One-Three-Seven-Four-Nine

"Package for Mr. Timberlake." A voice called over the sounds of conversation and music that was filtering in the studio. All at once everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the man, curious as to what could be so important that it was disrupting recording. "I'm sorry, but it is urgent. I have specific instructions that it has to be delivered before 2pm today or else, and I quote, all hell will break loose."

At that the room erupted into laughter, the phrase being something that Justin himself used on many occasion. Blushing, Justin stood from the control boards and walked towards the delivery man, taking the package from him. "Thank you." He said softly, knowing that everyone would be waiting for him to tell them the contents of the urgent package.

"So?" Joey asked impatiently, his curiosity being the first to break out.

"I'll let you know when I open it." Justin said nervously, shifting in his seat and trying to avoid the attention that was focused on him.

"Come on guys. Let's leave him alone for a while, let him open up his package in private." Lance said to Justin's relief.

There was no return address on the package, so Justin didn't know who it was from or what could be so important. Slowly he tore the thin cardboard packaging and dumped the contents onto the table, confused as to what it all meant. In front of him was a sign that said Randall Lake, a bucket hat, a bright yellow tee shirt, a set of keys and a plane ticket to Orlando. The flight was booked for 4pm that day. Looking for something else, Justin found a note folded carefully with his name on it.

Justin. For this to work you must follow the instructions carefully.

First: Put on the tee shirt and hat.

Second: Go out and tell the guys that you have to leave. NOW. If they ask you questions tell them that you have no idea where you're going and who you're going to see, but you have to go there. It's important. Critically important.

And no... No one's dead or dying! So don't worry yourself.

Justin breathed a sigh of relief and continued to read the instructions.

Third: Get a cab, go to the airport. Don't pack a bag, it's not necessary. You'll have everything you need once you're here. Go up and board the plane. Relax, enjoy the movie and peanuts. Live it up, you're in first class!!!

Fourth: Make sure you have the sign. Go to the passenger pick up when you get to Orlando and hold up the sign. A driver will be there to take you to your destination. Don't worry, he'll know you by the tee shirt, the hat and the sign. If you are missing even one of these items, he won't take you, so you better have them. ON!!! You could just hold the hat and tee shirt but do you really want to be recognized? I didn't think so.

Fifth: The driver will take you to your final destination. Don't worry, he knows where to go. When you get there, use the keys. It will make sense when you arrive.

Sixth: Enjoy the ride. See you in a few hours!

Justin was definitely curious as to what this was all about and who it was from. He knew he should be wary, suspicious even but he wasn't. He felt okay about it and wondered if he should listen to the instructions or just blow it off. He turned over the note in his hand and saw more writing.

What the hell are you waiting for? Time's a wasting and you have to get to the airport!!! GO GO GO GO GO!!!!!!!

"Guys, I have to go. Sorry, but I don't know where I'm going or when I'll be back. I'll call you when I find out more details." Justin said as he walked out of the studio. He saw the bewildered expressions on the guys' faces and shrugged his shoulders in response. "I have no idea. I have a plane ticket to Orlando that leaves in..." Justin checked his watch. "An hour. I have to be on that plane, so some driver can take me to some undisclosed location to meet

whoever it was that sent me that package. I'll phone when I know more."

He didn't wait for a response, only grabbing his coat and exiting the building. Justin hailed a cab and 40 minutes later found himself standing at the gate, waiting for first class to board the flight to Orlando.

The flight passed by fairly quickly, considering Justin couldn't stop thinking about what was going on. This was definitely one of the strangest things that had ever happened to him and was trying to figure out who it was that had sent him the package. He'd narrowed it down to Nick or Britney, not really believing it was either. Nick was overseas for some promotional stuff for the new CD that was going to be released in a few weeks and wasn't expected home for another week or so. And Britney... Justin couldn't see her going through this much trouble for him after all this time. It had been nearly 7 months since the two had broken up and they had barely talked during that time. It had to be someone else. Something else. The pilot informing them that they were about to land broke through Justin's thoughts and he buckled his seat belt, his pulse racing with each passing minute.

Since he didn't pack any bags, Justin skipped the awful trip through the baggage claim and made his way to the passenger pick up, amazed that no one had recognized him at all during the entire ride down. Remembering the sign, he laughed as he held the piece of paper up, RANDALL LAKE clearly displayed for all to see. He had been there for maybe 10 minutes before a gentleman approached him, slightly rushed. "I'm sorry Mr. Lake. There was a bad accident on the way in, and your flight arrived slightly early. I hope you have not been waiting long." The man said, ushering Justin towards a black limo parked not far away.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's a nice day and I was enjoying the time to stretch my legs. Who are you? Where are we going?"

