Chapter 32: A Plane, No Train, and An Automobile Part 1

March 1st, 1997

JC was the first one awake the next morning which surprised him but it didn’t surprise him at the same time. He had trouble getting to sleep last night. Not because there were five more people in the room with him snoring their heads off (Joey sounded like a truck on the highway). Not because Chris talked in his sleep and not because Justin sang in his sleep. No, he couldn’t sleep because his mind wouldn’t shut up.

No one asks a hypothetical question like that, but with Mack for all he knew it could have been just a hypothetical question but it didn’t sit right with him. It stayed in his brain all day no matter what he tried to do he couldn’t send it right back out.

He carefully got out of bed and stepped over Chris to get to the bathroom. He closed the door behind himself and turned on the light, flinching at the sudden brightness. He ran water in the sink and splashed some onto his face to wake himself up. ‘Golly, what time is it?’ JC couldn’t help but chuckle at himself. He was the only one he knew who used the term ‘golly’ still.

He went back into the room and peered at the clock. It was only six-ten. Why in the world was he awake? He glanced down at the bed and tilted his head slightly. ‘When in the world did Joey get in bed with me?’ He made a face at the thought but sat back down on the bed (on top of the covers, he didn’t want the others to make fun of him for a misunderstanding). He reached into his bag and pulled out his Thought Journal. He flipped through the pages, looking back on past events, but one passage stopped him. He glanced at the date and felt a little ache in his heart. It was the passage of the day Nikki broke up with him suddenly.

He had thought he had gotten over her but apparently his heart thought otherwise. He hadn’t really thought of her that much since they split up because he was so busy but he had to admit he missed her. A lot. He wanted to see her so badly just to get an understanding on why she suddenly broke it off. He thought they were doing well and then the breakup happened, suddenly slapping him in the face.

JC started writing in his Thought Journal, whatever came to mind, just letting everything swimming around pour out. Around eight Lance finally woke up and took the opportunity to take a shower. Chris woke up from the sound of the running water and was disoriented for a second, screaming something about dinosaurs and protecting his sacred jello. Joey woke up from having rolled off the bed and falling onto the floor. It was about nine o’clock when Chris decided he couldn’t take waiting for Justin and Mack to wake up.

“What’re you going to do?” JC asked without looking up from his notebook.

“Nothing, now ssshhhhh!” Chris replied, backing up as far as he could go.

“They’re not going to be happy with you when they wake uuup,” JC said in a sing song voice.

“That’s a chance I’m willing to take,” Chris replied, saluting him.

“God speed,” JC joked, finally putting down his notebook.

Chris smiled, pressing his back flat against the wall. He leaned forward by the shoulders, bounced a little bit in place, ran, and jumped. He sailed through the air and landed hard on Justin and Mack while yelling, “Wake up, bitchessss!”

JC laughed as arms and legs flailed underneath Chris who was rolling around on top of them. Justin finally managed to get untangled from the covers and started attacking Chris with his pillow as Mack rolled out of the way, landing on the ground with a thud. Lance burst out of the bathroom at the commotion, a towel wrapped around his waist, chest heaving as he panted.  They watched as Chris managed to grab another pillow and start hitting Justin back. They moved around the room, advancing and retreating as if they were fencers, trying to catch the other off guard. Finally Chris managed to hit Justin in the side. He dropped his pillow and grabbed his side, letting out a wail before falling to the ground and Chris threw his arms into the air in triumph.

JC shook his head, chuckling at his friends’ behavior as Chris danced around Justin’s fallen body. Justin then grabbed Chris’s ankle and tugged, sending the older man to the floor. The two began to roll around, wrestling, as Joey turned on his video camera and taped it as Mack cheered both boys on. Lance had come out of the bathroom and JC jumped up, dashing into the space before any of the others tried to beat him in there.

“Hey! That’s not fair!” JC heard Joey yell over the sound of rushing water.

“Fair is for buses!” JC called back before stripping down and stepping into the shower. He stood under the shower head, eyes closed, letting the warm water trickle down his head over his chest and down his legs. He let out a slow breath as the warm water worked at the tight knots in his back and relieved the tension that seemed to sit on his brain.

Thoughts and memories of Nikki came slamming back into his brain before he could even shove them aback out. It was if it was playing in his head like a silent movie, showing clips at a time. By the time he opened his eyes and got out of the shower water was dripping down his face but he didn’t know if t was the shower water or tears of his failed relationship.

By the time he got back out of the bathroom Chris had been wrapped up in a blanket and Justin was doing some war chant as he danced around the moving bundle. Mack, Joey, and Lance were yelling at Chris to try and fight his way out.

Kids, JC rolled his eyes.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

A few hours later they found themselves at the airport to bid goodbye to Lynn who was finally going back home and start up her dream of being a group manager. She gave them all hugs, holding onto JC a bit longer than the others. She always saw him as a son, someone she could trust watching over Justin when she was gone. JC took that responsibility to hear and made sure he didn’t upset her in anyway possible.

