Stasia and Lance walked into the large kitchen and she was greeted with a wide range of looks and reactions. Josh’s poor house keeper was busy pulling food out of ever cabinet and the refrigerator, she froze when she saw them staring at Stasia. “Ah...hi guys.”

Chris calmly stood up from his chair in the sunny breakfast nook. He slowly walked across the room, Stasia tried to duck behind Lance, but he slid out of Chris’s way, “Oh no. Don’t think I’m bailing you out of this one Millie.”

“THANKS!” She glared at him. He sat in a chair and leaned back a little to get a better view of the pair.

Chris stopped directly in front of her and stood toe to toe with her. “You. Are. Dead.”

She took a step back, but her followed. “Chris, you have to understand what happened here.”

“You left. You left Lance, you left us, you left the state, you left me with Dani screaming at me. You thought you were doing the right thing, which is the only reason you are still breathing right now. You. Will. NEVER. Pull. A. Stunt. Like. This. Again. CORRECT?” His hands clamped down on her shoulders.

“NEVER.” She shook her head slowly.

Justin walked up and tapped Chris on the shoulder, “My turn.” Chris stepped aside and Justin took his place, hands on her shoulders and all.

“Hi J.” She gave him a pitiful look.

“You are due a major beat down. You DO NOT leave in the middle of a show, only leaving a note. You DO NOT fly across the country to hide from US. You DO NOT protect US, WE protect YOU. CLEAR?”

“Crystal.” She nodded, her eyes never leaving his.

Joey walked over and pushed Justin aside, his eyes locked with hers, “Feel guilty now?”

“Yes.” She looked at her shoes.

“You scared us, don’t do it again.” He stepped aside and JC took his place.

“Were you more afraid then, or right now...facing us?”

She closed her eyes and turned her head away, “Then.” Her voice was small.

He pulled her chin back around to face his eyes, he lowered his voice, “I swear to you, we will protect Lance with our lives. We will protect you with our lives. You are our family, you don’t need to run away to protect any of us. We are a family, we are strongest when we are together. Never forget that. We are strongest when we are together.” He hugged her tightly.

When he released her she noticed Josh leaning causally against the door. “Stasia honey, what are you going to do? I would like it if you stayed here where I can keep an eye on you. I’d like it if you’d all stay here where I can keep an eye on you.”

“I’m going back Josh. I have to.” She turned her eyes to him and he nodded.

“You couldn’t afford to feed all of us for very long Uncle Josh.”

“Well, I can keep you all here for one night at least.”

“Oh! We couldn’t impose sir!” Justin shook his head.

“You can, and you will. I will not have you staying in a hotel when you all can stay here just as easily. And that, children, is the end of the conversation. Dinner will be at eight tonight.” With that, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, smiling brightly.

Stasia looked around the room at the faces around her, Josh had just put a room full of multi-platinum popstars in their places, fast. She smiled. “You’ve got to love Josh.”

They all burst into laughter. She suddenly knew what she need to do, “I want all of you to come with me somewhere very important to me.”

“Where?” Justin looked at her sideways as he shoved the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth.

“Please don’t ask me, I want to share something with you. Please, all of you just come with me.”

They looked at one another and followed her out of the room. Lance caught up to her and whispered, “I’d like to make a stop on the way.”

The wind was blowing steadily. The spring trees were in full bloom, and there were flowerbeds in full bloom with a rainbow of spring flowers. The silence was almost deafening, but none of them were willing to break that silence, the power of this moment was not lost on any of them.

Lance held her right hand and Joey held her left, as they walked quietly down the winding brick path, through flowering trees. Justin, Chris and JC followed closely behind them, and Ron and Lonnie kept their distance from the group. She nodded her head toward a huge old oak tree, overlooking a small stream, “Over there.”

They left the path, and made their way over to the tree, the view from the little hill top was beautiful. On the far side of the tree was the large black marble marker reading, BLAKE on it. Below the large marker, there were three smaller ones.

The first read:

Elizabeth A. Blake
March 3, 1948 - January 4, 1987

The second read:

Noah M. Blake
November 12, 1965 - January 16, 1998

And then the third:

Nicole R. Blake
June 16, 1966 - January 16, 1998

Stasia stepped forward and brushed a leaf off of Noah’s headstone. “You never could keep your space neat could you?”

She stood in front of Noah and said, “ Mom, Ark, Nik, I brought some very important people with me. Guys, they love me, a lot. They love me like you did. I wanted them to come here...”

“Ark, you’d like all of them, Justin over there could give you one heck of a game of one on one.”

“Nik, Chris would get your sense of humor. Yep...that’s right, he is as crazy as the two of us, and his heart is just as big.”

“Mom, JC agrees with you about Billie Holiday...I still say you’re both wrong, Ella rules all. And Noah, he may know more about philosophy than you. ”

She tugged on Joey’s hand, “This one...he’s Joe. Mom, you’d want to hug him and squeeze his cheeks. He’s the flirt, with the heart of pure gold, he’s really sensitive, but I promised to keep that a secret.” She giggled.

She slipped her arm around Lance’s waist, and Joey stepped back to the rest of the group, “And this guy, this is Lance.” She looked up into his eyes, she had never seen them this true emerald green before. “Mom, he is the one you told me about, the one who made my heart skip a beat. And Noah, big brother, he followed me, he came to get me, to bring me back. He protects me like you protected Nik...and me.” Lance’s arm tightened around her. “Nik, you should hear the things he says, it would make you melt...seriously...I hope you’ve been paying attention up there.” She smirked and lowered her voice, “Nik...would you LOOK at him...the eyes...eep!” Lance chuckled and shook his head.

Lance released her and walked forward to stand next to her mother’s headstone. “I swear to you, I love her with my entire heart and soul.” He placed a large bouquet of tulips at the base of the stone. “They’re Stasia’s favorite...I figured they might have been yours too.”

