Chapter 3

 

                “So today huh Chris.  Are you excited?”

                “No,” Chris lied.  His teeth chewed on his bottom lip as his eyes couldn’t help but glance over at the clock on the wall . . .  again.  Meghan was coming back today, and the thought of it was driving him insane.  He wanted nothing more than to rush to the airport and wait for her despite the fact that he knew she wouldn’t be there for another three hours.

                “Sure, so that’s why you look like you just want to post yourself next to that clock and never move again, right?”

                “Shut up Joey,” Chris answered, throwing his damp towel in the Italian man’s direction.  Joey ducked, laughing at his shorter friend before he went back to his position in the middle of the stage.  The rehearsal was the most low-key thing ever.  None of their choreographers had been able to make it and the night’s show had been rescheduled due to some kind of speaker problem.  For some reason they all still needed to be there however, pretending to rehearse when they were simply conversing, every now and then mingling in a dance step.

                Lance was letting JC give him dancing tips that weren’t all that useful while running back to his laptop every five minutes in hope of getting some work for FreeLance done.  It wasn’t that he needed the help, he’d been to all the practices too, but being useful seemed to be distracting JC from the fact that he still hadn’t been able to reach Christalee, and if a distraction was what JC needed, Lance was more than happy to supply it.

                Justin was dancing all right, just not to anything that was their music.  In fact, Justin wasn’t dancing to any music that the other guys could hear.  He apparently had some other beat in his head, and his arms and legs were following that rhythm, mindless of the fact that no one else could hear the music accompanying his moves.

                Chris nervously tried to follow JC and Lance’s practice if only in order to run the night through his mind, but would often get so distracted that he would start trying to follow Justin, and then all chaos would ensue.  A few times, he had caught himself just standing still, staring at the clock as he watched the minutes until Meghan’s arrival count down.

                Joey had been entertained by the whole package.  He would alternate between laughing at Justin’s bizarre moves and watching Lance jog back and forth between JC and his laptop.  He listened to JC’s childish advice, like warning Lance that his shoelaces should be tied before he got on stage, when they all knew that velcro was the key to not falling on your ass during a show.  And he watched Chris slip into a dreamworld that apparently involved the clock on the wall.

                Joey shook his head at Chris once again as he followed JC’s moves.  It wasn’t like the man hadn’t talked to Meghan recently.  In fact only two nights ago she had called to ask if it was alright that she bring someone with her for a few days.  Chris had obviously agreed right away, before asking any tour manager’s permission, fully intending on letting absolutely nothing further delay his reunion with Meghan.  He’d been so happy with the declaration that she would soon be coming back on tour, that he hadn’t even bothered to ask who exactly it was that she was bringing with her. Not that Joey would mind anyway.

                It was true that Meghan was Chris’ assistant, but after that, Joey was definitely the person who she was closest to.  He was the one who had heard her crying in her room the first week of her first tour with them when homesickness hit her.  He was the one who had leant her a shoulder when she’d learned her father was sick and Chris was positive he wouldn’t be able to see her in tears without breaking down himself. It was Joe that had dragged her on the dance floor every second dance during her impromptu birthday outing when he realised she was unsure of her dance moves.  Joey was her older brother on tour, and if Meghan felt she needed to bring someone back with her for a little while, he certainly wouldn’t be one to object.

                “Dammit Chris.  Your other left!”  Justin cried out suddenly who wasn’t even following the dance but had caught Chris’ wrong move when the man had slammed into him.  Chris gave him a sheepish smile of apology before returning to whatever move JC was now trying to perform.  He was trying to follow the dance steps, really he was, but that wasn’t as easy as it sounded when there was a clock directly in front of him, taunting him with the fact that Meghan wasn’t with him yet and wouldn’t be for a little while still.  He let his eyes wander to the time piece again, and this time managed to run into Lance instead.

                “Alright, that’s it, we’re taking a break,” JC finally called out, exasperated with the lack of attention his “students” were displaying.

                “Great, I’m going to go get some cold water,” Lance automatically answered.  They had water bottles on stage, but their contents were warm by now, and honestly Lance wanted a few minutes away from JC’s frantic attitude.  He nodded quickly when JC said something about borrowing his laptop as he was hopping of the stage.

                Chris didn’t seem to notice that everyone else had stopped, even Justin and Joey even though they hadn’t really been following the practice to start with, for a few minutes.  Finally, when he saw that he was the only fool left on centre stage, he sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the platform, squarely facing the slow moving clock on the wall.

                Joey and Justin took seats next to each other on the stage, talking about their plans for the night.  Justin had promised Sam that they would do something together, and was planning on going all out.  She was probably expecting a little room service meal and a pay-per-view movie, but Justin was hoping to somehow work in something that involved expensive food and candlelight.  Joey, was getting ready to tackle a few scripts that he’d been sent.  Chris didn’t even hear them when they asked him what his plans for the evening was.

                A sharp intake of breath from the side of the stage JC had adopted as his break section, brought all three men, even Chris, out of their reveries.  Justin made his way over to his friend, already anticipating what he would see on the screen of the laptop that was open before him.

                “What’s up C?  Did you just realise what slash is?”  There was no chuckle from JC or Chris’ directions, but Joey let out a quiet chuckle.

                “No,” was JC’s only answer as he kept his eyes focussed on the screen.

                “So what’s wrong?”  Justin asked, worried by the older band member’s response. He knew that Christalee had promised that she would e-mail Jace, but she hadn’t told Justin what would be in that e-mail.  It couldn’t be anything good if JC looked this worried.

                “It’s her,” JC answered.  Justin crouched next to JC to read what the e-mail said, totally mindless of the fact that to anyone else, this would have been a major invasion of privacy.

                “You haven’t even opened it yet,” Justin let out in an exasperated voice.  He’d expected something horrible, something that had sent JC into shock and would completely destroy the plan that he had so carefully laid out.  Instead, he saw Christalee’s e-mail address next to a subject line that simply read: “hey.”

