In the last few weeks I'd been used to the pharse, "Hey, are you Trevion?" being called out to me in tones that varied from amusement, excitement and pure confusion, from perfect strangers. I'd learned to ignore it after the hundreth time. It was one of the many pleasantries that came with associating myself with the ass licker.

Some people called him Justin.

"Hey!" The same voice called, more persistently this time. I walked faster, hoping she would get the hint. Usually flat out ignoring these people was what drove them away. Besides, I was still annoyed with Justin. The urge to bad mouth him to whatever crazy person was following me today would be far to delectable for me to fight.

And, whether or not I wanted to admit it, I didn't want to hurt him.

"Hey!" The voice screamed, again.

I stopped in my tracks and turned on my heel. "What?!" I screamed back, stopping in the middle of the walkway, which forced serveral of the annoyed students walking behind me to go around. The first thing I noticed about the older woman was her wild curls. "Wow." I said. I wanted so badly to make fun of the monstrosity that she probably had the nerve to call hair that it damn near ate me alive. I figured, though, that I would at least wait until she started to really bother me. That way I would have an excuse for being such a bitch.

She was extremily surprised at my sudden outburt, her wide eyes showed that. "I-- well--" She blushed.

"I-- well--" I mimicked, frowning. "Spit it out! You had so much to say two seconds ago."

She was clearly an older lady clinging on to any strip of her childhood that she had left. The jeans on her hips were so tight that her lovehandles hung over the edges slightly. A bright pink tube top hugging her offensively large breasts was just as out of place on her body and fit just as poorly as the jeans. It did, however, give me a perfect view of the belly button ring she had on. It was a pair of cherries, glistening under the sunlight.

A pair of cherries that I was almost positive she'd popped years ago. Probably at her prom in the back of a van with a guy named Lester.

"You must be Trevion." She said, exasperated.

"What do you mean I must be, Trevion?" I asked, highly offended.

"Well... I've heard about you."

I stared at her, honestly wondering if she had a point. When she said nothing, I frowned. "Is that it?"

"No."

"Well, I live up in the Dalton dorms, okay? Drop me a line when you've found a tub top that fits, a straightening iron that's capable of taming that wild beast I'm sure you like to call hair and the ability to speak a syllable or two and maybe I'll be able to muster up the energy to ignore you. Okay?"

I didn't wait for an answer. She didn't seem to have one.

"Okay." I turned on my heel and stomped off. As I headed towards the dorms, a smile slowly crossed my face.

I hadn't been that mean to a person in a while.

Forgot how good it felt.

--

I had four days off from school and I had no idea what to do with myself. Usually, if I had this kind of time of my hands, I went straight to Justins. I'd learned in the past few weeks, though, that Mr. Timberlake was almost as stubborn as I was, and we hadn't spoken in two days.

I frowned. Had it only been two days? It felt like much longer.

I was so sad.

I made my way into Biology, my last class for the next four days, and took my seat. Surprisingly, since I was always a disaster in science, it was the class I was doing the best in and actually enjoyed attending. Part of that probably had a lot to do with the boy, who many of the girls referred to as "sex on legs", that sat next to me.

"Good morning, T." He said. The poor fool never could manage to say my name right so I'd been reduced to the twentieth letter in the alphabet.

I looked at him. "Say it with me, Chet. Trev-eeee-on." When he looked at me in confusion, I scoffed. "There's no way you're this stupid."

He grinned. "You want to go to dinner with me tonight?"

"I spoke too soon."

"No, seriously."

I laughed out loud. "Why don't people ever think I'm serious?"

"Do you have any idea how many girls would kill to have dinner with me?"

"Well, let's see, there are 17,000 girls on this campus and if they are as stupid as I imagine them to be I'd guess about... 17,000?"

"Hm. More like 5,000."

"My faith in womanhood is restored."

"I kind of adore you, Trevion."

"You know, there's a pill for that."

"Maybe you should get Justin Timberlake a prescription."

"Believe me, I'm trying."

"You seem like you really hate him."

