"Don't get that all over my car, Justin."
He balanced his ice cream while he tried to shift gears, switch on the turn signal, and gradually make the turn. "I'm not going to mess up the damn car, Val. Would you take this out of my hands so I don't plow into this tree in front of us?"
With a giggle, she reached over and plucked the cup out of his hands. "I never should have let you drive. I knew that this was a bad idea and…"
"This is the first day off I've had in a while, don't ruin it by griping about ice cream or the way I drive. Ok is it a rule that people must STOP before they make a turn? MOVE!"
She closed her eyes and waited for the crash she knew would come. "Not everyone takes a turn on two wheels, Justin."
"They don't have to stop either. MOVE MOVE MOVE!" He sighed loudly when he had passed the car and was now on a straight stretch of road. "Give me back my ice cream."
She handed it over and had to smile when he took a huge bite. "I hope you get a headache."
"Such love that radiates out of you. By the way, did you happen to catch the newspapers today?"
"If you're talking about the new stories that were printed on Shai, yes I did. Miranda called me early this morning, remind me to break her favorite pen and notepad the next time I see her, and she told me what was going on."
He finished chewing on a raisin before speaking again. "The review of the show was good, but it disturbs me that Shai is getting more attention from the paper than the show did. We wanted this to be debilitating, but this is taking over everything and it has only been one full day."
"I probably shouldn't tell you this, but Miranda said that she spent a few hours on the Internet last night and…basically that's all anyone can talk about. Shai is hated so much right now, but…I don't know. I don't know how to explain it. It's scary how the fans react to things like this." She gave him a strange look when he sucked on his red plastic spoon and bobbed his head to a song on the radio. "I often wonder if they know what they're REALLY trying to protect with their words." She giggled and shook her head in amazement.
"Are you trying to say I'm not worth their worship?"
"I'm trying to say that they need to see this side of you first. Does the word DUMBASS mean anything to you?"
"I take offense to that, Val. Hey…looks like you have company. Who is it?"
She looked at the two cars in front of her house as they pulled into the driveway, and shrugged when she didn't recognize either one. "I have no idea. They're probably college buddies of Jayce's or something. That's strange that he didn't tell me about having people over when I left this morning."
He pulled the car into the garage and turned off the engine while the garage door closed behind them. "I hate sneaking around like this."
"I do too."
"We have to sneak around the fans, we have to sneak around because of Tom, we have to sneak around the press, and we have to sneak around the schedule that keeps us from going out and doing normal things like this."
She chewed on a hunk of strawberry in her ice cream and nodded. "It would be boring if it was easy."
"Do you really believe that?"
"Not at all, but I was trying to be positive. All for youuuu, sweetie."
He finished off his ice cream and put the cup on the dash before turning to look at her. "Did you talk to Miranda about everything?"
"Mmmhmm. Like I said, she's all over it. In fact, she's having the papers drawn up right now so we can use them ASAP. I don't know how you're going to get Tom to fall for this, but I trust you."
He pushed a dab of ice cream from the corner of her mouth. "Do you trust the guys?"
"Just as long as Chris isn't the one talking…I'm with you one hundred percent."
It was quiet while he watched her finish off the rest of her ice cream. Being with her like this brought back so many memories and so much relaxation that he couldn't help but regret the moment when it would end. They had to be in Fort Lauderdale the next day where the madness would pick back up again, but the madness was really only just beginning. While he had to deal with the questions that were going to be thrown his way, they were also going to have to go back to fighting each other just a little bit longer.
It hurt him to treat he that way and to have her treat him that way, but beyond the hurt was exhaustion. It exhausted him to worry about what he was saying or what he was doing all the time. The wrong movement, the wrong look, the hint of a smile, and Tom would pick up on it. It felt like they were under a microscope, but times like these got him through it all. The thought of spending time with her like this, watching her innocence this way, and making her smile at him like he was the world to her…those things got him through the tough times. Just knowing that soon they would be able to have these moments without wondering how it might one day be used against them or thrown in their faces…was enough.
