"Be my guest!"
Justin walked over and buckled the suitcase and Joey sat on it with all his weight. "There!"
"Thanks, Justin." Joey got off of the suitcase and started to throw things into the next one.
Justin watched him. "You know, Joey... If you were to fold your clothes you'd have more space."
Joey turned around and looked at Justin. "I know, but it's just easier this way."
"Okay..." Justin left Joey's room and then went to his own. He put all of his stuff into the hall and then sat on his bed. "Did I forget anything?" he muttered to himself, looking around the room. "Nope!" Justin jumped up and began to carry his stuff downstairs.
Lori was in the bathroom putting all of her stuff in a bag. She grabbed her toothbrush and a comb and shoved them inside. Chris appeared at the door but he didn't say anything.
"Are you okay?" Lori asked when she saw him in the mirror.
"Yeah, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry... again," he said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.
"It's okay, honey. I think I know how you feel." She continued to pack while he began to kiss her neck.
"I love you," he whispered in between kisses.
She dropped her stuff, turned her head to him and their lips met. Together, they both fell deeper into the kiss.
JC walked over to his dresser and looked at a picture. It was of him and Alicia taken last fall. He sighed, put the picture in the top drawer and carefully shut it. What was he forgetting? Oh yeah! His toothbrush. He walked out of his room and opened the bathroom door.
Chris and Lori were sitting on the edge of the bathtub kissing.
"Whoops," he spat out and shut the door. Everywhere he looked he saw happy couples. Why couldn't he be like that with Alicia? What was wrong?
JC walked downstairs and opened the refrigerator. He grabbed a Dr. Pepper and opened it. Then he sipped at it as he sat at the table and stared out the window.
Justin set the last of his luggage by the door and wiped his brow, thinking that he probably brought too much stuff.
Suddenly the doorbell rang and he jumped. 'Who could it be?' he wondered as he opened the door.
"Alicia!" he gasped at the tall woman with blonde hair and blue eyes standing in front of him. "What are you doing here?"
"Hi, Justin. I came to see JC," she smiled sweetly
"But, but, but I thought that you two-" Justin stuttered
"Broke up?" Alicia finished for him. "Yeah, but I think we're going to get back together." She stood there and watched Justin staring at her. "Can I come in?"
"Oh!" Justin said, stepping aside. "Sure!"
Alicia walked past Justin and then stopped. "Where is he?"
"Who?" Justin asked, still shocked to see her again.
"JC!"
"Oh! He should be upstairs in his room," Justin answered.
"Thanks," Alicia smiled as she walked up the stairs.
"Oh my God," Justin said under his breath. Alicia was back! After all that JC had been through with her, she was back. What should he do? Maybe he should tell someone... but they were gonna see her anyway. What was the point of telling them?
Lance carefully placed his clothes into a suitcase and flattened them with his hands. He had trouble concentrating on packing when all he could think about was Beth. She was supposed to come on tour with him and now they would have to meet up later.
Lance sighed as he snapped the suitcase shut and set it next to the door. He looked up and notice a familiar figure walking by. "Alicia?" he said softly.
She stopped and backtracked to Lance's room. "Hey, Lance."
"Wha, what..." Lance said, embarrassed because he couldn't get a sentence out.
"JC and I are back together," she explained.
"You are?" He asked, surprised.
"Yep!" she answered. "Hey... why is everyone packing? Are you guys going on tour?"
"Yeah... tomorrow."
"Tomorrow! I wonder why JC didn't tell me that yesterday," Alicia wondered with a thoughtful look on her face.
"Yesterday!" Lance cried. "When did you talk to him yesterday?"
"He was over at my house."
"He was?"
"Yeah."
"Oh..." As far as Lance had known, the only place JC had been yesterday was shopping with Justin. "I think JC went downstairs," he told Alicia.
"Okay. Thanks, Lance." Alicia replied as she headed for the stairs. "I'll talk to you later!"
"Yeah, later..." Lance mumbled.
Alicia traveled back down the stairs to see Justin on the couch. He was giving her an odd look. "What?" she asked.
"Nothing..." he said as he got up and went back upstairs.
Alicia shrugged and then began to look for JC.
The doorbell rang and no one was around so she answered it.
"Hi!" the strange woman said, smiling at Alicia.
"Hi... Who are you?"
"Who are YOU?"
"I'm Alicia."
"Well, my name is Kelly. I'm here to see Joey."
Alicia smiled. "Oh! Joey!" she nodded her head. "I haven't seen him but I'm assuming he's here. Probably upstairs."
"Okay, thanks," Kelly said as she walked past Alicia and jogged up the stairs.
"Wow, busy house," Alicia mumbled once Kelly disappeared.
"JC!" she called.
Meanwhile, JC almost dropped his can. Who was that? It sounded like Alicia! Oh, God! What was she doing here?
JC stumbled up from the table, this time successfully knocking his Dr. Pepper over. He hoped that no one had seen her. But someone had to have let her in... unless she just came in by herself.
