It was 8:10, and Lyn had called JC four times already. He knew she loved surprises, and he knew it would kill her to wait for his ‘get well gift’. He had stuck his head into her room and 6:30, and told her to change into something nice. After the Free Lance meeting had wrapped up, Stasia had help her shower and change, so now she was sitting in a chair, staring at her cast, which was now covered with signatures, wishing it would disappear.

Stasia had found a long floral skirt, and three quarter length sleeve t-shirt in Lyn’s bag. At least it covered most of the cast. Then Dani had come in, and painted her toenails. With the exception of the big plaster cast, she looked cute.

Glancing at her watch, it was 8:12. She hit redial and waited for his voice mail again. “Hello Lynie!”

“JC! You told me to be ready at 8:00! I’m dying here! When are you going to be here?”

His laughter was one of her favorite sounds, she couldn’t help but smile when she heard him laughing loudly, “It’s worth the wait. I PROMISE!”

“It better be! I sitting here, going nuts!”

“OK, I’m standing outside your door, may I come in with your gift?”

“YES!” She flipped her phone shut and threw it on the bed.

JC’s head pooped through the door, “Are you ready Sweetpea?”

“YOU’RE TRYING TO KILL ME AREN’T YOU?”

“I can come back when you calm down.” He winked at her.

“JOSHUA!”

“OK! OK!” He walked through the door empty handed.

A slow grin spread across her face, “You are my gift? I get uninterrupted time?”

“That is an acceptable gift?”

“That is the best gift I could think of! Sit down! I could call for room service!” She smiled brightly.

JC blushed, “You are the best!” He hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head, “You have just made my day! But I’m not the gift.”

“You’re not?”

“Nope.” He walked back to the door and pushed it open the rest of the way, “They are.”

Dev walked in, carrying Lis. Lyn’s hands flew to cover her mouth, “OH MY GOD!” Dev put Lis down and she ran to Lyn.

Lis climbed right up into Lyn’s lap and hugged her sister tightly around the neck, “LYN! JC said you’re broken!” She kissed her older sister on both cheeks.

“He’s right Lisy. I broke my ankle. I fell down.” Her arms tightened around Lis’s little frame, “I’m so happy to see you! How are you? You’ve grown!”

“I’m good! I’m all done with school! My teacher says I can come back next year if I want!” She pushed her curls back with both hands.

Dev moved to stand next to JC, who put his arm around her shoulders. Dev put her arms around his waist and he kissed her temple. “Safe flight number 4?”

“Very good flight. Number 5 over there slept the whole way. When you called this morning, she got so excited she was bouncing off of the walls and she didn’t take her nap, so by the time we got on the plane, she conked out on me. I got to read the entire way.”

“Sounds like a good trip.”

“Thanks for bringing us in. I’m excited to have a reason to come hang out with you guys, AND I weaseled a way to get some credit for it.” Her green eyes flashed.

“How’s that Dev?” Lyn smiled at her sister and held out her arms. Dev walked over and hugged her tightly.

“I am going to help nurse you. I am going to write a paper on home health care, and get a great grade on it. I called my advisor before we left, she said she’d give me credit for a summer class. You, my dear sister are my science project!”

Lyn laughed, “You’re not going to probe anything are you?”

“Nope. But would you be willing to let me include your medical records in my report? I’ll block out your name.”

“Of course, you can have what ever you need if you’re going to get some sort of credit.” She shrugged.

Lis settled on her lap, “Can I see your cast?” She was pulling on Lyn’s skirt.

“Sure you can see it.” She lifted her leg, but because of the weight of her cast, it was hard for her to hold it up where Lis could see it. JC grinned at her and sat down on the floor. He propped her foot up on his shoulder. Her eyes got wide and she shook her head, “You never cease to amaze me.”

Lis slipped down and looked at all of the signatures and notes, “I wanna put my name on there too.”

“OK. Dev, can you grab the marker off of the dresser?” Lyn pointed.

“Only if I can sign it too.” Dev ran over and grabbed the marker. She took the cap off and handed it to Lis.

“Where’s yours?” Lis looked into JC’s eyes.

“Right there.” JC twisted and pointed to his signature, near his ear.

“K. I’m gonna sign by JC.” Lis beamed. She leaned up on her knees, her tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth and her eyes narrowed as she neatly printed ELLIS . Next to her name, she drew a picture of a dog. “That’s Clover.”

“It’s BEAUTIFUL LISY!” Lyn pulled her back onto her lap, “Thank you!”

Dev grinned and signed on the top of the cast, To Number One: I love you! Get well soon! Number Four .

Lyn grabbed Dev’s hand pulling her closer, she whispered, “Devony, I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

JC carefully set her foot back on the floor. Suddenly, the relationship between Lyn and her sisters was more touching. He honestly felt honored to be able to see them together. When Lyn had been teaching, JC had missed out on so many events in Lyn’s life. He missed her graduations. He missed her first day teaching. He missed first dates and break-ups. He missed birthdays and family gatherings. But moments like this, seeing her with Lis on her lap and Dev sitting on the floor next to her chatting and catching up, made him feel like part of the family. All of the girls, with the exception of Bren, treated him as a brother. He liked that role. He liked playing big brother to Bren, Cat, Dev and Lis.