"Justin, you're really weirding me out here."
"It's just nice to sit here and watch you."
She rolled her eyes and laughed nervously. "I didn't grow another head, did I?"
He slowly grinned at that. "Nope. Same beautiful one you've always had."
"I…I'm not hungry anymore. Maybe we should go inside and pester Jayce for a little while."
Justin laughed and hopped down out of the car, then waited for her to walk around the side. "Do me a favor."
"Such as?"
His grin spread even wider and grew in evilness. "Come here."
She almost dropped the trash in her hands when the words hit her ears. "I'm walking towards you right now."
He pulled the items out of her hands and placed them on the hood of the car before pulling her into his arms and covering her lips with his. Lauren hadn't seen him be so confident or straightforward before when it came to kissing. Usually he had a few things to say or a "lead-in" that was his ritual, but he was totally going for it this time. Needless to say, she liked this approach…A LOT.
He wasted no time in nudging her lips further apart with his own, and deepening the contact with his tongue. Lauren sighed when she could taste traces of the ice cream he had eaten, along with the sweet tinge of raisin. Without breaking the contact, he leaned down, tightened his arms around her waist, and then straightened again with her feet dangling off the ground.
Lauren didn't need an excuse to cling even tighter to him at that moment, but she used this as one anyway. When he tore his lips away from hers, she hugged him and smiled at his ragged breathing. "You have my UNDIVIDED attention, Justin."
His arms crushed her into his chest as he chuckled against her neck. "I had no doubt. What flavor ice cream did you eat?"
"Strawberry hazelnut. Why?"
"It was pretty good." When he pulled back, his grin was so purely evil and utterly adorable that she just wanted to chew him up.
"Glad you enjoyed it. So, do you plan on ravishing me in the garage or are we going to go inside and be sociable."
He groaned miserably and stomped his foot for good measure. "I don't want to go inside with all those friends of Jayce's running around. I was hoping that you and I could have some alone time."
"We could go into my room and watch TV."
"It's not the same thing, Val. I…I remember when we were younger and before all of this stuff happened, we used to go out and spend the day together. We used to make fools of ourselves, make fools out of the people around us, and we didn't worry about anyone else but each other. We had fun, Lauren. We had so much fun just being together as Lauren and Justin."
He kissed her again but she leaned back to break the contact. "I miss it too, but those days are gone. As much as I hate to say it…they're gone."
His lips softly trailed down her neck. "They don't have to be gone."
"What do you mean?"
His lips came away from her neck and he straightened to look down into her eyes. "Come away with me this weekend."
"What are you talking about?"
His lips merged with hers again and a few moments later he whispered his explanation against them. "We have two days off this week, Friday and Saturday. I'm asking you to run away with me for two days, Val."
"But security and Tom and…"
"Shh…nobody has to know, but us. I'll make the reservations under another name, we can call Mike and the guys when we're safely away, and we can meet back up with the tour on Sunday. Think about it, we can do the things we used to do. We can go shopping, we can go on a picnic, we can go to a museum, or any other thing we want to do. Lauren, we can be…be normal again."
The idea of going away with him for part of a weekend, of being alone with him like that, caused tingles to run all over her body. The fact that he was kissing her neck again didn't help dull that sensation at all, but that was beside the point. "I would like that more than anything, but I thought we're supposed to be fighting."
"Harrison is going to run those statements on Saturday, right? What will it matter? Tom will find out either through us leaving or through that article that we've been fooling him all along. I think I'd rather be far away from him and have you even farther away from him when he finds out the news that we're very much in love."
She kissed his ear and nodded. "You make the arrangements and I'll be there with you."
A finger tenderly trailed down her cheek and over the still slightly reddened skin. "Are you sure?"
"I'm more sure about this than I have about anything in a long time."
His eyes searched hers before he finally winked and grabbed her hand to walk to the door. He opened it for her and they both stepped inside with the thought on their minds that this weekend trip could hold more promise and cause problems that they weren't sure about dealing with, but at the same time it was going to heal wounds and give hope where they both needed it the most.
