Ultimately, that stupid story is what stopped Justin and Piper’s relationship at that point. It was obvious that they were falling head over heels for each other, but with the occurrence of that article, and their fight, things got quite rough. In fact, it pretty much split them apart for the better part of three months.

Thank god for Chris and Cameron. I know I said that Cameron turned out to be a bitch, but I was definitely wrong. If it weren’t for her (and, I’ll grudgingly admit, Chris as well), Piper and Justin still probably wouldn’t be talking to each other.

Piper sat on the floor, numb. Justin was gone; probably, she was afraid, for good. She gave up trying to be strong and just let the tears roll freely down her cheeks.

A soft knock on her door, however, brought the young woman out of her daze. She turned her tear-stained face toward the sound, surprised to see her mom standing there. She tried to put on a brave face and pull herself together, but her mother saw through the weak defense.

“Piper, sweetie, what’s the matter?” Julia demanded as she rushed in to comfort her distraught daughter, “Did something happen between you and Justin? I just saw him leave with all his things.”

“I just…just told him to go. I was angry, he was upset, and everything blew up. Now he’s gone forever,” Piper rambled through her sobs.

“Shh honey, everything is going to be okay,” Julia soothed as she hugged Piper tight.

“H…how?” Piper stuttered, “I think I l…love him and I pretty much told him that I never wanted to hear or see from him again.”

“You are going to swallow your pride and go after him,” Julia stated.

“But mom…” Piper protested, eyes wide with shock.

“No, I’m not letting that stubborn pride of your’s get in the way of what your heart truly feels,” Julia sternly interrupted, “Justin is a great guy and I don’t want you regretting what could have been had you only gone after him.”

“But what if he doesn’t feel the same?” Piper questioned in a quiet voice, “I don’t know if my heart could take that kind of disappointment again.”

“Piper, the man flew all the way across the country to make sure you were okay and then he saved your ex-boyfriend’s life by giving blood,” Julia stated, “If that doesn’t say he cares about you then I don’t know what does.”

“You really think he likes me?” Piper shyly questioned as she blushed.

“I’m your mother; I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this,” Julia responded, smiling as they pulled apart, “Besides, he makes lovey dovey eyes at you whenever you’re not looking.”

“Mom!” Piper protested, rolling her eyes at her mother’s strange comment.

“It’s true!” Julia retorted, “If you don’t believe me, then go and ask your father. He’ll say the exact same thing.”

“I think I’ll pass on that, thanks,” Piper choked out.

“Suit yourself then,” Julia said with a shrug of her shoulders, “Hey, what is that?”

“What?” Piper questioned, glancing towards where her mother was pointing.

“Right near your left hand,” her mother replied.

Piper quickly looked down. On the floor, almost hidden under the bed, lay an expensive-looking watching. She quickly picked it up and looked it over, not recognizing it in the least. On the back, however, were engraved the initials JRT.

“It’s Justin’s watch,” Piper said, holding tight to the object, her one link to the pop star, “He must have dropped it in his hurry to leave.”

“Now you have an excuse to go see him,” Julia said with a smile.

“Oh I’m sure Justin’s going to believe that I flew across the country just to return his watch,” Piper sarcastically retorted.

“I’ve heard of stranger things,” Julia commented.

“Wait, how am I supposed to pay for yet another plane ticket?” Piper said as worry lines creased her brow.

“I’ll pay for it,” Julia stated with a motherly smile and pat, “Now let’s go talk to your father. I’m sure he’d like to know that he’s going to have to have “THE TALK” with Justin sometime soon.”

“Oh no…”

California – same day

Justin paced the hall as he waited to be allowed to see Cameron. His mind, and heart, however, were back in Michigan with Piper.

He should have stayed. He should have tried to explain everything to her. No, what he really should have told her was how much he actually loved her.

That was a lot of should-haves that all added up to nothing. Oh, he had his pride; pride that kept him from running straight back to Piper’s arms. So now he was faced with being alone. Again.

But he couldn’t deny the fact that he loved her. Somehow, someway he had managed to fall hard and fast for the one woman who could possibly be the best friend he’d ever had. The one woman he thought he could never fall in love with.

But loved worked in strange ways, he knew that now, and where Piper was concerned, there was no exception. The only problem, now, though, was that he didn’t know how to make things right between the two of them.

