I woke up with her next to me and zero missed calls or voicemails on my cell phone. I took that as a sign of the whole newspaper thing blowing over which as much as I knew it would there was that small chance of it blowing up and I just did not want to deal with that yet. Our flight was at 11:30, this time on a private jet that I requested so that we didn't have to walk through the airport together dodging cameras. This was all brand new for her and airports are one of the craziest when it comes to paparazzi. I looked over at the clock, 8:00. As much as I wanted to go back to sleep I'm the type of person that once I'm up, I'm up no matter what time it is. I kissed a still passed out Marissa on the head and slipped out of bed and into the shower. I couldn't help but think about how natural this all felt. Waking up with her in my arms and just doing everyday things with her around. I stepped out of the shower and heard my voice coming from the bedroom. I shook my head; apparently she's never going to change her ringtone. The song stopped and started right up again, I opened the door and saw her sprawled out on the bed with just a thin white sheet covering her exposed upper half. I ran over to the nightstand and grabbed her phone so that it wouldn't wake her up. In the midst of trying to ignore the call, I somehow answered it; I never did like touch screen phones.

"Shit," I said softly, "Hello?"

"Sorry I must have the wrong number, I was looking for Marissa."

"Nope, you've got the right number. She's sleeping can I take a message?" I asked walking out of the room.

"Wait, so you must be...oh God...okay breathe Amy breathe." I laughed quietly to myself until she composed herself. "You...you...you must be Justin."

"Last time I checked," I said with a laugh, "And you must be Amy, Marissa's roommate?"

"She told you about me?"

"She did, and I want to thank you for keeping this all a secret, I'll send an autograph back with Marissa for you. She told me all about your stipulations."

"I mean I wasn't serious," she said now embarrassed. "I mean if you want to send one I wouldn't throw it away or anything but..."

"Oh okay then I'll see what I can do then," I replied jokingly. "Marissa is still asleep would you like me to tell her you called?"

"Yes, please do. I just wanted to make sure she got in okay and let her know that everything has pretty much blown over here. You guys have nothing to worry about."

"Well that's good news, I'll have her give you a call when she wakes up. It was nice to finally talk to you Amy."

"You too, and Justin..."

"Yes," I said putting the phone back to my ear.

"She really likes you. I haven't seen her smile so much in well forever. Please don't hurt her; she's just been hurt so much in the past. She's going to kill me for telling you this."

"I promise you just like I promised her, I won't hurt her. And she'll never know if you don't tell her."

"Thanks. Take care of my girl for me."

"Will do! Bye Amy."

I hung up the phone and sat down on the couch in the living room. I turned on ESPN and looked through my schedule for the day once we landed in Florida. Packed as usual. Rehearsals, interviews, photo shoots, radio stations, more rehearsals. I was in desperate need of a good month off. It bothered me that I wouldn't be able to spend as much time with Marissa as I wanted to this weekend but just knowing that she was with me and not a plane ride away was comforting. It was easier going to sleep with her next to me. I wasn't worrying about where she was, if she was being followed, if she was scared or anything like that. I had her here, I knew she was safe and I knew there was a smile on her face. That lifted a thousand pounds of weight off of my shoulders. We had a good conversation last night about what's going to happen when it does actually get out that we're dating. I feel a lot better about it knowing that she knows what's going to happen but she's willing to stay with me anyway. She's scared about her past getting out to the public, something that I still don't know about. It makes me nervous because she's keeping something from me, but at the same time at least she's not going around and saying that she doesn't have a past. I have no idea what happened to her except that she got hurt. She's told me that and now Amy has mentioned it. I don't know if she was physically hurt, emotionally hurt or both. I would never force her to tell me about it, but I wish she would. In a way I almost feel like she doesn't trust me with the knowledge of her past. I know that's a dumb way to think and she just doesn't want to relive it, but I want to help her, I don't want her past to haunt her anymore.

It's crazy to me how fast I've fallen for her, and fallen hard. I didn't realize how much I missed her until she got here last night. I was worried about her not being able to handle the distance and the coming and going, but now I think I'm more worried about myself. I would never ever ask her to leave Boston until she was at least done with school, I know how important it is to her to finish, but I just want her with me all the time. I'm beginning to think that I might actually be in love with her. I really need to talk to my Mama about this because she might just be the one.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the bedroom doors opening. I looked up and saw her wrapped in a sheet with her hair in a messy bun on the top of her head. She was squinting as she shuffled her way over to me while her eyes got adjusted to the lights, and I could tell that she was craving more sleep. She sat down on the corner of the couch and curled up in a ball resting her head on the arm of the couch and closing her eyes again. I wanted to rip that sheet off of her so bad, but I agreed to go slow and I wasn't about to go back on my word. I let her continue to rest while I checked my E-Mail and returned some phone calls from yesterday. I was talking to Johnny when I saw her reach blindly for the remote. I grabbed it off of the coffee table and put it in her hand, she opened her eyes and mouthed a "Thank you" to me before she started channel surfing. She landed on a repeat of Real Housewives of Orange County. I gave her a look as to say "Are you serious?" and she nodded her head yes. I finally got off the phone with Johnny 10 minutes later and moved over to sit next to her.

