JC shook his head, pulling over to the side of the road. "I've already wasted so much time with Allison and the baby on my mind. I don't want to give her any more reason why we can't make this work."

"Just say what you got to say quickly so I can go home and get some food," Joey whined.

"Just a few more minutes, guys, okay? The kitchen and living room light is on, but Emma's car is not in the driveway so that means Liz is probably there by herself," JC observed, looking toward the house.

"The way you said that makes you sound like a stalker or something," Lance joked.

"Just go in there before she looks outside and calls the police about weird guys in a car parked outside her house," Chris said.

Taking a deep breath, JC left the car and walked up to the front door. Ringing on the doorbell twice, he finally heard some hurried footsteps near the door.

The door flew open and Liz stood in the doorway, some of her hair out of the ponytail and an apron was strapped around her waist. She was slightly panting, and her eyebrows crinkled when she saw him.

"Josh?"

He smiled a little. "Hi?"

"What're you doing here?" she asked, frowning.

"I came over to talk to you. I-" He was stopped when she groaned, looking over her shoulder then back at him. "What's wrong?"

"I think I have something burning in the oven," she muttered. "Look uh, just come on in."

She hurried away from the foyer, leaving JC to close the door. He followed quickly behind and watched as she grabbed a pair of oven mitts and pulled a silver tray out of the oven. On it looked like flat, dark, crumbled pieces of charcoal.

"Shit," she muttered.

"You okay there?" JC asked.

After emptying the contents into the garbage can next to the counter, she slammed the tray into the sink, opening the tap. "I tried to bake cookies, and I left them in for too long." She muttered.

"I'm sorry,"

She shrugged and then turned to look at him. "Why uh-" She cleared her throat. "Why are you here?"

"I needed to talk to you about something important." He replied.

"I think you said all that you needed to say in that letter Josh," she turned her attention back to the tray in the sink.

He shook his head. "I thought I did, but I didn't. Please, I won't take up too much of your time. If you want me to leave, I'll go, but can I just need to tell you one more thing?"

 "If it's about that girl and you having a baby with her and you still wanting to be with me then I don't want to hear it Josh." She shook her head.

He walked over to her and took her hands, placing them against his chest and kissing them.

"But that's just the thing Lizzie. It's not mine,"

"What's not yours?"

"It's not my baby," he told her softly.

Her head shot up to look at him.

"What?" she whispered.

"She lied to me." JC admitted.

He felt Liz go weak by the way her hands almost slipped out of his grip.

"Are you serious?"

He nodded, smiling. "Yea I am. I don't have to worry about it anymore Lizzie, she lied to me. I'm done with her, I swear."

She frowned. "A-Are you sure that you're not the father Josh?"

"I'm positive," he nodded. "Lizzie, if anything I was just her fucking boy toy. All she wanted from me was the fact that I could take care of her and that she could just live off of me. I didn't mean anything to her. And she doesn't mean anything to me."

The corners of Liz's mouth twitched, but then turned back to its original frown.  She cleared her throat, pulling away.

"What does this mean Jace? You telling me all this... What'd you want me to say, huh?"

He stepped closer to her. "I don't want you to say anything," he told her. "I just want to try something."

She crossed her arms.

"If you can tell me," he started. "That you feel absolutely nothing for me after this, then I'll leave you alone and I'll just stop with everything and just accept that you don't want me back."

"After what J-"

She was cut off when she felt his hands cup her face gently and he pressed his lips softly against hers.

She could have sworn time stopped at the moment, and she found herself kissing him back. That warm, tingly feeling returned after all those weeks she hadn't been able to feel his body against hers, even if they were just kissing.

She closed her eyes, opening her mouth slightly allowing their tongues to dance together in lust. Her hands slid to rest around his waist and neither of them would have pulled away if it weren't for the fact that their lungs burned for air. Slowly parting and breathing heavily from the impact of the kiss, JC rested his forehead against hers. Her eyes were still closed.

"Don't tell me it isn't still there Lizzie," he whispered, swiping his thumb over her cheek. "Please, don't tell me you can't help but feel something when I do that."

She slowly opened her eyes, looking up at him. "C-Can you j-just do that again?" she stuttered.

Without hesitation, he backed her up against the wall next to the fridge and moved one hand down to her waist. With the oven mitts being long gone, her hands dove into his hair, her nails scraping gently at his scalp.

Mouth on mouth, they shared a more wet, open kiss so passionate from the weeks they were deprived that they both thought the other was going to swallow them whole. With Liz's back pressed up against the wall, he wedged a knee between hers and she moaned softly. Again, if it weren't for the human respiratory system requiring oxygen, they didn't think they were ever going to stop.

