My phone rings in Justin’s pocket as we are making our way through LAX and my fingers itch to answer it immediately. He lets it ring a few times before slipping his hand in his pocket and drawing it out casually, checking the caller I.D.

“Who’s Lawrence Nichols?” he asks and my eyes widen as he mentions the curator of the Greek arts department at the Toledo Museum of Art.

“Gimme that!” I exclaim snatching for my phone but he looks at me, his face pulled into a mask of intense contemplation.

“Do we know a,” he looks at the ringing phone again, “Lawrence Nichols, Tiny?” he asks and Tiny shakes his head bemusedly as I reach for the phone but Justin holds it just out of reach.

“Justin, gimme the phone!” I sigh irritated  and he gives me an offended look

“Are you cheating on me?” he asks, his voice accusatory but a smile tugs at the corners of his lips. Tiny chuckles to himself,

“Justin!” I exclaim, grabbing into his arm and trying to reach for the phone, but he flicks it open and puts it to his ear. I watch mortified.

“Dr. McKibbons’ phone. Justin Timberlake, assistant, speaking,” He smirks.

I press my palm to my forehead. “Oh god.”

“I’m sorry sir, Dr. McKibbons is on vacation for the remainder of the week. Fourth of July holiday you know. She’ll be back in the office on Wednesday if you would like to talk to her about…what was it…a diadem?”

My eyes widen and I snatch the phone from his ear, him pouting at me deeply.

“I’m sorry Dr. Nichols what was that about the diadem?”

We’ve been trying to procure this ancient Greek diadem from the Toledo museum to do some studies on it and this is the first time he’s called me back. I hurry ahead of Tiny and Justin in case he gets any more genius ideas, stepping out into the warm Los Angeles air.

“Yes! Yes we’re still interested in-”

My voice cuts off as I let out a shrill scream, my phone slipping from my hand as three men jump out at me, cameras crushed against their faces. They step close to me and I back pedal, my heart thundering in my chest.

“SKY!” they exclaim one after the other, yelling even though they’re only a foot from me, their attention overwhelming me and I step back again.

“Here on vacation?” one asks and I step backwards, my foot crunching over a piece of my decimated cell phone.

“Or maybe doing a little tutoring?” another sniggers and my jaw drops.

“Skylar!” Justin exclaims and I turn to find him jogging towards me, Tiny picking up his carry-on that he seemingly dropped in his haste to get to me.

The cameras turn to him and he slides between me and the men, my hand immediately wrapping around his arm, nails digging into his skin in panic. His face is a hard mask of anger as he pulls himself to full height, scowling down as the cameras continue to click in his face.

“Hey Justin!” one exclaims jovially. “Bringin’ your girl out for a little summer school?”

“You motherfuckers just never quit huh?” he snaps, his arm wrapping protectively around my waist, dragging me towards the street.

I tuck my face into his shoulder, my heart still racing and his grip on me tightens, turning his face into my hair as he mutters, “Its okay I got you.”

“My phone,” I say weakly, looking over my shoulder at the broken pieces on the ground.

“I’ll get you another one,” he says tensely, ushering me along quickly, his arm leaving my waist as he hurries over to the pick up lane.

Tiny barks at the men to move along, nudging them back further, their lenses still snapping furiously, the men cat calling me. Justin flips them off, receiving a cacophony of clicking shutters in return. I’m dazed by it all, panicked and stressed so I have to blink twice as Justin hurries to a fire engine red sports car, gleaming like a shined apple in the California sun. A short, stocky man pulls himself out of the driver’s seat and Justin greets him quickly, the two of them eyeing Tiny as he hands our bags off to another man who loads them into an SUV behind the drop top.

“Sky,” Justin says, holding out an arm, beckoning me forward and I look back at the three men who are still snapping away. “Sky!” he says again, tersely this time and I jump, scurrying towards him.

He pulls open the passenger side door for me, ushering me in and shutting me inside quickly. He rounds the back of the car, the paparazzi descending on him again as Tiny and the two other men climb into the SUV behind us.

“I’ll see you guys back at the house,” I hear him say mutedly, before he opens the door and folds himself into the driver’s seat. “God dammit,” he mutters under his breath as the engine roars to life, the sound loud and jarring and my entire body, already tense from the previous encounter, tightens even more.

He peels out and I gasp as we jump onto the road, ten yards away in a matter of seconds. He maneuvers the car out of the airport parkways fairly quickly and zooms onto the 405, barreling along at a harrowing pace.

