Ali reached over and dialed Rose’s number. She was going to need help packing, because she knew she wouldn’t be able to do it on her own with JC on her brain. “Hey girl, what’s going on with you?”

A groggy Rose answered the phone. “Not much, trying to get my body moving so I can finish packing. Lance just left for the shoot. You?”

Ali laughed. “Girl, you sound like me. I just woke up about 20 minutes ago. I totally fell dead.”

“Me too.”

“I think the guys put something in our food”, Ali laughed. “JC was acting too innocent when we got home.”

“I know”, Rose replied. “Here I was, about to fall over I was so tired, and Lance is trying to be all cute with me. I was just like ‘yeah, love you too’ and I just kind of heaved him off me and fell asleep”.

Ali smiled. “Well, you think you could muscle some energy to bring your stuff over so we can finish packing and we could get everyone in one place?”

Rose moaned. “How about you come over here for a change? I’m dead tired and besides, we can get together when we go to the airport. Lance wanted to take me out for a bit before we had to leave.”

Ali smiled. She and JC didn’t need to go out. They had already made their plans. “Alright then, I see how you’re going to be.” She laughed. “Let me drag myself out of bed and I’ll be over in about a half an hour.” They said their good-byes and Ali jumped into the shower.

**At the Shoot**

As the cameraman snapped the last few shots, JC’s mind went to Ali. He thought back to what they talked about. Should I tell the guys? Then he shook his doubt. These guys are my best friends. They like Ali. They’ll be behind me.

They went into a little room in the back of the studio and helped themselves to the drinks. “So I see you managed to get up in time”, Lance said to JC. “How’d you manage that?”

JC laughed. “Very well. When we got home last night Ali just sort of fell into the bed and crashed. She woke up as I was getting out of the shower.”

“Sounds like what happened when Rose and I got home. I was trying to spend a little time with her but she was so worn out that she literally pushed me off the bed, turned over and went to sleep. I mean, I fell right on my ass.” The guys cracked up with laughter. Lance blushed. “Well, anyway, Rose was hardly awake when I left. I woke her up to say good bye and then she went back to sleep.”

“Are you sure you guys didn’t slip something in their drink?” Joey and Justin asked with a snicker.

Lance and JC rolled their eyes. “NO”. JC smirked. “I think the girls are just finally worn out from spending nearly a week and a half on the road with us”.

The guys nodded. “That’s for sure. But at least they kept up with it as well as they did. Most people would be whining like babies after about three days once they saw the kind of schedule we have”. Chris shook his head. “I don’t know. We seem to have had it pretty easy this week. A major lull in the tour. But it was a well-deserved break.”

Justin stretched. “No doubt.” He looked over at JC. “Looks like you and Ali are doing pretty good.” Then he smirked. “Anything we should know about?”

JC shrugged. “Not anything you don’t already know. The fans know that I have a girlfriend, and they know Lance has a girlfriend. But I think its time we get to take them out and show them to the world”.

Chris’s mouth dropped open. “You sure about that, man? The fans will have a fit. No wait…what about Lou? JOHNNY? You sure you want to do that?”

JC rolled his eyes. “Come on, Chris. I’m human. Lance is human. We deserve to be happy, whether we’re famous or not. Our fans would want that.”

“Do you think they could handle the crazed fans that would see them on the street and say ‘stay away from my man’ and crap like that?”

Both JC and Lance nodded. “Oh I think so. Ali feels the same way I do about stuff like that. She also thinks I should be up-front with the fans. I deserve to be happy”.

The thought still freaked Justin out. “But remember what happened when Lance was dating Danielle? I thought they were going to get pulverized a few times when they were in public together.”

JC shook his head. “JuJu, chill. That was different. Danielle was a familiar face. Ali and Rose aren’t. Ali might be soon, but…”

Justin stopped him. “What do you mean by that?”

“I talked to Johnny a few days ago and gave him some of the lyrics that Ali had written and he’s interested in seeing what she has. She might be able to make something out there”.