He took the few steps over to Noah’s grave, “I’d die for her...I will protect her until the day I die. I promise you, she is taken care of.” He set down a bunch of deep red roses. “I couldn’t think of a manly flower...picked the one with thorns...guess that’s manly.”

He laughed and walked over to Nik’s grave, “She loves you like a sister. You left Jake in the best possible hands.” He squatted down, “She tells me she got a lot of her spunk and sense of humor from being with you. Thank you for that.” He laid the huge bouquet of hyacinths down, “You carried these on your wedding day.”

He quietly walked over to Stasia and pulled her into his arms. She buried her face in his chest, and the next thing they knew, all four other guys were standing around them in a tight group hug. Stasia could hear sniffling and deep, uneven breathing around her. When they finally pulled the tangle of arms apart, JC pushed a lone tear off of his cheek and kissed the top of her head, “Thank you.” He wandered off to look down the stream.

Justin and Joey were stand together talking quietly, and Chris was standing between all three graves, with his head bowed and his eyes shut tightly.

Lance rubbed her cheek with his thumb and wiped her tears away, “I love you Anastasia.”

She smirked and looked at the headstones, “Can you guys believe it? Not only do I let him call me Anastasia, but I like it when he does it.” She shook her head.

The group slowly started back to the car, Chris stayed behind a few moments longer, when he opened his eye, he looked skyward and whispered, “We’ll do anything to protect her. ANYTHING. We may need a little help from you though...keep an eye on us from your clouds.” He jogged to catch up with the group and jumped on Joey’s back.

They walked through Josh’s front door at six o’clock and Josh was sitting in the living room talking to Dre, Jay and four people she didn’t know. “Hi guys. Stasia honey, did you say hi to them for me?” He gave her a knowing look.

“Mmm hmm.” She nodded.

“I was just chatting with Lance’s friends here. Sit down guys, make yourselves at home. Oh, there is snack food on the counter in the kitchen too.” Joey and Justin raced down the hall to the kitchen.

“Millie! I almost forgot. I need to introduce you to the agents.” He smiled.

“Agents?” She was so confused her eyes were light gray and cloudy.

“When I called Mary, to have her try to find you...yes, that’s how worried I was...she sent reinforcements.”

“Oh my GOD! You poor people! I am so sorry they dragged you in on this! I COMPLETELY understand that FBI Agents have MUCH more important things to do than to worry about me!”

A woman who didn’t look any older than Stasia herself laughed, “Miss Blake, when Mary Grant says jump, we say how high. Not to mention the fact you have a full fledged homicidal stalker on your back, we specialize in finding and catching freaks like this. I’m Agent Alyssa Schell.”

The man next to her stood up and extended his hand, “Agent John Horner.”

“It’s nice to meet you Agent Horner.”

The other two Agents were introduced as Agent Dan Arthur and Agent Robert Scott. They were going to become part of the tour. Alyssa was to act as an assistant to Stasia and Lance, the others were going to take on various jobs with the crew and management.

Stasia had a long conversation with Mary, who assured her that Stasia was not, in fact, receiving special treatment because of her relationship with Mary. She was perversely comforted by the fact that Mary thought there was a connection between Stasia’s stalker and an old, unsolved FBI case that Mary had located.

Mary made arrangements to meet with Stasia and Lance when they were all in Washington D.C. in July, when they were there for a concert date, to discuss the old case.

At eight o’clock, the entire group gathered around the table. Josh sat at the head of the table with Stasia on his right, Lance was next to her. Stasia looked around the table, the laughing faces and family feeling. She looked lovingly at Josh, who was trying very hard to understand a story Chris and Joey were trying to tell him. After Stasia translated into a language Josh could understand, he threw his head back and laughed, smacking Joey on the back.

Stasia looked down the long length of table and couldn’t help smiling. She was sitting next to the man she looked to for guidance and counsel, the man she considered to be the only father figure she had ever known, a man that represented all of the good things in her past.

On her other side was the man who she saw as her future. The man who now gave her strength. In Lance’s eyes, she saw love.

The four men she had quickly come to view as brothers were laughing, swapping stories about her with Josh. Justin had tears rolling down his face as Josh relayed the story of Stasia showing up on his doorstep the night of her high school prom.

“She was standing there, in her floor length blue dress, hands on her hips, still wearing her corsage. Remember that?” He looked over at Stasia who nodded slowly. “The first thing she said was that she needed a lawyer, when I asked her why, she said she had tried to kill her date.” Josh looked lovingly over at Stasia who was becoming redder with each passing moment.

JC’s eyes were as wide as the dinner plate in front of him. “Tried to kill him?”

Josh patted her back as she buried her face in her hands, “Yes, she had cold cocked the young man right in the nose. Apparently, they had gone to a party after the prom at a house just down the street from here, and the unfortunate young man had made an unwanted advance on our little one hundred pound, Stasia.”

Lance kissed her temple, “THAT’S MY GIRL!”

Justin was trying hard to catch his breath, “Hit...his...nose...”

“She broke it too.”Josh said proudly. “Broke two of her own knuckles in the process.”

“He had it coming.” She said defensively.

Lance looked at her with a stunned expression, and she quietly pointed to two knuckle on her right hand. Justin’s face was covered with his napkin now, and Chris was gasping for air next to him. Stasia narrowed her eyes at Chris, which sent him into a bigger laughing fit.

Ron was sitting next to Justin roaring with laughter, “You don’t need me, sounds like you can take care of yourself Feisty.”

“I’d stop laughing if I were you, SHE MIGHT BREAK YOUR NOSE!” Lonnie elbowed his brother.

“Shut up.” She looked over at Lance pitifully. “Help.”

