LosingHopeEpilogue

Mackenzie sighed as she put down the magazine she was reading. It had been over a month since that night and no matter how hard Mackenzie tried to forget about it, the media shoved it back in her face. They had told the media of all the events that took place only because it had been leaked out before. It had been almost a month but the pictures of everything that took place in that basement still lingered in her mind. The last thing she remembered of that night was going into the ambulance with Justin. After that her mind went blank until the next day when she woke up in the hospital. Luckily for her she had only received mostly minor cuts except for the deep cut along her neck that she had gotten from Jeff. It was this cut that kept her from performing for the past month and a half. It was so deep around her vocal cords that the doctors were amazed that she could still talk. Mackenzie knew that she could still sing but the doctors refused to let her perform until her cut was completely healed. The stitches had been removed and now all that remained was a long scar across her neck. Looking down at her hands she noticed the dark scars that remained on them and closed her eyes as the memory flooded her thoughts. 'No' she thought as she counted to three to try to remove the memory but she could still see the lust on Jeff's face and she could still hear the noise Sam made as she was being kicked. Nothing could erase these memories from her mind.
"You ok, Kenz?" Sam asked as she limped into the hospital room with the help of one crutch under her shoulder.
"Yeah..." Mackenzie said as she shut her eyes tightly one last time before opening them again, "What are you doing here? You should be home getting some rest." Mackenzie said with concern. Despite all of Sam's pain, she had gotten away fairly easy. She was released from the hospital only a week after the attack with just a broken rib.
"It's boring there...Are you going to call Justin?" she asked as she sat down
"No, he said he'd call me later, so I'll wait for him. He's going to be so disappointed! He and the guys are already in LA rehearsing." she said as Jenna came in with a tray of food.
"Here you go, Mackenzie...EAT!" she said placing the tray on her lap, "Everything is ready for tomorrow. I'm so excited! Justin is going to be so surprised!"
"Shhhh...Nick might be stopping by later and I don't want him to know!" Mackenzie said with a slight giggle.
"I can't believe we are going to the Grammy's!" Sam said excitedly
"I know, this is going to be so exciting! It doesn't even matter that I'm not nominated, I'm going to be performing!" Mackenzie giggled again.
"JC knows, right?" Jenna asked as she flipped on the TV.
"Yes, he is the only one." Mackenzie said as her cell phone rang, "This is probably Justin...DON'T make me laugh!" She composed herself quickly as she answered the phone.
"Hello?" she said in a monotone voice.
"Kenzie? It's me." Justin said through the phone, "How are you doing today?"
"I'm doing ok, J. I wish I was with you." she said
"Well, what did the doctors say? You're coming to the show tomorrow, right?"
She paused on the phone for effect, "Justin, they don't think I'm well enough and...and they say that if I go I could hurt my voice."
"What? Mackenzie, you have to come...I need you here. I can't stand being away from you. Let me talk to the doctors." Justin demanded
"Justin, I've tried, really I have. I want to be there so bad." she said
"What about, "One Sweet Day"?" he said referring to the single they had together and were scheduled to perform.
"I've already talked to everyone, they are going to use the footage from the video. Justin, I want to be there so bad, I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, Mackenzie. I love you and as soon as the show is over I'm coming home to you."
Mackenzie smiled as she laughed into the phone, "I love you too, Justin. I'm going to go get some sleep now. I'll call you later tonight."
"Ok, Girly. I love you and I'll see you soon. Bye."
"Bye." she said as she clicked the phone shut.
She looked around at the faces Jenna and Sam were making before they all busted out laughing. "Oh god...he's going to be so surprised!" Jenna said as she laughed.
Mackenzie stopped laughing as her face grew serious, "You think that I'll...you know...look ok? All these stupid cuts and stuff..."
"Mackenzie, don't talk like that! You'll look beautiful." Jenna said squeezing her hand.
"And you've got me doing your hair so you know that you can't go wrong." Sam said as they all started to laugh again.

The next day Mackenzie, Sam, and Jenna all made it to LA before 2pm. Struggling to keep it a secret that Mackenzie was there they all wore big coats and glasses to hide their identities.
After heading over to a private sound check they finally reached their hotel room. Mackenzie opened the door and quickly searched for the light switch before going any further in the room. Even though Mr. Martins and Cara were in jail, Mackenzie was still shaky.
"Shall we prepare?" Sam said as she took out her hair supplies.
Mackenzie smiled and sat down in a chair as Mackenzie started to fix her hair. It would only be a matter of time before she would see Justin and she couldn't wait.

