Right before the show was over, everyone went backstage to gather their things and head to the hotel. Britney was going to be ushered out of the arena the second she got off stage so the others went ahead and left. They had a small celebration planned in one of the rooms at the hotel for later that night.
Although a huge party would have been better, Britney decided that tonight, she wanted to spend it with friends and family in a more quiet setting.
There would be music and dancing but it wouldn't take place at a club. She just wanted to relax with the people she cared about.
Liz and Justin had split apart before they all left. She had to go with Lynn while Justin left with his bodyguard and the other guys. She could hear them giving him a hard time for holding her hand, as she was getting into the van with the girls.
Since Lance had been on her left, he saw everything – from the way Justin slid his hand over hers, to the way Liz's face lit up upon contact. He had signaled the guys when it happened and they all smiled and nodded their heads. Maybe JC and Lance wouldn't have to interfere after all.
They made it back to the hotel and as the girls went upstairs to clean up, Justin took this opportunity to talk to Liz – but she was busy with Lynn. He shrugged his shoulders and decided to join two of his favorite girls now.
He made his way towards them and nudged Liz in the side upon arrival. She turned her head to him and smiled. Lynn knew immediately that things were looking up for them. She could see it in both their eyes that being together this morning did them good.
She had to smile and pat herself on the back for getting them to see each other earlier. She had called Justin to wake him up and bring him down for breakfast knowing full well that she would be on her way out of the hotel or gone before he got there. Also, she made sure that Liz was up but told her to stay in the hotel that day.
If the two of them were in the same room together, then maybe they would talk and work something out. Lynn figured they had because Justin was making googly eyes at Liz and she was eating it up.
"Ahem…so, Justin did you like the show?" His mother said, trying to break his stare at her employee.
Justin shook his head and grinned excitedly at his mom. "Oh yeah." He replied as Liz's cheeks began to change color. She knew what he was talking about and it flattered her beyond belief.
She wanted to just grab him right there and finish the kiss that had been interrupted earlier but with about twenty people already surrounding them, she chose not to act on the impulse. Instead, she would wait until later. She smiled to herself when thinking about getting Justin alone again. She would leave the party early and hoped that he would follow her to her room. Mandy would surly be down here until the end of the party so that would give Liz plenty of time with Justin.
Before she could finish the plan in her head, Justin was being dragged off by Trace, who had just come through the door with the girls. Lynn laughed at the obvious upset look on Liz's face but watched as it changed when Justin smiled at her.
He turned around and made his best friend let him go. "Man, what are you doing?" He said as he straighten out his shirt and gave Trace an evil look. "I was talking to Ebby and my mom."
Trace just smiled back at him and pointed towards the entrance where Britney had waltzed in from. "That's why I did that. Does Brit know you like Liz?" He asked as the two eyed Britney who was hugging everyone in the room.
Justin shrugged a little but didn't seem bothered by it. "No, but I don't see what the big deal is. You know that Brit and me are just friends."
Trace hit him lightly on the head to knock some sense into him. "J, you and I both know what goes on when you and Brit are together and since you didn't go see her last night, I'm sure she'll be expecting to see you tonight. Now what are you gonna do about her and about Liz?"
Justin saw his predicament. He was stuck. On the one hand, he had Britney who he had come to visit but hadn't spent much time with her except for a little bit this afternoon. They hadn't done anything but talk, though he knew she wanted more. She was lonely and with the start of the tour, it would only get worse for her. He wanted to comfort her the way she had always done for him but now he had Liz.
Although they hadn't been able to work everything out yet, he was feeling good about where things were leading – if he could just get this nagging pain out of his stomach. Something just wasn't right with Liz but he couldn't put his finger on it. Did he want to try to have a relationship with her now or wait? She would be leaving at the end of the summer anyway so if he didn't get too involved with her, then he wouldn't get hurt.
But he was already too involved.
She was wonderful in his eyes. She had changed so much in the past few weeks but had still kept some of the qualities that first attracted her to him. She was head strong and knew how to fight for what she wanted but he also knew about her family and the struggles she was having with them.
He had to talk to her to see what was going on with that before he could decide what to do. He knew he wanted to be with her but if she was only with him because it went against everything her parents told her to do, then he would only get hurt in the end.
He prayed that he was wrong and that she wanted him for him and nothing more.
