Deana woke up the next morning still next to the fire, but a pillow under her head and her clothes in a little pile on the end of the couch.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Justin said softly, seeing her awake.  

Justin was in the kitchen, starting on breakfast.  Deana sat up and started to get dressed.  Justin had pulled out a t-shirt and pajama pants of his for her.

“You said you would pack for the cold, but you didn't bring any warm pajamas, this was the best I could do…”

“I figured we aren’t gonna be sleeping in pajamas, so why bother?” she answered honestly.  “I guess I should have, at least for staying around here…”

“I have no problem with you wearing my stuff,” Justin stated.

“I’m surprised it fits, honestly.  Women’s stuff is cut so differently than men’s…”

“Hey, no talking bad about yourself.  Not now, not ever, actually… You are beautiful, you are smart, you are…”

“Fat,” she said before he could finish.  “I know you don’t see it, but this situation could’ve gone a very different way.  If they didn't fit, I’d either be wearing my red shorts all week, or just my underwear.”

“And the problem with that would be…?”

“Your t-shirts aren’t as flowy on someone like Danielle as they are on me.  It fits, but barely.  I appreciate the offer, but I’m not feeling so sexy right now.”

Justin walked over to her, still keeping an eye on breakfast on the stove.  “Hey.  We can go into town, find a Target or something, you can go in, get what you need and be good.  Keep it low key.  Don’t let this ruin our little vacation.  It can be fixed.”

“Sorry, I guess I’m letting the real me show a bit more.  I’m not always even remotely confident, I guess reality is settling in after the amazing dream these last few months have been.”

“I have my bad days, too.  Mine just happened to be when you weren’t here.  That whole time I was waiting to see if you’d choose me, I was a mess.  I did what I had to for shows, but part of me wasn’t really in it.  Everyone could tell.  One of my dancers noticed and tried hitting on me.”

“Um, WHAT?”

“She thought if we hooked up I’d feel better.  I said no.”

“Son of a bitch…”

He looked at her.

“I told Dani something like this was probably happening while I wasn’t there...”

“Nothing happened.  It was the day you told me about what happened with you and Paul.  I can’t even say it, even though that part is over now.  But you told me, I’m sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but nothing happened.  You can ask her.”

“I really don’t wanna know which one it was, but at the same time I’m going to worry about which one it is, thinking it could be any of them.  Nothing happened…”

“I went and laid down on my bed, that’s when I had the Amnesia dream.”

“Does it feel like we’re both trying to poke holes in this right now?  Me with my little meltdown about pajamas, you with telling me about one of your dancers wanting to sleep with you…”

“Maybe, I don’t know.  I think it’s more us being honest with each other instead of hiding things.  We can easily solve your problem, and with you on tour, no one else is gonna be hitting on me.  I told her it’s not happening and she backed off.  You met her at my birthday party.”

“Probably the girl telling me you couldn’t keep your eyes off me during your birthday show, then that you probably couldn’t keep your hands off me after…”

“Maybe.  Please don’t let this ruin what we have.  This is our first full day together in a while, let’s have breakfast, I’ll drive you out to get some things, we’ll come back here and be good again.”

“Ok.  Let me just go and get dressed.  I did bring actual clothes clothes, just not pajamas.  Now I’m realizing that was dumb, with the tour and all…”

“Not dumb.  We’ll be on my private bus or in a hotel room, not like you’re gonna be sharing a room with anyone but me.  I do want you to be comfortable this week, so some good comfy PJs are a good idea.”

“Ok, but I’m going to the men’s section.  It’ll be cheaper and I can guarantee a 2XL will fit me…” she sighed.

“As long as you’re happy.  Breakfast is almost done, I’ll see you in a bit.”

She grabbed her jeans, a royal blue long sleeved shirt, a white scarf, and black lo-top Converse.  She put the scarf and shoes in the mud room, where their jackets still laid on the floor from the night before.   

She walked back into the kitchen, putting an arm around Justin.  “You can sing, dance, act, an expert lover, and you can cook.  Seriously, are you even human?” she laughed.

“I promise, I’m not perfect, you’ll see at some point…”

“Well, you’re perfect for me, so it doesn’t matter.  It smells amazing, babe.  When did you have time to get groceries?”

“I set things up with the owners in advance.  They live nearby, this is a rental property for them.  I placed an order for stuff to be delivered, they let the delivery guy in and put it all in the fridge and stuff.”

“Let’s eat, shall we?” she asked. 

He made poached eggs with the veggie blend on top, blueberry pancakes and chicken apple sausage. Everything tasted delicious, each having their own pops of flavor that meshed well together.

They did dishes before heading out to shop. They went into the mud room to put on shoes, jackets, and scarves before getting into the car. 

Justin drove to the closest place they could find. Justin stayed in the car, dropping her off at the entrance to the store, putting his scarf up over his nose and mouth to cover his face in case of paparazzi. 

