He laughed. “Oh, no! I was just lookin at the stars...I was always real interested in astronomy when I was a little kid. Now that I’m so busy most of the time, I haven’t really had the time.”

I got up and brushed the popcorn off my shorts. “Well let’s go look.” I smiled. “I don’t know that much about the stars though.”

He smiled back and took my hand. “I’ll show you.” We stepped out onto the balcony. It was a nice summer night with just a little bit of breeze from the ocean. I looked up and saw that the sky was clear...a perfect night for stargazing.

He sat on one of the chairs and I took the one across from him. “Now see, right above me, those like, 7 stars, that’s the Big Dipper.” He explained.

“Ah yes, the only one I actually know.” I joked. He looked over to me and smiled.

“You’ll get it. These ones, to the left...those clustered ones, that’s Taurus.” He explained looking back up at the sky again. I looked to the left, but didn’t see anything.

“Where exactly do you see that?” I questioned.

“Here.” He said. “Come over here for a sec.” So I got up, and stood next to where he was sitting. He hesitated for a second, it seemed as if he was thinking about what to do. He gently pulled me down onto his lap. “Now you’ll really see it.” He whispered in my ear. He gently took my hand in his and pointed up at the stars.

I couldn’t focus on anything...even if I wanted too! ‘This is what I’ve wanted all along.’ I realized as we sat there together. ‘But what does all this mean?’ I was sitting there debating all of this when Justin interrupted my thoughts. “Are you ok?”

“What? Oh yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.” I laughed. “I was just kinda thinkin.”

Justin looked almost as unsure as me. He looked at his watch. “Wow, it’s 2 AM already, I better get goin pretty soon.” ‘Even though I don’t want to.’ He added silently in his head.

I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed as he said that. “Oh, right! I’ll um, see you tomorrow then.” I said smiling as we stood up. “Yeah, bright and early.” He smiled and I smiled back. He reached down for a hug. “Mm, thanks for the great time tonight.”

“Thank you!” I exclaimed as I hugged him back. ‘He smells so incredible.’ I thought to myself for the millionth time that night.

He left soon after that and I flopped onto my couch to think about the night’s events. “How can I keep my feelings toward him strictly professional?” I said aloud to myself. “It’s just gonna be impossible, especially at work.” I added. I headed to the bathroom, took off my make up, and got ready for bed. ‘Practice starts at 10 tomorrow, that should be interesting...’ I thought to myself as I shut my eyes.

“Hey Trinity, it’s J. I know it’s a little early to be calling, but uh-‘ I jumped out of bed and picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey Trin, this is J.” I cleared my throat. I wanted to sound like I had been up for a while, not like

I had just rolled out of bed.

“Oh, hey!” “Sorry to be calling so early, were you sleeping?” He questioned. I couldn’t help but smile, he was so cute!

“No, I was in the shower and I heard the phone ring, and I thought I got it in time. What’s up?” I questioned as I sat back down on my bed.

Turns out he only wanted to see how I was doing, he had rehearsal early this morning and he at the moment he was driving to the dance studio. A quick glance at the clock told me it was 7:30. I had to get ready, so I ended the conversation with J pretty quickly. I hopped in the shower, dried my hair, and stepped out onto the balcony in my towel...I had to check the weather.

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply as the sun beat down on my face. It was rather hot, so I decided to dress accordingly. I threw on swish pants and a spaghetti strap shirt and shoes, and I was ready to go.

When I arrived at the building, I recognized Justin’s car. I hopped out, and headed down the hall towards the studio. “Hellllo!” I exclaimed walking into the room. They were all there, standing around, talking. I opened the windows immediately, humming to myself.

“J, score with her already?” Lance muttered under his breath to Justin.

Justin glared at him, then smiled. “Jealous are we?” Lance and Justin both laughed. I turned around to face the guys.

“So how was everyone’s night?” I questioned as I started to stretch out my torso. It was important to be completely loosened up, so I had the guys do 15 minutes of stretches, and we all talked to each other.

We were 5 minutes into the stretches when Joey brought somethin up. “Hey Trinity, tonight Lance and I were gonna go out, see the town a little, wanna come?”

JC rolled his eyes. “Don’t subject the poor girl to going out with you two!” He joked, laughing.

“Ha. Ha.” Joey retorted dryly. “It’ll be fun!” He was trying his best to convince me to go. I looked over at Justin to see what his reaction was, he was studying me very carefully...I couldn’t read the reaction on his face. “Well, um, sure!” I told them both and we planned what we were going to do. I was gonna meet them at their hotel, and then we were gonna drive to a small, private club and just kinda chill out. Then, they were gonna take me back to the hotel to get my car, and then I’d drive home.

