Someone emerged from the bathroom a minute later but it wasn't JC. It was Liz in her room. She jumped when her eyes locked on five other pairs staring at her from the bed closest to the bathroom.
"Um, hey girls. Sleep well?" She asked. She had a BAD feeling about the grins on their faces.
Mandy was the first to speak. "We should be asking you that same thing, Lizzy. Sooooooo." She said.
"Yeah, spill it girl." Veronica begged.
Liz ran her hand through her now wet hair while making sure she had a good hold on her bag. She didn't want to drop all of her bathroom gear and her clothes from last night. She had changed in the bathroom but her hands were completely full with stuff.
"Um, I don't know what you're talking about." She said as she tried to pass the group but Danay grabbed her arm.
"Put your stuff down and talk girl. We've got all day. We don't have to be anywhere until tonight so let's go." She instructed and Liz slumped her shoulders in defeat.
She glanced at Mandy and gave her an evil look. She knew she had to have called the girls down to their room after she got back. Mandy knew she spent the night with JC and Justin but wanted the details. She was going to have to supply them, now.
Liz sat her bag down and sighed deeply as she made her way over towards the group. Nikki and Veronica both scooted out of the way and patted the seat between them. Liz rolled her eyes at the nosey group but consented.
She sat down and first turned to face Mandy. "So you're the mastermind, I presume?" She asked as Mandy gleefully smiled at her. She closed her eyes a brief second before finally deciding to give them what they wanted.
"Okay, so I guess you know I spent the night with JC and Justin." All the girls nodded. "Well, to make a long story short…" She began and looked again at their faces. She got an evil plan and smiled before speaking. "Well, I really don't want to give too many details but let me just say that if you ever have a chance at a three-way with those two…take them up on the offer." She finished and grinned brightly at the group.
She patted Nikki's leg and stood to put her things away. She glanced over her shoulder and saw all five girls with their mouths hanging open. She giggled at the group. "You DON'T really believe I did that?" She asked the group as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Um…no…nah, you didn't right?" Nikki asked slowly, wondering if she really did it.
Liz just laughed aloud at them. "Guys, NO I didn't have a three-way with Justin and JC. In fact, it was very innocent really. I went to talk to Justin last night…um, after I got something to eat." She started but remembered telling Mandy she was getting something to eat. She didn't want to lie but she didn't want to go into the real reason she went to see Justin. What the girls didn't know right now couldn't hurt them, right?
"But he got called away by Britney. I just fell asleep waiting for him to get back but didn't wake up until JC woke me up this morning. Really, nothing happened." She finished and was content with her answer.
The girls gave her one last look before laughing. "Mandy, the way you talked, it sounded like Lizzy had a thing for one of them." Danay said as the group continued to giggle to themselves.
Liz just stared at Mandy, wondering if she knew something Liz didn't. Mandy just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, well, a girl can only hope." She said as she grabbed a pillow and hit Danay with it.
"Oh no, not again." Liz said as the group grabbed their own pillows and began and all out pillow fight.
Thank the Lord they believed me. Liz said to herself.
(Later that day - 2nd show in Tampa)
"Hey Ebby, wait up." A voice shouted from down the hall at the woman walking towards the dressing room.
She slowly turned around as the yells got closer. Her nose was glued to the pages of paper in front of her. The clipboard in her hands contained the information she needed in order to make sure everything was set for the next few weeks. The group would be leaving the tour after tonight and heading out to do several appearances before returning to Orlando to get prepared for a longer stint on Britney's tour.
Her eyes slid up the long frame of the young man that had approached her and was now standing nearby. Liz's eyes darted between the man in front of her and to the papers in her hands. "Oh, hey Justin. What's going on?"
He noticed immediately that her 'let loose' phase was put on hold again because she wore a suit, her hair was up and she had those darn glasses on again. He let out a sign but before she could ask what was wrong, he reached towards her face and gently pushed her glasses back in place. They had fallen down the length of her nose, probably from walking with her head towards the ground.
She smiled warmly at the gesture. She brought the clipboard to her chest and hugged it tightly, content in giving him her full attention. She would look over her notes in a few minutes anyway. She asked him again what he needed.
