Britney and Christina glanced at each other in the shadows, then threw back the covers of their respective beds and ran into JC and Justin's room to find JC kneeling next to Justin, talking quietly to him.
"Chia?" Britney whispered. "What's wrong, baby?"
"Are you ok, sweetie?" Christina added, also in a whisper.
Justin sat up, and nodded, placing his hands on his head. "Yeah."
Britney and Christina instinctively crept close to where he sat, between the two double beds that occupied the room, and wrapped their arms around him comfortingly in a hug. Justin had been plagued with nightmares lately, and no one could figure out why. Of course, maybe that was because Justin refused to speak aloud about what happened in them, about what scared him so badly.
Christina looked up at JC's face, illuminated by the moonlight that shone in the room, and cast him a curious glance. JC shook his head and crawled over to her, allowing Britney to get closer to Justin, so she could hold him.
"You ok, Bear?" JC asked Christina, wrapping his arms around her in a hug, using his old nickname from the day they'd met on the set of MMC.
Christina nodded. "Yeah, just worried about him. What's going on, JC?"
"I don't know. He won't talk. Not to anyone," JC shook his head yet again.
Justin sighed and leaned into Britney, placing his head on her bare shoulder. Realizing it was bare, he pulled back and took a good look at the three of them. Britney and Christina were both in their bras and panties, as they hated actually sleeping in pajamas, while he and JC were in their boxers. He shook his head and leaned back into Britney, wrapping his arms around her waist, placing his head on her shoulder.
"Chia, what is wrong with you?" Britney asked, placing her cheek on Justin's curls and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
As expected, she received no answer from the boy, frustrating her.
JC hooked an arm around Christina's neck and the pair watched in silence, knowing it was best not to "gang up" on Justin when he was like this.
"I want to help you, Ju," Britney whispered into his hair.
"Then hold me," Justin replied, equally quiet.
"I will," Britney replied, placing a kiss on Justin's feverish forehead. "I will."
JC stood and helped Christina to her feet. "Let's go watch TV, Bear."
Christina nodded and placed a loving kiss on Justin's forehead. "I love you."
Justin nodded and whispered, "I love you, too, Chris."
JC sighed. "Let her help you, bro."
Justin looked up at JC, who had practically raised him while the boys were on the road with their group, *N Sync, and had been in the MMC, and simply bit his bottom lip, hard, drawing a slight bit of blood. Britney hugged him tighter, trying to fix whatever ache inside of him that was causing this.
JC led Christina out and they turned on the TV, settling on a recliner together under a blanket for warmth, Christina curled on his lap with the remote.
JC awoke hours later to see the TV off and Christina asleep on his chest, the blanket curled tightly around her. Shifting a little, he heard her mumble, "Stop doing that, I want to sleep."
JC laughed and stood, taking Christina and the blanket with him. "Come on, Bear, we're gonna go see how Brit and Juju are."
Christina looked up from her perch in JC's arms and glared at him. "But I want to sleep-"
"Christina, do you remember last night?" JC asked, pausing outside the door to his room.
Christina's eyes widened. "Oh, yeah..."
JC opened the door and entered the room, placing Christina on her feet. "It's cold down here," Christina whined tiredly.
JC laughed and they padded over to the space between the beds, shocked to find the pair asleep in the exact same position they'd left them in. JC bit his lip, unsure of what to do. Wake them up, or let them be? Justin needed peaceful sleep, God only know when the last time he'd slept well was.
"Let's leave them," Christina said. "Justin needs some peaceful sleep."
JC smiled. "You read my mind, Bear."
Christina disappeared, then reappeared a moment later with Britney's camera. Snapping a quick picture that would turn out beautiful, the pair left the room, putting the camera back in Britney's purse and going back to their chair to watch TV.
"Josh?" Christina broke the comfortable silence.
"Hmm?" JC turned his head and looked down at the blonde sitting with him.
"What's wrong with him? I'm scared, Josh."
JC sighed. "I don't know, Bear."
"You're gonna call me that forever, aren't you?"
JC looked down at her in surprise. "Do you mind?"
"No," Christina admitted. "As long as you don't tell anyone why."
"I suppose it can be our little secret," JC smiled, remembering the first time he'd seen the girl. She was about eleven, and she had come to the set for the first time. She was absolutely terrified, and she had carried her teddy bear with her, holding it in her arms for comfort.
"Sounds good to me," Christina laughed.
"You were so terrified," JC laughed at the memory. "You had a set of pipes on you."
"Had?" Christina raised an eyebrow.
JC grinned sheepishly. "Ok, ok, have."
"Thank you," Christina smiled.
"For that?" JC asked.
"For everything," Christina said softly. "Thank you for everything. But mostly for just saying that on that first day."
JC recalled the conversation, picturing the girl in his mind.
"Hey, Bear, I bet you're our new girl, aren't you? I heard you got a set of lungs on you, so when they have you sing, I want you to really belt it out for me, ok?"
"Ok," The small, thin girl had nodded softly.
JC smiled. "Good. I'll come see it, ok? If you ever need anything, let me know."
"What did that do?" JC asked Christina, coming out of his reverie.
"Just made me think I had a friend there. Someone I could run to if I needed to."
JC took a deep breath, and ignored the way Christina giggled when she rose and fell with his chest. "You can still run to me. I'm always here for you."
Christina sobered and looked up at him. "Thank you, Joshua."