“OK guys, let’s lay off. We have newcomers...who happen to be well armed, let’s not frighten them off on the first day.”

The FBI agents, all sitting together at the far end of the table were all smiling in appreciation. Alyssa smiled brightly, “Stasia, I feel your pain. I have to live mostly with men myself.”

“THANK YOU! See guys, it isn’t easy being the only female that has to deal with you clowns EVERY DAY! You need to stop gaining up on me!”

“For some reason, I’m not worried about you holding your own with this group.” Josh grinned.

Stasia walked out of the bathroom brushing her hair. Lance was sitting on the edge of her bed, pulling off his shoes, “Harry! What are you doing?”

He looked at her curiously, “Huh? I’m getting ready for bed. Where are my pajama tops? I could have sworn I burned all of your pajamas.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, “I’m in JOSH’S house...your UNCLE JOSH’S house. I didn’t think it would be appropriate to go running around in nothing but the top of YOUR pajamas.” She set her brush down on the dresser, “What are you doing HERE?”

“Getting ready for bed...I thought I said that.” He pulled his t-shirt over his head.

“Harry, you’re in MY room!” She looked over at the door, as if the police were going to burst in a moment.

“Millie, Darlin’, I’m in OUR room.” He laughed, as she buttoned the top button on her pajamas.

“OUR room? What is Josh going to think? What will your Momma think? How did this happen?” She blushed when he stood up and walked over to her.

“Millie, can you explain this little freak out to me? Uncle Josh is the one that put my bag in here, Momma is not here, and I’m sure she’s well aware of the fact that we sleep together...that sounds worse than it is...” He ran his hands up and down her arms.

“YOUR MOMMA KNOWS?” She smacked herself on the forehead.

“Darlin’ the company isn’t paying for hotel rooms anymore, of course she knows. Why are you so shy about this all of the sudden? We’ve been sharing the same bed for months. You are suddenly shy about SLEEPING with me?”

“No...It’s just that...” She looked down at his chest, and her doubts started drifting away.

“You know what? I’m going to go share a room with Justin, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” He started to grab his t-shirt, but she swatted at his hand.

“NO! Stay...please.” Her eyes flew up to his and the both laughed.

They climbed into bed and he pulled her tightly against his side, “If you ever even consider running away from me again, I will have you tied to the stage when we are performing.”

“I thought you weren’t mad.” She said against his chest.

“I’m not, I’m just letting you know, that if you aren’t careful, you are going to have to learn our dances so you can be next to me all the time.”

“You would start losing money like crazy if I was on stage. Haven’t I ever mentioned the fact that I can’t dance?”

“You can dance, we’ve danced.”

“We’ve danced...slow dancing...looking into one another’s eyes. We have not danced the way you guys dance on stage.”

He flipped her over and began grinding over her, “Oh, I think you could do SOME of our moves.”

“JAMES LANCE BASS! Have you lost your ever loving mind?” She laughed against his shoulder.

“Want me to teach you ‘Space Cowboy’? That seems to be your favorite.”

“What has you all worked up?” She was laughing hard.

“I didn’t have you next to me last night...I didn’t sleep at all...YOUR FAULT!”

Her hands slipped behind his head, and pulled his mouth down to hers, “I am so sorry I did this to you, had I thought it would hurt you, I never would have left. I was so scared.” She kissed him.

He pulled back from her a little, “I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to find you, then...it just seemed so simple, Uncle Josh.”

“When did you start reading my mind?”

“Day one. The first thing you thought when you saw me was, ‘LORD! Who’s the stud?’”

“Shut up...STUD!” She pulled his lips back down to hers.

The laughter between quieted as the kiss grew in intensity. His hands dove into her hair, then moved to her cheeks, he suddenly had a need to touch her, as if he couldn’t get enough of her. She was clutching at his back and hair. His hand ran down the length of her body to her thigh. He pulled her leg up to his side and he longed to feel her silky skin. Her pajama pants were keeping him from touching the smooth skin he knew so well. Her leg wrapped around his, and pulled him down more fully against her. The kiss was quickly growing out of control. Lance was trying with all the will power he had to keep his hormones in check. Stasia was swimming in a pool of pleasure. He moved his mouth to her neck and she moaned, he chuckled and put a finger over her lips and whispered, “Shh.” against her collarbone.

Stasia was panting heavily and she leaned up to kiss his earlobe. It was Lance’s turn to moan. Stasia giggled and whispered, “Shh.”

He unbuttoned the top button of her pajamas. He kissed the newly exposed flesh. Her hand spanned the small of her back and her nails lightly bit at his skin, the sensation drove him wild. His hand moved to the second button on her top, and his eyes moved to hers. She smiled and kissed the hollow bellow his adam’s apple. She moved her lips to his jaw and then back to his lips.

Lance knew he was starting to spin out of control, and he didn’t want to push her. He broke the contact between their lips and rested his forehead against hers. He was trying hard to get his ragged breathing under control. Her eyes fluttered open and his breath caught. Her eyes were the liquid silver he had grown to worship. “Those eyes, I wish I could stare into them forever.”

“You can.” She was quiet and swallowed hard.

“What’s wrong Millie?” He smoothed her hair back from her face. He rolled off of her and leaned up on his elbow to look into her eyes.

“There is something you should know...” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“You are scaring me, what’s bothering you.” The concern in his eyes made the situation easier.

“Harry...I’ve never...well...I’ve never...um...” She was flushed and visibly embarrassed.

“You’ve never what? It can’t be all that bad.” He cupped her cheek.

“I’ve never...”

His eyes grew wide with realization, “Millie, are you trying to tell me you’ve never been with a man?”

She buried her face in her hands and shook her head. “But...I know I want it to be with you when I do...”

He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. “Millie, Darlin’ why are you embarrassed.”

