Chapter Forty-Nine

(Thursday. May 25, 2000. Tampa, Florida)

Lauren checked her watch and sighed when she saw that it was only about thirty seconds since the last time she had checked it. The roar of the crowd was still ringing in her ears and she got a full understanding of why Justin had told her never to go without earplugs at the concert. She had seen every show of the tour so far, at every show her ears had been protected, and this time she was paying for her mistake.

The fans so far had been very supportive and wonderful to her about the whole Shai deal and Justin's involvement. She didn't know how amazing they were until they were suddenly on her side and encouraging her to take care of Justin so he wouldn't get hurt by someone like that again. Shai was definitely out of the N SYNC world and she had been forcefully pushed by the fans whose loyalty had worked in both Lauren and Justin's favor.

In a small and VERY tiny way, Lauren had actually pitied and felt bad for Shai. That thought and those feelings lasted all of about fifteen seconds, but there was a time when she regretted that this all had to happen. Shai needed some professional help, she needed to learn how to love and be loved in returned, and she needed to learn how to deal with the word "no" because life was full disappointing moments. She couldn't get her way all of her life and the sooner she figured that out…the better.

Of course, Lauren wasn't one who gave up when she didn't automatically have things work out in her favor. However, she would never do the things that Shai had decided to do. Her manipulative and evil streak was the side of her that made Lauren smile whenever she thought about Shai being dragged out of the arena a few days ago and crying like her entire world had exploded.

In all honesty, that is exactly what had happened.

Tom had been missing in action for most of the time since they left Orlando. The press hadn't let up at all, they hounded him unlike anything she could have ever imagined, and if she had to bet…she would bet that he was gone to avoid killing anyone. The last time she had seen him, he had made it clear that she was to stay away from Justin, but she listened to him about as much as she listened to her toothbrush. They needed to keep up their "pretenses" for a little bit longer while Harrison got everything ready to print.

It was interesting to walk around and know that Tom no longer had a contract to hold over her head, but he didn't know this tiny bit of information yet. The longer he was left in the dark about everything, the better everything would be. He thought Justin hated her, he thought that he still controlled her, this knowledge blinded him to what was really going on, and his naivete would only add to the sweetness of their victory.

It was a shame that they still had to pretend for his benefit, though. He wasn't around but since they couldn't trust many people, they had to continue to act angry or hurtful with one another so Tom wouldn't catch on. He was working on reinforcements, no doubt. He had lost both Shai and Mary Beth in one swipe, he had had to kill them off himself, and now he would be searching for new recruits. Anyone around them would be an easy target, so they played it safe and went along with the original plan as much as they could.

The door to her hotel room opened and she turned to growl at Justin. "Did you get lost?"

He rolled his eyes and smiled timidly as he walked towards her. "We were all on the bus waiting for Joey to finish TALKING with some girl who worked at the venue."

"That's your story?"

Slowly, he continued towards her. "It's the truth. We all ran off the stage like we always do, through the crewmembers basically ripping the clothes off of us, to the bus, they counted, and no Joey. Fifteen minutes later I see a few security members and even some event crewmembers holding the door and pushing him out. By then the fans were already around the back part of the place and it was tricky getting away. Why are you giving me that look?"

She shrugged and tried not to smile, but a grin slid across her face anyway. "Oh…I just love how you ramble."

"You do, huh?" He stopped in front of her and looked down with an evil gleam in his eyes.

"I just find it interesting how you ramble on and on about being innocent, when really you're making yourself sound guilty."

"Thanks, mom."

She stood up on tiptoe and kissed him briefly on the lips before walking around him. "Good show tonight. Did you mean to bust your ass when you ran up the side of the stage or was that something new Wade added?"

He fell back on the bed and covered his face with his hands. "Saw that?"

"It was SMOOTH! I think my entire section was laughing so hard that we couldn't catch our breath for a while. You were one sexy bitch, Justin."

"You can shut up now, Val."

She crawled up on the bed, threw one leg over his waist, and sat down on top of him. "You love me. Anyway, have you seen Tom around?"

Justin groaned when Tom's name was mentioned and his head moved back and forth against the mattress. "I haven't seen him and I would REALLY like to forget that the man exists. Can we not say his name or even think about him for the next two days?"

