My response to Wax's Autumn Songfic Challenge - No Strings Attached

You're not the only one. You know that. Many, many people before you have fallen in love with Justin Timberlake. You do suspect, however, that you just might be the only one he's ever loved back. Not that he's admitted as much to you or to himself. But you don't really care.

As long as you can lie here and watch him sleep, you don't care. You rest your arm on his chest and he unconsciously takes it and pulls you in closer. You allow yourself to be pulled in, nuzzling your nose into his neck. You don't even realise when you fall asleep.

In the morning, you lie in bed, watching him get dressed. You're hiding under the covers not ready to deal with the cold morning. It's October, and really shouldn't be this cold yet, but it is. It seems to have happened overnight, actually.

"You're cute when you don't want to get up in the morning," he says.

"It's cold!"

"You're still cute." He smiles at you. You love his smile. It feels genuine. It is genuine. "Come on, C, get up. Chris'll be whiny if we're late. And it's not that cold."

"Yes, it is," you mumble, and scrunch down further under the blankets.

"I do heat my house, you know." Justin tosses you a sweater, which lands on your head. "Here, put this on," he says a little too late.

You do as instructed, and snuggle down into the sweater. It's his, and it smells like him. He laughs at you when he realizes what you're doing. He walks over to edge of the bed and leans down and kisses you lightly on the lips. "Do I smell good?"

You snake an arm around his waist and pull him down on top of you. "Take it from me, Timberlake," you say and lick his neck, "you smell just as good as you taste."

He laughs and rolls off you, taking the covers with him. "Come on, you lazy ass, get out bed." Grumbling, you finally get up and head toward the shower, shedding the comfy sweater as you go.

You've known Justin forever, it seems. You can certainly remember a time when you weren't in love with him, but it feels like so long ago. And you really do love him, you know that. The fact that you miss him, even when you're just in the shower, is pretty much a clue to that.

He doesn't give you the kind of attention that you would've expected, but you love it just the same. For some reason, you'd expected Justin to be all sappy, the way you are, but he isn't really. He shows his affection though. Much of it is in a teasing, brotherly way, but you can see that it's different from how he treats the rest of the guys. Every time he touches you, it's for a little bit longer, it's a little more intimate. And he'll punctuate it with a kiss on the cheek or a tight hug or a peck on the lips. It's sweet, and you appreciate it. He also doesn't mind when you do get sappy. He grinned from ear to ear the day you brought him flowers.

When you get out of the shower, Justin is waiting for you. He's on his stomach on the bed, flipping through a magazine. He watches you get dressed in the same way you watched him. You think it might be with the same level of interest.

After you finish dressing, you jump on the bed, draping yourself halfway across him. He lets out an "Oof," but manages to turn himself over so that he's facing you. You kiss him and it's both sweet and hot. You run your tongue along the roof of his mouth. You wish you had more time.

When Chris rings the doorbell for the third time, you disentangle yourself from Justin and you both head downstairs. On the last step, Justin stops you by circling his arms around you, enveloping you in a hug from behind. You can feel his warm breath on your neck as he whispers, "I do love you, you know."

You hadn't thought you needed to hear it, but now you can't stop smiling.