Part 1
She often looks at him and wonders, why me?
But then she looks at him and she knows.
She knows he doesn’t care that she’s not as rich as him. She knows he doesn’t care that she spends her days at the children’s hospital saving lives day after day. In fact, he praises her all the time for what she does.
He says the only thing he cares about is that she loves him.
And she does love him. More than anything in the world. And she knows that he loves her, too.
They’d been best friends since they were little, till little over a year ago they both admitted how they really felt about each other. Before they got together, the press kept insisting that they were already a couple.
He denied it many times, and the media finally gave up on their notion.
But now that they are a couple, they can’t let the media know. Why?
She herself doesn’t really understand it. Justin says it’s the whole age difference thing.
“They wouldn’t understand,” he always says.
Justin is 21, and Meghan is 17. Just being friends, no one thought anything wrong with it. Except for some JIVE employees.
“She’s too young to be your friend!” some often told Justin. She knows they think this, cause she overheard Justin talking to one of them just a few months ago.
“She’s way too immature to be in this business, Justin. It’s okay if you guys are friends. But if I hear that you guys are more than that, you can kiss your career goodbye.”
He had been angry, and had wanted to shout, but he stepped back and said calmly, “she’s my friend. That’s it. We’re nothing more. But I don’t want to hear you ever say something bad about her again. Do you hear me?”
She knows he has to say they’re not together, but why when he said ‘we’re nothing more’ did it hurt her?
Maybe it’s the whole Andrea thing that’s bothering her. She knows that he has to do it, to keep the media thinking that he’s hopelessly in love with Andrea. It bothers her that Andrea is so beautiful and skinny. She knows she’s pretty too, but Andrea is also talented and is as famous as he is. Andrea is the newest pop sensation with a knock out body and an amazing voice.
Though he says the distance between them doesn’t really bother him, she knows it does. She knows because he was almost crying on the phone two nights ago. They haven’t seen each other for two whole months, and it is starting to get to both of them. Never before had they been apart that long.
“I miss you,” he finally admitted last night, before they ended their one hour phone conversation.
“I miss you too,” she says, smiling. “I want you to come home.”
Now, seeing him for the first time in two months, she wishes she could hold him in her arms. But she knows she can’t right now. Right now Andrea gets to hold him and touch him.
It’s the release party for NSYNC’s latest album, that is set to be released in just two weeks. Meghan hates that she has to be here…watching them together. She knows it’s not real, and Andrea is doing this to help her and Justin, but she can’t help the jealousy seeping through her as she watches them across the room.
Meghan doesn’t know why she was even invited to the damn party. Everyone here thinks I’m a baby, she thought, scanning the room and spotting the many people who have bad mouthed her behind her back.
Ashley is the only reason Meghan feels sane right now. Ashley is Meghan’s best friend, who is also a good friend of JC’s. There were rumors too that claimed Ashley and JC were dating, but they too deny it, even though it’s obvious there are sparks between them.
Ashley hands Meghan her second glass of ginger ale. They are standing in the corner by all the chairs on the other side of the room.
“I hate this,” Meghan said. “The first day he’s back and I can’t even tell him how much I love him.”
Ashley watched as her friend fiddled with the liquid in her glass. “I know it’s been hard the last few months,” Ashley said. “But just think you’ll have tonight with him.”
Meghan shook her head. “He has some meeting after this party.”
Ashley wasn’t aware of that. She often wondered how Meghan deals with all of this time apart. Cause she knows how much Meghan loves Justin. And she also knows how hard it is to love someone from far away.
Meghan watches Justin as he and Andrea make their way around the room. She’s glad to see him smiling. And she grins, cause she knows he’s smiling because of her. After not seeing each other for so long, Justin finally catches her eye and he smiles. She knows he wants to blow her a kiss, but it’s too big of a risk. So he just waves, then moves with Andrea.
That’s what makes it all worth it, Meghan thought. Knowing that he loves her and doesn’t want anybody else. He still has that spark in his eyes that he had the day he told her he loved her.
