Garret was standing uncomfortably in the middle of the room when they walked in smiling. “What is this room, and why am I here?”

“Now that is a good question, why ARE you here Garret?” Jess was glaring at him.

“Now Jess, we shouldn’t be rude. OK, first of all, this is the toy room. This is where everyone on the tour comes to blow off steam. You are welcome to use whatever you’d like. Secondly, you are here, because Lance invited you to hang out before the show. You had a Meet and Greet pass, so we assume you have tickets to the show, if not, we’d be happy to get you a seat.” Stasia flopped down on a couch and flipped on the stereo.

“Garret, I didn’t realize you were and NSYNC fan, when did that start?” She laughed as Brent rode around the room on a scooter.

“I’m not.” Garret was still standing in the middle of the room. Jess sat next to Stasia.

“So why were you at the Meet and Greet?”

Before he could answer, there was a knock on the door. Dre walked in, “JC wanted me to remind Jess and Brent that they were going to have dinner with him.”

Jess jumped up, “I completely forgot! I’m sorry we have to break up this little reunion, but I promised JC.”

Stasia looked lazily to the door where Jess and Brent were smiling at her, “Not a problem. Have fun, I’ll see you before the show.”

The door closed behind them and just as she was about to ask him again, there was another knock, Alyssa smiled weakly. “Stasia, I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation, but Jamie is on the phone for you. She says it’s important.”

She got up, “I have to take this. I’ll be right back.” She left the room.

Garret was standing, in the same place he had been since the three of them walked into the room. He looked around the room, it was filled with all of the adult toys you could imagine. He turned and looked at a poster tacked up on the wall. He took a step closer, it wasn’t a poster, just a picture blown up to a huge size. The picture was of Stasia, some very pretty blonde, a younger girl and the five guys in the group. They were all on scooters in a parking lot somewhere, and her stupid dog was running around in the middle of everything. He’d forgotten how much he hated that stupid dog. Everyone in the picture looked to be having a very good time, they were all smiling.

He ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t understand what was going on. Stasia was different, she looked different, she sounded different, she was acting differently.

The door quietly opened and closed.

Garret ran his fingers over Stasia’s face, “You made a mistake letting me go.”

“I beg to differ.” A very deep voice shocked him. He turned to face the voice. Lance was leaning against the door casually, holding Jake, scratching him behind the ears. “I thought Stasia was here.”

“She was. Some girl came in here, said she had a phone call. She said she’d be right back.” Garret pushed his hands deep into his pockets. “This is some set up you guys have going on here.”

“Yeah, we like to blow off steam. We have some great stuff, help yourself.” He was still scratching Jake’s head.

“No, I’m good.”

Lance pushed off of the door and slowly walked into the room. “So, what brings you to the show? You aren’t exactly part of our normal demographic.”

Garret rocked back on his heels, “No, I don’t guess that I am. I came to see Anastasia.”

“She hates it when people call her that.” Lance sat down.

Garret laughed, “I know, that’s why I did it.” He leaned against a nearby counter, crossing his arms.

“Nice.” Lance slowly shook his head.

“Anastasia is a special type of woman, you have to work hard to keep her in line. If you don’t control her with and iron first, she’ll try to run the show. You can’t let a woman take charge. Women need to be kept in their places. Anastasia was hard to get a handle on, but after some...persuasion, I was able to control her for a while, just not long enough. We made a very attractive couple, she looks good on my arm. She’ll end up married to me, she has no choice.”

Lance could feel his blood beginning to boil. Jake crawled off of his lap and across the floor to stand near Garret’s feet where he stood and growled. Lance leaned his elbows forward onto his knees. “Is that so? Married to you...funny thing is, I doubt that. And persuasion? Stasia can be very, feisty, that’s what the security guys call her. I don’t think any amount of talking could persuade her to be submissive.”

“Talking didn’t do it.”

Lance slowly stood, “I would strongly suggest that, if you ever harmed even a single hair on her head, you not tell me. I happen to be very much in love with her, and if I were to hear, from your own mouth, that you harmed her in anyway, I will kill you.” He leveled his eyes at Garret.

“I love her, the way you should have. I love the spark of life that you should have helped grow, not try to squash. I love the way she knows EVERYTHING about everything. I love the way she can make me laugh. I love the remarkable compassion she has for all people. I love the strength and grace she exhibits at all times.” He was speaking through tightly clenched teeth. “I love the way she can level anyone with a simple look. I love the way she carries herself and the way that she looks into my eyes. YOU made the mistake mistreating her, and then in letting her go. You didn’t deserve her.”

“You have got to be kidding me. You ‘love the spark of life’? Where do you get that crap? You sound like a cheap greeting card! What a joke! Yeah, I had to keep her in line, and don’t freak out here, I only had to hit her once.”

Lance walked to the door and with his hand on the knob he said, “Jake, come here.” Jake obeyed. He looked over his shoulder, “Get the hell out of here. Don’t EVER get near Stasia or me. I am walking away, because I am a bigger person than you are.” He pulled the door open and looked at Lonnie, “Get this trash out of here.” He pointed a finger at Garret, “NEVER even think of getting near any of us again. You will be banded from any venue we ever set foot in, is that clear?”

“You can go ahead and have your little power trip, and you can have the bitch too. She won’t screw you...she won’t screw anyone...she’s ‘afraid’.” His voice was full of mocking.

Lonnie looked at Lance with shock and said, “I think you need to leave.”

Stasia was walking out of Lance’s dressing room smiling and talking to Alyssa, “Are you leaving?”

He looked back over his shoulder at Lance, “You can have the bitch.” He pushed her into the wall, forcing her head to slam hard against the concrete, as he walked by.

Before anyone saw it coming, Alyssa had him pinned to the floor. “That was a mistake. You have the right to remain silent...”

Lance stared opened mouthed, Jess, Brent and JC were walking out of JC’s dressing room. “Well would you look at that? The bastard is finally getting what he deserves. What did he do?”

“He assaulted Stasia in front of an FBI Agent.” Alyssa answered from the floor.

Lance gathered Stasia into his arms. “Are you OK?”

“I’m going to have a horrible headache, but watching this is making it better.” She smirked.

Stasia was slipping her ear plugs in when Joey came running up, “Stay-A, we need your help!”

“What’s up Joe?”