                “But she’s e-mailing me.  She won’t talk to me on the phone, but she’ll e-mail me.  That can’t be good.  She’s breaking up with me.  She’s not going to forgive me this time.  She didn’t even let me explain Justin!  I swear I didn’t mean what I said.”  JC’s voice had become shaky and Justin looked down at him with sympathy.

                “Open the damn e-mail Joshua,”  Justin ordered, his voice hard and offering absolutely no room for compromise.

                “Fine, but if I run out of this room, practically in tears, you’re the only one that’s to blame.”  Justin didn’t seem too fazed at JC’s comment, and simply pointed his finger at the screen, beaconing his friend to find out what exactly his girl had in store for him.

                “She’s breaking up with me,”  JC said again after he had read the message.

                “What!”  Justin answered, thrown for a loop.  Christalee breaking up with JC was definitely not part of his master plan.  “She can’t be.”

                He knelt down until he could easily read the message on the screen.  “JC you dick, you just about gave me a heart attack.  Don’t freakin’ do that.”

                “So Christalee is not breaking up with him?”  Joey asked, keeping an ear on Justin and JC’s conversation, and keeping an eye on Chris’ newfound obsession for clocks.

                “No,” Justin answered as he read from the screen.  “She says that she’s sorry they haven’t been able to reach each other lately, but she’s working on this really big project pretty much around the clock.  She’s almost done though, and when this thing’s over, they will definitely have more time to talk.  There’s nothing in there about a break up.”

                “Dude, you’re paranoid,” Joey concluded.

                “No, see, time to talk.  That’s the same thing as ‘we have to talk’.  Which we all know, means we’re breaking up.  She’s breaking up with me.  I didn’t even get to apologise.  You said I should apologise Justin, she’s not even giving me a chance.”  By the time JC ended his thought, he no longer sounded despaired, but instead seemed truly angry at Justin for his advice not being profitable.

                “Woah man, chill.  You’ll get your chance to apologise when you talk to her. She doesn’t sound like she wants to break up so just relax.  Deep breaths Jace.”

                JC did in fact take in a few deep breaths before he tried to speak again.  “She’s going to break up with me,” he finally told Justin.

                “No she’s not.  Now take the water Lance brought you.”  He plucked a water bottle from the pile the just-arrived Lance was carrying and handed it to JC before he could protest.  “Drink some of that, and try to remind yourself that while you are a rash and clumsy person who can usually only manage to put his foot in his mouth, Christalee thinks things through and wouldn’t make any life-altering decisions without more thought, and reason, than this.  She’s not breaking up with you so either you chill out, or I’ll be forced to kick your ass.”

                JC didn’t have any response to this, but he didn’t look any more relieved than he did a few moments before.

                “That’s it.”  Justin turned toward Chris, somewhat thankful for the sudden interruption.  “I have to go.”

                “Where are you going?”  Lance asked, convinced he’d missed too much during his walk to get the water for his band mates.

                “The airport, I have to go wait for Meghan,” Chris answered, already picking up various items from the floor as he prepared for his departure.

                “She’s not going to be here for hours man.  What are you going to do, sit around the crowded airport watching the time tick by?  You can do that here without the threat of being mobbed,” Joey reasoned, though he was well aware that Chris wouldn’t be changing his mind anytime soon.

                “I’m not going to sit in a crowded airport watching the time tick by,” he automatically answered Joey after having straightened up to look him in the eyes.  “I’m going to sit in the uncrowded VIP section.  That’s what it’s there for.”

                “Dude, what about practice?”  Justin asked, all too happy to be done with practice and only waiting for the first word that he was free to go.

                “We’re done practice.  JC’s going to have a mental breakdown anyway.  We aren’t going to get anything else done today.”  JC growled at the response, but didn’t take his eyes off the computer screen before him as he tried to think up some coherent response to Christalee’s e-mail that wouldn’t result in their immediate breakup.

                “He’s right guys.  This isn’t really a practice,” Lance agreed, all too happy to get away from his newfound “tutor” if only for a little while.

                “But what about-” Joey started to protest.

                “It’s fine,” Lance answered before the question even had time to pass through his lips.  “I’ll go with him and keep him out of trouble.  We’ll be back by . . .  well, later.  Does anyone want anything?  I’m sure we could manage a slight detour somewhere for y’all.”

                They all answered negatively, Joey quietly telling Lance that he wasn’t sure that being attacked by a needy Chris was the best thing for Meghan, no matter what her current problem was.

                “That’s the thing Joey.  Only Chris really knows what her ‘current problem’ is.  Doesn’t that tell you something?”  His comment was met with nothing but doubt.  “Look, I know that you and Meghan are close and that she talks to you about all her problems, but this is a Chris thing.  You know that he adores her and would never hurt her.  I’m sure it’ll all work out.”

                “I know,” Joey answered, sheepishly looking down.  “It’s just that I’m used to looking out for Meghan and . . . ”

                “You don’t like the fact that someone else is taking your place?”

                “Nah, it’s not even that.”  Joey chuckled at himself, fully conscious of what an idiot he must look like.  “I’m just so used to acting like Meghan’s big brother that even though I know that Chris really likes her and that he would never do anything to hurt her, I still got to look out for her somehow, you know?”

                “Sure,” Lance answered, patting his friend on the back, “I mean, Ford’s a good guy and everything, but every now and then when me and Stacy meet up and she looks even just a little less than happy, I swear that I would kick his ass if that look on her face was because of him.”

                “Dude, Ford would kick your ass in a minute,” Joey answered.

                “Yeah, but the thought’s still there, just like you feel the need to protect Meghan from Chris.”  Joey nodded, and neither of the two men said anything for a few moments before Lance continued.  “You think he really has a chance, don’t you?”

                “Ford?  He’d totally beat you.”

                “No.”  Lance smiled at Joey’s confusion.  “Chris.  You wouldn’t be freaking out if you didn’t think he has a shot with Meghan, so you must really think he has a chance.”

                “I don’t think he has a chance, Lance.  I think he’s already won her over, and they just both have to realise it.”

