Joone's *NSYNC Fanfic - Hosted Stories


How Did I Fall In Love With You?

CHAPTER SIX

(The Next Saturday)

Justin had gotten up early in the morning because he had to record the album in the morning until late afternoon and later that evening he had choreography lessons. His mind was in a daze as he walked down the stairs to the front door.

As he passed by Jo’s door, he was almost instinctively drawn towards it. He thought about the party last Sunday and immediately, he could almost feel Jo in his arms. He had never felt that way before. And yet, he was held back from running into her room and taking her into his arms. What held him back were his own nightmares and insecurities that haunted him from the past.

Clearing his head he thought about how he had purposely acted aloof around Jo. He had shut her out and although it pained him to not be able to confide in her like he had for those few days that they were open and honest with each other, he still went on for fear of exposing himself and being hurt in the process. He never wanted to go through that again.

"Justin, you coming?" Rick called from outside the door.

"Yeah."

With one last backward glance at Jo’s door, he left the house.


"And, one....two...three...four. Slide, two...three...four." Wade counted along with the beat as the boys of *N Sync danced their parts out to near perfection.

But that was just it, he didn’t want near perfection. He expected perfection from all his students. And he knew that the guys would get their routines down pat in no time at all. They had been in the studio since six and it was now ten p.m. It had been a long day.

"Can we please stop for just two minutes???? I‘ve pounded my feet against the ground so much I think I have a hernia." Chris asked as he went down on his knees in front of the younger boy and put on as pathetic a face as he could muster.

Wade looked at his watch and held out five fingers. "Five minutes, you guys. We hardly get any time to practice as it is. All I get is half a day once a week and that’s hardly enough time."

The guys dispersed even before he had completed his sentence and Wade shook his head and laughed at their antics. Sometimes he felt much older and wiser than them even though he was actually a year younger than Justin. This could be seen as either one of two things. One, that he was very mature for his age. Or two, that *N Sync were as immature as kids. With a smile, he decided to go with option number two.

Justin came back into the room and he had with him a bottle of Gatorade. This was the moment to ask him, Wade thought. It’s now or never.

"So, how’s college, J?" Wade asked as he walked towards him.

"Fine. I think I’m almost beginning to prefer touring and the hectic schedules. It’s a madhouse sometimes. But I enjoy it." Justin said as he wiped his bald head with a towel.

Wade laughed at Justin’s description. He knew of a million kids out there who’d love to permanently trade with him. But that’s the thing he admired about Justin. To him, it was all good.

"So, I just wanted to ask you sumthin, man." Wade started tracing an imaginary pattern on the mirrored wall in front of him.

"What is it? Shoot. Is it about my footwork cos I know I’ve been a li’l clumsy lately. But I swear it’s cos I’m tired."

"No, it ain’t that. It’s just that I ...uh.....wanted to know if Jo mentioned me to you."

Justin stopped swinging his arms and looked at Wade. He totally didn’t expect that. Actually, he HAD heard Jo talking about Wade to Carrie earlier that week when they thought he wasn’t listening.

"She, uh.......yeah she sorta did mention you."

"Did she?" Wade looked excited about the prospect and grinned.

"What did she say? No wait, I shouldn’t ask cos she might have been confiding in you and I don’t wanna break the trust."

You have no idea, man. Justin thought.

"Do you think she likes me?"

Justin thought back to the time he saw Jo dancing with Wade and when he had heard Carrie and Jo talking about him. He knew that if he wanted things to stay uncomplicated in his life, then he had to let Jo go. And Wade was a really nice guy. And , better Wade than some stranger, right?

"Yeah. Yeah, I think she likes.........you." Justin had had to choke the last word out. It felt almost physically painful to give her away like that. But he knew it was for the best.

"Cool. Do you think you could give me her number? I forgot to ask her that day at the party."

Justin gave him Jo’s number and thought to himself. If he knew he was doing the right thing by letting Jo go, then why did it feel so wrong?

Jo and Carrie were sitting at the couch watching Casablanca for the millionth time when suddenly they heard the door opening. Jo’s gaze swung from the TV to the door. Her heart started beating faster when she saw him.

"Rough night, Justin?" Carrie said as she saw one very haggard looking popstar making his way into the house.

"Yeah." He mumbled.

His eyes briefly met Carrie’s as he wished her goodnight and he didn’t even look at Jo as he mumbled the same greeting in her direction.

What’s wrong with him? Jo thought. One minute he breathes hot then cold. Is this a new game or something?

She wasn’t gonna let him get away with that. She knew something was wrong. And if she could open up to him, why couldn’t he give her the same trust?

To Carrie’s surprise, she marched up the steps and knocked on Justin’s door.

"Come in." Justin said when he heard the tentative knock. He thought it was probably Rick reminding him of the pick-up time tomorrow.

He stopped breathing when he turned around and saw Jo standing there. She looked angry over something, and it was no wonder because of the way he had been treating her of late.

"What’s up, Jo?" Justin asked tiredly.

"We need to talk."

Ah, those three magic words. He thought as he smiled to himself. Every woman’s dream and man’s nightmare.

"What about?" He asked innocently.

"You know, what about. Is something wrong? Why haven’t you talked to me, lately?"

"I talked to you downstairs."

"No you didn’t. Where I come from, that’s not called talking. That’s called brushing off. What happened?" She asked in a concerned tone as she walked towards him and sat next to him on the bed. "Is something wrong?"

"I just had a rough day and I would like to sleep."

"I don’t buy that for one minute. What’s going on?" She asked as she gingerly put a hand to his cheek and looked into his eyes. They seemed distraught over something and she felt so helpless at not being to solve it for him.

Justin’s hand covered her own on his cheek and he stared intently into her eyes. Her eyes were like magnets. He was almost physically pulled towards the beauty and life that he saw there. Eyes that were right now looking at him with such concern and pain. Pain at not being able to help him.

Slowly his head lowered towards her own. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck prickle as he came closer. She held her breath and her eyelids closed slowly until she couldn’t see him but could feel his breath, warm and sweet on her lips.

"Jo!!!!!!!! There’s a phone call for you." Carrie’s voice and loud pounding came from outside his door.

The two of them pulled apart like they had been burned.

Justin was the first to speak. "You’d better get that." He said with a cough.

"Who is it?" Jo called out to Carrie.

"It’s Wade."

"Wade? How’d HE get my number?" Jo thought out loud.

Justin looked at her and gave her an menacing grin. "I gave it to him."

Jo sucked in her breath sharply. She felt tears forming in the back of her eyes. Silently, she opened the door, grabbed the phone from Carrie and ran down to her room.

Justin buried his head in his hands. What have I done?


In her room, Jo cradled the phone under her neck as she paced like a lunatic in front of her bed. Jo controlled her emotions because she didn’t want to break down in front of Wade.

"So did you have fun that night?" Wade’s lazy voice sounded through the phone.

"Yes, I had a great time. Thank you." She said with a genuine smile.

"Good. That’s good to hear. I had a good time too." She could hear Wade take a deep breath as she waited for what he had to say next.

"I was wondering Jo, do you wanna get together for a movie or a bite to eat sometime soon?"

