Marc went over, knelt down and placed a hand on Justin’s shoulder, but Justin pulled himself into a tighter ball. 

Seeing Justin’s reaction, Marc put his hand on Justin’s back and started to lightly rub his back.  Softly, almost in a whisper, he said,  “Justin it’s alright, they aren’t going to touch you or hurt you in any way.  Come on buddy, let’s get you out of here.”

The hand rubbing his back was so comforting that he raised his head from beneath his protecting arms. 

Looking out with tear-reddened eyes,  his gaze fell on the two drunks.

Marc saw Justin starting to relax, raising his head from his protective cocoon, suddenly freeze, staring at the Roe brothers. 

“Justin,  Justin, buddy look at me.” Marc said moving his hand to Justin’s chin, gently turning his head toward him.  Breaking eye contact with the drunks, Justin looked into the concerned eyes of the biker.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,”  Marc said.  Slowly standing up, he pulled Justin up with him.  Putting his arm around Justin’s shoulder, for support, they walked out of the cell.  Feeling how shaky Justin still was, he turned into the break room and sat him down in a chair.  Walking over to the sink, he took a wad of paper towels, wet them and grabbed a cup of water for  Justin.. 

Kneeling in front of Justin he handed him the water.  “Here drink this.  Try to calm down.”

“Thanks.” Justin said taking a sip of the water. 

“Boy, you are a mess.  Here clean up you face,”  as he as Marc handed him the wet towels.  “We don’t want your friends to see you like this.”

Justin gratefully took the towels and started wiping his tear streaked face.  Holding the cool towels to his eyes, it felt so good.

Marc handed him a dry paper towel. “Here, blow your nose. I can’t take you out front with a runny nose.”

Justin  smiled at the comment, and did as he was told.  “Thanks,”  he said, realizing he did not even know his savior’s name.

Seeing Justin’s questioning look, he said, “I know, we’ve not been properly introduced.  My name is Marc, Marc Newman.”

“Thanks, Marc.   I’m Justin Timberlake.”

“Yeah, I know who you are.  Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah, I’m feeling better. My legs are still a bit shaky.”

“Just sit here a few minutes.  I need to do something real quick. I’ll be right back.”

Justin grabbed Marc’s arm, not wanting to be left alone.  “Don’t leave me,”  he pleaded.

“You’ll be alright.  I just want to make sure we can leave here without any trouble.   I’ll be right back,” Marc said looking into Justin's  eyes.  Giving his hand a strong squeeze he got up and walked out front.

The guys followed Marc into the sheriff’s office.  Not knowing what to do, they just hung back letting Marc handle the problem.   To their surprise, he walked right up to the sheriff and started going off on him,  calling him stupid.  Shouting in the sheriff’s face  whose only reaction was that of a little boy looking down at the floor taking his tongue-lashing.  Then, to their amazement, he handed Marc a set of keys.  A few more comments were exchanged and a very angry Marc stomped to the back of the building.

“I don’t know what just happened but Marc sure looked pissed,”  Joey said.

“Yeah,” said Lance in awe.  “I half expected the sheriff to pull his gun on him.”

“What do we do now?” asked Chris.

“Just wait here for Justin and Marc,” said JC.

The guys waited patiently.  Ten minutes later Marc came out, alone.  He walked over to the sheriff and the sheriff handed him a folder. 

Marc came over to the guys.

“How’s Justin?” they all  asked together.

“Physically, he’s ok.  But his head is really messed up,”  Mark said.  “I need you guys to give him some space.  He got the shit scared out of him, and he pulls away from any physical contact.   Let him make the first move.”

The guys all understood what Marc was trying to tell them.  “We understand,” said Joey.

Marc handed Joey the folder and went back to get Justin.

Looking up Justin was relieved to see Marc returning.   “Are you ready?”

Justin  nodded his head, “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

Marc offered his hand to Justin.  Smiling, Justin took his offered hand and stood up next to his new friend.

“Let’s go then.” Marc said. Smiling, knowing Justin had just taken a big step, trusting in a new friend.

Marc and Justin emerged from the back room.  The guys  all let out a collective sigh of relief.
They stopped at the sheriff’s desk so Justin could collect his personal items.

“Mr. Timberlake, I want to apologies to you.  I over reacted,  as Marc has so clearly pointed out.  This should never of happened.  I’m sorry for any stress I may have caused you,”  said the embarrassed sheriff.

Marc said, “Thanks, Bobby Lee,”  as he led Justin over to his friends and out the door.

Without saying a word the six walked over to the 4 x 4 in silence.

Reaching the vehicle  Lance turned to Justin and softly asked,  “Just, are you alright?” 

“Yeah, I’m alright.  Thanks for asking,” Justin said walking up to Lance and  giving his friend a hug.

Marc smiled at them, knowing, how big a step Justin has just taken.  Clearing his throat, Marc said, “Let’s  get  Doc’s wheels back to him and pick up your van.”  The six piled in and headed back to the hospital .
 