“Well, we’re here in Michigan, and our intro tape broke, we need someone to introduce us. We want you to do it...this is your hometown crowd after all.”

She shrugged and said, “Why the heck not.”

“I thought that was going to be more difficult.”

“I’m in a very good mood today.”

Stasia calmly walked out onto the stage, “HELLO DETROIT!”

The crowd screamed. “IT’S GREAT TO BE HOME! PLEASE HELP ME WELCOME MY FRIENDS TO MICHIGAN! HERE THEY ARE...NSYNC!!”

The crowd went absolutely crazy, the lights went down, and the Pinoccio music started. Stasia dashed off stage and went with Lonnie, Jay, Dre and Ron to the VIP box. Dre pointed out the large number of signs with her name on them.

Ron pointed to a sign that made him laugh, it read: Stasia Baby! Lance can’t LOVE you the way I can!

“OH NICE! I swear, most people here don’t have any clue who I am, and that guy is gonna love me!” She laughed as Josh rolled his eyes and laughed. “I’m glad you were able to make it to the show!”

“Me too. I’ve never seen my nephew perform in concert, unless you count a show I saw in Mississippi when he was 13.”

“He’s excited that you’re here.”

Jess leaned over, “Just so you know...I’ll be in late tomorrow Josh.” They all laughed and settled in to watch the show.

Stasia still wasn’t happy until they were firmly on the ground, she hated watching them dangle in the air over the stage. When she knew they were on the ground for good, she was able to relax and enjoy the entire show.

After the show, she and Ron rode from the venue to Josh’s house with him, he was throwing an after party for the guys and the crew. Stasia was happy and laughing al night, until Chris knocked her into the pool, which of course, meant she had to chase him all over the yard, until she was able to jump on his back and soak his clothes through.

It was late when Stasia and Lance got to their room, Lance flopped down in a chair and sighed, “I should be tired, but I’m not.” He smiled warmly at her as she sat lightly on his lap. “Why is it I always have to knock your feet out from under you to get you to really sit on my lap?” And with that, he kicked her feet out and she settled completely.

“I don’t want to crush you.” She rested her head back against his shoulder.

“Millie, you could gain fifty pounds and you still wouldn’t be heavy enough to crush me. Are you sleepy?” He ran his fingers through her hair.

“No, not really. Would you be willing to go through one of Noah’s journals?”

“Of course I’m willing. I’m looking forward to hearing about you as a little girl.”

“We should start with the very first one. Let me get it out of my bag.” She jumped up off of his lap and ran to her bag.

When she returned she ran her hand over the cover. “Ark at eight, this should be good, lots of He-Man and GI Joe.”

“Do you want me to read again?”

“Yes, please.” She cuddled up in the big chair with his arms wrapped around her and Jake curled up on her lap.

“OK, here we go.” Lance opened the cover and cleared his throat.

December 24, 1973
Mom had the baby today. It’s a girl. I mean, SHE’S a girl. My baby sister is Anastasia Elizabeth Blake. We already call her Stasia. You should see her eyes, they are the coolest gray, not like boring gray, cool gray. Stasia, my sister. She is so little, I’m afraid she might break if I’m not careful with her. She is smaller than a doll. Mom said I have to protect her, cause we don’t have a dad. I’m glad she will never have to live with him. I think she is going to be the best sister ever, as long as she isn’t a brat. I’m staying with Mr. Adams until mom comes home, I hope Christmas is nice here, I’m going to miss mom and Stasia. I asked Mr. Adams to take me to buy Stasia a birthday gift today. We picked out a tiny little ring, it’s way too big for her, but someday, she can wear it and think of me, her BIG BROTHER!!

The first journal spanned two and a half years of Stasia’s life ending in June of 1975. Lance was laughing so hard as he started the last entry he thought his sides were going to split.

June 15, 1975
The Brat is sitting here on my lap right now, she wants to write part of this entry, so I guess I’ll let her. S-T-A-S-I-A. Look at how neat she can write her name. She is the best two year old in the world. Mom says I should pick a different name to call her, she says it’s not nice to call her The Brat, but I don’t mean it, so I think I’ll keep doing it. Stasia is in trouble for biting Billy Coon in play group today. He pulled up her skirt, so she bit him, I told mom she shouldn’t have yelled at her for it. I would have socked him in th nose. I am going to play soccer this year, The Brat wants to play now. Mom is taking us to the zoo today, so we have to go, The Brat says good-bye to Ark’s paper friend.

Lance wiped the tears out of his eyes as he laughed even harder. “He called you The Brat? Unbelievable! I also can’t believe how perfect your printing was, you were only two!”

“I was always an exceptional child.”

“I believe that.” He hugged her tightly and kissed her neck.

She giggled and turned to face him, “You owe me.”

“I OWE you? What on earth do I owe you?”

“You promised to teach me to play the piano. You haven’t even started.”

“Millie, it’s three thirty in the morning, and you want me to teach you to play the piano?”

“Yes.”

“Well, a deal is a deal.”

“Let’s go.” She stood up and offered him her hands, she pulled and he didn’t budge. “Come on.”

“OK, OK...I still can’t believe we’re doing this. When, may I ask, are we going to sleep?” He stood.

“On the bus, now come on!” She pulled on his arm.

“Now if I remember correctly, you, my love, cannot read music.”

“Right.” She bounced down the stairs and into the darkened livingroom. She flipped on some lights and sat down at the piano dramatically. “OK, teach.”

“Eager student, I like that.” He kissed her neck.

They spent the next three hours going over the basics and she quickly learned the basic scales. He loved watching her concentrate, she stared at the piano with her brow furrowed and the tip of her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth. Lance watched as her hands gracefully drifted over the keys, she was a natural. She was attacking this, like she attacked everything, full force, not holding back at all.

Every so often, she would glance at him, looking for direction or questioning something she had done. Lance was patient and encouraging. Stasia suddenly hit a very flat note and giggled, “OK...WRONG!” Her hands stilled on the keys and she smiled. “How long have we been doing this?”

“Hey, you are doing really well. We’ve been down here three hours, it’s six thirty. You are going to out grow me in a hurry. We are going to have to call in JC sooner than I thought.”

“Call me in to do what?” They both looked up to see JC lounging in a chair near the door to the livingroom with Jake sleeping soundly on his lap.

“She is going to be beyond what I can teach her in no time, you are going to have to help with these piano lessons. When did you get here?”