"He's going to be here when we get back and we both know that he's going to be out for blood."

His hands came away from his face and rested against her knees. "You talked to Harrison?"

"I called him earlier and told him to run our statements in tomorrow's edition. Hopefully, we will both be gone before Tom sees it. He won't be sane, Justin."

"It's going to be interesting to see how he handles this. All this time he's thinking that his plan is working, he thinks that we can't stand each other, he thinks that he has won, and one article in USA today is going to start a FRENZY. All the while…we'll be mysteriously gone together. Tom is probably going to need a straightjacket when he gets his hands on that article."

She rested her hands on top of his and quietly pondered that thought for a moment. "Do you think this is a good idea? I mean, it's out of our hands now but we're kind of leaving everyone to handle this alone."

"We don't need to be here, Val. The thing we need is to get away from it all for a while and regain our strength for when we DO have to come back and fight with Tom." His fingers rubbed the soft skin of hers and he watched her closely for a moment before continuing. "You read what I put into that statement, right?"

She swallowed hard and looked away. "Yeah."

His voice lowered into a whisper that was full of certainty, but also a lot of emotion that was boiling inside of him. "I meant every word. I don't care what our families think, I don't care what the fans think, and I certainly don't care what Tom thinks. I'm not going to deny loving you, like it's a bad thing I should hide or lie about. There's no way I can do that."

She grabbed his wrists, pulled them over his head, and leaned her weight onto them to pin him down on the bed. "Did you talk to Miranda?"

"I thought you were going to do that."

"I did but I didn't know if you talked to her too. I told her that she has to have everything ready before Sunday but she made it sound like she needed a little more time. What if…"

Justin pushed with his legs and they both rolled over until he was straddling her hips and pinning her arms to the bed. Lauren hadn't expected the motion and all she could do was stare up at him in shock. "Val, you can't take on the world all at once. Things will work out."

"Justin…"

"None of that. You will drive yourself crazy, you will drive ME crazy, if you try to think of everything that could or might go wrong."

"Justin get…"

He let go of one of her wrists to cover her mouth with his hand. "I'm telling you to drop it and think about the next two days that will be stress free."

She mumbled something against his hand before her eyes narrowed at his mischievous grin.

Justin knew when he was in hot water, and the look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. She wasn't exactly thrilled about the position she was in. "I uh…I really just didn't…you know…want you to freak out or anything. I'm going to take my hand away because you look like…yeah…no biting."

She quietly licked her lips when his hand was removed, but her eyes never left his.

"Val, you uh…you know I love you, right? I love you."

His scared giggle and fearful eyes had no affect on her. "Mind telling me why you're on top of me."

"Because you…you started it."

He wasn't sure when she moved, he wasn't sure when she came up off the bed, but the next thing he knew, he was rolling with her on the bed and trying to keep her hands away from him. They were both trying so hard not to laugh, but soon they gave into the humor of it and Lauren giggled as she tickled his sides and he squirmed to get away.

"Oh no you don't. Come here!"

They rolled over again and Lauren slammed him down before her fingers resumed their work. Justin could barely catch his breath as she reached under him and tickled the sensitive part of his waist. "I'm going to pee in my pants if you don't…NO! Lauren! Not that!"

There was a soft knock at the door before it opened and Miranda quietly strolled in. She stared down at the clipboard in her hand and walked into the room like nothing was going on. Justin pushed against Lauren's shoulder and they rolled around on the bed growling at each other while Miranda flipped through her papers.

"Ok you two, I have the papers that you asked me to get and they're ready for when you want to use them. Since Tom is back in Orlando at the moment, stewing and plotting no doubt, I'm going to hold onto them and lock them up with the other confidential documents that I have. Do you have any idea of when you want to do this?"

Lauren shoved Justin and they went rolling off of the bed to land on the floor with a crash.

Miranda yawned and her eyebrows raised slightly. "Good move, Lauren. Anyway, this is very risky and I sure hope you know what you're getting into here. Tom isn't going to like this very much since this can basically end his career. I bet you already knew that though."

Lauren yanked on Justin's hair and playfully bit into the fingers that were holding her head away from him. "You're going DOWN!"

"Hold onto that confidence because that's all you've got left. OW! Oh you're going to pay!"