Alicia appeared in the doorway and saw a nervous JC standing above a puddle of Dr. Pepper. "JC! What happened?" she asked, walking over to the counter and pulling out some paper towels.
"Ah, um..." he stuttered, unable to find his voice.
She began to wipe up the cola from the floor.
"Wha, what are you doing here? I thought we agreed that we weren't gonna tell anybody about us!" JC cried, finally able to talk.
Alicia stood up and frowned at JC. She didn't like this topic. "Lance just told me that you guys are leaving tomorrow."
"Lance!? You talked to Lance?" JC gasped. "Does he know?" He smacked himself in the head. "Of course he knows! Why else would you be here?"
"JC, honey... calm down." Alicia threw the soaked paper towels in the garbage and walked back over to him. "You're starting to scare me."
"Scare you? I'm scaring YOU?" he rambled. "No one was supposed to know about us! Now everyone's gonna know!"
"Tell me about this tour. How come you didn't tell me last night? Were you trying to keep it from me?"
JC was trapped. Everything around him was caving in and he didn't know what to do. "I... I..." he started, still trying to think of something to say.
"You what?" Alicia asked, putting her hands on her hips.
JC stared at her. For some reason he couldn't move.
"That's it. I'm going on tour with you," she told him. "You obviously need someone right now." With that, she turned around and walked to the doorway. "I'm gonna go pack. I'll be right back, JC, honey." she smiled sweetly at him and then disappeared.
"Oh God, oh God, oh God..." JC said over and over trying to breathe. She was the last thing he needed with him at tour. But why hadn't he objected? "God, I'm weak..." he mumbled, plopping back down in the chair.
Joey grinned when he saw Kelly standing outside his room.
"Joey!" she called, running inside and throwing her arms around him.
"I'm SO glad that you came!" he exclaimed before he kissed her passionately.
"Whoa..." Kelly breathed when their lips parted.
Joey smiled and then pulled her back for another kiss. "I'm gonna miss you a lot," Joey said only pulling away so he could speak.
Kelly pushed him away and looked at him. "Do you mean that, Joe?" she asked. "Or are you just gonna find another girl in the next city?"
"How can you even ask that?" Joey said, looking hurt. "I've never met anyone like you before, and I never will."
She looked up at him for reassurance. "Never?"
"Never," he confirmed and she threw herself back into his arms.
JC, still in shock, crept out of the kitchen and went upstairs to finish packing.
Justin watched him walk by and noticed the worried look on his face. "What's wrong, man?" he asked.
JC spun around and looked back at Justin. "Nothing!" he spat out.
"Nothing my ass!" Justin laughed, but then stopped when he saw that JC wasn't laughing with him. "Um... well, what's bothering you?"
JC pushed Justin back into the room and shut the door behind them. "Listen, I've got a major problem..."
Justin gave him a knowing smile. "Is this problem blonde with blue eyes?"
JC flopped down on Justin's bed and sighed. "You saw her!"
"I let her in."
"You let her in? WHY?" JC sat up and stared at Justin.
"Why not?" Justin shrugged.
"Why not?" JC cried and then fell back onto the bed. "Why not?" he said softer. "Maybe because I told you that I never wanted to see her again?"
"But she said that you two were getting back together!" Justin argued.
"Okay, okay... so I made ONE mistake..." JC trailed off.
Justin leaned closer to JC. "What did you do?"
"One little mistake..." he repeated. "So maybe I could have led her to believe that I wanted to get back together..."
"JC! You didn't!" Justin gasped.
"Just a little!" JC said, sitting up and pinching his fingers together.
"How can that be?" Justin wondered, arching an eyebrow.
"Okay, so... a lot... but still..."
"JC, you really got yourself into a jam."
"I know," JC paused. "And you haven't heard the worst part..."
"Oh, God..." Justin sighed.
"She told me that she's coming on tour with us," he said quickly.
"She WHAT?" Justin almost choked.
"Why didn't you tell her no?"
"I don't know!" JC cried. "I think part of me wants her to come..."
"JC, you need to figure out what you want and then stick with it," Justin told him.
JC looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Justin was right. He needed to figure things out. And fast.
Joey looked down at Kelly. She was so beautiful. He didn't know if he could bear to be away from her for so long. "I want you to come on tour with us," he blurted out without thinking about it first.
All of a sudden, Kelly started to cry.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" he asked, stroking her hair.
"I want to go with you, Joey. I really do..." Kelly said into his chest. "It's just that I can't leave Sarah here all by herself. She's only seventeen."
Joey sighed. He REALLY wanted her to come. "Well, maybe she can come too..." he suggested.
"Are you serious?" she pulled back far enough to look into his eyes.
"Well, I have to check it over with Johnny and all... but I'm sure that both of you can come. You two can keep Lori company when Chris can't be with her." He smiled.
Kelly grabbed his shirt and kissed him. "Oh, thank you, Joey! I'll call her right now!" she let go of him and then grabbed the phone on his night stand.
"Sarah! We just got invited to go on tour with 'N Sync!" she said happily into the phone.
"What? I can't go, Kelly..." Sarah told her.
