While Kerrigan was in Justin’s room talking to Justin and Trace, Cody got himself dressed and left her room to go back downstairs to his.  He needed to go think some things over in his head about the whole situation.

When he entered the hall, he looked down to see the rest of the Nsync guys standing in the hall along with a few of their bodyguards.  Cody assumed it was Justin’s door they were standing outside of.

Blowing off the looks of disgust and outrage he was receiving from the other guys, Cody continued down the hall to the elevators.  He pressed the button and silently waited for the elevator.  He could tell all of the guys were staring at him.  Glaring at him even.  But none of them said anything.

He wanted so badly to turn and look at them and ask them what their fucking problems were, but he refrained from doing so.  Knowing that would only make the situation worse.

It was publicly known through the crew and staff how all of the guys were extremely protective over Kerrigan.  Justin being the worst of course, but still they were all like big brothers to her.  And big brothers were always watching out for their little sisters.  And could often cause a lot of problems, which Cody didn’t need at that moment.

He wasn’t about to give any of them a reason to go running back to Kerrigan and tell her horrible things about him.  He knew that’s what they all wanted.  None of them liked him, that was evident, even before the present events.  But again, he wasn’t about to give them any ammo to use against him with Kerrigan.

No, he was going to win this battle.  He was going to show all of them just how much in control of the situation he was.  Especially, Justin.  And he considered that mornings events as the first step in the process of teaching Justin and the rest of them a very valuable lesson.

When the elevator finally arrived and the doors opened.  Cody looked down at the rest of the guys, giving them a bored look as he stepped onto the elevator and disappeared behind the closing doors.

( 2 days later - Orlando - Night before the last show )

Things had been a little crazy over the last couple of days.  After the whole “talk” with Justin and Trace in Justin’s room, Kerrigan had retreated back to her room to find Cody gone.  She figured he was pissed off at her because she had chosen to talk to Justin over staying there with him.  And that thought had proven to be true over the next couple of days.

They had argued repeatedly over it, but in the end always made up, but that didn’t stop Kerrigan from feeling guilty.  Not so much about the whole thing with Cody, but more so about Justin.  And she even somewhat regretted sleeping with Cody.

Not that she didn’t care about him, because she did.  Her feelings were growing stronger and stronger for him by the day.  And she really did believe that she was in love with him, but at the same time her sleeping with Cody had in turn caused Justin to be disappointed in her.  She had seen it in his eyes that morning in his room.  And Kerrigan never wanted Justin to be disappointed in her.  She had always valued his opinion more than she probably should, but still she valued it and just knowing that he was disappointed in what she had done, made her feel bad about doing it.  But she couldn’t change that now.

And then there was Justin.  He had seemingly calmed down about the issue and hadn’t brought it back up.  At least not to her.  What Kerrigan didn’t know was that he’d had another little talk with JC about how his outburst on the matter could effect his friendship with Kerrigan.  And now knowing that she was sleeping with the guy, Justin didn’t want anything to come between them.  He just knew something was going to go wrong at some point and with her having this emotional attachment on top of her claiming to love him.  Well, he knew that when things did go bad, they were going to be bad.  And he wanted to be there to help her get through it.

And now here they all were.  Minus Cody of course.  He’d had work to do at the venue since the next show was going to be the last.  And for the big finale they had planned extra lighting and extra pyro, to make sure that the concert went out with a bang.

But the group had all gathered at Justin’s house for a little pre-tour end party.  They were all drinking and goofing off. It was basically a way for them all to spend some quality time together before the tour ended.

At some point during the evening Joey got the bright idea that it would be fun for them to play truth or dare.  Everyone agreed hesitantly at first, but not too long into the game they were all enjoying themselves.  They were daring each other to do stupid stuff for laughs and asking stupid questions for truths.

Then out of now where Chris came up with a dare for Justin, that shocked everyone.  “I dare you to kiss Kerrigan!” Chris grinned.

This dare wasn’t for laughs in Chris’ eyes though.  It was more of an experiment.

He had become worried about Kerrigan over the last week or so because of everything that was going on.  He had spent a lot of time thinking back to the day on the bus when he heard her crying in her bunk.  About his concerns that she would do something more irrational to gain Justin’s attention.  And how he had sworn he wouldn’t interfere, but at this point he felt like he needed to do something.

Chris seen Kerrigan’s whole relationship with Cody to be her next irrational step.  Sure, maybe she had convinced herself that she liked the guy and maybe she did on some level.  But Chris was pretty sure it was Justin’s rejection that had driven her into Cody’s arms.  And to now know that she was actually sleeping with the guy, that was just too much.  She was getting in way over her head and she was going to get hurt.

He just wanted Justin to kiss Kerrigan to see if Justin felt anything.  Maybe if he did then they could get together and Cody would be history.  Or so that was the idea.

