“This is officially the dumbest thing we have EVER DONE!” Lyn pinched the bridge of her nose, hoping it would stop all of the pain she was feeling. Her hangover was causing her head to pound and her back was killing her. Looking around the room at the horrified faces of her friends, she felt like crying, and probably would have, if she didn’t think it would cause her head to split in half.
The room was littered with empty liquor bottles and pizza boxes. When the guys had been banished from the girls’ little party at midnight, they couldn’t have known what was going to happen after they left.
JC had kissed her, told her to have fun with the girls and gone to bed in their room. Lyn wasn’t sure when things had gotten so out of control, but it had all happened quickly.
The party at Justin’s house had become a way for them to blow off steam. They had all been there together, without the stress of climbing onto the buses at five o’clock in the morning. They had all heard the story of Lyn and Buck a dozen times and laughed harder each time the story was told. Justin decided that no one was in any condition to drive home, so he forced them to stay where they were.
Sometime around eleven, Ryan had taken Dev home and offered to drop Meredith at Lance’s for the night because she wasn’t feeling well. Justin had moved the rest of the girls, giggling and chattering animatedly into one of his guest rooms. Everyone knew it was going to be a long night of female bonding so they decided to just let it happen. All of the guys had been safely in bed and sleeping for a few hours when the girls had gotten the dumbest idea of their collective lives.
Stasia moaned, battling a hangover of her own, “HOW COULD THEY LET US DO THIS TO OURSELVES? WE WERE DRUNK!”
“LOOK AT ME!” Morgan screeched.
“Mor, we are all screwed! I can’t believe how stupid we are when we get together. It wasn’t bad enough that we all got completely drunk, but then...then we did THIS! JC is going to kill me.” Lyn squeezed her eyes closed, hoping to relieve some of the pressure in her head.
Dani was clutching the sides of her head, “What did we drink after the tequila? I’m fuzzy after the tequila...obviously...because I don’t remember doing this to myself.” She flinched.
“More tequila...lots of tequila. I brought it up from Justin’s bar...we cleaned him out.” Angela groaned, “This is all my fault. I was kidding...but we were WASTED...someone should have stopped us.”
“It’s not your fault Ang. We all went. The guys are going to be so PISSED. How are we going to tell them what we’ve done? This was SO STUPID! JC is going to kill me.” Lyn patted Angela’s hand, and then began rubbing her temples.
“OK, at least it makes sense for you guys! Justin is my best friend...how do I explain THIS! Jesus! He is going to get the wrong idea and flip out and never speak to me again.” Morgan curled herself into a tighter ball on the bed.
“We’ll just explain. We were drunk. We didn’t know what we were doing. Besides Mor...” Stasia looked at the younger woman pitifully, “that was sort of...my idea. I thought it would be funny...last night...after the tequila...I’m so sorry.”
“This sucks.” Morgan buried her head in her pillow.
“Yeah. It really does.” Lyn nodded.
Stasia looked up, “Where in the hell were Ron and Don?”
“At home...sleeping.” Morgan covered her face with her hands.
“How did we get out of here?” Lyn continued to rub her temples.
“We called a cab.” Angela whispered.
“We are SO STUPID!” Lyn said again, “SO STUPID!”
“What are we going to do?” Dani looked up.
“What CAN we do? Not a heck of a lot.” Stasia pointed out.
Just when they had all reached the peak of self pity and decided things couldn’t get worse, they did. “GOOD MORNING LADIES!” Chris screamed through the door. He was pounding hard and they could hear the rest of the guys laughing. It was clear they knew the girls had been drinking, they just didn’t know how the night had ended.
Lyn got up, straightened her pajamas, made sure everyone else was covered and went to the door, “Stop pounding you ass.”
She crawled back onto the bed next to Stasia and dropped her head on Stasia’s shoulder. The guys all came in laughing. JC sat on the edge of the bed, “Rough night Sweetpea?”
“You have no idea.”
Lance picked up two empty tequila bottles and scrunched his nose, “I think we can make a pretty good guess. Who got sick?”
Morgan moaned, “No one...yet.”
“There is a trail of shoes and clothes through my entire house. Looks like we missed one heck of a party.” Justin shook a bottle of aspirin in front of Morgan, “Look what I brought for you Mor.”
“I love you.”
“I know.” He laughed and tossed the bottle to her.
“You guys look...um...weird...sort of guilty...not so much hung over.” Joey slowly scanned the room.
Stasia lifted her head slowly, “You don’t know the half of it.”
Lyn nodded, “We sort of did something stupid last night. REALLY STUPID!”
Morgan jumped in, “But we were really, REALLY drunk!”
“It was supposed to be funny...at the time it was...but now...it’s not.” Dani added.
Lance looked at Stasia, “Millie...nobody ran around the yard naked...did they?”
Stasia shook her head, “Worse.”
Chris raised an eyebrow, “Stripper?”
“Worse.” Dani covered her face.
