"So Shelby, we have a few minutes before we have to do anything. I want you to come over here and tell me whats going on with you and Justin." Joey said patting the bed next to him.

Shelby plopped on the bed across from him and situated herself so she was sitting indian style. "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know what's up with you kids. We all saw him kiss you at Disney last night, and I also know that you came from the roof together."

"I really don't know how to answer that Joey, I really don't. He's kissed me yes, and he said he liked kissing me, but he didn't really say much more then that. When I talked to Brad, Brad told me that he didn't seem like the kind of guy to kiss me without feelings behind it, especially after knowing what I've been through." Shelby slightly shrugged, she was more confused then ever. Justin had been really aloof this morning, which kind of hurt.

"Well, Brad was right. I've never seen Justin start anything without there being a reason, or feelings behind it. I think maybe you should talk to him, ask him whats up. Either that or just wait and see what happens. Whichever you do, things will work out; just be patient." Joey assured her.

"Thanks." Shelby nodded.

"So how's Brad?" Joey asked.

"He's good. Monique is still trying to get back with him. Apparently she wasn't taking care of herself and she lost the baby. I'm not a mean person, but she's not fit to be a parent. She's ruthless, she would teach her kids to pick on the other kids who were different, and it just wouldn't be good." Shelby shuddered.

"That bad huh?" Joey chuckled.

"Yeah, I only met her once and talked to her on the phone once, but boy was she a bitch. She got in my face and gave me the whole "fat girl" speech, Brad pretty much told her where to go."

"That Brad sounds like quite the character, I can't wait to meet him."

"Yeah, it'll be nice to see him again. I just hope I don't have to deal with anyone else from there." Shelby sighed.

"We'll keep you safe, don't worry." Joey smiled.

"Thanks."

"We better get going, we have a meet n greet in a half an hour." Joey said looking at the clock.

"Oh fun." Shelby smiled. She liked going to meet n greets, it gave her a chance to watch the guys interact with the fans, and sometimes the fans even came up to her and talked to her.

An hour later, the guys were busy signing autographs and taking pictures while Shelby was working on giving out some passes that Johnny had bestowed upon her. She always had trouble deciding who to give them too.

She'd already given two away to a little kid and her mother, now she was looking down the line trying to figure out who the last two would go to. She saw a girl and what looked like a younger brother standing in line. The girl was on the phone arguing with someone, tears built at the corners of her eyes, she slammed the phone shut and put it away and angrily wiped the tears away. Shelby walked up to them and stopped.

"Are you all right?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My mother was just being a bitch. She's always on my case about something." the girl sniffed.

"I'm sorry, my foster mom was the same way. I'm Shelby by the way." Shelby smiled offering her hand.

"Amber, and this is my brother Daniel." Amber introduced herself and shook Shelby's hand.

"Nice to meet you, I have these two passes here for the show tonight, are you guys going to be there?" Shelby asked.

"Yeah," Daniel smiled brightly.

"Well, I'd like you to have these." Shelby said handing a pass to each of them.

"Are you serious? This is awesome. I've always wanted to meet Justin." Amber gushed excitedly.

"I'm sure he's been always wanting to meet you." Shelby said stealing a glance at Justin, she blushed and looked away quickly when she saw him wink at her.

"Are you guys together?" Amber asked catching the expression.

"No," Shelby denied, knowing it wasn't all false.

"Man, if he looked at me like that, I think I'd just die." Amber said.

"So Daniel, who's your favorite Nsyncer?" Shelby asked Daniel.

"Lance." he shrugged.

"Do you like Nsync, or is your sister just dragging you out here?" Shelby laughed.

"I like them, I'm just sick of standing in line." Daniel shrugged again.

"Well, you're the next ones up there, then you can go home or wherever it is your going." Shelby smiled. "Well folks, I'll let you have at the guys and maybe I'll see you later at the show tonight."

"Thanks again Shelby." Amber smiled.

"You're welcome." Shelby nodded then went to find browse through the CDs.

Shelby had been browsing the CD's for a while, when somebody slipped their hands around her waist and pulled her close, Shelby nearly fainted when she felt his hot breath on her neck.

"What are you looking for?" Justin asked snaking his arms around her waist.

