---Part Eleven---

Abbey sat up after a little while, pushing aside the recurring thoughts that had dominated her mind since Justin had left her room. She was getting entirely too overwrought with the whole thing; she knew she had to think about everything, but now wasn't the best time. Besides, she had a couple of phone calls to make.

Cat's going to skin me alive, and Kelly... I may be lucky to keep my lungs intact.

Deciding to get the worse call out of the way first, she reached for the phone and dialed Kelly's office number. The secretary informed her that Ms. Nivers was in a meeting right now, but that she'd be happy to take a message. Abbey rattled off the hotel's number and her own room number, then thanked the secretary and hung up, feeling as if she'd been given a temporary reprieve.

Well, it's not like I've really done anything yet. And if she says no, then she says no, but at least I'll be asking first.

She bit her lip, muttered a prayer under her breath, and dialed her mother's number. She really wasn't looking forward to Cat's reaction to this, but figured it was better to be honest and up front about things now rather than suffer the consequences later.

"Hello?" After only a couple of rings, her younger sister's high-spirited voice sounded through the line.

"Hey, Cat."

"Abbey!" Cat squealed. "Hang on a sec, I want to get the phone in my room."

Abbey waited while Cat ran down the hall to pick up her extension, yelling down the hall for her mom to hang up the other phone. "Okay," Cat reported breathlessly once the transfer was finished. "So, what's up? How's the tour going? Anything exciting happen?"

"Not really," Abbey replied, and was amused to hear Lance's drawl in her voice. They are rubbing off on me way too much. "But there is something that's happened, I need to tell you about."

"Oh, really? Can I help?"

"Well, I don't know. I, um, you have to promise not to kill me." Abbey swallowed hard, wondering why she was so nervous.

"Um, okay. Abbey, is this about Justin? Did you do something to him?" Cat's voice was suddenly accusing.

"No, not exactly." Abbey couldn't help but be amused at the conclusion to which her sister had instinctively leapt; technically, she was right, too. Abbey had done something to Justin, all right. "See, it's like -- ah, I don't even know where to start."

"Well, what?" Cat demanded. "If you tell me he asked you out on a date, I'll kill you."

Gotta love that sisterly instinct. "You promised not to, remember?" Abbey pointed out drily.

"He did! Oh my God, Abbey, Justin Timberlake asked you out on a date! That's, like, the coolest thing I ever heard of, I swear. You said yes, right?"

Abbey smiled softly at Cat's enthusiasm. "Not yet. I might not be allowed to because of my job."

"Your job? Who cares about your job, Abbey, it's Justin!"

"I know," Abbey sighed. "But my job is important, Cat. I can't afford to lose it over some pop star, even if that pop star is Justin Timberlake."

Cat growled in frustration. "Well, if you don't want him, at least tell him I'm available!"

"Sure, squirt." Abbey's voice was tinged with humor, though.

"Hey, so when are you coming home?"

"End of July, there are a bunch of shows in Madison Square Garden and the charity gig." Abbey leaned over to dig the schedule out of her bag, though she was fairly certain of the dates already. She'd memorized them at one point during a fit of homesickness; she was missing her family, her apartment, New York, with a vengeance.

"Cool! I really can't wait to see you again."

"Me either," Abbey replied. Just then, there was a knock on her door. "Hang on," she said, putting the phone down on the bed and heading over to the door to see who it was.

Her visitor turned out to be Justin; she rolled her eyes and smiled at him, especially at the eager look on his face. "What do you want?"

"Well, some of us are going out to a movie. Do you want to come?"

Abbey shrugged. A movie sounded non-threatening, harmless, maybe even fun. "Sure. You want to make my sister's day? She's on the phone."

"All right," Justin said, and went over to the bed to get the receiver. As Abbey dug in her bag for her bathroom kit, she listened to his side of the conversation, amused.

