It happen before anyone could react. Lance’s fist connected with Peter’s jaw, sending the man slamming into the wall behind him. The words, his tone, everything about the look on Lance’s face was frightening, “SON OF A BITCH!”

Peter was leaning against the wall rubbing his jaw. “You people are INSANE!”

Lonnie had Lance pinned against the wall. “Are you denying your name is Peter?” He growled at the man who was staring wide eyed at him.

“No, I’m not denying it. How would you people know my name?”

Stasia was flailing again, “HOW WOULD WE KNOW YOUR NAME? ARE YOU KIDDING? YOU DON’T RECOGNIZE ME?”

“No.”

“I HAD YOU ARRESTED YOU IDIOT!”

His wide eyes grew wider with recognition. “ANASTASIA BLAKE? YOU are Anastasia Blake?”

“YES! You can’t tell me you didn’t know who I was. It’s hard to STALK someone when you don’t know who they are. How did you know MY name?”

“The police report. Who is the FREAK who hit me?”

“FREAK? You are calling me a FREAK? You hit a woman, stalk her and I’M THE FREAK?” Lance was doing his best to get around Lonnie, who was actually debating whether or not he wanted to hold him back.

“You hit me for no reason. And why do you keep saying I stalked her?”

“NO REASON? You hit my girlfriend you son of a bitch!” When he realized Lonnie was not about to let him go he decided to try another plan of attack, “JUSTIN! JOE! THIS IS THE GUY WHO HIT STASIA ON JIVE’S JET!” That did the trick.

The other four guys, with Carson right behind them tried to get out into the hall. Ron pushed Stasia back into the room blocking the guys as he did. They stopped short so they wouldn’t run into her and knock her over.

Chris was looking desperately for a way around the security team. “BOOST ME UP GUYS! I’LL GO OVER THEIR HEADS!” Joey was actually giving him a leg-up when Lance came hurtling into the room, the door slamming shut behind him.

Lance was pulling on the door knob, “Ron let go of the door! I swear to GOD I WILL HAVE YOU FIRED!”

“No you won’t..”

“Ron, I’m not kidding.”

The door flew open and knocked Lance to the floor. “Listen you hot head! You sit your ass down and calm down. You getting arrested for assault isn’t going to help the situation. We have called the police, and they are on their way. YOU are going to let THEM handle this. You idiots make sure she’s ok.” Ron pointed to Stasia.

Her eyes were flashing with anger. Lance walked over to her and they crushed one another in an embrace. He leaned back in the tiny circle of her arms and both of them softened.

The men standing in the room were all pacing, grumbling and shooting dirty looks at Ron who was parked in front of the door with his arms crossed over his chest.

They could hear additional voices in the hallway. Ron carefully opened the door, stuck his head out and gave them a quick report on what was happening, “The police are here. They are talking to Peter at the end of the hall. Our guys are lined up in front of the door. One of the cops is walking this way.” He closed the door.

“Can you fools be calm long enough to talk to the man?”

Stasia answered for the group. “We’re fine Ron. Thanks...for not letting us kill him.”

“Doing my job. But I’m telling you, that is the last time you walk down the hall alone.”

“Fine by me.”

There was a knock on the door. Ron pulled it open and there was a young police officer standing there, “Hi. I’m officer Blumberg. Can I come in and ask a few questions?”

Ron held the door back and the officer entered the room. Stasia calmly recounted the events that had transpired in the hallway. She also explained the incident in December on Jive’s jet and the attack in Atlanta. She gave him Mary’s number and he was satisfied.

“Which one of you guys is the amateur boxer?”

“That would be me officer.” Lance stepped forward.

Justin ran over, “I jumped on his back first. If Lance get’s arrested you are going to have to take me too.”

Suddenly Joey was between Lance and Justin, “I tackled him, arrest me too.”

The officer actually laughed and shook his head, “You guys would make horrible criminals. None of you are going to be arrested. He isn’t pressing charges.” He laughed again, “Guys, don’t hit anyone else while you’re here, OK?”

They all agreed to behave themselves and the police said they were going to try to keep the incident as quiet as possible. “I don’t think it would do anyone any good to have, ‘Popstars and MTV Personality Attempt To Beat Man’ in the headlines tomorrow morning.” The officer laughed again as he left.

A few seconds later, there was another knock on the door. “Great! Freak boy probably changed his mind. We’ve got bail money right?” Lance said as he pulled the door open.

There was a small, very beautiful blonde woman standing at the door. “Hi.”

They were all looking at one another when Carson ran over. “BABE! I totally forgot you were coming.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the room.

“What’s up with the cops? They are taking some guy out in handcuffs.”

“Long story, I’ll tell you later. I want to introduce you to everyone.” He pointed to Stasia, “That is Stasia. The guys she’s with is Lance. That’s Joey, JC, Justin and Chris. You probably know who they are...Guys, this is Tara.”

Stasia beamed, “Hi Tara! I’m sorry you had to walk into the middle of our insanity.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

Stasia glanced around the room, “I’ve seen enough of this room, let’s go down to our room and order dinner. I’m starved.”

She pushed on Ron until he moved and led the way down the hall.

As she slipped her card into the lock, she could hear the fax machine ringing. Lance and Carson looked at one another and they both walked quickly to the machine. Stasia glanced at Tara and shrugged, “I’ve never seen them so excited about a fax.”

They guys were all walking in flopping on the furniture and floor Tara looked a little timid, so Stasia lightly smacked Justin on the side of the head, “You could be halfway polite and offer Tara spot on the couch.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Tara, please sit! Justin slid onto the floor. Sorry about that, we tend to just do whatever, that’s why we keep Stasia around, to keep us in line.”

“Oh, no...it’s fine. I’m just sort of in awe of you guys right now. I’m finding it hard to believe I’m sitting in NSYNC’s hotel room.”

Joey elbowed Chris, “You hear that? The movie star is in awe of US!”