He was trying to pull her hands away from her face, she peaked between her fingers, “I’m twenty-six years old.”

“SO WHAT? Would you look at me?” Her hands fell away from her face. He lowered his voice to a raw whisper, “Anastasia, I don’t think you have ever said anything that has excited me more.”

“Huh?” She furrowed her brow.

“It makes me feel so remarkably special to think that you want me to your first.”

“I think I’m going to die.”

“You are not going to die. We are going to move at your pace, we have got the rest of our lives to be together.”

“I may still die.” She buried her face in his chest.

“You better not.”

“What does this make you think of me?” She leaned up and looked into his eyes.

“What do you mean by that? I don’t think any differently of you. I really wish I could make you understand how much I love you. There is no bigger turn on for me than to think that noone else has ever been with you in that way.”

“It’s just that this is one of the reasons Garret was so cruel.”

“I think it has already been established that Garret is an idiot. For some reason it doesn’t surprise me that he would try to get you to do something you weren’t ready to do.” Lance ran a hand through his hair.

“So...I...um...yeah...” She sighed and then cleared her throat. “OK, here’s the deal. I know in my heart that I was made to be with you. I want it to be the right time.”

“I don’t think I’ve been exactly fair here.”

“I’m confused.”

“When we are together, I want you to know, in your heart that it’s what you want. I’m afraid that you feel like you need to be with me, in that way, to keep me, that isn’t true at all.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Stasia smoothed the lapel of her suit jacket. She had opted for her favorite black suit. She always felt more powerful in a pant suit. The three quarter length jacket made her feel taller for some reason. The steel gray silk blouse complimented her eyes. She had pulled her hair up in a sleek french twist, the look was finished by her chunky black heels and the black briefcase she had thrown over her shoulder.

She was meeting Lance at the venue, and they were going to a meeting with a group of record executives regarding Meredith’s record. As she walked out of the suite, and into the hall where Ron and Dre were waiting. Ron chuckled.

“You sure LOOK like a lawyer.”

She slipped her sunglasses on as they made their way toward the elevator, “I learned a long time ago, that Free Lance is going to have to fight hard to be taken seriously. Lance is you, Stacy is young, I’m young, they look at Diane as a mother. We have to do our best to grab hold of any shred of credibility we can get our hands on.”

“I’d take you seriously...deadly serious.”

She lowered her glasses and winked at him, “Why thank you.”

She calmly walked into the venue, between the two enormous men. Joey was walking out of his dressing room as she passed, “Hey are you and Lance playing some kinky, X-Files fantasy game?”

“Pardon me?”

“Thar outfit looks like something Agent Scully would wear.”

“I always thought she was a great dresser.” She got to Lance’s door and knocked lightly.

“Yeah...it’s open.” He was standing in front of the mirror trying to straighten his tie.

She kissed him lightly and said, “Let me help you with that.” She made quick work of fixing the knot. “Perfect.”

His eyes roamed over her, “I love it when you get all businessy. You look beautiful.”

“Ron said I look like a lawyer, and Joe said I look like Agent Scully.” She threw her bag on the couch so she could dig through it, “I have some paperwork we should go over before our meeting.” She pulled out a file folder.

“You’re making me work now?” He walked up behind her and kissed her neck.

Stasia moaned and then side stepped him, “You promised not to use that power for evil.”

“Sorry, momentary lapse in judgment. What do you want me to look at?”

They were standing next to one another, heads close together reviewing the documents when Chris and Justin burst through the door. “What’s up with you two? Are you going to a funeral?” Justin flopped down on the couch.

“We have a meeting.” Lance didn’t even bother looking up. “What’s with the wording here, the way I read it, they are trying to control the release of any tracks they have a part in producing.”

“That is exactly what they are trying to do, this isn’t standard at all. What I think is happening is the whole, ‘they won’t know any better, let’s get some extra cash on this deal’ thing.”

“Yeah well, apparently they don’t know about my secret weapon.”

“And what is that?” She smiled up at him.

“You.” He kissed her nose.

Chris held his stomach and fell to the floor, “You guys make me sick!”

“Get used to it.” Stasia pushed the papers into her briefcase and stepped over him. “Ready Harry?”

When they walked through the doors at the record producer’s office, people took notice. Lance and Stasia walked confidently side by side, followed by Ron, Lonnie, Alyssa and Dre. The young receptionist stared wide eyed at the group.

Lance smoothly said, “Lance Bass and Anastasia Blake from Free Lance Entertainment to see Mr. Black.”

“I’ll buzz him.” She pushed a button, “Mr. Bass and Ms. Blake are here...I’ll bring them back.” She stood, “I’ll show you to his office...may I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead.” Lance smirked down at Stasia.

“Are you THE Lance Bass...as in, NSYNC’s Lance Bass?” She was blushing.

“I’m guilty as charged.”

“Wow. That’s really...neat.” She giggled and Stasia suddenly had a coughing fit.

Ron smacked her on the back. “She’s just getting over a cold.”

“Would you like a drink of water?” Stasia suddenly felt very guilty.

“No, thank you. I think I’m fine.” Lance was visibly fighting a smile.

They reached the office door and the girl knocked. “Enter!”

Lance and Stasia looked at one another and rolled their eyes in unison. As they started to walk through the door into the office, Alyssa stopped them, “Ms. Blake, Mr. Bass, if you’d like to leave your phones, I would be happy to answer them for you and take messages for you.” Stasia smirked at Lance, this girl was good. They each handed over their phones and walked into the office.

Mr. Black had decorated his office in an appropriate manner. Everything in the room was black. Contemporary sculptures were in black pedestals around the vast space. A black laquer table surrounded by sever looking black chairs was the centerpiece of this office, Mr. Black was sitting behind a massive black desk, dressed in all black.

