It had been a hectic few months. The guys have been tremendously busy with their new album and getting ready for tour. The girls were managing back at home in Orlando living their everyday lives again. Everyone was pretty much back to the same routine. It was nearing the end of the school year and Shelley and Kristina were busy getting the finishing touches on their senior projects finished. Julie was working, as was Audrey. There just wasn’t the time they wanted to spend a good couple of hours with each other. It was the last Friday of the month and the girls would soon be having a late spring break. No one at school really minded because the original week for spring break was cancelled so they could get testing over with. So it was scheduled again for the first week of May. Kristina and Shelley didn’t really mind but then absolutely regretted the idea once they found out the guys would start touring that week.
“Oh, c’mon. We’ll see them again. It’s only a matter of time.” Audrey said.
“Do you remember the last time we saw them? It was in March. MARCH, that was a month ago…maybe even more. I miss them Aud, I really do.” Kristina said. “I wish we just had more time with them…with JC.”
“I know what you mean. I miss Justin terribly.” Shelley added in. Julie was busy trying to get the week off and was doing so in her room.
“And you don’t think I miss Chris? I do. A lot! But we have to let them do this. It’s not up to us. They are bring us on tour once school ends so don’t worry.”
“Audrey!” Shelley and Kristina yelled. “That’s in a month and a half. I can barely talk phone conversations… e-mails don’t help as much either. I want to see them; I want to be able to have JC in my arms! Don’t you get it?”
“I know, babe, I know.” She said taking Kristina in her arms. Julie walked out with a smile on her face.
“I got the week off.” She said happily.
“Julie, this isn’t the time or the place.” Kristina snapped.
“Geez, school not treating you well?” She asked.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you. I’m just frustrated that’s all. I never really thought about how life would be like when you’re the girlfriend of someone like JC, or even Justin and Chris. I mean yeah, as friends, I didn’t mind, as much, because ya know, we’re just friends. Now…now it’s different.”
“We know what you mean.” Audrey and Shelley said. “Don’t worry about the time, it’ll go by faster. We need to be ourselves again. This will pass don’t worry. If it makes you feel any better, they are in the same city as we are and it’s not that hard to find them.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think we should butt in. I know it sounds crazy coming from me, but think about it guys.” Kristina got up and walked to the phone. “What are you doing?” Audrey asked.
“Calling JC.”
“Again?”
“What do you mean AGAIN? You’re the one on the phone with CHRIS…EVERYDAY.” She said. “I can’t even call you at work because Joan keeps telling me you’re on the phone with someone, and gee who could that someone be?” Audrey smiled and let Kristina call up JC. She walked into her room and shut the door behind her.
“Hello?” JC asked into his cell phone.
“Hey…” She said, her voice trailing off at the sound of his voice.
“Hi, Kris. How are you? Gosh, I haven’t talked to you in SO long…I’m sorry. It’s just that with tour rehearsals, it’s crazy...”
“No, don’t apologize, I understand.” She smiled once she heard the others guys yelling their hello’s from the background.
“So…how are things going?”
“Good, I guess. I miss you…”
“I miss you too.” He said sweetly. “How was your spring break?”
“Well actually, I wouldn’t know yet.” She said laughing.
“What? Don’t school’s usually have them in April?”
“Yeah, but our school changed it a bit and now we are having it this next week. Today was our last day.”
“Oh…” His voice trailed off and all she could hear was the music playing behind him. He thought about asking her and the girls to stay with them but Kristina beat him to a new topic.
“Yep…So, any plans for Lance’s birthday?”
“Oh goodness, no! It’s Hell Week and we are going to be SO exhausted to do anything. We’ll probably throw him a little something maybe that Saturday at Justin’s, we just really have to concentrate on the tour. You’re coming out too see it right?”
“Yep. We got the tickets and passes and everything a couple weeks ago. We’re all excited!” She said.
“Good, you should see the list…its going to be a blast. Yeah okay…look I have to get going. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
Kristina sighed heavily into the phone. “Okay. Tell them we all said hello.”
“Will do, bye hun. Take care.”
“I will, always. Bye.” They hung up with each other and Kristina slowly made her way back into the living room. She sat on the couch and sank down hugging one of the pillows close to her body.
“Now was is that hard?” Audrey asked.
“Actually it was.” She said, facing Audrey. “Sometimes I wonder what it must be like for their families. Must be even tougher.”
“Yeah…well let’s not think about that…we’ve got so a party to plan.” Julie said referring to Shelley’s 18th birthday, the day before the guys start their tour.
