"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Justin was following JC through the maze of cages. He'd called JC up a few hours ago to see how things were going only to be invited to go to the animal shelter with him. Apparently, JC had decided to get Lance a pet and he wanted someone to help him pick one out.

JC glanced over his shoulder at him. "I didn't ask you to here to second guess me. I want your help."

"And I'm helping by asking if you think this is really necessary," Justin said. "How do you know Lance is even ready for another pet?"

JC sighed, stopping just outside one of the rooms that held even more cages. "I don't, but I think it'll do him good. It'll give him something new to focus on."

With about a week left of the first leg of their No Strings Attached tour, Lance's pet ferret, Dirk, died. The pet had traveled with them and had been sick for several days leading up to his death. Naturally, Lance had taken it pretty hard, especially since he'd only gotten Dirk a couple years ago - only a third of how long ferrets should live.

"He might not want the distraction though," Justin pointed out. "Besides, we don't have that much time left before we hit the road for the second leg."

"Which is why I was thinking of another low maintenance pet."

"And you're obviously not thinking of a turtle or something," Justin said.

"No," JC agreed, leading them into the room they'd been standing outside of. As soon as they crossed the threshold, multiple meows reached Justin's ears.

Justin glanced at JC, raising an eyebrow. "Cats? You think a cat is a good pet for Lance?"

"Yeah, why not?" JC said, almost seeming a little defensive that Justin thought his choice of pet for Lance was ridiculous. "They're not nearly as much work as dogs, which would make it easier for him to take it on the road with us if he wanted."

Justin had a feeling Lance wasn't going to want to take any animal on tour again after what'd happened with Dirk. Emergency vet visits were always hard enough, but bouncing from city to city made it that much harder since a new vet had to be found and filled in on the situation. Not to mention it'd been hard to fit that in with their hectic tour schedule and a couple of times, Lance had to have Melinda, one of their PR people, take Dirk to the vet while they did whatever they had to that day.

"Yeah, but a cat? Does Lance even like cats?"

JC turned to glare at him. "You think I'd get a pet that Lance wouldn't even like? You honestly think I'm that stupid?"

"No," Justin objected quickly. "I just figured Lance as more of a dog person. Now you, you're a cat person."

JC rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored Justin as he moved further into the room, walking slowly past the numerous cages. Justin looked at various cats that peered out of their small prisons with their sad eyes and he had to admit that they tugged at his heart, giving him the sudden urge to take them all home. And that was really saying something because Justin definitely was more into dogs than he was cats.

"How about this one?" Justin said, nudging JC in the back and pointing a one of the cages in the middle that he was looking at.

JC turned and looked at the white fluffy cat for a moment before he shook his head. "He'll shed too much. I'm trying to make this as low maintenance as possible, remember?"

"Well, if you're going for less trouble, you should just get him a bunch of fish. You barely have to do anything with them," Justin said.

"And they provide no real kind of companionship at all," JC replied. "I think Lance would benefit more from getting that instant gratitude that comes from a cat or dog. Because they openly return the affection given to them."

"Okay," Justin nodded. "That makes sense. But it's only been a couple weeks since Dirk died. Don't you think it should be up to Lance when he's ready for another pet?"

JC sighed. "I'm just trying to help him. He's been so depressed lately. I figured having a new pet to take care of and love would help."

Justin rubbing his chin. He had a feeling that what he was going to say next wouldn't go over too well with JC. "Are you sure this isn't a distraction for you?"

JC narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, considering what happened last week..."

"This has nothing to do with that."

Justin held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, all right. We're just concerned. We don't want you to let things build again, and none of us really heard much from you last week."

JC huffed. "I have one little meltdown and suddenly everyone thinks they have to tiptoe around me." He looked Justin in the eyes. "I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

JC's gaze was unwavering. "Positive."

"Okay," Justin said, letting the subject drop. "Shall we keep looking then?"

JC didn't answer; he just turned around and continued walking along the cage lined walls. He would slow occasionally to peer in at a certain cat, but he would dismiss it for one reason or another and keep moving down the line. Finally, JC stopped in front a cage and pointed to a cat in one of the top cages.

"How about that one?" he asked.

Justin looked to where JC was pointing. The cat was a charcoal color with a couple white spots, its coat very sleek and shiny. He glanced at the little piece of paper attached to the front of the cage. It's name was Sheila and it was a female, which was pretty obvious when Justin spotted the collar it wore that had numerous pearls around it. But what he really took notice of was the expression on its face. She almost seemed to be glaring at him, giving her a very possessed look.

"She looks kind of bitchy. Like she'll attack you in your sleep or something," Justin said at last.

JC rolled his eyes. "You try living in a small cage. I'm sure you'd be pretty bitchy too." He reached his hand in through the bars to pet her and Justin was almost amazed the cat went right to his hand, rubbing up against it. "She seems sweet enough."

"You think Lance will like her?"

JC shrugged and nodded. "I think so," he said. "Her fur is short enough that he won't have to worry about grooming her all the time or her shedding all over his furniture. And since she's an adult, she's out of that scratching everything in sight phase."

Justin crossed his arms over his chest. "And since when are you such a cat expert?" he asked, trying to be serious. But really, he was finding himself more and more amused as the minutes passed and JC revealed more of his cat knowledge.

"It's common sense, Justin," JC said, sounding more than a little exasperated. He glanced at him. "Stop acting like you've never been around a cat before."

Justin shook his head, letting his amusement show now as his lips upturned into a smile. Only JC could verge on sounding preachy about cats. He understood why his friend was determined to do this for Lance, but he had a feeling that it wasn't going to work out exactly like JC hoped.

"So you going with that one then or you want to look some more?" Justin asked.

"She's it," JC said with a nod. "Stay here and I'll get someone to help us."

JC left and Justin pulled his hat down a little lower on his head. The place was pretty much dead so they hadn't had to worry about being recognized, but still he prayed that whoever JC brought back wasn't under the age of twenty. He wasn't really in the mood to be recognized, even if he knew it wouldn't cause a mob scene if he was.

Thankfully, the person JC came walking back with was a woman who looked to be in her fifties and if she recognized either one of them, she didn't say anything. JC directed her to the cat he was interested in, and she seemed relieved at his choice.

"Oh good. I was beginning to think I was the only one who liked her," the woman said. "She's been here for quite a while."

"How long?" Justin asked.

"A couple months. Her previous owner was an elderly woman who died and the family dropped her here." The woman glanced at them. "She was actually going to be put down today before you boys came along."

This time it was JC who asked a question. "Why?"

"Unfortunately, we don't have room to house all of the animals people try to drop off here. I personally think it's terrible to kill off those that are sick or having trouble finding homes, but I'm just a volunteer here." The woman smiled at them. "But it seems like she's gotten a second lease on life today."

The woman patted JC's shoulder, and Justin could tell that JC felt that much better about his choice. Knowing his friend as well as he did, he was probably thinking it'd been fate that he'd been drawn to that cat. Justin couldn't fault JC for having such a big heart, but he still wondered if it was ultimately going to get him into trouble. Because Justin really couldn't see Lance with this cat.

***********

It'd taken about a half hour to go through the adoption process, but JC had pulled away from the animal shelter with a meowing cat in the carrier that sat in the passenger seat of his car. He made a quick stop one of the local pet stores so he could pick up the essentials, not wanting Lance to have to worry about buying any of that stuff. Once he'd gotten everything he thought the cat could need, he headed home.

When he pulled into his driveway and carried the cat across the threshold, its meows seemed to get louder, like it could sense it was somewhere new and wanted to be let out. JC spoke to it, trying to get it to stop screaming as he walked upstairs.

"Shh, it's okay. I'll let you out in a second. Just calm down."

Surprisingly, the cat seemed to quiet down like she understood what he was saying. JC shook his head, figuring it had more to do with the soothing tone he'd used. He made a right at the top of the stairs and walked into the first guest room, closing the door behind him before he let the cat out.

He didn't even have to coax her to come out of the plastic carrier as she came right out as soon as he opened the door. She did a brief glance around the room before jumping right up on the bed where he was sitting. Surprised but pleased, JC gently stroked her.

"You're a brave thing, aren't you?"

The shelter had given him pointers for getting the cat to adapt to his house - Lance's house when JC passed the pet along to him. They'd told him that generally the cat's first instinct would be to hide since it was in unfamiliar surroundings, but that didn't seem to be the case here. It even more cemented the fact that he'd picked out the right cat for Lance because it would surely make the transition seamless.

JC petted the cat once more before he left the bedroom, making sure to close the door behind him so she couldn't get out and hide somewhere in the rest of his big house. He went out to the car and carried in all of the things he'd bought for her, taking it upstairs and putting it in the guest bedroom for now. It'd taken him several minutes to get the cat settled in the room, filling her bowl with food and water and getting her litter box together. He had just finished putting the cap back on the litter container when his doorbell rang.

"That must be your owner," JC said to the cat, standing up. He'd called Lance on his way home, asking him to stop by in a bit.

JC went downstairs once more and opened the door to reveal Lance like he'd expected. "Hey, Lance," he greeted, opening the door wider and letting him inside.

"Hey, JC," Lance said, giving him a small smile. He glanced around as JC shut the front door. "So what's up? You said you had something you wanted to show me?"

JC nodded and motioned for Lance to come with him as he said, "Follow me."

In no time they were in front of the door to the guest room. JC paused just slightly to glance over his shoulder at Lance before he led them into the room, closing the door after Lance stepped inside to make sure the cat didn't bolt out. But he hadn't needed to worry because the cat was lying on the bed right where he'd left her.

"You got a cat?" Lance asked, looking over at JC as he walked over to the cat. He held out his hand for the cat to sniff before he reached out to pet it.

JC shook his head. "I got you a cat."

Lance paused in petting the cat, glancing down at the animal. He sighed. "JC..."

JC could sense that Lance was going to say no and he rushed to justify to Lance why he'd bought him the cat. He didn't want to just outright dismiss it without listening to him.

"I know you're still upset about what happened to Dirk, but I thought a new pet would be a good distraction. And you know, cats aren't all that different from ferrets," JC said.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't think I'm ready for another pet yet."

"You're not replacing Dirk. This is just a new animal to give you companionship," JC went on. "Justin thinks I should've gotten you a dog, but I figured it'd be easier to have a pet that didn't require constant attention. But to have something that can also give you comfort and ease the pain of losing Dirk."

Lance abandoned the cat to move closer to JC. "JC, I appreciate what you're trying to do. Really I do. But I don't want another pet right now. Besides, it's not really a good time to get a pet since the next leg starts up in a month and a half."

It was JC's turn to sigh. Justin had warned him Lance might react like this, but he'd figured Lance would cave when he saw the cat because he was such a softie when it came to animals. He couldn't fault Lance for feeling the way he did though.

"Okay," JC said. "I understand. I was just trying to help."

"I know," Lance said, offering him a more genuine smile than he had when he'd first opened the door. He turned around to pet the cat again. "What are you going to do with her now? Take her back?"

"Nah," JC said, moving to the bed and petting the cat. "I don't have the heart to. They were going to put her to sleep."

Lance petted the cat under her chin and she seemed to lean into his touch. "What's her name?"

"Sheila," JC said. "She's three years old, which means she's out of that annoying kitten stage where they scratch everything."

Lance chuckled softly. "Yeah, they can be pretty destructive."

JC watched Lance, able to see the sadness behind his eyes. He was obviously still upset over Dirk, but JC had a feeling there was more to it than that. There was nothing specific he could put his finger on, but he was never one to ignore those kinds of feelings because they were usually right. Not that he really knew what to do about since he didn't know what exactly was causing the sadness Lance was displaying.

Before JC could attempt to dig into it, Lance spoke. "So how's Justin doing?" he asked.

"Huh?" JC blinked, taken aback at the sudden change of subject.

"You mentioned Justin thought I'd like a dog better, so he must've been with you when you picked out Sheila," Lance said. "How's things going with him? Everything still good between him and Kim?"

JC shrugged. "I guess. He didn't really say much to me about it."

"You mean you didn't ask," Lance corrected. JC shot him a look and Lance held up his hands. "Hey, I don't blame you. Who would've thought the baby of the group would be the one in the most serious relationship."

Kim was the girl Justin had been seeing for over six months now. He'd met her while they'd been in the studio, having run into her a few times a week when he stopped to get coffee before their morning sessions. Apparently numerous flirts had been exchanged between the two of them and eventually Justin had grown tired of the game and asked her out. Since then, the two of them had been nearly inseparable.

The entire thing had taken JC and the rest of the guys by surprise. There was no denying that Kim was a great person, but it'd been almost a little hard to believe she'd captured Justin's attention like she had considering how normal and almost boring her life was. But JC believed that was part of what had drawn Justin to her - she provided him with a look into the life he might've had if he'd gone to high school like a normal kid. Justin had even confided in him once that he felt like she was the first person outside of them to really see him for the person he was and not Justin Timberlake, superstar of Nsync.

"I'm happy for him though," JC said at last. And it was true. He was glad Justin was able to have a normal relationship, especially given how much things had blown up for them since last year. Everyone was clamoring for their attention, a lot of girls practically throwing themselves at them. But Kim, she'd been there before all that'd happened.

"Yeah," Lance agreed. "I'm not gonna lie though. I'm kind of jealous."

JC looked at Lance, getting the feeling this was a large part of what was feeding the depression JC had sensed earlier. "It'll happen for you. You'll find someone just as great."

Lance nodded. "I know. I just wish it'd happen sooner rather than later."

"Hey," JC said, leaning forward to make sure he caught Lance's eye. "They say it happens when you're not expecting it, right?"

Lance stared at him, giving him that calculating look like he was trying to figure out if what JC was saying was true. "You really believe that? Even after what happened with-"

"Yes," JC said, cutting him off. He barely resisted sighing in aggravation. That was the second time today one of them had tried to bring it up and he wasn't interested in talking about it. "You shouldn't be using me as an example anyway. I thought we both agreed we want what Justin has with Kim."

Lance laughed. "Yeah. You know, I'm waiting for the day he proposes to her."

JC made a face. "Don't say that. They're both way too young to be thinking about marriage."

"That doesn't mean they're not."

JC's eyes narrowed suddenly. "Did he say something to you?"

"No," Lance shook his head. "I'm just saying I wouldn't put it past him."

As much as JC hated to admit it, Lance had a point. He silently vowed he would talk to Justin about Kim and see how things were truly going. If Justin was thinking about marriage, JC hoped he would've talked to him by now. Then again, he probably didn't want to go on about how great things were with him and Kim when JC just had yet another relationship fail miserably.

A meow brought JC out of his thoughts and he looked over to see the cat rub her face against Lance's hand. Lance scratched her behind her ears, running his hand over her head.

"You sure you don't want to take her? She obviously likes you," JC said.

Lance smiled slightly. "I'm sure."

JC nodded, letting the subject drop for good. He'd tried, but he couldn't force Lance to take a pet he didn't want. And he didn't mind keeping the cat for himself. He could use a little company of his own.

***********

"What if I screw everything up?"

Lance reached across the table to pat Joey's forearm reassuringly. "You won't. Everything is going to be fine," he said, repeating the same things he'd been telling Joey for the last week.

"How can you be so sure?" Joey asked. "I have no idea how to be a dad."

"Maybe not now, but you will. It'll come to you, and you'll feel like this was always meant to be."

After the first leg of the tour ended about a week ago, Kelly had sat Joey down and told him that she had just found out she was pregnant. Joey had taken it in stride in front of his girlfriend, but that night he'd gone out with Lance and had gotten wasted. It'd been his way of getting through the shock and trying to sort through everything he was feeling. Fear had been the most dominating feeling, but Lance had gotten Joey to admit that night that he was excited about having a baby.

And Joey was excited, the feeling seeming to grow as each day passed and he grew more and more comfortable with the idea that his longtime girlfriend was pregnant. Not that Joey had told Lance as much, but he could just tell. Still, the more Joey's excitement grew, the more his fear of being a good father did.

"I'm just terrified I'm going to mess up this baby. I mean, we're at the height of our careers. I'm hardly going to be home," Joey said.

"Things are crazy right now," Lance agreed. "But Kelly's not due until March. Who knows what our schedule will be like then. Things might have settled a bit."

Joey rubbed at his forehead. "I guess. I just always thought that if I did have kids, it'd be long after Nsync ended. That way I could be there for them."

"And you will be," Lance said, squeezing Joey's arm. "We'll all do whatever we can to help and make sure you get home as much as possible. That goes for the pregnancy too."

Joey nodded. "Thanks."

Lance gave him a smile. He withdrew his hand and took a drink of his beer, letting the loud music of the club fill the silence between them for a moment. Chris and Joey had extended the offer to go out earlier, and Lance had gladly accepted, more than welcoming to the distraction from his morose thoughts. JC and Justin had both declined coming out; Justin having a date night with Kim and JC wanting to get some writing done.

"Have you talked to Kelly about how you're feeling?" Lance asked, looking back at Joey.

"Well, I think she could tell I was freaked at first," Joey started. "But she knows I am excited about it."

"Maybe you should tell her about how nervous you are. I'm sure she's feeling similar things. And even if she's not, I'm sure she can relate."

Joey's lips twisted upwards slightly. "You mean you don't like being my shrink?"

"Actually, I don't think you can afford me," Lance joked.

Joey laughed. "That was lame, Lance."

Lance just shrugged. That may be true, but he'd gotten Joey to laugh and relax and that was all he'd really wanted. It was strange to see Joey so full of stress and worry because he was such a happy, easy going person.

Before anything else could be said between them, Chris came up to the table. "What are you girls talking about?"

"You," Joey said, smiling.

Chris blew on his nails and buffed them on the collar of his shirt. "Yeah, I figured. No one can resist this."

Lance looked at Chris before turning to Joey, barely holding back the urge to laugh. "Are we sure Justin's ego is his own? Seems like he got it from Chris."

"Or Chris got it from him," Joey countered. "Justin's certainly lost a bit of his ego since he got together with Kim."

Chris shook his head. "That boy's forgotten everything we taught him about women," he said with mock disappointment. He looked at them then. "Not that you guys are doing much better, sitting up here alone just talking. You gotta get out on that dance floor."

"Maybe in a bit," Lance said.

Chris sighed, rolling his eyes. "You're killing me, Bass." He turned to Joey. "What about you?"

"I'm in," Joey said, downing the rest of his beer and rising from the table. He glanced at Lance. "Catch ya later."

Lance laughed as Chris all but dragged Joey out onto the dance floor and over to a couple of women Chris had been flirting with earlier. He supposed it would've been a good idea for him to be out on the dance floor because it would increase his odds of meeting someone. But he wasn't sure he'd be able to meet the kind of person he wanted a real relationship with in a bar.

He'd actually been kind of surprised that Chris had orchestrated this night out because Lance had hardly talked to him the past week since the first leg had ended. But he supposed it wasn't really all that weird. They usually all wanted some time apart from each other after a tour ended, and it didn't take much more than a few days for them to start calling each other to see how things were going. When you spent so much time with someone, it was hard to suddenly not see them every day.

And because they were so close, they could easily tell when something wasn't right with one of them. Lance was getting that feeling from Chris, despite the fact he hadn't said anything was wrong. He had no idea what it could be, but he figured it couldn't be too serious because as closed off as Chris could be, he knew when to cave and confide in them.

Lance spent another hour at the club, eventually giving in and dancing to a couple of songs. But he decided to call it a night shortly after that, saying goodbye to Joey and Chris before he walked off the dance floor and out of the club. He paused just outside like he always did, allowing his senses to adjust to the much quieter surroundings. It was in that moment that he noticed someone standing on the corner of the street - more specifically a woman.

Without thinking much about what he was doing, Lance walked over to her and said, "Can I help you? You look kind of lost."

The woman turned and Lance was momentarily stunned at her beauty. She was tall with jet black hair that seemed to offset her stormy gray eyes as it rolled in gentle waves around her face falling just past her shoulders. Her long legs were enhanced by the short red dress she wore and her long fingers played with the pearl necklace she wore. She was probably one of the prettiest girls he'd seen in a while.

She smiled at him. "I am actually. I was at a lounge with a couple of friends, but they ditched me and now I can't find my way back to my hotel."

Lance asked her where she was staying and she gave him the name of the hotel, which he recognized immediately. "You're actually not too far," he told her. "It's just a few blocks up the street on the left."

"Thanks. I was hoping I going in the right direction."

Lance licked his lips, feeling a bit nervous and not really sure why. He was used to dealing with many different kinds of people on a daily basis. It's because you like her, he said to himself. And it was true. For whatever reason, he felt drawn to her.

"I could show you the way if you want," Lance offered.

She gave him a sweet smile. "I'd like that." She stuck out her hand then and said, "Vanessa."

"Lance," he said, shaking her hand. He could almost feel the electricity between them. "Nice to meet you."

She withdrew her hand and gestured for Lance to lead the way, which he gladly did. Without any hesitation, she fell in step with him. He glanced at her and asked, "You here on vacation?"

"Something like that," she said, a bit of a twinkle in her eyes. "I take it you live here."

Lance nodded. "For the last few years. I'm from Mississippi originally."

"I thought I could hear a bit of an accent." She smiled at him again. "Seems like I've come across a real southern gentleman."

Lance blushed before he could stop himself. He cleared his throat to shake it and he continued with their small talk as they walked. It only took them a couple minutes before they reached her hotel where they stood awkwardly for a moment. Even though they'd only just met, he felt like there was something special about her. Like they could be together. But he was uncomfortable about being so forward, especially since he didn't know how she felt.

That all went out the window when she said, "You want to come in and I'll buy you a drink at the bar? Just a way to thank you for helping me back."

"Sure," Lance smiled. "That sounds nice."

He walked into the hotel lobby with her, following her into the bar. This night had taken a turn he hadn't expected, but he was happy for it. Perhaps JC was right. The right person could come along when you least expected it.

Chris sat in his car, sipping his tall cup of coffee. It was his third and he still felt pretty dead. He'd stayed out pretty late the night before with Joey and was paying for it now, especially since he'd had a meeting with Johnny scheduled for noon. Normally that would've been a perfectly reasonable time, but not when he'd only gone to bed at six, having gone to breakfast with Joey after they'd been kicked out of the club.

But as tired as he was, he knew it was only part of the reason why he was dreading going into the compound where Johnny was waiting for him. He hated that this meeting was even necessary. They were on a short vacation and he didn't want to deal with this, having experienced enough stress during the constant commotion of the tour. But he had to take care of it before the second leg started up.

With that thought in mind, Chris downed the rest of his coffee and got out of the car, leaving the now empty cup in one of the holders. He walked right in to the compound, heading straight for Johnny's office. The door was open and he knocked briefly on the oak before he walked in.

"Sorry I'm late," Chris said.

"No problem," Johnny replied, gesturing for Chris to take a seat in front of his desk. "I was going over a few things to make sure everything's in order for the next leg."

"And what about Robert? Anything new on that front?"

Johnny leaned forward slightly, resting his arms on the edge of his desk. He looked at Chris intently. "You tell me. Has he approached you again since last Wednesday?"

Chris shook his head. "Not yet anyway. I've gotten some phone calls from him though."

Robert was Chris's biological father. He'd approached Chris a little over a week ago, on the last day of the first leg of the tour. Chris had been completely caught off guard, not having seen him since right before he'd met Lou and got the guys together, and he had barely said two words to him considering how chaotic things had been that night.

But Chris's father hadn't been deterred. He'd caught Chris as he was heading into the club that they'd had the after party at, demanding to talk to him. Chris had sensed that he wouldn't leave him alone until he'd agreed so he'd stood outside for a few minutes, thankful the others had already gone into the club. Then he'd felt nothing but anger as Robert had said he'd deserved a share of Chris's money.

Even for as angry as he'd been - as he was - he hadn't been able to believe what he'd heard. It'd been bad enough that his biological father had reached out to him out of the blue, but to demand money from him? It was insane, and he'd told the man that very thing...along with a few other choice words. He'd then gone into the club and met up with the guys, partying harder than he probably would've otherwise in order to put what'd transpired outside out of his mind.

When Chris had gotten to his apartment the next morning after spending the night in Jacksonville, he hadn't been too surprised to see Robert standing in his hallway. He'd tried to keep things fairly civil, even when Robert had said that he owed him. That'd had Chris seeing red, but he'd done his best to keep control over his anger and he'd written him a check for a couple thousand to reimburse him for the year of college the man had paid for.

"Now we're even," Chris had said as he'd handed Robert the check. But that hadn't pleased Robert who had said he was entitled to much more than that.

Chris had told that was all he was getting and that he should be happy with that because he didn't owe him a thing. Robert had left and Chris had thought that was the end of it, but that'd gone out the window when Robert had threatened to go to the press. It was that moment when he had realized he needed to get Johnny involved because if Robert ever follow through with his threat, it would no doubt impact the group - the guys - in some way.

"Chris," Johnny said, his voice snapping Chris out of his thoughts.

"Sorry," Chris apologized, rubbing at his eyes. "What were you saying?"

"I asked what he's said to you, if anything."

Chris shrugged. "The usual crap. He still wants more money, but I told him he's not getting anything else from me."

"Do you know why he wants the money so badly?"

"No, but there doesn't really need to be a reason, does there? He's obviously just trying to capitalize on knowing me," Chris said. Ever since the lawsuit and the release of No Strings Attached, things had blown up in a big way, and they all had people coming out of woodwork looking for their fifteen minutes or some kind of handout. People they hadn't heard from before. People that'd laughed at them when they left for Germany.

Johnny nodded thoughtfully. "That could be it, but it could just as easily be that he needs to support a habit."

Chris raised an eyebrow. "You think he's a drug addict or something?"

"I'm not saying that," Johnny denied, folding his hands on his desk. "I'm just offering reasons why he won't let this go. You obviously know him better than I do."

"Not much. I've hardly spent any time with him. Even when I was in college and lived with him, I hardly ever saw him," Chris said. "I know he used to smoke pot, but that was a few years ago. Who knows what he's into now."

Johnny was silent for a minute. Then he looked Chris in the eye and asked, "Do you think he's a threat to you? That he'll hurt you?"

"No," Chris shook his head. "He's virtually harmless. He's scrawnier than me."

"Okay, but if things change, I want you to tell me." Johnny paused. "And maybe try talking to him again. It'd be good if we could get this straightened out. You boys will have enough to worry about with second leg without dealing with this on top of it."

"Does the press know about any of this?"

"I haven't seen anything," Johnny said. "But I like I promised you before, I'll keep my eyes open. I don't think we should have a problem keeping it quiet though. As long as he doesn't say anything."

Chris nodded. "Thanks, Johnny." He stood up, knowing they were done there.

"Keep me updated, Chris."

"I will."

Chris left Johnny's office, feeling a little more tired than when he'd entered. He wanted this whole sordid situation to be over, but he didn't particularly want to talk to his father either. There was a reason he hadn't had a lot of contact with him since he'd met Lou and formed Nsync. And it'd seemed like his father had been just as happy with the arrangement, not bothering to reach out to him. Until now anyway.

Sighing, Chris got back into his car and did his best to push the entire mess out of his mind. He'd make an effort to actually see what his father wanted the next time he called. For now, he was seriously considering crawling back into bed and taking a nap for a couple hours. Just the thought of it seemed to relax him.

It was too bad then that all thoughts of a nap disappeared completely when Chris walked into his apartment building and saw his father standing outside his door. He let out a heavy sigh.

"What do you want?" he asked, feeling more weary than angry.

"You already know," Robert replied, curtly.

Chris wanted to snap at him, but he bit his tongue, resisting the urge. He recalled what Johnny had just talked to him about and that was the only thing that prompted him to say, "Why don't you come in and we'll talk."

"No," Robert shook his head, looking firm. "There's nothing to talk about. You just keep trying to weasel your way out of this."

Chris crossed his arms over his chest, feeling his anger bubble to the surface. "Weasel my way out of what? Giving you money you don't deserve?"

"That's where you're wrong."

"Is that so?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow. "And why is that? Because you're my dad?" The sarcasm was thick and heavy on that last word, letting Robert know exactly what he thought of that.

"Because you wouldn't have gotten here without me," Robert said.

"How the hell do you figure that?" Chris demanded. He knew he should move this out of the hall before things really got heated, but the last thing he wanted to do at that moment was invite this asshole into his home.

Robert stepped forward, closing the gap between them. "I let you live with me. I paid for you to go to college. You wouldn't have met the people you did if it wasn't for me."

"If it wasn't for me," Chris corrected, his eyes narrowed. "I would've found a way out of Pennsylvania regardless. I made my future happen. Not you. And I don't owe you a damn thing."

Robert smirked slightly. "That's what you said last night, but you ended up writing me a check. And you'll cave again. I know you will."

"You don't know shit about me," Chris practically growled. "And you're not getting another damn thing."

The smirk just seemed to grow. "We'll see."

Without another word or having to be prompted by Chris, Robert turned and walked away. Chris stared at his retreating back for a moment, wondering what the hell that was about. But he couldn't bring himself to care much right then. He would deal with whatever the hell Robert had up his sleeve when it happened. It maybe wasn't the best way to handle it, but he would handle it when the time came. That much was for damn sure.

But for now, he was going to heat up some leftover pizza for lunch and give Justin a call. Playing some basketball with his best friend was a good way to blow off steam and put this crappy afternoon behind him.

***********

Joey stood in the front of the restaurant, Kelly leaning against him as he talked to Chris and Lance. Justin was sitting on a bench seat across from them with Kim, having his own quiet conversation with her. It'd been Joey's idea to get everyone together for dinner and he'd called them all just a few hours ago, wanting a night to actually celebrate Kelly's pregnancy since he'd been too freaked to do so at first. The only thing that was holding them up from starting their celebratory meal was JC. He was late, but it wasn't like they weren't used to that and could kill time appropriately.

"Wouldn't it be cool if I opened a club in New York?" Lance was saying.

Chris raised an eyebrow. "You're thinking about doing that?"

Lance shrugged and nodded. "It's an idea I've been kicking around, yeah." He frowned slightly at Chris then. "Why? You don't think it'd be good?"

"I don't know. You're the business expert. I just don't want you to take on too much or get yourself into a situation you can't handle."

Joey glanced at Chris. He could see the genuine concern in his eyes and knew without a doubt the situation they'd experienced with JC about a month ago was a major factor. It'd scared them more than they would ever admit, not seeing that side of him before. And if Joey knew Chris, he'd likely made a vow to himself he'd keep an eye out for any signs that things were heading down that road again.

"I for one I think it's a great idea," Joey said. "Think of all the money we'd save. We'd never have to pay cover charges again."

Kelly scoffed softly. "Like you pay cover charges now. Everyone lets you guys in free."

"Well, we'd get free drinks then."

"Like Lance could afford that. You guys would drink him into debt," Justin said, his eyes on Joey and Chris.

Joey narrowed his eyes playfully. "I'm going to pretend you did say that. Besides, I don't know why you're acting so innocent. You can drink just as much as us."

"And whose fault is that?" Kim asked. "He's not even legally able to drink. You guys have snuck him drinks, so you shouldn't gripe about his drinking habits since you're enabling it."

"We get you drinks too. I don't hear you complaining then," Joey said.

Kim laughed. "I'm not complaining. I'm just pointing out your faulty logic."

Joey opened his mouth to reply, but it was lost before he could even get a word out as Chris suddenly made an agitated sound. "What the hell is taking him so long?" Chris demanded, immediately drawing their attention to him and sucking the lighthearted atmosphere out of the waiting area.

"He's only five minutes late," Lance said, frowning at Chris.

"But he's always late," Chris replied. "You'd think he could be on time for something."

"C'mon, man. You know this is how JC is," Joey said.

"What's up with you today?" Justin asked. "You were out of it when we were playing basketball earlier."

Chris sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose briefly. "Sorry. It's just been one of those days."

They all looked at him with a bit of their own concern. Chris might be on the lookout for any warning signs of stress, but it went both ways. And it hadn't escaped their attention that he'd been kind of on edge the last couple days. It was lingering beneath the surface and they hadn't really pressed, Chris being just about as open as JC. But Joey wondered if they should rethink that.

But before he could take that thought any further, JC came bursting through the main doors of the restaurant. "Sorry, sorry," he apologized breathlessly. "I got caught up in writing and then got stuck in traffic."

"No sweat," Justin said. "We were just talking."

"I'll let the hostess know we're ready," Lance volunteered. He squeezed JC's shoulder as he passed, obviously telling him to relax. He was there now and that was what mattered.

JC greeted Kim and Kelly, giving them both a friendly hug. Then Lance returned with the hostess who seated them right away at a long rectangular table. Joey and Kelly sat across from Justin and Kim with JC and Chris on their right respectively. Lance was at the other end of the table, the eighth chair empty across from him.

It didn't take too long for the seven of them to put in their orders and receive their drinks. When the waiter left them alone, JC wasted no time in patching together a speech for the occasion. He cleared his throat and held up his wine glass.

"It seems only appropriate to celebrate this occasion and toast the parents-to-be." JC paused. "We're lucky we're able to be together to share in such a big moment in Joey and Kelly's life. There's no doubt in my mind they'll make wonderful parents. To Joey and Kelly. Congrats."

The sentiment was echoed around the table as they all clinked classes. Joey shook his head slightly even as he exchanged a smile with Kelly. Leave it to JC to be cheesy and want to honor her pregnancy with a toast.

"Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?" Lance asked after they all lowered their glasses, looking to the other end of the table at Kelly. "Or don't you have a preference?"

"I'd like to have a girl," Kelly said. "I have two brothers and now you guys. I've been surrounded by guys most of my life so it'd be nice to have another girl to add to the ranks."

Kim laughed and lifted her class in salute to Kelly. "I'll agree with that."

"Well, regardless, that kid is going to be spoiled. You know that, right?" Justin said.

Joey and Kelly shared a laugh. "With you four as uncles, I don't doubt it," Kelly replied.

Chris waved a dismissive hand. "Please. Like you guys are going to be any better about it, especially Joey."

Joey couldn't even object because he knew Chris was probably right. The nervousness and fear of screwing up was still there, but it'd lessened a lot since he'd talked to Kelly earlier and found out she felt the same. It made it feel more like they were taking this on together, and the excitement was quickly beginning to grow. He wasn't sure he'd be able to wait another six or seven months.

"The real question now is when you two are going to have kids of your own," Joey said to Justin and Kim. He immediately got a sharp kick in the shins under the table and a glare from Justin. JC also sent him a sharp look.

"Now Joey you don't want to put pressure on them," JC said, in a tone that clearly told him to drop it. "I'm sure they're a ways off from thinking about kids."

Justin exchanged a look with Kim. "Yeah, it hasn't exactly come up with us," he said.

"You gave everyone at the table a heart attack though," Kim told Joey, laughing slightly as she brushed some of her long red hair away from her face.

"Joey has a gift for saying inappropriate things," Chris said. He looked at him. "You might want to use the next few months to get that under control. Otherwise your kid is going to pick up on your bad habit."

"Bad habit?" Joey repeated. "It's not that bad, right?" He glanced at his girlfriend.

Kelly smiled. "You do tend to say stupid things sometimes." She patted his hand sympathetically. "Sorry, hon."

Joey gave her an affronted look and everyone laughed, but he wasn't really offended. It was all in good fun. Besides it was part of what they did - they all made fun of each other and cracked jokes at one another's expense.

The food arrived shortly after, and Chris all but groaned when he caught sight of what JC was eating. "Only you, Jace," he said, shaking his head.

"What?" JC asked.

"Only you would order fish at a steakhouse."

JC just shrugged. "I was in the mood for seafood."

"Just because you're at a steakhouse doesn't mean you have to order steak," Justin said.

Chris snorted. "As you have clearly demonstrated," he replied, gesturing to the pork chops on Justin's plate. "You need to take some pointers from your girlfriend. She ordered a steak."

Kim smirked slightly and she and Chris started teasing Justin about his dinner choice. Joey watched them with an amused smile, reminded yet again how good Kim was for Justin. She probably brought the least amount of drama of any of Justin's girlfriends, and it was something he'd truly needed in his life to help keep him grounded. They did their best to make sure he didn't get lost in the surreal celebrity life surrounding them, but she was able to reach him in a way the rest of them couldn't.

They eventually moved on the seven of them of them talked while they all finished up their dinners. The waiter came back to give them the dessert menu and they gladly perused it. Too often they were in a rush and unable to enjoy the decadent desserts at the restaurants they ate at and since they had nowhere to be, they were going to take advantage of it. Except for Lance.

