Lately I’ve been questioning myself
Am I good enough for you?
Am I worthy of? Am I man enough?
Am I strong enough to maintain this love?
You’ve got me questioning
Got me wondering could I be that man?
That can keep you happy

Allie was woken up the next morning to a pair of brilliant blue eyes staring back at her, and a fingertip softly tracing a line up the side of her face. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought this would become her life.

Just a year ago, she had set this man on a pedestal, a object to stare at in awe, and she had thought all of the wishful thinking in the world wouldn't make her any closer to him then any other woman in New York City. But, he was here, in front of her... in bed next to her, smiling softly and watching her like she was the only thing he could see.

It might have taken a strange set of circumstances to get her there, and he had to lose that idol status and become a real person to her. She still couldn't believe it all.

"Good morning." She said, coming out of her wayward thoughts. She reached up for his hand, but he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, inadvertantly causeing her hand to end up resting against his cheek, the way his was against hers.

He kissed her a few times before retreating and grabbing her hand in his. "Now it is." He said, stealing her line.

She smiled at what he'd done. "What is on the agenda today?" She said after a few silent moments of just getting lost in those eyes of his that she loved so much.

"Nothin." He said, reveling in that thought. He, had absolutely nothing he was supposed to do. There was nothing he would rather do, then stay here all day in the bed with her. "Absolutely nothing." he repeated.

"Wow." She said. It was true that for the most part lately, he didn't really have anything that he needed to do on any given day, but he'd been finding ways to keep busy. As they had moved further and further into this relationship, he had stopped finding things to do that took him away from her, and started finding things to do that kept him close to her.

"What do you want to do today?" He propped himself up on one elbow and looked at her.

"Nothing." She smiled. "Nothing but stay right here in this bed with you."

He smiled too and inched closer to her to wrap his arms around her and kiss her forehead.

Then without thinking, three words effortlessly flowed through his lips. "I love you." he said. Then he leaned back and looked at her. He couldn't actually beleive he'd said that, but the words had already escaped and there was nothing he could do now but wait for her to say something back.

She looked at him, sizing up those words that she wasn't sure she'd actually heard. But there was no question as to what she would say back. He looked a little scared waiting there for her response and she licked her lips and then huged him closer resting her head against his chest.

"I love you too." She said, and it was the sweetest sound he'd ever heard.

(1 month later)

Allie's doctor appointments were even more frequent now. With only 3 months to go, things were starting to get a bit more crazy.

It was after the seven month check up that they realized they should probably start getting ready.

Justin was sure that he'd found the perfect apartment in New York City. It was a massive penthouse on the upper east side with 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. It would be perfect for them.

They were leaving a store after doing some baby shopping where they had placed an order to have some things shipped to the new apartment. Allie couldn't resist picking out a few other things that Justin was stuck carrying out of the store.

It was another perfect opportunity for the ever present photographers to get a nice and juicy shot. When they started to get a little too close however Justin started to get annoyed.

It was one thing for them to crowd him when he was alone, but Allie was seven months pregnant and also not accustomed to the stress of the crazy life he lived.

"Guys, please back up." He yelled out above the noise of camera flashes and the questions they were shouting. He had his arm around Allie trying to shield her a little as well.

"Justin is that your girlfriend?!"

"Justin, give us a name!"

"Justin, is the baby yours?"

"Justin, is it a boy or girl?!"

They got closer to his car and he made sure to place himself in between Allie and the photographers as he opened up the door for her and then tossed the bags into the backseat. But trying to get to the drivers side was going to be difficult.

"Justin! How do you feel about becoming a father!?"

"Justin are you getting married?"

He'd finally had enough. "Guys! Please! Just let me get to my car, you've got you're pictures, move out of the way."

He was starting to wish he'd brought a guard with him but this hadn't been a scheduled stop. How had they even known he was there?

They were like a disease, spreading everywhere like the plague.

He finally pushed his way to the car and they had to move out of the way once he started moving. He got to the highway before he said anything to Allie.