I turned to him. "Do you think so? Because he doesn't seem to get it. I've been wondering whether I should take it up a notch."

"Nah. You try to be a bitch, but..." He shrugged. "You're more genuine than most girls on the planet. That's obvious. That's what he's sees in you."

"He doesn't see anything in me. We're friends."

"Doesn't seem that way to me."

"I didn't ask you."

"No... you didn't."

When he got silent I looked over at him and saw him smiling into his notebook.

He was cute.

One over confident, over charming boy in my life was enough, for now.

--

Having dealt with Chet and his antics for an hour and a half, I was happy to walk out of Biology and even happier when a peppy blonde sidetracked him. Usually, he walked me to my dorm room and sometimes it was so hard to pretend to dislike his company. When I felt his hand on my shoulder I rolled my eyes and turned around.

"Look, Chet-- oh christ!"

"No, I'm not Chet." JC said with a smile.

"Never thought that sentence would depress me." I said, throwing his hand from my shoulder.

"It's okay, Trevion. My hands are clean."

"I don't give a damn how clean your hands are, JC. You could have just soaked them in sanitizer and I would still prefer an orange slug, tarantula or boa constrictor to your crusty mitts."

"You're a breath of fresh air, as always." He said, holding a door open for me.

I opened the one right next to it and hurried through. "I do my best. What do you want? Why are you here?" I asked, turning to him and feeling a true fury run through my veins. "I thought you said you were leaving."

He followed me into the courtyard and his blue eyes glistened under the bright sunlight. "Don't be so panicked. I happen to know that Justin and Trace are out shoe shopping. So we wont run into him here."

I searched his eyes, sighed, and walked away. "Why are you so intent on causing trouble?"

"I'm not. I just want to fix what's been broken."

"You can't."

"Probably not, but you can."

"Probably not." I frowned.

"Justin trusts you."

"Unfortunately."

"He listens to you."

"He doesn't know any better. Stop following me!"

"Stop running."

I stopped in my tracks and turned to him, damn near having a crash collision. "Justin and I aren't even speaking to one another right now, all right? So just leave me the fuck alone."

"I'm not leaving until you and I sit down and have a civilized conversation."

"We already did that, JC. What if we're photographed together? What if this gets back to Justin? Fuck, I hate you so bad I can't even put it into words."

"I'm sure you could. It's what you do best."

"Not lately."

"Why don't I get straight to the point?" He asked.

"There's a point? Shocking."

"I assume you know Louise Spencer..."

My heart stopped at the sound of her name and the need to sock the shit out of him wasn't quite as suffocating as it had been moments ago.

"I'll take that as a yes." His smile widened. "I hate to be cliche, Trev, but... it is a small world, after all."

I took a deep breathe, blinked back the tears in my eyes and looked around me.

"I knew... from the moment I saw you, I knew you seemed familiar to me, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Then, in the middle of the night, boom--" He snapped his finger and laughed. "Louise Spencer. I don't know how I didn't see it from the minute I laid eyes on you. I don't know how Justin doesn't see it. You're her spitting image. It's no wonder he's so comfortable with you. She was like a sister to him."

I shook my head, unable to speak.

"As it turns out your mother has been our make-up artist for the last six years." He held up his hands to signify the amount. "Six years with your mother and I have never heard the name Trevion Spencer. I wonder what she would say if she knew her little girl was fraternizing with the boy she helped raise. I wonder why she never mentioned you. Why Justin hasn't noticed it..." He blinked softly and shook his head. "You're her spiting image."

I shook my head, no longer caring about the tears threatening to fall. "You're lying."

Deep down, I knew he wasn't. The moment he'd said she was a make-up artist, I knew he wasn't. I still had distant memories of sitting in my mother's room. I remembered sitting on the edge of the bed when I was three or four, watching intently as she tried on dress after dress when she was getting ready to have a night out with my father. My favorite thing to do, back then, was watch her put on make up. She did it so well and I was always astonished at the transformation it made. The only thing she'd ever let me wear was a little lipstick, promising to show me more as I got older.

