That night after the show, Liz was as nervous as could be. She wasn't sure about going to talk to Justin about Britney. Why was he asking her advice anyway on Britney? Didn't he already know everything about her and how to deal with her? Something was up but Liz put that thought in the back of her mind as she approached Justin's room.
She told Mandy that she was going out for awhile, probably to get something to eat down the street so she wouldn't suspect anything. Liz didn't know why she felt she had to lie to her but she did. She also realized that going to see Justin in her dress attire wouldn't be right either, so she slid herself into one of her new outfits, then thought twice about it when she reached his door.
Although her attitude had shown a sense of fun to it on occasion, she hadn't lost her conservative attire yet. But what Lance had said about her seeming 'stuck up' at times, she felt that she needed to appear the opposite of that for tonight. She really wanted to be a friend to Justin and not put him off by her not-so 'chipper' exterior.
She just about lost her nerve to talk to him but somehow, her hand found it's way to the door and she knocked ever so slightly. Maybe if he didn't hear her, then she could at least say she tried. But unfortunately, Justin was waiting right inside and heard the faint knock.
He opened the door almost instantly and smiled brightly at the site before him. Liz stood there looking so incredible and yet comfortable in her soft yellow pastel shirt that fit just right to her body and hung above her belly button. He liked the fact that she was showing off her tanned stomach that meant she must wear bikinis when she laid out in the sun. That thought alone made his insides tingle. Just imagining her out of her usual drab clothes was really getting to him. She even traded her black rimmed glasses for contacts. She had told him that she felt nearly blind without her glasses on so that was how he knew she had contacts in. She was able to look at him without squinting.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts but his eyes focused in on her shorts instead.
The shorts that she wore cut way above her thighs and as he invited her inside his room, he couldn't help but check out her backside. Chris had been right when he said she had a body if only she would show it off. Well, she was definitely showing it off now.
He knew if he said anything to her about her transformation, she would shy away and would probably change back to her normal self so he chose to keep his mouth shut, though physically that was hard to do. She just looked too good right then that he had to put his hand under his chin to keep it from dropping to the ground.
She wasn't the best looking woman he had seen but for Liz, this was a wonderful change.
Liz finally interrupted his thoughts when she spoke to him. "So, um you wanted to talk about Britney?" She asked, just making sure that was the reason for her to be there. She could see the looks he was giving her and it didn't make any sense that he was interested in Britney but…oh, well.
"Um yeah, Britney…" Justin started as he closed the door and motioned Liz to sit on the bed. "Actually, I wanted to talk about something else first if that's okay?" He asked as he sat nervously beside her.
Liz wrung her hands on the bottom of her shirt, trying to make it stretch a little. She was feeling very uncomfortable at that moment. Justin sat merely inches away from her and she could feel the warmth of his leg next to hers.
She had to talk or she would lose her mind. "Yeah that's fine but can I ask you something first?" She replied as she debated whether to ask her question. It really wasn't any of her business but she wanted to know anyway.
He nodded his head and asked her to 'fire away'. She gave him an awkward grin before clearing her throat and asking the question that plagued her mind for days. "Um, okay…I um wanted to know what the…the deal with you and Britney was? I mean, if you guys are together, then why do you need my help?" She asked while turning her body sideways on the bed and pulling one of her legs up to place it under the other one.
Just seeing her move caught Justin's eye and for a second, he forgot her question. He snapped back when she nudged him in the shoulder. "Oh, sorry, um, what's going on with Brit and me?" He asked again to make sure he heard her right. She slowly shook her head up and down to signal that was her question..
He took a deep breath to help clear his thoughts before answering her. "Um, well there's nothing really going on. We're friends that's all." He said, a little worried about why she wanted to know about his relationship with Britney.
Liz's face went from relief to anxious again in a split second. If they were just friends, then that was great but then he was single which made Liz nervous again. What if he was the guy she described to him and Lance the other day. What would she do?
