"Hey, sweetie, how ya feelin'?" Lance stood up and walked to Jenny's bed.
"Just peachy," Jenny choked out.
"I bet," Lance tried to force a smile.
It had been a month since JC had died, two days after the fight, and Justin was still in counseling. Jenny was still afraid of being left alone at night, so Lance, Chris, and Joey traded off staying with her and comforting her after her nightmares.
"Today's the big day," Jenny sighed.
"TRL day," Lance agreed, taking Jenny's hands and helping her out of bed.
"Lordy, I dunno if I can do this," Jenny sighed, going over to look through her closet.
"You can do it, Jen-," Lance quickly caught himself and corrected himself. "Jenny." He had almost called her Jen-Babe. That was what JC called her, and no one had called her that since.
"I miss him so much, Lance," Jenny said, sinking onto her bed with her outfit in her hands, staring at the framed pictures beside her bed on her long, low dresser. The entire five-foot length of the dresser was covered in framed pictures.
"I know," Lance came over and put his arms around Jenny's shoulders.
Jenny sank down against his chest and simply stared at JC's face, smiling up at her from one of the frames.
"Come on, Kid, get dressed." Lance smiled at her and pushed her up off the bed.
Jenny smiled, holding up her favorite outfit. It was the outfit JC had bought her when she turned 18, and she had gone out clubbing with him, Justin had had other "obligations".
She smiled as she tugged on the skin-tight leather pants by Baby Phat and the black leather handkerchief tube top.
She left the bathroom and twirled for Lance's approval. "Well...?"
"You look beautiful," Lance said, meaning it with all his heart. She was like his little sister, and he'd not once seen her with her face this radiant and glowing since JC died. And he'd not once seen her in that outfit since JC died.
"It's hard," Jenny murmured as she picked up the framed photo of them on her birthday, both in their outfits, ready to go clubbing, his arms around her waist from behind.
"I'm going to go ahead and tell you now. The reason I pushed you to go on TRL is because JC wanted you to go on and there is a present waiting for you there. It might be difficult, but you have to do it."
"I don't know if I can," Jenny said, her eyes wild with fear.
"You have to. For JC," Lance said quietly.
"Ok," Jenny allowed Lance to drive her downtown and take her up to the set.
"Jenny!" Carson cooed at her once she got onto the set. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine, Carson, how are you?" Jenny barely tolerated the man, but she tried hard for JC's sake.
"Just great," Carson droned on and on, and Jenny politely answered his questions, until he got to *N Sync, then she was a little less polite.
"So, you're pretty tight with *N Sync, eh?" Carson said in that sly way of his.
"Yeah, I know 'em pretty well," Jenny nodded.
"So, I heard they broke up after this little fiasco, huh?" Carson was staring her straight in the eyes, trying to find a weakness, something for him to sink his teeth into.
"Yes, but their last CD will be released tomorrow," Jenny said. "But there will be no tour for it. And Josh's, I mean, JC's CD will be released tomorrow, also..." Jenny's heart constricted and she fought the tears threatening to rise.
"Yes, and we here at MTV Studios have a surprise for you." Carson smiled a genuine smile at Jenny. "You see..." Carson began.
Lance stepped forward and interrupted. "I'd like to tell her, please."
Carson nodded, his face turning red with anger at being interrupted.
"It's just I know what JC wanted..." Lance trailed off and turned to a shell-shocked Jenny.
"Before JC died, he wrote in his will what he wanted put in the two CDs as his Thank-You's," Lance said. "And he said not to let you see it until exactly a month after his death. Today."
Lance handed Jenny two CDs and Carson cut to a video.
Jenny stared down at the smiling face of *N Sync on the cover of their newest, and last, CD. She remembered the day that picture had been taken. Justin hadn't taken a single drink in three weeks and everything was perfect. They had all been happy with each other and Jenny hadn't a single bruise or cut.
Jenny opened the CD and read the two thank-you's, the first simply saying, "I love you, Jen-Babe, always and forever!" and the second being entirely for her, proclaiming his love, except for a paragraph. And at the end, it said, "P.S. I told you I'd get you a message from Heaven."
Carson said a few more things, and then asked one last question. "Those *N Sync boys really gave up a lot to sing and keep everyone happy, didn't they?"
Jenny stared at Carson for a moment, then said, "Some gave all."