Part 21

Finally, Talia put the Jeep back in drive and drove the rest of the way back to her apartment. She had to talk to someone. Her mom was out of the question considering the lecture she gave Talia about Justin already. 'Kimmy.' Talia picked up the phone and dialed the number. She didn't care if it was long distance and prayed for Kimmy to be home on this Friday night. Six rings. 'Come on Kimmy.'

"Hello?" A breathless Kimmy answered the phone.

"Dang girl, where were you?" Talia asked.

"I just got out of the shower. To what do I owe this surprise?"

Talia sank down on the couch thankful for someone to spill her heart out to. "Oh Kimmy. I think something went really wrong today." She began.

Kimmy sighed. "It's that Justin guy isn't it?"

"Yah. And he's more than 'that Justin guy.' Do you remember that wish I made when I was 10 and my parents were getting divorced?"

"The guy wish?" Kimmy answered after thinking for a second.

"You got it. This is it Kimmy. He is THE guy. I know it." Talia was on the verge of tears just thinking about it.

"Well then what's so wrong about that?"

"He's got a girlfriend. One that he doesn't remember, but a girlfriend nonetheless. And I kissed him. 3 times."

"Oh that's not a good thing. Wait. You said that he doesn't remember her, right?" Kimmy was trying to make her friend feel better.

"No he doesn't remember her. But the doctor said that his amnesia is temporary and that his memory should return at any time. That doesn't change the fact that it's just plain wrong either. You know how I feel about that stuff. But when he looks at me, I melt. Plain and simple. All he has to do is smile at me or give me those puppy dog eyes and I just melt. He's got the most amazing blue eyes I've ever seen. And his lips… his lips are beyond perfect." Talia went on and on until Kimmy finally stopped her.

"Hey. Slow down there speed racer. This guy has got you in a big tizzy. You've got it bad girl." Kimmy shook her head. "Now if he is THE guy, then you've got nothing to worry about. Fate will take over and he'll be yours… eventually. But for right now, my advice to you is to take a step back and evaluate things. Don't go see him, don't call him, and try as hard as you can not to think about him. He's got to get his memory back before you can really do anything." Kimmy paused for a minute. "'Lia?"

"I'm here." Talia replied. "You're right and I know you are. But all of that is easier said than done. All I can tell you is that I'll try. Listen. I'd better go for now, don't want my phone to get shut off." They said their goodbyes and Talia hung up the phone. She did know that Kimmy was right. She needed to keep some space between her and Justin for awhile, and just hope that it didn't kill her.

Justin took a minute to relax before he called his mother and Jc. He called his mom first and assured her that he was still alive. She didn't seem to worried and said that she figured he was with Talia. Next was Jc. Justin was too enthused about making that call because Jc had been so uptight about where he was in the first place.

"Hello?" Jc answered the phone almost before it finished the first ring.

"Jc? It's Justin. Look man, I'm sorry that no one called about where I was. I didn't think it was a big deal." Justin began.

"It's no big deal Justin. We were just worried that you had went out by yourself. I shouldn't have overreacted so much." Jc replied. He hesitated a little, then asked, "So, any revelations today?"

Justin sighed, but didn't get upset with Jc for asking. He could understand that they were anxious to get things back to normal. He was too, but he had no control over that. "Hey. Why don't we get together, everybody, tomorrow night at my place and watch movies or something?"

Jc agreed. They talked for a little while longer, then Justin said that he was tired. After he hung up, Justin took a shower and got ready for bed.

When Talia woke up the next morning, her first thought was of Justin. She shook it off and tried to think of something to do all day. No matter what happened, she was going to try and stay away from him today. She got out her books and sat down at the kitchen table to try and get some work done. The past week had left her way behind in her classes. Surprisingly, she was able to concentrate on her schoolwork and was uninterrupted for three hours. Talia had just gotten up to stretch a little when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey 'Lia. It's Justin."

He hadn't even had to tell her who is was. She recognized his voice as soon as the first syllable was out of his mouth. "Hi Justin. What's up?"

"Well I was wondering if you could come over this evening. My mom and the guys are going to come over and we're just gonna hang out and watch movies and stuff." Justin told her.

