We had a problem.

A big problem.

I ran all around Justin's never ending house looking for Kim, praying I didn't run into him or Gia in the process. As I turned sharp corners, descended different stairs and tripped through narrow hallways, I was desperately praying to find Kim, Lynn... Even Trace. With every step that I took I became more afraid. Was I making my way towards the other human life, or running deeper into this black hole that Justin liked to call home?

I imagined myself running too far, so far that I wouldn't be able to find my way back. Justin had mentioned that a little boy named Jimmy had gone missing in this palace. Now that I was barreling through the endless corridors and stairways of his home, I wondered whether or not he'd been joking like I thought he was. If I did get lost and eaten alive, I thought as I turned another sharp corner, I hoped it would be painless. And I hoped that it would be anything but wild dogs. I do not want my carcass to be eaten by wild dogs.

As I quietly considered my fate, a human form passed through my line of vision. For a moment, I thought I was imagining things.

Thankfully, it was Kim. She was stepping out of one of the bathroom doors when I came barreling down the hall. She caught sight of me just in time to hold her arms out in an attempt to stop my racing body. She grabbed my waist, I fell forward and nearly pulled her down onto the carpet with me. She held on tight, though, and within moments, we were steady.

"I thought we already agreed that we weren't going to run for our lives until we found out just how many children are going to be at this party." She smiled softly, then cringed, "Oh my god, is it more than five? If it's more than five children I'll shoot myself."

I stared at her. "What the hell are you talking about?" I beamed.

"Children!" She beamed back, "At this party. When is the party starting?"

"I don't know." I said, exasperated.

"Well.... Have you talked to Justin?"

"No!"

"Have you found a guy to seduce, yet?"

"No, but I have managed to make a very attractive stain in your very slutty shirt!"

For the first time since she'd wrapped her arms around me Kim noticed the smudge in the middle of her shimmery gold top. The perfectly round circle on the breast of the shirt that smelled of garlic and tomatoes. "Lasagna?" She asked, dryly. "You went back into the dining room for lasagna?"

"I was starving." I cried, "I didn't eat the first time around. All the talk about Justin's dick was a little unappetizing."

Suddenly, Kim began to giggle, then fell into full fledged laughter. After a few minutes of this she composed herself and took notice of the look on my face. "I'm sorry. I'm just imagining you at the table by yourself with tomato sauce all over your face and clothes. Don't even get me started on the disaster that was lunch. All of those funny thoughts hit me at once and I just..." She took a took breath, "I lost it. Sorry." She sealed her lips.

Without saying anything, I motioned to the large stain on my shirt, begging her to stay on track.

"Well, I didn't bring any other clothes." She said.

"Neither did I."

"This is a problem."

I nodded, vigorously.

"Can you like... " She made a buzzing sound which immediately reminded me of a defective toaster, and swung her finger around, "Take care of that? With your... You know." She lowered her tone considerably and covered her mouth with her hand, "Powers?" I wondered why she was whispering. We were the only two people for miles.

I stared at her, shaking my head. "I can move things with my mind and read entire texts in minutes time... That's about it." I shrugged, "I can't scale buildings, I can't do a roundhouse kick, I can't read your mind, I don't have a Bat mobile and I sure... As hell... Can't make this--" I motioned to the stain, "Go away without a lot of detergent, a lot of patience and--let's be for real-- a lot of Burns. He does all my laundry."

"That guy in the big building on Craig Road?"

I nodded.

"With the Armani eye glasses?"

I nodded vigorously.

"He does laundry?"

I was quickly losing patience. "My laundry, yeah. He says it therapeutic."

"Hm...." She seemed perplexed as she set her hands on her hips, "I can do laundry, but-- quite frankly-- I'm afraid to move." She looked around, "Seriously... Who needs this much house? Where's the laundry room in this place?" She looked to her left, then her right, then at me.

I pulled a face at her, "It took me a half an hour just to find you. I got dangerously lost..." I held up my fingers, "Five times!"

She didn't seem surprised by this, in fact, there was a great understanding in her eyes as she motioned behind her. "Well... That's the bathroom. Go piss, come back out and maybe we can find a laundry room in this fucking fortress-- Shit!" She squealed.

I jumped.

"I just remembered that I packed that little black dress... Just in case."

"The little black dress?" My heart was slowing to a stop.

She nodded, "Yeah... The lacey one with the frillies..." She twisted her fingers around the bottom of the shorts she wore and I immediately knew what dress she was referring to. The moment I went to protest, she held up a finger. "Life coach." She reminded me, with a chirp to her voice.

I pulled a face at her. "If I knew then what I know now..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go piss and then we'll go get the dress."

--

Two hours later all of the adults from lunch were scattered in the backyard. Kim and I were on one side of the humongous kidney shaped pool. Gia was sitting on the edge of a lounge chair on the other side, looking miserable, with her chin in her hand. Justin and Trace sat side by side at the Jacuzzi with their pant legs rolled up and their feet submerged. Lynn was walking circles around the water, screaming into her cell phone at someone.

Everyone else around the pool was under the age of ten. Which officially... Made this day... A nightmare.