“I’d be happy to help.” He looked down at his watch, “We got here an hour ago.”

“What? Are you in stealth mode?” Stasia teased.

“I was just enjoying the scene you two created.”

Stasia got up and walked over to the chair opposite JC, “It’s not like you to be the first one up. Are you OK?”

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, “I just had a lot on my mind. I’m fine.”

“Anything you need to talk about?”

“Not now, maybe later.” He smiled and she knew he’d find her when he’d figured a few things out on his own. JC always used her as a sounding board, he rarely asked for advice, mainly because he thought everything through, but often time he just needed to hear his own thoughts out loud.

She looked pathetically at Lance, who was next to her pouring over the documents she was discussing with Stacy. As soon as they had gotten on the bus, their phones had started to ring. They had been working for hours, non-stop.

“Yeah, I agree Stace...right...I see what you mean...sure when you talk to him, tell him he’s welcome to give me a call. Sure...I’d be happy to...ok...yeah...ok...I’ll talk to you soon. Bye.” Stasia flipped her phone shut.

“Do you think Stacy will be OK on this?” Lance glanced over at her.

“She’ll be fine, and she knows if she feels uncomfortable, all she needs to do is call me. She wants to handle it herself, so I think she should.” Her head flopped back against the seat.

“Well everything seems to be in order with the paperwork, don’t you think?”

She opened one eye and looked at him, “It’s fine. You know Lance...your whole staying up all night reading and playing the piano idea...yeah it was a bad idea.”

“MY idea huh? I seem to remember asking when we were going to sleep. Do you remember that?”

“Didn’t happen.”

“Oh NO?” He pulled her against his side. “I’m going to take the fall for you on this one, only because we need our sleep, but I’m going on record saying...YOUR bad idea.”

“Yeah...yeah...yeah, whatever!” She rested her head on his shoulder.

Chris walked into the room, with all three dogs trailing him. “What are you guys doing? Either one of you wanna play with the PlayStation with me?”

“We’re sleeping Chris.” Lance’s voice was heavy and his eyes were still closed tightly.

“No you aren’t, you’re talking. Come on, just one game. I am bored out of my mind.” He kicked each of them in the shins.

“Chris, it isn’t nice to kick people.”

“Yeah, well if those people won’t play with me, it’s not a big deal.”

“If I beat you. Will you let us get some sleep?”

“You have to play UNTIL you win.”

“Then you’ll let us sleep?”

“Yes Stay-A, then I will let you sleep.”

“OK.” She turned to Lance, “You might as well just go straight to the bunk, I’ll meet you there.”

“Are you sure? I’d like to stay up and watch.”

“OK, this should be quick.”

The three of them walked into the back room. Chris turned on the tv and the PlayStation. Stasia accepted the second controller and waited for the game to start. “Football? OK, you’re dead.”

“Stay-A, you are talking A LOT of trash here...A LOT. You may want to be careful.”

“Let’s just play.”

The game started, and Stasia quickly began beating up on Chris’s players. Within five minutes, she had injured four of his players and scored three touch downs. Chris was getting angry and Lance was laughing hysterically. The dogs were wrestling in the middle of the floor, and Stasia was looking very relaxed. When she had beaten him, soundly, she stood up, stretched, yawned and said, “You practice, we’ll have a rematch after I get some sleep.”

Lance followed Stasia to the bunk, helped her up and climbed in behind her, “You creamed him.”

“I said I would.” She snuggled up to his side.

“You never cease to amaze me.”

“I’d be boring if I did.”

“You couldn’t be boring if you tried.”

“Don’t challenge me...you know I’ll have to prove you wrong, and neither one of us wants that!”

“I love you.”

She smiled brightly, “I love you too!”

Stasia woke up, the best way in the world. She woke up with Lance kissing her softly. “If you think I’m going to wake up and let you stop doing that, you’re wrong.” She whispered as he concentrated on her collarbone. She was answered with a deep chuckle.

He slowly kissed his way back up to her lips. Stasia was in heaven. Lance still had the ability to give her butterflies, kissing him was as exciting at this very moment as it had been the first time their lips had touched. Her arms wrapped tightly around his back He shifted his weight more fully over her, she loved the feeling of his body pressed against hers.

Lance had been watching her sleep for a while, before he just couldn’t stand it any longer, he had to kiss her. He had stared at her long eyelashes laying against her pink cheeks and it had driven him crazy, then he had stared at her slightly parted lips, and that was it. Now those lips were parted for him.

His tongue slipped into her mouth and she clutched at his back and arched her body, trying to make more contact with his body. His hand ran his hand down her side and pulled her thigh up, he tangled his other hand in her hair. Her nails were raking across his back and they were both breathing heavily.

When Chris started snickering loudly, Lance pulled back quickly, slammed his head on the top of the bunk and then recoiled, hitting Stasia’s forehead with him own. Chris laughed even louder. Stasia was angry when she heard his start laughing, but when she saw his video camera in her face, she was livid.

She pushed Lance back and jumped out of the bunk directly onto Chris who hit the floor with a loud thud. He squirmed away and crawled to the front of the bus. Stasia was right behind him. “BOB! REST STOP! NOW!”

The driver radioed the other buses to let them know they were getting off of the highway. As soon as the bus stopped, the door opened and Chris was outside running. Stasia was in hot pursuit with Lance following them with the dogs. As the other buses stopped Justin walked over to Lance who was leaning against a tree.

“What did he do this time?”

“Video camera.”

“Of what? She seems pretty pissed.”

“The two of us in my bunk.”

“DOING WHAT? HEY JOE!”

Joey jogged over, “What’s up?”

Justin was smiling, “Chris videotaped them.”

“DOING WHAT? JC! GET OVER HERE!”

“Yeah?”

“Chris video taped Lance and Stasia, in his bunk...doing something.”

“We were not doing anything.”

“BULL! The way she’s chasing him, you were DOING SOMETHING!” Joey started bouncing.

“We weren’t doing anything.”

Justin and Joey exchanged looks and suddenly took off running. JC caught on quickly and burst into a full run, “WAIT FOR ME!”

Lance smacked himself on the forehead and growled, “SHIT!” He took off after them.

When Stasia spotted all of them running toward the bus, with Lance bringing up the rear with the dogs, she panicked. She left Chris running off toward the woods and sprinted toward the bus. Dre had to stop Chris before he actually got into the woods, “HEY! FOOL! She’s not chasing you anymore!”

