Lyn was sitting on the floor of Lance’s dressing room. Wearing jeans, a baby t-shirt, flip-flops and her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail. When the ponytail had begun bothering her, she had twisted it into a loose bun, securing it with a pen, all in all, the look was one of comfort. Jake’s head was resting on her thigh and his breathing was deep and even.

Lance was laying on his back on the floor with his feet up on the couch cushions. He was holding a file over his head reviewing the notes Lyn had made regarding the meeting she had attended for him the day before, “Lyn, you realize you basically wrote down EVERY WORD spoken in that meeting don’t you?”

“I didn’t know EXACTLY what you wanted to know, so I tried to make sure I caught everything.” She blushed.

“You did.” He laughed, “Blackwell coughed twice, huh?” Lance was laughing, squeezing the bridge of his nose.

“I DIDN’T WRITE THAT!...Did I?” Lance held out the page for her to look at, “Oh man. That is pretty bad isn’t it? I’m sorry, I’ll cut it down next time.”

“Not bad, just....overly through. However, I’d rather have too much information than not enough.” His head rolled on the floor so he could give her a little smile.

Things had been quiet for the last two days, too quiet. JC was still trying to get Stasia to talk to him, and she was still refusing. Even Lance wasn’t talking to Stasia much, her first bar exam was in two days. Lyn felt bad for having called her about Powers, and was thinking it had been a mistake.

Things between Lance and JC were tense at best. She had approached each of them, trying to help them patch things up, but both men were being stubborn.

“Lyn? What were you feelings on the pricing for Jack’s studio time? You made this big ‘X’ next to the price chart.” Lance pointed to the chart.

She leaned forward a little bit and sighed, “I’m sorry, but I think it’s way out of line. It seems that since Jack is relatively unknown, the prices are higher. For example, if YOU wanted to go in and record, the prices would be halved, because they want their studio name on a KNOWN artist’s album, but for Jack...” She was interrupted as the door flew open, slamming against the wall.

Jake jumped up and all of the papers Lyn had perched on her lap went flying. She covered her heart with her hand.

“Well here we are in beautiful BUFFALO? You drag me to BUFFALO? Lyn, we are going to have to make this jerk in Florida pay, because I had no desire to see Buffalo.” Jessica Clegg was standing in the open doorway. “Hey Loverboy. I’ve got a message for you, but I refuse to say what I was told to say, so I will just say that your girlfriend misses you and loves you.”

Lance jumped up off of the floor and hugged Jess spinning her around, “JESS! I didn’t know you were coming! How’s my girl holding up?”

“Like a trooper! You know as well as I do, she’s going to score off the scale. There isn’t a test in existence she can’t pass.” She kissed his cheek, “Put me down you fool.”

“ I see you haven’t lost that soft edge, I love so much.” He set her down rolling his eyes.

Lyn stood up and walked over to the pair, “Jess you didn’t have to come all the way to New York.”

“Eh. I needed the fresh air.” Jess pushed her blonde hair over her shoulders. “Rumor has it you’re going to let Stasia and I rip this jerk a new head.”

“Well, I’m not quite sure we need to go that far. I’d just like my record wiped clean, and my reputation protected.” Lyn stared at the other woman with wide eyes. Jess was Stasia’s best friend, and from what they had all seen and heard, she was a remarkable attorney as well. The only time anyone had seen her in action was when she was sitting in as special counsel in the trial of Stasia’s stalker. In that particular instance, she had argued with so much conviction and passion that she had even brought the defendant’s lawyer to tears.

“Eh. We have to beat him up a little bit.” She walked into the room, “Lance, how about you go find somewhere else to play. I want to talk to my client.” She sat on the couch, stretching her arms out across the back.

“Jess, this is my...oh never mind. I’ll go. Lyn if you need me...”

“I know.” She smiled warmly up at him. She was amazed by his ability to remain on very good terms with her, even though she had been JC’s friend before she had even met Lance. Since Lyn had no idea what the trouble between them was, she was feeling very torn. But Lance was doing his best to keep her feelings at heart. He was being supportive, caring and giving. When she had told him that she had decided to go ahead with legal action against Mr. Powers. He was worried about her well being and how it was going to effect her emotionally.

She had just told Lance that same morning, she was still trying to work up the courage to tell JC. Now that Jess was here, she wasn’t going to have a choice. She had to tell him.

“Do I have to repeat all of that?” Jess poked Lyn.

“All of what?”

“Apparently I do.”

“I’m sorry Jess. I was thinking.” Lyn sighed and clutched the sides of her head.

“About what? Or should I say, about whom?” Jess grinned.

“JC and Lance are not getting along very well right now. Stasia isn’t speaking to JC, and I have no clue what is going on, but I do know that they are ALL unhappy. I’m sorry I’m a little preoccupied today.”

Lyn couldn’t read the look on Jess’s face at all, “My advice would be, tell JC to start kissing my girl’s butt. OK, back to this Powers fool.” She pulled out a legal pad and began taking notes.

Three hours later, Lance stuck his head through the door, “Is it ok if I take a shower?”

Lyn looked at her watch, “GOD! Lance where have you been? We threw you out hours ago!”

“I was hanging out with Chris and Dani. The dogs were playing. What you had to do was more important.”