Obviously, that never happened.

"You're lying." I said, again, for some reason.

"I don't lie." He said. "I may be a cheat, I may be scum... but I don't lie."

"Where is she?" I immediately asked.

He shook a finger back and forth, "Uh, uh, uh... not so fast."

"JC, where is she?!" I said, louder this time.

"Listen... I know where she is and I'd be happy to tell you, but... not until we sit down and have a real conversation."

I was completely defeated, shaken and even frightened at the sound of my mother's name on his lips. If what he said was true, if she'd been working for NSync all this time then everything I'd ever believed was true. She really hadn't been looking for me. She really didn't care about her freak of a daughter. She hadn't even mentioned me to the people she'd worked with for six years. I no longer cared about my contempt for JC, all I cared about was getting more information on the woman I should have known like the back of my hand, but didn't know, at all.

My eyes narrowed, guilty looking out for Justin, before landing back on his. "When?"

"Tonight at six. I'll pick you up."

I swallowed back the vomit in my throat, if it was at the mention of my mother or the sight of JC, I wasn't sure.

"I hate you." I spat, looking upon the man with a real contempt.

JC smiled. "I'll see you in three hours."

--

"You're leaving?" Kim asked me, two hours later.

My heart was about ready to pound out of my chest, I wanted to call Justin, but knew I couldn't and I felt sick to my fucking stomach with every second that past because every second brought me closer to a night out with JC. Closer to completely betraying Justin. Closer to the raw truth of how much he meant to me and how much it was going to hurt me to do this to him.

He didn't know what it felt like. He didn't know what it felt like to have no idea who your mother is. To have never had a mother. Too few people did. If he ever found out about this, and I would fight tooth and nail before that happened, but if he ever did... he would have to understand.

Deep down, though, I knew he wouldn't. That fact, alone, was what was making me so sick. I didn't want to go with JC. I didn't want to see my mother if it meant hurting Justin.

That was the scariest truth of all.

"If a man comes to the door tell him I'll be out in ten minutes." I said, taking a quick look at my watch. I wondered if JC was the type to show up early. If he was, that only gave me a few minutes.

"A guy, huh?" Kim asked. "What's his--" A knock on the door startled us both. She gave me a seductive look that inspired an eye roll from me. "Maybe that's him." She said, in her deepest voice. She hopped up from the bed and hurried over to the door. A part of me was tempted to hide, but I stayed where I was, unable to move. She opened the door and I heard a muffled voice, sure it was JC. When she scoffed and rolled her eyes, though, my heart continued to beat but it warmed a bit, as well. "Oh, it's you." Kim spat. "It's only Justin." She said, having grown used to seeing his face over the weeks.

"It's good to see you, too, Kim." I heard Justin say, flatly. I hurried up to the door.

"Justin!" I beamed. When he didn't smile back at me or immediately greet me I was instantly concerned. A part of me was in panic mode, though, because I knew it was only minutes until JC showed up at the door. Looking into Justin's eyes, I instantly knew, my mother was going to have to wait. The woman hadn't been in my life for fifteen years. Justin was there right now, and he'd done more for me in a month than she had in my whole life. She would have to wait.

She would have to.

"Trev.." He paused, something he always did when he was about to go off on one of his long, exhausting rants.

I stopped him before it started. "I'm sorry, Justin, but... I don't really have time right now."

His face filled with surprise, then regret. "Are you still mad?"

Instinctively, I reached out and touched his shirt. "No." I said, hurriedly, "I'm not mad, at all. Just in a hurry."

"To where?" He asked.

Tons of people, one after the other, were walking past my door behind him and I'd never felt more like throwing up in my life. If Justin found out that I'd been talking to JC he would never speak to me, again. I had to get rid of him and it wasn't looking like that was going to happen anytime soon. When a tall brunette man with shaggy hair whisked past him I damn near fainted.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" He asked, his face taunt with worry. He reached out a hand and rested it on my cheek, making it heat up.

I slapped his hand away. "Nothing! I just need you to go away!"

