Chapter Forty-Eight

**Side note: As I'm nearing the end of the story, I'm going to be changing dates and venues of their tour in order to fit the timeframe of the story. I didn't think I would have to do this, but unfortunately it's necessary.**

Justin didn't like the look on her face, he didn't like the weakened tone of her voice, and he especially didn't like the shaken state of her body. He wasn't sure of Harrison Jacobs or of the way Lauren was leaning on him for information, but he was desperately trying to trust her and the fact that she knew how to take care of herself.

However, seeing her this way was beginning to piss him off.

He didn't know a lot about the man but the small bit that he did know from Miranda and from talking to JC; he didn't like at all. Lauren was HIS concern, she was HIS to protect, and this whole Harrison thing hadn't sounded good from the very beginning. Leaning on a man, trusting a man, and turning to a man that was a known "Tom Jr." was a bit too much for him to handle. Maybe things had changed like Lauren said, maybe he was really on their side, but looking at her this way now made him angrier than he had been in a long time.

He pulled her hands down from her mouth and jerked them down to her sides. "What did he say?"

"I…I don't…"

"I know, I know…you don't know if you can explain it. We've already covered that part so let's move on to something new. What…did…he…say…to…you?"

She looked away from his angry and concerned eyes, but it surprised her when he grabbed her chin and jerked it back around to face him. "Justin, just give me a minute and…"

"Give you a minute so I can be in a full freak by then? Sorry Val, no deal. Spill it."

She pushed his hand away and swallowed hard at the sight of the fires burning in his eyes. "It's not really BAD. Well, in a way it is…ok maybe not BAD but…it's definitely surprising and…and…"

He stepped back and ran a hand through his hair with an angry growl. "I'm about to beat the hell out of you, Lauren."

"You're not making things any easier, Justin."

"And you're making this process fly like a breeze? The longer you wait, the longer we argue, the more this is ticking me off." He reached for her hand and kissed her fingers a few times soothingly before continuing in a soft voice. "I can't stand to know something is hurting you and the fear on your face right now is pulling me apart. Tell me what is going on so I can deal with it too."

Lauren knew that she was making a bigger deal out of this than she probably should be, but Harrison's news about Tom was always something that caught her in the heart. The more she found out about him, the more she learned about his past, the more pieces of the puzzle she put together, the more pieces that didn't fit or become clear…the scarier he became. There hadn't been a single thing that was normal about him and even though she didn't realize it, she was looking for SOMETHING that would help her understand why he would do all of this.

She pulled on Justin's hand until they were both sitting on a sofa, and closed her eyes when she felt his fingers entwine with hers. "Harrison has been giving me information about Tom, you knew this, and I know I'm overreacting to this but I hope and I pray every time he calls that he will give me the answer I'm searching for."

"What's that?"

She turned and looked up at him. "That he'll tell me why Tom hates us so much or that he'll at least have some clue to help me understand."

"What did he tell you this time?"

"He told me something that confuses me even more."

He pulled her hand up to his lips and softly kissed along the back of it. "Stop trying to search for answers and reasons. I know it's driving you crazy because it effects me too, but we have so many other things to worry about. Maybe there are no reasons, maybe he's psychotic just like we always thought he was, or maybe those answers really will come in time."

She watched him as he continued to lightly trail his lips over her hand, and whispered. "Harrison found out who Tom's wife is."

Justin froze and his eyes flew upward to meet hers. "What?"

"He knows."

It was Justin's turn to feel a bit shaky and to lose most of his color. "It's…it's not…you know…someone we know, right? I mean, it can't be because I…I thought she died and…and I don't know anyone who died…at a young age I mean…and…"

She shook her head and stopped his rambling with her next few words. "We know her, Justin. Well, we know OF her."

He grabbed her shoulders and gently shook her. "Who is she?"

"Does Carrie Williams ring a bell?"