“HOOKERS?” Joey’s jaw dropped.
Angela smacked him on the back of his head and screamed, “NO!”
Lyn groaned and stood up, “This is officially the dumbest thing any of us has ever done, and we know it, so PLEASE don’t lecture us. There is nothing we can do to fix it right now, so PLEASE don’t scream.”
“Sweetpea, I am really getting nervous here. What happened after we went to bed last night?” JC scanned her face with very concerned eyes.
Lyn turned her back to JC and lifted her pajama top up a few inches and pushed the waist band of her pants down a little to expose a brand new tattoo, very low in the center of her back. It was a small, blue, block ‘C’ with small flames on either side of it.
Stasia stood next to her and pulled up her tank top, in the same place on her back, she had the same tattoo, except there was a ‘N’ between her flames. Slowly, each girl showed her back, and when they were standing shoulder to shoulder, their backs spelled out ‘NSYNC’. Dani was the ‘S’, Angela was wearing the ‘Y’ and Morgan had an ‘N’ in the center of her’s.
JC’s jaw dropped, “Oh my God.”
Lyn’s head dropped and she whimpered, “I feel like such an idiot.”
Stasia put her arm around her shoulder, “I feel your pain, LITERALLY!”
Lance bent down to inspect Stasia’s tattoo, “HOLY COW! They’re real!”
Morgan moaned again, “Yeah, we’re aware.”
Dani nodded, “It hurts like hell!”
Joey smiled, “Yeah, we know...well, not JC...but the rest of us.”
JC turned Lyn around, “That is...um...wow!”
“Oh God!” Lyn covered her face with both hands.
Chris smirked, “OK...maybe I’m sick or something...”
Joey nodded, “Yeah you are.”
Chris smacked Joey’s head, “SHUT UP! As I was saying...I may be sick or something, but I think this is SEXY AS HELL!” He inspected Dani’s tattoo.
Lance laughed, “Never in a million years did I think ANY of you would get a tattoo, let alone THESE tattoos. But, yeah...I’ve got to go with Chris on this. ”
JC was nodding slowly, “Uh huh.”
Lyn peeked between her fingers, “Uh huh?”
JC smirked, “You sort of have that bad-girl, rebel thing going on. Lyn, you have my initial PERMANENTLY tattooed on your back.”
Justin sat on the bed and pulled Morgan backward until he could get a clear view of her back. She leaned forward a little and shook her head slowly, “I don’t know what to say. Please don’t get the wrong idea.”
Lyn quickly said, “B.B., I talked her into it. It wouldn’t have worked without her...unless Dani got ‘NS’ or I got ‘NC’ and if one of us got two letters, it wouldn’t have made sense with Ang’s ‘Y’ or Stasia’s ‘N’...ok, none of this is making any sense right now, but in the middle of the night, after A LOT of tequila...it made perfect sense. She wanted a daisy and I talked her into the ‘N’. It was peer pressure!”
“We helped talk her into it. The whole ‘NSYNC’ thing was MY stupid idea.” Stasia nodded.
“And the WHOLE thing was MY stupid idea. I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if we got matching tattoos?’ and it was late, after A LOT of tequila, and we are stupid. Have we mentioned there was A LOT of tequila?” Angela rubbed her forehead.
“OK, all of you, stop freaking out. I think it’s cool. Hell, the ‘N’ could be for the last letter of Morgan or for Northrup.” Justin laughed.
“I can just hear my mom now, ‘Morgan Ann Northrup, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?”
“Mor, Do you want me to go out right this minute and get an ‘N’ somewhere?” Justin poked her in the side.
“Yes.” She whimpered.
Justin stood up and grabbed her hand, “So, LET’S GO!”
“I was kidding.”
“Yeah well, I’m serious. I’m not going to get a girlie ‘N’ like your’s, but I’ll get one too. Then mine can be for the ‘N’ in Morgan. The only person who has put up with me for my entire life.”
“We were ten when you moved here.”
“You know what I mean Morgan.”
“I don’t think you need to do this. This was my screw up, there is no need for you to do something stupid just because I did.”
“Nope, I don’t need to, but I’m going to. You can stay here or come with me. But I’m going.”
“This is STUPID JUSTIN!”
“NO IT’S NOT MORGAN!” He was completely mocking her and she hated it.
They all watched as Justin dragged her out of the room, in her pajamas. They could hear the two of them arguing all the way down the stairs and Lyn turned to look at JC when she heard the front door slam, “Is he really going to do this?”
JC nodded, “Yeah...I think he is about to get an ‘N’ tattooed on his body.”
Chris rolled his eyes, “WHEN are they going to get freaky?”
Joey laughed and pulled Angela down onto his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder and he rubbed her shoulders, “My guess would be soon. They aren’t going to be able to handle being twenty and sexually frustrated much longer.”