"I can't." He said.

"Why not!"

He stared at me.

"Spit it out!" I cried, wanting nothing more than to kill him. At least if he was dead he wouldn't see JC once he showed up at the door.

"I have to go away."

"So god is listening to me up there, huh?" I jammed my eyes shut.

There was no time for sarcasm.

"To California."

"Say hello to Arnold for me, alright?" I tried to close the door, but he stopped me. I wondered how much effort it would take to rip his eyeballs right from his head.

"I just woke up this morning and..." He shrugged this shoulders. "I got a call last night from my little brother. My mom's not doing too well with all of this. I want to go see her. Take care of a few things."

"Okay, go get 'em!" I beamed. "Call me when you get there."

He grinned. "Did you actually just invite me to give you a call? That's a first. I feel like I should mark it on my calendar."

"That's funny!" I beamed, pointing at him. "Okay, I'll see you later!" I went to close my door.

I have no idea why I thought it would be that easy.

Justin put his foot in it and pushed it back open. I gave my watch a quick glance, realized JC was due in three minutes and prayed he was the type to be very, very late. When Justin pushed the door back open my wide eyes met his.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked me, again.

"Why would anything be wrong with me?" I questioned back.

"You're being uncharacteristically sweet."

"Impossible." I shot back.

"What are you looking at?" He asked, turning around, probably to see what the fuck was so fascinating.

He couldn't know that what I was looking out for was JC. Not now. Not ever.

"California, huh?!" I beamed. "Let me walk you to your car."

He looked officially freaked out.

I cleared my throat. "Um, I mean..." I reached out and punched him. "Let me help you find your car, dumb-ass, since you're probably too stupid to remember where you parked."

"Okay, that was fake and harsh... even for you." He smirked.

"Leave!" I screamed.

"Come with me." He answered.

I opened my mouth to speak, realized what he just said, and closed it. I contemplated his words, opened my mouth, closed it again, then frowned.

"To the parking lot?" I finally managed.

"To California."

You're crazy, was what my brain immediately told me to say. Then, it started working, again, and I realized that this was probably the only way I was going to get him out of here in the next few minutes.

"My flight's in twenty minutes." He explained. "I know you're supposed to be at the airport two hours before your flight-- and I was. Then I was sitting in the terminal, reading this book that I'd bought--"

I didn't have time for this shit. "Hey, Justin--"

"And I looked up and saw this woman with three screaming children that were absolutely out of control and I thought about how much you would have hated that. You would have probably taken the woman's belt right off of her body and whopped those bad ass kids yourself, were my exact thoughts. That's when I realized that there's no way I'm going to be able to make it through a visit to California without you, Trev. Those are my friends and family, sure, but they're going to crucify me and having you there with me would make things so much--"

"Let's go." I said, reaching towards the coffee table on my right and grabbing my purse.

He was stunned. "Huh?"

"California, let's go. We only have twenty minutes." I pushed him out of the doorway and closed the door behind me without saying goodbye to Kim.

"You're not packed." He said, resisting.

I continued to pull him towards the elevators. "You're rich, you like to shop, let's not get sidetracked by the little things. Twenty minutes!" I beamed.

"I was actually planning on rescheduling."

"Nonsense!" I cried. "Stop resisting me!"

"Why are you making this so easy?" He asked. The two of us were barely moving, having a tug of war battle in the middle of the hallway, much to everyone's amusement. All the kids of my floor were so used to seeing him around that only a few lingered to say hello to him while the rest just swept past us.

"Why are you making this so hard?" I asked.

"Because you're making it so easy."

"Exactly! You should be treasuring this!"

"You're being weird." He frowned.

"What the fuck else is new?"

"Okay, you're being weirder than normal. I was actually planning on buying two new tickets because I figured it would take all night to convince you to leave the state with me."

"I don't have classes for the next few days, I could use a vacation from Kim, why would I fight you?"

"Because you always fight me?" He said, as if it were obvious.

