Joey caught Izzy writing in her journal and he sauntered over to her,
“Writing? Hmm?” She shut her journal and looked up at him,
“Um yeah, I’ve got to get some things in my head straight.” She said and Joey sat down next to her,
“Like what?”
“Feelings and such. Trying to figure out what to do with them.”
“Explain.”
“I guess I’m trying to figure out how to deal with this falling in love thing. I mean I don’t think it’ll work out. We both live in such different worlds but I can’t seem to imaging a day going by without him.”
“Wow.”
“I know.”
“I’m guessing you haven’t told him how you feel huh?”
“Nope, it’s like I said, what if it’s too soon and I mess up what we’ve developed so far? I can’t lose him or mess it up.” She shrugged her shoulders, “God I’m so messed up right now with things.”
“Tell him, Iz. Like I said it’s really hard not to fall in love with you.”
“Fall in love as a friend. I know we’re friends, really good friends, but I think that’s all he wants. Anything else would be too complicated once I went back to school. We live in two different worlds and I don’t fit into his, he doesn’t fit into mine. That I know from experience.” She rambled on, talking more to herself than Joey, “I must be crazy to think it would work. It can’t, it just won’t, I mean look what happened to us. I rarely saw you and even phone calls were sparse. What kind of relationship is that? I might as well call up a 1-800 hotline boyfriend because that’s what it would be.” She paused thinking a moment, “I could move my internship, no! I can’t do that, geez what a mess!” She looked up at Joey, “Sorry I was talking out loud.” She shrugged her shoulders and Joey opened his mouth to say something when Chris flew into their laps. “Chris!” Izzy exclaimed, “Are you trying human bowling?” She teased,
“Hmm, the possibilities.” He joked rolling off of them and brushing himself off, “But I have a youngin’ that needs a beating.”
“Come on old man, bring it!” Justin taunted and Izzy laughed at the two.
“Oh your dead Timberlake!” Chris jumped up and chased after Justin. Izzy quickly kissed Joey on the cheek and hopped up.
“Thanks for the talk. I’m going to save Chris from a beating.” She jogged out of the room and Joey sat there letting everything sink in. Izzy wasn’t in love with Greg, she was in love with one of the guys…Lance, it had to be Lance.
“Grr, I hate that woman.” She growled pressing her palms into her eyes to block the tears,
“What’s wrong Izzy?” Lance asked gently laying a hand on her shoulders. She folded herself into his arms and tried to hold back the tears.
“My mom, she’s just being a bitch. She never believes me and blames me for everything. It’s nothing new, I just, I don’t know, it hurts.” She said and began to cry.
“Aw Izzy, I’m sorry honey.” He soothed and held her tightly. He kissed the top of her head. Izzy felt so safe that she let the flood gates open and cried her heart out. Finally she lifted her head from his shoulder and wiped her eyes.
“Oh geez, I made a mess of your shirt. I’m sorry.” Lance cupped her face in his hand,
“Naw it’s okay, my shirt can be washed, you on the other hand are much more important.” Izzy closed her eyes and hugged Lance again,
“Thank you Lance, that means so much to me.”
JC hid behind a corner and watched Izzy and Lance together. Why didn’t she come to him when she was upset? He thought to himself,
“What’s wrong Iz?”
“Nothing I’m fine.”
“Okay, well you can tell me if you want to, I mean we are sleeping together.” He said trying to lighten the mood,
“That’s crossing the line.” She said sharply.
“Oh, you’re right.”
She didn’t want to confide in him, maybe he was fooling himself in thinking that there was more between them. Every time they were together though, he felt something with her. It was more than just sex, wasn’t it?
He leaned back against the wall and banged his head against it. Why was everything so complicated? Izzy wouldn’t stay with him like this, she’ll want more, she deserved more. He wanted to give her more, he tried to give her more, she just didn’t want it. She only wanted one thing from him.
“Hey C, you okay?” JC opened his eyes and stared at Justin,
“I’m fabulous.” He sighed and stared at the ceiling.
