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Cassie groaned in pleasure at the feeling of the sun�s warmth on her body. It had been awhile
since she had just been able to stretch out on the beach like this and she hadn�t released how
much she had missed doing it. Sighing as she stretched out her legs and then turned herself over,
she thought about nothing, just allowing her mind to drift. The sound of the waves was so
peaceful that she soon found herself drifting off into a light sleep, which was soon interrupted by
the rain that started falling...

Cassie woke up with a start, the cool drops of water splashing her face.

           �Rise and shine!!� The cheery voice belonged to Chris. �It�s time to wakey wakey!�

Cassie growled and pulled the blanket over her face in an attempt to block the cold droplets of
H2O, but Chris just tugged it back down. She opened one eye to peer at him in annoyance.

           �What�s your deathwish?� She growled out.

           �Time to wake up Cass!� He exclaimed, not bothering to acknowledge her previous
statement. She growled once again, this time opening both eyes to glare at him.

           �Chris,� She said his name slowly, drawing it out. �You have five seconds to leave this
room and let me go back to my peaceful world of sleep. Then, after five seconds, I will rip your
arms-�

          �OK OK geeze, no need to get so violent.� He began to back out of the room, but not
before splashing her once more with some of the water he held in glass. �Sheesh, some
people...� Cassie rolled her eyes before closing them again, wanting to get back to the dream
she had been enjoying so much before the interruption.

Five minutes later Cassie groaned in frustration. She was up, and there was no was she was
going be be going back to sleep now. She had been getting good sleep lately, none of the
horrible �this is your future� dreams. Nothing but pleasant ones for the past few days,
surprisingly.
And there hadn�t been any more problems from her and Justin�s capturer, which was obviously
a good thing. On that front things weren�t going so very well, as the police hadn�t been able to
do much more then take a report. Whoever had done it was careful enough to have avoided
being seen by any witness, and also had left no trace of evidence that could lead to any
identification. Since the man was still out there somewhere, the guys had insisted that Cassie
stay at the house. Lance and Joey also stayed , only leaving their friends to go pick up some
clean clothes. A bodyguard was also made to go with Justin wherever he went, and though
Cassie didn�t have a paid-for bodyguard, she DID have five concerned pop-stars.

Deciding to finally leave the comfort of the bed she swung her legs over the side and placed her
foot on the carpeted floor. She lay like that for a moment, legs over the edge of the bed and her
top half laying across the width of the bed, her arms stretched to her sides. She arched her
back in a feline like stretch before sitting back up. She released a large yawn before pulling
herself out of bed and making her way to the closet, scratching her arm as she did so. She
pulled over the double doors and immediately pulled out a pair of worn blue jeans and a black
tee-shirt with the word �Baby-Angel� across the chest in white. After quickly running a brush
throughout her hair and tying it up in a pony-tail she began to make her way to the kitchen.

      �Smooth Joe, real smooth.�

She entered the smaller room to see Joey and Jc quickly blotting up a fairly large puddle of
orange juice from the floor. Meanwhile just watching the action Lance and Chris sat chewing on
their cereal. Justin was there to, only his head was lowered as he mechanically shoveled spoon
after spoon of Apple Jacks into his mouth, oblivious to anything around him. Cassie watched
him for a moment. Sometimes when everyone was gathering in the main living room, watching
TV or playing a video game she could feel his eyes on her. She would turn her head to try to
meet his stare, but as she did he would re-direct his gaze. It wasn�t just Justin though, nowadays
she sometimes found herself studying him as he laughed or sang or did anything where she was
in the room. Forty percent of the time, she found her eyes drawn to his lips. She shook herself
mentally before entering the room.

      �Morning guys.� Cassie greeted as she crossed the room, careful to avoid stepping in
orange juice, to retrieve a bowl and spoon. She then slid into the empty chair that was between
Lance and Justin, and glared at Chris. �Bastard.�

      �Ouch Cass, you hurt me.�

She repeated her previous phrase. �Bastard.�

Lance chuckled.

      �So what�d Chris do now?� Chris looked at Lance, feigning a shocked look.

     �Who�s says I did anything? She probably just hates me.� He punctuated his statement
by putting on his most pathetic face and sniffling. Cassie rolled her eyes as Joey and Jc joined
everyone at the table, the orange juice mess having been cleaned up.

      �Buttmunch woke me up from a particularly pleasant dream.� She complained. The
guys all looked at her, even Justin lifted his head from the bowl in from of him. �I said pleasant.�
Justin immediately lowered his head again and everyone else sighed. She poured herself a bowl
of cereal and added milk. �So what�s the plan for today?�

      �Studio.� Four of the five awnsered. She nodded as she brought the spoon to her
mouth. At that same time Justin pushed his own bowl away and looked up at everyone with a
cheery smile on his face.

