Chapter Three

"Hey! I'm bleeding too!" Joey frowned and pointed to the laceration on his eyebrow.

"It's okay, really." Shannon smiled, enjoying their antics. It was a while before a doctor came in to suture Colin's hand and Chris's forehead, by which time Chris had begun to wake up from his drug-induced slumber.

"Ugh," Chris moaned, reaching up to his forehead. "I feel like shit ..."

"Ya look like shit, too!" Joey laughed, gaining another smack from Justin.

"God...how am I supposed to dance with this thing?" Chris complained as he looked crossly at the cast on his wrist.

"Hey, I don't wanna hear it." Justin shot back, sitting down on the gurney. "I did it for six weeks in Germany when I broke my thumb - you'll cope."

"Hey man, I'm really sorry about your wrist," Colin smiled apologetically as the doctor stiched up his hand.

"It's okay, it was my idea...besides - we kicked your asses!" Chris grinned at Joey and Justin.

"Uh oh...looks like he's got amnesia!" Justin kidded.

"Yeah, cause there's no way you guys won!" Joey protested. They argued amongst themselves before Shannon interrupted.

"Guys? Guys...GUYS!" Four heads turned towards her where she was standing with Destiny and Michelle. "I think it was a draw - let's not have a rematch, okay?"

"Who's she?" Chris said to Joey in a stage whisper.

"That's Colin's sister, Shannon - you know, you broke her brother?" Joey laughed.

"I did not! It's not like I made him do it!" Chris was still attesting to his innocense when the other two members of *N SYNC showed up, JC Chasez taking on the role of oldest brother.

"God, I leave you three alone for one day and look what happens." JC shook his head. "Not only did you hurt yourselves but also a perfect stranger."

"It's okay really...I'm just as much at fault." Colin spoke up.

"See?" Chris yelled, crossing his arms and wincing when he bumped his cast.

"Okay, let's just all agree that the four of you did something really stupid, okay?" Michelle rolled her eyes.

"I like her," Chris laughed. "She's funny!"

"I'm really sorry about all this," JC began apologizing to Shannon. "I've gotta make this up to you...tell you what...let us take you out to dinner tonight - our treat. I know it doesn't make up for the cuts and all, but -"

"Smooth, Jace, real smooth..." Lance Bass muttered under his breath, winking at Destiny.

"So, just give me your address and we'll have the limo pick you up around...six-thirty?" JC asked.

"Sounds great," Shannon smiled, and Michelle and Destiny nodded in agreement.

********

Once back at their apartment, the three women raced around to not only get ready, but also to hide the large amount of *N SYNC memorabila that decorated the apartment. Colin sat relaxed on the sofa, his preparation time taking a total of ten minutes, an amused statement on his face as he watched his older sister and her two roommates rush around to get their apartment ready.

"Crap, Michelle, you can stil see the tape marks on the walls," Destiny frowned, a roll of posters in her hand.

"What do you want me to do about it? Shannon is freaked because she can't get the tags off of the cats collars just in case the guys see them." Michelle threw her hands up in disgust. "I give up, let them see what a freak I am, I don't care anymore!"

Just then, the buzzer sounded.

Destiny and Michelle tore off in the direction of their separate rooms to finish getting ready.

"I guess I'll get the door...yeah." Colin shook his head as he pushed the button to release the door downstairs and opened the door to the apartment to let Justin, Chris, and Lance inside. "Hey guys, the girls aren't, uh...ready yet."

Chris entered and began looking around curiously, a bemused statement on his face. He continued to look around as the three women entered the living room a few moments later. Destiny exchanged a look with Lance.

"Um...do you know what Chris is looking for?"

"Not a clue. Maybe he's looking for the phone to call his home planet, I dunno." Lance shrugged, shaking his head.

"So..." Chris looked at Shannon. "Where are they?"

Shannon took a step back. "Where are what?"

"All the pictures you have of me, I want to see them." He grinned evilly.

Lance and Justin burst out laughing while Shannon turned a lovely shade of pink and Destiny and Michelle exchanged a look of horror.

