The room was silent. Michelle could see the shock on her friend’s faces. The silence was deafening until Joey finally spoke.

"Wow, this is unexpected."

"It shouldn’t be. We’ve been going out for over a year." Chris said.

"I know, it’s just that- well umm, it’s surprising."

"Surprising good or surprising bad? You don’t seem to happy to hear this." Michelle added apprehensively.

"It’s good." Lance reassured her, "it’s just a surprise."

"So you’re happy for us?"

"Of course we are, congratulations."

"Wow, today didn’t go like I thought it would." Michelle said, as she and Chris were getting ready for bed.

They had told a few people, Mike, Anita, the guys and their families.

Mike was worried that it might effect Chris, and Michelle because N SYNC had a lot of fans that were borderline obsessed. When they found out, who knows what they would do.

Anita was happy for them, since she had no reason not to be.

Telling their families was awkward since they couldn’t see the expressions on their loved ones faces. But they took it well all the same. Michelle got the impression that their families were expecting it.

"Chris, did you tell anyone that you were going to propose?" Michelle asked, as the two got into bed.

"No. I was gonna tell J.C., and even though I wanted to, I didn’t."

"Oh." Michelle replied.

"Why?"

"Well it’s just that our family didn’t seem surprised when we told them."

"I think they knew it was coming, so they expected it."

"Then how come the guys didn’t see it coming? They seemed really surprised when we told them."

"I don’t know, maybe because it will be a big adjustment for the group."

"I know. Do you think they resent that?"

Chris paused in thought. "Maybe a little, but we’re always changing. I was talking to Joey and they really are happy for us."

"That’s great, but I really don’t want to change the way people look at you. Doesn’t it bother you that you might lose popularity after you get married?" she asked him.

"Not really. If the fans are true fans, they will be happy for us. Or, they won’t care. Besides, I’d rather marry you than be famous. And the fans have been relatively ok about us dating, this is just the next step."

"But I don’t want to change the way you guys are."

"Michelle, don’t worry, everything will be fine."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Sweetie, if you’re this worried about it, we can talk to the guys tomorrow."

"That would make me feel a lot better."

Michelle didn’t sleep well that night. At the first trace of sunlight in the early hours of the morning, Michelle got up and went for a jog. She didn’t see any point to stay in bed, she knew she wouldn’t get back to sleep and she worried her tossing and turning would wake Chris. Jogging was a good way to release her energy.

Once she was out on her own, Michelle walked around and thought about what her and Chris had talked about the previous night. She knew things would work out, she just didn’t know how.

Eventually, Michelle found herself back at the hotel, where she found lance up, watching TV. When she came in, lance was surprised to see her.

"Michelle, where did you go?" he asked.

"I went for a jog. I needed some thinking time."

"What were you thinking about?" lance asked, patting the cushion beside him.

Michelle sat down and paused. "Lance, what do you think of all this?"

"You mean you and Chris?" After Michelle nodded, Lance went on. "I think it’s great."

"What about the others?"

"They think its great too. Why, what’s wrong?"

"Aren’t you worried about the changes that will happen with the group or how the fans will react after the news is released?"

"Are you having second thoughts about the engagement?" Lance asked.

"No, I'm just worried about the effects it will have on the group."

"I know me and the guys are happy for you, and no matter what the circumstances, we’re ready for whatever might happen. Is Chris worried about it too?"

"No. Why is it that I seem to be the only one worried about this?" Michelle asked.

"You aren’t the only one. I think Mike is concerned too."

"I know Mike is worried, but he always is. Are you sure everyone’s ok with this?"

"Michelle, you have nothing to worry about. We’re behind you one-hundred and ten percent."

A couple of hours later, everyone started to wake up. Michelle went into wake up Chris, but he was already awake and just getting out of the shower.

"Hi honey. Where did you go?" Chris asked.

"I went for a jog this morning. I had some energy to release. When I got back, Lance and I had a talk."

"About what we talked about last night?" Chris asked.

"Yeah."

"And?"

"You were right. They aren’t worried about any of this, they’re happy for us."

"See?" Chris kissed Michelle, "I told you everything would be alright."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

"Chris, Michelle, can I talk to you for a second?" Mike called Mishi and Chris into his office.

"What’s up?" Chris asked, when the two had come into the room.

"With your permission, I would like to release the news of your engagement to the public."

"Sure." They agreed. The two of them knew it would only be days before it would be released to the world.

