The last few weeks had been torture for Justin. He'd had to endure his growing feelings for Shelby and trying to avoid her while dealing with Cameron's constant nagging.

Oh he loved Cameron yes, but there were times she really annoyed him. He was always defending Shelby which, of course, made her even more suspicious. That was the main reason Justin was trying to avoid Shelby. He found it really hard to do because he was drawn to her.

Thankfully Cameron wasn't on tour with them at the moment. She stayed in LA because she had previous obligations that included filming a movie and she'd be there until at least Thanksgiving.

Today he was alone, just sitting there thinking about life. He wanted to be out doing something, but there was no one he really knew available. He hadn't really made friends with the crew as he had in the past and he knew JC was with Shelby and her gang.

He wanted to be a part of that entourage as well, but he couldn't trust himself or his feelings around her for fear he would act on them. He was naturally drawn to Shelby, when he was around her he found himself longing to make her laugh, to see her smile, to make her happy. Sometimes he found himself wanting it to be like it had been before when they were together but on another level and that scared him.

He knew he loved Cameron without a doubt, but when he was around Shelby he missed her. It didn't help when Cameron was always on his case about something or another.

He was lost in his thoughts when the phone rang. He welcomed the distraction as he flipped open his phone.

"Hello?"

"Justin?"

"Who's this?" Justin asked cautiously.

"Nancy." She answered quietly.

Justin quickly racked his brain trying to think if he knew a Nancy. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it.

"Hello? Are you still there?" the timid voice asked.

"Yes, sorry. Do I know you?" Justin asked.

"We've met only a few times. I'm Shelby's sister." Nancy replied.

Of course she would be. He was after all trying to avoid her very sister.

"What can I do for you Miss Nancy?" Justin asked warily.

"I told my foster parent's about the baby and they flipped. They dropped me off at the state department and gave up parental rights. My social worker basically said if someone doesn't claim me by the end of the week they'd put me in juvy until I'm 18 and put the baby up for adoption. I'm really scared." Nancy answered.

"I'm sorry, but why are you telling me this? Shouldn't you be telling Shelby?" Justin asked.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know who to call. Shelby has so much on her plate right now that I just couldn't put the stress on her shoulders. I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have called." Nancy said near tears.

"No. I'm sorry, please don't cry. Let me think. I know Shelby would take you in a heart beat, but I don't know what it would take. You could fly out here and we could go from there. Would they let you come?" Justin questioned.

"I don't know, I didn't ask. Why can't I just have a real family who care about me."

"Is your social worker there right now?"

"Yeah, she's in the room. She at least gave me privacy." Nancy answered with a sniffle.

"Go get her and put her on the phone." Justin told her.

Justin exhaled a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. A headache was developing and he just wanted to disappear and do nothing for a while, but this was something he had to do.

"Hello?" a professional voice answered.

"Hello ma'am, this is Justin Timberlake. I'd like to arrange for Nancy to come visit us on tour. Her sister is here and I want to surprise her. What do we do to make it happen?" Justin asked not giving her a chance to say no.

"I wasn't aware Nancy had a sister." the woman replied cautiously.

"They were foster sisters for a few years. Her name is Shelby Murphy. Maybe you know her?" Justin replied.

"Yes sir, I remember Miss Murphy. She was always such a sad little girl. I wish we would have known about her living conditions prior to her graduation. Alice was very incapable of being a proper care giver. She always put on a good show when we came to visit her house and even when we had surprise visits everything seemed to be in proper order. I think someone inside was warning her of our visits." She paused then realized she had totally unloaded on him. "I apologize Mr Timberlake, I didn't mean to say all that."

Justin chuckled and assured her it was okay.

"What are you planning sir?" she asked.

"I want to fly her to Dallas where she'll join us on tour. After she gets here I know Shelby will try applying to be her guardian. Is that possible?" Justin asked.

"As long as she can provide a stable home and has a stable source of income there shouldn't be a problem. If I remember correctly she was a straight A student so she should be able to tutor her. I'll start the paper work and just send it with Nancy for Shelby to fill out and sign. When she sends it back she should know within a week whether or not she qualifies. I'll give Nancy two weeks with her as family time as long as she doesn't fall behind in her studies."