Miranda checked her watch and stepped over them as they rolled towards her. "There was a delivery for you a few minutes ago, Justin. Someone from a travel agency and he left this envelope. I'll just put it here on the dresser for you to look at when you get…ahem…free."

He struggled to get his fingers out of her mouth and finally managed the feat. While she was lost in her laughter, he attempted to pin her down on the ground but she pushed against his legs with her feet and shimmied away from him. He grabbed a foot and dragged her back where he could tickle her much in the same way she had done to him.

"Ooh, go Justin. I'm not sure how you're going to manage this, but you're going to have to get Tom really riled up to ever fall for this trick. Of course, it shouldn't be all that hard to get him mad because that's a knack that both of you possess. Man, it's already one in the morning. I need sleep."

She stepped back over the wrestling pair but stopped halfway to the door and reached into her pocket. "Jayce left some keys for you before he left, Lauren. These look like car keys. Were you going to drive back to Orlando instead of riding the bus?"

"OH YOU'RE DEAD NOW!" She reached up and pulled on the comforter until it slid off the bed, then she wrapped it around Justin's head where he was left blindly reaching for her.

Miranda tossed them on the counter, stretched lazily, and yawned again. "My bed is calling me. The buses are pulling out at eight am. Dammit there are too many messages here. Mike is looking for you, Justin. I'm not sure what that's about but he looked a little miffed. Goodnight."

When the door closed, Lauren pushed with both her hands and feet and Justin fell off of her with a thump. "Take THAT! Ooh, tickets on the dresser huh? Would those be the tickets for tomorrow, per chance?"

Justin struggled with getting the blanket unwrapped from his head. When it was finally gone his hair stood out in every direction imaginable. He dove towards the dresser and snatched up the envelope before she could get her hands on it. "Oh no you don't. These aren't for Lauren's eyes."

"Then whose eyes are they for? Oh come on, Justin. I want to see them."

He rubbed his aching side where she had kicked him and held the tickets up over his head where she couldn't reach them. "You'll find out soon enough. Don't spoil the secret, Val."

She reached for them again and he held her back with an outstretched arm. "Justin, you're being no fun."

"I'm being a lot of fun. Are you all packed?"

When she saw the playful look in his eyes and the bright smile, she gave in and sat down on the bed. "I'm packed and ready to go. All of my other bags are on the bus but I packed the basic essentials for the trip. What time are we going to bust out of here?"

"Hmm…if the buses leave at eight, our flight leaves at eight, then we need to get out of here at seven at the LATEST."

"Security and fans are going to be everywhere at seven. They're not going to let us go without a fight."

He picked up the keys that Miranda had tossed aside and pocketed them. "Have a little faith. It's not going to be easy at all to get out of here without Mike or some other part of security trying to follow. I have no doubt that part of the press is also going to try to follow, but we HAVE TO get out of here without them knowing where we're going. If they figure it out then the plans will be stopped."

She made one last attempt to grab the tickets when he walked by, but ended up slapping his butt instead. "Butthead. Your hair looks like crap too."

Her comment made him stop and slowly turn around with his hands on his hips. When she stuck her tongue out at him, he grinned a split second before he was suddenly on top of her and his lips were covering hers. Lauren didn't even have a chance to breathe much less prepare herself for the movement. He relaxed into her and tilted his head to get a better angle to her lips and push them wider with his own.

When her fingers relaxed on his shoulders and then tightened to bring him closer, he pulled away and stood up just as quickly as he had started it. "Be ready to run at six thirty."

There was no movement out of her except to stare up at the ceiling and lick her lips. "You…are…evil."

"Goodnight, Val."

When the door closed behind him, she gripped the sheets on the bed and growled. "Being that sexy should be illegal. Whew…lock him up and hand ME the damn key."

Lauren didn't sleep hardly at all and she knew she had seen every hour on the clock. It wasn't that she was scared. Sure, she was nervous and anxious about this trip because she had no idea what was going to come because of it. There were endless possibilities when Justin got an idea in his head, and she had no doubt that he had many things up his sleeve for this weekend getaway.

