Can you lie next to her

And give her your heart, your heart

As well as your body

And can you lie next to her

And confess your love, your love

As well as your folly

          "White Blank Page" - Mumford & Sons

The world seemed different to Shelby.  Stepping outside, into the sun, she felt lighter than she had in a very long time.  Justin's hand was gently placed on her lower back, his grin stretching across his stubble studded cheeks.  She took in a deep breath, inhaling the smells of the city before allowing Justin to help her into his car.  Today felt different.

She knew that having sex with Justin was loaded and put them in strange territory, but something about it felt familiar. She felt at ease in his presence, and for the first time since her mother's death, Shelby's head wasn't filled with the dark cloud that had been incessantly following her.  There was always the niggling fear that this was just temporary and she should be careful, but the laughter in his eyes and the heat of his touch drove that niggling fear far, far away.

"Are you sure it's okay that I'll be in the studio?  I mean...don't I distract the musical genius that happens?"  Shelby dug through her bag, looking for her notes.  She wanted to make sure she was completely prepared for this test today.

"If you were a distraction, I wouldn't invite you."  Justin placed a hand on her knee, squeezing gently.  "As long as you don't care that my focus is elsewhere, I like having you there."  A sly grin appeared on his face.

Shelby caught the grin.  "What's that look for?" 

Justin squeezed her knee again, sliding his hand to rest on her thigh.  "Nothing.  Just thinking about earlier..."

Her cheeks flamed hotly.  She stared out the window, not sure how she had been turned into this shy, blushing little girl.  Justin Timberlake had done a number on her already and he'd only been in New York for a little less than a week.  She was screwed.  And that thought made her blush even more.

"You've gone awfully quite on me, B."  Justin glanced over at his passenger, grinning. 
"Something on your mind?"

"You're such a perve."  It was a lame response, but it was all she could think of at the moment.

His response to that was a deep laugh that sent shivers down Shelby's spine.  "So, what's this big test on, anyway?"  The change in subject was welcome.

"All kinds of things, really.  We've been studying early childhood development for this last unit, so Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, Bloom's Taxonomy, and work from Piaget."  She glanced over at Justin who had a blank look on his face.  She giggled.  "Don't worry, I won't ask you to know what I'm talking about." 

"Good, because I'm pretty sure you just spoke gibberish." 

"Nope, just psychology."  Shelby relaxed slightly, her brain shifting focus to her test.  She found her note cards in her bag and flipped through them, trying to commit as much as she could to memory.  "It's pretty interesting, really," she glanced over at Justin again, "if you're into that sort of thing."

Justin pulled the car into the lot behind the studio, shifting into park and looking at Shelby.  He studied her face for a moment, smiling softly as he gently touched her cheek.  "You're pretty amazing, B."

Another blush stained her cheeks, and Shelby quickly moved from the car before he could see how much he got to her.  She didn't like that he had so much power of her, but she was helpless to stop it.  He was potent and intoxicating, and she knew he had gotten under her skin.

The studio was dimly lit and quiet.  The same producer that Justin had been working with the other day was already in the room, fiddling with the song they had been working on previously.  Shelby was surprised that Justin didn't have more people in the studio with him, but she was starting to learn that his brand of genius was all his own and he didn't need a posse to make magic happen.  Shelby felt at home here, and she gladly fell into the sofa so she could watch Justin work.

He was incredibly sexy when he was in that sound booth and behind that board.

~*~

It had only been an hour, but something seemed to have halted the production.  Justin sat at the board, fiddling with levels and listening to the same section over and over again.  Shelby had been engrossed in her studies, but the repetition of the track had disrupted her.  She looked up from her notes, watching Justin carefully.  The producer had left for a minute, and Shelby could sense the tension and it was obvious in Justin's posture. 

"Hey."  She carefully came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and resting her cheek against his stubbly one.  "Trouble?"

 "Yeah, this track just sounds...off.  I can't figure out what it needs."  He sat back against the chair, throwing his hands up in exasperation.  Slowly, Shelby came around the chair and placed herself in Justin's lap.  She studied the board, running her fingers over the knobs and dials.  She pressed the play button, letting the track fill the room.  When it got to the spot he had been working on, she let it play through before backing it up and listening again.  She reached out and moved a few dials, lessening the bass levels and slightly adjusting the tempo. 

She played it again with her adjustments.  "Christ, girl, that took you two seconds."  Justin had wrapped his arms around her waist, peering over her shoulder as if he could find her secret posted on the sound board.  Shelby shrugged.

"I didn't do much."  She glanced back at him quickly, smirking.  "You forget that I spent my entire childhood sitting in chairs just like this.  My dad made sure I knew what I was doing."  She paused, smiling at the memories that chased through her mind.  "I may not be able to sing my way out of a paper bag, but I know music."