His eyebrows merged in concentration and he turned away for a second while he search for some sense of recognition. "Carrie Williams…Carrie Williams…I don't even know a Carrie, much less Tom's wife. Did she live here in Orlando? Was she a part of MMC? Did she tour with us under another name? Stop giving me that look because I don't know!"

She reached out to touch his cheek and pull him around to face her. "You might not recognize Carrie Williams, but I'm sure you'll recognize her maiden name. You work for her father."

"Do NOT tell me that Tom was married to Lou's daughter. PLEASE don't tell me that he was married to Johnny's either."

"You don't work FOR Johnny, and you sure as hell don't work for Lou anymore." Lauren's head lowered as she softly whispered. "Carrie Williams…is Carrie Stephens."

He stared down at her while the words and their meaning sunk in, and then he jumped up off of the couch to pace back and forth across the room. "Wait a minute. Wait…wait…WAIT! Are you…are you saying that Tom was married to…ARE YOU SAYING THAT HE…"

"SHH! I know you're upset but don't let the entire building know."

He paused and shook his head. "Are you saying that he was married to Mr. Stephens' daughter? Are you telling me that Tom is Stephens' son in law? That he is Tom's father in law?"

"That's right."

His head shook even harder and faster. "No…no that's not…there's no way. Harrison must be mistaken. There's no way that he would be married to her and that Mr. Stephens would allow all of this to happen. No, I'm not believing that at all."

"Maybe Mr. Stephens doesn't know what Tom is up to? It's a shot in the dark but I'm trying to make this better somehow."

He quickly turned around and glared at her. "THIS is not going to get better. THIS has no way of getting better. There is NO way you soften this or make sense of it, Lauren! THIS IS INSANE and it's getting worse and worse by the minute."

"What are you saying?"

"What am I saying? WHAT am I saying?" He chewed on a finger and sighed. "What in the hell AM I saying? Oh…that's right. I'm saying that we're both trying so hard to get inside his head, to comprehend all of this, but maybe that isn't for us to know. Maybe we will NEVER know."

She pushed off of the couch and walked over to jerk his fingers out of his mouth. "And maybe one day you'll be singing backup for Nick Carter and the Funky Bunch. There HAS to be a reason for all of this!"

He gave her a pitiful look and rubbed his teeth. "That hurt. The Funky Bunch comment wasn't nice either."

She pushed him out of the way to walk by, but he halted her by grabbing her arm. "Justin, monsters like this aren't born. Yeah there are people out there who have terrible lives, they have nothing to live for, they have every reason to hate the world and the people around them, but they deal with it and move on. They don't make it their point to hurt people or to destroy relationships or lives. I refuse to believe that this is just a strange part of human nature or that everything that has gone on so far has been a coincidence. This CAN'T all be fate."

He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close to his chest. "I don't know what any of this is about, but I'm trying so hard to understand. Why would Stephens…"

"Do you know what this means? This means that Tom worked for Mr. Stephens' station in Georgia, that Tom married his underage daughter, and that he got away from Tom but then hired him again at Jive. Why would someone hire the man that illegally touched his daughter and married her like that?"

"We both know how good Tom is at blackmail. He must have found something on Stephens and used it to his advantage. This is…this is a nightmare brought to life, Lauren."

She snuggled closer to his hard chest and almost didn't say what she needed to. "There's more."

He flinched and lowered his head to rest on her shoulder. "What else?"

"She was pregnant with Tom's child and that's why the marriage happened to begin with, but there was speculation that the child wasn't his."

Justin didn't say one word to that. He stood there holding her and waited for her to finish with words he knew he wasn't completely sure he was ready to hear yet.

"She miscarried shortly after they were married and Tom forced her to leave her family behind because they blamed him for the loss of the child."

"The child that wasn't even his to begin with."

She stepped back and looked into his eyes. "They eventually met back up with her father in Orlando, moved here when Tom mysteriously got a job at Jive, and he was part of the initial building of the company. Why? Why would he be allowed to build this company, have an important part in it, and especially after everything that had happened?"

