(Back In Florida)
The remaining few days on Britney's tour were a nightmare for Liz. She made every effort to avoid Britney at all costs but when the girls hung out with her, Liz was left out in the cold. She spent the last nights on the road in her hotel room. She didn't want anything to do with Britney or the girls for that matter.
Everyone seemed to be heartless cruel people all of a sudden. No one was worried about Justin and what he was going through. Surely people had read the article by now and had bombarded him with questions on her existence and what their relationship was about.
She asked Lynn several times, if she had spoken to Justin but she either said no or told her if she wanted to know how he was, then she needed to call him herself. Liz was concerned about Justin more than she cared to admit but she just wasn't ready to call him up and talk to him.
She was so hurt and angry with him - and herself - over the whole Britney ordeal. Liz couldn't believe that he would tell her that he wanted her too but then run to Britney. But Liz had more or less pushed him to go by giving him an ultimatum. She knew it was wrong of her to do that but at the time, all she wanted was to have Justin all to herself.
Was that asking too much?
"Are you kidding me? Yes it's asking too much. Gees, he's this celebrity that just about everyone under the age of 25 wants to marry. You were fooling yourself if you thought you could have him. Why you out of the thousands of other girls he meets every single day? Get a grip on it Liz, you're losing it."
Liz was alone again in her apartment staring up at the ceiling trying to figure out how to stop the voices inside her head from talking to her. She was tired of the fight her heart and mind were playing with one another and just wanted things to be normal again.
But normal to her was living in a dorm, eating stale potato chips, and listening to Molly sing along to Hanson while she studied.
Having her own apartment, traveling around the country with the girls and working with someone like Lynn just didn't happen to people like Liz.
Oh, sure she had been trained from birth that having a job like this was a great stepping stone for her future career but the more Liz thought about what her mother had instilled in her, the more she wanted to just go back to that dorm and listen to the off-key singing of her old roommate.
She didn't want to have to be the strong, go-getter type any more. She just wanted to be a normal college student worrying about midterms and not about whether an international superstar was ever going to be her friend again.
"UGH, THIS SUCKS!" She yelled in frustration as she pulled a pillow from behind her head and buried her face in it. "Why must everything come back to Justin? I can't even have a simple thought without him invading it somehow. This has got to STOP!"
She sat up abruptly and walked over to the stereo system by her computer. She turned on the radio and plopped down at the desk. She hoped to get through some work then check her email and call it a day.
After she booted up her computer, she turned the volume to the radio up as well. A familiar tune came through the speakers and she immediately changed the channel. "NO 'NSYNC!" She grunted out as she violently hit a few keystrokes on her keyboard to get online.
The DJ was talking about something Liz didn't care to listen to so she continued to check to see who had emailed her. She read a few jokes that Molly had sent and a rather long message from her dad that said she needed to call him and let him know what she had decided.
She sighed heavily at that. She wanted to stay in Florida with or without a job from Lynn but figured she WOULD have a job. Nothing had been said yet and Liz was trying to put that in the back of her mind and think of other things besides Lynn and Justin.
But that wouldn't happen tonight!
The next email was from Joey. She didn't recognize the address but when she opened it, she read his words and laughed at the inside joke he wrote.
She calmed her giggles down and continued to read the note. She paused midway through and felt a tug at her heart then a sharp pain take over. She was beginning to see red again and knew that Britney was to blame for this all.
"That Bitch! I can't believe she did this to him." Liz yelled and slammed her hands down on the desk.
The email had said that by now she must have heard about the impromptu interview that Britney had and spilled the beans about Liz. It read that Justin was now being harassed about his involvement with her at every turn. He was more or less barricading himself in his room and refused to go to any public appearances until this was settled.
Joey also put that Justin was sorry for anything that Liz was going through and hoped she was fine.
Liz smiled a little when she read that line. He was worried about HER when he should be worried about himself. But she was beyond furious with Britney. She had caused this and would be the only one to make it right.
Liz knew that she had to do something but was at a crossroads. She couldn't run to Justin and make him feel better she wasn't ready to do that but she needed to get the truth out and make Britney see that messing with her was the wrong thing to do.
Just when she thought she was done thinking about Justin, this had to show up and make her mind go into overdrive to help him. "UGH! Justin, why do I have to care so much?" She said to aloud as she threw her arms down on the keyboard. Her head soon followed and she groaned when a new song came on the radio.
"Just when it couldn't get any worse." She said as she went to turn the station but stopped short. Instead, she turned up the volume and listened to the words of a new song by Molly's favorite group:
I wanna hold you and love you
In my arms and then
I wanna need you cuz I need to
Be with you till the end
Then I hear myself reply 'You've got to hold it in'
This time around
"Did those boys sneak inside my head or something?" Liz said to herself as she continued to listen to the song.
