Chapter 21

4 days later

------------

Meredith got up from her lounge chair from the deck of the boat and stood beside Justin who was leaning slightly over the railing. "Wow, look at how clear the water is."

Meredith's eyes got huge and she gasped. "Oh my gosh, do you see that." 

He looked around at the port they were passing. "No what?"

"Those old men are swimming naked."  She pointed to two oversized men who stood up out of the water for the entire world to see.

Justin spotted them and pretended to gag. "Ewww."  He turned away and covered Meredith's eyes with his hands.

"I know."  She leaned against his chest and sighed happily as he kept her eyes covered.

"Hey Meredith, what's our next port?" 

She pushed Justin's hands away and turned to Lonnie who was sprawled out in a chair reading a book. "We stop at Milos for tonight then head on out to Crete."

"OK."  He returned to the book.

Meredith sighed and rested back against Justin's body.  She placed her hands on top of his that were gripping the rail.  He brought his mouth down to her ear and kissed it softly before he spoke. "Besides those two men over there, this is a beautiful place."

She giggled and looked at him dreamily. "Yeah, that's why I brought you here.  Bringing a beautiful man to a beautiful place it just seemed to work out well."  Justin closed his eyes, pulled away slightly, and started to turn pink.

Meredith's eyes twinkled and she opened her mouth in shock. "Did I just make you blush with a compliment.  Oh my.  This is a momentous occasion."

"Shut up."  He nudged her shoulder before snuggling back close to her.

"So, what is there to do in Milos, my tour guide."  He kissed her shoulder softly before resting his chin on it to look out over the water.

"I don't know. The only island that we went to when I came with my school was Ageania."

He thought for a moment and spoke. "We saw that one yesterday right?"

"You must be really jet laggin' if you can't remember."  Meredith leaned her cheek on his head lazily.

"Yeah, well it's been a while since I've been overseas."

She jerked her head back and looked at him in shock, causing him to stand up straight. "What about me?!  Last time I was in another country was 2 1/2 years ago.  When I came here!"

He shrugged. "OK, so you got me beat."  She stood up on her toes and kissed him on the lips very softly.

"Why don't we go sit down and bother Lonnie?"

He leaned down and kissed her a little longer before he responded. "Whatever you say baby."

------------------------------

"I'm gone to bed."  Lonnie walked to the door of Justin and Meredith's hotel room.

Meredith slipped on her black leather jacket. "Night Lonnie."

Lonnie opened the door and called back to them. "Yeah, you two know the rules.  Don't get into too much trouble."

"We wont."  Justin said with a hint of mischief.

Lonnie rolled his eyes. "Goodnight."  When the door shut Justin looked at Meredith.

"Ready?"  He said reaching his hand for her.  She accepted it with a nod, and smiled.  They walked to their door and exited their room.

"I thought we could just walk around and see what's going on.  There probably is a club or a small cafe around here somewhere.  Grecians sure know how to party, I know that much."

Justin turned and closed their hotel door behind them. "Sounds good to me." 

They walked down the hallway and down the flight of stairs.  Soon they were in the lobby of the rather nice hotel.  It wasn't too nice, but it was perfect for what they were doing.

When they reached the outside of the hotel the cool air hit their faces and Meredith shivered.  Justin placed an arm around her and the two walked silently down the sidewalk of the Grecian village.  At this particular island no cars were allowed, so it was rather nice.  They walked past several closed shops before entering a more lively part of town.  A few bars and outdoor cafes were around but not much excitement was happening.

"Do you want to keep walking or stop and sit or what?"  Justin asked.  Before Meredith had the chance to speak a Grecian band began to play.  The two turned their attention to a cafe about a block away where the music was coming from.  A few dancers were out doing an authentic Grecian dance.  Meredith nudged Justin and simply smiled before dragging him towards that direction.

Soon they were standing, clapping with the band and laughing and smiling at the dancers.  Justin and Meredith found a table and sat down.