"I don't know the answers to any of this. He must have blackmailed his way back into the family…maybe to get revenge on her for the betrayal of sleeping with another man?"

She rubbed her aching forehead and turned away from him. "Who do we know from Georgia? Could the man she slept with up there have anything to do with us? Could it be that he moved to Orlando and Tom wanted to get his revenge by moving here too and handling it? There are so many why's and it's driving me crazy!"

He reached out to touch her arm, but she shrugged him off. "Maybe we don't need to understand why he's doing this. The confusion and the anger we're feeling will drive us to push him away and to go through with everything we have planned for him, but understanding him or feeling for him will cripple us, Lauren. I…I don't like what we're having to do, but I don't like living like this either."

"I know it's hard for you, it's hard for me too, but just when things start looking brighter…it blows up in our faces."

He walked around in front of her and pulled her chin up. "How are things bad? This information was still out there yesterday, it was the truth a few minutes ago before Harrison called, and it wasn't holding us back then. Tom WILL be gone soon, we will take care of him, and we will make sure that he can never hurt us again."

"How can you be so certain? We've come this far, but then again…so has he."

"I know because I have faith in the fact that we were meant to be together. There's no way that Tom or anyone else is going to tear us apart. His judgement day is coming and it's coming fast. All we need is to make sure that Shai is gone for good, that Mary Beth really is taken care of, and he will have nobody on his side. He will be alone."

She leaned into his touch when his hand cupped her cheek. "He has nobody that we know of. What if Harrison is wrong about Mr. Stephens' hatred for Tom? What if his sources are wrong or they're on Tom's side trying to cover his butt? What if…"

"What if we take this one day at a time and handle what we need to handle?"

"You make it seem so easy."

A smile crept across his face and while it was hesitant…she knew that he was trying his best to be confident for her. "It's not going to be easy and I refuse to lie to you about that. It's not going to be a walk in the park for us to bring down a man who has spent his entire life manipulating others, but it can be done. We need a support team of our own with the guys, with Miranda, and with each other."

"I just keep thinking back to when you confronted Mr. Stephens about Tom and how he dodged your questions and concerns. Was it done out of fear or out of loyalty?"

"You know I love you, but I'm going to slam you in a minute if you don't stop asking all of these questions that I can't answer."

She watched his eyebrows lower in mock anger and it made her smile. "You're getting awfully brave for someone who is much weaker in this fight."

"You don't scare me. I know that underneath all that hard and rough attitude crap…you're a creampuff."

"Then you're going to be pretty embarrassed when you eventually get your ass kicked by a snack cake."

He walked towards the door and turned slowly at her words. "Oh how I can't wait to tame that mouth of yours one day. One day…you're going to be speechless."

She didn't understand it or even know how to begin to grasp it, but he always managed to calm her and make her forget about the fear or pressures she was feeling. It wasn't that he did anything other than be himself, but that was usually enough for her. Yes she was still worried about the whole Tom/Stephens thing, but instead of feeling weak…he had made her feel much stronger. Maybe it was his confidence, maybe it was the smile that never failed to catch her heart, or maybe it was the fact that his love for her shined with every look and with every word he spoke.

"Justin, what do we do about this and about Shai?"

He walked back towards her and finally shrugged. "We need to put this information to good use somehow, but I'm not exactly sure how right now. As for Shai, we might need to go save her from Tom's wrath."

"If he hits her or hurts her…she'd put him in jail and everything would be taken care of."

He didn't really like the hopefulness in her voice or the evil glint in her eyes. "Lauren, I know we have to do this and I know they deserve almost everything we have dealt them so far…but don't get caught up in the games. Don't lose sight of the evilness of what we're doing or you'll be no better than they are."

"Am I supposed to feel bad for them?"

"That's not what I'm saying at all. Don't…don't give me that look or start pulling away. I'm just simply saying that we're ruining people's lives here and even though we weren't the ones who started this, even though we have good intentions, we're still ruining lives."