Both Kerrigan and Justin glared at him, but Justin quickly shrugged it off and turned to Kerrigan who was sitting next to him.  He grabbed her face and gave her a quick peck on the lips.  That wasn’t so hard.  WRONG!

“NO!  Not like that!  I mean REALLY kiss her!  Like you mean it!” Chris insisted, the other guys just looking around at each other trying to figure out why Chris was doing what he was doing.

“How am I supposed to kiss her like I  mean it, when I don’t?” Justin retorted.

“You’re a performer.  Perform!” Chris pushed.

“Ugh!” Justin groaned.  He turned to Kerrigan.  “You have my permission to kill HIM after this ok.” he said.

Kerrigan only nodded, not sure if she was prepared for this or not.  She had a boyfriend, was this considered cheating?  But then it wasn’t real.  It was just Justin.  It was a dare after all.  Besides it wasn’t like she was going to tell Cody about this.  There was no chance in hell of that.

Justin once again took Kerrigan’s face in his two hands.  Biting his lip apprehensively he studied her face.  He had to do this or he’d never hear the end of it from Chris.  And probably not the other guys either.  He licked his lips and leaned in to her, gently pressing his lips to hers.

This wasn’t so bad, he thought.  Actually, it was pretty nice.  Kerrigan’s lips were softer than they appeared to be.  Rather delectable, he thought as he began to lose himself in the kiss.  Kerrigan slowly responding.

Justin’s one hand slowly drifted back into her hair to tilt her head to give him better access, while his other hand slipped down from her face, over her arm, to rest on her hip, pulling her slightly closer to him.

The guy’s eyebrows rose as they stared on in shock.  Justin was SERIOUSLY kissing her.  Like full on kissing her.  Like he MEANT IT, kissing her.  And they could not believe it.

Meanwhile, Kerrigan allowed him to kiss her.  Sure she was responding, but Justin was doing most of the work.  Kerrigan was in too much shock at how passionately he was kissing her to really respond fully.  For years she had wanted him to kiss her that way, and when he finally does she’s in too much shock to even respond properly.  Figures!

Justin slowed the kiss down, and then slowly pulled away from her lips completely mesmerized with what had just happened.  He placed one last gentle kiss upon her lips, looking up to meet her eyes.  What he saw there was pure confusion and turmoil.  Which he took for him kissing her the way he had.  And because of Cody.

Which was true, but Kerrigan’s confusion and turmoil wasn’t because he had kissed her that way, but because she didn’t know what to do.  She had a boyfriend and cared about him.  But she had cared about Justin for so long.  And for the longest time she had wanted this.  And now that she had it she didn’t know what to do.  But at the same time she kept telling herself it was just a dare.  That he didn’t mean it.  It wasn’t real.  It couldn’t be real.  Those feelings and sincerity that was in his kiss, could in no way, shape or form be real!

Justin quickly pulled away from Kerrigan and turned around to face Chris with a smirk on his face.  Totally trying to play off what had just happened.  “Happy now?  Was that good enough for you?”

Chris merely smiled.  “Yup, that’ll do.”

“That’ll do?” Joey scoffed.  “I thought they were about to go at right here and now.”

Justin rolled his eyes and laughed.  “Get real, Joe.  It’s Kerrigan and I’m a performer remember.  But it’s good to know I’m that believable.  Maybe I should reconsider the whole acting thing.”

“Well, if your other acting skills are anywhere near as good as those acting skills, then I’d have to say you’d be a damn good actor.” Lance stated, not really believing Justin, but patronizing him all the same.

Meanwhile, Kerrigan’s heart was breaking a little on the inside, taking Justin’s words to heart.  She knew it couldn’t be real.  He was just acting, doing as Chris had instructed.  Performing.  She scolded herself mentally for ever even allowing the thought to cross her mind that the emotions and fire she felt behind his kiss could be real in any way.  How stupid could she get?

“OK, moving on.” Justin stated, pulling Kerrigan’s thoughts back to the present.  “My turn!” Justin grinned evilly at Chris.

And Chris suddenly had the sinking feeling that he was going to pay for that little dare.  The look on Justin’s face was pure evil.

(  The next day at the venue )

Cody was walking down the hall heading out towards the arena area.  He was just coming back from lunch and it was time to get back to work.  Although, he really didn’t want to.  He’d much rather be spending his time with Kerrigan.  Maybe even figure out why she had been so quiet.

They had gone out for lunch together, but the whole time she was just really quiet.  She didn’t have much to say and appeared to have a lot on her mind.  He had attempted a couple times, and asked what was bothering her and she simply said that she was stressed because it was the last show and she was tired.  That nothing in particular was wrong.

Cody had accepted her answer, but didn’t really believe it.  He was beginning to think he had done something to piss her off again, but he racked his brain and couldn’t come up with anything that he had said or done.

