Justin wrapped his arms firmly around Kelly’s waist, knowing there were no cameras nearby. They stood in her back yard looking out over Malibu Beach. The sun had just set and the air was just turning cooler, so it was comfortable outside. "Are you ready for the AMAs?" Justin asked softly as he rested his forehead against hers.

"Yeah." Kelly smiled and nodded. She kissed him quickly and said, "Jojo’s been working with me, I’m going to be doing a medley starting with "Broken" acapella."

"I love that song." Justin kissed her again and began to sway to the music in his head. "Will you sing for me?"

"No." She shyly laughed and shook her head. "You know I’m not good performing for a small crowd."

"Please?" He gave her his best puppy dog eyes and tugged on the sleeve of her pale pink sweater.

"Justin… come on." Kelly smiled and took a step back. "My uh, my publicist asked me point blank if we were dating." She said after a minute.

"And…?" He asked nervously.

"And nothing. I didn’t say anything, but Justin… this isn’t easy."

"I know it’s not angel, but we have to." He reached for her hand and walked to the edge of her deck. They leaned on the railing and listened to the waves crashing just under them, "Right now we can’t come out about this, you know that."

"I know." She smiled up and him, "It’s kind of nice having a little secret."

"Yeah…" He smiled as she ran her fingers over the back of his neck.

"I mean, everyone pretty much knows, but… not really."

"They have no idea." Justin tucked her dirty blonde hair behind her ear and let his fingers linger.

"Will you be around this weekend?" Kelly asked as she scooted over so that she was standing between Justin and the railing.

He wrapped his arms around her middle and said, "Um, no. I have to be in uh… New York." He said softly. New York, Las Vegas… close enough.

"New York? Why?"

"Just some new project, you know." He explained quickly, "But I’ll be back Sunday night for the rehearsals."

"Can I see you then?"

"At the rehearsals? Sure, we’ll all be there."

"Maybe after?"

"Yeah, we’ll see." He nodded slowly.

"Good, because I miss you baby." Kelly turned around and draped her arms around his neck to pull him in for a kiss. He missed her too, but he couldn’t pause long enough to tell her so.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Justin shifted his feet and sighed. This was the question he dreaded every time it was asked, and it was asked often. "So Justin, we keep seeing you around town with Kelly Sullivan, what’s up with that?" The interviewer for E! TV asked. They had only made it halfway up the red carpet and he’d already fielded this question a dozen times.

"We’re just friends." Justin smiled mischievously, if they only knew. "We’ve known each other for a long time, but we’re just friends."

"Is she going to be here tonight?"

"I don’t know." Justin lied. Of course she was going to be there. She was at home in the spotlight, she lived for it and she wouldn’t miss the opportunity to shine. Not to mention they had talked only 30 minutes ago on their cel phones from their separate limos. She was running a little late, but would meet up with him at the after party.

"So if you’re not seeing Kelly, is there another girl out there that’s won your heart?" The interviewer asked with a smile.

"Not yet." Justin smiled and tugged at his lip, his secret sign to her to let her know he was thinking about her.

The guys smiled and moved up the carpet to the next set of cameras and microphones, "Justin! Hey, so what’s going on with you and…" Justin tuned out the voice and answered, on auto pilot. The other guys laughed at his uneasiness, secretly glad the attention was off of them for the night. If Justin was taking all the flack for his relationship rumors, that took the focus off of Joey’s speeding ticket, and JC’s late night tumble at the Playboy mansion.

Nsync took home three American Music Awards that night, beating out Kelly for the "Best Pop Single of the Year" award. The guys spent an hour after the shows talking with the press, and posing with their awards, then they headed to the Blue Room for MTV’s after party extravaganza.

"Dude, what’s Kelly gonna say about us kicking her ass?" Chris laughed as they piled into the limo and headed for the club. The guys knew Justin had a girlfriend that he went to see as often as he could, and they had assumed it was Kelly. Either way, they all knew he and Kelly were at the very least, friends.