“I’m always more important.” Jess winked at him. “Have you seen the fool?”

“Jess you’re going to have to narrow that down.” Lance smiled playfully.

“Well you are standing here, so I must be talking about Chasez.”

“Sorry. Can’t help you, and I don’t think you should do whatever it is you’re thinking of doing.”

“Stasia loves you, therefore I love you but, you know very well that nothing is going to stop me.” Jess slipped the pad of paper into her briefcase and glanced at Lance, “I’m going to leave my stuff here.”

“Of course.” He smirked.

Jess sauntered out of the room, Lyn started to follow her but Lance caught her arm, “Can I have a second?”

“You’re the boss!” She teased.

“Sit down. I owe you an explanation.” Lance pulled a chair close to the sofa and sat with his elbows resting on his knees.

Lyn sat on the couch, “You don’t owe me anything.”

“Yeah I do. I know this thing between JC and I has you upset, and I can understand why. I think we’re friends Lyn, you and I, I mean...”

“I think so too.” She nodded.

“I also know JC is your best friend. We have put you in the middle of this thing, without wanting to, and for that I am very sorry. I can’t really go into detail, but I really want to tell you that, even if JC and I never spoke again, which isn’t going to happen, but if it did, that would not affect the friendship or the working relationship between you and I. I won’t let that happen.”

“You don’t have to tell me all of this Lance.” Lyn’s eyebrows rose.

“Yes I do. I don’t like stuff being up in the air with my friends.”

“Can I say something?”

“Of course.”

“I KNOW you don’t like to leave things up in the air, so why don’t you and JC hash this out?” Her hazel eyes searched his face.

“We will. I just need to feel less defensive, and he needs to feel less...whatever.” He shrugged.

“What could you possibly need to defend?”

“Probably nothing, but my one vulnerability is Millie, when she’s upset I can’t really see clearly.”

“I don’t know what the heck he did, but I do know that Stasia is the last person he would want to hurt. And he would rather die than hurt you.”

“I know. Thanks Lyn.” He looked down and then laughed, “I’m supposed to be making you feel better here, not vice versa.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

“Thank you. Now get out. I have to shower, or you have to go on stage in my place.”

“I’M OUT OF HERE!” Lyn hopped up and ran out the door, “Jake! Come on!” The little animal, always at Lance’s feet when Stasia wasn’t around ran out after her.

JC was scribbling in his notebook again, his forehead resting on his hand. “What the hell happened to you? You look like crap.” The voice coming from the open doorway sent a chill down his spine.

“Jess.” JC’s head slowly raised.

“The one and only.” She smirked, her eyebrows bouncing.

“How have you been? What are you doing here?” He smiled weakly.

“I was doing just fine until I got a call from Stasia. You screwed up big my friend. Very, very big.” She walked in and sat down on the couch.

“Jess...you know, I don’t need...”

“Me to tell you that you screwed up? Sorry JC, but I think you DO need someone to tell you. How is it possible that you managed to piss off the two sweetest people in the world? You know them. You know they'd die for you, yet you attacked their love, the one thing they hold closest to their hearts. Hell JC, their love IS their hearts."

“I KNOW JESS! I feel like crap, but I can’t apologize to her if she WON’T SPEAK TO ME!”

Jess threw her head back and laughed, hard. “How is it possible you know SO LITTLE? I always thought you were one of the smarter pretty boys.”

“Nice.”

“I’m honestly NOT trying to be evil here JC, but why? Why would you say those things to her? If you wanted to hurt her, you did a damn good job. She has always thought you were different. She has always thought you understood her. She has told me how you guys have late night discussions about stuff that matters, stuff she cares about. So why?”

He was quiet and closed his eye, “Because she understands ME. She IS different. Stasia can get in my head, she can understand me faster then I understand myself. She and Lyn are the same way. But Stasia was getting too close to the truth, so I pushed her away. She wasn’t going to quit. She was going to make me admit that I had made a mistake, and that I have to do something to fix that mistake, I couldn’t do that, so I pushed her away the only way I knew I could.”

Lyn reached over and grabbed his hand, “I KNOW how she is when she won’t let go. But you know what else I know?”

He let her pull his hand so he was facing her, she held on tightly, “I know that she’s always right. I HATE IT! But she’s always right about other people’s feelings. But JC, you brought every bit of guilt and pain to the surface. Do you know how hard it was for her to run away from him? Do you know that she STILL prays every day that he forgives her for that? Do you know of all of the horrific stuff that has happened in her life, THAT DAY is the thing she wishes she could change?”

“Jess...”

“JC, I KNOW! You never wanted to hurt her that deeply, but you did. And why did you do it? Because you didn’t want to have to admit that you are in love with your best friend, and you blew it. NICE!”

“I had already admit that.”

“So that makes what you said ok?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you said a lot of other crap.”

He looked down at his hand, where it was clasped between both of her hands, “How do I fix this Jess? How do I get her to forgive me? And why are you helping me?”

“I love her, probably more than I love Brent, she loves you...for reasons I can’t quite get a handle on, so I’m going to help you here.”

He smirked. No matter what the situation, Jess had a wise crack for it. “So what do I do?”

