"Is there a class in high school that teaches girls how to fight? Because if there is whoever teaches it should be fired."

"Has anyone ever told you how unfunny you are?" I asked Justin as he reached out to put an ice pack that was wrapped up in a facecloth on my swollen eye. "Owwww!" The cold ice made my eye start pulsating in pain so I reached up and slapped his hand away.

"Are we going to do this the hard way or the easy way?" he asked looking at me like Pa use to when he would scold me as a child. I rolled my eyes at him and only hissed in for a few seconds when he put the ice back on my eye. "Have you talked to Trace?"

I scoffed at the mention of my idiotic brothers name, "Not since last night when he told me to go to anger management classes and hung up on me. Stupid, pussy whipped asshole."

"Tell me how you really feel now..."

"Look if he doesn't want to believe me that's his prerogative, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I mean I got into a bar brawl last night defending his ass, it would be nice if he showed some appreciation."

"More like a bitch fight, but you can go with bar brawl if that makes you feel any better..."

"Do you want to be on my shitlist too Timberlake? Because I won't hesitate to put you on there," I replied grabbing the ice pack out of his hand to hold it up myself.

He put his hands up in defeat and shook his head, "Please...spare me!"

We sat in the living room staring blankly at the TV in silence. We got home last night and didn't really say much to each other until he asked me what happened after I managed to get my mouth to stop bleeding and my eye to stop swelling anymore then it already was. I told him everything he needed to know, like how the bitch bag was dating Trace just to get closer to him, but left some of the other parts out. He didn't need to know that the fight started off about him, or that I punched her because of what she said about Jake. He knew the important details; the ones that matter in the lives of all of us and the rest didn't really matter in the end.

"Hey Em?"

I snapped out of my own head when I heard Justin call my name with a little worry in his voice, "Hmm?"

"Can I ask you a question?" I nodded giving him side eyes, as my mind raced with things that he could possibly be scared to ask me about. I watched him take his feet off of the coffee table and take a sip of the tall glass of ice water sitting next to him. He placed the cup back down on the coaster, swiping his tongue over his bottom lip. "Last night...Why did you let me call you Emmy?"

Even though it's been the only thing I've really been thinking about since he said it last night, it was the last thing I expected him to ask me, not to mention a question I didn't really have an answer to. I took the icepack off of my eye and put it down on the coffee table in front of me. I reached for my own glass of water and listened as the ice cubes clinked against the glass as I tipped it back into my mouth before realizing that Justin's gaze was still on me waiting for my answer. "I don't really know to be honest with you," I said in a whisper. "It just...it didn't hurt."

"Is that a good thing?"

I shrugged my shoulders before placing the glass back on its respective coaster, "I guess."

"I didn't do it on purpose, it just kind of slipped..."

"It's okay Justin, I promise. Shouldn't you be packing or something?" I asked quickly trying to change the subject.

"Nope, we're all packed," he replied picking up the remote to turn the channel from ESPN to a football game, "We have to be at the airport around 1, so we've got plenty of time to catch up on some good ol' football until then."

"Shouldn't you be, oh I don't know, figuring out what you're going to do with the golf course you now own?"

"We've got plenty of time to figure that out in LA."

"Who is this we you keep speaking of? Is Trace going with you?"

He rolled his eyes and let out a weird chuckle, "Pft, Trace. He won't be going anywhere with me until he gets his act together. Who the hell does he think he is treating you the way he did last night? I mean I know the guy has a complex because he's so short, but he should probably realize that he should be trusting you and not the blonde bimbo."

"Whoa, whoa, calm down killa! Tell me how you really feel," I said with a chuckle throwing his words right back at him. He didn't say anything, but got up abruptly throwing the remote at me. I tried to knock it away with my hand that wasn't holding ice up to my swollen eye but missed and it hit me right in the mouth, "Christ Justin!" I yelled right before I could taste blood in my mouth again.

"Jesus Em! You were suppose to catch that," he said running over to me.

"I'm a little disabled over here if you haven't noticed." He took the ice from my eye and put in on my lip while reaching for a tissue on the table next to me. He dipped the tissue in my water squeezing out the excess and put the now soaking wet puddle of goop on my eye. He had one knee on the couch and his other foot on the ground and he was looking around the room like a lost child trying to find his mother and all I could do was laugh at him.

"What did we do with the first aid...What?" he asked looking down at me, "What the hell is so funny? I'm trying to help and all you can-"

"JUSTIN!" I yelled through a giggle, stopping him before he actually got mad, "You're a little backwards." I reached up and rearranged his hands so that the ice was on my eye and the wet tissue was on my lip.