Even though he wasn't putting any expectations on her, she knew as well as he did that being alone together, being young, being in love, being carefree, and having privacy would create expectations all their own. She was trying hard not to think about those kinds of things, but they had kept her up all night. She kept imagining and trying to guess what she would be doing or thinking just twenty-four hours from that point. Would they be talking? Would they be laughing over something stupid or a movie that they were watching? Or would she be sleeping peacefully in his arms and imagining that they didn't have a care in the world?

Justin had had a similar restless night because he knew that Lauren was worrying and that she was questioning things. He wished there was some way that he could take all of her fears away and shield her from the madness that surrounded them. Hopefully, everything that they had planned and everything that they were going to do to Tom would work out and Lauren would never have to be scared again. If it was the last thing he did, he would take her mind off of everything for these two days. He would give her the weekend that she had always dreamed about.

He slung his bag over his shoulder, checked his pockets for the car keys and for the tickets, and then stepped out into the hallway. It was empty except for a few security members who were discussing the plan for getting everyone safely to the bus, and he took a deep breath before walking towards them.

"I MUST be dreaming."

Justin froze when Mike's voice called out from behind him. He turned with a bright smile on his face. "HEY! I didn't know you were behind me. Stop my heart, man. Stop my heart."

Mike's eyes were narrowed as he looked Justin over and then checked his watch. "It's five thirty in the morning. Who are you and what have you done with the brat named Justin?"

Justin laughed like that was the funniest thing he had ever heard. "You're too funny. I…I couldn't sleep last night so I just got up and packed my things so we can leave. Where is everyone?"

"They're sleeping just like you usually are at this time."

"I'm excited about having two days off and traveling to New Orleans. The concert there Sunday should be fun."

Mike still looked him over carefully and noticed that Justin was starting to sweat for some unknown reason. "We leave for New Orleans in a few hours and we should be there by early tomorrow morning. Do you have any plans for the city?"

"New Orleans? Uh…boring city."

"Since when?"

Another door opened and when Justin saw Lauren come out into the hallway, he groaned and closed his eyes. "Just great."

Mike raised an eyebrow at her and looked between the two. "Oh I KNOW something is up. What are you plotting, boy?"

Lauren walked over and smiled just as broadly and fake as Justin had. "I just couldn't…"

"Let me guess, you couldn't sleep either? There must be a lot of that going around, or my fears have been confirmed and you two really DO share a brain."

They looked at each other and started laughing. Justin patted Mike's shoulder and sighed. "You are such a comedian. Is breakfast ready yet?"

"It's being set up down the hall."

"Maybe you should go ahead and get started while I help Lauren pack up her things."

He looked down at Lauren's arm and stared at her bag. "She looks packed, and prematurely so."

"Mike…"

He held up a hand and shushed them. "I don't know what you two are up to, but I don't like it. I've been around you since you both still had pimples and a huge chip on your shoulders. The pimples have faded, the chip is still there, but I know how to predict you two better than anyone around. What are you scheming and will it have me pulling my hair out?"

"What hair?" Justin coughed and covered when Mike gave him a dirty look. "Sorry about that. We're not up to anything, dude. She couldn't sleep, I couldn't sleep, and now we're going to talk to keep away the boredom. Sounds innocent, right?"

"Sounds like a line of bull."

Lauren moved around Justin and grabbed Mike's arm. "Would you come help me move the dresser in here? I dropped an earring back there."

"PERFECT! I mean…yeah…go help her with that. I'm going to get something to eat."

Mike walked with Lauren towards her room, but he stopped after a few feet and whistled to the guys down the hall. "Do NOT let him out of your sight! Not even for a second."

"You're being a pain in the ass, Mike."

"Just doing my job and covering your 'so not clever' butt. Where is this earring, Lauren?"

She held up four fingers before waving for Justin to go on, and then followed Mike inside. When the door closed, Justin immediately turned to look at the security guards that were coming towards him. "Just great. Hewey, Dewey, and Louie. How are you guys doing?"

"Good morning, Justin. What have you done to piss Mike off now?"

"ME? I'm just standing here and he keeps going on about some secret plan that I'm supposedly working on. He needs a vacation, I think. He's stressed and needs a woman."

They all started laughing and nodding in agreement. "You two give each other a hard time."

He stepped forward and they held their hands out to stop him. "What's this about? I can't go down there and get something to eat?"

