“Hi, guys.”
“Hi, Sophie. How are you today?” Chris asked politely.
“Scared that you’re being so polite.”
“Gosh, just trying to be nice and I scare people,” Chris said laughing.
“Well now I see your back to your old self.”
“Hi, Sophie,” JC said meekly.
“JC, we’re friends again remember? Don’t be shy around me. I want you guys to treat me like normal. What happened today to make you guys act weird.”
“Nothing, we’re just hungry,” Joey said.
“Joey, don’t ever think about anything but food?” Lance asked.
“Yes. I think about girls.” Lance hit Joey in the arm. “Oww! I was just kidding.”
“Well are we going to eat or what? I’m hungry too,” I said.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Chris said. They all headed for the door.
“Guys, we’ll be right down ok?” Justin said.
“Ok, but hurry up or Joey will start eating the car or something,” Chris joked.
They went down to the car and left me and Justin standing there staring at each other. “So did you want something specific,” I asked smiling.
“Yeah.” He walked up to me and kissed me softly on the lips. I kissed him more passionately. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck.
When we broke apart I said, “We should probably be getting down there or they’re going to leave us.”
“Would that be so bad.”
“No, but we should probably still be going.”
“Ok, but you have to promise we’ll finish this later.”
“I promise.” I kissed him one last time. We headed down to the guys hand in hand. When we got to the van I asked, “Where are we going?”
“We’re having a picnic,” JC said.
“A picnic? What are you talking about?”
“You’ll see,” Chris said. They rode the rest of the way in silence. Justin had fallen asleep with his had on my shoulder. When the van stopped I shook him gently.
“Justin, we’re here. Time to wake up.” He shifted but didn’t wake up.
“Sophie, what did you do to him last night? He’s been tired all morning,” Chris said.
“Chris, shut up.” I shook him again. “Justin, wake up. Honey, it’s time to eat. Justin!” Finally he woke up. “Finally, I thought I was going to have to have you surgically removed from my shoulder.”
Justin rubbed his eyes trying to wake up. “Where’s the food. I’m hungry.” Everyone started laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” JC said still laughing.
I took his hand and lead him out of the van. I stopped when I got out. We were at a beautiful beach. I just stood there staring at the beach. I felt Justin let go of my hand and wrap his arm around my waist. “It’s beautiful isn’t it?”
All I could do was nod. All of the sudden 4 guys ran past us towards a huge blanket that was laid out on the sand. It looked like it had tons of food on it. Justin and I stood there for a minute till we heard Chris hollering at us. “Are you two going to come eat or stand there staring off into space?”
“I suppose we should go eat huh?” I asked.
“Yeah I guess we should.” He let go of me and grabbed my hand. We walked to the blanket. There was tons of food. I sat down and noticed that on one corner of the blanket there were swimsuits. I immediately recognized mine.
“Guys, why are there swimsuits over there?”
“Cause, we’re going swimming when we’re done eating,” Chris said.
“So who went through my stuff to get my suit?” They all looked at Justin. “Justin, you didn’t?”
“Well we wanted you to go swimming with us but we wanted this whole thing to be a surprise so I had to.”
“It’s ok. I think it’s sweet. It’s a wonderful surprise.” I leaned over and kissed him quickly.
“Ok, will you two quit doing that and eat so we can swim,” Chris said.
We all ate until we were stuffed. “Ok. I have another question. Where are we going to change?”
“In the van. Why don’t you go change first,” Lance said.
“No, you guys go first. I want to look at this beautiful beach a while longer.”
“Ok, we’ll be right back.” The guys grabbed their suites and headed for the van. One guy went in and changed while the rest stood outside talking.
I sat there staring at the ocean. It was so beautiful. I felt like everything was perfect. All the guys were being wonderful to me and Justin was so sweet. I heard laughing so I turned around. All the guys were running towards me with weird smiles on their faces. “What are you guys doing?” I could tell what they had on their minds so I grabbed my swimsuit and headed for the van. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Just get changed so we can swim,” JC said.
I got in the van and changed quickly. I saw some towels lying in the back so I grabbed one and wrapped it around myself. I was a little nervous about five hot guys seeing me in my swimsuit. I grabbed the other five towels to take out to the guys. All five guys were sitting on the blanket waiting for me. I walked up and sat down next to Justin.
“Honey, can I ask why you have a towel wrapped so tightly around yourself,” Justin asked.
“No reason.”
“You’re not nervous about us seeing you in your swimsuit are you?” Chris asked.
“No, not at all.” They all gave me a look. “Ok, maybe I am a little bit. Look at it from my point of view. I’m sitting here with five hot guys who have perfect bodies. How can I not be a little nervous?”