Lyn was another story. He didn’t want her looking at him like a brother, in fact, he hated the thought of her seeing him as a brother. He wasn’t sure when his feelings had changed. He wasn’t sure why his feelings had changed, but he suddenly found himself fighting the urge to kiss her when their heads were close or she gave him that little smile that only he understood.

“JC?” Her voice pulled him from his thoughts.

“What can I do for you Sweetpea?” His voice was deep, and soft. Dev looked at him and a smile quickly spread across her face.

“Lisy was telling you about her school talent show. She sang Pennies From Heaven just like you taught her. The teacher wouldn’t let her stand on top of the piano though.” Lyn smiled.

“OH LIS! That is great! Did they like it?” He held out his arms and she flung herself into them.

“UH HUH! Everyone clapped, and Ma cried. Dev’s got the movie in her stuff. I wanna show you.”

“Lis, I am so proud of you! Can the guys watch too? I bet they’d like to see it!”

“OK.”

JC hugged her, “I bet you were the best singer there!”

“Da said that he was proud of me.” She leaned close to his ears, with her tiny hands on his cheeks, “Ma said he cried too, but I’m not ‘posed to tell anybody.”

“That means he thought you were the best.”

Dev laid her head on Lyn knee and Lyn smoothed her hair back, “How are you doing Dev? You look tired.”

“I’m fine. Just jet lagged. It was a long day.”

“How long are you two going to be around?”

“Lis is here for a week. Stasia is going back to Florida to get ready for her exam next week, she is going to take Lis back with her. I’ll stay as long as you need help. I can’t believe you did this.”

“Neither can I. It’s going to be a huge pain in the butt, although the doctor assured me I’ll live.”

“I should hope so!” Dev laughed.

Justin was walking by the open door, he stopped, walked backwards into the doorway, “Well, well, well! Look at JC trying to keep all of the hot women for himself! Can I ask you for a date pretty lady?” He bent down and scooped up Lis.

“Hi Justin!” Lis rubbed the top of his head, “You used to have curls like me and Lyn. How come you don’t anymore?”

“I cut my hair.” Justin shrugged.

“I liked it better before.”

“LIS!” Lyn was horrified.

“Hey, it’s ok. She’s not the only one.” Justin tugged on one of her curls, “ We could get your hair cut like mine.”

“UH UH! Mine is like Lyn’s. Ma says it’s nice.”

“Your Ma is right. You and Lyn both have very beautiful hair, I guess I’ll have to let mine grow back again.”

“OK.”

Lyn shook her head, “Ellis, you are too much. That mouth of yours is going to get you in a lot of trouble one day.”

“How come?”

“Sometimes people don’t want to hear EVERYTHING you have to say.”

“How come?”

“LIS!” Dev rolled her eyes.

“What?”

Justin laughed and hugged her, “Can I keep you?”

Lis looked at him with confused eyes, “Um...”

“No Justin, you can’t keep her.” JC grinned at Lis, who looked down at him with thankful eyes. “She’s my girl! Right Lisy?”

“Yeah. I’m JC’s girl!”

“MAN! You get all the good ones!” Justin pouted.

Stasia was curled up in an arm chair in the corner of the room she was sharing with Lance. Jake was sleeping peacefully in her lap, and she was studying for one of her bar exams. JC was walking by the open door, with Lis sleeping in his arms. Stasia glanced up, “JC!” She whispered loudly.

He quietly walked into the room, “Hey.”

“Did she freak?” Stasia smiled up at him.

He sat down on the bed, laying Lis next to him, her little head resting in his lap, “Do you have time to talk?”

“I’ve been studying for hours. I could use a break.” She closed her book and set it on the table next to her.

Lance walked in and looked at the two of them, “Should I go?”

JC shook his head, “No. I’d actually like both of your thoughts on this.” He was unconsciously smoothing Lis’s hair back from her face.

Lance shut the door and walked over to sit on the floor in front of Stasia’s chair. Her fingers immediately began to play with the hair at the back of his neck. “So what’s up JC?”

“I know you guys probably don’t want to hear about my feelings for Lyn, especially after I was such...”

“An ass.” Stasia offered.

He smirked, “That doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

Lance smirked, “You know that we understand. Realizing that you’re in love can make you stupid. I seem to remember ordering Millie here to have security.”

“Hey I fled the state! We all do stupid things when we fall in love. Plus, think of it this way, you got your stupid stunt out of the way early, so it’s all smooth sailing from here on out.” Stasia smiled.

JC glanced down at Lis, sleeping peacefully, “I don’t know what I did to deserve friends like you. I don’t deserve your friendship, and I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”

“But you have both, so accept it and move on.” Lance smiled, “So what did you need to talk about?”

“Lyn.”

Stasia smirked, “What about Lyn? I think we both assumed she would be at the core of our conversation.”

“Guys, I want her to love me, but I don’t know how to let her love me. I don’t know if she wants to love me. I don’t know how to make her see me that way. I don’t know...anything anymore.” He sighed.

Lance laughed and JC’s eyes narrowed, “What’s so funny?”

“I think I said EXACTLY the same thing to Chris when Stasia and I were...getting together.”

Stasia looked down at Lance, “You did?”

“Sure I did. You of all people, should know I was CLUELESS!”

