Chapter Forty-Five

Justin's arms tightened around Shai's small frame and his eyes slowly closed when she whispered something else in his ear. He wasn't listening to her because quite frankly, there was nothing she had to say that he wanted to hear. She was getting confident and he knew without a doubt that she had eaten up the little "scene" that he and Lauren had created. It was for her benefit as much as it was for Tom's, and he hoped that the man would proceed with the plan he had for the both of them.

He was becoming predictable and that meant he was really losing his edge. They had been weak when he had been secretive and in control. Those times were not true anymore. If anything, this little scheme of his was bringing them closer together. He saw the true depth of Lauren's pain, he saw firsthand what it must have been like to be alone in all of this, and he also saw that he would fight to the ends of the earth to make sure that she never felt that way again.

Dealing with the woman who was busy clinging to him like he was her life preserver was the first matter of business on the agenda. She had made it clear what her biggest weakness was, and right now she was hanging onto it like she never wanted to let go. When the time came to shatter her manipulative little world, he only hoped that he was around to see her face when the realization hit.

"Justin, you're trembling."

She took it as heartbreak, he knew it as hatred. "I don't know where to go from here."

"I told you earlier that you can't put all your eggs in one basket. You have known Lauren your whole life, you let her run your entire life, she kept you locked up in her own little world, and now you're seeing that she abused you. That's exactly what she has done, Justin. She has taken the life out of you and now you're seeing that you need to fight to have it back."

He bit his lip to keep from smiling and nodded against her shoulder. "I don't…I can't…what am I supposed to do? She's all I've ever had and all I've ever known."

Her hand slid over his hair, down his neck and shoulders, and she closed her eyes with pleasure at the feel of him. "You're nineteen years old, and it's so sad that you have to go through all of this. Tell me how I can help and I will do it."

He swallowed hard and had to force his hand to roam up and down her back. "I don't even know where to start. Wait…wait a minute!"

Her eyes were wide when he suddenly pushed her away from him and took a step back. "What is it?"

"Why are you trying to trick me, Shai? Just what are you trying to pull?"

She looked like she had no idea what to do or say. "I…I'm not…I'm not trying to pull anything. What are you talking about?"

His eyes narrowed on her and he took another step back when she reached out for him. "No…you're just like her, aren't you? You want a piece of me and you want to hurt me just like she did. You don't care about me!"

The sight of him so pained and hurt was enough to make her hate Lauren even more. It didn't matter that this was all Tom's doing, Justin was this hurt and this lost because of Lauren…period. "I would do anything for you, Justin."

He wished that she would really do ANYTHING for him so therefore the request for her jump off the balcony would be included in that list. "You and Tom were…"

"Me and Tom were just trying to help you. Can't you see that?"

Listening to her made him sick, but at the same time he was fascinated with the way her mind worked. The more he knew about her, the easier she would be to handle. He turned to lean against the railing and close his eyes miserably. "How do YOU see it that way?"

"Well, I probably shouldn't tell you this because I know you don't trust me very much, but you need me and I need you. You're the only reason why I'm here to begin with."

His eyes popped open and he looked down at the street below in amazement. Surely she wasn't going to bust out with EVERY bit of truth inside of her just to get on his good side. "Your research?"

She stared at his back, his slumped shoulders, his defeated stance, and fell in love with him all over again. "My what?"

"You're in school right? You came here to do research for a class and get credit for it. University of Central Florida, right?"

It took a second for her to remember and break out of her daydreams that the sight of him caused. "Oh…oh that's right. I…I can't lie to you anymore, Justin. You've been hurt too much already and I want you to see that you can trust me."

He slowly turned and leaned his hip against the rail. "What are you saying to me?"

"I'm…I'm not really a student at…at UCF."

It was hard to hide his shock, but he wasn't shocked that she wasn't a student. What shocked him was that she was telling him about her lies. "I saw the letter from the University saying that you are a student on special assignment. Tom showed me the letter! If you're not a student, if you're not doing research, then what ARE you doing?"

Her hand rested on top of his on the rail and she stared down at it when she couldn't meet his angry eyes. "What am I doing? I'm trying so hard to show you and make you understand how much I love you."

His hand jerked out of her grasp and he started walking towards the door. "Not you too! Dammit, I don't need this right now!"