After a few dances and songs the band and dancers went back into the restaurant.  Meredith and Justin sat outside on the few outside tables and enjoyed each other's company.  They sat and talked about everything and nothing.  From the elderly couple sitting on a table across the walkway to Christina Aguleria's new CD.  They had completely lost track of time.

When Meredith finished her second cup of Mocha Latte, the dancers came out of the restaurant again followed by the band.  They started playing a very slow tune.  Justin smiled at Meredith and took her hand that was lying across the table.  He began to giggle.  She tilted her head to the side.

"What?"

"I just really really REALLY am glad that I get this.  I mean we get vacations and short breaks, but nothing compares to this.  For once I get to just get away from everything.  Everything that has to do with Nsync and fame."

"Well I hate to burst your bubble but you still have Lonnie.  And I'm here."  She smiled sheepishly

Justin played with her fingers and spoke, "What do you mean?"

"I have something to do with Nsync, I work for them, and I'm here."  She bit her lip.

He smiled so brightly she was almost blinded. "Yeah, but that's different.  You have something to do with Nsync, but you also have something that doesn't have anything to do with it, that is ten times better than Nsync."

"And what's that?"  She looked at him with curiosity

Justin took a deep breath and looked at the table before looking back up at her. "You have my soul."

Meredith eyes widened in shock.  She had no idea what to say.   She stuttered and her lip trembled. "Justin, I don't-"

He leaned over the table to quiet her with his lips.  When he pulled away he touched her cheek lightly. "You don't have to say anything."

Meredith squeezed his other hand and smiled at him.  She was starting to form a smile that she would only give him.  Of course she didn't realize this, but he did, and it made him ecstatic.

Justin turned his attention back to the dancers and noticed that the pace of the music had sped up quite a bit.  A few people that weren't dancers were joined with them dancing.  Meredith followed his gaze and laughed when she spotted a few tourists that had been pulled from their seats and forced to learn the dance. 

Justin and Meredith were laughing and cutting up so much that they didn't notice the dancing coming closer to them and before they knew it a 40 year Grecian lady was pulling Justin up out of his seat and dragging him to the circle of dancers.

Meredith laughed at Justin's shocked and embarrassed face.  She laughed as two ladies took both his hand and started showing him the dance.  It was one huge circle of dancers, other Grecians, and a few tourist, and Justin.  They were all jumping and moving around.  All the non-Grecians were having problems keeping up and not screwing up the dance.  Soon they were all in step. 

At the beginning Justin looked like he could kill someone, but now he had a huge smile on his face.  He had no idea what the people were saying.  Everyone was Greek except for a Japanese couple that had no clue as to what they were doing but were having the best time and another couple that were speaking French and looked miserable.  Justin just smiled at Meredith and waved.

"OPA!"  Everyone shouted at once.  Justin winked at Meredith who in return covered her face in her hands.  She was embarrassed to be seen with such a goofball.

When the song was over everyone in the area clapped loudly and laughed, even a few whistles were heard.  Justin sauntered back over to Meredith and pulled his chair that was across from her to right beside her.  He smiled as she peeked through her hands.

She mumbled, "You are so embarrassing."

Justin took both hands and placed them on his chest. "ME?  I got dragged up there.  So, I decided to have fun with it."

"You looked like a DORK!"  She giggled and bent over to place her forehead on one of his knees.

Justin leaned down and whispered into her hair before kissing the top of her head. "I don't care.  I'll never see these people again, anyway."

"Excuse me.  May we sit with you."  A heavy British accent said.

Meredith took her head off of Justin's knee and looked up at the nice couple.  Without a second thought she said, "OH surely!"

The lady smiled brightly and pointed at Justin. "We saw you up their dancing and thought we would come by and say hello."

Justin face immediately turned bright red. "I'm Meredith and the cute one with the extremely red face here is Justin."

The man shook Meredith's hand. "It's good to meet you.  I'm Wills and this is my fiancee Gillian."

They all shook hands and Wills looked at Justin with a titled head. "You look very familiar."

"Umm, yeah, a lot of people say I look like Ryan Phillipe."  Justin smiled secretively at Meredith.