Jo thought his question over in her head. Justin obviously didn’t want her, so what harm was there in going out with Wade? He was such a great guy and he definitely wasn’t the Jason-type.

But he’s not Justin, a voice in her mind said. I just have to get over him, then, Jo thought with a sad smile.

"Sure. I’d love to, Wade."

"That’s great. Are you free tomorrow?" He sounded so enthusiastic over the phone that she tried her best to sound enthusiastic for his sake.

The two of them made plans to meet up the next day. Jo was looking forward to spending time with Wade because she really had meant what he said about him being a nice guy.

They both said their goodbyes and then hung up. Jo clicked the phone off and lay back on her bed, her hands tucked under her head.

Now that her conversation with Wade was over, she brought her mind back to the events that had taken place in Justin’s room earlier. She couldn’t get over the fact that Justin had "given" her away to Wade. Sure, Wade was a nice guy and all, but didn’t Justin know that Wade wasn’t who she wanted right now?

That didn’t matter. She was going to eradicate all traces of Justin Timberlake in her life. There were plenty more fish in the sea and Wade just might be the one she was after.

But even her determination and her fierce will to get over Justin couldn’t prepare her for her tears.

She cried silently into the pillow as she mourned the disappearance of Justin Timberlake from her mind, from her world........from her heart.


(The next morning)

Justin hadn’t had any sleep the night before since it was killing him that he couldn’t tell Jo how much he had grown to care about her. And eventhough he knew he was doing the right thing, he couldn’t help the sick feeling that he had in his stomach telling him that it just wasn’t right.

When he came down the stairs to join the rest of the gang at the breakfast table, he was surprised to see Jo sitting there smiling away at everyone like there was nothing wrong. She was right then laughing at something Luke had said while biting into a piece of Rick’s world-famous french toast.

"Hi there ,Justin!" Carrie said as he came into the kitchen.

Jo turned around slowly and met his gaze and she smiled politely at Justin and nodded at his direction.

Right away Justin knew something was wrong. Her gesture was cold and without any feeling. The Jo he knew smiled at him with all of her emotions written openly on her face. This girl in front of him had fixed on a smile of ice.

But it was her eyes that told him most of the story. Her eyes were lifeless and dead like she was shutting out her emotions. But at the same time they had a glint of determination and pain. It hurt him to know that the pain she was feeling was caused by him.

No one else in the room was aware of the feelings that were being withheld by both Jo and Justin. But then again, no one had ever been privileged enough to witness Jo and Justin’s world. No one could come into their minds except the both of them. They had an exclusive relationship.

"I have to go now. Bye you guys," Jo said as she grabbed her backpack from the counter.

"Do you uh...........need a lift?" Justin asked in a small voice.

"Yeah, we could drop you off. Justin’s gotta leave soon anyway." Rick said as he cleared the dishes from the counter and dumped them in the sink.

"That’s ok. I need to go right now. And I need to take a walk anyway. I have to clear my head." She looked briefly at Justin.

"Where are you going, Jo?" Luke asked.

Carrie giggled as she whispered into Luke’s ear.

Justin thought he could make out Wade’s name and winced in reaction. That’s what you wanted wasn’t it, Timberlake? His inner voice said to him. You should be happy that things are going your way.

He looked sorrowfully at Jo as she left the kitchen and was out of the house a moment later.


Jo walked out of the house in a hurry so that she could be away from the charade she was putting on. Who was she trying to kid anyway? She knew that more so than ever, she cared about Justin Timberlake and she couldn’t help it like how she couldn’t help living and breathing.

As her footsteps pounded angrily along the pavement, she wiped an angry tear from her cheek. He’s not worth the tears, she kept telling herself. Then why did she feel like crying forever?

You’re made of stronger stuff, Jo. Don’t get all mushy because of a guy. There truly are plenty more fish in the sea and you couldn’t get them any better than Wade Robson.

She had to give Wade a shot. She had to see if it was possible to feel for a guy like how she felt for Justin.

Whether she succeeded or not, only time would tell.

How Did I Fall In Love With You?

CHAPTER SEVEN

(Two weeks later)

Justin had had yet another gruelling day of recording. Rick was driving him home and all he wanted to do then was sleep. As Rick pulled up at the driveway of their house, Justin noticed a car parked in front of them. The top the convertible was down and he immediately noticed Wade and Jo in the car.

They looked like they just got home from a date. But that wasn’t what caused the sudden urge in him to go out there and punch the living daylights out of Wade eventhough he considered the boy to be a very good friend of his.

He was kissing her. He had his hand around her neck and he was thoroughly kissing her. He could tell that they would have gone on too if the both of them hadn’t finally realized that there was an audience.

Justin couldn’t explain the primitive feeling of possessiveness that he had felt when he saw Wade kissing Jo like that. He felt like he had caught his girlfriend making out with another guy. And even the word jealousy did not sum up the totality of what he felt at that point.

True, he had been watching Wade and Jo get very comfortable with each other in the last two weeks. But he really didn’t want to see them making out under his nose.

"Young love, huh?" Rick said as he chuckled at the sight of the two of them before him.

Jo gave Wade one last peck on the cheek, before she got out of the car.

When she walked up the path to the house, she realized that Justin was no longer in the van, but at the door. He was now holding open the front door for her.

"Thank you," she said coolly, as she walked past him.

He lingered behind her and leaned forward near her ear. "Hot date with Wade ,huh?" His voice was menacing.

Jo was shocked by the anger in his voice. She was also confused by it. She whirled around to face him. "Yes, Justin. I had a hot date with Wade. Jealous?"

"Hardly. You’re not my type."

"Thank god for that. I’m not eager to go out with you either. I think you’ve mistaken me for one of your fans." With that she left the living room and went into her room.

What had gotten into him? Why had he reacted that way towards her?

On her side of her door, Jo too was wondering the same things. She couldn’t figure Justin out and today was no exception. She didn’t want to concern herself over it because Justin was no longer an issue in her life.
Or so she told herself repeatedly every night.

Jo’s mind went back to last week’s incident when Justin and her had almost kissed. She couldn’t erase the memory of that moment, eventhough it was only an almost-kiss. It was like every finger that Justin had on her face, every breath that tingled her lips, every thought that had crossed, or not crossed her mind at that moment, had been burned into the very fiber of her being.

How did one try to forget something like that?

Wade was sitting in his apartment listening to some jazz and thinking over the events of that night.

He smiled when he thought about Jo. She was a beautiful girl and so like him in many ways. They were both driven and passionate people and that was just one of the many things that drew him to her.

She was intelligent and charming and he loved her sardonic sense of humor. And he loved when her eyes looked into his own. He felt like he would do anything she asked if only he could get to look into her eyes everyday. They were eyes that were beautiful, yes, but also eyes that spoke volumes to him. Eyes that said so much when words couldn’t possibly try.

But, tonight, when he had kissed her. None of her passion was surfaced. True, she kissed him back, but it was all about the motion of kissing and not anything deeper than that. He hadn’t felt any of her spirit and personality in that kiss. It was like her mind was else where. And this wasn’t just an isolated incident. It had been happening for a while now and he wanted to know what was going on. He wanted to know why she was hiding from him like this.

