a role I play endearingly well. Please let everyone know I’m fine, and as soon as the weather let’s up, she’s gonna get me out to “civilization.” Oh, I sprained and/or broke my ankle, too. Just wanna be like you, Lance. I promise I’m fine, and no, there will be no ransom letter to follow. Later, Justin.

Justin had just struggled back to the sofa when Lara returned with an armful of wood. Piles of snow blew in the door with her. “I’m sorry I can’t help you,” Justin said apologetically.

“Get better fast and you’ll be all the help I need. I can take you out then,” Lara said, carefully unwrapping the snow-crusted scarf from her face. Justin ignored the ice in her tone.

“I did what you suggested…I emailed Lance and told him that I was fine but out of commission for a few days.”

“Lance Bass?” Lara almost dropped the wood, realizing once more exactly who she was dealing with.

Justin hid a smile. “Yes, Lance Bass. He’ll be the one who checks his mail on a regular basis. I told him I’m fine and that I would be back as soon as possible. I don’t want to be an inconvenience to you.” His eyes were sincere, and Lara warmed up slightly.

“It’s okay. Not your fault.”

“Isn’t there anything I can do for you? Clean your jewelry, alphabetize your CDs, something?” Justin asked. Lara finally smiled.

“Don’t wear much jewelry here.” She grabbed a pile of papers from inside a drawer of her desk. “You could put these in chronological order, though.”

“No problem.” Justin grabbed the pages eagerly. “I hate just sitting around. Only having one foot for a while is gonna drive me crazy.”

“Not to mention how it will ruin your career, right?” Lara said, sitting down at her computer.

“Not really,” Justin said, looking at her strangely. “Um, can I ask you something?”

“What?” Lara turned around fearfully. He was going to ask about her face, she just knew it.

“What’s your name? You never said…and you know mine…”

“Lara,” she said, smiling at her own stupidity.

“Lara. Nice. Can you put some music in, Lara? And please, nothing of ours.”

“Okay,” Lara replied. She put in a few jazz instrumental CDs. Justin tilted his head to the side.

“Nice. Different. I like it.”

“Glad you approve.” Lara turned back around to her computer and logged onto her email. She grinned as she quickly read Curly’s message. She missed him already. For as much as she hated men, she couldn’t hate him.

“What are all these?” Justin asked, flipping through the pile in front of him. “Emails?”

Lara blushed a furious red. “Yes, and you don’t need to be reading them.”

“I wasn’t!” Justin snapped, sick of her bullshit. “What the hell is up your butt?”

“Excuse me?” Lara jumped to her feet. “Do you KNOW what your appearance here in my woods has done to my life? Pretty much fucked it up. Whether I like it or not, I will get some celebrity from all this, and I DON’T want it! I don’t like people, especially men, and I don’t want you here. We’ll get along fine if you don’t ask anymore personal questions, okay?” Justin stared at her.

“Holy shit…what the hell did this guy do to you?” He asked softly. Tears jumped into her blue eyes.

“Gave me these, for starters,” Lara whispered, pointing to her face. She took a deep breath. “I’m a writer. Those are fan emails. I need to reply to them and I want to do them in order.”

“Anything I’ve read?” Justin went back to putting the emails in order.

“Mostly some ultraromantic drivel with a good page or two of sex every now and then,” Lara said.

“Cool. I enjoy good sex…I mean, reading good sex, every now and then.” Justin blushed and Lara couldn’t help but laugh. Justin finally laughed as well. She motioned to a large bookshelf in the corner.

“The top shelf is all my stuff. Feel free to read it.”

“I will,” Justin replied, smiling at her. She blushed and turned back to her computer. They worked in silence. The ice between them started to break, so slowly that neither of them noticed.

Two hours later Lara stretched and yawned. She turned around to look at Justin. His head was back against the sofa and he was softly snoring away. She smiled. It WAS two in the morning, after all. She carefully pulled the pile of emails out of his hand and slowly laid him back down on the sofa. She gently picked up his foot and placed it on a pile of pillows, then spread a thick blanket over him. She stared at him for a long moment. He seemed harmless enough. He had a bit of an attitude…a cockiness…but it was to be expected with the life he was used to living. He had a beautiful smile, she had to admit that. Every time she had seen a picture of him online she had immediately noticed his smile. She sighed. Stop, she told herself. He is a man…doesn’t matter if he seems nice…they always seem nice at first.

Lara yawned again but sat down in front of her computer. Living alone gave her the ability to keep strange hours, and she usually took a long nap in the early afternoon. She opened her email.

Curly…I am going fucking crazy here. I’m not used to having someone around, and this someone isn’t going to be leaving for a long time. It’s a long story, but basically weather and health are keeping him here. This blows. I don’t like people; you know that much about me. But I’m being good…and a grown up…and I will survive. One more step towards the real world, I guess. I miss talking to you. I check IM just in case but you’re never on. Oh well. Take it easy. Stripes.

She flipped on IM, and smiled when she saw her friend in California was on. It was only eleven there, so it was no surprise to see her on. Lara was glad it was her. This was the only friend she could tell about Justin and be sure it wouldn’t be all over the world the next day.

STRIPES: Shelley! Thank God you’re on. I really really need to tell you something.

HONEYGIRL: Hey, sweetie, what’s up? Everything okay?

STRIPES: Yes and no. You will never guess who is sleeping on my sofa.

HONEYGIRL: Well, since you told me you live in the middle of nowhere, I’d have to guess either Grizzly Adams, Smokey the Bear, or the Abominable Snowman.

STRIPES: Ha ha very funny. Are you sitting down?

HONEYGIRL: **sighing** Yes. I’m sitting. Who is it.

STRIPES: Justin Randall Timberlake

HONEYGIRL: Ha ha again. Seriously.

STRIPES: Shelley, I’m NOT kidding. Justin Timba-timba-timberlake is ON MY SOFA ASLEEP!

HONEYGIRL: You’re…you’re serious. You think Justin Timberlake is on your sofa?

STRIPES: Shelley, please believe me. I’m not making this shit up. I was out today and found him lying in the bushes with a sprained ankle. Maybe he’s out here with Chris or something. I don’t know but there he was, in the middle of a snowstorm. I picked him up and brought him back here.

HONEYGIRL: **SCREAMING** You are fucking telling me that Justin “Electric Hips” Timberlake is on your sofa sleeping!

STRIPES: Yes. That is what I’m telling you. I’m also telling you that I dressed and undressed those hips…under a blanket, of course.

HONEYGIRL: **picks self up off of floor** OHMYFUCKINGGOD! Girl…I am speechless. Wait…is Lance with him?

STRIPES: **sighs** Shel, do you really think Lance could make it for five seconds in the wilderness? I think not. As fine as that man is, he is not Mountain Man Material.

HONEYGIRL: LOL Guess not. But daymn, girl! Justin…daymn…what are you gonna do?

STRIPES: He told me that he emailed Lance, to let everyone know he’s okay. I’ll take him back to “civilization” in a few days, once the weather clears and he’s okay to travel. His ankle is pretty bad, and he seems like he might have some sort of a bug or something…heaven only knows how long he was outside in that storm.

HONEYGIRL: Right. What’s he like?

STRIPES: Cocky…flashes that smile every ten minutes. I hate men with smiles that nice.

HONEYGIRL: No…you just hate men. You gonna be able to handle this?

STRIPES: I have to. Can’t just let him out in the cold.

HONEYGIRL: Understandable. Well, put a good word in for me, would you? Ya never know when he might be looking for a gf for Lance.

STRIPES: LOL I’ll see what I can do. I’m gonna turn in. Later, Honey.

HONEYGIRL: Later, girl.

Lara smiled as she shut down the computer. Shelley was probably her best friend in the world right now. She hadn’t told her much about the whole David thing, but she had told Shelley how she lived away from people, and that she thought men were the lowest creatures on the earth…except for Nick Carter and Lance Bass, of course.

Lara wearily made her way over to the closet and pulled out a sleeping bag and blankets. Making sure the fire was well fed, she spread out her makeshift bed and sighed as she climbed under the covers. Her only real bed was the sofabed, and Justin was on the sofa. She lay staring at the fire for a long time before finally falling asleep.

Lara burrowed under the covers and quietly moaned as she sank back onto her pillow. She sniffed, then sniffed again. Her eyes flew open and she sat straight up. The sofa was empty.

“Justin?” She called.

“Over here. I’m…in the…kitchen.” He triumphantly hobbled over to the table with a plate of toast. “Go wash your face. Breakfast is served.”

“Breakfast? Justin, I…” Lara’s mouth fell open as she saw toast, bacon, eggs and fruit on the table. “What the hell?”

“I was hungry and thought I should at least try to earn my keep around here. It wasn’t too hard…as long as I didn’t place weight on my ankle. Go wash up!” He ordered.

Dammit. There was that smile again. “Okay,” Lara said, pulling on a pair of thick socks before padding into the bathroom.

She came back out and found him already seated at the table, pouring them each a mug of coffee. “I hope you don’t mind me going through your cabinets.”

“No, of course not.” Lara looked at the table. “You can have the eggs. I don’t eat eggs.”

“Okay,” Justin looked at her strangely.

“I know…un-American or something. I’m also not fond of cheese. When I tell some people that, they act like I just spit on their mother or something.”

Justin howled with laughter. “That’s cute. I like that.”

They began to eat in virtual silence. Lara finally broke it. “Is there anyone who would be worried about you? I mean, like a girlfriend or something?”

Justin frowned. “No…I really don’t have time for all that. I mean, not that I don’t like talking to girls or going out or something, but I just don’t have time for a relationship. I know she’d worry about me being on the road, and I’d hate the fact that I couldn’t be there for her, and I’d worry about someone swiping her away from me.”

“Of course,” Lara said, nodding.

“What about you?” Justin asked gently. Storms raged behind her eyes, and he saw her hand tighten around her coffee mug.

“Just like you. No time. Not interested.” Lara stood and took her dishes to the sink. She began to run water into the sink.

“I’m sorry,” Justin said softly. He hadn’t realized how tender the whole subject of men was. He didn’t know this girl, but he was already worried about her. “So, what are you gonna do today?”

“I don’t do much, really. Usually I go out and walk, try to get inspiration. That’s how I found you, actually.” Lara gazed out the kitchen window. “But I don’t think I’ll be walking outside for a while.” She turned around to look at him. “I’m sorry I’m not a very good hostess. I haven’t been around people much since…for a while.”

“It’s okay. The simple peace and quiet around here is just wonderful,” Justin told her. He brought the rest of the dishes to the sink and picked up a towel.

“No. Go prop your foot up. I’ve had enough sprained ankles in my day to know they need to be elevated.”

“In your day?” Justin smirked at her choice of words. “And just how old ARE you?”

“Twenty-seven,” Lara replied. Justin was shocked.

“Are you serious? Wow…I don’t think you look a day over twenty or twenty-one. Swear to God.”

“You’ve been around too many teenyboppers,” Lara said, smiling at him. “Now go sit down.”

“Yes, Mom,” Justin grumbled, but hobbled back into the living room.

When Lara returned to the living room a few moments later, Justin was back on the sofa, foot obediently propped up. He had one of her books in his hand and was flipping through it. Lara glanced at the cover. “That’s my favorite,” she said shyly.

