Little hands latched onto the arm that dangled over the side of the bed and pulled furiously, yet unsuccessfully. The owner of the arm grunted, snuggling his head deeper into his pillow, like he was hibernating under the sheets. A muffled snort came from the sleeping figure as he tried to bat away whatever was pulling on him.

The owner of the small hands was getting frustrated and he put his hands on his hips, merging his little eyebrows. He crawled up on top of the lump in the bed and started to bounce on the hard object. "JUSTIN WAKE UP! IT'S CHRISTMAS!!" He continued to jump up and down on Justin's hard body until a soft pillow suddenly came up and whacked him in the face. A grumble came from under the sheets... "Jonathan Timberlake, get off me right now." Jon blinked a few times and jumped off the bed, grabbing Justin by the arm and started pulling. "COME ON JUSTIN! SANTA LEFT SOO MUCH STUFF!!"

With his free arm, he reached around and grabbed his alarm clock, reluctantly squinting open his eyes to glance at it. He hated that clock with a passion already, but the time that it read at that moment made him want to heave it across the room so it would die a painful death. He groaned loudly and closed his tired eyes again. His gruff voice sounded in his excited little brother's ears. "Jon, it's six o'clock in the morning...go back to bed."

Jon started jumping up and down impatiently on the floor, whining. "I DON'T WANNA! I WANNA SEE WHAT SANTA GOT ME! PLEASE JUSTIN!"

I am NEVER going to get sleep with him jumping up and down like this. He threw his warm covers off of him angrily, rubbed his groggy eyes, and started to gripe under his breath. "This is absolutely ridiculous... I canNOT believe I am awake at six a.m. on my VACATION.", he groaned and started to trudge down the stairs after his hyper brother.

Jonathan tore down the steps in a flash and ran straight to the tree that was surrounded by MOUNDS and MOUNDS of Christmas gifts. Justin headed straight to the couch and laid down, resting his eyes. Before long, he was fast asleep, engulfed in his new dream while Jon happily ripped the presents to shreads.

He watched with craving eyes every move she made, memorizing every feature of her sultry figure. His eyes moved up and down the length of her body, holding out his hand as she eventually reached the foot of the staircase. She graciously took his arm and smiled that smile that had the power to melt his heart into a puddle of liquid. Her soft hair was pulled up and twisted around into a style he had never seen before. Curled tendrils hung loosely against the side of her glowing face. Her form-fitting dress accentuated her slender figure and he couldn't take his eyes off her. If there was a word to describe how incredible she looked, he sure as hell didn't know it because there was no word he had ever heard before that could even BEGIN to describe how beautiful she was. He followed her outside to his car and contined to watch in awe. He couldn't believe that he was lucky enough to have found a woman like this. Finally, he found his voice and spoke gently... "You look... look...."

She smirked and fisted her arm in the air. "Like a beautiful budding rose?"

He smiled and shook his head slowly. "No... more like a beautiful fully blossomed rose surrounded by many, many more roses in the middle of a gorgeous flower patch. But the only difference is that the one rose sticks out especially because of it's magnificent beauty. It's unique, it's vivid and it's the only one that the passing people can focus on. You look like that one rose, but more beautiful."

A deep blush covered her face and he leaned over, ready to kiss her...

WHAM! Justin jumped out of his skin and sat straight up as he tried to realize what just happened. Feathers floated in the air all around him as he shook the dizziness out of his head. Admist the sea of floating feathers was a dreadlocked Chris, who had keeled over laughing the moment the pillow exploded and Justin's body sprung up. Justin grunted in disbelief and he moaned, "Oh no he did NOT just wake me up from a dream like that. No way."

Chris stopped laughing when he heard his words and raised his eyebrows up and down playfully. "A dream like what? Are you fantasizing about Olivia again, JuJu?"

Justin blushed and grabbed for a pillow to throw at him, but stopped when he realized he was only grabbing air and loose feathers. "Shut up. And will somebody please fill me in on why I am awake this early and why I am downstairs on the couch??"

Jonathan yelled gleefully, clutching his new toy. "IT'S CHRISTMAS! LOOK JUSTIN, I GOT A NEW RACING CAR! WATCH THIS!" He put the toy on the ground and pressed a few buttons on a controller before the car started to tear through the room, eventually crashing into the wall. Jon giggled and ran after it.