Part of him wanted to be satisfied with what he had and to just shut up and be grateful. But the other part of him wanted her spirit to be able to come out freely. He didn’t want her to hide herself for his sake. He wasn’t worth it. Nothing was worth compromising herself for.

Wade picked up the phone and dialed Jo’s number.

"Hello." He smiled at the sound of her voice. He could almost picture her sitting on her bed in her PJs and reading a book.

"Hi there, you hot sexy thing." Wade said playfully.

"Uh.......sorry, if you’re looking for Rick, he’s upstairs in bed now. He doesn’t usually do booty calls, but for you, I’ll ask him as a favor."

"Very funny. Besides, who needs Rick when I could be getting a booty call from you?"

"I sound like Pokemon. But I’m sure that’s a real turn on for you, though."

"No you don’t. You have a great voice."

"Thanks, the check’s in the mail," she said with a laugh. "By the way, why did you call me or do you always call innocent young girls in the middle of the night?"

"I was wondering if you would like the pleasure of my company tomorrow afternoon? I know you have no classes in the afternoon tomorrow, so do you wanna meet up?"

"Ok. Sounds like a plan to me."

Wade sighed as he ran a hand over his stubbled jaw. "Good. Then I’ll see you tomorrow at that cafe on campus, ok?"

"Sure. I think I’m gonna call it a night, Wade."

"You can call it whatever you want, baby. But I’m just plain tired." He smiled at her giggle on the other line.

"Night."

"Goodnight, my Jo."

As he hung up the phone, he thought about what he had to do tomorrow. The Wade Robson that fell into a restless sleep that night was not a happy man.



Jo left the lecture feeling grateful for the chance to be able to go home and get some rest. One of her lecturers was out of town that week so his afternoon lecture had been cancelled. She was looking forward to meeting Wade and then heading home for some much needed rest. College life was getting to her.

As she entered the cafe that Wade had mentioned, she noticed Wade sitting in the corner looking extremely desolate.

"What’s wrong, Wade? You look like someone who’s just lost his best friend."Jo said as she slid into a seat.

You don’t know the half of it, Wade thought as he looked at her.

"Nothing. I’m just really tired."

"Has Chris been making prank calls to your house in the middle of the night again?"

Despite his miserable mood, he had to chuckle at that.

He looked at her seriously then and took her hand from across the table. "We need to talk."

"Great. My favorite words."

"You know as well as I do how wonderful these last two weeks have been for me. I love being around you, Jo. And I want more than anything to be around you for longer than that."

"But..."

"But, I think you’re holding back from me. I mean, I know you’ve enjoyed the time we’ve spent together." Wade swallowed before continuing. "But I just feel like your heart’s not in this. What’s wrong? Is there a problem? Is there.......is there another guy?"

Jo’s head snapped up in anger, "I’m not cheating on you, if that’s what you mean."

"I never said you were , Jo. I asked if you were thinking about another guy."

This time, Jo couldn’t raise her eyes to meet his and his worst suspicions were confirmed.

"I can compete with a guy that you’re cheating on me with. Because that requires physical elimination. I can fight him to get rid of him. But I can’t compete with a guy who’s in your heart, Jo."

Jo was saddened by the pain in Wade’s eyes. She realized that she didn’t want to hurt Wade and she was miserable at having done just that. He needed her honesty right now.

"I have been thinking about someone else." She said in a barely audible whisper.

Until then only Wade had been speaking but to hear the words that he knew were inevitably coming from her own mouth caused him an almost physical pain. He nodded bravely as if accepting her admission.

"Can I know who he is?"

"It’s...Justin."

The light dawned in his eyes as if he’d only just realized it himself. He had always wondered, but now he knew for sure.

"I want you to be happy, Jo. And if he makes you happy, then I want that for you. He’s a lucky guy."

"He doesn’t act like that sometimes."

They both laughed and it eased the tension in the air tremendously. They were done with eating by then and were both strolling on the campus grounds.

"I don’t know what’s going on with you and Justin or what made you come to me instead. But I do know that if you’re still thinking of him, he must be worth fighting over. And I know Justin longer than you have and trust me when I say that he’s a great guy, but a real dumb-ass sometimes. Give him a chance, ok?"

Jo looked up at this amazing guy who on top of letting her go to be with Justin, was actually giving her some great advice. Not many guys she knew would have been as gracious as him.

"Thank you, Wade. If circumstances had been different..." She began explaining but Wade cut her off.

"I know." He smiled understandingly at her. "I hope you’re happy, Jo and I hope that you can half at least half of the happiness that you’ve brought me this last week. And if Timberlake ever gives you any problems, or ...........if you change your mind about me, I’ll be waiting."

He leaned down then and tenderly kissed her forehead. He had just given her his blessings to go after Justin. They both walked to his car since he insisted he drive her home.

In the car, she began thinking about what to do at this point. How was she going to tell Justin what she felt?

When she got home, she thanked Wade for the ride and after promising to stay in touch with him, went into the house and into her room. No one was home then and she thought the setting was perfect for her to do a little soul searching.

Was Wade right? Was Justin worth fighting for?

Justin was having a very bad day. He hadn’t been able to concentrate during his lectures all day and at one point he even got told off by one of his lecturers who told him that even "superstars had to pay attention like the rest of the common folk".

His mind was filled of thoughts of Jo the entire day. He was glad that he was done with classes for the day so that he could go home and rest his aching head. Plus, no one would be home this early and he’d get a little quality "me time".

When he finally got home, he threw his backpack on a nearby table and rubbed his shoulders as he made his way to the kitchen to get something to eat. The bag landed with a crash on the table.

"What the....." Justin heard Jo’s voice behind him.

He turned around and almost smiled when he saw Jo. She had her hands on her hips like she was going to tell him off for making that noise and disturbing her peace. He finally gave in to temptation and a slow grin spread over his face.

"What’s so funny?" She asked in a softening scowl.

"You are."

They both started giggling at that and at once they became the only two people in their world again.

How she missed sharing a laugh with him. She had taken his laughter and his humour for granted.

"I missed hearing you laugh." Justin said softly to her. She smiled up at him when he said that and as usual, he was left breathless.

"We need to talk, Jo."

"We do?"

"Yeah ,we do." He said as he stepped forward and pulled her towards the couch in the living room.

When they were seated comfortably beside each other on the couch, he looked up at her with a thoughtful and serious expression on his face. Take a chance, J, he told himself.

"What I wanted to say was that, I think......" He couldn’t get his thought out of his mouth because his eyes were fixed on her lips. Every curve of her lip and the way they parted when she was relaxed against the seat and breathing deeply. Everything about her lips fascinated him at that moment.

"I have something to say to you too, Justin. And I don’t know how I’m going to say this or even how you’re gonna react to what I’m gonna say. But....." She stopped speaking because Justin’s finger began lazily tracing the outline of her lips. She was afraid to breathe for fear of disrupting the gentle caress that was making its way around her lips.

"Justin, I....." She began when she could find her voice. This time his finger hushed her from speaking as they pressed against her lips to silence her.