Justin saw her worried face and brought one of his hands up to wave in front of her to bring her attention back down to earth. "Hello. Ebby, are you okay?"
Her head snapped back when she realized what a fool she was probably making of herself at that moment. "Um yeah. Sorry, I just…oh, never mind. Anyway, I just thought that you and Britney were going out. You know all the talk and…and stuff." She didn't want to bring up any tabloid gossip right then.
Justin sighed loudly, knowing he had to come clean with her. He wasn't completely honest just then with Liz but knew he needed to be. She wouldn't say anything to the press so it would be fine.
"Okay, here's the deal with Brit. I've known her practically my whole life since we were…" He stopped, noticing Liz's bored look. "So, you knew that, right? Anyway, everyday I see girls that want to get to know me but I never know if it's ME they want or just the entertainer they see in front of them. It can get very lonely when everybody around you wants a piece of you for their own purpose. With Britney, she knows how I tick. She's going through the same thing I am and when we get lonely or feel the world crashing down on us, we turn to each other."
He slowly took in Liz's face to see if she understood what he was saying. He really didn't want to give exact details into his relationship with Britney but Liz didn't seem to get what he was saying.
He sighed again, knowing she wanted more from him.
"We spend time together, share our fears about what the next day will bring, talk about stuff, help each other out with problems or just cut up and laugh to make things not so tough. But we also…sometimes, use that time to um…well, express our pent up feelings we're having…like I said, the road can be very lonely and you can't trust too many people."
Liz was catching on very quickly. She felt her cheeks begin to heat up when she realized what he was talking about. "So, um you use each other to…um , satisfy your needs, right?" She asked, very slowly, hoping she wouldn't embarrass herself or him by it.
Justin lowered his head and looked to the ground below him. "Well, yeah, sort of. Its kind of like, we have things we need and instead of going around getting it from someone who just wants to use you, you get it from your best friend. That sounds awful doesn't it?" He asked, keeping his eyes focused on the carpet. In his mind, what him and Britney did was okay but saying the words aloud, made it sound cheap and selfish.
Liz could tell this subject was hard for him to discuss and she felt terrible for bringing it up but she just had a few more things she wanted to know about his relationship with Britney. "No it doesn't sound awful, it sounds pretty smart if you ask me, but I do have one question…" She started as Justin lifted his head and met her eyes with his own.
She swallowed hard when his piercing blue eyes penetrated her body and went straight for her heart. "Um, what if her feelings change for you or vise versa? What would happen if one of you fell for the other?" How could any girl NOT fall for you, Liz thought to herself but kept that inside.
Justin thought a minute about what she asked him. "Well, it has come up before and believe me, it wasn't pretty but we just talk it out. I know she thinks a lot of me and I do the same for her but with our schedules the way they are, we just can't put forth the effort to date each other exclusively. Besides, the fans and media would eat us up. They do already but they wouldn't understand if we said we're together when we see each other but when we don't, we're free to see other people. Does that answer you question?"
"Not really." She started and laughed at him. He was getting frustrated with himself for not being able to explain it to her better. She put a hand on his shoulder and patted it before speaking again. "It's okay though. So, you and Britney are friends but sometimes get together and do what ever it is you do. Doesn't she get upset or jealous if you date someone else or does she understand?"
Justin really didn't want to talk about Britney any more but just having Liz here with him, asking him questions, he felt he needed to answer her.
"Well, I guess she understands but yeah, she gets upset sometimes because I'm really the only person that she feels comfortable enough around to talk to and be with. For me, I have met a few girls that I like and go out with on occasion but they're not anything special. Just friends I guess. It's hard for me to go out with just one person right now because I'm not around much but if I found someone that I wanted to be with, I would definitely try to make it work."
When he finished, he looked at Liz, hoping she understood now.