Shai quickly ran around him, not knowing that he was purposefully walking slower than he had to, and blocked his only exit. "Hear me out. Please just give me a few minutes to explain what I meant by that and then you will understand. I know you're still upset over Lauren, I don't blame you, but maybe this will make you feel better. I just want to show you a part of myself that nobody has seen before. Don't you think I deserve AT LEAST that much."

Since she was showing a part of herself that nobody had seen before, he was comforted in knowing that all of her clothes would remain on her body during this discussion from hell. "You deserve all that…and so much more, Shai."

She actually looked nervous as she pushed her hair back and fumbled for the right words to say. There were a lot of bad actresses in the world, and she was no exception. Where she was trying to find the right words to say, what she was really trying to do was figure out a way to add lies to a little bit of truth in a short amount of time. "Justin, I feel like I've known you my whole life. Maybe that's why I hate how Lauren treats you because she has everything that I've ever wanted, and she tosses it aside like it means nothing to her. She doesn't see how special it is!"

"Lauren's family has always been very privileged and…"

"I'm not talking about her family! I'm…I'm talking about you."

It was dark outside except for the faint glow from the streetlights below, but he could still see the angry and hateful look on her face. In fact, the way the lights twinkled off of her eyes made her appear almost sinister. "What do you mean?"

"I've never had a lot in my life, but I've always been pretty. I grew up with constant attention from boys, from guys, and finally from men. It was comforting and it was natural for me to use that to my advantage because I found out early that I could get just about anything I wanted if I just worked my charms." She saw the twinkle of disgust in his eyes and quickly explained. "I'm not talking about sex, Justin. I'm talking about the fact that with a smile, a wink, a hug, or even a kiss…I've come a long way."

You came all the way to the N SYNC tour, he thought. "So you're pretty and you use that to your advantage. So what? A lot of girls know how to screw men over by shaking their asses around us."

She walked over to the railing and rested her hands on the cool metal. "It's boring after a while. I mean, being the prettiest girl in every class gets old and tedious because it's no fun anymore. It's not fun knowing that all I had to do was say one word and they would be all over me…sometimes it didn't even take a word. That's the way it was; I either got no attention from the guys or I got all of it." Her voice softened and was hoarse with emotion. "Sometimes I got attention that I didn't ask for or want."

He didn't know if what she was implying was true, but with everything she had already lied to him about…he had to believe that she was trying to pull at his heartstrings. "Are you saying…"

"I'm saying that I was glad the day my stepfather died, I was glad the day I left that hellhole town, and I was glad when I met Tom. He took me under his wing, he made me see that he was willing to do whatever he could to make sure that I got to obtain my dream, and…"

Justin folded his arms over his chest to ward off the chill of the night air. "What was that dream?"

"You were my dream, Justin. You were the only guy who made me feel like I was something special and not just a toy that people could play with."

"I didn't know you, Shai. I hadn't laid eyes on you until that first day when you introduced yourself to all of us and explained why you would be around. I'm sorry, but I'm just not getting it."

She pushed away from the rail and slowly sauntered towards him. "I told you, I feel like I've known you my whole life. I used to watch you on TV, at my Grandma's house, and I used to pretend that I was on the show with you. We were secretly in love, you sang every song for me, and…and you were going to save me."

He didn't know whether to pity her, or just be absolutely terrified that she felt this way towards him. "I was twelve years old and you were also twelve years old. Why…why me?"

She reached up and touched his cheek. "You were the only guy I couldn't get my hands on, and I knew that it would take a lot more than just fluffing my hair back or smiling at you to get your attention."

What he had been was unobtainable and that had created an obsession inside of her that she was still dealing with. "I'm not twelve years old anymore and this isn't television."

"No you're definitely not, and neither am I. I'm not that foolish or innocent anymore, and I know how to go after what I want. I thought I had lost you forever when you disappeared from me. I cried for months and watched the tapes over and over just trying to see your face, but I should have known that you were too special to let it all go to waste on a stupid kid show. I should have known that you weren't going to settle for that short fifteen minutes of fame and that your talent was too unique to be wasted on a normal life."

He watched her as she stared at his lips with lazy eyes and ran her fingers over them. "When did you find me again?"

"Oh I've been with you every step of the way. When you all took Europe by storm…I was right with you. I prayed every night that you would be a success, I prayed that you would come back to America and show everyone what you were made of, and I prayed that we would be together. Now…here I am and here you are." She leaned forward and gently kissed his chin. "Here we are together."