"Um, well, I wanted to see how you were doing. I haven't talked to you all day and was just worried because of last night and all." He said, feeling bad about leaving her alone after he had asked her to join him in his room.
Liz looked at him and although she was still a little upset over the whole thing, the smile he was giving her and the way in which he was standing so close, made her forgive him easily. "Justin, don't worry about it. Is everything okay with Britney? She seemed really upset last night." Truth be known, she really didn't care one way or the other if she was fine, but she didn't want Justin to know that.
He stared at her a minute before answering. "Yeah, she's fine. She just needed a shoulder to cry on that's all. It's been really lonely for her these past few weeks and with the tour coming up soon, she gets in those moods again. She just needs friends and family around at times like this."
Liz just nodded her head as if she understood but really didn't. She motioned towards the door behind her with her hand. "Okay, well I better get in there. Your mom is expecting these papers to be filled out so we can go over the girls' schedule. I'll talk to you later." She said as she began to leave when Justin stopped her.
"WAIT!" He shouted but had to apologize when he saw how he startled her so. "Sorry about that. I really wanted to talk to you but…" he started. He looked around the hallway, noticing several people nearby and knew this wasn't the right time to say what he wanted to. "Hey, can you come back to my room tonight after the show? I promise no interruptions. I will turn my phone off, lock the door and be yours for the night."
She gave him a questioning look.
"You know what I mean. I really wanted to finish our conversation from last night, okay?" He asked as he smiled a cheesy grin at her and she began laughing.
"Yeah that would be fine. I'll get ready for bed this time just in case and be by around 11:30 okay?"
He almost jumped for joy at that moment but held it back. He would have another shot at telling her what he wanted to last night. "Okay. I'll see you then." He turned to walk away but she caught his attention this time.
"Justin." He turned back around. She came up to him and gave him a big hug. She whispered in his ear 'good luck' and as she pulled away, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Tell the others I said good luck tonight too." She smiled at him then turned to go into the dressing room behind her to find Lynn.
Justin stood there a second with the same cheesy smile he just had on, before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced back and found Chris standing behind him. "Lets go Casanova. Duty calls." The two headed back to their dressing room to prepare themselves for the show that night. They had a meet and greet in a few minutes to get ready for. Chris chuckled to himself when Justin bumped into the wall as they rounded the corner. He was still thinking about Liz and what tonight might hold for both of them.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
To Liz's surprise, JC answered the door. Not again, she thought to herself. He must have noticed her roll her eyes at his presence and quickly informed her of why he was there.
"I'm just heading out. Justin's out on the balcony and he told me to leave the phone off the hook so if you hear a beeping noise, just ignore it and after awhile it'll go away."
Liz tried to hide her smile but it slowly began to spread across her face. "Thanks JC. I really didn't want a repeat of last night and I thought…"
He stopped her before she could continue. "You thought Justin would run to Britney again?" He saw her nod her head and her eyes lower towards the ground. "Hey, he doesn't disappoint people twice. Once maybe but never twice. Remember that, okay?"
Her eyes raised to look him in his own blue ones and smiled again. "Yeah, I'll remember that." She approached him and gave him a warm hug before pulling away. "I'm gonna miss you, JC. I hope the rest of the tour's great."
He looked at the woman in front of him and smiled. She came ready for bed this time. She wore her pajamas that included a soft pale yellow top with matching cotton pants. The glasses had been replaced by her contacts again. She hadn't looked this comfortable to him before. Maybe she was loosening up a little.
His smile soon grew as he took her hand in his and brought it up to his mouth to lightly graze across his lips. "I'll miss you too, Lizzy. I'm sure I'll see you after the tour, maybe at Britney's show sometime."
She returned the same warm smile he was giving her and gently pulled her hand away from his. "I'll see ya then."
JC turned to leave the room and after the door closed behind him, Liz looked to the balcony trying to see Justin's form outside.
For some reason, she had a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that wouldn't go away. The closer she crept to the door, the worse it got. She had to take a deep breath before opening the balcony door. When she reached the sliding door, she saw her reflection in it and laughed. It was only Justin on the other side not some total stranger. She pushed the feelings she had down deep inside her and slid the door open.
