An hour later

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Justin sat on Alexandria's couch, phone to his ear and his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. Alexandria had taken a quick shower and gotten dressed. Justin had been forced to put on his wifebeater and pants from the night before, because he had nothing else. Alexandria was in jeans and a T-shirt, her hair still damp as she sat Indian style on her bed, not knowing what else to do.

Mr. Krecor had come back now and then, reporting on how bad or what was going on downstairs. The landlord, Mr. Currin had stopped by, being as kind as possible, but still clearly pissed off at the matter. He had tried going down there and telling them they were trespassing and everything. But there were quite a few people out there and he was only one man.

A knock on the door woke Alex up from her daydreaming and she quickly walked to the door, giving Justin a sympathetic look. He must have been talking to Johnny because he was just listening and not saying a word.

She peeked through her peephole and opened the door. It was Mr. Currin.

He leaned on the doorframe and his green eyes looked into hers. He said in a raspy voice, "From what I can gather, some reporter was at where yall ate last night. I don't know how or why and he followed yall back here. I don't know if he got pictures or not. The reporter I talked to was like 18 and he didn't seem to know much. I didn't tell them he was here, I just inquired why they were here and why they thought Justin Timberlake was here."

"Thanks. I'm sorry Mr. Currin. I didn't mean for this to happen really." She bowed her head and didn't look at him.

"It's ok Alexandria, I know you wouldn't do this on purpose. I'm going to go make some phone calls to see if I can get these people away from here. I'll be back later." He smiled and walked down the hallway. She shut her door and leaned her body against it.

She didn't want anyone to know but she was scared out of her mind. If that reporter had gotten pictures of them, who knows what could happen. And even though she knew a bit of turmoil would happen with Justin's rep, she wasn't as toned in on that as she was the fact that she was paranoid of attention. And if this happened, then a lot of attention would be put on her.

She pushed away from the door and walked to the sink to clean up the dirty dishes that Justin and her had made with breakfast. Neither of them had eaten much. He was on the phone while he ate, he had been on the phone all morning, and Alex just picked at her food.

She put all her dishes in the dishwasher and tried her best not to pay attention to Justin's voice that was rising steadily behind her.

"Johnny, I know ok? Don't you think I've kicked myself over this ENOUGH in the past hour? ...Oh come on, give me a break.... Yeah Mike and Dre are coming here...no I don't, ok?....HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!?!...Jesus!" He let out an annoyed sigh and as Alexandria pressed start on her dishwasher she heard the beep of her phone being turned off.

She took the butter and carton of eggs that had yet been put up and put them back in the refrigerator. When the door shut and she turned around, there was Justin, staring at her, leaning against the counter. "Mike and Dre should be here soon. I told them right, right? Park in the back and come up the fire escape?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it's just a stairwell that is outside and comes up to this floor. Its not really a fire escape but no body uses the stairs, so..." She trailed off and looked down at his barefeet, poking out from his black pants.

"Ok. Once the guys get here and get us out we have to go see Johnny. I won't lie; he's not going to be that kind about this. Umm, depending on how long it takes for the paparazzi to leave probably will depend on whether you can come back here or not. I mean, who knows, I heard your landlord say they had been following us for a while so they might have gotten good pictures of you and me. I bet you anything they have one of you waving to them when we were in my car." He chuckled slightly; realizing now that that black expedition had definitely not been Mikes. Alexandria forced a smile of her on.

"Shit." He grumbled and pounded his fist on her counter.

"What?"

"My car. I forgot. It's out there in the parking lot. How the hell am I going to get that back home? I mean if they see me or you take it, that just would not work. Mike and Dre would be suspicious looking because; well they LOOK like bodyguards. Do you realize how much this SUCKS?!?!" He grabbed his hair in frustration and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, I realize." She whispered.

His eyes popped back open and he dropped his hands. "I'm sorry, Lexia. I just- I'm quite pissed off right now, and I doubt my mood will change all day. I'm really sorry."

"Me too."

"Hey, hey-" His sincere voice was cut off by banging on the door. Alex looked through her peephole and let out a tired sigh. Thanking God for the two men that were shown when she opened the door.

"Hi."

"Heya Lex. Is the boy panicking yet?" Dre chuckled walking in with a plastic grocery bag. He tossed it to Justin. "Clothes." He simply said.

Mike's expression wasn't as comforting as Dre's. "There's a hell of a lot of people out there. I just can't believe that I let this pass me. I should have spotted them."