"HE just wishes."  She joked.

Gillian nodded. "Yeah I can kinda see the resemblance."

"So are you too here on vacation together?"  Meredith inquired.

Gillian smiled. "It's business related.  But we are visiting my grandparents, who are from here.  MY mother is Greek, but I was born in England. That's how I met my love."  She looked dreamily at Wills.

"Oh wow.  So when do you two get married?"  Meredith smiled pointing at the ring on her finger.

"In 2 months."  Wills and Gillian turned and smiled at each other.

"That's sweet." Meredith gushed.

Gillian rested her head on Wills shoulder and directed her attention to Justin. "Yeah, you sure are being quiet."

Meredith patted his knee. "Oh, he is just embarrassed because you two caught his awful dancing skills."

"Don't even make me comment on that.  You KNOW I can dance."  Justin rolled his eyes.

Meredith poked at his stomach. "Whatever."

"So are you two here on vacation, honeymoon, what?"  Wills asked.

"You hear that, honeymoon."  Justin smiled evilly at Meredith.

She pushed his shoulder playfully. "You wish.  No, this is part of his birthday present from me. After Greece, I'm taking him to Switzerland then Paris, and we finish up in Hawaii."

"Where are you going in Switzerland?"  Gillian asked.

"Oh, that's a surprise for my baby."  Meredith winked at Justin who in return rolled his eyes.

"Wow, how come you never did anything sweet like that for me?"  Wills asked Gillian.

She turned and looked up at the sky. "Because you don't deserve it."

"You know I can take this ring back."  Wills pretended to take the ring off.

Gillian giggled and pushed his hand away before bringing her face closer to his. "No, no.  You know I love you."

"I know."  Wills smiled before kissing his fiancee.

Justin looked at Meredith and smiled a shy smile.  She looked at him straight in the eyes before making a goofy face.

Wills looked at his watch. "Goodness, we better go."

Justin looked at his also. "Oh my gosh, its 1:30"

"Yeah, it was good talking to you Gillian, Wills."  Meredith waved and smiled at them before turning around

Gillian called after them. "You too, have a nice birthday Justin."

Justin turned around and smiled. "Thank you."

Justin and Meredith parted from Gillian and Wills.  They walked hand in hand back to the hotel, stopping every now and then to kiss.

Gillian and Wills watched them as they left.

"Do you think they suspected anything?"  Gillian asked him.

Wills smiled evilly. "No, they were clueless.  Wait till we tell the boss we saw Justin Timberlake with a girl in Greece.  Birthday present? A Surprise? Calling him 'baby'? You know what this means."

"Front page news."  Wills and Gillian shared a quick kiss and turned back around and walked in the opposite direction.

Wills looked around before asking. "Did you get the pictures?"

"Hell yeah, I got the ones of them kissing and everything." 

"I'm going to call Mr. Helms and tell him that we need tickets to Paris so we can have this article out in no time."

--------------------

"Justin, get up!"  Meredith said to the lump of covers. 

She walked to the other bed and sat down as she put on her tennis shoes.  She picked up her bookbag and checked to make sure she had everything in it.  She pulled out a brochure and studied it.  She looked up from it and at the creature in the bed, still asleep.

"Justin, don't make me get violent."  All she got in return was a grunt.  She sighed and walked to the door that connected their room to Lonnie's.

She knocked lightly and heard a 'come in' from the other side.  She poked her head in and saw Lonnie flipping through the channels.

"We need to leave here in 15 minutes because our train leaves in 30."

He turned off the TV and looked up at her. "OK, I'm ready whenever.  Justin is another story, is he even up yet?"

"No, I might need your help."  She giggled.

"Just hollar."

"K."  She smiled and left the door opened.  She saw Justin lying on his side looking rather comfortable in the bed.

"Justin GET UP!"  She tickled his foot through the covers.  He groaned and flipped over on his back covering his face with a pillow.

