The next morning when Justin awoke it took him a moment to remember where he was. The curtains were blocking out the sun, which was already shining brightly outside. He wondered what time it was. They were leaving town at 9am. It couldn't have been after 8:30am or someone would have been pounding on the door to wake them up.

In no hurry to get up, he wondered what had woken him up in the first place, and he looked down at Judy. Sometime in the middle of the night she'd scooted away from him. She was on her stomach next to him now. He could only make out half of her face, the other side hidden by her arm. Despite how upset she'd been last night, she looked as if she was sleeping peacefully now. Her raven strands fell across the pillow and her lips were parted slightly as she slumbered. He hadn't paid much attention until recently, but now he couldn't ignore soft her lips looked. They were full and curvy and a natural shade of baby pink.

Justin reached out gently, running his fingertip along her bottom lip. It was as pillowy as he remembered it being during their one and only kiss, and to this day he didn't know what had come over him when he did it. He hadn't really thought of Judy in that way before. Sure she was cute and smart and bubbly, but she hadn't exactly been his type. For one thing she was too young. He was six years her senior and she was still in high school. Think whatever you want about Justin Timberlake, but a cradle robber he is not.

For another thing, she was outside of the type of ethnicity he'd normally date. He had nothing against black women, and he often admired their beauty, but he'd never seriously been interested in a black woman before. Back home in Millington it was generally frowned upon, and while he never understood why or agreed with it, you can't help but be influenced by how you're brought up.

Regardless, there had been something about this Judy girl. She was different than any girl, black or white, than he'd ever met. From day one he'd felt connected to her, like they could share anything. She'd seen him in his most vulnerable moments, in the middle of the night when he was just the boy from small town Tennessee. He'd also always felt a need to protect her, first from Ben, then from Mason, and now it appeared she needed protection from herself the most.

A moment after his lone finger left her mouth, her eyes fluttered open. She blinked, first focusing on her arm which lay just in front of her face. Then she looked up at Justin, and he smiled gently. She responded by scooting closer to him, her arm resting lazily across his torso as her head settled on his chest. She reclaimed the spot she had been in the night before and he didn't protest in the slightest.

"Do we have to get up?" She whispered.

Justin lifted his head, looking at the clock across the room. It was 8:15am.

"Yeah," he answered. "We're leaving in forty-five minutes."

"I don't want to get up. I don't want to go out there."

Justin rubbed her back as he sucked in a deep breath.

"Well, you're only going downstairs to the bus. You won't have to see or talk to anyone."

It took him ten minutes to convince her to get out of bed, and another five before he was able to go to his own room to get dressed. Judy showered and dressed in record time, coming into his room just fifteen minutes after he'd left hers. She was becoming more and more stylish -probably with the help of Rachel- and was wearing jeans, red heels, and a fitted gray sweater. Over her eyes were black sunglasses.

Once Justin was ready to go he took her by the hand, leading her out of the room and down the hall to the elevator. He watched her carefully, waiting for the moment when she would glance back towards Mason's door longingly. But she never did. In fact, she made it a point not too. She hung her head, her blonde bangs falling over her eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

They were safely on the elevator. Judy nodded.

"I'm just ready to get on the road."

As soon as they boarded the bus for the five hour drive Judy climbed into her bunk and Justin headed for the back, where he found Trace and Rachel.

"What are you guys doing?" He asked.

Rachel waved a hand through the air.

"Nothing. Genius over here is watching Tom & Jerry cartoons."

"Classy."

"It's simplistic humor," Trace defended.

"That's the only type of humor you understand."

Trace stuck his tongue out at Rachel for her comment and huffed before turning back to the TV. Rachel chuckled before she turned to Justin and gave him a pout.

"Where's Judy?" She asked.

"In her bunk. I think she's trying to go back to sleep."

He took a seat next to Trace, and Rachel pouted more.

"How is she doing?"

"Why?" Trace's attention left the TV and went to Justin. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's doing okay, I think. She slept pretty well last night but she was really quiet this morning."

"Why? Quiet about what? What happened this time?"

Rachel scoffed at him.

"How are you so unaware of all the extracurricular drama going on during this tour?"

Trace shrugged.

"I'm not nosy. Unlike some people here."

Rachel shook her head at him before turning back to Justin.

"I still can't believe that Mason did that too her. What a dirt bag."

