Lend me your hand and we'll conquer them all

But lend me your heart and I'll just let you fall

Lend me your eyes I can change what you see

But your soul you must keep, totally free

                “Awake My Soul” Mumford & Sons

Shelby slammed back the shot, feeling the burn of the whisky as it travelled down into her stomach.  She was pleasantly warmed by the alcohol.   With a thud, she planted the glass on the table and grinned over at Justin.  She was close to being drunk, but past the point of merely buzzy.  It was a very enjoyable feeling, and she knew there would be no awkward interruptions from her father to ruin the moment.

“Shit, girl, you’re making me look like a pussy.”  Justin slurred slightly, eyeing his beer with crossed eyes.  They’d being going shot for shot, Justin convinced that he would be able to drink Shelby under the table, but she’d proven to be a tougher opponent than he originally thought.  “I don’t think I can take another shot.”

A sculpted eyebrow arched in his direction.  “Justin Timberlake,”  Shelby’s words were mush, but he easily understood her.  “You are such a light-weight.”  As if to prove it, she finished off the rest of his beer, too. 

Drinking was probably not the best idea for either of them, but it was difficult for Shelby to stop herself.  Plus, they were huddled up together in a dark corner of Sylvia’s and no one had even noticed they were there.  Justin had commented that it wasn’t a true Southern meal without whiskey, and Shelby said she could “out-drink his skinny ass” any day, which landed them in their current situation.

Happily, giddily drunk.

“Fuck, I’m getting old.”  He settled back in his chair, unsteadily pushing away the bottle of liquor and hoping to gain back some of his senses.  They still needed to get home.  He had a driver on call twenty-four seven, so he knew it wouldn’t be a huge deal, but he also knew that being hung over was a bitch he didn’t want to play with.  “We should slow down.”

Shelby hiccupped, swaying in her seat.  “I am perfectly fine.”  She stated, doing her best to look Justin square in the eyes but failing miserably.  The three of him wouldn’t sit still.  “I could go another five rounds.”  Her boast was followed by a very un-lady like burp.  Justin wondered briefly if he’d been mistaken thinking Shelby was a girl.  She must be more of a man than he and Trace combined.

“I think you’re full of shit, is what you are.”  He managed to wave the waitress over and get a couple of glasses of water, which he gratefully downed when they arrived.  If he drank anymore, he would pass out soon, and that wasn’t what he wanted to do.  “You know, B, you’re the worst best tour guide I’ve ever had.”  When she gave him a strange look he elaborated.  “You’ve only taken me to one place, but you’ve managed to impress the shit out of me.”

“I never said the tour was over.”

Justin sat back, a slight grin on his face.  He liked this girl.  She was funny, smart, and she could certainly hold her liquor.  He was still a little uncertain about her, because he could tell he was hiding behind this bright persona, but she seemed to have herself together much more than when they’d first met.  Maybe his first instincts had been wrong. 

“I doubt you could walk yourself to the door right now, how the hell are you going to take me on a tour of the city?”

“I have my ways.”  She waved her hands around in demonstration, almost knocking herself out of her chair.  Justin held back his laugh as long as he could, but when she attempted to scowl at him, he couldn’t help the guffaw that burst forth.  She flipped him off.

“Maybe we should postpone the rest of our tour so you can sleep this off.”  He felt his own head swim and amended his statement, “and I can, too.  Shit.”  He pinched the bridge of his nose, already knowing that his hangover was going to be epic.  When the pressure behind his eyes subsided, he pulled out his phone and texted Greg, his security and driver while he was here in New York.  Their ride would be there shortly, so Justin waived for the check and glanced back over at Shelby.

“What?”  She could hardly look at him straight.

“You’re not going to puke in my car again, are you?”  He tried to keep the grin from showing, but when the shock and embarrassment registered on her face, he lost it.  Shelby didn’t think it was a very funny joke at all, but she was really drunk and Justin’s laughter was amusing, and contagious. 

“I hate you, I think.”  She stated, calming herself down and reaching for her purse when the check came.  Justin was about to protest, grabbing his own wallet.  “No, no.  I’m the tour guide, I pay.”  She gave him a cheeky grin.  “You can pay next time.”