At times like this, Lance’s pride in the woman he loved soared. Stasia walked, with purpose straight at the very intimidating man lounging in his massive chair at the far end of the office. Lance shortened his stride slightly to keep in perfect line with her, he loved watching her in action.

The man never stood, “Mr. Bass, Miss Balk.”

“It’s Blake.” Stasia extended her hand and he shook it limply.

Lance extended his hand and the man shook it firmly. “How are you this afternoon Mr. Black?”

“Busy. So what is it I can do for you two? Apparently you had some difficulty comprehending the contract we sent over.”

Stasia literally bit her tongue to keep her anger in check. Lance grinned, “We did have some questions. May we sit?” His tone was very dry.

“Yeah.”

Lance waited for Stasia to sit and he settled in the chair next to her, he was having difficulty keeping the smile off of his face, if this guy didn’t change his attitude quickly, Stasia was going to eat him alive.

“So what did you kids need me to explain to you?” He leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingertips together impatiently.

“Well Mr. Black, it appears that you are attempting to take complete control over the tracks your company produces for Meredith’s record.” Lance began. “We are having difficulty seeing the reason you feel you should have ANY control over OUR artist’s product.”

Mr. Black waved his hand, dismissing him, “Standard control measures. Nothing for you to worry about.”

Stasia calmly turn to Lance, “May I?”

He shrugged causally, “Please do.”

Stasia pulled two file folders out of her briefcase, “Mr. Black, the contract, as you sent it is unacceptable, and will not be signed.”

“Excuse me young lady?” He rolled her eyes at her. He turned to Lance, “You’re girl here seems to be taking liberties with her mouth.”

“Anastasia is NOT ‘my girl’ and anything she has to say, is said with the complete backing of Free Lance Entertainment. Anastasia handles all things legal, this is her department, not mine. I suggest you show her the respect she deserves.” Lance leveled him with a glare that could freeze boiling water.

At moments like this, it was easy to remember why she loved Lance. “Thank you Lance. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was unclear. I’ll try to put this a way you will be able to understand. This contract, the one you had sent over,” She tossed the stack of papers across the desk at him, “is completely unacceptable. It does NOT contain standard language. It does NOT protect our artist. It does NOT protect our company. It WILL NOT be signed.”

“Do you two have any clue who you are talking to?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact we do. You are Jonathon Black. You got your start in the music industry working for Sony Record, where you stayed until you were fired in 1987 for trying to stage a takeover. Gutsy move for a glorified errand boy. After that, you formed this little company of yours, producing mostly commercial jingles for the first ten years. In 1997, a few minor artists came here to have tracks for their debut albums produced, a few of them have even hit big, ALL of them have sued you, not a great track record.”

She leaned forward, “You, Mr. Black, CAME TO US. You targeted a new, up start company with new artists. What you didn’t count one was that company doing its homework. Now, as I stated previously, that contract laying in front of you, will not be signed.” She shrugged and settled comfortably back in her chair, “Do YOU know who you are talking to?”

Now Lance was smirking. Mr. Black was staring at her with utter disgust on his face. “No.”

Lance shook his head slowly, “I’ve had enough contract disputes of my own to know that the one you tried to shove off on us is crap. Anastasia here has enough legal experience to know that the contract you sent is just BARELY legal. We did our homework, it’s a shame you didn’t do the same. We are not about to let anyone take advantage of one of our artists, had you looked into the former legal battles between my band and our label and our management, you would have known that.”

“You really should do a little research if you want to screw people over.” She shook her head. “So here’s the situation, I have taken the liberty of redrafting this contract. This version protects our interests, as well as yours. I suggest you read it, sign it, and get on with business. The sad part of this situation is that your company has produced some quality work, we know that, you just tried to take advantage of the artists. If you choose not to sign the new contract, we would be more than comfortable taking our artist to any number of other producers.”

Stasia handed the new contract to Mr. Black. “We would be happy to leave this with you to review and discuss with your attorney.”

“That won’t be necessary, I’ll sign it.” He pushed a button on his phone, “Claire, get in here and bring someone else to witness this.”

The door opened and the receptionist walked in with Alyssa. Mr. Black scrawled his signature across the page, Lance signed next to him and Claire and Alyssa witnessed. Claire and Alyssa silently left the room.

Mr. Black stood up and extended his hand, “I was completely unprepared for you two.”

“You have an opportunity to start turning your reputation around, I suggest you take advantage of it.” Stasia took his hand.

“How old are you Anastasia Blake?” He smiled at her.

“26.”

“Ever consider dating older men? You seem to be a little fireball.”

“I’ve got bad news for you Black, Stasia here is taken.” Lance smiled lovingly down at her.

“Are you serious?” Black looked for Lance to Stasia who nodded. “I never would have guessed.”

“We take our business relationship very seriously.” Stasia answered.

“You are in the music industry and don’t watch MTV or read Entertainment Weekly?” Lance questioned.

“You guys are making me feel as if I should get into a different line of work. I assume you were on MTV on in EW?”

“Yeah, our relationship has been very public. Stasia is learning the hard way what it means to have a relationship with a pop artist.”

“Well, you seem to have snagged an amazing woman here.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

He walked with them out into the lobby. Claire looked a little embarrassed, “Mr. Bass, Ms. Blake, would your guys mind autographing this picture for me?” She held out a copy of Entertainment Weekly, with a picture of them at the Grammy’s.

“Sure.” Lance took the pen and signed the magazine. He handed them to Stasia who happily signed next to him.

Their group made their way out of the building and as soon as the door closed behind them, Lance and Stasia both burst into laughter. Lance threw his arm around her shoulders, pulled her tightly against his side, kissed the top of her head, “Come on little fireball, we have to go make more people cower.”

