He merged his eyebrows together in frustration and looked up at her slender figure. "I am now boycotting the game of basketball."

Olivia laughed at his comment. "Baby." She turned and shot the ball from the three-point line, watching as it swooshed through the net and bounced towards the gate slowly, each bounce getting closer and closer to the ground, before rolling the rest of the way there. Basketball was her savior... she played when she was scared, she played when she was confused, she played when she was angry... there was just something so soothing about it, and it helped her release all her tension. When the ball was in her hands, she could actually FEEL all her troubles flying out of her body, like some sort of magic trick. She had been the star player on her school's team, and when she had been booted off it broke her heart, which made her practice longer and strive harder to be the best she could be. Her attention was pulled back to Justin when he let out a grunt. She rolled her eyes and sat down next to him.

"So, why'd you want me to come to the park? You just wanted to see if you could beat me, huh?", she asked him with a smirk.

He looked over at her and smiled. "Well... I wanted to beat you, yeah...but actually, I just needed to talk to you about something."

"Oh. What about? It's not bad is it?"

Justin grinned. Even in the darkness, she could see the glint of his sparkling white teeth against the comforting shine of the moon. The kid had a huge smile. "No, just the opposite actually." He stood up, dusted himself off, and held out a hand. "Come on, let's go for a walk."

She took his hand and he pulled her up, walking over to the entrance of the court. Justin acknowledged his bodyguard and said, "Hey, Jason, we're gonna take a walk is that okay?"

Jason scratched his bald head and looked around. There weren't many people there, for it was closing in on nine-thirty. "Well... I guess. But make sure you are very careful, and don't be too long. I could lose my job if anything happens to you. Understand?"

Justin nodded, grateful for being allowed to walk around at least for a little. Himself and the guys had gotten so popular in the last few months, that he was beginning to get a tad scared. Never had he imagined that he'd have girls scream over him like they did... he couldn't understand it. He was just Justin... nothing more, except that his face was on posters all over the world. He wondered if the worst was yet to come... "We'll be back soon, I promise." Quickly, he pulled his huge jacket close to his body and tugged the brim of his hat down to shadow most of his face. Turning to Olivia, he smiled. "Ready?"

She chuckled and looked around in mock startlement. "Justin, where are you?? Are you in there somewhere?!"

He grinned. "Sorry... but I gotta do what I gotta do... comes with the territory."

They laughed as they walked, getting farther and farther from the basketball court. When there were broken silences between conversations, Liv would look at her friend and smile to herself. She got to see Justin Timberlake as just that -- a normal teenager with a good heart and a great sense of humor. It made her feel wonderful inside to know that he hadn't given up on a friendship with her even though she had tried to ignore him for so long.

Soon, the two arrived at the lake where some ducks were swimming right through the reflection of the moonlight on the water. It was completely silent, with the exception of their own footsteps against the grass as they walked down to the dock. They moved together in syncronicity, each stroke of their feet parallel to the others... almost as if they were connected at the hip. When they got down to the end of the dock, Olivia sat herself down at the edge, gazing out over the water. Justin stood behind her for a few minutes, collecting his thoughts. JC's words echoed in his ears... "Take a chance, Justin. Give it a try and see what happens..." He had thought long and hard about what his feelings for Olivia meant and after talking with not only JC, but his mother also, he had come to realize that they were genuine and that he had to do something about it or he would drive himself crazy.

He looked down at the pony-tailed girl sitting in front of him, and smiled. Her legs dangled over the edge of the wooden dock and her toned arms supported her body behind her, right at his feet. She probably didn't have a clue as to what he was feeling for her, yet he could tell that she was struggling with her emotions towards him too. When she thought he wasn't paying attention, he had noticed the way she had been looking at him lately. Sure, he got a lot of the same looks from fans who admired him from afar, but there was something different about the way Liv gazed at him... something more special, something real. It was more than an admiring stare, which made him feel more relieved about what he was planning on explaining to her tonight.

Justin sat down next to her on the dock and let his long legs fall over the edge. There was complete silence for what seemed like hours; neither of them made any movements. They just sat there, appreciating the beautiful nature that surrounded them and enjoying each other's company. The only thing was that he was oblivious to the fact that Olivia was watching him out of the corner of her eye the whole time. He was a beautiful man, there was no question about that. A smile twitched on her lips and she turned her attention back to the natural scenery that was layed out in front of her.