Justin shrugged and glanced out the window, "Someone had to win."

"Yeah, but…" Chris shook his head.

"Nah, she’s cool." Justin smiled and ran his hands through his hair, "She won everything else she was nominated for, she did good."

"True, how many did she clear?" Joey asked.

"Three." Justin smiled, she’d done really good. The phone in his coat pocket began to play the "Macarena", he quickly reached into his coat to pull it out and flip it on, "Hel-" he started.

"I saw that little lip thing you did. That’s so cutsie it makes me sick." Becca laughed.

"I won’t do it again." Justin blushed and smiled as he sank lower into his seat.

"No, I didn’t mean for you to stop. It cracks me up." She smiled and tucked her feet up under her on the couch. "So are you done now?"

"Nope… we’ve got the after party."

"Oooo, I should crash it." Becca looked down at her flannel pajama bottoms and tank top. Yeah, she might leave the house like that. "You know, LA is only a 2 hour flight from Vegas, I’d show up just in time to close the bar down with you."

Justin laughed lightly, he knew that she was only half joking, and that she wouldn’t think twice about storming into the after party like the tornado she was. "You busy tomorrow?"

"Not really. I have to do laundry, but you can help."

"Dream on." He rolled his eyes.

"Honey, I dream about a lot of things, but you washing my dainties ain’t one of them." She laughed devilishly, "You in them… now that’s a different story."

"I think not." Justin laughed. "I might fly up for the day, if you want."

"That’d be awesome. They finally got around to cleaning out the jacuzzi over here, so maybe we can try that out."

"Sounds promising." Just whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" She whispered back.

"Because I’m not alone." He laughed quietly.

"Oooh, are the others there?" Becca smiled and ran her fingers through her short dark hair.

"Uh huh."

"Tell me you want me." Becca slid down and rested her head against the arm of the couch.

"Come on…"

"Tell me." She laughed.

"No." He blushed.

"Justin… tell me." She laughed.

Justin glanced around at the other guys who were completely preoccupied with whatever it was they were doing. The limo pulled into the parking lot at the club and stopped in front of the front entrance. Reporters and cameras lined the sidewalk and flashes went off left and right, "I’m at the club, I’ve gotta go."

"Tell. Me. You. Want. Me." Becca said slowly. "Or you can forget the jacuzzi."

"I can do without that." He laughed as the door was opened and JC stepped out into the feeding frenzy.

"But you see, I’ll be with you in the jacuzzi." Becca smiled and pulled the blanket off the back of her couch. "And if you want that, you’ll have to tell me."

"Fine." Justin sighed and scooted over on the bench seat, waiting for his turn to exit. Joey stepped out and shouted something at JC and Lance who were already halfway to the door. "Iwantyou." He mumbled quickly.

"What? I didn’t hear you." She laughed.

"Yes you did." Justin laughed and stepped out of the limo. "I’ve really gotta go now. Miss you."

"Yeah yeah whatever. See you tomorrow." She laughed and hung up her phone, he could be such a priss sometimes.

Justin followed his buddies into the Blue Room and was immediately enveloped in the thick, foggy party air of the club. The music made the walls vibrate to the techno beat and the floor seemed to be rippling with people.

"This is sweet!" JC shouted to be heard over the music.

"Yeah it is!" Justin shouted back, tucking his phone back in his pocket. "Where are we headed?"

"VIP." JC pointed to the upstairs loft and led the way for the others. Somewhere along the way Joey and Chris were misplaced, so only Lance, JC and Justin actually made it to the VIP area.

It was substantially quieter up there as Justin fell onto the oversized pink velvet couch beside Kelly and her friend Amie, who was also her musical rival. "Hi Justin." Amie smiled sweetly, then stood to leave.

"Bye Amie." He smirked, she was one girl he couldn’t stand, and not just because they’d pulled a one nighter a few months back. He disliked her for a multitude of reasons.

