She had an answer for Justin..but she had to have something from him first. She needed to confirm her own fears and see if there was anything in the relationship worth fighting for. If there wasn't, she had to move on and find someone else. She hoped and prayed that wouldn't be the case, yet she didn't know.
"I hope everything works out," she whispered into the empty bathroom.
She turned off the light and walked out the door, before finally plopping down on the couch to wait for Justin. She checked her watch and had to smile at the time she saw. He was ten minutes late, yet that was how Justin was. He was never on time.
She began to stare at the blank tv screen, and almost had her nerves calmed, when she heard his car pull into the driveway. She stood up, took a deep breath, and smoothed out the wrinkles that might be present in her dress.
She walked to the door, and opened it, right as Justin was about to knock. His hand froze when he saw her standing there. His eyes travled down the length of her body, and she could tell that he agreed with what she wore.
Her dress was black with a red dragon up the side, it was long and had a split that stopped at her knee. Her hair was straight and laying on her shoulders. His hands yearned to touch it, but he held back.
She knew that his gaze was on her, and it didn't bother her one bit. It felt good to have his eyes looking at her that way. "Justin, I know that you're enjoying yourself, but I'd like to go someplace other than my doorstep to talk."
Justin's face turned a slight shade of pink.
"Oh, sorry..I umm..yeah..ok. Where do you want to go? I know..I probably should've probably picked someplace..but I thought you might like to go someplace where we could talk and you'd be comfortable," he said, scrapping his shoe against the step.
She placed a hand on his shoulder, and his eyes jerked up to meet his. "Stop," she commanded softly.
He swallowed. "Sorry..I'm just nervous I guess."
She sighed. "Well, we might as well get this over. Let's go to the park...that way we can talk and there won't be that many people there."
He nodded his head, and they got in his car. On the way to the park, no words were spoken. In no time, Justin had the car parked and they were walking towards a pick-nick table that was located near the end of the park. This was the moment that they had been waiting on for weeks, there was no turning back.
He walked over to her, and pulled the book from her grasp. He closed it, and laid it on the table that was by the bed. He sat down across from her, not saying a word. She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes.
"Whitney..one question...why were you reading my diary? My personal belonging..."
She shook her head. "I...I don't know, Jc...I..I didn't mean to read that much."
"You shouldn't have been reading it without my persmission. If you had asked me..then..well I might have let you..but you did this behind my back."
"Jc...I was just looking for something to read! I didn't think you'd mind that much."
He jumped off the bed and turned to look at her. "Why wouldn't I mind you reading my personal belongings? Those are my PRIVATE thoughts. If I wanted you to read it, then I would have let you."
"God, Jc..its not like I cheated on you or anything. I read your diary..yes that's wrong..yet..I didn't think you'd mind!"
He ran a hand through his hair and squatted down in front of her. "Whitney..I know..hun..shit..I just went off..I guess I didn't want you to find out about her.." he said, his voice trailing off.
She watched as he sat down beside her on the bed. She wrapped her arms around him, as he sighed. "Jc..who..who was she to you?"
"Before you came along..she was the one that I gave my heart too...we grew up together. We'd always been friends, but when we became teenagers we got together on a closer level...but while I was over in Europe..she was killed in a car accident..I never got to tell her the depth of my feelings."
Whitney wiped a tear off of his cheek. "Jc...I have to ask you this..do..do I amount to what she did or still does in your eyes?"
His head jerked up, and he looked her in the eyes. "How can you ask me that?"
"JC..I can't be someone that holds a light to a ghost that haunts you. I love you, yet I have to know."
"Whitney..you know that I love you."
She stood up. "Jc, I know you love me..I don't doubt that..but does that love match up to what you had or have for her?"
He stood up and pulled her to him. "Whitney..I love you more than I could have ever loved Melissa. Trust me on that."
She kissed his lips lightly. "I'm sorry for reading your diary, Jc."
He smiled. "It's ok, baby.." he said, grinning evily. "But, I think you should be punished," he said, as he pushed her back onto the bed and covered her lips with his. She pulled away and smiled. "Bring it on."
He laughed, right before his lips returned to hers. She now knew the history of his love life, and knew that he loved her unconditionally.
"Justin..ok..to start, I have to ask you something, and I want your honest answer."
"Ok.." he said, pulling his jacket tighter around him.
"Justin..I have to know this. And, I don't want you to base your answer on the fact that you umm want me back. Where do you see us in a year? Are we still together..or what?"
He was silent for a minute. "Denise...truthfully...I hope that we are together and have a strong relationship. I don't see us spliting up..I mean ..damn I don't know what I mean, but yet I know that we would be together. I have the feeling, and that feeling comes from my heart. I trust it so much that it scares me. I've never trusted or listened to my heart, and right now I am."
She nodded her head, even though he probably couldn't see her in the dark. "You're sure about that? This isn't just some fling that you want to have to make everyone see that Justin Timberlake can settle down?"
"Denise, where is this coming from? I'd never use you! You know that."
