"Believe me, it can get annoying," Justin told her as he placed his hand on the small of her back to lead her through the crowds of people.
"Still though you have to admit, this is the type of life style most people need. Trust me, Justin, its a lot better than waiting tables for a living. At least with what you do, there is some excitement to it and not just the same boring thing everyday."
"It does get boring. We sing, take pictures, perform and occassionally, we have an award show to come to. It's repeatitive."
"I still think you're wrong," Whitney insisted before bumping into a body and smiling apologetically at the woman she had never seen before. "Where exactly are we headed to?"
"That table right back there cause I think that's Cait and Joey, but I'm not exactly sure."
"You've got to be kidding me! You're making me walk all the way through this crowd and you're not even sure we're going to sit with people we know?"
He shrugged before stepping in front of her so he could lead the way. "We all make mistakes."
Whitney was about to say something but Britney's voice cut her off as she stepped in front of Justin with a frown on her face. "We need to talk."
"There's nothing to talk about Britney. Its over between us, I don't want to see you again, now please move out of my way."
She didn't move and Justin tried to go around her, only to fail when she moved with him. "Damn it Britney, I mean it move the hell out of my way now before I have to pick you up and move you myself."
Justin..maybe you should just talk to her so she'll shut up," Whitney said as Britney's eyes narrowed when she talked.
"No one asked for your opinion at the moment, now did they?"
Whitney pushed in front of Justin and placed her hands on her hips, starring at Britney with anger in her eyes. "I'm actually trying to help you out and you have the nerve to be all bitchy to me? Let me inform you of something, you might be the little pop queen, but you don't have a right to act better than everyone else."
"And exactly who the hell do you think you are for talking to me the way that you just did? Did Justin find you on the street or something?"
Whitney's mouth dropped and her hands clenched at her sides as Justin pulled her away from Britney, leading her towards the back of the club. "That little.."
"I'm going to talk to her but I'll be back soon. Cait's sitting over there at the table that I originally thought was hers."
"Justin..try to be civil to her," Whitney said before turning around and walking towards Cait. She plopped down in the booth with a sigh causing Cait's attention to drift towards her.
"You should be happy at the moment, and you're sighing..something's wrong."
"No..nothing's wrong. I'm confused, angry, and I don't know what else, but nothing is really wrong at the moment."
"That's definitely confusing me," Cait said before smiling as Joey slid in beside her.
"What's confusing you?" he asked as he slid her drink around to her.
"I didn't understand it, so why would I be able to tell you what was confusing me?"
Joey's eyes looked at her with a lost look before he sighed dropping the matter. "Where's Justin?"
"Britney cornered him so he's talking to her. She's extremely rude."
"Most people in this business are. Only a few artist manage to stay level headed throughout their moment in the spotlight," Cait explained as she looked around at the people dancing. "I can tell you that half of these people here think they are better than everyone else."
"Hey," Joey said as he wrapped his arms around her. "Its only the girls that think that."
"Whatever dear, I remember when you guys had your moment where you thought you were the hottest things. Thank God you guys finally realized you weren't everything you thought."
"Hey...we are hot. I'm sorry to disappoint you, Cait, but when you have thousands of screaming girls follow you everywhere, you can't help but develope a big head."
Whitney chuckled as he watched the two of them playfully argue. She could tell that the two of them cared deeply for the other, and she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit jealous of how close they were. It had been a long time since she had been able to confide in someone that cared for her and was of the male species. She had Emily and Stephanie, but there were times when she couldn't help but want more.
Her eyes roamed the dance floor as she watched the people dance, and her face broke into a smile when her eyes landed on Emily and JC. She had the biggest smile on her face, and Whitney had almost forgotten what it looked like. Emily wasn't ready to admit it, but JC and her had a connection beyond understanding. Whitney could already see that they were attaching to each other, which was a good thing, but then again it wasn't. Emily had a way of coming attached to things and not being able to handle when they were taken away. But now wasn't the time or place to worry about that. Her eyes spanned the crowd for Justin and she sighed in defeat when she didn't see him. After she grew tired of looking for him, she let her eyes fall on her hands that were resting in her lap.
Cait nudged Joey as she watched Whitney. "She's falling for him."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Cait. They are like best friends..I don't think she is."
"Why must you always contradict me? Why can't you for once just go along and agree with something I say?"
"If I did that, I wouldn't get to see the cute face you make when you argue," he whispered to her before kissing her softly. "Besides, I can't let you win."
"Let me guess, the day you let me win is when hell freezes over?"
"Exactly," he chuckled before pushing on her slightly to signal for her to get out of the booth. "We're gonna dance," he explained to Whitney before winking and pulling Cait into the crowd of people.
Whitney sat there a few minutes by herself and started to get bored. She was about to get up and go dance by herself when Justin's arms encircled her waist and his breath was on her face. "I missed you."
"Where the hell have you been?"
"Well I was talking with Britney, then people started pulling me aside and trying to talk with me and it just took a while to get back over here."
"Likely story," she joked as she pulled on his hand and lead him towards the dance floor, not wanting the night to end.
"She's right where she belongs," she said before rolling her eyes when she realized that she was talking to herself. She took a sip of her iced tea before setting it down when the phone rang. "Hi."
"I thought you might come along and surprise me," a deep voice said into the phone causing chills to be produced on her body.
"Who is this?"
"I'm hurt that you don't recognize my voice..I thought that surely after I gave you the hersey kiss you'd remember me."
"Lance?" she breathed into the phone before smiling.
"That's exactly who it is. If I hadn't been a dork and forgot, I should have invited you up here with them."
"Its ok," she said softly before curling up on the couch. She could hear music in the background of their conversation and she realized that he must have been calling her from a party. "Congradulations on your win."
