Her eyes focused in on the two cars that lay in ruins in the middle of the street. It took a moment to realize that the one with the most damage was a silver BMW Convertible...the same car that belonged to Sidney. "Oh my God, no.", she cried, the tears starting to pour out of her eyes. Slowly, she walked up to a paramedic who was wheeling a stretcher towards the victims. Looking over his shoulder, she saw her. Her knees caved and she felt like the world had just come crashing down on top of her. The pain in her stomach had spread from her head to her toes and she was now stuck in a trance of fear. The yelling around her disappeared and the only thing she could see was her best friend's mangled body. The daylight turned into a gloomy darkness, the clouds hiding the sun and the rain seemed to pound down harder with each second.

Sidney was sprawled on the ground, her blonde hair everywhere. The color of it wasn't exactly blonde anymore though, it was more of a light red from the blood that had coated the strands. Her forehead was almost sliced in half at the top, where pieces of loose skin were dangling freely. Blood was sliding down her face at rampant speed from at least three different places: a deep cut on the top of her forehead, from the corner of her mouth and from both nostrils on her nose. Her clothes were ripped and her eyelids pressed tightly together, complete with black and blue marks from head to toe. On the street, scattered around next to her, was her smashed cell phone, the case to the *NSYNC CD, and her purse with all its contents.

Olivia felt her face burning with pain as the tears clotted her eyesight. Suddenly, a man came up behind her and grabbed her by the shoulders. She screamed in pain and heartache as the paramedic told her to step back. "YOU...CAN'T MAKE..ME!! THAT'S MY...B-BEST F-FRIEND!! SHE'S THE ONLY ONE I'VE GOT!! TELL ME SHE'S GONNA BE OKAY!!!!" The man felt sorrow overtake his heart as he looked into her clouded watery gray-blue eyes. "I'm sorry. We'll do the best we can."

"LET ME GO TO HER!", she cried as she struggled to get away from the man's firm grip.

"You can see her when we get to the hospital."

"NO!!!! I HAVE TO SEE HER RIGHT NOW! LET GO OF ME!" She slithered away from his grip and ran like wild fire towards her friend. A police officer grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away before she could reach Sidney. Her stomach throbbed with intensity from her sobbing as she watched the paramedics carefully lift her onto the stretcher and load her into the ambulence. Liv sunk to her knees and cried, pounding the wet pavement with her fists. After the paramedics carried the other victim, a middle-aged man who was driving a pick-up truck, into the ambulence, the sirens flashed and started to scream the alarm. Olivia watched it pull away through blurry eyes.

That same night, Justin was driving home from Joey's house on the same highway that Sidney had gotten in the accident. At the time of the crash, he was backed up in traffic about 50 feet away from the chaos. By the time he got to the scene, the ambulence had been cleared out and the only things remaining were the two cars and a few people, mainly police officers and News Channel reporters. His eyes glanced around at the mess rapidly, wondering what had happened. He then saw a teenage girl, who looked eerily familiar, on the side of the road sobbing on her knees in the grass. She was soaking wet from the rain, her hair matted against her face and she was clutching an object--albeit, he couldn't make out what it was. Something told him to get out and help her but he hesitated until he was about 10 feet in front of her. Slowly, he parked his chestnut colored Mercedes M Class on the side of the road and adjusted his baseball cap over his blonde curls before getting out of his car. He cautiously approached Olivia and crouched down in front of her. "Excuse me?"

She looked up with pain-stricken eyes and tear-stained cheeks. "Who are you?", she choked out.

His eyes glanced down at the object she was holding for dear life--a cracked case to the *NSYNC CD. Obviously, she didn't recgonize him, so he answered, "My name is Justin. Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "My...my best friend...she-she got in the a-accident. Why are you here? Why do you care?"

He put a hand on her shoulder but she immediately jerked it off. "Um..well, I just saw you out here so I thought I'd see if you were okay...", he looked down at the CD again. "What's that?"

She gripped the case even harder. "It was S-Sidney's...that's all that was left in the car...everything else was broken or they needed it for evidence or somethin'.", she gazed down and ran her wet fingers over the pictures on the case. "I think they're some new group or something...*NSYNC...that's what Sid said..."

He smiled. "I know who they are. Come on, I'll take you to the hospital. Do you know where they took her?"

