Britney greeted him with her usual warm smile and cheerful voice. "Wade!" she said, grabbing his arm and dragging him across the stage. "I wanna introduce you to the Nsync guys." Wade had heard Britney talk about them enough to know that they were cool guys and so he followed her over to the side of the stage. "You're going to love them," she said. "They love what you did with the music for this performance, and they've been wanting to meet you."

She led him towards two men who he knew to be Joey and Chris. "Guys," she said, grinning, "this is Wade. Wade this is Joey and Chris."

"Hey man," Joey said, shaking Wade's hand. "Nice to meet you."

Wade smiled. "Yeah, you too man." There was something about Joey's warm eyes that made Wade automatically feel at ease. Plus, his hair color was even brighter than Wade's was at the moment.

Chris seemed distracted, and Britney nudged him slightly. "Chris?"

"Huh? What?" Chris said, turning his attention to Britney, at least partially.

"Say hello to Wade," she said.

"Oh. Hey," Chris responded, glancing in Wade's direction. He seemed to barely notice that he had just met someone new.

"Hey," Wade responded. He looked at Britney who shrugged, and led him away.

"That's just Chris. Nothing and no one can hold his attention for very long."

"Hey Lance, JC," Britney said as she took Wade over to them, "this is Wade."

Wade noticed that JC and Lance were standing slightly away from everyone else, and they had been laughing about something, almost like it was a private joke, when Wade and Britney had approached them.

"Hey Wade," Lance said, and Wade heard immediately Lance's rich southern accent. Studying Lance momentarily, Wade saw that Lance had eyes a shade of green he had never seen before.

"Hi, Wade, nice to meet you," JC said, extending his hand. Wade shook it, feeling automatically at ease among these two, and not at all uncomfortable or intimidated like he had around Chris. JC was tall, with dark hair, and very lean. A good body for dancing, Wade noted.

"I really liked what you did with the music for this performance, man," JC said, smiling.

"Thanks," Wade replied, pleased. "I'm glad. It was fun. A nice change."

"Do you write?" JC asked.

"Actually..." Wade started, before Britney cut in.

"OK, we're not going to get into a musical discussion now. You still have to meet Justin." She grinned. "I saved the best for last."

"I'll talk to you guys later," Wade said, waving as Britney drug him away. "Jeez Brit. In a hurry?"

"Maybe a little one," Britney said with a smirk. "Justin!"

A young man, about Wade's height, though somehow more imposing, with curly blond hair turned towards them. Britney hurried towards him, Wade in tow, a huge smile spread across her pretty face.

"Hey Justin," she said in a tone of voice that Wade had never heard from her. He wondered if those rumors he had heard about them were true. But judging from Justin's almost non-reaction he doubted it. "Wade, this is Justin."

Their eyes met, and Wade was taken aback by the beauty of the man looking back at him. He had seen Justin Timberlake before, in pictures and in videos, but seeing him in person was a completely different experience. "It's...it's nice to meet you," he stammered, extending his hand. He noticed that Justin's eyes had left his, and traveled upwards.

"Nice hair," Justin commented, a mocking tone to his voice, before turning his attention back to the crew man who was working on setting up his microphone. And for the first time since he'd gotten it done, Wade wished he'd never gone on the impulse to dye his hair.

He almost flinched at this apparent dismissal. Britney frowned at Justin's back, before turning back to Wade with an encouraging smile. "Don't worry about him," she said. "He's got a lot on his mind."

Wade nodded slightly, suddenly self- conscious. He ran a hand through his hair. "Does it look that bad?"

"Oh no, sweetie, I swear. It looks great." She looked back at Justin, and rolled her eyes. "He's just in one of his moods. Sometimes he says things, or does things, and he doesn't realize...well, he can be stupid sometimes."

Wade nodded again, though he wasn't really sure if she was telling the truth or just trying to make him feel better. "You OK?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered. "Fine."

"Well, then let's get this rehearsal going then. Huh?"

"Sure thing Brit," he said, smiling and following her to the center of the stage.

Wade rubbed a towel over his damp hair, wiping the sweat away. The rehearsal had been good. They had worked hard. The routine was good. Wade couldn't help but be proud of the job he had done on Britney's choreography, and think that Nsync's would have been much better if he had been given the opportunity to do it himself.

"Nice work out there," said a voice from behind him. Wade turned, and again, locked eyes with Justin Timberlake.

