Britney hated Lance. She hated the fact that he didn't love her like she loved him. She hated the fact that he loved someone else. She wanted Lance for her own, but she never got the chance.

They first met through Justin at Justin's 19th birthday party. Lance was Justin's roommate. Britney became fascinated with Lance, who was two years older than Justin and had the most hypnotic green eyes she had ever seen. She fantasized of a life with Lance at her side. Britney dreamt of kisses and dates. Britney dreamed of being the woman Lance loved the most, next to his mother. She used every opportunity she could to get close to Lance, but he was oblivious to her advances, his attention focusing on finishing the semester.

Justin, however, was not as unfazed by Britney's advances as Lance was. He had been harboring a crush on Britney since they first met in drama class in high school. He had noticed that Britney had been trying to get Lance's attention and failing pathetically in the process. He often wondered what she saw in Lance. Lance was a dork, plain and simple. Lance was a normal guy, but sometimes he could be the biggest geek Justin has ever met.

But nope, that didn't stop Britney from fawning over him. Apparently, as Justin realized, Lance has a different effect on girls that he does on the guys. Justin sees Lance as a big fucking dork with weird eyes and a deep voice, and Britney sees Lance as prime boyfriend material. Lance thought of himself as just, well, Lance.

Justin would spend any free time he had trying to distract Britney from her watching Lance's every move in an attempt to get Britney to pay attention to him. That and he forgot to tell Britney that Lance had a girlfriend already.

“You know Britney; sooner or later Lance is going to notice that you are practically stalking him. You'll end up having a restraining order quicker than you could blink.”

“Shut up, Justin. I am not stalking him.”

“You're lying.”

“Okay, fine. I like him. I like him a lot. But I mean, come on! He's gorgeous, he's smart, he's funny, he's talented, and--”

“He's taken.”

“What?” Britney paled. When did Lance get a girlfriend?

“Yeah. He's got a girlfriend. They’ve been together for a while. About a year. Christina's a honor student and a really tough cookie to crack.” Justin winced as Britney punched him in the arm.

“Why didn't you tell me sooner, you fucking asshole?!” She screeched.

“Because you'd never let me tell you!” He was right, too. Every time Britney saw Justin, she would never stop talking about this and that and obviously, Lance. He always tried to pull Britney aside and tell her that Lance had a girlfriend but he always ended up being cut off by Britney's babbling.

“I've tried telling you over and over that he has a girlfriend, but you never let me! Ow!” Justin winced again as Britney smacked him in the arm. “Jeez, anyone tell you your fingernails hurt?”

Britney let out a sigh of defeat. Her fantasies of being with Lance were dashed. Lance had a girlfriend. She could have made an even bigger fool of herself than she already was if she confessed her feelings to Lance. He would have turned her down, telling her that he already had a girlfriend.

Justin accompanied her on a night of drinking and downing chocolate syrup-covered ice cream, in between her crying and his patting her back at the apartment he and Lance shared. By the time the night was over, an entire bottle of tequila and a gallon tub of chocolate ice cream drenched in chocolate syrup was gone and Britney was out like a light in a drunken stupor.

Justin had managed to pull Britney off of him and onto the couch, where she slept peacefully underneath his jacket with red swollen eyes. Justin barely made it to the bedroom when he gave in and passed out on the bed.

“Had fun last night, J?” A low voice chuckled as Justin felt a sharp poke at his stomach. He groaned as he turned over and planted his face into his pillow. He winced as yet another poke hit him in the side. “Justin, wake up.”

“Don't wanna, Lance.”

“J, it's my bed your smelly ass is passed out on. By the way, Christina is here and she wants to know who the chick on the sofa is.” At that remark, Justin sat up.

“Christina's here?! Fuck!” He jumped out of bed, ran past an amused Lance and into the living room, where he crashed into a “Watch where you're going, Justin!”

He shook himself out the daze he was in and gulped at the cat-like blue eyes staring up at him from her spot on the floor. “Um...hi, Christina.” Justin nervously greeted her as he helped her up.

The cat eyes grinned and pointed at his boxers. “You know, Justin, it would do you a lot of good to wear some pants because those are some ugly-ass boxers you have on there.” She smirked.

