Before the Fame Continued

Joey rolled his eyes but found himself smiling anyway. "Yeah, seeing you get pulled across the beach by your ankle was kinda funny."

Lynn gave Chris a confused look and he explained, "The safety, so you don't lose the board when you get knocked off. I couldn't get it off and the wind picked up the board and started pulling me," he finished in a laugh.

Justin and J.C. snickered as Lynn's eyes grew wide. "Chris, you could have been seriously hurt! What if Joey wasn't there?"

Chris quickly sobered and looked to the floor. "Sorry," he muttered.

Lynn gave a slight smile. "Come on, you're beet red. Let's see what I have to put on that sand burn." She began leading the bare-chested young man to the bathroom when the lights went out, casting them all into darkness. "Justin?" Lynn called, hoping he would turn on the flashlight.

A familiar giggle could be heard over the howling wind. "Yeah?"

"Turn the light on," Lynn said.

"I don't have it," Justin lied.

"What did you do with it?"

"I dunno."

"Justin," Lynn warned.

Justin sighed and turned the light on, hitting Joey right in the eyes. "There, happy?" he asked.

The house groaned under the stress from the wind, making them all nervous. Justin shined the light on his mother for reassurance. "Let's go to the basement," Lynn said, guiding Chris towards the stairs. The others followed, sticking close together.

When they had all made it down to the basement safely, they took a seat on the cold concrete floor and tried to relax. Chris sat beside Joey, and J.C., Justin and Lynn all sat on the opposite wall. Lynn sighed and tried to make light of the situation. "I guess now's a good time to ask what everyone's fear is. For the record."

"I can't stand needles," J.C. spoke up. "That's my only phobia."

"I don't really know," Joey said to the dark. "I guess just commitment. I hate to be tied down in a relationship."

"But not commitment to the group, right?" J.C. asked.

"Of course not. Not that kind. I'm talking about with women," Joey replied.

Chris? What about you?" Justin asked.

"Heights," came the quiet reply.

"Oh, is that why you're so short?" Joey teased.

"Haha, Mr. My-Relations-Only-Last-Two-Weeks," Chris replied.

"Now guys," Lynn said. "Be nice."

Upstairs something crashed to the floor, making them all jump. "Wonder what that was," Justin said.

"Better not have been important," Lynn replied.

"Sounds like it's starting to go away," Joey said.

"Hopefully," Lynn said. "I've had enough of this for one lifetime."

"Then you picked the wrong place to live in," Joey laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Chris hold still."

"But it stings!"

"Well whose fault is that?" Lynn asked, continuing to rub the aloe on his shoulders and back.

"I was only trying to have some fun," Chris mumbled. "How was I suppose to know Hurricane Erin would f- screw things up?"

"Watch your mouth."

"Sorry."

Justin came in the bathroom and tried to hold back his laughter. "I uh…I called Lance and he said everyone at the hotel is fine. But the roads are really bad and there's no way anyone can go anywhere."

"Well, looks like our recording session got moved to tomorrow," Lynn sighed as she moved to look at Chris's ankle.

Joey came to the doorway and leaned on the doorframe. "We got everything picked up in the hallway."

"Thank you Joey," Lynn smiled. "How bad does your car look?"

"Oh, you know, it pretty much looks like it sat outside during a hurricane."

"I'm sorry," Lynn replied.

"It's not your fault," Joey said. Then he pointed to Chris. "It's his."

"Hey! You didn't have to come get me," Chris started.

"Well I wasn't about to let you get yourself killed," Joey sighed. "Now that we're a group, we're gonna have to watch each others backs."

Chris grinned as Justin made bunny ears behind Joey. "Okay. I'm watching."

"Good. I'm going outside to help clean up the streets. Anyone coming?"

"I will," Chris said.

"No you don't, not yet anyway," Lynn interrupted. "Let me take care of your ankle, then you can go."

Chris sighed as Justin laughed. "I'll help ya," he said, placing his hand on Joey's shoulder.

Chris shivered as he and Lynn were left in the bathroom that was lit by a small oil lamp. He was still in his damp swimming trunks, sitting on the toilet lid as Lynn wrapped his ankle. "You don't have to do this," he said, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"You heard Joey, we're going to watch each other's backs," Lynn replied.

"But you shouldn't have to take care of me," Chris said softly.

Lynn sensed the uneasiness in his voice. "What's wrong Chris?"

"Nothing. It's just, you know, lately, no one has been there for me anywhere as much as you have. I guess I owe you a thanks."

"You're welcome," Lynn smiled up at him. "It's nothing I wouldn't do for any of you. You guys are my boys now."

Chris smiled at her, trying to swallow his feelings.

"There," she said. "You're done. Now you run along and play nicely with the others," she teased.

Chris thanked her again then got up, heading outside to find the others. Lynn watched him go, her heart heavy with emotion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day

"I can't believe we're finally recording something!" Justin exclaimed, bouncing in his seat as Lynn drove them to the studio.

"Try to relax," J.C. teased. "You're making me tired just watching you."

"Do you guys know which one you're going to sing?" Lynn asked.

""I think we should do 'I Want You Back'," Chris replied. "We need something that will wake everyone up and make them find out who we are."

"I agree," Lance said. "We can do the serious stuff later."

There were no objections from the others, so it was decided at that. They arrived at the big gray building and headed towards it, both excitement and nervousness arousing within them. Butterflies were racing wildly in their stomachs as they walked in the doors, and Lynn picked up on their tenseness.

"Guys, calm down. You have to be relaxed to sing as beautifully as you do. And we're not going to have all day in here, so practices will be limited." Then she smiled. "I know you'll do fine."

The guys smiled weakly in response, following Lynn to the service desk. She stepped up to the secretary and announced, "Hi, I'm here with Nsync, we're here to record."

"Lynn Harless?" the woman asked, typing on her computer.

"That's me," Lynn replied.

"OK, first door on your left."

Lynn turned to the guys. "Well, let's do it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



The inside of the recording room was bare and almost scary. There were instruments set up inside and a lot of wires running to the outside. The white walls were lit by the bright lights that burn overhead. A large window broke up the stillness the room generated, and the guys could see Lynn and the recording artists sitting outside.

The guys were to do the instrumental part of the song first, and then their voices would be added on top of it. They each knew an instrument, but they were not extremely good yet. Joey could play the drums okay, and Lance was a pretty good on the keyboard. Justin, Chris and J.C. could play either the guitar or keyboard, so between all of them, they could make the music to back up their incredible voices.

Playing was the hardest part, and once they were done with that, the recording artist told them to put on the supplied headphones and get in front of a microphone. They looked nervously to Lynn, who smiled back at them encouragingly. "Go ahead," Jim, the recording artist said.

The music they had just played came back through the headphones. Justin looked to Lance, who looked to Joey. J.C. and Chris stared back at them with the same thought.

"Stop the music!" Justin yelled, taking off his headphones.

"What’s wrong?" Lynn asked worriedly.

"Nothing, there's just something missing," Joey explained.

Justin looked at Chris and Chris nodded to the chair in the corner. "In my backpack," he said.

Justin went to Chris's backpack and opened it, pulling out a Hackey sack. His eyes lit up. "This is perfect!" he said, carrying it back to the others.

J.C. looked back to Lynn and Jim. "Hold on just a sec," he smiled, then joined the others as they formed a circle.

"For time's sake, let's just do one round," Justin said, rolling the bean-filled ball in his hand. "Everyone kicks once."

"We're gonna be here a while," Lance teased. "I suck at this."

"Hey, so do I," Joey smiled.

Justin started off, raising his heel to his waist and kicking the ball away from him. It soared towards J.C. who backed up quickly and kicked it, sending it over his shoulder and bouncing off the window behind him. Joey ran in and kicked it before it plopped to the ground, sending it back in the circle. Chris watched as it sailed towards him and positioned himself, preparing to kick.

He was intent on watching the ball, and a sudden shove caught him off guard. Justin laughed as Chris's mouth dropped open in shock and the ball fell to the ground. "Not cool," Chris teased, regaining his balance and picking up the ball.

Lynn laughed as she watched the five relax. Jim looked up at her and said, "That's quite a group you have there."

"I know," Lynn smiled. "They put themselves together and are happy chasing down their dream. I do believe the five of them will make it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three days later

After the guys had relaxed and had their fun, the singing was remarkable. Even Jim got caught up in the performance and complimented them. They had received the first CD single and treasured it. They played it continuously back at Justin's house and marveled at how professional it sounded. They all were extremely proud and happy that the first big step had been taken successfully.

Lynn had sent other copies out to all the local radio stations, hoping the guys would get the song aired. The guys had been booked at Universal to help promote themselves and get noticed. They were all crossing their fingers, but so far, nothing had happened.

It was now a lazy Tuesday afternoon, and Chris had just returned home after a long morning of work. His boss had explained that he was extremely pleased with Chris's attitude and how he made the whole store look good, and that Chris had earned himself a promotion. Chris was happy, but knew part of his good fortune was due to Justin. 'I'll have to do something special for him,' Chris thought as he lay down on his bed.

He was going to go to Justin's house later on to meet with the others and rehearse, but his car broke down again and he wasn't looking forward to walking the half-mile. For now, all he wanted to do was lay here and not do anything. This was his only private time, and he cherished it. Chris reached over next to his bed and turned on the radio, smiling when Beastie Boys finished 'Sabotage'.

Chris bent down to untie his shoes as the radio blared on. "…And that was the Beastie Boys with 'Sabotage'. Thanks for listening to 106.7, WXXL in Orlando. Here's a new group, made up of a bunch of local kids. Call in if you like this song by newcomers, Nsync with 'I Want You Back'."

Chris froze and his heart stopped working while the familiar sounds of his song floated out of the radio. "Oh my God!" he yelled, jumping up. He didn't know what to do. "Oh my God oh my God…" he started, looking around. Then he took off, running out the door and nearly falling down the apartment steps in his hurry to get outside. "We're on the radio!" he yelled as he flew past other tenants and down the street. The smile never left his face as his feet pounded the sidewalk, running faster than he ever had in his life. He tore around the corner and into the alley, taking the shortcut to Justin's house. The whole time he was screaming, "We're on the radio!"

