"Hey Shelby, do you think you could take these passes here, and find some fans in the crowd to give them too?" Johnny said pulling her aside.

Shelby looked down at the passes and smiled, "Yeah, I can do that. Is there any one you want me to give them to in particular?" Shelby asked as she took the five passes from him.

"No, just see that their handed out. You can make them do a trivia, or just give them away. Whatever you want. Thank you very much." Johnny smiled at her then turned and walked off.

Shelby didn't dare keep them in her hands as she knew how precious these passes were to fans so she put all five around her neck.

She felt important after Johnny gave her the task. She looked at the line outside the store and smiled. Today, she would make five dreams come true. Only problem was she had no idea who she was going to give them too.

"Hey Lance, Johnny gave me these passes and said to hand them out to fans, how should I determine who gets them?" Shelby asked Lance who was passing by.

"Just give them to whoever you think should get them. There is no one perfect person to give them too." Lance smiled at her then sat down at the table set up as the fans were soon going to be coming in.

"Thanks Lance." she smiled and headed outside to complete her mission.

Shelby walked down the row of fans tried to figure out who she'd give the fans to. Everyone looked at her weird as she walked down the line and assessed the crowd. Nobody really stood out in her mind, until she saw three girls near the end of the line, they were obviously sisters as they held each others hands looking scared yet excited.

"Hey, how are you ladies." Shelby stopped in front of them and smiled.

"Good." the one on the left answered.

"My names Shelby, what's yours?" she asked them.

"I'm Marina," the middle one answered.

"I'm Katie." the one on the right smiled.

"And I'm Lisa." the third one said shyly.

"Are you guys coming to the show tonight?" Shelby asked them.

"Yes, it'll be our first concert ever." Marina nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Are you guys here by yourself? You look kind of young to be out here by yourselves." Shelby said looking around for a parent.

"Our mother works inside. She told us we could come earlier, but we got were late and now we're here, waiting in line." Lisa answered.

"What is your mothers name?" Shelby asked them.

"Marissa." Katie replied.

"Can you ladies hold on a second, I'll be right back." Shelby asked as an idea formed in her head.

"Sure." they all nodded.

Shelby walked back in the store and found out that Marissa was indeed working that day. She went back outside and found two little boys maybe five or six, with Nsync t-shirts on. She went up to them and their mother and knelt down to their level.

"Hey there guys, are you guys big Nsync fans?" She smiled at them then back up at their mother.

"Yeah, we love Nsync." the taller one smiled at her.

"Are you coming to the show tonight?" she asked them.

"Yeah," the other boy nodded shyly.

"How would you like to come backstage and talk to Nsync a little more?" she asked them then glanced up at their mother who smiled at her.

"Yeah, I want to do that." the older boy nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay, let me talk to your mother." Shelby stood up and put out her hand to shake, "Hello ma'am, my name is Shelby and I have these two backstage passes I'd like to give your boys if thats okay with you."

"Why sure, they would love that so much." she beamed at Shelby and shook her hand.

"What is your name?" Shelby asked.

"Samantha Kia." she answered.

Shelby took note of that and smiled at her, "Okay thank you. When the show is over tonight, come down to the stage and their should be one of the bodyguards on the left side of the stage, just give him these and he'll let you back. I might be there to meet you, just to make sure you get in fine. I'll be leaving your name with them that way they know that you're their mother." Shelby explained.

"Thank you, you are very generous." Samantha smiled and took the passes that Shelby handed her.

"You're welcome, I'll see you tonight." Shelby smiled.

Shelby made her way back to the girls and smiled when she saw them, "Sorry about that ladies. So how old are you?"

"I'm twelve, Lisa is ten, and Katie is eight." Marina answered for all of them.

"Cool, is your mom bringing you to the show?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, she's going to drop us off." Marina nodded.

"How would you like to come backstage after the show is over?" Shelby asked.

"Gosh, are you serious?" Marina stared at her.

"Yeah, I have three passes here and I'd love to give them to you guys." Shelby smiled and held out the passes around her neck.