Talia thought for a minute. She had told herself she wasn't going to go over there. But, they wouldn't be alone, everyone else would be there. "Sure. What time?"

"Everyone else is going to be here about 6 tonight." He said.

"Okay. I'll see you then. Bye Justin." Talia hung up quickly, before he had a chance to ask her to be there before everyone else. She sat back down at the table and continued working.

Justin hung up the phone and smiled to himself. He hoped that everyone coming over tonight would do something to trigger his memory. He hadn't really spent any time with the guys since he'd gotten out of the hospital, and maybe if he did, it would trigger something in his absent memory. He had decided that if he was going to get Talia to love him like he was thinking he loved her, then he had to regain his memory and prove to her that he felt nothing for Liz. So from now on, Justin was going to do everything he could to get his memory back, even if it meant spending the better part of his waking hours with the guys. Sooner or later he had to remember something.

The hours passed surprisingly quickly for Talia. She was so caught up in her work that the time away from Justin didn't bother her too much. When the clock on the wall said 4:30pm, she put her books away and got ready to go over to Justin's.

Liz couldn't stand being left in the dark about what was going on, and decided to call over to Jc's apartment.

"Hello?"

"Jc. It's Liz."

"Oh hi Liz. What can I do for you?" Jc didn't want to say too much because he knew that Justin had gotten Lynn to ask Liz to leave for the time being. He did feel sorry for her though.

"I was just wondering how Justin was doing. And I didn't want to call over there and bother him." Liz said, trying not to sound nosey.

"Well he's doing fine. He still hasn't remembered anything, but I'm sure that he's working on that. In fact, we're all going over there to watch movies and just hang out tonight." As soon as Jc told her, he had a thought that he shouldn't have said anything. He should have let Justin tell her himself. But it was too late to take it back.

"Oh well that's nice. Maybe that will help him remember something. That's all I wanted Jc, is to know how he was. I'll talk to you later. Bye." Liz hung up the phone and started thinking. She had to show up over there.

Justin paced the floor in the living room, wanting to get things under way. He wanted his mom and the guys to spend some time around Talia so that they would know how great she was. Finally, there was a knock on the door. It was Lynn. She came in and her and Justin sat down on the couch and talked for a while. Talia was the next one to arrive.

"Mom. You've met Talia." Justin said as he led Talia to the couch.

"Hello Mrs. Harless." Talia greeted her politely.

"Hello again Talia." Lynn replied.

The three of them sat on the couch until Jc, Lance, Joey, and Chris arrived. They popped some popcorn and put a movie in. Trying to be as nonchalant as possible, Justin put his arm around Talia's shoulders. He felt her stiffen at first, then relax a little. Everyone got comfortable for the first movie. About 30 minutes into it, there was another knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Joey offered and jumped up from his place on the floor. He trotted over to the door and opened it without looking through the peep hole.

Liz came walking into the apartment and her eyes fixed on Justin. They narrowed when she saw that he had his arm around Talia.


Part 22

Talia saw as Liz entered the living room area and also noted the stern glare that had appeared on her face. She quickly shrugged Justin's arm from around her shoulder and looked at Justin pleadingly. She scooted over a little bit away from him and rested herself against the arm rest of the couch. Justin looked toward Talia and then to Liz. "Hello Liz," Justin said quietly. "take a seat we're just watching some movies. Right now it's the… Star Wars Trilogy. Can you just feel the excitement?" Justin laughed a little but was told to hush by JC. He smiled and shrugged, he could sense Talia's apprehensiveness about being there with Liz in the same room. She knew that made her uncomfortable. She had listed it as the reason they couldn't 'interact' like he had hoped they could.

Liz noticed that there was no way that she could sit next to Justin. Lynn was on his one side and of course Talia was on his other. She always seemed to be.

"Excuse me," Talia whispered as she pulled herself to her feet. "Out of popcorn. Anyone want anything?"

