Tripping over her own two feet, Kelsie scarmbled to get on the bus that should have left the parking lot some good time ago. Her bags slammed against her hips as she ran towards the steps and by the time that she had thrown her stuff on the floor, had lost her footing, and had fallen flat on her face in the middle of the bus, she had quite an audience.

Johnny Wright chuckled at her clumsiness and folded his arms with a raised eyebrow. "You know, I think that someone way back in the day took time out to invent a little something that helps people wake up on time...", he paused to lift a finger to his chin. "Gosh, the name of it is just slipping my mind...what's it called?...."

Joey nudged Johnny playfully. "An alarm clock... is that it?"

"THAT'S IT! Yes, an alarm clock. You should really look into getting one, Kelsie."

She rolled her eyes and kicked her stuff to her bunk. "Don't look at ME, Johnny." Her eyes landed on Justin, who was only staring at her quietly with an innocent little smile dancing on his lips. "You should tell HIM to make sure the great invention called an alarm clock, as you say, is turned ON at night."

Chris looked up from the soda he was opening with a devilish grin on his face. "I think he was a little too BUSY last night with you know what to remember to turn on his alarm clock!"

Kelsie and Justin both turned to give him fierce stares, warning him to keep his mouth shut. He grinned at them with an obvious wink.

"The mattress' were very bouncy in that hotel, don't you think?"

"CHRIS!"

He winced at Kelsie and Justin's unanimous warning yell and looked back down at his soda, with a mumble. "Okay, okay..."

Johnny rolled his eyes and stepped off the bus. "We're leaving now, see you in a few hours."

The buses pulled out of the parking lot and soon after were cruising down the highway. It was quieter than usual inside the huge bus that carried the *NSYNC members and the two best friends that had been having quite a ride of their lives on this tour. Each person was off to themselves, making use of their time on the road. Lance was working on business for a movie company he was trying to launch, Joey was watching some wrestling, Chris was playing video games, and JC was sitting on the couch writing. Kat was resting against his shoulder, not asleep, but in deep thought.

That left Justin and Kelsie...the two people that would have been the happiest people alive if they were in a dirty kitchen scrubbing gross dinner plates as long as they were doing it together. There wasn't much on earth that could break them apart right now since they were living in the storybook world that they had both pined to have. Right now, everything was perfect...just the way it should be.

Justin was laying on the couch in the front of the bus, propped up against the armrest, his head swaying back and forth to the music that played softly in his ears. Kelsie rested against his chest, lying with him in between his legs, playing with his fingers that were wrapped around her waist comfortably. She was content and happy there with him, hearing the soft hum that escaped his lips and the steady beating of his heart.

She felt his body shift and she looked up backwards at him. He was only looking down at her with a smile.

"What?", Kelsie asked self-conciously.

He bent down to kiss her lips gently and pulled her higher up onto his chest. "Nothing."

She reached up and pulled on his headphones. "What are you listening to?"

He watched as she placed the black earphones on her small ears. Her head started to sway to the tunes of Craig David. Her head raised again to look at him. "Who is this?"

"He's brand new, his name's Craig David. I just got a copy of the CD, but I like it a lot. What do you think of him?"

Kelsie smirked. "I think I might just steal this from you." She jumped up, but his arms held her captive still and she only fell back down onto his legs with a grunt.

Justin chuckled at her. "Cause you think you're going somewhere.", he said sarcastically. He pressed one of the buttons on his CD player and gently placed the headphones back on her ears. "Listen to this song, okay?", he kissed the side of her head and got up. "I'll be right back."

She watched as he disappeared into the bathroom and put her attention on the song. It started out slow but soon sped up and she found herself holding the speakers closer to her ear, rocking her head to a steady beat. The lyrics flooded through her ears and when the reality of what he was singing hit her, a wave of goosebumps popped up on her skin.

" I was lost couldn't find my way/You took my hand and chased my blues away/Your inspiration is guiding me through/I'm feeling brand new/Memories of days gone by/Hurting always hurting/You've taken my pain away finally/You set me free babe...."

The chorus started up again and Kelsie smiled with her eyes closed, not aware that Justin was standing in front of her grinning.

He had come across that CD the other night and he had gotten a chance to listen to it early this morning when Kelsie was gathering her stuff in the hotel room. When he had heard the song that he was letting her listen to now, he had lain in his bunk and cried. Justin wasn't one that cried much but for some reason, this song, "Once in a Lifetime", hit him hard and the emotion in his system burst out. He had felt refreshed after that and had hoped that Kelsie would understand the point that was being thrown around in the song. By the look on her face now, she got it.

