The others had given them the backseat in case they needed privacy to talk, but they were both sitting quietly thinking about what had happened between them. Both of them thinking opposite thoughts.

On Justin's end, there was a struggle in himself--an inner turmoil. He had never meant to show his feelings, especially so soon. But the moment had been perfect, the setting was beautiful, and Shelby had never been more beautiful herself. He didn't want her to think that he kissed her, but didn't feel anything for her, because that would be a lie. His memory led him back to a few weeks ago.

"All right. If you dont have an embarassing moment you have to kiss Shelby." Lance added at the last minute.

"No." Shelby shook her head.

"Why not?" Joey asked innocently.

"Easy for you to say when you're not the one whos going to get mauled. Besides we need to stay seated and buckled." Shelby reminded them.

"Yeah whatever." Lance flipped his hand as to ignore the rule.

"Okay, it'll work for Chris and Justin then." Joey said pointing to the two who were sitting right next to her.

"It's not working for anyone." Shelby said getting frustrated.

"What are you getting so riled up about Shelby?" Chris asked from her left.

"Don't you think that a kiss is sacred and shouldn't be shared with just anyone? Especially not in a game, its just degrading." Shelby explained her feelings.

"Why, Shelby, you're a true romantic." JC looked at her surprised.

"Why do I have to be a romantic to feel that kissing should be sacred." Shelby looked at them with a scowl.

"Not everybody feels the same way you do Shelby." Chris shrugged.

It dawned on him that Shelby really did care for him. If she didn't she never would have let him kiss her. God that scared him, he didn't know if he was ready for a serious relationship that he knew Shelby deserved. His heart was broken and his soul was shattered when Britney left him, but that wasn't it. He wasn't afraid Shelby would hurt him, he was afraid he would hurt her. He looked down at the beautiful soul in his arms and knew he couldn't be one to cause her any more pain.

Shelby on the other hand was on cloud nine, the man she loved had kissed her. Kissed her. She didn't think she'd ever know what that was like. And yet now, her hero, the man she loved, had kissed her, and she was in her arms. There was really no place she could think of that she would rather be. She wanted to know where this put them, their relationship. What was to become of it?

"Keep it G rated back there guys." Chris called from the front passenger seat.

"Shut up Chris." Shelby answered.

"So you are alive." he turned around and smiled at her.

"Of course."

"So did you have a good time?" JC asked her, turning so he could see everyone. He was sitting with Joey in the middle seat, next to the window. Lance was driving the van and Chris was sitting in the front passenger seat.

"It was really fun. You guys didn't have to get me anything, but it was really sweet and I'll cherish it forever." Shelby smiled with tears in her eyes.

"Shelby, you're not supposed to cry." JC said seeing her tears.

Shelby just shrugged and brushed away her tears.

"I haven't had so much fun or been so happy in the longest time." she sniffled.

"Well I'm glad you're having fun and that you're happy. You've changed in the short amount of time you've been with us." JC smiled, remembering the lost frightened girl who they'd met at the coffee shop.

They arrived at the hotel a few minutes later and everyone decided to just go to bed.

Shelby lay in her bed unable to sleep. An hour had passed since she first lay down, sighing she sat up and looked around in the dark. She could tell Justin was sleeping by the steadiness of his breathing so she quitely got up and left the room. She made her way to the elevator and went up to the top floor, from there she found the entrance to the roof and went outside. She stood out looking at the beautiful lights and smiled.

It was beautiful, she wished someone was here to share it with her, which made her long to talk to a familiar voice. She sat down with her back to the ledge and dialed a familiar number on her cell phone.

It rang several times before the person on the other end picked up.

"Hello? This better be good."

"Brad?"

"Shelby sweetie is that you? Where are you, it's like three am here." Brad said clearing his sleep clouded throat.

"I'm sorry Brad, I forgot about the time difference, we're in LA. I'm sorry I called you, I just wanted to talk to someone." Shelby sighed.

"What's wrong?" Brad asked sensing something strange in her voice.

"Justin kissed me." Shelby blurted.

"What? Wow." Brad breathed.

"Yeah." Shelby nodded feeling tears burning at the back of her throat.

"So are you guys together now?" Brad asked, almost feeling jealous.

"I don't know. He hasn't talked to me since it happened." Shelby sniffled.

"Shelby baby don't cry. You know I hate it when I can't be there to give you a hug." Brad said inhaling deeply.

"I'm sorry." Shelby said as she started to cry harder.

"You're in love with him aren't you?" Brad asked knowingly.

Shelby didn't reply for a few minutes, but when she finally found her voice she couldn't stop from telling him the truth. "Yeah."

"I thought so." Brad sighed again.

"I didn't mean to."

"I know you didn't, but let me tell you something Shelby. I think it's safe to say Justin isn't one of those guys who would just kiss and not feel anything behind it. Especially with you, since he knows everything that you've been through." Brad assured her.

"Thanks Brad, I needed to hear that." Shelby sniffed and dried her tears.

"Anything for you sweetie."

"Have you heard anything from Nancy lately?" Shelby asked.

"She called Justin the other day. I gave him your number to give to her next time she calls."

"Thanks, I miss her. I miss you too." Shelby sighed feeling tears rising again.

"No Shel, don't start crying again. We'll see each other soon enough."

"I know, I'm not going to cry again." Shelby smiled.