She smiled to him before replying to his statement. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I am too busy for much of anything, let alone traveling around the globe having tons of people wanting me for their own purposes. I can't imagine what its like to be either one of you but if I were in your shoes, I'd either go for it and stay with Britney only or drop her. Not to sound mean but it sounds like you two spend time with other people but never get too attached knowing you have someone to fall back on. You don't have to give it your all because if it fails, Britney will be right there to pick everything up and you can still get what you want from her."
Justin's mouth opened to protest what Liz was saying but she continued.
"I'm sorry if that sounds harsh but until you decide one way or the other, the next girl you go out with won't have your full attention and I know I would be upset if it were me. I don't like being played that's for sure. I can't handle the baggage that comes along with going out with a guy that either has someone else on his mind or only has one thing he thinks about. That's why I'm not going to just have flings anymore. I've gone down that road before, like my ex who I left to travel the country with, now all he wanted was to get in my pants. I just don't want to deal with that so I've given up on sex for now."
She finished and if Justin had wanted to defend himself before, he changed his mind and now wanted to find out what happened to Liz for her to act this way.
"So you've given up sex, what, until you're married or something? What happened…not that that's wrong or anything but something must have changed your mind. Was it that nice guy…what was his name…Bill or something?" He asked as he turned his body on the bed and crossed his legs under each other to sit Indian-style. He was intrigued now. He propped his elbows up on his knees and leaned his head down to meet his hands.
Liz just shook her head. "Men. You don't hear a word a woman has to say until the word 'sex' is mentioned then that's all you want to know about." Justin put his hand up to apologize but Liz stopped him by speaking again. "Just kidding. I know what you're getting at. I don't know, I just have certain things I want out of life but for some reason, they usually aren't the same thing that the guy I'm dating wants. Most of the guys I've been with only wanted the physical part of a relationship with me and I want so much more than that. I want to be in a relationship where I can laugh and have a good time, too. I know this will shock you but I can be a little too conservative at times."
She started as Justin chuckled under his breath and said 'a little'. She punched him lightly in the shoulder before returning to her thoughts.
"Yes, I can be too uptight but if I want to continue to grow and make a name for myself then I need to focus on that and nothing else. Maybe if I find someone that lets me be me, than I could let my guard down a little and include him in my journey but until then, I just don't want the baggage that comes with relationships. The games, the emotional stress of wondering if he's cheating on me, the pain of knowing I need to work but want to be with him. I just don't have enough hours in my day right now for that kind of relationship so I've sworn off men until I can have what I want."
She finished and looked up at him. She smiled, content in knowing she had given him the best answer she could. He, though, didn't like what he heard.
He had asked Liz to come to his room that night to talk to her about the feelings that were growing inside of him. But from talking about Britney to Liz saying she didn't want a relationship right now, his efforts would be useless, he thought.
He smiled at her to let her know he was fine but inside he was a wreck. Not only would his mother kill him for even thinking about Liz the way he was, but she would never go for him…but she was here, letting herself be open with him and actually relaxing a bit.
He knew he shouldn't do this but he had seen the way she looked at him before. He heard her words but wasn't sure she really meant them so he thought he'd test them out.
"So you're saying that if the guy you talked about with Lance and me the other day were to come right up to you and GRAB you like you mentioned, you would just be able to walk away?" He asked as he crept a little closer to her. He didn't really want to scare her off but just wanted to play with her.
She became nervous at the closeness between them and inched backwards towards the head of the bed. Every time she moved back, Justin moved forward. She soon hit her head on the wall and as she was rubbing it, Justin saw his opportunity to scoot that last few centimeters that kept them from touching.
"Um…would I, um walk…walk away?" She asked again but as Justin shook his head yes, she answered his question. "No, I wouldn't."
His eyes lit up and for a moment, she thought he might lean in and kiss her. She wasn't prepared for something like that at all and quickly finished her statement. "I'd RUN!" She said as she pushed past him on her way off the bed.
