“So what are you gonna say to him?” JC asked, startling Elizabeth who had been deep in thought. Elizabeth sighed and glared at him.

“Damnit Jace! Don’t do that to me. Lord knows I don’t need anymore heart attacks.” She said with humor. She had meant it as a joke but JC didn’t take it that way. His face turned into a frown.

“Are you sure you’re ok Liz? Is your new heart really ok?” he asked seriously.

“I’m ok Josh. I have to take pills for the rest of my life but I’d rather do that than not to be alive at all. I fought hard Jace; I just hope it was worth it.” Elizabeth said softly.

JC cupped her face and kissed her forehead. “Of course it was worth it! We love you and we’ve wanted you to come back to us for so long. We need you Liz.” JC said honestly.

Elizabeth smiled when he hugged her to his side. “I know. I need y’all too. I’ve been waiting for a long time for this. I just hope this damn plane lands before I go crazy.” She said with a smile. Her smile grew when she heard chuckles coming from the rows in front and the rows in the back.

“You can’t wait to see JuJu’s pretty face can ya? Don’t worry kid, you ain’t the only one. But you do know that you’re gonna give that boy a heart attack right?” Chris asked.

“Naw, he’ll be alright. I think he’ll be very happy to see her.” Lance responded.

“He won’t have time to be happy; he’ll be on his death bed before he get’s a chance to be happy.” Chris said with a chuckle.

“Whatever man,” Lance said giving up. He turned in his seat and winked at Elizabeth before going back to sleep.

“Ignore the dumb ass up front. J’s gonna be shocked, he might even faint, but he’ll be more than happy to see you. You honestly have no idea how heart broken he was when you stopped talking to everyone. He thought you had died Liz. We all did.” JC said with tears in his voice.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and tried not to cry. She hadn’t wanted them to think that she was dead; she just couldn’t handle talking to them and not being able to be there.

“I’m sorry. I never meant to put y’all through that. I just thought it’d be easier for all of us you know?” Elizabeth said as a tear slipped down the corner of her eye.

JC quickly whipped her tear away and hugged her tightly to him.

“Shhh… don’t cry Liz. I’m sorry I brought it up. Cheer up, we’re going to go see Justin and give him the surprise of his life.”

Elizabeth laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She would see Justin in only one hour.

~Meanwhile~

~Flashback~
 

“Where’s Liz mom? Why are we in the hospital? I wanna see Liz! Please can I see her… please?” Justin begged his mother. They had arrived at the hospital 20 minutes after his mom received a call from Elizabeth’s dad.
 

“Just hang tight Justin. We’ll get to see her soon. Why don’t we go talk to her family?” His mom said before leading him to the four men sitting in separate chairs. They had worried and distraught looks on their faces. His mom walked up to them and embraced all of them. They looked at Justin and gave him reassuring smiles and he smiled back.
 

“Have you heard anything?” Justin’s mom asked sitting next to Max, Elizabeth’s dad, and pulled Justin into her lap. Max shook his head sadly.
 

“No. They took her in and they haven’t sent anyone out to talk to us. I don’t understand Lynn. One minute she was lively and playing with Matt, the next thing I know she’s on the ground writhing in pain.” Max said. A tear slipped out of his eye but only Justin noticed it before he wiped it away. Justin turned his head and locked eyes with Matt who was also trying to hide the fact that he was crying. Justin let go of his mother and walked over to Matt. He threw his arms around the older boy and hugged him tightly.
 

“It’s gonna be okay Matt. Liz is going to be okay.” Justin said as he felt Matt’s arms tighten around him.
 

“Elizabeth’s friends and family?” someone asked. Justin let go of Matt and looked at the man in the doctors uniformed and assumed that it was Elizabeth’s doctor.
 

“Yes that’s us. How’s my daughter? Is she going to be alright?” Max asked.
 

The doctor sighed. “She’s stable right now but I don’t know how long that’s going to last. She suffered a heart attack which is not at all common for a nine year old little girl. We’ve ran some tests and we’re going to wait for the results to come in. Until then, we’ll just have to wait. Does she have a history of heart problems?” the doctor asked.
 

“No.” Max answered with tears in his voice.
 

"I promise we’ll get to the bottom of this sir.” The doctor told him.
 

“Can we see her?” Taylor and Brian asked at the same time. Justin was anxious to see her as well but he didn’t know if he was ready. Seeing Elizabeth in the hospital again was not something he knew how to handle.
 

“She’s up in ICU so I’ll have a nurse escort you up there. Please limit your visit time, she hasn’t woken up yet so don’t expect her to respond.” The doctor informed. A few minutes after he left a nurse came and took them upstairs to where Elizabeth was being held.
 

When everyone went inside Elizabeth’s room Justin lagged behind and watched them from the window. He couldn’t really see her because everyone was crowding around her but he knew she was there. He knew she was lying there and he hoped she was ok. Ten minutes later everyone walked out of the room and came towards Justin.
 

