"Ok, Nikki, geez, you sound more excited than I do!"

"Oh you know you're excited and you know you're stomach is getting butterflies just thinking about this. You've been waiting for this for a long time, and you're finally getting it, and you sure as hell are going to enjoy it." Katie turned around from the mirror and smiled at her friend who was just trying to help her out a little.

"I know, and I am going to make the most of this night and cherish it for the rest of my life."

"Thatta girl," Nikki smiled and kissed her best friend on the cheek. "Now go, he's waiting."

"Bye." Katie stood up and walked out of the room and down the hallway. She slowly walked down the stairs and into the living room where Justin was calmly leaning against the side of the couch with his car keys in hand and singing.

"Oh where oh where can my Katie be? Oh where oh where can she be?" Justin sang loudly from downstairs as he waited for her to come downstairs.

"Uh, Justin?" He stopped singing for a moment and opened his eyes to find Katie right in front of him, smiling. His smile brightened when he saw her, and he got up to walk over to her.

Katie had never seen him look better...she didn't know if it was because of the specialness of the evening or just because he really did look good. He was wearing perfectly fit khakis and a red and white Abercrombie and Fitch long sleeved shirt, with his black Nike jacket hanging on his arm. His hair was slightly spiked, and he smelled of his favorite Woods cologne. Her heart wanted to melt at the sight of him, and she wanted to curse her mind for the thoughts running through it at that moment.

"Hey, you ready to go?" Justin asked her when his smile couldn't have possibly gotten any bigger after he noticed her looking him up and down.

"Yeah, you look great." His smile widened even more at her statement and he reached for her hand to take her outside.

"Likewise." She returned his smile and let him lead her out to his car.

"Are you going to tell me where we are going yet?"

"Not a chance," he simply stated, with the smile still plastered on his face. He opened the passenger side door and let her into the car before closing the door and walking over to the driver's side. He climbed in and started the car as he saw Nikki anxiously looking out the window with JC not far behind her. "When do you plan on telling me Justin?"

"Hmm, good question. You'll just have to wait until we get there, but I promise you you'll like it." She let the subject go, knowing she wouldn't get anything out of him because he was not one to spoil surprises, especially if they were coming from him. He turned B 96, the local radio station on in the middle of "Smooth" by Santana and Rob Thomas. Immediately, as if it was natural for him, he began singing along.

Katie watched him closely, admiring everything about him and regretting ever fighting with this precious person. She saw how involved he got in the music and you could really tell music was his true love. As "Smooth" ended, the station went to a commercial and Justin turned it down to talk to Katie.

"So, are you hungry?"

"Oh, am I getting a choice on if we go to dinner or not?"

"No, I'm just asking," he replied, his smile growing once again as he teased Katie.

"Yes, I'm starving, so pleeease take me out to eat!"

"Woops, too bad that's not on the agenda for tonight!"

"Are you kidding me Justin!?! You told me not to eat anything...it's six o'clock, and I'm gonna need something to eat!"

"Ok, fine, I guess we could work something out," he said, acting like he was being so bothered because she wanted some food, but in reality, she was making this evening even better for herself by being hungry, she just didn't know it.

They drove for about five more minutes down the highway and he pulled off exit 76, and then drove about two more minutes down that road. "Um Justin? Where are we going now?"

"Um, Katie? Why do you ask so many questions?" She just laughed and playfully hit him on the shoulder. "Hey now, none of that, you wouldn't want to be the reason this Benz crashed would ya?"

"Why would I be the reason?"

"Because...you are distracting me."

"Oh, sorry Jubes, I didn't know playfully hitting you on the shoulder was such a distraction," she said back, still giggling a little at him.

"It's not the hitting thing, its just you are distracting me by sitting there...it makes me wanna take my eyes off the road and look at you." The moment the words flew out of his 18 year old mouth Katie was completely silenced as she looked at him with a mix of complete seriousness and utter confusion.

"Ok, ya know what, I can take a little of the Timberlake Charm, but none of the Fatone comments, got that boy?" He just let out a little laugh and continued driving, turning the radio back up to Lou Bega's "Mambo Number 5".

"Ugh! I hate this song Justin! It's so dumb."