Lyn was sitting on the floor in the hallway with Dani and the three dogs when JC walked by. Jess followed him out of his dressing room and slid down the wall to sit next to Dani. “Hey.”

All three women watched as JC walked up to the door of Lance’s dressing room and knocked, “I’M DECENT NOW LYN! IT’S OPEN!”

JC walked through the door and closed it behind himself. Lance was over near the mirror with a towel over his head, he was roughing it over his damp hair. “It’s not Lyn. It’s me.” JC said quietly.

“Oh. Hey.” Lance pushed the towel off of his head and let it drape around his shoulders.

“Can we talk?”

“Now?”

“Yeah. I need to apologize to you.”

“JC, it’s not...”

“I know you’re going to say I shouldn’t be apologizing to you. But you’re wrong. When I hurt Stasia, I hurt you too. You two are two of the most important people in the world to me, and you were trying to help. I was feeling really trapped and out of control, I swear to God I didn’t mean the all things I said to her. Lance I love her, like I love Heather, if had someone else had said that stuff to Heather I would’ve killed them, instead, I’M the one who said it. You should have kicked my ass.”

Lance shrugged, “I thought about it...I wanted to, but she wouldn’t let me.”

JC smirked, he knew without Lance having to say another word, he was forgiven. “I want to fix this.”

“Dude, she’s hurt.”

“Couldn’t she just be angry?” JC looked at Lance pitifully.

“That wouldn’t be any better for you.”

“What would you do?”

“I wouldn’t have opened my big mouth in the first place.” Lance raised an eyebrow.

“Thanks for the advice buddy.” JC rolled his eyes. “How do I make her talk to me?”

“First of all, you wait until she’s done with this exam and the one next weekend. Then I would suggest you get in good with Ron, that’s the only way you’re going to get to her. He’s screening her calls for her right now.”

“Nice.” JC’s heart sunk. Ron wasn’t screening all of her calls, just HIS.

“Hey, I’ve never heard her like this. You guys are lucky I showed up in Ohio, I honestly didn’t want to leave her like that. JC, I understand why you were annoyed with us, but man, you hit hard.”

“The only way I can explain it to you is to say, how sane would you have been if the day you realized you were in love with Stasia, she had just started dating Ryan?”

“He’s not her type.”

“Funny, you’re very funny.” JC rolled his eyes.

“I know. Hey, as far as you and I are concerned, it’s over. I would have flipped out too. Maybe not as obnoxiously, but I would have flipped out. But now, she’s hurt and angry. As much as I want to help you out here, you’re going to have to get out of this mess on your own.”

“We’re ok though?”

“We’re brothers, man.”

“Thanks.” JC started to walk to the door, but he turned around and cocked his head to the side, “Hey Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“What if it would have come down to choosing between me and Stasia?”

“You don’t want me to answer that question. Know this: Anastasia is my life. I am NOTHING without her. She has completed me.” His green eyes were deadly serious.

“I want that.” JC nodded his head.

“You’ll have it.”

“You sound like her now.” JC chuckled.

“Thanks.”

Lyn was sitting with her legs crossed, in the middle of JC’s bed. She was watching him as he threw a few things into a courier bag. Lyn chewed on her cuticle, “Where are you going?”

“Mississippi.”

“Why?”

“Stasia finishes her second set of exams today. She has three weeks before her next exam, she was going to come join the tour for a few days, but changed her mind after we had our argument. I’m going to get her and bring her back with me.”

“JC, you still haven’t told me what happened, but if she’s as mad as you seem to think she is, what makes you think she is going to come back with you?”

“I’m irresistible?”

Lyn’s hands flew up to cover her face, “Oh MAN! You are in so much trouble. THAT is the big plan?”

“I know.” He sat on the edge of the bed, and fell over so his head landed in his lap, “Lynie, what if she doesn’t forgive me? Will you still love me?”

She pushed his hair back and smiled down at him, “JC, I’m not sure what you would have to do to make me stop loving you. It took you a long time to become my best friend, and it would have to be major. You have to MURDER someone I love, or something along those line. I have been angry with you in the past, and knowing you, I’ll be mad at you again in the future, but I won’t stop loving you.”

“I really don’t deserve you.” He pushed himself up and sighed, “It’s now or never.”

“Good luck.” Lyn rolled up on to her knees and crawled over to the edge of the bed. She kissed his forehead, “Don’t let her forget you’re irresistible.”

“Think it will work? I’ll show up on her door step and she’ll just say, ‘Oh you came down here, I guess you’re forgiven.’” He slung his bag over his shoulder.

“Nope. First she’s going to eat you alive. But then she’ll forgive you.” She smiled, ruffed his hair and handed him his hat.

He let himself in through the garage. Lance hadn’t been able to find his keys when JC was leaving the hotel, so he’d given him the code for the garage door opener. He dropped his bag on the chair next to the door and looked around. He knew that they were there, because Stasia’s Suburban was parked in the garage, next to Lance’s new 4Runner. He saw Ron down by the lake through the window. Stasia wasn’t with him, so he knew she must be in the house somewhere. He looked around, checking Lance’s office, which reflected his friend’s personality so well. This was the room in the house that reminded JC of Lance most. There were piles of legal texts on the desk, Stasia had been studying, again. He checked the den, the living room and even the dining room. There was only one place left to look.