"Uh...well...um..." Shannon stammered, wishing she could just fall through the floor and die right then. "Dude, quit it, can't you see you've embarrassed her enough?" Justin giggled. "Shannon, it's okay, you can just tell him to shove it up his -"

"Hey!" Lance elbowed Justin hard. "There are ladies here, you know."

"I'm sorry, I'm just teasing you." Chris put his hand on Shannon's back. "I hope I didn't make you mad."

"No...it's okay," Shannon's pallor returned to it's normal fair tone.

Just then two cats came tearing through the living room, the larger of the two knocking a large vase with dried flowers to the floor with a loud crash.

"POO FOO!" Michelle and Destiny screamed at once, and Lance jumped back with a frightened statement.

"What? What? What'd I do?"

Chris fell to the floor with laughter. The cat in question, a dark grey shorthair with green eyes, flicked his tail and went over to inspect his namesake, who was still staring at Destiny and Michelle in shock.

"Oh god, just kill me now..." Michelle bent down to retrieve the broken vase, and Justin reached down to help her.

"Sorry," Destiny mumbled to Lance, who had regained his composure and was petting the purring cat.

"It's alright...it's kind of cute, actually." He smiled easily. "How many cats do you guys have?"

"Three," Shannon replied. "Please don't let him ask me their names, please don't let him ask me their names, please don't..."

"What are their names?" Lance strode across the room to pet the other two, a small calico and a large grey tabby.

"Well...the little calico is Flirt, and the grey tabby is um...that's Tricky." Shannon's blush had returned, stronger than before. Chris popped his head up from the floor where Flirt had been smelling his face.

"Dude, you named a cat after me?" Chris smiled. "I guess that's kinda cool."

********

(6:45 p.m. - Hard Rock Cafe)

Marki Hooper blew a raspberry at her reflection, her hands combing through her thick, wavy hair with frustration.

"Nice, Mar, nice. And how old are we? Four?" Laurie Benton teased her best friend as she exited a stall in the bathroom of the Hard Rock Cafe.

"Oh, shut up, Miss Perfect-Wavy-Hair. Why does yours just lay there calmly while mine looks like a poodle who stuck his paw in a light socket?" Marki complained, throwing a hair clip at her.

"Well, maybe if you didn't run your hands through it every ten seconds..." Laurie chided her gently. "It's not that bad, here, let me see what I can do." Laurie pulled back a few sections of Marki's hair with nimble fingers, fastened them with the clip, and stepped back. "There, now quit whining."

"You suck!" Marki laughed. "But thank you!"

"Anytime. We'd better get back to the table before JC bursts in here wondering where the hell we've been." Laurie quickly looked herself over before turning away from the mirror.

"And he'd do it, too." Marki stuck her tongue out at the mirror.

"So, who is it he's having us meet, again?" Laurie asked as they left the restroom.

"I dunno...some people they met at the hotel earlier. Joey didn't really give me specifics when I talked to him on the phone, he just said I should dress nice and prepare to be surprised. Whatever that means," Marki shrugged.

"God, it better not be Britney, I don't think my stomach could handle that." Laurie made a face as they headed towards their table, where JC had been joined by the other four members of *N SYNC, plus three girls and a man Marki didn't recognize.

"Well...it's not Britney," Marki grinned before catching a glimpse of Joey. "Oh my god...JOEY! What happened to you?"

Joey looked up at his best friend's outburst. "Marki-girl!"

"Joseph Anthony Fatone, Jr. - what happened? Are those stitches?" Marki looked him over and noticed the cast on Chris's arm. "And Chris? What did you do to Chris?"

"Calm down, Marki, I can explain - " Justin spoke up.

"Explain THIS?" Marki grabbed Chris's wrist and he winced in pain. "Sorry."

"Oh, it's okay. It's only BROKEN!" Chris grimaced, holding his wrist against his chest.

"Broken?" Laurie turned to JC for an explaination. "Did something happen at the hotel?"

"Yes and no," JC explained. "Come on, let's sit down. Everyone is okay, it wasn't anything major - just majorly stupid."