The man chuckled slightly and opened the door for Justin to climb into the back of the limo. "My name is Costa. And where we're going is not important. All will be revealed in due time." With that Costa closed the door, leaving Justin further in confusion than before.

It was about an hour and a half ride from the airport to where they were heading, Justin losing himself in the beautiful scenery and landscape around him. After a while, the houses became further and further apart, the ocean getting closer. Abruptly, Costa turned onto a dirt road and continued their journey through a heavily wooded area until finally a beautiful house was visible, larger than anything Justin had ever seen before. It was the most perfect house, accentuated with a stunning backdrop of trees on one side, and the ocean on the other. The view literally took Justin's breath away. When he stepped out of the car, Costa put his hand on Justin's arm comfortingly. "Beautiful isn't it?"

"Beautiful doesn't even describe it Costa. Whose is it?" Justin's eyes were open wide, his jaw nearly on the ground.

"In due time Mr. Lake. In due time."

"Who? What? How do I get in?" Justin asked, still frozen to the spot.

"Keys of course." Costa said over his shoulder before getting back into his car and driving away, leaving Justin standing in the unpaved drive alone. He then remembered the keys in his jeans pocket and withdrew them, tracing each one with his fingers.

Trying the first key he grabbed, Justin slid it into the lock, amazed when it gave way and the door opened in front of him. "Hello? Anybody home?" He called, feeling an odd calm and comfort by the house. It was as if he'd been there before, like it was home. When no one answered, Justin walked further into the house, drinking in the decor finding it vaguely familiar. It was as if the house was decorated specifically for him, everything mimicking his dream house in his mind. When he walked into the den, Justin froze in his steps, picking up a picture frame from the end table. It was a picture of him. Him and the other guys, Joey, JC, Chris and Lance. It had been taken on the No Strings tour, at the last show. A wave of goose bumps covered Justin's skin and he continued in looking at the other pictures. There were ones of his family, ones of him and the guys and ones of just him. It was decorated specifically for him it seemed, littered with pictures of him and his family, but a hou se he'd never been to. As strange as this house was it wasn't as frightening as it should have been.

As Justin walked further into the room, he found more pictures and a smile covered his face. There was a picture of Nick and Aaron goofing around for the camera, obviously ecstatic about whatever they were discussing. There were also pictures of Nick and the other Boys, Nick and his family and suddenly everything fell into place. Almost. He and Nick had spent many nights

discussing everything from the type of dishes to the furniture and wall colouring they'd like to have when they 'grew up' and got their own houses to live in permanently, and this house was a perfect combination of everything they'd talked about. Someone had taken some of Nick's wishes, and some of his putting them together and decorating this house exactly how they would want it to be. Justin felt tears form in his eyes and he walked out of the living room towards the stairs to the upper part of the house. He held tightly in his hand, a picture that one of the guys had taken of the two of them only a few weeks ea rlier when Justin had flown in to see Nick down in the Bahamas. They were sitting on a beach staring out at the sunset, with Justin sitting comfortably between Nick's legs leaning back into his embrace. Neither must have known that someone was taking a picture of it because he couldn't remember anyone being around at that particular time. He'd thought it was just the two of them on the beach. After looking into each of the 7 bedrooms upstairs, including the master bedroom that almost took Justin's breath away, he made his way down to the kitchen, so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't heard anyone enter the house.

Nick walked into the kitchen and saw Justin standing at the window, looking out at the beach longingly. He had wanted to beat his lover home and be there to surprise him but he'd been detained and things had taken longer than he'd expected. Realizing that Justin hadn't heard him enter yet, Nick decided to use this to advantage, surprising him. He walked over to Justin and wrapped his arms around his slender waist, softly kissing the back of the younger man's neck. "Mmmm, I'm glad you're here baby. I'm sorry I'm late... I should have been home when you got here."

Justin jumped slightly, relaxing only when he recognized Nick's scent and low voice. He leaned into Nicks touch, laying his head back on his shoulder and tilting his face so that he could kiss Nick's jaw. "Oh my god babe... You did surprise me. What is this place?" Justin turned so that he could see his boyfriend fully, his breath catching when he got a good look at Nick. It had been at least 3 weeks since they'd seen each other, that few days in the Bahamas being the last time, and Justin hadn't realized how much he'd missed Nick until now. Until he was there in his arms, inches away from him.