"You should be nice to her, I heard she’s looking for a male vocal to collaborate with on a new duet." Kelly laced her fingers through his and kissed him quickly.

"She can keep on looking." Justin scoffed.

"You guys would sound great together though. I mean, I’d keep you for my own, but… " She shrugged. "I just don’t feel like a duet."

"Nah, talk to JC about that." Justin shook his head and flagged down the waitress to order himself a drink. No one cared that he was underage, he was Justin Timberlake from Nsync and that’s all they needed to know.

"So you guy’s will be in town for a couple days?" She asked hopefully.

"I’m flying out tomorrow morning to go visit my grandma, then we’re off to finish up this leg of the tour." The lie rolled casually of his tongue without a pause.

"Will you have any more time off before the end of your tour?"

"Maybe a couple days here and there." Justin shrugged. "In fact, I think we have a day in like 2 weeks." He kissed her again and asked, "How about you?"

"Nope, just studio time here and in Nashville for the next 5 weeks. Dominic has cleared my schedule so recording is all I have to worry about."

"That’s awesome." He took his drink from the waitress and tipped her nicely.

"How long do you have to be here?" Kelly asked softly as he took a sip of his drink.

"However long I want to be I guess." He smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. "You looked great tonight." He let his fingers trail down to her bare shoulder and across the spaghetti strap of her blue satin mini dress.

"Thank you, so did you." She smiled sweetly and giggled as his fingertips ran down her arm to her elbow.

"Come on you love birds, get on out there and dance." Joey shouted as he bounded into the little loft area. He pulled on Justin’s coat and began to push him towards the stairs, Kelly being pulled along behind them.

"You know what Joe? I’m about done dancing for the night." Justin tried to argue.

"Bite my ass Justin." Joey laughed and trotted past them on the stairs and jumped into the middle of the dance floor.

"Sorry about him." Justin flashed Kelly his Teen Cover smile and squeezed her hand as he pulled her close to him on the outskirts of the dance floor. He placed his hand at the small of her back and held her hips close as they began to dance, not noticing the flashes of cameras around them. The bursts of white light mixed with the lasers and strobe lights of the club, and Justin stopped caring.

After only a few songs, they were hyped up and flushed with heat from the room and each other. "Let’s get out of here." Justin said softly as he nibbled on Kelly’s ear lobe.

"Where?" She asked loudly.

"Your place. My place. The car. I don’t care." Justin pulled her hips tight against his and smiled at the expression of recognition on her face.

"I’ll meet you at my house in 30 minutes." She smiled and pulled away from him, intending on getting her own ride and leaving separately so they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves.

"No, come on, let’s just go." Justin grabbed hold of her hand and didn’t let go until they were standing beside the exit.

"Come on baby, you know we can just waltz out there together." Kelly tilted her head to the side and gave him her best "sweetheart" look.

Justin sighed and looked away, he knew they couldn’t do that, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to, "I know. I’ll see you there in a half hour." He kissed her cheek quickly and watched her walk out the main entrance alone.

He waited for a few minutes before he stepped out onto the street and posed for a few solo pictures on his own. His limo for the night showed up a minute later and picked him up to take him to Malibu.

He took out his cel phone in the back of the limo and removed his jacket as he dialed, "H’lo?" Answered a tired sounding Becca,

"Hey you." Justin said softly. "I just wanted to call and say goodnight. I’m partied out so I’m heading back to the hotel."

"Okay." She mumbled and rolled over on the couch to look at the clock, "Just, it’s not even midnight. What kind of partier are you? What a wimp."

"I know, but I’m hopping on a plane at like eight in the morning tomorrow to come see you, and I need to rest up for that."

Becca laughed out loud and sat up on the couch, "You have to rest up for me?"

"You wear me out!" He said defensively.

"Ten thousand screaming fans and a two hour long aerobic workout don’t wear you out, but lil’ ole me… I wear you out?"

"You know you do." He smiled devilishly. "Anyways, I’m sorry I woke you up, but I just wanted to say good night."

