Trace has been in love with Justin through two girlfriends and three boyfriends and it's getting harder to keep quiet about it. He has a feeling Justin knows now and that maybe the title of personal assistant was meant to be some sort of consolation prize. He misses Britney, because she was the first to really notice, the first to ruffle his hair and say, "He'll figure it out," before Trace could even tell her. Britney was his favorite of Justin's significant others--though that's not really fair because he genuinely likes both Chris and Joey, just not when they dated Justin--and he never felt any ill will towards her at all, ever. In a way, he was as sad as Justin was when they broke up, because he knew whoever was next couldn't ever understand what it was like the way Britney had.

Britney'd asked him once when he'd fallen in love and he honestly couldn't answer. He's sure there was a time when he hadn't articulated his feelings as love, but the lines are so blurry and childhood best friendship smudged perfectly into adolescent crush into full-blown love. Britney had nodded because he'd been like that for her too, except Britney could remember a time when Justin wasn't there. Trace can't and can follow the thread back as far as his memories go. It scares him sometimes, but having Britney understand somehow made it ok.

Wade was a collosal ass, and it took absolutely all of Trace's willpower to keep from telling Justin that. Wade, on the other hand, didn't seem to have any problems telling Justin just how much advantage Trace took of him, even though Justin was mostly immune to that sort of thing and it was all bullshit anyway. Trace still hates that they named the album after that stupid song, but he takes satisfaction in Wade ending up fired from both Nsync and Britney. Justin hates "Celebrity" now, too, and says things like, "It's almost autobiographical, isn't it?" and Trace knows that's his way of saying that he's sorry. Trace grins and says, "Yeah, he was a real ass," and that's his way of saying I love you.

Trace is not good at saying what he really feels around Justin, a habit that started somewhere around age 11 and never got broken. He's great at making jokes, at being an ass so Justin doesn't have to, and at listening to Justin whine and bitch. He's lived in that skin all his life and it fits him perfectly and he's not interested in shedding it, but sometimes he wishes he could just open his mouth and say what he really wants. Justin, for all his talk about being sensitive and in touch with his emotions, has never said anything even remotely deep about their friendship outside of liner notes. It's not like Trace needs to hear how special he is to Justin, because, after all these years, he knows, but he thinks it'd be so much easier to tell him if Justin would just start the conversation somehow.

Trace figures he's been waiting over ten years and it's not likely that Justin will bring it up anytime soon. He thinks it's becoming the elephant in the room, though, because by now Justin has to have figured it out, it's approaching inconceivable that he hasn't. Since Nsync's hiatus, they've spent all their time together and it's making him uncomfortable, because for the first time in years, there's no one standing in the way of him being with Justin except his own fear. And Justin, of course.

One night, they sit on the couch together watching a movie, and Justin's feet are in Trace's lap, Trace's hands hooked around Justin's ankles, rubbing just up into the start of Justin's leg hair. He has no idea what the movie is about, because the second Justin picked his legs up and rested them on Trace's thighs, they became more important than anything on the screen and he wasn't so much looking at the TV as looking through it. He tries to stop himself and pay attention to the movie, because it's becoming ridiculous, but he's missed too much and can't get back into it. He knows he needs to say something now, because maybe once it's out there, it'll finally go away after more years than he can remember. He takes a few deep breaths and gets ready to tell Justin, but when he turns to face him, Justin's watching him. Justin reaches out a long arm, puts his hand on Trace's arm, and says, "It's ok, I already know." Trace looks down at his hands, pulls them away from Justin's calves, and opens his mouth to say something, anything, but nothing comes out. Justin tightens his grip around Trace's arm, pulls a little, and says, "Come here."