"You look beautiful... beautiful... beautiful..." It echoed in her head like a scream in a dark cavern. She opened her eyes and carefully put the brush back on her dresser. He was not going to do this to her. She would not let him take over her brain like that. "No. It won't happen.", she told herself, "You can't keep falling so hard for someone who is trying to hurt you like this..." Olivia didn't exactly believe that Justin was the culprit in this huge mess.. she didnt WANT to believe that he was, but he was the only person that pieced in with the puzzle. There's no way it could be Brian... she hadn't told him anything about her past. When they met, she had somehow erased everything that had happened to her prior to the moment she was living at that place and time out of her mind. She didn't want to remember it, she didn't want it to exist, and whoever it was leaving her the notes, was trying to re-establish and renew all the memories she wanted to leave behind.

She washed her tear-stained face and put on a clean pair of American Eagle cargo pants with a matching turtleneck. She grabbed her AE Identification and trudged down the staircase, one by one. Her mother greeted her at the foot of th steps, dish towel in hand, concerned expression planted on her face. "Olivia, are you okay?"

"I'm fine.", she lied.

"...Justin told me to tell you that --"

"Yeah, I heard him.", she interrupted and walked into the kitchen. "Is dinner ready or do you just want me to get my own after work?"

Mrs. Jacobs followed her daughter into the kitchen. "It's in the microwave...", an eyebrow raised. "Honey, what happened between you two?"

Olivia opened the microwave and took out her plate filled with mashed potatoes, green beans, and chicken. She picked at her beans and looked up. "Nothing."

"I heard yelling upstairs. What did he do?"

She picked up a fork and knife and started to cut through her chicken while answering. "Mom, it was no big deal. We had a little argument."

"Olivia Nicole Jacobs, that young man walked out of this house looking like he had just been stabbed in the heart. And I'm sure you watched him sit outside on our curb in the RAIN for over ten minutes, while his leather jacket got ruined might I add. He looked absolutely miserable so I'm sure that whatever happened between you two was more than a little argument." She paused to look at her daughter, who was only looking at her food with a scowl on her face. "Let me tell you something missy. As soon as that boy stepped foot in this house and saw you, his eyes started to dance with love. That's what I saw in them when he got here. And do you know what I saw in them when he LEFT the house? They were no longer dancing, Olivia. They were DEAD. His eyes were dull and DEAD." She walked over to the sink and began to put some dishes into the dishwasher.

Liv stared at her food for another minute, before realizing that she had no appetite. She pushed the plate aside and stood up. "I'm late." Without another word, she grabbed her keys and left the house.

(the next morning, on the plane to New York)

Joey leaned over towards Lance and motioned to Justin with his hand. "What's up with him?"

Justin was leaning against the window, staring out at the passing clouds. He had been pretty reserved throughout the bulk of the trip; in fact he hadn't said much of anything the whole day, which for Justin, was awkward, because he was a very outspoken person, rarely ever quiet. Lance had gotten a call from him the night before when he had gotten home from Olivia's. When he picked up the phone, it didn't even sound like Justin. His voice was rugged and hoarse, he sounded very downtrodden, very run-down. He told him about his conversation with Liv and how she refused to believe him, even how she put all the more suspicion on him.

Lance looked at Justin, then back at Joey. "Girl problems. Just let him be for now, he'll be fine."

Joey nodded. The group was on the road to New York to film a show for MTV called "*NSYNC's Top 40 Videos" that was supposed to air sometime in December or January. They had some promotional things to get done while they were on the east coast too, a few concerts to perform, and a few other television shows. They would be gone for almost four weeks.

Justin pulled on his headphones and turned up the volume loudly so he wouldn't have to hear his friends talk about him, which he knew they were doing. He just needed time to straighten out his thoughts, and he needed a plan. His heart was telling him that it was Brian and he knew it was true because his heart NEVER lied to him. The hard part was going to be getting Olivia to believe him. He needed proof and he couldn't GET proof if he was in New York. He closed his eyes and told himself that he couldn't worry about it; that he'd figure it out when he got home. "Just gotta hang on till then...", he mumbled under his breath and rested his head back against the seat.

(four weeks later, December 21st)

"Where are you going for Christmas?", JC asked Justin as they walked out of the terminal, waving to the hordes of girls crowded around in the airport waiting for them.

He bent over to sign an autograph for a little girl, with a big grin on his face, completely making that girl's day. He looked back at JC and shrugged. "I'm just going home. I haven't seen Jon or daddy in the longest time. I think they're coming down."

