Falling
By: Jennifer

Chapter 1

Jessica sighed as she got into her car in the parking garage. She had just finished a long day’s work at Universal Studios and was looking forward to some quiet time before she had to head out to her part time job that evening. She felt like she had been going non stop for weeks and all that she really wanted to do was fall asleep for 2 hours before going to the bar where she ran Karaoke night. She started up the engine and looked in the rearview mirror and pulled back her chin length hair in a barrette to keep it out of her face as she drove down the road. She rolled down the windows, cranked up the stereo and headed on her way home.

As she was driving down I-4 in Orlando she looked out at her left hand that was hanging out the window. She was listening to her favorite radio station when the newest NSYNC song came on the radio. She listened to the words of the song as she glanced at her hand while the traffic was beginning to pile up. “And I will take, You in my arms, And hold you right where you belong, Till the day my life is through, This I promise you, This I promise you.” She looked at the diamond as it sparkled in the sunlight. She couldn’t believe that she was actually engaged. Jessica had been dating Steve for 2 years and was shocked when he proposed. It really was the most romantic evening. They were getting ready to watch the parade at the Magic Kingdom at Disney, something that Steve and Jessica loved to do, and just as the street cleared he got out in the middle. He pulled Jessica up and in front of all of the people who were standing around he dropped to one knee and professed his undying love for her. Just as the parade could be seen in the distance coming into Liberty Square he produced a small velvet box and asked her to spend the rest of her life with him. Immediately Jessica started crying and said how much she loved him and she would be thrilled to be his wife. Flash bulbs were going off everywhere as they stood in the street together holding each other close. It was the most amazing moment of her life and she knew it was a moment that she would never forget.

Jessica came out of her memory of that fateful day when she noticed that her car was bucking a bit and looked down at her gages. She noticed that the car was running low on gas and didn’t even realize how far down she let it get and hoped she could just make it to the gas station but she only had a little bit further to go. Jessica had lived in Florida for 10 years after moving down halfway through college. She finished school at Rollins College and majored in music. From the moment that she lived in Orlando she was working for Universal and loved every minute of it. She had met some amazing people there including her fiancé Steve as well as her three best friends Taylor, Chelsea and Ryanne. Chelsea, Taylor and Jessica all performed together over at Universal. The first time the three sang together they knew that they had found a certain type of chemistry between them and from that moment the three became one of the most popular acts at the park. Jessica had sung with several other groups in the park before finding the girls but was so excited once she found them. The three became instant friends and when Ryanne started as the girls’ stage manager they added a fourth member to their group. The girls had all lived together until Jess started dating Steve and she moved in with him. The girls were upset to see her go but they all wished her the best.

Jess turned off the exit ramp and her thoughts went back to her friends. The girls weren’t too thrilled with her choice of fiancés’. Steve had never treated Jess the way that they thought she should be treated. Of course with friends, they only want to see their friend with the best and they didn’t feel like Steve was that for her. However, they knew their friend was in love and that there was just no talking her out of it. When Jess asked them all to be in the wedding they enthusiastically said yes and then went home and discussed the situation amongst them. Jess had no idea how her friends felt about her future fiancé, although she knew that they didn’t like to spend time with him. But seeing as he was hardly ever around, this wasn’t something that the girls worried about too much.

Jess saw the gas station in the distance and was happy to see it as her car was starting to stall out on her. Just as it stalled the last time she pulled into the driveway and straight up to the pump. She turned off her rather loud playing music and hopped out of the car. She didn’t even notice the person who was standing next to her; she was just paying attention to pumping her gas. She had no idea that the person with the dark hair and deep brown eyes next to her was going to turn her world upside down as well as the world of her three friends.

“You know, I would think that a musical person like yourself would find better music to listen to than that pop crap,” the person next to her joked as she turned off the stereo. Jessica turned to see who it was. It was a voice that she recognized from the past but she couldn’t quite place it. She turned to the person standing next to her with the motorcycle and he had sunglasses on and a hat pulled low over his head. Jessica tried to place the voice but as soon as she turned and saw his face all the memories came back.

“You know for a musical person like yourself I’m amazed that you’re still out there singing with a boy band!” Jess joked back to her friend as she went up to say hello. She couldn’t believe that standing next to her was Chris Kirkpatrick from NSYNC. The two had been close friends when he worked at Universal and they even had a couple of classes together at Rollins. When Chris went off to start up the band Jessica went to all of their gigs when they started singing around Orlando. She was one of their first “groupies”. After Chris left to go overseas to really start the band going she had rather limited contact with him. They still corresponded through letters and emails but that was about it. Since then her world had changed quite a bit as had his. She never expected to run into him at a gas station of all places.

“So how are you shorty?” he asked as he gave her a hug.

“Shorty? You should talk! Have you seen any of the pictures of you and your buddies standing together? I think that should be your name now,” she said with a smile on her face.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear that enough, so how are you really Jess? I haven’t seen you in what four years or something?”

“Well, that’s sooo not my fault. You could have stayed at Universal and kept on singing with the HH guys. I wasn’t the one who made the decision to fly off to Europe and become an overnight sensation. But I’m doing great. I’m still singing with the girls. I’ve got a new group too. I’m loving it.” Jess said as she tried to hide her left hand from Chris’ glance. Although the two never “officially” dated when they worked together they were very good friends and Jess thought of him almost like a brother. She had just seen him and was really feeling that this wasn’t the best time to bring up the upcoming wedding. “So how have you been?” she asked.

“The group is doing great. We’re down here recording the new CD and Lance and Joey are back and forth while working on the movie. I’ve been busy with FuMan and stuff and just going non-stop. You know me, I can’t sit for more than five minutes without wanting to be up and doing something.”

“Yeah no kidding huh? But I didn’t ask about the group Chris, I asked how YOU are doing?” she questioned. Jess had heard about the break up of him and Dani. She watched him on the Larry King show and he just looked so sad. She just wished that she could have jumped through the TV screen and give him a huge hug. Steve had sat on the couch watching what was going on and made jokes the entire time as tears rolled down her cheeks. She hated to see her friend hurting and she knew that Chris had been hurting. She had heard about Dani through the letters that she got from Chris as well as emails that they had exchanged and she knew how much he cared about her.

“I’m assuming by that question you mean Dani huh?” he asked as he looked into her hazel eyes. “Well, it was rough at first but I’m doing okay. I miss her, I can’t lie to you, but I’m really doing okay. You know me, as long as I’m busy I’m good.” They continued to talk for a few more minutes as Jessica pumped her gas when her cell phone rang.

“This is Jessica,” she said into the phone, “Yeah sweetie, I’m on my way….no…I had to stop for gas….no really, that’s what I had to do…I’m on my way home I’ll be there in five minutes…. Okay, I love you too…. Bye!” she said as she hung up the phone. Chris looked at her the entire time and was wondering whom she was talking to. He knew that she had been seeing Steve because they had started dating right when he left for Europe. He knew Steve from the park and didn’t trust him at all. He knew that he was bad news and that he would just end up hurting Jessica. He just hoped that she wasn’t still with him.

“Well, seeing as I’m standing in front of you, that couldn’t have been me you were talking to on the phone,” he joked with her, “so who was that?” he asked as he noticed the ring on her hand. He was wondering how long it was going to take before she said anything to him about it.

“Steve, he was just wondering where I was. I really should get going. So are you going to be around for a while?” she asked.

“You mean Steve from Jaws?” he asked.

“Yeah, Steve from Jaws. We’ve been seeing each other for about 4 years now. Actually, I wasn’t going to tell you this quite yet seeing as I just caught up with you for the first time in what 3 years? But he proposed last month!” she said as she gleefully showed him the ring on her finger. Chris looked at it in shock but the last thing he was going to do was tell his friend that she was making a horrible mistake in her life. He just wanted to be happy for her.

“Wow! I guess you were hiding something from me huh? Congratulations!” he said as he took her hand to kiss it. Jessica glowed with happiness. “So when’s the big day?” he asked.

“We haven’t set a date yet but we’re living together now. Actually, I have to get going. I want to go home and rest a bit before I head off to work tonight.”

“Are you still doing that gig at the Bamboo?” he asked. Jess had been doing karaoke night at the Big Bamboo for longer than she could remember. She had been doing it when she met Chris and it wasn’t unknown for him and his friends to stop by and see her at work and come and goof around with her after a day at work over at the park.

“Hell yeah, its my fun night. And you never know, Lou Pearlman might just show up in the bar.” She joked. It was a running gag between her and Chris that someday she would get discovered and would be recording her own music. “What are you and your buddies up to tonight? You should so stop by and see me do my thang.” She said hoping that he would bring along the other guys. Ryanne, Taylor and Chelsea would flip out if they got to meet the rest of the group. They still didn’t really know that she was a friend with Chris and Joey as well from back when the guys worked at Universal.

“Let me see what they are up to, I know I’d love to stop by and see you. Is the man going to be there as well?” he asked.

“Not really sure, he doesn’t like to go out much,” she said, “my girls will all be there though and you can hear Chelsea, Taylor and I together. They are my new partners in crime over at the park. We sound really amazing together, if I do say so myself.” She boasted.

“Well, how can I resist that face huh?” he said as he looked at her bright smile. “I’ll talk to the guys and see what’s up.” He said as his cell phone rang. “Hang on a sec,” he said to her as he grabbed her arm so she wouldn’t leave. “Yo J man what’s up? What are you guys up to tonight? Nothing? Cool, well then I’ve got plans for all of you. I’ll give you a call when I get to my place. Talk to you later dude.” He said as he hung up the phone. “Well, count us all in, the guys were all just going to hang out and play video games anyway, this will be more fun. What time do you go on?”

“I start at 8:00. I’ll let the girls know also. They’ll be thrilled. I’ll see you later then?” she asked.

“You got it. I’ll see you tonight.” He said as he gave her arm a squeeze and put on his helmet to head on down the road. Jessica watched as Chris drove down the road and she got into her car. As she started driving down the road she thought back to the times that she spent with Chris out at Universal. The two had been such good friends and she even had a slight crush on him. Everyone used to think that they were dating due to the way that they acted together backstage and they just loved flirting with each other. Jess was the same way with Joey as well. The three of them were like the three musketeers and it warmed Jess’ heart just to think back to that time in her life.

“What up dork?” Taylor said as Jessica picked up the phone.

“Ya know, for my friend you sure have a funny way of showing it on the phone,” Jessica joked back, “I’m great how are you? You girls coming out to see me tonight?” she asked

“Heck yeah, I was just calling to see if you wanted to do dinner with me and the girls before it. We’re actually cooking, if you can believe that!” she joked

“Don’t let her lie to you Jess, I’m cooking she’s sitting on her butt on the computer!” Jess heard the voice of Chelsea from the background.

“No, I’m the planner for tonight, shut up!” Taylor called back to Chelsea, “so are you coming or what?” she asked

“I’m not real sure, I have to go home first and see what Steve is up to.” She answered.

“He coming out with us tonight?” Taylor asked her friend secretly hoping that she would say no.

“No clue really. However, you might want to let the other girls to look real nice tonight. There might just be some special people at the bar tonight.” She said to her friend.

“Who’s going to be there?”

“Well, lets just say that I ran into an old friend today.”

“Jess, who the hell is going to be there tonight?” Taylor asked getting impatient. “You had best tell me now.”

“Alright relax,” Jess said noticing that her friend was getting impatient. “I kinda bumped into an old friend of mine at the gas station when I was driving home. He’s brining his friends with him tonight and they’re all going to be at the bar.”

“Do you intend on telling me exactly who these people are or are you going to leave us in suspense?” she asked.

“Ah, I think I’ll leave you in suspense, look good that’s all I got to tell you. Just look REAL good!” she said, “I’ve got to get going, I’m almost home, I’ll call you girls later and let you know if I’m coming to dinner okay?”

“You got it, I’ll talk to you later.” Taylor said as she hung up the phone.

“Is she coming over?” Chelsea asked from the kitchen.

“Don’t know yet, she’s gotta go home and see the dork, I mean Steve, first and then she’s gonna call. But she was saying something about tonight with the bar. I have no idea what that girl has got up her sleeve but its something.” She said to Ryanne who was heading towards the kitchen to help out Chelsea.

“What did she say?” Ryanne asked.

“She was saying that she bumped into an old friend from the past. I’ve got no clue who it might…”Taylor stopped in her tracks as she thought back to some discussions that she had experienced with Jessica. Taylor still didn’t believe that Jess actually knew 2/5ths of the group NSYNC because Jess only talked about them every once in a while and it was in the past tense. “Do you think that….nah it couldn’t be.”

“It couldn’t be what?” Chelsea asked as she looked up from the dinner she was cooking, “Come on Tay, spill it.”

“Well, has Jess ever mentioned to either of you that she knew Chris and Joey from NSYNC?” Taylor asked as Ryanne and Chelsea looked at each other with shocked expressions on their faces. Jessica had met so many people working at Universal and in passing she might have mentioned the guys but never to the point that she really knew them well. “Anyway, she used to work with the two of them in the park. From what I hear they’re here in town relaxing and recording and stuff, you don’t suppose that Jess ran into Chris do you?” she asked as the other girls looked at each other and their smiles on their faces got bigger.

“Well hell, if she did meet up with Chris then maybe….” Chelsea began.

“Maybe that’s who is going to the Boo tonight?” Chelsea finished her sentence as she quickly turned off the stove and the girls darted for their rooms to get ready. If NSYNC was going to be at that bar they wanted to look their best they could worry about dinner later.

While the girls were getting ready to go out Jessica was arriving home from work to her apartment that she shared with her fiancé Steve. She walked inside to find the house an absolute wreck. He had been out of work for the past two months after getting fired from Universal and since then spent most of his time at home and watching television, listening to the radio and surfing the internet. Jess wanted nothing better than for him to get off his ass and get a job. She was working two jobs and really burning the candle at both ends.

“Steve sweetie!” she called as she entered the house, “Are you here?” she screamed.

“Hey babe, I’m in the bedroom,” he called from the other end of the apartment. Jess made her way through the mess and dropped her bag with her workout clothes in it on the kitchen table and looked through the bills that seemed to be piling up every day. As she was looking through them Steve came up behind her and pulled her close and kissed her behind the ear. “How was your day?” he asked as he nuzzled his nose in her neck.

“It was okay, I’m beat and I still have to sing tonight at the Boo. Are you coming?” she asked him as she turned around to face him. She was hoping that maybe he could get a job there, at least part time, as a bartender. She had talked to the owner of the place, Tony, and he was willing to hire him on and get him through bartending school. ‘Anything to get him out of the house and working,’ she thought to herself.

“Nah, I’m going out with Derrick and some of the other guys.” Jessica’s face sunk as she heard his reply and she turned back to the bills that she was glancing through, “Is that okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, fine, no problem.” She said as she put the stack down and headed to the bedroom to take a quick nap before going out to work. She couldn’t understand why he never wanted to be around with her and her friends but at that point she didn’t care. All she wanted to do was curl up with her pillow for two hours before she headed out to work.

“Hey, are you okay bunny?” he asked her as he snuggled up next to her. Jess could tell that he had stripped down to his boxers and she just wasn’t in the mood at all for any affection from him. She tried to push him away as he pulled her closer to him.

“Yeah, I’m fine sweetie, I’m just exhausted. I had such a long day today and I’ve got to sing tonight too and I just want to sleep for like five days. I haven’t had a day off in months,” she complained as he rubbed her back.

“Well, I think I know just how to take away that tension in you,” he said as he rolled her over and he got on top of her and placed kisses on her forehead and trailed them down her face.

“Steve, sweetie, you know I love you,” she said as she broke his kisses, “but seriously I’m beat and I’ve got to work until 2:00 am. I need sleep.” She said as she rolled out from under him. Steve got a sour _expression on his face and stormed out of the room upset with her. ‘Who gives a shit’ she thought to herself as she fell fast asleep. To her amazement it wasn’t a dream of Steve that she fell into rather a dream of those brown eyes that fell on her again that day.

Chapter 2

“So where are we going to again?” Justin asked Chris as he sat himself down at the kitchen counter.

“Remember me telling you about Jess? That girl from Universal?” Chris reminded his friend.

“Oh yeah, I remember you saying something about her. You had some kind of a thing for her didn’t you?” Justin asked as he opened a bottle of beer and settled in to wait for the other guys to arrive. Justin came over to Chris’ as soon as Chris got home because Chris wanted to tell him about Jessica. Ever since seeing her, Chris couldn’t get Jessica out of his mind. He thought back to all the great times that the two of them had together. He had to admit that when they were friends at Universal the thought crossed his mind more than once to start something up with her. She was a beautiful girl back then and even more beautiful now.

“Yeah, I guess you can say that. Well, I saw her today at the gas station of all places when she was on her way home from work.”

“So is she still hot?” Justin asked as he flashed his superstar smile to his friend.

“She’s my age dumb ass. I don’t quite think she’d go out with someone who was 9 years younger than her. Anyway, yeah, she’s still hot. Hotter than the last time I saw her actually.”

“Cool, well, you’re a single man now, go for it. You like her, you said that she used to like you, and hell who wouldn’t like someone who was a pop star huh?” Justin went on with a thousand reasons why Chris should just ask Jessica out. Chris listened to his friend rattle off the different reasons while all the time thinking of the one and only reason why he shouldn’t and that was that she just looked so happy when she was showing him her engagement ring. He didn’t think too much of Steve but Jess looked happy and he just wanted her to be that way. He remembered picking out Dani’s engagement ring with the hopes that she would be as happy when he proposed but he never even got that far. It was heartbreaking for him to go back to the store and return the ring, unopened in the box.

“Chill man, there’s one very big problem with this whole situation though.”

“And that would be?” Justin asked as he tipped his beer back.

“She’s engaged.” Justin spit his beer across the room absolutely shocked at what Chris had just said. Chris had mentioned Jess many times before but never had he mentioned the fact that she might just have a boyfriend or anyone at all serious enough that she might just get married.

“So who is the lucky bastard huh?” Justin asked.

“Actually, this guy that I know from Universal too. I don’t like him at all. He’s an ass and she deserves so much better.”

“You mean she deserves you right?”

“That’s not what I meant at all,” Chris lied, “I just….I don’t know…I just don’t want to see her hurt.”

“I’m sure she knows what she’s doing man. She’s a big girl and I’m sure she can handle herself. So lets talk about her cute friends.” Justin said with a smile, “she got any?”

“Always after the ladies huh?” Chris joked with his friend, “I don’t really know actually. She mentioned that she’s singing with some new girls over at the studios and that they will be there tonight so we will have to see what happens. She said that they’d be thrilled when she told them we’d be there but I don’t know exactly what she said to them.” Chris said as the two friends continued to talk and wait for the rest of their band mates to show up.

Meanwhile, Jess was arriving at the bar to get all set up for the evening. She woke up late from her nap that she decided to take and was rushing around getting her things set for the evening. As she was finishing getting set up she noticed her three friends standing in the doorway.

“Hey baby,” Chelsea said as she approached her friend. She noticed that Jess was running around rather franticly and was looking rather nervous about the night.

“Hey girl,” Jess said as she saw her friends come into the bar, “What’s going on? I’m sorry I didn’t come over for dinner. I took a nap and Steve was being, well, he was being Steve and I woke up late and now..” Jess was talking a mile a minute to her friends trying to explain the events of the day to them.

“Chill girl,” Ryanne said as she came up and put her arm around her friend, “Everything’s cool. So, how do we look? Good enough to impress those friends of yours tonight?” she asked as she showed off her outfit and spun around in a circle. She looked just amazing dressed in a pair of black leather pants and a blue shirt that fit her body just perfectly. Ryanne was a beautiful girl. She had a body that Jess could have only wished for. She was 5’ 6” and just had everything in proportion and she never even had to work at it. Her eyes were a deep green and she had shoulder length brown hair that had great highlights from the Florida sun. Jess admired her outfit and just knew that as soon as one of Chris’ friends laid their eyes on her that all thoughts of current and/or past girlfriends would vanish from their minds.

“You look amazing!” Jess said being completely honest with her friend. “You are gonna knock those guys on their asses!”

“Speaking of which,” Taylor began as she came up to the group after parking the car out front of the bar, “Who the hell did you run into today and who the hell is coming tonight?” she asked as she came up to give Jess a hug.

“Well, remember how I told you I used to work with Chris Kirkpatrick at the Studios?” she asked as all the girls nodded their heads. “Well, I kind of ran into him today at the gas station. We chatted for a little bit and he said that all the guys were in town because they are working on the new album and taking a little time off. Anyway, long story short, they weren’t doing anything tonight and before they were the famous “NSYNC” boys they used to come out here and hang all the time. So I invited them to come tonight.” The girls all stood in front of their friend with their mouths dropped on the floor. They couldn’t even believe that they were going to get to meet the group that night. They had all heard briefly about Jess knowing Chris and that they still corresponded through emails and such but couldn’t even imagine the fact that they might all just show up out of the blue.

“So are you telling me that I very likely will meet Lance Bass tonight?” Chelsea asked as she sat down in a chair so as not to fall over. All the girls were big fans of the group but Chelsea personally thought that Lance was just incredibly beautiful. They also all knew that Lance had his production company, FreeLance Entertainment and the idea had popped into their heads very recently that they might just try and get a record deal. So many people at the park thought that Jess, Chelsea and Taylor really had what it takes to make it in the recording industry. They had been working on their demo tape with Ryanne and were hoping to start sending it out shortly. “Are you sure that I look okay to meet him?” she asked the rest of the girls. Chelsea was also a beautiful girl. She was 5’ 3” and had long dark curly hair that fell to the middle of her back. She usually wore it up but that night she had it flowing down her back and the front was pulled back in a barrette. She had piercing blue eyes that the girls joked, could cut glass. That night she was wearing a pair of tight blue jeans that fit her amazing curves and a red top that came up around her neck. It was a simple outfit but she looked just stunning.

“Don’t worry sweetie. We’re all going to get up there together and Lance isn’t going to be able to keep his eyes off of you,” Taylor said as she put her arms around Chelsea to give her a hug. Taylor looked amazing as well. She was the tallest of the three singers and was just a bit shorter than Ryanne at 5’ 5”. She had shoulder length red hair and hazel eyes that changed colors based on what she was wearing. That night Taylor had on a short black skirt and her favorite blue tank top that looked amazing on her. “Well, we better let you get things started,” Taylor said as she noticed the room starting to fill with people ready to hear some music. Everyone had started to pick out their songs and Jessica still had more things to get ready. She said a quick goodbye to her friends and headed on up to her spot in the booth to get the evening underway.

Jessica searched the room while she was getting things ready for any sign of Chris and his friends showing up. The bar was a small one so you could always see who was coming and going at any time. Jess got things started and some of the usual customers came up to her to say hello and put in their requests for the evening. Jess always knew who was going to be at the bar and loved the fact that so many people had become regulars and showed up every single week. Jessica’s mind, however, was not on work at all that night. She couldn’t get Chris off of her mind. She looked down at her hand and the ring on it and thought about Steve. Things had really not been good at all recently and she really thought that she might have made a huge mistake in saying yes to him, especially after seeing Chris that day. Jess couldn’t deny the fact that she had feelings for Chris. She always had from the first time that she saw him singing with the Hollywood Hi-Tones. Jess would go into work early just to go and hear him sing. She watched him for weeks before she ever even went up to say hello to him. After that the two started to get to know each other and became like brother and sister. They spent all their spare time together playing and goofing off but never started a physical relationship at all. It was strictly friends between them. But now she couldn’t get Chris off of her mind. She remembered back to the look in his eyes when she saw him earlier in the day and it was of longing.

She wasn’t even paying attention to what was going on around her when a person approached the booth to give her his ticket. When Jess finally came around she looked and saw none other than her friend Joey standing in front of her. “Hey sexy what’s going on?” Joey asked as he took Jessica’s hand and kissed it. She had totally missed the guys coming into the bar. As Joey stood in front of her she looked into his deep brown eyes. Joey had certainly grown up a lot since she had last really seen him in person. The last she saw him he was still a skinny Italian looking boy who had yet to really grow into his features. Standing in front of her that day however was a grown man with beautiful brown eyes and who looked just stunning. Jessica couldn’t stop staring at him and she knew that she must have looked rather foolish just standing there and staring.

“Hey there hot stuff,” Jess replied when she finally found words inside of her, “so what’s a hot guy like you hanging out in a place like this?” she joked as he pulled her into a hug.

“Just slumming how are you cutie?” he asked as he let go of Jessica and took in the sight in front of him. Jessica was a very pretty girl when he last saw her but now she clearly was a grown woman and she was just breathtaking. Her features seemed to have become more defined and she was just gorgeous. Jessica was the shortest of the group of singers and stood only 5’ tall. She had chin length light brown hair with blonde highlights and deep brown eyes.

“So are you and your buddies going to get up there and sing for us tonight?” Jess asked as she noticed that her friends were watching her rather intently.

“Heck yeah!” Joey replied as he flashed her a smile and handed her his card with the song that he and his friends were going to sing for the evening. Jess took the card and looked at what the guys were going to sing and got a huge smile on her face and began to laugh.

“You are kidding right?” she asked through her laughter.

“Fuck no, we have to sing that song. Kinda like old times huh?” he asked as Jess remembered back to the times when the guys used to come to the bar and sing the song. It was kind of a tradition for them and she couldn’t believe that they still wanted to get up and sing the song.

“Alright, if you say so, but if you go and some random person tapes you and puts it up on the Internet its so not my fault.” She said as she waved Joey away and he went back to sit with his friends. Jess looked around the room and found her friends all huddled together and chatting with each other and Chelsea caught her eye and came up to the booth to talk to her while the next person was up singing.

“So…” she began as she looked at Jessica with a questioning look.

“So what?” Jess asked.

“Oh you know what.” She continued, “You gonna introduce us to your friends or what?” she replied as Jess looked at her and began laughing.

“You guys crack me up. Did you loose the bet so that you had to come up and ask me to introduce you to the guys?” she asked as she gave her friend a hug.

“Something like that,” Chelsea replied, “so are you going to introduce us to them or what?” she asked as she looked at her friend pleadingly.

“Of course I am, however we are up next so you wanna go and grab Tay so that we can sing?” she said as the person on the stage finished their song. “Yeah, we need some talent up on that stage, let’s get it on baby.” She whispered into Jessica’s ear as she flashed her a smile and went to go and grab Taylor.

“Alright everyone,” Jess began as she spotted the group of five guys all sitting together at the table watching her, “Next up my girls and I are gonna do a song for you. This is one of our favorites and I hope you like it.” She said as Taylor and Chelsea each grabbed a microphone and the music to one of the girls’ favorite songs began.

Taylor started the song out and took the lead vocals as Chelsea and Jess sang background. As she began to sing a pair of big blue eyes fell upon her. Justin watched as Taylor sang the song with all that was in her. He had recently broken up with his girlfriend of two years in a very publicized break up. He had been writing a lot of music for the new album and much of it had a lot to do with his break up. The guys all were ready for him to find someone new in his life and were really hoping that the music that he was writing would get a little more upbeat or else this next album was going to have quite a bit of angst in it.

Lance watched as the girls sang and immediately his mind went to his business. He knew that he was hearing a group that definitely had some serious talent. The chemistry that the three girls both had up on stage was absolutely amazing. Chris had told him many times before that Jessica had an amazing voice but he was even more impressed with the entire package of the three girls. As Lance watched the girls, Chelsea’s eyes fell on the green eyes of Lance Bass. She had always thought that he was an amazing singer as well as absolutely beautiful but seeing him watch her sing so intently it brought on an entirely new appreciation to her. She watched him as he leaned back and closed his eyes and listened to the girls sing the country song that he had heard so many times before. He hadn’t heard anyone sing the song quite as well since the Dixie Chicks sang it and he was very impressed. He turned to the right to look at his other friends who were all sitting around the table and saw JC’s face as he looked over at the table where Ryanne was sitting by herself.

Ryanne was watching as her friends sang up on the stage as she had done so many times before. She was always so impressed by their talent. The girls on the other hand, were always impressed by the talent Ryanne had when it came to mixing the girls music as well as always keeping things under control at the park. Not only did she stage-manage the show that the girls were in but she was also in charge of several other shows in the park as well. Ryanne could feel someone’s eyes on her and turned her head. When she did she saw the blue eyes of JC Chasez. Ryanne had been a fan of the group for a while and she had always admired JC’s talent. She could only hope that when she got out of school that she would have half the talent that he had when it came to producing.

The girls finished up the song and were greeted by a thunderous round of applause and everyone in the room on their feet. Their eyes immediately went to the table where JC, Joey, Lance, Justin and Chris were sitting. The boys were all on their feet praising the girls. They were all thoroughly impressed with the talent the girls had.

“Thank you so much everyone,” Jessica tried to say above the crowd, “we’re gonna take a quick break right now and then start at the top of the rotation with a very special guest.” Jessica started the music up and went over to sit with her friends. As she walked over to the table she noticed that the guys had all gathered around the table to talk to the girls. “Well, it looks like I don’t have to do any introductions huh?” Jess asked as her friends acknowledged the fact that she had arrived at the table with them.

“Hey girl,” Chris said as he came up to her and put his arm around her shoulder, “You girls are amazing! I mean you said that you had finally found the girls to make that girl group you’ve always dreamed of but you didn’t mention that you were so rockin.” He joked as he handed her a drink.

“Thanks so much,” she said as she took it from him and took a quick sip. “Hey guys!” Jess said as she went around the table and said hello to the guys.

“So why didn’t you tell us she had all this talent?” Justin asked his friend as he came up to give Jess a quick hug. “You girls rock!”

“Thanks Justin,” Jess said. She couldn’t believe that she was getting compliments from the guys in the group and her friends were even more amazement that they were all surrounded by the five members of the group.

“So you girls have a demo out yet?” Lance asked as he turned to talk to Chelsea. The two had been talking non-stop since the girls got off of the stage.

“Nope not yet,” Chelsea said.

“You wanna give them a contract?” Ryanne interrupted as the other girls hid their heads in embarrassment. Ryanne was always the first to ask the questions, which was why the girls used her as their main point of contact when it came to their continuing career.

“Well, you certainly are forward when it comes to your friends aren’t you?” JC asked as he smiled and looked into Ryannes green eyes.

“Can you blame me? I mean, were you listening to them sing up there. They rock!” she said as she winked at the girls.

“You’ll have to excuse our friend here, she’s a bit abrupt when it comes to us becoming the next Dixie Chicks or some other girl group.” Taylor said as she smiled at Justin who was couldn’t keep his eyes off of her.

“No worries,” Justin said, “So why don’t you girls have a record contract anyway?” he asked.

“We just haven’t finished our demo yet,” Taylor explained to Justin and the rest of the group.

“It will be done soon though,” Chelsea added as she looked at Lance who seemed to be entranced by her.

“Well, you’ll just have to give me a copy of the demo once you are done with it. I can use a new group for Free Lance. We’ve got a lot of solo artists but I need a decent group to add to my management company. Don’t worry, I’ll take Ryanne too and she can be your manager and producer.” Lance explained to the girls as they all got huge smiles on their faces. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. They were so excited that they might just be given a chance to have their own album. It really was a dream come true for all of them.

Everyone sat around talking as the music continued to play in the background. Lance and Chelsea seemed to be deep in conversation about some of the up and coming artists on his label. Taylor and Justin were talking about some of the new music that Justin was in the process of writing for the new album as JC and Ryanne talked about the producing that she was doing for the girls’ demo. He was giving her some great ideas of some things to do to really make it an amazing CD. Jess was sitting back and watching as her friends interacted with the guys. She was so excited to see that her friends were able to meet the guys of NSYNC and she knew how thrilled they all were.

As the music ended Jess quickly said goodbye to her friends and headed back up to the front booth. “Ladies and Gentlemen I have a very special group of gentlemen who are up next. This is the special surprise I was telling you all about. Alright guys,” Jess said as she looked out at the guys, “Let’s do it!” With that the five guys all headed on up to the stage and each took a microphone as the background music to “Love Shack” began playing.

Joey picked up the lead as he began to sing, “When you see a little sign by the side of the road that says fifteen miles to the…”

“LOVE SHACK!” Chris sang as the rest of the group came in. The guys all had a blast up on the stage as the audience ate it up completely. Jess went out to sit with the rest of the girls and they all laughed hysterically as the guys were up on the stage. They had seen them so many times on stage doing such choreographed moves that watching them just goof off up on the stage was just so much fun to them. Chris and Justin sang all the female parts and Lance sang most of the lower parts. Joey and JC had fun taking lead singing throughout the song. The entire audience loved the guys and knew that they were seeing something that was rarely seen other than in small places like this. After the first verse was over the guys went out into the bar and grabbed the four girls to get them up there dancing with them. Everyone had such an amazing time. Lance and Chelsea seemed to be immediately attached at the hip as were JC and Ryanne. Taylor was having a great time dancing with Justin as Jess was caught in between Joey and Chris. As the song ended the entire place burst into thunderous applause as the guys and girls all took their bows.

“You guys kick my ass!” Chelsea exclaimed as Lance pulled her close into a hug. She couldn’t have been happier then at that moment when Lance Bass’ arm was wrapped around her. Everyone stood around giggling and laughing at the guys’ antics up on the stage. It was definitely a site to behold.

“You don’t think anyone had a video camera or anything do you?” JC asked as everyone started laughing at him.

“Dude relax!” Joey said as he went up and put his arm on his friends’ shoulder, “Like it even fucking matters who really gives a shit. Its just us having a good time.”

“I guess you’re right, sorry,” he said as he went over to talk to Ryanne who was off talking with the group of girls who had gathered together in a small group.

“So what do you think of Lance?” Chelsea asked the rest of the girls as the sat and chatted together away from earshot of the guys.

“Are you kidding me?” Taylor said, “He’s hot as hell!”

“And totally seems to be into you,” Ryanne concluded as she looked to see where the guys were so that they wouldn’t come over and hear them talking although they all figured that the guys were talking about the girls at the same time. “Lets talk about this on the way home huh?” she said as she saw JC approaching the group of girls.

“Good idea,” Chelsea said as she looked over Ryanne’s shoulder and saw Lance close behind JC.

“Can I interest you girls in a drink?” JC asked as he came up and interrupted the group of girls.

