"Judy? Judy?"

Justin gripped her shoulders, rolling her from his lap and onto the bed.

"Judy?"

He smoothed her hair back from her face and patted her cheek, trying to revive the sleeping girl.

Judy grunted, her eyes opening slightly. All he could make out were the whites of her eyes as her pupils rolled back into her head.

"Shit."

Justin rose from the bed, sliding his hands under her arms. He pulled her to her feet, but her legs gave out instantaneously, and he grabbed her again to keep her from hitting the floor. Wrapping his arms around her torso, he drug her backwards into the bathroom. He paused for a moment to pull open the glass door to the shower, and then he pulled her inside. Ice cold water came rushing out when he twisted the knob. Shocking them both and bringing goose bumps to their skin. It only took a second for Judy to spring back to reality. She let out an alarmed holler, jumping to her feet. She barely had enough time to spin around and face him before her legs gave out again. Once again, Justin caught her, cradling her body to his chest as he turned the hot water on.

"It's okay," he told her, as she whimpered against his shoulder.

He ran a hand over her wet head, and when he looked down at her, he took note of the healing cuts on her upper arm. He hadn't seen before, because of the sleeves on her shirts. There were five straight lines, all in a row, indicating they were done by a razor, more than likely on purpose. He closed his eyes tight as she shivered and whimpered under the spray of the shower head. Then he lowered his head to her shoulder, squeezing her tighter as steam rose around them.

"What're you doing to yourself Judy? What are you doing?"

They stood in the shower together for 10 minutes before Justin finally turned the water off and wrapped a towel around her. Judy lowered the toilet lid and sat down while Justin took a seat across from her on the side of the bathtub.

"Don't ever do that again," she managed to stutter between shivers.

"Don't you ever do that again," he replied.

Judy nodded and let out a sigh.

"Are you okay?" He asked. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"No."

"I think you should."

"No." She shook her head adamantly. "My insurance is through Ben. He'll get the bill and know where I am."

"I'll handle the bill instead of you going through-."

"No," she interrupted. "Thank you, but no. I'll be fine."

Justin looked her over again before he nodded and stood.

"Get changed before you get sick on top of everything else."

Judy nodded as Justin headed to his room, his wet jeans leaving a trail of water behind him.

"What? You must be joking."

"No, I'm not."

Trace and Justin stood in the kitchen, each on either side of the large island, discussing plans for the tour and the situation that had occurred earlier. Justin had thought long and hard, and come to the decision that for Judy's better interest -and his own peace of mind-the best thing was for Judy to accompany him on the tour, where he could keep a personal eye on her progress. Trace, however, was very against the idea of a virtual strange tagging along with them.

"You seriously want to take her on the road with us?"

Justin nodded, taking a sip of his orange juice.

"I think it's the safest place for her to be."

"Didn't you just say she had a drug problem?"

"Not a problem, per say. She was just in the wrong situation with the wrong person."

That made Trace raise an eyebrow.

"So you want to take her out of an abusive-druggie-boyfriend situation and put her into a sex-drugs-rock 'n' roll situation. Why, because that's healthier? And you expect her to get better?"

"She will get better. She just needs to be somewhere positive. If I leave her here alone one of two things is going to happen. She'll A) get more of the stuff and keep doing it and fall even deeper into this, or B) loose what willpower she has and go back to the son-of-a-bitch."

Judy rested her chin in her palm, listening intently to the conversation going on in the kitchen. Justin thought she was in her room taking a nap, but in reality she was sitting at the top of the stairs. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but she could hear the echo of their voices from her room, and when she heard her name she became too curious to ignore it.

She was anxious to find out what decision the boys would come to, even though ultimately it was up to her. But she did want the opportunity to travel with Justin, rather than retreat back to her Mothers' in Central Valley. Even though she knew what was in her better interest, and she was going to fight with all of her might to stay strong, she knew that the chances of her going back to Ben were high if left on her own. It wasn't that she wanted him; it was that she had lost so much of herself, now she wasn't sure who she was without him.

She didn't want to be back in that situation. She wanted to travel across the US with one of her best friends. They'd stayed up late many nights during high school, Justin telling her stories of different trips he'd taken and places he'd seen. It all seemed so glamorous and exciting. She wanted to get as far away from Ben as she could, and be as distracted as possible.

"And that's sad, but it has nothing to do with us. She's a big girl, it's not our problem."

"Yes, it is," Justin insisted.

"Why?"

"It is because she's my friend. It is because I care about her. Look, where do you go when you're in trouble?"

Trace gave him a look that was clueless.

"Home. Duh."

Justin rolled his eyes.