Lyn was curled up in the corner of JC’s couch reviewing some paperwork Jess had sent her about the next steps that would be taken in her case against Powers. She was jotting down questions she had to ask Jess when she called her later that day. She yawned and stretched, her hang over had subsided and she was feeling a little better about the events of the last twenty-four hours. She glanced out the window at JC playing in the yard with the dogs and smiled, he really did like the tattoo which had been a surprise..
She sighed as her phone rang, “Not a moment’s peace.” She looked at the caller ID and smiled, “Hey B.B.”
“Where are you?” He sounded strange.
“At JC’s. What’s up?”
“I need to talk to you. NOW!”
“OK. Talk.”
“Can you come over?”
“Now?”
“Please?”
“Yeah. Sure, I’ll be right over. Stay put.”
“K” His phone beeped and she squinted at the phone in her own hand.
Pushing herself up off of the couch, she walked out onto the deck, “Snapdragon. Justin just called, he wants me to go over there to talk to him. He’s upset about something.”
JC threw the ball in his hand across the yard and watched the dogs chase it, “Want me to go with you?”
“Nah. Besides, we have to leave in a few hours so I’ll have to be back pretty quickly.”
“Good point. You’re all packed, right?”
“Yep. Ready to roll.” She kissed him, and he wrapped his arms tightly around her, increasing the pressure. She slipped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair. Leaning up on her toes, she pulled him tighter against her. His tongue slipped along her lips and they parted for him. Their breath mingled and his fingers raked over her back. His lips moved wildly over hers, sliding down her neck to her collarbone. She moaned contentedly and tilted her head back further.
JC kissed his way back up to her mouth and smiled as he whispered against her lips, “Hurry back.”
Lyn’s eyes slowly opened, “Maybe I’ll just stay.”
He kissed her temple and earlobe, “As much as I’d like you to stay, Justin wouldn’t have called unless something was actually up.”
“I know. You’re right, but you’re also kissing my ear right now, and I’m not about to ask you to stop doing that.”
He took a step back and cupped her cheek, “OK, I’ll stop. Hurry!”
“Going.” She kissed his lips lightly and bounced happily down the stairs and walked around the house to the driveway. Slipping into her car, she rolled down the windows and inhaled the smell of the late summer heat.
It was only four miles to Justin’s house so it didn’t take long. As she pulled up to the security gate, she prepared to punch in the code, but the gate slowly slid open on it’s own, which meant Justin was watching for her. Parking next to the newest addition to his car collection, a huge Cadillac truck, she bounced up the front step. The door swung open and Justin was standing there waiting, “What took you so long?”
“Let’s see, I hung up the phone, told JC I was leaving, got in the car and came over here.” Lyn rolled her eyes as she sat down on the couch in the living room. “So what has you all worked up? It can’t be leaving for the end of the tour because, we’ll be back here in three weeks.” She shifted when her tender back pressed against the back of the couch.
“Yeah, but when we get back, Morgan is going to be gone.”
“What do you mean, she’s going to be gone?” Lyn raised an eyebrow.
“I mean she has LOST HER MIND and is going AWAY TO SCHOOL!”
“Where is she going?”
“NEW HAMPSHIRE! WHAT is there to do in NEW HAMPSHIRE?”
“Durham is a beautiful town. Not at all like Orlando, but I can see why it would be a great place to go to school. Maybe she’ll learn to ski. It might be good for her..”
“GOOD FOR HER?” Justin clutched his head, “How can it possibly be good for her to go to New Hampshire? Think about it Lyn, she’s never been that far away from home. Who transfers in their fourth year of college?”
“I hate to point this out to you, but you aren’t upset by the fact that she’s going away to school. You’re upset that she’s going to be away from YOU. You’re looking at this from a very selfish point of view. You’re upset because she didn’t ask your permission first. Justin, did you bother asking her WHY she wants to go there? Did you bother trying to find out what’s pulling her to New Hampshire her Senior year in college?”
“You are supposed to be on my side!”
“I AM B.B.! That’s why I’m TELLING you to TALK to Morgan, not AT her, TO her. There has to be a reason she wants to go, and another reason why she waited until NOW to tell you about this. She had to apply, get accepted, make arrangement to live somewhere and get a schedule planned out. WHY?”
“Because she hates me?”
“THIS ISN’T ABOUT YOU JUSTIN! Get that through your THICK SKULL!” She threw her hands in the air. “How did you find out?”
“I called to talk to her and her mom said she was out shopping for stuff for school, I asked if she’d gone to buy her books and her mom said, ‘Oh Justin, you know she can’t buy her books until she gets to New Hampshire!’ and she laughed like I was nuts. She is supposed to be my best friend, and not only does she decide to go to school on the other side of the Earth, but she decided it without even telling me. We’ve been together most of the summer, and she never mentioned it. We got matching tattoos...THIS MORNING, and she didn’t tell me. That’s GREAT!” He pointed at the shaved patch, where the ‘N’ had been added to the band around ankle.
“So she doesn’t know that you know?”
“No.”
“You need to approach her carefully Justin.”