"Morning sunshine," I said giving her a kiss.

"Hi," came back in a very drowsy voice.

"Still tired?"

"Mmmhmm..."

"You could have stayed in bed you know. You looked quite comfortable sprawled out across the whole bed."

"I know, but I wanted to spend time with you," she said switching sides and putting her head down on my lap.

"Amy called you earlier she said to call her back, and are we really watching this show?"

"Shit, I was suppose to call her when I got here last night, and yes we are watching this show it's hilarious. Could you pass me my phone?" she asked sticking her hand out. "Wait you talked to Amy?"

"Yeah, I was in the bathroom and I heard myself singing, you're really going to have to change that ringtone," I said reaching for the phone, "I went to ignore the call but hit answer instead. I knew she'd just keep calling so I talked to her."

"Oh God, did she throw a hissy fit when she realized it was you?"

"There were a lot of deep breaths and words of encouragement before she was actually composed."

"I'm sorry," she said scrolling through her contacts, "I'll make sure that never happens again."

"No biggie," I said getting up and giving her space to talk to her friend, "I'm going to call room service and get us some breakfast." She nodded and I told her our flight was leaving at 11:30 before I heard her start talking to Amy.

I called room service and ordered every healthy item on the menu. She told me last week that she was on a health kick and was trying not to eat anything fried. I got her an egg white veggie omelet and some fresh fruit and ordered myself what should have just been called grease and fat. I went into the bedroom to change and pack up my things for our flight to Florida when I heard my cell phone ringing in the living room. I walked out and Marissa threw me my phone while motioning that Amy wouldn't shut up. I looked down at the caller ID "Mama". I thought that now was as good a time as any to fill her in about what's going on.

"Hey Mama."

"Hi Baby, I feel like it's been forever since we spoke"

"I know, I'm so sorry I've been so busy."

"That's okay hunny. I wanted to let you know that I'm going to come down to Miami for your show tomorrow."

"You are? That's great! Is Dad coming too?"

"You know your Dad Justin, he's last minute with everything. I'm sure we won't know until the plane is about to take off."

"Well can you tell him that I said I'd like for him to come? There's someone I really want you guys to meet."

"Sure. Who is it?"

"Here goes nothing," I thought to myself. "It's my girlfriend Mama."

"Your girlfriend?" she replied shocked. "Justin Randall you didn't even tell me you were seeing someone, never mind having a girlfriend."

"I know Mama. I wanted to make sure it was going to last before I introduced her to you guys, and Mama I really think this is going to last. She's amazing and makes me so happy, and honestly I think she might be the one."

"THE ONE? Justin how long have you been keeping this girl from me? The one, this is serious."

"Just a week," I said while closing my eyes and waiting for the screaming to begin.

"ONE WEEK?! Justin you can't know if she's the one in one week. Have you lost your mind? What has gotten into you? Dear God Justin tell me this isn't the girl from the audience..."

"It is, but Mama," I continued before she could interrupt, "please give her a chance, I know you will love her. She is perfect for me. She keeps me grounded and really just makes me so happy. I feel like my life has done a 180 and I went from living life day to day to having meaning back in my life. Please Mama give her a chance. Please? For me?"

"Oh Justin, you know you make my blood pressure go up more and more every time I talk to you."

"Mama..." I whined.

"Your father isn't going to like this either Justin."

"I'm 26 years old Mama, I think I can make my own decisions as to who I date. Please just give her a chance."

"I'll see you tomorrow Justin," she said without responding to what I said.

"I love you Mama, please be nice tomorrow."

"I love you too baby, I'll try my best."

"Well that went well," I said to no one but myself. I love my mother to death but sometimes she can be so overbearing. I know she is just concerned, but I think I'm old enough to make my own decisions I don't need her questioning me every step of the way. If she is not nice to Marissa tomorrow I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't want to have to kick her out but I might just have to. There is no reason why she shouldn't just give her a chance, I hate when she judges people before she even gets to know them.

I jumped when I felt two arms come around my waist.

"Jesus, you scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry," she said while kissing my back. "You made Amy's day by the way."

"I'm glad someone's having a good day," I said still annoyed at the conversation I just had with my mother.

"What's the matter? Did I do something?" she asked while spinning around and sitting on the bed in front of me.

"No, it's not you." I sighed and sat down on the bed next to her. "It's my overbearing, controlling mother. She's coming out to the show tomorrow night in Miami."

