"Come on." He grabbed her wrist and turned around, practically speed walking away from where they sat a second ago.

"Jace, wait! Hold on a minute!"

JC kept dragging her along with him through the cemetery, not bothering to respond.

"W-What do you mean ‘now'?"

Again, no response.

She yanked her hand out of his grasp. "Hey, answer me!"

He turned around. "What?"

"Josh, where are you even going?"

"Court house," he said simply. "If we can't have that glammed up ceremony you've been trying to plan, then we're going to do this the quick and easy way. I'm tired of waiting and you're already tired of planning. It's the obvious solution."

"How can you say I'm tired of planning when I haven't even gotten to plan anything yet?"

"Are you saying that you don't want to get married?"

"Well..." she hesitated. "Not this way! Not as a spur of the moment kind of thing. I mean, Josh, look around. Look at us. We're making this decision in a grave yard. We're both in jeans and t shirts. The guys aren't here, Emma isn't here, your parents don't know about this. We haven't thought about this rationally!"

JC walked up closer to her and cupped her face in his hands. He looked deep into her almost golden orbs.

"Lizzie, look at me and tell me that you love me."

"Josh, you know that-"

"Baby, if you love me, just say it. Right now."

"I love you."

"And I love you. So, what else do we need Lizzie? I got you, you got me. What else do we need?"

"Your family, our friends, they're going to-"

"Stop thinking about everything else besides the fact that this is supposed to be about me and you. Not about anyone or anything else. Don't think about location. Don't think about the fancy food or the champagne reception with the over-paid photographer. Don't think about what you're wearing. Don't think about who's there and who isn't. Just think about how much I love you, and I know you love me the same way. If we don't do this now, it's never going to happen Lizzie. Not anytime soon anyways. We're going to go right back to where we started; in an argument about a wedding that I could make happen right now."

"Getting married today isn't going to change the fact that you leave again tomorrow Josh," she reminded him softly. "It isn't going to solve all our problems."

"But it would solve a big part of it."

"How?"

"Lizzie, I can make you my wife in a half an hour if you'd let me. We can be married today and I could take you on tour with me tomorrow and make it a honeymoon. We can forget about everything for a second and just celebrate our love together, just you and me. It's not going to be a spur of the moment thing because I asked you to marry me a long time ago."

"What're we going to do tomorrow?"

"I'm going to take my wife to LA with me and try to give her the best honeymoon that I could, given the circumstances. We're doing this for you and for me. For us. Who doesn't like it, doesn't like it. It won't matter. You know why?"

"Why?" she asked, her voice merely above a whisper.

"Because as long as you believe that you and I being together forever feels right, then nothing else is going to matter."

"It feels right Josh but at the same time, when I think of everything, it feels so wrong."

"That's why I told you to think about nothing besides you and me. Just do that Liz, and everything else will fall in to place."

"I don't even have a dress or anything," she muttered, looking down at the denim jeans and orange t shirt she wore.

 "I don't need to see you in a long, white dress to realize how beautiful you are. You've proven that to me time and time again. And if it helps, I don't exactly look ‘red-carpet ready' either."

Liz just stared at him, not saying anything. It took JC a good fifteen silent seconds before he slowly pulled away and outstretched his hand to her.

"Let's do it," he urged her gently. "Marry me Lizzie."

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

"Oh fuck."

"What?" JC glanced at her, momentarily taking his eyes off the open road. "What's wrong?"

Liz held up the vibrating phone. "Emma's calling me."

JC didn't say anything.

Liz swatted his arm. "Josh!"

"What?"

"Am I supposed to pick up or what?"

"Why wouldn't you pick up?"

"Because she'd blow me the fuck out if she knew what I was doing and she didn't know about it! This is like fate telling us that what we're doing is a bad idea."

JC sighed. "Gimme the phone."

Clearing his throat and taking the phone from Liz, JC answered the call. His other hand and his eyes were focused on driving.

"Hey Em, what's up?"

"Oh, hey, Josh. I take it you found Lizzie?"

"Yea, I did. Thanks by the way."

"Yea, no problem. Um, is she there because I-"

"Actually, Emma," JC started slowly. "We're at my place and Lizzie's in the bathroom but I'll tell her to call you back when she comes out, alright? Did you need something?"

"Nothing too important. I just wanted to know what time she'd be home. I've got a couple things to do today and by the time I'm done, I'll probably just grab something to eat out somewhere. I wasn't sure if you guys were doing something or if I should just go."

