All or Nothing

By: Jennifer

Chapter 1

“I’ll get it! I’ll get it!” Caytlyn exclaimed as she ran to answer the ringing phone in the house. It was hard to find their way around the new place that Cay and Janey had recently moved into in Cambridge but they were finding their way around pretty quickly. “I’m coming damn it! Hold on!” she said as the answering machine picked up the call.

“Hello you’ve reached Janey and Caytlyn….” The answering machine began.

“Hello…..Hello….I’m here!” she said cutting off the machine and swearing to herself as she tried to turn it off. “Hang on a second. I’m sorry, hi, this is Cay how can I help you?” she said finally disconnecting the answering machine.

“Hi Caytlyn. May I speak with Janey please?” the unfamiliar voice asked. Caytlyn was immediately weary of anyone calling either herself or her sister. After starting to date 2/5ths of the band NSYNC the girls had received many phone calls from people all across the country. They were considering changing their last names so that all the press would just stop hounding them.

“Hi, may I ask who’s calling please?” Cay asked.

“Oh certainly, this is Keith Lockhart from the Boston Pops Orchestra and I’m calling regarding Janey’s audition.” He continued, “Is she able to come to the phone?” he asked.

“Oh my God! Are you serious? Of course you’re serious. I’m sorry, Janey is at rehearsal right now and so no she’s not home. Can I give her a message?” she asked excited for the news that she was about to hear for her sister.

“Well, if you could let her know that I called with some good news for her, I’d appreciate it. My number is 781-656-1978. Have a great day Caytlyn.”

“Yeah, I’ll have her call you as soon as she gets in. I’ll be sure to give her the message.” And Caytlyn hung up the phone. Cay wasn’t sure that she was going to be able to control her excitement until her sister returned from rehearsal. Janey had dreamed of auditioning for the Boston Pops since she began playing the flute when she was 9 years old. It had been her determination that got her the audition. Janey had always told her family that by the time she was 40 years old, she would be playing in the Pops and as far as Caytlyn could see, that dream was about to come true.

Ring, Ring, Ring. “That damn phone never stops ringing does it?” Caytlyn said as she walked to the phone to see whose phone number came up on the Caller ID. When she saw the name of her boyfriend Lance she immediately picked up the phone.

“Hey gorgeous how are you?” Lance said in his southern drawl. Cay and Janey had been dating Lance and Chris from the group NSYNC ever since they met the two guys in the previous July. It was hard for all of them being so far apart but Chris and Lance kept each other sane on tour while Cay and Janey did the same for each other at home. When the girls moved in together it made life much easier for both of them and it gave the guys easier access to find them instead of trying five different phone numbers just to talk to their girlfriends.

“I’m great sweetie, how are you? I miss you so much!” Cay said into the phone happy to hear the southern drawl of Lance’s voice.

“I miss you too darlin’. Only another week or so and we’ll be home to see you girls. I can’t wait to see your beautiful eyes.”

“You always know what to say to make me week in the knees don’t you?” Cay replied. “So how are you guys doing?”

“We’re doing good. Dance rehearsals this week so you know how much fun that is for me.” He joked. Lance had an incredible bass voice but his dancing skills left a bit to be desired. Whenever the guys were in dance rehearsals he was incredibly tired all the time and just hearing Cay’s voice made him happy. “How are you girls doing? You are both in rehearsals right now too right?” he asked. He knew that Janey was rehearsing for the small community orchestra she had joined upon her return to Boston after their trip to Florida the previous July and Caytlyn was busy with rehearsals and performances for the Tanglewood Choir that she was accepted into that year.

“Yeah, we are both really busy. Jay is at rehearsal right now and I’m dying for her to get home! I have GOT to talk to her like now! No offense sweetie, but I was actually hoping it was her on the phone when you just called.”

“No offense taken at all honey. What’s going on anyway? Some news about the Pops?” he asked anxiously wanting to know what was going on. Lance and Chris knew that Janey had auditioned for the Pops and they, as well as the other members of the group were dying to find out if she got in or not. Chris was so excited for Janey’s possible opportunity. Although it meant more time apart for the two of them when they were both traveling, it was the chance of a lifetime for her.

“Well, I’m not really sure. She just got a phone call from Keith Lockhart, the conductor of the orchestra and he wants Jay to call as soon as she gets home. Sounds good but I don’t want to get my hopes up just in case something else happens.”

“Did she get a phone call? What happened?” Cay heard the voice in the background belonged to Janey’s boyfriend Chris.

“Is that Chris?” Cay asked.

“Who else? He’s jumping up and down wanting to know what the heck is going on. I think Joey gave him Pez or something he’s out of control right now. I can’t understand him sometimes. I’m exhausted at the end of the day and he has more energy than that damn Energizer Bunny!” Lance joked. He knew that Cay would know exactly what he meant. The few times that the four of them were actually together at the same time Chris and Jay would have more energy than Cay and Lance combined. “Here, let me put him on the phone you tell him what’s going on or else someone is going to hit him soon. Hey Chris!” Lance said away from the phone and Chris came running to the phone.

“Hey Cay! What’s going on? Did she get a call? Is she in? When does she start performing? Does she even know yet?” Chris rattled off questions at a mile a minute.

“Are ya done yet?” Cay asked knowing full well that Chris could keep on going for hours if Joey had indeed given him Pez Candy to eat.

“Yeah, sorry sweetie, so what’s going on?” he asked when he had calmed down.

“Well, I’m not really sure,” Cay started, “She got a phone call today from the conductor. My guess is that’s a good thing but she has to call him when she gets home. I expect her home any minute. Do me a favor will ya?” she asked.

“Anything for the sister of my girl.” Chris joked.

“Don’t say anything to her! I know you Chris and you’ll call her on her cell phone. Wait until she gets home and gets the message.” Cay pleaded.

“Oh fine,” Chris pouted, “When do you expect her in so that I know when to call her.”

“She’s in rehearsal until 3:30 and then she’ll be home.” Lance said in the background. Cay was amazed at how well Lance not only knew her schedule but Janey’s as well. It never ceased to amaze her the knowledge that the boy had.

“Did you hear Lance? Believe it or not he’s right! Maybe you should learn Jay’s schedule like that.” Cay joked.

“Yeah, okay sure, I can barely figure out my own schedule. Anyway, I’ll give her a call around 4:00 that should give her enough time to call that Lockhart guy and find out what’s going on and then she can give me the good news herself.” He hoped that the news that Janey would be giving him was good news. She deserved to make this orchestra more than anyone he knew. Jay even had Chris listening to classical music with a new tolerant ear. He had never been big on listening to that type of music but ever since meeting Janey and falling madly in love with her he was trying all kinds of new things.

“That sounds good Chris now can you please put Lance back on the phone?” Cay pleaded. “I’ll talk to you soon! Sounds like we might just get to see the two of you soon huh?”

“Yup! As soon as Wade is done with us we get some R&R time! I can’t wait to see the new place! Okay, well, you don’t want to talk to my sorry ass, let me get Lance for you. Give Janey a big hug for me and tell her I love her okay?” Chris asked.

“No problem Chris. Talk to you soon.” Lance came back on the phone and Cay and Lance said their goodbyes to each other and promised to talk soon. Cay hung up the phone and waited for Janey to get home. She popped in her favorite NSYNC CD so that she could at least hear Lance’s voice singing to her even if she couldn’t see him and figured she’d get some things put away before her sister got home.

Chapter 2

“Cay! Where are you girl?” Janey called as she entered the house. She could hear the NSYNC music blaring from outside and knew that Caytlyn must have talked to the guys or else she was just missing her boy. Whenever the girls started to miss the guys they would blast their music nice and loud or go out shopping.

“Jay? Is that you get in here now!” Caytlyn said to her sister while she ran to the door.

“What the hell is going on? Did Lance call or are we just missing him something awful today? I could hear the music all the way down the street!” Janey joked with her sister.

“Well, actually a little of both. The guys called a little while ago and I just miss Lance something awful today. Looks like they might be home to visit soon! I can’t wait to see my baby!” Janey knew how her sister felt. She was living on memories of the kisses and caresses of Chris that filled her days while they were apart. She knew that it was a heavy price to pay for dating Chris, but she was willing to do it as long as she needed to. She loved Chris more than anyone she had ever met in her life and she would do anything for him.

“Actually I have some news for you my dear Janey,” Cay started to say, “You got a phone call from some guy named Keith Lock something or other and he wants you to call him back.”

“WHAT!!! Are you freaking kidding me? Keith Lockhart called? What did he want?” Janey could barely control her excitement.

“No clue kid. Here’s his number give him a call. He said to call as soon as you got in. Do you want me to go upstairs while you call him?” Cay asked her sister wondering if she wanted privacy just in case it was bad news instead of the good news that everyone was praying for.

“Are you kidding me? I am going to need you right here regardless of whether or not I make it so you stay right here. You might want to turn down the boys though.” Janey joked with her sister. The two of them had been screaming over the music ever since Jay had gotten into the house as Cay had yet to really turn it down.

“Yeah, guess it wouldn’t sound too good that a possible member of the Boston Pops was listening to NSYNC huh?” Cay joked with her sister and went to turn down the stereo.

Janey walked slowly to the phone and picked it up to dial the conductor’s phone number. Make it or not she thought, she had at least gone through with the audition and this guy liked her enough to actually make a phone call back to her personally. She had gotten herself so psyched up for not making the orchestra that she had begun to believe that she wasn’t going to make it. Little did she know what she was about to hear on the phone.

“Hi, this is Janey Sinclair, may I speak with Mr. Lockhart please?” Janey asked the receptionist who answered the phone.

“Certainly,” the sweet voice replied, “I know he was expecting your call. Can you hold for one minute?” she asked.

“No problem,” Janey replied.

“Hi Janey this is Keith Lockhart of the Boston Pops how are you today?”

“I’m doing okay thank you and how are you today?”

“I’m fine thank you. I’m sure you are wondering why we’re calling you today,” he started to say.

“Yeah, I was a bit curious as to that myself but I’m assuming its because of my audition last month,” Janey replied.

“Exactly. First let me apologize with taking so long to get back to you. We had a number of great candidates come in for the auditions that we held and it took us a bit longer to make a decision than it normally does.” Here it comes, Janey thought, the clincher, thanks for auditioning but no thanks we picked someone else. Janey was fully prepared for him to say no to her.

“Well, let me tell you, we were extremely impressed with your audition. You had a tone that we haven’t heard in a long time and you just are a wonderful flute and piccolo player. Janey, on behalf of the Boston Pops Orchestra I would like to offer you the position of principal piccolo player for the Boston Pops.”

Janey couldn’t believe her ears. She had just been offered the position of a lifetime. She tried hard to control the tears that were welling up in her eyes so that she could sound somewhat composed when she accepted the position. Cay was standing by her side jumping up and down and crying for she knew that her sister had been offered the position before she even accepted it.

“Mr. Lockhart, thank you so much for this incredible opportunity. This has been a dream of mine since I was 9 years old and I would be honored to join your amazing orchestra.” Janey replied trying to compose her excitement.

“Fantastic! We are thrilled to have you join us. As you might already know, the upcoming season is a very busy one for us with all of the Holiday Pops concerts that will be starting in November. Rehearsals are pretty extensive. When do you think you can come down to pick up your music and start coming to practice?” he asked.

“I can start as soon as you need me to. Tomorrow if you want.” Janey replied knowing that the small orchestra that she was a part of now could do without her and easily find a replacement for her.

“Great,” he replied, “Rehearsal tomorrow is at 10:00 am and if you can come down a little early then I can get your contract all hammered out with your salary and all. Janey it’s a pleasure to welcome you to the Boston Pops.”

“Thank you again Mr. Lockhart and I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Janey hung up the phone and burst into tears. Her dream had come true. “OH MY GOD!” she exclaimed and Cay came up to give her sister a huge hug.

“I’m taking that means you made it huh?” Caytlyn asked her sister and the two girls opened up a bottle of wine to celebrate. “Clink” they said as the celebrated the success of the older sister. Janey had been through a whirlwind of things the past few months. Immediately after meeting Chris in Florida, Janey came home and quit her job so that she could focus more on music. She got a job working for a small company inside of Boston that was paying her triple what she was making at the day care and she only had to work part time. It was a great opportunity; as it gave her the chance to not only perform, but to teach some music lessons on the side as well. It also gave her the chance to visit her boyfriend Chris as much as she possibly could. The phone rang as the two girls raced to the Caller ID to see who was on the phone.

“My guess is that is for you.” Cay said as she let her sister go and answer the phone. She knew that Chris would be calling shortly and would want to know what had happened on the phone with Keith Lockhart.

“Hey beautiful!” Chris said as Janey answered the phone.

“Joey, you really need to stop calling me that. Chris is going to get jealous.” Janey joked. It was a continuous joke between Chris and Janey that if Jay ever broke up with him that she would be going out with Joey in an instant.

“Yeah, yeah, so what is going on honey? I miss hearing your voice.” Chris said trying to dance around the fact that he knew that she had received the phone call from the orchestra already.

“Not much sweetie. I’m doing okay. Rehearsal sucked today but it looks like I won’t be there for much longer.” Jay said to her boyfriend.

“What do you mean? You’re quitting? That’s not like you Janey.” Chris worried.

“Okay, quit it. I know you know I got a phone call today.” Jay accused her boyfriend.

“Alright alright you caught me. So what happened anyway, the rest of the guys won’t leave me alone until I tell them what happened. We’ve been counting the minutes until we got to talk to you!”

“Well, tell them that you are now dating the Principal Piccolo player for the Boston Pops Orchestra!” Janey exclaimed over the phone.

“Are you kidding? Oh my God honey. I’m so proud of you!” Chris praised his girlfriend, “She got it guys!” He said to his bandmates who began screaming with excitement and each of them wanted to give his congratulations to her. “I think there are some people who want to talk to you, hang on a second.”

“Hey gorgeous, WHAZZZZZZZ UPPPPPPP?” Joey’s familiar voice came through the phone.

“Hey Joey! I’m doing great. I’m assuming you heard the good news. How’s Kimmy doing? I haven’t talked to her all week?”

“She’s good. You know, we’re just friends but she’s just the coolest. We called to talk about you though. Congratulations girl, you deserve it.” Joey praised.

“Thank you so much Joey. I really appreciate it. If you talk to her tell her I said hi okay?”

“Will do,” Joey replied and the phone continued to be passed around the room to the different members of the group before it landed back in the hands of Chris.

“Well honey, I’m sure that you and Cay have lots of celebrating that you want to do so I’m going to let you go. I’m going to try and get out of here this weekend so that I can celebrate with you in person.”

“Are you serious? Do you really think Johnny and Wade are going to let you out of there?” she asked hoping that the answer was going to be yes.

“Well, even if they don’t I want to see you. How about taking a little trip down to Orlando? We might be working but at least I can see you a little bit?” Chris asked. “Let Cay know too, I’m sure that Lance might want to tear his tired ass away from rehearsals a bit to see Cay.”

“Hey Cay, Chris wants to know if we want to go to Orlando for the weekend to spend some time with the guys. They want to congratulate me in person and Lance for some reason wants to see you.” The screech that came out of Cay’s mouth was all the confirmation that she needed to know that the two girls would be on the earliest plane they could hop on out of Logan on that Friday night after work.

“I’ll take care of the details sweetie. Do you know what time you’ll be out of rehearsals on Friday?” he asked.

“Not really sure, I’ll actually be with the Pops that day, I think, I get my schedule tomorrow. This might be one of the last quick weekend trips for a while. From the sounds of it I’m going to be a busy lady the next few months. At least it will keep my mind occupied.” She didn’t like the fact that with her making the Pops might just mean that it will be even less time with Chris. She was hoping that their relationship would be able to survive the extensive distance with the two of them both touring.

“Well, sounds to me like we’ll be getting lots of frequent flier miles huh?” Chris said to Janey and it confirmed the fact that he was willing to make this work.

“Yup. I guess we will be! Unless I could convince you and the guys to move up here to Boston.” Janey joked.

“For some reason I don’t think that I could drag Joey and JC away from the sun down here but it’s always worth a shot.” The two talked for a bit longer before a familiar voice came from Chris’ end of the line.

“Hey you two lovebirds. We have got to get back to rehearsal. Let’s go!” Justin called from the background. “Hey Jay! I miss you! Come visit soon so that we can get this guy off our backs!”

“Hey Justin!” Jay called, “Sounds like you better get going. I’ll give you a call tomorrow after rehearsal or during a break or something okay baby?” Janey hated getting off of the phone with Chris but she also knew that he was working hard and he loved what he did. She never wanted to come between the group and him. NSYNC meant the world to him ever since he started it several years earlier. It was only by chance that the two of them met and fell in love. NSYNC would always be his first love and she wanted it no other way.

“Yeah, I guess I should. I’ll talk to you tomorrow though. Go out with Cay tonight and celebrate. God I wish I could be there to take you out tonight. Oh well, I better get back there to rehearsal before Justin beats me down. I can’t wait to hear all about everything tomorrow. I love you Janey.”

“You have no idea how much I love hearing that from you. I love you too sweetheart and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Bye baby,” he said.

“Bye, I love you!” Jay said as they both hung up the phone. “He really is the sweetest person on the face of the earth isn’t he?”

“Well, I don’t know if you’re talking to me or not but I’d have to challenge you because my Lance is pretty sweet as well.” Cay replied even though she knew that talking to her sister right at the moment would probably would go in one ear and out the other. Cay was the same way when she talked to Lance. It always took her a good fifteen minutes or so to come back to reality. “So, dinner on me?” Cay asked, “We have got some serious celebrating to do!”

“Hell yeah! Lets go girl!” Jay replied as the two girls prepared to go out for a nice evening out, girls only, to celebrate the success of the older sister.

Chapter 3

Janey drove down the highway in her car on the way home from rehearsal replaying the day that she just had. It was her first day with the Boston Pops and it had been like a dream come true. After meeting with Keith Lockhart in the morning and getting her contract and rehearsal schedule she was just so excited. However, after actually taking out her flute and piccolo, being introduced as the new principal piccolo player and then getting to rehearse with the Orchestra she felt like her life could probably end just at that moment and she would be perfectly happy.

“Every little thing I do…” the cell phone on the passengers seat rang as Janey reached for it. ‘He couldn’t even wait for me to call huh?’ she thought to herself as she reached for the phone and saw by the Caller ID that it was Chris.

“Hey, didn’t I tell you I’d call you when I got home tonight?” Janey asked her boyfriend although she was, as always, thrilled to hear his voice.

“Yeah, but JC and Lance were bugging me to call you and find out how your first day was,” Chris replied although Janey knew full well that it was really Chris who had probably been bugging the guys all day long wondering how her day went.

“Well, tell JC and Lance that my first day was like a dream come true. It was the most amazing day of my life!”

“The most amazing day of your life huh?” he questioned, “You mean more amazing than….”

“Yeah, you had best not finish that sentence if you ever want to hear the end of it from those 4 or 5 other people standing around you.” Janey joked knowing that the other guys were probably not far away. “Anyway, my first day was remarkable. I got my contract this morning and kind of got choked up when I read it. I can’t believe that I am actually going to get paid to play! This is just amazing!” Chris smiled knowing first hand what a wonderful thing it was to get paid to do what you love. He was just so thrilled that Janey was going to get to experience that as well. Ever since he was young he had always wanted to perform and now he was able to do that and to know that his girlfriend was going to get to do the same thing was just a kick.

“Pretty awesome isn’t it? So what’s your schedule like on Friday? Do you think you can escape for a weekend?” Chris asked hoping that she was going to be able to come and visit.

“Yeah, looks like it, I can’t wait to see your beautiful eyes!” Janey replied just picturing in her head the gorgeous brown eyes that her boyfriend had.

“Is that all you want to see?” Chris joked.

“I’m not going to answer that right now because I know where you are and I don’t want you to be blushing too bad. Anyway, I get out of rehearsal at 3:30 that day so we can fly out sometime around 5:30 or 6:00. I have to find out what time Cay gets out of her stuff for the day. I don’t think she has rehearsal that night and I know she doesn’t have any performances this weekend so we should both be able to come down for a quick visit. I can’t wait to see you!”

“I know honey, I can’t wait to see you either. Two weeks is too long to go without seeing your face. Well, let me give a call to Melinda and Beth and see if they can’t get you a flight down here Friday night. Will you have to be back by Monday morning?” he asked.

“Yeah, I figure we should probably fly back in on Sunday sometime so that we can be rested for Monday morning. I’m guessing you all have rehearsals all weekend? Don’t worry, Cay and I can go and hang out at the Florida Mall.”

“Just a couple but it should be a light weekend for us. I know how hard it will be for the two of you to hang out at the mall,” Chris joked knowing full well that the two girls could shop better than anyone he had ever seen in his life. “Well, one of us will give you girls a call later and let you know the details. Don’t make any plans for Saturday night though okay?”

“Oh, come on, I was planning on going out with JC that night!” Janey joked.

“Oh, so its JC this week huh? I thought you had a thing for Joey?” Chris went along with her joke. He knew that Janey only had eyes for him but it was fun for the two of them to joke around. “I hear that Elley might be coming into town this weekend so maybe we’ll all swap for the weekend what do ya think?”

“You know I’d take no one but you honey. I’m driving through traffic so unless you are going to sing to me through this phone line I had best go so that I can concentrate on driving.”

“You can concentrate better when I sing?” Chris asked.

“Well, I’m so used to hearing you guys sing in the radio that it will be just like me hearing you on the radio.” Janey explained. Although she was dating Chris it didn’t stop Jay and Cay from listening to NSYNC all the time. That obsession still never went away and hearing Chris sing still was the most soothing thing in the world for Janey. It used to calm her down when she would be coming home from work with the children at the end of the day and now that she was with Chris, she got to hear him sing even more often when he sent her demo CD’s or tapes.

“Okay fine,” he said, “I don’t know how…I don’t know why…but girl it seems, you’ve touched my life…”

“Yeah, okay, anything but that one!” Janey said. Falling was the first song that Chris ever sang to Janey and it still sent shivers up her spine every time she heard it. “I can’t concentrate on anything when I hear that one!” Janey exclaimed.

“Well, I’m going to let you go and concentrate on driving. I’ll call you later okay?”

“Okay honey. I love you!”

“I love you too.” Chris replied.

“Its your turn to hang up first!” Janey said as the two waited for one or the other to hang up the phone.

“No, it’s your turn!” The discussion was a familiar one for the two of them. Neither liked to hang up the phone with the other so they always argued about who hung up first. “Hold on a second hun, the phone is beeping at me.” Chris left the phone for a quick second, “That’s Dani, and I really need to go sweetie. I’ll talk to you later tonight. I love you Janey!”

“I love you too Chris. I’ll talk to you tonight.” With that Janey hung up the phone.

She sat back and thought about how things had progressed between her and Chris. Who would have guessed that she would have even had the opportunity to meet him face to face in Orlando. For so long NSYNC had been a dream to both Janey and Caytlyn. When they had the opportunity to meet the guys last year and spend time with them they never could have dreamed that they would fall in love with two of the members of the group and more than that, they fell in love with the girls as well. Janey knew that Chris was still very close with Dani, his ex-girlfriend, there were several times when they would have to end conversations because Dani called about work or something. It hurt Janey to know that Chris would want to hang up with her, but she also knew that Fu-Man was a very important part of Chris’ life as well. Chris had started a clothing line called Fu-Man Skeeto a few years previous and it was his baby. Dani, his ex-girlfriend, worked for Fu-Man and ran one of the offices out in LA.

“Every little thing I do…” the phone rang again. Janey was jolted back into reality as she went to pick up the phone. After looking at the Caller ID, something her sister made her promise that she would always do, she saw that it was her friend Kim.

“Yo girl! What is going on? I haven’t heard you voice in forever!” Janey was so excited to hear from her friend.

“I’m great! I miss you so much! So I hear congratulations are in order?” Kim asked. Janey knew that Kim must have talked to Joey the night before.

“Talked to Joe last night huh?” she asked although she knew the answer.

“Yeah, I haven’t talked to him in forever. So, tell me all about it! What happened?” Janey proceeded to tell her friend all about her phone call the day previous. Kim and Janey had become such good friends although they lived incredibly far away from each other. They tried to talk at every opportunity that they got. “That is absolutely amazing! We are going to have to celebrate sometime soon! Has Chris done anything for you yet because of it?”