“What’s wrong?” JC pushed up off the wall,
“No offense I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“Kay, I’m here if you want, you know?”
“Yeah, thanks.” JC said and walked away.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to figure out who JC’s in love with.”
“What?”
“The girl he brought on vacation is on the tour right now. I can’t figure out who it is.”
“When did he get all lovely on someone?”
“Sometime during the tour, but it sounds serious, he glows when he talks about her. I’ve been looking for that same glow when he’s with a girl.”
“Are you sure it’s a girl?” Joey asked,
“Yeah, you know C’s straight.”
“I don’t know, have you smelt him lately? He smells girly, like fruity girly.”
“Yeah, I did notice, but I thought that it was some new shampoo or something.”
“So what do you know about this girl?”
“Just that he’s known her for a long time and she’s worked with us since the beginning.”
“Who can that be? Melinda?”
“Nah, not her, Katie?”
“No, she’s not even his type. Did he say anything else?”
“Oh he did say that she was skitterish about relationships. Which is why he wouldn’t let us know who she was.”
“Interesting, I can’t think of anyone really.”
“I know.” Justin said and they sat watching JC and Izzy laugh over something he said,
“Wow, talk about weird, they’re getting along.”
“I know, hey maybe it’s Izzy.” Joey said and they looked at each other and began laughing hysterically,
“That’ll be the day with those two!” Justin said still laughing and they laughed for a good ten minutes over it. Finally they calmed down a bit,
“Isn’t Iz in love with that guy from school?” Justin asked,
“I don’t think so, I think it’s someone else.”
“Huh?”
“I was talking to her about it the other day and she went on about how right now it would be okay to be with him but when she went back to school they wouldn't work. All because they, and I quote ‘live in such different worlds that it’d be too impossible to work’.”
“So? That doesn’t mean it’s not that Greg guy.”
“She compared their relationship to what happened with me and her. She was talking about a relationship over the phone, long distance. I just get the feeling it’s one of us.”
“She fell for Lance?”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“Care for a bath?” JC smiled and pulled off his shirt,
“God yes.” He undressed quickly and stepped into the awaiting water. It was hot, just the way he liked it. He sank back into Izzy, who wrapped her legs around his body and squeezed a sponge over his chest. JC ran his hands down her legs and sighed leaning his head back on her shoulder. “This is exactly what the doctor ordered, thank you.” He kissed her cheek,
“My pleasure, I owe you for taking care of me the other day and you looked like you had a rough day.” She said as she continued to wash his upper body,
“Yeah it was. I thought it would never end.”
“JC! JC! Open up! I know you’re in there!” Chris yelled, pounding on the door,
“And it looks like it’s not over yet.” He sighed and Izzy pulled him against her,
“Ignore him, maybe he’ll go away.” She whispered,
“Don’t think that ignoring me will make me go away!” Chris yelled and they both chuckled,
“I think I’m going to kill him.” He said and she kissed his cheek,
“I’ll be right here waiting for you.” She said quietly in his ear, “Now go answer the door before he breaks it down and catches us.” She smiled releasing him. He sighed and got up out of the tub. He pulled a towel around his waist and leaned down kissing her,
“I swear if it’s something dumb, he’s dead.”
“Okay, I’ll be your alibi.” She said against his lips and kissed him again. JC deepened the kiss sitting down on the edge of tub.
“JC! COME ON! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN THERE?” Chris whined and JC place a final kiss on her lips,
“I’ll be right back.” He got up and closed the bathroom door on his way to answer the door. He swung open his door,
“Chris what do you want? What is so freaking important that you insisted on basically breaking my door down?”
“Whoa, down killer. What took you so long to answer the door?” He said and walked into the room,
“By all means Chris, please come in.” He said sarcastically, “For your information, I WAS taking a bath. What do you want?”
“We wanted to know if you wanted to come out tonight and if you’ve seen my laptop. Some how it’s been misplaced and I was wondering if it was in here.” He said looking around the room.