"Actually, I have to get going," Lance said, putting his cloth napkin on the table.

Joey groaned. "You're going to do FreeLance stuff, aren't you? God, you're lame, Lance."

"I'm not working. I have a date."

That immediately got everyone's attention and they looked at him in surprise. "You do?" JC said.

Lance nodded. "I met someone when I was out last night and we really hit it off."

"Was it one of the girls you danced with?" Chris asked.

"No. I actually met her outside the club. She was lost and I helped her find her way back to her hotel." Lance looked at JC. "Looks like you were right, C."

"I'm happy for you, Lance," JC said with a smile. But Joey frowned slightly as he recognized it as one of the fake ones he would often give to the press. He glanced around the table briefly and realized that with Lance's admission of a date, JC and Chris were the only ones not involved with anyone. And given JC's recent breakup, he was probably feeling a bit blue.

Chris seemed to sense the same thing because he leaned forward slightly to catch JC's eye. "Looks like we're the only smart ones. Not being controlled by a woman."

"Hey!" Kelly and Kim protested. "We're not controlling."

"And on that note, I think I'll head out," Lance said. He stood up and went around to the other end of the table, kissing Kelly on the cheek and congratulating them both once again. When he tried to offer some money for his share of bill, JC waved him off.

"I'm treating everyone."

"You don't have to do that," Kelly said.

"Yeah, man, really. It was our idea to go out. We were going to treat," Joey added.

"Please," JC said dismissively. "We're celebrating a milestone for you guys. I'm more than happy to treat."

"Better take him up on it, Joe," Chris advised. "Mr. Frugal doesn't make this offer every day."

JC glared at him, though it didn't have much heat to it. He glanced at Lance and said, "Have fun on your date."

"And don't forget about the barbeque at my place tomorrow," Justin said. "You can bring your girl if you want."

Lance nodded, thanking him before walking out of the restaurant. Once he was gone, the women turned their attention back on Chris. "Now what's this about us being controlling," Kim said.

Justin smirked, leaning back in his chair obviously happy to see how this played out - more specifically his girlfriend and Kelly chew out Chris. Joey couldn't deny it was entertaining, and even JC laughed as Chris seemed to just keep digging himself into a bigger hole, his spirits seeming to be lifted a bit. Either that or he was getting better at putting up a front.

Regardless, Joey was going to take a page out of Chris's book and keep an eye on JC. They certainly didn't need a repeat of before.

***********

JC nearly sighed in relief as he walked into his house. It'd been nice to go out to dinner with everyone and celebrate the fact they were going to have a niece or nephew in a few months, but it'd been hard to be around the couples. And then hearing that Lance had met someone...

He was happy for all of them. Of course he was. He loved that Justin had found someone to look past the fame and take him seriously without adding drama to his life, and he would bet money that Joey would be the first of them to get married. And if things worked out with this girl Lance was seeing, that would be great too. He was just a little jealous, especially since it seemed like he'd been in one bad relationship after another. It made him wonder if he would every break the cycle.

But all thoughts quickly flew out of his mind as he stepped further into his house and realized the kitchen light was on. His heart pounded, beating so hard against his chest it was almost painful. He had nothing to protect himself with, but surely a thief wouldn't have turned on a light, right? Not that that thought brought him much comfort considering there was someone in his kitchen.

Doing the only thing he could think to do, JC pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. He punched in 9-1-1 and then put his finger on the send button, hovering on pressing it as he slowly stepped into the kitchen. But as soon as he crossed the threshold, he released the breath he was holding as he recognized the person sitting at his kitchen table. It was his ex-girlfriend.

JC heaved a heavy sigh and snapped his phone closed. "What are you doing here, Emma?"

Emma stood up and moved towards him. "Don't you want me here?"

"We broke up," JC said. "How the hell did you even get in? I thought you left your key."

"I had a spare I forgot about," Emma replied with a shrug. Her eyes raked over his body, noting the slacks and button up shirt he wore. "You look very handsome. Special occasion?"

JC crossed his arms over his chest. "What are you doing here?" he asked again.

"I missed you. Is that a crime?"

JC stared into her emerald eyes, searching for the truth. "Your boyfriend finally found out you cheated on him and booted you out, didn't he?"

Emma shook her head. "Max is out of town on maneuvers." She closed the gap between them, standing so close he could smell her perfume. "I thought we could get together. We had such good chemistry."

She reached out, running a hand slowly up his chest. Her touch used to feel electric to him, sending chills down his spine. But now all he felt was pain, like she was twisting the knife in his heart. He stepped back, breaking the contact.

"I'm not doing this," he said.

She frowned. "Doing what?"

"Letting you fool around with me every time your boyfriend leaves. It's not fair to me or him."

"Why are you being so cold?" Emma asked, her frown deepening.

A bitter laugh fell from JC's lips. "Gee, I wonder," he said sarcastically. "Maybe because you led me on for three months."

He'd met her at one of the many functions they'd been attending ever since the release of No Strings Attached. She was a model just starting out and they'd been introduced by a mutual friend. They'd immediately hit it off, so it hadn't taken him long to get a real attachment to her.

It'd seemed like they'd had a real connection, and he'd finally gotten up the guts to tell her he loved her just a few weeks ago. That was when things had gone south, eventually ending with them breaking up a week after the day he'd said those three fateful words. But it hadn't been completely about him confessing his love for her; she'd told him she had a boyfriend, Max. He was in the military, doing basic training at some base, which he returned from the day after they'd broken up.

"I didn't lead you on," Emma denied.

"You never said anything about having a boyfriend. Not once. And you never had any plans of doing so or leaving him. If that's not deceit, I don't know what is," JC said.

Emma took a step forward, reaching out for him. He jerked away, her fingers skimmed his bicep. "I never thought our relationship was that serious."

Clearly, JC thought. But what he said was, "Then why the hell did you let it go on for three months?"

"Because we were good together. We had fun and got along well."

"So in other words, I was just a placeholder for Max. You were just biding your time with me until he came back."

Emma sighed, a sad, sympathetic expression on her face. "I had no idea you were that invested in our relationship. I didn't know you were looking for anything serious."

JC shook his head. "Girls like you kill me."

"Girls like me?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"You're so fun and eccentric, you think all the emotion in the relationship is wrapped up in you. You never stop to consider that the guy might actually have deeper feelings and actually want to show them."

"I didn't meant to hurt you," Emma said. "And I know you're pissed, but I was hoping we could still be friends."

JC nodded. She'd said the same thing when they'd broken up, giving him the "let's be friends" speech. "And I believe I already said no. Now get out."

"JC," she started, but JC didn't even give her a chance to vocalize whatever pathetic attempt she was going to use to change his mind.

"Leave your key and get out."

A bit of hurt flitted across her face, but it didn't fool JC. She wasn't really sorry. If she had really cared for him, she would've been truthful from the start and not even cheated on her boyfriend.

She held up the key and placed it on the table before walking out. JC stood there for a minute, waiting until he heard her car pull out of the driveway. It was only then that he moved to the front door to lock it. He might get his locks changed. Just for his peace of mind.

JC heaved another deep sigh, this one seeming to come from the depths of his soul. He evening hit an extremely low point, and he knew he wasn't going to get anything else done on his song tonight. So he went upstairs to change into his sweatpants, planning on eating some ice cream while watching bad TV. Maybe he'd even be able to track down his cat and get her to keep him company.

Lance shared a laugh with Vanessa as they walked up to the front of the hotel she was staying at. He pulled the door open and held it for her, gesturing for her to step through. Once they were inside, she turned to him and smiled.

"You don't have to do that, you know," she said.

Lance gave her a quizzical look. "Do what?"

"Hold the door open and do all those gentlemanly things."

Lance grinned at her as he hit the up button for the elevator. "Most girls love that stuff."

"It's nice," Vanessa admitted. "But I don't need it. What I'm interested in is you."

"Well, this is me. My momma raised me to treat women with respect."

"Well when you put it like that..."

Lance laughed, grabbing a hold of her hand and stepping onto the elevator with her. After he'd left dinner with the guys, he'd gone out for dessert with Vanessa. They'd just finished a little bit ago and decided to go back to her room to watch a movie since it was still kind of early.

Vanessa hit the button for the seventh floor, and it took less than a minute to reach it and for the doors to open. She gently pulled Lance along as she led the way out of the elevator and down the hall before she stopped about halfway down. Lance let go of her hand so she could dig her room key out of her purse, which she quickly found and slid through the slot. The green light lit up and she pushed the door open, walking in with Lance right behind her.

It looked like pretty much every other hotel Lance had been in, especially the last few months. There was a queen sized bed against the one wall with a large armoire and TV against the other with a desk and armchair over by the window. Vanessa stepped over to the mini bar and opened the miniature fridge.

She glanced over her shoulder at him. "You want anything to drink?"

"I'm good," Lance said, shaking his head. "Thanks though."

Vanessa nodded, grabbing a bottle of water for herself before shutting the fridge. She took a drink before sitting it on one of the nightstands next to the bed. Then she sat on the large mattress, slipping off her high heels and moving so she was leaning her back against the headboard.

"Aren't you going to join me?" she asked Lance.

He smiled and gladly went to her, lying next to her on the bed. Once he was beside her, she moved closer, snuggling into his side and resting her head on his chest. Lance put his right arm around her, enjoying the feel of her silky purple blouse beneath his fingers. It felt so right to have her in his arms, and it was a feeling he wanted to hang onto for a long time.

She reached for the remote and tilted her head to look up at him. "What do you want to watch?"

Lance shrugged with one shoulder. "I don't really get a lot of time to watch movies, so you can put just about anything on and I guarantee I probably haven't seen it."

"I don't always have time to watch movies either."

Lance nodded in understanding. She had inherited her mother's seamstress shop in New York after she'd died several years ago. Her mother had attracted a fairly large client base, which kept her pretty busy. It was only because of her friends' urging that she'd taken this vacation to visit some childhood friends. He was dreading when it was over and she left.

Absently, he fingered her right hand and noticed how long and delicate her fingers were. "You've got such nimble fingers," he told her. "Do you play piano?"

Vanessa laughed. "God no. I leave that to you musician types."

"Maybe you were a musician in another life."

"Doubt it," she said. She looked up at him again. "But you're sweet."

She leaned into him more, moving her head forward. Lance's heart pounded in anticipation as her lips closed in on his own, and it was almost like she was moving in slow motion just to torment him. But finally their lips met and he felt his heart stop beating entirely for a moment.

The kiss was soft, but there seemed to be a bit of longing behind it. Lance's eyes closed reflexively, letting the pleasurable feeling wash over him. With her so close, he could smell her flower scented perfume. It wasn't overpowering and actually seemed to heighten his senses to make the kiss that much more sensational.

When they finally pulled away, Lance felt his breath finally catch up. They smiled at each other, and Lance felt like their connection had just deepened even more. It was the first time they'd kissed, having spent all of their time talking and getting to know each other up until now. She was so easy to talk to and there was no denying he'd been attracted to her from the moment he saw her. And he knew then that he would do everything he could to keep her, more than prepared for a long distance relationship. It was what they all basically had to endure anyway due to their hectic schedule.

"You want to go with me to Justin's tomorrow for a barbeque?" Lance asked, shifting slightly so he was looking her in the eyes.

"Isn't it early to meet the family?" she replied, her lips curled in a teasing smile.

Lance laughed lightly. "It's just the guys."

"Who you said are basically like your brothers," she pointed out.

"You don't have to," Lance said. "I just thought it'd be nice for the guys to meet you. I think after bailing on dinner early, they're curious about you."

She looked at him seriously, grabbing hold of his hand and interlocking their fingers. "Do you want me to go?"

Lance licked his lips, feeling a bit nervous. "I do. I haven't been very happy lately and even though we've only just met, I feel happier than I've been in a long time. And I want them to meet the woman that's been able to do that for me."

She stared at him for a few more seconds before she finally nodded. "Okay. I'll go."

"You sure?" Lance asked.

"Positive," she said and punctuated the statement with a kiss, this one much shorter than the last. "I'd love to meet them."

Lance smiled at her before pulling her close, hugging her quickly. He released her and glanced at the clock, noting the time. If they were going to watch a movie, they'd have to do it soon or else it'd be pretty late by the time it was finished.

"You still up for a movie?" he asked her.

"I am if you are."

In answer, Lance stole the remote from her and hit a button on it to bring up a list of movies that could be ordered through the hotel. "Let's see what's on pay-per-view then."

It would take them another ten minutes to pick a movie and settle in to watch it. Lance wouldn't spend the night, not wanting to rush anything even though they didn't have much time left before she went back to New York. In his mind, the physical part of the relationship wasn't nearly as important as the emotional part, which was going amazing so far. He just wanted to relish in that feeling for a while.

***********

The next afternoon Justin wandered downstairs and into the kitchen where he found Kim at the counter, prepping for the barbeque they'd be having in less than an hour. She was currently chopping vegetables that would go on the skewers for the kabobs they were going to grill. He stood there for a moment, watching her work and finding the concentration she was giving the task so adorable.

"Would you quit staring at me," Kim said at last, not even tearing her eyes away from what she was doing.

"Sorry," Justin replied, though he wasn't very sorry at all. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her neck. "Do you have any idea how sexy you are?"

Kim turned slightly so she could look at him. "You're just saying that because the sharp knife gives me an element of danger."

Justin's eyes went to the large knife that was still in her hand and he took a step back. "You're not gonna go all Psycho on me and kill me in our new bathroom, are you?"

"And stain that new white tile? I don't think so," Kim said. Justin made a face and she laughed. "Oh, baby. You know I wouldn't do that to you."

"Because you just couldn't live without this awesome bod, right?" Justin flexed his muscles then, causing his girlfriend to laugh even more.

"Something like that."

Justin sobered a bit, moving so he was leaning against the counter with her. "Anything I can do to help?" he asked as she went back to her abandoned task.

"Do we need to make anything else? Dessert or anything?" she asked.

Justin shook his head. "Kelly and Joey are bringing cookies, Chris is bringing the beer and chips, and I think Lance said he'd bring some mac and cheese from that one restaurant, whatsitsname."

"And I got potato salad in the fridge," Kim said. She frowned suddenly. "Is all that too heavy? Should we make something lighter, like fruit salad?"

"I'm pretty sure JC's bringing that. He's usually pretty proud of his fruit salad."

Kim grabbed a baggie and started to load all the vegetables into it. "That's not exactly a complicated thing to make."

"Exactly why JC's so good at it. Even he can't screw up cutting fruit and throwing it in a bowl," Justin said with a laugh. But he quickly sobered as he thought about his best friend and the worry he'd been feeling pushing itself to forefront of his mind.

Kim glanced at him as she took the bag of vegetables and crossed the room to put it in the fridge. "You're worried about him, aren't you?"

"What makes you say that?" Justin asked, trying to downplay it.

Kim shut the fridge and turned to him. She walked up to him almost casually. "Oh I don't know. Maybe it's because I know you so well. Or you know, it could be that you told me as much last night."

"Oh yeah."

JC had acted pretty normal during dinner last night, but something about it felt off. Justin rationalized that it might be because he expected JC to be moping, especially since his girlfriend had dumped him recently and they'd yet to see the misery from that. They hadn't even found out about the breakup until the day after it happened when Justin had called him up to see how things were going. But it wasn't exactly in JC's nature to cry in front of them so it was very possible that he'd mourned the loss privately.

That was all well and good if that was the case...except that there was really no way for them to know one way or another. JC was an insanely private person even among them, but that had partially been what had led to what'd happened during the tour. They all just wanted to make sure nothing like that happened again. The tricky part would be getting JC to talk without tipping him off beforehand.

"You should get him alone and try talking to him," Kim said, her voice jarring him out of his thoughts.

Justin sighed. "That's harder than it sounds." JC almost seemed to have a sixth sense about it, like some alarm went off in his brain when he got a feeling the conversation was going to turn on him.

"Don't worry." Kim came up behind him and kneaded her fingers into the base of his neck, trying to work out the knots that had settled there. "You'll figure it out."

"I hope so," Justin said.

He stood there for a moment, letting his eyes fall closed as he enjoyed the massage. She always seemed to know what he needed, and he was grateful for her. Things had been hectic when he'd first met her back in February as they'd been busy putting the final touches on the album and promoting like crazy. But she hadn't been affected by all that, helping to keep him grounded during the insanity that just grew tenfold when the album was actually released. She'd been someone on the outside that hadn't been caught up in all the craziness so she was kind of like the calm in the middle of the storm for him. And considering things didn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon, he was thankful she was around to provide support even if it was just through a nightly phone call.

"You okay?"

Justin blinked, opening his eyes. He glanced at the clock on the microwave and saw that nearly ten minutes had passed since the impromptu massage had started. "Yeah," he said, rolling his neck and wincing as he heard some cracking sounds. "Thanks."

Kim frowned and she looked like she was going to press further when the door bell rang. "You ready?" Justin asked her, knowing that was likely one of the guys.

"Are you?"

"Yep." He leaned in and gave her a kiss. "I'm fine."

The doorbell rang again and Kim couldn't help but laugh. "Looks like Chris is getting impatient."

"Getting?" Justin said, starting out of the kitchen. "He's always been impatient."

The last part was practically yelled as he was out in the foyer. He could hear her laugh echo from the kitchen, and he smiled to himself as he opened the door. Like they'd predicted, Chris was standing on the other side with a case of beer and several bags of chips balance precariously on top of the cardboard box.

"'Bout time," Chris groused as he pushed his way past Justin.

"Hello to you too," Justin said. He was about to close the door when he caught sight of Joey and Kelly walking up the driveway. "Hey, guys," he greeted when they got closer.

"Hi, Justin," Kelly said, carrying a large plate of cookies. "Kim in the kitchen?"

Justin nodded. "You can drop the cookies on the table in there."

"Long time no see," Joey said with a grin, slapping Justin on the back.

Justin laughed and closed the front door, following Joey back into the kitchen. The five of them chatted while they waited for JC and Lance to show, which wasn't for another ten minutes with Lance being the last to arrive with a very striking woman.

"Guys," Lance said as he stepped into the kitchen with her, "this is Vanessa."

They all greeted her, introducing themselves as they shook her hand. She smiled at them, seeming polite enough. But she wasn't what they'd expected to see, something Justin had easily been able to pick up from the others. Not that he'd really thought Lance had a specific type, but for whatever reason they just didn't picture him with such a powerful looking woman.

She was in a white sundress with her jet black hair pulled into a loose ponytail, which should've made her come off as innocent. But for whatever reason, Justin was getting the vibe she was anything but. It wasn't exactly a bad thing for her to be driven, strong and independent; it was just an adjustment from Lance's girlfriend who'd been so soft spoken and truly had that whole innocent look about her. But then, that'd ended eventually so maybe he would come to have more in common with this Vanessa.

JC cleared his throat then, and Justin blinked, focusing on his best friend. "While everyone's just standing around, I want to give you guys the keys to my place."

"You already did. Months ago when you first moved in," Joey said as JC handed each of them a key.

Justin quickly came to the realization, but Chris was the one to vocalize it. "You got your locks changed? Why?"

JC shrugged, obviously trying to downplay it, but Chris was having none of that. "Why'd you get your locks changed, JC?" he asked in a tone that demanded an answer.

JC and Chris seemed to have a staring contest for several seconds before JC finally sighed, giving in. "Emma was waiting for me at my place last night. In my kitchen."

"I thought she already gave you back your key," Lance said.

"Apparently she had another," JC replied.

Justin frowned slightly. "So what happened? What'd she say?"

"Nothing." They all looked at him doubtfully and he rolled his eyes, clearly frustrated. "We exchanged a few words and then she left. That's it."

"Then why'd you change the locks?" Chris challenged.

"Because I don't want her to be able to surprise me anymore. Now can we drop it, please?"

The way JC worded it made it sound like a request, but Justin knew it was anything but. Chris's eyes were narrowed like he wasn't willing to give in at all now that the subject of Emma had been breached, and there was a thick tension in the kitchen. A tension poor Vanessa was in the middle of and standing next to Lance, looking kind of awkward.

Kim seemed to recognize the same thing because she broke the silence saying, "How about we show you guys the remodel?"

There was no argument and Kim led the entire group upstairs to show off the two remodeled guest bathrooms and the fourth bedroom that'd been converted into an office of sorts for Kim. She was a full time student at a local university and needed the space to study and do homework, especially since the fall semester would be starting in just a few short weeks. In her spare time she also dabbled in photography and they'd framed several of the photos she'd taken, placing them strategically on the walls.

Everyone seemed impressed with how the rooms looked, especially the bedroom-turned-office. Though, Chris wouldn't be himself if he didn't mess with Justin.

"I can't believe you turned my room into an office," Chris complained, his voice taking on a bit of a whine even as his lips upturned slightly.

Justin rolled his eyes. "It wasn't your room."

"It was when I stayed here, which doesn't seem likely now." The tone was definitely whining, and everyone laughed at Chris's antics. Justin punched him on the shoulder, and Chris rubbed the spot. "Geez, J. I didn't take you for the abusive type. I hope you treat Kim better than this."

"Obviously," Justin returned. "After all, I gave her your room, didn't I?"

"And if he didn't treat me right, I'd kick his ass," Kim put in.

Justin shot her a playful look. "Whatever girl. You wish."

"If anyone has unrealistic expectations, it's you."

"Oh you think so, huh?"

Justin gave her a wicked grin and she backed away, but she couldn't move fast enough. He rushed forward and easily swept her up into his arms, throwing her over his shoulder and racing downstairs. When his feet hit the first floor, he didn't stop but continued to the backyard and she pounded against his back the whole way, yelling.

"Let go!" She then caught sight of where headed. "If you drop me in that pool, you're dead. And you'll be sleeping on the couch tonight."

Justin stopped at the edge of the pool, hovering there for a second like he was really going to toss her in. But after a few seconds, he lowered her to the ground next to the pool's ladder.

"She sure told you," Joey said, laughing. It was then Justin realized everyone had followed them outside.

"You're one to talk," Lance replied from where he was standing with his left arm around Vanessa's waist.

"Never said it didn't apply to me. I was just pointing out to Curly exactly what I've been dealing with." Kelly pinched Joey, and he let out a short yelp. He looked at her, rubbing his side. "I didn't say it was a bad thing."

"I'm getting a beer. Who wants one?" Chris asked.

And that was how the barbeque got rolling. They all talked and hung out, Kelly going inside to help Kim prepare the last bit of the food. Vanessa, on the other hand, refused to leave Lance's side, which almost seemed kind of possessive. But, Justin reasoned, it wasn't like she really knew anyone well so she probably just felt uncomfortable.

Justin kept looking for an opportunity he could use to get JC alone, but every time he turned around it seemed like JC was talking to Joey or Lance. Not to mention it was harder since he the host and was working the grill. It was when he turned away from putting the prepared skewers on the grill that he saw Chris had managed to corner JC, despite JC's best efforts to avoid him.

Justin was pretty sure he knew what they were talking about, and his suspicions were confirmed when JC's face grew red and he snapped something to Chris before all but fleeing the backyard. JC only got angry like that and stormed out when he felt like they were prying into things he didn't want to talk about - namely his personal life. And he'd been especially closed lipped about his recent breakup.

Without wasting any time, Justin marched over to Chris and snapped at him with a bit of his own anger. "What the hell was that about?"

"I'm tired of pussyfooting around him. He needs to talk about what happened," Chris said, not seeming at all phased by Justin's anger. "Keeping it inside isn't healthy."

Justin couldn't really argue with that because he'd fully intended on trying to get JC to open up. But JC didn't respond well to confrontation and being pressured into it, and Chris knew that.

"You're right. He does," Justin admitted. "But you can't force him into it."

"And you can't wait around for him to come to you," Chris said pointedly, making it clear that was exactly what he thought Justin had been doing.

"Fine. I'll talk to him."

Chris nodded, his arms crossed. "Now." Justin started to protest, but Chris just fixed him with a look. "If you wait too long, he'll just be calm and shoot you down when you try to talk to him. Right now he's emotional and he's more likely to let stuff slip."

"So this is what it's coming down to?" Justin asked. "Setting him up so he ‘let's things slip'?"

Chris just shrugged. "Whatever works. Now go," he said, shoving Justin towards the back door slightly. "Or I will."

Justin sighed, but he called for Joey to take over the grill. He walked into the kitchen where Kelly and Kim still were, though they were done with any food prep and were just standing there talking. "Where's-"

But he couldn't even get his entire question out before Kim answered him, "He made some excuse about having to do something."

"But he's probably back at his place," Kelly finished.

Justin nodded, stepping forward to give Kim a quick peck and telling her he'd be back as soon as he could. Ideally with JC, but he wasn't going to promise that since he wasn't sure how his talk with JC would go.

About ten minutes later, Justin was standing on JC's front porch. He rang the bell and waited several seconds, but there was no answer. But he wasn't fooled. JC's car was in the driveway. He was clearly home and just ignoring him, knowing that one of them had likely followed him. But he'd shut himself away and avoided to talking to them long enough.

Justin pulled the key JC had just given him out of his pocket and unlocked the front door. He walked through the small entryway and the living room, both of which were empty. Then he stepped into the kitchen and that's where he found JC. He was leaning against his counter, his head bowed slightly as he took calming breaths, but he looked up as Justin came in.

"The key's only supposed to be used in emergencies," JC said, practically seething and his face quickly getting red again.

Justin wasn't really sure what to say. The only thing that came to mind was, "This is."

JC narrowed his eyes. "Because your friend won't talk to you? Grow up, Justin. This isn't high school."

"Then why all the drama?" Justin asked, careful not to make his words sound combative. "Running away from your friends when they're trying to talk to you isn't much better."

"Browbeat is more like it," JC muttered, his expression dark.

Justin simply shrugged. "You know it's basically the same thing to Chris. He's like a bloodhound, unable to stop until he gets what he wants."

"What about what I want? I'm the one that was hurt here. I shouldn't have to talk about it if I don't want to."

Justin had to admit JC had a point, but none of them were comfortable with stepping back and letting him handle it himself. It was, after all, what'd led to that incident last month.

"We're just worried," Justin said. "We don't want a repeat of last time."

JC blew out a puff of air angrily, rolling his eyes. "It always comes back to that. I'm sick of you guys throwing that in my face."

"We don't mean to-" Justin started, but JC cut him off.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe that's why I don't want to talk about this? You guys already think I'm weak and emotional. No need to add fuel to the fire."

Justin frowned. "We don't think that."

JC pushed himself away from the counter, closing the gap between them as he glared. "The hell you don't. Every time something goes wrong, you guys are looking at me to see if that'll be the thing that sets me off again. Do you have any idea how irritating that is?"

"Sorry," Justin apologized sincerely. "You just really freaked us out, and it made us realize we weren't as good of friends as we thought. We're just trying to make sure you know you can talk to us."

"Duly noted," JC said dryly. "You can back off now."

Justin sighed. He could understand JC's frustration, but this was almost making his worry worse. The way JC was pushing back so hard on opening up about his breakup just convinced Justin all the more that he needed to talk about it.

"If you don't talk to me, Chris is going to come over and you know how that'll go," Justin told JC. He was counting on the fact that JC wanted to avoid another confrontation with Chris at all costs - so much so that he'd open up.

JC crossed his arms over his chest like he knew exactly what Justin was up to. Justin could practically sense JC's resistance growing and he wanted to avoid JC closing himself off completely.

"Can you at least tell me what happened?" Justin asked. "If you do that much, I'll tell Chris we talked and everyone will leave you alone."

JC was silent for a long moment, like he was considering his options. Finally, he let out a heavy sigh, shifting so his left hip was resting against the island. "I finally got up the courage to tell her I loved her and she didn't feel the same."

It was said so matter-of-fact and Justin was floored by it. He'd known that JC had been getting attached to Emma and enjoyed being with her a lot, but he'd no idea it'd went as deep as love. And even more, he was surprised that she didn't reciprocate his feelings because she'd seemed to care about him as much he did about her.

"When was this?" Justin asked.

"My birthday."

Justin's eyes widened slightly. "You told her you loved her on your birthday?" He shook his head and mused, "No wonder you were in such a bad mood."

They'd taken JC out that night for his birthday to the typical clubs they frequented in downtown Orlando, having been in town for several days with their last tour date a couple days later in Jacksonville. JC hadn't been into celebrating at all. It'd taken them most of the night to get him to loosen up and enjoy himself, and it'd ended with him getting completely trashed and sleeping off his hangover at Chris's house. None of them had known why he'd shown up in such a foul mood, but it certainly made sense now.

"She said she wasn't sure she felt the same. That she wanted to think on it a couple days," JC continued, his voice practically monotone. Justin frowned. "Then the day before Jacksonville she told me she was already in love with someone else."

Justin felt anger surge through his veins. "Who?"

JC shrugged. "Some soldier. He'd been at basic training and just got back."

"She used you to cheat on her boyfriend?" Justin asked somewhat incredulously.

"I was a placeholder until he came back," JC said. "He came back and we broke up. That was the end of it."

There was no hint of emotion in his voice or on his face, which just further worried Justin. He knew that JC was hurt and angry, and he didn't understand why he wasn't reacting like he was.

"She was a moron, C. It's her loss, but you're better off without her. You don't want a girl that would cheat on her boyfriend like that," Justin tried to console.

JC nodded, his arms still crossed. "I know, but it's hard to think that you're going to be married and have kids before me. I'm the big brother. I'm supposed to do all that first."

Justin took an unconscious step backwards, completely thrown by what JC said - what he was alluding to. "Whoa, hold on. Who says I'm getting married?"

"Lance," JC said simply. "But after seeing you two together the last couple days, I'm beginning to understand why he thinks that."

Justin shook his head. "We're not that serious, JC."

JC laughed at that. It was a bit dry and bitter, like he couldn't believe Justin couldn't see what he did. "Get real, Justin. She lives with you. You turned one of your guest rooms into a study for her."

"Because she needs a place to do her homework. The music room has a desk, but it's always a mess in there. It was necessary," Justin argued.

"You did it because you love her and you want to see her happy. The sooner you admit that to yourself, the better."

"I have," Justin said. "There's no question that I love her and we're serious, but not marriage serious."

"Not yet anyway."

Justin opened his mouth to say it wasn't going to happen, but he couldn't. He didn't know if Kim was the person he was going to spend the rest of his life with, but he wasn't saying no either. They were still so young. He felt like there was more than enough time for them to figure that out, which he thought JC would've agreed with.

"I'm surprised you're pushing for this. I figured you'd be lecturing me about getting married too young," Justin said.

JC just shrugged again. "Who am I to say when it's right? I mean, look at me. I'm hardly the person to be giving advice on relationships or marriage."

"JC..." Justin started, staring at his friend sympathetically.

JC cut him off, shaking his head. "It's true. If you want to marry Kim, you should."

"Okay, but I don't. At least not right now. It's not even in my thoughts," Justin said. "Things have been too crazy."

"You'll give me a heads up when you're ready to get married though, right? Whether it's Kim or not?"

"Of course," Justin nodded.

"Good. I can live vicariously through you."

Justin frowned, realizing how nicely JC had redirected the conversation away from him. He wanted to challenge JC, tell him not to give up on love as he seemed to be hinting at. But the look on his friend's face easily told him he'd be rebuffed if he even tried. It was times like these when it sucked to have such a deep connection to JC because it made it hard to force him to get him talking about himself. But he'd at least gotten somewhere and that was a start.

"I should've gone after JC," Chris said, pushing the mac and cheese around on his plate.

The food had finished shortly after Justin had left, Joey having finished up the skewers. They'd talked about waiting for Justin, and possibly JC, to return, but in the end they'd decided to go ahead and get started. A bit of small talk had been attempted at first, but a silence lapsed over them and Chris couldn't help thinking about JC, wondering if Justin would be able to get through to him.

"You were the one who drove him away in the first place," Joey said.

"So?" Chris wasn't fazed by the attempt to make him feel bad for what he'd done. "I'm not convinced Justin can get him to talk."

"You weren't exactly successful," Lance pointed out. "He ran away from you so short of tying him down and torturing it out of him, I'm not sure you'd fair much better."

"Don't think that thought hasn't crossed my mind."

Yes, it'd only been about a week since JC and Emma had broken up, but that'd also been a week JC hadn't said two words to them about it. Not to mention none of them had seen much of him since it'd happened. The exception of course was the last couple days, but he couldn't exactly bail out of group functions without arousing even more suspicion. After all, he'd been extended several offers to hang out with any of them and turned pretty much all of them down.

Justin and JC may have some weird connection, but Chris knew too well how JC's mind worked. Probably because they were in similar in their need to keep most things to themselves. It wasn't exactly that they necessarily wanted to keep things from the guys; it was more that they'd gotten used to being so self-reliant growing up that it was hard to confide in other people. And while Justin no doubt had an understanding of all that, Chris was sure he didn't really get it so he wouldn't be able to hit the right buttons.

"Is it really a big deal if JC doesn't want to talk?" Kelly asked, adding a spoonful of potato salad to her plate. "I know he scared you guys before, but he's a grown man. You can't force him to talk to you."

"And by pushing him you might just drive him away more," Kim added.

Joey smiled. "You trying to upstage Chris and his psychology?"

Kim shook her head. "Psychology has nothing to do with it. It's common sense. The more you tell him he has to talk about it, the angrier he'll get and the more he won't want to."

"He may not want to, but he needs to," Chris said. "That much is obvious after what happened when he didn't talk about anything. Bad things happen when he lets things build."

"And what about you?" Lance asked.

Chris looked at him in surprise. "What about me?"

"Maybe JC would be more apt to open up if someone else did."

"I have nothing to talk about," Chris said.

"Uh huh," Lance replied disbelievingly. "You're a hypocrite. You get on JC's case, but you're just as open as he is when the tables are turned on you."

Chris narrowed his eyes, glaring at the bass singer across the table. "We're talking about JC. Not me."

Lance just raised an eyebrow, giving him a look that clearly said he was driving his point home. Chris was a little angry at being called out. He hadn't given any of them a reason to think something was up, so he wasn't sure how Lance had gotten that impression. But what bothered him even more than that was that he knew Lance was right. As the oldest, he didn't often permit them to worry about him.

Joey cleared his throat. "So how much longer do you think Justin will be gone?" he asked, trying to change the subject. Though, he got an elbow in the gut from Kelly for the trouble as that wasn't a topic that was far enough from the one they were just on.

The sound of the sliding glass door opening made Chris look up and he saw Justin step outside. "Not long," he said, watching as his youngest friend walked over to where they were sitting around the large outdoor table.

"Hey, guys," Justin greeted. He planted a quick kiss on Kim's lips before taking an open chair next to Vanessa, grabbing an empty plate and piling on food.

"Well?" Chris said, looking at Justin expectantly.

"He told me what happened between him and Emma."

Justin recounted what JC had told him in between bites of his early dinner. Chris listened with a frown, his anger growing. He'd liked Emma and he'd been hopeful she wasn't a bitch like JC's other girlfriends had been, but that'd obviously been too much to hope for.

Justin finished by turning to Vanessa and saying, "He told me to apologize for him. He said it was nice to meet you."

"You should've made him come," Chris said. "Or better yet, pushed him to tell you more. You needed to take advantage of him opening up."

"He didn't really," Justin objected, shaking his head. "I mean, yeah he told me what happened, but he sounded so detached. Like he was just telling me enough to get me off his back."

"If that's true, then why didn't you push harder?"

Justin sighed, putting down his fork and looking Chris in the eye. "Because bottling up his emotions wasn't the only thing that led to his little meltdown. Stress played a part and I don't want to put any more on himself than he already has."

"What stress could he possibly have? I understand why he did before, but we're on a break. We already know the choreography for the second leg," Chris said.

"This is JC you're talking about," Joey replied. "He always find something to stress about."

"And we're changing a few things for the second leg," Lance corrected. "There'll be some new steps for a couple of the songs and I think we're going to throw in some Christmas songs to get everyone in the mood."

Chris paused for a second, thrown by that information since he'd completely forgotten they'd arranged that. But he quickly dismissed it as he looked back at Justin, getting them back on track. "You should've pushed anyway. Something's obviously wrong."

"I'm going back there later. I told him I'd bring him some food, so I'll talk to him then, okay?" Justin said. "Besides, he's hell bent on finding his cat. He says he hasn't seen it for most of the day."