“HOW IN THE HELL CAN I APPROACH HER AT ALL, WHEN SHE’S OUT SHOPPING AND I HAVE TO LEAVE IN TWO HOURS?”
“Call her cell phone and ask her if she has time to stop by before you leave.”
“THIS SUCKS!”
“I know you’re upset, but I can’t help thinking that there is a reason why she handled it this way. You need to CAREFULLY pull it out of her.”
Justin slouched down in his chair, “I’m going to yell at her.”
“Don’t.”
“I’m not going to be able to help myself. I’m so angry, and....and...”
“Hurt.”
“Yeah.” His head fell back against the chair and his eyes closed.
“You don’t know if you have any reason to be hurt yet.”
“Yeah I do, she didn’t want to tell me.”
“She might have a reason...I know I keep saying that over and over, but it’s true. TALK TO HER.”
They both looked up when the front door flew open and Morgan came crashing in with an arm load of bags, “HELLO! I brought presents!”
Justin didn’t even lift his head, “Presents for who?”
“For you! Who else? What’s wrong? Are Jonathon and Steven OK?”
“They’re fine.”
“So what’s wrong?” Mor dumped the bags on the floor and walked over to Justin, sitting on his lap.
“What’s wrong?” He laughed.
“That’s what I asked. What’s wrong?”
“New Hampshire.”
Lyn watched the happy look fall from Morgan’s face, “New Hampshire?” Morgan’s voice was shaky.
“Yeah Mor, New Hampshire.”
“How did you find out?”
“I called to talk to you and your mom said you were out shopping for school...for New Hampshire.”
“Oh.”
“When are you leaving Morgan?”
“Tomorrow morning.” She was getting pale.
“Were you even going to tell me? Or was I going to come home in three weeks, call you and have your mom ask me why I wasn’t calling you at school?”
“I was going to tell you.” She tried to stand up and he held her on his lap.
“WHEN Mor?”
“A hundred different times, this morning, today, now. I don’t know.” She shrugged.
Lyn stood up and grabbed her keys, “I’m going to go finish packing. I’ll see you later Justin. Are you going to see us off Mor? Or should I say good-bye now?”
“No, I’ll be at Jive when you leave tonight.”
“Ok, I’ll see you both there.”
Lyn tossed Blarney’s bag into it’s cubby on the bus and checked to make sure the groceries she had bought made it into the cupboards. She plugged in her computer and phone charger. When she had gotten set up on the bus, she climbed down the stairs and ran right into Cat, who had Lis perched on her hip, “HEY! What are you two doing here?”
“We wanted to say good-bye.”
“You guys are too cute! I’ll be back in three weeks!”
“Well, we all need to stick together right now. You know...the McLachlan girls, united to fight...”
“Yeah, I know.” Lyn took Lis into her arms, “Are you ready for school Kiddo?”
“Yep. Cat is taking me to get my list.”
“Your list?”
“Her teacher sent a list of supplies they need to have with them when they show up in the first day. So we are off to get all of her supplies after you guys leave.”
“That should be fun, Cat picks out fun stuff, I bet you are going to have the coolest stuff there!”
“I KNOW!” Lis beamed, “I’m gonna get markers and a notebook, and folders and Ma said I can get a lunch box.”
“WOW! That should be fun!”
Joey ran over and scooped Lis out of Lyn’s arms, “LIS! You came to marry me didn’t you! Are we going to run away together?”
Lis giggled and pushed against his chest, “NUH UH! I’m not gettin’ married!”
“PLEASE?”
“NUH UH!” Lis shook her head, sending her curls bouncing.
Joey set her down and then fell to the ground, “I have a broken heart!” He clutched his chest.
JC walked up, with Blarney under one arm, Tipperary under the other, “MY GIRLS ARE HERE!”
Lis ran over and kissed each dog on the top of the head, “Hi puppies!”
“Hi PUPPIES! What about ME?” JC set the dogs down and pulled Lis into his arms, “I don’t get a hi?”
“Hi JC.” She giggled as JC kissed her cheeks.
“How’s my favorite little girl?”
Lis thought about that for a second while tugging on JC’s chin, “Yeah.” She cocked her head, “What is this?”
“My beard?”
“Why do you got that?”
“Why do I HAVE it?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know, I just wanted to grow it.” He shrugged.
“It’s ugly.”
“EILIS!” Lyn looked at her little sister with horrified eyes.
JC laughed and Joey pushed himself up off of the ground, “She’s right. It IS ugly dude.”
“Sweetpea?” JC raised his eyebrow.
Lyn flushed, “You know I prefer a clean shave, for purely selfish reasons.”
He grinned, “Guess it’s time to shave.”
“Yep!” Lis smiled brightly, “What do you mean shave?”
The whole group burst into laughter. Lyn wiped at her eyes and tried to catch her breath, “Lisy, you need to keep that mouth of your’s under control.”
Lis looked at her, “HUH?”