“Are you okay?” he says, his hand leaving the shifter and running the backs of his fingers up and down my bicep quickly before reaching for the shifter again to take us out of fifth gear as he slows down to a less break-neck speed. “I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s…it’s okay,” I say shakily, looking over at him and finding his face scowling, his brows knit together in anger.

“Fucking assholes,” he growls, shifting again as he swerves around a car, speeding past it.

My hand covers his on the gear shift and he glances at me, his face relaxing a little, heaving a sigh, his shoulders slumping slightly.

“Welcome to L.A.” he quips and I laugh a little, the tension draining from me at the sound of his throaty laugh.

“Great place,” I grin, nodding my head as I watch the city fly by.

Silence descends on us and it’s slightly awkward. We haven’t really sat down and talked since the coffee shop that first day he came back. His fingers tap on the steering wheel to a beat only he can hear and then he glances at me, smiling.

“You can turn on the radio if you want.”

“Okay,” I say and reach for the radio knob but stop abruptly when I see enough buttons and knobs to pilot a small plane. “Good Lord.”

He laughs. “Sorry, I’ll do it,” he says, reaching forward and flicking a few switches and the heavy bass of a hip hop song fills the car, the seats vibrating with it. He cringes, smiling still. “Sorry…not really your style?”

“Its fine,” I reply, bobbing my head a little to the beat.

“You like hip hop?” he asks, quirking an eyebrow at me and I shrug.

“I don’t mind it. I’ve only really heard what’s on your iPod,” I reply and then cringe as he turns his head to me slowly, a smile pulling at his lips.

“When have you listened to my iPod?” he asks and I blush, smoothing my hands over my thighs, fingering the hem of my shorts.

“You left it at my apartment that one time,” I say and he eyes me, grinning. “What, I was sick of all my music.”

“Sure,” he smirks, punching the gas and we zoom ahead of a group of cars, careening down the highway at a perilous speed.

He’s watching me from the corner of his eye, smiling when I gasp and grip onto the seat, the leather soft as butter under my fingernails. He reaches out and swipes his fingers along the gleaming dashboard, seemingly wiping away dust but there is none in sight. In fact the car is so clean it looks as if its never even been driven. He reaches down and fiddles with the radio knobs again, adjusting the bass until I can feel it vibrate in my stomach and then grabbing the gear shift, throwing us back into fifth as we clear another small cluster of traffic. I gasp again, squealing a little as he weaves in and out of traffic, not slowing down until we’re stuck behind a group of cars that seems to be moving at a snails pace even though we’re going sixty-five. He’s grinning widely, eyes cutting to me every once in awhile and I get it now. He’s trying to impress me. With his car. I can’t help but giggle.

“Nice car, J,” I say and he beams at me, settling more in his seat and leaning a little on his door.

“Thanks,” he says, pulling his face into an unaffected stare, watching the road ahead of him. “I’ve had it for awhile.”

I giggle, leaning onto the console, my shoulder brushing his arm and he sits up in his seat so that his arm presses to mine. He turns his head just slightly to look at me, slowing down some and licking his lips.

“How long have you had it?” I ask, my arm sliding down his to cover his hand on the gear shift.

“Couple years,” he says, his eyes flitting back to the road for a moment, shifting when my other hand curls around his shoulder, lifting my body so I can breathe against his ear.

“You get lots of pussy with this car, J?” I ask and he gasps at my brazenness, fingers tightening around the wheel and I can’t help but smirk at him a little, kissing his ear lightly.

“I may have,” he replies, the corners of his mouth turning up and I grin as I snake my tongue out, laving the shell of his ear, relishing in the shiver that shakes through him.

My fingers tighten over his on the gear shift. “Show me what she’s got.”

He grins widely and I clutch onto his shoulder as he throws us into fifth gear, the force of it causing me to squeal, watching the dotted line between the lanes turn solid. My heart is pounding, watching as we clear mile after mile at a breakneck speed, not even daring to look at the speedodometer, grasping onto him so I don’t slide backwards between the seats. He laughs, throwing his head back as he brings us back down and I start to chuckle too, relaxing a little as the g-force goes down and I press my lips to his ear again, nibbling the lobe slightly. He growls as I suck the skin just under his ear, but I pull back with a gasp when I hear sirens.

“Fuck,” Justin mutters, looking in the rearview mirror, finding blue and red lights flashing.

I grimace, pulling myself back into my seat and grabbing for my seatbelt quickly, clicking it in place as he pulls to the shoulder, sighing and letting his head fall back against the seat, waiting for the officer to climb off his motorcycle and come to the window.

“Good afternoon,” says a tall, gruff looking man in police tan as he strides up to the driver’s side door.

