Deana watched a little tv for a while, wanting to feel comfortable in the house.  She scrolled through her phone, sending a text to Danielle to check in.  She knew with the time difference, Danielle would be awake and could talk when she was able.

Her phone buzzed.  Hey, you and Justin go out to dinner last night?”

Yeah.  Guessing cameras caught us again?

Yup.  It’s a sweet picture though, I almost wanna start a scrapbook.  

What did they say?

Just that you were out for dinner.  They have no idea who you are still, just ‘Justin Timberlake and new girlfriend’.

I guess that’s a relief, I still have some anonymity, in spite of being photographed.

You know it comes with the territory.

I know they’d like me better if I looked like you instead of me.

Honestly, I think you guys need to go on Ellen or something and tell your story.  It’s such a cute story, you already knew each other from your work, but it took him losing his voice to find you.  You’re so relatable, you’re one of us.  You handling everything ok?

I still get overwhelmed sometimes, last night it hit during dinner.  I feel like I ruined the evening, even though Justin argued to the contrary.  I’ve been feeling a little lonely, missing you.

I miss you, too.  Can I start sending you pictures of stuff for the wedding? Dress ideas, flowers, that kinda stuff.

Sure. Justin put the date in his calendar, so it’s on his radar as a priority. He says no extra security if it’s just because of him. 

Ok. I’m on my break so I gotta get going, but I’ll talk to you soon, D. 

She went to put her phone down, when it buzzed again. 

Hey babe, can you be free around 1? I have a surprise for you.

Not much of a surprise if I know when it’s coming. 

It can if you don’t know what it is…

Fine. Gives me some time to work out and shower before that. Everything going ok?

Things are great. I might even be done early if I don’t stay and hang out. 

I’ll be ready at 1.  Love you

Love you too, babe ????

She changed into her workout clothes, heading to his little gym. She saw a giant fan in the corner, and moved it to the treadmill she was going to be on. She plugged her phone into the sound system that was in there, playing her Justin and *NSYNC dance/workout mix. She walked, almost running, on the treadmill. Some songs pushed her to do more. 

One song made her stop, focusing on the words. She had normally liked the song, but somehow, it felt different now. Hearing him sing about different conquests of different types of women, including the line “and I ain’t gonna stop til I get you on the top of this list”. A shiver went down her, remembering the conversation she’d had with Justin about Paul and his list. It’s Justin, she thought, surely hundreds of women have thrown themselves at him, but how many were there before me?  

“Sexy Ladies” came on, giving her a similar vibe. She turned it off, deciding she was finished with her workout. She showered, hoping to get her mind off things. She found it only took over her thoughts.  Well, if nothing else, I'm at the top of the list. He says he’s ready to settle down, maybe this is a moot point. It just reminds me of HIM, and I know Justin’s not anything like him. He didn’t use women like that. 

She dressed after her shower, grabbing a snack in the kitchen so she would be ready for whatever the surprise was that Justin had for her. 

She headed to Justin’s office, sitting at the desk with her snack of cheese and crackers and a glass of water. She opened her laptop and started working on schoolwork. She needed to do some reading, opening her digital textbook and taking notes as she read. 

Once she finished her reading, she worked on the assignment for the week. She was starting to get a headache, needing something more substantial to eat. She looked at the time on her laptop. It was 5 minutes to 1. 

Her phone buzzed.  It was Justin. “Hey babe, your surprise should be there any minute now.”

“I’m excited and nervous. I never know what to expect with you. We need to talk later, when you get home. A couple things crossed my mind earlier today, but I don’t want you in some studio or driving home trying to have this conversation.”

“Why am I suddenly worried?” he asked. 

“It’s just a complicated topic, that’s all.”

She heard a knock at the door. “Hold on, someone’s at the door.”

She walked through the house to the front door. She audibly gasped as she opened the door.

“Justin, some friends of yours are here…” she said, trying to stay calm. 

“Surprise,” he said. “They’re here for you. Have fun, don’t freak out. I think this will help, I HOPE it’ll help. If not, I’ll be home soon.”

She hung up the phone. “Hi, come on in. If Justin had told me to expect people over, I’d have at least gotten myself a little more presentable than jeans and a t-shirt.”

“I like that he’s ok with you wearing that *NSYNC tee,” a low voice said. 

“Lance LOVES when I wear my *NSYNC stuff,” Michael said. 

Lance and Michael each gave her quick hugs and kisses on the cheek as they entered. 

“Deana, it’s nice to see you in person. This is Jen, my girlfriend,” JC said, giving her a quick hug. Jen smiled and waved at Deana. 

