The next day

"Not that I'm not having a blast sitting here watching our lives pass us by, but just out of curiosity, are we ever going to talk about what happened last night or are we just going to keep avoiding the subject until one of our legs falls off?"

Knowing that Rebecca was right and that she couldn't keep running from her problems forever caused Cathy to turn away from the window she was absentmindedly staring out of and shrug her shoulders at her friend's blunt question.

"There's nothing to talk about, really...Justin said what he needed to say and now I just have to deal with it."

Deal with it?

Not understanding exactly how Cathy could be so cold-hearted about the topic caused Rebecca to ask what that was supposed to mean. "A man, that could probably get about any girl that he wants, tells you that he's in love with you and you say you just have to deal with it? Am I missing something?"

Realizing that she did sound a bit cold-hearted and callous caused Cathy to retrace her steps. "I'm sorry, I'm just having a hard time believing that he could actually feel that strongly for me. I mean, he's only known me for what--three months? And he's already in love with me? That seems pretty far-fetched, don't you think?"

Well, when you put it like that...... Even Rebecca had to admit it did seem pretty strange, but her friend was forgetting one thing. "True...., it has only been three months, but in those three months, you two have been around each other almost twenty-four seven. And not only that, but in these last couple months, you two have experienced more with one another than some people have experienced with their loved ones in three years."

"So, keeping that in mind, no, I don't think it's that far-fetched that Justin could possibly be in love with you. I just think it's far-fetched that you don't have the same feelings for him that he does for you--do you?"

Not wanting to get into that right now caused Cathy to turn her attention back towards the window beside her, and then a second later, she moved her line of vision right back to Rebecca. "I don't know...I mean, I'm not going to say that I don't have any feelings for him because we both know that's not true, but love........? I don't know about that. I mean, I don't even know if I know what love is anymore. Does that make any sense?"

Knowing everything that her friend had been through these last couple of months, involving her ex-boss Keith, caused Rebecca to know exactly what she meant. But then after thinking about it for a second, she outwardly responded:

"I'm not saying that you have to have the exact same feelings for him as he does for you, but if there's even a small chance that you could possibly see this thing between you two developing into something more than just a friendship, don't you think you at least owe it to yourself and him to give it a try? I mean, you never know--he could be just the person to make you remember what love is, again. What do you think?"

Not knowing exactly how to respond to that question caused Cathy to throw out a nonchalant, "We'll see," before ending the conversation by turning her attention back towards the window she had been looking out of before; welcoming the one thought that had been in her head for the last couple of hours.

Could he really be in love with me?

Later that night

After spending the majority of the day holed up on the tour bus with Rebecca and then holed up in the hotel room that she would be sharing with the younger woman that night, Cathy decided that it was time that she stopped acting like a little child and come out of hiding.

"I'll be right back....don't wait up for me."

Already knowing exactly where the older woman was headed off to 'caused Rebecca to just nod her head in understanding before turning her attention back towards the person on the other end of her cell-phone, replying: "No mom, me and Lance haven't had sex yet, but if we ever do I promise you'll be the first person I'll tell."

Without even bothering to hold back her small laughter, Cathy playfully rolled her eyes at the look of annoyance on the younger woman's face before grabbing her key card off the night stand beside her and then making her way towards the hotel's hallway; not surprised when she saw a bored looking Mike standing outside of Justin and Kayla's room, newspaper in hand.

"Well-well-well, look who finally decided to grace us with her presence today. How long has it been now? Months...days...weeks?"

Knowing that Mike was just playing with her since he was the one to bring her the pizza, that Rebecca had ordered for them earlier, caused Cathy to playfully roll her eyes, before saying, "More like hours maybe....?Anyway, I was just stopping by to talk to Justin for a second, you know if he's up?"

While letting an all knowing look slip across his face, Mike honestly replied that Justin should be. "Last time I checked he was just about to put Kayla to bed, but you can go in and check for yourself, if you want to, that is."

With that being his last word, Mike moved out of the way so Cathy could slide past him and then after unlocking the door so she could walk in, he outwardly told her to holler if she needed anything.

"Will do." Cathy absentmindedly replied, before walking inside the room and raising both eyebrows in surprise when she recognized the familiar song that was coming from the room's CD player. He remembered....

As if knowing someone was watching him, Justin looked up from the notebook he was writing in and couldn't help but bite his lip slightly when he noticed who was standing in front of him. "Cat..."

Even though she knew she had just spent the majority of the day thinking about what she was going to say to Justin when she first saw him, the only thing that could come out of her mouth now was, "Hey J...you busy?"

Wow, great opener, Cat, you really know just how to get someone's attention.

Noticing the blush that was starting to take over the older woman's face caused Justin to somewhat relax a little as he offered Cathy a small smile. "No, I was just sitting here working on a couple of song ideas..why, what's up?"

Well, here goes nothing...Cathy inwardly thought to herself before letting out a small sigh and saying, "I didn't mean to disturb you, I just wanted to stop by so we could talk.....about last night."

