CHAPTER ONE

November 5, 2002 (Orlando, Florida)

"Honey, I'm home...oh yeah, that's right, I don't live with anybody."

After throwing his jacket onto the coat rack beside the door, JC made his way across the living room foyer to his CD player; making fast work of removing the newly purchased CD in his hands from the CD's jacket before putting it into the device in front of him.

Track number fifteen...He commented to himself, while searching for the song that he had written for Justin's CD--which had just came out in stores today, and which he had just purchased at the local Wal-Mart down the street from his house.

I hope it's worth the wait. He thought to himself; having not heard the track since he gave it to Justin to record months ago. Knowing J, it probably will be though.

Finding the song he was looking for, JC quickly hit play on the CD player and then made his way towards the center of the room; taking a seat on his couch just as the beginning words to Never Again came floating through his living room speakers.

Would have given up my life for you
 guess it's true what they about love..it's blind
Girl, you lied straight to my face, looking in my eyes
And I believed you 'cause I loved you more than life
And all you had to do was apologize...

While nodding his head to the beat, JC couldn't help but think back to when he had first written this song.

He had never meant for it to be released, especially not on his group-mate's solo album, but he had written it after him and his last girlfriend Anna had broken up, after Justin's now fiancee had found out that Anna was the one who had told the press about Justin's one year old daughter, Kayla. JC had written the song to let out all the hurt and anger he had felt from the breakup and all the other breakups that he had went through before the younger woman.

There's just way too many to count.

With that thought in mind, JC absentmindedly shook his head--trying to shake off any negative thoughts from taking over his head--and instead tried to concentrate on the song that was playing on his CD player.

Unfortuantly that task was interrupted by the shrill sound of his cell-phone ringing.

Rebecca...? What does she want?  JC asked himself, while staring down at the caller-id on his phone; before flipping the device open and answering the call on it's third ring. "Hello?"

"Hey Jace, you busy?"

Even though he figured the younger woman knew that he indeed was not busy--as he hadn't been since the group parted ways a couple of months ago--JC couldn't help but reply: "Somewhat, but I can take a break from it for a second..why? What's up?"

After a small second's pause was heard through the phone--one in which JC was about to ask if Rebecca was still there, in--Rebecca excitedly replied: "I have some good news for you, but it's more of a face-to-face conversation than an over the phone conversation. Do you think you could meet me at Lance's house in a half-n-hour?"

Not remembering a time when Rebecca sounded this excited caused JC to want to ask who did she kill and if she was calling for him to help her hide the body, but not believing that his friend was that crazy caused him to instead reply: "I just got in the house not too long ago, can't it wait until tomorrow?"

A question which Rebecca, he guessed, already knew he was going to ask 'cause she already had a response for him in a matter of seconds.

"It can...but I think you're going to want to hear this one now so I'll see you at Lance's house in thirty minutes, okay? Great, goodbye."

And just like that, she hung up the phone; leaving JC to stare at it incredulously.

I can't believe she just did that....

~*~

After weighing the pro's and con's of calling Rebecca back and telling her that she would just have to wait until tomorrow to tell him the news, JC figured he wasn't really doing anything anyways and didn't want to pay for not showing up later when it was time for Rebecca to do his hair for an awards show or any other gig Nsync had in the future. So a half-n-hour after getting off the phone with Becca, JC found himself at Lance's house listening in as Rebecca excitedly told him why she had dragged him out of his house and clear across town.

This better be good...

"Okay, so, there I am on the highway, coming back from dropping Leslie off at the airport when I look over and guess who I see in the car beside me?"

"Who?" JC opened his mouth to respond, but before he could do so, Rebecca excitedly replied: "Dallas Austin..you know, the music producer."

Knowing exactly who Dallas Austin was 'caused JC to outwardly reply: "Okay, and what does that have to do with me..?"

A question which caused Rebecca to roll her eyes in response, before saying: "Hold on, I'm getting to that...anway, after I saw him I was thinking back to that last conversation we had when you said you were itching to get back into the studio again, and I figured Dallas Austin would be a great person for you to work with, so I cut across three lanes and rear-ended him on accident."

What the hell...?