Kim and I stood, stoic, squinting our eyes against the blinding sun and quietly talking as an hour slowly passed. Every few minutes, another of Steven's little friends would come bounding into the backyard, wishing him a happy birthday and showcasing the gifts their parents had bought.

Lynn talked and mingled with all of the little ones and their mommies and daddies.

Everything was very pleasant, actually.

None of them had any idea that there were five people in that backyard that were highly likely to open fire on each other at the slightest possible evocation.

Suddenly, Lynn was yelling. "All right, 'yall. Everybody come stand near me, we're about to leave!" The smile on her face was blinding as all of the children ran and created a semi circle in front of her.

"Leave?" Kim and I both asked. I looked across the pool to Gia. She didn't seem confused. I looked over to Justin and Trace. They hadn't even stopped talking. As he spoke, Justin waved his hands all over the place with a deep scowl on his face. Clearly, he was talking shit about someone or something. Then, they both looked up. Directly at me. When Justin saw me staring, his arms fell and he immediately stopped talking. Then he looked away. But Trace didn't. I forced myself to take my eyes off of them when the anger coming alive in me became too much.

Steven separated himself from the bunch and began towards Kim and I.

"Hey," She nudged me, "Here comes little what's-his-name."

He raced over to us and came to a big, hopping stop. Kim jumped back. I didn't.

"Is you ready to go, Trevie?" He asked, squinting up at me with the biggest smile, "Huh? Is you ready?" He seemed so worried that I was going to be, somehow, left behind. Or that I would "accidentally" get left behind. Looking down into his big eyes, I did sense a bit of suspicion. I was a flight risk. Of this he was well aware. This kid knew me.

"I don't understand." I said, "I thought the party was going to be here. In the backyard."

He pulled a disgusted face at me and I felt like a true idiot for having ever thought such a thing. He book ended his ugly face with a loud, pronounce, "Ew! We isn't having party time here!"

"Well then where are we having party time?" I patiently enquired.

Steven nearly shook with delight.

"Do I even want to know?"

His smile grew evil as he slowly shook his head 'no'.

I spoke through clenched teeth, "Tell me, anyway."

"I'm a bit little afraid." Kim crossed her arms.

"That party is at..." He paused for dramatic effect. Then he jumped high in the air, "Maniac Mountain!" And screamed at the top of his lungs.

Kim and I stood... Motionless... Speechless... As we took in the delighted creature before us.

"What the fuck..."

"Uuuuuuuuuuum!"

She sneered, then finished, "... Is Maniac Mountain?"

"Sounds like the last place a child should be." I scowled.

"Only the funnest, bestest, coolest, biggest, awesomest playground in the whole wide world!"

"So... hell on Earth." Kim finalized. "That's all you had to say. Hell on earth."

"So what?" I asked, "Is it like Peter Piper Pizza? A big indoor playground?"

"Playgrounds and pizza and swimming pools and ball pits and roller coasters and video games and trampolines and pizza!" He leapt into the air.

"You already said pizza." I said.

"Pizza!" He cried, again.

"I don't think all of these kids..." I motioned to the several dozen children who were still gathered around Lynn, "Are going to fit into one car."

"I know... We gots a bus."

"A bus?" Kim and I both asked.

"A big one! Two of 'em!" He held up his fingers.

"So this is what rich people spend all their money on?" Kim said, "I always wondered..."

Suddenly, Lynn laughed out loud, catching our attention, "All right... Everybody knows which bus they're in, right?"

"Yes!"

"Everybody's ready to go crazy, right?"

I held up a finger, "Halfway there!"

No one paid me any attention as all the kids cried, "Yes!"

"Is everybody ready to be a maniac at Maniac Mountain?!"

The screams were so loud, this time, that I was positive the ground shook. Justin and Trace looked on from the Jacuzzi, and Gia from the pool chair. I was comforted by the fact that they also seemed to have an alarming concern for what kind of hell the next few hours were destined to hold.

"First one to the front porch gets a popsicle!"

A deafening, corresponding howl of excitement left the mouth of every little person and then there was a stampede of bodies towards the sliding doors of the house. I felt sorry for Justin. His place was going to be a fucking disaster once this was all said and done. Come to think of it, I didn’t feel bad at all. It actually put quite the smile on my face.

I watched all of the mini monsters fight to the death to get to the front porch, then looked back at Steven.

Except he wasn't there. I jumped in surprise, "Where'd he go?" I asked.

"Pretty sure he just lost his life somewhere in the dementia!" Kim pointed a shaking finger towards the sliding doors, "I don't want to go."

"What happened to making Justin pay?"

"Children. Children happened."

If anyone could understand Kim's paralyzing fear of youngsters and anything that had to do with them, it was me, but I was a woman on a mission.

"Well don't have to be at Maniac Mountain for another couple of hours. That'll give us time to shower, piss and drink ourselves into oblivion until we can feel no pain... There must be some alcohol in this place, somewhere."

Kim's eyes gleamed, "Trevion Spencer... You are my hero."

--

It wasn’t difficult to find a man willing to flirt shamelessly with me in front of Justin. In fact, it was surprisingly easy. It must have been the dress Kim had thrown on me. There were only a few inches that separated the bottom of my ass from the wide open air and the top of the dress was so tight against my breasts that it forced them against my ribcage, making them pop out and stand tall in a way they never had. The dress was black. The dress was lace. The dress was slutty.

