~Flashback/dream~

“Travis where are we going? You’re gonna get us in trouble.” Elizabeth hissed as the two of them walked hand in hand in the semi-darkness of the hospital. Travis acted like he didn’t hear her and kept going, pulling her along. She had no idea where they were going at 3 in the morning but she wasn’t concerned about that. She was more concerned about the strict French nurses that often checked on them at this time.
 

“Come on Liz, have some courage, be a little adventurous.” Travis said, not missing a beat.
 

“Be adventurous Liz, have some courage Liz. Just in case you haven’t noticed, we are in a hospital. We are sneaking around in the middle of the night for whatever reason that you fathomed up and now we’re gonna get lectured by Zelda with the mustache.” Elizabeth replied dryly.
 

Travis suddenly stopped and pulled her closer to him. He looked deep into her eyes before leaning forward and capturing her lips. Elizabeth hadn’t seen that coming but as always she couldn’t resist the power of his kisses. He put a hand in her hair and pulled her closer opening her mouth wider so he could deepen the kiss. When Elizabeth finally recovered from her shock she kissed him back but he stopped the kiss shortly after. He gave her an amused smile and she gave him a dirty look.
 

“You are such a tease T.”
 

Travis chuckled at her before letting her go. “Well, I had to shut you up somehow.”
 

“Whatever, now where are we going?” She replied impatiently. Travis just chuckled again and kept going.
 

Elizabeth busied herself with looking around her with staring at the walls of the gloomy hospital. Before she knew it Travis abruptly stopped and she ran smack into his back.
 

“Travis… what the hell?” She started.
 

“Sorry babe, I didn’t know you weren’t paying attention. Now close your eyes.” He instructed.
 

“It’s already dark in here, why do I need to close my eyes?” She replied stubbornly.
 

“Damnit woman, do you always have to be so…” he started. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.
 

“So what?”
 

“So much like yourself. Please just go along with it ok. It took me a lot of bribing and planning to get this thing to work so please please don’t fight me today.” He begged running a hand through his dark brown hair.
 

Elizabeth sighed and gave in, something she never did. “Alright, I’m closing them. Can we please get to our destination now? All the suspense is killing me.”
 

“I swear you were not born with a single patient bone in your body. Watch your step ok?” Travis slowly led her towards a corner where she saw a little more light through her fingers. Where they were, she had no idea.
 

“Ok, open.” He instructed. Elizabeth removed her hand and gasped when she saw the sight before her. Travis had somehow gotten a dozen pink roses, some food, fruit punch, and ten candles were set around the whole thing. Elizabeth couldn’t believe that he had gone through the trouble to do all of this for her, especially since it wasn’t her birthday or Valentines Day or even their anniversary. She turned around to face him and his face became concerned when he saw tears streaming down her face.
 

“Oh baby don’t cry. I thought you would like this… we could just do something else if you don’t really wanna be…”
 

“Shut up Travis! This is amazing, you’re amazing. There’s nothing wrong with what you did for me, I’m crying because I’m a girl ok. We cry over shit like this.” Elizabeth said putting a hand on his cheek. He breathed a sigh of relief.
 

“Good cause you have no idea how much shit I went through to do this,” He responded with a grin. He chuckled when she just rolled her eyes and him. Pulling her close he dipped his head and gave her a lingering kiss. Elizabeth broke the kiss and looked into his eyes.
 

“Why did you do this Travis?”
 

“Because I’m in love with you.” He said quickly and simply. Elizabeth was a little shocked by the statement, she thought she was the only one in the relationship that was in love.
 

“You… you’re… what did you say?” She stuttered. Travis didn’t answer only kissed her, this time she responded with all the passion and love she felt inside her heart. When they broke apart Travis ran is thumb on her bottom lip before kissing it again.
 

“I said I love you. I think I’ve loved you for a while now but I’ve never had the guts to say it. I love you Elizabeth Natalie Ryans.” Elizabeth was beyond stunned and she didn’t know what to say. Should she take the risk and put her heart on the line as well? If Travis could do it, why couldn’t she?
 

“I… I love you too Travis.” She replied. She watched his face go from unsure to a full brilliant Travis smile that she loved. He quickly scooped her up and ran around the small area they were in.
 

“Whooohooooo… she loves me! Haha yes!!! I can die a happy man Liz. You have no idea how happy I am. I love you baby.”
 

She giggled as he spun her around and kept screaming how happy he was, and to be honest, she was beyond happy herself.
 