"Ok. The press will know about it this afternoon, it should be released tomorrow."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

"Whoa, my email account is full." Chris said the next night. He read a couple of them and they were more or less the same thing. Fans wanting to know if the rumor was true, others wanting to congratulate him and Michelle. He answered as many as he could in an hour, and then he gave up for the night. Michelle wasn’t back from an interview yet, so Chris went out to play a game of basketball with Justin."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

"So, have you and Chris set a date for the wedding yet?" Anita asked Michelle, while on their way back to the hotel.

"Not yet, but I guess we should."

When Michelle got back to the hotel and saw that Chris wasn’t there, she went to bed. She was too tired and exhausted to wait up for him.

Later, when Chris and Justin came in from playing basketball, he saw that Mishi was asleep. After showering, Chris got into a pair of boxers and quietly slipped under the covers next to Michelle, although not quiet enough. Michelle woke up.

"Sorry hon, did I wake you?" he asked, lying down and placing his arm around the front of Michelle’s stomach.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry, I tried to be as quiet as I could." He gently kissed her on the cheek.

"That’s ok. Where were you?"

"Playing b-ball with Justin. You should see my email, its full."

"Stuff from fans?" Michelle asked, turning around to face him.

"Yeah. Its unbelievable the amount of people it reached in one day."

"News travels fast. I bet lots of people don’t believe it."

"Yeah, I got lots of emails from fans asking if it was true."

"Did you email any of them back?" Michelle asked.

"As many as I could in an hour."

"I'm glad I don’t have an email account. Goodness knows how many-."

"Shhh." Chris placed his finger over her lips. "Get some sleep."

"Ok." She whispered, kissing him. "Night hon." She rolled over so her back was to him.

Chris snuggled up behind her. "Night. Sweet dreams."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

It was the next morning after breakfast. Joey went to get the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I have news for you. I need all of you here, including Michelle." It was Mike and he sounded like he was in a hurry.

"Ok, we’ll be there in about 20 minutes." Joey said. He hung up the phone and told everyone the news. They quickly got ready and left the hotel.

Once they were in Mike’s office, he told them to sit down.

"The Grammy nominations are in." Mike announced. "I'm pleased to say your hard work has paid off."

Michelle took Chris’ hand and squeezed it in a pre-congratulatory way.

"Chris, the song you and Mishi wrote is up for duet of the year, and you guys are up for best pop group."

"Oh my gosh, that’s great!" Michelle exclaimed. She wasn’t expecting any nominations.

All at once, everyone was on their feet, hugging.

"I guess the cable should go out more often, hey?" Chris asked, as the two hugged.

Michelle laughed and hugged Chris again. Then she hugged each one of the guys. This was a very special occasion. It wasn’t everyday that this happened.

"We have to celebrate." Lance declared.

"Alright, party time!" Justin, the party animal of the group, announced.

"No, I was thinking dinner or a club or something." Lance concluded.

"Whatever. It’s all the same. Celebrating equals partying."

The guys laughed and they made plans for everyone (including Anita and Mike) to go for dinner and more celebrating later that night.

Later that day, a thought crossed Michelle’s mind, and she called Chris.

"Hello?"

"Hi sweetie."

"Hey, what’s up?"

"I was thinking, we need to set a date for the wedding."

"I know, I was thinking about that too and I decided that whatever date you choose will be fine with me."

"Really?"

"Yep. You decide k? But I gotta go."

"Sure. Bye honey."

"Bye."

Michelle hung up the phone and started thinking of a good date for the wedding. She wanted it to be outside, but since they lived in Orlando, they could still have it anytime.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Later that afternoon, Michelle called Krista to tell her the good news.

"Guess what?" both girls said at the same time, once they were one the phone together.

"You go first." Kris gave in.

"Guess what?" Michelle asked again. "The song me and Chris wrote is up for duet of the year! And the guys are up for pop group of the year!"

"Oh my God! The guys are up for pop group of the year too!"

"Really? Mike didn’t tell us that. So what’s your news?"

"That was my news." Kris said.

"Oh, well that’s great. Hey, Chris said I get to pick the date of the wedding."

"Really? That’s cool. Have you decided when yet?"

"No, not yet. But if I decide today, I can announce it tonight. We’re going out to celebrate."

"Yeah, we are too except we’re leaving soon."

"Oh I guess it’s later there isn’t it?"

"Yup. I'm leaving to meet the guys in about 10 minutes."

"Do you want me to let you go then?" Mishi asked.

"Yeah, I’ll call you tomorrow."

"Ok, bye."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

"Hey sweetie." Chris and the guys were just getting to the hotel after their radio show. Mishi was they’re getting ready to go out celebrating. The guys came in and started getting themselves ready.