Her eyes opened when the song was over and she smiled up at Justin. "Thanks."

He grinned. "What? You weren't scared to see me looming over you?"

She stood up to kiss his cheek. "I could smell you."

He made a face. "Aww..damn."

She laughed quietly and patted his shoulder, walking over towards Kat. "Hey, whatcha doing?"

Kat jumped up and grabbed her arm, pulling her aside so JC was out of hearing range. "I've been thinking about this for the longest time and I can't make up my mind!"

"Katherine Montgomery, you are NOT breaking up with that man."

Kat smacked her arm. "Say it a little louder next time, huh?"

"Oh my GOD, Kat DON'T!"

She rolled her eyes. "It's called I don't know what to get him for his birthday, Kels!"

She threw a hand to her chest and sighed loudly. "That was so mean, Kat. When's his birthday?"

Kat pushed her shoulder. "Funny one."

"What's funny?", Kelsie asked as her eyebrows formed a confused arch.

"His birthday..."

Kelsie gave her a look. "I still don't get it, Kat. When is it by the way, it's completely slipped my mind..."

"AUGUST EIGHTH DUMBASS!"

Kelsie almost choked, remembering. "What's today?", she asked urgently.

"Uh, the seventeenth."

Kelsie's eyes almost burst from their sockets and she mumbled quickly to Kat, "Get him socks or something" before darting off to the back room to find Justin again.

Kat stared after her confused. "Socks?"

_________________________________________________________________________________

"A WEEK! WE HAVE A WEEK TO PLAN THIS!", Kelsie groaned to Justin as he dragged their bags up to the hotel room.

"That's enough time."

Kelsie stopped in her tracks. "Enough time." Suddenly, she burst into laughter. "That's the FUNNIEST thing I've ever heard!"

Justin unlocked his door and pushed it open with Kelsie trailing in behind him. He flicked on the light with his finger and glanced behind him. "Sure it is, Kels. We'll be fine."

"Nooo, no we have to get a place to have it, make a list of invites, send OUT the invitations, get the food and junk, the entertainment, the gifts, the outfits...the list could go on forever!"

He chuckled as he threw down his bags. "If we get the help of our booking agents and publicists and stuff, they can do all the planning. And we can go shopping for gifts and outfits anytime."

"But we don't even know if this is casual or fancy and we don't know if it's big or small!"

"I thought we agreed that it was gonna be a big party around the 27th in New York?"

"Ohh suuure, Justin. Why don't you be even more calm about this and tell me what else we supposedly decided on?"

He rolled his eyes and touched her shoulder. "Trust me. Everything will work out, we're gonna have a great party, Jace and Kat will shit their pants in surprise, and everyone's gonna have fun. I promise. Tonight we can sit down and make a general list of who we want there and who we don't want there, okay?"

Kelsie sighed. "I hate how you're so good at this."

Justin laughed cheerfully and patted his chest in confidence. "My momma was good to me."

Kelsie rolled her eyes and fell back on the bed. Justin grimaced as she hit the comforter. "Ew gross, do you know how dirty that thing is? Pull it down before you get all comfortable or something!"

She shook her head with a laugh. "That's exactly what my mom used to say when I was little....", her voice got quiet. "When they paid attention to me..."

Justin sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at her. The light shone on her face making her green eyes glisten. He watched as she brought her arm up behind her head to rest on and her shirt stretched up just enough that he could get a glimpse of her toned stomach. He smiled and touched her knee. "Hey... don't say that. Kels, they love you. It's impossible for parents not to love their children. Plus, even though you don't see them too much, you've got Mrs. Starks and you've got me...and Kat."

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm bringing my problems into this again.", she reached up to put her hand on top of his. "What's on the bill today, huh?"

He shrugged. "Nothing really. Wanna do something?"

She sat up like she was doing sit-ups and Justin was holding her legs down. Her face was inches from his, his hand rubbed her knee gently, and she pushed back a strand of loose hair. "Yeah."

He checked his watch. "Well it's about four o'clock now. What are you up for?"

"I think I could use a good excercise, but you've been dancing straight for the past few months. I don't want to make you do more. We could go to the mall or something to start getting ideas for the party... or go to a movie maybe?", she sighed and rested her head against his forehead. "Anything you want to do because as long as I'm with you I think I'll be happy."

He grinned and pushed his head up to kiss her. "You think?", he teased jokingly, then got up, pulling her up with him so they stood next to the bed. His arms wrapped around her waist protectively. "We can do it all. Come on, we'll go dance for a few hours then we'll come back and get showers, go get ice cream and see a movie. Then tonight we can start the party stuff!"