After looking back and forth between each other, they stepped out of the way and followed behind him as he walked down the hall. The whole way down the hall he was thinking of what he could do to get away, but they were following orders a little too well. The answer to his prayers came when he spotted one hotel worker who was pushing a cart loaded with platters and glasses to be carried to the breakfast area.

With a sly grin, Justin jogged up to him and grabbed the cart. "Here, let me help you with that."

"Oh no sir. I've got it."

"No really, it's my pleasure." He pulled on the front of the cart and walked backwards into the room. There were only a few people in the room and they were all people who worked with the hotel.

It didn't get any better than this.

Once he was halfway through the door, he shoved the cart back towards the man and slammed the door. Before they could open it, he put the lock on and hung his bag crossways across his chest so he could move without worry. The people in the room all froze as he looked at them and smiled. "There wouldn't be another door out of here, would there?"

One girl pointed behind her and Justin kissed her cheek as he ran by and out the door she had specified. He could hear the guards beating at the door and yelling at him, and he had no doubt that Mike would soon follow. He ran into the staircase and skidded down the stairs as quickly as his feet would take him. It was hard leaving Lauren behind, but he knew that she would meet up with him before they were caught up in the crowd too badly. He had to trust her and her ability to manipulate situations just as well, if not better, than he could.

He heard a door open above him followed by the stomping of heavy feet as they chased down the stairs after him. He pushed his legs to move faster down the last few flights of stairs. Breaking through the door, his eyes scanned the parking lot and finally he spotted the black convertible that he recognized as Jayce's.

Amidst screams of recognition from the fans that surrounded the fence, he sprinted across the parking lot, past the buses, and right past the crewmembers that looked at him curiously. Unlocking the door, he jumped inside, threw his bag in the back, and fastened his seatbelt. The security members that chased him were coming out of the door as he pulled out of the parking space and drove back around the lot to avoid them and to give Lauren some time to get there.

They continued to chase him and they split up to cut him off at the corner but he slammed on breaks and backed up to go down another aisle that they were nowhere near. "Just GIVE UP! Come on, LAUREN!"

The car squealed around the corner and he looked to the door where he prayed that Lauren would appear from any minute. He could see that they were already starting to figure out if they blocked the gates that he wouldn't get anywhere. "Unbelievable!"

He drove back down one of the rows and slammed on breaks when he spotted her. She jumped out the way when one of the guys tried to grab her, and jumped into the car over the side. "Thank GOD you were smart enough to put down the top."

"Took you long enough! Put on your seatbelt, Val."

She clicked the belt closed and pointed in front of them. "Go that way! There's a gate that nobody is near."

He pushed the pedal down and the car raced down the row and around the corner. "Mike is going to stop this. DAMMIT why did he have to be awake?"

"I don't know. They can't stop us from leaving."

"The hell they can't. Ok, so they might not stop us from leaving but their presence will be with us when we leave and I really don't want to explain my every movement to security this weekend."

She leaned forward and screamed. "JUSTIN STOP!"

The car skidded to a halt a few inches in front of Anthony who stood in the road with his hands out. "Jesus!"

Lauren unhooked her seatbelt and stood up to look over the windshield. "Move, Anthony."

"I can't do that."

Justin jerked her arm down until she was seated again and slid his sunglasses on. "Let's just hope his bark is worse than his bite."

"Oh…my…God. Justin no!"

He floored it and they both sighed when Anthony jumped out of the way. Lauren looked back to see if he was ok and she saw that Mike was standing next to him waving his hands. "Seatbelt ON, Val."

Anthony watched the car go through the gates and around the corner. "Should we get in the vans and chase them down?"

Mike grinned and slowly shook his head. "Nah…we put on a good show here. If anyone asks, we did everything we could to stop them. They'll be back after their little joy ride."

The car stopped right in front of the hotel and Justin looked both ways while he waited for a break in traffic. "It's too early for this kind of traffic!"

Lauren looked around at the fans who were all screaming and running towards the car. "It better break soon or we have another problem."

"Do you see Mike or the van coming for us?"

She turned around and squinted, but all she could see were fans. Then her eyes landed on Mike and her jaw dropped when she saw him standing there calmly watching the spectacle. "He's just standing there."

"Are you serious?"

"There are fans running for us. If there's any small gap…GO!"