“You mean other than call me 17,000 times? No, but I’m going to fly down to Orlando this weekend with Cay so that we can see the guys. I can’t wait to see him. It’s been 2 weeks and I’m going through Chris withdrawal! Between this and tours I don’t know what is worse.”

“I can only imagine sweetie. Seeing as Joey and I left things on a ‘shag as needed’ basis I miss him terribly, but I can only think of what it would be like if things between Joey and I were like they were between you and Chris.” Kim knew Joeys reputation of being with other girls so she didn’t want him to loose his ‘player’ status by tying him down to one girl although she secretly would have loved to be Joeys one and only girl. She was satisfied with how the relationship had turned out after meeting him and loved the fact that he still managed to call when he got a chance just to say hi. She was so happy for her friend and only hoped that Chris didn’t screw things up. Joey had informed Kim that Dani had been spending lots of time around the group recently and she also knew that Jay had no clue about this. If Chris screwed up the relationship between Jay and him then he’d have more than just Cay to deal with. He’d have all of Jay’s friends as well as his 4 band mates. Joey had told Kim just how happy Chris had been ever since meeting Janey. It was like Chris was a completely different person, all it took for Chris to get hyper these days was talking with Janey. It used to take him Pez or some type of caffeine and then they couldn’t get him off of the ceiling. Chris was a much more tolerable person to be around now that he had Janey in his life.

“Well, I’m almost home sweetie so I’m going to hang up. I miss you so much! Come up to Boston to visit sometime soon! You have to see my new place and you can come to rehearsal.”

“Definitely! I miss you too girl. Give my Joey a big hug when you see him this weekend okay?”

“You bet. Talk to you soon hun!”

“Bye Jay!” the girls hung up the phone as Janey pulled into the garage to let her sister know about plans for the weekend.

Chapter 4

“’Bout time you got home girl! I thought I was going to have to send the Mass Police out for you to find you! Oh, by the way these came for you today.” Caytlyn said to her sister as she pointed to a huge bouquet of roses that had been delivered that day.

“What a sweetie he is! I can’t believe him!” Janey ran into the house and over to the flowers. There must have been 3 dozen pink and red roses in a beautiful arrangement.

Dear Janey,

I know I can’t be there to hug you and Congratulate you on your incredible achievement but hopefully these will suffice until I see you this weekend. I love you and miss you more baby!

Love,

Chris

“Is he the most wonderful boyfriend in the world or what! To think he found the time during rehearsals to do this. I can only imagine what the other guys were saying when he gave them the message. I’m sure he hasn’t heard the end of that one yet huh?”

“Oh, if I know Lance, he stuck up for him. He’s just great like that.”

“Yeah, okay sure! Anyway, we have to pack girl. We’re going to Orlando this weekend. My guess is we don’t need too much clothing but lets get big suitcases because we are…” Janey didn’t even need to finish the sentence because she knew that her sister would be able to do it for her.

“We’re going shopping! Can we go buy silly SYNC stuff?” it was a running joke between the girls from before they met the guys that they would go shopping and find as much silly NSYNC stuff as they possibly could.

“Can you imagine what the guys would say if we came home with a bag full of NSYNC stuff when they can get it for us for free.”

“Yeah, I guess you are right. Are they going to have rehearsal this weekend?”

“My guess is yes that they will. If Wade is in town you know that Wade isn’t going to let our little white boys get away without a dance rehearsal with tour only a month away!”

“No kidding and my white boy needs all the work he can get.”

“Exactly!” Janey replied. It was a constant joke between the girls that Lance just couldn’t dance and they loved to yell “Dance white boy, Dance” when he’d try. “I guess I should go and call…”

Before Janey could even finish her sentence the phone was ringing. “I’m going to bet that one is for you,” Caytlyn said to her sister when she went to the Caller ID and found that Chris was on the phone.

“Can I just tell you how much I love you right now?” Janey said before even saying hello.

“Wow, I always loved being greeted like that on the phone. How come Johnny can’t say shit like that to me?”

“Because you don’t send him roses on a regular basis and if you do then we have some talking to do I think.” Janey joked with her boyfriend.

“Yeah, well, you know me. Anyway, I’m assuming you got the flowers?”

“They are all over the apartment. Thank you so much sweetie! I absolutely love them!”

“Well, it’s the least I can do until I see you this weekend. You are coming right?”

“Yup. I get out of rehearsal on Friday at 3:30 so we can be on a flight as early as say 5:30 – 6:00. Wait, I already told you that. Sorry sweetie, my brain is on overload. I’m guessing that Lance might just want to see my sister huh?”

“Don’t worry baby, I understand. Yeah, I think he just might want to see Cay. Wait let me ask.” He turned away from the phone and called to his friend, “Yo dude! I’ve got Jay on the phone. Do you want to see Cay this weekend or what?”

“Are you kidding me? Of course I want to see her! When do they get here man?” Lance called back to his friend.

“I’ll give you all the info in a minute, let me finish here first.” Chris yelled back.

“Hey Janey! Hey Cay! I love you Cay!” Lance called from the background.

“Did you hear that or do I have to repeat the I love you part?” Chris laughed.

“Nah, I think Cay heard it upstairs. So flight plans?” Chris proceeded to give Janey the rest of the details for flights. “You are flying first class by the way.”

“Excuse me, we’re flying what?” Janey asked surprised by this development. “I’ve never flown first class in my life!” she exclaimed.

“Well, I figure it’s the least I can do. I know you’ve been flying out to see us so much on the road and stuff, I’d be flying first class if I came to you so why shouldn’t you fly first class?”

“Well, thank you honey.”

“Anything for you. So I’ll see you Friday night then?” Chris asked.

“You bet! Anything special I should be brining. I know you mentioned something nice for Saturday night, anything else?”

“Just your cute little self is all you need. If you want to bring your instruments with you that wouldn’t be the worst idea, we have rehearsals on Saturday morning so you can practice and stuff.”

“I just might do that. I know that Cay and I want to go shopping and stuff while we’re there though.”

“Go figure!” Chris knew how much the girls loved to shop, “So have you bought any more incriminating stuff with my name on it recently.” He also knew of their love of buying stuff with NSYNC on it. None of the guys had a clue as to why they were still buying merchandise when they could get all they wanted for free but they just laughed at them.

“Nah, not this week at least.” Janey laughed.

“You know I can get you all that crap for free right?” Chris asked.

“Yeah, but that defeats the purpose of our little excursions to the mall honey! We have fun just searching for it!”

“Whatever, well, I’m being called back in there so I should go. I love you sweetie.”

“I love you too and I can’t wait to see you this weekend!”

“Me either”

“Bye.” They both said as they hung up their respective phones.

Chapter 5

“Jay…oh Jay” Caytlyn said as she tried to wake her sister.

“Huh? What? What do you want?” Janey said trying to wake up.

“We’re here girl. Lets go! The guys are probably waiting for us.”

“Yeah sure, like they can just walk around OIA and not be stopped by anyone. Here’s hoping that they had a little sense this time and brought along Lonnie or Mike with them. I don’t feel like having a bunch of teenies around us tonight. I’m just too tired.” Janey and Caytlyn had made the three hour flight to Orlando as bearable as possibly. The two girls had just finished a full days work and even though they loved their jobs they were just exhausted. “You know what’s fun? Because they got us these first class tickets we get to be the first people off this thing. Then we can just go and find them and bolt out of here. God I can’t wait to see Chris. I fell like its been forever since I’ve seen him instead of only a couple of weeks. If this is how tour is going to be I’m going to hate it!” Dating a member of NSYNC was hard work for the girls and the time that they all spent apart was beginning to wear thin on them.

“So what do you and Chris have planned for the weekend?” Caytlyn asked her sister.

“Not really sure. I know that they have some rehearsals tomorrow and there’s a part of me that just wants to go and sit and watch them rehearse. I love doing that.”

“No kidding! I was thinking the same thing.”

“After that I don’t know. I am pretty sure he has something up his sleeve for tomorrow night though because he told me to pack a fancy dress. I love his surprises.” Janey said with a far off look in her eyes. “ I really don’t care what we do all weekend. Heck, I’d be happy with just sitting at home snuggling and watching movies.”

“Yeah, like you and Chris are just going to sit at home and watch movies. I know the two of you better than that.” Janey laughed knowing that the movies would be few and far between although the staying at home and snuggling with Chris part was pretty much right on target.

“So how about you and Lance? Any big plans for the weekend?”

“Same as you guys I guess. He really was a bit secretive about the weekend. I really want to go to rehearsal tomorrow though and see what they’ve got up their sleeves for this tour. I am really going to miss him while he’s away.”

“At least we can hope and pray that they come to Boston. At least that concert I KNOW I’ll be able to get to. I can just see me now asking Keith for the day off so that I can go away to an NSYNC concert. They’d probably fire me on the spot for bad taste!”

“Have you even mentioned Chris’ name yet to anyone there?” Caytlyn asked her sister.

“Nah, I’ve only been there a few days. Didn’t want to scare them all off too soon.” she joked. “Besides, I know that Chris has been trying to keep this as low key as possible. Could you imagine if it leaked out that Chris Kirkpatrick, bad boy of NSYNC, is dating a professional flutist? What would it do to his reputation?” The girls both laughed. They knew that neither of them was of ‘superstar’ status. They were hardly the type of girls that the guys were normally seen with. “So when do you hear about auditions anyway?” Janey asked her sister. Caytlyn was trying to become a professional singer and Lance was helping her in anyway he could.

“I should hear any day now. Could you just imagine if the two of us were up on stage together at Symphony Hall at Christmastime performing together?” the girls both went into dream world thinking of the possibility. Now that Janey had been accepted into the pops the dream was quickly becoming a reality. If Caytlyn got the position as soloist for the Holiday Pops concerts then it would be amazing. “I just wish that the guys were going to be able to come and see us though.”

“Yeah, no kidding. Well, lets not worry about that now. Looks like we’re about here. Look! There’s my old house!” Janey said as they flew over Orlando about to land at the airport. Janey had lived in Florida the five years prior to her moving up to Boston so she knew her way around pretty good.

“Woo Hoo!” Caytlyn exclaimed as the plane landed. The girls grabbed their things so that they could quickly exit the plane and hopefully be the first off so that a scene wouldn’t be made. “ I can’t believe we’re actually back here! I am just going to go up to Lance and give him the biggest hug and kiss ever!” The girls hadn’t been back in Orlando since they first started dating the guys. All of the trips to see them had been the guys coming up to Boston. Although Chris and Lance weren’t quite as close as say Chris was to Justin or Lance to Joey, they had become closer in the past few months while dating the two sisters. Lance and Chris were complete opposites. Lance was the shrewd businessman Hollywood type while Chris was the more laid back crazy type. They were perfect for the girls.

As they exited the plane and made their way down the jet way the two girls were at full speed so that they could see their boyfriends. They caught a glimpse of what looked like 2 big security guards standing at the end and figured that the guys couldn’t be far behind.

“Hey Lonnie!” Janey exclaimed as she approached the gentleman who had come to know Janey and Caytlyn quite well. “So where is the love of my life anyway?” Janey asked as she looked around.

“Yeah, no kidding! Where are you hiding them?” Cay asked wondering where Lance was.

“Its good to see the two of you. They are over in the VIP area. They were getting hounded while they were waiting for you and a scene was beginning to develop so instead they sent me as the happy messenger to get you two and bring you to them.” Janey and Caytlyn figured it was something like that. Wherever the guys went, a group of 15-20 usually followed so they were getting used to going on dates with a security guard close behind or being picked up at the airport by one of them. “I guess it’s the price you have to pay huh?”

“Yup…so where are they? Lets go!” Caytlyn exclaimed not being able to wait any longer to get her eyes on Lance.

“Right this way ladies.” The girls picked up their things and followed Lonnie down the hallway.

“Are they here yet? Has their flight landed? Where are they anyway?” Chris began shouting out questions at a mile a minute.

“Chill man! They’ll be here in a few minutes.” Justin said trying to calm down his friend.

“You sure they aren’t going to be mad that we are all here?” Joey asked Chris and Lance.

“Nah, they are just as excited to see you guys as they are to see us!” Lance explained. “Cay told me flat out that she wanted to see the rest of you this weekend too in our ‘element’ I think is how she described it.”

“Leave it to Cay huh?” Joey replied.

“When does she hear about her audition anyway Lance?” JC asked. All the guys kept up to date on the girl’s lives as they had all become such good friends when they all met. Now that the girls were visiting them on the road it was fun to form the relationships with them. They all figured that they had best get to know them well. Chris and Lance had both fallen hard for the girls and everyone knew that Janey and Caytlyn were there to stay. As long as one of the guys didn’t screw it up too bad.

“She would hear any day now. Hey, is Elley still coming in this weekend?” Lance asked JC. Although JC and Elley weren’t officially dating they still enjoyed spending lots of time together.

“Yup. She arrives in the morning. How about Kimmy Joe? She’s still coming right?”

“Hell yeah! I can’t wait to see her. She should be here in a few hours. I know that she had to work today and she’s driving down instead of flying in. I don’t know why but she wanted to have her car.”

“Can’t be because she hates driving yours now could it?” Lance asked his friend. “Or the fact that you bought her a brand new one for her birthday?”

“Something like that. I know she wanted to break it in. She also probably wanted to show it off to the rest of the girls. Janey still doesn’t know that anyone else is coming in does she?”

“Not as far as I know of. Now, lets go over details of the weekend so that I have some kind of a clue.” Chris turned to Lance as he knew that Lance would know exactly what was going on.

“Okay, so tonight we all go our own ways. Tomorrow we have rehearsal in the morning but I’m sure the girls will find something to keep them occupied. Then tomorrow night is dinner and the fireworks cruise. We have to be at Victoria and Albert’s at 5:30 for our seating. Everyone got it?” Lance said as he looked at the four other guys in the room.

“No problem,” they all replied.

“What the hell is taking them so long to get here?” Chris whined.

“Chill Kirkpatrick. She’s going to be here soon and then you get her all to yourself for the next 48 hours. That is if I don’t steal her from you.” Joey said. Chris shot him a look. Chris knew that Joey and Janey had become good friends and that the relationship between Kim and Joey was just that, friends, with benefits as he liked to say. It didn’t stop the fact that he worried that someday Joey’s charm might just wear off on Janey and that she’d leave him for his friend. As Chris turned around they all heard a knock on the door.

“Janey!” “Caytlyn” the guys all screamed. They were so excited to see the girls. If felt like months instead of weeks since they had all been together. Chris and Lance went to their respective girlfriends and lifted them off of their feet to hug them and hold them as close as possible. They just didn’t want to let go.

“Sweetie, I’ve missed you so…” Chris didn’t even let Janey finish her sentence before his lips were touching hers in a soft kiss. “Yeah, my feelings exactly,” Janey said as she parted her lips to deepen the kiss. She could stay there in his arms forever.

“Get a damn room!” Joey shouted, “I haven’t even had the opportunity to properly congratulate our little star here.” he said as he approached Janey to grab her from Chris and give her a hug.

“Awww…thanks so much Joey! I don’t know if I’d call me a star yet though.” Janey explained.

“Hell, I would, do you know how hard it is to make it in this industry?” JC joked as he went to say hello to Janey.

“No kidding huh? Tell me about it and all I’m doing is auditioning right now! I can’t even imagine if I had a life like you guys!” Janey gave JC a huge hug. It was always so good to see him. Janey could remember a time in her life where she would have up and died if JC had even said hello to her. Now he had become such a good friend to her that she felt like she could tell him anything. “So how is Elley doing? I haven’t talked to her in weeks!”

“You mean she didn’t call when you got your new position?” JC asked.

“Nope. I was kind of surprised too. She knew when it was and stuff. I know she’s been really busy though. Getting ready to move down here and all. I know that she can’t wait to be closer to you guys and to be going to school for what she really loves. What you did for her is just amazing JC. I know that she really appreciates it.” JC had paid for Elley to attend the school in Orlando that she had been dreaming of for the past year. When he heard that she wanted to really make it in the music industry he didn’t waste any time at all making sure she was all set up to attend Full Sail and had the money to do it as well.

“Hey, at least this way with her here, I know that we’ll get to see you and Cay more often! You girls don’t seem to be able to stay away from each other for too long. But anyway, I’m sure you will hear from her soon,” he said with a knowing look to Chris who was standing behind Janey. He didn’t want to let her out of his sight. He was just so excited to see her.

“So are we ready to go or what?” Caytlyn asked. Everyone had been having such a great time saying hello but the girls both wanted to escape for some alone time with their men.

“Well, we will be in just a few minutes. We kinda have a surprise for you girls.” Chris began as he pulled Janey close to him.

“A surprise? I love surprises! What is it??? Huh? Tell me come on!” Janey giggled. She was as bad as Chris was with the hyperness sometimes. It was one of the reasons that they got along so well.

“Well, see if I told you it wouldn’t be a surprise now would it?” Chris continued kissing her on the head, “Anyway, it should be here any second.” He said as JC made his way towards the window to look out at the arriving planes.

“Jace, we’re here, you don’t have to look out at planes any more,” Caytlyn said to her friend as she saw Joey and Justin make their ways towards the window as well.

“Looks like your surprise had just landed.”

“My surprise has landed? What the heck are you talking about J?” Janey said as she turned to Justin who gave her a smile, the same one that at times sent shivers down Caytlyn’s spine.

“Well, why don’t you girls head on down to gate 22 and you will see.” Chris said.

“You mean, you’re going to let me out of your sight?” Janey asked Chris with a sly smile on her face.

“Yeah, but I know you’ll be back so that’s the only reason I’m letting you go. Lonnie will take you girls down. And then come back here once you get your surprise.”

“Okay, we’ll be back,” Janey and Caytlyn said as they left the room.

“I wish we could be down there with them when they see everyone get off of the plane,” Chris said, “I just know she is going to flip out when she sees Elley and Chele!”

“Well let’s go! The airport isn’t too crowded now. I wanna see the expressions on their faces when they are all together again!” Joey said, “I just wish my Kimmy was here to be with all of them but they’ll all see her soon enough.” With that the guys put on their sunglasses and hung their hats on their heads down low so that they wouldn’t be too recognized as they were going through the airport. Two of the other security that were standing outside of the door escorted the guys down through the terminal to the gate just as the plane was pulling up. They stood far enough away so that the girls getting off of the plane could see them but those who were waiting couldn’t.

“What the heck do you think this is?” Janey said to Caytlyn.

“I have absolutely no clue. I knew that Lance and Chris had something up their sleeves for this weekend! I just want to know whom the heck we’re waiting for. I mean, it can’t be any of the girls because they are all working. I just talked to Chele the other day. And anyway, this plane is coming in from DC. We don’t even know anyone there!”

“No kidding. Well, I guess we wait and see. Hopefully, whatever, or whoever it is will know that they or it is supposed to be looking for us!” Janey replied as the doors to the jet way opened up to reveal the passengers exiting the plane. As the girls sat and waited the guys stood behind trying with all they could to stay calm and to be quiet. It was a hard task for them, especially Chris who liked to be as active as possible.

“OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!” the girls exclaimed as they saw two familiar figures exiting the plane. “What the heck are you two doing here!” Elley and Chele came running towards Janey and Caytlyn so excited to see their friends again.

“Congratulations girl! We’re so excited for you!” the girls said at the same time just as the guys all came up behind them.

“Are you surprised?” Chris whispered into Janey’s ear.  

“Oh dear lord yes! Thank you so much for flying them in.” Janey said as she turned to hug her boyfriend. “Well, don’t thank me. Thank these bozos over here. It was all their idea to get all of you girls together again to celebrate your success.” He said as he pointed to his friends who were busy saying hello to the girls.

“Thank you guys! I really appreciate this, more than you know!” She said as she went up to each of the guys and gave them a huge hug and kiss on the cheek.

“Anything for the girl of our best friend,” JC said as he gave Janey a hug.

“So are you surprised?” Joey asked.

“Hell yeah I’m surprised! I still want to know how you all pulled this off! Wait a second where is Kim Joey?”

“Oh, she’ll be here tonight. She wanted to drive in so that she could show all of you her new car.” He explained.

“You’ll see her tomorrow.” Chris explained. “Well, now that everyone is here what are we all up to for tonight?” Everyone stood around exchanging hellos and trying to catch each other up on the current events of their lives. The girls hadn’t been together since their trip to Florida where they all met the previous summer so it was a kind of reunion for them although the rest of the girls weren’t there. They had all kept even closer in touch since they had become so close with the guys. They tried to catch up with each other at a concert or performance of the guys but seeing as they all led such busy lives this was the first time they could all be together.

“Well, as much as I’d love to hang out with all of you tonight I want some time with this boy by myself,” Cay said as she went up to Lance and he put his arm around her waist and held her close.

“I’d have to agree with you Cay, I haven’t seen this guy in forever!”

“Well, we don’t want to keep you love birds. How bout you girls? Wanna come over my place and wait up for Kimmy with me and the guys?” Joey asked.

“Sounds good to me,” Elley said as JC put his arm around her, “How bout you?” she turned to ask JC who smiled. “Well, I guess we’ll let you all go then and we’ll see you girls in the morning huh?”

“Yeah, I have my cell phone so give me a call at Chris’ place and we’ll figure out where to all meet up and do some girl bonding!” Janey said as she went to pick up her bags although Chris beat her to it and picked them up himself and put his spare arm around Janey.

“Well, we kind of have the day planned for you girls but I’ll let you in on that later,” Chris said smiling at Elley and Chele who obviously knew what was going on.

“Okay, well, then I guess I’ll talk to all of you later! Its good to see you guys again!” Janey said as she went around to say goodbye to her friends and they all went their separate ways to the guys’ homes.

Chapter 6

Janey and Chris headed off their own way into Chris’ car, which was parked close to the terminal. They were lost in each other’s eyes as they walked away. Janey wondered for the millionth time that year how she ever ended up here. No one would have ever guessed that of all the men in the world she’d be dating one of the members of NSYNC. She couldn’t have been happier and it seemed that Chris was pretty content in the relationship as well. They had their share of issues during the past few months with Janey’s ex calling every once in a while to shake things up and the fact that they were never together, it made the relationship difficult but they really wanted it to work. Every moment that they could spend together was spent just that way with either Chris coming up to Boston or more likely Janey flying out to visit wherever the guys might be for that week.

“So what else have you got up your sleeve for this weekend Kirkpatrick?” Janey asked as Chris slid into the car next to her.

“Enough talking for now, lets say hello properly first shall we?” Chris said as he pulled Janey close to him into an embrace. Their lips met in a kiss that left any doubts that they could ever possibly have about this relationship behind. Their kiss deepened into one that sent shivers up and down Janey’s back and through every part of her body. They held each other so close that she could feel every muscle in his torso through his shirt pressed firmly against her body. It was an embrace that gave hints of what was yet to come for the weekend and before they could get too involved they separated with light nips at each other.

“Hi,” Janey giggled like a schoolgirl.

“You know, I kinda like that little giggle of yours. It makes you look all sweet and innocent.”

“Well, I am,”

“You are what? Sweet and innocent? Yeah sure, whatever, I believe that as much as I believe this hysterical rumor that goes around that Justin is still a virgin! You sweet and innocent HA!” Chris joked.

“Okay, well, maybe not innocent but definitely sweet right?”

“Yeah, I’d go for that one, definitely sweet. So are you ready to go?”

“Heck yeah, I haven’t seen your new house yet so I can’t wait to see it!” Janey said. Chris had recently purchased a new home in Orlando. Although he wanted to be closer to Janey, it made a lot more sense for him to have a house in Orlando. The other guys were there and so were the recording studios that they used. At least they would have privacy when they wanted to be alone together in Orlando now instead of having to stay at the Compound or at a hotel.

Chris pulled out of the parking lot and popped in a CD for the two to listen to. They sat in silence although it was hardly that in the car. The thoughts that were going through both of their heads were of the evening ahead for the two to share and the weekend that they would finally get to share.

“So what is the plan for tomorrow? I was assuming, before all of this happened tonight, that Cay and I would just go and watch rehearsals. You know how much we love doing that and watching you guys work your tails off.”

“Well, we made some reservations for you girls during the day. We figured that the five of you would have lots to catch up on so we made some arrangements for you girls to spend the day over at the Grand Floridian Spa over at Disney.”

“Are you kidding me?” Janey exclaimed. “WE are spending the day at the Grand? Wow! Now that is a surprise. When I used to work there I never figured that I’d get to spend a day there getting pampered! How fun! But what about you? What are you guys up to for the day?”

