Later that night they were laying in bed, Lila curled up against Justin's side, her teddy bear tucked safely in her arms. "I cant believe you still have that thing" Justin said, referring to the bear that he had gotten her 4 years ago. "Whats not to believe? Its something my best friend got me, its the one thing I have to remember you by when you're running all over the country" she told him. "Best friend huh?" Justin asked, a smile on his face. "Yup, my best friend. Noone else wanted to be his friend, and I felt bad for him, even though he is this cocky ass popstar and all..." she said, giggling as he hit her lightly in the arm. "I am NOT cocky, you all of people should know that" he mumbled, and she chuckled again. "I was just kidding J, relax babe" she said softly, snuggling back up to him. "Yeah yeah..." "So you want to talk about it?" she asked him, and he sighed. "Not much to discuss, I just needed to escape everything for a little while" he told her, not really lying, but not telling the whole truth either. "Ok" she said with a shrug, knowing there was more to the story, but also knowing he would talk when he was ready too. Justin kissed the top of her head, and then the two of them turned off the light, quickly falling asleep.
Lila rolled over and didnt feel anyone next to her. She pulled herself awake, sitting up in the bed, and then smelling something cooking in the kitchen, and she quickly got out of bed. "Justin you better not burn down my house!" she called, hurrying towards the kitchen. "Relax LiLi, you know I can cook" he told her, concentrating on the french toast sizzling in the skillet in front of him. "Yeah and I also know you probably havent in several years" she pointed out. "Minor detail" he said, looking up to flash her a grin, and then going back to what he was doing. "Thank god you only come every few years. I need that time in between to recover from the visit" she said, rolling her eyes as she sat down at the table. "Aww you dont mean that Li" Justin said, acting hurt. "No, I dont, but you still take time to recover from" she told him. "Yeah I know, being in such close quarters with a God takes time to get used to huh?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows, and she groaned. "I give up. Lord why did I have to be the one that felt sorry and befriended him?" she asked, looking up towards the ceiling. "Oh stop your bitching and set the table, breakfast is almost done" he said, throwing a piece of bread at her. "What is with you and throwing stuff? Didnt mama Harliss ever teach you any better? I know she did because I know Jon would never do that" Lila told him, and he laughed. "Oh yeah, thats it, bring the family into it all now" Justin told her. She looked at him a moment, hand cocked on her hip, and then she stuck her tongue out at him. He burst into a fit of giggling, and then went back to serving up breakfast, still shaking his head.
They took thier time eating breakfast, the apartmet filled with the sound of laughter and thier constant bickering. When they were finally finished, they cleared the table and then went to the living room for Justin to call into the radio station. Lila turned on the radio softly, and sat down beside it to listen to the other guys as they talked. "Hey out there in radioland, this is Bobby and we are back,and talking to the guys of NSync. Whats up guys?" came the DJ's voice, followed by the guys saying thier hellos. "So we have four of you here with me now, and then Justin, you're on the phone, right?" "Yeah I'm here Bobby, hey guys!" Justin said. "Ok, so before we get started, Justin can I ask where you are?" the DJ asked. "Yeah I'm visiting a friend at the moment, but didnt want to be left out of the show. You never know what the guys would say about me if I wasnt listening." Justin said, and everyone laughed. "Nothing we wouldnt say to your face J" Chris told him with a smile. "Yeah, and that leave out alot" Justin said sarcastically, everyone again chuckling. "Ok, ok fellas, lets call a truce now. So now you guys have been taking a break from the studio right? Whats everyone been doing?" "Well," JC started, "Chris has been concentrating on his clothing line, FuMan Skeeto, Lance is trying to go to space, Joey has been testing the waters on Broadway, Justin has been working on his solo album, and I've been working on a project on the internet" JC finished, Lil'as eyes shooting over to Justin as soon as she heard about the solo album. "So everyone's been staying busy from the sounds of it. Now you said Justin is working on a solo album, does this mean that NSync is no more?" asked the DJ. "Of course not, NSync will be here as long as the fans want us to be. We are just taking a short break from being a group, and testing out stuff on our own. We've all had other things we wanted to do with our lives, and they have always been pushed to the side for the group. So now, we have decided to take a small break as a group, and do our side projects and such" Chris explained. "Makes sense to me. Now how do you all feel about Justin making a solo album?" Bobby asked. "Honestly, we couldnt be more proud of him. You