Chapter Thirty-Two

Justin looked through the darkness of the car over at Lauren as she turned the car around and he could see the strained and confused expression on her face. It probably wasn't the best idea in the world to go where they were going, but he was tired of being careful. This was his town and this was his little brother's last night in that town, so he was going to do whatever he could to make it magical for him. Yes this place had a lot of memories for both of them, it had more than they would care to admit, but that didn't mean that Jon couldn't form his own memories as well.

The lights off of the dash and the streetlamps glowed just enough for him to see her face and what he saw there was clearly someone who would rather go swim with alligators than to go anywhere with him. At the same time she wasn't fighting this so either she had lost more of her nerve than he had previously feared, or she was hoping that this would be a way that they could mend some broken bridges. Either way they were going and they were going to have to deal with one another even if it was only for Jon's sake.

Turning in the seat he looked over his shoulder at his little brother and winked at him when he saw the excitement on his face. Jon was clever and he was very smart for his age, so that caused him to know without a doubt that his manipulative little head was filling with all kinds of plots and schemes. He had noticed that there was a strain between Lauren and himself. A person would have to be blind and deaf not to realize that something was going on, but Jon knew and he knew how to force them to see one another again.

He turned back around in the seat and his eyes slowly trailed over Lauren while she turned into the turn-lane and he wondered if a child would be able to fix everything they had lost. Lies could be softened, misunderstandings could be mended, but it was going to take a lot more than time to help him see her as the innocent and loyalty driven girl that he had always known. It was going to take far more than a few nights of forced civility to push aside the fact that he no longer felt he could trust her.

At the same time, Lauren's thoughts were paralleling his in a way. She couldn't get past the fact that they were actually going out together and to Pirate's Cove of all places. Just the sight of it caused memories to drown her. Memories of friendships, memories of fun times that she had shared with Justin before he was THE Justin Timberlake, memories of smiles, hugs, laughter, and good times with no strings attached. The carefree days that they had once been their reality.

She had driven by there countless times and every time she had…it had caused her to smile. Valentine's Day only added to her memories and her wonderful thoughts of this place, but now it didn't bring her much happiness. It only made her wish for what had been. It made her feel uneasy and out of place almost like it wasn't the same place that held so many memories. It didn't seem to have the charm or the mystique that it had once held for her and now she was going to have to grin and bear it for the night. Now she was going to have to push aside the negative, push aside the positive, and just live in the moment.

The sight of it all lit up and full of people made her eyes widen because of the safety issues. Chances were that someone would know Justin and her being there had the potential of causing problems. Jonathan would draw his own attention just by being Justin's brother, but she was the outsider and the "enemy" to a lot of fans, to the fans who viewed Justin as theirs and only theirs.

She steered around the parking lot looking for an empty space while Justin sat quietly beside her chewing on a finger. She didn't know if he was nervous about being there or just plain nervous about being in the car with her. Either way the mood was tense and Jonathan was the only one who could break the deafening silence.

"LOOK!"

They both jumped and Lauren took a deep breath before turning the next corner. "How about warn me before you do that, cutie."

He unbuckled his seatbelt and pressed his face to the window. "They have video games! They have pud pud golf! They have ice cream and candy and pizza and…"

"I thought you didn't want pizza."

Jon ignored Justin's comment and kept going. "And they have water slides! Can we go on the water slides?"

Justin turned in the seat and tried to look for what he was talking about. "I don't think they have water slides. Last time I was here they didn't but…oh you mean the waterfalls. Those aren't for you to swim in, kiddo."

"But I could if I wanted to."

Lauren stayed out of this debate and continued her search for a parking space while Justin sighed before finally answering. "No you can't. Not even if you wanted to. Those are there to make the place look nice and for people who can't play golf very well. The ball goes into the water and your game is finished."

Jon's head shook angrily. "Nuh uh! They won't stop MY game if it drops in the water! I'll just go in there and get it."

"That would be cheating."

Lauren looked in the rearview mirror and grinned when she saw Jon turn around, cross his arms over his chest, and pouted in much the same way someone she knew very well always would. "It's not cheating. It's my ball and I would go swimming for it if it fell in the water. Why do they have water if you can't swim in it?"