Kim and I walked into the living room, where about half a dozen adults were getting ready to drive out to Maniac Mountain. Half of them were already on their second drinks of the night-- Kim and I hadn’t been the only ones with plans to be completely shit faced before this party started.

The moment we entered the living room, every male eye was on me. Kim only had time to pat my ass assumingly and walk away. Then, without any encouragement (not even a smile) there he was. Tall, dark, very, very handsome. Very, very not Justin. Regardless, when the man approached me I immediately pulled the back of my dress down over my ass as far as it would go and proceeded not to move an inch for fear of making it ride up (this ritual would go on until the night was over).

Jake Everett’s stunning blue eyes were riveted to my breasts from the moment he’d laid his eyes on me. That is, if looking down my dress and nearly drooling all over the carpet below his feet that Justin no doubt paid trillions for--counted… as laying his eyes on me.

Obviously, as he ogled the breasts that barely even existed, he’d completely lost all cool points with me.

Then his eyes met mine, and they almost changed color, “You are tiny.”

My face fell. This making Justin wild with jealousy thing wasn’t off to a roaring start.

“I’m tiny?” I beamed up at him, barely able to accept that these were his first words to me. Clearly, he wanted nothing more than to rip off the tiny stitch of clothing that I’d managed to keep on my body, but he was struggling immensely to communicate this fact verbally.

“Yeah…” He seemed embarrassed, like he was going to give up and walk away, then he stood tall, “Yeah, you’re…” He motioned down to me. “It don’t mean to offend you.”

“Well, you can’t rip your eyes off of my breasts and the first word to leave your mouth is ‘tiny’… forgive me if I took offense… I‘m only human.” I chuckled.

He stalled, then, “No!” He beamed, “I wasn’t talking about your breasts. Those are…” He motioned to my breasts, “They’re… great. Not too big… not too small--not small at all, actually--”

“Permission to shut up.” I offered.

“Thank you.” He accepted, then looked away, his face flush with embarrassment. He took a heavy swig of the water bottle in his hand, then looked back at me. “Thank you. I wish I was drinking vodka instead of Aqua Fina. At least then I’d have an excuse for being such a moron in front of you. I was talking about your body… your frame, when I said tiny. Not your breasts--which are wonderful… just for the record.” He rolled his eyes at himself.

I stared up at him, taking in his dark brown bed head and plush pouty lips, I realized that he actually was very tall. Taller than Justin, even. And, as far as I was concerned, Justin qualified as giant. Being called short was nothing I wasn’t used to. Hello kids-can-be-so-cruel grades three to twelve. That was how long I’d been called short in my life. All the way up until I went to college and it became my choice whether or not I needed to interact with other people.

Staring up at Jake, I was being vividly reminded why I hated company of any kind. However, I’d be lying if I said the embarrassed blush that was quickly creeping up his cheeks wasn’t just a little cute. It was. He was still stammering on, “I like short girls.“

I had to laugh, “Thank you for the reassurance.“

“What are you? Like five-one?”

I could have murdered him. “Five three.”

You’d think he’d just got done calling me completely out of my name by how bashful he’d become. When he’d approached me, he’d been confident. Now he was a mess. And the more of a mess he became… the more I liked him. I would come to learn that when Jake was a mess like this (stammering, panting, damn near convulsing)… was when he started to make jokes. “You’re tiny. You are. It’s not a bad thing.”

“Isn’t it?” I glowered up at him.

“It’s…” He was officially blushing, “Cute.”

“Cute?”

He stalled.

I grinned. This was kind of fun.

“It’s… becoming?”

I raised an eyebrow.

He seemed to think very deeply, never breaking his strong gaze away from mine, “Sexy.” He said, then gave a little nod, as if he’d solved one of the world’s greatest mysteries, “It’s sexy.”

“See… now you’re just making fun of me.” I decided, waving the wine glass in my hand past him. Kim and I had both done an amazing job at getting really buzzed as quickly as possible. I was already on my third glass of wine which probably explained why I was halfway charmed by the man in front of me. Kim needed to get drunk for Steven’s birthday party, as she was less likely to murder an innocent child if she was wasted. She was a silly drunk. In fact, as I threw a look to her at the other side of the room (her eyes were closed tight and she was swaying to a beat that didn’t exist, holding her Corona with a lion‘s grip) I was sure the most danger she’d be to any child was hogging the giant ball pit.

“I’m not making fun of you. I’m trying to talk to you.” Jake’s smile grew. His smile was imperfect, not like Justin’s, but I could deal with it.

“You’re trying to talk to me, huh? Kindly remind me what you and I have been doing for the last three minutes?”

His eyes glowed. His lip twitched as he fought a smile. His entire face came to life. I recognized it. It was the way Justin always looked at me. I wondered when I’d stopped being bothered by looks like that from men. I wondered when I’d started to like them.

“Look, I just--I just saw you come in the room and… I had to talk to you. I don’t usually do this--”

“There’s a new one!” I beamed.

He smiled back at me. “You’re just so damn… cute--”

“I thought we’d decided on “sexy”?” I made air quotes.

“You are sexy… but you’re cute, too.”

