"The Night Life"

"So basically," Lance said with a sympathetic frown, "as a result of Justin's antics, you lost a very important necklace?"

"In a nutshell," Tammy sighed, playing with her blanket.

Lance shook his head. "Damn, no wonder you're so pissed. I'da killed him if that happened to me." He continued, "Does Justin know?"

"Nope," Tammy replied curtly. She scowled, "I don't even wanna talk to him."

"But why?" Lance questioned, shifting positions so that he was sitting Indian style right next to her bunk rather than kneeling. His legs were seriously asleep, but he wasn't moving until Tammy got the whole story out. This was the first time she'd ever seemed to need someone, and Lance wanted to be there for her.

"'Cause I know what he'd do," Tammy replied, frustrated. She sighed again, this time angrily. "He'd go, 'Oh Tammy, I'm so sorry. I can't believe how stupid I was. What can I ever do to regain your forgiveness?' Then would come the puppy dog eyes," she added, demonstrating for Lance as she talked.

Lance chuckled bitterly, then sneezed. "Yeah, he is an expert at the 'I just want you to love me' face."

"Yeah," Tammy agreed, "then what would happen? I'd forgive him, and you know what? I don’t wanna forgive him. He fucked up big time. That was the only thing I had to remember my best friend by, and you know where it is now?" Lance shook his head. Tammy snorted sarcastically, "Neither do I," she said. "But that's not even all of it," she continued to rant. "He plays too fuckin' much. Do you know," she glared at Lance, "that he's managed to ruin over two-thousand dollars worth of my clothes? And that's not even counting all the jewelry he's ruined and Tim's he's fucked up by throwing me into a pool, river, or some other body of water."

"Two thousand dollars?" Lance repeated in shock. As he shook his head, another sneeze, then a cough came.

"Two thousand dollars," Tammy nodded. She stared at him silently for emphasis, letting the words sink in.

Lance shook his head. "I can't believe it." He sighed and continued, "You're gonna hate me for this, but I still think you should talk to him. He misses you, T."

Tammy rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Lance, I haven't spoken to him in a few days. I doubt that really matters to him."

"But it does," Lance insisted anxiously, coughing again. "You mean a lot to us, T. You're one of our best friends now. We appreciate having you around. I mean," he continued with a slight blush, "you see us for who we really are, not the big pop stars. You're like a breath of fresh air when the madness of this biz gets to us. When you're mad at us, trust me, we feel it, and it hurts."

"Too bad," Tammy answered. "He fucked up and I don't feel like talking to him." She continued with a smirk, "If I was a real bitch, I'd make his character in the movie a complete jerk and date Britney Spears, only after giving him horrible dialogue."

Lance frowned. "Well, I just want you to know that even though you don't have the necklace of your friend, it's the memory of them that keeps them alive." With that, he dropped a light kiss on Tammy's forehead and stood up. As he started to walk off, Tammy placed her hand on his arm gently. "Thanks," she said with a smile. She added, "By the way, are you alright?"

Lance sneezed, nodding his head. "Yeah, just a lil' head cold. I'll be alright."

"Good," Tammy nodded. "Wouldn't want ya collapsing again. Thanks again, Lance."

"Anytime," he smiled back. He walked into the lounge and sat down on the couch next to Chris. "Didja talk to her?" JC asked.

Lance rolled his eyes. "You know I did, so why even ask?"

Chris replied with a smirk, "Well, we saw you talking to her bunk, which we assumed was her, and didn't wanna seem like we were eavesdropping. It's called tact," he finished proudly.

Lance chuckled, which turned into a cough, "Whatever. Yeah, I talked to her."

"So what's wrong with her?" Justin asked with a frown. He glanced quickly back to the bunk area, hoping Tammy couldn't hear him.

"You'll have to ask her," Lance shrugged. "I'm not tellin'."

"Oh c'mon, Lance!" Justin exclaimed. "Don't be like that, dude! I gotta know!"

"So ask her."

Justin pouted, "She won't talk to me!"

"So make her talk to you," Lance sighed. "You certainly do it enough with us," he finished with a smirk.