There was a bit of chuckling around the table. Of course JC was a responsible pet owner, needing to make sure the cat didn't run off and that she was adjusting to her new home okay. Chris would've made a joke at JC's expense, but it wasn't as fun if he wasn't there for him to tease.

A ringing phone interrupted Chris's thoughts and he quickly realized it was coming from his pocket. He pulled out the phone with a feeling of dread, having a good idea who was calling him as he hadn't heard from his father since yesterday. So it was to his great surprise that it was his real estate agent.

"Hey, Stace," Chris greeted once he answered the phone.

Chris got up from the table and walked a couple feet away so he didn't force the rest of the table to sit in silence as he held his phone call. He listened as his real estate agent, Stacey, practically rambled on about the three properties she wanted to show him. She explained to him that they all had pretty much everything he'd listed as must haves and she thought they really suited him. He promised he'd meet her just after lunch tomorrow so he could take a look.

When he returned to the table, Vanessa and Lance were standing like they were getting ready to head out. "You're leaving?" Chris asked them.

Vanessa nodded. "I just remembered I'd promised my friend I'd be there for moral support as she puts down her dog. It was nice to meet you though."

Chris's phone rang again and he dug it out of his pocket as he shot Vanessa an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. It was nice to meet you too."

As before, Chris walked away from the group, but he did it much more for privacy this time. His landlord was calling and as far as Chris was concerned, there were only a handful of reasons he could have for wanting to talk to him and he'd already paid the rent for the month.

"Hi, Pat. What's up?"

"I've gotten several complaints from tenants in your building," Patrick, his landlord, said.

"About what?" Chris asked. "I'm not even home."

"There's a man in the hallway outside your apartment. He's been there for the last hour or so and he's making your neighbors nervous. They say he won't leave."

Chris sighed, knowing without a doubt who it was. It just figured he couldn't get more than a day without his father getting in the way and pulling some kind of stupid shit.

"I'm surprised you're calling me instead of the cops," Chris said.

"Well, some of your neighbors seem to think the man's your dad. You seem like a good kid so I wanted to give you a chance to deal with it before I brought the police in on it," Patrick explained.

Chris was kind of surprised his neighbors had figured out the man was his father, but he quickly realized he shouldn't have been. Robert had been showing up at all hours ever since they'd gotten home from the tour. Not to mention, they'd had a fairly loud disagreement in the hall yesterday as Robert had refused to come in and talk like a civilized person. Of course their voices would've carried and been easily overheard by his neighbors.

"Thanks, man," Chris said, barely resisting the urge to sigh again. "I'll take care of it."

"No problem. I know a thing or two about family drama."

Chris thanked him again and hung up the phone, feeling more tired than angry. He was sick of dealing with Robert, especially since he seemed to just keep interrupting his life - the life he'd gotten together without any help from his supposed father. And he was going to do everything he had to in order to keep Robert from ruining it.

"I'm going to take off too," Chris told everyone when he rejoined them, Lance and Vanessa having just left.

"Everything okay?" Kelly asked.

Chris nodded. "Yeah. I just have to take care of something."

Kim and Kelly exchanged a look with Justin, but they didn't say anything. Joey, on the other hand, objected. "Can't it wait?" Joey asked. "We haven't even had dessert yet."

Chris actually laughed at that, feeling a bit of the tension lift. "You don't need me to do that. Besides, it works out better this way. You get rid of the fifth wheel and the two couples can share the dessert by candlelight or something."

"The sun's not even setting yet," Kim pointed out.

Chris waved a dismissive hand. "You know what I mean."

"You know you're not a fifth wheel, right?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah, man. You don't have to leave," Joey said.

"Actually, I do. I wasn't kidding when I said I had something to do, but I appreciate the offer." Chris pulled out his car keys before any of them could object further or try to get him to tell them just what he had to do. "Catch you guys later."

Chris cut through the house to get to the driveway and hopped in his car. It took him about twenty minutes to get to his apartment that was on the edge of downtown Orlando. He wasted no time parking his car and heading into his building. When he turned the corner and entered his hallway, he was surprised to see that Robert wasn't standing by his door.

"Maybe he finally got tired of waiting and left," Chris mumbled to himself.

He was willing to believe that until he got up to his door, his hand extended to put the key in the lock and he quickly realized the door was open a crack. Angrily, he pushed the door open and stormed into his apartment, knowing there was only one explanation. Robert had broken into his home.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Chris demanded, his eyes immediately falling on Robert who was lounging on his couch.

"Took you long enough," Robert said, rising from the couch leisurely.

"How'd you get in here? You break down the door or something?"

Robert shook his head, smirking slightly like the thought amused him. "I picked the lock," he said matter-of-factly. Chris stared at him incredulously and Robert shrugged. "I had to do something. You were taking forever and I was beginning to think your neighbors were going to call the cops."

"They should have," Chris said darkly. "The only reason they didn't was they thought they were doing me a favor by giving me a chance to take care of it. Too bad because they would've saved me the trouble."

Robert gave him a look. "You really going to call the cops on your dear old dad?"

It was said somewhat mockingly and Chris narrowed his eyes. The more he saw his father, the less patience he had for the man. Not that he had much patience to begin with so that was really saying something.

"You're not a father. You're just a sperm donor." Chris gave him a look. "One that I want nothing to do with."

"Well, that's too damn bad. I'm not leaving you alone until I get what I want."

Chris closed the gap between them, staring into eyes that very much looked like his own. "Yeah, and I told you you're not getting shit from me."

"It's not like you can't afford it. You bought your mother a house, didn't you?" Robert said, a knowing look in his eye. "In fact, I heard it was one of the first things you did after you got back from Europe and had some money."

"I didn't have much, but yeah I used it to take care of my family. Something you know nothing about."

Robert softened his face marginally. "It wasn't my choice to leave. Your mother made me."

"That's a bunch of bullshit," Chris said, not falling for the brief moment of parental concern Robert was trying for. "You couldn't handle it so you split, leaving her to deal with everything on her own."

Robert's face twisted with anger, any traces of softness gone. "She tell you that?"

"No," Chris shook his head. "She tried to excuse it by saying you were young and your parents wanted you to go to college, but I saw through that. I knew you were just a selfish jerk who bailed when things got tough."

Without any warning, Robert fisted the front of Chris's shirt and slammed him against the closest wall. "I tried to make things work," he all but growled into Chris's ear. "I stuck around for two years, but I couldn't handle Bev whoring herself off to every guy she ran into."

Chris recovered from the initial shock at being manhandled, throwing Robert off him. "My mother's not a whore. I heard the stories. You were just a jealous dick. She couldn't so much as talk to another guy without you going into a rage."

When Chris was younger he'd overheard the things that his mother had told one her best friends, Tiffany, about, confiding in just what Robert had done. Things had been anything but good, even long before he left. She had often lamented that things hadn't worked out as she'd thought Chris needed his father - someone to teach him all the things she couldn't.

Chris had never wanted a single thing, not from that man anyway. It'd been his mother's idea to call his father after he'd graduated high school to see if he could live with him for a while. Originally his plan had been to go to New York to try to find a way into the music scene, but he'd admitted he was curious about his father. He'd had no memories of the man and he'd needed to see him, even if it was only for closure. Of course, he hadn't figured it'd bite him in the ass like this.

"And how many boyfriends did she have after me?" Robert challenged.

Chris clenched his fists, trying to reign in his anger even as he said calmly, "No more than you. You haven't exactly had a steady relationship. There were always girls coming and going at your place."

"Different situation," Robert replied stiffly. "And she didn't smarten up. How many sisters do you have?"

Chris's muscles tensed further as he tried to not to rise to the taunt, but it was hard to sit back and listen to this asshole go on about stuff he knew nothing about. His mother had been in a string of bad relationships, some of them abusive, but she was still with the father of his youngest sister. It was a happiness she deserved after so many failed relationships.

"Leave my sisters out of this," Chris said through clenched teeth, his body practically vibrating with rage.

Robert smirked, like he enjoyed that he was getting under Chris's skin. "I have nothing against them. I was just proving my point. Your mother's a whore."

Unable to control himself any longer, Chris launched himself at Robert and the momentum knocked him off his feet. Chris fell with him, landing on top of him, but he didn't let that slow his fury. He wailed on Robert, throwing punch after punch. His father was smaller than him, but not by much so he was more than able to hold his own.

Robert kicked out, nailing him square in the stomach and sending Chris backwards with an "oof." It took a few seconds for Chris to recover, but that was enough for Robert to get several punches of his own in, mostly aiming for his chest and stomach to add insult to injury. They were almost evenly matched except that Chris had one thing going for him that Robert didn't: a pure, almost animalistic rage.

He used it to lash out, kicking Robert in the shin and causing the older man to fall to one knee. From there, Chris quickly hit him with an uppercut, his fist connecting with the underside of Robert's chin. That punch was much more powerful and unexpected than his others, so it was no surprise Robert fell onto his back, laying there looking dazed.

It took a bit of an effort for Chris to pull back, but he knew he couldn't do anything worse. Right now the law favored him, but it would quickly turn against him if he killed the man. Hopefully he'd at least sent a message and Robert would finally leave him alone.

"Get out," Chris ordered, his voice low and menacing when Robert seemed to have his wits about him and sat up.

Robert got to his feet, stumbling a little. He glared at him. "I'll call the cops. Tell them what you did."

"Please do," Chris said, not at all phased by the threat. "I'll tell them about you breaking in and I was defending myself. You'll be charged with breaking and entering, and I'll get off scot free."

Robert's glare seemed to intensify, but he did move towards the door. "This isn't over."

He walked out, slamming the door behind him. Chris sighed, falling against the wall as he suddenly felt exhausted, his anger and adrenaline leaving him in a rush. There was no doubt in his mind Robert would be back, but that didn't mean he had to be here when he did.

With that thought in mind, Chris went to his bedroom and pulled out one of his suitcases and began to fill it with clothes. He would stay with JC for a few days. He didn't want to put any of his friends in danger, but he was convinced his father had no idea where they lived. If he had, he probably would've tried to show up at one of their houses to get to him. Besides, it gave him an excuse to check on JC and work on getting him to talk.

***********

JC sat on the couch in his studio, his back against one of the arms and his knees were bent slightly to allow for him to prop up the notebook in his lap. He'd given up looking for his new pet over an hour ago, having searched most of the house. The cat had to be in the house somewhere since it was never around when he was coming or going, so knowing it would turn up eventually, he'd retreated to his makeshift studio upstairs.

His studio was a small room that was crowded with various instruments and furniture. He could've chosen a larger room, but he liked the amount of sunlight that would stream in through the large windows. Not that he was taking advantage of that right then. He had the blinds drawn and the large navy curtains closed, shrouding the room in darkness with the exception of the small lamp on the end table behind his head.

It was odd to have a light on in the middle of the day, especially when the sun was shining so brightly. But that sunshine, while often very much enjoyable, only succeeded in making him more miserable from squinting against the harsh light. For once he wished the damn weather would match his mood and that the clouds would eclipse over the sun, bringing a hard, fast rain. Since that was unlikely, he'd just taken it upon himself to black out the sun and try to get some work done, forcing his mind off the first half of the day.

He wasn't having too much luck though. Yeah, he'd gotten a few things written, but he'd scratched out most of it. Being cornered by Chris and his talk with Justin kept pushing thoughts to the forefront of his mind - thoughts he didn't want to have. It felt like nothing had been going his way lately and it left him feeling frustrated in a place he normally he went to escape, unable to lose himself in his music like he usually did when he couldn't deal.

There was a sudden meow and a second later, he had an armful of cat. JC smiled slightly, reaching out to pet her. "There you are, Sheila. I've been looking for you. You must've found a good hiding spot."

The cat meowed against as if she was vocalizing her assent. A small laugh escaped JC's lips, the cute, furry creature even having little effect on his bad mood.

"I wish I could hide out like you," JC said, absently stroking her. "The guys think they're being helpful, but really they're just a pain in my ass. If I wanted to talk to them, I would."

Sheila butted her head against his hand, telling him he'd stopped petting her as he'd been talking. JC glanced down at her briefly and resumed petting her. "I get they're worried, but they're treating me so different. It was a stressful tour and yet I'm the only one they're obsessing about. I'm the one that needs protecting, that they don't trust to care of myself."

The tour had been crazy. They'd thought things were nuts before with the fans, but it was ten times worse - so much so they'd needed twice as much security. And with a bigger fan base and explosive popularity came more stress and more opportunities for things to get out of control. All of them had had their moments when everything had become too much to handle, but he was the only one they tiptoed around like he was more fragile than the rest of them. And to top it off, his girlfriend had spent the entire three months of their relationship cheating on a boyfriend she was supposedly in love with. God, he was pathetic.

"I'm such a loser," JC mumbled to himself. He didn't realize he'd started to cry until a paw was suddenly pressed against his cheek. Looking into the gray eyes, he felt like the gaze was almost sympathetic.

There was a faint chime, signaling there was someone at the door. JC sighed and glanced at Sheila. "What are the odds they'll go away?"

The cat tilted her head and narrowed her eyes slightly as if to say "none."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," JC said, quickly swiping at the couple of tears that'd escaped. He could ignore the door, but if it was Justin or Chris they would definitely just use their key. It was just easier if he answered the door. Besides, it gave him the ability to be in control instead of being surprised like he had when Justin had used his key earlier.

JC got off the couch, Sheila jumping down from his chest. He tossed his notebook on the other end of the couch and walked out into the hallway, blinking at how much brighter it was already compared to the darkened room he'd been sitting in. But that was nothing compared to the light that assaulted JC when he opened the front door and got a full blast of daylight, the setting sun directly opposite from the front of his house. It blinded him, giving whoever was on the other side the ability to push past him and walk inside.

The door was gently tugged out of his grasp and was shut with a click. JC blinked to refocus his eyes now that the sun was no longer a factor, and he sighed when he saw Justin standing there. So much for him being in control.

"What are you doing here?" JC mumbled, rubbing at his eyes absently. Something Justin didn't miss.

"Why are your eyes all red?" Justin asked, stepping closer. He peered at JC, frowning in concern. "Were you crying?"

JC dropped his hand, shaking his head. "Allergies," he said, refusing to look at Justin. "I kicked up a lot of dust looking for Sheila."

"I take it you didn't find her."

JC glanced towards the stairs to see if the cat had followed him, but there was no sign of her. He looked back at his best friend. "She was upstairs with me. I guess she just doesn't like you."

"Pfft, whatever," Justin said, waving a dismissive hand. "Everyone loves me, and that includes animals."

JC knew what Justin wasn't doing and he wasn't going to fall for it. "What are you doing here, Justin?" he asked again, wearily.

"I brought you some food." It was then JC spotted the plastic bag that Justin was holding in his left hand. "I told you I was coming back."

"I was hoping you'd forget," JC muttered. He didn't even give Justin a chance to respond as he swiped the plastic bag from him and headed into the kitchen.

Justin was a few steps behind him and walked into the kitchen as JC undid the knot on the plastic bag to get to the Tupperware containers. He put away the containers filled with mac and cheese and potato salad, while he popped open the lid on the fruit salad and grabbed a fork.

JC spared Justin a glance as he dug into the fruit salad. "Thanks for bringing the food over."

"Sure," he nodded. There was a long pause where Justin fidgeted nervously before he finally took a breath and spoke. "Can we talk, JC? Please."

"About what?" JC asked around a mouthful of cantaloupe, sucking the juice before it could spill out his mouth and dribble down his chin. "There's nothing to talk about."

Justin sighed heavily, leaning against the other side of the counter where JC was standing eating his fruit. "C'mon, C. You and I both know that's not true. You're clearly upset-"

"I'm fine," JC interrupted. He speared a piece of strawberry with his fork. "Just drop it, okay?"

Justin opened his mouth, most likely to object. But before he could get a word out, the doorbell rang. JC sighed and set his fork down, pushing away from the counter to answer the door for the second time in a half hour. He opened the solid oak and immediately groaned when he saw Chris, the sun no longer a factor as it was behind the house across the street.

"What is this? An ambush to get to me to talk?" JC asked, more than a little irritated at the sudden appearance of his oldest friend. He then noticed Chris was carrying a fairly large duffle. "You planning on moving in with me or something?"

Chris's lips upturned into a small smirk. "Not exactly. I do need a place to stay for a couple days though. My whole building's being fumigated."

"Is that so?" JC said, looking at Chris doubtfully. "Why don't you stay with one of the others?"

"You don't want me here?" Chris asked, giving him a puppy dog look. "I'm hurt, man. Really."

JC rolled his eyes. "Right," he scoffed. "And this has nothing to do with trying to get me to talk?"

"Of course not," Chris objected. "I figured I'd crash with you because I'll disturb the couples otherwise. And with Lance finding this new girl, we're the only ones that are single. But if you really don't want me here, I'll get a hotel room..."

JC heaved a sigh, but opened the door further and stepped back to allow Chris to enter. "Don't be stupid," he said. "Of course you can stay."

"You sure?"

"Positive," JC said. He didn't really want Chris around and so close because he knew he would try to pry and get him to talk about everything that was bothering him, but if he refused to let Chris to stay that would just make things worse. That would be like a huge red flag to them that he was really trying to hide things from them and they would just pester him even more. The best thing would be to act as normal as possible.

Justin came in as JC closed the door behind Chris. "Dude, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"There's a major bug problem at my apartment building and they told us all to get lost for a few days so they could take care of it," Chris explained.

"Are you serious?" Justin's eyes were narrowed slightly like he couldn't make up his mind if Chris was making the whole thing up or not.

"Yeah," Chris said, sounding a bit annoyed. "As cliché as it sounds, it does actually happen. I think the damn people below me are hoarders."

"And you're gonna stay with JC?"

"It's just for a couple days."

Justin turned to JC. "You're okay with this?"

JC shrugged and nodded. "It's fine."

A meow drew their attention to the stairs where Sheila was sitting about five steps up from the first floor. "There she is," Justin said. He slowly approached the cat, glancing over his shoulder at JC. "I told you she liked me."

"So why did she wait until Chris came to come down? Maybe she likes him better," JC said.

Justin snorted. "Please. She hasn't even met Chris yet."

"I would've thought you'd get a fluffy cat," Chris told JC.

JC looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "And why's that?"

Chris shrugged. "You just seem like the fluffy cat type."

JC rolled his eyes, but otherwise ignored him.

Justin had reached Sheila and bent down, reaching out a hand to pet her. The cat didn't seem at all spooked by him as she let him approach, which didn't surprise JC because she seemed pretty fearless and she was pretty loving. So he was shocked when Justin's hand had barely grazed the top of her head before she lashed out, sinking her sharp teeth into the soft flesh of his hand.

"Ouch!" Justin cried, immediately pulling his hand back. "Son of a bitch!"

"I guess she doesn't like you much after all," Chris said, laughing.

Justin turned on him, shooting daggers at him. "It's not funny." He then turned his eyes on JC. "Your freakin' cat is psychotic. She just attacked me for no reason."

"Looks like she drew blood too," JC said, noticing the bit of red that was slowly seeping from the puncture wounds in his hand.

"Damn it!" Justin glared at the cat, who was just sitting on the stair watching the scene unfold. "Look at her. She's just sitting there. That's damn creepy." He looked at them. "She's probably going to kill you in your sleep tonight."

"We're not the ones she attacked," Chris pointed out.

"For no damn reason!" Justin exclaimed.

JC sighed, but he gently wrapped his hand around Justin's wrist, tugging him towards the hall bathroom. "C'mon, let's get your hand cleaned up."

Justin grumbled under his breath, but allowed JC to lead him out of the entryway and away from the cat. Chris said he was going throw his bag into one of the guest rooms and JC just nodded. He wasn't thrilled Chris was going to be staying for a while because he knew he would just be getting on his case about talking, not letting up until he felt JC had divulged all his feelings. It'd be a miracle if he didn't kill Chris before his stay was over.

As JC cleaned out the small puncture wounds on Justin's hand, he couldn't help but think that the next couple days were going to be interesting.

JC had no idea how right he was.

Justin was lying on the couch, a blanket draped over him as he watched a movie he'd seen a hundred times through heavy eyes. He was tired, despite having just woken up a couple hours ago. Kim had still been sleeping when he'd gotten up, having gotten in late from her internship at one of the local hospitals. So Justin had gone downstairs and fixed himself a bowl of cereal, but had been unable to motivate himself to do much else which was how he'd ended up on the couch.

Before he'd channeled surfed to the movie he'd ended up on, he'd called Chris. He'd ignored the threat Chris had answered the call with, obviously unhappy with the early wakeup call when he'd been trying to sleep in. As far as Justin was concerned, it was a bit of payback for JC. It was no secret they disagreed on how to best handle getting JC to open up to them, but Justin felt Chris taken an action that wasn't necessary. He hadn't bought Chris's lame story about his building being fumigated and laid into him for hounding JC without even giving Justin much of a chance to talk to him more. After all, JC had already confided in him a bit. It'd stood to reason Justin had been on the right track to getting the full story of JC's breakup and how he was dealing.

Chris had only listened to so much of Justin's bitching before he cut him off, obviously fed up.

"All right, I get it. Jesus Christ," Chris had muttered. "Despite what you might think, I can get him to talk without being a bastard about it."

Justin had backed off then, feeling kind of bad for basically accusing Chris of being unable to talk to JC without attacking him. It wasn't true because Justin knew JC had gone to Chris before, just as willing to talk to him or the others as he was Justin. What'd happened on tour just made them all conscious of JC's emotions and they did what they could to avoid putting more stress on him. It wasn't fair to think Chris would push JC so hard that he'd make things worse.

So Justin had apologized and ended the call shortly after, leaving Chris to go back to sleep. That was nearly a half hour ago, and it seemed like that the more time that passed, the more Justin felt the pull of sleep. He normally wouldn't fall asleep so soon after waking up, but he hadn't slept well last night as his worry for JC kept him awake and weird dreams had continuously interrupted what sleep he'd managed to get.

He was practically asleep when Kim came in, still dressed in the ratty t-shirt and old shorts she slept in. She seemed to be passing through on her way to the kitchen, but stopped when she saw him lying on the couch. A frown marred her flawless features as worry lines appeared around her mouth.

"Are you sick?" she asked, stepping closer to the couch.

Justin shook his head marginally. "I'm just cold," he said, looking up at her with tired eyes.

"Well, you could turn down the AC. You always got it blasting."

"You never complained about it," Justin pointed out. "Until now anyway."

"I'm not complaining," Kim protested. "I'm just..." She shook her head then, dismissing the thought and Justin's attempt at redirecting her concern. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "You sure you're okay?"

Justin nodded. "I just didn't sleep well last night."

Kim sat on the edge of the couch by his feet. "Still worried about JC?"

"Yeah," Justin sighed. "He keeps trying to tell me everything's okay, but when I took the food to him last night, it'd looked like he'd been crying. But he just denied it and said it was allergies when I asked."

"Maybe that's all it was."

"No. I know when he's lying. He's just trying to get us to believe everything's okay so we'll back off."

"Would it really be so terrible if you gave him what he wanted?" Kim asked, her voice quiet and soothing which was the exact opposite of how Justin felt at that moment. He felt like he needed to fight for JC's wellbeing.

Justin started to object, but Kim held up a hand. "I know you don't want a repeat of before. No one does. But do you really think pushing him to talk about everything is helping?"

"I'm not the one pushing him," Justin said. "Chris is the one who forced himself onto JC, making up some story about his apartment being fumigated. He's the one that's pushing for answers."

"But so are you." Justin opened his mouth but once again, Kim cut him off, "No you're not being as demanding about it, but you still want him to tell you everything. And JC's resisting that."

There was truth to what Kim said. Justin had been content to let JC come to them about his breakup with Emma, but as a week had gone by and JC hadn't approached any of them, it'd made him uneasy. And it'd been that anxiety along with Chris's demanding attitude that got Justin to try to get JC to open up, which he had. But now that he knew the general facts about what'd happened and saw firsthand how JC was dealing, he was that much more motivated to get JC to really to talk and get everything off his chest. Something that JC was just as aware of and doing his best to dance around any conversation that could potential lead to him opening up about what he was feeling.

"I just don't understand why he doesn't want to talk to us about it," Justin said. "It's okay for him to be there for us, but not the other way around?"

Kim sighed. "I know what happened on tour was upsetting for you guys, but you weren't the only ones affected."

"What do you mean?" Justin's brow furrowed as he tried to follow her train of thought. He normally understood the point she was trying to make, but there was a hazy fog in his brain that was making it hard to think. No doubt from the bad night's sleep.

Kim looked kind of hesitant, but she spoke anyway. "From everything you've told me, JC's never been one to lose control. So what happened was huge and it took away all his defenses. He's probably trying to get things back to the way they were before."

"That's the problem," Justin said. "The way things were before sucked. Things were never supposed to get that bad. That's why we went into this together - so we'd have four other people to talk to that we're going through the exact same thing."

"Maybe you need to remind him of that."

"Yeah," Justin sighed. "That is if Chris doesn't close him off completely by the time I get to him."

Kim gave him a look. "I think you should give Chris a little more credit. He can be intense, but there's no denying he's fiercely protective of you all. He wouldn't hurt any of you on purpose."

Justin thought back to his earlier phone call with Chris and realized she was right. Yes, Chris could be relentless when he wanted an answer, but he would restrict himself when it came to them, knowing instinctively how far he could push. The only time he lost sight of that was when he was blind with anger, so as long as he didn't get overly frustrated with JC, things should be fine. At least Justin hoped.

"Have you told your psych professor you're applying his theories in real life?" Justin asked, looking back at Kim. "He would be so proud."

Kim laughed. "I don't use my psychology on you guys."

"Yeah, okay," Justin said sarcastically. His humor faded a bit then as he felt a sudden spike in the headache he'd been fighting off since he'd woken up.

"You all right?" Kim asked, her own smiling falling, obviously not missing the change in his demeanor.

"Headache," Justin said, pulling his right hand out from under the blanket to rub at his forehead. He was surprised when Kim suddenly jumped off the couch and knelt in front of him.

"What happened to your hand?" she asked.

Oh, that. Justin should have figured she'd notice the bandage JC had put over the bite from his rapid cat. "It's just a bite. JC's psycho cat attacked me."

"It's infected."

"No, it's not," Justin denied. "It's fine. Barely even hurts."

Kim huffed, getting annoyed in the way she always did when she knew she was right and Justin didn't believe her. "That's why it's all swollen and you have red streaks running up your arm." She reached out a hand then and placed it against his forehead. "And why you've got a fever."

"But JC cleaned it out."

"Well, he must've missed something," Kim said. She gently tugged on his arm, trying to get him on his feet. "C'mon, we've got to go to the hospital."

"Hospital?" Justin repeated, looking at her in surprise. "Why? Can't you just clean it out again and put some Neosporin on it or something?"

Kim shook her head. "This isn't a simple infection, Justin. You could very well be in the beginning stages of septicaemia."

Justin frowned at her. "Septicaemia?" He felt stupid repeating her again, but he hated when she threw around medical jargon around him.

"Blood poisoning, Justin." Kim gave him a firm look as she said, "This can get really serious. We need to get you to a hospital."

"Okay," Justin agreed, feeling his heart pound a bit at the mention that it could get serious. He knew without her saying a word what she meant by serious - he could die.

Justin shivered at the thought, and he willingly let her lead him to the car.

***********

JC frowned as a noise cut through his subconscious, trying to pull him back to reality and out of the dream he was having. He tried to ignore it at first, but the noise continued and he let it bring him to a wakeful state. His mind was still fuzzy with sleep, but he recognized now the noise was his phone ringing. He reluctantly opened his eyes and reached out, swiping it off the nightstand and hit a button to accept the call.

"Yeah?" he said. He glanced down and saw that Sheila was curled up next to him, her little body tucked against his side - just like she always was when he woke up.

"I told you your damn cat was psycho."

JC's brow furrowed in confusion. "Justin? What's going on?"

"We're on our way to Orlando Regional. Kim wants you to meet us there," Justin said.

JC flew to a sitting position, much more alert at the mention of one of the local hospitals. "Why are you going there? What's wrong?"

Justin mumbled something unintelligible, and the worry lines in JC's forehead increased. He asked Justin to repeat himself, but there was only silence on the other end. For a second JC feared Justin had hung up on him, and he barked into the phone, "Justin!"

"What?" Justin asked, his voice sounding heavy like he was tired or sick. Maybe both.

"Put the phone on speaker," JC instructed. If he couldn't get answers from Justin, then he'd talk to Kim.

There was another pause and JC wondered if Justin had heard him or comprehended what he'd asked, but then Kim's voice came through the connection. "JC," she said.

"Kim, what the hell is going on?"

"Justin's hand is infected, so I'm taking him to the ER. He could have blood poisoning."

"Blood poisoning?" JC repeated, incredulous. That sounded really bad. "What is that? Is that why he seems so out of it?"

"He's out of it because he's tired and has a fever," Kim said. "Blood poisoning is just when bacteria from an infection enters the bloodstream, but we don't even know for sure he has it. That's why I'm taking him to the hospital. That way if he does, we can get it taken care of."

Kim's voice sounded calm, but JC could hear the faint note of worry beneath. It told him that it wasn't too bad because Kim tended to almost panic when someone was seriously hurt, which was so ironic considering she was studying to become a nurse. But she'd explained that her panic only arose when people she loved were hurt.

"I'll meet you there in fifteen," JC told her.

"Don't rush. It's really not that bad," she said and JC knew she could likely sense his building worry and was trying quell it. "I just told Justin to call you so you could explain to the doctor what happened and how you cleaned out the cut. They'll also want to know the cat's medical history."

JC exhaled, trying to get the tightness in his chest to loosen. "Okay. I'll be right there."

JC hung up and nearly jumped out of his skin when he looked up and saw Chris standing in his doorway. He took another breath to work on getting his heart rate back to normal. "Justin's headed to the hospital. His hand's infected."

Chris nodded. "I heard you as I was coming out of the guest room," he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder behind him. "Get dressed and I'll meet you in the car."

JC agreed and quickly got out of bed. Kim had told him there was no need to hurry, but when you heard the word "hospital" it was hard to operate on a speed any slower than the one that would get you there as quick as possible. So he just grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, quickly changing out of his pajamas before running out the door and hopping in the passenger seat of Chris's car.

When they got to the hospital, they bypassed the ER waiting room in favor of a private office as Chris had had the foresight to arrange a special place for them to wait so as to avoid a mob scene. There was even a hospital security guard standing outside the room just in case anyone wandered down the hall and tried to get in. The waiting room wasn't extremely crowded, but they knew from experience all it took was one person to spot them and things could quickly get out of control.

JC and Chris found the room and walked in, instantly spotting Kim and Justin on the small loveseat the office had. Justin was slumped, his body leaning into Kim's smaller form. They both looked up as they entered.

"He hasn't seen the doctor yet?" JC asked without preamble, looking at Kim. He knew he had a better chance of getting answers from her than Justin.

Kim shook her head. "We just got here a few minutes before you did. The ER's not extremely busy though, so someone should be in soon."

Soon turned out to be another twenty minutes. A nurse came in and led them all to one of the examination rooms - Chris and JC refusing to wait behind. Besides, JC had to tell the doctor what he knew.

Justin was directed to sit on the examination table, and he hopped up onto the flat padded surface. JC had to frown at just how bad he looked under the bright florescent lights that'd been absent from the office. His eyes drooped with tiredness and looked kind of glassy from the fever. His face was also flush, which only enhanced the bags under Justin's eyes. The thing that really got JC though was the uneasy expression; it made Justin look years younger. It was certainly the worst JC had seen him look in a long time, and it did nothing to ease his worry.

The nurse went about taking his vitals, and Justin groused, "I can't believe you wouldn't let me get dressed first."

Kim rolled her eyes. "I wanted to make sure we got you taken care as soon as possible. Besides, I'm still in my pajamas too."

"Yeah, but you never care about that stuff."

"Because you care enough for the both of us." Kim gave him a teasing smile and said, "You're such a diva."

JC recognized what Kim was trying to do. She'd seen Justin's nervousness and anxiety as easily as JC had and was doing what she could to set him at ease. They were all worried, but if they could distract Justin to take his mind off where he was and what was going on...well, then all the better.

Chris too seemed to have caught on. "You're a girl. You're supposed to be obsessed with always looking your best," he said to Kim, clearly trying to back up Justin.

"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I have to want to be dressed up all the time. Kelly's not like that."

"But it seems like Lance's new girlfriend is," JC said. It hadn't been hard to notice that even though she'd shown up in a sundress, which wasn't dressy by any means, she didn't exactly look as casual as the rest of them had. She'd definitely seemed like one of those women who cared very much about how they looked when they were out in public, always needing to look their best.

Kim shook her head. "Don't get me started on Vanessa."

"Oooh, tension already? I don't think she made a bad first impression," Chris said.

"I thought she was nice," Justin said.

"She hardly said anything."

JC's eyes went from the nurse taking Justin's blood pressure to Kim. "I'm sure she just felt out of place. She only knew Lance."

"Yeah, but she didn't really make an effort. And there's just something about her that was kind of off-putting. Like she thought she was better than the rest of us."

Justin's lips twitched. "Off-putting? Obviously you're not taking enough English classes."

Kim reached out and pinched him gently. "Shut up."

The bit of good humor they'd managed to generate immediately vanished as the doctor walked through the door. He accepted the chart from the nurse and studied it for a minute before approaching them while the nurse left the room.

"I'm Doctor Buchanan," the man started, but Chris interrupted him.

"Buchanan?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "As in..."

"Our fifteenth president?" the doctor finished. "Yes, but I'm afraid there's no relation. Now," he looked at Justin, all business, "I understand you were bit by a cat."

"If that's what you call that demon spawn," Justin mumbled, rubbing his forehead with his uninjured left hand.

Chris and Kim laughed lightly, while the doctor turned to JC. "The cat is yours?"

JC nodded. "I just got her a couple days ago, but I took her to the vet and she's got a clean bill of health."

"And you were the one that cleaned the wound?" When JC gave his affirmation, the doctor asked him, "What'd you do exactly?"

"I wiped away the blood and poured hydrogen peroxide over it. Then I just put some Neosporin and a band-aid on it." JC unconsciously wrung his hands together. "Did I do something wrong?"

Doctor Buchanan put a hand on JC's shoulder and squeezed gently. "Not at all. Cat bites are often hard to truly disinfect and therefore can easily get infected. It doesn't even matter if the cat is perfectly healthy - they all carry a certain amount of bacteria in their saliva."

"Which is why his hand got infected," Kim said, nodding.

"Normally I would just redress the wound and give a prescription for a heavy duty antibiotic to knock out the infection," the doctor began. He looked at Justin and continued, "But I'm a bit concerned about your fever."

"What is it?" Kim asked.

"103.7."

JC's heart skipped a beat. "That's really high. Isn't that dangerous?"

Kim shook her head. "A person's temperature can get as high as 104 without any effects." She glanced at Doctor Buchanan. "Right?"

"Yes," he agreed. "The only reason I'm concerned is that the antibiotic I want to administer is strong and everyone's body reacts differently to it. I'm not expecting anything to happen, but given how high his fever already is, I want to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get over 104 because that's when trouble strikes."

"How long do I have to stay?" Justin asked.

"At least until tomorrow," Doctor Buchanan said. "Baring no complications and how you're feeling, you could be back home just before dinner."

Justin groaned. "Fine," he said, a bit begrudgingly.

For JC that was a real testament to just how crappy he was feeling because as much as the guys teased him about his fear of needles and hospitals, they all hated it just as much. And Justin, who always had to be doing something, hated being confined to a bed or restricted in anyway. Back when he'd broken his thumb in Germany, all they'd heard was him whining for three long weeks about how much having a cast was screwing things up.

"Wait here and I'll see about getting you set up in a room," the doctor told Justin.

When the doctor walked out of the room, Kim turned to JC and Chris. "You guys can head out. It's going to take some time to admit him and get him set up in a room."

"I don't mind sticking around," JC said.

"He's just going to be sleeping once he's settled anyway," Kim replied. "I'll probably head back home eventually to get changed and grab my textbooks too."

JC opened his mouth to object, but Chris threw an arm around his shoulders. "C'mon, C, do everyone a favor and go shower. You reek."

JC rolled his eyes, knowing they were trying to distract him and make sure he didn't worry obsessively. He had a feeling if it was up to them, he wouldn't be allowed to worry at all. But not wanting to start a fight in the middle of the ER, he turned to look at Justin who was leaning back against the white brick, his eyes half closed.