Chris grinned, “Oh YEAH! We are IT!”

“You are both idiots. Tara, please ignore the goofballs. They are harmless, but annoying.”

“Keep talking Stasia, you have three weeks left in your free pass...then, you are in trouble...consider yourself warned.” Chris leveled his eyes at her.

“The stitches may not be out by then...can’t I have until these itchy...painful...horrible reminder stitches are out of my head?”

“I don’t know...how long do they have to be in? You’re asking a lot here...and you’re running off at the mouth a lot...”

“If I try to keep my big mouth shut...do we have a deal?”

Lance leaned over and hugged her around the neck from behind, “You can’t keep your mouth shut all the time...”

Justin covered his ears, “Young virgin ears here!”

Stasia choked on her Dr. Pepper. “Justin, we have guests! Be good, Tara is going to run from the room screaming!”

She tilted her head bac to look up at Lance, “What’s with the fax?”

“It’s from Mary. It’s a picture of your attacker.”

JC looked at Lance, “You’ve got his picture? How did that happen?”

“According to Mary, it’s an enhanced freeze frame from a security camera at Phillips.” He sighed, “The problem is...it’s not Peter.”

They all crowded around Stasia as Lance handed her the picture, “What do you think? Does he look familiar Millie?”

Her heart sank when she realized she wasn’t looking at a picture of Peter, “No. I thought it would be Peter...it’s not.”

“I know. We have a picture of him now. We have something to go on.” He watched her closely, he couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

She stood up and walked to the door leading out onto the balcony. Everyone watched her in silence, noone knew how to comfort her, noone knew how to understand what she was going through. In the back of her mind, she had believed that when Peter was lead away in handcuffs earlier, that the nightmare was over.

Lance looked around at his friends, not knowing what to do. Joey stood up, “Lance, do you mind if I try to talk to her?”

“Joe, maybe I should talk to her.”

“Lance, trust me...please.”

“OK.”

Joey walked out onto the balcony, “Stay-A?”

“Joe, I just need to be alone for a few minutes.” She stared out at the New York skyline.

“No you don’t.” He walked over and stood next to her looking out over the city.

“This city looks so remarkable at night. There is something about the lights that make it look like the heavens, but it isn’t heaven...it’s not peaceful, and it isn’t safe is it?”

He looked down at her, “Stasia, do you remember what we talked about the first time I came to your room in the middle of the night?”

“We were still in Hawaii. We talked about a lot of things that night.”

“You know what I’m talking about Stasia. You know what I want you to remember.” He covered her hand with his.

“We talked about your fears, we talked about the way that you need to open up and let people help you. We talked about how I could already tell that the guys were there for you, but you might not want them to help. We talked about the fact that you had your four best friends with you every day and you chose me to talk to.” She looked up at him. “I know Joe. I know you are all here, but how can you be here for me if I don’t know what I need. I need for this freak to be caught, so I can move on with my life.” She was so frustrated, and she didn’t know what he wanted from her.

“I’m going to tell you the truth Stasia, because you have always done that for me. You have never lied to me, and I’m not going to lie to you.” He turned to face his friend and he still held her hand.

“Stasia, you’ve changed. Noone could possibly blame you. What you have been through in the last few months could change anyone. But Stasia what frightens me, what frightens all of us, is the fact that what seems to have changed is your fight. You seem to be feeling like a victim, which you are, but you have NEVER ACTED like a victim before.”

“What do you want from me Joey? Do you want me to act like I don’t have fifteen stitches in my head reminding me every day that not only does someone want to kill me, but the fact that they almost succeeded. Do you want me to act like I’m not afraid? Am I supposed to not be angry?” Her eyes were flashing and the wind had picked up. Her hair was whipping around her.

“What do you want from me Joe? I can’t believe you are standing in front of me telling me that I have changed. You’re DAMN RIGHT I’VE CHANGED! I’m scared. I am so scared that I am going to walk out the door and this man,” She held up the picture right in front of his face, “is going to kill me. That my life is going to be over, just when I’ve found Lance. Joe, he is the first good thing that has happened to me. Why does everything horrible have to happen to me? Why did my bastard of a father have to leave us? Why did my mother have to die when I was at the age I needed her the most? Why did my brother, the only person who had loved me unconditionally and taken care of me get killed? Why did Nik, who treated me like a sister and her best friend have to die? Why did the niece or nephew I didn’t know about have to die before he or she even had a chance to live? Why does someone want to kill me?” She crumpled the fax picture of her attacker and threw it over the edge of the balcony.

“I’m angry! I am so angry I could...I could...”

“You could what?” He started to smile, “You could WHAT?”

“I could scream.” She whispered.

Joey pushed her shoulder, “So scream.”

She looked up into his eyes, “I can’t. I can’t just stand here and scream.”

“Why not? Who’s going to stop you?” He pushed her harder and she had to take a step back.

“Joe, stop.” He pushed her and she almost fell back. “JOEY!”

“ANASTASIA!” His tone was completely mocking her. “What do you want to do? Do you want to scream at me?” She nodded. “SO SCREAM!”

She took a step forward, and let out a short scream. Everyone in the suite looked at the door leading to the balcony. Lance ran over and pulled the door open. Joey turned to face him, “Leave us alone.”

Stasia was staring at Joey, “Stasia, is that the best you can do?” He pushed her again.

Lance closed the door behind him. He smiled at the people in the room, “Joey is a genius.” He sat in a chair. “Did we order yet? She’s going to be hungry.”

Joey took another step toward her and her eyes narrowed. Just as his hand was going to make contact with her shoulder, she threw her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs.

JC jumped up off of the floor. Chris fell off of his chair. Justin yelled, “What the hell are they doing?”

Tara was staring wide eyed at Carson who was watching Lance for his reaction. Lance was smiling, “Genius.”