"Nothing really, I'm just looking." Shelby said turning her head sideways to look at him.

Justin softly kissed her check and rested his chin on her shoulder as she continued to look through the CDs in front of her.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Shelby asked thinking maybe she was holding them up.

"Almost." Justin answered.

"Am I holding everybody up?"

"No, don't worry about it, they'll come get us when they're ready." Justin assured her.

Shelbly relaxed in Justin's arms and inhaled his masculine scent, she listened to the sound of his breathing and she thanked the stars she'd met a wonderful person like him.

"Hey lovebirds, we gotta head." Chris said interrupting her thoughts.

"We're comin." Justin answered without moving.

Shelby stepped away from Justin, moving to his side and started walking towards the front, but was stopped by Justin's hand pulling her arm back toward him. She looked up at him puzzled, but didn't say anything. Justin just stepped closer and put a hand on either side of her face and softly kissed her lips.

He pulled back just as quick as he'd started and smiled tenderly down at her, "I've been wanting to do that all day."

Shelby blushed and buried her face in his chest for a moment, then took her place by his side and they walked hand in hand to the front of the store where they met up with the others.

After they left the store, they headed to the venue for sound check.

Shelby had all her stuff ready to go, so she got to sit in on the soundcheck. Boy were they crazy, any bystander would never think that they were actually getting something accomplished by bouncing around on stage, harassing each other, but this was normal. They were getting the mic's checked and their ear monitors tuned to hear their mix.

"Shelby come up here." Chris stopped on stage right in front of her.

"Why?" Shelby asked.

"Because I said so, now get your butt up here." Chris demanded.

"That's okay." Shelby shook her head.

"Come on Shelby, come on up." Joey stopped next to Chris.

"No thanks."

"Please." Lance added.

"Guys, why do you want me to come up there? I'll be in the way." Shelby said looking down at her hands.

"I thought we were over this shy thing." JC said shaking his head.

Justin didn't say anything, he just chose to Jump down and walk over to Shelby. He grabbed her hand and led her back stage where it would be easier to get onto the stage. He led her onto the stage and turned to her and smiled.

"Now that wasn't so hard was it?"

"Yay, it's Shelby." Chris said jumping up and down.

"Way to be persuasive Justin." Joey laughed.

"So I'm up here, now what?" Shelby looked at them.

"I don't know, we just wanted you to come up here." Chris shrugged.

"Are you serious?" Shelby gaped at him.

"Yup."

"Well, I'm going to go sit down." Shelby said moving to jump off the stage.

Justin grabbed her by the waist and stopped her. "You're not going anywhere."

Shelby stopped and looked at him, no power in the world could make her go anywhere when he gave her that look. "Sure." she shrugged.

"Here, sit, and we'll sing to you." JC said patting a stool he'd grabbed and set in the middle of the stage.

"Guys," Shelby said not wanting to be the center of attention.

"We need to rehearse, so sit and we'll rehearse." Justin said leading her towards the chair.

Shelby sat on the stool and looked around at the five guys around her and blushed, she wasn't used to being the center of attention. She heard the music start playin and recognized the song, she hadn't heard it all that often, but it was a beautiful song.

I just don't understand
Why you're running from a good man baby
Why you wanna turn your back on love
Why you've already given up
See I know you've been hurt before
But I swear I'll give you so much more
I swear I'll never let you down
Cause I swear it's you that I adore
And I can't help myself babe
Cause I think about you constantly
and my heart gets no rest over you

Shelby saw nothing but Justin when he sang the first verse right to her, she didn't blink, she didn't move. She had to remind herself to breathe. She felt the words down to her soul, she switched her eyes to the other guys as the chorus started.

You can call me selfish
But all I want is your love
You can call me hopeless (hopeless)
Cause I'm hopelessly in love
You can call me unperfect
But who's perfect?
Tell me what do I gotta do
To prove that I'm the only one for you
What's wrong with being selfish?

Justin did feel the words, he was singing them to her, he loved her more than life itself and would do anything for her.

I'll be taking up your time
Until the day I make you realize
That for your there could be no one else
I just gotta have you for myself
Baby I would take good care of you
No matter what it is you're going through
I'll be there for you when you're in need
Baby believe in me
If love was a crime
Then punish me
I would die for you
Cause I don't want to live without you
Oh what can I do?

