The past month for Rachel had been pure hell. Half of her days had been spent
with her friends and riding her horses. Although she was kept busy, she still
missed Lance. They usually spent a lot of time together and it was a little
weird not having him there with her.

"Hello?" She murmured into the phone. It was past midnight and she was tired.
She had went to bed early after a long day of shopping and horse back riding.
She had spent her summers working at a stable. She kept the horses trained
and she did odd jobs, cleaning out the stalls and such.

"Hey! Were you sleeping?" Lance asked worried. He didn't mean to wake her up.
Usually in the summer she would be up all night long. She loved staying up
late and watching television and sleeping in all day.

"Nah, I was laying in bed naming my unborn children." Rachel said irritably
into the phone. "So nice of you to call me." He hadn't called her in a week
or two and she hated it. They had a pact to always call each other on
Monday's. They would talk about they're weeks and she hadn't talked to him
since two Monday's ago.

"I'm sorry. We've been really busy with the tour and all..." Lance tried to
explain. "Well, why haven't you called me?" It wasn't like he had to always
call, she could pick up the phone too.

"I did! Both times, Joey answered the phone and said you weren't nearby. So,
I talked to him for a little bit and that was it. He said he would give you
my messages. Are you mad at me or something? Because, I don't think I did
anything wrong." She was confused as to why he hadn't called her.

"You called me? Wait, I never...I didn't...Oh for the love of Pete! I'm going
to kill Joe! He never gives any of us our messages. I'm so sorry Rach. You
know if I knew you had called, I would've called right back." He explained
apologetically. He was going to slice and dice Joey when he got ahold of him.
"What would make you think that I'm mad at you?" He questioned, slightly
confused.

"I don't know. I just haven't seen you or talked to you in like a month, I
wasn't sure. I can't exactly see or hear how you're feeling." She was
beginning to get a little annoyed. She was tired and she was weary of Lance.
She didn't want to get into an argument with him and the way things were
going, it was going to be unavoidable.

"Oh." Lance could only reply with that, he didn't know what else to say. She
seemed really annoyed or upset about something. He wished he could see her
face, he could always tell immediately what was wrong with her. He could
glance at her and know instantly if she was unhappy.

"Look, I'm gonna go." Rachel said, moving to get out of bed to hang up the
phone.

"What? Why? We just started talking." Lance said frantically.

"Why? Because, I'm tired. I've had a long day Lance. I've been working all
day long with the horses at the stable and I went shopping. I've gotta work
tomorrow too. I want to sleep." She explained, her impatience making her
explanation seem long and drawn out.

He hated it when she talked to him like that. It made him feel like a three
year old. "Don't talk to me that way Rachel. You know I hate it. I'm so sorry
that I thought to call. I won't do it again, you go to sleep. Goodnight."

"Lance-" She was cut off by the dial tone. "Ew, jeez. He didn't have to be so
grouchy." She hung up the phone and fell into bed, she was asleep in less
than a half hour.

Lance threw the phone down on the couch and groaned. "What's wrong buddy?"
Joey asked him, tapping him on his shoulder.

"Let me ask ya something Joe?" Lance asked, sitting upright in his seat. "How
many messages do you actually give us four, when you answer our phones?"

"Umm...all of them. Why do you ask?" Joey responded, slightly confused.

"No, you don't." Lance said, shaking his head. "Rachel called me two Monday's
in a row. And, you never told me. Did you?"

The rest of the guys hid their smiles behind their hands. They knew how
important Monday conversations were to Lance and it was always fun to see
Joey get in trouble. They had been waiting for this for awhile now. He was
never giving them important messages.

"Oops." Joey looked like a little child who just got scolded. "Um. I'm
sorry?" He answered, not sure if he should apologize or not.

Lance sighed and rubbed his hands over his face in frustration. "Yeah, well.
It doesn't matter now. She's pissed off at me over something and just like
blew me off. She said she was tired and that she had a long day working at
the stalls."

"She did." Justin answered, absentmindedly. He was reading a magazine and
eating popcorn. "She has to work tomorrow morning too, at like nine in the
morning. She's been working at the stalls Monday through Friday, like nine to
five everyday. Didn't you know that?"

"No! I didn't know that and how the hell do you know that?!" Lance demanded.
She hadn't told him any of this.

"I know this because I put forth the effort. I actually call her about once
or twice a week and I listen to her. There are still people back home that
care about us and are still close to us, ya know Lance? There is more than
just this tour and the people on it. Jeez." Justin got up, threw the popcorn
away and walked back to his bunk. He hated it when Lance treated Rachel like
this. He didn't mean to, but when he was on tour, he was so focused. Lance
sometimes forgot about the friendships and the importance of them that were
waiting back at home.

"Call her back and apologize Lance." JC instructed, picking up the cell phone
and handing it to him. He got up and left the room, Joey and Chris followed.

He quickly dialed the numbers that he would never forget, no matter where he
was in life. There was no answer and the machine picked up. He quickly left a
message apologizing and saying he couldn't wait to see her next week.

The next day Rachel called him and they talked for awhile. She apologized for
being so flippant with him and getting annoyed easily. They discussed the
flight arrangements and where she would be sleeping on the bus and in the
hotels.

"This is the flight. Right Lance?" Chris asked nervously. There were so many
people and he still hadn't seen Rachel.

"Yes, Chris. This is the right flight, why would I forget my best friends
flight number?" Lance answered irritably. He moved the hat on his head around
in anticipation. The others had insisted on coming with him to pick up
Rachel. They all were dressed in disguises, if they didn't there would be a
mob scene.

"There she is!" Lance started to walk forward. Rachel was the last person off
the plane, she always was. She hated to get in the middle of the rush of
getting off the plane.

"Lance!" Rachel rushed forward into his arms. He swept her up off the ground
and spun her around in circle. She giggled wildly and kissed his cheek. He
set her down on the ground and started to release his arms.

"Nuh uh. Don't you even think about that. This hug isn't long enough!" She
laughed, pulling him close. He sighed happily and buried his face in her
neck. She wrapped her arms around his neck and played with the collar of his
shirt.

"I've missed you so much." Lance whispered, wrapping his arms around her
back. He wanted to hold onto her forever and never let her go.

"You and me both." She pulled away gently and wiped her tears away. She
kissed his cheek gently and smiled.

"Why are you crying?" Lance asked concerned. He dipped down so he was looking
her in her eyes.

"Nothing. I'm just so happy to see you. It's been a long month." She
explained halfheartedly. The truth was the feeling of being in his arms was
so overwhelming, it scared her. She loved it and she never wanted to let him
go.

She greeted the rest of the guys with hugs and kisses on they're cheeks.
"Now, we can get this tour started. Why you ask? Because the wonderful Miss.
Rach is here!" She giggled excitedly.

She walked over to Justin and pulled him in a hug. "Thankyou for listening to
all of my problems this past month. You'll never know what you did for me."
She whispered into his ear.

"Yes, I do. Because you did the same for me a couple of months ago. Right
before we left for this tour. We'll always be here for each other Rae. I
promise." He whispered back, tightening his arms around her. They hugged for
a few moments and she pulled away, kissing him on his forehead.

"C'mon! Let's go!" She grabbed his hand and they walked out of the airport
together.

Lance eyed them suspiciously. He wanted to know what they were whispering
about. "Why did they hug for so long? And, why was he smiling at her like
that?" He pushed the annoying and jealous filled thoughts out of his mind and
concentrated on the fact that she was here with him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~