"Where’s Gina?"

"In our room taking a nap," Lisa yelled from the kitchen as she finished the salad.

JC shook his head. "She’s taking a nap? Doesn’t she know she’s supposed to do that after Thanksgiving dinner, not before?" He shrugged. "Oh well, I’ll go get her."

JC ran up the stairs and stopped before the girls’ room. He lifted his hand and knocked lightly.

"Gina? Honey, you up?" After getting no response he knocked again. "Babe?"

"JC? What are you doing?"

He opened the door and began walking towards where she was on the bed. "It’s almost time for dinner. I came to wake you up."

Gina rolled over and brought a pillow to her chest. "JC?!? Damn, you’re an annoying man. Stop teasing me."

JC cringed his eyebrows in confusion and mouthed, "teasing her?". He knelt beside the bed. "What am I doing to tease you? You’re here to eat Thanksgiving dinner with my family. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I let you sleep through it?" He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"JC, stop that." She swung at his hand.

"Stop wha…," he began before realizing she was still asleep.

"JC, I said stop. Don’t forget where we are," she reminded him.

JC raised an eyebrow. I wonder what I’m doing in her dream? There’s only one way to find out. He shook his head in amusement. "This should be interesting." He walked around the bed and crawled next to her.

"Oh, come on, JC." Pause. "You know I like it, but I don’t think that it’s appropriate for here." She rolled over and faced him.

JC slowly took the pillow from her arms and made his way between them. He wasn’t going to start anything, because it was her dream. As he was wondering how long it would take to get a reaction out of her he got one. Gina’s right hand rested on the waist of his jeans and her left one made it’s way to behind his neck.

His eyes widened as she pulled him to her and attacked his mouth with hers. Soon her intensity increased and JC found himself falling into the rhythm of the kiss. His senses started to slip away from him. All that mattered was the nearness of their bodies, their souls. A silent understanding from her body to his told him how to react to her moves. JC involuntarily pulled her closer and felt one of her legs wrap around his. When her hands made their way beneath his shirt an alarm started going off in his head. He slowly took her fingers off his skin and cupped her face in his hands as he eased out of the kiss.

"No, JC, don’t do that," Gina complained, still asleep. "Don’t stop kissing me."

As much as JC didn’t want to stop kissing her he knew he must. He knew that any of his family members could walk in, especially his parents. They knew he wasn’t a saint, but there was one line he wouldn’t think of crossing under their roof. His parents welcomed his girlfriend into their house on a holiday. There was no way he was going to spoil the comfortable feeling the weekend had.

"Gina, no." JC held her wrists so she couldn’t touch him.

"Aww, come on. A few minutes ago you didn’t want to stop."

JC sighed, thinking of how he should have just woken her up when he came in the room. "But, as you said, this isn’t the time or the place for this."

Her body eased in his arms as she sighed. "You’re right, as always. Can you at least hold me right now?"

JC closed his eyes in relief. "Let me go get something from the other room. Why don’t you let a pillow hold my place while I’m up?" He slid the pillow between them and eased off the bed. He sighed and walked to the other side and knelt next to the bed. He took a deep breath before shaking her shoulder.

"Gina?"

Gina cuddled the pillow and groaned. "What?"

JC almost smiled. "It’s time to get up, babe. Food’s about to be put on the table."

"Really?" She turned toward him. "I guess I’d better go freshen up before going down. Thanks for waking me, hun. You’re a peach." She placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Yup. And you know you’re the apple of my eye. So that means together we make a great pear."

"That was… I can’t describe it, but it was bad. You are way too corny."

"As an ear." JC smiled at her groan.

"Out. Out, damn boyfriend. Out I say."

JC stood and bowed. "Yes, Lady Gacona. Whatever you say, Lady Gacona."

Gina shook her head and smiled as she watched JC leave her room. A flashback of her dream came and her smile turned dreamy. Gina, she thought to herself as she straightened her ponytail, you’d better stop thinking about that or you might just slip and jump him or something. Not a good thing to do, especially in front of his parents. Gotta clean up your act, or at least your thoughts. But with JC so near it’s gonna be hard… She let that thought drift off as she descended to the dining room.