Wade cleared his throat, suddenly flustered, but trying to hide it. "Thanks," he said, his voice cautious. "You too."

"Thanks," Justin said, smiling. Seeing that smile, Wade felt his throat suddenly go dry. He cleared it again, swallowing visibly. Justin obviously noticed, because he held up his water bottle in offering. "Here ya go, man," he said, tossing it to Wade.

"Thanks," Wade replied, opening the bottle, and taking a sip. The thought that Justin had drank from the same bottle came into his head, suddenly. He pushed it away harshly. He may have only been sixteen, but he wasn't a damn teenybopper.

"Something wrong with the water?" Justin asked, arching one eyebrow at Wade.

"No," Wade said quickly, taking another drink to prove his words. "It's fine. Thanks a lot." He passed the bottle back to Justin, brushing his fingers against the other man as he did so. It did not escape his notice that this slight touch made ever hair on his body stand on end.

"Sure, no problem," Justin said, tossing the water bottle in his bag and zipping it up.

"Justin! You coming?" Chris called to him, and Justin turned around.

"Yeah, just give me a sec. I'll meet you downstairs." Justin flung his bag over his shoulder and looked at Wade. "It was nice working with you." Wade watched him until he disappeared backstage.

Wade was amazed. He had never seen so many celebrities in one room. It was a little intimidating. When he had done concerts with Britney, it had been different. Those had just been fans, kids and their parents there for a good time. These were people that he had watched on television and heard on the radio, which was something entirely different. Nerves started to build up in his stomach.

"Are you ok kid?" Justin asked him. Wade looked sideways at him. If it was anyone else he would have said, in his most biting voice 'I'm not a kid.' Then he would have pointed out the hypocrisy of a man only two years his senior calling him 'kid'. But it wasn't anyone else. It was Justin. And Wade was fast discovering that things were very different where Justin was concerned.

"Y-yeah," Wade stammered, and then he wanted to smack himself.

"It's a little overwhelming, isn't it?" Justin asked with a chuckle. "I remember the first time I was in a room with more celebrities than I could count. I almost pissed in my pants." Wade could only nod, not knowing what to say. "You'll do fine, man. Good luck."

"Thanks," Wade said softly. "You too." Justin smiled that smile again, and Wade couldn't help but smile back.

"Guys!" Britney called. "Come on, it's time." Wade took a deep, shaky breath.

"Well," Justin said, putting a hand on Wade's back, causing warmth to spread through his entire body. "We're on."

"I cannot believe it," Wade moaned as they came off the stage. "I cannot fucking believe that I did that!" He kicked the wall, burying his head in his hands. "Stupid, clumsy..."

"Hey, kid, you okay?" Justin asked, approaching Wade.

Wade shook his head, dejected. "Didn't you see?"

"See what? You fall? Yeah, man, but it happens to everyone. And besides, you had the fastest reaction I've ever seen from someone who fell."

Wade sighed. "Yeah, OK. Maybe."

"When we were in Germany, we had this big concert that we were doing. Darren gave us a dance move where we put our hand down on stage and jump up, letting that hand support us. Well, I was doing that move, and I over did it, and my hand buckled, I fell down flat on my face, and ended up with a broken thumb."

Wade winced, then smiled slightly. "Ok. That's probably worse than my fall, isn't it?"

Justin laughed slightly. "Yeah, probably. And besides, you were in the back. And you got up so fast."

"Well, at least I'm fast."

"And if it helps, you were the best dancer out there. You were even better than Britney, but I didn't say that," Justin said with a grin.

"Thanks man," Wade said, as his smile widened. "Thanks for making me feel better. Like less of a moron."

"It's no problem, man. I crack sometimes, when I'm singing. That's almost as bad. Everyone messes up. Besides, like I said, you really rocked out there."

"Thanks for making me feel better," Wade said, as his smile widened. "Like less of a moron."

"It's no problem, man. I crack sometimes, when I'm singing. That's almost as bad. Everyone messes up. Besides, like I said, you really rocked out there."

"Thank you again," Wade said, touched by Justin's efforts to make him feel better. No one else had made any effort, not even Britney, and he had not expected it from someone he barely knew.

Justin smiled. "No problem." He knew how it felt, to want so badly to impress everyone, and then mess up. But he honestly didn't think Wade had anything to worry about. Even the way Wade fell had been graceful, just like every move the young dancer seemed to make.