“I’m just surprised you talked to Chris.”

“Millie, Darlin’, you don’t know EVERYTHING.”

“Harry, Honey, I know most things...”

“Guys! Can we focus here?”

“Yeah. Sorry. My point is this: Love is confusing as all hell. I couldn’t think clearly, and for the first time in my life, I was TRULY afraid of rejection. Because it was the first time in my life I wanted to be accepted, completely accepted by someone. Someone who already had my heart, and didn’t know she had it. Millie had no clue I was in love with her. I didn’t even KNOW it until I heard myself saying it, and I realized I had never said anything so true in my life.”

JC watched Stasia while Lance was talking, he could see the emotions sweep across her features. They were so much in love. He knew in his heart that he and Lyn could have that. “How do I get it? How do I show her?”

“Be yourself. Not stupid, freaking out self. NORMAL JC, the one who is her best friend. Let her see why you guys are friends. Let her find out what it’s like to be with you every day again. It has been years since you two have been able to see each other this often. You just keep doing the sweet little things you’ve always done. JC, you flew her sisters in. Not everyone would have known that, that was EXACTLY the right thing to do. But YOU knew it, because you KNOW her.”

“So I don’t just walk in there and say, ‘Hey Babe! I love you. You better love me too!’?”

Stasia laughed loudly, “Well. That would be one approach. It might frighten her a little, but it’s the flat out truth.”

“OK. I don’t think I want to do that.”

“JC, I have known you for what? Six years now? And on some level, I have always known you and Lyn were right for each other. I believe that on some level she knows it too.” Lance shrugged, “Some things are just meant to be. It may not happen exactly how you thought it would. It may not fall into place like it does in the movies, but if it’s meant to happen, it will.” He looked back at Stasia, “I believe that with everything I have.”

“I wish I had your faith.” JC shook his head again.

“It’s easy to have it when you’re sitting where we are. We’ve fought the fight. I pray to God you don’t have to face anything remotely like what we went through to get together. JC, ANYTHING we can do to help...consider it done.” Stasia’s gray eye met his, with full force. Stasia’s eyes had the ability to make you feel fear, or completely loved and supported. At that moment, he knew she was there for him, always.

“Thank you.” He looked at Lis again, “This is what she looked like, you know. Just like Lis. Have you seen her baby pictures? She was an amazing child. In high school, everyone loved her. She never cared about cliques or social groups. Lyn accepted everyone, no matter what, and if you needed it, you always got a second chance.”

“You don’t need a second chance. You need a little faith in the two of you. You two are going to be amazing together.”

He got up, carefully lifted Lis to his chest, “Thanks guys.” He started for the door, and then turned to smile at them, “Thank you for the little talks about fireworks.” He winked at them and walked out the door.

Lance looked up at her, “How’d he know about that?”

“She must have told him.” A sly smile was spreading across her face, “Apparently, our Lyn tells JC everything.”

“Apparently.”

Stasia nudged Jake, who grunted at her, jumped from her lap to the floor and then up onto the bed. She slid out of her chair and onto the floor, pushing Lance down onto his back and laying on top of him, “You are SO SEXY when you are being all supportive and caring.” She kissed his neck as he chuckled.

“You are just plain old sexy.” His arms went around her back, and his fingers began tugging on the hem of her shirt.

“Who are you calling old?”

“Shut up Anastasia.” He kissed her neck.

“Shut me up James.”

“OOO! You called me James.” He laughed against the sensitive skin of her neck.

“Shut up...” His mouth silenced her.

Chris and Dani were walking down the hall, their fingers laced together. Dani was whispering quietly to him when he stopped, “What was that?”

Her palm laid flat against his stomach, “What was what?” Her eyes sparkled playfully.

Chris looked up and down the hall, walked up to a door, leaned close and shook his head, “No. Not this one.” He went to the next door and an evil smile spread across his face, “Who’s room is this Babe?”

“Lance and Stasia.” She walked over, “Why?”

“I should have known.” Chris smiled and Dani’s eyes grew wide, as he led her away by the hand. “Let’s go see if we can sound like that.”

“You voice is to high to moan that deep, Sweetie.” She giggled.

“We’ll see about that.” His eyebrows bounced as he playfully shoved her into their room.

Waking with a start, Lyn fought to catch her breath. She started to open her eyes, but the tiny hand sprawled across her face, explained how she had been woken up. She carefully lifted Lis’s hand from her face. She laid next to Lis, listening to the little girl breathing. Lis meant so much to her. She had been able to live a second childhood through her sister. After several long minutes, she decided sleep was not going to revisit her anytime soon. She carefully crawled out from under the covers, tucking them around the tiny form, cooing on the pillow next to her pillow.

Pulling a sweatshirt over her head, she picked up her crutches moved over to the table where she had some work piled up. She grabbed a file folder and decided to sit in the hallway until she got tired again. After several futile attempts to cross the room carrying the file, a pen and her glasses, she put the glasses on top of her head, the file folder in her mouth and clipped the pen to her pajama pants. Moving out into the hall, she crashed into Justin.

“WHOA! Where ya going?” He steadied her shoulders and took the file out of her mouth.

“I was just going to sit out here for a little while. Lisy smacked me in the face and woke me up, I couldn’t fall back to sleep, so I decided to catch up on some of the work I didn’t do today because I slept most of the day.