The car ride home was fairly uneventful as far as puking passengers went.  But Justin realized, yet again, that he didn’t know where Shelby lived so he could drop her off, and she was currently passed out and drooling on his shoulder.  He tried to wake her up, shaking her gently, but she only snored louder and adjusted her head.  He sighed.

“I guess just drop us off at my place, Greg.  I can’t get her to wake up.”  The look his driver gave him spoke volumes to Justin, but nothing more was said as they left Harlem and headed back toward Justin’s apartment in Soho. 

Even in his drunken haze, thoughts about what he was doing with Shelby roiled loudly through his mind.  He knew that she was trouble, it was easy to see that, but he wasn’t sure that trouble was always a bad thing.  He’d had a lot of fun with her tonight.  She was really easy to talk to, laid back, and she looked at him in a way that he wanted to see over and over.  He couldn’t quite put words to it, but there was something in her eyes, something that made him sure their budding friendship was a good idea.  Plus, she somehow sparked his creativity and song lyrics were tumbling around in his head already.  It was incredible.

Coming to New York was almost a whim, but he’d been drawn here for a reason, he knew that.  Maybe it was to get to know this woman better.  Maybe it was because he needed a muse and the city was a great place for that.  Whatever the reason, Justin was glad he’d come.

His thoughts were interrupted by Greg pulling up to Justin’s apartment, idling outside the back entrance.  “I don’t think she’s going to wake up, J.”  Greg was a master of the obvious.

“I’ll just carry her in.  Can you get the doors for me?”  Together the two men managed to get Shelby on the elevator and into Justin’s apartment without too much hassle.  She did accidentally hit her head once (Justin blamed the slowness of the elevator doors for that one) but other than that incident, they made it back unscathed.  With a feeling akin to déjà vu, Justin slipped Shelby’s jeans off carefully, attempting to get her situated in his guest bedroom.

“This is not part of the tour, Timberlake.”  She grumbled as he finally removed the denim from her legs.  Through half-lidded eyes, she watching him undress her.  “Are you going to take my top off, too?”

Justin smirked.  “You’re going to pass out in a moment here, even if I wanted to take advantage of the situation, you wouldn’t be conscious to experience it.”

She snorted out a laugh.  “That would be a shame.”  Letting out a long sigh, she closed her eyes and rested her head back against the pillows.  “When we have sex, Timberlake, I’m going to be awake and fully conscious.” 

Justin chuckled, deciding to not respond to her comment as he crept out of the room, shutting the door softly.  He was going to take a nice, long shower, and then he was going to follow Shelby’s lead and pass out.  Hopefully the hangover they would share wouldn’t be too terrible.

~*~

Bright lights.  Bright, blinding, painful light. 

Those were the thoughts that Shelby first managed to understand as she swam up towards consciousness.  Her head was pounding, and she felt as if her mouth were stuffed with cotton.

“Shit.”  She grumbled, cracking open an eye to see where that terrible light was coming from.  Instantly, she noted that she wasn’t in her own apartment.  Wracking her sluggish brain, she found what she was looking for.  Memories of shots chased by beers with Justin Timberlake floated through her brain.  Well, she’d done it again.

At least this time she hadn’t puked in his car.  She thought.

With no urgency, Shelby found her jeans and tugged them on.  She found a sweatshirt hanging in a closet, so she pulled that on over her head, exiting the room and meandering down the hallway.  Amazing smells were wafting from the kitchen, so she followed her nose.  Squinting fiercely at the massive amounts of sunlight that were streaming in through the windows, Shelby found Justin at the stove, cooking bacon in a skillet. 

“You’re starting to make a habit of this, B.”  His voice was amused and he turned from the bacon to grin at her.  “How’s the hang over?”

“Shitty.”  She grumbled.  She grabbed Justin’s coffee mug, already filled to the brim, and started to take long, grateful sips.  “You make awesome coffee, Timberlake.”  Her eyes finally adjusted to the light, but her head was still throbbing to an erratic cadence.

“Sure, drink my coffee while I slave over your breakfast.” 

