The following evening, Liz was released to go home. Her father was there to help her out of the hospital. Justin had to stay away.
When the pair woke up that morning, while she was having some blood taken, Justin had gone down to the cafeteria to grab something to eat, call his mom and also let Liz's father know that she was up. But once he was there, he was recognized – not by a raving group of teenyboppers but by a few people that made him uncomfortable enough that when he returned to Liz's room, he had to tell her that he had to go home.
She understood more than he thought. He couldn't risk anyone else seeing him in the hospital. Word would get out, fans would likely show up, then Liz's name would somehow get drawn in and that was the LAST thing she needed or he wanted.
She had said her good-byes to him and he told her that he would be at her apartment when she got back. She was looking forward to being home and relaxing with her two favorite guys in the world. She felt so blessed and so loved by the actions of them that she knew the next week would be a special one.
"Lizzy, are you sure you're okay back there?" Jack asked as they drove through the streets on their way to Liz's apartment.
"Yes daddy, I'm fine. Just watch the potholes please." Liz stated from the back seat. She was still doped up on the medication for her pain but not like before. Now she was able to feel a little of the aches in her body from the surgery. She could only hope that the pills would continue to help her out.
"Look, we're almost to your apartment. I'll help you inside then when that boyfriend of yours shows up, he or I can go out and get you whatever you need."
Liz just shifted her weight in the car. She was beyond uncomfortable but only had a minute left before she would be safe at home. "Dad, that boyfriend of mine has a name. Really, you sound jealous of him or something." She said, wanting to give her father a hard time.
He continued to look straight ahead but was able to answer her. "Elizabeth, I am NOT jealous of your boy…I mean, of Justin. I'm only concerned. He's this superstar KID that all the girls go crazy over but somehow you have nabbed him…not that you're not beautiful enough or smart enough or anything…but the question remains – will he stick around, helping you through this or will he dump you off and go onto the next waiting girl?"
Liz sighed and looked out the window as they pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building. "Daddy, does that answer your question?" She stated as her eyes lit up.
In front of her building, Justin's car was parked. He must have already gone inside since he was no where to be found. "See, he stopped what he was doing in Europe, canceled appearances, even a few concerts, made up some lie about being sick and flew all the way here to be with me. No, I don't think he's going anywhere and I can't be happier about that. I think by just being here shows that he cares. Really daddy, give him a chance. He just might surprise you."
Her father just nodded his head and looked through the rearview mirror at her. "Yeah, well we'll see." He stated as he put the car in park and jumped out to help Liz. He knew he would have a hard time getting her and her stuff in the apartment and was glad when Justin came bounding down the path to help. "Justin, care to give me a hand here?"
Justin obliged by opening the passenger side door and scooping Liz up in his arms. He glanced to the trunk where Jack was unloading her suitcase. "I've got mine." He said, as a bright confident smile spread across his face.
Jack stared at him, not believing the boldness of his action – or the tenderness of it as well. He watched as Liz laid her head on Justin's shoulder and he placed a soft kiss on her forehead before asking if she was okay. He looked to Jack and tilted his head up to signal that he was going to go inside and carefully walked back to Liz's apartment, making sure not to step too hard or bounce her up and down.
Jack had to smile at the act but a part of him still wondered if this would last. If the tenderness, the caring, the loving would last when Liz got sick – and she would. She had several rounds of chemotherapy to deal with, along with all the side effects that it brought. He wondered if Justin was strong enough to handle what was going to come.
And if he didn't, would his daughter be able to survive without him?
The next week flew by for Liz and her two guys.
Justin had spent a lot of time with her at her apartment. They had talked about what was in store for her when her treatments started. He was able to get to know her father a little better and even worked on some songs that he hoped would be on their next album – if there were one.
He spoke to the guys and his mother several times and Liz wondered what was up when he would suddenly leave the room and could hear him arguing with one of them. Every time she would start to ask him about it, he would change the subject. She didn't push it because it really took too much out of her anyway.