"You have a good nap, hon?"

Gina snapped out of her trance at Karen Chasez’s question. "Yeah. Nice and refreshing."

"She was smiling when I went in there. Guess she was having a good dream." JC shrugged as he pulled Gina’s chair out for her.

"You could say that."

JC tried to hide his smile as she turned to hide her blush. He knew the gist of her dream and decided not to tell her what he knew of it. He knew that she’d be uncomfortable knowing he not only knew what her dream was about, but experienced part of it, heard part of it. As the prayer was passed along the table JC thought of what he really needed to give thanks for.

He looked at the woman to his right. Over the past three months his feelings for her had blossomed. Now he didn’t know how he had lived without her. He thought about the past summer’s tour and all their fights. Most of the fights they had were childish and the bases of them were weak. He realized he was just fighting the biggest attack his heart ever had. No female had ever had the effect Gina had on him, and it had scared him. Hell, it still scared him, but now he knew how to deal with it. If he fought it he’d be missing out on the wonderful feeling of having someone to slip their hand into his for comfort and being able to call someone who could make him smile just by being on the line. Just the knowledge of her in his life sometimes was his will to continue when the stress consumed him.

"JC?"

"What?" He shook his head to clear it. "Oh. What am I thankful for?"

"No, what do you despise most in this world," Gina replied sarcastically.

"Watch it or you might get suspiciously deleted from my thankful list."

"Oh woe is me…" Gina threw her head back and placed her hand against her forehead.

JC slapped her outer thigh. "Smart ass."

"And don’t you forget it."

"Oh, trust me, I won’t. O-"

"Just stop flirting and get on with it. I’m hungry," Heather interrupted.

"We’ve got a bitter on romance person here."

"Josh, just say what you’re thankful for and let us finish this stupid tradition. I don’t know how much of the googly eyes I see you and Gina give each other, or the footsie Ty and Lisa don’t think we can see, I can take. And don’t play innocent here, little bro, because I’m sure if we looked under the table Lisa’s leg would be interlocked with yours."

"Heather, just because yo-"

"Tyler, Heather, stop it. How old are we and we still fight over all holiday dinners? Now, let me speak and we’ll be able to eat before this delicious feast gets cold. All right?" After seeing his siblings nod accordingly JC continued. "Well, I think I have a lot to be thankful for. I’ll start off with being able to do what I want for a living and being successful. So many people not only don’t do what they want, but fail when they do have a chance. I also am thankful for being able to do what I love with people I care about. So I have to add the guys in here. They’re my family away from family."

"And I wouldn’t be anywhere without the fans…"

JC reached across Gina and slapped his brother’s head. "Shaddup. I have my career to thank for a lot of things, especially one of the most important things in my life." JC squeezed Gina’s hand tenderly.

"The fans?"

JC shot his brother a glare. "No. Gina. If it wasn’t for the group, and for Chris, then I wouldn’t have met her and I wouldn’t be as happy as I am now. Wouldn’t be in this great relationship with this awesome woman." He kissed her knuckles.

"Not the eyes again," Heather groaned.

JC laughed and closed his eyes. "Okay, I get the point, sis. Well, I most importantly have to be thankful for my family who has supported me through every intriguing, and tough, turn in my life. Maybe not agreeing, but supporting me through those times. And I can’t forget my other friends who make up my world. I don’t think I would be grounded if it wasn’t for them. Gina?"

Gina took a deep breath and glanced around the table.

"Well, I am thankful for being blessed to be able to sit at this table with a loving family willing to take in a stray, or two," she glanced at Lisa. "And the reason why I’m here is most definitely worth being thankful for. JC," she turned to him, "thank you for letting me into your life. I cherish every moment we get to spend with each other because I know you don’t have much private time and, for some reason, you spend some of it with me. For that I’ve forever blessed." She took a deep breath before continuing.

"I’m also thankful for my friends. They are my family. I couldn’t cope without them. Some of them are too good to be true, but they all are my life lines. I’m also thankful that this is my last year of school. I’m surprised I made it this long."

"I’ll second that," Lisa called out.