“Don’t you wanna go talk to her buddy?” Taylor asked him. Justin nodded and headed towards the door. When he noticed his mother was following him he turned and smiled at her.
 

“Can I go in by myself ma?” he asked. His mom ruffled his curls and nodded her head yes.
 

Justin carefully stepped inside and walked towards the bed. The room was completely silent except for the monitor that was beeping. Justin walked over to his best friend and looked at her. She looked so peaceful and innocent, almost angelic. He tried not to cry as he squeezed her hand and she didn’t squeeze back. He leaned over and gently kissed her forehead before sitting down in the chair next to her bed.
 

“You really know how to scare people Val. We had a play date today and you broke your promise. True, it’s not entirely your fault and I’ll forgive you as soon as you open your eyes and tell me you’re ok. You have to be ok Liz. Who’s gonna beat up Todd and Tyler when they pick on me? Who am I suppose to tell my secrets to? You have to be ok Liz. I think I might be a little too old to find a new best friend, especially one that’s a girl.” He said with a chuckle.
 

When he heard somebody open the door he turned around to see his mother. “Time to go baby. We can come back tomorrow and see her ok?”
 

“Ok ma. Just one minute.” Justin replied. His mom smiled and closed the door.
 

“I have to go now Val. Don’t worry I’ll be back tomorrow and maybe I can bring Trace along. Hopefully you’ll be awake. I love you. And I promise after you get out of here, nothing is going to happen to you ever again. I will protect you… I promise.”
~End flashback~

Justin sat up in his bed and looked around. He was disoriented for a bit and then he realized he was still in his hotel room with the TV on. The TV screen had gone blank indicating that the movie was over. He must have fallen asleep and dreamed about Elizabeth again. He rubbed his face and headed for the bathroom. Opening the bathroom door he went inside and threw some water on his face. He took a quick glance at himself and groaned at what he saw. His face was slightly pale, his hair was sticking up everywhere and his eyes were blood shot red. He couldn’t keep doing this. Dreaming about Elizabeth always left him in a state of shock. The problem was that he wasn’t just having random dreams; the dreams were more like flashback of their life together before she had left. Just the other night he had a dream about the first day of kindergarten and how his mom had forced her to wear a yellow skirt with a matching shirt. He remembered wanting to tease her so badly but couldn’t because the look on her face told him not to say a word. Instead he walked over to her and said that all girls wore yellow skirts and shirts on their first day to school. She hadn’t believed him but her eyes had brightened and she gave him a brilliant smile. To him that had meant the world. It still did. If only he could see that smile again… if only.

Justin was jogged out of his thoughts by the pounding on his door and went to answer. He dramatically rolled his eyes when he saw Mike through the peep hole. He yanked the door open and stared at the large man.

“What do you want?” Justin said with irritation.

Mike just laughed at him. “You look like shit Justin.” Mike said.

Justin rolled his eyes again. “Tell me something I don’t know. What do you want Mike?”

“Well I don’t know if you remember, but you have a meeting in a half hour and I was told to have you there in about 20 minutes. It’s going to be hard to have a meeting with a producer when you’re acting like and ass so I suggest you go eat some cereal or some bullshit like that and get yourself together.” Mike laughed when Justin just flipped him off and slammed the door in his face.

25 minutes later Justin and Mike headed to the meeting with the producer. Justin still didn’t feel or look any better than he did when he woke up. Mike made sure to point this out to him.

“What the hell happened to you man?”

Justin sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Just let it go Mike. Believe it or not, I really don’t want to talk about it,” he said with some irritation in his voice.

Mike looked at the young man and for the first time felt concerned. “Are you still having those dreams about Liz?” Mike asked cautiously. He knew Elizabeth was a tentative subject.

Justin sighed another heavy sigh before looking at Mike. Mike could see the raw pain that was evident in Justin’s eyes. They stepped into the elevator when the doors opened and Mike pushed the button for the top floor.

“What’s wrong J?” Mike asked.

“I can’t stop thinking about her. Every time I close my eyes to sleep I dream about the past. I dream about the things we’ve been through. I’m normally never this shaken after one of my flashbacks but his one was…” Justin said trailing off.

Mike waited for him to finish but when it looked like he wasn’t going to, he spoke. “It was what Justin?”

Justin involuntarily shuttered at the memory. “It was too real man. I dreamt about the time when we were nine and she got hospitalized for her first heart attack. She never even had a chance at a normal childhood and I don’t think I did either. At that point everything went from bad to worse. She would be ok for months on end and then she’d be in the hospital for at least 2 months. She and I were so close Mike, but of course you know that. Every time she was in pain, I was in pain. Every time she was happy, I was happy. I just miss her. I miss my Val.”

