Justin Timberlake was walking to his car from the gym. When he had almost reached the car, his cousin Rachel, walked up to him. She had a girl with her. The girl wasn't more than 3 years younger than Justin.

“Hi, J,” Rachel greeted.

“Hey, Rach. What's up?”

“This is my friend Nicole. I knew her from high school. She just moved here.”

Justin looked at Nicole. She used blue forearm crutches, had long dirty blonde hair pulled into a pony tail & blue eyes. A shy smile along with a stunned look crossed her face.

Rachel smiled slyly, knowing Nicole had had a crush on Justin since *NSYNC. She nudged Nicole slightly.

“Nice to meet you,” Justin said, smiling.

“Uh, y-you too.” Nicole made Rachel follow her a few feet away. “H-he’s your cousin?!” she asked shocked.

“Yeah, didn’t I tell you?” the girl replied cooly.

“No! God, he’s the hottest man alive & you know I like him! Why didn’t you tell me?”

Suddenly, Justin’s voice broke their conversation. “Hey, you guys want to join me for lunch?”

Again, Rachel nudged her until Nicole said, “We’d love too.”

LUNCH - The trio went to a nice little restaurant that wasn't crowded.

“So, Nicole, what do you do?” Justin asked.

“I work at the youth center, reading to kids & helping with homework. Whatever they need me to do.”

“That’s cool. I love when people help kids.”

The conversation went on. It wasn't about much, just general discussion.

This whole time, Rachel was smiling, watching the awkward flirting & conversation that went between the two.

2 DAYS LATER, Justin was playing basketball in his backyard. “Hey,” he heard a voice behind him.

He turned & saw Nicole. “Hi. Um, sorry but Rachel went out for a little while.”

“Oh, um...ok...” She went to turn around & walk away.

“But you don’t have to leave,” he told her quickly. “Want to play a quick game with me to pass the time?”

“Well...I guess spending time with you isn't so bad,” she joked.

He laughed & poured some water on his sweaty face & bare chest. It didn’t go unnoticed to her how perfect his abs were. Her thoughts were interrupted by him saying,” want to go 1st?”

“I’m not that good,” she said referring to how she couldn’t stand without the crutches.

“I’ll help.” He came up behind her. He placed 1 hand so he held her waist, setting down her crutches & then handed her the basketball.

Chills went through her spine as he now held her waist with both hands. She took a shot, not knowing where the ball would go. Lucky for her, it went in.

“That was perfect,” Justin cheered.

Nicole went to turn in his arms to face him. The only problem was, she forget she didn’t have her crutches. She stepped wrong & lost her balance.

Having still had his arms partly holding her, Justin tried to catch her. This action though, caused them both to fall. Both out of breath from laughing at themselves, Justin hadn’t realized he landed on top of Nicole. When he did, his lips were mere inches from hers.

He decided to act on the feeling he had since he 1st laid eyes on her & kissed her. The kiss was soft & gentle. When they broke apart, they looked into each others eyes & smiled shyly.
---
Since that moment in the backyard, Justin & Nicole were inseparable. Only a few select people knew the 2 were dating. This included Rachel, the guards, Justin’s mom & Trace.

1 MONTH LATER, Justin & Nicole walked out of Rachel’s apartment. They had just finished dinner & now the couple was going to Justin’s to watch a movie. He slipped his arm around her waist & led her to the car.
---
The movie they decided to watch was ‘Red Eye’. It was a serial killer movie.

When the movie ended, Justin realized Nicole had fallen asleep. He gently shook her shoulder. “Baby, wake up.”

“Mm, what?” she mumbled. He smiled, thinking how cute she was.

“Why don’t you stay in the guest room? You worked a long day.”

When she made no move of getting up, he picked her up & carried her upstairs. As he covered up he whispered, “Sweet dreams.”
---
THE NEXT MORNING, Nicole rolled over in the soft bed. She opened her eyes & was a little disoriented for a minute. She then heard faint singing coming from the shower. She smiled, remembering she had fell asleep at Justin’s.

She got up & was dressed in the same clothes she’d fallen asleep in.