Justin rubbed his face and looked at the clock on the wall. It was seven thirty. He groaned again and stood up, walking towards the kitchen. Chris followed him. "So what was the dream about? Huh, huh?"

Justin looked at Chris in confusion. "Man, what are YOU doing up this early? And shut up before I slap you; you're way too hyper."

Chris put a hand to his heart in mock distress. "You wouldn't lay a finger on me, your best friend, now would you?" He fluttered his eyelashes playfully.

Justin rolled his eyes and pulled out his cereal bowl.

"I'm awake because I heard Jon dragging you out of bed squealing. So I decided to come down and watch his reaction when I knew you would fall right back asleep down here."

Stuffing the spoon in his mouth, he watched as Chris put Pop Tarts in the toaster. "Reaction to what?"

Chris looked over his shoulder and smirked. "To you falling asleep when he just woke you up. Poor little kid. He barely ever gets to see his older brother, whom he looks up to SO much, and now when he does... all his older brother wants to do is SLEEP. And, I mean... it IS Christmas."

"Oh brother..."

Chris started laughing. "Hey, good one Justin. 'Oh BROTHER..' Ha ha, get it!?"

Justin chuckled and tossed a flake of cereal at him. "You're a dork, man."

Chris pulled his Pop Tarts out of the toaster and sat down at the table across from Justin. "So, did you get your girlf-- hang on a second, is she your girlfriend or have you STILL not kissed her? Because man, if you haven't, then something must be seriously wrong since she's all you ever --"

"Yeah, I did. Now, stop your babbling...you're giving me a headache."

"What'd you get her?? Oh come on, J, you have to tell me! I won't tell her, I swear!"

Justin smiled and finished off the last of his cereal without saying a word.

(that night)

"Deck the halls with bows of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la. 'Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la..."

The unanimous singing of a joyous family echoed through the small house, while gingerbread cookies were cooking in the oven, the sweet scent of the spice filling the abode with a Christmas time feeling. In the corner, a small child was cuddled up on his grandmother's lap while she read him the Christmas Story and in the den were the other little ones playing with their new toys from Santa.

Olivia looked around the room, smiling, watching as each member of her large family did something or other. No one seemed to be left out, no one seemed to be unhappy...no one... not even Liv herself. For the first time in her life since April of that year, she felt loved and she owed a very VERY big part of that to Justin Timberlake. How he opened up his heart and soul for her was beyond her... but he had, and she was at a point in her life where she could stand tall... be confident in who she was, without having to worry about what others thought of her. It's just too bad he isn't here right now..., she thought, but brushed it aside when her ten year old cousin, Mallory ran up to her and pulled her towards the television screen. "Livi, can you put The Santa Clause on?"

"Sure, Mal.", she flicked on the TV and was just about to pop the video tape in when her eyes focused in on what was playing on the screen already. She stared at it for a long time, with a smile on her lips, and a twinkle in her eyes.

"LIVI!"

She shook herself out of her daze and apologized, pushing the tape into the VCR. As the screen turned black and the Walt Disney logo appeared, she sighed and walked to the kitchen to check on the cookies, the image of Justin in the "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" video still fresh in her mind. God, he looks good in orange... She smiled to herself and pulled the cookie sheet out of the oven.

A few hours later, when most of the youngsters had gone to bed (while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads), Olivia sat in the living room admist her aunts and uncles, grandparents and older cousins. Toys were scattered about the room, the few remains of wrapping paper still strewn around the Christmas tree. The family sat around drinking their hot chocolate or coffee, enjoying the last few hours of the Christmas night. Olivia looked down and realized she was still in her nice dress, so she stood up and motioned that she'd be upstairs if anyone needed her.

Only a few minutes after she had reached her room, did she hear the faint ring of the doorbell and the footsteps of her sixteen year old cousin, Katie, walking towards the door. Liv glanced out her window to see who it could be at this hour of the night, but wasn't able to tell. There were too many cars in the driveway to know which one had just pulled up. Curiousity got the best of her so she made her way back to the top of the steps.

Katie opened the front door and stared at the person that was standing on the porch, shuffling his feet. She blinked and opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She pointed at him and once again tried to spit words out. "Y-you're... you're..."