Chris quickly scaled the chain-link fence that ended the alley, and he burst out onto the highway. He turned and continued running down the sidewalk as cars past, some of them playing 'I Want You Back'. "That's me!" Chris yelled, his chest aching from running and yelling at the same time. "Justin!" he yelled, even though he was no where near the house yet.

Suddenly a beat up Acura cut him off, and he ran into the passenger door. "Get in!" Joey yelled, turning the radio up as loud as it could go.

Chris threw open the door and jumped in, motioning for Joey to drive as he shut the door. "Go go go!" Chris yelled over the radio, laughing at the same time.

Joey took off, jumping back into traffic and speeding to catch up. They flew around the corner and sped down the street to Justin's house, arriving as the song hit its half way mark.

Chris and Joey jumped out, not bothering to shut the doors or even turn off the car. They ran down the sidewalk and up to the front door, nearly breaking it down as they pounded the door to be let in. The whole time they were jumping up and down, laughing their heads off.

Lynn came to the door holding the phone and beaming. "We're on the radio!" Chris and Joey yelled at the same time, pushing their way inside.

Justin and J.C. were in front of the speakers, which were blasting their song. Joey and Chris joined them, and the four nearly exploded with joy. Lynn handed the phone to Justin saying, "Lance want's to talk to you!"

Justin answered. "Hello?" he smiled.

"We're on the radio!" Lance yelled, and Justin could tell he was probably dancing around the hotel room right now.

"I know!" Justin laughed, skipping in a circle with the other guys. "There ain't no stoppin' us now!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a long day of screaming and jumping, Chris bounded in his apartment wearing a huge grin. His stepfather sat on the couch, almost blending in. "Did you hear us?" Chris asked, trying to contain himself.

"See who do what?" the other man grunted.

"We were on the radio!" Chris beamed, bouncing slightly.

"Why?"

Chris's smile faded. "They played our song," he replied.

"Oh. Well just remember, what goes up must come down. Don't get too involved in this."

Chris's smile left completely and he went into his room, closing the door after him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay guys, time for your first photo shoot," Lynn said as she walked into the living room where the guys were sitting.

"This oughtta be good," Joey smiled, elbowing J.C.

"Now you might think you're pretty popular, being on the radio and all, but we don't have that much money to spare. I hired a photographer to come to the house and take your pictures outside and around the gardens. If you beg, maybe he'll follow you in town."

"He better no be one of those gay guys," Justin said.

"Just smile and make love to the camera," Chris mocked.

The others laughed as Lynn said, "It doesn't matter what gender he prefers, I want you guys to take good pictures."

"Don't I always?" Joey beamed.

"How long will we have to do this?" Lance asked quietly.

"However long it takes," Lynn replied. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

Chris's mind raced with ideas on how to make this afternoon a little more interesting and relaxing for Lance. He was sure Lance was just shy, but these photo shoots were something all of them would have to get used to. Even at Universal, pictures were never taken separately; you were always with the other members of your cast.

"And please try to be nice boys, we don’t want to start a bad rep on our first try," Lynn teased as the doorbell rang.

"Nice? I don't know the meaning of the word," Justin replied.

"You know, it's what you say when you see a woman with big-"

"Chris!" Lynn yelled.

"Sorry," he replied, smiling at Joey and J.C.

Lynn reentered the room, leading a fairly young man with shoulder length brown hair and small glasses. "Okay boys," she smiled, "Here is the photographer."

"Hi," he smiled. "My name is-"

"Lemme guess," Chris interrupted. "It's Gary and the 'r' is silent."

The others cracked up as Lynn and the photographer glared at Chris. "No," he said. "It's Jim. And you are?"

"J.C.," Chris replied.

"Hey now, don't be getting' me in trouble," J.C. spoke up. "He's Chris. I'm J.C."

Jim rolled his eyes. "I can tell this is going to be a long day."

"They're nice boys once you get to know them," Lynn said, trying to cover up for Chris.

"Well lets get this over with," Jim sighed. "Where are you wanting these to be shot?"

"Somewhere cool," Joey replied. "I mean no offense, but I don't think romping through the flowers will get us the impression we're looking for."

"Good point," Lynn said. "Where do you guys wanna go?"

"Let’s go down to universal," Chris said. "We’re all comfortable with the settings, and I know they have buildings that aren't being used. We could just lean against some walls or something."

Joey looked at Chris. "You know, just when I think you've sunk to your lowest, you do something like this and totally redeem yourself!"

Chris looked at him. "So you like that idea then?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay now guys, give me that 'I hate doing this crap' look…that’s it…great…"

"I don't think this is the image we're going for either," Joey said, keeping his mouth as still as possible.

Chris stepped forward, making Jim sigh. "What do you want know?" he asked.

"When are we gonna get to the 'We're five hot guys so buy our CD look'?" he asked.

"In a minute. The record label is going to want to see you in different moods, and right now, we're doing this one," Jim explained impatiently.

"OK," Chris smiled, stepping back against the wall.

"Now, can you guys look a little more natural? Try not to look like you're being forced to stand there," Jim said, raising his camera again.

"That's what we look like?" Justin asked. "Who would have thought?"

Chris couldn't help notice how short he was compared to the others. Even Justin, a guy eight years younger than him, was a good three inches taller. He glared at all of them, despising them for being blessed with a good height. Even his feet were smaller than all the other guys were, and that was something he hoped never got out.

"Chris, good job with the angry as hell look," Jim complimented.

Chris suddenly pushed the closest person to him, which happened to be Joey.

"What the hell was that for?" Joey asked, grabbing onto the wall for support.

"Because you're so damn tall," Chris replied.

"I can't help it," Joey said. "It's genetics or something."

"Well make me tall," Chris said. "I want to be tall too."

Joey looked over Chris's head at Lance. "Come here," he called.

Lance obeyed. "What?"

Jim groaned as he set his camera down, but kept his mouth shut. Joey continued, "Lets make this photo shoot ours. How about me, you and J.C. stand next to each other, then we get Chris and Justin to sit on our shoulders, like a pyramid."

"That'd be cool," Lance agreed.

"You watching Jim?" Joey asked as he, Lance and J.C. moved into place.

Jim saw what they were doing and picked up his camera. "I'm liking this," he started. "This is the 'just a bunch of guys goofing off' look, isn't it?"

Chris jumped on J.C. and Joey's shoulders with ease. "No, this is the 'make me look bigger' look. I rather like it, I just can't look down or all fall."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Bye guys, meet back here tomorrow for another rehearsal!" Lynn called as Joey, Lance and Chris left. "Thanks for the great pictures!"

"Mom, how do you know they were great? You haven't even seen them yet," Justin said.

"Jim said you guys were great, despite the rocky start," Lynn smiled, shutting the door after the guys and taking a seat on the couch.

Justin and J.C. took their seats on the couch next to her as Lynn turned on the TV. "He really said that?" J.C. asked, watching Lynn channel surf.

"I’m serious," Lynn replied, passing the local news.

"Wait!" Justin interrupted. "That looked like Chris's apartment."

Lynn turned back a channel and stopped on the news. There were a lot of cop cars flashing their lights and sounding their sirens as they were parked around an old apartment building. Policemen were jogging in and out of the building, then an ambulance screeched to a halt by the door. "What happened?" Lynn asked.

As if on cue, the reported moved on the scene and began narrating the devastating scene behind her. "I'm here live in front of an apartment building where just moments ago, a call was made to the police when a tenant heard a gunshot from the room below." Behind her, the paramedics wheeled out a person on the stretcher, the blanket drawn up over the head. "The man was identified by an old friend as Mr. Kirkpatrick, who appears to have died from a self inflicted gunshot wound. We'll keep you updated on the situation later."

Lynn looked at Justin and J.C. before jumping up and running to the car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Cool, the cops are here!" Chris said to himself as he pulled up to his apartment building. "I wonder what happened. Nothing cool ever happens here. I bet dad even got up for this."

Chris parked his car and walked towards all the commotion. The scene was complete with an ambulance and TV reporters. There was even yellow tape set up around the door, and Chris stopped to watch then decided to see up close. He tried to duck under the tape but was stopped by a cop.

"Sorry, you can't come in here."

"But I live here," Chris argued.

"I'm sorry, this is a crime scene. Please wait on the other side of the tape."

Chris watched as the paramedics wheeled out person on a stretcher and suddenly realized this was serious. The person was in a body bag and hidden from the world, signaling they were dead. "What happened?" Chris asked the officer.

"As far as we can tell, it was suicide," the officer replied bluntly.

Chris swallowed hard. "Who was it?" A car screeched to a halt behind him.

"All we know so far is he's a Mr. Kirkpatrick. Now please back up."

"Chris!" a voice yelled.

Chris stood stunned, frozen to his spot. His dad had died? It wasn't possible. Tears welled up in his eyes as he argued with the cop. "No, he can't be, I'm his son-"

A hand touched his shoulder and he jumped. Chris turned around and stood face to face with a teary eyed Lynn. "I'm sorry," she whispered, pulling him close to her.

The shock melted away from his face as he realized it was true. Questions swirled in his mind but were drowned out by sorrow. Chris's tears spilled down his cheeks as he gave in, falling against Lynn. His heart raced, making itself felt to Lynn. Chris said nothing but hugged Lynn tightly, crying silently on her shoulder.

Lynn massaged his back with a free hand and whispered through her own tears, "Chris, I am so sorry…"

Chris trembled and closed his eyes, not wanting to see anymore. Blue and red lights bounced off of the surrounding buildings, making time seem to painfully stand still. He didn't have to see the body to be sure of this. The time was right. His stepfather had finally let the depression overcome him, and shooting himself was the only way to die without moving too much. Chris wasn't angry, just ripped wide open with pain. Here he was standing on the street at night, crying on someone else's mother because he was alone now. A new wave of pain hit him at this realization, and he just wished he could die too.

