"We're taking it back to 1999 with a little ditty that ransacked the airwaves day in and out for months at a time. Here's Blaque featuring JC Chasez with 'Bring It All To Me' here on HOT! 109."

She smirked, reaching blindly over to her radio and turning the knob, volume raising drastically as the music began to pound into her ears, she nodding her head along to the beat of the music as she continued slicing the object at hand. The words were sung along to softly, a smile forming on her face as she thought about that year. 1999. That was the year she had actually met JC Chasez. The year he decided he would turn her world upside down and bring her into his own. It was actually at the radio station she had originally worked in that had brought him in as a guest host to premiere the song, the click between them immediately.

"I can't believe you're listening to this," a voice said with a slight tease, quickly adding, "is that chip dip? Oh, what are we watching tonight?"

"Why wouldn't I listen to this," she asked, not even turning around, though trying to calm her racing heart at the voice that startled her. "And do you not knock?"

"Because it's nearly ten-years-old and completely outdated. Timbs? Thug appeal? C'mon, now. And I never have to knock. You said so."

She scoffed, turning to look at him as she pushed herself away from the counter, putting the paring knife into the dishwasher. "I still happen to like it, so hush." She returned back to the counter where she began to mix ingredients, ignoring his presence behind her as she continued to sing softly to herself, the wide grin forming on her face as she heard his voice filter through the room, from the radio and the man standing behind her. "Yeah, I can't believe I'm listening to this."

"All right, so it's catchy, sorry." He stepped up beside her, planting a wet kiss to her cheek as she grinned, bringing her gaze up to look at him. "Miss me while you were away?"

"Probably not as much as you missed me," he teased, reaching across her and into the small candy dish that she kept her latest addiction, Hershey Kisses, in. "'Course I did. Who else would I let beat me at a game of Scene It?"

"Let?" She scoffed, reaching for the mixer as he pushed her away, settling himself in front of the mixing bowl and turning the mixer on, combining all the ingredients. "That's just how a sore loser would put it."

"And a poor loser would go into denial."

She chuckled, sitting down at the kitchen table and watched him as he continued mixing, the quiet falling between them comfortable. Reaching forward and grabbing the hair tie that she had wrapped around her cell phone on the table, she put her hair up messily, tucking a piece of hair that had already fallen out behind her ear. "So how was it? How as London?"

"Same," he shrugged, "wet, busy. The usual."

"In October," she asked, eyebrow raised. "No snow?"

"In October," he reiterated. "It's a little early for snow anywhere, anyway. I'd probably boycott mother nature if snow fell in early October."

"It has happened."

"And I don't recall it, so she can slide for now," he grinned, tossing a glance over his shoulder at her as she smiled back. "So what are the plans for this afternoon? Rest before the big Halloween bash on the roof?"

She nodded. "Gotta prepare. With you as a friend and Lacey, Tank and Penny as the party coordinators, I won't be in bed until I'm usually up."

"What, noon?"

She chuckled, giving him a shrug. "The wonders of working from home," she grinned, looking over at her laptop that she hadn't even touched the entire day. "A weblog here, responses from clients there. It's a wonder that I even get paid for it."

"Must be nice."

"Ah yes, my grandfather is beaming down from Heaven at how proud he is."

"As he should be." He set the mixer down, groaning inwardly as he music begin, turning to see the grin on her face slowly form as he shook his head. "I hate this song."

"Boy, for a musician, you hate a lot of music," she remarked, "Danity Kane doesn't do it for you?"

"Not after the upteenth time of hearing this song today," he murmured, watching as she got up, taking the mixing wisks and putting them into the dishwasher with the knife, wrapping the cord around the mixer itself and putting it away. "I swear, if you begin to serenade me, I'm gonna throw you out your balcony window."

"Whatever," she smirked, walking towards her cupboard and pulling out a bag of chips. "Hey, Jace?"

He blinked back random thoughts, looking at her. "What?"

"Do you got a first aid kit handy?"

"Why did you cut your hand?!" He turned quickly, looking over at her as she kept a serious look on her face. "Nat -"

"Do you know how to patch up a wound?"

He opened his mouth to speak, realizing what she had been doing. "I honestly hate you. I don't really remember why I thought you were a good person to hang out with."

"Ah, because I am the light of your life, and without me, it'd be dark."

"You really should drop the day job and become a comedienne; really, you'd be great at it."

"You'd die from laughter. Actually, I don't know why you haven't yet with my side-splitting humor." She turned off the radio, gesturing for him to go into the next room with her, waiting for his response.

"Probably the same reason that you aren't goo at my feet; not possible." He gave her a wink as he picked up the bowl of dip, following her into the living room. "So really, what are we watching?"

"We? Well, I don't know about you, but I'm watching 'Beaches'."

"Ha, good joke. Really, what movie?"