"So switch."

"Excuse me? Did you just say ‘switch'? I'm actually allowed to mess with some buttons in Justin Timberlake's ‘Beast'?"

"Oh you shutup...and if you're scared to switch then I will."

"Umm, no, some of that music you like scares me...I don't even want to think of what you'll find." She began switching through the stations until she was satisfied.

"My song to you, Justin. My song to you. ‘No I don't want no scrub, a scrub is a guy that can't get no love from me, hangin' out the passenger's side of his best friend's ride tryin' to holla at me!" He joined in with her and began singing the song in mock voice of the ladies of TLC.

"Are we there yet?"

"Gosh Katie, you sound like Jonathan when we are going on trips in the car!"

"Yeah right, you are probably the one asking that every 30 seconds!"

"Ha, no. Yes we are almost there...wait we're closer. Now we're closer. Closer. Closer. Clo-"

"Ok I get the point!"

"Seriously though, this is it," Justin said as they pulled into the parking lot of Pleasure Island.

"We are going here!?! I love this place!"

"I know, come on!" They both jumped out of the car like little kids and walked to the front entrance hand in hand.

"Thank you, Jubee, I really had a great time tonight, I think I really needed to get out and away from the house for a while."

"Don't thank me yet, the fun hasn't even started yet."

"Aw, damn, I was beginning to think I'd make it to see the sun rise tomorrow," Katie said, knowing how much Justin loved to party.

"Oh don't worry about that hun, you'll be home safe and sound by the time the sun comes up."

"Hey, couldn't you guys go home tonight?" she asked, although it saddened her to know that they could go back home and none of them would be staying with her and Nikki. She loved it when the guys stayed over because they were so much fun to hang out with, and you were guaranteed a good time.

"Yeah, actually I think JC said they were gonna go home tonight while we were out."

"Oh, ok." The waiter walked up and Justin gave him his credit card so he could go ring them up and they could get out of there.

"So you have your jacket in the car, right?"

"Yeah, why? Will we be outside?"

"Um, yes, for part of the time, but I don't want you getting sick at all, so you have to wear it."

"Alright, geez J, you are sounding like a father," her voice trailed off and he could barely hear the last part of what she said. She froze, and her eyes became glazed over with tears, staring past Justin's shoulder. Her skin went pale, and she reached to grab his hand.

"Katie what's wrong?" He asked in a very low voice, as if he was trying to keep it a secret so nobody would hear.

"Oh my God," was all she managed to whisper out. She stared past his shoulder for another second before closing her eyes and leaning against his shoulder, starting to softly cry. He turned around and saw a very familiar face standing with two of his buddies, all with football jackets on.

"Kyle..." Justin began to get up but Katie pulled on his hand to make him sit back down. Seeing him brought back all those memories of that night Kyle had thrown things at her and hit her because she told him she didn't want to date him because she liked Justin. All the pain he had caused her, both physically and emotionally, came back when she saw him, and she just wanted to get out of there.

"Don't, please don't. Just try to get out of here without him noticing us. Please, Justin."

"Alright, but don't let go of my hand, whatever you do. Got that?"

"Ok." He picked up his credit card that the waiter left on the table a minute earlier and stood up, with Katie close behind. They made it about three steps from the booth and both froze when they heard the dreaded voice.

"Katie? Katie Thompson? And Justin? Is that you guys?" Kyle said loudly while strolling over to them with a big cocky grin on his face. Justin tightened his hold on Katie's hand, but didn't take his icy stare off of Kyle. "Are you two, like, a couple? Because if I do remember correctly, Katie, you had a little crush on Justin here didn't you?"

"Kyle, get away. And go fast before I hurt you."

"Woah, Justin, what did I ever do to you? I know you were never very fond of me because Katie was interested in me, and you were clearly interested in her, but there is no need for these petty little threats." Kyle was now standing right in front of them, and his grin was still present on his face.

"You know what? You didn't hurt me one bit, but you hurt Katie and that is enough to put you on my list of people I want to go to Hell." Katie could tell Justin was getting angrier by the second, and she didn't want any of this to get out of hand, she just wanted to leave.

