December 2001

"This has by far, been the stupidest idea you've ever had and you've had some stupid ideas," Joey Fatone said to Erielle Walsh.

"Joseph, if you aren't going to cooperate, then please, PLEASE, get out of my living room," Eriyelle responded.

"I just came back from doing a show in the Bahamas and you're telling me to leave?" he asked.

"Joey, that was last month, you can't ride that wave forever. Now are you going to help me or not?"

"I'm not getting involved in the plan I'm apart of AND totally against," he replied.

Erielle rolled her eyes and continued with what she was doing. She was a twenty-year old college student during the weekdays and a receptionist at Jive records on the weekends. That in itself was a no brainer to how she had Joey Fatone, member of NSYNC, sitting in her living room. She began working there when she was 18 and when the guys became new at Jive, she was the first to roll out the welcome mat and they've been appreciative ever since. She was seen as a long lost little sister and life saver in one.

"Oh Joey, you seem to forget that I have a vagina. If I want you guys to do something for me, it'll get done," she joked.

"That is disgusting. I didn't need to hear that."

"I'm just kidding! Look, just help me convince them to do this for me. I'll never ask for anything else."

"How are you gonna pay for this? You know how the economics for this kind of thing works."

"I was hoping you guys would do it for free?" she smiled

"You're nuts. That's it, has to be. You are a psycho," he replied.

"It'll take ten whole minutes!" she exclaimed.

"I'm not in this one, it's a group decision."

"You know they're gonna say no."

"Exactly, because it's the craziest thing on the planet!"

Erielle was about to respond when she was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. She shot up and ran to the door. She looked through the peephole. The rest of NSUCK. She opened the door and let them in, following them into the living room.

"Why is it every time we go to a girl's house, Joey's always here before us?" Chris asked. Erielle threw a pillow at him and he laughed.

"So....? What did you guys decide?" she asked.

"Eri, we can't do it," Lance said.

"What? Why not?" That wasn't the answer she hoped for.

"Unless there's a jet plane that can fly us from New York back here to LA in between numbers, then we can't do it," Justin replied.

Erielle dropped her face into her hands. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see JC's face plastered with a warm smile.

"Look, you know we'd love to help you out. The timing just got all mixed up. But we promise we'll make it up to you. You say the word and we'll be there. Pinky swear?" He extended his hand out to her.

"Pinky swear. You'll make it up to me no matter what?" she asked.

"I'll see to it," Joey said.

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December 2010

"I hate Christmas," Erielle spat as she put up the last of her decorations.

"You're complaining? You just drug me all over LA for Christmas decorations! Was it really necessary to buy the entire earth?" JC Chasez questioned.

"Josh, we went to three stores," Erielle replied.

"Oh. Well, i-it felt like more?" he smiled.

She shook her head and plopped down on the couch. "I put everything up, now what do I do?" she asked.

She watched as JC got up and sat down next to her. He threw his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer against his chest.

"We can find something to do....together," he whispered into her ear, nuzzling his nose against her cheek. Erielle leaned her face in closer to him. JC's eyes lingered on hers.

"Pervert!" she exclaimed as she pushed him away and shot up from the couch.

"Whaaat? I was only gonna suggest we wash the dishes," JC laughed.

Erielle shook her head. That was their relationship in a nutshell, coy, playful banter with one another.

"Hey Eri, do you still do that Christmas event thing?" JC asked.

"No, we stopped doing those three years ago. There wasn't enough money being raised, so we had to shut it down. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. You've hung out with my family for the last two Christmases. I just wanted to know why."

"Seriously Josh?" She gave him a pressing glare.

"What.."

"You don't know why I flew all the way to Maryland with you?" she asked.

"Because I paid for the tickets?" he asked.

Erielle sighed heavily and launched a throw pillow aimed for JC's face. I'm into you, doofus. That's why I spent the last two Christmases in Maryland with you. Erielle wasn't interested in letting JC see how upset she was, and when he excused himself to the bathroom, she exhaled out her frustration. After her quick release, she felt slightly better. For years, JC never seemed to get the hint. Not when she was 20, not now when she's 29. He's been through a shitload of girls in that amount of years and not once did JC ever notice little receptionist Erielle. She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed once more.

Then it hit her.