She made her way over to the TV set and placed her back on it to keep her steady. She glanced on the bed and laughed at Justin who had fallen backwards from laughing himself. His face lay upside-down with his eyes searching for hers. He was just too cute to her.
She sighed before letting out one last giggle. She was glad he was only playing around. She really didn't want to deal with what she thought she saw in his eyes just then.
He heard her laugh and knew he didn't make her too uncomfortable. He rolled his body off the bed and stood to face her. "Come here a sec, Ebby." He said as he extended his arms to her.
She was unsure of this but her legs began the short trek over towards him before her mind could say no.
He brought his arms around her waist and hugged her tight to him. "You're too much you know that?" He said into her shoulder as his head rested next to hers.
She inhaled deeply at the feel of this man holding her. He was intoxicating to her and she felt her body relaxing under his touch.
Justin was feeling the same thing but quickly snapped out of it when he heard the phone ring behind him. He groaned, thinking it was one of the guys calling to bug him or something. He slowly let go of Liz and smiled down at her as he walked towards the phone to answer it.
"Hello." He said into the receiver.
Liz couldn't tell who he was talking to on the other end but knew it was someone who needed his help. He kept saying 'you need to see me now' and 'are you sure this can't wait until tomorrow'. She watched him scratch his head and twirl a few curls around his fingers before hanging the phone up and giving Liz a sympathetic look.
She raised her eyebrows to him questioning what he was about to say. "So, do you have to go or what?" She asked, hoping he wouldn't think she was eavesdropping on his conversation but seeing as the room was very small, she couldn't help but overhear it.
He ran his hands over his face a few times before answering her. "Yeah, well, its seems that Britney needs to see me in her room for a while." He got a strange look from Liz so he hurried to finish his thought. "I didn't mean for that. Gees, get your mind out of the gutter, girl."
Liz chuckled under her breath. "You have NO idea what I was thinking, SO thank you very much for making me out to be the dirty minded person you think I am." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted at him.
Inside, she had been thinking that very thought Justin was accusing her of but didn't want Justin to know that.
Justin's face softened and he approached her. He brought her back into his arms to hug her again. When he let go, he cupped her chin and brought her eyes to his level. "Listen, would you stay here until I get back? Britney just wants to talk to me for a minute. I shouldn't be too long. She's just having some problems she wants to work out with me, okay?"
His eyes were pleading with Liz's to stay and she couldn't turn him down no matter what her mind was saying. "Sure, I guess I could stay for awhile." She answered as he brought his lips to her forehead and lightly grazed them across it.
She closed her eyes to relish in his touch for the brief moment it lasted but opened them back up when he pulled away from her. He walked up to the TV and turned it on. "Hey, just make yourself comfortable here until I get back. Oh, and JC may come in, just let him know I'm in Brit's room and will be back soon, okay?" He asked as he made his way over to the door to leave.
Liz told him 'okay' and as the door closed behind him, she snuggled into his bed. She wrapped her body in the covers that Justin would use to cover himself later that night. She made herself comfortable then focused in on the show on TV. She noticed Justin had turned HBO on and Austin Powers was playing. She remembered when Justin had given his best impression of Austin the other day when he told her he didn't bite…hard. She shuttered at the thought.
Lately, every time she thought of Justin, she shuttered. He caused her whole body to chill although it was 85 degrees outside.
"What that boy could do to me." She said aloud then caught herself. She looked around the room before realizing no one heard her. She sighed, relieved no one knew of her crush on him…except Lance and he had promised not to say a word. She could trust him and knew he would keep his mouth quiet about it.
Her thoughts were fading as she began to wander off into dreamland waiting for Justin to return. She hadn't noticed the time was getting late because her thoughts were somewhere else.
All she knew was that someone was calling her name. She could feel arms shaking her just like before by the pool. She thought she was dreaming again but when she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was someone other than Justin. "Oh, no, not you again Lance." She mumbled to the person who hovered over her.