Her head slowly started to move back and forth in denial. "I might be hotheaded, I might be a monster for saying this, but I don't care. I don't care that they're being hurt or that their lives are being shaken up. All I care about is getting back the life I once knew before they decided to play with it. That was their choice and that was their decision to not only make…but to follow through with."

Her inability to back down from struggles or fights would get her into even more trouble here if she didn't learn how to control the desire. "Go on out into the hallway and ask Miranda if she's willing to help us with Tom."

"You mean the…"

"That's exactly what I mean. I just hope it will be enough to prove a point to him. However, we can't possibly get this done without Miranda and the guys. If you take care of Miranda then I'll handle them. Do you still think she will do this?"

Lauren thought about Miranda, about her distaste for Tom, about her ability to scheme with the best of them, and it made her smile. "Miranda will be all over it."

"Go on out and I'll be there in a few minutes. We can't risk Tom finding out that we're really not mad at each other and have him concentrate on us while he should devote all of his energies to Shai and Mary Beth right now."

"Yes sir. By the way…" She pulled his head down and lightly kissed him. "Do you realize how incredibly attractive you are when you take charge like this?"

"Are you speechless?"

She giggled and pushed his head back when he tried to get another kiss. "You're not THAT good. I'm leaving now but don't let me be out there alone for too long."

When the door closed behind her, Justin's smile disappeared and he sighed with concern. "Jesus…we're in over our heads here."

Lauren peeked into the hallway and saw that it was empty, but she could hear Tom and Shai still arguing from behind the closed door. Shai didn't seem to be backing down and her voice was very controlled and strong as she yelled at him. Tom's voice was low, too low for her to clearly make out, but she could tell that it was a dangerous calm that was driving him. There was no way he could be happy about any of this because he was the type of man who liked to control everything and everyone around him. This twist was stripping him of any power and even though he would never admit it to anyone else much less himself…he knew he was very weak. With both Shai and Mary Beth gone from the equation, he was left alone and responsible for manning the war on his own.

"Poor…poor baby."

"Kill anyone tonight, Lauren?"

She jumped and spun around to slap Mike on the shoulder a few times. "Don't sneak up on me like that! You almost made me choke on my spleen."

"My question still stands…have you killed anyone tonight?"

"The night is still young, Mike. I might start with security and work my way up the ranks."

His smile was confident and showed no trace of worry. "Are you two the cause of the fight going on down the hall?"

"They brought it on themselves."

"Somehow I have the feeling that you're not so sure about that."

She gave him a strange look. "What do you mean? I'm perfectly fine with the fact that they're fighting because what they're fighting about is their own fault."

He walked beside her when she started to move away, and lowered his voice. "Is that why you had me get rid of Mary Beth when she was stalking Justin's house last night?"

"You know as well as I do that she shouldn't be allowed to follow him around and take pictures when he's just trying to have a life."

"Hmm…that's true, but I'm curious as to how she got pictures of Tristan and Shai when she left LONG before any of that could have happened."

He was starting to get too curious and a little too fatherly for his own good. "I swear that if your momma is brought up any time in the near future, I'm going to shove her AND her advice where the sun doesn't shine. Mary Beth must have…must have come back after you finished checking out the gate and went home."

"I don't like it when you two lie to me."

"I'm not ly…"

He held up a hand and shushed her. "I don't like it when you two lie to me, Lauren. However, I do thoroughly enjoy the fact that your mother and father are out in the arena talking to Justin's mother…while you two are lying to me."

She rolled her eyes at him and kept walking. "Turning into a tattletale, Mike? I thought your ever impressive momma would have warned you about THAT a long time ago."

Mike didn't have time to respond to her sarcastic remark because the door right in front of them burst open and Shai scrambled out into the hallway. She turned around and pointed her finger while she yelled back into the room. "You DISGUST ME! Believe what you want to believe, but this isn't MY FAULT!"

Tom leaned against the doorway and glared. "I told you before and I'll tell you again now…get out!"