                “Well, airports are notorious for big welcome back scenes, maybe something’ll spark there.”

                “Maybe,” Joey answered as Lance walked away from him, and toward Chris who was impatiently hopping about the exit door.

 

                “I can’t say it enough.”  JC paused for a second as he thought about what he’d just said.  “That’s crap.”  He finally concluded, as his finger found the backspace button on his keyboard.  The words he’d been writing and rewriting for over an hour now, disappeared from the screen before him.  He let a huge sigh of despair before he let himself fall on his back.  The mattress of his hotel bed bounce with him, creating waves that didn’t help calm his humour.

                He let himself lay there, surrounded by a blanket of self pity as he tried to find out how he could possibly get in touch with Christalee.  She wasn’t answering her phone, and flying out to see her simply wasn’t an option with his schedule.  His stupid schedule, that when he got right down to it, was the cause of all his problems.  If he’d been able to go visit her that weekend, or if he hadn’t called to find out how he should dress for that stupid event that had ended up being postponed anyhow.  JC shook his head at the ceiling.  The real if, was if he hadn’t been such a selfish prick.

                He sat up again, ready to take another stab at the e-mail though he was well aware that it would take a while before he was satisfied with anything he wrote.  His fingers didn’t even have time to reach his first key of choice when a knock on the door interrupted his progress.

                “Ah, what!” he called out in frustration, though he wasn’t quite sure if he was mad at himself or at whomever had just interrupted him.  He decided it was at himself when he saw the sheepish smile that Justin wore as his head snaked inside the doorway, apparently afraid of what he might find on the other side.

                “Is that what you’re wearing man?”

                “Huh?”

                “The party.  Tonight.  Is that what you’re wearing?”

                “Oh.”  JC looked down at himself, realising he wasn’t anywhere near ready.  He’d tried to plead his way out of the event, but with both Lance and Chris missing in action, management had refused to have him arrive late, let alone miss the entire event.  “Nah, hold on a second.”

                “Well hurry up man,”  Justin called to JC’s retreating form.  “The guys are waiting and are none too pleased about it.”

                “What guys?  Lance and Chris are at the airport, that leaves you and Joey.  If Joey really minded my being late, he’d be in here telling me to move my ass himself.”  JC raised his voice to be heard from the bathroom where he was quickly trying to make his hair look presentable.

                “Joey doesn’t care, but security’s having an aneurism.  You know them, if we say we’re going to be somewhere at five, we should be there at five, not five oh one, not four fifty-nine, five.  And you, are making us late.  You’re going to be in so much trouble . . . ”

                “Shut up Timberlake, I can’t count the number of times you’ve held us up.”

                “Yeah, but I always have a good reason,” Justin answered, closing the laptop that JC had left open on the bed.

                “Making out with Samantha when you should be getting dressed is not considered a good reason Justin.”  JC reappeared in the room, wearing a black shirt with silver writing.

                “See, it’s things like that, that prove to me that you’ve never made out with Sam.  That reassures me, I like that.”  He smiled, gesturing toward the door.  “Ready?”

                “As I’ll ever be,” JC answered, giving the laptop one more wistful look before he exited the room.

 

                “Two hours Lance.  Two whole hours.  I’m not talking an hour and fifty minutes or something here.  Two whole hours.  How is that allowed?”

                “I don’t know Chris,”  Lance answered, just as he’d been answering for the past two hours.  The second the plane was late, Chris had started complaining.   It had been kind of funny at first to see the man get riled up, but now it was simply annoying, and Lance had to admit that the flight being two hours late wasn’t exactly ideal for their situation, when they should technically have been on their way to a charity event at that very moment.

                “She’s never going to get here,” Chris finally decided, plopping down on the seat next to his friend.  Lance looked around at the empty room.  Security had tolerated Chris’ pacing for the first half hour, but quickly tired of his antics, and had decided they would rather wait outside the VIP room, then where they had to watch Chris have a nervous breakdown.

                “She’s going to get here, just not as quickly as you wanted.”  Chris’ head popped up from where it was propped in his hands long enough for him to give Lance a look that clearly indicated he didn’t believe a word his younger band-mate was telling him.  Lance, however, had his own gaze focussed elsewhere.

                Chris followed his friend’s gaze, only to finally see the sight he’d been eagerly anticipating all day.  Meghan walked through the VIP room door, bags in hand and stranger following her, almost cowering against the wall at the sight of Lance and Chris.  It didn’t help that Chris jumped from his seat, rushing to greet his assistant.  His arms hadn’t even encircled Meghan’s waist before she began chastising him.

                “You really didn’t have to come, we could have found our own way.  You’re lucky I noticed the big guys out there,” she smiled at Anthony who was mounted at the door, “or I would have left without even knowing you were here.”

                Chris replied with something that no one heard because his words were spoken too softly and his face was buried against Meghan’s neck.  She didn’t seem to mind.  Lance, feeling a little out of place at the reunion, rose from his seat to gather some of the bags and help the ladies with their baggage.  Meghan’s guest immediately shied away from him.  That’s when Lance realised who she was.

                “Hey Leslie.  I’m Lance.”  He offered his hand which the small woman eventually accepted.  She reached out timidly and only long enough for her fingers to brush his palm before she quickly pulled away.  Lance watched her as she tried to blend into the wall, the duffle bag that she carried practically weighed her down to the ground. 

                “You want me to carry that for you?”  Lance offered. She hesitated for a moment, looking him over as if she were trying to decide whether or not she could trust him with her bag.  Finally, either the weight on her shoulder or the kind smile he was giving her settled her mind and she peeled the shoulder strap away from her. Lance tried not to notice the way she flinched when their hands brushed against one another.

                Meanwhile, Meghan had finally untangled herself from Chris’ embrace, and was more than willing to leave the airport.  She turned toward Leslie, and wrapped her arm around the younger woman’s shoulder.  Immediately, Leslie’s head fell against the shoulder that was offered.  Meghan led them out of the room and to the van.  Lance and Chris followed behind, far enough so that the two girls couldn’t hear their conversation.