"Justin, I have to know these things,...just answer them."
"I'd never do that. I've done some low things in my life, I admit that..but never would I intentionally hurt you."
If that question had gotten him upset, she knew that the next one would. "Where you just using me in the beginning?"
He coughed, and even in the dark, she could see his blue eyes widen. "Denise..that's bullshit. I won't sit here and listen to you question my intentions like that! I can't believe you'd even think for a minute that I was that kind of person."
"If you're not that type of person, then why can't you answer the question?"
"Fine you want the truth? Here it is. I thought you were hot, I asked you out, and I never thought that I'd fall for you the way that I did. But, was I using you? Hell no, I would never do that, and if you think otherwise then you're thinking wrong."
She couldn't help but smile at the way he was acting. She stood up and walked over to sit beside him. She placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn and look at her. "Justin, I didnt think that. Yet, I had to be sure. I've come to a conclusion, Justin..if you're willing..I.."
He reached up to push a strand of hair off her face. "Just say it."
"Justin, I don't want to turn my back on our relationship, but..I can't just pick off where we left off. We need to start over..not completely over, but we can't just jump back into our old routine."
He nodded his head and bent down to kiss her lips lightly. It had been so long to him since he had touched them, that he yearned for a longer kiss, yet he restrained himself. "I agree with you."
She smiled and leaned back into his arms. "One other thing...we have to start being honest with each other. If there is something that we feel, we have to share it. I don't want anything like what happened before to happen again."
He chuckled softly and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Don't worry..that won't happen again."
She smiled. "Justin..I love you."
He looked up at the moon, and took a deep breath. "I..I.."
She turned to face him. "You don't have to say it if you're not ready."
"I love you, Denise."
She couldn't hold back her tears. "I've waited for those words for so long. Are..do you mean them?"
He smiled and kissed her lips gently. "I mean it with all of my heart."
She sighed and leaned back into his arms, while her gaze drifted off to the sky. She never thought those words would come out of his mouth. Things were now on there way to being perfect, yet again.
He laughed and packed a shirt into his suitcase. "Well, this is only promotional work. Just wait until you get to experience the full blown tour. It's hectic."
She closed her suitcase, and looked around the room, before her eyes settled back on him. "Well, I think I need to be there since you, Mr. Bass, need someone to keep your head grounded and someone to make sure that those chicks stay clear of you."
He stopped packing and turned to walk towards her. "Oh really? So, you're saying that you're my personal bodyguard?"
She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm whatever you want me to be."
His arms encircled her waist and he smiled down at her. "I have a lot of ideas that we could put that into....hmm and it could start with you packing my clothes."
She laughed and smacked his shoulder. "You can do that on your own. You don't need my help."
His lip began to pout. "But,..Steph...you're so much better at it. Please..."
She shook her head, before walking to the closet to check and make sure she had everything that she needed. "Truse me, Lance. I'm doing you a favor."
"And how do you figure that?" he said, packing another shirt into the full suitcase.
"That's my secret."
"You're so mean, you know that?" he said, closing his suitcase and sitting it down beside hers. "Is Whitney and Denise coming along on the tour this time?"
"I don't really know. Whitney said that she was going to try, but wouldn't know until tonight if she could schedule the time off...and Denise said that it didn't look like she would be joining us."
"That's too bad," he said, as he sat down on the bed. His eyes drifted out the window, and he smiled. "Today is a lovely day outside. The sky is cloudless."
Stephanie's head peered out of the closet and she walked over to him. She placed a hand on his forehead. "Are you feeling ok, baby?"
"I'm fine..but you know..I've never really took the time to look at the sky and see how beautiful it is."
"I agree..but Lance...I have to say that crack is bad, and I want you to stop using it. I'll have to get onto JC about giving it to you in the first place. If you weren't under so much peer pressure ..then I don't think that you'd have to use it."
He laughed and leaned back onto the bed. "You're the one on crack..but you know what..I think I like you like that."
Stephanie strattled his waist and looked at him, her eyes shinning. "You think?"
His head leaned up so that his lips touched hers. "I know."
She giggled and laid her head down on his shoulder. "I love you, Lance."
"I love you too, Baby..but.."
"But what," she asked, rising up to look at him.
"I'm still mad because you wouldn't pack my suitcase."
She laughed and shook her head. "You're hopeless, Lance."
He was almost asleep again when the phone rang. Groaning, he rolled over, and picked it up. "What?" he asked into the phone, pulling the cover over his bared chest.
"Good morning to you too," Whitney said, as her cheerful voice floated through the line.
"Whitney, just because you and Jc got it on last night, and you're in a good mood gives you no reason to call and wake me from my peaceful sleep."
She laughed. "Well, you know I have to rub it in..but anyways..the reason I called is I want to know what happened last night. Are you going to be party pooper from now on, or did you and Denise patch things up last night?"
He laughed. "You're so nosey."
She was about to speak, when Justin heard Jc's voice in the background. He could easily hear what was said.