A chorus of no's followed and she suddenly was off the couch, away from Justin. She stood, leaning on the counter and rubbed her hands over her face. 'Why do I do this to myself?' she asked. She opened the bag of popcorn and poured some into the near empty bowl. She decided that she could get home after the first film, leaving Justin to deal with everyone. She hated the thought but she couldn't stay there with Liz in the room. The guilt of the kisses loomed large and the thoughts she had every time she looked at Justin only caused her more grief.

Liz sank down into the spot Talia had vacated. Justin cringed at how she did it so simply, so snidely. 'How did I like her… love her?' he asked himself. She smiled that fake, plastic smile at him and rubbed his arm. "How are you doing?" she asked. Even her concern seemed fake, or at least forced.

"I've had a good few days," Justin smiled. He was being truthful, the day before had been his best since the accident. A full day with Talia, kisses included he wasn't about to complain. He couldn't. "Excuse me."

Justin got up and walked to the kitchen where Talia was still standing in silence by the counter. "Hey you." Talia heard his voice and her head snapped up. His hand lay stiffly on her lower back. "Are you okay with Liz being here?"

"I'm fine… why wouldn't I be?" Talia turned toward him.

"Cause of what happened yesterday," Justin said. She commended his tone, it was concerned yet sincere. 'He's the only guy who can pull THAT off' she thought.

"Nothing really happened yesterday." Talia cleared her throat.

"Okay so you're going to play that way huh?" Justin smirked. He tucked a flowing piece of auburn hair behind her ear and grazed her cheek with his thumb.

"Until you get your memory back there are no alternate rules," Talia said honestly, "we discussed that Justin. We discussed that after kiss number one. I guess after kiss number three you need a refresher course in why this cannot happen."

Justin sighed, defeated.

"It's my fault," Talia said quietly. She brushed past him and back into the living room where everyone was engulfed in the movie. She was thankful for that, no one seemed to notice that her and Justin were even gone. It was better that way. No questions would be asked of her... of them. She noticed that Liz was in the seat she had vacated and mumbled something under her breath.

Justin re-entered the room to find Talia searching for a place to sit. "Sit on the couch... I got the floor," he said quietly.

"No no," Talia shook her head. "I think I'm going to head out anyway... I have to get some work done." Justin's face fell as she said those words.

"You HAVE to go?"

"Yeah..." Talia sighed. What was it about him that made her always want to stay? That made leaving where he was so difficult?

The credits began to roll on the movie and JC jumped up from his spot and rewound the tape.

"Talia is leaving," Justin announced, "she has some school stuff to do. I tried to convince her to stay but... she can't."

"Sorry," Talia shrugged, "hate the school work but it has to get done. Doesn't do itself. Nice meeting all of you again."

"BYE TALIA!" everyone chorused. Justin walked Talia to the door to say good night.

"I guess after the speech you gave me it'd be wrong of me to kiss you again," Justin smirked. Talia simply nodded.

"Good night Justin."

"Night Lia. Sleep well."

Talia started down the hall and stepped into the elevator. "Don't count on it."

"She's a sweet girl... Talia," Lynn observed out loud as Justin came back into the living room. Justin nodded and hesitantly slid between his mother and Liz on on the couch.

"Any memories?" Liz asked sweetly, almost too sweetly.

"Well I vaguely remember watching movies with everyone," Justin sighed, "but that's nothing when it comes to actually recovering my memory. I just want it back..."

"Well that's probably the first step," Lance pointed out, "actually wanting your memory back."

"Yeah I'm glad you're at least trying," Liz smiled. She rubbed Justin's knee and he shifted away from her. "There is so much worth remembering."

"I'm sure," Justin almost laughed. 'Not like I'm doing it for you anyway...'

Talia collapsed on her couch. It still held a certain amazing scent from Justin's cologne yesterday. It brought her back to the feeling she had when his lips were firmly pushed to hers. The feeling of his hands on her back, her face, her arms... everywhere that he touched had adopted a warm sensation. She had never been so dizzy with feeling before and she liked it. That was what worried her the most. 'Maybe Kimmy was right... I need to back off.'