She didn't want anything to ruin this week and making Justin or her father upset in anyway, would certainly do that. She knew that tomorrow, she had to go for her first treatment and wasn't looking forward to it at all. She would have to be dropped off at a clinic near the hospital and spend almost three hours getting her first dose of poison that would fight the cancer inside – and her healthy cells as well. She was told that for 7-10 days after the initial treatment, her body would start to fight and side effects were to be anticipated.
She tried not to think about how bad they could be but tried to focus on today with Justin and her dad.
Now, Jack Matthews had kept his eye on his daughter all week. He stayed up late with her and would read with the nightlight on just like he had when she was younger. They also talked a lot about what her other siblings were doing and how work was for him. He had taken a few weeks off from school and coaching to be with her but was going to return as soon as her first treatment was done and over with. He figured a two-week vacation from teenagers was a blessing in disguise.
But what kept him on his toes weren't the teens. It was Justin.
He had seen the way Justin interacted with Liz and what stuck him oddly was that Justin never seemed to get upset over her illness. Oh, he catered to her every need but the way he did it was like he was helping her recover from the flu or something, not dealing with the fact that she had cancer.
He wondered if Justin was in some sort of denial stage or something. He just never mentioned the cancer and didn't start any topics about it. He'd listen to whatever Liz had to say but he would play with her fingers or rub her shoulders, almost as if trying not to hear the words out of her mouth.
Jack had mentioned that to Liz one night but she just shrugged it off. She told her father that that was just the way Justin was when he was listening to her. She didn't understand why her dad was constantly trying to find fault in him but he was.
For Justin, he was doing the best he could. He had talked to the guys to get his frustrations out so he wouldn't say anything to upset Liz but it was getting to him. He was fearful of what tomorrow would bring and didn't know if he would be able to see her suffer the way he imagined. The group had visited children before, who had cancer and he remembered their pale complexions, their bald heads, the swollen bodies and the lost looks in their eyes. He tried to block those memories from his mind because he was afraid that soon enough, he would be faced with someone like that again.
"Hello, earth to Justin. Are you there?" Liz asked, waving her hand in front of his face.
Justin snapped out of his daze and shook his head. "What? Oh, yeah sorry. Is it my turn?" He asked as he picked up the dice and rolled. "Eight." He said as he gathered his little shoe and stomped it eight spaces down the board.
"Woo hoo, Park Place baby, with two hotels. That'll be…" She started as she brought the flimsy card up to her view and tried to figure out how much Monopoly money Justin owed her.
He answered for her. "Too much. Here." He said as he threw the remaining paper money that he had collected, at her pile. He crossed his hands over his chest and let out a sigh. "Damn, I NEVER win at this game."
Liz could only laugh at him while picking her money up and spreading it out wide to fan herself with. "Oh Justin, get over it. You have more money than you know what to do with and that's REAL money. Anyway, it's just a game." She told him as he continued to sulk over the loss.
Her laughter caught the attention of her father and he knocked lightly on her bedroom door. "Come on in." She told him as the door crept open.
Liz sat up a little straighter in bed and eyed her father. "Hey, I just wanted to remind you that you have an early day tomorrow so you probably need to get your rest." He said, speaking to Liz but looking at Justin.
"Yeah, sure dad. We were just done here." She answered as she began to collect the pieces of the game and put them away. "I'll go to sleep in a minute. Good night."
"Justin, you'll be leaving soon, right?" Jack asked as Liz stopped cleaning and looked at him.
Justin just eyed her for a second before answering. "Um, yeah, I'll be going soon." He could tell Liz didn't like the sound of that by the way her breathing suddenly picked up. He had to bite his lip so he wouldn't reach out and hold her right then.
"Good. Well, sweetheart…" Jack started as he came into the room, pushed past Justin and leaned down to kiss Liz on the head. "Then I'll see you in the morning. You get a good night's sleep." He told her as he causally walked out of the room.
When the door was shut, Justin felt Liz grab his hand. "You don't really have to go, do you?" She asked, pleading with her eyes for him to stay.
He let out a deep sigh and squeezed her hand a little tighter. "Ebby, I think your dad is right. You need your rest for tomorrow and besides, I don't think he likes me too much." He finished and looked down at their tangled up hands.