~at the airport~

“LAND!!!!!” Chris screamed as he got on his knees and kissed the ground. Everyone laughed at his antics while heading towards the rental cars that they would drive to the Four Seasons.

“Get your dramatic ass off the floor old man. You draw way too much attention to yourself.” Joey teased.

Chris got up from the ground and headed over to Elizabeth. He put his arm around her and tried to speak in a hushed tone. “You see what I’ve had to live with since your absence? Joey and Justin have gone on a personal hunt for my head and Lance has turned into a big smart ass. The only person that’s not causing me ulcers is C but that’s only cause he has his own ulcers to worry about.” Chris said causing her to laugh out loud.

“I’m sorry Chris. I had no idea that I was leaving you in the hands of such cruel men. I’ll find a way to make it up to you and I’ll fight the mean men away as well.” Elizabeth replied with a giggle. Chris gave her a cheesy smile and jogged over to Lance.

“You hear that, Liz is back on my side. Now what Milky?” Chris teased.

Lance shrugged and looked at Elizabeth with a smile. “Chris she’s on your side out of pity. I mean, who in their right mind would side with a damn elf?” Lance said and took off running and Chris was hot on his tail.

Elizabeth couldn’t help but laugh at them. They were just so playful and hilarious. This is what she missed. This is what her life is supposed to be like. JC, Lynn, Trace, and Joey all shook their heads but they had smiles on their faces.

“As you can see sweetie, those guys have not become men. I honestly doubt they ever will be.” Trace said with a chuckle.

“Trace that’s not a nice thing to say. Lay off the old man, he knows not what he does.”  Elizabeth replied with a chuckle of her own.

When they reached the rental cars Chris and Lance were now arguing about who gets to go in what car. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and went over to the black convertible. She looked back at the two men who were arguing and smiled.

“Who wants to ride with me boys?” She asked. Both Chris and Lance ran over to the car she was by and got in the car.

“We are definitely not letting you go anywhere this time. If you can control those two like that for the rest of their lives, we would love you. Hell I’ll even pay you.” JC said getting into the drivers seat of the black convertible.

“We’ll meet you guys at the hotel Liz,” Lynn said and got in the red Chevy that was parked behind the black convertible. Joey got into the passenger seat of the Chevy and Trace took the back seat. Elizabeth walked around the car she was riding in and got into the passenger seat. JC pulled off as soon as she got in.

“What’s on your mind Liz?” JC asked when Elizabeth hadn’t said anything. She looked over at him as though she was just seeing him for the first time.

“Huh?”

“HE SAID, WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND!?!” Chris yelled into her ear from the back.

“Damnit Chris the girl can hear just fine. I think you busted my ear drum,” Lance said putting his hand over his right ear.

“Your ear drums were messed up before I even yelled. I’m surprised you can still hear, you talk on that damn phone of yours so much that I thought your ear drums busted by now.” Chris pointed out.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and looked at JC who was doing the same thing as the two men continued to argue about ear drums. “How long have they been like this?” She asked.

“After NSA was released. Lance got fed up with Chris making fun of him all the time so he decided to beat him at his own game. You can see how well that’s going,” JC replied.

Elizabeth grinned and looked out the window. Her happy mood quickly disappeared and it was replaced by a feeling of dread. What if Justin didn’t want to see her? What if he blamed her for all the pain he’d been going through for so long?

“He’ll want to see you Liz,” JC said interrupting her thoughts. Elizabeth looked at him in disbelief.

“How did you…” She started.

“You were always easy to read when you’re feeling vulnerable. You have nothing to worry about Liz. Justin has been suffering for a long time and so have you. I think it’s about time you two found each other again. I actually never doubted that you would come back. God would never separate soul mates and not bring them back together, He is not that cruel.”

Elizabeth looked at JC and laughed at him. Her and Justin couldn’t be soul mates, could they?

“Jace, you’re crazy. J and I are best friends. We’ve known each other since birth. He’s like a brother to me.” Elizabeth said.

“I bet you won’t be having very brotherly thoughts when you see him. He hardly looks like his 18 year old self and the same goes for you. You two have grown up into two very attractive people and I guarantee you there will be some sparks when you see each other. If I’m wrong then I’m wrong but if I’m right…” JC said and purposely trailed off. He knew Justin was going to hit the roof when he saw her. Not only was she going to be back in his life, she was back to stay. Elizabeth was stunning in her own unique way and he hoped that the connection her and Justin shared would turn into something amazing.

“Whatever you say Josh, whatever you say.” Elizabeth replied. JC pulled into the magnificent parking lot of the Four Seasons hotel and everyone got out.

“Come on girl; let’s go shock the shit out of Justin.” Joey said putting his arm around Elizabeth.

“This is going to be classic… I’m so glad I brought my video camera.” Trace said and followed behind everyone as they headed towards the hotel. Justin won’t even know what hit him.