Laurie stood at the back of the venue while the
guys goofed around on the stage. She
could see Michelle sitting in the front row talking to someone. If she had to guess who it was, she would
say it was Hannah. She took a deep
breath and began to walk toward the stage.
Lance saw her first and he waved at her, drawing
JC’s attention. He flashed JC and ‘I
told you so’ look and laughed as JC removed his mike pack, jumped off the stage
and ran to her. The minute he reached
her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly.
“I’m so glad you’re here.” He murmured into her
hair and then kissed it. He pulled back
a little to look at her. “God I’ve
missed you.”
“I missed you too,” she replied quietly.
JC bit his bottom lip. He was quite aware that they had an audience. “We can talk after soundcheck, ok? We’ll grab some food and take it into the
Quiet Room.”
He bent his head to kiss her and then took her hand
and led her to where Michelle was sitting with Hannah. The three women watched as JC jumped back
onto the stage and put his mike pack back on.
When the first
bar of ‘Pop’ filled the stadium, Michelle turned to Laurie and Hannah leaned in
to listen.
“So?” She prodded.
“What did he say?”
“Not a lot… he just said that he’s glad I’m here,
he missed me and that we can talk after soundcheck.”
“I hope everything goes well,” Hannah smiled
sweetly. “You and JC are made for each
other.”
**********
As soon as the guys were finished with soundcheck,
JC practically ripped his mike pack from his body and jumped down in front of
the chairs where the girls were sitting and grabbed Laurie’s hand.
“I’m stealing her, you might be able to have her
back later,” he grinned and helped Laurie to her feet.
They chatted casually while they pick and chose at
the food the caterers had laid out for the band and their entourage before
going back to the Quiet Room with it.
The moment the door closed behind them, JC set his plate of food down on
the table and then did the same with Laurie’s.
As he pulled her into his arms and lowered his head to kiss her, she
pulled away from him and wrapped her arms around her body. JC placed his hands on her shoulders and tried
to make her look at him. It didn’t
work.
“Laur?
Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
She raised her head and met his eyes. “I think we need to talk.”
Laurie walked over to the sofa and sat down on it,
with JC close behind her. He sat down
beside her and covered her hands with one of his own.
“What’s going on?” He asked apprehensively.
Laurie took a deep breath. “Was the only reason you went with me to the
airport because you had to be there to pick up Alexandria?”
“Laurie…”
“No Josh, I really want to know.”
“Honestly, it was just a really freaky coincidence
that her flight was arriving just as you were leaving.” He lowered his head. “I’ve always wanted to go with you to the
airport, just so I could spend a bit more time with you… even if it was just an
extra thirty minutes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me she was coming?” She asked quietly.
“I didn’t want to ruin the rest of our time
together.” He told her. “I didn’t want
you to feel like I wanted Alexandria here… she invited herself out.”
“I just… I hated being in LA with Craig with the
knowledge that she was here with you.
With the one I’m supposed to
be with.”
“Trust me, nothing happened. She was a bitch the entire time she was
here… you should have heard her on the bus after the show Friday night.” JC
rolled his eyes.
“No thank you.”
Laurie paused. “I’m sorry for
being so sensitive about this, but it really hurt me when I found out she was
here.”
JC drew her into his arms and kissed the top of her
head.
“Aww honey, it’s all right. You’re entitled to feel this way.” He held
her a bit longer and hoped she would tell him what happened with Craig. When she didn’t say anything, he took it as
a sign that he was supposed to say something.
“Next week when Alexandria is here for the release party, I’m going to
tell her that I want a divorce.”
Laurie raised her head and sniffed. “Really?”
“Yeah.” He rubbed her back. “It’s gotten to the point where I’m so in
love with you, that I can’t stand to be around her anymore. I want to be with you and you alone.”
She buried her face in his neck and her next words
were slightly muffled. “I broke it off
with Craig… he agreed to the divorce.”
“Oh, thank God.” JC hugged her tightly. “I was so worried when you said you might
not come back. I thought you might have
changed your mind.” He drew back a
little and grinned down at her. “So
after I tell Alexandria next week, there’s nothing to hold us back… there’s
nothing to stop us from being together.”
“Nothing at all,” Laurie murmured and placed her
hand on the back of his neck. She
looked into his eyes. “I hope you know
that my heart belongs to you only. It
will never belong to anyone else.”
“I feel the same way.”
He brushed his lips gently across hers briefly
before the kiss became more passionate.
Laurie felt her heart flutter and it felt like JC was kissing her for
the first time. She returned his kiss
with all the love she felt for him and for the first time since Europe, she
felt free to fall even more deeply in love with him.
**********
“I can’t
hear anything.” Justin whispered, the frustration evident in his voice.
“Maybe because you shouldn’t be listening in the first place.” Joey cuffed the back of
his head and dragged him away from the door.
