So Piper forgave Justin. All it took was for him to give away some blood to her ex-boyfriend. Yeah, crazy, I know. But that was really sweet of Justin and I don’t blame Piper for having a change of heart.

I guess you could say things with those two blind fools got better after that. But then I’d be lying. Justin was still confused as to where Piper fit into his heart and Piper; well Piper was still denying everything.

Unfortunately, before Piper and Justin could figure out the jigsaw puzzle their relationship was, the media got wind. And we all know what a pain in the ass they can be. Needless to say, Justin and Piper’s relationship to a big giant leap backwards.

The Next Day

Piper quietly tiptoed into the guest bedroom early the next morning. Justin was still asleep, the covers rumpled around his tall frame. He looked so peaceful and she hated to wake him, but the doctor had insisted on fluids every eight hours for the next two days to ensure that Justin didn’t catch an illness while his blood count was low.

Of course, Piper had volunteered to nurse the pop star. It was bad enough that Justin had shown up unannounced and they had had to put him up in the guest bedroom (though her parents had said it was no trouble); she would have felt worse if her mother had to of taken care of Justin. So she took it upon herself to do the deed.

“Justin,” she whispered after she had set the glass on the night table next to the bed, “You’ve got to get up and drink some water now. It’s been eight hours.”

“Go away,” he grouchily mumbled, pulling a pillow over his head in an effort to convey his message to the greatest extent.

“Nope, sorry, no can do,” Piper persisted, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and trying unsuccessfully to pull the comforter back, “You don’t want to get sick, now do you?”

“Would you stay by my side and make me better?” his muffled voice hopefully questioned. Piper rolled her eyes at his antics.

“Of course I would,” she finally replied.

“Then I don’t want any water,” he said, pulling the comforter tighter around his body.

“You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?” she demanded, smacking him on what she thought to be his back.

“Nope, that’d be you seeing as though that’s where you just hit me,” he stated, finally pulling his head up and turning a grinning face in her direction. She blushed out of embarrassment.

“Shut-up,” she mumbled as she attempted to vacate the bed, “Just because I’m taking care of you doesn’t give you the right to be so mean to me.”

She never made it off the bed, however, for she suddenly felt a strong pair of arms go around her waist and pull her backwards onto the bed. She landed next to Justin, who took one look at her shocked face and burst into laughter. She glared at him, but didn’t try to move.

“Well that was uncalled for,” she finally huffed, pretending to be annoyed with him. But that was next to impossible when Justin was staring at her, an adorable pout on his lips.

“You were leaving me,” he whined in a little kid voice, “You said you’d stay and take care of me.”

“I said I’d take care of you if you were sick. You don’t seem very sick to me,” Piper commented, grinning.

“But Piper…”

“Hey, I’m just calling it like I see it,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Meany,” he announced before proceeding to tickle her.

Piper was caught unprepared. She giggled as Justin found her most ticklish spots and tortured her. She squirmed, trying to get away, but he held her in a vise-like grip that prevented any attempt at escape.

Finally, just when she thought she couldn’t take it any longer, Justin let her go. Piper sucked in a deep breath, her ribs aching from a lack of oxygen. She turned her head in Justin’s direction, grinning when she saw him trying to catch his breath as well.

“Did I wear you out baby?” she teased, laughing when he made a face.

“Of course not,” he responded after taking a deep breath, “I just didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

“Excuses, excuses,” Piper stated as she rolled off the bed and stood up, “So are you going to drink this now?”

“Yeah I guess, since there’s no way I’m getting out of it anyway,” Justin said with a sigh.

Truth be told, he really hadn’t gotten enough sleep that night. He had lain awake in bed for hours, not understanding why sleep wouldn’t overcome him.

Of course, it could have been because he had too many things on his mind at the time. The foremost, though, had been Piper. And the fact that she was seeping in the next room over did nothing to calm his overexcited mind.

Earlier that day, after the blood transfusion, Piper had immediately taken Justin home with her, where her parents had insisted he stay. he was too tired to argue, though he knew that it was rather rude of him to show up unannounced like he did. But nevertheless, he was grateful when Piper had showed him to the guestroom where he had proceeded to take a five hour nap.

After he had woken up, he had spent the rest of the day lounging around the house and playing video games with Piper’s brother while letting the two women of the house fuss over him. They were almost as bad as his mother, who probably would have been stuffing him with even more juice and “healthy foods” than Piper and her mother. But he was grateful to the two nonetheless.