Grabbing her shoulders, he held her at arm's length. "Now what? What do you want from me, Shai?"

"I want everything you have to give, and I will protect that from anyone or anything that tries to stand in my way."

He took a deep breath and wished that there was room for him to back away from her. "You lied to me. You said that you were here because you were doing research and all the time you were just trying to get close to me. The whole time you were lying and I'm supposed to take your reasons and excuse that? Whether you meant to or not, you have caused a lot of problems."

The corner of her mouth tilted in a wry grin. "I didn't ruin a single thing. Lauren ruined all of my plans. All she had to do was step aside and none of this mess would have happened. The first time I met her, I told her that I wanted to be with you and I wanted to be your friend, but she came up with that stupid contract to keep me away. Don't you see that once again she's doing everything she can to keep you locked up in her magic bubble? When I came around and showed her that I cared about you, maybe cared about you more than she did, she attacked and hurt you in the process. You don't need a girl like that around you. You need a woman like me who will give you all she has to give…and then some. I've already given you my thoughts, my hopes, and my dreams. Now I want to give you the kind of happiness you have given me all these years, and I want to…to love you."

"You want to love me…"

"I want to show you everything you've been missing while Lauren has been messing with your head and hurting you. You've had nineteen years of confinement and now I want to show you what life, what a GOOD life, is all about."

He saw her head tilt as it neared, her eyes softly close, and he turned away at the last minute so her kiss landed on his cheek. "And Tom?"

She looked angry for a second when she pulled back, but then hid it by slightly smiling. "Who cares about Tom? He certainly doesn't care about you, so why does it matter what he's planning?"

"What do you mean? He's up to something?" This playing dumb business was pretty fun and a lot more informative than he thought it would be.

"I…I didn't mean that. I don't…um…I don't know if he's up to something. I haven't talked to him in a while except to tell him that I'm not going to stay away from you just because Lauren has pushed herself into the public eye. He's so worried about covering your image and Lauren is making him so stressed out. He's been a real meany lately so I've stayed away from him."

She was sliding right back into her usual lies and it comforted him a little to know that she really hadn't changed at all. This would make what they were going to do to her a little easier to handle. It was time for a little bit of freaking out and he knew she was going to eat this part up. "I've told the world that I care about Lauren, and now…now it's all a lie. How do I tell the fans that she has hurt me like this? How do I tell the guys? How do I tell our families? Do you have any idea what this is going to be like? Not only have Lauren and I been best friends this long, our parents are closer than we are and…and…"

She literally yanked him into her arms, slammed his head down on her shoulder, and hugged him so tightly that he couldn't breathe. Breathing wasn't really the thing he was worried about at the moment because he was seeing stars from the blow to his cheek as it had slammed against her bony shoulder. He blinked his eyes a few times to get the misty tears from them and worked his jaw to make sure that it wasn't broken right along with his cheekbone.

Shai rubbed his hair like she had done before and leaned her head in to kiss the side of his neck. It gave her a simple thrill to feel him tremble at her caress and to have him opening up to her this way. She had dreamed of this moment for so long and he was beginning to trust her. "Don't worry about all of that stuff right now, Justin. I know we're going to be in Orlando in two days, but you don't have to explain anything you don't want to. I'm sure your mom and dad will understand your problems with Lauren because they have known her just as long as you have. If I figured her games out this quickly, then I'm sure they already have. Maybe they've been quiet about it because they didn't want to hurt your feelings or force you to see things you weren't ready to see. They love you and will stand by you…just like I will."

He pulled his head off of her shoulder and looked down at her from a short distance. She was damn good at what she did, but then again…so was he. His eyes quickly moved back and forth over hers and down to her lips. "You really mean that, don't you? I mean, you would really sacrifice anything to make sure that I'm happy."

His soft whisper almost made her melt, as did the fact that he was believing in her. "I mean it with all…my…heart." She took his hand and placed it flat against her chest.

There was an unmistakable look that women had when they wanted to be kissed. It was the slight parting of the lips, the lowered and dreamy eyes, the way they stared at his lips like they wanted to make a meal out of them, and the way her fingers were gripping his shoulders like she had to fight the primal urge to yank him into the embrace. Oh yes, she was needing him and at the same time she was the last person on earth that he would ever need that way.

