Please Remember Me
by Sarah

*Please Remember Me*
*March 19, 2000*
*A Venus Fanfiction Crew Production*


*When all our tears have reached the sea
*A part of you will live in me
*Way down deep inside my heart.

JC sighed. It was no use.sleeping wasn't even an option at this point. He
pushed the sheets back and tiptoed quietly to the back room of the bus. Busta
growled in his sleep as JC passed, waking Korea. The younger pug trailed
after JC, who flipped on the television and began channel surfing, Korea on
his lap. He ended up watching MTV, as hard as he had tried to avoid that
channel. Sure enough, there was MTV's newest VJ, Tami.

"Tams!" Dave Holmes, back from MTV's Holidays in Hawaii, hugged her
tightly. It was well known that it was Dave who had discovered Tami when he
saw her giving a talk on music to students at NYU.

"We're sort of.on the air, Dave."

"What are we talking about?"

"I'm TRYING-note the word 'TRYING-to talk about the latest Lou Pearlman
lawsuit. What are you doing here this time of day, anyway?"

"It's your twenty-first birthday. In exactly two minutes, you'll be
legal."

"Oh, man." Tami rubbed her temples lightly in exaggerated exasperation.

JC's heart ached with the familiarity of the movement. Tami always did that
when she had a headache. Or even when she didn't.


*The days keep comin' without fail
*A new wind is gonna find your sail.
*That's where your journey starts.

"Happy birthday!" Two minutes later, Tami was surrounded by the MTV VJs
and crew; anyone who could possibly be there from the company was there. Tami
squeezed her eyes shut tightly and blew out her candles.

"What did you wish for?" Ananda asked. Tami smiled lovably.

"A new beginning." JC wanted to turn off the TV so badly, but found
himself almost hypnotized by the sight of her. He could almost smell her
perfume.

Of course she would want a new beginning. JC might have wanted one, too,
if he hadn't been the small problem of his being madly in love with her.
"You aren't supposed to tell anyone what you wished for, or it won't come
true," Carson chided gently.

"Too late now." Tami smiled again and brushed her hair back from her
face. JC's eyes studied her hand. His ring was gone. Of course it was gone.
Why would she still wear it?

"What do you want to find new beginnings in, Tam?" Tyrese asked her. "Not
a career, right? You wouldn't leave us."

Tami laughed, high pitched and clear as a bell. "No way! I love MTV. No,
love. I want to find new beginnings in love."

"You will, baby," Dave assured her in the comfortable way he had.

She would, too. That's what hurt JC the most. He knew that someday,
another man would fall in love with his Tami, and there was nothing he could
do about it. He stumbled back to his bunk, taking Korea with him. He couldn't
sleep, though; he scratched Korea's ears, missing Tami. He vowed to never
watch MTV again. He rolled over, and continued missing Tami.

*You'll find better love
*Strong as it ever was
*Deep as the river runs
*Warm as the morning sun
*Please remember me.

"Have you heard who's presenting one of the awards we're up for tonight,
JC?" Justin asked as they were on their way to the MTV Video Music Awards.

"No, but I can guess." They arrived just in time to see Tami entering the
building with her arm around a tall, blond man. She wore a short black dress,
all shine, and her hair was swept up off her shoulders. A blue scarf was
draped over her arms. The look was purely Tami.

JC did his best to not think about her during the awards show; he had
kept his promise to himself to not watch MTV. A lot of good that did him now.
He almost succeeded in forgetting about Tami, distracting himself by
listening to the awards ceremony. Then Carson Daly stepped onto the stage.
"To present the award for Pop Video of the Year, are MTV's Dream Couple,
Tami and Kevin. Everyone at MTV is rooting for this pair; aren't they the
cutest thing you've ever seen?"

"Oh, be quiet, Carson." Kevin punched him playfully in the arm, and Tami
blushed.

JC watched his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend interact
mischievously as they read off the list of nominees. In fact, JC was so
entranced by the sight of Tami that he didn't realize they were being called
up to receive the award until Chris was dragging him by the sleeve.

*Just like the waves down by the shore
*We're gonna keep on coming back for more.
*'Cause we don't ever wanna stop.

"Congratulations!" Kevin shook hands with all five members of the group.
His grip was strong and steady - as perfect as he was. "Isn't this about your
two thousandth - plus five - MTV award?" The audience and group laughed
appreciatively at Kevin's reference to *NSYNC's latest album, "2000 + 5".