Justin gave her a desperate look but when he saw that she was ignoring him he ran a hand over his face and tried again. "The water is there to make it look realistic and…"

"What is reel-a-histic?"

"That means that they wanted it to look like a real pirate ship. They put the waterfalls in there because pirate ships sail on water."

Jon was quiet for a second and Lauren wanted to giggle when she saw the determined look on his face. "But how can a ship swim on waterfalls?"

"It's not a real pirate ship, Jon. It was made to just LOOK that way."

Lauren finally found a parking spot and after pulling in she turned off the car and put the keys into her pocket. What was going on in the car was far more fun than any putt-putt game ever could be. Just listening to Justin get a taste of his own medicine was fun times in her book. He had been exactly like Jon at that age and instead of having an older brother to throw questions to, he had always thrown them at her. She had been just as clueless as he had been, but that never stopped him from playing quiz show with her about EVERYTHING.

"We're here."

Justin checked his watch before leaning his head back on the headrest. "We can't do anything until security gets here. I guess we wait."

"Guess so." She looked out the window at all the people walking around and grinned. "So Jon…you were saying?"

She didn't need to look at Justin to know that he had tensed and was giving a "you need to die" look at the back of her head. Oh no…she knew him too well.

Jon crawled up to lean between them. "You said that it's not a real pirate ship, that it's not a real waterfall, but why are they fake? Is it a lie?"

Very slowly, Lauren looked over at Justin and she fought hard not to laugh when she saw the daggers he was shooting at her with his eyes. "Jonathan…it's not a lie. It's just supposed to be fun."

"How can it be fun when it's not real? Did the real pirates park their ship here so they could go on vacation? I bet they did so they wouldn't lose it."

Lauren grinned evilly. "Ohhhh, maybe they went swimming in the…waterfalls."

Justin turned with a mumbled swear and Jonathan's eyes lit up. "How come they can swim in the water but I can't? That's not fair!"

His teeth were clinched and his patience was wearing thin. "The pirates didn't go swimming, or park their boat here, or do anything even remotely close to that because this is JUST a putt-putt GOLF PLACE!"

"I'm telling daddy you yelled at me."

Lauren covered her mouth with a hand and turned to the window. "Oh my."

Justin wanted to strangle something and Lauren was going to be the first thing he reached for. That much he knew without a doubt. "Jonathan…little brother…apple of my eye…why don't we just sit quietly until security gets here?"

Jon sat back against the seat and continued to look out the window at the place while Justin relaxed in his seat and enjoyed the silence. Of course, it didn't last long. "I can't go swimming anyway because I don't have my bathing suit. Mommy would be mad if I messed up my new clothes."

"Jon, I'll buy you any outfit you want if you just drop the waterfall thing. Please?"

"How do you drop a waterfall?"

A giggle slipped out of her and Justin turned to glare. "What are YOU laughing at?"

"Ahem…nothing at all."

To her, the silence was worse. She could hear every breath that Justin took, every movement that he made, and it only drew her attention to him even more. She didn't want to notice him and she didn't want to need him, but the undeniable fact was that she did. She did need him and want him and notice him far more than she should. He had said some terrible things that she wasn't ready to forgive him for, but he had also done some amazingly wonderful things as well.

"Justin?"

His eyes closed and he rubbed his forehead. "What Jon?"

"What if I get two golf balls so if by accident I hit mine into…"

Justin turned so quickly in his seat that even Lauren jumped. "Listen closely to me, you will NOT hit your ball into the waterfalls, you will NOT hit your ball into the water, and you will NOT go swimming tonight. Do you understand me? If it goes into the water…your game…is done. End of story. Jonathan, do you understand what I'm saying to you?"

His lip poked out again and he nodded. "But…what if it's a accident?"

Justin growled and slumped down in the seat while he checked his watch. "Did they get LOST?"

"A little patience would be nice. He's just curious."

"He's just being a pain."

She looked back at Jonathan was relieved to see that he hadn't heard Justin say that, either that or he wasn't paying him any attention. "Jon? We'll get out soon, ok?"

His small head bobbed up and down. "Do we get to go inside the fake pirate ship?"