“You sure as hell aren’t going to sit in the hall, in the middle of the night, with a broken foot. Come on.” He led her to his own door. “You can work in here if you want. I’m not going to be going to bed for a while. Mor and I went for a walk and the fresh air woke me up.”

“Thanks Justin.”

“No problem. Make yourself at home.”

“OK. So if you were walking with Mor...where’s Mor?”

“She’s down at the pool. I’m going to change and go back down.” He grabbed his bathing suit, “So Lis smacked you?”

“Right in the middle of the face. Scared me to death!”

“Jon does stuff like that all the time. Were you with us the time he got his head stuck backstage? I had stage hands ready to pull the entire stage down three hours before a show. Or the time Steven stole Joey’s mic? They drive me crazy...” He turned to look at her, “But I love having them around. I think they’re the ones I miss most. You know, when we don’t get home for long stretches.”

“I didn’t realize how much I missed them, until I saw them standing there today. I miss my parents, Bren and Cat...but it’s different with Dev and Lis. My relationships are different with them. JC knew exactly what I needed, he knew I needed them...I didn’t know, but he did.” She nodded her head thoughtfully.

Justin smirked, crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed, “JC’s good like that...with you. For me he probably would have called Brit, or Lisa. Not that I don’t like my stepmother, but when I’m hurt or down, I want...”

“You’re Momma and Morgan.”

He smiled, “Am I that transparent?”

“Yeah. That’s one of the reasons we love you.” She smiled at him.

Justin was quiet for a few seconds, “Lyn?”

“Hmm?” She shuffled some of the paper in the folder on her lap.

“Are you bummed about you and Ryan?”

“Bummed? No. I think somewhere in my heart I knew all along that it wouldn’t happen. Which is ok, if it’s not meant to be...”

“So you still think you’ll find the right guy? Someone who will understand everything?”

Her eyebrows went up, “Everything what?”

“I mean, your relationship with JC and stuff. You know, someone who will accept that.”

“If they don’t accept JC, they don’t accept me. He’s part of the package deal. I think they should be more worried about HIM not accepting THEM!”

“Lyn...I...heard...something.” Justin looked down at his knuckles, studying them carefully.

“You know better than to believe the press.” She scowled.

“NO! I heard you and Mor talking earlier.”

“OH!” Her eyes grew wide.

He looked up into her eyes, “Are JC and I ruining your lives?”

“WHAT!?! NO! OF COURSE NOT! Justin, you are our best friends. You obviously didn’t hear the entire conversation.” She leaned forward, cupping his cheeks between her hands, “She loves you. She needs you.”

“OK. It would kill me...it would kill JC...”

“You two have nothing to worry about, I swear to you.” She smiled reassuringly.

“That’s all I need to know.” He stood up, bent down, hugged her tightly and walked into the bathroom, “HEY LYN?” He yelled through the door.

“Yeah?”

“Did I miss all the good stuff?”

“I guess you’ll never know.” She laughed.

“Then I guess I won’t tell you what JC said about you.” He grabbed a towel and jogged out the door.

She pushed herself up out of the chair, and hopped to the door, “GET BACK HERE!”

He waved as the elevator doors slid shut. She shook her head laughing, “BRAT!”

JC’s head popped out into the hall. His hair was standing out in every direction, except the left side of his head where it was matted. “Two questions Lynie.” He squinted and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “One. Why are you in Justin’s room? And two. What’s with the screaming?”

Her cheeks flushed and she whispered, “I was going to work in the hall when Justin ran into me, he said I could work in here for a while. I don’t want to wake Lisy up with the lights.”

He stepped the rest of the way into the hall and leaned against the wall, “Makes sense. And the screaming?” His left eyebrow went up.

“OH! That. Well, that’s just me being stupid and forgetting not everyone else is awake right now.” She gave him a big goofy grin.

“You may be wrong about that. Generally people screaming will wake this group up.”

“Should think you’d all be used to the screaming. I should think it could even lull you to sleep.” She smirked.

“So that’s how it’s going to be? You’re going to play THAT card?”

“It’s played my friend. The girls in the parking lot are not screaming MY name!”

“You don’t want to go there Lynie.” His eyes narrowed.

“No one is trying to sneak into MY room!”

“Allyn.”

“No one is sneaking onto MY bus!”

He scooped her up and threw her on Justin’s bed, tickling her sides. She squealed and squirmed, “I’M SORRY! I’M SORRY! I take it back! Stop! PLEASE stop!”

He flopped down next to her, lifted her cast onto his legs, inspecting the signatures. He left her foot on his legs, shifted until he was half on his side, threw his arm across her waist and grinned. “I like you when you giggle and squeal.”

“Yeah well, I like it when you’re snugly.” Her hand found his on her stomach.

Justin slid his key card into the lock on the door. He was about to flip on the light when he noticed Lyn laying on the bed. Morgan poked her head in, “Night Justin.”

“Shh. Lyn fell asleep on my bed.” He pointed.

“Um...Justin, SHE’S NOT ALONE!” She hissed.

“HUH?” He crept all the way around the corner, “JC?”

“Who the hell else would it be?”

“Oh I don’t know...RYAN maybe!” He glared down at her.