"Leave the boy alone, and lay back down."
"Jc..shut up, lay there and wait until I'm done..or tonight..on your last night here..you'll be sleeping on the couch."
After that comment, Justin didn't hear another word from Jc. A moment later her voice came back through the phone. "Sorry about that. I had to take care of something."
"It's ok..but to let you know..yes me and Denise patched things up last night, and something big happened."
"You told her, didn't you?" she said simply into the phone.
"How do you know these things? Are you just able to log into my brain and tap out what happens in there?"
She laughed. "I just know you, Justin."
He pushed the cover back off of him, and stretched his arms over his head, cradling the phone in between his neck and shoulder. "Are you coming on this tour with us?"
She sighed. "I won't be there for the first week, but then I'm going to fly out and meet you guys. I couldn't get anymore time off."
"Oh, well I'm sure that Jc can find some girl on the road to keep him satisfied."
"You just wait until I see your curly-haired..."
He broke in before she could finish. "Not that I don't love hearing your voice, but I have things to do. I'll probably stop in for our annual leaving party."
She laughed lightly."I'll see you later, Justin. Bye."
He told her bye, and hung up the phone. He got out of bed, and walked to the bathroom. When he was in there, he looked in the mirror, and noticed that his appearance was already looking better. The glow in his eyes was back. He knew the reason for that, it was all because of her.
"What's behind your back?"
He shrugged his shoulders."Nothing."
"Well, until I know what's behind them, you don't walk through this door."
He laughed. "You never did like surprises did you?"
"No,..now lemme see!"
He laughed and stretched his arm out to reveal a thing of violets. He watched as her face lite up, and she took them from him. "Aww, thank you, Justin."
He kissed her cheek, before walking inside. "So, what are your plans for today?"
His back was turned to her, so he couldn't see her evil smile."Well, I thought about going to see Joey. You know..give him a proper goodbye."
Justin stopped dead in his tracks, and turned to look at her, with eyes narrowed. "Really funny, Denise."
She walked by him, and pinched his cheek. "I know..."
Before she could get to far, he grabbed her arm, pulling her against him. "You know...I'm leaving and everything..here's an idea..why don't you spend the whole day with yours truly?" She looked into his blue eyes, and felt herself getting lostinto the depths of them. "What are my other options?"
"Well, we could stay here...go upstairs...
She trailed her finger over his lips, causing him to be quiet. "Not that I don't love that idea, but I want to take it slow. I don't want to rush anything."
Justin pulled her hand up to his mouth, and kissed each individual finger. "I was just kidding with you, baby."
She watched at how his mouth puckered when each finger was touched. She swallowed, and pulled her hand from his grasp. "Now..what do you want to do? Since, it doesn't look like I'll be joining you until the last week of the tour."
He frowned. "You couldn't get anymore time off?"
She sighed and shook her head, heading into the kitchen. "No, my boss said that I should be thankful for getting that week off..and that when the big tour came around..that I might as well quit because he wasn't going to work things out. I honestly don't think that he believes me when I say I'm dating you."
Justin chuckled, and reached for an apple. "Well, we'll just have to show him. Quit that job now, Denise. If you need money until you can find a job where it can accomodate your needs, then I'll lend you some money."
She looked up from the bill she was reading. "Justin, no matter what condition I get in, I'll never accept charity."
He bit into the apple and frowned as he chewed. After swollowing he spoke up. "Denise, I wasn't meaning it like that. Just think of the money as a loan from the Bank Of Justin."
She giggled and swatted his arm. "Thank you, but no thanks. I'll work something out."
Justin shrugged his shoulders. "I can't change your mind, but always know that the offer stands. Now..lets go play some basketball..I have an idea. I'll call Jc and Whitney and we'll challenge them. How does that sound?"
Denise laughed. "That's fine. Anything you want to do is fine with me."
Justin kissed her cheek before grabbing the phone. He dialed the number to Whitney's apartment, and hung up when no one answered. He then dialed the number to Jc's house, and waited for someone to pick up, hoping that they hadn't already left. About the fourth ring, Jc picked up.
"This is Jc."
Justin chuckled. "Sorry if this was a umm bad time...but Denise and I were wondering if you wanted to play a game of basketball in a few hours?"
JC covered the mouthpiece to the phone, and turned to Whitney. "Do you want to play basketball with Justin and Denise later?"
She ran her hand over his arm and smiled. "Yes! That means that you'll be all sweaty, and..." she didn't finish. She grabbed the phone from Jc and spoke into it. "We'll be there. What time?"
Justin burst out laughing. "Girl, calm the hormones. How does one sound?"
"That sounds fine."
"Oh, and Whitney..give the boy a break! He's not a rabbit you know."
She laughed and hung up the phone. Denise had her hand over her mouth, trying to hold in her laughter. "You're so mean," she said, as he walked behind her. His arms encircled her waist, and he leaned his head on her shoulder. "Remember Denise..I only speak the truth."
She leaned back into him and placed her hand over his. "I know you do."