“Is there a difference?”

“Definitely.” He immediately answered. “When a woman is sexy… all I can think about is the quickest way to get her into bed and back out, again--”

“I’m charmed.” I dryly stated.

He threw me a look, but continued, “When she’s cute… when she‘s tiny… I just… I just want to… I just want to…” He was clearly no longer shy. As he spoke, his hands moved wildly all around him, his eyes danced with every word and his voice rose and fell as emotions escalated inside of him, “I just want to knit her a hat, or something.”

I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing. “You want to knit me a hat?!”

“God, yes.” His face was now serious.

I couldn’t stop laughing, “If that’s not sexy, I don’t know what is.”

“But you’re straddling that fine line, you know? You’ve got the sexy… but then you’ve got the cute, too. You’ve got the god-please-I-just-want-her-in-my-bed-now but you’ve also got the man-mom-would-love-to-bake-her-a-pie thing, too. You know?”

I certainly did not know.

“So I’ve gotten a hat knitted and a pie baked for me in a two minute time span.” I said, “That’s got to be some kind of record!”

“You’re not being genuine, I’m being genuine… but you’re not.” He was still smiling.

“How can I be genuine?”

“You’re making fun of me!” He cried.

“You’re making it so easy!” I laughed, again, then harder, until almost everyone in the room was looking at me. I didn’t notice. For several moments after I was still laughing, highly amused at the entire situation that I’d gotten myself into. Thinking about Justin, JC, Kim, the entire scene at the lunch table--everything, had sent me into a fit of laughter. I even had to grab the arm of the man I was supposed to be seducing, just to have something to hold onto. Just to cling to whatever amount of normalcy I had left.

Jake held me, he let me laugh. He didn’t speak to me until I was standing tall, again. He didn’t speak until every inch of laughter had disappeared from my face.

“Can I take you to dinner?” He asked me.

“Well talk about that later… at the party. At some point in the night I’ll probably look like I want to throw myself off a cliff. Approach me then.”

Did I really want to accept a date with my make-Justin-wild-with-jealousy pawn, a guy I hardly knew?

I did.

Then my eyes shot to the other end of the room.

Justin was taking languid sips of the beer in his hand. He was leaning sideways against the fireplace. Trace was next to him, talking quietly, but Justin didn’t seem to be listening. His eyes were riveted to me.

--

The most annoying thing about being falsely accused of being Justin's girlfriend were the questions. People asked me so many questions about Justin. Questions that I usually didn't and never would have the answer to. They asked me what he was like, how big his dick was, if it was true that he and his mom walked around naked together, if he liked sushi, if he enjoying licking dogs in his free time.

Name it.

Anything. Anything, at all.

I dare you.

Name it and a Justin Timberlake fan has asked me if he's done it, eaten it or touched it. Twice.

The only question that I could even remotely answer was the one I heard the most: What is he like?

It would be impossible to sum up Justin Timberlake in just one word as he's a completely obsessive compulsive, schizophrenic, everything-has-to-be-right-or-I'll die mess of a man. There was one thing that Justin always was, however, the one certainly about him that I knew I would take to my grave.

He was impatient. And not just impatient, but insanely... Fucking... Impatient.

Get on his bad side and that impatience is multiplied. By the millions.

"Come on, Trevion." He was sitting in the drivers seat of his truck. Steven, Kim and Trace were in it with him, leaving the tiny seat in the very back for me. I'd yet to figure out how they all planned for me to get there without one of them moving their big asses out of the vehicle.

We were driving to Maniac Mountain. That was where I was suppose to find a way to seduce Jake and make Justin jealous. It was hard enough for me to seduce a man, at all, let alone in a place where Sour Straws were considered fine dining and a five foot deep ball pit was the peak in entertainment.

Thinking about it at that moment managed to scare me all over again.

"Come on, Trevion." Justin beamed, snapping me out of it. The car had been running for several minutes now. He was staring out of the open window at me, his eyes small and annoyed, "Come on!" He beamed, again. That was what I'd been dealing with for the last ten minutes.

"Common!"

"Maybe you could try shutting up so that I can concentrate. All right?" I willed myself not to scream at him as I looked into his anxious blue eyes. Didn't work. "Just give me a fucking minute." I snapped, before going back into my purse.

"I told you that my mom has aspirin. She'll give you some once we get to Maniac Mountain. If we get there." He insisted, "I don't understand why you can't just wait--"

I immediately stopped rummaging through my purse and stop caring, completely, about the fact that I was standing outside of his vehicle in the middle of his empty driveway, searching desperately for my IB Profen. From the look on his face, I knew that Justin knew that he'd definitely succeeded in pissing me the fuck off and that he was not going to get away with it.

He tried to save himself, "I'm just saying--"

"What? What are you saying, Justin?" I beamed.

He rolled his eyes away from me. If someone had been sitting next to him he would have been saying, "Can you believe how touchy she is?"

"I'm sorry, maybe I've been wrong about you all along, Justin. Really, I mean... Do you have a hole in your body that bleeds every thirty days for seven days straight?" I asked. Of course, he didn't answer.

But he did scoff.