                “Did you know she was bringing her?”  Lance asked, watching as the distance between the two pairs grew.

                “Bringing who?”  Chris asked, entirely oblivious to the fact that there had been anyone else in the room.

                “Never mind man,” Lance eventually answered, shaking his head, though he wasn’t sure if he was shaking it at Chris or at himself.

 

                Meghan told Lance and Chris that she would go see the other guys after she’d shown Leslie to their room.   Leslie, definitely did not look up to meeting a bunch of rowdy boys and was more than content with the suggestion that she could go take a shower and get comfortable rather than deal with the boys just yet.

                Meghan just about collapsed onto the couch when she returned to Joey’s room where the boys were surfing through the movie options they wouldn’t be able to watch for the night.  Lance and Chris had managed to get to the hotel just in time to catch the boys before they left for the evening, and it was decided that Nsync could arrive late, if that meant they would all arrive together.

                Chris was sitting next to Meghan on the couch and immediately twined his arm around her shoulders.  Meghan, to the surprise of all but Lance who’d already witnessed the two share mutual support earlier, leaned her head against Chris’ shoulder after letting out an exhausted sigh.

                “You should go to bed Meghan.  You hate unexpected flying,” Chris advised. She nodded her head, all too aware that he was absolutely right, but made absolutely no move to separate herself from him.

                “So who’s the girl?”  Justin asked as he snatched the remote control from Joey’s hand once he’d judged the option bar had been sitting on “Kangaroo Jack” for a little too long.

                “My cousin Leslie,” Meghan answered as she inched closer to Chris’ warmth.  “I’m sorry to just show up with her guys, but I couldn’t leave her with my parents.”

                “How come?”  Joey asked, his hand attempting to grab the remote from Justin, but the younger man’s arm was stretched out to its full length, giving him absolutely no chance.

                “They just don’t know how to deal with all of this.  They try, but . . .  I just thought it would be best if I could get her away from them, and that small town where everyone knows everything about everyone else.”  Chris squeezed her shoulder as he could hear the quiver in her voice and feel the shakiness in her breath against the skin of his neck.

                “How come?”  JC asked absently as his eyes remained glued to Lance’s laptop, where he was still trying to decide how he would answer Christalee’s e-mail.  Justin threw the nearest object at hand in JC’s direction, managed to hit part of the laptop, but didn’t manage to capture JC’s attention.  Lance thought about protesting the gross abuse of his hardware, but decided not to bother since the flying object had only been a sock.

                “Leslie’s the reason I went home to start with.”  Chris automatically stiffened, fully understanding what Meghan meant.  Lance was nowhere near surprised, already having figured all of this out at the airport.  JC didn’t hear as he was intently staring at the computer screen and Joey stopped trying to grab the remote from Justin in surprise.

                “But I thought you went home because your cousin . . .  oh,”  Justin finished in realisation.  So this was Leslie.  The girl that had quickly walked passed the room without even peeking a hair in, was the girl who had been beaten by her ex-boyfriend until there was barely any life left in her.  He could understand Meghan wanting to remain close to her, but was bringing the girl into an environment that was, no matter what anyone said about it, primarily male dominated the best idea?  Meghan looked so set in her mind that Justin didn’t dare bring up the question.

                “Yeah . . .  so, don’t you all look spiffy.  Where are you off to?”

                “Charity function.  It was put back to tonight after they had to cancel because of double booking or something.  Remember?”  Chris tugged at her shoulder, trying to act like the fact that Meghan forgot a part of his schedule, something she never ever did, didn’t worry him even more than he was already worried.

                “Oh, yes, that’s right.  Well, have a good time.  I’ll just stay here and help Leslie get used to everything and everyone.”  She smiled at them, trying her best to look like her heart wasn’t split in half due to the pain her cousin had been submitted to.

                “All right, well just, you know, call my cell phone if you need anything or whatever.”    Meghan agreed quietly and surprised everyone again when she rose from her seat and gave Chris a hug before she left the room.

                “So she brought her cousin, huh?”  Joey asked when Meghan had left the room and the boys were verifying that they had everything they would need for the night.

                “That’s what she said Joe.”  Chris answered, already anticipating that he wasn’t going to like what was about to follow.

                “Do you think that’s a good idea?”  Chris would have liked to get mad at Joey for the question, but his friend’s voice held too much sincerity and concern for him to believe that Joey meant anything bad.  He really did seem worried for either Meghan or her cousin.

                “Yeah, if that’s what Meghan wants, than I really do.”  Joey nodded as Chris left the room, not nearly as convinced as he hoped he would be.

                “Come on Joe, I’m sure Meghan knows what she’s doing,” Lance defended the girl with a pat on Joey’s back.

                “Hey, we all know that I’m the leading Meghan defender around here, but Lance, this girl was just beaten to a pulp and God only knows what else by a man she trusted with everything inside of her.  Do you really believe it’s such a great idea to have her on a tour where she’ll pretty much be incapable of escaping men?”

                “We’ll look out for her,” Lance answered, shrugging his shoulders as he also left the room.

                Joey had the sneaking suspicion that Lance’s “we” was more of an “I,” but he didn’t dare say anything just yet.

 

                JC pouted, leaning against the wall and swirling the champagne in his glass around.  He wasn’t really a fan of champagne, but someone had handed him a glass and he didn’t feel like making conversation and explaining that he had in fact no desire for the drink.  So he stood by himself with his drink in hand and his frown on his face watching others dance and others have a good time as he wondered to himself how long it would be until Christalee finally made up her mind and dumped him.  He was quite happy with his melancholy, until Justin’s loud voice interrupted his thoughts.

                “Hey, have you seen my foundation rep?”

                “What?”  JC asked, completely lost at the sudden intrusion in his thoughts.

                “You know, the PR person for the Timberlake Foundation?  Have you seen her around?”

                “Tonya?”  JC asked, still trying to make some sense of the situation.