The table laughed and after an ‘amen’ began passing food around the table. When JC went to take the bread basket from Gina he slid his fingers over hers and looked in her eyes. He saw the pain of not being able to include her family in her words. He urged her to smile and relaxed when she managed a small one. He leaned down and whispered in her ear and felt a weight lift when she began to laugh. She placed her hand on his.

"Thanks."

JC placed his chin on her shoulder. "Anytime."

"Argh! Not the eyes again. I’m trying to eat here, you guys."

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

"Bye, mom. Love ya." Lisa hung up the phone and handed it to Gina. "You sure you want to do this?"

The other female nodded. "I want to wish Anthony a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope he answers the phone. I don’t know if I can handle my parents right now. My mom laid into me hard for not being there. As if she’d actually pay attention to me if I was there." She rolled her eyes as she began to dial the phone.

"Hello," was heard through the phone and Gina froze.

"Hello? Can I help you? Hello?"

JC saw his girlfriend not moving and silently took the phone from her.

"Hello? If you don’t talk soon I’m going to hang up," he heard her mother’s voice state.

"Hello, Mrs. Gacona. Can I please talk to Anthony? Tell him it’s J-Josh." JC turned to face Gina but she wasn’t there. He heard someone running up the stairs and shook his head. He turned his attention back to the phone as he began to follow Gina upstairs.

"Josh?" Gina’s brother, Anthony, asked himself. "I don’t re- O-oh. Josh. Thanks, mom. Hello?"

"Hey, Anthony. Sorry about this. Your sister wanted to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and froze when your mom answered the phone."

"I kinda figured. It took me a second to remember your name. Your real name that is."

"Yeah, people have stopped using it as much. Would you mind going into another room? I think Gina would be happier to talk to you when she knows no one can hear you."

"No problem. I’ll just go into the den and close the door. So how’s that sister of mine doing? Treating her good?"

JC smiled at the older brother spiel. "I’m trying to treat her better than the queen that she is. And as for how she’s doing I’ll tell you when I find her. She ran upstairs when I took the phone from her. Hold on a sec."

"All right. I’ll wait."

"Okay." JC pulled the phone away from his ear and opened the door to the room the girls were staying in. "Gina? You in here, babe?" He sighed when he realized she wasn’t in there. He pondered where she could be for a moment before realizing that his bedroom door was opened a crack and he remembered closing it completely earlier.

He opened the door and cursed to himself when he found her on the floor hugging some of his comforter around her. He motioned her to sit on the bed. She stood up and let herself fall on the bed. Her eyes widened as he passed her the phone. She brought it to her ear after JC had forced it in her hand.

"Hello?"

"Hey, sis, what’s up?"

Gina visibly relaxed when she heard her brother’s voice. Of course JC sitting behind her and massaging her shoulders helped there also. "Okay. How are things on the homefront?"

"Same old, same old. Mom couldn’t make it five minutes though dinner without complaining about how you broke family ‘tradition’ and decided to be with your friends instead of your family on this sacred holiday." Gina could almost hear him roll his eyes.

"Sacred holiday? Thanksgiving? What she smoking? Plus what tradition am I breaking? The one where they tell me I think I’m above the rest of the family because I don’t want to go into the family business? The one where they belittle every one of my accomplishments and make them nothing compared to yours?"

"Hey, I think you’re doing a great thing. You have proven how good you can do what you want to. I actually think some of what I’ve done pales in contrast to what you’ve done so don’t you even start putting yourself down."

"Don’t worry. I won’t. I don’t think any of my friends will allow me to." She leaned back into JC’s strength. "I just can’t stand how they try to run my life. Well, mom does anyway. Dad just sits back and lets her go and sometimes verbally agrees with her, making her feel stronger." She glanced behind her. "I’m glad she doesn’t know about my relationship with JC. I bet she’d tell all her friends on how her daughter has snatched a big star and would have already planned our wedding, just to make sure she could get the status JC would bring to the family. Thanks for keeping the relationship from them, Ant, it means a lot to me."

"No problem, Gigi. I know it must be hard for you to have to hide your relationship and mom would just blab it to everyone she knows and your cover would be ruined. I know how self-conscious you are about being found out and I won’t do anything to break your confidence in me."