"Dude, its not your fault. I'm going to go change." Justin into her bedroom and did just that.

As Justin was changing, Dre called up Johnny and some other people on his cell to make everything in check. Mike stared at Alex, a grin slowly spreading arcoss his face. Finally she widened her eyes, "WHAT?"

"Nothing." He chuckled. Justin emerged shortly in jeans and a tee himself, going into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He came out to seconds later, toothpaste all around his lips and the brush in the corner of his mouth. He mumbled. "Lexia, tell Mike about the car situation." She thought a moment and it dawned on her. "Oh yeah, he is freaked out because his car is out there and he doesn't know how he is going to get it back." She rolled her eyes. "I mean, cant he just get it later when there ain't anybody here?"

Mike smiled as Justin emerged, stuff the toothbrush into the plastic bag and walking around the room picking up his shirt and shoes and jacket from the night before. Mike and Dre both raised their eyebrow at him as he did so. "What?" He exaggerated. Mike turned just into to see Alex's face turn bright red, before she busied herself with striating her roses. He tried to hide the knowing smile coming to his face.

To break the annoying situation someone was at the door. Alex walked to it, looked through the peephole and opened the door. "I just wanted to check and make sure everything was ok. Is there anything I can do?"

"I don't know, Mr. Krecor. Thanks though, come on in. This is Mike and Dre they are Justin's bodyguards." She motioned him inside and he shook hands with the two men.

"Wow. Well, I kinda have good news, me and Mr. Currin think that the people outside are thinning out. But we aren't sure. It just looks that way." He smiled sheepishly and stood there.

The situation was just becoming more awkward. Bodyguards, neighbors, landlords, etc. were all getting worked up because Justin had stayed the night and some nosy reporter had found out. And THAT was the embarrassing part. Alex's "first time" seemed to be publicized. The thought made her eyes well up with tears. This was not what she wanted at all.

"I got an idea, if you are so worried about your car, why doesn't Mr. Krecor here drive it to somewhere and we can meet up with him and then me and Dre can drive him back while you two so get bitched out by Johnny." Mike offered the idea. Justin didn't look thrilled.

"Do you know how to drive stick?" He asked uneasy.

Mr. Krecor tried not to laugh. "Yes, I do."

"Ok then, its settled. And that will also throw off suspicion that you are here, if the reporters see someone else drive your car away. They wont think that you are here or whatever." Dre offered and Mike nodded in agreement.

"Justin, hand me the keys." Mike stated. Justin picked up his keys that were lying on the counter, and reluctantly gave them to Mike.

"That's like his prize possession. It's the blue BMW convertible out there. Please don't mess it up because then he will whine to ME about it." Alex rolled her eyes.

Mike rumbled. "And ME!"

"Me too." said Dre.

"Hey!" Justin yelled in defense.

"Meet us at the McDonald's off on Rasybury Road. You know it?" Mike asked.

Mr. Krecor nodded.

"All right then, you guys ready to get out of here?" He looked at Justin who nodded and then at Alex who just shrugged.

"Ok, then. Lets go." Mike rubbed his hands together and the 5 of them headed out the door. Mr. Krecor went towards the main steps, while the other 4 quickly went out the backway.

--------

The ride to McDonald's was uneventful and quiet. Until Mike banged on the steering wheel. "I can't believe I let this pass me."

"Mike you couldn't have known. It's not your fault." Justin mumbled, looking out the tented windows in the back.

They were now at McDonald's. Justin and Alex got out quickly and Mr. Krecor handed Justin the keys. Justin just mumbled a 'thanks.' Alexandria pulled Mr. Krecor into a hug.

"Thanks for everything this morning. You were a lifesaver." She whispered to him.

"Hey, I'm just looking out for my Lex. I'll check on ya tomorrow. You want me to feed Chester for ya, if you're not back tonight?"

"Yes, thank you." She pulled away and he winked at her and quickly got in the black SUV. She turned and saw that Justin was already in his car, hat and sunglasses and engine already on. She jogged to his car and got in, pulling the seatbelt over her.

He sped out of the parking lot without saying a word. She looked at him through the corner of her eye and finally she couldn't handle the silence. She reached to turn on the radio. But his hand grabbed hers and interlocked their fingers. He sighed and stopped at a stoplight. He turned his head and smiled at her. "Well, this has been an eventful day. And look its only 11 in the mornin'" He chuckled and brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, before letting it go and driving towards the WEG offices.