Chris looked in all directions before realizing what was going on, he clapped his hands and skipped back to the bus, which was shaking now. When he climbed the steps, he was met with complete bedlam. Justin was holding Lance down, Joey was holding Stasia in the air, her legs were flailing in all directions, her arms were pinned at her sides. JC was popping the video into the VCR.

Stasia was fighting hard, but not as hard as Lance was fighting against Justin. “LET GO OF ME!”

“I can’t do that!”

Stasia tried to reason with JC, “JC, I can’t believe you are taking part in this. You are the voice of reason. WHY?”

“Stasia, we are talking about a hot and heavy make-out session here...I’m a guy!” He hit rewind.

“JC, PLEASE!”

“Sorry Stasia, it’s a guy thing.”

He hit play and Stasia she stopped fighting Joey, Lance gave up with Justin as well. He looked over at her, “I’m sorry.”

She gave him a weak smile, “It’s not your fault Harry. Think of it this way, payback will be fast and furious.”

The tv went blank, and then Chris was looking into the lense, “You guys will thank me for this some day. You can show your kids.” Then the camera slipped under the curtain of Lance’s bunk, and there they were...Lance and Stasia kissing, giggling, touching.

Justin laughed, “I’m too young to see this! WHOA! Where is his hand?”

Joey answered, “I’m pretty sure it’s on her...umm...rear. Is that the polite word?”

JC was laughing hysterically, “Joe, that is as polite as possible, and I think you’re right. WOW! Stasia going for the hair.”

“Which one is moaning, I can’t tell. OH! It’s LANCE! GO BUDDY!” Joey was clapping.

“This is where it get’s really ugly.” Chris was pointing at the tv.

Lance rolled completely on top of Stasia and caressed her cheek. She arched her back up, and then you could hear Chris begin to laugh. Lance and Stasia both look into the camera...then the camera bounced around, fell to the ground and was sideways, you could see Stasia and Chris wrestling on the floor, then crawling to the front of the bus, there was a lot of shouting, a long, quiet pause, then Justin’s shoes and a conversation between he and Joey about the tape still running.

Four faces turned to look at Lance and Stasia, “WOW! You have some great moves there buddy.” Joey grinned at Lance.

“Yeah. THANKS A LOT!” Lance glared.

“Guys, in a warped way, that was totally sweet.” JC was fighting his mirth.

“IN A WARPED WAY? JC you are digging an early grave today.” Stasia was shooting daggers at him.

Justin grinned, “I have no comment. I have to go digest what I just saw That was like seeing my brother and sister making out.”

“THEN WHY DID YOU WATCH?” Lance growled.

“Had to dude. Had to. It’s like an accident, I know I shouldn’t look, but it just happens.”

JC, Joey and Justin all left to get on their own buses. Stasia looked at Lance, “I think we should go work on my bus. We can get more done.”

“I think you’re right.” They grabbed a few things, called Jake and left Chris standing there alone.

He looked around and suddenly had a feeling of impending doom. He knew very well that Stasia wouldn’t let this joke go unanswered. She was going to retaliate, and it was probably going to be ugly for him and the rest of the guys. “This may not have been my best idea, Busta.” The dog cocked his head.

Lance stared out the window, “I swear, some days I wish I could get away from them. Some days it’s just too much. A joke can go too far. They target us, cause we’re together all of the time. I swear, as soon as they all have girlfriends, I’m taping them and posting it on the internet...I feel bad Dani and Angela have to suffer, but hey, they started it.”

Stasia walked over and sat next to him, she turned to face him and sighed, “Harry, it’s not like you to get this upset about this. You have to remember that I’m part of the problem, they know I always up for a good joke. The thing is, I think they forget I’m a girl. Seriously, thinking about, you have to be able to see the humor in the whole thing.”

“No I don’t.” He smiled slightly, “I couldn’t believe it when I saw tat camera.”

“What we have to do here, is be the bigger party. We cannot let them get to us. We have to take it as a joke. And...” She was quite for a second, before taking his hands and finishing her thought, “...we have to get even.”

“Now THERE is the Stasia I know and love!” He squeezed her hands, “So, what do we do?”

“How big do you want it to be?”

“BIG! The ultimate. I want them to squirm.” He smiled at the twinkle in her eyes.

“OK, but you have to be prepared, because this is going to scare the crap out of them.”

“The bigger the better.”

“Here’s what I think we should do...”

July 25, 2000, 5:30am, New York, New York

The buses had just rolled up to the hotel. This was the most important week of the entire tour. They were all pumped up for the HBO special, Challenge For The Children II, the party at Planet Hollywood and all of the press they were about to do. Lance and Stasia had been setting up their revenge for a week, and they were ready to strike as well.

They had staged hushed and strained conversations within sight of each of the guys, who all knew something was up with the pair. Judging from the looks of Stasia throughout the week, she was completely stressed.

Lance ushered Stasia off of the bus and straight into the hotel, they didn’t stop to talk to anyone, they went straight to their room, looking very upset.

Joey stopped Chris n the hallway, “Hey, do you know what’s up with those two? Are they fighting?”

“I have no clue. They were locked in the lounge the entire way. I heard Stay-A ask Lance what they were going to do. He said he didn’t know and that THIS is scary. Do you think they got something else from the stalker and they’re afraid to tell us?”

“I don’t know. They seem...different. He won’t let her out of his sight, I mean he’s worse then right after she was attacked.”

JC walked up, “What are you two whispering about?”

“Joey looked at Lance and Stasia’s closed door and said, “Those two, we’re getting worried.”

“I thought I was the only one that thought they were acting weird. You think they’re fighting?”

“We were just talking about that. I don’t think so, he’s way to defensive of her to be mad.” Joey ran a hand through his hair.

Justin came out of his room, “What’s with the meeting in the hall?”

JC sighed, “We’re worried about Lance and Stasia, something’s up with them. Neither one of them has talked to any of us about it...have they talked to you?”

“No, I heard her whispering on the phone the other day, she said, ‘Thank you doctor.’ Do you think something’s wrong with her head?”

“That could be. I hadn’t thought of that. And she’s been complaining about being tired. She’s been working quietly, and going to bed early.”

“What should we do?” Chris looked at his friends.

“I think we should talk to them. That’s what we always do...we work on stuff together.” Joey answered logically.