“You don’t have to be. We all think you’re a beautiful woman,” Lance said.
“Yeah. You have no reason to be nervous. Now I’m going swimming. Is anyone coming with me?” Chris said. Everyone but me and Justin jumped up and headed for the water.
“Aren’t you guys coming?” Joey said.
“Yeah. I’m coming in a minute. I want to give my stomach some time to settle before I get in the water,” I said.
“I’m going to stay with her,” Justin said.
“Justin, you don’t have to stay. You can go get in. I’ll be fine by myself.”
“Like I’m going to leave a beautiful woman like you alone. Don’t think so.”
“Justin, you’re too sweet.”
“Just being myself.”
We sat there in silence just being with each other until I stood up and took the towel off. I put out a hand to Justin. I helped him stand up. He was staring at me. “Ya know Justin, you staring at me like that doesn’t make it any easier.”
“I know and I’m sorry. You’re just so beautiful.” He put his hands on my hips and kissed me. When we pulled apart we headed out into the water. We stayed close to the beach because I’m not a good swimmer and didn’t want to go out too far. Justin gave me a piggyback ride and took me out to where he was standing with the water up to his neck. I didn’t realize we were out this far and tried to stand on my own and I went under. Justin pulled me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck.
“Honey, are you ok?”
“Yeah. I just got scared when I couldn’t touch.”
“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have brought you out this far.”
“It’s ok.” I pulled back and looked at him. “I kinda like this.” Justin raised his eyebrows. I slapped his shoulder. “Not like that you pervert. I meant I like being close to you.”
“I like it too.” I stared into his amazing blue eyes. I started rubbing the back of his neck and he rubbed my back. We were just about to kiss when Chris swam up to us.
“Whatcha guys doing?” he asked.
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Justin said a bit irritated.
Chris looked at Justin then at me then back at Justin. “I think I’ll go now.” He swam away to bug Joey who was trying to float.
“We definitely need some alone time. So are we still on for tonight?” Justin asked.
“Yeah. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Where are we going?”
“That’s a surprise.”
“Another one?”
“Yup. You’ll soon find out that we love surprising people.”
“I think I already have.”
“Now where were we before we were rudely interrupted?”
“I think we were right about here.” I kissed him softly on the lips and started rubbing his neck again. He kissed me back with more passion. He opened my mouth with his tongue and explored every inch of it.
Again we were interrupted. The guys were shouting from the beach. “Justin! Sophie! It’s time to go. We have to get to a photo shoot soon,” Chris shouted.
We pulled apart. “Curly your right. We definitely need some time alone.” I let go of him and climbed on his back so he could give me piggyback ride up to the shore.
“We’ll get some tonight I promise.”
As we got to the shore I expected Justin to put me down but he didn’t. “Curly, I think you can put me down now.”
“I like carrying you.”
“Justin, put me down I’m to heavy for you to carry.”
“Girl, what are you talking about. You’re light as a feather. Plus, I love having you on my back.”
I slapped his arm. “You need to get your mind out of that gutter.”
“It’s so much fun there.” He carried me all the way to the van. He finally put me down so I could dry myself off before getting in the van. Justin and I got the back of the van all to ourselves so I decided to lay down and take a quick nap on the way back to the hotel. I laid down with my head in Justin’s lap. I was shivering because I was still in just my swimsuit. Justin saw this and handed me his shirt that he had been wearing earlier.
“Justin, it’ll be all wet.”
“That’s ok. Just put it on. I can tell you’re cold.”
“Thanks.” I kissed him on the cheek, put the shirt on, and laid back down. I was just about asleep when I felt Justin start stroking my wet hair. I fell asleep soon after that.
When I woke up I was in a bed in a dark room. “Where am I?” I asked out loud. I looked at the clock on the bedside table and saw that it was almost 6:00. “Where are the guys?” I got up and found all the guys sitting in the living area. They all stared at me. I looked down and realized I was still wearing my swimsuit with Justin’s shirt over it. I walked over an sat down next to Justin. “Are we still going out?”
“No, I had reservations for 6:00. But I don’t think we’re going to make them.”
“Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“You looked so peaceful sleeping, I couldn’t. It’s ok. The guys are going out clubbing so we’ll have the whole room to ourselves.”
“You guys are going clubbing again?”
“Yup,” Joey said enthustiastically.
“Don’t you guys ever get tired of clubbing?”
“Nope,” Chris said with the same amount of enthusiasim.
I just sighed and laid my head on Justin’s shoulder. “Are you still tired?”
“Not really. Just wanted to be close to you,” I whispered into his ear.