"What if you can't go home? You go to the next place you feel safe, right? She came to me for a reason. She knows I'll take care of her, and she knows I'll be strong for her when she can't be strong for herself. What do you want me to do? Tell her I can't because I'm too busy doing an album signing?"

"Justin, I know you spent a lot of time with Judy, but that was awhile ago. Did you ever stop to think that maybe she isn't the same girl you met before?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you think that maybe she could be here because she's looking to get something out of it? If she knows how much you want to be her friend then maybe she could be thinking you're an easy target. Maybe she's wondering how far you'll go to help her."

"You mean maybe she's using me?"

"You have to consider the possibilities. You said she had these pills. Addicts are always on the hunt for money to feed their habit."

"No. She's not like that."

"Everyone has the potential to be like that."

"Except for her. You don't know her. You just met her."

"How well could you possibly know her? You haven't seen the girl in over a year. Then she pops up on the porch in the middle of the night? You don't know what the hell you're dealing with."

Justin stepped back, leaning his hip against the kitchen counter and crossing his arms over his chest. If he said what he was thinking, it would lead to a serious fight with his best friend, so he kept his thoughts to himself. After a moment of silence Trace spoke.

"I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I appreciate that." His tone didn't exactly sound appreciative, but he still meant it. "Just don't judge her, man. Give her a chance. Trust me."

Trace gave Justin a look, trying to intimidate him with his eyes before he let out a defeated sigh.

"Does she understand what she's getting into? There's the traveling, the fans, the schedule. I know she did the show and it got her a little bit of notoriety, but this on another level. She's got to be prepared."

Justin nodded.

"I'll make sure she understands. Just make the arrangements."

"I'll make the arrangements. You explain it to your Mom."

"My mom will understand," Justin said.

He set his used glass in the sink and headed out of the kitchen and up the stairs. He was halfway to the top when he looked up to see Judy sitting there. He paused for a moment.

"Hey. I thought you were asleep."

"Earlier I was," she nodded.

"Did you hear all of that?" He motioned over his shoulder, referencing the kitchen.

Judy half nodded.

"Come here."

He didn't wait for her answer, just simply grabbed her hand and pulled her back up the stairs and into his room. He shut the double doors behind them and turned to face her.

"I know I should have asked you before I said you were coming on the tour."

"I'm not worried about that. Truth be told, I'd love to go on the road with you."

"Good."

"But maybe Trace has a point."

"What?"

"My showing up here out of the blue was bad enough. For me to tag along you'd have to change your plans. I don't want to inconvenience you anymore than I already have-."

Her rambling stopped when Justin put a hand over her mouth.

"You're not inconveniencing anyone. It's my tour, I can bring whomever I want too. And you just said you wanted to come, so I don't want to hear another thing about it."

As soon as he moved his hand she started to speak again.

"Your Mom isn't-."

He covered her mouth again.

"Not another thing about it."

When he slowly removed his hand for the second time, Judy smiled and opened her mouth to speak. Justin reached up to cover her lips again, but this time she ducked.

"I was going to say thank you!" She laughed, smacking his hand away.

"Oh, well, you're welcome."

As her smile faded an uncomfortable silence fell over them.

"About what Trace said before." He lifted a hand to nervously scratch at his neck. "He didn't mean it, he's just-."

Judy interrupted him with a wave of her hand.

"You don't need to…" she shook her head. "I get it. He doesn't know me."

"He's overprotective. This business will do that to you. But over the tour he can get to know you."

"Yeah."

"Besides, you finally have the chance to check out the hot chicks I was always telling you about."

Judy gave him a sarcastic grin.

"You mean the ones that like to throw you their thongs and flash you when your bus goes by?"

"Exactly."

"Hmm. I'm so excited. Hey!" She showed some honest excitement. "Is JC going to be there?"

Justin smiled brightly, mocking her excitement.

"No."

Judy's shoulders slumped, watching her friend chuckle to himself at her expense.

"Thanks. Thanks a lot."

Justin raised his hand to knock on the large oak door for his parents' house. There wasn't much time before he was scheduled to leave on tour, and he needed to explain everything to his mom/manager, otherwise he'd never hear the end of it. But before Justin could knock, the door opened for him, and his Mom stood there.

"So, you're taking Judy on tour with you, huh?"

Justin's brow furrowed. So much for breaking the news to her, looks like someone had beat him to the punch.

"How did you know?"

"MTV has already been calling, wanting to find out as many details as possible."

She headed into the kitchen, where she was in the middle of cutting apples for a pie. Justin took a seat on one of the stools at the island and watched her continue chopping apples.

"MTV? How did they find out?"

