"Guys," JC said putting an arm around Abby’s shoulder. "Abby is my new roommate."

Justin began coughing loudly, as if he were choking on something. Lance reached over and pounded him on the back.

"Ex-scuzee?" Justin managed to gasp out. "You be movin’ in togeter?"

JC smiled as he released Abby from his grip.

"Yeah," he said happily. "She needed a place to live and I would prefer to have someone here while we’re gone. It works out perfectly."

If JC wasn’t sure about his impulsive decision to ask Abby to live with him before, he was now. As bad a reason as it was, seeing the shocked looks on his friends faces would make the entire experience totally worthwhile.

Justin, Lance and Joey nodded slowly, dumbly.

Abby sensed their surprise and displeasure at JC’s decision. She began to feel uncomfortable.

"Josh," she said quietly. "I’m gonna go to work."

JC turned to look at the smaller girl next to him. "I’ll come in tonight and we can work out details, okay?"

Abby nodded. She was beginning to think that this wasn’t such a wonderful idea.

"I’ll see you tonight," she said. She raised a hand in a slight wave towards the living room. "It was great to see you all again."

"Bah Abby," Justin said. He had his normal grin on his face. Abby could tell it was strained though.

Lance and Joey nodded at her smiling grimly. Fake smiles— smiles reserved for screaming 12 year-old fans.

Abby backed up feeling her heart sink at their change of attitude. She turned around and opened the door shutting it softly behind her.

The opportunity to live in that apartment was almost too good to be true. She sighed heavily. It was too good to be true. The rest of the guys obviously weren’t pleased.

Moving in with JC was just a bad idea. However, it was an idea that made her skin tingle all over.

JC smiled at the closing door. He turned towards his friends. "Isn’t it amazing how things work out?" he asked. He was enjoying this way too much. He could see Justin, Lance and Joey seething on the floor wondering what had happened to their responsible friend.

"Josh, bro," Justin said standing up. "Yuh know ah like Abby, right?"

JC nodded. He strengthened his determination for the inevitable argument that he knew was coming.

"And ah would be much happier if you ‘n Abby moved in togeter den you ‘n Tammy," Justin said.

The other three men looked at him in shock. None of them had expected Justin to come out with a statement supporting JC.

"But," Justin said making everyone sigh. "You know her all of wha, 48 hours an you already mo’in in togeter? Thas not right Josh."

"Yeah," Joey said forcefully. "What he said." He sat up and leaned against the couch, crossing his legs in front of him.

Lance stared back and forth between his two friends. Then he looked at JC. He opened his mouth, ready to speak, but JC beat him to it.

"Guys," JC said. "I know you aren’t happy with this. I know management is going to freak. I know that this looks a little weird."

Lance opened his mouth again, but only heard JC’s voice continue.

"Abby needs a place to stay," JC said. "She’s had a hard few months and she can’t make rent. I like her. I like her a lot. We’re going to be gone in a week and a half. She can stay here, get back on her feet and then if it all doesn’t work out I can move into a non-green apartment or she can get a place on her own."

Lance opened his mouth to protest again and was surprised when he heard his own voice.

"She knows where you live JC. What if she tells the media? She has a lot of your belongings. She could rob you blind. Have you thought of that?"

JC stared at Lance in disbelief. "She wouldn’t do that Lance."

Lance shrugged. His head hurt too much to argue. "But what if Joshua?"

JC looked at Lance and then at the rest of the guys. All of their faces had the same expression.

"I’m sorry you’re all so cynical," he said. "I’ve made up my mind guys. I hope you’ll get used to it or you’re going to have to find a new place to hang out."

The other three men didn’t look happy at all. Suddenly Justin broke out in a smile.

"Ah only ha’ one request Josh."

"What?" JC asked slightly irritably.

"Make sure she spend da night in her own room fah appearance ‘k bro?"

JC opened his eyes widely as the other guys let small smiles creep onto their faces that slowly turned into full-blown laughter.

JC sat there in shock. "I’m not going to sleep with her!" he said.

Justin nodded seriously. "Of course not bro. No chick can resist da big daddy doh."

JC glared at his friends. "Justin, I told you yesterday that Tammy is the only girl for me."

"All ah see bro is you movin’ in wit a fine lookin’ chick," Justin said. "She be hella fine. Don’ tell meh you din notice."

