I strum along with the opening chords of the song pouring from the speakers and smile stupidly. I know it's silly and childish, but The Chipmunk Song has always been my absolute favorite Christmas song. Even when I was little, I'd run through the house, screaming the lyrics at the top of my lungs, from the day after Thanksgiving, until Christmas day.     

What can I say...I was a weird little kid.     

The door to the bedroom creaks open, and Justin appears in the doorway. He gives me an awkward smile before stepping inside cautiously.     

He's kind of been tiptoeing around me the last several weeks, and even though I'm still angry, I do feel a little bad for taking my aggravation out on him. Granted, he does deserve some of it.    

Number one, he had no right to accuse Chelsea of anything. He doesn't know a single thing about her and probably never will. He was way too quick to judge her, and I was ecstatic when Johnny proved him wrong.    

Secondly...my album has been out for a little over two weeks, and honestly...it's not selling the way we expected. Everyone had really high hopes for those first week sales, but it didn't come anywhere near what we'd thought it would.     

I know it's stupid to be upset about it. I should be glad that I even got the chance to put out a second album, but knowing that no one wants to hear it, is kind of a slap in the face. The label seems to think the sales will pick up after the holidays, but I'm not so sure. I've got this overwhelmingly bad feeling about the whole thing.    

"My parents are on their way home." He says quietly. "We'll probably go to dinner, just the four of us."    

"Alright. I'll get a shower and get ready." I nod and head into the bathroom.     

I think he's just as nervous about this as I am. According to Trace, Justin and his mother are about as close as a mother and son can get. Justin has told his mother everything over the course of his life. However, that came to a halt when he married me.    

I guess it sounds stupid, but I feel horrible that he's lying to his mother on my account. I'm fairly close to my parents, and I absolutely hate lying to them, I can't really imagine how he feels if he and his mother are as close as Trace says they are.    

I've known from day one that Justin and I would have to suffer the consequences of our stupidity, I guess I just never realized that we'd have to hurt the people we love.     

Sometimes, I can't help wondering, what would have happened if Justin and I had met under normal circumstances. Would we have been friends? Would there have been this magical, love at first sight feeling, or would we have simply said hello, and gone our separate ways?     

I'm a firm believer in fate, and I do believe Justin Timberlake was forced into my life for a reason, I'm just not sure what that reason is.     

Although, I'm pretty sure that me falling for him, wasn't part of the plan.     

I shower and dress quickly before following Justin out to his truck, and he slowly navigates us down the icy streets of Memphis. In a way, I'm kind of jealous of him. We're in his hometown for the holidays, surrounded by his friends and family. I'm basically spending Christmas with a bunch of strangers.     

Christmas has always been kind of a big deal for my family. We'd spend the entire day with family, exchanging presents with my aunts and uncles, eating some of the best food ever cooked, singing carols at my aunts grand piano, it was special, and now...I'm going to miss it.    

Not to mention the fact, that I kind of feel like I'll be imposing on Justin, his family and their traditions. I'm sure they have plenty of things they do as a family for Christmas, and I'm this outsider, stepping on that.     

We pull up to the restaurant and I take a deep breath before climbing out of the truck. I need to calm down. It doesn't matter if these people like me or not, I have no obligation to them.     

But then again, I kind of want them to like me. I want Justin to see that he's wrong about me, and maybe...maybe if his family likes me, he'll see that he's been a complete jackass through all of this.     

We approach the table slowly, and I can feel my shoulders tense as the older couple stands to greet us. They're both smiling from ear to ear, and I hope to God, that's a good sign.    

"Momma...this is Madison." Justin smiles nervously, and I hold my breath while his mother gives me the once over.    

I can't even begin to guess what she's thinking. For all I know, she's read every single one of the horrible things printed about me in the tabloids, and believes them. She probably thinks I'm some no good tramp, who will never be good enough for her only son. Or maybe, she can clearly see that Justin and I aren't a real couple. What if she calls us out, right here in front of all these people? 

Finally, she wraps her arms around me in a tight hug and I breathe a sigh of relief.     

Maybe, Christmas in Memphis won't be so bad after all.

***************************************    

"So...we walked all over town, with this fish in that damn garbage can..and...and.." Trace gasps in between giggles, and I can't help but laugh along with him.     

"By the time we got home, it was dead." Justin chuckles and shakes his head. "We haven't been fishing since."    

"Boys." Lynn mutters with a roll of her eyes.    

I have to admit, I'm completely blown away by how Justin's family has treated me. I fully expected to be treated like the outsider I am, but I couldn't have been more wrong.     