"Ha ha," Justin said. "I'll go talk to her." With that, he got up to go to her bunk. Just as he neared it, he saw her close her curtain, so he merely jumped into his bunk, which was right next to hers. "You don't have to say anything, T," he said, closing his own curtains. "I know you'll talk when you're ready." He leaned back and started to sing "This I Promise You" softly.

From her bunk, Tammy frowned even harder, determined not to forgive him. She reached over and turned on her Walkman loudly, blocking out the sound of Justin's voice.

From his bunk, Justin heard the loud sounds of what could have been 2pac coming from Tammy's bunk and sighed. "I'll try again later," he said, falling into a deep sleep. Hours later, Joey was shaking him awake. "Man," Justin said sleepily as Joey's face came into view, "why is it always you that wakes everybody up?"

Joey shrugged. "Dunno. Atleast you didn't punch me like Tammy did. Anyways, we're at the hotel we're stayin' at today."

"Today?" Justin asked, wide awake now. "What time is it?"

"One in the morning," Joey answered, slinging an overnight bag over his shoulder as Justin climbed out of his bunk. A quick glance and Tammy's bunk showed that she was gone.

"I shouldn’t have slept all day," Justin groaned. "I'm gonna be so tired during rehearsals later today."

Joey and Justin walked into the lobby of the hotel and got their keys from the desk clerk. Afterwards, they walked to the elevators, only to find JC holding the elevator for them. "I thought you'd never get here," he growled sleepily. The three rode up to their floor and got off, only to see the rest of the group waiting outside the rooms for them. "What's the hold up?" Joey asked.

"You guys," Chris answered, slurring sleepily. "We gotta decide sleeping arrangements."

"Since when?" Justin scowled. Nobody answered him.

JC replied, "Umm… me and Lance, Joey and Chris, and Tammy and Justin--" He was quickly cut off as Tammy cleared her throat loudly and gave him a long, meaningful glare. "Oh," JC stammered, quickly backpedaling, "I mean, Chris and Joey, me and T, and Justin and Lance. Is that cool wit' everyone?"

"Ice cool," Tammy replied. The others shrugged and nodded as Justin leaned against the wall and muttered, "Whatever."

The six went into their rooms, ready to crash. As Tammy sat on the bed next to JC's he said, falling across the bed, "It's like de ja vu."

"Whaddya mean?" Tammy grumbled, turning on the T.V.

"Me and you in the same room," he mumbled sleepily. "Only this time you're not covered with bruises."

"I was never covered with bruises," Tammy scowled. "I wish you'd forget about that night."

"Can't," JC mumbled, falling asleep. As he drifted off he said, "There's definitely more to you than meets the eye."

Tammy snorted and had to agree, "You ain't just whistlin' 'Dixie', brotha." She lounged back onto her bed and gazed at the TV, sighing. "For some reason," she mused, "cartoons are the only thing that make me happy." Just then, she noticed a bright flash of light from under her bed. She leaned over just in time to see Yasmine roll out from under her bed.

"Wassup?" she said, climbing to her feet.

Tammy took one look at her and busted up laughing. Then, she quickly looked at JC to see if he was still asleep. "He could sleep through anything," she said, shaking her head. She turned back to Yasmine asking, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Yasmine shrugged and sat next to her on the bed. "We haven't really hung out like we used to, and since I don't have anything to do for awhile, I figured I'd come out and chill with ya for a couple of days. I mean, we gotta meet up in D.C. anyway, so I just met up with you a lil' earlier."

"That's real decent," Tammy said, smiling widely. The sight of one of her best friends was like a breath of fresh air after being with 'NSync for so long. "I'm happy you came." She glanced back at JC's sleeping form. "Let's get outta here," she said, pulling Yasmine to her feet.

The two walked out of the room together and down the hall to the elevators. "You know," Yasmine said, sweeping her long black hair out of her almond shaped eyes, "I shouldn't have hyper jumped here."