Gina sighed as JC pulled away and sat against the headboard. "I’m glad to hear that because it might just get a little harder and maybe even get the roof blown off of it."

"Huh?" her brother asked in confusion.

"Well, JC wants to tell people he’s taken. Not necessarily say who, but tell people he’s in a relationship. You know after that the fans, and media, are going to be on the hunt for her, for me."

Anthony let out a deep breath. "Don’t worry, sis, I’ll do whatever you want me to do. Lying to mom is nothing for me. I’ve been telling her what she wants to hear for so long now I can do it in my sleep. Of course this time I’ll be telling her what she doesn’t want to hear, but who cares. I’m protecting my little sister. If I hadn’t met JC and know what he means to you and how he looks at you I wouldn’t do this. Just know this. I like him and I want you to be happy and he makes you happy. I’ll do anything for my younger sister to make sure she’s happy and I know that singer is what you want. Plus I know you’re strong enough to take what’ll come your way. Listen, I can hear mom and I know she’ll want to know what’s taking me so long."

"Okay. I should get going because this is on the Chasez’s long distance. I’m glad I got to talk to you, big brother. Happy Thanksgiving, Anthony."

"Happy Thanksgiving, Gina."

Gina pressed the off button and sighed. She stood and opened the door. "I’m off the phone if someone wants to use it." She placed the phone on the floor outside JC’s room and turned to face her boyfriend.

"Close the door and come sit beside me." JC patted the space next to him. He watched her close the door and move beside him. He wrapped his arm around her as Gina curled her upper body against his chest. He lightly kissed her forehead and ran his fingers up and down her arm. "How you doing, sweetheart?"

Gina shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Just dealing with life." She looked up at him. "Thanks for getting my brother on the phone. I appreciate it." She leaned up for his kiss.

"Anytime, anything. You know that. I’ll do anything for you, honey. Everything I do, I do it for you," JC added in hopes of getting a smile out of her. His heart warmed when he succeeded.

"You know what? I think the tape of you singing that is played out I listen to it so much." She began tracing the lines on his shirt.

"Then I’ll just have to make you another one. That’s simple." He traced down her hairline, behind her ear. "So what made you choose this room to go into and not the one you’re staying in?"

"Well, I thought about it and had my hand on the doorknob, but the room just didn’t seem to offer any comfort, not even the bed. Then I saw your room right there and I felt it’s warmth so I came in. And then, when I was in here, I somehow ended up on the floor by your bed."

"And wrapped the comforter around you?"

Gina nodded against him. "Yeah, I guess it had the most of you in it. It just had your smell. Probably because you always have it when you sleep. Am I making sense?"

"Perfect. I guess you couldn’t resist the pure manly scent of me, huh?" He felt her body shaking against his. "What’s so funny?"

"You, but I wouldn’t change you for the world."

"I wouldn’t want to change you either. You know that they say that you find your mate by their smell. That you somehow subconsciously are attracted to a person’s smell and that’s how you find the one you’re supposed to be with."

"I remember something like that." She looked up at him and saw the emotion in his eyes. Gina began pulling away, their position reminding her of the beginning of her earlier dream. "Well, we have to get going soon and I still have to pack."

"Wait," he tightened his arm, "this is going to be the last time we have any time to ourselves for a while. Can you just stay a few more minutes? I like having you to myself. Call me selfish."

"Selfish," she responded. "But irresistible nonetheless." She pinched his cheek.

"Stop that." He interlocked his fingers with hers and brought the hands to his mouth before moving a stray finger down her cheek as he lowered his mouth to hers.

As JC continued his gentle assault on her lips his mind was brought back to the incident before dinner. He remembered her lying there calling his name in frustration. He also embarrassingly remembered crawling next to her and living out some of her dream. He recalled the words she had said. She had said something neither of them had the courage to say to the other person yet. Lastly, he remembered reciprocating the words without giving them a second thought.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Gina stared out the window she sat next to. Being on a plane bound for New York City was the last place she had imagined being this weekend. She thought she might have just been able to spend time alone with her boyfriend who she rarely got to see in person. She knew it went both ways. It was hard for JC to have to put her through this. She often had to remind him that she made the decision to be in this relationship and knew the repercussions of picking him over a regular relationship. A lot of people had long distance relationships, but theirs had an extra twist. The twist of his career made the time they had together more memorable and special.