He quietly climbed the stairs, padding down the hallway to the last door on the right, which was open. Sunlight steamed in, spilling out into the hall. She was right where he thought she would be. Curled up in Lance’s chair. She was gazing out the window, more legal texts were spread out around her on the floor. But the thing that broke his heart was the picture on the table between the chair she was sitting in, and the one that was actually hers. It was a picture of the group at the Grammy awards, it was taken shortly after she had joined them on the road, and she had been his date that night because Lyn hadn’t been able to leave Orlando. Stasia had fallen asleep on his shoulder in the limo on the way back to the hotel. He had woken her up and it was at that point he’d realized she cared about him deeply, and that they were really friends.

“Thank you for bringing me with you tonight. I had so much fun, this is the best date I’ve had in years.” She kissed his cheek.

“It was honestly a pleasure. I don’t mean this to be insulting in anyway, but I swear, having you around is great, because it’s like having my sister around.”

“I don’t think that’s insulting at all, I feel the same way. And I told you, I like Lyn, a lot.”

“So do I.”

She had known even then, how he would want things to turn out. But never in a million years would he have thought he would have hurt her as deeply as he had. He took a step into the room.

“Hey Big Guy how many times do I have to tell you not to lurk in the shadows? What’s wrong, weren’t the fish biting?” Her voice was tried, and sad.

“Stasia. It’s not Ron, it’s me.” He was afraid she was going to get up and run out the open french doors.

Her head fell a little and her shoulders slumped, “Why are you here JC?” He hated how quiet her voice was.

“I needed to talk to you.” He walked across the room to stand in front of her.

She looked up at him with sad eyes, that were almost black, “Didn’t you say enough to me? What more could you possibly say to me?”

He knelt in front taking her hand, “Stasia, if I could go back, if I could take it back, I would. GOD! I don’t know what came over me. I don’t know where that came from. I KNOW it’s not the truth. I KNOW that the truth is the exact opposite of everything I said to you. I KNOW that you and Lance love each other more than life itself. I KNOW you only ran to Michigan to try to protect Lance, that you loved him then and you love him now. I KNOW that you were trying to help me, and most of all I know you were right. I will do ANYTHING to make this up to you. I will do ANYTHING to help you forgive me, because I love you. You are so important to me, you are like a sister to me and it would kill me if I thought I’d lost you because I am an idiot.”

She looked at her hand held tightly in his, and the tears began, “If I could go back, if I could take it back, I would never have left that day. I never would have run away from Lance. I lay in bed at night, wrapped in his arms, listening to him sleep, and I pray that he will forgive me. I hurt him, I hurt him so badly I will never forgive myself for that. I will spend the rest of my life trying to make up for that one act of desperation. You opened that wound, you opened it and made me remember.”

JC’s eyes welled up with tears, “He forgave you for that the second it happened. Stasia, you were trying to protect him, he knows that WE ALL KNOW THAT! You can’t beat yourself up forever. FORGIVE YOURSELF!”

She looked back up into his eyes again, “I guess we have even more in common now.”

“What do you mean?”

“We both have that one moment, the moment we made the decision to do something stupid, that we wish we could take back. I know how it feels JC. I guess it hurt a little more because it was coming from you.” She straightened her shoulders and wiped the tears off of her cheeks, and then off of his. “I’ll tell you what, let’s make a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“I’ll help you, and you help me.”

“Do what?”

“Forgive ourselves.” He lunged forward hugging her tightly around the waist, she hugged his head, “I love you too JC.”

Lyn had bitten all of her nails off by the time her phone rang, “Lyn McLachlan.”

“I told you.”

She smiled brightly, “You’re irresistible huh?”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far.”

“I would. Is she coming back with you?”

“Yeah, were you able to do that stuff for me?”

“Yep. You’re all set. I left all of the information on your bed. I wish I could see it all go down.”

“What do you mean? You HAVE to be there, you did all of the work.”

“I’m sorry but I can’t. I’ve had plans with Ryan for a week. I can’t back out now.”

“Oh. OK. I’ll see you later then?”

“Try to avoid me.”

Standing in front of the mirror Lyn smiled softly. She had chosen to wear a tight, black, strapless knee length dress. The air was warm and she was feeling very good. She slipped her right shoe on and tried to fasten the buckle, part of it fell off in her hand, “DAMN!” She kicked the shoe off and looked around, those were the only shoes she had that went with her dress.

She looked around again and then grinned, “DANI!” Lyn ran down the hall, jumping over Joey, who was laying on the floor in the hallway, talking to Angela on the phone. She ran into the room Dani shared with Chris and found the pair snuggled up on the bed, each reading a stack of paperwork. “Dani, I need your help. I broke my shoe.”

Chris rolled his eyes, “Shoes she can definitely help with.”

“Shush.” Dani smacked his arm until he lifted from her waist. “LOVE the dress! Ok, I think I have a few choices for you.” She walked over to one of her bags she pulled out three pairs of shoes and held them up, “Which ones would you like?”

Lyn selected a pair of cute black slides, with a little bow and a high heels. Dani stepped back, “I have a necklace that would look cute with that.” She dug around in another bag and returned with a delicate necklace. “Hold up your hair.” Lyn obeyed and Dani fastened the necklace. “That looks nice.