"Yea, actually, just go ahead. We were probably just going to stay in and watch a movie or something. I'll let her know you're going out."

"Alright, thanks Josh. I'll see you guys later."

"Yea, cool. Later Em,"

He hung up and gave the phone back to Liz, who had an incredulous look on her face, opposed to JC of course, who had kept on an emotionless expression that whole time.

"You just lied to one of our best friends!"

"I didn't lie."

"You said that I was in the bathroom at your house when I'm really on the highway getting ready to elope."

"Technically we're getting a marriage license and then we're going to be married. I think."

"Either way we're going to be married and then what're we going to do when we have to tell our friends and family that we already had a wedding and they weren't invited?"

"Again, the point of us doing this was not to have a wedding, but to do what the two of us wanted from the beginning. To be married, but without all that glam. It's for you and for me, not anyone else."

Liz sighed, leaning back against the seat. "You seem to be pretty sure about this."

JC took one of her hands from her lap and laced his fingers through the spaces between hers. "Stop worrying so much about this baby. Think about tonight, when it'll be official that we'll be spending the rest of our lives together. You're going to be my wife, I'm going to be your husband. I'm gonna take you on the road with me tomorrow and you and I are going to start the next chapter in our lives."

"You make it all sound so good," she mumbled.

"If you like that then you're going to love the way I talk about our first night together," he winked.

"Oh my God, Josh!" Liz groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"Now what's wrong?"

"Josh, I can't consummate our relationship tonight!"

"Of course we can-"

"No, I can't... Not tonight, not this week!"

"What'd you mean you - Oh... Dammit."

"This is yet, another sign that we're doing this at a bad time."

"This is not a bad time Liz," JC insisted. "It'll be okay. We don't even have to do the sex part tonight. We can do it next week over the weekend or something. It's not that big a deal so relax. We're doing this for us."

"That's what you keep saying but I'm not sure if that's what it is anymore."

"What? You don't think I'm doing this for us?"

"Here we go again," she muttered.

"No, no, no, no, go on sweetheart. Talk to me. You don't think I'm doing this for us?"

"Well, you seem to be doing this out of the convenience of yourself."

"Are you saying that I'm the one pressuring you to get married like this?"

"This whole idea was yours! You're the one who appeared out of nowhere on my lovely Saturday afternoon and was like ‘Hey, we're getting married today.' Do you think I expected this?"

"Do you think this is how I thought things were going to go down when we agreed to get married in the first place? I can tell you that it isn't! If you don't want to do this I swear to God I will turn this car around right now."

"Why? So we can go back to fighting over who's home and who isn't? To who actually cares and who doesn't?"

"Do you even want to do this right now?"

"This isn't exactly the way I envisioned my wedding day."

"That doesn't answer my question Liz."

"I just don't know if this is necessarily the right solution to our problems."

"Not knowing whether or not this will ‘necessarily' solve our problems isn't going to cut it Liz. Think now and think fast and tell me if this is what you think you're going to want at the end of the day."

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

"What'd she say?" Liz asked as JC walked over to her. She started to get up from the brown chair she sat in but JC gestured for her to sit back down. He joined her on the chair next to her.

"They'll call us in to talk with us in a few minutes."

"Okay," she nodded.

"Hey," JC smiled, looking at her.

"What?"

"Lean in so I can kiss you."

She smiled and did as she was asked. JC held her chin and gently pressed his lips to hers. He pulled away after a moment but held her in place.

"I love you, you know that."

"I know."

"Good."

"You're crazy too."

JC chuckled. "So I've been told."

"We're not making a mistake, are we Josh?"

"I don't think so. It doesn't feel that way."

"You sure?"

"I'm ready for this, even if it is a little sudden right now. I think we're doing the right thing for us."

"Okay," she sighed softly, pulling away from him.

They sat there in silence for a couple minutes before JC's phone started vibrating.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey C, what're you doing?"

"Justin, I can't exactly talk right now."

"Where are you? Are with Liz?"

"Yea, we're hanging out at my place." JC lied. "Do you need something?"

"Nah, we were just wondering if you were making use of your time. Johnny wanted us to remind you that he scheduled your flight to LA for 9AM tomorrow so don't oversleep!"

"Yea, yea, I won't. Hey, speaking of Johnny, is he there right now with you guys?"