Pulling into the parking lot, Marc noticed Sara at the door, watching for their return.  Taking the keys from Joey he said, “I’ll be right back.” Turning, he  walked over to the entrance where Sara was waiting.

“How is he?:” Sara asked Marc.

“Considering  Bobby Lee had him in the tank with the Roe brothers, not too bad.”

“Damn,  did they hurt him?” Sara asked with concern. 

“No, they didn’t touch him.  They just messed up his head and scared the shit out of him.  He should be ok with a little rest.”

“What are you guys going to do now?”

“They’re going to take me home and from there we will see,” Marc said with a smile.

“Mark, what have you got in mind?”

“Do you really think, I would pass up the opportunity to get to know, the guys, of my most favorite group?”

Sara laughed at Marc.  “Just don’t turn into a crazed fan on them.   Just be yourself.”

“Ok, but that won’t be much fun.  Call me tomorrow.”  Marc gave Sara a quick kiss on the cheek and headed out to the waiting guys.

As Marc approached the guys, they stopped talking among themselves. Joey asked “Marc, you want to grab something to eat before we take you home?”

“I don’t know if you have noticed, but I’m a mess.  All the other diners wouldn’t want to see me in this bloody shirt.  How about you take me home and we can cook out on the grill?”

“That sounds cool. Do we need to stop and pick up anything?” asked Chris.

“No, there’s plenty,” Marc said. “Who’s driving?”

“I am.” said Joey, “Marc, take the other front seat, so you can point the way.”
Everybody got in and buckled up. Joey asked, “Which way?”

“Go up to the Dairy Queen and take a left.”

“Why is it every direction you give takes us past the Dairy Queen?”  JC laughed.

“Well, in this town, if you want to go any were, all  routes go pass the Dairy Queen.”

The drive only took a few minutes.  “Joey, turn in just the other side of the red mail box coming up on your left,” Marc said indicating the turn. 

“God, Marc, this is going into the woods. I thought you said you lived in a house,” said Joey.

“I do live in a house.   It’s up ahead about 400 feet.  The trees help muffle the noise from the road.”

They pulled up in front  of a modest size log cabin.  Getting out of the van, they all headed to the front door.  Marc noticed Chris was walking a little funny; he was kind of doing the pee dance.  “Chris is there something wrong?” Marc asked.

“Yeah, man.  I got to use the out house.” 

Not able to pass this one up, Marc reached in the door and grabbed two objects. Turning to Chris he said.,  “Here, you’ll need these,”  handing him a ball bat and a magazine.  Pointing to a tree stump just off the left of the porch. Marc said,  “Take the path by the stump over there, its only about 30 yards down it.”

“What’s this stuff for?” asked Chris not understanding.

“Oh, when you get to the out house, take the bat and hit the side of the out house a couple times.  Be sure  not to stand in front of the door though.”

“Why?” Chris asked wide-eyed.

“There is a black bear, that likes to take his nap in there.  Hitting the side of the house usually startles him and he comes out running, and will trample you if  you’re in the way,” Marc said with a straight face.  He could see Lance and JC trying not to laugh behind Chris. 

“Ah. What’s the magazine for?”

“What else, to read.  And when your done,  tear out a page and use it to finish the job.  You city boys don’t know much, do you?”

Chris looked at the path.  Wondering just how bad he had to go.  But Mother Nature told him there was no other option; he had to go.  Taking his bat and magazine, Chris started toward the path.

“Chris,” Mark said with a smile.  “There is also the bathroom in the house, you could use.”

Chris turned around to see Marc standing there with a cheesy grin on his face and his fellow band mates roaring  with laughter.  He  knew he had been had by an expert.  Stomping back to the house he went in to use the bathroom.  As he passed Marc, he just said “asshole.” then he started laughing at himself.

Letting Chris in, he pointed to the hall next to the kitchen.  “First door on the right.”  “Come in guys make yourself at home.  I’m going to go clean up quick. Lance, can you handle lighting the grill?  It’s out on the patio, through the sliding doors.” 

“Yeah, I can handle it,” Lance said going to the sliding doors and looking out.  “Hey,  guys,  there’s a big lake out here.” Lance opened the door and stepped out back. 

Everyone went out to take a look, including Chris, who had finished his business.  They all stood there admiring the view.  Again Marc couldn’t let this opportunity escape.  “Damn!!  When did they put that in?  Turn your back for just a minute and they change the scenery.”

With that comment, all the guys were roaring with laughter.  As everybody started to gain control of  themselves, Lance went to work lighting the charcoal.  Marc turned to go back in the house to get cleaned up when he noticed Justin was close behind him.  Stopping in the kitchen he turned to Justin.  “How do you feel?”

“Not too bad.  Just tired.”