"So did I tell you Monique had a miscarriage?" Brad said changing the subject.

"No. What happened."

"Apparently she wasn't taking very good care of herself. Came over here crying about how she wanted me to take her back and all that bs. I told here were she could take her shit."

"Good. How's the job?" Shelby asked.

"It's good. We still miss you around here though."

"Yeah, sorry to say I don't miss it there." Shelby snorted.

"I don't blame ya." Brad answered.

Shelby really wanted to tell him about their trip coming up soon to Minot. But she didn't want it to get out to anyone else, especially Alice that she would be in town--even if it was just going to be passing through.

Just then the door opened and Shelby saw Justin step outside. He didn't see her right away, so she stayed where she was for a moment, she watched him for a moment then focused her attention back to her conversation with Brad.

Brad stifled a yawn and laughed, "Shelby babe it's really late, I gotta get goin. I'll talk to you later okay?"

"Okay, bye Brad." Shelby smiled then hung up the phone.

As soon as she talked Justin turned and saw her sitting there. She knew there were tell tale tear stains on her face and she wished she could just disappear.

"What are you doing out here?" Justin asked sitting next to her.

"I couldn't sleep." Shelby answered with a slight shrug.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Justin said putting an arm around her drawing close.

Shelby leaned into his embrace and rested her head back against his shoulder, where she belonged. "Because you were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you, because I know you have a show tomorrow night and you have a busy day all day tomorrow and you need your sleep."

"I don't mind losin a few hours of sleep if you need someone to talk to Shelby." Justin assured her.

"It's not necessarily that I needed someone to talk to, I just couldn't sleep." Shelby sighed.

"Shelby. About what happened tonight--" Justin started.

Shelby braced herself. She sighed inwardly and didn't like the way this was starting.

"I just wanted to say that well, I really liked kissing you." Justin said.

Shelby released a breath she didn't realize she held. She turned her head to look at him and saw he was serious and there was a sincere yet tender look on his face. She glanced down at his lips then back up to his eyes. She didn't know what to say, all she could do was blush and stare at him.

"There you go with that blushing again." Justin chuckled.

Shelby blushed again and looked away from him and felt herself grow really shy.

"I have a question for you Shelby." Justin said after a few minutes of silence.

"Okay." she nodded.

"What do you see when you look at me ?"

Shelby looked at him and smiled.

"I see a man who's been hurt in the past. A man who is passionate about everything he does, if it's playing a game of basketball with the guys, or on stage in fromt of thousands of people. I see a man who is as handsome on the inside as he is on the outside. You're someone I can talk with about anything thats going on, and always feel better afterwards. You make me feel stronger, you make me see theres more to myself then just fat. You make me feel alive."

Justin held her tightly and kissed her cheek. He never wanted to let go. "Thank you." he whispered.

Shelby turned her head so she could look at him and could see tears shining brightly in his eyes. "I should be the one thanking you."

Justin closed the small space between them and softly kissed her lips, he deepend the kiss when Shelby closed her eyes and leaned into him. Her lips were soft and seemd to fit perfectly against his. His arms tightened around her and fireworks seemed to be going off all over again as the kiss intensified.

Shelby was the first one to pull back this time. She stayed really close, but she was searching his eyes, not sure of herself.

"We should get goin back to bed," Justin said moving to stand up.

"Yeah." Shelby agreed. She grabbed Justin's hand and let him help her up.

Justin didn't let go of her hand, he held it as they went back down to their room. They met Joey in the hallway who had ran down to the hall to get some ice.

"What are you guys doing up?" Joey asked seeing their joined hands.

"I couldn't sleep, so I went up to the roof and called Brad then Justin came and found me." Shelby blushed when she remembered what happened next.

"You're blushing," Joey smirked.

"She's cute when she blushes isn't she." Justin said holding her close with an arm around her.

"Yeah." Joey nodded taking in the closeness between the two of them.

"Well, we're going to go turn in now." Justin said taking another step toward their room.

"Goodnight guys. Come here and give me a hug Shelby." Joey said motioning to her.

Shelby stepped out of Justin's embrace, causing Justin to miss her warmth, and gave Joey a big hug. She kissed him on the cheek and laughed when he blushed.

"Now who's blushing." Shelby smirked.

"Come back here woman." Justin said with mock jealousy.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Shelby said. "Goodnight Joey."

Joey watched the two of them go back into their room and wondered about the latest development. He went to his room and shut the door behind him.

"Lance, I think they're together now." Joey said when he sat down.

"Why do you say that?" Lance asked turning over in his bed to face Joey.

"Because they kissed at the park, and they were out on the roof tonight, and Shelby was blushing something feirce." Joey explained what he saw.

"Maybe they are." Lance nodded.

"I'll talk to Shelby tomorrow. She's in my room tomorrow night while we're in Salt Lake CIty." Joey said turning out the light.

"Night Joey."

"Night Lance."

~*~

Back in Justin and Shelby's room

Shelby still wasn't able to sleep, she wasnt in the least bit tired. She was really restless and kept tossing and turning.

Justin got up and slid in the bed next to her. "Come here hon." Justin said pulling her into his arms.

"I'm sorry, I can't sleep." Shelby sighed resting her head in the crook of his arm.

Justin started humming softly in her ear and after a few minutes, he checked and she was sleeping soundly. He softly kissed her cheek and closed his eyes and fell asleep himself.