“Well, we have rehearsals in the morning but we’ll be coming over to meet you girls there later. We’re all going to dinner and then I have another surprise for you.”

“Wow, you are just full of surprises this weekend aren’t you?” Janey joked as they pulled into a new gated community that Janey didn’t recognize. “Is this a new development?”

“Yeah, this is where I built the place. Its nothing much. It doesn’t have a lot of furniture in it right now so don’t be too shocked when you get inside.”

“No problem sweetie. If it has you and I inside of it what else do we need?” she said as they pulled up to a beautiful home. Chris was right, it wasn’t some huge mansion or anything just a nice place for him to live in and to grow into. Janey was sure that somewhere in the house would be the few staples of his life, namely, a keyboard so that he could do some writing, a computer so that he could write to Janey, his dogs Busta and Korea, a bed of some sort and a coffee pot because he couldn’t be without his coffee in the morning.

“You’re right sweetie. Ready?” He asked as he took her hand and brought her inside of the lovely home. Chris unlocked the front door and it was like an alarm went off as Busta and Korea came to greet them at the door. Janey had met the dogs several times prior and Busta was really starting to warm up to her. When she first met the dog, it really hated her and growled the whole time. Chris explained that he was that way with everyone that Chris had ever dated. With Dani, Busta growled forever. That was how he knew that Dani wasn’t quite going to ever be the one for him but Janey had really grown on Busta and he grew on her as well. Janey was never one for little dogs, she always preferred bigger ones. Caytlyn always called Busta a rat and Janey would remind her that Lance carried around a ferret and it shut her up real quick.

“Hey gus!” Janey said as she picked up Busta to say hello. Busta licked her face hello.

“Well, it looks like you have a friend for life now! Once he likes you then you can’t get rid of him.” Chris explained.

“Fine with me. He’s kinda growing on me ya know.” Janey said as Busta continued to smother her face with kisses. Chris was right about the house and Janey was right about the staples of life that she knew that her boyfriend would have to possess in order to survive. The keyboard was out on the dining room table area with the computer sitting right next to it. Close by was the cordless phone, Janey figured he was probably doing business before he came to get her as she also saw lots of sketches of different clothing around the computer as well. Janey went over and picked up some of the designs. “Are these for the new line?” she asked as she looked over the designs. Chris watched her from a distance with the dog in one hand and the sketches of some of the new clothes for his Fu Man Skeeto line in the other. She looked so beautiful and all he wanted to do was to keep her there with him forever. Janey didn’t even realize that he was so close behind her watching her as she was busy looking over everything out on the table. She noticed the now familiar handwriting of Dani, his ex-girlfriend and a central figure of the Fu Man Company, all over the sketches and notes to him from her. It was hard for Janey to see him so close to her but she tried to remember that it was only business.

“Yeah, they are, what do you think?” Chris asked wanting to always know her opinions of the clothing that he was putting out. Janey was usually the guinea pig for both new NSYNC music as well as the clothing line. It wasn’t really her style but she would smile and take the clothes. She’d ask her cousins what they thought and when Chris would give her boxes full of the new line they enjoyed coming over and “shopping” in Janey’s closet. She was now the “cool cousin” because of dating Chris. Caytlyn was a cool cousin as well for dating Lance. Their cousins had gotten to meet all five of the guys backstage at their concert in Connecticut and Janey and Caytlyn thought the little girls would explode with excitement.

“I like them. I don’t think that the people in the Pops would really appreciate me coming in with something that says ‘Angel’ on it but I do like it.” Janey said jokingly.

“Aw come on! Why not? Bunch of stuffy people anyway.”

“Hey, those are the people I work with watch it or I’ll call your friends a bunch of perverted children.”

“Well, you’d be right on that one,” Chris joked. “So do you want to see the rest of the house or are you just going to stay here all night long?” Chris extended his hand to Janey as they went around the house. Chris gave Janey the grand tour using his best Robin Leach from Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous accent.

“So when does MTV get to come over and film Cribs huh?” Janey joked. Chris couldn’t stand the MTV crowd sometimes. He loved his privacy and so far the guys had managed to not get MTV to their personal homes.

“NEVER! You are the only one who gets the tour like this.” Chris smiled.

“Oh yeah, cool! So what’s upstairs?” Janey smiled.

“Well, follow me and we’ll go and see,” Chris said as he took her hand and brought her upstairs. He showed her the three guest bedrooms and brought her down the hall to the master bedroom at the end of the hall. “Do you want your things from downstairs?” he whispered in her ear.

“Am I really going to need them right now?” she asked quietly as he pulled her close.

“I certainly don’t think so…”he continued but his words were lost as the two fell onto the bed in a deep kiss. They stayed in the room all night long with the rest of the world locked outside the door. They reveled in the fact that they had the entire place all to themselves with no interruptions. It had been so long since they’d been together but every time for them was like the first as they enjoyed every touch, kiss, embrace and sensation. The rest of their lives were lost on them as they lay together in each other’s arms. Music softly played in the background and Janey was sure she heard the songs that had become so familiar to her in the past few months. As she had left Chris in Florida when they first met he gave her a CD of music that they had listened to over the weekend as well as love songs that seemed to express every emotion that she had felt about Chris and he about her. The CD was so overplayed in Janey’s car that it was beginning to wear out but as the two lay in bed together those same feelings that made Janey fall in love with Chris in the first place were all brought back.

“Good morning sunshine,” Chris said as he held a cup of coffee for him and a diet Coke for her over Janey. He was dressed in nothing but his shorts and smelled of morning and the freshness that comes with it.

“Hmmmm….”Janey said as she rolled over on her side, “Good morning sweetheart. Wow, I can get used to waking up like this,” she said as Chris climbed in the bed next to her and held her close. “Is that coffee I smell? You mean you can actually make coffee?” She joked. She knew that Chris was used to room service in the morning from living on the road.

“Are you kidding? Do you think I could survive at home if I couldn’t make coffee?” he was right. There was no way that Chris could deal without his morning coffee. “The girls are going to be here in a little bit so you might want to get a move on. Although I kinda like this idea of snuggling in bed,” he said as he moved closer to her to hold her.

“Yeah, I kinda like this too, but for some reason I think that four other people might be a little upset if I keep you from rehearsals all day long today,” Janey joked with him.

“You just think that four people would be upset huh? For some reason I think that the only two that really matter are Johnny and Wade. They’d loose it if I didn’t show up. Anyway, you’ve got girls day to go and contend with. I’ll see you tonight though.”

“So what are you being so secretive about for tonight anyway?” Janey loved Chris’ surprises but she also knew that he couldn’t keep one for too long before busting out and telling her. Chris went to the bedside and pulled out a slender black box.

“Well, I’m still not telling you about tonight but I was thinking that this might go nicely with whatever you are planning on wearing.” He handed her the black box and Janey took it with trembling hands.

“What is this for? You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“I know I didn’t have to get you anything but I wanted to. Just think of it as a congratulations gift. Seeing as I didn’t get to see you the day you got your good news I wanted to make it up to you.” Janey slowly opened the box and inside it revealed a beautiful diamond and amethyst bracelet and matching necklace.

“Chris…”Janey started as she began to feel the tears welling up in her eyes, “This is the most beautiful thing in the…” he didn’t let her finish her sentence before his fingers touched her face. He pulled her close and leaned in to kiss her. His lips gently touched hers as they held each other close.

“No, you’re wrong Jay, it isn’t the most beautiful thing in the world, you are.” As he leaned in to kiss her again they heard the familiar ring of Janey’s cell phone. “Boy, quite a way to kill the moment huh? Are you ever going to change that damn ringer?” Janey laughed and reached for the phone.

“Hey girl! Oh my god! I know!” Chris listened to one end of the conversation as Janey caught up on the evening of her friends. “I’ll see you in a little while then. Have Joey tell you how to get here okay? Bye bye bye!” Chris laughed at the end of the conversation.

“Do you girls do that every time you talk on the phone?” he asked as he pulled Janey up off the bed to her feet.

“What do you mean giggle?”

“No the whole bye bye bye thing? Do you do that every time you hang up the phone?”

“Hell yeah! We’ve been doing that ever since we were talking on line. What, you think now that we know you guys personally that we aren’t going to stop liking NSYNC? It brought us together silly! And No, I have no intention of changing the ring on my cell phone unless you guys decide to put out another ring from a different song. Now, as much as I hate to let you out of my sight, I must get ready for my girls.” Janey brushed past Chris and headed towards the bathroom to get ready to go.

Janey emerged from the bathroom fifteen minutes later and found Chris already dressed and ready to go and in the kitchen on the phone. Janey went and poured Chris a second cup of coffee and herself a Diet Coke, she never really got going in the morning until the Diet Coke was firmly in her system.

“Are you kidding me? This is the weekend! Can’t this wait until Tuesday?” Janey was listening to one end of the conversation that Chris was having on the phone, she assumed it had something to do with work either NSYNC or FuMan but by the sounds of it he was talking to someone from FuMan. “So you need me for a meeting on Monday morning? Is there any way around it? No, no, I understand, I guess I’ll have to get a flight tomorrow morning then.” Janey’s heart sank to the floor. She knew that this meant that her weekend with Chris was going to be cut short. “Okay, fine, I’ll see you sometime in the afternoon and we can go over everything. I have to get to rehearsal, bye.”

“So, who was that?” Janey said as she handed Chris his coffee.

“Damn! You aren’t going to like this at all I’m afraid. I have to leave first thing in the morning. I’m so sorry sweetie. I promise to make it up to you.” He said as he took the coffee in one hand and Janey’s hand in his other.

“I understand, don’t worry about it. I assume that was FuMan stuff huh? Seeing as you didn’t say anything about Lance having to leave Cay early.”

“Yeah, it was Dani, she said there’s some kind of meeting that I have to be in first thing Monday morning. I really wanted this weekend to be special and now all I get to see of you is tonight because of rehearsals today.”

“Chris, I understand, I’m sure that my world is going to get busier now that I have the Pops and all. It’s the price we pay right?” she said as she hugged him. “Please don’t be worried. Now, what you are going to have to worry about is the wrath of Justin and Lance if you don’t get over to rehearsal so go!”

“Fine, fine, fine, I’ll go, but only because you are making me.”

“That’s right so get that cute butt of yours out of here.” Chris turned to Janey and gave her a quick hug and kiss and grudgingly went out the door.

Janey sat down on the only couch that Chris seemed to have in the living room and turned on the television. ‘Figures,’ she thought, ‘the only time I get to spend with him and he has to take off to go and see Dani. Oh well, at least I get him for tonight She sat back and relaxed while watching a repeat of TRL on MTV and listened to all the gossip that they had to give out. The show was so mindless but every once in a while it was nice to watch mindless stuff on television and anything to get her mind off of Chris. Janey watched in envy as she saw the “Girlfriend” video and wished for the thousandth time that she could have been the girl that Chris was with in the video although he told her that the only thing he was thinking of while making it was her. She was brought out of her imagination by the front door ringing.

Chapter 7

“Hey girls! What’s going on!” the girls all gave each other hugs and all started talking at the same time. “Well, I hate to break up this little reunion but we have appointments that start at 11:00 so we had best get our butts in gear.” Janey said after she showed the girls around Chris’ new place.

“Yeah, hey Jay, do you have your stuff for tonight?” Caytlyn asked.

“What? Why do I need that?”

“Didn’t he tell you? We are going straight to dinner after our treatments today so you have to bring your stuff with you.” Her sister explained.

“Nope, he must have forgotten with the phone call and all. I’ll go and run upstairs and get it.” Janey went up to the bedroom and grabbed her garment bag, makeup, shoes and her new jewelry and headed down to meet the girls. The girls all continued talking as she was getting everything together.

“What the hell did she mean by phone call?” Elley asked the girls. “You don’t think her ex is calling again do you?”

“Nah, he knows better than that,” Cay explained, “The restraining order was made tougher after Florida and he knows what he’s dealing with if he tries to contact her. Besides, I think he’s scared of Chris.”

“Well, then who else could it be? He wasn’t talking to Justin this morning,” Chele said.

“He wasn’t talking to Joey, it was all I could do to tear his ass out of bed,” Kim explained.

“Too much info sweetie, we like to keep Joey’s sex life private please,” Elley joked, “Well, he wasn’t talking to Josh. So who could it be?”

“My only guess is it was Dani, that also explains why she’s being so quiet today.” Cay explained, “She’s been calling Chris a lot lately and not just about work stuff, other stuff too. I don’t know what she’s up to but she had best quit it or else she is going to deal with me.”

“She’s going to have to deal with all of us!” Elley continued, “Chris is the best thing to ever happen to her and from what JC says, she’s the best thing to ever happen to him.”

“Here she comes, shut up!” Chele said. The girls didn’t want Jay to know that they had been talking about her.

“Are we ready for girls day or what? Lets go!” Janey said, “Kimmy, you’re driving right? I can’t wait to see your birthday gift from Joey!”

“Is there anyone he didn’t tell?” Kim asked, “I swear that everyone knew before it was even delivered to the house!”

“I think he was just so excited that he wanted to tell everyone,” Janey explained as she locked the door behind the girls with the key that Chris had given her. The girls all piled into the car and headed towards the Grand Floridian Spa so that they could go and enjoy their day.

“This is the life!” Caytlyn said as she sat next to her friends getting her facial. “I could really get used to this.”

“No kidding!” Chele continued, “Can you imagine having this every day?”

“Every day? I’d settle for once a month.” Elley finished.

“You know, we should do this once a month. Drop our lives and fly to some spa someplace and just pamper ourselves for a day.” Janey said.

“Great idea! Once a month, lets make a girls pact that we will get together and have girls day out.” Kim said and the girls all shook on it. “So what time is our dinner reservation anyway?” she asked the other girls.

“I think JC said at 5:30 but its right here so all we have to do is get dressed and meet them in the lobby.” Elley explained. “He said it’s a really fancy place so we need to be all dolled up and stuff. Which means, they will be! WOO HOO!” The girls all put out a collective screech of excitement. Getting to see the guys all dressed up was always fun for them. They enjoyed having them hang around in everyday stuff but any chance they got to see them dressed up was fun. “I wonder where we are going anyway?”

“My guess is Narcoosies, it’s a great restaurant out on the water.” Janey explained, “I don’t see us going to Citricos, JC would enjoy that place but the rest of them would find NOTHING to eat there!” the girls all joked. They knew that Elley had lucked out when it came to the guy with the best taste in food. The rest of the guys would much rather be eating steak, tacos or macaroni and cheese.

“Well, we had best be getting dressed then its already 5:00.” Kim explained and the girls headed to the dressing room area so they could make themselves look beautiful.

“Where did you get that!” Caytlyn asked as Janey pulled out the new necklace and bracelet that Chris had given her that morning. He was right, it went perfect with the black velvet dress that she brought with her to wear for the evening.

“Do you like it?” Janey asked, “Chris gave it to me this morning. I couldn’t believe it. He brought it out this morning with our morning coffee.”

“Wow, that is just beautiful! So why does he have to leave in the morning anyway?” Elley asked.

“No clue, my guess is some FuMan stuff. Dani called today and said that she needed him for a meeting first thing Monday morning. Oh well, at least I’ll get to see you girls and hang out with the other guys.” Janey tried to not sound too disappointed although she really was. “Let’s just have fun tonight!” Janey said as the girls finished getting dressing.

“Wow, we look hot!” Kim said as the girls all looked in the mirrors around the room.

“Well of course! Lets go get those guys!” Chele said as the girls all headed into the lobby of the hotel.

“Look at these lovely relaxed ladies!” Justin said as he caught the eyes of the girls.

“You know, we really ought to do that for a day. Just take a day off and relax at a spa! Look how relaxed they are!” JC added.

“Jace, we’re just going to pretend like you didn’t say that okay.” Chris laughed and the other guys joined in, “Now look at this beautiful woman here.” Chris said as he took Janey’s hand, “Hey sweetheart, did you girls have fun catching up on all kinds of girl talk and stuff today?”

“We had a great time! So where are we off to for dinner? Are we going to Narcoosee’s?” Janey asked.

“Actually, we had something a little more romantic in mind for tonight. First flowers,” he said as he pulled out a single pink rose for Janey, the rest of the guys followed suit and pulled out flowers for their respective dates for the evening. “Now, for where we are going. I thought we’d go and enjoy Victoria and Albert’s tonight.” Janey stood with a stunned look on her face. Victoria and Albert’s was one of the few restaurants that she had never been to at Disney. Working there gave her lots of perks, one of which was getting to eat around the different places. She always said that Victoria and Albert’s was one that she would save for a special occasion and there was no one else that she’d rather spend the evening with than with the guys and her friends.

“Are you serious?” Janey asked.

“Absolutely! Nothing is too good for you girls let’s go, our reservations are in 10 minutes.” The group all walked together up the stairs to the restaurant and were greeted by a lovely hostess who was only too happy to show the group of friends to a private room.

“Before we get started I think I need to make a toast,” Chris said as he stood up and addressed the girls and his friends, “We wouldn’t be here all together today if it wasn’t for Janey and Caytlyn putting the dinner together last year. That was one of the most remarkable weekends of my life and I got to meet this wonderful person who sits next to me tonight. Janey, this toast is for you. We are all so proud of your accomplishments this year and we all know that you are going to do a fantastic job with the Pops. So here’s to Janey! Congratulations! Cheers!” the friends all clinked their glasses of champagne together and Chris turned to Janey. “Sweetheart, I love you with all my heart. There is no one in my life but you and there never will be. I love you Janey.”

“You are going to make me cry Chris, don’t do that to me,” Janey said as the tears started to come down her face. He reached his hand under her eye and gently wiped the tear away, “I love you too Chris. Thank you for everything.” The two touched their glasses and took a drink of champagne.

Everyone had lots to talk about at dinner. Elley was talking with JC, Chele and Justin about her move down to Florida and her upcoming semester at school. Justin and JC were giving her tips and told her that as soon as she was into her internship that she would have a job with them. They could always use some good raw talent. Chris, Lance, Janey and Caytlyn were talking about Janey’s touring schedule with the Pops and Caytlyn’s upcoming concerts. Kim and Joey were in their own world just joking around and popping in and out of the different conversations. After dinner was over everyone sat back, completely stuffed but still ready for the rest of the evening.

“So what next? Are we all going back to our places or is everyone going to hang out together?” Janey asked the group as they finalized the bill for the evening.

“Well, I think it’s just about time for your next surprise of the evening. What do you think guys?” Chris turned to ask his friends.

“Yup, we have to get going now or they are going to leave without us.” Lance replied.

“I give up. Where are we going?” Caytlyn asked Lance.

“Do you not know the meaning of surprise Caytlyn?” Lance asked as he grabbed his girlfriend in an embrace. Before she could answer he planted a kiss right on her mouth. It was a failure of a kiss because her mouth was set to answer him but it sent the two into a fit of laughter and everyone else around them as well. “Follow us.” He said as he and Caytlyn led the group down the stairs and outside the building.

“Our yacht awaits.” JC said as he pointed to the Grand I boat that was waiting for them. The waiter stood outside decked in a tux and prepared to take the friends on a fireworks cruise so they could see the fireworks over the Magic Kingdom.

“You are kidding right?” Janey asked Chris and JC. “You mean, you actually booked the Grand I for tonight! We get to go on a fireworks cruise?” Janey was astonished. Never in her life could she have dreamed for such a night. She had always wanted to go on a fireworks cruise after working at the Grand Floridian and learning all about it. She quickly went over and gave Chris what was probably his 200^th hug of the evening for the surprise.

“Well, let’s not just stand around here crying everyone, lets go!” Elley said as she and JC led the way to the boat. Everyone enjoyed the wonderful evening out. It was a beautiful Florida evening as the 10 friends sat around on the balcony of the boat watching the fireworks, talking and drinking champagne. It certainly was a night to remember. As Janey looked at her other friends she could tell that things had simmered down in the relationships between JC and Elley, Justin and Chele and even Joey and Kim. They were all such good friends now that they thoroughly enjoyed the evening together. As the boat came back to the hotel the friends all began to say goodnight to each other.

“When am I going to see you girls again?” Janey said to her friends.

“I don’t even know! I have school starting in a few weeks so I know I’ll be down here within a week or so. I have to get settled in my apartment and stuff. Hopefully when you come down to see Chris I’ll get to see you.” Elley said to her friend as she went up to give her a hug.

“Well, I don’t know when I’ll be back down here again but definitely when the guys go on tour you have to come down to Philly if you don’t have rehearsal you girls.” Chele said.

“Are you kidding? After our last Philly adventure? We’re so there!” Caytlyn said as she went to give her friend a hug goodbye.

“How about you Kim? When are you leaving?” the girls asked their third friend.

“Well, I really should leave tonight but I think I’m going to wait until the morning. I’ve had a bit too much drink to be driving tonight.” She said as Joey came up behind her and nodded, the girls all knew that Kim would be staying with Joey for the evening.

“You girls are leaving tomorrow afternoon right?” Elley asked the sisters.

“Yeah, our flight is like at 6:00 pm. I don’t know what I’m going to do for the day though seeing as this boy has to leave bright and early in the morning.” Janey said as Chris came up to put his arm around her.

“Isn’t your flight in the morning too Elley?” JC asked.

“Yeah, its at like 8:30 or something like that. Chele is leaving at the same time and we’re on the same flight up to Philly and then I change planes to go out west.” Elley replied.

“Well, Jay, if you want some company after Chris leaves in the morning I’ll be around. I don’t know how much fun it will be because I’m going to be in the studio most of the day but it will give you something to do other than sit around waiting for those two lovebirds to say goodbye.” He joked pointing over at Cay and Lance who seemed to be off in their own world. “Get a room!” JC called over to them.

“Whatever Chasez!” Caytlyn called back.

“Sounds good to me.” Janey replied, Chris had a blank look on his face, “what?” she asked him.

“Nothing, its….its nothing” Chris stammered and got a look on his face like he just lost his dog.

“So, after I drop Chris at the airport I’ll call you then Jace okay?”

“Cool, hey and did you bring your flute down here with you?”

“Yeah, I did, why?” Janey asked.

“Well, there’s this new song I’m working on right now. I want to see if a flute will work in it.”

“A flute in a pop song?” Janey looked puzzled.

“Yeah! Jace brought the idea up to me the other day and I think it will be totally rad!” Justin said as he joined in on the conversation. “Give me a call tomorrow and let me know how it sounds okay?”

“No problem. Well, seeing as we all have to be up first thing in the morning we should probably all go our separate ways huh?” Janey said as she began to go around hugging her friends. The girls all cried as they said goodbye once again. It got harder to say goodbye to each other as the girls grew closer but they all had their own lives to live and that’s why cell phones and the Internet were produced. They were there so that long distance relationships could survive. Janey went up to her sister and said goodnight and they made quick plans for meeting up to go to the airport in the morning as everyone waved goodbye and went their separate ways.

Chapter 8

Chris and Janey drove back to Chris’ house listening to the CD of some new songs that the guys were working on in relative silence. Janey wasn’t sure what was quite wrong with Chris but she knew that something was bugging him and she was ready to bust so that she could find out. As the song ended Janey decided it was now or never and she had to speak up.

“Alright, I give up, what’s going on inside of that head of yours?” she asked.

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play stupid with me, I can tell you are upset about something, spill it!” she argued.

“Really, Jay, its nothing at all. I’m just thinking about how long it’s going to be before I get to see you again. I really wish I didn’t have to leave in the morning.”

“Well, then, call Dani and tell her that you aren’t going to be there.”

“Its not that easy. She needs me there. I’m the founder of the company. It’s my baby. I have to be at this meeting. I just wish you could come and stay with me all the time.” Janey was shocked at his admission. She had always thought about the relationship with her and Chris as one that would last a while but never one that would last a lifetime. She knew how hard it would be to keep up with his busy schedule and the fact that they rarely saw each other was going to be a tough one. They both had their own lives to lead and until one or the other decided that the music industry wasn’t where they wanted to be any longer then they would have to deal with it.

“I wish I could be there with you all the time too sweetie, but with just getting into the Pops I know that things are going to be really hard. I’ll fly out whenever I can so that I can see you perform and we’ll just have to….”

“Live for email and cell phones huh?” Chris said as he completed her sentence. This was a conversation that they had often and he knew exactly how it was going to end. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?” he asked as he turned off the car in the driveway.