Justin was shocked. “Sounds like a plan. But you never know with Johnny. And you got to make sure she doesn’t get screwed either. You know how tough it can be.”

“I think she can do it”, Lance replied. “I’ve heard her sing and she’s got something there. She might have a chance.” He nudged JC. “I know that you want to help her out. That’s your girl there.”

“Yeah.” JC felt himself blushing.

“So what are you guys going to do before they leave?” Chris asked.

Joey smirked. “I can take a guess…”

As Chris went to raise his hand, JC stopped him. “He’s not far from the truth, but its not like he says”.

“You mean, you haven’t slept with her yet?”

“You surprised? I managed to behave myself.”

Chris pretended to look shocked. “Why JC…you actually managed to keep it down.” Then he cracked up laughing. “But for real, that’s pretty impressive. I’m sure you came close a few times though.”

JC felt himself blushing again. He remembered how he jumped on Ali when they got back from that last photo shoot. “You know it. I’ve never been this physically attracted to a girl and after that last photo shoot, I’ll admit, I wanted it so bad it literally hurt.” The guys started to snicker but stopped as they saw the serious look on JC’s face. “But I came to my senses and Ali and I realized that we were in love and neither one of us was going anywhere, so there was no need to rush.” He took a sip of water and sat up in his chair. “Now I know that she and I are going to stay together and I’m ready to make it real.”

Joey sniffed and pretended to wipe away a tear. “That was so beautiful”, he said in a whimper. Then he got serious. “You really got it bad for her, don’t you?”

“This is unlike anything I’ve ever felt. Ali just kind of came out of nowhere, and I think that’s what makes me love her more. She was just a regular girl that I met in the most unlikely of circumstances, and I just fell right then”.

If that’s what you want to do, go for it”, Chris said. “Just be careful. And remember that the business can be brutal and if word gets out that you and Ali are as serious as you are, the press is going to have a field day with us”.

JC looked Chris square in the eye. “Dude, I love my fans, but seriously. Does it look like I care? Look what’s been happening lately. We’ve been getting paired up with people we’ve never even met. Joey with the Aqua girl. Justin with all the Hilfiger models. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget about your wife and two kids back home in Pennsylvania”.

The guys laughed. “You got a point there, man”. Chris looked at Lance. “You think that once everyone finds out about Rose there’s going to be Danielle comparisons?”

Lance shook his head. “I doubt it seriously. They’re nothing alike, and as much of a friend as Danielle is, that’s a good thing, believe me.”

“Five minutes!” The cameraman said.

JC waved his hand. “Yeah whatever. I’m taking my time”, he muttered.

Joey smirked. “Hey, at least this guy’s nicer than the last one. We got an extended break with this one.”

Suddenly both Lance and JC’s cell phones went off simultaneously. Ali and Rose had both called them from their cell phones. “Hey boys, how are we doing today?”

“Man, you must have ESP, cause we were just talking about you”, Lance replied.

Rose smirked. “I didn’t do it, I swear.”

Lance laughed. “So what are you girls up to?”

“No good as usual”.

“Hi honey”, Ali said as JC finally dug his phone out of his bag. “Miss me?”

“As always”, JC said with a smile. “You sound a lot better than you did this morning. You finally woke up.”

“Yeah, thanks to a nice shower. I was all by myself though.” Ali put on a pouty face, but JC wasn’t able to see it. “So what time are you due back today?”

“Two minute warning!” The cameraman yelled.

JC waved back at him. “Probably around 11:30. This shoot is going better than we thought so the guy gave us an extended break.” Then he grinned. “Did you think about what we talked about before I left?”

Ali thought back. “Oh certainly. Still am.”

“So I guess that means ‘yes’?”

“Oh yeah”

JC saw the guys putting their things away, so he wrapped things up himself. “Baby, I have to go. I’ll see you when I get back, ok?”

Ali nodded. “I’ll be here. If I’m not here, I’ll be at Rose’s. But most likely I’ll be here. I don’t have too much more packing to do”.

“I can’t wait to see you. I love you”.

“I love you too baby”. With that, they both hung up, turning off their lines at the same time.