"No? Well then maybe you get mind numbingly painful cramps every thirty days? The kind of cramps that make hottest pit in hell look like the mother fucking Jamaican islands?" He rolled his eyes. "No?" I asked.

He stared out of the window in front of him.

"No blood? No cramps? No asshole trying to rush you into his fucking truck because he'll never understand what the fuck your going through? None of that Justin?" I gave him ample time to refute my words, and when he didn't, I threw my hands out. "Problem the fuck solved, then." And went back to rummaging through my purse.

"I'm just trying to give my brother a good birthday. What an asshole."

AT this, I laughed, "Oh, no. You're not going to pull that on me. You're not going to let me yell at you and then sit there acting all calm and shit. You're not going to make me the bitch. Not today."

"Every minute that you're standing there looking for your aspirin is another minute that Steve isn't having fun."

"Steve is a six year old boy on track break with a millionaire brother and a GI Joe named Davis! He's always having fun!”

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I'm a woman with fucking cramps and I should be given a god damn medal for not killing you where you fucking sit. That's why I'm doing this." My fingers swiped a round contraption at the bottom of my purse. When I gripped it in my hands and heard the pills disagreeing with the bottle in loud clanks, I actually screamed out loud. "I found them! I found them! Thank you Jesus!"

Justin raised his arm, his pointer finger extended towards the ceiling of the truck, "Can I suggest that you take the whole bottle?"

"Can I suggest that you... Shut up?"

He stared at me. "Is that the best you got?"

"Do you want me to bring up what I saw this morning? Because you know I will!"

His eyes immediately hardened, "I'm just sick of this shit."

I shoved three of the massive pills down my throat and swallowed them without a drop of water.

He slapped his hands against his thighs and sighed as if I'd kept him waiting for years. "Can you get in the car now?"

I highly enjoyed the anxious edge in his voice. "Why should I?" I asked.

The impatience was back, and it had some new company, anger.

Before we could get into another long fight, Steven spoke up for the first time since he climbed in the car.

"Because it's my birthday!" He called.

I stared at him. So did Justin.

We both must have been desperate for any excuse to stop fighting.

Because that one worked.

I climbed in the car, pills clutched in my hands, and didn't look at Justin once.

--

Half an hour into Maniac Mountain, Justin was pointedly ignoring me, Kim was too busy flirting with Trace to help and Jake, my supposed seduce’, was currently being seduced by the miniature train ride in the back. He was on his tenth ride. The place was alive with lights, color and noise. It honestly seemed like everyone in the place was having a good time.

Everyone but me.

Every once in a while Jake would come over and attempt to woo me into the ballpit, but it was all a little too frightening for me, so I’d busied myself setting the pizza up on all of the tables. They were pan pizzas that smelled delicious and I made sure to use napkins when I handled them because they were straight out of the oven and insanely hot.

I set a paper plate in front of every seat at the several tables we’d had set up and went to work putting a single slice of pizza, a napkin and a cup of orange soda on each one. No one paid me any attention, they were having too much fun, and I preferred that.

The sound of a voice behind me startled me and I immediately swirled around when I recognized Justin’s voice. “You’re not on your period.”

I leaned back against the table and glared up at him.

“You were on your period when we were in Tennessee. That was two weeks ago.”

“I had a headache and you were getting on my nerves. So, I lied, so what?”

“You just can’t stop with the lies can you, Trevion? I’ve got to applaud you, though, I really do. You’re so damn good at them.”

“Justin, maybe you haven’t noticed, but I’ve distanced myself from the party and the people to set the tables so I could be alone. If you wouldn’t mind…” I motioned behind him to somewhere that was away from me.

“I didn’t invite you down here to be alone. I invited you to spend time with Steven.”

“Steven is currently doing a nosedive into the rope climb and appears to be about three and a half seconds from breaking his fucking neck. Perhaps you could go pester him?”

“Why are you here?!”

I couldn’t believe my ears, “You invited me, you--” Suddenly, I felt a searing pain on the back on my legs and completely lost my breath, “Fuck!” I cried, bending down to swipe at the burning sensation. Cheese. Hot cheese. Sometime during my rant, I’d knocked a slice of pizza off the plate and right into my leg. I could feel my skin sliding away with the sizzling substance and jammed my eyes shut, “Oh fuuuuuck, fuck, fuck!”

I hoped I was causing some sort of a scene so that Justin looked like the bad guy. Unfortunately, this was Maniac Mountain. This was a room full of kids who wouldn’t know if their hair caught on fire, let alone that Trevion Spencer had burned herself over by the tables.

Justin was highly confused, but whatever anger had been on his face was long gone, “What?” He demanded as I hopped around, holding my leg in my hand, cussing up a storm. "What?" Justin's eyes only got bigger. He was holding his arms out at his sides, staring me down, every finger on his big hands shaking. "What?!" He cried, again.

"I burnt my legs!" As the stringing sensation grew, then climbed from the back of my calf and all the way up every bone in my body, I was so angry at him. I bent down, unable to stand it, and covered the burning part of my leg with my hand, "God dammit!" I cried.

Justin sighed deeply, then dropped his hands. He reached out to me.

I flinched back, my eyes flaring up at him.

He froze. Studied me. Then he was reaching for me, again.