Blowing off his thoughts, he figured it was the last concert and they would have plenty of time to figure things out after this whole mess was over.  He had big plans for them after the tour ended.  Which mostly consisted of them spending a lot more time together.  With no grueling tour schedule that would be an easy task to manage.  One he was looking forward too.

As he continued down the hall, he walked past the room the guys all affectionately called the “Toy Room”, which Cody had never understood.  But all the same it was their room, they could call it whatever they wanted.

However, as he was passing the room, the door was slightly open and he could hear the guys laughing about something.  Then he heard the mention of Kerrigan’s name.  He paused outside of the door and peeked in through the crack.

He could see all the guys, including Trace sitting around on the sofa’s and chairs, but Kerrigan was no where in the room.  At least not that he could see.  And he really didn’t understand how she would have gotten over there anyways.  He had just left her outside, talking to Lance’s sister Stacy.

His interest peeked as to what they were saying about her that was so funny, he stood there and continued to eavesdrop on the guy’s conversation.  It was then when he heard what he was sure was the reason for Kerrigan’s sudden mood change and silence all during lunch.

“I still can’t believe you kissed Kerrigan last night!” Trace stated.

“Aw, would you guys drop that already.  It was nothing.  It was a DARE!” Justin groaned, turning his attention to Chris.  “See what you’ve started trying to be a smart ass!”

Chris merely shrugged at Justin’s statement, but Joey quickly spoke up.  “Oh, don’t even try to play that Justin.  You know it was more than nothing.  And it was certainly more than just a dare!  You felt something when you kissed her.  We could all tell.  I mean, the way you was kissing here!” Joey grinned.

“Y’all are making more out of this than there is!  It’s not like that.  Kerrigan is….” he paused.  “Kerrigan!” he stated, unable to think of anything else.

“Yeah, but J if you coulda seen it from our perspectives you wouldn’t be saying that.  You can deny it all you want, but that kiss was definitely more than a dare!” JC spoke up.

“You guys must have had too much to drink then.” Justin shrugged, trying to play it off.

“Whatever, Justin.  You know you want her!” Joey laughed and the rest of the guys pretty much just nodded their agreement.

“Ok.  Let’s say hypothetically for a moment that I did enjoy the kiss and it was what ya’ll say it was.  WHICH IT’S NOT!” he was quick to add.  “But let’s say it was.  She’s with Cody.  She’s in love with Cody.” he said making a funny voice when he said in love.  “It wouldn’t matter anyways.”

“Yeah right, JuJu!  You know if you wanted Kerrigan you could have her.  You obviously didn’t see the look on HER face AFTER you kissed her.” Lance stated.

And at those words Cody had heard enough.  He stormed away from the door angrily, knocking into a metal chair that had been leaned against the wall, knocking it to the floor.  But in his anger he didn’t bother to pick it back up.  Instead he proceeded down the hall.

Mentally going over everything he had just heard.  Justin had kissed Kerrigan.  She hadn’t told him.  No wonder she was so quiet at lunch, she was obviously thinking about the kiss.  Probably fantasizing about it.

It was no secret to Cody that Kerrigan had cared for Justin before they started dating.  And his hopes had been that once they had gotten together she would forget all about him.  But how the hell was she supposed to do that if Justin all of the sudden was going to start kissing her.  And Cody could tell by the look on Justin’s face as he was talking to the guys about his hypothetical if he had enjoyed it, that he really had.  He had felt something.

Now Cody was even more angry.  Before he was jealous of Justin because he consumed so much of Kerrigan’s time and thoughts.  But now he was a possible threat at taking Kerrigan away from him.  Now that he knew that Justin was actually reciprocating those feelings for her, there was no telling what would happen next.

Well, Cody wasn’t going to wait around and let it happen.  Whatever IT may be.  He was going to do something about it.  He was going to put a stop to anything before it could even begin.  He’d be damned if he was going to let Justin Timberlake steal his girl from him.  There was no way in hell.  It was time for action he thought as he disappeared down the hall.

Completely oblivious to the fact that him knocking the chair over had raised the guy’s attention and Justin had come over to the door to see who was in the hallway and had seen Cody stalking away.

Justin merely stood there with a smirk on his face, convinced by Cody’s body language that he had just overheard what the guys were talking about.

“Who was it?” Lance asked, as Justin sat back down on the sofa.

“Cody.” he replied.

“Cody?  As in Kerrigan’s boyfriend Cody?” Joey questioned.

“That would be him.” Justin stated.

“Oh, shit!  You don’t think he heard us do you?” JC asked.

“I’m pretty sure he did.  The way he was storming off down the hall he looked pretty pissed.” Justin said.

“Oh, this isn’t good.  You know that he’s going to confront Kerrigan about it.” Trace said, worriedly.

“Oh, well.” Just shrugged.

“What do you mean, oh well?  This is gonna cause another fight between them Justin.” Trace glared at him.

“Well, maybe this will get rid of him.”

“Someone should at least warn her!” Lance stated.