"Well good night then." She smiled and stood up to head to her bedroom. "I’ll see you tomorrow. Do you want me to come get you at the airport?"

"No, that’s cool, I’ll catch a cab or something. I’ll see you around 10."

"Got it."

"I miss you." Justin smiled and rolled down the window beside him.

"I know you do." Becca smirked and hung up the phone on her end. She tossed the cordless phone toward the tattered recliner chair in the corner, then shut off the lights and crawled into her own king sized bed.

Twenty-five minutes later his limo pulled up in front of Kelly’s oceanfront house and let him out. He waved to the driver as he trotted up the lit brick walk to the front door where he knocked softly. He heard the clicking of tiny dog claws on the slate floor before the door even opened, "Hi baby." Kelly cooed as she pulled Justin into the foyer.

"Hi." He said softly, then pulled her in for a deep kiss, trying to ignore the tiny red dachshund jumping around his feet. "If Chloe’s not careful, she’d gonna get stepped on." Justin’s lips lightly brushed hers as he talked.

"Chloe sweetie, come on." She swept down and scooped the pint-sized dog off the floor then hurried down the hall. "Justy’s not here to see you sweetie, not this time." She said in a baby voice to the dog. She shut Chloe in the garage where her little bed was, then came back to where Justin was waiting in the hall. "Where were we?" She ran her fingers up into his hair and played with his mass of curls.

"Right about here." He smiled as he ran his tongue over her bottom lip, then kissed her deeply.

"That feels about right." She laughed lightly and pressed her hips against his.

"Yeah it does." He said softly as he bent to kiss her neck.

Kelly cringed away from him and giggled, "No way Jose…" She shook her finger at him, "Last time you got a little feisty in that area and Dominic about had a fit when I had to have teeth marks covered up for a photo shot."

"I’ll be careful." He said as he took a quick bite.

"Justin, no." She pushed his head away and pulled his hand toward the back of the house where her room was.

"Wait, Kel." Justin pulled her back to him and backed her up against the hall closet, "What’s wrong with right here?" He let his hand wander up her side to her breast, causing her to giggle uncontrollably. He reached behind her and unzipped the dress, placing his warm hand flat on her bare back.

"Don’t be silly." She rolled her eyes and continued to pull him down the hall, as if having sex in the hallway was too ridiculous to even think about. She led him into her baby blue and lavender floral bedroom and switched the light on, causing the stark white ceiling fan to begin spinning on the painted cloud ceiling.

Justin lay Kelly down on her scented sheets and supported himself over her with his arms to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close as the fan picked up speed and blew his curls down into his eyes. The light behind him lit his hair like a halo.

"You look like an angel like that." Kelly smiled and wiggled beneath him.

"Yeah, but how angelic is this?" He lowered his mouth to her belly and peppered her with kisses down to the hem of her satin dress, then pushed the fabric up and out of the way.

"That… is absolutely sinful." Kelly smiled and shimmied out of the dress, then tossed it to the floor.

"Do you want me to stop?" He asked as he looked up at her over her flat stomach and ample breasts.

"God no…" She closed her eyes and lay back on the feather pillows, knowing exactly hat heaven must feel like with angels like Justin.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Justin’s pager went off beside the bed at 6:30 the next morning. He cracked his eyes open and reached over to turn it off before rolling over to pull Kelly close, "I’ve gotta go, angel." He said in his scratchy morning voice.

"Now?" She whined softly as she opened her eyes and pulled the comforter up to her chin.

"Yeah, I have an eight o’clock flight to catch." He kissed her forehead quickly and pulled the blankets back. "Can I use your shower?" He asked as he reached for the phone to call a cab.

"Sure." She snuggled deeper into the lavender pillow and smiled up at him. It amazed him how she could look like she was posing for a cover, even at the crack of dawn with no make-up, and no sleep.

"You… are beautiful, baby." Justin said as he leaned back onto the bed to kiss her.