Even though he barely touched her lips with his own, a contact as soft as a whisper, he felt filthy and degraded. "Thank you."

The words whispered against her lips were an assault on the senses unlike anything she had ever felt before. The kiss by the pool they had shared was beautiful, but he had been troubled and she had taken advantage of that pain in him. This time, he was still confused and hurt, but she put her faith in the fact that he was still levelheaded. This time he knew exactly what he was doing and he was showing her that she was what he wanted. Something inside of him…wanted her. "No need to thank me, Justin. It's just the way I am when it comes to you. I owe you everything and I owe you for making me who I am."

That was about as far from being a compliment as he could think of, but at least when she was talking he didn't have to kiss her or attempt to kiss her. He pulled out of her arms and took several steps back. "It has been a long day and I think I should get some sleep."

"Let me know if I can do anything for you tonight…to take your mind off of things."

He was very thankful that he had turned around because it was impossible to stop the dramatic roll of his eyes when he heard those words from her and the obvious double meaning she was throwing his way. "I just want sleep, and I want Lauren out of my room. Those things will be enough for me right now. Goodnight, Shai."

She watched him walk through the door and waited until the door closed before squealing with joy at this wonderful turn of events. Tom had told her to go easy on Justin, she had KNOWN that he would open up if she pushed his soft side, and she had been absolutely correct. This only proved to her that Tom had no idea what he was dealing with here. If he wanted to mess with the hellcat then he was more than welcome to her, but this was exactly the situation she wanted to be in. Justin was inhibited to clear thoughts because of everything going on around him, he would need her more now than ever, and if she had listened to Tom she would still be walking around sulking.

She giggled one more time and sighed dreamily as she thought of his hard body and perfect lips as they had touched her. "Lauren…thank you SO much for molding him into the PERFECT man for me. I really do owe you one, sweetie."

After Justin had left the room, Lauren gathered up all her things and repacked them into her bags. She didn't want to know what lies Shai was feeding Justin at that moment, but what she did want to know was what Justin was doing in response to those words. He had promised her that this would all be over in a short amount of time and so far he had been right. Things were going along just as they had planned them and now they were going to have to play the waiting game while Tom fell right into their hands.

It was the waiting game that she was having such a hard time with. Patience was a virtue, but unfortunately she had never grown to appreciate or embrace that particular virtue. This revenge had been long in coming and with Tom being the one they were relying on to be his normal and evil self…anything was possible. They both knew what he was about to do, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't take another route or path. If he changed or suddenly got a new idea, their whole formula of destruction would be ruined.

She couldn't think about that right now because there was already too much going on. She would just have to pray and believe that Tom wouldn't stray too far from his normal self and that everything would work out the way it should. There was no doubt in her mind that Justin was on her side, that it had pained him to hurt her even if it was for show, and the realization she saw in his eyes was enough for her. It had brought back a lot of memories, but it had also brought back a lot of anger. She was going to have to channel that anger into productive means and fight to be her old self again. Playing both sides, being hurt and angry for Tom's benefit, was draining and rewarding. She couldn't wait to see how he reacted when both Shai and Mary Beth were no longer at his service.

The door opened behind her and she zipped up her bag before turning. "Justin, I'm going to find another room and…" Her words stopped when she saw Tom standing there.

"Going somewhere?"

Her hands rested on her hips defiantly. "I'm not staying in this room and I doubt I'm going to be on the tour much longer. When we stop in Orlando, I'm going to…"

"You're going to leave your things on the bus and you're going to get back on it when the tour pulls out. Is that clear?"

"What more do you want from me, Tom? WHAT MORE can I possibly give?"

He rolled his eyes lazily and leaned against the wall. "This isn't over yet."

"It's not over yet? Just how do you see that? Were you out in the hallway just now? Did you see the hatred and the anger that is eating him alive right now?"

He smiled slightly and the sight made her sick just like it always had. "I saw how angry he was, and poor Lauren…he was mad at you. Did you hurt the boy AGAIN?"

"You know damn well what I did and WHY I did it. Let me just ask you this, how do you feel right now? How does it feel to know that you have killed what small sense of hope that Justin and I had in one another? You killed the last bit of trust and love that we shared and I would really like to know if bells rang inside your head or if confetti streamed down because SOMEONE around here should be happy!"