Justin’s cell started ringing and he excused himself to go get it. “Hello?” I heard him say. “Ohh, hey.” He said a little lighter. “Yeah, I’m a little busy, but nothing’s more important them my girl!” One thing I noticed about Justin...he was a flirt if I’ve ever seen one! I let the comment slide past me, and the conversation was finished in a matter of 2 minutes.

“Another admirer?” I called out, only half joking.

He smiled at me. “Naw, one of the girls I met a while ago on tour. She was really cool, we hang out sometimes.” He explained.

Practice started up, and my attention was completely focused on dancing. Well, not completely. I couldn’t help looking at Justin through the mirror. ‘Why do I feel like he’s the only one I wanna go out with tonight?’ I asked myself.

‘Why did Joey have to ask her out? Ugh, why do I care?’ These were some of the things that were running through Justin’s mind during practice. When I called a 10-minute break, Justin took JC outside to talk for a second.

“Man, this girl is really screwin me up.” I said as soon as we started walking.

JC smiled to himself.

“What?” Justin asked.

“Nothin, I just knew that this is what we we’re gonna end up talking about. You actually like her, don’t you?” JC was very good on picking things up.

“Jayce, this isn’t like the normal everyday thing for me. You know I usually don’t feel a girl this much after we go out once. There’s just something she’s got that makes me wanna get to know her better.”

“Well then, why don’t you tell her that?” JC suggested.

Justin ran his fingers through his curly hair. “Cause I told her that I just got out of a relationship and I shouldn’t move so fast.”

“Don’t worry about tonight.” JC comforted. “I mean, Joey flirts with lots of women, she’ll get her share I’m sure, but it won’t mean anything. I saw the way she’s lookin at you, trust me, she feels something.”

They talked for a few more minutes, and then we got back to dancing. I ended practice around 4, and said my good-bye’s to all the guys. I couldn’t help but notice Justin lingering around after all the other guys left.

“J, what are you still doing here?” I asked smiling. “Practice can’t be that fun.” I joked trying to lighten the mood.

Justin smiled and said “Nah, I just don’t wanna go home yet.” My eyes widened and I punched him playfully on the shoulder.

“HEY! You were supposed to say, ‘Yes Trinity, practice is just too much fun for me to go home.’ That’s how it’s gotta be!” I joked.

He laughed. ‘How can I tell her that I don’t want her to go out with Joey. I mean, I can’t control her, but...’ Justin thought to himself.

‘How can I ask him to come with us tonight without making it seem too obvious?’ I thought to myself at the same time.

I started cleaning up the CD’s, towel’s and water bottles that were scattered around. “So are you gonna come out with us tonight?” I asked, not looking in his eyes.

“Um, no I don’t think so.” He said. ‘How pathetic does that make me seem? “I can’t get my own plans so I’ll just tag along with my friends.” Hell no, that won’t work.’

“Oh, I see. Well you should definitely come tonight, if you change your mind or whatever.” I told him smiling.

He smiled back. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

We talked for a half hour more, then we walked out of the studio together. He was telling me about what a hard time his family was having with him gone, and how his little brothers were acting up with him being gone and all.

“When we get that week break, I really don’t feel like going back there. I mean, they’re my family and I love them more then anything, but I need a week to relax. We get that week, and then one day practice, then it’s tour time.”

I felt really bad for him. “Well, I know it’s a long time off, but if you need a place to go or whatever, my door back home in Pittsburgh is always open. That’s where I’ll be for the week.”

He smiled. “Thanks. I might just take you up on that, if it’s not too much trouble or anything.”

I smiled. “No trouble at all.” He hugged me and when we let go, I looked up at his face. He seemed very worried, and very stressed. “Justin, are you ok? Like, really ok?”

“I’ll be fine.” He reassured me. “I’ve just got a lot to think about right now. Don’t you worry about it.” He told me.

“Alright, as long as your sure.” I wasn’t going to push him to talk about something he didn’t really wanna say anything about. We smiled one last time, then went to our own cars. I felt different from when I walked into the studio just this morning...I felt happier.

When I reached the “house” I was amazed to see at how big it was! ...and how secluded. No fans would ever be able to find this spot! As I slowed down to take a look, my eye caught something else. More like someone else...playing basketball!

My heart stopped for a second as I looked at J concentrating so hard on the game. I didn’t want to pull in just yet, all I wanted to do was watch Justin. He amazed me, at everything he does. He played hard for a few more minutes, but then I saw him sit down on a chair and rub his forehead. He didn’t look too happy...It was at that moment I knew Justin was keeping something from me, possibly everyone. ‘I just wish I knew what.’