The girls spent the majority of their spring break at the theme parks. Audrey was still hard at work making her keep in life. Almost every night that week Audrey, Shelley, or Kristina would be on the phone with their guy. Julie would be off somewhere talking to someone. The girls had assumed was Lance. They noticed how close the two got since after Valentine’s. She would change the subject immediately when they asked about their “closeness.” The guys did throw Lance a party for his birthday. The surprise came later on that night.
“Again, happy birthday Lance. Sorry it’s only us. We know you wanted to go home this weekend but our schedule was tight.” JC said.
“Yeah I know. Thanks though. This is great.” He said, looking around at Justin’s new house. He hadn’t had the time to do much to it, but it was livable.
“Anytime man. Hey, I know. How about I call the girls? They would love to be here.” Justin said.
“Great idea… Why didn’t I think of that earlier?” Chris asked himself.
“Maybe because we were all too exhausted to think straight. I mean c’mon, we forgot Joey at the compound.” Lance said laughing. “Again, we’re sorry about that, Joe.”
“That’s cool. I would have forgot about me too.” He said. Justin was about to start dialing up Audrey’s number when the front door’s locks started to unlock themselves. The guys heard giggling and shushing going on behind the other side of the door. The guys were just about ready to mob who ever came through that front door. The door finally opened and Audrey, Kristina, Shelley, and Julie all toppled into the house falling on Justin’s welcome home mat. They were laughing so hard to even begin to notice the five guys hovering over them. They finally got up and composed themselves.
“Happy Birthday Lance!” they yelled. They shared another good laughed and hugged each of the guys.
“Glad you’re all here!” Lance said walking over to the couches. “What all made you decide to grace us with your presence?”
“Um…we don’t know. We just kind of got this gut feeling to come over. Kristina mentioned something about being here and so we drove over. We took her set of keys and made ourselves an entrance.” Julie said, walking over to Lance and forcing a spot between the already packed couch. Everyone who sat on the couch shifted and that caused Julie to fall and sit on Lance’s lap. She looked at him and tried to smile. It was all too awkward.
“I guess.” Joey said laughing. They all presumed to talking. Everyone was busy talking to someone to notice the time going by. It was almost about nine o’clock and the girls were there at around seven thirty.
“Yeah, and Justin…” Audrey began.
“Yep, what?” He asked. He was too busy looking over at Shelley and catching up with her.
“I think we’ll take you up on that offer…ya know about staying here while you’re on tour.”
“You’re serious?” He asked.
“Yes. We talked about it last night, and we could really use the room this summer. I mean, if the offer still stands.”
“Of course it does. By all means, move in this weekend if you have to.” He said excitedly.
“Well, not so fast…we’ll be moving in eventually…give us a few weeks to get the addresses changed and stuff like that.”
“Sure, whatever you have to do, do it. I guess it’s okay for you guys to pick your rooms now, since you’re here.”
Kristina, Shelley, and Julie all looked at each other. Evil grins appeared on each of their faces. They started to argue on who should go upstairs first. After about five minutes they all ran upstairs looking for the room they’d soon call there own. The guys and Audrey laughed as they watched the girls run upstairs. Chris took Audrey in his arms and snuggled into her neck inhaling her sweet perfume. He looked down and saw that she was wearing the bracelet he gave her for Valentine’s day. He smiled and kissed her.
“I missed you so much, Aud.” Chris whispered into her ear.
“I missed you also. It’s hard not seeing you as often. I mean even seeing you on TV doesn’t help at all. Gosh, I don’t remember the last time we sat like this together…I can’t believe…”
“I love you.” He interrupted her rambling, entwining their hands together.
“I love you, Chris.” She said turning her head to kiss him. He ran his hand over the bracelet and smiled. “I love this Chris. I wear it everyday to work. It reminds me so much of you.” Chris smiled and sighed. The girls came back into the living room and sat down with the guys. Kristina sat on JC’s lap and kissed him innocently.
“Find your room?” He asked as she pulled away from the kiss.
“YES, she DID!” Julie and Shelley both snapped.
“Let me guess, she took the room you both wanted.” Justin said. “The one with the balcony.”
“YES.” They said in unison. “But that’s okay. I got the one with the bathroom. It’s a whole lot bigger.” Shelley mentioned.
“Yep, and I got the BIG closet in my room. Good enough for me.” Julie said. “And, it’s the one way in the back where no one can hear you...” She said smiling, looking over at Lance. Lance looked at her and got an evil look in his eye. Everyone looked at the two in utter confusion.
“Aud, you going to go up there?” Kristina asked.
“Nope, I don’t care which room I get.” She said.
