CHAPTER 4

~ Late February 1999 ~

The letters continued. The phone calls continued. But Justin and J.C. were both waiting, anticipating the day their concert in San Jose would roll around, when they would see Liz again.

The venue was a big arena and the screams were deafening. 16,000 screaming fans, calling their name. Liz was in the front row, using the tickets J.C. and Justin had arranged for her. There was a little part of their performance when Justin would come on stage and just work it, and the crowd loved it. 16,000 pairs of eyes couldn't take themselves of him, and neither could Liz. He saw her in the front row while he was doing his little routine, and blew her a kiss, causing the crowd to erupt into tears and cheers. He smiled at her and mouthed "Watch this." He proceeded to do his little dance that got the loudest screams yet. Liz knew this was what Justin lived for, working the audience like this. He often told her of the rush, the excitement of being on stage, feeling all the eyes on him.

Backstage, Liz still couldn't take her eyes off Justin. The way he commanded the attention was amazing. He knew he was hot and it showed. But the way he looked at her made her feel like the only girl in the crowded room. While he was talking to other fans, he would look over at her and smile his best smile.

"A penny for your thoughts?" J.C. scared her by sneaking up from behind.

"Hey J.C. I was just thinking about Justin."

J.C. thought to himself.

"He asked me out, you know." Liz informed him.

he had known, Justin had asked him about it earlier.

"Are you still into Liz? I'm thinking of asking her out when we see her next week." J.C recalled Justin saying.

"Yeah I know. What are you going to say?"

"I don't know yet. I mean, I really really like him. He's funny, understanding, easy to talk to, smart. And don't give me that look, J.C, he is really intelligent."

He laughed, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, and he's caring, gentle, has a great personality."

"Okay, now you're taking it too far."

"And he's absolutely gorgeous."

"Yeah of course."

"But…"

"But?"

"I mean, what kind of relationship would we have? You guys are busy all the time, he's always surrounded by a horde of girls and I don't live anywhere near him. And he's only 18…I don't know…"

"But?"

"I really do like him."

J.C. knew he could tell her that it would never work out, that Justin would break her heart, that she would be sharing him with a million other people, but he didn't. All those moments he imagined being with Liz were thrown out as he reassured her.

"I guess your mind is already made up then."

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The following months he waited for Justin to make a mistake. Not a day went by that he didn't regret giving Liz the advice he did, the advice that sent her into Justin's arms. Now he waited like a cheetah for its prey, for Justin to mess up, for Liz to run to him for support. He knew he shouldn't feel the way he felt. Being on stage with Justin night after night was pure torture. Justin never had to do anything to annoy J.C., he just had to be there. J.C. started to loath public appearances. He hated seeing Justin flirting with the females in the crowd, hated seeing Justin deny having a girlfriend.

He thought while listening to Justin being interviewed. And so he watched. He didn't eavesdrop or go through their letters like he easily could, but he did watch Justin. The problem was that Justin was the perfect boyfriend. He called Liz every night, even after a late concert, no matter how tired he was. He sent her flowers for no reason, during a free day flew up to Berkley to see her. And on the road, he never looked at another girl the way he looked at Liz. He never flirted. The singing to girls on the stage was done half-heartedly. He never slipped up. Never. Justin was fed up.

"You can stop it." He said to J.C. one night in their hotel suite.

"What?" asked J.C. innocently.

"Waiting for me like a vulture. Don't think I don't see you, watching me and Liz. You're just waiting for us to break up, so you can move in on her."

"I don't know what the hell you are talking about.'

"I don't give a damn what the hell you do. But let me tell you this. You're gonna be waiting for one hell of a long time, you can count on that."

"Sure thing, Justin." The boy was surprisingly aware and he found J.C. off guard. Not expecting the attack, he sounded guiltier than he had hoped when Justin confronted him.

Justin's been acting weird. Very paranoid about everyone and everything.

I know. He thinks you're trying to break us up.