"Almost. Not quite." Lance smiled.

"We just keep on coming back for more. What can I say?" Joey began the
acceptance speech. JC couldn't speak well when his time to talk came. He
could feel Tami's eyes on his back.

"Thank you to the fans!" A loud scream was heard off in the balcony.

"Especially to that one!" Everyone laughed. "And to everyone else who has
supported us through the years." JC managed to choke out a semi-normal part.

*Out in this brave new world you'll see
*Oh, the valleys and the peaks
*And I can see you on the top.

Backstage, JC worked up the nerve to talk to Tami.
"So, you've reached the top of your mountain, huh?" he asked lightly,
referring to Tami's analogy of finding your place in the world as reaching
the top of your own private mountain.

"Not yet." She smiled tightly, a plastered on smile. JC knew what her
real smile looked like. "I still don't have a 'real' journalistic job." Her
words cut him to the core.

"Tams, you know I didn't mean that. Don't do this to me."

"Forget it. Goodbye, Mr. Chasez." She moved gracefully through the crowd
on the arm of Kevin. Most of the people backstage were MTV employees who
called out her name as she passed. She smiled charmingly and responded
accordingly to everyone. She looked beautiful (of course), and JC watched,
filled with pain, as Tami disappeared. She was so in love. JC had seen the
way she looked and touched Kevin - the same way she had once looked at and
touched JC.

*You'll find better love
*Strong as it ever was
*Deep as the river runs
*Warm as the morning sun
*Please remember me.

JC had so many memories of Tami. He mentally reviewed them as he prepared
for the post-awards bash at Beacon's. Tami on the beach. Tami typing
furiously on her computer, hair in disarray. Tami dancing in the rain.
Playing on a slide. Sleeping on the bus. Putting the delicate emerald ring
he'd bought her on her finger. And the first time they had met - she was
singing "Genie in a Bottle" on Say What? Karaoke, and he had been a judge.
MTV had brought them together, torn them apart, and cruelly kept their worlds
in the same orbit.

*Remember me when you're out walking.
*When snow falls high outside your door.

"Kevin!" Tami shrieked as her boyfriend threw a snowball at her. "You
jerk! This is Gucci!" He didn't stop so she returned the favor, shoving snow
down the back of his tux.

"Hey! This is Versace!" He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Don't stick it out if you don't want to use it," Tami taunted. JC
mouthed the saucy words along with her. It was one of Tami's favorite
sayings; she had used it more times than he could count on JC>
As if she could hear JC talking along with her, Tami turned around and
made eye contact with him.

"Come on, Kev. It's cold and late. Let's go home." She tugged on his hand
and they ducked into a waiting limo.

*Late at night when you're not sleeping
*And moonlight falls across your floor.
*And I can't hurt you anymore.

Once again, JC couldn't sleep. He watched the moonlight cast shadows
around the room and over the sleeping faces of his groupmates. The moon was
totally, brilliantly full. JC remembered another night, with a moon like this
one.

~*FLASHBACK*~

"I'm finally doing what I've always wanted to do, and now you just want
me to quit? Don't be jealous, JC." Tami was mad. Extremely mad. JC could tell
by the way she was twisting her emerald ring as she spoke.

"You've been wanting to be a JOURNALIST your whole life," JC snapped back.

"Yeah, my point exactly. Thanks for clearing that up."

"Oh, get with the program, Tam. It's not a REAL journalistic job. It's
not even work."

"What?" Tami's face went pale, and her eyes became huge. "Just because I
work at MTV and cover music, instead of working at CNN, covering Croatia,
doesn't mean I'm not a journalist, working hard at what I do. I mean, come
on. You sing in a pop group, make millions of dollars and have girls throwing
themselves at you while you shake and dance a la Backstreet. That's work?"

"You spoiled brat. Witch. You just want to have what's good for you. Grow
up a little, Tami."

"Bite me. Goodbye, JC." And she was gone.

~*END FLASHBACK*~

*You'll find better love
*Strong as it ever was
*Deep as the river runs
*Warm as the morning sun
*Please remember me.

JC turned on MTV, breaking his vow for the millionth time since the
awards; it was almost an addiction now. He saw coverage of the awards. Of
course. They always played things on MTV thousands of times. And of course, a
lot of time was spent on MTV's Dream Couple.

"Goodbye, Tams. I'm glad you found a better love." JC clicked off the
television. "Don't forget me. I promise I'll never forget you."

*Please remember me.*

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