"Thank you." She blushed and sat up, "Do you want me to make some coffee?"

"No… no, you don’t need to get up." He said softly from the bathroom. He started the water and shut the door halfway as he ran his fingers through his hair.

When he was done with his shower he put his clothes from the night before back on and sat on the bed to put his shoes on over his bare feet. "If you find a pair of black socks around here somewhere, they’re mine." Justin whispered with a smile.

"Oooh, can I hold them for ransom?" She laughed quietly.

"Sure you can." He smiled and fell back on the bed to kiss her good and proper before he headed out. "Do you want me to let Chloe in?"

"Yeah, that’d be great." Kelly rolled onto her back and watched as Justin headed for the door, "I love you baby."

Justin stopped with his hand on the doorknob and winced, "I love you too." He said softly. He went down the hall to lt Chloe in, and she ran straight for Kelly’s room. Justin let himself out the front door, careful to set the alarm and lock the door behind him as he went. The cab was waiting by the curb to pick him up, so he slid in the back seat and yawned. "LAX please."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Justin stood at the curb in his hat and sunglasses, as good of a disguise as he could manage, and hailed a cab to take him to Becca’s apartment. He rode in silence, thinking about how great it was to be just another guy when he was with Becca. She lived in a self proclaimed "dump" where no one could possibly recognize him, and even if someone did they would never believe he was hanging out there.

The taxi stopped in front of her apartment building and he paid the cab driver, then tossed his ratty backpack over his shoulder and sauntered into the courtyard. He hopped up the flight of stairs, carefully avoiding the rusty handrail, and knocked on her rickety screen door. He looked back over his shoulder at the dying plants lining the little landing and the "Toxic Waste" sign nailed to one of the planters.

"Hang on!" She shouted from inside. Becca used her foot to keep Brodie her St. Bernard back from the door. "Brodie, come on, back off."

"Let me in." Justin laughed from his side of the door.

"Dammit Bro, come on." Becca practically tripped over the dog as she reached for the handle and pulled the door open. Brodie bounded past her and slammed into Justin’s legs with excitement.

"Hi girl!" Justin knelt to the dogs level and roughed up her fur a bit, "Bec, I will never understand how you can have a St. Bernard in a closet like this." He laughed and stood up to herd the dog back inside.

"She was dumped in the courtyard, what was I gonna do?" Becca smiled and grabbed Brodie’s collar to pull her into the apartment.

"You’ve got a good heart." Justin let the screen door slam behind him as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in for a deep kiss, causing Brodie to growl at their feet.

"Yeah, don’t let that news get out." She smiled and ran her fingers through his curls, knocking his hat to the floor. "Those glasses have got to go." She took them off and tossed them in the general direction of the couch, then kissed him again.

"So what’s the plan for today? Jacuzzi?"

"We’ll do that tonight." Becca took a step back and smiled.

"I won’t be here tonight." Justin frowned.

"I thought you said you’d be here all day?"

"I will. Kind of." He sighed and followed her to the couch. "I fly back to LA tonight so I can catch the flight with the guys tomorrow morning at 7."

"Where to now?"

"Um, Maui."

"In January? That’s gonna suck."

"Well…" Justin shrugged. "I don’t make the schedule."

"I’ll bet you’re really going back to LA to go be with your real girlfriend, little Miss Kelly Simpson." Becca said sarcastically.

"Sullivan, and don’t even kid about that." Justin rolled his eyes. "We’re just friends." He gave her his usual speech. "I’ve known her since we were like 9, she’s like a sister."

"Yeah, well we know what brothers and sisters do down there in Tennessee." Becca laughed and dropped her feet on Justin’s lap.

"Bec, when would I have time for another girlfriend? I spend all my free time here." Justin smiled and lay his hand on her shin. "Besides, who in the world has more perfect legs than you?" He looked her over from her painted toes to the hem of her jean shorts, then up to meet her eye.

"No one has better legs than me." Becca laughed and rolled her eyes. "You’re such a charmer. I swear, with lines like that I wouldn’t even care if you were seeing a dozen other girls."