“Whatever! No fireworks remember.” She tip-toed over and covered them up, “Come on. You can bunk with me.”

They quietly left the room and went down the hall to Morgan’s room. She stopped before slipping the key card in, “Crap.”

“Woman, it is 3:30 in the morning, would you open the door? I want to get some sleep tonight.”

“I forgot Dev is sharing my room.”

“Unbelievable.” He ran a hand over his head. “We’ll sleep in JC’s room.”

He tried JC’s door, and as he expected, it was unlocked. They both climbed in bed, Justin mumbling under his breath. “The things I do for these fools.”

“Shut UP Justin! There are worse things in the world than sleeping in the same bed as me. Not to mention the fact that I’M not the cover hog. AND they would do the same thing for you, so shut the hell up and go to sleep.”

“Morgan Ann!”

“WHAT?”

“I love you.” He reached for her hand over the covers. They were both just drifting off to sleep when a horrific horn began to sound in the hall.

“GOOD GOD! WHAT IS THAT?” He threw back the covers, as there was a pounding on the door.

“JC GET UP AND OUT! FIRE ALARM!” Dre was yelling.

Justin grabbed Morgan’s hand and pulled her out into the hall behind him. People were tripping out of every room up and down the hall, Joey was standing in his doorway, watching his friends spill out of the rooms. “What is this, shack up night?”

JC ran out into the hall with Lyn in his arms, her crutches in her lap. He unceremoniously dumped her in Joey’s arms and he ran into Lyn’s room. Seconds later, he emerged with Lis in his arms, wrapped in Lyn’s bathrobe.

Ron and Lonnie did a head count, and security surrounded the group. Jay raised his voice, “Stay close. Keep the little one there in the middle JC. Go straight to your buses. Don’t stop. Don’t talk to fans. Now move!” They walked in a group to the stairwell, people were already rushing down the stairs, Joey made sure he had a good grip on Lyn, that JC was next to him with Lis and that Dev was walking in front of him with Ryan next to her.

Lyn kept her hand on Dev’s shoulder. “Devony, do you know which bus to go to?”

“Yours. I know where I’m going don’t worry Allyn. We’re all fine.” Dev shouted back over her shoulder.

As soon as the group hit the parking lot, things got crazy. Fans that had been camped out around the building were running toward them. Guests from the hotel were pouring out into the night. Security was having trouble keeping the group together, they had too many extra people with them to maintain a safe perimeter. Dre leaned close to JC’s ear, “I DON’T CARE WHAT BUS YOU GET ON, JUST DO IT FAST!” JC nodded and picked up his pace, Joey matched his stride.

The scene was insane, fire trucks were screaming into the driveway, fans were running after the large group trying to get to the buses at the back of the lot. Regular hotel guests were truing to find out what the extra commotion was about. Lyn’s eyes were scanning the group surrounding her. Lance was holding Stasia tightly to his side, she was holding Jake against her chest, her face buried in his little neck. Lonnie and Ron had basically enveloped the pair.

Lyn knew that since Stasia was attacked, she was a little afraid of crowds, but one surging at them like this was enough to frighten anyone, let alone someone that had been assaulted in the middle of a screaming mob. Lyn knew Ron would never let anything happen to her friend, but Lyn was still afraid for her.

Jay was walking quickly in front of Justin and Morgan. This was the first time Lyn had ever seen Justin hold Mor’s hand in public. She knew it was simply to comfort her, but it surprised Lyn.

Chris was the only one who seemed unphased. He had Korea under one arm, Busta under the other. He and Dani were carrying on a normal conversation as they walked to the buses. Anthony was guiding them along the way.

Dre was sticking very close to JC and Lis. He was using his body too shield Lis from the crowd’s view. JC was clutching her tightly to his chest, keeping her head tucked under Lyn’s bathrobe. The closest bus was Lance and Chris’s. Security made a last minute change and directed them all onto their bus.

The bus, which was outfitted for two men and three dogs, was cramped to say the least. Eighteen people were smashed into the confined space. Lance was standing in the corner of the lounge, with Stasia wrapped tightly in his arms, he was whispering quietly against her temple.

Justin reached to flip on all of the lights, and Jay’s hand clamped over his. “If you turn those on, those people screaming outside can see in.”

“Good point.” Justin sunk onto the couch. “Are we all here?”

“Yeah. Twelve of you guys, six security. We’re all here.” Lonnie’s voice carried from somewhere in the back of the bus.

Joey set Lyn down next to JC, who was still holding Lis, who had slept through the whole ordeal. “She’s still out cold.” JC smirked at Lyn.

“Figures.” She shook her head and laughed. “DEV!” She looked around for her sister.

“Back here Al.” She leaned forward, so Lyn could see her.

Chris flopped down right in the middle of the aisle, “I would like to compliment everyone on their jammies. Dev, I especially like the rubber duckies.”

“Thank you Chris. Did you notice the matching slippers?” She held up her foot, which was covered by large, stuffed duck slippers, “Courtesy of Stasia.”

“Very cool!” Chris winced and Busta crawled across his neck.

Joey was sitting hunched over on the bottom bunk, leaning into the aisle, “Lis still sleeping?”

“Yeah.” JC nodded.