“Come with me,” Marc said and led him into the bed room.  “Kick off your shoes, and lay down and take a nap.  Food won’t be ready for at least an hour.  Get some rest.” 

Justin walked over to the bed removing his shoes, and climbed on to the bed.

Marc picked up a blanket from the foot of the bed and covered his new friend.

“Thanks, Marc.”

“Just rest.  I’ll call you when the food is ready,”  Marc said as he gathered a clean outfit and headed for a hot shower.

Emerging from the bathroom showered, and dressed in clean shorts and t shirt,  Marc glanced in at Justin who was sound asleep.  He entered the kitchen just as Lance came in.

“The coals will be ready in about 10 minutes.  Where’s Justin?” asked Lance.

“He’s in on my bed taking a nap.  Today really drained him,” Marc answered.

“Is there anything I can help with?

“Here, take this bag of corn and clean them.  Wrap them in foil for the grill.  You’ll find the foil in the second drawer next to the sink.  Butter is in the door of the fridge and ice cubes in the bin above.”

“Ice cube??” quizzed Lance.

“Yeah, put a pat of butter and one ice cube on each ear of corn and wrap them in foil.  The ice cube steams the corn, cutting the cook time by about one third.”

“How many do you want me to fix?”

Marc thought for a second, “Do the whole bag, there’s only a dozen.”

Lance went to the refrigerator to get the butter and was astonished at the amount of food he found.  “Marc, I thought you said you lived alone.  Why all the food?”

“Oh, yeah.,” Marc laughed. “I had a church group here yesterday for a cookout.  That’s just the  leftovers that no one would take home.  Well what do you guys want burgers or brats?”

“Brats,” said Chris, Joey, and JC as they came in. 

 “Brats, and the same for Justin,” said Lance, as he finished wrapping the corn. 

“Ok, brats for everyone.  Lets get this stuff on the grill.”

As Marc and Lance took the food out to the grill, the guys started looking around the cabin.  Chris spotted the stereo.  Scanning the collection of CD’s he was astonished at what he found.  “Joey, JC, come over here and look at this.”

“What. What is it?” asked JC.

“Look at the CD’s.  Do you see what I see?”

“I don’t believe it. I thought only our moms had every CD we ever made,” said Joey.   “There’s even one my mom doesn’t have, our first demo.  How did he get a hold of that?”

Chris spotted something pinned to the wall above  the stereo.  Looking close, he recognized a ticket to their show next week in Madison.  “It looks like Marc has plans to attend our concert next week.”

Joey took a close look at the ticket and said, “His seat is in the second balcony,  the worst seats there is, he won’t be able to see much.” 

Lance came in from the patio to start setting the table.   “Hey, Lance, come over and take a look at this,” said Chris. 

Lance walked over to take a look at what his friends had found.  “Wow,  Marc must be a fan,  but he sure got a shitty seat for the concert.”

“I wonder what’s his story,” said Chris.

“Well, the only way to find out is to ask him.,” said Lance.  As he turned to set the table.

Marc came in five minutes later with a tray piled high with corn and brats.  He set the tray down on the table and noticed a sleepy-eyed Justin coming down the hall.  “I was just coming to get you.”

“No need,  I smelled the food.”

“Come on let’s eat,” said Marc.

Chris checked the CD’s in the turntable.   Seeing they were all N SYNC, he pushed the random play button and joined the others at the table.

As the music started, Joey said,  “Good choice, in music Chris.”

“There’s not much of a choice. Marc’s CD collection is rather limited,” said Chris, smiling at Marc across the table. 

Marc, knowing he had been caught, kept shoveling food into his mouth, hoping for an out.

And thankfully, Justin gave him one. “So you like our music?”

Swallowing his last mouthful, he thought hard and said,  “No.  But I do like the group N SYNC a lot.”

“Ah, Marc.  We __ are __ N SYNC.” stated Joey.

“No,  you’re not.  You are Joey, Lance, Justin, Chris, and Josh.  My new friends, who are on vacation this week.  N SYNC won’t be around until next week, when they do a show in Madison.  And I plan to attend that show like all their other fans.”

“Marc, you’re  too cool.” said the misty eyed Lance.

“Yeah." Said all the others.

After a long silence Lance said.  “It’s getting late and we need to find a motel.”

“No you don’t!  You’re  staying here.  The second bed room has a super king size bed in it.  And the den has a super king Murphy bed.  There’s the two couches out here and my king size bed.  If you can’t find a place to sleep there’s always the outhouse.” Looking  at Chris, Marc said “The bear will share if you rub his tummy.”

“Thanks, we were hoping you would let us stay,” Lance said with a smile.

“Marc, you  know something about us, how about sharing something with us?” asked Josh.

“Well, what do you want to know?”

“How about, how old you are and, when is your birthday?” said Justin.

“Well, if you must know, my birthday was last month  May  15th.  And I just turned three.” 

“Three??” they all  exclaimed  at once.