It was easy to see that Justin and Piper were falling more and more in love as the days passed. Anybody who saw them together could tell that fact. Only problem was that they both kept denying it until they were finally pushed apart by outer forces.

The Next Day - Sunday

Justin rolled over in bed, pulling the covers over his head in an effort to block out the sound of his cell phone. The clock next to the bed read eight in the morning, altogether too early for him to be up on a Sunday. He sighed in relief when the ringing stopped.

Only to start back up again. With much grumbling, the pop star rolled over and grabbed the ringing contraption from the bedside table. What the hell could Joey want this early on a weekend? He pushed send, not sure if he really wanted to find out.

“Hello?” Justin croaked out.

“Sorry to wake you J, but there’s something you gotta see,” Joey stated, his voice urgent.

“Huh? What’s going on?” Justin demanded as he sat up, “And what are you doing up? It’s like four in the morning in LA.”

“I’m not in LA anymore,” Joey explained, “We flew back yesterday because I had some business with my manager to take care of.”

“Oh, well eight is still early. Now what’s the big news?” Justin asked, sleepily rubbing his eyes, “This had better be good, I was having a dream about Halle Berry.”

“Forget Halle Berry. You need to take a look at the tabloids,” Joey stated.

“Don’t tell me the media got a hold of Cameron being in the hospital,” Justin moaned as he reluctantly crawled out of the comfortable cocoon of the bed.

“No, it’s worse.”

“What could be worse than that…”

“Piper,” Joey interrupted. Silence fell on Justin’s end of the phone as his heart plummeted straight to his feet. Not now. No. He didn’t need this pain in the ass right now. Piper didn’t need it either.

“Shit,” Justin mumbled, running a hand over his stubbly face in agitation, “Thanks for the warning Joe.”

“No problem man,” Joey responded.

“I better go and make sure Piper hasn’t heard anything about this yet. Give my love to Kelly and Bri,” Justin concluded, his mind racing with possible ways to keep Piper from getting hurt.

“Will do J. Take care of her, you hear me?” the older man said.

“Of course,” Justin agreed, sighing, “Bye Joe.”

“Later.”

Justin hung up the phone and began to pace the floor in front of the bed. How was he going to get out of this? Lord knew that everybody and their mother read the tabloids, so it’s not like this would go unnoticed. No, more than likely everything was going to blow up in his face.

Just when he was beginning to think that he was falling for Piper. That would have to wait now. He was stuck with a mess on his hands and there was no telling how she’d react. And he hadn’t even seen the paper yet!

A short knock interrupted the quiet solitude of Justin’s sanctuary. He was surprised when the door was opened to reveal Piper’s mother, Julia standing there, a troubled look on her face. She held out a paper in his direction.

His eyes quickly scanned the front page, widening with each picture and every headline. With a sigh, he sat on the bed and began to read through the article.

What the hell kind of bullshit was this? God, just when everything was starting to work out with Cameron and Piper, some goddamn reporter just had to stick their nose where it didn’t belong. How was he supposed to protect Piper when her picture was the on the front page of a tabloid paper?

Justin quickly looked up at Piper’s mom, his eyes wide. She stared back at him, a doubtful and wary look on her face. Like she didn’t trust him with her daughter’s well-being. Well, he didn’t blame her after reading that crap. It basically portrayed him as a womanizing asshole.

“Justin, what exactly is going on?” Julia Saunders questioned, her voice cool, “Is it true what this paper says?”

Justin sighed, not really wanting to go into detail about what had happened with Cameron. But it wasn’t like he had any choice. He didn’t want Piper’s parents thinking that he was some horrible person and forbid him from ever seeing her again. That was definitely something he could not deal with.

So he quickly told the shortened version of the events that had led up to Cameron’s pregnancy and her hospitalization, as well as the part that Piper had played in the whole thing. By the time he had finished, Julia’s manner towards him had changed from coolly reserved to concerned mother.

“Is Cameron doing okay?” Piper’s mother questioned as she gave the young man a motherly hug, “And what about that boyfriend of her’s?”

