“Joey stop. I swear to god, that if you spin me anymore, I’m going to throw up all over your
shoes.” Mellie felt the world spin, as Joey took her in his arms, laughing.
“Mel, you’re not fun at all.” He kissed her forehead, before pulling her closer as the music became
slower.
Skeeto watched all of her friends dance, but she couldn’t pull herself off of the barstool. She
slowly sipped her drink, and her eyes landed on Justin dancing with Sugar. She giggled, and
whispered something in his ear, causing him to throw his head back to laugh loudly. A smile
spread across Skeeto’s face, as she thought of all the times she’d been in Justin’s arms, but as
those thoughts came, so did the thoughts of her having to leave him. She shook her head, taking
another long drink, letting her eyes wander around the room.
“Why are you sitting here all alone?” Lance’s deep voice startled her, causing her to spill some of
her drink. “Skeeto, I’m sorry, here let me get you some napkins.” He helped her clean up the
mess, as she let his question sink in.
“I didn’t feel like dancing.” It was a simple answer, but it made Lance ponder the emotion in her
face.
“Skeeto, what is wrong?” He took her hand in his, squeezing it gently to let her know he was
there to listen.
She couldn’t hold the tears back, and a few slid down her cheeks. “I don’t want to leave you
guys.” She wrapped her thin arms around his waist and he patted her gently on the back.
“Skeeto, just because you won’t be on tour with us anymore, doesn’t mean that we won’t be
friends. This is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for, the chance to head line your own tour,
it’s the peak for every artist, but it doesn’t last forever.” Lance pulled away from her, raising her
chin, so she was looking directly into his eyes. “I promise you that nothing will change, and you’ll
still have Justin.”
He said what had been on her mind, but she still wasn’t convinced, she needed something more,
she needed proof. She looked around Lance towards Justin again, and their eyes locked, and he
winked at her. She only smiled, causing the look on his face to deepen into concern. She turned
her attention back to her drink, and pulled her hand out of Lance’s grasp. He leaned in to give
her a quick kiss on her forehead, before heading back out onto the dance floor. Justin grabbed
Lance and pulled him aside as he walked past him.
“What did you say to her?” Justin’s eyes were full of concern, and Lance noticed that the girls
leaving would be just as hard on Justin as it would be on Skeeto.
“She’s worried about the fact that the tour is over, and that they’ll be head lining in a month.
She’s afraid that things will change between us, and especially you.” Lance looked into Justin’s
face, trying to read what was going on inside his young friends mind, he however could find
nothing. Justin just walked in Skeeto’s direction, leaving Lance alone.
He stood behind her, burning every feature into his brain. He wanted to run his fingers through
her silky hair, to pull her to his body, to feel her warmth, and to tell her that they would be
together forever. As he thought of forever, he begin to doubt that they would be together in the
future, he knew how hard a long distance relationship was, and he wasn’t sure she was strong
enough to hold on. He wasn’t sure he was strong enough.
Skeeto felt someone staring at her, and she slowly turned around to stare into the blue eyes of the
one and only guy she trusted with her life. She reached out to touch his hand, and he took it in
his, pulling it towards his body. All they could do was stare at each other, no words were needed
at the moment, just each other’s presence. Finally the silence was broken, when he opened his
mouth to speak.
“Skeeto, I want you to know that I will always be there for you.” They were important words for
her, words that hit the heart, and made her feel a little better about everything. They were words
she needed to hear.
“Justin can I ask you something?” Her voice was lowered so much, that he had to strain to hear
her over the pounding music that surrounded them.
“Sure, you can ask me anything.” He tightly held her hand, giving her the courage she needed.
She looked up at him, meeting his eyes with hers, and she lost her train of thought. She always
became distracted whenever she stared into his sea of blue.
“Skeeto?” He rubbed her hand lightly, bringing her out of the ocean.
“I just...I just...just wanted to know if we’ll still be...a...a...”
He watched her stumble over her words, and his heart sank, for he knew what she was going to
ask. He wanted so bad to tell her yes, but he knew that he would be lying, for he didn’t know the
outcome of the future, or if they would still be in love.
“Will you still love me?” She stared at the floor, not wanting to hear, or to see the answer in his
eyes. When he didn’t answer, she pulled her hand out of his, and felt like sinking to the
ground.
“Sara, I want you to know that I want to keep loving you, and will do all I can, but we can’t fight
fate.” Him saying her real name, made her look back up at him. It wasn’t want she wanted to
hear, but it was the truth, and that was all she could except.
“Justin, you are the only guy I’ve learned to trust, the only guy I’ve ever fallen in love with, I
don’t want to leave you, ever.” Her eyes clouded over with mist, and she leaned her head against
his firm stomach. He rested his hands on her head, running them softly through her hair.