“Sounds good to me,” Ryanne said as she took JC’s hand that he was holding out for her. The three girls headed up to the bar to order shots and drinks as Jess stood up front and dealt with the pains of people who really couldn’t sing whatsoever. This was a labor of love for her. If it wasn’t for her loving the bar manager as much as she did she wouldn’t continue this job but she thought he was a nice guy and was always more than willing to do this for him. She had always helped to bring in so much business seeing as many of the people who worked at Universal frequented the bar especially on the nights that she was doing karaoke.

“So what shall we drink to?” Justin asked as the girls along with the five guys all stood with drinks in their hands.

“How bout we drink to new friends?” Taylor said as she looked into Justin’s deep blue eyes.

“And old friends,” Chris said as he turned to look up at Jess who was busy at work. He couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of her all night long but for some reason he felt really awkward talking to her. He wasn’t sure if it was because of Steve or because of the fact that Joey couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off her either but whatever the reason he was just not himself at all that night and he knew he was going to have to answer the questions later. Justin looked at Chris as he was looking up at Jessica and knew that his friend had something going on. It wasn’t like him to be the quiet type even if he was depressed or being solemn. Justin smiled at his friend when he caught Chris’ eye and knew that the two would be talking later. The whole group took their glasses and clinked them together as they did their shots and settled in for a few more drinks. Jessica watched from the stage as the group all enjoyed themselves together and she just wished that she could have been down there with them enjoying herself.

“So do you think I should do it?” Lance said as he turned to Justin.

“Heck yeah,” Justin replied, “she’s cute, take her to the beach. You know its one of your favorite places and its sure to be hers. Girls dig that kind of shit.” Justin had said to him.

“Ya think?” Lance replied.

“Hell yeah,” Joey said, “Heck, if I was able to I’d be taking Jess there in 2 seconds flat. And in those two seconds…well, how bout I don’t finish that sentence.”

“Thanks for leaving out the details,” JC said as he turned and smacked Joey in the head. Chris had been standing off to the side watching the guys all joke around. He was a bit taken aback by Joey’s comment and wasn’t quite sure how to take it. He had seen Joey watching Jessica all night long but didn’t even realize that he felt this way about her. Maybe he’d just let Joey have his chance with her. His heart was still being worn on his sleeve because of Dani anyway and he wasn’t ready to pursue anyone, even if she was engaged.

Jess couldn’t seem to keep her mind off of Chris and Joey all night long. As much as she tried to put out of her mind, the fact that she was indeed engaged but she was having these feelings that she remember having from times past of Chris and Joey kept popping into her mind. The three of them always had so much fun together. Both of the guys, when she was last hanging out with them, had girlfriends so there was never even any chance of a romantic involvement. Jess knew that Chris had been hurting over his break up with Dani and Joey had been on again, off again with Kelly for so long. What she couldn’t figure out was why she was even thinking about this at all. ‘Get a grip girl’ she thought to herself, ‘you are engaged and are in the process of planning a wedding how can you even be thinking about another guy when your fiancé is sitting at home right now?’ However, she knew in her heart, that he wasn’t sitting at home, he was out with his friends, but she wasn’t the type of person to just start thinking about other men and that was precisely what she was doing at that moment. She’d have to figure out a way to get these thoughts out of her head but judging by the attentions that her friends seemed to be getting from the other members of the group it wasn’t going to be easy.

Chapter 3

“So then he took me down to the beach.” Chelsea continued as she was explaining her evening.

“Well, that explains why you dragged your ass into the apartment at 4 am and why you’ve got bags under your eyes,” Taylor answered.

“So are you going to tell us what happened or are you leaving it to our imagination?” Ryanne asked as she waited for the girls to finish getting makeup done so they could go and start their first set of the day. “And where the heck is Jess anyway?” The girls had all been getting finishing touches done on their costumes and had yet to see Jessica arrive at work.

“Yeah this is so not like her at all,” Chelsea said, “did either of you try her cell?”

“I’m about to right now, hang on I’ll be right back.” Ryanne said as she left the other two girls to finish talking. Just before she left she peered her head back into the room “No details without me here!” she exclaimed as she continued on her way out the door. Ryanne picked up her cell phone and dialed Jessica’s number. It was so unlike her not to be at work and she was beginning to get a little worried about her friend.

“Hi this is Jess, I can’t get to the phone right now…” the message began as Ryanne listened to Jessica’s voice on the phone. “Damn,” she thought to herself, “I wonder where she is?” Ryanne was getting more concerned by the second about Jess. Jess would always call one of the girls if there ever were a problem. With less than ½ hour to go before the girls took the stage, Ryanne was beginning to get a bit worried. She tried to control her nervousness as she left a message for Jess. “Hey Jess,” she began, “Its Ryanne, I hope that everything is okay, I’m a little worried to say the least. Give me a call either at work or on my cell so that I know that everything is okay. Hope you had fun going home with Chris last night. Oh yeah, and I WANT DETAILS!” she said as she heard the beep that signaled the end of the message. Ryanne shrugged and headed back into where the other girls were talking.

“Do you mean to tell me that you and Lance went to Cocoa Beach last night?” Taylor said as she looked at Chelsea in shock. Chelsea was simply beaming. After the girls all said goodnight at the bar the night prior, Lance had taken Chelsea aside. The two had really hit it off at the bar and he was anxious to get to know her better.

“Yeah, we went to the beach.” Chelsea replied as her smile got bigger.

“So are we getting details or do we just have to look at that stupid ass grin of yours all day long?” Ryanne asked as Chelsea turned to look in the mirror and pull her hair back. Chelsea turned around to see Ryanne standing behind her and smiled coyly at her friend.

“Ladies,” she began, “a girl does not kiss and tell.” She said with a grin on her face as she turned back around.

“So you kissed him then,” Taylor said as she spun the chair around. Ryanne and Taylor both broke out in laughter, as Chelsea blushed realizing that she had gotten caught.

“You know, the color red looks real good on you Chelsea.” Jess said as she entered the room, “Especially on your face.” The girls all were laughing hysterically as Jess entered the room.

“Where the hell have you been?” Ryanne asked as Jess headed straight for her costume, which was hanging up from the girls getting it for her.

“Sorry I’m late girls. I got a little caught up at the house before getting here. I’m sorry I worried you.” Jess said as she turned away from her friends.

“So how was your night last night?” Taylor said from the mirror she was sitting at putting on her makeup.

“What do you mean?” Jess asked as she cautiously pulled her shirt off to put on her costume. Her arm was killing her and she didn’t want to let on that she was hurt to her friends. That was the last thing that she needed.

“Oh you know exactly what I mean miss ‘I’m going home with Chris Kirkpatrick’” Taylor joked.

“I had fun, Chris is such a sweetie isn’t he?” Jess said as she winced in pain.

“I hate to interrupt gossip hour but you girls have exactly 15 minutes to have your asses out on that stage so you had best hurry and leave the gossip for later,” Ryanne stated as she received a page from the sound technician. “I need to get out there and make sure micas and stuff are set up. See you girls in 10 okay?” she said to the girls as she turned to leave without waiting for a response. The girls all knew that when Ryanne was ready to start the show that she meant business and there was no screwing around.

“So are you going to tell us what happened with Chris or leave it to our imaginations?” Chelsea asked as she winked at Taylor. “I bet our imaginations could come up with something pretty good if we tried to.” She grinned.

“Heck yeah, lets see, roses, motorcycles, long drives on a beautiful Florida night, stopping off to grab some ice cream and sharing an ice cream cone together,” she joked with her friends as the two girls broke into a fit of giggles trying to think of as many fun things that Chris and Jessica could have done together. Little did they know, Jess did go home with Chris but was immediately greeted at the door by Steve who was not pleased at all to see his fiancé out driving around on a motorcycle with some guy.

Jessica had left the bar with Chris that night for one reason and one reason alone, her car wouldn’t start when she went out to get into it. Chris had hung around the bar until she was completely done getting things finished up. All the other girls and guys had disappeared, gone home with their newest flames of the evening, as was the case with Chelsea and Lance, or off to their own respective apartments and homes after saying a quick goodbye to their latest interests. Chris walked Jess out to her car and the two talked a bit about their lives and new thing that were going on. Their conversation earlier that day had been cut so short due to Jess having to head home, but seeing as she knew that Steve would still be out with his buddies she figured that she too could enjoy having some private time with one of her best friends. When Chris realized that her car wouldn’t start he immediately offered her a ride home on his bike, which of course she accepted. Jess and Chris didn’t even realize it was as late as it was when she got home and when Jess looked at her watch she realized that it was 3:30 in the morning and she knew that Steve was going to be pissed. Jessica could see the light in the living room on from the street and immediately told Chris to go home because she didn’t want a scene. He quickly gave her a kiss on the cheek and a hug and wished her goodnight. Jess walked up to the door and found that Steve indeed was pissed at her. He pulled the door open just as she was going to open it and she fell into the apartment and into his arms. Steve immediately pushed her away and asked where she had been. Jessica could tell that he had been drinking, as she could smell the beer and cigarettes on his breath. She tried to explain about the car, which was on its last legs as it was and he wanted to hear nothing of it. He grabbed her arm and threw her against the wall enraged and told her that if she was ever found to be out with another guy again that the bruise on her arm would be the least of her worries.

“Earth to Jessica….” Chelsea said as Taylor left the room to go and get onstage. “Yo girl, what the heck is wrong with you anyway?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Jess said as she tried to shake the images of the night previous out of her mind. Her arm was doing a great job of reminding her what happened but she just needed to focus on the job at hand for the moment. “Nothing at all.”

“Are you sure? You just don’t seem yourself at all today. Is everything okay with Steve?” At the very sound of his name Jessica tensed up.

“Yeah, everything is just fine. We were just up late discussing wedding plans and stuff,” Jessica lied to her friend as she pulled the last of her costume over her head and winced in pain. “Damn,” she said under her breath.

“Jess, you are one of my best friends and I know for a fact that something is wrong. You don’t look yourself at all today and I’ve seen you look on the verge of tears about five times while putting on your costume. What the hell happened last night?” Chelsea demanded. She knew that something was going on and she wanted to just get some straight answers from Jessica.

“Chelsea, seriously, I’m fine. So tell me about Lance,” Jessica said as she tried to change the subject while she led the way out to the wings of the stage to go out and perform.

“We’re not done here,” Chelsea said angrily, “but if you must know, he is amazing. He’s about the sweetest person on the face of the earth and he wants to sign us to a contract. He wants to manage us and get us out there performing.” Chelsea said with a smile on her face. Her whole face lit up when she smiled and she just looked so happy. It had been a while since Chelsea looked this way. She had her fare share of heartache, which was why she hated to see Jessica so upset. Jessica and Taylor both knew it was high time that Chelsea was happy in a relationship and neither of them could have been any happier than seeing Chelsea with Lance.

“Hey girl,” Ryanne said as she came up behind the girls and grabbed onto Jessica’s arm. It was a light touch to say the least but it made Jessica’s eyes water from the pain that it was causing. “Glad to see you are here, there are some people in the….” Ryanne paused as she saw the tears welling up in Jessica’s eyes although she was trying to swipe away at them. “Jess are you alright?” Ryanne asked concerned about her friend.

“Yeah, I’m just fine,” Jess said as Ryanne let go of her arm and saw the bruise that was prelevant as well as the fact that her forearm was swollen to twice its normal size. Jessica had been hiding her arm under a long sleeve shirt so that no one would notice.

“Jessica, you are not fine, what the hell happened?” Ryanne asked as Taylor came around the corner.

“What the fuck girls?” Taylor asked as she saw Ryanne and Chelsea gathered around Jessica. “Hey, the audience is ready for us to be out there, HOLY SHIT!” Taylor said as she saw what the girls were gathered looking at. “Okay, you want to explain now or after we perform?” she asked as she looked concerned at her friend.

“How bout we do it later girls. I promise that after we get done with this set that I’ll go up to first aid and have the nurse look at it okay?” Jess asked as she swiped at the tears that had been in her eyes. She just really wanted all attention off of her and on to the stage where the girls should have been 5 minutes previous.

“Alright, that’s fine, but as soon as we come back here you’re going to first aide got it?” Taylor asked as she put her arm around Jessica.

“You got it,” Jess replied.

“Well, we need to get you three out there. Ready for a good show?” Ryanne asked as she looked at the three girls.

“You bet,” they all said together and with that Ryanne headed out front to get things started.

Chapter 4

Ryanne stepped through the curtain onto the stage as her three friends stood backstage. She was genuinely concerned about her friend and her mind clearly was more on that than on the performance that the girls were about to put on. They had certainly performed under worse circumstances so that was not a problem. What continuously plagued her mind was how her arm got hurt in the first place. This wasn’t the first time that Jessica had tried to hide something from her friends. There had been several times that she had shown up at work the next day after a night out late the night before with the girls with some type of bruise that she was trying to cover up. The girls didn’t want to jump to conclusions but they were pretty sure that something was going on in “paradise”, as Jessica liked to call it. The girls knew better, life in Jess’ house was not paradise at all and they were bound and determined to get her mind off of Steve and get her mind on other things. Maybe then, she would see that he wasn’t all that she thought he was and that he was bad for her.

As Ryanne came out on to the stage her eye immediately caught four pairs of eyes that were sitting out in the audience. Standing off to the side of the stage, with their hats hung low on their heads and their sunglasses in place were none other than JC, Lance, Justin and Joey. After what happened the night previous, she had no doubt in her mind that Lance would be there to see Chelsea perform but she was a bit surprised to see the other three standing by his side. JC looked up at Ryanne and lowered his glasses slightly and lifted his hat up just a bit so that she could see his face. “Like I’d miss that face,” she thought to herself as she winked over at JC who immediately winked back at her. Those four faces could have been picked out in any crowd and as far as JC was concerned, you could give her a million men and she’d pick JC everytime. Ryanne attempted to keep her composure as she introduced the girls while meanwhile, backstage; the girls did their final preps to go out.

“Are you sure about this?” Taylor as she turned towards Jessica.

“You know we could just tell Ryanne that we need a break and that we are canceling this show,” Chelsea said as she stood on the other side of Jessica.

“Alright, both of you, I told you I was fine and that I wanted to go out and do this, I want to hear nothing else about it okay? I’ll go to first aide as soon as we get off the stage, you can come with me if you want, but right now, I want to get out on that stage and do what I love to do. Got it?” Jessica said as she smiled towards both of her friends. There was nothing that satisfied her more than knowing that she had some of the best friends in the world. However, between the three of them, they all worried more than Jessica really felt necessary. She knew full well that her friends didn’t like Steve, and this latest incident wasn’t going to put him any closer to being on their good side. She knew that the girls had figured out that Steve had done this to her and were all probably putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together. Jessica knew that Steve had hurt her, and continued to do so more often recently, but she also knew that she was in love. He was the first person to ever really love her and she knew that she’d never find another person in her life quite like him.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, it gives me the great honor to introduce to you Chelsea, Taylor and Jessica, the Motown Three!” Ryanne announced as the girls came out from backstage their microphones set and ready to go and the background music playing in their ears.

“Why don’t you build me up, buttercup baby just to say you will, and I love you still…” the girls began as they came out on stage. Chelsea looked out into the audience and saw the four guys standing off to the side of the stage. After the first number was completed the girls quickly did their bows and introduced the next song. Her eyes immediately went over to the green eyes that had her in their grasp the night before. It had been a night out of a dream for her. Never had Chelsea expected in a million years to be spending the evening with one of the most eligible bachelors out there. When Lance approached her and asked her the night previous to take a drive with her she figured they’d take a quick drive around Orlando and then head back to her place and that would be it. She never thought she’d end up walking along the dunes of Cocoa Beach with him until 2:30 in the morning talking about the past, present and future of both of their lives. She would have never guessed that she would end up lying on the beach with him on a blanket that mysteriously seemed to have found its way into the back of his Four Runner making out with none other than Lance Bass. What she was more concerned about was what was going to happen now. The night before had ended beautifully and she was completely taken by this man that she had dreamed about for so long but what next. Would they end up dating? Would he even ever talk to her again? Or would he think of her just as another one night thing that he had and make another notch in his headboard. Chelsea was careful to end things with just kissing and nothing else but she knew that he had wanted more and deep down she wondered whether or not she wanted more as well. Chelsea kept all of these thoughts in her head as she went through the motions of performing.

Taylor stood off to Chelsea’s left taking the lead on the songs as she often did. Taylor clearly had the voice, had the girls not all been singing together as a group, that she could have made it on her own. The girls told her daily that she needed to be auditioning for Broadway or sending demos out to different record companies. Taylor, however, refused and said that she wanted nothing more than to perform with her 2 best friends while her third was working on the production of their album. Taylor immediately saw where Chelsea’s eyes had focused towards as soon as she took the lead on the second song. Taylor had always thought of Justin Timberlake as someone much like her. Someone who could make it on his own as a solo performer however he loved performing with his best friends and thus continued performing with the group. She never, however, thought that he would ever even find her remotely attractive. Justin, on the other hand, was completely smitten with her. He watched her as she went through the motions of performing up on stage and enjoyed watching how into the music she got. She reminded him so much of himself while she was up there. The music completely took over her and he could tell that she was singing from deep down and with everything that was in her.

As the girls began to sing the next song they watched as the audience sang and clapped along to the music they were singing. This was a great audience and the girls were so glad that the guys were able to see them in their element. “Your love is lifting me higher….” Taylor began as the other girls sang back up to her solo. Taylor sounded more amazing that day than she had in a long time. The girls played along with the audience as they sang their favorite song of their set. This was the number where they could really shine. It showed off each of their voices so well and they really put everything they had into it.

Joey watched as the girls did their number on stage but couldn’t keep his eyes off of Jessica. She just didn’t seem herself and he wasn’t quite sure why. The night before she had been excited and enthusiastic when she was up on the stage, however today, she looked tired and she looked like she was in pain. He noticed that she was favoring her right arm and that she was always holding her microphone in her left hand with her right arm down by her side throughout the entire performance. However, ever being the performer, it was only her friends who could see through the façade that she was throwing out at the audience. She was a trooper up there and was smiling away through the obvious pain that she must have been in. Joey couldn’t figure out when or where she got hurt but he was determined to find out. He knew what it was like to perform in pain, having done it several times himself, so he could definitely sympathize with her.

Jess could feel the weight of Joey’s stare throughout the entire performance. She knew that her friends were excited with the attention that Lance and Justin were giving them while they were out on stage doing their thing and how thrilled they must have both been to give the guys back a little of what they gave to them. They both looked so happy out on the stage that day and Jess couldn’t have been more thrilled with the way that her friends seemed to have hit it off with the guys. In the back of her mind, however, was the thought that she just wanted to get off of that stage and get something for the pain that her arm was causing her. She hadn’t gone to the hospital or doctor the night prior due to Steve not allowing her out of the house. She was lucky that she got out to go to work but when she brought up the fact to him that she had to go to work because someone had to pay for the rent and the bills that were piling up in the house. Steve finally allowed her to leave and Jess was only too happy to escape from the house. She had wanted to call Chris or one of the girls but Steve had taken her cell phone from her and she wasn’t able to call anyone.

The girls finished their last song and thanked the audience while nodding towards the four guys that were standing off to the side so that they could come backstage and see the girls before they had to do their next set. Due to the way their schedule was set up for the day they had an hour and a half before they had to be back on stage so they had plenty of time to cool down and relax before their next set began. The opportunity to spend that time with the four members of NSYNC who were gracing their presence was more than any of them could have asked for.

Chapter 5

“You were amazing baby,” Lance said as he came backstage and lifted Chelsea off of her feet. She was definitely not expecting this type of response from him but she was thrilled to see that he was so excited to see her.

“Thanks so much Lance! What a surprise! What made you guys decide to come out here today?” Chelsea asked as she looked at the other guys who were coming around the corner.

“Well, this dude here couldn’t seem to stay away from someone that he met last night?” Justin said as he went to go over and say hello to Taylor.

“Yeah, got any idea who that could be Chelsea?” Joey asked as he came up with JC.

“None whatsoever,” Chelsea replied with a wide smile on her face. Lance had since put her down on the ground and had his arm around her waist.

“Hey Jess, this new act of yours kicks ass!” Joey said as he went up to say hi to her. “You girls are really amazing. So how was your ride home last night?” he asked with a sly grin on his face.

“It was fine thank you, and it was just that, a ride home and nothing else Joe,” Jessica said with a smile.

“Yeah, whatever, we know Chris better than that. So what happened between you two last night anyway Jess?” Justin asked as he slipped his arm around Taylor’s shoulder tentitivley. The two had begun to get to know each other the night before but he also knew that there was an age difference there and from what he had heard from Lance, she was a bit self-conscious of it. He was determined to get her to know that he couldn’t have cared less. He thought that she was a great girl and he was going to do anything he could to get her to know this.

“Absolutely nothing, that’s what I told you, he just brought me home and we talked for a while,” Jessica said as she held onto her arm. Ryanne came around the corner after hearing the guys’ voices to see the girls and to of course see the boys as well. JC eyed her as she walked towards the group. He was very impressed with the work that she had done with the girls. Their mixing was perfect and she really took charge of things out front. He was a bit upset that when she came towards the group that her eyes, after falling on him briefly for she couldn’t keep her eyes away from her, went to Jessica.

“Well, miss, you promised us, you are outta here. I’ll see you before you go back out.” Ryanne said as she came towards the group. “Sorry to break this up everyone but I need to get this girl outta here. The rest of you are more than welcome to hang out if you want.”

“Sorry guys, but she’s right. I’ll see you all later. Don’t have too much fun without me okay?” Jessica said with a smile as she walked away from the group while everyone waved goodbye to her. Jessica hadn’t gotten more than 100 feet away when she heard footsteps running up behind her and she turned to find Joey running to catch up with her.

“So where are you off to?” he asked her as he caught up to her.

“Just have to take care of something before I go back out there to finish out the day. Nothing to worry about. You go and enjoy your time with the rest of the guys and the girls. I’m sure you’d have much more fun with them than coming along with me.” Jess said as she continued to walk down the back hallway towards the first aide area. She really needed to get in to see the nurse so that at least she could get some pain medication. Her arm was throbbing and she had yet to take anything more than Advil for the pain that she was having.

“I didn’t ask you if I should come with you or whether or not I was going to have fun I asked where you were going.” Joey said with a smile on his face.

“Alright nosey, I’m going to first aid. I hurt my arm um,” Jessica thought for a moment. There was no way that she wanted Joey to know what happened with Steve the night prior so she tried to think of a way to explain the fact that her arm was swollen and her fingers looked like they were two times their regular size. “I uh, fell down the stairs last night when I got home. No big deal, I’m sure I’m fine.” Jessica lied to her friend. She just really didn’t want Joey concerned nor did she want him doing anything drastic.

“Yeah, I could see that you did something to that,” Joey said, as he held onto her arm careful not to hurt her anymore than she seemed to be hurting already. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” he asked with a concerned look on his face. Jessica was trying to read on his face whether or not he actually believed the lie that she had given him. So far it seemed to be working.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’m just going to have the nurse check it out and give me some pain meds and I’ll be good as new. No worries.” Jessica hoped.

“Well, I know how long first aid takes. Remember when I slammed my head on that set piece during Beatlejuice?” he asked trying to make Jessica laugh. It certainly was something to remember. Joey had been out performing in the Beatlejuice show and he smacked his head on one of the set pieces that for some reason was hanging down too low. He smacked it so hard that he went down immediately. They took him straight to the first aid area and proceeded to make him wait over an hour for what looked to be a concussion. She had no idea how long they were going to make her wait for this injury.

“Yeah, I remember. Well, if you want you are more than welcome to come and sit with me.” Jessica said as they reached the area. Joey opened the door for her and she walked in holding tight to her arm and went straight up to the nurse’s station. “Hi, I’m Jessica Martin, I work over on Soundstage 4 and I think I may have done something to my arm.” Jess said to the nurse behind the desk. Joey was strangely close behind her with his arm on the small of her back. Jess realized it was there and how comfortable it felt having him so close to her. It was a feeling she hadn’t had in a very long time. The feeling of someone touching her in a comforting way. It was something that she missed terribly so she let herself enjoy the feeling of Joey being so close to her.

“Miss Martin, I just need you to fill out these papers for me and then we’ll get a doctor to take a look at that arm of yours,” the nurse said as she handed Jessica a clipboard with various forms attached. Joey took the clipboard from her and proceeded to lead her towards a couch to sit down and wait and fill out the forms.

“Name?” Joey asked as he grabbed the pen that was on the top of the clipboard and began to ask her all of the questions that were on the sheet. He joked with her while asking her the different questions and it was all Jess could do to keep a straight face as he asked the questions. As he continued down the sheet of paper he got to the question that Jessica was dreading. “Nature of injury?” he asked as he looked up and met his deep brown eyes with her light ones. Jessica couldn’t lie, it was a trait that she just never was able to do real well and this was going to be a tough one with Joey looking right at her. How was she going to tell him what happened the night before? That her fiancé beat her on a regular basis? That he had hurt her more than once?

“I um…I fell and landed on my right arm.” Jessica lied to her friend. Joey raised his eyebrows at her and took her by the hand and led her over into a corner of the room where there were no other people around. Jessica’s eyes watered as she knew exactly what was about to happen and she had no idea how she was going to be able to talk to Joey about this situation.

“Jess,” he began as he sat her down and sat next to her so that they could look at each other eye to eye. “I’ve known you for what six years now?”

“Something like that.” she replied trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall at any moment.

“You are one of the most graceful people I’ve ever met in my life. Hell, JC isn’t even as graceful as you are,” he said trying to elicit a smile from Jessica, which he succeeded in doing. “Okay, all joking aside, I also know that you suck at lying. That’s why I didn’t press the issue of what happened between you and Chris last night. But I know something else happened and that your girls already know.” Jessica couldn’t believe her ears. In all the years that she had known Joey they had never had a conversation like this. Joey was always the one that was joking around and never the one to act real serious. Out of Jess, Joey and Chris, she was clearly the most serious one. Joey and Chris were always joking around either with each other or with other friends of theirs from the park. “So as I see it, you’ve got two choices, either tell me now, or I go and ask the girls and find out the real reason your arm is looking like its either broken or severely bruised right now. Your choice.” He said as he looking into her eyes.

Jessica’s eyes began to water as she looked at Joey, knowing that she wasn’t going to be able to lie her way out of this one and that she was going to have to tell him the truth. “Do I have to tell you the whole truth?” she asked with her eyes pleading at his. Joey took one hand and held her hand and with the other dried the tears that were falling from her eyes.

“It was Steve wasn’t it.” He stated blankly as he looked in her eyes. He knew deep down all along that it was Steve who had done this to her although, he didn’t want to believe it. The last thing he wanted was to have his friend hurt and to know that a guy did this to one of his best friends, and that this friend of his was a woman, all he wanted to do was go and hunt Steve down and make him hurt as much as she was hurting at that moment.

Jessica nodded her head at Joey and the tears began to flow down her face. Joey pulled her into his chest and held her close and let her cry. He could tell that she had been holding it in all day long so as not to frighten her friends or to make them more concerned then they already were. He wrapped his arms around her and Jessica seemed to crumble underneath them. He never had seen her like this before in his life and he was genuinely concerned about his friend. He knew there was more there and it was going to take time for her to come out and tell him everything that had been going on.

“Jessica………Jessica Martin…” the nurse said from the door as Jessica lifted her head from Joey’s chest where it had been lying.

“Yes, I’m Jessica,” she said as she stood up and wiped at her tear stained face.

“The doctor is ready to see you Miss. Martin,” she said, “you are welcome to bring your friend back with you if you like.” The nurse said as Jessica turned to Joey who was standing close by. She looked at Joey and smiled and he followed her into the examining room. Jess knew that she was going to have to tell the doctor how this happened and there was nothing she wanted more than to have Joey right there by her side as this was going to be one of the hardest things she would have to discuss.

Chapter 6

While Joey and Jessica were off getting Jessica’s arm checked out the rest of the group headed over to the cafeteria area to grab a quick bite to eat. Chelsea and Lance walked close together, he with his arm around her waist and she with her arm around his. They looked so cute together and genuinely looked to be at the beginning of a great relationship. Chelsea’s apprehensions of what was going to happen next after the night that they had just experienced quickly went away when Lance had no problems showing his affections in front of their friends. Lance beamed with happiness as the two of them walked together along with the rest of their friends.

“So what’s going on with Jess?” Justin turned to ask Taylor. Chelsea and Taylor turned and looked at each other not quite sure what to say. They both knew that Jessica clearly wouldn’t want the guys to know what was going on but it was obvious to all of them that something was going on. Ryanne looked at the two of them and gave them a knowing look telling them not to say anything about Steve to the guys. It was clear to all of the girls that Jess was a lot closer with Joey and Chris than she initially showed them. Both of the guys as well as the rest of their band mates would be out for blood should they find out that it was Steve who hurt her.

“Don’t really know,” Ryanne began as she walked next to JC, “She got here a little late today….”

“Yeah, late night out with the old man huh?” Justin joked.

“Whatever,” Ryanne said as she dismissed Justin’s remark. “Anyway, she got here a little late today and said that she had hurt her arm.”

“She insisted on going out on stage so that she could perform,” Taylor continued.

“Yeah, so we let her go out with the stipulation that right after we got off of the stage that she would head right on over to first aide to get it checked out.” Chelsea concluded. The three guys looked at each other and smiled.

“Okay, I give, what’s so amusing to the three of you?” Ryanne asked as she turned and looked at JC who was giggling softly.

“Sorry, you girls are so much like us. We always seem to be able to finish each others sentences as well.” JC explained.

“Got it,” Ryanne said as she smiled through her concern. All three of the girls were concerned about their friend at that moment. It wasn’t even the fact that she was hurt that they were worried about but more the fact that they didn’t know how long this had been happening. “I guess with the four of us hanging out so much and us three living together we get that way after a while.” Ryanne said as she looked at JC. He had his eyes on her the whole time they were walking down the hallway together. She couldn’t quite understand it but hell if it wasn’t nice that JC was looking at her so intently.

“So what did you guys think really of the performance today?” Taylor asked as Justin held the chair out for her to sit down. She couldn’t believe what a gentleman he was being with her.

“Yeah, we could use some tips from the pros if you guys don’t mind.” Chelsea said as she sat down next to Lance who was carrying a tray of food for both of them. JC and Ryanne sat down across from the other four and they all continued to talk about things that the girls could do to improve on their performance.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t change much at all,” Lance said as he looked at the three girls.

“He’s right you know,” Justin said as he turned to Taylor, “You girls are really amazing at what you do.”

“The music really fits you all perfectly. I’d love to write some stuff for you if you wouldn’t mind.” JC said.

“Are you kidding?” Chelsea and Taylor said together which set the group off in a fit of laughter at the two girls.

“Yeah, you girls spend no time together at all,” Justin joked. The guys started to tell the girls all about their beginnings as a group and how when they first started spending lots of time together that they were amazed when they would start to say things either at the same time or complete each others sentences. Justin thought back to his beginnings with NSYNC and how he envied the fact that the girls were just starting out. There was so much for them to look forward to and he reveled in the hope that he might just get to be around to see the girls get their feet wet in the music industry and he vowed to help them in any way that he possibly could. If it was going to be just giving them pointers on how to get started or how to avoid creeps like Lou Pearlman, He knew deep down that these girls had what it takes to make it and that they someday, would be headlining their own tour across the country. The idea excited him.

“The three of you really have an amazing chemistry up there on the stage. That’s really so important when it comes to group dynamics and the way that you come across to the audience,” Lance explained as he watched every move that Chelsea was making. Lance was hoping to bring up the fact that he really wanted the girls to work off of his production company. The company was really just beginning but he knew that this would be a great place for the girls. Due to his blossoming relationship with Chelsea he wasn’t really sure that he wanted to be their manager but he also felt that Ryanne really had what it takes to be a manager in her own respect. If he could only convince the girls that they should sign with him and then he could hire on Ryanne to be their manager.

“Lance is right, the way the three of you sing together is really great. You always look like you’re having such an incredible time up there. The harmonies are really tight and that is so important. I’d love to hear what you girls have recorded so far,” JC discussed with the girls. He knew that Ryanne was just starting out as a producer in her own respect but he hoped that the two of them could work together and that he could give her some pointers on really getting started out. He envied the fact that she was able to go to school to study really how to do a perfect job in music production. It was something that he really wished that he could have done. All that he knew about production was from what he saw his own producers doing on the albums that the guys were working on. Although real life experience was a great thing, there was something to be said about that classroom time that he only wished he could have had. He was hoping that not only would he be able to give Ryanne some pointers as far as real life music production was concerned but that she might give him some pointers as far as the classroom textbook style of production. “When are you girls going to get back into the studio to do some recording,” JC asked as he looked directly at Ryanne.

“Well, we haven’t been able to book too much studio time,” Ryanne explained.

“Yeah, due to the fact that it costs us a butt load of money every time we get anywhere within 100 feet of the place,” Taylor continued as Justin laughed.

“Seriously,” Chelsea finished, “we’d love to have more time in the studio but it costs so much money to book the time. We have all of our background tracks finished we just need to get in there to do the actual recordings so that Ryanne can go through and do all of the editing.”

“We’re going to have to get in there soon though,” Ryanne said as the girls began to block out the fact that the guys were there so that they could talk business briefly.

“Isn’t your final project due soon?” Taylor asked.

“Sure is, and seeing as the three of you ARE my final project we have to get that demo completed.”

“Then we’re going to start sending it out right?” Chelsea asked as the three friends continued talking. The guys watched on as the girls talked business. They all thought about how much they reminded them of themselves when it came to talking shop. Although the guys had fun with what they did, it was still a job and there were deadlines that needed to be met. They were in the process of recording their latest album as well and they knew how much work goes into making the CD itself. They began to reminisce amongst themselves about making their first demo together and how much work went into it.

“Yeah, and hopefully we can get you three ho’s signed on with some management company soon.” Ryanne explained as she looked towards Lance. She was secretly hoping that Lance would offer to sign the girls so that they could begin doing some serious recording. If they worked alongside FreeLance Entertainment then they might be able to get onto RCA or another one of the major labels and really start doing some serious performing and get the heck out of Universal Studios.

“Well, I don’t know if we should discuss this without Jess, but I have a proposition for you ladies if you want to hear it.” Lance said as he glanced over at Chelsea. He had told her the night prior that he wanted to have the girls go under his management company and really start getting their name out there but he wasn’t sure if he should discuss it without Jessica there as well.

“Really,” Taylor said with a smile on her face. Justin watched as her face lit up brightly when she smiled. He had his arm around her shoulder and at first she was rather tentative about having it there and she tensed right up but she seemed to have relaxed under his touch and he was happy about that.

