"Oh no," she whispered outloud as the situation clicked in her brain. She tried to move away from him, but his arm was wrapped firmly around her. She didn't know what to do. If she woke him up, he was going to want to talk about what happened, and she didn't have the answers. Last night, when she had done this, she had been upset and confused. She had wanted anyone to comfort her, and had ran to him, but how could she explain that to him?
"Justin," she whispered. Pain hit at her heart. She knew she couldn't keep this from him and she also knew that as soon as she told him, she'd loose him forever. She squirmed some, which caused Ashley's eyes to open. She wasn't looking up at him, so he took the time to study what she was doing.
She looked to be in deep thought, which meant she was probably already thinking of a way to tell him that this was a one time thing. He already knew that. He knew that this was something that he would always treasure because it had been something so amazing that he hadn't experienced before in his life. He wasn't a virgin, but nothing had meant as much to him as being with her had.
He reached down and stroked her cheek gently, causing her eyes to dart up to him. He sighed when he saw the scared look in her eyes. "Don't tell him," he said gently.
She shook her head. "I can't keep something like this from him. I couldn't live with myself. I just don't know what to say.."
"He doesn't have to know, Whitney. I'm not going to say anything and I know it won't be happening again," he said.
She looked up at him, taking the double meaning behind his words. "Oh.."
"No, I didn't mean it like that. I know you love him and I know that the only reason you came to me is for comfort, but I have to tell you something, Whitney," he said, suddenly wanting to tell her everything.
"I know what you meant, Ashley," she said, laying her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beating, but the warm feeling that she got with Justin was missing.
"Whitney..that day that I knocked you to the ground changed my life. From that moment on, you invaded my thoughts, dreams and even in the songs that I heard on the radio. Even when I found out that you were with Justin, I couldn't let go. You had a hold on me unlike anything I had ever experienced, and I still can't explain it fully."
Whitney sighed. "Ashley..that's really sweet. But I feel horrible for doing this to you. I've dragged you into something all because I wanted to help myself. I feel so bad," she said, a tear slipping down her cheek.
His arms reached down and gently pulled her up so that he could look into her eyes. He kissed away the tear before speaking. "Don't you dare apologize. You gave me something that I will never forget, and if Justin wants to know, this was completely my fault."
She shook her head, and looked straight into his eyes. "I wouldn't lie, Ash..I don't want him to hurt you."
"I don't want you to be hurt, Whitney. I'd hate myself for it, and don't try and tell me I wouldn't. I know you'd be hurt without Justin..now I want you to tell him that its my fault this happened. Tell him I persuaded you.."
"No," she said firmly.
"Whitney," he started again but was cut off by her lips gliding over his. Once he stopped trying to talk, his lips closed with hers a few times before she pulled back and shook her head. "No."
He brushed her hair back before smiling gently. "We need to get up. There's no telling what type of stories Jacob has told by now," he said, releasing her so she would be able to get up.
She started laughing. "I have to agree with you there..in a way I don't want to know!"
Cait shook her head. "I'm sorry, Jake..but I don't believe that would be happening. Ashley knows that Timberlake could take his ass.."
"Why the hell would I make this up?" Jacob defended.
Dan shrugged. "I have no clue..maybe you just want to start something..but I know that no matter how much Ashley wanted someone..he knows that she's Justin's.."
Jacob sighed, giving up. "Whatever..trust me, I know what I saw, and I saw Ashley and Whitney fixing to go at it," he said, getting up and walking out the door. As soon as he was gone, Dan and Cait started giggling. "I thought he'd never leave," she said, slidding close to him.
He pulled her up to meet his descending mouth, and she sighed when her lips came in contact with his. Earlier this morning, Dan had confessed that he had feelings for her, which had eased a lot of pressure and stress off of her, considering she was going to confess to him how she was feeling. Part of her wanted to believe what Jacob had said, but she could worry with that later..there were more important things going on at the moment.
Jacob stopped and looked at him. "Man..you have some explaining to do.."
Ashley nodded his head. "Come on and I'll explain to you what happened. You didn't tell anyone what you saw, did you?"
He was silent before nodding his head. "Yes..I umm..told Dan and Cait.."
Ashley groaned, and Jacob quickly jumped to finish. "They didn't believe me. Can you believe that? They didn't believe that you were the type of guy to do something with a girl who was taken..." he said as they walked into his room.
Ashley sighed and sat down, looking up at him from the bed. "Jacob..what you saw..you can't tell anyone. I don't want her to have to deal with anything."
Jacob's eyes widened. "So you guys did screw each other!"
Ashley shook his head. "No..we didn't screw..it was something that was much sweeter than that. But..Jacob..keep your mouth shut."
He nodded his head, but couldn't help but grin slyly. "Did you enjoy that little fiasco there, Ash?"
Ashley picked up a pillow and hurled it at him, missing his head by a few inches. "You're awful."