Sometimes she wondered if Justin had a battery pack hidden somewhere on his body because the boy just kept on going and going...then periodically, he'd burn out...then he'd be right back on top of the world. He seriously was like a battery. She laughed quietly to herself as she watched him change shirts and grab a duffle bag, filling it with the essentials (water, towel, CDs, and extra shirts).

As they were leaving, they filled Lonnie in on what was going on and waited for him to get a few things so they could go. The ride over was quiet since both of them had their minds on the party. But it wasn't a long ride, and soon all worries were forgotten when the music started playing and they started moving their feet.

"What CDs did you bring?", Kelsie asked as she stretched out her quads.

Justin looked up at her from the floor. "Some dance mix, Jennifer Lopez, Britney...I dunno, just some fast paced stuff because I didn't really want to do our stuff."

"Put the dance mix on, we can make up some routines."

He popped the CD into the stereo and pressed play. Kelsie started moving right away, shooting out brand new moves for every new note of the song. Justin's eyes widened as she kept going until the song ended. "How did you just do that?"

She smiled. "Do what?"

"Have you done that dance before?"

"No, I did it as I went along, why?"

This time his mouth dropped. "How!?", he shook his head. "It looked like you'd been practicing it for months! Can you teach me how to do that?"

Kelsie laughed. "That's my job, Justin." She rewinded the song and stood up again. "All you have to do is remember that every note of the song could have new moves. Then freestyle to it. It's something that you should have no problem with, Justin, because you freestyle all the time at clubs. Don't think...just let your body take you where the music takes you, know what I'm saying?"

He nodded and pressed play. Releasing all thoughts from his mind, he started to move in perfect time with the song. Moves flowed out of him, almost as if he was writing a song and the words were breezing down the paper. This was great, this is why he loved his job so much because dancing let him release so much tension and energy and at the same time was one of his biggest passions.

Kelsie clapped when the song was finished. "See? You did it and those were some hot moves!"

He smiled. "I only learned from the best of the best."

They danced together for a good hour and a half, until sweat poured down their bodies like a waterfall. They had danced without any breaks, unless it was to quickly peel off a layer of clothing that was soaking wet from the perspiration.

Now they sat on the cool floor of the empty room in the Silverdome, where the entire crew was setting the stage up for their show tomorrow, sucking in deep breaths of air. Justin slowly lowered himself to the ground, getting a slight chill from the coldness on the ground hitting his sweaty bare back. "I'm exhausted."

Kelsie pulled on the fabric of her soaked sports bra to unstick it from her chest. "Shouldn't you be fine with this kind of thing? You do it everynight for an hour and a half straight."

"But we get breaks with the ballads and standing around talking to the crowd.", he wiped his brow. "This was intense stuff. How many calories do you think we burned?"

Kelsie laughed quietly. "Enough to make me want to go eat a huge ice cream sundae.", she pushed him gently.

Justin groaned. "Stop, don't say that. It sounds too good..."

She slowly picked herself up and leaned over to give him a hand up. He reached up and touched her stomach. "You have a six pack, Kelsie Meyers!"

She grinned a little. "Thanks because I didn't know that!", she joked sarcastically and pulled him up. "Come on I want my ice cream!"

Justin threw her a towel to wipe off some of the sweat and gave her a clean shirt to wear. He did the same while thinking to himself how good his life was right now. Here he had someone who he loved so much, who loved him for who he was, and who could teach him so many new things. Before, when he was with Chloe, he couldn't say that she had done anything except look pretty for him, but now he could say that Kelsie could still look pretty for him, respect him, and be a teacher to him. And that's one of the reasons why he knew he wanted to be with her forever.

________________________________________________________________________________

"You have the list, right?", Justin asked as he pulled into a parking spot near the illuminated Baskin Robbins sign.

"Yep.", Kelsie licked her lips. "I can't wait to eat this." She snapped off her seatbelt and took off towards the store, but Justin caught her around the waist.

"Holld on, Kels. Just remember to be on your guard okay? Is there a lot of people in there?"

Kelsie squinted her eyes to peer inside the window. "It's not too bad, just a few sitting at a table."

Justin sighed. "I hate having to wonder if I'll be safe going into a damn ice cream store. Maybe Lonnie should have come with us..."

Kelsie grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "We'll be fine. Stop worrying."