Not believing for a second that Rebecca was crazy enough to do that caused JC to turn towards Lance, who up until this point had been in the kitchen on his cell-phone, but was now making his way back into the living room where the other two were seated. And after asking the younger man if what Rebecca said was true, he was blown away when Lance dramatically rolled his eyes in response before replying: "It's going to cost me almost two thousand dollars in damages...I just wish I wouldn't have said yes when she asked me to borrow my car to take Leslie to the airport, then it could've been her car and not mine that's in the shop right now."

"Like I said before, your car is a lot bigger than my car, but that's besides the point--"

After shaking his head slightly as Lance threw out that is the point, JC raised his voice over the two friend's bickering and asked Rebecca again what exactly did that have to do with him.

"Okay, okay, okay..I'm getting to that, geesh, keep your pants on, man..." Rebecca began, before continuing with: "Anyway, after we pulled over onto the side of the street and exchanged information, I told him who I was and that I had a friend who was looking to get back into the studio after having taken some time off to relax for a little bit. And after he asked me who I was talking about, I told him it was you and it turns out that he's a big fan of yours and that he's been wanting to do something with you since he heard you on that Bring it all to me remix you did with Blaque earlier this year. He told me to give you his number and he said for you to meet him in his office Friday afternoon to discuss you working with him on this upcoming project he's about to do. What do you think?"

I think you're crazy... JC wanted to say, but knowing that Rebecca had only done what she did to help him caused JC to instead reply: "Thanks for the help, but I'm going to have to pass, Becca...he probably just told you to tell me that so you wouldn't ruin his car any further. I don't want a pity project."

While standing up to leave after this comment, JC had to stop himself as Rebecca replied: "JC, this isn't a pity project. He really did say that he wanted to work with you. I even brought his business card with me so you can call him, if you don't believe me."

Even though he still had his doubts about it, JC found himself taking the card as Lance replied: "I say go for it, man. Pity project or not, it's work and you did say that you were itching to get back into the studio."

Knowing that he indeed was, as they said, itching to get back into the studio caused JC to reply that he would think about it--only if Rebecca promised not to hit anyone else's car again in hopes that it would help him further his career.

"I can't make any promises." Rebecca jokingrly replied; causing Lance to mutter: "At least, do it in your own car next time."

Once again starting another argument between the two best friends.

Here we go again....

~*~

November 8, 2002 (DARP Recording Office)

"Mr. Chasez? Mr. Austin will see you now...his office is right through those double doors over there, to your left."

After standing up from the suede couch he was sitting on, JC nodded his head, as if to say thank you, to the receptionist behind the desk, and then quickly made his way towards the direction in which she had pointed him towards; through the double doors on his left.

"JC!" Dallas exclaimed, as soon as the younger man stepped foot inside his large cubicle of an office, "How you doing? Glad you could make it."

"I'm glad I could make it too, traffic out there was crazy--"

"Your friend wasn't on the road, was she?" Dallas joked, causing JC to chuckle slightly, while also loosening up just a little bit, "Have a seat, make yourself comfortable."

Doing as he was told, JC took a seat in the chair that was situated across from Dallas' seat and then before the other man could say anything, JC replied: "I'm sorry about the other day. Rebecca can be quite a handful when she wants to be."

After slightly chuckling at this comment and then replying that he had figured that out first hand, Dallas continued with: "Don't worry about it, your group-mate Lance has promised to pay for any damages that occurred with my car, and until I get it fixed, I'll just drive my other truck until then."

"But anyways, enough about that, I'm not sure as to how much your friend told you, but I wanted you to come in today 'cause I've been listening to some of the songs that you've helped co-write and produce, and I'm really feeling your style. I want you to help me with my next big project."

I guess Rebecca wasn't lying when she said Dallas was serious about working with me.

With that thought in mind, JC replied: "What project is that?"

"I don't know if you've heard about it yet, but 20th Century Fox is coming out with a new movie called "DrumLine" starring Nick Cannon from Nickelodeon's "All That" and I was asked to produce the soundtrack which I want you to help me with. Are you interested?"

Is he for real...?

Seeing that Dallas was being completely serious right now caused JC to quickly reply: "Of course I'm interested. When can I start?"

A question which caused Dallas to chuckle in response to, before outwardly replying: "I like your enthusiasim...you can start tomorrow."

~*~

An hour later

After straightening out all the details and telling Dallas that he would see him first thing tomorrow morning, JC waited until he was safely in his car, with the door securely shut beside him before excitedly shouting YES! to no one in particular and then afterwards dialing a familar number on his phone.