Marki was still shooting daggers at Joey. He hugged her close and whispered in her ear. "I know...I owe you a full explaination, and you'll get it - later. I promise." Placated for the moment, Marki took a seat between Joey and one of the girls she didn't know.

"Hey, I'm Marki Hooper," she smiled and looked the girl over. "It looks like you excaped whatever they did unscathed."

"I wasn't even there. My brother was though - he's the reason I'm here. I'm Shannon McCormick." Shannon smiled back, liking Marki instantly.

"Ah...would he be the hottie sitting next to Justin?" Marki asked, grinning.

"That would be Colin, my genius baby brother. The idiot that let Chris talk him into racing laundry carts down the loading dock ramp of the hotel." Shannon couldn't help but laugh at Marki's statement.

"God - Chris is an idiot. Sometimes I wish they'd all start acting their age INSTEAD OF HALF THEIR SHOE SIZE!" Marki yelled, directing a Look at Joey.

"You had to tell her, didn't you?" Joey winked at Shannon and sighed, then turned back to his conversation with Justin.

"Are you and Joey...a thing?" Shannon asked.

"Now there's a long and complicated story." Marki rolled her eyes. "Joey and I have known each other since we were in eighth grade, when he moved down to Orlando. I tried my best to ignore him, but he just latched onto me and wouldn't let go. Basically, we've seen each other from the dorkiest stage of our lives to maturity - figuratively speaking," Marki shot another look at Joey, "and we're best friends, nothing more."

"Nothing more?" Shannon raised her eyebrow knowingly.

Marki blushed. "Well...we've been down that road before...but he always jumps ship right before that big ol' commitment iceberg hits." Shannon laughed at her choice of words. "So for now, until one of us gets lonely enough, we're just friends."

"If you have to be something, friends is good." Shannon smiled.

"Don't get me wrong, Joey is wonderful to have as a best friend, he's the best. And we do love each other. Just not that way." Marki smiled then moved on to the next subject. "So...what's up with you and the elf?"

Shannon stared at her with a puzzled statement. "Excuse me?"

"You and Chris...and don't lie to me, I saw the goofy statement on both of your faces when I came in." Marki said with a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.

"We just had a really great conversation on the way over here, it's a little overwhelming." Shannon got a big, dopey grin on her face.

"Yup, that's the look," Marki teased.

"Uh...well..." Shannon stammered. "He's really cute, but he knows I'm a fan."

"You're a fan, huh?" Marki motioned her to go on.

"Yeah. Colin, the dear that he is, just happened to mention what a big fan I am, and now all the guys know that Michelle, Destiny, and I live in a three bedroom apartment where the main decorating theme is *N SYNC." Shannon blushed furiously, reliving the memory. "And, he also told Justin, Joey, and Chris that the little one is my favorite and that I had pictures of him all over my walls."

Marki burst out laughing, startling everyone at the table. "Sorry." She looked at Shannon, who was still blushing. "Well, at least that's out in the open. Don't worry about it too much - I've been around these guys for years, and they've seen it all."

"In my wildest dreams, I never expected Chris Kirkpatrick to ask to see the posters of himself on my bedroom walls." Shannon pointed out.

"I can see how that would be weird. I guess Chris just figures he has a lot to live up to." Marki turned her attention to her dinner that had just arrived.

"What do you mean?" Shannon said, confused.

"Well...I've seen how he's looked at you - he's intriqued, to say the least."

"Marki! Would you stop trying to play matchmaker?" Joey rolled his eyes at his best friend, who jumped when Joey spoke. "Honestly, stop scaring the poor girl."

"What?" Marki feigned innocence.

"Don't give me what...you know exactly what you're doing." Joey shook his finger at her. "Just eat your dinner and be good."

"Whatever, Joey. I'm just saying what I saw, and what I saw is that -" Before she could finish her sentence, Joey shoved a piece of her chicken quesadilla into Marki's open mouth.

"Just eat your dinner." Joey smiled at Shannon and turned back towards Justin again, ignoring the daggers shooting from Marki's eyes.

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