It was like old times. It was like nothing had happened. It was like they were so desperately in love with one another and didn't have any other care in the world.

His arm was draped across her back, his hand on her shoulder pulling her into his side. His other hand rested confidently high on her jean clad thigh. When she first felt his hand there she automatically looked up at his grandparents and brothers and cousins and other family members that were in the large den. No one had noticed. She looked up at Justin; he was animatedly discussing something with his father.

She was the only one that had noticed the intimate contact.

She was tense being that close to him, and he seemed to notice when he squeezed her shoulder and turned his head to kiss her temple.

She relaxed finally and started talking and actually enjoying the atmosphere she was in. She had always loved the time she had spent with Justin's family, but she was unsure about being there with him, after all that had happened.

She didn't even know if they knew he was temporarily not living with her.

Her thoughts faded her when she heard his name faintly being chanted, and then soon the sound echoed through the den and everyone immediately stopped their chatting and watched as two young kids ran in the room. One with dark long brown hair that curled at the ends and the other a younger version of the man whose name they were calling.

"JUSTIN! JUSTIN!"

"What?" He chuckled beside her. She wanted to snuggle into his chest, but knew she couldn't at the moment.

After a second or two neither of the two children said anything.

"Well what is it?" Justin pried.

Stephen nudged the girl beside him and whispered, "tell him."

Justin took his arm away from her back and shoulders and suddenly the room seemed 10 degrees cooler. She crossed her arms over her stomach trying to regain some warmth and watched Justin interact with his younger brother and cousin. "What it is Dorothy?"

She bit her lip and looked down at the floor. "Mitten is up in the tree again."

Laughs, giggles, chuckles were heard throughout the room and the crimson color on the girls cheeks spread all over her face even to her ears. Justin's wide eyes and dropped mouth didn't help the girls embarrassment. "Again?!"

She put her small hands on his knees whined to him. "We were just playing with her and Titan started barking at her and she ran up the tree."

"But I just got her out of the tree two hours ago."

"Well she's up there again." Dorothy bowed her head.

She watched Justin as he shot her an amused look and then stood up from the couch, grabbing the girls hand and in an impatient manner saying, "Come on."

The girl who was barely 10 years old jumped up and down and pointed to Stephen. "It's his fault I told him not to play with Titan near me. He's a mean dog."

"Is NOT!"

"IS TOO."

"You suck!" Stephen proclaimed. But he was immediately scolded for his statement.

"Stephen..."

He looked over his shoulder and cringed at the sight of his Lisa's face. "Sowwy momma."

Justin's aunt Gina had her hands on his hips looking down at the two kids across the room. "You two were supposed to come inside a while ago. It's dark outside."

They both flashed her bright smiles. "Grammalake said we could."

Justin laughed out loud, a sound that rang in her ears. She really wished none of his family was around. She wanted to pull him into a bedroom and just, be with him, in anyway he would let her. He seemed happy, relaxed, comfortable. HE hadn't been that way around her in a while and it felt good to have him be like that around her. IT made her feel better about everything.

Justin was tugging on Dorothy's hand, walking towards the door, Stephen in tow. "Come on yall. Excuse me I must go save a kitten."

Meredith sat on the couch, wiping her palms on her jeans. It wasn't that she didn't like being alone with Justin's family, it was just that without him there it was more intimidating.

"Momma it's dark outside and cold!" Aunt Gina, who was leaning by the fire with Lynn said.

Grandma Timberlake was perched in her chair, smiling, gorgeous still in her old age. "WE have the flood lights working and the kids are all bundled up. And your father is out smoking his pipe. He's watching them."

Randall. who was standing with Lisa on the other side of the room, chuckled. "I bet you he's asleep."

Grammalake just turned and thoughtfully said. "well I'd rather have my grandbabies outside in the fresh air playing than in here stuck in front of a TV. What do you think Meredith?"

Meredith was startled by the fact that she was included in on the conversation. She put her hands up in defense. "Ey, my only complaint is if my husband gets stuck in a tree."

Aunt Gina yawned and excused herself. "Well I think its time for bed for me. We had a long drive today."

The activity in the room dwindled. Some had gone to watch TV, others had gone into the kitchen to talk but now the room was silent, except for the crackling fire and Justin's grandmothers humming as she messed with a little piece of fabric she was cross-stiching.

Meredith figured it was time for her to get ready for bed too. IT was only 9 or so, but after being in a plane and car all day, and having her emotions run from depressed to ecstatic to calm all in a matter of 12 hours was tiring to her. She got up from the couch and walked through the house to the back bedroom where she would be sleeping.

Before she got there, her named was called out. "Meredith!"

She backstepped a few paces and peeked in a small library/office and saw Jon and his uncle Jerry in an intense game of Chess. "What Jon?"