                “Tonya?  Naw man, she quit like three months ago when she was about to have her kid, the new one, have you seen her?”  Justin stretched out his neck to look around the room even though he could already easily see over everyone’s head.

                “Have I even met this new PR person?”  JC asked, his attention already returning to his glass.

                “Not officially,” Justin answered, his neck craned out to spot the woman.

                “Then how am I supposed to know what she looks like?”  JC replied, getting somewhat irritated at the fact that he wasn’t being allowed to wallow in his self pity as he wanted.

                “You’re just . . .  God, you are not helping JC.”  Justin left in a huff in the same direction he had come from, which just seemed counterproductive to JC.  He looked in his champagne glass again.  This was not where he wanted to be.  He wanted to be at home with Christalee making everything better between them.  Instead, he was stuck at some function which he was in absolutely no way connected to, and that he, to be perfectly honest, didn’t quite fully understand.

                “Screw this,” he said to himself, as he settled his glass on the tray of a passing waiter.  He headed toward the exit, sure that no one would notice or mind his early departure.  There were four other Nsync members there, they could take care of things.  He was just about to ask for his jacket, when he heard the voice behind him.

                “Nice shirt.”  He didn’t even have to turn around and he immediately knew who it was.

                “Yeah, well, my girlfriend told me I should wear it.”

                “Smart girl,” the voice answered, and this time, JC did look back.

                “What are you doing here?”  he asked, taking a step closer.

                “Looking for Justin.”

                “That’s cute Tee, but seriously.”  She smiled at him, taking her own step forward.

                “I’m serious, you’d think he’d be easy to spot, tall as he is, but I just can’t seem to find him.”  Christalee took a step forward again, then reached her hand out and brushed away something that only she could see on JC’s shirt.

                “I thought you couldn’t come,” JC answered, his arms reaching out for her, but refusing to warp around her until he got some kind of signal that that would be all right with her.

                “I couldn’t come to the original date, but now that it was rescheduled . . . ”  She fell against him as she talked, and he let out a huge sigh of relief that she couldn’t be that angry with him if she allowed the contact.

                “But, how are you here? I mean, well, I just . . . ”  He tried to think of any kind of diplomatic way to ask her how the hell she had gotten invited to this function when the people she worked for were in no way involved and she wasn’t exactly of celebrity status, but he was quite aware that he would just end up sounding like a prick.

                “I told you,” she automatically answered, already anticipating his question, “Justin.”

                “Justin?  He’s still got Sam right.”

                She giggled against his chest where her head was still nestling. “Yes, he’s still got Sam.”

                “Then what does he need you for?”  She smacked him on the shoulder.

                “You know, you really should get a muffle for that thing, it’s only going to get you in more trouble if you don’t find some way of getting your brain to work faster than your mouth.”

                “You know that’s not what I meant.  But seriously, how is Justin involved in any of this.”

                She shrugged her shoulders, pushing her upper body away from him while her lower body was firmly held in place by his arms wrapped around her waist.  “He needed a new PR person for the Timberlake Foundation, and I hated my job.  He offered me the position and when that huge, crappy, ‘I’d rather die than be doing this project’ was finished, I was free to give my leave and take off.  I officially start tomorrow, but Justin said he wanted me to get a feel for these kinds of functions tonight.”

                “You’ve already been to these kinds of functions.”

                “Yes, but not in my new position of head PR person,” she answered, her hands still resting against his biceps through the material of the short sleeves of his shirt.

                “But you’ve been to these kinds of functions in similar positions,” he answered.

                “Fine, Justin just wanted to get you to stop complaining and surprise you at the same time.  Are you complaining?  Cause I can leave you know . . . ”  She lowered her hands from against him and started to turn away, but had barely made any progress before JC pulled her back against him.

                “No, no I am definitely not complaining.  It’s just . . . ”  He looked down at her, and saw nothing even slightly malignant in her eyes. “I’m so sorry Tee, I didn’t mean what I said.  I was just being a selfish bastard and I wanted you with me even though I know that your job is as important if not more important than mine and-”

                He was interrupted by her right index finger pressing against his lips as she shook her head.  “I know, I’ve said the same kind of stuff to you when I was getting impatient.  We just, I guess we both have to learn not to take things personally, and work around the stupid schedule thing.  But I think this will be good for a little while.  We’ll get to be close to each other and just, see.  You know?”

                He nodded against her, his face buried in her neck as he held her tightly against him.  He’d waited so long to see her, and now that she was right there with him, he had absolutely no intention of letting her go anytime soon.  Well he had no intention of letting her go, but apparently Christalee had other plans, as she tugged against his grasp, trying to loosen his grip.

                “Joshua, you have to let go now.”  He didn’t want to, but the fact that she called him by his real name gave him the courage to loosen his arms, slightly.

                “Why?  You’ve appeared, done your thing, now we go.  No one will notice if we sneak out.”  She laughed as he tried to pull her against him again, but managed to keep the distance she’d gained.

                “I’m pretty sure my boss will notice, seeing as I haven’t even actually said hello to him yet.”

                “You can say hello to him tomorrow morning,” JC persuaded as he tried to discreetly walk them toward the exit.  Christalee was much too aware of what he was doing however.

                “No,” she told him sternly, refusing to move from the spot she’d chosen as the furthest she was moving.  JC looked at her with a pitiful look that pleaded to be paid more attention to.  “Unless of course you want me to screw up even before I start and get sent home where I’ll either have to beg for my job back or find another job that keeps us thousands of miles apart.”

                “So we have to find Justin, huh?”  JC automatically reacted.  He grabbed her hand and started to lead her toward the room where most of the attendees were standing around.  He tried to pull Christalee with him, but she refused to move, rooted to her spot on the ground.  “What’s wrong?  We have to go find Justin, right?”

                “Yeah, but not like this.”  He looked at her in confusion as she pried her hand out of his grip.

                “Not like what?”

