Chapter 13
Justin knocked on Tiffanie's door exactly 30 minutes later as he'd promised. He was wearing a black bandana, a sleeveless black shirt, dark denim blue jeans and new black and silver tennis shoes.
The door opened and Tiffanie emerged dressed in a black glittery handkerchief hem tube top, dark denim capri pants and black strappy platform sandals. Her dark hair was softly curled and pulled away from her face by glittery butterfly clips. She wore only eyeliner, a touch of mascara, and clear lipgloss. She'd dusted her eyelids with a silver glittery powder moments before Justin's knock came on her door.
"It's not polite to stare," joked Tiffanie laughing nervously. Justin had been staring at her for quite a while since she'd opened the door. She was beginning to worry.
"I'm sorry.. It's just that... you look so amazing," he said softly as they began walking down the hallway.
Tiffanie smiled shyly.
"Thanks... you don't look so bad yourself... studmuffin!"
Justin laughed.
"Thanks. And we're matching again!"
"Hey... great minds think alike," replied Tiffanie as they got into the elevator. She noticed Justin staring at her the whole way down.
"Would you stop it already?!" exclaimed Tiffanie as the elevator reached the bottom floor.
"Huh? What?" asked Justin snapping out of his daze and walking through the elevator doors.
"Stop staring at me like that!" she said laughing.
He smiled.
"I can't help it... you're breathtaking," he murmured. He put his arm around her as they walked out into the parking lot. Tiffanie smiled and lay her head on his shoulder.
* * * * * * * * * *
Justin and Tiffanie walked out of the movie theatre laughing.
"That was a great movie," said Justin between laughs.
"Yeah," agreed Tiffanie. "I haven't laughed like that in a long time!"
Justin held the door to his BMW Roadster open for her. She smiled to herself as she sat in the passenger's seat and buckled her seatbelt. She hadn't thought about Devan the whole night and she felt great, but she knew that she was going to have to tell Justin about him sooner or later. To get to the future she was going to have to deal with the past.
"You still up for hanging out on the beach?" Justin asked as he started up the car.
"Yeah... sounds great," replied Tiffanie.
Within fifteen minutes they were sitting on a blanket gazing up at the stars. Tiffanie sat between Justin's knees with her own knees pulled underneath her chin. She unfolded herself and lay back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes. He felt like he was in a dream. He'd never felt this way about someone in such a short period of time. He wanted to stay in this moment for the rest of his life.
"I'm ready to tell you about... you know," said Tiffanie interrupting the silence. It was now or never.
"Okay," replied Justin quietly. He didn't want to think about the fact that Tiffanie had a boyfriend before him, but if this would help her feel better, he was ready to hear it. Besides, whatever this guy did wrong, Justin wanted to be sure not to make the same mistake.
Tiffanie took what seemed like the deepest breath of her life and proceeded to tell Justin every detail, beginning to end, of her and Devan's short-lived and disappointing relationship. She hadn't planned to tell Justin everything, but he was so easy to talk to that the words just kept coming. By the time she'd finished, tears were freely flowing down her face. She couldn't stop them this time.
Justin tightened his arms around her. He was angry, upset and confused all at the same time. He hurt so bad on the inside that he began to feel numb. Her tears made him want to change the world so that it could never make her cry again. He'd never felt this way before. How could anyone have hurt her like that? She'd come into his life and made everything right within three weeks. She didn't deserve to be treated like that. She deserved someone who would respect her. She deserved someone who would treat her like a princess... someone who would treat her the way he wanted to. He gently kissed her cheek and continued to hold her.
Anyone else would've tried to give her a "He wasn't good enough for you" speech right then, but he knew that she didn't need or want that. He knew that she just wanted to be listened to and held.
He let her cry herself to sleep in his arms. He carefully laid her all the way down onto the blanket and watched her for a few minutes. She looked so beautiful... he wouldn't dare wake her. He wrapped the blanket around her and gently lifted her from the sand.
* * * * * * * * * *
Justin sat up in his chair and watched Tiffanie's eyes flutter open as sunlight began to pour into the room. He smiled at her.
"Good morning, beautiful," he said softly.
"Justin?" she mumbled squinting her eyes to see. "Where am I? What happened?"
"We're in my hotel room," began Justin. "You fell asleep last night on the beach... you were too beautiful to disturb," he explained, "I don't have a key to your room, so I brought you to mine."
Tiffanie sat up and pulled off the covers. She was still dressed as she had been the night before. Her sandals were placed on the floor beside the bed. She looked back at Justin who was still sitting in the cushiony chair at her bedside. He too was still wearing his clothes from their date. He looked extremely tired. Tiffanie began to worry.