She was lost in her thoughts and in her excitement as she rounded the corner, that she completely overlooked the fact that there were people sitting in the living room. Her eyes finally landed on them and she jumped with a scream while Justin plowed into the back of her. "I don't believe this."
Justin rubbed his nose that was throbbing after being slammed into the back of her head, and he froze right along with her when his eyes scanned the room. "We have entered the Twilight Zone."
Lauren plastered a bright smile on her face and laughed nervously. "Um…hi everyone. We just…uh…went out for ice cream. What are you all doing here?"
Justin's eyes were just as huge as hers and he had a hard time getting his lungs to work properly. "Mom, why didn't you tell me that you were coming over here?"
Lauren swallowed hard and stared at both of her parents and at Jayce, who were all staring at her from across the room. "I told you that I would come by the house tonight, but I guess I should have given you a time."
Her dad stood up and pointed to the empty loveseat. "Sit down, Lauren."
She gave Justin a wide-eyed look before letting go of his hand and walking around to sit down. She angrily mumbled something to Jayce on the way by, but he ignored her and smiled innocently. Justin nervously jingled the change in his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels. "Would anyone like something to drink?"
Lynn turned around and pointed to the same loveseat. "Sit your butt down, mister."
He didn't have to be asked twice. He was already seated and listening by the time she could finish her sentence.
They were trying their best to intimidate, and Lauren couldn't figure out why they would do that other than trying to get some point across. They were either upset over the relationship, over the whole Shai thing, or about some other thing that was blown out of proportion. Whatever it was, she wasn't going to be pushed around about it. "Are you going to tell us what's wrong or are we supposed to guess?"
Her father gave her the look that only fathers knew how to give. The look that clearly showed his resentment and surprise that she would challenge authority. "Watch that tongue, Lauren Elizabeth."
She blinked a few times and turned to look at Jayce. He visibly squirmed underneath her questioning glare. "Just why are we here, JAYCE?"
"I was worried about you two, I have been for a while now, but I thought it was time that mom, dad, and Lynn were told what is going on."
"You decided that all on your own? With no help from anyone? You're SUCH a good boy!" She lowered her voice and mumbled. "Just wait until you fall asleep tonight, nosey brat."
Her mom held a hand up and interrupted. "There's no need for the anger or the threats."
"I feel like threatening something myself."
Lynn reached over and popped his knee. "You're in a hot enough seat so don't make it worse."
Lauren covered her eyes with a hand and sighed. "Will someone explain what is going on?"
Her father leaned forward and eyed both of them. "We all love you two very much. Lauren, you know and you understand that I will always love you unconditionally. Justin, you have always been like a second son to me. We took turns raising you both, we made decisions that we thought were the best for both of you and your happiness, as well as our own."
He stood up and started walking back and forth behind the couch that Jayce and her mother were sitting at. "Dad, are we on trial here?"
"Why would you ask that?"
She continued to watch him pace and she wondered if he was going to grab his notebook as reference in a second. "Nevermind."
"We tried our best to make sure that you two would be together because we understood the bond that you two share with each other. I can't speak for everyone here, but I know that I never thought your friendship would last so long. I never thought that it would grow, develop, and mature over the years the way it has. However, it has done that very thing and now we're facing new struggles and new paths that we haven't experienced…much less expected."
"I know that Justin never knew that he would become the celebrity that he is today. That's not really something you can plan for or predict. I also never thought that my nineteen year old daughter would be following him around the country while journalists all over the world are drooling to get a piece of her."
Lauren turned and looked out the window beside her. "You make it sound so ugly."
"This is a pretty thing?"
Justin looked over at his mom with a confused look on his face. "Why are you here, mom?"
"You're my child, I worry about you, and this is just as difficult for you as it is for Lauren."
Mr. Owsley waited until they were quiet before he continued. "I trust both of you because you're both very intelligent and morally driven individuals, but I can't say that we all agree that this is the best thing. This relationship that you two are involved in…it worries us."