He pulled his baseball cap down over his curls out of habit when they walked through the door. The first sound to hit his ears was the girl behind the counter talking to her co-worker about the *NSYNC concert tomorrow night. Kelsie glanced at Justin, who looked like he might crawl back into his shell. She nudged him and gave him an encouraging smile.

He gripped her hand harder and felt his confidence start flowing inside of him again.

The girls behind the counter stopped talking when they realized they had a customer, not aware of the celebrity status of both of them until Justin started talking.

The first girl spoke up, welcoming them to the store. "Hi! Can I help you?"

Justin picked his head up to look at her with a smile. "We have a big order."

The girl blinked for a second, staring at him and unconciously pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "U...um, ok-kay." Her eyes looked from Justin to Kelsie and down to their entwined fingers, then back up at Justin.

"Can we order and then eat here and pick up the rest of the stuff before we leave so it doesn't melt?", Kelsie asked.

The girl nodded, somewhat awe-strucken.

Justin looked down at Kelsie and spoke quietly. "What do you want?", he scratched the back of his neck with his free hand. "Did you want to split something?"

Kelsie gave him a look and laughed. "HELL no, I want to eat LOTS of ice cream!" The employee laughed quietly to herself at Kelsie's outburst. "Hmm...can I have...ooo, a three-scoop sundae!!"

"Sure! What kind of ice cream?"

"Hmm...strawberry, um...chocolate chip, and let's see...how about pralines 'n cream? Does that sound nasty?"

"Nah...do you want the hot fudge, whipped cream, nuts and cherry with that?"

"ALL OF IT...GIVE ME ALL OF IT!", Kelsie laughed. "And add peanut butter cups!"

Justin rolled his eyes at her and told the other girl what he wanted. "A banana split with vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate chip. Give me all the toppings, too....make sure there's lots of whipped cream!"

When they got their ice cream, they sat down at the table in the corner of the store, mostly hidden from everyone. They'd order the rest for the guys before they left.

"So about this party...", Kelsie brought up, her voice lower than usual.

"Yeah, I was thinking...I think it should be dress up.", he picked up a spoonful. "Want a bite?"

She swallowed the ice cream and gave him a look. "Dress up? You mean we'd have to wear....DRESSES?"

Justin nodded. "Um, normally that's why they call it DRESS-UP..."

She shook her head. "I don't do dresses."

He rolled his eyes and missed his mouth with his spoon, getting ice cream all over his face. Kelsie flat out laughed at him. "You klutz."

Justin's face flushed in embarrassment and he wiped at his cheek with a napkin until he couldn't feel the thickness of the cream anymore. "Is it gone?"

Kelsie snickered, pointing to the very edge of her lips. He wiped and raised his eyebrows. She shook her head and leaned across the table to swipe the ice cream off his lip slowly. She did it teasingly, staring at him intensely. She held her finger up to his lips so he could lick it off. He took his time, making the smile on her lips gradually form a grin.

She pulled back after a minute when she felt eyes on her and smirked. "Yeah, so about those dresses. No, I don't wear them. So I guess it has to be casual."

Justin sighed. "Yeah, but I bet even the devil would have to take a cold shower after seeing you in one. Such a shame..."

She felt a blush on her cheeks, but tried to play it off by shrugging. "But I'm just not a dress person...I'm a jeans and t-shirt person, ya know? I mean, I bet you hate to wear tuxedo's, right?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't mind them on occaison."

"Liar. You hate everything about them."

He smiled. "Come on, please? Surprise yourself and get really dressed up for once. If you hate it, you don't ever have to do it again! I know you want to, deep inside of you, so just admit it!", he grinned innocently, blinking his eyelashes. "Please? Do it for me?"

She glared at him playfully, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Fiiiine. But ONCE and ONLY once."

He laughed, triumphant in his win. His laughter died down slowly and he shook his head with a smile. "I can see it now, you'll be wearing jeans on our wedding day."

Kelsie's spoon stopped halfway to her mouth. "What did you say?"

"I said you'll be wearing jeans on your wedding day."

She stared at him for a second and got up to throw her empty cup out. "No, you said OUR wedding day."

Justin froze. He had, hadn't he? It had been an unconcious slip of his tongue and he hadn't even been aware of the fact that he was saying it until she brought it up. "Oh...um, my bad?"

Kelsie only looked at him for another minute with a small smile, but then changed the subject. "Let's go get the other stuff and get out of here...Chris wants a chocolate shake, Lance wants a strawberry smoothie, Joey wants a brownie sundae...hmm, not sure if we should get him that.", Kelsie laughed, looking down at the list. "JC wants a cappechino blast and Kat wants a two scoop cup of mint chocolate chip. Lonnie wanted a tornado, right? That's everyone?"