"Really??" Justin raised his eyebrow hopefully, with a little devilish smile.

"Go ahead and try it. You can be replaced." She kicked at him gently as he tickled the bottom of her feet.

"I can?" He pouted and gave her his sad puppy dog eyes.

"You look like Brodie when you do that." Becca laughed and kicked harder as his tickling fingers moved up toward her knee.

"Whoa… hey watch the feet." His hands stopped abruptly as her heel landed dangerously close to his goods.

"Then leave my legs alone." Becca pulled her legs off his lap and tucked them under her. "Seriously though, you can be replaced if you decide you want to date a handful of other girls."

"What if I want to date a handful of other boys?"

"Then tell me now, and we can go on a man-hunt this afternoon. I heard the Thunder from Down Under is in town."

"The what?" Justin laughed and kicked his shoes off to put his feet up on the squeaky brown fake leather couch.

"Thunder from Down Under. It’s a menagerie of hunky men from Australia."

"A menagerie?"

"Menagerie, it’s a noun, it’s French, it means 1) a place where animals are kept and trained especially for exhibition or 2) a collection of wild or foreign animals kept especially for exhibition or 3) a varied mixture. I don’t know about you, but if you dig dudes, I think you’d have to admit that those boys could definitely be considered ‘wild animals kept for exhibition’."

"You never cease to amaze me." Justin shook his head and laughed.

"Yeah, I know, I’m a smart kid."

"You are. But no, I don’t dig dudes. And for the record, I don’t dig Kelly Sullivan either. You can’t believe everything you read."

"I know." Becca looked away quickly.

"Hey… they linked me with Veranda the MTV girl right? I mean come on." Justin rolled his eyes. He wouldn’t consider their weekend fling a relationship, but the tabloid had been all over it.

"I know."

"You don’t have anything to worry about, I’m here to see you when I could be anywhere else. There’s no place I’d rather be right now than right here with you." He leaned over and pulled her onto his lap.

"You’re not going to sing now are you?" She asked sarcastically.

"No… I’m not. I don’t sing unless I’m on stage, that’s a new Justin rule."

"You have Justin rules?"

"Yep. I do now. Rule number one, no singing except on stage."

"What’s rule number two?"

"Rule number two, never talk about other girls when Becca’s feet are in my crotch." Justin laughed and protectively covered his lap with his free hand while he draped the other over her shoulders.

"That’s a good one." She laughed.

"So really, what’s the plan for today?"

"Well, you’ve pretty much ruled out the jacuzzi, we’ll have to do that next time you come around. We can do whatever you want."

"You know what sounds perfect?"

"I know what sounds perfect to me."

"What?" He asked softly.

"Laying around here all day." She smiled, knowing that’s what he was going to say. They thought so much alike sometimes, it scared her.

"That sounds like heaven." He smiled and sat still as she wiggled around so that she was using him as a big body pillow. "Where’s the clicker?"

"On the table by your head." Becca said a she lay her head on his chest. Justin reached back and felt around for the remote control, knocking several magazines to the floor in the process. When he finally had it in his hand he clicked the TV on and channel surfed for a few minutes, "Ooh, Star Trek." Becca smiled.

"You like this crap?"

"It’s not crap." She argued.

"Yes it is. You like crap." Justin laughed softly.

"I like you… what does that say?"

"You had a momentary lapse of crap judgement." He smiled and tucked his fingers just under the waistline of her shorts and scratched lightly.

"Ahhh, so you don’t think you’re crap?"

"I hope not." He smiled and kissed the top of hear head.

"You’re not. And I don’t like crap." She laughed lightly, then sighed and got comfortable on his chest.

"Well this my dear… is crap." Justin flipped the channel to find something else… anything else. Becca just smiled and let him channel surf, knowing that eventually he’d change it back to Star Trek and all would be right in her little world of happiness.

Next…

Copyright © 2000 Amy Lynn