Chris glanced up, “She needs a Stay-A sweater.” He looked back down.

“He’s got a point, it could get chilly. Do you have a sweater to take along?” Dani flopped back down on the bed.

“Red, gray, pink or blue?” Lyn looked at them.

Chris didn’t bother looking up this time, “Red. Guys like red.”

Lyn ran over kissed Chris’s cheek and the top of Dani’s head, “Thanks guys.”

Back in her room she found her red sweater and started to look for her purse. She still wasn’t used to living out of a suitcase, it seemed she could never find what she was looking for.

“What’s with the dress?” Morgan was walking through the door.

“I’m going out with Ryan. Have you seen my black purse.”

“No. Wanna borrow my red one, that would look ok.”

“I’d love it, thanks Mor!”

“No problem.” She sat on the bed, “JUST-IN!!!” Lyn looked at her in shock.

“Mor!”

“Huh?” The younger woman laid back on the bed.

Justin walked up to the door, “Why are you screaming like a fool, woman?”

“Go to my room and get my red purse off of my dresser for Lyn.”

“Why don’t you get your lazy butt up and get it yourself?”

“Two reasons. First, you are standing, I’m not. Second, Momma H. should be calling any second, she always asks what we’ve been up to, if you don’t go get the purse, I’ll tell her what you did last night.”

Justin’s eyes narrowed, “You. Are. Evil.” he turned and walked out the door, “Red?”

“Yep it’s on the dresser.”

Lyn stared at Morgan, “What’d he do?”

“He got hammered, and was stripping down by the pool, if I hadn’t gone looking for him, he probably would have gotten naked.”

“What the heck happened? He never gets like that.”

“He talked to HER last night. She was all sweet and sugary, until he said he couldn’t fly out to be with her. She is a leach Lyn.”

“They are still friends Mor.” Lyn walked over and sat next to her, “Go easy on him. It can’t be easy for him, he knows she wasn’t with him because she liked him.”

“Which is why he shouldn’t waist his time being friends with her.”

“He’s known Britney almost as long as he’s known you. Cut him some slack.”

“Whatever.”

Justin walked through the door with Joey screaming, “NICE PURSE J!” from further down the hall.

“SHUT UP FOOL!”

“Thank you Justin.” Lyn took the bag from him as he wedged himself between she and Morgan.

“No problem.”

She tossed a few things into the small bag and closed the top. “Well, I guess that’s it.”

“You look pretty Lyn.” Justin offered from the bed where he now had Morgan in a headlock.

“Thanks.”

Ryan walked up and knocked on the open door, “Hi.”

“Hi! How are you?”

“Good. You look amazing. Are you ready to go?”

“Sure thing.” She smiled and stood up.

Justin sprang up from the bed dragging Morgan behind him, “We’re out of here. Have fun kids.”

“Bye guys!” Morgan shouted from Justin’s hip.

Ryan stepped aside and Lyn pulled her door shut. “So where are we headed?” She smiled up at him.

“Dinner and then a concert in the park. Jazz, is that ok with you?”

“You can’t be friends with JC and not like jazz, that’s fine.”

“The restaurant is only a block from here, do you mind walking?”

“Not at all. It’s very nice out tonight.”

They rode down the elevator quietly, “So, um...what did you do today?” He had a funny squeak in his voice.

She smiled brightly, “I met with Lance early, about your schedule, but we’ll talk about that tomorrow. Then I talked to JC about his trip to Mississippi to bring Stasia back. THEN I set up a surprise for Lance and Stasia that JC needed help putting together while he was gone. I guess that’s about it. What did you do?”

“Actually I didn’t do much. I worked on an idea that has been rolling around in my head. For a song. I guess you knew that though. Then Lance and I did a phone interview. Wow, I should do more in a day.”

The elevator doors opened in the main floor and they started to walk across the lobby. Just as they were about to walk out the front doors, Lyn heard someone call her name. She turned to see Stasia running full speed at her, with JC closed behind carrying her luggage. Ron was bringing up the rear, smiling. “HI!” Stasia hugged her tightly.

“Hi! How was your flight?”

“Good. Hi Ryan.” Stasia looked up at the man next to Lyn.

“Hi. It’s good to see you.”

“You too! I know you’re on your way out, I just saw you guys and wanted to say hi. Now, go have fun!”

JC grinned, “Yeah, have fun guys.”

Lyn smiled at him, “I left something in your room, can you take care of that for me?”

“No problem.” He kissed the top of her head.

Ryan held the door open for her and the walked out onto the street. “How long have you been friends with JC?”

“Eight years. We were just discussing that. JC and I, I mean.”

“Eight years huh?”

“Yep. We met in high school. I always tease him that if something happened, and we stopped speaking, my family would keep him and get rid of me. My sister Bren has a crush on him, always has.”

“You have four sisters right?”

“Mmm hmm. Bren, Cat, Dev and Lis.”

“Lis is the little one with your face...and hair?”

“Yep, Lisy is my mini-me. I think she cuter than I was at her age. She is honestly a little sweetie.”

“What about the others?” He pointed at a door as she laughed and walked into the restaurant.