Part 23

After Talia left, Justin wasn't excited about the whole movie get together. He had really wanted her to spend time around these guys that were supposed to be his friends and his mother. Because if Justin had his way, they would all be seeing a lot more of her after he got his memory back. But he knew that he had to get through this night. He went and sat back down beside his mother. Liz of course, ensconced herself as close as possible next to him. Justin managed not to say anything to her and made it through the second movie. Jc hopped up to rewind the tape and everyone else got up and stretched as well.

Lynn stood up along with everyone else and said, "I'm going to get going. Late nights aren't for old people ya know." She winked at the guys and they all hugged her. Justin was the last in line. As she pulled her son into her arms, she whispered in his ear, "If you need to talk, you know my number."

Justin smiled at the way his mom could tell when there was something bothering him. Right now, that something was Liz. She seemed very determined to get Justin back in her life. He didn't think that was going to happen even when he got his memory back. As far as he was concerned, there was no way any feelings he'd had for her could compare to what he felt for Talia. And he was beginning to get a bad vibe about her. Something wasn't right, he knew it, but he just couldn't put his finger on what it was.

After everyone made trips to the bathroom and kitchen to stock up on refreshments, they all settled in to catch the last movie.

Talia just sat on the couch not moving, trying to decide what to do about Justin. The feelings she had for him were definitely a little scary, but they felt so right. She did have morals though, and refused to break up anything that another couple had going on. Justin and Liz were a couple. Even if he didn't remember it. Her biggest fear at that point in time was that he was going to get his memory back and want to forget everything that had happened between them. What if he and Liz had been some sort of super couple? Talia didn't know if she would be able to handle that revelation. She was just going to have to control herself until he got his memory back. She sighed, not liking how hard that was going to be, and trudged off to bed.

Justin sat watching the movie and was aware of Liz's overwhelming presence next to him. He wasn't really interested in the movie and let his mind drift. All of a sudden, he got a very clear picture of something that happened months earlier. He had been with the guys, here at his apartment. They had been watching "The Waterboy" and laughing hysterically the whole movie. Forgetting about the bowl of popcorn in his lap, Justin jumped up off the couch, showering Joey, Jc, Lance and Chris with the kernels.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Chris asked.

"I just remembered something!" Justin shouted.

Jc ran stopped the movie and turned the lights on. "What was it Justin?"

Justin recounted the memory he had and was rewarded with four smiles from the guys. They began chattering excitedly and surrounded Justin. The movie, and Liz, were forgotten for the moment as the five best friends frolicked around the room. Jc was acting like a little kid with a new toy. He was happy that Justin had finally remembered something, even if it was as small as a movie that they had watched together.

Liz looked on with envy as the five guys bounced around the living room. Why couldn't Justin have remembered something about being with her? She was sitting right next to him after all. Instead he had to have a stupid memory, one that would do her absolutely no good. Then she remembered what the doctor had said; once he started remembering, it should all come back quickly. But she also recalled the little tidbit about emotional trauma. She wished that she could just erase the events the night of Justin's accident. Then she wouldn't have all this guilt on her mind.

The guys had started throwing things at each other in their excitement. Popcorn, pillows, anything they could get their hands on, they sent flying through the air. Chris grabbed a basketball from the end of the couch and tossed it at Justin.

Justin caught the ball easily and froze. Dozens of scenes began running through his head, making him dizzy. As the memories became faster and more blurred, Justin got dizzier. Finally he collapsed in a heap on the floor.

The other guys hadn't noticed that Justin had stopped in the middle of the floor until they heard a thud and Liz's high pitched scream. They looked at her and she was pointing to where Justin lay unconscious on the floor.

"Oh my god!" Joey exclaimed as they rushed over to where he was laying.

"Get back guys and give him some air." Jc's voice was calm and broke through their worry. Joey picked Justin up and laid him on the couch. Lance darted into the kitchen and came back with a glass of cold water, then flicked droplets on Justin's face.

Finally Justin's eyes fluttered and opened. He saw everyone standing around him. "What happened?" He asked, feeling very disoriented.

"We don't know man, we were hoping you could tell us." Chris replied.

Justin blinked and shook his head trying to clear the cobwebs out. He thought for a minute, then remembered what had made him so dizzy. He sat up and smiled at the guys.

"What?" Jc asked impatiently.