"We'd love too, but we'd have to ask mom." Lisa answered.

"Well come on, let's go ask her." Shelby said grabbing two of their hands and nodded to the other to come.

Shelby led the three girls past the long line of people and back into the store. She passed security easily after explaining what she was doing. They smiled at her and let her through.

"Why don't you go ask her, while I go talk to Johnny over there okay?" Shelby suggested when she spotted Johnny.

"Okay," Marina nodded then led her sisters over to the counter where their mother was.

"Hey Johnny, can I talk to you a minute?" Shelby asked him.

"Sure, what's up?" he asked giving her his attention.

"See those three girls over there?" She nodded to the girls talking to their mother.

"Yeah," Johnny nodded.

"Well, I was wondering if I could bring them with me today. They range in age from twelve to eight and their mother is working all day. Their coming to the show tonight and if its okay with their mother, I'm going to give them passes. Would it be all right if they came with me?" Shelby questioned.

"Sure, this isn't something we usually do, but their girls, they won't be any trouble." Johnny nodded.

"Really?" Shelby perked up excited, she was sure he'd say no.

"Of course sweetie, it's a very generous thing to do." Johnny smiled.

"Thanks Johnny," Shelby hugged him on impulse and walked over to the girls.

"Hey Shelby, she said we could go." Marina looked at her excited.

"That's great." Shelby smiled at the girl, she turned her attention to Marissa and put out her hand, "Hello ma'am my name is Shelby and I'm on tour with Nsync. I met your girls here outside and I have a question to ask you. Would it be all right with you if they come with me for the day? After this we're going to get a bite to eat, then back to the hotel to grab some things and then we'd be going to the arena and we'd be there the rest of the night." Shelby expalined.

Marissa took a moment to soak it in and then answered, "So you want my girls to come with you and do what exactly?"

"Just hang out with me and the guys. Theres no other reason than I want to do this. I haven't been on tour long and I'm not a weird psycho or anything like that, I just want to treat the girls to a little fun." Shelby smiled.

"As long as you'll be with them the whole time, it's fine with me. They were really bummed I had to work today anyway." Marissa returned her smile.

"Thank you ma'am. May I get your phone number?" Shelby asked her.

They exchanged information and decided on a time to meet after the show so Marissa could come pick them up and when that was finished, Shelby decided to take them over to meet the guys. There was about ten minutes before the doors opened.

Shelby stepped in front of the table with her posse and smiled at the guys. "Hey guys, these ladies here are going to follow me around today and I thought I'd come over and introduce them to you." She smiled at the girls who were nervous. "This is Marina, Katie, and Lisa. They'll be following us around the rest of the day."

"Hey girls, how are you." Justin smiled shaking their hands. He glanced at Shelby who was really excited and his heart sped up, she looked so beautiful when she was excited.

"Good." Marina replied shyly.

The other guys greeted them and they were well liked, they sat aside and watched the meet and greet from behind the ropes.

Shelby was amazed at how many fans Nsync really did have. It never failed to surprise her. She had yet to actually see one of their shows, but she had heard their fans screaming before they took the stage and Shelby could only imagine how many were there.

One girl stepped up and looked at Justin and smiled, "Hey Justin."

"Hey there," he smiled.

"I was wondering if you were seeing anyone since your breakup with Britney." she asked.

Justin involuntarily glanced at Shelby who was watching him, listening for his answer. "No, I've been single since then." he answered.

"Thank you." she smiled and went down to the next person.

Justin felt the weight of that question, oh how he wished he wasn't single. There was one girl he could think of that could fill the emptiness left behind by Britney. That one girl that he'd put off limits.

"Does she know how you feel?" a guy asked him snapping out of his daze.

"I'm sorry?" Justin looked at him and wondered who he was.

"Well, you were spacing out and I was just wondering if she knew how you felt about her." he smiled.

"No, she doesn't." Justin sighed.

"Well, good luck with that." he nodded.

Justin wondered what that was all about as he continued to sign what was placed in font of him and greeted the fans, but his heart wasn't in it. His heart and his mind were on the girl sitting over to the side.