“I think I might have some idea,” Janey said as Chris pulled her close to him. He leaned into her and their lips softly touched. As they clung to each other their kiss deepened and gave previews of what was to come when the two got inside. “That much huh?” Janey said as she smiled at Chris. “How bout we go inside and you show me just how much you love me?” she asked with a grin on her face.

“I think I can do that,” he said as he got out of the car and opened her door. As the two went inside and up to his room Janey was shocked to find the entire room filled with flowers. Somehow there was already soft music playing and it gave a romantic atmosphere.

“I give up,” she whispered, “How the heck did you pull this one off?” As she was saying this Chris came up from behind her and put his arms around her. The height difference between the two was such that Chris could just lay his head right on the top of her head. His arms encircled her as he hugged her from behind. Chris turned Janey around to hold her close.

“My secret,” he said into her ear.

“Well, you know how much I love secrets. Thank you so much Chris, for everything.” Janey’s words were lost in the air as Chris leaned down to kiss her. The one kiss turned into many as the two spent the night wrapped in each other’s arms with love keeping the two together. All thoughts of Dani, work, rehearsals, performances, other band mates, everything was put far from their minds. All there was in the world to Janey and Chris was just the two of them. They savored each and every kiss, caress and moment that the two could spend together.

Morning came too soon for Janey. She spent much of the night awake just lying and watching Chris, marveling at each and every inch of his body. She knew that she wouldn’t be seeing him for a while between his rehearsals for the upcoming tour and her rehearsals so she wanted to savor every moment. Janey wouldn’t need the sleep that day, she only planned on spending time with JC in the studio and that wouldn’t take a whole lot of brain power as she’d probably be just sitting around and listening. Janey tried to put out of her mind the fact that he was in fact about to fly out to California to see his ex-girlfriend. She tried to remember the fact that he indeed was with her. It was hard for her to even fathom the fact that anyone as successful and handsome as Chris was her boyfriend and that he found her equally as attractive. The relationship was one that was built on a lot of trust and understanding. She really wasn’t sure how much of a future was in for the two of them. Life on the road was a difficult one for Chris and she knew that and she also knew that her new job was going to take up a lot of her time. But if the two of them wanted it to work then it would and if not, well, then she’d have a good friend out of it. Chris was famous for staying friends with his ex’s so she was hoping this wouldn’t change with her.

“Hey gorgeous,” Chris said as he rolled over to face Janey.

“Good Morning, did you sleep good?” she said as she cuddled up close to him.

“Yeah, how long have you been up for?”

“Well, a while, I couldn’t sleep.” Janey answered honestly.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“Ah, they aren’t worth that much, I was just thinking about us and how much I….” Janey paused for a moment trying to think of the correct words to say.

“How much you?” he asked trying to figure out what she was about to say.

“How much I just adore you. I think that’s the best word to describe it, I just adore you more than I have ever cared about anyone in my life. That doesn’t scare you does it?” she asked hoping that he would say no it didn’t scare him. The last thing that she wanted to do was scare him away.

“Not at all sweetie,” he began, “in fact, I feel the same way. What did I do to deserve you Janey?” he asked.

“Deserve me? I have no clue at all. But I give you lots of credit for putting up with my crap as long as you have. The whole idea of waking up in your arms is just beyond me.”

“Well, you better get used to it. I don’t plan on letting you go for a long time.” Chris always had a way of confirming exactly what Janey wanted to hear. From the first moment he sang “Falling” to her in the concert in Orlando with her friends up until that very moment, he always knew what to say and when to say it. Chris pulled in her in close and sang into the top of her head, “Never thought that love could feel like this. Then you changed my world with just one kiss. How can it be that right here with me there’s an angel, it’s a miracle….” As he finished the song tears welled in her eyes. Janey had always loved the song but to have Chris sing it right to her meant more than anything in the world.

“You really know how to charm a girl don’t you?” she asked through her tear stained face.

“Lots of practice and lessons from Joey and JC.” He joked. “Well sweetie, as much as I’d like to lie here all day long with you, I have to get going.”

“I know, I know, we better get going. I have no clue what’s up with JC and why he wants me to go over there. Do you guys really have a song you’re working on with a flute in it?”

“Believe it or not, yeah. Kevin can play it on the keyboards but I think Jace wants to hear how it sounds with a real flute. You never know babe, maybe you’ll be on the next NSYNC CD.”

“Yeah, okay whatever, you have to get to an airport don’t you?” she asked as she got up out of bed.

“Yeah, I do but not without one more kiss from you,” he said as he pulled her back down onto the bed. The two exchanged one last kiss then began to get themselves ready to go.

Chapter 9

“Okay, so Chris tells me you want a flute sound in this new song of yours huh?” Janey asked as she entered the studio with JC.

“Yeah, it’s a love song and I just want a different sound. Its not like I don’t know what it’s going to sound like, I’ve heard it with a keyboard but I know that the flute sound is different. You wanna give it a shot?”

“Sure why not.” Janey replied as she pulled out her flute and began to tune it.

“Do you have perfect pitch?” JC asked as Janey didn’t pull out any kind of tuner or anything she just started playing and tuning her flute.

“Well, yeah, pretty much, I have relative pitch and well, it’s about as close as we’ll get today. As soon as I hear the vocal track I’ll be able to match it.”

“Wow, that’s pretty impressive. Chris never mentioned anything like that.”

“I don’t think Chris would know what perfect pitch was if it hit him in the face!” Janey joked, “I mean, I took him to his first Orchestra concert up in Boston. But my guess is he’ll be learning more about it now that I’ve got the Pops and all.”

“Yeah, I guess,” JC replied, “you must be so excited Jay.” 

“I really am, it’s a dream come true honestly. I’ve been wanting to play with the Pops for 20 years now, ever since I heard them play when I was in 6^th grade. It was always my goal to play.” JC sat and listened to Janey intently just watching her eyes as she spoke with such passion about her flute and her career. It reminded him of himself when NSYNC was just starting out. It was always his dream to perform and now that he was it was a dream come true. He knew what a lucky guy Chris was to have Janey. Elley and him had become good friends but it was nothing like the relationship that Chris had with Jay.

“So,” Janey began, “can I hear the song?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” JC stammered. He had been so intent on listening to Janey and thinking about how lucky Chris was that he almost forgot about what they were there for. He was looking deep into Janey’s eyes and found a soul much like his own. One that was full of passion for what she did. “I just finished up the guys vocals the other day so let me know what you think.”

“Did you write it?” Janey asked.

“Yeah why?”

“Just curious. I can pretty much tell you right now that I’ll love it.” Janey replied. All of the songs that JC had either written or produced for the guys CD’s were the favorites of Janey’s with the exception of Falling because that was the one that Chris had written.

“Oh really, and how can you tell that?” he joked with her.

“Well, I have to admit, all the songs you write Jace, I love.” She said as she blushed.

“Wow, really?” he asked. He had no clue about Janey’s love for his music.

“Are you serious? All I have to say to you is that Selfish and You Don’t Have to Be Alone are two of my favorite songs ever that you guys have done!”

“I had absolutely no idea. Thanks, you have no clue what kind of a compliment that is to me Jay.”

“No problem Jace, so let me hear the song.” JC sat down at the keyboard and began to play his new song that he recently finished writing. The song was something like she had never heard before. She knew that JC and Justin were going to just sound absolutely amazing on it and she couldn’t wait to hear the harmonies that he had written.

“So as night begins to fall. And teardrops dry upon your face. Know my love for you is always true As long as stars light the night.” He ended the song and tears streamed down Janey’s face. She knew that she was hearing first hand a song that came straight from JC’s heart. He had a tendency to bear everything he had when he was writing and this song truly came from his heart. As he sang it he closed his eyes and leaned his head back and when his eyes were open it seemed that he was singing with such conviction that Janey was sure that there was something there that he wasn’t telling anyone. She had no clue that the song was for, he had been hurt so many times before from what Chris had told her. Bobbie had really done a number on him but with the emergence of Elley in his life things began to turn around. Unfortunately the distance was too much for them to handle but seeing as she would soon be close by, things might change.

“Jace, that is just gorgeous.” Janey whispered, “I don’t even know if I’d be able to get through the song without crying.”

“Yeah, well, there was another certain person who had a hard time with the song too,” JC said with a sly smile on his face.

“Hold up, you mean, Mr. ‘I don’t cry at anything and I’m strong as a rock’ cried when he heard the song?” Janey asked. She couldn’t believe that Chris would be caught dead crying over a song.

“Well, don’t tell him I told you okay. So let’s hear how the flute sounds okay?” he asked as they got up and headed into the recording studio so that they could get Janey’s flute all set up with microphones and got her into a set of headphones. “You are going to have to do this by ear, I don’t really have a part written for it I just want something you know?”

“I get it, go ahead and do the playback, all I need from you is the chords that you are using in the song and I can go from there. Where do you want the break?” she asked.

“After the second chorus, I want to do something there if you can figure something out.” He asked hoping that she would be able to find something. The haunting melody of the song could use something and JC was sure that the flute was exactly what it needed.

“No problem, lets hit it.” Janey and JC worked for another 2 hours and when they were done they had come up with a beautiful flute solo in the middle of an NSYNC song. It was something that Janey never in a million years would have figured would happen but the whole writing process with JC was just so much fun. The two connected in a way that she wasn’t able to connect with Chris. It was on a completely different level. It was the chance for two musicians to really sit down and do some serious work and they both enjoyed every minute of it.

“Oh my god!” Janey exclaimed as she looked at her watch. “I have got to go! Caytlyn and Lance are probably sitting at the airport right now wondering where the hell I am!”

“Wow, I didn’t realize how late it was! Let me take you.” He said as he helped Janey gather up all of her things.

“Thanks so much Jace. I really appreciate it.” Janey and JC rushed around picking up the music that was now strewn across the room and quickly loaded up her things into his Jeep so that he could bring her to the airport.

“Janey,” JC began as they reached the airport, “I just wanted to let you know what an incredible afternoon I had today. Chris doesn’t even realize how great he’s got things with you.” He turned to look deep into Janey’s eyes as he was speaking to her. Janey could feel his eyes piercing through and she was afraid if she looked right at him she was going to feel things that she shouldn’t. JC had always been one of Janey’s “favorites” with the group but now she was with Chris, she didn’t need any of what her friends liked to call “issues” with JC any longer.

“I had a fantastic time too JC. Thank you for letting me be involved in this. I really am just thrilled about it. Just do me a favor?” she asked.

“Anything, what?”

“Let Chris sing part of the song,” she smiled as she asked. She knew that the song was meant for JC and Justin to sing but after hearing the words to the song she really wanted to hear Chris sing it and more importantly to her.

“We’ll see, no promises okay?” he joked.

“You got it, now I better get in there before Lance and Cay send out a search party.”

As the two approached the terminal where the flight was going to take off both Lance and Caytlyn who looked absolutely petrified greeted them.

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling all over the earth trying to find you!” she screamed as she saw Janey come down the hallway. She tore herself away from Lance so that she could go up and hug her sister.

“I’m so sorry sweetie, we kind of lost track of time. Hey Lance, thanks for taking care of Cay for me and making sure she got to the airport.”

“No problem at all. You had her pretty worried though,” Lance began, “but I’m glad you got here. Hey Jace! How did the flute sound anyway?”

“Absolutely incredible!” JC beamed, “Chris has got quite the performer here.” He said as Janey blushed.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, hey they are doing final boarding calls. Let’s allow these two their private time before we board. See you soon Lance!” Janey called as she went to give him a hug goodbye, “I’ll meet you on the plane okay?” Janey said to her sister.

“No problem,” Caytlyn said as Lance took her by the hand to say goodbye to her, “I’ll see you soon Jace!” Cay said as she gave JC a hug goodbye.

“Thanks again for everything Janey,” JC said as he took Janey’s hands in his. His eyes seemed to have a way of piercing right through her. Janey had no clue how Elley could handle looking into those eyes of his.

“No, thank you JC. I had a great time. Thanks for keeping my mind off of a certain someone for the afternoon. Let me know if you need anything else for my recording okay?” she asked as she looked him in the eyes.

“I’m sure it will be great. When will I see you again?” he asked.

“Not really sure, I’ve got rehearsals pretty much non-stop until Holiday Pops begins and then I’ll be in performances straight through the holiday. I don’t think I get a real break until after New Years.”

“Wow, that’s worse than our schedule. Well, I’m sure we’ll be in Boston at some point in time and if I know that boyfriend of yours, he can’t stay away from you for too long. Maybe I’ll tag along with him when he comes to one of your performances.”

“That would be great JC. I’d love you to see what I do. I’m sure we’ll see each other soon. I gotta get on that plane though or else Keith is gonna come down and drag my sorry butt up to Boston. Thanks again!” she said as she gave him a hug goodbye.

“Bye Janey!” JC said as she turned to get onto the plane. JC wondered for the millionth time that day why he didn’t see in Janey the things Chris did earlier. She was just amazing and Chris had no idea how great he had it. He would have to make sure that he told Chris that and also that if Chris ever screwed up that he wanted first dibs on Janey. He’d have to fight Joey off for that one but he felt in his heart that Janey and he were made for each other. “Dammit Jace, you have to get those ideas out of your head,” he thought to himself, “Chris is one of your best friends and so is Janey, you should be happy for them.” JC fought the inner feelings he had for Janey as he went to meet up with Lance. He’d go home and call Elley and work on some music that always seemed to get these ideas out of his head.

“Hey love birds,” JC called to Lance and Caytlyn, “unless you plan on keeping her here forever you better let that girl go!” he said as he found the two wrapped in a deep embrace.

“I’m going to miss you so much Lance,” she said to him, “you have absolutely no clue.”

“Oh yeah I do, because I’ll miss you that much too. But just a few weeks and we’ll be together again. Make sure when Johnny calls you to give him all the info I told you okay?”

“No problem sweetie. I love you Lance.”

“I love you too honey. Now go get on that plane. I’ll see you soon.” He gave her one last kiss and Caytlyn headed towards the plane. “Oh, Bye JC! See you soon!”

“Bye Cay!” he called to her and turned to his friend so that the two could leave and maybe, just maybe, JC could get the thoughts of Janey out of his head.

Chapter 10

“Hey sweetie, sorry I missed you, I’m sure that you and JC are busy in the studio. Just wanted to give you the number where I am out in California. The number is 718-555-9874. I miss you so much already and I can’t wait to see you again. I love you Janey! BEEP!” Janey sat back in her seat on the plane and sighed. She’d have to wait until she got to Boston to call Chris back because the plane was taking off in a few minutes and she hated using those airplane phones. As she sat in her seat she began to worry if her sister was going to make it to the plane at all when she saw her coming up the aisle to their seats.

“Took you long enough,” Janey said to her sister as Caytlyn began to get situated in her seat.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” she said to her sister with a huge grin on her face. “Lance and I had kind of a tough time saying goodbye. Speaking of which, what the hell is up with your goodbye to JC! Swear to god he was going to kiss you just now.”

“What the hell are you talking about? We’re friends, could you imagine what Elley would do to me if anything happened between JC and I. Not to mention the fact that I seem to remember some guy named Chris something or other who I’m dating, remember him?”

“Yeah, well, what’s going on with you and JC anyway?”

“Cay, are ya deaf? Nothing I told you that, we just spent the afternoon together working. We’re musicians you know how that all works. We just bonded over the music. You should hear the song though. I think there’s a solo for Lance in it by the way.” Janey always knew how to change the subject. Although the girls were dating the members of NSYNC it didn’t stop them from listening to the music and any chance that Cay got to hear Lance sing was a wonderful thing to her.

“Lance…..singing…..solo…” Caytlyn said trying to catch her breath.

“Calm down, do you need your inhaler?” Janey said as she dug through her bag to give Caytlyn her inhaler.

“Nah, I’m okay, but are you sure there’s nothing going on there?” Caytlyn just wanted there to be some type of juicy news but there was really nothing at all to be told.

“Seriously Cay, there’s nothing going on. I love Chris more today than I did yesterday and there’s nothing in the world that is going to tear us apart.” Janey said as she tried her hardest to make herself believe that exact fact. She knew that he was spending a lot of time with Dani and she only hoped that Chris felt the same way about their relationship as she did. She really didn’t want to see Dani getting back into the picture and she wasn’t quite sure how she would handle it. As Janey sat back in her seat satisfied that she had given her sister a positive answer she turned to look at Caytlyn.

Cay sat in her seat with her eyes closed and her headphones over her ears. She had the largest grin on her face that Janey had ever seen. The only other time that she had seen Caytlyn this happy was the day that Lance first told her that he loved her. Cay was also looking carefully at her left hand and Janey was determined to find out what was going on.

“Okay, give girl, what’s the shit faced grin all about?” she said to Caytlyn as she pulled the headphones off of her head.

“What the hell?” Caytlyn exclaimed, “I was listening to that.”

“You heard me, what’s the shit faced grin all about?” she asked her sister again, “I haven’t seen you this happy since the first time that you and Lance…” she started to say.

“Please don’t finish that sentence. Nothings going on, now can I go back to listening to my music.”

“No you can’t, I can tell something’s going on with you Cay. You can’t hide shit from me and you know that.” It was true that Janey and Caytlyn were the best of friends. The two could read each other’s minds and finish each other’s thoughts and sentences. Janey knew something was going on and she was bound to get to the bottom of it.

“Okay, you got me, something happened between Lance and I this weekend.”

“DUH! Like I couldn’t tell that, so what’s going on?”

“Do you promise not to say anything to Chris or JC.” 

“I promise,” Janey said annoyed at the fact that she even mentioned JC to her.

“Or Joey or Justin?”

“Okay, give girl, what the hell!”

“Alright, alright I’ll tell you. So Lance and I were at his place last night and well…”

“Please, spare me the gorey details of your sex life with your Bass Ass. I don’t want to hear that part.”

“Got it, anyway, we got into this whole conversation of when we were going to see each other again and blah blah blah.”

“Yeah, and?”

“Well, he told me that he had Johnny listen to some of the music that I recorded this summer.”

“Oh my god! Really????” Janey couldn’t be happier for her sister. Caytlyn had spent a week in Florida having JC and Justin record some music for her. Cay really wanted to make it big singing and this was a great opportunity for her. “So what did he say?”

“Well, that’s the good part. Johnny loved it! And….well, he wanted to know if I’d open up for the guys for a few concerts!”

“Oh dear lord! Are you kidding me? That’s incredible Cay! I’m so proud of you sweetie!” Janey exclaimed as she hugged her sister.

“Well, I haven’t even gotten to the really good part yet.”

“You mean there’s more?” Janey asked. She was sure that the music deal was all that was making her sister smile but she also noticed that her sister was being rather secretive about Lance.

“Um, well, you have to promise not to be mad at me.”

“I have to promise what? Why would I be mad at you for anything girl?” Janey asked her sister puzzled.

“Well, you are older and you really should be getting married before me.” Caytlyn said with a huge smile on her face.

“Well, yeah, but you aren’t getting….wait a minute, did Lance propose to you?” Janey said as soft as she could so that all the people around couldn’t hear her.

“Um, yeah, he did.” Caytlyn said as a huge smile began to creep across her face.

“Caytlyn, I’m so happy for you!” Janey cried as the two sisters hugged and cried together. “So where’s the ring?”

“Well, we don’t have that yet. I couldn’t even believe that he asked me if you want to know the truth. After he told me about Free Lance wanting to sign me and the whole thing with opening for the guys he said that he loved me and that now that we’d be together more often he wanted to know if I’d want to be together with him forever. I can’t believe this Jay. I mean, I’m going to marry Lance Bass. Me. Caytlyn Sinclair is going to marry one of the most eligible bachelors of the world right now! But I have a question for you.” Caytlyn said as she turned to her sister’s tear stained face.

“Anything sweetie, name it.” Janey said through her tears.

“Will you be my maid of honor?”

“Are you kidding? I’d be upset if you didn’t ask me!” her sister said honestly. “So when is this all going to be?” Janey asked.

“Well, we haven’t really set a date or anything yet. With the tour and all going on right now and my recording my CD and the guys recording their CD the next few months are going to be crazy but we’re looking at a year from May for right now. But you know me, I’ll change is 6000 times before we actually do it.”

“No kidding! Well, sweetie, I couldn’t be happier for you.” Janey said honestly. The girls both sat back to enjoy the last few minutes of their flight. They had talked about wedding plans and the upcoming few months where Caytlyn and Janey would be separated.

“I’m really going to miss you while I’m gone Jay,” Caytlyn said to her sister.

“I’ll miss you too sweetie but I’ll come out and visit. Like Chris is going to let me NOT come to a concert! Damn, he’d kill me!”

“Yeah, you’re right. I just hope that if I make the soloist position for the Pops that I’ll still be able to do it.” Caytlyn replied remembering that she should be hearing any day about the Pops position.

“Well, I would guess that you wouldn’t actually start rehearsals with us until probably November. I mean, you’re the soloist so therefore we’d work around you. Most of the other people we work with from what I understand really only have 1 or 2 rehearsals before starting performances. I don’t see why it would be any different for you.” Janey explained.

“That’s good, I wouldn’t want to miss that opportunity either. Wow, culture shock huh, going from performing with NSYNC to performing with the Pops.”

“Yeah, tell me about it! I recorded today with JC and then this week we are recording the new Christmas CD for the Pops. Going from one to the other is going to be strange.”

“What a life we lead huh? Who would have guessed?” Caytlyn asked her sister as Janey sat back in her seat.

“Certainly not me,” she said to herself. She never in a million years would have guessed this would be her life.

Chapter 11

“Beep beep beep” the cell phone rang from inside of Janey’s bag.

“Will you answer that damn thing?” Caytlyn asked as she heard the phone beep for what seemed like the 100^th time. “I’ve been listening to it beep the entire flight!”

“I didn’t even realize it. Let me check my messages.” Sure enough on Janey’s cell phone it blinked that she had missed 2 calls. “Let me guess, they are most likely both from Chris. I haven’t talked to him all day long and I’m sure he has already called wondering where the heck I am.”

“Hi baby! Well, I’m guessing you are on a plane right now,” Chris’ voice began.

“Was I right?” Caytlyn asked her sister.

“Yeah, hang on,” Janey shushed her sister.

“Well, give me a call when you land. I miss hearing your voice already. I love you Jay and I’ll talk to you soon. Love you!”

“Chris right?” Cay asked.

“Yeah, but hang on a sec there’s another one.” Janey replied as she listened to the beeping on the phone.

“Hi Jay, its C. Just wanted to let you know that the recording came out incredible. You are going to be on an NSYNC CD girl! Thanks again for all of your help. Tell that bum of a boyfriend of yours that I said Hi and say congrats to your sister for me. Lance told me everything after you girls left! I’ll talk to you soon! Love ya!” JC’s voice rang through her phone.

“Love ya,” Janey whispered hoping that Caytlyn wouldn’t hear what she was saying. Janey wondered what that was all about. The guys had said things like talk to you soon or see ya later to Janey and Cay but for JC to say Love ya at the end of a conversation? That was strange but this was JC and JC was strange. Janey let it pass and continued driving back to the house.

“So, who called? Was it just two messages from Chris. I swear to God that guy can’t go 15 minutes without talking to you.” Caytlyn started. She had heard Janey say Love ya and didn’t want her to be thinking that someone else was calling to say love ya other than Chris.

“Um, yeah, it was Chris I should really call him back,” Janey said as she began to dial the number that Chris had left her.

“Hi, I can’t come to the phone right now,” the female voice began. Janey had no clue that the voice belonged to but the idea of her boyfriend spending time with some woman out in California was not a thought that she liked very much. “But leave your name and number at the tone and I’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as possible. If you need to reach me immediately you can call me at the FuMan Skeeto office. Bye! BEEP!!!”

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Janey screamed as she hung up the phone. There was no way that she was leaving a message. “I can’t believe him!” she shouted.

“Whoa, hold on a sec, what was that?” Caytlyn asked her sister. She hadn’t heard Janey scream like that in a while and was a little concerned about her sister.

“That jerk! I can’t even believe him! All this time I’m worried about him not worrying about ex’s and me and then he goes and does this. That shit head!”

“Okay, I give, what the hell is going on Jay?” Caytlyn asked as the girls pulled the car into the garage. Janey turned off the car and down the radio. There was no way that she was listening to the guys singing “I Drive Myself Crazy” as she was about to have this discussion. Chris’ voice was the last thing that she wanted to hear right at that point.