“Never mind honey.” JC kissed her cheek again, “Want to help me put the dogs away?”
“Sure.”
Lyn put her arm around Cat’s shoulders and they watched JC carrying Lis up the stairs onto the bus, “How are you holding up Kitty Cat?”
Cat smiled, “You haven’t called me that since we were little.”
“No, I guess I haven’t. How is it at home?”
“Quiet...and tense, but better than I thought it would be. Da is in his study a lot. Ma is cooking constantly, and Bren is taking every possible opportunity to point out that she is one of the GOOD daughters.”
Lyn shook her head, “Do you ever remember a crisis that Ma DIDN’T cook through? When SHE found out she was pregnant with Lis, I got so many care packages at school I had to give cookies away to all of my friends.”
Cat grinned, “I think we all gained weight with her.”
“I know Brenna is our sister, but I some days...”
“You wish we could trade her in?” Cat nudged her with an elbow.
“Not permanently...just...a Brenna-cation.”
“Believe me, I understand. I love her, but she can push my buttons faster than anyone else in the world.”
“It’s her hobby.” They began to make their way over to the bus, “Cat, if it’s ever too much, you can stay at my place. I’m never there anymore, so you use it when you need to, ok?”
“Thanks Al. I think I’ll make it the two weeks until I go back to school, but I may take you up on it.”
“You have a key, use it.”
“You’re always taking care of us, even Bren.”
“I’m the oldest, that’s what I’m supposed to do, take care of Two, Three, Four and Five. I guess I dropped the ball with Dev.”
“You know what? I don’t think a baby is so bad. I mean, we’re only nineteen, which isn’t the BEST planning in the world, but it could be so much worse. Dev and Ryan really are in love, and they have so many people around them who are willing to help. I think it will be fun to have a baby around again.”
“You have always been one of the smartest out of our little group.” Lyn kissed her sister’s forehead.
“I take after you.” Cat laughed, “I am such a suck up!”
“Yep, but I love it!” Cat put her arm around Lyn waist and Lyn jumped, “Careful!”
Cat cocked her head, “Careful about what?”
“The dumbest thing I have ever done. We all got REALLY drunk last night and well...all of us girls did a STUPID thing!” Lyn pulled the hem of her shirt up to expose the tattoo on her back.
“OH MY GOD! You did that last night?”
“Yeah. Real bright move, huh?” Lyn rolled her eyes.
“What’s up with the ‘C’?”
“That’s the worst part, ALL of us got the same tattoo with different letters, we spell ‘NSYNC’.”
Cat laughed, “What did JC have to say about it?”
“JC thinks it’s sexy.” He answered as they climbed onto the bus.
“You do?” Cat smirked.
“I can’t believe she did it.” He smiled.
“Neither can she.” Lyn laughed.
“What’s sexy?”
“That is a grown up word I shouldn’t be using. I’m sorry Lis.”
“It’s ok.” Lis smiled, “What did you do Al?”
“You guys are never going to stop calling me that are you?”
“I highly doubt it.” Cat laughed as she picked Lis up off of the floor, “Well little lady, we have to go soon.”
“When are you gonna be back?” Lis reached for Lyn.
Lyn hugged the little girl to her chest and kissed Lis’s cheek. JC noticed that when Lis buried her face in Lyn’s shoulder, their curls blended together. Lyn was so attached to the little girl, he hated to see her leave Lis behind in Florida. Cat wrapped her arms around both of her sisters and JC couldn’t fight the smile coming to his lips.
They all turned when Justin walked into the lounge and threw a bag onto the couch. Lyn scanned his face and could see he was exhausted. He forced a smile and said, “Hey Cat. Hi Miss Lis. Do you have a hug for me?”
She instantly reached out for him, “You look sad.”
“I’m just tired. How old are you now? You’ve got to be twenty now!”
“I’m FOUR JUSTIN!”
“Four? Are you sure?”
“Yeah. You’re silly.” She rubbed his head.
“I know it.” He grinned, “So are you coming with us?”
“Nuh uh. I’m going to school Monday.”
“ALREADY?”
“Yeah.” Lis nodded.
Cat reached out and played with Lis’s curls, “Come on Five, we’ve got to get going. Give Justin a hug and kiss.”
Lis squeezed Justin’s neck tightly, “Bye Justin. Have fun ok?”
“I’ll try, just for you.” He kissed her forehead, “You have fun in school, be a good girl.”
“I will.” Lis turned and reached for JC, “I miss you.”
“I’m not gone yet.”
“I miss you already.” She roughed up his hair and pulled on his chin again, “This is ugly.”
“I GET IT EILIS!” He squeezed her, “I love you.”
“Love you too!”
Lyn held out her arms, “I’ll call you tonight Lisy. And you be a very good girl and give Ma and Da lots of hugs and kisses for me.”
“OK. And then you’ll come home and we can read?”
“As soon as I get home we can read any book you want, I promise you. And then we’re all going to go to Mississippi for a big party.”