They've welcomed me with open arms, and I almost feel like I'm in Chicago with my own family. Lynn made it a point to give me detailed descriptions of all of the Timberlake/Harless holiday traditions, and the more I'm around them, the more comfortable I feel.     

In this little corner of my mind, I keep imagining that Justin and I are the happily married couple we portray ourselves as, and I really am getting to know my in-laws.     

I know, I'm delusional.     

There's a loud knock on the front door, and Lynn quickly hops out of her chair to answer it. Justin fidgets around nervously, and Trace is smiling like an idiot.     

I hear three very familiar voices and my head immediately jerks in Justin's direction.    

"I didn't want you to feel all weird around my family...consider this my apology for the whole Chelsea thing." He gives me a small smile and shrugs.     

I look out into the hallway and can feel the tears welling up in my eyes at the sight of my best friend and parents, shaking the snow off of their clothes.    

I watch silently as Lynn chats with my parents and the only thing I can think, is that I have been misjudging Justin, from day one. Until now, I've had this incredibly strong love/hate feeling toward him, that has all changed in a matter of seconds. 

How can I hate someone who has done the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me?    

"Thank you." I whisper and give him a quick kiss on the cheek before rushing over to greet my parents.    

I don't know what possessed him to do this, but I couldn't be more grateful. Of all the ways he could have apologized, this is by far the best.     

I'd been questioning my feelings for him to this point. Thinking that maybe, it was all my imagination, that I was just projecting these feelings on him because he was around, but now...now I know.     

My feelings for Justin are 100 percent real, and I'm afraid they may be getting more and more intense with each day that passes.

*****************************

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight
      

I can't help but smile at the crowd gathered around the piano, softly singing along with Justin's playing. I don't know why, but it's like he's doing everything he can to make this Christmas, as normal as possible for me.     

Every year, his mother hosts a party on Christmas Eve, for all of their family, and this year, they've all gone out of their way to include myself, my parents and even Chelsea.     

I really owe Justin huge for this.     

I take a sip of my wine and glance at Justin sitting next to me. I never would have thought it, but he's a fairly talented musician. Even here, just with his friends and family, he completely throws himself into his playing and it's absolutely beautiful.  

He looks over at me, a huge grin plastered on his face, and I can feel the knots forming in my stomach.     

I need to get over this school girl type crush I've developed for him. I know these feelings won't be returned, and it's pointless to put any thought into them.    

Once our two years are up, Johnny will have us divorced, and we'll go our separate ways. He'll go back to the hard partying, womanizing lifestyle he's always lived, and I'll return to touring non-stop. That's how this whole thing is supposed to play out, and I'm not going to let a stupid crush interfere with that.     

"Alright...let's eat." Lynn calls out once Justin finishes the song and everyone rushes to the kitchen, piling food on their plates.     

"So...think he got you something good?" Chelsea asks quietly.    

"Dunno." I shrug as she smiles knowingly.    

"I'll bet he did."    

This could create a problem. Justin and I didn't discuss exchanging gifts, or anything of the sort. Although, I was smart enough to realize that it would look pretty odd if I didn't get him something. This is supposed to be our first Christmas as a married couple, and if I didn't get him a present...it would probably raise a lot of questions.     

So, I gave Beth my credit card and sent her out shopping with Trace. I figured, who better than his best friend to pick out his present. They were gone for several hours, but came back with a suit from Ralph Lauren and a gorgeous watch.     

I know, not exactly thoughtful, but I didn't know what the hell else to do.     

Beth, being the amazing, wonderful assistant she is, also had the foresight to find a gift for Lynn, which honestly...hadn't even crossed my mind.     

It's nothing too flashy or even all that special, but every woman deserves a spa day, right? Trace swears she'll love it, so hopefully...Beth did good.     

I know it's awful to send my assistant out to do my Christmas shopping, but I just haven't had the time. Between promoting the album, shooting the video and the millions of other things I've had to do, I've barely had enough time to sleep, much less shop. I have complete faith in Beth though. I'm sure she did just fine.     

"Ya know..I had my doubts about him." Chelsea says suddenly as she pours us each another glass of wine. "But, when he called and apologized, then offered to fly me out here...he really changed my mind Maddie. Linds was right...you landed yourself a good one."        

I look across the kitchen to see Justin laughing with his grandfather and smile sadly. After the last 24 hours, I have no doubt that Justin is a good guy. He just isn't mine.    

"Yeah, no kidding."    

"So, where's that beautiful manager of yours? I thought he'd be here."    

"Nah, him and Beth both went home for the holidays."

"Beth can play in traffic for all I care." Chelsea mutters and rolls her eyes before moving across the kitchen to talk to Trace.    