"I got no more pleasure out of it than you did."

She threw her makeup bag at him and he jumped out of the way before it crashed against the wall where he had been standing. "Lies! Is that all you're capable of? You stand here, after all you've done, and you DARE to say that you got nothing out of it? I see the smile on your face, Tom. I see the smile, the twinkle of pride in your eyes, and I see that you have enjoyed every minute of this. Well I hope you got your fill tonight because there won't be an instant replay of it. I refuse to stay on this tour just so you can force me to hurt him over and over again. I refuse to stand by while you force him to hurt ME over and over again."

"You will do whatever I tell you to do and right now I'm telling you to stay on the tour. How confusing would it be to have you publicly with Tristan and not be on the tour with him?"

"So that's your game plan, huh? You are going to humiliate Justin by telling the world that I've been with Tristan and that I'm now in love with him. Justin is going to have to hear this circulating all around him and he's going to have to see it firsthand as well? Sorry buddy, but I'm NOT doing it."

Tom slowly walked forward and he stepped as cautiously and as careful as he would around a mad dog. "What more do you need to hear from him, Lauren? He already said that he regrets loving you, he hates you, and you want to defend him now? You're trying to preserve HIS feelings right now even though he gave up on you so easily? Maybe you're a lot weaker than I thought you were. I know you're a hell of a lot stupider than I ever believed if you think you're going to walk away from all of this when it's just getting to the fun part."

She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Go ahead and publish the pictures, Tom. Publish them, slam me around the world, let Shai have him while the fans eat her alive, and while you're at it…SUE ME for breaking my contract. I don't care anymore."

This wasn't what he had expected from her at all. He expected to see a very hurt and broken down girl who had nothing left. Instead, he got this fireball who was ready to fight against anyone and anything to get away from the people who were most important to her. It wasn't adding up. "Stop the act."

"What act?"

"It's killing you to know that Justin can't stand the sight of you right now, and it's killing you even more to know that he has turned to Shai. When are you going to break and see that you're no longer in control of this?"

"I kissed Tristan. I didn't want to, I didn't need to, and I felt NOTHING but remorse. I followed your orders and now I'm finished with it all. Justin will wake up one day and he will see that I stood by him through everything. He will see that he can't live without me."

The grin he had on his face stretched into a full-blown smile, and he chuckled at her words. "Hope is going to kill you one day. When you're an old maid sitting in front of a fire with a Justin poster over your fireplace, DREAMING of the day your prince will come and rescue you…you will think of me and realize that I was right. You will realize that all your childish fantasies and games were really nothing but wishful thinking on your part because if things were as perfect as you like to believe, he never would have doubted you."

She slowly walked towards him and leaned in close until they were eye to eye. "And one day, when you're lonely, old, miserable, more pathetic than you are now, you have everything taken away from you that you ever wanted, and you look out at the cold metal bars that hold you inside your cell…you'll think of ME."

"There you go dreaming again."

She straightened and reached for the door. "Orlando is my last stop, and then it won't matter if you try to keep me away from him. It won't matter, because he's already pushed me farther away than you or anyone else ever could."

He could see that he had misjudged this situation completely. Not only had she given up, but she had given up completely. If she stayed in Orlando and broke her contract, then he would have to keep her away from Justin. If she was away from Justin, then she would also be away from Tristan. This was not what he had in mind at all. "Ok…wait a minute. Just give me a second here."

"You don't deserve anymore of my time."

He put his foot against the door and blocked it from her. "What's done is done, Lauren. You can't go back and stop yourself from kissing Tristan or stop Justin from seeing it. I'm disappointed that you have given in and have given up so easily."

"Wait a second, let me get this straight. You just told me that I had too much hope and now I don't have enough? Do you actually HEAR yourself when you speak or is it really like you're talking out of your ass?"

His eyes closed for a moment while he tried to get his anger in check. "You profess such undying love and devotion to Justin, but you run like a frightened child when the pressure hits. Do you really want to spend all your days just waiting for the time when he MIGHT come and talk to you? Let me lay it out for you and stop rolling your eyes at me! You break that contract, you refuse to get back on that bus in Orlando, and you will be completely shut off from Justin. No more visits, no opportunities to come see him and talk sense into him when your conscience suddenly kicks in one weekend, and you will have to rely on the fact that you will only see him…if he lets you, when he comes home from the tour in AUGUST! You're willing to give up every bit of it because you're angry right now?"