It felt like an eternity before Justin’s lips met her own. But when they did, every thought in her mind just disappeared in a flash of white light. If she thought the anticipation of Justin’s kiss the last time was killing her, then this actual kiss had killed her and she was on the slow journey towards heaven. But oh, what a way to go!

His lips began to get more insistent as they gently parted her lips and allowed himself to taste her. She sighed against his lips as she clung to his broad shoulders. Justin’s hands were buried in her hair and tugging gently at it.

Slowly, her heart sailed back to earth and her pulse lessened as Justin broke off from the kiss to look at her. His eyes were aglow and there was wonder in his eyes. He had never felt like that because of a kiss and words failed him at that point.

Justin need not have worried about making conversation because Jo was still very much incapable of speech. She sighed and rested her head on Justin’s shoulders. His arms instinctively surrounded her waist as he brought her closer to himself.

There was no need for words for they would have only served to complicate the moment. They were both back where they belonged.

How Did I Fall In Love With You?

CHAPTER EIGHT

"Oh no, I’m gonna be late and I haven’t finished my presentation speech!" Jo ran around the living room as she grabbed her laptop off the table and ran back into her room.

Justin silently walked into the kitchen and grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl before turning to walk back out again.

"Where’s the fire?" Rick asked as he looked up from his breakfast.

Justin grinned back at him. "She still hasn’t finished a speech or sumthin. And she’s running late. In Jo-speak, that equals to ‘National Emergency’."

Rick chuckled at the words. He had always known that there would be sparks between the two and he was glad to see the sparks turning to actual flames. They had too much of a good thing going on there to pass up.

Justin walked slowly back to Jo’s room as he peeled the orange along the way. As he entered the room, he was welcomed by the sight of papers strewn everywhere on the desk and in the middle of all the papers was one very stressed out teenage girl. She was banging away furiously on her laptop as she mumbled something under her breath.

Justin smiled at her for a moment before he sat himself on the desk. He looked at her beautiful face and no matter how many times he saw her, he could never get sick of seeing the passion and life that were in her eyes and in her personality. He didn’t know how he got so lucky to have her in his life. They had been going out for two months now and yet each day with her, he learnt something new about her and about himself too. She made him a better person.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he peeled of a slice of the orange and placed it at her lips. She looked momentarily at what it was before she opened her mouth and bit on it.

"Thanks." She said offhandedly as she continued to type away.

Justin was content to watch her work as he occasionally fed her with the orange.

Finally, after banging the last few keys, she leaned back on her chair and declared that it was done. She saved her work and began arranging the papers on her desk.

She was about to open her mouth and complain about how her professor was going to kill her when suddenly, Justin popped an orange slice into her mouth. She sat there feeling ridiculous at having a slice of orange sticking out of her mouth and fully expected to look up and see Justin clutching his stomach and rolling with laughter.

Instead, Justin’s hand cupped the side of her cheek as he leaned down to take a bite of the orange that was sticking out of her mouth before giving her a sweet and citrusy flavored kiss. She never thought of the orange as a very sexy fruit before but just then, the sharp and tangy taste of the orange combined with the heady flavor of Justin’s lips made her reconsider her opinion of oranges.

When he broke the contact with her mouth, he began kissing the trail of orange juice down her chin. At that moment, Jo wouldn’t have cared if they burned all the napkins in the world.

"Mmmm......can I have that for breakfast every morning?" She said teasingly at him as he pulled away.

"For you, lady. Anything." He said as he grinned at her.


Jo had been stressed out for the past month and Justin wanted to help her out in some way to get her mind off the big project that was her latest assignment for class. He knew that today was the day that she would be handing in the last of her assignment and he had planned a special surprise for her.

To help him out he had rushed to the supermarket after his last class in the afternoon to shop for the things he would need. He had also called his mom for recipes and he had never been more grateful for having a mother who was a whiz in the kitchen. Justin had also practically chased Carrie, Luke and even Rick out of the house for the day with strict instructions not to return before midnight.

Justin had to hurry because Jo was coming home in time for dinner and he had told her that they’d go out to grab a quick bite. Little did she know that he had planned to cook her his own little feast.

He toiled over the food and painstakingly prepared the meal that would feed both her weary body and mind. He had never been a bad cook but since he was away on tour most of the time, most of his culinary skills went unappreciated. After about an hour of running around the kitchen, he had managed to prepare some almond roasted chicken and potato salad. For dessert there was a blueberry pie that he had baked from scratch and it looked weird but edible. There was also a large bowl of fruit salad that Justin had painstakingly cut up and left to chill in the fridge.

When he was done, he ran upstairs to take a quick shower and was just in hear Jo’s key jangling in the door as he finally came back down.

Jo took in the sight of Justin freshly showered and smiled tiredly at him.

"You know what, Justin? I know you wanted to go out to eat today, but I’m really tired and I think I just want to crash right now."

"Ok. You can crash but not right now. First we eat."

He led her to the dining area and she audibly gasped when she saw the candles by the dozens lining the dining table and the surrounding area. On the table was a spread of what appeared to be home-cooked food.

"You did all this?" She asked in a whisper.

He nodded slowly and led her to her seat. He pulled out the chair for her and when she was seated, he sat down himself.

"What do you think?"

"I really appreciate this Justin, but I’m so hungry I plan to just dig in." She giggled as she said the words.

"Heyyy! Watch it lady! I cooked that meal from scratch and you are not going to gobble or devour anything, You will savor every morsel of Timberlake goodness that I have laid out on this table."

"Timberlake goodness, eh?" She said as her eyes roamed his body.

"What am I going to do with a hormonally driven girl like her?" He asked with a glance heavenward.

"I can think of a lot of things...." Jo said as she lowered her voice purposefully.

"You’d better be able to carry out your promises, young lady."

Jo laughed him off and grabbed the bowl of potato salad before serving herself a portion of it. She picked up a forkful, sniffed it suspiciously and looked back up at him.

"Is this safe? I don’t need to renew my life insurance scheme do I?"

"I’ll ignore that insult and remember it later when you’ve finished every bite of my salad and you’re begging for more."

Jo bravely took a bite and after a few thoughtful bites, she declared that it was really good. "Wow! I didn’t think you had a domestic side ,Justin."

Jo thoroughly enjoyed the meal and smiled in gratitude at her after the meal was over.

"Thanks for dinner Justin." She started to leave the table.

"Wait. There’s more."

"More what? Food???? I’m stuffed."

"No. More surprises." He had the look of a little boy whose brand-new toy truck was not getting the attention it rightfully deserved.

"Ok. What else? And please be quick about it as well. Trust me, you don’t want me falling asleep during the part where I’m supposed to be surprised."

He led her by the hand to the living room where he had pushed back the couch and the coffee table to make room. After leaving her at the center of the impromptu dancefloor, he went over to the stereo and switched on the music.

Jo smiled at the effort that Justin was putting into this evening and all for her sake. She was still very tired but she thought it was only polite to enjoy the evening he had planned for her. Sleep can wait, she thought.

Justin turned back to her and wordlessly took her in his arms. He knew that she didn’t need a romantic night out on the town or expensive presents. He knew that for Jo, it was all about the love that he put into his gifts for her. And this night was a gift for her.