"Nah, he's out doing manager stuff. I don't know where he is exactly. Lance and I are up in the hotel room chilling out and Joey and Chris are down at the pool. You're the only one missing C."

"Yea J, I know. Hey man, I'll be back tomorrow."

"Liz coming with you?"

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to Johnny about. Look, I need you to tell Johnny to-"

"Josh?"  Liz tapped his arm, interrupting the call.

"Hold on Jus," JC held the phone by his shoulder and looked at her. "What babe?"

"Who is that?"

"On the phone? Justin."

Liz shook her head. "No, who's that?" 

She pointed her finger over to the other side of the room. Behind a large plant, she could see two men in all black hiding behind cameras that they held. The cameras however, were pointed at JC and Liz.

"You're kidding me," JC muttered under his breath.

"Who are they?" Liz looked from JC to the two guys then back to JC then back to the two guys. "Why are they here?"

"Just keep you head down and don't look at them," JC advised her softly but in an annoyed term.

Liz did like he said but her eyes strayed over to the large doors they had entered from, at the far end of the area. There were at least seven more guys with cameras failing to camouflage themselves.

"Josh, that's papara-" Before she could even finish the word, a voice called out to them.

"Mr. Chasez?" a woman poked her head out through one of the doors aligning the corridor.

Before the couple could even respond to the woman, flashes from cameras started going off and they were getting closer and closer. The voices of numerous people asking questions all at the same time had started echoing.

"I'll call you back," JC said into the phone, flipping it shut and shoving it into his pocket. He kept his head down, pulling Liz to stand up with him. "C'mon," he mumbled to her.

He tried getting to where the woman that had called out his name stood but multiple paparazzi was blocking his way. Liz had never actually encountered this part of the fame that JC's life came with and so far, she didn't like it.

Wasn't this place supposed to have security or something?

"JC, who is this?" - "JC, is it true that you're getting married?" - "Are you getting married today?" - "JC, why aren't you on tour?" - "Where're the rest of *NSYNC?" - "Is it true that Justin Timberlake is dating Britney Spears?" - "Is this your wife?" - "Are you pregnant?" - "Why are you both here today?" - "What is your name, miss?" - "JC why aren't you wearing a wedding ring?" - "Is it true you both are engaged?" - "How much did the ring on your finger cost?"

It's like the paparazzi plays twenty questions and you're barely trying to think about how to answer one question but then the next question is thrown at you.

"Don't answer them," JC hissed to her, still trying to shove his way past the small mob.

Liz kept her head down and closed her eyes, feeling as though the flashes were blinding her, and let JC lead her to wherever it was he was walking to.

 If it hadn't been for that one, stupid guy with the camera grabbing her left hand trying to get a close up of the ring, things would have probably been fine. Out of instinct at the unfamiliar and rough touch, she grabbed her hand away and accidently knocked the camera right out of his hands.

The loud noise it made when hitting the tiled floor caused JC to start moving faster but it also caused the rest of the mob to move in closer to them, their voices getting louder.

Liz looked up, catching a glimpse of the woman they were supposed to be meeting with and she could see the brunette frantically gesturing for three security guards to come stop the madness that had started in a matter of seconds.

On the door that she stood next to had the words ‘Marriage Licenses' written in small, golden, bold letters.

People weren't stupid. They would put 2 and 2 together. JC and her, with the diamond on her finger on the one day *NSYNC had off, in a court house walking toward a room that had the word ‘Marriage' on it... If any of those paparazzi had used their brains plus the photos Liz knew they had by now, by tomorrow this story was-

"Josh, stop," she pulled her arm away and JC stopped momentarily to look at her. The paparazzi, of course, were feeding off of the turn of events. It was almost as though Liz was involuntarily giving them more to the story each one of them were itching to go back to their gossip offices and write.

"We gotta go," he insisted, almost through gritted teeth. "Do not answer any of their questions. Just follow me."

"I can't go through with this," she whispered, praying that she had said it loud enough only for JC to hear.

She turned her back and started speed walking away from the scene, keeping her head down like JC told her to before and literally pushed her body through the horde of people. When she was finally in front of them, JC could see her pace pick up and she pushed open the double doors, disappearing behind them as the closed.

"No way."

~*~*~*

1 hour later

"Liz!" JC called out, slamming the front door behind him. "Where are you?"

He knew she was home. His house was too far for her to walk over to and she had left her cell phone in his car so she couldn't have called anyone to take her anywhere.