I pulled into a spot and hopped out of the car. “Hey J.” I called, and as he saw me, he broke out into a smile. I could see the setting sun just glistening off his perfectly toned muscles. Even in a beater and jeans he still managed to look incredible. I wanted to kiss him more then ever.

“Hey Trinity. You look great.” He complimented.

“Thanks...” I trailed off. We both stood in silence for a second just looking at each other. But it was a good silence, a comfortable silence. Joey and Lance came outside, quite noisily actually. They stopped talking when they saw us.

“Um, we’ll go back inside.” Lance offered pulling Joey back towards the house.

“No, don’t!” I exclaimed. “I was just saying hey before I went inside.” I smiled at the both of them.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to J for a sec, if that’s ok.” Lance said acting spur of the moment. Justin looked surprised, but went inside.

“We’ll be right back.” Lance said, and grabbed Joey’s arm as if to say “There’s no way we’re leaving you outside with her!”

“Awww!” Joey moaned. “Why do I have to go? I’m not the one who needs to talk to the 19 year old vir- never mind.” Joey was cracking up at his own joke.

Justin glared at him, and the three of them walked inside.

“Man, why don’t you just come with us?” Joey suggested, being very straightforward about the whole situation. Lance on the other hand, figured it would be a touché subject, so he planned to go about it more gently.

“Great work Joe, way to be subtle!” Lance muttered under his breath sarcastically.

Justin looked like he was gonna blow up at the both of them.

“What Joey meant was, why don’t you kinda show her around the house. JC and Chris are gone, me and Joey would be leaving, and you two could just ya know, talk.” Lance put it as delicately as he could.

“Ya’ll, what the hell are you talking about? Just take her out.” Justin mumbled. “I don’t even know where you get the idea that we like each other.”

‘You can tell, dumbass.’ Lance thought to himself, but he didn’t say that. “Dude, ya’ll looked like you had a good time last night, I just thought maybe you might wanna show her around or somethin.” Lance shrugged. “No big deal.”

“No thanks, you guys already asked her, it’s not a big deal, I swear. I don’t even like her that much, she’s just a choreographer.” Justin lied.

“Or,” Joey started “you could go out there, put your feelings on the line, and tell her how you really feel, instead of standing here, lying about it.”

No one said anything for a second. ‘That does sound pretty good...then they all would know to keep off her. No, no, what the hell are you talking about Timberlake? There’s too many things at risk here.’ Justin went back and forth in his head.

“Joey, you’re delusional. We’ve got a strictly professional relationship, that’s it. Look, just go out and have a good time.” He gave them a slight shove outside, and closed the door. “Just please don’t kiss her.” Justin prayed when he had shut the door.

“Alright, we ready to go?” Lance asked with a smile on his face.

I smiled back. They both looked really cute... I was definitely ready to go.

“Yeah, let’s go!” We headed to Lance’s car, and pretty soon we were out on the main road, singing along to the radio and laughing.

We all ordered something to drink, and sat around talking and laughing. What I didn’t know was what was going on in the house...

He heard the door shut behind him. “Careful now,” JC said, “we don’t want you to break the hoop!” He exclaimed laughing.

Despite how miserable Justin felt, he laughed along with JC. “I thought you and Chris went out.”

“Well, we were. Well actually, he is, but I didn’t really feel like doing anything tonight. I feel like sleeping.” JC said smiling.

Justin smiled back at him. “Man, you’re so pathetic! Tonight would be a great party night...As a matter of fact, I feel like drinking right now.” Justin added.

“Well, have fun.” JC said turning back into the house. “Oh, but J,” he looked over his shoulder “if you do go out and drink, remember not to be stupid.”

“Yes Dad!” Justin exclaimed playfully, but deep down, he knew JC wasn’t joking. ‘Now would probably be the worst time for the media to see me drinking.

‘Maybe you should just stay home.’ Then, Justin got up, and headed towards the door. ‘No...Why should I be the one that has to sit around here while she goes out and parties? If she’s not gonna wait for me, I’m sure as hell not waiting around for her. I’m goin out.’ And he headed into his room to get dressed.

“I’m sad to say it, but it’s true! There was even a little song.” Joey grinned and started singing along with Lance.

“Poofu Poofu, where are you? Please come out and plaaaay!” They chorused together. Then they both started to crack up.

“Oh my...Lance that is so cute! I can’t believe you actually took that job!” I exclaimed. Tonight was going so smoothly, I was really enjoying being with Lance and Joey.

We sat around and talked for about 2 hours. Lance and I only had one drink, but Joey kept them comin...and every drink he had, he seemed to get a little looser. I knew it was getting bad when Lance started to look uncomfortable. Joey was starting to get loud, and I was starting to get scared, cause I don’t like drunk people...