A policeman approached Lynn and softly said, "Is he the son of the deceased?"

Lynn nodded her throat too tight with emotion to talk.

"We'll need him to come down to the station to fill out papers."

"No," Lynn said firmly. "He's coming home with me now, and we will come down in the morning."

The police just looked at her, then sighed, nodding his head quickly before he walked away.

"Thank you," Chris mumbled, standing on his own. He tried to wipe away the tears, but they kept falling, retracing their salty trails down his cheeks.

Lynn offered a small smile. "Come on, let's go home."

Chris nodded and followed her with his head down, looking like a lost puppy. They got in the car and pulled away, leaving the nightmarish scene behind. Lynn looked at Chris, who sat hunched in his seat and staring out the window.

"Do you want to talk about anything?" Lynn asked softly.

Chris kept his gaze fixed on something falsely interesting outside. Then he turned his sparkling eyes to her and started, "I wish I could say something like 'I don't understand why he did it', or 'He had so much to live for', but I can't. He was depressed, had been for a long time, and the only thing he had was me. I guess I wasn't that important."

Lynn noticed how dark with sorrow Chris's eyes were, compared to the afternoon when he was taking pictures with the guys. The light that he once held was totally gone, stripping him down to his soul. And it wasn't a happy one. "Chris," Lynn started, taking a breath, "Depression is a disease. It blinds you. The victims can't see what is important in their lives anymore. Be thankful he didn't turn to alcoholism or something worse. You must always believe this DID NOT happen because of you."

Chris felt the tears well up again; Lynn's words had stung his soul with kindness. He wanted to believe her so much, but months of being told he was nothing was hard to erase. "Thanks again for taking me home," he replied at last. "I don't think I can ever go in that apartment again."

Lynn turned the car off. "You ready to go in?" she smiled.

"Do they know?" Chris asked, referring to Justin and J.C.

"Yes, it was on the news," Lynn replied. "That's how I got there so fast."

"Oh," Chris mumbled, getting out of the car.

"This will take some time to get over Chris, don't be ashamed of your feelings."

"I know, but when will the pain go away?"

Lynn placed her hand on his shoulder. "It's up to you," she replied, opening the door to the house.

As they walked in the house, Justin and J.C. greeted them. Even they could notice the difference in Chris's bloodshot eyes. "Hey Chris," J.C. said with a slight smile. "We're really sorry about…"

"It's okay," Chris replied. And that was all he could say before his throat tightened up.

"I'll get you some blankets and you can sleep on the couch," Lynn said, heading back the hallway.

"You can sleep in my bed," Justin said, leaving himself wide open for a slam.

"That's okay, I'll be fine out here," Chris said, sitting down.

Justin looked sadly to J.C., knowing how bad their friend must be hurting to not even attempt to make a joke.

"Well we'll see you in the morning then," J.C. said, patting Chris's shoulder before walking off, Justin in tow.

Chris lay down on the sofa, being sure to take off his shoes before curling up into a ball. One last tear slipped down his face before he close his eyes and gave into the exhaustion that the extreme grief had given him.

Lynn returned to the living room and found the young man fast asleep on the couch, curled into a tight, protective ball. Silently, she lay the blankets over his frame and moved the hair off of his closed eye before whispering goodnight and leaving him in darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Lynn was sure to answer all the phone calls herself in case it was the police department or Joey or Lance. Justin and J.C. were content to playing Nintendo in Justin's room to let Chris sleep late in the living room. They hadn't seen him stir once since they woke up two hours ago, and you couldn't tell he was alive unless you watched carefully for the slight movements of his side.

Lynn sat on the black leather chair that faced the side of the couch. She had carefully turned on the TV and turned the volume down as not to wake her sleeping guest. She had made many realizations as she thought about what Chris said last night in the car. His attitude about returning home after spending the day with her was linked to his stepfather's depression. Lynn realized that Chris must have loved the man like a real father or he would have left long ago. She watched Chris sleep, still curled up under the blankets, and thought about how much the world needed more kind hearts like Chris.

The phone rang, interrupting Lynn's thoughts. "Hello?" she answered on the first ring.

"Hello, Mrs. Harless? This is Lance."

"Lance, when are you going to learn to call me mom?" Lynn teased.

"Sorry," Lance replied. "What happened to Chris? I was watching the news and they said-"

"No, no, Chris is fine," Lynn corrected, realizing what Lance was thinking. "It's his stepfather. He killed himself last night."

"Oh my God. Is Chris okay?" Lance asked.

"Yes, I brought him here last night. He's still fast asleep."

"Well tell him he has my sympathy, and I guess I'll wait a little longer before coming over."

"I'll call you when he's ready," Lynn said. "Goodbye sweetie."

"Bye," Lance replied, then hung up.

Lynn hung up the cordless phone, wincing as it beeped. Chris stirred in his sleep, rolling over and nearly falling off the couch. Lynn stopped breathing and hoped she didn't wake him.

The phone rang again, scaring Lynn. Slowly Chris woke up, his eyes shinning brightly then quickly clouding over with memories. "Hello?" Lynn asked impatiently.

"Mrs. Harless? This is the Orlando Police Department."

"Oh. We'll be there shortly okay?"

"Yes mam. Sorry to bother you."

Lynn hung up the phone and smiled at Chris.

Chris rubbed his temples and looked around. "What time is it?" he asked groggily.

"It's ten fifteen," Lynn replied.

"It's that late?" Chris asked, bewildered. "I never sleep past nine!"

"There's a first time for everything," Lynn replied, getting up. "What do you want or breakfast?"

"I'm not really that hungry," Chris said, looking at the sheets that covered him.

Lynn shifted her weight, placing her hands on her hips. "Christopher, I may not know everything about you, but I do know that you're hypoglycemic and need to eat. Now don't give me that 'I'm not hungry' crap."

Chris stared at her with wide eyes. "Um, scrambled eggs sounds good."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was one 'o clock when Lynn returned from the police office with Chris. When they had first arrived, they were immediately sent to the coroner's office to identify the body. Lynn stood with Chris the whole time, though he remained strong. After returning to the police station and filling out paperwork, Lynn returned home with an exhausted Chris.

When they arrived home, Lance and Joey had already got there and were playing Nintendo with Justin and J.C. "Hey guys," Lynn greeted, interrupting their game.

"Good morning," the four echoed.

"How did it go?" J.C. asked.

"As well as expected," Lynn replied, hearing Chris sit down in the living room behind them. "He's kept everything in for so long, I imagine one wrong word and he'll fall apart. Just try to be gentle when you talk to him."

"Should we rehearse today?" Lance asked.

"I think so," Lynn smiled. "You guys can help him relax and forget about things for a while."

Lynn jumped when Chris came up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Ready to sing?" he asked, looking at the others.

The guys forced themselves to smile. "Sure am," Justin grinned, getting up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I thought she knew the world revolved around her,
My love light burns for her alone,
But she couldn't see the flame, only myself to blame,
I thought she knew…"

Chris added his voice to help finish the song and began furiously blinking back tears. The song had killed him with memories, announcing how he felt to the world, or at least the others in the room. True the song was written for a she, but the message remained the same.

Lynn realized Chris was on the verge of a breakdown and clapped as the boys ended the song. "All right then," she smiled, bringing all attention to herself. "Who wants lunch?"

In a flash, all five young men were in the kitchen, surrounding the table and waiting for food to magically appear in front of them. Lynn sighed and walked through their dust to the pantry.

"What do you want to eat?" she asked, smelling a box of graham crackers. In one brief noise, each of the guys had placed an order. "You know what?" Lynn replied, "I'm not your slave, you guys make your own lunch."

The new vocal group stared at each other. Seconds passed and no one made an effort to cook for themselves.

"Who wants to eat out?" Joey asked, already racing the others to his car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance sat opposite Chris at the round Hard Rock Café table. After studying the older man for a few moments, he asked, "So you're diabetic?"

Chris stopped eating in mid bite. "No. Why?"

"I thought hypoglycemia and diabetes were a package deal," Lance replied, keeping his green eyes focused on Chris to show that he was merely curious.

"It doesn't have to be," Chris said, going back to devouring his hamburger.

"It's not as common, but you can have it without being diabetic," Justin explained. "If he doesn't eat, his blood sugar drops and it can lead to anything from trembling to nausea to a coma." Justin caught all the disbelieving looks the others were throwing him. "What?" he shrugged. "Mom explained it to me."

Then Lance turned to Joey. "So where did you live before here?"

"I was born in Brooklyn and proud of it!" Joey beamed, working on J.C.'s french fries.

"What's with all the questions?" J.C. asked.

Lance looked like he had been caught doing unspeakable. "Nothing," he replied, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "Just want to know the people I'm going to be spending a great deal of time with."

Chris sat staring at Justin, who had contentedly gone back to eating. Noticing a pair of brown eyes watching his every move, Justin looked up and said, "What?"

"I was just wondering something," Chris said, luring Justin in to get more information.

"About?"

"Well, it's quite amazing actually," Chris continued, getting the attention of the others.

"What?" Justin asked impatiently as he continued eating.

"How come every time your hand gets close to your mouth, your mouth opens?" Chris grinned wildly. He barley had time to duck before a glob of ketchup caught him on the forehead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, I hope you boys had a nice lunch without me- Chris? Is that ketchup in your hair?"

"Yeah mom, can you believe it? I finally found a messier eater than me!" Justin laughed, using his height advantage to mess up Chris's hair.

"Don't touch me!" Chris yelled, pushing Justin into Joey.

"Hey, leave me out of this," Joey said, raising his hand in defense.

"What are we going to do now?" Chris asked. This was his typical question after he ate, and it usually got asked twenty times out of energy. Chris was practically ready to explode, and sitting around was not an option.

Lance quietly stood beside Lynn, a bit overwhelmed at Chris's sudden powerful energy rush. "Does he get like this every time he eats?"

"Unfortunately yes," Lynn smiled patting Lance's shoulder. She barely heard Lance's whispered 'Oh my God' before she started, "Guess what guys?"

Chris had disappeared but the other four young men looked at her expectantly.

