Leslie walked softly into the room, scared of the site before her. Justin
was laying in the bed, and he was so white, he was almost the same color of
the white bed sheets. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he had so many
tubes in him. He had really done it to himself this time. The doctors told
her, that they weren't sure when he would wake up. When the body is under
that much physical and mental strain, it wants to sleep. He would wake up,
when he was ready too. But, it scared her so much to see him this way. It was
all she could do from turning around and running away. She walked up to him,
and gently rubbed the back of his hand and his arm the way she used to.

"Justy, baby. You have to wake up. We gotta work things out still. Things
have been really crazy for me lately. I'm training to be in this competition,
and if I win, I get to be a backup dancer for a musical act. I'm excited.
Everybody keeps saying I'm going to win, but I'm not sure. I think we get
money if we're like runner up or something. Of course, everyone that's saying
I'll win is Jay, Tami and Sarah. Maybe, you can come and see me in it. If
your not too busy. But, if you are, it's okay. I understand. But, you have to
wake up to make that decision." She talked to him, with tears in her voice.
"I'm going to go Justy. Visiting hours is over. I'm going to go and sit
with the others, and when it's time for me to come back in, I'll be in. I
promise you. I love you, still. I always have and I always will. I will never
love another...remember?" She asked him. Hoping, he'd reply. That was always
something they would say to each other. It was a private joke, they always
thought it was corny, the saying "I will never love another" and they would
always laugh, after they said it to each other. She stood up, and gently
kissed him on his lips. It made it worse for her, she wanted those lips to
respond back so bad, and they didn't. They were lifeless. It hit her then,
that she didn't know what she would do without him.

Leslie walked over to Chris and sat down next to him on the floor. He
looked over at her wearily, and laid down. He put his head in her lap and
sniffled. "It'll be okay, Chrissy. I promise, he's strong, he'll get through
it, and we'll get through it." She whispered to him. She gently rubbed the
back of his neck and his hair. In a matter of seconds, he was asleep.
"Why don't the rest of you sleep too? it's probably going to be awhile
before there's a change, and I'll stay up, in case something happens." She
instructed the others.

"She would always take charge in the case of an emergency." Joey sadly
joked. Lance, JC, and him all crawled around Chris and Leslie, and they slept
huddled together.

"It's amazing how they are with each other. I've never seen anything like
them before. They truly are best friends. When one is feeling pain, they all
feel it too, huh? It's like their each other's support system." One of the
stage hands thought out loud.

"Yes, they are." Johnny, the boys manager, replied. "And, that girl is
part of them too." He added, nodding to Leslie.

A FEW HOURS LATER:

"Ladies and Gentlemen. We have a change in your friend Justin." The doctor
said walking into the room, waking JC, Lance, Joey, and
Chris up. "Whoever talked to him last, had a good effect on him. His color is
coming back, and his vital stats are better. He hasn't woken up yet, but I
think it's a good idea to have the one person who's most important to him, in
there right now. He'll be waking up soon." The doctor finished looking at the
group.

"Thank you Doctor, for everything. We'll send somebody in the room in a
few minutes." Johnny answered for them. "Well, fellas. Who's it going to be?"

They all looked at each other, knowing the answer already. They shook
their heads yes and smiled at Leslie.

"Oh no. No way, you guys. If he sees me first, that'll definitely kill
him. He doesn't want to see me, he wants to see you guys." She pleaded with
them.

"Leslie, the doctor said whoever was last with him, had the greatest
effect on him. You were the last person in that room. You have to go with
him, you could bring him out of this. Please?" Lance begged with her.
"Okay, I guess. If anything happens though, when he wakes up. Don't blame
me." She said irritably.

On her way out the door, Chris had to get a jab in. "Oh yeah, Lessie.
What exactly did you do to him? It had a good effect on him and all, and I
know what has a good effect on me." He said slyly.

Leslie looked at him horrified before leaving the room. The others were
looking at Chris with their mouths hanging open. "What? What'd I say?" He
asked innocently. The others just looked at him and cracked up. "Only you,
Chris. Only you." Joey told him, laughing. His laughing was cut short though,
by Chris tackling him, and the others joined in the fighting too. They were
happy, they knew everything was going to be okay.

Leslie walked into the room cautiously. She was scared again, she didn't
like seeing him like that. But, the doctor was right, he did look better.
Some of his color was back, and not all the tubes were there. She walked over
to him, and gently wrapped her hand around his. He wasn't holding it back,
but she was sure he could feel her.

"Justin....Justin....please, wake up. I need you here. We all need you
here. I love you so much. Please, wake up." She didn't know what else to tell
him. All she could think of was how much she loved him.