"Hello?"

"You know, I could kiss you right now."

After jokingly replying that she bet he wouldn't, Rebecca replied that JC's meeting must've went well; a comment which caused JC to say: "No, it went better than well...it went great. I start working with him in the studio tomorrow morning, and I owe it all to you."

Even though they both knew that JC somewhat did owe her one because Rebecca was the one who ran into Dallas' car, JC wasn't that surprised when the humble as ever Rebecca played down her part in the story. "You don't owe me any thing. You got the gig on your own accord, I just pushed you a little bit..or better yet, I pushed Dallas' car a little bit--but that's besides the point. Congratulations."

Knowing that Rebecca wasn't going to get away that easily from him thanking her caused JC, as he was pulling out of the parking lot, to ask the younger woman what she was doing later that night and if he could take her to dinner to properly say thank you.

"Aw, that's sweet, but I'm sorry, Jace, I have other plans. Lance is taking me out for my birthday tonight."

Having almost forgotten that it was Rebecca's birthday that day caused JC to mutter shit to himself, before loudly replying: "That's right, today is your birthday. How old are you again? Twenty-one?"

Knowing that he was only teasing her caused Rebecca to sarcastically reply: "Ha, ha, ha, guess again, old-man. I am officially twenty-three today. Remember when you were my age, sonny?"

Without even bothering to hold back his chuckle, JC joked: "I don't know, that was so long ago...what year is it now?"

A question which caused Rebecca to laugh as well.

"Whatever, JC. But I really need to get going if I want to finish getting ready before Lance comes to pick me up in an hour. Can I take a raincheck on our dinner?"

"Absolutely." JC replied back, before telling Rebecca Happy birthday once again, and then afterwards disconnecting the phone call.

~*~

Twenty minutes later, after leaving Dallas' office, JC found himself pulling up into his driveway; interestingly enough, right behind Lance's car.

What's he doing here?"

After shutting off the engine and stepping out of his car, JC locked the door to his Mercedez Benz and quickly made his way into the front door of his house; amused when he stepped inside and saw Lance standing in front of the living room mirror, looking to be going back and fourth between one of JC's green ties or one of his blue ties.

 "What do you think? The blue one or the green one?"

While rolling his eyes at his friend's hello, JC replied: "The green one, I guess..it matches your eyes."

"Why JC, I didn't know you could be so sensitive." Lance jokingly replied, before putting on the tie that his friend had chose for him, and then afterwards turning around to get the older man's approval. "What do you think?"

"Wow, you did good, buddy...this must be some place you're taking Rebecca tonight for her birthday."

Noticing the oh shit expression on Lance's face caused JC to raise an eyebrow in disbelief while replying: "Wait a minute...don't tell me you forgot her birthday. She told me you were on your way to get her in an hour."

"Shit!" Lance commented, while taking his phone out of his back pocket and quickly dialing a familiar number. "I completely forgot what today was. I promised Amber I'd take her out tonight to help her celebrate the promotion she just got at work today...I don't know how I'm going to explain this one to Rebecca."

And I don't know how you're going to explain your black eye to Amber once Rebecca finds out. JC commented to himself, before making a move to head futher into his living room--thinking since everyone seemed to already have plans for the night--he could simply order a pizza and watch a couple of movies on TV.

But unfortuantly before he could do such a thing, Lance's next words stopped him: "Wait, you're not doing anything tonight, are you JC?"

Turning back around and seeing the hopeful look on Lance's face caused JC to quickly catch on to what the younger man was asking him to do; something he refused to do. "Oh no, you are not getting me involved in that blood bath."

"Come on, C! It's her twenty-third birthday, she shouldn't have to spend it alone...you don't even have to think of it as doing me a favor, you can instead think of it as a way of thanking Rebecca for your meeting today--which I forgot to ask how it went earlier."

 Dammit...! Remembering that he had wanted to thank Rebecca for helping him land a meeting with Dallas caused JC, after absentmindedly telling Lance his meeting went okay, that he'd do it. "I'll take her out for her birthday."

Before JC knew what was happening, he was being swept up off the ground by Lance and spun around the room. "Thanks so much, JC. You're the best"

"You are too, Lance...now let me go." JC replied, between clenched teeth, before having to regain his balence as Lance roughly set him down and then told the older man that he'd see him later. "I have to get going and so do you, too, if you don't want Rebecca yelling at you for being late."