"When I caught that basketball Chris threw at me, all this stuff starting running through my head. Just a lot of different, random scenes. There were some of the five of us playing basketball." Justin paused to smile. "And yes Lance, I remember that you can't play. Then there were some of concerts and a bunch of screaming girls."

Lance was grinning rather hugely at the comment Justin made. "Well, I'm glad we triggered something, even if we weren't trying."

"Yeah. I think that's part of what helped. We were all just goofing off and didn't mean to do anything." Justin was smiling too. He felt as if he were getting his friends back.

Liz couldn't resist asking if he remembered anything about her. "Did you remember anything else sweetie?"

Justin looked at her. He'd almost forgotten that she was there. But of course, she wouldn't let him do that. "No Liz. I'm sorry, but I didn't remember anything about the two of us." He replied, trying his best not to sound annoyed.

Liz could hear the edge in his voice though and decided to leave. "Well guys, I'm going to head home and leave you to your guy stuff." She placed a kiss on Justin's cheek and walked out the door.

There was a moment of silence after Liz left. Jc finally turned to Justin. "She does make you uncomfortable doesn't she?"

Justin was glad that someone finally sensed it. After the small breakthrough he'd just had, he felt a little more comfortable around the guys and decided to ask them a question. "Yes, Jc, actually she does. Can I ask you guys something?" He paused and waited for them to nod. They did and he continued. "How was I around Liz?"

They all thought for a minute and Lance was the first to speak up. "Well, to tell you the truth, we didn't see much of the two of you together. I mean, she hung out with the five of us sometimes, but mostly she would just whisk you off somewhere so that the two of you could be alone."

Justin thought about that for a minute. "Did I talk about her much? And do you remember if we were having problems?"

Jc was the one to answer this time. "Well, actually, now that I think about it, you didn't really go into details about your relationship. And you did have a small disagreement the day before your accident, but you didn't really give us any details."

Justin thought about Jc's answer. All the more reason for the bad feeling he was getting about Liz. She was hiding something and he had to get to the bottom of it.


Part 24

Every time Talia managed to close her eyes Justin would appear. He'd always look handsome, well groomed and he'd always be wearing that impeccable smile. She couldn't get enough of that smile. Her mind played the night when she found him; she had never recalled that memory so vividly before. She recalled the blood that was running from his mouth, the bruises that had already formed on his face. The tears in his shirt and the helpless feeling she felt. She called 911; it was the least she could do. She was brought up with the desire to help people in need. He needed her then, like she needed him now.

If she took time to think about the night at his apartment, it caused her head to spin. He wanted her to meet his friends, spend time with his mother. He was so suave and smooth as he slipped his arm around her. She couldn't help but feel protected by him even though he was the one that was lost.

"So tell us a little about Talia," JC urged, "you seem to spend a lot of time with her." Justin nodded and made it evident that he was trying to pick and choose his words carefully. Even with this newfound understanding of friendship he seemed to have with the guys there were some things they just didn't need to know. They didn't need to know how she made him feel. That she entranced him, that she found her way into his every thought and dream. They certainly didn't need to know that there was a kiss… or two… or three. What if one of them had some type of allegiance to Liz? Then he'd be in trouble.

"Talia is amazing," Justin said honestly.

"And cute," Joey laughed.

"You would say that… cause you're well… you," Justin laughed. He sat up on the couch and looked around the room. All faces registered an expression of shock. "Was it something I said?"

"You just insinuated something about Joey's personality that was RIGHT ON." Chris clasped his hands together in excitement.

"He's a flirt," Justin shrugged, "I remember that."

"Wow. The doctor was right once one thing hits a bunch of stuff just falls into place behind it huh?" Lance wondered out loud. He couldn't help but wonder if this was now becoming too much for Justin, too much information to process for one night.

"You know what… we better get going," JC said quietly. He must have been reading Lance's mind. They extended Justin an invitation to visit and hang out with them the next day, which he readily accepted.

Justin saw the guys out the door and smiled when they left. He was making progress, certain progress. His immediate reaction was that he had to call Talia. He had to tell her what happened after she left. He regretted that she was unable to hang around and see for herself the positive strides he had taken that night. He also wanted to talk to her about the negative vibe he felt about Liz. Maybe that would soften her up to the idea that something could happen… maybe between them.

