"Chinese or pizza?" I call from the kitchen as I collect the various takeout menus scattered across my kitchen table. Hopefully he'll say pizza since I already ordered it.

"It looks like you've already decided." His voice, so close, startles me. I jump and clutch the menu to my chest in my surprise. I spin around to face him and smack him a few times in the arm with the now rolled up menu. He laughs and unsuccessfully tries to dodge my blows.

"Don't scare me like that."

"I wasn't trying to scare you," He defends with a wide smile. "I just didn't want to yell so I came in to talk to you like a normal person."

"You are far from a normal person Bobby Thomas." I cackle teasingly as I gather my menus back up in a pile. "You scare me like that again I'll be forced to kick you ass like I used to when we were kids."

"Whatever," He laughs. "Just order the damn food."

"I already ordered pizza." I laugh and at the same time the doorbell rings. "Go get that will ya?"

Bobby nods and casually walks to get the door. I roll my eyes and turn back to my menus. I put them back in the drawer by the phone and begin wiping the countertops.

After a few moments I hear the door close again and call out, "Who was it?"

"Justin Timberlake." Bobby answers with laughter in his voice. He just finds this whole predicament with him hilarious. I really don't see the humor at all.

I've been successfully avoiding Justin for two weeks now. Every time he calls I tell him that I'm really busy or on my way out so I can't talk. I feel really badly about it, but what else am I gonna do? I know what you're thinking-I should tell him the truth right? I know Bobby says the same thing. I just can't though.

"You told him I wasn't here right?" I ask over my shoulder before turning to face him. My breath hitches in my throat when I notice who's standing behind him. "Oh, hey Justin."

"So you have been avoiding me." Justin states in a tone I can't quite read.

"I'm gonna go wait outside for the pizza." Bobby announces, rushing back outside. That was really smooth wasn't?

"Come in." I offer, motioning towards the table. As he moves closer into the kitchen I back up towards the refrigerator. "You want anything to drink. I have water, orange juice, diet Pepsi, uh, milk?"

"I'm good thanks."

"I'm gonna have some water." I answer back nervously as I dig around in the refrigerator for a bottle of water. "So, uh, how are you?"

"I'm alright." There's a short silence before he speaks again. "So, uh why have you been avoiding me?"

"I wouldn't say that I've been avoiding you..." I trail off not really know how to complete that sentence considering that I was a big lie.

"What would you call it then?" He asks, that sexy smirk of his gone from his features letting me know that he's serious. "If you didn't want to see me anymore you should have just said so."

"I know." I sigh before quickly adding. "I mean I did want to see you again. I like you a lot Justin, but a relationship is the last thing I'm looking for right now."

"Who said anything about a relationship?"

"Well you-"

"I said I wanted to see you again."

"Oh." I answer somewhat disappointed that he's not trying to persuade me in to a relationship with him. I guess I read the whole situation wrong or maybe I kiss like a fish and that turned him off.

"You sound disappointed." And just like that his sexy smirk is back.

"I'm not." I reply defensively. "I was hoping you would say something like that."

"Right." He chuckles. "So instead of a relationship do you think you can handle friends?"

"I don't think that-"

"Hey, is it safe to come in?" Bobby interrupts in just the nick of time. I didn't really want to have to answer that. He probably wouldn't have taken it that well when I told him that I didn't even want to be his friend.

"Yeah." I smile, standing from the table.

"You saying for dinner?" Bobby asks. "We've got plenty."

"Uh," Justin looks at me, silently asking for my permission. I close my eyes and nod my head. "Yeah, I'm staying."

"Cool."

"Hey Justin, can you take the pizza in the other room while Bobby and I get the plates and drinks?"

"Sure." He agrees taking the pizza from Bobby and disappearing just around the corner. Sometimes I wish my apartment had more walls.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I whisper harshly, punching him in the arm. "If I wanted him to say I would have invited him."

"You still didn't tell him did you?" He asks although it comes out more as an I-told-you-so-statement.

"You are so going to pay for this later."

~*~*~*~

You know what I hate? Basketball. I don't like to play it or watch it. It's boring. Bobby and Justin, on the other hand, love it. I really don't get it. So for the past two hours this is what we've been watching. I don't even know who's playing and to be honest I don't really give a damn. I've just been sitting on the couch next to my brother while the two of them animatedly talk about the game. I am bored out of my ever-loving mind.

I scrunch my body down the very small couch to try to lie down; unfortunately by brother's fat ass is taking up the whole thing. I press my sock covered feet into his thigh, using the arm of the couch as leverage to push him as hardly as I can. He grabs my feet without even taking his eyes form the television screen and mumbles for me to cut it out. I let out a very loud sigh when he finally drops my feet. I glare at him for another few minutes before roughly kicking his thigh with the heel of my foot. This time he does turn away from the TV. He grabs hold of my legs, just under my knees, and pulls me roughly towards him. I yelp out in pain and protest, but that doesn't stop him. He's gonna kill me!