Finally, after all the dinner dishes had been cleared and the kitchen cleaned, Piper’s family had been them both goodnight and headed off to bed. He and Piper, however, had opted to stay up and watch some movies. That was the part that Justin had enjoyed the most.

Unfortunately, it was the part that also had him the most confused. Piper had cuddled up to him while the movie was playing, had practically been in his lap, her head resting comfortably on his chest. He had wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to fully enjoy her company.

She hadn’t said a word in protest. Which was quite odd as far as he was concerned. She had completely flipped out when he had kissed her, but she didn’t seem to have a problem with them being all over each other. That had him overanalyzing the entire situation.

And it hadn’t helped when Piper had fallen asleep in his arms. She had looked so cute, lying so trustingly in his arms that he’d almost had to pinch himself to keep from leaning down and kissing her. That definitely didn’t help the situation.

Oh, he wanted to deny it until he was blue in the face, but what was the point? There was no disagreeing with the fact that he was starting to fall for Piper. But that wasn’t something he was going to go shouting to the world. Not when she didn’t feel the same about him.

“Cool-aid!” Justin gleefully stated as he sat up and tasted the flavored drink, “How did you know I like cool-aid?”

“Actually, I didn’t. I like to drink cool-aid when I’m under the weather, so I figured you’d like it as well,” Piper sheepishly admitted, “And that way I get to drink some without my mother yelling about how there’s too much sugar in it.”

“Brat,” he teased, taking another sip, “So you’re just using me, eh?”

“Of course not,” she defended, pretending to look horrified at his suggestion, “I’m merely taking advantage of you.”

“Taking advantage of me?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow in her direction, “That makes me feel so much better.”

“I knew it would,” she gleefully stated, grinning. Justin couldn’t help but grin along with her as he quickly finished off the glass of grape-flavored cool-aid.

“So what do you have planned for today?” he questioned as he stood up and stretched, unaware of Piper’s interested stare.

“Huh? Oh, well I guess my cousin is throwing a get-together for the family and we’ve been invited,” she nonchalantly stated, shrugging her shoulders as if it wasn’t a big deal. But Justin immediately paled.

“What do you mean we?” he hesitantly questioned, nervous.

“You and me,” she promptly grinned, eyes twinkling, “Apparently word has gotten around my family of your heroics yesterday and they all want to meet you.”

“Oh no,” Justin moaned, running a hand through his hair, “This is terrible.”

“No it’s not. They’re going to love you,” Piper consoled, grinning, “Besides, my family is only about fifty percent crazy anyway.” If it was possible, Justin grew even paler.

“I didn’t even bring anything nice to wear,” he weakly protested, trying vainly to think of a valid excuse to get out of this predicament, “There’s no way I’m meeting your family in jeans and a t-shirt.”

“So we’ll go shopping,” she commented, “Now why don’t you go get in the shower while I go firm out the plans with my parents?”

Before Justin could even think to protest, she was gone from the room, leaving him staring after her. Great, now he was going to meet her whole family. And he wasn’t even sure about how he felt about her anymore. Lord, he was in for it.

“How about that one?” Piper asked, pointing to a blue, striped short-sleeved polo.

“Really? You like that one?” Justin asked, surprised, “I would have thought you would have been more of a dress-shirt kind of woman.”

“Nah, I like polo shirts. Something about them just seems to turn me on,” she stated, grabbing his size off the rack. He stared at her in shock. “Geeze, I was kidding Jus, don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what? Like you’ve completely gone off the deep end?” he asked, grinning when she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Just go try it on with those pants and tell me how it works out,” she retorted, pushing in the direction of the dressing rooms.

“You’re not going to come in with me?” he questioned, turning pleading eyes in her direction.

“Justin, I’m not your mother. And besides, I think I’ve seen enough of your ass to last me the rest of my life,” she teased, enjoying the blush that spread across his cheeks.

“Whatever, you’re just trying to keep yourself under control,” he shot back as he wiggled his eyebrows at her. She giggled.

“If you say so,” she said before he disappeared into the dressing room.

“So, what do you think?” he asked, reappearing about five minutes later dressed in a pair of baggy khakis and the polo shirt Piper had picked out. She checked him out from head to toe, liking what she saw.

“Looks good to me, what do you think?” she stated, grinning as he began to strut his stuff like he was on a catwalk.

“It’s a winner,” he agreed.

“Thank god, it only took like five stores,” she stated, breathing a sigh of relief, “I’ll say one thing though, J, you sure can shop.”