Justin nodded, his mind still on what he had said. He smiled at the girl behind the counter when she asked if she could have his autograph and quickly signed her notebook. He left them a six dollar tip when all their ice cream was bagged and paid for and said goodbye as Kelsie and himself left the store hand in hand.

The girls watched after them, gripping the money tightly, the green-eyed monster of jealousy creeping up on them slowly. The one spoke, her eyes never leaving the door. "You think those rumors were true?"

__________________________________________________________________________________

The night droned on slowly, just as the credits did on the dark screen of the television as the movie ended. Justin and Kelsie rested on their stomachs, next to each other. Kelsie's eyes were closed but a small smile still played on her pink lips. Her arm was resting under her head and her other hand was laying close to Justin's body.

He propped himself up with his elbow and watched her admiringly. What was not to love about this woman? There was barely anything that he could think of and it scared him a little. What was he getting himself into? What if they had a great relationship for a year or so and then all of a sudden she yanked out his heart and ripped it in half? What if she was just like the rest of them? His eyes closed for a brief second to fight the pain and pushed the thoughts out of his head. He couldn't think like that...it was ridiculous to even BEGIN to think like that. It felt too right this time. It felt too perfect this time. Kelsie was like a needle in a haystack...the kind of girl that only comes around every thousand years or something. He smiled. She was one in a million, and he was the lucky one that she had come to. His thoughts became clouded with the slip that he had uttered only a few hours earlier. Our wedding... While he had every intention of keeping her in his life forever, he was still surprised that it had come out of his mouth. She hadn't rejected the comment though...yet, she hadn't exactly accepted it either... He sighed. Maybe he was just thinking too far into the future. If there was anything he had learned from her or even his parents, it was to live in the moment...not to try and plan his entire life away. Take each second of the day as it comes and live it to the fullest.

He moved a little to brush away the hair out of her face. She must have been exhausted. And it was no wonder that she was...she did so much he wasn't sure why she hadn't broken down. On top of all that she did for their tour, she had the pressures of making this party that she wanted so bad completely perfect for her best friend. Justin smiled and bent down to kiss her forehead softly. "It will be perfect.", he cooed in a gentle whisper, tracing a finger over her cheek. "I love you..."

Quietly, he crept off the bed and made his way to the desk in the hotel room. He slid out a piece of stationary from the folder and switched the light off. With one last glance at his sleeping beauty, he slipped out the door and made his way down the hall a bit to Lance's room. He rapped on the door with his index finger knuckle rapidly and waited until Lance came to answer.

"Hey, can I come in?"

Lance nodded and stood aside. "That was some great ice cream, man. Thanks for picking it up for me."

Justin shrugged. "No prob."

Lance sat down on the edge of the bed and glanced at the TV show that was on. "So what's up man? Where's Kels?"

"She's asleep on my bed...", he pulled out the paper. "Remember that party that we were planning for Jace and Kat? Well time got away from us and it's coming up in, basically, a week. It's really important that it be perfect for Kelsie and I didn't want to wake her up...so do you want to help me get a general list of invites?"

Lance nodded and flicked off the television. "Yeah...definitely."

"Okay. Well what we've came up with so far is that it definitely is a surprise and it's formal. I gu--"

Lance's eyes popped out of his head. "Whoa, you convinced her to get dressed up??"

Justin smiled. "It was the devil comment, it had to be.", he chuckled.

Lance rolled his eyes. "Should be interesting. Okay, so who do we invite?"

"Well, I guess we should just start with JC's friends. Depending on how big the list gets, we're not sure if it'll be huge or um, well, not huge..."

After only forty five minutes of thinking, both sides of the paper were filled with names, ranging from people like Jennifer Lopez to Carson Daly and Rosie O'Donnell to Sisqo. Justin finished writing and capped his pen. "Some of these people won't be able to come because they'll be out of town."

Lance stetched his arms above his head with a yawn. "That'll be the case with most of them. All you can do is send out the invitations and see who shows up. People that aren't even invited will show up because they'll hear about it, too."

Justin rubbed his temple. "Yeah, I know...", he sighed. "Okay, well I guess this'll do for now. We have to rent out a place to have it and figure out a way to get JC and Kat to the mall to get dress clothes."

Lance stood up, signaling to Justin that he wanted to go to bed. "Well, tell them there's an award show like the Oscars or Grammy's or something." He yawned again.

