Justin hesitated a moment before turning and quickly following Jordan into the hallway. "Jordan! Jordan...please Stop! Would you just wait? Let me explain.." he said, gently grabbing her arm as he caught up to her near the elevators. "Jordan, look at me. Can I just have a chance to explain...before you jump to conclusions?" Jordan looked up at him in silence, a defiant look flashing in her hazel eyes.
"Fine..go ahead. Tell me...I'm waiting." she said, folding her arms across her chest. Her eyes steady with Justin's gentle blue ones, she waited impatiently for him to tell her who those lyrics were about.
"Jordan.." Justin shook his head, wondering if this was worth all of his emotion. "Why have you been acting like this? Those lyrics you read..that song..was about YOU. Don't you see?" he continued as he ran his hands through his curls, "Are you blind to everything that's been happening between us? That song..it's about us."
"Me?" Jordan whispered, confusion apparent on her pretty face. "I...I just assumed..."
"Assumed that they were about someone else? Yeah, I'm such a player Jordan...I found someone else that I feel so passionately about just the other day." Justin smiled crookedly. "Here's a tip for ya..never assume. It makes an ass out of you and me."
A smile danced across Jordan's face. "Yeah...I guess it does." she laughed gently.
Justin continued, his voice becoming serious. "Jordan, I want to tell you that I'm sorry..for reading your letter, for being a jerk...everything. I know I shouldn't have intruded, it's none of my business...but when I saw you hurting, I just had to know what was upsetting you so much. I realize that I could never understand what you're going through right now, but I want to try. Jordan, you can't keep pushing people away that care about you...you can't be alone at a time like this. I know you're feeling alone and scared, but if you would just let me be here for you...I care about you so much." Justin ran a finger gently down the side of Jordan's cheek before a smile creeped across his handsome face as he winked at her. "...even with your enormous mood swings."
"So it's a character flaw of mine...it was just easier to push you away..." Jordan trailed off as Justin silenced her with a gentle kiss.
Justin pulled away and looked deep into Jordan's eyes, tipping her face toward his. "No matter how hard you try Jordan, you'll never be able to push me far enough. I worry about you, and I care about you so much...I'll always be here."
"Damn!" Jordan smiled playfully, trying to lighten the seriousness of the moment. "So basically you are saying I can't get rid of you that easily?"
"Nope.." Justin said softly, pulling her close as the elevator opened and JC entered into the hallway. "No matter how hard you try...I'll always be here." he whispered into her ear.
"Johnny is unbelievably pissy...what is TAKING you guys so long?" JC said, his face slowly turning red as he realized he had interrupted an intense conversation. Jordan and Justin stood across from the elevator, tightly embraced. "Oh..sorry for interrupting..." he trailed off as he turned around.
"No, it's cool...we were just talking about something that needed to be discussed a long time ago." Jordan said slowly as she removed herself from Justin's arms and followed JC into the elevator.
"I'll meet you guys downstairs, I have to grab my jacket. Tell Johnny not to get his underwear in a knot and I'll just be a minute." Justin said as he headed back to N Sync's suite.
***
"So what's up with you two now?" JC inquired nosily as the elevator made it's way to the ground floor. "Do you realize what Lou would say if a fan would have been in the elevator instead of me, and seen you two standing there? He would flip out..number one because you and Justin are BOTH supposedly 'single and ready to mingle'. Do you know how much time our media team spends trying to cover up the fact that you two may have a thing? Number two, shit would hit the fan because there is no security around. They're all downstairs, where we should be right now." he shook his head in frustration.
Jordan's pretty faced quickly darkened with anger. "I'm sorry if our possible, "relationship"..or whatever you think it might be...cramps your style. Are you worried about what Lou might say, or are you just being nosy? Are you a little...oh, I don't know...jealous or something? Or maybe you are just worried that if Justin is rumored to have a girlfriend, that it might take away from N Sync's perfect, available, teen god images? Get over it." Jordan sniffed as the elevator door opened and she strided out to the limo, ignoring Johnny's disapproving look as he waited impatiently.
***
"Hey everybody, my name's Craig...first I would just like to say welcome to Phoenix! I am really anxious to get this shoot started, since we're running a little behind." the short blond man looked quickly at the clock on the wall, frowning slightly. Rubbing his hands together, he analyzed the five guys and five girls standing in front of him. "Ok, I think that first, we are gonna get some shots with a member of N Sync and a member of Eternity paired up. I think that might be faster than individual photos."
