Chapter 1

The five sat around the table early that morning. Silently they pondered a happy if not somewhat nervous J.C. who was standing at the counter fiddling with his cereal spoon. Suddenly J.C. looked up to meet their gaze and said, "Angel and I made love last night." There. He'd said it. But why was Justin the only one who looked surprised? Angel and J.C. weren't in love or even an item by any stretch of the imagination. They were, in fact, only best friends and had been for some six years now. So this shouldn't have been expected.

Angel turned to the other guys calmly and said, "Do we have any peanut brittle left?"

"I don't think so," came Lance's reply. "cause I'm pretty sure Chris ate it all."

"Yeah I did, so?" said Chris. At Justin and J.C.'s shocked expressions that the conversation had been dropped by their bandmates so quickly, Angel spoke again. "I think it's probably time I explain this. Or rather let you explain it to each other. J.C. sit down."

She seemed altogether too relaxed for Justin's taste, and even seemed pleased with herself. "What the hell is happening here?" Jus thought to himself.

"Ok" she began, "I did make love to J.C. last night...but a year and a half ago it was Joey. Thirteen months ago it was Lance, and eight months ago....Chris." At their stunned expressions she laughed as she continued. "Joey, you should start. It's all you brotha, what do you remember about that night?"

She sat back and relaxed completely as soon as Joey started to speak. They'd handle this one all on their own. Now if only she could find the damned peanut brittle....

After a little thought, Joey started to speak and it was on. All ears were as open as they'd ever be....minds too. "Well, my grandfather had just passed away. I was missing home, really upset, and even starting to wonder why I was here and not with my family. Then she came to me that night and the first words out of her mouth were "There will NEVER be another night like this one. Tomorrow you will understand that, so for tonight just nod your head and say OK." Chris, J.C. and Lance all nodded assent as they had heard those very same words. "She sat down and we listened to music, and she let me hold her and cry on her shoulder while we talked. We cried a little and laughed alot. We kissed and cuddled. I fell asleep at some point and when I woke up, she was gone. But everything seemed to be....alright....I don't know how to explain it."

"Right with the world." Chris finished for him with an easy smile. "For me it was almost the same, except it was when the business was in trouble. I didn't know what else I could do if it failed. I didn't want to start over. Then she came in and made me see that there were new things, bigger things that I was missing out on, and it seemed almost unimportant. I felt what I've really got around me and it was like....."

"Surreal." Lance stated. "Peaceful. Like you've got a shield around you protecting you from being seriously hurt, or even seriously affected by outside worries. When Danielle and I broke up, I thought for sure I'd never be in love again. And I was scared that I really wouldn't. But with a few soft words and a gentle touch and she opened my eyes to all the love I already had. She said I had the kind that I couldn't lose, and that was what meant the most."

J.C. chimed in then, "Then all of a sudden you knew that you had all the time in the world to find the things you wanted, cause you already had everything you needed. It took a little longer with me I think cause she said, "J.C. you're such a......GUY!" but I finally got it."

The guys stopped talking to stare at Angel like some miracle had occurred. They every one looked completely surprised by all that they had said. They'd never tried to put those times in to words and they were amazed at what they had come up with. Angel couldn't contain outright laughter.

"Six years ago, I became your 'personal advisor' and I told you all not to forget what I said that day. I said that someday you'd all be better men because of me. And if I recall correctly, you guys found that funny! Now I'm not sure if I'm more proud of you four or myself!" Laughter rang out across the big house as they all joined in. All save one. Justin, looking a little angry and even more confused, had questions.......

Chapter 2

"There's something missing from all this. I thought you said you had sex with her, " Justin said angrily. "or did I miss something?"

"Well, it was sort of like we did...." Joey began.

"I don't really remember much about that part of it." Chris stated matter of factly. "There seemed to be so much else going on at the same time."

Lance said, "It wasn't about that though, it was more...." He looked for a way to finish that sentence but J.C. helped him out.

"Emotional." he said. He tried to explain further. "It was more friendship, love and caring. Like there wasn't anything else to your life but then and there."

"But I'm the only one in love with her, and somehow she felt that this particular lesson was one I didn't care to learn? Help me to understand that!" She smiled hard at that. This one was passionate and knew so much that he wasn't even aware of. She knew she didn't have far to go to reach Justin.

"Jus, I can't teach you the kind of love I can teach these guys. With you it becomes a little more than that."

"So what, am I emotionally challenged or something?", he shouted back. "No help for the heartless child?!?" She was finding humor in his anger now and was barely surpressing a laughing fit when next she spoke.