When his fingers hesitantly touched my waist, then tightened around it, all the pain was gone.

Just as quickly, the pain was back. "Fuck." I said, softer this time, as tears came to my eyes. I covered my eyes with my hand and felt my feet leave the floor.

I stared at Justin, still holding my leg in my hand, as he lifted me up onto the table behind me. Just like a kid. It was highly unnecessary. It was highly sexy.

He covered my hand with his, the hand that was holding my burn. He leaned down, kneeling on the heels of his feet and raised my leg in the air. He bent his head underneath it. If he wanted to, he could easily look right up the dress I had on, but his blazing eyes were probing my leg. "Where?" He asked. There was an impatience in his voice. But behind the impatience, very subtly, there was anxiety. My over the top display had scared him. "Where is it?" He demanded. He moved my hand and his eyes grew gloomy, "There it is. Damn." He whispered.

The look in his eyes made me nervous. "What does it look like?" I demanded. "Is it red?"

"Yeah." He grumbled something I couldn't hear. There was a deep frown in his eyes and when he pushed his finger against it, I instinctively yanked my leg away.

"Ow!" I screamed, managing to catch the attention of everyone for the second time. "God dammit, Justin! You see that I burned myself! You see that it's red! You're the one that told me it was red! Why the fuck would you push your finger against it!" Tears were brimming my eyes, "Are you that desperate to hurt me? You haven't seen me emotionally hurt, yet, so hurting me physically is going to have to suffice? Fuck!" I knocked a half full cup of orange soda next to me with the back of my hand. The red plastic soared off the table and landed hard. Orange liquid and ice scattered all over the place.

Every worker in the place was surely plotting my death.

Justin cut his eyes at me. "Was that really necessary?" He asked. His voice was eerily calm. Cool.

"I'm sorry, but..." I shook my head, "It really hurts!"

"All right! You need to fucking relax." He reached into one of the cups that I'd yet to swat off of the table and filled his hand with a bunch of the chipped ice cubes inside. When he placed it over the burn, I couldn't help the thankful sigh that left my lips. He heard it, and began to rub the cubes around on my skin. Very slow. Very gentle. He never looked at me. Not once.

I brushed a fallen strand of hair from my eyes. "Don't tell me to fucking relax." I whispered.

I watched as the ice melted under his warm hand and began dripping down his arm. He didn't seem to mind.

Just like that... Steven was there.

He ran up to us and stared at me.

I stared back, waiting for him to say something that a six year old would say. Something stupid or something that had nothing, at all to do with the situation at hand.

He kneeled down next to Justin. He was so small. His strawberry curls were wet and stuck to his forehead from sweat. He'd just raced over to us from the ball pit, so he was breathing deeply. Regardless of all this, I had no doubt that he wasn't anywhere near finished. I'd spent a day at Disneyland with this kid. I knew better than anyone that he still had a couple dozen more hours in him.

"Did you burned yourself?" He whispered, looking at Justin, then looking at me. His big blue eyes seemed even bigger, somehow, making him seem much younger than his six years. His eyes followed Justin's and he looked under my leg. He wasn't so careful about not looking up my skirt, I caught him doing it, but then his eyes were on my leg. "Ouch!" He beamed, looking up at me and making a face. 'Thank god that's not my leg' was what his tight lips and wide eyes said to me.

"Yeah, ouch." I rolled my eyes.

"That's not fun." He shook his head at me.

I shook my head back. It most certainly wasn't.

"Does it hurt, Trevie?"

"Um... Yeah." My eyes widened.

"When I hurts myself my mommy kisses it. She kisses it and then it felt all better."

I stared at him, wondering why he was telling me this. "That's great. Good to know that some decent mothers still exist out there."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Justin shoot me a look, but I didn't look back.

"Did you want me to kiss your burn, Trevie?"

I stared at Steven. I was a little touched. "Thanks, I'm good." I declined.

"It'll make it all better."

"Can you guarantee that?" I asked, squinting at him.

Justin shot me another look.

Steven seemed confused, "Huh?"

"Can you guarantee that putting your lips--lips that have been god knows where in the last few hours-- on my burn will make it feel better? Where's your warranty? Where's your proof?"

He stared at me.

I was such a bitch. From the way Justin was looking at me, he agreed.

Steven, as always, was oblivious. "So did you want me to kiss it better or not?" His eyes narrowed, and landed back on mine.

Then he smiled. His entire face lit up.

I stared at him, wondering when I'd become putty in this little monster's hand.

"Go on, Steve." I groaned, motioning to my leg. "Kiss it. Kiss it better."

Slowly, the brat crawled closer to Justin, who was still rubbing the ice, which was almost completely melted, on my leg. Steven threw a small arm over Justin's thigh, balancing himself. Justin released my leg, shaking the remaining ice from his hand and held it up for Steven.

It took Steven a minute, but his eyes landed on the burn that I still hadn't seen, and he pushed himself up on Justin's leg, puckered his lips and kissed it. Very softly. Very gently.

He took after his brother, I noticed.

He pulled back and looked up at me. "Did it feel better now?"

I stared at him. "Surprisingly... Yes."

"I told ya!" He cried, throwing his hands in the air. His eyes shot to Justin. "Now you." He said, pointing to the burn.