"I'll let Joey and Lance know what's going on. I'm sure they'll stop by later," JC told Justin.

Justin nodded tiredly. "It's cool, Jace. I'm fine."

JC wanted to try to insist he stay, but he had a feeling it was a fight he wasn't going to win. So he just let himself be led into the hall by Chris, who threw a "See ya, J!" over his shoulder as they walked out.

Even though JC didn't feel right leaving Justin behind in the hospital, he took comfort in the fact that it didn't seem to be overly serious. That and knowing Justin wasn't alone eased his worry. Just a bit.

***********

Chris sighed as the character in the video game he was playing died. He'd been stuck on the same level for days, which was something that rarely happened so it was frustrating to say the least. A quick glance at the clock told him he'd only been playing for an hour, but it'd felt like forever when you couldn't move forward.

Unable to take defeat anymore, Chris turned off the game as well as the TV. He figured he'd see what JC was up to since he hadn't really seen him since they'd gotten back from the hospital, which was several hours ago. Not to mention, it was getting kind of late and they should start thinking about what to do for dinner. It gave him the perfect excuse to seek out JC and see if he could get him to open up some.

Chris headed for JC's studio upstairs, sure that was where he'd be. So he was more than a little surprise when he opened the door only to find it empty. He was kind of thrown, unsure what JC would be doing if he was home but not writing. And JC was home, that much he was sure of as he hadn't heard the front door open while he'd been hanging out in the living room.

He decided to backtrack and take his time to peek his head into the various rooms to see if JC was in one of them. As it turned out, that wasn't necessary as he immediately spotted JC through his open bedroom door as Chris approached the master suite. He shook his head, unable to believe he'd missed seeing JC before as he'd gone right past the room.

Chris paused in the doorway, taking in the scene in front of him. JC was curled up on the window seat in front of the large pane, the cat in his lap and one hand balancing a paperback book. Even though he seemed submerged in whatever he was reading, the stiffness in his shoulders told Chris he was tense - no doubt still worried about Justin in spite of the fact Kim had assured them he was settled and resting comfortably several hours ago.

"I wondered how long it would take you to find me," JC said, his voice startling Chris a bit as he'd thought JC had been so engrossed he hadn't realized he was standing there. The book was now discarded and he was looking at Chris.

Chris stepped further into the bedroom, the question "You saw me pass by?" on the tip of his tongue. But he quickly dismissed it when he realized the tone JC had spoken with told him he wasn't talking about Chris's search for him just now.

"Believe it or not, I'm not trying to make your life hell," Chris said, moving even closer to where JC was still sitting by the window. "I just want to make sure you're okay."

JC snorted. "Right. And that's why all of you have believed me when I said I was fine."

The tone was sarcastic and it was something Chris wasn't used to hearing from JC, but it'd seemed to be more and more frequent since the last month of the tour. He wasn't sure what to say at first because obviously JC knew why they were having such trouble believing him when he said everything was okay. But was it really so wrong for them to want to take some of the burden, some of the worry, off JC's shoulders?

So what Chris ended up saying was, "Justin's gonna be fine."

JC nodded absently. Then he looked Chris in the eyes and said, "You can't make me stop worrying about things. That's just what I do."

"I know, but you don't have to worry about every little thing," Chris told him. "And you certainly don't have to worry about Justin. You know Kim wouldn't let anything happen to him. He's in good hands."

JC's lips upturned slightly. "You think they're going to make it?"

"Justin and Kim?" Chris was a little thrown by the question and even though he knew it was part of a diversionary tactic - redirecting, one of JC's favorites, he played along. "Maybe. They seem like a good couple, but you never know what goes on behind closed doors."

"Lance thinks they're gonna get married."

Chris raised an eyebrow. This was the first he was hearing of it. "Is that what you think too?"

"I actually thought Joey was going to be the first to get married, but I don't know. I could see Justin marrying Kim," JC said. "But Justin says he's not ready."

"You talked to him about it already?" Chris asked, surprised.

JC nodded. "He said he hadn't thought about it at all. I think I kind of freaked him out."

Chris laughed. "I bet."

The biggest thing on Justin's mind regarding his relationship with Kim was how he was going to handle the holidays at her family's house. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's were all quickly approaching - just a few short months away - and they'd already begun discussing their plans. It would work out that they were spend part of the holidays in Memphis with his family and the other half in Orlando with her family, and it was something Justin was already stressing about even though it was still months away. He'd met her parents, but not the rest of her family and he was unsure how he'd be received.

But all of that had been what he'd been stressing about when Chris had talked to him just before the weekend. Now though, Chris was willing to bet Justin was thinking a lot about what JC had said. He was glad he'd told JC that he wasn't ready because Chris didn't get the feeling he would be able to make such a big commitment like that, especially given how insane their careers were right then. Still, knowing Justin as well as he did, there was no doubt in his mind that JC's words were weighing on their youngest friend's mind.

"You shouldn't influence him like that though," Chris told JC. "He's so young. He's just supposed to be having fun with life right now."

"I didn't influence him," JC objected. "I just asked him because Lance brought it up to me, and I was curious."

Chris sensed there was more to it than what JC was saying, and he had a feeling it had to do with Emma. Something that was just proven further by JC's lack of eye contact, his gaze on the soft feline he absently stroked.

"It'll happen for you, C," Chris said. "Emma was-"

JC cut him off. "I don't want to talk about it."

Chris sighed. "You can't avoid talking about it forever. We'll wear you down eventually."

"Because God forbid I deal with it on my own. Can't have one of the leads go crazy again." And there was that sarcasm again. Chris was really beginning to hate that.

"We don't think you're crazy," Chris started, but JC just interrupted him again, getting to his feet this time. The cat hissed as it was rudely uprooted from his lap, but quickly settled back down, claiming JC's spot.

"No, but you think I'm unstable which is worse." JC stared at him with hard eyes. "I've been handling the stress of all this for months, for years now, and I think I've done a pretty damn good job of it. But I have one bad day where I flip out and suddenly everyone thinks I'll lose it at the tiniest thing."

Chris looked at JC and his closed off expression and knew he wouldn't be getting anywhere with him tonight. He had to find a better way to approach the subject of JC's breakup that wouldn't result in JC shutting down. And he knew the last thing JC wanted to hear was the reasons why they felt like they had to be more in tune with what he was going through. His annoyance had led him past the realm of being understanding.

So all Chris said was "Okay" and clapped JC on the back of the neck, rubbing the knotted muscles there to try to get him to relax. But he frowned when his fingers hit a bump. He moved so he could see what his fingers skimmed and saw something at the base of JC's neck. It almost looked like a hickey.

"Dude, have you hooked up with someone recently?" Chris asked, fingering the bump.

JC gave him a weird look. "No, of course not." Chris scratched at the raised bit of skin and JC flinched. "Ow!"

Chris let his arm drop as JC stepped away from him, giving him a weird look. "You have a hickey."

"No, I don't. My girlfriend dumped me, remember? And you know I'm not really into one night stands." JC rubbed at the back of his neck like he was trying to soothe the skin Chris had agitated. "It's probably a bug bite. It is the middle of summer you know. Mosquito season."

"Yeah, I guess," Chris agreed. That did seem to make the most sense. His gaze then fell on the cat who was sitting on the window seat watching them and he grinned back at JC playfully. "Or you know, your cat is the culprit. After all she is female. I'm sure she's just as susceptible to that Chasez charm."

JC chuckled lightly. "Well, she likes me better than Justin that's for sure."

Chris laughed at that. "Justin doesn't seem to exactly like her either so there's no love lost there."

"C'mon, let's order dinner," JC said, already moving towards the door. "I'm hungry."

Chris willingly followed, glad that he was able to lighten JC's mood at least a little after causing him to be all irritable in the first place. He wasn't giving up though. Not by a long shot. He just needed a new game plan. Yep, he'd just add that to his list of things to figure out, putting it just under coming up with a way to get rid of his asshole of a father.

Lance held his front door open, allowing Vanessa to walk in ahead of him. He'd just picked her up from the hotel she was staying at, but instead of taking her out for dinner again, he'd decided to go back to his place and cook for her. He stepped in behind her, closing the door before leading the wall down the short hall and into the kitchen. Once there, he wasted no time as he made his way to the fridge. It was already getting kind of late and he wasn't entirely sure how the meal would turn out.

Vanessa took a seat on one of the barstools on the other side of the island, a small smile playing on her lips as she watched him. "You don't have to go to all this trouble."

"It's no trouble," Lance assured her, giving her a smile of his own. "I actually like to cook."

"Are you any good at it?"

Lance glanced up from his place at the stove where he was sprinkling seasonings on the chicken he'd just put in a pan and laughed. "I'm no Emeril, but I'm not horrible. I get pointers from my mom when I go home."

"I bet your mom's a great cook," Vanessa said.

Lance couldn't help the happy sigh that escaped his lips at just the thought of the many delicious home cooked meals she'd perfected over the years. It was one of his favorite parts about going home.

"She is," he said finally.

There was a beat of silence before Vanessa asked, "You want any help? I'm not exactly skilled in the kitchen, but you'll have someone else to blame if it doesn't turn out good."

Lance could hear the slight teasing undertone to her words and he stuck his tongue out playfully at her. "You just sit there and relax. I'm going to impress you with my mad cooking skills."

Vanessa smiled. "Good luck. I'm pretty hard to impress."

The good natured expression on her face told Lance she meant it to be mostly joking, but he got the feeling it was true. He didn't feel intimidated by it though; she obviously liked him or she wouldn't be spending so much of her vacation with him. Besides, it was probably a good thing considering the kind of life he led - it said she likely wouldn't get caught up in the constant attention of the media and other celebrities. The idea that she could be more stable than his prior relationships excited him.

Lance put the lid on the pan to cover the chicken and moved on to prepping the rest of the meal. He pulled out lettuce and several vegetables to make a salad, placing them on the island. After grabbing a knife, he stood across from Vanessa and began to cut the various ingredients.

"Thanks again for being so cool about rescheduling," Lance said, glancing up at her briefly before quickly turning his focus back to what he was doing. He didn't want to slice a finger off.

She shrugged casually. "It was fine. I had something I had to care of anyway."

"Oh yeah?" Lance raised eyebrow. "Care to share?"

Vanessa gave him a smile, but it almost seemed forced. "Not really."

Lance frowned. "Why don't you want to talk to me?"

They hadn't known each other long so it was natural not to know much about each other, but he felt like she knew far more about him than he did about her. In the several dates they'd had over the last few days, they'd spent a lot of time talking about him and his life and not much about hers. He loved that she was so willing to listen to him and see past the celebrity status, but he wanted to get to know her just as much.

"I talk to you," she said. Lance just looked at her, and she sighed. "I told you all you need to know. I don't like talking about myself, especially about my past."

Lance put the knife down so he could give her his full attention. "I'm not asking you to talk about something that'll make you uncomfortable, but I feel like you haven't told me anything substantial."

Vanessa's eyes narrowed. "Is that so?" She leaned in closer, and Lance almost took a step back at the anger he saw reflected in her eyes. It was a side of her he hadn't seen yet. "I told you about my mother dying, how I inherited her shop, why I refuse to take off my pearl necklace. And none of that is substantial enough for you?"

She sounded half demanding, half exasperated. There was something very fierce about the way she looked when she was angry and Lance unexpectedly found himself turned on by it. He forced the feelings away though as he focused on what she was saying. The last thing he'd meant to do was make her angry.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "It just feels like you've got my whole life story and I've only got a small taste of what yours has been like."

"Is it really important you get the full story right now?" She reached out a hand and ran a long finger down his arm, goose bumps following the soft caress. "I thought we were going to have a long time to learn about each other."

Lance felt his heart skip a beat. He hadn't bridge the topic of her leaving yet and his desire to try to work out a long distance relationship, but it seemed like she had been thinking along the same lines as him.

She continued, "As long you want me to stick around."

"Why wouldn't I?" he asked.

She just shrugged again. "Just seemed like your friends don't like me much, and I know how much you're influenced by them."

Lance thought back to the barbeque yesterday, trying to recall if there'd been anything said or done that would give Vanessa the impression the guys didn't like her. Nothing came to mind.

He took her hand in his and looked her in the eye as he said, "They like you. First meetings are always awkward, but it went well. Trust me, if they didn't like you, you'd know it."

Vanessa didn't seem reassured by his words. "I don't know. I got a weird vibe from Kim and Kelly. I'm pretty sure they don't like me, and I'm sure Justin and Joey will follow suit."

"Oh come on. It wasn't that bad," Lance said. "You make me happy which automatically puts you in their good graces."

"How do you know? They hardly said two words to us or even seemed to acknowledge that you had brought a date."

She was exaggerating just a bit. The guys had talked to them, but admittedly, they hadn't asked much about Vanessa - not like they all had when Justin had first introduced Kim to them and the same with Joey and Kelly. But JC's sudden departure had disrupted the easygoing nature of the get-together.

"They were distracted. Worried about JC," Lance defended.

Vanessa straightened so she was standing tall and looked him in the eye. "And that doesn't bother you? You're there for all of them and yet they can't be there for you?"

Lance shook his head, feeling a bit of anger rise up in him. "They are there for me. They're just worried about JC. I'm worried about him."

"Okay, fine. I get that. But they can't say something about the fact that you're happy after being miserable for weeks?" She looked at him expectantly, obviously thinking there was nothing he could say to counter that.

But he knew exactly what to say. "We don't need to come right out and say those kinds of things. We notice the differences in each other as soon as they happen. It's impossible not to with how much time we spend together."

Even though they hadn't come right out and said anything, Lance knew they'd recognized the change in him the other night at dinner to celebrate Kelly being pregnant. The mood had been light and it went without saying that they were happy for him. After living together so closely the last couple years, words weren't always necessary. At least not for them to know how each other were feeling.

And he didn't know why Vanessa was trying to make it seem like they didn't care about him, but it wouldn't be tolerated. They'd been through too much to let a girl get between them, and despite his connection with Vanessa, he would have no problem giving her the boot if she was trying to mess with their friendship.

Vanessa came around the island and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him towards her. "I'm sorry," she said, like she knew exactly where his thoughts had taken him. "I like you a lot and I just want to make sure you're not being taken advantage of."

"You don't have to worry about that. Not with the guys." He moaned low in his throat as she pressed her lips to the side of his neck just under his jaw, the sensation sending a pleased chill down his spine. "But I guess I can forgive you," he said, kind of breathlessly as she pressed several kisses along his jaw line.

She paused with her lips just inches from his own and stared into his green eyes with her smoky gray ones. "Thank you," she said and then their lips met in a sensual kiss.

That one kiss quickly led to a make-out session that carried on for at least a minute. Time seemed to stop as Lance got lost in the feelings and sensations she was evoking. It was those feelings that prompted him to make the suggestion he did when they pulled apart for air.

"Why don't we forget dinner and head upstairs?"

"I don't think so."

Lance frowned at her. "Why not?"

"I only sleep with guys I know are going to stick around. Once you sleep with me, you're mine." She gave him a seductive smile. "You should take some time to decide if that's what you want."

Lance looked at her. She seemed like such a confident woman, but clearly she wasn't ready to take that step yet. He didn't need to think about it - he knew what he wanted and she was it. But he would wait until she sorted through her feelings and could accept that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Okay," he said, giving her a kiss before releasing her and turning back towards the island to finish prepping their dinner.

***********

JC lied in bed, staring up at the ceiling as he idly wondered why he'd been sleeping so much. He'd gone to bed fairly early the night before and yet he'd still managed to sleep through the morning, getting up late into the morning. Sure, it wasn't unusual for him to sleep a lot after a tour was over, but they were now three weeks into their vacation. He was normally well rested by this point and yet he still got at least ten hours or more a night regardless of when he went to bed. But then, he'd always loved his sleep.

It was going on noon now and he'd been up for a half hour already, but he couldn't seem to motivate himself to get out of bed. Sheila wasn't curled up beside him for once, which was rather odd just because she'd been by his side every morning when he woke up. But he knew she'd likely grown tired of waiting for him and went downstairs, no doubt to bug Chris and make him feed her.

His phone rang and he felt a big of déjà vu as he remembered how it'd woken him yesterday morning. He reached out a lazy arm and grabbed it off the nightstand, hitting a button before bringing it to his ear.

"Hello?" he said, and immediately had a thought that he should've glanced at the caller id. It was there so he wouldn't have to wonder who was calling.

But he found out a second later anyway as Joey's voice came through the connection loud and clear. "Hey, Jace. What are you up to today?"

JC shrugged even though he knew Joey couldn't see him. "Not much. Just hanging."

"I was hoping you'd say that. I'm on my way over to your house. I should be there in a bit, so I want you to hop your lazy ass in the shower and get ready."

JC didn't bother to ask how Joey knew he wasn't dressed yet; it was no secret it often took him most of the day to summon the energy to do something while on vacation. So what he said instead was, "Where you taking me?"

"To see Justin. Kim's gone to take her shift across town and she thinks J will be released in a couple hours, so he's going to need someone to give him a ride."

"She call to tell you that?" JC asked.

"Nah, Justin did. Apparently he's climbing the walls and demanded someone come entertain him until he was released."

JC laughed. "That sounds like him."

"Yeah so I'm picking you up. I'm not going to suffer alone, listening to him whine for the next few hours," Joey said, and laughed a bit himself. "So get ready. I'll be there soon."

"Okay, see you in a bit," JC said and hung up the phone. He put it back on the nightstand next to the alarm clock.

With a small groan, JC pushed himself out of bed and no sooner was he on his feet than the doorbell rang. He sighed, figuring that could only be one person. Joey was never very good at estimating times. Sometimes he'd show up later than you expected and other times, like now, he'd show up early.

For a second JC thought about letting Chris get it, but as he stood there for a second listening, he realized he couldn't seem to hear the TV or anything that would indicate that he was there. So as the doorbell rang a second time, JC propelled himself out of his room and down the stairs. When he reached the front door, he unlocked it before opening it, knowing who was on the other side. So when the person on the other side wasn't Joey, he was more than surprised.

"Hello," the man greeted, giving JC what was meant to be a friendly smile.

JC stared at the man cautiously, standing in the doorway with one hand hanging onto the door. The man standing in front of him looked to be in his forties or fifties with dark hair and dark brown eyes. He looked vaguely familiar for some reason, like JC had seen him somewhere before. But he couldn't place the man.

"Do I know you?" JC asked.

The man just continued to smile at him. "Chris didn't tell you? I'm his-"

Just then Chris came up, interrupting the man as he called out, "JC, who's at the door?"

JC glanced over his shoulder at Chris who was just on his left and shrugged. "Some guy. He says he knows you."

Chris stepped closer so he could look over JC's shoulder and his easy going expression immediately hardened. "JC, go upstairs. I'll handle this."

JC frowned. Chris's tone made it clear there was no room to argue, but he didn't get it. Why did he have to go upstairs? Who was this guy? What the hell was going on?

"Chris..." JC started to protest.

"Damn it, JC. Go!" Chris commanded, though his eyes never left those of the mystery man standing on the porch.

JC balked at that. "This is my house and you can't-"

JC's words were cut off as the man suddenly launched himself at him, roughly shoving him backwards into his house and causing Chris, who was behind him, to stumble as well. The man took advantage of JC's surprise to throw him up against the wall. JC winced as the back of his head snapped back, banging into the unyielding surface, but he quickly pushed back against the man. But all his resistance was immediately halted when there was a telltale click before a small handgun was pointed at him.

"Leave him out of this, Robert," Chris said, taking a step towards them. "He's got nothing to do with this."

Robert spared Chris a brief glance before pulled back the hammer on the gun. "Take one more step and I'll shoot."

Chris instantly stopped where he was. "You're not going to shoot anyone."

Robert let out a short laugh. "C'mon, let's not fool ourselves. You don't know me any better than I know you."

JC found himself unable to look at the man holding the gun on him any longer and instead focused on Chris. He was more confused than ever, having absolutely no idea what was going on. There'd been some suspicion that Chris was going through something, but this was certainly the last thing JC had expected. Though he didn't even know what this was. He just wanted out of there and desperately wished he'd just listened to Chris.

"And yet you still feel you're obligated to my money," Chris said.

Robert glared at Chris. "I'm not going to argue with you about this anymore. You give me the money I want or I'll take my payment out of your friend."

The gun was shoved into JC's stomach and he flinched. He was even more determined not to look at the man behind the gun, keeping his eyes trained on Chris. Chris, for his part, easily picked up on his anxiety and gave him a look that was meant to be reassuring.

"All right, take it easy. Jesus," Chris said, putting up his hands, clearly trying to placate the man. "I'll give you your damn money. Just let me get my checkbook."

JC's eyes widened slightly, afraid of what might happen if Chris left him alone with this man, but Chris just gave him another calming look. Chris walked out of the foyer and JC reluctantly looked back at Robert. The gun was still fixed on him, the muzzle pressed against his stomach.

"As soon as Chris gives me what I want, I'll be gone," Robert said.

JC said nothing, just averted his eyes as he let out a shaky breath. His heart was racing and his thoughts were going a mile a minute. He felt adrenaline coursing through his body, but it was unlike how he felt during and after their concerts. This adrenaline rush wasn't welcome and actually made him feel ill as it mixed with his anxiety.

Chris returned then, carrying his checkbook and he flipped it open before holding it against the wall to write out the check. "Make it twenty thousand," Robert told him.

Chris glanced briefly at him and JC before he filled out the rest of the check. He tore it out of his book and handed it to Robert. "Now get the hell out of here," he practically growled.

"Gladly," Robert said, and just like that, the gun was removed from JC's stomach as the man turned and walked out the door.

As soon as he was gone, JC felt such an overwhelming sense of relief that his legs crumbled and he slid down the wall until his butt hit the floor. Chris rushed over to him and put a hand on his shoulder as his eyes carefully scanned JC's body.

"You okay?" he asked.

JC nodded. "Yeah," he said shakily. He took a breath to try to compose himself a bit more and looked up at Chris. "What the hell was all that about?"

"Hey, Jace. You...whoa, what's going on here?"

As one, JC and Chris looked over to the open door and saw Joey standing there. JC had forgotten in the chaos of the unexpected guest that Joey was coming to pick him up, but it was a good thing he hadn't shown up while Robert was still there.

"I'll explain in a second," Chris said. He got to his feet and pulled out his cell phone, moving away from them.

Joey crouched in front of JC, a worried expression on his face. "What happened, JC?"

JC shook his head slowly. He wasn't really sure. "Some guy showed up demanding money from Chris. He had a gun."

"What?" Joey exclaimed, his eyes widening. He seemed to look at JC closer then. "You're okay, right? Nothing happened?"

"I'm fine," JC said. "Just really confused. I have no idea who the guy even was."

"He's my father."

JC and Joey both startled slightly at Chris's voice, neither of them having heard Chris end his phone call and come back over to them. But the surprise at his sudden appearance was nothing compared to the revelation that the man that'd just been there, the man that'd just held a gun on JC, was Chris's father. It didn't explain why he wanted money from Chris, but at least JC knew now why the man had seemed so familiar - he'd recognized some of Chris's features in the man's own face.

"Your father?" Joey repeated, standing up. JC got to his feet as well. "I didn't know you were in contact with him."

"I'm not. Not really," Chris said and stepped into the living room, leaving them no choice but to follow. He threw himself into an armchair with a heavy sigh while JC and Joey sat on the couch. "He approached me at our last concert, demanding money."

"Why?" JC asked.

Chris shrugged. "He thinks I owe him some of my money because I never would've met Lou and you guys if he hadn't allowed me to live with him and go to college."

"That's ridiculous," Joey said.

JC agreed. What Robert provided Chris with was what any good parent would do - give their child the opportunity to go to school and provide them a place to call home while they did so without expecting anything in return. He didn't know much about Chris's father, but he knew that he hadn't been around much while Chris had grown up, struggling to help his mother raise his sisters. So obviously Robert couldn't be classified as a good parent, especially not now that he was trying to capitalize on his son's success.

"So he wants to be reimbursed for your tuition?" JC asked. "Or more than that."

"Well, considering I already paid him back for college, he obviously wants more than that," Chris said.

"And you gave it to him."

Chris fixed JC with a look. "He had a gun on you. I wasn't exactly going to say no and piss him off and have him do something rash." He paused. "Besides, he's not going to be able to cash it."

"How come?" Joey asked.

"Because I called my bank and told them not to release the money when he tries to cash it."

Joey raised an eyebrow. "You can do that?"

"Sure," Chris said with a nod. "I'm the account holder after all. It's my money so I can do what I want with it. But it's only temporary. If they don't get some kind of confirmation from the police about the situation in the next twenty-four hours, then they'll lift the freeze regardless of what I want."

"So wait a minute," JC told him, his mind having just made a connection while Chris and Joey were talking. He looked over at Chris. "He approached you at the end of the tour and has been demanding money and basically harassing you for weeks now, and you didn't get the police involved? What the hell, Chris?"

"I was trying to keep it on the down-low. The last thing we needed was for the press to find out about this. They'd have a field day," Chris said. "Besides, I didn't want to worry you." His eyes flickered from JC to Joey. "Any of you."

JC rubbed his forehead, unable to believe Chris had kept something so big from them for weeks. And they had a problem with him not talking? Please.

"Does Johnny know about this?" JC asked.

"Of course," Chris said immediately. "C'mon, I'm not that stupid. He's known from the beginning. Though, I haven't updated him in a couple days."

Chris was trying to play that off as no big deal, but JC had a feeling there was something more to it. "Something else happened, didn't it?" JC asked. "Something you should've told him about."

"It's nothing. No big deal."

JC wasn't sure if Chris was trying to downplay it because that was what he did or if he was trying not to get him worked up, but regardless, it pissed JC off. "Damn it, Chris!" he exclaimed. "We're involved now, so just tell us what happened."

Chris stared at him, but JC didn't shrink back from his stare, meeting his challenging gaze with his own. He thought that Chris wasn't going to say anything, but finally after a few seconds, Chris sighed.

"He broke into my apartment."

"Jesus, Chris," JC breathed. Chris didn't give any details, but JC's mind raced with all possibilities of what could've happened, especially now that he knew Robert had a gun.

"He didn't have a gun," Chris said as if he could read his mind. "We just got into a bit of a fight and he left."

JC couldn't deny the relief he felt at hearing that.

"That was the phone call you got at Justin's yesterday, right?" Joey asked. "Why you had to take off so suddenly?"

Chris nodded. "Yeah. Apparently, he'd been hanging around my place for a few hours and my neighbors called my landlord to complain."

"So your coming here had nothing to do with hounding me?" JC asked.

"Nah," Chris denied. His lips quirked. "It was just an added bonus."

Joey's phone rang then and he pulled it out of his pocket to look at the display. "It's Justin," he told them and then answered it.

JC nearly groaned. He'd forgotten that Joey and he were supposed to be at the hospital by now to keep Justin amused until he released, and of course Justin had the best timing. And from what JC could make out from Joey's side of the conversation, their youngest friend was growing very impatient, which led to him being very demanding.

"All right, Justin. I'll be there in ten, okay?" Joey said and then hung up. He sighed, looking over at JC. "You wanna throw some clothes on and we can go?"

"Actually he should probably stay here," Chris cut in before JC could say anything. He glanced at him. "The police will probably want to get your statement about what happened."

JC nodded. "Okay." He looked back at Joey. "Go take care of Justin. Give us a call when he's released, all right?"

"Will do," Joey said, rising from the couch. "See you guys later."

They heard the front door open and close and then Chris turned to him. "You wanna get a shower and we'll head down to the police station?"

"Sure," JC agreed. "I'll be ready in like ten minutes, okay?"

Chris shrugged. "No rush."

JC said nothing, just got up from the couch and began to make his way to the bathroom attached to his bedroom upstairs. Chris might not be in a rush to go to the police, but JC wanted to get it over with. The sooner they got this taken care, the sooner Chris could relax and regain the distance between himself and his biological father.

***********

"And you just left? Without getting the full story?" Justin asked, looking at Joey incredulously.

Joey had just finished telling Justin everything that he'd learned back at JC's house about Chris and his biological father. It'd taken a while to explain everything because Justin had kept interrupting him with numerous questions, obviously surprised and confused...and rightly so. They'd all gotten the feeling that something had been up with Chris the last couple weeks, but they hadn't expected anything like this.

"Well, someone was demanding I come entertain him," Joey said dryly.

Justin rolled his eyes. "Well obviously I didn't mean you should do it if something big was going down."

"It's fine. Chris seemed to have everything under control, and I'm sure we'll hear about it later."

At least Joey hoped Chris had everything under control. He had to admit he about had a heart attack when JC had mentioned that a mysterious man had just been there and had had a gun. In that brief moment, his mind had run wild with the various scenes he could've walked in on. And to find out it'd been Chris's father that'd been the one to threaten them like that...that'd been a real shock.

Joey had heard Chris complain about his father on occasion back when they'd worked together at Universal and even then Chris had never really given specifics. And Chris certainly hadn't mentioned him since the five of them had gotten together and signed with Lou, going to Germany to jumpstart their careers. JC and Justin had certainly been as surprised as Joey to hear about Robert surfacing and making such a forceful presence in Chris's life.

"They better call me," Justin mumbled then. "I hate being out of the loop."

Joey had to laugh at that. "If anyone's out of the loop on this one, it's Lance. Not you."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"Eh, I don't know. Chris'll probably tell him."

"He probably would've already known by now if he hadn't been all wrapped up in his new girlfriend," Justin said.

Joey considered that and figured Justin may have a point. It'd been Justin and Lance that had first brought up how Chris's behavior had been a little off since they'd finished the tour - that none of them had really talked to him much. At least not as much as they had everyone else. But then Vanessa came into the picture and Lance had been distracted, not seeming to come around as much.

"You don't like Vanessa now?" Joey asked, having picked up on the almost spiteful undertone to Justin's words.

"I didn't say that," Justin objected. "Kim's the one that doesn't like her. She's been harping on her."

Joey frowned. "Really? Kelly seemed like her. She said Vanessa seemed shy and a bit uncomfortable, but she thought she was good for Lance. A nice classy girl for him."

"Classy?" Justin raised an eyebrow.

Joey just shrugged. "It was because of the way she was dressed or her pearl necklace or something. I don't know."

"Well Kim hasn't been very specific on the reasons why she doesn't like Vanessa. She just says it's a feeling she gets."

"And what do you think?" Joey asked.

"Well she didn't exactly make a great first impression, but she didn't make a bad one either. So she seems all right to me."

Joey wasn't surprised by that or the fact that Justin was basically unaffected by his girlfriend's opinion. He'd always been pretty accepting of new people that entered their lives for however brief a time, only projecting negative feelings towards them when they did something he felt was deserving of his rejection. And no one had much influence over his opinions anymore - not even JC. Justin had grown to be as assertive in his decisions and strongly devoted to his opinions as the rest of them, which resulted in one or more of them butting heads with him on occasion.

The doctor Joey had met yesterday, Doctor Buchanan, walked in then, greeting them as he grabbed the chart at the end of Justin's bed and began to flip through it. "How you doing today, Justin?"

"Good," Justin said. "Can I go home now?"

Doctor Buchanan looked up from the clipboard to give Justin a small smirk. "Let's see if your body confirms what you're telling me first," he said, closing the clipboard and hanging it off the foot of the bed.

Joey watched as the doctor approached Justin, getting within a foot of him before pulling a penlight out of his lab coat pocket. He shined the small light into Justin's eyes and immediately Justin began to squint and lean away from the offending light.

"How long have you had that headache?" the doctor asked as he removed the penlight and returned it to his pocket.

"A couple hours," Justin said with a shrug.

"And how bad is it? On a scale of one to ten with ten being the worst."

Justin was silent for a moment like he was reluctant to admit it, but he finally said, "Eight, but it's steadily growing to a nine."

"Anything else accompanying the headache? Nausea? Light sensitivity? Anything like that?" Doctor Buchanan asked.

"My vision's kind of hazy, and I am feeling kind of nauseous."

Joey reached out and gently smacked Justin on the arm. "Why didn't you say anything?"

At the same time, Joey was berating himself for not noticing. He'd been so distracted when he'd come in from what'd he found out about Chris's father that he hadn't bothered to look that closely, but now it was painfully obvious that the signs that Justin wasn't as well as he wanted them to believe were there.

His eyes were a vibrant blue - a hue they only took on when he was in pain. His skin was also flush, which just made the slowly fading red streaks on his arm that much more prominent. They were all things Joey should've noticed right away and ones he knew without a doubt that JC would've immediately picked up on.

Justin sighed. "I didn't think it was a big deal."

Joey looked at the doctor. "Is it? A big deal, I mean."

"It's hard to say without running a few tests."

"But it's probably just a migraine, right?" Justin said more than asked. Joey knew how anxious he was to get home and likely wanted the doctor to tell him it wasn't serious so he could do just that.

But the doctor's next words threw the likelihood of that happening out the window. "Yes, it could. There are cases where people with severe migraines have their optic nerve temporarily affected, but you have no record of migraines in your medical history so it's pretty slim that's the explanation here."

"Do you think his infection has gotten worse?" Joey asked.

The doctor let out his own sigh. "It's kind of hard to say. The lines on his arm are fading and his fever is down from where it was when he was brought in yesterday. But the persistent nausea, the headache, and the way the optic nerve is affected...I'd say he's developed Bartonella henselae."

Justin glanced at Joey and he could easily read Justin's nervousness. "What is that?" Justin asked.

"It's another type of infection. It's transmitted through a cat's saliva, especially when a bite is involved and can bring about any number of flu-like symptoms including nausea," Doctor Buchanan explained. "Typically it goes away on its own, but this doesn't seem like a typical case."

Joey frowned. "And why not?"

"Because it normally takes a week or so from the time of transmission for symptoms to occur. I've never heard of it appearing so quickly," the doctor said. "And the fact that the optic nerve is affected...it's usually a sign that the infection is further progressed."

"So how do you treat it?"

"With a strong antibiotic." Doctor Buchanan paused. "But let's run a few tests first to make sure this is what it really is. Then we'll go from there."

Joey nodded. "Thanks, Doctor."

Doctor Buchanan nodded and left to order a new batch of tests. Joey looked over at Justin and saw that his forehead was creased, but whether it was from pain or worry or both, he wasn't sure. He reached out and put a comforting hand on Justin's arm, squeezing gently.

"Don't worry, man. We'll get this figured out and you'll be out of here in no time."

Justin groaned as he let his head fall back against the pillows. "I'm gonna kill JC's cat."

Chris drove away from the police station, JC in the passenger seat. They'd finally been released after spending the last couple hours explaining the situation. Well, really he'd done most of the explaining. JC had just added his statement about what'd happened back at his house with how Robert had forced himself inside and threatened them. The whole process had been made even longer with the officer they'd been directed to, Officer Cortez, interrupting with various questions. But that hadn't been the only interruption.

In the middle of recounting everything he'd been dealing with the last couple weeks, he'd gotten a phone call from his bank informing him that Robert had just tried to cash the check. They'd frozen his account like he'd asked and apparently Robert had grown so irate that he had to be practically escorted out. Officer Cortez had requested to talk to the bank then and he'd told them he'd be by later to discuss the situation with them. Chris, having expected that, had been more interested in what was going to happen now and had been disappointed to learn that it was mostly a waiting game to see what Robert would do next since he hadn't been able to cash the check. In the end, the cop had suggested Chris file a restraining order against Robert.

It made sense given everything that'd happened ever since Robert had first approached him, and it wasn't the first time it'd been suggested. Johnny had said something similar when Chris had first approached him about the problems his father was causing, but his concern of the press getting wind of the situation had stopped him from doing it. He didn't want to give anyone the chance to twist everything that'd happened and pull all five of them through the mud; they'd certainly had more than enough of that last year with Lou.

But Chris realized the decision wasn't just his anymore. The guys were involved and the last thing he wanted was to put them in danger, especially given what'd happened earlier at JC's. Not that the guys would offer any input because they trusted him and his judgment, and that just motivated him all the more to do what was best. Something Johnny would no doubt advise him on, knowing which options would keep them the safest and have the smallest risk of the press finding out about it.

Chris took his eyes off the road in front of him for a second to look at JC. He looked pretty relaxed considering what'd happened in the last few hours, and he hadn't even acted too different when he'd given Officer Cortez his statement about what'd happened. Hell, he hadn't even freaked out when Robert had held him at gun point. The fear had been easily read, but Chris had been just as scared in the moment.