"Well..." I pouted. "Not today, okay?"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Stop asking me that. Hey, where are our seats on the plane? Never mind, I want it to be a surprise. Let's GO."

"What's wrong with you?"

"Stop ASKING me that. There's nothing wrong with me! I just want to be with you."

He reached out and touched my forehead. "You're not warm." He thought for a moment. "You haven't been taking candy from people you don't know, have you?"

"Everybody knows that strangers have the best candy." I said. Shut up, dumb-ass! My brain screamed. "Common!" I smiled at him, placed my hands on his shoulders and began pushing his towards the elevator. This time, he didn't resist. Just smiled back.

"Okay." He said, letting me push him. I tightened my hands on his shoulders and tried to breath past my beating heart. He was cooperating, which was good. Now all I needed to do was get him to the parking lot without having a run in with JC, which was very unlikely in my tiny ass dorm.

As if god was reading my thoughts and saw an opportunity for some entertainment up there, the elevator dinged just as Justin because to give in. I saw JC's tall, thin figure emerge from between the doors and stopped breathing. Literally, stopped breathing.

"Trev?" Justing asked, obviously concerned at my face, which I was sure was probably getting redder with each second that passed.

I stopped in mid-step and Justin stopped with me. Over his shoulder, JC was strutting down the hallway with no idea that Justin and I were there. I tried not to stare at him, because that would entice Justin to try and see what I was looking at. When girls began greeting JC by name tears came to my eyes.

I was really, really scared.

"What's wrong? Trev? What is wrong with you? We're not going anywhere until you tell me." Justin said. He'd lost patience.

I couldn't blame him.

As JC continued approaching, I did the only thing I could think of, I wailed out loudly and threw my head back. Quietly, I prayed for fake tears to come to my face, and god answered.

"It's just everything!" I beamed, frowning up my wet face. "I mean with school, you, Kim, EVERYTHING! I'm tried, Justin!" I screamed his name.

It caught JC's attention, and I could have died of happiness when he stopped in his tracks, barely ten feet away from us.

"Hey, hey!" Justin whispered, soothingly. "Relax."

"It's so hard." I cried, tears of happiness falling down my cheeks. "I'm tired! So very tired!"

"Hey, come here." He put took my arms in his hands and pulled my body to his. His arms went all the way around me and I came this close to completely losing myself in his warmth. He smelled better than any man should ever smell.

I sniffed into his shoulder, enjoying his scent, and gripped his shoulders in my hands. As I felt his steady heartbeat against my chest I kept my eyes on JC, who was pushing the button for the elevator. His eyes met mine and I shook my head at him.

The sight of Justin so close obviously had an effect on him. I could see that it was taking absolutely everything he had in him not to approach Justin to try and talk. An old girlfriend of mine had once told me, "When two men have a true bond they're half a step away from a dick in the mouth". In much less vulgar terms, she was saying that male best friends were almost as close as lovers, and it had never been more apparent to me until that very second. JC loved Justin with all of his heart, and it seemed to physically pain him when the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.

I shook my head at him, once more, when he seemed to hesitate. His large hands were tightly clutched, he rang them together and bit his lip before--finally-- stepping into the open elevator.

China, Afghanistan and Siberia were all lifted from my shoulders.

Then I realized it.

Justin's arms were wrapped around me.

It felt good.

Too good.

I let myself linger in his arms, enjoying the feeling for a couple more seconds.

The elevator dinged again.

I wanted to believe that it was a bunch of kids coming up from class, I almost did. Deep down, though, I had a feeling that it would be JC.

I was right.

He stepped out and began walking towards us with a resolve and concentration that startled me. He'd done the smart thing by getting into that elevator and hadn't even made it to the bottom before he changed his mind.

Dumb-ass.

"Let's go this way, Justin!" I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the staircase.

"Wait..." He tried to pull back. "Trev--

"I'm fine!" I insisted, tugging him to the other end of the hallway. I was thankful that it was a busy day, and JC's calls were slightly muffled by all of the bodies in the busy hallway. Besides, Justin was used to drunk college boys screaming out his name in the halls and was really good at ignoring them.