"That won't be a problem." Justin assured her. "What is your name by the way?"

"Sylvia Kamara." she answered.

"Okay. What's your phone number?" Justin asked.

Sylvia gave him the information and they continued to discuss the arrangements. After getting off the phone with her Justin called the airline and made arrangements with them and put the ticket on his credit card. It was the least he could do to maybe brighten Shelby's day and make her happy.

Nancy was instructed to pack up all her clothes and anything she wanted on the road with her. Justin told her not tell Jason she was coming because he didn't want it to get back to Shelby that he was doing this for her. Justin knew that Jason was Brad's brother and that was the last person he wanted to find out.

Justin had never been a huge fan of Brad. Even when him and Shelby were just friends, Brad made him feel uneasy. He could blame it on jealousy if he was honest with himself. Brad just seemed too stuffy for Shelby. He didn't suit her and he wouldn't be able to make her happy.

~*~

Shelby had been feeling weird all morning. She felt a weird cramping in her stomach. It started out as nothing, but it was getting stronger. She couldn't eat anything when she was downstairs with the others in the restaurant. They saw her picking at her food and insisted she go lay down.

She stopped by the hotel's gift shop to see if they had any kind of heating pad she could place on her stomach to keep the cramping down. She prusused the isles and found everything from condoms to baby food, but no heating pads. She sighed and restlessly got into the elevator and pushed the button for her floor. The cramps were getting worse and she felt like she was going to be sick.

She stepped off the elevator and felt the biggest cramp yet. She groaned loudly and doubled over. She curled up into the fetal position and held onto her stomach tightly willing the pain away. She had never in her life felt this kind of pain. Could somebody please come and just put her out of her misery.

~*~

Feeling frustrated and bored Justin wandered out into the hall in search of something to do. He wasn't sure where everyone was so he just kept on walking. He heard what sounded like a loud yelp of pain followed by the sound of something hitting the floor.

Justin's heart started racing as he followed the way the sound came from. It sounded as if someone had been in excruciating pain. He didn't have to go very far as he turned the corner his heart nearly stopped. Shelby lay on the floor not moving. Her extra pale face was scrunched up as if in pain and she was clutching her stomach as she lay in the fetal position.

"Shelby!" he exclaimed kneeling in front of her.

Shelby heard Justin's voice through her haze and opened her eyes to look at him. Her eyes started to tear up as she looked at him.

Justin gently picked her up and lifted her high up against his strong chest and felt her head curl against his shoulder. He felt his stomach in knots as she whimpered against him.

"Just hold on baby, I'm taking you to the hospital." Justin murmured calmly.

"It hurts so bad." She cried.

"Just hang in there." Justin said to himself just as he much as he did her.

He moved quickly when her form went limp in his arms signaling that she had passed out.

"Mike!" he yelled not knowing where the older man was.

"You bellowed?" Mike said coming down the hall almost immediately.

"We need to go to the hospital right now. I'm not sure what's wrong with her, but when I found her she was laying there in pain holding her stomach." Justin answered.

"Let's go!" Mike nodded leading the way to the elevator.

They rushed to the hospital Justin sitting with Shelby in the back seat. when they arrived at the hospital Justin rushed her into the ER where he was told to wait while they took her in.

He sat in the waiting room for an hour and he still hadn't heard anything. He was starting to get really antsy, almost impatient. Nobody had come out to say anything and it was driving him nuts.

He checked the time and saw it as already two o'clock. He'd have to let people know where they were. He dialed JC's number and waited for him to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hey JC, it's Justin. I'm at the hospital with Shelby. Let her band know that she's going to miss sound check and probably the show."

"What? Why are you at the hospital?" JC asked concerned.

"I found her lying on the ground holding her stomach. She was in serious pain she fainted on me. I still haven't heard anything yet and I've been here for over an hour. I'm scared for her C."

JC heard the concern and fear in Justin's voice and sighed. He dragged his hand over his face. The younger man was in love with her and didn't even know it.

"I'll let them know. You have to be back here for your set though. I'll go on first, but you have to be back here by eight thirty. Give my love to Shelby."

"Thank you JC. I appreciate it, more than you know." Justin sighed.

"It's okay. I'll take care of things here, let me know what's going on as soon as you hear something."