He smiled really big. “Well I think we’re going to be going,” Lance said.
All four of the guys got up and headed towards the door. “We’ll be home late so don’t wait up.”
“Don’t worry. We won’t,” Jusitn said.
The guys left and we were alone. “I think I should go put some clothes on so you can have your shirt back.”
“You can keep it. It looks beter on you anyway.”
“Curly, you’re too sweet to me. I’ll be right back.” I gave him a kiss before I left. I went and put on a pair of jeans and a baby blue shirt. “So what are we going to do?”
“I thought we would start by watching some TV or maybe a movie. I just want to be alone with you.”
“Sounds good here.” Justin laid down on the couch and I laid down beside him. He put his arms around my waist and I put my hands over his. We stayed like that for a while talking and watching MTV. After a while GMHSALMTOY came on. I started humming along while watching the video. Pretty soon Justin starting singing softly into my ear. I stopped humming and listened. When he stopped singing I said, “Justin, you’ve probably heard this a million times, but I’m going to say it anyway. You have an amazing voice. You make my heart melt when you sing to me like that.” I rolled over so I was looking at him.
Our faces were only inches apart when he said, “I have heard it before, but it means so much more coming from you.” Justin quickly closed the space between us. He stroked my cheek. I licked his lips getting him to open his mouth. He did and my tongue went in. My tongue met his and I was in pure heaven. We rolled over so I was on top of him. We kissed for a while longer. Then Justin untucked my shirt and ran his hand up my shirt. I wasn’t sure about this but I didn’t say anything.
Justin suddenly stopped. “Sophie, I think we should wait. I mean I like you a lot but we’ve haven’t known each other for that long.”
“I think you’re right, Justin. I really like you too, but I think we should wait.” I got up off him and sat on the floor in front of the couch. Justin got up and sat between me and the couch. “Justin, just hold me.”
“I’d love to.” He wrapped his arms around me and we started watching some movie that was on TV. Soon we were both asleep.
Two hours later I heard laughing. I figured it was the TV and tried to ignore it but it was getting louder. I opened my eyes to find 4 guys standing over me laughing. I went to set up when I felt someone move underneath me. It was Justin. “Hi, guys. What time is it?”
“About 1:30,” Lance said.
“Jusitn. Honey, it’s time to get up and go to bed,” I said shaking him gently.
He stirred and said, “Not, yet.” Then he put his arms around me again.
“Sweetie. All the guys are standing here staring at you.” I shook him gently again.
He finally woke up and looked up at the guys. “Hi, guys.”
“Hi, Jusitn. How ya feeling?” Joey asked.
“Well my neck hurts and my butt is asleep. Other than that I’m wonderful.”
“I’m not surprised the way you were sleeping,” Lance said.
“I’m going to bed,” JC said. The rest of the guys followed him saying goodnight.
“We should probably be heading there too,” I said.
“Sounds like a good idea.” I got up and helped pull Justin up. We changed into pjs and went to sleep.
The next morning I woke up alone again. I was really starting to get frustrated at this. I got up and showered. I put a pair of khakis and a white tank with a button up green shirt over it. I decided to let my hair air dry and not mess with make-up. I walked out to the living area and found no one. Not that I expected anyone to be there, I was just hoping. I decided to go shopping. I left a note for the guys and left. I walked around looking at all the store windows but not going in. I stopped at a coffee shop to get some coffee. I walked in and ran into Brooke.
“Brooke!? What are you doing here?”
“I came with Devin.” Brooke and Devin had been going out for over 4 years.
“Where is he? I haven’t seen him forever.”
“He’s getting the car. We’re heading back home. Where have you been? I called and you’re mom said you went on a trip this week.”
“You could call it a trip. You have to promise you won’t tell anyone. You can’t tell anyone.”
“Ok. Ok. I promise. I won’t tell anyone.”
“I’m staying with NSYNC for the week. Chris just came to my house on Monday, asked me to come stay with them for the week, and wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“What about you and JC?”
“Well we worked that out and we’re all good friends.” I decided not to tell her about Justin since I didn’t know what was going to happen when he left.
“I’m glad.”
“Hey, do you want to come hang with us tomorrow? I’m sure the guys won’t mind.”
“I would love to. What time do you want me to come?”
“I don’t know yet. How about I just call you tonight?”
“Sounds good. I gotta run, there’s Devin.”
“Ok. Bye. Tell Devin I said hi.”
“Ok, I will. I’ll talk to ya tonight.” I got my coffee and headed back to the hotel. There was still no one there when I got back so I sat down on the couch and watched TV. I watched a Backstreet Boys video. “God, that Nick is cute. Hell, they’re all cute.” I sat there watching TV for about 2 hours before the guys came back.