“That would be...neat.” Ron and Lonnie rolled their eyes at one another.

When Lance got off of the stage and found his dressing room empty again, his heart missed a beat. Which she knew would happen, so she had left an enormous note on the mirror.

Harry,
Stop panicking. (Don’t deny it, I know you did!) I went back to the hotel with Ron, Alyssa and Dre. Hurry up and get your butt on the bus, I have a little surprise for you.
And So It Goes...Millie

Lance looked around the room, they were going to be back at the same venue the next day, “Screw it!” He sprinted out the door and down the hall.

He fumbled with his key card. All of the guys were watching him curiously. “Don’t you all have places to go or people to talk to?”

“Lance you have been flipping out ever since the show ended. What is your deal?” JC leaned against the wall.

“I need to...see Stasia.”

Joey and Chris began laughing, Justin grinned evilly, “Hear that guys? He NEEDS to SEE her. What could that mean?”

“SHUT UP!” The card finally released the lock and he burst into the room and slammed the door behind himself. “I hate them some days! Millie, I’m...” His voice drifted off.

The room was full of candles and it smelled heavenly. She had a table for two set up on the balcony, where the candles continued. Stasia walked around the corner from the tiny kitchen area wearing a sky blue slip dress, her hair was cascading around her shoulders and the smile on her face was enough to make his knees buckle.

She ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck. She kissed him soundly then leaned back a little. “I cooked.” She was beaming.

“You DID?”

“Mmm hmm! Are you hungry?”

“Are you kidding! But do I have time to shower?”

“Sure. I need to feed Jake and beg Ron to take him out for me.”

“Ok, I’ll be right out.” He kissed her again.

As he pulled his shirt over his head he laughed, “She cooks, she cleans, she sews, she intimidates the hell out of record executives, and she has me wrapped around her little finger.”

When he emerged from the bathroom, clean and re-energized, he found her checking pots on the tiny stove. He walked up behind her and hugged her. “It smells amazing in here.”

“Go have a seat, everything is ready.”

“Can I help with something?”

“Nope. Go sit.”

“You’re the boss.”

He walked outside, it was beautiful. He looked out at the city, and the fans still standing around outside, he pulled back when he realized he didn’t want to be noticed. He sat at the table, and Stasia walked through the door. She set two plates down and sat across from him.

“I think we may be one of the very few couples who sits down to dinner at 11:00 at night.”

“You have a point there. Is this your first attempt at your mom’s chicken?” She smiled brightly when she realized he remembered the conversation the night they ate on his deck.

“That is exactly what happened here.” She was so relaxed she couldn’t keep the smile off of her face.

“You are in a good mood.”

“Yeah I am. I made Ron go to the store for me, he was not pleased. All in all, I’ve had a great day. I felt sort of domestic when you walked through the door. All that was missing was the , ‘Hi Honey! I’m home!’”

“Want me to go out into the hall and do it again?”

“No.” She threw her head back and laughed the laugh that warmed his soul.

He put the first bite into his mouth and his eyes slammed shut, “This...is...perfect.”

Stasia chewed her own food, “Close, but not right...I’m getting close.”

“Your mom must have been a chef if it was anything close to this.”

“Mom could cook anything. She would taste something at a restaurant, and she could go home and make it better.”

He turned away, “What’s wrong Harry?”

“I wish I could have met them. I wish I could thank them...for giving me you.”

Stasia set her fork down and when her eyes met his, he we breathless. The glow she had already had that night, was multiplied. The light in her eyes was the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

He set his fork down and took her hand in his. “I thank God every day for bringing you into my life. I honestly thought my life was fine the way it was. I was sure I didn’t need love. You proved me wrong. I need love, and I need you.”

Stasia slowly stood up and walked around the table. “You have given me the first true feelings of being loved, truly loved, since Noah and Nik died. You have brought my heart back to life.”

Lance pulled her roughly toward him, he buried his cheek against her stomach. His arms wrapped around her waist, she hugged his head and ran her fingers through his hair.

The moment was interrupted when Stasia heard whispering. She knew Lance heard it as well, because he stiffened. She tightened her arms to keep him in place.

“Dude, I feel guilty.” Stasia was shocked to hear JC’s whispered voice. “Let’s go inside, they need some privacy.”

“Screw privacy, you can’t tell me that you don’t want to know if they start getting it on.” She was not at all shocked to hear Chris’s attempt at a whisper. “Can you believe the mushy crap these two say to each other?

“You’re an idiot. I have no clue why Dani stays with you. The stuff they say to one another is cool, they are very open about their feelings, and they deserve to have some privacy.”

There was some shuffling, “At least I HAVE a woman. Get off of me JC!”

“SHH! I’ll kill you if they hear us. Come ON Chris!” There was a strange scraping sound.

Lance glanced up at her and she grinned evilly. He suddenly pulled her onto his lap. “OH STASIA!” The scraping stopped.

“OH GOD LANCE! That feels so good!” They could hear both men run back over to the wall separating the two balconies.

“Oh...ahh...mmm.” Lance was fighting to maintain control.

“You are so good.” She giggled when his eyes grew wide. She shrugged and whispered into his ear, “Too much?”

“Nah.”

“If you hold my legs, I could lean around and see.”

“CHRIS! Are you HIGH? I am not helping you WATCH! WHAT is wrong with you?”

Stasia moaned loudly and then pulled herself off of Lance’s lap, and pulled his quickly out the door. As expected, Chris’s door was slightly a jar, so they quietly entered the room. JC was standing near the edge of the balcony, with his hand covering one ear. Chris was leaning, on his tiptoes, trying to peer around the edge of the wall. When Lance slipped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her from behind, he cleared his throat and JC turned and hung his head.

Chris slowly lowered onto his feet. “Uh oh.”

