1993

“Go on. He’ll love it. All you have to do is get your feet moving.”

“Are you sure? What if he hates it?”

“Justin, you’re being ridiculous. JC won’t hate it.”

“What if he laughs at me?”

“He won’t laugh at you!”

Justin sighed and looked down at the carefully wrapped box in his hands. He turned the box in his hands over and over again, his fingers running over the crisp, sharp edges of the wrapped box. The green wrapping paper with a jolly, rosy-cheeked, Santa pattern stared back at him, the red metallic ribbon gleaming as if teasing him. A slightly scuffling sound reminded him of the present that was inside which he spent hours looking for at the mall.

It was the older cast members of MMC who came up with the idea of having a large Christmas party before everyone went back to their homes for Christmas and everyone was in on it from the start, even some of the writers and producers.

They all agreed to meet in the large conference room on set. It was transformed from a boring, beige-walled room to a brightly lit, heavily decorated, winter wonderland. A large piano was in the corner which some casts mates started to play from time to time and they all burst into Christmas carols as they ate cookies and sipped on punch as well as decorate gingerbread men and make ornaments for the MMC Christmas tree.

Young Justin Timberlake had all ready exchanged gifts with his friends, TJ, Ryan, Britney, and Christina. He had one more for JC and he was eager to give it to his older friend but he was nervous at the same time. He didn’t know how JC would react to it. Laugh in Justin’s face? Toss it away? Make fun of it? Justin knew JC wasn’t like that but he couldn’t help but run through the possibilities in his head. JC was someone that Justin looked up to (and it doesn’t have to do with the fact that he’s significantly shorter than the older cast mate). He wanted to thank JC for showing him around, accepting him and treating him like a person and not like a little kid.

“Go on,” Britney urged again, nudging Justin, taking a break from making her ornament. “Justin, just give it to him, he’ll like it.”

Justin sighed again. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Britney, Christina, TJ, and Ryan all said as the same time.

“Ok, ok,” Justin sighed. He stayed rooted where he was.

Sighing, Britney and Christina grabbed his arms and (after a few tries) managed to pull him to his feet and shove him in the direction of JC who was laughing with Tony and Dale about something. JC turned his eyes to Justin as he approached and smiled. “Hey man, what’s up?” he asked casually, pushing his hair out of his face with both hands. Justin only managed a smile. Then JC looked down at Justin’s hands. “Is that for me?” He asked. Justin nodded and held it out to him. Tony and Dale muttered something as an excuse to leave. “Good, I got something for you too,” JC said, picking up a blue-wrapped gift from the table next to him and gave it to Justin. “Merry Christmas.”

“Thanks, you too.” Justin eagerly opened the box. “Whoa, Josh, you didn’t have to get me this,” he commented as he pulled the thick silver chain necklace out of the box.

“I saw you eyeing them before. It’s no big deal. I figured you’d like it. Now you’re one of the big boys, huh?” JC laughed as he tugged at the ribbon on his box. He easily ripped of the wrapping paper and opened the box.

Justin blushed when JC didn’t say anything. “Um, it’s a lion head necklace ‘cause you’re a leo. I know it’s not much but I thought you’d like it.”

“No, I do. Really,” JC said with a big smile. “It’s very clever.”

Justin frowned. “You don’t have to be nice if you really don’t like it—“

“Justin!” JC interrupted him, laughing. “I really do like it. Do you want me to prove it or something?” He chuckled and tied the necklace around his neck. “Ok, I’ll wear it all the time to prove it to you.”

“You won’t take it off?” Justin asked, lifting his eyebrows, not believing him?

“I won’t take it off,” JC repeated.

Justin grinned.

2010

And JC didn’t take it off. Not for the longest time. Not when he showered, went swimming, or needed to change clothes for a photo-shoot. He always made sure to keep the necklace on. Sometimes he grabbed it and held onto it, as if it held all of his strength. Sometimes he believed it did and, without it, he wouldn’t be the strong person that he was.

He took it off once but it felt weird not having the little weight on his chest so he put it right back on. Through their fights, their lawsuit, and Justin newfound stardom within the group JC kept his promise and never took it off. Even when the group split up he never took off his necklace, he told himself it was because he was so used to it there but, deep down, he kept it on in hopes of Justin coming back to the group.

As the years wore on he continued to wear the necklace still holding onto the hope that Justin would come back, even as his CD soared on the charts and he blew up on the radio, JC never gave up the hope. Even when he released his own CD he wouldn’t let it go. After hearing that his CD didn’t do as well as he had hoped he was ready to jump back into the group. Everyone else was, but Justin wasn’t. Then the group started to fade, *NSYNC became a ridiculed name to many, and the group that once stood proud before was disappearing before JC’s eyes. And even then JC didn’t take the necklace off.

It was when Justin made his second CD that JC knew it was time to let go. It was hard for him to accept it as he produced for singers here and there, wrote for upcoming acts, and dabbled in working on movies. One day the leather-like cord ripped and he put up the necklace. He hadn’t thought about it since then, even though he passed it every day to get to work. It faded to the back of his mind, just like the group. He didn’t want to blame Justin, he knew they all wanted to try their hand in different projects, but he thought that they would be back together sooner than this. Ten years have passed since they released a CD. Celebrity was their last one, if you excluded their Greatest Hits. Sometimes JC would sit at home, listening to their three CDs from start to finish, smiling at how young their voices sounded up to their mature tones.

It all felt like a ghost of the past. A past that everyone else wanted him to forget. Recently he saw two old groups on TV working together. They called themselves NKOTBSB and they were going on tour together. He didn’t miss that *Nsync was trending on twitter that day. He didn’t miss the tweets and the messages and e-mails that were sent to him asking if there was the possibility of an *Nsync reunion, just once.

He wanted to say yes with every fiber of his being but he didn’t want to lie to himself. Justin was off doing bigger and better things. He was doing three movies back to back. That was the reason that he wasn’t at their group lunch that day in LA. Joey, Chris, and Lance made it. Justin left a very short message apologizing for not being there.

A message was better than nothing.

As it neared Christmas JC felt his mood lighten a bit with the Christmas spirit. He was going to Chicago to visit his parents before auditions for Season six of America’s Best Dance Crew started. While he was excited to see what the new crews brought he was afraid that he’d seen it all. He didn’t feel like there was anything new people could bring to the table but he was anxious as well.

He was packing his bags, looking over his desk for anything that he needed to bring with him, shuffling through papers when his fingers brushed the cord. He knew what it was and was hoping to God he was wrong but he wasn’t. He pulled out the old necklace, the image of the lion practically faded, just like their old careers, but still visible. And, suddenly, he found himself smiling again.

*Nsync wasn’t gone; it was still a part of him, a part of all of them. Just because they didn’t sing together anymore didn’t mean they weren’t still *Nsync. The band was just a representation of their brotherhood, it was just a name.

His ringing phone broke him out of his thoughts. Putting the necklace into his pocket, he moved over to the phone and picked it up. “Hello?” He answered. There was a split second of silence, but it was familiar, comfortable silence.

“Hey. I just wanted to call and say Merry Christmas.”

JC smiled, running his fingers over the lion in his pocket. “Merry Christmas to you too, Justin.”