She doesn’t want to frown, but she’s tired of being his shadow. Tired of hiding their relationship when all other couples can be open about their relationship in front of everybody. Right now, Meghan just wants to touch him. Just a hug would be enough for her. She waits.
Finally, an hour into the party, Justin and Andrea make their way over to Ashley and Meghan. Ashley is on her second drink, while Meghan has had four ginger ale’s. She feels kind of sick.
“You alright, Meghan?” Andrea asked out of concern.
“Fine.” Meghan swallows the last of ale in her cup then throws it in the trash can across from her.
“No more of that for you,” Ashley told Meghan, who is now sitting down on the chair. She felt weak from just seeing Justin so close. It’s been like he’s been in a different galaxy for so long.
“Meghan?” Justin’s soft voice echo’s through her ears, and she looks up.
Her eyes focus on his face. She doesn’t say anything, she just stares at him. It’s been much too long.
“Justin,” Ashley said, when Meghan says nothing. Justin doesn’t look away from Meghan, but he’s listening. “Congratulations on the album. I heard you got a lot of your songs on there.”
“Yeah, a few,” he said.
Andrea turned to Justin. “Why don’t I go introduce Ashley to some of the executives? Give you and Meghan some time to catch up a little.”
Meghan knows that Andrea would never try to break them up. Andrea’s become one of her closest friends. Whenever she’s upset about the whole situation, Meghan feels like she can talk to Andrea about it. And she does. Sometimes they’re on the phone for hours. Andrea sometimes let’s Meghan cry, and sometimes Andrea tells her how sorry she is about it all. Andrea often tells Meghan stories about how Justin just goes on and on about her. And that makes Meghan laugh.
“Thanks,” Justin said.
Ashley puts down her glass, then joins Andrea and they walk across the room.
Meghan isn’t sure what to say. She knows she can’t say what she wants to say here. And she can’t do what she wants to do here.
“Having fun?” he asked, breaking the silence.
“I guess. Not really my thing.”
“I know,” he said softly. “I was hoping you’d show up. The exec’s really wanted you to come.”
Meghan snorted. “Right.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She gets up from the chair and stands in front of him. “I’m not stupid,” she says quietly, so no one can hear them. “I heard what that guy said to you just before you left for Europe. I heard him tell you how immature I was. He must wonder how you can stand to be friends with me.”
He had no idea she had overheard that conversation. He hissed in a breath. “He didn’t mean it.”
“But of course you cleared it up for him that we’ll never be more than that. You wouldn’t want to risk your career, or anything.” She didn’t want to get mad at him, especially tonight, but the words still got to her.
He stepped closer to her. “That’s not fair.” He put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her into his arms. Remembering how this probably looked, he pulled back.
She fought back the tears. “I don’t know why I even bothered coming. There you go again putting on the act.”
“Act? What act?”
“The act where you pretend like you only think of me as a friend. And honestly, I’m getting sick of it. Excuse me, I think I’m going back home.” Meghan pulls on her coat that is hanging on the back of the chair.
Justin pulled on her hand. He saw that tears are starting to fall down her cheek.
“Don’t go,” he said, wiping the tears away with his hand.
“I can’t do this.” She pulled his hand away. “You have responsibilities right now. The one thing you know is that I’m always going to be waiting for you. Though sometimes I wonder why, I still am.” She put her scarf around her neck and looks at him once more. “I missed you more than you could ever know.” Then she disappeared out of the room, and he cursed.
He turned to see Ashley and Andrea standing behind him.
“Go after her,” Andrea said.
“But…”
“I’ll cover for you,” Andrea said. “You know this isn’t where you should be right now. For Christ sake, Justin. You’ve been apart for two months. You shouldn’t be here, stuck at some stupid party.”
Justin knows she’s right. Everytime he hurts Meghan like this, having to drag her to some damn party, he hurts too. His heart aches and all he wants to do is be alone with her.
“You’re right. What the hell am I waiting for? Thanks, guys.”
Justin was gone within seconds. He got into his jag outside in the parking lot. On his way to Meghan, he broke a few speed limits.