Justin squints up at him. “Afternoon officer,” he says, grinning brilliantly.

“Clocked you going 110 back there…and you were slowing down. Any reason you’re in a hurry?” he asks, his eyes flitting to me and I look at my lap.

“Sorry, you know how these cars are. They have a tendency to get away from you,” Justin chuckles, a charming lilt in his voice.

“I wouldn’t know,” the officer replies, having none of it, “Driver’s license and proof of insurance please.”

“Yeah, sure,” Justin says, lifting himself up off the seat and fishing his wallet from his back pocket. “Babe, could you grab my insurance card from the glove compartment.”

I reach forward, popping the lid and fishing around for his insurance card. I find it, checking to make sure I have the right thing. In the process I notice that its two months expired. Oh great.

“Is this the right one?” I ask quietly, eyes flitting to the officer and Justin takes it from me.

“Yeah,” he says, handing it along with his driver’s license to the officer. “Here ya go. So, you have kids?”

I look at him, wondering what the hell he’s doing. The officer seems to be wondering the exact same thing. “No,” he replies, looking over Justin’s driver’s license and making notes on his clipboard. “Why?”

“I didn’t know if you had any daughters. Maybe they were into my music,” he replies smoothly and I turn away looking out the window. Oh god.

“I’m sorry…” he says chuckling slightly, pausing to check Justin’s driver’s license, “Mr. Timberlake…but I don’t have any daughters.”

“Nieces? Maybe they’d like an autograph,” he says and my nails bite into my palms. What the hell is he doing? I’ve never heard him pull a “don’t you know who I am” in the entire time I’ve known him. He picked a really shitty time to start. Just…stop talking, Justin. Please for the love of god stop talking.

“You wouldn’t be trying to bribe an officer would you sir?” he asks, his voice gruff, eying Justin hard. “Because that’s a pretty serious offence.”

“No!” Justin exclaims, his ears turning red as he sighs and runs a hand over his face. “No, of course not.”

“Good,” the officer says, giving him a curt smile. “I’ll just ring you up here.”

The officer ambles back to his bike and Justin sighs, letting his head fall back against the seat.

“Of course, the one person in the world who doesn’t know who I am,” he grumbles and I can’t help the laugh that pulls from my throat. He glares at me. “Glad you find it amusing.”

I gasp at the venom in his voice. “I’m sorry,” I say slowly. He’s never snapped at me before, not like this. Not when he meant it.

He sighs and looks out the window, tapping his fingers on the side of the door, waiting for the officer to come back. This is awkward. I haven’t felt tension with him since…well…maybe ever. Sexual tension yes…this kind of tension, no. Not the kind where he’s mad at me.

“Alright,” the officer says, strolling back up to the car. “Mr. Timberlake I’ve cited you for reckless driving which is a misdemeanor offense and requires your appearance in court.”

“WHAT?” Justin asks, his eyes widening as he looks up at the officer.

“I would assume you have a lawyer on retainer?” the officer says and Justin scoffs looking ahead in disbelief, still reeling over the last statement. “You might wanna call them.” He hands Justin a ticket. “And here is one for failure to show proof of insurance. You can dispute that one in court if you have valid insurance now and you just don’t have your card on you. Do you have any questions?”

“Can I just pay this now?” he asks, his voice flat and my nails bite into my hands again. Polite, Justin. Be polite for god sake.

“Sorry sir you have to appear in court,” the officer says nodding. “I can tell ya now the reckless driving is gonna cost you about 3,420 dollars and the insurance infraction is about 370 dollars so that has you at about…” he pauses screwing up his face as he calculates in his head.

“3, 990,” I say and Justin turns to me, his eyes hard.

“Thank you, Skylar,” he replies condescendingly and I bow my head again, silencing instantly. “Great…just great.”

“You have a nice day sir,” the officer says smiling. “And slow down.”

“Yeah,” Justin grumbles, shoving the tickets in his pocket. “Have a nice day.”

The rest of the drive is silent, me chewing my bottom lip, wanting to say something but knowing it’s probably not the best of ideas. I knew this would happen. I knew that we were too different. Too much time had passed and we aren’t the same people. Not to say that we don’t still care about each other. If I didn’t care about him I wouldn’t be feeling sick to my stomach right now, dread sitting on my chest like a rock. But people care about each other all the time and it doesn’t work out. Maybe we just really aren’t meant to be.