"Hey... Liv?", a smooth voice broke the silence.

She turned her head slightly to look at him. "Hmm?"

He hesitated a minute while studying her face, almost as if he were trying to memorize her features to make sure he never forgot them. "Have you ever thought about modeling?"

Surprise was written all over her face. "Excuse me?", she giggled softly. "Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?"

He chuckled. "Well, not exactly, no... but I was just thinking that you could because you have the looks and the body for it."

"Oh...", she blushed. "Well, no, I don't think I'd ever model... it's just not something I'd like. I doubt I could take all those cameras in my face all day..." A second after saying that she wished she hadn't. "Oh no... I hope you didn't take that as an insult... I didn't mean to sound like I don't have respect for what you do!"

This time his laugh was hearty. "Oh Olivia! You worry so much! That wasn't an insult even if you tried to make it sound like one! I know what you mean though. Do you actually think I LIKE getting blinded by flashes 24/7?? Nuh-uh... don't think so."

She smiled warmly at him and glanced at her watch. It was ten o'clock. "Um, so what did you need to talk to me about? Because I should probably be getting home soon."

He looked back at the water, realizing that he had let the time fly by, putting off telling her about his feelings. "...oh, um..." 'Tell her Justin. Spit it out, get this over with. C'mon, do it man.' , one of the voices in his head told him. Yet, the other disagreed -- 'It can wait. You don't want to rush your relationship with her, do you? It could ruin your friendship!' He had specifically told her to come to the park, and he had specifically wanted to tell her everything at the dock, right where they were now because that was the exact same place where she had told HIM everything about her past.

"Justin?"

His neck snapped back towards her and he blushed. "I- I um, I really..." Say it man. SAY IT.

She raised her eyebrows and searched his face for more information than he was giving her. "You really what?"

He looked at his hands and sighed in defeat. "I really... enjoyed spending time with you tonight, but we should probably get ourselves back before Jason goes off and sends our whole security team on a search for us."

She smiled. "Yeah, I did too." Liv stood up and began to walk back down the dock but stopped when she noticed that Justin wasn't following her. "Hey, Justin? What's wrong?"

He finished cursing himself off for not telling her what he wanted to and craned his neck around to look at her. "Nothin'... I was just thinkin'." He got up and jogged over to where she was standing and they walked back towards the parking lot together.

Jason was pacing the grounds, glancing around quickly if he heard any noise at all. At ten after ten, he saw them walking towards him and he let out a huge sigh of relief. "There you guys are!! I almost had to send out a search team for you!"

Justin smirked. "What'd I tell ya, Liv!?"

She laughed and turned to look at him. "Thanks for inviting me out, I had fun whooping your ass at basketball and watching you wallow in defeat."

He rolled his eyes. "I will beat you at it someday."

"Ok, Justin, whatever helps you sleep at night! Bye."

She turned to walk towards her car, but was stopped when a hand grabbed hers. Justin was shocked at his sudden movement and he swore his arm did that on its own. It was involuntary. He looked down at his hand and took a deep breath.

Liv studied his face in confusion. She could tell something was on his mind... he looked to be in deep thought and his face held a variety of different expressions. He was confused, frustrated, happy, and sad all at the same time. "Justin are you okay?"

His eyes met hers and he sighed. "Yeah... I'm fine. Sorry."

"Are you sure? Did you want to tell me something else or did you just feel like grabbing my arm?"

Justin's face turned pink. "I, um, well no... just call me tomorrow or something."

She raised her eyebrows and smiled. "Okay. I'll talk to you then... bye." She waved and ran off to her Jeep. Justin watched her carefully as she jogged to the parking lot. She was something all right and he couldn't get his mind off her. A huge sigh escaped his lips and Jason walked up and patted him on the back. "You okay, man? You seem a little out of it."

His jaw tightened, then relaxed. "I'm an idiot."

"MOM!!", Justin yelled and listened as his voice echoed throughout the huge house. "MOM!? WHERE ARE YOU!?" He threw down his Adidas bag and put his coat in the closet next to the door, before walking around the corner to find his mother. He heard the coffee maker steaming in the kitchen and walked in to find his step-father, Paul sitting at the table reading a book.

"Hey dad, have you seen mom?"

Without looking up, he answered. "She's on the phone in her bedroom, I think. By the way, Justin, your father called. I think Jonathan had something he wanted to talk to you about." A smile appeared on Paul's face as his eyes met Justin's. "So, I would call them back tomorrow when you get a chance."