Lauren's head jerked away from the window. "Excuse me?"
"I don't like that tone."
She leaned forward and raised her hand. "OBJECTION, your honor! Why do I get the feeling that you're about to overstep your parental boundaries and say that we need to stop seeing each other? Tell me WHY I have this feeling, dad."
"Maybe trying to discover one another in a new way isn't the best thing for the both of you right now. Justin is being eaten alive by press coverage, you're being hounded by the same thing, and it's so easy to mistake a need for support or a need for a shoulder to cry on…as deeper feelings."
Lauren laughed bitterly. "You've been listening to mom's lectures too much. I'm not mistaking any of my feelings for Justin just because of the fame that comes with his name now. I've known him longer than ANY of those people, I was his fan LONG before they were, and I know exactly what I'm doing."
"Lauren, nobody is trying to tell you…"
"But you are! You're trying to tell me that I'm too young to understand these feelings. You're trying to make me believe that I care for him because of a lack of other options." She turned to look into Lynn's eyes. "I've loved you as an aunt my whole life. There is no blood between us, I had no other options when it came to other people filling the role that you have in my life, but I'm not mistaken about the fact that I love you. I love your son. Maybe I always have. There are a lot of things that I'm confused about in my life, but I'm certain about this. I…love…your…son, and I love you even more for not only allowing me to know him, but also creating him and molding him into the person I love with every part of my heart and soul."
Her dad walked around to the table and grabbed something. "Justin?"
Justin swallowed hard and cleared his throat when he couldn't find his voice. "Yes sir?"
"What are your feelings about this?"
He thought for a moment and then reached over to lace his fingers with hers. "I know I'm not exactly in the best position in the world when it comes to having a personal life, but I do love her, sir. It's true that I don't know any different because I have loved her my entire life, but we can't be punished for the fact that we have a history together. We can't be punished for sticking together all this time, for always being there for each other through anything and everything, or for waking up one day and realizing that the daydreams and the overall dreams we had about falling in love with someone one day…were really just a prediction of what really WAS going to happen. I have women throwing themselves at my feet, I have women who want whatever piece of me they can get, but only one of them has my heart…and that's your daughter. She is the one that I see when I look at them, and she is the one I compare them to."
He walked over and handed both of them a stack of papers. "Then one of you explain this."
Lauren's hands started trembling and she suddenly felt cold all over when she recognized the document in front of her. "How did you get this?"
"Are you going to explain it?"
She threw it down and covered her face with both hands. "How on EARTH did you get your hands on that contract?"
"I told you before that contracts are filed, but unfortunately this one was not. It took me a few hours to get my hands on it, but overall it wasn't that difficult to put the pieces together after our little conversation yesterday. This Tom Williams person went to a lawyer friend of mine to have that drawn up. He kept a copy of it on file and printed it for me. My question to you is…did you sign it?"
After a few seconds, she finally nodded. "Yeah…but it's not legal. There weren't any witnesses, he made me sign it, and it wasn't done in blue or black ink like you said."
Justin looked at her like she had lost her mind. "What do you mean it wasn't legal?"
"She means that it was never legally binding because of those three things."
Justin leaned back against the cushions while his head started spinning. "This is unbelievable. The whole time…the whole time it wasn't legal. The WHOLE TIME. We could have avoided this entire thing if…I can't even think about it."
Lauren rested a hand on his leg. "He would have done it anyway. Some how he would have caused what he has already, and Shai would have signed the contract with no problems. Either way, me signing or Shai…he would have done this."
Mr. Owsley took the papers from them and sat back down. "We wondered if you two weren't just putting on an act for everyone around you. This contract says that you will pretend to be a couple for the world to see, but it's a comfort to know that there are real feelings behind everything you are doing. Tell me why I shouldn't notify the police right now. Tell me why you haven't already."
"You can't do that, dad. Not yet! Please don't go to the police about this."
His eyes widened with surprise. "And why not? This man has broken the law, he has lured my daughter into a trap, and I'm supposed to let that slide? I'm supposed to turn my back on that fact like it never happened?"
