CHAPTER 11
 

Deb raised her eyebrows and couldn't speak a word.  Her eyes unfocused for a moment as she stared at the carpet.  When she looked at Justin again, he was smiling, that big sunshine smile that made you feel warm all over.  She looked behind her, in the direction of his attention.  There was JC, Joey, Lance, Chris and Janet with their faces plastered against the window, giving thumbs up signs.  When she looked at Justin again, he was still smiling and returning the thumbs up.

"I'm not pregnant!" Deb blurted out.

She watched as he took in the news and she could have sworn there was disappointment that passed over his beautiful face.  He dropped his eyes and then sighed with relief.  He still smiled at her though.  "Well, maybe that's for the best," he said, a little sadly.  "But I was warming to the idea of being a dad...slowly."

Deb wanted to kiss him senseless right then but held off, unsure about what it all meant.  "I never got to finish giving you the presents I had for you," he said softly.

He motioned to the window and they all returned to the living room.  Chris handed Justin a guitar and Janet held Deb close, smiling.  "Get ready.  I think you're about to be swept off your feet."

As they gathered around, Justin strummed his guitar and then cleared his throat.  "I wrote this in New York, before I lost my mind.  So, I'm obviously writing about the immature people like me that live in this world.  Pay attention to the last two verses, ok?"

He handed her the words, written out long hand in his own handwriting and then began to sing.  Deb heard the words he was singing and stared at the piece of paper now and then.  His softly sang words like, "would you be my girlfriend?" and "i'll treat you good" and "i'd be your shining star, the one to show you where you are".  Deb focused on him as he sang the last two verses:

ever since i saw your face
nothing in my life has been the same
walk around just saying your name
without you my world would end yeah

look around this whole damn place
and everything's as if
you were meant to be
my girlfriend

Justin sang the chorus, softer than ever, and Deb put her hands on her cheeks.  She must have been bright red, because her cheeks were on fire.  Justin was smiling as he sang the last two words and then held the guitar aside with one arm, scooping her into a hug with the other.

When Deb tried to kiss him, they were broken apart by Lance, saying, "WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!  This is how you got in this situation in the first place.  We are going to see to it that things go a little slower from here on out."

Justin frowned as he struggled to get out of Joey's grip.  "What do you mean, Lansten?"

"Well, you two, especially you, Justin, need to get back to basic dating rituals," Lance said with a evil grin on his face as Justin rolled his eyes.  "And I didn't say 'mating rituals'."

Justin smirked at Lance and mumbled something no one could hear.  When he looked at Deb, the smirk became a grin.  "She's a sex fiend," he said, laughing.

"ME?" Deb said with her jaw dropping.

Joey let go of Justin as they all laughed.  JC hugged Deb and said, "God!  I'm glad it's over.  He's been impossible.  Do you know who finally made him admit that he really did love you?  It wasn't us, but his mom!  You guys may have blown her mind when she walked in on you but she knows Justin better than anyone.  She made him see it.  A new, more mature relationship between he and his mom has been forged."

The rest of the night went by quickly as they all goofed around and entertained each other.  As the guys were heading for the door to go to a hotel, Joey suddenly stopped and whirled around.  "Deb!  We have more news!  I can't believe we forgot about it."

Lance reached inside his jacket and presented her with an envelope, saying, "Look at this after we leave.  We'll be in touch, I promise.  At least one of us will and I bet you can't guess who that'll be," he said in his soft bass voice.  "It's the real deal.  Ok?"

Deb nodded blindly, slightly delirious with the happenings of the evening.  Janet grabbed the envelope and held it up to the light.  "I can't quite make it out..." she was saying as she walked toward a brighter light.

Deb's attention was averted from her when she heard Justin and Joey laughing loudly. Justin was trying to get around Joey to no avail and Lance was helping to herd him toward the door.  "I can't believe you are going to deny me this!" Justin was shouting and laughing as he continued to challenge their abilitiy to contain him.  "I'ma just kiss her goodbye!"

They finally let him through and then went out to get into the car.  Janet hugged Deb quickly and then grabbed the front of Justin's shirt as she walked by.  "Don't ever, Ever, EVER hurt my friend again.  I really do have a black belt.  It wouldn't be pretty what I'd do to you," she said, releasing his shirt as she smiled up at him.

Justin just watched her walk away, evening craning his neck to make sure she was gone.  He laughed, a little nervous at that prospect.  Deb scampered to the door and turned the lock and then jumped into Justin's arms.  God!  She'd been dreaming about this for weeks.

"I really do love you," she heard him whisper as she swallowed the words with her kisses and held him tightly around the shoulders.  Time stopped and all that she knew was him, in her arms, kissing her breath away.  Just as their kisses were starting to heat up a little and reality was slipping away quietly, loud pounding jerked Justin's lips away as he turned toward the door.  Joey was standing there, shaking his head and saying, "J, come on.  Remember our deal?" through the door.

"Aight, I'll be there in 2 seconds, I promise," Justin said to Joey and turned to Deb.  He leaned in and whispered, "Beach.  1 hour."

And he was gone.

* * * * * * *

An hour later, dressed in a long pale orange summer dress, Deb sat waiting for Justin to arrive.  She had started the fire and was reading the letter Lance had given her before the guys left.  It was a job offer.  It was a dream job offer.  And she'd be employed by *NSYNC.  She wouldn't have a boss.  She'd work with Johnny and Melinda as an equal and would be paid accordingly.  The best part was.....she'd be privy to all the inner goings on and she'd be able to see Justin regularly.  She'd have her own office and she would travel with them on tour.  Johnny and Melinda were increasingly busy with all aspects of running the *NSYNC machine, and Deb could pick up some of those duties, including the upkeep of the sadly neglected official website.

She was beyond thrilled.  She was over the moon with joy and could barely keep calm as she waited.  She was beginning to wonder if he'd stood her up when she noticed him jogging toward her.  He was dressed in navy sweats and a navy t-shirt.  The bandana was gone so the curls blew freely.  He stopped running and walked up, smiling.  "You look tasty, like orange sherbert."

"You're late!" she said with mock anger.

"I had to act normal...and when I could, I slipped out for a run."

"You ran all the way here?  That's got to be 5 miles!" Deb exclaimed.

He flashed his famous blinding smile, saying, "Stamina, baby!"

The guy was barely out of breath and seemed ready for more physical exertion as he wrapped his arms around Deb without notice.  He felt warm from his run as he leaned in to nibble on her lips a little.  When she opened her mouth, he kissed her deeply, his tongue teasing her own and his arms crushing her to him.  She ran her hands up underneath his t-shirt and gripped his hard muscles and then slid them down.  When he gasped and moaned into her mouth, she opened her eyes and saw the look...the look that said the three words he ran from before.  But this time, he leaned his forehead against hers and whispered, "I love you."

He rocked back so he could see her face and looked at her peacefully.  His gaze lingered on her mouth and he traced her lips with his thumb.

"I feel like I'm home.  I can't describe the peace that I feel with you.  You're so good for me," he said with a kiss to her lips and then leaned closer to her ear, nuzzling and sucking on her earlobe.  With a naughty smile against her ear, he softly whispered, "Have you ever fucked in the sand?"
 

fini

:o)