Now I'll be bold

As well as strong

Use my head alongside my heart

So take my flesh

And fix my eyes

That tethered mind free from the lies

And I'll kneel down

Wait for now                

And I'll kneel down

Know my ground

And I'll kneel down

Wait for now

          Mumford & Sons – “Nothing is Written”

Slowly light slipped in through the blinds, caressing the intertwined sleepers with gentle fingers of gold.  The tender touch was warm, inviting the dreamers into the realm of waking.

Shelby rolled away from the light, hoping to catch a hold of her dream and make it stay longer, but conscious thought was winning the battle.  Carefully, she cracked open her eyes.  Justin was still asleep on his back, his chiseled chest freckled with swaths of golden light.  His hand rested on his stomach, and Shelby watched his chest rise and fall with each breath he took.  Not one to like being alone for long, Shelby reached out a hand and traced a line from his collar bone, down his sternum, and toward his stomach, stopping to dip into his belly button.  He stirred, swatting at her ticklish fingers with his hand.  She grinned and did it again, this time creeping lower, slightly moving the sheet that covered his lower half.

His eyes opened, barely slits but enough for him to catch her impish smile.

“What are you doing?”  His voice was gravel, laced still with the sleep he’d so recently left behind.

“Waking you up, of course.”  Again, Shelby’s finger traced its way over his abdomen, around his belly button, and down the trail of fine hairs that signaled the end of his torso.  His eyes opened slightly larger when her wandering hands plunged beneath the sheets and caught him off guard.

“Shit, girl…”  the growl that came from him was playful but warning.  “What are you trying to do to me?”  With a gentle force, Justin removed Shelby’s hands from his nether regions, pulling her up to rest against his chest.  “I’m not awake for that yet, B.  And like you once told me, I will be completely alert and coherent when we have sex.”  Now his grin matched that of the girl next to him.

“You’re no fun.”  Her pout was short lived when Justin rolled them over, landing on top of the brunette and trapping her body beneath his own.

Justin peppered chaste kisses over her shoulders and collar bone, mumbling “I’m lots of fun” as he moved along.  When he was done, he propped himself over her on his elbows, his blue eyes sparkling in the early morning light.  “What are we doing today?”

Shelby ran her hands over his back and up his neck, running his stubbly hair through her fingers as she thought.  “I want pancakes.”  She announced, looking back up into his amused face.

“Pancakes?”

“Yes, and not just any pancakes, either.”  She wiggled beneath him, causing him to let out a stifled moan.

“You’re going to start something here, B.”

“Well then, get up if you don’t want me to start something.”  He rolled off of her, landing on the bed beside her with a soft thud.  She got up from the bed, her naked skin striped with the light that filtered the blinds.  “Come on, we’ve got to get going if we want to get there on time.”

“Get where?”  Blearily, Justin stood from the bed, quickly following Shelby into the bathroom where she started the shower.

“Pancakes!”  She said, jumping under the warm spray and pulling Justin along in with her.  “I’m taking you on an adventure today, Jus.”

He watched as she lathered her hair with shampoo.  “Adventure?”

She stopped to rinse, glancing over at her shower partner.  “Right.  You don’t have to be in the studio today, do you?”

He shrugged, joining her in washing.  He might as well go along with this.  “Not if I don’t want to.  Why, where are these pancakes?”

The grin on her face was her only answer.  She grabbed the conditioner and massaged some into her hair.  Then she took the wash cloth and filled it with soap, lathering both her’s and Justin’s bodies with the fragrant suds.

When done showering, Shelby sent Justin in to get dressed while she ran into his den and printed off the directions she needed.  She then threw on some clothes she’d brought with her—just in case, you know—and met Justin in his bedroom.  He was dressed down, jeans and a hoodie, and Shelby thought that she liked this look the best.  A hat adorned his head, and she tapped the brim, grinning.

“Are you ready?”

Justin gave her a long, skeptical look.  “Should I be scared?”

Shelby shrugged, grabbing his hand and pulling him from the room.  “Nah, I’m just going to kidnap you and make you my sex slave, that’s all.”

“Oh, well in that case…”  the sarcasm in his voice was thick and Shelby swatted his arm.