"I set up an appointment for you to meet Lou Pearlman, one of the managers at BMG!"

"Really?

"All right!"

That's awesome!"

Lynn was proud of being able to produce such high emotions from them. She smiled as they bounced around with excitement, then ran to find Chris.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two days later

"Justin tuck your shirt in. Joey, please don't spike you hair today. Lance you're fine. J.C., good as always, Chris- Chris stop moving. What did you eat?"

Chris grinned sheepishly at Lynn. "Just a candy bar."

"Guys, this is very important. Look at how much effort you've put into this already, your dances, the costumes- Chris stop. You only get one chance to make a first impression- Chris don't. Mr. Pearlman can like you and sign you, or he can take one look at you and tell you to get out of his office- Chris, last warning."

"So basically we gotta do some ass kissin'," Joey stated.

Lynn glared at him. "Yes, in a sense."

"Would you knock it off?!" Justin yelled; finally fed up with Chris's fidgeting.

"Chris come here," Lynn sighed, pulling the older man over to the lobby water fountain. She dug through her purse and retrieved two pink pills, the handed them to Chris. "Take these," she ordered.

"What is it?" Chris asked, obeying her.

"It's just Sudafed. They'll calm you down. I can't have you driving Mr. Pearlman crazy."

"Okay," Chris shrugged. "There's always another day," he smiled, bouncing back to the others.

"Nsync?" the secretary asked, looking up.

"Right here!" Justin smiled.

The five young men moved as one to the secretary, and she motioned down the hall. "Mr. Pearlman will see you now."

"Good luck!" Lynn called, trying to ignore Joey's flirting with the secretary as they walked towards their potential future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay gentlemen, I'll be honest with you. "I've seen you sing and I like it. I like your songs a lot. You're fantastic performers."

A huge smile lit all their faces as Justin, Chris, Joey, Lance and J.C. all sat in front of the rather large Lou Pearlman. They were all nervous, and Chris's leg hadn't stopped bouncing since they sat down, which was beginning to irritate the hell out of Joey.

"So," Lou continued, "I have called my boss, Johnny Wright. He's in Germany right now, but I sent him a copy of your demo. We've decided to make you five our newest addition to the label."

"We're in?" Chris asked, speaking for all of them.

"You're in. Pack your bag boys, you're plane leaves tomorrow at nine."

"Leaving? For where?"

"Germany. Of course you'll need to sign these first," Lou said, dropping a stack of papers on his desk that resembled two dictionaries stacked on top of one another. The desk shook under the sudden weight, and Lou stuck out a plump hand and caught his pen before it rolled off his desk.

"Wait, Germany?" J.C. questioned.

Lou looked insulted. "Yeah, Germany. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"No, nothing wrong," Joey said, remembering his ass kissing tip. "I love Germany! Raise your hand if you love Germany!"

The others looked at Joey.

"Why can't we get popular in the US?" Lance asked.

"Shut up Lance, don't make the nice man pissed," Joey warned.

"It's okay," Lou half smiled. "Truthfully, it's because I just signed a 'boyband' called the Backstreet Boys. I put them together myself, and the label wants these guys to storm the nation and bring about the return of pop music. Once the Backstreet Boys fizzle out, we'll be ready to hit the nation with another group, this time well oiled and running smoothly."

"So we let them do the dirty work?" Chris asked.

"Well… they are your lablemates," Lou reasoned.

The guys grinned at each other, buying Lou's story. "Where do I sign?" Joey asked, picking up the first of the four-inch tall stack of papers.

"Wait," J.C. said, stopping Joey. "I mean, no offense or anything, but shouldn't we get someone to look over these first?"

Lou looked agitated as he took a bite of his powdered doughnut. "J.C., is it? I am on your side here. All these say is that you have a contract with us. You sing, we sell, everyone's happy. I mean seriously, what am I going to do, steal your group's name? You can make us very rich. We don't double cross good guys like you. And you are all good guys." Joey elbowed Chris out of excitement. "Except maybe you," Lou said, looking seriously at Joey.

"My mom has to come," Justin spoke up. "She has to be included in this."

"Hey," Lou smiled, finishing his doughnut. "I'm a flexible guy."

"No kidding," Chris mumbled, watching Lou's stomach jiggle.

"Whatever you guys want," Lou continued, oblivious to Chris's remark. "Just sign sing, then sit back and watch you popularity and back accounts grow."

"Hey, give me a pen. I'm signing, you're signing, we're all signing!" Joey said, already scribbling his signature on every blank he saw.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So how's it feel being celebrities?" Lynn asked.

"So far I feel the same," Chris replied.

"Really? Because you guys haven't stopped smiling since you left Lou's office."

"Can you believe we did it?" Joey exploded, slapping Lance on the shoulder.

"This is unreal," J.C. smiled.

"All I can say is, 'Germany, look out! Here we come!'" Justin grinned.

"Nothing can prepare a country for you guys," Lynn teased, looking at Joey, J.C., Lance and Chris crammed in the back seat of her van. "Guess those Sudafed worked," she noted, seeing Chris fast asleep with his head resting on the window.

"How can you sleep?" Joey said in Chris's ear.

Chris flinched and raised his eyelids with a great deal of effort. "What?" he mumbled, then closed then again.

"Never mind him," J.C. said, poking Joey. "Enjoy the peace while we can."

Chris raised a clenched fist towards J.C.'s voice. "Imagine a finger," he mumbled. "Boys," Lynn scolded. Then, "Who's hungry?"

The guys remembered their lesson. "Depends on who's cooking," Justin replied cautiously.

"McDonald's?" Lynn asked.

"I could eat," Joey spoke up, the others agreeing quickly.

"McDonald's it is," Lynn smiled, turning the corner.

"Thanks mom," the guys said together.

Lynn blushed and felt proud at the same time. She loved all of them as her own sons, and now she knew they held the same love and respect for her. "You guys are so sweet. I'm going to miss you when you're gone."

Justin glanced back at the others then said, "Guess what mom?"

"What?" Lynn replied, parking the van.

"You're coming with us!" Justin beamed.

"Are you serious?" she asked, studying her son's face.

"Dead."

"What…how did you…"

"Lou's really nice," Justin said. "I asked if you could come and he said yes."

"I guess we got really lucky today," Lynn smiled, kissing Justin on the forehead.

"Gross!" Joey teased, jumping over the still sleeping Chris.

"I'm outta here!" J.C. agreed, following Joey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lynn awoke the next morning with a smile. Then the hunger-inducing aroma of fresh, hot pancakes tickled her nose. Extremely confused almost worried, Lynn threw on a robe and headed to the kitchen.

There stood Chris, dressed only in boxers, trying desperately to scrape pancake batter off the pan. Justin stood at his side, coaching him on, while J.C. set the table.

"I hope this isn't because isn't because of the new recipe we tried last night," Lynn said, startling them. Two pair of blue eyes and one pair of emotional brown ones looked up at her.

"This is just a thank you," Chris said. "For everything."

Lynn noticed he looked slightly pale. "You didn't think I would let you live in that apartment by yourself did you?" she asked. "When I said you guys are welcome here anytime, I meant you too."

"Yeah," Justin smiled, slapping Chris on the hand. "We owe you a lot too. You're the one that started all this."

Chris looked to the plate in his hand and sighed. When his emotions were under control, he looked up again and smiled. "Let's eat," he said, motioning with a trembling hand.

J.C. was already waiting, trying to sleep out of his eyes. Justin and Lynn joined

him as Chris served everyone. Lynn watched as Chris shakily set down the plate in front of her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Chris smiled, grabbing his own plate and sitting down. "Just got a little too hungry. Nothing to worry about."

"You could have ate something," Lynn replied.

"Then it wouldn't be special. It's no big deal. You guys are gonna have to get used to it," Chris smiled.

He seemed convincing enough for Lynn. "Are you guys packed?" she asked, taking a bite of the hot pancake. The saltiness immediately assaulted her taste buds and she looked up to see Justin and J.C. watching her with a look of hope as they tried to hide their disgust.

"I'm ready," Chris replied, pouring syrup on his pancakes.

Lynn watched him as she swallowed the salty pancake. Chris continued to drown his plate with syrup, stopping only when he was tired of holding the bottle. "These are really good," Lynn lied politely, trying to stop J.C. and Justin from staring.

"Thanks," Chris replied. "I used to make these for my mom for special occasions."

"No wonder they sent him to Orlando," J.C. teased, whispered to Justin.

"I’m sure she was grateful," Lynn replied, watching Chris cut through the syrup and pancakes.

"Would you like a pancake with your syrup?" Justin teased.

"How about a spoon?" J.C. asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"One, two, three, four," Lynn counted. "Where's Joey?"

"Who knows," Chris sighed, beginning to feel the syrup invade his blood stream. "Let's just leave him here."

Lynn rolled her eyes and turned to see the familiar Acura park on the side on the side. Joey jumped out dragged out three duffel from the trunk, then ran to where Lynn was waiting.

"Sorry I'm late," Joey panted, throwing his bags at the others. "Last minute advice from my parents."

"I understand," Lynn smiled. "Get in."

Joey joined the others in the back seat of the van. Chris's skin was crawling with his usual energy, and J.C. and Lance were sitting calmly and observing. "Hey guys," Joey smiled, scratching his manly parts as he sat next to them.

"Didn't your parents tell you that scratching spreads rashes?" J.C. teased.

"Yeah but STD's are different," Chris smiled, ducking Joey's swing.

The ride to the airport was quiet, each person wondering what this new life would bring them. Joey announced that his brother Steven would soon join them and become the group's photographer. The half-hour ride was tense, but not uncomfortable. This was new territory for all of them, and naturally, they were a bit nervous underneath their excited smiles.

Lou met the guys at the airport. This was the first time they had seen Lou standing, and they noticed he didn't look any thinner. "Come on," he called, leading the group to the gate.

Lynn brought up the rear of the group, and she tried not to laugh as comments were made about the way Lou walked. Each guy had a duffel bag, which was tagged at the counter. It was then that Lynn noticed a large black man following them.