“Well, maybe nothing but he’s a shit that’s all I have to say. He’s fucking staying at Dani’s out in California! No wonder she wanted him out there today! She wanted him to herself. I can’t believe I was so dumb Cay,” Janey said as she started to cry. She had told herself when she met Chris that she wasn’t going to let herself fall for him. Little by little she felt herself fall but Chris always promised to catch her in the end and now she felt herself free falling with no one there at the bottom to catch her.

“Excuse me, he’s staying where?” Caytlyn asked as the girls got their things out of the car.

“Yeah, you heard me right, he’s at Dani’s place. At least that’s the phone number he gave me out there to reach him. How could I be so stupid Cay? You got the good one I swear. I just get the jerks every time!”

“Jay, calm down, you don’t know that he’s really staying there, maybe he just gave you that number so that he didn’t have you calling the hotel or something.” Cay tried to rationalize the phone number however she was fuming inside. No one screwed around with her sister, boyband member or not, best friend of her future husband or not, they don’t screw with the Sinclair girls.

“Well, maybe but I’ll tell ya, he’s going to get an earful when I get in touch with him!” Janey said as they brought the final things inside the house. “I’m going to go and try him again. I’ll be in my room if you need me and if you hear things crashing don’t be too alarmed. It’s probably just the damn bobble head or some shit like that.” Janey said to her sister as she headed upstairs to her bedroom.

Janey dialed the phone number again with the hopes that maybe the first time she dialed the wrong number. “Hi this is Dani can I help you?” the sweet voice said into the phone as Janey sat with her mouth on the floor. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

“Um, yeah, sorry, I think I might have the wrong number and I’m sorry if I do but is Chris Kirkpatrick there?” Janey asked as she stumbled to find the words.

“Oh yeah, he’s here, may I ask who’s calling please?”

“Yeah, can you tell him its Janey?” she said softly into the phone. Janey couldn’t believe that she was actually talking to Dani on the phone. All she knew of the woman was what Chris and the other guys had told her and she was not pleased at the way things were going.

“Sure, Janey you said right?” Dani asked.

“Yeah, I’m his um, I’m his………”Janey stumbled over the words. “I’m a friend of his.” She finally said.

“No problem, hold on a second.” Dani said as she put her hand over the phone to yell for Chris, “Sweetie! There’s some girl on the phone for you!” she yelled through the house.

Sweetie, Janey thought to herself as she got angrier by the second. She couldn’t believe this was happening and she was not too thrilled with Chris at that moment. She had no idea what she was going to say when she had him on the phone but she was sure that if she didn’t control her temper that a few choice words were going to come out of her mouth.

“Who is it?” Janey heard Chris say through the phone.

“I’m not sure,” Dani replied, “some girl. Hurry up or we’re going to be late for our reservations okay?”

“No problem,” Chris replied as he got to the phone, “Chris Kirkpatrick.” He said into the phone, “How can I help you?” he said in his best business voice.

“Um, hi, its me,” Janey said softly. She wasn’t sure exactly what she should be feeling at that moment but terribly hurt was the first thing that came to her mind.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you who may I ask is calling?” he asked again.

“Chris, its me Janey.” She said through her tears that were streaming down her face. She didn’t want Chris to know she was crying and did her best not to let her know that she was indeed upset. “I got your messages and wanted to call you right back as soon as I got in.” Janey said into the phone, she wasn’t sure exactly what she should say to him short of screaming at him with every ounce of her being.

“Jay? Is that you?” Chris said.

“Yeah, I just wanted to let you know I’m home. My guess is you’re busy so I’ll let you go.” Janey said quickly wanting to end the conversation as swiftly as she could.

“Jay, don’t hang up. How are you? How was your flight?”

“It was fine.” She said shortly. “I really should go and you have to go as well it sounds like,” she could hear Dani telling him that they needed to go.

“She can wait, are you okay?” he asked sounding concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just tired. JC and I were in the studio all day today so I’m beat. I’ll talk to you later. Give me a call later in the week if you want.”

“Later in the week? What do you mean?” he asked not even having a clue as to what was going on.

“Chris, you are with Dani, you obviously don’t want to talk to me. In fact, why don’t you wait a week or so before calling me back. I really just don’t want to talk to you right now.” Janey said getting angrier by the second. Caytlyn could hear the anger in her sister’s voice and watched as tears streamed down her face. She hadn’t seen her sister this upset in a while and the one thing she hated was to see her sad.

“What are you talking about Jay? I’m just staying here for a few days while I’m doing business.” Chris explained.

“Yeah, okay, well, you know what, you could have told me that before I just went and called your ex-girlfriends house. I’ll talk to you later.” Janey said trying to stifle her tears.

“Jay! Jay!” Chris said as heard a click on the other end of the line. “FUCK!” he said to himself. There was nothing worse than having someone hang up the phone on him but to have Janey do it to him was the worst thing possible.

“Is everything okay?” Dani asked as she came up behind Chris to rub his shoulders.

“Go away Dani, I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“Was that little miss flute player or what?” she asked in a condescending voice.

“Yeah, it was Janey and she’s not too thrilled with the arrangements that you made for this weekend by the way. What the fuck Dani? I don’t want to screw things up with her yet you seem hell bent on throwing curve balls in every direction that the two of us turn. What’s the deal?” he asked getting angrier by the second. If there was one thing that Chris Kirkpatrick was known for it was for having a short fuse at times.

“I have no clue what you mean Chris.” Dani replied with a snide look on her face, “If she can’t handle us working together then, well, maybe she isn’t as secure in the relationship as you might want to think that she is.”

“That’s not it at all!” he screamed, “You knew that Janey was coming down to Florida this weekend yet you seem to know exactly when to call to mess things up with that, then you pull this shit out here with not having a hotel for me to stay at tonight because all of LA is booked up for the awards tonight and to top it all off you don’t even really need me here for the meeting anyway.” Chris was fuming. He wanted to call Janey and explain everything but he knew that this was not the right time to be calling.

“Chris,” Dani began, “Okay, fine, I admit it, I still am in love with you.”

“You’re what? After all the shit you put me through?” he asked. Chris couldn’t deny the fact that there were many nights when he thought of what might have been. He still cared for Dani and always would. But now he had Janey and he loved her as well. ‘Was it possible for him to love two women who were so completely different at the same time?’ He thought to himself. He couldn’t believe what was going on as Dani continued to talk.

“Yeah, I don’t know what made me realize it. Maybe it was all the talk that you were doing about proposing to Janey and stuff, made me remember when you felt that way about me. When you showed me the necklace and bracelet last week all I wanted to do was tell you to give it to me. I love you Chris and I don’t think I ever stopped loving you.” She said as she put her arms around him. Dani leaned in and faced him. She looked deep into his eyes and began to kiss him. Chris was confused and just didn’t know what was happening. Before he knew it they were in her room together and making love.

“He’s staying where?” Caytlyn screamed as she talked to her sister. She was trying to stay as rational as possible but it was becoming harder and harder as the conversation went on. “You told him off right?” she asked.

“No, I didn’t tell him off, however I did tell him not to call me for a few days. I just can’t believe this Cay. How could I let myself be so completely stupid?” she cried as she took another drink on her wine that her sister had brought up to the room. “What a jerk! And you know what?” she continued, “I knew it all along. I knew that someday she would come back in and sweep him away from me and I would be out of luck again.” She said. Deep down Janey wanted to believe that this was all a horrible dream but as she thought more about it she knew that it wasn’t. Janey sat on her bed and buried her head into her pillow and cried. She cried like she never had in her life and her sister sat by her side.

“Hello?” Caytlyn said softly into Janey’s cell phone. She didn’t recognize the number but she knew it was someone from Orlando. She secretly was hoping it was Chris so that she could tell him off now that Janey was finally sleeping. She had cried for 2 hours straight and was just emotionally drained.

“Cay? Is that you? Is Janey there?” the voice said into the phone. Caytlyn knew it was one of the guys but she wasn’t sure exactly which for some reason they all were starting to sound alike on the phone.

“Yeah its Cay, JC? Is this you?” Caytlyn asked as she left the room so as not to wake Janey.

“Yeah, is Janey there?” he asked sounding concerned.

“No, I mean yeah, but she’s asleep and I don’t want to wake her up. She’s had a rough night.” Caytlyn replied.

“Oh no, is everything okay?”

“Not really. She basically cried herself to sleep thanks to the wonderfulness that she calls her boyfriend.”

“Do I dare ask what the psycho did?”

“You really don’t want to know Jace. Let’s just put it this way, I don’t think you are going to be seeing a whole lot of Janey around for a while.”

“Cay, what the hell happened? You can tell me, I promise not to say anything at all.” He asked. JC sounded genuinely concerned about what was going on and didn’t want to see anyone hurt, least of all Janey. Caytlyn began to describe the events of the afternoon and led up to the point where Janey told Chris not to call for a while and then her breaking into hysterics after she got off of the phone with him.

“Oh shit!” JC said, “I can’t believe what an ass he is! Or what a bitch Dani is! I mean, I didn’t really like her a whole lot when they were dating but then when she broke his heart I liked her even less. But this one really takes the cake. How dare she do that to them? And how dare he go along with it? Janey is the best girl in the world!” JC was really upset with Chris and the only thought that went through his mind was what he was going to do as soon as he got his hands on him. It was not going to be pretty. JC didn’t like when people messed with his friends but when he was as close as he had become to Janey and he realized what a remarkable person she was he really didn’t want to see her hurt.

“I don’t know what to do JC. I mean seriously, I’d love to call both of them out there in their cute little place in California and tell of Dani, then Chris and then Dani again but I can’t do that.”

“No, you’re right you can’t. But I tell ya, as soon as I am with Chris again, I can! I’ve known him long enough and he has been asking for it for a while now. Do me a favor though?” he asked.

“Sure anything,” Caytlyn said wondering what JC was about to ask.

“Don’t say anything to any of the other guys okay? I don’t want them knowing at this point, it will only make things in the group tough. I’ll handle this with Chris alright?”

“No problem Jace but if there’s any killing to be done I want a part of that okay?”

“You got it kiddo. Tell Janey that it’s all going to be okay and if she needs anything give me a call okay? And give her a big hug from me.”

“Sure, will do.” Caytlyn replied.

“Oh, and by the way, Congratulations!” he finished.

“Thanks so much Jace, I can’t wait to be traveling with you guys. Let’s just hope that my sister’s so called boyfriend gets a life before then or else we will just have to do to him what we did to Joe.”

“And what was that?” he asked.

“Lets just put it this way, you may have a band member who needs some higher music than he already sings.”

“Ouch, got it! Okay, I’ll talk to you soon and I’ll see you on Friday.”

“Thanks for calling JC and I’ll give Janey the message. Night.”

“Night.” He said and hung up the phone. JC fought every urge that he had not to pick up the phone and tell Chris off at that very minute. However, he knew that if he called Chris then that he wouldn’t say what he really felt. He’d be talking all from his heart and not put any of his head into it at all and that wouldn’t be good. He’d end up admitting that he had feelings for Janey and that was the last thing that needed to be said at that point. “Work Josh work.” He said to himself and headed down to his studio basement to finish up the final work on the song that he had worked on earlier in the day with Janey. Thoughts of her melodious flute playing rang through his head. He remembered her eyes and how she had music as a part of her soul. She was clearly the person he had been looking for all of his life. If he ever wanted to steal Janey away from Chris now was the perfect time.

He knew though, that Janey was completely in love with Chris. He remembered her asking him if he could just let Chris sing part of the new song that he just finished so that he could sing it to her someday and he was determined to make that dream a reality. Whatever he was feeling for Janey he had to put by the side so that he could figure out how to make things between her and Chris finally work out.

*******************************************************************************

After a few hours of work he had finished up the final bits of the musical track on the CD. He looked at his watch and realized that it was just about midnight. He knew that it was only 9:00 out in California and that Chris would still be awake. Now that he had calmed down a bit it was a good time for him to call. He went through his phone list on his cell to look for Dani’s phone number and when he came up empty decided to just call Chris’ cell.

“Chris Kirkpatrick.” He said as he picked up the phone.

“Hey, it’s Jace, what’s going on?” he said trying to sound polite while wanting to just rip into him. JC was the sensible one and the one that would try and stay calm as long as possible and he wanted to keep that reputation while trying to straighten things out with Chris and Janey.

“Not much, how are you? How did the recording go today with Janey?”

“I’m okay, the recording went great. You have an amazing girl there Chris.”

“Yeah,” he said softly.

“What’s going on?” JC asked noticing that Chris was being unusually quiet on the phone. “Is everything okay?” he was trying not to let Chris know that he actually knew exactly what was going on.

“Um, I don’t think so. Can I talk to you for a second Jace, as a friend?” Chris asked. JC and Chris had not always been the best of friends. The two were complete opposites. Chris was the crazy one while JC was always the more mature one however he was the younger of the two friends.

“Sure Chris, what’s going on?” JC asked.

“Well, I think I really fucked up this time C. Do you know where I was staying while I’m out here?” he asked.

“No, where?” JC lied.

“Well, I was at Dani’s. Needless to say it was kind of a shock to me, Dani didn’t get me a room and my assistant wasn’t able to find anything on such short notice. So here I was staying at Dani’s and I was a dumb ass and gave Janey the number here instead of telling her to call my cell.”

“Chris, do I really want you to finish this little story here or am I going to end up smacking you in the end?”

“Well, like it or not, I’m finishing it, you can decide for yourself if you’re going to smack me silly at the end. Anyway, Jay called me here and Dani answered.” Chris continued the story and told JC exactly what he had already heard from Caytlyn earlier. He listened intently so that his friend wouldn’t think that he was butting into his life already. Chris tended to have a rather short fuse at times and JC really didn’t want to see his friend blow it right now. “But here’s the worst part Jace,” he continued, “I fucking slept with Dani.”

“YOU WHAT! You ASS!! What the fuck are you thinking?” JC couldn’t believe these words were coming out of his mouth. As much as he wanted to stay calm he couldn’t when it came to this. “Please tell me she tied you to some dumb ass bed and made you have sex with her. Please Chris tell me this because I really don’t want to believe that you are such an incredible dumb ass!” JC was mad, more upset than he had ever been at his friend. He cared a great deal about Janey and the last thing in the world he wanted was to see her hurt. He also knew that if Chris hurt Janey then it was likely that things might hurt Lance and Cay. That would be too much for all of them to deal with if both of the guys were upset.

“I have no clue Jace. I really don’t know if I was thinking. After I just lied there and thought about what an incredible moron I was. It started out as me really thinking that I still loved Dani. Then I thought about it for two seconds and realized for the millionth time that she was just using me. I don’t know what to do Jace. What should I say? Should I tell Janey? Help me here man! You’re one of my best friends.”

“Well, first things first, you’re right, you’re a complete ass for doing this. My suggestion would be not to say anything whatsoever to Joey. You know how he feels about Janey and I don’t think it would be a pretty sight. I also wouldn’t say anything to Lance because he proposed to Caytlyn this weekend. It’s going to be hard enough having Cay on the road with us and having her sister pissed as fuck at you. If you are going to talk to anyone about this I’d suggest Justin. He and Janey don’t have a perfect relationship anyway. Not like they don’t like each other but its not like you have anything riding there.”

“Okay, but you aren’t answering my question Jace. What the hell do I say to Janey?”

“I’m going to have to think that one over but I’m sorry I’m an ass might be a good place to start.”

“Yeah, I kinda figured that one.”

“And I wouldn’t call her for a while. She’s really hurting Chris.”

“No, I know better than to do that. Wait a second,” Chris stopped and thought for a moment, “how do you know that Janey is upset.”

JC tried to figure a way out of this one. He didn’t want Chris to know that he had been speaking to Janey and Cay but he knew he put his foot in his mouth so he tried to think of a clever way to get it back out when it hit him, “I was talking to Lance and he said that he talked to Cay and that Janey was really upset.” PHEW he thought, “Said Janey had been crying all night long but he didn’t go into any details.”

“Figures, I should have known that Cay would talk to Lance. She calls him as soon as they land or go anywhere, kind of like what Janey does with me.” The very mention of her name sent tears streaming down Chris’ face. He wasn’t the type to cry but he realized that he may have just messed up the best thing he ever had. He thought about the ring that was being made for her at that moment and was hoping that someday, maybe she might find it in her heart to forgive him and wear it. He hadn’t decorated his house for the specific reason that he wanted to pick out all of the furniture with her. It had been his plan to ask him to live with her that weekend but after everything with the Pops he knew that she would say no and he couldn’t blame her and he didn’t want to hear the rejection. “Well, do me a favor Jace? I know I don’t deserve a favor but can you do one for me?” he pleaded with his friend.

“Yeah, what?” he answered.

“Take care of Janey for me. I know she trusts you, just make sure that she’s okay for me. I will call her and tell her what an ass I am but for some reason I don’t think she’ll listen. Let her know I’m not such an awful person. Please?” JC couldn’t believe his ears. He was being asked by his friend to take care of the girl that he couldn’t get off of his own mind. He was being asked to be nice to someone who broke the heart of one of his dear friends. But Chris was his friend as well and if anything JC was it was loyal.

“Yeah, I’ll take care of her for you Chris,” he found himself saying through a lump in his throat. “But I’m telling ya man, if you fuck up again its all over got it!”

“Thank you so much Jace. I’m staying in Anaheim at Disney because I couldn’t find a room in LA and I had to get out of Dani’s place. She just sat there saying that I really was still in love with her and all this shit. I don’t know if she even fucking listened when I said to her that I wasn’t in love with her but we’re going to have to talk sometime this week too. Damn my life sucks.”

“You’ll be okay. Just get your priorities in order Chris. It will all be okay. If you need anything give me a call okay?”

“You got it. And Jace?”

“Yeah, what?”

“Thanks man. For everything. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“No problem, what are friends for right?” he asked although he really didn’t think that this was what friends were for. He was going above and beyond the call of duty here.

“Well, thanks, I’ll give you a call when I get back to Florida.”

“Yup, rehearsals start on Friday so I’ll see you then.”

“You got it. Later man.”

“Later.” And he hung up the phone. JC laid back on the couch and thought of the conversation that he just had with his friend. If he was a mean or vindictive person he could just go and tell Chris that Janey said that she never wanted to talk to him again. Then again, he knew Janey and knew just how much she cared about Chris. He knew that it was going to take a lot for her to forgive Chris but in the end he knew that was exactly what she would do and they would live happily every after in their beautiful homes in Florida and Boston. But how he was going to get them to that point was totally beyond him. JC stretched his head back and looked at the clock. How did it get so damn late he thought as he realized it was already past 1:00 am. He’d have to wait until the next day or so to talk to Janey as she was probably sound asleep but what he was going to say to her he had no clue.

“Hey sweetie, how are you this morning?” Caytlyn asked Janey as she walked into the kitchen. Janey’s eyes were all puffy and blood shot from crying but she knew that a quick Diet Coke and a shower should make her ready to go to rehearsal.

“Ugh, don’t ask,” Janey replied as she searched the refrigerator for a drink.

“Here, already got one for you,” Cay replied as she handed the diet Coke to her sister.

“Thanks, so you packing today?” Jay asked. Caytlyn would be leaving on Friday for the next 2 months to go and travel with the guys and she knew that packing would have to be on the agenda at least one day this week.

“Yeah, you have rehearsal until when?”

“I think we’re going until 3:30 today. Then I’m coming right home. I don’t have any lessons today so I should be home after work.” Janey was so excited for her sister but she couldn’t help but be a little sad that Cay was going to be leaving. “So, did he call last night?” Janey was sure she heard the phone ring while she was sleeping but it might just have been a dream.

“Nope. Lance called to make sure we landed and stuff. He was worried that I didn’t call him.”

“You didn’t say anything to him did you?”

“No, nothing sweetie, I’m not saying anything until you say so okay?”

“Thanks, anyone else?” She hoped in her heart that Chris had called to say what an incredible jerk he was but she really wasn’t ready to talk to him yet. Cay always had a great way of telling off boyfriends so she knew that Cay would lean into him a little.

“Oh, yeah, JC called.”

“JC?” Jay questioned.

“Yeah, now, he I did tell what happened. He seemed really concerned about you. I’m not sure if he talked to Chris at all but he was pissed as hell at Chris for what he did.”

“Really? Wow, I just don’t want whatever this is with Chris and I to come between the guys you know?”

“Understood sweetie. But of all the guys, I think JC is the best to know what’s going on.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Well, I gotta get ready to go. Come into the city for lunch?”

“Sure, what time do you break?” Janey and Cay continued to make plans for lunch in the city during Janey’s lunch break. They loved going into the cute restaurants that surrounded Symphony Hall and the whole Arts district. It would have been fun living in New York but the girls loved the subtleness of Boston so it was the perfect place for the two of them. Janey went upstairs and got ready for her day at work, picked up her flute and piccolo and headed out the door with a quick wave goodbye to her sister. She turned her cell phone off so that she wouldn’t be interrupted during rehearsal and went to try and put all thoughts of Chris out of her mind.

Chapter 11

It was three days before Chris finally got up the nerve to call Janey when he arrived back in Orlando. He still had a few days to chill before the guys got into rehearsals for the new tour that was starting in a month. They still hadn’t picked out all the songs they were going to do but it was going to be something completely different for them. The new tour was going to focus more on some of their slower stuff and was called “An Evening with NSYNC”. It wasn’t going with any real album so they had their choice of all of the music that they had performed in the past few years. Chris had his ideas of music but his mind really wasn’t with it. He could only think of Janey. He had a long talk with Dani while he was out in California. He told her that what they did was a huge mistake and that he loved Janey. If she couldn’t handle that then it would be up to her whether or not she continued working at FuMan. He wasn’t going to have her disrupt his life any more.

“Hey Jay, I know you are screening your calls and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive my sorry ass. I know I hurt you and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that it hurts. I know you and I won’t see each other for a while with all of your rehearsals but first night you perform I’m there for you. I’d love you to come out and see us while we are on tour or during rehearsals. I’m going to guess that you’ll come out to see Cay. Tell her I said hey by the way and congrats. Well, this thing is going to cut me off soon so I’m going to go. Just do me a favor will you, go and listen to I Drive Myself Crazy. It really says how I feel right now. I love you Jay and I’m so sorry. Call me if you feel like it. BEEP!”

“And who was that?” Caytlyn asked as the girls drove to the airport. Caytlyn was due to fly down to Orlando for rehearsals for the concerts. She had quit her job in Boston and her boss was only too thrilled to say goodbye to her. He was upset that she had quit but was thrilled for this opportunity. He told her that if she ever needed a job that they’d take her back in two seconds but that this was a wonderful thing for her.

“No one.” Janey said as she closed the cover on her phone. The week had been a hard one for Janey, she had been helping her sister pack while going to rehearsals for the Pops. She was really going to miss Caytlyn. The girls hadn’t been apart in a while and to be so far away with only cell phones for contact was going to be a rough ride for both of them.

“Yeah, okay, I believe that. It was Chris wasn’t it? I don’t know why you even listen to your voice mail any more. I mean seriously Jay, between Chris and Joe you should change your phone number.”

“I know, I know,” Janey sighed, “But you know what a bitch that is. So are you totally psyched or what? You are going to spend the next 3 months non-stop with Lance! Performing every night in a different city, driving around on busses, having people do your hair, makeup, shop for you. You are going to live like a queen girl!” Janey tried to sound as excited as possible for her sister but she was finding it hard to smile when she knew how much they would miss each other.

“Yeah, I’m pumped, but I’m going to miss you. Are you going to be okay? You know that I can stay here with you girl. I don’t have to go, they can always get Meredith or someone to open.”

“Are you kidding me?” Janey said as she pulled into the parking spot at Logan Airport, the girls were still a little early so they had time to kill. “I wouldn’t tell you to not do this for anything in the world. You go and have fun. I’ll be just fine here. I’ll be out to see you on opening night okay?” The girls walked into the airport and got Cay all checked in at the counter and proceeded on their way to the gate.

“Kay, I’m going to miss you Jay,” she said as she hugged her sister.

“No crying allowed!” Janey said to her sister, “You have my cell phone, call me girl! I’ll talk to you soon. Call me when you arrive and give that fiancé of yours a big hug and kiss for me!”

“You got it. I love ya Jay.”

“Love ya too! BYE!” and Caytlyn headed down the hallway to the plane that was waiting for her to leave.