"Hey." She said as she walked out on the balcony and into the cool summer night's air. The room faced the east and that was the way the wind was blowing. Although it was warm out, the breeze caused the temperature to feel much cooler than it was.
Justin didn't turn around when he heard her speak. He merely gazed up at the stars for a moment until he finally called her to join him by the railing. "Come here."
His hand reached to the side of him and awaited her own. She smiled at the gesture and approached him. She placed her hand in his and allowed him to pull her beside him. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her closer. He leaned his head down, never letting his eyes break their stare in the sky. His cheek touched hers and he pointed with his free hand towards the stars.
"Look, a shooting star. Can you see it right there?" For the first time since she arrived, he slowly turned his head and look at her. She had raised her head and merged her eyebrows together to study the sky to find the enormous mass of gases a million miles away that only appeared to be the size of a pea. She smiled brightly when its form came into view.
"I see it." She said as she leaned closer to Justin, happy to be sharing this sight with him. "That's amazing. I've never seen something like that before. I usually don't look too hard at the sky."
Justin continued to stare at her profile beside him. "But the other night, I saw you and Lance looking at the sky by the pool."
She removed her eyes from the millions of tiny sparkles above and exchanged the sight with two amazing blue ones to her right. She saw a warm content look on his face and smiled at him. "I know what you saw but I was only staring at the sky because I didn't know what else to look at. The pool just didn't do it for me that night and well…" She began as she lowered her head, almost as if she were embarrassed about what she was about to say next. "I was just thinking about something."
She finished in a rush and Justin knew something was up. He turned his body to allow his hip to rest against the railing. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a mischievous grin. "Exactly WHO were you thinking of?"
She didn't miss a beat on that one. "Justin, I wasn't…"
He held up a finger to silence her. "Oh yes you were. Don't tell me you weren't thinking about someone because it's written all over that pretty little face of yours." He lowered his finger and touched the tip of her nose as he said every word sending her eyes into a crisscrossed frenzy.
She grabbed his finger and yanked it so hard that it almost popped out of socket. "Okay smartass, I was thinking about someone. Are you happy now?" She wasn't mad just embarrassed that he could read her so well. She tried to put up the tough front but he saw right through that one too.
His mischievous grin turned to one of pure evil and satisfaction. "Very."
She broke out in laughter. She tried to hold it back but the way he was looking at her at that moment was just too much to handle. "You are so full of yourself it's truly amazing. And I thought I told you that next time you would be kissing…"
The same finger came back up to silence her again. "Stop right there. Now, I said that it would be YOU kissing MY ass next time."
She just rolled her eyes at him then returned her own to the sky above. Any place would be better than to look at him right then.
He lightly punched her shoulder and when she turned to give him a displeasing look, he startled her by grabbing a hold of her waist and pulling her into a hug. He leaned his mouth close to her ear and whispered to her. "If you think it'll make it easier, I could turn around and bend over."
He was really ticking her off now. She struggled to get free of him but it was no use. She finally surrendered. "Fine, you win now let me go and turn around."
He was so shocked by her quick defeat that he immediately let go and gave her a questioning look of confusion.
She took this opportunity to get away from him and ran over to the sliding door. She tried to open it but was giggling too hard to herself that she didn't realize she locked it. She clicked the button again but before the door slid open, a large hand covered her own and pulled it back. She slowly turned around to face the owner of the hand in question.
"Um..ha…" She noticed the look of pure evil return to his face and she felt defeated yet again. "You're really gonna make me do it aren't you?"
He slowly shook his head up and down, grinning from ear to ear this time. "And you're not getting away from me again." He started as he reached for her but stopped just short of grabbing her arm. He had another idea.
She saw him stop and then scratch his head. She didn't like the feeling she had inside at all. "Um, Justin, are you gonna drag this out or what?"
He lowered his hand from his head before he spoke. "I'll make a deal with you." She really didn't like the sound of that now. He could only chuckle at the site of Liz's nervous expression. "What I'll do for you is let you off the hook, yet again…" He started. Liz's face softened and she let out the breath of air she held so tightly inside her body. "On one condition…"
The air was suddenly sucked back in. "You tell me who you were thinking about that night at the pool with Lance."