"Why not?" Kelly wondered.
"Because Justin hates me!" Sarah claimed. "That's why."
"He doesn't hate you..." Kelly assured her.
"Me?" Joey mouthed to Kelly.
"Not you, Joey," Kelly said quietly, putting her hand over the phone.
Joey sighed and sat next to her on the bed.
"He does too hate me!" Sarah protested. "He yelled at me and he was always looking at me like I was some sort of bacteria or something."
"He'll get over it! I promise!" Kelly told her. "Just come!"
Sarah was silent, debating on whether or not to come. "Fine," she finally said. "I'll come, but I'm not talking or looking at Justin the entire time!"
"Okay, deal," Kelly said, even though she knew it was impossible for them not to see each other when they were touring together.
When she hung up she wrapped her arms around Joey. "Yes! We're both coming!" she cried.
Joey grinned as he held her. This was gonna be one awesome tour!
Chris leaned against the counter and took a bite of his sandwich. "Okay, yeah..." he said into the phone. "Yep... bye!" he hung up and then smiled at Justin. "Guess what!"
"What?" Justin asked, sipping his milk.
"I got Johnny to change the flight to ten! Now we don't have to get up at four in the morning..."
"All right!" Justin cried, getting up to give Chris a high five.
Just then, Joey and Kelly came into the kitchen grinning ear to ear.
"What are you two smiling at?" Justin wondered, taking another sip.
"Kelly and Sarah are coming on tour with us!" Joey exclaimed.
Justin almost spit milk all over the table. "WHAT?"
"Kelly and Sarah are com-"
"I heard you!" Justin said, after he swallowed.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Joey wondered as he and Kelly sat at the table.
"No," Justin answered, looking over towards Chris who was standing up by the sink.
Later that day, Lance trudged the stairs, still depressed. Beth hadn't called yet. She had promised that she would call and he hadn't heard a thing from her all day.
He flopped down on the couch and flicked on the TV. There was never anything on Saturdays. He was about to turn it off when he felt someone sit next to him.
"Hi, Lance," she smiled.
"Alicia!" he exclaimed. After a pause he said, "Not to sound rude or anything, but what are you still doing here? JC's out shopping with Chris and Lori!"
"I know. I was just dropping my stuff off," Alicia replied, giving him a huge grin.
"You stuff?" Lance asked with a confused look on his face.
"Yeah. Didn't JC tell you?"
"Tell me what? If JC has anything to say he never tells me," Lance said, obviously upset that JC never talked to him as much as he talked to the others. "He always talks with Justin or Chris... or even Lori."
"Oh..." Alicia spat out, not sure what to say after his comment. "Well... I'm going on tour with you guys."
"You are?" Lance raised his eyebrows. It was sure gonna be one crowded tour. And when Beth joined them later... Beth... if he would even speak to her again. The gap between her and Lance was growing every day.
Alicia noticed the look of worry on his face. "Are you all right, Lance?" she asked.
Lance shook his head as he felt more tears well up in his eyes. No. He couldn't do this now. Not in front of Alicia. "I'm gonna go for a walk," he said quickly, getting up and running for the door.
Alicia was curious to why Lance was upset so she followed him out the door and down the sidewalk. "Lance! Wait up!"
Justin saw Alicia go out the door and sighed. Chris, Lori and JC were out shopping for snacks and stuff for the plane ride tomorrow and Joey and Kelly were out for ice cream. Alicia had just walked out of the door and he had no idea where Lance was. All that mattered was that he was alone. Finally.
Justin was almost asleep on the couch when the doorbell rang. He jumped up and swung open the door. "Oh... It's YOU," he said at the sight of Sarah's blonde hair and blue eyes.
Sarah chuckled nervously. "Thanks for the warm welcome, Justin..." she said, walking past him and setting her suitcases next to everyone else's.
"No problem," he mumbled, glaring at her stuff like it was his worst enemy.
"What is wrong with you, anyway?" Sarah asked. "Why do you hate me so much?"
Justin looked up at her and thought about it for a second. Good question. Why DID he hate her so much? "I don't hate you..." he admitted.
"Oh really?" Sarah put her hands on her hips. "Then why do you treat me like crap?"
"I don't hate you," Justin repeated, moving his eyes to the floor.
"You didn't answer my question, Justin."
Justin ignored her and went back to the couch. He grabbed the remote and changed the channel.
Sarah sighed as she plopped down next to him and stared at the TV.
Lance turned around and looked at Alicia through his tears. He quickened his pace, not looking back again.
"Lance!" Alicia called again. "Wait!" She ran to catch up with him and then grabbed his arm. "What's wrong?"
He pulled his arm away from her grasp and continued to walk. "Nothing!" he cried, pain filling his voice. "Please leave me alone." He suddenly stopped and sat down under a tree on the boulevard.
Alicia watched as he put his head in his hands. Why was he so upset? "Come on, Lance. Maybe I can help," she offered.
Lance wiped his eyes and looked up at her. "No," he said. "You can't. Nobody can help."
Chapter 10
A Chance
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