March 21, 2000
NYC, New York
6 am

On the 16th floor of a random hotel in New York City the angry words and loud banging could be heard three floors down. The man causing this ruckus had the misfortune of guarding the youngest member of the group called Nsync. Now usually this guard didn't mind being this particular member's babysitter but he was one of the only guys of this group that was not a morning person, and was absolute hell to get up in the morning. You could yell, scream, throw an all out fit and this kid would not wake up.

After banging and yelling on the door for what seemed like an eternity but in fact it was only a few minutes, Mike reached into his pocket and pulled out the master key. He slid it through the lock and waited impatiently for the little light to go green. When the audible click of the lock disengaging could be heard he pushed his way in the room only to stop a few short steps in the room and gawk at the complete mess the room was in.

There was a trail of clothes leading towards the door to the bedroom, starting with his shoes an ending with what he hoped was his jeans. He peeked through his fingers around the corner praying to the heavens that he at least had boxers on, God he really didn't need to see that side of him. When he saw the kid sprawled horizontal across the bed, with one arm tucked under his head using it as a pillow while the other dangled over the edge.

Shaking his head, he crossed the room in two short steps and rolled Justin to the floor, where he fell with a thud.

"I swear to god, if you don't get up in the next two seconds, I'm going to haul you over my shoulder and feed you to the teenies." Mike grumbled staring at the heap on the floor, with fire in his eyes. When Justin only continued to lay there he hissed and nudged him with the toe of his shoe. "C'mon J, get up. You have to be on the van in 30 minutes and we all know how much of an ass you can be if you don't have your cereal."

"I'm awake." Justin mumbled softly rolling over till he was facing the beefy man in front of him. Groaning to himself his hands came up from his side to rub the sleep from his eyes. He yawned softly and pulled his stiff body into a sitting position. "Did you have to dump me on the floor?" Justin grumbled while pushing himself up till he stood.

"Yes I did, because you did not set your alarm." Mike replied checking his watch. "And Justin" Mike said catching his young charges attention. "You have 20 minutes to shower, eat and get ready."

"Yes Dad." Justin grumbled. "I'll be ready."

"You better." Mike said pointing a finger at him, with one last warning of being ready Mike stomped out the door to continue getting the rest of Nsync up and ready to go.

Justin watched as the door closed behind mikes back and stuck his tongue out childishly. He knew his action was childish but he just couldn't muster up enough emotion to give a damn. He was so tired of everything at this point in time, that it was even a chore to get out of bed every morning. It was sad because he was supposed to be on a high, the band was even more successful than ever.

Their already full schedule was becoming even fuller, and he honestly didn't know how he would keep up.

2 Hours Later

When the groups hands felt like their fingers would break off, from all the autographs they signed, it was finally time to load back up in the van and head down to MTV studios for their spot on TRL for the album. Justin sluggishly pulled himself into the van and sat down in the back where he could be completely by himself and maybe catch just a few minutes of sleep, but doubted it because most of the guys were on such a high from the response to their album, that the van was full of excited chatter.

Leaning back he reached into his pocket and pulled out his disc-man, placing the ear phones over his ears, he turned up the volume and tried to escape into the music.

After a couple songs played out he was almost asleep when his seat dipped and he caught the sweet scent of a woman's perfume. Rolling his eyes behind his closed eyelids, he turned his nose away from the scent and groaned softly. He licked his lips from the dryness and spoke softly to the person next to him.

"What are you doing here Brit?"

"How did you know it was me?"

"You are the only woman I know that wears that perfume, so of course I knew it was you." he replied softly then turned his head to face her, he blinked his tired eyes open to stare at her. "But back to my question, what are you doing here? I thought you had interviews all day."

"Well..." she paused to snap her gum, and push her blonde hair out of her face."I got done early and begged Johnny to let me go to TRL with you, and with all the publicity we're generating lately he thought it was a good idea."