"Me and Stephen are sleeping in the room with you and Justin right?"

She smiled as he moved one of his pawns on the board. "Yeah." She watched as his uncle made a move and then the younger Timberlake grinned evilly and moved one of his knights taking away a pawn of his uncles. He yawned. "Buddy you need to get on to bed."

He waved his hand at She shook her head, Jonathan had been playing chess ever since she had gotten there. Justin had told her a few months ago that he had gotten a chess board for his birthday. He had made some comment about Jon never being able to sit down long enough to learn how to play, but now, it was all the boy wanted to do. "Ok, well I think I'm going to go get ready for bed and maybe read a little."

"Kay." It was all he said.

She watched him move another one of his pieces and watched the reaction on his uncle's face go from confusion, to shock, to disappointment.

She just smiled and walked on back to their bedroom.

Once there she went to her suitcase and pulled out some pjs. She stared at Justin's duffel bag that was beside hers. She wondered what he would wear to bed that night. She wondered how close he would sleep to her in the bed.

She wondered if he would let her snuggle up to him.

She turned and stared at the two full sized beds in the room. Stephen and Jon had already claimed one. There book bags and games and things had been thrown on to one. She wondered if they had any idea what was going on, if they could see not everything was as perfect as her and Justin were showing everyone it was.

---------

"DID YOU GET HER?!"

Justin pushed a mass of branches out of his way and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. He looked down at the little gray kitten that was tucked inside his jacket, that was having the nerve to meow at him. "Yeah, yeah, I just gotta get down now."

"Come on Justin! You can do it."

He rolled his eyes as Dorothy laughed. He thought he could hear his brother's laughter from the front porch as well. "Why don't you have a dog like titan, Dorothy. They don't cause problems like this."

"But I like kitty cats!!"

"But you could named him Toto and everything." Justin lowered himself on a thick branch a few feet down and held tightly on another branch as he thought is balance might fail him. He was only about 5 feet from the ground now, but it was still scary to be that far up in a tree. He was glad the tree was bare, or the leaves might have been more difficult to get through.

"I guess. Maybe I can just called Mitten, Toto."

Justin got to a point where he felt safe and low enough to the ground where he could jump. He did so and landed on his feet in front of Dorothy. He pulled the kitten from his jacket and handed it to its owner.

"There you are, miss priss."

She hugged and kissed her kitten and then clobbered Justin in a hug, kissing his cheek as well. "THANK YOU JUSTIN!"

"Yeah yeah, now go on inside and don't let him climb anything else." He pushed the girl towards the porch and she started to run in the house.

"it's a her!" She yelled back at him.

Her walked up the porch and looked down at Stephen who was sitting on the steps. "Momma says I have to go to bed. But you and Mere will let me stay up wont you."

Justin sighed and shook his head. "I don't know man, I'm a little beat myself."

His jeans were tugged on as Stephen looked up at him with wide eyes and a pout, perfecting the Timberlake puppy dog look. "Puleaseeee."

Justin chuckled. "We'll see."

"YAY!" and with that Stephen jumped up and ran in the house to who knows where.

Justin stretched and walked in the house, shutting the door quietly as to not attract attention. He was ready to crawl in bed and sleep for a long time. He hadn't slept well at all recently and he was tired as hell now. He knew as soon as he hit the bed he would be out. He walked down the hallway and to the room that he and Meredith and his brothers would occupy for the rest of the week. He yawned as he opened the door and walked in, shutting it behind him.

He heard humming once he was in there. Water ran from the bathroom that was adjacent to the bedroom. He smiled. It didn't take him long to tug off his jacket, throw it on the bed and pad over to the bathroom door.

He cracked it open.

And in that movement, he caught himself staring at her.

Cotton flannel pajama pants rode low on her hips, showing off the rim of her Victoria's secret underwear. The rest of her was bare.

He had to remind himself to breathe as he watched her tug a t shirt over her upper half. It was a small soft baby tee that went with her blue pants. The shirt got caught on her breasts as she pulled it over her head. HE felt bad watching her change in such a sneaky manner but he had seen her do it a million times before. He still felt like he was intruding on her personal space. She kept on humming, stuffed her toothbrush back in her mouth from where it had been in her hand and pulled her shirt down to cover herself.

He closed his eyes and tried to remind himself that his family was scattered all over this house. IT had been so long since he had even touched her in any loving way, and the effects were definitely starting to show. HE took a deep breath and raised his hand to gently knock on the door.

He heard her say come in and he pushed the door open.

She smiled, ring of toothpaste on her lips.

"Hey you." She said, pulling the brush from her mouth and spitting into the sink. He stared at her mouth, lips, and tongue as she licked off the rest of the toothpaste from her mouth and spit again.

