"Hey," Justin jogged after his friend, taking hold of his elbow to stop him from walking any further. "You were really rude to Delanie the other day and you've practically ignored her since she turned up, are you alright man?"
"Yeah, I uh, I'm fine," the older man smiled at him weakly. "I'm just tired, I guess. You know, first day of rehearsals and all."
"Yeah…" Justin nodded. "Yeah, I'd buy that if we'd been here longer than an hour when Delanie showed up, C," he raised an eyebrow. "What the hell, man? I was talking to Johnny before and he said that she's really nervous about this job, she didn't wanna do it but she doesn't want to let her brother down. The least you could do is acknowledge the fact that she's here, instead running away every time she enters the damn room!"
"Yeah, I know," JC shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'll apologise to her. Lack of sleep, y'know?"
"Hey Justin, I found that shirt that you were looking… for. Hey, Jace," Delanie smiled softly when she reached them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt…"
"It's fine, I was just giving him a hard time for being so damn rude the other day," Justin grinned, snatching the shirt out of her hands. "Thanks, Lanie. You're a doll."
"Yeah, yeah…" she waved a hand dismissively and tutted at him. "Do you need anything else, or can I actually start some real work now?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at Justin.
"You're our assistant, Lanie baby! You assist us, and I needed assistance. Job well done, dollface!"
"You're a jerk," she scoffed.
"You love me," Justin ginned as he blew her a kiss and she tutted at him. "Seriously, though. Thank you for getting this for me."
"Whatever, J, it's fine. It's my job, right?" Delanie smiled at him. "I gotta go find Johnny, see if there's anything he wants me to do. I'll see you later." she chanced a quick look at JC, before she turned around to leave. Justin nudged JC's side and glared at him, gesturing for him to say something.
"Uh… Del?" he spoke quietly, rubbing the back of his neck as she turned round to face him. He sighed and stepped forward, opening his arms out for a hug. "It really is great to see you again," he told her. She smiled up at him as she wrapped her arms his waist, closing her eyes as he hugged her tightly. "I missed you," he whispered in her ear.
"You too, Jace." she whispered back, pulling away from him. "So, I'll see you both later, I'm sure Johnny said something about checking out hotels."
"Wait!" JC called after her, running a hand through his hair as Justin watched him in amusement. "Uhm, we're going out tonight, me and the guys-"
"And Britney!" Justin interrupted.
"And Britney," JC shot him a look. "Maybe you can- I mean, it'd be good if- do you want to come with us?" he asked hopefully, the gentle smile falling from his face when Delanie shook her head.
"I wish I could, but I've got plans I can't get out of, I have this Lamaze class I need to go to…"
"What?!" Justin spluttered. "Somethin' you wanna tell us, Lanie?!"
"Not me, you ass! Adam and Leah are expecting, he has to work nights sometimes and Leah doesn't like going to the classes on her own, so I volunteered to tag along with her whenever he can't make it… Tonight is one of those nights. Thank you, thoug. For inviting me. I really would have loved to have gone."
"It's… no problem. You could come meet us afterwards, if you want…"
"Yeah, I uh, I'll think about it…" she shot them both one last smile, before finally walking away to go and find Johnny.
"Dude…" Justin scoffed. "That was the worst way I've ever heard you ask a girl out. Ever."
"I wasn't asking her out, I was inviting her on a group thing," JC muttered distractedly.
"Yeah, sure. I was half expecting you to get down on your knees and beg her to come along. "
"Shut up, Justin, alright?!" he snapped at his friend, who's eyes went wide in surprise. "Just… shut up."
***
"Hold on, let me get this straight…" Leah laughed in disbelief, shaking her head at her sister-in-law. "JC Chasez – like, the JC Chasez, the seriously hot sex-haired one from the biggest boyband ever in the universe – asked you if you wanted to go out tonight, and you turned him down… to go to a damn Lamaze class with me?"
"It's no big deal," Delanie shrugged her shoulders, keeping her eye on the road. "It was a group thing, I didn't feel like going anyway. I like going to classes with you, it's good that we're all prepared for when my little niece decides to make her grand entrance."
"You know, you keep referring to Sparkle as a girl," Leah raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow at the younger woman. "It could very easily be a boy."
"With a nickname like Sparkle, I sincerely hope it's not a boy," Delanie scoffed, pulling into the driveway and helping Leah out of the car.
"I can carry my own shit, D. You're getting as bad as Adam," Leah groaned when Delanie quickly snatched her bag away from her as they walked into the house.
"You better get used to Adam trailing around after you until you pop that kid out, Lee. Serious. He's like a man possessed. You know when he picked me up from work the other night, I caught him showing the guys your scan pictures?"
