I finally woke up after hours and hours of sleep. Glancing at the clock, it read 6:30p.m. Only an hour and a half to get ready! I jumped out of bed as fast as I could. The ball started at 8. I had slept all day.

I took a fast shower and dried my hair. Pretty soon all four of us were crowded into the bathroom trying to get ready. After putting my now curled hair up into two butterfly clips I slipped into my dress. I grabbed my ballet-like (white)slippers out of my bag and put those on.

Ashley's hair was adorned with a sparkling tiara. Sara's hair was up with a few ringlets hanging down.

Dorothy's dress was white. It had thin straps and went straight to the floor. It had a white ribbon in the front. And she wore long white gloves. Her hair was up, as well.

Using the last few minutes we had, we checked our make-up and double-checked the accessories in our purses'.

We headed down to the limo. Spotting the guys, they were decked out in their white suits ( as in the God Must Have Spent...... video). They're backs were to us. I walked up behind Lance and put my hands over his eyes. " Guess who?" I said in a low voice. He turned around. "Wow!" he said stunned. " You look great!" I did a small turn. " Why thank you. You don't look so bad yourself." I said straightening his tie. He smiled.

" Everyone ready to go?" Jc asked. "Yep." I said. We all got into the limo.

I looked at Justin. He was talking with Ashley. He looked up and smiled. I smiled back.

" You gonna be okay?" Lance whispered in my ear. I looked at him. "You're so sweet." I said giving him a hug. " I'm gonna be fine."

It seemed Lance knew exactly what I was thinking. He was always worried if I was okay. I smiled. He's the most sweetest, most understanding and caring guy I know. Any girl would be lucky to have him. I'm glad he is one of my best friends. He's helped my through all this.

Minutes later, I was being escorted into the ballroom. We had arranged to have us all sit together. We found the table with our names on the place cards.

Dinner was first.

Then we danced. There was a huge dance floor out in the middle of the room. " Care to dance?" Lance said extending his hand. " Sure." I said putting my hand in his. We were one of the first "couples" out on the dance floor. I slowly put my arms around his neck. He rested his around my waist. We swayed to the soft music. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Jc and Dorothy step onto the dance floor. They looked so cute together. Staring back at out table, Joey and Sara were in deep conversation. Ashley and Justin were just sort of sitting. I didn't want to look at Justin but I did. His eyes met mine. I smiled and looked away.

Justin's P.O.V.

I sat there and watched her dance. She was so graceful. So beautiful. Not to mention dancing with one of my best friends. I couldn't help but feel jealous. Even though I know her feelings for me. Her feelings for Lance are as a friend. Or at least I hope. I tried to strike up a conversation with Ashley. After all, I had asked her to be my date.

" So.....are you having a good time?" I asked.

She just nodded. From all the times I've been with Ashley, like just hanging out, she's never been this quiet.

" What's wrong?" I asked her. She shook her head. " Come on. You can tell me." I persuaded her. " Okay. I guess you could say I'm jealous." she started. " Of who?" I asked. " Um....well Jen."

I raised my eyebrows. " Jen? Why?" She turned her eyes out to the dancing "couple" on the floor. I then realized why.

" Do you like Lance?" I questioned. She nodded slightly. I smiled. " This is perfect. Come on." I said getting up. " Let's dance."

I put my hands on Ashley's waist. " You should tell him how you feel."

She shook her head. " I think he likes Jen. While we were in Europe he called almost as much as you did. And that was to check on how she was doing. And they have been hanging out a lot since we've gotten back."

" Jen and Lance are just friends." I felt confident saying it out loud.

As part of my plan, we danced closer to where Lance and Jen were.

As close as we could get, I turned towards them. " May I cut in?" I asked Lance. " Sure." Lance handed me Jen's hand. He took Ashley's hand in his. I winked at Ashley. She smiled.

Back to Jen's P.O.V.

" What was that all about?" I asked Justin. He smiled. " Well, it seems that Ashley as a thing for Lance."

" No way! How come I never knew about it?" I asked him. " Because she was afraid Lance liked someone else." I laughed. " Like who?" He smiled. " Like you." I stared at him shocked. "Me? Lance and I are just friends." I stared at Lance and Ashley dancing. Ashley had this look on her face. I look of.....love? Could Ashley really love Lance? I watched closely. Her face lit up every time he whispered something in her ear. Lance had never mentioned liking Ashley. But Ashley had never mentioned liking Lance. I'll have to ask him about it later tonight, I said to myself.

I looked up at Justin. He's eyes twinkling down at me. " What?" I asked him. " He leaned his mouth down to my ear and whispered, " You look amazing." I blushed into his shoulder. " Thanks," I whispered back. " You look really good,too." Justin and I clung to each other while dancing slowly.

Before long the song had ended. I let go of him. " Thanks for the dance." He smiled and kept one of his hands around my waist. We made our way back to the table. " Hey guys." No one seemed to notice. Jc and Dorothy were staring into each others eyes. Lost in a world of their own. Joey and Sara, along with Lance in Ashley, were in deep conversation with each other. Chris was talking to some chick on the other side of the room. Kind of a Cindy Crawford look-alike. I laughed. " There's Chris. Working his charms." I said to Justin pointing across the room. He laughed as well.

Just then my cell phone started ringing. I grabbed my purse off the table and took out my phone.

"Hello?"

" Is Jenny Halliwell there?"

" This is her."

" Hi this is Detective Ricco at the police department. I'm just calling to inform you that we have caught and arrested Matt Pholey on the charges of kidnap."

" How do you know it's him?" I questioned.