Justin pulled a face at Steven. Steven pulled one back, then looked at me.

Our eyes met, and I cocked my head back. He was grinning. The little punk knew exactly what he was doing.

His eyes were back on Justin. "Kiss it." He demanded, louder this time.

Justin was still holding my leg in his hand. I'd never realized how big his hands were. He almost had an entire grip on it, with just about a half an inch keeping his thumb and middle finger from completely meeting.

Or maybe my legs were just really small.

I was lost in my thoughts, and wasn't even close to returning back to reality until there were lips on my leg, again. I wondered if Steven was kissing me, again, but he'd already retreated back to the ball pit.

My eyes shot to Justin, quickly. His lips were soft against my skin, warm, more healing that twenty pounds of ice could be. He kissed it, again, as if he realized that I was now paying attention and wanted me to see. His eyes shot up to mine.

Then he smiled.

And I wondered when I'd become putty in this asshole's hand.

My heart raced and a heat started at my face and flew directly to my center. Staring down at him with his lips on me, smiling... Forgiving.... I'd never been more turned on.

Not ever.

Then he whispered, "I'm jealous." Kissed my leg, again, "Are you satisfied?"

I swallowed hard. Breathed deep. Clutched the table below me. Anything that could help control how quickly I was spiraling out of control. Nothing helped. "I don't know what you're talking about."

His eyes grew dubious and he took his lips from my leg. He reached past me, rummaging in the cup for more ice. He filled his hand, again, and covered the burn. He rubbed it around, paid it unwavering attention, then lifted his gaze back to mine. "I'm jealous." He spoke.

I stared down at him, and shakily replied. "Good."

"You've been with him all night. I don't like it. I hate it." He stopped rubbing my leg, "... Are you satisfied?"

I stared at him, "No."

"When will you be satisfied, Trevion?"

"Honestly?"

"For once, please."

"I'll be satisfied when you give me the same honesty that you demand of me."

His face hardened.

I continued, "Everything that Gia said at the table this afternoon..."

He groaned. I'd expected him to. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to answer the questions that were coming.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answers. "Was it true?"

He watched me very closely. Studied me. The ice in his hand began to melt, but he never looked down at the water trickling against his skin. "Yes." He answered, and the moment he did, his fingers tightened around my leg.

"You couldn't keep it up?" I fought like a soldier to keep from smiling.

He could sense this, because he grew aggravated. His teeth grit. "No."

"Why?" I immediately asked. "Because you felt guilty? Because she wasn't me? Because you missed your morning dose of Viagra? Just got finished getting your dick sucked the night before?"

He was not amused. "Why is it so important to you?"

"Because it is." I raised my eyebrows, "Hm?"

He swallowed, but his gaze never wavered. "She wasn't you." That was hard for him to say. It showed. But he said it, again, "She wasn't you."

I had more questions. Much more. But I couldn't speak.

"Okay?" He raised his eyebrows at me.

I nodded, softly.

"My turn." His voice was no longer patient. "Time for you to give me the same honesty you demand, Trevion."

"I've been honest from the start." My shoulders squared, then fell, "Except... You know..." I chuckled nervously, "For the whole JC thing."

"If you wouldn't mind terribly..." His eyes narrowed, then landed back on mine, "Not saying his name."

My eyes widened, then fell. "All right." I agreed.

"I want to know everything you two did. Every place you went. Every word you spoke. Every phone call. Every meeting. Everything."

"I’m not going got do that." I cringed.

"Why? Because you can’t?"

"You're the one who said we didn't belong to one another."

He grew stiff.

"You were the one that said that... And you were right." I looked away from him, "You proved that when you let that crazy girl go down on you."

"And you proved it when you lied to me about JC."

"I thought we couldn't say his name?"

"Not me. You. I don't like the way it sounds."

"So now you control what I can and can't say?"

"When have I ever tried to control you, Trevion?" His eyes were growing angry. I wondered if he knew how sexy it was.

"Never." I answered.

"Never." He confirmed.

"Fine. I talked to JC behind your back. You hooked up with Gia. I guess we’re both assholes. But you're the only asshole who let some bitch suck your dick. That'll never change."

"You must be really happy..." He continued to rub my burn, even as he grew more aggravated, "Now you have an excuse not to feel guilty about what you did. What I did somehow makes what you did... More..." He seemed to really think on this, then frowned, "Acceptable?" He asked, "Right?"

I stared at him. I had no idea how to answer that. On top of that, I had no idea how he wanted me to answer that. So, I just said what was on my mind. "Yes." I said.

His face fell. Wrong answer, obviously. "Why can't you let me be angry? Why can't I work this... This horrible feeling that's consuming me... Why can't I work it out the way I need to work it out? Why do you have to take the whole damn ship down with you?"

"I'm a very passive aggressive person. It's not one of my better qualities."

"You don't have to tell me that, Trevion."

"You left Las Vegas without telling me... After everything we've been through. All the hurt you're feeling, Justin, I'm feeling too. Just sitting here... Looking at you... Hurts.”

"I know." He whispered. Then he blew air from his cheeks and watched me closely, "It was just head, Trev."

My mouth dropped.

"It was just a blow job."