But then she looks at him and she knows.
She knows he doesn’t care that she’s not as rich as him. She knows he doesn’t care that she spends her days at the children’s hospital saving lives day after day. In fact, he praises her all the time for what she does.
He says the only thing he cares about is that she loves him.
And she does love him. More than anything in the world. And she knows that he loves her, too.
They’d been best friends since they were little, till little over a year ago they both admitted how they really felt about each other. Before they got together, the press kept insisting that they were already a couple.
He denied it many times, and the media finally gave up on their notion.
But now that they are a couple, they can’t let the media know. Why?
She herself doesn’t really understand it. Justin says it’s the whole age difference thing.
“They wouldn’t understand,” he always says.
Justin is 21, and Meghan is 17. Just being friends, no one thought anything wrong with it. Except for some JIVE employees.
“She’s too young to be your friend!” some often told Justin. She knows they think this, cause she overheard Justin talking to one of them just a few months ago.
“She’s way too immature to be in this business, Justin. It’s okay if you guys are friends. But if I hear that you guys are more than that, you can kiss your career goodbye.”
He had been angry, and had wanted to shout, but he stepped back and said calmly, “she’s my friend. That’s it. We’re nothing more. But I don’t want to hear you ever say something bad about her again. Do you hear me?”
She knows he has to say they’re not together, but why when he said ‘we’re nothing more’ did it hurt her?
Maybe it’s the whole Andrea thing that’s bothering her. She knows that he has to do it, to keep the media thinking that he’s hopelessly in love with Andrea. It bothers her that Andrea is so beautiful and skinny. She knows she’s pretty too, but Andrea is also talented and is as famous as he is. Andrea is the newest pop sensation with a knock out body and an amazing voice.
Though he says the distance between them doesn’t really bother him, she knows it does. She knows because he was almost crying on the phone two nights ago. They haven’t seen each other for two whole months, and it is starting to get to both of them. Never before had they been apart that long.
“I miss you,” he finally admitted last night, before they ended their one hour phone conversation.
“I miss you too,” she says, smiling. “I want you to come home.”
Now, seeing him for the first time in two months, she wishes she could hold him in her arms. But she knows she can’t right now. Right now Andrea gets to hold him and touch him.
It’s the release party for NSYNC’s latest album, that is set to be released in just two weeks. Meghan hates that she has to be here…watching them together. She knows it’s not real, and Andrea is doing this to help her and Justin, but she can’t help the jealousy seeping through her as she watches them across the room.
Meghan doesn’t know why she was even invited to the damn party. Everyone here thinks I’m a baby, she thought, scanning the room and spotting the many people who have bad mouthed her behind her back.
Ashley is the only reason Meghan feels sane right now. Ashley is Meghan’s best friend, who is also a good friend of JC’s. There were rumors too that claimed Ashley and JC were dating, but they too deny it, even though it’s obvious there are sparks between them.
Ashley hands Meghan her second glass of ginger ale. They are standing in the corner by all the chairs on the other side of the room.
“I hate this,” Meghan said. “The first day he’s back and I can’t even tell him how much I love him.”
Ashley watched as her friend fiddled with the liquid in her glass. “I know it’s been hard the last few months,” Ashley said. “But just think you’ll have tonight with him.”
Meghan shook her head. “He has some meeting after this party.”
Ashley wasn’t aware of that. She often wondered how Meghan deals with all of this time apart. Cause she knows how much Meghan loves Justin. And she also knows how hard it is to love someone from far away.
Meghan watches Justin as he and Andrea make their way around the room. She’s glad to see him smiling. And she grins, cause she knows he’s smiling because of her. After not seeing each other for so long, Justin finally catches her eye and he smiles. She knows he wants to blow her a kiss, but it’s too big of a risk. So he just waves, then moves with Andrea.
That’s what makes it all worth it, Meghan thought. Knowing that he loves her and doesn’t want anybody else. He still has that spark in his eyes that he had the day he told her he loved her.