Justin nodded. "Yeah...good thinking...", he turned to walk away but then a thought struck him. It hit him so hard that he had to sit back down again. "Oh no..."

Lance turned around. "What now?"

"We can't do this...Lance there's no time to do this..."

One of Lance's eyebrows raised. "Do what?"

Justin's hand came up to cover his face. "To have this party! When are we going to do this? We have the show in Foxboro on the 23rd, the 24th is our only free night after that and it's really pushing it. The 25th to the 28th we have shows and the 29th is the basketball game. Then we go directly to Hershey for the next night!"

Lance scratched his head for a minute. "Hmm...well, isn't the game in the afternoon? We'll just have to do it right after the game. People can go home, shower and then come to the party... That's reasonable, right?"

Justin stood up with a sigh. "I don't know...I guess it'll have to do, it's the only time that we have...We could tell Jace and Kat they need to get outfits for the formal afterparty or something...", he shook his head. "Whatever, I'm going to bed..."

As the door shut behind him, he decided to try not to think about it and just wait until tomorrow. Maybe Kelsie would have more ideas. They still had a LITTLE bit of time for this and he needed some shut eye. He opened his door quietly and sneaked in, hoping not to wake her up. He peered around the corner and saw an empty bed.

A piece of paper resting patiently on the sheets caught his eye and he picked it up to see the familiar handwriting.

"You're right...it will be perfect. Thank you. P.S. I love you, too."

Justin smiled and slipped under his covers for a much-needed slumber.

_________________________________________________________________________________

(July 26th -- New York)

"What's this for again?", Kat smiled as they walked down the crowded mall. Kelsie turned into a Prom Dress store and spoke over her shoulder.

"Someone had the bright idea to have an afterparty at like the nicest place in town. Like people want to dress up after playing basketball. What a dumb idea." She rolled her eyes.

Kat slipped her arm through Kelsie's and they giggled. "I can't believe you're actually going to wear a dress! I haven't seen you in a dress since like third grade when we made First Communion!"

Kelsie laughed. "Yeah, and even that one was ugly. I'm here to help you find one that JC will fall flat on his ass when he sees you in it!"

Katherine chuckled quietly, while running her free hand against the satin fabric of a dress she passed. "Well, I'm here to do the same for you....only for your man, not mine."

"How about this one?", Kelsie changed the subject by pointing at a long light blue dress. "It's strapless...do you want strapless?"

"Yeah, it's pretty...I think I'm leaning towards white or lavendar...", she raced over to a rack of clearance dresses. "Kels, how fancy is this thing supposed to be??"

Kelsie followed her over and picked up a strapless white dress with a train on the back. It was very plain, but very elegant. She smiled. "About as fancy as this dress. You're getting it. Go try it on!"

A goofy grin overtook Kat's features and she grabbed the dress and pulled Kelsie back with her. "I never could understand you. You pick out the best dresses in such a short amount of time, yet you HATE wearing them with a passion." She shook her head as she locked herself in the dressing room.

Kelsie laughed. "I guess I just want to get in and out quickly and you just like the choices I pick."

She heard her friend pulling on the dress so she sat down in a chair next to the room. Kat's voice was heard from the door. "Yeah, probably. Is everyone else gonna be this dressed up?", she paused. "Ooooh, I liiike this."

Kelsie jumped up. "Come on, come on, lemme see!! Hey we should've just worn our old prom dresses from last year."

The door opened and Kat ran her hands over her stomach to iron out the crinkles. "What do you think?"

The look on Kelsie's face was priceless. She jumped up and down on her toes and her face lit up. "Ohhhh my GOD, Katherine Montgomery!!!!"

"Is that good, then?", Kat giggled.

Kelsie's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "Dude, did you even LOOK at yourself in that? I'm not letting you leave this store without that in a bag! You look...", she grinned sarcastically. "...exquisite!"

Kat beamed. "Really? Do you think JC will like it?"

Kelsie nodded dramatically. "He won't know what to say. Believe me."

"Okay... well, now it's YOUR turn!!", she said, closing the door to get changed again. She laughed a little when she heard Kelsie groan. She shook her head to herself. Kelsie really did hate dresses but she always looked so good in them. Kat had only seen her wear them on RARE occaisons, like an awards show or their prom last year but every time she always got a little jealous of how perfect she seemed to look. This time though, she was making a vow to herself that she would get Kelsie in the most gorgeous dress ever -- something that would leave Justin absolutely blown away. She emerged a second later with a bright smile. "Ready?"

Kelsie groaned. "Can't I just go in pants?"