“Me too?”
“Yes. You’re going to go too. And you get to wear a pretty dress and have flowers.”
“OK!” Lis squealed.
“Where are my hug and kiss?”
“I lost ‘em.” Lisy grinned.
“I bet I can find them.” Lyn tickled Lis’s sides.
Lis giggled and wiggled and gasped for air, “I FOUND ‘EM!”
Lyn stopped tickling her and hugged her tightly, “I love you.”
“Bye Al.” Lis grinned brightly when Lyn rolled her eyes.
“Cat take this child!” Lyn laughed, kissed Lis again and handed her over to Cat. Justin and JC stayed in the lounge as Lyn walked her sisters to their car.
When she returned she was on her phone chatting with Jamie. JC looked at Justin, “I swear, that phone is attached to her hand now.”
“Doing all your work from the road sucks. We know how that is.” Justin sat down and pulled out his Discman.
“J, do you want us to ride on Lyn’s bus?”
“Huh? No. Why?”
“I don’t know, you look, tired.”
“I’m not tired. I’m fine.”
Lyn flipped her phone shut, “Wait until you boys see what I brought.” She dug around in the bunk they used to stash all of their junk. She emerged with Monopoly under her arm.
Justin and JC both began shaking their heads, “Sweetpea, I don’t think that we should play Monopoly...we...uh...”
“Are on a bus and the pieces will slide all over.” Justin grinned at JC who nodded.
“Nice try, but that won’t happen this time. I bought MAGNETIC Monopoly.”
Both of the guys groaned, “L.S. do we really have to do this?”
“Yes. We need some fun.”
“So we’re going to play Monopoly? The longest game in the history of the world?”
“Yes.” She spread the board out on the floor and patted the ground on either side of her.
“If we refuse, what will happen?” Justin groaned.
“I think I could find a whole list of ways to annoy you.” She patted the ground again.
Justin flopped down on the ground, rolled his eyes and huffed, “This is going to be a long ride.”
Lyn was on the phone with Lance, they were doing their best to clear up Ryan’s schedule so he and Dev could have a proper honeymoon, “I’ll get the club on the phone and see if they have a problem just pushing the date back three days. I’ll take care of that first thing. Now go get some sleep.” Lyn flipped her phone closed and yawned.
JC had been asleep for hours. When Justin had proclaimed himself King of The Universe, after soundly beating both JC and Lyn in the Monopoly tournament, JC fled to his bunk to avoid Justin’s boasting and to let Lyn get some work done.
She had been productive for several hours and was considering a nap of her own when Justin walked into the lounge and looked at her, “Busy?” He was playing with the string on his sweat pants, not looking her in the eye.
“Not anymore. What’s up?” She made a quick note to call the club she had been discussing with Lance and closed her date book. Tossing the book onto the table next to her she watched him closely.
“So, I talked to Morgan.” He squinted at the string, pulling it tight and the untying it again.
“I noticed she wasn’t there when we left. Is she ok?” She pulled her sweatshirt tighter around herself.
“Oh yeah, she’s fine. She had just cried and her eyes were puffy and stuff and she didn’t want to have to explain the whole thing.” The string was beginning to come apart at the end from his picking and twisting.
“That makes sense.” Lyn nodded and tucked her feet under herself, “What did she have to say?”
“A lot of stuff. I feel like the world’s biggest ass.”
“She made you feel like an ass?”
“No. I just AM an ass, she didn’t have to do anything to make me that way. I did it all on my own.”
“Do you want to tell me why you feel like that or am I leaving this whole thing alone?”
She was completely unprepared to see the tears in his eyes when he raised them to meet hers. Lyn sprung forward and wrapped her arms around him. She sat next to him on the couch and rubbed his back, “I never meant to hold her back. I didn’t want to ruin her life.” He sniffled against her shoulder.
“Oh JUSTIN! You haven’t ruined anyone’s life. Sweetie, stop crying.” She wiped his tears, “Why in the world would you think that?”
“I never noticed. She’s my best friend and I never noticed that she needed something in her life, besides me.” He inhaled a ragged breath and tried to steady his breathing.
“Oh come on Justin, that’s not so bad. You guys are such a huge part of one another’s lives you don’t think in terms of outside of that box. That may not be the BEST thing, but it’s normal. I have a hard time thinking of JC hanging out with anyone but me, sort of like he just sleeps while I’m gone or something. Believe me, that doesn’t make you an ass. You were shocked, you are confused by the whole thing and I’d venture a guess that you’re sad she isn’t going to be in Orlando when you get back.”
“What do I do if i need her? Or if I need to talk or...”
“You call her, the same way you call her NOW when you’re on the road.”
“I didn’t get to help her pack, I didn’t get to take her shopping I didn’t get to see where she’s going to live.” He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
“You know she’s going to be alright don’t you? Morgan is strong and just needs to test her wings, once she KNOWS she can fly, she’ll be back.”