"What did he do? Did she find out he was hooking up with that sluts-her-face dancer, Denise?"

Rachel and Justin both turned to look at Trace as he stared at the cartoon on TV.

"You knew?"

"Duh. They've been hooking up since the tour started."

Their jaws dropped.

"And you neglected to mention this because?"

"It's not my business. Besides, Judy is a big girl, she can handle it."

He attempted to turn back to the Tom & Jerry cartoon, but a DVD case bouncing off of his head disrupted him.

"You ass!" Justin yelled. "You let her walk right into that situation, knowing he was already with someone?"

"Hey! I didn't know she was going to run off and sleep with him. Who does that? Besides, you tried to tell her Mason was bad news, it's not like she would have listened to me if I had chimed in."

"You still could have told her."

"It's not my job to watch after her. I told you to leave her in LA."

The door opened and there stood Judy, her eyes red and breathing ragged.

"But he didn't leave me in LA, so are you going to keep punishing me for it? If I had known he was already with another girl I would have stayed ten feet away from him. I'm not interested in sharing men."

"No one made you hop in bed with him-."

"Like you've never been in that situation! You've probably met groupies at clubs and taken them home the first night, but you're judging me on my actions?"

"That's true Trace," Rachel said.

"Shut up Rach!"

"Don't tell her to shut up. You just don't like being called on your bullshit."

"No, I just don't like being talked down to by sluts."

Before anyone could comprehend what was going on, Judy was across the room. Her fist was aimed for Trace's left eye, but he moved and instead it hit his shoulder. She straddled the cowering man, pulling her arm back to swing again but Justin grabbed it, hoisting her into the air and safely away from Trace. Ideally he would have grabbed her before she had a chance to even get across the small room, but damn she was fast!

Justin grabbed her around the waist, yanking her backwards and out of the room as she struggled and screamed obscenities at Trace.

"Fuck you, you two foot tall Timberlake wannabe! I'll beat your ass you little shit, come say that again!"

Justin finally drug her into the kitchen area, where Mike sat with a raised eyebrow. He tossed the girl onto the bench, and pushed her back down when she jumped up. He was about to lecture her about putting her hands on other people, for the second time in the past 24 hours, when Trace came barreling down the short hall.

"Who are you calling a wannabe? If it wasn't for Justin your ass would still be in Travis with your piece of shit boyfriend!"

"You're just jealous because he was a bad guy and he still had a bigger dick than you."

Justin's eyebrow rose. Where had she gotten such a foul mouth from? His Judy would never have said something like that.

"How would you know? You've humped every guy you've ever met except for me."

Judy lunged for Trace again, grabbing a hold of his shirt. Justin was behind her, trying to pull her back, and Mike and Rachel were between the two parties, trying to unclench Judy's fist. All the while the two were still hurling insults back and forth.

When Rachel finally got Judy's hand undone Mike pushed her and Trace into the backroom, closing the door. The situation was entirely too volatile and they needed to be separated. Justin held onto Judy, until he heard the backdoor lock.

"Bitch!" She cried.

"Stop it! Stop. Stop. Stop." He repeated the word until she finally calmed, dropping her arms to her sides.

"Are you okay now? Can I let you go?"

"I'm fine," she huffed.

Justin slowly let go, waiting cautiously to see if it was just a ploy so she could make a run for the room. She didn't, instead she dropped down into the seat and he sat next to her, taking a deep breath.

"Jesus Christ," he said. "What was that?"

"He called me a slut!" She said. "Am I supposed to just let him get away with that? He doesn't know me like that."

Justin remembered when he'd drunkenly called her a slut. Her reaction had been much different, but then again this time she'd already been upset by the Mason situation. It was horrible timing on Trace's part.

"Calm down," he shushed her. "It's just you and me in here, no need to yell."

Judy huffed again, and started to fidget with her hands. First she crossed them, then she cracked her knuckles, then she tapped on the table, then she folded her arms again. He could tell by her jerky movements she was fighting off tears.

"Judy?"

"That's exactly why I didn't want to do this show, Justin!" She rose to her feet and stomped her foot on the ground. "Did you hear what he was saying about me? He still thinks I'm using you and now he thinks even worse of me. Even you said I was being slutty and now the whole world is going to think the same thing!"

By the time she was done tears were rolling down her cheeks. She looked so broken and upset. Justin stood up, trying to gather her in his arms. But she shoved him away before he had the chance.