“I’m glad I picked it then,” he said, then grinned. “Actually, it’s because it’s the shortest.”

Lara frowned. “Warning…no pictures, Brillo. Hope you can follow it.”

Justin’s mouth dropped open. “Brillo? What is that all about?”

Lara smirked at him. “What the girls online call that head of hair ya got there, Shirley Temple. Feel flattered. It is the ultimate term of affection for you.”

“So you have affection for me?” Justin shot back, meaning to tease her. Lara’s blue eyes grew dark.

“Hardly. I have to work. Try to keep quiet, please.” She flopped down in her chair and turned on the computer. Justin sighed and opened the book.

Justin glanced up at the clock. Holy shit. He had been reading for almost ninety minutes straight as Lara had tapped away on the computer. The book was a romance…not the type of book he preferred, if he read at all. But this was more than some sappy Harlequin romance book. It was a story that went to a more psychological level, about finding love after someone has wounded you so deeply that you feel you will never trust another human being again. Justin flipped to the front and read the copyright date. Only a year old. He stared at the back of Lara’s head, wondering about what had happened to her.

Those scars were obviously from longer than a year ago. He watched as she unconsciously picked up a lock of her dark hair and twirled it around her fingers. She had beautiful hair, shoulder length and dark brown. It was such a contrast to her light blue eyes. And her lips were a beautiful red that was even more beautiful when curled up in a rare smile. He could already tell that she rarely found something to smile about. And those eyes, so sad. Every time she really looked at him, mortal fear was behind their blue walls. He was dying to know what had happened, and the book only made him want to know more.

“Hey,” he said softly, and Lara jumped. She had forgotten he was there. “Um…mind taking a break and letting me check my mail?”

Lara began to snap, then realized how boring her home must seem to him. “Sure. Let me check mine quick.”

“Cool.” Justin went back to his book. Lara was pleased to see how far he had gotten in it. She logged onto her email and frowned. Nothing from Curly yet. Oh well.

“All yours. Just go to wherever your mail is.”

“Thanks.” Justin struggled up from his chair and Lara wandered off to use the bathroom. Justin sat down in the computer chair gratefully and logged onto his mail. He smiled as he saw the email from Stripes. He sighed as he saw how down she was. It seemed that she had these awful mood swings sometimes…he chalked it up to being a woman, though he knew he could never tell HER that.

Stripes…I’m proud of you for hanging in there and being a good hostess. Me? I’m hanging in there too. I check IM a lot, and you’re never on when I am. Guess we keep missing each other. I busted my ankle yesterday. I’m so pissed. I feel like such a loser, sitting around doing nothing. The place I’m staying, though, my hostess is a writer. Not bad, either. You might even know her. Her name is Katherine Morgan…at least her pen name is. I bet you write better though. Well, I don’t wanna tie up her computer so TTYL. Lovies, CurlyJ.

Justin hit send and jumped when the little envelope on Lara’s mail dinged immediately. “You have mail,” he called to her. “I’ll leave the Internet…” he stared at the screen as he minimized the Internet window. Her wallpaper was a herd of zebras. He then looked up and for the first time really noticed the pictures on the wall. Lara in Africa in some happier time, standing in front of a herd of zebras. Lara, with scars on her face. He clicked on IM and watched the window pop up to the default name. No. No way. “Stripes” appeared at the top of the box. He closed IM and went back to his email. He addressed an email to his friend and tapped out a few useless words and hit send. Another immediate envelope ding. “Oh…my…God…” he whispered.

When Lara came back into the living room the screensaver was dancing across the monitor and Justin was sitting in a corner of the sofa, his face devoid of color. “What’s wrong, Justin? You okay?” Lara asked, trying not to seem too concerned. She had never seen someone so pale before.

“Fine,” he whispered. “You have mail.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks.” Lara gave him another strange look and sat back down at the computer.

Stripes…I’m proud of you for hanging in there and being a good hostess. Me? I’m hanging in there too. I check IM a lot, and you’re never on when I am. Guess we keep missing each other. I busted my ankle yesterday. I’m so pissed. I feel like such a loser, sitting around doing nothing. The place I’m staying, though, my hostess is a writer. Not bad, either. You might even know her. Her name is Katherine Morgan…at least her pen name is. I bet you write better though. Well, I don’t wanna tie up her computer so TTYL. Lovies, CurlyJ.

Lara’s face went as white as Justin’s. She slowly turned around to look at him. He was suddenly quite interested in his fingernails. She opened the other email.

You were wrong. I DID like your writing. You write better then anyone I’ve ever read before. I HAVE seen your books in airports but never bothered to buy one. Boy was I stupid. I hope your unexpected guest doesn’t cause you too much trouble. Justin.

Lara silently closed out her email and shut down the computer before turning around to look at Justin. His blue eyes were huge. She opened her mouth and closed it, wondering what to say.

“Stripes,” Justin said finally in a quiet voice. She looked at him quizzically for a moment, then realized she was talking about her choice of a screen name.

“Well, I’ve always loved zebras, as you know,” Lara said softly. She didn’t know how to act, what to think. This was the face behind the person she had been talking to for all these months. She had opened up to him more than anyone else. “And then, this…” she said as she pointed to her face.

“Right,” Justin said softly. He swung his foot down to the ground and propped it on the coffee table. “Could you sit next to me?” Lara hesitated then moved to the opposite end of the sofa. “Thank you. I just feel better with you not being so far away.”

“Why are you really in Pennsylvania?” Lara asked.

“We just finished a bunch of promo stuff and had five days off. Joey is in New York, JC and Lance are back home, and I came out here with Chris to his Aunt and Uncle’s. I was delivering food to a needy family when the truck ran out of gas, it started to snow, and then I fell and hurt my ankle.”

“Damn…sounds like a bad country song,” Lara said, making them both smile. They looked at each other for a long moment.

“I can’t believe I’m really here in front of you, sitting on your sofa,” Justin said in quiet amazement. “This is so wonderful.” He looked at her for a long moment. “I know you don’t like people, and that you guard your privacy carefully. I know all about that. I’m afraid, though, that your name, your face, something will leak out to the press once they come get me, or you take me back.”

Lara stood and began to pace. “It can’t happen, Justin. I will dump you in the woods and call people to come get you…but I cannot let anyone see my face.” Justin’s mouth dropped open. “Okay, maybe that was a little harsh,” she said apologetically. “But you don’t understand, Justin. My life depends on keeping myself hidden. From EVERYONE. Why do you think I wouldn’t tell you anything about me?”

“You told me A LOT about you,” Justin argued. “I bet I know you better than anyone else. I told you a lot, too. You know things about me…feelings…thoughts…that NO ONE knows. I’ve opened my heart to you, Lara, and I feel you owe me the same thing. Just some honest answers to all the mystery surrounding you. Why are you hiding? Who did that to you? Why are you so afraid?”

Lara wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell someone…unload it off of her shoulders. But she couldn’t. “I…I…I can’t, Justin,” she whispered. Just the memories made her shake and tears threatened to fall.

“Oh…oh, God…Lara…don’t. Don’t cry, sweetheart.” The endearment fell off of his tongue involuntarily. “Please don’t cry. I’m sorry.” Before he knew what he was doing, Justin scrunched over on the sofa and took her in his arms. Lara gasped and tried to pull away, but Justin kept a tight hold on her. The feeling of another body so close to her was very very strange…but little by little it seemed familiar. “Shhh…let me hold you. Go ahead and cry, baby,” Justin whispered, stroking her hair. She shrank away from him, then finally gave in. She sobbed on his shoulder, loving the wondrous sensation of another human being’s arms around her. “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you. I won’t hurt you,” he repeated.

Lara grabbed onto the front of the tshirt she had given him and really let loose. She cried for her broken heart, for her wounded body, for parts of her that she had given away and could never recover. Justin said nothing, just held her and occasionally stroked her hair. The sobs slowly died down, and he could tell by her breathing that she had cried herself to sleep. He slowly adjusted his body to a more comfortable position and was soon almost lying down with her in his arms. He looked around her cabin, wondering what in the world could have made her run away like this. It was cozy and comfortable, warm and friendly, yet so totally isolated that he worried for her safety. Obviously she was strong enough to take care of herself, and she had saved his ass, so she was no wimpy girl. He smiled at the thought of her loading him up on the snowmobile and dragging him into the house. The sight must have been a comic one.

Justin sighed and snuggled down further. They had been up late the night before and he was tired. He allowed his eyes to flutter closed, and he stroked her hair for maybe five minutes more before falling asleep.

Lara struggled against the arms that held her down, pushing and shoving. “Get off. GET OFF!” She jumped to her feet, angrily glaring at Justin before she was fully awake.

“What? What? What happened?” Justin asked sleepily, slowly sitting up.

“I’m…sorry…” she panted. “I felt your arms…and I thought…I…” her face was red with embarrassment.

“No problem,” Justin replied, rubbing his eyes. “I promise you though, if I was trying to keep you in my arms, you’d know it.”

Lara stared at him for a long moment. “You’re really cocky, you know that?”

“And you’re really moody, you know that?” He shot back. They looked at each other. Lara was the first to smile.

“Chalk it up to PPMS. Perpetual Pre-Menstrual Syndrome,” she told him.

“Chalk it up to IAPI. I’m A Pop Icon,” he replied, and she giggled. “It’s really good to meet you, Stripes,” Justin said softly, carefully struggling to his feet. Lara moved closer so he could lean on her. Instead, he pulled her into his arms for a warm friendly hug.

“Nice to meet you, too,” she whispered, burying her face in his shoulder.

The rest of the day felt very strange. They spent the time getting to know each other, and yet they already knew each other so well they felt very comfortable with one another. Lara started teasing Justin as they sat down for an early supper.

“I can’t believe it. All this time CurlyJ was Justin “electric hips” Timberlake,” Lara said as she dished out fried potatoes onto Justin’s plate.

Justin spit out the mouthful of milk he had just taken from his glass. “Justin WHAT?”

Lara giggled. “You heard me. That’s the nickname I gave you online. Those things should be registered weapons, young man.”

“Anything else you said online that I should know about?”

“Not about you, really. Only about…” Lara’s eyes grew wide and she blushed furiously. “Lance. Oh my God. Lance. All that time I ran on and on about him and he’s your bandmate.” She glared at him. “How could you let me make an ass of myself like that?”

“You were doing such a good job of it,” Justin told her. She glared at him again. “Just kidding. I didn’t mind. I thought it was cute. If it would have been ME that you were drooling over, then I woulda said something.” He thought a moment. “Hey. Why WEREN’T you drooling over me? Why Lance and not me?” He looked so insulted that Lara howled with laughter.

“Don’t be hurt, Justin.” She patted his shoulder as he served himself some ham. “I couldn’t help it. There’s just something about Lance.” She stared off into space dreamily. “Those eyes…that hair…that voice…those fingers…”

“Okay, first of all, did you notice that his eyes aren’t straight? Crooked as hell. Secondly, if you touched that hair you would impale yourself on it. Mousse Central.” Justin ran his fingers through his own curly hair and Lara swallowed deeply. “His voice? It’s low, right. Big deal. I could make my voice that low if I wanted. And he’s from the South. So what. So am I…I just lost the hick accent ages ago.” Lara was screaming with laughter by this time. “And his fingers. Well…” Justin paused. “What about his fingers?”