Deana walked into the men’s department, grabbing a pair of flannel pajama pants. She started looking for a shirt when she saw a display that caught her eye. 

“Oh, I HAVE to get this..” she said aloud, excitedly.  Thankfully it was available in a size that fit, and she paid for the items and headed back outside. 

Justin pulled up for her to get in the car, and they went back to the cabin.   As they pulled into the garage, Justin looked at her. “Do you wanna get comfy in what you just bought?”

“No, it can wait for a while. Since this area is gated, and we’re already dressed for outside, maybe take a little walk, get some fresh air?”

“Sounds like a plan,” he nodded. They went through the mud room to the front door to walk back outside. They walked at a leisurely pace, in no hurry to get anywhere. Deana felt like she could really breathe for once, taking in slow, deep breaths. They walked hand in hand, looking at the trees, listening to the birds and sounds of the woods around them. 

Once Deana started to get cold, they headed back to the cabin. “They have a game closet, wanna see what they have?” Justin suggested. Deana nodded. Justin opened the cabinet door, looking through the various boxes on the shelves. 

“You picked Scrabble, against a teacher?” Deana asked, surprised. 

“You calling me stupid?” Justin teased. 

“I’m saying I’m still in school and I KILL at this game. My family will unhappily tell you I’m the Scrabble champ…”

“A little friendly wager?”

“What did you have in mind…?”

“Any score over 20, the other person loses a piece of clothing.”

“Strip Scrabble? Prepare to lose…”

“Pretty sure we’ll both win no matter what…” he said to himself. 

Deana set up the board at the kitchen table. 

“Ladies first,” Justin said. 

“You sure?” She asked. 

“Absolutely.”

“Fine. Have it your way, loser.”  She laid her tiles on the board. 

“Quickly- 25 points PLUS 50 bonus points for using all 7 letters.”

He pulled off his shirt with a smile. 

“Do you know something I don’t?” Deana asked. 

“Let’s just keep playing…” He played his first word, kiss. 

She smiled. NSYNC. “I had to when the tiles popped up…”

“Proper noun, you know that’s not allowed, but I’ll allow it,” Justin said. 

They continued to play. Fuck. Shovel. Apple. Dirty. The game went on, Justin trying to use as many dirty words as possible, along with low scoring ones. 

He was now in just his boxer briefs, Deana losing her shirt and socks. 

“I still say you had to lose the pants,” Justin complained. 

“Hey, you chose what order when you lost, I chose my own order…”

It was Deana’s turn, she had a big smile on her face. She took his Apple and turned it into pineapple. “Triple word score, lose the undies…”

“Undies?” he laughed. 

“Yeah, I got caught up in my moment of victory, sorry… Now ditch em!”

“You asked for it…” He bent like he was going to strip, standing close to where she sat. Suddenly he lifted her out of her chair, Deana squeaking in surprise, carrying her draped over his shoulder down the hall. 

“You think I lost, but we’re both about to win…” he said, laying her on the bed.

…

Deana caught her breath. “Seriously, HOW are you so good at this?” she asked. 

“You have your competitive side, I have mine,” he smiled. “It’s my goal to never disappoint.”

“That’s it, I’m 100 percent certain you are a GOD.  No one can be THAT good at so many fucking things.”

“I blame my mix of ADHD and OCD. I have to constantly keep busy that I do lots of different things, but I learn them to perfection.  You’re welcome.”

“Well, let me get comfy in my new favorite PJs, I’m excited for your reaction…” Deana said, taking the bag of clothes with her into the bathroom. She got dressed, looked at herself in the mirror, and smiled. 

She cracked the door open. “You ready?” she called. 

“Yeah, baby,” Justin answered. 

She opened the door, her back facing Justin. He could tell the pajama pants, but the black t-shirt she had on looked plain from the back. 

“Turn around, let me see you…” he laughed. 

She slowly turned around. Justin’s eyes widened, then a hand covered his face. “I… why… words fail me right now… REALLY?”

“You expected me to see something like this and NOT buy it?”

“You are NOT wearing that on tour…”

“The fuck I’m not,” she answered defiantly. 

“I’ll give you ANY of my tour shirts to wear, just not that one…”

“Don’t you like it?  You told me to get something I was comfortable in. It fits and I LOVE IT!”

He looked up at her, trying hard not to look at her shirt. “Whenever you wear that shirt, it’ll be my job to get it off of you…”

“Ooh, this will be my lucky shirt then… I like it!”

“Don’t think I won’t go for a round 2 of what we just finished. Give you a head start and I’ll be ready in no time…”

“Don’t you DARE!” She screamed as he pinned her down, pulling the shirt off of her, throwing the shirt on the floor; the picture of him and the guys in their Rolling Stone silver suits facing up.