I wish I could understand her hatred for my assistant. Really, it's completely uncalled for. Beth has been nothing but nice to Chelsea over the years, but that doesn't seem to matter.    

Chelsea tends to judge people at first glance, and it's virtually impossible to change her mind, which makes it kind of surprising that she's decided that she actually likes Justin. For some reason, she made her mind up almost five years ago, that she couldn't stand Beth, and I don't see that ever changing.     

I always kind of thought that maybe it was jealousy. Beth is at my side constantly and in a lot of ways, she's had to take Chelsea's place as my best friend. However, I don't think anyone could ever completely replace Chelsea. She's one in a million, and I'd be utterly lost without her.     

I move to make my way into the living room, but stop suddenly, nearly spilling my wine when Justin appears in the doorway.     

"Hey." He grins and I find myself smiling back at him.    

"Hey yourself."    

"Everything going alright?"

"Perfect actually." I nod slowly. "Thank you for flying them out here Justin, it means a lot."    

"Nah, it's nothing." He shrugs. "Like I said, consider it my apology."    

"You're forgiven. No harm, no foul."    

"Well...would you look at that, the newlyweds under the mistletoe!" Trace shouts excitedly, and it's becoming obvious to everyone that he's had a few too many. "C'mon J...you know what you gotta do."    

Justin rolls his eyes before turning to Trace. "You seriously need a life....and a girlfriend."    

In a split second, his lips are on mine and he coaxes my mouth open with his tongue. My arms instinctively slide around his neck, while his circle my waist and he pulls me against him.     

For some reason, all of the cat calls and whistles coming from our family and friends sound so far away, and the only thing I can focus on is his mouth on mine and the way our bodies seem to fit together perfectly.    

He pulls away quickly before sauntering into the kitchen and all I can do is stand here, trying to catch my breath. My lips are tingling, and I swear...I can still feel him there, smell his cologne on my shirt, and for some reason...I don't want it to go away.    

As soon as I can, I refill my wine glass and down it in one gulp. This isn't just some silly little crush.     

I don't know what's going to happen from one day to the next, but I'll do whatever it takes to keep him around. I don't want to ever lose the feeling of his body pressed against mine. It was perfect. Almost too perfect really.    

And that scares the hell out of me.

*********************************    

"Momma, it's 11:45!" Justin whines and stomps his foot like a two year old. Lynn simply rolls her eyes and turns to face me.    

"We go through this every year. He never could stand to wait until Christmas morning, we compromised and decided to wait until midnight, but even that's not good enough." She chuckles and shakes her head.    

I still can't get over just how well our family and friends are blending together. All day long, our mothers have been trading recipes and telling stories about Justin and I as kids. Chelsea and Trace seem to have really hit it off, and even my dad has let his guard down and is having a blast.         

This is what all married couples dream of. They'd practically kill for their families to get along this well, and I can't help feeling a little guilty. Justin and I don't deserve this.     

Everyone around us seems to think we have this perfect marriage, but in reality...it's one big lie.     

I never should have agreed to do this. I should have put my foot down, gotten the annulment and been done with it. If I had, I wouldn't be lying to all these amazing people, I wouldn't be making up stories that make my marriage seem believable, but most importantly... I wouldn't be falling in love with Justin.    

I don't want to have these feelings for him, but it's like no matter what I do or how hard I try, I can't stop it.    

Justin plops down behind me on the floor and stretches his legs out before pulling my back against his chest. I settle into him and I can't ignore how right it feels to sit like this with him.    

"See that blue star up there?" He points to the ornament, placed neatly on the tree, before wrapping his arms around my waist. "My momma got that for me when I first joined the group." He smiles fondly.    

I have no idea why he's telling me this, but it's kind of nice. I'm getting to see this whole other side of him and it's just further proof that I was all wrong about him. He isn't the egotistical, spoiled asshole I thought he was. He's just a momma's boy, from a small town, who made it big.    

When we were first thrown together, instead of fighting and being spiteful, we should have taken the time to get to know each other. We've been going about this the wrong way all along, and I'm determined to make it easier. I'm done being petty and arguing with him.     

"Momma...it's 12:01." Justin yells as he checks his watch for the millionth time in the last 16 minutes.    

"Alright, alright." Lynn laughs and shakes her head. "Trace, you do the honors."    

Trace crawls over to the tree and starts pulling the wrapped packages out, passing them to each person. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen a tree with so many presents under it. Even though most of Justin's family is here, it still seems like a bit much.     