"No!"

Judy brushed past him, marching down the hall. He hoped she wasn't going to the backroom to continue her argument with Trace, but she stopped short, climbing into her bunk. He could hear her cries echoing through the small space and he sighed. There was nothing he could do for her. So instead he moved down the hall, knocking on the backdoor. As soon as he heard the lock being undone he shoved the door open, slamming it behind himself.

"What the hell was that?!"

"What?" Trace asked. "What did I do?"

"You called her a slut."

"If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck-."

"That's not your place to say that to her. Calling her names, telling Rach to shut up. You're coming off like an insensitive asshole."

"Me?" Trace pointed a finger to his chest as he stood up. "I'm looking out for you and you're taking her side?"

"How is this looking out for me?"

"She's using you and you don't see it. That girl is on this tour to get famous off of MTV and to see how many phone numbers she can get and that's it. She doesn't give a damn about you man, she's only looking out for herself."

Justin's eyes flashed with anger. Here he'd thought Trace was giving Judy a chance to prove herself, but he'd been quietly sitting around watching her and judging her all along. He hated to have to choose between his two best friends, but in this situation Trace was wrong.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, but you're acting like a totally different person," Justin told him.

"No, you're acting like a different person. Normally you're a good judge of character when it comes to other people. You know who's being sincere and you know how to navigate your way through the ninety pounds of bullshit people serve up to you every day. But with her it's like you've got blinders on. You don't see what she's doing, and you tend to her like she's a lost puppy. It's not your job to save her Justin."

"And you're not my Dad, Trace. From now on, just stay out of my personal life, and stay out of her way."

Justin left the room, climbing into his own bunk. Judy had stopped crying, but he didn't want to bother her just yet. So he closed the curtain and laid there in the dark.

Things didn't get any better once they arrived at the venue in Salt Lake City, Utah. Judy stayed planted in the corner of the dressing room, where Justin could keep an eye on her and her temper. Trace was nowhere to be found, but Rachel would disappear every once in awhile to find him and then would report back that he was fine. Justin had a feeling that he was hiding out on the bus keeping his mind busy with William Rast work.

In fact no one spoke until after the show that evening. They'd made it back to the hotel, and Justin had just settled into his room when there was a knock at the door.

"Judy?"

He was surprised when he found her there. She'd been distant all day, claiming she just wanted some space whenever he'd tried to talk to her.

"Hey. Busy?" She asked.

He shook his head, stepping out of the doorway so she could enter.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, I was just stopping by to see if you wanted to go out with me tonight?"

He felt his breathe catch in his throat. Go out with her?

"Like a date?"

He instantly felt like a fool because of the look on her face. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"No. Like, to a club, or something?"

"A club, huh?"

He folded his arms over his chest. Had she forgotten how old she was?

"How do you plan on getting into a club? Last time I checked they still carded girls at the door."

"Well," she bit her lip. "That's another reason I was hoping you'd come along with me. Maybe when they see you at the door they'll forget about me."

Now it was Justin's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"I don't know if that's a good idea Judy. Do you remember the last time you went out?"

Judy's eyes rolled.

"Yeah but this is a totally different situation. Mason is out of the picture. Besides, I just need to blow off a little steam. Today was intense."

"Tell me about it," he muttered.

"Please Justin? Please?"

He looked at her, her eyes pleading with him. Like any other red blooded man on the planet, he couldn't say no to that face. Against his better judgment he nodded.

"Fine."

"Yay! Thank you."

Judy jumped into his arms, squeezing him tightly. It was the first smile he'd seen on her face all day. Maybe the day was salvageable and this wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"So, where were you planning on going?" He asked.

Her smile turned shy and he narrowed his eyes.

"Well, that was another reason I wanted you to come. I was thinking maybe you knew of a place."

"Uh-huh. I'm just a pawn in your game, aren't I?"

"Of course not J! The main reason I wanted you to come was because of you're a witty conversationalist."

"Now you're just blowing smoke up my ass, and you aren't very good at it. Leave the bullshitting to the pros Judy."

She pouted at him, and he waved her off.

"Go get ready. I'll think of somewhere."

An hour and a half later Judy found herself staring out the van's window at the bar Justin had brought them too. It was a small, slightly run down place at the end of an alley off a main street. Not exactly what she'd had in mind when she asked him to go out.

"Seriously?" She asked, looking to Justin.