JC looked at the assembled men. He blushed. "Yes, I noticed."

Abby flipped over the large page of the newspaper, scanning the small boxes of type, looking for her dream apartment. There were several circled and her eyes kept jumping between them. None of them really worked for her though. They were all too far away or she’d seen them already today.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone slide onto the stool next to her.

"I thought you were done with those," a masculine voice said.

Abby turned towards JC, folding up the paper as she did so.

"I’m not so sure this is a good idea," she said. "Your friends didn’t seem to like it."

"Who gives a crap?" JC asked.

"I do," Abby said. "I don’t want to alienate you from your friends. It’s your apartment. Not mine."

"You aren’t going to alienate me from the guys Abby. The reason they reacted the way they did was because I don’t do things like asking a girl to move in with me after knowing her for 48 hours."

"Obviously this isn’t a good idea JC," Abby said.

"I never said that," JC said. "Sure maybe I startled myself when I asked you to be my roommate, but I don’t regret it. In fact the more that I think about it the more I like the idea. Sure, I’ve only known you for 48 hours, but for some reason I trust you. You need a place to live until you get back on your feet financially or longer and I need someone to look after my place and make sure fans don’t ransack my house while I’m gone."

Abby looked up from the spot she’d been staring at on the bar. "You never mentioned crazy fans," she said.

JC laughed. "You’ll be living with a celebrity. You gotta deal with crazy fans."

"Are you sure about this Josh?" she asked. "I don’t want to be responsible for ruining your career or something."

"Yes Abby," JC said pulling the paper from her grasp. "I’m sure of this."

Abby stared at his face, almost trying to determine if he were serious. Finally she was satisfied.

"Okay," she said. "When do I move in?"

JC smiled and rested against the bar.

"Whenever you want. And please, if you have any furnishings that aren’t green bring them."

Abby smiled, a wide grin covering her face. Her eyes sparkled as she laughed.

"I forgot about the greenness there. I’m not sure I can live with that much green."

"It’s not that bad," JC said. He looked at Abby’s smiling face. He paused for a second as if trying to figure out what to say. "Okay, yes it is."

The two friends giggled together from their spot at the bar drawing curious stares from the patrons.

Their laughter reached the ears of Brad who was working behind the bar. He looked at the couple and narrowed his eyes slightly. He didn’t know who this man was that Abby was hanging with, but he didn’t like it. Not at all.

Abby pushed a clump of hair behind her ear. It had fallen out of her sloppy ponytail again. She had given up on ever making it stay back, but it never hurt to try— every day. She rested her hands on her hips, breathing slightly heavily. Packing was hard work. Her living room was filled with boxes stacked upon boxes. She never knew that she had this much stuff. Her apartment had always seemed sort of bare.

There was a knock on the door.

"Yeah," Abby called. "It’s open."

The door opened slowly and Abby turned to see whom it was.

"Hey Absters," the tall blond man said as he entered the room. "Your moving service is here."

"Hey Brad," Abby said, a small blush coming to her cheeks. They were flushed from packing anyway so it was hardly noticeable. "Thank you so much for agreeing to help me."

"It’s no problem," he said as he came into the room. "You are my favorite co-worker after all."

Abby blushed noticeably this time. She had to think of something intelligent to say. "I’m surprised Melissa let you out of her sight."

Brad smiled showing off his perfect white teeth. "Oh well, I didn’t give her much choice. You needed help. I’m here to help."

Abby giggled. Brad was just too perfect. He had this power over her that she didn’t quite know how to control.

"So, what do you need me to do?" Brad asked, staring at the stacks of boxes.

"I don’t know," Abby said. She looked at the boxes around her. "These need to go to Josh’s." Her arm indicated all of the boxes around the room.

"Well, how about you keep packing and I’ll load ‘em in my truck."

Abby nodded.

Brad bent down and picked up a box. Abby felt like she was going to faint as she watched his muscles ripple in his biceps. She suddenly felt very light headed. She looked at the box at her feet and bent down, concentrating on filling it up. She heard the door close as Brad left.

She’d moved onto another box when there was another knock on the door.

"It’s open," she called confused.

"Abby?" A new voice floated into the room as the door opened.

Abby turned towards the door confused. She saw a red mop of curls.

