*Alisan"

"You all right? You look as if you just lost your best friend."

I looked over, Cleo going over her notes in her clipboard as I sat across from her during lunch. "You and Justin get into a fight?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I don't think so."

"You don't think? What happened?"

"I honestly don't know," I said, shrugging and looking down at the clipboard. "Let's not worry about that, okay? Let's go over the tour pranks."

She laughed. "All right. Well, Rachel agreed to not go out for 'My Love', so that's all you. You sure you're up to dancing? It's very consuming. And your knee? Can it take it?"

"I'll manage," I smiled. "Besides, whats a little pain to see that look on his face when he sees me standing there instead of her? I've been doing some dancing at home to prepare for this. I've had this cooked up in my head for weeks."

Cleo grinned, shaking her head. "So ... are you two going to ever get together? I know he wants it ... but do you?"

"Well," I said, biting my lip and looking away, seeing yet another paparazzi circle near the car a little ways down the road. What the hell were they doing here? Justin was miles away. Bringing my eyes back at her, I grinned. "Hopefully by the time the end of the night approaches, he'll know I want to be with him."

"You do?!" Cleo's face lit up, the grin brighter than I had ever seen on her. "That's awesome! Yay!"

"Hey, ladies," Rachel greeted, walking up to us and sitting down in between us at the round table. "Aly, have you seen the latest tabloid magazine yet?"

"I don't read those unless I'm at the salon," I laughed, watching as she lifted her hand up, tossing a magazine in front of me. "Oh, this is ... nice," I mumbled, picking up the magazine and groaning. "Justin Timberlake's Secret Overseas Affair With Mystery Woman? Details Inside!" I looked the picture, gasping. It was this very morning, with us at the balcony and my head on his shoulder. Great. "Oh, my God ..."

"Oh, there's an even better shot in the article," Rachel said, reaching forward and flipping a few pages as my eyes settled onto the photo she was talking about. I almost died. "How did they -" I stopped, remembering the paparazzi that where at the beach when I spotted them after we had kissed. They had captured that moment, one hand hidden underneath the water, while the other hid part of my face, gripping my chin as I held his face. It would have been a nice photo if it hadn't been to smear his name. And mine.

Lucas. Oh, God. And Katie.

"We're screwed," I put my hands to my face, Rachel getting up. "I can't believe this -"

"Believe it," Rachel shrugged. "We'll figure something out. For now, you and I have to go work on the choreography with your outfit. So let's go, woman." She reached down, grabbing my hand and tugging, waiting as I grabbed the magazine and followed, Cleo close behind.

"Come on, Aly," Rachel called, standing in front of the mirrors as I stood there, hands on my hips and in pain from the heels that I hadn't been used to dancing in for a long time. "Get your mind away from that damn magazine. Dance! Dance like you mean it! Take your anger out in the music or something! The heels aren't that bad!"

"I know," I mumbled, running a hand through my hair that was now up in a clip. "I just can't ... I can't imagine going home and dealing with this now."

"It'll all clear up," she said, reaching forward and hitting the start button again. "There's always a different story about him every week. Just ... let it pass. Don't let it bother you, otherwise they'll continue to feed off of it, okay? Forget about it."

I bit my lip, nodding. "All right." If only it were that easy.


Rachel stood behind me, dressed in a pair of gray trousers and a white wifebeater, black suspenders at her hips. "Knock 'em dead, Aly," she grinned. "Better yet, knock him dead." She hugged me, reaching forward and playing with my hair a bit and tugging at the red dress she had chosen for me, looking down at the red ballet strapped heels that she had lent me. "Just remember, your choreography is different than his. He knows that they changed it, and he can feed off of it, he's good at things like that. Don't let the others distract you, lure him in, let him feed off of you. It'll work. You'll look amazing. He'll probably freak out when he sees you. Well, maybe not, but inside he may." She grinned, we both hearing the near end of the prelude to 'My Love'.

This was it.

"Knock him dead," she repeated, giving me a gentle push towards the side of the stage where I'd enter, strut my way towards and then past Justin, leading him throughout the entire song while we danced. Although this wasn't a prank, the last show always had things that didn't happen in any other show ... my appearance didn't happen ever, obviously, and since I was a dancer, Cleo and Rachel thought this was the best time to show everyone that I still had it.