"Thank you. I wanna make it up to you for not inviting you up here, I feel really bad."
"I wouldn't have been able to come," she lied. "One of us had to stay here and watch the diner."
"But still, I should have been a gentleman and invited you. We have a few weeks off coming up, and I'd be honored if you'd come to Orlando and spend them with me."
"You really want me to come?" she choked out, not realizing how crazy she was being. She usually wasn't this shy when talking to anyone.
"Of course I do, Steph..or I wouldn't be inviting you."
She inwardly cursed herself for being so stupid. "Then I'll come...but only on one condition."
"What's that?"
"I get a real kiss the moment I get there. Have a nice night, Lance," she said before hanging up the phone and grinning from ear to ear. It was now her time to experience a new type of life style,and who cared if it was only for a moment.
"Me too," he said as he stiffled a yawn and watched as the numbers increased in the elevator. "I hope I make it back to my room once I walk you to yours."
"Who says you have to go back?" she whispered to him as her eyes slammed into his. "I don't mind if you stay."
"Cait..I don't want to screw things up," he whispered husikly to her. "But God I want you."
"You can have me, Joey...all you have to do is stay with me tonight," she said before reaching up and kissing him to emphasize her point.
His hands pulled her tighter against him and he groaned when he heard the elevator bell ring. They stumbled towards her room, only breaking contact when she pulled her key out so she could open the door. Once she had it opened, the two of them stumbled back inside where their lips met yet again. His hands played in her hair as her hands ran over his back, trying to bring him closer to her. "I need you," she mumbled against his lips before falling back on the bed and bringing him with her.
As much as his body wanted her, he had made too many mistakes in the past with jumping into a relationship like he was doing now. He pulled back escalating a groan from her swollen lips. "Cait..don't hate me when I do this..I hate myself for saying this, but we have to wait. I don't want to rush things."
"Joey..I'm not letting you leave this room until you give me what I want..what we both want."
"Cait," he whispered as she placed his finger on her lips. "I know what I'm doing. You'll thank me later on."
Her eyes produced tears when she saw the sincere look on his face. "I trust you on this..but Joey I'm not happy with your decision."
He chuckled before kissing her one last time and getting off the bed. "I'm not too happy with it right now either. I'll see you in the morning, Cait. Sweet dreams," he told her before walking out of her room and leaning against the door. He was falling deeper into the spell that she was creating around him and he wanted to get as deep as he could get. He had never fallen for someone so fast and it scared him, but not to the point of where he wanted to back away from what he was dealing with.
As he walked towards the elevator, he couldn't ignore the message his heart was sending to his head. He was falling in love with her, and it was a feeling that he had never experienced on such a level as he was now. She had gotten under his skin, and he wasn't about to let her get out.
He shrugged before shrugging off his jacket and offering it to her. "If I had known you were here when you first arrived, I would have made plans for us or something after the show, but I'm not complaining, you saved me from showing up at the awards show looking like a dork without a date."
"Why didn't you line up a date? I'm sure there are plenty of girls that would have loved to have come with you."
His face fell slightly as he looked around at all the plants. "I didn't really want to go with anyone because they can't amount to what Wendy did."
"JC..I'm sorry..if you hadn't wanted to go with me tonight, all you would have had to do is say so.." she started rambling, obviously embarassed for asking her question.
"Emily," he said as he stopped and placed his finger to her lips. "Its ok. I had a wonderful time tonight and I'm glad you were here."
Her breath caught in her throat as she stared into his deep blue eyes that were swarming with emotion. She simply nodded her head before looking away and closing her eyes trying to get rid of the sudden strange feeling that she had.
"How are things between you and Riley?"
"He gave me permission to come here...and I think he's wanting to change. Maybe my prayers were finally answered, JC..just maybe."
He reached up and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear before smiling tenderly at her. "He's wising up and seeing the beautiful woman he has in his life."
She couldn't stop from blushing as he complimented her. "Thank you."
"No problem," he said as he glanced down at his watch and sighed. "Its already four in the morning."
"I guess you're really tired and I know that I am," she said as she turned and started walking back towards the hotel lobby.
"Yeah..I've been depressed and when I'm depressed I crave sleep. Besides, I love sleep its like my favorite thing to do in the world," he joked with her as they walked around the deserted lobby. "Which floor are you on?" he asked her as the two of them stopped at the elevator.
"The same one as you..only four doors down from your room," she said as a smile played on her lips.
"Damn..I really must have been out of it not to recognize you," he said as he ran his hand through his hair, messing up the long brown locks.
"They kept me pretty well hidden," she said quietly as she stepped into the elevator and pushed the button that denoted their floor. Emily looked over at JC out of the corner of her eye, and smiled slightly when she saw his eyes starting to lower. He was evidently exhausted and depressed because there was no twinkle in his eyes. She knew the look all to well because she had seen it on herself for the past few years every time that she had looked in the mirror. If only she could make him understand that things were going to get better, when he least expected them to.
She stopped in front of her hotel room and smiled at him as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "I had a wonderful time tonight, JC..its been a while since I've been able to go out with a friend."
"I had fun tonight, too, Em," he said as he reached over and touched her cheek. "I guess this is goodnight."
She looked into his dark blue eyes and felt everything stop. Under normal circumstances, this would be where he was suppose to lean down and kiss her, but they knew that they couldn't do that. She reached up and hugged him quickly before opening her door and walking in, shutting it gently. Once she was on the other side, she let out a sigh of frustration. Her body wanted her to go out there and throw herself in his comforting arms, but her brain kept her in place. This wasn't suppose to be happening, but now that it was she had to figure out what everything meant.