Behind him, the music began to play and with each word of the song Justin looked deeply into her eyes and although he didn’t sing a word of it, the song felt like a message from him.

I like the feel of your name on my lips,/ I like the sound of your sweet gentle kiss. /The way that your fingers run through my hair, /And how your scent lingers even when you're not there. / I like the way your eyes dance when you laugh./ And how you enjoy your two hour baths./ The way you convinced me to dance in the rain. /With everyone watching like we were insane./ But I love, the way you love me.....

He took her hand then and he laced it with his own. He couldn’t express his feelings in words and he didn’t have the courage to give her the commitment that he knew she wanted to hear, but he just knew that when he held her in his arms like this, it was unlike anything he’d ever experienced in the world. He stared at their intertwined fingers then, as if fascinated by the sight of their hands joined like that.

As usual, there were no words necessary between the two. They had never been able to communicate their feelings in a more efficient way and the glorious silence they shared emphasized the unique relationship they had.

After some time and a few songs and a few dances later, he saw that Jo was looking tired. He then decided to put into motion the next part of his Jo pampering routine.

"I want to stay here and dance with you forever but it’s time for the next surprise." Justin said as he regretfully pulled away from her and led her to her room. "I want you to take a shower and when you’re done, put on your sleeping things and come out here."

"Are you sure this part is a surprise for me cos it sure as hell sounds like a surprise for you."

"You can take it anyway you want to. But I expect you back here on this bed in 15 minutes, so hurry," he said to her with a suggestive grin.

Jo’s eyes widened at that but she went to the bathroom anyway because she knew she trusted Justin. The question here was, did she trust herself around Justin? She asked herself with a chuckle as she took a warm shower.

Fifteen minutes later, she was out as she promised and Justin was sitting on her bed reading a female beauty magazine. There was classical music coming from her CD player.

"Did you check out this article called ‘Ten Tips To A Trimmer Tummy’? That’s pretty useful advice."

"What makes you think you need tips for a trimmer tummy, Justin? You have a great....."

Justin looked up at her and grinned wickedly. "Please continue..."

Jo stuck out her tongue at him and went to the mirror to comb her hair as Justin put the magazine away and chuckled to himself.

When she was done, she turned around to face Justin and noticed that he was staring at her.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just like looking at you. Now, if you don’t mind, will you please lie down on the bed , ma’am?"

"Whatever for?"

"Do you trust me?" Justin asked her with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Yeah, I do."

"Then lie down on the bed, stomach down." He motioned for her to put her face into a pillow that he had arranged on the bed.

She did as he told her and waited.

She heard him rummaging around for something and then finally, she felt his weight on the side of her bed.

She felt strong yet skillful hands grab hold of her shoulders. She sighed as they expertly massaged away the tension and the stress of the past two weeks. He was rubbing some sweet smelling oil onto her shoulders. When she felt his hands push up the back of her tank top to reveal her back, she held her breath. His hands continued massaging her lower back this time and the feeling was heavenly to say the least.

He smiled as he felt her relax against the mattress and slip into unconsciousness. She needed to be free of this tension and be back to her usual care-free self again and he was going to help her in any way he could. He realized when he held his palm out to pour more of aromatherapy oil into his palm, that Jo was already fast asleep by then.

Poor girl, he thought to himself as he continued massaging her for a few more minutes.

When he was finally done, he went into her bathroom and washed his hands, before turning off the lights and blowing out the candles he had put in her room. He slowly kissed her on the cheek before covering her gently with her blanket. With one last backward glance, Justin left the room.

How Did I Fall In Love With You?

CHAPTER NINE

(The next morning)

Jo was seated in the kitchen having a cup of coffee and being mercilessly teased by her other housemates. No doubt, since Justin had needed their help to make last night a success, and he had told them what he was doing for her.

Jo took one look at the smug expressions around the table and knew for a fact that they would have this day as a point to bring up in many conversations for the next few weeks. Although Carrie had secretly told her that she thought what Justin did was romantic, she too joined in the festivities when the Rick and Luke started making fun of her.

Where’s Justin at a time like this? She thought to herself. How can he be allowed to sleep while I bear the brunt of the humiliation?

Just then, Justin walked through the kitchen door. He looked grumpy as usual and after pouring a bowl of cereal fro himself, he walked towards Jo, kissed her good morning (with the early morning scowl still on his face) and sat down next to her to eat breakfast.

The three of them were suspiciously quiet and they looked at one another now grinning.

"Well, if it isn’t Romeo himself?" Rick said in a sarcastic tone as he innocently looked down at his breakfast.

Justin looked up at him briefly, eyes narrowed before he continued scooping cereal into his mouth.

"Justin, will you cook dinner tonight for me? Oh wait, I’m not Jo." Luke said ,causing the three of them to burst out in laughter.

After breakfast, and the snide remarks, were over, Jo pulled Justin aside into her room.

"Thank you for last night, Justin," she said in a soft voice as she looked up into his eyes.

Justin grinned at her. "Why? Did it finally make you realize what a great boyfriend I am?" His face got closer to hers as he spoke.

Jo put her arms around his neck and moved closer still and whispered, "No."

"Because I just needed more than anything else in this world for the three of them to play sarcasm central with me over breakfast!!!" She screamed at him as she poked his chest hard.

Justin laughed in reaction and hugged Jo to himself to still her abuses. "Does that mean you don’t want me to surprise you like that anymore?" He touched his forehead to her own as he looked into her eyes.

"Hey, I didn’t say that!"

"But I thought you didn’t want our housemates to make fun of us anymore?"

"What housemates?" She murmured as she gently kissed his lips. "You can do anything you want to surprise me. And as for our annoying housemates, we’ll just pretend they don’t exist. We usually do anyway."

"Heyyyyy!!!!! I heard that!" Rick said as he walked into the room since the door was wide open.

"Great. What did you want, Rick? Or do you want some Justin love, too?" Jo said as she smiled up at him, still in Justin’s arms.

"Uh.....no thanks. I just wanted to remind you that we’re gonna leave now. But if you two wanna stay behind and neck each other the whole day, don’t let me stop ya!"

Jo sighed and got out of Justin’s embrace before stuffing her backpack with stuff that she needed. Justin grabbed his backpack from Rick and made his way out of Jo’s room to wait for her.

"Hey, man, I got a call from Johnny last night. He said your cell was switched off."

"He did?" Justin said as he grinned and sat down on the couch.

Rick rolled his eyes. "Anyway, Johnny said that you have to go to LA on Wednesday with the rest of the guys. There’s a press conference or sumthin you have to be at. And he’s already got permission for you to be away from your classes."

"What?" Justin said as he hung his head down. "I don’t believe this. This 1/2 a year is supposed to be my time."

"Well, Justin, he’s only askin’ for a few days."

"Yeah, well I gave him years of my life and I ask for a li’l peace and quiet for 1/2 a year and I can’t even get that!" Justin sounded angry but he kept his voice low because he didn’t want Jo to hear him.