“When?” Justin stretched.

“Now.” JC walked over to the door and knocked firmly. The others stood behind him.

Inside the room, Lance looked at Stasia, “Are you ready?”

“Yep” She looked down for a minute, and when she looked back up at him, she had tears streaming down her cheeks.

“You’re sure you want to go through with this?”

“They are going to be furious, but yeah.”

Lance roughed up his hair, rumpled his clothes and walked over to the door. “Yeah guys?”

“Can we come in for a minute?”

“This isn’t the best time. Can we do this later?”

Justin pushed the group forward into the room, “This won’t take long.”

Joey shut the door and quickly walked over to Stasia, “Why are you crying?”

She stood up and walked over to Lance who pulled her tightly against his chest, he wiped at her tears and quietly said, “Anastasia, we have to tell them. They are going to find out soon enough.”

“I know.” She sniffled.

Chris sat on the bed and leaned forward placing his elbows on his knees, “Whatever it is, we are going to get through this together. If you are sick Stasia, if there is something wrong with your head, we are going to find the best doctors in the country...”

Lance interrupted, “Chris...”

“No! He’s right, we will find a specialist, we’ll get someone from Europe...”

“Justin...”

“We’re going to get you better Stasia.” Joey added.

“Joey. I’m not sick. My head is fine.” Stasia sniffled and buried her face in Lance’s chest. He stroked her hair.

“Do you want me to say it?” He whispered against her temple.

She shook her head and pulled away from him, she turned to face the group sitting in front of them, “I’m pregnant.”

Her words were met with a deafening silence. JC looked at Justin. Justin’s jaw dropped. Joey looked from Stasia to Lance and back to Stasia. Chris clutched his head.

Stasia whimpered and then buried her face in Lance’s chest again, “I’m....I’m sorry.” She sobbed.

JC smacked the back of Chris’s head, Chris released the death grip on his hair and took a deep steadying breath, “OK, so...umm...how did this happen?”

“CHRIS!” Justin, Joey and JC all screamed together.

“Well I know HOW, but I mean...I guess I mean...I didn’t think you guys were...you know.”

“Chris, stop talking.” Justin moved to sit next to Chris, “WOW!”

JC sighed, “Justin, you stop talking too. Pregnant? Umm...are you ok?”

Lance looked at him as if he were crazy, “OK how? We are both totally freaked. We are scared. What are we going to do?”

Chris kicked into adult mode, “What are you going to do? You are going to sit down, and we are going to talk this through. You have a lot of options, and you have a lot of support. Now, we don’t have to worry about money, we can afford a baby...that’s good. We’ll have the bus converted for the baby. It will be fine.”

“WHAT ABOUT THE PRESS? They are going to eat us alive! Lance Bass, Southern Baptist, from Mississippi, just turned twenty-one and now his slut of a girlfriend is pregnant!” Stasia’s eye were flashing.

“ANASTASIA! We don’t care about the press. It doesn’t matter.”

“This is going to kill the album, and it’s all my fault!” She ran into the bathroom, and slammed the door.

Lance looked helplessly at his friends, “She’s right, I’ve blown our careers. I’m sorry.” He walked over to the bathroom door, and walked in.

Stasia looked at him and whispered, “This is more cruel than I thought it would be, we have to stop it.”

“I know, you’re right. You were too good, they are FREAKED!” He took her hand, “Get ready to run, because they are going to try to kill us.”

“Let me tie my sneakers, Lonnie and Ron are in the hall right? I say, we go for a run...what do you say?”

“Good idea.” They walked into the other room, hand in hand.

“We will write the press release together, we were talking about it, we have some great ideas. We will be fine. We are going to find a good...baby doctor.” Chris was talking really fast.

“Guys...there’s more.” Lance looked at everyone.

JC sat down hard on the bed, “More?” He looked afraid.

Stasia took a step closer to the door, she knew they could both get out before the guys could get to them.

“Yeah, there’s more.”

“OK, go ahead buddy, we’re here for you.”

“Well that’s the thing, see...we’re even for the videotape incident.”

“Huh?” Justin cocked his head.

“I’m not pregnant, it was a joke.” She smiled pitifully.

“WHAT?” Chris stood up.

“Gotcha?” Lance gave Stasia a little push toward the door.

“Guys, we were joking...it was a joke. We have been working on this all week.” Stasia and Lance both shifted toward the door.

“THIS IS YOUR IDEA OF A JOKE?” JC stood up, “WE WERE WORRIED ABOUT YOU! WE WANTED TO HELP! I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU!”

“YOU WATCHED A VIDEO OF US MAKING OUT!” Lance pointed at them.

“You suck.” Justin stood.

“You’re dead.” Joey stood as well, Lance glanced sideways at Stasia, and they both shot out the door running.

Lonnie and Ron smacked into one another trying to get up off of the couch they were sitting on, Lance held the door to the stairs open and they quickly ran down the stairs. Lonnie and Ron were right behind them and they could hear the guys chasing them as well. Security was coming out of their rooms as Lonnie radioed for back-up.

Lance and Stasia got out the back door and took off down the street. They were both dressed in running clothes, Lance was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses. Stasia had on a baseball cap with her ponytail bouncing out the back behind her. Lonnie and Ron had known they were planning on going for a run, they just had no idea it would start like this. Lonnie was shouting at them to slow down and wait for them, Lance and Stasia hit a fast stride and knew they had put some distance between them and the rest of the group.

“Justin and JC are the only ones who are going to be able to catch us.” Stasia smiled up at Lance who was keeping exactly the same pace she was, “We went too far.”

“I know...they were trying to be supportive. We were cruel. We have to make it up to them.” They rounded a corner and headed into Central Park, with Ron yelling at Stasia to stop the entire way.

“Luckily, I have an idea for that too.” She smiled.

“Millie, your last idea is the reason you and I are running for our lives.”

“I realize that, but this one is a GOOD idea, they will appreciate it, I promise.”

“You better be right, cause we may have had really bad timing on this, they are each upset about people not being able to get her for the HBO show. Did you know that Morgan, Angela, Dani and Lyn are all going to miss it?”

“They WERE going to miss it...but I fixed it. I’m flying all of them in...you owe me eight grand for the jet.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

As they made their way down the path, they slowed down so security could catch up. “What is wrong with you two? You have been running like your Momma was going to beat you.”