“As far as I know, she’s fine. She’ll be out of the hospital tomorrow at the earliest,” Justin responded as he stepped out of her embrace, “As far as the jerk who did that to her, I have no clue where he is.”

“Well, let’s hope that she decides to press charges and the police find him,” Julia commented as she walked towards the door, “But for now, what are you going to tell Piper?”

“The truth,” Justin simply stated with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Good plan,” Julia agreed before she disappeared from sight and left a rather nervous Justin on his own again.

He paced, not quite knowing how to go about breaking the bad news to Piper. It didn’t matter how eloquently he put it, the fact was that her face was plastered in tabloids across the country, which meant that from now on, her privacy would probably be nonexistent. That would be extremely tough for her.

He had grown up in the spotlight, loving it to be exact. But Piper had not. If anything, she was shy and gave up the limelight to somebody more outgoing or confident; she was never the one who told the jokes or kept the conversation going. If he knew the media like he thought he did, this was going to be hell for her.

They were going to hound her nonstop and everything she did would be watched by half the country. Justin just hoped that he was there to support her and that she was strong enough not to buckle under the pressure.

It was roughly twenty minutes later, which is the time it took for him to gather what little courage he had left, that he finally managed to make his way down the hall to Piper’s room. He knocked softly and walked in a few moments later. She was still asleep in her bed and he felt his heart catch in his chest.

She was beautiful, to put it simply. Her hair was spread haphazardly across the pillow, a glowing mass in the early-morning sunshine. Her face was relaxed in deep slumber, her eyelashes causing the slightest shadows on her well-defined cheekbones. Her full lips were turned up in the slightest smile, making him want to lean forward and kiss her until she woke up. The comforter had been pushed down to her waist, which gave him ample view of her pert breasts encased in nothing but a well-loved tank top.

Justin took a shaky breath as he pushed those thoughts away and took a seat on the bed next to Piper’s sleeping form. He gently tried to shake her awake, but she just mumbled to herself and rolled over. So he tried again.

This time, he was shocked when Piper pulled him down and kissed him. Full on the lips. He didn’t quite know how to respond. When her tongue began to invade his mouth, he groaned and gave in, opening his own mouth in welcome.

He knew he shouldn’t be doing this. Piper was still fast asleep for crying out loud and had no clue who she was kissing. But he was too mesmerized by the way her lips were moving over his that he quickly lost track of all thought process.

Piper suddenly gave a sigh as she pulled away and settled back into her covers. Her lips were turned up in a smile and Justin almost thought she was awake. But when he tried to shake her, she barely responded to the stimulation.

“Piper!” he suddenly said close to her ear.

That got her awake. She jolted up in bed and grabbed the nearest weapon close at hand, which happened to be a hairbrush. Justin took one look at her and burst into laughter.

“You’re so not funny,” she grumbled as she set the brush back on the night table and turned to glare at him, “You could have given me a heart attack you big oaf.”

“I’m not a big oaf,” Justin whined, pouting at her as he tried to hold back his grin; he was vastly unsuccessfully, “What were you going to do with that hairbrush? Beat me to death with it?”

“Shut-up,” Piper mumbled, her cheeks turning a becoming pink, “Did you come in here to make fun of me or is there something else you want at…eight fifteen in the morning?” The last part of the statement was a screech and Justin winced as she smacked him across the arm.

“I came to make out with you,” he joked, testing if she knew precisely what had happened between them moments ago.

“Haha, I’ve got morning breath. I would never make out with you unless I brushed my teeth beforehand,” Piper retorted, rolling her eyes at the thought, “And besides, you’re Justin. Why would I wanna make out with you?” That definitely hurt, but Justin made sure not to let on just how deeply the words cut.

“Are you trying to say that I’m unattractive?” he pouted.

“No, I’m saying you’re a pain in the ass,” Piper replied as she rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, “Now, if you’re not going to tell me anything important, get out of my room so I can go back to sleep.”