"No I said with you it's different, not difficult. It's not that I physically cannot teach you that kind of love because I can. It's what I stand to lose if I do. In all these years, I've taught you infinitely more than I ever could in one night. All you have to do is put it all together for yourself. Deep down Jus, you know why. If you don't, then your bud's can explain it with their new knowledge of the world!" That was all she could stand. She erupted into laughter then, at which Justin rose from the table and stormed out.

"Should I go and explain?" J.C. asked, looking somewhat concerned but still smiling.

"No," she replied. "Talk amongst yourselves for ten minutes. He already knows, and as soon as he realizes that he'll be back."

Chapter Three

Justin stood on the porch looking down at the grass when a memory overcame him....

*FLASHBACK - THREE YEARS EARLIER*

"Angel look!", Justin said, pointing to a couple that couldn't seem to get enough of each other, or even find a place to put their hands. "I wonder if I'll ever have it that good!" he laughed.

She smiled as she replied to that. "Jus, wanna know what I wonder? If either of those two will ever know what it's like to be really loved. The kind that lasts beyond the lust."

"Do you know what that is Angel baby? And if you do, can you let me in on it?" Justin laughed.

"It's different for everyone Jus, but for me it's all right here." She handed Justin a familiar looking album and walked away. He looked over all the pages, pictures old and new, but he didn't understand. These were all of her and the guys together at parties, at the beach, at home. They were all like family but that wasn't the kind of love he meant.

*END FLASHBACK*

All of a sudden Justin's head snapped up and he went flying back into the house. Thru the kitchen and into the den he raced. Then they heard him turn the doorknob.

"Justin don't open the closet!" Angel yelled, but it was too late.

CRASH!!!

They all ran into the den to find Justin digging thru the heap of everything in the house that they didn't have a place for. Hats, books, jackets and games were flying in all directions. Finally, he located exactly what he had been searching for. He sat down and opened the album without so much as a glance in their direction.

"I told ya he'd get it." Angel said triumphantly.

Lance replied, "Now I don't get it!"

She laughed and said, "Give him time. Let's go back to the kitchen."

Justin searched again thru those old pictures before one on the third page caught his eye. All six of them on the beach, but this one was different than the earlier pics. Angel and Justin were looking at each other here, and there was something in the way that they were smiling. On thru that album he went until he realized that that something became a little more obvious with each page. He stopped on the last picture, alone on the final page in the album. Just the two of them....His senses were reeling as a memory overtook them once more. *FLASHBACK-ONE YEAR EARLIER*

The concert on the lake. People and music and noise were everywhere but the only thing Justin could hear was Angel's voice. "I know you don't like the constant crowds around you Jus, but you can't be blind to the good in all of this. Our own little world revolving around us all the time. It's like you're on a rollercoaster of sorts. Whoever said that was genius by the way." She was laughing again now. "You're a little scared right? But I know you better than your momma, boy. You love rollercoasters, and when it's over you'll know two things for sure. First thing, you had a hell of a good time. Second thing is something I don't want you to realize too late. I was there...and I held your hand the entire ride."

They were interupted by "Say cheese!" and the moment was over.

*END FLASHBACK*

Chapter Four

Justin sat loking at that picture. He was staring at her as if she'd just discovered America, and he had watched her do it. He got up, and made his way to the kitchen.

He appeared at the kitchen door with tears in his eyes, contradicting the huge smile on his face. "Ok, so you were right Angel," he said. "it's all right here. You needed to know that when I loved you, it was for real, and not what you taught me to say or how you taught me to act. It was a different love you were teaching me. But I can't learn anymore without you."

At the tears starting to form in her eyes, Chris considered it his personal duty to lighten the moment. "Ya know Angel, I'm feelin a little forgetful these days. So how's about a refresher course for the old man here?" Justin's eyes got huge and Joey damned near fell out of his chair as the group was overtaken by side splitting laughter. Chris bolted for the door with Justin hot on his tail screaming "OVER MY DEAD BODY YOU'LL GET NEAR HER AGAIN!!!!!"

Lance shouted out the door, "No visible marks you two! We're having a party tonight with 200 people that don't wanna know what this was about!"

Chapter Five

*FIVE YEARS LATER*

She was sitting in her car at the busy intersection of the mall. She was going to be fitted for her gown for about the millionth time. With J.C.'s upcoming wedding, her world had all come together, and she beamed like a proud mother as she thought of all of her guys. All happily married except J.C. who was well on his way. She looked at her growing belly and groaned, "I swear if this doesn't happen soon, I'm going to have to be wrapped in a tent for the wedding! How many of you are in there any damn way?!? She turned up the music and thought back to the day these fittings began...