Knowing that that would be just his luck, JC yelled dammit and then quickly followed Lance out the house; preparing to murder his group-mate in his sleep if he got chewed out later for this.

~*~
Twenty Minutes Later

After nearly having to run two stop signs and four red-lights, JC found himself finally in front of Rebecca's house at six pm sharp; the exact time when Lance was supposed to be picking her up at.

A fact which Rebecca noted, as soon as she opened her front door and instead of seeing her best friend behind it, she instead saw JC.

"What are you doing here, JC? Where's Lance?"

Not really good at lying caused JC to pause for a second, before telling Rebecca the truth. "He said he was sorry..something just came up."

"Or better yet, someone." Rebecca replied, sarcastically, her voice void of any emotion that she was feeling at the moment. "Thanks for letting me know though. Sorry you had to drive all the way over here since he couldn't tell me he had made other plans, himself--at least over the phone would've been better than this."

Not really sure what he was supposed to say to that caused JC to ignore that last comment and instead reply: "Well, actually I didn't have to drive all the way over here, but I figured since your plans just got canceled for the night, you wouldn't mind taking me up on my offer to treat you to dinner, as a way to say happy birthday and thank you for all that you've done for me as well. What do you say?"

Even though she really didn't want to spend her birthday at home by herself, the sudden realization that her best friend had just chose his girlfriend over her caused Rebecca to reply: "I'm not really that hungry anymore, but thanks anyway, JC."

Deciding that he wasn't going to take no for an answer right now 'caused JC to quickly reply: "Well then, we don't have to go out and eat..we can do something else instead."

A comment which caused a curious Rebecca to ask:

"What did you have in mind?"

~*~

Thirty minutes later

"You've got to be kidding me...are you serious?"

After chuckling slightly at the questioning tone in Rebecca's voice, JC shrugged his shoulders slightly while making his way towards the front counter of the building. "Hey, you told me you weren't in the mood to bowl or play minature golf, so I figured this would be the next best thing....two please."

Waiting until after JC had finished paying for both his and her tickets, Rebecca began her questioning again: "Okay, but GoKart racing? Really? This is all you could think to do."

Knowing that Rebecca wasn't really mad at him but still annoyed at Lance for ruining her evening caused JC to ignore the tone in the younger woman's voice while replying: "Well, what else is there to do? If you know of anything, please let me know." And after a second or two of silence was heard from the other woman, JC replied: "Exactly..now which kart do you want?"

"Whatever." Rebecca replied, in defeat, before studying the karts in front of her: choosing the red one with the number 23 painted on it

"Okay, then I'll take the blue one." JC commented, before helping Rebecca into the GoKart of her choice and then situating himself into his GoKart as well. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, but I forgot to tell you one thing.." Rebecca replied, causing JC--after buckling his seat belt--to turn around and face the now smirking female.

"What's that?"

"I'm going to kick your ass."

And with that being said, Rebecca was gone; leaving JC to look on amusingly as she sped off with him quickly trying to catch up behind her.

This should be an interesting night..


*****

Next part soon 

CHAPTER TWO

Saturday, November 9, 2002 (DARP Recording Office)

After not making it home until around three o'clock that morning, JC was more than exhausted when his alarm clock went off four hours later; telling him it was time to rise and shine.

God, this is going to be such a long day. He commented to himself, before taking a quick shower, throwing on some clean clothes and then dashing out of his house--interestingly enough, making it to Dallas' office at exactly eight am sharp.

"You're on time...I like that." Dallas quipped, before telling JC to follow him down the hallway, towards the recording studio; all the while explaining to him what it was that they were going to be doing that day. "All right, I pretty much have a couple of artists in mind that I want to work with on this album, but what we need to do today is figure out which direction we're going to go in with this CD and pick what songs we want on the disc."

While nodding his head at this information, JC began to absentmindedly take in his surroundings around him; finding himself almost at home with being in the recording studio again.

Welcome back, JC!

"Did you get a chance to read over the premise for the movie like I asked you to...?"

Having done so 'caused JC to first nod his head, as if to say yes, he indeed had, before giving the older man the feedback that he knew that Dallas was searching for. "I was thinking that maybe we should try and gear this CD more towards half-time show types of music. You know, like feature songs with marching bands playing in the background instead of regular instruments and also, since the movie is called DrumLine, we should feature more songs that have drums being heard on them than anything else...just a suggestion."