"Hey, Cat! Yeah, Abbey's told me all about you. Yes, good stuff, I promise. 'Course I do. You couldn't get a word out, but you were really cute with your hair up in all those little curls. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I did do that. Of course I will. I'm always a gentleman."

In the outer bathroom area, Abbey rolled her eyes. Knowing Cat, she was chastising Justin to be nice to her older sister. Where were you when we were fighting like cats and dogs, Cat?

Once she was ready, she tucked everything back into the kit and came back out into the bedroom area. "Okay, I'm ready to go," she announced.

"All right," Justin said to her, then returned to the phone. "Well, maybe I'll talk to you later, Cat. Take care, okay? Oh -- yeah, sure." He held the phone out to Abbey, who took it from him.

"Hey, sis."

"Thank you so much!" Cat gushed. "You are the coolest sister ever. I'm not just saying that."

"Thanks," Abbey chuckled. She knew that Cat meant it, and hearing her sister's voice in the throes of happiness was what made this worthwhile for her. Cat was wonderfully undemanding, which made little surprises like these even better. "Anyway, I have to get going. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Are you going out?" Cat asked.

"With everyone, to a movie," Abbey clarified, giggling. "Now I have to go. I love you, sweetie."

"I love you too, Abbey!"

---

The rest of the group was waiting outside the hotel in a guarded passenger van. Abbey saw that the guards were necessary; in the hour or so since they'd arrived, a small, enthusiastic group of fans had gathered outside the hotel's entrance. The girls set up screaming as soon as Justin and Abbey appeared in the lobby; held back by a barricade of two of the bigger bodyguards, they remained away from a cleared path to the van, though some of them were crying at the mere sight of their idol. A few directed angry glares at Abbey, who just ignored them as she followed Justin into the van, where the others were waiting.

"Man, they're quick," Abbey commented, climbing into the back seat. Either by accident or design, the only unoccupied seats were in the far back; J.C., Chris, and Lance were in the middle seat, and Joey was the sole occupant of the rear seat, while Mike had taken up shotgun.

"You talked her into coming!" Chris exclaimed.

"I had to make a deal with the devil." Justin settled down, crossing his arms.

"Huh?"

"I made him talk to my kid sister," Abbey, explained, chuckling.

"Oh, Cat? I remember her, she's cool," Joey said.

"I'll tell her you said that," Abbey smiled. "She was beside herself just talking to Justin."

"Why?" Chris asked, completely deadpan. Lance leaned over to smack him, and Chris cried out and rubbed his head, in mock agony.

"So what are we seeing?" Abbey asked.

"Chicken Run," J.C. said, turning around in the middle seat to look at her. "If that's cool."

"Sure."

---

Abbey enjoyed the movie; it was a good one, which always helped, but she also had a moment of startled delight when, about halfway through the show, Justin reached over to her and gently gathered her hand into his. He glanced at her at the same time, as if asking permission; she couldn't prevent the affectionate smile that crossed her lips. She'd suspected he'd pull something like this when, in jockeying for seats, he'd ended up next to her; but this was sweeter than what she'd expected. Then he'd brought their clasped hands up so that he could kiss the back of hers, and Abbey felt a shiver of warmth all through her.

After the movie, as they headed out the rear entrance to the waiting van, Abbey murmured to Justin, "Changed your mind about the date?"

"Huh? Oh -- no," he replied, "but I knew it would put you in kind of an awkward position, so..." He shrugged. "Besides, everyone was going out and I thought it'd be fun."

"Ah." Abbey smiled. She'd noticed that Justin's hand still held her own -- he hadn't let go throughout the movie, but somehow, she didn't mind. "That was thoughtful. Thanks."

"No problem." He glanced away; she thought she saw the faintest hint of a blush, and had to smile to herself. It was very cute.

The others were discussing plans for the evening, a rare one where they could stay out all night if they wanted; their schedule was free until noon the next day. Joey wanted to go clubbing, which surprised no one. Since it was still light out, Lance wanted to visit a racing museum in the area, and Abbey opted to join him; it sounded interesting to her. She had to chuckle when Justin said he'd go, too.