Stasia screamed until she couldn’t scream anymore. Her head felt as if it was about to split in half. She looked up into Joey’s eyes and her lip began to quiver. He covered the few feet between them quickly and wrapped his arms around her. “We love you. We are going to fight, we are going to get through this together. WE are ALL in this together.”

She rested her forehead against his chest. Her breathing was labored and he thought she was going to start crying. But when she lifted her eyes to his, he smiled. “It’s nice to see that color in your eyes again.”

“Thank you Joe.” She held onto him tightly. “I don’t want to give up, I’m not going to let myself become a victim. I promise you, I’m not giving up.”

“That’s better. You have every right to be afraid. But I’m happy to see you angry. You have that right too. And that is what is going to get you through this, you have to keep that fire.”

“I will. Will you keep helping me?”

“I will. Justin, JC and Chris will. Carson is on your side. Lance will fight to the death for you. Do you know how much he loves you? Do you know he sits awake at night, watching you sleep and thanking God for you wondering what he did to deserve you?”

Her lips parted. Her eyes softened, they became the liquid silver they were every time she looked at Lance. “When we were in Mississippi, before the Biloxi show, I found him in his room. We had a conversation...Stasia, he loves you so much.”

“Joe, I don’t know what I would do without all of you to remind me what’s important. I told Lance I wasn’t going to give up...then I almost did, but you pulled me back from the edge and helped me see what is real.”

She kissed his cheek and he hugged her again. “You are part of us. You are part of him.” He gestured with his head toward Lance, who they could see through the door.

“You are the best Joe. Thank you, I needed a reality check.” She pushed her hair back.

Justin peaked through the curtain out onto the balcony, “Is she going to throw Joey over the balcony? She stopped screaming. Lance I can’t believe you let Joey handle this.”

“Joey did exactly the right thing. She needed Joey, not me.” He looked down at his hands and sighed, “As hard as it is to swallow, sometimes, you can’t do everything for the person you love. Sometimes, they need something else. Joey was able to see what she needed, I would have tried to hug her, and kiss her and tell her I would try to protect her, when what she needed was to scream and yell. Millie was starting to feel sorry for herself, and because I love her the WAY I do, I was not only letting her feel sorry for herself, I was helping her feel sorry for herself. Joe knows as well as every one of us, that Stasia isn’t about feeling sorry for herself. He brought the fight back to the surface. He showed her that she is only going to make it through this if she keeps fighting. She had it earlier...Carson, you saw it. She knows that this freak isn’t our fan, she knows that it is out of her control. She was hoping that when Peter walked out of here today, that the nightmare was over. I was hoping the same thing, but that isn’t reality.”

Tara looked around at the men in the room, “Guys, can I give you a female perspective on this thing?”

JC answered for the group, “Please do.”

“You each serve a purpose for her right now. Lance, you are the person she can be soft with, because she feels protected with you. Joey is obviously the person who she needed to push her into venting. Maybe Justin is the person she needs to mother and JC is the person she needs to quietly talk things through with. Maybe Chris is the person she needs to make her laugh. My point is, she NEEDS all of you to be yourselves and be there the way only each of you, individually can be there for her. We really aren’t as complicated as you guys think.”

Chris stared at her, “Are you adopted?”

“No...why?” Tara was very confused.

“I was starting to think you and Stasia were separated at birth. She would say exactly the same thing.”

Joey walked through the door with Stasia over his shoulder, he dropped her in Lance’s lap and rolled his eyes dramatically, “Lance, if you aren’t going to keep closer tabs on her, I’m going to have to keep her for myself. You let her go out there and scream her head off, waking up all of the neighbors.”

“You’ll keep her huh? What would Angela say about that?” Lance helped her settle on his lap and his arms wrapped around her.

“Oh, Ang would be fine with it. There’s enough Joey for everyone.” He did a little spin.

“You are a dead man when I talk to Ang.” Stasia hissed.

“I’m not worried, I don’t think Lance is going to let me near you anytime soon.”

“You’ve got that right.”

“Millie...Darlin’ can you loosen the death grip a little?” Lance’s fingers were starting to turn blue.

“What?” She looked down at their hands, clasped tightly together in her lap. “Oh, sorry.” She loosened her grip on his hand slightly, but when the doctor walked into the small room, her fingers tightened again.

Lance chuckled and said hello to the doctor.

“So little lady, my friend called me and asked if I could remove some stitches for you. What brings you to Pasadena? Are you two kids on vacation?”

Stasia shook her head. “No we are here on business.”

“Oh, what line of work are you in?” He was chatting as he washed his hands. “Let’s take a look at your cut, I’ve been told it’s on your head? Why don’t you lay down on your side, you can still hold this young man’s hand.”

She laid down on her side, resting her head on the exam table. Lance stroked her hand as he stood next to the table. “We are in the entertainment industry.” She answered as she lifted her hair. “It’s right here.”

The doctor walked over and slipped his glasses on, “Wow! That was one heck of a cut you had there! How did you manage that?”

Stasia looked at Lance for some help, “Well...I was attacked with a crowbar.”

“GOOD LORD! A CROWBAR?” He looked from Stasia to Lance who nodded his head, “That is unbelievable! What is it you said you did again?”

“I’m a singer and we are both in music management.” Lance answered.

“Well that doesn’t sound dangerous. Is the person who did this in jail now?”

“No. Not yet.”

“OK, here we go Sweetheart. Are you ready?”

“Well that depends on how bad this is going to be.”

“I’ll be done before you know I started.”

“Then I’m ready.”

Lance laughed, the hearty, warm laugh she lived to hear. “Good, because he’s done.”

The doctor smiled down at her. “Now I want you to be careful. If you see a crowbar, you run in the other direction.”

“Yes sir.”

“I want to check your eyes and reflexes just to make sure you are completely on the mend. I assume you are having some headaches?”