Quickly, Justin stood them up, turning Shelby around and lifting her hips onto the edge of the desk.  She lifted her legs and wrapped them around Justin's waist, resting her arms on his shoulders. 

This moment was different.  Sure, the sexual tension ran like a live current between the two of them, but there was something lying underneath that current that Shelby couldn't quite put her finger on.  There was a softness in his touch that had her melting.  There was a tenderness in his eyes that spoke volumes, and if she were honest with herself, it scared her.

Slowly, so slowly, he leaned in towards her, his mouth a hair's breadth away, his eyes closed gently.  Shelby let herself fall into him, but somewhere in the back of her mind she was overanalyzing the situation.  He was being so tender, and it was almost loving, this kiss.  His hands stayed on her neck, cradling her head.  Their bodies were flush, but it felt more of security and comfort than of sex.  This kiss was an entirely different species than the few they had shared in her apartment this morning.

Shelby pulled back, reeling from the emotions and thoughts swirling through her head.  Justin's lips brushed her forehead before he held her face so she was forced to look at him.

There was something happening behind those blue eyes.

"Hey, man, I'm sorry that took so long."  The producer, Chaz, stepped back into the room and broke the spell that had intertwined the two bodies.  Justin took a step back from Shelby, helping her into the chair he'd previously been occupying. 

"It's cool.  Listen to this."  He played back the track that Shelby had just fiddled with, watching Chaz's reaction.  When the got to the part he'd been stuck on, Justin smiled at the surprise on Chaz's face. 

"Shit, dude, that sounds a hundred times better than before.  What did you do?"

Justin leaned back against the sound board, grinning as he pointed to Shelby.  "It wasn't me.  She worked all of the magic on that one."

Shelby held up her hands, blocking their stares.  "I did not work any magic.  I slowed the tempo down by a fraction of a second, and I adjusted the bass levels.  I'm sure you two would have figured it out eventually, I just had the advantage of an outsider.  It was easier for me to hear."  She could still feel Justin's intense gaze and Chaz's unbelieving stare.  It was making her slightly uncomfortable.

"I think you're just being modest," was Justin's comment.  "Listen, Chaz, I promised this fine lady that I would get her some lunch and get her off to class.  Can we break for a while and I'll meet you back here at three?"

"Sure.  That works for me." 

Justin tugged on Shelby's sleeve, moving her hands away from her face.  She was still hiding behind them, lost in thought.  "Hey, let's go grab some food.  I'll drop you off on campus after."

Shelby moved, gathering her things in a daze.  Her thoughts were a million miles away from her exam, which was a terrible thing, but she couldn't help by examine what was happening between she and Justin.  A lot of feelings were flying around awfully fast, and she was having a difficult time keeping up.  The sex was amazing, sure, and she was oddly okay with the fact that they hadn't know each other that long before hopping into bed together.  But everything else...the look on his face when he watched her, the electricity in his touch that had nothing to do with lust, the way he spoke her name...those things were all loaded and on the verge of exploding.  Shelby wasn't sure she could survive that.

"You look completely lost in thought."  Justin's voice startled Shelby from her musings.  She turned, wide eyed, and looked over at him.  They were both in the car and he was merging into traffic.  She didn't even remember making it outside.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly.  "I have a lot on my mind, I suppose."

Justin didn't respond.  Instead he grabbed her hand with this free one, intertwining their fingers.  As he drove, he hummed softly, seemingly at ease with everything.

Shelby stared down at their hands, her mind drifting back to her previous musings.  She knew she was thinking too deeply into things, but it was part of her nature.  The unknown seemed to vast to focus on, so she made a mental list of the things she knew instead.  One: she liked being around Justin; Two: They had incredible sex and she was still feeling comfortable; Three: He made her laugh and he seemed to enjoy being around her, too.  Those were three positive things.

So why did her brain want to turn this into something huge and scary?

"Hey, we're here."  Justin's voice again broke through her thoughts and she pushed a smile onto her face. 

"Where is here?"  Shelby asked when Justin had helped her from the car.  She'd never been to this place before.

"It's just a small, family owned restaurant.  The guys and I found it when *NSYNC was still together, and the owners are great.  I figured no one would bother us here." 

Shelby was intrigued, so she followed him inside and let all other thoughts fall away.  Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she was incredibly hungry.  "I'm starving."

Justin looked over at her and grinned.  "Well, most of our breakfast ended up in your hair and smeared across your kitchen."

Shelby tried to hide her blush.  "You're going to keep bringing this morning up, aren't you?"

His look turned to something slightly more predatory.  "Until you give me something else to make you blush with, yes, I am."  His eyes smoldered for a moment and he kissed Shelby hard on the mouth before opening the door and leading her into the restaurant.