"I really like your outfit." Marina commented.

"Thank you, I wasn't sure I liked it." Shelby smiled at the girl and looked down at her outfit.

"I wish mom would let me wear something like that." Marina sighed.

"Well, it is comfortable. I was worried that I'd look gross in it because of my weight, but everybody's reassured me I look fine." Shelby answered.

"You're a knockout." Justin said as he came over and heard their conversation.

Shelby blushed and looked up at him, "Thanks."

"You're welcome." he smiled back at her.

"Are you guys together?" Marina asked innocently.

Shelby and Justin were both taken aback by the question. They'd both thought about it before, but neither of them had been put on the spot with that question before, especially when the other was around.

"No, we're good friends." Shelby answered, her heart pounding in her ears.

"You'd make a really cute couple." Lisa added.

"Thank you." Justin smiled warmly.

Oh if only they could. Once Justin made up his mind, there was no turning back.

"I came over here to see where you ladies would like to eat. We can't make up our minds, and we'd like to get your opinion. Chris doesn't care, Joey and JC want to go to the Hard Rock, Lance wants Chinese, and I said I'd go with whatever we got. So do you guys have an opinion?" Justin asked.

"I love the Hard Rock." Marina answered.

"They have good food." Lisa nodded.

"I've never been there before." Shelby added.

"Okay, you have to go there. I'll go tell the guys we're going to Hard Rock." Justin winked at her then got up and relayed the news.

The guys agreed to it and Lance walked over to Shelby and held out his hand. "May I please escort you to lunch m'lady."

"Why sure, kind sir." Shelby said placing her hand in his.

JC, Joey, and Chris all did the same thing with the Marina, Katie, and Lisa leaving Justin by himself.

"What's with this? I got no one." Justin sighed dramatically.

Thing was, he was jealous of Lance, every time Shelby laughed at what he said, Justin got even more jealous. What was he jealous of, she wasn't his, she could laugh and be with whoever she wanted.

"A little jealous?" JC asked him discreetly.

Justin just glared at JC and ignored him.

The rest of the day up til the concert went pretty uneventful. The guys decided to let Shelby off for the night so she could watch the concert with the girls, they had no idea that this was the first time she'd actually gotten a chance to see them.

"I can't believe I'm actually watching a show." she said while they warmed up before going on.

"You've seen us before." Lance replied.

"The only other time I saw you was the day you were in practice and I came with Joey." Shelby shook her head.

"Are you serious? You've been on tour with us for a week and you haven't seen a show yet?" Chris stopped what he was doing and looked at her.

"No, I told you. I've been busy." Shelby shrugged self-consciously.

"It's okay Shelby, we haven't seen them either." Marina added trying to make her feel better.

"Thank you Marina." she smiled at the younger girl.

"I'd like to continue this conversation, but you guys better go get your seats." Justin interrupted.

"Good luck." Shelby said hugging him. "Thank you, now go." he pointed to the exit.

Shelby and her posse went out to the front row and sat down in their seats in the middle. They were given glares as they sat down in the 4 reserved seats.

"Are you excited?" Marina asked.

"Very, are you guys?" Shelby asked the three of them.

"Yeah, this is exciting." Marina smiled.

"When will they be coming out?" Katie asked.

"Their opening acts come out first." Shelby told her.

"Oh." Katie answered.

As if on cue, the lights went out and the opening act came out and started playing. To Shelby, they seemed to play forever as she was so anxious for Nysnc to come out. When the openers were done, it was completely dark for about five minutes when the lights on stage started going while and music started playing in the background. The audience went crazy and the four of them stood up and got just as excited.

The intro to Pop began to play and Shelby watched for them and she smiled when she saw them for the first time. They were phenominal, so energetic. They ran around the stage like they had all the energy in the world. Shelby was amazed at how beautiful they all sounded and blended together.

She nearly started crying when Justin sang Gone with such emotion. It was one of her favorite songs but to see Justin up their with the pained expression on his face, and heartbreak in his voice, she could barely handle it.

