Katie took a sip of her fruit punch as the group around her continued chatting about how much they had missed her, and how much they loved watching her on TV and listening to her CD.
The sad thing was that Katie did not know who half of these people were. They were all there just to say they knew her. And Katie had to act like she was interested in the conversation.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Justin standing alone.
"Is she? Katie?" one of the girls who was only vaguely familiar to Katie asked.
Katie snapped back into the conversation. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"I heard that in reality Rosie O' Donnell is not very nice at all. Her whole "Queen Of Nice' persona is only a front. IS it true?" she asked.
"Oh, no! She is incredibly sweet! I love her to death." Katie answered.
"Oh, then I guess I heard wrong."
Katie nodded, and starred at Justin, hoping to meet his gaze.
"When is AmBiTiOn's next CD coming on?" a tall, gawky man with thick glasses asked.
"Oh, probably sometime this summer. We've just now started talking to producers about it."
Justin looked up and she caught his eyes.
'Help Me' she mouthed.
Justin grinned, and nodded.
"So, are you planning on collaborating with anyone?" the guy asked.
Katie watched Justin as he rounded the circle.
"Oh, I'm sure of it, but nothing is definite yet."
Justin appeared behind Katie.
"Excuse me, could I borrow Katie for a moment?" he asked.
One of the girls gawked at him. Oh. . . er. . . yes!" she squeaked.
Justin grabbed her arm, and pulled her away.
"Thank God! Those people were beyond boring."
He chuckled. "What a people person you are."
"Shut up." Katie looked around. "Where's Diana?"
"Bathroom." He answered shortly.
"Oh. So. . .what'd you get her for Christmas?"
"A necklace with her name engraved on one side, and my name engraved on the apposite side." Justin replied.
"Aww!"
Justin looked around. "Can you keep a secret?"
"That depends on the secret."
"Well. . I'm also going to give her a quilt I had my grandmother make for her."
"That's your big secret?"
"No. You haven't heard why I'm giving her the quilt."
"Well, why are you?"
Justin looked around once more. "I'm going to ask her to come on tour with me." He whispered.
Katie's eyes widened. "Oh my GOD! Are you SERIOUS?!"
"Shh!" he cried. "I want it to be a surprise!"
"Oh. But. . . ! Wow!"
Diana appeared in the room, and headed towards them.
"Remember," Justin said. "Don't say ANYTHING!"
"Hey, I'm back." Diana said.
Katie squealed.
Diana looked at her, confused to say the least.
"KATIE!" a voice called excitedly from across the room.
Katie's eyes darted around the room. "Oh, that's Rebecca, I'm going to go say hi to her." She squealed once more, and pulled Diana into a hug. "I'm so happy for you!"
With that she ran over to Rebecca.
"What's gotten into her?" Diana asked.
Justin shrugged, nonchalantly. "You know her better then I do."
Diana shook her head. "That girl is crazy." She shrugged, and grabbed Justin's hand. "Come on. Let's mingle."
"Jeff!" Sarah giggled in a mock whiny tone. "Stop!"
Jeff didn't listen to her and continued nibbling at her neck while they stood on Diana's doorstep.
"STOP IT! Now is NOT the time!"
"Then let's go back to the hotel room." Jeff whispered. "I love being alone with you."
"So, what, now your using me for sex?" Sarah asked
"No. I'm using you for you. Great sex is just a perk that comes along with you."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Uh huh." She reached over, and rang the doorbell once more. "What's taking Dana so frigging long? I'm FREEZING out here!"
Jeff wrapped his arm around her waist from behind. "I'll keep you warm."
"Sounds good to me."
Suddenly the door burst open.
"SARAH!"
Sarah pulled away from Jeff. "DANA!"
The girls threw their arms around each other. "Hi!"
"Come in! You guys must be freezing!" Dana cried.
The two of them joined Dana inside, and began removing their coats.
"Dana, I want you to meet my boyfriend Jeff Timmons, Jeff, this is my best friend Dana King."
The two exchanged hello's and shook hands.
"What took you so long to answer the door?" Sarah asked.
"Oh, I couldn't hear it because every-" Dana suddenly stopped. "I mean. . I was upstairs."
"Did you just say everyone?"
"No."
She looked at Dana oddly. "O-kay. So, what's for dinner?"
"Whatever you want. I haven't started cooking yet, and I thought I would see what you wanted first."
"Oh." Sarah nodded. "Cool. How about. . . spaghetti?"
"Mmm. . . " Jeff put in.
"Sounds good. But first," Dana grabbed Sarah's hand. "There's something I want to show you in the living room."
"What?" asked Sarah as Dana pulled her down the hall.
"You'll see."
As soon as Sarah walked into the room dozens of people jumped out from behind furniture and out of corners.
"SURPRISE!" everyone shouted.
"Oh my God!" Sarah exclaimed.
All of her old friends and even some of her family was there.
"JESSICA!" she screamed, running over and throwing her arms around her older sister who she hadn't seen in ages.