"Its not for very long, J. And its not gonna be much work. You just have to go there and smile and answer some questions and you’ll be back in no time at all. You know Johnny as well as I do and he won‘t ask you to do this unless he thought it was really important."

"What about, Jo?" he asked in a small voice.

"What about her? She’s a big girl, J. She can take care of herself."

"I know that. I know that better than anyone. But what am I going to do without her for a few days?" He looked scared at the possibility.

Rick wanted to laugh in the young boy’s face.

"Well, Justin, look at it this way. This is your life. You chose this and now you’re gonna have to live with some of the things that come with it, like leaving your loved ones behind. I’m sure you’re used to it by now, Justin."

"No, I’m not. How do you ever get used to leaving your loved ones behind? I’ll never get used to that. That hurts no matter how many times you do it."

"Well, just tell her tonight and I’m sure she’ll understand. She might even learn to enjoy being away from you." Rick joked.

Justin scowled back at him in response.


That evening, Jo lay in Justin’s arms on the couch, watching TV, while Justin chewed on his lip pretending to watch.

She laughed as Drew Carey made some really hilarious one-liners on the show she was watching. Justin chewed even more frantically.

Jo sighed. Without once taking her eyes off the screen, she asked, "Spit it out, Justin. What is it?"

"How’d you know I’ve got something to say?"

"Call it ‘female intuition’. So come on, do you have something to say or not?"

"Well, yeah I do. It’s just that I have to go to LA for a few days to do some press conferences and shoots for the new album." He braced himself for some form of reaction from her.

"Ok. Have fun." She said as she looked up at him and then back at the TV again.

"Did you hear me right? I said, I’m going to LA for...."

"I know what you said."

"You aren’t upset?"

"Why would I be? It’s part of your job and you’ll only be gone for a few days."

"So, you’re not the least bit sad to see me go?"

"Not really. I’ll be a bit disappointed you won’t be there and I’ll miss you but it’s no big deal, J. You’ll be back three days later anyway."

"Damn, I was hoping you’d be sad for me."

"Why, Justin?" She said with a giggle as she looked up at his face.

"Cos I know I’ll be sad you won’t be there." He sounded like a little boy when he said the words and she smiled up at him.

"Justin, don’t get me wrong. I’m going to miss you too. But, the thing is, I know that this is a part of your job and I can’t hold you back from your dreams. And this is your dream and you have to make sacrifices for it. Or one day, you’ll look back and regret it."

Justin sighed as he held Jo closer to him. "I can’t believe Johnny’s sending me out like this when he promised that I’d have my privacy this time."

She looked up at him then and saw in him a vulnerable and insecure person. A side of him that his fans usually didn’t see. And she felt honored that he let her see his shortcomings. "Justin, I can’t believe I’m hearing this out of you. Of all the people in the world, I never saw anyone more dedicated to his work that you are. So why the complaints, J?"

"It’s just that for once in my life, I had time off to be normal. Ok, so maybe not entirely normal cos I have to have Rick tow me around and I can’t go out to crowded places on my own but you know what I mean. I was being ME and not that guy you see on TV, who smiles far too much to be sane and sacrifices all his spare time and privacy for his fans."

He took a deep breath and smoothed her hair behind her ear before continuing. "These last few months with you and the rest of the gang have been so therapeutic for me. It’s like for a while there I could pretend that I was just Justin, the college guy who loves basketball and green gummy bears and spending time with his girlfriend."

"So you’ll go to LA and come back and you can be the normal Justin again. What’s wrong with that?"

"What’s wrong is that I’m scared that once I do go back to the life of THAT Justin, even if it is for a few days, then it will make my life here with you guys seem less real. And then, the realization that I’m not normal will sink in. The fact that this time I’ve spent with you will seem like a farce."

She took his hand in her own before speaking to him. "Justin, you are anything but normal and I wouldn’t have you any other way. It’s what’s special about you. I hope you realize too that being THAT Justin will not take you away from who you have been around us these past few months, unless you want it to happen that way. You have to fight for your right to be normal sometimes. But, that doesn’t mean that you can just let your dreams fall through just because you want to stay home more often and watch basketball and eat green gummy bears."

Justin chuckled at her. "God, you make me sound pathetic, Jo!"

"You are pathetic Justin Timberlake." She said endearingly.

He laughed as he snuggled his face into her hair. She was right, though. He could come back to Jo and resume his "normal" life again, if only he wanted it that way. And did he ever!

He knew one thing though. That leaving Jo behind in New York was not going to be easy, no matter what she said.


Jo sat on Justin’s bed as he ran about throwing things into his bag. He was going to be leaving for the airport in two hours’ time and he was only just packing. She was skeptical at his ability to get the job done so fast but Justin assured her that he was a seasoned pro at this.

True enough, he was packed in half an hour and she watched him as he sat on the bed, ironing out last minute details with Johnny.

"Yeah........I know," he said as he scratched his jaw. "Right. Ok, I’ll see you then. Bye." He clicked his cell phone shut and lay back on the bed forcefully.

"Have fun on your trip and don’t forget to call me." She lay her head down on his chest.

He gently stroked her hair as he spoke. "You’d better be waiting for my call. And don’t you dare turn off that cell phone I got you or else I’ll....."

"You’ll what?" She dared him as she pinched his arm.

"Owwww!!! Uh......nothing. But you know I’ll call you every few minutes so please don’t turn off your cell, ok? I know how you hate that thing."

"I can’t help it if I hate cell phones. Why’d you have to get me one? Haven’t you heard of flowers or candy?"

"Well after your run-in with whats-his-name, I didn’t want you taking any chances."

"I’ll keep the phone by me every waking moment of the day. Just don’t call me when I’m in class."

"I’m sure if you explain to your lecturers that you have a concerned boyfriend on the other line, they’d be happy to let you answer my calls."

"Right, Mr Concerned-Boyfriend. By the way, may I remind you that you’ll be gone for 3 days and not 3 years."

"Well as far as I’m concerned, that’s 3 days too many."

She looked up to face him then and was about to retort his comment with one of her own when he captured her unspoken words with his lips.

She loved kissing Justin because each kiss was different from the last. Jo could usually tell how he was feeling through his kisses. Today, he was kissing her slowly and deliberately. Like he was trying to memorize her every eyelash.

She wanted to laugh at him for being so silly but she couldn’t because that’s just how she felt right now, too.

Half an hour passed as the two made no move to stop making out when suddenly, they heard a sharp knock on the door.

Justin groaned and pulled away before clearing his throat. "Who is it?"

"Its me, Rick. You have a plane to catch , boy. So stop making out with the beautiful lady."

Justin muttered under his breath and Jo giggled at his antics. He pulled himself and Jo free from the tangle of arms and legs, before getting off the bed and carrying his bag.

Jo helped him with his carry-on luggage and followed him downstairs.

Jo was driving the two to the airport today since they needed someone to bring the mini-van back home. The rest of the *N Sync guys would be at the airport ,too, and she couldn’t wait to see them again. She always met up with one of them, for lunch with Justin, or when he brought her along to the studio. But it always seemed far too long till the next time she saw them ,because she enjoyed their company immensely and had long since become a good friend of the guys rather than just Justin’s girlfriend.