“Good. That means I can ask why EVERYONE came out into the hall in pairs. DUDE! Dev, Ryan and I are the only one not getting any action.” He grinned at Ryan, “I’ll fight you for her.”

“Nah. You don’t even get to try buddy. Have you ever heard the name Angela?” Ryan smirked.

“You’ve got me on that one.” He laughed, “So that doesn’t answer my question though, JUSTIN.”

Justin flushed, “Not our fault. Ask JC and Lyn. THEY were sleeping in MY bed, Mor and I didn’t have a choice.”

JC’s eye grew huge. “WE WERE TALKING AND FELL ASLEEP! Lance help me out here, that happened with you and Stasia before you were dating right? That morning Jess woke us up screaming.”

“You don’t want to use that as an example buddy.” Lance smirked.

“Why not. You guys freaked out at us, because we teased you guys about hooking up. We got lectured about having sisters and knowing better about talking about a girl like that.” JC’s eyes were wide.

Stasia grinned evilly, “We lectured you guys because it was rude to make the comments. We never said you weren’t right.”

Chris sat bolt upright, “WE WERE RIGHT?”

Lance laughed, “We’d been making out when we fell asleep all curled up. You guys were completely right. We had hooked up.” He shrugged.

“I KNEW IT!” Justin pointed at him.

Lance shrugged, looked down at Stasia and said, “Can you blame me? Look at her.”

“Aww. Thank Harry.” She kissed his cheek.

“I thought I was going to get in trouble for that one.”

“You are, just not now.” She settled against his chest he chuckled, kissed her neck and she sighed, “OK, we’re even.”.

Joey cleared his throat, “SO JC!! Back to you and Lyn hooking up.”

“WE DIDN’T HOOK UP!” JC growled.

“RIGHT!” Chris laughed.

Lyn dropped her cast into the middle of Chris’s stomach, he let his breath out quickly as she stuck her tongue out at him, “Tell you what. If anything ever happens between JC and I, you all will be the first to know. DORKS! I can’t believe this is what you’ve been reduced to, hoping your friends hook up so you have something to gossip about.”

Dre pushed his way down the hall, “All I know is, there are a lot of Mommas I know who wouldn’t be happy about all of this talk. I’m going to see what’s going on outside.”

Lyn’s lips were curling up, JC glanced at her, and they both burst out laughing. Everyone else looked at them, and began laughing. Dev just shook her head.

Lance looked around, “We can get eight in the bunks if we’re willing to double up. That leaves eight to settle on the couches and stuff. Not exactly comfortable, but we might be able to get a little sleep.”

Ron sighed, “Talent get’s the bunks first, but you do need to sleep two to a bunk or it will never work.”

Joey looked around, “OK. Lance, Stasia you sleep in your bunk. Dani, Chris...in yours. Mor and Justin in the top bunk, JC and Lyn, WITH Lis in the bottom, that should be tight, but it will work. The rest of us can find somewhere to sleep.”

JC shook his head, “Dev, you squeeze in with your sisters.”

“No way. They are both bed hogs. YOU sleep with them. I’ll take my chances out here.” She laughed.

Justin rolled his eyes, “Why don’t we just get on our own buses? This is crazy.”

Lonnie looked out the window, “Way too many people out there. We don’t have enough security to make sure all of the buses are secure. Not to mention, this is only until we can go back into the hotel.”

Justin groaned, “This SUCKS!”

Chris threw his shoe at Justin, “This is uncomfortable for everyone you big baby. Now quit whining and go to bed.”

They all began to shift around, settling into their assigned locations. Lyn slipped into the bunk first. JC handed Lis to her and then laid down on his side. “Oh this is COZY.”

“She’s a smacker. Watch out.” Lyn grinned over Lis.

“Thanks for the warning. Hey, how’s your foot?”

“Throbbing. Thanks for asking.” She rolled her eyes.

“No problem. Have you ever noticed that crap like this only happens to us? Fire alarms in the middle of the night. Oh yeah! This is fun.”

“Hey, there are a whole bunch of people outside, with no bus to cram into. I don’t think we have anything to complain about.”

“Geeze. You’re right. I hadn’t thought about it like that.”

“I know.”

Joey’s head popped under the curtain, “Could you to SHUT UP?”

“Sorry Joe.” They said together.

When they made their way into the venue, all of their dressing room doors were locked. “NICE! We get three hours of sleep, and we can’t even sit in our own dressing rooms.” Justin moaned.

Johnny came stalking down the hall, “I asked them to keep the doors locked. We are having a little...meeting.”

They all exchanged looks as they followed him down the hall. He looked over his shoulder and noticed the girls all staying put, “OH NO! Ladies, you get to join us on this one.”

Lyn looked desperately at Stasia who smirked, rolled her eyes and leaned over, “I assume someone got pictures of all of us in our jammies last night. We’re going to get the image lecture.” She glanced at Ron, “Big guy, can you hang out with Lis and Jake?”

“I’d love to. Come on Munchkin, let’s see if we can find a snack.” Lis took his hand.

“Is he going to yell at us?” Lyn looked at her with wide eyes.

“Lyn, honey, you work for us. He can’t do a damn thing to you. He’s going to blow off steam, it will make him feel better and then it will be over. I promise. He loves all of us.”