"And these are for Madison." Trace smirks as he pushes three packages in front of me. One is a plain white envelope with my name scrawled across the front of it, the second is a square, fairly large, neatly wrapped package, and the third is a much smaller box, with a small red ribbon tied around it.    

"The envelope's from me...couldn't tell ya what the other two are." Justin shrugs as he moves away from me and begins to tear into one of the many packages stacked in front of him.    

"This was all kind of last minute...we had your stuff shipped to L.A." My dad smiles and pats me on the shoulder.    

"Good thing. I had yours sent to Chicago." I chuckle and slowly pick up the large present first.    

"To: Madison, From: Lynn and Paul" is written on the tag, in quite possibly the most beautiful handwriting I've ever seen, and I look over at Justin's mother. She's practically beaming, and there's an encouraging smile on her face as she waits patiently for me to open it.    

I tear the paper off carefully, and feel the shock register on my face when I recognize the picture, set neatly in the black and silver frame, instantly.    

I can't even begin to imagine how she got a hold of this.    

The Rolling Stone article Justin and I did, has been pushed back several times now, and has yet to go to print. Johnny doesn't want the article out until he thinks things have calmed down, and Rolling Stone seems to agree.     

I don't know how she did it, but Lynn has managed to get a copy of the cover photo, have it blown up and put in this gorgeous frame.     

I can almost pinpoint the exact moment the picture was taken, and I can't help smiling at the memory. Justin and I were seated on the piano bench and I'd been fiddling around with my guitar, completely unsure of what I was supposed to do.    

I vaguely remember kissing Justin, before Trace made some smart ass crack and the entire room erupted in laughter. My attention was on everyone else in the room, but judging by this picture, Justin was staring at me, a warm smile on his face.    

Lynn eases down beside me and taps a finger on the glass before smiling brightly at me.    

"When Johnny showed me the proofs...this one stuck out." She glances at Justin, then leans in and speaks quietly, so only I can hear. "I've never seen him look at anyone the way he's looking at you in that picture. It's the way his father looked at me when we first started dating."    

I nod slowly and force the best smile I can. "Thank you. This is really beautiful."    

"You're welcome sweetheart." She hugs me to her side before rising to her feet again and making her way across the room.     

I know exactly what she's implying, but deep down...I know she's wrong. There's absolutely no way Justin could be looking at me like he..like he has feelings for me, is there?    

No. It's not possible. It's just...not.    

I grab the smaller box and untie the ribbon, before pulling the lid off. Inside, is a small card, with "From: The Family", written in the same handwriting as the tag on the picture. I can only assume "The Family" is the entire Timberlake/Harless clan.    

Laying in the box is a silver chain, with a cursive letter J pendant on it. I look over at Justin and he gives me a cheesy grin as he holds up an identical necklace, except with a letter M.     

"I know...they're corny. But I thought they were neat." Justin's cousin, Rachel, grins at both of us and shrugs.     

Justin crawls across the carpet to sit behind me once again and he quickly grabs the necklace from my hands. He slides it around my neck and a shiver runs down my spine as his fingers graze my skin while he hooks the clasp.     

"I love the suit by the way." He says quietly. "Thanks."    

"And what about the watch?" I ask with a laugh. He holds his arm in front of my face and shows that he's already replaced his old watch with the one I bought him.  

"You open my present yet?"

"I'm getting there." I chuckle and reach for the envelope.     

I open it quickly and the contents fall onto the floor. Justin grabs them before I have the chance, and he hands me a sheet of paper.     

"You gotta read that first."    

"Just in case flying Chelsea and your parents out wasn't enough of an apology, this oughta do the trick. -J."    

He hands me another small envelope and rests his chin on my shoulder while I tear it open. I pull out two rectangular pieces of thick paper, and my hand flies to my mouth as I read the words printed on them.    

If I was still having doubts about him, this would have completely changed my mind. This is almost too good to be true.    

"I figured we could go together." He says quietly. "I had Jc clear your schedule and everything."    

On January 19th, Justin and I will be going to see Fleetwood Mac, from front row no less, in my hometown.     

This is so far above and beyond anything he could have ever done for me. Suddenly, I feel awful about the presents I got him. They aren't anywhere near as thoughtful as this is.    

"Justin this is...this...wow." I stutter. I can barely form one coherent damn thought. This is unbelievable.     

"You're welcome." He laughs.    

I turn around to face him and plant my lips firmly on his, enjoying the feeling of him smiling against my mouth.    

Maybe, whatever Lynn saw in that picture, isn't all that far off. Maybe there is something beginning between Justin and I, and neither of us has even completely realized it yet.    

I never thought I'd say this, but Justin has just given me quite possibly, the best Christmas ever.