Jo looked into the rearview mirror at Justin, who was unusually quiet today. His mind seemed only half focused on Rick’s ramblings. She didn’t feel like talking or listening too much either for she knew her face only mirrored Justin’s own.

When they arrived at La Guardia Airport, Rick got out of the van almost immediately. Jo was ready to get out of the car, when she felt Justin’s hand on her shoulder telling her to wait.

She looked at him questioningly.

"Rick has to go check out the security situation first." He explained.

"But we’ve never had to do that before." She said, confused.

"Yeah, well that’s another aspect of the charming life of Justin Timberlake."

She looked at the expression on his face and saw one of anger. Anger that he had even brought her into this. Anger that she was being exposed to the coldness of his life.

Jo turned and smiled at Justin and took his hand, squeezing it gently. She was scared about this other life that Justin led and unsure of what went on in the other Justin’s life. But she was determined to understand and support his career because what was important to him, was important to her too.

When Rick came back and gave the couple the all clear sign, Jo and Justin got out of the van and began unloading Justin’s luggage. When they reached the departure area, she saw the rest of the *N Sync guys and smiled. They guys waved or shouted out a greeting as they saw Jo and Justin arrive. Jo walked over to Chris and Dani hugged the two of them, while Justin went off with JC.

"Are you going along?" Dani asked Jo.

"No, I can’t cos I have tons of stuff to do. Besides, its only for 3 days. It’s a test of our relationship I guess."

Dani smiled at the younger girl that she had gotten to know so well these last few months. Although her face was a mask of determination and courage, Dani knew her well enough to notice the strain in her eyes. She was definitely going to miss Justin.

"What about you? Are you following Chris?"

"Nah, I’ve stopped following him around like this for a while now. Since we broke up in fact."

"Is it fun to follow them around then?"

"Hell yeah! It’s great. But be prepared to lose sleep, and to put up with Joey’s inability to get tired."

At that Jo laughed. JC and Lance came to the two girls then and did their own share of catching up. Jo thought it was amazing how she could talk to all the guys in the band about anything, eventhough she regarded JC and Chris as her big brothers.

Finally, it was time for them to go. Dani and Jo hugged all the guys and Bobbie hugged both the girls goodbye briefly. Jo was just hugging Lance and telling him to take care, when Justin came to her side. Lance looked up at Justin’s somber expression and decided to leave the couple alone after giving Jo one last hug.

With a deep breath, she turned to Justin.

"Bye." Jo spoke softly.

"See ya in three days." He bent down and kissed her lips gently. As the kiss began to intensify, JC cleared his throat loudly and tapped Justin on the back as a reminder.

Slowly and regretfully, Justin pulled away, kissed the tip of her nose and bent down to retrieve his bag.

With one last backward glance at her, Justin was gone.

How Did I Fall In Love With You?

CHAPTER TEN

Over the next two days, Jo used the time away from Justin to analyze her feelings for him. She realized that Justin and her had gotten very close and she was starting to feel pretty seriously about her relationship with him.

She missed him very badly when he was gone and though she had a lot of things that should have kept her occupied, she just couldn’t bring herself to concentrate on anything other than Justin for longer than a few minutes.

He called her only once on the day that he arrived in LA and she hadn’t heard from him since. She tried not to be too disappointed because she knew that he was busy and he couldn’t possibly be calling her every few minutes. But a part of her couldn’t help but feel sad.

Now, as she sat at the library trying her best to concentrate on some readings that she was supposed to get done, her mind wandered to Justin again. She felt disgusted with herself for a moment. Jo, you’re a grown woman, surely you can be away from the guy you care about for a few days without wilting, she thought to herself.

Just as she was chiding herself, she felt a vibrating sensation coming from the backpack that was on her lap. Reaching into it, she picked up her cell phone, which had been switched to vibrator mode when she entered the library, and answered it in the far corner of the library.

"Hello?"

"Hey." Almost immediately, her face lit up at the sound of his voice. The background was very noisy and there were many voices that she could hear, but the only voice that was registering in her head and that meant anything to her was Justin’s own.

"Hey to you too."

"Did you miss me?" He asked softly a glimpse of the longing he felt evident in his voice.

"Nope. Ryan here, has been keeping me company and taking good care of me."

"Ryan who?" he almost shouted.

Jo laughed out loud at his incredulous voice.

"Very funny, Jo."

"I know. I crack myself up."

"Ok, I’m gonna put down the phone, then."

"Why?"

Justin chuckled. "Well, you didn’t miss me. I don’t wanna go unappreciated."

"I missed you a lot." Her voice was barely audible but Justin felt sad listening to it.

"I’m so sorry for not calling you for a while now."

"It’s ok, J. I know that you have lots of stuff to do. I understand."

Justin sighed. "Are you going to pick me up at the airport tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Do you know the flight details yet?"

"Yeah, Chris e-mailed it to me last night."

"Good. I’ll see you then. I have to go now, cos the shoot’s gonna start again in a few minutes. But I’ll try my best to call you tonight, ok?"

"Ok. Have fun."

With that and furtive goodbyes, Justin hung up the phone.

They hadn’t spoken for very long, but still Jo felt cheered up having just listened to the sound of his voice. It was all she needed. She walked back to her study carrel with a bounce in her step.

(The next day.)

Jo waited impatiently at the arrival area at the airport. She checked her watch repeatedly and glanced about the airport as if looking for them. Carrie, who had accompanied her to the airport, patted her friend’s shoulder gently.

Finally, the flight was announced and Jo started pacing instead. Carrie wanted to knock some sense into the girl for being so silly, but couldn’t since she knew only too well the feeling of being separated from someone you cared about, even if it was for a few days.

When she spotted Chris coming out of the plane, she practically ran to him and hugged him tightly.

"Woah there, girl! I’m glad to see you ,too." He said with a laugh as he hugged Jo tightly and swirled her around.

Justin stepped off the plane after Chris and he looked in mock confusion at the sight of Chris spinning Jo around in his arms. "Uh....has something changed here that I should know about?"

Jo smiled broadly at his voice and went over to Justin. He held out his arms to her and he hugged her to him like he never wanted to let go.

Behind them, Chris spoke, "Sure, leave me for Timberlake, why doncha’?" But his eyes twinkled as he saw the two of them reunite with such enthusiasm.

This was a biggie, he thought to himself. Jo, isn’t just some girl he’s going out with. No, she’s more than that, he predicted.


Somehow, Justin’s return from LA saw the couple becoming closer than ever. Jo followed Justin for dance rehearsals that weekend since Justin didn’t want them to spend a moment apart, now that he was back.

She’d seen the guys sing many times before, but she’d never seen them dance except on television. She knew that the guys were good and were supposed to be one of the best group of dancers around, but she had no idea just how good until she saw them up close.

She thought it would be weird attending dance rehearsals because of Wade’s presence, but thankfully, he was very thoughtful and merely smiled once at her when she entered the studio.

Wade felt a pang when he saw Jo and Justin together. He still cared about the girl and when he saw her with Timberlake at the studio, he thought he could handle it well. Instead, he felt sad when she saw him laughing and playfully wiping sweat from his brow during the interval earlier.

