"I can't let Joey go alone, sweetie," Chris explained as he stroked her hair
"Come on, Chris," Joey started. "We better go." He looked down at Kelly. "Um... what's your sister's name?"
"It's Sarah," Kelly told him, trying her best to smile.
"Okay," Joey smiled back. "Lance, give me your keys," he said as he got up from the couch.
"You can't take my car, Joey," Lance told him.
"Why not?" Chris wondered.
"There's hardly any gas... and I don't think you want to stop by a gas station on the way..."
"Oh... JC, can we use yours?"
"Sorry, guys. Mine's in the shop."
Everyone turned to look at Justin.
"Oh no..." he said, holding up his hands. "You are NOT taking the Benz out in this storm!"
Kelly scrambled up from the couch and ran over to him. "Come on, Justy... This is my sister we're talking about..."
Justin looked at her for a while and then broke down. "Okay! But if there is one spot on the car when you get back I'm gonna beat the hell outta both of ya!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Joey rolled his eyes. "Where are the keys?"
Justin narrowed his eyes at him as he put his hands in his pocket. He pulled out his keys and reluctantly held them out to Joey.
When Justin wouldn't let go, Joey looked over at him. "Justin... give me your keys."
"I swear, if that car's not PERFECT when you get back..." he trailed off as Joey pulled the keys out of his hands.
"God, Justin..." Chris said, trying to get up but Lori wouldn't let go of him. "We'll be careful!" He looked down at her and whispered. "Come on, Lori. I promise you that I'll be fine. We'll be back before you know it."
Lori didn't say anything. She just wrapped her arms further around his waist and squeezed.
"Lori..." Chris choked. "You're squeezing me too tight!"
"I'm sorry, Chris," Lori cried. "But I don't want you to go!"
"Come on..." he whispered so that she was the only one who could hear. "If I don't go, Joey will get lost and we'll never see him again. He'll just keep driving and driving..."
Lori giggled through her tears and looked up at him. "I don't care, Chris. All I need is you."
"You have me. I promise I'll be okay."
"You can't promise that."
"Please, Lori. Sarah is out there in the storm and Joey can't go by himself," Chris said as he kissed forehead and then moved to her lips.
"Chris... Let's go!" Joey called.
"Just a second!" Chris said, moving his lips away from Lori's. "Just trust me. I'll be fine. Okay?"
Lori just looked at him with tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Okay?" he repeated, this time softer than before.
"Okay, but you HAVE to come back, Chris. You just HAVE to," she said as he wiped away her tears and kissed her again.
"I will. You'll see."
"Chris!!" Joey said, getting impatient.
"I have to go..." he whispered.
"Okay," Lori whispered back, resting her forehead against his. "But be REALLY careful, honey. Please!"
"I will. I promise." Chris said, taking her face in his hands and giving her one last kiss before he left.
She let him up and they both met Joey at the door. Everyone told Chris and Joey to be careful as they put on their shoes and opened the door.
Lori grabbed Chris and kissed him before he walked out the door. She looked at his face and memorized every feature from his brown eyes and cute nose to the way his braids fell over his ears.
When she put her hands on his face he took a breath. "I'll be fine," he promised. "I love you."
"I love you, too," she said before kissing his lips.
He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. Neither of them wanted to let go of each other.
"Oh, please..." Joey sighed as he grabbed Chris' shirt and tried to pull him out the door.
Chris finally forced his hands off her body and his lips off of hers. "I love you!" he called as Joey dragged him into the rain.
When the door closed, Lori let out a sob. She fell back into JC's arms and he held her. "He'll be okay. Don't worry," JC assured her.
Joey was driving very slowly along the street.
"Watch out!" Chris yelled.
Joey stepped on the brakes and the car slid to a stop. "What!?!" he shouted when there was nothing in sight.
Chris looked over at him with a guilty smile. "Oh... I was just telling you to watch out IN GENERAL..."
Joey took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm himself down. "Okay... okay..." he said carefully putting his foot back down on the gas.
They continued down the street.
"Hey, Joe... you hardly even know this girl and you volunteer to go pick up her little sister in a dangerous storm. You must have the hots for her!" Chris said, breaking the silence.
"You're here too, Chris!"
"I'm just making sure that you don't get lost..."
Chris was beginning to annoy Joey. "I'm starting to wish that you weren't here..." he mumbled under his breath.
Chris didn't hear what Joey had said because the rain was pounding so hard on the car. "What?"
"Nothing!" Joey yelled at him.
"Geez... I was only-" Suddenly Chris stopped talking when he saw a pair of bright headlights heading straight for them. "Watch out!"
"Chris, will you just stop it!?!" Joey yelled back.
"STOP!" Chris screamed as he grabbed a hold of the door, bracing for a crash.