"Is that a justification?" I asked, in disbelief, "Well, in that case... It was just a few meetings, Justin. JC and I were just talking. Harmless conversation."

His jaw tightened, "What you did with JC... It's different."

"So you'd be happier if you'd walked in on me sucking his dick?"

"No!" He beamed. Then he looked around us, as if someone would be spying. His eyes were back on mine. "No." He said, calmer this time.

"Then what?" I beamed.

Then his eyes changed. I didn't know how. I didn't know why. But something about them changed. "You think I set that up. You think I was putting on a show." He shook his head at me. "You don't know me, at all."

"You think I fucked JC... You don't know me, at all."

"Stop contradicting me."

"But you're making it so god damn easy, Justin."

"I don't know if I can ever make it up to you..." He bobbed up and down on his legs, "But I want to."

I was stunned by his words. So stunned, that all I could say was, "Huh?"

His eyes narrowed. "This is me apologizing."

I blinked, "An apology is a little odd from a man who has no faith in me.”

His eyes hurt, "I have faith in you."

"That's why you packed your shit and left... Right?"

"I never left."

"You left."

"I didn't sell the condo did I?"

"Your condo isn't exactly a bargain, Justin."

"I wouldn't know."

I watched him, closely. "And you call me a liar?"

"I was just... Upset. I needed a break. I needed... I needed my mother." He had to smile.

I shook my head, "You're sick."

"Why did you do it, Trevion?"

"Why did you do it, Justin?"

"Don't question my question."

"JC and I were just talking. And you gave him a fat lip. I never kissed him. I never sucked his dick. Why did you fucking do it?"

"I thought I could force everything away. I needed to not think about you for... One second. I was... I needed to forget you."

"Then forget me. Forget me, Justin."

"I don‘t want to." His eyes searched mine. "I can‘t."

I didn't relent.

"What haven't I done for you? Huh?" His eyes were intense, "What have you asked of me that I haven't given you? I gave you a car. I gave you a phone line. I gave you two months of my life. I gave you... Every inch of me, Trevion. And I have nothing in return."

"I didn't ask you for any of that."

"You didn't have to."

"I saved your life. Doesn't that count for something?"

"No."

"I'm a broke fucking college student. How was I supposed to repay you for the car and the phone line and everything else? Was I supposed to go get financed for a BMW and give it to you for your birthday? Would that have been acceptable reimbursement for everything you've done? Christ, Justin!"

"I didn't give you all of that expecting to be repaid. I gave you those things because I cared about you. I thought about you. I worried about you. I like to spend my money. I like to spend it on people I care about more than my damn self." He motioned to himself, "All I ever asked in return... All I've ever asked of you... Is you. Just you. I've never had it. I still don't."

"Maybe you had me and you just didn't know it."

"Maybe I did." His gaze was powerful, "Did I?"

"It doesn't matter. You said it at the table, right? I never belonged to you. You never belonged to me. I have no right to be angry about Gia."

"I'm giving you the right."

"Maybe I don't want it."

"Don't you? Maybe if you and I had been honest with ourselves a month ago... There wouldn't be any confusion. You'd be pissed off and it would be justified. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

I nodded, slowly.

His eyes widened, "This is me waiting for you."

"To what? Apologize?"

He gave me an obvious look.

"How many times have I apologized to you in the last two weeks? I don't know how many. But I do know it's a lot. I don't think I've ever apologized to anyone in my life, let alone over and over. The way I have with you. I've apologized to you, Justin. I've apologized and I've meant it... Every time."

"I know."

"Then why are you making this so hard? Fuck... Why did you have to let her suck your dick?" Tears came to my eyes, "Jesus."

“What you said in my condo while I was packing… did you mean it?” He’d stopped rubbing my leg, “Did you mean that?”

“I flat refuse to answer that.”

“Why?”

“Because you don’t deserve it.” I jammed my eyes shut when I realized that I had, pretty much, answered it right there. I looked down at the ice that was dripping down his arm and my leg. He'd stopped massaging it, and it was starting to burn, again. "Don't stop." I said.

He considered me for a few more moments then began rubbing, again, never taking his eyes from mine. "We should get a first aid kit from the employees."

"No." I immediately declined this because I knew it meant his hands not being on me.

"I'm pretty sure that they're legally obligated to have a burn spray of some kind. Ice is only going to work for so long." He was becoming parental. For a split second, his gaze went under my skirt. I’d worn my baby pink and white polka dot thong today and for a brief moment, he seemed to lose himself in the sight. He looked back up, saw me staring, and immediately look away, flustered. “We have to get something on you leg, now.”

I sighed, then agreed. "Fine." Because it was really starting to hurt.

Justin called out to Trace, who was on a pinball machine with Kim, and asked him, very politely, to go get some burn spray from one of the Manic Mountain workers.

"I thought you were going to go get it." I said. The relief in my voice was poignant.

He shook his head at me and the power behind his eyes was outstanding. Then he said, "I'm not going anywhere."

And I was sure it was the most amazing thing he'd ever said to me.

Then he said, "Once we get the spray..." He took a deep breath, "Let's leave."

And that was the most amazing thing he'd ever said to me.

My voice had significantly lowered, “Where are we going?”

He shook his head, “Anywhere.”