But, he was happy for her, though. She looked fulfilled now and there was a glow in her eyes that hadn’t been there when he was dating her. He was glad that she could find happiness somewhere even if he wanted so badly to be the one who brought happiness into her life.

On her way home from the dance studio, Jo sat in the back of the van with Justin and watched as he coughed repeatedly for some time.

"Are you okay?" Jo asked with concern.

"Yeah, I am. I think I just have a scratchy throat. It’ll clear up in the morning.

Since Justin was so insistent, she let it go and didn’t think anything of it.

He was very tired when they reached home that night, so instead of cuddling up and watching TV or doing something else, Justin wanted to sleep. Jo agreed that he should since Justin had been working very hard at dance rehearsals.

She kissed him goodnight and went to her own room to catch up on some sleep. She would have to get up early tomorrow since she would be following Justin to the recording studio.

After Jo had had her breakfast, the next morning, she went into her room to pick out what to wear. She was in the middle of pulling on a pair of jeans when there was a knock on the door. Thinking it was Justin, she opened the door and was surprised to see Rick instead.

"Hey , what’s up? Are you ready to go?"

"I’m ready and you’re obviously ready, but Justin’s not ready. He’s not downstairs yet and I thought he was in your room, but I think he’s still upstairs sleeping. Will you go wake the monster ,please, before he costs me my job?"

Jo left a ranting Rick downstairs and made her way up the stairs to Justin’s room.
She knocked lightly at his door and when she did open it she saw him still asleep in bed. She went over to the bed and reached down to gently shake him awake when she realized that his body was burning hot.

Justin slowly turned awake and looked up at Jo, tiredly.

"Are you okay?" Jo asked him.

"No, I had the most terrible night of my life. I didn’t sleep one wink and I don’t feel so good right now." His voice was hoarse and strained.

"Yeah, that’s cos you are having a fever ,you moron. I told you to take care of that cough last night but you insisted that it was nothing."

"Ok, I know I’m sick, Jo. But you screaming at me is not going to scare the virus away. Although it sure as hell is scaring the potential curls inside my skull and I might never have curly hair again. Hell, I might never have hair again."

Jo scowled at him. This was not a time to joke about, she warned him with her eyes.

She went downstairs and told Rick about the situation and Rick said that he would tell the guys that Justin wouldn’t be able to make it today. She also instructed him to get the van ready so that they could bring Justin to the doctor.

Jo ran back upstairs with a cup of tea with lemon and some toast. She fed Justin with the food and noticed that he was pretty weak.

"Do you think you can manage a shower Justin? Or would you like me to call Rick up here to help you?"

"Uh....no thanks, Jo. Although, if you wanted to, I’d let you help me in there." He said as he made a feeble attempt at humor.

Jo ignored that remark and got him to his feet. She let him lean against her and led him to the bathroom. "If you need help, just holler. I’ll be right here."

Justin rolled his eyes at her. He wasn’t an invalid, he could certainly bathe himself. But he was going to enjoy being nursed back to health by Jo.

After the shower, Justin came out of the bathroom, looking fresher and in better health than he had been earlier.

"We’re going to the doctor, now." Jo announced.

"Great." He muttered as he rolled his eyes. "How about going to the studio?"

"That can wait Justin. Let’s get you to a doctor first. Besides, you can’t sing sounding like you do now. The new album will never sell."

"Its good to know you think my voice sounds hot," he said looking miserable.

Jo called out to Rick downstairs and he came at once to help Justin down the stairs. Justin looked incredulous that he was being treated like a dying old man and insisted on walking down the stairs on his own. He succeeded but one could tell that it was a difficult task for him to perform at that moment.

Together, the three of them went to see a doctor. Justin was given strict orders to stay in bed for the next three days or so. And although Justin looked unhappy at the prospect of three days in bed, Jo was going to make sure he did just that.

After they got back from the doctors, Jo sent Justin up to bed and although he was tempted to ignore her orders, he knew better than to get her mad. Besides, he wanted to live to see the next album sell another two million records in a week.

Jo in the meantime was busy preparing a pot of chicken broth for him. As an only child and a child of very busy parents, she’d had the opportunity to hone her cooking ability on more than one occasion. She poured him a bowl of the broth and placed it on the tray along with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice to boost his vitamin C.

Balancing the tray precariously with her hands, she made her way up the stairs to Justin’s room. When he saw her carrying the tray into his room, he smiled at her efforts. It made him happy to know that she cared enough.

"Is that for me?"

"No it’s for Rick. I just brought this in here so that you could smell it before I brought it to his room. What do you think?" She said with an innocent smile.

"Rick doesn’t deserve that but I do." He didn’t feel very hungry, but he knew that if he wanted to get better, he needed the nourishment. And since Justin rarely got sick, he hated when he eventually did. So he wanted more than anything in the world to get better again.

Quietly, Justin ate his food while Jo watched him pensively. After he was done with his meal, Jo brought him the bag containing the medicine that the doctor had prescribed for him. She handed him the medication in the stated dosage while he swallowed the stuff down with a glass of water and a grimace on his face.

"Good. Now, what are you going to do?"

"I was thinking maybe I could play some video games......" He broke off as he caught the look on Jo’s face. "Or, I could take a nap and let the medicine do it’s work."

"That’s more like it."

She tucked him in bed and kissed his warm forehead as he drifted off to sleep. She chuckled to herself as she thought about what a big baby he could be when he got sick.

Finally, she closed the door and left the room.

Jo wanted to stay home and take care of Justin the next day but couldn’t since she had a major lecture. Justin also told her that he was fine on his own, and after several checks to make sure he was really okay, Jo left for the day.

Justin spent most of the day in bed since as much as he hated to admit it, he was still pretty weak. Those times when he was awake, he sat thinking about his relationship with Jo.

She meant a lot to him and he knew that he couldn’t imagine life without her as an integral part of it. But what did she really mean to him? His old fears were resurfacing again and he thought about how he had gotten hurt before when he had fallen for a girl in the same way.

But Jo was not Leah. She was something special and he knew instinctively that his feelings for her were deeper than what he had with his ex.

But still, he couldn’t help feeling the familiar knot of fear and uncertainty in his stomach.


When Jo got home that day, Justin was nowhere to be found downstairs, so she went up to his room instead. There she found him on his bed, reading a book.

"Hey there."

Justin looked up and smiled at her. He beckoned her closer. As she reached him, he tried to pull her down and kiss her, but Jo struggled free.

"Oh no, you don’t! I’m not getting whatever it is that you have." With that, she placed a modest kiss on Justin’s head.

"Now I know I have to get better soon," he said as he pouted.

"How was your day?"

"Pretty cool. I slept most of it anyway."

"That’s good to hear." She placed her hand on his forehead to check his temperature.

"Am I recovering satisfactorily, Dr Jo?"

"Perfect."

Justin grinned wickedly and pulled on Jo’s arm until he had her crushed against him. He then pretended to laugh evilly as his head bent towards hers.

Throwing all caution to the wind, she laughed as she kissed him exuberantly. I’m so lucky to have you in my life, she thought to herself as his lips merged with her own.

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