"Justin?" she asked confused.

"Whassup?" Justin asked.

"What are you doing here?" Abby asked as she stood up.

"Ah came tah help ya," he said. "Ah know you have that Brad guy, but ah thought you could use a-nuh-ter set of wheels."

"Oh, wow," Abby said. She was flustered. She had never in her wildest dreams expected Justin Timberlake to show up at her apartment to help her move. This was something out of one of those fantasy stories she’d heard about. Her whole life had turned into one of those fantasy stories.

The door behind Justin began to open causing him to jump out of the way.

"Hey babe," Brad said as he came into the room, "You gonna come with me the first— oh hi. I’m sorry Abs, I didn’t know you had company."

"No, that’s okay," Abby said. "Brad, this is Justin, one of Josh’s friends."

Brad nodded, a suspicious look on his face.

Justin stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you bro."

Brad took the hand and shook it, applying a firm grip. Who were all these guys Abby suddenly knew?

"Well Abby," Brad said. "You gonna come with me the first trip."

Abby looked between Justin and Brad. She could almost see Brad’s hackles rise. It surprised the hell out of her. He normally wasn’t very protective of her.

"Brad," Abby said. "Justin offered us another set of wheels so how about if we fill his car too and then we can get this done twice as fast."

Brad nodded reluctantly. He watched Justin reach for a box and immediately moved to grab one that looked heavier.

Abby watched him laughing silently to herself. This was just too funny. She grabbed a box herself and made her way out the door.

Abby sat on the soft green carpet and looked at the mess around her. She wasn’t a neat person, but this was nearly unbearable. There was a small stack of boxes in the corner of the room. Those were the empty ones. The floor was still covered with the full ones. She knew she had enough room for everything, but finding a place for it all was another story entirely.

She heard a tapping at her door.

"Yeah," she called softly, turning as she did so.

"How’s it going?" JC asked from his spot leaning against the doorframe.

"I’ve got too much stuff," she said indicating the piles around her.

JC laughed. "I felt like that too," he said. "Then miraculously it all fit."

Abby nodded. "I really hope that’s the case for me too."

"You know you’re welcome to put stuff out in the living room too. I’m down with stuff other than green."

Abby smiled. The entire apartment had a green theme. She had thought it was just the living room, but she was wrong.

"I’ll get some stuff out there tomorrow."

"Good," JC said. "I’m tired of looking at just my stuff. It definitely needs a woman’s touch."

Abby giggled a little bit. Her neck was beginning to hurt from looking down at her boxes so much.

"Okay," JC said walking into the room. He extended her hand to him. "Get up."

"What?" Abby asked confused.

"I was going to crash in front of the TV tonight instead of my normal nightly ritual of ending up in your bar and you’re going to join me," he said. "You’ve been working to hard today. You need to relax a little."

Abby grabbed his hand and he slowly pulled her up. She felt her back pop as she moved for the first time in hours.

"Sounds good," Abby said. She looked at her room. There was a small path to the bed. "I can deal with the rest of this tomorrow."

"That’s my girl," JC said. "It’ll be a lot easier tomorrow."

Abby looked around her. "Uh-huh." She didn’t believe him.

"It will," JC insisted. "Okay, enough of this. We’re going to go watch TV." He grabbed her hand and dragged her down the small hall.

Suddenly he let go of her hand and started running. He jumped and landed in the oversized lounge chair.

"Ha!" he said triumphantly. "You get the curved couch!"

Abby couldn’t help laughing.

"I wanted the couch anyway," she said. "Who would want a stupid lounge chair that you just sink into?"

Abby and JC looked at one another.

"Me!" they yelled at the same time.

Abby launched herself at JC, landing next to him and trying to push him off the chair.  She began tickling him but he retaliated. To secure the upper hand in the tickle war, JC unintentionally let Abby slide beneath him so that she was spread out over the lounge chair.

Finally their giggling stopped and JC ended up lying down next to Abby.

"You give up?" he asked.

"I’m the one who’s lying over the entire chair," she said. "I think you get the couch. Besides, is this any way to treat your new roommate?"

JC looked at Abby. Her eyes sparkled in the dim light.

"Yes," JC said. He paused, letting his breathing calm down. "Fine. You get the chair tonight, but this is the only night I’m ever going to give it up."

