*Alisan*

The water was beautiful, though not always my favorite thing about the beach. The water, clear and almost warm enough to stay in for long periods of time was good enough of an excuse for me to stay as close to Justin as possible ... not that I was complaining.

"You've got goosebumps," he laughed, running his hands up and down my arms as I shrugged, he wrapping his arms around my waist as I wrapped my own around his neck. I leaned in, placing my face at the crook of his neck and smelling the faint scent of him: cologne, coffee and man, closing my eyes and just listening to the water crash against and around us. "Any closer to knowing what you want to do?" He asked softly, mouth near my ear as I opened my eyes once more, feeling his fingers faintly brush up and down my back, stopping every so often at my waist as he would steady the both of us in the water. "Because the way we were right now, the position we're in ... all I want to do is kiss you."

I was pretty much sure that he felt my stomach flip against his waist, tightening my grip against his neck as I tried to keep myself from trembling. Instead, I pulled away, studying him. My sunglasses gave his skin a darker tone than I knew he had, though the sun was working on getting him that dark, eyes a piercing blue from the clear blue around us contrasting against his slightly deeper blue. "Then kiss me," I said softly, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. "Help me make my mind up."

He released a hand from my waist, brushing a hand against my cheek before lifting my sunglasses away from my eyes, his burning into them. "Are you sure? I was ... somewhat kidding."

"I know you weren't kidding," I said, giving him a slight smile. "And yes. I need more reasons. Not excuses."

He licked his lips, hand caressing my face as I leaned into his touch, eyes dropping closed as I felt his mouth barely graze mine, both of our mouths cool from the water that had crashed over us during the surf boarding lessons (which failed miserably, though hilarious to attempt). After a few feather soft touches with his lips, he finally pressed his lips to mine, parting my mouth with his tongue and letting it slowly enter my mouth. I felt the butterflies immediately, but it seemed as if they had tripled by this simple movement.

Your body language says so much
Yeah, I feel it in the way you touch
'Til you say the words it's not enough
Come on and tell me you're in love

I felt his hand grip my face as I had remembered him doing so in the movie, heart pounding as the kiss turned more passionate, he deepening it as he released my face, pulling me by the waist and lifting me up against him so that my legs were behind him, he gripping my hips tightly. I could only hold his face as I put all trust in him to keep us steady in the water, the water from my hair dripping down and onto his face, mixing with our kisses and giving them a slightly salty taste.

Neither of us pulled away.

Don't
Don't let me be the last to know
Don't hold back
Just let it go
I need to hear you say
You need me all the way
Oh, if you love me so
Don't let me be the last to know

"Get a room!"

We pulled away from each other, both looking down the beach towards a large black man, Justin's bodyguard, standing there with his arms crossed and the only thing seen by the glare of the sun was his white teeth. Justin laughed, calling out to him, "What do you want, Lon?"

"Gotta get ready to go to the arena!"

"All right!" He turned to me, eyes questioning. "How did you know I was here?"

I laughed, pulling away from him and releasing my legs from his waist, literally floating away from his body as I tried to regain my step in the sand below our feet. "Well, I knew you'd be here for a show, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to find out where a celebrity is staying, and when I bumped into Lonnie at the hotel, he told me where to find you."

"I'm glad you did," he said softly, nuzzling his face into mine as he reached into the water, gripping my hand and leading me back to land. "I'm really glad you came."

"Me too," I said softly, lips still burning from his heated kisses, they swollen to the touch. He turned to look at me as I was touching my lips, the smile grazing his mouth heart-racing. "What?"

"Nothing," he said, voice matching my quiet one, "It's just that I like kissing you."

I laughed, squeezing his hand as we neared Lonnie. "Hello again, Lonnie," I greeted, he giving me a smile and a greeting as he rattled off something he had needed to tell Justin as I looked around, a black object little ways down the beach catching my eye. Squinting, I saw that it was a paparazzo, holding a large camera aimed our way. "You've got a visitor," I said softly, nudging Justin as he turned to look where I had been, he scoffing. It was then that I noticed there were quite a few there. "Nosy little people, aren't they?"

He nodded, pushing me ahead of him to shield me from the camera, grabbing our things and throwing a towel over both of our heads to block the money shots. "Don't be surprised to see what happened out there to be on the front page of OK! or omething soon," he said softly, gripping the back of my suit as I led the way, watching Lonnie's feet to know where I was going. "And story upon story about us. Especially who you are."

I sighed, shaking my head. "Oh, I can't wait."

As I crawled into the car, Justin behind me, I heard them calling his name, trying to get him to look over and let them get photos of him, he blocking his face as they shut the door. The tinted windows hid him well enough that he was able to put his hand down, looking over at me. "About back there ..."

"Justin, it's fine -"

"No, I meant on your half," he said, shaking his head. "You aren't gonna keep letting me do this and then just drop me, are you? Because if you are, tell me now so I know -"

"I would never lead you on," I said softly, watching the relief was over his face. "J, I love you. Lord knows I do ... I'm just ... still ..."

"Confused. Scared. All that, I know," he said, sighing deeply. "I just wish you'd make your mind up soon. I can't go on waiting forever."

"I know," I said softly. "By the end of the trip, you'll know."

"I just wish you'd say it now. I know you know what you want to do. It's almost as if you're afraid to let it be known."

I need to hear you say
You love me all the way
And I don't wanna wait another day

"I'm not afraid to let it be known. I'm just afraid of the consequences of either one."

He rolled his eyes, and I saw the irritation boiling in them. "This is really annoying the hell out of me," he mumbled, running a hand through the hair that I noticed seemed to be longer and now slightly wavy. I studied the side of him, sun-kissed freckles up and down his arms and back, some appearing on the bridge of his nose. "Stop making excuses. Don't let me be the idiot and the one to hold out on dying love if that's what this is."

I opened my mouth to speak, unsure of how to reply to that. Instead, his ears were greeted by silence and I could have sworn I saw the anger flash in his eyes, tears accompanying the look.

Great.

I wanna feel the way you feel

Soon. I had to tell him soon.

I just didn't know how.