“Oh, c’mon…” Shelley said. The three got up from where they were sitting and dragged Audrey up the stairs. Once they were clear out of sight, the guys started to talk in a whisper.
“So, have you asked her yet?” JC asked.
“No, it’s too early in the night to do that.” Chris said looking down at his hands.
“Well you have to do it sometime…it’s a once in a lifetime thing, you can’t mess it up.” Justin said.
“I know, don’t worry. I know what to do.” He said. “It’s just a matter of time, and I need the right place to do it…” He stopped talking once the girls came back downstairs. They were laughing and tearing up.
“What happened?” They asked curiously.
“Nothing, we just had another one of our little dumb moments. This one’s definitely going in the book as the dumbest thing the four of us have done.” Kristina said.
“Enlighten us.” Chris said making room for Audrey.
“Well, we were in the room Audrey would eventually claim as hers and we didn’t know there was a latch at the side of the door that locks it.”
“Oh, forgot that.” Justin said.
“Yes, well anyways, we were on our way out and we couldn’t get the door to open…”
“Yeah, that’s the one door you have to push out on.” Justin said.
“So we found out…Like I was saying we were pulling on the doorknob, trying to get it to open. I guess we didn’t realize how we opened the door earlier because we were so busy talking. Yeah, so Julie leaned up against the door and it opened. She fell over and hit the wall in the hallway.”
The guys laughed. “Hey, now, it’s late and we’re tired!” Audrey said.
Julie got up from her seat on Lance’s lap and took him into her room. She wanted to give him his birthday present and she wanted it to be just the two of them. She grabbed her bag and walked with him upstairs.
“Where are they going?” Chris asked.
“She’s probably going to give him his birthday present. We don’t even know what it is…she’s been keeping it a secret.” Kristina said.
Julie walked behind Lance as he walked into the room she would be staying in. There was a futon already in there so he took a seat there. Julie placed the bag on the floor in front of Lance and sat down with it facing him.
“I think it’s time I give you your birthday present…” She said evilly.
“By all means, show… me.” He said with a cocky grin. She sat up on her knees and dug in her bag for a box. She handed it to him and smiled. He wasn’t catching, from the looks of the box it could hold a book. It was fairly heavy and the look on Julie’s face wasn’t helping at all. She looked up at him waiting for him to open the present. He looked down at her and stared deeply into her eyes as he pulled away the paper. He pulled off the box top and a big cheesy grin appeared on his face as he looked at what was in the box. He pulled out a bottle of water and a new striped shirt.
“Thought you might want that. Yes, I know it’s a STRIPED shirt and I absolutely hate it when you wear them, but let’s just say that’s how this all got started.” She said looking into his eyes. “Look, there’s more.”
He looked into the box confused. The water and shirt was MORE than enough to satisfy him. He pulled away some of the paper and saw the acceptance letter to a major college in Orlando.
“What?” You’re staying!”
“Yes, I was thinking about it while getting your present together and I think I’d miss too much. Plus, we should eventually finish what we started two months ago…right?” She said smiling.
Lance was shocked at this side of Julie and could only nod in agreement. Julie smiled as she brought him closer for a passionate kiss.
Everyone was waiting downstairs talking and laughing. JC looked over at Kristina who was sitting with Shelley. He smiled as he realized how happy she was. At the same time, JC and Justin looked over at Chris. Chris met their stare and nodded. He got up from his spot on the couch and led Audrey out to the backyard and into the gazebo. The gazebo was strung with lights and had flowers around it’s edges.
“This is beautiful.” Chris watched as Audrey took in the scenery. He smiled knowing she was enjoying every bit of it. Justin’s house had the perfect view of Orlando down below. The view was breathtaking.
“Chris, I love it here.” She said wrapping her arms around him.
“Me too…and I love being with you.” He kissed her temple and then her forehead. The moment was too precious to have said anything and the two just swayed in each other’s arms. The light from the moon made the light in the gazebo shine so delicately. Chris looked down at Audrey and the light from the moon made her even more beautiful through his eyes. Chris started to hum an all too familiar song. The louder he got; words began to come out of his mouth.