"I can be JUST as difficult."  With that she climbed up on the bed and straddled his stomach.  She began bouncing on him and tickling him.  He squirmed and pulled her down on top of his chest, removing the pillow in the process.

"Justin we HAVE to be at the station in 30 minutes.  Get out of this bed NOW!"  She said staring down at his peaceful face.

"Nooo."  He groaned and rolled over still holding on to her.  Now she was pinned between him and the bed.  She looked up and saw him with his eyes closed but smiling evilly.

"LONNNNIIIEEE!"  She screamed.  Justin chuckled but soon was lifted by two very large hands and dragged to the bathroom.  He was literally thrown in the bathroom and only had time enough to turn around to see Lonnie slam the door in his face.

"Justin, you better be out here, showered, dressed, and ready to go in 15 minutes or I will personally come in there and drag you out, whether you are clothed or not and force you to come with us."

Lonnie was about to say something else to threaten Justin but heard the water of the shower begin to run so decided against it.

"Thanks, you're good at that.  I just got molested when I tried."  Meredith smiled.

"Believe me, that's not the first time I've had to do that."  Lonnie walked back into his room. "I'm going to watch some more of Swiss Oprah.  Tell me if he causes any more problems."

A few minutes later Justin came out of the shower in a cloud of steam.  Meredith looked up from her notebook that she was writing something on and nodded to his bed that was now halfway made and had clothes laid out for him. 

"I laid out everything for you.  You'll need to bundle up, what we are doing today will be rather cold."  She said and turned back to her notebook.  Justin secured his towel and grabbed his boxers she put out for him.  Before he went back into the bathroom, he bent down to Meredith and kissed her cheek, lingering there for a moment.

"Good morning, Angel." 

She looked up at him.  He was staring at her so lovingly she didn't have the courage to speak.  He smiled a brilliant smile and stood up and walked towards the bathroom grabbing his pants and T-shirt on his way. 

He turned back before entering the bathroom and saw her still staring at him.  He laughed loudly and entered the bathroom.

------------------------

"So, your surprise for me is spending the day on a train."  Justin looked at Lonnie who was sleeping in the chair across from them.  He then turned his attention to Meredith who was beside him.

Meredith spoke as she watched the scenery pass. "Justin, stop worrying about it.  Just go with the flow."

He gave up with a sigh and turned quickly to Meredith and glared at her.  "This better be worth spending all day on a train."

"I thought you said you liked trains."  Lonnie chuckled.

Justin pointed a finger at him. "Hush and go back to sleep."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "PLEASE stop being a 5 year old and act your age.  I'm doing this for you Justin. FOR YOU.  So SHUT UP and just look out the window."

"Meredith..." Justin whined.

She crossed her arms over her stomach and looked at the woman across the aisle with a sleeping baby in her arms. "No, I'm tired of hearing it.  I've done ALL of this for you and you are treating me like nothing."

Justin lifted up the armrest that was separating their bodies.  He put an arm around her and forced her to snuggle close to him.  He bent down and whispered in her hair.

"I'm sorry baby.  I'm just tired.  We've been going non-stop for almost a week."

"I know, so spend this time relaxing and just watch the scenery as we ride through Switzerland.  You said you thought this was one of the most beautiful countries."  She spoke in a less tense tone.

"It is."  After a long pause Justin spoke again.  "I'm not complaining but how much longer are we going to be on a train."

Meredith groaned and shook her head. "We get off at the next stop."

"Yes."  Justin quietly cheered.

"But..." He closed his eyes when she said this. "We get on another train.  We will be on that train about 30 minutes, then get on another train for about an hour."

"OK."  Was all he said.  He said a silent prayer to give him patience.

"Hey, when we get off at our next stop I'll show you where we are going, OK?"

"Serious?"  He was now ecstatic.

"No, Justin I just said that to trick you."  She deadpanned.  He stuck out his tongue and kissed her forehead before turning his gaze towards the Swiss Alps that were they were slowly coming closer and closer to.  His mind was running with thoughts of what her surprise was.

--------------------------------

"So...."  Justin dragged out as he rocked back and forth on his heels.