“I work for HIM too!’

“Eh..technically we both do. But he can’t fire us without the Bass’s blessing, and that will never happen.”

“You’re sure?”

“HELLO! They CAN’T fire me, cause...well I won’t let them. And they can’t fire you without my blessing, so DON’T worry, stay close to me, and we’ll be fine. I’m not afraid of Johnny.”

They all made their way onto the venue floor, sitting in the front row of chairs the group stared at Johnny as he paced in front of them. Dev leaned over, “Lyn, he looks like he’s going to kill someone.”

“According to Stasia, we have nothing to worry about.” Lyn shrugged.

“WHAT were you thinking?” Johnny held up a magazine with a picture of all of them huddled together in their pajamas.

Chris propped his feet up on the chair next to him. “We were thinking that the hotel was burning down and we better get the hell out before we all died.”

“So you all go outside in various stages of undress, in front of every fan and their camera?”

Joey sighed, “Johnny, it was three something in the morning. You’re lucky no one was naked. We all had on pants and shirts. There really wasn’t anything we could do about it.”

“Funny you should open your mouth Joe.” Johnny held up another paper with a picture of Joey carrying Lyn, the headline read, FATONE DUMPS GIRLFRIEND FOR MYSTERY WOMAN .

Joey rolled his eyes, “You look cute Lyn.” Lyn slouched down in her seat, trying to become invisible.

“You’re really funny Joe! Do you know how much damage control we have to do?”

“Johnny, you can’t come down so hard on Joe, all we knew is we had to get out fast and that Lyn has a broken ankle, she couldn’t very well go down seven flights of stairs on that thing.” Justin jumped in.

“OH! Mr. HAND HOLDER has chimed in!”

Morgan’s eye grew large as Johnny tossed a paper into Justin’s lap. Johnny growled, “Has something changed between you two, because we could have controlled the way this information hit the press if you’d told me!”

Justin stood up, throwing the paper down on the ground, “YEAH JOHNNY! THINGS HAVE CHANGED! When Mor’s life may be in danger, I HELD HER HAND! SHOOT ME! She’s my best friend! This is bull and you know it! The press knows who Stasia and Dani are! They know who Lyn is, there is no reason for this crap. The standard press release will cover this. Lyn works for Free Lance. Dev is her nurse and sister. Dani is Chris’s girlfriend and the president of his company. Mor is my best friend and if people have a problem with that, TOUGH!” He reached down, grabbed Morgan’s hand and dragged her out the door behind him. He shouted over his shoulder, “GET MY DRESSING ROOM UNLOCKED!”

Johnny looked at the remaining faces. Lance and JC were sitting next to one another, “Don’t you two have anything to say?”

JC sighed, “What do you want us to say? What’s done is done. If you want us to talk to the press, we’ll do it. You want us to talk to the fan, we’ll do it. Other than that, there isn’t much we can do.”

Lance nodded, “We dealt with the press when Millie and I got together. I think the thing we learned is that, as long as we tell the truth, our fans are supportive.” He looked over at Stasia, who nodded her agreement, “And honestly Johnny, Justin is right. His delivery may not be the best but, we have lives. We left Transcon so we could live them, we’re not going to go back to living like that. I’ll tell you what, how about Millie gives Carson a call, we’ll do a phone call during TRL and everything will be fixed.”

Johnny sighed, “You two are always the cooler heads aren’t you?”

JC stood up, “Not always.” He winked at Stasia who smiled warmly.

Johnny shook his head, “Stasia, will you make the call?”

“Glad to do it Johnny.”

“I guess I should go talk to Justin.”

Lance laughed, “You should, but do you really want to?”

Johnny ran his hand over his face, “This should be fun.”

Stasia stood up, “Lyn, how about you come with me to talk to Carson.”

“Alright.” Lyn looked at Stasia, “How about I call Carson. I’d like to feel like I’m earning my keep.”

“Sure.” Stasia smiled. “His number is on your computer.”

“OK.”

“You can either use Lance’s dressing room or the toy room. No one should be in there right now.”

“I’ll go to the toy room then.” She grabbed her bag, slung it over her shoulder and made her way to the toy room. She plugged in her computer and pulled up the address book and quickly dialed Carson’s number.

“Hello?”

“Carson, this is Lyn McLachlan. I’m...”

“JC’s friend. How are you Lyn?”

“I’m ok. I’m calling...”

“Because you work for Lance now, and he is doing damage control for the pictures of the big pajama party you guys had last night.” He laughed.

“You’re good at this game.” Lyn smiled.

“That’s what I get paid for. So how is it going working for Free Lance?”

“I’m loving it. I broke my ankle two days ago, which is making things a little more complicated.” ,p> “I’m sorry to hear that, but I’m sure they are going to take good care of you.”

“They already are. So Carson, what’s the buzz about these pictures?”

“Well, everyone knows about the fire alarm, so that’s good. But Justin holding Morgan’s hand and Joey carrying you are the sticking points. You can’t see a cast in any of the pictures so that will be easy enough to clear up. What’s going on with Justin and Morgan, is there a story there?”

“No, not really. She was just frightened. The crowd was huge, and security was having a hard time holding them back, we thought the hotel was on fire and we weren’t sure what was going to happen.”

“That makes sense. Who was JC carrying?”

