I heard the knocking but I was praying that I was dreaming until I heard it again. And again. And again. I looked up at the clock, 5:45am. I had no intensions of moving from this position for at least another four hours.

::Knock Knock Knock::

Whoever this knocker was, was being awfully persistent. Didn't they realize that the sun hasn't even come up yet? Justin snoring next to me hasn't even heard the knocking that has now been going on for at least five minutes. I debated waking him up because whoever was knocking was clearly looking for him since no one I knew had any clue as to where I was, but I looked over and he looked so peaceful. Plus, after the workout he had last night, he deserved all the sleep he could get. I ducked out from under his arm and saw him roll over onto where my body was seconds before. I grabbed his T-Shirt that I violently took off of him last night and threw on the floor and put it on while I walked around the room trying to find underwear. I smiled to myself thinking about last night and how perfect it was.

::Knock Knock Knock::

I was forced to snap back to reality as the knocking continued. My under garments were nowhere to be found so I picked Justin's boxers off the floor and stepped into them rolling the waist down so that they would stay up as I walked over to the hotel door. Halfway there I realized that there was a good chance that it could have been Justin's mother at the door and I was about to open it wearing her son's clothing. There's a good first impression.

::Knock Knock Knock::

"I'm coming," I said softly as to not wake Justin, now jogging to the door. I was now prepared to bitch out whoever was at the door so long as it wasn't his mother. I flung the door open and when I looked up to see who was standing in front of me my jaw dropped to the floor and I let out a scream. "Holy shit Luke," was all I could say before I was pulled into the arms of my best friend. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hello to you too," he said pulling back with a huge smile on his face.

"I can't believe you're here! And at the ass crack of dawn for that matter," I said, "Come in sit down."

"I know it's early, and I figured you would bitch me out, I know how you love your sleep. My flight was supposed to come in last night but it got delayed due to extreme fog. Vermont, always unpredictable."

"Wait you're home in Vermont? How long have you been off the road?" Luke had been chosen in January to partake in Test Driving America, which was an opportunity to drive around the country and stop in each state to do a job that interested him. He loved to travel and wanted to figure out what to major in in Grad School, so when he got chosen he got in his car and left within a week. I hadn't seen him in 8 months and it was hard to keep in contact with him, so we hadn't spoken in a while.

"I took a week off. I was back on the east coast and I just wanted to sleep in my own bed for a while. Then I got a call from this person claiming to be your boyfriend saying he wanted me to fly down to Florida to surprise you. I thought to myself, this can't be true my best friend has a boyfriend that she hasn't told me about, but when I got to the airport and showed my ID low and behold there was a ticket at the counter waiting for me. Not only was there a ticket, but a first class ticket, which was quite the experience by the way. So here I am in Florida, waiting for an explanation on this boyfriend of yours that you have failed to mention to me." He was looking at me with stern eyes, but I knew he wasn't mad just shocked. I told Luke everything, we were attached at the hip, and everyone always said that we would marry each other. We once tried dating but kissing Luke made me want to physically vomit, and he informed me that he felt the same way. We were just too close, it was like kissing my brother.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything to you, it's kind of complicated."

"I have time," he said.

"Okay I hope you're prepared for some interesting information because this is going to be a bit shocking for you." I said sitting down next to him. I knew Justin didn't care if I told him about us, if he did he wouldn't have invited him here, but I wasn't sure how to approach telling my best friend that I was dating Justin Timberlake. "I only met him about a week ago, and things have moved pretty quickly to say the least. He's been traveling for work and he flew me out this weekend to be with him. I didn't want to tell you because I wanted to see if it was going to work first, he travels a lot and is based out of LA. But to be perfectly honest with you, and you're going to kill me for saying this so soon, but I think I'm in love with him."

"So you are in love with a guy that you just met last week, that lives 3,000 miles away and is always traveling?"

"Pretty much yes."

"You realize that this can only end in disaster and that you are crazy right?"

"I thought that too at first, but Luke he is amazing. He's perfect and I know that you will love him and I know that you will approve. He makes me laugh, and he listens to me and cares about me, and most importantly he makes me smile. I haven't smiled this much in probably my entire life. I know it's going to be extremely hard, but I also know that we can make it work. I mean lets face it at this point in my life I can't be consumed by another person anyway I'm really busy so him traveling isn't such a bad thing."

"Marissa I really don't want to see you hurt. After Brandon I thought you were going to die, I can't see you like that again."

"He's not going to hurt me."

"I hope you're right, because you deserve the best and nothing less then that. Where is this mystery man anyway, is he staying in this hotel too?"

"He is in the bedroom actually."

"Marissa Mitchell, did you sleep with this man?"