Meredith bent and looked down the track at the train station, to see if their train was in sight. "So what?"

Justin's eyes got huge. "Soooo, you said you'd tell me where we are going." 

She giggled. "Oh yeah, actually I said I'd show you."

"Whatever, just get on with it."  Justin said impatiently.

Meredith looked at Lonnie. "Is he always this impatient?"

"I thought you would know by now."  He chuckled.

Meredith pointed to Justin. "I've never seen him THIS bad."

"MERRREEDITHHHH..." He whined.

"No! You are whining now."

"Fine then, Lonnie will tell me."  Justin smiled at Lonnie very sweetly.

Lonnie crossed his arms over his chest. "Nuh uh."

"You guys suck."  Meredith could have sworn he was about to start sucking his thumb.  She exaggerated a sigh and grabbed his arm.

"Come with me."

"K!"  He smiled like a happy 5-year-old.

Meredith brought him away from the platform of the train station to and open area.  The scenery was beautiful.  They were in the middle of a quaint Swiss village.  The Alps surrounded them. She pointed to one of the tallest peak that they could see. "That's where we are going."

"Huh?"  Justin looked at her and to where she pointing, then back at her.

She shook her finger at the mountain. "That mountain right there.  We are going to the top."

He raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"By train."  She dropped her arm and smiled at him.

Justin shook his head, confused. "But.."

She cut him off. "This train will take us to a stop call Kliendrig.  From there we will take a tunnel train to the top.  So we will be like IN the mountain."

"Oh WOW."  Justin was still a little confused, but amazed.

"Justin it's going to be 45 minutes to an hour in a tunnel.  Will you promise not to whine."

He nodded his head vigorously. "I'm too excited to whine now!"

"Good." She let out a deep breath and looked at him.  He was grinning at her lovingly.  Before she had any time to think, his lips were on hers and his arms were around her small body.  The sound of a train whistle rang in their ears.

She mumbled against his lips. "I hear our train coming."

"I love you." He whispered tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

She giggled. "That was random."

"I don't care."  He said before claiming her lips again.

She pushed him away. "We need to go."

"ummk."  He said with a dreamy expression on his face.

They walked back over to where Lonnie was standing. "Did you tell him?"

"Yeah, I told him, kinda."  Meredith shrugged.

Justin placed his arm around her shoulders. "What do you mean kinda?"

"Well, you don't know what is up there.  All you know is that that's where we are going."

Justin watched as the train came to a stop right in front of them. "AT least I know we do have a destination."

Meredith bent down and picked up her bookbag. "Come on, let's get a window seat, babes."

"YES!  She is using nicknames again.  She's no longer mad."  Justin rooted.

"TIMBERFAKE COME ON!"  She yelled from the steps of the train.

Lonnie began chuckling and Justin glared at him. "Stop laughing."

"Aye Aye Captain."  Lonnie saluted him and they both started laughing.  They boarded the plane and followed Meredith to a perfect window seat.

-------------------

An hour or so later

"Man, this is kinda scary."  Justin peered out the window of the train and all he saw was the reflection of himself, inside the train against black.

"We should be there soon."  Meredith said looking at the London newspaper her and Lonnie were reading.  Justin had become so jittery she had to get away from him.

Lonnie laughed. "Hey, look at this.  It seems that our little Britney threw a tantrum at the London airport when her flight was delayed."

"God I hate tabloids."  Justin mumbled.

"I think it is sad that people have to be so intrigued by the juicy details, real or not, of peoples lives.  I mean that's all you are, a person.  But I guess they just don't realize that." Meredith looked at Justin, she could tell he was a little angry.  Even though it wasn't him that the article was talking about, he had been in the situation MANY times before, and Britney was a friend.

"Yeah, they think we are perfect.  So in order to make our life more dramatic they make up shit."  Justin said grabbing the paper and glancing over the article.  "I wonder what Mr. Wills McVenan would think if I probed into HIS life."

"Who?"

"Wills McVenan, the writer of this article."