"You're mad your Mom is coming to see the show?"

"No, I'm actually happy about that. I haven't seen her in a really long time. I'm mad because she thinks that she can still make decisions for me. I'm 26 years old. It's time to let me go you know?"

"You told her about me didn't you? And she hates me already."

"She doesn't hate you," I said while lying back on the bed, "she just hates the idea of me dating a fan. But she doesn't even know you, and I know that she's actually going to love you. She's just so stubborn."

"Sounds like someone I know," she said while getting on top of me.

"Funny," was all I could say before her mouth came crashing down onto mine. I managed to look up at the clock and saw 9:30, plenty of time. We were on a private plane, they wouldn't leave without us. I unwrapped the sheet that was around her while she took off my wife beater. She was either trying to make me feel better or she wanted this just as much as I did. Her hands roamed down my chest to my jeans that I had just put on. She was fiddling with the button and zipper when I heard a knock on the door. I didn't stop what I was doing though; they'd go away when I didn't answer the door it was probably just room service. Either she didn't hear the knock or didn't care because she continued to try and get my pants off while not taking her lips off of my body. There was another knock, this time a little louder. "Don't even think about opening that door," she said a little out of breath. My pants were now on the ground and all that was left were my boxers. Her mouth was on my neck and her hand was rubbing just below the waistline of my boxers. The knock went to a loud pounding and I heard my best friend scream at me from behind the door.

"Open the fucking door you jackass before I knock it down." I was going to fucking kill him.

She looked at me, and gave me a soft kiss on the lips before she grabbed a t-shirt and walked into the bathroom. Now not only was I pissed off at my mother but also I was about to bash Trace's head in. I grabbed my jeans and threw them on before walking out of the bedroom to the door to the room. I flung the door open and immediately turned around and walked to the couch without even saying hello.

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed Mr. Grumpy Pants," Trace said while following behind me.

"You better shut up man before I really do beat the shit out of you."

"What the fuck did I do?  I brought you room service and everything. Your best friend comes for a surprise visit and gets welcomed this way?"

I was about to answer when Marissa walked through the French doors of the bedroom dressed in a pair of jeans and one of my old sweatshirts. I guess today was the day to let people know about us, and I was just praying Trace would take this better then my mother did. Trace was looking back and forth from me to her, and she was looking back and forth from me to him.

"Trace, this is Marissa. Marissa, this is Trace."

She walked over to him and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you."

"I wish I could say the same," Trace replied shooting a pissed off look at me.

She walked over and sat next to me on the couch. She pulled the sleeves of her sweatshirt over her hands and started twirling her thumbs. I put my arm around her before I started damage control with Trace.

"Trace I know I didn't tell you about her yet, but to be honest with you I haven't really told anyone about her yet. We're just trying to keep it on the down low for as long as possible, I was going to tell you this weekend in Florida."

"So you thought I'd go to the press with it? That's your excuse for not telling me?"

"I just told my mother this morning Trace. This is all new for her I'm trying to ease her in. Would you want to just be thrown into this lifestyle?"

"I'm you're best friend Justin," he said shaking his head. "I never knew you had to ease someone into your best friend."

"It's not you, it's this life. We're trying to get to know each other without any added pressure."

Marissa got up from the couch and said she was going to go pack and get ready for our flight. I could tell she was really uncomfortable. Who wouldn't be when there boyfriend was fighting with his best friend about you while you're sitting right there.

"Whatever man. I assume she's the girl from the audience since I don't recognize her."

"Yeah...I'm really sorry Trace."

"It's alright dude. It's just a little shocking to not know what's going on in your best friends life when we've told each other everything our whole lives. She seems nice though."

"Well you're taking it much better then my Mama did. She is pretty fucking amazing Trace, I'm really hoping everyone will just look past the whole fan thing and give her a chance."

"Just make sure your ass is covered Justin because to me this sounds like a recipe for disaster."

"Then I'll make it my mission to prove you wrong short stuff," I said while getting up and patting him on the head. "Come on let's go eat breakfast, our flights in an hour."

We sat in the breakfast nook for as long as we could before we had to leave for the plane. Trace and Marissa seemed to be hitting it off quite well and were making fun of each other by the time we left the hotel room. Soon I was the odd man out when we were sitting in traffic getting to the airport and they started ganging up on me. It didn't bother me though because I knew that I now had Trace behind me, which will help when it comes to other people like my parents. It didn't matter to me if people liked her or not, all that mattered was if I did, but who doesn't want there family and friends to like their girlfriend? Everything between us seemed to be going amazingly well, I could only assume something bad was going to happen in the near future. The one thing that kept resonating in my mind is her past. I need to find out about it without prying or making her feel uncomfortable. I wouldn't let her past effect our relationship because her past can't be changed, but there had to be a reason why she couldn't tell me about it.