Lynn looked to the guys and saw that Lance was also watching the man wearily. Soon his uneasiness spread to the others, and they all glanced nervously over their shoulders as they made their way through the airport.

Lou led them on the plane, and they each took their first-class seats. As soon as Lou sat down, he struggled to retrieve his briefcase. "First order of business," he started, expecting the guys to be listening. When he got no reply, he looked up and found his new group whispering among themselves. "Gentlemen," Lou snapped, suddenly feeling incredibly old.

"Sorry," J.C. said, "It's just that there's this guy who's been following us-"

"Him?" Lou asked, pointing to the black man. "Gentlemen, this is your bodyguard. Call him Big Dog."

A relieved, slightly embarrassed smile spread over their faces. "Hey, sorry man," Chris smiled, reaching out to shake the man's hand.

Big Dog glared at Chris then broke out in a smile. "No problem," he said. "It's good to be weary of strangers."

"Okay guys, when we get to Germany, the first order of business is for you to meet Johnny Wright. Then we'll turn you loose in the studio and let you have at it while at the same time, we'll be doing promotions," Lou said, handing each of the guys and Lynn a schedule.

"How long is this flight?" Chris whined, becoming antsy already.

"We change planes in Portugal, then we have another five hour flight to Germany," Lou replied. "You'd know if you read your schedule."

Chris looked to Joey, who returned the hurt look. "But right now I'm tired," Lou said, putting away his briefcase. "So you guys leave me alone for a while."

The stewardess walked amongst the first class passengers, taking orders for drinks and food. She took the orders from the guys, and then handed out red and white mints. Dinner would be served later on, about half way through the flight.

Chris looked at J.C., who had already fallen asleep. Then he looked at Lance, who was trying to sleep. Smiling, he looked at Joey, who gave Chris a questioning stare. Joey recognized that demonic look. Chris was planning something.

Chris leaned forward so that he was right behind the sleeping Lou Pearlman. Joey sat beside him and wondered if he should stick around. Innocently, Chris ate the mint, then began casually playing with the wrapper right in Lou's ear. Chris tried to hold in the laughter from his own mischievous doings.

After a few seconds, Lou groaned and woke up. He snatched the wrapper from Chris's hands and returned his head to it's resting position against the seat.

Chris saw that Lynn was watching him and pretended to look hurt by Lou's actions. Lynn smiled and looked away, leaving Chris to continue bugging Lou. He then began crunching the mint with an open mouth. He smiled at Joey, who rolled his eyes and prayed Lou didn't get angry with the both of them.

Lou finally woke up irritated. He turned around and pushed Chris out of his seat as he said, "Chris, leave. Why don't you go visit the cockpit? Tell them it's your birthday."

Giggling, Chris got up and sat down next to Justin. Justin glared at Chris. "Don't you be doin' that stuff to me the whole time," Justin teased.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the insanely boring nine and a half-hour ride, the plane landed on the coast of Portugal. There was a three hour lay over, and all the guys were dead on their feet from both jet lag and trying to find things to do. They had been served on the plane, and the meal was about as good as airline food is. Now they trudged after Lou and Big Dog pulled up the rear. Once they arrived at the new gate, they took their seats. Lou was munching on a bag of chips he had pulled out of his briefcase, Big Dog was studying their surroundings, and Lynn was documenting the journey in a diary.

"I hope this isn't what life will be like from now on," Joey yawned, slouching in his seat.

"With any luck it will," Lou said.

"God…" Justin groaned.

Chris curled up, lying across three seats. "Goodnight," he yawned, looking a little paler than usual.

"Sweet dreams," J.C. teased. Then he poked Lance. "How ya doin'?"

"I'm fine," Lance smiled shyly. "A little tired I guess."

"I think that's a given," J.C. said. "So what's the first thing you're going to buy when we get rich?"

"I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it." Lance looked at the ground in concentration. "Maybe a car. A real car."

"Good choice," Justin said.

"You can't even drive," J.C. said. "What are you going to buy?"

"Whatever I want," Justin smiled.

"You gotta long way to go before you get really rich," Lou said. "Don't start daydreaming now."

The others looked at Lou, beginning to feel his intolerance for them. "I can't believe we're doing this," J.C. smiled. "This is a dream come true."

The others agreed, remembering how hard they had worked and how far they had come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Chris wake up!" Justin yelled, hitting Chris in the head as he walked by.

Chris jerked awake, sitting up and feeling his body crack from sleeping in such an odd position. "What?" he asked, looking around and getting his barring.

"It's time to go," Joey said as he walked past Chris.

Chris groaned, his body still protesting about the lack of sleep. His legs were numb and asleep, and he now had a kink in his neck. He felt like an old man. Chris dragged himself off the chairs and took a step after the others. Then he fell to the floor.

"Chris?" Lynn called, seeing the young man disappear behind the row of seats.

Chris picked himself up, wearing an embarrassed, bright red expression. He looked at Lynn sheepishly. "My leg is asleep," he explained, looking around to make sure no one saw him fall.

Lynn laughed as Chris limped towards her. "You're too much sometimes," she smiled.

"That's right, I know it," Chris grinned. "Are we there yet?"

"Almost," she said, wrapping her arm around him. "Aren't you having fun yet?"

"Oh, tons," Chris said, rolling his eyes. "More than words can express."

The two walked on the plane, taking their seats that were again, in first class. "What's wrong with you?" Joey asked, seeing Chris limp.

"Nothing," Chris replied. "My leg is asleep. You know the kind when every time you move it, there's that tingling, itching feeling."

Joey looked at him blankly. "You are too weird," he smiled, rolling his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four months later

"God these things hurt," Chris whined. "Whose idea was it for me to get braces in the first place?"

"Yours dumbass," Joey teased. "Same as your hair."

"What's wrong with my dreads?" Chris said, getting defensive.

"Nothing besides it looks like there's a mop on your head," Justin said as he walked by.

Chris pouted silently and waited to see how long it would take the guys to apologize.

"I'm so excited, can you believe it's been three months since we were in the states?" Justin said, throwing some clothes in a duffel bag.

"And look at how far we've come in three months," Joey replied. "We each need a body guard to go to the mall."

The guys had spent a few weeks in the recording studio, singing whatever was handed to them. Chris had even written a track for the record, which Lou agreed to after some heavy persuading. While they were recording, they attend photo shoots almost daily. Their first single, 'I Want You Back', blasted up the European charts, accompanied by interviews and TV appearances. All five of them were astonished at how quickly their fame grew. Before they knew it, just going shopping turned into a deadly free-for-all.

Nsync had even begun their first music video to accompany the single. Chris, Joey and especially Lance were not accustomed to having cameras all over the place and in their faces while they lip-synched to their own song as it was blasted through the set. Lou kept close to the boys, recording their every move and telling them what to do next and where. His above-all attitude hadn't changed, but the guys had grown used to it and tried to ignore it.

Lynn kept her eye out for the safety of her boys. While they were having the time of their lives, it was easy to overdo it. She was always there to make sure they had a time out every day where no one could bother them. Lynn was just as excited as the guys were to be going home for a short vacation. Nsync's tapes had not officially been released to the US, and the Backstreet Boys and Hanson still had full reign over the boyband phenomenon in the states.

"Come on guys," J.C. hollered as he leaned in Justin, Joey and Chris's room. "Mom's getting impatient!"

"Tell her we're coming as fast as we can," Justin said, grabbing his bag.

"I'll tell her, but if we miss the plane, I'm not standing up for you," J.C. smiled, then left the room.

Each of the guys had changed their appearances, and Chris's was probably the most dramatic. He had grown his hair out and added thick dreadlocks, and then just yesterday he made a long overdue appointment with the dentist for braces. He looked older while still keeping his playful appearance. Joey was letting his facial hair grow out, making him look incredibly older also. His curly brown hair was cut closer to his head and spiked outward with gel. Lance had cut his hair shorter and no longer parted it. He had bleached his hair and spiked it, turning him from a country boy to a fine looking young man. Justin's head of curls got trimmed up and highlighted, and to Lynn's uncertainty, he gained an earring. J.C. cut a good two inches off his wavy brown hair, and like Joey, he also spiked it with gel. All of the guys had become toned and shaped up thanks to their vigorous daily routine coupled with learning new dances for the 'I Want You Back' video. Each of them had found a groove, and they were comfortably riding it to stardom.

"Is everyone ready now?" Joey asked, looking around the room.

"I guess," Justin said, looking at Chris.

Chris kept silent and shot Joey and Justin dirty looks before gathering his bags and going out into the hall.

"What's your problem now?" Joey asked, following Chris down the hall.

"I'm not talking to you," Chris replied as he kept walking.

Joey looked at Justin. "Must be that time of the month," Justin whispered.

Chris whipped around, his dreads flying. "Don't talk about me!" he said, a little louder than necessary.

Joey smiled, trying not to laugh. Chris looked so much like a longhaired dog when he was mad. Chris was shorter than the others were, especially since the others had just gone through their growth spurts, leaving Chris at least an inch or two under them. With his long hair and pouting look, Joey couldn't help but laugh at him as he resisted the urge to tell Chris 'Good boy'.

"Chris man, we're sorry," Justin started.

"No. Forget it," Chris said, storming off. "Just leave me alone."

Justin and Joey continued following Chris downstairs to where the others were waiting. They had learned not to take Chris serious. He was never really mad at them; there was usually something else bothering him. And today it was his braces.

"Good morning Chris," Lynn smiled, seeing Chris come storming down the stairs. Chris smiled, trying not to show his braces. "Hi."

"You guys ready?" Lynn asked, making sure everyone was together.

"Let's go home!" Joey beamed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey guys, check this," Chris giggled. The others gathered around him as he opened a bag of cheese curls. "Joey, get your camera."

Joey grabbed his camera and watched as Chris delicately placed the rounded snacks in each of J.C.'s ears. The younger man never stirred, which only spurred Chris on. Next Chris grabbed the box of AppleJacks from Justin's hands and grabbed a handful. Carefully, Chris placed one on each of J.C.'s closed eyes and the tip of his nose.