“Mr. Timberlake?” a nurse questioned, breaking into his train of thoughts.

“Yeah?” the pop star questioned.

“You can go in and see Ms. Diaz now,” the elder lady responded with a small smile, “But I’m going to warn you now, she’s in pretty bad shape, emotionally as well as physically.”

“So she knows?” Justin asked, referring to the baby his ex-girlfriend had lost.

“Yes, she knows about the baby,” the nurse confirmed as she led the way to the correct room.

“Oh,” was all Justin could manage as they stopped in front of room 269 of the private ward.

“You don’t have to stand in the hall, Mr. Timberlake, she’s perfectly capable of receiving visitors at this time,” the nurse said, prodding him in the direction of the closed door.

“Oh, uh, thanks,” the young man stuttered as the friendly nurse walked away and left him alone.

He sighed. He couldn’t very well stand in the hallway forever like a scared little kid. So with a deep breath for courage and strength, he quietly pushed open the door and entered the room.

The shades were drawn, most likely for privacy, and cast the room in semi-darkness. The only source of light came from a small lamp, which bathed the room in a surreal glow and cast light on the figure in the bed. Justin softly crept forward, thinking that Cameron was asleep.

But he was wrong. The actress turned over the moment she heard him and allowed Justin the first glimpse of her battered face. He gaped in horror.

There was a long line of angry-looking stitches that went from her right eyebrow on a diagonal to the left side of her hairline. The left eye was swollen shut, a nasty purple and blue color which made him shudder. Her nose looked like it had been broken and then reset, her lips split in a couple different places. Her right arm was in a purple cast and a sling kept it from moving too much. Bruises lined her once flawless cheeks and Justin wanted to cry for the loss of her beauty.

“Justin,” she whispered when she fixed her good eye on him.

“Oh Cam,” Justin brokenly cried as he gingerly embraced the injured woman, “How could he do this to you? How? I swear, I’m going to kill the bastard if I ever get my hands on him.”

“Shh, it’s alright, everything is going to be okay,” Cameron soothed as she ran a hand over his back in a calming gesture.

“But the baby…” Justin stated, confused by her seemingly calm demeanor. A pained expression crossed her face.

“I’m never going to forgive him for that,” the actress softly said as the pop star pulled up a chair next to her bed, “Even though it was part of him, it was growing inside of me and going to be mine and only mine.”

“Did you ever tell him?” Justin said, refraining from saying Jeremy’s name for fear of making her upset.

“No. Never. And I wasn’t going to,” Cameron said with a small smile, “I had thought that I could run from him, but I guess I was wrong. I guess I underestimated him.”

“Well forget about him. You need to concentrate on you now,” Justin said, surprisingly them both by how much he sounded like a therapist, “How are you feeling? And what has the doctor said?”

“I had a broken arm, a broken nose, and I needed stitches on my forehead,” the actress began, motioning to the injuries, “I also have a couple broken ribs, which is why I’m pretty much confined to this bed for the next week or two. The doctor said that nothing is life-threatening though and that I should heal completely.”

“But you lost your baby,” Justin prompted.

“Repeated blows to the stomach,” Cameron choked out as her eyes watered with unshed tears.

“Oh sweetie, what can I do? How can I make things better?” he demanded, leaning forward to brush a friendly kiss across her forehead.

“Just stay here and be my friend. I need all the support I can get,” Cameron sniffled, grimacing as she shifted in the bed, “JC and Genny have been great and Lance has stopped by a few times. Chris has been wonderful though.”

“Chris as in Chris Kirkpatrick? The guy that used to wear dreads because he thought it was cool?” Justin demanded, surprised when he noted the dreamy expression on Cameron’s face.

“Yeah…” Cameron trailed off with a sigh, “He’s been by at least once a day to cheer me up, even before this last attack happened. He’s an amazing guy.”

“You like Chris,” Justin incredulously stated, grinning at her.

“So?” Cameron demanded as she blushed, “It’s not like I can help it.”

“Well I don’t blame you, you could use some comic relief amid all this and Chris is definitely that,” Justin agreed, immensely happy that things were actually looking up for Cameron, despite the fact that she had just lost her baby.

“Yeah, he is pretty funny,” Cameron agreed with a far-off smile, “He also brings me flowers too.” Justin swallowed, happy for the actress, but not really wanting to know about all the sweet things his band mate was doing for his ex-girlfriend.