"Maybe?" I said waiting for him to ream me out.

"Marissa, what is going on with you sweetie. This is so out of character for you. Sneaking around and not telling people about your boyfriend then sleeping with him after only a week."

"Look there's a reason why I couldn't tell anyone about him."

"And what is that? Is he in the mob or something?"

"No, not quite," I said.

"So what is it?"

"Well...you see...you're not going to believe me but..."

"I see your surprise has arrived," I looked up to see Justin standing in the doorway of the bedroom. I turned to look at Luke and this time it was his jaw that was on the ground. It looked like he was trying to speak but couldn't exactly form any words at the moment.

"Luke this is Justin. Justin this is my best friend Luke who says you called him mysteriously and invited him out here without my knowledge.

"It's nice to meet you man," Justin said walking over to Luke and shaking his hand, "thanks for coming out on such short notice, but I'd been talking to Marissa and she wouldn't shut up about how she missed you and how she wanted me to meet you." He sat down on the other side of me and took my hand in his.

"I think I might understand why you couldn't tell me," was all Luke managed to get out.

"Yeah, he's kind of a big deal," I said.

"Kind of? Marissa you are dating Justin fucking Timberlake."

"This is a true statement. One that can't really get out to anyone or else we'd both get hounded, which is why I haven't told you yet. I mean  I trust you and I know you wouldn't say anything but I feel like if the words come out of my mouth a fly on the wall might hear it and that would be the end of privacy."

"No I understand, it's okay. Wow sorry," he said shaking his head as if to make sure it was all real, "I just totally didn't expect Justin Timberlake to walk out of that bedroom."

"Sorry," Justin replied, "I woke up when I heard Marissa scream when she saw you but I wanted to give you guys some time to catch up. I figured she would have told you by now."

"Yeah, I hadn't exactly gotten around to that yet," I said. "I was a little shocked when I saw my best friend standing at my door after I hadn't seen him for 8 months."

"Well, I know now," Luke said getting his composure back. "It's a pleasure meeting you Justin, and thanks for inviting me out. I haven't seen Marissa in forever. If you guys don't mind I'm going to freshen up and collect my thoughts for a moment, I'm still just a little shocked by all of this."

"Of course," I said getting up and showing him the bathroom. "We'll order some room service you must be starving."

"Yeah, that'd be great," he said standing in the doorway of the bathroom. He gave me another hug, "it's so good to see you. And I'd just like to remind you, that you're dating Justin Timberlake, someone that you've been drooling over since age 12."

"Shut up," I said hitting him on the shoulder. He laughed while closing the door.

I walked back out to the living room and Justin was sitting on the couch with a huge smirk on his face. I couldn't help but smile back at him. I walked over and sat down on his lap while placing a kiss on his forehead.

"You're a sneak," I said.

"You look awfully sexy in my t-shirt and boxers."

"Don't change the subject. You stole my phone and got my best friends phone number and snuck him out to Florida without even telling me. Not to mention you didn't even tell him who you were."

"Do you honestly think he would have believed me?"

"Well, no but still. You didn't tell me."

"Because I wanted to surprise you. Mission accomplished by the way."

"Thank you Justin. Thank you, thank you, thank you," I said before putting my mouth on his.

"Mmmm, you're welcome," he said. "And thank you for last night."

"You're thanking me for last night? Last night was...I have no words, but I should be thanking you."

"How about we stop fighting about who should be thanked, and thank each other later."

"I think I like the sound of that," I said getting up and walking over to the phone. "I'm ordering room service, what do you want?"

"You, naked on a platter."

"Funny," I said.

***

We spent the morning catching up and Luke and Justin were getting to know each other. Luke finally composed himself enough to have a conversation with Justin so when I was done eating I got up to get ready for the day. We were leaving for Miami at 10:00 and I was flying back to Boston after the show tonight. I didn't even want to think about leaving Justin. I didn't want to go back to my life of school, work, bills, and finals. I couldn't imagine going to sleep at night and waking up without Justin next to me. He told me last night that he's going to fly me out to LA for two weeks after my final, and that he was going to move to Boston for two months once I start back up at school. Inside I was so excited when he told me he was moving to Boston during his time off, but I don't want to be the reason he makes all the decisions that he does. If this is going to work we're going to need to be apart every once and a while because that's what he does, he travels, so we need to get use to it. Deep down though, I'm really excited about it.

But before I could even think too much about that I had to figure out how I was going to win his parents over. His Mom and Dad were coming to the show tonight and from what Justin has told me, his mother isn't exactly pleased about us dating. I know how close Justin is with his mother and I hope that she tries to get to know me before she judges me. It's important to me that his Mom likes me because I know how hard it would be for him to go against something his mother doesn't believe in.