He was sure he would never forget the way his stomach had dropped when he'd peeked over JC's shoulder and saw just who had been standing on the front porch. And then the almost paralyzing fear that took over when Robert had shoved himself inside and immediately turned a gun on JC. Thankfully, the shock had quickly worn off, allowing him to keep a level head and reassure JC as much as he could without setting off Robert. JC had looked at him with such trust that it'd been incredibly easy for him to do whatever he could to get Robert out of there.

But now that they were out of such a heart stopping moment, Chris's concern that JC had shoved away his feelings was bubbling to the surface. It wasn't that strange considering how much JC hated talking about himself and letting them in on his feelings, but that'd been a large part of what'd led to him snapping during a sound check. A day that they all remembered too well.

"You guys ready for sound check? Security says the area's clear," Johnny said.

Their manager had come out to their bus where they'd spent the last hour or so as their security team and the venue's security swept the arena for anything suspicious. There'd been no real communicated threat, but someone had heard whispers that somebody might have planted something to hurt them. Chris had looked out the bus window about a half hour ago and saw some of the local security leading around some bomb sniffing dogs they'd borrowed from the police. But it wasn't as scary as it'd been the first time they'd seen it since they'd had several threats from the beginning of the tour.

"Is there going to be more security for the meet and greet?" Lance asked.

"There'll be several in the room with you and the fans and a couple standing outside. We're not really expecting trouble, but they'll be in there just in case," Johnny said.

Chris nodded. That'd been another thing that almost seemed standard at this point in the tour. As strange as it may sound, they'd pretty much gotten used to it. It wasn't like they got a lot of time to themselves anyway since they were constantly shadowed by their bodyguards.

They all followed Johnny off the bus and into the venue, heading directly to the stage so they could get going with sound check and then head off to the meet and greet in a nearby room. As they started singing, immediately they could tell there was something off with JC. But they were content to dismiss it because they'd all had off days. That all changed when JC hit a very bad note.

Immediately the four of them stopped, completely thrown. It wasn't that JC never made mistakes, but it happened so rarely that they were unsure how to react, especially because if he did make a mistake he was the first to beat himself up over it. But now, he was suspiciously silent and looked like he wasn't really present in the moment.

"Uh...JC?" Justin said, stepping closer to JC as he tried to get his attention.

JC turned to him, looking kind of startled like he didn't know why Justin was acting so unsure. "What?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," JC said. Then he quickly corrected himself, shaking his head. "No. No, I'm not."

"What's wrong?" Joey asked. All of them looked at JC in concern. He'd seemed fine all day...hell, lately. So none of them knew what could possibly be causing this.

For some reason that simple question seemed to set him off.

"What's wrong?" JC repeated, incredulous. "Are you kidding? We just had security sweep the building for bombs and other weapons. Are you seriously telling me I'm the only one that's freaked out by that?"

They all glanced at each other, unsure what to say. JC's voice was echoing through the empty arena, still wired to the microphone headset. Never had they seen him act like this, especially in front of other people.

"This isn't the first time we've had to take precautions," Lance said, looking at JC cautiously.

"And that makes it okay? We have people that want to kill us! Crazy fans that don't want us to be with anyone else but them and jealous boyfriends seeking revenge."

Justin reached out for him. "JC..."

"No!" JC yelled, jerking away from Justin's touch. His eyes were wide and he looked like he could bolt at any second. "And the ones that don't want us dead want to smear our name. They're spreading rumors, suing us, accusing of us of ridiculous things..."

"There's nothing we can do about it," Chris stepped in then, feeling like things were going to get out of control. Justin was normally pretty successful at calming JC down, but even he looked at a loss as to what to do. Chris met JC's wild gaze and continued, "Any of it. We can't control what people do."

"I know!" JC all but shouted. "I know it's not our fault, but it's too much. We're just a band. Why would anyone want to kill us? Because we're famous?" He didn't wait for an answer as he continued to rant. "It's not our fault a tornado made us reschedule a show or that we got stuck in traffic. But they blame us anyway. Because we're successful, they hold us to a higher standard. We're supposed to be perfect. They don't care that we're human and make mistakes like everyone else. Or that their expectations are so suffocating. They all just want a piece of us, and it's too much!"

They all could feel something in the air shift, but Chris was the first to recognize what was happening. JC had released all of his emotions in a big long rant without pausing for air, and he looked unsteady on his feet like he could pass out at any moment. Or hyperventilate which would likely happen just before, causing the unconsciousness. And it was something Chris wanted to avoid.

Just as he reached out, JC crashed to his knees, his face red from the effort of trying to breathe. Chris ripped off his microphone before kneeling down in front of him. He put both of his hands on JC's shoulders, pulling him in close enough so he could speak softly in his ear. "It's all right, Jace. Just calm down. Focus on breathing, okay?"

JC took a couple small, shaky breaths and Chris gently encouraged him to take longer, deeper ones. He kept his demeanor calm, but his thoughts were racing, wondering just how they hadn't noticed something was wrong before it got to this point.

Once he'd gotten JC calmed down, they'd taken a short break to make sure he was okay and give themselves time to regain their bearings as his nearly passing out had scared the hell out of them. They'd wanted to talk everything out right then, but they'd still had a list of obligations that needed to be fulfilled. So they'd continued with their hectic schedule, finishing up sound check and heading into meet and greet before the concert. It hadn't been until after the show and they were back at the hotel that they'd been able to get JC to tell them what he'd been feeling and why he hadn't said anything sooner.

It'd been kind of a struggle to pull out the reasons behind JC's meltdown because naturally he'd wanted to forget it'd happened. But they'd managed to get him to admit that things had been building for a while. Ever since the lawsuit things had been nonstop, their lives a constant whirlwind of appearances, shows, photo shoots...you name it, they did it. Then the tour just added even more stress, especially when they started to get death threats. He'd tried not to let it get to him, wanting to let it go and not worry like the rest of them so he'd forced himself to shove those feelings aside.

They'd all felt guilty for that, having felt like they hadn't provided JC with much opportunity to talk to them about what he was feeling. The first time they'd gotten a threat on their lives, they'd all been scared and jumpy and they'd all talked about it as they'd needed that release. And while they didn't get threats that often, it'd happened enough since then that they'd pretty much grown used to it and the fear hadn't been much of a factor anymore because they'd trusted their security implicitly. That obviously hadn't worked for JC and since that day, they'd all sworn they would make sure he knew they could talk to them about anything. They also vowed to keep an eye on him and ensure he didn't keep too much bottled up.

That was largely what prompted Chris to look over at his younger friend and ask, "Are you okay?"

JC turned away from the side window he'd been looking out of to look at Chris. "I'm fine," he replied. The irritation was so slight Chris might've missed it if he hadn't been purposely watching for signs that countered what JC said.

"You don't have to be strong. You were held at gun point. I wouldn't blame you if you were freaked," Chris told him, trying to keep one eye on JC and one eye on the road in front of him.

JC rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said, but Chris could tell he was dying to say more. The only reason he wasn't was because he likely didn't want to give Chris any reason to continue this conversation, avoiding yet another heavy subject he should talk about. Just like how he'd refused to talk about Emma.

Chris was tired of fighting with JC to get him to open up about stuff he should be openly talking to them about and he realized this was the perfect time to get through to JC. They were confined to the car, which meant JC would no longer be able to avoid him. But he knew things could get heated so he pulled off the road onto the shoulder.

"What are we doing? Why'd you stop?" JC asked, looking at him in confusion.

Chris threw the car in park and shut off the engine. "We need to talk."

"About what?"

Chris wasn't fooled by JC's attempt at ignorance. "You know what."

Almost immediately JC's calm expression disappeared as he scowled at Chris. "You can't force me to talk. Not about anything."

"Well, we're not going home until you do so..." Chris shrugged. He was leaving the decision up to JC, though he knew it wasn't much of a choice. The only way JC was going to get home was if he finally opened up to Chris about some things, and the anger on his face told Chris he knew that. Though he still tried to weasel his way out of it.

"You're bluffing," JC said.

Chris shook his head. "I'm not."

JC continued to stare at Chris, his eyes narrowed challengingly, but Chris just calmly stared back. After a few seconds of them just looking at each other, Chris raised an eyebrow, silently asking JC if he was really going to waste their time with a staring contest. JC's glare intensified before he scowled and angrily pulled on the door handle, shoving the door open.

Chris got out of the car too and saw that JC was standing with his arms crossed and a closed off expression. As if he could sense that Chris had gotten out and closed the gap between them, JC said, "You're unbelievable."

Chris bit back the playful "I know" and waited for JC to continue, knowing he had more to say. He wasn't disappointed when JC turned towards him, his blue eyes practically ice cold.

"You have no right to give me an ultimatum. I've done nothing wrong. Just because I don't want to talk about things doesn't mean I just need one good push to go off the deep end."

"I'm not asking you to talk for the hell of it. It's obvious you need to talk. You've gone through some heavy stuff lately, but instead of talking about it, you're pushing all your feelings away. And we already know how that turns out."

"Just because it happened once doesn't mean it'll happen again!" JC shouted.

"It will if you don't deal with your break up and what happened today," Chris replied, fighting to keep his voice calm but making sure to be firm. "You may feel like we're up your ass over nothing and maybe we aren't handling this the best. But you obviously aren't either."

"How do you even know? I've been broken up with Emma for over a week. You don't think I've spent that time dealing with it?" JC demanded.

"No," Chris said simply. "You might have cried or trashed your house, but the way you practically flinch when we mention her, that tells me you haven't dealt with it. You can't stand it when any of us say anything about her."

"Because she used me to cheat on her boyfriend!" JC yelled. "I hate that she put me in that position and even more I hate that she led me on for three months. She let me fall in love with her before breaking it off. The whole thing makes me feel like shit so why would I want to talk about it?"

"So you can stop feeling guilty for what happened." JC opened his mouth to object, but Chris quickly cut him off. "Deny it all you want, but I know you feel guilty. You blame yourself for what happened - for not seeing it and for helping her cheat on her boyfriend. Don't you?"

JC glared at Chris, and he knew that JC was pissed that he'd been able to crawl in his head like that. Out of all of them, only he and Justin could get inside JC's head and have a pretty damn good idea what he was thinking. For Justin it was because of how close he and JC were as they'd always been able to practically read each other's minds, but Chris...he could just read people well. Always had.

"So what if I do?" JC snapped. "What can you do about it? Any of you? Talking wouldn't help. All it'd do is make Joey and Justin feel their own guilt because they're in a great relationship and I've been screwed over yet again."

"And that's why you didn't talk about it? Because you didn't want to make them feel bad?"

"Yes."

Chris moved so he was standing right in front of JC, blocking the afternoon sun as he locked eyes with him. "Bullshit. If that were true, you could've talked to me or Lance. You didn't talk about it because you didn't want to."

"Which I thought I made pretty obvious but here we are," JC said bitterly, angrily throwing his arm out in a sweeping gesture.

"You think you're keeping us from worrying by not talking about it and revealing how truly hurt you are, but all you're doing is making us worry more. Because we can tell when you're upset and trying to hide it."

"Yeah, now. But you didn't before, which was fine by me. That's how I want it."

Chris sighed, shaking his head slightly. "We knew you were upset. We just didn't want to believe it. Things were so crazy we were willing to write off any weird behavior as stress or just having a bad day because we knew if it was anything more serious, you'd tell us."

After Lance had gotten sick where he'd passed out and ended up in the hospital back when they were still with Lou, they'd all promised each other that if they weren't able to handle something they'd tell someone. Never again did they want to be blindsided, especially when things got bad enough that their health was effected. But JC had nearly gotten to that point.

"And now you don't trust me to tell you when something's wrong. Instead you shadow me and pester me constantly, not considering that you're just adding to how miserable I feel," JC said, the anger still there but lessening somewhat.

"What happened on tour never should've happened. We should've approached you when we knew something was up and you weren't talking to us. So we're just trying to make sure we don't make that same mistake again."

"Because I'm too weak to take care of myself, right?" JC practically sneered.

Chris sighed again. "No one thinks you're weak. Emotional? Yes. But definitely not weak. We're just concerned that you're shoving too much stuff to the backburner. Just like you'd be if it was one of us."

Chris watched JC's face, waiting to see how he'd react to the circular logic he'd used on him to try to get him to understand. It took a few seconds, but the harsh lines on JC's face smoothed out and he let out a long breath as he slumped against the side of the car. They stood in silence for a moment before JC spoke.

"I was terrified when that gun was pointed at me." His voice was so quiet that Chris wouldn't have heard him over the passing traffic if he hadn't been standing right in front of him.

Chris nodded. "I know." He'd never forget the look on JC's face when Robert shoved him inside and threatened JC's life. "I'm sorry you were put in that situation."

JC shook his head, dismissing Chris's apology. He looked into Chris's eyes. "You got me out of it. Just like I knew you would."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't about to let anything happen to you. It's my job to look out for you...even if it means saving you from yourself."

JC was silent for a few seconds before he said softly, "Thanks."

Chris smiled slightly and lightly slapped him on the shoulder. "C'mon, I'll take you home and finally get out of your hair."

"You're serious?" JC asked, but Chris could hear the silent "That's it?" like JC had expected more of an interrogation now that he'd finally gotten started to open up. But Chris had gotten what he'd wanted - JC had gotten some things off his chest and released some of the feelings he'd been keeping under wraps ever since he and Emma broke up. He didn't need to hear everything; all he wanted was JC to own up to his feelings instead of trying to hide them away for their sake.

"Yep," Chris said simply and walked around the car to get back into the driver's seat. JC still looked a little stunned, but he didn't argue as he got back in the car. Chris hadn't really learned anything he didn't already know, but he was still counting it as a victory. Getting through to JC at all was always a victory in his book because they all knew he could be one stubborn son of a bitch.

***********

Justin idly flipped through the thirty or so channels the hospital TV that hung from the ceiling in the corner of the room got. There was nothing on, which wasn't all that surprising but he was desperately searching for something that would take his mind off the impending results of his tests. His doctor had insisted on running several tests to confirm his suspicions of another infection spreading from the cat bite. The doctor seemed baffled by the whole thing, which just increased Justin's anxiety and alarm.

"I didn't take you for a Young and the Restless fan."

Justin turned his head to the door and saw Joey enter, holding two cans of soda. He handed the root beer to Justin and reclaimed the seat he'd been sitting in next to the bed. It made Justin thankful that Joey had stuck around, doing his best to keep Justin's mind off of stuff.

"There's nothing on," Justin replied with a bit of a whine.

Joey laughed. "Well it's nearly two o'clock. What do you expect?"

"You were gone a while," Justin said, changing the subject but still trying to avoid the obvious question that Joey no doubt wanted to ask - had the doctor come in it yet.

"Took me a while to find a machine that actually worked." Joey glanced at him. "You owe me five bucks for the root beer by the way."

Justin laughed. "You could've gone down to the gift shop you know. Saved yourself the trouble."

"Sure now you tell me," Joey said, trying to act offended but the smile ruined the illusion.

A suddenly shriek directed their attention to the TV as one of the leading actresses threw a vase at the guy's head. There was another woman in the scene that was trying to calm the other down, but it didn't appear to be working. That was all Justin could really make out since his vision was still kind of fuzzy. He was just thankful it hadn't gotten any worse.

"I can't believe he couldn't tell them apart," Joey mused, watching the scene play out. "He should know who his girlfriend is even if they are identical twins."

Justin looked at him. "I can't believe you're a Young and the Restless fan."

"Not me." Joey shook his head. "Kelly watches it."

"And you watch it with her obviously."

"Every once in a while," Joey admitted. He looked at Justin. "Sometimes you have to sacrifice for your woman. It's all part of being a good boyfriend."

Justin laughed. "I don't have to do that. Kim hates soap operas."

"Yeah, but she makes you do other things with her. Like go shopping."

"Hey, I like shopping," Justin protested.

Joey smirked. "I know."

Justin ignored the jab, more than used to the guys ripping on him for enjoying shopping which always led to them making fun of the number of shoes he owned. He knew that he'd gotten lucky with Kim in that she wasn't high maintenance at all - much like Kelly seemed to be. Of course they both had their quirks and could be very particular about things, but considering the girlfriends they'd all had in the past, they were both much more easy going than most of the women they'd all dated. None of the guys seemed to expect either of them would let their women go, which had likely prompted them to start wondering if marriage was in the future for two of their friends.

"Are you going to marry Kelly?" Justin asked, glancing at Joey.

Joey looked at him startled. "Where'd that come from?"

"C'mon, it's not really out of left field, is it? You guys are going to have a kid together. I think we're all kind of wondering if that's the next step."

"You sound like Lance."

"He talked to you about this?" Justin asked.

"Yeah, but he's been bugging me about it for a while now. I think he's waiting for it to happen because Kel and I have been dating steadily for a year now," Joey said. He and Kelly had been dating on and off for the last five years or so, but started things up again several months before the lawsuit.

"And what did you tell him?"

"That I'm on the five year plan," Joey said, offering him a smile. "I can't see it happen anytime soon, but I'm not rolling it out completely either. I mean, there's got to be a reason we keep getting back together, right?"

Justin shrugged and nodded. "You guys are great together, and you'll make great parents."

Joey looked like he was going to say something, but he quickly closed his mouth when Doctor Buchanan came walking in. This was it. They'd been waiting for hours for the results of the tests the doctor had done and it looked like they were going to finally get them.

"What's the news, doc?" Justin asked.

"You have Bartonella henselae just as I expected," the doctor said, stepping further into the room and it was then they saw a nurse had entered behind him. "I'm still baffled as to how it appeared so quickly, but like I told you before, it's completely treatable."

"Just means another night in the hospital, right?" Justin could already see where this was going, and he didn't like it. Not at all.

Doctor Buchanan nodded. "I'm afraid so. But it'll likely only be one more night and you can be released sometime tomorrow. Assuming of course the infection doesn't get worse or you pick up another infection."

"So you're switching his meds out?" Joey asked, his eyes on the nurse who was messing with the IV that was attached to Justin's right arm.

"We're going to give him something a bit stronger. There are greater risks of side effects, but it'll lessen the chances of the infection spreading or of another one appearing."

Justin watched as the nurse injected some clear liquid into his IV, emptying out a rather large syringe. He turned his attention back to the doctor. "What are the side effects?"

"Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain are just a few of the more common ones, and I imagine you'll experience at least a couple of them," the doctor said. "If you notice anything else though that seems odd like your vision continues to worsen or any of your other senses seem to be effected, be sure to tell someone."

"Don't worry. He will," Joey assured the doctor.

Doctor Buchanan looked at Justin. "I'll be back to check on you in a couple hours before I leave for the day."

"Thanks," Justin said with a nod.

The doctor left without another word and the nurse followed him, leaving the two of them alone again. Justin looked over at Joey, who was taking a swig of his Pepsi. "You can go you know. You don't have to stay."

"You trying to get rid of me?" Joey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. I just don't want you to feel obligated to stay."

Joey gently slapped Justin's leg that was covered with the light hospital sheet. "C'mon, I'm not going to just leave you hanging bored. Kim would kill me," he said with a laugh.

"I guess I should call her."

"Probably a good idea," Joey agreed. "You know how mad she'll get if you don't. She worries about you."

"She's almost as bad as JC," Justin groused as he reached for the bed off the nightstand.

Joey groaned. "Crap. He told me to keep him updated." He looked at Justin. "Care to switch?"

Justin shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. "No way, man. You're on your own."

Joey did some grousing of his own as he pulled himself to his feet and stepped out into the hall so he could call JC. Justin's attention was pulled back to the phone when he heard the line open and his girlfriend's voice come through clearly. He sighed, not looking forward to spiking her worry as he relayed what the doctor said.

***********

JC was trying to write in his study, hoping a change in scenery would help him through the slight writer's block he was experiencing. Chris had dropped him, gathered his stuff together and headed back to his own house a few hours ago. It'd worried JC that he was going back to his place where Robert had confronted him before, especially since he refused to have their bodyguards shadow him. But Chris had assured him he'd be fine as he'd already had his locks changed and he wasn't going to be at his house long anyway since he was planning to meet with Johnny to update him with everything that'd happened.

And as if that wasn't enough, JC was worried about Justin. Joey had called him shortly after Chris had left and told him that it seemed Justin had gotten another infection that was completely separate from the initial one and would have to stay in the hospital at least another day. It was really concerning because JC had never heard of anyone having so much trouble from just a simple cat bite...and a cat that had passed its medical exam with no hint of any disease or anything.

He'd been prepared to drop everything and go over the hospital, but Joey had told him it wasn't necessary. He was going to stay with Justin until Kim could get off her shift at the hospital she interned at across town, and he'd insisted that the last thing Justin needed was JC fretting over him. So it was with great reluctance that JC had stayed home, knowing that Joey had a point. He could be overbearing at times and while he could usually put on a good front to keep everyone calm in a crisis, that usually went out the window when it came to hospitals. It wasn't clear if his fear of needles transferred into hospitals or if it was just the environment itself that always put JC on edge so much that he found it nearly impossible to stay calm and rational.

But he could never keep himself from worrying and that was the sole reason for his distraction, making it extremely difficult to focus on writing. It would've been a good way for him to get his mind off the worry for Chris and Justin, but he couldn't seem to push away the worry long enough for him to get engaged in the new song he was trying to write. The whole thing was vicious circle, and it left him feeling beyond frustrated.

Finally, he tossed his notebook aside and glanced up at the wall to see that it was dinner time. He didn't really feel hungry since he'd had a late lunch, but he wasn't sure what to do with himself now that he'd given up writing. It was then that he'd caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

JC looked through the open doorway of the study and saw the end of a tail disappear from view. He was on his feet, a bit surprised that he'd spotted Sheila because he hadn't seen her all day. But what really surprised him was that she hadn't sought him out because according to Chris, he hadn't fed the cat that morning so she had to be starving by now.

He followed her path, knowing that she was headed upstairs and beyond curious as to where she disappeared to. The only time he typically saw her was in the morning and though he'd often searched the entire house for her, he'd yet to discover her hiding place. So he wanted to see where she'd go so then he'd know where to look for her next time he needed to.

When he got to the top of the steps, he just saw her tail disappear into a room down the hall on his right. He walked down the hall a few feet and stepped into one of the guest bedrooms, only to stop in his tracks. In front of him was not the charcoal colored cat he'd adopted but a woman. A woman who just happened to look exactly like Vanessa.

Unable to believe what he was seeing, JC blinked hard, holding his eyes shut for a second before opening them again. The woman was gone, replaced with the cat he'd been looking for. The cat stared right at him and JC swore she almost looked amused as he stood in the doorway, his mouth ajar.

He quickly shook his head, trying to clear the image of what he'd seen a second ago from his mind. Maybe Chris was right. Maybe he hadn't been dealing with his break up well and this was his mind's way of getting him to focus on something else. Or it was a hallucination brought on by the stress and worry he'd been feeling all afternoon. It was the only logical explanation because cats couldn't turn into people, especially not someone one your best friends was dating.

A sudden feeling of claustrophobia came over him and the only thing he could think about was getting out of the house. He backed out of the room, turned on his heel and all but ran downstairs, swiping his keys off the table in the entryway on his way out the front door. After pausing for a brief moment to lock the door, he jumped into his car and pulled out of the driveway. It wasn't until he'd turned off his street that he let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

JC took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart. He wasn't sure why he'd taken off like that, but he knew he couldn't go back. Not yet. He needed some time to think and sort through his feelings, knowing that had to be behind what'd just transpired in the guest room upstairs.

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd done the right thing in leaving.

Chris thanked the locksmith and led him to the door of his apartment. He hadn't already had his locks changed like he'd let JC believe, not having bothered with it when he'd decided to just stay with JC for a couple days. It wasn't like changing the locks would do much good since Robert had broken in the first time, but still, he recognized there was a piece of mind that came with changing the locks. That and he'd needed his landlord's permission, which he'd gotten just a few hours ago.

Nothing was out of place, which led Chris to believe that Robert hadn't forced his way inside again. He was pretty surprised by that because he would've thought his father would break in again to steal some stuff that he could sell if he needed money that badly. Unless maybe it wasn't all about the money. But if that was true, Chris had no idea what the hell Robert wanted then because all he'd demanded was money.

Chris glanced at the clock on the entertainment stand and realized he should head out. He was set to meet with Johnny in a couple hours and he had a few errands to run first, one in particular being getting his new key duplicated so each of the guys had one. There was no doubt JC would be demanding one to have for emergencies, especially since he'd already been told the locks had been changed.

By the time Chris had pulled out of his parking spot and got onto the main road, it'd taken him only a couple minutes to realize he was being followed. He wasn't able to see the driver, but he had no doubt in his mind who it was. And he knew without a doubt that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him as the car was the same one he'd seen whenever Robert was around.

All of thoughts of his errands left his mind as he reached for his cell phone, knowing he had to take advantage of this. Robert likely had no idea he realized he was being followed and Chris could use that to finally put an end to this whole damn thing once and for all.

Keeping one eye on the road so he wouldn't wreck, he dialed Johnny's cell phone number. It only rang a couple times before Johnny answered.

"Hey, Chris. I didn't think I'd be hearing from you until our meeting. What's up?"

"Actually that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Are you at the compound?" Chris asked.

"Yeah," Johnny said and Chris could imagine him frowning on the other end. "You coming over now instead?"

"Yeah. I was going to do a few errands, but considering Robert's following me, I think it'd be better to confront him there instead of a Wal-Mart parking lot."

"He's following you?" Johnny didn't even wait for Chris to confirm it before he said, "Damn it, Chris. This is why I wanted you to get the police involved."

"I talked to them earlier."

There was a beat of silence before Johnny asked, "What happened?" There was a bit of reluctance like he didn't really want to know what'd pushed Chris into going to the police since he'd been so adamant against going before.

"Robert showed up at JC's and threatened him." There was a tense moment and Chris rushed on before Johnny could say anything. "Nothing happened. Everyone's fine, and don't call the police. Not yet."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm going to use it as leverage to get him to back off. I just want you to be aware of what I'm doing because if I can't get through to him, you might be able to persuade him in a way I can't."

There was a long pause like Johnny was considering if he wanted to go along with this plan that Chris was putting together as he went. Finally, Johnny relented, "Okay, no cops. But I am going to call Mike and Tiny. They're nearby and I want someone to take care of Robert if things get out of hand."

"Fine, but just keep them out of sight, okay? I don't want to spook him. Hopefully I can convince him to drop this whole thing and that'll be the end of it," Chris said.

"Call if something else comes up. Otherwise, I'll see you soon."

Johnny hung up the phone shortly after that and Chris tossed his cell phone onto the passenger seat. He'd been impressed with the way Johnny had been able to focus, even after Chris had revealed that Robert had threatened JC. Granted he hadn't given him all the details, but he knew that Johnny hadn't needed them to get the drift what he was saying. That definitely wasn't the way he'd wanted Johnny to find out, and he knew he owed their manager the full story once they'd gotten all this crap with Robert settled.

It was another fifteen minutes before he pulled into the compound's long driveway since he'd had to take the long way as he hadn't been heading in that direction when he'd left his apartment. And just like he thought, Robert followed him the whole way and apparently had no qualms about pulling into someone else's driveway. But that was just fine with Chris. That was what he'd wanted him to do.

Chris threw his car in park and turned off the engine, wasting no time in getting out. He didn't want Robert to have any kind of delusion that he was in control of what happened. Robert wasn't confronting him; he was confronting his asshole of a father.

Robert got out of his own car and immediately began to close the gap between them. "This your second home or something?"

"Or something," Chris said. "Still stalking me I see."

Robert just shrugged. "I knew you'd go back to your place after what happened this morning with your friend."

"So, what? That was a ploy to force my hand?" Chris's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You could've gotten him killed you asshole."

"You didn't seem too worried I'd pull the trigger," Robert said, his casual tone grating on Chris's nerves. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and strangle the man, but he managed to resist the urge.

"I know never to completely count out the crazy people. They can snap without any real warning," Chris replied. "It was just lucky for me I managed to outsmart you."

Robert scowled. "Ripped me off is more like it."

"Why don't you tell me what the hell the money's for?" Chris stepped closer to Robert - close enough to be threatening but far enough that he could easily sidestep him if he tried anything. "Drugs?"

"No!" Chris raised an eyebrow, not at all convinced and Robert amended. "Okay, yes. But it's not what you think."

"Do tell."

"The money's not for me. Not to buy drugs anyway. I used to be a runner for this guy...right around the time you came down to stay with me. That's why I was out all the time." Robert waved a hand. "Anyway, I gave that up last year, but Carlos thinks I'm still in debt to him. Says I owe him for screwing up the last deal I was in charge of."

Chris was mildly surprised that his father wasn't a drug addict. Though, he had to admit he did get a certain amount of relief from the knowledge. It made him respect the man. Just a little.

"I'm failing to see how this is my problem," Chris said. "You can't honestly expect me to just fix this for you, acting like I owe you something when you haven't been around. I barely know you."

"I'm still family."

Chris shook his head. "No, my mom and sisters are my family."

"Maybe I'll just make this their problem then. I'm sure your mom would love to have a little reunion."

A sudden surge of rage ran through Chris's blood and he shoved Robert up against the side of his car. "You're trying to blackmail me and I'll tell you right now it's not gonna work. If I hear you so much as showed your face to any of them, I'll kill you."

Robert shoved at him, creating some distance between them. "You're the one making this harder than it has to be. Just give me enough money to pay off my debts and I'll be out of your hair."

"You owe twenty thousand to this Carlos guy?" Chris asked, remembering the amount Robert had made him write out on the check he'd given him.

Robert shrugged and nodded. "What can I say? When you screw up with Carlos, he makes you pay back what you owe with interest."

"And I'm supposed to feel sorry for you?"

"You're supposed to want to help your father," Robert said. His face softened then. "I did love you, you know. Do love you. I wouldn't have left if your mom hadn't kicked me out. Why else did I stick around so long? If I didn't want you, I would've left the second I found out she was pregnant."

Chris had to admit that Robert wasn't stupid; he was trying to play off emotions Chris would have about the abandonment. The only problem with that was that Robert was trying to push all the blame on his mother, and that was probably the fastest way to turn him against him. That and while his mother may have been the one to kick him out, she'd had her reasons - something Chris had accepted a long time ago.

"If this is what your love gets me then you can keep it," Chris told him.

Instantly, all traces of softness on Robert's face vanished. "Fine. Have it your way." He put his hand behind his back and pulled out his gun, pointing it at Chris. "Give me the damn money!"

Chris's heart rate instantly increased even though he still had his doubts Robert would be able to pull the trigger. Then again, it was like he'd said just a few minutes ago...you couldn't write off the crazy people.

Before he could even respond, a new voice came from behind Chris.

"I wouldn't move if I were you."

Chris instantly recognized Mike's voice and he knew that he and Tiny must've gotten there just before him. They'd likely seen the whole thing from inside the compound, keeping out of sight like he'd asked, but unable to prevent themselves from stepping in once they saw the gun. He couldn't deny that he felt better with them out just because of the apprehension they put on Robert's face.

"Who are you?" Robert asked Mike. "His bodyguard?"

"Actually, yes," Mike said. "We are."

"So we advise you to take a step back before we force you to," Tiny added.

Robert looked unsure and his arm wavered slightly before he lowered the gun to his side. Chris quickly glanced at the two bodyguards and did his best to assure them. "It's all right, guys."

"So this is what it comes down to? You hiding behind bodyguards?" Robert asked.

Chris gave him one of his no nonsense looks, trying to come off as intimidating as possible. "Actually it comes down to you giving this up or me turning you into the cops."

"So now you're blackmailing me?"

Chris's shrugged, acting casual about it but he knew his face told Robert just how serious he was. He would do whatever he had to in order to protect his friends and family. "I think the police would be very interested to know about your involvement in one of the local drug rings, don't you?"

Robert scowled. "Maybe I'll just let the press know what you're willing to do to your own father."

Chris wasn't surprised by the threat as Robert had said something similar before. "Go ahead. You have a lot more to lose from it than I do."

The look on Robert's face told Chris he knew that too. "This is really how it's going to be? You're really just going to cut me out of your life?" Robert asked.

"Considering you weren't ever really in my life...yes."

Robert's hazel eyes met Chris's own brown, and they stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, Robert almost seemed to physically deflate as he said, "Fine."

Mike and Tiny stepped forward then, gesturing for Robert to head back to his car. Robert took a couple steps before he stopped to look back at Chris. "If you change your mind, you know where I'll be."

Chris frowned, as he felt a strange tug in his gut. He watched as Mike and Tiny escorted his father back to his car, feeling relieved things finally seemed to be over but something else he couldn't quite put his finger on. But he wasn't going to dwell on it because he still had to fill Johnny in on everything that'd happened since their last meeting.

Despite the lecture he'd likely get from Johnny for taking some unnecessary risks, he felt more relaxed than he had in days.

***********

"So that should be the last of him. It's all finally over."

Chris concluded his recounting of what'd happened at the compound, and JC watched as he threw back the rest of his drink. He'd gotten a call from Chris about an hour ago saying that he and Joey were going out and he could come with if he wanted. JC had agreed, still not ready to go home. When he'd met up with them and they'd all gotten settled at a table with drinks, it hadn't taken long for Chris to tell them what'd happened after he left JC's.

"You seem pretty subdued," Joey noted.

Chris shrugged. "I'm relieved it's over, but I don't know. I feel kind of weird."

"Maybe part of you regrets that you didn't help him," JC offered.

"No," Chris shook his head. "It's not my job to bail him out. It's not my fault that he got himself into the mess he did."

"Yeah, but he's your father," JC said.

"He's nobody. I hardly knew the guy."

JC frowned, but it was Joey that said something. "He's right, Chris. You might not know him well, but it doesn't change the fact that he's your father. I'd be surprised if you didn't feel weird about the whole thing."

"At least it's over and I can put all this crap behind me," Chris said.

"Or you know, you could do something about your feelings." Chris looked at JC blankly and he clarified, "You could help him."

Chris's eyes immediately narrowed. "JC..."

JC held up a hand. "Just hear me out." He leaned forward slightly, locking eyes with Chris. "It was one thing when you thought he was a drug addict, but the money's not for drugs. Not really. He's trying to turn his life around, and I think that's why you're having trouble with what happened."

"So he says," Chris said. "It could be a lie. Certainly wouldn't be the first time he's lied to me." He gave JC an appraising look. "And for someone who held you at gunpoint, you're defending him pretty hard."

"I'm not defending him," JC denied. "I just...he's your dad, and everyone deserves a second chance."

Chris shook his head again. "He's already had too many chances."

JC glanced at Joey and could tell he was able to hear the "I'm not giving him anymore" as loud and clear as he could. They let the subject drop and a silence fell over them even though it was far from quiet as the loud speakers pounded out the bass heavy music. Things were a little muted from where they were sitting on the other side of the room, no speakers nearby.

Another minute of silence passed between them before JC spoke, finally voicing a question he'd wanted to ask since he'd joined them. "Have you noticed anything weird about Vanessa?"

When JC had left his house, his driven around town for a little before he ended up getting on the highway and heading to Daytona. It was the closest beach to Orlando and JC often found he would drive there when he needed to think as there seemed to be something about the ocean air that could bring an otherwise unattainable clarity to his mind. While there, he'd come up a number of different reasons why his mind might have created what he'd seen in the guest bedroom of his house and he'd done his best to sort through any unresolved feelings. But he still couldn't shake the feeling that what he'd seen had actually happened so he wanted to see if any of the others might have noticed anything odd.

"Weird?" Joey repeated, exchanging a look with Chris. "Like what?"

JC shrugged, picking at the label on the beer bottle Chris had bought for him. "Never mind. Forget it."

"C'mon, you obviously asked for a reason. What's up?" Chris asked.

JC looked at him, seeing a serious expression Chris's face. He knew this was him gently pushing, wanting to make sure that he didn't keep too much to himself again. And really, JC didn't want to keep this to himself.

He made up his mind when Chris added, "If you found out something about Vanessa - something bad - you should tell us so we can decide if it's serious enough to tell Lance."

JC sighed and nodded, mentally psyching himself up for what he was about to say. He looked at each of them. "I don't think she's human." He could see the corners of their mouths twitch, like they were trying to hold back their amusement. "I saw my cat turn into her."