Lara could barely contain herself. “Oh…Justin…stop…please…” she panted for breath, her face bright head. Justin beamed at her, happy he could make her laugh so hard. It was obvious that she hadn’t laughed like that in a while. “I’m sorry. Nothing against you or the other guys…it’s just that Lance seems like something really special, you know?”

“So do you.” Justin impulsively placed his hand over hers. He gave her a cocky smirk. “And if you play your cards right, I could introduce you to him.”

She snatched her hand back, suddenly serious. “No thank you. Lance Bass would want NOTHING to do with me.”

“And how do you know that? Who’s known him longer, you or me? Oh, yeah, that’s right, YOU don’t know him at all.” Justin shoveled a forkful of corn into his mouth.

“Look at me, Justin. You got the chance to know me before seeing me. No one else looks past this!” She shoved a finger in the direction of her scarred cheek. “Children run away…or if they don’t run away they want to know what happened. Who made me like that? And men? Puhleeze. If I DID find one that could be a decent human being, he’d run away as well!” Lara shoved her chair back. “I’d appreciate if you got that matchmaking idea right out of your mind, okay? I’m going out to get more wood.” She stomped to the door, threw on her coat, gloves and hat, and slammed the door behind her.

“I’m a decent human being…and I’m not running away,” Justin said softly, staring at the closed door.

After dinner Justin moved into the living room. He was comfortably settled on the sofa when Lara came back in with an armful of wood. She noticed that the table was cleared and the dishes were washed.

“I put the leftovers in the fridge,” Justin said as she unwrapped her scarf. “I figured you might be hungry later.”

“Maybe. Thanks,” she said simply. She stacked the wood by the fireplace and went to change clothes. She reappeared a few minutes later. “It’s cold out, but it’s done snowing. Tomorrow I should be able to go out and take a look at things.”

“Great!” Justin exclaimed. “Not that I don’t like being here with you, but I know what an inconvenience I am to you.”

“You’re not that much of an inconvenience,” Lara replied, sitting down at her computer. Justin said nothing, picking up his book and finding the page where he had stopped reading.

Lara popped her disk in but stared at the empty screen. She started to check her email, then realize that the one person she really wanted to hear from was seated behind her on the sofa. She sighed and turned off the computer.

Justin looked up from his reading as Lara crawled back into her makeshift bed on the floor in front of the fire. “Is that comfortable?”

Lara shrugged. “The only bed I have is that.” She motioned to the sofa. “It opens into a sofabed.”

Justin blushed a deep red. “Oh. I’m sorry! Why don’t we switch?”

“No…this is fine. You need to have your foot elevated, and if we open the bed there isn’t room for someone to sleep on the floor.”

“We could both sleep up here,” he suggested. “I swear to God, I won’t touch you.”

Lara knew she could trust him. She knew that she could trust Justin more than any other person on the planet. She just couldn’t bring herself to get that close. “No,” she said softly. “I’m fine down here, thank you.” She lay down and closed her eyes.

Justin watched her for a moment, amazed by the fear in her eyes. He was totally ready to kill the bastard who had hurt her so badly. “Can I ask you a question?”

Her eyes flew open. “Um, sure,” she replied hesitantly.

“I noticed that none of your books have your picture on the back. Is that because of the scars?”

“Among other things, yes,” she answered.

“Okay. Just wondering.” He went back to his book. Lara snuggled under her covers, suddenly tired. It wasn’t long before she fell asleep.

A few hours later Justin slapped the book shut and stretched. He had finally finished it and couldn’t wait to tell her how much he had enjoyed it. He smiled as he saw her curled up asleep on the floor. He bent down and pulled the covers up closer to her face, then carefully hobbled to the bathroom.

When he came back, Lara was thrashing about and crying in her sleep. He slowly lay down beside her on the floor and tried to grab her hands, but that only made her scream louder. Justin’s mind frantically raced. He wanted to wake her form the horrible dream but trying to calm her down seemed to only scare her more. He finally began to gently stroke her forehead, keeping a soft steady motion with his fingertips. In a quiet soothing whisper, Justin repeated, “It’s okay. You’re safe. I won’t let him touch you ever again.” He continued this process for almost ten minutes before Lara began to calm down. Soon her screams dwindled to whispers, and her thrashing became shivering. Justin reached up to the sofa and grabbed his pillow and blanket. He slowly and carefully made himself comfortable, making sure that he was not touching her body with his. When he was situated, he reached over and gently laid his hand over hers.

Lara jolted awake about three hours later. From the stiffness of her muscles, she knew she had been through yet another nightmare. She gasped when she saw Justin sleeping next to her on the floor. She was even more surprised to see his hand protectively covering hers. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t felt it. She realized that he must’ve climbed down to comfort her during her bad dream.

Justin felt her stirring and he opened his eyes. Lara was watching him, her blue eyes huge.

“I’m ready to tell you what happened.”

Justin rubbed his eyes and looked at her. “Are you sure?” He asked gently. “I mean, I want to know but I understand what a big deal this is.”

Lara silently got up and threw more wood on the fire. When she sat back down, she leaned against the sofa. Justin propped his head on his hand.

“I met David through a friend of a friend. From the start, I knew that I was more interested in him than he was in me. I didn’t care. I had someone. He was good looking…smart…funny. We were together for almost six months when he seemed to decide that he needed to change me. My clothes were ugly, my friends were dumb, I listened to the wrong music, I needed to lose weight…”

“He told you that you needed to lose weight?” Justin asked, his mouth falling open. Lara nodded and continued.

“I did everything he told me, changed everything he wanted me to change, and it still wasn’t good enough. He started to yell…a lot. He yelled if I asked where he had been, and he yelled if he called and I wasn’t home. Nothing seemed good enough.

“One night, we went out with his friends and one of them flirted with me. Totally innocent flirting. David was furious. Not with his friend…with ME. When we got back to his apartment, he took my car keys from my purse, stuck them in his pocket, and then shoved me out the door, locking it behind me. My money and keys were with him, so I had to walk the five miles back to my house.” Justin opened his mouth to speak. “I couldn’t call anyone. I was too embarrassed,” she told him. “The next morning my car was in my driveway, with my purse on the seat.” Lara got up for a drink of water.

Justin’s brain was flying with questions, but he knew he had to let her tell the story the way SHE wanted to. “I realized over time that I was more miserable than happy, and I began to question what I was getting out of this relationship. I decided that as much as I hated the idea of being alone, it was better than the current situation. I confronted David with my decision, and he took it calmly, asking once or twice if he could change my mind. I told him no, and he hugged me goodbye.

“Two nights later he was at my door, drunk off his ass. Against my better judgment, I let him in. He told me that he was miserable without me and begged me to give him a second chance. Surprisingly enough, I held my ground and said no. Before I knew it, he had me on the ground and was shoving at the waistband of my shorts. I screamed and struggled, but he outweighed me by a good seventy pounds or so. I finally allowed him to do what he wanted, hoping he would just finish and leave. He stood and began to pull his pants up as I lay on the ground and sobbed. As he smirked down at me, he seemed to get an idea. Pinning me down with a hand on my throat, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys.”

Justin gasped in horror. “Oh my God…” he whispered.

“He told me if he couldn’t have me, then he’d make sure no one else would want me. Cutting my face must’ve been some sort of aphrodisiac, because he raped me again before he left.”

Justin’s arms ached to hold her, but he held back. “Please tell me you pressed charges.”

“I tried. Friends came out of the woodwork for him in court, telling the judge that David had told them countless times how he and I played these little sex games where he would pretend to attack and I would pretend to fight him off, and then I would give in.”

“Is that true?” Justin asked gently. She blushed.

“We had our little games, yes, but there was no FUCKING way in HELL that he could have thought I was playing that night,” she replied venomously. “It was my word against his, and I lost. He thought he was home free…and then they got him for the keys. Eighteen months in prison. That pissed him off.” Her blue eyes filled with tears. “That’s why I’m hiding, J. He wants to kill me.”

“Lara, come on. I…”

“You don’t know him, Justin. He sent me threatening letters from prison, saying I ruined his life. I made him lose his job, turned all his friends against him. He told me that he wants to end my life since I ended his. The day he got out of prison is the day I disappeared. No one knows I’m here…not even my family. No one but you.” Lara took a deep breath and looked at him. “What are you thinking?” She asked almost fearfully.

“How much I want to hold you right now,” he said honestly. Justin sat up and opened his arms, looking at her. She bit her lip, hesitating. With a sob she fell into his arms and he wrapped them around her. “It’s okay,” he said, fighting the urge to kiss her forehead. “You’re not alone anymore.”

Lara woke around eight-thirty in the morning with her cheek pressed tightly against Justin’s tshirt. She started to struggle, then remembered who was holding her. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, enjoying the scent of someone being so close to her. She felt him laugh.

“I must smell disgusting. It’s hard to shower when I can’t stand up, and your tub is too tall for me to get in and out of easily. I’m usually cleaner then this, I promise.”

Lara pulled away, blushing. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Justin replied, and she saw the understanding in his eyes.

“After breakfast I’m gonna go out and snoop around a bit on the snowmobile; see if there are some low places where I can get you back into town,” Lara said, hopping up and making her way to the kitchen. Justin slowly followed her and sat at the table as she made coffee.

“I’m going with you.”

Lara whirled around. “Oh no you’re not.”

“Oh yes I am,” he contradicted. “As much as I like you, and as cozy as this cabin is, I can’t take it. I need to get outside.”

“Justin…”

“Lara…” he interrupted in the same tone. “I can be just as stubborn as you are. Ask JC. He tries to get me to do something I don’t want to do and he gets so pissed because it’s no use. I’m going out there with you. I’ll put on like eight pair of socks and tie my boots really tight. That will be enough support for the short time we’ll be out.”

“And just where would you be getting these socks?” She asked.

“You’re going to give them to me,” Justin said simply. Lara laughed out loud at the pretentious look on his face.

“You really are a spoiled superstar, aren’t you?” She teased. His face grew dark.

“I have a lot of things, yes. People cater to me, yes. But do NOT call me spoiled, okay? I hate that.” He hobbled off to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. Lara sighed and began to make some breakfast.

When Justin opened the bathroom door, eight pair of socks were laid out on the floor, making a trail from the bathroom to the kitchen. Justin laughed as he bent down and swiped them up one by one, hopping on his good foot to keep balance. He gave Lara his beautiful smile as he made his way to the kitchen.

“I’m sorry,” she told him. “I was only teasing.”

“I know. I didn’t mean to bitch at you. I just get sick of people assuming we’re so spoiled. Okay, we have a lot of designer things, a lot of jewelry, we’re used to the best everywhere we go. But I totally loved working with Chris’ uncle out in the woods. Everything is so simple there…so basic. It was awesome.”

“Do you have Chris’ uncle’s number?” Lara asked as she served him two chocolate poptarts. Justin raised an eyebrow. “I love these. It’s actually special for me to even share them with you.”

Justin ignored that remark. “I don’t have that number, no, but I think Lance does.”