"Oh that's weird, we met that guy named Wills from London and his fiancee in Milos, 'member?"

"Yeah..." Justin said in a distant tone.  He looked at something on the paper for a minute and back up at Meredith. 

"What is it, J?"

"Oh it's probably nothing, but there is another article in here written by a Gillian."

Meredith's eyes got big.  Then she shook her head.  "You don't think..."

"Nah, probably not.  I HOPE not."

Lonnie looked back and forth between the two. "What's going on? Guys?"

"In Milos, that night me and Justin went to that cafe.  When I told you he had to dance?" Meredith said.

"Oh yeah, show us the dance again J."  Lonnie chuckled.  Justin just stared at the paper.

She continued. "Anyway, a couple, Wills and Gillian, from London, came and sat and talked with us.  Not for long, but if they are reporters it was long enough for them to..." 

Justin interrupted her. "No! NO!  We are just paranoid.  I do not want to have to spend my time worrying about this.  It's just a coincidence.  Wills and Gillian are VERY popular British names.  Let's just enjoy this."  Justin looked out the window at the blackness. 

Meredith looked at Lonnie, who was giving her a worried glance.  It was a long shot, but it was enough to make all of them worry.  She stood up and picked up their bookbags and extra coats that occupied the seat beside Justin and put them in the seat beside Lonnie.  She lifted the armrest and sat down in the seat beside Justin.  She looked at him for a while.  He didn't move or acknowledge her.  Just stared out the window.  He was biting his nails and his fingers were trembling. She looked down to his lap. He was gripping the material of his jeans on top of his thigh so hard, his knuckles were white.  She placed her hand on top of his gripping hand.  He stopped gripping he material and slowly turned his hand and took her hand in his.  He brought it up to his mouth kissed the back of her hand.  With his lock on her hand he pulled her close to him and allowed her to snuggle to his shoulder.  He unlaced their fingers and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Don't worry. No matter what happens, I'm not going anywhere."  She looked up at him and smiled.

"I know you aren't.  I'm just so use to this that it's sickening.  I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."  Justin said with a sigh.

Before they knew it, outside the train, lights started appearing and the blackness turned into a brown.  Then the train slowly came to a stop.  Meredith smiled brightly.

"We're here."  She whispered excitedly.  They all grabbed their stuff and they stepped off the train in the now, dimly lit tunnel.  Justin shivered and pulled a sweatshirt over his long-sleeved shirt.

"You were right!  It IS chilly."

"It's going to get warmer, but then its going to get even COLDER!"  She smiled and put on her ski jacket.

They followed the rest of the passengers through two sets of double doors and they looked like to be in some sort of lodge. It was very cozy and warm. There were tables, a cafeteria, brochure stands, an information desk, and a gift shop.  People dressed like Eskimos buzzed around.  Meredith smiled as she remembered the place.

A few years before, her family had taken a trip to Europe and her dad insisted that they come here.  It was her favorite place.  Probably the most beautiful place she had EVER been too.  She grabbed Justin's hand and pulled him over to one of the long wooden cafeteria tables.  Before they got to where Justin could see, she turned him around to where his back was to a HUGE glass window.  Meredith stood in front of him.

"Back up."  She looked around to make sure he wouldn't trip on anything. 

"Umm OK?"  Justin did as he was told.

"OK, you can stop."  She looked out the windows and sighed.  "Turn around."

Justin quickly did as he was told and his mouth dropped open.  He smiled slowly and breathed, "Wow."

"I'm not a very big, mountain person, but that is AWESOME!"  Lonnie said staring at the amazing sight in front of them.

Outside the glass window was a range of snowcapped mountains.  It was a perfectly clear day and an untouched glacier was glistening in the sunlight right before them.

Meredith looked at the sight and then back at the two men taken in the sight.

"If you guys think this is cool, you aint seen NOTHING yet."  She smiled at them when they turned and looked at her.  "Come on, follow me."

They followed her and walked up a few steps.  They stood in an area in front of double doors that people were entering.  "OK fellows, get bundled up.  We are going into a ice cave."