She felt another shake and when her eyes finally focused on the frame of the man above her, she screamed. "JC!!! What the hell are you doing in my room?" She yelled as she pulled the covers up higher on her body to shield his view of her in her pajamas.
She heard him laugh at her. "Um, Lizzy, look around the room."
She slowly brought her eyes to see her surroundings then quickly looked under the covers. She brought her head back out and gave JC an embarrassed grin. "Okay, so I'm in YOUR room but could you fill in the blank spaces for me, like how did I…" She started but then realized why she was still in his room. She must have fallen asleep but where was Justin.
"Never mind. I guess I fell asleep. Is Justin in the bathroom or something?" She asked as she sat up and faced JC.
He ran a hand through his now damp hair. He had woken up earlier and didn't want to disturb Liz so he took a shower before waking her up.
"No, Justin's not in the bathroom. In fact, he's not in the room at all." He saw her merge her eyebrows together and give him a questioning look. "Actually, I came in late last night, found you asleep and didn't want to wake you up. I called Mandy so don't worry about that. She said just to let you sleep here so I went on to bed. I caught Justin out in the hall last night as he was going into Brit's room. My guess, he's in there still." He said very nonchalantly. He didn't know that both Justin and Liz had feelings for one another or he would have lied to her.
Liz's face fell but she tried not to show it. "Oh, well, I guess I should be going back to my room. Thanks JC." She said as she got up from the bed, stretched her body out and patted him on the shoulder as she passed him by.
He returned her smile and said his good-byes when she left the room.
Liz stood outside her room with her head on the door. She didn't want to face Mandy and eventually the rest of the girls and probably Lynn, too about spending the night in JC and Justin's room. She had told Mandy she was going out but would have to explain why she ended up in the guys' room.
Besides, she didn't really want to talk about him at all. Justin had told her last night that he and Britney were just friends that got together when they were lonely but it seemed that he was somewhat interested in Liz. Then why did he spend the night with Britney?
She was thinking that when the door suddenly opened causing Liz to fall forward and land on the ground face down.
Mandy giggled at the sight below her. "Girl, what did those boys do to you last night?" She asked as Liz got on her knees and crawled into the room.
Mandy closed the door behind her and continued to laugh. "Mandy, I really don't want to talk about anything until I get a shower and some breakfast." Liz stated as she stood, gathered her things for her shower and walked towards the bathroom.
Mandy stifled her laughter to say one last thing before the bathroom door closed behind Liz. "I'll be waiting right here when you get out so I want ALL the juicy details from you, hear me?"
Liz stuck her tongue out at Mandy before returning to the bathroom.
"Oh, so she's got an attitude. Well, two can play like that." She said as she walked over to the phone and quickly dialed a few numbers. "Yeah, get down here NOW." She said into the receiver.
Liz wouldn't know what hit her when she emerged from the shower but Mandy did. She giggled to herself at the thought of what Liz's face would look like in a few minutes.
"YOU TOLD HER WHAT?" Justin yelled as he returned to the room.
"What? I told Lizzy that you spent the night with Britney. That's what happened right?" JC asked, unaware of why Justin was about to spit fire at him.
Justin had to think fast. He didn't mean to stay in Britney's room but they stayed up talking for so long that the next thing he noticed was her waking him up.
"It's not like you haven't spent the night with her before." JC commented as he walked over to his bag on the floor to find the shirt he was going to wear that day.
Justin could only rub his temples with his fingers. He had to think of something quick or Liz would surely suspect foul play. He had just told her last night how him and Britney did share 'things' but last night he didn't do anything but listen to her talk.
"JC, I know you didn't know any better but telling Ebby that I was still with Britney was the wrong thing to say." JC gave his friend an odd look. He had no idea what Justin was talking about. Justin sighed when he realized it was time to tell someone about his feelings for her.
"Look, this has really been bugging me for awhile and I need to tell someone so…do you have a minute?" He asked, hoping JC would let him get all of this off his chest.