Abby nodded. "Well I only have to share it with you for another week."

JC nodded. "Hey, that’s the reason I should have it."

Abby smiled widely and shook her head. "Nuh-uh. It’s mine. You said I could have it."

Finally JC nodded and boosted himself off the squishy cushion. "I get to choose the show then," he said. "And guess what’s on!"

"What?" Abby asked warily.

"Wrestling!" JC said with over-exaggerated enthusiasm.

"Oh yeah!" Abby said sarcastically. She cuddled down into the soft cushions and was asleep by the time the TV was turned on.

Tammy looked at the man lying beside her. They’d been together for so long. Almost three years. She wanted to be with him forever. She was almost sure of that. No, she was sure of that. There just kept being this nagging little doubt at the back of her mind. Did Josh really love her?

If she hadn’t already been with her man would she and Josh have been able to work things out? Would she have even tried to hook up with him?

There were so many unanswered questions. So many things she wanted to know, but didn’t want to at the same time.

There were times she didn’t know why she stayed with her man, and there were times when she didn’t know what she’d do without him. He was so motivated. That was probably the wrong word. He would do whatever it took to get what he wanted. Even if it meant sharing her with certain celebrities to get her name out there.

Things had been different though since she and Josh had broken up. Well, since their supposed break up. The air between them had been strained. They hadn’t been vibrating on the same wavelength. He would say that maybe they weren’t working towards the same goals anymore.

She thought of the first time she and Josh had kissed. It was one of those perfect moments. She’d forgotten her other man at that moment. She was Josh’s. It was a moment like that that truly made her regret what they were doing.

Josh was just too wonderful.

Tammy turned over, sighing. She jumped slightly when she felt a hand on her bare back.

"You okay?" the man next to her whispered.

Tammy smiled and cuddled back into him. "Yeah. I’m just thinking."

"Don’t think too hard," he said. "You might burn some of those pretty little brain cells of yours."

Tammy’s smile had a fake air about it. Josh wouldn’t have said something like that. He would have wrapped his arms around her and asked if she wanted to talk about it. Of course she didn’t, but still. If the man next to her knew that she’d been thinking about Josh, well, he wouldn’t be pleased. Not at all.

Tammy sighed again and closed her eyes. She tried to clear her brain and think of the shoot that she had to go to in a week. That would give her some time away to think everything through.

Abby woke to the sound of glasses clinking. She was surrounded by warmth, cushions coming up on all sides of her. She rolled over and felt her nose being bent by a pillow. Her eyes opened slowly and she was disoriented.

She heard the sound of cupboards closing and sat up. Where was she?

"Good morning," an extremely masculine voice said.

"’Morning," Abby said. She blinked twice. That wasn’t Carl’s voice. That was the only man she’d ever lived with. She looked at the man in the kitchen. He was tall with dark hair.

Suddenly the entire previous week came back to her.

"Oh my god," she said shaking her head. "I so totally forgot where I was."

JC laughed. "That’s okay. I forgot where I was the first night I slept here too. Probably because I didn’t remember very much of the night before."

Abby laughed. "Why am I out here?" she asked.

"You fell asleep as soon as I turned the TV on," JC said. "I never knew wrestling was that boring."

Abby nodded. "Believe me it is." She lowered her voice. "I’m going to pound you.  No, I’m going to pound you. Do you smell what the ROCK is cookin’?

JC laughed. "It’s not that bad," he said.

"Whatever," Abby drawled. She eased herself off of the lounge chair, sinking into the cushions with every movement. She walked over to the kitchen. "Whatcha doin’?"

"I’ve got to go to the studio," JC said. "We’ve got to record a little promo thing for MTV."

"Sounds like fun," Abby said. She leaned against the kitchen counter. She resisted the urge to squeal. Her roommate was going to be on MTV. Oh my god.

"What are you going to do today?" JC asked breaking her concentration.

"Unpack," Abby said. She grimaced. That was not something she was looking forward to. "I’ve got to work at two."

"Looks like I’ll just miss ya," JC said. "Maybe I’ll drop by the bar after I get done."

"Yeah," Abby said. A smile crept onto her face. "You haven’t been there in awhile."

"Yeah," JC said. "A whole 24 hours!"

Abby laughed. She was going to like living here. That much she could tell already.