"I can't believe you are being this stupid and ignorant! As much as I have wanted him, as much as I have NEEDED HIM, and as much as I STILL want him…you think I would cheat on him with Tristan and ruin everything? WHY WOULD I DO THAT?"

One of Tom's eyebrows raised in challenge. "You've made the same points over and over, but they still don't make things better. You screwed up, Shai. Just face it and move along. Justin has no use for you now and neither do I."

"He does need me! You can't just toss me aside for something that wasn't my fault! Where do I go? Where am I supposed to go, Tom?"

He shrugged and waved her off with a hand. "That's not my concern anymore, just like you're not ANYTHING that has to do with me or Justin or this tour anymore."

Tears were rolling down her already wet cheeks and Lauren and Mike couldn't help but stand there and gape at the state she was in. They never dreamed that Shai would be running this scared or be upset enough to go against Tom in such a verbal or open way.

"I can't be banned from this tour or from…from Justin. You can't do this to me, Tom. Please don't do this!"

He leisurely checked his watch and pushed away from the doorframe. "I brought you into this situation and I'm the one who is taking it away. It's really very simple, Shai. Maybe you never should have been here to begin with, but I'll never make that mistake again."

Shai looked around miserably and her eyes landed on Lauren before she pointed at her and screamed at Tom again. "SHE is the one who should be gone! SHE is the one who has no reason for being around Justin. She's going to ruin him and she's going to ruin N SYNC if you don't wake up and see her for the piece of white trash that she is!"

Mike took a step forward to position himself between the two girls a little more. "Deep breaths, Lauren."

"I'm breathing. Trust me, I'm breathing."

He nodded and looked over his shoulder at her. "Oh I'm feeling the fire you're breathing on my back."

Shai looked at Lauren with such blind hatred in her eyes that it was almost frightening. "Are you happy now, Lauren? You must be giving yourself pats on the back over all of this, but he still hates you. You can't hide the fact that he hates you just as much as he THINKS he hates me…if not more. No matter what you try to do, no matter what you say or trick people into believing, you can't cover up the fact that Justin saw you with Tristan and he HATES YOU for it!"

Tom looked over at Mike and growled. "We need to have security escort Shai out of here. Think you can handle that?"

"I can handle it."

She saw Mike pick up his walkie-talkie, and it caused her to freak out even more. "Tom! PLEASE listen to me! I'm begging you to stop and see that she's behind all of this! You can't push me out of his life! Not now! I've come too far and I'm too close to lose him now!"

Justin pushed past Mike and stopped when he saw that Shai was crying hysterically and screaming at both Tom and Lauren. "You people need to WAKE UP and end the drama."

Shai ran to him and kneeled down at his feet. "You know I would never do anything to hurt you. Don't let him send me away! It's all lies and it's like I told you before…she's trying to keep you from being happy!"

He stepped back and rolled his eyes dramatically. "I'm sick of hearing it. I'm SO SICK of all of you who keep pulling at me and lying in my face!"

"I wasn't lying to you!"

"You might not have been lying about everything, but you used me just like everyone else has and…"

She hugged his legs and cried against them. "NO! Why won't anyone believe me when I say that I love you? Please Justin, you have to believe me!"

He tried to pull her away from his legs but she held on tightly. "Get off of me and stand up, Shai. You're only embarrassing yourself and making things worse!"

"I'm…I'm not going to let go until you listen and understand. I was drunk and I didn't know what I was doing. I told you that I don't drink but I wanted to impress you and…"

"You certainly impressed the hell out of me by hanging all over Tristan. LET GO!"

She only held on tighter and Lauren looked over at Mike who stood by and watched the action. "Are you going to do anything?"

"He told me to give him some space, so I'm giving him exactly what he asked for."

Lauren looked back up to see if Shai showed any signs of letting go, but her eyes met with Tom's instead. He was looking at her and watching her quietly, almost as if he was trying to get a feel of what she was up to.

"Mike, I…I think you need to step in before someone gets hurt."