A bodyguard shuffled them along and they waved again to the fans before disappearing out the door. Justin adjusted his backpack on his back and continued, "We have to be out of here by the 28th, right?"

JC nodded while hopping in the van that was waiting for them. "Yep, we're on our way to the west coast I think.", he shrugged, "I don't know, ask Lance." JC chuckled and buckled his seatbelt.

Justin was glad they had off for Christmas because he hadn't been able to spend time with his family in a long time, which was upsetting considering how close he was to each and every family member. He was also glad to be home so he could develop his plan to catch Brian in the act and make Olivia see that it wasn't him who had been threatening her. Speaking of Liv, he hadn't talked to her since she yelled at him to get out of her house, more than four weeks ago. She probably didn't even know he had left, considering how angry she had been before. He wouldn't be surprised if she had blocked his phone number on her phone.

The van dropped each of them off at their destinations and Justin's house was the first stop. He grabbed his bags and gave props to his four best friends before jumping out of the car and jogging up to his front door. He pulled out the key and opened it to a dark house. He made his way over to a light switch and flipped it on... but nothing happened. "Damn light bulb. Couldn't you have waited till I was able to SEE before you burnt out on me?", he muttered under his breath. Justin carefully groped his way to the living room and took his backpack off, throwing it on the shadowed figure of the couch. Surprisingly, the couch talked back to him with an "oomph". He laughed. "Oh, great now I'm hearing things."

Suddenly, he felt two little hands latch around his leg. The lamp next to the couch turned on, flooding the room with a bright light. The little person attached to Justin's leg spoke for everyone in the room when he yelled gleefully: "WELCOME HOME, JUSTIN!"

A huge smile appeared on his lips and he bent down to give his little brother, Jonathan, a hug. "Hey buddy. I missed ya." He rumpled Jon's dirty blonde hair and stood back up, looking at a saa of people around the room. Most of his family and lots of close friends were gathered around. His father sat on the couch, holding the forest green Jansport bag that was once on Justin's back, his step-mother Lisa was next to him and his grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends all around. It was extremely heart-warming to see everyone again. "What are all you crazy people doin' in my house!?", he demanded, laughing and moved towards everyone to greet them.

While giving his family hugs, his eyes searched the room hopefully, looking for the one person that he wanted to see the most. It was silly of him to even be looking, she wouldn't be there. Lynn walked around the corner, coming out of the kitchen, and looked at Justin. His eyes moved around at rampant speed. They were full of love and appreciation, yet there was something missing....the sharp sparkle that she had seen in them for the past few months wasn't there. It wasn't that hard to figure out why, either. She watched him until he looked at her, a smile on his face, that hopeful expression still in his eyes. Lynn smiled and pointed to the ceiling. Justin ran over, gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "What's up there?", he smiled. "Has the toilet been leaking again?" His head leaned back as he looked up at the white ceiling. His mother grinned. "What's up there is what you are looking for." She patted his cheek and walked back to the kitchen.

Justin's eyebrows lowered in confusion. "What I'm looking for?", he said out loud. "I don't -"

Jon ran up to him and tugged on his jeans. "Justin! There's a weally pwetty gurl in yor room!" An innocent smile crossed his face.

Olivia? He laughed at his little brother and softly punched him in the shoulder. "Okay, thanks bud. I'll be right back okay?"

Jon nodded eagerly and watched as his older brother walked up the stairs before yelling loud enough for the whole room to hear: "Justin!! ARE YOU GONNA KISS HER?"

His guests all started to chuckle and Justin turned a light shade of pink. He grinned at his brother. "Only if she wants me to." He winked and climbed to the top of the set of stairs turning towards his room. The door was closed but he could tell a light was on because it cascaded under the bottom of the door. He slowly opened it and peeked in.

It was her. He couldn't believe it. She was sitting on his bed cross legged, looking at a photo album, smiling at some of the pictures. His heart stopped for a second and he took a deep breath before walking in. "I see you've found my fifth grade pictures."

Olivia jumped at his voice and hastily stood up and put the album down. "Oh... I, um..."

He smiled. "It's okay. I looked pretty scary back then, hope you don't get nightmares."

"...no, no you were cute." She nervously pushed a piece of her hair out of her face and straightened her shirt. She looked extremely uncomfortable, like she would much rather be chewing on screws then being in Justin Timberlake's bedroom, alone, with him.