“Well, I can stay with you as long as you need,” he stated, changing the subject, “I’m at your disposal.”

“What about Piper?” Cameron demanded, a little confused, “I thought you were with her? Didn’t she have some sort of family crisis or something? Did you bring her with you.”

“Uh…well…” Justin trailed off, staring at the ground as if it was the most interesting aspect of the room.

“Justin Randall, what have you done?” Cameron demanded as she slowly sat up and faced him.

“It’s a long story,” he mumbled as he finally glanced in her direction. She was frowning at him and he cringed.

“Do I look like I’m going anywhere?” she retorted, “Now, out with it. I want to know what I have to do to help you fix things.”

“Fine, if you insist,” Justin agreed with a sigh.

LAX – Two days later

Piper paced the baggage claim as she waited for Genevieve to come pick her up. Her nerves were frayed, her mind traveling at a hundred miles a minute as she played out every scenario she could possibly imagine that could happen between her and Justin.

“Piper?” Genevieve suddenly questioned as she approached the exhausted girl, “What’s going on?”

“Oh Genny,” Piper cried as she flung herself in the older woman’s arms and held on for dear life.

“Whoa there, calm down sweetie,” Genevieve soothed as she hugged back, surprised at how upset the young woman appeared to be.

“I’m sorry, I’ve just been on edge ever since Justin and I had a fight two days ago,” Piper supplied as she pulled herself together and stepped out of Genevieve’s embrace a few moments later.

“You and Justin had a fight?” Genevieve questioned, surprised.

“Yeah, it’s what made him leave and come back here,” Piper said as she stared at the ground, “I’m surprised he didn’t tell you.”

“Well he’s been too worried about Cameron to even talk with JC or I,” the elder woman stated with a frown, “Haven’t you heard?”

“Heard what?” Piper asked, confused.

“Jeremy, Cameron’s ex-boyfriend, came into the hospital and beat her up. She lost the baby,” Genevieve gently explained. Piper’s eyes widened in shock at the news.

“Oh my god, I had no idea. Justin never mentioned anything,” the younger woman whispered as the two of them put the bags in the trunk and climbed in Genevieve’s car, “Can we go see her?”

“Right now?” Genevieve questioned, starting the car as she spoke.

“Yes, if that’s okay with you,” Piper confirmed.

“Alright, to the hospital we go,” Genevieve concluded as she turned the car in the appropriate direction.

The ride to the hospital was quiet, filled only with small spurts of small talk. Piper didn’t offer any information on what had happened between her and Justin and Genevieve was smart enough not to try to pry it out of her. Piper was too busy thinking about Cameron and how awful she felt about the whole situation. She hadn’t even known anything until Genevieve had mentioned it.

Soon enough, the two of them were walking down the hall towards the private wing of the hospital. After meeting up with JC, who was waiting as they stepped off the elevator, Genevieve quickly left the young woman to make the trek on her own. With a sigh, Piper came to stand in front of the correct door, her heart racing.

She took a deep breath and was about to walk through the open door when she heard Cameron’s voice. Not wanting to intrude, she stayed where she was. It’s not like she was trying to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help but hear the conversation from her vantage point.

“What are you doing?” Cameron giggled, “You’re going to be in big trouble if my nurse comes in here and sees you on the bed with me.”

“Then I’ll talk my way out of it,” the muffled male voice responded. A male voice that sounded a bit like Justin’s.

“Sure you would,” Cameron said with a sigh, “Well, I do enjoy cuddling with you, it makes me feel safe.”

“You know I’ll never let anything happen to you ever again,” the male voice responded.

The sound of kisses quickly followed, making Piper’s heart to fall to the pit of her stomach. Justin was in there, kissing Cameron, his ex-girlfriend. Good lord, she was right about him all along. He didn’t care for her other than as a friend.

“Chris! Stop it! Justin’s going to be coming back from the vending machines any minute and I don’t think he wants to see you with your shirt off,” Cameron squealed.

Piper’s eyes widened. Chris? As in Chris…

“Kirkpatrick, I mean it. Put your damn shirt on before I throw up,” Cameron teased.

“Aww, you don’t like my sexy body?” Chris whined, “Is that any way to treat your boyfriend?”