"Hey, Sarah."
"What is this all about?" she asked.
"It's your welcome home party." Jessica replied.
"Oh, wow!"
"Well, what's everyone just standing around for?" Dana cried, turning on the stereo. "Let the party begin!"
After an hour of mingling, Jeff pulled Sarah aside.
"Baby, I need you." He whispered in her ear.
"What?" she asked.
"I keep thinking about this morning in the hotel room, and. . .I can't wait any longer." He replied.
"But, Jeff, I can't leave my own party."
"I know, but. . . "
Sarah looked at Jeff. He seemed very. . .needy, and. .. anxious to relieve himself."
She grinned, and grabbed Jeff's hand, pulling him out of the room.
"Sarah!" Jessica called after her. "Where are you going?"
"The bathroom!" she replied.
The continued down the hall, and Sarah pulled him into the bathroom, locking the door behind them.
Jeff wrapped his arms around Sarah's waist, picked her up, and set her down on the counter top. "I'm glad you saw my urgency to do this." He grinned.
"I aim to please." She quickly began unbuckling Jeff's pants, as he pulled off her jeans.
They continued along quickly, trying to be as quiet as possibly, which for them was very, very hard.
Towards the end of their rendezvous, there was a knock at the bathroom door.
"Sarah?" it was Jessica. "Mom and Dad just got here!"
"I'm . .. almost. . . . ooooohhh. . . almost. . . done. . . !" she moaned, unable to control her tone of voice.
"Um. .. ok. . just make sure. .. you, uh. . . clean yourself up before you come out." Jessica said.
"Ohhhh. . . oh God. . . O-okay."
"You, too, Jeff."
Jeff grunted in response, gave one final thrust, and pulled out, running his hands up and down Sarah's sides as he did so.
Sarah sighed contently, and gave Jeff's member a squeeze.
"I love you, baby." Jeff murmured.
She smiled, still breathing heavily. "I love you, too. Now, could you hand me my pants?"
Jeff picked her pants up and handed them to her.
She hopped off the counter, pulled her pants on, splashed water on her face, and ruffled Jeff's hair.
"Wait a minute before you come out so nobody is suspicious." She said.
Jeff nodded, and Sarah slid out of the bathroom, walking into the living room.
"Mom! Dad!" Sarah gave them each a hug. "Hi!"
"Hi, honey." Her dad said.
"How are you?" asked her mom.
"I'm great. How are you?"
"Good."
Her mother looked around. "So, where is this Jeff boy we're heard so much about? I'd like to meet him."
"Oh," Sarah glanced at Jessica nervously. "He's in the bathroom. He should be back any second."
Jessica pointed to the hallways. "Here he comes."
Jeff entered the room, put on a big smile, and joined Sarah and her parents.
"Jeff, hey, I want you to meet my mom and dad, Jane and Ronald. Mom, dad, this is my boyfriend, Jeff Timmons."
"Hello, Jeff." Ronald said.
Jeff shook Ronald, then Jane's hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"It's very nice to meet you, too." Jane answered.
Ronald pat Jeff on the shoulder, and began walking away, pulling Jeff with him. "Now, son, tell me a bit about yourself. . . "
"Hey everybody!" Danielle cried, letting herself into Nick's house without even bothering to knock. "The fun has arrived!"
"Really?" I could have sworn that the death of the party had just arrived." Brian joked.
Danielle rolled her eyes. "ANYWAYS. . . everyone, I'd like you to meet my best friend Brittny Abrahamson, and another friend of mine, Joey Fatone."
"Hey!" Everyone chorused.
"Hi." Brittny said meekly.
Joey just waved.
Danielle looked around the room. The party seemed kind of dead.
Nick was sitting on the couch looking like a depressed slug, Brian was fidgeting with the stereo, Kevin was sitting with his fiancé Julie, and they were talking, Howie and some girl Danielle had never met were standing by the Christmas tree, looking at the elaborate ornaments, and AJ. . . well AJ was a whole nother story.
He was sitting in a recliner, his girlfriend Jenna sitting in his lap. The two were making out pretty heavily.
"This is what you call a party?" Brittny asked.
"Well, it's more like an intimate get together." Danielle replied.
"Oh. . . " Joey rose his eyebrows, uninterested.
"I hate to leave you two alone, but, Nick looks like he's about to roll over and die. I'm gonna go talk to him, okay?"
"Fine with me. Brittny, would you like a drink?"
Brittny smiled. "I would love one."
Danielle walked over to the couch, and sat down next to Nick.
"Hey, Nickay, what's up?"
"Nothing." He mumbled.
"Come on. What's wrong?"
"I miss Katie." He answered.
"What?! She hasn't even been gone for 24 hours!"
Nick groaned. "I know. But I still miss her."
"Then what are you doing here? Get your ass on a plane and go see her."
"I can't."
"Well, why not?"
"I promised my family I'd spend Christmas at home."
Danielle stood up and stood over Nick. "I have only one thing to say about that."
"What?"
"Home is where the heart is."