Leaning down to cup Justin's face in his palms, Nick leaned in and softly kissed Justin's mouth, eliciting a moan from both of them. When he broke the kiss, Nick leaned his forehead on Justin's and stared deep into his eyes. "It's our place Jus. Do you like it?"

Justin's jaw dropped. "Ours? What? Ours? As in mine and yours?"

"Yeah baby. I bought it about a year ago, but never did anything with it. It was too big and lonely for me to ever even want to think about coming up here for. I had no one to share it with ... But then we started... And..... It's ours babe. All ours. No one knows I bought it and no one knows it's here."

Justin couldn't believe his ears. Nick had this house that no one had any clue about, and he wanted it to be their house. Theirs. "No one knows?" His voice was a strangled cry.

"No one. Not Kevin. Not Brian. Howie.. AJ.. My parents... NO ONE! Except for me, you Costa and Eva."

"Eva?" Justin asked, wrapping his arms around Nick's neck and bringing him down for a small butterfly kiss.

"She cleans the house when I'm not here. Us four are the only ones that know about it. Eventually we'll tell people.. Your guys and mine... But for now it's just ours."

Nick watched the expression on Justin's face and wondered if this was too much. Too much too soon. He felt his heart sink and he held back the tears that were threatening.

"I'm sorry.. This is too soon isn't it? I just thought..." Disentangling himself from Justin's embrace, Nick walked out of the kitchen, leaving a still shocked Justin to stand there unmoving. He'd made it halfway through the living room before Nick felt Justin jump on him from behind, causing him to fall face first into the couch with a thud. "What the fuck?" He screamed, caught off guard.

Justin lifted a little from Nick's back to allow him to flip over onto his back, before settling back to straddling his stomach. Without saying a word, Justin started to kiss all over Nick's face and neck, giggling at the stunned look on his lover's face. "Wha?"

"Baby.. I love it. I love you. Thank you so much. I'm so overwhelmed that you want to do this.. With me. For us to live together.. In this house... Oh god I love you baby."

Nick breathed a sigh of relief and stilled Justin's head, bringing his face down so that their lips could meet in a kiss that left them both breathless.

"This is forever Jus. I don't care that we're only 21 and 22... I don't care if anyone says that we're too young to know what we'll want in 30 years... I know now, and it's you. I want us to live here eventually, full time. I want to wake up with you every morning, eat breakfast with you and then drag you back upstairs to make love to you until lunch. I want to walk down our beach together, planning our lives and being disgustingly happy."

"Nick.. That sounds wonderful." Justin leaned down and rested his head on Nick's chest, both men lying there on the couch completely wrapped up in one another, never happier in their lives.

It was a few minutes later that Justin spoke, breaking the silence. "Critically important? You said that this was critically important."

Nick laughed, the sound vibrating through his chest and into Justin's ear. "This is critically important. It's been 3 weeks baby, I flew in risking certain death from Kevin, I'd say this is critically important. You may never see me again once I fly back tomorrow night. They're going to kill me."

"Then why?" Justin asked, propping himself up on his elbow, looking up at his lover.

"I missed you. I wanted to see you, touch you, kiss you." He placed a soft kiss on Justin's nose. "I had to see you. So I thought this was the most perfect time to arrange this."

"It was a very crafty plan, I'll give you that." Justin laughed, thinking about the looks on the other guys' faces when he walked out in the hat and tee shirt, telling them he had to leave.

"Yeah, Howie helped me out a bit."
"You do realize that JC's gonna kill me when I get back don't you? We were in the middle of recording and I left. We have barely even started my tracks."

Nick laughed and pulled Justin's face so that they were inches apart. "I'm sure that we can come up with some story that they'll buy as to why you had to leave. And, well maybe with you gone, they'll let Lance sing a bit more. Damn... You guys need him singing more solos baby, his voice is pure sex. The girls will be cumming for hours listening to him singing..."

"Umm, Nick? YOU'LL be cumming for hours listening to him sing. Don't pretend you're doing this for the fans.. It's all about you baby!" Both men laughed heartily, Nick throwing Justin down on the floor and pouncing on him.

"Speaking of cumming for hours..." Nick flashed Justin a sly smile before continuing. "How about you take me upstairs and make love to me until our flights leave tomorrow. Sound good?"

Justin stood up, pulling Nick with him. "Sounds better than good Nicky. Let's go to our bedroom." He had to pinch himself to believe that this was all true. Their bedroom. That felt so amazing to say. Their bedroom in their house. Together.