After taking a second to play around with that idea in his head, Dallas let a small smile appear across his face before saying: "I like that idea. We could even incorporate some of the scenes from the movie into the soundtrack, like if one of the characters is playing a beat on his drums, we can have that as the intro or the outro...good idea, JC."

Glad that Dallas liked it, JC opened his mouth to tell the older man some more ideas he had for the soundtrack, but before he could do so, Dallas had already turned around and was now handing him a list of the artists that he wanted to have on the record. "Tell me what you think about these..."

Taking the list, JC scrolled down the list of--not surprising since that was where he was from--Atlanta artists that Dallas had picked to be on the record, but then at seeing the last name on the list, he somewhat froze in place.

JC Chasez...? Wait, that's me.

Looking up at this information, JC was surprised to find Dallas smiling at him--as if he knew what the younger man was thinking. "You want to put me on this album?"

"Yeah," Dallas replied back, while taking the list out of JC's hands and putting it back on the shelf where he had found it at, "I told you I liked your style. I think you could add something to the record, you know, spice things up a bit--that is if you want to, of course."

Without even bothering to think about it for a second, JC quickly replied that he would love too.

A comment which caused Dallas to slightly chuckle while replying:

"I knew there was a reason why I hired you."

~*~

Seven PM

"Okay, JC, I got one more song for us to listen to before we can wrap it up for the day...what do you think about this beat?"

Stopping what he was doing for a second, JC listened to the song that Dallas was referring to; a second later, ready to offer his input. "I like it..I think it could be a hit. It just needs a little something else...maybe a little bit more funk."

As if he had just said the most hillarious thing in the world, Dallas began to crack up at JC's comment and then after taking a second to compose himself, he replied: "Some more funk, huh? Damn, I knew we should've worked together a lot sooner than this..that's whats I'm talking about, some more funk."

Happy once again that Dallas was actually taking his suggestions and using them instead of just pushing them to the side like a lot of other producers seemed to do in the past caused JC to smile a little, but then a second later he found himself smiling even more so at Dallas' next comment.

"You know what, I just got an idea...how would you like for this to be your track for the record? You can chop, screw, or whatever else you want to do with it--for gods sake, make it your own. What do you say?"

Not even bothering to think about it, JC replied, once again, that he'd love too; a comment which Dallas responded back Right on to.

"But anyway, I think it's time we got out of here--we got a lot of stuff accomplished today though, way more than I expected us to."

"That's good to hear." JC absentmindedly replied back, while helping Dallas clean up all the papers that they had lying around the area they were in. "You got any plans for the night?"

After a second's pause, Dallas replied: "Yeah, I'm taking your friend Rebecca out to dinner."

A comment which caused a surprised JC to look up from what he was doing--surprise clearly evident on his face.

She didn't mention that to me last night.

Noticing the look on JC's face, Dallas quickly replied: "You okay, man? Did I say something wrong?"

After taking a second to shake his head, as if to say no, he hadn't, JC replied: "No, I was just surprised, that's all. She hadn't mentioned anything to me about it the last time I spoke with her."

"Oh." Dallas replied back, before taking a second to study JC for a second, before continuing with: "There's not anything going on with you two, is there? 'Cause if so, I'll step back, no questions asked."

Between me and Rebecca...? Hell no. JC thought to himself, having never once thought of his group-mate's best friend as anything more than just a friend or a little sister to him.

"I can pretty much assure you that there is absolutely nothing going on with me and Rebecca, I was just surprised that you said you were taking her to dinner--seeing as how you two met, that is."

While slightly laughing at this comment, Dallas jokingly replied: "What can I say...I'm a sucker for a crazy girl."

A comment which caused JC to inwardly think to himself:

You'd have to be to want to mess with Rebecca.

~*~

Midnight

Not having any plans the next day caused JC to spend the next couple of hours after leaving Dallas' office at home, on his couch, flipping through movie channels.

Seen it...seen it...hated it...not even worth my time...maybe if I was bored enough. He commented to himself, before stopping on a movie that somewhat looked promising.

Wild things

Having never seen the movie before, but knowing that it was one of Joey's favorites, caused JC to almost immediatly comment to himself that this should be interesting, before standing up to go get himself some popcorn and a cold drink to quench his thirst.