Justin leaned down and tried to pry her arms and head away from his legs, but the moment he leaned down she wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to pull him to the ground with her. Justin caught himself on his hands and knees so he wouldn't land on top of her, but her fingers and nails continued to frantically claw at him.

It was terrible to know that Shai had attacked Justin, it was horrible to witness it live, but the worst thing about the whole situation was the fact that she had to stand back and do nothing because of Tom's presence. He was waiting for any sign that showed that they weren't all they were pretending to be, and maybe this was all part of his plan. Maybe not.

Mike grabbed Justin around the waist and lifted him off the floor while Shai reached for him. She scrambled up off the floor and went for him again, but Mike pushed Justin behind him against the wall and protected him with his much bigger body. "Step back."

She pushed at the hands that were holding her back and looked over his shoulder at the top of Justin's head. "I told you why I love you. I explained why you mean so much to me. How can you believe any of this?"

"I saw it all with my own two eyes, Shai. I saw every bit of it and you're not who I thought you were at all."

Tom walked around them and sized each person up. "I've already told the press to stop those pictures, but major newspapers already printed them or have sent them off to be printed. It's going to be much worse than this in a few days and I think the best thing for everyone is for you leave, Shai. If you really love him as much as you say you do then you will leave this alone and disappear."

Shai wiped the tears from her cheeks and sniffled a few times. "I have nowhere else to go. This is everything I've ever wanted and now because of HER…it's all gone."

Tom sneered and chuckled quietly. "Actually, it's because you decided that one celebrity's bed wasn't enough for you. Get her out of here before I do something I shouldn't."

Shai took a few steps back and continued to wipe at her cheeks even though there were no tears left for her to clean up. Very slowly she turned and her eyes locked on Lauren. "I hope you're satisfied."

"Actually, with the bed hopping you're doing here lately, I should be asking YOU that question."

She slowly moved towards her as her eyes narrowed. "You think you have won this, but it's only just beginning."

"Be careful walking through the fans, Shai. They can be really nasty sometimes and I wouldn't want for you to get…hurt."

It was a struggle and a strain for Shai to keep her temper in check, but Lauren was holding on by a thin string herself. "Lauren, you know I didn't do this. You could be the bigger person and set things straight, right here…right now. You see the pain in Justin's eyes and telling him the truth would erase that pain."

Lauren looked over at Justin, she looked over at Tom, and she gave Shai a long hard look before leaning in and answering. "Shai, in the proverbial words of Janet Jackson…what have you done for me lately?"

Shai tensed and straightened in anger before gritting the words out through clinched teeth. "One day soon. One day soon you will pay for this and YOU will be the one crying in helplessness. I will get you back for this, Lauren. I…will…make…you…pay."

She hadn't seen Shai this angry or this venomous before, and the look in her eyes was enough to make her feel somewhat unsettled. This girl was even crazier than they thought she was. "Is there anything else you want to say before you go?"

"Just one more thing." She turned quickly and before anyone knew what she was planning, her palm cracked against Lauren's cheek. The sound of the slap was so loud and so forceful that Lauren's head rocked to the side and it echoed throughout the hallway.

"I think that just about says it all."

Lauren slowly raised a hand to her cheek and she blinked the burning tears from her eyes to look up at Shai. "You're a whore."

"I might be a whore, but at least I know what it's like to feel Justin's…well, every woman has to have her own secrets. I'll just say this…he's too much of a man for you to know how to handle."

Justin angrily pushed at Mike's back. "Get over there. Like NOW."

He looked hesitant, but he finally stepped forward and sighed with relief when he saw that several other members of security were coming down the hallway. "You're out of here and you need to step back away from her before you really get yourself into even more trouble."

Shai laughed at that. "I dare her to attack me! Come on, where is that spunk and fight NOW, Lauren? Does it hurt or piss you off to know that I got a little taste of Justin that you will never have? Does it make you…jealous?"

Lauren continued to glare at her. "The law is protecting you from me right now. That's the ONLY thing keeping you safe and warm and BREATHING at the moment."