She doesn’t want to frown, but she’s tired of being his shadow. Tired of hiding their relationship when all other couples can be open about their relationship in front of everybody. Right now, Meghan just wants to touch him. Just a hug would be enough for her. She waits.
Finally, an hour into the party, Justin and Andrea make their way over to Ashley and Meghan. Ashley is on her second drink, while Meghan has had four ginger ale’s. She feels kind of sick.
“You alright, Meghan?” Andrea asked out of concern.
“Fine.” Meghan swallows the last of ale in her cup then throws it in the trash can across from her.
“No more of that for you,” Ashley told Meghan, who is now sitting down on the chair. She felt weak from just seeing Justin so close. It’s been like he’s been in a different galaxy for so long.
“Meghan?” Justin’s soft voice echo’s through her ears, and she looks up.
Her eyes focus on his face. She doesn’t say anything, she just stares at him. It’s been much too long.
“Justin,” Ashley said, when Meghan says nothing. Justin doesn’t look away from Meghan, but he’s listening. “Congratulations on the album. I heard you got a lot of your songs on there.”
“Yeah, a few,” he said.
Andrea turned to Justin. “Why don’t I go introduce Ashley to some of the executives? Give you and Meghan some time to catch up a little.”
Meghan knows that Andrea would never try to break them up. Andrea’s become one of her closest friends. Whenever she’s upset about the whole situation, Meghan feels like she can talk to Andrea about it. And she does. Sometimes they’re on the phone for hours. Andrea sometimes let’s Meghan cry, and sometimes Andrea tells her how sorry she is about it all. Andrea often tells Meghan stories about how Justin just goes on and on about her. And that makes Meghan laugh.
“Thanks,” Justin said.
Ashley puts down her glass, then joins Andrea and they walk across the room.
Meghan isn’t sure what to say. She knows she can’t say what she wants to say here. And she can’t do what she wants to do here.
“Having fun?” he asked, breaking the silence.
“I guess. Not really my thing.”
“I know,” he said softly. “I was hoping you’d show up. The exec’s really wanted you to come.”
Meghan snorted. “Right.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She gets up from the chair and stands in front of him. “I’m not stupid,” she says quietly, so no one can hear them. “I heard what that guy said to you just before you left for Europe. I heard him tell you how immature I was. He must wonder how you can stand to be friends with me.”
He had no idea she had overheard that conversation. He hissed in a breath. “He didn’t mean it.”
“But of course you cleared it up for him that we’ll never be more than that. You wouldn’t want to risk your career, or anything.” She didn’t want to get mad at him, especially tonight, but the words still got to her.
He stepped closer to her. “That’s not fair.” He put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her into his arms. Remembering how this probably looked, he pulled back.
She fought back the tears. “I don’t know why I even bothered coming. There you go again putting on the act.”
“Act? What act?”
“The act where you pretend like you only think of me as a friend. And honestly, I’m getting sick of it. Excuse me, I think I’m going back home.” Meghan pulls on her coat that is hanging on the back of the chair.
Justin pulled on her hand. He saw that tears are starting to fall down her cheek.
“Don’t go,” he said, wiping the tears away with his hand.
“I can’t do this.” She pulled his hand away. “You have responsibilities right now. The one thing you know is that I’m always going to be waiting for you. Though sometimes I wonder why, I still am.” She put her scarf around her neck and looks at him once more. “I missed you more than you could ever know.” Then she disappeared out of the room, and he cursed.
He turned to see Ashley and Andrea standing behind him.
“Go after her,” Andrea said.
“But…”
“I’ll cover for you,” Andrea said. “You know this isn’t where you should be right now. For Christ sake, Justin. You’ve been apart for two months. You shouldn’t be here, stuck at some stupid party.”
Justin knows she’s right. Everytime he hurts Meghan like this, having to drag her to some damn party, he hurts too. His heart aches and all he wants to do is be alone with her.
“You’re right. What the hell am I waiting for? Thanks, guys.”
Justin was gone within seconds. He got into his jag outside in the parking lot. On his way to Meghan, he broke a few speed limits.