Conflicts of Interest: A Justin Fanfiction Saga

Epilogue: I Heard You

Eight months later

* * * * * * * * Flashback to a year and two months ago * * * * * * * * * *

"I don't even feel like I know you anymore, Madeline. Like I fell for your concoction or something."

She was wounded. "I was being me, Justin."

"And especially given the way we started," he continued, pretending he hadn't heard her, "It was amazing that I fell that fast or that hard. It's never happened to me before. But when I found out ... you know, it's like I finally got the guts to be vulnerable and reach my hand out to someone, and it gets cut off in return. I don't think I'll be ready to do that again for a long time. I don't think I can have that with any girl for a long time."

* * * * * * * * * end flashback * * * * * * * * *

"I thought I told you I didn't dance," she protested as he led her to the grandstand, where the Count Basie Orchestra serenaded older couples twirling in precise steps.

"You lie through your face," he sneered jokingly. "And for crying out loud, I bring you all the way out here ..."

"Justin, isn't Anaheim like a half hour away from ..."

"Whatever," He dismissed it with a wave. "I've seen you barely more than once a month, and you wanted to unwind after finals were over. So we're unwinding. And this is the thanks I get?"

"I'm not ungrateful. You just didn't say unwinding included dancing," the young woman said, trying not to laugh at her friend's dramatics.

"I know you dance, Madwoman, so stop pretending. Just do whatever they do," Justin admonished as they stood in front of each other on the dance floor. He peered at her curiously. "What gives? You never told me why you don't like it."

She looked up at him and shrugged. "I always thought it was ... too intimate for me, I guess. It's very easy to look foolish. And you know me -- not too keen on vulnerable situations."

They fell silent as Justin put a hand on her waist and drew her into dancing position.

As they swayed to a slow number, he noted that this was the most intimate they'd been since their reconciliation. The last eight months had been about bear hugs, shoves and impromptu headlocks. Like siblings. Over phone calls and e-mails, he developed a deeper care for her. Getting to know Madeline all over again was a journey Justin had embarked on with eagerness.

But as his senses took in her touch and scent, he wondered if their blossoming friendship would become a mainstay and the romantic, tender moments of their past would age as souvenirs, never to be revisited.

He gave her an encouraging smile, and Madeline leaned slightly against him. He'd been so sweet, flying in the day after finals ended and whisking her off to Disneyland, which she admitted long ago she'd never visited. Now, exhausted and sticky after a long day of sightseeing, she was thankful for a more dormant activity -- even if it was dancing.

She could hardly believe her circumstance. Madeline hadn't realized that there was so much to know about Justin Timberlake, but every conversation brought out a new insight. Flattering or not, he willingly told her everything, and Madeline reciprocated in full. She knew nothing but honesty now when it came to him.

As open as their conversations felt, there were minor details never discussed. Like the moment that came at the end of laughing fits, when they both stopped and stared at each other until one finally turned away. Or the time she had to reach in front of him in the movie theater to take her coat, and her temple brushed his face by accident, sending shivers down his spine. Or even now, as he held her so delicately as if she was fragile, bringing warmth to Madeline's cheeks.