RAKE!" Rachel jogged down the center aisle of the main floor on the stadium to the screams that could be heard miles away. Jon was in the VIP seating area, and his little arms were reaching out towards her.
She tore up the stairs and he met her at them. Rachel swept him up in the air and twirled him around. Jon giggled uncontrollably as she covered his cheeks in kisses.
"Rake! I gotta show you something!" Jon exclaimed excitedly. He didn't even wait for Rachel to answer him. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against her temple. She felt his long eyelashes tickle her cheek and she giggled.
"Awww! Thankyou!" She exclaimed.
"You're welcome! I gave you a flutterby tiss!" Jon explained to her. Rachel knew Justin taught his little brother that, Justin loved to give butterfly kisses to make her feel better. He must've told Jon.
"C'mon Jonboy! Let's go say hi to your mommy and everybody else, okay?" Jon led Rachel to where everybody was and she greeted everybody with hugs. She was amazed at how many people were there. Joey's parents and Steve were there. JC's parents and his girlfriend Diana were had arrived in time. Trace, Justin's best friend, had also shown up. Leslie climbed the steps soon after her, Justin's parents were also there, both sets.
"Rachel and Leslie! Come over here, we've got seats saved up front for ya'll!" Lisa, Justin's mom yelled from the front. Leslie and Lisa, Justin's stepmom, sat to the right of her and Jon and Lyn sat to the left of her. Leslie squeezed her hand and giggled.
"I'm so excited!" Rachel smiled at Leslie's excitement and tried to look happy.
"Do you wanna talk about what happened back there?" Leslie asked, concerned.
"It's okay. I just freaked out there for a minute. Lance told me that if I couldn't talk to him and tell him what my problem was, then I would have to leave the tour." Rachel took a deep breath. "It's not fair! I feel like he's punishing me. Why do I have to discuss my feelings? I'm always the one who has to talk about my feelings. I'm sick of him not talking about his."
Leslie stared at Rachel, her mouth hanging open. "Do you hear yourself? I don't wanna offend you or anything. But you sound like a whiny ten year old."
Rachel sat and stared at Leslie for a few minutes and then she too started laughing. "I do, don't I?" She giggled. They both were laughing when the lights went out.
"Oooh! Here they come!! Here they come!" Jon squealed from his spot next to Rachel. He jumped in her lap and bounced up and down.
"Jon! You're going to have to..." Rachel shifted around a little bit. "JON! YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO STOP BOUNCING AROUND ON MY LAP!!!!!!" She yelled in his ear.
Jon sat back and laughed. "Your little butt was hurting my leg!" Rachel giggled into his ear. She tickled his stomach and he squirmed around before settling back against her chest. Rachel kissed the top of his head affectionately and let her face rest in the softness of his hair. Jon played with the rings and bracelets she had on her hand, while he waited for the boys to come on stage. He twisted them around and held them close to his eyes.
Rachel turned her eyes away from the peaceful boy to Leslie. "Rachel, the guys told me to watch the tv screens and pay close attention to them during certain songs. They said you would know what I was talking about." Leslie directed, pointing to the TV's positioned in front of them. The television's allowed the friends and families of NSYNC to see them better.
"Right, that's great. Wonderful." Rachel replied, sarcastically. She knew exactly what the boys were doing.
Finally, they came out and the crowd went wild. Jon was up against the railing, screaming along with them. Justin looked right at him and did their secret signal. Jon jumped up and down even higher, if that was possible.
The boys were performing Tearin' Up My Heart, when Rachel saw the signal in the television screen. She groaned and closed her eyes and prayed that it was the only signal.
*******
Baby I don't understand just why we can't be lovers
Things are getting out of hand
Trying too much but baby we can't win
Let it go; If you want me girl let me know
I am down on my knees; I can't take it anymore
*******
Lance was down on his knees and pointing directly at Rachel. She turned swiftly to Leslie. "What the hell is he doing?"
"I have no clue! Why should I know?" Leslie answered giggling.
"You will pay for this." Rachel glowered at her.
The opening notes to God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You started up and Rachel groaned inwardly.
********
They broke the mold
When you came into this world
And I'm trying hard to figure out
Just how I ever did without
The warmth of your smile
*********
Rachel felt tears spring to her eyes as she looked into Lance's
face on the TV screen. She touched the screen with her fingertips
and scooted closer. Lance smiled and winked, knowing she was
watching his every move.
"Please God let this work." Lance prayed, silently.
I Want You Back came on next and Rachel groaned outwardly this time. "Is this concert ever going to end?"
Leslie heard her and winked at Jon. She tickled his sides and he giggled. "Is Aunt Rake and Uncle Lance going to be boyfriend and girlfriend again?"
Leslie's eyes widened and Rachel whipped her head around. "Oh very cute."
Jon and Leslie laughed hysterically and danced along to the song.
**********
Its hard to say Im sorry
Its hard to make the things I did undone
A lesson Ive learned too well, for sure
Youre all I ever wanted
Youre all I ever needed, yeah
So tell me what to do now
When I want you back
**********
The words hit closer to home more than ever. When all of the guys ended the song by pointing to her instead of doing their final poses, she stood up. "I don't know how much longer I can sit here and take this!"
"Oh, sit down! Enjoy the music, love, laughter, and the plan!" Leslie giggled. The guys told her to make sure that Rachel did not leave that platform, it was probably going to be harder than she thought.