Forehead to forehead, JC planted a final peck upon her mouth.

"Jace..." she said softly, her voice trailing off as her hands left his hair and rested on his shoulders.

"You going to answer my question or should I forget we did this and just leave?" he asked, not sure whether to pull away or stay where they were.

She smoothed her hands over his chest then brought them back to her sides as he took a very small step back. She giggled lightly to herself as she ran a hand through her hair and looked into his eyes.

"What?"  He asked uncertainly.

Shaking her head, she answered him. "I love you Josh," she stated. "If I said I didn't then I'd be telling the biggest lie I've ever told in my entire life. I don't know why or how I do, but I just know that I do for some reason. I can't help but feel something for you, and this, this thing between us."

He looked at her. "You didn't stop did you? After all that went on, you didn't stop."

 "Of course I didn't." she admitted quietly. "Even when I wanted to, I just couldn't and I drove myself crazy all those times before trying to convince myself that you and I just can't work but the truth is, Josh, for some reason I just love you more than I've ever loved anyone before." Her voice broke at the end but there were no tears.

 "I drive myself crazy wanting you the way that I do," he sang to her with a grin.

She giggled, rubbing her forehead. "Don't make me smile Chasez, I'm not supposed to be mad at you."

"But you're not...?"

She shrugged. "I wasn't really made Jace. I mean don't get me wrong, I hated you at one point in time. Maybe I still do, I don't know. But I'm not particularly angry. Just more hurt than anything else."

"I didn't mean for this to happen the way that it did,"

"I know that. Or at least, I know that now..."

Smiling softly, JC pulled her towards him and she locked her arms around his neck as he hugged her around the waist. "I missed you Lizzie," he told her quietly, burying his face in her neck. "I missed us being like this,"

She nodded, resting her head on his shoulder. "I missed you too,"

"Can I just say ‘I'm sorry' one more time?" he asked with a light chuckle in his voice. "One more time?"

She nodded.

He took her hands and placed them together in his. "Liz, I'm truly sorry for putting you through what I did and I promise you baby, if you just let me prove how much you mean to me and how much I love you and how much I want us to work, I won't ever hurt you again."

She smiled softly, her throat burning from holding back, for the first time in more or less two months, happy tears.

"It probably sounds really pathetic begging like this but-"

"Are you asking me to take you back?" she interrupted.

He nodded. "Please?"

She placed a soft kiss on his bottom lip and cupped one side of his face with the palm of her hand.

"You can't ask back for what you never lost Josh," she smiled.

He heaved a sigh of relief, enveloping her in a tightly. "Thank you," he said, his voice muffled by her shoulder.

She nodded against his chest. "Just don't hurt me again Josh," she pleaded softly. "I don't think I'd be able to go through this another time around. I don't think I could take it."

"There won't be another time baby," he promised, kissing the top of her head. "I won't hurt you. We're going to work this time and I'm going to make up for everything. I mean it. Things are going to be different."

"Then okay," She smiled up at him - brown eyes clashing with the blue - but they were interrupted when the sounds of running footsteps suddenly thudded on the wooden floors.

"Can't you hold it!?" Justin's voice rang out.

"Not any longer!" Chris yelled, slamming a door.

JC frowned, turning around his head. Liz took his hand and they quickly walked out of the kitchen and stood next to the doorframe leading to the living room when they saw Justin standing outside the bathroom door in the hall. His hands were on his hips as he tried to catch his breath.

"Uh, Justin?" JC waved to him. "I thought I told you to wait out in the car."

"Chris said he had to use the bathroom so I told him to hold it," he began, taking a breath as he walked up to them. "Then, he got out of the car and threatened to take a leak on the lawn and when I tried to stop him he ran inside here and into the bathroom and well, yea he's in the bathroom."

They heard the toilet flush and the door opened. Chris walked out, a relaxed smile on his face.

"Now that's what I call good urinating." He stated.

"Chris!" JC exclaimed. "You can't just barge into someone's house and use their bathroom without even seeing the person or asking first! It's rude!"

Liz chuckled, shaking her head. "It's okay Jace," she said, then turned back to face Chris. "Don't worry about it. You guys are more than welcome to use the bathroom here whenever you're in the area."

Chris grinned. "See, she didn't mind." Justin just rolled his eyes in response.

"Still," JC said looking at Liz. "Sorry about that. Guess he didn't ‘urinate' while he was in the studio."