Oh, that was the wrong thing to ask. She lowered her head and her body soon followed suit. She got down on her knees and looked up at Justin. He stood there with his eyebrows merged wondering what the hell she was doing. She simply cracked a smile. "Not on your life. Now turn around so I can kiss that scrawny white ass of yours."
He busted out laughing and reached his hands down to help her up. "Never mind." He said as he continued to laugh and she soon joined in. She was relieved that he didn't make her do either one. She really didn't want to share that information with him nor did she want to stoop so low as to kiss his butt, although it was a very nice butt indeed.
"Look, you asked me to come here tonight to talk and so far we've accomplished nothing but a missed opportunity at a good ass kissing."
He shook his head from side to side and crinkled up his brow. "What are you talking about?"
She just started giggling at his question. "I have NO idea. I am exhausted and I'm sure you are as well. How can you possibly still be up right now? I got tired just watching you guys run around all night."
He took an overly dramatic yawn that caused Liz to do the same. Those darn things are so contagious. He laughed at her when she continued to yawn. "I don't know, I really don't sleep much when we're on the road. You know…late night partying, loose women, all the booze you want."
She just rolled her eyes at the BS he was throwing at her. "You are so full of it. You may do that kind of stuff when your mother isn't around but I know when she is, you are about as wild as a kid on Ritalin."
He laughed at her comment. "Fine, you got me there. Listen…" He started. He pressed his hip harder against the railing and crossed his arms over his chest. "I wanted you to come here so we could continue our little discussion on relationships. You made some great points about that last night and I just wanted to hear more about what you had to say on the topic."
She wasn't buying his little act at all. "Oh cut the bull. You just want to hear about my sex life, don't you?"
He chuckled aloud. "Me? Never. I wouldn't dream of invading your privacy like that. I totally respect females and their right to hold out for the right guy."
Again, she rolled her eyes but this time punched him in the stomach. "Justin, I've 'given it up' so to say, several times but from the crap that goes on afterwards, I just said that I didn't want to sleep with anyone else until I knew it was right. There is just so much mental baggage that goes along with the whole act, from wondering if the guy will call me again, to if he'll blab it to all his friends. I just don't want that anymore."
She turned her back to the railing and leaned against it. She rested both hands behind her and crossed her legs in front. She looked down at her ankles before speaking again.
"I just want the kind of guy I told you and Lance about the other day. I want someone I can trust and who trusts me. I don't want to have to worry about day-to-day things with him. I want him to respect what I'm doing and know that I want to go so much further in this business. I want to achieve my goals that I've set for myself but right now, I haven't met someone who lets me be me. Once I mention that I want to be in a quote/unquote man's industry, guys either laugh at me or say that I don't have what it takes to make it in the BIG leagues. I can't stand that so I haven't thought much about a relationship on ANY level for awhile. I just don't want the distraction right now."
Justin watched as she spoke to the floor. He was going to tell her what he was feeling but chose not to. He could tell she didn't want anything else messing up for her so he pushed back the thoughts in his mind and filed them away for a later time.
He slowly reached across the rail and touched her hand. She responded by allowing her fingers to become entangled with his. She glanced to their hands before raising her eyes to look at his face. "I know, I'm a sap. Well, I can't help it. I have a lousy track record with men and I don't see any relief in sight."
He gave her a genuinely warm smile before bringing her hand up to his mouth and kissing the back of it. "You're not a sap. You just haven't found the right person. You're still young. Don't worry about everything so much. Take one day at a time and see where life leads you. I think the biggest thing you have against you is that you try to plan out every detail of your life. If life were like that, then everybody would be completely board. It's the little bumps in the road, the detours you have to take that make life worth living."
He plastered a silly grin on his face before continuing. The conversation was getting a little too serious and he wanted to lighten the mood. "You know, a dream is like a river: ever changing as it flows. And the dreamer's just a vessel that must follow where it goes. Trying to learn from what's behind it, and never knowing what's in store, makes each day a constant battle, just to stay between the shores. *"
Liz began laughing at his choice in words. "Thanks for the pep talk Garth." He laughed along with her at himself. "No seriously, thank you. You have really made me think about a lot of things I didn't want to. I do take things too seriously at times but I set a plan for myself and anything that gets in the way of it is hard for me to get passed. I want to be able to add things to my agenda but don't know where to start."