“Actually I do,” Lance explained, “but Jess really should be here to hear the whole story. I wouldn’t want to leave one of you out of the loop.”

“Jess should be here for what?” Jessica said as she came over to the table with Joey carrying a tray of food for the two of them. Everyone turned to great the two as they saw her come over to the table. Her arm was wrapped up and had a splint on it for the time being and she had her arm in a sling so as to keep from moving it around.

“Hey girl,” Ryanne said as she held out the chair for Jess to sit next to her so that Joey could take care of the food. “What did the nurse say?”

“I fractured a bone in my arm in two places, gotta stay like this for a few days until I get into see a orthopedic guy and then it will go into a cast so that I can’t move it at all.” Jess explained as she sat down next to Ryanne and looked at her three friends to try and figure out whether or not they had told the rest of the guys what had happened to her.

“Are you going to be able to perform?” Chelsea asked.

“Hell yeah I will. I didn’t do anything to my vocal chords and I don’t have to keep the sling on all the time. They said I could take it off when I’m on stage as long as I’m real careful and as soon as I have the real cast on then I don’t have to wear the sling at all.”

“Well that’s good,” Taylor said.

“So what did we interrupt?” Joey said as he looked over at Lance. Lance was looking curiously at Joey. He knew that Joey had always kept feelings hidden that he had for Jessica. The two had talked many times about her, but he also knew that Chris had feelings for her as well. The last thing that Lance wanted to see happening was that the guys would fight over this one girl, especially seeing as she was already taken by another man. The way that Joey and Jessica had walked in together Lance knew that something was going on there and that he was going to have to talk to Joey later. Chris had told him the night prior that he really cared for Jessica. This was about to get really messy was the only thought that went through his head.

“Not much,” JC explained, “the big man here was about to give some kind of proposition to the girls but he wanted Jess to be here to tell them.”

“So Scoop, what’s your plan?” Justin asked as he looked over at Lance.

“How would you girls feel about being the newest artists to sign with FreeLance Entertainment?”

Chapter 7

Jessica got into her car and found herself in the same place that she was the day prior. ‘It sure boggles the mind how life can change in one day’ she thought to herself as she drove down I-4 with one arm. The day previous she was in the car driving home from work and thinking about work and her impending marriage to her fiancé and here she was the next day amazed at the fact that she had met up with two of her very dearest friends again, who just happen to be members of one of the hottest groups around. Her friends had become friends with the rest of the band and one of her friends certainly seemed to be getting along quite well with one of them. Her musical group form Universal was about to be signed with a management company, which clearly was a dream come true. Life couldn’t get much better than this.

As she drove down the road and let all of the events of the past day sink into her brain she was immediately distracted by the fact that the pain killers that she had received at the first aide station were beginning to wear off. She looked carefully at the arm that was still in a sling and was beginning to hurt rather uncontrollably and her mind immediately went to the events that led to her arm getting that way. She thought back to her fiancé who was probably sitting at home at that same moment watching television or on the computer without a care in the world. He had no clue that he had broken her arm and probably wouldn’t care less. If he acted at all like he usually did, he would be all sweetness and light when she got home. That was what he normally did when he hurt her. He would make everything better by making dinner and buying flowers and cleaning the house. At least that was something to look forward to when she got home.

Jess tried to rationalize in her brain the relationship that she was in. Although there were the times when Steve hurt her, she always felt that he really did care for her. It was as if her heart and her head were at odds with each other. Her head told her that she really should get out of the relationship, while her heart was telling her that she really did love him, despite his faults. He was the first person really to show any interest in her at all and Jess jumped at the chance to be dating one of the most eligible guys at the park. The other girls were all so envious of her when she had started dating Steve and they were the happy cute couple of the park.

Jessica’s mind was brought back to reality as she pulled up to the apartment. She took in a deep breath as she grabbed her bag and headed towards the house. She walked in the door to find the door open for her. She found the apartment spotlessly clean and Steve standing at the door dressed up and ready to go out. In his hand he held a single pink rose in his hand. The smile that was on his face when he opened the door immediately turned to sad eyes as he looked at her arm in the sling and cast. He quickly took her bag from her and dropped it to the floor to hold her close.

“I’m so sorry bunny,” he said to her calling her by the name that she loved. His arms enveloped her while tears fell from his eyes. “What can I do?” he asked as released his hold on her.

“Nothing sweetie, it will be fine. It’s my fault anyway, I should have told you that I was going to be late or call or something. I just don’t want you to think that there’s anything at all going on between Chris and I.” She began to explain, once again taking the blame when clearly it wasn’t her fault at all for what happened. ‘The girls would kill me if they heard me talking right now,’ she thought silently to herself. Steve silenced her words with his finger lightly going to her lips. He tilted her chin up towards him and kissed her gently on the lips.

“I know there is nothing going on between you and him. Heck, you haven’t seen him in years and he’s with that band anyway,” he replied. “I am just sorry that this happened to you and that I was the cause of it.”

“Lets let it lie huh?” she said. “So what is this all about anyway?” she asked as she pointed to his outfit. The one that he was wearing clearly wasn’t one like he normally would wear. He was much more the t-shirt and jeans type of guy.

“Well, I was thinking you might like to go out to dinner tonight. To celebrate.” Steve said as Jess made her way further into the apartment and grabbed herself a Diet Coke out of the refrigerator.

“What are we celebrating?” she asked. Jess hadn’t said anything yet to Steve about the fact that she had been given the offer by Lance to sign with his management company. She wasn’t quite sure about how she was going to bring that up to him. He wasn’t going to be thrilled with the fact that, should the girls make it, that she would be traveling and hopefully touring the country.

“Well, I made a decision today and I wanted to tell you about it.” He said as he came up behind her in the kitchen.

“Oh really?” she asked suddenly very interested in what he had to say. “Well, I need to get out of these clothes and figure out how I’m going to take a shower with this damn thing on my arm. Wanna wash my hair for me?” she asked him as she turned into his arms and looked up at him with a wide grin on her face.

“It would be my pleasure,” he said as he smiled down at her and took her into his embrace and kissed her passionately. Jessica broke the kiss a few minutes later.

“If we keep this up we’ll never get to dinner,” she said with a smile on her face.

“Fine with me,” he replied matching her grin and reaching down to kiss her again.

“Yeah, but I’m starving so lets go,” she said as she ducked under his arm. Jessica made her way to the bathroom to take a shower and then have Steve wash her hair. Jessica loved having her hair washed and to have it washed by Steve was somewhat of an interesting experience. He got more water and suds on himself than in her hair she thought but it was fun for the two of them to just laugh and enjoy each others company.

That was what Jessica loved about the relationship that she had with Steve. They could just have fun together doing the silliest things. Whether it was playing in a theme park, going to the movies, going out bowling or just hanging around the house, the two of them could find each other laughing all the time. She thought back on all of the fun times that they had together and all of the hurt and pain that he caused her seemed to just disappear from her mind.

Jess headed to the bedroom to get dressed in a sundress and a light sweater and the two made their way out to dinner. Jessica picked up her cell phone as she was headed out the door when she grabbed her purse and looked down at it noticing that she had missed three calls. She couldn’t quite figure out who would have called her during the day and the phone numbers didn’t look familiar at all. She figured that while they were at dinner that she would excuse herself briefly and go and check as to who might have called during that day while she was at work.

The two arrived at one of their favorite restaurants and were seated in a small booth towards the back. It was one of their favorite Italien restaurants in downtown Orlando that they had not told any of their friends about. It was kind of like their own secret place where they could just escape reality. The service was wonderful and the food second to none. Steve quickly ordered up a bottle of Jessica’s favorite wine and appetizers and dinner for the two, as he always knew exactly what she wanted when they went to the restaurant. Jessica looked at him in amazement, as he seemed to remember every detail of her favorite things.

As the wine was being poured and salads were being brought to the table Jessica turned to Steve and smiled. “So what is this big news that you have to share with me?” she asked as she looked at his green eyes.

“Well, I’ve had time to do a lot of thinking lately and I’ve come to a decision finally as to what I want to do.” He said as he smiled at Jessica and took her left hand in his lightly stroking at her fingertips and looking at her deep brown eyes.

“Really?” she said with a wide smile, “so what have you decided that you want to do?” she asked

“I wanna go to school,” he said, “And I wanna become a police cop.”

“Okay,” she said as her heart started to sink. Jess knew that going to school would mean that he wouldn’t be working at all. Basically, to her, this meant that she would have to continue working two, if not three jobs, to support his dreams. She knew what it was like to work your way through college, as she had done it herself, but Steve, she knew, had no intention of working while he was in school. Jessica tried to remain upbeat as she continued on with the discussion of the situation. “So where do you want to go?” she asked.

Steve went into describing several different schools that he had researched on the Internet. They were anywhere from South Florida all the way up to the New England area. As much as Jess would have loved to be back near her family in New England there was no possible way that she was going to be able to leave the Orlando area with the demo recording and now with all the upcoming things with FreeLance. Steve began discussing the fact that due to him being in the military that he would have some of his school paid for which was definitely a blessing to Jess.

“Well, if that is what you want to do then you know I support you 100%” she said although her heart was breaking. She knew that she was going to have to tell him about the recording deal but she wasn’t quite sure how he was going to take it. She certainly didn’t want him to fly off the handle while they were at dinner so she decided that she would wait until later that night to say anything.

“Thank you so much sweetie,” he said to her with a smile and lifted her hand to his lips to kiss it. “So what is your news?” he asked as he released her hand and went to take a bite of his salad.

“Um, nothing really,” she lied to him as she went to take a sip of her wine, “Its just that the demo is almost done that Taylor, Chelsea and I are making.” She said with a smile. She clearly wasn’t lying to him, she just wasn’t telling him the whole truth.

“That’s awesome Jess,” he said with a smile, “Someday I’m going to be able to say that I’m married to some famous singer huh?” he said with a grin.

“You bet,” she said as she took a large sip of wine. Her cells phone ringing suddenly shook jess and she looked down at it to find Chelsea’s cell phone number pop up on the caller ID. “I’ll be right back sweetie, its Chelsea and I know she has a date tonight, girl talk you know.” She said as she smiled at him and kissed his cheek as she headed towards the bathroom.

“Hey baby,” Jess heard Chelsea’s cheerful voice on the phone.

“Hey girl,” Jess said sounding less than enthused at the moment. “What’s going on?”

“Not much, I’m getting ready to go out with Lance,” she said as Jess could hear the smile in her voice miles away. Jess couldn’t have been happier for her friend. Lance had always been a far off dream to Chelsea and the whole idea that they were going out on a real date was beyond her imagination. “I just wanted to see how you were doing,” Chelsea said to her friend.

“I’m fine, we’re out to dinner right now so I can’t talk long,” Jess replied sounding kind of down.

“Jess, is everything okay sweetie?” she asked.

“Yeah, everything is just fine. Steve met me at the door with roses and an offer to take me out to dinner because he had good news to share and we’re at our favorite place downtown.”

“He had good news to share? Did he get a job? Is he getting off his ass and doing something with his life? No wait, he’s decided to stop being so damn possessive of you and let you live your life. That must be it,” Chelsea said with a smile, not at all kidding in what she was saying. She hated Steve with a passion as did Taylor and Ryanne but there were times that Chelsea was just a bit more outspoken about it. She had her share of bad relationships herself and she just didn’t want to see Jess getting hurt, which was clearly what was happening in this case.

“Well, I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow, but basically he’s decided to go back to school to become a cop,” Jess said leaving out the fact that he wasn’t sure where he wanted to go to school, nor how he was going to pay for school. She most importantly didn’t tell her friend that she was pretty sure he was going to loose it when she said anything about Lance Bass and FreeLance Entertainment.

“He’s gonna become a what?” Chelsea asked sounding shocked, “You are kidding me right? Taylor is gonna get a kick out of that one! So did you tell him about our deal yet?” she asked pressing the subject that Jess was trying to avoid.

“Um, not yet, I’m going to wait for the right time to do that. Listen Chels, I’ve really got to go, he’s gonna get antsy soon and I wanna check my voicemails while I’m in the bathroom. Have a great time with Lance tonight and I want LOTS of details tomorrow!!!” she said as Chelsea laughed at her.

“You bet baby, I’ll talk to you tomorrow and please be careful,” she said.

“Love ya sweetie,” Jess said.

“Love ya too,” Chelsea said as she hung up her phone. Jessica leaned against the wall and flipped her phone closed then back open again so that she could check her voice mail. “You have 3 new messages,” the voice said. As she pressed the buttons on her phone she listened to her messages. The first two were from Ryanne wondering where she was earlier in the day so she quickly erased the messages; she already knew what she had to say. It was the third message that threw her off a bit. Jess listened to the message once then pressed the button to replay the message, as she couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing.

“Hey there Shorty, its me, um, Chris,” he said on the message, “I just got off the phone with Justin. I wanted to make sure that you were okay. Please give me a call later, I’m worried about you baby. My cell number is 321-555-6585. Love you. Bye.” He said. Jessica listened to the message 2 more times before realizing that he really did say what she had heard on the phone. She closed her eyes and thought about what he just said. ‘What a sweet guy’ she thought to herself, ‘he’s going to make some girl really happy one day’ she thought. Jess closed her cell phone, took in a deep breath, and headed back out to the table. As she approached Steve she smiled and he stood up and took her hand in his. She sat down and looked at him and saw the eyes of her future sitting before her.

Chapter 8

“So we get to spend all week next week in the studio huh?” Chelsea asked as she brought drinks into the living room of the apartment for Lance, Taylor, Justin, Ryanne, JC and Joey who all had gathered at the girls’ apartment. It had been over a month since the girls had signed their deal with FreeLance and the goal was to get them into the studios as quickly as possible. Lance didn’t want to waste any time in getting the girls recordings out there to try and get them signed with a major label. He had already brought the girls first demo to Johnny Wright and he was passing it along to Clive Davis. If the girls could get on with Jive Records and with some really good promo work done then they could really make it. Jess had finally told Steve about the recording deal and he was actually excited about the whole situation and that made all four of the girls happier than they could imagine for if he had been really evil about it then they would have had some major problems.

“Yup, you girls have the week off from Universal so you can spend all week just recording with no other worries,” Ryanne replied as she sat on the couch with JC on the other end. The two had spent a lot of time talking about some ideas that they both had for the girls recordings and she was excited to be getting some great ideas from someone as seasoned as JC was.

“And we just get to hang out all weekend with nothing to do?” Taylor asked as Justin reached for her hand. The two had been dating for the past month and were very happy together

“Well, not really nothing to do, we have plans for tomorrow morning but after that we have nothing to do,” Chelsea said as she sat down next to Lance. He put his arm around her shoulder after grabbing for a beer off the tray of drinks that she had brought into the living room.

“Damn,” Justin said, “I wanted to take this woman away for the weekend. We have the weekend off too. Nothing to do but lie around and do nothing at all.” He said.

“So what’s so important that you girls have to do tomorrow?” Joey asked from across the room as Taylor and Ryanne exchanged looks as if to say that they didn’t know what was planned for the next day.

“You dorks,” Chelsea began, “we have fittings tomorrow. We promised Jess that we would go and start the wedding dress search with her remember?”

“You mean she is still going through with this wedding?” Justin asked as he took a sip of his beer.

“Yup, she’s bound and determined to marry the ass hole,” Ryanne said as she turned to JC who was looking at her, “Sorry babe, but he is an ass.” She explained.

“I don’t doubt that,” JC replied, “but shouldn’t you girls be the supportive ones?” he asked as he looked directly at the three girls.

“We’re being as supportive as we can be,” Taylor explained, “We don’t have to like the jerk we just have to be there for Jess.”

“Anyway, it sounds like things might just be improving just a touch in her little world,” Chelsea said as she looked at Lance. Things in her own world had drastically improved in the past month. Lance had been the perfect boyfriend for her and she couldn’t have been happier. She even was telling her parents about him, which was a huge step for her. Usually she kept things under wraps until things had really gotten to the level that her parents ‘needed’ to know about the relationship. They tended to be very protective of their baby girl, no matter how far away from home she might be.

“What do you mean?” Joey asked as he looked at Lance questioning. Lance hadn’t mentioned anything at all to Joey about things heating up again between Jessica and Steve. After Jess broke her arm and Joey went with her to the doctor and she admitted everything to him that had been going on in her life Joey became very protective of her. Joey would call her every day to see just how she was doing but she rarely mentioned Steve at all. Jess knew that Joey wasn’t thrilled with him in the least bit and she didn’t want him to worry nor did she need to hear from yet another person that she should dump Steve for his actions. She was still having conflicting thoughts about what she should do but at this point was following her heart.

Lance knew of Joey’s feelings for Jessica however he also knew that Kelly was still in Joey’s life. Things between Kelly and Joey had simmered down a bit but they were still, for all intents and purposes, together. Lance also knew of how Chris felt about Jessica, and Chris on the other hand was single. Lance had talked to Joey about Chris’ feelings but he didn’t say anything at all to Chris about how Joey felt. Lance just felt like he was in the middle of things and didn’t want to make anything worse by either saying, or in some cases, not saying, what he knew was actually going on.

“Well, after the whole incident with her arm and such, Steve has really seemed to have changed his tune towards her,” Chelsea explained.

“Yeah, he gets like this, when he hurts her, either emotionally or physically, he starts doing all kinds of sweet things for her,” Taylor continued.

“She could open a flower shop with just the flowers that he’s sent her to work,” Chelsea concluded.

“I see,” Joey said as he sat back in his chair and took a long sip of his beer.

“Well, then, what are we going to do tonight seeing as you girls obviously have plans for tomorrow?” Justin turned to Taylor and asked.

“Hang on a sec,” Chelsea said as she heard the phone ring from the other end of the apartment, “Don’t make any plans without me!” she hollered at her friends. Chelsea ran to the other end of the apartment to answer the phone before the answering machine picked up.

“Hi, you’ve reached….” The machine began as she dove for the phone.

“HANG ON A SEC!” she said as she tried to turn off the machine, “I’m here, Hi!” she said as she was out of breath.

“Hey girl!” Jessica said on the other end of the phone.

“Hey baby, what’s up?” Chelsea asked as she heard the familiar voice of her friend.

“Not much, just relaxing a bit. Steve had to go take care of some school stuff for the next couple days and decided to leave early so I’m just hanging here by myself. What are you girls up to?” she asked as she began to hear voices in the background.

“Nothing really, Lance, Justin, JC and Joey are over and we’re just having a few drinks and trying to decide what to do tonight. Why don’t you come over here?” she asked.

“I don’t have the car. Steve’s died so he took mine so I’m kinda stuck.” She explained. “You all could come over here if you want. We can cook out and watch a movie or something.”

“Sounds good to me, let me run it by the guys and see what they want to do.”

“Um, what about Chris?” Jessica asked tentatively. She had managed to only speak on the phone with Chris a few times after the incident with her arm. She wasn’t quite sure if Chris knew what happened but she hadn’t mentioned anything at all to him. She didn’t want him worried about her.

“What about him? Do you want to call and invite him over too?”

“Well, I’d hate to leave him out. I mean, I know the guys all hang out together a lot and stuff and I’d feel awful about leaving him out. But he hasn’t really seen me since the whole thing with my arm and stuff.”

“Well, from what I understand from when I talked to him the other day, he really wants to see you. Maybe you should stop hiding from him and let him come over huh?” Chelsea asked pressing her friend. Although Chelsea knew that Jessica was happy, or at least pretending to be happy, with Steve, she also knew that deep down she had feelings for Chris as well that she was just denying herself.

“I’m not hiding from anything Chelsea Marie,” Jessica scolded her friend, “I just…” she sighed, “I just don’t know what to think you know?” she asked.

“I know exactly what you’re saying sweetie. If you want Chris to come than great, but for the record, I know he’d feel left out if you didn’t invite him over.” Chelsea said very honestly to her friend.

“Fine, lets have him over too. This should be interesting. At least I know that Steve is out of town and that he won’t be back for a few days.” Jessica sighed. The very last thing that she needed was Steve showing up at the house while all of her friends were over along with the five members of NSYNC, and most of all Chris. Steve and Jessica had experienced several screaming matches about Chris when he called the house worried about Jessica. At least that time, Jessica didn’t get hurt, although Steve made it very clear that he was not at all pleased that other men were calling her.

“Cool, so what time should we get there and what do you want me to bring?” Chelsea asked suddenly very excited that she was going to get to spend the evening, not only with her three best friends, but with her boyfriend and his best friends as well.

“You guys can come over whenever you want. The pool is open so if you want to bring swim suits that’s cool and as far as food, we can go to the store when you get here.” Jessica explained to her friend.

“Oh that ought to be an interesting experience,” Chelsea said as the two girls began to laugh at the simple thought of the nine of them making their way through a grocery store with a bunch of teenagers following close behind. As the two were making jokes Jessica was interrupted by the call waiting on her phone.

“Hang on a sec,” she said to Chelsea as she went to see who was on the other line, “Hello, this is Jessica,” she said.

“Hey baby,” Steve said into the phone.

“Hey sweetie, hang on a sec okay, I’ve got Chelsea on the other line.” She said as she hit the button on the phone to go back and talk to Chelsea, “Hey girl, I gotta go, that’s Steve but give Chris a call and let him know to come on over whenever and I’ll see you all when you get here okay?”

“Sounds good to me,” Chelsea said, “I’ll talk to you later, love ya baby!”

“Love ya too! Bye!” Jessica said as she hung up with her friend and went back to talking with her fiancé. “Hey sweetie, how’s it going, are you there yet?” she asked.

“I’ll be at FSU in just a bit, how are you?” he asked. “Who were you talking to?”

“Oh, it was just Chelsea, she’s coming over tonight with the girls and we’re going to cook out and watch a movie or something I think.” Jessica explained.

“Sounds good, are their boyfriends coming over too?” he asked getting very overprotective of her suddenly.

“I’m not really sure,” she lied, the last thing Jessica wanted was Steve getting jealous. “I know they are pretty busy, but I know the girls are coming and we’re going to make plans for tomorrow and wedding shopping,” Jessica said as she got a smile on her face. She knew that this would make Steve happy because anything she did in regards to planning the wedding made him that way. It was almost as if he knew that after they said ‘I Do’ that she would be his for the rest of his life and he could therefore do whatever he wanted.

“Awesome,” he said, “well, I’m driving so I should go, I just wanted to call and say I love you,” he said.

“Aw, I love you too bunny. I’ll talk to you soon okay?”

“Kay, bye!”

“Bye!” she said as she hung up the phone. Jessica put the phone back on the receiver and sighed as she thought about her wedding and all that was going on in her life. She sat there for a few minutes while looking around at the apartment and realized she needed to get things ready. It certainly was going to be an interesting evening, she thought to herself. Jessica couldn’t get thoughts of Chris or Joey out of her mind for the past month since she saw the guys again. They invaded her every thought and dream that she had. However, she also knew that if Steve knew anything of this at all, that it wouldn’t be a good thing at all. After he broke her arm she wasn’t sure how far he would go if he knew that she was having thoughts of other men. That was why she was avoiding Chris at all costs, for she knew what he was capable of. She said a silent prayer that Steve wouldn’t call with the guys there as she finished getting things ready for her friends. It was certainly bound to be an interesting evening.

Chapter 9

“I’ll be right there,” Jess yelled from the bathroom where she was finishing cleaning the sink, ‘good enough’ she thought to herself as she took a quick glance in the mirror. She hadn’t had a chance to fix herself up for her friends coming over to visit but she figured that she looked just fine. It was however, only her friends and she didn’t have anyone to impress.

“I said, I’ll be right there!” she shouted as she heard the doorbell ring again. Jess walked up to the door and found Chris standing in the doorway with a huge smile on his face. He was standing with his arms full, a 12 pack of Bud in one hand and a bag with a bottle of tequila and one of Malibu in the other. “Hey you! Come on in,” she said as she saw his smiling face outside the screen door. It was the first that she had seen him since the night that he brought her home from the bar over a month ago. Her arm had healed very well and Jess just had a half cast on her arm at this point. The larger cast had been taken off as soon as her arm healed almost completely so now she had a much more workable cast on her arm.

“Hey sweetie! What’s up?” he said as she held the door open for him.

“Not much really, its good to see you,” she said as he put the bag and the beer down on the table in the dining area. The wall was covered in mirrors and he could see the reflection of her standing behind him. Jess couldn’t see in the mirror with the angle that she was standing but Chris was carefully studying her through the mirror. He saw the cast on her arm and wondered when she intended on telling him what happened. Lance had mentioned what happened to her and Justin went into more detail when Chris threatened to beat him down if he didn’t, so Chris already knew what happened. He just wanted to hear it from her and he wanted more details. It was all that Justin and Lance could do to keep Chris from coming over to Jess’ apartment and beating Steve to a bloody pulp but they managed to keep him away.

“It’s good to see you too,” he said as he went into the kitchen where she was standing and putting the beer into the refrigerator. “How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you in like a month.”

“I’m doing good, been busy with work and with the contract signing and all.”

“You girls must be so excited. I remember what it was like when we first signed our contract and did everything. You didn’t sign with Pearlman did you? Remember I warned you about him.”

“Haven’t we had this discussion before? Unless you’re worried about one of your best friends.” Jess joked, “Or Lance gained like 300 pounds, that would be an interesting sight.” She said as the two of them laughed hysterically. Chris grabbed himself a beer out of the refrigerator as Jess grabbed herself a diet Coke and the two headed outside to sit on the porch and wait for the rest of the group to arrive.

“Hey,” Chris began as he took a sip of his beer, “I wanted to apologize for something.”

“What’s that?” Jess asked as she looked at Chris inquisitively, she wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about and was curious as to why he would be apologizing for anything at all.

“Well, I kinda feel like the whole thing with your arm is all my fault.”

“Okay, explain to me why you would feel that way?”

“Well, if we weren’t out so late reminiscing then Steve wouldn’t’ have gotten all upset and….”

“Christopher,” Jess said as she leaned over and put her hand over his mouth, “Shut up!” Chris’ eyes opened wide as he looked at Jessica. “This was not your fault, not by any stretch of the means okay. Please stop blaming yourself for this okay?”

“Fine fine fine,” he said as he shook his head, “then explain this to me.” He began as Jess leaned back in her chair. She just sat there anticipating what was coming next and she wasn’t quite sure how she was going to answer his questions. “So then why did he do this to you?”

“Chris, I really don’t want to get into this right now. It was my fault, lets just leave it at that okay?” Jessica said, as she looked down at the ground unable to meet his eyes.

“Okay then, I just want you to know,” he said as he put one hand on her chin and lifted it so that their eyes met, “that if you ever need anything, and I do mean ANYTHING, that I am here okay?” he asked as he looked deep in her eyes.

“Okay,” she said simply as she looked into his eyes and tears threatened to fall. It wasn’t that she really thought she would ever need Chris for anything at all in her life but it was the whole idea that after all this time he was still there for her regardless of time or space. Chris looked at her carefully, testing how she was feeling and saw the tears in her eyes. He reached his arms around her and pulled her close to his body. As Jessica felt the warmth of his body next to hers she realized that this was what she was missing in the relationship she had with Steve. It wasn’t that Steve didn’t love her, because deep down she really felt that he did, but it was the passion and the romance that was missing, not to mention the general caring for her. Jess pulled herself out of the hug knowing that if she had stayed there in his arms she likely could have, and just might have, stayed there all night long.

“Enough of this sappiness,” she said as she held Chris at arms length away. They still had their hands intertwined as they continued to talk.

“Sounds good to me,” he said as he stood up and held her hand to help her up. “So I didn’t bring that tequila with me so that it could just collect dust, can I interest you in a shot?” he said as he smiled slyly at her.

“Hell yeah,” Jess said as she stood up and followed him into the kitchen, “Make yourself at home why don’t you,” she said as she found that he had begun to rummage through the cabinets looking for shot glasses. As he was looking in the cabinet that was home to their glasses he looked up and saw a pair of champagne flutes with Jess and Steve’s names on them. On the glasses was their wedding date that was less than a year away. Chris tried to push away all feelings he had of pulling Jess close and telling her not to marry him and tried to make himself think that she was indeed happy with him. ‘There just has to be something that’s keeping her here,’ he thought to himself as he reached for the shot glasses. ‘I just wish I knew what it was,’ he thought as he tried to shake all ideas of a possible relationship with Jess out of his head. He didn’t even realize that as he was lost in his thoughts that Jess was talking to him a mile a minute.

“Earth to Chris,” she said as she came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Huh?” he said as he turned around to face her with the glasses in his hand. “Sorry, must have spaced out there for a sec.”

“Whatever, anyway, what I was asking was if you wanted a chaser or you just wanted to do the lime thing?” she said with a smile as she held a can of beer in one hand and a lime in the other.

“Let’s live life on the edge we’ll just do the limes, as long as you can handle it that is.” He joked with her.

“Me? Tequila? You are kidding right? You’ve seen me drink before. I can drink you under the table when it comes to this shit,” she joked as she pulled a knife out and went to cut up the limes.

“I seem to remember a certain night where a young lady that I know was up dancing on tables was it?” he joked reminiscing with her.

“Okay, lets not bring that night up,” she giggled remembering fondly one of the first nights they all went out. Jess had gone out with Chris and the rest of the Hi-Tones and she had more than her share of tequila and Long Island Iced Teas that night. The evening ended with a very drunk Jessica dancing on a table and making quite a bit of money from Chris and his friends for the show that she was giving them. “But I seem to remember a certain gentleman who didn’t’ seem to mind when he jumped up on the table with me,” she said giving him a sly look. Chris remembered vividly that night. It was one of the first nights that he really began to like Jessica, even though he was dating another girl from the park. He just saw how she didn’t seem to care who she was with and was just an incredible person to hang around with.

“So what shall we drink to?” she asked as Chris poured them each a shot and handed her a glass.

“To old friends?”

“To old friends,” she said simply as they each downed the shot.

“NO FAIR!!!” Chelsea yelled from the doorway. Chris and Jessica turned around to see Chelsea, Ryanne, Taylor, JC, Lance and Justin coming into the apartment.

“I soooooo know that the two of you haven’t started drinking without us!” Taylor said as she came up to the two with an arm full of groceries. Taylor put the bags down and went to give Jess a hug. “Hey sweetie,” she said and smiled at her as Justin came up behind her and put his hands on her waist.

“Hey Jess,” Justin said, “Thanks for having us all over.”

“No problem,” Jess replied, “make yourselves at home. Thanks for bringing food. Chris brought beer, it’s in the fridge and you girls know where everything is. Hey where’s Joey?”

“Oh, Kelly called while he was on the way over here,” JC replied.

“Yeah, he was saying she sounded really upset so he went right over there,” Lance continued.

“I hope everything is okay,” Jess said sounding concerned. “So what did you guys bring to eat?” she asked as she got plates down from the cabinet and started pulling the groceries that the girls brought out of the bags.

“We’re cooking out girl,” Ryanne said as she came to the kitchen to help get everything together.

“Sounds good to me. Why don’t you all head out to the porch and I’ll bring stuff out there.” Jess said as the group made their way out to the deck. As Jess watched everyone walk out her eyes fell once again on Chris as he walked out the door. She was still in shock as to the statements he had made earlier and really didn’t know what to think.

“What is going on in that brain of yours?” Ryanne asked as she came up behind Jessica.

“Um, nothing,” she lied to her friend.

“Whatever, I can tell something is wrong so what’s up with you? Is it Steve again?” she asked as Chelsea came into the kitchen to see what was going on.

“Oh please don’t tell me he did something else,” Chelsea said as she overheard the conversation.

“Believe it or not it has nothing at all to do with him, well, I guess it kind of has something to do with him but in a round about sort of way.” Jess said as she turned her attention to getting out food for her friends.

“Okay, so what the heck does that mean?” Ryanne pressed.

“It means that it kind of has something to do with Chris, I mean, Steve,” Jess stammered as she felt her face turn bright red.

“Whatever! Like it has something to do with Steve, we all know you better than that Jess,” Taylor said as she came into the kitchen to see what was taking the girls so long.

“Okay fine, Chris and I had a little chat before you all arrived tonight.”

“About?” Chelsea pressed.

“Nothing really, he feels bad about the whole thing with my arm and felt it was his fault,” Jess explained as she turned her attention away from the food she was preparing and paid more attention to her friends.

“And?” Taylor asked.

“And nothing Taylor, there’s nothing going on between Chris and I. I’m in love with Steve, end of story. I told Chris it wasn’t his fault that Steve hurt me but then he said something that really was rather interesting,” Jess said as she paused before going on and explaining the rest of the conversation. The girls all sat down at the table so that Jess could explain the rest of the events of the discussion that Jess had experienced with Chris. They all exchanged knowing looks because each of them knew exactly how Chris felt about Jessica. They really wanted to see their friend happy and they wanted her with Chris more than anything. Chris had always been a fantasy to Jessica which seemed to be coming true, if they could only convince her that Chris was the right one for her and to get her mind off of Steve.

Meanwhile, the guys were outside having quite a similar discussion with Chris about Jessica. They all knew how Chris felt about Jess for he had told them numerous times how he felt. They also wanted to see their friend happy after everything he had been through. It was going to be hard for Chris to give his heart out to another person after breaking up with Dani, but they all felt that Jess might just be that person that he could give his heart to fully and she would receive it with an open heart and mind.  

“So what did you say to her?” Justin asked as he took a sip of his beer.

“Basically the same thing I’ve been telling you guys all along, well, maybe not everything I’ve been telling you guys. I mean, I didn’t tell her my feelings for her flat out, just kind of in a round about sort of way.” Chris explained as he tried to dodge the subject.

“What do you mean ‘a round about sort of way’?” JC asked.

“Yeah, did you tell her or not?” Lance asked.

“Guys, in case you forgot, she’s engaged, and it seems happily, although, I know there is something going on there. I just wish she would tell me what it was. Basically I told her that I felt the whole thing with her arm was my fault and then after she argued that it wasn’t I told her that I’m always here for her no matter what and blah blah blah,” Chris explained as he went through the scene again in his head.

“So did you kiss her or what?” Justin asked.

“Oh yeah, that would be a great idea,” Lance joked, “Like the girl isn’t confused enough, how bout we have Chris go up and lay one on her.” The guys all sat back and laughed at Lance’s comment, all except Chris who, although he was trying to smile, knew in his heart that kissing her was exactly what he wanted to do. He settled for a hug for now but knew that he wanted nothing more than to feel her lips pressed to his.