He reached out for her hand. "Sorry about that." He knew he could be sorry all he wanted but that wouldn't change what had happened.

"It's okay." She replied softly.

"No, it's not. I think I'm going to talk to my security team about getting someone for you in case you want to go anywhere without me."

He knew she didn't go out often but you could never be too safe and as it got closer to her due date and more pictures surfaced it was getting even more dangerous.

The rest of the ride home was silent and Justin was very uneasy with her lack of a reaction. That was scary even for him and he was used to it.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked when they were walking into the house.

He took the bags from her and put them on the couch, and then pulled her hands around his neck.

She avoided his eyes. "I'm fine. It happens."

He knew she wasn't fine, but he'd also come to learn that she wasn't going to talk about it if she didn't want to so he just kissed her forehead and let her step away from him.

"Johnny called me this morning, the People article came out this week." He didn't really want to make her any more stressed out then she already was, but he felt the need to let her know.

"Okay." Allie said. "I think I'm going to take a nap." she said and started walking upstairs.

"Yea... okay." Justin nodded and sighed. He hoped that maybe when she woke up she'd be in a better mood. He wasted an hour flipping through channels on the television and then decided to just go upstairs and lay down with her. He wasn't really tired but he would rather be there, next to her staring blankly at the ceiling then sitting here alone staring blankly at the television.

He headed upstairs and ended up falling in a light sleep anyway.

Allie woke up around six that evening and felt a little better, except that she was hungry. She left Justin sleeping and went downstairs to find something to eat. She fixed herself some soup and then settled down on the couch to watch television.

She didn't count on seeing what she saw. When she changed the channel to Entertainment Tonight a picture of the People cover flashed on the screen with Justin's smiling face on the cover and the headline 'I'm Going To Be A Dad!' and the anchor started highlighting the article.

She couldn't believe the things that the announcer was saying.

"...It seems that Justin really is settling down, the article goes on to talk about his mystery woman, who we now know as Allie Waldman. The pair met in New York City, and other sources say they have been living together for 7 months now. Justin confirmed that she is pregnant with their first child and Justin is making no effort to hide his excitment."

The picture flashed to a close up of the article with a quote highlighted as the announcer read it over.

"'I'm going to be a father, a dad you know? And everything in my life is just so good. I'm happy, very happy and I want everyone to know that.' Timberlake refused to comment on exactly what the couple's next step will be but it seems like wedding bells will be ringing in his future. 'I don't think I've ever been happier. I wanted to clear everything up so that I can really enjoy this time in my life.' Sorry ladies, Mr. JT really is off the market, for good."

For good measure they had also shown that direct quote, and although they hadn't showed the exact questions which had prompted such responses, Allie wasn't sure she really wanted to know. He was supposed to come clean about everything...everything. But, it seemed he'd only gone on and on about their relationship, apparently telling them they had been together for seven months. Seven months! They hadn't even been together seven weeks. She was fuming.

And Justin chose that moment to come downstairs. He caught one look at the fire in her eyes as she turned to glare at him and he wanted to turn around and go right back upstairs. It was pretty clear that this sudden anger was directed at him, but he couldn't for the life of him, figure out what was wrong. Then he remembered what had happened that afternoon.

"Allie... sweetie? Baby, please don't be upset about earlier." He walked over to her and tried to put his arms around her but she shrugged him off and stepped away. He sighed.

"I don't know what to say to you Allie, I don't have any control over what they do and I know you don't like the idea of me sending someone to follow you around, but I'd rather be safe then sorry."

"I'm not mad about the photographers... or the bodyguard Justin." She said, an all too calm and level tone that simply didn't match the look in her eyes.

He was even more confused. "Then... what is wrong? Is everything okay?"

"The People article came out today." Allie said.

"I know, I reminded you this morning."

"I thought you decided to finally tell the truth Justin, come clean about what is really going on."

"I... I did. I'm not sure what is going on Allie. You wanted me to talk about it."