Johnny stood next to Craig, nodding. "Yeah, with the limited time, that might be best."
Craig studied the groups before pairing them off quickly. "Ok, you two...very good vibe together. I think the chemistry between you two would really work well on camera." he said quickly, pointing to Justin and Jordan.
"You, and...you." he pointed to Chris and Tressa. "I sense fiery personalities in you two short ones. Um...let's see...how bout you two, and...you two." he pushed Leigh and Lance together, and then JC and Ashlee.
Rachel groaned as she stood awkwardly next to her sister. Jordan nudged her gently as she whispered, "Looks like it's you and Superman eh?" she giggled as Rachel shot her a dirty look.
"You two...hm...yes, I think that will work out just fine." Craig stepped back and analyzed the pairs once more before nodding and motioning them toward the dressing rooms. "Now, go...there are makeup artists and hairstylists in there waiting for you. Feel free to pick out your own outfits for this, if you clash horribly bad, I'll just have you change. I want your personalities to shine through."
Eternity and N Sync hurried into the dressing rooms where they quickly selected outfits and got their hair and makeup done. "Aww Rach, you look cute!" Leigh commented to the blonde.
Rachel had picked out a fitted men's button down red shirt that she had tied up, flaunting her tanned, taut stomach. Wearing comfy looking jeans and Adidas Superstar shoes, she posed dramatically in the doorway. "Britney Spears, eat your heart out." she laughed huskily before opening the door and making her way back into the studio to wait for Joey.
"Well aren't we handsome?" Rachel heard Ashlee comment sincerely as the rest of Eternity and N Sync made their way out into the studio where the blonde waited. "Cept, couldn't you leave that awful hat in the dressing room Joey?"
"Haha, very funny...couldn't you leave your awful face back in the dressing room?" Joey responded before focusing in on Rachel. He stopped short when he saw her, about getting mowed over by Lance in the process.
"Walk much there Joe?" he muttered, stepping around the Italian.
"Would ya look at that?!" Justin pointed out laughing. "Rach and Joey are dressed almost exactly the same!"
Rachel looked back at Joey, who was still standing where he had stopped short. "Oh brother...that's just LOVELY." she muttered to herself as she looked Joey up and down. He was wearing a button down red shirt, open to reveal a bright white wifebeater. Also donning blue jeans and Adidas shoes, the only basic difference in their outfits was the Superman baseball hat that was perched on Joey's head.
"Aww how sweet is THAT?! Instead of the five of US dressing alike, we have Joey and Rachel dressing alike without even planning it. You two must be soulmates." Chris joked playfully.
"Well, looks like you two are more in tune than I had originally thought...but it works. Perhaps you could just take off the red shirt Joey, and then you won't be exactly the same. It might work better for the photos that way." Craig suggested. Joey nodded and threw the button down shirt casually onto a chair. "Alright, let's get this started. Hmm...let's get you all together first, maybe kinda messing around. Try to interact with the person I paired you up with...I am gonna attempt to get some shots that way."
The five guys and girls stood in front of the white background as they began playing around for the camera. Craig walked back and forth, snapping pictures quickly as he captured N Sync and Eternity hamming it up for the photos. "That's perfect! Hold still...you got it..right there...beautiful!" Craig said enthusiastically to Joey and Rachel. Joey, standing behind the tall blonde had wrapped his tanned arms around her waist as he picked her up off her feet. Craig had snapped the picture as Rachel's face registered a look of surprise.
"That's gonna be an adorable shot." Johnny mused to the short photographer.
Craig continued snapping pictures, stopping briefly to change his film once or twice. "Perfect..." he uttered, breathless at the photo opportunity that stood before him. Jordan and Justin stood extremely close, their body language unmistakably in tune. Justin, in his blue shirt and khaki pants complemented Jordan in her fitted white shirt and cargos. Jordan was smiling, her dimples showing prominently as Justin looked down at her, a crooked grin on his handsome features. "Justin...don't move...that's absolutely perfect." Craig commanded as he held his camera up for the shot.
Justin waited until Craig had gotten the shot before leaning down and quickly kissing Jordan gently on the cheek. Johnny's eyes narrowed as he noticed the pair getting rather close. "Ok Craig, I think that's good. We have to get back to the hotel.." he said suddenly, stopping the photo shoot short.
"Alright, thanks guys, that's all I need for today! I'll send the photos to the hotel later tonight as soon as I get them developed. Then you all can take a look and see how they turned out." he gestured toward the dressing rooms as they filed back in to change before going back to the hotel for the night.