"Definitely not! I'm gonna go get a few and you're gonna try them all on until I find the perfect one!", she ordered. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

Kelsie plopped down on the seat again. Who was she to mess with Ms. prom queen? Things were working out good. Kat had no idea this party was for her. It was a dumb plan -- a formal afterparty for a basketball game, but it seemed to be working. They had planned to have it at a nice ballroom not too far from the basketball court. The invitations had gone out and the overall response seemed to generate a lot of excitement, so hopefully things were looking good. From what Justin had told her, the guys had all gotten their outfits -- not tux's but suit jackets and nice clothes. It wasn't supposed to be 'oh my gosh' formal, but it was nice to see Kat get excited over a dress once in awhile. Everything was going smoothly for once.

Kat came back only about ten minutes later, holding about four dresses and wearing the biggest grin Kelsie had seen in awhile. She rolled her eyes as she stood up, grabbing the gowns out of her arms. "Quit that smirking, I know you're just doing that because you know how much this is torture for me."

Kat snickered. "Yep." She pushed her a little. "Now go. Shock me."

Kelsie closed the door behind her and put the first one on. It was knee-length and a grayish silvery color. "I dunno, Kat..." She opened the door and spun around a few times.

"Hmm...no, it doesn't do anything for your eyes...Next."

The next one was purple. It was two pieces, and the strapless top had sequins all over it. The bottom extended all the way to her ankles. Kelsie shrugged to herself, looking over her shoulder in the mirror. She showed Kat and her eyes lit up.

"That looks REALLY REALLY good.", she put a finger to her chin. "That's a keeper, try the next one."

The third was a red satin halter dress. It pretty much spoke volumes. Kelsie's eyes widened when she looked at herself in the mirror. "Ohh, Kat. I can't wear this..." She opened the door. "It's too much..."

Kat grinned. "The woman in red! Look at yooou! I like it."

Kelsie shook her head. "I can't...I'd feel too attention-getting. I don't want to feel like that..."

Kat sighed. "Okay, well try the last one on or we'll get the purple one."

The last one was a black, floor length dress that had a slight train on the back. It was a one-shoulder spaghetti strap that accentuated her well-shaped figure. There was a path of sparkles running diagnally from her shoulder down. Kelsie stepped back to look at herself when it was on. She barely recognized herself. She opened the door slowly, not knowing what Kat would say. In all honesty, Kelsie liked it... she actually LIKED it.

Kat's jaw dropped when Kelsie walked out of the dressing room and spun around. "Wow. Is it my turn to tell you it looks 'exquisite'?", she laughed quietly. "You look incredible in that...it must have been MADE for you. Check the tag, does it say, 'Made for Kelsie'?"

Kelsie smiled and went back in the room to get changed. "I like it..."

Kat grinned with a shake of her head. "And Justin's gonna DIE when he sees you in it. Come on!! Time for shoes!!!!"

Kelsie groaned with a smile as she allowed herself to be dragged along by her best friend.

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(July 29th, hours before the party)

Most of the hype from the week had started to die down. The HBO special was done, the basketball game was a success and had raised thousands of dollars for the children. All the shows in the Garden were done and the tour had only two stops left before the guys got a month's break.

The party tonight was expecting a huge turn out. Kat and JC were still clueless as anything and everything was fitting together like a charm. Justin and Kelsie had made their way over to the location earlier to see how everything was being set up. It looked good and it made them even more excited for the night to come.

Now it had and chaos was breaking out in the hotel. The guys were getting their showers and Kat and Kelsie were trying to get ready.

"You have to wear it down, Kat. I'm not letting you wear it any other way!"

"But it's soo BLAH down!!", Kat complained.

Kelsie ran a brush through Kat's gorgeous blond hair. "No, it's definitely not. You have the prettiest hair in the world, ESPECIALLY when it's DOWN. Maybe you could put a clip in it or something."

Kat clasped the choker she had recently bought around her neck and flattened out her dress. "Okay, fine.", she sighed when she finished putting the tiny clip in her hair. "Do I look okay?"

"Sweetie, you look GORGEOUS.", Kelsie smiled at her friend. "Now, can you braid my hair?"

Kat slapped her in the shoulder teasingly but then nodded. "Of course. Sit down."

An hour later, Lonnie knocked on the door. Kelsie opened the door cautiously to make sure Justin wasn't anywhere near him and smiled. "Hi Lon, what's goin' on?"

"Wow, Kelsie, you look incredible..."

"Thanks, but you should see Katherine!", she checked the clock. "Are we leaving soon?"