Joey buried his laughter and began taking pictures as Chris added other forms of candy and food to J.C. face. "He is gonna kill you!" Joey laughed as Chris added a gummy worm.

"He's not gonna find out…yet," Chris smiled, waiting until Joey took another picture before beginning to remove the food.

"You are so bad," Lance grinned as he leaned over Chris's shoulder.

"That's right, I know it," Chris said. Once all the food had been removed from J.C.'s face, the others snuck back to their seats and attempted to fall asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't get it."

"Where are all the screaming girls?"

"Where are all the posters?"

"Are we dead?"

The guys looked around the abandoned airport gate. They had been preparing themselves for the swarming mass of girls that had always greeted them in Germany. Although it had taken time to get used to, now they were used to it and missed all the chaos.

"Well this kinda sucks," Justin said, walking through the airport without being pulled down by fans.

"I suppose we should treasure it while it lasts," Lance said.

"Yeah, because when we get famous here, no one will be safe!" Joey exclaimed.

"Where are we going first?" Chris asked.

"Don't you ever get tired?" J.C. asked, holding back a yawn.

"I wanna go skiing!" Joey said.

"Skiing?" Justin echoed.

"Ice," Joey smiled. "You know, cute little snow bunnies…"

"Figures," Lance teased.

"Well let's go then," J.C. said. "The sooner we go, the sooner we can go to sleep."

Lynn followed the guys out to the awaiting limo. While they had gotten used to all the extra services, they still had not become immune or ungrateful to it. Just last week when the limo got a flat tire, the guys had all offered to help fix it, surprising the driver. The guys still sang to the radio while they were being transported from one photo shoot to another. And they all still wore seat belts.

Once the guys were all on their way to Washington's closest Ski Resort, a thought hit Joey. "Hey guys," he said, poking Lance. "Guess whose birthday is coming up."

They all looked at Chris. "What?" Chris smiled.

Joey continued, "I was thinking-"

"Don't do that, we rather like that whistling wind effect you have," Justin laughed.

Chris began cracking up. "I like that one!" he said, giving Justin a high five.

"Thanks," Justin said. "I've been waiting all day to say that."

"Justin," Lynn warned.

Justin sobered and looked at Joey, who was pretending to cry. "I'm sorry," Justin muttered.

Joey immediately looked up. "Anyway," he continued, "What are we gonna do for the birthday boy?"

"Are you suppose to be talking about me when I'm here?" Chris asked.

"Why not? Memory loss comes with old age," J.C. smiled.

Chris's jaw dropped, getting even with the bottom of his braids. "Fine!" he huffed. "I quit! I'm packing my bags! Send me back to Germany where I'm loved!"

"Hey man," Lance said, placing a hand on Chris's shoulder. "Don’t worry about it. It's national Pick on Chris day, that's all."

"Haha," Chris said, rolling his eyes. "I'm hungry. What are we gonna do now?"

The others groaned at his question. "Will you shut up?" Joey teased. "I'll give you a hundred dollars if you can go one day without asking that."

"Really?" Chris asked.

"No."

"Oh," Chris sighed. "So what are we gonna do now?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, get a load of this."

"I didn't know J.C. could ski."

"I don’t think he can."

"This is gonna be good."

Chris, Lance, Justin and Joey watched as J.C. strapped on his skis. Then he clumsily proceeded to the ski lift, not noticing his small audience. The slopes were packed with people for the ski competition, and several people watched as the former Mouseketeer struggled in the ski lift.

"Twenty dollars says he lands on his ass," Joey said, sipping his mug of hot chocolate.

"I got twenty that says his face," Chris said.

"Anyone else care to place a bet?" Joey asked.

"I think I'll just enjoy the show," Justin said. Lance nodded in agreement. J.C. was all bundled up, making his movements limited. He walked crooked in the skis and lost his balance easily. When the ski lift dropped him off at the top of the slope, J.C. fell off and stumbled onto the snow. He waved at his group members, then took the first step towards the edge. An experienced skier flew past him, knocking J.C. off balance.

"Here he comes," Justin said.

"Yup."

J.C. tumbled down the hill, gaining speed and snow as he fell. Skis flew in all directions and poled went sailing as the mass of arms and legs continued their decent towards Justin, Lance, Chris and Joey. J.C. crashed into the rack of skis, then finally landed against the cabin with a thud.

He hurriedly tried to pick himself up, swaying from the dizziness. His face was bright red as he stumbled over to the others and sat down, shrinking as the professionals laughed at him.

"Have a nice trip?" Joey asked, taking a sip of his drink to his smile.

"We'll be seein ya next fall," Chris chimed in.

"Nobody saw that," J.C. warned.

"Well I guess I owe you some money," Joey sighed, leaning forward to retrieve his wallet.

"It's simple physics really," Chris smiled. "J.C. has always been top heavy."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Come on guys, he'll be here any minute!" Joey exclaimed.

"Who cares, he's a guy, he can see us half naked."

"No, I don't think he'll want to. Can't you please put on some clothes?" Joey asked.

"Fine," Justin sighed, getting up. It was eight thirty in the morning and all but Joey were still in their boxers. Steve was coming to the hotel today to start traveling with the guys, acting as their photographer. Transcon wanted a book published that included behind-the-scenes pictures, and the guys figured whom better to tag along then Joey's older brother.

"Thank you," Joey said, watching as the guys hopped into some pants. No sooner had they gotten their shirts on then the doorbell rang, signaling Steve's arrival. Joey ran to the door and opened it with a smile.

"Hey bro!" Steve smiled, giving his brother a quick hug. Steve looked a lot like Joey, except Steve didn't have the facial hair that Joey had so recently took an interest in keeping. Steve had a neater haircut and an overall sharper appearance, even though he was only a few years older than Joey.

"Steve, man, what's up?" Joey beamed, practically pulling Joey in the hotel room. The others had gathered around and greeted Steve, taking his bags for him.

"Oh, not nearly as much as what you guys have been up to," Steve replied, shaking each man's hand.

"What do you mean?" J.C. asked.

"Yeah, I can't tell anything new with us. We've always been pampered," Chris smiled.

"Still the same dorks I remember," Steve laughed. "I don't believe I've met you before, you must be Lance," he said, looking at Lance.

"Yeah, I don't know who these guys are, I just woke up in their hotel room," Lance teased.

"Nice meeting you man," Steve smiled, nodding at Lance. "Don't let these guys get to ya."

"So you got your camera and a butt-load of film?" Justin asked, starting to dig through Steve's bag.

"Sure do," he replied. "I don't want any of you to be breaking my camera though, you understand me?"

"I think that was an insult," J.C. said, elbowing Lance.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Steve asked, taking Joey's offered seat on the couch.

Chris and Joey sat on either side of Steve as Lance began, "Actually, you're suppose photograph us in natural settings, doing stupid guy stuff."

"Well that won't be hard," Steve smiled. He got a whiff of Joey and Chris's cologne. "Well at least you guys don't smell like a piece of shit anymore. I guess something good can come out of this."

"Hey, I liked my smell," Justin said.

"I don't believe I've met you before either. Who are you?"

"You don't know who I am?" Justin gasped. "YOU don't know who I am? I am the future sex symbol of the world! I am Justin Timberlake!"

"You're gonna have to grow up first," J.C. said, picking at Justin's neat blonde curls.

"Yeah, and you might want to turn legal while you're at it," Chris added.

"Legal for what?" Justin asked.

"Oh my God," Chris laughed. "Never mind."

"Speaking of legal," Steve started, picking up a braid and searching through Chris's scalp. "What the hell is growing on your head? Isn't Africa's conservation department missing this?"

Chris stopped laughing and looked at Steve. "Hey, leave my dreads alone," Chris pouted, pulling the braid out of Steve's hand. "I'm starting a new trend."

"You look like a little shaggy dog," Steve laughed. "I like the braces though."

"Thank you," Chris mumbled, moving away from Steve slightly.

"So you wanna go get something to eat? Then we can walk around somewhere and let Steve do his stuff." J.C. suggested.

"I forget how to act normal," Justin said. "It's been so long since I could look at a camera with out being told to look happy."

"I bet you can remember," Steve said. "Let me just get one shot before we leave. Kinda like a 'this is Nsync totally unprepared' look. Okay?"

Joey pushed Steve off the couch and pulled Justin down in his place. "OK." Lance and J.C. got behind the couch as Steve got his camera. "Okay," Steve mumbled, adjusting the camera. "You ready?"

"Shoot," Justin said.

"Okay, smile…Chris, smile."

"No."

"Why not?" Steve asked, camera still in position.

"Because."

"Why? Is it about the hair? I'm sorry, I was just teasing you-"

"It's not that," Chris smiled. "I don’t want to sit by Justin."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 17th

Chris rolled over in his bed and groaned. The alarm clock began it's annoying buzzer sound, making Chris wince. He hated those kinds of alarm clocks. To him it was like nails on a blackboard. He raised a hand to his head, rubbing his temple. "I should not have stayed out that late," he said to himself as he sat up. His dreads hung down in his eyes, completely covering his head. His stomach rumbled, signaling the start of the countdown of time for him to get breakfast.

Chris started to get out of bed and found his legs tangled in the sheets as he fell over the edge, hitting the floor. "Thank God I wasn't in the bus," he mumbled, loosening the sheets from around his ankles. Chris stopped for a minute, contemplating going back to sleep right there on the floor. But his stomach protested and Chris rose to his feet, stretching and loosening up his joints.

Chris worked his jaw in circles as he found a pair of silver Adidas pants and pulled them on over his boxers. He searched for a shirt but didn't find one he felt like wearing. "Who cares, I'll just go down like this," he said, shrugging to himself. Then he remembered the 'No shirt, No shoes' rule and resumed his search, finally ending up with a T-shirt. "Talk about dress down," he mumbled, walking to the door.

Chris checked his dreads in the mirror, then pulled open the door. Joey lunged for him, knocking Chris to the floor with a scream of surprise. The others stood in the hallway, laughing as Joey tackled Chris to the floor, pinning him down. Steve was in front of them, taking pictures.