Lara jumped up from the table and went into the living room. She came back carrying a cellular phone. Justin’s mouth dropped open. “For emergencies,” she told him. “I knew you had contacted them by email so I didn’t consider it an emergency.”

Justin couldn’t decide if he was mad or not. He could have called and had someone fly or ski or tank out and pick him up. He then remembered the storm, and realized that no one could have reached them. “Thank you,” he said softly. A smirk quivered at the edges of his mouth. “Would YOU like to call him?”

“Oh, GOD, no,” she said, blushing furiously as she poured herself some milk.

Justin laughed and dialed Lance’s home number. “Hello?” Lance answered sleepily.

“Hey, Lansten. It’s Justin.”

“Justin?” He could hear Lance sit up in bed. “Oh, damn, J, it’s great to hear your voice. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Still where I was but I may be able to get back to Chris within the next few days. I need his number at his uncle’s.”

“Sure! Hold on. I need to find it.” Justin knew this would only take a second. Lance was the most organized person he knew. “Here it is.” Lara shoved a piece of paper at Justin and he quickly jotted down the number. “How’s your ankle?”

“Better, I think. Hey, I’m on a cell so I gotta run. I’ll call you when I get with Chris, okay?”

“Yeah, okay, sure. Bye.”

Lara was staring at Justin when he hung up the phone. In a few days he would be gone and her life would be back to normal…or would it? “What?” Justin asked.

“Nothing. Eat your breakfast. It’s gonna take us forever to get you ready to go outside.”

“Okay, can we go now?” Justin whined. Lara looked at him and smiled, imagining what he must have been like at three or four. He was bundled up in all of Lara’s extra warm clothing, and his arms were almost standing out because of all the layers. His ankle was securely wrapped and he could walk on it if he went slowly.

“Yes…just let me get my gloves on,” Lara told him. “You are such a child sometime.”

“I guess so, next to an old lady like you,” Justin teased. Lara frowned.

“Do you really think I’m that old?” She had no clue why that bothered her so much.

“No, of course not. I was just joking. I mean, you are almost a whole decade older than me, but that doesn’t…”

“Oh, thanks a lot,” she muttered, slamming her hat on. “Stay here until I bring it around.” She went out the door slamming it behind her.

“Great one, Timberlake,” Justin said to himself, walking over to the window. “Your dumbass mouth has done it again.”

By the time Lara brought the snowmobile up to the door she had regained her previous good mood. “Can you climb on?” She shouted over the motor as Justin came out the front door. He nodded and carefully threw his left leg over the snowmobile. He leaned against her back slightly until he was on, then squeezed her leg gently to tell her it was okay. She zoomed off down the yard of the cabin.

Justin squinted as they sped over the snow, wishing he had taken Lara up on her offer of sunglasses. The sun was bright against his eyes, but he was enjoying every minute of it. They rode for about fifteen minutes before Lara stopped and turned off the engine. “It’s gorgeous out here,” he said with a sigh. She smiled.

“I know. I love the beach, and miss it desperately, but I love it up here, too.” She surveyed the area critically. “Looks like a lot of snow drifted. If you can contact Chris and his family, I can get you into town tomorrow.”

“Oh,” Justin said faintly, looking away from her. He suddenly didn’t want to leave.

Lara studied him for a long moment. She didn’t want him to go. She was finally getting used to having someone around, and she suddenly hated the thought of him leaving. “Come on. Let’s go back. You can walk around near the cabin if you want; the ground is much flatter there.” She helped him back onto the snowmobile and they headed for home.

When they got back to the cabin, Justin almost fell to the ground in his eagerness to get off the snowmobile and actually walk around. Lara giggled at the strange way he hobbled about. “Laugh all you want, Stripe-Girl. When a snowball hits you in the face you won’t be laughing,” Justin said with an arrogant ghetto swagger. The way he carried himself made her laugh even harder, and she found that she liked when he called her Stripe-Girl. From anyone else she would have considered it an insult. He was the first person that she could be with and truly believe he didn’t see the scars on her face.

“Yeah, you’re so scary,” she replied, pushing him into a snowbank. She promptly howled with laughter when he couldn’t pull himself out.

“Fine. I’ll stay here then.” He lay back in his makeshift chair, catching snow flurries on his tongue. Lara pushed the snowmobile back into the barn and cleaned it off. When she returned to the front of the cabin, Justin had not moved.

“Comfy?” She asked, standing in front of him.

“Very,” he replied, tossing a handful of snow up into her face. She screamed and retaliated with a handful down his neck. He struggled to get up and chase her, then realized he was basically immobile. “Wench!”

“Brat!” She shot back, giggling as she plopped down beside him. “This seat taken?”

“It is now.” Justin threw an arm around her shoulder and they sat comfortably together. “Can I ask you a question and you not get mad?”

“Um…sure…” Lara said hesitantly, then realized he knew everything else. Why should she say no?

“Why haven’t you ever…um…gotten surgery. You know, repaired the damage.” Justin blushed as he asked her. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her feelings.

Lara looked at him and saw how worried he was about asking her this. “I thought about it,” Lara told him. “I guess I was just too afraid to face it. If I didn’t have to worry about going to a doctor and getting it fixed, it was like it never happened. I don’t look in mirrors much, and no one else is around so I guess I almost forget about it.”

“Until the nightmares,” Justin said softly, and she nodded.

“Until the nightmares,” she repeated. “I could fix it…I mean…it’s doable…but I almost feel like it’s giving in to him…making it look like it affected me.”

“But it DID,” Justin pointed out. He tried to follow her logic but couldn’t. He basically just accepted the fact that the idea of facing surgery like that meant facing the real world, and that scared her. “I’m hungry. Isn’t it lunchtime?”

Lara looked up at the sky. “Almost. Men. You think with your stomachs.”

“Among other things,” he teased cautiously, not wanting to scare her. She rolled her eyes.

“Like I said…men.” She got up and helped him to his feet. “Let’s go in. You can call Chris.”

“Oh, right.” He had forgotten all about that.

They went inside and carefully peeled off their outer clothing, hanging it in front of the fire. Justin sat at the kitchen table to call Chris as Lara got some lunch together.

“Can I speak to Chris please?” Justin asked, not telling Aunt Lynne who it was. “Chris? J.”

“Justin?” Chris yelled. Justin moved the phone from his ear and Lara smiled. “Where the HELL are you?”

“The middle of nowhere,” Justin told him. “But not too far from you. The way the roads look I can probably make it into town tomorrow.”

“Where the HELL are you?” Chris repeated.

“Long story short…truck ran out of gas, it started to snow, I started to walk and I sprained my ankle or something.”

“Sounds like a bad country song,” Chris commented and Justin burst into laughter. “I won’t ask.”

“Sorry. Anyway, someone picked me up and I’ve recuperated at their place. They’re gonna drive me into town tomorrow on a snowmobile.”

“Who?”

“I can’t say,” Justin replied guardedly. “Anyway, I figure we’ll be in town around…”

“Noon,” Lara whispered.

“Noon, if you can make it then.”

“I’ll be there. Thank God you’re okay, Justin. Lance called and told us you emailed, but I was still worried.”

“Thanks, bro. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Justin hit ‘end’ and set the phone down.

Lara placed a ham sandwich in front of him. “He sounds like a character.”

“Understatement of the year,” he replied, smiling his thanks as she handed him a glass of milk. “You’d love him. He is so goofy. Close to your age, too.”

“Trying to set me up again?” Lara raised an eyebrow.

“No, trying to introduce you to some nice people who could be your friends. I’m thinking friends are scarce for you right now.”

Lara thought for a moment. “Well, besides CurlyJ I do have one other friend online…Shelley…she lives in California. She knows a lot about me without knowing everything.”

“That’s good.” Justin took a bite and thought as he chewed. “I think you should come to Boston with me.”

Lara spit out her milk. “What?”

Justin calmly wiped off the front of his shirt and dabbed milk off of his sandwich with a napkin. “Come to Boston with me. We have to do a two day press thing up there…you could sightsee around the city. Get out into the real world.”

“No,” Lara whispered, horrified. “I can’t.”

“Are you going to just wither away and die up here?” Justin asked almost angrily. “You are a beautiful talented woman who deserves to have a real life!”

“I HAVE a real life, thank you very much!” Lara snapped. “And don’t patronize me by calling me beautiful. We both know it’s not true and I’d prefer it if you didn’t lie. Actually, I’d prefer if you kept your opinions to yourself. If I want your advice on how to live my life, I’ll ask for it.”

“God, maybe it’s GOOD you are up here in the middle of nowhere!” Justin yelled, aggravated by her stubbornness. “You can be a real bitch!”

“Fuck you.” Lara stood. “I am counting the damn hours until you are out of my life!” She stomped outside, barely stopping to grab her boots and coat.

Once again Justin cursed his big mouth, then realized he was entitled to his opinion. He hated the thought of Lara sitting in this cabin day in and day out, all alone. He left the dishes on the table and hobbled over to the computer. He entered his email account.

“Stripes…I never meant to hurt you. Please know that. I worry about you so much. You are much more than a friend to me…more like a sister or something. I hate the thought of leaving you here to sit surrounded by the loneliness that this David asshole has left you with. You are so much more. You are beautiful…inside AND out. You are talented, smart, witty…any man would be crazy not to want you. You have much to offer the world outside the realm of your books…and I feel sorry for the people out there who won’t ever know it because you choose to sit here. My offer will always be open. You may join me anytime, anyplace in the world and I would welcome you. Love always, Curly.”

Justin typed in his cellphone, pager and home telephone numbers at the bottom of the email, then sent it. He turned off the computer and selected another of her books from the shelf. He made himself comfortable on the sofa and began to read.

“I hate you,” Lara muttered as she stomped around outside to make her boots fit correctly around her feet. “I hate you, Justin Timberlake. HATE YOU.” She walked over to the small clearing where she chopped her wood and picked up an axe. “HATE YOU.” She set some of the smaller logs up and began to chop. “I…hate…you…and…despise…you…” Lara emphasized each word with a swing of the axe. “I…hate…you…Jus…” her voice trailed off. She didn’t hate Justin. She didn’t hate him at all. “I…hate…you…David…” she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Hate…you…for taking away my life…” she sobbed, leaning on the axe and crying. She took a few deep breaths and stood up straight, continuing on with her chore.

Justin said nothing when Lara came back into the house thirty minutes later. Her cheeks were bright red and she was panting for breath. She didn’t say anything, just took off her boots and coat and went over to finish her sandwich. She quickly ate and cleaned off the table. “Oh, FUCK,” he heard her say as she started to run water to wash the dishes.

“What is it?” Justin hobbled over, instantly concerned.

“Nothing.” She turned her back on him and clenched her hands into fists.

“Dammit, lemme see.” He grabbed her wrists and made her turn around. He peeled her fingers back and winced at the bruises on her fingers and palms. “What happened?”

“I chopped wood,” she said simply, glaring up at him.

“And you didn’t have gloves on,” he remembered. He sighed. “You should have known better. Have anything for this?”

“Just some first aid salve,” she told him.

“Get it. I’ll finish here.”

“Yes, Dad,” she muttered, though she went to the first aid kit to retrieve the lotion.