“Hey, you’re enjoying yourself, don’t deny it,” he retorted, winking before disappearing back into the dressing room. Piper just rolled her eyes at his retreating figure.

“Alright, let’s pay for this stuff and get out of here. I wouldn’t want to be late to your cousin’s party,” Justin commented as he approached Piper, back in his own clothes.

“Good idea,” she agreed and they went to the cash registers.

Piper almost cringed when she recognized the face behind the cash register. It was a girl from her high school class, and a very bitchy one at that. This was going to be interesting.

“Thanks for shopping at American Eagle,” Mandy Anderson cheerily chirped, grabbing the shirt and pants out of Justin’s hands, “Did you find everything okay today?”

“Sure,” Justin replied, not paying her much attention as he pulled out his wallet and looked for the credit card he wanted to use.

“Your total is $55.79, and that’ll be credit?” Mandy continued, not recognizing the pop star under the hat he wore.

“Yes ma’am,” Justin politely replied, shooting a lopsided grin in Piper’s direction. She gave him a half-hearted smile in return, ignoring the concerned look he gave her.

“Oh my god, you’re…” Mandy squealed.

“Yes I am, and I’d appreciate it if you could keep it down,” Justin said, a little annoyed at the girl’s lack of subtlety.

“Of course,” Mandy agreed, suddenly lying eyes on Piper, “Oh hi Piper, I didn’t see you there.”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t,” Piper snapped, rolling her eyes.

“I hope you’re not bothering Mr. Timberlake here. I’ll have to get security to throw you out of the store if you are,” Mandy threatened, her eyes gleaming with barely-concealed contempt.

“You’d have to get a bunch of guys to throw little old me out? Oh that’s right, you couldn’t kick my ass if you tried,” Piper loftily responded, not caring if she pissed the girl off.

“Why you little bitch,” Mandy hissed.

“Woah, hold up there. She’s with me,” Justin snapped, “So if you’d be so kind and keep your tongue to yourself and finish up, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks sweetie.” The last word dripped with sarcasm and Piper was glad to see Mandy look at Justin in shock.

“Okay,” she meekly agreed, glaring daggers in Piper’s direction.

In no time at all, they were out of the store and Justin couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. He glanced at Piper, worried when she didn’t say a word to him about what had just happened.

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked, snapping her out of her daze.

“She was a girl from high school that used to be my friend and then turned on me,” Piper simply explained, “End of story.”

“Are you okay?” he asked, stopping so that he could look her in the eye, “You know you can talk to me, right?”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just, my high school years are not really something I like to talk about with anyone,” she revealed, shrugging her shoulders, “It’s nothing against you or anything, but I just had a horrible time and I don’t ever want to relive it if I don’t have to.”

“No, I understand that,” he said, smiling down at her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “Now how about we grab some smoothies and get our asses out of here?”

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Piper agreed, perking up at the mention of smoothies, one of her favorite drinks.

The two of them resumed their walking, Justin with an arm still draped about Piper’s shoulders and Piper holding tightly to him around the waist. Silence descended over them as Piper was still lost in her thoughts.

“Ooh, we gotta stop,” Piper suddenly stated as she glanced up and saw a store to her left.

“Huh?” Justin questioned.

“Disney Store!” Piper squealed, pointing in the direction of the store; Justin laughed.

“You like the Disney Store?” he demanded, poking her in the side, “Who’s the little kid now?”

“You,” she responded, a serious look on her face.

“What?!” Justin cried, confused, “How does that work?”

“I dunno, it just does,” Piper replied, grinning up at him as she nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders.

Justin rolled his eyes as he followed Piper into the store. He hadn’t been in a Disney store since he was little, and it sure hadn’t looked like this one did. Of course, that was about fifteen years ago.

“You act like you’ve never been in a Disney store before,” Piper commented as she glanced in his direction.

“It’s been about fifteen years,” the pop star explained. Piper’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

“Oh you poor deprived child,” she teased, patting him on the shoulder before walking over to a display filled with stuffed animals, “Would you like me to buy you a Pluto stuffed animal?”

“I’m more partial to Mickey Mouse,” Justin responded as he picked up the aforementioned stuffed animal from the display.

“Oh that’s right, you were a cute little Mouseketeer back in the day,” Piper commented as she grabbed the stuffed animal out of Justin’s hands.

“Yep and proud of it,” he replied as he settled an arm about Piper’s shoulders; she immediately cuddled into him, “Now what would you like? How about Donald Duck?” Piper made a face.