“I haven’t had lunch yet, you guys wanna order something?  Not sure what all is in the fridge since we’re only here for a few days…”

There was a second knock at the door. Deana was confused on who else to expect.  It was a delivery man, delivering sandwiches and some drinks. 

I took care of lunch for you guys, have fun. ????

She walked into the living room with the bag of food. She looked at the people sitting on the couches in front of her, her mouth open slightly. 

“What… how… when…?” she could barely speak. 

“He called us this morning asking if we were free. Luckily things worked out or we were able to move things. We’ve wanted to meet you since day one, so we took him up on the chance,” Lance said. “Then we gave him food orders once we confirmed coming over.”

“He told us a little about what you guys talked about last night. We brought Michael and Jen for part of that,” JC added. “First, it really is great to meet you. You’ve made him really happy, it’s something we’d each worried about for a while. We know he’s in good hands.”

“Sorry, I’m trying not to freak out. I guess my first question is to Michael and Jen, how did you react knowing who they were, seeing past the famous persona?”

“Good question,” Michael started. “It definitely was interesting at first, it took some getting used to. I didn’t know he liked me that way at first, kinda like with you and Justin. I think it helped that we’re both pretty outgoing people, so I rolled with things well.  I’m sure karaoke brings out that side of you, but it’s hard to keep that going all the time.”

“It is. It was so much easier when I thought he was just a normal guy, hanging out on the couch watching TV. The few times he did over the top stuff, it worried me because I’m used to scrimping and saving for everything, so I worried he was going into debt to do things for me, to impress me. Last night he just wanted to go out to dinner, and I was so starstruck. When did you feel comfortable with that?”

“The more parties we went to, the more I got used to it, but it did take a while.”

“Jen, what about you with JC?”

“Well, we’ve definitely been more low key than Lance and Michael, but it did have an adjustment period. There’s the persona you have built up in your head, and trying to figure out what matches and what doesn’t takes a bit. How long have you two known each other?”

“We met back in October, but I didn’t know he was Justin until his birthday, so less than a month of figuring things out.”

“With us, I wasn’t in the middle of a tour or anything, so there was plenty of time to hang out, show that I can be a normal guy. Justin tried with the whole Bruce façade, but he did it in the middle of a tour and trying to bring you into his world. It’s a lot even when you’re used to things, let alone when you’ve never dealt with anything like that before. It wasn’t exactly fair to you, but now you know how relaxed he can be, when he wants to be. Right now it’s all ‘go, go, go’, but that won’t always be the case,” JC said. 

“So you know, it bodes well that we’re meeting you so early on,” Lance said. “It’s not like he has us over to hang out with every girl he’s dated.”

“He wouldn’t hide his relationships from us, but it’s not like we got to meet them half the time. Lance knew Jess through Beverly Mitchell, but even then it wasn’t like they were all besties hanging out,” JC added. 

“When did he meet your better halves?” Deana asked. 

“I met him at Chris and Karly’s wedding,” Michael replied. 

“We just started dating in November, so we’re still as green as you are, but I’ve had a lot less to adjust to, and knew who Josh was the whole time.  I haven’t actually met Justin yet,” Jen answered. 

“He said he’ll be here soon, so hopefully you’ll cross that off,” Deana responded. 

“Josh hasn’t actually told me how you guys met and all that,” Jen said.

“It’s not my story to tell…” JC responded.

“I don’t think even JC and I have the full story,” Lance said.

“I mean, I don’t mind telling it.  I’ll even include the more painful parts, it’ll help me work through them to get them further behind me.”  She could hear Justin’s voice in her head saying she didn't have to if she didn't want to.

She started with when she first saw him at Starbucks, how he came in every once in a while if he was there, then moving on to the time she saw him before he went on vocal rest, moving on to karaoke.  They were all so enthralled in the story, no one heard the door open and click shut.

“You’re telling my favorite story without me?” Justin laughed lightly, calling from the entryway.

They all stopped, Deana’s face lighting up knowing he was home.  “Hi babe, this was a great surprise,” she said, kissing his cheek.  Justin sat down next to her, adding his own take on their story as she went along.  

“J, you’ve really grown.  I know after B, you swore cheating was the top of your dealbreaker list,” Lance said.  

“Well, she was taken advantage of.  The situation was compromised so that he could get what he wanted.  We talked about it after things had settled down.  If she had wanted him back that much, she’d have made that choice earlier.  The fact that it took getting pretty smashed and emotional grooming, I knew it wasn’t the same thing.  It took a bit to realize that, though.  I told her she had to choose, she automatically chose me, but I said she needed time to think.  She never changed her mind, and I was torturing myself.  But I wanted to make sure it was what she really wanted, when I should have known better what type of person she was,” Justin said, holding her hand.  

“That’s what I meant,” Lance replied.  “I think we all knew that was coming at some point, so for you to look past it, see it for what it was, that’s growth.”