"When I left you that day, I cried all the way home, and I cried for days
after. I threw myself into my work and dancing. And, it worked, it always
worked. I was starting to get over you, then I would go to sleep. I would
have dreams about you, wonderful dreams. I would wake up, and it would hurt
so much, because they weren't true. I would wake up and I would cry for
hours. I would always put on your sweatshirt that you gave me, and I would
cuddle in it. You were there with me. I need you to wake up though, to make
those dreams come true." She finished in a whisper, giving into the tears.
Her head jerked up, when she felt Justin's hand tighten around hers. She
looked up and saw him looking at her.

"Well, well. Who do we have here?" Justin asked, looking at her. "I
thought you said, that your lips would never touch mine again. You lied."

"How did you know? You weren't awake." She asked incredulous.

"I always knew when you kissed me. I guess I never lost the touch." He
told her joking around. "I can't believe your here. Why are you here?"

"Because...I don't know why I'm here. JC called me and told me I needed
to get down here. I knew I had to be here, for you. I still...I still...well,
you know." Leslie couldn't tell him she still loved him, she was scared. She
wasn't ready to say those words again, and have him shoot her down, like last
time.

"No, I don't know. Why don't you tell me." Justin asked, wanting to hear
the words.

"No, Justin! How about you tell me those words, Huh? Why does it always
have to be me? It's always me, and never you. I'm so sick of it." She told
im, angry.

"This is a disaster. We can't even be together in a situation like this
without arguing. Thanks for waking me up, Leslie. I appreciate you being here
for me. But, can you go get one of the guys now, please? I'd rather see
them." Justin told her coldly, dropping her hand. He was hurt they way she
responded to him. He was half teasing her, and he half wasn't. He loved to
hear her say those words, 'I love you', because it always made him so happy,
the feeling he got inside of him, was amazing. I made him feel whole.

"Yeah, fine. I can do that. Bye Justin. Feel better." Leslie said shocked. She
didn't think he would blow up that way, it really upset her. It felt horrible.
She wanted to work things out so bad, and it was obvious now
they couldn't. She turned one last time to look at him, to see if maybe he
would call her back. She wished one time, he would call her back. He wasn't
looking at her, he was looking at the wall next to him.
"You know, Justin. Maybe if you'd call me back once in a while, I'd never
leave. If you had called me back that night when we split up, maybe, just
maybe, I never would have left. You fucked up, J. You can't blame me for
that." She told him before leaving.

She walked back into the room, and the others all jumped up. "He's awake.
He wants to see one of you guys."

"What happened Les?" JC asked walking over to her.

She backed away from him. "Nothing. Go see him, please. He wants you
guys."

JC looked at her more closely, but she turned away from him. He reached
out to touch her arm, but she moved out of the way. He knew something was
going on, but now wasn't the time. "Okay, we'll go see him." He nodded to the
rest of the guys, and they left the room.

"Leslie, what the hell is going on? What happened in there, huh?" JC
demanded, storming back into the room, after his visit with Justin.

"It's none of your business, Josh. Oh, and like you don't already know.
I'm sure he told you everything." She spat back.

"Actually, he didn't. He said he didn't want to talk about it, and he was
sorry for scaring us so bad. Then he started crying, and he told us that we
meant everything to him, and he didn't know what he would do without us. He
thanked us for standing by him the whole time when he was trying to get over
you. He said, he realized everything was a mistake, and that today was a new
day for him." JC finished in one breath.

"He what? Why..that is just cruel. How could he say that about me? He's
lying! JC, why is he being such an asshole?" She wondered.

"I don't know. But, maybe if you told me what went down in there, I can
help you figure it out." JC replied back to her.

After Leslie quickly explained to him what happened, he snorted.
"Why don't you run your pissed off self into the room, and set him
straight. You don't have to tell him you love him, but just ask him why do he
insists on denying that he love's you. Make him crumble under your anger, and
make him tell you that he loves you. It's that simple Les."

"Oh my God! Thanks, Jace!" Leslie squealed before lightly kissing his
cheek and running into Justin's hospital room.

"Guys, get out. I'm sorry, but you need to leave. This son of a bitch
here, and I need to get some things straightened out." Leslie said, looking
straight at Justin.

"Ookay." Joey said before, the boys got up and left. They knew she meant
business and that Justin was in trouble.

"We'll pray for ya man. If you live through this, then we know, you'll
live through anything." Chris joked before leaving the room.

Justin's progress had increased so much, they were able to take out all
the tubes and his vital signs were stable. He was just staying in the
hospital now for observation and for rest.

"What the hell is the matter with you, Justin. Everything you had with me
was a mistake? Today is a new day for you? How could you say those things
about me and about our life? We were together for way too long, for you to
say things like that about me. What's worse is you know your lying to
yourself." She said to him sternly.

Justin was so upset he stood up out of his bed. She had to admit, if she
wasn't so angry and upset, she would've laughed. Here they were in the middle
of a hospital room, with Justin standing in his sweatpants and tshirt, his
hair all tousled, and she knew she looked pretty bad. "I didn't lie to
myself. I was completely honest with myself. I never believed once that we
would get back together, and I never believed once that we would be friends
again. You did!" He yelled back.