Shelby couldn't only follow along, her head spinning.

~*~

The exam in front of her seemed to swim in and out of focus.  She could barely keep her eyes on the paper, and the clock was ticking down.  Honestly, she knew most of the answers and she felt really good about the content.  It was something else that was distracting her.

Or, to be more precise, someone else.

Lunch had been quiet and intimate.  Justin asked a lot of questions of Shelby, wanting to get inside of her head and know her on a different level.  He was a complete gentleman, and Shelby was feeling overwhelmed with everything that was happening.  She tried to turn the tables and ask him questions to get the focus off of her, but all that managed to do was intrigue her more.  He was open and honest, sharing funny anecdotes, family stories, memories...anything she asked of him he answered. 

It wasn't what she was expecting.

A person next to her stood and walked down to the front, passing in their test.  Shelby shook her head and put her eyes back on the paper.  She needed to get this done.

With all of the self control and focus she had in her, she pushed through the test and managed to finish with a half hour to spare.  She wasn't quite she why she couldn't get Justin Timberlake off of her brain, but now that her test was done she could ponder the man all she wanted.  Part of her wanted to run.  He seemed too intense at times, too willing to jump into something head first.  She was scared of things, and men, that could fall so easily.  On the other hand, he was charming and funny and he made her feel alive in ways she hadn't felt for such a long time.  There was a large part of her that wanted to stay and see where things went.

For a psychology major, she was pretty stumped by this whole situation.

Curiosity, though, was stronger than her resolve, and she pulled out her phone to text Justin as soon as she was out of the building.  She had a few more questions and now was the time to ask them.

Making plans to meet him for dinner, Shelby hailed a cab and made her way to his apartment.  She wanted to be some place where they could have privacy and not worry about being interrupted or overheard.  He suggested that he make dinner for the two of them, and she thought that sounded great.

Of course, nerves still fluttered throughout her stomach as she ascended the elevator to his apartment.

"Hey."  He greeted her at the door with a smile, amazing smells coming from the kitchen as he led her inside.  "I hope you're hungry, I think I have enough to feed an army."

Shelby seated herself at the counter, happily taking the glass of wine he offered.  "I'm famished."

"Good."  He stirred something that looked like a white sauce.  "I learned to cook from my Grams, and she was always feeding the entire neighborhood.  I can't seem to cook without making a ton of food."

"Then you have lots of leftovers."  Shelby answered.  Justin grinned over at her, draining some ravioli and then stirring them into the sauce of the stove. 

"Right."  After he'd pulled everything together and plated it up, he joined her at the counter, serving both of them before sitting down and sipping at his own glass of wine.  "I'm glad you're here, Shelby."  He had that look on his face again, the one that seemed to set Shelby's skin on fire.  Suddenly, she found herself feeling nervous.

"Hey, I'm not one to turn away food."  She joked, keeping her eyes on her plate to avoid looking at Justin. 

They ate in relative silence, a strange tension growing between them.  Shelby was wondering what he wanted from her, and Justin wanted to know what was going through her brain.  He knew that he was coming on pretty strong, but he couldn't help it.  She fascinated him.  He wanted to figure her out and know her, and he wasn't one to go about things half-heartedly. 

"Justin..."  Her voice was soft, and her eyes held a strange fear as she finally looked up at him.

"I've scared you," he stated.  He could see it on her face, and he silently cursed his inability to take anything slowly.  "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she tried to assure him, but he was right.

"No, it's not."  He set his glass down and turned so he was facing her more fully.  "I like you, B.  A lot.  You have this...way about you, and I like it.  You're sexy as hell and you're smart and I can't stop thinking about you.  Hell, I came all the way to New York on a whim because I wanted to see you again."  He took a deep breath.  "But I know that I can be pretty persistent when I want to be, and I know that that can be overwhelming."

Shelby held up her fingers a centimeter apart.  "Just a bit." 

"I can't help it, B.  I can't stop and I can't back off now, so I understand if it's too much for you.  It's just...it's how I've always been."  He looked sheepish and nervous, something she hadn't seen from him before.  His honesty was impressive, and she couldn't fault him for that.

"You are a very intense man, Jus."  She smiled at him, reaching out to take his hand in hers.  "But...oddly enough...I like it."  When his eyes crashed into hers, she leaned forward to kiss him softly.  "And you're an amazing cook, so..."

He smirked at her, his eyebrow raised as he watched her.  "You're with me for my cooking now?"

A mischievous glint came into Shelby's eyes as she stood from her seat and pulled Justin out of the kitchen and down the hallway.  "Well...you're amazing at other things, too."  It was her turn to send smoldering looks his way, and he let out a growl low in his throat.

"Come here."

They barely made it to the bedroom.