"All right. Thanks.", he said and jogged up the staircase following the carpeted hall down to his mother's room. Quietly, he peeked in the door. Lynn sat on her bed, playing with the cord of the telephone while talking quietly into the reciever.

"No, I don't think he's home yet, he went out to play some basketball with a friend... what?"

She's talking about me again... I wonder who that is. Justin thought as he listened silently to what his mother was saying.

"Oh! Yes, I will tell him you called, sweetheart."

Oo, it's a girl. Justin smirked.

"... Can I ask you something, Olivia?"

OLIVIA!? Oh, no! Mom, don't mention the stalker thing...PLEASE don't mention it... He prayed and pushed his ear up against the door to hear as much as he could without getting caught. His mother hated when he listened in on her phone conversations.

"... I heard that you've been getting threatening messages. Is everything okay with you?"

MO-OM! He pushed his ear closer...

"...yes, Justin told me that."

The door buckled under Justin's weight and he toppled into the room much to Lynn's surprise. He was laying face down on the blue carpet, his hands sprawled out in front of him. Damnit. Slowly, he picked himself up and smiled at his mom, laughing nervously. "Heh heh... hi mom. I, um, I need to talk to you... um, NOW."

Lynn's eyebrows remained raised in question and she never took her eyes off of him. "Dear, Justin's home now. I need to talk to him for a minute, but I'll have him call you back soon.... your welcome.... It was nice talking to you too... Okay, bye..." She put the phone back into the reciever and patted her bed, signaling him to sit down next to her. "Young man, what have I told you about listening to my phone conversations?"

He rolled his eyes. "Sorry. But what did I tell you about bringing up the stalker thing! Do you know how much that's going to strain my friendship with Liv? She's not gonna trust me anymore!"

"Honey, I don't think you should worry about it, because from the way she sounded on the phone, she wasn't that upset about me knowing.", she looked at him curiously. "How did everything go at the park? Did you tell her how you felt?"

He looked down at his hands and started to play with them. A very quiet "no" escaped his lips in a mumble.

Justin usually had no problem with telling girls he was attracted to them. In fact, it came very naturally to him. He felt more at ease knowing that he told her, and even if she didn't return his feelings, he felt better knowing he got it off his chest, so naturally Lynn was surprised. "No? Why not, sweetheart? You usually would be able to do it the first time the feelings surfaced.", she said, looking at him in question and concern.

Justin raised his head and looked at his mother - the one woman in the world that he loved the most, the one person he could tell anything and everything to, the one who would always love him no matter what he did - and shrugged his shoulders in failure. That was one thing Justin could not stand... failing. He would be absolutely heartbroken if he failed at anything, and it was something that his mother hated to see out of him, because he wasn't a failure in anyone's eyes. He just had to believe it himself.

Finally, a soft-spoken voice left his mouth. "I, I don't know. I thought it would be easy, you know? Just tell her... just like I normally can do. But, but it just wouldn't come out. Mom, what's wrong with me? Why does she do this to me?!"

"Why does who do this to you?"

"Her. Olivia. Why does she make me feel like this? Why does she have that unstoppable power that can make me do anything? She doesn't realize it, but I would do anything just to see her happy, mom. And then when she is happy... and when she smiles or laughs ...", he sighed. "God... it brings me to my knees..."

Lynn smiled and rubbed her son's slouched back soothingly. "Do you want to know why, Justin?"

He nodded.

"Because you're letting her. And because you like her that much, you want to let her in. You want to give her your heart, but you aren't sure if when you do, she'll return those feelings or if she'll stomp all over your heart like some of your past girlfriends have done."

His vulnerable blue eyes looked into hers, and she smiled, pulling him into her arms. "You have such a long, successful life ahead of you Justin. Don't be worrying the whole way through it. If it's meant to be, it'll happen."

He brought his arms around her shoulders and buried his head in her hair, holding her tightly in a hug. "Thanks, mom. You always know what to say."

She pulled back and kissed his forehead. "That's because I'm your mother. Now go give her a call back. She sounded a little scared when she called and it seemed like it was urgent.", she said as she patted his cheek. "...you'll be fine."

He felt a little better as he left his mom's room and walked into his own, yet the last words his mother had said panged him. The voice in his head told him the reason: "She sounded scared... it was urgent... that could only mean one thing."