"What do you mean I hurt Katie? If you are talking about the bruise she got on her leg...that was only there because she threw me down on the bed, and my shoes were still on, and lets just say I accidentally hit her."

Katie spoke up before Justin had a chance to say anything or do anything. "Kyle you know just as well as I know what went on that night, and we both know why it happened, and we both know if you don't get your ass out of here right now and shut up you will find yourself in more trouble than you think I can get you in." At that point Kyle turned around and motioned for the two guys he was with to come closer. Justin pulled Katie away and they went out to the car to leave and keep their distance from the three. They jumped in the car and Justin put the keys in, but by the time he started the car, Kyle and his friends were running out of the building and to their car.

"What the hell!" Justin yelled when he saw them running to their car and jump in.

"J just go, and go fast."

"Why the hell are they following? What the hell do they want from us?" Justin was practically yelling at the top of his lungs now and he was speeding out of the parking lot and towards the interstate. "Do you have your seatbelt on?" He asked while looking over at her because he had a feeling this was going to be a messy ride and he didn't want her getting hurt.

"Yes," she replied, with a terrified tone in her voice. They were being chased by three gigantic guys, one of them with a lot of anger inside and knowing him, he would take that anger to extremes. To top it all off Justin was extremely scared and pissed off at Kyle, and could lose his temper very easily.

She clutched the seat with two hands as Justin sped down the road, silently praying they would be alright. He reached over and squeezed her hand when he noticed how scared she was getting, but Katie pulled away and placed his hand on the steering wheel.

"No, keep your hand on the steering wheel Justin, I'm fine."

"Katie don't worry, we'll get rid of them in no time. Here, get my phone out of the glove compartment and call the police." She reached in and dug through various papers, and a small box caught her eye. It was a jewelry box that looked like it held a ring, and she glanced over at Justin, but he didn't seem to notice what she was cupping in her hand inside the small compartment. She let it go and grabbed the phone, and quickly dialed 911. "Yes, we are being chased by three guys...I-95...Exit 76...dark red Mercedes ML 320...Light blue Honda I think...ok...ok...thanks...bye." She shut the phone off and put it on the ground under her seat, then turned to Justin. "They are going to send some police out here and they should be able to stop them." She noticed Justin nervously looking in the rear view mirror, so she turned around and saw their car about 5 feet behind the car she was in. "Go faster! They are right there!"

"Katie I'm going 90 MPH, how fast do you want me to go!?!" He didn't even wait for her to answer, but stepped on the gas and went up to 100 MPH. They sped up right along with them, turned to the lane next to them, and swerved right into the back of the Mercedes. It turned and spun around on the interstate before the back end hit the guard rail, then spun once more and the passenger side ended up crushed against the side rail. As soon as the car came to rest Justin jumped out of his seatbelt and turned to Katie, seeing if she was ok. "Katie, can you hear me?" She had a cut on her head and her arm was swelling up very quickly, and she was leaning back with her eyes closed. Justin undid her seat belt and got her to sit up straight, but her eyes were still closed. "Oh my God. Katie don't do this. Come on," he was on the verge of tears and she still wouldn't wake up. It was dark and around 8 pm, but they were on a part of the interstate that connected to an exit, so there were virtually no cars driving by. Out of no where, two cop cars drove up to the car and 3 officers climbed out, rushing over to the crashed car.

"Sir are you ok?"

"I'm fine, but she is unconscious and her head is bleeding."

"Ok, if you could step out of the car we will take care of it, Michaels get the first aid kit!" Another officer came running over and they went in through the drivers side since Katie's side was crushed up against the guard rail. The fourth officer took Justin aside to question him, but he refused to go. He climbed in the backseat behind Katie and held her hand, praying that she would have enough strength to wake up. The officers worked quickly to put bandages on her head and brace her arm, while an ambulance drove up and the paramedics got her out of the car and into the ambulance. Justin was not allowed to go, and it worried him horribly what was happening with her, but the police just took some information and drove him to the hospital so he could be with the girl who had changed his life in so many ways and stolen his heart. He just wished she would be alive to see him and spend the rest of her life with him, but he didn't know what the chances of that were with her condition. In the back of his mind he felt she was gone, but his heart wouldn't let him admit that to himself.