Sit here waiting, wondering, hoping that I'll make this right
Cuz all I think about is your hands, your face and all those lonely nights
"Lonely nights, indeed." She said again before the chorus came on for the last time.
If only, I had the guts to feel this way
If only, you'd look at me and want to stay
If only, I'd take you in my arms and say
I won't go, cuz I need you
I wanna hear you say
It'll always be this way
And we'll be hand in hand for every night and every day
I wanna scream and shout
Cuz rules are never doubts
And all I care about is you and me and us and now
She heard enough and slowly shut the radio off. "Now if that isn't what I'm feeling, I don't know what is. Damn, I never thought I'd be saying this but that Hanson song was good."
She shook her head, realizing that the words to that song rang so true to her. If only she could tell Justin what she was feeling, without making him run away like before. But would she ever get that chance?
"Lance, this is so NOT going to work."
"Chris trust me."
"The last time someone said 'trust me' we wound up signing our lives away. Thank the Lord for the fine judicial system we have." Chris exaggerated as he pretended to wipe the sweat off his brow.
The others looked at their friend and snickered at his comment. Lance, though, didn't find it funny. "Chris, I tell ya, this plan is fool-proof. NOTHING will mess it up."
Justin walked into the back lounge just in time to hear him say that. "Hey, whatever this little plan is you have going, Ebby's gonna kick some major tail when she finds out. I'd reconsider it if I were you." He warmed as he licked his fingers clean of the sugary cereal remains.
It was just past breakfast and the guys were on their way to California for a few shows. They had the morning off for travel and were all relaxing on their bus.
Justin came over to one of the couches and sat down, giving Joey a friendly nod as his tush hit the soft leather. He let out a sigh as he laid back on the couch.
Lance eyed him a second before speaking again. "Well, Justin if you think what we're doing is wrong, then why don't you call Elizabeth up and tell her what the plan is?" He asked his friend with a smart-ass look upon his face.
Justin just appeared bored with him. "Nah, I think I'll like it better when she's hanging you all by your underwear out of the hotel room." He replied as he flipped the TV on and changed the channel to Nickelodeon. He stopped when he saw the ending credits of Blues Clues on and smiled to himself, remembering when he and JC had spent the morning with Liz in her room. JC had fallen asleep and her and Justin watched to cartoon.
"Um, hello." Joey said as he waved a hand in front of Justin's face. Joey shook his head at the lost look his friend had on and ignored him. "Anyway, I have to agree with Justin. Liz is going to rip our heads apart when she realizes what we did are still doing to her." He said, shifting nervously in his seat.
Lance came up to the couch but sat on the small table in front of it. He glanced at Justin before he answered Joey. "Well, if SOMEONE would get off his ass and hook up with Elizabeth on his own, then we wouldn't need to interfere."
Justin snapped out of his daydream and merely rolled his eyes at Lance before standing up and walking towards the door. "Yeah, well if SOMEONE wasn't so hung up on my friends, then I would go after her." He said as he exited the lounge and went to rest in his bunk.
When he was gone, JC shut the door and faced the others, ignoring Justin's comment. "Okay, now that he's out of here, we need to get everything set for the next few days. The girls will be here tomorrow night before the show but I don't think we need to do this until later. We need to see what Lizzy does when her and Justin are together again. Maybe they can work it out on their own?" JC hoped, because although they had told Justin what they were GOING to do, they hadn't informed him of what they already DID do.
It would be interesting to see what would happen when Liz confronted him tomorrow night. They may both figure out what was going on and turn on the group.
Chris and Joey both nodded their agreement. "Yeah, I hope they work it out themselves because Justin mad I can handle. Liz mad who knows with women." Chris said as he turned on the Playstation and handed JC one of the remotes.
JC obliged and the two soon were playing games while Lance handed out assignments for what everyone was suppose to do for the next few days.
If all went according to plan, then Justin and Liz would be thanking them and inviting them all to the wedding.
(The following night)
The girls made their way into the hotel they would be staying at for the next two nights. Their plane was delayed so they didn't make it there until after the guys' show had already started.
Lynn, Mandy and Jenny were dropped off at the venue but the others went on to get settled in their rooms.
Liz would be rooming with Mandy, yet again, so she had the room to herself for awhile. She unzipped her suitcase and pulled out a pair of running shorts and her tennis shoes. In the past few weeks, she had started running at night to help clear her mind though it didn't help much but did keep her in shape.
She changed clothes and grabbed her keycard then shut the door behind her. She went down the hall and knocked on Veronica's door. "Hey, I just wanted to let you know I'm heading out now. I shouldn't be too long." She said as Veronica appeared before her.
She nodded her head and told her to be careful then waved goodbye as Liz made her way towards the elevators.