"Aww..." she began as she reached over to him and gently stroked the side of his face, "Did you get any sleep?"
"Well, a little," he replied. "I watched you for a long time until I fell asleep. I woke up a few minutes before you just did."
"You are the sweetest thing," Tiffanie said resting her hand on top of his. "You did all of this for me? You even slept in a chair!"
"It was nothing... really," he smiled as he stood up.
"This is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me," Tiffanie said softly as she got up from the bed. Justin enclosed her in his arms and kissed the top of her head.
When they reluctantly let go of each other, Tiffanie headed towards the door and laughed to herself.
"What?" Justin asked.
"It's just... I never thought I'd wake up in Justin Timberlake's bed," she said.
Justin laughed as he watched her leave his room.
Chapter 14
Tiffanie floated into her room and fell onto her bed. She dreamily gazed up at her ceiling. She couldn't believe the incredible night she'd had. She had never been given such special attention in her life. This was the kind of relationship she'd always dreamed of.
The phone rang and she snapped out of her daze. She'd just returned to her room and someone was already calling her.
"Hello?" she said into the reciever.
"I miss you" was the instant reply.
"I miss you too, sweetheart," said Tiffanie smiling at the sound of Justin's voice.
"Well, we've got today off from dance class... what are we gonna do?" asked Justin.
"We? Aren't you gonna hang out with the guys?" Tiffanie asked.
"I can hang with them anytime... I want to be with you today," replied Justin.
"Really?" said Tiffanie surprised.
"Of course," said Justin.
"Let's just rent a movie and hang out in your room today," she suggested thinking of how exhaused Justin must be from the night before.
"Sounds great... what do you want to watch?" he asked.
"What about 'What Lies Beneath'?"
"Okay, when everything is ready I'll come and get ya, okay?"
"Okay, that's cool."
"See ya in a lil while, babe."
"Mmkay, Justy."
She hung up the phone and immediately picked it back up. Daphne would have her executed if she didn't fill her in about this.
* * * * * * * * * *
Tiffanie brushed her hair back into a ponytail just as a knock came on her door. She took one last look in the mirror. She was wearing no makeup, besides lipgloss, a plain white tank top, jeans, and tennis shoes.
She sprinted out of the still steamy bathroom and opened the door. One look at Justin and she started laughing.
"You know... this is starting to get really scary," she said.
Once again they were a perfectly matched set. Justin was wearing a white wife-beater and faded jeans. He smiled and produced a dozen purple roses from behind his back.
"Oh, Justin... you really shouldn't have!" exclaimed Tiffanie in surprise as he handed her the roses.
"Yes... I should," he said simply.
"How did you know that purple was my favorite color?" she asked.
"Lucky guess?" he said gesturing to all the purple items scattered throughout her room. Tiffanie laughed.
"Okay, so maybe it's a little obvious..." she admitted.
"Shall we?" inquired Justin offering his arm to her.
"We shall," Tiffanie said as she held her roses in one arm and slipped her other arm through his. They walked to his room together.
* * * * * * * * * *
"That was creepy," said Tiffanie as the credits began to roll at the end of the movie. She was lying back against Justin's chest just as she had the night before on the beach. They were sitting on the floor beside Justin's bed.
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to buy that one," commented Justin. Tiffanie got up and stopped the movie. As she stood beside the television she remembered something.
"Hey... you remember that first day of dance class?" she asked.
"How can I forget?" Justin asked. "That was the first time I held you in my arms." He smiled remembering how she'd crashed into him and he'd caught her.
Tiffanie smiled before going on.
"Well... how did you know my name before class started?"
Justin smiled guiltily as he got up from the floor. He walked over to her and took each of her hands in his.
"Well... the week before tryouts for this dance school... do you remember going to a club and meeting a stranger named 'Dusty'?" Justin asked raising his eyebrows.
"Yeah, I mean, but what does that have to do with--" Tiffanie paused. How did Justin know about Dusty? She looked up at Justin. He smiled at her.
"Was that YOU?!" she exclaimed.
"Yep," he replied. "I saw you and I wanted to get to know you- to spend more time with you and I knew that this would be the only way that would happen. I was praying that you were interested in dance school. Thank goodness you were!"
Tiffanie smiled and laughed a little.
"You went through all that... for me?" she asked. Justin let go of her hands and slid his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.
"When I saw you," he said softly, "for the first time in my life I believed in love at first sight."
They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment. Justin slowly leaned in and tenderly kissed her lips. At first she was a little nervous, but soon relaxed and kissed back. They kissed for quite a while before they slowly made their way to the foot of the bed and sat down. As they kissed, Justin began leaning over, lying her on her back. Just then JC and Lance burst through the door.