"Did you tell them we were dating Justin?"

"Yea... we are."

"Did you tell them how long we've been dating?"

"Well no, they didn't ask."

"Did you tell them that we were living together."

"Not exactly, they already knew that... so when they asked I just nodded. I wasn't going to lie... you didn't want me to lie. That was the whole point."

"Justin, bending the truth is just as bad. They're saying so many more things now. They're saying we've been together since the beginning and basically implying this was all planned. They're saying we're going to get married Justin."

"So what? Is that such a bad thing?" She was getting worked up again, very fast and he really couldn't understand why. He hadn't lied, maybe he hadn't really corrected thier slightly off assumptions, and he had told his truths through rose-tinted glasses, but he hadn't flat out lied.

"Yes! We aren't engaged Justin, we've been dating for 6 damn weeks. This wasn't planned. You didn't really tell them the truth, you just let them think what they wanted and you gave them more to go on. This is rediculous. What the hell are you so afraid of?"

"I'm not afriad of anything! I answered every single one of their questions honestly."

"But did you go out of your way to tell them what actually happened?"

He was silent for a moment. "No."

"That is my point. What, do you think that all of your fans are just going to up and run away, disown you or something because you're human? God dammit Justin, you say you love me, but why can't you do the one thing I ask you to do?"

"Why? What exacty do you want me to say? Do you want me to go out there and say, listen everyone, I had a one night stand and got some random chick pregnant. Here she is, she's my girlfriend now, but the first night I met her I banged her brains out."

Allie's jaw dropped. "I can't believe you just said that."

He was instantly sorry that he had phrased it that way, but from what he was hearing from her it seemed that was exactly what she wanted him to do. But in all honestly no matter how he said it, that was how everyone would take it. If she tought her name was being ran through mud before, that certainly wouldn't help any. He was protecting her, why couldn't she see it that way.

"Allie, that's not what I meant."

"Just save it Justin, I don't even care. The point is, you're still hiding behind this image of perfection. Keep letting them all think you're perfect, that you do no wrong. But, I am not perfect, what if I mess up somewhere along the way, and this press catches it. They're going to start asking how someone as perfect as you, could settle for anything less. I accept my imperfections, and learn from them. Are you just going to run away then?" She took a deep breath, "I embrace my mistakes and every once in a while something wonderful comes from it." Her dreamy expression focused on him and he knew she was thinking of their recent happiness, but then her expression changed. He could tell that she was struggling with whether or not she could continue with her thoughts.

"Sometimes I wonder if you purposfully hide behind that image, because if they knew the real you, you'd have to realize that you aren't so different from them. I would think that relating to your fans could only help your image, but what do I know? I'm just one of them."

He didn't know if he was angry at her assumptions, or just afraid to admit she was right. He was weaker then he wanted to be. He was letting fear of everything control his decisions but it was so much easier that way. He just wished she'd stop saying all of these things he didn't want to hear.

"I'm through with worrying about it. You keep up this masquerade,and I'll go along with it for his sake." She rubbed a hand on her stomach. "But I'm always going to wonder what's going to happen when he grows up, and inevitably makes a mistake. Are you going to do the same thing to him?"

That was the last thing he wanted to hear. Somewhere inside him a fuse snapped, whether it was from actual anger, or just his fear caving in on him he didn't know but that was all he could take.

He shook his head and turned away from her. Without a word he grabbed his car keys off the counter and headed for the door. Ignoring her questions as to where he was going and her acusations of how he was once again running from his problems because he didn't have an answer. He needed to get away, he needed to clear his head and then maybe he could figure out how to fix this.

He knew leaving her there alone was probably a mistake, but hey she was the one preaching all about making mistakes and then learning from them. This would just have to be one of those lessons.

Once again, his fear of breaking down and letting someone in completely, had forced him to run away.

And, oh, Lord knows that I’m only human
So please forgive me if I ask so many silly questions
I know that you truly love me but
Fear has me second-guessing