~End Flashback/dream~

Elizabeth sat up in bed in a state of panic and disorientation. When she realized that she was still in the guest room of Justin’s house she sighed and laid back in bed. This was the third time this week she had dreamt of Travis and it was beginning to take a toll on her. Wiping away the tears on her face, she walked towards the bathroom. She quickly turned the water on and waited for it to get warm. When she was satisfied with the warmth she stepped out of her pjs and into the over sized shower. She silently let the water calm her. Dreams of Travis always got her riled up because the pain was still too raw. When she had met Travis at St. Josephs she was lonely and needed a friend. She missed everyone back at home and even though she talked to them on the phone, it was never enough. One day she ran into a very good looking young man and found out that he lived in the room next to hers. She and Travis had hit it off from the beginning and became quick friends. When Travis expressed his thoughts of wanting her as something more than a friend, Elizabeth got scared. She didn’t want to be dating anyone in a hospital because it just didn’t seem right. But Travis was an extremely convincing and sweet guy and the next thing she knew they were going on two years of being boyfriend and girlfriend. Travis had told her that he was a cystic fibrosis patient but it turned out that he had lied to her. He wasn’t there for cystic fibrosis but for a brain tumor. When he was on his death bed she had asked him why he lied and he said that he had wanted her to love him without the fear of him dying lingering in her minds.

Tears streamed down Elizabeth’s face when she thought back to that day. She remembered crying herself to sleep that night… nothing had ever been so painful. Elizabeth gingerly touched the thin scar that went from the base of her throat to the middle of her chest. Losing Travis had been one of the worst things that had ever happened to her but as irony would have it; he ended up saving her life.

Shaking the gloomy thoughts from her mind, Elizabeth stepped out of the shower and thought about the events of the past week. When she arrived back in L.A. with Justin, Trace, Lynn and JC, they had retrieved her belongings and she moved into Justin’s house. Justin, JC, and Trace never left her side for anything, unless it was to sleep. The three of them had spent their time going to the movies, shopping, eating and even clubbing. Of course all of this had to be done with some security but it was still fun. Elizabeth loved every minute of it because she was getting to know them again and they were getting to know her. The only problem was they asked questions about France. They were often questions that she couldn’t or wouldn’t answer. She felt bad about hiding things from them, especially Justin, but she wasn’t ready to relive the events at ST. Josephs. She knew she had to talk to someone but she didn’t know how to. She knew she should let Justin in but when to do it was the question.

20 minutes after her shower, Elizabeth headed downstairs into Justin’s oversized living room and into the kitchen. She stopped in her tracks when she saw a shirtless Justin singing his head off and cooking breakfast. Instead of letting her presence know, she just stood there and stared at this muscular back. ‘Well, he’s definitely not a boy anymore.’ She thought to herself. She stared at the big tattoo on his back wondering how much pain he went through to get it done. Her eyes slowly went farther down and she licked her lips as her eyes landed on the small of his back. Before her eyes and her thoughts could go any father, Justin cleared his throat and spoke.

“Are you gonna just stand there and stare at my back all day Liz? I know it’s sexy but I didn’t know it was all that.”

Elizabeth blushed furiously when she realized that she had been caught. She was glad Justin hadn’t turned around yet because she needed time to get her hormones under control. Justin didn’t give her much time though and sooner than she would have liked, she came face to face with Justin’s smile and tan chest. Elizabeth tried not to stare but she couldn’t help it. His chest was very well defined and muscular. His arms were rather muscular as well but not in a scary way. And his six packs… they were to die for. She tried to desperately take her eyes away from his trim waist but found it very difficult. She finally realized what almost every teenager and young woman out there knew, Justin was a walking ball of sex appeal. Who would have thought?

“You ok Liz?” Justin asked breaking Elizabeth out of her trance. He noticed her blush and fought not to break out laughing. She was so cute when she was embarrassed and her checking him out did a lot for his ego.

“Ahem… yeah, I’m… I’m good. What’s for breakfast?” She asked trying to cover up her obvious embarrassment. Justin decided not to call her out on it, plus he will have plenty of opportunities to embarrass her since she was living with him. He walked over to one of the stools and grabbed his t-shirt pulling it over his head.

“Eggs and pancakes. I kinda got lazy after the pancakes,” Justin replied with a smile. Elizabeth smiled back and sat on one of the stools that Justin had set food by. After taking a bite of the pancakes she groaned and closed her eyes at the wonderful taste. Justin only laughed at her.

“Good?” He asked with a chuckle.

“Hell yeah. Aren’t you glad I taught you how to cook?”

“Whatever, you didn’t teach me how to cook. If I recall correctly you almost burned me when you tried to teach me. I was so traumatized that I didn’t step into a kitchen for a whole year.” Justin said and laughed when she dramatically rolled her eyes.

“Sure J… First of all, you almost burned yourself; secondly it didn’t even take an hour before you headed back into that kitchen.” Elizabeth said smiling at the memory.