"Let go of me!" I yell, vigorously kicking my legs and reaching forward to smack at his hands. "That hurts you ass!"

"And it didn't hurt when you kicked me?"

"You were taking up the whole couch." I whine pathetically, still swatting at him. I direct my glare towards Justin when I hear him snickering from his seat diagonal to us. "What are you laughing at?"

He hold up his hands in a position of surrender, but continues laughing. I'm mad at him anyways and this is certainly not helping his case. He's been ignoring me all night. One would have thought that he came over to see Bobby instead of me. I know I told him that I didn't want a relationship and I was avoiding him, but still!

"I swear to God, Bobby if you do not take your god-damn hands off of me..."

"Such language!" Bobby snickers evilly looking towards Justin as he does so. Oh and Justin just laughs right along with him-traitor. "Mom would be appalled."

"Ugh, shut-up!" I scream. I look back towards Justin giving him my best pleading look. "Help me. Please."

"I'm afraid I can't get in the middle of this."

I narrow my eyes at both of them before reaching forward and yanking a few piece of hair our of Bobby's arm. He drops my legs so that I'm able to move again and I spring from the couch. He laughs and drapes his body over the entire couch so that I no longer have a place to sit. That's just perfect. I punch him in the shoulder before stomping off towards the kitchen. Brothers are so stupid sometimes.

"You okay?" Justin voices from behind me. I turn to face him with my arms crossed over my chest as I lean back against the counter.

"Oh so now you want to help me?"

"Hey, I make it a rule to never get between siblings." He chuckles cutely.

"Right, I'll remember that later." I smile with a roll of my eyes.  There's an awkward pause before I speak again. "Aren't you missing the halftime highlights on that exhilarating game we just watched?"

"Is that sarcasm I detect in your tone?"

"Why I believe it is."

"You don't like basketball." He says, stating the obvious. 

"I hate it."

"Tell me how you really feel." He laughs, moving a few steps closer to me.  The closer he gets the more I fidget.  "You're a lot more outspoken around your brother."

"Am I?" I ask, honestly surpised at his statement. I guess I didn't notice. "I'm shy until I get to know you and really start to feel comfortable around you."

"So you're comfortable around me?"

I turn my back to him and busy myself washing the plates from dinner. I'm really just hiding my blushing face. Why am I blushing at that comment? I really can't tell you. I shrug my shoulders in response.

"And now I just made things uncomfortable again." He chuckles, joining me at my side with dishtowel in hand. I smile shyly and pass a plate over into his hands. Our hands touch briefly and it's like one of those corny moments in the movie where we just stare at our hands for a few moments before I pull away.

There's that butterflies in my stomach feeling again. He seems to cause a lot of that. I finish washing the last of our dishes from dinner and then move to take them from Justin. I walk around him to put the dishes in the cupboard, leaving one glass out for me to use. When I turn back around he's staring at me like I have food on my face or something.

"What?"

"Nothing." He answers, seeming to shake his thoughts from his head.

"You were starring."

"I couldn't help it." He smirks, leaning his hip against the counter. I swallow hard and nearly drop the glass in my hand. When he takes a step towards I do drop that glass out of my nervousness-I'm such a dork. I jump at the sound of the glass breaking and immediately crouch down to begin collecting the larger pieces. "You okay?"

I lift my head to look directly into Justin face. I jump a little, not expecting him to be so close and instantly look back down. "It was slippery." I answer rather pathetically.

"You cut yourself." He states grasping my left wrist and drawing my attention to the small trace of blood running down my thumb. I wince at the sight of the cut. Isn't weird how sometimes you don't even notice you've hurt yourself until someone points it out? It didn't hurt until he said something. "Where's your first aid kit?"

"Up there." I answer, pointing to the small box on top of the refrigerator. I move to sit at the kitchen table while he gets the kit. I try to examine my finger for any traces of glass that might still be in there and don't see any. Justin crouches down on the floor in front of me. "There's no glass in it."

"Good." He smiles sweetly as he opens a Band-Aid. Taking my hand in his, he gently cleans my cut and wraps the band-aid around my thumb.

"Thanks." He raises my hand and to his mouth and presses his silky soft lips to my injured finger. His eyes don't leave mine the entire time and my heart feels like it's about ready to beat right out of my chest. Our faces drift dangerously closer together....

"Shit! You gotta be kidding me!" Bobby yells from the couch.

I pull back instantly and abruptly stand from my chair. I clear my throat awkwardly and speak to him over my shoulder as I start walking back to sit with Bobby. "You're missing you're game."

TBC....