“I hugged her, that’s it.” Chris said as he explained the rest of the situation with Jess leading up to the time where they all entered the apartment and found them doing shots together. “We’ll have to wait and see what happens. For now we’re friends and we’ll go from there. Anyway, can we discuss another topic,” Chris asked, wanting to get the attention off of him and onto something else. “What’s going on with Joe? Why didn’t he come over again?” Lance explained how on the way to Jessica’s house that Joey had gotten a phone call from Kelly sounding really upset. Joe wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, all he knew was that Kelly needed him immediately.

“I sure hope everything is okay with them,” JC explained, “I really wouldn’t want to see anything happen to them. I just wish he would make up his mind about her.”

“Speaking of making up our minds about women,” Justin began as he looked directly at JC.

“What are you talking about Ju?” JC asked looking around at the other guys as if he had no idea at all what they were talking about.

“You are kidding right C? He’s talking about you dumb ass,” Chris joked.

“Me and who?” he asked looking around like he had no clue. In all reality, JC knew exactly what the guys were talking about. They all wanted to know what was going on between him and Ryanne. JC really didn’t know what to tell them. He had been spending a lot of time with Ryanne and getting to know her but it wasn’t as if either of them really seemed ready to start anything. They just enjoyed talking together and learning from each other. JC could tell that she had some real talent and he was looking forward to working with her on the girls CD. As he was explaining this to his friends he saw through the corner of his eye the girls heading out towards the sliding glass door that led to the porch and quickly silenced the guys so that the girls didn’t hear what they were talking about.

The girls all came outside together laughing and giggling together and the guys immediately knew that something was up. “Alright,” Justin asked, “what the hell is so funny?” he said as he pulled Taylor down onto his lap.

“Oh nothing,” Chelsea grinned.

“Yeah, okay, I believe that,” Lance said as he tickled her sides, “give, what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Chelsea laughed trying to keep from telling him what the girls were discussing inside.

“Don’t give in Chels! Don’t give in!” the girls all said together as they started laughing at Lance and Chelsea.

“FINE FINE!!!!” She said as she gave into the tickling, she couldn’t take much more of it. “I’ll tell you,” she said as he stopped tickling her.

“SUCKER!” JC yelled.

“So give girl, what the heck are you four all so giddy about.” Chris asked.

“We were just discussing a game that we used to play and how it would be interesting playing it with you guys.” Chelsea explained.

“A game?” Justin asked as he looked at Taylor who had turned herself so that she was sitting sideways on his lap and he could see his friends as they were all talking.

“Yeah, its kind of a drinking game,” Taylor began.

“See, we watch a certain video and every time, um, something happens we have to do a shot or take a drink,” Ryanne continued.

“WOO HOO!!! That sounds like fun!” Chris exclaimed all ready to play the game. “So what is it that you watch and what makes you have to drink?” he asked curious as to how this game was played.

“Yeah, see, that’s the interesting part and why we were laughing,” Jess began.

“See, we watch a certain boy bands concert that was on HBO,” Chelsea continued.

“And everytime one of them grabs themselves, we drink,” Taylor said as she began to blush.

“Yeah, and one particular song we could get drunk just from one certain person,” Ryanne said from across the room as she tried not to look directly at JC.

“Please don’t say its us,” JC said.

“Do you know any other groups that have done specials on HBO recently?” Jess asked as she stood at the grill getting the food ready.

“We are so not that bad,” Chris said as he stood up to come over and help her with the cooking.

“I never said that it was one specific person but it’s um, interesting to watch,” she said with a slight smile on her face. The girls had played the drinking game many times before meeting the guys and had gotten pretty messed up playing it.

“So you gonna play with us?” Chelsea asked as she snuggled on Lance’s lap with him.

“You are kidding right?” Lance asked as he smiled at Chelsea.

“Aw come on Lance, it will be fun,” Taylor whined.

“Fine, if you guys want we’ll play it after dinner,” he said as he gave in and Chelsea kissed his cheek.

The friends all sat around outside talking about different experiences. The girls had many questions for the guys about recording and what life was like on the road. They were all so excited about the upcoming week and doing the recording that they couldn’t even express it in words. For Jessica, it was the chance of a lifetime and really a dream that she had been wanting for so long. This was something that she had been wanting since she was a little girl. For Chelsea and Taylor they had to pinch themselves every morning with the life that they were living. Between dating members of NSYNC and working on a recording this was more than they could ever have hoped for. When the two girls had started singing with Jess the year prior they never thought they’d be living the life that they were leading.

“So are you guys really going to play this drinking game with us?” Ryanne asked as they all finished their dinner and were carrying plates and food inside where they were relocating for the evening due to the fact that it was getting a chilly outside and the bugs were starting to attack.

“Can’t we play the game with some other movie or something?” Justin complained.

“But then it wouldn’t be quite as fun to watch the expressions on y’all faces,” Chelsea said as she came up to Justin and gave him a joking peck on the cheek.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to see JC’s _expression during Bye Bye Bye,” Jess said as she turned to Taylor and started laughing. They both knew how messed up they had gotten last time when they went shot for shot playing the game. The friends got everything cleaned up and then settled themselves with the bottle of tequila that Chris had brought as well as drinks for the girls and beers for the guys in the living room and sat down to watch the DVD.

“Dear God Justin!” Chris said as they were in the middle of watching the DVD and Justin was on the television doing his Beatbox before It’s Gonna Be Me.

“Yeah, can you freaking keep your hands away from your junk or what?” Lance said as he took another drink. The girls all sat back and laughed as they were all well on their way to being drunk by that point.

“Its okay baby, I still love you,” Taylor said as she took another drink and cuddled close to Justin. He just sat there with his mouth on the floor as he watched himself on the television screen.

“How could they show this crap!” he exclaimed, “I mean come on, you’d think they could focus on my face or something.”

“Oh please,” Chris said, “You’re kidding right, this is the PG show, I’d hate to see what the rated R show would be like.” The girls all exchanged looks and started laughing as they would all like to see what the rated R show would be like as well. The friends all continued to watch the DVD and the guys every once in a while would get up and start dancing around.

“Come on!” the girls whined collectively, “You guys have to do Space Cowboy for us!”

“Please,” Jess said as she looked up into Chris’ eyes. The two had been moving close and closer to each other throughout the night however, Chris continued to try and keep his distance. He didn’t know if he could be responsible for his actions if they were both drunk and she was coming on to him. He still had his deep down feelings for her and was completely at a loss for how he felt about her.

“How can I say no to those eyes,” he said as he smiled at her and gave her a kiss on her nose. “Come on you dorks, lets do it,” he said to his friends as the four guys all stumbled up and attempted to dance as drunk as they all were. Just to joke with the girls they would continuously grab themselves just so that the girls would have to keep drinking.

“NO FAIR!” Chelsea said as the guys finished.

“Oh that was so worth it,” the guys all joked with each other as they gave each other high fives and each did a shot to celebrate their feeling of victory over the girls.

“Are we done with this game now?” JC asked, “I don’t know if I can take much more of this game or I’m never going to get home tonight.”

“Yeah, you girls have all proved your point,” Lance continued.

“From here on out, we keep our hands away from our junk during concerts,” Justin concluded.

“Oh, please don’t do that for our benefit. We’re going to need a new concert to watch right girls,” Ryanne joked.

“Exactly!” they all said in unison.

“But no more NSA tonight please?” the guys all asked.

“Okay fine,” Jess said as she attempted to stand up to turn off the television. As she stood up she fell back onto Chris who had stood up behind her. He knew that she was well past her limit and that standing was going to be interesting. Everyone in the room exchanged knowing looks as she fell into his arms. “Thanks,” she said as she turned to see Chris smiling at her.

“Kinda thought you might need some help there,” he joked. “So what now?” Chris asked.

“Well, I’m not so sure that any of us are in any condition to drive,” Lance began as he pulled Chelsea back up against his chest from the position she was sitting between his legs.

“You are all more than welcome to crash here,” Jess said, “I really don’t want to see any of you driving anyway.”

“What time is it anyway?” Taylor asked from her position on Justin’s lap where he was resting his head on top of hers.

“DAMN!” JC said, “Its 3:30 am!”

“Believe it baby,” Ryanne said as she looked up at him. Ryanne’s feelings for JC were much like the ones he was having for her. She really enjoyed spending time with him and learning from him. Of course she knew how beautiful he was for she had always felt that way, but she wasn’t quite sure how fast to move in the relationship. She knew that he had been hurt by Bobbie and that the guys were going to be real skeptical of anyone that he dated, but she really enjoyed every moment that she got to spend with him and was looking forward to working on the girls recording with him.

“Well, I’m ready to crash,” Jess said as she yawned. “You all can do what you want, there’s an extra bedroom and the couch pulls out as well.” She said as she went to get blankets and pillows for the friends. Lance and Chelsea said their goodnights to everyone as they headed towards the back bedroom and Taylor headed to the bathroom as Justin helped Jess to pull out the couch. Ryanne and JC grabbed the pillows that Jess had taken out and made themselves spaces to sleep on the floor. Chris helped Jess clean up all of the glasses and bottles that were strewn across the living room and brought them into the kitchen.

“So where do I get to sleep?” he asked as he came up behind Jess in the kitchen.

“You can sleep with me,” Jess said as she turned around to face him.

“Oh really,” he said slyly with a smile on his face.

“Yeah, I said sleep Chris, good try though,” she said with a smile as she stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the nose.

“Damn, and I thought I was gonna get lucky tonight,” he joked.

“Whatever Kirkpatrick,” Jess said as she turned around to put the rest of the glasses in the sink. Chris put the rest of the things on the counter and went into the living room where he found Taylor and Justin wrapped up in each others arms, succumbed to the alcohol they had been enjoying all night long and completely passed out. On the floor he saw JC and Ryanne sleeping soundly and he headed towards the bathroom before heading to bed. He knew that Chelsea and Lance were both either passed out or really enjoying each other’s company in the back bedroom as he passed by the room. He went into the bathroom and washed his face and looked up into the mirror. ‘Be strong Chris,’ he said to himself, ‘just keep remembering, she’s engaged and happy, you don’t want to come between that.’ He splashed some more cold water on his face and dried it on a towel that was hanging behind the door. As he held the towel up to his face he took in Jessica’s scent and knew that it was going to be a difficult night trying to control his feelings for her. He took one last deep breath and headed towards Jessica’s bedroom. He saw all the lights in the apartment off and couldn’t hear a sound as he entered her room. The lights in the bedroom were off as he slipped out of his jeans and shirt and found Jessica sleeping soundly in the bed. He climbed under the covers and turned over so as not to face her. Jess came up from behind him and snuggled herself into his back. Chris turned over and held her close and kissed her on the head as she fell asleep in his arms.

Chapter 10

“Good morning,” Chelsea whispered as Chris came in the kitchen. The rest of the group was all still sound asleep and Chelsea had gotten up to make some coffee for the group as they were all going to need it after the night they had just experienced. “How did you sleep?” she asked as she smiled at Chris.

“Hmmm,” he grunted at her and reached behind her to grab a mug out of the cabinet.

“That didn’t sound very good at all. Did you even sleep last night Chris?” she asked as she went to the cabinet to pull out the sugar and mugs for the rest of the group.

“A little I guess, my mind is just not here right now,” he admitted.

“Wanna talk about it?” Chelsea asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

“Yeah, do you mind?” he asked.

“Not at all, come on, let’s go outside so we don’t wake up anyone.” She said as the two tiptoed through the living room to the porch outside to enjoy a cup of coffee. As they walked through the living room they found Justin and Taylor still wrapped in each others arms and Ryanne seemed to have found the crook of JC’s arm as she was snuggled close to him and he held her close. Chelsea and Chris exchanged knowing looks as they passed the two and knew that there was definitely more going on there than either JC or Ryanne was willing to admit.

Chris and Chelsea quietly opened the sliding doors to the porch and headed out as Chris held the blinds aside so Chelsea could walk out. He silently closed the door behind them and saw Chelsea sit down onto one of the deck chairs that was out on the porch where the night previous they had all sat around joking and having a great time. They both sat back and breathed in the warm Florida air. It was fall in Florida and definitely a beautiful time of the year. The weather wasn’t too humid any longer and a beautiful breeze filled the air. Chris sat back with his eyes closed thinking back on the night that they had all just experienced. He had spent most of the night wide-awake watching Jessica sleep in his arms. She seemed to sleep so soundly and peacefully and he just wondered if she did the same in Steve’s arms. True, it could have been the alcohol that was making her show her feelings more towards him, but he wanted to believe it was so much more.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Chelsea asked as she saw Chris sitting back with his eyes shut.

“I really don’t think they are even worth that much Chels,” Chris said as he took a sip of his coffee.

“Well, I’m here to listen if you want me to,” she said.

“Can you just explain one thing to me?” he began, “explain to me why she’s still with him.”

“Why who’s still with who?” Chelsea asked, knowing exactly what he was talking about. She was trying to be as elusive as she possibly could be. Chelsea and Jessica had experienced several very long conversations about why she was still with Steve and what she saw in him.

“Please Chelsea, don’t play dumb with me, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Do I really need to spell it out for you?” he asked. Chelsea sat back and took a long sip of coffee. She knew that Chris was about to go on a rant and she sat back and waited for all he had to say. “What does Jess see in Steve and why is she still with him? I mean seriously, he breaks her arm, what else could he possibly do? What the hell does she see in a guy like that? She deserves so much more and such a better person than him.” Chris said with tears welling up in his eyes. He truly cared for Jess and he only really wanted to see her as happy as she possibly could be. He really didn’t care if it was with him, as long as she was happy and being treated in the way that she should be treated and not as some kind of a punching bag.

“Chris, be honest with me okay,” she said, “does she deserve someone better or does she deserve you?” Chelsea asked honestly. Lance had told Jess of both Chris and Joey’s feelings for Jessica’s but she begged Lance not to say anything at all to Jessica. Jess had been through so much in her life that she really didn’t need to be more confused to fine that the guys both had feelings for her. Jess had admitted that in the past she had experienced feelings for the guys but now she was with Steve and she was trying to make the best of a bad situation.

“Honestly?” Chris asked as Chelsea nodded her head. “If you want to know my honest opinion I couldn’t care less who she ended up with. Do I want her to be with me? Hell yeah I do. I have cared about her for a long time and being back together with her just makes me realize what I should have seen a very long time ago. True, it could be a rebound kind of a thing but in all honesty I want to see her happy. I know that it would make me the happiest person on earth if she was with me but I also know that the possibility of that happening isn’t great at all. I guess I just want to know why she’s with him.” Chris admitted. Chelsea took in everything that Chris said and thought to herself whether or not she should share this information with Chris. Chelsea and Jessica had talked a long time about why she was with Steve the week prior and Jess made her promise not to say anything to anyone at all. Chelsea debated in her head whether or not to say something to Chris and decided, ultimately, that this was the best thing to do. If she told Chris then maybe he’d understand a little better where Jess was coming from and maybe then he could figure out in his own way how to win Jessica’s love. In the end, it wasn’t going to hurt anyone at all if Chris knew, as long as he didn’t say anything.

“Chris,” Chelsea began, “If I tell you something do you swear not to say anything to another living soul?” Chelsea asked. Chris looked at her intently and nodded his head.

“Chels, if you share the information I’m looking for with me then I promise I will never say anything to another living soul. But one thing, do you think Jess is going to be mad with you if you tell me?” Chelsea sat back and thought as Chris studied her _expression.

“Well, let’s put it this way, if I don’t tell you I don’t know who will. Only Taylor and I really know the truth about everything and if one of us doesn’t tell you then you are bound to never find out. I know for a fact that Jess has no intention of explaining the complete truth to anyone else.” As Chelsea talked, Chris watched her intently. He was filled with mixed emotions of the information that Chelsea was giving him.

“Okay, well, go for it. I’m listening and I promise not to say anything to anyone.” Chris said as he sat back and Chelsea took a sip of her coffee. This was going to be a long conversation and she wanted to be fully prepared for what she was about to tell Chris.

“Well, you may as well relax cause this might take a bit.” She said as Chris took a sip of his coffee and gave Chelsea his undivided attention. “I guess it really goes back quite a bit as to the reasons why she’s with him. I don’t know how much you know of her life before she moved down here to Florida but it was pretty rough. Has she ever talked about her childhood or anything with you?” she asked as Chris shook his head. She had never mentioned anything to him at all about her childhood and he was shocked to find that it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. The way that Jess carried herself one would have thought that she was a wonderful person from a happy home.

“Okay, well then, I guess we start there,” she continued, “Jess’ childhood wasn’t really the best. One of the reasons she never has pictures around of her when she was younger is because she’s pretty ashamed of it. She was a rather overweight little girl and she was never very proud of herself. Mostly because she was abused by her father.” Chris was shocked to hear this information. He was bringing his coffee cup up to his mouth and stopped it just as it was about to reach his lips as he listened to what Chelsea had to say.

“Abused in what way?” he asked not certain that he really wanted to hear this answer.

“Pretty much in everyway possible. She was physically, mentally and in some ways sexually abused by him. See she developed real early because of her weight and her father, well, let’s put it this way, he was a real ass. That’s pretty much why she never talks about him at all. Jess never said anything to anyone about the abuse. Her dad was abusing her mom at the same time and he made Jess promise never to say anything or he would hurt her more. When she would cry about it someone would hand her food and it just made her put on more weight. Jess’ mom tried to divorce her dad when Jess was in junior high but he threatened to hurt her if she did. Jess’ dad pretended that all was sunshine and roses and would buy her mom lots of wonderful gifts and they even went and bought a new house to live in. So, they stayed together until she was in high school. Jess’s mother finally decided that she couldn’t take it anymore and divorced him. It was pretty much the happiest day of Jess’ life. That’s why she left the northeast as soon as she could. So that she could escape that part of her life. Unfortunately for Jess though, he was still a part of her life and although she didn’t have to live with him any longer he was still there. She had to pretend to love him when her sisters were around and make it look like she was happy.” Chelsea took a sip of her coffee to catch her breath. She looked at Chris who was absolutely in shock. He pretty much had the same _expression on his face that she had on hers when she was given this same information by Jess a few months prior.

“Anyway,” she went on, “because of her weight Jess really never had any serious boyfriends in high school and when she started going with Steve she saw the first man to ever really care for her. After so many years of watching her mother in such a horribly dysfunctional relationship Jess pretty much doesn’t know what a real relationship is. She only knows what she saw when she was younger and all she wants is someone who will care for her. Seeing, as Steve is the first to show any real interest in her, that’s what she sees as the only way out and the only way to live. She wants to be married and have kids and he wants the same things. Personally, I think that it has a lot to due with the fact that Jess loves to take care of people. Steve didn’t have the easiest childhood either and I for one, think the main reason that she stays with him is to take care of him. He didn’t really grow up with a mother because his left when he was quite young, so he just wants that mother figure in his life and Jess plays that role quite well. Jess knows that this isn’t the best relationship in her mind but she listens to her heart because that’s what she saw her mother doing.”

Chris was amazed with the information that was put before him. He sat back and took it all in before responding to Chelsea as she had finished what she had to say. “Do you think there is anyway that we can show her that what she is doing right now is not the best or healthiest thing for her?” he asked as he looked at Chelsea.

“I really don’t know Chris, I really just don’t know. I can tell you that I wish that she would listen to that head of hers more often and ignore her heart but its just not a part of her. She is listening to what she hears in her heart and maybe someday we’ll convince her to listen to that head of hers. But for now, all we can really do is be as supportive as possible. She knows that the girls and I can’t stand him but she’s still with him. She’s gotten to the point where she doesn’t even invite him to stuff that we will be at. He doesn’t really know much about the contract or anything because she’s kept it very quiet because she knows it will hurt him. And if it hurts him, then in the end it could end up hurting her, physically that is.”

“He wouldn’t think of touching her for something like that do you think?” Chris asked. He was real concerned for Jess’ well being at this moment and he was afraid of what Steve might do should he find out all about the girls contract and the very real possibility of them making it.

“I don’t know Chris, I really don’t know. I do know, however, that he doesn’t like other guys even coming near her at all. That’s part of the reason for the broken arm. I guess he saw you hugging her and giving her a kiss that night you dropped her off.”

“Are you kidding me?” he exclaimed, “All I did was give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, it was about as innocent as a family member would give her.” He was just astounded by the fact that he’d get upset over a hug and a kiss.

“Anyway Chris, that’s why she’s with him. She really doesn’t know any better. She doesn’t know what a ‘real’ relationship is and until she learns that or sees that there is the possibility of a ‘real’ relationship with someone else then she’s going to stay with him.” Chelsea concluded. She wasn’t quite sure how this information was going to affect Chris but she hoped that he’d possibly, find a way to crack through the exterior shell that Jess put up and that he’d be able to win her heart.

“Thank you so much for telling me Chelsea, I really appreciate it. At least now I know what I am contending with. I don’t know if I can change anything but at least now I know what I need to do.” He said as Chelsea leaned over in her chair to give him a hug because he certainly looked like he needed one.

“Just don’t say anything and don’t do anything too drastic. My only other suggestion is to never, under any circumstance, mention that she should break up with him. From personal experience, I’ve only ever seen her get closer to him when someone starts talking about that.” she said. It was a true fact as well. After the incident with her arm, all that Chelsea saw was Jessica getting closer and closer to Steve.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, “thanks again Chelsea.”

“No problem at all Chris,” she responded as she looked inside. She could hear noise coming from the living room and figured that the rest of the group would be getting up. “I think we should head on in,” she said as she saw Lance head towards the door. The two got up from their chairs as Chris pulled Chelsea into a bear hug.

Chelsea headed inside to get dressed as Chris sat back down in his chair on the porch to think for a few minutes. He was trying to let all the information that Chelsea had given him sink in but was having a hard time doing it. Chris had a hard childhood as well but nothing, it sounded like, in comparison to Jessica’s. At least now he knew what he was contending with. Chris sat back in his chair and closed his eyes thinking of how in the world he was going to break through the wall that Jessica had put up and hoped that she would see what a wonderful life he would give her. However, for now, it would just be dealing with the situation at hand and hoping that Steve, in some way, would screw up so bad that it would force her to listen to her head for a bit instead of the heart of hers, and then, maybe, just maybe, he could take her away from all the pain that she had.

Chapter 11

“Good Morning,” Justin said as he came out the slider with his jeans and wife beater on with a cup of coffee in his hand.

“Morning,” Chris replied from his chair with his head slunk back and his eyes shut.

“What’s the plan for today?” Justin asked as he pulled up a chair and took a sip of his coffee.

“Nothing really. You still got your plan with Lance for the girls?” Chris asked remembering that Justin and Lance had planned a short getaway for Taylor and Chelsea.

“Yeah, we all have to go over to Joe’s first though. He called my cell and said that he wanted to talk to all of us. Sounds kinda important.”

“All right,” Chris sighed.

“Are you alright dude? You don’t look so hot? Did you sleep okay?” Justin pressed his friend.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Chris replied, “what time are we going to Joe’s?” he asked.

“As soon as everyone’s ready. Then Lance, Chelsea, Taylor and I have to head on out,” Justin began to explain the details of the rest of the day that he and Lance had planned for the girls. The guys had been planning it for the past week and they wanted everything to go just perfect. It would be the first, and probably the last, time for a while that they’d be able to just escape for a few days. With the guys recording their CD and the girls working on theirs life was bound to get crazy and holidays around the theme parks was always wild as well so the girls were sure to be working their tails off until after the new year.

“Are you even listening at all to what I’m saying?” Justin asked as he noticed that Chris had kind of zoned out on him. Chris had his eyes shut again and was thinking back on the conversation that he had experienced with Chelsea earlier and he was just trying to work everything that he had learned out in his brain.

“Yeah, sorry, guess my mind is just elsewhere,” Chris said glancing inside the apartment.

“Thinking about Jess huh?” Justin asked his friend. Chris and Justin had talked at great lengths about both Taylor and Jessica and the possibilities of relationships with the girls. The one between Justin and Taylor certainly seemed to be going in the right direction but there really was no such luck with Chris and Jessica.

“I guess,” he shrugged as he stood up to stretch.

“Anything you wanna talk about?” Justin asked as he watched his friend.

“Not really, maybe later, I wanna work it all out in my brain first. Want more coffee?” Chris asked as he grabbed his empty cup and went to head inside.

“Nah, I’m fine. You know if you need anything I’m here right?” Justin asked.

“Yeah, thanks Ju, I really appreciate it.” Chris said as he opened the slider to head inside. He left his friend behind to think about the conversation they just had and went to say goodbye to Jess and the girls before going to Joey’s.

An hour later the guys were all gathered over at Joey’s place and were sitting around in his living room talking about the weekend that was before them as well as some last minute details on the CD they were working on. JC, Lance, Chris and Justin were all curious as to why Joey wanted them all to come over and were a bit worried about their friend. It wasn’t often that Joey would insist that they all came over together for something that sounded so serious so they were anxious to find out the news that he had to share with them.

“Alright, so what did you drag us all over here for anyway?” Justin began.

“Is everything okay man?” Lance asked.

“Actually,” Joey began as he saw Kelly walk into the room and sit next to him. He took her hand in his and looked at the guys with a smile on his face, “Everything is pretty much perfect.”

“What’s going on?” Chris asked from his chair. He hadn’t been saying much since they had all arrived and the next person the guys were ready to attack was him because it wasn’t like Chris at all to be sitting back and not talking. He was usually trying to be the center of attention.

“Well, you guys are going to be the first to know,” Joey began.

“Actually, you are the first to know outside of our parents,” Kelly interrupted.

“Sorry, you are the first to know outside of our parents,” he smiled at her, “Guys, you are going to be uncles.” Joey smiled at his friends and kissed Kelly on the head.

“We’re going to be what?” JC asked completely shocked at the information that he had just been given. He looked at the other three guys who were each sitting with their mouths on the floor. This was definitely something that they never would have expected.

“You’re going to be a father?” Justin asked as he got up to shake Joey’s hand.

“You better believe it! I’m going to be a father,” Joey said with a huge grin on his face. He and Kelly couldn’t have looked any happier at that moment. They had experienced their ups and downs but through it all they stuck by each other and couldn’t have been any more excited about this recent turn of events. All of the guys got up and took their turns giving hugs to both Joey and Kelly and expressing how happy they were for him. After they had all expressed their congratulations the guys all sat back down and talked about how this was going to affect the group.

“So what does this mean?” Lance asked a touch concerned that this could mean the end of the group if in fact Joey wanted to be a full time dad and not be a part of the group any longer. It was something that was in the minds of each of the four guys although they pretty much knew what the answer was going to be.

“It means that I’m going to be a dad and nothing else.” Joey began, “I’m not quitting the group or anything if that’s what you are thinking. I couldn’t do that to you guys.” He explained, “Kelly and I have talked and she knows how I feel about this and that right now that this is my life and she understands completely. We’re not getting married right now, maybe in the future but not until we’re both ready to settle down and be full time into the relationship. She knows how much this means to me and my parents and hers as well are going to be around to help us out with taking care of the baby. But as far as the group is concerned I’m not leaving. However, I would like to be around for the birth so that could put a cramp in the plans for the tour.” The guys had all discussed starting their new tour in March of that next year and if Joey wanted to be around for the baby then they might just have to push that off.

“No big thing,” Justin said as he looked at the rest of the guys.

“Exactly,” JC added, “You need to be here for Kel and that’s what you should do. We’ll work out the tour details.” 

“Yeah, it isn’t like we’ve released any dates or anything yet,” Chris added.

“I can’t get over the fact that you are going to be a dad. That just absolutely blows my mind,” Lance said as he shook his head at his friend.

The guys all sat around for a little longer talking about what was going to be happening the next few weeks and all the time watching the interaction between Kelly and Joey. The guys had never seen them quite so happy as they were at that moment. They were so excited that they were going to become parents and maybe this was just the thing that would bring the two of them even closer to each other.

Meanwhile the girls were back at Jessica’s apartment getting things cleaned up from the night before and putting the apartment back in order.

“So where are they taking you girls anyway?” Ryanne asked as she picked up the beer bottles that were lying around the living room.

“They won’t tell us,” Taylor whined.

“They want it to be some kind of big surprise or something. Those two have had something up their sleeves for at least a week now and won’t tell us a blessed thing about this.” Chelsea added.

“I’m sure you will have a great time,” Jessica said from the kitchen where she was washing dishes.

“You don’t know what’s going on do you?” Taylor asked.

“I know nothing at all,” Jessica smiled trying to hide her face. She did in fact know everything that was about to happen that weekend. Lance and Justin had discussed it with her at great length to make sure that they did everything perfectly for the girls. She was so excited and it was a pain trying to keep it a secret from the girls.

“You know don’t you,” Chelsea said.

“Even if I did, I’m not telling,” Jess insisted.

“Oh, she so knows what’s going on,” Ryanne said as she came into the kitchen with the things she had picked up from the living room, “come on girl, give, tell us what’s going to happen!” she pressed.

“No, I’m not saying anything at all.”

“Oh fine,” Taylor sulked.

“Let’s put it this way, if you girls don’t have a good time then you are stupid as hell,” Jessica added.

“So what are you and Chris up to this weekend seeing as Steve is away and everyone else is pre-occupied for the weekend?” Ryanne asked.

“Absolutely nothing, why do you ask?”

“Well, just seems like you two were getting pretty cozy last night,” Ryanne joked with her friend.

“In case you forgot, I’m engaged, nothings going on between Chris and I anyway,” Jess explained, “we’re just friends and that’s all. Anyway, I have to work tonight, so I’m not doing anything today except for veging out and relaxing because I’m going to be up way too late tonight.”

“What are you and JC up to this weekend?” Taylor asked with a smile. The girls all knew that Ryanne clearly had feelings for JC but she was trying to not let them show through. The girls could all read right through her though and knew that she felt more for JC than she was letting on and the way that the two had been spending time together recently they knew that more was going to happen soon if it hadn’t already.

“Um, I don’t think we’re doing much,” Ryanne explained, “He wanted to play a song for me that he wrote for you girls to sing that I think is going to be on the album and some stuff that he wrote for the guys as well.” She said trying to control the smile that was about to be spread wide across her face.

“Oh you are so smitten with that guy,” Jess said trying to take the light off of her and put it onto her friend. The last thing that Jess wanted to answer questions about was Chris. She was so confused as to how she felt about him and the ever evident feelings that were creeping into her daily thoughts of him. She didn’t want to confess how comfortable and safe she felt the night before sleeping in Chris’ arms but she knew it was something that she was eventually going to have to face if the girls were going to continue their relationships with the guys. It wasn’t like Chris was going anywhere and he just seemed to always be there with them.

“You so did not just say the word smitten,” Chelsea joked.

“What’s wrong with the word huh? Would you rather I use something like strung out or something like that?” Jess joked as the girls sat in the living room with their coffee and diet Coke as the apartment was now clean and all evidence of the guys was clearly put away in its place. The last thing that the girls needed was Steve throwing a fit when he returned on Sunday from his weekend away to find that the guys had been over. Jess was doing the best she could to hide the fact that she had been hanging around with the guys because that would clearly throw Steve over the edge.

“How out we just say that I like him a lot huh?” Ryanne said as she interrupted the laughter that the girls were engulfed in. “Seriously, who wouldn’t, the man is gorgeous, have you looked at him recently?”

“Very true,” Jess added, “Although, I don’t think any of the three of you have done too bad in the boyfriend category recently,” Jess smiled at her friends. The girls all looked at each other and grinned as Chelsea and Taylor thought of their current boyfriends and Ryanne thought of JC and the possibility of a relationship between the two of them. The girls were all interrupted by Chelsea’s cell phone ringing and the girls giggled as Chelsea looked at her phone and smiled when she saw Lance’s number pop up on the caller ID.

“Hey sweetie,” Chelsea said into the phone as she heard Lance’s deep voice talking to her, “No, we’re not home yet, we’re over at Jess’ place.” The girls listened to the one sided conversation quietly, “Okay, well, we’re heading out of here now. How’s Joey? Are you serious!!! Oh my god!!! Can I tell the girls? Okay, cool, well I’ll see you soon then. Bye.” She smiled as she hung up the phone.

“What’s going on with Joey?” Ryanne asked curious as to what was going on with their other friend.

“Glad you three are all sitting down for this one, Joey’s going to be a father.” Chelsea said with a smile on her face.

“Are you kidding me?” Taylor asked, “Who’s the mother, or do I not want to know?” she stated with a concerned look on her face.

“Oh, its Kelly,” Chelsea said as the four of them all heaved a sigh of relief. The last thing they needed to hear is that Joey had gotten some random girl pregnant. That would be the last thing the guys or Joey would need, they could pretty much kiss their careers goodbye should that ever happen.

“Is he happy?” Jess asked worried that Joey might just freak out over this and that he wouldn’t want anything to do with the baby, however, knowing Joey and the way that he had always cared for Kelly she knew that he’d be nothing less than thrilled.

“Oh hell yeah, he can’t wait to be a dad and I guess the only way this is going to affect the guys is that the tour isn’t going to start until the end of May now instead of April or whatever they were talking about.” Chelsea explained. “I’m sure we’ll all hear more about it later. However, right now we’ve gotta get out of here Tay, the guys are going to be at the apartment in a half hour to pick us up and we haven’t even packed yet.” She said as Taylor jumped up to grab her stuff.

“You got it baby,” Taylor said as she picked up her bag and the few things that she had brought over the night previous.

“I gotta talk to Jess real quick then I’ll be home kay?” Chelsea asked her friend.

“Okay, I’ll see you in a bit. Ryanne, are you going to ride with me or are you going with Chelsea?” Taylor asked as she reached for the door.

“I’ll head out with you,” Ryanne said as she grabbed her things, “I’ll talk to you later girl okay?” she said as she gave Jess a hug.

“You bet, have fun with JC,” Jess said with a smile. Taylor came over from the door to say goodbye to her friend as well, “You have a fantastic time, I know you will and I can’t wait to hear all about it,” Jess said as she hugged Taylor.

“Better believe it,” Taylor smiled as she skipped to the door and closed it behind her.

“What’s up?” Jess asked her friend as the two sat down on the couch.

“I need to tell you something,” Chelsea began, “But I want you to let me finish before you say anything okay?” she asked with a concerned look on her face.

“Okay, shoot,” Jess said as she took a sip out of her glass.

“I had a talk with Chris this morning,” she began.

“About?”

“You. He’s genuinely worried about you Jess, and I guess he just wanted answers and didn’t want to bombard you with questions and stuff.”