He snapped out of it when he suddenly felt two arms around his waist. He shook his head to clear his thoughts then smiled down at Britney. She grinned and pulled him closer to her.
"Justin, thank you so much for being here with me. You have no idea how much it means to have you by my side for the first show." She finished and looked up at him.
He smiled to her and returned the friendly hug she was giving him. Without warning, she slid her hands up and around his neck and pulled him down to her level until their lips met.
Now, between the two, it was just a friendly kiss – kind of like saying 'thanks for being there' – but for one on looker, it appeared to be much more.
Justin broke the kiss first and quickly looked around the room, feeling that something bad just happened. He noticed the shadow of a figure run out of the room and knew without being told that it was Liz. She had to have seen the kiss because she was watching him and Trace talk.
He nicely pushed Britney away from him and said that Lance was looking for her. He didn't want to say the real reason he let go. She nodded her head, gave Justin another quick hug, and tapped Trace on the shoulder as she made her way through the small crowd of people in search of Lance.
Trace turned around to ask Justin what was going on but he wasn't standing there. Instead, he heard the door close behind him and knew where he had gone. Lynn came up to him and asked if Justin had seen Liz leave. Lynn and Liz had still been standing beside one another talking but she noticed Liz's face fall again and looked to see Justin and Britney in a lip-lock.
Trace simply shook his head up and down and pointed to the door. Lynn sighed and told him that they should leave the two alone. They had to work this out on their own.
Liz tried her hardest to stay calm. She just couldn't believe Justin would do that – but Justin really didn't do anything. Britney was the instigator of the kiss but then why didn't Justin pull away?
'UGH this sucks!' she shouted to herself as she made her way down the hall to her room. 'Well, it looks like I left the party even earlier than I thought I would.' Her mind continued to say.
She unlocked the door to her room and gladly met the darkness inside. She didn't turn the lights on but simply slid out of her clothes and into her favorite pajamas. She wanted to be as comfortable as possible and the soft cotton frog pajamas that her cousin had given her for Christmas would do the job.
She looked out at the balcony and began walking towards the door. She wanted to feel the cool breeze on her face and hoped that would calm her down some. She didn't make it two steps before she heard a knock at the front door.
She knew who it was immediately. He had to have heard her loud exit downstairs and for a moment, it warmed her heart to know that he had left the party to come see her – but he had kissed Britney.
The jealously raised again in her blood and she stormed over to the door. She violently opened it up and was all prepared to punch him when she saw the sad lost puppy look he had written on his face. She softened herself and invited him inside.
She didn't know what possessed her to allow him in her room but she had to let him explain what had happened.
He walked a few steps in but stopped due to the lights being off.
Liz turned around after shutting the door and nearly bumped into him. She apologized and stepped around him to turn on the lamp beside the bed.
Justin hesitantly sat down on Mandy's bed and noticed Liz do the same on her own bed. The two sat there for a few minutes, not sure of who should start or where to even begin. Liz thought that the silence was going to make her go insane so she opened the floor up for a conversation.
"So, why are you here? Shouldn't you be downstairs enjoying the party? That's why you came to Virginia wasn't it? To be with Britney?" She knew it was harsh to start like that but she really didn't care. She thought for sure that Justin liked her after today but maybe she was just fooling herself.
Justin picked at the cheap comforter underneath his legs before lifting his head and looking straight at Liz. "That's not why I came to Virginia – or at least not the whole reason I came. Yes I wanted to see Britney because we are friends but I also wanted to see you and that's why I'm up here now."
Liz looked away and stared at the TV that sat on the dresser across from her bed. "Justin, I'm getting a lot of mixed signals from you." She started as she heard him shuffle his body around on the bed next to her. She kept her eyes locked on the blank screen in front of her. "One minute you're about to kiss me right here in this room then you hold my hand at the concert but as soon as we get within ten feet of Britney, you're in her arms and kissing her. What is going on with you?" She finished and finally turned her eyes to him.
He twisted his hands together trying to let the tension out of them. He didn't really know what to say. "Ebby, that kiss you saw downstairs was innocent, I swear. We do that all the time. I didn't think you'd get that upset over it. That's just what we do. We are very affectionate with each other. I would do the same thing with you if you had just finished the opening show of your tour."
That did not go over well with Liz. "So you're saying that you want the same kind of relationship with me that you have with Britney? A little kissing here and there then whatever else floats your boat when you want it." She asked with her arms crossed over her chest. She couldn't believe that he was comparing her and Britney. She thought he wanted more than that.
