“We should really get out of here,” Elizabeth said taking her bag from the lady over the counter. “It's been over an hour since he's left, he's probably looking for me.”

        “I doubt it. Guys always take forever in malls,” Anna said as they reached the middle of the book store. She spotted a crowd of girls standing around. “I wonder what's going on.”

        “I don’t know.” And she didn’t really care, either. She had to go find Justin. She was late, and he was probably waiting at the clothing store for her.

        “Come on.” Anna dragged her over to where the girls were and pushed her way through them. “Should have known,” she muttered.

        Elizabeth didn’t know what to think, or what to say. She just stood there, and Anna pulled her through the crowd of girls gathered around Justin.

        Justin looked up and saw the two girls. He was relieved to find someone he knew. “Help me!” he pleaded glaring over at Meg, who Elizabeth recognized right away.

        She hadn't changed much except now her hair was a bit longer.

        “It's so nice to see you again,” Meg said to Elizabeth, who wasn't buying any word of it.

        Elizabeth ignored her and turned to Justin and laughed. “Having troubles?”

        “Just get me out of here,” he said. He wasn’t all that comfortable either with Meg shooting glances in Elizabeth’s direction.

        Elizabeth grabbed Justin's hand and pulled him out from the mob of girls.

        “You okay?” she asked him as soon as they got out of the large book store.

        He leaned against the post and sighed. “Now I am. Damn it, I swear she's following me.”

        “Meg?” Anna asked.

        “Yes,” he said. “I saw her the other day when me and the guys were at the studio.”

        “She still wants you back,” Anna said. But like that was any surprise.

        “So? She knows I don't love her.” He looked at Elizabeth and smiled. He looked down at her bags. “Did you find something nice?”

        “Yes,” she said, trying not to show how affected she was by Meg’s recent presence.

        “But it ain't blue. The girl hates that color,” Anna said.

        “It's pink,” Elizabeth said. “And what did you buy?” She looked down at the four large bags Justin was carrying in his hands.

        “It's a surprise.”

        “You're not going to give me one clue are you?”

        He smiled. “Nope. Not till we get there.”

        “Get where?” Elizabeth asked, trying to get anything out of him. The suspense was getting to her.

        “I can’t tell you,” he said, shaking his finger at her. “We better go, but it was nice seeing you again, Anna.”

        “You too,” Anna said. Anna shared a quick hug with Elizabeth, then she disappeared, leaving the two love birds alone.

        “So we're leaving now?” Elizabeth asked as Justin grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the mall exit. He didn't give her an answer, he got in his side of the car after she got in hers, then drove away.

        He’d refused to answer any of her many questions on the drive to wherever he was taking them to.

        When she saw their first destination, she was blown away. How had he known that her favorite place in the world was at the top of a mountain?

        She stepped out of the car and shut the door. She was glad she had worn shorts today, it was so warm up there. Justin on the other hand looked warm. He had long pants and a shirt that was pretty heavy.

        “You should have brought an extra pair of pants,” she said as they walked over to one of the large rocks and sat side by side.

        “I didn't think it would be this hot,” he said placing his hand in hers. “But it doesn't matter. You're here and that's all that matters to me right now.”

        She smiled. “I'm glad I'm here too. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.”

        The rest of the day they spent in numerous places. They went to the zoo, the fair, and a live entertainment show down at the park. When they got back to her apartment, neither of them wanted the night to end. Tomorrow he would be leaving and they wouldn't get to see each other for a few months; it tore them both up inside.

        “Well thanks for this, I had a lot of fun,” she said, reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out her keys.

        He didn't want to say goodbye, not yet.

        “Wait,” he said, placing his hand on top of hers, stopping her from managing to open the front door.

        “Yes?”

        “Can I come in for a while?”

        “Sure.”

        Her attention went back to the door and opened it. After he walked in, she locked the door and joined him on the couch.

        They both remained quiet for the next while. All they wanted was to be together right now, it didn't matter what they were doing. She realized she hadn't thought about Thomas all day, but she knew once Justin was gone, Thomas would be around again to try and get her back.

        “We sure are quiet,” he said.

        She laughed quietly. “Yeah, I guess we are.”

        “Why don't we just talk about? We know tomorrow is on our minds.” He looked over at her.

        She sighed. “I know. I just figure what’s the point in talking about it?”

        “I'm really going to miss you,” he admitted.

        “I’m going to miss you, too. A lot.”

        “Me too.” He reached over and kissed her hand. “It's so late and I should be going but I don't want to.”

        “I'm sorry. You have to be up and ready really early and you need your sleep.”

        “I know.”

        They got up together and she walked him to the front door. She leaned over and kissed him.

        She wiped her eyes. “I love you.”

        He kissed her cheek. “I love you, too.”

        “Can I ask----” She was about to ask him about Meg again when his cell phone decided to make itself noticed and started ringing.

        Justin reluctantly answered it. “Okay. Yeah, I’m on my way.”

        He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. “I gotta go,” he said. “What were you going to ask me?”

        “It’s not important.”

        “Are you sure?” he asked. “I can spare a few minutes.”

        “Go,” she urged, pushing him out the door. “We’ll talk later.”

        He nodded. “I love you,” he said before he disappeared down to the elevator.

        Elizabeth closed the door when he was out of sight, then leaned against it. “I love you too,” she whispered.

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