Jacob shrugged. "I know, there's nothing wrong with being that way!"
She dialed his number and felt the tears build in her eyes when he answered the phone. "Hello."
"Justin..its me," she said quietly. She couldn't stop the tears from running heavily down her face. Each one that she cried was a reminder of what she had done. She didn't want to tell him over the phone, but she couldn't wait until the end of the tour, which would be the next time that she saw him. Maybe..maybe she could hide it from him and never have to tell him...
"Whitney..God I'm so sorry. I acted like a jerk and you know that I have my moments. I love you more than life itself and I want you to be happy..I was just jealous because you can deny this all you want, but Ashley has the hots for you and I didn't like the fact that you were around him so much. I guess I was just being insecure that you might leave me."
That was a blow to her. Now she knew the moment that she told Justin, there was no chance of him letting her explain. But even if she was given the chance, what good would it do? Justin was going to believe what he wanted, and she honestly couldn't explain. How could she explain the fact that she had slept with another man? She couldn't..now she was stuck. "Justin," she started.
"No, Whitney..listen to me. I want you to enjoy what you're doing. I can't apologize enough for being like an ass to you."
She sighed softly. "Justin..there's something I need to tell you," she started.
"You know I'll listen to anything you say."
"I want to tell you that I love you so much..keep that in mind when I tell you this."
"Why do I have this feeling I'm fixing to not like what you're fixing to say?"
'Probably because you're not,' she thought silently. "Justin..." she started, but soon stopped when there was a knock on the door. "Hang on," she said,walking over and opening the door, to reveal one of the crewmembers. "Can I help you?" she asked, covering up the mouthpiece of the phone.
"You're wanted by Lou on the phone in the conference room of the hotel," the guy said, before turning and walking off.
"Justin..I'm going to have to call you back. They need me to do something," she said, knowing that she was only putting off telling him.
He sighed. "I love you, baby," he said softly.
"I love you so much, Justin," she choked into the phone, before hanging it up and sighing. She walked out her door and headed towards the conference room, and when she arrived, she saw the phone laid out on the table. She picked it up and spoke anxiously into the room. "Yes?"
"Whitney..I need you to catch the next flight back to Orlando. There are some things that you need to go over and there is a meeting that you need to be at."
"Ok...do I need to book a flight or is there already one arranged?"
"All you have to do is catch the 7:30 flight tonight back to Orlando..go home and then I'll see you at 9:00 tomorrow morning," Lou informed her.
"I'll see you tomorrow then," she said, hanging the phone up and heading back to her room to gather the things she would need. After she had gathered the few things, and arranged for her bags to be picked up and taken to the next city, she walked down the hall and found Ashley, who was laughing at something Trevor had said. "Hey sweet baby," Trevor joked.
Whitney smiled weakly. "Hi Trev..Ashley," she said, blushing slightly. "I have to go to Orlando for a few days for Lou..but I'll be back as soon as everything is taken care of. If something should happen and you guys need me, just call Lou and he'll know how to get in touch with me."
Ashley nodded his head. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
Trevor, seeing that he wasn't needed, left the two of them alone. Whitney looked at Ashley, waiting for him to begin. "Whitney..are you going to tell him?"
"I have to, Ash. I can't have a relationship with him and keep this from him. We base our relationship on honesty, and this is definately something he needs to hear about, and he's definately GOING to hear about as soon as I step foot in that house."
"If you need me..call," he said, wrapping his arms around her to give her a supportive hug.
"Thank you," she said quietly, before pulling back and trying to smile. "I'm off to catch a plane...make sure you fill the guys in on the situation," she said, before turning away and walking down the hall. Ashley just watched her leave, knowing that the woman that would return wouldn't be the same woman that had left.
Whitney looked at the house that held Justin inside. Turning slightly, she watched the yellow cab drive away, before picking up her small bag and heading towards the front door. She pulled out her key, unlocked the door and stepped slowly inside. She could hear Sandy running towards her and smiled at seeing that the puppy had grown some from the last time she had saw it. "Hey girl," she said softly, reaching down and petting the soft fur of the dog.
After a few minutes, she sat her bag down and continued walking. "Justin?" she called out. She recieved no answer, so she assumed that he either hadn't heard her, or he wasn't there. She walked up the steps and had to smile when she heard the water running in the shower. She pushed the partially opened door open ever further and stepped inside. "Justin," she called out again.
The showerdoor slid back, and his wet curls were the first thing that he saw, before he finally stuck his whole head out. "Whitney? What are you doing here?"
"Lou called me back to Orlando for a day or two to go over some things," she said, walking over and touching the wet curls. They were so soft between her fingers. His eyes searched her face for a reason why she was being so distant. He couldn't find an answer, but silently stood there and waited for her to make the next move. "I'll be downstairs," she said, turning to head towards the door, but his wet hand stopped her.