"Hi, how was the show?"

"What, you didn’t listen to it?" Chris asked.

"Nope, sorry hon, I was in an interview."

"That’s ok. The show was good. How was the interview?"

"It was fine. I'm getting used to them. They usually ask the same questions each time."

"Has the engagement come up at all?" he asked.

"Yeah in a couple of them. What about you?"

"Hmm yeah. They really make a big deal out of it."

"Yeah, I guess they would. It is a big deal for your fans."

"At least they’re handling it well." Chris added.

"Yeah, I haven’t gotten to much hate mail."

Chris laughed as he went into the bathroom to shower and get ready to go.

"Hon, are you almost ready to go?" Michelle asked. She had been ready for a little while and went out into the main room to wait for everyone. Chris was, as usual, being slow.

"Yeah, oh I'm ready." Chris said as he came into the room, struggling with his tie.

Michelle walked over to Chris. "You’re so cute." She said, and fixed his tie.

"Now how is it that girls can always fix guys ties, even though they don’t wear them?" Chris asked.

"That’s what we’re here for sweetie." Michelle said.

Chris laughed as he hugged his fiancée.

Just then, Lance came in and he too, was fussing with his tie. Michelle gestured for Lance to come over, and after he did, she fixed his tie as well.

"There she goes again." Chris muttered, "what would we do without you hon?"

"Oh, I don’t know. You’d probably get rid of all your ties."

"Who are we waiting for?" Justin asked. "Everyone’s here."

"No one now." Lance said. "Let’s go, we’re meeting Anita and Mike down at the restaurant."

While in the limo, on their way to the restaurant, Michelle’s cell rang.

"Hello?" she answered. It was Krista.

"Mishi guess what?" Kris exclaimed.

"Wait, good news or bad news? And are you prepared for the guys to know? I'm kinda in a limo with them right now," she said, looking around.

"It’s good and no, I don’t care."

"Ok, then what’s the news?" Michelle asked.

"Well, we were celebrating at a club and a.j stands up to make an announcement. He said that I'm aloud to go on the road with them! Isn’t that great?"

"Kris that’s awesome! But what are you gonna do while the guys are in interviews and stuff?"

"Oh I don’t know but I’ll figure something out later, I'm just so happy."

"I'm so excited for you." She looked around at the five confused faces around her. Michelle covered the mouthpiece and told the guys the news. After getting five nods from them, Michelle removed her hand and said "the guys are happy for ya too Kris." They pulled up in front of the restaurant. "Kris I gotta let you go, we’ve pulled up at our destination."

"Ok, bye Mishi, have fun."

"Thanks Kris, bye." Mishi hung up the phone.

The door opened and one by one, they got out of the limo and went inside.

"Hey, there’s Mike," Justin noticed as they entered the restaurant and started towards the table.

"J.C. you’ve never really met Anita, have you?" Mishi asked.

"No, I don’t think so."

"Well, I’ll have to fix that," Michelle added as they made their way to the table.

"Hi guys!" Joey greeted enthusiastically, approaching the table.

"Hey. Congrats on your nominations," Anita praised.

"Thanks." Everyone sat down, Michelle making sure J.C. sat down next to Anita.

"Mike, how come you didn’t tell us the Backstreet Boys are up for the bast pop group as well?"

"They are?" Joey asked, looking a little crest fallen, "how come you didn’t tell us Mike?"

"Well they don’t know either," Mike defended.

"They will soon, if they don’t already. I talked to Krista this afternoon and told her. That’s how I found out."

"You better watch your back from now on Mike," Lance warned. "Michelle has the connections."

Everyone laughed until the waiter came. "Hello, my name is Ethan and I’ll be your server tonight."

They ordered their meals and then Ethan left.

"I have an announcement to make," Michelle declared. "I have chosen a date for the wedding."

"Aren’t you and Chris supposed to do that together?" Lance questioned.

"I told her she could choose," Chris said, "what date have you chosen sweetheart?" he asked.

"June 16. It’s during our three weeks off in the summer."

"Good choice. It should be nice outside so we can have the wedding outside like we talked about."

"I know, that’s what I thought."

"June?" J.C. asked. "That’s only six months away. When are you going to have time to plan an entire wedding in six months?"

"Oh, she’ll manage. She always does," Chris said. "Besides, there’s two of us in this."

"That’s right," Michelle said, "and you’re gonna help with this all the way through it."

"I know, I know."

"Gee hon, you make it sound like a bad thing."