"Yes we sure do. You can pretend that you're a pirate and take over the ship."

"But…but why is it on a waterfall?"

Justin groaned loudly and beat his head against the window. "Not this again."

Lauren smirked at his irritability and normally she would make some off remark about how childish he was being, but things were far from being normal. She held her hands out to Jon and pulled him up until he was sitting in her lap. "You know at Disney World they have Cinderella's castle, they have Snow White and Peter Pan's ride too."

"Uh huh."

"Well those aren't really true. That isn't really Cinderella's castle and those things inside the rides aren't really Snow White and Peter Pan. Those things are there to make it fun and to make it special so you'll want to come back and visit again."

He thought for a moment before smiling. "Like the Mickey Mouse isn't really Mickey Mouse? He's just a costume?"

"You've got it. The pirate ship here is just there so we can have fun and pretend. It makes playing the game a lot more fun than if we were in the middle of a flat parking lot with holes in it."

"THAT wouldn't be any fun!" He laughed like the mere thought of it was ridiculous.

"Why do you think the waterfall is there?"

He looked at Justin before pulling on her shoulder and whispering into her ear. "It's not for me to swim in."

His whisper was only a slightly lighter tone than normal and Justin sat up to smile. "At last he sees the light."

She hugged him tighter and nodded. "Why is it there?"

"To make the pirate ship look more real?"

Justin sat up straight and he gave her an incredulous look. "What the…I TOLD him that."

She held a finger up to her lips and gave Justin a stern look. "That's right, to make the pirate ship look more real. And Justin, don't sweat it. Not everyone is great at explaining things to little kids."

"He's my little brother and who are you to talk? You're the youngest of your entire family. Yes that's right…the baby!"

She rolled her eyes and opened the door to put Jon down and step out. "I'd rather be one than act like one. Heyyyy Mike."

"Hey Lauren. Any reason why the plans were changed or is this another saga in the 'let's make security go insane because they have to drive all over Orlando like idiots' written by the one and only Justin Timberlake?"

"That was a mouthful, and yes that sounds about right."

Jon pulled on her hand and tried to drag her towards the entrance. "Let's go! Let's go!"

She pulled back and grinned. "We have to wait until it's safe for Justin."

"Are the girls going to cry when they see Justin?"

"I certainly hope not."

"Me too. They make me feel bad when they do that."

Mike leaned inside the car and smiled brightly at Justin who was looking out his window and picking at the leather on the door. "Hello my little ray of sunshine. Are you ready to get out and have some good old fashioned family fun?"

"Shut up, Mike."

"I'll try to forget that when you get attacked out there tonight and I have to pull your moody butt free of hormonal hands."

Justin gave him a dirty look and opened the door to step out. He wasn't sure what it was that had irked him so much about Jon listening to Lauren over him. It wasn't like him to lose his patience with Jonathan. Yeah he had a lot of questions and was constantly curious about things, but that was something he always loved about having a much younger brother. It had hurt when he hadn't been able to get through to him but Lauren had. It was like she had a magical spell over Timberlake men everywhere and he was tired of feeling like the only one who knew what she was really all about. He wasn't about to let her draw his brother in with lies so if that was her game…he was going to end it before it ever had the chance to begin.

He walked around the car to grab Jonathan's hand and the three of them walked towards the entrance of the park. Mike took his place slightly in front of Justin while another security member walked a few paces behind them. Lauren was used to the hype and the measures that had to be taken to protect the guys, but this felt funny all of a sudden. As she walked, she wondered how much of a life this was for everyone involved. Security was needed; there was no doubt about that, but to what extent? At what point did they become only a reminder that Justin had one of the most sheltered lives of any nineteen year old guy out there?

Looking over at the stern look on his face and then down to Jon's excited but hesitant look, she knew that this was no life at all. She could hear the gasps, the whispers, and the eager tones of people as they walked past and they recognized who was now in their presence. Did she really want to fight to be a part of this? Did she really want to fight to be something more than just another warm body and potential rumor that surrounded him? The answers weren't coming to her but questions certainly were. For the first time in her life, she questioned whether or not fighting to be with him was really worth it in the long run.

I'm just feeling sorry for myself and trying to cushion the blow for when he finally does push me away forever, she thought.

She knew she wasn't exactly the most pleasant person to be around lately, and that's why it made it even more special when she felt tiny fingers lace with hers and hang on tightly. She looked down and Jon gave her a toothy grin that made her heart melt.

"I don't want you to get lost, Lauren."

"I won't get lost when I have a hero like you protecting me."

Justin tripped over something and gave her a hard look as he kept walking. "This is no fairy tale."

So he was either still pouting over what had happened in the car, he wasn't going to make this night easy because of everything going on between them, or a mixture of both. "No it certainly isn't…because the handsome prince turned back into a frog."

He stopped walking so suddenly that Jonathan ran into the bag of his legs. "What was that?"

"Nothing…nothing at all."

Mike pushed Justin's shoulder and gave Lauren a look of warning. "Ok you two. Enough is enough and there are some very curious people around you."

Lauren bit her lip not to say anything else but Justin wasn't that controlled. "Let them be curious because I'm sure they would LOVE the tale that…"

"Justin…that's ENOUGH."

Jonathan pulled his fingers free from Justin's hand and leaned closer to Lauren. "Why is he so mad? We aren't having any fun because he's mad."

Lauren groaned and winced when she saw the fury in Justin's eyes. She knew that he probably thought Jonathan was being a traitor by taking her side over his, but what was she supposed to do? Was she supposed to push Jon aside and act like she didn't want to be around him either? He was innocent in all of this and she wasn't going to hurt him. "He's just nervous because of all the people around."

After making it through a crowd of people who were all panting and pleading for autographs at the sight of him, they had their putt-putt equipment in hand and were ready to start a new adventure. Every move they made was watched and analyzed, and there were more than a few inquisitive glances being thrown Lauren's way. She felt like she was under a microscope and that any wrong look or any misinterpreted word would get her into even deeper trouble. So she remained silent and tried her best to plaster a smile on her face as they began the first hole.

"Are you SURE you don't want to eat first? Once we get started, we won't be able to stop."

Jonathan put his ball down, a red one, and shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

Mike chuckled and turned away. "And they're related by blood?"

"Just a second. You don't want to hit it too hard because…let me show you" Justin tried to grab Jonathan's arm before he hit the ball but Jon hit it as hard as he could and it went crashing against the wooden plank in front of them. His small and sharp elbow slammed into Justin's stomach in the process, and Justin groaned loudly.

Mike grinned even brighter. "Oh yeah…I see it now."

Jonathan turned with an apologetic look and mumbled. "I'm sorry, Justin."

His eyes remained closed and a hand rubbed over his stomach muscles through the shirt. "I'll live."

It took everyone by surprise when Jon reached over and pulled the front of Justin's shirt up. "Let me see! OOH look at the bruise. Did I do that?"

Lauren's eyes flew up and she caught a brief glimpse of Justin's bruised stomach before he pulled his shirt down. The girls around them screamed at the sight of any bit of his flesh, but Lauren wasn't thrilled by what she saw. She only felt guilty. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't know I punched you that hard."

He shrugged and tucked his shirt back into his jeans. "Like I said, I'll live."

"Your turn Lauren!"

She stepped up reluctantly and kept her head down so she wouldn't have to see Justin's eyes. There was no doubt in her mind that he was glaring at her because she could literally feel his eyes on her as she stood there and made her shot. It went through the obstacles and bounced against the frame before stopping a few inches from the hole. It was a good shot and she smiled, but when she looked up and saw Justin…the smile slid right off of her face and she looked away. "That wasn't too bad I guess."

While Justin got ready to make his shot, Lauren's eyes scanned the complex and all she could see were faces everywhere. People hung over the railing above them, on the pirate ship, over the caverns, and they all were eagerly watching Justin like they wanted him to be their next meal. He seemed oblivious to it all even though she knew he wasn't, and what shocked her was that nobody was pushing their way in. She expected screams, attacks, or anything along the lines of obsession. So far there were none.

Justin followed the direction of her eyes after his shot was made and leaned in to whisper softly. "They're all impressed by how close we are and I'm sure this is only adding to it. It's a shame they don't know how much we really can't stand each other."