"Ah." It figured it was all about who was on his arm, or how many magazines his face could be plastered on, it was never about the music, that was the one thing that he regretted about this business the most, you could work your ass off making a amazing album but it all came down to who they were dating or what wrong they were doing. Shaking his head, he repressed the light resentment he was filling for the state his life was in, and smiled softly at her. "That's cool." he shrugged showing his indifference.

"I thought that after all the festivities tonight we could spend some alone time together, and celebrate." she wiggled her brows suggestively.

"I don't know Brit, I'm pretty worn out from the last couple days and rumor has it we have an early flight out to Orlando to start rehearsals for the tour." He replied then watched as her smile dropped completely from her face, he could see the pool of tears in her eyes and regretted is words. "But I'll see if I can get a few hours to spend some time with you." And there it was the tears gone, and the smile back. God he was such a softy.

"Oh I can't wait," she rambled on and on about what she wanted to do, he really wasn't in the mood to listen so he tuned her out, and leaned his head back against the seat, he appease her by giving the required responses, and turned his head so he could see out the window, and watch the city fly by.

All he wanted to do was go back to Memphis and pretend any of this never happened.

Later That Night

After eight hours or nonstop interviews, and cameras being shoved in their faces, Nsync finally arrived at their hotel for the night, as soon as the van stopped at the curb every single one of the guys made a beeline for the front doors and didn't stop till they were safely in their respective rooms. Justin being the creature of habit he was, stripped down to his shorts and sprawled on his back across the bed, propping his head with his arms, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
It felt so good to have just a little bit of time to himself, all day long he was surrounded by people, screaming and asking too many questions. So for him to have a just a little peace and quiet was heaven.

As soon as he began to drift into unconsciousness, a small wrapping sounded throughout the small room. Growling at the intrusion, he pushed himself off the bed, and grabbed a pair of pajama pants that were laying across a chair an slipped them on, then padded towards the door, he reached out with his hand turning the knob and cracking the door enough that he could see out in the hall.

"Hey baby."Britney squealed, yanking open the door and throwing herself in his arms. "I missed you."

"Hi Brit. It's only been a couple hours." he stated with a roll of his eyes. He loved the girl, but she had a serious clingy problem. He couldn't move two inches without her having to be right there. God he sounded like a prick, and he really hated that fact, but all he really wanted was to sleep. He took a deep breath, and wrapped his arms around her tiny frame, and tried to enjoy the fact that he had someone that wanted him for him. Or well at least he thought she wanted him for himself, and not the fame.

"So what do you want to do Justy?" Britney asked bring her head level with his, her eyes automatically gravitating to his perfect pink lips. She had such an urge to kiss him, that it was over taking every one of her sense, and the fact that he stood there only in a pair of loose fitting pajama pants was driving her mad, all she wanted to do was run her fingers down his chest and follow the small path of hair on his stomach that hid underneath the waist band. She licked her lips at the thought. God he had an amazing body, all sculpted and toned in just the right areas, she loved the feeling of his muscles contracting under her hands.

Stepping back she let her arms drag down his chest so she could palm his hard abs, and almost moaned when she touched the small patch of hair.

Catching where it was headed Justin grabbed her wrists softly and entwined his fingers with hers to stop any further movement. If he didn't stop her now, he didn't think he would ever be able to. "I don't know babe, I'm really tired."

"I know a way to wake you up." She smirked wetting her lips once more to draw his attention.

"As inviting as that sounds, I think I'll pass." Justin said halfheartedly his eyes automatically gravitating towards her lips. She was making it damn near impossible to turn down the offer.

Huffing softly she rolled her eyes and gave him a pout. "Well that what do you want to do?"

"How about you order some room service, and I'll grab a quick shower to wash the stink off and refresh then we'll sit down on the bed and watch a movie."

"Fine." She agreed yanking her wrists from his grasp she padded softly to the nightstand and yanked the room service menu from the smooth surface. "What do you want to eat?"

"I don't care. You're choice."Justin shrugged as he watched her scan over the menu a couple times. It was weird how much she had changed in the last year since her first album came out, she use to be this shy little girl who you had to pry out of her shell, and wouldn't even think of seducing her boyfriend, she was all about waiting for marriage, and now it was like every time he turned around she wanted a piece of him.