“You two really should check which direction the wind is blowing when you are spying on people.” Stasia sighed.

“Stasia, Lance. I am so sorry!” JC was looking at the ground.

“You tried...then we set you up. CHRIS on the other hand, wanted to scale the side of the building. Not cool.” Lance kissed her temple.

Chris still hadn’t turned aroud, he was walking backward toward the door, he didn’t stop until Stasia tapped him on the shoulder.

“Chris, you do realize that even though you can’t see us, we can see you.”

He tried to walk around them. Lance stepped in front of him, “Chris, may I speak to you for a moment in the other room?” He grabbed his ear and dragged him into the room.

Stasia walked over and stood next to JC, “Beautiful night.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“Hey. I know what it’s like to be around you clowns. I also know that you really are sorry, which is why Chris got dragged into the other room by his ear, and you are standing here...with all of your parts intact.” She smiled up at him.

“I like hearing you two together.” He hugged her to his side.

“Yeah? Why is that?”

“Because if you guys can find it, after everything you’ve been through and the way your relationship started, then maybe I can too.”

“JC I honestly believe that we all have a soul mate, we may find them when we are six and spend our entire lives together. We may find them when we are twenty-six and have it hit you like a ton of bricks. I KNOW that she’s just waiting for you to find her.”

“Stasia, how am I supposed to find her, when this is my life?” He made a sweeping motion at the hotel.

“Did Lance ever ask you that question?” She turned to look at him.

“Yeah. Yeah he did.” A smile crept across his face.

“JC, there are people who KNOW you, who KNOW who you are and what you are all about, and love you in spite of it.”

“Funny.”

“I actually wasn’t trying to be funny. Lance knows the darkest aspects of my life, and he still loves me. THAT is what it’s all about. It’s easy to love the happy, cheerful sunshine parts of people, but when you can accept and love the other stuff, that is when it’s going to stick.”

“You are the best sister any of us could have asked for.”

“Four brothers isn’t so bad.”

“We do all act like family, that is the only logical reason for Chris’s behavior.”

Inside the room Lance was taking a hard handed approach with Chris.

“Chris, I thought the red streaks in Stasia’s hair were funny. I thought the whole string on the nose thing was funny. But Chris, try to see us being...intimate...is not acceptable. You Know Stasia and I are both VERY private. How could you do that to her?”

“It’s not like I saw anything.”

“But the fact that you WANTED to, is kind of sick. I swear to God if I catch you trying to spy on us when we are alone, I will make you pay a painful price. And, I will get even.”

“Over react much?” Chris flopped down into a chair.

Lance walked over and grabbed both arms of the chair as he glared down at Chris, “I have never done anything like this to you and Dani, because I respect your PRIVATE time.”

“OK, I get the point.”

“Do you? Because I am very rarely hard on you, but on this issue, I am totally serious.”

“OK. I’ll back off on the covert operations, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me, apologize to Stasia.”

“Lance, she will rip my head off.”

“No she won’t. She and JC are busy bonding, she never rips a head off after she’s had a good conversation.”

Chris walked out onto the balcony, “Stasia I’m sorry, I didn’t think that I was going to embarrass you.”

“That’s the only problem with you Chris, sometime you don’t think. Don’t let it happen again.” She turned to JC, “Think about what I said.”

She grabbed Lance’s hand and pulled him out the door.

When they got into their own Lance picked her up off of the floor and carried her to the couch. He laid her down and then walked to the doorwall, he locked the door and double checked how secure it was. Then he walked to the door they had just entered and slipped the chain into the lock. When he lowered himself down on top of her he laughed, “I think that should keep Chris out.”

“The plan man.” She pulled his lips down to her own.

Stasia and Lance walked off of the plane in Detroit hand in hand. The cameras were going crazy, they were on her own home turf. They had had a few quiet weeks, no letters from her stalker, no major news stories with NSYNC attached to them. They were all feeling good, and they were all excited to be invited back to Josh’s house for a party.

Lonnie, Ron and Jay were all sticking to Lance and Stasia like glue. Alyssa, Dan and John had quickly settled into their roles on tour. Everyone was still on edge, but the feeling was a little more relaxed and they had been able to enjoy the last few weeks.

Stasia pushed her sunglasses higher on her nose. Lance smiled down at her with all the pride he was feeling. He knew she was going to be excited about the surprise he had arranged for her. Justin tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to a corner of the secure area. She slowly turned to look where he was pointing, and as soon as her eyes landed on Jess and Brent, standing there holding flowers, she broke out into a run, dragging Lance along with her.

She hugged Jess tightly, with her hand still locked tightly in Lance’s. “JESS! What are you doing here? BRENT GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE!” He obeyed and hugged both women at the same time.

Lance extended his hand to Brent, “You must be the famous Brent.”

Brent shook his hand warmly, “And you must be the ACTUALLY famous Lance. The guy who stole our little Stasia’s heart.”

The rest of the group surrounded them and Stasia and Jess introduced everyone to Brent. Mike and Dre began to usher the group out of the terminal and into the waiting cars. As they climbed into the car Jess sat next to Stasia talking a mile a minute. Stasia was talking just as fast and they were catching everything the other was saying, Lance was in awe of the pair.

“Do they always talk like this?” Lance looked at Brent.

“OH yeah. They’ve always been like this.” Brent smiled at the pair.

Stasia and Jess were suddenly both staring at Brent, “Like what?” the said in unison.

Brent and Lance both burst out laughing. Jess and Stasia both rolled their eyes. Lance pulled Stasia against his side and kissed her temple. “You are too cute.”

“I know.” She smiled at him then kissed him quickly.

Brent and Jess smiled at one another, they had never seen their friend happier. They had both seen Stasia with Garret, she had spent that entire relationship walking on eggshells. Stasia had been almost afraid of Garret for some reason. Neither Jess nor Brent had understood why she had stayed with him, she deserved so much better, she deserved what she had found with Lance.