Janey got back to her car and turned on the radio. She wanted to listen to the song that Chris wanted her to hear but she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it yet. It wasn’t like she didn’t already know all the words to the song by heart but she just couldn’t listen to it yet. She wasn’t so sure that she wanted to hear him sing those words to her and she wasn’t even sure that she wanted to forgive him yet. She just wanted to go home and indulge herself in some Ben and Jerry’s and Diet Coke and forget all her worries for the day. It would be the first time that she really had the house to herself since the girls moved in and she would have to get used to the quietness of the house for the next few months.

“So lets go over some of the set list so far guys. We need to get this finalized today so that we can get it all staged properly.”

The guys all sat in one of the living rooms of the compound discussing songs for their upcoming concert. They had pretty much decided on all of the fast stuff they’d sing but there were still some questions about the slow stuff that they’d do.

“Yo! Kirkpatrick! Dude, come back to us will ya?” Justin said as he went up to his friend. “What the hell is with you today anyway? Johnny just asked if you wanted to do Falling again this tour.”

“Sorry, my mind is elsewhere, Falling, ummm.” Chris thought for a moment. He knew that this was the song that really brought him and Janey together but he wasn’t sure if he could sing it again. He knew that Janey would be, at the very least, opening night of the tour but he wasn’t sure how many more concerts she’d be at. How was he going to sing that song and look into her eyes again? This was “her song”, the song that he had been singing for the past year and only thinking of her. Every word of the song meant something. “Well, what are my other choices?”

“It’s either that or I Drive Myself Crazy.” JC answered. He knew that singing Falling might be a tough one for Chris but I Drive Myself Crazy would be just as tough. Chris and JC had talked a few times and JC had been talking to Janey almost daily making sure that she was okay. Each time they spoke he’d ask if she wanted to talk to Chris and her reply was always the same that she didn’t want to talk to him yet.

“Lets do Crazy,” Chris finally decided. Worst case scenario, if he didn’t feel like singing then he could have JC or Justin sing his part, it wouldn’t be a problem. That was how the song started originally anyway.

“Well, then it looks like we’re all set then. Rehearsals start Monday morning at 8 sharp. I don’t want any of you late.” Johnny started to go through all the rules as if the guys hadn’t been doing this for the past 5 years of their life. They knew the drill during rehearsals, no drinking, no staying out too late and no ‘unauthorized’ vacations. Everything had to go through Johnny if they wanted to do anything that didn’t have to do with either NSYNC or one of their companies.

“Got it Johnny.” They all said as they began to make plans for the evening.

“What are you up to tonight Lance?” Chris asked. He knew that Cay was arriving and he was secretly hoping that he might get a chance to talk to her before they got too deep into rehearsals and such.

“I have to pick Cay up at the airport right now. Then I’m not sure, probably dinner or something. Why do you care?” Lance and Chris rarely hung out and after Caytlyn told him what Chris had pulled on Janey he wasn’t too sure that he really wanted to spend time with him anyway.

“Just wondering. Listen, I don’t want to butt in on you and Cay but can you please have her call me. I really need to talk to her.” Chris pleaded with his friend. He so wanted to apologize to Janey. He had been lost the last week without her and just wanted her back more than anything.

“Chris I really don’t think Cay wants to talk to you of all people right now. She’ll be around the next month and if you want to talk to her later that’s fine. Let it be man. Janey will come around I’m sure. From what Cay tells me she’s been pretty miserable herself.” Lance gave his friend a pat on the shoulder. Although Lance didn’t like what happened he was first and foremost Chris’ friend and he was the faithful kind. The one that you could always depend on.

“Thanks man. That means a lot. If for some reason she feels like talking to me give her my cell number okay?”

“Sure.” Lance said as he said goodbye to his friends to head to the airport to pick up his new fiancé.

“She still hasn’t called huh?” JC asked.

“Nope, nothing, not a word. I called her and left her a voice mail like I do every day but I haven’t heard back from her. Have you talked to her Jace?” Chris asked his friend. He wasn’t so sure he wanted the answer but even the littlest idea that Janey might be okay was good enough for him.

“Yeah,” JC said tentivly, he wasn’t so sure he wanted Chris to know this but eventually he’d find out anyway. “I actually talk to her every day. Just to make sure that she is alright. You really did a number on her Chris.”

“I know. How is she doing?” he pleaded with his friend.

“She’s hurting but she’s got her music. You know how it sooths you? Well, it does the same for her so she’s pretty much indulging herself in lots of rehearsals and practicing.”

“Well, at least that’s good to hear. Has she……um….has she said anything about me yet?” Chris asked scared of the response once again.

“Chris, don’t do this to yourself,” Justin said to his friend as he came up behind him. Justin put his arm around Chris’ shoulders. “She’ll come around Chris. She loves you, these wounds sometimes take a while to heal.”

“I know. I just, I miss her guys.” Chris said as tears started to well up in his eyes. “You are prepared to sing Crazy should I not be able to sing it right Jace?” he was hoping that his friend would come to the rescue once again.

“If it comes to that Chris, then yeah, I’ll sing it. I really think you should though, its not going to mean anything to Janey coming from me, its all you man.”

“I know, I just don’t know if I can sing those words again,” Chris said. The last time he sang those words was when he was going through his terrible breakup with Dani. After what he had just been through with her it meant nothing at all for her but now with everything going on with Janey it was ten times worse. He didn’t feel the way for Dani that he did for Janey. She was truly his soul mate, the person that he had been searching for his entire life. “This is gonna be a rough concert if Jay and I don’t make up soon.” Justin and JC exchanged knowing looks at each other. Somehow, someway, they were going to have to get those two back together. Chris was going to be a wreck the entire tour if they weren’t and they wouldn’t be able to sing half of their slow songs with him this way.

“She’ll come around Chris. Don’t’ worry. Just do what she’s doing. Engross yourself in work. By the way, once everything gets back to normal with the two of you I have a song for you.” JC said.

“What song is that?” Chris asked. JC and Justin normally sang leads on the songs lately so this was a complete surprise to him.

“It’s the new one that I just wrote. I don’t want you to hear it yet though, its, ummmm…” JC thought for a moment as he tried to come up with an answer for his friend without telling him that Janey was playing flute on the song, “I just have a few more things to do to it first before I have you hear it.”

“Okay, no problem, thanks Jace,” Chris tried to be happy about the song but his mind went straight to Janey. He didn’t know how or when but he was going to get her back. She invaded every thought in his mind and was the cause of every smile in his day. He loved her more than life itself and he just wasn’t sure what he was going to do without her.

“Ain’t No Lie….Bye Bye Bye!” the familiar ring of Janey’s cell phone went off next to her in the car. She had just finished another day of rehearsal and she was just exhausted. The past month had been crazy and it was a good thing too because it kept her mind focused on work instead of “real life”.

“Janey Sinclair” she said into the phone.

“What up dork?” the familiar voice said.

“Hey sweetie! What’s going on? Are you getting excited for next week?” she asked.

“Are you kidding me? I can’t wait. I’m so nervous but it’s going to be awesome. Do you wanna know what I’m singing?” Caytlyn was so excited that she was going on tour with NSYNC on her first ever tour. She was getting to spend her time on the bus with Lance and touring with him and she was also going to perform every night before she recorded her debut album.

“Don’t you want me to be surprised?” Janey asked, her sister wasn’t one to blow surprises but she also knew how excited her sister was and she also wasn’t the type to keep things quiet for too long.

“Well, if you don’t want to know,” Caytlyn joked.

“Oh tell me dammit!” Janey screamed.

“Fine. Okay, so I’m opening with Can’t fight the Moonlight. Then I’m singing this great song that Justin wrote and its called Forever Yours. It’s going to be in the movie that Lance is going to be doing next. And then I’m going to close with, get this, Goodbye to You! Is that not the coolest!” Caytlyn exclaimed. Her favorite song to sing when she was younger was Goodbye to you and for her to be able to perform it live was going to be a thrill for her.

“That’s so awesome. I can’t….” Janey stopped mid sentence as she was beginning to feel nauseous.

“Jay, honey, are you okay?” Caytlyn asked worried about her sister.

“Yeah, sorry I’m fine, I’ve been sick the past couple of days. Some kind of flu bug or something. I’m hoping I feel better before I fly out to LA to see you next week!”

“I hope so too!”

“Anyway, I’m so psyched for you Cay. Are you having fun?” that was a silly question. Janey knew the answer to that one. Of course Cay was having a blast! She was living her dream!

“Are you kidding! I’m hanging out with these five dorks all day and singing and just having a blast! The bus should be interesting.”

“Are they giving you your own bus or are you just gonna be on the bus with Lance?”

“I’m going to be on the bus with Lance it looks like. They figure that they can save money that way. If I want to hang out on the openers bus I can do that but pretty much I’ll be with Lance and Joey. They are sharing a bus again this tour.”

“Oh now that should be fun!” Janey said quickly. She was wondering just how long it would take her to get home before she could just get to the bathroom. She didn’t want to have to pull over to the side of the road again like yesterday but she was just feeling horrible.

“Are you sure you are okay? You sound really strange Jay, is it Chris?” Caytlyn asked. She wasn’t so sure she wanted to mention anything about Chris. Caytlyn and Chris had spent many nights up late talking about Janey and Cay was starting to forgive him. He was still walking on thin ice as far as she was concerned but she also knew that Chris loved her sister very much and at this point would do anything to get her back.

“Nah, its not him, I told you, I just haven’t been feeling so great.”

“Did you go to the doctor?” Caytlyn knew what the answer was going to be but she figured she’d ask anyway.

“Yeah, right sure, anyway, speaking of Mr. Kirkpatrick, how’s he doing?” Janey asked. She was beginning to warm up to the fact of forgiving him. She had been receiving flowers every three days and phone calls at least every other day from him, just to say hi. He wasn’t expecting any return calls but from what JC had told her, he was pretty messed up.

“He misses you Jay. I’m not going to lie to you. I know he was a jerk and he really screwed up with the whole Dani thing but he misses you, a lot. Have you even called him or talked to him in the past month?” Caytlyn asked.

“No, actually I haven’t. I was really thinking of calling him tonight though. I want to get things straightened out between us before I get to LA. I don’t want that scene. He needs to be concentrating on work and not on me right now. I just hope that this whole nonsense isn’t bothering the rest of the guys and they are still able to do everything. His concentration isn’t always the best as it is.” Janey knew Chris as well as she knew herself and she knew that if he wasn’t all there that Johnny would come down hard on him and so would Wade and the one thing that pissed Chris off more than anything was listening to Wade be a jerk.

“I don’t know sweetie. But call him.” It wasn’t like Cay to actually want Janey to make up with someone for being such a complete jerk but she also knew that Chris cared and after all the talks she also knew that he wasn’t going to pull anything like this again.

“Okay, I…..ummm….yeah, I will” Janey said as she felt another wave of nausea come over her.

“And go to the doctor! I’m worried about you and that’s not a good thing to get me worried.” Her sister joked. Although Cay was the younger of the two girls there were many times where she acted like the older one.

“Yes mom! You go and give Lance a big hug and kiss for me and tell everyone I said hi. And Cay,” she started to say, “give Chris a hug for me too and tell him I miss him.” Janey fought back the tears as she told her sister to talk to Chris for her.

“You got it, now go and call him. They are just getting out of rehearsals and I know he’d like to hear a friendly voice.” She said, “I’ll see you on Saturday right?”

“Yup, my flight gets in at 11:30. I’ll see you then. Love ya sweetie and I miss you too!”

“Love and miss you too honey! Go and take care of yourself.” Caytlyn hung up the phone hoping that her sister would call Chris and get things straightened out, although she was a bit worried about her sister being sick she was more worried about both her and Chris’ state of mind if she didn’t get this worked out. What she didn’t tell Janey was that Chris was miserable without her. That he had asked to not sing songs because of her and that Wade and Johnny were coming down hard on him. The other guys knew what was going on and sympathized with him. They had all experienced their fair share of heartache in the past, JC with Bobbie, Joey with Kelly and Justin with Britney, but none of them seemed to be taking it as hard as Chris was. He wasn’t the type to show emotion and he had been an emotional basketcase for the past month, forgetting moves, harmonies and everything on songs they had been performing for years. Caytlyn just hoped that Janey and Chris would get everything worked out, they just had to.

Chapter 12

“Chris Kirkpatrick,” he answered the phone sounding sadder than Janey had ever heard in her life. Normally when Chris answered the phone he was all upbeat, maybe it was just rehearsals she thought to herself. Wade had a tendency the week before opening to work the guys to death.

“Hey there,” Janey said softly.

“Oh my god. Janey?” he said sounding shocked.

“Yeah, its me, how are you?” she asked. She wasn’t so sure how this was going to go, so small talk seemed like the best idea at first.

“I’m okay, how are you? I miss you so much Janey. I’m so terribly sorry about everything.” He cried into the phone. Chris sounded smaller than he ever had in his life. He had so much to be sorry for that he couldn’t even begin to describe it, but at that moment all was well because Janey actually returned his call.

“God, I miss you too Chris. What are we doing? Why are we doing this to ourselves?” She knew that people make mistakes, she had made her fair share of them too, but she loved Chris and she wanted him back in her life, she just had to have him back in her life.

“Is that Janey?” she heard a familiar voice in the background, Janey was pretty sure it was Justin.

“Yeah, shut up!” Chris said to his friend.

“Is that Justin?”

“Yeah, he’s being a pest, now where were we?”

“No he’s not, tell him I said hi! I haven’t talked to him in forever.”

“Janey says hi now go away!” he said and shooed his friend away.

“I can’t wait to see you Janey! Talk to you soon!” she heard Justin say from the background.

“He’ll never change will he?” Janey joked and laughed. The sound of her laughter was one of the many things Chris had been missing the past month.

“Gosh I missed hearing you laugh.” Chris said honestly trying to hold back the tears, “Now where were we?”

“I think you were groveling or something like that,” Janey joked. “Actually, I need to apologize too. I’m sorry that it’s taken me so long to call…”

“You have absolutely nothing to apologize for Janey.” He interrupted, “Its me who should be apologizing to you. You had every right not to call me. Hell, I wouldn’t have called me!” he joked. It was nice to hear Chris joking with her again, she really missed that.

“Well, I could have called sooner Chris, I know that, but I miss you, I know that you’re sorry for what you did, and although it will take me some time to get over it I’d rather get over it with you rather than without you.” Janey said as tears began to well up in her eyes. She had been so emotional lately and she knew that this whole situation with Chris wasn’t making things any better at all.

“I love you Janey.” Chris said honestly.

“I love you too Chris.” The two talked for another 2 hours about all that had been going on in their lives. Janey would have to leave the phone every 15 minutes to go to the bathroom and Chris began to worry. She wasn’t normally like this. Caytlyn had mentioned earlier that she was sick but he was really concerned now.

“Jay, are you sure you’re okay, you know we don’t have to talk tonight?” he said after the second time she left the phone. He could hear her vomiting in the background, it sounded like it was coming up from her toes. “You sound horrible sweetheart, go and get some sleep.”

“No, really Chris I’m fine, its just some kind of flu bug or something. Some of the other people in the Orchestra have it too. And I haven’t talked to you in over a month, I like listening to your voice its making me feel better. I don’t feel much like talking any more though, I’m whipped.”

“I wish I could be there with you right now.” He said honestly.

“Oh yeah, if you saw me throwing up you wouldn’t think that. I look like death warmed over too so I’m sure I wouldn’t be the prettiest sight in the world.”

“I don’t care. I’d just be with you.”

“So what would you do if you were here with me huh?” she asked just wanting to listen to his sweet voice.

“Well, first thing I’d do is take you to the doctor!” Chris said.

“You sound like Caytlyn.”

“Yeah, well she’s right, you should go to the doctor and get this checked out. Anyway, after we found out what was wrong with you I’d bring you home and carry you up to our, I mean, your room. Then I’d make you chicken soup and tea. I’d bring it all up to your room on a tray with a beautiful pink rose on top and I’d make sure you ate all your soup as I massaged your shoulders. Then after you are done eating I’d lie down next to you in bed and sing to you as you fell asleep.” He finished saying. As he was talking Janey lay with her eyes closed on her bed and thought of all of those wonderful things Chris wanted to do when she felt another wave of nausea come over her.

“Hold on…” she said quickly and put down the phone and ran to the bathroom, “Sorry, I’m back” she said after she brushed her teeth for what seemed like the 1000^th time that day. “So that sounds really good, when are you coming?”

“I wish I could, and you know if there was any way I could be there I would. Are you coming out here on Saturday?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be there Saturday morning.”

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay to fly?” he was really concerned at this point. He had never heard Janey sick like this before and it was beginning to worry him.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. That’s what they put those little bags in front of you for on the plane right?” she joked. He had no clue how she could joke when she was feeling so miserable. “But you can do one thing for me.” She began to ask.

“Anything sweetie, you name it.”

“Well, I’m lying in bed, already tried to eat something but that didn’t work, so now the lights are off and I can do without the massage tonight but I’ll take a rain check. But how about the singing?” she asked. Janey loved the sound of Chris’ voice and to hear him sing would be wonderful right now and exactly what she needed to fall asleep.

“Of course. Can I try a new one on you?”

“A new song? Of course you can! Is it a new one for all of you?” she asked, Janey loved being a guinea pig for new NSYNC music.

“Believe it or not, Richard Marx wrote it and its just going to be me. My first real solo song.”

“Wow!!!!!! That’s awesome Chris, I’d love to hear it.” She said honestly. What a great thing for him to finally get to showcase his voice instead of hearing Justin or JC. Janey loved their voices too but to hear Chris sing would be just fantastic.

“Okay, are the lights out?” he asked.

“Yup, lights are out.”

“Are you lying on your bed?”

“Okay, duh, where else would I be?” she joked, “Of course I am.”

“Do you have your teddy bear?” he asked. Chris knew Janey well and he knew that she slept with the teddy bear that he had sent her. Janey loved the smell of Abercrombie Woods cologne, it was what he always wore, and it soothed her so he sprayed the bear with it and sent it to her as a gift to remember him while he was away.

“You know me too well Kirkpatrick,” she joked as she hugged the bear close and smelled its head.

“Okay, close your eyes.” With that he began singing, “When life seems hopeless and you were all alone. And no ones there to dry the teardrops in your eyes. When you can’t find a single reason left to try, baby I will, baby I will. Tell me the secrets that you’ve locked away. Confide your deepest fears that haunt you everyday. All of the little things no one else could understand. Baby I will, Baby I will. It’s alright, I’ll be there. Count on me, anytime anywhere. I’ll show you love. Till the end of my life, when no one else is there by your side, I will.” He sang the song with everything that was inside of him. Chris had never felt this way before in his life and he knew that if he was with Janey at that moment he’d be proposing after he finished the song.

Janey lay in her bed thinking about the words to the song that Chris was singing to her. His voice always had a soothing effect on her ever since she first heard him sing but this was different. She really felt like he was singing from deep inside of his heart. It made her weak in the knees just thinking about him singing to her. As he finished the last chorus she heard these words again.

“Its alright. I’ll be there. Count on me, anytime anywhere. I’ll show you love. Till the end of my life. When no one else is there by your side. I’ll be standing there by your side, I will.” He finished. Tears streamed down Janey’s face and she knew Chris was crying as well. His voice was shaking through the last chorus and she just wished that she was there with him to hold him close and tell him that she would be there for him forever also.

“That’s the most beautiful song sweetie,” Janey choked the words out of her mouth. She was surprised that she was even able to talk.

“I love you Janey, I meant every word I just sang to you. Now please get some sleep and I’m calling you tomorrow to make sure you went to the doctor okay?” Chris pleaded. He didn’t want to see her sick and was getting very concerned, she just didn’t sound herself at all.

“Okay, I’ll go,” Janey whined, “but only for you okay?”

“That’s fine. Now close your eyes and go to sleep. I love you sweetheart.”

“I love you too Chris. Goodnight darling.” And she hung up the phone. The kisses that she wanted to cover him with would have to wait until Saturday. For now she’d sleep soundly with the sound of Chris’ voice ringing in her head and the knowledge that he would never screw up again and he loved her more than anything in the world.

“American Airlines flight number 25 is now arriving at gate number 27.” The flight announcer said. Chris and Caytlyn waited nervously for Janey to arrive. They had both spoken to her in the past few days and knew that she had been to the doctor. He had advised her not to fly but Janey was bound and determined to be there for her sister’s opening night concert and she wanted to see Chris more than anything in the world. The long flight to California also gave her time to prepare the speech that she was going to give Chris. She just hoped that he’d be able to handle it.

“There she is!” Caytlyn shouted as she saw her sister come off of the airplane. She was one of the first to disembark with sitting first class. Chris had upgraded her seat because he knew she would need more room with being sick and all. He just hoped she hadn’t pushed it too far with the long flight. Janey came through the doorway looking pale and plain run down. Chris had never seen her like this and he was worried about her. With his security guards close behind he went up to give her a hug.

“Hey guys,” Janey said as she got off of the plane. “God I missed both of you,” she said as she went up to give her sister a hug. The two sisters clung to each other as if they’d never let go. This was the longest they’d been apart in over 2 years and it was killing both of them. Phone calls just aren’t the same from sisters and you can’t send a hug through the mail.

“I missed you too honey. How are you feeling? You’re looking kinda green.” Caytlyn always was one to state the obvious.

“Thanks so much. I’m okay I guess, I just needed to get off of the plane,” she said as she turned and saw Chris standing close behind Caytlyn. He wanted to give the sisters a few minutes to say hello.

“Hey you,” Janey said as she caught Chris’ eye. He had the most beautiful eyes in the world and Janey could just get lost in them. His eyes that day were not the happy ones she was used to seeing however. They held deep inside of them all of the hurt and sorrow that he had been feeling the past month and behind that was the happiness of having Janey back with him. He still hadn’t been able to sing the beginning of I Drive Myself Crazy and he was hoping that he’d be able to now that he had Janey back. He went up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. He pulled her in close in a deep embrace.

“God you have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” he said as he lifted her face to look him in the eyes. Janey had tears streaming down her face. She had missed Chris so much in the past month and it was all that she could do to keep the tears inside. “Oh baby, don’t cry,” he said as he put a finger under her eye to wipe away the tears that were streaming down her face. He then placed his hand under her chin to lift her face to his. He pulled her close and lowered his face and kissed her ever so gently on the lips. It was a brief kiss, one that was of questioning, as he wasn’t quite sure she had totally forgiven him. He had told her about what happened between him and Dani, he wanted no secrets between them, and although Janey was upset, she forgave him, why he didn’t know but she did. Janey lifted her face to Chris and they deepened their embrace and kiss.

“You know, we should get out of here before we have too big of an audience,” Janey said as she looked around and started to see a crowd around them. She still wasn’t feeling so great and being inside of a large group of people where she couldn’t escape wasn’t exactly where she wanted to be at that moment.

“My wish is your command,” he said as he picked up her carry on luggage and intertwined his fingers with hers. Chris just watched as the two sisters talked and giggled. He remembered the first night he met Janey and Caytlyn and how cute the two of them were giggling in the elevator. Little did he know that here he’d stand a year later with them again and one was about to become the wife of one of his best friends and open for them in concert while the other was the love of his life. It was love at first sight for Chris. He knew the moment that he met Janey that she was different and as he got to know her more and more every day he realized that the decision to buy the ring was the right one and he couldn’t wait to propose to her. The problem was finding the right moment. He knew that right now, after all they had been through, would be the wrong time, but he’d have to figure out when the moment would be.

“So where are we off to now?” Janey asked. She knew that both Cay and Chris would have busy days with sound checks and she was actually surprised that they were both allowed to come and meet her at the airport. She was just expecting one of the crew to come and meet her so this was nice.

“Well, we’re going to bring you to the hotel so that you can sleep,” Chris said to Janey. He was worried about her doing too much when she was sick. “What did the doctor say anyway Jay?” he asked.

“Oh, ummmm, its just a flu bug,” she said tentivly. She wasn’t quite ready to tell Chris and Cay exactly what it was.

“Wow, that’s a rough bug you’ve got!” Caytlyn said to her sister. Janey gave her a knowing look to shut up and that they’d talk later. She didn’t want to discuss it right now and Caytlyn got the hint real quick. “Well, at least you are here,” she said quickly.

“Are you kidding, I wouldn’t miss this for the world. However, I would like to go to the hotel to freshen up then can I just come and meet you all over at the venue?” Janey asked.