While making his way back towards the sofa, with the two items in hand, he was surprised when his door-bell went off; knowing that he usually didn't get any visitors this time of night.

I wonder who that could be...

Sitting his stuff down on the nearest counter, JC made fast work of unlocking the front door and then opening it; surprised to see none other than Rebecca standing in front of him wearing--what his mother would call--a little black dress. "Becca? What are you doing here?"

"And hello to you, too, JC." Rebecca sarcastically responded back, before slightly pushing pass JC and making her way into his living room. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Still not exactly sure why Rebecca was there at his house at the moment caused JC to absentmindedly reply that she wasn't, beore locking the front door back to his house and--after picking his popcorn and soda up off the counter--following her into his living room. "I thought you were still out with Dallas."

"It looks like somebody can't keep a secret." Rebecca sarcastically commented to herself, before taking a seat on the couch that JC had once occupied, and then afterwards continuing with: "I was, but he kept going on and on about everything he had accomplished and all the money that he had saved up, and while I'm sure that most girls would love to hear all about that and his many trips to Costa Rica--I'm not one of them. So, I politely asked him to drop me off here, instead of at my own house, just in case he tried to make a move on me when dropping me off at my house tonight. I hope that's okay with you."

Damn, it looks like I'm not the only one striking out in the romance department this year. JC commented to himself, while taking a seat next to Rebecca on the couch, and then afterwards continuing with: "You're fine. I was just about to watch a movie, which you're more than welcome to join me in."

While stealing a kernel of popcorn from JC's bowl, Rebecca looked up at the movie that was beginning to play on the TV; surprised when almost immediatly she recognized what he was watching: "JC! You've got to be kidding me...wild things? Haven't you seen this movie like a hundred times?"

After replying that he had never seen the movie once, JC continued with: "Everytime Joey or one of the other guys was watching it, I was always on my way to go do something else and never got to see the whole thing."

A comment which Rebecca was just about to respond to, but had to stop herself, when the first of many sex scenes began to play on the screen--causing JC to noticeably blush; a fact which the younger woman quickly picked up on. "Don't tell me a little soft porn makes you nervous, JC?"

While blushing even further at this comment, JC replied: "No, I just think this is a really private moment between the two actors. One that should be kept between the two of them."

Not believing for a second that the man in front of her was actually serious caused Rebecca to stare at JC for a second before replying: "JC, it's just acting...you know, they are really not having sex, right?"

"Of course I do." JC opened his mouth to reply, but as the scene in front of him became more graphic, he couldn't help but look away; causing Rebecca to roll her eyes in amusement.

"JC, have you ever had to pretend to kiss someone for a music video or a movie role?"

Knowing that he hadn't caused JC to ask Rebecca what that had to do with anything.

"Everything!" Rebecca almost screamed, before fully turning her body towards JC and commenting that everyone knew that a make believe kiss was completely different than a real kiss between two people who were actually interested in one another. "It's a common fact."

"And how would you know?" JC asked, wanting to take the embarrassment off of him for a second and put some of it on his younger friend. "I've known you for how long now, and besides Dallas, I've never heard of you even going on a date with someone else. How do I know you've even kissed somebody yet?"

After a small second's pause had gone by--one in which JC had to smile during, figuring he had finally stumped the all knowing female--Rebecca replied: "You don't...so kiss me."

A comment which caused JC to stare at the woman in front of him as if she had suddenly grown two heads, while outwardly replying: "What?"

A question which caused Rebecca to quickly reply: "You obviously don't know the difference between a make believe kiss and a real kiss and don't believe that I've ever kissed anyone before, so kiss me and I'll prove to you that there is in a fact a difference between the two of them, and that I'm not just making this stuff up."

If JC didn't already think that Rebecca was crazy before, this comment had gone ahead and proved to him that point.

This girl is nuts...

Before JC could open his mouth to say that statement out-loud, Rebecca took it upon herself to prove JC wrong by closing the distance between the two of them and meeting JC's confused lips with a set of her own determined ones.

What the hell...?

Not believing what was really happening right now caused JC to freeze up for a second, but then as he felt Rebecca's tongue start to work its way into his mouth, he suddenly was brought back to reality--and to a startling revelation.

This girl can really kiss...

Shutting his eyes at this thought, JC began to kiss Rebecca back with as much passion as she was giving him. And then after a couple of minutes, he had to open his eyes as--the now out of breath--Rebecca pulled back and replied:

"Now, do you believe me when I say that real kisses and make believe kisses have nothing to do with one another?"