have to admit the kid is talented" Chris told him, and the guys all agreed. "Ok, so tell us about the album Justin" Bobby asked. "Thanks guys, and as for the album, I'm not getting into too many details, but I can tell you it will be different from anything you;ve heard before. I'm going for more of a hip-hop and R&B sound, working with alot of people on it, and I'm really excited about it." Justin told him. "Well alright, and from what I understand, we are premiering the first single right after this interview, correct?" "I believe so" Justin told him. "Well lets not keep these fans waiting any longer than, I think we are done here, any last words?" Bobby asked the guys. "Wait, lemmie say hi!" Lila said, running over to Justin. "Oh, hold on a sec, I have someone who wants to say hi guys" Justin said and then handed the phone over to Lila. "Hi guys!!!" she shouted, greeted by a series of hellos from the four guys. "I miss you four" she said. "We miss you too Li!" Chris told her. "One last thing...hey Joey?" she asked, and Justin giggled at the evil look on her face. "Yeah babydoll?" "Ooompa!!!" she yelled, and then collapsed in a fit of giggles as Justin pried the phone from her fingers. "I cant believe she just did that on the radio" Joey whined, everyone else laughing. "Well ok then ladies and gentlemen, lets get on to the song. I'm happy to be the one premiering the new song,"Like I Love You" by Justin Timberlake" the DJ said, and then the sound of the guys laughing faded away as the first strands of Justin's song began.
Lila scrambled off the couch, turning up the stereo, and sitting in front of it. She turned her head and looked at Justin as she listened to the song, amazed at how far he had come in the 2 years since she had last spoke to him. The song finished and she turned off the stereo, neither of them saying anything, finally Justin spoke. "What do you think?" he asked softly, her opinion meaning more to him than anyone elses. "I think it's absolutly amazing," she told him, and he visibly relaxed, "Why didnt you tell me about this though?" she asked him, and he shrugged. "I dunno, I came here and just wanted to forget about who I am for a little while" he told her. "But you could have told me about the album" she argued. "Why? I told you yesterday, I didnt want to think about anything involving NSync, music, or who I've become. The album involved all three" he told her, and she sighed. "Is this the reason you are here?" she asked after a moment. He remained silent for a moment, looking at the wall behind her, and then sighed, finally giving in. "What if I say it is?" he asked, looking up at her. "Justin...baby talk to me...tell me whats going on in that pretty little head of yours" Lila told him,moving to sit next to him on the couch. "I..I dont know Lila. I didnt know what else to do, where else to go. I needed to get away from everything. I have so much going on with the group, I'm stressing over the album, I havent been eating, I havent been sleeping, and then I thought of you and so...so...this is where I ran too," he told her. "I mean, what if the albums a bust, what if noone likes it, and it bombs out. Worse yet, what if it doesn't bomb, and it becomes huge, whats going to happen to the group? Are the guys going to hate me? Are we going to break up and never speak to one another again? I couldn't live with myself if that happened. I can't lose my brothers, yet I cant lose my sanity either, whats left of it anyways. Sometimes I just feel like saying thats it, and quitting and going about a normal life" he said, stopping to breathe, leaving her time to speak. "Justin, the album;s going to be fine, those 4 men will never hate you, no matter what you do, and you can't just quit" she told him. "Why not?" he asked, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "Because this is what you chose to do with you're life, you cant just up and quit" she said. "But people decide what they want to do, take a job doing it,and quit everyday" he pointed out. "But not everyone chose a job as a popstar" she reminded him. "Popstar or not, this is my job. Why can't I quit my job like everyone else?" he asked, tears starting to spill over onto his cheeks. "Well Justin, I guess if thats really what you want, you can, but make sure you think about this before doing anything ok?" she asked, and he nodded. "Promise?" she asked, and he nodded again. "Alright, now come over here" she said, pulling him to her, and he buried his face into her chest, his tears soaking into her t-shirt, his body shaking with sobs. He hadn't cried in nearly two years, and those years of pent up fears and sorrow rushed upon him now. This was something else noone else had ever witnessed. Sure the guys had seen Justin cry, but only tears of joy, never those of sorrow. Whenever Justin felt he was drowning in his stardom, he would climb into his bunk and call Lila, cry to her over the phone, noone else was allowed to witness that side of him. Noone else was allowed to know he was a real person, not just the 'prince of pop', with real fears. Noone else but Lila.
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