She sat down, placing the chips on the coffee table next to her as she wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, snuggling into the corner of the leather couch. Reaching forward and grabbing both the chips and the remote, she hit play and gave him a smug expression when the opening menu of the said movie illuminated the screen. Ignoring his rolling of the eyes, she patted the seat next to her. "Either you come sit down and share that dip with me or you can give me the dip and just stand there."

With a dramatic, sigh, he crossed the threshold and plopped down onto the couch next to her, resting his head on the back. "Why this movie?"

"Because seeing you whine and complain during the first half of it and then try to mask the teary-eyes you get when the real chick stuff happens between the two friends completes my life."

"I have never cried watching this movie."

"I'll let you believe that," she smiled, reaching into his lap and taking the dip, setting it on the pillow she had resting in her lap. When he gave her a shocked look, she gave him a knowing one, "hey, I made the dip, I hold it."

He smiled, shaking his head as he heard the opening credits, unable to help himself as he hummed along to the words of 'Under the Boardwalk'. "You know, it's a pretty sad thing when I can sing one of Bette Midler's cover songs, knowing nearly every word because I've seen this movie more times than I've sold an album."

"You're a closet Bette fan, don't deny it," Natalie grinned, gaze never tearing from the screen. "You're like Jack from Will and Grace: If I could turn back tiiiiiooooommmmee ..."

"If you're insinuating I'm gay, I might have to smack you," he chuckled, stealing a chip and swiping it through the dip. After chewing, he looked at her with a sudden interest. "Hey, you never told me what you're going dressed up as."

"Bette Midler," she deadpanned, looking at him from the corner of her eye as he rolled his. "Can't tell you. It's supposed to be a masquerade-type Halloween party. No one is supposed to know who anyone is."

"That's just asking for trouble; Penny realizes this, right? I can only imagine it was her idea."

"Actually, Tank's," she corrected. "I like the idea. You can make an ass out of yourself and no one will realize it's you. That's the beauty in wearing a mask."

"I suppose," he shrugged, "some could give themselves a whole new persona and nobody would know."

"That's the beauty of having a mask," she said, nodding. "Now, shut up or leave, I'm watching the movie."

He grinned, reaching forward and poking her side before making himself more comfortable. He may have hated the movie, but he loved the company much more.

She walked over to the table, seeing everything labeled with gory names: bloody vodka shots, brain salad, gut punch, pus shots. The bloody and pus shots were jello of red and green origin and seemed to be the only two things that she'd touch that night without being intoxicated, and intoxication was the next thing on her list.

She grabbed the bloody vodka (cherry) and downed it quickly, the pus (green) following shortly after. She already felt better about herself with two shots down in her system, smirking when she saw nearly everybody on the dance floor. "All right, now, where's Jace," she asked herself. If there was one thing that anybody knew about JC Chasez, it was that no matter how hard he tried, everybody knew who he was, regardless if he wore a bag over his entire body and disguised his voice. The way he carried himself, the way he handled the environment and situations around him were only things he'd do, things that people noticed quickly. And, the fact that he was always smiling. If he wasn't smiling, the distinguished, almost giggle that escaped his mouth as he laughed would make him stick out like a sore thumb.

And yet, he was nowhere in sight.

A man brushed passed her, holding a bottle of Bud Light in his hand. "Hey!" She grabbed his wrist, stopping him. "Where'd you get that?"

"The casket cooler," he said, turning and pointing towards where the smaller collection of people had gone. Success. If JC wasn't at the dance floor, he was at the cooler, getting his drink on. Squeezing her way through to the cooler, she reached down and took a bottle by the neck, popping the top off and putting it to her lips, she looking from side to side slowly, trying to make out his face beneath mask upon mask. He was not there.

She had been there about two hours, the feel of the alcohol running through her system making her feel light and unlike herself. JC had not made an appearance and it was beginning to annoy her. He had said he was coming, right? He was going to come and keep her company so that she didn't have to be there alone, and yet, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Hi, witchy lady."

She turned with a half-smile, expecting it to be JC. When it wasn't the smile slowly faltered, but grew as she took in the man dressed as a Pirate stood before her, only half his face evident. "Hey, matey."

He chuckled in front of her, eyes beneath a mask but not hidden to where she didn't take notice of him taking in her attire. "Anyone ever tell you that you make witches sexy?"

"Not today," she smirked, "anyone tell you I'd walk the plank if you were the one I was jumping on?" She felt the red creep on her cheeks as she realized what she had said, the alcohol doing wonders for her word vomit as she smirked anyway. It was one night of flirting with someone who was a complete stranger for the night; no one had to know.

"Well, I do have a stiff board."

She forced a grin, holding back the groan of disgust bubbling in her chest. Even with the amount of alcohol in her system, that was not a turn-on.

"Care to ride my broom?"