“Okay, well, what did you tell him?” Jess asked.

“I pretty much explained to him my take on why you are still with Steve and gave him a little background on your life.”

“What kind of background?” Jess asked worried as to just what her friend told Chris. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Chris to know, it was more that she wasn’t sure how he was going to take the information that he was going to hear. Chris was acting very strange when he said goodbye to her that morning before the guys left and didn’t even give her a hug goodbye, which was just not like him at all.

Chelsea explained to Jess exactly what she told Chris, using the same words and phrases that she had uttered just a few hours earlier to Chris out on the porch of the house. Jessica listened intently as he friend explained all the past of her life and began to think back on how things had been in her life. It was hard hearing it coming from another person’s mouth, almost harder than it was living through it. She tried to put herself into Chris’ position, hearing the information for the first time and felt that he might just completely flip out given the information that Chelsea was providing to him. As Chelsea finished telling Jess everything that she had told Chris that morning Jess sat back and thought about what she had said.

“How did he take it?” Jess asked concerned as to how Chris was going to take this information.

“Pretty well I think. I’m pretty sure he’s more worried about you than ever now so keep that in mind in what you say and do for the next few days or so, but I think he took it well. Its going to take a few days for it to sink all into his head but at least now he knows where you are coming from.” Chelsea said, “You aren’t mad at me are you?” she asked as she looked at her friend. Jess leaned over and pulled Chelsea into a huge hug.

“Are you kidding me? I don’t think it’s humanly possible for me to be mad at you. I guess I should thank you for telling him and keeping me from having to say anything at all. Thank you Chels.”

“Anything for you baby,” Chelsea said as the girls hugged one last time.

“Well my dear, you have to go and get ready for your weekend with Lance.” Jess said as she stood up and Chelsea stood up next to her.

“Are you going to be okay?” Chelsea asked. She had noticed that Jess was getting teary while she was talking about what she had told Chris and was a touch worried about her friend.

“Oh I’m fine, don’t you worry about me, go and have a blast!” she said as the girls hugged one more time and Jess led Chelsea to the door. “Have fun and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Jess said to her friend as she held the door open and watched her walk away.

“Well, then I have no problems right?” Chelsea joked as she got into her car. She turned it on and rolled down the window as she waved goodbye to her friend.

“BYE!” Jess yelled as Chelsea drove away. Jessica walked back into the apartment and closed the door behind her. She flopped down on the couch and channel surfed through several stations before landing on an old movie to watch. She thought back on the conversation that she just had with Chelsea. She clearly wasn’t upset at all with Chelsea for what she told Chris and was truly relieved that she was now not going to really have to say anything to Chris, at least for a while, about why she felt the way she did. However, knowing Chris for as long as she had, she also knew that he’d be hanging around more often just to make sure that she was okay. Her mind wandered once again to the feel of Chris’ arms around her in bed the night before. She may have been quite drunk but she knew exactly what she was doing when she rolled over into his arms. That was where she wanted to be, and where she knew that she was safe. She leaned back on the couch with that image going through her head and all the images of the hurt and pain she had felt in her life far behind her and she fell asleep.

Chapter 12

“Are we there yet?” Taylor whined from the backseat of Lance’s 4-Runner where Lance, Chelsea, Justin and Taylor were all driving.

“I can smell ocean,” Chelsea said from the front seat getting excited as Lance reached for her hand. The girls were both sitting in the car blindfolded as they had been since the guys picked them up. They didn’t want them to know where they were going so as soon as they picked the two of them up at their apartment the boys grabbed their bags and immediately placed blindfolds on their faces as they were getting ready to go. Ryanne pulled out her video camera to get it all on tape because it was just hilarious to watch the girls as they were trying to get their things together and make their way out the door.

“Ohhhh, me too!!!” Taylor said as she stuck her head out the window and Justin reached to pull her back into the car.

“You know, you two are the worst, Justin, remind me never to do this again okay?” Lance joked from the front seat. The girls had been trying to guess where they were going for the past 3 hours since they had left Orlando far behind with no success at all.

“No kidding, so much for surprises huh?” he joked back with his friend as Lance turned up the music in the car and Taylor and Chelsea leaned back in their seats and listened to the two guys harmonizing together. The girls sighed as they listened to them sing and couldn’t believe that they were actually doing this. Who would have guessed that a few months ago this was only a dream to the two of them?

“Can you at least tell us if we are going to be there soon?” Chelsea asked from the front seat, “I’ve really gotta pee and you don’t want to see what I get like if I really gotta go.” She explained as she and Taylor both giggled. The girls had all gone on a road trip together once before to Jess’ uncles home down in Cape Coral and between Jess and Chelsea they had to stop 3 times in the 4 hour drive.

“We’ll be there shortly but I think there is a rest stop up ahead we can stop at if you want,” Lance explained.

“Wanna tell me how the two of us are going to go inside and go to the bathroom with blindfolds on over our eyes?” Taylor asked as Justin smiled into her ear and kissed her.

“Hmmm, didn’t think about that,” Justin said. “How bout we stop, lead you girls inside and then take the blindfolds off just as you are in front of the bathroom?” Justin asked Lance.

“That’s an idea,” Lance said, “That way they can’t even see where we are now,” he agreed.

“Dude, you two suck do you know that?” Taylor complained as Justin pulled her close and placed his lips close to hers. He kissed her gently on the lips and silenced her complaints with his kisses.

“Oh fine, you win, whatever you want,” Taylor smiled.

“SUCKER!!!” Lance and Chelsea said together from the front of the car. Although Chelsea had on a blindfold she knew exactly what Justin had done to her friend and could only smile at the thought. She felt Lance reach for her hand and he rubbed the inside of her palm gently as Chelsea leaned her head back and smiled at the thought of Lance’s hand in hers.

The four friends stopped a little further up the road for the girls to go in and go to the bathroom and the guys managed to make it through without too much of an incident. A few little girls came out of the bathroom and screeched when they saw the guys standing outside the ladies room and it was all Chelsea and Taylor could do than to burst into laughter, as they knew exactly what had just occurred. They saw the two little girls run back in to their mothers and couldn’t help but overhear their conversation.

“MOM!!!!!” the first girl screamed as she came running back in out of breath, “You are not going to believe who is standing outside that door right now.” She said.

“ITS JUSTIN AND LANCE!!!!!” the second little girl said as a collective scream came from inside the bathroom. Chelsea and Taylor looked at each other and quickly finished washing their hands so that they could escape from what was sure to become a scene rather shortly.

“Come on let’s go,” Chelsea said as she grabbed Lance’s hand and made a dash for the door. Taylor did the same with Justin as the four of them bolted to the car. The girls knew that the guys didn’t want them to see where they were and they promised not to look around too much but they really didn’t want a bunch of fans surrounding them and the only way that was going to happen is if they all just ran fast.

“Wow, now we can see why you guys bolt when you get to places. Those girls were about to get crazy if you two had stayed around too long.” Chelsea said as Lance reached to put the blindfold back over her eyes.

“Well, we’re kind of used to it by now,” Justin said as he was doing the same thing to Taylor.

“Yeah, that’s why we usually don’t go to far without one of the bodyguards far from us.” Lance brushed Chelsea’s hair away from her face and she took her hair back in a scrunchie.

“Are they going to be with us this weekend?” Chelsea asked.

“Nope, this weekend its just us. Anyway, I don’t think anyone would find us where we are going.” He explained.

“Speaking of which, are we almost there or what?” Chelsea asked for the millionth time that day.

“Actually, we only have about an hour left and then we will be there.” Lance explained as he pulled the car back onto the highway and the four sat back and enjoyed the rest of the drive.

At the same time, back in Orlando, Ryanne was getting her first glimpse of JC’s home. He had picked her up and the two had a nice lunch in downtown Orlando and JC had told her that he wanted her to hear some of the music that he was working on both for the girls to sing as well as for the guys to use for their new CD.

“Do you guys know what you’re going to call the new CD yet?” Ryanne asked as they pulled up to the large home in his car.

“Not really sure yet, we’ve been tossing around a couple ideas but nothing has really hit us yet. Justin wrote a great song and we’re thinking that might be the title track on the album but nothing is set in stone yet.” He said as he turned off the car and looked at Ryanne. JC couldn’t deny the fact that he had many feelings for Ryanne. She was a complex girl and he knew that the first thing on her mind these days were the girls and their recording that was coming up the next week. She had finished her final project for school, which was producing the girls demo, but she still had much to learn. Lance was helping her along with teaching her as much as he knew about management and Johnny Wright had been helping as well. It was a dream come true when Ryanne met Johnny for the first time although she remained as always calm and cool. JC had been helping her out with the producing side of things as had Justin and the girls demo really was pretty amazing. Through it all though, JC really started to have feelings for Ryanne and even had written a song about how he felt. He was hoping that she’d maybe begin to understand a bit about how he felt for her after playing her the song, he just prayed that it went over well and the she didn’t think he was taking things too fast.

“So do I get to go inside or are we just going to sit out here in your car all day?” Ryanne asked breaking JC from the fog that he seemed to have gotten himself into.

“Damn, I’m sorry, I must have spaced there for a sec, yeah, lets go in.” he said as he jumped out of the car and went to open the door for her. Ryanne stepped out and took JC’s hand as the two headed up to the door. JC fished out his key and opened it up and Ryanne stood in amazement. It was a beautiful home that JC had and she really just couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Did you do the decorating yourself or did your mom do it for you?” Ryanne asked they walked down the stairs together after JC showed her the bedrooms. He was about to show her his favorite part of the house, his small recording room that he had built in the basement. While the other guys had game rooms on the bottom floors of their homes, JC only insisted on one thing and that was a recording studio in his home.

“Believe it or not, I did most of it myself, kind of gay huh?” JC asked as he looked at her.

“Nah, not at all, I think it’s pretty cool that you have your own personal touch to the place.” Ryanne smiled. “So do I get to see your pride and joy?” she asked. She had heard so much about the studio and she couldn’t wait to see it.

“Hell yeah, come on,” he said as he took her hand. A small smile spread across Ryanne’s face as he took her hand in his and she felt perfectly comfortable with the situation. She knew that she was about to see a place that few got to see because JC really loved his privacy and his studio was next to his bedroom in the most private rooms of his home. He opened the door and let Ryanne step inside first. It really was pretty amazing what he had done and she was really in awe that someday she might just have the ability to afford something like this in her own home. JC watched as she slowly ran her fingers over the mixing board and looked at all the equipment that he had in the room. It was pretty awesome to him that he had found someone who enjoyed music as much as he did and really had an appreciation not only for what people saw but how it all happened behind the scenes.

“So are you going to play me what you wrote for the girls?” Ryanne asked after she had looked around the entire room.

“Sure, I hope you like it.” He said as he sat down at his keyboard that he had set up.

“Oh, I’m sure I will, hit it baby,” she said as he began to play the intro to the song.

“Its not really going to sound the same with my voice but you’ll get the….”

“Shut up and sing,” Ryanne said as she sat down on one of the stools in the room. JC began to sing the song that he wrote for the girls to sing. As Ryanne listened to the words to the song she thought of how appropriate they were for the three girls and for her as well. JC finished up the song and turned to Ryanne who had a huge smile on her face.

“That’s perfect!” she exclaimed as he looked to her for the response that she would have.

“You think?” he asked.

“Hell yeah, the words work perfectly for all three of them with what is going on in their lives and stuff. I think they will just love it.”

“Thanks, there’s actually something more that’s kind of cool about it,” he began as Ryanne looked at him curiously.

“What’s that?”

“Well, I was kind of asked to write that song for a movie and if they like it enough then it will be on the movie soundtrack as well.” He beamed.

“Are you serious? They are going to flip out!” Ryanne exclaimed.

“Well, don’t say anything yet, I don’t want them to know before they record the song and stuff. I kind of want to surprise them with it.”

“No problem,” Ryanne said. “Do I get to hear some more stuff?” she asked as she settled back ready for her own personal concert.

“Actually, there is one song I kind of wanted to play for you if you don’t mind. Maybe get your opinion on it?” he asked.

“Play away,” she smiled as she walked over to sit next to him on the piano bench.

JC took a deep breath and began to sing the song that he had written for Ryanne. He wasn’t sure how she would feel about it and didn’t want to stun her right away, he figured he’d play the song and get her reaction first. He played the introduction to the song and closed his eyes, as the notes seemed to flow from his fingers. Ryanne watched in amazement as he played and saw every bit of himself come out through the notes that he was playing. When he began to sing she listened intently and watched him as he sang every word.

“I just don’t understand; Why you’re running from a good man baby; Why you wanna turn your back on love; Why you’ve already given up; Cause you know you’ve been hurt before; But I swear I’ll give you so much more; I swear I’ll never let you down; Cause I swear its you that I adore; And I can’t help my self baby; Cause I think about you constantly; And my heart gets no rest over you; You can call me selfish; But all I want is your love; You can call me hopeless baby; Cause I’m hopelessly in love; You can call me unperfect; But who’s perfect; Tell me what have I got to do; To prove that I’m the only one for you; So what’s wrong with being Selfish; I’ll be taking up your time; Till the day I make you realize; That for you there could be no one else; I just gotta have you for myself; Baby I would take good care of you; No matter what it is you’re going through; I’ll be there for you when you’re in need; Baby believe in me; Cause if love is a crime baby; To punish me I would die for you; Cause I don’t want to live without you oh what can I do”

Ryanne listened as JC sang the song with all that was in his heart as he sang the chorus to the song again. She got tears in her eyes as she realized that this song was written just for her and she didn’t quite know how she was going to tell him how she felt after he sang it.

“Why do you keep us apart; Why won’t you give up your heart; You know that we’re meant to be together; Why do you push me away; All that I want is to give you love; Forever and ever and ever and ever; You can call me Selfish; but all I want is your love; You can call me hopeless, hopeless; Cause I’m hopelessly in love; You can call me unperfect; But who’s perfect baby what have I got to do; To prove that I’m the only one for you; So what’s wrong with being selfish; So what’s wrong with being selfish?”

JC had to choke back the tears as he finished singing and he turned to face Ryanne, he wasn’t sure that she was going to take the song the way he wanted her to but he had poured all his heart and soul into writing it for her. Ryanne looked at him intently with tears in her eyes and not knowing quite what to say.

“Jace,” she whispered, “that was just…I don’t even know what to say,” she said as his eyes met hers. JC leaned forward and took her hands in his, and just smiled at her.

“You don’t have to say anything at all, I’m just glad you liked it,” he said with a smile as he studied her eyes. He knew that the time was right for both of them as he leaned forward and her face leaned towards his and they shared their first kiss.

“We’re here!” Lance exclaimed from the front seat of the car as Chelsea went to take the blindfold off of her face. “Not yet little girl,” he said as he took her hands in his and kissed them, “I’ll let you know when you get to take that off.”

“Shhhhhhhhh you guys,” Justin whispered from the back seat. Lance and Chelsea turned around and found that Taylor was asleep with her head on Justin’s lap.

“Awwwww…..How sweet,” Lance whispered.

“What? What’s sweet?” Chelsea asked as she once again went to grab the blindfold off of her face.

“Taylor is asleep on Justin’s lap,” Lance whispered close to her ear as Chelsea squirmed in her seat. She couldn’t quite handle the sound of his deep voice that close to her.

“Baby, we’re here,” Justin said as he lightly brushed Taylor’s hair away from her face, “Taylor, sweetie, you gotta wake up,” he said quietly as he kissed her cheek gently.

“Huh?” Taylor said as she began to stir from her sleep as she went to rub her eyes and realized that she still had the blindfold over her eyes. “Damn thing. Can I take this off yet?” she asked as she sat up.

“Come on, we’re here,” Justin said as he got out of the car and went to the other side to open the door for her. Lance and Justin took the girls hands and went to take them inside of the resort. They were already pre-checked in so they just had to take their keys and head on to their suites. “We’ll catch up with the two of you later okay?” Justin said as he waved goodbye to Lance and Chelsea.

“Yeah, we’ll see the two of you for dinner,” Lance said and went to take Chelsea to their room.

Justin led Taylor inside by the hand and brought her out on the deck of the suite. The deck looked out on the ocean and it really was a beautiful view. “Wow, this place is gorgeous, you really should see it sweetie,” Justin joked with Taylor as he stood behind her with his arms around her and placed his head on top of hers.

“Are you ever going to let me take this thing off?” Taylor whined as she went to grab for the blindfold again. This time his hands didn’t stop her and she pulled it off her face. When she opened her eyes and they adjusted to the light Taylor looked out on the beautiful beach that lay before them and the ocean beyond. It was one of the most breathtaking views that she had ever seen in her life. “Baby, this is just beautiful, thank you so much,” she said as she turned to face Justin. His blue eyes met her brown ones and they both held the passion that the two held inside. He took her in his arms and Justin lifted her chin to face him, “The view is nothing compared to you,” Justin said as he lowered his lips to meet hers. It started with a small kiss and deepened as time went on and the two stood out on the balcony in each other’s embrace, not caring who walked by or who might see them. Justin was truly falling for this woman that was before him and he was letting himself do something that he never thought he would ever do again after Britney had broken his heart. For Taylor it was a moment of a lifetime for her as Justin held her close. Never could she have imagined that anyone would care for her as much as Justin seemed to.

“You wanna go for a walk?” he asked as he removed his lips from hers. Taylor looked up at him and smiled her approval as the two headed inside so that Taylor could quickly change and the two made their way down to the beach.

Back in their room Chelsea was getting her first look at where Lance had taken her for the weekend. As she walked into the room Lance removed the blindfold from her face and her eyes adjusted to seeing the beautiful bouquet of daisies that were sitting on the desk. The room was bigger than anything she had ever seen before and she was just in awe. Lance stood behind her studying her every move as she walked through the room and up to the daisies and took in their scent. He went over to the window and opened the blinds, which gave them their beautiful view of the ocean. Chelsea turned around to see him standing by the window with a huge smile on his face. She went up to him and put her arms around him and looked up into his deep green eyes. “Thank you so much sweetie,” she said as she stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

Lance leaned his head down to take her into his arms and the two deepened their embrace and their kiss. “You are entirely welcome,” he said as he removed his lips from hers, “You deserve this and so much more.” He said as Chelsea smiled up at him. As he was talking tears began to fill her eyes and Lance looked at her concerned. He took his hand and lightly brushed her cheek with it and spoke softly to her. “What is it baby?” he asked.

“I’m okay, really,” she said as she smiled up at him, “I guess I just can’t believe that all of this is happening to me right now,” she said as she took his hand the two headed out onto the deck of the room. Their room was much like Taylor and Justin’s with their own private deck that looked out on the beautiful white sand beach of Key Biscayne and out on the water.

“Well, believe it baby, and its only going to get better from here,” he said with a smile on his face. The whole idea of the girls recording and their possible success was just an absolute thrill to him. The fact that he had never been happier in a relationship than he was with Chelsea was a different story all together. He had never felt this way about another person. Sure he had girlfriends before, but it seemed that life with Chelsea at his side was more comfortable than anything he had ever experienced. “I know that the next few months are going to be rough what with me doing the recording for the new album and the movie and your recording as well but I want you to know how much you mean to me. Chelsea,” he paused, “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before in my life. You bring out the best in me, I don’t know if you know that but you do, I can’t imagine what my life would be like had I never met you. There’s something I’ve wanted to say to you for a while now but I guess I was just to scared to say it, or something like that,” he began as he took Chelsea’s hands in his and looked down into her eyes, “You know me, I’m so much like you and I say everything better with music. When this song was played for me it was for the movie but the only person I thought of was you,” he said. Lance walked over to the CD system that was in the room and went searching through his bag for the CD that he had brought with him. He had Joey record it especially for this moment with Chelsea and he couldn’t wait to play it for her. Chelsea sat out on the deck trying to soak in everything that Lance had just said to her. A thousand thoughts went through her mind as she tried to think of something to say back to Lance after the amazing things he had said to her. Just as he stepped back out through the slider the music began to engulf the room and Lance extended his hand to her. Chelsea took it and stood up as Lance pulled her close. She could feel every inch of his body warming next to her as the strains of music began to play. Chelsea listened to every word that was coming from the CD as Lance hummed softly in her ear.

“I get a feeling; I can’t explain; Whenever your eyes meet mine; My heart spins in circles and I loose all space and time; And now that we’re standing face to face; There’s something I need to say; And I’m ready to fall in love tonight; Ready to hold my heart open wide; I can’t promise forever but baby I’ll try; I’m ready to fall; In love tonight; I know you’ve been watching choosing your moment; But I’ve been dreaming of that day; No one before you has gotten to me this way; And now that we’re standing face to face; There’s something I need to say; I’m ready to fall in love tonight; Ready to hold my heart open wide; I can’t promise forever but baby I’ll try; I’m ready to fall; In love tonight; Nothing is certain this I know wherever we’re headed I’m ready to go; I can’t promise forever but baby I’ll try; Cause I’m ready to fall In love tonight; I’m ready to fall; In love tonight.”

Chelsea looked up at Lance with tears in her eyes and threatening to fall down her cheeks. She couldn’t believe that Lance was standing before her and he had just played this remarkable song for her. Her mind wandered as she tried to think of the right words to say. As she was about to open her mouth Lance took his finger and put it to her lips.

“I love you Chelsea,” he said simply. “I’ve never said that to anyone before in my life, well, except my family of course, but I truly love you.” Lance’s eyes watered as he waited with bated breath for her response.

“I love you too Lance. More than I’ve ever loved anyone in my life,” she said as he lifted her chin and their lips met once again. But this time it was a kiss of two people who were completely and totally in love with each other. It was a moment that they would always cherish.

As Chelsea and Lance got lost in a world of each other, Justin and Taylor made their way down to the beach together. The two held hands and swung their arms between them as Taylor took her other hand and ran it through her red hair.

“So tell me what its like to grow up in the Northeast,” Justin asked as the two walked along the boardwalk together.

“Boring Boring Boring,” she replied with a smile, “Seriously, its nothing exciting at all. I think that the only exciting thing about the Northeast is that we have a couple of cool cities around there.”

“New York has got to be one of my favorite places to visit,” he replied watching her every move.

“Yeah, my younger sister is really into theater so the two of us used to go into the city all the time to see shows and stuff.”

“Your sister is in the theater?” he asked.

“Yeah, not onstage but backstage. She really wants to be in production management, its perfectly suited for her.” She replied telling him all about her family. Taylor talked all about life in New England and growing up with a younger sister as Justin listened intently to everything that she had to say. He was completely taken by her and found that the more she spoke the more that he was falling for her. “Justin?” she asked as he was staring at her but seemed to have his brain somewhere else.

“Huh?” he asked as he shook himself back into reality. “Oh damn,” he said realizing that they had reached the end of the boardwalk and the only place to go would have been to jump into the ocean that lay before them, “uh, lets sit here,” he stumbled as he pulled her down to sit next to him on the boardwalk.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, “you seemed like you were kind of in outer space there for a minute.”

“Everything,” he began, “everything is just perfect,” he said as he leaned in and stared into her brown eyes. Justin pulled her close and the two embraced and indulged themselves in a repeat performance of the kiss they had shared on their balcony. Taylor was in another world as Justin kissed her. She was in a world where fantasy seemed to be meeting reality and she just couldn’t get her brain to believe it. As they pulled away from each other breathless a look of passion filled both of their eyes. Justin felt the time was just perfect to pull out the next surprise that he had for her for the weekend.

“Wow,” she said as she caught her breath.

“Thank you? I think,” Justin said as he flashed his cheesy grin at her. Taylor melted when he smiled. It was the one thing that had brought her “out of the closet” as an NSYNC fan the first time that she saw Justin smile and it melted her heart each time he did it.

“Yeah, thank you would be the right thing to say. I don’t think I’ve ever been kissed like that before in my life,” she smiled.

“Well, get used to it baby, I plan on doing that a lot more in the future.”

“Good,” she smiled as she kissed him on the nose.

“I’ve got another surprise for you,” he said with a smile on his face.

“Really,” she smirked, “and what would that be?”

“Well, you know we’re working on the new album, and JC and I have been doing a lot of the writing and producing with it,” he stalled.

“Justin, get to it I know all this stuff already,” she said impatiently.

“Okay, well, when Brit and I first broke up I wrote a lot of lyrics that weren’t really, lets call them, not really nice. They were pretty harsh lyrics about being betrayed and breaking up with someone.” Taylor nodded her head. She had heard this before from the other guys. They had all said that the lyrics he wrote after breaking up with Brit were pretty awful and that they really held quite a bit of heartache and hurt in them. They were all hoping that he would snap out of it a bit so that the lyrics would get back to what they were more used to from him.

“Anyway,” he continued, “after meeting you, well, they started to change a bit and I kind of wanted to try out one of them for you.”

“Okay,” she smiled getting very excited that Justin was actually looking for her opinion on a song.

“Okay, well, here goes.” He smiled.

“You mean here? Now?” she asked as she looked around her to see if anyone else was around at the moment.

“Yeah, why not?” he asked.

“Uh, nothing,” she smiled when she realized that the boardwalk was pretty desolate except for the two of them. It was long past the major tourist season so many people weren’t out and it was getting close to dinner time for those who were still vacationing in the area. Taylor smiled as he began to sing the song acapella and she knew that she would forever remember that moment in her life.

“So many times; I thought I held it in my hand; But just like grains of sand; Love slipped through my fingers; So many nights; I asked the Lord above; Please make me lucky enough; To find a love that lingers; Something keeps telling me; That you could me my answered prayer; You must be heaven sent I swear; Cause something happens when you look at me I forget to speak; Something happens when you kiss my mouth my knees get so weak; Could it be true this is what God has meant for me; Cause baby I can’t believe; That something like you; Could happen to me; Something like you; Girl in your eyes; I feel your fire burn; Oh your secrets I will learn, even if it takes forever; With you by my side, Oh I can do anything; I don’t care what tomorrow brings as long as we’re together; My heart is telling me; that you could be my meant to be; I know it more each time we touch; cause something happens when you look at me I forget to speak; something happens when you kiss my mouth my knees get so weak; Could it be true this is what God has meant for me; Cause baby I can’t believe that something like you could happen to me; Something magical, Something spiritual, something stronger than the two of us alone; something physical, something undeniable, nothing like anything, that I’ve ever known; Cause, Something happens when you look at me I forget to speak; Something happens when you kiss my mouth my knees get so weak, could it be true this is what God has meant for me; Cause baby I can’t believe that something like you, Could happen to me.”

“Justin,” she sighed as he finished the song. Taylor sat and caught her breath as she tried to find the words to describe every feeling that she was having at that particular moment. She leaned forward and took Justin’s hands in her own and leaned in forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. With eyes closed and scenes of heaven in their minds, they embraced in every feeling of love for the first time in both of their lives.

Chapter 13

“Are you ready yet baby?” Lance yelled into the bathroom where Chelsea was finishing getting ready for dinner. Chelsea was putting the finishing touches on her makeup and making sure that her long hair was perfectly done for a night on the town with Lance, Taylor and Justin. The guys wouldn’t tell the girls where they were going out to dinner but they were told to look nice although it wasn’t black tie.

“I’ll be right out,” she said as she took one last look in the mirror. The makeup on her cheeks couldn’t rival the beautiful way that her face shone from the love that she was feeling at that moment. She had just finished spending a wonderful afternoon with Lance as they professed their love to each other and she was simply glowing. “Perfect,” she said as she glanced in the mirror before opening the door. Lance was standing on the other side dressed in black dress slacks and a white button down shirt that was opened at the neck without a tie. His green eyes were piercing as she walked out and her eyes met his. The sight of him took her breath away as she stared at him. “Damn,” she smiled as she took him in. Lance reached out his hand to her and pulled her close.

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” he said as his lips met hers in a deep kiss. After what seemed like 20 minutes Lance released Chelsea from his grasp and spun her around so that he could take in the vision that was before him. Chelsea was dressed in red sundress that came up around her neck and left her back open. She had on a pair of strappy black sandals and looked just stunning. “Ready to hit it baby?” he asked as he pulled her back close and smiled into her hair. Chelsea nodded and grabbed her black bag and headed out the door holding Lance’s hand.

Lance closed the door behind him making sure that he had slipped the room key into his back pocket and the two held hands as the headed towards the restaurant down the boardwalk where they were meeting Justin and Taylor. As they walked along talking Chelsea was keenly aware of all the people around. Although there weren’t a lot of younger people around she was sure that people knew who Lance was. She saw people whispering to each other and she just smiled brightly as she walked along on Lance’s arm. As they approached the restaurant Chelsea stopped dead in her tracks not being able to believe the sight in front of her.

“Are you okay?” Lance asked mid-sentence as he had been talking about his family with Chelsea. Chelsea couldn’t find words to describe what she had just seen.

“Ummmm, yeah,” she muttered. “Let’s just get inside,” she said quickly as she grabbed Lance’s arm and the two headed right inside the restaurant where they were shown to a table out on the deck where Taylor and Justin were waiting. As the two approached the table Taylor gave Chelsea a knowing look. Chelsea knew that Taylor had seen the same thing that she just saw outside on the boardwalk and she figured the two could just escape to the bathroom.

“Hey guys,” Lance said as they got to the table.

“Hey dude, what’s up?” Justin said as he reached for Lance’s hand and shook it. Taylor smiled at Lance and looked at Chelsea and motioned her head towards the rest room. “Chelsea, you look just beautiful,” Justin said as he took her hand and kissed it.

“Hey, if you are gonna hit up on my date then I get to do the same to yours,” Lance said as he approached Taylor. She giggled as Lance took her hand in his, “You look ravishing this evening,” he said as Taylor blushed and he proceeded to kiss her hand.

“If you two don’t mind we’re gonna head to the ladies room real quick and freshen up,” Taylor said as she looked at Chelsea and the two guys got up to hold out their chairs for them. The girls made a quick exit as the two guys sat down and talked.

“Okay, do you know what’s going on with those two?” Lance asked Justin as he put the menu down that had been placed before him.

“Didn’t you see who was outside on the boardwalk?” Justin asked.

“Um, no you wanna fill me in?”

“Dude, it was Steve.” Justin whispered. Lance got a strange look on his face as he tried to put two and two together.

“Steve?”

“As in Jess’ fiancé Steve.” Justin explained as Lance nodded his head as he had just realized what he was talking about and he took a sip on the water that had been left on the table. “He was with another girl.” Justin said as Lance spit the water that he was drinking back in the glass that was in front of him.

“WHAT!!!!!” Lance exclaimed absolutely shocked that this was happening.

“Yup, he was actually kissing her when Tay and I walked in. I’m guessing that’s what the other two are discussing right now.”

“Damn,” Lance said as he didn’t know what else to say, “What the hell are we gonna do?” he asked.

“Um, nothing, I mean, come on, the guy doesn’t know us other than that we are in NSYNC. We can’t go out there and beat him down or anything.”

“That’s not exactly what I was thinking, I was more thinking, what are we gonna tell Chris?” he asked

“You’re right, and Joe too,” he said.

“I’m thinking we say nothing yet, lets see what the girls do first. They know the situation better than we do,” Justin said as the two sat back and discussed things that had nothing at all to do with Jess’ fiancé and how they were going to explain to one of their best friends that the woman that he was in love with very likely could be his.

Meanwhile, the girls were in the bathroom freshening up and having a rather similar discussion to the one the guys were having.

“Holy shit,” Taylor said as they got into the bathroom and looked to see if anyone else was in there. They didn’t want to say anything until they first checked to see that the girl that Steve was with wasn’t in the restroom with them.

“No kidding, what the hell was that all about?” Chelsea asked as she looked in the mirror and applied more lipstick to her lips.

“I have absolutely no clue, all I know is that I’m about ready to go and cut off body parts of that ass right now,” Taylor said to her friend.

“What exactly did you see?” Chelsea asked, “All I saw was the two of them walking down the boardwalk holding hands and coming towards the restaurant,” she explained.

“Oh so you missed them playing tonsil hockey in the middle of the strip huh?” Taylor asked.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Chelsea asked.

“Not even a little. How dare he,” Taylor said getting angrier by the second, “How dare he do this to our friend?”

“What a complete ass.”

“Well the question now is, what the hell do we do?” Taylor asked looking Chelsea directly in the eyes.

“That’s a good question, I mean, I don’t want her to think that we’re just saying this because we want her to break up with him.”

“Although we do,” Taylor interrupted.

“Exactly, but we also want her to know that he did this right?” Chelsea asked.

“Yeah, God, this is gonna be a tough one.” Taylor said as the two girls thought for a moment about how they were going to break the news to their best friend that her fiancé was cheating on her with another woman.

“You don’t think the guys will say anything do you?”

“Nah, I actually had to tell Justin who he was. I’m more concerned that they will say something to Chris or Joey.”

“Yeah, and then if I were Steve, I’d fear for my life,”

“Exactly what I’m thinking, well, it will be interesting to say the least,” Taylor said as the two shook their heads. They really weren’t sure exactly what they were going to do about this at all.

“Well, lets sleep on it, we’ve got a nice long drive in front of us tomorrow that we can all discuss it together,” Chelsea said.

“You’re right, lets not let that ass ruin our night or our time here,” Taylor said, “Although, after this afternoon I don’t think life gets much better than this,” she smiled at her friend.

“I think you may be right,” Chelsea smiled as the two took a few moments to discuss the wonderful afternoon they had just experienced. They told each other about the songs that the guys played and sang for them and they both knew that they certainly had some amazing boyfriends. Now if they could only figure out a way to explain to Jess that her fiancé was and jerk and that Chris was in love with her then all would be perfect. But for now, they’d enjoy their time with Justin and Lance and keep on smiling.

“Took you two long enough,” Justin said as he stood up to hold out the chair for Taylor and he kissed her lightly on the shoulder when she went to sit down. Lance held out Chelsea’s chair for her and kissed her lightly on the lips as before she sat down. The girls both smiled at each other and couldn’t help the small giggle that escaped their lips.

“So what was so interesting that took you two 20 minutes in the bathroom?” Lance said as he put his arm on the back of Chelsea’s chair.

“Girl talk,” she explained as she looked into his green eyes.

“Couldn’t have anything to do with a certain fiancé of a friend of yours now could it?” Justin asked as his blue eyes met Taylor’s brown ones.

“How’d you guess?” she smiled as she pretty much figured that the guys were discussing the same thing.

“But we made a pact right Tay?” Chelsea asked.

“You bet, we’re not going to let that moron ruin our weekend,” Taylor explained as Justin reached for her hand.