“They are getting less frequent, but I still have them from time to time, they are only severe when I haven’t gotten enough rest or I’ve been on the floor at a concert for a long time.”

“On the floor at a concert?” He looked at her curiously.

“Yeah, at Lance’s concerts.”

“You said you’re a singer right?”

“Yes, I’m in a group. I’m in NSYNC. We tend to play to large audiences. Stasia is there the majority of the time, I try to tell her to stay in my dressing room, but she can be stubborn.”

She shot him a dirty look.

The doctor gave him a knowing look, “I’ve been married thirty-eight years, I understand stubborn.” Stasia’s eyes grew wide as the doctor continued, “Now, follow the light with your eyes. Very good. When was the last time you had a headache?”

“This morning. The fans were very loud outside the venue, I laid down for about fifteen minutes and then I was fine.”

“OK. I want you to get a lot of rest. With head injuries, you have to be very careful. You had a concussion, that is very serious. You don’t just recover over night. Are you getting at least eight hours of sleep a night and a nap during the day? At least a half hour nap.”

“Um...well, maybe not quite eight hours...”

“No sir, she isn’t getting eight hours at all. She skips her nap most days as well.” Stasia glared at Lance.

“Eight hours...NO LESS. A nap...AT LEAST half an hour.” The doctor looked at her sternly.

She looked down at her hands, and watched as Lances fingers turned white. “Yes sir. I understand. I will be more careful. Can I start running again?”

“No running for another two weeks, if the headaches are still once a day, no running for another two weeks.” He pushed himself up out of his chair. “OK, now I assume you know there are two men waiting out in the hall.”

“Yes sir, they are with us.” Lance answered as he helped Stasia down off of the table.

“Now you two be careful.” He opened the door and Ron and Lonnie were filling the doorway. “Excuse me gentlemen.”

They stepped aside and the doctor walked quietly down the hall. “I CANNOT believe you ratted me out!” Stasia hissed as they walked out of the office. Lonnie held the limo door open and they all climbed into the car.

“We are talking about your health. He can’t treat you properly if you don’t tell the truth...the WHOLE truth.” He was trying not to smile, but Lonnie was not helping at all he was rolling his eyes at the absurdity of the argument.

“I’m getting plenty of sleep.” Her arms crossed over her chest and she was pouting.

“Millie! You are not getting enough sleep. You’ve had TWO headaches today and you KNOW I’m right. Don’t make me start tying you to the bed every night.”

“Lance...we don’t need to hear about you tying her to the bed, that is a private matter.” Lonnie and Ron were both fighting laughter.

Stasia’s head whipped around and her jaw dropped, “SHUT UP!”

Lance burst out laughing. He covered his face with his hands and began shaking violently. “I can’t believe you said that!” He was wiping at his eyes. He let his breath out in a huge rush when she elbowed him in the stomach. “OOF!”

“You shut up too!” She glared at the three of them, and he poked her in the side with his finger. She tried hard not to start giggling but she couldn’t help herself. “I am so embarrassed.”

As the car rolled up at the venue, all four of them were laughing. Lonnie got out of the car first, and held the door open as Lance and Stasia climbed out the crowd went wild. He held her against his side and they laughed and jogged toward the door.

As soon as they entered the venue, Dre and Jay met them at the door. “Lon, Ron we need you in the meeting room. Get them to his dressing room and meet us there.”

Lance and Stasia didn’t argue. They went straight to his dressing room where Jake greeted them happily. They sat down on the couch together, she curled up against his side and Jake jumped up between them.

She sighed, “You know what this means right? They got a letter, or the guy was spotted here...either way, this isn’t good.”

“I know. But we’re ok. Noone is getting in here right now.”

“I know. Maybe I should take that nap, I have a feeling I may need my strength later.”

“I think all three of us could use a nap.” They shifted so that they were cuddled up, their arms wrapped around one another.

The door opened quietly. The person silently slipped into the room and closed the door behind him. An evil smile curled his lips as the intruder realized that the sleeping couple would never know what hit them.

Lonnie knocked on the door, when there was no answer he walked in cautiously. “OH GOD!”

Jake jumped up and began barking. Lance and Stasia both jumped up. “Lonnie what the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to give both of us heart attacks?”

“Look at her you idiot! Look at JAKE!”

Lance rubbed his eyes and glanced over at Stasia who was rubbing her own eyes and yawning, “How long were we asleep?”

Lonnie leaned against the wall, “Two hours. You might want to take a look at Lance. You are falling into the idiot category now too.”

“Excuse me?” She looked at him as if he was crazy. Lonnie simply gestured toward Lance. She turned to look at him, “What the devil?”

Lance was reaching toward her hair. “How did this happen?” The front of Stasia’s hair had several blue streaks. She was staring at him, because the tips of his spikes were blue as well. They both looked down at Jake. The tips of his ears and the tip of his tail was blue.

They looked at one another and said it at the same time, “CHRIS!” The two of them were out the door and down the hall before Lonnie could even straighten up. They burst into Chris’s dressing room as he was pulling his pants up.

“SHIT! You scared the crap out of me! What’s up with you two?” His eyes grew wide as Jake ran into the room. “Nice hair guys. Nothing like a color coordinated couple.” He began to laugh.

They stalked toward him. Stasia tackled him and Lance sat on his chest. “I can’t believe you did this!”

“I DIDN’T! I SWEAR I DIDN’T!” Chris was completely pinned. Lance yanked his arm up.

“His hands are clean.”

“Gloves.”

“Good point.”

“I DIDN’T DO IT!”

Justin and Joey were standing in the door now. Joey was laughing so hard he was crying. “Oh my GOD! Someone got you two GOOD!”

Stasia looked down at Chris, and then at the two men standing in the door. Justin’s hands were buried in his pockets. Her eyes narrowed on him and he swallowed hard.

She jumped up and started walking at Justin, “Hands.”

“Stay-A? What are you talking about?”