She opened her mouth to speak, eyes wandering around the rooftop and settling on a man leaning up against the makeshift wall, seemingly bored and slightly intoxicated himself, just by the way he was swaying in his stance. "I see my friend over there," she said, lifting her hand and pointing blindly to him. "I've gotta go. Nice talking to ...you, whoeveryouare."

"But I -"

She took an unsteady step on her stilletto, taking in the man as he looked over, gaze catching hers. He had a full mask, one that was cut only where his mouth was, that skin the only thing visible to her. The mask was cut so that his eyes weren't even able to catch light for her to make out what eye color it was, but she didn't care. She had her eyes on the man with the cape. "Hi!"

The man nodded his head, head drifting down to her feet and slowly dragging up her legs slowly, settling on her breasts before making their way up to her face.

Oh, he was that kind of man.

"Hi," he said coolly, dipping his hat at her. "Have a good ride over here?"

She chuckled at his question, nodding her head. "Bit bumpy, but it was all good."

"This party is already dead," he said, looking around the roof, "excuse the pun."

"Yeah, tell me about it," she mumbled, hands flying this way and that, "I've been here two hours and I pretty much got drunk on my own. What kind of loser does that?"

"The one standing in front of you," he grinned, she feeling the familiar flutter in her stomach as he flashed his teeth at her. "About eight pus shots, three blood shots and about five Coors will do that to you."

"Amen, whatever you are."

He chuckled, gripping his cape and bowing. "I, am the Phantom of the Opera. And you, are obviously a witch."

"In the flesh."

"One that could bewitch my thoughts anytime," he said, pausing before shaking his head, "that was incredibly corny. I'm going to go over there and get a beer now, ignore me -"

"No, it's fine," she stated, grabbing his arm and stopping him. "It's nice to have normal company after Captain Morgan over there tried getting to 'jump his plank' and 'ride his broom'."

The grin widened on the Phantom's face, he shaking his head in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

"Just about as serious as a heart attack, sorry to say."

He chuckled, crossing his arms across his chest. "Ah, some men don't know how to play it smooth like us drunk Phantom's. Us drunk Phantom's would serenade you with the music of the night, then attempt to get in your ... skirt."

"How incredibly romantic."

He tucked his bottom lip into his mouth, it sending an electric shock through her body, the fluttering in her gut evident again. "So, did you ever do anything crazy at a party you were at as an unknown?"

"Well," he said, voice trailing off, "I never told anyone this, but when I was nineteen, I went to some fraternity party with a buddy of mine and hooked up with some girl in the linen closet."

"That's ... definitely getting crazy," she chuckled. "I wish I had stories like that to tell. The craziest I've ever been was dancing on a bar. And that's with half of the alcohol in my system."

"Oh, we have a crazy here," he announced sarcastically, she chuckling and grabbing his hands, stopping him from flailing his arms about with his words. He froze at her touch, dropping his gaze back to hers. "We've gotta get you broken in," he chuckled, "whose got a bar for this witch to dance on? C'mon, someone's gotta have somethin-"

She reached up as he was speaking, pressing her lips to his. And just like she had thought, it was a good idea to have kept them uncovered. His mouth was warm against hers, contrasting the light breeze around them. His kiss was slow, deliberate; the man knew what he was doing. Resting her hands against the fabric on his chest, she felt him pull away, breathless. Before he could say anything, she tugging him through the mass of people and towards the doors that led to the stairwell to the elevator. If she even made it to the elevator.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind them, he had her up against the wall, not caring about the people filtering in and out of the party. His leg nudged hers apart so that he could rest his leg between hers, his hands holding to either side of her face, mouth nipping at her lips aggressively. She was pretty sure that if she didn't get them out of that stairwell, he'd fuck here then and there.

Gasping for breath as she pulled away, grabbing his hand and tugging him down towards the elevators, the elevator at the bottom of the apartment complex and slowly ascending towards the floor. They both stood there, she shifting from foot to foot, he doing nearly the same as he teetered from the ball of his feet to his heels, the elevator doors opening painstaking slow. As soon as the doors opened, they were a mass of arms and legs in the elevator shaft, doors shutting quickly.

Mouth to his, she blindly reached for her floor, hitting the button as the elevator began to slowly drop towards it's destination. A low, gutteral moan escaped her lips as his latched onto the warmth of the skin on her neck, rocking her hips against his. "We gotta, we gotta wait," she managed to pant as he brought his face up to hers, "we gotta wait until we get to my apartment -"

"No," he said, voice low as he reached behind her, hitting the emergency stop, holding tightly to her as it stopped abruptly, "we're going to finish this here. I can't wait until then."

"But -" She stopped, biting her lip as she felt his hand travel slowly up her inner thigh, thumb running down the length of her folds and immediately weakening, "okay."