No, because that kiss felt like a real kiss to me...JC thought to himself, while absentmindedly staring at Rebecca's lips, which she had just licked out of habit.

"JC?"

Even though he knew he should just agree to disagree with Rebecca's reasoning, JC was surprised to find himself saying:

"I still don't buy it...you might have to show me again."

***

CHAPTER THREE

Sunday, November 10, 2002 (Ten AM)

Dirty pop, baby, baby you can't stop, I know you like this dirty pop...Dirty pop, baby, baby you can't stop, I know you like this dirty pop...Dirty pop--

What the hell?

Opening his eyes, JC scanned the room, trying to find out where the annoying chirp was coming from; surprised when he realized it was from the phone of the person laying down beside him.

"Shit!"

My sentiments exactly. JC thought to himself, while remembering the events of the night before.

The entire events.

Unfortunately though, before he could say this comment out-loud, Rebecca had already jumped up out of bed and was quickly scrambling around the room; trying to find her dress, her shoes--and JC guessed, as well--her other unmentionables.

She must be in more disbelief than I am right now...

"Becca.."

As if she didn't hear him, Rebecca continued to scan the room trying to remember if she was forgetting anything or not--only stopping when JC said her name once more, this time in a louder fashion.

"Rebecca!"

"What?" The younger female questioned; causing JC--who hadn't gotten that far in which approach he should use--to hold up Rebecca's phone, which was interestingly enough still going off.

"Thanks. I just remembered I promised Cathy I'd watch Kayla for her while she ran into the office for a couple hours, and if I don't hurry up I'm going to be late." Rebecca replied, before taking the device out of JC's hands and finally silencing the annoying ring-tone. "I should be back in a couple hours if you want to over-analyze everything that just happened last night. We'll talk about it then, okay?"

Without even bothering to wait for JC to respond to this question, Rebecca turned on her heels and made her way out of the older man's room; shutting the door behind her after she went through it.

God, she makes some of the hastiest exits.

~*~

After completely running two red lights, Rebecca found herself in front of Cathy and Justin's door-step only fifteen minutes after she had left a confused JC behind.

He'll just have to wait til I come back to put this whole ugly thing behind us---I hope it doesn't take us more than a half-n-hour though, I want to at least make it home in time to watch America's most wanted.

With that thought in mind, Rebecca quickly knocked on the door in front of her; after a second coming face-to-face with a slightly angry looking Cathy.

"You're late."

Knowing that she was indeed twenty minutes behind schedule, Rebecca quickly told the frazzled woman in front of her that she was really sorry. "Something just came up."

Giving the younger woman a quick once-over, Cathy smirked slightly to herself, before replying: "I'm sure...but we'll talk about why you're wearing a wrinkled black dress and smudged make-up some other time. Right now, I really need to get going before I'm more late than I already am---Kayla's in her high-chair in the kitchen."

And with that being said, Cathy was gone; shutting the front door behind her, after she went.

And they say I'm nuts....

~*~

(Six PM)

"Clear my eyes, it's the morning after, did I fall in love or did I find disaster? Take a second just to breathe, I pick my heart up off my sleeve, yeah. There she goes and I know she knows, by the way she eased out on her tippy-toes. Skip the breakfast tea for two, we made no plans to rendezvous, yeah."

Knowing that the words he had just written down in front of him would definitely not go with the beat Dallas had given him 'caused JC to sigh in frustration; before flipping towards another blank piece of paper; hoping to finally put the events from last night behind him, and instead focus on coming up with a song for him to record for his and Dallas' upcoming project.

A task which was easier said than done, he assumed, as the doorbell began to ring.

There's only one guess as to who that could be. He commented to himself, knowing that besides Rebecca, he wasn't expecting for anyone else to show up to his house that day.

"Hey." He said, after opening the door--finding Rebecca in the same clothes as she had worn before, behind it. "Come on in."

"Thanks." Rebecca responded back, before making her way through the front door and into the living room; afterwards taking a seat on the couch--just as she had done so, the night before. "So, where do you want to begin?"

That's a loaded question if I ever heard one. JC thought to himself, before--after thinking about it for a second--taking a seat on the couch beside Rebecca; winning him a roll of the eyes after doing so. "I guess you can start."