Talia tossed and turned in her sleep. Her dreams were becoming clearer to her. Justin stood before her, with an angelic glow. The stars shining behind him as a clear-cut message that it was him who she had wished so hard for. She slowly walked toward him, her feet carrying her slower then she ever would dare to go. As she got closer she reached her arms out to him, wanting to just hold him. He looked at her briefly then turned his attention to the shadow beside him. Talia could feel her heart sink as he embraced Liz tightly.

Her eyes shot open and she could feel herself gasping for breath. It was the definite reminder she needed that she was getting too close for comfort. It was her fear. That she'd get attached and he'd leave for Liz. She couldn't even blame him if that happened. He was as alone in this as she was.

Talia casually slid out of bed and padded to the kitchen to get something to drink. She turned on the stove and prepared some tea for herself. She couldn't see herself getting much more sleep that night which was too bad for her. The microwave clock read 1:23AM.

Talia sipped her tea and flipped through an old catalogue trying to keep her attention on something OTHER than Justin and the situation that was her life at the moment. The phone rang breaking her thoughts. She couldn't help but feel fear at what this telephone call meant. She had always worried about late night phone calls since she was 7 years old and her grandmother died. She remembered distinctly hearing the phone ring at almost 3AM.

"Hello."

"Talia…? You sound tired."

Talia smiled, it was Justin's voice on the other end. "Well, it is almost one thirty in the morning. I just woke up from a bad dream."

"Oh… are you okay?" he asked. He was concerned, again she could simply tell by his voice. He seemed to leave everything open to her. Every emotion was there for her to examine and pick apart if she so desired.

"Oh I'm fine. Just tired." Talia yawned and Justin smiled as he heard her breath escape into the phone. "Why are you calling so late… or should I say early?"

"I had some memories tonight. I wanted to call and tell you everything about it," Justin said excitedly. He fell backwards onto his bed and proceeded to tell Talia about the memories he had about playing basketball and about Joey's flirtatious nature. Talia couldn't help but smile at how animated he was in telling the story. She had a clear picture of him in her mind, making faces, doing hand gestures.

"That's great Justin!" Talia smiled after he was finished telling her what happened.

"I wished you were there," Justin said softly.

"Yeah me too," Talia coyly admitted. "But no matter who was there… as long as it happened."

"I guess so but it wore me out," Justin laughed, "made me dizzy."

"I'm sure." Talia felt herself smile. "Was Liz there when you remembered?"

"Some of it." Justin said quietly, "She left when she realized none of the memories I had were about her."

"Those will come in time. She just has to realize that. It must be difficult."

"JC said something interesting though about Liz…" Justin trailed off. Talia's curiousity was peaked.

"What's that?"

"He said that before I left to go see her on the night of the accident that we weren't on the best terms. But I never spoke to them about my relationship with her, so that leaves me and her as the only ones who know the first thing about what we had. That makes it SO difficult."

Talia felt her breath get caught in her throat. "Yeah… difficult." Her mind was reeling, he and Liz WEREN'T on the best terms the last time the guys had seen him. That had to mean something.


Part 25

Justin and Talia talked for a long time. When they finally hung up, Talia looked at the clock and saw that it was 3:30 in the morning. 'Good grief' she thought to herself. Surprisingly though, Justin had calmed her nerves and her fears, and she went to lay back down to try and catch a few more hours of sleep.

The next day, Jc came to pick Justin up so that he could hang out with the guys. They were going to do a little bit of everything that the guys knew Justin used to enjoy. This was all going to be without telling him because they didn't want to put too much pressure on Justin. First they were heading to the basketball court.

Jc pulled the Cherokee into the parking lot and Justin saw that Lance, Chris, Joey were there waiting for them. After they warmed up, Justin and Chris paired up against Joey and Jc.

Justin looked over to where Lance was sitting on the sidelines. "Are you ever going to learn to play basketball, Lansten?" After he said it, he realized that all the guys were smiling at him.