"You shouldn't get involved."
He looked around at the other adults and laughed. "We shouldn't get involved? Did I just hear you correctly? We shouldn't get involved in the lives of our children and help them when someone is out to do them harm? This Shai girl who is being persecuted by the newspapers, is she a part of this?"
Justin nodded and cleared his throat again. "Yes she is. I mean, she was. She was working with Tom to pull this off, but she's no longer on his payroll because of all the negative press she has been getting lately."
"Is she the one who hit you?"
Lauren touched her cheek and winced. "It looks worse than it is. It's better than the marks she put on Justin."
Lynn leaned forward with narrowed eyes. "She hurt you and you didn't do anything about it? What happened?"
"Mom, you uh…you don't want to know. The point IS…Shai is no longer around and we need some time with Tom before any legal actions are taken."
Mr. Owsley looked between them before answering. "Tell me why I should do that."
Lauren opened her mouth to answer, but Justin beat her to it. "You all taught Lauren and I to take care of each other, you taught us to handle our business, and to stick together when times got tough. You also taught us to trust in the people we love and believe in their strengths. We're asking you to trust us and to believe in us, just like you instilled in us. We need time, a week and a half at most, and then you can file whatever you need to file and love us by protecting us."
"You won't be here in a week and a half. You'll be on tour and so will Tom Williams."
"At least the cops will know where to find him. Can we have a week and a half?"
They all looked at each other while Lauren and Justin waited for their answer. She leaned into his side and closed her eyes when he kissed her forehead.
All three parents stood up and her father looked hesitant, but finally he agreed. "A week and a half for me to find out everything I can about the man and nail his ass to the wall for this. Lauren, we WILL have a long talk about this when you get back in town."
She had no doubt about that. "Yes sir."
Lynn hugged her and then hugged Justin tightly. He kissed her cheek and smiled when she kissed his in return. "Don't worry about us, mom."
"That's my job."
Justin shook her father's hand and kissed her mother on the cheek as they walked to the door. "Thank you for understanding."
"We don't like it, but we're going to compromise so we don't have to get into a big fight with Lauren over this. You two be safe and take care of each other."
Her dad patted Justin's back and gave him a stern look. "Take care of her."
"I will."
Lauren watched the show of male bonding in front of her and surprisingly enough it didn't make her sick. "We'll take care of each other for the next week and a half. By the way, whose cars are those?"
Lynn laughed and squeezed her shoulders. "We all borrowed the neighbors' cars because we knew that you two would run if you saw our cars parked in the yard."
Justin laughed and Lauren's jaw dropped. "You're probably right about that."
She kissed Justin one more time and winked. "I'll see you two in Lauderdale tomorrow."
They closed the door as they were all discussing dinner plans, and both Justin and Lauren turned to yell towards the living room. "Oh JAYCE."
"I know you two want to scalp me, but you should thank me for defusing their anger. They've been here for several hours and because of me they were somewhat relieved to hear that you two really were a couple instead of a pretend one. I told them that I had seen you two together many times, of course I left out the TOGETHER part, but it eased their fears a little."
Lauren threw a pillow at him and plopped down in a chair. "Don't expect me to thank you. Do you know how terrifying it was to walk in to that? You could have called us and warned us."
"So spill what you were too scared to tell mom, dad, and Aunt Lynn. I know you're hiding something."
Justin leaned over the back of the couch and groaned. "My heart is still racing."
"We're not hiding anything. This actually might be the answer to our prayers. Tom is going to have charges brought on him, he's going to have a criminal record by the time dad gets through with him, and with that added to what we already have planned…Jive will HAVE to get rid of him."
Justin nodded and yawned loudly. "Tell Miranda, that as soon as she has the papers in her hands…we need to roll with it."
"I'll tell her."
Jayce looked back and forth between the two and was taken aback by the look in their eyes. "You two are your own miniature gang here. Should I be concerned?"
Justin grinned and shook his head with false pity. "You shouldn't, but Tom Williams is about to have his whole world turned upside down."