Joey looked forward and saw a huge truck in front of them. "Oh, shit!" he shouted as he turned the steering wheel, trying to dodge the truck.
Chris screamed as the car went off the road and came to a halt in the ditch. The airbags flew open, throwing them both back in their seats. When Chris realized what had happened he opened his eyes and looked over at Joey.
Joey's head was bent in a very awkward position against his seat.
"Joey! Joey! Wake up!" Chris tapped on Joey's shoulder till his eyes opened.
"Whoa... what happened?" Joey asked sleepily.
"I guess we swerved out of the way of a truck and ended up in this ditch," Chris answered as he rubbed his head. "It all seems like a big blur." He paused. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Joey said, shutting his eyes for a long while. "What about you?"
"I think I'm okay," Chris replied. "Lets get this car out of the ditch."
Both Chris and Joey got out and stood in the ditch. "Man, it's really raining hard!" Joey called to Chris.
"I know!" Chris called back. He lifted his foot up and then put it back down on the ground. "And muddy too!"
For about ten minutes the two of them tried to push the car back on the road. Joey gave one final shove. He slipped and fell backwards into the mud. "Oof!"
Chris burst out laughing as he pointed at Joey.
"Shut up!" Joey yelled, trying to get up.
He fell back into the mud and Chris laughed harder. He was laughing so hard that he, himself fell to the ground.
Joey laughed as Chris frowned and threw mud at him. It hit Joey square in the face. He stopped laughing and wiped his eyes. "You are SO gonna get it!" He picked up a hand full of mud and whipped it at Chris.
Soon they were so covered in mud that they couldn't get any dirtier.
"Let's get this car back on the road!" Chris shouted. He and Joey pushed and pushed until the car was finally on the street. They stood back and took a deep breath, admiring their accomplishment.
Suddenly, Chris burst out laughing again.
"What's so funny?"
Chris looked over at him and tried to control his laughter. "Justin... Mercedes... ditch!" he managed to spit out.
Joey thought about it for a second and then laughed as he looked at Justin's Mercedes. "Yeah, and now we're gonna sit in it..." He touched his muddy clothes. "LIKE THIS!"
"He's gonna KILL us!" Chris said as he opened the door to the car.
Joey stopped laughing when he noticed that Chris was getting into the driver's seat. "What do you think you're doing?"
Chris looked at Joey over the top of the car. "After that little episode, I'M DRIVING."
Joey decided to ignore that comment considering it was CHRIS' fault that they went off the road in the first place. He would have been just fine by himself.
They both got into the car and Chris started the engine. He reached in his pocked and handed Joey his cell phone. "Will you call home and tell everyone that we're all right? Lori's probably worried sick."
Joey took the phone from Chris and held it between his thumb and index finger. "Um, Chris..." he said, examining the muddy, waterlogged cell phone.
"What?" Chris stepped on the gas and once again they made their way to the mall.
"I don't think your phone is gonna work..."
"Why not?"
"It's all wet and muddy."
"Well, that's just great!" Chris yelled. "Lori's probably sitting home, scared to death and I can't call her!" Chris frowned, keeping his eyes on the road. "What if she thinks something happened to us?"
"Calm down, Chris. She'll be fine," Joey assured him.
Chris sighed. "I hope you're right..."
Meanwhile, Lori sat by the window with tears in her eyes. "Where are you, Chris..." she whispered.
"Are you okay?" Lance asked, sitting down next to her.
Lori fell into his arms and let out a sob. "No."
"I'm sure that he's fine, Lori," Lance assured her.
"But JOEY'S driving," JC pointed out.
Both Lori and Justin's eyes widened as Lance gave JC a dirty look.
"Joey is driving my baby!" Justin cried as he flopped down next to Lori and Lance on the couch. "What was I thinking? How could I let them take my car!"
Chris pulled up against the curb by the mall. He saw a girl about Justin's age standing by a pay phone. "Joey, open your window and call to her."
Joey pressed a button and the window came down. "Sarah!" he yelled as rain started to pour in.
She ran over to the car and bent down.
"Hi, we're Kelly's friends, and..."
"Say no more!" she said, pulling open the door to the back seat and hopping in. "Thank God you guys came! I didn't know what to do out here in the storm! I was beginning to-" she stopped when she saw that Chris and Joey covered in mud. "Oh my God! What happened to you two?"
"Oh, just a little accident..." Chris smiled.
"Little?" Joey chuckled. "We were in the ditch!"
"Wow... you're in this nice car too..." Sarah said, looking around at the inside of Justin's Mercedes.
Both Joey and Chris burst out laughing.
"What? Did I say something funny?" Sarah wondered.
They just kept laughing as Chris got back on the freeway. "Justin is gonna KILL us when he sees his car!"