“Yeah, that works,” Chris said, “I’ll have Lonnie get you your passes and stuff for tonight so that you can go wherever you want. Are you going to come to sound check?” he asked.

“What time is that?” she asked.

“Um, I think it’s at 3:30” he said as he looked over at Caytlyn. He knew that she would know exactly what time it would be starting.

“Actually its at 3:00. You have to be in the van by 2:00 so that you can get over there and I have to be in the same one so honey if you want to sleep until 2:30 or so you can and then just go to the venue if you’re going to be there for that part.”

“Are you kidding? I can’t wait! I’ll be there, sick or not, I never miss my NSYNC shows.” Janey said as she turned to her sister and giggled. They might be 20 something girls but they loved their concert and turned instantly 14 when they saw the guys on the stage. “Have you already seen the whole show Cay?” her sister asked. She figured that she had seen all the rehearsals and the final dress rehearsals this week.

“Nope. I didn’t want to see it without you. I mean, well, I’ve seen some stuff from rehearsals but I didn’t go to dress the past two nights. I didn’t want to spoil it.” Caytlyn answered honestly.

“Are you kidding me? You waited for me?” Janey asked shocked at her sister’s patience. She wasn’t so sure she’d be quite as patient if it was her. “You are the coolest,” she said as she gave her sister a big hug.

“Anyway, let’s get you freshened up huh?” Caytlyn asked as they arrived at the hotel. Chris and Lonnie carried in Janey’s luggage. She didn’t have too much because she was only there for the weekend but she wasn’t sure about appearances that they’d have to attend and such with the opening of the show. All she really wanted to do was hold on to Chris for dear life for as long as she could.

“Sounds good to me,” she said as they pushed the elevator for the floor that all of the talent was staying on. When they got off of the elevator they saw the familiar security who they saw each time they traveled standing guard so that no one would get onto the floor without prior authorization. “Hey guys!” Janey said to them.

“Hey girl! We weren’t quite sure you were going to make it. How are you feeling?” Mike asked.

“Did everyone know I was sick?” Janey said as she turned to her boyfriend. “I’m feeling better. I could use a shower and some ginger ale though.” She said.

“That’s all taken care of,” Chris said as he smiled at Caytlyn. Janey knew that the two of them had something up their sleeves.

“I thought I heard your voice out in the hallway,” JC said as he came out of his room. He went straight up to Janey in what seemed like 3 long strides down the hallway, he picked her up and swung her around in a circle.

“You might want to be careful, she might just throw up all over you,” Caytlyn said joking with her sister.

“Screw you bitch,” Janey said to her sister.

“Ah, there’s the Janey we all know and love,” Joey said as he came out of his room to greet the group.

“How are you guys? I’ve missed you all so much!” Janey said. Chris stood back and smiled as his friends greeted his girlfriend. He loved to watch her interact with his friends. They all loved her so much and probably missed her as much as he did, although they got to talk to her almost daily.

“We’re all pretty good, but the question is how are you?” JC asked looking concerned.

“I’m fine. It’s just a bug but I can feel it going away as we speak. I must have just had NSYNC-itis or something. Not enough NSYNC in my life.” Janey joked with her friends.

“That’s gotta be it.” JC said. As he looked at Janey he knew it was something else and he was sure that he’d be finding out shortly what it was all about. Janey gave him a look in the eyes as if to tell him that they needed to talk and soon. Lance and Justin heard all the noise in the hallway and came out to greet Janey.

“Its good to have you back with us girl,” Justin said, “Now that you’re here we don’t have to keep the old man here in line any more.” He said as he hugged Janey.

“Watch it baby boy, I’ll have my old man go and beat you in basketball or something.” She joked.

“Yeah, he’d be out of breath and would need Cay’s inhaler before we even got through the first half of the game.”

“Alright, enough making fun of Chris.” Chris said as he came over to grab Janey away from Justin.

“Hold it a second, I didn’t get a chance to say hello yet,” Lance said in his southern drawl. “How’s my future sister-in-law anyway?” he asked as he hugged Janey.

“I’m doing okay, a little tired but good and getting better by the minute,” she said as she flashed a smile at Chris. “I think I need to go and get myself all freshened up though before I get to sit with all the teenies at your concert tonight.” Janey said as Chris took her hand to head to his room.

“Oh, don’t worry, you’ll have company tonight,” JC said as he smiled at his other friends.

“What are you talking about?” Janey asked.

“Well, didn’t you girls make a promise to each other?” Justin asked.

“What the hell Cay? What’s going on?” Janey asked her sister who was busy hugging her fiancé.

“Remember when we were all in Florida? We promised each other at the salon that we’d do that once a month.”

“Yeah, I remember that but I didn’t actually think it was going to happen.” Janey replied.

“Guess again,” Chris said with a smile on his face, “The girls should be arriving momentarily, they’ll be meeting us at the venue and tomorrow is girls day at the spa!”

“Oh, I knew I loved you for a reason,” Janey said as she hugged Chris and he picked her up to kiss her. “Okay, so now I really need to get ready and so do all of you.”

“Yes mom!” the guys all said.

“Finally,” Chris said as they closed the door behind them to all the noise and the entire outside world. He went over and took Janey’s bags from her hands and took her hands in his. “Now, I do believe I promised you something on the phone?” he asked as his lips met hers. They kissed with longing and with thoughts of the past month left far behind. They kissed to make up for all of the kisses that they had lost over the past month. They kissed with a deepness that spoke of what was to come later that night when they could lie next to each other once again. Time spent together was so little and far between that any moment alone was savored. They had missed many of those in the past month and they were determined to make up for all of it.

Chapter 13

“Okay, so what’s going on?” JC asked as he pulled Janey into one of the dressing rooms. Janey had told him earlier that she had something she needed to talk to him about. She had already talked to her sister but she needed a guy’s opinion on this one and Janey and JC had become real close in the past month. He called her daily to make sure that she was okay and that all was well with her. He nicely passed the messages on to Chris. His feelings for Janey were put aside because he knew how much Chris and Janey cared for each other and when Elley arrived in Florida for school things started to heat up between them again. He would always care for Janey but as one of her best friends and nothing else. “I can tell that something’s going on so spill it.”

“Well, yeah, something is going on. God, this is hard to tell you,” Janey said as she let her chin fall to the ground. JC picked her chin up to look him in the eyes.

“Jay, you know you can tell me anything, that’s what friends are for remember? Now what’s going on? Are you really sick? Is something wrong?” JC said with a look of concern in his eyes. He was not only concerned for Janey but for Chris as well. He wasn’t so sure that Chris could handle life without Janey and he just hoped it wasn’t anything serious.

“Well, yeah, something’s going on. Gosh. Okay, I’m just going to tell you. You know I’ve been sick for the past week or so right?” she asked.

“Yeah, we were all real worried, you went to the doctor and he said it was the flu right?” he asked looking more concerned.

“Jace, I’m fine sweetie. But it wasn’t the flu.”

“Okay, then what was it….Oh my god! No way!” he said as he looked in Janey’s eyes. Her eyes were smiling at him and he could read her _expression without her saying a word. “How far along are you?”

“Wow, that was easy telling you, ya think it will be that easy telling Chris?” she asked laughing. JC pulled her into a deep embrace. He was so happy for Chris and Janey. They were going to make incredible parents. “I’m 2 months along. It must have happened when he came up to visit me last. I don’t think he has clue one about this.”

“No way, not him. Oh my god! Who else have you told? You did tell Cay right? She’d have my head on a platter if I knew before here. Did you tell Elley or Kim or Chele?”

“Nope, I just told Cay of course, I had to tell her first and then I told you. I’m going to tell the girls after I tell Chris. I just don’t quite know how I’m going to do it.”

“Just come out and tell him.”

“Do you think he’s going to flip out? You don’t think he’ll break up with me do you?” she asked concerned. It was one thing dating someone but becoming a father when they weren’t even engaged yet was something completely different. “You know, I was more worried about telling Cay. I really wanted the next year with her wedding and the album and all to be all about her. And then this happened.”

“What did she say?” JC asked.

“Oh she’s thrilled. She’s going to be Auntie Caytlyn. She’s tickled. She already started planning the baby shower you know her.”

“Yeah, that’s Cay alright. So now, how you are going to tell Chris.”

“Exactly, can you do it for me?” she asked JC with pleading eyes. Janey stuck out her bottom lip to pout as she used to see her 4 year olds in school do.

“You’re kidding me right? Please tell me you’re joking. Jay, you have to tell him girl.”

“Yeah, I know, but it couldn’t hurt to ask right? So Chris is going to be the second father of the group.”

“Wow, that’s incredible. Well, I couldn’t be happier for you. You know that you mean the world to him right?” JC said as he looked deep in Janey’s eyes.

“Yeah, now I do, I didn’t there for a while but now I do. Well, maybe I should get this over with now huh? Do you think he’ll still be able to perform tonight after this news?”

“He’ll be fine, probably better than he has been in a while. You should have seen him this week, it was like we had our old Chris back. He missed you so much.”

“Thank you JC. For everything, I could never have gotten through this past month without you.” Janey said as she hugged JC tight. Elley was the luckiest girl in the world to get this guy. Although, at that moment, Janey was pretty much feeling like the luckiest woman in the universe, as long as Chris took the news well.

“You got it sweetie. You know I’m always here for you. No matter what, now, I’m going to go and get our future father out there and you need to have your little talk with him. Do you need anything?”

“Yeah, is there a CD player around here somewhere?” Janey asked as she went in her bag to grab a CD out of it.

“Are you kidding, this is us, of course there is. It’s right over there, good luck Janey.” JC said as he turned to leave.

“Thanks JC.” She said as he walked out the door.

“Hey Chris,” JC called to his friend who was getting his hair done for the concert. Sound check had gone well and the guys all had a chance to eat but now it was time to get ready for the first show of their new tour.

“Hey C, what’s going on?” he asked. Chris knew that JC had been talking with Janey. He was fine with their relationship, he knew they were just friends and that Janey really confided in him. Chris wasn’t so sure what just made the two of them click but they did and it had been JC who in the end convinced Janey to actually call Chris and let him do some apologizing. “Is Janey okay?”

“Oh yeah, she’s fine, I think she wanted to talk to you though when you get a chance,” JC said as he went to get some of his clothes ready for the show.

“It’s really great to have her back with us again Chris,” Joey said, “Do you think she’s going to hang out for a while or does she have to get back to Boston?” the guys all loved having Janey and Caytlyn around on tour with them. The girls both spent a brief period of time with the guys during their last tour and everyone had a ton of fun with them.

“I think she has to get back. I know that they are in rehearsals pretty heavy right now for Christmas stuff so she’s been really busy. She’ll come out and visit though, I hope.”

“Oh, I think we’ll be seeing a lot of her now that you finally sucked up to her and got this whole apology thing over with,” Justin joked as he went and messed with Chris.

“Yeah, can we not talk about that now?” Chris asked his friends, “I’ve heard about enough of that crap for a while. She’s here and we are fine lets leave it at that.” Chris turned to JC at the mention that everything was fine with the relationship as if he was trying to get an idea of what was going on and making sure that Janey really was okay with everything.

“Okay guys, your opening acts are getting ready to go out. You’ve got about an hour before you need to be on stage.” Melinda said as she came through the door.

“The opening acts?” Justin asked, “Is Cay on yet?”

“No, the first act is on, she’s on second but she’ll be on in about 10 minutes.”

“Am I done?” Chris said as he turned to Sally, their newest hair stylist.

“Yeah, you’re done, Justin, you’re done too.” Sally said as she looked at the shaved head of Justin.

“Cool, lets go Chris! We gotta see Cay perform.” Justin said as he pulled his arm. “Hurry up Jace, the rest of us are done so we’re just waiting for you. I know Cay is expecting to see all of our smiling faces standing in the wings waiting for her.”

“Where’s Lance?” Joey asked.

“Duh, where do you think she is?” Chris said, “He’s with her already, lets go man, I wanna grab Janey before we go and see Cay perform.” The guys all left JC behind in the small room where he was getting the finishing touches done on his hair so they could grab Janey and get out to see Caytlyn perform on her first night.

“Hey sweetie,” Chris said as he found Janey sitting in the dressing room by herself. She had her headphones on and she looked so peaceful. She was finally starting to get some color in her face after taking some medicine from a huge bag of pills that she brought with her. Chris was determined to find out what really was going on. Janey had never taken medication before and to see her with a bag of pills he was worried. He just hoped that this flu bug wasn’t anything serious.

“When I need someone beside me. Someone there for me. Are you gonna be...There with the arms to hold me. There with the love I need. Then will you be there. Will you be there? Heart and soul I need to know...Are you gonna be there? Are you gonna still care (are you gonna still care?) Are you gonna be there... oh yeah heh yeah heh heh Will you stand by my side ? Are you gonna be mine? Are you gonna be there (are you gonna be there)? Are you gonna be there when the rain comes? Are you gonna be there with a warm touch? Can you swear you'll be there with a real love? Are you gonna be there?” Janey heard the familiar words of one of her favorite songs come through her headphones and didn’t even realize that Chris had entered the room. The song had been soothing her the past few days while haunting her at the same time. These were the questions that she had for Chris and all she wanted was to find out if he was going to be there for her and their baby. She wasn’t so sure but she knew that she had to find out and soon.

“Jay?” he called as he lifted the headphones from her head, “Are you okay sweetie?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine baby, is it time for Caytlyn to open?” she asked as she attempted to get up. She didn’t want to be nauseous again and Chris noticed that she was having a hard time standing up off of the floor so he went to grab her arm and help her up.

“Yeah, she starts in a few minutes.”

“Is Lance with her?”

“Did you think he’d be anywhere else? And Kim, Elley and Chele are over there too. I know they are waiting to see you.” Janey had slept through sound check in one of the dressing rooms so she hadn’t gotten to see her friends yet. “Are you going to make it?” he asked concerned.

“Yeah Chris, I’m fine, lets go I really can’t miss this. Cay would never let me hear the end of it.” Chris gave her a quick hug and kiss and the two held hands and made their way over to the green room where everyone was waiting.

“JANEY!!!” Elley, Chele and Kim all yelled at once and ran to greet their friend.

“How are you girl?” Kim asked.

“I’m doing okay, its so good to see all of you!” Janey said as she searched the room for her sister. She wanted to make sure that she gave her a hug before she went out on stage.

“How are you feeling?” Elley asked as the other girls headed off to find Caytlyn and wish her luck before she went on stage.

“How did you know I was sick?” Janey asked not even thinking that JC had probably told her already that she was sick. Elley had gone to nursing school before she decided to head down and try something new in Orlando. She was so happy with the decision that she made and it allowed her to be closer to JC. Now that they were so close to each other they were able to start up their relationship again and no one was happier about that then Elley.

“A little bird told me, so what’s going on with you? Did you go see the doctor?” she asked concerned.

“Yeah, I went yesterday. Its kind of a long story.” Janey said as she tried to escape the conversation. She knew it wouldn’t work because Elley knew her better than she knew herself at times. All Janey would have to do is mention the symptoms she’d been having and Elley would know immediately what it was.

“Is it the flu?” Elley asked.

“No, its not that, its, well, its ummmm…you know,” Janey said as she looked around the room full of people, “now might not be the best time to discuss this but I promise we’ll talk tomorrow.” Janey said as she smiled at her friend. Janey was positively glowing. It was very obvious to her friend exactly what was going on.

“Oh my god, no way.” Elley said as she went to hug Janey, “How far along are you?” she whispered into Janey’s ear. Janey knew that Elley would figure it out quickly even if JC didn’t say anything at all to her. Elley let go of her friend and looked her square in the eyes.

“Yeah, I knew you’d figure it out. Two months. I just found out yesterday and he doesn’t know yet.”

“How are you going to tell him? Wait, it is Chris’ right?”

“Because I’ve slept with so many other people right? Of course its his. Now shut up! If you want to discuss it go and discuss it with your boyfriend.” Janey said as JC came up behind Elley to give her a hug. “I told her, well, okay, she guessed.” Janey said to JC.

“Isn’t that awesome? Another one!” JC said. Joey’s daughter Brianna spent time around with the guys every once in a while but to have another NSYNC baby was going to be so much fun and seeing as Janey and Chris were so close, JC had a feeling they’d be seeing a lot of both the baby and its mom. 

“So do I get to join this little group or what?” Chris asked as he came up behind Janey. JC and Elley both exchanged looks to say that they should shut up because Chris still didn’t know about the baby and they didn’t want to be the ones to tell him. This news should be coming from Janey and no one else.

“Of course you can,” Janey said as she put her arms around him. She lifted her chin and stood on her tip toes so that she could give him a kiss and he held her close. It was so nice to be in each other’s arms again and it was hard every time they were away from each other even if it was just across the room.

“Well, are you going to come over and wish me good luck or what?” Caytlyn said as she and Lance came over to the friends.

“Of course I am. How are you doing anyway? Are you nervous?” Janey asked.

“Are you kidding? I’m about to sing to a packed house of several thousand screaming fans who have never heard my name before other than in tabloids, what do you think?” Caytlyn said as she got a petrified look on her face.

“You are going to be fantastic. You have absolutely nothing to worry about!” Janey said as she went to hug her sister. “Just pretend like we are in the car singing together on the way home from rehearsal.” Janey and Caytlyn used to love sitting in a car together and singing for hours. Didn’t matter what the music was, Showtunes, Barbara Streisand, Dream, Backstreet Boys, and of course NSYNC. They just loved to sing and harmonize together.

“Yeah but you aren’t going to be out there standing with me!” Caytlyn said as she hugged her sister tighter.

“Just do what I do Cay,” Chris began to say.

“I’m scared to ask what that is,” Caytlyn said warily. “Do I want to know this?” she said as she turned to Lance.

“Ah, its not that bad,” he replied to her.

“Okay, Chris, what do you do to combat your fears of stage freight?” This should be a great answer she thought to herself.

“Just picture them all in their underwear. Or at least the cute guys or in my case the cute girls.” Chris replied with a smile on his face. Janey and Cay both shot him looks as if to say DIE BOY! You are soooooo dead later.

“You know, and you thought you were going to get lucky tonight too didn’t you Kirkpatrick,” Janey said jokingly.

“Sweetie, that was before I met you.” He said trying to suck up.

“Yeah, good try.” Janey said, “Now, they are going to be calling your name soon so you need to get out there. Break a leg sweetie and we’ll be watching from the audience okay? That’s where you want us right?”

“you sure you’re going to be okay out there?” Cay asked her sister looking concerned and giving her sister a hug and she put her hand on her sister’s stomach.

“Don’t you worry about me. I’ll be just fine, now I’ll see you when you get off stage and then you can get changed and we’re going to go and enjoy the boys from our seats.” Janey said as she gave her sister a squeeze.

“Okay, here goes nothing,” Caytlyn said as she blew everyone a kiss and headed with Lance out the door.

“Are you sure you are going to be okay out there tonight?” Chris asked concerned.

“Sweetie, I’m sure, now, I’m going out there with Elley, Chele and Kim. I know you guys can’t go out there so have a fantastic show.” She said as she gave Chris a quick kiss.

“You mean you aren’t going to see me before the show?” he asked.

“Okay, you know that you’ll need to have your talks with Johnny and Wade and you guys have to hacky. You won’t have time to talk to me. I’ll see you after the show okay?”

“I guess,” he said as he stuck his bottom lip out.

“You know, someday I’m going to cut that thing off and keep it if you keep sticking it out at me.” Janey joked as she took his bottom lip in between her lips to give him a kiss.

“Spoken like a true teacher.” Chris said. “Okay, I’ll see you later, you girls go and get your seats. I love you.”

“I love you too sweetheart. Have a fantastic show. I’ll be right there for you.” She said. Little did Janey know that her being in the audience was exactly what he needed that night. He’d be able to be the Chris that everyone knew and loved that night and he was glad to be back, and so were his bandmates.

The lights went down just as Janey, Elley, Kim and Chele took their seats in the special VIP area. The girls had been chatting with each other ever since they left the guys backstage and said their goodbyes before the show started.

“Introducing one of the newest acts with FreeLance Entertainment. She’s hails from Boston Massachuesettes lets give a big LA welcome in her opening night….MISS CAY SINCLAIR!” The audience began to roar as the lights came up and Caytlyn was revealed to the audience. She looked just gorgeous with her blonde hair blowing behind her and made up to just look amazing. The music began as Cay found her sister in the audience. Caytlyn would never in a million years hear Janey cough, which was the signal for the girls that someone from the family was in the audience, so the girls just stood up and screamed. Off to the side of the stage the girls could see 5 pairs of peering eyes looking to see how Cay was doing out on stage. They were all just as excited for Caytlyn as Janey was.

“You can’t try to resist, try to hide from my kiss but you know, but you know that you. Can’t fight the moonlight. Deep in the dark you’ll surrender your heart but you know, but you know, that you. Can’t fight the moonlight. No, you can’t fight it, its gonna get to your heart.” Caytlyn finished her first song and the audience just loved her. You could tell that everyone was really into her voice and the song. It was a cover of a song that Leanne Rimes had performed the past year but Cay and Lance were lucky enough to get the rights to let Janey sing it and Lance even snuck a copy of the CD with Cay performing it over to Leannes management team and Cay got a personalized note from the company.

The second song began as Caytlyn took the microphone. “This next song is very special to me. It was written by a very dear friend of mine. You might all know him as Justin.” The crowd went wild as Cay tried to finish what she was saying, “This is the first time that anyone is ever going to hear the song and I’d like to dedicate it to my fiancé.” Caytlyn began the song that Justin had written for her to sing. It was going to be the feature song in Lance’s next movie and Cay was thrilled when Justin asked her to sing it.

“Forever yours. No matter what may come between us now. I’ll always be your girl. Forever Yours. Though time may not always be on our side. I’ll always be right here. Loving you always. Know that I will always be…….Forever Yours. Thank you very much.” Janey felt tears well up in her eyes as Caytlyn sang the last few notes of the song. It really was gorgeous. When Cay had called her to tell her the words to the song Janey fell in love with it instantly. Cay had plans to dance with Lance at their wedding to it so Justin was making sure that they would get a real good recording for the wedding day.

Cay went right into her last number and Janey was so excited that Cay got to sing one of her favorite songs. It was an older song but was one that the girls used to love to sing in the car and around the house when they were little. ****************INSERT SONG************

Cay finished up the last notes of her song and the crowd just went crazy. They loved her and Caytlyn was beaming up on stage. Lance came out and the crowd was just unbelievable. “Isn’t she incredible?” he asked everyone. “Well, watch for her new album which will be coming out very soon. Ladies and Gentlemen lets hear it one last time for my girl, Miss Caytlyn Sinclair.” Cay shot Lance a dirty look, she was already nervous enough and she really didn’t need him up on the stage at that moment. She was dealing with conflicting thoughts though as she turned to him and he held his arm out for her. Although there was a part of her that could have killed him for calling her “his girl” there was another part of her that was just happy he was there because she wasn’t quite sure she was going to make it off of the stage with the adrenaline rush she was having.

“You were just amazing sweetie,” Lance said as he took Caytlyn in his arms as soon as they were backstage. The rest of the guys gave her a quick hug and headed off to the green room. Johnny was going to be pissed as it was that they weren’t there already so they ran off. Johnny knew that Lance was going to be out watching Cay but the rest of the guys weren’t supposed to be.

“Lance, I don’t know…” Cay began to say as Lance put his finger over her lips.

“Don’t say anything,” he began as he lowered his mouth to hers to kiss her, “I have never been so proud of anyone in my life as I am of you right at this moment. I love you Caytlyn.”

“Don’t do this to me now, I’m going to cry!” Cay said as tears started down her face. Lance took his finger and wiped the tears away.

“Those are the famous Sinclair girls happy tears right?” Lance joked as he took his hands and placed them on her face to kiss her deeper. Caytlyn gave right into Lance’s charms as she had done from the moment that they first laid eyes on each other. She thought to herself how lucky she was, not only had she just opened up for the hottest group in the world, but she was healthy, she was getting married and she was soon going to be an aunt. She couldn’t think of anything else that could make her happier.

“Dear god, get a room you two!” Elley and Kim said as they came backstage with Janey and Chele to meet up with their friend.