That hurt her a lot. But, she wasn't going to show it. "Right, Justin.
Sure you didn't. That's why you tried so hard to get over me. That's why you
cried yourself to sleep almost every night. That's why you still cuddle up to
my pillow. That's why you threw yourself into your work to get over me. Okay,
Justin. You believed we would never get back together, and you never wanted
that. Whatever you say." She retorted back. She was never quick on comebacks,
but for some reason, she was today. She was going to win him back, even is
she had to kill him.

"Like you don't do the same things, Leslie?!"

"I do! I do the exact same things. I stare at the phone for hours,
contemplating whether or not I should call you, wishing the phone would ring
and you would be on the other side. I wish every day of my life that, you had
never met Britney!" She spat out her name, like it was nasty tasting food.
"But, I never denied those things. You just did, and you just realized that
they were all a lie."

"I don't have to stand here and listen to this, Leslie. I'm leaving." He
went to brush past her, but she grabbed his arm, and pulled him back, so he
was facing her.

"Oh, but you do Justy. Where are you going to go? I'll just follow you,
I'm not letting this relationship go down without a fight. Don't even say,
'what relationship?' Cuz, you can deny it all you want, but we still have
one, and you know it. I want you to look at me and say you don't love me.
Look at me, and say that you never cared for me, and that the last years of
our life together was a mistake. Tell me these things while looking me in the
face." She told him, defiantly.

He stared at her, before turning around and covering his face with his
hands. His shoulders shook silently while he cried. She gently touched his
back, but he shook her off. "Why are you denying this, me? Are you scared
that I won't love you back? Why? You know I do. I'm not Britney, J. I'm not
going to leave you and use you, like she did." When he didn't reply, she
walked around him, so she faced him. She tried to put her arms around him, to
hold him, but he shook her off.

"Stop Justin! Just stop! Let me hold you. Why can't you let me hold you?
I always let you hold me." She finished with tears. When he still didn't
respond, she got even angrier.

"Fine, Justin. When your ready to admit your love for me, let me know."
She told him with fire in her voice, before turning to walk out of the room.
He couldn't let her leave the room. He loved her too much, he just didn't
want to admit it. His pride was still in the way. She had walked out on him,
when he was telling her he loved her. He knew that's not the way it was, but
he still saw it that way. Just as she was about to get past him, he grabbed
her by the waist and swung her around. She was shocked, but happy. "Well,
looky what we have here." She teased him, repeating his same words. She
gently stoking the side of his face.

"Don't leave me." He said softly, his voice choked with tears. She shook
her head okay, as he buried his head in her neck, and pulled her as close as
she could get to him, without literally crushing her. He couldn't get enough
of her, he just wanted to hold her forever, to have her hold him. It had been
too long, and it felt so good. He pulled her over to the bed, and crawled
inside with her.

She was gently rubbing the side and back of his neck, and that was
something that always drove him crazy. He pulled away and looked in her eyes.
"Oh no. If she starts rubbing my ear, I'm gone. This is too much." He
thought, love filling his heart. Just, as he finished that thought, she
reached up and gently rubbed his ear, before moving to the nape of his neck.
Chills ran down his spine, as he closed his eyes, collecting his thoughts.

"I'm so sorry Lina Bean, that's all I can say for right now. I just want to
enjoy this moment, and this..." He finished softly, before leaning over and
gently kissing her lips. She gasped as he made his way to her neck, and back
to her lips again. He applied more pressure to her lips, as he pulled her
closer.

She gripped the back of his neck, and pulled him even closer. It was
driving her crazy, his smell, his kiss, his touch, everything! They hadn't
been like this together in what seemed like forever, but in reality it was
only a few short months. She didn't want it to stop. The feelings that she
used to feel when he kissed her, were coming back. The butterflies inside her
were going crazy, and she wanted more. Moments like this, and kisses like
this hadn't happened in a long time. Even when they were together, she
stopped feeling that way the last couple of months they were together. The
butterflies and passion had disappeared. She couldn't stop the feelings
inside of her, but she knew she needed to stop this, before it got out of
control. "Justin...Justin..we have to stop." She told him breathlessly, trying to
pull away.

"Justin. Stop!" She told him, pulling away from him completely. "We have
to stop. We're going to do something we'll regret. And, not only that, we
don't even know what we are, right now."
"I'm sorry, your right. I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I got
carried away." He told her apologizing. He felt so bad, he felt like he was
taking advantage of her.

"It's okay, stop apologizing. You didn't take advantage of me, so don't
think it. I know you are. I can read your mind. I just wanna stay here. Let's
just sleep okay. Can we just sleep?" She asked him smiling.