Immediately Joey and Chris burst out laughing. "Good one, Jace," Joey said through his chuckles. "Just because we're drinking doesn't mean you can pull one over on us."

"Yeah." JC forced a smile, knowing it would be best to play it off as a joke. Otherwise, their concern would instantly appear, fearing he'd finally snapped. "What can you expect? It's the only time I stand a chance against you guys."

"I think that beer went straight to your head," Chris said. "That's the last time I buy you the good stuff."

Joey pushed himself up from the table. "Speaking of, I'm going to get another drink."

"Me too," JC agreed, standing as well. He was beginning to seriously wonder if he was going crazy, but whether he was or he wasn't and what he'd seen had actually happened, he needed another drink. Or two.

As it turned out, JC couldn't even remember how many drinks he'd had by the time Chris and Joey had decided to call it a night. He'd spent the night dancing and flirting with random girls, buying them drinks and allow them to buy him some. He'd only had a couple more beers before he'd switched over to his usual rum and Coke - something he was beginning to regret as he stepped outside and realized the pounding in his head was real and not just a byproduct of the music pulsing through his body.

"Shit," JC mumbled, putting a hand to his head and stumbling as the quick movement caused the world to tilt dizzily. Before he could face plant onto the hard asphalt, a pair of hands caught him and wrapped an arm around him to steady him.

"Beer before liquor never sicker," Joey sing-songed from JC's left. He glared in the direction of his buzzed friend and probably would've tried to punch him if he wasn't afraid of kissing the ground.

Chris chuckled quietly, and JC could feel the rumble in his chest since he was pressed up against Chris's side to help keep him on his feet. Somehow they made it to the car, and JC was deposited into the backseat of Chris's car. He wanted to protest, not wanting to leave his car behind, but he was afraid he'd puke if he opened his mouth as his stomach was already beginning to churn. So he just closed his eyes and allowed himself to sag against the door, his warm forehead resting against the cool window.

The next time JC opened his eyes, he jerked to a sitting position causing the world to tilt and making him even more disoriented. Unfortunately, it also made his stomach lurch and he pushed himself off the couch he was on, practically falling once he was on his feet. He reached out to steady himself, but quickly abandoned the chair he'd used for support to rush to the bathroom. His mind unconsciously recognizing he was in Chris's apartment and leading him the right way.

As soon as JC was in the bathroom, he dropped to his knees in front of the toilet and began to throw up all of the alcohol he'd consumed. When he was done and had flushed the toilet, he was panting and praying his stomach wouldn't make him do that again. He fell back against the tub, swearing off drinking a bunch of alcohol without eating first. Normally he could hold his liquor pretty well, but his neglect to eat dinner had sped up the absorption into his body.

JC continued to lie propped up against the bathtub, trying to catch his breath while idly wondering what'd woken him in the first place. Suddenly, it came to him and he would've jerked upright if he'd had the energy. He'd had a nightmare about Lance...and Vanessa. His plan of drinking to forget about what he'd seen and that he was going crazy obviously hadn't worked so his mind had conjured a dream about Vanessa hurting Lance. It was just a dream...nightmare really. That's all.

But JC couldn't shake the feeling it wasn't. He knew it wasn't a precognitive dream, that obviously what he'd seen couldn't happen, but he couldn't deny the bad feeling he got. It wasn't the first time he'd gotten a bad feeling before something bad happened, and he was rarely wrong. The dream might not have been accurate in what it predicted happening to Lance, JC only remember wisps of the dream already, but it was a warning. That much JC was sure of.

The thought that Lance could be in trouble helped to sober him up, and he got to his feet, still feeling kind of shaky and overall like shit but more clear headed than he'd been before. He went to the sink to splash his face with water before he stepped back out into the living room.

The place was quiet, Chris obviously still sleeping and from the snoring that JC could hear coming from the second bedroom, Joey had spent the night and was still out as well. He paused, trying to remember exactly how he'd gotten there as he didn't remember much of anything. But then he remembered Chris helping him into the backseat of his car while JC's jeep had been left behind at the club. That complicated things a bit since he knew he had to get to Lance's.

He could take Chris's car, but while JC felt more with it than he had all night, he felt like he was too shaky to drive. So instead, he grabbed his cell phone that'd been set on the coffee table and left the apartment. When he got outside Chris's building, he called for a cab and sat on the sidewalk to wait, only realizing then just how late it was. 4:13 a.m. Lance was going to hate him for showing up at his door at such a late hour, especially if nothing was wrong. But JC knew this was the right thing to do.

The cab showed up ten minutes later, and it was another fifteen after that before the vehicle pulled up in front of Lance's house. JC paid the driver and got out of the cab, pausing at the end of the driveway. Despite how late it was, he could see the yellowish glow coming from a couple of the first floor windows signaling that Lance was still awake. JC considered that a good thing because he'd have an easier time trying to convince Lance of what he'd seen without having him be pissed that he'd woke him up. Then again, Lance could've fallen asleep with the lights on.

Regardless, it didn't change what he had to do. JC took a deep breath and quickly made his way up Lance's driveway. He paused in front of the front door, knowing this was his last chance to turn around and forget it, but he also knew that wasn't an option. The bad feeling in his stomach had grown since he'd left Chris's like just being in close proximity to Lance heightened the feeling that his friend was in danger...even if he didn't know it yet.

JC rang the doorbell, hearing the chime echo throughout the house. He waited several seconds, but there was no answer so he pressed the button again. Another few seconds passed before the door opened, and JC's stomach dropped when he saw not only Lance but Vanessa, who was hanging off his shoulder.

"JC," Lance said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

JC's eyes were on Vanessa whose lips were curled upward in an almost sinister smile. She looked almost amused, like she knew why he was there and had expected him to show up all along.

"JC?"

Lance's voice had JC tearing his gaze away from Vanessa and back to him. He was frowning, but JC wasn't entirely sure if it was out of concern or annoyance that he'd bugged him this late and then didn't say anything.

"I need to talk to you," JC said, feeling even more that he'd done the right thing in coming here.

Lance's frown seemed to deepen. "Now? Can't it wait? It's almost five o'clock and we were getting ready to head upstairs..."

JC glanced at Vanessa briefly before looking away, not liking what he saw in her eyes. He focused on just looking at Lance, doing his best not to let his gaze stray to the woman hanging on his arm. "It's important, Lance."

"Okay. C'mon in." Vanessa pulled herself off Lance, allowing him to step back and open the door. JC stepped through the threshold, letting out a breath as he tried to calm his still churning stomach. He might not feel drunk anymore, but the alcohol was still definitely affecting him.

Lance led him to the living room with Vanessa following and gestured for him to sit on the couch. He sat in a nearby armchair and looked at JC with concern. "You okay?"

"Fine," JC said, though he swallowed kind of rough. He knew he must look like hell, but he wasn't going to let Lance make this about him.

Lance didn't look entirely convinced, but he didn't push it either. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"I need to tell you something. Something about...Vanessa," JC said with a bit of hesitance. His eyes unconsciously sought out Vanessa and saw she was standing behind Lance, and he looked back at Lance. "Can we talk alone?"

Lance glanced up at Vanessa. "If this is about her, I'd rather you tell us both so we can address whatever issues you have."

"What do you think you know about me that Lance doesn't?" Vanessa asked, smirking at him.

JC could tell by the look in her eyes that she was just daring him to tell Lance about what he'd seen, like she knew he wouldn't be able to go through with it. But he was going to prove her wrong. He knew he couldn't ease into it though because he could very well lose his nerve or be more apt to play it off as a joke like he'd done with Joey and Lance. To do so here would be a disservice to Lance, who JC was convinced was in danger from Vanessa.

"She can turn into a cat," JC blurted.

For a second, there was no reaction. Lance blinked one, twice, and then shook his head. "You're drunk."

"I'm not!" JC protested, immediately on his feet. "I'm telling you the truth. I saw her! She and my cat Sheila are one in the same. I followed Sheila upstairs and instead of seeing a cat, I saw her!"

"Come now, JC. You know people can't turn into animals," she said, but the smile on her face told him she was taunting him.

"Which is why I'm positive you can't be human," JC replied.

Vanessa turned to look at Lance who had also stood up. "See, I told you they didn't like me. It doesn't matter that I make you happy."

"JC, I don't know why you'd make up such a story-" Lance started.

"It's not a story!" JC objected, desperate to make Lance see he was serious.

"But it's obvious you've been drinking," Lance continued as if JC hadn't said anything. "You're welcome to use one of the guest rooms and sleep it off. We can talk about this more in the morning when you're more yourself."

"Lance, you've got to listen to me. I'm not making this up," JC pleaded.

Lance shook his head. "We'll talk about this more in the morning." He looked to Vanessa. "You ready to head up?"

Vanessa smiled, and JC wondered how Lance didn't notice how predatory it looked. "Definitely."

JC watched as the two of them left the living room and disappeared up the stairs. He wanted nothing more than to grab Lance's arm and force him to listen to him, make him realize he'd never make something like this up. But he knew all it would do right now was piss Lance off and definitely wouldn't make him more open to believing him.

There was a pink hue to the sky, a faint bit of light entering the large windows in the living room and illuminating it a bit. JC realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with Lance right then and was about to take him up on his offer to sleep in one of the guest rooms when the pain in his head spiked, causing the room to spin violently.

JC crashed to the floor, desperately willing himself not to throw up. It was hard considering the room continued to tilt dizzily on its axis, but the pain in his head was nothing compared to the sudden stabbing pain he felt in all of his bones. It almost felt like there was an invisible force pushing on his bones, like it was trying to shrink them. All JC knew was that it was the worst pain he'd ever felt in his life.

He thought he was going to pass out, but a pain tore through his body, making him scream in agony.

***********

As soon as Lance got into his bedroom, Vanessa was practically on top of him obviously wanting to carry through with what they'd intended to do before JC had interrupted them. Lance, for his part, was happy to oblige, needing the distraction from the concern he had for JC. He wasn't sure what'd happened to make JC drink enough to come up with a story like that, but whatever it was, it couldn't have been good. But it was also something that could wait until morning...or afternoon as it was already technically morning.

"Do you still want me?" Vanessa asked, her voice low and sexy as she smiled at him seductively.

"Yes," Lance said without any hesitation. It'd been kind of a surprise when Vanessa had told him that she was ready for them to become intimate, but it was certainly a welcome one. It told him she now believed that he wasn't going anywhere and was willing to be with her.

Vanessa's smile seemed to grow as she pulled him close once more, pressing her lips against his. Lance deepened the kiss as he carefully led her to the bed, gently lowering her onto the plush bedding that covered the queen sized mattress. He was on top as they made out, but as they came up for air, Vanessa took him by surprise by rolling them over so she was now on top.

"Last chance to back out," she said, smiling down at him.

Lance shook his head. "C'mere." He tugged on her arm to pull her down onto him and kissed her again.

From there, Vanessa seemed to take over. She guided Lance's hands up her body, tracing her curves and helping him to release her from her clothes. Then she set about taking off his clothes, pulling his t-shirt over his head and unzipping his jeans before pulling them and his underwear down in one smooth motion. She lowered herself onto him, him fully aroused by that point and more than ready as they finally gave into their desires.

There was no talking as they found a rhythm that worked for both of them. The only sound was the occasional moan or gasp of pleasure, which just seemed to increase as they both began to climax. In the moment, Lance couldn't help but think he'd never felt so connected to a woman during their first time together as he did with her.

When it was over, they were both panting but feeling pretty sated. Vanessa kissed him once more, nipping at his lip. Lance couldn't help but gasp as he felt her teeth break through the sensitive skin on the inside of his lip, the cut already beginning to bleed.

She shot him an apologetic look as she gently sucked on his bottom lip before finally pulling away. "Sorry about that," she said.

"There's nothing to apologize for. That was amazing," Lance replied.

"And now you're all mine."

Lance tilted his head slightly, feeling like there was something deeper than just what she'd said. Something less playful and more possessive, but before he could ask her about it, a scream caught his attention. It was distant, but there was no mistaking who it belonged to. JC.

Lance immediately sat up, pushing Vanessa off him. He went to get out of bed, but she wrapped a hand around his bicep. "It's probably nothing. C'mon, let's go to bed."

"No," Lance gently shook her off. "Something's wrong."

He got out of bed and pulled on his discarded underwear and jeans quickly before all but running downstairs. When he got to the bottom, he immediately spotted JC where he'd left him just inside the living room. He was lying on the floor, curled up in a fetal position with a look of pure agony on his face.

Lance raced over to his side. He put a hand on JC's shoulder, trying to offer him comfort, but considering JC didn't even open his eyes, he wasn't sure he was aware that he was there. His eyes scanned JC's body, looking for a sign of something that could be creating this much pain for him, but he couldn't see any visible injury. The most concerning thing was that he was covered in sweat, which made Lance wonder if he had a terribly high fever.

"Hang on, Jace. I'll get you to a doctor."

"A doctor's not going to do much."

Lance turned quickly to see Vanessa standing behind him, wearing just a thin silk robe. "What do you mean?"

"The curse didn't transfer completely so he's unable to transform."

"Transform? Curse?" Lance looked at her completely baffled. "What are you talking about?"

Her lips upturned like she was amused. "You should've listened to him. He actually knew what he was talking about. He didn't know everything of course. After all, he didn't know about the curse."

Lance stared at her, trying to process all that she said as he realized he obviously didn't know her as well as he'd thought. Because this smirking woman in front of him talking about curses was a stranger to him. Then it hit him.

"You can turn into a cat?"

Vanessa nodded. "All thanks to a curse. One I've been working on transferring to your friend there," she gestured to JC. "But I didn't get to finish before he found me out. So now his body is trying to transform and unable to, the pain of which could kill him."

"You're just going to let him die?" Lance asked, looking down at JC who was moaning in pain, likely having killed his vocal chords from screaming.

She shrugged. "Why shouldn't I? I'm not a cat anymore."

Lance had a feeling that he'd found himself into a really bad situation being here with her and she was going to use him for something. But that meant she needed him and he felt like he could use that to his advantage.

"Finish it, save him. Or else I'll take myself out of the picture. You won't be able to go through with whatever you have planned," Lance bargained.

Vanessa smirked, stepping closer and caressing his cheek. "Oh, honey of course I will. You've already given yourself to me. But I'll do it. Just because I have a sweet spot for you."

She pinched his cheek and laughed as Lance did his best not to appear vulnerable. All he could think about was that he never should've slept with her, that she'd likely been referring to that. But he did his best to push it out of his mind as he looked down at JC with a worried expression.

Vanessa moved closer to JC and before Lance's eyes, the tall slender woman turned into the very cat that JC had adopted. The cat went over to JC and bit down on the back of his neck, causing JC to cry out in pain. It only lasted a second before the cat backed away from JC and almost immediately was replaced with the very womanly figure of Vanessa.

Lance already felt in shock at what he'd seen, but his eyes widened even more as JC let out another guttural scream while he seemed to shrink and hair sprouted. He continued to scream through the transformation, it eventually turning into a yowl. If Lance hadn't seen it before his very eyes, he wouldn't have believed it.

In place of where JC had lied on his living room floor was a gray tabby cat.

Even though he'd seen the transformation happen, part of him was still in disbelief, not wanting to believe that one of his best friends had just turned into a cat. But that was an inescapable truth as the feline's eyes opened, revealing the azure blue eyes that could only belong to JC. He was still lying on his side, panting from the obvious pain he'd just gone through.

And before Lance could even fully wrap his mind around what'd happened, Vanessa stepped forward as she reached out for the cat. She roughly grabbed the cat at the back of neck, causing him to cry out and try to swat at her. He wasn't able to put up much of a fight though because the hold Vanessa had on him severely limited his movements. Not mention he was likely still recovering from the transformation.

Vanessa started out of the living room and Lance was immediately on her heels. "What are you doing? Where are you taking him?"

"Don't worry. I'm not going to kill him."

There was an unspoken "yet" that Lance heard loud and clear. They were in his kitchen and she disappeared into the laundry room that was right off the kitchen. He tried to follow her, but just as he was about to enter the small room, she came walking out no longer holding JC but a carrier - the same one that used to belong to Dirk. And the low meowing from inside the plastic carrier told Lance she'd thrown JC in there.

"I can't have him running off," she said by way of explanation. "Now follow me upstairs."

She started walking forward, clearly assuming that he was going to be right behind. But Lance remained rooted to the linoleum floor of his kitchen, refusing to do anything with her. He was done following her blindly, especially since he knew she wanted something from him.

"No," he said.

She turned, her eyes narrowed. "That wasn't a request." She then closed her free hand - the one that wasn't holding the carrier - into a fist and suddenly Lance felt his throat close up. He immediately fell to his knees, coughing and unable to draw in a breath. It was like she'd wrapped her hand around his neck and started to squeeze the life out of him, only she was a couple feet away.

Lance could hear the blood pounding in his head and it was almost loud enough to drown out her setting down the carrier and her footsteps as she approached. He saw her feet stop in front of him just before she crouched down, her face entering his line of vision.

"I'm in control here, not you. You've submitted to me, so it's pointless to fight," she said, giving him a hard look. "I won't tolerate insubordination again."

With that, she unclenched her fist and instantly the pressure around Lance's throat disappeared. He took deep breaths, greedily taking in as much air as his oxygen starved lungs could handle. He knew he should be afraid of her, especially given what she'd just done, but the only thing he felt was anger.

Still panting slightly but nearly recovered, he glared up at her as she had straightened from her crouched position. "You're not going to kill me."

"No, but I won't hesitate to kill him," she said, gesturing to the crate that was on the floor a few feet away.

Lance faltered slightly, feeling she was sincere with her threat. He didn't want to push her over the edge, but then, nothing about this situation told him that she was going to just let JC go. Otherwise, why would she have thrown him in the carrier?

"I'm sure it's not much of a life being a cat. JC wouldn't want to live like that," Lance said, eyeing the plastic cage as he got to his feet.

She smiled at him, looking very amused as she too glanced at the contraption that confined JC. "Is that really how he feels? He'd appreciate you throwing away his life like that? Stealing the time he has to be human?"

Lance felt a bit of anger wash over him again as she tried to pull one over on him. "What time? It's over. You cursed him to be a cat."

"For twelve hours a day."

Instantly, all the anger melted away and he stopped dead, looking at her. "What?"

"He only got half the curse." She smirked suddenly. "Mrs. Jones got the other half."

Lance looked at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Originally I was cursed to be a cat forever, but an old woman found me and took me in. Big mistake on her part, especially since it resulted in her untimely death."

"What did you do to her?" Lance glanced at JC, feeling a bit of fear for him. Of course he had a feeling things were going to end badly regardless, but what else had she done to him? Had she somehow poisoned him or something, made it so he was slowly dying and just hadn't realize it yet?

Her smile grew, like she knew exactly what he was thinking. "I didn't do anything that I haven't done to your friend. I realized she provided me with the opportunity to transfer the curse, but her body was weak and frail. She only lasted two days before she died."

"And JC? How long before he dies?" Lance demanded, moving closer to the carrier that held his friend turned feline.

"If he dies it won't be because of the curse...at least not directly," Vanessa said. "The only thing I gave him was the curse. All he's experienced over the last few days is being more tired than normal and a craving for seafood."

"So he'll transform back for twelve hours a day?"

Vanessa nodded once. "Twelve hours from when he turned, which is always when the sun comes up."

Lance looked down at JC, feeling for the first time that all wasn't lost. He could grab JC and make a run for it, try to get them both of out there. But he was almost certain he wouldn't be able to make it to front door before she stopped him somehow. The fact that she needed him for whatever the hell she had planned was motivation for her to keep him around, but she didn't have a use for JC. So if JC could get out of the house, he'd be safe and maybe even find a way to save Lance from this psychotic woman. If you could even call her that.

But before he could make a move to unhook the latch on the door of the cage, he had to distract her. Otherwise, it would be all too easy for her to stop him. It didn't have to be anything major as he'd only need a second to set JC free, but he needed her to turn her back instead of boring those knowing eyes at him.

As subtly as he could, Lance looked around the area surrounding him. He was standing on the edge of the kitchen, practically in the short hallway that led to the front door and the stairs that led to the second floor. He was too far to make use of anything in the kitchen like a knife to potentially wound her. The thing that seemed to be closest to him was the powder room.

Without pausing to think about it, he launched himself into the small room and immediately locked the door. He glanced around and began to search for something he could use to ensure he had at least a few seconds to set JC free. The element of surprise he'd have when he jumped out of the bathroom would give him a small advantage, but he couldn't just throw himself at her as she would quickly recover from it. He needed something else to give him those few extra seconds.

"You're only delaying the inevitable you know," Vanessa's voice came through the door suddenly, sounding like she was right on the other side.

Lance said nothing, still looking for something to buy him some time. Then he spotted it. In the back of the cabinet under the sink hidden behind rolls of toilet paper and other various toiletries was a can of hairspray that his last girlfriend must have left behind.

He grabbed the canister and turned back towards the door. His heart pounded as he tried to ready himself for what he was about to do, taking a deep breath and releasing it as way to calm his nerves. He poised his hand over the doorknob, knowing he had to open the door in one quick motion because turning the knob slowly would just alert her he was coming out and he needed the element of surprise.

Taking one last breath, Lance held the hairspray canister up in his right hand while his left closed down on the doorknob, quickly turning it and pushing the door open at the same time. He jumped out, immediately locating Vanessa who'd been standing just to the right and took just a second to aim for her face before pressing down on the spray button on the canister.

Vanessa shrieked and brought her hands up to try to protect her face, giving Lance the opportunity he needed. He quickly closed the gap between him and the carrier that JC was trapped in, dropping down to his knees in front of it. The lock had two small pulleys with levers as part of the actual locking mechanism that needed to be squeezed together in order to pull two of the metal rods out of the plastic pegs and swing the door open. He'd just squeezed the two levers together and went to pull open the door when he suddenly was jerked to the right, dislodging his grip and allowing the metal rods to snap back into place. At the same time, he was slammed into the nearby wall.

Lance gasped in pain as his back connected with the unyielding surface, the action stealing his breath away. He crumbled the rest of the way to the floor, dazed. Desperately, he tried to shake off the pain and get to his feet, but his body wasn't cooperating. His mind was foggy, obviously from the knock to the head when he'd been thrown like a limp ragdoll. As his body was still recovering, all he could do was watch as Vanessa approached, hearing hissing from a couple feet away.

Her gray eyes that he'd thought of as stormy the first night he'd met her seemed ten times more threatening, especially since they were surrounded by angry red skin. He felt a bit of satisfaction in knowing he'd gotten her in the eyes, but it only lasted a second as he realized he was in hot water. There was a look of pure fury on her face and he anticipated the threat she'd give him, but none came.

Instead, she roughly yanked on his arm, forcing him to his feet. "C'mon," she snapped. Lance struggled in her grasp, but she tightened her hold, the tips of her long fingernails digging into his skin. He bit his lip, not wanting to give her the pleasure of him crying out and did his best not to stumble as she dragged him along.

She stopped briefly to grab the carrier with her free hand and there was more hissing. Lance glanced down, unable to see JC because of the tan plastic top, but he could imagine having been so close to freedom had put him on edge. And he desperately wished he'd been able to pull it off, afraid of what was going to happen now. That'd likely been their only chance.

It was a struggle to get up the stairs, Vanessa continuously pulling on his and making him trip as he tried to keep up to her. When they got to the top of the stairs, he made a last ditch effort to get away from her somehow knowing that once she got him into his bedroom that'd be the end of his chances. He yanked back on his arm, trying to dislodge it from her grip, but he'd underestimated how strong she was even one handed. But he continued to fight, hoping to weaken her hold. She put down the carrier and used her other hand to squeeze a part of his neck, causing him to instantly drop to his knees.

"I'm done screwing around," she practically growled. "Try something like that again and I'll remove your arm for you. Now get up."

Lance got to his feet, feeling kind of shaky as he tried to recover from the pressure point she'd activated. Once he was standing, she took hold of his arm again and took a step forward only to stop.

"Oh and Lance?" She waited until he looked at her before she continued. "Remember how I said I won't tolerate resistance?"

She turned slightly, positioning her foot just right and it was at that moment that Lance realized she hadn't picked up the carrier again. It was now in line with her foot and he had a sickening feeling as he sensed what was about to happened a second before she braced her foot on the top edge of the cage and kicked her foot backwards. It sent the carrier over the edge of the landing where it slid down the first couple stairs before momentum caused it to hit the edge of a stair and flipped continuously as it rolled down the rest. There was an agonized cry that Lance could swear sounded more human than feline and he pictured JC being flung about inside, crashing against the plastic walls, unable to go anywhere.

Finally, it hit the bottom of the stairs and, amazingly, the door was still shut tight. "JC!" Lance cried, thinking everything was too still.

Vanessa turned back to Lance and said, "Consider that your punishment."

"JC!" Lance yelled again, hoping for some sign his friend was okay. But then Vanessa was shoving him forward, directing him into the master bedroom. He didn't struggle - afraid to now - but he turned his head, trying to see or hear anything.

There was nothing.

As he was shoved into his bedroom, he knew he should be worried about what was going to happen to him, but all he could think about was JC. He wondered just how badly he was hurt after that stunt Vanessa had pulled.

"Go check on him. Please," Lance pleaded with her, allowing her to force him onto his bed. The sheets were still rumpled from the sex they'd had just a half hour ago.

She ignored him, grabbing a couple of long silky scarves off his nightstand that he hadn't seen before. It was obvious she had to have stashed them somewhere and then placed them out in the open before she'd followed Lance downstairs, wanting to be prepared for what she had planned. Something he still had no clue of.

"You should try to relax. Being tense is just going to make it harder on you," she told him as she tied his right hand to the bedpost with one of the long scarves, making the knot tight.

Lance watched her, resisting every urge he had to rip his hand out of her grasp and punch her in the face. It'd be pointless as she'd already shown that she'd get control over him before he could escape. That and she'd likely take it out on JC some more, making whatever he'd suffered from the tumble down the stairs even worse.

Once his left hand was tied to the other post just as tightly, Vanessa got up and moved the floor length mirror from the corner of the room to the foot of the bed. He wasn't sure what it was for, but it put him on edge. And for the first time since he'd gotten out of bed to go investigate JC's scream, he realized he was only wearing his jeans which made him feel exposed and vulnerable. He wondered if it was something she was going to take advantage of.

Lance's eyes followed her as she moved about the room, positioning things in various spots. She lit a large white candle on the nightstand near his head, and he found himself unnerved at how prepared she seemed to be - obviously having planned this for quite a while.

"What's all this for?" he asked her.

Once again he was ignored as she walked out of the room. She returned a minute later, carrying the portable cage JC was trapped in. Lance couldn't stop the relief that washed over him when he spotted movement inside, finally reassured that JC wasn't dead.

"I couldn't very well keep an eye on him with him down there now could I?" Vanessa said by way of explanation, placing the carrier on the armchair that sat by the window. "Besides, I figured he'd like to see you before the end."

Lance's heart stopped at that. What did she mean the end? The obvious answer was death, but whose? His? JC's? The uncertainty was enough to cause his heart rate to increase, his stomach churning nervously.

"What are you going to do?" Lance asked, fighting to keep his voice even and not let her in on how terrified he was right then.

Vanessa smiled, looking amused. "I can't tell you everything. Where's the fun in that?"

"I think I deserve to know. You're about to do God knows what to me."

Her smiled slipped from her face as a more sultry look replaced it. She seemed to float as she walked over to him, gently lowering herself onto the bed to his left. "You nervous?"

Lance didn't bother to try to deny it because he knew she would see through it. So he just gave her a knowing look and said, "I don't even know what the hell you are."

"I suppose that depends on what you believe," she said, still lounging beside him. She seemed so relaxed and so casual, which just put him on edge even more. "But what I know about you...demon is probably the most way to describe myself."

"Demon?" Lance repeated, unable to really pinpoint how he felt.

"You're surprised?" She slowly dragged her finger down his bare chest, the action causing a chill to run down his spine.

"No," Lance choked out, shaking his head slightly. "Just trying to wrap my head around it and what it has to do with me."

Vanessa raised an eyebrow. "You think I picked you for a reason?"

"Didn't you?"

"I could've picked anyone to be in your position right now. I picked you because I'm attracted to you. I was as soon as I saw you, so I was kind of mad you blew me off."

Lance's brow furrowed in confusion. He couldn't ever remember telling her no. He'd been so enamored with her from the beginning that he'd been willing to do whatever she wanted. "What are you talking about?"

Vanessa's eyes flickered over to JC for a second before she looked into his green eyes with her gray ones. "Your friend adopted Sheila as a gift for you and you weren't interested. You hurt my feelings." The last part was said almost mockingly.

"So you did all this to get back at me? To prove I could fall for you and then use me for whatever whacked out thing you have planned?" Lance's eyes widened suddenly. "Did you do something to me? Make me fall for you so quickly?"

She laughed. "Please. You men think too highly of yourselves. I just played off what you were feeling and what you wanted. You were already attracted to me, I just built on it."

Lance couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if he had accepted JC's gift. Would he be dead or dealing with whatever she had planned for him by now? Or would he and JC have switched places with her transferring the curse to him instead? But he quickly rid those thoughts from his mind; what ifs wouldn't help him here.

"Enough chitchat," she said, pushing up from the bed. "Time to finally finish what I started."

"What?" Lance asked.

She glanced at him briefly, adjusting something on the other side of the room that he couldn't see. "I need to kill my lover's soul."

Lance felt a bit of panic rise up within him. "I don't...I'm not..."

Another laugh escaped her lips, this one much more genuine and deep than the previous one. "Oh baby," she cooed. "I don't mean you. I killed Jerrell, but his damn sister got in the way and cursed me before I could finish - before I could kill his soul."

"And what does that have to do with me?" Lance asked carefully, sensing he didn't really want to know the answer but needing to know exactly what was going to happen.

"Well, I've got to draw his soul in somehow. It's the only way to kill it."

Lance frowned at her as she moved to his side again. "But-"

"Shh," Vanessa whispered, putting her hand over his mouth. Immediately he realized that it wasn't just her hand that was pressed against his lips, able to feel the sticky adhesive that was on the back of tape.

He gave her a look, hating that she'd taken some more of his control away of him. He was practically helpless before her now with no way of vocalizing his protests - at least not very loud.

"I can't tell you everything, remember? It'll ruin the surprise." There was a slight pause and she added, "Besides, I don't know how you'll handle this and screaming gives me a headache."

Lance felt his anxiety rise as she stepped back, putting a few feet between them but still standing near the side of the bed. She put a hand to chest, a couple of her fingers resting on her pearl necklace as she began to speak softly in Latin. He couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from her, terrified of what was about to happen.

Vanessa suddenly broke from her chanting as she grabbed the white candle that'd been burning by the bed and reached out, tipping it over to drain the wax. Lance jerked as the hot wax hit his bare skin, leaving a burning sensation behind from his belly button up to the middle of his chest. He was barely aware of her putting the candle back on the nightstand and speaking in Latin again, everything becoming really hazy. It was actually pretty strange because while the hot wax burned, it shouldn't have that kind of an effect on him.

But the feeling just seemed to increase, causing him to feel less and less in tune to what was going on around him. Suddenly, there was an almost crushing feeling like something or someone was lying on top of him. He felt like he couldn't breathe and for some reason that made him snap back to a more aware state. He found he was no longer looking at Vanessa but straight ahead into the mirror that was at the end of the bed, and what he saw shocked the hell out of him.

His reflection wasn't there.

No, the mirror wasn't empty. There was a reflection. It just wasn't his. In the mirror was the image of a man with dark skin, his face alight with terror but whether it was the man's or his own, Lance wasn't sure. The only thing that he recognized of himself that was projected back from the shiny surface was his eyes replacing the dark brown eyes Lance was sure the man had.

"Good to see you, Jerrell," Vanessa said from Lance's left. She was out of frame of the mirror, but she obviously was in a position that allowed her to see into it without her own reflection being projected. "I bet you thought you'd escaped, but lucky for me there was a loophole in that little curse your sister put on me. And now I can finally pick up where I left off."

Lance felt sick as he finally realized what she'd meant earlier when she'd needed to draw is soul in to kill him; his soul was sharing his body with this past lover of hers. The man, Jerrell, didn't say anything and the sudden thought that Jerrell couldn't because Lance couldn't. And maybe that was the real reason she'd put the tape over his mouth - so she wouldn't have to listen to her ex-lover.

"Thanks for everything," Vanessa told him, her voice almost sarcastic as she smirked. Then she grabbed a piece of paper and lit it on fire while she muttered something in Latin.

Instantly, Lance experienced a searing, white hot pain that seemed to engulf his entire body. His back arched and he struggled against the silk scarves that bound his wrists to the bedposts, trying desperately to stop the burning feeling even though he knew it was futile. As he might have thought the hot wax had been, this was ten times worse. A scream rose up in his throat, but it had no way to escape, muffled behind the tape that seal his lips shut.

Then as suddenly as it began, it was over. He fell back against the bed, panting and sweating as he slowly recovered from whatever the hell had just happened. Reflexively, he glanced in the mirror, not all that surprised to see just himself now. He may not have understood the whys or how of it all, but Jerrell's soul was gone forever. That much he was sure of, the lack of the other presence that'd given him that almost suffocating feeling confirming it.

Vanessa blew out the white candle on the nightstand before leaning over, grabbing hold of the edge of the tape. She ripped it off in one fluid motion, taking Lance by surprise and making him gasp. Before he could recover, she covered his lips with her own, kissing him aggressively for a few seconds and ending with a bit to his bottom lip. It reopened the previous cut and once again she sucked on it briefly before pulling back.

"That wasn't so bad now was it?"

Lance didn't know if she was referring to the kiss or what she'd done to him - how she'd used him to kill her lover's soul. So he didn't say anything, figuring she didn't expect much of an answer anyway.

"Can you let me go now?" Lance asked, trying not to sound pitiful and scared but not quite sure he managed to pull it off.

She laughed. "Oh no. That wasn't all I had planned for you. You're still very useful to me."

"In what way?"

"You'll see," she said with a wink before walking out of the room, pulling the door closed behind her.

Lance stared after her, wondering if she would be right back. The closed door suggested she wasn't, but he had to wonder why she'd even shut it in the first place. It wasn't like he could go anywhere...or that his door locked from the outside. Maybe she was gathering the things she'd need for whatever else she had in store for him and didn't want him to somehow begin piecing things together. Regardless there wasn't anything he could about it but lie there and wait for her to return.

A half hour passed without her appearing again, but Lance certainly wasn't complaining. After everything she'd done already, he'd be happy never to see her again. That wasn't realistic though; she'd back and probably soon. But maybe, just maybe, he could see to it that one of them got away.

Lance's eyes strayed to the carrier where his friend turned cat was still trapped, the feline's blue eyes seeming to be locked on his own green. For the first time he allowed himself to think how strange it was that one of his best friends was a cat as it was something he'd never thought possible. But as weird as it was for him, it had to be even worse for JC since he was actually going through it. He wondered what it was like and just how much JC was able to comprehend. Almost immediately he realized that JC must be aware of everything considering he wasn't really a cat and he was sure Vanessa had likely displayed some humanlike characteristics as a cat. Not he knew from experience because he hadn't been to JC's since he'd first tried to give him the animal.

What he did know was that JC would likely end up dead if he stayed because Vanessa didn't seem to have much use for him. He'd just been a means to an end - a way to get rid of her curse completely. Lance needed to get him out of there and then he could worry about himself.

With that in mind, Lance twisted his right wrist around in the scarf, trying to position his hand in such a way that his fingers could work on the knot. It was tight and hard to hold his hand in such an awkward position for long, causing him to take frequent breaks. But he was determined and a good while later, it paid off as he was finally able to untie the knot. When his right hand was free, it was much easier to take care of his left hand.

Once both of his hands were released from the long silk scarves, he quickly got up from the bed only to drop to his knees as the room tilted dizzily. He gave himself a minute, figuring he'd gotten up too fast for having been restricted to lying on his back for the last few hours. When he felt more in control, he stood up - slowly this time - and crossed the room to JC.

Lance squeezed the two levers together and opened the door. JC stepped out carefully, and he frowned at the slow pace JC was using. He reasoned he could just be stiff because while Lance's shoulders and arms hurt from being tied over his head, JC had been confined to a small cage. But then maybe something was broken from that tumble he'd taken down the stairs after Vanessa had kicked the carrier off the second floor landing.