“Not Momma, the guys.”

“You guys, are playing jokes again? Is this going to get ugly again? Blue hair, green hair, red hair...whipped cream...you guys are stupid about this crap. I hate breaking up this crap.” Lonnie smacked lance playfully.

“We may have gone WAY too far this time. They have every right to try to kill us.”

“What did you do?” Lonnie looked down at Lance skeptically.

“We told them Stasia was pregnant.”

Lonnie and Ron both stopped cold and grabbed the two of them. “YOU DID WHAT?”

“We told them I was pregnant.” Stasia bent at the waist and put her hands on her knees breathing hard.

“And you thought that was funny?”

“I guess we didn’t think it through completely. We were mad when I came up with the idea.” She looked up at Ron. “Pretty bad huh?”

“ANASTASIA ELIZABETH BLAKE! You know better than to joke about stuff like that!”

“Sorry DAD!”

“JAMES LANCE BASS! You are going to get your butt kicked twice! Once for being flat out mean to your BEST FRIENDS! And the second time for doing what you do to get pregnant.”

“WE DIDN’T! I MEAN WE HAVEN’T! I MEAN...THAT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS LON!”

“You didn’t have to use all six names. We know we were wrong.” Stasia pouted.

“Don’t give me that pout. You owe them.”

“I already thought about that. I’m flying their women in for the HBO show.”

“That’s a start...speaking of starting...you better start running again, there’s Justin and Dre.”

Stasia and Lance looked at each other, and Justin’s growing shadow approaching them and they took off running again. “How long are we going to run?”

“I have no idea, it’s thirteen hours before sound check, we’ll run to the venue.” They both laughed.

“I’m not running for thirteen hours.” Justin was bouncing along side Lance.

“OH GOD!” They all stopped.

“You guys are dead. You went too far! You both have lectured all of us about going too far, and this time...it was you.”

“Justin, we know. We’re sorry and we have a way to make it up to you.” Stasia smiled brightly at him.

“Stasia, this isn’t something you can just say you’re sorry and then it’s all better.”

“Morgan will be here for the HBO show, we are flying her in. I talked to her last night, it’s all set, she’s staying for the Challenge for the Children thing and the Planet Hollywood party.”

“MOR IS COMING? She said it was impossible, she has an exam.”

“I fixed it. She’s coming, and it is because I PULLED STRINGS.”

Justin picked her up and spun her around, “You are SO forgiven!” He kissed her all over her face.

“YUCK! Put me down Junior!”

They were interrupted by Lance who was laughing at the look on Stasia’s face. He was laughing, Stasia was scrunching up her nose, Justin was smiling and laughing. Suddenly there was a photographer snapping pictures of the three of them.

“That will make a nice cover for The Enquirer.” Lance rolled his eyes. “I can see the headline now, ‘NSYNCERS CAUGHT IN LOVE TRIANGLE’.”

“No it will be, ‘NSYNC THREESOME...THEY REALLY DO SHARE EVERYTHING!’.” Stasia laughed.

“I’m going with, ‘NSYNCERS FIGHT OVER WOMAN’.” Justin laughed and then added, “Shall we make a bet?”

“Sure, whoever is closest wins. How much?”

Lance smiled and took her hand, “Normal amount, a hundred bucks.”

“Oh, and it’s early, it’ll run today.” Justin threw his arms around their shoulders.

“I hope they got up kissing her, that was classic. Good reaction Millie, ‘Yuck.’ I loved it.”

After they had apologized to each of the guys...twice, and told them that the girls would all be there, they went to breakfast. Everyone was now able to see the humor in the situation. They had relayed the story about the photographer and the rest of the guys had added their potential headlines to the bet.

They got to Madison Squared Gardens for the sound check and the girls had all arrived. They were sitting in the front row chatting over one another, a hundred miles an hour. The guys had given up trying to follow the five women talk and were all standing on the stage waiting for sound check to begin.

When the music started the guys started with I Want You Back. “How many times have you guys heard this song?” Stasia laughed.

“At least nine billion.” Dani answered.

“You may have heard it nine billion times, but I think I could do the dance by now.”

“Yeah right.” Morgan rolled her eyes.

“Is that a darn Miss Morgan?”

“Damn straight.”

Stasia hopped up out of her seat and yelled up to the guys, “Can you start this song over...and sing the whole thing?”

“Why Millie?” Lance’s voice filled the room.

“Harry, just do it.”

“Your wish is my command.” He was met with a loud groan from the entire group.

“I can do the whole thing Morgan...I bet you that you can’t even do half.”

“I can SO do it.”

“Put your moves where your mouth is.”

Morgan jumped up and stood next to Stasia. Angela jumped up, “I want to play too.”

Stasia clapped and looked at the other two, “You in?”

Lyn rolled her eyes, “You know what? I am.”

Dani shrugged and slowly stood up, “Why am I doing this?”

“Because it will be fun.” Stasia threw her arm around Dani’s shoulders. “Who do you want to be?”

“I’ll be Justin.”

“I’m going to be Lance!” Angela stuck her hand in the air.

“I was going to be Lance!” Stasia pouted. “I guess I’ll be JC!”

“That makes me Joey and Ang as Chris. Everybody ready?” Lyn giggled.

They all took their places and Stasia shouted, “SO SING!”

“She’s getting bossy lately!” Chris looked at Lance.

“Let’s just see what they are doing.” JC gave the sound guy his cue and the music started.

The girls suddenly scurried into formation, with the guys watching. Justin raised his eyebrows but kept singing, when the girls began to do the choreography, they were all completely in shock.

The girls hit every move perfectly. When they even did the flips right the guys clapped. When the song ended the guys were laughing, the girls were laughing, the crew was standing around staring. Stasia was laughing so hard she fell to the floor. Dani flopped down next to her, suddenly, all five girls were laying on the floor laughing and hugging each other.

“What was that all about?” Justin’s laughing voice came through the speakers.

Morgan shouted, “It was a bet.”

“Who won?”

The girls became hysterical, “We have no clue!”

Lance was sitting in the living room of the suite they were sharing, he was staring out the window when Stasia came in from her meeting with the representative from MTV about the talent search finals. She was dressed in a crisp khaki suit with a cream blouse. Her brown belt and shoes matched the brown headband in her hair. She was wearing her glasses and smiling brightly. She looked amazing.