She rode down past the floors and into the lobby. She saw a few fans standing around waiting for the guys to get back though it was only 9:30 p.m. the guys wouldn't be there for awhile. She figured they were the few that were unlucky and didn't get tickets. She wanted to go up to them and say something but didn't want them to even get the hint of who she was.
One of them had to have known about Justin and her so she wasn't going to add fuel to that fire. She snuck around the back of the lobby and existed through a side door. She began to stretch her tight body out and wondered if this was a good idea.
She hadn't run in a week and knew she would be feeling it in the morning but just being in the same city as the guys was driving her crazy. She didn't know what she was going to do when she came face-to-face with Justin, which was bound to happen.
She HAD to get out of the hotel and clear her mind of him before she exploded.
After her legs were stretched out and she walked a little while, she began her run. She started going through the city, luckily there were sidewalks all around so she didn't have to run in the grass or on the street.
She ran until her legs just about fell off then turned around to head back to the hotel. She made it back and had to bend over to rest her body and catch her breath. She noticed a much larger crowd of fans now and even saw a few looking at her.
She tried to smile thinking that if they did know who she was, she didn't want to hear that they thought she was rude by not acknowledging their presence. As she was walking into the hotel, a security guard came up to her and said that only people staying in the hotel were allowed inside the lobby.
Liz looked at them strangely but slid her hand inside her pocket to find her keycard. She smiled nervously when it wasn't there. She pulled the insides of her pockets out but nothing was found. "I promise you I'm staying here. In fact, my room number is 515, I swear."
The guard didn't look like he believed her so she took a deep breath and leaned a little closer to him to whisper. "Okay, I didn't want to say out loud but I work with Innosense, you know, the group opening for 'Nsync? We just got into town earlier tonight. I went for a run but my key must have fallen out of my "
She was interrupted when a large hand went up to her face. "Miss, you are about the fifteenth person saying they work with or know the guys of 'Nsync. Nice try but you'll have to go back outside." He said as he grabbed her arm and pushed her towards the exit.
"But I do work for Innosense. Lynn Harless is my boss and "
"Look, I may have to put up with this from those children out there but I think you are a little old to be posing as an employee of Mrs. Harless'. Besides, why aren't you at the concert if you work for her?" He asked as she stood by the entrance with about twenty young teenage girls behind her.
She didn't seem to notice them at all. "BECAUSE I WAS RUNNING! We got here late and only some of the girls went to the show but I stayed here." She yelled at him and felt as though she wanted to punch him.
He was about to say something to her but all of a sudden, the deafening screams from the crowd caught their attention. They both turned to see a black tour bus pull up and as the crowd tried to get closer to it, Liz thought this would be her chance to get past the guard.
When his attention was distracted by a group of girls shoving one another to get to the front of the line at the entrance of the hotel, Liz made her break.
She pushed the swivel door open and made it halfway through before she felt a hand on her upper arm. She grinned innocently at the guard when she turned around but he didn't think she was as sweet as she appeared.
"I told you that no one comes in without a key. Now " He started as he drug her back towards to the door but she glanced into the lobby and saw a familiar face trying to escape the ciaos going on outside.
Without thinking she yelled to the man. "JUSTIN!" She immediately slapped herself in the head when she heard the screams behind her from the girls who turned to look at the young man she yelled at.
"Now you've done it." The guard said but as he lessened his hold on her arm to assess the crowd, Liz made a run for it again.
This time, she made it all the way through the lobby and right up to Justin before the guard caught up with her. "Justin, I've never been so happy to see anyone in my life." She said out of breath to a wide-eyed young popstar.
He was about to say something to her but the guard grabbed her arm for the third time tonight. "Mr. Timberlake, I'm terribly sorry for this lady getting by me. She's been a pain to get rid of." He said as he gave Liz an evil look.
"But I told you I knew them and I work for his mom. I swear I do. Justin tell him." She said pointing to him.
Justin thought about it a second then gave her a huge grin that made her stomach turn. He was going to drag this out if he could and make her sweat well more than she already was.
He turned his attention to the guard. "Um well, I think I've seen her before but I'm not sure." He said as he scratched his chin.
Liz's eyes lit up with fury. "Fro boy, you better tell him who I am and NOW or your momma will definitely hear about this." She said, practically yelling at him.
"Well, for someone who wants me to remember who you are, you aren't being very nice to me now." Justin asked then yawned over dramatically. "I'm really tired right now and think I'll just go upstairs to get some sleep." He said and elbowed his bodyguard in the side while the evil grin became sinister.
Liz just rolled her eyes. "Forget about it. I'll just go outside and take my chances with those girls." She said as she let herself be dragged away. "Oh " She started, speaking over her shoulder. "I may just slip and tell them about a certain popstar and his baby blue fetish."