"Hey, Justin, can I borrow your- whoah!" exclaimed JC seeing the two. Lance looked on in shock.
Tiffanie quickly sat up and Justin jumped to his feet. An awkward silence fell over the room.
"Well, um, I'm gonna go now," stammered Tiffanie as she stood up.
"Don't forget these," Justin said as he picked up her roses from the nightstand and handed them to her.
"Oh, thanks," she said nervously accepting them. "See ya later..." she quickly pecked Justin on the cheek and headed to the door.
"Bye, guys," she said to JC and Lance as she passed through them.
"Bye, Tiff," they said in unison.
After Tiffanie had left the room, Justin sat back onto his bead. He rubbed his forehead.
"Sorry for bustin' in here like that..." began Lance as he and JC found places to sit.
"Yeah," added JC. "We didn't know that you were... busy."
"It's okay," Justin said quietly. "Probably a good thing you came in.."
"Y'all weren't gonna... well, were you?" asked JC slowly.
"No... we were just kissing," answered Justin quickly.
"So, when are you gonna make it official?" inquired Lance with a smile.
What?" asked Justin confused.
"You and Tiffanie," answered Lance. "I mean it's obvious that you've got it bad for her and judging from what I just walked in on, she's pretty fond of you too."
Justin smiled.
"Yeah... so are y'all 'together' or what?" asked JC.
"I don't know... you see, she just got out of a bad relationship. This guy treated her wrong and I think she's still getting over that," said Justin getting angry as he thought about it. "I'm not sure if she's ready to jump into another relationship."
"What's wrong with you?" asked JC noticing the anger in Justin's face. "You seem mad or something."
"It's just... that guy treated her like crap and she didn't deserve that," began Justin. "I mean, nobody does, but especially not her. Y'all know her... she's the sweetest thing in the world. How could anyone treat her like that?"
Justin paused before he went on.
"He hurt her so much. She cried herself to sleep last night- Do you know what that did to me? It felt like a million knives stabbing me in the heart at the same time. It hurt me to see her like that, but it confused me and made me angry at the same time. I didn't understand why this had to happen to her and I wanted to pound on some guy that I've never laid eyes on. I've never had this many different feelings going on inside before. What is going on with me?!" he finally finished and looked at Lance and JC, who'd been absorbing every word.
"I think I know what it is," said JC quietly after a moment.
"I do too," agreed Lance.
Justin raised his eyebrows at them questioningly.
"I know it's kind of soon to tell, but if I had to guess..." continued Lance.
"You're in love," finished JC.
Chapter 15
Tiffanie arranged her roses in a vase by the television. When she was satisfied, she sat down on her bed and stared at them. How could this be happening to her? Of all times, why now? She'd just gotten over heartbreak and now it was starting all over again. She wasn't even sure if she was totally over Devan, yet she was falling hard for Justin. What had just went on in his room felt so right, but why did she feel so guilty? She was actually relieved when JC and Lance had interrupted them. It wasn't that she was afraid that it would go too far. After all, they'd only known each other for a little over three weeks, but she was falling in love and it scared her. She'd never gotten this far with Devan or anyone else, for that matter.
She covered her face with her hands and began to cry. She was so upset that she didn't hear the knock on her door. After knocking three times, Justin slowly opened the door.
"Tiff?" he said cautiously entering the room.
When he saw her crying, his heart began to pound. He rushed to her and sat next to her on the bed. Before he could even ask what was wrong, she fell into his arms. He held her against his chest and rubbed her back. Once she'd settled down a little, Justin continued to hold her, but began to talk.
"Are you okay, babe?" he asked softly. He could feel her slightly nod yes. She sat up and dried her eyes. Justin rubbed her knee as he waited for her to talk.
"It's just..." she began. "I really, really like you."
"What's wrong with that?" he asked smiling. "Am I that bad of a kisser?"
"No!" she exclaimed quickly. She laughed a little. "In fact... you're great," she said shyly looking at the floor.
Justin slightly tilted her chin up with his had and softly pressed his lips against hers. He slowly pulled away from her and took her hands in his.
"So, tell me what I'm doing to make you cry. Please... whatever it is, I'll stop, I promise," he pleaded. He looked at her with hurt eyes. It was killing him to see her like this.
"Oh, no, sweetie!" Tiffanie exclaimed as she tightly embraced Justin. "It's not you!"
She let go of him and he once again held her hands. He waited for her to continue.
"It's just that you're so good to me," she stopped and smiled at Justin. He smiled back.
"I just wonder why he had to be like that. Why did he have to hurt me? Why couldn't he have been like you?" she asked angrily. A single tear rolled down her cheek and Justin gently brushed it away.