The highway has given way to twisty turning side streets, the road cut into a beautiful countryside, hills and rock cliffs off to the left and the mountain looming on my right. The higher we climb the bigger the houses get and by the time we pull onto a maze of secluded drives I see nothing but towering roofs safely guarded behind high walls. We climb higher and higher, the road barely large enough for two cars to pass, leafy trees allowing the sun to dapple down on us. We pull into a cul-de-sac and Justin presses a button on the steering wheel, my eyes widening as a large wooden gate swings back and Justin maneuvers through it, gravel crunching underneath the tires as he pulls into the large driveway of a house that looks large enough to be a hotel. He parks in front of the entrance and turns the car off and now it really is silent, the roar of the engine gone and nothing but awkwardness left in its wake.

“Hey,” he says softly, and I see his hand creep into view, reaching for one of mine. “Hey, I’m sorry.”

I nod, not really knowing how to respond. I’m not telling him its okay because its not and I don’t want to bitch at him because I understand that he was frustrated. His thumb smoothes over my knuckles before he sighs and lets go, gripping my head rest, turning in his seat to face me fully.

“Hey,” he says, his voice quiet and apologetic, hooking his finger under my chin, forcing me to look at him.

My eyes crash into his and I see him, all of him, staring back at me, apologetic and a little embarrassed by his actions. I soften a little when I sense his fear, fear that he may have screwed this up royally. Fear that I won’t forgive him. I reach out and touch his face and his eyes close, pressing his cheek into my hand. His lips brush my palm and he sighs, the hand on my head rest wrapping around the back of my neck, tugging me forward. His lips find mine over the console and my chest lightens, the tenderness of his mouth on mine is all I need to know that he didn’t mean it, that he’s sorry.

“I was a jackass,” he says pulling back and I shake my head at him, kissing him again.

“It’s over,” I reply, pecking his lips softly over and over and he grins slowly, chuckling at the way I’m holding his face so he can’t pull away.

The hand on the back of my neck tightens and he crushes his mouth to mine, his tongue slipping in and what were we fighting about? We weren’t fighting! It was just…oh who the fuck cares. My hands slide around to fist in the short strands of his hair, tongue massaging against his and when he pulls back we’re both breathless, looking at each other wide eyed, still amazed that we can get so lost in each other with just one kiss.

“Our first fight and you haven’t even been inside yet,” he sighs and I dip my head giggling slightly.

“Well…” I say nuzzling my nose with his. “It can only get better.”

He grins pulling himself out of the car and I do the same, rounding the front of the little red sports car, eyeing it as Justin waits for me to get to his side before we make our way to the front door. His hand settles warmly on my lower back as he pushes the door open and I’m awed slightly by the grandeur of the entryway, looking around speechless.

A rumbling, strong and rolling not unlike thunder comes from over head and it only gets louder, the sound of claws skittering against hardwood and two large dogs come tearing through the great room, barreling towards us. Justin grins widely, crouching down and both dogs plow into him, knocking him backwards. He laughs as they lick at his face, sputtering and spitting as they bark happily at him. I giggle and one turns its mammoth head to me, jaw open and tongue hanging out the side, seemingly grinning up at me.

I squeal as it rears up on its hind legs, its paws digging into my stomach and I grab on trying to alleviate some of the animal’s weight from my abdomen.

“Buckley DOWN!” Justin says, his voice echoing harshly off the high walls and the dog drops back to all fours, wagging its tail excitedly.

Justin grabs onto its face, nuzzling their noses together and the dog licks at him affectionately, Justin turning his head just in time so the dog laps at his cheek and not his mouth. The other is peering up at me curiously but stays behind its master, waiting to be told what to do.

“Buckley?” the dog who’s face Justin holds cocks its head at its him. “Brennan?” Justin looks back at the dog behind him who regards him curiously. “…this is Skylar.” He says, his eyes falling on me, still rubbing Buckley’s face in his hands, grinning slowly at me. “Sky, this is Buckley,” he says nuzzling the dog’s nose again. “And this back here is Brennan, come’ere baby,” he says softly and the other dog ambles around him to lay its head on his shoulder. “Buckley’s the boy. Brennan’s the girl.”

“Well, hello,” I say and Buckley turns to me, his entire body wiggling as he wags his tail hard. I bend down to pat his head and he jumps up licking me in the face, causing me to sputter and laugh.

“Hey only I get to French the girl,” Justin laughs, tugging Buckley back by his collar as I wipe at my face.

“Hi Brennan,” I say, holding my open hand out to her but she has none of it, eyeing me cautiously and staying close to Justin.

“Aww, come on Bren play nice,” Justin chides gently, rubbing her ears and her eyes flutter closed, “She’s shy,” he says and then laughs as Buckley throws himself down on his back on top of my feet. “And he’s a whore!” Justin exclaims, patting the dog’s ribcage hard causing him to roll over and bounce around playfully. 