Hopefully, I still did.

I took my cue, placing a hand on my hip and strutting out on the stage, his eyes still facing front as I neared, flipping my hair as I turned my face, meeting his as his eyes washed over in confusion and surprise, he quickly recovering and giving me a shocked shake of his head, following behind as I strut. I hit the first mark perfectly, dancing in beat with him as we both locked eyes the entire time, flashing a smile to him that he returned, still looking in disbelief as he grabbing my hand, turning me around and pulling me to his hips, we grinding against each other momentarily before I turned behind him, smacking his rear as he turned quickly to follow once more, even few steps we dancing some more. The routine was perfect.

My favorite part was the foot work of the chorus. Simple yet hilarious to do, especially in heels. Justin had grabbed my hand, we both doing it together as he started to laugh mid-chorus, finally surrendering to him being played, watching as I strut off the stage during his beat box. As soon as he finished, he was laughing hysterically, calling my name. "San, get out here!"

I peeked around, seeing him looking at me with a wide grin on his face. He motioned for me to come out, so, I did. The girls were still screaming as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pointing at me in disbelief. "Ladies and gentlemen, my best friend Alisan Turner! Who, hadn't danced in years until now!" He shook his head again, turning to me and hugging me tightly. "You did amazing, San," he whispered into my ear loudly. "I'm proud of you. And just a little bit pissed you didn't tell me!"

I pulled away, giving him a grin and waving as I walked back out.

Moments later, the show was over and I heard loud, echoing footsteps headed towards me at a quick pace, turning to see him running at me. I laughed, feeling him crash into me and wrap his arms around me, swinging me around. "I can't believe you! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Surprise," I laughed, he still holding me tightly. "We wanted it to be for the last show. Kind of half the reason I came here. I wanted to be a part of this."

"And you hid this from me the entire time?! Miss I can't hold secrets?!"

"Yep."

"Damn," he whistled, finally putting me down. "Well, you do know that this means you and I have to go dancing now, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I do."

"You're gonna wear that, right?"

"I was gonna change -"

"No, wear that," he said softly, quiet enough for just me to hear. "You look ... nice."

"Nice? Just nice?" I put my hands on my hips, watching as he licked his lips, eyes going up and down my body as he shook his head. "What, then?"

Slowly, he leaned into me, mouth grazing my ear and sending a chill down my spine. It had been two days of us not being close to each other to make me realize (not even the weeks, just these past two days) that the effect on me that he had was one-of-a-kind and something I wanted to experience every day of my life. His mouth was still to my ear, feeling like he had forgotten what he was going to say, but suddenly, he spoke, his voice low. "Sexy. You look fucking sexy. You walked on that stage and it took all my self-control to not drag you behind the drumset and fuck you."

I couldn't help but grin as I pulled away, studying his face. "Now you know how I've felt since watching Black Snake Moan."

"You said you didn't -" He stopped, mouth dropping in mock surprise as he shook his head. "You little liar."

I shrugged. "It happens. Now go get cleaned up and we'll go dancing."

"And drink. 'Cause I need some celebratory drinks and -" He stopped, and I could see the gears going around in his head. "Did you ... did you somewhat admit you have wanted to sleep with me?"

I laughed, shaking my head and turning around, ignoring the question all together as I waved him off. "I'll meet you at the limo!"

"Tease!"

I grinned, catching Cleo's eye as she grinned widely, turning to say something to Lonnie and laughing. Maybe tonight was gonna be the night I finally told him. Hell, I've already admitted to wanting to sleep with him; admitting that I want to be with him should be a piece of cake.

... Not.

Moments later, he was in the limo, head against the back of the seat. "I'm thirsty," he mumbled, picking his head up and looking around the limo. "I know there are bottles of water in here, but are there -" he stopped, eyes sparkling as he picked up the bottle of champagne that was placed in an ice bucket near the refrigerator. "Ah, there you are, my bubbly little friend," he cooed, popping open the top and grabbing two glasses, pouring them into glasses and looking at me. "Here's to ... the show being complete and you being here with me. And here, is to that little number that probably had every man that was actually at my show wishing they were me."