“Good idea,” Lance smiled.

“Yeah, we’ll worry about him later. Tonight its all about us,” Justin said as he took his glass of Cristal in his hand and the other three did the same, “And I say we propose a toast.” He said.

“Good idea, you go first,” Lance said as he smiled at Chelsea.

“Here’s to two of the most beautiful ladies in the world,” he smiled towards Taylor, “and to all the luck and success that is possible on your new album.” He smiled as they each touched glass and Taylor and Chelsea once again let a girlish giggle escape their lips.

The four friends sat around and enjoyed a great meal of lobster, steak, and some of the best food that the restaurant had to offer. They drank their way through 3 bottle of Cristal and enjoyed a mix of different deserts that the restaurant made. They all enjoyed trying out what each of the people had ordered and they made several toasts to each other and their continued relationships and success on their careers. They enjoyed watching the sun set over the water and watched as the full moon rose and lit the clear sky around and the stars made their way across the sky. It was after 11:00 before they all decided to retire to their own rooms.

“Thank you so much,” Taylor said to Justin as the two walked hand in hand back towards their room.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet baby,” he said as he slid the key into the lock on the door. When he opened the door inside there were flowers spread across the room and candles lit. On the bed were spread rose petals of yellow, pink and white and a wide smile spread across Taylor’s face.

“You never cease to amaze me,” she smiled as Justin took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately. The two made their way to the bed where they spent the rest of the night in each other’s arms.

Lance and Chelsea barely made it through the door with their clothes completely on as they headed back towards their room. They spent their evening much the same as Justin and Taylor, professing their love to each other over and over again and enjoying every sensation that came over them.

As the two girls slept in the arms of their boyfriends the melodic strains of the songs that the boys played for them earlier flowing through their minds. The thoughts of Jess and Steve were still there but they were suppressed by the wonderful feelings of love that the two were experiencing at the moment.

Chapter 14

Back in Orlando, Jess had spent most of the day sleeping on the couch after all of her friends had left her. She knew that she was going to have a long night ahead of her at the bar and a long week doing the recordings so she figured she’d catch up on some of the sleep she knew she’d be loosing. It was 4:30 before she finally woke up to the phone ringing beside her on the table. Jess stretched out and looked at her watch and realized how late it was when she reached for the phone.

“MMMM…Hello?” she mumbled while wiping the sleep from her eyes and trying to adjust to the light that was shining through the sliding doors.

“Hey shorty, what’s going on?”

“Oh, hey Chris, not much,” she said as she yawned.

“Did I wake you up?” he asked worried that he done just that.

“Yeah, but don’t worry about it, I had to get up. I have to be at work in a few hours and I need to shower and grab some food and stuff before I go over there.” She said realizing all the things that needed to be done prior to her going into work. She had yet to really dress for the day for as soon as the girls left she plopped herself on the couch with “Forest Gump” playing in the background and as usual she fell asleep in the middle of the movie.

“You wanna grab some grub together?” he asked.

“Awww….all your playmates go away?” she joked with him.

“Sort of, JC is off with Ryanne, Joe is home with Kelly and the other two are off gallivanting with their ladies.”

“Trust me I heard all about the last two. Justin and Lance both wanted to make sure things went perfectly so they called me to check things out before they went away with the girls. I had to do the rundown on favorite flowers, food, drink, etc. I think I did more planning for the weekend then they did,” she joked. Although, Jess knew that the guys really had things covered pretty well. All she was doing was confirming what they had already known.

“So its kind of like you are away with them huh?” he asked.

“I guess, if you want to put it that way. Although I have no idea of the surprises that they have planned for them out there, I can’t wait for them to get back so I can hear all about it.” She said secretly wishing that her fiancé would do some of the extremely romantic things that the guys were doing for the girls for her.

“So dinner?” he asked again hoping that she’d say yes.

“Sounds good to me,” she replied eagerly.

“How bout I pick you up in like an hour?” he asked.

“That’s fine. But wait,” she interrupted herself, “I’m probably going to have to head right to work tonight so maybe we should just meet there?” she half asked, however, hoping that he’d say that he was coming to the bar that night. She always loved when her friends came to the club because then she knew that she wouldn’t have to deal with the drunken morons who always seemed to proposition her throughout the night. Her friends were always her safe haven when they’d come to visit her.

“Well, I was gonna come out to the club if you want some company,” he replied.

“Cool,” she said, “Why don’t you give Joe and Kelly a call too and see if they want to come out to the club later and then you won’t have to sit around alone,” she said.

“Great minds think alike,” he replied, “Already called them and they are going to try and come out tonight as well.”

“Awesome, well then I guess I’ll see you in about an hour then?”

“Sounds good to me, I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Bye Chris,” she said.

“See ya,” he said as he hung up the phone. A million other phrases went through his mind at that moment as he hung up the phone. How much he’d love to end a conversation with Jess with the words ‘Love Ya’ was however, the first thing on his mind. He’d love to be able to take her away from all that was going on in her life and all that had gone on in the past. ‘Baby steps’ he said to himself, ‘little baby steps towards showing her how you care’. It was a phrase that he heard over and over in his head. Chris looked down at the clothes that he was wearing and realized that he needed a shower and to change himself for the evening. He went to the closet and ran his fingers through his dark hair as he picked out a simple black top and a pair of jeans to wear out. He made his way to the bathroom and as he was showering all thoughts in his mind went to Jessica. He truly felt in his heart that he could be the person that could finally make her happy. His mind wandered to the conversation that he had experienced earlier that day with Chelsea as well as the one he had later with Justin. He got both of their opinions as to what he should do and ultimately came to his conclusion of what he was going to do. He only helped that it would work.

Jess went to the kitchen and grabbed herself a diet Coke before going to shower and change for her dinner with Chris and the impending evening at work. She picked up the phone to see if Steve had called earlier in the day and that she might have just slept through the phone ringing. It wouldn’t be the first time that she had done it. As she listened for the fast beeping sound that would prove that she had voice mails waiting she noticed that there were in fact, no messages that had been left. She immediately worried whether something may just have happened to him and she decided to give a quick call to his cell phone to see how the weekend was going up at FSU. She picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number.

“Hey, this is Steve, I can’t get to the phone right now so please leave your name and number and I’ll get back to you soon. Later!” the message said. Jess decided that she’d leave a quick message for him as well.

“Hey sweetie, its me, hope you are having a fantastic time up at FSU. Figure you’re probably out at a meeting or something. Tell Derrick I said hi. I’m going to work in a bit so you can give me a call on my cell or I’ll talk to you later. I love you sweetie, bye!” she cheerfully said hoping in her heart that Steve in fact was having a great weekend up at FSU. Time away from each other really seemed to be something that they both could really use. Jess thought nothing of it as she headed into her bedroom to pick out an outfit to wear for the evening. She chose a pair of black pants and a maroon top that was sleeveless and showed off her figure. She picked a simple pair of black strappy heals to wear and headed to the bathroom to shower and get ready for her evening ahead.

She let her mind wander briefly to the evening before and all the friends sitting around joking. It had been so long since she had just let herself go like that and it felt good to just spend time with friends. As she washed her hair she thought back to the night itself and falling asleep in Chris’ arms. It had been a long time since she had felt that comfortable and safe with a pair of arms around her. The last time she had felt that way was after she had been hurt by Steve and the feeling of Joey’s arms around her. ‘I dunno’ she thought to herself, ‘its just something about those two,’ she thought. It was true that many things had changed since she had worked with Joey and Chris at Universal but it seemed that the moment they were all back together again that they just slipped back into old familiarities. She let that be the reason why the feeling of the guy’s arms around her is why she felt so comfortable. ‘Its clearly because of that’ she thought as she stepped out of the shower and dried herself off.

“Anybody home?” Chris yelled from the front door as he let himself into the apartment.

“Hey Chris,” Jess said as she stepped out of the bedroom dressed for the evening. Chris looked her over from head to toe and just found no words to express how he was feeling at that moment. Jess looked simply breathtaking to him. Although she was dressed relatively simply, all the feelings that he had been having all day that he was trying to suppress came flooding in towards him.

“Hey yourself,” he said as he took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. Chris quickly gave her a kiss on the cheek and pulled her in for a hug. “Ready to go?” he asked as Jess smiled and grabbed her things to go.

“Ahhh, new car?” she asked as she looked at the small sports car that Chris had brought along for the evening.

“Yeah, you like?” he asked as he held the door open for her and she stepped inside. She was completely in awe over the cute car. It was something that she could totally see him driving around in and was just so excited to get the chance to ride around in it herself.

“Absolutely,” she smiled as Chris hopped in next to her. “So where to?” he asked as he pulled out of the parking spot.

“How bout something outside,” she said as the night was just beginning to fall. It was a gorgeous evening outside and she just really wanted to enjoy the outside air while they still could. Summertime in Orlando was so hot and sticky and the winter sometimes got entirely too cold to enjoy the weather but this was the perfect time of year. The night was clear with stars dotting across the sky and the moon shining brightly.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” he said as they turned down the road towards Winter Park. There were many times, when Jess and Chris were in college together, that the two had enjoyed evenings out in the small village and Jess knew exactly where he was headed. The two exchanged small talk and discussed quite a bit about their friends relationships as they arrived at one of their favorite outdoor café’s to eat. It was surprisingly void of the college students that roamed throughout the small town from the local college and Jess and Chris were able to enjoy a quiet dinner together. They talked all about their families and really had a chance to catch up on each other’s lives. While Chris told her stories about their adventures touring the country and the latest on his dog Busta, Jess talked to him about the tourists of Orlando. It brought back such amazing memories for Chris as he remembered his life prior to joining the group. He had loved performing at the park and just hamming it up for the tourists who were always around.

The pair didn’t even realize it when it was 8:30 and Jess realized that she had to get to work. Chris and Jess jumped into his Cobra and headed down towards the Boo so that she could get stuff ready for the night. Jess had started to leave things at the bar so that she didn’t have to trek the stuff back and forth. Jerry, the bar manager, had given her some space to store stuff after the night when her car broke down. When they arrived at the bar, Chris came around to open the door for her and Jess smiled as she took his hand and made her way out of the car. Chris pulled her close to him in a hug as Jess enjoyed once again, the feelings of his arms around her. Jess quickly thanked Chris for dinner and ran inside to get things ready.

Chris sat back down in his car and took off for a quick drive before returning to the bar to see Jess working. He really wanted to get some of the thoughts that he was having in his head sorted out before going back. Just sitting and talking with Jess really seemed the most comfortable of things. They quickly had flowed into a conversation like time had never passed between the two of them. Jess talked with him all about her dreams for her wedding to Steve and he was only hoping and praying that Steve was going to make those dreams a reality for her. He knew that if it were he she was marrying that he would be sure that they did. He thought about her past and all that had happened to her. Chris didn’t have the best of childhoods but it seemed that nothing compared to what Jess had been through in her life. He was so blessed to have such a wonderful mother and four great sisters that he never even thought about what it would be like to be abused. It hurt him to think of what it must have been like for Jess and he wished for the millionth time that he could be the person to take away all of her pain.

“Next up,” Jess said as she looked down at the piece of paper that was in front of her, “Oh, this should be fun. Someone here has sent up a Kamikaze for a member of the audience and me to do. Oh this ought to be real good. Well, enjoy the music for a little bit and I’ll be right back,” she said as she turned on the music for people to sit back and relax to.

“Okay,” she said as she went up to the table where Chris and Joey had situated themselves for the night, “What is this all about?”

“Me?” Chris asked with a sly look on his face, “You think this has to do with me?”

“Yeah you, with that sexy little grin on your face,” she said as she went up and sat down next to Chris. “I can tell your handwriting anywhere.”

“So what’s up with that?” Joey asked, “What is a kamikaze anyway? I mean other than a shot.” He asked as he took a sip on his beer.

“It means,” Jess explained, “that Chris here gets to decide what we’re going to sing. Little does he know that I can change it at any time,” she said as she stuck out her tongue at him.

“You better not,” he said with a pout on his face.

“Oh fine, I’ll sing whatever you pick, so what’s it gonna be?” she asked.

“I think I’m gonna wait to see that look on your face when the music starts,” he said to Jess as the waitress came over with refills on drinks for all of them. “And in honor of your debut as the newest duo to hit Orlando, Kamikaze’s for everyone,” Chris said with a smile on his face.

“Whatever dude,” Joey said, “I just wanna know what you picked out for us to sing.”

“Stop complaining, it can’t be much worse than some of the other crap people have had me sing,” Jess said, “Are we gonna do these shots or what?”

“Let’s do it,” Joey said as they all picked up their shots.

“Here’s to the new dad,” Jess said with a smile on her face. She was so excited for Joey and Kelly. She knew that they had been together for a long time and hopefully this was just the thing to bring them even closer. After they all downed their shots Jess stood up to go back up front to get things going again for the night.

“No way little girl,” Chris said as he jumped up behind her, “I’m going to take care of the introductions here.” Jess watched as Chris made his way up to her spot behind the microphone to take over her job of introducing the next performers. “Okay everyone,” he said into the microphone, “We’re gonna have some fun with my girl Jess and my boy Joey over there tonight,” he continued.

“What do you think he’s gonna do to us?” Jess turned to ask Joey.

“I have no clue but I do know that he’s got something up his sleeve.”

“Oh well, I guess we’re about to find out huh?”

“And now without any further adieu, here are Jess and Joey,” he said as the crowd cheered and Joey took Jess’ hand and the two made their way up to the microphones that were set up.

“Are you even going to give us a hint?” Jess turned to ask Chris.

“No way, not even a little one,” he smiled.

“Oh fine,” she said as she turned to Joey, “we’ll show him won’t we.”

“You bet, give it your best shot Kirkpatrick,” Joey said as he and Jess looked toward the video monitor in anticipation of the song title that was about to pop onto the screen.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Joey and Jess!” he said as the crowd cheered once again. Jess and Joey’s mouths dropped at the same time when they saw title that came up on the screen.

“He didn’t,” she whispered to Joey so the people in the bar could hear.

“He did,” Joey said as the music started. “Here goes nothing,” he said as he brought the microphone.

“Don’t go breaking my heart,” he sang as he looked at Jess and smiled.

“I couldn’t if I tried,” she sang back to him. The two sang the song with everything that was in them and had a blast playing off each other. The entire time Chris sat back at the booth and watched them interacting together. He couldn’t help but get a little jealous of Joey up there with her, but then thought that it was his own fault. He was the one who made Joey sing the song with her so if anyone was to blame, it was himself. The two just looked so natural together. Holding hands and fooling around together. Joey was just happy that Kelly wasn’t there watching because she surely would get jealous of what was going on.

“Nobody knows it 

When I was down 

I was your clown 

Nobody knows it 

Right from the start 

I gave you my heart 

I gave you my heart 



So don't go breaking my heart 

I won't go breaking your heart 

Don't go breaking my heart”

The entire audience was on their feet screaming and yelling at what they had just experienced. Joey and Jess were just amazing up on the stage together and they were both laughing hysterically over their performance of Elton John and Kiki Dee. They jumped off the stage and hugged each other.

“Okay, that was fun,” she said as Joey hugged her close.

“Hell yeah, and he thought he was going to get us. HA!”

“Okay fine, so you had fun with that one, I’ll have to try harder next time,” Chris said as he came over to the pair.

“So you two gonna sing more later?” Jess asked as she was getting ready to make her way back over to the booth to get back to work.

“I think I might have something up my sleeve,” Chris smiled. “You were pretty cute up there,” he admitted. There were several other things that he wanted to stay but decided that this was not the time or the place to say it.

“Awww, aren’t you sweet,” she said as she pinched his cheeks. “Well, I can’t wait to hear what you have up your sleeve but I gotta get back up there before this crowd gets too restless.” The Saturday night crowd tended to be a bit more ruthless than the rest of the week as there was much more drinking going on due to no one having to work the next day. At that same point the crowd started screaming and shouting so she decided to get back up on up to the stage and get things started again.

As Jess made her way back up the boys sat down and had a few more drinks. Chris watched Jess carefully as she worked throughout the night and Joey studied him watching her. Joey sat back and thought to himself about the feelings that he was having for her only a week ago. It seemed that he was trying to get his life into perspective. It had all come as a great shock to him when he found out that Kelly was pregnant and he made a promise to her to start to settle down and be the father to his child that she wanted him to be. However, he was determined to find out what was going on with Chris and Jess. He could tell that his friend really seemed to like her but this was the first time that he really noticed it as he was blinded by his own feelings for her before. Joey and Chris both had quite a bit to drink and Joey decided that he was going to find out exactly what Chris’ feelings were.

“So, Jess huh?” Joey asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh give it up, I’ve been watching you having your eyes on her all night long. So give, what’s going on with the two of you.” Joey asked as he took another sip of his beer.

“Honestly, nothing at all. Now, ask me if I want something to happen there,” Chris said with a smile on his face.

“Really? Dude, I’d be careful if I were you,” Joey warned. Joey and Jess had experienced a couple of talks about her feelings that she had for Steve and the last thing that he wanted to see happen, was for Chris to get burned by this.

“Don’t worry I know what I’m doing,” Chris slurred. Both he and Joey had drunk quite a bit and they were both beginning to really feel the effects of the alcohol, Chris more so than Joey.

“Okay, if you say so,” Joey warned.

“I’ve got a plan, you wanna hear it,” Chris attempted to whisper to Joey with no luck whatsoever. At the same time, Jess was calling Chris’ name up on stage to be the next singer. “Just watch this,” Chris said with a smile as he took another sip on his drink and stumbled up to the stage.

“Alright you’re up next,” Jess said as Chris approached the stage. “You sure you’re gonna be okay?” she asked as she noticed that he was stumbling a bit.

“Oh I’m fine,” he said with a smile.

“Alright then, you ready?” she asked.

“You bet,” he said as the music began. Jess went and took a seat next to Joey to listen to Chris sing. It was a song that she had never heard him sing before and she was looking forward to hearing him sing. Joey watched Chris with a concerned look on his face. He knew that Chris had feelings for Jess and he was a touch afraid that this song that he was about to sing was meant for Jess.

“The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful; Stop me and steal my breath; Emeralds from mountains thrust towards the sky; Never revealing their depth; Tell me that we belong together; Dress it up, with the trappings of love; I’ll be captivated, I’ll hang from your lips; Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above.”

As Chris sang the song, every word that he sang was directed right at Jessica. Joey wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol that he had been drinking all night talking or his true feelings but it seemed so far that Jess didn’t seem to have a clue that he was singing to her. She was just sitting back and enjoying listening to him sing. As Chris began the next part of the song he grabbed the cordless mic and headed towards their table. He reached down and took Jessica’s hand in his and pulled him up next to her. She stood there shocked as he sang the words of the song right to her.

“I’ll be, your crying shoulder; I’ll be love suicide; I’ll be, better when I’m older; I’ll be the greatest fan of your life; Rain falls angry on the tin roof as we lie awake in my bed; You’re my survival, you’re my living proof; My love is alive and not dead.”

As Chris began the next verse of the song he held Jessica right next to him. She simply felt in her heart that she just wanted to escape. She had no idea whatsoever where this was coming from and she felt extremely uncomfortable. Most of the people in the bar knew that she was engaged to Steve and not only that they knew him personally. Chris didn’t seem to notice the fact that she was trying to squirm away as he was singing, he held her close and sang the rest of the song to her.

“Tell me, that we belong together; Dress it up in the trappings of love, I’ll be captivated, I’ll hang from your lips; Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above; I’ll be your crying shoulder, I’ll be love suicide; I’ll be, better when I’m older; I’ll be the greatest fan of your life; Well I’ve dropped out, burned up, fought my way back from the dead; Turned in, turned on, remembered the thing that you said.”

Joey sat in his chair amazed at what was playing out before him. He knew that Chris had feelings for Jess but he also knew that this was not the time or the place to be expressing those feelings. He watched her from his seat and saw how uncomfortable she looked up on the stage and he simply wanted to run up and take her away. He could see the tears forming in her eyes as he finished the song and Joey wasn’t sure whether these were tears of joy or of sheer panic for what Chris was doing.

“I’ll be your crying shoulder, I’ll be your love suicide; I’ll be better when I’m older, I’ll be the greatest fan of your life; The greatest fan of your life.”

As Chris finished the song the small audience began to applaud. It seemed that those who knew Jess could see that she was a bit shaken by what happened and clapped appreciatively but certainly not anything like they had done earlier when Jess was up there singing with Joey. Joey on the other hand was shocked and didn’t quite know what to do. The alcohol that he had drank earlier had long since vanished from his system as his concern for both Jess and Chris at that moment seemed to grow. Chris looked at Jess longingly and only wanted to simply pull her close and kiss her. He smiled at her and she gave him a look of sheer panic.

Jess didn’t know what to think. She never expected Chris to be singing this to her in a million years. Her first instinct was to smack him for what he had done. There were many people in the bar who knew Steve and would surly be going to him and telling him what happened and Jess feared for what Steve might do. The only thing she could think of to do was to let go of Chris’ hand and head over to the booth to get the next performer up, and she did just that. She left Chris standing there with his hand out where just a moment before she was holding it.

“Okay, thank you Chris,” she said into the microphone and just stared at him. “This next act will be our last of the night so lets hear it for Cindy, Michele and Christine,” she said as three very drunken young ladies made their way up to the stage. Jess started the music and then disappeared into the ladies room. She quickly checked to see if anyone was around and when she noticed no one was there she broke down and cried.

“What the hell was that all about?” Joey said as he dragged Chris outside so as not to make a scene. “You know that there are people inside who know Steve, what the hell, they’re going to go and tell him and then, I fear for what might happen. You really are a dumb ass you know that?” Joey said trying to control his anger, which was clearly getting the best of him at that moment.

“I fucked up didn’t I,” Chris said as he hung his head down. It seemed like such a great idea at first but that was clearly the alcohol talking. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel that way about Jess it was simply that it was the wrong place and the wrong time to express his feelings.

“Oh dude, you more than fucked up.” Joey said as he shook his head.

“What should I do?” he asked his friend hoping that Joey would have some good advice for him.

“I really don’t know what to tell you Chris,” he said as the two turned and saw Jess coming outside. They didn’t realize the time that had passed and the last performer had gone and Mike, one of the guys in the bar, had offered to clean up when he saw her blood shot eyes. “Jess,” Joey said as he saw her walk outside.

“Hey Joe, can you give me a lift home,” she said as she went up to Joey completely ignoring Chris.

“Sure no problem sweetie,” he said as he went up to her and put his arm around her shoulder. Jess did her best not to even look at Chris.

“Jess,” Chris began as he went up to say how sorry he was.

“Chris, I’ve got nothing at all to say to you right now. I really don’t’ know what to think or say, other than,” she stopped and collected her thoughts, “no, I’m not even going to go there. Just, leave me alone a while to think this through,” she said as she squirmed her way out from underneath Joey’s arm and headed towards his car.

“Jess,” Chris called to her again as she completely ignored him.

“Dude, let her go and think this through. You laid it all out for her tonight and I think she has a clue now as to how you feel. She’s gotta let it sink in. Just let her be.” Joey said to his friend.

“Take care of her for me tonight?” Chris asked.

“Yeah, I will, get out of here and be careful driving home. Give me a call on my cell so that I know you got home alright kay?” Joey asked his friend.

“Sure,” Chris said as he watched Jess get into Joey’s car and the two headed towards her home. What had started out as an innocent evening had turned into quite a disaster and Chris had not one single idea of how he was going to fix this. He drove home by himself, the events quickly sobering him up. As he turned towards his street the radio began playing the very same song that he had just sang to Jessica. He quickly turned the radio off and felt the anger creeping up in his body for what he had just done. He pulled up to the house and silently went inside. Busta greeted him at the door and he scooped him up in his arms and headed to bed. The sight of Jessica’s tears clearly in his head as he tried to figure out a way that he was going to fix this. Someway, somehow he was going to have to make this right.

Chapter 15

“Mmmmm,” Jess sighed as she rolled over in bed and saw the bright sunlight coming in through the window. She couldn’t even remember when exactly she had fallen asleep. The last she remembered, Joey had brought her home when she was in hysterics after Chris singing at the bar. She still wasn’t quite sure what it all meant but she knew that eventually she was going to have to find out. She rolled over to see Steve standing over her bed and she smiled happily at the sight of his face.

“Boy are you a sight for sore eyes,” he said as he smiled into her eyes. Jess had never been so happy to see his face then she was at that moment. It seemed that every thought that she was having of Chris or Joey immediately went out of her mind as she saw the face of her fiancé lying next to her in bed. She rolled into his arms as he pulled her close into a hug and she smiled into his chest as he kissed her head.

“Have you any clue how much I missed you?” she asked as she lifted her head.

“Probably about as much as I missed you.” He said as he took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately on the lips. Jess melted under his touch as she remembered one of the many reasons that she loved this man. He had a way of making her body feel things that she never thought she’d ever feel in her life. The two stayed in bed that entire next day thinking nothing of friends, family or weddings and the furthest thing from Jess’ mind was Chris Kirkpatrick and the evening that she had just experienced.

Meanwhile, down in Key Biscayne the four friends who were all enjoying each others company were getting ready to go back home to recording studios and theme parks. “Good morning,” Chelsea said as she met Taylor at the car. The guys were both inside settling the bills and getting things ready to head back up to Orlando.

“Hey sweetie,” Taylor said as she went up to Chelsea and the two girls embraced. “So how was your night last night?” she asked her friend.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Chelsea smiled.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so happy Chels,” Taylor admitted to her friend. “You are simply glowing.”

“Because you have any room at all to talk right?” Chelsea said as she looked at her friend who immediately blushed.

“Yeah, I guess, god he’s a good kisser,” she admitted with a grin on her face.

“Who’s a good kisser?” Justin asked as he came up behind Taylor who immediately turned several shades of crimson.

“AHHHHHH you got caught!” Lance smiled as he took Chelsea’s hand in his and the four friends got into Lance’s car and headed back to Orlando.

“Hey, you girls wanna give us your opinion on something?” Justin asked as he rummaged through his bag for a CD.

“Sure, what are we listening to?” Chelsea asked from the front seat where she had turned around to find out what Justin had.

“We need to get some opinions on a new CD,” he began to explain.

“Oh you brought it with you J?” Lance asked.

“Yeah, figured the girls like us, so that probably like this group too.” He explained as he handed the unmarked CD to Chelsea to put in the CD player.

“OHHHH, 98*?” Chelsea squealed.

“What you got a thing for them?” Lance teased her as Chelsea blushed next to him.

“Are you kidding?” Taylor joked along, “She’s always had a thing for them, which one is it Chelsea, is it Nick or is it Justin?”

“No silly, its Drew,” Justin played along.

“Alright, that’s enough picking on Chelsea, so is it 98 or what?” Chelsea whined.

“Nope, same idea but not them,” Justin explained.

“OHHHHHH, Backstreet Boys?” Taylor squealed. “Is this their new CD?” she asked excitedly.

“Talk about having issues,” Lance joked.

“Oh yeah, she’s always had a thing for Howie,” Chelsea was going to enjoy busting on her friend after what she had just been through, “Sorry sweetie, paybacks are a bitch aren’t they?” she smiled at her friend.

“Yeah, well, he can’t move his hips quite as well as you baby,” she smiled at Justin as she went to kiss his lips but he turned his head too quick and she only got his cheek.

“I see how it is,” Justin pouted.

“You aren’t really mad are you?” she asked concerned.

“Awww, baby, I couldn’t be mad at you,” he said as he leaned over and kissed her.

“GET A ROOM!” Chelsea and Lance screamed from the front seat. Justin and Taylor just laughed at their friends as the music started.

“Hold on a sec, don’t you guys like hate each other or something like that?” Chelsea asked.

“Believe it or not we really don’t.” Lance explained.

“Yeah, its just one of those many rumors that goes around about us. They actually listened to No Strings before we released it and they want us to listen to a few of the rough cuts before they release their new CD. Hey, maybe you girls would want to come to the CD release party,” Justin turned to ask Taylor who enthusiastically smiled.

“Heck yeah,” Chelsea said.

“It’s the first time they really play all the music so you girls will be the first. They get ideas from what the crowd thinks before they actually do the release.”

“Sounds awesome,” Taylor said as she settled back to listen to the CD with Justin. The four friends enjoyed listening to the CD and each had their own comments to make on the different songs that the other group was trying to choose for their CD. After listening to “The Call” Chelsea and Taylor both expressed how much they loved the song and how it would make an incredible video.

“Get another boyfriend,” the next song began as Taylor and Chelsea looked at each other and laughed.

“Can we play this song for Jess?” Taylor asked as she lifted her head from Justin’s shoulder where it was resting.

“Heck yeah, this is perfect,” Chelsea said.

“Lets talk about one, baby, you gotta hear me out; Did you really think I’d be the last to know what its all about; Lets talk about two you say, He’s the essence of your life; Well he’ll eat you up from inside slow and then he doesn’t want to know; I’m telling you he’ll eat you up from inside, and then he doesn’t want to know; Listen I mean it, there’s nothing that he’s worthy of, he’s just another player, playing in the name of love; I’ve seen enough now this must come to an end; Get another boyfriend,” the first verse of the song played as each of the four turned to each other with pretty much the same _expression on their face.

AS the song ended, Justin turned to Taylor with a smile on his face. “What?” she asked curious as to why he was smiling so brightly.

“I’ve got the way that you girls can tell Jess about her moron of a fiancé and the shit he pulled this weekend,” he said.

“OH, I’ve got to hear this,” Chelsea said as she turned around in the seat.

“Just play her the song, then tell her that its all about Steve,” he said with a grin, “that way you girls aren’t really telling her and neither are any of us, it’s the Backstreet Boys who are telling her,” he smiled.

“Yeah, that ought to go over big, let’s just wait on it okay,” Taylor said, as she was about to continue she was interrupted by Justin’s cell phone ringing.

“Yo what’s up?” Justin asked as he noticed Chris’ name come up on his caller ID.

“Not much how was the weekend? Are you back yet?” Chris asked. 

“Nah, we’re on our way back right now and the weekend was wonderful,” he said as he kissed Taylor’s’ head which was resting on his lap as she was beginning to fall asleep.

“Alright, can you do me a favor?”

“Yeah, sure no problem, what do you need?” Justin asked a bit concerned about his friend. It wasn’t like Chris to ask for help on anything at all.

“Give me a call when you get back, we need to talk and I can’t discuss it right now,” he said.

“Sure, no problem. Chris, is everything okay?”

“I don’t think so honestly, but we’ll talk later.” Chris admitted to his friend.

“No problem at all, but can I have a little hint?”

“Guess,” Chris said.

“Dani?” Justin asked as Lance looked in the rear view at the mention of Chris’ ex-girlfriends name.

“Believe it or not it has nothing at all to do with her, its Jessica.”

“Simpson?”

“No dumb ass, Jessica as in Jess? You know the best friend of the girl you’re dating?”

“Damn, sorry dude, is everything okay?” Justin pressed. He was not known for his patience and pretty much was ready to know what was going on right now.

“I don’t think so, I did something rather dumb last night and just need to talk so stop by my place later and we’ll chat kay?” Chris asked.

“Sure no problem, we should be back in about an hour and then I gotta drop off Taylor then I’ll be over,” Justin said to his friend. The two said quick good-byes and hung up their phones.

“Is everything okay?” Lance asked.

“Don’t know, all I know is that I have to go over and see him when we get back. I’m thinking things didn’t go so well while we were away this weekend.”

“Damn, I was hoping with her fiancé pulling the shit he did this weekend that we could all just tell Jess about him and then Chris could go in and be her knight in shining armor,” Chelsea said quietly so as not to wake Taylor who had fallen asleep in Justin’s lap.

“Yeah, well from the sounds of it Chris did something to fuck that up,” Justin said as he sat back to think about what could have caused Chris to call sounding so desperate to talk to him. He just hoped that his friend didn’t screw up too badly.

Chapter 16

It had been several days since everyone had arrived back in Orlando and the girls and guys were both busy doing their recordings. The guys happened to be doing their recording in the same building as the girls so when they were on a break they’d stop down and say hi which was wonderful for Chelsea, Taylor and Ryanne. They could spend some quality time with their boyfriends while they were recording and they’d go down and listen to them record as well.

As soon as Justin had gotten back to Orlando the first person that he went to go and see after dropping off Taylor was Chris. Chris had spent most of the day sulking after everything that had happened at the bar the night before.

“So what happened?” Justin asked.

“Basically I pretty much fucked the whole thing up,” Chris responded with his head hung low in his hands.

“Chris, it couldn’t have been that bad,” Justin said.

“Trust me Ju, I don’t think it could have been much worse. Wait, I take that back, it could have been worse, I could have kissed her, yeah, that could have been worse.” Chris said, “What the hell am I gonna do now? I mean, lets be serious here, I totally screwed with her brain and now not only does she have all of her past to deal with now she’s got this with me to deal with as well,” Chris said.

“Actually, there’s more than that,” Justin admitted. He knew he was going to have to be the one to tell Chris about seeing Steve in the Keys and he figured it was better to get it over with now as opposed to later.

“What do you mean?” Chris asked lifting his head up to hear Justin.

“Uh,” Justin stammered, “We kind of saw Steve down in Key Biscayne,” Justin began as he saw Chris’ eyes widen, “with another girl.” He said softly.

“WHAT!” Chris exclaimed, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “That lying, cheating, sack of shit!” Chris was ready to jump out of his skin he was so upset. He couldn’t even come close to believing that someone would do this to Jess, much less the person that she was supposedly in love with and about to marry.

“Chris, dude, calm down, I know you’re pissed and all but you can’t say ANYTHING to Jess,” he professed to his friend, “We promised the girls that we wouldn’t say anything at all to Jess until the girls feel that she is ready. I’m sure that they will be talking now that they are back and that Jess is going to say something about last night. From the sounds of it, I don’t think Jess needs her head filled with anything more at this point,” he explained to his friend trying to calm him down. Calming down Chris Kirkpatrick wasn’t always the easiest thing to do.

“Fine, I won’t say anything, but I tell ya now, if I see him I am not responsible for my actions,” Chris admitted calming down. “So, enough about my sorry ass love life, how about yours?”

Justin told Chris about the weekend with Taylor as well as how well things were going with Chelsea and Lance. Chris had listened to several rough cuts of the songs that the guys were going to use for the weekend and he knew that things would be just perfect between all of them. Both of them were interested to find out how things were going with Ryanne and JC but they knew that they’d find out soon enough.

