"I dunno, I don't really wanna do anything to public," Justin said with a sigh. Fearing Jill would take that wrong, he hastily added, "It's just that it's downtime for us right now and everything is so hectic with touring and everything else that I just wanna relax out of the public's nosy little eyes."
"That's understandable," Jill sighed. "Touring is unbelievably tiring."
"You've gone on tour?" Justin raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah," Jill nodded. "It's a great honor, but it's also completely exhausting. I'm sure you knew that, though."
Justin nodded. "Boy, do I," He shrugged as he swung the car into a small ice cream stand. "But it's worth it."
"Is it?" Jill asked. "I don't think I could handle having to perform perfectly every night for millions of different people. But you guys never seem phased."
"You shoulda seen us our first night we performed in a big stadium on our own headlining tour," Justin laughed. "I didn't think it was possible for a human to attain the shade of green Chris got!"
"Did he really turn green?" Jill grinned. "Thanks," She added as Justin held the door open for her.
"Yeah, it was kinda cool, but I was a little worried. I didn't know there was a shade of green that color." Justin stepped up to the counter. "Can I have a double-scoop vanilla cone?"
The girl at the register nodded dumbly and rang it up.
"What do you want? Anything?" Justin asked.
"Sure," Jill shrugged. "Same thing."
Justin turned back to the girl. "Same thing, please."
The girl again nodded dumbly and rang it up, then darted off to make the cones.
When they'd received their cones and had made their way out of the building, only eliciting a few stares, Justin grabbed her hand and led her across the street to a park. "Let's swing."
Jill smiled. "I love swinging!"
Justin grinned and the pair settled into the swings to watch the sunset and finish their cones, lapsing into a comfortable silence.
"Do you ever regret it?"
"Do I what?" Justin asked, shaking himself from her fantasy world back into reality, taking another lick of his ice cream.
"Do you ever regret it? Being famous and in *N Sync and stuff."
Justin shrugged and watched as Jill took a lick of her ice cream. "I can't stand the thought of anyone else being in my place, but when I called Trace, my best friend, and heard about a party that he'd gone to, or that he was taking some chick to a dance, I wished I could do it, too. But then, the thought of anyone else in *N Sync just makes me wanna puke. Sorry I got so graphic there!"
Jill laughed. "It's fine. Are you and Trace still good friends?"
"Yup, he's my best friend outside of the guys," Justin nodded and swallowed the rest of his cone. "You almost done?" He stood and walked around behind her.
Swallowing, Jill nodded. "Yeah, why?"
Justin grinned and grabbed the chains of her swing. "'Cause I'm gonna push you," He said into her ear just before shoving her away.
Jill giggled and began pumping her legs to help her gain height. Once Justin was satisfied with the height she was ataining, he plopped back into his own swing and began swinging his legs back and forth, trying to catch up.
"You can't catch me!" Jill taunted, laughing.
"I can, too!" Justin exclaimed, pouting.
"You can not!" Jill giggled, jumped out of her swing, and, landing easily on her feet, took off running.
"No fair!" Justin cried, jumping out of his swing after her, only to fall onto his knees. Jumping up quickly, he took off after her.
Running across an open field, Jill heard footsteps pounding closer and closer to her, and then Justin's adorable laugh just before an arm hooked around her waist and they fell to the ground, laughing.
"Hey!"
"I caught you!" Justin laughed. "I told ya I could."
"Just 'cause I let ya."
"Oh, of course," Justin smiled. "That's exactly it, Princess."
"Don't you know it," Jill smiled and rolled onto her back next to Justin. "I love the stars. They're so pretty."
"Not nearly as pretty as you..." Justin was quiet for a moment before he burst into laughter. "That sounded so tacky."
"I didn't say it," Jill smiled.
Justin grabbed her and rolled her around in the grass, tickling her. "You're mean to me."
"Aww, poor Juju," Jill smirked. "Does your ego need pumped up?"
"Nah, teenyboppers do a grand job of it." Justin shrugged and smiled at Jill.
Jill, still in Justin's arms, smiled back, then curled against his side, resting her head on his chest. "When do you have to go back to work."
"Not for a long time, thankfully," Justin heaved a sigh. "I could definitely get used to this."
"Down time?"
"Down time and down time with you both," Justin answered, squeezing her ever-so-lightly.
Jill smiled. "I could get used to this, too."
"To me?" Justin asked curiously.
"Yup. To you. But it'll take some work."
"Hey!" Justin tweaked her nose. "Them's fightin' words."
"Well, I'm too tired to fight, can you just let me lay here for awhile and fight me later?" Jill looked up into Justin's eyes and pouted a bit.
Hours later, around two a.m., the pair finally stood and made their way to Justin's car, heading back to Leigh Anne and Brian's. "Sorry it was boring, but I was so tired..."
"That's fine, Justin. I had a great time anyway."
"Did you?" Justin asked. "Good. 'Cause I did, too."
"Good," Jill smiled as Justin opened the door for her.
"Quiet," He whispered. "It's two thirty."
"I know," Jill whispered back. "But I'm always quiet."
"Are you?" Justin's eyebrows raised and his face turned wicked.
"You'll just have to find out," Jill shrugged, entraping Justin's hand in her own and leading him up the walkway.
"I guess I'll have to see you again, then, won't I?" Justin asked, leaning against the door.
"Guess so," Jill smiled.
"I'll call you, ok?" Justin asked, leaning his head to the side to look into her eyes.
"Ok," Jill nodded, smiling.
Justin's lips turned up into a soft smile as he leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips.
Jill leaned slightly forward and placed her hands on Justin's chest a few short moments before he pulled away.
Leaning his forehead down on hers, he grinned his crooked grin and whispered, "Sweet dreams."
"You bet," Jill whispered back. "Good night."
"'Night," Justin slowly removed his hands from her hips, backed up a few steps, then turned and walked back to his car.
Jill slid in the house, setting the alarm before running up the stairs and running the water for a cucumber-melon scented bubble bath, a goofy grin on her face the entire time.