“Hi Harry!” She walked straight over and kissed him. “What are you doing?”

“I was thinking.” He looked up at her, she was having a very hard time reading his expression.

She sat in front of him on the coffee table. “What were you thinking about?”

“We need to talk.” He took her hands in his and sighed.

“You’re scaring me. What’s wrong?” Her brow was furrowed.

“I want to talk to you about Garret.” His eye locked with hers, he could see hers turning dark.

“Why? Why would I want to talk about him?” She looked out the window.

He pulled her chin around, “Because he said something to me that really upset me, and I need to ask you about it.”

Her voice was barely above a whisper, “What did he say?”

His eyes slammed into hers and he lowered his voice, “Did he hit you?”

All of the color drained from her face, “Lance...”

“Anastasia, did he hit you?” His tone was very calm.

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Two weeks before your Uncle Josh called your Momma.”

“Is that why you broke up?”

“That is one of the many reasons we broke up, the most important being that I didn’t love him.”

“He is going to loose everything he cares about.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m going to destroy him.”

“Lance, he’s not worth it. He is out of my life, we never have to see him again. I don’t care what happens to him, but you are a good person, you can’t let him warp you. You are so much better than that.”

“I need to hold you.”

“I need to be held.” Lance pulled her against him.

“I will never hurt you that way. I couldn’t.” She could hear his voice shaking.

“I know that.”

“I love you so much.” She leaned back in the circle of his arms and saw a tear rolling done his cheek, she wiped it away with her fingertips and then kissed the still damp flesh.

“Lance, you have to remember, I was smart enough to get away from him. I was smart enough to take this job. I was smart enough to fall in love with you.”

“I want you to stay with me at the house.”

“What?”

“I don’t want you sleeping alone in your house when we go home in a couple of weeks.”

“I don’t know, I have to think about that.”

“I’m not going to push, but if you don’t stay with me, Ron is staying with you.”

“I’ll think about it. Harry, you have to get ready for the show. Tonight is the big night. HBO. You should be focusing on the good things in our lives, not Garret and stalkers.”

“You’re right. I’m going to be on tv tonight.”

“Sweetie, you’re on tv pretty much every night. You happen to be part of the best thing since sliced bread.”

“Since sliced bread? Where do you get these comments?”

“You forget, I’m an old lady.”

“You are only as old as you act, which makes you about eight.”

“OH YEAH?”

“YEAH!” He smiled.

“OH YEAH?”

“YEAH!” He kissed her nose and tickled her sides. She squirmed and fell firmly into his lap.

“You know what?”

“What, Millie?”

“Your right...eight and a half on a good day.”

“Hey, once in a while, your almost nine.”

Stasia was walking down the hall with one arm linked through Lyn’s the other arm linked with Morgan’s. They were laughing loudly on their way to the toy room. Stasia had decided that with all the cameras around back stage for the special, that was the safest place to hide. The guys were doing the pre show interviews, and then they would be getting into their costumes.

Stasia had sat and talked to Carson and Tara for a while. Lance’s whole family was there so she had spent most of the afternoon with them. She had met Puff daddy and Jennifer Lopez. Britney was there with some guy and Morgan had been glaring at her all night, which is why Stasia was now dragging Morgan everywhere she went.

They walked into the toy room and were met with a very unpleasant sight, Britney was there with Danielle Fischel. Morgan and Stasia looked at one another. “What are they doing here?” Morgan whispered through clenched teeth.

“They were invited over New Years, I didn’t think they would come!” Stasia’s teeth were clenched just as tight as Morgan’s.

“Maybe we should go somewhere else.” Lyn was trying to be the peacekeeper as usual.

“No, we belong here.” Stasia straightened her sweater.

They all plastered fake smile on their faces and walked the rest of the way into the room. “HI!” They sang in unison.

Morgan whispered into Stasia’s ear, “We’re making me sick.”

“Me too, Mor. Me too.”

Danielle jumped up and ran over to the three women, “OH MY GOD! HI!” She crushed Morgan to her chest, Morgan looked over at Stasia making an awful face.

“Hi Danielle. How have you been?” Morgan said as she stepped back.

“I’m great!” She looked at Lyn, and attacked her as well, “I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU IN AGES GIRL!”

“Yeah, it’s been a while.”

Danielle turned to Stasia, “And how are you Annabell?” She smiled coolly.

Morgan made a strange grunting noise and then said, “D, it’s Anastasia...Stasia, remember?”

“OH! My bad!”

“Common mistake. I’ve been good thanks.” Stasia smiled sweetly and made her way over to Britney. “Hi Britney. How are you?”

Britney actually smiled brightly, “Hi Stasia. I’m good, things are going really well, thank you. How have you been doing? I heard about the attack, I called Justin to see if you were going to be ok.”

“I’m ok. It was rough for a little while, a crowbar to the head can really knock you for a loop.”

“You have the worst luck! That guy on the plane, and then this thing, I don’t know how you go anywhere now.”

“Are you kidding, Lance has surrounded me with an army of security. You met Alyssa right?”

“Yeah, she’s really sweet. I think it’s great that you have an assistant now, you do so much!”

“Yeah well, she not ACTUALLY my assistant, she’s an FBI agent.”

“WOW! So Lance is taking good care of you.” She smiled, “How is THAT going?”

Stasia’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she couldn’t keep the smile off of her face, “THAT is going really well.”

Lyn hugged Stasia from behind, “Would you look at her face Brit, is this the face of a girl in love or what?”

Britney laughed, “Oh yeah! You can’t say his name without her smiling! You guys are so lucky.”

“Yeah, we are.”

Danielle had Morgan trapped in the corner, so when the door opened and Lance burst into the room, he didn’t see Danielle at all, “MILLIE! WHERE’S MILLIE?” He spotted her and gave Lyn a dirty look, “Moving in on my girl?”

“Hey, I’m no competition for you. As a matter of fact, we were just talking about how no one can say your name without Stasia grinning like an idiot.”

As soon as she said Stasia’s name, Lance lit up. Britney pointed and laughed, “HE DOSE IT TOO!”

“Of course I do it too!” He pulled Stasia against his chest, “I can’t help it. Love does strange things to a guy.” He kissed her as Lyn and Britney giggled.

Stasia pushed against his chest, “Harry, why were you looking for me?” She kissed him again.