She moved the board and remaining pieces off her bed with one swipe then pulled at his hand for him to come closer to her. He gave her a questioning look but allowed her to pull him down beside her on the bed. She shifted her body a little, careful because she was still somewhat sore from the surgery and lay on his chest.
"Justin, my father likes you, it's just that he is afraid that you'll leave me before this is all over and I have to wonder if you will too." She said into his shirt as her fingers played with the cottony material.
Justin jerked his body away from hers but she held tight to him. He repositioned himself merely inches from her body on his side and made her look at him. "Ebby, I'm NOT leaving you. Do you think that I would have done all of this if I were just going to walk away. What kind of person would do that to someone?" He said, feeling upset that she would even think such a thing.
Liz held her hand up to him and touched his chest again. "Justin, it's not that I don't believe that you'll stick around but come on, from my point of view, I am the only one that HAS to deal with this. My family, my friends, even you don't HAVE to face this. Only me. When it gets hard, and it will, you can just walk away from the situation, I CAN'T."
Justin reached for her hand on his chest and covered it with his larger one. "Ebby, I can't say that this will be easy, I know it won't, but I'm here for the long haul. I'm not going anywhere."
She looked into his eyes and wanted so much to believe him but how could he say that to her before the bad stuff even started. He had NO idea what was coming, heck she didn't either, but she knew that she had to give him an out if he wanted it. "Justin, I know you say that you'll be here for me but IF you ever feel that this is too much, I'm telling you right now, you can walk away. I won't be mad if you do."
He took her hand and placed it behind his neck then leaned closer to her. "I'm not going anywhere. Please believe me. I'm not leaving you, ever." He stated as he leaned in and brought his lips to hers.
She sighed under his touch and felt herself melt from his soft lips that were penetrating her mouth and reaching inside her soul to heal it. She hadn't kissed him since he had left for Europe weeks ago. He had returned after her surgery and she hadn't felt like doing any of that for awhile now but this time, she was up for it.
She let her fingers begin a battle of tug-of-war with his curls, for which she was winning, and brought her other hand around to his back. She slid it up and under his shirt – she didn't want to actually DO anything but feel his skin on her hand.
He took the hint and brought his body down next to hers but a part of him was on top of her and as he began to really get into what they were doing, she jumped and he immediately got off her. "What?" He asked, watching her squirm beside him.
She let go of him and gripped her stomach. "I think you need to lay off the double-stuffed Oreo's for awhile." She said, letting her face soften a little but Justin could tell that the weight of his body had hurt her and he mentally hit himself for letting the kiss get that out of hand.
"Ebby, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to…"
She stopped him but leaning up and placing her lips over his. He kept his eyes open and crinkled up his brow at her as she slowly slid her mouth away from his. "Don't be sorry. I may not be able to kiss you for awhile and a little pain now is nothing compared to going weeks without one of your famous kisses."
He had to smile at that. She was just too much for him and he laid back down beside her, carefully bringing her into his arms and making her reassume her position with her head on his chest. He sighed heavily when her fingers ran down his torso and pulled his shirt up just enough to allow her hand inside. She scooted it back up his skin until it reached the area by his ribs and slid it over to the side of him. She snuggled up close to his body and let out a deep breath of air before closing her eyes.
"Stay with me tonight." She said as her voice began to fade. She was extremely nervous about what the next day would bring and having one last night of peace with Justin was exactly what she needed the most.
Justin reached up behind himself and turned the lamp off. He brought his arm around and rested it on her cheek, letting his long fingers twirl the strands of hairs that lie beside her face, whispering to her. "Your father's gonna kill me."
She tightened her hold on his body and gently kissed his chest through his shirt. "He'll have to go through me first." She said as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
Justin smiled at the closeness of them. He brought his head up, careful not to stir Liz too much and placed his own kiss on top of her head. "No matter what happens after tomorrow, know that I'll always love you." He said as he too closed his eyes and found sleep that night.
What lie ahead for the two of them – neither one knew - but as they slept together that night, one thing became known – they were a package deal. What effected one of them, effected them both and they would need each other more now than ever.
For a couple that had only been together a short time, they were bound to one another and nothing could tear them apart – BUT each other.