As she was walking down the hall, she ran into Justin who was coming out of the bathroom. She stared at him, watching the water drip down his body & disappear behind the towel.

“Morning, Baby Girl,” he said, kissing her.

“Morning.”

“We got bagels & coffee in the kitchen. Help yourself & I’ll give you a ride to work after I get dressed.”

“Oh, I got my car, it’s ok,” she answered.

“Ok.”

She watched him walk away, knowing her imagination was running way too far away for such an early stage in their relationship.

They ate a nice breakfast & soon, it was time for Nicole to leave.

“I got shows & interviews today so I’ll see you tomorrow?” Justin asked.

“Yup.”

When they opened the door, Nicole leaned over & kissed Justin. Smiling, he kissed her back. Little did they know, there was a photographer watching them from across the street. There was no flash so the 2 had no idea.

The next day, they were having lunch together. “Hey, guys, we have a problem,” Rachael said walking in the back door of Justin’s kitchen.

“What is it?” Justin asked. She handed him the magazine & he read, “Secret couple has sleepover.”

“They think we’re sleeping together already?” Nicole gasped. Yeah, she dreamed of him but they were no where near the level yet.

“It’s ok, Nicole,” Justin soothed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “We’ll get the publicists on it.”

“Already told them,” Rachael said. “It’s going to take a little while though.”

“Yeah,” the couple agreed.

True to their word, a few weeks later, the publicists had the magazines talking about some other celebrity.

4 MONTHS LATER, Justin & Nicole had been dating steadily. He was now acting in his 1st movie called ‘Edison’.

“Baby Girl, you don’t want to come to set today. It’s going to be pretty boring,” Justin said trying to talk her out of visiting him on set.

“I know your character has a girlfriend.” She wasn't fond of the man she loved kissing another girl but she knew it was all a script.

“Y-yeah, that’s why today is going to be boring for you,” he lied.

Justin didn’t want to tell Nicole the real reason he didn’t want her to show up.

“Fine. I’ll stay home.”

“Ok. I love you. See you later tonight.” He kissed her & walked out the front door.

LUNCHTIME Nicole knew Justin was nervous & hiding something. She found it weird he only let her read ½ the script but she figured he was nervous, seeing as this was his 1st big movie. She guessed he wanted it to be a surprise when the movie was finished.

Not really understanding why he didn’t want her onset, she decided to surprise him with lunch & tell him he was a great actor & didn’t have to be nervous.

What Nicole didn’t know was, Justin wasn't nervous about acting per se. He was scared to have her there. He didn’t want her to see what they were filming today because he knew how she'd react.

Nicole pulled into the driveway of the outside set where the film crew was. She guessed they were filming a scene where the actors had to be shown outside.[i] “Why wouldn’t he want me to see a scene where all they’re doing is walking around?”[/i] she thought.

She pulled her wheelchair out of the car. She used it when her legs felt tired. As she wheeled up to where he was filming, his back was to her. She watched as the scene played out. He was standing, talking to a co-star.

As Justin turned toward the camera, he saw Nicole & stopped mid-sentence. “Nicole, you shouldn’t be here...”

As soon as she saw the scar across his face, she freaked. She dropped the bags of food & immediately started rocking back & forth. The director called 'cut', noticing the interuption.

Nicole covered her ears crying out, “no, no, no, no...not safe. Not safe, not safe, not safe...”

“Sweetie, it’s ok. It’s ok,” Justin tried to soothe but he knew she was too frightened by seeing him the way he was.

He had to get her somewhere quiet & get that make-up off his face. She wouldn’t be able to calm down until he did.

“Rachael! Get her over by the trailer. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

He really didn’t want Nicole to be scared, especially since the make-up was for the movie. Rachael did as told but her trying to calm Nicole wasn't working.

Justin ran over to where the make-up people were & started taking the make-up off.

“What’s going on?” the director asked.

“I’m sorry, David. I have to get this off so my girlfriend calms down. If she doesn’t, she could put herself into an asthma attack.”

Within 5 minutes Justin had it off & was rushing to Nicole.

No one really understood what was going on, until they heard Justin talking softly to Nicole.