“I am going to need your car keys, though.  I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”

There was hesitation as he handed her the car keys, but eventually he slipped them into her hands and let her drag him down to the parking garage where he kept his car.  There was a skip in her step, a lightness that had Justin grinning despite the fact that he was slightly worried about this ‘adventure’ she was bringing him on.  Spontaneity and Justin Timberlake didn’t always mesh well.  He had to plan things and prepare for everything, which meant random trips to get pancakes weren’t often.

Not much was said as Shelby started to drive them out of the city.  Justin was still bleary eyed, and Shelby was intent on the directions she’d printed.  He’d tried to peek once, but a swat to the back of his head thwarted his attempt. 

“I’m going to stop for some gas and to grab a coffee, can I get you one?”

Justin gave her a look.  “I thought we were going for pancakes?”

“We are, but it’s going to take a bit to get there and I don’t want you grumping at me the entire way.  So, coffee?”

Justin’s reply was a grunt.  Where was she taking him?  She stopped the car, leaving him behind as she made her way inside to grab coffees, pay for gas, and pick up a few other things they might need along the way.  When she returned to the car, she set the paper bag in Justin’s lap, earning her another questioning look.

“Why are there donuts and Danish in here if we’re getting pancakes?”  His question went unanswered because Shelby had shut the door to pump gas, so he asked again when she settled back into the driver’s seat.

She grinned.  “Well, it’s going to be a little while before we get to the pancakes, so…I didn’t want you to be too hungry.”

“How long is a little while, Shelby?”

She didn’t look at him when she answered.  “Three hours.”

“Where the hell are you taking me?  Three hours?”  His voice was amused, but he was a little worried. 

“We’re taking our adventure to Vermont.”  Of all the places he was expecting, Vermont was not one of them.  “I know a farm out there that makes maple syrup and the also have a restaurant that serves breakfast.  I want their pancakes.”

At this, Justin laughed.  Shelby Edge was entirely unpredictable. 

~*~

The three hour car ride had passed surprisingly quickly.  Justin was glad Shelby had grabbed some snacks because he needed them, but he enjoyed riding along with her, singing to music and talking about the most random topics.  At one point they even debated the best smelling laundry detergent.  He was complete amused by her.  He was also a little smitten with her.  No one had taken him on random trips like this before.  No one had looked past his celebrity so completely, and with her he felt human.  It was strange, but he wasn’t going to over-think it.

“We’re almost there.”  Her soft voice broke through his thoughts and he turned to see her grinning at him.  He smiled back.  They were surrounded by verdant fields, rolling hills, and cattle farms the stretched to the horizon.  It was beautiful contry.  Surprisingly enough, he’d never really been to Vermont before.  Sure, he’d driven through it on tours with the guys and solo, but he didn’t think he’d actually stopped to check anything out.  This was a first.

“So, B, how the hell did you find a farm in Vermont that serves pancakes?” 

She turned to give him a small smile.  “When I was a kid, my grandparents owned a farm out here.  During vacations and the summers, my parents would ship me off out here and I would stay with my grandparents.  When they passed away, a younger couple bought the farm from them and that’s where we’re going.”

“Oh.”  Justin was surprised, to say the least.  The more he learned about Shelby Edge, the more curious he became.

“We’re here!”  She parked the car in front of a small building with a sign advertising pancakes.  Before he could take much else in, Shelby had him by the hand and started dragging him in through the door.

“We’ll eat first, and then I’ll take you on a tour.”  The inside of the building was cozy, fitted with small tables that were still rather empty.  There was a counter with a couple older men drinking coffee, and a waitress.  She waved them in, motioning that she’d be just a second.

“We’ll if it isn’t Miss Shelby.  What the hell are you doing here?”  The waitress greeted them as they sat down, grinning at Shelby.  “I haven’t seen you in years.”

Shelby shrugged, blush creeping up her cheeks.  “I know, it’s been a while.  Nancy, this is my friend Justin.  Justin, this is Nancy.  She’s one of the owners.”

Justin smiled up at the waitress, offering a hello before scanning the menu while the girls talked.  Nancy didn’t stay much longer, taking their order and leaving to attend to some new customers.  While they waited, Justin took a minute to look around.  It was rustic, to say the least, but there was something welcoming about the small restaurant.  He liked that it was off the beaten path, and he liked even better than everyone around seemed to be of an older generation.  Even though he hadn’t noticed, he’d been tense most of the ride here.  Force of habit.