"Excuse me, miss?" a voice shook her thoughts.

Gina looked up into a pair of soft blue eyes. "Yes?"

"Your name isn’t Gina by any chance, is it?"

"Yes, it is. Why?"

"Well," the man placed his bag on the seat next to her, "this guy outside asked me to deliver a note to you. Said he was your boyfriend or something like that."

"So you looked all throughout the plane just for little old me?"

He pushed the bill of his cap back a bit. "Actually he told me where you were sitting and I looked at my ticket and saw you were sitting next to me. What a coincidence."

"Yeah, a coincidence." She rolled her eyes. "Well, can I have my letter or not?"

"Let me just sit down." He put his bags away and sat beside her. "Where are my manners. My name’s Josh, but everyone calls me JC."

Gina bit her lip and shook his hand. "My name’s Gina, but you already know that. Now may I please have the letter from my boyfriend?"

"I guess," he pulled the letter out of his pocket, "but I think you can do better than him, if you want my opinion."

She grabbed the paper from his hand. "Well I don’t." She opened the letter and began to read it.

Senorita,

   Thank you for everything you do. I know this is hard, but I appreciate it. For sake of appearances I had to make my entrance how I did and will leave the same way. Once as you get to your final destination Jackie should be there to pick you up and take you to the hotel. Wish I could be with you, but you know I can’t.
   I can’t tell you how much it meant for me for you to come and share Thanksgiving dinner with my family. I knew everything would go okay, but still I was worried. I’m glad you got to know what a traditional family dinner was like for me. I know this isn’t exactly how you thought this weekend would turn out and I’m sorry. But I’m sure you’ve learned to expect the unexpected with me. Sorry we can’t have a "normal" relationship. I feel truly blessed to have you by my side, whether it be physically, or just emotionally. I want to say so much more than thanks, but I don’t know where to start…
   I hope the rest of the weekend goes great. I know you’re scared about tomorrow, but so am I. We’re about to enter a whole new ballpark and I hope nothing gets lost while we are play the game. I’ll give you a call when everything is settled later. I know the girls will help you as much as possible. Take care and I hope you have someone interesting next to you on the plane. Hehe

Goof

"So what did he have to say for himself?"

Gina playfully hugged the letter to her chest. "It’s none of your damned business. And to answer what you said earlier, I don’t think I can find anyone better. I think what we have is exactly what I want. He’s exactly what I want." She looked directly in his eyes.

"Well, I’m glad he has what it takes to make a beautiful girl like you happy. You look like you deserve the best and if he’s the best for you then who am I to judge fate."

"Fate, huh?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, fate." He grabbed a magazine out of his carry-on and held it up to cover the red tinge in his cheeks. Gina was about to reply when a flight attendant stepped up to give the safety demonstration. She saw the young woman freeze upon seeing JC. Gina took a deep breath before looking out the window again. A small smile crossed her face as JC nonchalantly leaned his knee against hers.

A little bit after take-off the same attendant that gave the safety demonstration stopped by their aisle. She cleared her throat and JC and Gina looked up from their game of war.

"Excuse me, Mr. Chasez?"

"Yes." JC brought his pile of cards to his lap. "Can I help you?"

"Well, I know I can get fired for this, but my younger cousin is a huge fan of yours. Would you mind signing this for her?"

"Sure." He nodded as he grabbed the airline stationary. "There you go." He turned back to continue the card game.

"So you enjoying your flight?"

JC looked at Gina and when she reluctantly nodded he turned back to the woman.

"Yes, I am. Thanks."

"What are you doing in New York? It’s a little late to be going because of the parade. Plus you guys did that last year."

"The guys and I are going to be on Rosie tomorrow. We’re all flying in tonight because it’s taped in the morning."

"Cool. I am asking this on behalf of my cousin, because she loves you. Is that your girlfriend?" She jutted her chin towards Gina.