“Bren is next in line behind me. Bren is...wow, how do I describe Bren? She is strong willed and very spirited. I love her, but she can test my patience like no one else in the world. Let’s see, the twins. Cat is very opinionated, and passionate. She completely idolizes Stasia. She wants to be an attorney. Dev is easily the sweetest of all of us. She is kind and caring, loving and giving. She’s going to be a doctor. And then Lis, but I already told you about her.” She smiled as she sat down at the table.

“Five girls. Wow.”

“I think that’s why Da loves JC so much. He is the only other guy involved in the mess I call family. Even the dog is a girl.”

“None of your sisters have boyfriends?”

“No one can tolerate Brenna’s sharp tongue. Catlee is way to focused on school and her internship right now and for some reason, which I will never understand, guys don’t seem to appreciate Devony yet, she will honestly be the best girlfriend. Lis, says Jacob someone or other is her boyfriend. She kicked him on the playground, and that was it.”

Ryan laughed, “It’s tough being four and deeply in love.”

“I know. So in reality, Lis is the only one of us who has had any luck lately.” Lyn shook her head, causing her curls to spill over her shoulders.

“What about you? Why no guy in your life?”

She blushed a little, “Dev and I have never had much luck with guys. The poor girl takes after me. I really haven’t had much time for guys, believe it or not, teaching is very time consuming, not to mention the fact that I spend a lot of my free time either with Lis or with JC, so I hadn’t really had the time.”

“Ah.”

“I’ve been babbling about my family since we left the hotel. I’m sorry.”

“No I don’t mind. They sound like fun.”

“I guess so.” She shook her head laughing. “You’ve met all of them, I shouldn’t drone on about them.”

“Your face lights up when you talk about your family...and JC.” He smiled at her. “Is it hard being away from them?”

“Some days are worse than others. We’ve been moving so much, I haven’t really had time to miss them. There have been a few days where I have missed them, or been a little homesick, but I’m lucky to have JC here, so I always have a little piece of home.”

“That’s nice.” He smiled again.

“So I’ve read your bio, obviously, but what about you? Do you get homesick often?”

“I’m from Oklahoma, I don’t know many people who miss it once they get out.”

“Oh.” She was a little surprised.

“Lyn, I’m kidding. Yeah, I miss Oklahoma. I miss the space, I used to ride for hours and never see another person. I miss stuff like that. Writing songs on those rides on little scraps of paper in my pocket.”

“You and Lance and Stasia are going to get along well. They both love to ride. Stasia used to ride competitively. Lance just LOVES to ride. Actually, we all ride...sort of. Stasia tried to make me ride English with her, and I thought I was going to die, THE SADDLE HAS NO HORN!”

Ryan laughed. “We’ll have to go riding one day.”

“Sure. But I INSIST in having a saddle horn.”

“You’ve got it.” He shook his head smiling and laughing.

The concert was about to start when they settled into their seats, the band was tuning up and Lyn slipped into her sweater as she sat back. Ryan’s arm settled around her shoulders.

The band was wonderful and Lyn enjoyed herself immensely. They began the short walk back to the hotel around midnight. Lyn glanced up at the clock on the front of the hotel, “How would you like to get in on a little surprise for Lance and Stasia?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, JC is sucking up and has planned a surprise for them, I didn’t think we’d be back in time to help out, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to help.”

“Sure...what do we have to do?”

“Come on...you have to change, and I have to find JC. Maybe we can get everyone to help.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him along behind her. He laughed and allowed himself to be pulled.

JC was in his room trying to tie his tie when lyn burst through the door. “JC, why are you tying your tie, without pants on?”

“LYNIE! You’re back! Thank God! HELP ME!”

“JC...PANTS?”

“I don’t want to wrinkle them.”

“I woke everyone up. They are all going to help with this. I’m going to print the lyrics out for everyone. Ryan said he’d play guitar.” Morgan is about to create a diversion, so we can get all of their stuff out and the bags from Mississippi in.”

“I am so glad you’re back. I was starting to think this was going to blow up in my face, and now you’re here to rescue me!” He picked her up and hugged her, he was kissing her allover her cheeks and landed one square on the lips. He set her down and blushed, “Sorry. Now will you tie this?”

“Hold still.”

Justin, Joey and Chris all walked through the door dressed in suits. “You are not going to last long around here if you keep waking us up and making us put on suits.” Chris yawned.

“It’s for Lance and Stasia...well actually it’s for me.” JC shot over Lyn’s head. “Where are Dani and Mor?”

“They are about to get Lance and Stasia out of their room.” Justin smiled.

Ryan walked through the door. “Hey. My guitar is downstairs. I think everything is done. The hotel people were just leaving.”

“Thanks Ryan.” JC smiled.

Suddenly, they all turned at the sound of a blood curdling scream. Justin slammed the door, “Everyone BE QUIET! There’s my girl.”

Now Dani screamed. There was a little noise in the room next door. “WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE HELP US?”

They could hear Lance run into the hall, “Morgan? Dani?”

“NO! It’s Miss America Lance! Would you help us?”

“What happened? Oh God. Where is everybody else?”

“They are all down at the pool.” Dani answered. “Can you please do SOMETHING?”

“Oh my Lord. I don’t know where to start. MILLIE!”