*FLASHBACK-FOUR MONTHS EARLIER*

"I swear I've never been part of a family like this one." Said Modesty, J.C.'s brand new fiancee. "It's a little odd but even when you guys fight, you do it with love and you even laugh!" She turned serious as she spoke her next words. "J.C. won't tell me exactly what your part in this family is about. He just says that before you they were just friends in a group and that his total love of life and everyone around him started with you. I only know one way I could ever thank you for that. So if you'd be my maid of honor, you'd sure be helping me out!"

*END FLASHBACK*

Someone behind her was honking their horn rather annoyingly and then she noticed that the light had turned green. "Alright already, I'm GOING!" She floored the gas pedal, but in her haste she hadn't seen the truck run the light and come barreling into the intersection....

Chapter Six

On the other side of town Justin stopped dead and dropped his glass to the floor. Lance stopped midsentence to his wife on the phone as all the guys walked into the room. They had all had that gut feeling, like a cloud across a bright sun. Lance hung up without even saying goodbye and he dialed Angel's cell phone. "Hello?" Lance bristled as he heard a strange man's voice over the bad connection.

"Son, if you're trying to reach the young woman in that mercedes, I'm sorry...but there's been a bad accident. They've taken her to County." He put the phone down and looked up at Justin with tears in his eyes. He stood up and said, "We have to go now."

Joey and Chris came immediately to Justin's side, trying to restrain him as he kicked and fought them off crying out her name. When he had calmed enough to control, they half carried and half dragged him out to the truck. These five men that always shared every thought rode silently to the hospital, feeling more alone now than they ever had. The world that was made for them had come crashing down and they weren't sure what to do next....

*ONE YEAR LATER*

They were alone again for the first time since the day she died. The wives and kids had all been left home tonight. They had to handle this one on their own. Justin's sons were sleeping like rocks in the crib he had built them. "Just like their mother." he thought to himself with a smile. "Could've played Ozzie in her ear full blast and she'd sleep right thru it." He lost himself in a memory of one such time.

*FLASHBACK -FOUR YEARS EARLIER*

"You guys keep up that rough housing and I see only bad in your futures." scolded Lance. He, Chris, and Joey were working on a new song, while Angel slept on the couch and J.C. and Justin wrestled around the living room.

"C'mon old timer! Show me some of that 'thug appeal'! That all you got or what?" Justin shouted.

"Boy, I'm gonna clean this floor with your nappy head! You better focus your energy on fighting instead of runnin that trap!"

Just then Justin broke free of J.C.'s headlock and gave him a violent shove backwards. J.C. grabbed Justin's arm and took him down too. They all swore later that they thought the sound of crashing glass would never end. Eight stacked shelves made especially for Angel's porcelain dolls all went crashing to the floor. When the noise ceased they all shot around to look at her, still sleeping peacefully. They teamed up then and cleaned the mess away, storing it in a box in Joey's trunk. They told Angel that they had owed money from a rough time and her dolls had been used to secure the loan. They lived ever after with major guilt from the heartbroken look she'd had.

*END FLASHBACK*

Shortly after her death, Justin had found a diary of hers with that particular dates entry reading :

"I'd have paid millions upon millions of dollars to have polaroids of each and every one of their scared pathetic faces when that case came crashing down! It's times like these that make my life so much fun. My family is a non-stop riot comedy team straight outta the circus. Maybe some day I'll tell them what I know....or maybe I'll just milk that guilt awhile! LMAO!"

Noise didn't matter tonight though. The guys were quiet. They had finished the script for the ultimate Nsync biography, completely from their point of view. But they had realized something. "Do you think they'll notice?" Chris asked his friends.

"That it's more of an Angel bio than an Nsync one." It wasn't a question, Joey already knew. She had been so much a part of them that this was their way of moving forward. That morning breakfast had changed them all so it stood out, but it hadn't been anywhere near the only thing she had taught them. In those twelve years they had learned from her and with her every day. That biography reflected that.

"I think it's perfect." Justin spoke up now. And he talked so rarely anymore that when he did, everyone listened. "We shouldn't change a single word."

The chorus of men agreed, and even showed smiles. Smiles that froze when a sixth voice, a familiar voice, spoke up. "But couldn't we leave out the part about the sex, guys? I mean not everyone is as understanding about those things as we are..."

Chapter Seven

"I'm going insane. Now I'm sure." Lance said. "I'm hearing her again! Please come and take me and I swear I won't fight that white jacket!" he was pleading to no one in particular.

At her laughter everyone reacted. Joey slid under the table and hugged his knees, Chris jumped over his chair and threw it up in front of him like a shield, Justin fell backwards into J.C. and knocked into the cabinet that until that moment had held all of Angel's Coke glasses. Lance just kept bangin his head on the table and whimpering, "Take me now, please..."