He looked up at the young lady standing in front of him and smiled. "I'm here to see Olivia. Is she around?"

Katie's eyes blinked again and she pinched herself. "You're here to see Olivia? As in my COUSIN Olivia? Do you KNOW who you are?"

He chuckled softly. "I sure hope I know who I am. Having an identity crisis at seventeen wouldn't be good!"

Mrs. Jacobs' voice could be heard from the other room. "Katie, who is it?"

"It's... it's... J-Justin Timberlake!"

Mrs. Jacobs stood up and walked towards the door. "Well, dear, let him in! Don't keep him out in the cold!"

Katie moved to the side to let him walk in, her eyes still huge in shock, staring at him like she had never seen a teenager like himself before in her life. He sighed under his breath. But I'm different. Why do I have to be gaped at all the time? Why can't people just treat me like a regular guy? That's all I am... His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a beautiful figure coming down the stairs slowly. He watched her every move, amazed by every step she took.

Katie's voice echoed in his ear, but sounded very far away. "Are you SURE you have the right house? You're looking for my cousin Olivia... as in little ol' Livi who --", she looked at him and followed his stare to the steps, where sure enough, Liv was walking down... not even aware that she had a famous heartthrob at her front door. Katie's eyes widened in astonishment when she saw the glow that surrounded his body and the super sharp sparkle in his crystal eyes. It was a sight she had never seen out of anyone... a sight that was beautiful to her, because the look Justin was giving her cousin was of pure love and admiration. She smiled and whispered in his ear. "She's a handful... good luck." Not sure if he even heard her, she walked back to the living room.

Olivia glanced over at the door and finally noticed who it was that had rung the doorbell. As soon as she saw him, her heart skipped a few beats and she jogged the rest of the way down the stairs. Careful not to trip over her dress, she practically jumped into his arms, holding him in a warm hug. "What are you doing here?!"

He smiled and spoke against her hair. "Why? Do you want me to leave?"

She pulled back and looked at him, her face glowing. "NO! Of course not... I--I'm just shocked to see you... shouldn't you be with your family? I mean, you never see them because of all your traveling and --"

He put a finger on her lips to shush her. "I saw them all day... I wanted to spend a little time with the girl who never fails to put a sparkle in my eyes... the woman who I care about the most... Is that okay with you?"

She stared at him for a fraction of a second before snuggling up against him again in another hug. The soft fabric of his knitted sweater warmed her cheek and her arms held his skinny waist tightly. She closed her eyes and fought to hold back the tears that wanted to come out so badly.

"Ahem."

Both of them looked over to where the noise came from and saw a grinning Mrs. Jacobs standing by the steps. Her eyes moved from the two of them, up to the ceiling, and back to where they stood, still holding each other. Olivia was the first to realize her mother's eye movements and looked up to see what she kept looking at. When she saw what it was, a deep blush covered her face. Justin soon caught on and glanced up at what everyone was looking at. He grinned when he saw a piece of green mistletoe right above them. His eyes slid back down to Liv and waited until she looked back at him. Her hair was pulled back with clips, a few strands escaping the rest and falling softly on her flushed cheekbones. The dress she was wearing seemed to fit her body perfectly... snug in the right places, loose and flowing in the right places. The light in the hallway worked wonders on her features, bringing out the twinkle in her eyes, empowering the gloss on her lips. Justin soon found himself wondering why in hell it took him so long to see the natural beauty and charisma this woman possessed. Everything in the room seemed to fade into total darkness, leaving him alone with Olivia ... like they were the only two people existing in time. He stared at her for another minute before half smiling and finally brushing his lips against hers in a soft kiss.

Mrs. Jacobs smiled, satisfied, and returned to the living room, mumbling: "It's about time."

Justin smiled as he heard Liv's mothers faint words and he planted another gentle kiss on her lips. Olivia grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the room where her family was gathered. "Come on, you have to meet everybody!"

He sighed. "Okay, but just as long as I get to spend some time alone with you."

She looked back at him and arched an eyebrow. "I'm all yours after you say hello."

He grinned evilly and tightened his fingers around hers. "All mine, eh? Mmm... I like the sound of that."

They reached the living room and everyone looked up as they walked in. They were quite a couple... so perfect for each other, yet so different from each other. An intensity of light seemed to glow around the two, as if they gave off this vibe that could only occur if they were together. It was awe-inspiring.