“Haha… Remember how pissed my mom was? She almost crucified us when she saw her kitchen. She grabbed us by the ears and forced us back in there to clean up the mess.” Justin continued, still laughing.

Elizabeth giggled and rubbed her ear like it still hurt. “That woman can be so scary when she wants to be. I know we messed up her kitchen but she didn’t have to treat us like prisoners for it. But I guess we did deserve it. Man, we were some bad kids.”

Justin sat on the stool next to her and picked at his food. “I wasn’t bad, you just corrupted me.”

“I corrupted you? Riiight, and Santa clause is real. J, I believe you corrupted me. I was the sweetest girl out there.”

“Sweet huh? When were you sweet exactly? Were you sweet that one time you played a prank on an 80 year old man by hiding his teeth? Were you sweet when you pulled down Greg Koesters pants in eight grade? Were you sweet when you bitched out our history teacher for trying to tell you about George Washington? Were you sweet when…”

“Alright I get the point Justin. But they all deserved it.” Elizabeth interrupted trying to keep a straight face. He was right, she hadn’t been the nicest person in the world, at least not to people she didn’t like.

“Liz that 80 year old man looked for his teeth for hours and then you made him cry by telling him that one of the dogs ate it for dinner. You were so rotten back then but I think that’s why we got along so well.” Justin said with a wide grin. Their laughter soon died off and they just sat there.

After a moment of silence Elizabeth grabbed her plate and walked over to the sink. Justin joined her a few moments later and they washed their dishes in silence. After a minute or so Justin decided to break the silence.

“I’m gonna go get some groceries so I can make dinner later, wanna come?” He asked not looking at her.

“Ok, but are you sure that’s a good idea? Is Mike coming?” Elizabeth asked putting her plate in the dish washer and drying off her hands.

“No I didn’t call him. And before you go on a rant about how it’s not safe let me stop you. We’ll be fine. I’ve been doing this for so long that I know where I can go and where I can’t go. Plus it’s early so we’ll be ok. So put on some shoes and lets go.”

“I wasn’t gonna say anything J.” She said.

“Sure you weren’t. I know you Liz; you always have something to say.” Justin said, grabbing his jacket and following her to the garage.

When they stepped into the garage Elizabeth shook her head at the site before her. Why the man owned eight cars and four motorcycles was beyond her.

“They’re beautiful aren’t they?” Justin said with fake emotion. He pretended to wipe a fake tear out of the corner of his eye and Elizabeth couldn’t help but laugh at him. Justin grabbed the keys to the Benz that Elizabeth was standing by and opened the doors.

As they pulled out the garage Elizabeth turned on the radio and they both busted out laughing at what they heard.

You and me baby ain’t nothing but mammals so let’s do it like they do it on the discovery channel.

“Well, there’s a song for ya,” Elizabeth said in between giggles.

“Those guys had to be drunk or completely high to even think about doing a song like this much less releasing it.”  Justin replied still giggling.

Grabbing his CD case Elizabeth popped in Justified despite Justin’s protest.

“I haven’t heard this Justin and I don’t know why you don’t want me to. It’s something that you’re proud of right?”

“Well… yeah but I don’t know how you’re gonna react to it. It’s really different from anything we’ve done before.” Justin explained. As they listened to his album he became really nervous. Elizabeth was known for her ability to be blunt no matter what and he just wanted her approval. He looked at her when she sighed and sat back in her seat, the music and words to Still on My Brain filled the car.

The beautiful days are long gone
I can’t seem to breathe
It feels like it hasn’t been that long
Since you walked away from me
Now I can try to act real strong
But you and I both know I still think of you that way
You should know…that
 

The beautiful lights the star filled nights
They don’t mean a thing
Cause you were my star and so it don’t seem right
Without you here with me
Now I can try to act real strong
But you and I both know its hard for me to say
You were my soul…
 

Now I could say that I don’t love you no more
And I could say that I’ve closed the door for our love
And I can tell you I feel It’s time for us to go our separate ways
But baby I just wouldn’t be the same
Cause girl your love is still on my brain
 

Now when you’re in love it takes time to heal
When someone’s broken your heart and changes how you feel
Girl I thought that you’d never do me that way
But even after all I still think of you that way
 

Now I could say that I don’t love you no more
(I could say this and I could say that)
And I could say that I’ve closed the door for our love
And I can tell you I feel It’s time for us to go our separate ways
But baby I just wouldn’t be the same
Cause girl your love is still on my brain
 

Now love is a game that we both like to play
But will I win or lose if I go or if I stay
Even though I try to hide my broken heart inside
Girl you know me inside out and I can’t get you off my mind
 

Now I could say that I don’t love you no more
And I could say that I’ve closed the door for our love
And I can tell you I feel it’s time for us to go our separate ways
But baby I just wouldn’t the same
Cause girl your love is still on my brain

Justin cleared his throat when the song ended and Elizabeth turned off the CD player. He waited for her to speak but she didn’t say anything. He parked the car in front of the grocery store and turned it off. He didn’t get out though; he wanted to hear what she had to say. When he looked back at her she was looking at him.