She laughed so hard then that she fell off the counter with a resounding THUMP! As she laid on the floor she managed to get out, "Lance I'm so sorry for that. And if you two keep it up," she pointed to J.C. and Justin, "I'll have nothing left!" She laughed as she scolded the other two, "Joey get the hell outta there, and Chris if you don't put down that chair I'm gonna laugh myself to death!"

More laughter from Angel as Chris took his seat and said rather somberly, "I just don't find that funny at all, Angel." Everyone took their seats again as smiles formed. Her laughter had always been infectious, even in the worst of moments. Justin went straight for her, and there was no way he was letting go. She spoke again.

"I just wonder if he knew when he assigned me to you clowns, that you could do this!"

"What'd we do now?", asked Justin with one of his infamous looks of guilt. That look alone sent her into another rolling fit of laughter.

"You five together.., you love so much. I've been beside you every one since the day after I died. Lance thinks he's crazy because of something I did to him. Tell it Lance because I'll only start laughing again!" But she started anyway, she couldn't help herself. That's so much of what they had loved in her during her time with them. She saw a brighter side to everything. But they were all laughing now. The funniest part of it being that not one of them knew why. And when Justin mentioned that fact, it only got them going again. But it felt great....

Chapter Eight

"Well I had been having a killer time of it," Lance started. "that entire week everything I touched turned to shit. At the end of it all, I was taking a hot bath and trying to organize my thoughts, when I said 'I sure could use your help now Angel.' And then something compelled me to look over at the mirror. In the steam was written 'I miss you too baby boy' Well I LOST MY MIND, ok? I screamed for my wife to come in and when she got there I asked her why the hell she had called me that, because no one but Angel ever had. So I'm standing in the buff, white as a sheet and shriveled from the water, pointing at a mirror that had nothing on it but steam. Kat decided then and there that I was going to therapy or we were getting a divorce." With that he turned to Angel and said, "I have to see that prick for six more weeks thanks to you!"

Tears were streaming and J.C. and Angel were both holding their sides trying to contain the pain that always accompanies that type of hard laughter.

When the laughter finally settled some, she continued. "You've all seen things something like that one, it's just that I learned from Lance to be a little more subtle!"

"Oh sure, use me as the guinea pig right?"

She laughed again and went on, "Justin, I saw you looking at the doll above the bed like you were gonna cry, and I couldn't stand it. So I put my diary on the coffee table. J.C. I was there when your beautiful baby girl was born."

"So I did hear you that day!" He looked around and explained, "Justin had had two boys, and I had a girl that I wanted to name after her for Justin, but I'll be damned if I could remember her middle name. I heard someone say 'Renee' and later I swore it was just in my head."

"With Chris I talked him into destroying what looked like a great contract to merge his company with another. But that company went under later."

Joey asked her then, "What'd you say to me?"

"Well in your dreams in your own bed you told me that you had so much to tell people but you didn't know how. We talked about the book and the movie too. But seriously, I've always been here. Just that in the past year this is the first time you've all been together without other people, and all been thinking of me. So here I am, and here I'll stay until morning , let's make it count.....

Chapter Nine

"Why morning? So you're a vampire then?" Chris always had something wise to say.

"Yes that's exactly what I am you idiot. Does anyone have any peanut brittle? I'd die for some of that right now!"

"Not funny!" the five yelled in unison. That sent all six into another laughing fit. They spent all night this way, laughing, reminiscing, dancing, and even admitting to old mistakes that were nothing more than jokes now. Justin held tight to her for hours.

Just before sunrise she grew a little somber. "Guys, I've gotta go now. But as I do, I want you to do something for me. Sing 'Together Again'. It's a favorite where I'm living now. And a couple of last things, I promised I'd always be there for you, and I always will, so if someone outta nowhere slaps you in the back of the head, I want you to stop and rethink what you were about to do. And if that voice in your heart speaks, listen. Never forget anything I've taught you, and lastly, when my boys are old enough to understand Giddy Up, that'd be a good time to stop telling them that that was Mommy's favorite song ok? That's not an image of their mother that they need! I love you all so much, now SING!"

There was more peace then sadness as the guys softly sang themselves to sleep. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she heard Justin's lines. "How can I say that I love you....when you're so far away...so tell me why...you had to go....was it me.....I need to know...."

Chapter Ten

When they awoke, it was a feeling that four of them were all too familiar with. She was gone, but as before she had left behind that love.....the kind that you cannot lose. And it was enough for them all. Smiles were all around as they walked to their cars, and drove home in silence to the families that they cherished all the more now.