"Ebby, that's not what I meant. I just said that I am friends with her and with you as well. We haven' t even talked about anything else happening between us and until we do then I don't see why you would get so upset. I'm not yours." He said, adding that last part with a whisper.
Liz's eyes shot up. "I know you're not mine Justin. I never said you were. I just don't play these games like you do with other people's hearts. You may call it flirting or just being friendly but I told you earlier that I don't think of you in that way anymore. I don't want to be just friends with you and I don't want to be some passing fling you have whenever it's convenient like you have with Britney. That's just wrong and in my mind, completely sick." She said, disgusted for the first time with him.
She thought about the fact that Britney and Justin were very lonely at times and leaned on one another to fulfill any needs or desires that they were afraid of reaching out to someone else for. But still the thought of hurt feelings and all the potential loves in their lives that would have to put up with the two of them, was enough to make Liz physically ill.
"Justin I don't want to be second fiddle to anyone let alone fight for your attention with Britney. I know that you may not be ready for that kind of relationship and believe me, I never thought I would either but I can see me with you and only you. I want you – is that so hard to believe?" She asked, completely frustrated with herself and him. She wanted to get so much more out of the time they had together and fighting wasn't part of it.
"Ebby, I just don't know. Britney is a part of my life that any girl I'm with will have to accept. She has always been there for me and I intend to be there for her. If you have a problem with it, them that's your problem and not mine."
Liz was beyond angry at that point. She stood from the bed and began pacing the floor. "Justin how dare you even say that to me. My problem? How the hell can you give anything to someone else, let alone me, if you have Britney to fall back on? You can't have your cake and eat it too. You have to chose to have something with Britney or not. You can't have her and expect another girl to welcome the third wheel into the relationship. It's not possible and I think you are quite naive to believe that anyone would put up with it."
"Then I'll be alone for the rest of my life. I'm not dumping Britney for someone I just met who wants to be with me to show up mommy and daddy."
Liz spun around when she heard that. "What did you just say?"
Justin swallowed hard when he saw the anger in her eyes but was able to repeat his statement.
"How dare you say that I want you because of my parents. I don't care what they think or what they want me to do any longer. When I came here I changed and am now doing what I want and they have nothing to do with the feelings I have for you."
"Well maybe that's the problem. You went from doing everything your parents wanted you to do to running to me. I don't want to be the ginnepig in your experiment to be free. I think you have strong feelings for me and that scares me a little. Just a short time ago you said you didn't want a relationship but now you've suddenly changed and I'm a little wry of that."
Liz stepped closer to the bed he was sitting on and sat beside him. She turned her body to face his before speaking again with a softer tone to her voice. "And you told me that if I ever met the man of my dreams to give him a chance. Well everything I said I wanted in a man came true when you kissed me on the balcony that night."
She reached gently to his hands and latched onto them with her own. She pulled them into her lap and smiled towards him. "Justin, you made my heart beat faster, my throat go dry and for the first time in my life, I thought I was going to melt from the inside out. You are the one I told you and Lance about on the bus ride to Ft. Lauderdale. You are him."
Justin just sat there trying to digest everything she was saying. Never before had he had someone look at him with such genuine love in their eyes the way Liz was doing right then. Sure his family and friends loved him but the sincere words and the way she held his hands made him realize that she was serious.
He never thought she would be the one making the move on him. She had been the strong stubborn type but since seeing her more, he realized that she wasn't at all what he thought. But did she have more to hide?
"Ebby, I really don't know what to say. I want to believe you but I have been hurt so many times in the past, that Brit…"
She stopped him midsentence by placing her hand over his mouth. "Please, for one second can you not mention her name?"
He nodded and she removed her hand. "Ahem…well as I was saying, in the past I have always had someone to fall back on to make things better and I'm just afraid that if we get involved and I have to leave her, then I'll be out in the cold if we don't work out."
Liz tried to understand the connection the two of them had but didn't get it. There was some sort of blood bond between him and Britney and Liz feared that if not broken – or at least lessened, then Justin would indeed live a lonely life without true love. If he couldn't let go of Britney and give her or anyone else a shot, then not only would the girl get hurt but he would possibly miss out on something wonderful.
