"Finally repaying you for everything you put me through." Alice said as she came closer.

"What are you talking about? I never put you through anything?" Shelby cried frantically.

"Yes you did. You made my life miserable. You know what, I think I'll make you're little boyfriend here go first. How would you like to watch him die." Alice said as she moved towards Justin who was knocked unconcious.

"NO!." Shelby screamed as Alice thrust the knife at him.

"What is it Shelby? What's the matter?" Justin asked her when she sat straight up, her eyes wide with fear.

Shelby just stared into space, trying to catch her breath. Alice was about to stab Justin.

"Shelby, honey, are you with me?" Justin asked putting his arm around her waist, bringing her attention to him.

The moment Shelby saw Justin, and that he was still alive, she threw herself at him. She started sobbing nearly hysterical as she clung to him.

"What is it?" Justin asked, feeling worried.

"She was going to kill you. She was going to k-kill you and make me watch." Shelby said a few minutes later when she'd calmed down a bit.

"Who was?"

"Alice."

"She's not here, she can't hurt you any more." Justin said holding her close.

Shebly pulled back enough to look into Justin's eyes, searching for something there. "Are you sure?" she whispered.

"Shelby, you're perfectly safe. I'm safe. She's not here, and you're not in danger. It was just a nightmare." Justin reassured her.

Shelby nodded her head but continued to cling to him. She jumped, and started trembling when the phone rang.

"Hello?" Justin answered.

"Sir, this is you're wake up call. It's 5:00am."

"Thank you." Justin hung up the phone and turned his attention back to Shelby, who was still clinging to him.

"That was our wake up call. Come on Shelby, time to get up." Justin said moving away.

Shelby pulled back and dried her face with her shirt. She looked over and saw her suitcase sitting on the other bed.

"You can go ahead and take a shower, I took one last night." Justin offered as she sat there looking lost.

"Thank you." Shelby nodded.

Getting up, Shelby went to her suitcase and dug out everything she'd need for the bathroom and her clothes for the day.

Half an hour later, Shelby emerged from the steam feeling better, and yet a little akward. She was wearing one of the outfits they'd bought for her at Hot Topic. She wasn't used to wearing skirts and was feeling very self-conscious. Her ensemble considered of the black tank-top with long yellow fishnet sleeves with "Blondie" written on the front, and her yellow and black pleated skirt that came a few inches above her knees. She wore a pair black and yellow striped knee high socks and a pair of bright yellow converse to finish the outfit.

Justin had gone down the hall to ask Joey something and when he came back, Shelby was putting on some yellow and black bracelets and when he saw her, his jaw dropped.

She looked amazing. She'd done her makeup with yellow eyeshadow and glitter. There was really no way to describe what she looked like. She looked funky and yet cute at the same time. He felt it in his stomach, and his heart.

"Do I look okay?" Shelby asked self-consciously.

"You look great. I love it." Justin smiled sincerely.

With his comment, Shelby visibaly relaxed. She didn't know what she would have done if Justin didn't like it. Yet she still hadn't seen any of the others.

"Are you hungry? We have a half an hour before we leave." Justin asked.

"Yeah, I could go for somethin." Shelby nodded.

"Alright, after you m'lady." Justin smiled holding the door open for her.

"Thank you kind sir." She curtsied as she walked by.

She waited for Justin to shut the door, then grabbed his elbow, and had an escort to the breakfast room.

The first thing Shelby heard when she walked in the room, were whistles and cat calls. Knowing that they were whistling at her, she looked behind her and all around to see where they were looking.

"Haha, funny." Chris said.

"What?" Shelby did her best to look innocent.

"Innocent my foot." Justin laughed.

"You look very good today Shelby." Joey took in her look.

"Thank you," she blushed.

"Very funkadelic, yet not overboard." JC nodded.

"Any comments to add, Lance? I know you all do everything together." Shelby smirked.

"Yes, I have a comment I'd like to add. You look hot." Lance grinned.

Shelby didn't expect that comment and when she heard it, she ducked behind Justin. "Hide me." she whispered.

"Why should I hide you?" Justin his head to try and look at her.

"Because Lance just said I look hot." She said wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.

"Oh, I see, well maybe you do." Justin said putting his hands on her arms and guided them to the food. "Come on out, Velma. It's time to eat."