"A what?" Lonnie asked like she was crazy.

"It's a cave made of just ice.  I don't know how they keep it from melting with all the people that walk through there.  But there are all types of ice sculptures and tunnels.  But it's rather chilly and also kinda slippery.  So, if you start to fall, don't grab me, because I don't want to go down with you."  She giggled and they all got wrapped in warm clothes.

"Ready?"  She smiled.

"This is exciting!"  Justin said happily.

"And this is not even the HALF of it!"  She kissed him on the cheek and looked at Lonnie.  She busted out laughing.  He looked like a big black Eskimo.

"I better like this."  He grumbled.

Meredith grabbed his hand and stood in-between Justin and him.  She grabbed Justin's hand as well as nudged Lonnie.  "Just pretend you are 10 years old.  And you will enjoy this." 

She walked ahead of them and pulled the door open.  There in front of them was an elevator.  Meredith pressed the button that said down and started humming a tune as they waiting for the elevator.

"Meredith, could you NOT hum the darth vadar theme?"  Lonnie breathed.

"Oh I'm sorry."  She smiled brightly and when the elevator doors open she guiding them in.  They were the only ones in the elevator and as it made its was down Meredith began quietly singing another song. "It's the end of the world as we know it, It's the end..."

"OK.  I'm being very nice.  You know I hate cold weather and here you are dragging me into the depths of Mt. Everest.  Could you please stop acting like I'm going to die."  Lonnie pleaded.

Before any of them had time to say anything else the doors opened and they stepped out into a blank room with two wooden doors that had the words "ICE HOUSE" printed on them in several languages.  A poster with warnings and such was posted beside the doors. 

"Everyone warm?"  She asked and they nodded with grins.

"OK.  Here we go."  Meredith opened the doors grandly and they were all hit with the cold air of the "ice house".  They walked in looked around as an aqua clearness surrounded them. 

"Oh my gosh look at those bears!"  Lonnie pointed to 3 sculptures of bears.  Meredith raised an eyebrow at Justin and locked her hand with his as they followed Lonnie through the icehouse.  They had fun marveling and laughing at the sculptures and passing through the tunnels.  At one part there was a dining room sculpture where people could actually sit down at the table.  All three of them sat down as a German man took their photo. 

As they stood up Meredith grabbed Justin's hand.  They began walking and Meredith's tennis shoes didn't grip the ice right and she fell down with a thud, bringing Justin with her.  He lay straight on top of her.

"You OK?"  He whispered.

"Oh, believe me, I'm fine."  She smiled at him smiling back at her.

"That you are."  He closed the gap between their faces and claimed her lips.

"UHHUMMM!" Someone cleared their throat.

They looked up and saw Lonnie standing above them.  They both giggled.  Justin pushed himself off of her and pulled her up.

"Thank you for realizing that this IS a public place."  Lonnie smiled and motioned for them to go in front of him. 

They continued on through the tunnels.  Meredith laughed so hard when they went down "Midget's tunnel" which was a tunnel for only the short and skinny.  Justin had to bend over to pass through and Meredith took a picture of his butt that was staring her in the face as he crouched through the tunnel. Meredith had no trouble passing through and turned around to see Lonnie not even trying to pass through.  She took a picture of him with his hands on his hips raising an eyebrow at her in the tunnel.

She and Justin got through the tunnel and walked back through an ice hallway to where Lonnie was waiting.

"So, that's it of the ice house.  You guys ready to have some more fun?"

Justin kissed her temple. "Yeah!  This is really cool M!"

"Even I had FUN!"  Lonnie said dramatically.

"Let's go."  They exited out a different door and they took a different elevator back to the lodge area.

"Let's eat first before we do the main thing."  They got in line at the cafeteria and Meredith turned to Justin and Lonnie.  "Now this IS cafeteria food.  I'd go with the fries.  I know they are safe."

They went through the line and turned their nose up at most of the food before they settled down at a cafeteria table by a window with that glorious view.