I took a long steaming hot shower and thought about last night the entire time. It was everything I'd ever hoped it would be and more. I told him that I'd never had sex before and then realized telling him shouldn't have been as hard as it was. I should have known that it wouldn't matter to him and that he would walk me through it. The way he looked at me the whole time with so much passion and concern, making sure that he wasn't hurting me and that I didn't have a flashback or anything made me fall even more in love with him then I already was. He was incredible. I couldn't even count how many orgasms I had, the expression mind-blowing sex doesn't even begin describe it. The sex was so good it shouldn't even be legal. Granted I am a little sore this morning, but it's totally worth it. Just thinking about it makes me want to yell for him right now, make him strip naked and have him right here in the shower. Plus, not only was he good in bed but he also flew out my best friend just because he knew I missed him and wanted them to meet. He is just beyond words this man, perfection. It almost makes me a little nervous that once I find a flaw it's going to be a big one.

After composing myself and getting ready for the day I walked out to the living room to see Justin, Luke and Trace playing video games. Typical men. Actually no, I should rephrase that to typical boys. I packed up all of mine and Justin's stuff that accumulated on the floor last night back into our suitcases and made a few important phone calls that I had been neglecting to do. My first call was to Amy to let her know that I'd be back tonight and to check in on what's going on back at school. She told me that a few people have asked her about me and she told them that I went home for the weekend, and that Justin was not my boyfriend. She asked me a million and one questions about Justin and how the weekend was going. I gave her as few details as possible so that I wouldn't be on the phone with her for the better part of the day, and ensured her that I would be coming home with an autograph for her. I honestly don't know if her giddiness will ever subside when it comes to Justin, but we'll have to work on her little by little.

My next call was to Jen who I still hadn't really spoken to extensively since the concert last week. She is the one person that I want to tell so badly about Justin, but I know if I do, I'd have camera's following me around tomorrow. She has a HUGE mouth, not on purpose though. She just gets so excited about things and can't contain herself. I once told her I went on a second date with someone and two hours later was getting phone calls from mutual friends asking me about my new boyfriend. I told Jen that I met someone and it was CRITICAL that she not say anything to anyone just yet. Sometimes if you stress the fact that if she opens her mouth it might be disastrous, she keeps it closed for the most part. She tried to get me to give her details but I didn't budge. Another call to work and my house just to check in and make sure everyone was still alive and I was back to studying on the bed. 10:00 rolled around pretty quickly and I still didn't feel as prepared as I should have for finals. I rounded up the boys, got into the waiting SUV, and we were on our way to Miami.

I fell asleep on Justin's lap fairly quickly into the drive. Rachel had gone down to Miami the night before to make sure everything was okay so I was stuck with the boys. They were talking about video games and dumb movies and they literally put me to sleep. We went over a bump that woke me up but I was so exhausted that I just kept my eyes closed and tried to fall back to sleep. Everyone had stopped talking and I could hear Justin humming to himself, and Luke was on his cell phone in front of us. After Luke hung up I heard him turn around and face us.

"Still sleeping?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, she only got a few hours last night, and it's been a pretty busy weekend. Not to mention she studies every time she has free time so she hasn't gotten much shut eye this weekend."

"She's pretty focused, and out to prove everyone wrong about her. Her whole life people have basically told her she's not good enough and for as long as I've known her she's been doing her best to make herself good enough. I'm really proud of her, she's over come a lot of obstacles to get where she is now. I can tell that you're making her happy. She's let some of her guard down with you, I know sometime it may not seem like it but she has. To see her smile again...it's been forever since I've seen a genuine smile on her face. Please don't hurt her man. She's been through so much already, she doesn't deserve to be hurt again."

 I should have opened my eyes and let them know that I was awake. I should have let Justin know that everything Luke just said was true, but I didn't because I knew I'd cry and I had done enough of that. I also wanted to hear what Justin's response was going to be and I knew if he knew that I was awake he wouldn't say anything. Sneaky I know, but he's a sneak too. I could feel him twirling my hair with his right hand while his left hand was rubbing up and down my back.

"I wish I could sit here and tell you that I'm perfect, and that we'll never fight, and we'll live happily ever after in a big house with a white picket fence and perfect children that don't ever cry running around, but I live in the real world. I know that we're going to fight and it's going to be a challenge to make this work, and the minute this gets out to the public all hell will probably break loose which is one of the reasons why I'm going to move to Boston after the tour for two months. But I will never ever do anything to intentionally hurt her man. People think I'm crazy, it's only been a week and she's a fan. My own mother bitched me out but I'm in love with her Luke. I've never felt this way about another person before in my entire life. She's the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing I think of when I go to sleep. Seeing her smile keeps me going. I know she has had a horrible past, but I will do everything in my power to prove to her that not all men are the same, and so help me God if I ever get my hands on those mother fuckers they'll never see the light of day again..."