They heard Stasia leave the room and go out into the hall. The rest of the group sprang into action. Everyone ran through the connecting door and grabbed every item in the room. They took everything, including the towels and sheets. Then JC and Lyn ran in with the bags he had stolen from Mississippi. They laid the items out on the bare bed. They ran back through the connecting room and made sure it was locked. JC looked at Lyn and said, “You and Ryan are on.”

Ryan picked up the two buckets of ice and handed them to Lyn, “They won’t fire you.”

“Oh boy.” They opened the door a crack to make sure Lance and Stasia were occupied. They motioned for everyone to run, and all of the guys ran out the door and into the stairwell. Lyn swallowed hard and walked forward. Ryan let the door to the stairs slam. Lance looked up, and Lyn began to run. “What happened? Are they hurt?” She got close, with Ryan right behind her and then tripped, dumping ice and water all over Lance and Stasia’s clothes.

“Dear GOD!” Stasia sat bolt upright.

“I’m so sorry! I’m wearing Dani’s shoes and...oh I’M SORRY!” Ryan helped her to her feet.

She looked down at Dani and Morgan and winked, she had somehow managed to only douse her targets.

Morgan flopped and squirmed and yanked her hair free of the tangle she and Dani had been in. They climbed up off of the ground and Morgan shrugged, “I guess it wasn’t as bad as we thought. Thanks guys. We’re going down to the pool, wanna come?”

Lyn hobbled into the elevator, “We’ll come. Come on guys.” Lyn looked at lance and Stasia who were still sitting on the floor, covered in ice water.

Stasia stared up, “UM! We’ll be down after we change.”

“Oh, yeah. OK.” Lyn shrugged. Morgan pushed the button and the doors closed. Lyn leaned against Ryan, I think I broke my ankle.”

“Seriously?”

“I’m not sure. It will have to wait. We have to get down stairs and you have to turn around so they can change.”

“HERE! In the elevator, WITH ME?”

“Welcome to NSYNC life. Everyone has seen everyone else in their underwear.” Morgan said as she tossed her t-shirt over his head.”

Lance slipped the key card into the lock, “Do you believe that?”

“What the heck happened there? They didn’t need help. What’s with all the screaming? I need a towel.” She waited as he pushed the door open.

Flipping on the light, Lance stopped. “Crap.”

“What is it Harry? I’m cold and need a towel. Can we at least go in?”

“Millie, they cleaned us out.”

She walked in and her jaw dropped, “NOW WHAT ARE THEY DOING?”

“According to this note. We have a date.” He held out the paper for her to look at.

“Lance, it’s after midnight, and they STOLE OUR SHEETS! Now they want me to put on a ball gown? You have got to be kidding.”

“I wish I was. Millie, I wasn’t planning on leaving this room.” He kissed several droplets of water off of her neck. “But you know as well as I do that if we don’t play along, they will not let us sleep.” He kissed the other side of her neck.

“I am going to kill every last one of them.” She tilted her head to give him better access.

“Put on your dress, then kill them.”

“Want to help?” She leaned back a little, her eyes dancing.

“You don’t have to ask me twice.”

Downstairs, Lyn was holding up a photo, she and JC were studying it carefully. “I think it looks good.”

“Me too.” JC nodded his agreement, “Are you guys ready?”

“Shouldn’t they be down by now?” Joey yawned.

“When was the last time they saw each other? This could take a while.” Justin leaned against the piano.

Lonnie stuck his head through the door, “They just got off of the elevator.”

Chris shook his head, “Not very impressive Lance. Stasia must be disappointed.”

Dani smacked him, “CHRISTOPHER!”

Lonnie and Ron held the doors to the ballroom open, Stasia was in the middle of lecturing them, when the room caught her attention. Lance reached for her hand and her other hand flew up to her mouth.

JC walked over with his arms full of tulips. He handed the flowers to Stasia and said, “I wanted to apologize. I wanted to do something to let you know I really do understand. I wanted you guys to know I know how much you love each other.”

“I don’t believe you did this. You even got the right dress.” Stasia hugged him tightly and whispered in his ear, “Thank you. Thank you for caring this much.”

“Now go sit.” JC pointed at the table set up near the piano.

They walked over and sat down. JC sat behind the piano and Ryan perched on the stool next to him. As soon as they started to play, tears welled up in Stasia’s eyes. Hearing their friends sing And So It Goes.. to them, made her heart swell. Lance offered her his hand and the two of them began to dance in the center of the room.

Lyn, Dani and Morgan all had tears rolling down their cheeks. As they finished the song, Lance kissed her lightly.

JC smiled and said, “Lyn and I picked this next song for obvious reasons. And I even talked her into singing it with me.”

Lyn walked over to stand next to him and smiled at Stasia who was wiping at her cheeks again.

Ryan began playing and Morgan buried her face in Justin’s chest. As JC began to sing.

Love I get so lost, sometimes
Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
When I want to run away
I drive off in my car
But whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are
All my instincts, they return
And the grand facade, so soon will burn
Without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside

JC nodded and smiled at Lyn as they began to sing together.

In your eyes
The light the heat
In your eyes
I am complete
In your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
In your eyes
The resolution of all the fruitless searches
In your eyes
I see the light and the heat
In your eyes
Oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
The heat I see in your eyes

JC took a step back and smiled as Lyn grabbed his hand. He squeezed it and raised his eyebrows, she began to sing.