"That's right."

He looked deeply into her eyes and smiled again. "Then why do I see the uncertainty in your eyes right now? Why do I know that after a week of sitting home doing nothing, after a week of praying that he'll call, after a week of seeing that he's not going to make the first move, that you'll be wanting to come find him and reach out to him? Why am I seeing this?"

She looked away from him and chewed on her lip nervously.

"I see it because it's there. You have never been able to go for long without him, you have always been a fighter, and you will fight for him. Maybe not right now, but there will be a day when after ALL OF THIS…you will still fight for him. It's kind of hard to fight for a guy who is inaccessible, right?"

"You don't…"

"I don't what? I don't know that's true? I don't know you?" He reached out and ran a finger along the side of her cheek. "I know you better than you could ever imagine."

"Move out of the way."

He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "You're not fooling me with this so-called strength that you're trying to pass off as the truth. In fact, I know that you just don't want me to know that I made you cry again."

She slapped his hand away from her chin and tried to push him out of the way. "You will never make me cry again. NEVER!"

"We'll see. Oh by the way, Saturday night is Johnny Wright's birthday party at the House of Blues. I expect for you to be ready in time for Tristan to pick you up and take you there. Is that clear?"

She pushed him again and looked away miserably. "Crystal."

"That's more like it. Oh, did you want to leave? Sorry about that." He opened the door and held it for her while she rushed past him into the hallway.

As she came out of the doorway, she slammed into Justin and he caught her arms to steady her. The moment she looked up at him and recognition hit, he let go and stepped back. "Watch where you're going, or is that too much to ask from you?"

She pushed her hair back and watched him carefully. "I'm sorry, Justin."

"I don't want to hear that from you. I don't want to hear ANYTHING from you other than for you to say that you're leaving my room and that you're not coming back."

Tom stepped out and closed the door behind him. "Excuse me."

Justin gave him a dirty look and looked between him and Lauren. "Oh this is pretty typical, don't you think? Schemer number one meeting with scheming bitch number two. Tell me, did you both come up with new and exciting ways to ruin my life or are you over it? Let me guess, I bore you now?"

She reached out but he stepped back before she could touch him. "I'm warning you Lauren, get away from me before I really hurt you."

The urging look in his eyes was unmistakable and she went with what she was feeling. "Before you REALLY hurt me? Why don't you pull your head out of your ass long enough to see that you're not the only one hurting here."

His eyes widened and Tom stepped out of their way when Justin moved towards her. "What was that? Are you really going to stand there and act like none of this is your fault? Oh let me guess, I DROVE you into the arms of another man. Is that it? Me giving you my time, my care, my life, and my LOVE weren't enough for you so you had to find happiness elsewhere? Well sweetheart, you could have easily told me that you wanted to go after the older meat and I would have gladly set you free from your prison!"

Anthony's eyes were huge as he watched the two and he had no idea who to cover first. Lauren was the one he was hired to protect, but Justin was his employer. Mike stepped up beside him and casually leaned against the wall. "Welcome to the teenage version of Days of Our Lives. Aren't you glad you were hired?"

"They're not going to…to fight, are they?"

Mike gave them another lazy look, saw that Justin was getting closer and closer to Lauren, and that she wasn't backing down. "See that bag on her arm? If the bag drops, get ready to grab an armload of raging hellcat."

"What about Justin?"

Mike smiled brightly and leaned his head back on the wall. "Justin can take care of himself, and you might need my help with Lauren if he really gets her going."

When he got too close, Lauren pushed against his shoulder. "Can you get any more melodramatic? You have no understanding or any SENSE of understanding about what you saw in there."

"I don't think it's hard to understand when someone's lips are being swallowed by another person's. Tell me, just what did I misread in that situation?"

She grabbed the back of his head, yanked it down, and kissed him hard on the lips. When she let him go, she pushed him again for good measure. "Some might say that I enjoyed that, but would they REALLY know my reasons for doing it?"

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and glared angrily. "I never knew how pathetic you can be until this moment. To think…I actually wasted nineteen years of my life on something as stupid and as nauseating as you are."

The bag slid off her arm and thumped against the floor loudly. Both of them were breathing heavily and Mike nudged Anthony when he saw that Lauren was about to be all over the boy. "That would be your cue."

Anthony quickly walked over to try to stand between them, but Lauren easily pushed him aside and jumped at Justin. She fisted his hair in her hands, pulled on him until he was bent at the waist, and almost kneed him in the stomach, but Anthony grabbed her around the waist and pulled her off the ground before the contact could be made. He pulled on her but completely forgot about the fact that she had Justin's hair in her fists.

When he pulled her around, he also yanked Justin with him. "OW! Dammit let go of my hair!"

Mike was laughing so hard that tears were in his eyes and he couldn't catch his breath when Lauren almost slipped from Anthony's arms right on top of Justin. "I tried to warn you, man."

Justin pried at her fingers to release them from his hair, but he was at an awkward angle and she was hanging on tight. "Get her off of me!"

Miranda ran up from nowhere and couldn't believe that Mike wasn't doing anything to stop this. She shook him and pointed anxiously. "Why aren't you doing anything to stop this?"

He looked up, thought for a moment, and laughed again. "Would YOU want to get in the middle of that? I'm a lot of things, but I'm not crazy. Besides, I still have scars on my arms from the last time I tried to pull her away from him."

Miranda didn't care about the physical pain as much as she was saddened by watching the emotional scars they were creating in one another. It hurt her heart so badly to see that they were fighting again and from the looks of it…it was much worse this time. She quickly walked over and pushed Justin's hands away from his attempts to pull her fingers away.

He fought her for a second and then stopped. "Miranda, for the love of GOD stop her!"

She pulled at Lauren's fingers but they were firmly embedded in the thick mass of hair that Justin had grown out. "Anthony, stop pulling on her. You're only making it worse and you're forcing her to pull Justin's hair out!"

This was turning into quite a spectacle while people stood around and watched the two fight it out while two adults did their best to pull them apart. JC came running down the hallway and he froze when he saw Miranda in the middle of it. "What the hell?"

He moved forward to help her, but Mike caught his arm. "I wouldn't go there if I were you. She's lost man. Just worry about saving yourself."

Miranda picked at each one of Lauren's fingers, but it was hopeless. Justin was yelling about how bad his head hurt, Lauren was screaming at him with words that she didn't half understand, and nobody seemed to be doing anything to stop it. She let go of Justin and of her fingers to reach up and put her hands on both sides of Lauren's face. Forcing Lauren to look at her, she spoke in a soft and calm voice. "Lauren, I know a lot has happened today, I know that you're hurt, but this doesn't make sense. This is not the way to fight against the things that have happened. Look at him. Look at the tears in his eyes, look at the pain on his face, look at his hair in your hands, and look at yourself. This isn't you and this isn't how you feel about Justin. Stop and look at yourself."

Lauren's breathing slowed down by degrees and her fingers slowly loosened their hold on his hair. When Justin felt the slack, he scooted back until the wall behind him stopped him. "She's insane! She's CRAZY!"

Mike pushed away from the wall and slowly walked towards Justin. "That would be MY cue."

Lauren continued to stare at Miranda and finally went lax in Anthony's arms. "I'm so tired of dealing with this."

Miranda looked at Tom before leaning forward and kissing her forehead softly. "I know you are."

Anthony was out of breath and he waited until Mike had Justin by the arm and was pulling him towards the door before letting Lauren go. "I don't know WHY she needs a bodyguard."

"You can put me down, Hercules. I'm not going to go after him."

Miranda handed Lauren's bag to JC and pointed down the hall. "Put her stuff in my room."

JC gave her a pathetic look and whined. "But I thought…"

"In my room, SWEETHEART."

"Yes ma'am."

Slowly but surely, the hallway cleared and Lauren had to remind herself that this was all for show so she shouldn't be angry or embarrassed about it. The only problem was, she was feeling very embarrassed. These people thought she was insane and the way Miranda was staring at her, she felt like a monster. "It's ok, Miranda."

The door opened and Mike leaned out to motion to Lauren. "You forgot a few things in here."

"I don't think it would be a good idea for me to go in there and…"

He waved at her again. "Justin is in the shower. You can come in to get the rest of your stuff while he's in there."

Miranda grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. "Let's get this over with so you can go get some sleep. It has been a LONG day."