“Sweetie, I’d love to stay here and do this all night long with you,” Cay said as she pulled away from Lance, “but I do believe that there are some people who you need to be with and I need to go and kill these lovely ladies over here.” She said with a smile on her face. “We’ll be out there screaming!” she said as Lance said a quick hello to the girls and was asked to give out 4 sets of hugs and kisses.

Caytlyn was greeted with lots of praise from her sister and their friends. She was absolutely in her glory. Caytlyn looked at her sister to make sure that she was okay and wasn’t overdoing it too much.

“Will you please tell her to relax and that I’m fine?” Janey said as she turned to her friend Elley.

“Please relax, she’s fine, but she should be taking it easy,” Elley said the last remark with a little smirk on her face. She knew that Janey had been sick for the past week with her pregnancy and she didn’t want to see her have anything happen to the baby.

“Fine. Fine. Fine!” Janey said, “Do you think we can go out there now? I’m dying to see the show!”

“Yeah, we better get to our seats the countdown to the show starting is almost done and we need to get out there.” Kim said as Chele added, “Yeah, before some teenie takes them!” the girls all broke out in laughter and headed out to the arena just as the countdown was down to 5 minutes to go.

“I’m going to run to the bathroom real quick. You girls go ahead and I’ll meet you.” Janey said. She didn’t want to have to leave the concert halfway through so she figured it was now or never.

“Are you okay?” Caytlyn asked looking concerned.

“I’m fine. I just have to go to the bathroom and I don’t want to have to leave in the middle of the concert okay. Relax child!” Janey said as she headed off. She’d meet out there with the girls in just a minute.

As Janey came out of the bathroom she saw the guys standing off to the side of the stage. Chris quickly caught her eye as she was starting to walk out.

“Are you okay?” he mouthed to her.

“I’m fine sweetie.” She screamed back. “I love you!” she was able to scream but because the mics were already on the guys couldn’t scream back.

“I love you too,” he mouthed and she headed out the door. Chris kept his eyes on her the entire way. He was so excited to have her back and he had a special surprise in store for her that evening. He just hoped that he could go through with it.

“If I wasn’t a celebrity. Would you be so nice to me? If I didn’t have cheese like every day. Would you be so into me? Baby if I couldn’t buy you diamond rings, and all those other expensive things. Would you be so into me, if I wasn’t a celebrity?” the guys chanted as they came out on stage. Chris was thrilled that the show wasn’t starting by them dropping from some atrocious height this tour. It was the one thing that he was adiment about this time. NO HEIGHTS! He was over it! Every other tour they were up high and this one, he was keeping his feet on the ground.

The girls all screamed along with the best of them as the guys danced and sang their way through the show. They sang all of their favorite songs like Pop, Tearing up my Heart, Its Gonna be Me, and they even surprised the girls with singing Giddy Up which had been a favorite song of all of theirs for a while.

In every concert that they guys did, there was always one point in the show where they slowed things down and sang some of their slow music. It was Janey’s favorite point in the show because that was when they could really display their musical ability. However, that night, Janey was a bit afraid of that part of the show. Now that she was speaking with Chris again she was sure he’d be okay up on the stage but she was a bit worried for him. Chris could hide his emotions real well, but when it came to music they just poured right out of him.

“Tonight we wanted to do something a little different with our slow music. We are used to singing those basic songs like This I Promise You and Gone but this time we wanted to sing some different stuff that we haven’t sang in a while.” Justin began as he introduced this section of the show.

“We’re going to start with this first song because of a certain person who is in the audience tonight.” Chris took over at that point and Janey had a funny feeling he was talking about her as he came over towards the VIP area. “She means a lot to all of us up here tonight but especially me. This was the song that first brought us together and I would like to dedicate it to her.” The music began in the background as Chris took the microphone and took the lead vocals in the song. Janey knew that the guys weren’t supposed to be singing the song and she just hoped they had cleared it with Johnny and Wade before they went out on stage. As Chris began to sing and look directly at her all of the thoughts that she had previously went away and she was lost in his voice.

“I don’t know how. I don’t know why. But girl it seems. You’ve touched my life. You’re in my dreams. You’re in my heart. I’m by myself. When we’re apart. Something strange has come over me. A raging wind across my seas. And girl you know that your eyes are to blame. And what am I supposed to do. If I can’t get over you and come to find that you don’t feel the same.” He sang the words with everything in him. Janey was impressed that the tears didn’t start until the rest of the group came in. Janey had tears streaming down her face. She remembered the first time that Chris had sang the song to her. She never imagined, in a million years, that here she’d sit today, with that same person singing the same song to her, and she was about to tell him that he would become a father. Caytlyn and Elley put their arms around Janey to let her know that they were there for her. They both knew how nervous Jay was about telling Chris. Lance and JC were up on the stage singing to their girls as well and both of them took a quick moment to glance over at Janey and smile and give her a refreshing wink that told her everything that she needed to know. That one simple smile and wink told Janey that Chris was there to stay with her and that he meant every word that he sang that night and Janey couldn’t have been happier.

“Ain’t no lie….BYE BYE BYE!” the guys sang as the audience erupted. Janey, Cay, Elley, Chele and Kim all ran to the side of the stage so that they could get back there before the guys got to their vans to go back to the hotel. They knew that the guys would be on an adrenaline rush for at least another hour or so. They went up to Mike and flashed their VIP badges and were led right backstage, much to the dismay of the other girls who were staring at them and flashing them dirty looks.

“Hey you lovely ladies,” JC said as he approached the group of girls. He went right up to Elley and put his arm around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Chasez, get your sweaty butt away from me,” Elley said to JC jokingly. Any affections from JC were just fine with Elley but she still liked to joke around with him.

“So where are your other friends?” Kim asked as she looked around for Joey. She wasn’t looking behind her though when he came running up and grabbed her and lifted her off the floor. There was nothing Kim liked more than to be tackled in the middle of a hallway, or anywhere for that matter, by Joey.

Close behind Joey were Lance and Justin who came to meet up with the girls. Lance went right up to Cay to give her a hug and a kiss and Justin went over to Chele. Janey looked around and couldn’t find Chris anywhere.

“Okay, I give up? What did you do with him?” Janey said to JC and the rest of the group.

“Oh, didn’t we tell you?” Justin began, “He fell off the stage at the end, the height was too much for him he fell over.” He laughed.

“Enough. Where is he?” Janey asked as she went up to playfully punch Justin in the arm.

“He just went to go and grab something really quick,” JC interrupted as he went to give Janey a hug, “You just feel left out because you didn’t get a hug huh?” he laughed as he put his arms around Jay.

“Yeah, exactly, that’s it,” Janey joked back, “So, how did you guys convince him to sing the song huh?” Janey asked directing her question right at JC as she knew that either he or Justin would have the answer.

“All his idea,” Justin replied, “once you called the other day he came around and decided he wanted to sing it again.”

“Yeah, and then when you actually showed up he said he just had to sing it,” Lance added as his arms went around Cay to hold her close. Cay held up her hand to look at her ring and Lance smiled at her and kissed her on the head. They were just the cutest couple and Janey couldn’t have been happier for her sister at that moment.

“Bout time! We thought we were going to have to take Janey home with us tonight,” Justin said as Chris emerged from the dressing room. He had his arm suspiciously behind his back as he went up to hug Janey.

“Sorry, I had some business to attend to,” he said as he pulled Janey close and took his arm from behind his back. He held in his hand 2 dozen roses of different colors. They were absolutely beautiful and Janey started to cry again.

“Do you cry all the time?” Justin joked. Cay and Elley gave him knowing looks to shut the hell up. They both knew that Janey was on edge and sometimes women who are pregnant have hormonal issus and cry a lot. Janey was just about at her wits end and had experienced more emotion in one day then she cared to discuss.

“Thank you sweetie,” Janey said as Chris pulled her close. He gave her a kiss on the head.

“Did you enjoy the show?” he asked with a smile on his face.

“Yeah, you guys were awesome! Thank you by the way.” Janey said as she looked up into his eyes. She hoped that her child would have eyes like its father, so deep and brown that you could just get lost in them.

“Well, I’m beat lets get out of here to beat the teenagers back to the hotel what do you all say?” Cay said as she tried to get everyone out of there. She knew that Jay would be talking to Chris that night and she wanted to see Janey get some sleep sometime soon. She was beginning to look a bit run down after the day.

“Yeah, lets get out of here,” Janey said as she turned in Chris’ arms to look at the friends. Everyone piled into the vans to head back to the hotel and Chris and Janey sat in the back together. He put his arm around her as if to protect her from the world and she laid her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and went through what she was going to say to Chris for what seemed like the millionth time that day but for the first time she felt confident that he would be fine with everything that was going on.

“Good night sweetie! Congratulations! You were amazing!” Janey said to her sister down the hall before she closed the door behind her. Chris had already gone in to take a shower and get ready for bed. He always needed a shower after a show so it gave Janey a chance to get everything ready. The doctor had given her the test results from her pregnancy test there typed out and Janey had put them inside of a card for Chris along with a CD that she had made for him. It was going to be really difficult to find the words to say and she always said things better with music anyway.

“Hey in there! Are you almost done?” Janey asked as she slipped into her pajama bottoms and tank top.

“Huh?” he asked as the shower was turned off. Chris peared his head out the door.

“I was just asking if you were almost done.” She asked again, “but I guess that answer would be yes huh?” she joked.

“I’ll be right out sweetie,” he said as he closed the door and began to hum a song behind it. Janey turned off most of the lights in the room and laid down on the bed. She bit her nails nervously as she waited for him to come out and went over the speech one more time. He just had to say that he was happy about this.

“Hey you,” he said as he came out of the bathroom. Chris was dressed in just his sweat pants and Janey felt her mouth go from wet to dry in 2.4 seconds. He had been working out a bit so he wasn’t as chubby as he normally was, not like that mattered to her at all especially seeing as she was going to be the size of a house soon while she was pregnant. Chris went up to her and put his arms around her and swept her up on her feet to kiss her. They embraced for what felt like forever but was probably only a few minutes before Chris noticed the medicine jars on the dresser.

“Jay, are you sure you are okay?” Chris asked as he looked at all the medicine laid out. “You don’t take anything right? I mean, you never have before. What did the doctor really have to say?” he said with a look of concern in his eyes.

“Well, I think we need to talk,” Janey said as she took his hand and led him over to the bed. “First I want you to listen to something. It really says how I’ve felt the last few months. Oh, and no laughing because I know how you feel about these guys okay?” Janey said with a smile as she went to push play on the CD player.

“You aren’t going to play me…” he began to say as he heard the strains of the song begin, “Oh god. You don’t really like OTOWN do you?” He asked jokingly.

“Listen, no talking,” Janey said as she put her finger to his lips. Chris took Janey in his arms as he listened to the song. Janey hummed along with the song. She knew the words by heart and it really said to Chris how she had been feeling.

“There are times it seems to me. I’m sharing you with memories. I feel it in my heart but I don’t show it show it. Then there’s times you look at me, as though I’m all that you can see. Those times I don’t believe its right. I know it know it. Don’t make me promises, baby you never did know how to keep them well. I’ve had the rest of you now I want the best of you its time for show and tell. Cause I want it all or nothing at all. There’s no where left to fall when you reach the bottom its now or never. Is it all, or are we just friends, is this how it ends? With a simple telephone call you leave me here with nothing. Cause you, and I could loose it all if you’ve no more room. No room, inside for me in your life. Cause I want it all or nothing at all. There’s no where left to fall. Its now or never. Is it all or nothing at all, there’s no where left to fall when you reach the bottom its now or never. Is it all or are we just friends, is this how it end with a simple telephone call you leave me here with nothing at all.”

The song finished its last strains as both Chris and Janey had tears streaming down their faces. Chris held on to Janey as if he would never let go. He had no idea this was how she was feeling the past month and he wanted to do everything he could to make up for it. “Jay,” he began, “I…” he couldn’t find the words. He wanted to say that he’d always be there for her and never let her go. He wanted to ask her to marry him. He wanted to say that he couldn’t imagine spending the rest of his life with anyone but her he just couldn’t find the words.

“Shhhh….let me finish.” Janey whispered as she pulled the card from under the pillow. “I wasn’t quite sure exactly how I should tell you this so I figured with the song and this card I could say exactly what I wanted to say.” She said as her hands trembled while holding the card. “Here,” she said as she handed it to him. Chris reached for his glasses and read the card carefully. He held the sealed envelope in one hand and read the card in the other.

My dearest Christopher,

I don’t know how to begin to tell you how wonderful this past year has been. Every dream that I have ever had has come true. But some of those dreams come with consequences and at times those dreams do get broken. I know that we have had our share of problems these past couple of months but when I think of my life without you, I don’t want to go on. You mean the world to me. I know that we will always have small parts inside of us that may think about what might have been. But this is us and this is now. I love you with all of my heart. Please think very carefully at what is enclosed in the other envelope and remember that I love you.

Always and Forever, Your dearest Janey.

Chris was petrified. The tears ran down his face as he read the note and knew exactly how Janey felt as she wrote it. How many times had he sat at his desk or at the computer wanting to say the same things to her. He worried about what was enclosed in the envelope. He noticed a doctors address on the return label and was scared to death that inside of there held the news that he was going to loose her forever. He looked again at the medicine on the counter and carefully opened the envelope. Janey was trembling as she sat across from him on the bed. He looked so serious as he read the doctors notes and when his eyes glanced to the bottom of the letter he looked up at Janey. Tears filled his eyes as he reached for her hands.

“Janey…….oh my god. Janey, does this mean that you, I mean we are…” he couldn’t find the words to finish. A smile came across his face as he reached for Janey’s hands. She had tears rushing down her face with a huge smile at the same time.

“Yes we are going to have a baby.” Janey said. Chris reached for her and held her close. He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her with a passion like he never had before in his life. They were lost in each other before Janey pulled back for a moment. She looked at Chris deep into his eyes. “We don’t have to do this if it isn’t something that you want Chris.” Janey said very seriously. She had thought long and hard about this. She wanted the baby and was determined that she would raise it on her own if she had to, but if Chris was going to be a father he was going to have to be there all the way. All or Nothing, and that was all she was going to take with this one. There was no half way.

“Is that why you used the song?” he asked.

“Yeah, although the song says how I’ve felt the last month Chris, it says what I need to know now. Its all or nothing and there is no half way on this one. I’m having this baby, regardless. I want a child and the fact that its yours makes it even better, but Chris if you don’t,” Janey started to say before he silenced her with a kiss.

“Do you remember that song I sang to you the other night? That’s exactly how I feel right now Janey, I will always be here for you and our baby and whoever else might come along. We, and yes, I mean we, are going to have the most beautiful baby in the world.” Chris said as he carried her up to the head of the bed. They made love as if it was the first time for both of them. It was gentle and sweet and spoke of all the many years to come between the two of them and their beautiful baby. A baby with gorgeous brown eyes and chestnut colored hair. A baby with musical talent coming in every direction. A baby that would have 4 extra uncles who would sing it to sleep at night. A baby that was made of love and tenderness who would be loved by so would love each other, until the end of time.

Epilogue

“Are you girls just about ready in there?” the voice came from the door. Janey turned to take one more look at her sister Caytlyn. She looked just beautiful. Never in her life had Janey seen Caytlyn look so incredibly gorgeous. She could tell Cay was nervous but it just made her shine even more.

“We’ll be ready in 3 minutes okay?” Janey yelled through the door. “How are you doing?” Janey said as she turned to her sister.

“I’m okay, a little nervous, okay so a lot nervous but I’m okay. Is everyone here?” she asked her sister with a slight quiver in her voice. Janey hadn’t seen Cay like this in a long time. She had performed all around the country in the past year singing everywhere from the Fleet Center in Boston to Carnegie Hall where she made her operatic concert debut in La Boehme. Yet Caytlyn had not looked this nervous since opening up her first night for NSYNC a year prior.

“You are going to be fine. You look ravishing and you are just going to be beautiful tonight.” Janey said as she did the finishing touches on Cay’s hair.

“Thank you Janey,” she began, “Thank you for everything.”

“You have absolutely nothing to thank me for. I should be thanking you for dealing with Chris on tour while I was pregnant. I don’t know how you kept that boy calm. He called me like a maniac every day. Thank god I had Kim staying with me so that someone was there while you were away.” Kim had moved in shortly after everyone found out that Janey was pregnant. It was a rough few months there when she was really sick and needed someone to help around the house. Kim happily came up to help out and take care of her friend. It gave her time away from Atlanta while she decided what she wanted to do after college and it gave the girls time to just be girls together.

“Well I think I’m ready, what do you think?” Cay said as she turned around to look at her sister.

“Beautiful. You’ll knock them dead out there Cay. I better get going though I can hear the strings warming up. Just look for me, I’ll be right behind you the whole time okay?” she said as she turned to give her sister a hug. The girls both had tears in their eyes as Janey grabbed her flute and walked out the door. She took her seat in the woodwind section where she always was with the smaller group from the pops. They didn’t need the whole orchestra there that night for Cay but of course, Cay wanted her sister performing.

Janey looked out at the audience and caught the eye of her husband who was holding their daughter. Chris always looked so cute holding Kate. She was truly the apple of his eye. She had beautiful brown eyes and chestnut hair just like they wanted. She was a great baby and Chris and Janey couldn’t be happier. After Janey popped the news to Chris that they were going to be parents Chris quickly proposed and though Janey at first protested they decided to get married. Janey didn’t want Chris to marry her just because she was pregnant. She wanted to get married for love and in the end that was what they did. They had a very small ceremony down at Disney where Janey had always wanted to get married and they had all of their friends there to wish them well.

Janey heard a small cry come from Kate’s mouth and looked to Chris who looked back at her. She knew that he had it all under control. Joey was right next to him with Kim standing close by. The two had spent a lot of time together in the past year and it really seemed that Joey was starting to settle down in life. Brianna had started to grow up so much and he and Kelly just didn’t work out. Kim had been quickly become one of Joey’s best friends and frequently, when Chris would come to visit with Janey, Joey would tag along to see Kim. The two were even talking about getting married which was something that Joey had never talked about in his life.

Sitting close by was JC who had Elley on his arm. The two were so happy together and had planned on getting married in the next year. Now that Elley was in Florida they were together a lot more often. Elley originally was living on her own while JC paid for her to go to Full Sail which was her dream. However, after they started spending more and more time together they realized that her having her own place was just silly because they were always together. Elley had her own office in JC’s house so she had a place to escape and seeing as JC was still on the road with the guys a lot she had her space which was what she was always worried about. Elley had been helping out with producing some of the new NSYNC tracks for the new album with JC and she was just in her glory. She was living her dream and it was getting better day by day. ‘They just make the cutest couple,’ Janey thought to herself as Elley reached over to kiss Kate’s head. Elley had truly become one of Janey’s dearest friends and often Elley would also come up to visit Kim and Janey while she was pregnant. Elley and Kim had both been Janey’s sounding board when it came to Chris and she was so glad to see that both girls were happy.

Uncle Justin, as he liked to be called, was sitting next to Chele. The two really didn’t have the type of relationship that the other girls had with their guys but they were still close. Justin just was so busy and Chele just couldn’t deal with it all the time. He still had feelings for Britney, although, lord knows, everyone tried to beat those ideas out of his head. He’d someday realize that Brit just wasn’t the person he thought she was and until that time Chele would be one of his best friends and they would have fun together.

Lance on the other hand, well, he just looked nervous. He had seen Cay perform so many times before but this was the big one, the one she had been preparing for all her life. Lance and Janey had become so close in the past year. Janey just couldn’t have been happier for her sister. She knew that Lance would make a great husband and someday, an amazing father. The later would have to wait a while because Cay and Lance both had rather successful carreers going at the moment. Lance’s latest movie had done much better than the previous and even got nominated for some awards. He couldn’t have been more thrilled then when one of the awards that it was nominated for was for “Best song from a motion picture” and not only that but his future wife was the singer of that song and his best friend wrote it. He was just thrilled to death. It didn’t matter that he was nominated for awards and didn’t win, but when his fiancé and best friend won that Academy Award, it was like he had won it himself.

Janey searched the room for her parents and saw her mother and step father and her step mother sitting close together. They were all so proud of their girls. The two of them had come so far in the past few years and really were living every childhood dream that they had. Janey looked for her dad but knew that he was back with Cay helping to calm her nerves as he did so well. The 4 parents were also just thrilled with the choice that Janey had made in her life when it came to her husband and her child. It was tough going there for a while and they weren’t quite sure about the whole “boy band” thing but they came around. Janey’s mom reminded the girls of the days when they would dream of the guys and meeting them and the girls would laugh and giggle. They might be grown women, one of them a mother, the other a famous recording artist and concert performer but they would always be little girls to their parents.

The conductor raised his baton as Janey lifted her flute. She wasn’t quite sure how she was going to get through this one. Janey had been playing with the Pops for over a year now while only taking a short time off to have Kate, but this was going to be a rough one for her, she just hoped she could hold it together.

Caytlyn walked out looking more beautiful than ever as everyone rose to their feet. Her father was the proudest man in the world as he walked his daughter down the aisle. Janey tried to play her flute but she knew that was a lost cause as she saw her sister with tears streaming down her face. Janey looked out at her friends who were all the attendants. She looked over at Lance and Janey just had to stop. Thank goodness there was another flute player there because she couldn’t play any longer. Lance stood up front looking more handsome than ever with tears streaming down his face as his bride stood by his side. He shook Mr. Sinclairs hand and turned to him and just mouthed the words “thank you” to him. He was so honored to be marrying his daughter that day.

Janey finished playing and quickly took her place beside the bride as the matron of honor. She looked to Chris to make sure that Kate was okay and to see if he wanted her to take the baby. Kate was a great baby but she wasn’t too thrilled about being away from either of her parents for any extended period of time. Chris just smiled and mouthed the words “we love you” to Janey as tears streamed down her face. “I love you too,” she mouthed back to him.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m very proud to present to you for the first time, Mr. And Mrs. James Lance Bass,” the priest said as Cay and Lance shared their first kiss as man and wife. Everyone in the room rose to their feet to applaud the happy couple as the orchestra, minus Janey, played Trumpet Voluntary and the wedding party exited the church.

Each of the girls had their partner with them as they all entered into the reception hall. It was a fairy tale dream and the wedding that Caytlyn had always hoped for. Janey and Chris sat back with their daughter taking in all that was going around them. They couldn’t have been happier with their lives. Chris knew that someday NSYNC would be gone but this was forever what he had right now. He had a beautiful wife and a remarkable daughter.

“Hey mom and dad,” Cay said as she and Lance approached Chris and Janey.

“Wait, I haven’t gotten to kiss the bride yet,” Chris said as he handed the baby to Janey and went to hug Cay. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and smiled. “So, when does Kate here get a cousin huh?” he smiled at his sister and brother in law.

“Yeah right Kirkpatrick, like we have time for that.” Cay said as she took her neice in her arms. “I just get to be Auntie Cay for a while and then we’ll see what happens. Isn’t that right sweetie. Your uncle Lance and I are going to spoil you rotten!” Cay said with a smile on her face.

“Oh no you’re not,” Janey said as she looked her sister square in the eye and laughed. She went over to Lance and gave him a hug, “welcome to the family Lance.” She said with a smile. Although they had all been like family for so long now they were all legally familiy.

“Thanks Jay,” he said as he gave his new sister-in-law a hug and a kiss and smiled at his neice.

Everyone danced the night away at the reception before Cay and Lance took off for their honeymoon in Switzerland, where Cay had always wanted to go. Chris and Janey danced together with their daughter and then some without her as all of Janey’s aunts wanted a chance to hold the baby and her grandfather and grandmother wanted the opportunity to look at their great-granddaughter.

“Well, I think this family had best be getting home what do you think sweetie?” Janey said as she smiled at Chris and the baby. Kate had long since fallen asleep and was in her father’s arms at the moment. Janey looked at the father and the child and just smiled. Never in her life had she figured she would end up this way. But some things turn out just like that.

“Good idea, lets get this little one to her own bed.” He said as he put one arm around Janey who was grabbing all of the babies things. “Goodnight everyone!” Chris said to his friends and his new family.

“Goodnight Kirkpatricks!” everyone said as they came up to say goodbye. Chris, Janey and Kate finally made their way back to the car and Janey settled Kate into her car seat and then got herself into the car next to Chris who pulled her close.

“I love you Janey,” he said as he held her.

“I love you Chris,” she replied. They shared a simple kiss and drove home, to where they would go on living happily ever after.

The End

Tell Jennifer what you thought of this story!