The Christmas event. She could try to have the Christmas event this year. If everyone contributed food to bring, all they'd have to do is find a park to have it at. Why didn't she think of that three years ago? Oh because for the past two she was with JC. How can he not know? Everyone knows. He just doesn't want to. I get it. Ugh! I just wanna push him down the stairs. She heard his footsteps and she quickly wiped the frustration from her eyes.

JC slowly sat down on the other couch, across from Erielle, eyeing her.

"Erielle, are you okay?" he asked.

You don't care, why are you asking?

"I'm gonna try to get the Christmas event together this year," she replied.

"Ignore my question, thanks. I thought you were coming with me again this year?"

"I guess I can't."

"You guess you can't? I really want you to come though..." His voice got quieter.

"Why?" she asked. It was now or it was never. He would tell her right now, why he wanted her to be in Maryland.

"My family loves you. And they're so used to you coming, it'd be weird without you there."

"That's very sweet."

"You don't sound like your buying anything I'm saying. Mermaid, talk to me."

Mermaid. That was JC's personal nickname for Erielle (one guess why). No one else called her Mermaid, but JC. He was so protective of his nickname for her, he didn't even call her Mermaid in front of anyone. She hated when he used a soft tone whenever he said it. Her emotions couldn't help but dissolve a little.

"Josh, I don't know what else I have to say. I've gotta go start planning for this thing, so I'm gonna head out. You can stay or come with."

"I think I'll just go home. I have some studio equipment to look for."

He stood up and brushed past Erielle. She couldn't understand what he was upset for, well besides her basically brushing him off just now. In Erielle's mind, he was the one who brought it up.....and said she only went to Maryland with him because he paid for the tickets. Which would never be true, in any case.

"Josh." Erielle stood in front of him, blocking the door.

"We'll talk another time," he said.

I'm not even gonna do this with him right now.

"Fine." She moved away from the door and allowed him to leave. With a slam of the door, she knew he was upset. "And don't slam my door!" she yelled......10 minutes later.

------------

Erielle spent the next week investing her time into making sure the Christmas event took off this year. She hadn't spoken to JC in that same amount of time, but didn't dwell on it seeing as how her mind was focused on getting things together. Everything seemed to be falling right into place. She found a park to have her gathering, she contacted the people who were previously in charge of the event and they were putting the word out for volunteers. She even bagged Justin and Lance to help her pick up any items she needed.

Things were on track and Erielle wanted to make sure nothing ruined it. She had all types of games and activities for the kids, it was going to be great. Except, she felt that something was missing. Something important. What was it? She stood up and walked around her apartment. She had to get her ideas flowing so she had to walk around until she figured it out. She went into her room and ran her fingers across the bedpost, the dresser, her desk..

She suddenly stopped.

It was like her fingers were glued to the part of the desk she had her hand on. She looked down and her entire body lit up. That was it. That was what she needed. There was only one small problem. How was she going to make it work? How was she going to get it?

She grabbed her phone and called the first person that popped into her mind.

"Ay Fatone! I needa talk to youse."

"I'm not from Jersey," he responded.

"You always ruin my fun. Anyway, do you remember that promise you and the guys made to me?"

Joey scoffed. "Which one?"

"You cut me, Fatone. You cut me deep."

"I'm kidding. Of course I don't remember."

Erielle laughed. "Ahhh, Fatone you're killing me. You seriously don't remember what I asked you guys awhile ago for Christmas?"

"Oh. Oh! Ohhhh. Oh no. Erielle, no."

"Joey! You promised and Mr. Chasez pinky swore," she reminded.

"Wait stop. You called JC, Mr. Chasez. What's going on with you two now?" he asked.

"Ugh, Joe....he had the balls to tell me that I only went with him to Maryland because he paid for the tickets," Erielle explained.

"He didn't..."

"He did. I swear I can have 'I love you, JC Chasez' tattooed on my damn forehead and he'd be like, who's that? There's another JC?"

Joey started laughing and if he only knew how serious she was, he probably wouldn't laugh.

"Anyway, I'm not talking about him right now. What about my promise?" she asked.

"You know that me and Chris aren't gonna be in state for much longer. Justin, Lance, and JC are gonna be with their families soon. There's no way," he replied.