“Oww,” Justin whined and glared at him. He walked over to the sofa and flopped down
beside Chris who was watching an older episode of South Park. He was also working his way through a large
bag of chips, which Justin immediately reached for.
“Get your own, man.” Chris growled and made sure
the bag was out of his young friend’s reach.
“Can I at least have a drink of your soda?”
Chris sighed and passed the can and watched as
Justin polished the rest of the fizzy liquid off. Justin belched loudly before passing the empty can back to Chris.
“Thanks.”
Justin
threw an exaggerated wink at Chris.
“Anytime.”
“Anyway,” Lance interrupted. “Are we all up for hitting Santa Cruz on
Friday?”
“That was random.”
Joey commented.
“Actually, it wasn’t. C and I were discussing it last night during dinner. That’s one of the reasons I invited Hannah
out and it would be fun if we all went.”
“I’m in,” Chris said with a mouthful of food.
“What about your wrist?” Michelle reminded
him.
Chris shrugged.
“I’ll deal.”
“Yeah, that sounds like fun… I don’t know what
Stacy’s schedule is like for this weekend, but I’ll call her and ask her.” Justin said.
“Dee might like it,” Joey mused. “I’m just not sure how well she can get
around with a broken toe.”
“Well it’s your
fault it’s broken.” Lance told him.
“You shouldn’t have been running in the halls.”
“Oh come on, we do it all the time and nothing has
ever happened to any of us.” Justin laughed.
“Umm hello?
Chris, hallway, broken wrist.” Joey retorted.
Michelle covered her mouth to hide a snicker while
the rest of them laughed out loud.
Chris slouched down into the sofa and pouted.
“I hate you all.”
**********
The sound of the laughter drew JC and Laurie away
from each other and they walked into the Toy Room to see what was going
on. The minute the door opened however,
the laughter stopped and everyone looked in their direction.
“What?” JC looked down to make sure his clothes
were all in order. “Do I have something
hanging out of my nose?”
Joey walked over to JC and wiped something from the
side of his mouth. “You’ve got some
lipstick or something here…” He grinned.
“I thought you were supposed to be talking in there?” Lance tilted his head
slightly to the side.
“Well it’s kind of hard to talk when your lips are
stuck to each other.” Chris laughed.
“That could be why you didn’t hear anything,
Justin.” Hannah added.
Justin shot a glare in her direction and she just
grinned.
“Come on guys, knock it off… you’re embarrassing
Laurie.” JC scolded.
“Hey,” Michelle interjected, not wanting to
embarrass Laurie any further. And she
wanted to know what was said in the Quiet Room. “Aren’t you guys due for make-up in five minutes?”
“Is it that time already?” Lance asked and looked
at his watch. “Damn. Hey Laurie, did C mention that we’re going
to Santa Cruz on Friday?”
“No, we discussed other things. Why?
Are you inviting me?”
“Do you want to go?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m inviting you.” Lance grinned.
“Perfect, so it’s a date.”
JC looked back and forth between Laurie and Lance
as their conversation transpired and frowned.
“What about me?”
Laurie touched his arm. “Oh sweetie, we’ll let you come too.”
“You’ll let
me come?” JC raised his eyebrows.
Justin covered his ears. “Too much information.”
“Damn, the kid beat me to it.” Joey frowned.
Laurie blushed again and Hannah spoke up. “Will you guys just leave before you
embarrass the poor woman to death?”
“Yeah, we need to go get sexified!” Justin
exclaimed and wiggled his ass.
Michelle shook her head and tried not to
laugh. “Will… you… guys… just… leave?”
Chris gave Michelle a quick kiss and followed the
rest of the guys out of the room. The
minute the door closed, she descended upon Laurie like a vulture.
“You want to know, don’t you?”
“Who me?” Michelle asked innocently and inspected
her nails. “Not at all… I was just umm…
coming over to make conversation.
That’s all.”
Laurie just raised her eyebrow. “All right… what do you want to talk about?”
“Oh… I don’t know…” She grinned.
“You want to know what Josh and I talked about…
don’t you?”
“Well… maybe… just a little.” She told her
sheepishly.
“He knows that Craig and I are no longer together…”
“And?” Hannah and Michelle said together.
“He apologized for not telling me that Alexandria
was coming out…”
“And?” They said in unison again.
“And I don’t know if I should tell you the last
part… it would be up to Josh…”
“If it’s what I think it is, Lance already
knows.”
“About next week?” Laurie asked.
“Yes.” Hannah replied.
Michelle looked from Laurie to Hannah and then back
to Laurie. “What’s next week?”
“Well, since Lance and Hannah already know… Josh is
going to tell Alexandria he wants a divorce when she flies to LA for the
release party on Monday.”
Michelle squealed.
“Really?”
“Really.” Laurie laughed.
“That’s so fantastic!” Michelle was jumping up and
down and she gave Laurie a huge hug.
“Now you and JC can be together without having anything to worry about!”
“I know.” Laurie sighed happily. “I can’t wait.”