Miranda pulled on her arm until they came around the corner and she spotted Justin sitting on one of the beds. "Uh…this probably wasn't a good idea. Let's go back out for a second while…"

Lauren pushed around her and walked directly towards Justin. Miranda gave Mike a few helpless looks before turning to look at the two again. She fully expected to see that Justin was bald by now, but instead…her jaw dropped at what she really saw between them.

Lauren leaned over him and gently parted his hair until she could see his scalp. "I didn't claw you or anything, did I?"

"I don't think so. My head feels like it's on fire but it's my own fault for not letting Anthony know what we were up to."

She smiled softly and kissed the top of his head right before he pulled her onto his lap and hugged her. "I almost let go when he jerked me around but that would have been too soon."

Miranda watched them and finally found her voice to yell out. "Am I MISSING SOMETHING?"

Justin hugged Lauren even tighter when she rested her head on his shoulder, and then pointed to the other bed. "Why don't you sit down, Miranda?"

She looked like she was in a daze as she sat down. "Are you the same two people I just dealt with in the hallway? Without the help of Mike, I might add."

He grabbed a drink out of the fridge and shrugged. "Hey, I'm no dummy."

"Miranda, I can't tell you what's going on, but just trust that we're not fighting. In fact, we're doing the exact opposite."

"Ok, I went to college and I consider myself a fairly intelligent woman, but…HUH?"

Lauren giggled and looked at her. "He's saying that we're not angry at each other, and that what you witnessed was really a planned and well rehearsed scene for Tom's benefit."

She looked back and forth between them and still didn't get it. "Are…are you saying that you two are…"

Justin pulled Lauren back and kissed her while Mike rolled his eyes and turned his back. "Like watching my kids make out…if I had any."

A smile slowly crossed Miranda's face and she couldn't believe what was right in front of her eyes. "But how did you do this? I felt your fingers pulling his hair and…"

Lauren walked over to her and dug her fingers into Miranda's hair. She fisted the hair close to the scalp where there was more pressure from her fingers than there was from the hair being pulled. "Any more questions?"

"You…two…are…prime…evil."

"We didn't want to worry you any more than you needed to, so that's why we haven't told you about our plan. However, we're going to need you."

She gave Justin a funny look before answering. "You need me? All you have to do is ask because you know I'll do whatever I can to bring that man down and make him pay for the things he has done."

They looked at each other for a few moments before Lauren spoke up. "Let's go to your room so nobody will get suspicious."

While Miranda was grabbing Lauren's remaining things, Lauren linked her fingers with Justin's and looked up at him. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"I had a long chat with Shai that was informative, but I'll have to tell you about it tomorrow. As for the fight, we've been doing that particular move ever since we were kids, so you should know by now that the WWF has nothing on us. I'm fine, and you?"

She shrugged and looked down at his chest. "I'll be better when this is finished."

He raised her chin with a finger and kissed her softly. "It will be over soon, I promise. Every time it gets hard or seems like there's too much to handle, think about how we're going to feel when they're all crying and trashed, and…and think about how much I love you."

She leaned in and kissed him again. "I love you too."

Miranda couldn't help but smile when she heard them and saw the love radiating out of them for each other. She waited a bit while they kissed, but when it seemed like they weren't going to stop anytime soon, she coughed quietly. "Lauren, we need to go. Lauren?"

Her arms went around Justin's neck and the contact deepened. There was no way that Miranda's voice or words would be able to penetrate into her thoughts at that point.

Miranda walked over, tapped her on the shoulder, and finally pulled on her arm until the contact between them was broken. "Save it for the bus. Although I must say that I'm pretty impressed by you Justin."

He stood there smiling like a Cheshire cat. "Oh really?"

"Mmhmm. Looks like you were right when you said that it should be illegal what you can do with that tongue of yours."

He laughed when she winked at him and pulled Lauren out the door. "Miranda is getting FEISTY!"

They stepped out into the hallway and Miranda waited until the coast was clear before fanning herself. "And remind me again why you're not spending the night in that room? WHEW!"

"Shhh! Would you hush? We really need your help, and this is the perfect time to tell you everything."

She pretended to zip her lips. "I'm at your service. What exactly do you need?"

"You know those contacts you have everywhere? Well, break out the ol' Rolodex because we're about to set the media circus on fire with this one."