"JC, I'm going to open the window and you should be able to use the overhang from the roof to get to the tree and climb down."

The cat meowed and Lance could've sworn his eyes narrowed. It was clear that JC was objecting to his plan, not wanting to leave him behind.

"Yes," Lance said, glaring at him. "She's going to kill you otherwise and this way you can get help."

If JC had another objection, Lance didn't see it as he reached up to unlock the window and push it open. His attention was drawn back to the other side of the room as he heard the doorknob jiggle. They were out of time.

"JC, go," Lance hissed.

JC jumped onto the windowsill and slipped through the open window just as the door opened. Lance quickly shut the window and turned to face Vanessa, trying to swallow back his nervousness and fear at how she would punish him for this.

Lance frowned, his eyes moving involuntarily under his eyelids as he was forced to watch a horrible scene play out in the dream his mind had conjured. It wasn't the first one that he'd been subjected to, but it felt like each one was worse than the last. But all of them had the same theme: JC dying in some terrible way.

Currently, Lance was an invisible observer as he watched JC in cat form try to cross a street. There wasn't a lot of traffic, but it was when JC was in the middle of the road that he caught sight of a sedan coming down the road. It wasn't overly speeding, but it was certainly going too fast for JC to get out of the way in time. Lance desperately wished he could sprint forward and push him out of the way, but he was rooted to where he was standing, unable to do anything but watch. JC, for his part, seemed to realize the car was quickly coming up on him, but it came a second too late.

The car's front bumper slammed into JC, despite the driver's attempts to bring it to a stop. Lance's eyes remained on JC, watching as the small animal body was flung backwards from the momentum and crash onto the pavement. Then suddenly, the feline body was replaced by his human one and Lance felt his stomach clench as he immediately spotted blood seeping through the thin t-shirt JC wore.

After the shock of seeing the blood, Lance began to notice the various bruises that were already beginning to form along JC's body. He wasn't sure where exactly JC was bleeding or from what, but the knot in his stomach told him that it was a fatal wound. The entire scene was quiet, the car still idling in front of JC's prone body but the driver missing. It was eerie and it made him feel all the more he was watching his friend die in slow motion.

And then, without any warning, he was ripped out of the dream world. He opened his eyes, blinking as he took a second to recognize his bedroom. His arms had been retied to the bedposts, Vanessa having done it after she'd walked in on him helping JC escape through the window.

When that door had opened, Lance had been so sure he was in deep trouble for what he'd just done. And while she did look angry, it lasted only a few seconds before she put on a mask of indifference. At the time Lance had been worried about physical torture when he should've been worried about a mental one.

As Lance turned towards the now open door, he bit his tongue to squelch the sudden urge he had to apologize. Despite the fact that Vanessa had repeated shown she had control over the situation, he didn't want to come off as completely weak. She'd yet to elaborate on what her other plans were for him, but he had a feeling whatever they were they didn't include making it out of this alive. And now that he didn't have to worry about her taking her anger at him out on JC, he could be a little more resistant. Or at least not so willing to do what she asked.

To his surprise, Vanessa didn't immediately demand to know what he'd done or show any kind of anger really. She briskly crossed the room, passing him to look out the window that he'd just let JC out of. Lance turned slightly, wondering if she could see JC, but he was unable to tell from where he was standing.

She turned away from the window, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed but otherwise she looked relatively calm. When she met his nervous gaze, her lips relaxed enough for her to smirk at him.

"Don't worry. I'm not mad," she said.

Lance looked at her warily. This wasn't the reaction he'd expected at all. "You're not?"

"Well, okay maybe a little," Vanessa admitted. "But I'm not going to punish you for your little stunt."

"Really?" Lance asked, unable to keep the disbelief out of his voice. She hadn't hesitated to make him regret his previous rebellious actions, but this she was willing to overlook? To him that meant she must need him so much she didn't want to risk him getting severely injured or even dying.

She gave a short nod, that stupid smirk still on her face. "The way I figure it, the worry for your friend should be punishment enough."

Lance frowned. "What do you mean?" JC had escaped from what surely would've been an imminent death and could get help. They had an advantage over her, but that wasn't how she saw it.

Vanessa moved closer so she was about a foot from his face, close enough that he could feel the air leaving her lips ghost across his skin. "He may be free, but he's in a lot more danger now. He's running around the city as a cat, trying to navigate through traffic and avoid getting picked up by someone."

Lance instantly got a flash of panic, realizing just how true her words were. JC would be seen as a stray, which could easily result in him ending up in someone's home or, worse, a shelter. That was if he wasn't run over as he tried to cross the numerous streets between Lance's house and the others'. He hadn't considered either happening before he'd helped JC escape, but now it was all he could think about.

"Your friend could end up as a shelter cat," she said, her eyes dancing with amusement. "Funny considering how this whole thing started, isn't it?"

Lance shook his head. "He won't be. When it's time for him to transform the cage will just break and he'll be able to get away and go for help."

"Actually, he'll die," she corrected. She took a step back and Lance felt a weird mixture of fear and confusion, but she continued. "If he's confined to a cage, he won't have the room to transform leaving him in that in-between state." A twisted smile appeared on her face. "And we already know how he reacted to that."

"So why didn't that happen to you?"

Vanessa looked him in the eye. "Because I could control it. It didn't matter if I was able to return to my human form. I knew I wouldn't be able to do it stuck in a cage without killing myself so I just remained a cat. But JC, pathetic little human he is, will have no control over it."

"That's why you had him in the carrier," Lance said more to himself than her. Yes, she'd said it was so he wouldn't run off, but it seemed likely it'd also been the way she'd planned on letting him die.

"Even if he doesn't get caught or die right away, it'll only be a matter of time. His human body won't be able to handle the stress of it and it'll kill him sooner or later."

The dread and fear he felt for JC doubled at that point, occupying his thoughts so much that he didn't so much as protest when she led him back over to the bed and tie him up once more.

That'd been several hours ago, and Lance hadn't been able to stop worrying about JC, his thoughts torturing him just like Vanessa had said they would. He couldn't help thinking about it and even when he fell asleep, he had nightmares about JC's death. One violent scene after another.

He was actually surprised he was able to sleep given the anxiety of the whole situation, still not knowing what Vanessa had planned for him. After she'd tied him up, she hadn't said anything else to him and had left once more. He could only imagine what she was up to and perhaps that was why he kept falling asleep - the continuous worry exhausted him. That and it wasn't like there was much else he could do to pass the time.

A couple hours ago, he'd thought about trying to get out of his bindings again. The knots weren't angled in the same position though, which made it harder to reach it. Not to mention, he felt a weird pain in his wrists every time he tried to twist them around to reach it - something he wrote off as a result of his last escape attempt. But still, it was enough to deter him from continuously trying to get out of the silk scarves that bound him to the bed.

Lance glanced at the alarm clock on his nightstand. 2:17 p.m. He wondered where JC was, hoping he made it to the guys and could transform back to himself in a few hours. There was no telling how long he was going to be there before Vanessa put whatever plan she had in mind into action, but he had a feeling the agonizingly long wait was going to feel like nothing compared to what she had in store for him.

***********

Joey knocked on Chris's door, and it opened a few seconds later.

"You're so forgetful," Chris said as he let Joey step inside and handed him his wallet.

Joey had left the apartment a few hours ago only to realize that he'd forgotten his wallet in the spare bedroom he'd slept in. He'd called Chris to give him a heads up that he was going to stop by to get it as he'd need it to take Kelly out to dinner later.

"Yeah, yeah. Like I haven't heard that before," Joey replied. "Besides, JC's just as bad as me."

"He's flighty and has too many songs bouncing around in his head. What's your excuse?"

Joey just shook his head with a smile. He was used to Chris ripping on him for his clumsiness and forgetfulness. "Did you hear Justin got out of the hospital earlier?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I think he tried calling here, but I was barely awake," Chris said and Joey laughed. "So he got the all clear from the doctor?"

Joey nodded. "He still has to take medicine for a couple weeks, but the infection hasn't gotten worse."

"That's good to hear. I was beginning to think he was cursed," Chris said with a light laugh.

Joey shared in the laughter. "I'm pretty sure Justin felt the same way. And if I was JC, I'd keep that cat far away from him. He went into great detail about how he was going to kill it."

Chris scoffed. "Please. He talks a good game, but he wouldn't. Not when he knew it would upset JC."

Justin wasn't the only one. Joey knew that while Chris had been the one to have a huge influence on Justin trying to act tough, Chris himself hardly followed through with his threats. Most were said in a joking manner and the ones that were serious they usually had something to do with one of them and their safety or happiness. As the oldest, he often took it upon himself to protect them from anything that might affect those things. Case in point: how long he'd kept Robert and what he'd been going through from them.

"Have you heard anything from Robert?" Joey asked, asking the question that was now on his mind.

"No," Chris said, giving him a look. "But that's to be expected considering what I threatened him with."

"Well, you'd apparently threatened him before and he still came after you. I just wanted to make sure he hasn't tried again."

Chris's eyes narrowed slightly. "Or maybe you really wanted to know if I changed my mind and decided to help him. That what you and JC said yesterday influenced me."

Joey said nothing, unable to deny it. He understood where Chris was coming from with not wanting to interact with his father since he'd caused him so much hell. But at the same time, he'd agreed with JC that Chris seemed to be writing his dad off too soon. Robert might not have the best track record, especially where Chris was concerned, but he was still family. If Joey was in Chris's place, he'd like to think he'd give Robert another chance, but he wasn't about to push Chris to do something he was so against.

"I know you're trying to help, but I just want to forget about the whole thing. And that means putting distance between me and my dad," Chris said.

"Okay. You won't hear anything else about it from me," Joey replied.

Chris nodded his thanks. Silence fell over them but didn't last long as Chris broke it by asking, "You want a beer or something?"

"Thanks, but I should probably be going. Go get ready for dinner with Kel."

So far it'd been a good day for her, not having puked much at all since she woke up and Joey wanted to treat her to a nice meal. He knew he wouldn't be around much for the next few months once the second leg of the tour started and he wanted to do all he could to make it up to her in the meantime.

Chris led Joey over to the front door, opening it and allowing Joey to walk past into the hallway. He hovered in the doorway while Joey paused just at the top of the stairs. "Give me a call later if you want to hang," Chris told him.

"Will do," Joey said, nodding. "I'm sure we're not going to have any choice; Justin's probably so bored he'll be begging us to come over and entertain him."

"If Kim lets us come over."

Joey laughed at that, all of them knowing full well how protective she was of Justin, especially when he was sick. And what'd happened the last couple of days had gone beyond your typical cold or flu. It was likely she wouldn't be letting him do much of anything until she was sure his body had rested enough to really kick the infection for good.

He was about to step down onto the next stair and say goodbye to Chris, only to abruptly pull his leg up when he realized he'd nearly stepped on something. A cat to be more precise, and one that sprinted around him.

"Did one of your neighbors get a cat?" Joey asked, turning back to look at Chris.

Chris shook his head and looked like he was going to say more when the cat suddenly dashed passed him, running right into his apartment. "Hey!" he protested, spinning on his heel and going after the cat.

Joey, wanting to know what was going on, quickly crossed the small hallway to reenter Chris's apartment. As he walked through the door, Chris was nowhere in sight, but Joey could hear him yelling at the cat to "come back here you little shit." Chuckling lightly, he followed Chris's voice and had just come up behind him when there was a loud yowling coming from inside the bathroom.

"What the f..." Chris started to ask, but he abruptly cut himself off. His voice was full of confusion and disbelief as he said hesitantly, "Jace?"

Joey's brow furrowed in confusion and pushed Chris aside so he could stand in the doorway of the bathroom to see for himself. Sure enough, his eyes confirmed what Chris had said. JC was lying across the white tile panting heavily, his face scrunched up in pain and his body littered with purple and blue bruises.

Joey's mind was screaming at him, telling him that JC had just turned back from being a cat. But it wasn't something he was ready to accept. Stuff like that wasn't possible. At least it wasn't supposed to be and yet, what other explanation was there? Neither he or Chris had seen JC had seen their friend since they'd put him to bed the night before as he'd left before either of them had woken up. Still, it was a lot to try to wrap his head around.

Wanting to know what Chris thought of this crazy situation, Joey glanced to his right where his oldest friend had been standing only to find he'd moved into the bathroom. He was kneeling in the small space, his knee inches from JC's chest. JC, for his part, didn't seem to be in nearly as much pain, but he didn't exactly try to move away from Chris's searching hands.

"What the hell just happened?" Chris asked JC, his hands gently moving up and down JC's body obviously trying to find the source of the pain that was still apparent from his facial expression.

"I thought it would've been obvious," JC muttered. Just then Chris's hands ghosted over JC's side and yelped in pain, jerking away from the touch.

Joey instantly frowned while Chris demanded, "What the hell happened, JC? How'd you get hurt?"

JC let out a shaky breath, still recovering from the pain Chris's touch inflicted. "I'll explain everything if you stop touching me and let me get out of the bathroom."

There was no argument as Chris backed off, getting to his feet and offering a hand to JC. After taking another breath like he was preparing himself for the sudden change in altitude, he took Chris's hand and allowed him to pull him to his feet. He still ended up swaying and likely would've crashed to the floor if it hadn't been for Chris's grip on his arm.

Sure that JC seemed okay, at least for the moment anyway, Joey turned and led them back into the living room. He sat at one end of the couch and JC carefully lowered himself onto the other, while Chris disappeared into the kitchen. A couple seconds later, he reappeared and offered an icepack to JC.

"For that goose egg on your head," Chris said.

Joey looked over at JC and immediately noticed the rather large bump on the side of JC's head right near his temple. He wondered how he'd missed it before even in the brighter lights of the bathroom. The only thing he could come up with was that the stark contrast of the dark colored bruises against the pale skin had caught his attention more.

JC mumbled his thanks as he accepted the icepack and held it to his head, wincing as he did so. Joey wasn't sure if it was from touching the sore area or the extreme cold of the ice. Either way, his concern continued to grow as he wondered how exactly JC had gotten so beat up.

"So you want to explain what the hell's going on?" Chris prompted. "Since when can you turn into a freakin' cat?"

"Since last night," JC said, sinking into the cushions looking completely exhausted.

"Funny but you were still human when Joey and I brought you back."

Joey shot him a look. "Chris." He understood Chris was confused and wanted answers, but snapping at JC wasn't the way to get them.

"Yeah, but I went to Lance's. That's where it happened."

Chris frowned at JC. "Lance turned you into a cat?" he asked with a look that told Joey he was seriously debating JC's sanity.

"No," JC said, looking at each of them. "Vanessa did."

Joey blinked. "Vanessa? As in Lance's girlfriend? How the hell could she do that?"

"Because she's not human. She was the cat I adopted just like I said and-"

Chris groaned, interrupting JC. "This again? We already told you we don't believe you. That joke's not going to work with us."

"It's not a joke!" JC all but shouted, sitting up quickly. The anger didn't last long though as he immediately grimaced in pain, taking in a wheezing breath and coughing. When he managed to get his breathing under control he spoke again, forcing himself not to yell. "You saw what happened. She was cursed to be a cat and she transferred the curse to me."

Joey looked at him. He didn't want to believe it, but what choice did he have? JC could be imaginative, but even this was too much of a stretch for him. He wouldn't make something like this up, and there was more to this because none of that explained how he'd come to look like he'd gone a couple rounds with a heavyweight boxer.

"So how are you...you know, you right now?" Joey asked JC.

JC sighed, falling back into the cushions again and tilting his head back so he was looking up at the ceiling. "Apparently she'd transferred half of the curse to some other woman, so I'm stuck being a cat for twelve hours instead of the whole day."

Chris shook his head, pacing the short length of the couch. He was usually always in motion but it was especially true when he was upset or stressed. "This is nuts. Stuff like this isn't possible."

JC snorted. "Right. I'm walking proof it is."

"And why is that? How the hell did you let yourself be cursed?"

JC lifted his head just enough to glare at Chris. "Let myself?" he repeated. "I had no say in it. She'd apparently been transferring it to me while I slept. Bit my neck or something."

Chris suddenly stopped pacing like he'd just realized something. "The hickey on your neck? That's from her?"

JC nodded. "She went right to that spot when she transferred the rest of it."

Joey frowned. "This happened at Lance's?" he asked, wondering where Lance was when his girlfriend did this to JC. He couldn't picture Lance just sitting back and letting it happen.

JC seemed to realize what he was thinking and said, "He asked her to. Because the curse hadn't completely transferred, my body was trying to transform but couldn't. I would've died if he hadn't convinced her to finish it."

Joey and Chris glanced at each other before looking back at JC, both wondering what the hell he was talking about. "I think you better explain from the beginning," Joey said.

JC sighed again, but sat up slightly as he launched into what'd happened when he'd woken up in the middle of the night. He told them about the nightmare he'd had about Lance and the indescribable need he had to get to Lance, to tell him about how he'd seen his cat turn into Vanessa. Then he told them what Vanessa had really wanted Lance for, how she'd used him as a conduit to kill her ex-lover's soul.

The whole thing left Joey reeling, unable to believe that Vanessa had done those things and that she wasn't human. Yes, she'd seemed a little cold, but there'd been nothing about her that'd suggested to Joey she was anything other than the person she'd portrayed herself to be. It all seemed so surreal, but they had no choice but to believe JC.

When JC had finished talking, he seemed a bit winded and was wincing in pain again as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Joey was reminded once again that while JC had explained a great deal about what'd happened at Lance's, he'd yet to tell them how he'd gotten so injured - or even how he'd gotten out of the house.

"What happened to you?" Joey asked.

JC tried to act nonchalant and shrug only to make a face as the movement pulled on sore or injured muscles. "She used me to punish Lance for trying to help me escape."

"What'd she do?" Chris's eyes were narrowed, but Joey knew the anger wasn't directed at JC. It never sat well with Chris when one of them was hurt and this situation was more extreme than normal.

"She kicked the carrier I was in down the stairs."

JC had already explained to them how Vanessa had thrown him into Dirk's old pet carrier once he was in cat form so he couldn't run off, and Joey could picture the scene in his mind as if he'd actually been there. He could just imagine how painful that must've been for JC, confined to a small cage, slamming into the sides of it as the entire thing tumbled down the stairs. It certainly explained a lot of the bruising, but it also made him even more concerned there was a much more serious problem in an area they couldn't see.

Chris seemed to be on the same wavelength as Joey because he said, "Maybe we should get you checked out."

"I'm fine," JC replied automatically but the lack of conviction he said it with did little to convince them. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked so tired.

Because of how exhausted JC was, he didn't seem to realize Chris had gotten closer until he was reaching out and by then it was too late for JC to move out of Chris's reach. As soon as Chris's hand connected with JC's side, he hissed in pain and did his best to lean away from him.

"You don't seem fine to me," Chris said. He fixed JC with a hard look. "You could have a broken rib or something even more serious."

"I doubt it."

Joey sighed, tired of JC's stubbornness to get checked out. "JC, you really need to get looked at by a doctor. You could be bleeding internally or something."

"And Lance could be dying," JC retorted. "He risked himself to help me escape. He's counting on me to get help and I'm not going to let him down."

"We're going to help him, but he's not the only one that needs help," Joey reasoned, trying to get through to JC.

But JC was as stubborn as ever. "No. I can get checked out after all this over. Once we get Lance back."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Chris asked. "How are we supposed to go up against a demon or whatever the hell she is?"

JC looked like he wanted to shrug, but he remembered in time it wasn't a good idea. So he settled for saying, "We'll figure something out."

"How?" Chris demanded. "This is so out of the realm of normal. None of us know what the hell we're doing."

"We could go to the police."

Joey couldn't blame JC for suggesting that, but he had a feeling this was beyond the call of duty. Even for Orlando P.D. "I'm not sure they'll be much help, Jace. I doubt they'd even believe us."

"You don't think I know that?" JC snapped. He tossed the icepack on the table and sighed. "I figured we'd make up some story. Tell them she's holding Lance against his will and that she's like a crazy Satanist or something."

"I'm pretty sure even that story would land us in the nuthouse before it'd convince them to listen to us," Chris said.

JC glared at him. "Well, do you have any better ideas? We can't just leave Lance with her and let her do God knows what else to him."

Chris, for his part, didn't seem fazed by JC's anger. "I agree, but this isn't exactly something we can punch into the Internet or find a book on at the library. At least we wouldn't find anything I'd be willing to bet Lance's life on."

"Well, we have to start somewhere. Lance is counting on us to figure out something and quick."

"Why don't we start with getting some dinner?" Joey suggested. He glanced at Chris, figuring there'd be some crack about him and food. But Chris seemed to realize he hadn't said it out of his own hunger but knowing that JC needed to eat. Based off what he'd told them, it sounded like he hadn't eaten since at least lunch the day before and if he truly was okay, he wouldn't stay that way if he didn't get something substantial in him.

"Good idea," Chris said. "We can brainstorm while we eat."

JC gingerly crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not hungry."

"Tough. You're eating."

JC looked like he was going to argue, but the no nonsense look on Chris's face made him reconsider. While JC was stubborn, Chris could easily match him and often beat the rest of them when they tried to challenge. It certainly helped their case that JC didn't seem to have enough energy to get up off the couch, let alone fight them on something he wouldn't win anyway.

"Order the food," Joey told Chris, getting up from the couch. "I have a phone call to make real quick."

Chris raised an eyebrow at him before he suddenly nodded in understanding, telling Joey he could use one of the bedrooms for his phone call. Joey shot him a grateful look and stepped into the spare bedroom to call Kelly. He had to let her know they wouldn't be going out to dinner and that he likely wouldn't be home tonight. She wouldn't be too happy with him, but that was the least of Joey's problems at the moment.

Lance was in trouble and they had to do everything they could to save him before something serious happened. Something they couldn't reverse.

"You should take a shower."

JC snapped out of the daze he'd been in, having zoned out while Chris had been on the phone ordering the food. He quickly realized Chris was now off the phone and staring at him, waiting for a response.

"What?" JC said, unsure he'd really heard Chris's question.

Chris stepped closer to him. "I said you should shower. You reek, man."

JC shook his head. "I'm fine. We need to figure out how we're going to help Lance."

"Would you rather I tell you to take a nap?"

JC caught the no nonsense look Chris had in his eye, telling him he wasn't going to win this. It seemed stupid to indulge in such a luxury considering Lance was going through something JC couldn't even imagine, but he couldn't deny that getting clean would make him feel better. He felt so grimy from navigating through the numerous busy streets between Lance's house and Chris's apartment. Besides, there was nothing to keep him from beginning to think of a way to get Lance away from Vanessa while he was showering.

"Okay," JC relented finally, getting to his feet.

Chris clamped a hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle shove towards the bathroom. "Go ahead in. I don't think I have any of your clothes here, but I can at least give you a clean t-shirt when you get out."

"All right," JC said with a shrug. He didn't think it would do much in the grand scheme of things, especially since the shower itself would make him feel way better than he did at the moment.

JC walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. It took him only a minute to strip his clothes and step into the shower. His eyes reflexively closed as the warmth of the spray seemed to relax the tense, injured muscles while washing all the dirt and grime away. It was the first moment he'd had to relax since he'd woke up at four in the morning and his abused, exhausted body was more than ready for a rest.

But he forced himself to open his eyes and stand up straight, knowing he couldn't rest until they saved Lance from whatever Vanessa had planned. He couldn't even begin to imagine what Lance was going through at that moment, especially since he'd no doubt been punished for helping him to get out. It was a thought that terrified him and made him even more determined to come up with something. Anything.

The only problem was it wasn't quite that easy. His mind was muddled from lack of sleep, the injuries he'd sustained, and the exhausting trek he'd made to get here. And what thoughts that did get pieced together were either jumbled or raced through his mind too fast for him to really grab onto a possible solution. Still, he refused to give up.

As he forced his mind to focus on what they were going to do, he began to shampoo his short hair and wash the rest of his body. He frantically thought of any possible way they could use to incapacitate Vanessa, allowing them to get Lance away from her. Various methods ran through his mind, but regardless of what they went with, there was no guarantee that it would work. After everything that'd happened in the last thirteen hours, he wouldn't put it past her to somehow evade whatever they tried.

Frustrated, JC fell back against the cold tile as he allowed the water to wash away the soapy suds from his body. Part of him almost didn't want to get out of the shower because he knew it was unlikely Chris and Joey would be able to add much insight, no doubt struggling as much as him. There was a lot of what ifs to this, making him think that they would have no certainty that whatever they came up with would work. The idea of it wasn't encouraging and made him almost unwilling to face that very real possibility, but that wasn't an option. He wouldn't give up on Lance, not after the risk he'd taken to get him out and the fact that he was relying on him to save him.

So his mind continued to run with possibilities, trying to determine what had the highest probability of success. His right hand unconsciously went to his neck, his nimble fingers playing with the thin black cord that held his Leo pendant. Several seconds of him fiddling with it passed before something in his mind clicked, his motions stilling instantly. He wasn't the only one that had a special piece of jewelry that was always worn.

Every time JC had seen Vanessa, she always had a pearl necklace on. The very same necklace he'd seen her hold as she'd chanted those weird things when she'd summoned her ex-lover's soul to Lance's body. The significance of it wasn't lost on him. Why would she grasp it as she spoke if it did nothing? She'd made a point of holding a few of the pearls between her fingers while she worked her mojo, and JC knew they had to get a hold of it.

All of his earlier reluctance to turn off the shower vanished at the prospect he could have figured out something that may truly help them save Lance. He shut off the water and grabbed a towel as he stepped out to quickly dry himself. Once he was relatively dry, he put his underwear and jeans back on, forgoing his t-shirt in favor of a clean one that Chris had offered. It took only a few seconds and his excitement propelled him out into the living room where Joey and Chris were.

Before he could even get a word out, his presence seemed to surprise them and both of them spoke.

"Jesus, JC," Joey breathed.

Words alone weren't good enough for Chris who was on his feet and moving towards him as he said, "We need to get you checked out."

"I'm fine," JC said, now understanding why he'd elicited such a response. It hadn't been because they were surprised by his sudden appearance, it was because they could clearly see every bruise on his upper body since he was naked from the waist up.

"You're so far from fine it's ridiculous," Chris replied. "We're taking you to a doctor."

"No!" JC objected, and immediately hissed as Chris pressed against the large bruise halfway down his right side that was right over his ribcage. "Damn it, Chris. Leave me alone."

"JC, you're hurt. You could have a cracked rib and it looks like you took a pretty good shot to your kidney."

Chris reached out and his fingers barely skimmed JC's flesh on the lower left just above the waistband of his jeans, but it still sent pain running down his body. JC jerked away, out of Chris's grasp.

"Quit it," JC said, panting just slightly as he recovered from the pain that'd momentarily shocked his system. "I'm trying to tell you something."

"You can tell me whatever you want on the way to the doctor."

Chris tried to reach out to take a hold of JC's wrist, but JC stepped back, putting more distance between them. He glared and Joey seemed to share at least a fraction of JC's annoyance as he said, "Chris..."

"She has a necklace," JC blurted out, cutting in to try to get their sole attention on what he was saying and not his injuries.

Joey and Chris glanced at each other, clearly confused. "That's nice," Chris said, looking back at JC. "I'm failing to see how knowing what jewelry she has helps us."

JC shook his head. "She held it as she was doing the ritual or whatever it was to Lance."

"So you think it's the source of her powers?" Joey asked.

"Yes?" JC said, unsure if that was truly the case. The necklace definitely was significant and seemed to have some kind of power, but he wasn't ready to say it was the source of her power. After all, she hadn't touched the necklace when she'd nearly choked Lance to death without even touching him. "I don't know. It's probably got some of her powers. If we destroy it, maybe it'll weaken her."

"You said it right there. Maybe. We have no idea if it'll work," Chris said.

"But it should do something."

"You hope. You don't know for sure."

JC narrowed his eyes at Chris. "Of course I don't know for sure. I'm making my best guess here, and I'm telling you my gut says this necklace is important."

Joey stood up then, moving between them like he was trying to diffuse the mounting tension. "He's not saying it's not important. We just don't want to take a chance with it and make things worse."

JC understood where they were coming from, but he had a feeling nothing they came up with would be foolproof or guaranteed to work. All he knew was they had to get Lance out of there at all costs, and if destroying the necklace didn't work, hopefully it'd at least give them an opportunity to get Lance out. And maybe that was what they really needed to focus on.

"Then we'll just have to come up with some way for one of us to distract her while the other two help get Lance out of there," JC said.

"Like that's any easier," Chris replied with a bit of an attitude.

"Maybe if we get Justin in on this. He can help," Joey suggested.

Without any hesitation JC said, "No. He doesn't need to be in the middle of this. He's still recovering."

"And I figure you think you're going to be the one to distract her."

JC looked at Chris. "And why not? We have no idea what shape Lance is in and you two are better equipped for that."

Chris raised an eyebrow like he was surprised JC was finally admitting that he was injured enough for it to be limiting, but JC didn't pretend to be okay enough to help carrying Lance out if it came to that. It made sense that he would be the one to distract Vanessa, especially since he could probably stall her the longest as he knew some of what she was capable of. But he knew that was also cause for concern to them.

So he wasn't disappointed when Joey said, "What if she tries to do something to you? She can't be too happy you escaped."

"No, but that's the reason I'd be the best distraction. She'll be more occupied with me allowing you guys to get to Lance."

"Two problems with that," Chris said. "One, it's not like she's not going to know we're there. If you're there, she has to figure you brought someone to help. Two, what if she kills you?"

"That's not going to happen," JC told him, though he knew it was a very real possibility.

Vanessa could've easily killed him and no doubt intended to do so at some point. She'd certainly proved she was in control and had no problem doing whatever she felt was necessary to ensure she got what she wanted. Something she displayed when she kicked the carrier down the stairs with him inside, completely unconcerned about his wellbeing. Still, he knew he couldn't avoid going back to Lance's because he knew the most about her and could hopefully use it to their advantage.

"Not if you stay here," Chris said.

JC narrowed his eyes. "I'm going, and you can't stop me."

Chris opened his mouth, but Joey cut in before he could get a word out. "We're just worried about you, you get that, right? Especially when you say that we need to split up."

JC nodded once. He did know it was hard for them to accept, none of them comfortable with the idea of putting their friends in danger. But one of them was already in danger and they had to do what they could to help him.

"But it's necessary." JC saw that was little comfort to them and added, "Doesn't mean we can't be smart about it. We'll come up with a rough plan and do our best to stick to it."

There was a long pause before Chris finally said, "Okay."

All it took was a look at Joey to know he was just as willing to figure out the best way to get in there to help Lance. They wouldn't be able to plan much, but it would have to be enough to go in and hope whatever they came up with made them capable of getting Lance out of there.

One thing JC knew for sure was that it wasn't going to be easy. Not by a long shot.

***********

JC slowly made his way towards Lance's back door, sticking close to the siding and taking advantage of whatever shadows the roof overhang above could provide. It was ten o'clock and there was a waning moon, which helped conceal his movements. That went for Chris and Joey as well as the three of them were entering the house at different points, unsure where Vanessa would be. Joey was going to come through the front door and Chris was climbing the tree up to the roof to get access to Lance's bedroom.

JC was nervous for Chris, knowing how hard it'd been to navigate his way down the tree even in his cat form. It was going to be much harder for Chris to climb up it with the tight, narrow branches. Then he had to stretch himself to get onto the overhang from the roof to get access to Lance's bedroom window. And all of that work would be for nothing if the window ended up being locked, which JC hoped wasn't the case.

They'd argued quite a bit about splitting up and who would come in from which entrance, spinning the possibilities every which way. If JC had had his way, they would've gotten here hours ago, but Joey and Chris had been stubborn about them eating something beforehand, him especially. Something JC was really regretting as his stomach churned, his anxiety growing with each step he took.

Things were quiet, and they knew from watching the house that there were several lights on both on the first floor and the second. That made it nearly impossible to know where Vanessa would be as they entered, but they each had some kind of a weapon - something Chris had insisted on. JC griped the knife in his hand tightly, wondering if he'd actually be able to stab Vanessa if he needed to. The answer came to him quicker than he thought it would. Yes. He would do whatever he had to protect himself and, more importantly, keep her from getting in the way of saving Lance.

He reached the back door and gently tugged on the sliding door's handle. It slid open easily, and JC stepped inside. The kitchen was dark, but one of the lamps was lit in the living room, spilling some light into part of the kitchen. As JC silently shut the door behind, he realized how odd that was. Lance usually always had it locked unless he was out in the backyard and when JC had interrupted him and Vanessa hours ago, they'd been headed upstairs so he'd likely locked it. Vanessa could've unlocked it, but JC's gut told him that was unlikely, making him feel like he'd just walked into a trap.

Slowly he began to turn towards the darker side of the kitchen, the hair on the back of his neck standing up. Before his eyes could even begin to comb the dark for Vanessa, he was suddenly lifted off his feet and thrown across the room. He slammed into a wall, his back taking the brunt of it and causing him to cry out in pain as it aggravated his existing injuries. He crumpled to the floor and belatedly realized he'd dropped his only weapon over by the backdoor where he'd been standing before he'd been thrown.

JC was on his hands and knees, trying to catch his breath. He could hear footsteps approaching him seconds before he saw a set of high heeled shoes come into his vision. Glancing up, he saw that Vanessa was crouched in front of him.

"How stupid do you think I am?"

JC heard another set of footsteps, this time coming much quicker and he knew it had to be Joey. He'd likely already been in the house when JC had come in and gotten attacked by Vanessa.

Vanessa turned and straightened immediately, moving quickly so she was in Joey's path. Joey had come rushing in, the Louisville Slugger Chris had given him raised in a defensive manner. He tried to bring it down on her head, but she intercepted it easily and all but yanked it out of his hands. She turned it on him and whacked him in the stomach with it, causing Joey to groan and drop to his knees, coughing.

She moved back so she was standing in front of both of them, casually swinging the bat from her fingertips. "You boys are in a lot of trouble."

As JC stared up at her, he did his best to look worried. It wasn't too hard considering fear was starting to build, but they did have one thing going for them. Chris.

***********

Chris practically sighed in relief as he carefully climbed through the window, thanking his lucky stars that he hadn't fallen out of the tree...or off the roof. That and he was extremely thankful the window hadn't been locked because otherwise, he would've had to try to make it back down and enter another way. Or he might've just broken the window, but that certainly would've drawn a lot of attention.

He quickly scanned the room, wanting to make sure Vanessa wasn't lurking in the shadows to catch him off guard. The small moon outside didn't do much to help illuminate the dark bedroom, but after a few seconds, Chris was satisfied that she wasn't in there. With that assurance, he rushed over to the bed where he'd seen Lance tied to through the window. He turned on the small bedside lamp on the nightstand and was taken by surprise at what he saw.

Lance was so pale, which given how fair his skin was had to be some kind of an accomplishment. He also looked a little thinner than when Chris had last seen him. He might not have eaten in twenty-four hours or so, but it seemed unlikely that would've affected him so much already. It seemed like Vanessa had done something to him, but Chris was unsure what or why.

"Chris," Lance said, his voice sounding even deeper in his weakened state.

"It's okay. We're going to get you out of here," Chris replied, doing his best to be reassuring. He quickly began to loosen the knots on the scarves that bound both of Lance's wrists to the posts.

"JC's okay?"

Chris nodded, continuing to work on the first knot. "Yeah, he's fine. How else did you think I knew to come?"

It took only a minute to untie Lance, the knots not being all that tight. Once Lance was free, Chris helped him sit up and even that small action seemed to give him a head rush. He gave him a second to recover.

"You okay?" he asked, his brown eyes seeking out Lance's green. Lance met his gaze and nodded. Chris reached out for him and said, "C'mon, let's get you out of here."

Chris grabbed onto Lance's arm and helped him stand up, which ended up being the only thing that kept him from face planting into the carpet. He threw Lance's arm over his shoulders, taking on more of his weight. He didn't know exactly what was wrong with Lance, but that could all be figured out once they got out of there.

They'd made it to the bedroom door when they heard a crash and a yelp of pain come from downstairs. Instantly, they froze for a second before Chris opened the door and continued to lead Lance downstairs as planned. As he began to navigate down the steps with Lance, he could hear the sound of someone rushing into the room and Chris had to hold back a groan at Joey's lack of stealth. He was going to kill JC for this stupid plan of his.