“Justin, you don’t have to buy anything to make me happy,” she protested, “Besides, I hate Donald Duck. He always got on my nerves because he was such a wuss.” Justin laughed.

“Hey, you’re buying me Mickey Mouse, so it’s only fair,” he replied as soon as he had caught his breath. Piper just grumbled to herself.

“Fine, just surprise me then,” she told the pop star as she pulled out of his embrace, “I’m going to pay for this and I’ll meet you outside the store, okay?”

“Okay,” Justin reluctantly agreed. He didn’t have a clue what to get for Piper if truth be told.

Piper giggled to herself as she noticed his lost expression. She was on her way to the cash registers when she suddenly felt a tug on her jeans. She looked down and was surprised to find a young girl of about six looking expectantly up at her.

“Hi,” Piper cheerily greeted, “What’s your name?”

“I’m Emily,” the girl shyly responded, “Can I ask you a question.”

“Of course,” the young woman agreed.

“Is that Justin Timberlake over there?” little Emily asked.

“It sure is,” Piper confirmed as she knelt down in front of the youngster, “And I bet if you go over there, he’ll give you an autograph.”

“Really?” the little girl questioned, her eyes widening in excitement.

“You bet,” Piper confirmed, smiling, “But don’t tell anybody else. We wouldn’t want him to get hurt by all the big girls.”

“No way,” the little girl forcefully said, then her face suddenly fell, “But I don’t have anything for him to sign.” Piper immediately pulled off the North Carolina basketball hat that Justin had bought her weeks ago and handed it to the girl.

“Now you do,” the young woman said as she placed the hat on the young girl’s head, who just giggled.

“Thank you!” Emily squealed, giving Piper a quick hug before she took off in the direction of the pop star.

Smiling, Piper quickly paid for the stuffed animal, wanting to leave the store before little Emily got to Justin. She wasn’t exactly sure how thrilled Justin would be at the invasion. But she didn’t quite make it as far as she wanted to.

“Justin? Can you sign my hat?” Emily quietly whispered as she tugged on his pants. He immediately knelt down so he was eye-level with the young girl.

“Of course I can, what’s your name sweetie?” Justin responded, taking the pen from the outstretched hand.

“Emily,” she shyly replied.

“Well Ms. Emily, this is a lovely hat you have here,” Justin commented as he signed.

“Oh, the pretty lady over there gave it to me because I didn’t have anything for you to sign,” Emily blurted as she waited for her idol to finish signing the hat.

“Which pretty lady?” Justin questioned as he capped the pen and looked up.

“The one over there with the long brown hair,” Emily said, pointing to Piper. Justin felt his heart melt at the simple gesture from his friend.

“That’s Piper, one of my best friends in the whole world,” Justin told the young girl as he placed the hat back on her head, “She’s pretty great, isn’t she?”

“Yeah,” Emily agreed, smiling.

“Emily? Sweetie, come and leave that man alone,” a woman’s voice suddenly cut into their conversation.

“Thanks Justin!” Emily cried before she bounded off in the direction of a woman pushing a stroller. She quickly began to babble to her mother and show off the hat.

“You’re welcome,” the pop star called to the oblivious young girl before heading up to the cash registers where Piper stood frozen, “That was awfully sweet of you.”

“You’re her idol Justin, I couldn’t exactly let her go without your autograph,” Piper said, waving away the praise once again, “Besides, the hat looked goofy on me anyway.”

“I thought you loved that hat,” he pouted.

“Yeah, but…”

“Well then we’ll just have to get you another one,” Justin interrupted as he finished paying for the Pooh stuffed animal he had bought for Piper.

“Are you always this stubborn?” she asked as they walked out of the store and headed in the direction of the sports store.

“Of course I am, you should know that by now,” Justin responded, grinning down at Piper as he put his arm around her shoulders once again.

“Yeah, I don’t know why I even asked that question,” Piper agreed as she surrendered to Justin’s warmth and cuddled into his chest as they walked.

“It’s cause you have the memory span of a goldfish,” Justin teased. Piper poked him in the side.

“Now you’re just confusing me with Chris,” she scoffed.

“Yeah, you two would make a great pair of twins…”

The two of them walked along, content just being in each other’s company. The altercation at the American Eagle store was completely forgotten as they teased each other back and forth. They didn’t have any idea, however, that they had been followed by a reporter the minute they had stepped foot into the mall.