Justin quickly finished the dishes and sat down at the table. Lara sat across from him, giving him her hands palm up. He carefully and gently applied the soothing lotion. “I wasn’t trying to tell you what to do,” he said without looking up. Lara bit her lip to hold back the tears. His voice was so kind. “I am worried about you. I hate leaving you here. I want you to be out in the world again.” He glanced up at her and smiled gently at the tear that threatened to fall. With one thumb he softly pressed on the skin right below her eye, and the tear splashed down onto his hand. “Don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry.” Lara blinked furiously.

“Never apologize for crying in front of me. No reason.” He went back to work on her hands. “I want you to know that I am ALWAYS here for you. You need me, you tell me, and I’m here. Got it?” Lara nodded. “Okay. We’re done here.”

They went back in and sat on the sofa. Lara smiled as she saw another one of her books. “Good?”

Justin shrugged. “Not bad.” She poked him. He picked the book back up as she stared at the fire.

“I’m afraid,” she said suddenly, and his head popped up. “I’m afraid to go back out there again. I’m afraid he’ll find me.”

Justin put the book down and moved to sit close to her. His arm went around her and she snuggled against him naturally, not even noticing. “I have bodyguards around me all the time. We could get one for you.”

“That would be weird,” she said softly.

“You need to fight this. Giving in to the fear will only let him win. I don’t know what it’s like, but I can imagine that once you get past this first step, it can only get easier.”

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

“Of course you are.” She put her head on his shoulder and he gently stroked her hair. “But I’m here for you, and so is Shelley. Call her. Get her to come with you to Boston.”

“I can’t,” Lara replied. Justin sighed and said nothing, just continued to stroke her hair, weaving it through his fingers absentmindedly. “Can you sing for me?” Lara asked suddenly.

“What?”

“Sing…you know…” she lifted her head to look at him, blushing. “I would love to hear you sing.”

“What do you want to hear?”

“Well, my favorite is “I Drive Myself Crazy”, but that isn’t your song to me. You pick,” she said, laying her head back down.

Justin thought for a moment. “You drive a pretty car…you know how fine you are and…nobody needs to say it. I love the clothes you wear…they compliment you and I…I just love the way you play it…ohhhh…but the only thing you dream of money can’t buy for you…and in my dreams I make your wish come true.” He took a deep breath as she sighed and snuggled closer. He could hear her whispering the words along with him and he sang in a quieter voice. “For the girl who has everything, I bring you love…I bring you love…’cause the girl who has everything can’t get enough of…my love.”

Lara swallowed deeply and closed her eyes. His voice was quiet and soothing, and she felt herself getting more relaxed then she ever could remember.

“Why do you run and hide? Say what you feel inside…why must you always fake it…girl, you need to understand, your heart’s safe within my hands, and I promise I'll never break it…” his voice trailed off. He could feel her settle against him, and he knew she was falling asleep. He jumped ahead in the song. “If you just let me try, my baby, listen…I'll help you find what you’ve been missing…you gotta listen with your heart and not your mind…”

Justin kissed the top of her head and silently held her, wondering what his life would be like once she dropped him off the next day and sped away on her snowmobile.

The Next Day

“Do you have everything?” Lara asked as she came in from revving up the snowmobile.

“Yes…I only came here with the clothes on my back, remember?” Justin teased.

“Yes, and you’re leaving with some of MY clothes as well,” she shot back, referring to the extra socks he wore as bandages for his ankle.

“Yeah yeah…man…you’re so selfish,” Justin smiled his bright smile and she couldn’t help but smile back. She bent down and grabbed the backpack by the door. She had packed it before he had awakened that morning.

“Here. Take this and put it on your back.” He looked at her questioningly but did as she told him. “Let’s plow.”

She hopped onto the snowmobile and Justin slowly walked out of the cabin, committing as much of it to memory as he could. It had become such a place of relaxation and quiet to him that he hated to leave it. At least that’s what he told himself. He told himself that his sadness about leaving had NOTHING to do with the occupant of the cabin. He absentmindedly pulled himself up behind her and placed his hands on her waist, deep in thought. Sleep had not come for very long the night before; he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He wanted more than anything to beg her to come with him…but he knew that it wouldn’t do any good. She was as stubborn as he was.

Lara concentrated on the ground ahead of her, but her mind was miles away. She didn’t want Justin to go. At the beginning she had hated the thought of another human being invading her space, but she had soon grown to enjoy having another person to interact with. She told herself that her sadness about his leaving had NOTHING to do with the fact that she would miss Justin…she would simply miss having a friend around.

“How long?” Justin asked over the purr of the motor.

“About thirty minutes or so,” she called back. He nodded to show he had heard her and looked around as the scenery flashed by.

“There’s town,” she said, slowing down as buildings came into view. “Where is he meeting you?”

“There’s some kind of store,” Justin said.

“Oh, right,” she replied, realizing he meant the small market at the other end of the street. She could see a truck and three people on the street in front of the store. She stopped the snowmobile about three blocks from the store. “This okay?”

“Sure.” Justin got off of the snowmobile and began to take off the backpack. She put her hand up.

“No…keep it. I want you to have what’s inside. I can always get more.”

“Okay,” Justin said, slinging it back onto his back. He looked down at her and smiled. “Thank you. For everything. For saving me from the wilds of the Pennsylvania wilderness.”

Lara knew he was trying to make her smile but she just couldn’t bring herself to. If she smiled, she would cry. “When do you leave for Boston?”

“Tomorrow, I guess…the schedule has probably changed seventeen times since I left. You sure you don’t want to come along?”

She couldn’t say she didn’t want to because she DID want to…desperately. “I can’t…I just can’t, Justin. I…” Lara started to sob before she could stop herself. Justin pulled her into his arms.

“Oh…baby…don’t. Don’t cry.” He rocked her gently in his arms as she cried. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too,” she sobbed. She made herself remember every single sensation of his arms around her. Heaven only knew when she would be that close to someone again. “Thank you, Justin. Thank you for listening.”

“You’re welcome.” He pulled back to cup her face in his hands. “I’m still your Curly…I’ll still be there for you no matter what. We’re friends, right?” His thumbs stroked her cheeks and for once Lara forgot about the scars as she looked into his blue eyes. She nodded.

“Friends,” she repeated.

Before he could stop himself, before he remembered that it might scare her, he bent his head and very quickly touched his lips to hers. Lara felt as if he had burned her mouth with a torch and she jumped. His eyes widened. “Oh…God…oh, Lara…I…”

“It’s okay. I’m fine,” she promised, smiling to show that she truly was fine. “Your friends are waiting. Go.” She gave him a gentle shove.

“Email me. Call if you need me.”

“Call?”

“I left the number on your computer.” Justin reluctantly let her go. “Any time, day or night.”

“GO,” she ordered, feeling the tears start to well up in her eyes again. Justin bit his bottom lip, nodded, and turned. He took two steps before hobbling back to hug her fiercely.

“Love you, Stripes. Be careful.” He quickly turned around and hobbled determinedly to where Chris, Aunt Lynne, and Uncle Steven were waiting.

Lara couldn’t watch him go. She jumped onto the snowmobile and sped away, trying to ignore the tears on her face. She made sure the town was entirely out of sight before she stopped and allowed herself to cry freely. She yanked off her glove and brought a shaking hand up to touch her lips. Justin had kissed her…and she hadn’t hated it one bit.

“J…thank God.” Chris pulled him into a tight hug. “Are you okay? How’s your foot? Who was that person? Did you kiss them?”

“Let him into the truck, Chris,” Steven ordered. “I’m real sorry, young man. I wish I coulda stopped ya and this never would have happened.”

“It’s okay…really,” Justin said, climbing into the backseat of the truck.

“You eat alright? You look a bit under the weather,” Aunt Lynne observed.

“I’m fine, ma’am. I promise. I ate fine,” Justin replied, staring out the window. Chris continued to pry as they drove to the house, but he finally realized that Justin wasn’t saying a word when Justin totally ignored every question.

When they reached the house, Justin carefully hobbled up the steps under orders from Aunt Lynne to take a hot bath and soak his foot. He entered the room that was his and set the backpack down. After removing his coat and sweatshirt, he unzipped the bag, smiling as he did so. He pulled out book after book by Katherine Morgan, all autographed inside the front cover. “To a very talented young man. I’m sure you’ll go far if you keep on your feet and not on your bottom. Love, KM.” On the very bottom of the bag was a piece of cardboard folded in half. He slowly pulled out a snapshot of Lara. He flipped it over and read the date. It was from about a year before the incident with David. He looked at her smooth face for a long moment, then read the note attached.

“Justin, I thought you would like this so you can remember me how I used to look instead of how I look now. It’s one of the few pictures I kept from before. Never forget me. L.” He sighed and sat down on the bed, running his finger over the picture.

Lara pulled herself into the house and made herself take a shower. She stared at the sofa. Without thinking, she grabbed the pillow Justin had used and inhaled deeply, just to smell the scent of another person. She sighed and sat at the computer, determined to use the intense emotion she was experiencing. She opened her word program, but not before she checked her email. Her heart jumped when she saw the email from Justin, and she cried once more as she read it. She looked at the computer for a long moment, then jumped up and went to the bookshelf for her address book. She flipped through the pages hurriedly and went to the cellphone.

“Hello…can I please speak to Shelley? Shelley…this is Lara…I mean…Stripes. Yes…from the Internet. My name is really Lara. Yes…yes, it’s good to hear your voice, too. Listen…I have a strange request. I need you to come out here. I need to tell you something…and then I need you to go somewhere with me. I can’t do it alone.”

Two days later

Lara paced back and forth in front of gate twenty-seven at the Pittsburgh airport, anxiously checking her watch. Shelley’s flight was due in any second and she was nervous as hell. She kept her face down, only looking up to avoid running into someone. In this large bustling airport, however, she could have had green tattoos on her face and no one would have noticed. She had forgotten what it was like to be around so many people, and she was very uncomfortable.

After Shelley had agreed to come with her to Boston, she called Justin’s cellphone. He answered and sounded happy to hear her voice. She fished around for information, and finally found out the name of the hotel where they were staying and how long they’d be in Boston. It seemed that they were going to waste some time there before they were needed in New York, and then they’d go back to Florida.

Lara finally sat down and closed her eyes. She could do this. She was a grown woman. She hadn’t lived in a cabin ALL her life. It was just so noisy. She could barely think. She kept her eyes closed and tried to relax. The last two days had moved so quickly. She had packed up what she would need to travel and sadly locked up her cabin. She went down into town and took Mr. Keefe’s offer of the room on the back of his house for a few days. He was pleasantly surprised, and his wife was a wonderful woman who shrieked with delight when she realized that Katherine Morgan was staying in their back room. Lara’s hand had hurt from signing all her books, but she did it gladly.

Mr. Keefe had arranged transportation to a small local airport, and she had flown down to Pittsburgh in a tiny plane. Here she was, waiting for Shelley. They would have six hours to kill before their connecting flight to Boston, and she was scared to death.

Lara stood as they announced the arrival of Shelley’s flight. She began to pace once more, biting on a fingertip as people filed out of the tunnel. They had exchanged email pictures but she didn’t know if Shelley would recognize her. The only picture she had was before David. She explained about the scars but didn’t know…

“Lara.” The young woman in front of her grinned. “It’s me…Shelley.”