Monday arrived too soon for everyone and it was finally time to get back to work. Things between Chelsea, Lance, Taylor and Justin were about as close to perfect as they could possibly get. Ryanne and JC didn’t officially say to everyone that they were dating but when JC arrived on Monday and placed a kiss on her cheek as soon as he saw her and then took her hand in his they all knew what was going on. JC was down with the girls every chance he got due to the fact that he had written several songs that the girls were going to record as well as helping Ryanne with some of the producing of the album. Whenever Chris would come down to the studio, Jess did her best to ignore him completely. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him after the number he pulled on her over the weekend.

“So what exactly happened," Ryanne asked Jess when the girls were taking a quick break and the other girls had gone off with their men for a few minutes. Chris had stopped by as well and Jess brushed right past him without saying a word.

“Ugh, you don’t want to know,” Jess sighed.

“Actually, yeah, I do, so what the hell happened. Last week you two were all kind of friends and shit and then this week you won’t even look at him.” Ryanne pressed her friend. She was concerned about her and didn’t want to see Jess’ moods effect the recording that they were working on.

“Well, let’s put it this way, he basically laid all his feelings out there for me to see,” Jess explained as Ryanne looked at her curiously. “He sang that song ‘I’ll Be’ by Edwin McCain for me.”

“Yeah so what?” Ryanne asked, it wasn’t unlike someone to get up on stage and sing a song for someone and she didn’t understand quite what the big deal was.

“Well, he didn’t just sing it, he actually brought me up on stage and sang it to me. I guess it wouldn’t have been so bad if a bunch of Steve’s friends weren’t in the bar. I mean, maybe it was the alcohol talking, he probably doesn’t even feel anything at all for me, but it confused me you know? Not to mention the fact that I’m scared shitless as to what will happen if Steve finds out about this. I mean, he isn’t too fond of Chris and the boys as it is and to find out that Chris did that, drunk or not, he’s gonna be pissed.” Jess confessed to her friend. She really wasn’t quite sure what to feel.

“At least that explains why you’ve been ignoring him all week,” Ryanne said to her friend.

“Is it that obvious?” Jess asked.

“Uh, yeah, I mean, you two are usually joking around and stuff and I don’t think I’ve seen you say more than three words to him this week,” Ryanne explained to her friend.

“I just don’t know what to say to him. I don’t intend on being like this forever, its just gonna take me a few days to figure it all out in my brain kay?” She said to her friend hoping that she would understand.

Jess told the other girls what had happened and they were all very understanding as to why at this point, she wanted nothing more than to ignore Chris completely. She told them all about Steve coming home and surprising her by being there when she woke up and how much more in love she was with him and how happy she was that he had been accepted into the school of his choice. They were working out how it was going to work out when he was in school and she was still working in Orlando. They knew that it would be tough but they also knew that they wanted it to work and were willing to do whatever they had to in order to make it do just that. Jess was happier with Steve than she had ever been and Chelsea and Taylor couldn’t find it within them to tell her about what they had seen over the weekend. He had even sent flowers to the studio the first day of their recordings to congratulate her as well as the other girls. He was just being the perfect boyfriend.

The end of the week came too quickly and the five guys of NSYNC went down to see the girls finish up their session and they wanted to take them all out to dinner. It had been a long week of work for all of them and they figured they’d treat them in celebration of finishing their first week of recording. JC walked in first followed by the rest of the guys and saw Ryanne sitting down at the mixing board with headphones on listening to the girls. The guys all smiled as they could hear the girls and they knew they sounded awesome. Justin and Lance looked at their girlfriends lovingly and Joey and Chris enjoyed listening to the music. They were recording the song that JC had written for them that would hopefully make its way onto the soundtrack for the new Julia Roberts music.

“Some hearts they just get all the right breaks; Some hearts have the stars on their side; Some hearts they just have it so easy; Some hearts just get lucky sometimes; Some hearts just get lucky, lucky sometimes.”

The girls all sang the words of the song and looked at each other as they all sang together. They loved to sing and the guys had to admit that they all sounded amazing on the song. They didn’t even realize that the guys were watching as they were having so much fun doing the recording. As the final notes of the song were played on the playback they smiled together and let out a collective screech when Ryanne said they were all clear.

“That sounded awesome!” Chelsea said as she went to hug Taylor and Jess.

“It sure did,” a deep voice came over the intercom. The girls interrupted their celebration and turned to see the five guys standing in the booth. Chelsea and Taylor quickly took off their headphones so that they could run in and see their boyfriends as Jess took her time cleaning up the music that was around the room.

“You sounded amazing baby,” Justin said as he lifted Taylor up off the ground and kissed her lips.

“Thanks sweetie,” she said after they broke their embrace.

Chelsea and Lance were experiencing a similar reunion as JC and Ryanne were listening to the playback and he was giving her ideas on different ways to mix the music. She loved that he would give her ideas and welcomed his input.

“So how’d you enjoy your first week recording?” Joey asked as he went over to talk to Chelsea and Lance.

“Absolutely amazing,” Chelsea smiled as Lance had his arm around her waist.

“Unbelievable,” Taylor said as she took Justin by the hand to talk with the rest of the group.

“I just can’t describe it,” Chelsea began, “I mean, we’re getting paid to do this, which of course blows my mind, but the fact that we might just be on a movie soundtrack and that we’re going to have our own album is just incomprehensible.” She admitted as she just glowed.

“I guess it went well,” Joey laughed as Justin and Lance joined in.

“Come on, you know that you guys were psyched when you were working on your first album,” Taylor said as she turned to Justin.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he smiled and looked over at Chris who was studying Jessica cleaning up and not really being a part of the conversation. Jess hadn’t said anything at all to him all week long after the incident at the bar. He had called her several times to apologize but she ignored all of his calls and every time that he would come down to their studio she’d find a reason to disappear. Whether it was to run to the rest room or return a phone call to Steve she’d find a way to get out of the room and ignore Chris completely. All he wanted to do was say he was sorry and get things back to the way they were with her.

“Yo Kirkpatrick,” Joey said as he shook Chris from his thoughts.

“Huh?” Chris asked as he turned to see the guys all talking, “Sorry dude, what’s going on?”

“We wanted to know if you wanted to go out to dinner with us. We’re gonna take the girls out to celebrate.” Justin explained.

“Uh, yeah sure, sounds good to me,” He said as he grabbed his bag, “Give me a call and let me know what’s going on. I’m gonna run to the house first and get changed.”

“No problem dude,” Joey said as Chris made his way out. As he was walking out the door he had his head hung low and didn’t even see Jess walking from the studio into the control room and he bumped right into her.

“Sorry,” he said softly as his eyes met hers. It was the first communication that the two of them had since Saturday night.

“It’s okay,” she said as she tried to not look right at him.

“Uh, how are ya?” he asked as he watched her.

“I’m okay, its been a crazy week,” she said as she began to find her toes very interesting.

“Yeah, I bet, you girls sound great though.”

“Thanks, its been fun, I’ve really enjoyed it,” Jess admitted as her and Chris started to talk at the same time.

“Listen Jess,” he said.

“Chris,” she said at the same time. “You go,” she smiled.

“I just wanted to say how sorry I was for what happened on Saturday night,” he admitted. “It really wasn’t called for at all and,” he said as she interrupted him.

“Chris, I know you’re sorry about that, blame it on whatever you want alright. But for right now we just need to move on. You really messed with my brain and right now I don’t know what to think but we’re going to be spending time around each other and I at least want us to be civil. Okay?” she asked.

“I understand. I’m sorry about what I did like I said before. I want nothing more than to pick up where our friendship left off. I had no right to do what I did,” he said.

“I know, just give me a few days and I’m sure I’ll be back to normal,” she explained as she smiled at him. The smile in and of itself told him that she was going to forgive him and he couldn’t have been happier.

“You gonna come out to dinner with the gang tonight?” he asked her.

“Everyone’s going out?” she asked.

“Yeah, Joe was just telling me about it. You wanna come?”

“Sure why not,” she said, “I just need to call Steve first. Maybe he’ll come with us if that’s okay,” she said as Chris looked at her.

“Yeah, no problem,” Chris lied. He certainly didn’t want Steve out with them however; he was going to put up with it if it meant that Jess would be coming along.

“Okay, I’ll find out what’s going on with the girls and then I guess I’ll see you later,” she smiled at him.

“Yeah, I’ll see you later,” he said as he turned to walk away. He fought the urge to hug her as he said goodbye because he knew that this was the wrong thing for him to do. He walked out to his car and sighed as he turned the music up in the car as he drove away. He wasn’t sure if the girls had told her yet about what they saw Steve doing the weekend before but seeing as she was inviting him to join them for dinner then Chris figured nothing had been told as of yet.

Jess went and met with the girls and they all decided that they’d meet at Bahama Breeze for dinner on International Drive. Seeing as this was the slower season before the holidays, they figured the restaurant wouldn’t be too packed. Jess called Steve and she was shocked, albeit thrilled, when he said that he wanted to come along.

“Hey everyone!” Jess said as she walked into the restaurant alone. Steve wasn’t home when she got there so she left him a note as to where she was going to be for the evening and let him know to come and meet up with them to help celebrate.

“Hey Jess,” Joey said as he stood up and held the chair out on the other side of him for her to sit in. Jess said hi to everyone who had gathered. It was Joey, Kelly, Justin, Taylor, JC, Ryanne, Lance and Chelsea all at the table and she looked around for Chris who had yet to arrive.

“Where’s Steve sweetie?” Chelsea asked from her seat across the table.

“He’s out right now, had to do some stuff with his dad I’m guessing, but I left him a note to come and meet us here,” she said with a smile on her face. Throughout the whole relationship that Jess had with Steve it was rare that the girls saw her truly happy and she looked perfectly content with the relationship. Chelsea and Taylor figured Steve was being so sweet due to the fact that he had been cheating on Jess and they couldn’t wait for him to screw up so that they could tell her. It was all they could do to have Ryanne keep her mouth shut after they told her about what had happened. Ryanne simply wanted to call Jess immediately and tell her what she had heard and get her to break it off with Steve. He was certainly not one of her favorite people.

“Okay, I’m here the party can now begin,” Chris said as he approached the group. They had been given a private area of the dining room so that the patrons wouldn’t bother them for the evening. They wanted the night to be just about them and no one else. Jess seemed very distant from Chris the entire night and it was hard for him not to be goofing around with her the whole time. Jess kept looking down to her cell phone throughout the night wondering why Steve hadn’t called. He had told her that he would come out and meet them and she hoped that he’d show up at dinner just so that they could all enjoy some time together.

“So what did you girls think of recording,” Justin asked as they all finished up their dinner and waited for desert to be served.

“Absolutely amazing,” Taylor said with a smile.

“It really is indescribable knowing that our pictures and names are going to be on an actual CD,” Chelsea smiled as Lance put his arm over the back of her chair.

“No kidding, was it like this for you guys?” Jess turned to ask Joey.

“I don’t think we quite appreciated it as much because we were so young,” he explained.

“Yeah, it’s a lot different now that we’re older and we’re able to do more on the recording,” JC explained as the waitress came to the table with the food for everyone. They all enjoyed their deserts and drinks and continued to talk about the possible future of the group.

Chapter 17

Steve walked into the house and saw Jessica’s note sitting on the table. After putting down his things he picked up the note and read it slowly.

“Hey sweetie, Just wanted to let you know what was going on tonight. I’m going to meet the girls and their men over at Bahama Breeze over on I-Drive and then we’re going to Tabu after. Give me a call on my cell and let me know where you are going to meet up with us. I really want you to be a part of the celebration. Love you sweetie, Jess”

Steve put down the note and headed to the refrigerator to grab him a beer. He popped open the can and sat down on the couch, contemplating whether or not he wanted to go out with the group. He knew that he had to call back, Maryanne, the girl that he had gone to Key Biscayne with, and seeing as Jess was going to be out for a while then this would be the perfect time to do it.

He opened his second can of beer and picked up the phone to call her and was excited to hear the sound of her voice.

“Hey babe,” Steve said as he heard her sweet voice answer the phone.

“Hey you! I miss you so much already,” she said.

“I know, I miss you too, but just think, soon I’ll be up at school down south soon and we’ll be together,” he assured her.

“Yeah, I know that, I just wish it wasn’t so long until I got to see you again,” she whined.

Steve smiled as he spoke to her. “Well, maybe I can sneak away again for another long weekend and we can go someplace else this time. How does Fort Myers sound?” he asked.

“Just beautiful,” she smiled. The two talked a while longer about their future as Steve put every thought of Jessica out of his mind. Steve hadn’t said anything yet to Jess about the fact that he wasn’t going to go to FSU rather he was going to end up down at Florida State. He had met MaryAnne at a bar over at Pleasure Island when she was on the College Program for Disney and now was back going to school at Florida State. When he got accepted there he immediately called her and the two got together again. The weekend he had just spent with her was the first time that he had gotten to spend an extended period of time with her and they were completely head over heels for each other. Steve just figured that he could run both relationships while he was at school and Jess was still in Orlando singing at the park and doing recordings. When she had told him about the album he couldn’t have been happier because that just meant more time for him to spend with MaryAnne.

Steve was shaken from his thoughts by the call waiting on the phone beeping. He quickly looked at the caller ID and noticed his friend Jack’s phone number and went to say goodbye to MaryAnne.

“Hey sweetie, that’s Jack on the other line so I gotta go but I’ll call you later okay?” he asked.

“Okay, I love you Steve,” she sighed.

“I love you too and I’ll talk to you soon,” he said as he hung up the phone and went to talk to his friend. “Yo man what’s up?” Steve asked his friend.

“Not much how are you doing?” he asked Steve sounding rather concerned.

“I’m fine, really good actually, what are you up to?”

“Not much, just wanted to find out what was going on with you and Jess. Guess you two are over huh?” Jack asked.

“What?” Steve asked taking another sip of his 3^rd beer of the evening. “What the hell are you talking about? Everything is fine with me and Jess.”

“Oh, I just figured you guys were through after I saw her this weekend at the Boo,” he said to his friend.

“She was working and I was down in Key Biscayne, what’s so strange about that. I was with that CP chick that I met a few weeks ago.”

“Well, I guess you didn’t hear about what happened then did you?” he asked.

“Dude, what the hell are you talking about?” Steve asked getting angry. Jess hadn’t said anything at all to him about work on Saturday and he was getting slightly pissed. In his mind, it was okay for him to cheat on her but he wanted to hear nothing of her cheating on him.

Jack continued to tell Steve everything that had happened that evening. He told him all about Jess up on stage singing with Joey and having a great time and he told him about Joey and Chris being there to see her work.

“That’s nothing, those boy band jerks show up all the time to screw around with her, they’re all friends I guess. I used to know them back when we all worked at the park together, that Chris guy had a thing for her but I won out in the end when they went to start the group.” Steve explained. He had never been happier than the day that Chris and Joey left the park, it meant that he had Jess all to himself and he was just thrilled.

“Well, that’s not the worst of it,” Jack explained.

“You mean there’s more?” Steve asked as he opened another beer. He had drunk 4 so far in the span of less than an hour and was beginning to feel the effects of it.

“Uh, yeah, I don’t know if you really want to hear this,” Jack said getting concerned as to just what Steve might do with the information that he was about to give him.

“Damn, what the hell happened?” Steve asked his friend.

“Well, that Chris guy must have a thing for her still. He took her up on stage and was singing some love song to her. I figured you two were through with the way that she was looking at him all lovey dovey and shit.”

“WHAT!” Steve screamed into the phone. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It was one thing to him what he was doing with MaryAnne but when it came to his girl with another guy he wanted to hear nothing of it at all. “Please tell me that you are joking,” he said as trying to calm down.

“I wish I was. That’s why I was asking you whether or not you and Jess had broken up. When I saw her up there with him I swore he was about to kiss her,” Jack said just adding fuel to the fire that was building up inside of Steve.

“You know what,” he interrupted his friend, “I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later,” he said.

“Are you okay?” Jack asked his friend a bit concerned over what Steve just might do. He wasn’t known for his ability to control his temper.

“Yeah,” Steve said sounding convincing, “I’m fine, I’m going to calm down a bit and then I’m gonna go meet up with Jess. I’ll talk to you later,” he said.

“Okay, talk to you later dude. If you need anything please let me know okay?” he asked.

“You bet, later,” he said.

“Later,” Jack said as he hung up his phone. Steve sat in his living room taking another sip out of his beer. He could feel the anger inside of him simply growing as he tried to decide exactly what he wanted to do. As he turned up the volume on the television and popped open another beer he contemplated his feelings. He thought about Chris and Joey and how they had always liked Jess and remembered the night that Jess came home with Chris. He saw the two of them hugging and how comfortable Jess looked in his arms. The more he thought the angrier he got and he knew what he wanted to do. He quickly changed and took the last sip on his beer and headed out the door. Although he was in no condition to drive he did precisely that and headed towards Tabu where he planned on confronting the guys. Man to man.

Meanwhile, back at the restaurant everyone was finishing up their desert and settling the bill.

“So you girls ready to party?” Joey asked as everyone got up from the table.

“Hey sweetie,” Kelly began, “I’m not feeling so hot. Do you mind if you take me home first?” she asked.

“Of course not baby, do you mind if I go out with the guys though after?” he asked.

“Not a problem at all. You go have fun,” she smiled as he put his arm around her shoulder. The two of them looked so incredibly cute together and Joey was always watching over her every move now that he knew she was pregnant.

“Is everyone else going?” Justin asked looking at Taylor who smiled up at him brightly.

“Heck yeah, we deserve it after the hell our producer has been putting us through all week,” Chelsea smiled at Ryanne who shot her a dirty look.

“You think that was rough, just wait and see what its like having your producer and stage manager being the same person and what its gonna be like at work next week,” she grinned as the other three girls all groaned. They all knew it was going to get crazy now that they would be going back to work at the Studios as well as trying to fit in the recording of the CD. They were going to be at it non stop.

“Hey Jess,” Chelsea asked her friend who seemed to be staring off into space, “You gonna come with?” she asked.

“Um, yeah,” Jess said searching her purse for her cell phone. She couldn’t quite figure out why Steve hadn’t at least called to say that he wasn’t coming and she was getting a touch worried about him. “I’m gonna give Steve a quick call to see if he wants to meet us there but you guys go ahead.” She said as they all went to walk outside.

“Why don’t you come with me?” Chris said tentatively. “I’m going to head over to Joe’s and wait for him and then the two of us are going to head on over together.” He said.

“Uh, alright,” Jess said, “I have to drop my car off at my place first though if that’s okay?” she asked.

“Sure, then we can go meet up with Joey. I’ll be the designated driver for the night.”

“Sounds good to me,” she said as she hopped into her car and dialed her home phone number. When Steve didn’t answer she immediately got worried that something must have happened to him and she hoped that everything was okay. Chris followed her to her home and thought as he listened to the radio.

“In the latest entertainment news, it looks like two of the members of NSYNC are off the market ladies,” the radio DJ said. “Reports are out that Lance and Justin were seen with two new females enjoying a nice private getaway down in Key Biscayne last weekend,” he continued.

“Damn people,” Chris thought. He couldn’t understand why the media couldn’t leave well enough alone and let the guys live their private lives. It was one of the things he despised the most out of being in the entertainment industry. He quickly switched on a CD and relaxed listening to the latest Busta Rhymes CD.

In Jessica’s car she was listening to the same station but heard the rest of the report from the DJ. “And in other news, it looks like another member might just be hunting for some new love as well. Chris Kirkpatrick, who recently broke up with his girlfriend Danielle Raabe, was spotted at a local nightclub singing a heartfelt love song to a girl at the bar. Reports are the she is a performer out at Universal Studios and she and Chris have been longtime friends. Are there maybe 3 NSYNC members that are dating ladies?” he said. Jessica gasped at the thought of what was going to come about from the reports. She only hoped that Steve wasn’t listening to the same radio station she thought as she pulled up in front of the apartment.

“I’m just gonna run inside real quick and see if he’s home and invite him to come along with us okay?” Jess said to Chris who had pulled up next to her.

“Kay,” he said as he sat back and relaxed. Jess ran into the house and found the note that she had left earlier sitting on the couch but Steve was not to be found anywhere. She noticed the cans of beer strewn across the living room and looked around for a note that maybe he had left for her letting her know where he was. When she found nothing she turned around and locked the door and headed on outside.

“He home?” Chris asked as Jess opened up the passengers’ door of Chris’ Escalade and hopped into the car.

“Nope, no note or anything. I know he’s been home but he probably went out with his friends,” she said as Chris pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards Joey’s home on the other side of Orlando. “So did you um, hear the radio on the way over here?” she asked tentatively. She wasn’t sure what Chris was going to think of his name on the radio. She knew that he was very particular about what news got spread.

“Yeah, I did actually, I can’t believe they outed Justin and Lance and the girls,” he sighed, “Sometimes I really hate this business.”

“No kidding, I tell ya, it’s the one thing that I’m not looking forward to, However it looks like its already starting for me,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Chris asked as he turned the corner.

“Chris, did you hear the entire report?” she asked.

“I guess not, I turned it off after I heard the Justin/Taylor, Lance/Chelsea rumor. What else could they report on? They didn’t say anything about Kelly and Joey and the baby did they?” he asked concerned. Joey and Kelly were trying to keep the baby information private as long as they possibly could.

“Chris,” she started, “They said something about you.” She said quietly.

“What have they got on me? I’ve been pretty tame lately,” he smiled. Prior to the girls dating the guys the NSYNC news was all about Chris breaking up with Dani and how he took the break up.

“Uh, they said something about you and I,” Jess said softly.

“Are you kidding me?” he screamed. “What did they say?” he asked.

“Not much, just that you were singing a love song to a girl at a local club and that it was someone who you used to work with at Universal. I just hope Steve didn’t hear,” she said the last part softly, almost to herself.

“Jess, I’m so sorry, I didn’t think that would get out, I guess I can’t do anything anymore huh?” he sighed.

“Guess not,” she said as they drove the rest of the way to Joey’s home in silence, both of them pondering the thoughts of what would happen should Steve actually find out about the incident. They both had their own reasons of hoping and praying that he didn’t hear the report for they both knew for sure that he would know it was her that they were talking about.

Chapter 18

“This place is so awesome,” Taylor said as Justin pulled up to the bar with Lance and Chelsea sitting in the backseat.

“No kidding,” Chelsea agreed, “And we get to go to the VIP room tonight too Tay,” she smiled. The girls had always wanted to go up to the VIP room up in Tabu, but had never gotten that opportunity.

“Well, we can’t very well be down in the main bar, we’d get attacked,” Lance said as he pulled Chelsea close.

“Oh yeah, and I have a little surprise for you,” Justin said as he turned to Taylor when they arrived at the club.

“Really, what is it?” she asked excitedly.

“You are so awful Taylor!” Lance exclaimed. “Can’t you even wait just ten minutes,” he said as he extended his hand to Chelsea who was making her way out of the large vehicle.

“Just wait until you get inside baby,” Justin said as he took her hand in his and the two couples made their way into the bar. They were immediately recognized by security out front they were quickly escorted up to the VIP room so as not to get mauled by fans on their way in. Even though there were no concerts or anything going on, it was common knowledge around the city that the guys frequented the bar.

“Hey man, what’s going on?” Howie asked, as they all entered the VIP area that overlooked the dance floor. There were a few other people milling around but Taylor’s mouth dropped as she saw Howie Dorough standing in front of her.

“Oh my god,” she said under her breath only loud enough for Chelsea to hear.

“Hey Howie,” Lance extended his hand to his friend. “What’s going on?”

“Not much, how you doing Ju?” he asked Justin.

“Pretty good, just got back from Key Biscayne for the weekend and working on the new album of course,” Justin said, as Taylor could find no words inside her.

“So I hear,” Howie said as looked at the two girls, “are these the mysterious ladies you were down there with?” he asked with a smile towards both the girls.

“What do you mean so you hear?” Justin asked.

“Oh you guys are all over the radio, heard it on the way over here tonight, didn’t you hear the latest updates. Turns out you guys are all hot and heavy with these two and Chris has some new chick too.” Howie informed the guys.

“Guess we missed that one huh?” Justin said, “Anyway, these would be the girls though, Howie I’d like you to meet Taylor and Chelsea,” he said as Howie extended his hand to Taylor who was standing still speechless.

“They are actually two thirds of the newest act on my label,” Lance threw in as both of the girls grinned.

“Doesn’t talk much huh?” Howie joked.

“Ah, she’s just a little star struck right now,” Chelsea joked, “Nice to meet you Howie,” she said as she flashed him a smile.

“I’m not star struck,” Taylor said, “Its very nice to meet you Howie,” she said. “See, I can talk to him,” Taylor said as she stuck her tongue out at Chelsea. “Just you wait until you get to meet Mr. Lachay, then you can talk kay?” she smirked as Howie looked at the two girls curiously.

“See, she has, what do you girls call it? Issues? With you,” Justin explained as Taylor turned several shades of red.

“Ugh, nice boyfriend I have huh?” Taylor turned to ask Chelsea as they all made their way over to the couches that surrounded the room and had a drink together.

“Ah, I see, so you’ve got competition huh Timberlake?” Howie smiled as he put his arm over Taylor’s shoulder.

“Whatever dude, she’s all mine,” Justin said as he pulled Taylor close and kissed her. The friends all laughed as Taylor’s face turned brighter.

“Okay, enough with the Taylor embarrassing,” Taylor said.

“So do I get to meet Chris’ new girl tonight too?” Howie asked, as everyone ordered another round of drinks.

“Uh, actually she’s not really Chris’ girl, but yeah, she’ll be here,” Lance explained. He attempted to explain the entire situation about Chris and Jess and how they were just friends but how Chris liked her and that she was engaged to another person.

“Damn, that’s gonna go over big,” Howie said as the two girls looked at each other concerned. They knew that if Steve heard that report that he wasn’t gonna be too happy and they were a little worried about their friend. The group sat back and settled into a discussion of the new albums they were all working on as well as their upcoming tours. It amazed both the girls that the guys were able to exchange their ideas so freely when just a few weeks ago they thought they absolutely hated one another.

Meanwhile Jess and Chris had arrived at Joey’s to pick him up and the three were on their way to the bar. Ryanne and JC were following behind because she had to stop at the girls apartment quickly to call her family as she had yet to talk to her brother’s yet that day and they were playing in a football game that night. Ryanne was very close to her family and always kept tabs on her brothers because they were so far away.

Jess, Chris and Joey arrived at the bar first and quickly parked their car and headed inside. After giving their name to security in the front of the club, they were escorted much like the group prior, up to the VIP area. As they were passing the bar, Jess felt someone grab her arm. Chris and Joey were in front of her talking about various things and didn’t even notice that she wasn’t behind them.

“Hey,” Steve said as he pulled her close to him.

“Hey baby,” Jess smiled as she went to put her arms up around his neck. She was so excited to see him. “I didn’t expect you to be here,” she said as she placed a kiss on his cheek. “Come on, you can come up with the rest of the group. I think that Taylor and Chelsea,” she started to say excitedly as he stopped her.

“I don’t want to go up there, come on, let’s go home,” he said. She looked up into his eyes and by the darkness that was inside them, she knew that he had heard the radio and he wasn’t pleased at all with what he heard.

“Uh, okay,” she said getting concerned, “Let me just go and…” she started.

“You aren’t going anywhere except home with me,” he interrupted her. Jess saw the anger building inside of him and she was getting scared. She just wanted the girls to know where she went so that they wouldn’t worry. At the same time, JC and Ryanne were arriving at the bar. Jess gave Ryanne a smile as she walked by and the two locked eyes. Ryanne could read the _expression that was on her face and was immediately worried about her friend. She knew what Steve was capable of and didn’t want to see Jess leaving with him. However, Steve was adamant that she leave and wouldn’t’ allow her out of his sight.

“Okay,” she said as she tried to smile. “Let’s go then,” she said as Steve grabbed onto her arm and pulled her away with him. Jess tried to catch Ryanne but was unable to as she was being rushed up to the VIP area with JC because the rest of the people in the bar had seen the other NSYNC boys being brought into the bar and by this time, they were all getting restless.

Steve pushed Jess into their car and got into his side and locked the doors. The radio was off in the car and when Jess went to turn up the music Steve slapped her hand away. He was speeding quickly home, disregarding traffic signals along the way and Jess was getting more scared by the second. When she had gone to kiss his cheek she could smell the alcohol on his breath and knew he wasn’t in a great frame of mind. She could feel deep down that he had either heard the radio report or one of his friends had told him about what happened at the bar. Jessica felt something come over her that she never had before in her life. Even with her father, she was never scared for her life, but that was how she felt at that moment. She wasn’t sure what Steve had planned but she was worried.

“Hey guys,” Ryanne said as she and JC were escorted up to the VIP area. The group was all sitting around talking and worried about Jessica. Chris and Joey had looked behind them when they finally got up to VIP and couldn’t understand where she had gone.

“Ry, did you see Jess down there?” Joey asked.

“Uh, yeah, she was with Steve,” Ryanne said as she looked at the two girls. The girls quickly excused themselves and headed towards the rest room so as not to concern the guys. Chris watched as the girls walked away and was immediately worried about Jessica.

“So what did you see?” Chelsea asked.

“All I saw was that he had his hand on her arm and he was grabbing her and making her leave.” Ryanne explained to the girls. Chelsea and Taylor filled her in on what Howie had told them about the radio and the girls were all worried.

“What do you think he’d do if he heard that report on the radio?” Taylor asked.

“I really don’t know, but look what he did with her just giving Chris a hug goodnight,” Chelsea said.

“I hate to say this,” Ryanne began, “But I’m really worried about her,” she said.

“Okay, well, what are we going to do?” Chelsea asked.

“I say we go over there right now,” Taylor said.

“I agree, but what are we going to do about cars?” Ryanne asked.

“We’ll ask one of the guys to use theirs and they can follow behind us,” Chelsea explained.

“Yeah, I’m sure one of them won’t mind,” Ryanne said as the girls quickly made their way out of the restroom so that they could go and make sure that their friend was alright.

“Well, I tell ya what,” Chris said after the girls explained what they were going to do, “If he so much as lays a hand on her I’m going to kick hiss ass so fast he won’t know what hit him,” he said getting very agitated.

“Slow down big guy,” Justin said putting his hand on Chris’ shoulder. “We have to all get our heads on straight before anyone does anything. And to be totally honest, I don’t think you should be the one to go over there,” he said honestly. The last thing that needed to happen was for Chris to show up and make Steve angrier then he probably already was.

“Yeah, maybe it should just be the girls, it wouldn’t seem so strange if they show up,” JC said. They were all trying to figure out what to do while they waited for some word from Jessica. The mood among the friends certainly had changed from earlier in the evening. It went from being extremely celebratory to one of immediate concern for their friend.

Steve pulled up to the apartment and threw the car into park as he got out of the car and slammed the door behind him. Jessica sat there not sure exactly what to do. She wasn’t sure if she should immediately jump out of the car or stay there with the hope that he would go inside and calm down before she followed. Her decision making process was stopped quickly when he came over to the passenger’s side of the car and grabbed her arm and forced her into the house.

“Steve, please,” she said as he closed the front door to the house behind him and locked the door. “Sweetie, what is it?” she said not knowing what else to say but knowing clearly that she had to calm him down. Steve went straight up to her and slapped her across the face.

“How dare you!” he said.

“What Steve, what is it?” she said through her tears.

“You know damn well what this is all about. You lying bitch,” he said as he began to beat her. Jess cried and tried to fight back not knowing what else to do. She was clearly not as big or as strong as he was but she tried everything in her power to fight him. “I go away for the weekend and you’re off with that boy band ass hole behind my back,” he screamed.

“Steve please, let me explain,” she said through her tears as blood fell from her face where he had hit her. Jessica’s eye was quickly swelling and the pain in her arm was unbearable.

“You see this,” he said as he took the engagement picture of the two of them off the wall. “This is what I think of our engagement,” he said as he slammed the picture against the wall shattering the glass everywhere across the room. The glass went flying through the air as Jessica was coming closer and hit her directly in the eye.

“Steve, please stop,” she begged as he pulled her towards the bedroom where he proceeded to cover her mouth so she wouldn’t scream. He ripped off her skirt and didn’t even bother to rip off her panties as he took off his pants and had his way with her. Jessica tried to fight him but was in such extreme pain she couldn’t even move. It felt as if he was tearing her body in two and the tears fell quickly from her face. One eye had swollen shut she closed the other and saw her life flash before her eyes.

Steve finished his tirade on her and quickly dressed. Jessica was lying helpless on her bed and tried to stand to wash herself clean. Steve saw her try and leave the bedroom and kicked her one last time with his steel toed boots and Jessica fell into a heap on the ground not able to walk. He quickly left the apartment and slammed the door behind him. He got in his car and headed out to Ft. Lauderdale to see MaryAnne and left Jessica behind feeling helpless.

************************************************************************************************** Chelsea picked up her cell phone to call her friend. “Hey, this is Jess and I can’t come to the phone right now…” was all she needed to hear before she hung up the phone. Everyone was looking at her anxiously waiting what she had heard. “Voice mail,” she said simply as she dialed the apartment. “Hi you’ve reached…” again was all she needed to hear before her concern rose.

“Okay, so what now?” JC asked as he looked at the girls.

“We’re going over there,” Taylor said adamantly. “We have to make sure she’s okay.”

“Exactly,” Chelsea said, “I’m sorry baby, I’m not going to sleep tonight knowing that she could possibly be hurt,” she said as she turned to look at Lance with tears in her eyes.

“She’s gonna be okay,” Lance said as he pulled her close and kissed her head. “Do you want us to come along?” he asked.

“You know, that might not be half a bad idea for them to follow us and have them not too far away if we need them,” Ryanne said trying to be the voice of reason in a time when everyone was overaught with fear for their friend.

“We’ll call you guys if we need you,” Taylor said as Justin held her close.

“Please be careful baby,” he said into her hair.

“Yeah, if you need us just call our cells’, we’ll follow you girls and hang out around the corner,” Lance said.

“We can be there in two seconds and can even send either Lonnie or Mike over if you need it okay?” JC said. The girls each said their good-byes to the guys. As Chelsea went to give Chris a hug goodbye he pulled her aside.

“Chels, do me a favor?” he asked with tears forming in his eyes.

“Sure what is it?” she asked.

“Take care of her for me?”