They stopped back at the hotel to settle on drivers and vans; Abbey laughed, watching Chris leave in a van with Joey, both of them plastering their faces to the rear windows and making smushed faces at the others as the van drove away. J.C. had opted to stay in for the evening; he had some phone calls he wanted to make, which left Lance, Justin and Abbey to the racing museum.

The museum did turn out to be interesting; Abbey thought so, anyway, as she wandered around the exhibits, reading about famous race horses of the past, different racetracks, and the history of the sport. Her concentration was interrupted when Justin came up behind her, sliding his arms around her waist to pull her gently back against him.

"Mm, getting forward, aren't we?" she said softly.

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked.

"Mm. No." She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes for a moment. His embrace was comfortable, comforting.

"Uh, guys?" Lance's voice separated them; Abbey felt herself flush as she caught the grin on the bass singer's face. "Don't mean to interrupt you, but we have to leave, they're closing."

This time, as they walked out to the van with Mike, Abbey found herself reaching for Justin's hand. And she had to wonder to herself at how much she'd allowed herself to change since this tour had begun.

"So, uh, what are your plans for tonight?" Justin asked her once they'd climbed back into the van.

She shrugged. "I'm thinking room service and a movie. We've been driving around all over the place today, it'll be nice to settle down and not move for a while."

"Sounds like fun."

Lance turned in the front seat to raise an eyebrow at Justin. "You have a very strange idea of what's fun."

"Don't make me go there, PooFoo," Justin said, a hint of threat in his tone.

"You'll have to tell me later." Abbey grinned conspiratorially at Lance. His returned smile earned him a scowl from Justin.

"Oh, look, now he's mad." Lance was stifling laughter now as Justin glowered at him.

"Poor baby," Abbey chuckled.

"Aw, give it a rest." Justin looked a little uncomfortable; she knew that he was used to being teased by the guys, so she guessed that it was her presence, a strange role, causing the discomfort.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'll be good."

Justin eyed her warily. "Promise?"

"Cross my heart," she smiled.

All too soon, it seemed, they were back at the hotel. After slipping in through the service entrance, they headed up to the twelfth floor. Abbey was amused to see Justin trail her to her room.

"Going somewhere?" she asked him.

"Movies?" He put on a pout that wiped away any resistance Abbey might have mustered. She sighed, smiled, and opened the door.

"Fine," she said, "but after the movie, I'm crashing, and you're going back to your room."

"Okay." Justin was far too agreeable; Abbey eyed him warily as he moved into the room ahead of her.

---

Brightness swelling against her eyelids finally awoke Abbey. She'd been dozing for a while, half-asleep but comfortable and content where she was; but the light filtering through the white curtains had at last become too much for even her closed eyes to handle, and she shook her head as she came to full consciousness.

Her first coherent thought was something along the lines of Huh? When she tried to move her left arm, she found it trapped under something solid and immovable. That realization led to the one that the solid, immovable object was what she was pressed up to, curled into warm arms, covers sprawled over both of them...

Abbey had never fallen asleep with anyone before. Somehow, though, she couldn't help but be amused that Justin had managed to accomplish another 'first' in her life. As she slid her arm out from under him, she nervously checked to make sure that they were both fully clothed, and felt some relief when she saw that they were. She remembered him tugging her into a cuddling embrace last night, after they'd finished eating the room-service pizza; thinking about it now, she remembered dozing during the movie they were watching on cable, although the name of the movie itself was escaping her at the moment. For that matter, she couldn't remember what it was about or any of the actors; she'd been too caught up in enjoying the closeness of laying next to him, her arm over his abdomen, her head on the warm skin of his shoulder.