I blushed, shaking my head as he handed me the glass, clinking them together as I sipped it, he drinking it a bit faster than me. I watched his tongue snake out to lick of the remnants of the champagne, feeling the familiar pitter-patter of my heart when something affected me a little more than it was supposed to. I took notice of how moist his lips looked, how his eyes sparkled with the light of the moon peeking in through the tinted windows, and even caught my eyes drifting downward, imagining a lot more dirty things than I had in a while. I jerked my eyes back up, putting the glass to my lips and nearly chugging the champagne down, feeling lightheaded at the bubbles that traveled up instead of down.

"Whoa, easy killer," he chuckled, reaching forward and pouring more for me. "You think it was gonna get up and run away from you or some -" he stopped, laughing as I took the entire glass and drank it quickly again. "San, seriously," he laughed, reaching for the glass and putting it down, "you're gonna be drunk even before we get to the club ..."

"My intentions," I said, breathing heavily and trying to catch my breath from drinking so quickly. "Need to ... be drunk and be able to say things I can't while sober -"

He creased his eyebrows, confused. "San, what's going on?"

I shrugged, picking my head up and studying his face, his eyes looking almost a silver-blue with the lighting. My heart nearly lept out of my mouth as I tried to keep my cool, he licking his lips again. Oh, those lips. Those perfect, pouty, kissable lips.

"San."

I looked up at his eyes again, unable to maintain contact with them as my focus dragged back down to his mouth. God, I wanted him. I felt dizzy and light headed, unsure of whether or not it was the champage or his now heavy effect on me, reaching forward and sliding my hand across his face, his eyes dropping closed at my touch, snaking my hand to the back of his neck and pulling him towards me, pressing my lps to his a little less than gently. He didn't pull away, in fact, he pushed himself closer, putting me in a compromising position as he turned me completely, legs on either side of him as he pulled my body against his, hand resting on my bare thigh as the other held me at the small of my back.

The kiss was electric. Ever nerve in my body reacted the moment our lips touched. The hairs on my arms were standing up, and I immediately felt like the kiss needed to be more. It was too soon, so the kissing would be the only thing happening at the moment. His hand had other ideas, it slowly making its way up underneath the side of my skirt, releasing one side of his face as I slid my hand down to his, lacing my fingers through his and pulling him into an almost leaning position, our hands behind my back.

"God, Alisan," he mumbled, sucking gently at my lower lip as I felt him release me slightly, now gripping the side of my face. Immediately, I pictured the sex scene yet again, using every ounce of power I had to not want to take him right there on the seat. His mouth traveled slowly down my jaw bone and towards my shoulder, tongue tracing slow circles on my sweet spot near my ear, eyes fluttering closed each and every time he'd come full circle on my skin. "I take it you decided?" He said in a half-joking manner, now sucking gently on my skin as I nodded. "I take it you want to be with me?"

"Mmmhmm," I managed to hum out, gripping his hair as his mouth found mine again, barely grazing mine as his eyes locked with mine. "J," I said softly, watching the slow, sexy smile form on his face as he studied me, fingers falling down my face before lettng the pad of his thumb run across my bottom lip, he now looking like he was thinking. "What?"

"Nothing," he said softly, eyes still on mine as he continued running his thumb on my lip, "just trying to figure out how I'm going to behave when you and I go dancing ... especially after this."

I leaned forward, placing my lips against his and shrugging. His heart was beating just as fast as mine, maybe even faster. "I don't know," I mumbled, letting my tongue trace the outline of his lips, hand still holding his face. "If you figure that out, let me know."

He nodded against my forehead, closing his eyes and sighing deeply. "I always wondered how I'd feel if we finally got together," he said, now burying his face into my neck, "and it's nothing like I imagined."

"Is that a good ... or bad thing?" I asked, he turning his head so he was facing my neck, kissing it gently. "J?"

"Good thing," he replied. "Very good thing."

I leaned my head back against the seat, arm wrapped around the back of his neck as I ran my hands through his hair. This could work. We could work.