JC nodded his head in agreement and placed the blue shirt over his head before sitting on his bed. "Yeah, go ahead."
Justin took a deep cleansing breath before standing in front of JC and speaking. "Okay, so here it is. I didn't want Ebby to know about me staying with Britney because…well, I sort of…you know…kind of, well…" He kept motioning with his hands but just couldn't get the words to come out of his mouth. He knew the ramifications that his words could cause so he tried to hint around about them without actually saying it.
JC's eyes widened when he realized what Justin was trying to say. "Because you like Lizzy." He said as more of a statement than a question.
Justin nodded before continuing. "Yeah, and I had her wait here last night for me but Brit just kept talking. She's having a hard time right now and needed a friend so I went to her room to listen. That's all that I did. Nothing else happened but when you told Ebby I was still with Britney, I'm sure she thinks something else happened." Justin finished and sat beside JC on the bed. He looked over at his friend to find an answer to the problem he created from not coming back last night.
JC could only stare forward at the wall. "Justin, man I don't know what to tell ya. Does Lizzy like you too?" He asked as his face turned slightly to catch Justin's reaction.
He only lowered his head and placed it in the confines of his hands. His fingers grazed his curls and a few crunched under the pressure he gave them. "I don't know for sure. Sometimes, yeah, I think she does and then she goes and says stuff like, she isn't looking for a relationship because she doesn't have time for one. Or she'll tell me about the man of her dreams one minute than put down the male species. She's confusing, that's for sure. She's not really what I want in a girl but at the same time…"
"She's exactly what you're looking for?" JC interrupted with his question.
Justin shook his head and continued to rub his hands over his face. "Yeah. I mean, she knows what she wants. She's determined and confident. She's smart and even funny at times. My mom loves her to death so that has to be a plus. She's beautiful but not in the drop-dead gorgeous kind of way but with the way she smiles, I can see so much by those smiles of hers. And her eyes bring me in and I can't break free. She tries to hide them behind those awful bifocals of hers but last night, she wore contacts and I swear I've never seen a pair of eyes look more intense than hers. She can see inside of me, and, I don't know, I just can't get her off my mind."
When Justin took a breath, JC thought it was time to step in. He had heard enough about how much Justin liked Liz. "Slow down. I can't believe you didn't tell anyone about this before now." He looked over at Justin and saw the completely lost look he had on his face. "I guess I should be glad you decided to tell me now. Man, I really don't know what to say. If she feels the same way you do, but isn't ready to admit it to you, than you have a problem. We are leaving tomorrow and she is off with the girls for Britney's tour. What are you gonna do about that? And, have you thought what your mom will think about this?"
Justin stood and grabbed his bag to rummage through it hoping to find his cell phone. "Yeah, I've thought about what my mom will think and to tell you the truth, I think she'd be happy for me. I know for a fact that she loves Ebby so that really wouldn't be a problem, I think. But as for what I'm gonna do, I really have no idea. I wanted to talk to her about it last night but when Brit called, I kind of got distracted. Maybe I could ask her to come here again tonight. What do you think?"
He found his cell phone, stuffed it in his pocket and returned his attention to JC. "Just be careful, that's all I can say. You know her pretty well so I have faith that you must see something in her that indicates she has feelings for you but she is so damn determined to beat every man out of a job. She…"
Justin interrupted him before he could continue. "JC, I know she was like that in the beginning but after being around her this week, I see changes in her. She's lightening up. She changing…or rather, going back to being a college-aged girl. She's letting loose somewhat and I just know that the way she has been this week that is what she's really like. I just don't think she knows that yet." He said with a slight smile to his face.
JC just shook his head. "She has NO idea what she's in for, does she?"
Justin 'huffed' and gave JC a disgusted look. He rolled his eyes at him but kept the grin on his face. "NO IDEA!" He answered before the two cracked up laughing.
"God help her." JC said as he excused himself to go to the bathroom.