“Was that about Britney?” she asked simply. Bluntly was more like it actually.

“Yeah. Half the album is about her. I needed a way to get over her and making music helped me do that.” Justin replied picking at his fingers. His eyes moved from his hands to her face when she touched his cheek.

“You’re amazing and talented as hell too. I’m glad you followed your heart. I’m sorry I couldn’t be here for you, you have no idea how long I’ve regretted not being here for you.” She said her eyes getting watery. Justin reached out and wiped away the tears that had managed to escape.

“Shhh… don’t cry and please don’t beat yourself up over not being here. I have to admit that my heart absolutely shattered when I couldn’t talk to you anymore but I’m sure there is reason behind everything that you did. You were sick Liz; there was nothing you could have done about that. I’m just glad you’re here and safe.” Justin whispered and bent forward to gently kiss her cheek tasting some tears. Elizabeth took a deep breath when a violent rush of tingles spread through her entire body at the feel of his soft lips. ‘What the hell is going on?’ she thought. She cleared her throat and tried to lighten the mood.

“Look at us. Why do we always get so morbid and sad? I didn’t mean to cry like that J, sorry.” Elizabeth said pulling away from him. They both opened their car doors and headed towards the store.

“It’s alright Lizeronie… let’s go get some groceries.” Justin said putting an arm around her shoulders.

“Where they hell did Lizeronie come from? I thought Val was bad but Lizeronie makes me sound like a damn pasta.” Elizabeth said and giggled as they walked into the store.

“Well it’s either that or Lizbonie, which do you prefer?” Justin asked and laughed when she made a face.

“Lizeronie will do just fine thank you. J what the hell do you think you’re doing? You can’t make dinner off of chips and dip.” Elizabeth said taking some of the junk food off the cart they had picked up.

“Oh and I suppose you have a better idea of what we should be eating.” Instead of responding to his comment, Elizabeth walked away and came back a minute later with various fruits and vegetables in her hands.

“We are not eating that shit Liz. Is that even food?”

“Sure we are. If the hospital taught me one thing its how to eat healthy. You don’t want to eat yourself into an early heart attack do you?” She responded but realized her mistake when she saw the frown on Justin’s face.

“Justin we can’t be afraid to make jokes just cause I’ve had heart problems in the past. I’m not some fragile little thing that’s gonna break, lighten up.”  She continued and he smiled a sheepish smile.

“Sorry, I’m not trying to smother you or anything I’m just afraid I might lose you again.” He said truthfully. Elizabeth walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug.

“It’s ok J, I understand but I’m not going anywhere. Now answer your damn phone before I break it.” She said with a laugh as he rolled his eyes and reached for his phone.

“Hello? Oh, hey ma. No we’re not at home we’re shopping for groceries. Dinner? Sure we can make it. You want Liz to help you cook, alright I’ll tell her…uh huh… Love you too… we’ll be there by six… ok… bye.” He hung up the phone before grabbing the cart and heading towards Elizabeth.

“Mom wants us to go eat dinner with her so we don’t really need to shop for anything anymore. She wants you to help her cook too.” Justin said.

Elizabeth gave him a funny look before answering. “Won’t we need dinner tomorrow night?”

“Naw, I want to take you to my restaurant and offer you a job since you keep whining about not having anything to do. Would you be interested?”

“Depends,” She started.

“On?”

“The position.”

“Is co owner and manager ok with you?” Justin asked with a smile on his face. He placed their items on the check out table.

“Are you serious? Justin that’s awesome,” she squealed like a little girl. Justin laughed and looked into her eyes, seeing real happiness for the first time.

“Only the best for you Val,” he responded briefly running a tender hand down her cheek. Elizabeth quickly looked away when his touch made her skin tingle like no other. The tingles seemed a lot stronger than they were in the car when he had kissed her cheek. What was wrong with her? ‘This is Justin, he shouldn’t be making me feel like this.’ She thought to herself.

As they left the store Justin grabbed her hand and held onto it. Tingles traveled up and down her arm and she was helpless to stop them. She looked over at Justin and he seemed completely oblivious to what he was doing to her.

Elizabeth’s feelings confused her but she just brushed them off chalking them up to lack of sleep. Little did she know that they were only going to get stronger with time.