"Yeah, only if you don't do that whole rubbing my neck and ears thing. I
like that too much." He replied laughing, kissing her cheek. He buried
himself in her neck, and wrapped his legs around hers. He breathed in deep,
and wrapped his arms around her upper torso.

She smiled, and pulled him in closer. She had one of her hands up his
shirt, resting on his bare chest. She always loved doing that, she could feel
his heartbeat, not to mention his muscle. The other was wrapped around his
back. They both fell asleep in a matter of seconds. They were so close to
each other, they could feel each other inhale and exhale.

The door opened and closed, as Chris walked in the room. "Whoa." He said
softly, before leaving and coming back again with a camera. "Oh this is going
to be classic." He said softly before taking a picture of the two. They
looked so happy to be in each other's arms. "About damn time Timberlake." He
smiled, before leaving the room.

"Okay, ya'll. I'm leaving. Time for me to get back home, and start
getting ready for the biggest day of my life." Leslie told the guys at the
airport. "You boys, better keep in touch."

"We will Les. We always will." Chris told her pushing some hair out of
her face. he gently wrapped him in his arms. "thankyou Les. For everything
this week. You were our sanity." He kissed her on the cheek, before stepping
away.

Leslie hugged the rest of the guys before walking over to Justin. He had
been let out of the hospital a couple of days earlier, and the doctors made
him promise to take it easy, and to slow down.

"You." She pointed at him. "You better not ever scare me that way again.
I don't know what I would do without you." She told him softly, tears choking
her, and clogging her eyes.

"Oh no. No, no, no. No tears. Not today, Les. I can't handle tears
anymore." Justin told her pulling her into his arms. The rest of the guys
slipped away, giving them time to themselves.
"We'll see you soon, Lina-Bean. I will too. I'm not going to let you slip
away anymore." Justin whispered in her ear.
"You're my best friend, Just." She whispered back.
"You're my best friend too, sweetie." Justin told her, pulling away from
her. "We'll always be friends. Best friends." He finished gently kissing her
on the forehead.

"Bye, Guys!" Leslie shouted to the guys.
"We still have a lot to figure out Justin. But, we will in time. Let's
concentrate on our friendship, and you staying in shape." She kissed him on
the cheek before walking into the terminal.

"Hey Les!" Justin called.

"yeah?" She yelled back.

"We'll see you in a couple of weeks at your competition!"

She waved, before turning around. "I hope so." She whispered.

TWO WEEKS LATER:

"Oh God. I'm so nervous. What if I don't win? I can't keep
doing this. I want my chance now." Leslie said pacing nervously back and
forth behind the stage.

"Leslie! Stop pacing now! Your killing me Smalls, Killing me!" Chris
shouted at her.

"Les. Stop walking for a minute, and listen to me." Justin talked to her
calmly. "Your going to do fine." He said, taking her hand. "Your going to
win. You've been practicing this routine every day, 12 hours a day, for the
past two weeks. Your going to get your chance now. Just breathe, sweetie.
Breathe." He instructed.

"Leslie Moorehead. Your up next." A stagehand said rushing by.
"We'll be out there in the audience watching." JC hugged her before he
and the rest of the calls left.

"Breathe, Les. Just breathe. Your going to do fine. Just remember your
friends are behind you, and your going to win. It's under wraps." She
whispered comforting herself.

She stepped out on the stage and stood in her pose. Just as the music was
about to start she heard three voices shout out "WE LOVE YOU IRIS!!!"

"Great, Sarah, Tami and Jayla are here." She said, smiling to herself.
The music started and she lost herself in it. The moves were automatic, and
she pictured herself dancing with Justin. Her dancing was fluid and in sync
with the music, she could feel the beat, and she could almost feel Justin's
arms around her, she could smell him. She fell into her final pose, and as
the music stopped she looked down into the audience and winked at her friends
before walking off the stage.

"Leslie! You did it!!" Sarah screamed before attacking her behind stage.

"You were awesome girl!" Tami yelled at her.

"I'm soo proud of you Iris." Jayla said tearfully. All the girls surrounded her in a hug.
"Thanks you guys, but I can't breathe." She answered laughing. Just then
all the guys walked backstage, and they all picked her up in hugs and gently
kissed her on her cheek.

"Their announcing the winners now. You need to be on stage." Another
stage hand told her, pushing her onstage.

"We'll be right here, Les." Joey told her with excitement in his voice.
Leslie waited on stage as the judges announced the runners-up. She hadn't
been called, and still she got more and more nervous. Everyone thought she
would win, but what if she didn't? She didn't want to let everyone down.

"The winner of this competition will perform in a seven dancer troupe.
You will go on tour with a band, and be an opening group. You will dance in
front of thousands of people, and you will be on tour for at least six
months. The group the winner will be opening up for and going on tour with is
*NSYNC." One of the judges said.