She had tried to do that same thing for most of her life. She never really gave any guy her full attention but she knew that Justin was different and if she didn't try with him, then she WOULD be missing something wonderful. She wasn't about to let him slip away from her without a fight.
"Justin I'm not saying that you can't be friends with Britney but there has to be a line drawn that you don't cross when you're with her. I know you two are close but you don't have to be THAT close if you have someone else. And I want to be that someone."
She thought of so much more she wanted to say to him but realized that words just weren't cutting it this time. She had to show him that her feelings were real.
She pulled his hands to rest on either side of her hips and scooted closer towards him in the process. She brought her lips down on his and raised her hands to his face to hold onto him.
At first he was taken back by the courage she was showing him and his heart began to lighten. She was putting it all on the line with this move and he had to respect that.
He began to loosen up and closed the gap that their bodies had between them and tightened his hold on her hips. She responded by sliding her hands around to the back of his neck and meshing her fingers in his curls as she deepened the kiss.
A slight moan escaped her lips when she felt his arms rise up her body and under the back of her nightshirt. His warm hands were electrifying to feel on her skin and she jumped a little at the shock it produced inside her.
He chuckled against her lips when she jumped but held firm in his exploration of her back. He could feel her muscles contract at the slightest touch he gave them and when his fingers slid under the strap of her bra, he felt her tug at his curls.
Although it hurt to have his hair pulled, he wasn't about to make her stop. He was enjoying being this close to someone other than Britney who seemed to want him for him. He had found someone who he was on the verge of…
The thought was interrupted when his cell phone rang. He groaned against Liz's lips and hesitated to answer it.
"Don't." Liz said as she held firmly to his neck. She didn't want the kiss to stop though she didn't get her wish.
"I have to, it could be my mom or someone wondering where I am. I didn't tell anyone that I came up here in the first place." He stuttered out as Liz tried to continue to kiss him in between words. He finally had to push her back when the rings continued.
He saw the pout on her face and smiled, trying not to laugh. She was learning the look they all had when they wanted something. He leaned forward and gave her a quick peck before flipping the phone on and speaking to the person on the other end.
His eyes shot up when the person began to talk but Liz never saw it. She was too busy laying her head on his shoulder and feeling his hands rub her back. She felt him tense up, though and when he said his good-byes, she asked him what was wrong.
He slowly pushed the off button and tried to give her his best smile but was failing. "Ebby, it's Britney. She…"
Liz pulled away from him and got off the bed before he could answer. "Justin please don't tell me you're going to see her? Please don't say that. Not now. Not after that kiss. Please don't say it." She pleaded but the look in his eyes told her it was a losing battle to make him stay.
He stood as well and approached her but she back away. "Ebby, she needs me right now and I have to make sure she is okay. She's coming down off her adrenaline high and is confused about a lot of things. She just wants to talk. I can come back later if you want?" He asked, hoping he hadn't ruined everything but knowing he had.
"Justin I did that one before remember. You stayed all night with her last time so why should this one be any different?"
Justin reached forward for her hands and clasped them with his own. He pulled her closer to him and this time she allowed herself to have him touch her. "Ebby, I am really confused right now. I want you but I don't want to lose Britney. I don't know if I'm ready to give her up yet. I'm sorry." He said as he leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
She brought her eyes up to meet his and he could tell she was on the verge of crying but was doing her best to not let the tears escape. "Please don't go." She begged one last time.
He stared hard into her eyes and debated his choices. Britney needed him to talk to and Liz needed him for much more. 'Do I give up ten years of friendship for a chance with this beautiful woman in my arms or do I take my chances and hope she'll understand why I have to be there for my friend?'
That was what he asked himself as he looked at Liz. He nodded his head once, when the answer came to him and brought his lips down for one last kiss.
When he pulled away from her, he whispered against her lips "I have to go. If you care for me as much as you say you do, then you'll trust me to return and be with you."
With that, he let go of her hands and quickly turned around to walk out of the room. He didn't look at her, knowing if he did then the hurt look in Liz's eyes would draw him back in. He had to talk to Britney first then pray that Liz would understand but feared she wouldn't.
She watched him leave and knew that he was gone. He wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. She slumped to the floor and curled her knees up to her chest as her back was planted firmly against the bed behind her.
'You've won, Britney. You always do.' She said to herself as the tears came crashing down her face. She didn't bother wiping them away, more would just take their place anyway.