“Chris, it’s not in here and no I don’t feel like going out tonight. I just want to relax and go to sleep.”
“Want to watch a movie?”
“NO, I just wanna finish my bath and go to bed.” He said strongly,
“A bath? You’re not getting homo on us again are you? First the pants, then the fruity smell and now baths? Say it ain’t so!” Chris exclaimed and JC smiled to himself, if he only knew what was waiting for him in the bathroom Chris would eat his every last word. JC sighed,
“Is there anything else you want Chris?”
“Nah, that was it. Are you sure my laptop’s not in here?”
“Yes, positive. It’s not here, it’s probably on the bus or check Lance’s room.”
“Okay, okay, I get the picture, you want to go back to your precious bath.” He said sarcastically and walked towards the door, “You sure you don’t-”
“Chris!” JC yelled interrupting him,
“ALL RIGHT! I’m gone, sheesh!” He said and walked out the door.
“Goodnight Chris.” JC said following him to the door.
“Night.” He grumbled back and JC closed the door. He clicked all the locks and slid the dead bolt over. He didn’t want to be interrupted again.
He moved back into the bathroom and Izzy smiled up at him,
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes and we shouldn’t have any more interruptions. I locked and dead bolted the door.” JC paused to throw off the towel and sink into the water again. “Only way I’m leaving this room is if the hotel’s on fire and even then I’m gonna debate about it.” He settled back into Izzy as she giggled. It was his giggle, he smiled and turned around in her arms kissing her. Izzy pulled away a little and brushed a strand of hair off his forehead,
“Not tired anymore?”
“I got this sudden burst of energy.” He said capturing her lips again and wrapped his arms around her,
“Mmm…” She moaned shifting so that he could pull her closer. JC broke away from her and stared into her eyes,
“What?” She asked,
“Are you okay? I mean I saw, I, uh, you looked a little upset today and I wondered if everything was alright.” She smiled brightly,
“Nothing was wrong. I’m perfect, well except for one thing.”
“What?”
“You stopped kissing me.” She said and her smile turned into a desire ridden one as she pulled him in for another kiss.
The night was so beautiful and the city was glowing with night life activities. She hugged herself more for comfort than to keep warm. All she wanted was for her brain to shut up so she could sleep. There were so many thoughts running around her brain and most had to do with JC and her feelings for him. For the past couple days she had been weighing the pros and cons of them having a relationship. Well more than what they had now.
“Hey you.” He called out to her and she jumped before turning around,
“JC, you scared me. I didn’t hear you come out here. I thought you were sleeping.” He came up next to her and leaned his back against the railing.
“I was, till my pillow left.” He joked, “What’s the matter, you couldn’t sleep?” She turned her gaze back to the city,
“No, too many things in my head and my brain just won’t shut up. Ever had that problem?”
“Unfortunately, yes. Usually I just talk it out or write it down, it helps to get it all out and then I can sleep.”
“Funny, you having problems sleeping.” She teased and he rolled his eyes,
“You mention something once and you’re branded for life.” He laughed and stared up at the night sky.
“Does that ever bother you?” She asked and he looked down at her, dang she was beautiful.
“What bother me?”
“Being branded with something that might not necessarily be you.”
“Well in my case it’s true.” He half joked, “They could say something much worse about me.”
“Like you’re Nsync’s traitorous girlfriend?” She half joked and he stared at her,
“Are you okay about that?”
“What am I seriously going to do about it? The people who really know me, know how I am and if other people believe it then they’re going to believe it. If they make judgments about me without getting to know me then I don’t want to know them.”
“I totally understand. I still feel bad that they did that to you.” She laughed,
“Josh, I-” She gasped slightly and put a hand to her mouth realizing her slip, “I’m sorry I don’t know why I just called you that.” JC moved closer, trapping her in the corner of the balcony and moved her hand away from her mouth,
“It’s okay,” He said taking his other hand and cupping her face, rubbing his thumb over her cheek and smiling down at her, “You can call me Josh as long as I can call you Bell.” He whispered.