She looked at him through the mirror and moved to pull out her contacts case and solution.

He shut the door and breathed, "hi."

"Is Mitten alright?" She smiled and he nodded, leaning against the door.

"Heh, yeah. She might be experiencing post-traumatic stress, but I think she'll make it."

"Justin, the hero." She smiled at him through the mirror and he thought he could just melt right then. He winked at her and saw her bite her lip and look away from him.

"That's me."

He watched her intently as she took her contacts out and slipped on her glasses. She turned and leaned against the sink. She started to laugh and motioned for him to come to her. "Aww, come here."

"What?"

"You got a twig in your hair."

He made a face and shuffled close to her body, trying to not let it effect him.

"Get it out." He whined.

The feeling of her hands on his head almost sent him to the edge. She seemed to know what she was doing to him as her fingers threaded through his curls. Her hand trailed down the back of his neck gently and over his shoulder to his chest. She showed him the twig she pulled from his hair and whispered almost shyly, "There you go."

He was leaning into her and staring at her mouth. IT would be so easy to kiss her right then, but she was backing away from him and he didn't want to do anything she didn't want. "I really wish we didn't have to share a room with my brothers."

"Why?" She breathed out. IT hit his face. He could smell the fresh toothpaste and he wanted to kiss her more than he wanted to live at that moment.

"Cause..." He grinned and she blushed.

"Cause what?"

His lips were so close to hers he could feel the moisture form her mouth. "I want you."

Her lips touched his before he could move. They locked on, sucked, pulled away and then crashed back to him. Both his hands dove into her hair and held her face against his. He quickly moved his tongue inside her mouth, tasting her for the first time in what seemed like forever. His hands fell to her hips and he lifted her and sat her on the edge of the sink. His body moved between her legs, pressing close to her, letting her intimately feel how much he had missed her.

She groaned and he all but lost it.

Her hands, tiny as they were, were wrecking havoc on his body, running up and down his chest towards his stomach, around to his back and shoulders. His mouth swallowed her whole, trying to get as much of her as possible, not knowing when he would be able to again.

Suddenly her lips seared from his and he felt them trail over his chin and down his neck. She was torturing him at that moment, and he could stop himself when he moved against her a little, trying to get a little friction in the area he needed it most. "God, angel..."

But as soon as he said it, she stopped. Her lips stopped their exploration of his neck. Her hands squeezed him tight to her, and her thighs even squeezed him near. "Thank you."

He tried to control his hormones and his breathing as he asked, "What for?"

"For..."

A light knock sounded on the door.

She pulled her head away from him and dropped her arms from around him as they heard a small childish voice ask, "Meredith?"

She slid off the sink, her body tight against him. He knew she could feel him against her through his jeans, and he hoped that didn't frighten her.

She locked on to his eyes and smiled tenderly at him.

Relief fell through his veins, and he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. "I..."

"Mere are you in there?"

She giggled against him and pulled away. His body felt cold once she left him, but he let her go anyway and watched as she walked to the door and revealed Stephen, already in his pajamas ready for bed.

Stephen smiled and giggled when he saw Justin in the bathroom with Meredith.

He felt light, like he was on air. And even though he had a tightening pain in his crotch now, it didn't matter. He felt better than he had in a long time.

Stephen requested a bedtime story, but made them promise not to tell anyone, since he was all grown up at the age of 9.

After Meredith, with the occasional help of Justin, had told him modern day rendension of the 3 little pigs, the light had been turned out in the room, and Stephen was curled up to his teddy bear in the bed beside them, fast asleep. Jonathan had come in soon after the story and got in bed complaining to Stephen about staying on his side of the bed, and not crossing a certain line.

And now... they... were laying in bed...together.

She started off with her back facing him, something that scared him at first. But then when she rolled over on her back and turned her head to him, he caught her eyes and smiled. His arms went out to her and before he knew it she was curled up to him, hand on his chest, leg rubbing up and down his in a comforting manner, just like normal.

He ran his hands through her thick dark hair and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. He mumbled, "I love you" and as soon as he did he debated with himself if that was a smart move or not. She stiffened against him, her leg stopped moving and he swore he thought he felt her shiver.

But then she turned her head and kissed the part of his t shirt that was right over his heart. IT was a simple gesture, but meant more to him than anything she could have ever said to him.

He thought sleep would come easy, but wrapped up with her in bed, hearing her breathe and feeling her next to him, too many thoughts entered his mind at once and sleep was hard to come. He had thought spending time away from her would have let him heal, let him get his mind straight and let him be able to come back to her and be the man she needed him to be.

But now...all he could think about was how happy he was with her, how amazing she made him feel when she was by his side...and how empty he felt, when she wasn't around. Back Forward