I sit there watching him as he finishes his conversation with the hundredth person in the last hour. There is something kind of unreal about being here, mostly because I guess the people we are in reality are not the people we could have been. I’m not saying that he should pay attention to me; I’m not really anything to him. Yet… alright fine I’ll say it, I miss him. But it’s just because I don’t have any friends here in reality. You really can’t if you keep moving around from place to place.

Justin finally comes over with the biggest smile on his face and pulls the keys out of his pocket, holding them up in victory, “Can you believe my life?”

I smile, “It’s amazing. No matter what world you’re in somehow everything just falls into place for you.”

“Yeah but I’m so much more successful here. I’m a whole album ahead here. Plus, it turns out that I have won grammys for it. As in multiple. Do you know how big that is in the music world? I’m accepted here.”

What am I supposed to say to that? That’s great and all but what about me? What about what we had? I suppose this is what I wanted. God sometimes I just want everything to stop and stand still just until I can catch my bearings. I shift in my seat and stare out the window long enough to realize we are going the wrong way, “Where are we going?”

“Back to my house.”

“What about my apartment?”

“Back to no heat and no food? I don’t think so,” he chuckles.

I drum my fingers against the leather interior of the car, “But it’s mine. What am I supposed to do?”

“Come with me of course. I’m not about to let you starve to death. Besides, we are in this together right?” he asks, looking at me for the first time since we got here.

“Right,” I murmur.

“Besides, if we separate it will be harder for Damien.”

“What about Jessica? Won’t she care you’re letting me stay with you?”

“Naw, it’s nor for long right? Besides, it’s not like were going to be sleeping in the same bed anymore.”

“Yeah, no worry on that one,” I say.

We pull up to his house and at least I’m familiar with it. I wait for Justin to unlock the door and we go in. A few steps into the house reveal a whole new house than what I was in just yesterday. It’s not furnished and there are boxes lying everywhere, seemingly things that belong to the house and have yet to be put away. The only thing that is set up in the whole house as I look around is a giant TV, a couch in front of it and a playstation 3 hooked up to the screen. A total bachelor pad.

Justin looks around and shrugs, “Guess I never got around to unpacking.”

“Guess not.”

He licks his lips and smiles, “I suppose we should probably order pizza for dinner.”

“I’m not hungry,” I respond.

“Okay, well you’re welcome to look around. See what’s the same and what’s not.”

I nod, “I’m going to go check out the guest bedroom. Maybe get it ready if it’s not done.”

“Great,” he responds. He doesn’t even look my way as I head up the stairs.

________________________________________________________________________

How lucky am I? I just can’t get over the changes in this life. My life. Everything has just fallen into place for me.

“So you think that’s it huh?”

I turn around to see Damien sitting on the counter, “Hi,” I say surprised.

“At the risk of repeating myself, you think this is it?”

“I think this is what?”

“What God sent you here to figure out?”

I can’t help but smile, “Well yeah. I don’t know if you know but I’m really successful here. I mean, I’ve one grammys.”

Damien laughs, “I know everything.”

“It’s a great life,” I say proudly.

“Fame comes with it’s ups and downs. However, this is not what you’re supposed to find out Justin.”

“Sure it is. Look at all the stuff I have compared to what I would have had.”

Damien hops off the counter, “Well you’re on the right track.”

“Believe me I know. I just have to get a few details finished and it’s all perfect,” I say, putting a box from the floor onto the table in the kitchen.

“Ally.”

I raise my eyebrows, “Excuse me?”

Damien points to the box, “The reason the house isn’t done is because Ally did it for you. Here, obviously she didn’t.”

“Oh.”

He opens a drawer and suddenly silverware appear in it. He takes out a knife and takes a apple from a bowl on the counter, cutting off a piece and eating it, “You’re only going to be here for a short time before I send you two back. Ally needs to figure out what she needs to know.”

“But I like it here,” I protest.”

Damien just looks at me with something I can’t read scrawled across his face, “Don’t worry. This is reality, after Ally figures everything out you won’t have any memory of this. Of any life or any one other than what exists in reality.”

“So I won’t know Ally?”

Damien shakes his head, “Nope.”

“And I won’t remember…”

“You two together?” he finishes. It sounds so final in a odd kind of way.

“Yeah.”

“You’ll remember nothing.”

“What about Ally?”

“Ally will remember. This is her gift.”

“So what was the point of showing me this?” I ask confused.

Damien smiles, “Because in the world that Ally would have had, you always had one question on your mind. You know what I’m talking about.”

All too well, “Yeah, I remember.”

“This is your way to find out. Maybe you won’t remember, but at least you’ll have peace, even if you’re not sure what about.”

I frown, “That’s kind of a weird thought.”

“That’s life.”

Before I can say anything back, Trace comes through the door and Damien disappears.