Here and Now
Is the way I live
Unafraid of what life gives
And there've been times in my life,
I couldn't see the difference
In pain, or in joy, or in sun, or in rain,
It just seemed the same
But I'm only human
Rendered by ambition
But I'm going to make it count
Here and Now
Is the Way I live
With and open heart and mind
(Here and Now)
So many intentions
In life I could have followed
But one of those paths must lead to eternal love
Here and Now
Is the way I live
Unafraid of what life gives
Respect things I don't understand
(Here and Now)
So many intentions
In life I could have followed
But one of those paths must lead to eternal love
Here and Now
Here and Now
Here and Now
- *NSYNC
Audrey began to tear up. It was the song Chris had sung to her in the rain the day they had met. It held such special meaning and this was only the second time she’s heard it since then. This time, he had sung the entire song to her. The lyrics to the song were so meaningful and it was so close to reality itself, that she couldn’t help but cry. She looked up at Chris through her watery eyes and pulled him closer for a kiss. Chris pulled away and moved a fallen strand from the side of her face. She looked up into the sky, with Chris’ gaze following hers. They both saw a shooting star and looked down at each other and smiled. Audrey closed her eyes tightly and made her wish.
Give me the strength to keep me alive and well…don’t let this moment ever end…
Chris did the same and made his wish.
Please give me the courage too…
His wish was interrupted when JC called them inside for some cake. He kissed Audrey and led her into the house. I have to ask her soon…
They spent the rest of the night talking and catching up on the last couple months. The girls could tell that they guys were extremely excited to start the new tour. From what they have heard, it was going to be the best thing yet. It was rounding the three o’ clock mark. The girls were already showing signs of tiredness. They didn’t have any extra clothes with them so they couldn’t stay overnight but they were way too tired to drive home so the guys offered to have them borrow some of their things. Audrey shared Chris’ room. Kristina and JC took the room she would be getting. Shelley and Justin took their room. Joey took another room. Audrey and Chris were too tired to argue about sleeping arrangements so they let Shelley and Kristina stay with JC and Justin. They knew they were too tired to try and do anything, morally wrong. Julie and Lance made their way to her room, way in the back. They laughed with each other as they made their way down there. They closed the door behind them and through the silence you could hear the door lock click.
Chris walked out of Joey’s room and heard the latch click and a little laughter coming from their end of the house. Audrey met up with him as he walked towards Julie and Lance’s room.
“Julie? What are you two up to in there?” Audrey asked.
“Nothing.” She said hiding her laughter. “We’re just…”
“Opening my birthday present.” Lance cut in. He smiled as he looked at Julie sitting at the edge of the mattress on the floor. “Sorry if we were loud coming into the room.”
“We’ll, yeah, keep it down.” Audrey said slowly, as they walked to her room. Julie took the bottle of water out of the box and threw it towards Lance. Lance put the bottle aside and walked over to Julie. He bent down and kissed her passionately and she lay back onto the mattress. He tugged on her shirt playfully and she unbuttoned the shirt he had on, throwing it next to her. Lance stood the both of them up and looked down at her. He smiled.
“It’s going to be a long couple of hours.”
“We can take as long as you want.” She said, seductively, letting her blouse fall slowly. He pulled her in for a kiss as he laid her back down on the mattress. Julie reached for the bottle of water in between kisses and smiled at Lance who was already eyeing the bottle.
“Care for a drink?”
Chris and Audrey walked into their room and Audrey sank into the bed, sighing. “I’m a little worried about Lance and Julie.”
“Don’t worry…they’re the innocent one’s.” Chris gave Audrey a pair of his sweats and a baseball tee. She got changed and fell onto the bed. Chris came out a few minutes later and joined her. He crawled into bed next to her and wrapped his arms tightly around her.
“Chris, I’m not going anywhere.” She joked tiredly.
“I know, I just want to be close to you.” He said sweetly. She kissed his cheek and stared up at the ceiling. Chris noticed that she had gotten quiet. “Babe, anything wrong?”
“No, nothing’s wrong. I was just thinking, that’s all.”
“Anything you want to talk about?” He asked.
“Nope, I was just thinking about you and how you’ve changed my life so much since we’ve met. I realized that I have fallen in love with such an amazing person, who has the greatest friends, the most amazing life and the cutest little dogs…” She laughed. “It’s too perfect. I love you.”
“It’s not perfect enough…well for me anyway. It’s not everyday I meet someone as intriguing as you are, Audrey. I never regret one moment I’ve spent with you, I don’t see why I would have to. You are the reason I get up in the mornings and not have to wonder if someone will care about me because I know that you do…and that’s why I love you so much.” Audrey had gotten extremely quiet now. He thought she was just listening intently to what he had to say to her. He looked down and saw her asleep in his arms. His eyes shined as he watched her sleeping peacefully. He listened to every breath she took and she lied there. He watched as a smile formed in her lips when he kissed her. The moment was just right.
Sleep well, Audrey…
“I love you…now and I will forever…” He caressed the side of her face and fell asleep with the love of his life held closely in his arms.
To Be Continued…