Too bad it had taken him almost an hour to figure that out or he wouldn't have gone looking around the area for her on his feet.

"Lizzie!" he called out to her again.

"I'm right here, jeez," she walked out of the kitchen wearing the same t shirt but this time she had on shorts and her hair was in a loose bun. "Did anyone follow you here?"

JC looked at her. "No, no one followed me over here. I can't believe you left me in the middle of all that! Why did you even leave?"

"Why did I leave?" she repeated. "Did you see how crazy that whole scene was getting?! Josh, can you imagine what could have happened if we walked into that marriage licensing office in front of all that paparazzi that followed us in there? Our faces would have ended up on the covers of those gossip magazines tomorrow!"

"That's why you left? Because a couple, nosy people walked up to you and took and few photos?"

"A couple, nosy people? Josh, those people didn't even have enough courtesy to leave us alone! By the time that woman had called out your name, everything went haywire from there on in! I had to get out of there! I wasn't going to do what we were going to do in that environment with that whole situation on my mind!"

JC sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I need something to drink," he mumbled, walking past her to go into the kitchen.

"I honestly give you guys props for putting up with that all the time."

"The paparazzi?" he asked, looking inside of the fridge.

Liz nodded. "That's some scary shit right there. And those questions they were asking us! None of that is even any of their business. I can't believe they followed you in there."

"Neither can I. I thought I was doing well keeping my low profile but I guess not."

"I don't care about the paparazzi but I just wish they'd leave us - well, you - alone at a certain point. When you're obviously out with someone they know you're linked to, why can't they just understand that that's your time with that person? Why can't they just watch from a distance and just not but in?"

"I don't know babe," JC sighed, taking a seat next to her at the kitchen table with a coke can in hand. "All I know is that this day is just not what I expected it to be this morning."

"We're not doing it Josh," Liz shook her head. "Not today, at least. I don't think I'm up for it anymore. I don't even want to talk about it at this point."

"Fine," he nodded. "You mind if we just stay right here for now? Like, for the rest of the day? I don't want to drive home or even go anywhere today after all that." He rested his keys on the table next to his drink. "I'm just tired now."

"Nap?

"Yea, whatever..." he murmured. "What else are we going to do? All our plans crashed."

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

4 hours later-> 7PM

"Josh," Liz nudged at him sleepily. "Baby, your phone is going off."

JC turned over and groaned, opening his eyes to try and locate the device on the nightstand next to him.

"What time is it?" Liz asked softly, rolling over closer to him and resting her arm over his torso.

JC winced as he tried to read the time. "After 7."

"We've been asleep for a while then."

JC chuckled, using one of his hands to rub his eyes. "Yea, we have."

After about three seconds, Liz reluctantly sat up and smoothed down her hair. JC did the same, smiling and kissing her when he got up.

"That nap almost makes everything that happened earlier seem like a dream."

Liz shrugged. "I'm over that now. It's not worth it if we keep thinking about it, you know? Just bad timing. Really, really, bad timing."

"I guess..."

"Was someone trying to call you?" she nodded at the phone in his hand.

"Oh, I didn't even check that. I think it's a text message."

Liz got up off the bed and stretched. "From who? Someone important?"

"It's from Johnny, actually," JC told her, pulling the covers off him and letting his legs hang off the bed as he sat up. "Hm, it says turn on channel 24 right now."

"That's it?"

"Yea."

"Why do you think he wants you to do that?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well, c'mon. We'll turn it on downstairs."

By the time they got to the bottom of the staircase to enter the living room, JC could already hear his name being said from a voice on the TV.

They entered the room, only to find Emma standing with her back to them with her arms crossed.

"... As it turns out, Chasez seems to be saying Bye Bye Bye not only to his former manager, but also to his bachelorhood. The blue eyed pop star was caught up in paparazzi frenzy today with his on and off girlfriend and assumed fiancé. The couple was seen waiting outside a Marriage Licensing office right here in Orlando, Florida. Whether or not JC and his still un-named lady have a ready tied the knot after disappearing from the court house this afternoon is still debatable; Especially since sources say that there was no sight of any of Chasez's *NSYNC bandmates present at the time. News on whether or not the couple officially eloped today is still undetermined."

"Oh my God," Liz brought up her hand to cover her mouth when a picture of she and JC plus the paparazzi surrounding them came up on the screen.

Emma spun around and glared at the two.

"What the hell is this?"