"St. Mary's."

"Ok, c'mon.", he held out a hand and she hesitantly took it. Justin led her to his Mercedes and opened the door for her, thinking to himself, "The upholstery is going to get ruined." He quickly laid a towel he had in the backseats over the passenger seat and helped her in. Then he ran around to the drivers seat, hopped in and started the ignition.

Olivia sat slouched in the front seat, still sobbing, and looking out the window terribly depressed. Justin looked over at her before pulling onto the road. "We'll come back to get your car later, okay?"

She nodded and rested her head against the back of the seat as Justin started the 10-minute drive towards St. Mary's. Olivia was as quiet as a mouse the whole way there.

The doctor emerged from Sidney's hospital room with a sullen look overtaking his face. He looked at the people who had gathered outside, waiting for news on Sidney's health. He hated doing this; it always broke his heart when he saw relative's reactions, but there was just nothing he could do about it. He took a deep breath and walked towards them. They all looked up hopeful, especially Sidney's parents and Olivia.

"I'm very sorry...Sidney didn't make it. She died shortly after we got her to the hospital.", he said and looked down at the floor.

Olivia fell straight to the ground, sobbing. "This isn't happening....why can't I wake up?", she thought. Slowly, she raised her head and looked at the people around her; The Millers' who were in hysterics, Sidney's grandmother, and a few of her cousins. Everyone was hugging someone else and crying on their shoulder. Olivia had no one.

Justin stood against the wall, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. He had no idea who the girl that had died was, but he could tell she was very loved. As much as he didn't want to, he looked over at the girl he had driven here. He still had no idea what her name was, where she was from, or anything about her, yet he felt this strange connection to her. He watched her fall to the floor and he watched her sob uncontrollably. She had no one to share her greif with, no one to hold at times like these. Justin pondered if he should go help her...he had never seen someone as sad as she was right now in his life. Before he could do anything, she looked up at him, her face pale, eyes blood-shot and buckets of tears pouring down her cheeks. She just stared at him for a second, through those anguish-ridden eyes, and then quickly turned away. That answered his thoughts completely and he immediately bent over and helped her off the floor, pulling her into his arms.

Olivia fell weak into his strong grip and she felt herself just collapse in his arms. He held her tight...just the thing she needed at the time. She wondered who this mysterious stranger was, why he was being so nice and caring to her, and why he even took the time out of his day to help her. But at that point, she didn't even care. All she could think about, and all she could see in her mind was Sidney's bloody body lying lifeless on the street. She shivered at the thought, and the arms around her got tighter.

Justin remained quiet, not wanting to get her more upset than she already was, so he just held her close to him. She was still wet from the rain outside and the tears that kept falling from her eyes only added to the wetness of her dripping clothes. She was sobbing insanely hard and it echoed throughout his body, sending chills through his spine. Her crying became muffled as she burrowed her face into his shirt, her arms grabbing him tighter around the neck. Justin rested his chin on her shoulder, breathing in the scent of her hair, which smelt of rain and Herbal Essences shampoo. "What am I doing? I don't even know this girl, and I'm holding her for dear life. What the hell is going on?", he thought to himself. After a few minutes, he felt her break free from his arms and pull away quickly, like he did something wrong.

Olivia watched as Sidney's parents returned back into the waiting room after a long visit with their daughter's courpse. She walked away from Justin, leaving him confused as hell, and peeked into the hospital room cautiously before entering. Slowly, she baby-stepped her way to the bed and looked down at her best friend. The one who said she'd always be there. The one who said you couldn't get rid of her. Liv swallowed hard and took Sidney's life-less hand. She pulled a chair up next to the bed and began to talk, even though she knew that Sid would not hear her.

"oh sidney...i can't believe you're gone. i never, ever thought this day would come so soon for you. there's so much you'll never get to do, there's so much i never told you. they say, 'better late than never'. yeah....right. sidney, you were the best friend anyone could have ever asked for. you were always right there when i needed you the most, you always said 'yes' when i needed a favor, but most of all, you were the only one who really cared about me. and i'll treasure that forever, sid. no one will ever understand all the pain and hell i've been through in these last few months as much as you did.", she paused, "i have nothing left sidney. nothing. not one thing. you were it, and now you're gone too. what did i do to deserve this punishment? the only thing i have left of yours is that CD case to that group. i'll always remember when you told me you got it and pointed out that Timberline kid and the brown haired one. i could tell your love for that band was growing fast by the look in your eyes....i only wish you were here now so i could see that look again, sid. that was the most comforting expression your eyes could have ever held. i want you to know that you were my savior through this jail-bird disaster and i couldn't have asked for a more supportive friend than you. i love you so much, sidney. i'm gonna miss you more than words can describe. i dont think i can make it without you. i really don't think i can do it."