However, Rachel sat back down. Leslie was surprised she listened, but was glad. It was obvious that Rachel just needed to be pointed in the right direction. She knew what she wanted, but she was still scared. Rachel needed that extra push and Leslie was more than happy to be that extra push.
"Right now, we're going to sing an extra special song. It holds a special place in all of our hearts. We've all got that one person in our lives, that we would do anything for. We would give up our worlds, our hearts and our souls for them." Lance spoke, walking back and forth on the stage. "This next song goes out to those people in our lives, especially to the one in my life."
Rachel's eyes filled with tears as the opening notes to "This I Promise You" started. The television's in front of the friends and family in the VIP area lit up with pictures and video clips from Rachel and Lance's past. She looked around and noticed that none of the screens viewable to the audience could see it, just the people in the special area.
Pictures of Rachel and Lance playing together when they were younger, Justin, Lance and her doing homework. Joey filming Rachel when she had just gotten up one morning. Rachel opening up the door, in her prom dress and Lance standing with a rose in his hand. Chris and Rachel dancing crazily to a song, a black and white photo of Lance and Rachel for her senior pictures. The pictures went on and on. The last film clip was of Lance and Rachel talking to the fans, for their new home video.The song ended and a picture of Rachel surrounded by all of the guys faded away. Rachel was openly crying and Jon was hugging her close to him. "Don't you cry, Aunt Rake. Don't cry."
"It's okay Jonboy. They're happy tears." Rachel smiled over at Leslie and gathered her in a hug, kissing her cheek.
"Thankyou, Les." Rachel whispered.
JC stepped out behind the curtain and smiled and waved to the crowd, he pointed at the VIP area and blew a kiss to Rachel. She stood and did the same back to him.
"This next song, is something that we don't sing. We wanted to pick a song that you all probably know, but it's different coming from us. It shows our vocal abilities pretty well, too. We just felt like doing something different. You don't mind, do you?" JC asked the crowd, winking. The crowd screamed their appreciation.
"If they wanted to prance around naked and burp the theme song to 'The Simpson's,' the crowd wouldn't care!" Leslie giggled to Rachel.
Lance, Justin, Chris and Joey walked out from behind the curtain and the crowd yelled even louder. The song started and Rachel narrowed her eyes in confusion, she didn't recognize it.
Justin opened the song and she closed her eyes in frustration, the song couldn't be more perfect if the Pope wrote it.
***********
It's not that I can't live without you
It's just that I don't even want to try
Every night I dream about you
Ever since the day we said goodbye
If I wasn't such a fool
Right now I'd be holding you
There's nothin' that I wouldn't do
Baby if I only knew
The words to say
The road to take
To find a way back to your heart
What can I do
To get to you
And find a way back to your heart
I don't know how it got so crazy
But I'll do anything to set things right
Cuz your love is so amazing
Baby you're the best thing in my life
Let me prove my love is real
And made you feel the way I feel
I promise I would give the world
If only you would tell me girl
The words to say
The road to take
To find a way back to your heart
What can I do
To get to you
And find a way back to your heart
Give me one more chance, to give my love to you
Cuz no one on this earth loves you like I do
Tell me...
The words to say
The road to take
To find a way back to your heart
What can I do
To get to you
And find a way back to your heart
I turn back time
To make you mine
And find a way back to your heart
I beg and plead
Fall to my knees
To find a way back to your heart
**********
The song reflected Lance's feelings and his heart perfectly. Rachel knew he was more than ready to restart their love. He had proven it many times to her, in the past couple of months. It was time to put the past away, she just hoped she could do it.
Rachel slumped forward in her seat as she stared at the floor. Jon sucked his thumb and rested his other hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair. Leslie stared at the stage, praying that the plan had worked. Lynn tried to not look at Rachel and her trembling shoulders. She knew something was going on between Rachel and Lance, but she chose to stay out of it.
Thank you! You all have been an excellent audience! We love you and we'll see you soon! Drive safely and good night!" NSYNC yelled as they walked back towards the curtain.
The lights came on soon after and Rachel turned towards Leslie. Her cheeks were tear stained, and fresh new tears poured over them.
"Can you find the way back to his heart?" Leslie winked at Rachel.
"Oh, how cheesy!" Rachel sighed at her.
"I know, I know. But seriously Rae, what now? He's proven his love to you in front of millions of people. But that doesn't matter, what matters is that he proves his love to you everyday. Actions are more important than words, and for him to go to these extreme measures, I feel, is more than enough."
Rachel sighed as she kissed the top of Jon's head. "I'll see ya later, little man?" Jon nodded his head and patted the side of Rachel's face.
She walked down the center aisle and nodded her head at the guards. They separated the gates for her, as they held off fans. "Rachy, you alright?" Chucky questioned.
Tears flooded Rachel's eyes as she shook her head no. "Buddy, cover for me." Chucky instructed as he guided Rachel through. He placed one hand on the small of her back and held her arm in the other. The fans looked enviously at Rachel and she kept her eyes down to the floor.
Rachel stopped short in front of the door to the dressing room and took a deep breath. She turned and looked up at Chucky fearfully. "What ... what do I do now?" Rachel's breath shuddered.
"Girl! What in God's green earth do you mean? You go in there and proclaim your love!" He exclaimed. Rachel looked from the door down to the floor and back up at Chucky.
"I'm scared..." Rachel whispered.