“Hi,” Lara said shyly. Shelley pulled her into a hug.

“It’s so good to finally meet you. I can’t wait to hear what all the mystery is about. I couldn’t wait to get here.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you more over the phone. I didn’t feel right. We have a lot of time to talk, though. Let’s make sure your bags are transferred and then we’ll get some lunch.”

Lara made sure they were seated in the most hidden booth of the airport café. They ordered sandwiches and salads and the waiter left. Shelley looked at Lara expectantly. “First thing’s first. What was he like?”

Lara smiled at the eagerness in Shelley’s brown eyes. “Hot. Sensitive. Funny. Young, Spoiled. Sexy. Sweet.”

“Oh, man,” Shelley moaned. “I knew it. So, where are we going again?”

“Boston,” Lara said, sipping at her iced tea.

“And why?” Shelley asked. Lara had told her nothing except that they were going to Boston to see Justin…and Lara couldn’t do it alone.

“Let me explain some things first,” Lara said. “Please don’t interrupt ‘til I’m done.” She began talking. Began with David and went from there. The food came but they didn’t touch it. Lara couldn’t stop talking and Shelley couldn’t stop listening. “And that’s it,” Lara finished. “I don’t feel safe out here…but with Justin I could be. He’s my best friend, and if he can at least get me started out here in the ‘real world’ I may be able to live again like a normal person.”

“Oh, sweetie.” Shelley took Lara’s hand and grabbed it. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. Sorry won’t help. I need to get over it, and going up there is the first step.”

Lara watched the city as the plane descended into Logan Airport. What if it had all been a joke? What if Justin didn’t want her to come to Boston? What if he was really glad to be rid of her, and he was just going to email her out of kindness.

“Stop it,” Shelley demanded as they packed up their carry-on bags. “He’s a good friend to you. He wouldn’t lie to you.”

“Do they teach you mind reading out there in California?” Lara asked, amazed. Shelley laughed.

“No. I just know I’d be feeling the same way. And in your case, the paranoia is justifiably doubled.”

“Exactly. I mean, I think he won’t mind. I think he’ll be happy to see me. But what if he isn’t?” She babbled as they walked up the tunnel to the airport.

“Then screw him. We get our luggage and take on Boston all by ourselves,” Shelley told her. Lara sighed as they headed for baggage. This was harder then she had ever expected.

They grabbed their bags and grabbed a cab in front of the airport. Lara gave the name of the hotel Justin said they were staying at and the cabby whistled. “Whoa, ladies, nice digs. Hope you can get a room though…it’s full with that whole NSYNC thing going on.”

Shelley grabbed Lara’s hand and squeezed it. “Oh really? NSYNC?”

“Yeah…they’re stayin’ there, plus the press conferences have been there, so there are reporters, TV people, everything.”

“TV?” Lara faltered. The last thing she needed was to be seen on television.

“Yeah. Kinda crazy. Hope you ladies know someone who can get you in.”

“We do,” Shelley said confidently.

They generously tipped the driver and got out of the cab. Lara looked up nervously. The hotel was ornate, old, and obviously expensive. Not that money was an object for her, but she had never felt comfortable in places like this.

“Okay. I guess I just go up and ask for him,” Lara said, realizing how idiotic it sounded. She whirled around. “I can’t do it. I’m going back to Pennsylvania. There’s no way…”

“Get your ass in and go to the desk. My destiny is upstairs with his bandmates. There is NO way I’m getting this close to Lance and not meeting him,” Shelley snapped, then smiled. “Please?”

Lara smiled back and led the way into the hotel. The doorman helped with their bags and stacked them in a corner of the lobby. “Hi,” she said shyly to the desk clerk. She noticed the man trying NOT to look at her face, and she blushed a furious red. “I…uh…I…”

“Yes, young lady?” The man asked impatiently.

“We’re here to see Justin Timberlake. She’s a friend of his,” Shelley piped up. The man looked down his nose at them.

“Every young lady that’s come through those doors this morning has been a friend of his. I’m sorry, ladies, but I can’t play these games any longer.”

“Please!” Lara called as he turned away. “I swear, it’s true. Call upstairs. Tell him Stripes is down here. Please!”

The man ignored them and continued down the counter to the next person. She sighed and leaned back against the front desk, tears swimming in her eyes. “What was that again?” A feminine voice said. She turned around to see another desk clerk in front of her. “What name?”

“Stripes,” Lara whispered to the clerk. The woman smiled.

“You sound like you really know him. Get me an autograph, okay?” Lara nodded as the woman picked up the house phone.

“And then she took it ALL OFF,” Joey told a delighted Chris and JC.

“You are joking. You MUST be joking,” Chris said, his dark eyes huge.

“No lie, I swear,” Joey insisted.

They were lounging around JC’s hotel suite. Lance was on his cellphone, Joey was talking about the private party he had been at the night before, and Justin was playing around on the Internet. He hadn’t heard from Lara in over a day and a half, and it worried him. The phone rang and JC groaned.

“Hold that thought, Joe.” He answered the phone. “JC. What? Um…okay…hold on.” He placed the phone against his chest. “Justin. It’s the clerk at the front desk. Some dude named Stripes is looking for you?”

Justin jumped out of his chair and took a few steps, almost tripping over the cords to his computer. “What?”

“J, calm down or you’ll sprain the other ankle,” Chris teased. Joey laughed.

“What did you say?” Justin repeated.

“Stripes. Someone named…”

“Is it a guy or a girl?” Justin demanded.

“Hold on. A woman or a man?” JC said into the phone. “Woman,” he told Justin. Justin’s face lit up.

“Oh my God. Tell them to bring her into the conference room we used yesterday. Holy shit!” He yelled before tearing out the door.

“Take her to the conference room, please,” JC said before hanging up. He ran after Justin. JC and Joey grabbed Lance and dragged him out the door, cellphone in hand.

Justin hobbled to the stairwell, ignoring the elevator. “Justin…Justin…you can’t go down three flights of stairs with a sprained ankle!” Lance yelled.

“Oh yes I can!” Justin hobbled as fast as he could without falling over.

“Oh, fuck this,” Joey said with a sigh. He got in front of Justin. “Hop up.” Justin hopped onto the larger man’s back and Joey piggybacked him down the rest of the steps. They darted through the side of the lobby into a back hallway before anyone saw them.

“Okay…okay…put me down!” Justin yelled, laughing as Joey continued to tear around corners.

“You’re supposed to go to conference room two. Down the hall, second door on the left. I’ll make sure your stuff stays here,” the woman said.

“Thank you,” Lara said softly. She stared at the door to the hallway.

“Come ON!” Shelley said. She had quickly realized that the best way to scare Lara out of her fear of the world was to yell at her until she did what you wanted. She tugged Lara’s sleeve and they went through the door to the hallway.

The door to conference room two was open and they went inside. A long table at the front proved that the room was indeed for the NSYNC conference. “Security is probably coming to take us away,” Lara said faintly. “They’re going to…”

“JOEY! Put me down!” A voice yelled as the doors at the other end of the room burst open. Lara’s eyes opened wide at the sight of Joey Fatone carrying Justin on his back, followed closely by JC Chasez, Lance Bass and Chris Kirkpatrick. “Down,” Justin demanded softly as his eyes met Lara’s. “Hey,” he said quietly.

“Hey,” Lara said uncertainly, fidgeting where she stood. Justin hobbled a few steps towards her.

“Don’t I rate? Don’t I even get a hug? Even spoiled pop icons get hugs,” he said with a gentle smile. Lara swallowed a sob and ran to Justin’s open arms. He held her tight, kissing the top of her head. “Damn, I can’t believe you’re here. I’m so glad to see you. What made you come?”

“I read your email,” Lara said, muffled against his shoulder. His arms were so familiar, so comforting. “I missed my friend…and I realized he was right.”

“I missed you too,” Justin said, slowly pulling back. He looked at Shelley and smiled. “You must be Shelley. I’m Justin.”

“Right. I mean, hi,” she said, shaking his hand and giggling a little.

“Thanks for coming,” he told her, shaking her hand then hugging her. Lara smiled at the look of pure bliss on Shelley’s face. “Lara, Shelley, this is JC, Joey, Lance and Chris. This is Lara. Not only is she the person who saved me from freezing to death…she is also the reason that I am online all the time. We’ve been Internet buddies for months now.”

“Hi,” JC said, amazed.

“Did you know this all along?” Chris demanded.

“Nope. I found out by accident in her cabin.”

“Wow. Creepy. Hi,” Joey shook Lara’s hand, then Shelley’s.

“Do you have somewhere to stay?” Justin turned back to Lara. She shook her head.

“No. We just got here and the cab driver told us the place is packed. Maybe there’s another cheaper place…”

“No. Stay here. You and Shelley can have my suite and I’ll shack up with Lance,” Justin said.

Lara began to protest but was interrupted by Lance. “Me? Why me?”

“You’re always on the phone. You won’t even notice I’m there,” Justin told him. The others laughed, amazed at how Justin was taking control of the whole situation. “Let’s go upstairs to my suite and talk. We’ll have your bags sent up.” He limped ahead of the group with his arm around Lara. “Damn, it’s good to see you,” he said again as they walked away.

“What’s going on here?” Chris asked.

“They’re best friends,” Shelley replied.

“Sure they are,” Joey said. The others looked at him. “Anyone else getting the more-then-a-friend vibe here?” Everyone shook their head no but it was obvious they didn’t believe it. “Thought so. I hope they aren’t more than friends. She’s kinda cute.” They followed Justin and Lara out to the staff elevators.

“So, how long will you stay?” Justin demanded as soon as they hit the elevator.

“Well…um…I don’t know…” Lara said uncertainly. “As long as you’ll have us, I guess.”

“We’ll have you all the way to Florida,” Joey said emphatically. Everyone stared at him as Lara turned deep crimson red. “I mean…um…I meant that you could stick around with us. We wouldn’t mind. Right, guys?”

“Right,” JC agreed quickly and the others nodded. Justin gave Joey a weird look before going back to Lara.

“He’s right. Stay with us a long time. Come home with us to Florida,” he suggested eagerly. Lara looked from one man to another before stepping closer to Justin. Just the whole idea of being that close to men was very foreign to her. He threw an arm around her shoulders in a comforting manner.

“I’ll see,” she whispered. The doors opened and Justin led the way to his suite. When they walked in Lance called downstairs to have the girls’ luggage brought up.

“This is amazing,” Shelley said, walking through the four rooms. “My apartment at home isn’t this big.”

“I really only use the bedroom and living room,” Justin agreed.

“God knows you don’t know how to use the kitchen,” JC teased.

“From experience I can tell you he does…he’s very good at cleaning up. Good at making breakfast, too,” Lara shot back. Four mouths fell open.

“You cleaned up?” JC asked, shocked.

“You were up early enough to make breakfast?” Lance gasped.

“Ha ha very funny.” Justin led the way into the bedroom. The bed was still unmade and he blushed slightly at the mess he had left. “There’s only one bed but if you don’t want to share the sofa opens up.” He turned to Lara and smiled. “Bet you like the idea of a real bed, huh?”

“VERY much,” she said, smiling back.

“I’ll sleep on the sofa,” Shelley offered. “I’m up with the birds, anyway.”