Having already figured out that that was exactly why Cathy had come into his room a couple of minutes ago and also why this was the first time he had seen her all day long 'caused Justin to inwardly think to himself, Here we go...., before laying the notebook he was writing in on top of his bed and giving the woman in front of him his undivided attention. "I'm listening. What about it?"

Where do I begin...?

After adverting her eyes from Justin's probing stare to Kayla's sleeping figure, Cathy couldn't help but smile slightly to herself before saying, "I know that you think that I've pretty much been avoiding you all day long--which I admit, that I have been--but it's not because of the reasons that you think I've been."

"So, it's not because you've been busy trying to figure out exactly how you feel about me, then?" Justin knowingly interrupted, causing Cathy to, once again, raise both eyebrows in surprise while inwardly thinking to herself: I guess he does know me a little bit more than I thought he did..

"Okay, then it was exactly 'cause of the reasons you thought I had been." Cathy outwardly admitted to the both of them, causing Justin to slightly laugh for a second before asking the older woman, "And what exactly are your feelings for me, if you don't mind me asking?"

Do I mind....? Hell, that seems to be the question of the day...

With that thought in mind, after taking a second to brace herself for whatever was to happen after she made her confession, Cathy hesitantly replied, "I'm not going to lie to you, I'm not in love with you, but I do like you...a lot. And I'm not sure when or why exactly it happened, but all I know is that lately you are the first person I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last person I think about before I go to bed. And I know that's probably not what you want to hear right now, seeing as how you just confessed in front of tons of people that you had fallen in love with me, but at the moment that's all I can offer you. I'm sorry."

After a couple of seconds of not getting any response from the younger male, Cathy forced herself to move her eyes away from the floor--which she had been staring at while giving her speech--to Justin's face. And after doing so, she couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows in confusion as she noticed that he was currently smiling at her.

"What's so funny?"

While slowly standing up from where he was seated and making his way towards Cathy, Justin couldn't help but chuckle while saying, "I just realized you were right--you suck at giving apologies."

What the...?

Realizing that Justin was now laughing harder at her caused Cathy to make a move to swat the younger man playfully on his arm, but before she could do so, Justin caught her right hand in his and pulled her to him; making it almost impossible for her to move at all.

"Hey, there's no reason to hit me. You know you suck at apologies--you even told me so once before." Justin retorted, while continuing to chuckle at the look of annoyance that was written across Cathy's face. Then after another second of doing so, he let his laughter die down to a small smile, before continuing with: "And that's one of the things that I love about you....you're not afraid to tell the truth, even though you know sometimes it might not be what the other person really wants to hear."

Okay, so he has been picking up on some things about me since I've been out here. Cathy inwardly noted to herself, but before she could say those words out loud, Justin interrupted her by saying: "It's just too bad that you messed up this time, cause you actually told me what I wanted to hear from you all along."

Huh?

Seeing the look of confusion on Cathy's face caused Justin to wait until after he had wrapped his other arm around her waist--so now she was completely against him--before continuing with: "I know my feelings for you are stronger than what yours are for me right now, and I also know that you're scared of getting hurt again. And that's why I'm happy that you didn't come in here and tell me that you were in love with me, as well. This way, it'll make me want to work that much harder to prove myself to you--that is, if you allow me to."

Wow..

Not knowing exactly how to respond to that comment caused Cathy to stay quiet for a second--while staring into Justin's eyes to see if he was lying or not. And after seeing that he wasn't, she hesitantly asked if he really thought it could work between the two of them; a question which Justin didn't even have to think about before saying, "Honestly...? I do."

"I mean, with you moving to New York and us doing the whole long distance thing for a while, it might be a little bit rocky in the beginning. But who knows......further down the line, if things start to get a little bit more serious between the two of us, me and Kayla might just have to pack up our bags and go looking for a little house for the three of us up in Manhattan. Pretend like we're part of the Fatone brood for a minute--that is, only if you promise that I don't have to cook lasagna for you every night and talk in a Brooklyn accent 'cause that is so not me."

"Or me either..." Cathy absentmindedly joked, while continuing to take in everything that Justin was saying to her, word by word. "So, you'd really do that for me...? You'd pack up all of yours and Kayla's things and move to New York just to be with me?"

Once again, without even thinking about it, Justin outwardly replied, "Of course I would. In a heartbeat. That's just how much I love you--now, do you believe me?"

After slightly laughing at the man in front of her--while blushing as well, cause she knew that she had just been caught--Cathy outwardly admitted that yes, she did believe him.

He really does love me...

With that thought in mind, Cathy copied the younger man's movements and wrapped her arms around Justin's neck. And then afterwards she replied, "So, does this now mean what I think it means--that I'm officially your girlfriend?"

While slightly chuckling at the innocence of that question, Justin bent down so that his and Cathy's lips could meet. And then afterwards he replied, "Yes, but only if you want to be my girlfriend..."

A comment which Cathy only had one reply to:

"I thought you'd never ask."

**