Sounds of laughter and music poured out of the open door of The Standard Hotel, just ahead of four giggly, talky, slightly drunk women. At the rooftop bar, the small group enjoyed an evening of cocktails, appetizers, great music and good company but like all good things, the evening had come to an end.

"Thanks for the party, you guys! I had fun!" Gabby Bolton slung the strap of her purse over her shoulder and beamed a bright smile at her group of friends.

"You're such a pooper," one of them whined, pouting. "C'mon with us! We're gonna go downtown."

Gabby smiled, shook her head no, and began to back out of the small crowd. "Nah, thanks. I'm tired and I still have a little packing to do. Love you guys, though.  I'll call before I leave town."

Breaking away from the pack, she took off in the opposite direction. It was late, early morning actually but the air had cooled and the city seemed quiet. It was a perfect night for a stroll. Not that she had any choice, because her car was parked four blocks away. It was the closest spot she could find at the last minute, since she'd been late to her own party.

Gabby smiled, wistfully walking Sunset Boulevard. Soon enough, she'd be homesick and wishing for a nice walk down the Strip-- the stretch of road between Beverly Hills and Hollywood. It was gaudy and overly done, flashy and normally a perpetual traffic jam of celebrities trying to be seen and people out trying to see them. To Gabby though, it was home. Had been home for eight long years, but now it was time to fly.

She hardly noticed him until he almost fell over in front of her. A man was slowly making his way down the sidewalk, quite obviously drunk and unsteady on his feet. He weaved from one side of the sidewalk to the other, mumbling something about ‘up the hill'.

Gabby glanced at him, thought he looked familiar, and then did a double take. It washim!

"JC?" She reached out to him, grabbed him by the elbow and tried to help him steady himself. His head bobbed as he turned around to face her. He had to tilt his head back to see her, his eyelids were so heavy, but when he could finally see her, he smiled.

"Hi, honey. Do I know you?"

"Kind of. You don't remember me, I'm sure. I did one of my first stories on *NSYNC. It was...well, it was a long time ago. Hey, Are you okay?"

"'m fine," he slurred, swaying. Gabby wasn't all that convinced.

"You almost bit the sidewalk. Where are you going?"

"Home. I jus' live up the hill. Right there." He pointed in a random direction that wasn't toward a hill.

"You're not driving, are you?"

"I walked. I jus' live-"

"Up the hill," she finished, nodding.

Gabby couldn't give a shit about most celebrities. In return, most probably felt the same toward her. To some, she was the enemy. The Press. Not the tabloids, mind you, but she had made more than one enemy with her own brand of ‘spin'. When the editor called you into his office and laid on the guilt about selling copies, sometimes you wrote what you could just barely get away with. Even if you felt like shit doing it, especially to the nice ones.

JC was one of the nice ones. And... well... she couldn't just walk away, leaving him to weave and bob up and down Sunset. The last thing she wanted to read in her daily blog surfing was a story dripping with sarcasm about yet another pop star with a promising future making a fool of him or herself, live via the internet.

Gabby looked around for a taxi, finding none but an out of service cabbie who didn't seem interested in picking up any fares. He leaned against his car, smoking a cigarette, oblivious to them both. She considered the unthinkable. Would he let her do it?

"Uh...so, maybe I could take you home. If you want? I'm safe, I promise."

He didn't take long to think about it. With a flop of his arms and a shrug of his shoulders he said, "Okay."

"Really?" She paused, one eyebrow raised in surprise. He agreed entirely too easily, without the argument or at least polite refusal she was expecting.  "Okay, hang on. I'm gonna get my car. Just... stay right here."

Gabby pushed him back until he was leaning against the brick wall of a pharmacy and ran, in heels, to her car parked half a block up the street. The two-door, dark blue Toyota had been a gift eight years ago. She could afford a new car, or at least a newer model, but she was a sucker for nostalgia and couldn't bear to part with such a symbolically large part of her life. The car had been her constant running partner and faithful companion, a two ton security blanket of sorts that had taken her across the country and then across LA. She still ran like a dream most times, though on occasion like a nightmare. An expensive one.

Gabby hopped into the driver's seat and shoved the key into the ignition. The engine sputtered before turning over and then purred like a kitten. "Good girl," she muttered, directing the car in a sharp U-turn across traffic and pulling over in front of the pharmacy where she'd left JC. He was still leaning against the wall in the same spot, completely motionless. People couldn't sleep standing up, could they?

The car rumbled in place as Gabby got out, jogged around to the passenger side and opened the door. "JC? You ready?"

His eyes popped open and his head jerked forward. "Yep," he said, pushing himself off the wall, crossing the sidewalk and folding himself into the car. Gabby reached across him with the seatbelt, snapping him into place. He chuckled, watching her. "Don't wanna fall out of the car."

"Nope, you sure don't." She shut the door and rushed around to the driver's side and snapped herself inside as well. "So you live up the hill?"

He nodded, his head bobbing back and forth. He pointed and motioned for her to move forward. "I'll show you," he said. "Go that way."

JC might have been near falling-down drunk, but he gave simple, easy to follow directions up the hill, about a mile from where Gabby picked him up. It would have been quite a walk while sober. There was no way he'd have made it home drunk. At least someone in this town thought enough to help him out. Her mind reeled with imaginary headlines-JC CHASEZ FOUND DRUNK IN ALLEY ON SUNSET. FILM AT 11.

In a few minutes, Gabby was turning into the driveway of a house that seemed to be carved into the side of a hill. It was a street like any other, like the ones where she grew up-the houses just cost more. Much more. She was self conscious about her car in his driveway, in front of his house, in this neighborhood. He was most definitely out of her league, and she was completely out of her element.

"So...thanks for the ride. I owe ya one."

Gabby smiled over at him. "Sure. No problem."

"Was really nice of you. You didn't have to."

She shrugged, blushing now. "I know you'd do the same, so... just glad you got home safe."

"Yeah. So..." He hesitated, for some reason not getting out of the car. "Do you... didja wanna... come in?"

"Uh..." What an unexpected question. Was it a trick? A trap? Was this the groupie test?

Unsure of how to answer, she asked another question. "Do you need me to come in? Do you need help?"

"I want you to come in." He wanted her to come inside. Inside his house. And she hadn't even told him her name. More shocking than getting into a car with a complete stranger was asking that stranger to come inside your house. 

She shook her head at him, silently judging--but why couldn't she think of anything to say? Every argument against putting him out and shifting the car in reverse and backing out of his driveway fizzled into nothing. She stared across the car, his face barely visible in the moonlight. He didn't seem creepy. She knew he wasn't going to hurt her. And, plus-- he could barely stand. The least she could do was see him inside.

"I don't wanna be alone," he blurted. "You don't have to come in, and if you do, you don't have to stay long. But if you want to, you're welcome to. Thanks for the ride, anyway."

A heavy, thick hand patted her thigh a few times before unbuckling his seat belt. The interior light came on, casting a dull yellow pallor across his face. His eyelids drooped and his beard was growing in and despite the fact that he lived in this neighborhood and regularly rubbed elbows with people she shouldn't even dream about meeting, looked so...  normal.

Gabby had a ton of things left to do at home, a to-do list as long as her arm and she was exhausted, but hell if she could say no to him. This was probably how he got girls to go home with him. By being nice. It worked.

"I guess I better make sure you get inside."