Justin was feeling something different though. But it was no less beautiful. He looked in on his sons and noticed an object between them that hadn't been there before. He was sure of it. A bear, fluffy and grey with a Jade green bow to match it's sparkling eyes. That same green that had always been her favorite color. How they had argued about that! Jade green did not in any way, shape, or form match any of his baby blue stuff! They had to divide rooms in the house to decorate. But why did that bear look so familiar? Then it struck him...

*FLASHBACK- SIX YEARS EARLIER*

"Ok girl, you got the damned bear, can we go home now?" Justin was more than a little agitated. She had won that bear in a basketball free throw game against HIM of all people! Six shots in a row and he had missed four!

"I've beaten the great and noble Bounce? We must hang this bear in a prominent place for this is a story to tell all!" She laughed even as she knew she'd hide that bear to protect his still fragile ego. But on the ride home, he had been playfully holding out the sunroof of his mercedes, when a strong gust of wind caught it and carried it over the freeway. She had laughed so hard upon seeing that guilty look once more when he realized what he had done. He always wondered if that bear hadn't really meant something to her, and if he'd hurt her that day...

*END FLASHBACK*

Well, now he guessed he knew the answer to that. He shut out the lights on his sleeping twins and heard a voice in the darkness. "It's only one of a million memories that I rely on you to pass on to Scott and James. And by the way, little boy blue" he smiled from the love of hearing her call him that again. " The dolls, the glasses, the bear, I wouldn't trade any of those memories to have those things back. As a matter of fact, I'd buy them again to see you guys screw up one more time! So don't ever feel bad. I love you baby, let's do this again sometime." Her soft laughter at her own joke was enough to make him laugh as well. As he got ready for bed, he had one last thought, "Angel? Stay outta the bathroom, ok? Baby girl? He thought he heard that laughter again but as he drifted off he thought, 'probably just the wind...'

*50 YEARS LATER*

"Dad? Dad, hold on, we'll be there soon!" Justin heard the ambulances siren. His sons were there with him. After fifty years he still had problems telling them apart. James Anthony and Scott Allan Timberlake had more than lived up to their names. They had the best of all the guys, and their mom's love of laughter. He'd raised good men. She would be proud. He'd be asking her soon enough.

"Boys I've gotta go, Mom's callin me." Scott smiled then. He always spoke of their mom as if she were there next to him. They knew he was a great man though, even if they thought he was a couple sandwiches short of a full picnic basket. Angel had been tempted to correct them more than once, but always stopped short. They had never known her, so she was like a dream to her sons. To show herself to them would only cause them pain, and she'd never have that.

"So Angel baby," said Joey impatiently, "How long is this gonna take?" Joey had been the most recent arrival at their heavenly home. He'd never had to suffer the agonizing wait. Lance, Chris, and J.C. were playing cards again. She smiled as she thought of what THE MAN would say about that. But they'd seen this before with each other. With Justin on his way, the 'Scammin Six' (as Lance's wife had taken to calling them in early days) would be reunited again. Amazingly she was antsy. She'd waited fifty years for this and this last hour was driving her insane! But she knew he needed just a little more time......

Chapter Eleven

Justin turned to his sons and spoke his final words. "If your mom ever taught me anything, it was that love like this family has is never far from you." He closed his eyes then. When he reopened them, he was in the hospital...but he was standing on his own. No pain at all. Then he looked down to see his favorite North Carolina jersey and sneakers. He hadnt worn those in forty years at least! His hands were those of a teenager again. When he looked up, his grin widened, for there in front of him, were five of the most beautiful people he had ever seen. And they looked as if they were up to no good.

"We've received our assignment from THE MAN." J.C. told him. "We have to teach everyone we can the things we know about that love."

"So in otherwords," Justin said, "Angel can teach while we play basketball, right?"

"Well I don't think he'd approve of her teaching methods." Lance jumped in. She jumped on Lance's back and they all took off running like kids at recess. When they stopped, Angel looked over at Justin to say, "You wouldn't happen to have any peanut brittle in those huge pockets would ya?"

As the laughter rang out once more, anyone just admiring the day would've noticed the birds got a little louder, the sun a little brighter, and the warm breezes blew from nowhere. Everyone within a hundred miles of that hospital felt a sudden sense of calm as the six walked on, arm in arm, singin Together Again, like only angels can....

"Lord," Michael spoke up, "Isn't it unusual to have angels walking the earth together?"

The Lord replied with a patient smile at his ever concerned angel. "Yes Michael but the people have never known a love so close to mine as that which those share. With them doing our work, people may yet come to learn it."

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