"Yeah, I know," Tammy agreed, "hyper jumps just drop you anywhere. What if you had hyper jumped under JC's bed? Or even worse," she added with a smirk, "into it?" Her and Yasmine giggled like little kids, and Yasmine added, "Or what if I wound up in Joey's bed? Ewww…" she wrinkled her nose in mock disgust.

"What would have been wrong with that?" Tammy asked with a laugh.

"Nothing," Yasmine answered, "except that I'm not too fond of manage-a-trois." She and Tammy got off the elevator, laughing hysterically and pushing each other. "You know what else?" Yasmine said.

"What?"

"I don't have any clothes," Yasmine answered. "You can't carry anything on a hyper jump."

"Don't worry about it," Tammy shrugged. "We'll get ya some clothes tomorrow." She and Yasmine exited the hotel and walked down the street. "You know," Tammy mused, "when we got off the bus, I didn't even know where we were, but now I see that we're in none other than…"

"Hot-lanta!" Yasmine said, jumping excitedly into the air. The two girls ran down the street and hopped into a cab. Minutes later, they were getting off at a busy intersection. Lights flashed, music blared, people danced, and Yasmine and Tammy were right in the middle of it. They walked down the street ignoring the yells and catcalls of the men, and walked up to a club that had people clamoring to get in. "What's going on?" Yasmine asked a group of girls.

"Enrique Iglesias is in there performing!" the girl screamed. Then she moaned, "Oh, I wanna get in soo bad! But you need a V.I.P. pass." Yasmine and Tammy looked at each other and then walked around the side of the building. "Okay, Ms. Manipulator of Matter," Yasmine smirked. "Create us some passes."

Tammy shrugged. "I can't. I don’t know what they look like. How's about we just do this old school style and sneak in?" she added, pointing to a door.

"What if it's locked?" Yasmine asked.

"Hello?" Tammy said, knocking on Yasmine's head. "You have super strength. Just yank that sonofabitch open!"

The two girls walked up to the old, rusted door and Yasmine grasped it tightly and yanked it open. They quickly entered and walked down a short hallway and into the club section, gasping as the bright lights and loud music hit them. "Wow!" Yasmine yelled over the noise. "Let's dance!"

The two jumped on the dance floor just as Enrique Iglesias stepped out of the shadows and onto the makeshift stage. The audience immediately erupted into cheers and screams as he crooned, "And now that you're gone…"

"Oh my gosh!" Tammy screamed. "That's my song!" She and Yasmine pushed their way to the front of the stage and gazed up at him. He looked at the two briefly and sent a smile and wink their way, resulting in Tammy and Yasmine screaming like twelve year olds. As Enrique started to sing, Tammy and Yasmine danced around and hip bumped anyone in their vicinity. The next thing they knew, the club manager was tapping them on the shoulder. Yasmine was nervous at first, thinking that perhaps he realized that they snuck in, but her fears quickly vanished, for he only wanted them to dance in their cages. The two happily obliged and a minute later, were dancing onstage in cages right next to Enrique as he danced around and finished singing "Be With You". As the crowd cheered, he turned to Yasmine and rattled off a phrase in Spanish. Yasmine replied with a smile and a laugh, "I'm Asian. I can't understand a word you say." He then turned to Tammy and said the same phrase, only she understood what he was saying. Years of being friends with Isabella helped her pick up on Spanish fairly well. Tammy looked at Yasmine and said excitedly, "He wants us to dance with him! Let's go!"

The two quickly jumped out of their cages and danced around as Enrique sang, "Bailamos". Tammy tried unsuccessfully to teach Yasmine how to salsa and do the cha-cha, but Yasmine just wanted to jump around and twirl. The two girls sandwiched Enrique a couple of times, giggling the entire time, and Tammy even got her salsa on with him.

Hours later, the two girls stumbled bleary-eyed into their hotel suite's living room. "Where the hell have y'all been?" JC asked, puzzled. He looked at Yasmine and added, "And why am I saying "y'all"? When did Yasmine get here?"

"Last night," Tammy yawned.

"Okay," JC continued, "how about answering my first question? Where were y'all? We were worried sick."