Her growing enthusiasm dropped and what fun she was having was now over. "Yeah…you're right."

For the next several holes, Justin goofed off, Jon struggled as much as he could to win, and Lauren pushed herself to go through the motions. If she wanted to hear angry words being thrown at her and wanted to remember things that she once treasured…she could have done that in the silence of her empty house. Being in public, around his fans, and having to maintain a sense of happiness and "blooming love" was becoming too much for her to handle.

Finally they came around to hole nine that was directly beside the waterfall that she knew too well, and she just couldn't do it anymore. The memories of youth, memories of happy times, memories of Valentine's Day, and everything else important to her involving Justin hit her when she got a close look at hole nine and the waterfall beside it. She just couldn't do it anymore.

"Lauren it's your turn. Lauren?"

"I'll um…I'll sit this one out."

Jonathan looked at her like she was crazy. "But you can't quit."

Her eyes remained locked on the water as it hit the pond and she shook her head. "Just give me five strokes and go ahead."

Justin walked over and angrily pulled on her arm until she was standing at the tee. "Take your shot. You've never lost on this one in as long as we've come here, and you're not going to lose it tonight."

She looked away and the club slipped out of her fingers. "I don't want to do it."

Two girls decided to try to push through security to get to them and the commotion caused a diversion of attention while the guys handled it and the girls screamed. Justin took that opportunity to put his hand under Lauren's chin and lift it until she was looking at him. "Look at me. Take…the…shot."

"I…I can't."

He picked up the club, turned her, and stood behind her with his powerful arms around her small frame. His hands covered hers on the handle and his cheek rested against the side of her head as he steadied them. Lauren closed her eyes and could feel the silence that enveloped them. It sunk into her body and left her breathless right along with the feel of him holding her.

"One…two…three."

She could feel the warmth of his body against her, the heat of his breath against her cheek, and she wanted so badly to lean back and have him hold her like that forever. Just then she felt his arms tighten over hers and the ball clink as it was hit.

"Your luck holds…for now."

His words penetrated her daze and she opened her eyes to see that the ball was gone. "What?"

"Hole in one. That's going to be hard to beat."

Jonathan ran down the lane and grabbed her ball. "WOW! That was so cool! You can do it too, Justin."

Lauren stepped back and ran a hand through her hair nervously while she tried to get a grip on herself. It had been so long since he had held her and that brief moment was enough to make her insides quake…even if it hadn't meant anything.

Justin took his place and hit the ball. It bounced against the sides, over to the other side, jumped the railing and went "plop" in the water. "Well that was good. Real SLICK."

Jonathan covered his mouth and pointed. "Your ball went in the water."

"Yes it did. Guess it means that I'm about to get wet, or Mike is."

Mike sat down on a bench casually and chewed on a toothpick. "Get your own damn ball. I'm not a caddy and you're no Tiger Woods."

Jon pulled on Justin's arm and shook his head. "You said that if it goes in the water that the game is over." He lowered his voice and spoke in the tone Justin had used. "If it goes into the water…your game…is done. End of story. That's what you said, Justin."

She could see his teeth gritting as his words were thrown back into his face and she couldn't help but smile. "You did say that."

"I know I did, thank you."

"I'm hungry."

Justin handed his things to Mike and picked Jon up to sling him onto his hip. "I am too. Why don't we go get something to eat and forget about this stupid game."

Lauren stood there watching him walk away and she shook her head miserably. She wasn't exactly sure why she had bothered because this was worse than anything she had imagined, but it was also different. It was almost like he was trying to get her to fight with him. Before, he was in the mood for an argument to get out some of his anger, but this was one sided and it all pointed to him pushing her until finally she was ready to push him back. Or so it certainly seemed.

Mike stepped up beside her and nudged her side. "Bold move for him to do in front of all of these fans."

"Yeah…yeah it was. They're all watching him anyway."

He walked with her towards the concession stand and smiled. "Hmm…that could be true but I don't think there's a girl out here who wouldn't love to be in your shoes right now."

She handed him her things and shrugged before walking away. "And right about now I'm almost to the point of telling them they can have it. They can have it all."