Joey knocked on her door and walked in with his hand behind his back.
“Hey princess.”
“Hey Joey-bear. What are you up to?”
“I’ve got a surprise for you.” He said pulling out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back.
“Joey! They’re beautiful! Thank you!”
“That’s not the entire surprise.” He smiled impishly, “Come on in guys!” He yelled and all of the guys came in with balloons and arms full of presents.
“We figured that it must be pretty boring to be stuck in here for four days. So we brought you something to make it exciting!” Justin said. Lance put his pile of presents down and pulled out her tiara and placed it on her head.
“First things first, Nsync Princess.” He said and she laughed,
“You guys really do make me feel like a princess!”
“You deserve it Iz.” Joey said kissing her on the forehead.
“Yeah, well let’s get this show on the road. We only have like a half and hour, forty-five minutes tops for this.”
“Thank you Drill Sergeant Chasez.” She giggled mock saluting him. JC just rolled his eyes at her and sat down in the corner of the room grumpily. Chris handed her a box,
“Quick, open it!” He said and Izzy tore into it. She opened it up and found a black t-shirt inside with a glittery red ‘N-sucks’ on the chest.
“Chris! I love it!” She said holding it up in front of her. “It’s want I’ve always wanted.”
“I have the hat, we’ll match.”
“I’m gonna wear it to my first concert.”
“And you’re gonna get mauled by millions of teenyboppers.” Justin shouted.
“Ooo, then I can feel like you guys!” She retorted and they all burst out in laughter.
Izzy opened the rest of her presents. They found an original Nintendo game set with a ton of games for her to play. It was the only game console that she liked to play. They also got her a bright pink shirt that said ‘Nsync princess’ in crystals. They got her all sorts of toys, word puzzles, new music, and books to read. But the best gift was the guys just coming and hanging out with her. It meant the world to her even though it was only for a short amount of time.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?” JC was getting a water from the fridge and Izzy turned,
“I was just going outside, I’m allowed, thank you.”
“But I thought the doctor’s order’s were-“
“I think I know my doctor’s order’s better than you do, Chasez. I’m just going out there to lie down for a while, if you must know. Jose cornered off this special patch of grass for me.”
“Jose? Who’s Jose?”
“You’re gardener? Maybe if you weren’t so into yourself, you would know who the hell works for you.”
“Sorry, I have more important things to do than talk to the gardener.”
“You shouldn’t.” She replied and walked outside into the back yard. JC was such a prick; she wondered how the other guys even worked with him. This tour was going to be torture with him. Izzy saw the patch of overgrown rich, green grass that Jose had let grow just for her and forgot all about JC. This is what Izzy lived for, there was nothing better than taking a nap in a warm bed of sweet smelling grass while the sun shined down on her. She waved to Jose who was clipping some hedges on the other side of the yard and settled down into her patch of grass. It was a short time before she was napping lightly.
The boys decided to take a break outside to get some fresh air. They were all horsing around when Joey spied someone laying stretched out on their side, on the ground. He walked towards the person a little till he realized that it was Izzy and he started running. He had left her for too long,
“Izzy!” He cried and all the boys looked up from where they were to see what Joey was yelling about. They jogged over to see what was wrong. Joey slid in next to her and started shaking her, “Izzy! Wake up!” Izzy sleepily turned over and smiled,
“Whoa, baby, where’s the fire?” She stretched like a cat and Joey dropped his head in his hands,
“What the hell are you doing out here? You scared me half to death!”
“Well I was sleeping, till someone started to violently shake me.” She joked and Joey just stared at her,
“I thought you had collapsed again. Why didn’t you tell me that you were out here?” Izzy sat up,
“Joey, I was just sleeping. You were practicing and I didn’t want to disturb you. I’ve already caused so many problems.”
“Hey Izzy you okay?” Justin asked as the boys arrived,
“Yeah, just fine, sweets.”
“Izzy don’t ever do that to me again.” Joey said sternly and Izzy looked at him,
“Joey-"
“No, I don’t care what I’m doing, I want to know where you are.” He said on the edge of yelling, Izzy looked up at the guys,
“Guys can I talk to Joey for a few minutes?” Just then, Wade called the guys back in. The boys were reluctant to leave the situation. Izzy looked at them, smiled and nodded, letting them know that she would take care of Joey and he’d be in, in a few minutes.
“Joseph,” she said resting a hand on his arm gently, “you need to relax, I’m fine.”
“I know you are, I just-"
“Just worry the heck out of yourself over little ol’ me. I was resting and I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you that I was here. Joey, you need to stop blaming yourself for my problems. I’m okay, I’m going to be fine.”
“You wouldn’t be so sick if-"
“Joey stop it. Stop blaming yourself for my stubbornness, I did this, not you. I appreciate how you’re taking care of me but you need to chill a little. I promised you that I would rest for these four days and I’m gonna keep that promise, I really am. If I needed anything I would have called you. Now you need to go back and practice some more.” She leaned over and hugged him, “Joey, I love you and I would never hurt you, but it bothers me when I see you like this, I don’t like it. I want my happy go lucky Joey back, he’ll help me get better faster, trust me.”
“Okay, I’ll try, I just worry because you don’t.”
“Well your worrying causes me to worry.”
“Okay, okay, I get the picture, Izzy-bell.”
“Good, now get back to practice before Wade comes out here and drags you in there.” She said and he half smiled,
“Okay, you gonna sleep a while?”
“Maybe, I don’t know, but if I come back in, I’ll stop by and let you know, okay?”
“Okay.” He said getting up and dropping a kiss on her head, “I’ll see you in a few.”
“Bye Joey.” He went inside and Izzy laid back down for a while, resting.
“Justin can I open my eyes yet?” She asked,
“No, hold on.”
“Ahh, I hate suspense!” She exclaimed and he chuckled,
“Okay, now you can.” Izzy opened her eyes and looked around. Justin had a picnic set up for them for lunch. He had sandwiches, lemonade, pretzels, watermelon, brownies and more all laid out.
“Justin, this is so sweet! Thank you!” She said and gave him a quick hug.
“Well I know I wouldn’t want to spend five days locked up in a room and I remember yesterday how much you liked laying out in the sun so I thought you would like it.”
“I love it. Come on let’s eat.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He joked and sat down next to her. They dug into the food and talked. They talked about their families and their lives growing up. She had Justin cracking up at her old Joey stories. Justin sang and beat boxed for her a little. It was so much fun to hang out with him. She almost regretted not getting to know them so many years ago when they first started.