It was like she had a never ending need for him, sometimes it was great, because sex with her was amazing, oh boy was it amazing.
Don't even go there pal. He mentally chastised himself, it was taking every last ounce of restraint not to attack her, she was just sitting there in a pair of short booty shorts, and as tank top, it would be so damn easy to just strip her down and have his way with her.
He really needed to stop thinking about it, because all it would do is get him in trouble. He just needed to keep telling himself how tired he was. Clearing his throat to get her attention he motioned towards the bathroom and when he received a nod in return made a beeline for it. He stripped quickly and stepped into the shower turning the knob to cold. As the first spray hit him he shivered and grimaced.

After a twenty minute cold shower Justin emerged from the bathroom feeling a little more refreshed and awake, and his libido was a bit more controlled then before, only to find the room bathed in dim light and the opening credits of a movie sat paused on the television, taking a better scan of his surroundings he found a large pizza box that smelled heavenly to his empty stomach. On the bed side table a round silver dish stuck out like a sore thumb, he hoped it was popcorn or something of like but he highly doubted it knowing her.

He really didn't understand the reason for his hostility towards her, Britney was a sweet girl, and would do anything for a stranger; there was just something that he couldn't quite put his finger on, about her that was really starting to throw him off. It felt like she had ulterior motives for being around him or maybe it was just him being paranoid.
Shaking his head to rid his mind of his thoughts he padded towards the box of pizza and flipped open the lid to reveal the delectable pie.

Giving a soft chuckle at her choice of toppings, he picked up a slice and put it to his mouth where he took a generous bite and chewed. It had been so long since he could just sit and enjoy a pizza and watch a movie with his girlfriend that he actually forgot what it was like.

After finishing the slice he helped himself to another, while chewing he sat down on the bed and made himself comfortable.

"I see you're enjoying the pizza." Britney smiled sauntering towards him.

Justin looked up startled then smirked softly at her choice of attire. It wasn't anything sexy well maybe to someone else, but there was just something about your girl wearing one of your shirts and a pair of shorts. To him it was damn sexy. Licking his lips, he patted the spot next to him. "Come sit with me."

"Okay." she said climbing on the bed and making herself comfortable against his side. "I hope Ferris Bueller's Day off is okay with you?"

"Its perfect." he smiled turning his head slightly to place a soft kiss to her temple. "I think I need few laughs after the week I've had."

"Cool." she smiled helping herself to a piece of pizza, after setting it down on a napkin she picked up the remote and hit play.  "I have to say I kind of liked what you had planned after all. It's nice to just sit down and watch a movie with you. We haven't got to do that a lot recently."

He smiled softly then tipped her chin up with his index finger, dipping his head he placed a loving kiss to her lips. "I love you Brit.""I love you to J." she smiled snuggling to his side settling her petite body in to watch the movie.

Maybe things would be fine, maybe from all the stress he was under it was making him see things that weren't actually there, because moments like these where it was just them, made him feel like nothing was wrong.

Memphis, TN
Mar. 21, 2000

"Come on Mackenzie one more push and she'll be here." Abigail coached watching her friend struggle. It was 1 in the morning, they were both tired, irritable and so ready for this to be over. "Come on girl you can do it." she erged wiping at the sweat on her friends forehead.

Mackenzie nodded her head softly and took a deep breath and pushing with every last bit of strength she could muster. It had been a rollercoaster of a month, trying to get the last minute things she needed for her baby.

"You did it girl! It's a girl, oh my god she is beautiful." Abigail shrieked bouncing next to her bed. "Kenzie open your eyes sweetie." she said patting her friend on the cheek to grab her attention. When her friends hazel eyes opened with tears glistening in them, she sighed softly. "I know, girl."

"Why didn't he want to be apart of this?" she cried softly.

"I dont know sweetheart." Abby said hugging her friend softly. "Let's focus on her okay?"

Nodding her head she wiped at her eyes, looking towards the nurse who was holding a bundled pink blanket in her arms, "Would you like to see her?" The nurse asked softly.