Justin's curiousity had gotten the best of him and he walked up to the door of the room and listened quietly as Olivia spilled her guts to her friend's body. He smiled faintly when she mentioned 'Timberline' and 'the brown-haired one' meaning himself and JC. By the time she had stopped talking, he was nearly in tears.

Olivia gazed at the bruised face on her friend's pale body and gripped the muscle-less hand as tight as she had held her blanket as a baby when she was scared. Finally, she stood up and whispered, "Good-bye Sidney Miller. Rest in peace, best friend forever." A tear slid off her cheek and onto Sidney's scarred face, as Olivia reluctantly let go of her hand and turned around. She nearly jumped out of her own skin when she saw Justin's tall figure leaning against the doorframe. He quickly brushed a hand under his eyes to wipe away the tear that had escaped. Olivia swallowed and looked at him before pushing past him and sitting down on the chair. He approached her again and knelt down in front of her. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"What the hell do you think?", she snapped.

He was taken aback by her tone of voice but just nodded solemnly. "I'm...I'm very sorry...it seemed you two were extremely close."

She stared at him with tired eyes. "Who ARE you? Why are you even remotely interested in my life?"

He had no answer, beacause truth was, he had no idea what had led him to see if she was okay in the first place. "I wish I could answer that, but I have no clue...", he smiled warmly, which lit a new comfort in Olivia.

Justin pushed on the brakes, and turned the engine off. He turned to look at Olivia, who was unbuckling her seatbelt. They were back at the scene of the accident, where Liv had left her car. She glanced at him and opened the door. "Thanks for driving me. Cya."

He was utterly confused at that moment as he watched her walk to her car. Quickly, he rolled down his window and yelled to her, "Hey...wait!!"

She turned her neck and wondered what he could possibly want now. "What?"

"Um, could I get a name?"

"Olivia Jacobs.", she answered and continued walking to the driver's seat.

"Are you gonna be able to drive home?"

She wiped the tears off her cheek and nodded. "I'm fine. Bye."

He bit his lip in curiousity as she climbed into her car and drove home. "That was interesting...", he thought to himself out loud. Shrugging, he pulled off the side of the road and drove home.

"Where the hell is he? It does not take 4 hours to get from Joey's house to this house. Does he not remember that we were supposed to have a meeting at 7:00?", JC paced the living room, frustrated. He glanced at his watch for the fifth time in 30 seconds and groaned. "8:30! Eight friggin' thirty!!"

Chris, Joey, and Lance watched him walk back and forth, back and forth, like some sort of tennis match until Chris finally said. "Maybe we should just have this meeting thing another time."

"Like when Chris? When do you see a *free* day on our calendars??"

"JC, calm down, man. You're gonna pop a blood vessel or somethin'. I don't know where Justin is, but whatever is keeping him is probably a good reason. He's not one to miss meetings, ok?"

"I swear to God, when I see him, I'm gonna break his neck."

Just as he said that, Justin walked through the front door, shaking the rain out of his hair. His mind was cluttered with thoughts and he was lost in a deep concentration, so he didn't even notice when JC ran up to him, fire flaming in his eyes.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU??"

Justin looked at JC spacey. "What's your problem? Is my mom here? I really need to talk to her."

"JUSTIN, ARE YOU AWARE THAT IT IS 8:30 AND THAT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE AN IMPORTANT MEETING AT 7:00!!?? YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXCUSE."

"JC, first of all, you're not my mother, second of all, I have an excuse beyond belief and it was much more important than any damn meetings that we can friggin' reschedule.", he glared JC down. "So, get off my back. I need to be alone to think some things through."

With that, Justin trotted upstairs to his bedroom and shut the door behind him, leaving a very dismayed JC at the foot of the stairs.