Chapter Fifteen: So Adorable

A few hours later, the pair were sprawled on Audrey's bed while Justin painted her toenails an alarmingly bright shade of red. Plates of half-eaten food and empty candy wrappers were scattered around them, and an ice bucket filled with melting ice and assorted soft drinks stood on the table beside the bed. The TV was tuned to some movie that neither of them were paying attention to.

"That's a hideous colour, Timberlake," Audrey observed, looking down at the polish he was carefully applying.

"It matches your sweater," he replied, glancing up momentarily.

"No it doesn't!" she argued. "My shirt is a dark burgundy. That is fire-engine red."

"Red is red!" Justin exclaimed exasperatedly.

"What colour is your shirt?"

"Baby blue," he replied.

"And is it the same colour as my pants?" she asked, referring to the navy blue cords she wore.

"No..."

"But blue is blue," she replied smugly.

"You better shut up, or I'll wreck your pedicure," he warned, waving the nailpolish brush threateningly.

"I wish I had a picture of this," she grinned. "You look so adorable. Can we give each other makeovers next?"

"Don't mock me, woman." But he couldn't supress the grin that spread across his face. "I'm glad you're not mad at me anymore."

"Me too," she replied softly.

"I really am sorry for what I said earlier,"he said, suddenly serious. "I honestly didn't mean it."

A shadow crossed her face at the mention of this morning's confrontation. Had it only been this morning? It seemed so long ago now.

"I was just... I felt so hurt... I wanted to lash out and make you feel hurt too. I'm sorry," he repeated earnestly, looking straight into her eyes.

"I've already forgiven you," Audrey shrugged it off. Liar, she contradicted mentally. She knew it would be awhile before she managed to forget the insults Justin had hurled at her.

"So what have you got planned for us tommorrow?" Justin asked, adding one last dab of polish to her baby toe.

"What do you mean?" Audrey asked. "I already told you, the shoot is over!"

"But.. but.." Justin looked confused. "I thought now that we had made up, things could get back on schedule."

"I've already called your management and told them that I had enough shots and I don't need any longer for this shoot." She grinned at his bemused expression. "You should be excited. Now you've got a few days off."

"What's going to happen?" he blurted suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"Am I ever going to see you again after we leave?"

He was voicing the very things that had been on her mind for the past three days. "Do you want to?"

"Very much so."

"Well I'm sure you guys'll be in Toronto pretty often. After all, it is the location of Much Music," she said, naming the Canadian music station equivalent to MTV. "We can get together then. And we can talk on the phone and stuff."

"Yeah, you're right," Justin agreed, but he still looked a little forlorn. "You'll have to give me your phone number and email address and everything."

"Definitely. And I want yours," she grinned. "Think of all the money I could make selling that information off to the teenyboppers."

"Ha ha, very funny," Justin grumbled.

"Well I certainly thought it was."

"That's because you're easily amused," he retorted, dipping his fingers into the ice bucket and flicking water into her face.

"Argh! I hate it when I get water on my glasses," she complained. "Is your shirt soft?"

"What?" he asked, confused at the abrupt subject change.

"I have to dry my glasses with something, but my shirt is wool and it would scratch the lenses. I need something soft, and since it's you got them wet, it's only fair you should help dry them. So sit still."

Justin froze as she moved closer and grabbed the hem of his shirt. He sucked in a sharp breath as her cool fingers grazed the bare skin of his abdomen. She slipped her glasses off and brought them to his shirt, rubbing the fabric gently over the lenses.

"Audrey...?" Justin choked, his gaze fixed on her face.

"What?" she asked, glancing up at his face which was slightly blurry to her now, even though he was only inches away.

"I've never seen you without your glasses," he whispered. "You have the most beautiful eyes..." His hand was moving of its own volition up towards her face, but before it could make contact, she pulled back abruptly and slipped her glasses on.

There was an awkward moment as they sat there unsure of what to say. "Thanks," she finally managed, but it sounded more like a question than a statement. "Is it that late?" she asked, glancing over at the clock. "We should probably call it a night soon."

Justin was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"No, it's not your fault," she assured him. "I just don't like it when people see me without my glasses. I feel... vulnerable. It's strange, I guess."

"It's too bad," Justin said. "Because you really do have beautiful eyes."

Chapter Sixteen
Say Cheese