"We?" Yasmine challenged.

"Well," JC said, blushing slightly, "I was worried sick. The others don't even know y'all were gone. But still, that doesn't change anything. Where were you guys?"

"Doing the salsa with Enrique Iglesias," Tammy answered, plopping tiredly onto the couch.

"Ha ha," JC scowled. "Stop messing around and tell me where y'all really were."

"She's not lyin'," Yasmine grinned. "We were out enjoying all that Atlanta's finest had to offer, and stumbled across a club where Enrique was performing." Just the memory of that night was enough to re-energize Tammy and Yasmine. Yasmine danced around JC singing, "And now that you're gone, I just wanna be with you!", as Tammy jumped up and down on the couch relaying the night to JC. "Man, JC," she cried excitedly, "it was sooo much fun! I can't believe I danced with Enrique Iglesias! It was off the chain!"

"You mean to tell me," JC arched an unbelieving eyebrow at her, "that y'all were partying with Enrique Iglesias?"

"Yup," Yasmine stopped singing long enough to say. She immediately started to sing, "Bailamos! Let the rhythm take you over, bailamos! Te quiero amore digo!"

"I can't believe this," JC said. He looked at his watch and said, "Well T, you and Yasmine need to get ready 'cause we're about to go do a photo shoot."

"Another one?" Tammy said. JC nodded as Tammy continued, "Damn, being a pop star is harder than I thought."

"Finally!" JC cried, jumping to his feet. "She gets it! Now you may go write a movie about us." He pushed her into their room, shouting, "NOW! Go!" Tammy laughed as she prepared her clothes and got in the shower. Minutes later, she entered the living room, which contained the rest of the group members. "Wassup, y'all?" she said, dropping a kiss on everyone (except Justin's) forehead. "Nada," Joey replied. "But what's this we hear about you guys gettin' it on wit' Enrique Iglesias?"

"We didn't 'get it on' with Enrique," Yasmine started.

"So you're on a first name basis with him now?" Justin smirked, trying his hardest not to look at Tammy.

Yasmine stuck out his tongue at him. "Yes," she replied haughtily. "He said we were the finest thangs he had ever danced with, so there!"

"Love for minorities," JC mused, glancing at Tammy out the corner of his eye to see if she was gonna do what he thought she was gonna do. She did.

"JC!" Tammy scowled, hitting him over the head with a pillow. "That is so racist!"

"That ain't racist!" he said, laughing. "What's wrong wit' havin' love for minorities? I know I do!"

Tammy glared at him. "You got one more," she warned with a small smile.

Yasmine looked down at her clothes, then back at Tammy. "You ready to go?"

Lance looked up at Tammy. "Go? Go where? You're ridin' with us, right?"

Tammy shook her head. "Dude, me and Yazzy gotta go get her some clothes. But we'll catch up in about an hour."

"In that case," Lance said, pulling out a pad and paper, "let me give you the address and directions to the site of the shoot. I'll leave y'all's names and a description at the door so you shouldn't have a problem getting in."

"By the way," Chris asked, "how's the movie coming?"

"You ask me that every morning, Chris," Tammy complained, "and I always say the same thing."

"Slowly but surely," Chris nodded.

JC added, "But she had a major breakthrough a few minutes ago. She finally realized how hard it can be as a big pop star."

"Well," Tammy rolled her eyes, "this is the seventh photo shoot we've been on since I first got here. I mean, how many fuckin' pictures can you possibly take?" With that, she and Yasmine got up and walked out of the hotel room.

Justin, who was reading the comics, suddenly felt someone looking at him. He looked up to see four pairs of eyes fixed on him. "What?" he asked.

"Have you talked to her yet?" Chris asked bluntly.

Justin scooted down into his seat and frowned. "No, I haven't had the chance." He glared at JC. "It's not like I'm sharing a room with her or anything."

"Man," JC replied, rubbing his head, "if I let you bunk with her, she'd have killed me. No way am I goin' out before I hit thirty."

"Don't worry, man," Chris said. "I'll talk to her. I promise."