It was bad enough that he had invited Trace along. Now she was going to be spending the next few hours at a rinky-dink bar with bikers standing guard out front.

"It's a place where the media won't look for me, and most of the people here have never heard of you so they won't know right off that you're too young to be here."

Justin whispered the last part, reminding her that he was doing her a big favor. Judy sighed, following him into the bar. It was dark, the floor covered in a cheap gray carpet. In the middle of the room was a small wooden stage, and two drunken girls were on it, singing a Sarah Mclachlan song.

"Oh! Justin, will you do 'That's What Friends Are For' with me?" Rachel asked excited.

Justin turned to her, returning her excited look.

"Nope."

"What can I get ya'll?"

The small group turned to the bartender as she set napkins on the bar in front of them. She was a short girl, barely 21 years old, with long stringy blonde hair.

"Vodka and pineapple," Judy answered immediately.

Justin gave her a look and she smiled sweetly.

"It's just one drink," she said.

He couldn't really say anything about her drinking. He was the one who'd brought her to a bar, after all.

"I want an IPA," he answered. It wasn't his beer of choice, but it would do for the evening.

The bartender took Rachel's and Trace's orders as well before she nodded and set to work. Mike didn't order anything. He didn't like to drink on the job. There weren't many people in the bar, but they'd taken notice of the camera crew as soon as they'd walked in. Generally, people didn't like outsiders, especially those who were filming for TV, coming into their hangouts without permission. He wanted to be ready just in case.

When the bartender returned with their drinks she handed them out, and Trace handed her a twenty dollar bill. Judy raised her brows. Not only was this a cheap bar, but Trace was actually doing something nice for her. She looked over at him, taking in his 'I Can't, I'm Mormon' tee shirt, courteous of the gift shop at the hotel.

"Thanks," she muttered.

He nodded back, turning completely away from her towards the karaoke stage.

"Time for a toast!" Rachel announced.

Everyone raised their glasses, clinking the bottoms together.

"Here's to a good night, and a great rest of the tour."

Two hours later and Judy was definitely having a good night. She had gulped down more than her fair share of vodka, and was currently singing her heart out on the barstool, reading the lyrics to Frankie Lymon's song off the wall with everyone else at the bar.

"Why do fools fall in love? Why do birds sing so gay? And lovers await the break of day. Why do they fall in lo-ove?!"

He didn't have to see her face to know figure out that she was plastered. Regardless, he turned his attention away from karaoke and looked at Judy. She was sitting there, smiling happily, singing and dancing along with a drunken Rachel. Her eyes were bouncy and sparkly, and she seemed as if she didn't have a care in the world. He knew though that the alcohol was a cover for the pain she'd been carrying around.

"Tell me why, whyyyy, whyy. Why do fools fall in loooove?!"

When the song ended the girls raised their hands above their heads and clapped, cheering loudly.

"Justin, come on, won't you sing with me?" Rachel shouted over Judy's cheering.

Justin shook his head. No way in hell was he getting up there and embarrassing himself on some rickety old stage singing karaoke from a machine someone had brought in from their basement. No thanks.

"Can I get you anything else?"

Judy's smile grew when she heard the bartenders' question.

"A shot of Kettle One."

"Yuck," Justin grimaced. "Kettle One?"

"When you're already drunk, it doesn't taste as bad," Trace explained. "I'll take one too."

The bartender poured the shots, and Trace set a ten dollar bill on the bar. He and Judy lifted their glasses, tilted their heads back, and took the shots. Judy had to take hers twice because she couldn't swallow the whole shot at once. When she was done she slammed the glass back down on the counter and shook her head.

"Yuck."

"Told you," Justin teased. "It's all about Patron."

"Patron-Shatron. I hate Patron!" She declared.

Rachel giggled at them before closing her eyes and singing along with the man singing Chris Isaak.

"No I don't wanna fall in love. No I don't wanna fall in love. With you."

"With you baby! Woo!"

Judy was happy for the moment. Her problems with Ben and Mason were long forgotten, and though Trace's presence reminded her of their argument earlier, she was willing to put up with it as long as he kept buying her drinks. She felt great, and free. That free Justin had been talking to her about days before, where she didn't have anyone to answer too and she could just do what she wanted.