Shelby straightened and grabbed a plate. Sticking to a diet she'd started when she got on the tour, she chose a banana, and some kiwi slices that were sitting there. She waited for a bagel to toast as she watched Justin fill his plate.

She raised her eyebrows to her hairline. He was eating enough for all the guys combined.

"Hard to believe he eats all that isn't it." JC laughed from her other side.

"Where does he keep it." Shelby asked looking him up and down.

"I don't know." JC chuckled.

When Shelby's bagel was done toasting she put some strawberry creme cheese on it and sat down next to Lance and Justin. She ate all her food in a short time, then watched Justin pile in his food.

Justin felt he was being watched and he looked over at her. "What?" he asked as he tried to swallow what was in his mouth.

"Oh, nothing." she smirked. They continued to look at each other before Justin took another bite and carried on with his food.

"So where are we going next?" Shelby asked Lance who was done eating as well.

"We're heading to Phoenix next." he answered.

"How long will that take?"

"Well, it'll be about five hours, depending on how traffic is."

"Oh." Shelby nodded not knowing what else to say.

"Ever been to Arizona before?" Lance asked.

"No, my first time out of North Dakota was when I moved to Florida." Shelby answered.

"Well that's cool, Arizona's a pretty nice place. It's really hot, but I like it." Lance smiled.

"Cool. So how's Aimee? I haven't talked to her since we left."

"She's doing good. She's going to be done with the semester next week and when she's done, she's gonna come for a couple days." Lance beamed with excitement.

"Thats awesome. It'll be nice to have her around.

"Are you excited to go back to North Dakota?" Lance questioned.

"What do you mean? I don't plan on going back there." Shelby stared at him.

Justin heard Lance ask her that and after her dream last night, she was going to freak out if she found out they were going to be stopping there for the tour.

"Well actually, we have a show there. In Fargo, but we will be going through Minot. Maybe we can stop there and you can see a friend or two." Lance suggested.

Justin felt Shelby get really tense, so he grabbed her hand and leaned over, "You're safe Shelby, she can't hurt you." he whispered in her ear.

Underneath the table Shelby grabbed Justin's hand, and clung tightly as she scooted closer to him. "I don't really have any friends in Minot. Only Brad." she answered.

"Well, we could stop and see him." Lance smiled.

"He works a lot."

"Where at?"

"Denny's."

"Well, we can all stop for food and visit him at work." Lance suggested.

"We'll see." Justin said signaling Lance to stop talking about it.

Thankfully Lance got the point and dropped the point, especially having noticed Shelby looked pale compared to her complexion before.

"Time to load." Johnny announced a few minutes later.

Shelby and Justin went back to the room and grabbed all their things and went out to the bus.

Chris and Joey were already in the backroom playing video games. Shelby sat on the couch leaned her head back against the cuishon. Oh how she wished she could get used to this constant being on the go. She relished the fact that she could be in one spot for five hours, even if it was just on the bus.

Justin sat down next to Shelby and glanced at her before watching Joey beat Chris in a game of Mortal Kombat.

Shelby felt the lack of sleep catching up with her and felt herself falling. She felt Justin move over, then he led her down so that she was laying on the couch with her head in his lap. He put a blanket over her and kissed her forehead.

"Go ahead and sleep," he whispered with a smile.

Shelby grabbed a handful of his shirt, almost to make sure he wouldn't go anywhere before closing her eyes. She let the masculine smell of Justin flow over her as she felt herself falling asleep.

When Shelby was asleep, Joey turned to Justin and started a conversation that many of them had been wondering about for a while now.

"You're falling for her aren't you?" Joey questioned.

Justin felt the question hit his heart. Was he falling for her? He knew his feelings were changing, but was he really falling for her. When did he stop thinking about Britney and be so consumed with Shelby. No power in the world could stop him from saying what he was about to say. "Yeah, I am."

Everybody was quiet when their younger friend just admit what they all had thought would take a long time. "So what are you going to do about it?" JC asked.

"Nothing." Justin replied quietly. He looked at the girl that was in his lap and couldn't bare hurting her. She'd been through too much pain already and he couldn't and wouldn't add to it.

"Why not?" Joey looked at him surprised.