Chris did his best not to take the stairs faster than Lance could handle, but his desperation to get to the back part of the house and help his other two friends made it hard. Still, he did pick up the pace and was at the bottom a moment later. He carefully extracted himself from Lance, lowering him to the floor and positioning him so he was leaning against the wall.

"Wait here," he told him quietly.

Chris carefully took the gun he'd put in between the waistband of his jeans and his back, clicking the safety off as he slowly made his wall down the dark hallway. He'd surprised his friends when he'd pulled the gun out of the lockbox in his closet, none of them having known he had one. It was something he'd bought a while ago, even before his father showed up, and he was grateful for it now. Even if it couldn't kill her, it would at least slow her down.

He'd just reached the edge of the kitchen as he heard Vanessa say, "You boys are in a lot of trouble."

Chris glanced to his left and saw a light switch that controlled one of the main overhead lights in the kitchen. Something he could use to his advantage.

He pushed the switch and light immediately flooded the previously darkened kitchen. Chris had squinted his eyes in preparation for sudden change in lighting, but Vanessa hadn't had the same chance. It was what he was counting on and he used that moment to point the gun at her.

"Actually, I think you're in trouble," Chris said. He glanced briefly to make sure Joey and JC were okay before turning all of his attention back to Vanessa.

Vanessa blinked once more to clear her vision before she looked at him, taking in his defensive stance and the gun he had aimed at her. And she laughed.

"You gonna shoot me?" The way she said it made it clear that she didn't think he was capable of it.

"Give me a reason," Chris practically growled. He had no doubt there'd be zero hesitation in squeezing that trigger if he had to.

"What...how can..."

Chris glanced down at JC, frowning at his incoherent mumbling. He wondered if he'd hit his head again, making what'd likely been a slight concussion from before even worse. But as Vanessa smirked and turned towards JC, he realized what had JC so flabbergasted.

There was a small swell to Vanessa's midsection. She looked to be at least three months pregnant, but that wasn't possible. She definitely hadn't been pregnant the few times he'd seen her. It could be some trick, a way to keep him from shooting her, but somehow Chris doubted it. Still, it didn't explain how she was suddenly pregnant and practically in her second trimester.

"Bit of a surprise, isn't it?" Vanessa asked, mirth in her eyes.

"Considering you weren't when we last saw you, yeah," Chris replied. "Besides, no woman can go through a pregnancy so quick."

"No human woman. I'm different."

"That's for damn sure," Chris muttered.

Just then there was a noise behind him, and Chris turned his head to see what the source was. At the same time, he forced his hands to keep the gun trained on Vanessa and did his best to watch her for any sudden movements out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't surprised to see Lance, who'd somehow managed to get up and come down the short hallway only to stumble and fall into the wall. He looked pretty out of it.

"Lance..." Joey said, looking kind of relieved as he approached him. Chris turned back to Vanessa, giving her his full attention now that he knew Joey was taking care of Lance. It also told him that Joey was truly okay, no worse for the wear despite having been on the floor when Chris had first entered.

"Such a shame, isn't it?" Vanessa said, though her tone was unsympathetic.

Chris glared at her. "What did you do to him?"

"I didn't do anything. My baby on the other hand..."

Chris's eyes briefly flitted down to her slightly swollen stomach, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded. He couldn't imagine an unborn child could do anything to Lance from the womb.

Vanessa smiled and it was something between amusement and sinister. "In my society, women are valued much more than men."

"In your society? There's more of you?" Chris said.

"Oh yes. Not many, but there's enough. It's part of the reason we look for men - we need to keep our line going. We don't have any kind of loyalty to the sperm donors though."

"That's what you used Lance for?" JC asked, speaking for the first time since he'd noticed she was pregnant.

Vanessa laughed. "No, silly boy. My ex-lover had that pleasure. He planted the seed so to speak, but it couldn't become active until I killed his physical body and his soul. Lance was the perfect host for that."

"So what the hell's happening to him now?" Chris asked, forcing her attention back to him. He felt better when her focus was away from JC as she'd already hurt him so much and he didn't want to give her any reason to lash out at him.

"As the baby grows, Lance gets weaker. Human women have to suffer through the body aches and everything that comes with the fetus stealing nutrients from her. So we found a way for the baby to take what it needed from a man instead," Vanessa explained. "And of course, it had to be another lover. Someone that was willing to submit to us completely."

Joey looked at her. "So that was your intent all along? You were just using Lance?"

"I was attracted to him," she said and tried to take a step closer to where Joey and Lance were sitting on the floor. But her movements were halted when Chris pulled back the hammer on the gun. "But yes, he was the perfect person to help me finish what I'd started with Jerrell."

"You're not finishing anything. We're taking him out of here," Chris said.

She laughed again. "Go ahead. It's not going to change what's happening. He'll be dead by this time tomorrow."

Chris noticed JC shifting out of the corner of his right eye and he got the feeling that he was about to make some kind of a move to get to the pearls that hung around Vanessa's neck. He wanted to give a signal to tell him to back off, but he didn't because doing so would definitely tip her off that something was about to happen. That and he was sure JC wouldn't listen to him anyway.

So instead, he kept his gaze locked with Vanessa's. "You're lying," he said.

"I'm not," she replied simply, not at all offended at the accusation. "Women's bodies were made to withstand the constant need of nutrients the fetus needs, replenishing what's been lost. Men aren't equipped for it, which is why this can only end in death. The baby is literally stealing life away from him."

No sooner had she finished, JC launched himself at her, his hands reaching out for her neck. His body slammed into hers and she stumbled, but before she could lose her balance completely, she wrapped her left hand around a couple of her peals and suddenly JC collapsed. He clutched his chest, looking very panicked, while Vanessa ran her free hand through her hair to smooth it out.

"I could crush his organs you know. It wouldn't be very hard at all. I could start with his lungs, make him think he's suffocating."

"Let him go," Chris demanded through gritted teeth. He wasn't exactly sure what she was doing to him, but obviously it wasn't good.

Vanessa just smiled, not seeming at all intimidated by him. Though, she did release whatever hold she'd had on JC because he folded in on himself, practically gasping for air.

"You should just accept that you're not going to best me. It's your decision if you want to lose three friends instead of two."

Chris's brow furrowed. He glanced at Joey, making sure once more that he was uninjured and that she hadn't somehow done something to him. But Joey seemed fine. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I have complete control over anyone who's blood I've taken. JC's happened as I transferred the curse to him night after night, biting into his neck. Lance's was a bite to the lip in a moment of passion." Vanessa took a step closer, unfazed by the gun in her face. "But there was someone else. Someone who was the first to get a taste of just what I could do."

Chris frowned, but behind him Joey breathed, "Justin."

Of course. Justin had been bit by her back when they'd all thought she was just some cat JC adopted from a local shelter. A bite that ended up getting infected and put him in the hospital for days, leaving the doctors confused about how it generated so quickly. The problem was that it hadn't been a normal cat bite; Vanessa had purposely made him sick.

"Why?" JC practically croaked, still recovering from what she'd done a moment ago.

"Because he seemed the most likely to get in the way," she said, looking at JC. "He kept coming over and I couldn't risk him coming at the wrong time and seeing me. Not that he would've believed it I'm sure. You didn't want to believe it yourself."

"You're not going to do anything to Justin," Chris said, getting her to refocus her attention again.

"No? I think you underestimate me. It'd be all too easy to make him sick again. Though, maybe this time I'll go for a coma."

Chris's eyes hardened and his grip on the gun tightened. "Actually, you underestimate me."

With that, he pulled the trigger on the gun, firing a bullet straight into the center of her chest. Like he'd suspected, it didn't kill her. But it didn't even knock her off her feet, only pushing her back a few steps. Though, a red spot spread across her chest and idly Chris wondered how she could bleed when she wasn't even technically human. But that was all he had time to think as he suddenly catapulted through the air and slammed up against the nearby cabinets right in front of the sink.

Pain sparked through his back and stars danced before his eyes for a couple seconds, but he quickly blinked them away. He found himself face to face with the dark haired woman, her stormy gray eyes boring into his with an intensity unlike any he'd experienced before. Part of him wanted to look away, but he wouldn't be intimidated. And he sure as hell wasn't going to give up.

"Chris!" Joey called from the other side of the room.

Vanessa glared down at Chris. "I think this fight needs to be between me and you. They're all too distracting."

Without another word, she mumbled a few strange words under her breath and the reaction was almost instantaneous. On the other side of the kitchen, Chris could hear Lance and JC both coughing and gagging, like she was making good on the threat she'd delivered just a minute ago about crushing JC's internal organs, starting with his lungs. She couldn't technically do anything to Joey since she didn't have his blood, but he could just make out Joey going from Lance to JC and back again, looking frantic. There was no way he was going to leave their side - no way he'd interfere.

Chris looked back at her. "And what are you going to do to me? You have no control over me."

"No, but I know just the thing."

Vanessa reached out with one hand to the wall behind Chris and flipped a switch. Dread instantly filled his stomach as he heard the grinding noise of the garbage disposal. Knowing, he had to fight her off before she could even think about shoving his hand down it, he immediately began to shove against her. But suddenly there was an invisible force pressing against him, rendering him practically motionless. Something that made it all too easy for her to grab his left arm and pull it towards the active garbage disposal.

Chris's heart began to race, getting faster and faster the closer his hand got to the opening in the sink. Once his hand disappeared into that hole there would maybe be six inches of free space before he would encounter the spinning blades. He couldn't believe he'd got himself into this situation and his mind frantically scrambled to come up with a way to get himself, and the others, out of it.

He closed his eyes as he felt her begin to shove his hand into the hole in the garbage disposal, his fingers going past the rubber padding. Just when he thought that was it, he heard footsteps and thought for sure it was Joey. So he was surprised when the voice he heard wasn't Joey's at all.

"You'd think one of you could answer your phone," Justin grumbled as he walked into the kitchen. He abruptly stopped. "What the hell's going on?"

Justin's sudden presence startled Vanessa and Chris immediately felt the invisible barrier that'd held him against the cabinets and counter lift. That was all the opportunity he needed. Chris yanked his left arm out of the sink and out of Vanessa's grasp, quickly recovering enough to latch onto her pearl necklace and dislodge it from her neck. The necklace snapped off and he threw it into the garbage disposal.

Almost immediately Vanessa began to shriek and she burst into flames. The fire seemed to consume her and lasted for several seconds before there was a puff of smoke. She vanished, taking the fire along with her. She was dead.

Chris looked to the other side of the kitchen, glad to see that JC and Lance were both sitting up and no longer coughing or gagging. Joey looked relieved, which was definitely a feeling he shared.

"Looks like destroying the necklace did kill her," Chris said, looking at JC. After all, it'd been his idea that'd made this possible. Never would he have been able to come up with that on his own.

"Um..." Justin spoke, frowning at each of them and his brow furrowed in confusion. "What the hell just happened?"

Chris walked over to him and clapped him on the shoulder. "Trust me, J. You don't want to know. Just know you saved our asses."

Justin looked like he was going to protest, obviously wanting more information and Chris couldn't blame him. He would too. But his only concern at the moment was making sure Lance and JC were okay and ensuring that all of them got the rest they deserved.

Lance lied against several pillows propping him up against the headboard of his bed. He stared at the wall across the room, his eyes not really focusing on anything as he let his mind wander. It was hard to believe twenty-four hours ago he'd been completely ignorant of Vanessa's plans for him and what lengths she'd gone to in order to make sure they played out like she'd wanted. Given everything that'd happened, it was amazing things hadn't turned out worse than they did.

Really, the four of them probably would've died if Justin hadn't showed up, walking in like they'd been expecting him. His sudden appearance had thrown off Vanessa enough for Chris to push back against her and destroy the pearl necklace, which had resulted in her immediate death. Almost instantly, the crushing feeling against Lance's chest had disappeared and left him gasping for air as relief flooded his body. Near him JC had done the same thing, coughing against the sudden influx of oxygen back into his starved lungs.

But all of it could've been avoided if he hadn't fallen for Vanessa. He couldn't even explain what it'd been about her that'd drawn him to her, had made him so enamored with her. Yes, she'd been a strikingly beautiful woman, but he wasn't so shallow that looks were all he looked for in a girl. Her personality hadn't exactly been stellar either, acting aloof and cold a lot of the time, especially around the guys. It made sense now that he knew she hadn't really loved him - or been human for that matter - but there'd been something about her that'd attracted him to her.

Could it be he'd been blinded to her faults by the simple fact he was lonely and she was the first woman he could see himself with in a while? He couldn't deny that something had sparked inside of him when he'd seen her and recognized that she was flirting with him. But he hadn't exactly been completely blind to her negative qualities, having gotten into a fight with her when she'd suggested the guys hated her and didn't really want to see him happy. Looking back now, that should've been a warning sign to him. Instead, he'd just brushed it off as her misunderstanding the closeness between the five of them. After all, it wouldn't have been the first time a potential girlfriend was put off by just how close and in each other's business they were.

Lance sighed. There was no doubt they'd lucked out, and hopefully his next girlfriend wouldn't try to kill them or use them to make herself more powerful. The whole thing was so out there he wouldn't have believed it if it hadn't happened to him. Then he had the weakness in his body to serve as a constant reminder of what they'd gone through. For now anyway.

Even though he hadn't been seen by a doctor, they were all confident that he was going to be fine. From what Vanessa had explained about the unborn baby she was carrying stealing nutrients from him, it sounded like all he needed was to rest and eat enough to put on some of the weight he'd lost. He'd only lost a few pounds, but it was a lot given the short amount of time she'd been using his body to provide the fetus with what it needed to grow. It certainly wasn't as bad as what JC had gone through though.

Chris had taken him to the ER shortly after Vanessa had disappeared in combination of fire and smoke. JC had had a hard time catching his breath, looking very much in pain and it'd been something that had them all worried. Not to mention no doctor's office was open at ten o'clock in the evening. Naturally, JC had tried to protest, but Chris gave him a look that said it was pointless to argue.

"You refused to get checked out until you knew Lance was okay. Lance is safe now so it's time to haul you off to the doctor," Chris had said.

JC had scowled, but hadn't said anything else which for Lance was a true testament to how crappy he must've been feeling.

Before any of them could offer to accompany them to the hospital, Chris had already pushed JC towards the front door and told them they'd be back in a few. They'd had no time to protest as the door had closed behind them, and honestly Lance had known it wouldn't be best thing for him to be there considering how exhausted he felt. Really, it hadn't been a good idea for all of them to go as they usually always got recognized when the five of them were out together and this was certainly one thing they didn't want the press getting wind of. So Joey and Justin had helped Lance back to bed and that'd been the end of it.

Despite the fact that Lance had slept several hours since he'd helped JC escape from Vanessa and what'd transpired in the bedroom just a day earlier, he'd fallen asleep rather quickly. A glance at the clock told him that'd been hours ago, and it was just getting on five in the morning. He hadn't woken up at all so he had no idea when Chris and JC had gotten back, but surely they had returned by now.

Lance slipped out of bed, feeling an indescribable need to make sure JC was okay. He carefully made his way down the hall, doing his best not to make too much noise and wake the other sleeping occupants. Normally they were pretty heavy sleepers, but Lance wasn't sure how much that'd changed given what'd happened earlier - if they purposely trying to be on alert for anything weird. Not that they expected anything to happen, but he had a feeling none of them would really feel like it was completely over until the sun came up...which consequently was just minutes away.

The door to the guest room JC was sleeping in was partially open, and Lance gently pushed it open the rest of the way. He found he hadn't needed to worry about being quiet though as JC was awake, staring at something on the other side of the room. It took Lance a second to realize it was the alarm clock he was staring at, his body tense and rigid. He frowned but then it instantly clicked; JC was making sure it was truly over and that he didn't turn into a cat again.

A tense moment passed as the red numbers rolled to five o'clock, but after a very long minute, nothing happened. There was an almost audible sigh of relief from the bed and the anxiety seemed to drain from JC, his body sinking into the soft mattress beneath him. Though, Lance didn't miss the brief pinch to JC's features as he winced in pain.

"You okay?" he asked quietly as he slowly took a step towards the bed, trying not to scare JC.

"Yeah," JC breathed, trying to hold back a grimace as he shifted on the bed so he could look at Lance. "You're supposed to be resting."

Lance raised an eyebrow and returned, "So are you."

JC shook his head slightly. "I couldn't. Not until..."

"Not until you knew for sure you wouldn't transform again," Lance finished for him, gently lowering himself onto the foot of the bed.

"She completely transferred the curse to me. I didn't know if...there was no guarantee it would stop just because she's dead."

Lance nodded. It made sense and he couldn't believe he hadn't thought about it before. He'd just assumed that whatever awful things Vanessa had done to him and his friends would reverse. He wondered if Justin's infection had vanished or if he would still have to take his medicine for a few weeks. But he supposed it didn't matter if the infection was gone, it was probably a good idea to continue with the medicine just in case. It was a miracle none of them needed anything more than rest.

"Well, looks like you're safe now," Lance said, sending out a heartfelt thanks to the powers that be. He had no idea what the hell they would've done if JC had still been bound to that curse.

"You too," JC replied, looking at him meaningfully.

Lance stared at JC, realizing just how much he'd put on the line for him. Yes, he'd had to put up with his body being under Vanessa's control, lending itself to host her ex-lover's soul and drained of life for her fetus. But JC had tried to warn him that Vanessa wasn't who she'd seemed. He'd put himself in an awkward position, trying to tell him despite the fact Vanessa was there and knowing what kind of a reaction he would get. Of course neither of them had known at that point just what she was capable of, but JC certainly hadn't gotten off easy there. If anything, Lance wondered if Vanessa had done it not just to make sure he stayed in line, but to punish JC for trying to warn him and mess up her plans. Whatever the reason, JC had sure paid for it.

"What'd the doctor say?" Lance asked.

"I'm fine."

Lance gave JC a disbelieving look, knowing how much pain he'd seemed to be in when he and Chris had left. Outwardly there'd been no real signs of damage, but that pain had to have come from somewhere and pain from sources that couldn't be seen were often more serious. Though, he realized it couldn't be too serious or else JC wouldn't have been released from the hospital.

JC held Lance's gaze for several seconds before he finally broke. "Okay. That's not exactly what the doctor said. He said I was going to be fine."

"And in the mean time?"

"In the mean time I have to take it easy. I have a couple of cracked ribs, severe bruising to my left kidney, and a slight concussion," JC admitted. "But all things considered, it could've been much worse."

All things considered. Yeah, they'd definitely gotten off easy - all of them. It seemed like a miracle that JC hadn't broken anything given how terrible that tumble down the stairs had looked. Luck had certainly been on their side in the end.

"I'm sorry," Lance said, frowning as he watched JC shift uncomfortably on the bed. He was lying on his back, but if he'd cracked a rib, it probably wouldn't help to roll over onto his side. The whole thing made Lance feel incredibly guilty since he'd latched onto Vanessa so tightly and made her a constant part of their lives over the last week.

JC started to move like he was going to sit up, but he ended up settling for just lifting his head up to look at Lance better. "You have nothing to be sorry for. None of this was your fault."

Lance shook his head. "If I hadn't been attracted to her..."

"She would've gone after someone else," JC finished. "Besides, I was the one to bring her into our lives. So if anyone's to blame, it's me."

"It's not like you knew the cat you adopted was really a demon or whatever she was. What happened is pretty unprecedented."

JC let out a short laugh. "I think that's a bit of an understatement."

Lance chuckled himself. "I'm definitely going to be more careful with the next girl I hook up with. Probably will be a while for the next one anyway."

"You shouldn't let this deter you," JC said. "You said it yourself, this was a freak thing. The odds of you running into another demon-like woman are pretty slim."

"I know, but I'm not ready to get back out there. Probably won't be for a while."

JC looked at him with understanding in his eyes. "Just as long as you don't give up. I still believe there's someone out there for you."

Instantly, Lance's mind flashed back to the conversation he and JC had had back when JC had tried to present the cat to him as something to take his mind off Dirk. JC had said something similar then, and it was a certainty to him. But he never seemed to think the same thing should apply to him.

"I won't give up if you won't," Lance said.

JC met his eyes and nodded once. "Okay," he agreed quietly.

As Lance looked into those deep blue eyes, he could see some of the pain he kept hidden from them - both physical and emotional. It'd become alarmingly clear to them over the last month just how much JC kept from them, but they would continue to do their best to read him and help him deal. Though, Lance felt like he could honestly say the pain from Emma seemed to have disappeared, leaving behind just the physical kind from his injuries. And that was certainly something they could help him with.

"Get some sleep," Lance said, his voice barely above a whisper.

JC's eyes were half closed as he replied, "You too."

JC's breathing evened out and his eyes slid the rest of the way closed, finally giving into sleep he'd deprived himself of over the last twenty-four hours. Rising from the edge of the bed, Lance headed back to his room to join him in what he hoped would be a restful sleep.

***********

When Justin woke up the late morning sun was streaming into the guest room he occupied, and the house was quiet. It wasn't all that unnatural as Lance's house always had a calm, quiet vibe to it as Lance had begun to his whatever free time he had to work on his new management company. But the silence that Justin was experiencing now was almost eerie because there didn't seem to be any real signs of life, that his friends were up and about. Though, it was still kind of early, especially for Lance and JC who'd seemed to have gone through quite an ordeal in the last twenty-four hours.

Justin had demanded to know what'd happened, forcing Joey and Lance to tell him after Chris had taken JC to the hospital to get checked out. But he'd quickly discovered he hadn't really wanted to know; it was certainly hard to believe. In fact, his mind had been inclined to believe it was just an elaborate joke the guys were playing on him. Though that had been dismissed pretty fast as he realized JC and Lance would never hurt themselves for a joke or even fake being hurt and worrying the rest of them. Still, what Joey and Lance had told him about Vanessa being some kind of a demon and transferring her cat curse to JC all sounded so fantastical.

But it'd been reality. A twisted reality maybe, but it'd been real. Something that had been driven home with Justin knowing just how much of a bind all four of them had been in when he'd walked into the kitchen. Of course, he'd had no idea at the time what he was walking into.

Kim had left the house a few hours before to work a night shift at the hospital and he'd been going out of his mind with boredom, especially since he'd been confined to a bed for several days in the hospital. So he'd tried calling JC and when he didn't answer, he'd tried the others. When no one had picked up, he'd thought it was weird, but he hadn't thought anything was wrong. He'd just figured they'd gone out together or maybe had even done separate things, which was how he'd ended up at Lance's. Lance was always the one that seemed to know everyone's schedule even when they were just on vacation. So he'd definitely been completely caught off guard when he saw three of his friends on the floor and Chris with his hand in the sink with the garbage disposal running.

Justin shuddered, thinking about what could've happened...and not just to Chris but to the rest of them as well. JC and Lance had both looked pretty shaky, and he hadn't been entirely convinced with Chris's assessment that all Lance needed was rest and a few good meals. Though when he'd heard the whole story of what'd happened, he'd wondered if Lance had gotten off kind of easy in a way. Then again, JC's injuries had been mostly physical while Lance's had a definite emotional component to it where he'd no doubt second guess every woman that came up to him for a while.

Suddenly, Justin shot up and all but leaped from the bed to snatch his phone of the dresser. He hadn't bothered to call Kim to let her know he was staying at Lance's; she must have freaked when she'd come home to find him gone. So it was with a bit of reluctance that he called her, but he knew it had to be done.

When she answered, she'd sounded tired like she'd just woken up herself, but immediately moved into pissed. Justin found out that Chris had called her last night, telling her they were hanging and having a boys night. He was thankful that his friend had had the foresight to do so, no doubt having done it as he was waiting for JC in the ER. So after a lot of apologizing, he hung up the phone five minutes later feeling relieved that she hadn't threatened to kill him. He'd definitely have to make it up to her later.

Now that he was up, he figured he'd make his way downstairs to see what Lance had to eat and check on his friends along the way. He opened the bedroom door and silently walked out into the hall, navigating down the carpeted floor. There were a couple of bedrooms he peeked into on his way, Joey snoring softly in one of them. Lance's bedroom was at the end of the hall and he could see from the partially open door that he was still in his bed. But Chris and JC obviously weren't.

Justin walked down the stairs and immediately heard noises coming from the backside of the house where the kitchen and living room were. He turned the corner and walked into the open area between the two rooms and saw Chris at the kitchen counter, making a pot of coffee.

"Morning," Chris said, nodding to him briefly before he went back to filling the coffee pot with water.

"Where's JC?" Justin asked. "He's not in any of the bedrooms upstairs."

Chris put the coffee pot in its original place and hit a bit. Then he turned to look at him. "Have you tried the study?"

Justin frowned. "Why would he be in there?"

Chris shrugged and said, "I thought I'd spotted him in there earlier."

Justin mumbled his thanks, already heading back towards the front of the house where the study was. The door was open and almost instantly his eyes fell on JC who looked to be asleep in the cushy leather chair Lance had positioned in front of his desk. He shook his head as he approached his friend.

"Jace," he said, reaching out a hand to gently shake his shoulder.

JC moaned, trying to move out of his grip, but there was nowhere for him to go. When he realized this, he practically whined, "What?"

Justin couldn't help but grin at JC's reluctance to wake up. "You should go up to bed. You're going to get stiff if you stay in that chair."

JC shifted and his face pulled up in a grimace. "Too late," he groaned, reluctantly opening his eyes as he stretched slightly.

"Why are you down here anyway?"

"Had trouble getting comfortable upstairs," JC said, shifting again and Justin winced in sympathy when he heard something crack. "Thought the chair would put less pressure on my...on everything that hurts."

Justin took in JC's appearance. His hair and clothes were mussed, the baggy t-shirt that belonged to Chris making JC's thin frame look even smaller. Add in the sleepy, red-rimmed eyes and JC looked like a little boy that'd stayed up past his bedtime. Generally, he looked fine, but Justin was worried about more than physical health.

"That chick certainly did a number on you," Justin said.

JC shook his head slightly. "Lance had it worse."

"You both had it pretty rough. Let's just leave it at that."

JC said nothing. He just sighed and closed his eyes. Justin watched him breathe for a few seconds, remembering what Chris had told him about what the doctor had told him to look for signs that things weren't improving. Thankfully, his breathing didn't seem compromised too much from the cracked ribs, which was the key thing they'd been instructed to be on the lookout for. It didn't do much to quell his concern though.

"You okay?" Justin asked.

JC slowly opened his eyes to look at him. "Yeah. I'm fine."

Justin sighed. He hadn't expected any other answer, but he was getting really tired of hearing the words "I'm fine" come from JC's lips. "You know it won't kill you to tell the truth for once," Justin told him.

"I am," JC said, his voice lacking all of the anger Justin would've expected to hear. Maybe he was too tired to really be angry. JC looked him in the eye. "Seriously. I get you're worried, but I swear if the pain worsens you'll be one of the first to know."

"And all the other stuff?"

"What other stuff?" JC asked, frowning slightly.

"You haven't really talked about what happened. I don't want you to hang onto feelings you shouldn't be having. Like guilt," Justin said.

JC sighed again. "It just happened, Justin. It's only been, what? Twelve hours?"

"I know, and I'm not saying you have to talk about it now. But I don't want you putting it off forever," Justin said. "I mean, you haven't even really talked about Emma."

JC shook his head again. "I did. Sort of. Chris made me get some things off my chest the other day."

"Oh," Justin said, kind of thrown by that. He'd had no idea Chris had talked to JC. Of course he'd figured it was only a matter of time, especially since they'd been under the same roof and it was hard to avoid Chris when he was on a mission. Being in the hospital for a few days had put him so out of the loop.

"And honestly," JC continued, "I'm over it. What she did was shitty, but it doesn't change what happened. I just want to move on."

"Are you sure?"

"No, I want to keep feeling like crap," JC said sarcastically. He took a breath and then said more calmly, "As strange as it sounds, what happened put things in perspective for me. I realized I'm not the only one who's been in some pretty messed up relationships. Everyone has their share of crappy relationships before they find the person they're meant to be with."

Justin cracked a smile, enjoying the first bit of optimism he heard from JC in a long time. "I could've told you that, dude."

JC rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Timberlake. You got off easy. You found Kim pretty early so you haven't had to go at this for as long as the rest of us."

Justin wanted to laugh and playfully argue JC's point that he'd never had a rough relationship, but he couldn't help thinking this was JC's attempt to deflect the attention off himself again. He wasn't going to let him get off that easy.

"And that's all? You have nothing else from this whole experience you want to talk about?"

Much to Justin's surprise, JC laughed lightly. "What do you want me to say? You want me to tell you what it was like to transform into a cat?" He didn't wait for Justin to answer as he continued, "Well, sorry to disappoint, but I don't remember much."

"Really?" Justin asked. It seemed odd, but maybe it was part of killing her - that JC didn't have to relive what it'd been like.

JC met his gaze. "Really," he said. "And I know you're just asking because you're worried. But you can't hover forever, especially once we get back on the road. You'll have to trust I'll come to you if something's wrong."

"Will you?" Justin asked. "I know the last leg was scary with all the death threats and everything, but you never said a word. It's like you didn't trust us to take care of you."

JC sighed, all of his earlier good humor vanishing. "That's not it. I don't mean to shut you out. We were all going through a lot and we already had so much on our plate that I didn't want to add one more thing to it."

Suddenly, Kim's words came to Justin. He remembered what she'd told him about JC trying to regain control, that that was where his desperation to get things back to normal came from. That he wasn't trying to avoid them or hide things from them.

"You wouldn't be adding to it," Justin said, using JC's words. "We were all going through the same things. It wouldn't have been a big deal to pull us aside if you need to talk. It's what we do to you so we expect the same thing in return."

JC nodded. "I can't promise I'll talk to you about everything, but I won't keep the big stuff to myself either."

"That's all I ask for," Justin said, smiling at JC. He felt much better than he had in a long time, reassured that things would never again get as bad as they were.

***********

"You didn't come over here to tell me to sit down, did you?"

Chris's lips upturned slightly as he joined JC at the railing of the VIP balcony they were in, looking down at the massive crowd beneath them that were grooving to the heavy bass music. The whole group had gone out, meeting up with the couples who'd had dinner alone as Joey and Justin had both tried to make up for the previous night to their girlfriends. There'd been a collective concern about JC going out as he seemed to be in a bit of pain because of his injuries, but he'd stubbornly refused to stay home.

"No," Chris said. "But you probably should. You're supposed to be taking it easy, you know."

"I'm not dancing," JC replied. "Besides, I think standing is less painful."

Chris gave JC a once over, noting the way he was slightly hunched over the railing. Standing obviously didn't take the pain away completely, but he could understand how sitting would be painful considering the huge, ugly bruise JC had on his lower back where his kidney was. Putting pressure on it when sitting probably did aggravate it a bit. And besides the slight grimace, he did look relatively okay.

"I actually came over to ask you what the hell you were thinking," Chris said.

JC turned to look at him, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"I got a call from Johnny earlier," Chris started and almost instantly there was a spark of recognition on JC's face.

"Oh," JC said and it was clear he knew exactly where Chris was going with this.

"So what the hell, JC? As soon as we all split up, you call Johnny?"

They'd all left Lance's a little after lunch, all of them quite sure things were completely over. Chris had dropped Joey and JC at their own houses before heading back to his apartment where he promptly fell back asleep for a few hours. Then he got a call around seven from Johnny telling him that he had the money together to pay off Robert's debt and did he want to tell him about it or let it be anonymous. As Chris hadn't set that up, that'd only left one person in his mind - the person that'd pushed for him to help his father. JC.

JC sighed, glancing back out at the dance floor. "Chris..."

"You shouldn't have done it, JC," Chris said. "You had no right."

JC turned his gaze back on him. "He's your father."

"Which makes it my decision. If I don't want to help him, that's my choice."

"You didn't help him. I did."

"Why? Why the hell do you care so much?" Chris asked. He couldn't figure out why JC was pushing the issue so much, especially considering what his father had done to him - threatening his life with a loaded pistol. That would've been reason enough to not give a shit what happened to him in Chris's book. But not in JC's apparently.

"Because I don't think you should write him off completely," JC said.

"And, what? You think paying off his debt is going to somehow make him a better person? That he'll be in my life more?" Chris challenged. "He'll take the money and run, blow it all, and then be back asking for more."

"Or it'll give him the opportunity to start over," JC countered. "You're his son, and you're a great guy. He'd be crazy not to want to get to know him."

"Who says I want to get to know him."

JC sighed again. "Chris," he started, but Chris cut him off.

"Do you have any interest in where your biological father is or want to get to know him?"

JC flinched, and Chris almost felt bad for bringing it up as he knew it was a sore topic. There wasn't much JC knew about his biological father and as far as Chris could tell, he'd never wanted to. He'd certainly never been mentioned, but that just drove his point home. If JC didn't want to associate with his estranged father, why should he?

"Okay," JC conceded. "I'm sorry. I just figured that if his debt was paid off, you'd be able to know for sure if he'd really come to you for money. Because if it wasn't, he'd keep reaching out to you."

It was Chris's turn to sigh. He knew JC hadn't meant any harm and just did what he thought was right. Chris had been second guessing how harsh he'd been with his father, not feeling as great as he'd thought he would to have his father out of his life again. He still wasn't sure if he would've changed his mind and given Robert the money, but he couldn't change what'd happened. Maybe Robert would surprise him.

"It's okay," Chris said, throwing an arm over JC's shoulders to show there was no hard feelings. "Just don't do something like that again without talking to me, all right?"

JC nodded. "Promise."

"Good. Now I could use a drink."

Chris steered them back to where the others were sitting, lounging on a huge couch in the shape of a horseshoe. He and JC had just gotten into talking distance when Justin looked up from where he was sitting with Kim.

"Oh good. You're here. I have an announcement," Justin said.

Chris glanced at JC, wondering if he knew what this was about as Justin usually told him everything before he told the rest of them. But JC looked just as confused as he felt. He turned his attention back to his youngest friend, curious what he would say.

"Kim and I are getting married."

Instantly, a heavy silence fell over the group. Chris stared at Justin in surprise and because his arm was still around JC's shoulders he was able to feel the way he stopped breathing for a second. He glanced at Joey and Lance, noticing they seemed just as shocked. None of them really knew what to say because they hadn't seen this coming. At least not this soon.

But it turned out they didn't need to come up with anything to say because Justin and Kim suddenly burst out laughing, clueing Chris in that this was a joke. The others seemed to catch on quickly and there almost seemed to a collective sigh of relief.

"You guys should've seen your face," Justin said, still laughing.

"You're an ass, Timberlake," Joey replied, but he was laughing too.

"That's what you get for talking marriage," Kim said. She glanced at Justin. "Justin and I are the only ones that are supposed to be talking about that."

"And what's the consensus?" Lance asked.

"We're not ready," Justin said, looking at each of them. "And we won't be for a while."

Kim nodded. "We're just going to see how things go. Enjoy where we are now."

"Smart," Kelly said with a smile.

"That's good," Chris agreed. "But I'm so kicking your ass for that little stunt," he told Justin.

"Me too," JC said.

Kim extracted herself from Justin and stood up then. "Well, feel free to do so now. I'm going to bathroom."

Kelly stood up also, saying that she would join her and a few seconds later, the girls disappeared down the stairs to the main floor. Once they were gone, Chris moved to sit next to Justin, pinching him before taking his seat.

"Ow!" Justin yelped. JC chuckled as he sat down next to Lance, and Justin glared at him. "What are you laughing at? This is your fault. You're the one that brought up the idea of me and Kim getting married."

JC shook his head. "That was Lance."

Lance huffed. "Sure, blame it on me," he said, but he was smiling.

Just then a waitress came over, handing each of them a refill of whatever they'd been drinking. Chris pulled out a ten bill and handed it to her, and she flashed him a smile before disappearing. When she was gone, he looked at JC.

"I hope you learned something from this whole thing," he said.

"I learned that I'm better off sticking to my usual," JC replied, holding up his rum and Coke.

Joey laughed. "I don't think that's what he was talking about."

JC's brow furrowed and Chris leaned forward slightly so he could see him better. "Next time you want a pet for yourself or Lance, get a dog."

Everyone burst out laughing, JC included. He glanced at Lance and said, "Don't worry. I'm not getting any pets any time soon."

There was more laughter and drinks as the night wore on, and Chris found that all of their spirits seemed higher than they had in a while. A lot had happened in a week, but they'd all came out of it on the other side okay. And it would stay that way as long as they made sure to keep JC away from animal shelters at all costs.