"All right.." Rebecca began, before taking a deep breath in and then outwardly continuing with: "I guess I should take most of the blame for what happened last night, seeing as I was the one who kissed you first. I didn't mean for it to go as far as it did, and if you want, we can just forget the whole thing ever happened and pretend like we really didn't sleep together, okay?"

Wow, she really is like one of the guys...JC commented to himself, knowing that back in the day that would have been definitely something him or Justin would've said at this particular moment in time.

Interestingly enough though, it wasn't what JC wanted right now.

"I don't know about you, but I don't think it's going to be that easy to forget about it just like that..."

I'm not even sure if I want to forget about it just like that.

Noticing the confusion on Rebecca's face caused JC to not be surprised when her next question was: "So, what are you saying?"

Not really sure what he was saying at the moment caused JC to take a second to think about it before replying: "Maybe we should just see where this is going. I mean, we're both two single consenting adults, and we obviously had a good time last night or it wouldn't have happened in the first place...so, how about we just leave it at that?"

After a second's pause, where neither of them said anything but instead just looked at one another, Rebecca hesistantly replied: "And what if it happens again?"

A statement which caused JC to slightly shrug his shoulders iin response before replying: "Then it just happens again...as long as it doesn't ruin our friendship, or anyone else's for that matter, I don't see a problem in it. Do you?"

After taking a second to think about it for a minute, Rebecca let a small smile slip across her face while replying:

"Absolutely not."

~*~

Monday, November 11, 2002 (DARP Recording Office)

Seeing as though JC was already in town, Dallas decided that come Monday morning, they should just go ahead and lay down the track that JC had written for the Drum Line soundtrack; a fact which JC was more than happy to oblige.

"I'm ready whenever you are." Dallas commented, behind the pixi glass, before cuing up the music once JC replied that he was ready. "All right, do your thing then."

"Saw you around the other day. Shawty, she was all the way, looked like you were feeling me, so I had to come and see. Girly wasn't trying to hate, but she had to demonstrate that she was the queen to be, but she couldn't fight the chemistry and I say I...I..I...I can't lose you. I, I, I....oh.."

As the chorus to Blowing me up (with her love) began, JC couldn't help but smile to himself as he noticed the smile that was clearly evident on Dallas' face as the older man nodded his head to the beat.

"She was disco lights on a Friday night, she moved across the floor. Suga, she was oh so tight like dynomite, blowing me up with her love. She was on the phone with me, all night long, I just can't get it enough. She was uh, uh, oh, uh, uh, oh, blowing me up with her love."

After finishing up the rest of the song, JC waited until the music had died down before asking the older man what he thought; receiving a round of applause for his efforts. "That's what I'm talking about! You nailed it on the first try...come on out here so I can play it for you."

Removing the head-phones from his ears, JC sat the device down on the table beside him before joining Dallas at the soundbooth; smiling minutes later after hearing the playback of the song.

"Sounds even better the second time around." Dallas commented, before shutting off the music and then hitting his friend with a serious question. "So, when are you planning on heading back into the studio to make your own solo album? I'd love to be a part of it if you want me too."

Even though the thought of working with Dallas on his solo album brought a smile to JC's face, the smile soon lessened up a little as JC realized he wasn't exactly sure when he'd be able to make that dream become a reality.

"Jive doesn't want any of us to come out with a record until they see how well Justin's album does on the charts. They want to make sure that his album sells before backing up any other solo projects that the rest of us guys want to do."

Surprised that they would have the balls to do that to someone as talented as JC caused Dallas to say that comment out loud and then afterwards follow it up with: "Well, have you tried to go somewhere else and see if they'll back you up with your record? I'm sure there are a bunch of record labels out there who would be dying to have someone like you under their company."

I've already been signed to two...JC thought to himself, thinking back to when, years before, him and the rest of the guys were signed under Lou Pearlman's company. "Jive's always been really good to me, I don't know if I'm ready to terminate my business relationship with them just yet." And understanding exactly what he meant caused Dallas to reply: "I feel you, but you should definitely try and see if you can get a solo album out there sometime soon 'cause people are really starting to sleep on your vocal ability..I can even help you if you want."

Knowing that Dallas had already helped him out so much caused JC to smile slightly at the older man, before outwardly commenting that he'd think about it.

A comment which caused Dallas to reply:

"Hey, that's all I ask."

****
Next part soon.