“You weren’t drinking it, so I figured it was okay if I did.”  Gingerly, she sat at one of the barstools and watching Justin cook.  “How bad was I last night?”  She knew that they’d gone out to dinner, but after finishing off Justin’s beer, she had no memory of what had happened.  Shelby really needed to stop getting so drunk like that.

“You mean you don’t remember?”  His voice was full of shock and surprise, which made Shelby cringe.  Something must have happened.

“Nope, not after leaving the restaurant.”

Justin scoffed.  “Sheesh.  You’d think sex like we had last night would at least be memorable.”

Shelby spit the sip she’d just taken, sending it flying across the kitchen counter.  “Sex?” 

“Yeah, sex.  You could hardly contain yourself in the car, and when we got into the elevator you attacked me.  I can show you the scratches.”  He started to lift his shirt, and Shelby held up a hand, the other going to her forehead.

“We had sex?”  The thought just didn’t seem to compute in her foggy brain.  “I really got that drunk that I don’t remember having sex…with you?”

Laughter shook Justin’s shoulders and his face started to turn and interesting shade of red as he tried to breathe.  Pointing the spatula in her direction, he managed to get breath enough to cough out, “gottcha.”  More laughter shook his lean frame as he watched the color on Shelby’s face drain.

“You bastard!”  She threw the nearest thing to her, aiming for his head but missing.  The orange thudded into the refrigerator, landing heavily on the floor.  “I can’t believe you would make shit like that up!”

Chuckles still escaped as Justin plated up the bacon, bringing everything over to Shelby on the counter.  Pancakes were already done, and there was a bowl of sliced fruit, too.  “Really, B, you opened yourself up to it.”  He grinned at the scowl on her face.  “And you offered, too.  I mean, I was just trying to be a gentleman and make you comfortable so you could pass out, but you wanted me to take your top off, too.”

“Are you just giving me shit again?”  She didn’t trust anything he said at the moment.

Justin held up a hand, “Scouts honor.  And you told me, and I quote, ‘When we have sex I’m going to be conscious.’”  He was highly enjoying the discomfort she was experiencing.  This was too much fun.

Shelby groaned and rested her head against the counter.  “That does sound like something I might say.”  With a puff of air, she glanced up at him.  “Don’t let me get drunk like that again, Timberlake.”

He shoved a piece of bacon at her.  “Eat.  And I make no promises.  It’s pretty amusing to watch your hang over in the morning, even if you can out-drink me.”

She chewed fiercely.  “I hate you.”

Justin just grinned in response.  He shifted his focus to his breakfast and ate intently.  To be truthful, he was feeling pretty shitty this morning, too.  Unfortunately, whenever he was hung over he could never sleep long, so he’d been up for a couple of hours.  He took a run on the treadmill to try and sweat some of the alcohol out of his system, and he’d already had two cups of coffee by the time Shelby had woken up. 

“What’s on the agenda for today, tour guide?”  He asked when he’d polished off the majority of his food.

“You really want me to keep taking you around the city?  I’m a horrible tour guide, Justin.”  She picked at her food, munching at a crispy piece of bacon.  “And I feel like shit warmed over, too.”

“Well, I do have to go into the studio for a little bit today.  You wanna come with?”

Brown eyes stared into blue, confusion apparent.  “You still want to hang out with me after I got pass-out drunk for the second time?  I mean, the only two times we’ve actually hung out I’m unconscious in your guest bed.”

Justin laughed, clearing away the dishes.  “I like you, B.  I think you’re fascinating, and you’re not the first girl to get passed out drunk with me, really.  Plus, there won’t be any alcohol at the studio, so we’ll be safe.”

Shelby was interested by his honesty, this moment much different than that first time in his kitchen.  Here he was relaxed, laughing, and seemed genuinely interested in spending more time with her.  She was glad for it.  She liked Justin, too, and she had a lot of fun with him.  She just hoped she could stop herself from getting drunk like that again.  It was starting to become a trend that she wasn’t sure she liked.

“All right, Timberlake.  I’ll come with you to the studio, but you better be damn impressive for me to fight this hang over to spend time with you.”  Her comment received another chuckle.

“I’ll do my best.”