“Chris, she’s gonna be okay, I’ll call you as soon as we make sure she’s all right okay?” she said with a forced smile as she gave her friend a hug.

“Just, yeah, call me,” he said not sure what exactly to say. The three girls headed out with the keys to Justin’s car in hand. The guys were all going to follow behind them and hang out around the corner just in case they were needed.

The girls drove quickly to Jessica’s; completely afraid of what they would find when they arrived. “So we are in agreement as to what we’re gonna do when we get there?” Ryanne asked from the front seat. Taylor was driving the car and Chelsea was sitting in the back.

“Yup,” Chelsea said.

“Hey,” Taylor said as they pulled up to the stop light, “Isn’t that Jessica’s car?” she said as she saw the car across the intersection. It looked like Steve in the car but she couldn’t quite make him out through the tinted windows.

“Yeah, I think it is,” Chelsea said.

“You think he just left her there?” Ryanne asked as the light turned green. The girls looked at the car and realized that it was in fact his car.

“I just hope that she’s okay,” Taylor said as they rounded the corner for Jessica’s apartment. All the girls were holding their breaths afraid of what they would find. Nothing could have prepared them for how they would find their friend.

Taylor pulled up in front of Jessica’s apartment and the girls all took a deep breath. They weren’t quite sure what to expect when they walked into the apartment but they were preparing themselves for the worst.

“Are you ready for this?” Ryanne asked the two girls as they all were saying silent prayers that Jess wouldn’t be as bad as they thought she might be.

“Yeah, let’s make sure she’s okay,” Taylor said as she led the group of girls up to the apartment. Taylor went to knock on the door but when she went to knock the door swung open. They walked inside and could tell that something was very wrong. There was broken glass everywhere; the lamp was tipped over, the television smashed in and a hole in the wall where the picture of Steve and Jess once hung.

“JESSICA!!!” Taylor yelled as the girls began to search for their friend. When Jess didn’t answer them they were immediately more worried and each of the girls went to a different area of the apartment.

“Oh my god,” Taylor said as she went into Jessica’s bedroom. “Guys, get in here now,” she yelled to her friends as the other girls came running. Jessica was a crumpled mess in the corner of the bedroom. Tears were streaming down her face but no sound was coming from her mouth. She looked at her friends with one eye opened and one swollen shut and cried. “Call Justin,” Taylor said as she went and put her arm around her friend. Ryanne went to go and call the guys as Chelsea and Taylor comforted their friend.

“You’re going to be okay sweetie,” Chelsea said as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. She couldn’t believe that anyone would have the audacity to do this to anyone, especially someone that she was so close to.

“We’re going to get you some help,” Taylor said as she tried to brush the hair away from Jessica’s eyes. At that simple touch Jess pulled away from her friend as if she was scared to have anyone even touch her. Taylor looked at Chelsea with fear in her eyes as Ryanne entered the room.

“Just keep her right here, the guys are on their way,” she whispered. “Hey girl, we’re right here for you,” she said trying to sound reassuring.

“Where is she?” Chris said as he busted through the door. The other 4 guys were following close behind and Chris headed straight for Jessica’s bedroom where just a week prior he spent a wonderful night with her sleeping in his arms. What he was greeted with was something much different. He got tears in his eyes as he saw the person that he cared so deeply about looking like she had just been beaten to death. He didn’t even know what to think as he saw her. Chris was feeling something that he never had before in his life, Chris Kirkpatrick was scared. He wasn’t scared for himself, he was scared for his friend. He stood in the doorway and couldn’t move a muscle, all he could do was stare at her.

Joey pushed his way into the room past Chris and went right over to Jessica’s side. He went up to Chelsea and knelt on his knees in front of Jess. He thought back to holding Jessica the night she told him that Steve had broken her arm and he told her that night that everything was going to be all right. However, as he looked at his friend, he knew that what had just occurred in her own home, was something simply terrible, something that was beyond his imagination.

“Be careful,” Chelsea whispered to him as Joey went to touch her. Jessica once again pulled away from her friend but looked straight at Joey with fear in her eyes. “He just wants to make sure you’re okay baby,” Chelsea said to her friend.

“Jess,” Joey began trying to stay strong, “We’re right here sweetie and we’re going to get you some help,” he said as he looked to the other guys who were standing in the doorway watching as everything was unfolding. Joey’s eyes met Chris’ as he tried to assure his friend that Jess was going to be all right. Justin stood behind Chris and put his hand on his shoulder and could feel Chris trembling under his touch. The guys had never seen Chris like this before and hoped that Chris was going to get through this.

“We need to get her to the hospital and have her examined,” Ryanne said looking at the other guys.

“I don’t think she can walk,” Taylor said as she had given up her space on the floor for Joey to be next to Jessica. Jess was slowly warming to Joey’s touch as he talked softly to her. He slowly picked her up off the ground and Jess melted into his arms.

“Let’s go,” he said as he walked towards the door carrying Jessica carefully out the door. Chris’ eyes met Jessica’s as Joey carried her out to the car. He saw her tear stained face and the hurt in her eyes. All he wanted to do was hold her close and take away all the pain that she was feeling, but he had no idea how in the world he was going to be able to do that.

“I’m just gonna grab some of her stuff,” Chelsea said as she went to Jessica’s drawers and pulled out pajamas and other clothes of hers so that she would be comfortable in the hospital. She quickly threw things in a bag as the group all headed out the door making sure to leave everything as close to the way they found it when the discovered the apartment. They knew that the police would want to come over and investigate and they wanted to make sure that the cops would have all the information they needed to get Steve.

“I’ll drive,” Justin said as he got the keys from Taylor who was clearly too distraught to drive as were Chelsea and Ryanne.

“I’ve already called the hospital and they are expecting us,” Lance said as he held Chelsea close.

“Okay, then lets go,” JC said as JC, Ryanne, Lance, and Chris got into JC’s car. Joey carefully put Jessica into the back of Justin’s car and Chelsea got in on the other side of her so that she and Joey could be on either side of Jess. She still hadn’t said anything since everyone arrived at the house and everyone was clearly concerned about their friend.

“Chris, are you okay?” Lance asked his friend. Chris hadn’t said a word since seeing Jessica at the house. He really didn’t have an idea as to what to say or how to express how he was feeling.

“Yeah, I think so,” Chris sighed, “How the hell…” he began, “How the hell could anyone do that to another person?” he asked as he could feel the anger build up inside him. He was so distraught that he didn’t really even know what to say. He was scared for Jessica, he so wanted to help her, but as skittish as she was before, she was sure to be even more so now. He sat back with his eyes closed, just wishing that this night had never happened.

“I just wish,” Ryanne sighed, “I wish that I would have just gone up and said something to Steve at the bar so that she wouldn’t have left with him,” she said as tears ran down her face. It was the first emotion that she had shown since she had arrived at Jess’ house with the girls.

“Shhhh angel,” JC said as he put his hand on top of hers, “Jess is gonna be okay. I don’t think there was anything any of us could have done tonight to make this not happen,” he said. JC had seen how angry Steve was at the bar and knew that nothing any of them could have said would have made him calm down.

Taylor sat staring out the window trying desperately to control her emotions as tears fell swiftly from her eyes. Justin held her hand and drove quickly to the hospital, none of them really wanting Jess to see how they were all feeling. They just all prayed that their friend was going to be all right. Joey and Chelsea tried to whisper to her reassuring thoughts about all the good things that were going on in her life but were afraid that all their talking was going on deaf ears. They knew that she would live, however, they weren’t sure what her frame of mind was going to be. Each one of the group tried to put themselves in her shoes, but were unable to fathom what could have been going through Jessica’s mind at that moment. Her world was falling apart around her. The person who she trusted to love her for the rest of her life had just treated her worse than any of them thought humanly possible, and they all wanted to be the first to have a crack at Steve when and if he decided to ever show his face again.

Chapter 19

Jessica opened her eyes to a blinding white light above her. She looked around at the unfamiliar setting and tried to move and was immediately stopped due to the pain that she was feeling. Her whole body was aching and she felt like she had been run over by a truck.

“Hey baby,” she heard the familiar voice of her friend Chelsea and turned to see Chelsea’s smiling face standing next to her bed.

“How are you feeling?” Taylor said from the other side of her as Jessica turned her head to see her friend. Just the simple movement was painful for her.

“Okay, I guess, I hurt like hell,” Jess replied to her friends. “How long have you two been here?” she asked as she looked at both of their friends who were looking pretty tired.

“Since you got here a couple days ago. You’ve been in and out pretty much the past couple days and we just wanted to be here for you,” Ryanne said as she looked at her friend. Although Jessica’s injuries didn’t include her being unconscious, the medication that she was on as well as the sheer stress of everything that was happening just kept her sleeping constantly. The few times she had woken up, it was just for very brief periods of time.

“Thanks guys,” she said as she tried to sit up. Chelsea and Taylor came up behind her and helped her to sit up in bed as she looked around the room. Flowers adorned every available space in the room. “Who are all the flowers from?” she asked.

“Mostly the guys, and us of course,” Taylor said, “Your mom is here too sweetie. Do you wanna see her?” she asked.

“Ugh, I guess I probably should huh?” she asked looking back and forth to her friends. Jess was in no mood to hear the words ‘I told you so’ from anyone, little less her mother. She had never trusted Steve from the day she met him and this was probably the tip of the iceberg for her mom. The girls both smiled and nodded their heads. “How did she find out I was here anyway?”

“Well, when she couldn’t get you at your place or your cell she called our apartment seeing as you are always over with us. I think we probably slipped and said something because next thing we knew she was here.” Taylor explained.

“Oh well, whatever,” Jessica sighed, “Is she here now?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think she’s out in the lobby,” Chelsea said as Taylor peeked her head out the door and waved to Jess’ mom. Her mother came into the room and looked at her daughter lying in the hospital bed. Jessica had a very swollen face and stitches around her eye which was black, she had a swollen lip as well and several other cuts on her face from the glass. Her arm was back in a cast and her leg was wrapped up pretty well. Steve had broken her arm again as it never fully had a chance to heal and one of the bones in her leg was bruised from him kicking her. She had several other bumps and bruises on her body, all of which would heal. The one thing that they were most worried about was her mental status as she really was pretty shaken up about the whole situation.

“Hi baby,” Katie, Jessica’s mother, said as she entered the room, “How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Okay, really sore, but I’m okay.”

Katie looked at her daughter not really sure what to say. Her life flashed before her eyes of life with her ex-husband. She had always prayed that none of her daughters would end up the same as she did, however here her daughter was lying in bed after being beaten by her boyfriend. She just hoped that her daughter would wise up and not go back to her boyfriend.

“Well, it certainly looks like you are in good hands here,” she said.

“Yeah, the doctors did a good job of stitching me up and stuff,” Jessica said.

“That’s actually not what I was talking about.”

“Well, I do have the best friends don’t I. Taylor, Chelsea and Ryanne have been taking shifts being here from what I understand. I couldn’t ask for better friends,” she smiled as she looked over at the flowers that were adorning her room from her friends.

“Well, what about Chris?” she asked.

“What about him?” Jess replied not quite knowing what her mother was talking about. She had mentioned his name a few times to her before but nothing that was in any detail. Jess had so many friends that came in and out of her life that worked in Florida that it was normal for her to mention a million different names to her mom, but Chris was one she was sure she had never mentioned before.

“Well, he’s been sitting out in the lobby since I got here two days ago, and from what the girls tell me he hasn’t left since you were brought in,” Katie explained as she straightened the blankets that covered her daughter.

“Are you serious?” Jess replied absolutely shocked. She had yet to see Chris since the day of the incident. All the other guys had come in to see her but he was mysteriously absent from the group when they would all come in. Jess figured he had other stuff to do so he wasn’t around. Although she was hurt by it, she had talked to him on the phone and he had said he’d see her soon.

“Yup. He sits out in the lobby most of the time, or he paces back and forth in front of your room. You mean he hasn’t been into see you yet?” her mother asked shocked.

“Not that I know of. Mom, is he out there now?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think so. Hang on let me look,” she said as she peeked her head out into the lobby. “Yup he’s out there.”

“Can you do me a favor? I really want to sit and talk to you but I really want to see him. Do you mind asking him to come in here?” she pleaded with her mother.

“Sure sweetie, hang on a sec. Wait, before I go, be nice to him please? He really seems to care a lot about you and he’s really having a rough time with this whole situation.” She said to her daughter as she kissed her forehead.

“What do you mean?” Jess asked.

“Well, I don’t think he’s ever had to deal with anything like this before and I think that he’s just having a rough time understanding why the two men who are the most important in your life have hurt you so much.”

“He told you that Chelsea told him about Dad huh?” Jess asked.

“Yeah, as I said, we’ve had several very long talks the past few days. He cares a great deal about you Jessica Anne. Just be kind to him all right?”

“Oh please, of course I will,” she sighed. Jess hated being called by her full name and she knew that every time her mother did it that it meant business.

“I love you sweetie,” Katie said to her daughter.

“I love you too mom,” she said as she walked her mother walk out the door. Jess sat back in her bed and closed her eyes thinking about what had happened. What her mother said really hit home with her. Why did the two most important men in her life hurt her so badly? She thought at one point in her life that she really deserved this, that maybe she had done something wrong to make her deserve the relationships that she was thrown into. But then there was Chris, and he really made things seem so much different. He treated her better than anyone ever had before. Then again, that was the way Steve was at the beginning of their relationship as well. ‘Will a relationship ever be normal for me?’ she thought to herself as she heard the door open to the room. She opened her eyes and inside of the door was Chris. He looked like he hadn’t left the hospital in a month to do anything from shower to shave to even eat. He looked plain run down as he walked into the room. Jessica expected him to come right up next to her bed but surprisingly, he kept his distance from her.

“Hey you,” she said as she saw him come into the room.

“Hey, uh, how are you?” he asked tentatively.

“Sore, but all together I think I’m going to pull through this. I’m ready to get out of this bed and back on my feet and doing something other than watch television and sleep.” She said as she smiled. When Jess smiled her entire face lit up. Whether she was beaten and bruised or made up for a night on the town she always had the most beautiful smile that he had ever seen.

“That’s good. When are they going to spring you from here?” he asked trying to make light conversation.

“I dunno. Hopefully within the next day or so. I’m ready to go home, and attempt some normal life,” she said.

“Yeah, I can imagine,” he said as he looked down at the floor, unable to meet her gaze that she so desperately wanted him to.

“You know,” she began, “you can look at me, I’m not going to melt or anything.” She said as she smiled. Chris’ eyes met hers and she could see the sadness and confusion in his eyes. “I’m going to be okay Chris, I really am,” she tried to convince him. Chris came up next to her bed and sat down by the side of it. He took one of her hands in his and looked into her eyes.

“You realize I haven’t left since you got here right? I don’t know what to say Jess. I really just want to go and hunt that guy down and beat him worse than he’s ever been beaten in his life. How can you sit here and attempt to smile with everything that has happened?” he asked.

“I guess,” she started, “I guess I just kind of have to. I mean, there’s nothing I can do to change it. I can’t go back and call the police now or not go home with him. I just have to live with it and try and pick up the pieces and move on.” Although she was saying this trying to convince Chris, Jess was trying hard to convince herself of it. She was hurting and really didn’t know what she was going to do when she got out of the hospital. However, somehow, telling all this to Chris made her feel like she could actually do it.

As the two sat in the hospital room they continued talking about various things but managing to steer clear of any talk of Steve or any thing else that would have to do with relationships. Chris always had a way of cheering Jess up and he was doing just that as they talked about their old times and pranks that they used to pull on other people at the park.

“Well, it certainly looks like our patient here is in better spirits today,” Dr. Ferguson said as she came into the room where Chris had Jess laughing hysterically.

“Hey Dr. Ferguson,” Jess said smiling and wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Hey doc,” Chris said, “So when do we get to spring her huh?”

“Well, its looking like you are doing great here Jess. You’re gonna have to still take it easy for a bit so that your leg and your arm can heal properly. I’m also setting you up for counseling for a while as well. I know that you are in great spirits right now but one of the best things for you is going to be to talk all this through. Seeing as you have such wonderful friends,” she said smiling at Chris, “you should be in great shape and I have no concerns at all that you are going to have a full recovery from this.”

“Thank you so much for everything doctor, I really am so indebted to all of you for the great care that you’ve given me while I’ve been here,” Jess said earnestly.

“It’s our pleasure Jessica, just take care of yourself okay,” she asked as she turned to Chris, “And you,” she said.

“Yes,” Chris replied as he looked up at the doctor.

“You take good care of this little girl here. I don’t want to see her back in the hospital again,” she said as she shook Chris’ hand.

“You have my word,” he said and as the doctor left the room he turned to Jessica and smiled, knowing that he would take the best care of her he possibly could and protect her from anything that might harm her.

Chapter 20

"Please, God, tell me this is the last box," Joey said as he fell on the couch.

"Awww, poor baby's tired huh?" Ryanne asked as she came out of the kitchen with gloves on her hands from scrubbing out the refrigerator.

"Whatever, you girls have been cleaning and we've just been lugging stuff up and down the steps," JC said as he came up behind her.

"How bout I make it up to you later huh?" she smiled at him as she stood on her toes to kiss his nose.

"You're not getting away with that this time," he smirked as he turned quickly away and went to help the guys with more stuff.

"You are all amazing, thank you so much for helping out today," Jess said as she came out of the bedroom.  The entire crew had all come to help her move into her new place.  After she got out of the hospital, Jess had stayed with her friends for a few weeks after spending some time with her mother in Connecticut, but was itching to be on her own again.  After much protest from her mother, Jess had convinced her that the best thing for her to do was to get her own place and get back on her feet.  She was lucky enough to find an apartment in the same complex where the girls lived so they were never far away and Chris, who had become her shadow, was only a few minutes away as well.

"Yeah, we're just doing it for the pizza and beer," Justin said as he came in the door with Chris close behind carrying a couch.  The two put the couch down and proceeded to flop right down on it.

"Next time you move we're hiring you movers," Chris said as he stretched his arms up over his head.

"I thought that's what you guys were?" Taylor joked as she jumped on Justin's lap.

"WHATEVER!" he laughed as he began to tickle her.  Chris moved to the side so as not to get involved in the torture that Justin was giving to Taylor.

"So looks like we got everything in here for you," Chris said as he went up to Jess' side.

"Yeah, thanks so much, I really appreciate it," she smiled as she looked up into his eyes.

"So," Chris said quickly looking away, "NYPD anyone?"

"Hell yeah!" Joey said as he jumped up from the couch.

"Not so tired anymore huh Joe?" Lance asked from the kitchen where he was with Chelsea.

"Man, we haven't had NYPD in forever with going back and forth between Chicago and Canada for filming.  I don't think I've had that stuff in months!"

"They probably really miss you Joey," Taylor grinned.

"You're gonna pay for that one," he said as he lunged towards Taylor tickling her.  After Joey and Justin finished their attack on her they all grabbed their things and headed out the door after making a quick call to Mike so as to ward off the fans who always seemed to come out of the woodwork whenever the guys were around.

"You know, someday you girls are gonna have to worry about this stuff," JC said as he glanced towards Mike and Lonnie who were at the next table.

"What do you mean?" Jess said as she took a bite out of her pizza.

"Security, fans, screaming, having to sit in back corners of restaurants, all that stuff." He replied.

"I don't think we're gonna have to worry about that quite yet," Chelsea replied taking a sip of her soda.

"Yeah, I don't see many teenage boys running around after girl groups anywhere around here," Taylor added.

"Aw, once they get a good look at your hot little body they'll be all after you," Justin whispered into her ear, which made Taylor turn seven shades of red. 

"Come on!”

"No Fair!"

"What?" Justin asked with a grin as he looked at Chris and Lance innocently "No fair that you get to make her blush and not tell us what you just said!" Chris replied

"Yeah, we wanna make fun of Taylor too!" Lance smiled as Chelsea hit his leg. "OW!"

"Didn't your mother teach you anything?  You're supposed to be nice to girls," she smiled

"Well, I am being nice."

"Yeah, we always pick on Taylor.  She'd think we were mad at her if we didn't!  Right Tay?" Chris grinned as he put his arm around her.

"Whatever Kirkpatrick," she said as she pulled away from him and snuggled into Justin's arms. 

"So what are we gonna do tonight?" Ryanne asked as the friends finished up their pizza.

"Let's go bowling!" Jess exclaimed.

"You wanna go where?" Chris asked.

"Bowling," she smiled as Chris and the rest gave her a questioning look, "Oh come on you guys know that you haven't done that in forever and it would be fun." She smiled.

"You are kidding right?" JC asked.

"You'd look cute in a pair of those hot bowling shoes," Ryanne smiled as she put her arms around him.

"Well, as much as I'd love to come and hang out with you guys, I've got a pregnant girlfriend to attend to," Joey said as he stood up and pulled out his wallet to help with the bill.

"Oh you're not paying Joe, remember, I owe you guys this," Jess said as she reached for her purse and pushed Joey's hand aside.

"Yeah, that's right, paying us for the hard labor huh Jess?" Justin joked.

"Whatever curly.  Just to thank you guys for helping me with the move and all," she said with a smile on her face.  Jess signed the credit card slip as the group of friends headed out to enjoy a night of fun together.  Joey went home to see Kelly and the rest headed to the bowling alley. 

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

"So how are you feeling?" Chris asked Jess as the two pulled out of the parking spot of the bowling alley.

"Pretty good actually," she said honestly.

"You know, you don't have to lie to me."

"I'm not at all seriously.  This is the best I've felt in a long time. Dr. Ferguson said that my arm and leg have healed nicely.  Dr. Phillips did a great job on the scars on my face and Dr. Williamson said that I'm really doing well as far as the whole therapy thing is concerned.  I've got great friends, I haven't heard from Steve since the incident and I just got my own apartment.  All in all, I don't think my life can get a whole lot better than this." She smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that," Chris said as he took her hand that was sitting by her side.  He gently stroked the inside of her palm with his thumb and Jess turned to look at him.  Ever since the experience that Jess had been through Chris had been with her every step of the way.  He stayed nights with her in the hospital, held her close when she would cry in her sleep, and just take her away from it all down to the beach when she needed to get away.  Jess was beginning to think more and more about the feelings that Chris had expressed to her prior to what affectionately became known as "the incident".  Chris still had his moments where he was very distant from her as he was trying to figure out how he felt about the entire situation. He wasn't entirely sure she was ready for any type of relationship, however much he cared for her, but he wanted to make sure she knew how he felt about her. In the same respect, he was concerned about getting into a relationship with someone who had never been in one where it was about love and respect and caring as opposed to hurt and pain.

The two pulled up to the parking spot in front of Jessica’s apartment and Jess looked up with her eyes glazed over in thought. “Penny for your thoughts?” Chris asked as he turned off the car.

“I was just thinking,” she sighed.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m, I was just thinking about everything that has happened and stuff and how this is really the first step in moving on. I mean, I know that this is the best thing for me to do. I know that my relationship with Steve was destructive and stuff, but this is the first step towards moving on and really being on my own. Do you know what I mean?”

“You gonna be okay?” he asked as he turned to look at her as she stared at the apartment building in front of them.

“Yeah,” Jessica sighed happily, “I really think I will be. Thanks for bringing me home.” She smiled as Chris pulled her in for a tight hug.

“Do you want me to go in with you?” he asked.

“Nah, I’ll be fine, gotta start doing this on my own right?”

“Yup, well, I’ll see you later okay?” he said.

“You bet,” she said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks again.” She said as she opened the door to the car.

“Anytime Jess,” he said as he watched her close the car door and make her way up to the apartment. He started the car and watched as she walked up the stairs and opened the door. Jess gave him a quick wave and closed the door behind her. He waited until he saw the light in the apartment go on before he backed out of the parking space and made his way home.

Jessica walked into her apartment and locked the door behind her and took in the sight of everything that was around her. This was her first place all to herself and she was scared and excited at the same time. She smiled as she dropped her purse on the table and went to the refrigerator to grab herself a diet Coke. She made her way to the bedroom and changed quickly into a pair of pajama bottoms and a tank top when she heard a knock at the door.

“Who the heck could that be?” she thought, “Probably Chris checking up on me or one of the girls,” she said to herself as she went to open the door. As no one else knew where she was living she didn’t even bother to ask who it was and opened the door.

“Hey Jess,” Steve said, as he looked her up and down in her clothes obviously ready for bed.

“Hi…” she managed to say as she looked at him. She hadn’t seen him since the day of the incident and she was scared to death to see him again.

“Well, aren’t you going to invite me in?” he asked with a smug look on his face.

“Uh, yeah,” she stumbled over her words not sure of exactly what to do and moved out of the way for him to come into the apartment. Jessica watched as he made his way into the living area and looked around. She looked to her purse to see if she could grab her cell phone to call one of the girls or guys to get there quickly, as her phone in the apartment wasn’t due to be installed until the next day. “Go ahead and make yourself at home,” she said as she went into the kitchen where her purse was so that she could stall time. “Do you want anything to drink?” she asked.

“Nah, I’m fine,” he said from the living room as Jess searched her purse. When she came up empty handed she immediately panicked and wasn’t sure of exactly what to do. She clearly wanted him out of the apartment but with no way to contact anyone she didn’t quite know how she was going to do that.

“So how have you been,” he asked from the couch where he had kicked off his shoes and put his feet up on the table.

“I’m…I’m okay I guess,” she said as she sat in the chair across the room uneasily.

“You’re looking at me like I’m gonna hurt you or something, why don’t you come over here and sit next to me.”

“I’m fine here thanks,” she said trying to control the amusement in her voice at the last statement, “What do you want Steve and how the hell did you find me here?” she asked.

“Isn’t a guy allowed to come and see his fiancé?” he asked.

“You are kidding right?” she asked. “You can’t honestly think I’m still going to marry you after what happened.” She said as she stood up and walked to the bedroom. She had yet to give him back his ring and she just wanted it out of her sight.

“What are you talking about?” he asked obviously oblivious to everything that happened. “Of course I’m your fiancé, we’re getting married.”

“Steve, here,” she said as she put the ring on the table in front of him. She didn’t want to touch him for fear of what he might do.

“What? You’re giving me back the ring?”

“There is no way in the world that I am going to marry you Steve. Not after what you did to me,” she said as she tried to control her emotions.

“Jess, come on, I know I made a mistake but lets be serious here, you love me, I love you and we’re getting married.” He said completely serious as he crossed the room towards her.

“Steve, a mistake is forgetting to take out the garbage or leaving dishes in the sink,” she explained as she tried to move away from him as he was getting closer. Steve reached out and grabbed her arm and pulled her close. He forced his lips on her silencing anything else that she was about to say. Jessica pursed her lips and pulled her arm loose and slapped him across the face. “Don’t you ever do that again,” she said as she pulled away and tears spilled from her eyes. Steve looked at her with his mouth dropped open. “Get out,” she said firmly.

“What?”

“Get the fuck out of here now Steve and never come back or I swear to God I will have the cops after your ass for everything you did,” she screamed.

Steve didn’t even know what to say, he just started at her with a blank _expression on his face, astonished at what he had just heard her say. He turned away from her quickly and went to the door. Jessica watched as he went to leave with her arms wrapped tightly around her. Steve went to grab the handle to the door and turned one last time to look at her.

“I’ll always love you Jessica.” He said simply as he turned and pulled the door behind him. Jessica stared at the door and watched as the man who she thought she’d love forever walked out of her life and broke fell to the floor and broke down in tears.

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

“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; Cause I’ve fallen, fallen, girl I’m falling for you; And I pray you’re falling to; Cause I’ve fallen fallen ever since the moment; I laid eyes on you.”

Chris listened to the strains of the song that the guys had recently recorded as he drove home from dropping Jessica off at home. His thoughts immediately went to when he was writing the song and he was transported back to that day instantly.

“Hey J, can I play something for you?” he asked Justin as the guys were wrapping up their session for the day.

“Sure man, but I gotta go and meet up with Taylor can we make it quick?”

“No problem, I kinda wanted to get your feelings on this song I just finished writing last night, I mean, you’re the big writer dude now and, I dunno…”

“Chris, shut up, play it for me,” Justin said as he sat down on the stool next to the piano as Chris sat down next to him and began to play the melody. “Dude, that’s awesome,” he said as Chris finished playing the song.

“Ya think?”

“Seriously man, that’s awesome, when did you write that?” Justin asked.

“I just finished it last night, but I was working on it while…” he began as his voice began to trail off.

“While Jess was in the hospital?” Justin said completing his friends sentence.

“Yeah, I dunno, I guess I hope maybe someday I can play it for her,” Chris said as he hung his head low. Justin put his hand on his friends’ back and gave him a reasurring hug.

“Its gonna take time Chris for her to come around, but I dunno, from what Taylor says, she’s got feelings for you too and has had them for a while. Its just gonna take time for her to get over all this.” Justin assured him.

“Thanks man,” Chris said as he gave his friend a hug.

Chris was immediately transported back to reality by an unfamiliar ringing of a cell phone. He grabbed for his phone and when he realized it wasn’t him he looked to the side and saw Jessica’s cell phone lying on the floor.

“Jessica’s phone how can I help ya?” he said when he recognized the phone number.

“Hey Chris, is Jess there?” Taylor asked.

“Nope, it must have fallen out of her purse when she got out of the car tonight, what’s going on?”

“Uh, nothing..” she stammered trying not to sound concerned.

“Taylor, you suck at lying, what’s up?” Chris pressed.

“I just wanted to make sure she was okay,” she said tentitively.

“What do you mean is she okay, what’s going on Taylor,” Chris said getting angry.

“Listen, don’t fly off the handle okay, but I thought I saw Steve’s car in the parking lot and I wanted…”

“I’m on my way,” Chris said cutting her off and making a u-turn in the middle of the road. Chris sped back to Jessica’s apartment and arrived within minutes. As he parked the car and turned off the lights he grabbed Jessica’s cell phone and quickly locked the door and without looking up headed up the stairs to her apartment.

“Whoa man, slow down,” the familiar voice said as he bumped into the person coming down the stairs. Chris looked up and his brown eyes met the blue ones of Steve who was on his way out of Jessica’s apartment.

“What the fuck are you doing here Steve?” Chris said as his eyes got angrier by the second.

“Dude, I just came to see…”

“The fuck you did,” Chris cut him off and pulled his arm back and punched him in the face.

“Man, what the hell was that for?” Steve said with his hand over his eye.

“You’re lucky that’s all you’re getting,” Chris said trying to control his instinct to beat him up right there and then. “You fucking go near her again and I tell you, as God as my witness I’ll have you hunted down and killed.”

Steve couldn’t say a word, he just stood there and stared at Chris as he continued on his tirade.

“And don’t think for a second I won’t do it,” Chris said as he turned and headed up to Jessica’s apartment.

“Chris,” Steve called to him.

“What.”

“Just……just take care of her.” He said simply.

“Fuck you Steve. Get the fuck out of here and never, and I mean never ever show your face around here again.” Chris said as he made his way up the steps. Steve watched as Chris made his way up to Jessica’s apartment and turned to walk away when Chris knocked on the door, realizing for the first time, that he had screwed up the most amazing thing he had ever had in his life and he walked away defeated.

“Jessica?” Chris said softly as he pushed the unlocked door open. After several attempts at knocking with no response he quietly let himself into the apartment. He was scared for what he might find when he walked inside but new that he had to be there for his friend. “Jess?” he called again as he searched the apartment for her. He could hear her quietly crying and went to the bedroom where he was sure to find her.

Jessica sat on the bed hugging her knees to her chest with her head burried into her hands as tears flowed freely down her face. The last time Chris had seen her like this was the night that Steve had beaten her up and he was scared to find that he may have done the same thing. He stayed strong as he approached her bed and quietly put his hand on top of hers.

“Jess,” he said softly as she lifted her head up and her eyes met his. Jessica reached for him and Chris held her close and rocked her on the bed as she cried. Jess had never felt so safe in her life as she did with Chris’ arms around her and after an hour of crying she looked up and her hazel eyes met his brown ones.

“You okay?” he asked her quietly as he brushed her hair from her eyes and wiped at the tears that were streaming down her face.

“How did you know?” she asked hoarsly.

“You left your cell phone in my car. Taylor called and said he had been here and I did a quick u-turn and was here as fast as I could. I just hope the cops around the corner didn’t catch me speeding,” he said with a smile. Jessica laughed at him and the two just stared into each other’s eyes.

“Thank you,” she said simply as she looked at him longingly.

“Jess, I’m always here for you, I’ve told you that before and I always be here for you regardless of who comes into our lives.” Jessica just smiled and snuggled further into his arms as Chris placed a kiss on her head. “You wanna tell me what happened?” he asked quietly as his eyes met hers again. Jessica described for him what happened as the two held hands and she sat with her head hung low. As she told him how she made Steve leave and told him to never come back Chris lifted her chin up to see her face.

“I think I realized, for the first time tonight, that I really am over him. I mean, I know that I should have figured that out on my own, but I think that making myself say goodbye to him and putting that closure to the relationship made me realize that I can do this on my own and I can make it. I don’t need to have him in my life forever and I’m going to be just fine,” she said as her eyes met his.

“I know you can do it Jess,” he said as he smiled at her. “And you’ve always got the rest of us here with you regardless,” he said as he brushed the hair from her face. Jessica looked up at him longingly.

“Can I ask you a question,” Jessica said quietly trying to gather the courage to ask him the question that had been plaguing her mind for months.

“Anything,”

“That song, the one you sang that night at the bar, were you really drunk or did you mean what you were singing to me?” she asked softly suddenly finding her fingernails very interesting.

Chris took a deep breath and prepared to give her the answer that he had been dreading for months. He looked down at the floor and began to speak, “Jess, I meant every single word of it. I know I shouldn’t have done it then, it wasn’t one of my finer moments I admit, but looking back on it now, I wanted you to know how I felt and that was the best way that I could express it.” He said as she lifted her head and looked at him.

“What about now?”

“Do I still feel that way?” he said as his eyes met hers as she nodded her head. “More than ever.” He said as she smiled at him. The two sat there for what seemed like an eternity just reading each other’s minds as Chris pulled her close. He kissed her first softly, to make sure that he wasn’t overstepping his bounds as a friend. However, when she looked at him with passion in her eyes he pulled her body up to his and the two were lost in each other in the most passionate kiss either of them had ever experienced, pouring ever emotion within them into it. As the pulled apart they looked at each other longingly and smiled, knowing that this had been the right thing all along and they had indeed fallen for each other.

The End

Tell Jennifer what you thought of this story!