Oddly enough, being so close to him wasn't making her nervous at all. Normally, she would have been shaking in skittishness, but there was just something different today. Today she felt loved, she felt comfortable, and she felt like a seventeen year old girl again. Careful not to wake him, she gently reached her hand up and touched his hair. She had always wondered what his curls felt like, but she never imagined this. They were extremely soft, almost like a baby's skin, because there was no gel or hairspray or anything in them to stiffen them. She ran her hands through them and ended up at the nape of his neck, bringing her hand back to her body. Her eyes moved over his face and eventually landed on his lips. Her fingers ached to touch them, but she didn't want to take the chance of waking him up. She smiled as her mind wandered back to the night before. He had made everything okay. He had told her that she would be okay, and she knew that everything would be taken care of with Brian and Greg.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a loud crash in the kitchen startled her. She glanced at Justin to see if he had woken up from the noise, but he was knocked out cold. A low voice came from the kitchen talking to someone else that was with him: "Shhh!! You idiot, you're gonna wake them up!!"

Olivia stood up and stretched, pulling the blanket over Justin before wandering over to the kitchen. She stopped on her way there when her attention was drawn to a reflection in one of the Christmas tree's ornaments. It was of a picture on the coffee table. She bent down and picked it up. The frame was split into two different sections - kind of like a past/present picture holder. On the left side was a picture of a very young Justin... he must have only been eleven or twelve in it ... next to an equally young Britney Spears. The picture on the right side was probably taken only a few months ago, and again, it was of Justin and Britney hugging. Liv bit her lip and merged her eyebrows in confusion as a pang of jealousy surged through her body.

Once again, a loud clanging noise pulled her attention towards the kitchen and the frustrated cry of a man sounded through the room. "CHRIS! Stop it, you are so gonna wake them up and you KNOW how Justin gets in the morning!"

Another voice sounded next to the deep one. "If you keep yelling, you're gonna be the one to wake them up!"

Olivia smiled as she recognized their voices, checked her hair in the mirror and peeked in the kitchen. Sure enough, Chris and JC were standing there facing each other with their hands on their hips, pots and pans all around them. A few eggs and some Bisquick mix was sitting on the counter, waiting patiently to be used. Liv cleared her throat and walked in. JC saw her and turned to Chris. "HA! I TOLD you you would wake them up! But noo..."

Olivia smiled. "Guys, it's okay. I was already awake.", she glanced around at the mess on the counter. "Um, what are you trying to make?"

Chris stuck his tongue out at JC and grinned at Liv. "Hello, Liv!! We are trying to make pancakes here, but this bonehead can't decide what PAN to use!", he raised an eyebrow. "By the way, what are you doing here?"

JC nudged him and hissed. "Shut up."

Olivia snickered. "I came over around nine last night to talk to Justin and we fell asleep."

"You two looked pretty CLOSE to me. Is that ALL that happened?", Chris joked, raising his eyebrows up and down playfully. JC elbowed him in the ribcage and he groaned, holding his stomach.

She blushed and quickly changed the subject. "So..um, what are you guys doing here?"

JC smiled. "We live here. Chris and I got home around two o'clock this morning and saw you two asleep on the couch."

"Really? You live here?", she asked, very surprised.

"Yup. Didn't Justin tell you that?"

Chris looked up and smirked. "Speaking of Justin...."

"Shut up, Chris!"

"Nope, he didn't tell me. Look, do you guys need help with this? I make pancakes every weekend for my mom and dad.", she walked over to the counter, pushed her hair behind her ears and grabbed a pan. "How many are we making?"

JC joined her at the counter and counted with his fingers. "Us and the Harless'. Justin will probably want cereal. That's all the kid eats, I swear."

Chris bounced over to them and nodded. "But watch out when Justin wakes up because he is SO mean in the morning. I wouldn't even try TALKING to him until he eats. He's so angry at the world the first hour he's up. So, good luck."

She laughed. "Sounds like someone I know.", she said recalling the night she spent at Serenity's house. She cracked the eggs and put them in a bowl, measured out a cup of Bisquick and asked for milk. Rolling her sleeves up to her elbows she began stirring the batter, while ordering JC to spray the pan with PAM. Chris watched in awe. "Wow, she's a pro at this. We're gonna have to get you over here more often."

She smiled, thinking of the kiss she and Justin shared the night before. "I think you'll be seeing more of me around here."