"Tell me about it!" Joey said as he glanced at the mud on his seat. "He's gonna be out in the driveway all tomorrow with soap and a toothbrush!"
"More like WE'LL be out there with soap and a tooth brush," Chris corrected. "Justin Timberlake? Cleaning? I don't think so!"
"I was only kidding. The car will be fine," JC told Justin. He looked up and saw headlights and then he saw Justin's Mercedes pull into the driveway.
"My baby!" Justin shouted as he ran to the door. "If there's so much as a scratch on that car, so God help them..." he trailed off.
Lori jumped up and joined Justin at the door. When she saw Chris get out, she flung the door open and ran out in the rain to meet him. "Chris!"
"Lori!" he called.
"Chris, I was so worried!" she said, leaping into his arms.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," he said, brushing the wet strands of hair from her face. He pressed his lips to hers. "I love you," he said softly against her lips.
"I love you, too," she said, kissing him some more. Suddenly she pulled back and gave him a funny look. "Why are you so... dirty?" She looked at his muddy clothes and skin, not to mention the mud in his braids.
Chris laughed. "It's a long story!"
"Let's go inside before you catch pneumonia..."
"OH MY GOD!" they heard someone yell. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BENZ!?!" Justin ran over to his car and put his hands on the top of it. Then he turned around and pointed at Joey and Chris. "YOU!" he said, glaring at them. "You did this!"
"Come on, Justin... It's not like we went in the ditch on purpose!" Joey said, defending himself.
Justin took a deep breath and let it out, "Let me get this straight... you went into a ditch in the BENZ?!?" He spun back around and looked into the car's window. "And you got mud all over my leather seats! This is the LAST time anyone EVER borrows my car!" "Justin," Lori started.
"WHAT!"
"Come inside. You're gonna get sick."
"I'm not leaving the Benz out here in the rain..." he said not letting go of the car.
"Then put it in the garage..." Chris suggested.
Justin stomped over to Chris. "Give me my keys," he said through clenched teeth. He swiped the keys away and then ran back to his car.
"Let's go inside," Chris said as he looked down at Lori.
They heard Justin swearing as they opened the front door.
"What did you do in that car?" Lori asked Chris.
"You don't want to know how we got it muddy... you don't wanna know..."
Kelly hugged her little sister and then turned to Joey. "Thank you SO much!" She went to hug him but then realized that he was covered in mud. "Eww..."
"Aww, don't be shy!" Joey grinned as he picked her up and hugged her.
When he set her down she looked at him, holding out her arms. "Oh my God... my clothes are ruined!" She looked up at his smile and then smiled back. "What the hell, you saved my baby sister!" She ran back to him and gave him a kiss.
Joey smiled. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" He kissed her again.
JC and Lance hooted. "Go Joey!"
Lance then looked around. "Hey," he said. "Where's Justin?"
Chris burst out laughing. "He's out nursing his baby back to health..."
Everyone had a good laugh and then decided to go to bed. It was really late. Kelly and Sarah had to spend the night because obviously they couldn't leave in the bad weather.
"You can sleep in Justin's room," Lori told Sarah. "I don't think he's gonna be sleeping anytime soon..." she chuckled.
"All right," Sarah agreed and walked into Justin's room when Lori showed her which one it was. Lori then walked back down stairs.
"I'll just sleep on the couch," Kelly offered.
"No, no, no..." Joey shook his head. "You're a guest. You can sleep in my room and I'll take the couch."
"Are you sure? I'd be fine on the couch."
"I'm absolutely positive," Joey said, running up the stairs to change and grab a pillow. "No more arguments."
Kelly smiled. Joey was so sweet! Lori walked over to her and grinned. "You like Joey, don't you?" she asked.
Kelly turned bright red. "Um..."
"It's okay," Lori laughed. "He's a great guy."
Kelly looked over in the direction where Joey had gone up the stairs. "I know..." she sighed dreamily.
Chris walked out of the bathroom and was disappointed to see an empty room. He wished that Lori were with him now. He smiled and decided to go see her. He walked out of his room and traveled over to Lori's. She was lying on her bed reading a book.
"Hey, sweetie," she said, setting down the book when she saw Chris at the door.
"Hi..." He walked into her room and stood by her bed.
"What is it?" she wondered.
Chris gave a little smile as he climbed onto her bed. "I want you," he said as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.
"Chris... tonight?" Lori asked as she watched the book fall onto the floor. She took off her glasses and set them on the night stand.
"Forever and ever," he said in between kisses.
"But right now?"
He stopped kissing her and looked up. "Why not?"
"Chris... there's something that I haven't told you..." Lori said softly resting her hand on his cheek.
"What?" he asked, suddenly getting worried. What if it where something serious?
Chapter 6
A Chance
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