“The pancakes here are amazing, but mostly, I think, because of the syrup.”

“They make it here?”

“Yeah, I can show you the evaporator and everything.  It’s too late in the season now, so they won’t be boiling, but it’s still pretty cool to see.”

Justin watched her across the table for a bit, evermore intrigued by what he was discovering.

The food was out quickly, and just like Shelby had promised, it was delicious.  The pancakes were some of the best he’d ever eaten, and the syrup was rich and sweet.   There was bacon, sausage, home fries, and toast, too.  It didn’t take long for the two of them to become completely stuffed.

“I haven’t eaten like that since I was last in Tennessee.”  He leaned back in his chair, patting his full stomach.  “Thanks, B.”

Shelby grinned at him across the table.  “My pleasure, Jay.”  She nodded with her head toward the door.  “Let’s go for a walk.  We can burn off some of those calories.”

She left some bills on the table to pay for the meal and grabbed Justin by the hand, leading him out into the heart of the farm.  The weather had just started to warm up, Summer peaking its way through the land.  The fields were newly planted and the air smelled of rich, overturned soil. 

“It’s so peaceful out here.”  Justin whispered, almost afraid to ruin the moment.

“I love it here.”  Shelby tugged his hand, leading him into a barn where some horses were stalled.  “This was Gram’s horse.  She bought it when I was a kid, hoping I would take up riding like my mother.”  She went up to the stall, running her hands down the nose of a chestnut mare.  “Unfortunately, I take after my father and I never did get the hang of it.”  She let the horse nip at her hands, its breath hot on her skin.  “This is Beauty.”

“Like Black Beauty?”

Shelby shrugged.  “I told you I was a kid.”  His response was a chuckle.

They moved farther into the barn, stopping to pet a few more horses before exiting out the other end and into a different part of the farm.  Shelby led him past a couple other buildings until she reached one that was set toward the back, settled into a copse of trees.  “This is the sugar shed.”

Justin followed, stepping inside the small barn.  There was a massive stove in the center, and piles of wood stacked around the edges.  “What is that?”

“That’s the evaporator.”  She moved closed, pointing as she spoke.  “Syrup is made from the sap of maple trees.  It has to be boiled down slowly, so the sap starts here, warming up over the main part of the stove, and it drips into the pan below.  In that big pan is where it boils and boils.  When it gets to a certain depth in the pan, it’s taken off and put into a large pot to be finished off.”  She moved around the room and showed him a few more things.

“How long does that take?”

“It usually takes most of the day, maybe ten to twelve hours, depending on how much you’re boiling.  The rule is eighty-six to two.  Or really, forty gallons of sap will make one gallon of syrup.  You can imagine how long that would take to boil down.”

“Shit.  That’s incredible.”  He glanced over at Shelby and grabbed her hand.  “It’s even more incredible that you know all this crap.”  Bumping his shoulder into hers, he managed to get her to smile.

“I loved coming here as a kid, especially during sapping season.  My grandparents taught me everything I know.”  Her eyes moved farther away in time, leaving Justin alone in the present moment.  He let ger drift off, looking around the small room some more.  He was intrigued.  This wasn’t a side that he expected to see of Shelby.  She didn’t strike him as the muck-boots wearing, country type.  He liked it.

“Thanks for bringing me here, B.”  He gently took her hand in his, brining her into him so he could kiss her forehead.  “This is really cool.”

Her cheeks flushed again and she looked down at the floor.  “You’re the first person I’ve taken here, actually.  But…” she looked up at him with a soft smile, “I’m really glad you came, too.”

Slowly they walked back the way they came, taking their time in getting back to the car. 

“It was the perfect adventure, tour guide.”  Justin bumped shoulders with Shelby, kissing her on the cheek.

“Well, don’t expect me to top it anytime soon.  I’m not sure I’ve got anything better than a farm and some kick ass pancakes.”  She handed him the keys, happy to let him drive them home.

She was feeling contented, which she hadn’t expected from someone like Justin.  When they’d bumped into each other at the party in L.A., she figured him for another musician that was nice enough but too busy for anything other than being a celebrity.  She had been happily proved wrong, and the more time she spent around this man, the more she realized she didn’t want to be away from him.  That could get dangerous, but then again, she was always up for a little excitement in her life.  There was nothing wrong with seeing where this went, and she was pretty certain the feeling was mutual.