“This sucks.”
“I’ll tell you what, you and I will pack up a huge care package filled with all of the stuff a college student should have and YOU can deliver it as soon as you get a chance. Go see where she’ll be living, go see what’s going on in her life, put your mind at ease.”
“What will we get?” He smirked.
“All sorts of stuff. She needs food and drinks and fun pens and cool note paper and...just all sorts of stuff. A photo album, and we’ll each pick out a picture and write her a note and put them in the album and she’ll know how much we miss her.”
Justin shoved her over and laid his head on Lyn’s lap, “Mor likes CDs. I could put a bunch of her favorite music in there.”
“That is a great idea.”
“And a pair of stupid Stasia slippers.”
“That will make her laugh.”
He yawned, “And that shampoo she likes that smells like mango. It costs like a thousand dollars a bottle.”
“Could you be exaggerating?”
“Maybe.” He smiled.
Standing on a raised platform with her arms raised, while the seamstress pinned the sides of her bridesmaid dress, Lyn was talking into her cell phone as Dev held it to her ear for her. Stasia was across the room on another platform with her back to Lyn, on her phone as well, attempting to zip her dress.
Stasia rolled her eyes and huffed, “Lyn, can you deal with this woman?”
“I’d be happy to, if you’d deal with this guy who is trying to tell me that we ordered a pair of orange and purple sequin pants for Ryan.”
“Dear Lord.” Stasia held out her phone and Dev switched it with Lyn’s. Stasia took a deep breath, “This is Stasia...uh huh...uh huh...orange and purple...ok...no...no, I don’t think we ordered ORANGE AND PURPLE SEQUIN PANTS FOR A GUY! Listen, the pants are supposed to be BLACK LEATHER. We will pay for BLACK LEATHER, NOT orange and purple sequins, got it? Good.” She flipped the phone shut, “Dork.”
Lyn was battling it out with the woman Stasia had given up on, “No. The flowers are to be delivered the day OF the wedding in the morning, and your people MUST wear security badges the entire time they are there. Security is very important and we cannot stress that enough...Uh huh...uh huh...I don’t think it’s asking too much that photos not be taken. You are welcome to take pictures of the arrangements in your shop, and we can arrange to have a few sent, but they will be selected by the home owners. I’m sorry but that point in not negotiable...NO PICTURES WILL BE TAKEN BY YOUR STAFF! Trust me, the photographer will take a few just for you, at OUR instruction. ” She flipped the phone shut, “NUT JOB!”
Stasia spun around, “Would you look at me? I feel pretty.”
Lyn giggled, “Dev, I’m loving these dresses. This is one of the best ideas you have ever had.”
“I thought it would be cool to pick out a fabric and length, and then let everyone choose the cut they want. This way the dress reflects your personality.”
They all burst into a fit of laughter when Lyn turned around and they realized that she and Stasia had chosen exactly the same dress.
The woman who had been helping them at the bridal salon walked in, “Miss McLachlan, your gown is ready to try on.”
Dev squealed and ran into the dressing room. She emerged a few minutes later, and Lyn burst into tears, “Oh Dev!” She ran over and hugged her sister.
“You’re not supposed to cry!” Dev smiled.
“You are breathtaking!” Lyn wiped at her eyes.
“You are good at this.” Dev smiled brighter.
“Ryan is going to DIE!” Stasia clapped her hands, “He is going to be standing there and just fall right over!”
“Ok, you’re good at this too!” Dev hugged Stasia.
Lyn glanced at her watch, “Sweetie, I know this is the first time you’re trying it on, but we have to move along. We have to meet with the caterer and then pick up our shoes, after that, we have to go pick out tuxes for the guys who don’t own their own. Then we have that lunch thing and in the afternoon we meet with the tent people and the people who will be setting up the chairs and dance floor.”
“Can’t I have five minutes in princess land?” Dev whined.
“Five minutes, starting NOW!” Lyn looked at her watch, “I’m going to change.”
Walking into the dressing room, she closed the door and burst into tears. She sat down on the bench in the corner of the room and covered her face with her hands. She wiped madly at her eyes and tried to stop the flow of tears, “Stop it Allyn.” She gritted her teeth at her reflection and shook her head, “Just stop it!” She squinted her eyes tightly together and fought to regain her composure when her phone rang. She just flipped it open, “Lyn McLachlan.”
“Sweetpea? What happened? Why are you crying?”
She cursed herself for not checking the Caller-ID, “I’m not crying.”
“Bull, now you’re crying and lying. What happened?” JC’s voice was filled with concern. She knew very well that she could never convincingly lie to him.
“I saw Dev in her dress. I was flooded with SO MANY emotions. Joy, excitement, love, pride...fear, jealousy.”
“Fear and jealousy?”
“I KNOW! I’m evil!” She sniffled again.
“OK, that might be a stretch. What are you afraid of?”