"She told you?"

"Oh she told me," he said pausing for a moment. "She told me and it took everything in me to not hunt them down and murder them with my bare hands. Just thinking about it makes me want to vomit. I don't understand how someone can be so disrespectful and degrading and disgusting. How can you be with someone for three years, make them believe that you love them and allow that to happen. This girl is fucking incredible. She's genuine, she's caring, and she's honest and real. My instinct the moment I met he was to protect her from everything that might hurt her, and after three years that piece of scum just threw her away like a piece of garbage. It makes me sick."

"That whole ordeal was...I don't even think there's a word for what it was. He fooled everyone, we all thought that he was great and that they were in love, and then out of nowhere I get a call from the police to come pick her up from the station. She couldn't even tell me what happened when I asked her, she just handed me the police report. She locked herself in her room for months. She'd let me in when I'd come over but she wouldn't say anything, she'd just lie in her bed and stare at the wall with music blaring while I held her. I honestly didn't know if she'd ever get through it, and then one day she just got up and it was like it never happened. To this day she has never really talked to me about it, so for her to tell you, that's a huge step she must really love you."

"I'm sorry she told me and not you, I didn't know."

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I don't need her to tell me, I know what happened. I guess her telling you proves to me that she really does have feelings for you, you're special to her and you need to know that. I honestly thought she might be alone forever, but it makes me feel so much better to know that she has you, you're helping her even if you don't know it. You're the real deal man, so don't fuck it up."

"I would never allow myself to fuck this up. She's everything I've ever wanted and more, and to know that you back us up means a lot to her but to me also. You mean so much to her and I know that your opinion means the world, so I appreciate you supporting us."

"No problem man. You seem pretty genuine, just know that I will hurt you if you hurt her. I may not look like I can, but I will."

We went over a huge pothole right then and there was no way I could pull off my fake sleeping anymore. I sat up and adjusted my eyes to the sunlight. We had just gotten off the exit to our hotel which meant that I slept for more then half of the way before I woke up and eaves dropped into their conversation. Even though it was wrong, I'm glad I did it. These two men were amazing. Luke is like family, and always has been since the day I met him and to know that he supports my decision in dating Justin means everything to me. And Justin, he just gets more amazing every time he speaks. He loves me, he's proven that to me and to Luke. He'll protect me like no one else has. He is the one for me. I know we'll have our ups and downs but after hearing what I just heard, I'm confident in saying we'll get through each and every one of them and be happier in the end.

"Hey sleepy head," Justin said.

"Hi," I said trying to make my stiff neck go away. "Sorry I'm an awful hostess," I said to Luke.

"You are pretty sucky, I had to talk to this jerk of a boyfriend of yours the whole ride."

"He is a huge jerk isn't he? I don't even know why I'm with him," I said laughing.

"Because I'm pretty awesome," Justin said in return.

"Oh, that's right I forgot," I said kissing him.

I looked out the window and saw the hotel in front of us with a big black Escalade parked in front. I knew who was in that SUV and my stomach immediately started turning. I had put off thinking about it long enough. I was about to meet Justin's parents and I had to make a good impression or there was no way they were going to accept us. His mother already has preconceived notions of me, and I had to do everything to win her over.

"Don't be nervous. Just be yourself," Justin whispered in my ear.

"I'm not nervous babe, I'm fine."

"Is she twirling her thumbs?" Luke asked.

"Of course she is, because she's nervous," Justin replied.

"I don't like you two together. Not one bit," I said, "You both know me too well."

"Everything will be fine," Justin responded, "Once she actually talks to you she'll love you. I promise."

"Well I sure hope so," I said unbuckling my seatbelt and grabbing my purse from the back.

"She will baby...Trust me she will."

Justin opened the car door and got out first. I watched him run over to his parents and give them both a hug and a kiss. My stomach was in knots.

"Just be yourself you freak," Luke said.

"I hate you, you know that right?"

"You love me and you'd be lost without me, now go."

"You're right," I said leaning forward and giving him a hug. "Thanks for everything Luke. For flying out here and for getting to know Justin, and for everything else you've ever done for me."

"You're welcome, and just so you know I approve. Don't fuck this up, he's the real deal. Now go and impress the shit out of his parents."

"Thank you for approving and understanding and being the Will to my Grace minus the gayness."

"You have issues. Get out of this car."