A few minutes later, the sweet aroma of freshly baked pancakes filled the house. Lynn and Paul made their way into the kitchen and greeted the guys and Olivia. Lynn smiled warmly at them as she saw how nice everything was set up on the table. "Well, this is a surprise! Thank you!"

"It really was no problem at all.", Olivia smiled.

Paul cleared his throat and glanced over at Justin, still sleeping on the couch in the other room. "We shouldn't wait for him, he could be sleeping the whole day."

Chris grinned. "I AGREE! Let's eat!"

They all sat down and were talking quietly to each other about all different things, and a few minutes later, a very disgruntled Justin trudged past the table, mumbling to himself. He went straight to the kitchen, retrieved a huge bowl and a box of Frosted Flakes and moseyed his way back to the table where everyone was sitting. He noticed Olivia sitting next to Chris, and slowly the memories from the night before flooded into his brain. She looked great, and that was a shock to him because think about it - who EVER looks good in the morning? He shrugged to himself and walked over to Chris. "Move."

Chris looked up at the tall person standing behind him. "No dude, sit over there."

Justin's face was expressionless and he pulled out the chair holding Chris with one arm. "Get up. I want to sit there."

Chris rolled his eyes and pulled his seat back in. Justin crossed his eyebrows in frustration and stuck his hip out. A frustrated yell came from his lips that made everyone jump. "CHRIS!! MOOVE!!" Quickly, Chris scampered up and jumped into the seat next to JC. Justin tightened his jaw and relaxed it, plopping down in the seat next to Olivia. He poured himself his cereal and dug a spoon in to take a mouthful.

Olivia watched him out of the corner of her eye. She didn't know what it was... maybe the fact that he had made his best friend move just so he could sit next to her, or the fact that he had taken off his red sweater and was sitting at the table in jeans and a black wifebeater... but something about him right then made her heart skip a few beats.

Justin felt her eyes on him and he glanced up at her with a grin. She blushed and looked away. Chris' eyes bugged out and he exclaimed: "WHOA! Justin is GRINNING and he hasn't even been up for more than ten minutes!! This is a new record!"

Justin rolled his eyes and threw a crumb of toast at him. It bounced off his forehead and landed in his orange juice. Justin looked back at Liv and smiled tenderly. "I guess that's what happens when you fall for angels."

Justin shut the engine off and shifted in the drivers' seat to look at Olivia. "Well, here you are... safe and sound. I even obeyed your father and didn't touch you in any way, shape, or form.", he smirked. "He's gotta give me some credit for that."

She smiled and studied her house for a few minutes before turning to look at him. He had taken a shower and changed into a pair of clean Hilfiger khakis held up with a black belt and a tight black long-sleeved shirt, the sleeves pulled up to his elbows as usual. Teal colored shades covered his eyes. He looked good and she couldn't help herself. She smirked evilly and carefully took his glasses off. "He didn't say anything about me touching you did he?"

Justin's eyes got huge and he stammered on his words. "N-no...I-I don't -- I don't think s-so."

She grinned and leaned over to kiss him gently. It was so soft, it was barely felt and when she pulled back, his heart dropped. She couldn't do that to him... it was just wrong. His eyes pleaded with her for more, but all she did was smile.

"Before I go inside, I just want to thank you for everything you did last night. Thanks for showing me the truth and knowing just what to do to comfort me. It really meant a lot and I don't think you know how grateful I am to have you as a truthful friend.", she looked down at her hands. "And I feel bad because I don't have a Christmas present for you..."

Justin interrupted her with his smooth voice. "Your smile is a present all in itself, Olivia." Now just shut up and kiss me before I do something irrational.

She smiled. "Thanks, but I still feel bad because you've done so much for me."

He let out a groan of frustration by accident and quickly covered it up with a laugh. "Liv, really. I don't want any gifts... seeing you happy is enough." And that kiss. Wow.

Olivia grinned and opened the car door. "Merry Christmas, Justin."

"WAIT!", he spurted, grabbing her hand.

"Yeah?"

"....um, I just -- I just wanted to know if you were going to confront Brian or if you want me to."

She sighed. "Can't it wait till after Christmas? We can do it together...not now."

He looked down and reluctantly let go of her hand. "Have a good holiday.", he mumbled. Oh, what I would give to have some mistletoe right now...

She grinned to herself. The gentle kiss had worked... it always worked. Liv leaned towards him and pulled his neck towards her. One look at her eyes told Justin everything. He grinned and pressed his lips on hers powerfully, bringing his hands up to her face. His fingers massaged the back of her neck as they worked their way through her hair. She tried in vain to keep up with his pace, but this time it was HIM who was desparate for her touch. The night before it had been the other way around and it comforted her to know that he felt the same way about her. She turned her head to break the joint of their mouths and as she did, his lips brushed against her cheek and his eyes popped open in surprise and confusion.