      �Morning.�

A chorus of �good morning Justin�s� were said as he stood up to place his bowl in the
dishwasher. He then turned around and leaned his hip against the sink and when Cassie glanced
up at him her breath, and the cereal that she had been swallowing, caught in her thought. The
morning sunlight streamed through the window behind him, giving him an unearthly look. If she
didn�t know better, she would have thought that an angel had just come to stand in the room
among them. She began to choke and immediately Lance began to pound her on the back and
Jc handed her a glass of orange juice. She immediately took a few sips and grinned at the two.

     �Thanks. Went down the wrong pipe.�

     �No problem.�

Justin pushed off the counter and began to exit the room, placing a hand on Cassie back as he
walked by.

      �Well, I�m going to go take a shower.�

      �Good, cause you stink.� Chris called after his form, earning a flipped up middle finger.
�Well that was rude.� Cassie finished off her cereal and placed her bowl next to Justin�s in the
dishwasher.

      �What time do you have to be in the studio?� She asked, looking at Jc.

      �One, I think. Lance?� The blonde nodded, confirming.

      �One and we should be out by six.� Cassie looked over at the clock on the wall noting
that it was ten.

      �Alrighty then. I�ma just gonna read or something.� The guys nodded. �Talk to you later
then.� She left the room and made her way back to her own. Upon entering she immediately
made her way over to the small CD player on the dresser, opening the top to check which CD
she had last been listening to. Inside she found the Dixie Chicks. Not in the mood for country
music she looked to the right to where the rest of her CD�s were. After a small debate she
decided to listen to some Fleetwood Mac. Dixie Chicks were placed back into their case and
Fleetwood Mac was opened.... it wasn�t there. She frowned.

      �OK... I know it didn�t grow a pair of legs and walk away...� She muttered to herself
before remembering that she had loaned it to Justin yesterday. She sighed as she returned the
case. A few seconds later she stood at the door across the hall from hers, knocking lightly.

      �Hey J, you decent?� She called through the door.

      �Give me a second and I will be. All right, come on in.� Cassie slowly opened the door,
one hand covering her eyes. Justin looked up from where he sat on his bed, slipping on a pair of
socks and chuckled. �Your virgin eyes are safe Cass, did I not already tell you that?�

Slowly she lifted her hand away from her eyes, moving it away more quickly when she saw that
Justin was indeed dressed, well, halfway dressed anyway. The only thing he wore was a pair of
gray sweatpants.

      �Yeah well what you say and what is isn�t the same sometimes.� She replied as she
stepped further into his room, almost tripping over a shoe. She looked around at the mess.
�Geeze Justin, do you ever clean this thing?� He followed her gaze around the room and
shrugged. �You have my Fleetwood Mac CD?� She asked.

      �In my discman.� He made no indication that he was going to move himself from the
bed. Cassie stared at him. �OH, you want it back?�

     �One word Justin, duh.�

     �On my dresser.� Cassie looked across the room, her eyes traveling across the random
articles of clothing that littered the floor as well as shoes and other objects. �Go ahead and get
it.�

      �I�ll break my neck trying to get through there.�

      �Hey you want your CD back, right?� He grinned. �Think of it as a challenge.�

      �I don�t like challenges.� He just shrugged again and grinned.

      �Well you want the CD, your gonna have to work to get it back.�

She sighed and began to carefully pick her way across the room, aware of Justin�s eyes on her.
When she reached the dresser she scanned over the top. A few bandannas, some fan letters,
but no discman.

      �Justin it�s not over here.� She turned to face him and rolled her eyes when she saw him
holding it in hand.

      �Oh I�m sorry, here it is.� He replied. �Come on and get it.� Blue eyes rolled in their
sockets as she picked her way back across the room towards the bed. She reached for the
discman, but Justin yanked it out of her reach just as she was about to touch it.

    �Justin.� She whined. �Just give me the CD.� He shook his head and she placed her
hands on her hips.

    �Nope, you gotta get it.� He grinned up at her, playful twinkle in his eyes.

     �Why can�t you just give me the damn CD?� She demanded.

     �To easy.�

An idea occurred to her and she reached her arm out and squeezed his knee where she knew
he was ticklish. He kicked out his leg and glared.

     �Not fair.�

     �Give me my CD.�

      �Get it.�

      �You want me to get it? Fine.� She tackled him onto the bed, reaching for the
electronical device as she did, he dropped it over the edge and his hands found her sides.
She gasped as his fingers began to tickle her and she was soon found herself under him,
squirming to get away.

      �Justin you retard get off me!� She screamed out.

�Nope.� She struggled and pleaded for a few more moments before Justin did stop.
And when she looked up at him, he was staring down at her, his facial expression one of.. she
wasn�t sure what. As if magnetized her eyes were drawn to his lips and she recalled the soft
texture of them from when he had kissed her before. She watched as his lips began to lower
towards hers, and she lifted her head from the bed to meet his. Just as their lips were about to
touch, the cell phone that had been on Justin nightstand rang and he pulled away as if an electric
shock had run through his body. He didn�t look at her as he grabbed the phone and clicked it
on.

      �Hello?� There was a pause as Cassie jumped off the bed and quickly made her way
out of the room. �Hey Brit.�

Her CD was forgotten.