“Why don’t you guys all go out into the living room while I pack my stuff up quick?” Justin suggested. The others filed into the living room. Lara stayed back and sat on a chair to watch Justin pack.

“They seem nice,” Lara said finally.

“They are.” Justin shoved some socks into his small duffel bag. “They’re like my big brothers.”

“Right.” Lara nodded. “They okay?”

Justin knew what she meant by those two words. “You have nothing to worry about. Joey is a big flirt sometimes but he’s harmless. A big teddy bear.” He sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand. “I want to tell them. Not the whole story, just that a guy dicked you over and you are a little shy, okay? Would that be all right?”

Lara smiled at his concern. “That will be fine. Hey, just pack what you need. You can come in here whenever you want to get the rest.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Lara grabbed his arm. “No. Thank you.”

When they returned to the living room, the others were in the midst of an animated discussion. “Hey, J, we were just saying we should blow this town after tomorrow and hit NYC early. What do you think?” Chris asked. Justin looked at Lara, who shrugged.

“If we can get away with it, sure.” He looked at his watch. “Shit. We have this party thing tonight that we can’t get out of. I’m sure you don’t want to come along. There will be a lot of publicity.” Justin emphasized the word ‘publicity’ and Lara almost shuddered.

“No thanks. You guys go and have fun,” she told him.

“Aw, come on. I bet you packed something fancy. Come out with us,” Joey said in a cajoling tone. Lara’s eyes grew sad.

“No. No thank you. I don’t go out much. Because of my face and all.”

“What’s wrong with your face?” Joey asked, cocking his head to the side. Justin could have kissed him for the smile that appeared on Lara’s face.

“Anyway. We take Lance out all the time and look at HIS face,” Chris added, earning a smack on the head from Lance.

“Let’s go get ready and then we’ll come back and chat before we go. That way the girls can get unpacked and situated,” JC suggested. Justin grabbed what he needed from his closet and the guys headed out the door.

“Hey, before you go get ready, can you come to Lance’s suite? I have to tell you something,” Justin said in a serious tone.

“Um, sure, J,” Lance said. They all followed Justin into the suite. He closed the door and took a deep breath.

“Look, there’s something I have to tell you about Lara.”

“She’s really your cousin and you’ve been doing her for years. That’s how it works down south, right?” Chris teased. Lance smacked him again.

“I’m serious, Chris.” Justin’s eyes were stormy, and Chris instantly sobered. “Those marks on her face are from an ex-boyfriend. She broke up with him and he decided no one should ever even want her.”

“Holy shit.” Chris was uncharacteristically serious and quiet.

“He…well…he pretty much scared the shit out of her, obviously. If she acts kind skittish, that’s why. Nothing personal against you, except that you’re men. I didn’t know any of this until we met in person. She broke down and told me. If she really tries to hide when we’re out in public, it’s because the guy has threatened to kill her.” The other men gasped as one. “Anyway, I just wanted to explain. And be nice to her, okay? I mean REALLY nice. She freaking saved my life in the woods.”

“Curly, okay already. We will be angels,” Joey promised.

“It’s a big step from hellish studmuffin to angel, Joe,” Chris pointed out as they filed into the hallway towards their suites.

“Okay, how awesome was that!” Shelley began to jump up and down on the sofa. “They were here. In this room. I talked to them. Had a conversation!”

Lara laughed. “Please, Shel, don’t hold anything back.”

“I can’t believe it. DAMN.”

“While you’re cursing I’m gonna unpack my bag and take a shower,” Lara told her, heading for the bathroom.

“No, go shower. Let me unpack first. I need something to do,” Shelley told her. Lara grabbed her shampoo and bathroom things and headed for the giant bathroom with the whirlpool tub and separate shower.

“Okay, I could SO get used to this,” Lara sighed. She stepped in under the hot water and soaked for over twenty minutes.

She whistled as she towel-dried her hair, wrapping another big fluffy towel around her body. This was so incredible. She loved her cabin but had missed special things like hot hot water, fluffy towels, and king-sized beds. For once she didn’t even stare at her reflection in the mirror and mope.

“Okay…Shel…I’m done!” Lara yelled, opening the door. She screamed when she saw Justin in the bedroom, looking for something in the dresser.

Justin whirled around when he heard Lara scream. “OhmyGod! Are you okay? I’m sorry…I forgot something in the dresser and…oh, God. Will you be alright?” He rushed over to give her a hug.

She began to giggle at his over-concern. “No, Justin, I’m fine. You just scared me like, oh, wasn’t expecting to see someone scared me. I’m fine.”

“Okay.” Justin pulled back and looked at her. Her wet hair hung down her back and tiny droplets of water still clung to her bare shoulders. She clutched the towel with both hands and held it together tightly, but he could still see a peek of thigh where the ends came together. “I’m…um…sorry.” He moved away quickly.

Lara wondered why he moved away from her as if she had suddenly acquired leprosy. She swallowed deeply as she took a good look at him. He was dressed classically for once, with dark blue dress pants and a patterned green and blue silk shirt. She swallowed deeply. He looked very grown up and very handsome. “Wow,” she said softly. “Different look for you. I love it.”

“Thank you.” Justin blushed.

“Did you…um…did you find what you were looking for?”

“Oh, yeah…” Justin slid something into his pocket. “I’ll wait in the living room for you.” He darted out into the other room, closing the door behind him.

Lara quickly dried off and got dressed, wondering what had made him run away. She stared into space for a moment, holding her sweatshirt in her hand. He had looked so good…smelled so good…for a moment she had remembered what it was like to be attracted to someone. NO. No way, she told herself. Justin is a friend. Just a friend.

“Oh…go AWAY!” Lara grumbled, burying her head under her pillow as the phone rang. She had laid awake late into the night, flipping channels and trying not to think about her situation and what she should do next. The phone continued to ring. She sighed and grabbed it, pulling it under the pillow. “Yes?”

“Morning, sweetie. Bus leaves in an hour.”

Lara groaned at Justin’s words. Before the guys had gone to their dinner the night before, they had agreed to hop onto one of the busses and head for NYC early. “Already?”

“Yes, already. Lance and I have been up for an hour, trying to wake JC up. Meet you downstairs at ten?”

“Okay,” Lara sighed. She hung up and went out to the living room to wake Shelley.

“I don’t like this,” a large black man was saying to Joey and Chris as Lara and Shelley reached the back parking lot an hour later. “What if something happens?”

“Mikey, you know exactly where we’re going. You even have the numbers for our rooms at the Milford,” Joey pointed out.

“Please? Let us go guardless for once,” Chris begged.

“Fine,” Mikey sighed. Chris hugged him as Joey let out a triumphant yell.

“Hey,” Lance called to the girls as he and Justin came out of the hotel, followed by a stumbling JC.

“Need…bunk…pillows…” JC ignored the others and headed for the bus.

“JC doesn’t do mornings well,” Justin explained.

“You ladies sleep okay?” Lance asked.

“Like a baby,” Shelley told him. Lara just shrugged, causing Justin to give her a concerned look.

“Problems sleeping? You were in the room next to Joey, right?” Chris asked, smacking Joey in the head. “Dammit, Joe, I told you about that. Use your pillow to muffle your moans if you’re gonna watch the Playboy Channel.” Chris gently took Lara by the arm and led her into the bus. “So, tell me about these books…are they smut, or should they be classified as soft porn?”

Justin kept a careful eye on Lara the entire bus ride. He chatted with Lance and Shelley, but his gaze kept wandering to where Lara sat between Chris and Joey on a sofa. Chris was friendly to everyone but Joey was treating her with a gentle flirtatiousness that surprised Justin.

“Can we stop now?” Chris whined at about twelve-thirty. “I’m hungry!”

“Can we?” Lance asked the driver, who nodded.

“Diner about thirty miles up the road.”

“Can your stomach wait that long, Chris?” Lance asked.

“If it has to.” Chris pulled Lara up from the sofa. “Come on. Lemme show you my record collection. YOU’RE old enough to appreciate it.” He gave his bandmates an evil glare before taking her back to his storage area.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Joey pounced on Justin. “She’s cute.”

“Yes, Joey.” Justin knew where this was going.

“And she doesn’t have a boyfriend, right?”

Lance glared at him. “Joe, she’s been living on her own for like two years now. Remember what Justin told us last night.”

“Right…right…I know. I meant a RECENT boyfriend.” Joey stared pointedly at Justin, who laughed.

“Who, ME? Oh, no WAY! We are just friends. Practically best friends. I wouldn’t ruin that with a relationship.” Justin rolled his eyes and the others exchanged glances.

“You’re full of shit, Justin,” JC called sleepily from his bunk.

“Shut up, JC. Go back to sleep,” Justin yelled back, annoyed. “Seriously…she’s been hurt too bad for me to even think that, and besides, it would be like incest or something. She’s like my big sister.”

“You sure about that, J?” Lance asked slowly. Justin stared at him, wondering what was going on.

“Yes, I’m SURE,” Justin snapped back. A big smile lit up Joey’s face.

“Classic.”

“Joey, if you so much as fucking break one of her fingernails, I will kill you. Understand?” Justin had a hold of the front of Joey’s Superman t-shirt before anyone knew what was going on. “Don’t FUCK with her. She’s too special for that.”

“Yeah…Justin…sure…of course not. I wouldn’t even want to do something like that…” Joey promised. Justin slowly released him.

“Oh, man. I can’t believe this. All Duran Duran on vinyl!” Lara exclaimed as she pawed through the crates of records.

“I know…the eighties kicked ass, didn’t they?” Chris said with a smile. “And you’re old enough to understand that. Justin thinks the eighties were an embarrassment.”

“Wasn’t he BORN in the eighties?” Lara asked. Chris laughed so hard he almost fell off the chair he was sitting on.

“No wonder he was obsessed with talking to you,” he said when he caught his breath.

“What do you mean?” Lara said softly.

“He was ALWAYS online. Every free minute. Guess he was looking for you.” Chris began to restack his records as Lara stared out the window, deep in thought. She jumped as the bus pulled off the interstate.

“We’re stopping.”

“Lunch,” Chris told her, holding out his hand to help her up. She shrank back. “What? What’s wrong?”

“I…I don’t like being around people.” Lara had easily forgotten her scarred face while around the others but now reality sank back in. “I’ll just stay here. You can bring me something.”

“No, I will NOT bring you something,” Chris told her. He held her hand firmly. “You’re coming out with us. You are gonna sit next to me and eat lunch.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. She tried to pull her hand from Chris’ but he teasingly held on.

“Come on,” he cajoled.

“NO!” Lara yelled, yanking her hand away with all her might. Justin came running.

“What’s going on? Chris, what the hell are you doing?” He yelled.

“Nothing…nothing, Justin. My fault. I’m sorry, Chris,” she said, blushing a deep red.

“It’s okay…I promise,” Chris said, his eyes full of pity. “I’ll be up front.” He dashed up to the front of the bus.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

“He held my hand and wouldn’t let go. I freaked. That’s all, I swear,” Lara told him, trying to smile. “He wanted me to go in for lunch and I said no.”

“You said no?” Justin gave her a hug. “Honey, you know we’ll protect you. Nothing will happen to you.”

“It’s not that. What if people…look…at me?” Lara asked him sorrowfully.