"But sometimes I do think about the few good times that we shared and I feel like I won't ever get over him," she continued. She sighed. "But now... I think I will... because I'm falling for you," she finally finished.
"Well, I think that's great," Justin smiled. "Because I'm falling for you too."
They leaned in and just as their lips met, Joey, Chris, Lance, and JC all walked through the door which Justin had left open.
"Hey! We've been looking for you two... oh, sorry," said Joey noticing what they'd just interrupted.
"You know," said Justin as he stood up, "you guys all have really bad timing!"
They all laughed and found places to sit.
"We just came to invite you two to go to that new amusement park," said Lance. "They have a special celeb/VIP only type opening today and we're invited."
"Unless you two have prior plans, that is," JC added.
"Yeah, looks like you guys were about to engage in some tongue wrestling!" joked Chris.
Justin and Tiffanie laughed with the rest of the guys.
"Well, I'm definitely up for it," said Tiffanie.
"Well, that means Justin's going, too," laughed JC. Chris, Joey and Lance laughed in agreement.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Justin sounding slightly offended.
"Oh, come on, Justin," laughed Chris, "you've been stuck to the girl like a Band-Aid since the day she tackled you in the hallway. Wherever she goes, you're not far behind."
Justin blushed because even as they were talking, he was sitting as close as possible to Tiffanie with his arm glued around her waist. He couldn't help it.
"Dude, relax," said JC.
"Yeah," added Lance, "we're glad to see you like this. You've been so great to be around since you met Tiffanie. I mean... not that we didn't like ya before."
They all laughed.
"It's just that you've been so happy and positive lately," finished Lance.
"Yeah, you haven't been this happy since Jenna-" Joey immediately stopped, regretting what he'd just said. Justin's smile faded and there was a short awkward silence. Finally, JC stood up.
"Well, we're leaving in about an hour," he said heading to the door. Chris, Joey, and Lance followed him.
"See ya in a few," said Lance before closing the door behind him.
After a long silence, Justin began speaking.
"Jenna is my ex- girlfriend," he explained. "She lives in Orlando... she broke my heart, much in the way that Devan broke your heart. She cheated on me, but not with any of my friends."
"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Tiffanie looking concerned.
"I didn't want to give you more to be upset about," he replied. "That was last year... it's in my past. For a long time, even after I got over her, I never thought I'd find anyone else who could make me feel that way. Then... I met you." Justin looked into her eyes. "What I had for months with Jenna can't even begin to compare to what I've had for three weeks with you. You make me feel so incredible. No one has ever made me feel the way you have."
Tiffanie wrapped her arms around his neck and they kissed.
After a few moments of kissing, Tiffanie pulled away from him a bit.
"Don't you think we should be getting ready?" she asked him.
Justin smiled at her.
"Nope," he replied as he leaned in and continued kissing her.
Once again Tiffanie pulled away from him.
"Justinnn," she smiled, "we really do need to be getting ready, hunny."
"In a minute," he mumbled and kissed her again. This time she stood up, making Justin fall on his side. She put her hand on her hips.
"Now, Justin," she said laughing, "I'm for real! We have to get ready!"
Justin sat up and smiled innocently at her.
"Come on," he coaxed. "Just one more kiss?"
Tiffanie gave him a skeptical look.
"Uh-uh," she answered, shaking her head. "You may be 'Mr. Smooth', but you ain't that slick."
Justin laughed.
"Please?" he smiled sweetly. "Just one kiss... I promise."
Tiffanie smiled and shook her head.
"Well, if you won't give me my kiss," he pouted, "then I'll just have to take it!"
He jumped to his feet and chased Tiffanie halfway across the room before he caught her by the waist and playfully tossed her onto the bed. He leaned over her and pinned her wrists away from her with his hands. He smiled mischieviously down at her.
"Justin... what are you up to?" Tiffanie asked suspiciously.
Just then, he suddenly let go of her wrists and began tickling her. Tiffanie screamed and burst into a fit of giggles as she tried to fight him off.
"Stop it, Justin! Please!" she pleaded between laughs.
"Okay, babe," he surrendered. He leaned down and softly kissed her lips. Then he stood to his feet and pulled her up into his arms.
"See," he said as he held her, "that's all I wanted... one kiss."
"You did all that for a kiss?" she laughed.
"Not just a kiss... a kiss from you," he replied. "Millions of kisses from any other girl could never add up to one kiss from your lips."
Tiffanie's heart absolutely melted at those words.
"Remind me to reward you later," she whispered into his ear. He raised his eyebrows and a smile slowly crossed his lips.
"But for now," she said as she grabbed Justin's hand and pulled him towards the door, " we BOTH need to get ready, so get out!"
Chapters 16-18
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