Leslie felt her breath catch in her throat. She looked over to the side
of the stage and saw all her friends there. "How could they do this to me?"
She thought tearfully. "What if I win, because I'm friends with them? I don't
want to win this way." She dismissed the thought almost as quick as she
thought it though, for the simple fact that she knew the judges didn't know
her, and they didn't know she was friends with them.

"And, the winner is....LESLIE MOOREHEAD!!!!" Another judge finished with
a shout. The crowd went up in a roar, and Leslie broke down in tears. Sarah,
Tami, and Jayla ran out from backstage yelling and screaming and ran straight
for Leslie. She was glad when they swept her up in a hug, because if they
didn't, she would've sank to the floor. The guys walked out onto the stage
and presented her with roses, and they all hugged her one at a time. Justin
quickly kissed her on the cheek, as he stepped away. He wouldn't look her in
the eye though.

"Did you do this? Did you arrange this?" Leslie asked him fearfully.
He didn't get to answer, a judge walked up to her and congratulated her.
"Thankyou very much. I'm so glad." She answered him absent mindely. She kept
glancing at Justin, but he wouldn't look at her.

A few hours later after Leslie had been congratulated and changed she was
walking to her car. She told the girls to leave, that she would see them at
her house. The guys had stayed, they needed to make arrangements with
Leslie's dance teacher, and the judges. She walked out of the building and
she saw Justin's form walking about a hundred feet ahead of her.

"Justin!" She yelled, but he kept walking. She knew it was him, she had
studied that walk a thousand times. Nobody else had that stride or saunter,
and nobody else's butt looked that good in pants. "Justin!" She called again,
but he just picked up his pace.

She had finally reached him and pulled his arm. "Justin, why didn't you
answer me?"

"I'm sorry. I must not have heard you." He answered, not looking her in
the eye.

"Did you set that up back there? For me to win, I mean? Did you?" She
asked him repeating her question, looking into his eyes. She hoped, if he
didn't tell her the truth, his eyes would.

"What difference does it make Leslie? You won, didn't you? You won fair
and square." His eyes weren't telling her anything.

"Why won't you look me in the eye?" She asked him, pulling his face down
to her.

Justin couldn't stand to look at her, so he did the first thing he could
think of. He pulled his face down even farther and kissed her on the mouth.
It wasn't a nice kiss though, it was hard and forceful.

"Justin! What the hell is the matter with you? Stop it!" She yelled,
pushing him away.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to congratulate you." He said, hoping she would
forgive him, but at the same time drop the subject of the competition.

"Whatever. It's okay. Listen, I'm going home. The girls and I are going
out to celebrate over dinner, are you guys coming?" She asked him, looking
away.

"Umm...no I don't think so. I think we're going to just go home and rest.
Thanks anyway though. Congratulations and we'll see you tomorrow." He told
her before jogging away.

"Yeah, okay. Thanks, bye." She called, quickly walking away. When she got
inside the car, she rested her head on the steering wheel. "What the hell is
going on and what the hell is the matter with him?" She asked herself
angrily, before starting the car and peeling out of the parking lot.
She didn't notice Justin leaning against his car watching her, with tears
silently running down his face. He wiped them away roughly, before climbing
in his own car, and speeding away.

Leslie walked into the apartment she shared with her three friends, and
saw Joey, JC, Lance, and Chris sitting on the couch. "What are you guys doing
here?"

"We're going out to dinner to celebrate with you. Remember?" Lance
answered her, walking over to Jayla and putting his arm around her waist,
pulling her close.

"Justin said ya'll were going back home to rest or something." She
replied confused.

"Why would he do something like that?" Chris questioned, just as confused
as Leslie. "He's been excited for this all week.

"I don't know." She sighed. "Something is going on. He won't look me in
the eye, when I asked him if he set this up for me to win, he kissed me. Not
a gentle, loving kiss, that Justin usually gives me. It was rough and
forceful. It scared me."

"He what?! He kissed you?!" Joey yelled. "Alright Justin!"

"Joe!" JC said, shooting a glance at Joey. "I'm sorry he scared you,
Leslie. He didn't mean it, I'm sure. But, I'll talk to him. Why would you
think he set this up?

"Because, don't you think it's just a little strange that I'm going to
be opening up for you guys. Of all performers, why you? Do you guys know
anything about this? Don't lie to me either, you know I hate that." She
answered.

"No, we didn't know anything about this, and we wouldn't let him do that.
We wouldn't do that to you. Don't worry, Les. I'm sure he's just nervous to
be spending almost a year with you. We've never been that long with you."
Chris told her comforting.

She nodded her head before she answered. "Thanks fellas. I'm going to go
shower, and then we can go."

She left the room, and as she was walking out, the guys shot each other
knowing looks. The looks plainly said, "Wait until we get a hold of Justin."