She hadn't realized it before but having a boyfriend, or even potential love interest, was tying her down. When she was interested with someone, she had a tendency to focus all of her energy on them, and to want to spend all of her free time with them. That's how Ben had alienated her from her friends in the beginning of their relationship. She'd been eager to spend time with him and to form a strong bond with him. But the more time she spent with Justin, the more she realized how much she'd missed having him, and all of her other friends in her life.

"Timberlake," she started, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad that you and I are still friends."

Justin was caught a little off guard, but he managed to smile and agree with her.

"I'm glad too, Juice box."

"Ben didn't want that," she continued. "He hated us being friends. He made me get rid of all of our pictures, everything. He was so jealous, I guess. I don't know what his problem was. Luckily, I memorized your address or I never would have been able to find your house that night."

She ended the sentence with a giggle and he nodded as she continued on.

"But now that I'm here with you, I'm so excited to be single again. And once the show is over I'll be on my own and I can start my life over and go back to school and do all the things I've been wanting to for so long. It's like-."

She paused mid-sentence, and starred straight at Justin. But she wasn't paying attention to him, her mind was wandering away. He knew the moment she went from perfectly happy and drunk, to drunk and sick by the look on her face. Her smile faded and she put a hand on her stomach.

"I need to go to the bathroom," she said.

She climbed down off of the stool, and immediately her legs wobbled beneath her. She reached out, grabbing Justin's arm for support.

"Are you going to make it?"

Judy shook her head.

"Okay. I've got you, come on," he told her.

Pulling her to stand up straight, he took her arm and led her down the hall to where the bathrooms were.

"Justin, I don't feel good."

"Just hold on, we're almost there."

As he spoke he pushed open the door to the ladies room, and discovered a line of girls waiting for the lone stall.

"Hey!" One of them, a tall thin brunette shouted. "What are you doing? Get the hell out of here, this is the ladies room. You're not a lady."

"Chill out, you ain't got anything I haven't seen before. Or want to see for that matter," he bit back.

Judy made a noise, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Is she going to puke?" Another of the girls asked.

"Any minute now."

Justin pulled on Judy's arm, leading her out of the ladies room and further down the hall to the men's room. He poked his head in the door, seeing no one, and then pulled her inside. He led her into the stall, and as soon as she saw the toilet she let go.

He closed his eyes and turned his back while she hurled into the porcelain bowl. He could handle a lot of gross things, but vomit wasn't one. Just being able to hear the echoes against the tiled walls was enough to make him want to vomit himself.

The door opened, banging against the wall behind it. Trace strolled in, whistling to himself.

"Hey, I thought you were taking Judy to the bathroom."

Before Justin could answer, Judy vomited again, and Trace made a face.

"Gross. Is that Judy? She can't be in here!"

"Stop yelling!" Judy called from in the stall. "You're giving me a headache."

"She couldn't wait for the girl's room," Justin answered. "There were like five chicks in line. She barely made it here."

The door opened again and in walked Steve and Matt, the light from the camera shining brightly.

"Get out," Justin told them sternly.

"I'm just doing my job."

"Do it from outside."

When Steve didn't move Trace turned, giving him a push towards the door.

"Come on man, you know how it is to be wasted. Give her some breathing room."

Once they were out of the bathroom Trace flipped the deadbolt on the door. There were already three of them in the cramped space; they didn't need any other patrons coming in to use the urinal. He started to tell Justin something, but Judy made another noise and he put a hand over his mouth.

"I'm gonna hurl if she doesn't stop."

"Tell me about it. You aren't the one who's been standing here listening to it for five minutes. Where's Rachel?"

At the mention of her name Trace began to laugh gleefully.

"She's up on stage doing karaoke. She's drunk. It's hilarious."

Justin's eyes rolled. Great, another person for him to take care of. He'd only had two beers, but what little buzz he had was gone now.

"Keep an eye on her," he told Trace. "I'm going to go find Rachel."

"What? Me? No, I can't."

But his words fell on deaf ears. Justin was already out of the room, anxious to get away from the echoes for a moment. Trace stared at the closing door before he turned to the stall where Judy was. The door was open, and he could see her bent over.

"Um, are you okay?" He asked, stepping closer to her.

"I'm dying."

"You're not dying; you just don't know your limits yet."

He watched her cautiously, not sure if he should try to help her or if he should just keep his distance like Justin had told him. But when she started to dry heave he decided to be the nice guy he was deep down, and reached out to hold her hair back out of the way.