"Like I said, don't worry about it."

They smiled while Justin and Chris looked on.

"So you guys are civil now?" Justin asked.

JC nodded, pulling her close to him by the waist and kissing the side of her head.

"Wait, you took him back?!" Emma's voice sounded from behind them. Lance and Joey stood behind her. She had her hands on her hips.

JC and Liz looked at each other and crinkled their eyebrows.

"How is that the seven of us somehow always end up in the same place when it's just supposed to be me and you?" Liz inquired.

JC chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. Lance closed the door while Emma took a few steps forward. She tapped her foot impatiently eyeing the way JC's arm was snaked around Liz's waist.

"Well?" she asked.

"Well, what?" JC asked.

"Don't play smartass on us," Joey said, waving a finger at the couple. "We just want to know if she took you back."

JC looked at Liz and raised his eyebrows. She smirked and turned back to Joey to answer his question.

"What does this tell you?" She placed her hands flat against JC's chest and pushed him against the wall hard enough rattle a couple frames. She pressed her lips to his, fighting a smile when they both heard a couple gasps and she knew there were grins behind her. JC, completely taken off guard, didn't waste any time using his arms to wrap around her and pull her closer to him.

"Okay, we get it!" Chris cried out. "Get off her already!"

Liz giggled, prying JC's hands off her hips as he turned a faint color of pink.

"Did that answer your question Joe?" Emma smiled, patting the red headed member on the back.

Joey nodded. "It sure did,"

"So what now?" Emma asked, looking around. "Why're we all standing around here?"

Liz and JC looked at each other and shrugged.

"I just came over to talk to Liz and then leave," JC started.

"But you're here already," Liz smiled. "Did you come straight from the studio or something?"

"Yea, something like that," JC smiled.

"Aren't you hungry?"

"I am," Justin spoke up. "JC made us come straight here when we should have gone home and eat."

"Hey!" JC said defensively. "I bought you cereal and cookies so don't talk!"

Justin scowled but Emma looped her arm around his and Chris' and walked them led them into the kitchen. "C'mon boys," she said with a smile. "Let's get you something to eat,"

Lance and Joey followed them in with big grins. The loved it when Emma ‘spoiled' them.

JC and Liz turned back to each other.

"So uh," Liz started. "Food now?"

JC shook his head. "I'm really not hungry."

"Yes you are, I can tell."

He shrugged. "I'm satisfied with what I got right here."

She giggled. "C'mon, I'll fix you something. Em's probably got something in the microwave already."

She turned to lead them into the kitchen but JC pulled on her wrist to stop her. "Wait,"

She looked at him.  "What?"

"I love you." He said softly. "And thank you."

She smiled. "You too Jace... But stop thanking me, okay? If we're going to go through with us being together again, I don't want us to ruin it with reminders of what happened in the past."

He nodded. "Alright,"

"JC," Lance's head popped out from the inner side of the doorframe. "Emma wants to know if you want one burger or two."

"One each?" JC asked, looking at Liz.

"Yea, okay." She agreed.

"Two, please."

Lance nodded and disappeared back into the room.

He realized she was staring at his neck with s soft smile on her face.

"What?" he asked confused. "Is my t shirt inside out or something?"

She shook her head and brought her hand up to his chest. She took the stone pendant that rested on the brown string against his chest between her thumb and index finger.

"You kept it?" She asked. "After all this?"

He looked down at the necklace then back at her. "Of course I did. I mean, I did take it off for a photo shoot but that was only for a couple hours."

"Why'd you put it back on?

"I didn't feel complete without it." He said simply. "It was the closest thing I had to keeping you near my heart and well, you gave it to me. I wasn't going to just forget about on my dresser for it to collect dust."

She grinned. "You're sweet Josh."

"I know," He smiled.

She rolled her eyes. "Dork,"

"But I'm your dork." He looked her in the eye and spoke genuinely. "And only yours."

*NSYNC sat side by side, silently biting their nails and bouncing their legs as they awaited Johnny's return from inside the courtroom. They were still in their suits and it had been twenty minutes since they were ushered out. It was their final day, or so they were told, inside a courthouse. It was the last day for their case to be heard and it was the day in which they would finally hear the outcome of their several month long lawsuit with Lou. Whether or not they would put out their new album that had been postponed so many times would finally be decided, along with what label they'd release it under and more importantly, whether the *NSYNC name would stay alive among the five members.

"What if-" Justin began but Chris interrupted him.

"Don't say it."

"But if we-"

"It won't happen."