As I was about to pass the door to my room, I saw that it was my only way out of this.

"There's a bag sitting under the bed in the room. Can you please run in there and throw a couple of my clothes inside? Make sure you get shoes, pants, shoes, sweaters, cocks, sandals and undies. Never know what the weather will be like!"

"I thought we were going shopping--"

"Change of plan. I'll give you five minutes, I have to take care of something downstairs!" I grabbed the knob, threw the door open, pushed him in and slammed it shut. The second I turned around, JC came plummeting into me.

I took two big chunks out of the black shirt he had on and pushed him away with all of my might, "Are you out of your fucking MIND?!"

"Move." He said, so calmly that it panicked me. He was a man on a mission, it seemed, and was watching the door of my dorm room with a steely determination.

I threw both arms out, blocking the entrance. Both of us knew damn well (he HAD to be more than 6' tall against my pathetic 5'5) that if he wanted to remove me from that doorway he damn sure would.

Thankfully, like Justin, he was a gentleman. At least, for now.

"Move." He said, again.

"I can't do that." I gasped. Breathing deep, I tried to talk some sense into him. "Don't you realize that he will kill you? Don't you realize that? I don't think you're taking my words as literally as you should when I tell you this, JC."

His eyes narrowed, then straightened. "I don't care."

"I care!" I screamed, pushing him. His jaw clenched, making me feel like I was one more push away from a swollen lip. "I care." My teeth were clenched. "I care." I said, once last time. That one was for myself more than him.

"You don't care. You don't even fucking know him."

"Maybe, ugh--" I pushed him away. "Maybe, I don't. You know what I do know, JC? I know that man in there loved you. Deep down, he probably always will, but you do not want him to see you around here. You don't." My heart broke when my words seemed to have no effect on him. "Please leave." I begged with a desperation I didn't know I possessed.

"Why should I?" He asked. "So he can go on hating me? So this thing between us will never be resolved?"

"You have to give him time. What you did to him was an out of this world kind of betrayal and it's up to him. Not you, not me, him. He's the only person that can decide whether or not he'll ever have room for you in his life, again. Maybe he will, maybe he wont. But your being here, right now, JC-- I can promise will solidify his intense hate for you."

Finally, as his jaw relaxed, I sensed my words were having an effect on him.

"The wounds are still fresh. Maybe I don't know Justin as well as you do, but I do know this... for some reason the crazy fuck sees something in me. I'm the only thing in his life, right now, that he believes is worthwhile. He and I have something that's really good. If he finds out that I've been talking to you it'll fucking crush him. Furthermore, if he finds out we've been talking he'll not only never speak to you, again, he'll never speak to me, either. Is that what you want? At least if I'm around you'll always have someone there to put in a good word for you if the opportunity arises. I'm sure, in good time, I could get Justin to come around about this whole situation. In fact, I know I can."

"I doubt it."

"I'm sure you do, but I know that Justin loves you. He really does. He probably always will. It's just that... he's not going to forgive you overnight. It's only been a month since everything went down. Give me three months, JC. Three months and if Justin's still not talking to you, by all means..." I motioned to the door behind me, "Kick the fucking door in."

His eyes softened.

"Not now." I pleaded. "Not now. I've got a pop-star on the other side of that door who could barely say the word LA four weeks ago, but you know what? He just bought a plane ticket to California. I wish you knew what a big deal that was. How much progress he's made in the last few weeks. I hate to be cliche, but they didn't build China in a day." I cringed. "If I'd have known that would rhyme I would have worded it different, but, you know..." I said, holding an apologetic hand up.

When JC shoved his hands in his pockets and looked towards the floor, I knew that I'd gotten through to him. "I wont leave Vegas."

"Couldn't care less, as long as you don't show your face around here."

"And we meet up every Friday to talk."

"You're pushing it." I clenched my teeth.

"Every. Friday."

I growled out a low and thin, "Fine."

"Three months." He finalized.

I closed my eyes. "That's all I ask. China only took three and a half, right?"