They pulled into the secured parking area at the Silverdome and Stasia was happy to see the familiar sight of the dome. “I haven’t been here in ages.”

Jess bounced out of the car and was surprised when only Brent followed her out. Lonnie, Ron and Dre all walked over and gave Lance ans Stasia to ok to exit the car. As soon as Lance and Stasia got out, the crowd went wild. Jess was completely shocked to see them follow behind Ron, Lonnie and Dre over to the fence, where they signed autographs with the other guys.

When they all got into the building, Jess asked Stasia, “Doesn’t it freak you out to get near the fans?”

Stasia squeezed Lance’s hand as they walked to his dressing room, “I don’t do it alone anymore, I never get close to crowds without Lance and minimum of three security people, not to mention the way the rest of the guys watch me like crazy. You can ask any of them when I went to the bathroom last, they can all tell you.”

Jess rolled her eyes, “Yeah right...Lonnie, when was the last time Stasia went to the bathroom.”

Lonnie leaned over, “Ten minutes before we got off the plane.”

Stasia pointed at Lonnie and shrugged. “Hey, they may all know when I’m in the bathroom, but, I couldn’t feel safer.”

They walked into Lance’s dressing room, and talked for a while until Lance was called to the Meet and Greet. He stood up and looked at Jess and Brent, “You guys want to check it out for a while?”

“Sure, I’d like to see what it’s all about.” Brent stood up and helped Jess to her feet.

They walked into the Meet and Greet room and stood at the back behind all of the fans. When the guys walked in, the fans cheered. The guys answered questions, talked about the tour and settled in for the autograph signing.

Stasia nudged Jess, “This part will take a little while, let’s go get something to eat downstairs.”

They were starting to leave with Ron and Lonnie, when Brent froze. “I don’t believe it.”

Stasia and Jess both slammed into his back, “BRENT! What is it?”

“Garret.”

“WHAT?” Both girls said in unison, as they hid behind Brent and Ron.

“Over there, in line behind that little girl with the blue shirt.”

“MORE INFORMATION BRENT!” Jess was peeking around his arm, “TWO THIRDS OF THEM ARE WEARING BLUE!”

“OK JESS! The girl in blue, IN FRONT OF GARRET!” He pointed.

Stasia was slinking along the wall toward the door, behind Ron, “COME ON YOU TWO!”

They spilled out into the hall and stood there staring at one another. “What is he doing here?”

“I DON’T KNOW?” Stasia was looking up and down the hall.

Alyssa came running up, “What’s wrong?”

Stasia held up her hands, “Nothing. Don’t worry, it’s just that my ex-boyfriend is at the Meet and Greet.”

“Garret?”

“Yeah. I forgot you have the list of names...yes, Garret is in the autograph line.”

Stasia looked up at Ron, “WHAT is the deal with Meet and Greets? I’m not going to go anymore.”

Ron hugged her, “Feisty, it’s not the Meet and Greets...it’s your freaky life.”

She smacked his chest, “For that crack, you get to go warn Lance what’s coming.”

“Alright...going.” He tugged her ponytail and went back into the room.

Stasia and Jess pressed their faces against the window, Ron whispered to Lance who looked at him strangely, looked down the line of fans and then whispered something to Ron. Ron laughed and walked out into the hall.

“What did he say?” Stasia looked apprehensive.

“He said he would like his...now these are his words, not mine...beautiful girlfriend to come hang out with him for a few minutes.”

“WHAT?”

“You heard me. Let’s roll Feisty.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her along behind him.

“Ron we need more security, he could have something to do with the attacks...SERIOUSLY! Ron! Let go, I might kill him, who will stop me?”

Alyssa, “My gun and I are right behind you!”

“Can I borrow it?”

“No!”

They walked into the room, followed by Jess and Brent, who stayed at the door. Lance waved her over and she smiled sweetly. When she got next to him she leaned down and whispered in his ear, “I’m going to kill you for this.”

He kissed her cheek, “I just want to see you squirm a little. A few of the fans saw you and wanted autographs, I know how much you hate to disappoint them.”

The girl standing in front of him giggled, “Could you BOTH sign this please?” She held out a magazine picture of them.

“Sure thing.” Lance smiled and Stasia couldn’t help but do the same. They signed and before she knew it, Garret was standing in front of the pair.

“Anastasia.”

“Garret.” She nodded coolly.

He sneered at her and then held out a photo for Lance to autograph, it was a picture of Stasia and Garret at a dinner party. Lance noticed two things about the picture, more specifically about Stasia. First, she looked beautiful. And second, she looked terrified.

“Are you sure this is what you want me to sign?” Lance answered civilly.

Garret looked at him strangely, wondering why he had reacted the way he had. “That’s me...and your supposed girlfriend.”

“Actual girlfriend. I know, I’m sorry but we need to keep the line moving, are you sure you want me to sign this?”

“No!” He pulled the picture back.

“Stasia, why don’t you have Ron show Garret her to the toy room, and you all can do some catching up with him, then we’ll meet you down there when we’re done.”

She had no clue what he was up to, but she knew better than to question him. “Sounds like a good idea. I’m sure Jess and Brent would like to say hi.”

Garret looked completely confused but followed she and Ron out the door. Stasia and Ron talked quickly, and then Ron led him down the hall to the toy room. She jogged over to Jess and Brent who were both completely confused.

“I have no idea what Lance is up to, but we are supposed to go keep Garret busy for a while.”

“The three of us, are going to be alone in a room with Garret for a while?” The smile on Jess’s face was sinister.

“Yep, so let’s go get this over with. I hope Lance knows what he’s doing here.” Stasia sighed and the three of them walked into the toy room.