Olivia grinned an absolutely genuine smile and looked at her family. Some of her cousins and even her aunts looked at her and Justin in shock. Their eyes moved from the couple to their entwined hands and then back to the pair again. Liv tugged his hand to pull him closer to her. "This is Justin. He's my best fr--"

"I'm her boyfriend. It's nice to meet all of you.", he stated, interrupting her, leaning over to shake some of their hands with his free one. "If you don't mind, I'm just gonna steal her away for a few minutes..."

One of her cousins stood up and pointed at Olivia. "Girl, you are dating Justin Timberlake? You have a lot of explaining to do once he leaves."

Justin chuckled and smiled at the girl. "Hey... I'm no different from everyone sitting in this room. I fall in l-- um, I fall for people just as much as you would someone else." He hoped he had covered his slip enough so that not many people would notice it, because it had come out completely on it's own. Love? I don't know the first thing about love... but I think I'm beginning to get a clue. His fingers laced with hers tightly and he pulled her towards the back deck.

"It's too bad Orlando never gets snow. That would have been a beautiful touch.", Justin sighed while gazing up at the trillions of bright stars covering the enormous dark blue sky.

The two were sitting outside on the wooden swing hanging from the deck. Olivia laid comfortably against his chest, his arm around her waist protectively. She tilted her head to look up at him and smiled. "Yeah, it would have been. But even without snow, it's a gorgeous night. I wish it wouldn't end...", she trailed off as a cool breeze blew the loose strands of hair around her face softly. She shivered and snuggled up closer to Justin's body. His arm involuntarily tightened around her and he looked down through concerned eyes. "Are you cold? Do you want me to get a jacket or something?"

"I'm fine."

Little did they know, but they had an audience slowly growing one by one at the window. Most of her family was shocked to know that she was dating a pop icon, while the others were just happy to see that sparkle back in her eyes. So much had happened to her in the past year that it saddened them to see the look in the poor girl's eyes whenever they visited. But now... now the look in her eyes was unlike anything they had EVER seen out of her. It was more powerful than any look she had sported in her past relationships...it was a look that no one in her family could even begin to fathom. It was fascinating.

Justin was quiet for a moment, but shifted in his seat and pulled out something from his pants pocket. "I have -- I have to tell you something, Olivia."

Liv sat up and turned to look at him. His expression was so hard to read; it was almost as if he were in pain, yet so happy at the same time. "What is it? What's wrong?"

He took her hand, opened it, and placed a small box in her palm. His jaw tightened out of nervousness and he stared into her eyes while she studied the little box. "Justin... what, what is this?"

His voice was extremely quiet. "Merry Christmas."

"You didn't have to get me anything. I mean, you're making me feel ba--"

"Don't... Just, just open it."

She bit her bottom lip as she carefully opened the small box. A little key sat patiently inside. A key? What the... "It's a key. What does it open?"

Justin picked it up and held it close to her eyes. "Look closely at it. What do you see?"

There was a tiny heart engraved into the silver metal at the top. "You mean the little heart?"

He nodded and put the key back in its box. Before explaining, he looked up at the stars again and took a deep breath. A second later, he looked back at her confused expression. His voice was soft and full of compassion. "Olivia... the key is in your possession now. It's extremely powerful. It gives you complete control..." He paused and studied her face. She was absolutely lost. He sighed. "Liv, that's the key to my heart."

He started picking at his sweater as Olivia finally understood what the simple piece of metal she held meant. He continued, "...I'm begging you, please be careful with it. And I'm not talking about the key... for that's just a symbol. My heart is in YOUR hands, Liv. It's endured many, many heartaches...it's been broken an infinite number of times, and I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being used, I'm tired of being put through pain like that." He glanced at her and continued picking at his sweater until a piece of lint fell off. "I'm trusting you with everything here... you know why? Because from the first moment I ran into you in that coffeehouse, and the SECOND I saw you crying on the side of that highway, I KNEW that you would be different. I KNEW that you would be someone that I could let myself open up to, someone that I could confide in. When we met up again at the beach, I KNEW it wasn't accidental. There's a word for what we encountered along the path of our many little meetings, Liv. Do you know what that word is?" His eyes focused in on hers. "It's called fate."