"What?" Leah asked, horrified.
"Yep… *NSync have seen the inside of your womb…"
"I hate him!" she hissed, and Delanie giggled at her. "Oh! Hey, you totally changed the subject!" Leah tutted, hitting Delanie's arm with the back of her hand. "I can't believe you turned down JC Chasez – not even JC, you turned down the whole of *NSync! You have some serious willpower, D."
"Yeah, right," she scoffed. "I didn't have serious willpower two damn years ago when I needed it." she mumbled, and Leah perked up, looking at her curiously.
"What do you mean?" "…It's nothing," Delanie shook her head, sighing when Leah raised an eyebrow and smirked, obviously not believing her.
"I can't believe I'm about to tell you this," she mumbled.
"Well you are, so believe it, bitch. Spill!" Leah leaned forward in her seat, clapping her hands excitedly and Delanie chuckled. "C'mon, D! I'm married and pregnant, I can't hang out with super-hot rock stars, I'm living vicariously through you! Now tell me!"
"Okay, alright," she laughed quietly. "It was… You know last year, when the guys were doing promo and Johnny brought them by Mom and Dad's place?"
"Uh, duh, I was about ready to pounce on Joey when he walked through the damn door!"
"Ha, yeah, well, you know how I got pretty close to Justin and JC? And then not long after, they had rehearsals for the No Strings Attached tour and we all hung out?"
"And you and Justin flirted shamelessly the entire time, yes I remember," Leah nodded.
"We did not flirt at all," Delanie tutted. "And that's not even the point, so hush. Anyway, you know I kinda, maybe developed a tiny little crush on JC, but I just shrugged it off and let people laugh and joke about it because I knew there was no way he'd ever be interested in a dork like me…?"
"Yes…"
"Turns out… he kinda was…" Delanie coughed to hide her embarrassment and Leah stared at her, her eyes threatening to pop out of her head. "Quit looking at me like that, you look like something from a cartoon."
"Oh my God, are you seriously telling me right now that you and JC…Like, what, did you make out or something?"
"Uhh… Or something…"
"DELANIE CAMERON ROBERTS!" Leah screeched. "You tell me RIGHT NOW! Oh my God!" she giggled excitedly, clapping her hands and tapping her feet on the floor.
"Fuck, Lee, take it down a notch!" Delanie snorted. "It was… You know when they finished rehearsals, and they were leaving and we threw them a little going away party?"
"Yeah, we had it here and Adam did a little barbeque. I remember Justin and JC had a bit of an argument, and Justin was all," Leah cleared her throat and spoke in a deep voice, attempting to imitate Justin. "'Fuck JC, man, what as asshole', or something along those lines."
"…That was a poor impersonation, Leah," Delanie chuckled at her. "But you get the gist, that was the night. I found some stuff out, Justin told me some things and I was so pissed at JC, it was unreal. I, uh, I actually remember trying to kick him… down there. But Lance pulled me away before I could do it!"
"Wait, I thought you were about to give me the gory little details of the inner workings of JC's mouth or something, not tell me a story about how you had a fight."
"Impatient ass, I'm getting to it," she tutted. "We'd… I'd been hanging out with JC for a while and I guess it pissed Justin off, he made a big deal about me being his friend, not JC's, and he told me that JC had made it perfectly clear to the guys that he was gonna 'fuck and run'."
"Fuck and run."
"Yeah, you know when-"
"Delanie I know what fuck and run means, sweetheart. I'm six years older than you are. I just can't believe JC would – what a jerk!"
"Uh-huh," Delanie nodded. "I didn't believe Justin, though. I called him a liar and we had a fight, JC came to see if I was okay and I told him what Justin had said. And… I just, I knew, you know? His face changed, his eyes just went all shifty and I knew Justin was telling the truth, so of course because I'm ever so calm and I don't over react at all," Delanie mumbled sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I flipped my shit. I yelled, I hit him, I told him I hated him and we weren't friends anymore, I made him leave."
"…And he kissed you to shut you up?"
"Is this my story or yours?" she raised an eyebrow and Leah held her hands up defensively, gesturing for her to continue. "He kept calling. And calling, and calling, and calling. He emailed, he even wrote me a damn letter but I just wasn't interested in hearing his apologies. Justin even called and said he thought I should give him a chance to explain. So I did. And he apologised and told me he didn't mean it, he was just trying to talk himself up in front of the guys. I called him an ass, forgave him and we were friends again."
"Now do you make out?" Leah asked impatiently, grinning when Delanie scowled at her.
"It was after the concert, the HBO one. Remember?"