“Hey dude, great party huh?”

I nod, still wondering where Damien goes to. One second he’s here and the next he’s not, “Yeah it was great.”

“So are we going out to the club tonight or what?”

“No, Ally and I are ordering a pizza.”

“Who?” he asks, picking up a apple and biting into it.

“Ally, you know, the girl I had with me today?”

Trace frowns, “Oh her?”

I roll my eyes, “Yeah her.”

“Dude, we don’t like Jessica hanging around us too much and you brought this girl home? You’re not sleeping with her are you?” he asks as though that might be a cardinal sin.

I laugh at the irony of the question, “No, I’m definitely not sleeping with her.”

“Than we should be hitting the town, partying it up. There are girls here we haven’t even met yet dude.”

“I think I’m just going to lay low tonight alright?”

Trace relents, “Fine.”

I hear footsteps coming down the stairs and Ally comes through the kitchen, “Hey I set everything up.”

I gesture to Ally, “Trace, you remember Alana.”

“Hey,” he says slowly.

“Trace is going to hang out and have dinner with us.”

“Fine,” she says, wringing her hands again. I’m not sure what she has to be nervous about that she would squeeze her hands until they were white but she has just enough nerves to do it.

Trace watches her, trying to figure her out just by staring as Ally tries to ignore him, “Why don’t I go get the pizza?” I know a good place.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

She nods and takes the keys off the counter, heading out. I turn around to see Trace shaking his head. That is usually not a good sign, especially when Trace does it. Normally things go right over his head, not that it’s that hard to do, but the fact that he’s giving me that look tells me I’m in trouble.

“What?”

“You know what. She’s not anybody man. You can’t just fall for some random chick and think it’s going to fly with Jessica.”

“It’s not like that with Ally,” I assure him.

Trace laughs as he goes inside and turns on the playstation, “Yeah, starting with calling her Ally. I thought you said her name was Alana.”

“It is.”

He leans his head back to look ay me, “My point exactly.”

I sigh, picking up a controller, “It’s not like that.”

“Whatever you say man.”

________________________________________________________________________

I needed a few minutes away from the firing squad. Trace is sure different from the guy I met. I suppose in Justin’s position you can never be too careful and Trace is looking out for his best interests. Still, I really don’t feel like having to deal with it. I’m not really prepared to be questioned.

The pizza is sitting next to me on the passenger seat and I have half a mind to leave it on the doorstep and drive to my apartment where at least I’m comfortable but I decide against it. This isn’t a permanent thing. Well, Justin and I aren’t permanent.

I pick up the pizza box and go inside to see the two of them playing playstation, practically hanging off the couch, “Pizza’s here.”

I barely get a groan from either of them so I leave it near their bodies and head upstairs to my room, shutting the door quietly. I curl up under the covers and lie down as I hear a crack of thunder echo through the big house.

Great. It’s going to be a long night.

________________________________________________________________________

I sit up in bed and glance at the clock. Three in the morning. It hadn’t started really thundering and lighting until about ten minutes ago. You could hear the occasional boom or see a flash of lighting but now it’s really coming down. I wrap the blanket around myself and shiver a little.

Suddenly, the door to my bedroom opens and I let out a scream as Justin comes in. I grab my chest as he flips on the light, “You alright? I wasn’t trying to scare you.”

“Yeah I’m fine. Sorry for screaming,  I just wasn’t expecting anyone to come through the door. Too many horror movies I guess,” I say, trying to laugh it off to the best of my ability.

“Forget about it. Listen, I know you don’t like storms so I was wondering if you wanted to come lay with me.”

I’m shocked and for a moment I’m speechless, taking a full minute before I answer him, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I know you’re afraid.”

“How did you know that?”

“You may not know me Ally, but you are still the same girl I’ve known for years. Come on,” he says, motioning me to follow him.

I grab the pillow off the bed and follow him to his bedroom. I wait for him to pick a side on the bed and curl up on the opposite side of the bed. I put my head down on the pillow as I listen to him breathe, “Do you know why I’m afraid of thunderstorms?”

“Because that’s the night your mother walked put on you and your dad,” he says without missing a single beat. Not that I should expect anything less. He’s Justin Timberlake. He’s probably never missed a beat in his life.

“Yeah.”

“Do you miss her?”

I bite my lip, “I used to when I was younger. I kept thinking she was going to come back. Say she made a mistake in leaving me. Then I grew up.”

“You never really liked to talk about her when we were together. You mostly talked about your dad.”

“Well, he’s the only one that was really there for me.”

Justin turns over on his side and faces me, “Just so you know, I was always there for you too.”

I try to smile as an appreciation, though I’m not sure he can see in the dark, “Thanks Justin.”

He nods, “Night Ally.”

“Night.”