We both must have just conked out, she thought, taking a moment to look at him as he slept. He looked innocent in repose, childlike, vulnerable; his lips were slightly parted, and he breathed quietly, chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. Abbey watched as her hand, seemingly of its own accord, reached out to trace light fingertips over his cheekbone, the slightly scratchy skin of his jaw where stubble had sprouted overnight, the fine hairs escaped from the cornrows to wave free over the smooth, elegant curve of his skull. She could feel the pulse beating in his throat just by touching her fingerpads to the pulse-point; trailing her fingers down his shoulder, she felt the hard length of his collarbone pointing to his neatly-proportioned shoulders, and that deltoid curve following to the slack muscle of his bicep, to his forearm and the slender bones of his wrist, his fingers.

I don't think I've ever been this close to anyone in my life. Vaguely, she remembered holding Cat as an infant, exploring her baby features in a similar way; but this was much different. This was as if she were preparing for a lover.

Disturbed by that thought, Abbey sat up, scooting her feet off the bed. She would have to wake him up and send him back to his room, though it was definitely too late for them to hope that he might not be missed: the clock by the bed told her that it was 9:14. She was about to get up when she felt Justin's hand on her wrist.

"Oh, you're awake," she said, turning to look at him.

"Just now," he replied. "Where are you going?"

"T-to take a shower and brush my teeth," Abbey replied, cursing the stutter in her voice. Why was she nervous? She'd just spent a night in the same bed with him, after all.

"There's a rule," Justin said, with a soft, lazy smile.

"A rule?" She arched an eyebrow at him.

"You're not allowed to leave the bed without a kiss."

"Oh." Abbey couldn't tell if he was kidding or serious; his expression was just vague enough to be unreadable. "But I've got morning breath."

"So do I. Come on, it's just a little kiss."

"O-okay." Capitulating, she leaned across the bed, propping her arms on either side of his torso, and bent down to press her lips to his. He held her head in his hands for just a moment, and when they parted, he was smiling.

"Good morning."

"Good morning." Abbey smiled down at him, unable to resist the charm of his sleepy smile. "Now I'm going to go take my shower, if that's all right."

"Sure." Justin yawned as Abbey stood and headed for the shower. He wanted to take one, too, but he could do that in his own room. He heard the bathroom door close, and then the water started; stretching, he stood up, gathered his wallet and sundry items, and looked around for his shoes. Where had he left them? Over by the door, he saw them, still heaped where he'd kicked them off.

As he picked the shoes up, a knock sounded on the door. He glanced at the bathroom -- no, Abbey was still showering, he'd have to answer it. Looking through the peephole, he saw J.C. and Lance standing just outside the door.

What now? Justin opened the door to find his two bandmates applauding, grins on their faces. He scowled at them. "Fine, are you two through hamming it up?"

"Just wanted to congratulate you, bud." J.C. punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"Nothing happened," Justin said. "How did you know I was here, anyway?"

Lance shrugged. "Simple logic. You weren't in our room, I saw you heading back with Abbey after we got back last night, it wasn't that difficult to figure out. Oh, and if you're wondering, Michaela stayed in our room last night. I figured you wouldn't protest her using your bed, since you didn't need it last night."

"Very thoughtful." Justin grimaced, heard the water go off in the bathroom. "So what's up?"

"We were just heading down to breakfast, thought we'd see if you two wanted to come," J.C. replied.

"Um, hang on a second, Abbey's in the shower." He let Lance and J.C. in, then closed the door and went over to knock on the bathroom door. "Abbey?"

"Yeah?" she called through the door.

"Lance and J.C. are here. Do you want to go to breakfast with them?"

"Um, sure, but I kinda need to get dressed and stuff first."

"We'll go ahead, meet you guys down there?" J.C. suggested. Justin nodded, and they took off.

Abbey emerged from the bathroom a few moments later, wrapped in a towel, scrubbing at her hair with another towel. "What's going on?"

"They're heading down to grab us a table. I'm gonna go put some clean clothes on, I'll meet you down there, okay?"

"All right." She smiled up at him, and he gave into the impulse to kiss her quickly before grabbing his shoes and heading down to his room.

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