“Hands.” He started walking backward when Lance got off of Chris and stepped up be hind her. Now they were both walking deliberately in his direction.

“Stay-A. I don’t like the look on your face...you either Lance. Guys...” That is when he made his big mistake. He held up his hands to hold them back and his fingertips were tinted slightly blue.

“Harry!”

“I‘ve got it Millie!” Lance flew at Justin. “Why is our hair BLUE?”

“It was a joke Lance! Calm down! It’s not the first time your hair has been blue!”

Stasia walked over and stared down at Justin where he was laying on the floor, she turned her head to look at Lance and an evil smile slipped across her face, Lance raised an eyebrow in question. “Green?”

Lance slowly nodded his head. She walked down the hall into the hair and make-up room, and Justin began to fight harder to get up, “YOU CAN’T DO THAT TO ME! COME ON! THE FRO IS BAD ENOUGH AS IS! YOU CAN’T DO THIS!”

Lance was perfectly calm, “You know we can’t just let this go. I would suggest you hold still or this could get very messy.”

Stasia emerged from the room shaking a bottle full of dark liquid. The make-up artist and hair stylist followed her out of the room. “Just squirt it on?”

“Yep. But try to keep it off of his skin, it’s hard to get off and he has a show tonight.”

“OK. No skin. Will it look better if I pour it straight on and rub it in or if sort of dab it on?”

“Depends on the look you’re going for...with the curls, I’d go for the pour and rub method.”

“LIZZY! SHUT UP!” Justin was fighting hard, and Chris jumped on his legs. “Chris! What did I do to you?”

“You knew they were going to blame me and you didn’t give me any warning! I’ve got his feet Lance.”

Stasia carefully knelt next to Justin’s head. “Hold still, or I’m not making any promises.”

“Stay-A PLEASE don’t do this.”

“Justin, you did not even give me the opportunity to beg for mercy. You did not give Lance a chance to ask you not to do this to his head. JAKE! Look at my dog Justin!”

“Oh GOD!” He stopped squirming.

It didn’t take her long, and Justin started to cooperate when he realized he had no other choice. When Chris and Lance finally let him up off of the floor, Joey ran over with Steve and his video camera. “I think we need some footage of this! Stasia, believe it or not...the blue doesn’t look all bad!”

Stasia, Lance and Justin were all laughing hard and Justin pouted, “I thought you guys would like to match.”

Lance gently touched her hair. “Joey’s right. It actually looks kind of cool.”

“Well you know your’s looks good, you’ve done it for concerts before. If I’m going to have this hair, I’m going to have to change.” She walked down the hall to Lance’s dressing room.

Stasia quickly dial Dani’s number, “Hello!” Her friend’s voice was bright.

“Hey Dani! It’s Stasia.”

“I know! What’s up? I’m almost there. I’m stuck in a huge traffic jam, you would think NSYNC is in town.” They both laughed.

“As soon as you get here, you need to come down to Lance’s dressing room, I need your help.”

“What’s up?”

“I’ve decided to wear the outfit you helped me pick out when we were shopping with Jess in New York.”

“OH I’M SO GLAD YOU PICKED A DAY I’M GOING TO BE WITH YOU!”

“Well hurry up! I need a lot of help!”

“I’m on my way!”

Stasia was sitting in her bathrobe, attempting to put on some make-up while talking to Jamie about the monthly invoices when Dani came bursting through the door. Lance started to follow her and she stopped him. “Oh no. Go hang out with Chris.”

“Dani, this is my dressing room. I have to get ready for the show.” Dani grabbed an armload of clothes, shoved them at him and pushed him out the door.

“Get dressed with Chris.” She walked over to Stasia. “What’s with the blue? Oh never mind, I probably don’t want to know. Let’s see what you’ve done so far.”

Dani stuck her head out into the hall and looked both ways. They knew the guys should be in the sound area getting their mics on. She looked back at Stasia who was chewing on her finger. “Stop it. You look amazing. Now let’s go give Lance something to think about on stage.”

The guys were standing in a circle at the end of the hall. Justin was facing them, when he saw them approaching his jaw dropped and the hackey sack hit him in the middle of the forehead. “Justin what is wrong with you?” JC groaned. Justin just pointed.

The guys all turned to see what he was pointing at, Joey spoke first, “HOLY CRAP! Stasia?”

Chris clamped his hands over his mouth. Dani kissed the tip of his nose and said, “We did a pretty good job huh?” Chris slowly nodded.

JC swallowed hard, “Stasia...you...ah...new look.”

Lance was grinning like an idiot, he stepped forward, took her hand and had her spin in place. She was dressed in a pair of tight black leather pants that laced in the front rather than having a zipper. She was wear a fitted, electric blue tank top, that showed just enough of her stomach to let everyone see how toned it was, and to see her belly button. She had on a pair of high heeled black boots and the effect the outfit had on the men around her was bringing a sly smile to her face.

Lance slowly shook his head and said, “HELL-LO LEATHER PANTS!”

“It’s Anastasia.” She teased.

Joey was still visibly in shock, “Stasia?”

“Yeah Joe?”

“Where did you get those pants? Lance dude, I’m sorry...but your woman is HOT!”

“I’m aware Joe, I aware.” Lance was still smiling.

“You have a hackey to finish and we should get out to our seats.” Stasia started to walk away but Lance stopped her.

“I have something for you, come here.” He pulled her into the sound room and handed her a small box. “These are new ear plugs for you, actually they are made the same way our monitors are made...these are the ones they made the molds for, they will cut out most of the screaming for you. Hopefully they will help with the headaches.”

“Thanks Harry!” She hung them around her neck and kissed him lightly.

His hands rested lightly on her hips and then pulled her closer to him. “Remember how you said I was the plan man?” He kissed her again.

“Mmm hmm.” she answered against his mouth.

“The new plan is leather pants ALL THE TIME!” He kissed her deeply and only broke the contact when JC cleared his throat in the doorway.