"Oh I think it tears you up inside, and I also think it stings more than you would like to admit that he will NEVER see you as the woman I am."

She pushed her hair back and took a deep breath. "You're right. He'll never see me as an easy lay with no self respect or basically…a diseased party favor."

The other guards surrounded Shai and pulled her down the hallway as she still continued to scream her apologies to Justin. He looked away from everyone and Tom pushed past before walking down the hallway. "I'm too old for this."

The moment Tom and Shai were out of sight, Lauren screamed as loud as she could and kicked at the wall while pounding against it with her fists. Mike pulled her away from the wall before she could do any permanent damage, but she continued to swing her fists and kick out at the air. When she wouldn't stop, he slung her over his shoulder and carried her down the hall towards Justin's dressing room.

"Put me down! PUT ME DOWN!"

"I'm going to put you down just as soon as you stop trying to destroy private property. You're being a crazy woman!"

Chris came around the corner to see what all the commotion was about, but he backed up against the wall when he saw her. "I uh…I'll just mind my own business."

Justin reached for her arms that were pummeling against Mike's back, but she squirmed and twisted until he couldn't hold on anymore. "Chris, it would be wise for you to back up."

"She's not after me like that, is she? I didn't mean to say that she could butter my bread any day."

Justin stopped and gave him a strange look. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

"Noth…nothing. Absolutely nothing. I'm going to go inside and watch…watch MTV or something. Ignore me."

After he was inside Justin's dressing room, Mike dropped Lauren onto her feet and held pinned down her arms while she struggled. "Calm yourself."

"LET ME GO! You can't hold onto me like this, Mike! You have NO RIGHT TO DO THIS!"

Justin slammed the door and pushed at Mike's hands. "Let her go. If she wants you to let her go, then let her go."

"I'm supposed to let her go so she can run out there, attack Shai, and get arrested for it? No I don't think so. You and I BOTH know what she's going to do and what will it prove to anyone if she's in jail?"

Justin was in a struggle because he knew that Mike was right, but at the same time he felt he was the only one who could take care of her. He was the only one who could bring her down from this, and he wanted to help so badly after watching her being slapped by Shai. He had been unable to do anything out there, but it still didn't make it any easier. "Lauren?"

She still struggled against Mike's hold, but she was wearing down. "I'm not going to go after her. Oh no, I'm not going to hunt her down and bash her head into the wall. It's not fair! It's not fair that I have to sit back and keep myself in control, while she walks out of here and…and…"

"You're forgetting that she has to walk through the fans to get out of here. They'll take care of her when they recognize who she is. Lauren, if you bite my arms…you and I are going to throw down on the floor right here and I don't care how cute you are or how important you might be to curl head over there."

Justin moved around to lean down in front of her and touch her hands. "Take some deep breaths and stop this. She's not worth fighting against and think about it Lauren…she's gone. She's GONE."

When she relaxed completely, Mike was astounded. "I need to find a new job. I'm about to go out there and drag her daddy back here so he can see how she's acting, and a few words from a human Brillo Pad make her calm down. Tell me, why do I feel wronged?"

Justin smirked at him and tugged on Lauren's hands. "You can let go of her. I'll talk to her and make sure that she doesn't put any contracts out on Shai's head."

Mike's arms relaxed slowly, and Lauren slid out of them right into Justin's arms. Her arms went around his neck, her legs around his waist, and he relaxed back against the sofa with her in his arms. Mike shook his head one more time before leaving, and standing right outside the door in case Justin couldn't stop her from running out.

Lauren wasn't about to go anywhere though. She was more than comfortable in his arms and gradually her breathing and heart rate slowed as he held her and rubbed his hand up and down her back. "She was doing anything and everything to get you to fight her. She wanted to have a reason to pull you away from me."

Lauren snuggled closer and inhaled the clean smell of his hair. "The bitch actually hit me."

He could feel her tense up again, so he kissed her shoulder and the curve of her neck. "I saw it and I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything about it. I'm sorry I couldn't stop her."