"Justin!" Britney exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his waist. "You guys were great!"

Justin pulled out of her embrace, turning to give her a quick, friendly peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Brit. You were great too."

Wade noticed a slightly disappointed look cross Britney's face, but it was gone as soon as he saw it, so he dismissed it.

"Well, are you coming to the party?" Britney said.

Justin nodded, and then turned to Wade. "You gonna come?"

"Oh," Wade said, "I don't know. I hadn't really planned on it."

"Come," Justin said. "It'll be fun."

For some reason that was all the encouragement that Wade needed. "OK," he said, smiling. "I'll see you there."

Justin grinned. "Great, man. See you there."

Wade nodded. "Cool. I'm gonna go get changed."

Justin nodded. "All right man, see you there." He nodded to Britney and they walked off together.

The lights of the club seemed to be flashing in all directions. And it was relatively dark, so Wade was having a harder time then he thought he would finding Justin.

He kept replaying the conversation backstage earlier that day in his head. Justin had been so nice, like he actually cared. Could he... no. 'Don't even get your hopes up,' Wade thought to himself. After another minute or so, Wade went to the bar, sitting down, asking for a glass of water. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned, hoping to meet blue eyes, but was instead greeted by green ones. "Hey," Lance said. "Great show, huh?"

"Yeah," Wade said. "It was. You guys were awesome."

"Thanks," Lance said. "You've got a lot of talent, man. I was talking to Britney, and she said that you were the best choreographer she'd ever worked with."

Wade blushed. "I'm sure she says that about everyone she works with."

Lance shook his head. "No man, she's serious. She thinks you could do great things with your life. Plus you have to be good, because I heard Justin talking about you to Chris, and Justin doesn't talk about someone unless he's impressed with them."

Wade tried to fight down the flare of excitement the surged through him. "Justin talked about me?"

Lance nodded. "Yeah, he said something like, 'Man, that kid with the pink hair can sure dance.'"

Wade's excitement died down a little bit when he heard that. Kid with the pink hair? Had Justin not even remembered his name?

Lance must have noticed the disappointed look that suddenly came over Wade's face. It confused him, but he felt bad, wondering if he had said something wrong. "Well," he continued, "Brit also said that you were cool to work with, so we should keep you in mind for future projects."

Wade brightened up a little bit. "Hey, thanks man, I appreciate that."

Lance gave him a smile and said, "No problem. If you're half as good as I've been hearing you are, I bet you could do great things for us." Lance thought that he seemed to be feeling better and he said, "Well, it's been great talking to you. I hope I see you around."

Yeah, you too," Wade said, waving slightly as Lance walked away. As he watched, Lance came up beside JC, slipping a friendly arm around the other man, as he handed him a drink. Wade smiled to himself. There was something between those two. Maybe no one else could see it, but he could.

Wade looked around the club, seeing if he could spot someone he knew. 'Who am I kidding?' Wade thought to himself. 'I'm looking for Justin and I know it.' After looking around for about ten minutes and coming up empty handed, Wade started to look around for the bathroom, He saw an entrance going into what looked like a hallway and Wade thought that maybe that's where the bathrooms were. He walked over and went down the narrow hallway, stopping when thought he caught the sound of voices.

"I hate this so much," a familiar female voice said.

"I'm sorry, Brit, but this is how it has to be," answered a voice that Wade was beginning to know as well as his own. Justin.

"I just hate the hiding, hate the lies," Britney said. "You pulling away from me." Now her voice held an accusing tone. "I don't understand why we have to keep it a secret," she finished, and Wade barely made out the sound of Justin's sigh.

"We don't want attention from the media. Both of us are just getting our careers off the ground; we don't need all the attention on us instead of our music. It won't be forever, Brit."

"And what about the pulling away from me?"

"Well, I'm sorry Brit. I didn't want to hurt you, but you're kind of obvious. How can we keep it quiet if you're hugging me in front of everyone?"

Britney sighed, and Wade ventured further into the hall, careful not to make any noise. "I love you, Justin," she said. "I want everyone to know it."

"Someday they will, Brit," Justin said. Wade bit his lip, all of his hopes crashing down around him, as Justin bent down and kissed Britney deeply. Wade squeezed his eyes closed, trying to block out the sight.