"Yes please." Mackenzie asked her arms were just itching to hold her baby girl.

When the nurse finally placed the pink bundle in her arms, she sighed happily. For her it was love at first sight, her eyes roaming over the sleeping creature taking in her perfect button nose, and her chubby baby cheeks, and the pout of her pink lips. She couldn't beleive that something so beautiful came from her. This was just what she needed, she didn't need fame or money, or any of those materialistic things in the world, she just her best friend and her baby girl.

"Don't worry Bree, were going to be just fine." She whispered bringing her tiny face to her nose where she nuzzled it softly.

1 Year Later

A young woman padded softly down the hall of her small apartment, trying with everything in her to be quiet, so she could bask in the solitude of the moment. Finally she had just a little time to herself, even though she still had clean up duty from the birthday party that was just thrown she didn't care, it would get done. But just being by herself, was a blessing all alone. After the day from hell with people pulling her every which way, but the one she wanted to go, she was ready for just a little peace and quiet.

That would probably explain why she put her baby to bed early, and shooed her best friend from the apartment. Tip toeing into the kitchen she poured herself a glass of water and leaned back against the counter wishing the single glass was something stronger but with her only being nineteen that wasn't happening anytime soon.

As she sipped away at the cold substance, she thought back to the events of the last year. Becoming a mom was probably the best part, of it all.

Even though there was countless nights of no sleep due to a screaming baby, blouses ruined from the spit up, and all the stinky diapers she had changed, she had to say it was all worth it. Watching her daughter grow and explore every day was the positive of all the negative. Even though sometimes she wished she could have just one day to herself, with no responsibilities, and nothing to do. She wouldn't trade her daughter for anything. She just wished that Justin could be included in on this beautiful blessing.

"Kenz just don't go there." she mumbled to herself. She wasn't blind she had seen all of the success he had in the last year, with his current album blowing up the charts, and the tour that had teenage girls screaming. That didn't really bother her, it was the woman that was flaunted on his arm everywhere he went that kind of stung.

Yes she was beautiful, but Mackenzie could see her for what she really was. She had always prided herself on being very perceptive to peoples intentions, and the moment these two had come out to the world she had seen what Britney really was. Shaking her head, she wondered why she even cared, he was the one that didn't return her phone call, he was the one that didn't want to be apart of her life, or her daughters for that matter.

She didn't need him or his drama.

Pushing her self away from the counter she turned around opening the drawer she pulled out a single garbage bag and padded over to the table and began to shove the paper plates in the bag. She was annoyed with herself for bringing him up, because all it ever did was leave a bitter taste in her mouth. So what if he had money, So what if he was dating some skank, and so fucking what if he was popular. She had the life, she had a beautiful little girl and she was on her own doing it her way without anyone else.

Huffing to herself she stomped softly towards the counter and began shoving cups in the bag. By the time she was done she had worked up herself in such a tizzy that she was ready to spit fire.

When a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders spinning her around she doubled her fist and swung before she looked at the person the offensive hands belonged to.

Thanking his lucky stars that he saw the fist coming he had dodged just in time to miss her punch. "Whoa Sis it's just me."

Shaking her head to clear her hazy vision and when her brothers baby face came in focus she blushed softly. She had never been one prone to violence but it was something about "HIM" that made her that way. "Sorry Hay, i was just thinking."

"Ya i noticed that." He agreed pulling her small frame to his chest hugging her softly to him. He kissed the top of her head letting his heart make it's way back into his chest. When she had insisted on moving to LA with her friend, and baby he couldn't of been happier because then she would be closer to him and that would give him more of an opportunity to not only watch over his sister but get to know his niece at the same time. "Sorry i just let myself in, but i knocked a couple times and when you didn't answer i got worried. I thought i told you to lock you're door at all times Mac. LA isn't like our small town, bad things  actually happen out here."

"Sorry Hay, i'll be more careful." she agreed

"Thank you." He knew she was just placating him, so he decided to drop it and really find out what was bothering his sister. "So what were you thinking about?"