"As if it's hard to find out information about your life. Justin Randall, I swear, sometimes you must forget just exactly who you are."

"Ha. Sometimes I wish I could forget," he muttered.

"So, why are you doing it? I know when you were filming you spent a lot of time together, but are you two really still that close?"

"Not as close as we once were, but she's still a good friend. She needs help, Mama."

"What kind of help?"

"Bad boyfriend."

Lynn nodded, understanding what he meant.

"Well, if I were running away from a man, I'd want to run to a handsome man like you too."

"It's not like that Mama."

Justin picked up one of the apple slices and bite into it. Lynn scolded him by shaking her knife in his direction.

"We're not interested in each other. It's just a friend taking care of friend when they don't have anywhere else to go."

"I see. And why do you have to be the one to help her? There are agencies and counselors for this sort of thing, you know."

Justin shrugged.

"I wanted too. It was my idea that she come on the tour with me. I don't feel right putting her out on the street like that."

"She wouldn't be homeless, Justin. She has her Mom."

"I know, but you know what I mean. Plus, it would give us a chance to catch up again. Since the show we haven't been the best of friends. I want to see if maybe we can get to be friends again. Plus I promised her that since I got to come stay with her and experience her life, that one day she'd get to come experience mine."

"Uh-huh." Lynn looked unconvinced. "And you're sure there's nothing going on between you two?"

Justin rolled his eyes.

"Can't a guy and a girl be friends without one of them wanting to bone the other? Mom, you would be the first one to know if I liked her."

"Yes, I would."

Justin smirked. Then he reached out, stealing another apple slice. Lynn scolded him again, smacking his shoulder with a kitchen towel.

"It's just hard out on the road Mama," he said. "Every day in a new city, nothing is consistent, nothings the same. I'm surrounded by a thousand handlers, and none of them know a damn thing about me. I don't even know half of their names. I just want someone who is familiar, uninvolved in the business, there for me."

"I completely understand J. I traveled with you for years, remember?"

"I remember." He paused for a moment, chewing on his lip as he thought carefully.

"Do you think I'm doing the wrong thing?"

Lynn set down her apple and knife and placed both her hands on the countertop.

"She's a friend, she's in trouble, and you want to help. There's nothing wrong with that. No matter that Trace says."

"So he's the snitch."

Lynn smiled, but said nothing. Justin sat for a moment, thinking over her words. Then he nodded in agreement.

"Well, it's good that you agree with me, because we already paid for her ticket."

Lynn giggled at her son, turning her back to pull the pie crust out of the pre-heated oven.

"So, what did MTV want?"

Lynn set the pie pan on top of the oven and pulled off the oven mitt as she turned to face Justin.

"They have another proposition for you and Judy."

"Juicy tubes!"

Justin walked through the front door and headed into the living room. He expected to find her watching TV, but she wasn't there.

"What?" Her voice floated down from upstairs.

"Where you at, girl?"

Justin took the stairs two at a time, heading for her room.

"In my room," she answered as he opened her door.

She was standing at the foot of the bed, folding his laundry and placing it in neat stacks.

"I figured as much. Guess what I have to tell-what are you doing with my laundry?" He paused midsentence to ask a question.

Judy paused in her folding to give him a look.

"Washing it. Judging from the pile downstairs you're obviously not going to do it."

Justin narrowed his eyes at her, and let a low growl rumble in his throat. Then he dismissed her comment with a wave of his hand. He plopped down on her bed, knocking over one of her piles. He crossed one ankle over the other, put an arm behind his head, and gave her a cocky smile.

"I have some very good news," he stated.

"Is it good enough that I'm going to forgive you for knocking down my hard work?"

Judy was restacking the white tee-shirts.

"Would you consider MTV wanting to do a show good enough?"

Judy raised an eyebrow, and spun a finger around in the air in mock celebration.

"Woohoo. Justin Timberlake is going to be on MTV. Like that's never happened before. You're right, that's great news."

Justin's eyes rolled.

"Let me rephrase that. Would you consider MTV wanting us to do a show good enough?"

"Us?"

"You and I."

"Do a show about what?"

Justin jumped to his feet and moved to stand next to her.

"Senior Year 2 -- Or maybe it's Senior Year 1 part two -- I don't know, it doesn't really matter. Point is, they want us to do the same thing we did last time, only this time you're in my territory."

"MTV all of a sudden came to this decision that you and I should reconnect? Aren't they filming a fourth season already?"