“We have to hack dude. I’m SO sorry, I know you have better things to do right now.”

Lance shrugged his shoulders and looked into Stasia’s eyes, “And so it goes.”

“I know, and so it goes.” They kissed again and he followed her into the hall.

The concert was amazing and Lance did the most animalistic pelvic thrusts she had ever seen during ‘Space Cowboy’ Wade looked at her from ten people down and saluted. She smiled and waved.

Dani giggled and said, “Lance seems to be putting more into his thrusts tonight, you may be in for some trouble.”

“Can I tell you, if he’s wearing HIS leather pants...HE could be in trouble.”

“STASIA!”

“What? Would you look at the pants!”

“I have to admit, Lance has been looking very good lately.”

Stasia looked around her. The venue was filled to capacity. Dre, Ron and Jay were sitting with her, one behind and one on either side. The security had peaked her interest, they had tightened security around her and around Lance today, after they had returned from the doctor. She was well aware of the fact that that meant something was going on, and they were trying not to frighten her.

The sea of people behind her was surging. The guys were about to start ‘This I Promise You’ and Chris was in the middle of his jumping off the stage skit. The crowd loved it. The screams reached their highest pitch, and her head began to throb. She wanted desperately to stay for the song but, she knew the headache would only continue to get worse if she didn’t go lay down. She pulled on Ron’s sleeve and he nodded in understanding. Jay got up with them, and Dre stayed with Dani.

As they were starting to walk backstage. Lance’s voice reached her ears. “Here is a song we think you will like Pasadena!” He turned to the band, and said, “And so it goes...a little like this.” The music started and Justin began to sing.

When they got backstage Stasia smiled at Ron, “How many people does this venue hold?”

“Somewhere between forty and fifty thousand people.”

She smiled, “That’s a lot of people.” That was a remarkable number of people for Lance to say ‘I love you’ in front of.

When they reached Lance’s dressing room, Ron softly touched her arm. “Stasia, we need to have a talk.”

She furrowed her brow and nodded, he followed her into the dressing room and sat in a chair across from her. “So, what’s up Big Guy?” Jay stayed outside the door, restricting access to the room.

Ron was looking down at his hands, “Feisty, you got another letter. It was here at the venue this morning.”

She lifted her chin up defiantly and sighed, “OK, what did Mr. Pen Pal have to say today?”

“You want the summary, or do you want to read it?”

She held out her hand and he pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket, he placed copy in her hand and rested his hand on her knee as she unfolded the page.

Anastasia,

You were supposed to die. Why didn’t you die, bitch?
Now I’m going to have to take care of that pretty boy of yours too.
He is going to die soon, and painfully, and it is your fault.
You should have just died. Now he has to die...say your good-byes.
No amount of security is going to stop me. I’ll be seeing you.

She took a deep breath, “Nice guy.” She shook her head and closed her eyes tightly. “Ron, I can’t put Lance in danger, I won’t.”

“I don’t think there is anything else you can do about it. We are with you 24/7, we are with him 24/7, noone is going to touch you. Noone is going to touch him.”

“You can’t be sure, this guy could be anywhere, he knows where we’ll be, HELL, the whole world knows our schedule. Ron, I don’t really have a choice here.”

He looked at her very carefully, “Stasia, what are you talking about?”

She stood up, walked over to the mirror, looked at her reflection and watched as a huge tear rolled down her cheek. “Ron, I have to get out of here before I get them all killed. You need to get your bags, because we’re leaving. Now.”

“Stasia! We can’t just leave, Lance will panic. They will all panic. You can’t leave in the middle of a show, without warning.”

“Ron, don’t you see, this is the only way I can leave? If I wait for them to finish the concert, Lance will try to stop me, he will be in danger as long as I am here. I will kill MYSELF if anything happens to him because of me. I’m leaving, NOW, with or without you. You can’t tell them Ron, not any of them, I’ll let them know we are safe when we get where we are going.”

She began gathering her belongings, and was finished quickly. She looked around the room, at Lance’s things, at the items he always kept with him her fingertips ran over the picture of his family sitting on the counter. She sat down and pulled out a piece of her stationary and the blue fountain pen she always used to write letters. She closed her eyes and fought back the tears as she began to write the note she was dreading.

Lance burst into his dressing room with a huge smile on his face, “Millie, I wish you could have seen...” He looked around and frowned when he realized Stasia wasn’t there, she must already be on the bus.

He was pulling his shirt over his head when he noticed the pale gray envelope on the counter next to the picture of his family. He smiled at the bold blue writing on the envelope. He quickly tore the flap open as he started throwing his things into his bag so he could bo on the bus inside the ten minute deadline they were given. When he began reading, his breath caught in his throat and he felt the panic begin to build in his chest.

Harry,

I don’t know where to begin, so I’m going to begin where my heart is telling me. I love you. I love you with my whole heart, my whole soul, and know that my future lies with you. That is why I have to leave right now.

The thought that you are in danger because of me is more than I can handle. I have to go somewhere, away from you, to protect you. I have to put some distance between you and whoever it is that is after me.

Please remember that I love you, and would never do this if I didn’t think that it was absolutely the only choice I have.

I will call you when I get where I am going. Get on the bus and go, because by the time you read this, I will be far enough away that you won’t be able to find me.

Ron is with me, and I will be safe.

Please don’t hate me for this.

All my love,
Millie

His hands began shaking. WHY? Why did she suddenly feel that she had to run away from him? Why did she think she suddenly needed to protect him? He searched the room for answers. His hand landed on the corner of a piece of paper sticking out from between the sofa cushions. He pulled the paper out and opened it. He shut his eyes tightly after reading the words scrawled across the page in the familiar black writing.

She left to protect him from the man who wanted her dead. She had done the only thing she could think of, he understood that, but he felt as if she had ripped his heart out of his chest and taken it with her.