“My little sister.”

“Liz right?”

“No, it’s Lis, but I’m impressed you were that close.”

“Sorry about that. So who am I going to talk to today? I assume that’s what’s Lance wants.”

“Yep. Who do you want?”

“Any of the guys. Doesn’t matter. I’ll set it up for the call-in when we are about to do the news. I’ll tell Brian what’s up and he’ll do a little thing about the fire.”

“OK, I’ll call you back when I know which of the guys it will be.”

“Oh, don’t stress out about it. How about I call you after I talk to Brian.”

“That’s great. Thanks Carson, we owe you.”

“No you don’t. Lance will never let me live down the fact that I tried to date Stasia.”

“I’ll see what I can do to help you out in that department. Which reminds me, how’s Tara?”

“She’s great, the wedding is coming up pretty quick.”

“Are you getting excited?”

“Yeah, but I’m sure you’ll be there, all of the guys are invited. Well, they don’t know that yet, but they will be.”

“As long as they don’t have a show that night, I’m sure they’ll be there.”

“OK, I’ll give you a call later.”

“Thanks again!” She gave him her number and hung up.

She worked her way down the hall to Lance’s dressing room. After giving them the details, she smiled, “I don’t suppose you’ve seen my sisters?”

Stasia smiled, “Lis is playing with Ron, who is officially having more fun than she is, and Dev was talking to Ryan on the stage last time I saw her.”

Lyn smirked, “Is that so?”

Stasia giggled, “Yep!”

“Well then, I’ll leave her alone. I’m going to go make some phone calls to the next few venues about Ryan’s rider.”

Lance smiled, “Could you do me a favor and call the studio in LA as well, let’s see what we can do about getting him in to lay a few tracks soon.”

“Consider it done.”

Lyn was making her way down the hall on her crutches when JC walked out into the hall. “Lynie, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure. Walk to the toy room with me.”

“OK.” They walked quietly down the hall.

She glanced over at him, “I thought you wanted to talk to me.”

“I did, I mean I do.”

As they walked into the toy room her phone rang, “Hang on a second JC. This is probably Carson, I have to take it.”

“Hey, we all have to work.” He grinned at her.

The phone rang again, “Lyn McLachlan.”

“Hey Lyn, it’s Jess. I have some paperwork I want you to review, I’m emailing it to Stasia. She’ll go over everything with you and explain what’s going on. We are ready to file the lawsuit against Powers. I just want to make sure everything is true and correct.”

“Jess, is this going to be ok?”

“Dearie, this is going to be fine. The guy was out of line, and you’ll be fine. I promise you.”

“OK. When should I expect the stuff?”

“It should be there now.”

“I’ll pull it up and print it out. Thanks Jess.”

“No problem. Tell Stasia I’ll see her next week in Florida.”

“I will.” She closed her phone at looked at JC.

“What did Jess want? Was she looking for Stasia?” He smiled at her.

“JC, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this. I was going to tell you a while ago, but things kept coming up, but now seems to be a good time.”

“Tell me what?” He looked concerned.

“You know how Jess was in Buffalo earlier this week?”

“Yeah.”

“She was there to see me.” Lyn sighed.

“You? I thought she had come to talk to me about Stasia.”

“No, she was there, because I’ve decided to file a lawsuit against Mr. Powers and Hazelwood. Bethany called and told me Powers is spreading false rumors about me. I didn’t think I had any options left. I don’t know what I ever did to the man, but he is out to ruin any chance I would ever have of teaching again.”

His eyes were wide, “Oh wow. When did you decide?”

“A couple of days ago.”

She was so afraid he was going to be angry she hadn’t told him sooner. He was normally the first person she went to with things like this, but she had needed Stasia and Jess, now she was regretting not finding him right away, and telling him about it. He was staring at his hands, folded in his lap, he closed his eyes, “Are you ok?”

She was shocked by the question, “What?”

“Are you ok?” His eyes slammed into hers, “I’m so sorry all of this is happening to you. I can’t help but feel that if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be having this trouble with Mr. Powers. You would still be at Hazelwood right now, and you wouldn’t have broken your ankle.”

“That is the most ridiculous thing you have ever say. I would be having trouble with Powers no matter what, he hates ME not you. I would have gotten fired either way, and I wouldn’t already have a job, that I am LOVING. I probably would have fallen and broken my ankle no matter what, think about it, I’m a HUGE klutz.” As slow smile spread across JC’s face, “What? What are you smiling about?”

“You are fantastic! I can’t believe you are trying to make me feel better. Why do you always do that?” He pulled her close and hugged her.

She turned so she was laying on the couch, with her head in his lap, “That’s what I’m here for, to make you feel good.” She smiled up into his eyes.

“You do your job well.” He smoothed her curls back, smiling down at her happy face. He knew that everything would work out in the long run. “We’re gonna get through this Powers stuff, TOGETHER. No matter what happens, you and I will fight this guy together.”

“I know. No one has ever been able to beat the two of us when we put our minds together. Powers doesn’t know what he’s up against.” She was excited to know that the one person she wanted on her side, was going to be there for her. She was going to be fine, and JC was going to make sure of it. She smiled, realizing how comfortable she was, laying with her head in his lap, everything was going to be just fine.