“Hi, Sophie,” Chris said.
I mumbled a hi. I saw the guys look at each other out of the corner of my eye.
Then I felt someone sit down beside me. “Honey, what’s wrong?”
“Maybe the fact that for the second morning in a row I’ve woken up alone with no one here. What was I supposed to do all day by myself? Huh?”
“Sophie, we didn’t want to wake you up. This is supposed to your vacation. You shouldn’t have to get up early every morning,” Chris said sitting on the other side of me.
“Chris, I came here to spend time with you guys, not sleep in and spend the day alone in a hotel room. I want to go with you guys, even if that means getting up early.”
“Ok. Tomorrow we’ll get you up at the buttcrack of dawn so you can go with us.”
“Ok, that’s better. So what did you guys do today?”
“Just a photo shoot. Boring stuff,” Jusitn said.
“Did you do anything besides sit here?” JC asked.
“Yeah, I went shopping. I didn’t buy anything but I ran into Brooke. You guys remember her from the concert. Well anyway I invited her to join us tomorrow. I hope you guys don’t mind.”
“No, not at all. If I remember right she’s cute isn’t she?” Joey said.
“Chill, Joey. She’s got a boyfriend that she’s been seeing for over 4 years.”
“FOUR years!!!” Joey yelled.
“Yup.”
“That’s a long time,” Justin said.
“I think it’s sweet. You can tell they’re in love. You can see it on their faces.”
“That is sweet,” JC said.
“So what do you guys have to do tomorrow? I have to call her and tell her what time to come.”
“We have a radio interview in the morning then we have the rest of the day off,” Lance said.
“Cool. I’ll have her come at noon.”
“So what are we going to do tonight?” Chris asked.
“Why don’t we stay in and watch a movie,” JC said.
“That sounds good,” Lance said.
“Ok,” Joey said.
“Sure,” Justin said.
“Fine by me,” I said.
“Sounds like the plan then,” Chris said.
“I’m going to go lay down. Make sure to wake me up by 5:30,” I said.
“I will,” Justin said. I went into my room and fell alseep.
“Chris, can I talk to you for a minute?” Justin asked.
“Yeah, sure.” Justin followed him into his room. “What’s up?”
“Well I have to tell someone. You have to promise not to tell anyone.”
“I promise. Now what’s on your mind?”
“Well you know last night when you guys left us alone we started out just laying there watching TV. Then I started singing to her. Then I started kissing her and she kissed me back and one thing led to another.”
“Oh my God! Justin, did you sleep with her?”
“No, but we almost did. I stopped. I have no idea why. Everything just felt so right. And I care about her a lot. Maybe that’s why I stopped I knew somehow that she wasn’t ready.”
“Well, Justin. You two haven’t known each other that long, maybe it was your logic stepping in. You two make a cute couple and I can tell you like each other but a move like that this soon could ruin your relationship.”
“I know. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“At least you stopped. Just try to keep your hormones in check from now on ok?”
“I will. And thanks, Chris.
“Your welcome, Buddy.” They walked back out to the main room and joined the others.
Justin did as he was told and came to wake me up at 5:30. “Sophie, it’s time to get up. Sophie.”
“What? I don’t want to get up yet.”
“We’re going to order pizza and get a movie.”
“Justin, I’m not a guy. Food and a movie won’t do it.”
“Well then how about this.” To my surprise he leaned down and kissed me. We continued kissing until we heard the door open. We pulled apart to see Chris standing there.
“Justin, you were supposed to get her up not get in bed with her,” he said laughing.
“Chris, shut up. I was just trying to wake her up.”
“Yeah. Sure. Whaterver. Just come on. We already ordered the pizza it’s going to be here in five minutes.”
“We’re coming,” I said.
“Well, hurry up.” With that he left.
“Tell me why were friends with him,” Justin said.
“I would but right now I can’t remember.” We both started laughing. I sat up and our faces were only inches apart. “We really need to quit doing this unless we’re alone.”
“I know what you mean.” He got up off the bed before something could get started.
“Justin, I really need to talk to you about something later. Ok?”
“Yeah. That’s fine. It sounds serious.”
“It kinda is.”
“Why don’t we talk about it now then?”
“No. We can do it later. I just want to have fun right now.”
“Ok. Lets go.”
We went out and joined the rest of the guys. The guys had chosen to watch Dumb and Dummer. “Since you guys chose this movie. I get to choose the next one we watch,” I said.
“I’m not so sure about that,” JC said.
“Why? I have excellent choice in movies. Really I do!”
“It’s just that whenever we let a girl pick out the movie we end up watching a chick flick,” Lance said.
“And what may I ask is wrong with a chick flick? I think you guys need to get intouch with your feminin sides.” I tried to not to laugh. They all started at me like I was crazy. “What? It’s the truth.”
“Come on guys. It’s only fair that we let her pick the next movie,” Justin said.
“Thank you, honey.”
“Justin, you’re just saying that to get brownie points. Fine she can pick the next movie.”
Just then the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it!” I yelled jumping up. I ran to the door and opened it to find the pizza man. I paid the man and brought the pizzas into the room.
“You did not just pay for all those pizzas,” Justin said.
“Yes, as a matter of fact I did.”
“SOPHIE!” Chris yelled.
“What? Chris, calm down before you have a heart attack.”
“Sophie, this was supposed to be our treat,” JC said.
“Guys, you’ve treated me all week. I think it’s my turn to treat you.”
“No, you don’t get to treat us. That’s not the way it works,” Lance said.
“Yeah, the girl isn’t supposed to treat the guy,” Joey said.
“Joe, this is not some date. This is me hanging out with five of my really good friends. I get the right to treat my friends.”
“Not these friends you don’t,” Chris said.
“Ok, say whatever you want but it’s already been done. And I’m not taking your money so there’s nothing you can do about it.” All the guys shut up. They ate the pizza and finished watching the movie. “Now it’s time for my choice.” I went up to the collection of movies that were laid out. There were not a lot to choose from but I finally chose Good Will Hunting. I put it in but didn’t tell the guys what we were watching. I went back to my spot laying down on the floor with my head in Jusitn’s lap.
“Sophie, you said you wouldn’t pic a chick flick,” Chris whinned.
“Chris, Good Will Hunting is not a chick flick.”
“She’s right. Even though it has some chick flick qualities it’s not really a chick flick.”
I realized just then that I hadn’t called Brooke. I sat up quickly, scaring Justin half to death. “What’s wrong, honey?”
“I just realized I haven’t called Brooke. I’ll be right back.” I went into my room and dialed Brooke’s number. She answered after 5 rings.
“Hello?”
“Brooke? It’s Sophie.”
“Hi, Soph. Whatcha doing?”
“Just watching a movie with the guys. I wanted to tell you to come by the hotel at noon. It’s room 503. Just knock on the door. I’ll answer.”
“Ok. Sounds like a plan. What are we going to do?”
“I’m not sure but bring your swimming suit. I have a feeling that the guys will want to go swimming.”
“Ok.”
“Brooke, why don’t you stay here with me tomorrow? You can sleep with me in my room. I think Devin can give you up for one night.”
“Ok. I think I will. Are you sure the guys won’t mind?”
“No, I’m positive they won’t. Now I gotta go. I’ll see ya tomorrow.”
“Ok, bye.”
“Bye.”
I went back out to the living area and sat down next to Justin. This time he laid down with his head in my lap. “Everything ok?”
“Yup.” We watched the movie and I cried like I always do.
“God, that was so mushy,” Chris said.
“I think it’s sweet. He’s willing to give up everything to be with the woman he loves,” I said trying to calm myself down. I don’t think Justin knew I was crying because when he heard my shaky voice he looked up at me with concern in his eyes. When he saw the tears he sat up and hugged me. “I’m ok. I just always cry at movies like this.” Justin didn’t say anything. He just hugged me.
“Well I’m beat. I’m going to go to bed,” Joey said.
“I think I will too,” Chris said. Lance and JC went too.
“Justin, can we talk now?”
“Yeah. Let’s go to your room.” He got up then helped me up and we walked to my room. I sat down on the bed and he sat across from me. “So what’s up?”
“I was just wondering what’s going to happen after Sunday?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean what is going to happen with us after you leave?” I couldn't look at him so I looked down at the bedspread and played with a little string that was coming out.
“Sophie, I care about you a lot. I don’t want anything to change. I think we can make this work. When do you graduate?”
“May.”
“5 months. By then we’ll be on tour. You could come on tour with us after you graduate so we could spend some time together.”
“What about the 5 months we’re apart.”
“Well we have the phone and email and stuff like that. I really want to try and make this work. I think we have something to special to let go.”
“I do too. I just know it’s going to be hard. You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that. I think you just made me the happiest woman in the world.” I leaned across the bed and hugged him. I started kissing his neck and running my fingers through his hair. I started sucking on his neck gently. He kinda pushed me a way.
“No hickeys. That’s something that I can’t explain.”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t even thinking.”
“That’s ok. I just have to be careful.”
“I understand.” I laid down and he laid down next to me. We fell asleep in each other’s arms.
To Be Continued…