Whoa. What on earth was going on here? If that was Chris in there with Cameron, then that meant that Justin was somewhere around the hospital. And that also meant that he and Cameron weren’t together again as she had feared. She quickly knocked on the door, wanting to put an end to her questions and confusion.

“Come in!” Cameron called.

“Piper!” Chris cried as soon as she fully entered the room. Much to her amusement, he ran over, picked her up over his shoulder, and spun her around in circles.

“Chris, I’m going to be sick!” Piper managed to get out between giggles.

“Christopher, put her down so I can get a hug,” Cameron instructed.

A few moments later, after regaining her balance and getting a big hug from Cameron, Piper pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down.

“How are you doing?” Piper seriously questioned, trying to ignore Chris as he skipped around the room, a goofy grin on his face.

“I’m doing okay, thanks to Chris, Justin and the rest of the gang,” Cameron responded before sticking her tongue out in Chris’s direction, “And I’m so glad you could make it here. I’ve missed being able to talk to you.”

“I’m glad I could come. I felt awful, I didn’t even know this had happened until Genevieve told me about ten minutes ago,” Piper responded.

“Justin didn’t tell you before he left?” Cameron asked, wanting to get the young woman’s side of the story.

“Not exactly…we sort of had a fight and haven’t spoken for a couple days,” the younger explained as she looked down at her hands, “I pretty much told him that I never wanted to see him again.”

“Really?”

“I didn’t mean it, I was just upset at the time, and I…well I thought that he still cared about you and I was jealous,” Piper finished in a whisper.

“Hey Chris, can you run and get me some chocolate?” Cameron suddenly questioned as she noticed the pop star suddenly taking interest in their conversation.

“But I thought you didn’t like chocolate,” Chris protested, confused.

“I do now,” the actress responded as she gave him a look.

“Oh, I get it. You’re giving me the look, which means you want me to leave,” Chris stated with a roll of his eyes, “You could have just told me that.”

“He’s not very subtle, is he?” Cameron asked with a grin.

“No, definitely not,” Piper agreed as she looked towards the door where Chris had exited not moments before, “How long have you two…”

“We’ve been seeing each other for about a week. Right after you left to go home,” Cameron gushed, a silly expression on her face as her eyes got a far-off look of complete bliss, “But I want to know what happened between you and Justin. You two are perfect with each other.”

“But…” Piper protested.

“No buts just go with it,” the actress instructed with a smile, “Now tell me exactly what happened.”

“You finally decided to leave her side?” Justin questioned as he came upon Chris just as he left Cameron’s room.

“Oh, um, well, you shouldn’t go in there right now,” Chris stuttered as he attempted to pull the younger man away.

“What are you talking about? Is everything okay?” Justin demanded, a worried expression forming on his face.

“Uh…Cameron’s not feeling well right now,” Chris lied as he continued to try to pull the taller man back in the direction of the vending machines.

“Well shouldn’t we get a doctor then?” Justin asked as he tried to shake free of Chris’s grasp and go into the hospital room.

“Piper’s in there right now,” Chris blurted.

Justin froze. Piper was here? Not only in California, but in this very hospital talking with his ex-girlfriend at this precise moment?

No, this couldn’t be happening. He wasn’t ready to talk with her yet. He didn’t know what to say and lord knew he wasn’t exactly in the position to be starting another relationship yet. Oh god, how was he supposed to avoid breaking her heart even more?

“I, uh, I think I’ll just wait right here,” the younger man finally stuttered out as he leaned against the wall, lost in thought. Chris immediately took a seat in a chair on the opposite wall.

They didn’t have long to wait, however, for about ten minutes later, Piper emerged from the room. She glanced up as she walked out and her jaw dropped as she noticed Justin standing there. He immediately stood up and walked to where she stood rooted.

“I’m just going to go check up on Cameron. Alright? Okay then,” Chris announced and quickly slipped past the pair. Neither, however, noticed his departure.

“Piper…” Justin breathed, taking in her beauty.

“Can I talk to you?” Piper quietly got out as she nervously shifted from foot to foot.

“Uh, sure, let’s go to the cafeteria,” Justin agreed, leading the way to the private eating place that was deserted, silent but for the hum of the vending machines.