Love, I don't like to see so much pain
So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired of working so hard for our survival
I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive

And all my instincts, they return
And the grand facade, so soon will burn
Without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside

As they began singing together again, Dani sighed and leaned into Chris’s chest, next to them, Morgan and Justin were dancing.

In your eyes
The light the heat
In your eyes
I am complete
In your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
In your eyes
The resolution of all the fruitless searches
In your eyes
I see the light and the heat
In your eyes
Oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light,
The heat I see in your eyes
In your eyes In your eyes
In your eyes In your eyes
In your eyes In your eyes

Stasia ran over to JC and Lyn, flinging herself into their waiting arms. They hugged her and Stasia kissed each of them on the cheek. “You, Lyn are the sweetest person, EVER. You, JC are SO forgiven! I love you.”

“What? Are we not here? I seem to remember using our million dollar voices too.” Justin Laughed.

Stasia and Lance hugged each of them. They hung out laughing and talking for hours. Lyn and Stasia were sitting on top of the piano, swinging their legs. “Thank you for this. I almost wish you guys were there the first time.”

“No you don’t.” Lyn laughed.

Stasia smirked, “No I don’t!” They hugged one another for the hundredth time in two hours. “So how was the date? Did he kiss you?”

“No. Not yet, I don’t know if he even wants to.” Lyn shrugged.

“The way he looks at you, he wants to. I hope he’s the fireworks guys.”

“The WHAT?”

“The fireworks guy. The guy who kisses you and rips your world open in the most amazing, fantastic way. When his lips touch yours and fireworks go off in your head.”

“Lance?”

“Are you kidding? Lance is so far beyond fireworks, he has some sort of nuclear weapon in his lips.” Stasia smiled brightly.

“Oh Lord! Fireworks...Nuclear weapons.”

Lance walked up, “Talking about kissing huh?”

Lyn’s eyes got huge, “How do you know?”

Lance wrapped his arms around Stasia waist and laughed, “I thought she was insane the first time she told me about the whole fireworks theory.” Stasia swatted his shoulder, and her squeezed her tighter, “BUT, then we kissed, not the first accidental kiss, but even then there were sparks, but the first time we really kissed...more fireworks than the Fourth of July. Millie was right...again.”

“So you don’t think she’s insane anymore?” Lyn giggled.

“Nope. And as far as kissing and fireworks go, she has never been more right about anything in her life.”

“That’s right Harry. You tell her. Fireworks.” Stasia kissed the end of his nose.

Ryan walked up, “Lyn, I’m going to go upstairs. It’s past my bedtime and my managers don’t like it if I break curfew.”

They all laughed and Lyn hopped off of the piano, her ankle buckled a little and she groaned, “I’ll go up with you, I have a feeling this will be sore in the morning.”

Ryan helped her all the way to her door and hugged her. “Thank you for tonight. I like it when I get to see the inside.”

“The inside of what?” She smiled.

“This is such a tight knit group, and you let me in tonight. I was allowed in because of you. Thanks.” He hugged her and kissed her cheek.

“You are part of the group, they like you. They don’t like just anyone. I like you. I don’t like just anyone.” Lyn walked into her room and shut the door.

Pulling the clock closer to her blurry eyes. 4:42 am. “Shit.” Lyn threw the blankets back and looked at her throbbing ankle. It had swollen to triple it’s normal size. She tried to stand and pain shot up her leg and into every one of her toes.

She slid over and grabbed a sweatshirt and a pair of sweat pants. She quickly changed out of her pajamas and into her sweats. She pulled on one of her socks and her sneaker. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and shoved her other shoe into her bag. She hobbled out the door and straight across the hall, knocking lightly. Everything was still, so she knocked again. This time she heard movement.

JC pulled the door open, his hair standing up in every possible direction. “Lynie?”

“JC, I think I might have broken my ankle.” She pulled her pant leg up a little to show him her ankle.

“Oh my God!” He didn’t even think twice, he scooped her up and carried her to his bed. He set her down as he began to get dressed. He pulled on his own sweats, threw on a hat, shoved his feet into his shoes and scooped her up again. He pulled the door shut and walked straight to the elevators.

Dre, who was on night watch, ran over, “What are you doing?”

“I’m taking her to the hospital. Look at this ankle.”

“OK, hang on and I’ll go too. You can’t go alone.”

Dre radioed and told Jay what was happening. They rode down in the elevator and walked quickly out to the van. Dre helped them in the back and ran around to the front. JC was always amazed that security always knew the best route to the hospitals and police stations for every town they visited.

Lyn rested her head on his shoulder, “JC, um, about the hospital...”

“I know. You’re still afraid of hospitals, and doctors. I promise you, I won’t leave you alone at all.”

They pulled up at the hospital and he carried her into the emergency room. They filed out the required paperwork and waited for her name to be called, the admit nurse walked over with a wheel chair, “We’re ready for you.” JC stood up and she said, “I’m sorry sir, only immediate family is allowed back with the patient.”

JC looked down at Lyn’s panicked face and said, “I’m her husband.”

The lyrics used by JC and Lyn are from In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel