January 8th

It was around lunchtime and Scott was just now waking up. He stretched on the small couch and he eyes slowly opened. When he didn't recognize the odd ceiling before him, he jumped up causing him to almost fall off the couch.

"Bout time you woke up!!" Someone giggled.

At the sound of the voice Scott looked up to see his sister looking at him curiously over the top of her glasses. She was at the kitchen table; books and paper were scattered everywhere.

"What time is it?" He asked pushing himself back on the couch and letting his head dangle on the back of it.

"Almost lunchtime, you might want to get dressed or showered or SOMETHING. Justin and Chris are coming over here in about 15 minutes." She spoke without removing her eyes from the paperwork she was doing.

"OK. What are you doing?"

"I'm going over some stuff for my internship. I got a lot of things to finalize with Uncle B too. A lot of tax and insurance crap."

Scott stood up and shuffled to the bathroom. "Sounds like fun." He shut the door.

Alex sighed and threw her pen down on the table. "Yeah, a blast."

About 10 minutes later Scott reemerged from the bathroom with a towel around his waist.

Alex looked up and rolled her eyes. "Scott, put on some clothes."

"What? Don't you like my rippled and cut bod?"

"Oh pulease, you look like a string bean. You got NO muscle." Alex giggled when he glared at her and got some clothes from his bag and walked back into the bathroom.

Just as Scott was coming back out from the bathroom clothed, the doorbell rang. Alex didn't look up from her work. "Scott, get that will you?"

"Damn, you sure are enthralled with those papers." He eyed her carefully as he walked to the door barefoot. He didn't even look through the peephole. He swung the door open and turned back around to finish talking to his sister.

"What's the big deal with that crap anyway?" He looked over her shoulder to see what was so important on the papers.

"It just has a lot of stuff about the potential you have working at NSSL. There are like possible governmental jobs and some awesome stuff."

Scott giggled and walked back over to the couch where his bag was. "You're eyes lit up when you said government. You aren't thinking about becoming a spy are you, Lex? Uh ohh, Agent Smith, FBI." Scott mocked being a FBI agent and Alex threw her pen at him hitting him in the crotch.

"Oww." He grabbed the painfilled area.

"That did not hurt." She looked up and rolled her eyes.

"Girl, you don't know. Man, ohh." Scott wobbled and carefully set down on the couch with a sigh.

A throat was cleared behind her and she looked over her shoulder to see Justin, Chris and a rather tall blonde with her hair pulled back in a clip, standing there.

"Sup, yall? How's it going?" She looked back down at her papers.

Justin walked over to the chair across from her and pulled it out and sat down. "Not much. This is Danielle, Chris's girlfriend."

Alex looked up at the girl and smiled. She stuck out her hand. "Alexandria. But you can call me Alex, Lexy, Lex, Lexia, WHATEVER."

The girl smiled and spoke softly as she shook Alexandria's hand. "Yeah, Justin has told me a lot about you."

Alex turned back to Justin with an amused look. She could have sworn he was slightly blushing.

Justin locked his eyes with her and smiled softly as Scott came up and introduced himself to Danielle.

Ignoring everyone else, Justin looked down at her paper work. "What's all this stuff?"

Alex sighed and picked up a pen to sign something on a piece of paper. "Its NSSL stuff and stuff for quitting Tidal Wave."

"So you made a decision." Justin smiled slightly at her and she smiled back.

"I guess, I mean, like you said this is my dream. And my parents have become like the bearer of gifts all of a sudden. Cell phone, Car, half of my tuition. So, I guess I'll try and make it."

"Good. I'm proud of you, Lexia."

Alex tried to contain the blood from rushing to her face, but it failed.

"Yeah, my last day at Tidal Wave will be next Friday. It will be a fun evening."

"So, what are we doing today?" Scott asked from the couch, pulling on some shoes.

"Well, Danielle wants to go to the mall. But it doesn't matter to me." Chris shrugged.

"YES THE MALL!" Scott yelled. 4 heads turned and looked at him strangely. "What? Lex said she wouldn't take me, and I NEED to go. All we have up in Icebox is Wal-mart."

"That is not true. And it's not an ice box." Alex rolled her eyes at her brother.

"I thought you said you hated big Alaska." Scott raised and eyebrow playfully.

Alex shook her head and looked at Justin, who was smiling, quite amused at the brother and sister fighting. "Don't you guys need security if we are going to the mall?"

"It's taken care of." Chris smiled.

"All right, let me go get a jacket and we will go."

Alex went into her bedroom to get a jacket and Scott followed her. Danielle turned to Justin and gave him a questioning look. "Don't worry, by the end of the day you will love her just as much as I do."

Justin turned his head to look at Chester who was whistling. Dani turned to look at Chris shocked at the words he just said. He just nodded. Chris had told Dani about the kiss and how Justin had acted around her the day they played b-ball. Danielle and Chris also noticed how Justin never let his eyes drift from Alex since the moment they walked into her apartment.

Justin turned back around and saw Dani and Chris staring at him. "What?"

Danielle sighed loudly. "Justin, one word. Brit-"

He interrupted her. "I know, OK! God, why does every-" But before anything else got out, Alex and Scott had came back.

"Remind me I gotta get an outfit for next Friday. Uncle B wants me to wear something special since it's my last day." She smiled and ushered everyone out of her apartment.

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2 1/2 hours later
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"Do you mind if we go in there?" Alex looked up at Justin. He raised his head to the store name and turned his eyes back downward to her smiling, pleading face.

-Damn you, Lexia. Don't look at me like that. -

He sighed and pulled his cap lower on his head. Alex took that as a yes and squealed as her and Dani slapped hands. The two girls had become fast friends on their little randevue to the mall. They found out they had the same taste in clothing, which was always a plus.

Scott and Chris, along with Dre, a bodyguard, had left to go look for Justin some birthday presents. Scott just needed to get away from the girls.

Justin did too.

But he was stuck with them. Partly because Chris was birthday shopping for him. Partly because he wanted to keep an eye out on the girls, knowing they could get out of hand in the newly re-done Georgeton Parks Mall in the nicer part of upper Orlando. That's where they were.

But mostly he wanted to stay with Lexia. He wanted and NEEDED to be around her.

He just couldn't get enough of that smile and laugh and eyes and hair and...

"Aren't you going to come, Justy Wusty?" Dani giggled as she and Alex gleefully walked into the clothing store, Bebe.

Justin groaned and rolled his eyes to Mike who had the same bored look as him on his face. "Why did you have to follow THEM?"

Justin shrugged and followed the girls into the store with Mike close behind.

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15 minutes later
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As Alex walked towards the dressing room following a salesperson, Mike clicked off his walkie-talkie and looked at Justin. "Dre said they are going to meet up here in a few minutes."

"Good, maybe we can leave." Justin groaned.

"Here is your dressing room miss, just ask for Geana if you need anything." The tall, skinny, attractive black woman said opening the door to the dressing room open for Alex.

She walked in and turned around about to shut the curtain when Justin called out. "Hey, Lexia. Come out here and model for us, I want to see what they look like on you."

Mike turned his gaze to the young man beside him. Thankfully there were two chairs, two EMPTY chairs outside the dressing rooms of the store. He had been engrossed in an issue of Cosmo, but turned his attention elsewhere at Justin's little comment.

Alex had just smiled politely and shut the curtain. Then Danielle's head popped out of her dressing room curtain, across from Alex's. "You didn't ask to see MY outfits!"

Justin looked at Dani almost like a deer in headlights. "Oh, well, you can show us to, if you want."

She just rolled her eyes, shaking her head and brought her head back in her dressing room. Mike chuckled and Justin looked at him curious. "WHAT?"

Mike continued laughing as Justin stared at him and then Mike looked up and his laughter ceased. Noticing, Justin quickly led his gaze to where Mikes was resting.

He about fell out of his chair.

"Hey, Geana?" Alex called from the full-length, three-sided mirror she was standing before. The black woman stood before her. "Hum?"

"Do you think you can get me a size smaller in these pants? They are a little loose in the waist."

"Sure." He lady smiled and walked away.

Justin gulped so loudly that Mike turned and looked at him. "If those pants get any tighter I don't know....wwwwoooowwwww." Justin whispered under his breath.

Mike nodded. "I use to like leather okay on girls. But now...damn boy, hold me back. HOLD ME BACK!"

Justin just let his gaze travel the length of Alex's body. Her legs were covered in nice fitting red leather pants. They had no belt loops and didn't look like a zipper was anywhere to be found. He didn't know HOW she got them on. HE didn't care. They looked like they were painted on, and he seriously didn't know HOW she would be able to fit in a size smaller.

He wasn't calling her fat, by no means. Those pants were just TOO tight to try and go smaller.

Her top was a shimmery, sequenced silver..thingy. It looked like a tanktop from this angle, but he hadn't really got a good look at the front or back of her. Just the side.

"So, boys, whatcha think?" She turned to him with raised eyebrows. Justin clenched his jaw in the dip of the top. If it went any lower Mike was going to have to hold HIM back.

Hell, they were going to have to hold each other back. Or either fight over her.

She turned on her heel and Justin's intake of breath was so loud the lady a few feet away rummaging through a rack of clothing, turned around to see if he was OK. When she saw what he was staring at, she smiled at his expression.

The back of Alexandria's top was....well, WHAT back?

All it had were two velvety thin strings that she had tied into a bow to keep the silver piece of cloth from showing anything in the front.

She was already showing enough.

Justin thought of his brothers, his grandmother, snow, snow and more snow. But it didn't work. Thinking of lots of ice and his family still couldn't keep him from being turned on by seeing Lexia dressed this way.

Those pants were just too...perfect. They showed EVERYTHING she had to offer.

That top was just too....much. It showed too much of the front and too much of the back.

The pieces of fabric that held the top together in the back were meant for only one thing in Justin's mind: easy access.

"It's not too much is it? Cause I don't want to look like a slut." Alex giggled looking herself once more in the mirror.

"You look...FAN-TAS-TIC!" Danielle yelled from her dressing room, it was partly opened. She was smiling at Justin's shocked expression and Alex's hopeful face.

"Are you sure it's not TOO much?" Alex was obviously very self-conscious in this super-sexy outfit.

"Hell YES it's too much. I'm not letting my sister walk around like THAT!" 4 heads turned towards Scott, Chris and Dre who were standing there with shopping bags. Scott dropped his bags and ran to his sister and covered her body with his. "Nobody look!"

Alex scoffed and pushed him away. "Shut up, Scott."

"Man, if dad saw you in that....whew...he would FLIP. Like, literally, FLIP!"

"Girllllllll, uph! Dani baby, you better WATCH out." Chris smiled walking over to her dressing room to see what his girlfriend was trying on.

"Well, Justin, what do YOU think? You haven't said anything yet." Alex turned to Justin. His eyes were dark with passion and he looked her up and down once more, stopping at her hips, chest, lips, and finally her eyes. Her cheeks were pink, as she had noticed him checking her out.

"Its-" He stopped not being able to find words.

"It's what?" Her voice was expectant and wanting.

"It's....amazing." His voice was like a whisper, breathy and soft. She smiled and looked herself in the mirror once more. But she turned back to Justin as his voice continued his whisper like sound as his eyes traveled up and down and up and down, over her body, never landing on her face. "It's breathtaking, It's awe-inspiring, It's wonderful, It's perfect, It's....sexy." He groaned the word sexy. His gaze came to her eyes and she looked almost frightened under his intense stare. His torturous tongue came out to lick his dry lips before he spoke in a sigh. "It's...you, Lexia."

She broke her gaze from his as the saleslady came up to him. "I'm sorry, we don't have any sizes smaller in those pants." Alex just nodded and looked at her brother who was giving her a scared look, biting his lip.

No one was expecting Justin to say anything like that, with THAT much intensity in his voice.

His voice had DRIPPED with passion.

She turned on her heel and quickly walked into her dressing room. As she was about to shut the curtain she caught Justin's painfilled look. He looked like he was battling a war with himself. His eyebrows were raised and almost connected, with his forehead wrinkled. His bottom lips was trembling and his hands were gripping the material of his navy cargo pants, right above his knees. He opened his mouth to say something.

Instead he tore his eyes from hers and grabbed the closest magazine to him and opened it, ripping through the pages.

Alex sighed and gently closed the curtain to her dressing room.

Justin's eyes finally peered over the magazine to see Scott, Dre, Chris, Dani and Mike staring at him. "WHAT?" He yelled, rolling his eyes and returned to flipping through the magazine.

Mike returned to his Cosmo, Dre turned to talk to Geana, Chris was talking to Dani through her dressing room curtain. His eyes landed on Scott.

Justin had two younger brothers, but he had no older sister, and had no idea how it was to be protective over them. Scott's jaw was clenched so tightly and his upper lip was slightly curled angrily. Both hands were balled into fist at his sides, his knuckles white. His eyes, those same color eyes Justin was falling in love with, were locked onto him. Justin turned frightened under the younger man's stare. He was afraid he was about to get the BEAT DOWN.

He didn't get that, but he did get something else.

Scott's right arm lifted and his fist was held in front of his stomach. Justin saw the muscles in his arm tense as he squeezed his hand tighter. Scott slightly let his fist jerk, popping his middle finger straight up, flipping Justin off. He shook his head and laughed sickening before he took his hand down and turned to go to the front of the store.