"When JC licked the damn floor and Adam had to try and catch the pair of us before we fainted, yes I vaguely recall rewinding that bit over and over and over again and wearing the video out," she smirked. "But, yeah, I remember, we all went to that bar afterwards. You disappeared, you were there one minute and then, poof! Magic D!"
"Yeah, well, we kissed," Delanie shrugged her shoulders. "We hung out the next day, he said he felt kinda weird because he was a bit older than me, but it didn't bother me. Not really. Next time they were in town, like a month or so later, he came by to see me at the house and…" she trailed off, waving a hand in the air. "You know."
"Y-you and Chasez? You slept with Joshua Chasez? You had sex with JC from *NSync?"
"It doesn't matter how many different way you say his name, Leah. It's the same guy. And yes, I did."
"Oh. My. GOD!" Leah squealed.
"You sound like a teeny, chill out!"
"But, I mean, if you- and he- I mean you guys obviously liked each other, so what- why didn't you… get with him or something? Be a couple, or whatever?" Leah asked in confusion, straining to hear Delanie's reply that she muttered under her breath. "What? I didn't hear you."
"Because he fucked and ran, Lee," she sighed. "He was gone when I woke up. What makes it worse…" she took a deep breath, willing the tears to stay away. "The whole night I was thanking God that Mom and Dad were away, that they'd gone to Aunt Linda's. It was when I was moping about that afternoon that the call came about the accident. I tried calling JC and he… he didn't wanna know."
"WHAT?" Leah seethed.
"No, wait. He called me after, when he found out what had happened but I didn’t want to-"
"Where are they? Right now, where are they?" Leah interrupted her, and Delanie shrugged her shoulders. "You’re their personal assistant, you should know. Ring Justin up right now and find out where they are. I'm gonna kick his ass!" she growled, throwing her phone towards Delanie, who caught it and shook her head, putting it down on the side. "Don't you shake your head at me! He ditches you after you spent the night together the same day your parents died, I'd say he's got a whole lotta karma coming round to bite him in his ass, and that karma is me!"
"Leah, he didn't know my parents were gonna-"
"Chasez has it coming to him and if I don't kill him, Adam certainly will!"
"Adam knows."
"…Excuse me?"
"Adam knows. I told him already. He flipped, like you, but he promised me he wouldn't say or do anything to JC. And you're not going to do anything either."
"Like hell I'm not!" she snapped, searching through Delanie's phone and looking through the numbers, finding the one she wanted and pushing the call button. Delanie's eyes widened as she tried to grab the phone, but Leah held a hand up and kept her at a distance. "Excuse me, do you mind not crowding me, I am a delicate, fragile little pregnant lady."
"You are anything but delicate and fragile! Lee! Gimme the phone!"
"No, go sit- oh hey, hey is that Justin? Heeey kid, don't know if you remember me, it's Leah! Yeah, Adam's Leah! No, no Delanie's fine, she's here right now. How are you? That's good… Aww, thank you, you're so sweet! So, anyway, I was calling just to find out where you're at? Have you eaten yet? Lanie and I might join you for some dinner, if that's okay? Uh-huh, we'll be there soon. Oh, and Justin? Tell JC it's on him."
***
Delanie giggled to herself from the safety of the booth as she watched Joey and Chris fuss over Leah, making sure she was okay and glaring at anyone who bumped into her.
"Guys, come on, I'm not made of glass! Let me dance!" she whined at them, causing them to blush and Delanie to laugh even more. It had been a couple of hours since they'd finished dinner and decided to move onto a bar, were they were getting slightly tipsy… with the exception of Leah, Justin and Chris. Despite threatening to inflict all kinds of pain on JC on the drive to the restaurant, Leah hadn't actually said or done anything to him, except send him a few glares. He seemed to know why she was pissed at him, and he'd managed to stay out of her way. The last thing he wanted was to feel the wrath of a very pregnant, very hormonal pregnant woman.
Feeling a head drop onto her shoulder, Delanie turned her head and smiled when she saw Justin pouting at her. "It sucks that Britney had to leave," she commented, and Justin nodded slowly. "I don't like this, by the way. I miss the curls. I liked the curls," she told him, running a hand over his shaven head.
"You said you liked it the day you started!"
"I lied," she shrugged her shoulders.
"Ahh, I see what it is... Wanna fantasize about having something to grab onto, huh?" he asked, grinning lazily.
"Pervert," she scoffed, pushing at his shoulder. "Does your girlfriend know you talk to other girls like this?" she raised an eyebrow, feeling like she'd said the wrong thing when the grin disappeared from his face. "Hey. What's up? Talk to me."
"Don't wanna, not right now," he shrugged, leaning past her and snatching her drink up off the table, taking a sip as the grin slowly spread back across his face. "Jack and coke. Girl after my own heart, right there. Where've you been all my life, Lanie? Other than trailing round after JC, obviously."