“I don’t know. I’m afraid she won’t be happy. I’m afraid, I’m not planning the wedding of her dreams. I’m afraid Da won’t be there to walk her down the aisle.”
“He’ll be there.”
“I know. I just never want anything bad to happen to her.”
“I know.” His voice was soft and gentle, “Why are you jealous?”
“I...I...DON’T KNOW!”
“OK, Sweetpea, deep breathing...Lance and I are JUST down the road, you stay put I’ll be right there.”
“OK.” She closed her phone and continued to cry. “What is wrong with me?” She asked the reflection in the mirror.
There was a soft knock on the door, “Sweetpea, I’m coming in.” JC pushed the door open and she threw herself at him. Burrowing her face into his chest she sobbed. He stroked her hair and kissed her temple, “Shh. It’s ok, I’m here.”
“What is wrong with me?” She whispered.
“There is nothing wrong with you. You’ve been awake more than twenty-four hours, you are in the middle of a big law suit, your sister is getting married, you have a demanding job that is so much more demanding than just nine to five. Lyn, it’s just all starting to get to you. You HAVE to let us help you. You can’t do it all yourself.”
“I don’t WANT to, it’s just happening that way. I just suddenly feel like everything is happening at once, and I don’t know what to do, or who to talk to first.”
He pushed her hair back and held her face between his hands, “Then you talk to ME, you come to ME and WE figure it out together. Allyn, you have driven yourself into the ground and it’s just now hitting you. We have always helped one another, why would things be any different now? I love you more than anything, God Lyn, I’d do anything for you...ANYTHING!”
“Even put me back together when I have a nervous break down?” She smiled weakly.
“Every time.” He kissed her forehead.
“Thank you.” She kissed him lightly, “I love you so much.”
His arms went around her back, “SO, what is on the list for today?”
She grinned, “Just a few things. Caterer, shoes, tuxes, that lunch thing, tent people and the people who will be setting up the chairs and dance floor. Oh and I have to finish the press releases for Angela’s CD, and I need to review the paperwork Jess sent me about court dates and stuff. I have to confirm all of the tickets and hotel reservations for my family. I need to book a restaurant for the rehearsal dinner.”
He nodded, “OK, so what’s the story with the shoes?”
“Dev, Stasia and I all picked out shoes in New York that were shipped to a store down here, we have to pay for them and pick them up.”
“And the tuxes?”
“We need to go pick out tuxes for the guys who don’t have their own.”
“And food...there was something about food.”
“Caterer and restaurant for the rehearsal.”
“OK. Lance and I can pick up the shoes. You don’t need to try them on do you?”
“No.”
“OK, so we’ll get the shoes, and take care of the tuxes, girls shouldn’t be doing that anyway.”
“But JC...”
“Oh no you don’t. We’ll get the shoes and the tuxes. Then we’ll all meet at the caterer, and get our next assignment. You are not going to do this alone.”
“Thank you.”
Lance was watching Stasia spin in front of the mirror, “Millie, are you dizzy yet?”
“A little.” She smirked and crossed the room to where he was sitting, “So what are you guys doing here? I thought you were going jet skiing.”
“JC called to talk to Lyn, and something was up, so he wanted to come check on her.” He looked over at the dressing room door, “They’ve been in there a while.”
“I know.” She squatted down next to him and whispered, “I think I heard her crying. I didn’t want Dev to hear so I kept her busy.”
“Yeah, that’s the feeling I got from JC too, I think that’s why he wanted to come over here.” An evil grin slid across his face, “Darlin’, when you are that low, and leaning over to whisper like that, I can see down your dress.” He leaned forward a little.
“LANCE!” She stood up quickly and rolled her eyes, “Excuse me, miss?”
“Yes Miss Blake, how can I help you?”
“I was wondering if we could take some of the extra fabric out of the neckline here, it gapes when I bend over.”
Lance shook his head, “Should have kept my mouth shut.”
JC emerged from the dressing room, “Hey Lance, do you mind if our plans have changed?”
“Nope. I have nowhere important to be today.”
“You do now.” JC looked down at the short list in his hand, “The good news is, we get to sample food twice today.”
“I guess that’s not so bad.” Lance shrugged and Stasia smiled proudly at him, “We get to eat twice?”
“Yep! So let’s go pick up our pretty shoes.” JC said in a very high pitched voice.
Lyn came out of the dressing room and it was obvious she had been crying, but she had done something with her hair and quickly applied some make-up. “Are we almost ready to get going?” She smiled at JC who held out his hand. She walked across the room and he hugged her tightly.
“Hey there Sweetpea. You’re looking more like yourself.” He kissed her temple, “Lance and I are going to get some shoes and tuxedos. We will meet you at the caterer at 11:45. You three go get coffee and talk about dresses or something. I love you.” He kissed her soundly and walked out the door.
Lance laughed, “I guess I have to go.” He kissed Stasia’s nose, “See you at 11:45. Love you.” He ran out the door after JC.
~Chapter Twenty-Five~
~Main~