He pushed his sunglasses up and cut out in front of a car right before the fans reached them. "If I wreck this car, Jayce will kill me."

"He will fillet you. How did you EVER talk him into letting you use his car?"

"He's got my seventy thousand dollar car as collateral. This thing better not come back with even a scratch. Is this the turn to the interstate?"

She looked at the map that had been drawn on a slip of paper and nodded. "That's the one for the airport."

Traffic was moving quickly on the interstate and Justin didn't relax or take a deep breath until they were a few miles from the hotel. "Did we do it?"

Lauren's hair whipped all around her and she parted it to smile at him. "I think we did it."

His teeth shined brightly in the early morning sunlight. "That wasn't so bad."

She pulled back her hair again and laughed at the way he looked so evil with his dark sunglasses, bandana blowing in the breeze, curls flying out the back, and devilish grin on his face. "I can't believe we did it!"

He looked down when her hand rested on top of his on the gearshift. "We're going to be late to the airport. It's almost seven and that traffic up there looks bad."

"We'll get there in time."

He looked up in the rearview mirror and shifted into a higher gear. "I'm not so sure about that. We have press on our backs."

Lauren turned around and saw the two cars that were weaving in and out of traffic trying to catch them. "Great."

Justin sped the car up and shifted again. They moved past cars like they were standing still and Lauren kept her eyes on the press vehicles that were coming closer and closer. "How far are we from the exit?"

"Just a little bit further. The problem is, there's a traffic jam up here. Hold on, this is going to get scary."

She turned back around and covered her eyes when he started weaving through cars and across lanes. "Tell me when the ride is over."

"I'm not going to wreck the car, Lauren."

"Who cares about the car? I want to LIVE!"

One of the cars was so close that she could almost see the brand of camera the man inside was holding. Her eyes frantically searched inside the car and she spotted a cup inside the holder. "I love that my brother is a slob."

"What?"

She picked up the cup, waited until the car was close enough, and tossed it at the windshield. Chocolate milkshake coated the passenger side and the driver pulled to the side to avoid having it cover his side and cause a wreck. "Take a picture OF THAT, YOU ASS!"

"Lauren, turn around in the seat and hug the seatbelt."

She sat back down with a giggle and cleared her throat. "Nosey bastards."

"We're about to make a sharp turn and avoid this traffic." His words were fully out before he crossed every lane of traffic and managed to catch the off-ramp at the last possible second.

The other vehicle didn't make the turn and they got lost in the bumper to bumper traffic that trapped them. Lauren held her hands up in the breeze and laughed before leaning over and kissing Justin on the cheek. "Times like these, when my life was almost taken, make me realize how much I love you."

"So you're saying you want me to kill you?"

"Uh…nevermind. The airport should be a few minutes away."

"In theory, Val."

She looked over and saw that his hands were trembling as he raised one to chew on it. "Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine as soon as we're on the plane and can forget about this mess. I don't really like having to outwit security, run through security gates, pass through fans, risk getting in a car accident, fly down an interstate fleeing the press, and all just to spend a few days alone with you. It just reminds me of what I've given up to be who I am."

They were both quiet the rest of the way to the airport, but Lauren reached over and rested her hand on the back of his neck. She rubbed the tense muscles and twisted his hair between her fingers while he drove. Due to even more traffic, they made it to the airport and parked with only a few minutes to spare. He parked the car in long-term parking and they both scrambled to get their bags and get out of there.

Justin put Jayce's keys in a stamped envelope and tossed it into a mailbox on their way by. He checked his watch and reached for her hand before they quickly ran through the airport. "We're not going to make it."

"We're going to make it. Run faster!"

He was basically dragging her behind him as they made their way down the terminals and towards the gate where their flight would be leaving from. Neither one was aware of any exhaustion or breathlessness as he sped up, but Lauren did notice that while her legs were long…he was going to be dragging her along if it was much further.

They made it just as the gates were being closed, and Justin handed over the tickets to the woman who smiled with recognition. "Nice to have you aboard Justin."

"Thanks. Come on, Lauren."

In the skyway, Lauren squeezed his hand and tried to get her breath back. "We're here."

He kissed the back of her hand and nodded. "Yes we are. For the next two days…just you and me."