"No, it’s definitely not a bad thing, I'm looking forward to our first project together."

"You mean your second project together," Lance said, "but at least we know you work well together."

"Of course we work well together, why else would we be getting married?" Michelle joked as Chris hugged her to him and enveloped her in a hug and kiss. Everyone else groaned.

"Ugh you two get a room," Justin complained.

"Oh hush Justin," Michelle said.

The waiter returned with their food and everyone began to eat.

"A toast, to all your guys’ hard work," Mike announced, "good luck at the awards."

Everyone clinked glasses and drank to the toast.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

"Chris we have a problem. Actually, we have three problems." It was a month later. The wedding plans had begun and the awards were fast approaching.

"What are the problems?" he asked, coming up behind her and hugging her.

"Problem number one, the wedding plans aren’t going very fast. I'm afraid we won’t be ready on time and the invitations have already been sent out."

"Ok, so we need to get someone to help us. Why don’t you call Krista, she can travel with us while the wedding is being planned."

"That solves problem one. Problem number two is I’ve been trying to fix Anita and J.C. up for over two months and it isn’t working."

"Well maybe it isn’t meant to be," Chris argued.

"Maybe you’re right."

"So what’s problem three?" he asked.

"The awards are in three days and I still don’t have anything to wear!" Michelle complained.

Chris laughed. "There’s still time, don’t worry. Still three shopping days left. Here." Chris took out his wallet and handed Michelle his credit card.

"No hon, I have my own money," Michelle said and handed the card back to Chris. "I just don’t know when I’ll have time to go shopping."

"Oh, I'm sure you’ll find some time," Chris reassured her. "You’re a girl after all."

"I’ll have to check my schedule, but I'm sure you’re right."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

"Hello?" Krista picked up the phone.

"Hey, Kris, it’s Mishi."

"Mishi! Hi, how are you?"

"I'm fine, you sound bored."

"Uh, maybe a little. The guys are at an interview. What’s up there?" she asked.

"Kris, I have a huge favor to ask."

"What?"

"Ok, well as you know, the wedding is in five months and I have a dilemma. The wedding plans aren’t going as fast as they have to be in order to be ready on time."

"So what’s the favor?" Kris asked.

"Will you come on the road with us and help me?" Mishi begged, "please?"

"Sure Michelle, I’d love to. When?"

"Oh, I don’t know, whenever’s good for you. Could you start the week after the awards? I'm really behind."

"Sure, you can call me later with the details. So are you ready for the awards show tomorrow?" Kris asked.

"Not at all, but I'm going shopping this afternoon. The guys are ready though."

"That’s good."

"What about you and the guys? Are you ready?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah, we leave early tomorrow morning."

"So, I’ll see you tomorrow then?" Mishi asked.

"Yeah, sure."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

"Ooh Michelle what about this one?" later that day, Michelle and Anita were shopping for something to wear to next night at the awards.

"That’s pretty, what about this one?"

"Oh, I love that one."

After trying the dress on, and admiring herself in the mirror, Michelle decided this was the perfect dress for her. She picked out matching shoes, and a purse and they were off. Michelle was finally ready for the awards.

Her dress was a white, floor-sweeping gown with a small train. Low cut in the front, with spaghetti straps made from a string of diamonds each. It was perfect.

"You’re gonna look great tomorrow night Mishi."

"Thanks, I hope so."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

"Rise and shine!" J.C. called through the door to Chris and Michelle’s room. "We have a big day a head of us."

On top of the awards show that night, they also had rehearsal, and the guys had an interview.

After showering and dressing, Chris and Michelle made their way into the main room for breakfast. Everyone was wide awake, even though Michelle could tell that just like her, the guys had been to excited to sleep much the previous night.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

The awards show was almost over. ‘NSYNC had lost for best pop group to Hanson, but best duet was yet to be announced.

"Please welcome John Elway and Mike Tyson to present the award for best duet of the year."

"The nominees for best duet of they year are" Brandy and Mase for ‘Sitting On Top Of The World,’ Mel C and Bryan Adams for ‘When You’re Gone,’ Mel B and Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliot for ‘I Want You Back,’ and Chris Kirkpatrick and Michelle Lowe for ‘In Your Eyes.’"

Michelle took Chris’ hand and Lance, who was on her other side, took her hand.

"And the winner is…"

Chris was squeezing Michelle’s hand so hard she thought it would break off.

"Chris Kirkpatrick and Michelle Lowe for ‘In Your Eyes."

Michelle couldn’t believe it. They won!"