"Let's see if you actually remember HOW to play." Joey mocked from his defensive position.

"We'll see, BOY." Justin laughed and made sure to put extra emphasis on the 'boy' part of the sentence.

Talia crawled out of bed and saw that it was after 10am. 'That's what I get for going to bed so late.' She thought as she trudged to the shower to try and wake up. It did help, and after drying off and getting dressed, she was ready for the day. Deciding to head to the campus library to get some research done for her American Studies class, Talia grabbed her books and hurried down the stairs to her Jeep.

After almost an hour of playing non-stop, all four guys were breathing hard and sweating buckets. Justin was laughing and having a genuinely good time. Just the basketball game alone had brought back many memories of hanging out with the guys. He remembered a few concerts, going to the movies, just watching movies, and numerous other things.

"Well I guess you found out I still got game." Justin taunted Joey and tossed the ball at him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Joey muttered. He was just as happy as anyone else to have Justin almost back to his old self, even if that meant getting whipped at basketball again.

Chris was bouncing around because he was the other member of the winning team and Lance had been sitting off to the side laughing the whole time. It was a proven fact he couldn't play basketball, and he didn't mind anyways because he didn't particularly enjoy getting all sweaty.

Justin ran up and jumped on Lance's lap. "Didn't want you to feel left out." He said, ruffling Lance's hair.

Lance made a face and pushed Justin off his legs. "Get your stinky ass off me Timberlake." The guys goofed around at the court for a few more minutes then decided to go shower and change.

"Let's go back to my place. I think you guys still have some extra clothes over there." Justin suggested. Everyone agreed without making a big deal out of Justin remembering such a small detail of his life.

Talia looked up from the books piled around her and saw that it was nearly 3pm. 'Well at least I managed to get some work done.' She thought. She had actually made it almost the entire time at the library without daydreaming about Justin. Until then anyways. She wondered where he was and what he was doing. He had told her this morning on the phone that he was supposed to hang out with the guys. She hoped that had enabled him to regain some more of his memory. Sighing, Talia went back to her reading.

Justin opened the door to his apartment. He started up the stairs. "I'm going to take a shower up here. One of you can get in down here." He went up to his room and shed his sweaty clothes. After taking a quick shower, he picked up the phone, wanting to see what Talia was doing today. He dialed her number but got her answering machine. "Hey 'Lia, it's Justin. I just wanted to see what you were doing and let you know that I'm getting more and more of my memory back. The guys and I went and played basketball. I think that was what brought most of it on. And yes, to answer your question from a few days back, I AM a UNC fan. Anyways, call me when you get home or something. If I'm not here, leave a message. I'll be with the guys. Later." Justin hung up the phone and sat staring at the walls for a few minutes. Then he got up and got dressed again and went back downstairs.

Jc, Lance and Joey were sitting on the couch watching TV. Justin assumed that Chris was in the shower. It looked like Jc had taken one too. "Lance you can go take a shower upstairs if you want." Justin said and plopped down on the couch.

After everyone was clean again, the guys decided to go see a movie. This time they all piled into Jc's Cherokee and headed to the movie theater. Before they got out, they all put on hats and sunglasses to try and keep people from recognizing them. Finally, they were settled in and the movie was about to start.

Talia finally decided to call it a day around 5pm. She went home and checked her messages. A smile crossed her face when she listened to the one that Justin had left. She dialed his number and got his machine, but didn't leave a message. She'd just call him back later.

About half an hour into the movie, Justin started getting flashes of him and Liz watching a movie. In his mind, he saw them laughing and having a good time, throwing popcorn at each other. Then they snuggled up together and watched the movie. Jc nudged Justin in the arm and brought him out of his revelrie.

"Hey, you okay Curly?"

"Yeah, just some more memory flashes." Justin told him and they went back to paying attention to what was happening on the big screen. Justin wasn't really listening though, he was thinking about what he has just remembered. Apparently he and Liz had a decent relationship at one point. But that didn't make his bad feeling that she was hiding something go away. And the memories didn't bring any feelings back with them either. None of that affected the way he felt about Talia and Justin didn't think that anything could.


parts 26-30



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