“Well, it’s past us now, especially out on the road and when we’re here,” Justin said.  “We’re not even at the best part yet…”

“What’s the best part?” Deana asked.

He leaned in close.  “The part we haven’t seen. Our future is wide open, anything is possible, and that’s an amazing thought,” he whispered.

“You’re right,” she answered quietly.  She continued with the story, telling about him surprising her at karaoke before his birthday, the show itself, and the big reveal.  “It felt like some weird fairy tale.  I remember being shocked after kissing him to see HIM, not Bruce.  I don’t know what the difference was between the two in my head, but once I opened my eyes, I knew.”

“She definitely freaked out a bit, I was afraid I was going to lose her when she learned the truth.  She’d had it in her head that I could never fall for her, so it took a bit for her to realize I was that guy she’d fallen in love with, and that I was truly, deeply in love with her.”

Deana continued the story, getting to the vacation in Vancouver to present day.

“That’s an amazing story, you could turn it into a book or something,” Jen said.

“Nah,” Justin waved it off.  “At some point I’ll tell our story in some interview, but not sure how long I wanna wait on that.  If I do say anything, it’ll be vague for a while.”

“Pictures from last night popped up online,” Deana said gently.  “Dani told me.  Three separate sets of pictures, and they still don’t know my name.  It’s been weird not going online recently, but I worry about what I’m going to see.”

“There was so much scrutiny when we first were seen together and all that, comparisons to his exes, that I was using him to launch my career, it was everywhere.  But WE knew the truth, so the rest was just bullshit,” Michael said.

“That’s what I told her.  But apparently the fans have really taken to her, not even knowing that she’s a fan.  A lot of them are happy that I’m happy, which is nice to know at this point.  As long as we have the support of our family and friends, and know the truth about our relationship, that’s what matters,” Justin replied.

“Dani’s kinda been my point person for that, letting me know what’s out there, and the general response.  Fans at the show like me, but they also seem to have no idea who I am, just that I’m another fan like them.  Which I am, with definite added benefits.”

“I won’t lie, my career has taken an upward turn since we got together, but the fans have been really supportive, so I get what you mean,” Michael said.

“I wanna be a teacher, but that wasn’t my main worry until after our first ‘story’ broke at his birthday party.  We were hoping to stay under the radar for a bit, but I kinda blew that.”

“I kissed you out on a balcony everyone could see, I should have been more careful.  At the same time, you were hurting and scared of what was ahead, and it was the right thing at the right moment.”

They continued to talk, getting to know Jen and how she and JC met.  Hearing their story helped Deana a bit with what she was thinking and feeling.  

“You guys have been here a while,” Justin said, seeing what time it was.  “If you want, you guys are more than welcome to stay for dinner, we can keep hanging out and talking.  We could play pool, watch a movie, whatever.”

“Thanks, but I think we should head out.  Deana, it was a pleasure to meet you again,” Lance said, giving her another hug.

“I think we’ll head out too, but it was great to see you and get to talk to your amazing woman you got here,” JC said.  

Deana blushed a little at JC’s comment.  “Deana, here’s my number, text or call me if you have anything you need some perspective on.  We’re going through this at roughly the same time, so maybe that can help both of us,” Jen said, giving her a business card with a number on the back.  “The number on the front is for work, the one on the back is my personal cell.”

Justin and Deana walked everyone to the door, gave final goodbye hugs, and closed the door.  Deana held Justin close.  “Thank you, that was actually really helpful.”

“You were ok with meeting them, face to face?” he asked. 

“I was nervous at first, but having Michael and Jen there definitely helped. I love Michael, so that made it easier somehow.”

“I didn't realize JC and Jen have been together a little less than we have.  Though I think our timelines differ on when things started.  For me, it was the second I saw you.  I’m sure for you, it was probably the night of our first kiss, or maybe our first date.”

“I almost treat this like two different relationships.  Yeah, it’s really fuzzy on when I considered us together, especially with how I responded when ‘he’ asked if we were together, I wasn’t even sure, and we’d been on a date, kissed, even slept together.  We can go with your moment, it started everything for the both of us.  We both planned on getting the other’s number before the night was through.  It’s an easier date to remember, the night before Halloween.”

“October 30 it is, our official anniversary date,” Justin smiled.  “Is it weird I’m a little turned on by this?” he laughed.

“I don’t know, but I have one question…”

Justin looked at her.  

“What’s the weight limit on that sex swing?  I just wanna make sure the door won’t come off or something in the middle of things…”

“I don’t know, but you wanna go try it out?”

Deana nodded, a wide smile across her face.  Justin took her hand in his, practically racing her down the hallway to the bedroom.