“Shut up.” He looked around the living room. Nobody was there. “Where's Britney?”

“Oh, she must be your girlfriend, right? Went to the bathroom and hasn't come out for...fifteen minutes now. And counting.”

“She's not my girlfriend,” Justin replied heatedly. “She's just a--”

“‘A friend,’” Lance cut him off as he walked out behind Justin and wrapped his arms around Christina's tiny body as he led her to the couch and sat down with her on his lap. "Justin, do you know how many times have you told me that every time Britney's here and you end up acting like a lovesick dog?”

“Um...three?”

“Try every time Britney comes over and she doesn't hear us talking about her.”

“But it's true!”

“Justin, admit it. You like her. Ask her out. You know you want to.” Christina piped up.

“Shut up, Christina. Besides, Britney doesn't like me. She likes someone else.”

“And the unlucky guy is...”

“He's a guy in my English class. Right, Justin?” Britney appeared in the living room. She had locked herself inside the bathroom, crying quietly to herself for being so naive as to even think that Lance would ever leave Christina for her.

She had just woken up when she saw Lance and Christina walk into the room, laughing and joking around when Christina asked, “Babe, who's the girl on the couch?” Britney had politely excused herself and locked herself in the bathroom, washing her tear-stained face and looking at herself in the mirror and wondering what Christina had that Britney didn't, which spurred more quiet tears and the fact that Lance will never be hers.

Christina was very different from Britney. She had blonde hair a shade paler that Britney's own dyed locks, but Christina's hair had no roots and black streaks and she had several piercings. She also wore quite a bit of eye makeup and a skin tone that sometimes looked dark or pale, depending on the light. Christina gave off the impression of spontaneity and adventure, and that she was the one who kept the sparks flying in the relationship.

“Hey, Brit! I didn't know you were standing there. Wanna sit down?” Justin offered her his chair and opted to sit on the floor. Britney accepted and sat down.

“I've been thinking. I've been feeling homesick lately and--” She paused and swallowed hard. “I'm thinking about moving back home to Louisiana and transferring to Louisiana State. I can't handle the whole long distance anymore. I'm going home.”

Britney had thought long and hard about the whole situation. She knows for a fact that she would never have Lance as long as Christina was there keeping him happy. She might as well step out of an awkward situation before it's too late and she makes a fool of herself.

“Britney, are you sure?” Justin asked, his eyes wide and almost bulging out of his head. “You still have about two years left on your degree. Are you sure that's what you want to do?”

“I'm positive. LSU has a pretty good psych program and it's closer to home than Rollins, of course.”

“As long as you think it's the right thing to do, then...okay.” Justin said quietly. He didn't want Britney to go; he didn't even tell her that he liked her yet.

“I hope that you're going to be happier there. I would have really liked getting to know you better.” Christina added in a sympathetic tone. Lance only nodded in agreement; he was busy cuddling Christina and taking in the smell of the fruit-scented shampoo in her hair.

Britney smiled. She and Christina may not have known each other long, but she had a feeling that if things didn't turn out the way they were, maybe she and Christina would be great friends.

The last time Britney ever saw Lance and Christina, they had accompanied Justin to the airport to send Britney off. Justin never got the chance to tell Britney that he liked her, but he had had something else in mind. A few quick hugs and a kiss on the cheek for Justin, and Britney was sitting in her seat on the plane, looking out the window.

She pulled out her walkman when she noticed a note tucked into her bag. She didn't remember putting it there, but she pulled it out and read it anyway. A smile slowly spread on her face.

Britney,

Lance may not love you like you wanted him to, but that doesn't mean I can't love you, can I? Good luck on your way home and email me, okay?

I love you,

Justin

Britney couldn't help but smile.

~fin~

Disclaimer: Fake, fake, fake. None of this was ever true. It’s a very much false college AU story written for fun.

Partly inspired by “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart” for the Britney challenge and my wonderful delusion that Lance and Christina are Made For Each Other. If you believe this is true, you need to seek a shrink.

Thanks to Butterfly for hosting my fiction, Secret_Angel for the last-minute beta, and KrabbyPatty for the Britney challenge.