He was really nervous. He’d bet a thousand bucks that Piper had come to discuss where there relationship was headed, and frankly, that wasn’t something he wanted to discuss just yet. Maybe once things with Cameron settled down and he actually had some time to himself to think things through.

Because lord knew he was attracted to Piper, no, he loved her, that was the right thing to say. But right now, that was one thing he couldn’t deal with amidst all the rest of the craziness that had ensued the past few weeks.

It wouldn’t be fair to her to give half his heart to a relationship. Piper deserved better than that, especially since she had already gotten her heart broken once, which was one times too many in his eyes. No, it would be best to wait until things calmed down to act on his feelings.

“I just wanted to apologize for blowing up at you a couple days ago,” Piper began, interrupting his thought process as they sat at a table.

“It’s okay.”

“I was just upset with what you had said about me not mattering because, well, you’ve come to mean a lot to me,” Piper continued, nervously biting her lip at Justin’s unresponsiveness.

“Alright.”

“Justin, I think I’m in love with you,” Piper blurted, blushing as she looked down at her hands in embarrassment.

Minutes passed and Justin didn’t say anything. With tears in her eyes, Piper finally glanced up, only to see the pop star staring off in the distance, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Well say something,” she demanded, her voice trembling.

“I can’t do this right now,” Justin managed before he practically sprinted out of the room, his heart breaking in the process.

Piper sat there in shock. Never had she imagined he would react in such a…horrified manner. As if it was an awful thing that she was in love with him.

Maybe she had read him all wrong. Maybe she had misinterpreted his feelings as being something more when they actually weren’t. God, what had she gotten herself into?

LAX – One week later

Piper sat in an airport chair, waiting for the boarding call for her plane. JC and Genevieve had dropped her off about twenty minutes ago before they left to go visit Genevieve’s family. So alone she sat to wait for the plane that would take her home once more.

The past week had been excruciatingly painful, what with keeping everything from JC, Genevieve, Chris and Cameron as well as avoiding Justin at all costs. She was more than ready to go home and get on with her life. It was best, she had decided, to just let things with Justin rest as they were. There was no sense in her worrying herself senseless when her feelings would never be reciprocated.

It was sad to think that their friendship was pretty much through, especially after all the memories they had made over the past few months. She would miss him, miss his laughter, his voice, his habits, everything, but she wasn’t willing to risk her heart again when it was bound to get broken again. No, it was better to safeguard it from now on.

“Piper?” a male voice suddenly questioned in a low voice.

She was startled out of her thoughts and was shocked to look up from her magazine to find Justin standing there, his hands shoved deep in his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels. If it was possible, the circles under his eyes appeared darker and he seemed to have lost even more weight.

“Justin,” she frostily greeted before turning back to her magazine article, not really reading as her attention was focused on the man standing before her.

“I came here to say I’m sorry for running out on you like that,” he softly said to her, hoping she would look up, “I just was overwhelmed.”

“Well I’m sorry my confession was such a burden on your conscious,” she retorted, trying to ignore the fast pace of her heart.

“No, that’s not what I mean at all,” he cried, kneeling down and forcing her to look him in the eye, “I care about you, Piper, I really do. More than you actually know. But I just can’t do this, not right now. You deserve somebody who can give you their whole heart and right now, I just can’t do that.”

“A relationship is inconvenient for you? What a load of shit,” Piper spat, glaring at him.

“Please don’t be angry with me, I’m not trying to hurt you. God, that’s the last thing I ever want to do,” he said as he gently touched her cheek. She quickly pulled away.

“Attention passengers, we are now boarding Flight 92 nonstop to Detroit Metro. We are currently boarding rows eighteen and higher, I repeat, eighteen and higher.”

“You’ve already hurt me, Justin,” she softly said as she stood up and gathered her belongings together.

“I’m sorry Piper, I truly am,” he said, trying to pull her in for a hug. Again, she pulled away, upset with the turn of events.

“So this is how it’s gonna be, huh? You’re just going to let me get on a plane and walk out of your life?” Piper demanded, her eyes watering up with millions of unshed tears.

“Piper…” he protested, then nodded his head in affirmation when she gave him a ferocious glare.

“Well, goodbye then,” Piper concluded.

Justin felt his heart break as he watched her walk away and get on a plane bound for home. She never looked back, and he knew, without a doubt, he had just blown it for good.