“I know I’ve asked you this before but please watch over them for me,” Lynn had whispered into JC’s ear. “They’re going to need someone like you watching over them, keeping them out of trouble. They may not appreciate it now but they will in the long run.” She pulled away and held him at arms length as he smiled at her. “Such a handsome young man. I know you have bodyguards but they’re not going to be around all of the time and you are a grown man capable of making his own decisions. I just encourage you to make the right ones.”

“You can count on me, Ms. Lynn,” JC told her, taking her hands in his and looking her dead in the eye. “I’ll make you proud of me, I promise.” He gave her hands a squeeze, let go, and backed away so Justin could give his mother a proper goodbye. He had been standing to the side, a stony look on his face, not saying anything at all, just watching each of them say goodbye to a woman who became more like their mother than a chaperone over the years.

Justin held onto his mother tight, taking in the scent of her perfume, taking in everything about her like a sponge. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t going to see her again, it was just that he didn’t want to see her go so soon, when things were really starting to pick up for them. He wanted to share every good moment with her. He wanted to be able to see that proud smile she had on her face every day.

“I’m proud of you, Darlin’,” Lynn said, dabbing at her eyes. “Real proud. Randy is proud as well, so are Paul and Lisa. Just remember, if you ever need us, we’re always right here.” She pointed at his chest. He nodded and sniffed, smiling a little. Lynn reached out her hand and beckoned Mack forward, pulling her into their hug. Justin moved his arm and pulled her into their hug, squeezing her tight. “I need you two to look out for each other. Show business is a bitter world, I need you two to remember that you’re each other’s lifeline so to speak. You need to hold onto each other because things are only going to pick up before they slow down and you get comfortable in whatever you’re doing.” She squeezed their hands. “I only want to hear good things about you two, ok? I’m so proud of you both, so proud.” She hugged them again and kissed them on their cheeks before turning to Mack. “I know things are hard for you right now, but you need to let them in. They’ll help you, trust them.”

Mack nodded but didn’t say anything, giving Lynn another hug. They looked up when her flight was called and let out a breath that seemed to shatter the peaceful world they were in. She grabbed her carryon bag, gave all of them another kiss, waved, and disappeared through the door.

“C’mon guys,” JC said softly, placing a hand on both Justin’s and Mack’s shoulders. They nodded and turned to follow the guys out of the airport. Mack glanced back at Justin from time to time, he was walking a bit slower in their group, surrounded by their bodyguards.

“I’m still here,” Mack said with a child-like air. Justin looked up and smiled at her.

“Don’t ever leave me,” he said as he took her small hand in his bigger one. She didn’t know if he was joking or not but didn’t question him. They got into cars and drove back to the hotel to pack their things and make sure they had everything before heading off to Trier, Germany to start their I Want You Back Tour.

There was something hanging in the air between all of them as they moved around their hotel rooms, picking up random things and tossing them onto the piles in their suitcase. Mack was slowly getting frustrated. The boys were walking on egg shells around each other, not wanting to get in each other’s way. Usually they’d talk things out and it would be over in the next minute but now they were acting like girls.

And that agitated her so she got an idea.

“You want us to drive all the way from here to Germany?” Justin asked, making sure he heard her right. Mack beamed and nodded. “Just us six, in a car…together?” She nodded again.

“C’mon guys, you know it’s a good idea,” Mack begged, looking at them all. She set her eyes on JC. “You love roadtrips, I figured you’d jump at the chance.”

“I do but…what about Johnny?’ JC asked.

“We’ll just drive behind the bus the entire time,” Mack reasoned. “Fans are sure to know what bus is yours by now and follow that. If we take an opposite route once we get closer to the venue they won’t follow a little car because they won’t expect us to be in it.”

“But what if they do find out? They might try and run us off the road like that one time, remember?” Lance questioned.

“We can have the bodyguards driving in cars around us,” Mack sighed. “I know I sound crazy right now–”

“Right now? Try all the time,” Chris interrupted.

She ignored him. “But we need this bonding time. I feel…ever since this whole thing started, instead of bringing you guys together, it just drove you apart slowly but surely. You guys might not see it, but I can.”

“You would notice that,” Justin muttered under his breath.

“What?” Mack demanded, turning to look at him.

“Nothing,” he quickly dismissed.

“No, say whatever it is you wanted to say. Be a man and say it to my face.”

Justin clenched his jaw so a muscle twitched. He stood and looked down at her. “I said you would notice that. You would notice that we’re being pushed apart especially because you’re the biggest pusher out of all of us. You’re the one pushing us away no matter how hard we try to help you. You tell me to be a man? Be a woman and accept our help and stop running away!” he let out a breath and looked at them all. “I think the road trip is a good idea.”

“I do too,” Joey agreed.

“That’s three against three, what’re your verdicts?” Justin asked.

“How long is the drive?” JC questioned.

“The drive from Lugano, Switzerland to Trier, Germany is…six hours and eight minutes,” Lance replied, looking at a map he suddenly pulled out of his pocket. “But that’s an approximation. Traffic might slow us up.”

JC nodded slowly, weighing everything in his mind. “I’m in,” he finally agreed.

“Me too. It’s an easier way to get on Curly’s nerves,” Chris said with a hint of a smile.

“I guess I’m in too,” Lance sighed.

“Thank you.” Mack let out a breath and smiled. “You won’t regret it, I promise.”