“Uh, well, actually…” Justin trailed off as he picked up the tabloid that had fallen to the floor.

“What is it?” she asked as she sat back up, concerned at the nervousness in his tone.

Wordlessly, Justin handed the paper to Piper. She quickly scanned the front page, her eyes widening as she realized what exactly she was staring at. She quickly read through the article, her lips moving as she went through it.

By the time she was finished, Justin’s heart had started thumping out a nervous rhythm. Piper was biting her bottom lip, a habit that Justin noticed she did only when she was self-conscious or upset. And he would definitely choose upset at this point in time.

“Justin…” she began, finally looking him in the eye. Her green orbs shown with unshed tears and he hated that he was the cause of them.

“I know, baby,” he responded in a soothing voice as she softly cried in his arms, “I’m sorry that you have to go through with this. I really am. I wish to god that I could protect you from the media, but it looks like I don’t have that kind of power.”

“What are we going to do about it?” the young woman asked through her tears, “I mean, now everybody is going to know who I am. Genevieve told me how she’s gotten hate mail and has been insulted in public because she is JC’s girlfriend. I’m afraid that’s going to happen to me, and we’re only friends! I don’t know how to deal with this sort of thing Justin. I’ve grown up in a small, quiet town where everybody knows everybody else.”

“We’re just going to have to take things day by day,” Justin said as he pulled away to look her into the eye, “But I promise you Piper, I will do everything in my power to help you and protect you from the backlash of this whole thing.”

“Really? You promise?” she hopefully questioned, wiping away the last trace of her tears as she did so.

“Promise with all my heart,” he reassured her, “How about…”

Before Justin could finish his sentence, the familiar ring of his cell phone began to reverberate down the hall. Not sure if it was going to be Cameron or one of his band mates, he quickly sprinted down the hall to get to it in time. He picked up, out of breath, not bothering to check the caller ID.

“Hello?” he questioned.

“Justin?” the familiar voice of JC questioned back.

“Yeah, C, it’s me. What’s up?” the pop star questioned, wondering what JC was doing calling him at four in the morning LA time.

“You need to come back to Cali. Something’s happened with Cameron,” JC urgently stated; Justin felt the blood instantly drain from his face.

“What do you mean something happened?” Justin barked, pacing the room as he spoke, “Is she alright? Is the baby okay?”

“Justin, I, well…” JC trailed off.

“Give me the phone,” he heard a female voice say in the background, “Justin? It’s Genny.”

“Hi Genny. What’s going on?” the younger man demanded, annoyed that his band mate and friend couldn’t tell him what was going on with his ex-girlfriend.

“Justin, have you seen the tabloid story?” Genevieve asked.

“Yeah, why? What does that have to do with Cameron?” he practically yelled, frustrated that she seemed to be skirting around the real reason for the early-morning phone call.

“He found her,” Genevieve whispered so softly that Justin almost didn’t hear her.

“Who found her?” he asked, now confused.

“Jeremy Armand. The baby’s father,” Genevieve plainly stated as she sighed, “He came to the hospital early this morning and beat Cameron up because of the tabloid.”

“What!” Justin yelled, not caring who the hell heard him, “Is she okay? Genevieve, please tell me that she’s going to be okay.”

“Justin, calm down,” Genevieve soothed.

“No, I’m not going to calm down until you tell me that Cameron is okay,” Justin cried, running a hand roughly through his hair in an effort to ride himself of the frustration and nerves.

“She’s fine,” Genevieve replied.

“Thank god,” Justin breathed.

“But she lost the baby,” the young woman stated a minute later.

“I…uh, what?” Justin stuttered as he felt his jaw drop in shock.

“Justin, he repeatedly beat her until she was unconscious. In an effort to keep her alive, her body cut off all nutrients and blood flow to the fetus, therefore killing it,” Genevieve explained in a soft voice.

“Shit,” Justin muttered, “How is she doing?”