He had an idea of what to add and thought he'd see her reaction to it. "Well, you could start with finding someone who understands you. Someone who has his own goals he wants to reach and might be able to help you reach yours as well." He said, giving her a questioning and curious look.
She pulled her hand away from his and repositioned her body to the side to face him. As her arms crossed over her chest, Justin knew she didn't like the sound of what he was mentioning. "It's not that I don't want someone like that, but like I said a minute ago, I just haven't found anyone that even comes close. I think maybe I set the standards too high on this one so I wouldn't be able to find someone and potentially mess up my plans. I don't know."
She placed her hands over her face and began to rub her tired eyes. Justin could only smile at the site before him. She was so confused but utterly cute at this point. He took both her hands away from her face and held them in his own. "Ebby, look, just promise me something…" He started. She nodded her head and he continued. "If HE does come along, give him a chance. Just give him a chance."
She looked into his beautiful blue eyes and that eerie feeling she had when she first came into his room was back – full force. She lowered her head then turned it towards the exit. "Um…yeah, Justin. If the right guy comes along, I'll give him a chance."
That was all the encouragement he needed. He let go of one of her hands and with his own, he brought it up to her chin to turn her face so she could look at him. She was feeling a little awkward by this and quickly got out of his grasp.
"Um, I think I'm gonna go to my room now. I'm really tired and still need to pack for tomorrow. So, I'll…um, see you later."
She stepped back away from him and turned towards the sliding glass door. He wasn't about to let this happen twice. Last night he had wanted to tell her how he was feeling but was interrupted when Brittney called. He wouldn't let something interrupt his attempts again. He wouldn't see Liz for awhile after tonight and wanted her to know what was going on with him.
He startled her when he yelled for her to stop. "WAIT!"
She didn't turn around but merely took her hand off the door handle. "What is it, Justin?"
He took a deep breath before approaching her. He grabbed a hold of her arm and quickly swung her around. Before she had time to say anything, he cupped her chin with his hand and pulled her towards him. His lips slammed down on hers and she struggled to understand what was happening. Her eyes were locked on his and she wanted to get out of this situation as fast as possible but when he lessened the pressure a little, she saw him close his eyes and move closer to her.
He wrapped one arm around her back and slid the other from her face down to meet the first hand. Her mind was telling her to get out while she could but her body said to stay. She soon realized that her body was taking over. She began to relax a little and slowly shut her own eyes as her hands made their way up his body, starting from his stomach and finally reaching their destination behind his head. She encircled her fingertips in his curls and pulled him closer to her. At that moment, she was completely lost to the power that this man held over her.
She had told him and Lance about wanting someone to just grab her and plant a BIG one on her. Well, he certainly was doing just that. And to top it off, she felt the ground below her giving way and her legs trembling. This only made her frightened. The kiss was getting WAY out of hand and Liz knew what it was meaning to her. She couldn't face that idea just yet.
Before Justin knew what hit him, Liz broke the kiss and quickly turned to leave. She opened the sliding glass door with one swift motion then ran through the room and out the door.
Justin just stood there not really knowing what happened. "But I thought you wanted it to." He said into the wind. "I thought you wanted it to." He slowly made his way back inside his room and into the bathroom. He needed a cooling off before trying to get to sleep that night.
Liz made her way to her room and quietly shut the door behind her. Mandy was asleep and she didn't want to wake her up. She would surly ask her why she was winded and her cheeks were on fire. She slumped down by the door and pulled her knees to her chest. She encircled her arms around her legs and buried her head. A muffled cry could be hear over the breathing of her roommate but she didn't care at that point.
She had felt her body melt under Justin's touch and that drove her insane. She sat there in the darkness thinking about what had just taken place moments ago down the hall. She slowly lifted her head and raised it to the ceiling as if wanting someone to hear her cries. "He's not suppose to be the one." She whispered as she slammed her head on the door behind her and felt the tears whelp up in her eyes. She fought to keep them from escaping, they would do her no good. She knew what had to be done and was thankful that she wouldn't see Justin for awhile.
*Reference to Garth Brooks' The River was the verse Justin said to Liz.