One song she found really fun was 'Up Against a Wall' because in that song all the guys jumped up on a velcro platform and hung on the wall for a while. The song itself was a little provactive, but Shelby was having fun.

"We'd like to take this part of the show to thank each and everyone of you for sticking with us all these years, this song is dedicated to all of you." Justin said as they all toweled off and sat around on the stage, Justin as you'd have it was right in front of Shelby. He looked at her while he waited for his cue.

I don't know how
I don't know why
But girl it seems
you've touched my life
You're in my dreams
You're in my heart
I'm not myself
When we're apart

Shelby watched JC while he sang, but her gaze kept going back to Justin, he looked so perfect up there. Her eyes were constantly drawn to him. She couldn't look away when he looked at her and started singing his part.

Something strange has come over me
A raging wind across my seas
And girl you know that your eyes are to blame
What am I supposed to do
If I can't get over you
And come to find that you don't feel the same

'Cause I'm falling, falling
Girl, I'm falling for you
And I pray you're falling too
I've been falling, falling
Ever since the moment I laid eyes on you
(Girl I'm falling, falling, falling
When I laid eyes on you
Girl I'm falling, falling, falling. Yeah...)

If she had never realized that she was in love with Justin, she knew that very moment. She felt his words and stored them in her heart. It was almost as if he were singing them to her. It made her heart soar for the few minutes during the song.

I lose my step
I lose my ground
I lose myself
When you're around
I'm holding on
For my life
To keep from drowning in your eyes
Girl, what have you done to me
To make me fall so desperately
To think that I don't even know your name
(no, no)
How am I supposed to live(supposed to live)
If I can't get over this(get over this)
And you decide you don't feel the same

'Cause I'm falling, falling
Girl, I'm falling for you
And I pray you're falling too
I've been falling, falling

(Falling)
Will you stay or will you go
(Heaven)
Heaven knows what my future holds
(Questions)
Questions linger on my mind
(Day break)
From day break to dark of night
(I'm falling)
I don't know what's come over me

Can't you see that I'm falling, falling
Girl, I'm falling for you
And I pray you're falling too (yeah)
Falling, falling
Ever since the moment I laid eyes on you
ohhhh
I'm falling

All of the guys saw what happened between Shelby and Justin and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Shelby felt more than just friendship for Justin. They had to hurry with their plan before somebody really did get hurt.

The rest of the concert went by really fast and when it was finished, Shelby and the girls went backstage to meet Marissa and to chill with the guys for a few minutes.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Chris asked when he saw them.

"That was awesome. You stink by the way." Shelby laughed as she took a step back.

"Well, you do what I do for as long as I do and we'll see if you don't sweat." Chris said sticking his tongue out at her and moved a step closer.

Shelby took another step back and felt herself bump into something, or a someone, behind her. She knew who it was without even turning around as his arms wrapped around her from behind.

"Did you have fun?" he whispered in her ear.

Shelby nearly fainted when his breath fanned her neck and she nodded.

"He's just as sweaty," Chris pointed out.

"Now that you mention it, you're right." Shelby giggled as she tried to step away.

Justin laughed with a sinister undertone and tightened his arms around her.

"Let go." Shelby said trying to pull away.

Justin just held on tighter and wiped sweaty face and head on her neck.

"Justin, stop." she groaned trying desperately to get away from his nastyness.

"Okay okay." Justin said relinquishing his hold on her.

Shelby stepped away and looked at Justin and suddenly she didn't mind him being sweaty. He looked very masculine and sexy. She was spacing out when he grabbed her and hugged her tightly.

"I thought we were done." She said unable to keep from hugging him back, sweat or no sweat.

"I just thought you could use a hug." Justin grinned.

"Thanks." Shelby smirked.

"Hey Shelby, we're goin to a club tonight, do you want to come?" Lance asked.

"Sure." She smiled feeling energetic.

"Alright, sounds good." Lance smiled brightly.

Phase 1 of operation "change Justin's mind" was begining quite nicely.

"I'll come by your room," Lance added.

"Okay," Shelby nodded.

They made their way back to the hotel and everybody went to their rooms to shower and change before going out.