She smiled. "I should get going, Justin. It's already noon, my parents are probably worried." She combed through her hair with her fingers and quickly applied chapstick to her swollen lips. "It doesn't look like I was just making out with someone, does it?"

He touched her light brown hair and smiled. "It could be worse. Merry Christmas, Olivia."

She squeezed his hand and kissed his cheek before hopping out of his all to familiar Mercedes and walking towards her front door.

Justin waited until she was inside before he pulled out of the driveway and drove home, wondering if he could keep his relationship with Liv strong as the group gained more popularity. He hadn't told her yet, but when they left after Christmas, they'd be gone for months, with no free time on their hands to spare. He concentrated on the road in front of him, praying that he could make it last and prepared himself for the abuse he was about to get from Chris, JC, and his parents about her. He shook his head with a chuckle and licked his lips, savoring the flavor of watermelon lip gloss still on his lips from her kiss.

Olivia closed the door and leaned her head back on it, closing her eyes. What a night. Her mind quickly replayed everything that had happened in the short period of time that she had spent at the Harless' house: talking to Justin, finding out who it was that had been trying to destroy her life, kissing Justin, finding out the evil plan of Greg's to kill Sidney, falling asleep in Justin's strong arms, getting jealous over the picture of Britney, seeing Justin in that black wifebeater this morning, and kissing him again. Oh yes, the good definitely outweighed the bad.

Liv opened her eyes and glanced up at the ceiling. A piece of green mistletoe hung right above the door. She sighed.

"Olivia, is that you?", a voice called to her from the kitchen.

"Yeah, mom. I'm home.", she yelled back, looked at her reflection in the hall mirror and quickly jogged up the stairs. "I'm gonna take a shower!!"

Good God, I look terrible. I really hope I didn't look this bad last night... She threw her sweater on her bed and turned on the radio in the bathroom, while she jumped in the shower. Not too long after lathering her hair, "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" hit the airwaves. She sighed as she realized how popular *NSYNC was getting. "What am I getting myself into?", she shook her head and rinsed her long brown locks.

Eventually, she stepped out of the shower and got changed. She still had some gift wrapping to do before it got to late and she wanted to get over to Serenity's to give her her present before tomorrow. As she was pulling the reindeer printed wrapping paper around her father's gift, her cordless began to ring from across the room. Tape was sticking out of her mouth as she mumbled quietly under her breath. Quickly, she dashed towards the phone and picked it up, throwing the tape back on the floor. Expecting it to be Justin, she answered it sarcastically. "What is it Justin? Did I forget something at your house or did you just have an urge to hear my sexy voice?", she chuckled softly at her sarcasm.

"I wanted to hear your sexy voice."

Her breath caught in her throat and she coughed loudly to clear it. "...Oh... B-brian... what-what do you want?"

"Can't I call my best pal to wish her a Merry Christmas?"

She was silent for a minute and made a note of it to get off the phone with him as quickly as possible. "Uh... yeah Merry Christmas... gotta go.... "

"Hey, so you were at Justin's house today? I was lookin' for you earlier, but your sweetheart of a mother told me you had been at HIS house for the NIGHT."

"...y-yeah, I fell asleep over there... Listen, Brian, I have to go..."

"Are you getting involved with that scumbag? Olivia, I told you to stay away from him. He's nothing but bad news... I heard he threatened his last girlfriend just because she wouldn't have sex with him...what a creep."

Olivia's heart pounded furiously against her chest. What the hell was his problem? Was he trying to turn her against each and every one of her friends or something? Anger boiled inside of her and she was just about ready to throw the phone across the room. The tips of her fingers had turned white from clutching the phone so hard and she growled into the reciever: "Brian, I don't give a DAMN about what you THINK of him, about what you HEAR about him, or about your FAKE wariness for me CONCERNING him. What happens between us is OUR business and OURS alone. I am angry enough at you as it is, so I would suggest NOT calling me for a long, LONG time. Go jump off a cliff or something." She slammed the phone down in her reciever and mentally counted to ten. No one was going to ruin her Christmas break. No one.

Brian looked at his phone for a minute, amused at her sudden outburst and how protective she got over Justin. "Well, well, well...looks like someone has figured it out." He cackled evilly and slowly hung up the phone. "Time is your only friend, Timberlake. You're going down..."