THE NEXT MORNING:

Leslie walked into the studio ready to meet her other
dance partners in anticipation. She was nervous, but excited. She was kind of
scared, because she didn't know what they would think of her, and if they
knew about her and Justin. And, she knew the guys would be there too.
She yawned as she pulled open the door to the jive studio. "Hello Leslie.
How are you?" The secretary Stephanie asked.

"Hi Steph! I'm good, thanks. how are you?" She asked in reply. Stephanie
remembered her from when she was with the guys. She would sometimes come with
them, when they were recording for their no strings attached album. Stephanie
would always take her out to lunch, and they would talk when Leslie got bored.

"I'm fine. Tired, but fine. Everybody is in the meeting room, at the end
of the hallway. No, your on time, don't worry sweetie." Steph reassured her,
when she saw the look on her face.

Leslie reached the door and walked in. Seated around a long, large table
was the guys from *NSYNC, some men in business suits, and three boys and
three girls. She guessed the boys and girls were in her dance group.
Everybody stood up once they saw her.

"At ease, gentlemen." She said, directing her comment to the boys. They
all walked over and kissed her good morning on the cheek.

"Hi, Leslie. My name is Nick Davis, and I'm going to be the cordinator of
the tour. I'll arrange the dates and what's going on. I'll help you choose
your manager and such." He stood up to shake her hand. "These are your group
mates." He said, gesturing with his hand. "This is Miriam, Erica, and
Rachel." She walked around the table and shook their hands.

"Hi, I'm Leslie. You don't mind if I call you Ric, do you, Erica?" She
asked, politely.

"Not at all. Actually, I'd perfer it." Ric said smiling.

"This is Max, Jacob, and Ryan" He waved his hand to the boys. She walked
over to the boys and said hi to them.

"Max. Is that you?" She stopped and looked up at the boy that looked like
her former crush.

"Yeah, it's me." He smiled at her, holding his arms out.

She squealed and jumped into them. "I've missed you so much!" She told him excitedly.
Justin took a step forward. She used to squeal and jump in his arms that
way. He didn't like this Max character.

"Uh uh Justin. She ain't yours anymore, remember." Chris grabbed his
shoulder. Justin looked at him and sat down miserably. He knew Chris was
right, but that didn't make it any better.

Leslie sat down next to Max as they discussed what was going to happen.
The seven dancers would be on a bus traveling behind *NSYNC, except
occasionally, one member would travel with the group for safety reasons. It
will get pretty cramped on a bus with only eight bunks, and when they have
visitors one would have to ride with NSYNC. Leslie hoped it would be her, but
who knew. She didn't feel right saying anything right now, for the simple
fact, that she was kind of shy around her groupmates. They would be taveling
to 100 cities throughout Canada, and the U.S. They would be on tour for about
seven or eight months depending on the schedule.

After the meeting, they were excused to go home, and the dancers were to
report back to the studio the next morning at 6 a.m sharp to start dance
rehearsals. the tour would be starting in about three weeks. They knew they
could handle everything, and they could learn everything. They were all
strong learners and dancers. By the end of the meeting, they had already
chosen a name. It was Ryan who yelled out the name. "What about Team Elite?!"
He yelled. Everyone stopped and looked at each other.

"That is really good. I like it a lot!" Leslie said enthusiastically.

"Yeah! Me too!" Miriam agreed. Leslie and the rest of the group were already
hitting it off. They started to feel more comfortable around each other, and
they were joking around. Jacob was funny, he made her laugh. He reminded her
a bit of Chris, but not as hysterical. He had more of a subtle humor.

As the group parted to leave, they gathered in a group hug for a moment,
and whispered amongst each other.

"I really hope we get along great, and we have fun together." Ric
whispered.

"I hope we can become best friends, and we're going to be so sad when we
leave each other." Leslie added.

"I hope we can party and pick up some hot chicks." Ryan added winking at
Jacob and Max. "Not funny, Ri!" Rachel giggled hitting him in his stomach
playfully.

The group broke apart and headed towards their cars. Max hung back for a
moment and hugged Leslie one last time. "I'll see you tomorow okay. I'm so
glad we're in this together." He told her. She smiled back at him, as he left.
She turned around to a series of Oooooh's. "Oh shut up!" She said snidely
to the guys. "He's an old friend. I used to have a crush on him, is all."
Justin jerked his head up, and opened his mouth to say something. "Don't
even go there homefry. You gave up all rights to me months ago." She told him
before he could comment.

"I'm going home fella's. I'll see you later." She waved and turned to
walk out the door.

On her way out to her car, she heard Justin call her name. "Oh, isn't
this familiar." She turned around and called out to him. "Should I continue
walking and pretend I don't hear you. Or how about I kiss you the way you
kissed me?"

"Leslie, can we talk?" He asked walking up to her.

"I have nothing to say to you, and you have nothing to say to me, until
you decided to answer me truthfully." She answered, brushing the hair out of
her face that had escaped her ponytail, impatiently.