"Because, I can't bare to hurt her any more." Justin whispered.

"But Justin, what if she's falling for you, and you deny you're feelings. Then she's still going to get hurt. You can't stop love." Joey answered with a warning.

"I know that. I just don't want to hurt her. Don't you see, if something goes wrong and she gets hurt, I won't be able to live with myself. She's had nothing but pain in her life." Justin replied, talking with his heart.

"Justin, you're in love with the girl. You can't just deny that. To deny that could be denying one of the greatest loves you could ever have."

Justin sighed and knew that Joey was right. But could he love her without hurting her? That was something he wasn't ready to find out. He didn't want to be another regret or pain in her life.

"Justin." Shelby muttered.

"Yeah?" he looked down at the girl in his lap.

"Can you sing to me?" Shelby asked.

Justin never felt a more innocent request his heart like that one did. Justin looked up and found himself alone with her. "What do you want me to sing?" Justin questioned lightly touching her cheek.

"Do you know that song 'Hero' by Enrique Iglesias?" Shelby asked looking up at who had become her hero.

Of course Justin knew the song, this wasnt the first time he'd thought about the song since he'd come to be her friend. "Yeah."

"Please sing that one." Shelby requested.

Justin closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening his eyes and looking down at the woman he was falling in love with.

Would you dance,
if I asked you to dance?
Would you run,
and never look back?
Would you cry,
if you saw me crying?
And would you save my soul, tonight?

Would you tremble,
if I touched your lips?
Would you laugh?
Oh please tell me this.
Now would you die,
for the one you love?
Hold me in your arms, tonight.

I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.

Would you swear,
that you'll always be mine?
Or would you lie?
would you run and hide?
Am I in too deep?
Have I lost my mind?
I don't care...
You're here, tonight.

Shelby smiled at him as he sang to her. Reminding herself she was supposed to be sleeping didn't help. She couldn't get enough of his voice, and the raw passion of the song he was singing. The song he was singing to her. Shelby knew the moment he started singing what her feelings were. Her feelings were feelings of love, she never would have known that she would fall in love with Justin. She knew that there was no going back, that she couldn't stop her feelings. She was complete when he was around, she was stronger with him, he was her hero.

I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.

Oh, I just wanna to hold you.
I just wanna to hold you.
Oh yeah.
Am I in too deep?
Have I lost my mind?
Well I don't care...
You're here, tonight.

Justin sang the song from his heart. He was singing it as if he really meant it, which he did, but he wasn't ready to let Shelby know his feelings. That is, if he ever did let her know. Thing was, he didn't want to hurt her, but little did he know that Shelby was feeling the exact same thing. To her he was her hero.

I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.
I can be your hero.
I can kiss away the pain.
And I will stand by you, forever.
You can take my breath away.
You can take my breath away.

I can be your hero.

Shelby looked up at Justin and smiled again. She scooted up and gave him a hug the best she could while she was still laying down.
Justin returned her hug and shifted so he was laying beside her, holding her tightly in his arms. How could she feel so right. How could this slip of a girl have found her way into his heart.

"Thank you for singing to me, Justin." she whispered as she snuggled up to him.

"Anytime, Shelby." Justin said breathing her scent.

"You're my hero." she whispered so softly that he could barely hear her.

Oh but he did. Justin felt the words shock his core, his entire being. He would have said something, but her breath evened out and it was obvious she was sleeping.

"Guys, we have to do something to change his mind." Chris said when they were by themselves.

"Chris, we can't interfere." JC warned.

"Chris is right, Justin will never let his feelings show if he has his mind set on it. You know how stubborn he gets. If he thinks that keeping in his feelings are going to keep her from hurt, he's got another thing a comin. That's only going to hurt her. I know she's falling for him if she hasn't already." Joey sighed thinking about everything that had went on between the two of them.

"Yeah, I'm with them." Lance nodded.

"So we all agree that we need to convince Justin otherwise?" Chris asked.

"I'll only agree if you promise that you won't hurt Shelby. She doesn't need any more pain. I will agree with the young one on that." JC nodded.

"We would never deliberatly hurt Shelby, we love her. This is only helping her." Chris assured him.

So it was decided. The guys would come up with a way to make Justin rethink his "feelings for Shelby are offlimits" notion.