He chuckled against her skin, licking, nibbling and then blowing gentle air against his assaults, pushing her up against the wall of the elevator with one hand. The other pressed to her belly, he gripping the fabric as he pulled gently at the fabric of the top, revealing the black see-through lace of the bra she wore to support herself more within the confines of the costume. His mouth trailed down her collarbone, tongue dotting against her skin through the valley of her breasts before his hand cupped her through the lace, thumb hooking the side of the fabric and pulling it away, mouth immediately covering the flesh that had been bared.

"Oh, God," she moaned, her hands gripping his hair, the hat that had been on his head long gone. His mouth continued, other breast uncovered, hand cupping, tweaking the already painful nipple. "Don't, oh God ..."

He smiled against her skin, releasing both breasts as he lowered himself, hiking her leg up over his shoulder as she looked on, wide-eyed. With one swift movement, her fishnets, along with her panties, were down at her ankles, his fingers sliding up and down her wet slit with appreciation. Almost as if in slow motion, he slid one long digit into her, curling against her walls and slowly pumping, her body bucking against him as he continued, another finger entering. She bit her lip to keep from crying out, unable to do so as his hot, wet mouth met her lips, licking at her juices that had already began to slide down her leg, mouth gently nibbling at her clit, she nearly collapsing on top of him with a cry. "D'you like that," he asked, tone raspy and deep, "you like when I fuck you like this? Fuck you with my fingers?"

She nodded frantically, whining when she felt both his mouth and hand leave her body. "No ..."

"Tell me you like it," he commanded, her eyes widening, his fingers lifting and touching his lips, sucking each finger as he waited. "Tell me."

"I love it," she said softly, watching as he dropped back down his knees, her leg back up on his shoulder. "Fuck ..."

"That's right, baby," he mumbled against her, "you'll get that, in due time ..." His mouth was definitely experienced, she thought, mentally thanking whoever had taught him how to do it right, thinking or maybe he was just that good. Whoever was the one to take the responsibility, had a special place in heaven waiting for them.

Her chest was heaving as she felt the warmth boil in the pit of her belly, crying out as an orgasm hit, his mouth clamping against her clit and clicking furiously, hands shaking from holding his hair so tightly. "My God, my God ..."

If that had not been hot to her, the sight of him wiping his mouth with a smirk as he stood back up, mask still intact, was. The connection of their bodies were nonexistant, she reaching for him by the lapels and tugging him against her, legs still shaking as she kissed him fiercely. He was hard against her, her hands dragging down his chest and towards his black slacks, unbuttoning them and tugging downward, freeing his erection as her eyes widened. "My, my," she murmured, hand curling around him as his head dropped back, she watching as he swallowed hard, Adam's Apple bopping up and down, "no wonder the girl wanted to fuck you in the linen closet."

His head dropped back in place, looking at her. "Tell me what you want."

She licked her lips, they swollen from their feverish kisses and his biting. "You know what I want."

"No, I want you to tell me what you want," he said, voice attempting to remain steady as she continued to pump him in her hand, he dropping his forehead to her bare shoulder, licking his lips and watching her do so. "Tell me what you want. Tell me what you want and I'll do it. Otherwise, I'm taking my very erect, very painful dick home and dealing with it myself ..."

She licked her lips again, chest heaving. His hand circled around hers, pulling him away from his dick as he looked at her. "Tell me what you want."

"I want you to fuck me," she managed to croak out, a slow smile gracing his face as he nodded, releasing her hand and pressing against her. "Fuck me," she said again, feeling his hand slowly slide down her thigh, gripping it tightly.

"Hold on," he demanded, her hands snaking over his shoulders and gripping tightly, gasping as he filled her with one long thrust. Her head fell back against the wall of the elevator, the feel of him in her. "Fuck, you feel so good," he murmured, his thrusts slow at first, growing accustomed to her, "so tight ..." He held tight to her, she rolling her hips in time with his, her release already building quickly. "God, just like that ..."

She clenched her jaw, reaching forward and grapping at the collar of his shirt, unaware of what had snapped in her hand, she crying out as she felt him tense against her, warmth filling the pit of her belly as he came, his thrusts quickening as she soon followed, her leg dropping down to the ground as they breathed heavily, looking at one another.

"That was -"

"I know," she chuckled, eyes widening as the elevator began to move again. "Oh, shit ..." She grabbed at her panties, pulling them up quickly and tugging at the fishnets, getting them back on as he zipped himself up, the doors sliding open and security staring back at them, stern expressions on their faces.

He looked at them and then at her, thinking quickly. "I told you to stop with that bullshit. I can't believe you'd keep throwing that shit back at me. We're done. Done!"

Jaw dropped, she watched as he began to step out, throwing his hand behind his back in small wave, head turned and giving her a wink. The security said nothing as she stepped back, hitting the floor to her apartment in shock. What the hell had just happened?