Justin laughed at that. "Um, EVERYONE already knows about that. You're gonna have to come up with something a little better." He said, still chuckling at the site of her being dragged away.
Liz smiled to the crowd as she drew closer to them. "Yeah, but do they know about the baby blue blankie that you sleep with at night when you get scared of the dark." She grinned just as sinisterly as Justin had when she heard him clear his throat and tell the guard to bring her back to him.
She turned around and gave the best smile she could muster when the sheer disgusted look overcame his face. "Yes, I know her and she does work for my mom. I was just giving her a hard time." He said shooting Liz a warning to not saying anything else.
She took the cue and snatched her arm away from the guard. "I'm terribly sorry again. I just get so many girls saying things like that." He said, trying to apologize.
Justin just waved him off. "Don't worry about it. I'll make sure she doesn't cause you anymore problems." They smiled at the guard before all three of them walked to the elevators and rode up to their floor.
Liz was on fire not only from running and the heated confrontation that took place downstairs but from standing beside Justin in the cramped space.
She suddenly felt a nudge in her side and looked up at the tired young man beside her. "You know I don't have a baby blue blanket that I sleep with."
She smiled sweetly at him. "Yeah, I know." She answered as she heard the 'Ding' of the elevator and hurried off.
"Hey, don't I even get a thank you?" He yelled as he came out of the elevator and saw her already down the hallway. He heard a faint 'thanks' before shaking his head and launching into an all-out sprint towards her.
He caught up with Liz before she opened her door. "I don't think I heard you right." He said as he took his hat of to scratch his head.
"I said thanks and now I'm going to go to " She turned around and eyed him with shock written all over her face. "What the hell did you do to your hair?" She asked as she crinkled up her nose and looked at the rows of braids that were placed around his head.
He looked a little embarrassed by the way she asked him that, so he brought one of his hands up and tugged nervously on a braid. "Yeah, well I just wanted to do something different, you know. Besides, I think they look kind of good, don't you?" He asked, wanting her approval for some reason.
Without thinking, she slowly raised her hand to his head and ran her fingers over the braided hair. She smiled at the still smooth texture they had. She was definitely surprised by Justin's new look but as she continued to examine it, it started to grow on her.
"It's not that bad." She said as she began to remove her hand but he caught it still on his head.
She looked at him, a little nervous to be this close to him again and felt her temperature rise when he slid her hand down from his braids to the side of his face. He closed his eyes a second to relish in the feel of her warm hand on him again. When he opened his eyes, he saw her face as red as a beet and her eyes shifting all around. He knew she was very uncomfortable with this so he started to bring her hand away from his face.
He was simply going to take her hand off him and return it to her side but he felt a tug by her and allowed his hand to be led to his lips. Her fingers grazed their surface and she looked to be concentrating on them intently.
He smiled against her hand and slowly puckered his lips up to kiss the tips of her fingers as they touched him.
Liz was in heaven at that moment and felt herself drawn to Justin all over again. She could feel her legs moving closer to him and jumped a little when his other hand lightly touched her hip. She calmed down, continued to concentrate on him kissing her fingers, and didn't seem bothered when his hand reached around and grabbed her back to pull her closer.
They had so much to talk about but at that moment, neither one wanted to say a word. Justin crept closer to Liz and pulled her hand off his mouth. He took it, placed it behind his head, and felt her tug on a braid. He smiled shyly to her before leaning in and
Hearing his cell phone ring!
"Dammit." He said, merely inches from Liz's face.
Her eyes shoot up. "What?"
He grinned embarrassed by his outburst. "Oh, sorry. It's my dumb phone." He started as he pulled himself away from Liz and grabbed the cellular device out of his pocket. He flipped it opened and grimaced when he saw who was calling.
Liz noticed his look and nodded her head slowly, she knew who it was. "Yeah, well Justin thank you again for helping me downstairs." She said as she turned around, sliding her keycard into the slot, opened the door and walked inside before Justin could protest.
He smacked himself in the head as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw his bodyguard standing over him looking at his phone. "Why didn't you tell her that it was JC?" He asked.
Justin didn't answer the phone but simply turned it off so the ringing would stop and placed it back in his pocket. "Because she thought it was Britney and left. She's never gonna get over it. Never." He said as he slowly made his way to his room.
JC was inside fuming. "Why didn't you answer the phone? I was worried when you didn't get here after me. What happened?" He asked as he came up to Justin for answers.
Justin just shook his head and lowered it as he ventured into the bathroom to take a shower.
JC watched his retreating form and groaned. 'Crap, now we HAVE to go along with Lance's plan.' He said to himself as he snuggled down inside the warm sheets of his bed and tried to fall asleep. The next day would be a challenge for them all.