"Fine! What do you want to know?" He answered angerily.

"I wanna know if you set that up for me back there at that competition?"
She asked angerily.

When he looked down at his shoes and didn't answer, she got even angrier.
"Fine! How bout you answer why you didn't stop me from leaving a couple of
months ago. Why you never told me the truth about you and Britney. Why your
lying to me now. Why your being such an ass hole now." She shouted.

He still didn't answer.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Fuck off Justin." She spit at him, as she
turned on her heel and stalked off to her car. She slammed the door and
pealed out of the parking lot. It felt like the same scene that happened the
other day. She left angry and upset.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I am so sick and tired of this stupid, childish fighting!" JC screamed,
storming into Leslie's apartment. Sarah, Tami, and Jayla were lounging around
on the couch's watching a movie.

"Well, nice to see you too. Leslie is in her room sleeping. You can
interrupt her, if you'd like." Jayla said, not looking up from the
television. The girls were sick of the fighting too. Even though, they were
concerned for their two friends, it was something they had gotten used to.
Like, in the summer, when it's hot and your sweaty everyday. It's something
you get used to.

"This is how bad it's gotten. We're completely used to it. We don't even
pay any attention to it anymore." JC thought sadly, stepping over Sarah, who
was laying sprawled out on the floor.

JC walked into the room, noting the clothes strewn all over the place,
and paper laying around. He set aside bras and girls underwear on a chair and
pulled it over.

"Remind me to tell Leslie, it's time to clean her room." He said to
nobody in particular.

"Fat chance, buddy. Justin will act normal towards me before that
happens." Leslie commented, before opening her eyes. "What do you want JC?"

"Can't I come over and visit you?" JC asked, in mock hurt.

"Well, yeah, you know you can. But, I know this isn't what it's about. I
heard you bust your way into my apartment, and I heard you yelling at the
girls."

"I want to talk to you about this fighting between you and Justin. This
has to stop, Les. We can't go on tour and deal with all this fighting. It's
not healthy, and it's not good for the press to see. If you guys don't
straighten this out, we'll be forced to kick you off this tour." JC said,
looking out the window.

"Josh! That's not fair. I didn't do anything. This is all Justin! He's
the one who won't answer my questions, he's the one who's acting all weird.
Do you want me to pretend that everything is fine? Do you want me to act
normal, when all I want to know is the answers to my questions?" She asked,
starting to get irritated.

"Maybe, you should start taking the blame for certain things, Leslie. You
were the one who left. Yeah, Justin never called you back, but if he did,
would you have honestly stayed? I doubt that very much. You didn't even
listen to him express his love for you, you didn't even stay and hear out his
explanations that happened with Britney. All you heard was Britney's name and
all you saw were those pictures in those tabloids. Not Justin's apologies,
not his tears. Anger can only take you so far, and then it won't get you
anywhere. Anger made you work harder at your dancing, and you've gotten all
this. It's not going to get you anywhere else, except kicked off this tour.
Why do you need to know all those answers? Why can't you leave it in the
past? And, about this Justin setting up the competition thing, do you
honestly think he would do something like that?" JC finished.

When Leslie didn't say anything, she just stared at him, he continued.
"Somebody once told me something, and I've never forgotten it. They told
me to dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want
to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you
want to do. I believe that somebody was you. Remember Les? When we were going
through that whole lawsuit? You told me that, when I was at my all time low.
And, I'm looking at you, and I'm seeing you at one of your all time low's.
Fix this with Justin. You only have one life, and one chance to do it." He
finished, before leaning over to kiss Leslie quickly on the lips. When she
turned her head in anger, he still dropped a kiss on her cheek.
Halfway through the living room, he heard her bedroom door slam so hard,
it rattled the pictures on the wall. He stopped in his tracks for a few
seconds, and continued walking out the door. He turned to wave at the girls
and left.

Leslie threw herself on her bed in tears. "I can't do this. I can't be
near him day after day, not knowing the truth. It's killing me." Leslie
finished crying and sat up in her bed. "Yes, I can do this. I can do this. I
am a strong person, and I can deal with this." She sniffled walking out of
her room, and joined the others in watching a movie. Tami leaned over and
have gave her a hug and kiss on the top of her head. Leslie smiled gratefully
at her. The others watched her in question. "It's okay guys. I think I can
work this crap out." She reassured them.

The next morning, Leslie walked into the studio at 7:00 in the morning.
She felt energized and ready to dance. She was going to stay on this tour and
work her butt off in the process.

"Hey everybody! Are we ready to dance?" She asked, energetically, looking
at the others. Max and Ryan were lying on the floor, trying to get a few
extra minutes of sleep. Jacob, Miriam, Rachel and Ric were stretching out and
warming up.