"I can't believe Mackenzie's not going to be here." Justin said for the thousandth time that day.
"Justin...we know you miss her, we all do, but do us a favor and SHUT UP!" Joey said as he chucked a pillow at him from across the room.
"Guys, I don't think I can do this with out her." he said
"You're going to have to because we need you." JC said
"I've already booked my flight for..."
"For 12:30am...WE KNOW, you've only told us about a thousand times." Chris said as he looked up from the newspaper he was reading.
"Justin, don't you think you should wait until at least the morning before leaving?" JC asked
"No, I need to see her." Justin said, "Besides the ticket isn't refundable."
"I have a feeling you'll be losing some money then." JC said under his breath
"What?" Justin asked
"I..umm...said that I...umm keep on losing all my honey! I don't know why I keep having to buy some everywhere we go." JC said covering up his slip.
"Umm...ok...anyway, I told Mackenzie that I'd call her after our performance, she's really upset that she couldn't make it."
"Man you are whipped! That poor girl." Lance said
"I'm not whipped!" Justin defended
Chris rolled his eyes, "How long until you see her again?"
"I...I don't know..."Justin said
"Come on, Justin, you can't hide it from us, how long?" Lance asked
Justin looked at his watch quickly before saying, " Nine hours 23 minutes and 47, 46 seconds."
"Come on, guys. It's time to leave." Nick said after he knocked on the door and opened it.
"Nick, it's pretty pointless to knock unless you are actually going to wait until some one answers it." Justin said
"Oh sorry, I thought you'd be too busy counting the seconds until you see Mackenzie again." Nick said with a laugh.

About an hour and a half later Justin and the guys had gotten to the theatre where the awards were taken place, smiled for cameras, and walked the red carpet answering the media's calls. This was always an exciting process. At the same time, Mackenzie sat in a small dressing room back stage waiting for her moment to arrive. She had gone in the back way and retreated to a dressing room where there was a small television that she could watch. Mackenzie smiled warmly as she watched the guys on the pre show and almost cried when they all started talking about her health and how they wished she was there.
Mackenzie smiled as it was finally time for her to emerge from the dressing room and get ready to get onstage. She waited in the back as Justin and the guys prepared to go on stage.
"Man, I don't know how I'm going to be able to do this with out her." he said as a man handed him a mic.
"Just suck it up and sing. You'll be surprised what happens." JC said as he patted him on the back.
They all walked out onto the large stage and stood in the center. To his right was a large video screen that Justin guessed would play the video of Mackenzie singing. To their left was a large black staircase which lead up to a small landing. Behind the landing the band started to play the beginning of the music.
"Ladies and gentleman, "One Sweet Day" by Nsync and Mackenzie Hope!" The announcer said as the music began to play louder.
Justin looked up and sang his verse that started the song. His voice came out a little weak in the beginning but he let his talent shine by singing his heart out. His verse came to an end and he was about ready to turn his attention to the video when her voice came out clearer than he had expected. Justin turned his attention to the landing and almost yelled in surprise when he saw Mackenzie standing, holding the handrail, singing the words to the song. Her hair was curled and left to lay on her shoulders as the dress fell diagonally across her chest to leave one shoulder and arm bare and the other covered by a long sleeve with extra material handing. The dress extended to her ankles on the sides but came up to a point a little bit below her knees. The back of the dress was longer than the front and touched the floor. Her shoes were black with the same diamonds on them as her jewelry. She walked down the staircase carefully as she sang while looking at Justin as he stared back at her. In his opinion he was taken aback at how beautiful she looked to him. The dress was something she normally wouldn't wear but it showed her curves in all the right places. At that moment he knew that everything they had been through was worth it. Every fight, every threat, every tear, and every heartbreak. It all had been worth it. This was the woman that he loved and wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Some may call him naive or foolish for thinking the things he thought about her but he didn't care. All he cared about at that moment was watching Mackenzie blow him away with her unmistakable talent, beauty, and compassion.
As she walked closer to him during the chorus, he could see the scars left from Jeff and Martins and it killed him to think that she had needed him and he didn't get there in time to save her from any harm at all. The scars on her body would fade but as Justin looked into her eyes he knew that the scars in her heart would never go away. This woman was changed forever because of people who were so mad at the world that they took their anger out on some one they couldn't have or control. He watched as she smiled at him and winked and in his heart and soul he felt the worst case of butterflies he had ever experienced in his life. No one had ever caused that reaction in him besides her but he didn't mind. He LOVED it. He loved the feeling that she gave him with every touch, every kiss, even with every phone call. She made him feel like he could do anything and that was the most wonderful feeling in the world. The whole world could stop turning but it wouldn't matter to him because he knew that she was by his side.
And now, watching her, watching her sing with her beautiful voice and look at him with those eyes of hers, he knew that she felt the same way. No words could describe the feeling that they had for each other but at that moment it didn't matter. They were both lost in their own little world of staring at each other that they didn't realize that the song had ended and everyone was on their feet clapping for them.
Mackenzie stood next to Justin with a wide eye look on her face. She wanted to know what he was thinking, she wanted to hear him tell her what he thought of her. Justin, not caring about the people in the audience or that they had gone to commercial break and crew members where now telling them to get off the stage, reached around her and pulled her close to him in a hug. He pulled back and looked at the serious expression on her face and smiled as he placed his hand on her cheek. "That's a very serious look you have going on there." he said as he moved his hand along her cheek.
"I'm looking into the eyes of the man I love and want to spend the rest of my life with. I'm trying to find in his eyes if he...if he wants to spend the rest of his life with me too." she said with out moving her eyes away from his.
"Well, I'm looking into the eyes of the woman that I love and seeing her with such love in her eyes, knowing that that love is for me...well I'm...I'm speechless."
Mackenzie smiled up at him tenderly, "I love you, Justin Timberlake."
"I love you too, Mackenzie Hope." he paused and smiled, "I'm never going to let you slip away from me again, you hear that...from now until the end of time you are stuck with me, Girly."