Oh yeah. It’s just because of your cousin, JC thought to himself. He quickly glanced up. God, forgive me for what I’m about to say. He shook his head no.

"No, she’s not. I just ended up sitting next to her on the flight and her boyfriend gave me a note to give to her when I got on the plane. That’s it. I’ve never seen her before this flight."

"Okay." She seemed to believe him. "Well, I’m going to be in the city for the weekend you could call me if you have time. Here’s my number." She handed JC a napkin with her name and number written on it. "We’re about to get ready to land. Bye, JC." She blew him a kiss.

JC looked from the napkin to the retreating flight attendant to the woman sitting next to him. He wanted to apologize for making her listen to the whole conversation. He wanted to tell her that he hated to have to lie and to do it in front of her hurt him more than anything he’d ever experienced, but he couldn’t tell her anything. At least not where they were. He also couldn’t hold her hand and tell her everything was going to be all right. He didn’t want to tell her anything he couldn’t promise. The need and desire to touch and talk to Gina consumed him until he couldn’t take it anymore.

"Here, Randy, take my cards." JC thrust his pile of cards across the aisle at the bodyguard who had met him at the airport. "I’ll be back." He ran toward the bathroom.

"The captain is requesting everyone to be seated, JC," the flight attendant intercepted him.

"Sorry, but I’ve got something in my eye." He pushed by her and closed the bathroom door behind him. He took a deep breath and looked in the mirror. All this was harder than he thought it would be. He knew it would be hard, but he’d never dreamed he’d have to sit there and not only lie about being with Gina, while she was there, but also having her watch as another female flirt with him and sit there helpless. He wished he could just sit out there and talk to Gina like they’ve known each other, not make idle chit chat pretending to be strangers. He couldn’t even look at her, for if he did then it would be obvious how he felt about her. That was one of the reasons why he had suggested the card game. He’d have to look at the cards and not have time to get lost in the hazel color of her eyes, which he knew was easy for him. He stood there for another minute before emerging from the small space and what he saw made him frown.

"Randy, why you in my seat, man?"

Randy looked up. "Well, you gave me your cards and I couldn’t let this lovely lady sit here all by herself while her partner went to the bathroom. And actually I think she likes me better than you. Don’t you, sweetheart." He winked at Gina. "Now I see that bottom lip of your starting to show, Jace, and you know that doesn’t work on me. We’re about to land. Sit in my seat and be a nice boy."

"Fine."

Gina laughed as JC glared at his bodyguard but sat quietly. She bit her lip and straightened as JC shot her a look. "Sorry," she mouthed.

On the ground Randy let Gina get out of her seat and get off the plane. He and JC had to wait until the plane was empty before disembarking. She sighed as she walked out of the gate.

"Gina!"

Gina looked around and smiled when she saw Jackie standing to the side waving her hands wildly.

"Hey, Jackie, what’s up?"

"Nothing much. How was your flight?"

"I’ve had better."

"Why? What happened?"

Both women looked at the commotion at the gate even though they knew why it was. Behind JC and Randy stood the flight attendant from the plane. "Her."

"Ahh, I see." Jackie looked at her watch. "Well, we have to go pick up Nick. She and Justin are due to arrive soon."

"Cool. While we wait I want to ask you about something." She changed her bag to her other shoulder.

"Okay. Shoot." She stopped to look at the arrival screen. "Gate 77."

"Well," Gina started at the girls walked through the terminal, "JC wants me to see what Nick’s feelings about Justin are."

"You mean are they platonic, or more than that?"

She nodded. "Yup. Actually I told him I’d do it. That boy means so much to me and I know they’ll be happy together, but J-Josh doesn’t want to encourage him to go for it if she doesn’t feel the same way."

"Got it. I have a feeling she does, but it doesn’t hurt to find out for sure. The three of us are rooming together. I’m sure during the course of the weekend we’ll get it out of her." The two women sat and caught up while waiting for the plane to come in.

"Hey, guys," a voice above them called.

"Nick!" Gina stood up and hugged her friend. "How was the flight?"

"I’ve had better."