Justin heard himself agree then flipped his phone shut and let out a groan.

"I wish they'd come out and tell us something." Justin groaned running his hands over his face.

"I'm sure they're working on it. Things usually run slow in the ER. There are usually three or four doctors covering the entire floor." Mike answered calmly.

"I know, I just hate waiting like this. Not knowing anything is killing me."

"You're not going to hurt that girl again are you Justin? She did not deserve it." Mike asked approaching a subject he had kept quiet about for far too long.

"What?" Justin asked, looking at Mike in a new light.

"Shelby. You totally ripped her heart out. I saw the way she looked at you. She would have walked over coals and die for you. You let that shit with Britney destroy the best thing that has ever happened to you." Mike answered.

Justin couldn't believe what he was hearing. Mike was telling him how he had basically screwed over his relationship with Shelby. Something he himself had agonized over a lot lately. When would he be ready to admit it to himself that he had done just that.

"Nothing to say?" Mike asked.

"I don't really have anything to say. I know now that I should have listened to her, but I was really jealous. I couldn't believe that she cheated on me. I had the pictures to prove it, Mike." Justin sighed remembering the pictures and their conversation following it vividly.

"What the hell is this?" he said holding up a 8x10 photo of Tony kissing her at the restaurant the other night.

Shelby grabbed the picture and her heart fell to her knees. She had no idea what to say, but continued to study the photo.

"I'm waiting Shelby." Justin said burning his eyes into her skin.

"It's not what you think." Shelby said instantly regretting it.

"That's not what I want to hear Shel. Who the hell is he and why are you kissing him?" Justin demanded.

"He's my neighbor. I didn't kiss him, he kissed me." Shelby answered.

"He looks like more than a friend to me. I have a lot of pictures of you together. You look pretty cozy here." Justin said handing her another picture.

Shelby took the picture he held and her stomach flipped again, it was a picture of Tony holding her at the Used concert. Shelby was in front of Tony with his hands around her 'holding off the fans' around her.

"He was just keeping the others off me." Shelby defended knowing it sounded ridiculous.

"Is this why you wanted to leave the tour? So you could be with some other guy on the sly?" Justin yelled.

"Of course not. I didn't meet him until I got back. He came over once because his phone wasn't working and then he and the guys invited me to the Used concert that night. He started getting really friendly that night. I swear Justin, I told him to stop. I love you, I'm not going to do anything to hurt you." Shelby explained tears falling down her cheeks.

"Why didn't you tell me about him?" Justin asked.

"I didn't think of it."

"Are you sure you weren't trying to hide it from me?" Justin asked.

"Of course not. Why won't you believe me?" Shelby questioned.

"Because this shit happened with Britney. She cheated on me Shelby, she CHEATED on me, yet she kept denying it. I finally caught her with another guy with my own eyes before she finally admitted it. I can't go through that again Shelby. I love you so much, but I can't do this any more." Justin explained.

"What are you saying?" Shelby said feeling her heart breaking.

"I'm saying we're over." Justin shook his head.

"You can't be serious. Why?" Shelby asked crying hard by now.

"Because I don't trust you any more Shelby. These pictures are real, and they're convincing. A picture speaks a thousand words." Justin said throwing the pictures at her feet.

Shelby fell to her knees and cried harder. "Please don't leave me."

Justin opened the door and took one last look at the girl who'd stolen his heart and he felt his heart shatter. He was torn between pulling her off the floor and holding her in his arms and leaving her. He chose the latter has he slammed the door on his way out.

"You got played man. There is no way and I mean no way she would have cheated on you. She is not like that and if you really knew her you'd know that. I may not talk to her much, but it was all clearly written on her face and in her actions.

"Yes, I am aware of that now thank you very much. I can't change the past and we've both moved on. She had Brad now and I'm with Cameron. I love Cameron." Justin sighed.

"I know you do. That's why I said you better not hurt her again. I know she still has feelings for you."

Justin opened his mouth to reply, but was stopped by a doctor coming toward them. He took a deep breath and stood up when the doctor asked him if he was here with Shelby. The doctor looked grim and Justin felt his heart speed up.

"You're here for Miss Murphy?" he asked.

Justin nodded and braced himself for the news.