"What the hell are you doing?" Chris laughed, looking up at Joey's grinning face.

"That was your birthday surprise," Joey said, getting up off of Chris.

Chris remained on the floor, his dreadlocks fanned out around his head. "I think you broke something," he teased.

"Broke? Hell he just flattened you," J.C. said, stepping forward and giving Chris a hand up.

"What is all of this?" Chris asked, brushing himself off.

"I just told you, it's your birthday," Joey said.

"Happy birthday!" the guys echoed.

"Thanks guys," Chris smiled, showing his braces. "It's been forever since I celebrated my birthday."

"You came to my house last year," Joey said.

"Exactly," Chris smiled.

"Well let's go get some breakfast and we'll decide what to do to celebrate," J.C. said.

"Sounds like a plan," Chris smiled, following the others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mrs. Harless?"

"Yes?" Lynn groaned, getting out of bed.

"We've had several reports on your party being too loud down in the restaurant. Could you please get them under control?"

Lynn sighed. "I'll be right there."

"Thank you. Sorry to bother you."

"No problem," Lynn said, hanging up with the secretary. "I'm going to kill them," she muttered. Then she looked at the calendar and remembered what day it was. A smile crossed her face as she remembered how excited Chris had been when the others had been talking about how they were going to celebrate. Joey had mentioned that last year Chris spent his birthday at his house and Lynn felt a pang of sympathy for Chris. He had grown up in the tail end of some really tough times, and obviously Beverly had gotten in a tough spot after Chris's father died. Chris never talked about his childhood openly, and Lynn never asked.

Lynn headed out into the hallway when the phone rang. She sighed and headed back in, grabbing the phone on its fourth ring. "Hello?" she asked.

"Hello, Lynn? This is Lou."

"Oh, hi Lou," Lynn said, rolling her eyes as she sat down.

"Listen, I hate to do this to you on Joey's birthday, but I'm gonna need you guys to come back to Germany."

"Today?" Lynn asked.

"Yeah. Is that okay?"

"I guess," Lynn said, knowing there was no other choice. "When do we leave?"

"Six tonight."

"Oh, we have an overnight flight? Won't this be fun."

"I'm sorry, it's the best I could do with your budget."

"Okay, I'll tell them. And I'll wish CHRIS a happy birthday for you."

"Thanks, and I'll see you guys soon."

Lynn hung up the phone somewhat disappointed. She didn't understand Lou's comment about the budget. The guys had been selling non-stop since they arrived in Germany, yet they were still tight on money. "Oh well," she sighed. "Guess that's why I'm not the manager anymore." She felt bad for Chris, knowing any plans the guys had made would now have to be canceled.

Lynn headed back outside and went down to the restaurant. Before she walked in, she could hear the guys goofing off. Lynn ducked her head as she walked to their table. "Guys, I'm getting nasty phone calls. Do you think you could be more quiet?"

"Sorry," they apologized, immediately dropping their voices.

"It's okay. Happy birthday Chris," Lynn smiled, patting Chris on the head like she knew he hated.

"Thanks," Chris replied, tolerating Lynn's touch. "W were trying to decide what to do tonight."

"About that," Lynn started, sighing as she pulled up a chair and sat next to them. "Lou just called me."

"He remembered my birthday?" Chris asked, surprised.

"Yeah, that too, but he called to tell us that we have to fly back to Germany tonight."

Everyone's faces fell. "What time?" Joey asked, sounding incredibly hurt by the news.

"Six."

The guys sighed and leaned back in their chairs. "Well this sucks," Justin said.

"Hey look Chris, I'm sorry about this," J.C. started.

"It's okay," Chris interrupted. "No big deal. It's just my birthday right? I'll have plenty more."

Steve looked at the others, knowing they had to do something anyway. They would not let a birthday just slip by as they flew to another country.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are we there yet?" Chris whined.

"No."

"It's only been two minutes since you last asked," Lance said, looking at his watch.

"Oh," Chris sighed, closing his eyes. Sleeping was about all they could do on these long flights, but there was only so long that you could sleep before all that renewed energy caught up with you. And it had caught up with Chris. About an hour ago.

Joey and Steve were sitting behind Chris and Lance. They whispered ideas to each other on how to celebrate Chris's birthday mid-flight. So far their ideas involved a cake that held a striper in it's depths, arranging a fireworks display by cell phone to go off in the middle of the ocean, and using tape and peanuts to construct a non-edible cake. Needless to say, all the ideas were scratched.

"Hey," Lynn whispered, catching the attention of Steve, Lance, Joey, Justin and J.C.

"Is for horses," Lance smiled.

"Look what I got," Lynn smiled, opening her purse.

Inside was a small stack of party hats and streamers. "Where did you get those?" Joey asked.

"I bought them at a souvenir shop before we left. I'm surprised you guys didn't miss me."

"Cool!" Justin whispered. "It may not be much, but we can make it work."

"You guys can still make it special for him," Lynn smiled as the guys each took a hat. "He's not picky."

Joey leaned forward over the seat and quickly placed the little cardboard hat on Chris's head. "Happy birthday!" he yelled.

Chris jumped and looked up into Joey's brown eyes. "What are you doing?" he asked, looking at the others with a half-smile.

"We're celebrating your birthday," J.C. said. "Or has your old age made you blind also?"

Chris stuck out his tongue at J.C. "Where did you guys get all this?" he asked.

"Mom got it for us," Justin smiled, watching Chris light up with happiness.

"You guys ready?" Joey asked, looking at the others. When the others nodded, Joey began snapping his fingers and the others joined. They surrounded Chris and began singing their hyped up version of 'Happy Birthday'.

Lynn watched Chris with happiness. The young man looked like he could cry at the other's voices. This was all it took to make Chris happy, and although there were no presents, he truly appreciated having his friends there to make it special.

Steve listened to the guys sing and realized again how good they sounded. He had faith that their sound would take them to the top, and he would be there to photograph all of it. As the guys finished the song, he snapped a picture. This was gonna be one hell of an emotional book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay guys, twenty minutes until show time!"

The members of Nsync nodded at the stagehand and continued signing autographs. They had all agreed to hold a meet and greet before every show, in which forty of fifty of their fans could come back stage and get autographs and pictures. It helped the guys get to know their fans, and the girls loved it. The guys got direct feedback on their songs and were able to tell what sound the fans were into the most.

They were lined up at a long folding table, passing posters to one another. They would scribble their autograph and some kind of little note; them usually look up long enough for the girls to get a close-up picture. The girls remained surprisingly calm despite all of Lou's warnings against for meet and greets. Before the guys went on stage, they would even pose with some of the girls. Joey loved letting several girls hang on him at once, while Lance liked talking to each girl individually. Justin usually held most of the attention, but during these close times, everyone felt loved.

Joey finished signing his last poster and got up, shaking the kinks out of his hand. The concert had him excited, and the energy from the other guys and the fans was overwhelming. He spotted a young lady with a camera a few feet away and called to her. "Hey, watch this!" he grinned.

Joey was feeling incredibly restless and walked behind the other guys until he was standing behind J.C. Chris was the next to finish signing, and he got up and watched Joey as he rubbed his hand. Joey looked at the girl before turning towards Chris. Then he turned around suddenly and started to kick over J.C.'s oblivious head.

"Joey!" Chris yelled, seeing Joey's foot about to connect with J.C.'s head. Joey raised his foot just in the nick of time, narrowly missing J.C.'s head. He started hopping backwards on one foot, have lost his balance completely. His hands flew out in attempt to save himself, but it was to late. The girl snapped the picture just as Joey fell backwards, landing flat on his ass.

Chris began cracking up, holding a hand to his mouth and doubling over. The others looked around, not understanding what was so funny. Lance had finished autographing his items and got up, then he saw Joey scrambling to get off the floor.

"What happened to you?" he asked, smiling as he held out his hand for Joey.

"Nothing," Joey said, glaring at Chris. "Nothing happened."

"Oh my God…" Chris laughed, his face red. He recognized Joey's serious face and decided to walk away before he got his ass kicked.

"Okay girls, the meet and greet is now over!" The concert choreographer walked into the room, clapping his hands. "If you'll all follow Mr. Chiesa outside, he'll show you how to get to your seats."

There was one simultaneous groan from the girls as they slowly filed out into the hall. Chris was trying desperately to stop laughing, only because he could no longer breathe. Joey's face had turned red with embarrassment. "What did I miss?" J.C. asked.

"It must have been something good," Lance replied, smiling as he watched Chris.

"Where is everyone?" Joey asked. "Let's get our circle."

The guys walked out in the hall and rounded up all the stagehands and workers that were behind the scenes for the concert. They formed a circle in the hallway and held hands as they bowed their heads. Right before every concert, they had vowed to have a prayer circle to thank God for all their good fortune and luck in life. It helped draw everyone closer together and put an end to any fights that might have been going on. Lance had started the idea, but all the other guys thought it was necessary to voice their thankfulness for making it so far.

When the prayer was done, all the workers went back to their stations for last minute check ups. Justin then pulled out a Hackey sack, a small ball filled with beans or beads. The five had also come up with the tradition of playing a quick game of Hackey sack before each concert as a way of calming their nerves. This was only their third major concert, and the tension was still making them all sick. The object of their game was to have everyone kick the ball to someone else. The games usually took five minutes, due to the fact that they all sucked.

"Okay Joey, think you got the hang of it now?" Justin smiled, remembering how last time Joey almost caused them to be late.

Joey looked at Justin. "Yes, I think I got the hang of it," he mocked.

"Chill," Justin laughed. "I'm just playing with ya."

A smile crossed Joey's face. "I know."

Justin threw the ball in the air and kicked it successfully to J.C. J.C. jumped to his left, just barely catching the ball on the side of his foot. He hoped on the other foot as the ball went sailing away from him, towards Joey.