“Alright guys, you ready to go home?” Lance asked, hoping Joey would just say yes, and let him drive home.

“No way!” Joey exclaimed loudly. It’s only,” he checked his watch “12:30. I didn’t get to dance with this beautiful lady yet either.” He said shooting a smile in my direction. I smiled uncomfortably as I noticed that Joey got that glazed look drunk people get in their eyes.

He pulled on my hand to get me to dance, and we were out on the little dance floor they had, slow dancing, except Joey was kind of all over the place.

Someone walked in, and I glanced at the door... It was Justin.

I knew he saw me, he had to of, he walked right past us. “Yo, it’s like a party!” Joey slurred laughing hysterically.

Justin went right over to Lance. “Damn, dude, he’s drunk isn’t he?” Justin questioned, hoping he wasn’t right.

“I wish I could say he wasn’t, but he’s gone, completely.” Lance said. They both looked over, to see Joey draping his arms even lower on my body...completely on my upper thighs now. I was laughing, because it was really, pretty funny.

“You’re drunk!” I exclaimed laughing wrinkling my nose at him.

He laughed and held his finger to his lips. “Shhh, nu-uh!” He said laughing all over again. I managed to lead Joey back to our table in the corner. I noticed Justin starting in on his drinks.

By 2 AM, Lance and me had a serious situation on our hands. Justin and Joey kept drinking, and they didn’t want to leave, but me and Lance were definitely ready to go. Justin got more flirtatious with every drink, and it was really starting to scare me.

“Hey Lance, um, how are we getting home? Are we just leaving Justin’s motorcycle here or...?” I questioned.

Lance shook his head. “Oh no, Justin would never leave his motorcycle here, trust me on this one. Can you drive a motorcycle? Cause I’d rather you drive Justin home, he’ll be easier to handle then Joey.”

I nodded. “Yeah, my uncle used to have one.” What I didn’t tell Lance was that I would be incredibly nervous driving Justin’s. If I crashed...well, I didn’t wanna think about it. “I’m gonna see if we can get outta here.” I told him, making my way over to Justin.

“Justin, sweetie, you ready to go?” I asked flashing him my biggest smile.

“Go where?” He slurred. I looked into his intense baby blue eyes and noticed that he was completely gone too. I didn’t even know where Joey was.

“Home.” I told him still smiling.

To my surprise, he actually agreed. Then, I had to watch him fumble around for his keys, and make a big ordeal about that. I said goodbye to Lance, told him to be careful, and then yelled bye to Joey. When, we got outside though, we had a problem.

Justin wanted to drive home, but there’s no way I was getting on a motorcycle with him when he had that much to drink. “Justin, no, there’s no way in hell you’re driving. I’ve gotta drive home.” I was starting to lose patience with him.

“Trinity! Please just get on the damn thing.” He pleaded, laughing every couple of seconds. The goofy smile never left his face. I sighed in frustration. ‘Alright, how am I gonna do this?’ Then, I got an idea.

My eyes lit up, and I made my way closer to Justin. “Justin,” I sighed, placing my hands around his neck “I think you should just give me the keys, and the sooner you do, the sooner we can go home, both of us, together.” I said.

Ok, Ok... I know it was wrong of me to toy with him like that, but he wouldn’t remember in two minutes. Plus, it was the only way I could think of to actually hand over the keys. He dropped the keys in my hand.

I sat down on the seat with Justin. ‘This is definitely not the way I envisioned things going, but it was still a fun night, nonetheless.’ I thought to myself.

When I pulled up into the driveway, Justin hopped off the bike without even saying a word to me. The effects of all the alcohol was getting to him, and I think he started to get that sick feeling. He stumbled inside to the house, and JC came out to see if I was ok.

“Please tell me that was not as bad as it looked.” JC gave me a weak smile and I laughed. I didn’t want to worry JC...

“No, don’t worry about it. Lance should be bringing Joey home any minute now.” JC still looked worried though, I guess he was afraid I was gonna tell someone.

“JC, don’t worry about it, I’ve seen it before.”

He rubbed his forehead and sighed. Then he looked up at me and smiled. “Do you wanna come in?”

I smiled and looked at JC. He was in boxers and a beater, and his hair was rumpled. It was pretty obvious he was sleeping. “No, that’s alright, I don’t want to interrupt anything.”

“No, please.” He said taking my hand and leading me inside. “When Justin comes out of the bathroom, we can yell really loud, it’ll be fun!” He joked. I laughed, and allowed myself to be led inside the house. I had NO idea the trouble I was getting myself into...