"Ugh, no we're not ready to dance. Besides, we have to wait for the
choreographer to show up. Dork." Ryan yelled, joking from the floor.
"C'mon fella's. Let's warm up." She told them, dragging them up off the
floor.

The day flew by quickly, and they danced and learned all the routines to
the first song. They danced for 12 hours, with only a half hour lunch break.
They were tired and their legs felt like they were going to fall off, but
they were excited, proud and they had gotten to know each other better.
Max was the handsome one. He had dark brown hair that flipped over his
forehead and beautiful blue eyes, when he smiled he had a small dimple in his
left cheek. He was serious, and hardly smiled. He was always happy though,
and when he smiled, his whole face lit up. That was the reason why Leslie had
developed a crush on him years before. Ryan had blond hair and green eyes,
and he was the joker. He kept the girls in high spirits by harmless flirting
and joking around. He turned serious though, when it was time to work. Jacob
had brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was the sensitive one with a
girlfriend. He worked hard, and had his share of playing around. The boys
were an all around good group. Being around them, reminded Leslie of guys in
*NSYNC. They lifted her up in spirits, and they were so much fun to be with.
The girls and her were already forming a solid bond and trust. Ric was
sweet. She was trusting, and you could talk to her about everything. She kept
the group organized and fun. She made them laugh while they danced, so the
smiles never left their faces. She was an attractive 20 year old with blond
hair just past her shoulders, with blue eyes that sparkled when she got
excited or happy. Which was 100 percent of the time. Miriam had layered sandy
blond hair that fell to her chin. She had crystal blue eyes, and her
peach-like complexion brought out her features even more. She could be
completely quiet one minute, and then wild and crazy a next. Then she could
flip into business mode, and make everyone work. She was always perfecting
dance moves. Rachel had dark brown hair that also fell to her chin and dark
brown eyes to match. She was exactly like Miriam, and Leslie could tell right
away that they were going to become close. They both had crazy antics, and
would have the group in stitches one minute, and then in the next, one would
be quiet and the other would be helping with dance moves.

"Bye guys. I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early." Leslie said, walking
out of the room. "I saw that Jake. Not funny!" Leslie said, laughing at Jacob
who was making a face in the mirror.

"Oh yeah, than why are you laughing?" He questioned her back, laughing
also. Leslie just shook her head and left the room. She walked into the
elevator and leaned against the wall. "What a long day." She thought to
herself. "But, I'm ready for tomorrow. I can't wait to go on tour with them.
We're going to have a blast." She had already fallen in love with her new
found friends, and was glad they had already developed a sibling-like bond.
The elevator stopped at the next floor and the doors opened. She groaned
inwardly, she didn't want to talk to anybody, all she wanted to do was go
home, eat a quick dinner, and go to bed. She opened her eyes, not expecting
to see what she saw standing in front of her.

"I can wait for the next elevator, if you want?" Justin questioned her.
"No, no you don't have to do that. We need to talk anyway." She motioned
for him to enter the elevator.

They both started talking at the same time. "Let me start. Okay?" Leslie
asked. Justin waved his hand, cueing her to talk.

"Listen, Justin. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have questioned you with all
those questions" She giggled nervously. "It was my fault I left that night. I
could've stayed, and I could've listened to you, but I didn't. I don't blame
you for not wanting to answer my questions, and it was wrong of me to doubt
you about the competition. I'm sorry." She apologized.

The elevator doors opened, and they walked out into the parking lot. "I'm
parked over here." Leslie pointed in the opposite direction they were
walking. She was a little worried Justin wasn't going to forgive her. He
hadn't said one word.

"I'm parked over here." He pointed the other way. She nodded her head,
and started walking the other way.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. She wrapped her arms around
his waist and held on tight. He wrapped his arms around her torso so tight,
his hands were on either sides of her stomach. She always loved the way he
hugged her after they had got done fighting. They pulled away, and she kissed
him several times on his cheek. She didn't stop until he started laughing.
"Okay, okay. It's alright Les. I forgive you." He laughed.

"Good." She smiled at him. "I'll see ya tonight, okay?"

"What's tonight?" He asked.

"It's Tuesday. It's our night. Remember?" She asked.

"Oh yeah. How could I forget? I just forgot what day it was." He winked
at her.

"Right." She laughed as they parted. "I'll be at your house at 9:00. So
ya better be ready." She loved Tuesday nights. When they couldn't be
together, they would call each other and talk forever on that night. If
Justin had a concert, he would call her in between costume changes, and one
time he had Mike, his security guard, hold up the phone so she could hear him
dedicate and sing "God must've spent a little more time on you." When, they
could be together, they would either go out to dinner, or watch a movie
together. They would stay up for hours and hours, just watching TV or
talking. They would usually fall asleep in each other's arms.

"Maybe, everything will be okay between us." She said to nobody in
particular as she walked to her car. She couldn't wait to go over Justin's.

Parts 11-15