“Hey J is that you?” a feminine voice drawls from the other room and a short skinny brunette peeks out from the great room, clad in a bikini top and cut off jean shorts.

Justin pulls himself off the floor, wiping at his pants as he does so. “Hey Ray,” he says hugging her quickly before stepping back and throwing an arm around me. “This is Skylar…Sky this is my assistant Rachel.”

“Also his cousin,” Rachel replies, eying him hard before giving me a short wave. “Nice to finally meet you Sky. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

I look at Justin uncertainly and he just beams. “Um thanks, I’ve heard quite a bit about you too.”

“None of its true,” Rachel replies and Justin and I both laugh.

“Where is everybody?” Justin asks and my stomach tightens. Everybody?

“Out back,” she says cocking her head back into the great room and Justin nods. “We’ve got the fire goin’ and everyone’s just kinda chillin’ by the pool.”

“They take the bags upstairs?” Justin asks bending down to rub Brennan’s head who had been pawing at his leg.

“Yeah,” Rachel says turning to leave but pauses turning back towards us. “Trace says he saw you get pulled over?”

Justin’s ears pinken. “Yeah, um…can you take care of that for me?” he askes digging into his pockets and pulling out his tickets. “Oh and they said my insurance was expired! What the fuck?”

“Did you pick up the new insurance card I left on the counter for you two months ago?” Rachel asks and Justin’s eyes widen, his neck turning red. “No, I know you didn’t because it’s STILL sitting there.”

“Okay okay,” he says, dropping his head, his face red and I can’t help but grin at him. “Everyone’s out back?”

Rachel nods, turning to walk back into the great room. “Yeah you guys change and come on out. It was great meeting you finally Skylar.”

I smile at her and I feel Justin’s arms slip around my waist from behind, tugging me back against him. He nuzzles his face into my neck and I grin, my hands sliding over his forearms, fingers threading in his.

“I just invited a few people over,” he says softly, kissing the side of my face. “I know you’re tired from the flight.”

“It’s okay,” I say, butterflies tickling my stomach at the thought of meeting his friends. His friends who are all probably his age and wondering what the hell he’s doing with me.

“Come on,” he says softly, squeezing me tight before pulling back and taking my hand. “Let’s get you in that bikini.”

“What makes you think I wear a bikini?” I ask, lifting an eyebrow at him as he tugs me into the great room and I’m awed once again by the sheer size of it.

“Because I bought you one,” he grins, tugging me toward the stairs and my jaw falls open. He chuckles giddily.

“How did you-”

He makes a hissing sound with his teeth, causing me to silence instantly and he grins again. “Doesn’t matter. All that matters is you’re gonna put it on.”

“Hey motherfucker!” I jump, startled as a harsh male voice echoes off the walls and turn to find the same man who handed Justin his keys at the airport stride through the hallway just next to the base of the staircase. “Saw your ass got tapped by the fucking cops. They strip search you?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Justin says, his ears reddening a little and the other man laughs, punching him in the arm.

“Gotta watch that road head man it makes you do crazy shit.” I gasp and Justin punches him hard. “OW!!!”

“Great first impression asshole,” Justin says wryly. “Skylar this is Trace, my idiot best friend.”

“Hi Trace,” I say holding out my hand to him and he grasps it, grinning and nodding. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Same here,” he says eyeing me and Justin slaps him again. “What! You talk about her all the time!”

I raise an eyebrow turning to Justin who presses his lips together and eyes me kind of sheepishly, his ears bright red. He stutters a little and Trace just smirks at him, letting him squirm for a moment before saying:

“Hey I can’t get the grill to work.”

“Did you try turning it on,” Justin quips and Trace narrows his eyes.

“Yes fuckhead I turned it on,” Trace replies. “You know how it does that thing sometimes-”

“Ugh yes,” Justin groans, letting his head fall back. “I’ll check it out.” He turns to me. “My room is at the end of the hall, the double doors” he says extending his arm up towards the stairs and jabbing his finger to the left. “You can change in there.”

I make my way up the stairs cautiously, listening as Justin and Trace speak in heated whispers at the base of the steps. The words “…her that way” “…just kidding” “idiot…” and “sorry man…” stick out among the whispers. I smile as I make my way to the top of the stairs, looking down to see them disappear through the doorway at the base of the steps. Maybe he’s just as nervous about this weekend as I am. Maybe we’re both nervous for nothing. We met again after all this time. We’re together now. That means something right?