"Just stuff." She shrugged moving into the living room where she began cleaning up Bree's toys.

"Like what kind of stuff?" He asked grabbing a few blocks that were scattered around the floor and tossing them in the toy box.

"Just what has happened in the last year i guess."

"An that had you so mad you were going to hit me?" he prodded stopping what he was doing so he could eye her carefully.

"No." she supplied turning her back to him and picking up the last few blocks on the floor.

"Then what did?" When she only continued to ignore him he growled softly  in annoyance. "Mac you're ignoring me."

"Brilliant deduction Scooby." she replied sarcastically.

"Mac." He said sternly walking over to her where he put his hand on top of hers before she could move it. "Will you please talk to me?"

"God fine." She growled snatching her hand back. "I was thinking about Justin okay. Are you happy now?"

"Not really but we'll get there." He replied "What about him?"

"Just how much i wish he was here and being apart of his daughters life. Dammit when I found out i was pregnant, I had this whole little fairytale mapped out in my head, how i would call him and tell him that i was pregnant and he would drop his career and come back to memphis where we would get married and raise this baby. But it didn't happen. An it hurts. He chose his career over me" She cried dropping to her knees where she began sobbing into her hands.

In an instant he was there with her scooped up in his arms cooing to her softly, he knew this would come out eventually he just didn't think it would take a year. Mackenzie had always been the strong one in the family, refusing to let anything get to her, but it was always her downfall because when it got to be too much she would do exactly what she was doing right now. She would break and break hard. He couldn't imagine what she was going through, being only 19 with a 12 month old baby raising her on her own.

With no help from the dad, it had to be difficult. He tried to help out as much as he could watching Bree here and there, and trying to shove a little extra money her way for food and diapers. Even though she fought him any chance she got. Telling him she didn't need his help. But he knew different. That's why he was here now, he'd seen the signs of this exact break down brewing for weeks.

This was a classic Mackenzie, running around with her head cut off throwing herself in a project and only focusing on that project till it was done and when it was, when she finally had a moment to breath and realize there was nothing else to do,she would finally crumble.  An nine times out of ten he was there, there to pick up the pieces an put her back together again. Till the next time something was bothering her.

Pulling her back so he could see her pretty face, he smiled softly at her. "Did you get it all out?" he asked softly reaching up to wipe a lone tear from her cheek.

"Yes." She said softly lifting her head from his shoulder to stare into his chocolate eyes. "Thank you Hay."

"Anytime baby sis. That's what I'm here for."

"I don;t know what i would do without you, to be honest. You always seem to pry what ever is bothering me out." She was a little embarrassed that it had taken him coming over to let it all out of her chest. She wasn't really a cryer, but when it came to Hayden it was like her eyes were a never ending fountain of tears. He just had this way about him that made her want to cry all over his shoulder.

"That's what a big brother is for." He smiled ruffling her hair in a brotherly fashion.

"Yeah and their here to mess up there little sisters hair on a daily bases." she said pushing her long blonde locks behind her ear.

"Sorry can't help it."

"Right" She replied sarcastically, then turned to finish her previous task. Leaving Hayden standing their to watch.

"Would you like some help?" He asked awkwardly putting his hands in his pockets.

"Sure you can clean up the cake in the kitchen for me."

"Okay." he replied happy he had something to do other than stand there and watch. "Not to bring up any more scars but have you heard from him at all?"

"Nope. I left a message with that bimbo, and i guess she never gave it to him, or he decided to just ignore me." she shrugged.

"Oh. I'm just going to say this, because i'm you're big brother and all." He paused waiting til he had her full attention. "You two are so much better off without him. Look what you have accomplished. You're going to school, holding down a job, and raising a beautiful and bright little girl. I'm proud of you Mackenzie."

She didn't say anything for a few minutes letting what he had said really sink in, and she had to agree, she was better off. She highly doubted if he would of called back that he would of even chosen to be with her, his career was all he ever talked about, and dreamed about from the time they met. And she really didn't think she could of let him give it up for her. "Thank you again Hayden."

"I love you Sis. Even though your too stubborn for you're own good."