"Joseph. You said you'd see to it. JC swore. This event is in two days. You have enough time. Please do this for me. Please. You don't understand the difference of how it would've meant then and how it'll mean now. Try to come through," she pleaded.

"It's not gonna be easy, Erielle, but I'll do what I can. I'll let you know by tomorrow, okay?"

"Thanks Fatone, love you."

"Welcome, love you more."

Erielle hung up the phone and fell back on her bed. Christmas had to be perfect.

------------

December 25th, 2010 - Christmas

Erielle looked around. Everything was perfect. The booths were all set up and booming with adults and children, the Santa Claus was a hit, the kids were jumping in the moon bounces and having fun. There was tons of food, all different kinds, with cookies and cupcakes that the kids could decorate. This was just how she pictured it. She couldn't believe that she pulled this off. She was so grateful that everyone was able to make this happen again. She would've felt complete if an important person was by her side. Josh, where are y--. Erielle quickly picked up her iPhone.

"Joe?"

"Eri, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but it won't happen."

"Bu--, okay. Thank you for trying anyway. I appreciate it." She wiped her tears away. "I've gotta get up on stage, so I'll talk to you later."

"I'm sorry, Eri. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

Erielle hung up the phone and pulled herself together. So things didn't work out in that favor, but nonetheless, she made all those people happy and that was the most important and best feeling in the world. She climbed up onto the stage and held the microphone at her lips. All eyes were on her.

"I'd like to thank you guys for coming out. We haven't been able to do this for three years and all of YOU made this happen. So give yourselves a round of applause! Whoo!"

The crowd applauded and Erielle joined in as well.

"I had another surprise for all you wonderful people but it see--"

She heard it. For a second she thought she was dreaming. There was no way she was hearing what she thought she heard. Her ears had to be deceiving her.

"O holy night..."

She spun around, her entire body felt faint. Justin smiled at her and grasped onto her hand.

"Ohh fall on your knees.."

That voice penetrated Erielle's entire body and hit her right at her core. Her knees went numb as she felt JC's fingers interlock with hers. Soon the calm crowd was now screaming as the five members of NSYNC all emerged onto the stage. She held her tears, shocked that they sounded completely flawless; happy that the sound they produced together never changed.

"O holy night when Christ was born..."

The crowd went into uproar as they lifted off the last note. Erielle stood back and applauded with the crowd. She led them off the stage and toward a quiet area. Erielle hated being a sap, but their voices and sweet gesture reduced her to tears.

She hit Joey in the arm and hugged him. "You tricked me! I can't believe you guys actually just did that for everyone, I'll never be able to thank you guys."

"We didn't do it only for them, we did it for you. We don't flake out on a promise. Even if it was nine years old," Joey said.

"That felt good, actually. I didn't realize how much I missed that...," Justin commented.

Everyone looked at him, mouths dropped open in shock.

"What...? Oh get bent."

Erielle giggled. "That was beautiful. You guys sounded amazing. I think there were some 35-year old women ready to throw panties at the stage."

"Well, I'm gonna go find them. Merry Christmas to me. I'll catch up with you dorks later," Chris said as he ran off toward a booth.

"Yeah, that sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen, so we're gonna go follow him. We'll see you guys later," Justin smiled.

"Thanks guys!" Erielle called.

Justin, Joey, and Lance ran off to follow Chris, and it was only JC and Erielle left to stand in silence. Talk about awkward. I'm gonna get over myself and just talk to him.

"J--"

"Before you say anything, I need to get out what I have to say."

Erielle nodded.

"I apologize for what I said to you. I know that's not why you went back home with me. I get nervous and say stupid things. I didn't mean it. I know you come with me because you care about me and you enjoy spending time with me. I just want you to know, I feel the same way and Im sorry for making you feel like I didn't. Mermaid, I know I've been stupid all these years for ignoring how I felt about you and you about me. I just didn't think I was ready to give you what you needed."

JC took his hand out from behind his back and placed a large red bow on the top of his head. Matched with his plaid shirt, he looked exactly like a wrapped up present.

"Now I know that I can give you all the things you can give me. I'll be your Christmas gift for as long as you want. I don't wanna run the risk of you finding a new toy to play with," he smiled.

Erielle smiled, biting down on her lip. She wrapped her arms around JC's neck and gently touched her lips against his.

The Mermaid's one true wish had finally came true.