He took a step forward and almost instinctively she took a step back. It was like she was scared that he was going to attack her or something. He sighed. "So, um...did my mom make you come over or something?"

"...she asked me to come, yeah. You didn't, um, didn't tell me you were leaving."

He looked at her. "You didn't seem to care."

She glanced at the floor and shuffled her feet. "Well...I-I...", she sighed and started to pace. "Look, Justin, I'm really sorry for yelling at you like I did, but I don't think it's right for you to go make assumptions when you don't have proof, and I also think it was just WRONG of you to go tell all your friends about something that I told you I didn't want anyone to know about. You can understand that right?"

He nodded and reached for her hand. She stepped back and walked to the opposite side of the room. "No...I don't want you to touch me. Please..." She ran a hand through her hair. "I'm having a hard enough time here as it is...."

"Olivia...it's not me. You have to believe me.", he pleaded.

"Justin, I WANT to believe you, but look at the facts. Okay? Weigh them both. Brian doesn't know about anything, not the incident, not the threats, not even Sidney. I haven't told him anything. You know about what happened, you called me angel, you know about Greg.... you know a lot and he doesn't. So if you were in my position what would YOU think?"

He sighed and layed down on his bed. "...I wouldn't know what to think. You're right, and I don't know for sure if it is Brian but my heart is telling me it is and Olivia, my heart doesn't lie to me.", he closed his eyes and mumbled, "I know that much. It doesn't lie about anything."

"Well what am I supposed to do, Justin? I'm all alone in this now because I don't know who to believe. I am trying to get it out of my head that it's you because I...I don't want it to be you and everything that I'm feeling in MY heart for you will be meaningless and I'll be by myself all over again....", she trailed off and stared at a picture of Justin and her in a silver frame on his bureau. She picked it up and ran her fingers over the smiles on their faces.

He sat up in his bed, his heart racing. "W-What are you feeling in your heart for me?", he questioned, hoping to get an answer out of her.

She studied the picture a little longer before putting it down and glancing around his room. It was so clean, too clean if you asked her; there was a few posters up, basketball ones and some Janet Jackson, lots of pictures of friends and some memrobilia from places he had been while on the road. His bed was made, unslept in for a long time and he was sitting on the edge waiting for an answer. She collected her thoughts and looked at the floor while she spoke. "I can't really explain it. It's just...I've grown kind of attracted to you...", her voice was quiet as she talked. "...the way you always make me feel special, like I'm a wonderful person... but now I don't even know if that was just a cover up."

"You are special, Liv. And that's not a cover up.", he stood up and walked towards her. "I swear." He reached for her hand and tightened his fingers around hers when she didn't pull away. His pleading blue eyes looked deep into hers. "Please believe me."

She fought the urge to cry and pulled her hand out of his grip. "I...I should go."

He watched as she opened the door. "Liv..."

Her hair swished over her shoulder as she turned around. "What?"

"Please don't leave."

She sighed and took her hand off the knob. "Don't look at me like that, you'll just make me fall for you harder..."

He smiled and said, "Well how about you try not to think about how hard you're falling for me and just let it take its course naturally. Do you see me worrying?"

"What would you have to worry about?"

He flashed a grin and answered, "The same thing as you do. Except, I'll probably fall so hard for YOU that I'll have the black and blue marks to prove it."

Her heart fluttered at his words and for the first time in awhile, she smiled.

(next day)

Justin rubbed his hands together and smiled to himself. "Time to put the plan into action." He grabbed his jacket and stuffed a tape recorder in his pocket. "Oh yes, Mr. I'm-too-Cool-for-You, you're going down today. Nobody messes with Justin Timberlake."

As much as he told himself that he did, he didn't exactly HAVE a plan. He was just going to watch Brian very closely and always carry a tape recorder with him in case he heard him say anything relating to Olivia. He couldn't fail at this or his whole life would be ruined... this was one of those things that if he didn't accomplish, he'd feel worthless.

Justin picked up his cell phone and dialed Olivia's number quickly. When she answered, he asked, "Hey Liv, it's me. Do you know where your friend Brian is going to be today?"

She was quiet for a minute and then hesitantly replied. "What are you scheming Justin? Don't go near him."

"I'm not scheming anything. I'm getting you proof. Now, do you know where he's going to be?"

"Justin...."

Liv, come on. I'm not gonna go murder him or anything, I just want to find you some good evidence that I'm not the one who's torturing you like this. Please help me out."