                “Like that, hand in hand and all couple like.”  JC scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.  Christalee wasn’t an overly touchy feely person, but she didn’t usually protest when he held her hand or hugged her.  Why the sudden change of heart?  Christalee immediately read his thoughts in his eyes.  “Baby, no one knows that we’re serious.”

                “Right,” JC slowly conceded, letting her hand reluctantly escape his grip.

                “I’ll see you later, okay?”  Christalee reached up and kissed JC on the cheek as he nodded mutely.  She walked back out into the crowded room to find Justin, looking back once at JC who stood frozen in place.

 

                “What are you pouting about?”  Lance asked as he sat next to JC at a table overcrowded with chairs.

                “I’m not pouting,” JC countered as he frowned down at the glass that he held between his fingers.

                “Yes you are, and without reason now that Chrissy is here and that you finally got to get whatever apology you’d mustered up off your chest.”  Lance let his own glass rest on the table as he smiled at some random person that was walking by.

                “Did you know she was coming down?”  JC asked, obviously avoiding Lance’s question.

                “Of course I did, someone had to help Justin with all the paperwork, and God knows the boy wasn’t about to call anyone when he could just walk down two doors and explain to me what he had no idea he was talking about.”  Lance looked over at JC, puzzled by the still disturbed expression on his friend’s face.  “Why?  You didn’t want her working with us?”

                “No, oh God no,”  JC automatically answered in what couldn’t be interpreted as anything but a sincere tone of voice.  “It’s just . . .  Tee and I never made it official about us, you know?”

                “Like marriage?”  Lance asked, almost choking on the word as it escaped his mouth.  It wasn’t that he didn’t think JC was the marrying kind, he simply didn’t see the older man getting married anytime soon what with being in the middle of the tour and with countless projects undoubtedly running through his mind.

                “Hell no, well, not yet anyway.  Just, we never told the press about us or anything.”

                “The press knows you have a girlfriend JC, they just don’t know that Chrissy is her.”

                “And that translates in hands off unless we’re both hidden from the world.”

                “Yeah, but that never bothered you before,” Lance answered as he reached over to take JC’s glass out of his hands.  He was tired of talking to the side of JC’s head, and if the only way of getting his band mate to make eye contact was eliminating his prop, then so be it.

                “It never bothered me before because whenever I saw Tee, I was hiding from the world on break or whatever, but now she’s going to be there everyday and . . . ”

                “And you don’t want to have to resist her,” Lance concluded for him.  JC nodded in agreement.  “So what are you going to do about it?”

                “Hope she’s ready to go public,” JC answered, giving Lance a desperate look that could only be answered with an encouraging smile.

 

                “Right, so that’s where the towels are, now-”

                “I know Meghan.”

                “You don’t even know what I was about to say,” Meghan protested, ready to go on with her original comment.

                “I don’t, but I’m sure you’ve already told me.”  Leslie grabbed her cousin’s arm and led her over to one of the double beds in the room.  “Look, I’m fine, really.  I’ve been in a hotel room before and I’m sure I can manage just fine in this one too.  I’m really okay Meg.”

                “I know, it’s just that I . . . ”  Meghan searched for the best way of telling her cousin that seeing her beaten and bruised was the scariest thing in her life, and an event that she would never forget, but somehow, she couldn’t find any reassuring way of phrasing that.

                “Worry and love me and are completely freaked out by what you saw when you finally got to town.  Yes, I know Meg, but that’s why I’m here remember?  To get away from the hundreds of countless people that feel the exact same way.  You said that you were going to bring me here and help me leave behind all those family members who couldn’t look me in the eyes yet.  Why bother if you can’t even look me in the eyes?”

                “I can,”  Meghan automatically answered, assuring herself that she was looking directly into Leslie’s eyes when she replied.  “I just . . .  I didn’t realise where I was bringing you at the time.  I mean, I’m sure you didn’t want to be surrounded by so many guys when-”

                “It’s fine,” Leslie interrupted before Meghan could get too far into her thoughts and remind her of things that she didn’t want to think about at the moment, or ever again for that matter.  She shivered slightly, but managed to control her voice from wavering.  “Anyway, there’s no way I can escape men forever, so I might as well get used to it now.”

                “I know, but now you’re-”

                “Nothing!”  Leslie interrupted again, becoming truly exasperated with her cousin, “I’m fine.  Now stop hounding me before I leave and head back home on the next flight out.”

                “All right, all right,” Meghan answered reluctantly, all too aware that her cousin would truly leave if she thought she was being any kind of burden.  “Well, do you think you’ll be all right if I go take a shower?  If you’re not I can stay here and-”

                “Oh my God!  Go, take a shower.  I’ll be here and I’ll be fine.  For Pete’s sake I’m not five you know.”

                “Okay, I get it,” Meghan answered as she headed toward the bathroom, though she let herself take one last hesitant look behind her.  She was met with Leslie’s finger pointing her in the direction of the bathroom.

                “That woman is insane,” Leslie muttered to herself as she let her body drop on the double bed that seemed so inviting.  Ever since her short stint in the hospital, Leslie had been unbelievably tired, and she had the uncanny feeling that she wasn’t going to find any rest during the time she would spend touring with Nsync.

                Her eyes were just about to close, when she heard a resounding knock on the bedroom door.  She flew to a sitting position, her body tense and stiff.  There was nothing to worry about, she was sure of it what with Meghan promising her she was safe and having witnessed for herself the many bodyguards that were watching the floor, but she still couldn’t stop the discomfort that was taking over her body.  Apparently she wasn’t as fine as she thought she was.

                “Who is it?” her voice shakily queried as she slowly approached the door.

                “Meghan?  Is that you?”  The simple fact that it was a woman’s voice that answered her did wonders for Leslie’s nerves.  Cautiously she opened the door.  She was about to explain that she was indeed not Meghan, but didn’t even have time to open her mouth before the person on the other side of the door began talking.

                “Hey girl, it’s your favourite, oh, sorry.”  Christalee blushed at her mistake, seeing that Meghan was not the person who opened the door.  “I thought you were Meghan.”