You can call me selfish
But all I want is your love
You can call me hopeless (hopeless)
Cause I'm hopelessly in love
You can call me unperfect
But who's perfect?
Tell me what do I gotta do
To prove that I'm the only one for you

Why do you keep us apart
Why won't you give up your heart
You know that we're meant to be together
Why do you push me away
All that I want is to give you love
Forever and ever and ever and ever

Shelby did have tears in her eyes as Justin sang about keeping them apart, if she knew he felt the same way, she'd give him her heart in a heartbeat. She loved him with all of her heart, and it was only a matter of time before it was out in the open.

You can call me selfish
But all I want is your love
You can call me hopeless (hopeless)
Because I'm hopelessly in love
You can call me unperfect
But who's perfect?
Tell me what do I gotta do
To prove that I'm the only one for you

Selfishly I'm in love with you
Cause I've searched my soul
and know that it's you
Selfishly I'm in love with you
Cause I've searched my soul
and know that it's you
Selfishly I'm in love with you
Cause I've searched my soul
and know that it's you..

To prove that I'm the only one for you
So what's wrong with being selfish, selfish, selfish, selfish...
So what's wrong with being selfish...

The song ended and Shelby inhaled deeply, "That was so beautiful you guys."

"Thank you." they answered.

Justin met Shelby's stare and couldn't stop himself from kissing her right there in front of all the guys. He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers and when she made a small noise, he deepend the pressure. Shelby moved to put her arms around his neck and kissed him back, she loved the way his lips felt against hers, he was skilful and she felt so safe in his arms.

"Um guys," Chris said coughing.

"GUYS." JC yelled.

Justin jumped back and glared at JC, then realized that he'd just kissed Shelby in front of everyone.

"Sorry." he grinned sheepishly.

"You're lucky there weren't any press in here." Lance reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah." Justin scowled at him.

"We're done here, we're going to leave you two, and you're going to talk -- in our dressing room." Joey said to the two of them.

"Thanks Joey." Justin said.

Justin grabbed Shelby by the hand and led her to their dressing room where he shut the door and locked it, giving them plenty of privacy.

"He was definitely right, we need to talk." Justin said moving to the couch that was against one wall. "Come here, sweetie."

Shelby went to sit next to Justin on the couch and turned to face him, one leg under her on the couch. "You're so beautiful." she blurted.

"Thank you." Justin chuckled. "We need to talk about us."

Shelby looked away and didn't know what to say, she'd never done anything like this before. She was quiet a few minutes before answering. "Yeah".

"I just want to again apologize for every hurtful word I ever said to you Shelby, if I had a time machine, I'd go back to that time and take bakc every nasty word I said toward you. My feelings have totally changed for you. I feel a burning need to protect you, to keep you safe, to keep you happy. Every day I'm with you that aching grows stronger and more intense. I've never met such a caring, sweet, unheartless person in my life. You really break the mold Shelby. You gave me a chance after everything I did to you, you still consider me your friend after all the hurtful words I threw at you. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that Shelby, for caring."

Shelby looked at him with unshed tears. What did this mean? Did this mean that he had feelings for her, or that he was her friend. She didn't know, she couldn't tell. She seached his eyes and saw nothing but love, a look of love that peirced her soul.

"I forgave you for that a long time ago Justin. You're my knight in shining armor, you're my hero. I don't know what I'd do without you. You've made me feel like a princess, made me feel cherished, and important. Nobody has ever given me that before, and to have it from the man I love, well it's just unbelievable. I'd never thought months ago that I could feel this way." Shelby sighed, she was speaking from her heart, not paying attention to what she was saying.

'The man I love. The man I love.' She loves me, she said she loves me. I can't believe it, after everything, she loves me.

Justin did the first thing that came to his mind, he leaned over and kissed her passionatly. It was an earth shaking kiss for both of them. Justin felt like he couldn't get enough of her as he kissed her.

Shelby felt her whole body tingling and she was floating on a cloud. She shyly parted her lips when she felt Justin's tongue lightly graze her lips, he was kissing her thoughly and she was loving it. They kissed for several more minutes before Justin slowly backed away and opened his eyes.

"I'm in love with you Shelby."