“She doesn’t know yet,” Genevieve explained, “The doctors have her on a bunch of medication to relieve the pain from the attack, so she’s been in and out of consciousness for the past few hours.”

“God damn,” Justin swore again, “Alright, I’m coming right now.”

“Justin…” Genevieve began.

“No, don’t give me a damn excuse as to why I need to stay here. I don’t care about Piper and Andrew, I need to see Cameron and make sure that she’s okay,” Justin retorted, unaware of Piper lurking just outside his door, “She’s going to need me the minute all those meds wear off and there’s no way I’m going to let her down.”

“Fine, it’s not like I can stop you anyway,” Genevieve said, her voice weary from being at the hospital the past few hours and getting practically no sleep, “Call us back when you’ve made flight arrangements and JC can come pick you up at the airport, okay?”

“Yeah, fine,” Justin said, his mind elsewhere, “Thanks Genevieve.”

“No problem J. You take care of yourself and we’ll see you in a couple hours,” she concluded.

“Okay,” Justin agreed before disconnecting.

He sighed. Lord, why was this all happening to him? First he was getting married to Cameron. Then he was giving blood to Piper’s ex-boyfriend. Now Cameron’s boyfriend beat her up and caused her to lose her baby. God, it almost sounded like a soap opera.

Too bad it was real life. His life to be exact.

Well, it was time for him to go play the knight in shining armor once again, whether he wanted to or not. He quickly began to pack his belongings and was in the process of making the bed when Piper knocked. Justin looked up and immediately noticed something was wrong by the way she stiffly held her body while she walked towards him.

“What’s wrong?” he quickly questioned as he threw the last of the pillows on the bed and picked his watch up from the night table.

“You don’t care about me anymore? What kind of bullshit is that?” she yelled, tears in her eyes, “God, am I that easily replaceable?” Justin dropped the watch he was in the process of putting on.

“Piper, you don’t understand…” he began as he tried to walk to her side. She immediately backed away, her defenses securely in place. He sighed.

“I understand perfectly well. I heard it from your own lips,” she retorted, crossing her arms in anger, “Your ex-girlfriend means more to you than our friendship!”

“Piper, please…”

“And to think I was falling for you,” she cried, the tears freely falling down her face at that point, “God, what an idiot I’ve been.”

“Sweetie…”

“No, don’t you fucking call me that. Get out of my house,” she cried, her petite body shaking with her unrepressed sobs.

“Is that what you really want?” he demanded, his patience with her suddenly gone.

“Yes, get out of my house and get on your fucking plane. I never want to see you or hear from you again,” Piper stated, her voice uneven.

“Fine, if that’s how you want to be then so be it,” he growled as he grabbed his bag and stalked past her out of the room, “Why don’t you give me a call when you grow up!”

“Yeah? Well why don’t you call me when you decide not to be such an asshole!” she flung back.

He didn’t even turn around and look back despite the fact that his heart was breaking into a million pieces. God, he loved her. He knew it now. But she hated him. And the worst part was that she hadn’t even given him a chance to explain.

Then again, from her point of view, he had been rather harsh when he said he didn’t care about her. That had to have hurt, especially coming after she had just read that damn tabloid story.

That tabloid story. That was the cause of all this. Well, the minute he set foot in LA and made sure Cameron was okay, he was going to have a word with the editor of the paper. No, make that a few words.

Back up in the room Justin had just vacated, Piper finally collapsed to the floor and allowed the sobs to take over. She cried for the loss of his friendship. She cried for the loss of his strength and support, which she would definitely need desperately in the next few weeks.

But mostly, she cried for the loss of what she could have had. Without even meaning to, she had fallen hard and hopelessly in love with him. It didn’t matter that he was a famous pop star or that he was five years older than her. No, to her he was just Justin; a dork, a friend, and a wonderful human being.

She had definitely blown it, there was no doubt about that. Well, once she got over the hurt she felt, she would have to find some way to make it up to him. It was time that she learned to swallow her pride and listen to her heart. God knows it would lead her definitely where she wanted to be.