"But Chris, we-"

"Justin would you relax!" Chris cried out, exasperated. "God!"

His sudden loud voice got back the attention of all the members.

"We're all nervous here Chris," JC said softly. "You're not the only one."

"But with Justin questioning all the negatives isn't helping!" he snapped.

"Sorry," the youngest member mumbled.

"Chris you can't ignore what could happen here." Lance said. "I mean, whether or not the decision is for or against us, the five of us are always going to be *NSYNC. No judge or Lou can change that."

"But if Lou wins then..." Joey's voice trailed off.

"Then..." JC continued slowly. "Then it was a good ride while it lasted. We're brothers, the five of us. And whichever way this suit goes, we got each other and we got our fans. Nothing's ever going to beat that."

Justin, Joey, Chris and Lance nodded in agreement as all five members looked at each other with small smiles on their faces.

"I just don't want things with *NSYNC to go down this way," Chris murmured. "If we lose, that is."

"If we go down," Joey started. "We go down together..."

Justin opened his mouth to say something but he stopped when their attention was drawn to the echo of a loud door slamming. Lou stormed out, blocking his face and muttering curse words when five or six news reporters rushed up to him with their cameras and voice recorders from where they stood about twenty feet away. His female lawyer followed out the door, head high and face stern. She didn't look happy, and she simply kept walking when the cameras tried blocking her path. *NSYNC looked on, standing slowly from their sitting positions on the brown leather chairs and felt the nervousness build up in the pit of their stomach. Lou hadn't bothered to look over at them, neither did his lawyer who was now out of their sight and the news reporters were being ushered out by security.

"What'd you think happened in there?" Lance asked.

"I don't know," Chris started. "But it looks like-"

"Don't assume anything," JC warned. "It could be-"

"Hey!" a voice rang out. The sound of a loud slam of a door echoed with the voice.

The guys turned to their right to see where the voice came from. Johnny stood in front of the large dark brown door, a few envelopes in his hand.

He walked up to the guys, whose palms had started sweating by now. He kept a smile on his face.

"W-What happened in there?" Justin questioned. "What's the outcome?"

Johnny just looked at the five expressionless faces staring back at him.

"We can take it Johnny." JC exhaled softly.

Johnny shrugged. "What would you say if it told you that *NSYNC's going to be releasing their new album early next year?"

Their eyes widened.

"We won boys. Congratulations," Johnny smiled. "No more Lou, no more working for free and no more strings attached. We're finally at the end, or should I say, the beginning..."

The guys couldn't control their excitement before they were jumping around and high fiving and hugging each other as though they had all won the lottery. They even pulled Johnny in for a hug and the noises they made attracted the attention of a few people walking through the long halls who just smiled at them.

Johnny laughed, hugging them back and giving them proud pats on their backs.

"What now?" Joey grinned. "Where do we go from here?"

"Well now, we can legally sign with Jive, we can release ‘Bye Bye Bye', you can say hello to your new manager-" He stopped momentarily and point at himself and grin. "-We can finish the tracks for the sophomore album and finally, you guys can get paid." He handed them each a yellow envelope and they guys took it with shaky but eager hands.

They looked at each other and then at Johnny who encouraged them to open it. "You all get paid the same amount. Be free and have fun with it. It's well deserved."

Their eyes opened wide, and they all gasped softly when they read the digits on the white piece of paper.

"Is this for real?" Justin asked, lightly laughing. "This is what he's been keeping away from us?"

Johnny shrugged. "You earned it not. They've already been deposited into your bank accounts. These are just the agreements the court made up. Big change from that twenty thousand you were getting, right?"

Chris laughed. "I'll say! I mean, from twenty thousand to eight and a half million bucks!?"

"And we each have the same amount?" JC asked. "This is all ours?"

Johnny nodded. "It's all yours. All your work's pay... The seven million album sales, to the specials and appearances you guys did, the tours and merchandising, it's all yours to enjoy and do as you please."

"Damn!" JC stated shaking his head.

"Mercedes here I come." Justin grinned.

"And now you five don't have to stay at the house anymore," Johnny pointed out. "You can all get your own places, but recording for the album remains in Orlando if you don't count the promotional travelling."

"When do we get into the Jive studio?" Lance asked.

"You have two weeks till I officially lock you in studio," their manager joked. "You don't come out until the tracks for the album are set and we can put out a release date."

"And then..." Justin pushed.

"Then... The world better get ready to know what *NSYNC is all about because you guys are going to be everywhere... And I mean, everywhere."