"Oh," he said sitting down with a sigh. I swatted his hands away and held up the ice and wet tissue on my own looking at him with my one good eye. He threw his head back on the couch closing his eyes, and for the first time I realized how tired he looked.

"Hey," I elbowed him in his stomach, and he put his arm around the back of the couch replying with a sigh. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing..."

"Do you expect me to believe that?"

"I do," he replied getting up quickly but not before patting my head like a dog, "Let's go Shelly we've got a lot to do before we leave to get you looking like a normal human being again."

"What this look doesn't suite me?"

"It suites you just fine for Millington. LA...not so much," he put his hand out for me to take and I just looked at him as I cocked my head to the side. "Let's go Logan, times tickin' away."

"Whoa whoa whoa. Hold on a damn second there sparky. Do you think I'm going to LA with you? Because last time I checked you hadn't even asked me if I was available."

"I don't think. I know."

"I have things to do here. I do have a job you know. That I have no vacation or sick time left at..."

"I have an in with your boss," he replied with a smirk, "Plus, Tennman Records headquarters are in LA, so there's an office waiting for you there."

"Justin I can't just pick up and go, I have things here, people..."

"Do you like your job?" he asked glaring at me.

"You can't do that, it's illegal!"

"I just did." I stared at him not knowing exactly what to do. Did I want to go to LA? Sure. Who would rather be in Tennessee then in LA? But it was the way he was doing this that made me upset. He can't just expect me to go with him wherever he wants me to; I'm not his personal assistant, or his personal bitch for that matter. He gave up on his death glare and sat back down next to me throwing his back against the arm of the couch and his feet over my legs. "I can't just leave you here with Bri on the loose and Trace acting the way he's acting. Plus, we really have to tie up some loose ends with Esmee and I'm not going to be able to do that with you being here and me being there. So how about you stop trying to make excuses to not go, give in, let me win and we'll get you cleaned up."

No is what my brain told me to say but what came out was, "Fine," and within seconds I was up in the bathroom tending to my bleeding lip and putting pounds of concealer over my swollen eye.

***

A week in LA with Justin felt like a year anywhere else in the world. From the moment we stepped out of the airport it was like chaos 24/7, unless I was in the confines of Justin's house or my office. There were pictures of us on the cover of every magazine in circulation, and it took me a good 15 minutes to drive out of a parking spot at any Starbucks within a 30-mile radius of Justin's house. It was to be expected as the same thing happened when I came to LA with him a few months ago, but it was still annoying as hell. Other then that though, I was having the time of my life. I didn't have to deal with people checking up on me every five minutes with a phone call or an unannounced visit, and who knew there were about a million more things to do in LA then in the entire state of Tennessee.

My life somehow became 100 times busier, and work was taking up a huge chunk of my time especially since I somehow inherited handling most of the logistics of the golf course. I've seen Justin for maybe a total of five hours the entire time we've been here, and honestly, I'm kind of starting to miss him. We're meeting tonight for dinner at Katsuya and I feel like I have so much to tell him. He's been working the strangest hours filming the movie, and I've been at the office so much it's almost like we don't even live together anymore.

I left the office extra early today so that I'd have enough time to sit in traffic and get ready before dinner. I was in the bathroom taking rollers out of my hair when I heard my phone ringing in the living room downstairs. Why I left it downstairs is beyond me, but I started taking the stairs two at a time so that I'd get to it before it went to voicemail. I slammed my leg into the coffee table causing me to come to a complete stop and hit the green button before I even put the phone to my ear.

"Ow, shit! Hello?"

"He-Hello?" I heard an English accent question on the other end of the phone.

"Hello?" I said again pulling the phone away from my ear to look at the caller ID on the screen. Andrew. Do I know an Andrew?

"Hello?"

"YES HI!" I said annoyed wondering when this back and forth hello was going to stop.

"Oh I'm sorry...Sorry I must have the wrong number."

"Who are you looking for?"

"Sorry I was looking for Justin, but you're obviously not Justin. Unless somehow you've turned into a female since the last time I saw you."

"No, I'm not Justin but...wait what Justin are you looking for?" I asked now totally confused as to why I'd be getting a call from one of Justin's friends on my phone.

"Well this is going to sound quite strange to you probably, but I was trying to ring Justin Timberlake."