" He confessed to everything." the detective replied.

" Oh. Well, thank you for calling."

" Your welcome. Good-bye."

" Bye." I clicked my phone off and returned it to my purse.

" They caught him." I said throwing my arms around Justin in a hug. I let go of him and turned to the table. " Matt's been arrested. That was Detective Ricco on the phone. He's gone. He's gone for good!" I clapped my hands together. " That's great Jen." Sara said. They all went back to what they were doing before.

I frowned. " You don't have to be so enthusiastic about it." I said sarcastically. Nobody even heard me. " Fine then." I turned towards Justin. " Come on." I said grabbing his hand. " Where are we going?" he asked. " Outside."

" There you gus are!" I turned around to find everyone coming towards us.

Justin and I had left earlier. We ended up out on the front steps just talking.

Justin helped me up. He looked at his watch. " Yeah. We left you guys like an hour ago."

" Really?" Ashley said raising her eyebrows at me. I smiled innocently.

I had noticed that Ashley's arm was linked with Lance's.

" Are you guys ready to go?" I asked. The limo had just arrived. " Yeah. Let's go." Jc said.

Upon arriving back at the hotel, everyone went up to the hotel rooms.

Sara, Ashley, and Dorothy went to change. I slumped on the couch. " Aren't you going to change?" Lance asked, sitting beside me. " Not yet. I will eventually. Besides, I don't think I could get out of it. It took enough to actually get into it." I said joking. Lance laughed. The rest of the guys were focused on the Tv. Jc and Dorothy had left already. Sara and Ashley I assumed were still in their room. And Justin, I had now idea where Justin was.

Changing the subject, " So...Lance?"

" Mm?" he said looking at me.

" What's up with you and Ashley?" I tried to ask casually. I didn't want to seem too pushy.

" What do you mean?"

I made a face. " Aw! Don't give me that!" He smiled. " Fine. Yes. I like her."

" For how long?"

" A couple of months."

" I'm offended. You never told me? I would have thought we we're better friends then that." I turned my back towards him. " Oh come on Jen." He moved to face towards me. He gave me those puppy dog eyes. I smiled. " I never told you because I always thought she liked someone else."

" Like who?"

" Justin."

" Justin?" He nodded. " That's funny."

" Why?"

" Well, don't tell but that's exactly what Ashley told Justin. That she though you liked me."

" But we're just best friends."

" I know that's what I told Justin. She likes you, too." He smiled. " So what are you going to do about it?" I asked. He stared at me with a blank expression on his face. I laughed. " What should I do?" he asked. " Go talk to her. Tell her how you feel." I gave him a push off the couch. I started walking slowly to the door that connected our room to theirs. He looked back. I nodded and smiled. He let out a breath and then knocked on the door. Justin opened it.

Justin? Why would Justin be in there? I looked around for Sara hoping she had been in the room, too. I spotted her cuddled up with Joey by the Tv. She hadn't been with them. I wasn't really worried because I felt like I could trust Justin. Could I? Is that trust we lost back?

Ashley came up beside Justin. " Hi Lance." I could hear her say. Lance just turned around and left, slamming the door behind him. I just stared at Ashley and Justin. Ashley looked like she was about to cry and Justin looked confused.

I got up to chase after Lance. I ran down the hallway. Well, waddled is more like it, still being in my dress and all. The elevator had just shut. I pressed the button a couple of time waiting for the next one.

Finally the doors opened. I stepped in and pressed the "Lobby" button. The elevator seemed to go slower then normal. " Come on," I yelled out loud.

Getting to the bottom the doors opened. I stepped out and looked all around. There was no sign of Lance. I wandered into the restaurant, hoping he hadn't left the hotel. Searching all the tables and booths, he wasn't in there.

I looked everywhere. Where could he be? The only place I hadn't checked was the pool. The pool! I walked to the pool area. Opening the door I spotted Lance sitting in one of the chairs. " Hey," I said soflty, while approaching him. He didn't respond. " Look Lance. It's probably not what you think."

" How do you know?" he said quietly.

I sat down beside him. " Like I said before, Ashley told Justin she liked you. And when I watched you two dancing, the look in her eyes. " I took his hand in mine. " She was so happy. I know Ashley. I trust Justin enough now to know."

" Let me talk to her. I'll be right back okay? You stay here." I got up. " Okay."

Hurrying as fast as I could, I made my way back up to thte hotel room.

" Ashley!" I looked around. " She's in her room." Justin said. I walked into ther room finding her on her bed looking depressed. " Go to him. Now." I said pulling her off the bed. I took her hand and walked her out of the hotel room. I dragged her all the way down to where Lance was sitting. Lance stood up when we approached. " Talk." Ashley and Lance started walking off. I smiled. I took my time getting up to the hotel room. I was unfortunatley still in my dress.

" Hey," I said entering the room. I slumped on the couch back to the position I was in before. Justin came up and sat beside me. He slung his arm on the back of the couch. " So....what's up with Lance and Ashley?" I sighed. " They're working things out right now. " I laid my head down on Justin's lap to where my face faced up. " I'm tired." I said yawning. " Well, it is one o'clock." I shut my eyes. " Justin?" I said half asleep. " What?" he said leaning down closer. " I love you," I whispered.

There was a pause. " I love you, too Jen." he whispered.

I opened my eyes slightly to have his face inches away staring back at me. I moved forward just a little bit and our lips met. Our first kiss in almost four months. I tightened my arms around him. He made a line of kisses across my cheek. I pulled back and stared into his eyes. " Justin?" I whispered. " What?"

" I trust you."