“Well, I missed you...you missed Chris and JC fighting...it was classic, Dani had to pull them apart. AND Momma was looking for you, she has a gift for you.”

“MOMMA BASS IS HERE?” Lance’s eyes grew wide when he heard Danielle’s voice.

He looked down at Stasia and mouthed, “What is she doing here?”

Stasia just rolled her eyes and shrugged.

Danielle walked over and smiled brightly, “Hi Lance. I’ve missed you. I was hoping we’d have a chance to talk.”

Morgan started to make a comment, but Lyn clamped her hand over the younger girl’s mouth. Stasia tried not to laugh, she had to look away.

“Hello Danielle. It’s nice to see you. I didn’t think you were going to come.” Lance shifted uncomfortably.

“Why on Earth not silly? You invited me...remember?”

“I just haven’t talked to you in a while. And with...Stasia and I...”

“You are just so funny Lance! I wanted to be here, we’re still friends right?” She pouted, Morgan mumbled louder against Lyn’s hand.

“Yeah, we’re still friends.”

The door opened and Justin bounced in, he took in the scene, swallowed hard and said to Lyn, “Uh oh. I’ll take it from here.” He slipped an arm around Morgan’s wait, picked her up like a football, replaced Lyn’s hand with his own and carried her out of the room. As soon as the door closed they could hear Morgan begin to throw a fit.

Stasia looked up at Lance, “I better go help Justin, and then I’ll find your Momma, where did you leave her? Then you all can catch up.”

“She’s in my dressing room with Momma Harless. I’ll be down soon, I’ve got to get changed.”

“Ok, I’ll see you in a few minutes. It was nice seeing you again Brit. Are you sitting with us?”

“Yep. I’ll see you on the floor!” She smiled.

“It was nice seeing you again as well Danielle.”

“What?” She ripped her eyes away from Lance, “Oh yeah nice meeting you too Annabell.”

Lyn coughed, “Stasia, I think I’ll tag along, I have seen Momma Harless or Momma Bass yet.”

“Well then, come on.” Lyn linked her arm through Stasia’s.

They got out into the hall and when Lyn heard the door closed, she squeezed Stasia’s arm, “I’m proud of you.”

“Why?” Stasia was a little surprised.

“She was hitting on him, right in front of you. She called you Annabell, twice, all the time knowing full well what your name is.”

“So she was flirting, Lyn, he loves me. And as for my name, well, it could have been worse. She was trying to get we riled up, it didn’t work, which probably bugged her even more then if I would have yelled at her, that wouldn’t have accomplished anything.”

“You amaze me, you are so patient. And you always seem to be able to find the exact right way to handle a situation.”

“Not always, I guess JC didn’t tell you about my little running away stunt.”

“No, he told me, and I would have done the exact same thing. When it comes to protecting the people I love, I’ll do anything.”

Stasia stopped and faced Lyn, “I was so frightened, to be completely honest, I’m still frightened. But I know I’m safer here than anywhere else.”

“You’ve got that right.” She hugged Stasia tightly, “Stasia, I know we aren’t all that close, but I really care about you. I hope we can spend some time together.”

“Lyn, I wouldn’t say we’re not close. I like you a lot too, we just aren’t in the same place often, but you know what? I think you and I have a lot in common, I think we should hang out more.”

“Sounds good to me. Now let’s go see what Momma Bass has for you.” She raised her eyebrows.

“Hey, I’m not one to turn down a gift!”

The two girls walked into Lance’s dressing room. The women inside both jumped up and hugged each girl. Diane took Stasia’s hand and led her over to the couch.

“I was shopping with Stacy after you left the restaurant today, you know after lunch.”

“I had so much fun at lunch, thanks again.” Stasia smiled.

“Sweetie, stop saying thank you. You’re part of our family, we had a family lunch, it’s that simple. Now, on that same note, while we were shopping, we saw this and it made me think of you. I’d like you to have it.” Diane held up a small bag from Tiffany’s.

“Diane!”

“Open it.” Diane smiled brightly.

Stasia pulled the white satin ribbon off o f the tiny blue box, when she opened the lid of the box her eyes lit up, “It’s beautiful!” Inside, there was a very plain, tiny, platinum cross on a chain.

“I was putting some paperwork in you office yesterday, and I noticed that you and our mother were both wearing necklaces like this one in the picture on the desk. I’m hoping you need a new one.”

Her smile was huge and she had tears in her eyes, “When my mom died, we put both necklaces on her, so she had a little piece of me with her. This is so wonderful. Thank you so much. I can’t believe you noticed this.” A tear rolled down her cheek. She gently picked up the delicate necklace. Diane had tears rolling down her cheeks, she pulled Stasia into a tight hug. Lyn and Lynn Harless were both sniffling.

The door opened and Lance walked in smiling, when he took in the sight of the women in the room he didn’t know what to do. “Momma? Millie? What’s wrong?” He walked over and squatted in front of them.

Stasia turned her head on Diane’s shoulder, still hugging her tightly, she sniffled, “Nothing is wrong. Everything is wonderful.”

Diane leaned back and wiped Stasia’s tears away, “Sweetie, why don’t you see if Lance can put it on for you? I can’t see a thing right now.” She pushed at the big tears rolling down her own cheeks.

“I’m so confused.” Lance shook his head.

Lyn laughed, “It’s a girl think Lance. Just help Stasia put on the necklace.”

“Sure.” He took the box from her and gently took out the necklace, “This is pretty Momma.” He stepped around the side of the couch and slipped the necklace around her. He quickly locked the clasp, “There you go.” He kissed the top of her head.

Diane looked around the room. “Stasia, may I speak to you alone for a moment?”

“Of course.” Diane took her hand and they walked into the bathroom.

When the door was closed Diane took a deep breath, “I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m not sure how you will feel about this, but because of your relationship with Lance, and the fact that everyone else does it, I was thinking, if you’re comfortable with it, I’d like it very much if you’d call me Momma...or Momma Bass, whichever is better for you. Please don’t think I’m trying to replace your mother, but I just thought that you calling me Diane seems too impersonal now.”

“That is the nicest thing you could have ever said to me. I always called my mother mom, so I’d like it very much if I could call you Momma, if that’s ok.”

“I would be very proud to have you call me Momma.” Both women began to cry again.

Stasia started laughing, “We are such girls!”

“You’re very right.” Diane hugged her and they walked back into the room wit Diane hugging Stasia to her side.