“Then you look back and stick your tongue out at them,” Justin told her. She couldn’t help but smile.

“THAT’S mature.”

“But it works. It gives them something to REALLY stare at.” Justin smiled back. “Sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, Justin. Chris is a sweetheart. I really like him,” she told him before going back up front. Justin stared at her back.

When they arrived at the Milford Lara was shocked to realize that the seven of them, plus four bodyguards, had been given a whole floor for their use.

“It’s safer, both for us and the hotel,” Joey explained as they all crowded into an elevator. “This way they can secure the floor and not inconvenience anyone.”

“Are you sure you don’t want your own room?” Chris asked Lara. “There are only ten rooms on this floor but we can ask Mikey and someone to shack up. They do it all the time.”

“No. If Shel doesn’t mind sharing, I’d rather stay with her,” Lara said shyly.

“I’d rather you DID stay with me,” Shelley added quickly. She knew that Lara was still slightly overwhelmed by everything.

“I’m right next door if you need anything,” Justin told Lara.

“And I’m right across the hall,” Joey added, earning a glare from Justin.

“We really should check in with management, so we can have the next two days to ourselves,” Lance said apologetically. “We won’t be able to do dinner tonight.”

“That’s right. We have two free days before two days of promo crap,” JC grumbled.

“I’ll call you when we get in tonight,” Justin told Lara. She shook her head.

“Not necessary,” she told him. “Shel and I are grownups. We’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Justin said worriedly. He kissed her cheek and went into his room.

“Are you sure he’s only nineteen?” Shelley asked Lara. “He’s acting more paternal than my DAD.” Lara laughed as Shelley entered their room.

“Lara. Wait. Can I talk to you for a second?” Chris stopped Lara at her door as everyone else went into their rooms. He moved them to the side so the bellhops could bring up their luggage. “We won’t get back until around eight or so, but would you want to go someplace for dinner? Someplace NOT fast food and NOT a diner.”

“Are you asking me on a date?” Lara blushed.

“Yes. Well…um…no. Um…well…not really.” The usually witty Chris was having an obvious problem with words. “You could bring Shelley, and I could invite…”

“Lance?” Lara suggested quickly.

“Okay…Lance. I figure we’ll be done between seven-thirty and eight, and it will take a good thirty minutes to get back. Should I call you when we leave?”

“That sounds good,” Lara said. She smiled and darted into the room. Closing the door behind her, she said, “Shel, did you bring anything nice to wear?”

Twenty minutes later, Lara was walking out of the hotel, a scarf wrapped tightly around her face. Shelley had almost screamed when Lara told her about their dinner date with Lance and Chris. She HAD brought something along to wear, but Lara had to go shopping.

Lara pulled her coat tighter around her. New York winters could be so brutal. She looked up at the street sign on the corner and gasped. She was one block away from the building of her publisher. It was almost five-thirty, but she decided to take a chance.

Lara walked up to the front desk, keeping a tight hold on her scarf. “Melissa Reed, please.”

“And who may I say is here?” The snooty-looking receptionist asked.

“Katherine Morgan,” Lara answered in a tone just as snooty.

The receptionist’s attitude changed. “Oh! Ms. Morgan! One moment!” She phoned upstairs. “Miss Reed will see you immediately. Fourth floor, second office on the right.”

“Thank you.” Lara confidently strode to the elevator. Once inside, she finally allowed herself to rest against the elevator wall.

“Oh, man…come on!” Shelley whined as the phone rang at seven. She was deep in study of her wardrobe, trying to decide what would impress Lance the most. “Hello?”

“Hi, Shelley. It’s Justin.”

“Hey,” Shelley replied with a smile. It was still difficult to believe that she was on the phone with a member of NSYNC.

“We have a two second break and I thought I’d call. Is Lara there?”

“No, I’m sorry. She’s out buying a new outfit for dinner.”

“Wow. Where are you two going?”

“I’m not sure. Lance and Chris are taking us out for dinner.” Shelley plugged in her curling iron. “When do you think you guys will be done?”

“Um, eight, I think.”

“Cool. Tell them we’re really looking forward to this, okay?”

“I will. Bye, Shelley.”

“Bye.” Shelley hung up and went back to staring at her closet.

Justin hit ‘end’ on his cellphone and made a beeline for Chris. “You’re taking Lara out for dinner?”

Chris sighed. They had never seen Justin in protective mode before, and it was getting annoying. “No, I asked if she wanted to go for something to eat, and I suggested that Shelley come along, and Lara suggested I ask Lance. Guess Shelley has the hots for him or something.”

“Or Lara does,” Justin muttered. He had noticed Chris and Lance’s clothes but hadn’t said anything. Lance wore a nice pine green sweater and black dress pants, while Chris had on a wine red long sleeved shirt and khaki’s.

“Is this a problem, J? I thought you guys were just friends.”

Justin glared at him. “We ARE. Like I said, she’s like a sister to me.”

Joey, who had been eavesdropping during the entire conversation, said, “Incest is best, put your…”

Lance smacked him before he could finish. “Come on, guys. Let’s wrap this up so we can leave.”

“I hope you have fun,” Justin told Chris.

“Thanks. And before you say anything else, I promise to protect her and not lay a hand on her,” Chris said before returning to the conference room.

“You’d better not,” Justin said to Chris’ retreating back.

“Did they call yet?” Lara asked anxiously, bursting through the door with her arms full of bags.

Shelley looked at the clock. Seven-thirty. “Chris and Lance didn’t call, but Justin did.”

“Justin?” Lara called over her shoulder as she peeled off clothing on her way to the shower. “What did he want?”

“To check up on you.” Shelley followed Lara and sat on the edge of the bed. “It’s so cute.”

Lara poked her head around from inside the bathroom and rolled her eyes. “Puhleeze. He’s acting more like a big brother than a nineteen year old.”

“Maybe he wants to be more,” Shelley suggested. Lara rolled her eyes again then went back to the shower.

“Doubtful.”

“So he’s fair game then?” Shelley called over the running water.

The water stopped and Lara poked her head out once more. “Well, uh, I guess. He IS kinda young, though. And what about Lance?”

“He’s yummy,” Shelley said, a dreamy look in her eye. “But so is Justin.” The phone rang and Lara hurried back to the shower as Shelley went to answer it.

“You’re sure I look okay?” Lara turned in front of the mirror.

“Yes,” Shelley announced with a sigh. She eyed her own floral print dress critically.

“I don’t want to embarrass them. I mean, my face is bad enough.” Lara looked at herself carefully. She wore flowing dark blue pants and a sleeveless matching turtleneck, covered by a short blue jacket.

“Lara, this is New York City. There are REAL freaks out there. No one even notices you.”

“Whatever,” Lara mumbled as someone knocked on the door. She tried not to run to answer it. “Oh, hi,” she said when she saw Justin.

“Glad to see you, too,” he said with a frown. “You look…wow.” His blue eyes traveled from her low-heeled shoes up to the still damp hair piled on her head in a large clip.

“Thanks,” Lara replied, blushing.

“Um, Lance and Chris are downstairs in the limo. They thought it would be easier that way,” he told her.

“Oh, okay. Come on, Shel! They’re downstairs!” Lara called over her shoulder. Shelley grabbed her purse and hurried to the door.

“Hi, Shel, you look nice,” Justin said politely.

“Thanks, Justin. Ready?” Shelley turned to Lara.

“As I’ll ever be.”

Shelley started down the hall and Lara began to follow her. Justin grabbed her hand. “Have a really good time. You look beautiful, and Chris is a nice guy,” he told her. “I know you’re nervous, but there is NO reason to be.”

“Sometimes I feel you see right through to my heart,” Lara said with a smile.

“That’s what friends are for.” He kissed her forehead. “Go have fun.”

The chauffeur held the door open and Lara and Shelley tried to enter the limo as gracefully as possible. They sat on the seat opposite Chris and Lance.

“Hope you weren’t waiting TOO long,” Lance said with a smile.

“Oh, no. Lara needed the extra time, anyway,” Shelley replied. Lara shoved her.

“It was time well spent. You look beautiful.” Chris handed Lara a single white rose. She gasped.

“White roses are my favorite flower! How did you know?”

“A little brillo birdie told me,” he replied with a grin.

“Oh, great. I didn’t know you were bringing flowers. Make me look bad, why don’t ya?” Lance moaned. “I’m sorry, Shelley.”

“It’s okay.” She turned to Lara. “Why were you so late, anyway?”

“I stopped and met my publisher, Melissa. We’ve never met face to face before.”

“And she still agreed to print your work?” Chris asked as the limo pulled up in front of a small Italian restaurant.

Lara nodded. “I simply told her that because of personal issues I couldn’t meet with her. Guess my work was good, because she said she didn’t care.”

“It IS good,” Shelley told her.

They were seated at a secluded table in the back. Lara tried to get the seat with its back to the rest of the room. Chris held out the chair to the left, but Lara remained standing behind the chair of her choice. Chris quickly moved over to pull it out, smiling apologetically.

“I haven’t been out this nice in AGES,” Lara said.

“This place is FANTASTIC,” Lance told her. “We try to sneak out here whenever we’re in the city.”

Dinner passed rather uneventfully. Lara became more relaxed, but still felt as if everyone was staring at her. Chris did his best to distract her, telling her stories of touring to make her laugh. What really made her laugh, however, was when Chris kept exaggerating the truth just to get a rise out of Lance.

“No, I swear,” Chris told them. “One of the tour busses carries NOTHING but mousse for Lance’s hair.”

“You are so full of shit, Kirkpatrick,” Lance snapped, self-consciously running his fingers through his short hair.

“Whatever. Notice how he had to struggle to get his fingers through that mess,” Chris pointed out. Lara howled with laughter. Lance was handsome and sweet, but he just couldn’t keep up with Chris’ quick wit.

“Dessert, ladies?” Lance asked with a sigh.

“Ugh, no, thank you. I feel like a cow already,” Shelley moaned.

“You definitely don’t look like one,” he replied, making her blush.

“We’re only about ten blocks from the hotel, and it isn’t TOO cold out. Want to walk back?” Chris asked Lara. She looked down at her shoes. They weren’t TOO high…and she figured she could make it ten blocks. She looked at Shelley.

“Shel?”

“I should be okay. My coat’s not too heavy, but if we walk fast…”

“I’ll keep you warm,” Lance said. They all stared at him and he turned a furious red. “I mean…I…well…”

“Check, please!” Chris called.

Chris and Lara walked a few yards behind Lance and Shelley. Lance and Shelley were walking fast, but he had an arm around her shoulder and she was snuggled tight against him. “Looks like they’re getting along well,” Lara remarked.

Chris took her hand and tucked it through his arm, pulling her closer but not too close. “I hope so. He’s been lonely since he broke up with Danielle.”

“Danielle?”

“Topanga from Boy Meets World?” Chris asked.

“Oh, yes,” she said, nodding. Lara knew all about that, of course, but didn’t want to sound like an obsessed fan.

“He needs someone nice,” Chris continued.

“So does Shel,” Lara replied. “How about you?”

“Oh, I date people here and there. I’m not sure I’m ready for something serious right now. I mean, I wanna settle down sometime, but maybe after this promo thing I’ll start looking.”