She thought for a second and finally spoke. "Fine, but if anything happens to him I'm never talking to you again. Understand?"

"Yep."

"Ok, he said he was going to the ice skating rink."

"Which one?"

She sighed. "New Falls."

Justin smiled and thanked her. "I'll be on my way now. Talk to you soon." He clicked his phone off and thought. "Great. How can I get to the rink without getting attacked?" The cell in his hand started to scream with a shrill ring and he picked it up after the first one. "Hello?.......", a smile formed on his lips as he talked to the person on the other line. "Hey, can you help me out with something, Trace?"

An hour later, Justin and his best friend, Trace Ayala, were lurking around the New Falls outside ice rink, plan about to take action. Justin was bundled up in a huge Downs jacket that covered all the way up his neck, a ski hat that covered his trademark hair and sunglasses. He looked ridiculous, especially since it was never really THAT cold in Orlando to be wearing things like that. Trace wasn't that known to the public eye yet, so he could get around easily for Justin.

"Where is he?", Trace asked looking around at the hordes of people.

Justin carefully lowered the glasses onto his nose and glanced around. Not to long after, he spotted him. "Right there. See the kid with the blonde hair in the gray sweater? He's sitting at the little table all by himself.", he pointed at him from a distance.

Trace saw him and nodded. "I see him."

"Now go sit at the table across from him and if he mentions the name Olivia or Liv, start the tape recorder. Even if it's not juicy, just start it when you hear that name." Trace began to walk, but Justin grabbed his arm. "Make sure it doesn't look obvious, and NEVER look at him in the face because you look too much like me and he'll figure us out. I'll be back here."

Trace nodded and walked towards the table. Justin smirked and thought to himself: "This is going to be easier than I thought." He crept down behind the bush he was hiding in back of and peered over to watch the fun begin.

Trace had been sitting at the table for not more than ten minutes before Brian's cellphone rang. He glanced at him and saw him pick it up. He leaned a little closer so he could hear and crossed his fingers for something interesting.

Brian quickly picked up his cell. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me. Did you leave her the notes?"

He glanced around nervously, as if this were a top secret conversation and lowered his voice when he talked. "Yeah. Liv is pretty much scared shitless by now."

Trace's eyes widened and he started the recorder. He looked at Justin and discreetly gave him a thumbs up.

"She doesn't suspect it's you, does she?"

Brian chuckled softly. "I highly doubt it. The next few threats will put all the suspicion on Mr. Pretty himself. In fact, I think I've already made it look like he's the bad guy."

"Who?"

"That stupid bastard Justin Timberlake. He's always getting in the way."

"Okay good. Make sure he doesn't find out about this. He'll run to her and tell her everything."

"I know. I got it together, Greg, don't worry."

"All right good. It's about time that girl got what was coming to her. It took a lot to get Sidney out of my way too. Thanks bro."

"No prob. But I do think that what you planned for Sidney's death was evil, man. That was just plain wrong. What would you have done if Uncle Harry died too?"

Greg chuckled evilly. "He was a fool. A drunk fool. He'd of jumped off a bridge if we asked him to. I didn't give a damn about him anyway., I wish he would've died... Listen, I gotta go, my phone call time is up. Make sure you keep an eye on that Justin character and same with poor, sweet Olivia. Later bro."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of Justin.... and Liv is putty in my hands. Bye." He clicked off his phone and laughed. Trace was staring wide eyed at him, completely forgetting that Justin told him not to look at him. Brian felt a pair of eyes on him and turned around, looking at Trace curiously. He looked oddly familiar. "Hey.... do I know you?"

Trace gulped and answered abruptly. "No, I don't think so. I was, I was just seeing what kind of sweater you were wearing.... Abercrombie. Cool. Okay, I'll see ya. Bye." He jumped up and walked quickly towards the bush Justin was hiding in.

Speaking of Justin, as he watched Trace approach him, he felt two strong hands on his shoulders. His eyes got huge and he slowly spun around to face an ice rink staffer.

"What do you think you're doing back here?", the man asked him sternly.

Justin gulped and searched his brain for an answer. "I was... I was playing hide and seek." He stood up and pulled Trace towards him. "Oh, look. He found me. Guess I lost." He half-smiled at the man and dragged Trace out onto the sidewalk. "God... that was close. Did you get it??"

Trace grinned and held up the tape recorder. "You've got more proof than you need, buddy."

Justin clapped his hands together. "WHOOO! I knew it was him!!"