He quietly finished packing, and turned the lights off as he walked out of the room. She may be running to protect him, but she wasn’t going to be gone long, he wouldn’t let her. She would be back by his side by the end of the week if he had to go knock on every door across the country to find her.

She pushed her hand out of the sleeve of Lance’s sweatshirt so she could push the doorbell. They had been able to get on a flight as soon as they had arrived at the airport, it had been nine o’clock at night in California when the plane had left the ground. Now it was five thirty in the morning where they were standing.

She pushed in the doorbell button and closed her eyes. Her hand slipped back into the sleeve as she wrapped her arms around herself trying to warm herself, even though the temperature was nearly seventy degrees and she was wearing a sweatshirt.

“A light just went on upstairs.” Ron rubbed her shoulders from he place on the step below her.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” They both looked up as the porch light flipped on.

The curtain next to the door moved slightly, and she could hear the locks begin to flip quickly when she was recognized. The door swung open widely and Josh Adams threw his arms wide open.

Stasia ran into his welcome embrace and he crushed her against his chest. She buried her face into the front of his long terry cloth robe, “I didn’t know where else to go.”

“You came to the right place. You came exactly where you should have.” He pulled her into the foyer of his home waving Ron in as well.

After telling Josh the entire story, beginning to end, and Josh promising her that he would not tell anyone she was there. Her bags were settled into the room he had shown her, assuring her it was hers as long as she needed it. She made sure Ron was safely in the room right next to hers, and then closed her door quietly.

She sat in one of the pair of chairs facing the fireplace. She pulled her phone out of her computer bag and looked down at her Caller ID. Sixty calls, five from Justin, five from Joey, Chris had called seven times, JC had called six, three from Stacy, four from Diane, and Lance had been calling consistently since immediately following the show. She turned the ringer back on, and it rang immediately. Lance.

She hit the power button, “Harry?”

“Millie! Thank God!”

“Hi.”

“Hi? HI? Millie, I am trying SO HARD to understand this. I am trying to see this through your eyes, but Stasia, I don’t understand why you feel as if you aren’t safe here with me.” His voice was weary, she could see his tired eyes in her mind.

“It’s not that I don’t feel safe, honestly, I don’t care if I’M safe. Lance, I don’t think YOU are safe when I’m with you, and as long as I am the reason you are in danger, I can’t put you in danger. I won’t.”

“You are not putting me in danger. I am not going to get hurt. Anastasia I need you. I need you here, it’s killing me that I don’t know where you are.”

She closed her eyes to try to stop the pain she was feeling in her chest. “I can’t. I’m so sorry. I love you. I’m safe, I promise you that I am safe, and I promise you that I will be back the instant I know you are safe.”

“What is it going to take to convince you that I’m safe? I will do anything.” The pleading in his voice was breaking her heart.

“I don’t know.”

“I swear to you, I am going to turn this bus into Ft. Knox. You will be back with me within two days, or I am leaving this tour and we will go to some island somewhere until they catch this guy. I am completely serious, you will be with me in two days.”

“We’ll see, for now, I am safe. And as long as I’m gone, you’re safe. I have to get some sleep, and by the look of my Caller ID, you haven’t slept yet either, so get some rest and I will talk to you in the morning...well this afternoon. I love you James.”

“I love you...I’ll see you in two days.” The phone clicked in her ear before she could protest.

Josh had set up her computer in his library and she was working quietly when her phone rang. “Hello.”

“ANASTASIA ELIZABETH BLAKE! I SWEAR TO GOD WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THAT SCRAWNY NECK OF YOURS< I AM GOING TO SQUEEZE UNTIL YOU TURN BLUE!”

“Hey Jess.” She continued to type as she rolled her eyes at Jess’s tone.

“Where are you?”

“I’m safe. That’s all you need to know.”

“I am your best friend and you WILL tell me where you are.”

“I can’t, if I tell you, you will come here and you will tell Lance where I am. I can’t let that happen. I am not putting either one of you in danger.”

“You are at that lodge where you and Noah used to go skiing right?”

“No. I hadn’t even thought of that...good suggestion though.”

“What if I need your help with wedding stuff?”

“You just got hold of me easily, you call again.”

She leaned back and rested her head against the back of the chair. “He called me.”

“I assumed he would. Is he ok?”

“No, the woman he loves has some stupid idea about protecting him by running away. He is hurt and frightened.”

“I didn’t want to hurt him.”

“You did. Stasia, this isn’t the answer.”

“Then what is the answer Jess? What would you do if someone threatened to kill Brent, BECAUSE OF YOU?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, this is the only way I could think of to keep him safe.”

“I don’t agree with this, but I will support whatever you do.”

“Thank you Jess.”

Jess was quiet for a long moment before she spoke again, “Why didn’t you come to me? I would do anything to protect you.”

“I know, but I had to go somewhere noone would think to look. Jess, my first instinct was to go to your house, but you wouldn’t be safe. I’m not going to put anyone else in harms way.”

“I love you Stasia.”

“I love you too Jess.”

Ron walked in and flopped down on the couch. “Stasia, how long are we going to be here?”

“I don’t know Ron. I miss Lance. I miss the guys. I miss Dani. I miss my life.”

“I am willing to hang out here as long as you want. Who is this guy by the way? Not a bad little house he’s got.”

She looked around the room she had always loved the most in Josh’s house. The dark wood shelves that covered every wall floor to ceiling were packed with leather bound volumes from every possible topic you could ever dream of reading. The dark burgundy carpet muffled all the noise in the room, making it one of the quietest places in the house. The leather couch face a huge, black marble fireplace, the leather wing chairs formed a cozy seating area with the couch. At the far end of the room, was and old mahogany desk where Stasia was sitting, in a well worn, comfortable leather chair, the back of which faced the large windows looking out on the Adams’ rolling lawn.