He kneeled in front of her & she was now sobbing. By now, her breathing was worse. “Nicole, Sweetheart, I’m fine. Everything’s ok. Nothing bad happened. See?”

“Nicole, listen to him. He’s fine,” Rachael said. Rachael herself didn’t quite understand why Nicole was acting the way she was, but Justin did.

Nicole’s heart was pounding, he could tell from her breathing. She swayed a little in her seat & he knew she felt dizzy.

Nicole felt like her arms were going numb. She started to shake.

“She’s stuck in that feeling,” Justin explained but Rachael didn’t understand. “Baby, I was just acting. I wasn't hurt, I wasn't like that, ok? Come on, I need you to breathe for me, ok? Just breathe, slow deep breathes.”

He gently took Nicole’s hand. She didn’t look up as she kept repeating quiet “no’s”. As he thought she would, she tried to pull away but Justin kept hold. He brought her hand up to his face & uncurled the tight fist. Her muscles always curled when she was scared. He ran her fingers where the mark was supposed to be.

“See? It’s not there. It was all make-up, I promise.” He kissed her palm lightly like he’d done so many times.

After a few moments, Nicole looked up at him, reached out & he brought her into his arms.

“I got you. You're ok. I promise I’m fine. No one will hurt us. Just keep breathing. Breathe, Baby. That’s it, breathe. Good, you're doing good.”

As a few agonizing minutes passed, all that was heard was Justin’s whispering as Nicole’s breathing returned to a normal pace.

She whispered a quiet sorry & he kissed her hair. “No need to be sorry.”

“Justin,” David started. “Why don’t you take her home & relax? We’ll pick up tomorrow.”

He nodded & thanked David.

[b]JUSTIN’S HOUSE[/b] Justin got Nicole settled in the soft, warm bed. She kept apologizing but he sang softly until she fell asleep.

After he returned to the couch, Justin put his head in his hands & sighed heavily. It had been a long day.

“Justin, why did Nicole have a panic attack?” Rachael asked.

Justin looked up at her with a look of guilt crossing his features. “It’s all my fault. I knew something like this would happen if she saw that. I should've told her that that's why she couldn't come to the set. She would've stayed home if I'd told her.”

“Why’s it your fault?”

“Nicole can tell the difference between movies & the real world & she doesn’t think twice about it. She’s smart, & her CP doesn’t affect her mind. You know that.” Rachael nodded & he continued, “but other times, this happens. She sees something dramatic or painful & the emotions override what she’s able to think. She knows I was just acting but subconsciously, her mind thought I was hurt. It's like she feels what the character feels. She felt too many emotions at once & her brain couldn’t sort them out.”

“Wow. That's scary for both of you.”

“Yeah. I hate seeing her scared. I caused it.”

“No you didn’t. Like you said, her brain was saying you were hurt even though she knew you weren’t. It’s not something either of you could control. It was a battle inside her brain. Her reaction may have been different than someone else's but that's because you 2 love each other. The love between you is stronger than anything that I've seen. You helped her back though & she’s ok.”

He hugged her. “Thanks, Rach.”

“Get some rest, you need it too.”

END OF CH3

Tonight was Justin & Nicole's 1 year anniversary. Justin had something special planned. He lit candles around the dining room.

When Nicole showed up, they had steak, potatoes, salad, & white wine.

“Justin, that dinner was incredible,” she told him as they sat on the couch.

“Thank you. Hey, I got you something to celebrate.”

“I didn’t get you anything.”

“I got you, that’s my gift. Now close your eyes.” She did as told & he went to the kitchen. When he came back, he said, “open.”

On the coffee table was a chocolate cupcake. Nicole saw something sparkle. “What’s that?”

“A cupcake. It’s the perfect desert,” he answered, smiling.

“Not that.” She broke open the treat & inside was a beautiful promise ring. The stone was heart-shaped & red. “Justin, this is amazing.”

“An amazing ring for an amazing woman. I love you,” he whispered.

“You’re an amazing man & you're so good to me. I love you, too.”

They softly kissed after he slipped the ring on her finger.

THE END!