                “I figured,”  Leslie answered weakly.  She was most certainly not frightened by the figure in front of her, but the short scare she’d had did more to her nerves than she cared to admit.

                “Um . . .  well, I’m Christalee.”  She stuck her hand out, trying not to notice the doubt in Leslie’s eyes as their palms connected.

                “I’m Leslie, Meghan’s cousin and, um, well guest I guess.”

                “Ah,”  Christalee breathed.  “That explains it . . .  no offense.  So, is Meghan here?”

                “Oh,”  Leslie answered as she opened the door a little wider.  “She’s in the shower right now.  But you can come in and wait if you want.”

                “That would be great.  Thanks.”  She entered the room, but before the door could close behind her, both women heard an exaggerated sigh of ‘Tee’ coming from the hallway.

                “You can wait,” Christalee sent out into the hall as she turned to face the source of the noise.

                “No, see, no I can’t.  I had to wait through the party, I had to wait when we took separate cars to get here, and I had to wait as we rode up from the lobby.  I can wait no longer.  Meghan will be there tomorrow and you two can do whatever you do tomorrow.  But tonight, I cannot wait, so please . . . ”  Leslie smiled slightly at his whiny voice, amused from her distance behind Christalee.

                “Can’t you see that I’m getting to know Leslie over here?”  Christalee chided him, biting back the mischievous smile that tugged at her lips.

                “Hey Leslie,” JC offered, waving at the girl still slightly hidden in the room. She offered him a quick wave “How’s the first night going?”

                “All right,” she answered in a much softer voice than when she had been talking to Christalee.

                “Good.  You need anything you come to us or Meghan okay?  We’ll set you up.”  She nodded this time, her teeth worrying her bottom lip as she wondered how long exactly it would be before Meghan emerged from the bathroom.  JC’s voice interrupted her thoughts.  “Good.  Now can you please get Meghan’s butt out of the bathroom as soon as possible, get them to do their girly thing quickly and then send my girlfriend back to me, please?”

                She nodded her head, her teeth showing this time in her smile.  Christalee, for her part was less amused.  She laid her hand against JC’s chest and then somewhat gently pushed him out of the room, only to slam the door in his face.

                “Good-bye Joshua,” she told the close door, hearing a muffled answer from the other side.  “I swear, I didn’t know he was like that when we started dating, and by the time I found out, I was too attached to just throw him out.”

                Leslie laughed quietly as she knew Christalee expected.  “So you’re JC’s girlfriend.”

                “I officially go by Christalee though,” she answered nodding, she’d been called JC’s girlfriend for much too long when they’d first gotten together, and as petty as it was, she still resented the title whenever she heard it.  It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be reminded that she was the girlfriend of the man she loved, she just didn’t think it was necessary to make it her new name.  She did have her own personality apart from him after all.  “Actually, around here it’s Lee.”

                “I thought JC just called you Tee,”  Leslie rebutted, already much too confused for such a conversation.

                “That’s a Joshua and me thing.  Everybody else calls me Lee, unless they’re trying to get on my nerves and calling me Chrissy, but that’s a completely different story.”

                “All right,”  Leslie answered awkwardly.  “I think.”

                Christalee watched the girl fidget for a few seconds.  “I’m sorry, obviously I’m interrupting or something.  I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, could you just tell Meghan that-”

                “Oh no,”  Leslie automatically interrupted, reaching out to grab Christalee’s arm as she realised that she would rather not be alone at the moment.  “No, I just, I got here today and I’m a little disoriented.”  So it was a lie, but only a partial lie.  Maybe she was uncomfortable and unnerved by all these new people dropping in on her, but she didn’t want Christalee to leave until Meghan emerged from the shower, and therefore hoped to find some way to make her stay.  “Please stay, really, I’m fine.”

                “Okay . . . ” Christalee agreed, wondering if the girl always had this many mood swings within five minutes.  “So what are you doing on tour?”

                “Just visiting I guess,” Leslie answered, not exactly wanting to reveal to a complete stranger the real reason her cousin had made her tag along the wonderful whirlwind world of touring.

                “Yeah?  For how long?”  Christalee sat comfortably on one of the beds, already more at ease in the room than Leslie was in the state.

                “Undetermined.  What about you?”

                “Ah, well I,” Christalee paused and patted the bed next to her.  She didn’t know why she made the girl uncomfortable, but she was determined to ease the tension in the room, “I start working for Justin tomorrow.  So, it looks like I’m here for the long haul.”

                “Justin?  But I thought you were dating JC?”  Leslie was already confused with all the new names she had to memorize, all those apart from her cousin’s and the five singing boys’ whose names she already knew quite well, without having to bring in complicated threesome relationships.

                “Yep, which is why I’m working with Justin.  I’d go insane working for Josh, damn perfectionist.”

                “And he doesn’t mind that you’re working for one of his friends?  I mean, no offense but he seemed kind of, I don’t know, clingy.”

                “Yeah, he’s like that when we haven’t seen each other for a while, but I promise it’ll wear off by tomorrow.  Anyway, I don’t think he minds that I work with Justin, I kind of sprung it on him a few hours ago, you know, as long as I’m nearby it’s good with him.”

                “That’s sweet of him,” Leslie answered, though her voice suggested that she wasn’t really paying all that much attention to the conversation.

                “Oh, the guys are all sweet,” Christalee answered.  She looked over at the bathroom, hearing that the shower was still running.  Meghan might not be out for a while.  “So, tell me about yourself.”

 

                “...with grey eyes and the shyest smile.  She’s taking her masters in Advertising and should probably be done in a little less than two years.”

                “Um, Lance, I asked what I needed to know about the girl, not a biography.”

                “Yeah, jeez,” Chris added to JC’s thought, “how long have you known this girl Lance?  Were you guys best friends all through high school without us knowing or something?”

                “No, I just, listen when Meghan talks,” he answered defensively.

                “Hey, I listen when she talks and let me tell you that she doesn’t spend all that much time talking about her family members.”  Chris pouted in his corner.  How dare someone suggest that he didn’t listen when his . . .  um, Meghan was talking.