"I've been right here, Jus," she patted his hand which was resting on her knee. "How's Trace doing?"
"Oh, nice subject change," Justin tipped the glass at her and took another sip. She tutted and slapped at his hand, taking her drink back and setting it back down on the table as Justin chuckled. "I'll go get you another one, I'll be right back." he patted her knee and kissed her cheek before wandering over to the bar.
"I'm telling your girlfriend you kissed me!" she called over him, laughing when he waved a hand dismissively over his shoulder without looking at her and she turned back round when she felt someone sit down in the seat Justin had previously occupied. "Oh. Hey, Jace."
"Don't," he shook his head, and she frowned at him in confusion. "Don't call me Jace. Or JC or C or whatever anyone else is calling me. You always called me Josh. I liked you calling me Josh. Can I be Josh, please?"
"Okay, Josh," she laughed quietly. "On a scale of one to ten, how drunk are you right now?"
"…Six? Six and a half? Somewhere in that general area," he grinned. "So, hey, Leah looks like she wants to cut my balls off and make earrings out of them. She knows?"
"She knows," Delanie smiled tightly, nodding her head and reaching for her drink, sipping it through the straw. "I made her promise not to kill you. Don't worry."
"I'm, uhm, I mean, I called you a lot, you know? After."
"I know," she nodded. "I didn't wanna talk to you. You made it clear you didn't want to speak to me, Josh. My parents dying didn't change that. You were calling because you felt bad and I wasn't going to let you or anyone else pity me."
"I'm… I'm sorry, you know?" he admitted quietly. "I didn't mean to leave like that, I was kinda scared of how I felt about you. If I'd have known what was gonna happen I wouldn't have-"
"I know," she told him, patting his knee. "It's fine. Don't worry about it, I'm a big girl. I got over it. I missed you, though. As my friend, if nothing else."
"I missed you too. I should have called more but I figured after the thousandth time of Adam telling me to go fuck myself I better give up."
"Wise choice," she giggled. "Don't even worry about it, seriously. It's done, it's in the past. I could have picked up a phone too, but I guess we both realised there was nothing left to salvage. We crossed a line that friends don't cross, there was no way of going back."
"…And now?" he asked, cocking his head to the side as he watched her curiously.
"And now… I work for you, I guess."
"We're not friends?"
"I don't know. Are we?"
"You and Justin are friends."
"I never had sex with Justin," she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Touché," he laughed, putting his empty glass on the table in front of them. "I'd like it if we could be friends again, though. I have a lot of making up to do. I'd like to start now."
"You have no making up to do. Clean slate. Fresh start. Hi, I'm Delanie Roberts, it's nice to meet you!"
"…You're a dork," JC snorted. "Okay, clean slate. So, Delanie Roberts, can I get you a drink?"
"Your friend just went to buy me one, considering he gulped down my last one," she turned to look towards the bar, her eyes scanning the crowd for Justin's tall frame and she smiled when she saw him walking back over, waving a drink at her. "Thank you!" she grinned, taking it out of his hand and sipping on it as he sat on the other side of her.
"Awh it's like the three musketeers! ...Well. Two mouseketeers and one musketeer," Leah giggled, finally taking a seat oppossite them and interrupting the awkward silence that had fallen over them. "So, D, I hate to be a party pooper and all, but Sparkle here is kicking the hell outta my uterus so I'd really appreciate it if we left like, ten minutes ago."
"Okay," Delanie chuckled, quickly finished her drink and squeezing past Justin and patting his shoulder. "Well, guys, it's been great, but I gotta go. See you both tomorrow."
"See ya, Lanie. Let me know you got home safe, okay?" Justin told her, standin up and kissing her cheek before wrapping his arms around Leah and hugging her as best he could, giggling when he felt the baby kick. "I think she likes me!"
"Yeah, yeah..." Leah rolled her eyes, waving a hand dismissively at him and linking her arm through Delanie's. "It was great to see you again, guys. You'll have to come over one night, I'll cook!"
"C'mon, Lee," Delanie, tugged on her arm, quickly saying bye to the others before she was pulled outisde by Leah. "You driving?"
"Uh, of course, you''ve been drinking," Leah rolled her eyes, unlocking the car and climbing inside. They drove in silence for a while, Delanie staring out of the window in thought. "Sooo... Things are good? You and JC friends or whatever?"
"Yeah... Yeah, we're friends," Delanie smiled softly. "Things are... yeah, it's good."
"You think things are going to be okay from now on?" Leah asked, glancing at Delanie out of the corner of her eye.
"Yeah. I really think they are."