"Always with the jokes." He observed.

"Okay, JC? There's no time." I beamed, motioning towards the door behind me.

He took one step back, then another, until he was making steady progress back towards the elevator.

I watched him until he was gone and opened the door to my room.

If I didn't need a vacation five minutes ago, I definitely needed one now. A few days in California with Justin actually didn't seem so bad after dealing with JC's stupid ass. Justin was shuffling through my underwear drawer, so engrossed in my collection that he barely noticed me come in.

"Hey." I said, suddenly very appreciative of the man I had before me. You never know what you have until a crazy ex-best friend tries to talk to it.

Justin immediately slammed my underwear drawer shut and stood tall. A smirk crossed his face. "You wear thongs."

"Really? And all this time I'd been wondering what kind of draws I put on my own ass every morning."

"What ass?" He laughed.

"Do you want to die?"

"I packed the pink one with the hearts."

"Really? I think blue is more your color."

He grinned a defeated grin and watched as I crossed the room to my bed. "What was that all about, out there?" He asked, patting down the clothes he'd packed.

I plopped on my bed, took a look at Kim who was doing an impressive job of denying our very existence, and sighed. "Oh nothing." My eyes widened at the bag before me. More than half my wardrobe was packed neatly according to size and color. "In the five minutes I was gone you did all this?"

"I've lived out of suitcases since I was ten. If there were a packing olympics I'd win gold every year."

"The Jordan of color coordination."

"That's right, baby!" He beamed, proudly, putting the finishing touches on my clothes. "They wouldn't stand a chance against my sock stuffing technique."

"What's that?"

He scoffed, as if I were crazy for expecting him to tell me. "Yeah right!" He beamed.

I looked him in the eye. "You're a freak."

Even though he was a corny mess and a damn fool, the sight of his smile was like fresh air to me, and I hated JC for threatening that.

I hated everything about him.

And I hated myself for associating with him. A true guilt rushed through my veins as I watched Justin zip my pack closed. He was so excited that I'd agreed to go on this trip with him that it had taken him a whole three minutes to pack up half my shit. I wondered if he'd be so exited if he knew I'd just got done haggling JC just outside that door. I wondered how he could care so much about a girl that just made a deal with the devil.

"I'm excited about California." I said, honestly.

"Don't be."

I blinked.

"I'm not trying to take the wind out of your sails, it's just..." He looked at me with concern, "My family isn't going to make this easy on me. They're going to be pissed. They're going to show it. They're going to hate you." He looked at me.

I grinned. "Thanks for the warning, bud."

"You're welcome."

"I love that you're so willing to throw me right in the middle of the crossfire."

"I don't think I can do it alone. I'd bring Trace, but he's likely to take their side."

"How do you know I'm not likely to take their side?"

"Because you hate people. It'll take my family weeks before they're in your good graces and by then we'll be gone."

"You know me so well."

"I don't mean to throw you in the crossfire." He said.

"I know."

"I just don't want any surprises for you."

"More surprising than meeting the Jordan of Color Coordination? Impossible."

He smiled that smile and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead.

"You know..." I said, fingering the zipper of my bag and looking up at him. "Chain letters I got in junior high said that when a guy kisses you on the forehead it means he adores you."

"You did chain letters?" He asked.

"No!" I beamed. "... Sometimes! But that girl was eleven and stupid and giggly and boy crazy and..." I shook my head. "Scary."

"Scarier than you? Impossible."

I stared at him.

"What?" He asked, taking my bag and lifting it from the bed. "We only have fifteen minutes."

"Do I look familiar to you?" I asked. Confusion immediately crossed his face at the question. "I mean... do I... do I remind you of anyone that you know? That you knew?"

He cocked his head back. He didn't understand why I was asking him these questions, but he gave me a good long look, anyway. After several minutes, a small smile crossed his face.

"There's only one Trevion, and I got her." He grabbed the scarf around my neck and tugged it. When I stood, he kissed my forehead, and my heart jumped.

"You wish, Timberlake."