Lonnie kept staring for a second but quickly shook himself out of it. "Yes, I was wondering if you wanted to meet with the guys here or in the limo or there...What's the plans?"

"Umm...how about in the lobby in five minutes?"

"Okay. See you then."

Kelsie grabbed her bag and fixed her lipgloss quickly, slipping into her shoes. She checked her hair in the mirror, which looked great, thanks to Kat and smiled at herself. "Look at me. I'm wearing a dress, make-up and heels. What happened to me?"

Kat grinned at her through the mirror. "And you look stunning. Justin might fall down the stairs...might want to be careful how you look at him.", she laughed at her own joke and put her shoes on. "Ready, my darling?"

They linked arms and carefully crept out the door, making sure none of the guys saw them. They made their way to the lobby and found a place by the window to wait, with their backs to the stairs.

It wasn't too much longer that the five *NSYNC guys were trotting down the stairs with bodyguards following along behind them. Justin searched around the lobby for his woman but didn't see anyone. He turned to JC with a chuckle. "Looks like we beat them!"

JC was only staring straight ahead at two girls by the window. He pointed.

Justin stared at them. "That's not th--" He was cut off when Kelsie and Kat turned around with smiles on their faces. Justin's eyes popped out of his head and he lost his footing on the stair in front of him, falling down the last three steps and landing flat on his face.

Kelsie tried to hold back a laugh as she ran over to him. "Oh my God....Justin!!"

He scrambled up onto his feet and stared at her like he'd never seen anything so amazing before in his life. His voice was quiet when he tried to put words together to make a sentence. "I...you....look....", he shook his head and held up his hands, not knowing what to say.

Kelsie smiled. "Thanks....I GUESS."

He held out his arm so she could link it and they started walking towards the limo outside. Justin couldn't keep his eyes off of her...and he crashed into the wall. Kelsie rolled her eyes. "Oh Justin, quit exaggerating."

He smiled. "But how can I when I'm seeing the epitome of perfection right in front of me..."

JC made his way slowly to Kat, his eyes dancing in awe. He held out his arm. "I can't think of anything to say right now so I'll tell you later tonight when it comes to me.", he joked and leaned down to kiss her softly. "You look absolutely incredible."

Kat blushed with a grin. "Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself."

The street was pretty deserted when the limo pulled up at the entrance to the huge ballroom. JC looked around. "Where is everyone? Isn't there supposed to be people coming to this thing?"

Justin checked his watch. "I think we're early."

Photographers lined the doors, much to the dismay of Justin and Kelsie since they specifically said that no media should get involved with this. But who were they trying to fool...the paparrazzi found them everywhere they went.

As quickly as they could, they made their entrances admist the clicking and the flashing and were finally inside. It was dark, but music was playing in the background and the shadows of people danced on the walls. Justin and Kelsie ran ahead, pulling out their cameras.

Light started to fill in the room and the spotlight hit a huge banner hanging on the wall that read: HAPPY BIRTHDAY JC AND KAT! All the people in the room exploded in cheers and claps when a shocked JC and Kat jumped back at the scream of "SURPRISE!" that echoed off the walls off the huge room. Kelsie ran up and practically jumped on Kat in excitement, laughing hysterically.

"Surprise surprise!!", she hugged her. "Happy early birthday!!"

Kat's hand over her mouth and her misty eyes were enough to make Kelsie happy for the rest of the year. This was great -- it had all worked out perfectly.

JC's eyes were still huge as he looked around the room. Everyone was here...all his friends, his family, some people he didn't even know. Even some of his Mickey Mouse Club friends showed up. He couldn't believe this. "Justin, I should probably kill you for this, but thanks man!"

Justin slapped him on the back in a hug. "Your welcome, dude."

_________________________________________________________________________________

Hours later, Kelsie and Justin were off to the side talking quietly to themselves. From the moment that the lights went on and JC and Katherine had successfully been surprised, to the dedication from the DJ to the two of them, to the moment that was happening right now, Justin and Kelsie were pleased. This was how they wanted it to be. This was how it was supposed to be.

It was bigger than they had thought. More people came than they thought would ever show up. People like Gloria Estefan flew in just for the occaison, P.Diddy was there, and Justin even thought he saw a few Backstreet Boys' walk by. There was no unwanted people there, there was no big hassles with photographers or crazy fans, and everything couldn't have been more perfect.

When Justin felt a hand touch his shoulder, he turned around with a smile to welcome another guest to the party. Except this time, he almost lost his lunch when he saw her conniving face.

She smiled seductively and purred at him. "Hey baby, did you miss me?"