Joey brought his foot up and hit the ball with his toe, sending it straight up. After repositioning himself, he kicked the ball again, sending it towards Lance. The others smiled, realizing they were almost done. Lance caught the ball with his knee and let it roll down to his toe. With a jerk, he sent the ball to Chris.

The others watched hopefully as Chris watched the ball intently. Luckily this time he was wearing a bandanna and it kept the thick dreads out of his face so he could clearly see the ball. The ball hit him in the stomach and bounced off, but Chris brought up his knee and sent the ball straight up. Everyone held their breath as they watched the older man bring the side of his foot up to his waist, connecting successfully with the ball.

"Praise the Lord!" Justin exclaimed, catching the ball. "That is the first time we've ever gotten it on the first time!"

They all smiled and congratulated each other, then started heading for the stage. The screams were deafening already and shrill with anticipation. Each of the guys grabbed their in-ear monitor and made sure everything worked, then started the countdown. Their entrance wasn't fancy because they were still promoting themselves and according to Lou, they didn't yet have the money.

"Here goes nothing," J.C. smiled, turning to Chris.

Chris smiled back, not sure what J.C. had just said. His eyes wandered down J.C.'s body and landed on a white spot on J.C.'s crotch. J.C. continued fixing his in-ear monitor, smiling politely at Chris. Chris kept his gaze focused on the spot, then when J.C. shifted his weight, the spot moved, becoming three-dimensional.

Chris exploded into laugher and his infectious laughter rang out through the arena. J.C.'s eyes grew wide and he stepped forward, covering Chris's mouth. The screams doubled in volume as the others looked at Chris as if he had gone insane.

Joey covered the microphone and whispered in J.C.'s ear, "What the hell is wrong with him?"

J.C. shrugged and mouthed, 'I don't know.'

Chris put his own hand over his mouth as he turned away from J.C. He desperately waved his free hand, trying to shake out his laughter.

"We have to go on now," J.C. shrugged, turning to face the stage.

Joey spotted J.C. white boxers shining brightly through his open fly. They stood out against his dark pants, and he wondered why he hadn't noticed it before. Now that he knew why Chris was laughing it was hard to contain his own laughter. He looked at Justin, who was watching him curiously. Joey moved behind J.C. and unzipped his own fly then quickly zipped it back up as he pointed to J.C.

Justin moved in front of J.C. and casually looked at J.C.'s bulge. A huge smile lit up his face and he motioned to Lance.

Lance noticed and laughed to himself as J.C. held up a hand, signaling the five-second countdown. Justin looked back at Chris, who was still practicing his breathing exercises. He went over and grabbed Chris's shoulder, dragging the older man on stage after the others.

J.C. ran out first, followed by Joey, Lance, Justin, and then Chris. He ran to the front of the stage and stopped, holding up both arms and looking out into the crowd. Immediately the first and second rows burst into laughter, but J.C. didn't notice it over the screams.

The concert proceeded and J.C. remained clue-less. Every time he looked at one of the others, they flashed him a bright smile. 'They sure are in a good mood,' J.C. thought.

The concert was about half over when it was time for the guys to introduce their band. Joey introduced the drummer, Lance announced the bass guitar player, Justin the keyboard player, Chris the second guitarist, and J.C. introduced the lead guitarist. When he was done, the man grabbed J.C. before he could run back down on the stage. He pointed to down, and J.C. looked at him for a minute before realization hit. He looked down and gasped, then took off for backstage yelling, "Costume change!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't believe you four let me make a complete ass of myself," J.C. scolded as he paced in front of the others. "That was so not cool. What did I ever do to you?"

"You were born," Chris smiled, letting J.C. know he was playing.

"I'm sorry J.C.," Lance spoke up. "That was completely childish of me and I beg your forgiveness."

J.C. would have laughed, but Lance was serious. "It's okay," he mumbled. "Actually, don't you think you were making a dick of yourself?" Joey laughed, sending Chris into another laughing fit.

J.C. glared at them, and Joey recognized the insane look that shone in his friend's eye. Before J.C. could advance any further, the door to their dressing room opened. Lynn stepped in, followed by Steve and Lou.

Joey looked up and smiled his charming Italian smile. "Why gentlemen, and mom, to what do we owe this pleasure?"

Lou stepped forward, chicken leg in hand. "Listen up boys, I might have a break through performance lined up for you."

"Really?" Chris asked, trying not to mock Lou too much. "And what would that be?"

"I want you to meet someone first," Lou smiled, stepping aside.

The guys looked questioningly at Lynn. She offered a half smile and stepped in front of them, as if getting ready to hold them back from something. The guys looked to the empty hallway curiously. Whatever Lou's great idea was, they had the feeling they wouldn't like it.

"Hey Lou, what's the big-" AJ froze in his footsteps when he saw Nsync. The rest of his group rounded the corner after him, walking into him before they realized he had stopped.

"This is our surprise?" Chris asked, standing up. Joey and Justin immediately flanked him.

"Now that we're all together," Lou smiled, "I would like to formally introduce each of you. AJ, Nick, Brian, Kevin and Howie, meet Chris, Justin, Joey, J.C. and Lance. Nsync meets the Backstreet Boys for the first time. What do you guys think?"

The two groups looked each other over with a critical eye and raised eyebrow. "Gross," Chris finally said.

"Hey, who do you think you are, copying my hairstyle?" AJ asked. "The dreads went out a long time ago by the way," he said, looking at Chris.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you had copyrighted this hairstyle," Chris replied, taking a step towards AJ. "And your dreads only went out of style because there was too much lice."

"Oh haha," AJ sneered. "Aren't you a funny old man."

"Who you callin' old man?" Chris threatened. "Look at yourself. What was your previous job, a male stripper?"

"Gentlemen," Lou said, clearing his throat. "I thought you ten could get along, but obviously I was mistaken."

Lynn stood by shaking her head. Steve hid his face in his hand.

"Obviously," Joey huffed.

Howie stepped forward and smiled at Chris. "So how you been?" he asked.

Chris glared at him. "Don't give me that 'how you been' crap. You knew I wanted to start a group for years. How could you take my dream right out from underneath me and not even have the decency to call and ask if I wanted to join? That is about the lowest thing I've ever seen. You just have to be better than me don't you? You just have to take my dreams and-"

"Down boy," Joey said, placing a hand on Chris's shoulder.

Howie melted back in with his group. Nick had started eyeing Justin while AJ was still glaring at Chris.

A thick tension filled the air. Finally Lou spoke up. "Uh, well, now that you've met each other, you're free to mingle."

"Like I would actually get within three feet of them," Justin huffed.

"You wanna come over here and say that?" Nick challenged.

J.C. and Lance remained quiet and smiled politely at Kevin and Brian. The four nodded at each other, signaling friendship.

"Can you get them out of our dressing room please?" Joey asked. "I will call security if I have to."

"Gladly," AJ huffed, leading the rest of the Boys out into the hall.

Everyone looked at Lou. "Well that went rather smoothly," he smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't believe you actually changed your hair just because of that dick," Joey said, playing with Chris's new braids.

"I'm not going to let him think he started anything," Chris pouted. "Besides, I kinda like the braids better. I just wish I didn't take eight hours to do."

Joey studied Chris's braids. Some of the braids were white, and they were all pulled up on top of his head so they were sticking out in every direction. "At least you don't look like a dog anymore," he commented.

"Yeah, now he looks like a pineapple," Justin laughed.

"Why are we flying back to Orlando?" Chris asked, ignoring Justin as he bounced his leg restlessly.

"I got a surprise for you," Lou said, munching on a bag of chips.

"'Are we getting fired for what we said to the Backdoor Boys?" Justin asked.

"That's it isn't it," J.C. asked. Then he glared at Justin, Joey and Chris. "Good job you assholes, you went and got us fired."

"No one is getting fired," Lou said.

"This is one long ass flight, and I would kinda like to know why I'm sitting in this plane for the fourth time this month," Chris said.

"Fine," Lou sighed. He was interrupted by the captain's landing announcement. Then he continued, "You all caught a break at the Backstreet Boy's fault."

"Cool!" Joey exclaimed. "What do that mean?"

"It means that they were suppose to do a televised concert for the Disney Channel, but at the last minute, Johnny decided to have them cancel. So guess who our replacement is?"

"You mean this is out first concert in the US and it's televised?" Chris gasped.

"Yes," Lou said. He finished his bag of chips and looked for some place to wipe his hands. "It is VERY important that you don't stink tonight. I want all flies zipped, and no fancy stuff. You will get laughed at by every teenage girl in America if you fall on you ass tonight."

The guys smiled and looked at each other. "Oh my God," Lance smiled. "This is it! This is what we've been waiting for!"

They gave each other a high five and laughed with sheer joy. "I can't believe it," Chris said, looking at Lou. "This is what I've always dreamed of, what we've always dreamed of. Thank you so much!"

"Don't thank me," Lou mumbled. "Thank your arch enemies."

"I'll send them a fruit basket," Joey said quickly before messing up Chris's braids. "This is so cool. Chris, I could kiss you."

"Please restrain yourself," Chris replied sarcastically.

"Congratulations," Lynn smiled. "I'm so proud of you boys. After all your hard work, it's finally happening. I couldn't be happier."

"Thanks," the guys echoed. They noticed she was starting to cry and Justin got up and sat next to her right before the plane touched down.

"You okay?" he asked, giving her a hug.

"I'm fine," Lynn replied, sniffing. "My boys have finally made it. No mom could be prouder."

The guys couldn't help but smile as the ground whizzed past them. The runway was now familiar, and the guys smiled at the bright sunny day that welcomed them.

"Hey look at this," Joey laughed, pointing out the window.

The others crowded around to see what Joey had found. Off in the distance, outside the airport fence, a rather large crowd of girls had gathered. Several signs were held up, and as the plane pulled into the gate, the girls moved closer. They laughed as they read the signs, some of which stated, 'Nsync is hot!' and 'I love you Nsync!' There was even one 'Welcome back Nsync!'

Joey looked over his shoulder at the others. "Welcome home guys. Doesn't look like we're going back to Germany anytime soon."

And the rest, they say, is history.

Finished!

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