"So after we eat what are we doing?"  Justin asked playfully.

"We go outside."

Lonnie choked on his food. "Outside?"

"Yeah."  Meredith shrugged.

Lonnie eyed Justin and Justin looked at Meredith and mouthed 'crazy'.  And pointed at her when she wasn't watching.

"I saw that Timberfake."  She said not looking at him.

"How..what...you....uggh!"  Justin let a frustrated sigh escape.  Meredith giggled and smiled at him sweetly before stuffing his mouth with 3 fries.

------------

When they finished talking and eating, Meredith stood up and looked at the two men sitting there laughing at something.

"OK, boys. Listen up."  They turned and looked at her.  "I know it's only 1:30, but what we do next will probably be the last thing we do today.  Actually its the only other thing we can do here.  Umm, when I came here a couple years ago with my family, it was right after a really hard time that I was going through."  Meredith knew that Lonnie didn't know about Dan, and she knew this was no time to tell him, so she left that out.  "Dad insisted that we come here, and well, this is probably my favorite place in the world.  I just think it's SO beautiful.  You might not think so, but anyways, lets just get on with it."

Justin looked at her questionably, but she just picked up their plates and threw them away as they bundled back up.

"Alrighty, follow me, as usual."  She smiled and led them up several flights of stairs to glass door.  They walked through the door and waited with about 10 other people while a man spoke in several languages.  He first gave the instructions in German, then English.

"When you go outside, remember that the black ropes are for your safety.  Please do NOT cross these ropes.  If you do it can be life threatening.  Parents please keep your children close to you and do not let them get too close to the ropes."

Meredith whispered in Justin ear, "Stay away form the black ropes honey."  He glared at her, playfully.

The speaker finished off. "OK, you are welcome to go outside now."

The man opened the thick metal door and allowed people to walk through.  Justin, Meredith and Lonnie all slipped on their sunglasses as they headed out into a blinding white.  They walked up a pathway of snow.  It was piled over their heads so they couldn't see anything but the person in front of them.   The path started to incline and a few steps later they were at their destination.

An area about the size of a basketball court was marked off in the packed snow.  A Swiss flag on a 20ft pole flapped in the wind in the middle of the area.  On one end about 40 ft from the rope the mountain dropped off and you could see all the way to the bottom of the mountain.  They were so high up; they were above the few lingering clouds. 

"This is...."  Lonnie spoke but couldn't put into words the sight he saw.  Justin looked at the view and at Meredith before he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"I love you."  He whispered.

"You'll love me even more when you turn around."

"What's there?"  They turned their heads to look at each other.  Meredith sighed.

"My favorite thing to look at besides you."  He kissed her briefly and turned both of them around.  Justin just stared at the beautiful view of mountains upon mountains.  Glaciers intertwined between them.  It looked like a painting, a postcard, something unreal.  It was a beautiful sight.

"I remember coming here and for the first time after Dan died feeling some sort of peace.  Like I could still make it, I could still move on.  That's probably why I like it so much.  I know its just a view and bit of ice and mountains.  So I am sorry if it doesn't mean that much to you.  I guess it wasn't really a great surprise.  I just needed to come back here.  Like closure on that part of my life.  I'm sorry..."

"Shut up, please?"  Justin interrupted her and kissed her temple before taking in a deep breath.  "I love this place.  It's perfect.  It's untouched, it's....I don't know, I cant describe it.  Thank you for sharing this with me.  This is the best surprise ANYONE could ever give me."

"Thank you for saying that."  Meredith leaned against him and they stood there amazed at the beauty in front of them, for as long as they needed. 

For Justin this place signified a place that didn't know his name, hadn't seen him, a place he cherished.  Places like this, places that were clean from him, his business, and the media were odd things in the world he knew.  It was a place just to get away.  It reminded him that there IS more out there for him to see and do, even though he had done SO much already.  And it was something that SHE had shared with him.  A place that he had no idea about and a place that obviously meant a lot to her.  And she had brought him there.  That meant more to him and anything he would ever possessed.