She pushed back and looked into his surprised eyes. "Why are YOU apologizing? It's not your fault that she…"

"It feels like my fault that we were so cornered that I couldn't help you or prevent that from happening. She never should have been that close. She never should have been here to begin with!"

"She's not anymore, but I will say this…she's going to pay for that little slap. Just wait until I get her alone some time or get some time to get on the Internet and share a few tales of what she's like."

He picked her up and laid her down across the couch before walking over to the refrigerator and filling a bag with ice. "The threats she made, she sounded serious, Lauren. The look in her eyes and the hatred…my God, the hatred."

She hugged a pillow and closed her eyes. "She's too stupid to pull anything."

"I'm not trying to scare you, but I think she's capable of more than we gave her credit for. I mean, we never thought she would be around THIS long, we never thought she would attack me the way she did, we never thought she would EVER go against Tom, and we certainly never thought she would be brave enough to…to hit you."

Her breath flew in with a hiss when he sat down on the edge of the couch and placed the bag of ice to her cheek. "What are you saying?"

"As much as you're not going to like this, I'm going to tell Anthony not to leave your side for any reason."

"You can't do that."

He reached over and stroked her other cheek. "I'm doing it and that's the end of it."

It was concern and worry driving him, but he was taking away her freedom all the same. "I'm not scared of Shai."

"I didn't say you were, but I need to do this for my own peace of mind. I need to know that you're protected from her when I'm not around, or if she suddenly decides to get clever…or stupid. However you want to look at it."

She closed her eyes and sighed when she felt his lips brush against hers. "I wanted to hit her or laugh at her just now. I wanted that SO BAD, but I…I was trapped. Tom kept looking at me to see if I was going to show some kind of reaction, he kept trying to see if I would run for you, and I wanted to so much but I couldn't."

Justin kissed her again and then the tip of her nose. "I have to go before Suzy comes hunting for me, but do you want me to send for Jayce? Maybe he can come back here and stay with you until you're ready to…"

"No, it's ok. There's no sense in dragging this out any longer than it should be. She's gone, we accomplished our first goal, and now we can move on to what we need to do next. I'm being stupid and I'm sulking."

"You're not…"

She silenced him with her lips and then relaxed against the cushions again. "I am. We're going to need a lot of strength and a lot of courage to get through this final step, and the thought of being with you while Tom is nowhere around to hurt us is going to push me to keep going. Your love is going to push me to keep going."

"Your love gives ME strength, Val. Now lay here with this ice, calm down, and please be careful…for me."

She smiled when he gave her a fatherly look. "Yes sir."

"Can I drive you home after the show tonight?"

"Hmm…Tristan hasn't asked me yet but…OUCH!" She pushed his hand away when he playfully pinched her side.

"I'll rephrase that. You WILL be in my car after the show and I WILL take you home."

She smiled brightly and appreciatively as she watched him walk to the door. "Yes SIR."

Playing the waiting game had never been her strong suit, but that's exactly what they were having to do now. She didn't know where the strength had come from, but she had managed to keep her hands off of Shai. Maybe there was a higher power protecting her, or maybe it was like Justin had said…they were meant to be together. Shai's face and her words kept replaying over and over, and she had to wonder just how crazy the girl was going to get before everything was finished. Keeping her off of the tour would be easy, but that didn't mean that she would stay away from them when it came to other means of reaching out. If Shai meant to attack her family in any way or Justin's…there would be more than hell to pay.

It was comforting to know that Harrison had kept his word through all of this and that he was going to continue to help them. It was true that she was basically building his career with the information that she had given him and would continue to give him. Her statement about Justin and his would undoubtedly make Harrison one of the biggest entertainment journalists in the world because that kind of a scoop would be the envy of the journalistic world. In a way, she was happy to give it to him. If he had managed to come this far, with some unknown help from Miranda, then he would find more.

She crossed her fingers that he would find the key they needed to finish Tom for good.