He pulled her back over to the door and smiled sweetly at her, as his fingers ran over her face. His eyes looked into hers, as his lips worked over hers and created the fire in her that only he knew how to do. She didn't pull back. His gentle touch was the only thing holding her together at the moment, and she knew that soon, it would all be gone. Maybe, she could keep Justin. She didn't have to tell him what had happened. She knew it would only cause him pain, but she knew if he ever found out the truth, she'd definately loose him forever. Either way, she was going to have to take a chance. If she told him, she was taking the chance that he would see how strong her love for him really was, but if she didn't tell him, she was taking a chance of him never finding out.
"Justin," she mumbled against his lips.
"What?" he whispered to her, not releasing her from his hold.
"You're getting me wet from the shower being on here, hun," she said before smiling at him.
His arm tightened around her, before lifting gently and placing her in the shower with him. His eyes roamed over her as the water soaked into her clothes, and he let out a growl. "Remind me to do this more often. Taking a shower with you can be quiet interesting," he said before covering her lips yet again.
She let out a soft grunt when her back hit the shower wall, before sighing as he increased the pressure that he was appling on her lips. Her hands ran over his bare, muscular back, as his hands fumbled to get her thin shirt off. He had just gotten it off when the doorbell rang. Justin groaned as he rested his head against her shoulder. "Let them leave," he pleaded with her.
She chuckled before stepping out and grabbing a towel. "Go ahead and finish your shower and I'll meet you downstairs," she said, finally giving up with drying any water out of her clothes. She ran down the stairs and opened the door to reveal a smiling JC. "Took you long enough!" he exclaimed before hugging her.
"Shut up..you know how Justin gets. Come on in," she said, moving aside so that he could enter. He chuckled softly before laughing as Sandy ran to greet him.
"Why are you back? Did something happen?" he asked.
She blushed. If he only knew what had happened. She knew that JC was one person she could confind in because they had always had a close relationship. "Later..I might be giving you a call..I have some things I need to talk to you about," she said softly, so that Justin couldn't hear her.
JC became concerned. "What's wrong? Did something happen between you and Justin?" he asked, touching her shoulder.
"Why do you think something happened between me and my beautiful girl," Justin interrupted as he slipped his arm around her waist and nuzzled her neck.
JC rolled his eyes. "I should have known nothing was wrong between the two of you. I'll make this stop short and sweet..Justin, Chris is having a party tonight for Dani's birthday and you're coming."
Justin nodded his head. "That sounds fine..I'll see you later tonight," he said, moving away from Whitney and pulling JC towards the door.
"Geez Justin, just give me a few seconds and then you guys can make up for some lost time..but you don't have to pull my arm out.." he was cut off as the door closed in his face.
Whitney burst out laughing as a sly smiling Justin turned around. "That was so wrong," she said, wrapping her arms are his neck and pressing up against him.
He shrugged innocently. "Hey..he had no purpose interrupting us in the shower!"
Whitney rolled her eyes before pulling away from him. "Whatever, Justin. I have some things to do so I'll find you in the house later," she said turning to leave but his voice stopped her.
"What? You just got home..and you won't be here all that long and you're already ditching me for work?" he said, beginning to pout.
She closed her eyes and tried to imagine him not looking at her like that. The pout was something that no girl could resist, and she had even seen a few guys give into Justin when he looked like that. "Justin..I just have things to do."
"You can come do things with me..fun things," he said, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms snuggly around her waist. To add even more temptation to himself, he licked her neck lightly and smiled as he watched her shiver. His hands slipped up under her damp shirt and rubbed against her flat stomach, and he could feel her tremble.
Whitney leaned back into him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Do you enjoy doing this to me? Do you enjoy seeing me fall to your touch?" she asked him quietly.
He started walking foward, which caused her to move with him. "You know it, baby," he replied huskily.
As they continued towards their room, all thoughts of telling Justin about Ashley were removed from her mind. She could keep it to herself, she had to. If she told Justin, she wouldn' t be able to go on, knowing that he wasn't going to be in her life. As the door closed, so did the gate of telling Justin of what had happened.
He knew there had been some feeling behind her kisses, because he knew that she couldn't kiss him the way that she had unless it had been provoked by feeling. He could be wrong because he knew that girls were unpredictable and there was no use in trying to analyze her thoughts behind her actions, but he couldn't help but wonder.
To add even more confusion to his situation, the guys had been presented a chance to move to JIVE. Everyone knew that if they moved, they had a better chance of succeeding and taking their music to the highest level. JIVE had a certain magic for helping a boy band take off, just as he had done with Backstreet Boys and Nsync. They were leaning towards moving over to JIVE after the end of this tour, but they knew it would be a battle to break free from J records. He just wanted to do as much in the business as he could, but he knew that no matter what, he had to resolve this personal problem with Whitney as well. If only he could think of a way to remove her from his mind, then everything would be ok. But how could he remove someone that had taken over his thoughts, dreams, breaths, and every move?