"Well yeah but they can have more than one variation of the same show. They do it all the time. Look at Laguna Beach. Kristen had her show, then Lauren got one, and that gave way to Brody and Whitney having their own shows. But you see Brody on The Hills still. Whitney isn't because she's in New York, but I'm sure that if she were still in LA she would at least have an occasional cameo. I don't know why she even has her own show, I always thought she was kind of boring. That whole Bromance thing was way too much like Paris Hilton's New BFF show for me. What the hell is a Bromance? I know it's that whole 'bond between bros' thing but who came up with that word? It makes me think gay lovers, not straight friends. What?"

Judy had paused in her folding to give him a look. What guy knew that much about the Laguna Beach phenomenon and its offspring? It was a little weird, and slightly pathetic.

"Seriously?" She questioned.

"There was a marathon." He shrugged. "Anyway, I guess MTV somehow got wind that you were going on the road with me for awhile, and they pitched the idea. What do you think?"

"I don't know Justin." She went back to folding. "It sounds like a bunch of strangers getting into my business and following me around. Been there, done that."

"I thought that's what you'd say, so when I talked to MTV I told them they'd have to make it worth our wild."

He sat down on the bed right in front of her, careful not to knock over one of her piles again.

"What did they offer you? A bigger jet than the one you already have?"

"No. I'm still waiting on the Mercedes they promised me last time. No, it's not about what they offered me; it's what they offered you. They'll double what you got paid for the last season."

That made Judy stop.

"Double?"

"Double."

"Do you know how much money that is?"

"I know exactly how much money that is. And I was thinking, judging by how adamantly you shot down my offer to pay for your medical bills when you should have gone to the hospital, that there wouldn't be any way I could get you to take a small donation or loan from me to get your life back on track."

"You thought right."

"So, I figure that if you do the show you'll have a nice little nest egg to get started. You could get a place, have a little time to find a job while you settle in. You'll have a nice cushy, comfortable life for a while."

Judy crossed her arms over her chest and chewed on her lip.

"I'd be independent."

Justin smiled softly.

"You would. Is that a yes?"

Judy lifted a hand and pointed a finger at him.

"You already told them we'd do it, didn't you?"

Justin shook his head no, but then gave up the lie and nodded.

"Tentatively. Obviously you'd need to sign the papers yourself. But this is such a good deal for you I figured there was no way you'd turn it down."

"It is a good deal."

Her eyes lowered, and he thought he saw a smile beginning to peek out at the idea of standing on her own two feet. But as quickly as it began it faded, and he could see she was changing her mind again.

"Oh, but Justin, when Ben sees the show he'll know. He'll know where I went; he'll know where I am."

"You can't run from him for forever."

"I don't want to be in the spotlight again. I don't want anyone digging into my personal life. Everyone will find out about Ben and what happened. I don't need anyone looking down on me and thinking I'm some stupid druggie trying to capitalize on her famous friend."

"We call those people haters, and no one thinks any of that about you."

"Trace does."

The room fell silent. Judy went back to folding, only this time much more aggressively.

"Trace doesn't think-."

"Yes he does. I heard you guys, remember? She's a druggie. Addicts are always looking for money. He thinks I'm just using you. And if he could think that, having met me, then it'll be easy for some stranger in Wisconsin to think the same thing, or to think even worse. She's the battered girlfriend. She's a slut for running off with a guy who was older. She's a fool. She's hooked on ecstasy. She's using Justin for his money. She deserved it. She's a lowlife statistic."

"Since when do we give a fuck what some stranger in Wisconsin thinks?"

"I care what they think!"

In an instant tears streamed down her face, and she hid them behind her hands. Justin stood, enveloping her in a hug.

"Hey," he said softly. "What's going on here?"

"I don't want to be that girl," she wiped her eyes and lifted her head. "He was the worst person in the world to me, and I hate him so much, but I miss him so bad."

For reasons unknown to Justin, the tail end of that statement sent a surge of pain through his heart.

"Well, that's natural," he cleared his throat when his voice started to crack, "because you were together for a long time and you spent a lot of time together."

Judy wiped her eyes again and shook her head.

"I don't want to end up running back to him. I hate what he turned me into." She raised her head to look him in the eye. "I don't want people to look at me like that. I don't want people to see what I let happen to me."

Justin let go of Judy's waist to put his hands on her face. One of her tears slid down her cheek and onto his hand.

"What he made you, was stronger and wiser."

Judy attempted to shake her head no, but his grip kept her still.

"But no one is going to know that, no one is going to know your story, unless you tell them. You need to do the show. By the time it airs, you'll have your own life back and it won't matter if he knows what city you live in. And strangers all over the country, including Wisconsin, are going to know you're not that girl. Do the show."

Judy sniffed, looking up at his face. She searched his eyes for any hint of dishonesty or a hidden motive. When she found none, she nodded.