"Huh," I replied reaching down to my knee that was still throbbing in pain. I took the phone off of my ear again and looked at the screen, Andrew. Who the hell is Andrew? I put the phone back up to my ear and I was about to tell him that Justin must have mistaken our numbers when I heard a phone ring upstairs. "What the hell-"

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you, have a good day."

"NO!" I yelled, realizing that I had run downstairs to answer Justin's phone and not mine, "No, no. Sorry, I ran down to answer the phone so fast I didn't even realize it was Justin's phone ringing and not mine, but now my phone is ringing upstairs so clearly you've actually dialed the right number and...and I don't know why I'm telling you all this."

I heard a chuckle on the other end of the phone as I threw myself down on the couch, "This must be the famous Emily."

"Okay, I'm officially creeped out," I replied jokingly, "Who is this?"

"My names Andrew, I'm doing a movie with Justin. We've heard a lot about you Emily, I feel like I know you...Anyway, I haven't seen him in a while and I wanted to go over some stuff with him before we start filming again next week, is he around?"

"No he's not back from...wait a minute did you say you don't start filming again until next week?"

"That I did."

"Just you or everyone?"

"All of us. The director had a death in his family so we've had some time off. Did Justin not tell you?"

"Must have slipped his mind. He's been so busy, you must know how he is by now," I replied getting up off the couch practically running to the kitchen to find some clues as to where the hell the lying asshole as been for the past week and a half.

"He's always on the go that guy."

"He really is," I said sifting through all of the paper on the counter and in the drawers. I started throwing things that gave me no indication of his where abouts on the floor. I flung what looked like a box behind me but in reality it was a salt shaker which dispersed all over the kitchen when the ceramic holder broke into a million little pieces, but I didn't care because I found a clue. I held the blue sticky note up and read the address on it a couple of times, "Caught," I said out loud not even realizing that I was still on the phone.

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh God. Nothing, sorry. Look I'll tell Justin you called okay?"

"Great, thanks! It was nice talking to you Emily."

"You too, bye." I hung up the phone and threw it on the island behind me before running upstairs and straight into Justin's office where I grabbed my date book and stuck the post-it inside. Tomorrow, I thought to myself, tomorrow I'll catch him in his lie.

***

I got to the restaurant a half hour before Justin decided to make his entrance. So typical of him to be late. I knew he was coming in when I suddenly heard screaming over the soft music and lights were flashing in the dimly lit building. I took a sip of my margarita and tapped my fingers against the table when I saw his tall frame approaching the table.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. It's like a zoo out there," he said sitting down at the table and taking a sip of his water.

"I know. I went through that zoo 30 minutes ago, which is how long I've been sitting here waiting for you."

"I said I was sorry Em. I left my phone at the house so I could call."

"I know," I replied throwing his phone across the table, "Andrew called."

"Thanks." The waiter walked over and asked Justin what he wanted to drink, "I'm good with the water thanks, but I think we're ready to order," he looked up at me and I nodded. He placed our order, knowing that I always got the same thing when we got sushi, and went right to checking his E-Mails when the waiter walked away.

"Are you pregnant?"

"Excuse me?" he chuckled looking up at me with a weird look on his face.

"You must be pregnant if your not drinking. I can't remember the last time we went out, or hell even ate dinner at home and you didn't have a drink in front of you."

"I'm driving."

"And when has that ever stopped you from having a drink?"

"I just don't want a drink, why is that such a big deal to you?"

"It's not a big deal I'm just wondering why you don't want a drink that's all."

"I just don't okay?"

I put my hands up in the air to let him know that I surrender, as the waiter put a bowl of edemame in front of us. Justin rolled his eyes and put his phone in his pocket, and I watched his every move trying to figure out what he could possibly be hiding. "So, how was your day?" I finally asked when we were half way through the bowl.

"Long. Tiring. David does a million takes which is fine, and I support it but it can take a lot out of you."

"Mmmm. Did you film a lot of scenes today?"

"Like, two or three. Which is good."

"Were you in all of them?"

"Yes. Why are you asking me a million questions about the movie? We haven't actually had a chance to sit down and talk for a while and you want to talk about filming?"

"I was just asking about your day Justin. I'm sorry if that offends you."

"It doesn't offend me, it just...can we just talk about something else?" I picked up a piece of sushi that was placed in front of us and popped it into my mouth, motioning with my chopsticks that we could now knowing for sure that he was hiding something big from me. "How was work today?"

"Fine."

"Did you figure out the whole landscaping situation with the course?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Have you talked to Trace?"

"Nope."

"Do you plan on answering my questions with more then one word at any point in time?"

"Maybe."

"This is going to be a fun dinner."

"Yep."