“Josh was my boss, you met him before, at my old office.” She looked at him curiously, not understand how he could forget.

“Yeah I know, but why the heck would your old boss open his door to us, no questions asked?”

She got up and walked around the desk to sit in one of the chairs near him, Jake ran through the door and curled up at her feet. She picked up a picture frame from the table next to her and handed it to Ron.

“That’s you isn’t it?” There was no mistaking the little girl with the amazing gray eyes smiling up at him from the photo.

“Yep. That’s me, my mom and Josh. I’m probably about ten there.” She smiled softly at the photo as he handed it back. “Josh is the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father. He took me under his wing as soon as my mom started taking me into the office with her once in a while. He’s the reason I went to Law School.”

“LAW SCHOOL! You’re a lawyer? I didn’t know that!”

“I’m not a lawyer. I never finished my last semester. I was taking night classes, noone knew about it, not even Noah, so when he died, I just didn’t finish. I was just going to surprise all of them with my graduation announcements. ”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t have anyone left to impress.”

“What about Josh?”

“I realized I didn’t have to impress him. He actually loves me unconditionally, like a father.” She smiled.

“You didn’t want to finish?”

“Yeah...I did, I still do...I might do it one day, we’ll see.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t know about that.”

“Lance doesn’t even know about that.” She shrugged, “Can I ask you a question Ron?”

“Fire away.”

“How do you feel about us? Why are you willing to put your life on the line for us?”

He looked at her and laughed, “Well I started a long time ago, you have no clue how much I get paid...” The large man smiled broadly.

“I cut your check.” She smiled and winked at him.

“Forgot about that. Anyway, I started for the money and stayed in it because I started to care about the people I was guarding.”

“So you started caring about the guys?” The thought that they were still surrounded by people who cared about them made her very happy.

“I’m not guarding the guys now.” He leveled his eyes on her to show just how serious he was.

She looked shocked, “You care about me?”

“Of course I do, like a sister...a little pain in the butt sister...but a sister none the less. I care about those guys like my baby brothers. I wouldn’t be sitting here in Josh’s library in some big old house in the middle of Michigan, if I didn’t care.” He smiled.

She was touched, and confused, she wasn’t sure if she had made the right decision here. She knew Ron would lay his life on the line for her, and she had take herself away from the one person who gave her the strength to fight. “I need to take a walk, I’m going down to the pool, want to come along?” She stood up and picked up Jake.

“I’ll hang out on the patio, where I can see you. Go clear your head.”

Stasia and Jake made their way down to the pool, she kicked off her shoes and dipped her feet into the cool water. She sat down at the edge of the pool and Jake flopped down next to her. “Hey buddy.” She leaned down and kissed the top of his head and he licked her cheek. “How did we get into this mess?” She stared out over the water and kicked her feet and watched as the water rippled away from her quietly, she sat that way for a long time.

She looked down at the dog sitting next to her, “OK Jake, we have got a situation on our hands. The man I am in love with is in serious danger, because of me, which is bad. He still loves me, which is good. I miss him, and it hasn’t even been a full day since I was with him, which is bad.” Jake cocked his head. “He wants me back with him, which is good.” Jake’s head cocked in the opposite direction. “Psycho stalker freak will try to kill him if he is near me, which is as bad as it gets.”

“He will track you down and bring you back to be with him no matter where you go to hide, because his heart will guide him to your side, which is as good as it gets.” His voice was quiet and full of emotion behind her.

Stasia’s hand came up to her mouth. She was afraid to turn around, because if she did, maybe he wouldn’t really be there. She was afraid to turn around, because maybe he would be so angry, that he wouldn’t forgive her for running.

“Millie?” He squatted down next to her and kissed the side of her head.

“You’re really here?” Her eyes were closed tightly now.

“I’m really here, clever coming to Uncle Josh’s.” He sat next to her and Jake climbed into his lap. “I have a show tomorrow night, so we have to get to California tomorrow afternoon.”

“How angry are you?” She slowly turned to face him.

“Why would I be angry? I understand you did this to protect me, but we should have been able to sit down and talk about this TOGETHER.” His green eyes locked with hers and she nodded.

“I panicked, when her threatened you, I had to do something, I had to try to protect you. This was the only thing I could think of.” She was looking so deeply into his eyes, searching for a sense of his mood, the level of his anger. “I screwed up pretty badly here didn’t I?” She was ringing her hands in her lap. “I’m sorry. I was so scared.”

He watched the pain in her eyes growing. She was ringing her hands so hard that he was fairly sure she was about to pull of one of her own fingers. He covered her hands with his own. “Anastasia, you have nothing to be sorry about. I understand why you did this, but this isn’t the answer. I have some people with me, you need to meet them.”

He pushed himself up off of the ground, and held down his hands for her to take. The moment her palms touched his, electricity shot through her entire body. He pulled her to her feet, and then tightly against his chest, “If you EVER frighten me like this again, I will kill you myself.” He laughed briefly and then his lips came crashing down against hers.

When the contact between their lips finally broke, she cocked her head at him and raised and eyebrow, “How did you find me?”

She slipped her shoes back on and they began to walk hand in hand up the lawn, with Jake dancing around their feet. “I put myself in your shoes. I tried to think of where I’d go if I was that frightened. I thought you would want to be with your family, Uncle Josh is your family.”

“I love you so much it hurts.”

“Yeah, well...you might take that back in a few seconds.” He smiled sheepishly.

“Why?”

As the came over the top of the hill leading up to the back of josh’s house, she could hear loud voices coming form inside. Her eyes grew wide with shock and she turned to face him. “YOU BROUGHT ALL OF THEM?”

“OH NO! I didn’t bring anyone other than Lonnie. The rest of them came along on their own...you owe me eight thousand dollars by the way.” He smirked down at her.

“EIGHT GRAND! FOR WHAT?” She stopped dead in her tracks.

“We had to rent a jet to come get you.”