After a few minutes she decided she was done, and moved over to the sink to rinse her mouth out. Then Trace followed her back out to the bar. Justin was there holding onto Rachel, who was sipping on the straw of a pink fruity drink.

Judy stumbled over to them, and came to a stop just in front of Rachel, but she wobbled back and forth a little on her feet.

"You want to sit?"

Judy turned, trying to focus on the random stranger who was offering her his barstool.

"Are you sure?" She asked. "I don't want to take your spot."

"No, it's fine. You're giving me a free booby show so I have to give you something in return."

Judy laughed and looked down at herself. She wasn't showing that much skin. It was a simple yellow tank top with gold beading around the neckline. The cleavage was brought on by the red and black pushup bra underneath.

"Oh, well in that case," she said, reaching up to tug it down lower.

Justin raised an eyebrow, watching her closely. When she tugged harder on her shirt and leaned in towards the man to give him a better view, he passed Rachel over to Trace so he could step in.

"Okay, that's enough of that," he said, pulling her shirt back up to where it had been before.

Judy frowned at him, picking up her drink from earlier. She'd barely gotten a sip out of it before Justin pulled it from her hands, setting it on the counter further away from her.

"You don't need anything else to drink."

Rachel plopped down on the now empty barstool beside her and smiled.

"Don't you feel better after you puke? Like, relieved."

Judy let out a sigh.

"I want to go."

Justin noticed the far off look in her eyes as alcohol raised through her system. She'd been in there throwing up for what felt like forever and she was still drunk out of her mind. Either she was the worst lightweight in the world or she'd had way more than she ever needed too.

"Let's go," he said.

Justin turned, telling Trace that he was ready to leave the bar and take the girls back to a safe, quiet place, where they weren't going to get into trouble or embarrass themselves. Trace nodded, sick of the amateur singing. He'd gotten a pretty good buzz himself, he could go back to the hotel and sleep it off now.

When the boys turned to where Rachel and Judy had been, they found an empty space, their glasses still on the counter.

"Where did they go?" Trace asked.

"I have no idea."

"They went outside," the stranger from before pointed to the front door.

Following the man's directions Mike led them outside to the front of the bar. Random patrons were on the sidewalk, smoking and talking while their cars warmed up. Justin looked around for a pretty girl with a blonde streak in her hair, and he finally found her. Judy was laying on the sidewalk, behind someone's red Jeep, a cigarette sticking up out of her mouth. Rachel was sitting on the curb next to her, smoking as well.

"What are you guys doing out here?" Trace asked as they approached them.

"We needed some fresh air," Rachel said.

"I want to go," Judy whined.

Her voice was soft, all the giddiness gone. She was really feeling it now. Rachel stood, reaching down to grab Judy's arm. She tried to pull the girl to her feet, but Judy barely budged.

"Rachel go get in the car, I'll get her."

While Trace guided Rachel towards the waiting van, Mike watched as Justin leaned down, grabbing a secure hold on Judy's arm. Then he pulled her into a sitting position, and then finally to her feet. He slung one of her arms over his shoulders and held her around the waist. The girl was dead weight.

"Where did you get that?" He snatched the cigarette from her lips.

"This nice man gave it to me," she said.

"You should know better than to smoke things random people give to you."

Justin led her over to the van and put her in the back. She slouched in the seat, her head lolling against the window. Justin buckled her seatbelt as the vans doors closed. Once at the hotel they pulled into the back parking lot. He practically carried Judy inside and to the elevator while Rachel danced happily, spinning in circles and singing Genie In A Bottle.

When he got her up to her room Judy headed straight for the bathroom, and once again he heard the wonderful sounds of vomiting. He turned on the TV, trying to lessen the noise. He wanted to be able to hear her in case she needed him, but he didn't want to hear every little thing she did. He'd barely had time to take his shoes off before the toilet flushed and she was out of the bathroom. She stumbled towards the bed, falling onto one side.

Slowly she pulled one leg up, and then the other, settling into the pillow. She didn't bother getting under the blankets, getting undressed, or even taking off her brown sandals. Judy passed out as soon as she lay down, snoring loudly. Justin shook his head and started to undo the straps on her sandals. It had gone without saying that he was going to stay in her room, once again, to keep an eye on her.

He pulled off her shoes, eased the blankets out from under her, and then pulled them over her. Then Justin stepped back, shaking his head.

"Thank God we have the day off tomorrow."