“We still have at least another week or so together, and we’ll make the most out of that. Sara,
you are truly an amazing girl, the only one that has gotten to know me for who I am, and not
fallen for my charm. I adore that about you, I love your spunk, I love everything about you. I
will work as hard as I can to keep loving you. I promise you that.” He kissed her on the top of
her head, and felt her shake underneath him. He knew she was crying, and that tugged at his
emotions. He sniffed a few times, forcing the tears back, not allowing them to fall. She lifted her
head, and slowly stood, hugging his neck, burying her head into the crook of his neck. He pulled
her to him, breathing in the beauty that was her. A few tears fell onto into her hair, but he made
no effort to stop them. She looked up at him, leaning in closer until their noses touched.
“You always know exactly what to say to make me feel 100 times better. What did I ever do
without you in my life?”
It wasn’t a question to be answered with words, but with a kiss, so Justin leaned in to cover her
lips with his, making the moment last for what seemed like a lifetime.
“Home sweet home.” Sugar breathed in deeply, as she climbed into the long white limo.
“It’s good to be back on our home turf, its been four very long months.” Skittles joined hands
with Chris once again when they were concealed by the dark windows.
Fans pounded the outside of the car, causing the passengers to laugh boldly.
The members riding in the other car, received the same treatment, and for the first time in two
days Skeeto’s face was bright. The thought of their tour to come was far from her mind, but the
days ahead of her, were fully alive. She snuggled closer to Justin, as he pressed his face against
the dark pane of glass. Joey rested his tired head in Mellie’s lap, telling her quietly what he had
planned for their days off. The ride from the airport back to TransCon studio’s was a long one,
but it gave them time to be alone, and to talk. She enjoyed the quiet moments she spent with her
old and new friends, and especially the time she got to spend with Justin. He was telling her the
things he wanted to do, most importantly the things he wanted to do with her. She enjoyed just
listening to his soothing voice, closing her eyes to pull it all in. She relaxed her body, letting
herself sink in closer to his body.
“Skeet, wake up sweetie.” Justin carefully rocked her body, trying to wake her up slowly.
“Hm, what, what did I miss?” Her eye lids fluttered open, and she loved the fact that the first
thing she saw was Justin.
“You didn’t miss much, just the ride home” He helped her out of the limo, and with arms around
each other, they walked through the large doors of the building they knew so well.
“If it isn’t my two favorite singers.” Lynn held Justin’s face in her hands, and gave him a motherly
kiss, before turning to Skeeto to give her the same treatment.
“Hi Mom.” Justin hugged her tightly, feeling the fact that he was now home.
“So Sara, are you prepared for all the hard work we’ll be doing in the next month?” Lynn hadn’t
meant anything by it, but she had brought up the fact that her time with Justin was limited. She
turned to look at him, and reached for his hand, which he gladly took. Lynn noticed the change of
expression in her face, and the way she clung to her son for support.
“What did I say?” Lynn looked from her son to Skeeto, and back again, before getting her
answer.
“She’s worried about the tour, and the fact that we’ll be apart from one another for such a long
time.” Justin put a loving arm around Skeeto’s shoulders, luring her towards him. For the first
time, Lynn noticed the budding relationship between the two, and she smiled broadly.
“Sara sweetie, everything will be fine.” Lynn put her arm around the young girl, and walked with
the two of them towards the conference room.
“I’m so proud of all of you, the tour was a major success.” Lou’s smiled grew bigger as he
watched the praise radiate from the young singers.
“Thank you so much Lou, we had a great time.” Misty reached across the table to pat the older
man on the arm. Skittles laughed as Chris did the same thing, and Joey just looked on and rolled
his eyes.
“What kind of tour do you have planned for Krazy?” Lance’s question caused everyone to think
about the time when they would separate.
Lou looked at all the faces, for he knew all the love that these kids had for each other. He wanted
to protect them, to keep them happy, but he knew what to be done business wise.
“It’s going to be a good three or four month tour. These girls are in high demand, and we have to
meet that, or we flop. I know that it’s going to be hard for you girls to go out on your own, away
from the ones who taught you so well, but it has to be done.”
Each of the girls nodded their heads. Misty reached for Lance’s hand, making sure he wasn’t
gone from her life yet. Skittles laughed when Chris’ feet appeared in her lap, but she was
comforted by the gesture. Joey looked at Mellie, and her back at him, both reading the others
thoughts. It would be hardest for Sugar and JC and Skeeto and Justin to say their good-byes, but
for right now, they were just glad to be in the others company. They would all take life one day
at a time, and not think about the future. It would be hard, and it would be long, but they all
wanted to keep what they had, and if that meant the hard work, they were ready for it. Skeeto
felt Justin breath in her ear, and she laughed, pushing him playfully away. The meeting soon
ended, and hand in hand, they walked out of the doors, into the sunlight, into the world ahead of
them.