                “He’s right Scoop.  Meghan will let a comment about her personal life go every now and then, but not enough to get all that information.  I don’t think Sam would even know that much,”  Justin pipped up from the floor where he was trying to beat Joey at the random video game they’d picked from a pile.

                “Whatever, but, you’re freaking me out dude,”  Chris said from his spot, still a little miffed at the comment about him and Meghan.

                “Dammit!”  Joey shot from his spot on the floor as he lost to Justin by only a few points.  He lifted his head to look around, as if he were noticing everyone in the room for the first time.  “What are you all doing here?  This is Joey’s room, not the common room.”

                “Sore sport,” Justin muttered from his spot on the floor where he was doing an awkward victory dance - awkward because he was sitting on his butt - for the video game winning.

                “Damn right,” Joey agreed with a smile.  “All right, y’all get out of here.  You,” he pointed to JC, “go get ready for your woman, she might be waiting for you in your room already.”

                JC didn’t have to be told twice as he flew out of the room, cursing himself for not having thought of the possibility himself.  His next victim was Chris.

                “Go look over your notes so you know what you want to tell Meghan tomorrow when she gets her butt back to work and you can finally stop being Grumpy Member.”  Chris shrugged his shoulders, scowled at Lance once again for his comment and then left the room. Joey was right, Meghan would have his head, though she wouldn’t be surprised if he showed up with only a jumbled mess to instruct her with.

                “You . . . ”  Joey looked at Justin who was still celebrating his victory, “don’t you have a girlfriend?  What the hell are you even doing here?”

                “She promised her mama she’d call her, I was giving her some privacy.  But now she should be done, so so am I.   Later guys.”  Justin tossed the salutation over his shoulder, already halfway through the door.

                “Don’t bother,” Lance told Joey as he started rising from his seat on the sofa. “I’m seeing a pattern here and I’m just going to skip the whole insult part if you don’t mind.”

                “Actually, I was trying to get them out so I could talk to you.”  He slightly shoved against Lance’s chest until the man fell back down to his seat.  Lance looked up from his spot, wondering why exactly he was the one being detained.

                “Hey man, if you’re going to hit on me, I can tell you right now that it isn’t going to work.”

                “That’s cute, no really it is.”  Joey sat himself next to Lance and from the look he wore, Lance knew that whatever he had to say was no laughing matter.

                “What’s up?”

                “You seem to know a lot about Leslie there Lance.”

                “Man, I just told you, I listen when Meghan talks.”  The fact that Lance couldn’t look him in the eye when he made the statement didn’t escape Joey’s attention.

                “And so do the rest of us, especially Chris and I who spend way more time with Meghan than you do.”  Joey waited, but Lance didn’t look like he was going to answer anytime soon, he kept going.  “What did you do?  Look her up on your laptop while we were on the bus or something.”

                “Yeah,” Lance admitted with embarrassment.

                “Okay,” Joey hesitated, not at all expecting an affirmative answer.  “How come?”

                “I don’t know man, she just . . .  I guess her picture said something to me.”

                “Something like take an interest in me because we could be great friends or something like become a psychotic stalker because you have nothing better to do anyway?”

                “The first,” Lance answered with a nod, “or maybe between the two.” He chuckled when he saw Joey’s unsure expression.  “I’m kidding.”

                “Yeah, well I’m not kidding when I say you should just get off your ass and get to know the girl.  I mean, she’s here, you’re here, it doesn’t get much simpler than that dude.”

                “I can’t do that Joe.”

                “Why not.”  Joey asked as he put away the video games and turned off the television they’d been using.

                “God Joe.  She’s just been through hell, I’m sure the last thing she wants is this guy hitting on her.  Jace said she looked terrified of him, I don’t want her to feel that way about me.”

                “Well she doesn’t know Jace yet, or you for that matter, I’m sure that once she’s been here a while, she’ll come around.”  Joey sat down next to Lance. “You can at least make an effort man.  Think about it, she might need a friend after what she’s been through.  Meghan’s great, but I’m not sure I’d want the queen of organisation standing over me with her ten steps to dealing with trauma after something like that.”

                “Yeah,” Lance rose from his seat.  “I’ll think about it.  So, I’ll see you tomorrow or something.”

                “Or something?  How would you manage not to see me tomorrow?”

                “We don’t have anything scheduled and you’re doing the Kelly and Bri thing.”

                “Oh yeah.”  Joey smiled goofily at the thought of seeing his girls.

                “That’s gross man,” Lance commented on his facial expression, though there was nothing that made him happier than seeing one of his friends so happy.  “Anyway, night.”

                Joey called out a salutation as Lance left his room.

 

                “Anyway, I better get back to Joshua before he really goes crazy,” Christalee informed the two girls as she rose from the bed.  Leslie giggled at the thought.  She might have been uncomfortable with Lee when they first met, but she’d quickly warmed to the woman and was now actually thankful that she too was touring with the guys to have someone else to turn to if Meghan got to be a little too much.

                “Alright, goodnight Lee.”  Leslie mumbled something similar to Meghan’s good-bye and Christalee wished them both sweet dreams as she left the room.  Leslie shuddered at the comment.  Lately, her sleep had been understandably plagued with nightmares. She hadn’t told Meghan, all too aware that her cousin already had enough to worry about, but suddenly realised that there wasn’t much she could do if she was to wake up in the middle of the night, as she often did now, screaming bloody murder.

                “What do you think Leslie?”  She caught the tail end of whatever Meghan was saying.

                “I’m sorry, I wasn’t really listening,”  Leslie admitted.

                Meghan gave her a worried look, but decided it was much too late and the day had been much too full for her to start nit picking, she’d simply have to keep her concerns for tomorrow.  She repeated herself instead, “I’m ready to hit the hay, you?”

                “Yeah, sleep is good,”  Leslie answered as she slipped beneath the covers of the hotel bed.

                “All right, good night.”

                “Night.”

 

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