JC was barely able to contain his laughter until the second that he saw the door close behind the drenched cats that were his bandmates, and then he collapsed into a fit of giggles right alongside Lance, who was laughing so hard that he was holding his stomach in pain.

"Chris' face! Did you see Chris' face?" Lance gasped in between howls of glee. "I can't believe they bought it!!"

"Serves them right for doing that to us," JC said as he threw back the covers to reveal that both he and Lance were fully dressed in sweats. He got out of bed and pulled on the sweatshirt that he had momentarily disposed of over the side of the bed for the ruse. Seeing that Lance was also trying to get out of bed, JC tackled the younger boy and forced him back into bed. "And where do you think you're going?"

"I'm getting up!" Lance said, seeing that their temporary peace had ended and the Bass-Chasez War was on again. "We've got work to do today, JC."

"Uh uh, country boy. You're spending the whole day in bed. After that fever last night, there's no way in hell you're doing any work today." JC said in his now familiar father-like tone. "I'm going to take a quick shower and then I'll make you some hot tea with lemon. Justin's already called the pharmacy down the street, so the prescription should be delivered in 30 minutes or so."

"But –" Lance tried to protest, but not too much.

"No buts, or do you want me to stay on top of you like this the whole day?" JC asked. Lance raised an eyebrow at the older man above him, their faces now barely inches apart, and then he just smiled. "Good, I knew you'd see it my way." JC got up from the bed again, this time Lance obeyed his orders and stayed put. As JC headed toward the door, he heard Lance call him back.

"Josh?" Lance called after him.

"Yeah, country boy?" JC asked, unable to hide the glow in his face.

"Thanks for last night. I meant it, it was a nice present. Dinner with you, I mean." Lance said quietly, perching himself up in bed.

"No, Lance. It wasn't nice. It was heaven," JC responded, walking out and back to his own room.

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

JC found his friends sitting around the breakfast spread that had been delivered while he was in the shower. Chris and Joey, now dry, were on one side of the table and Justin and Britney were on the sofa, gulping down copious amounts of coffee to wake them up. JC said nothing, but instead proceeded to make up some tea with lemon.

"So how are the lovebirds this morning?" Chris asked.

"I feel like death warmed over," Justin grumbled in between mouthfuls of cereal and coffee.

"Not you, Idiot, them!" Chris said, pointing to JC, only to get confused looks from Justin, Britney, and JC.

"What in the hell are you talking about, Chris?" Justin yawned.

"Chris and I found them in bed this morning," Joey added to the conversation in between bites of bacon and eggs. "Looked pretty comfy to me too. I guess somebody had a really nice birthday last night." Justin, Britney, and JC all shared glances for a minute before Britney started giggling and Justin held up his hand for JC to hi-five.

"What's so funny?" Chris asked.

"Uh … Christopher dear, exactly what did you see this morning?" Britney asked in such a sugary voice that Joey and Chris knew they had been duped.

"You bastard," Joey glared at JC as they all heard a knock on the door.

"That must be the medicine for Lance," JC said, quickly moving towards the door open it.

"Lance was sick last night?" Chris asked, a little bit less angry now.

"Yes, Justin, JC, and I took turns sitting up with him. The doctor said it's the stomach flu. Should be out of his system within a few days. In the meantime, he's going to have to take it easy and take some medicine to keep his tummy calm," Britney answered

"Yup, the doc said it was probably that escargot he had for dinner last night. Our poor country boy just ain't got used to continental cuisine yet," JC quipped, only to get a sofa cushion in the head from Chris as Justin and Britney both collapsed into giggling fits.

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

He walked into the backstage dressing room to find only Chris there, talking on the phone with Dani.

"Yeah, honey. One of the two assholes just walked in the door," he heard Chris say. "We went through all that trouble and what's our thanks? Ice water dumped on our heads! That's what! You know how sensitive I am. Probably come down with a cold, then pneumonia, then Lord knows what else!"

Lance could only laugh as Chris finished his griping with a flourish. Doing the only thing that he knew could shut Chris up, Lance got down on his knees and bowed before Chris, silently offering his apologies.

"Oh look Dani. Nooowww he's trying to ask for forgiveness. Well, if Lance thinks that he can just play me like a badly tuned piano, then he's sorely mistaken," Chris continued, not about to give in so easily to his friend. It was only when Lance grabbed a water bottle off the table and balanced it precariously above Chris' head that the older man yielded. "Look sweetie, I've got to go now. Lance is about to give me another bath with Ozarka spring water."

"On behalf of JC and myself, I formally apologize for your early shower this morning, Chris." Lance said as he took seat next to Chris.

"Apology not accepted," Chris said emphatically. No, he would not let the two of them off the hook so easily.

"Come on, really. That was a great birthday present. I totally missed it this year." Lance said, playing along with Chris for now.

"There's only one thing you can do to make it up to Joey, Justin, and me," Chris said sternly.

"Okay, what is it?" Lance asked, just as Joey and Justin walked into the dressing room.

"What's what?" Joey interjected.

"I was just thanking Chris for that nice birthday present last night, and asking him to forgive JC and me for that little prank that we played on y'all this morning. And Chris was just about to tell me what we can do to make it up to you." Lance replied.

"I think I can speak for the three of us when I say that we want a kiss," Chris told Lance.

"You want a what?!" Lance asked.

"You heard me," Chris pressed. "We want a big fat sloppy kiss, right on the lips! Right in front of all of us."

"Are you sure about that Chris?" Lance asked, not able to tell if his friend was still kidding around.

"No, Lance. We went through a lot of trouble to get you that gift. I think we deserve to see a little affection." Chris said, kicking himself for not thinking of this sooner.

"Okay, if that's what you want," Lance said. And before Chris knew what was happening, Lance lunged at the older man, grabbed him by the head, and planted a big, fat, sloppy kiss on his lips. Chris was momentarily stunned, not knowing what the hell had just happened, until he heard Joey and Justin howling with laughter.

"Uh … gross … disgusting … pfft … pffft … germs – fppffththh!" Chris gagged as he tried to wipe Lance's spit off his lips. "Not me, you asshole! JC!! I wanted to see you kiss JC!! You moronic Mississippi hick!!"

"What's the old saying, Chris? Be careful what you wish for, you may just get it?" Lance said as he smiled devilishly at his shocked friend.

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

She found him sitting alone onstage, tinkling with the keyboards, a couple of hours to go before showtime. All of the other guys were off somewhere, doing their usual rituals before a show. Ever since the two of them were in the Mickey Mouse Club together, she had loved the way he fiddled on the keyboards.

"So, how DID it go last night?" Britney asked as she gave JC a light hug. Instead of answering with his voice, JC let his fingers do the talking as he began playing the 'Moonlight' Sonata. Britney laughed at his antics.

"Oh? That well, huh?" She giggled, tightening her hands around his shoulders a bit. "So you think he's finally opening up?" Again, JC let his fingers answer.

"And you're happy?"

"That's good, JC. I'm so happy for the two of you. Finally!"