( Dos .

"...you won't forget it, either", that replayed in my head all day. What did JC mean by that? Did he have something of his own planned now that I was here with him? If he did, what the hell was it and would it be better than what I planned? I'll be god damned if JC tries to outdo me on his birthday. How terribly selfish...tsk tsk.

I had three outfits laid out on the bed for tonight and left my special outfit for his actual birthday, on Monday, at home. I didn't even want him to accidentally see how it looked. I was about to randomly pick one, when I heard a soft knock on the door.

"Come in," I answered.

JC opened the door and a huge whiff of 'man' smacked me in the face. JC looked dashing and smelled amazing. He was wearing black skinny-legged jeans, a teal v-neck, and a silky black vest. His dress shoes were nice and shiny. Sheesh. I was sure I had to be blushing. JC brushed past me and sat on the bed, looking at my clothes.

"Looks like I'm just in time for the fashion show. You gonna model for me?" JC asked innocently. I sucked my teeth and brushed his comment away.

"No way, are you nuts?" I joked.

"How about you wear this one?" He pointed to my black and teal, leopard print dress. It was a thick-strapped dress, instead of the asymmetrical, one- sleeve dress I could've gotten.

"We'll look like Doublemint twins Jace," I said.

JC chuckled and shook his head. "No, you'll look like a 30-year old cute kid, and I'll look like her man slave, Gustaf."

"Ass," I laughed.

"Come on, wear it, you'll look stunning," he encouraged.

"You've never seen me in this dress JC, how do you know?" I asked.

I saw that devious smile of his appear across his face. "Because I've seen you out of the dress and that alone, is breathtaking."

I smiled, gently smacking his thigh. He was such a cornball sometimes.

"Model it for me, I wanna see how it looks on you. Please, with sugar on top?" he smiled.

I sighed. "Fine, Jace."

He moved to the other side of my bed and sat all the way back, with his arms crossed behind his head. Unintentional jerk. Wow....that felt good, haven't called him that in a long time. I knew that technically, this would be called stripping, not modeling. I'm stripping for JC. And it's a birthday strip. How cliché is that?

"I have a feeling I'm lady number 974 on the list of women who've stripped for you," I said.

"Not true....974 is a ridiculous number. More like...973," he teased. I gasped and threw a pillow at him as he laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Even if that was the case, none of them would mean anything to me because they weren't you."

One of two people who could make stripping sound really sweet? JC Chasez. I stood at the head of the bead, and went on about changing out of my clothes with an invited peeping Tom. I wasn't trying to be sexy or anything....okay, maybe I was a bit Marilyn Monroe-ish when I was taking off my top, but other than that, I forgot he was there. I pulled on the skintight dress and marveled in the mirror at how it fit perfectly against my body. Wow...this dress really does look good. JC was right. Oh crap....JC.

I turned around for JC to see and he looked dazed. Was he serious or just flattering me? Either way, it was boosting my confidence around wearing this dress.

"Wow...um, turn around again," he joked.

"Josh!"

"It looks great from that beautifully curved and soft angle....so great," he laughed.

"I guess I'm wearing this, then," I decided.

"Can I still stay and watch you get ready?" JC asked. He was being too adorable today.

"Sure, if you want to," I replied.

I did some light make up on my face: silver eyeliner, mascara, and a light teal eyeshadow. I put on the black, 4.5-inch, ankle boots I brought, and made sure my legs were smooth and shiny. I took my hair out of its' high bun and swished my hair out. It fell just the way I wanted it to, what the hell? My hair never cooperates when I want it to, probably knows that this is for JC. I grabbed my bracelets, put them on, and put a few things into my shiny black clutch. Good, now, all we're waiting for is.....

DING DONG!!!

The doorbell. I sprayed a bit of perfume on me and turned around for the final okay from JC. He stood up and took my hand, lifting it into the air. I slowly spun and once I was facing him again, his arms wrapped around my waist. I closed my eyes at the feeling of his nose nuzzling across my neck. The doorbell sounded again, bringing us back to reality, and stopping us from living in our past.

"After you, mama."

I felt the iciest chill up my back. I LOVE it when he calls me that. I know he says it a lot, but it didn't sound the same when I heard him say it to another woman. I walked down the stairs and out of the way, so JC could answer it. I anxiously watched as the door was unlocked and opened. This was it, the missing piece of the puzzle.

"Oh, hey what's up, Justin."

What?! That's it? Just "hey"? Does he know how long it took me to get Justin away from working and he just says "hey"? They didn't even hug each other. Okay...am I missing something here? Aren't they supposed to be excited they haven't seen each other in awhile? Isn't this how the Joshtin/JuC bond works?

I stood with my arms crossed. "What's this?"

"This is Justin, Zahra, remember?" JC said loudly.

"I'm not deaf, you dick," I said. "I know who it is, why aren't you excited?"

"Why would I be?" JC asked.

"Because you haven't seen him in awhile," I replied.

"I don't think a week constitutes as "awhile", but okay," JC shrugged.

I smacked Justin in his arm. "Ow! What!" he exclaimed.

"You should've told me, I thought he was missing you!" I yelled, feeling like the lamest surprise giver on the planet.

Justin laughed. "Aww, I'm sorry, you're right, you're absolutely right. JC, bring the love." He opened his arms wide and smiled. JC rolled his eyes and swatted us away.

My guess is that I'm the only one who hasn't seen everyone in almost two years. Excuse my French, but...ain't that a bitch? I was thinking we all were getting the band back together, and two of them were already in cahoots. Looks like I didn't only drift away from JC, I drifted from Justin, too. Speaking of seeing him, I took a minute to get a good look at Justin. Snug fitting jacket over a blue and black plaid shirt, William Rast jeans, shoes, and another scent of 'man'. His face was a lightly stubbled, just the way I liked it. Thank you, gods and goddesses of sexy man heaven. Thank you. I pulled his arm and hugged him. His embrace made me noodle-kneed and a bit breathless, he held me so tight. I had a weird Deja Vu feeling and something told me, it would work to my advantage this tonight.

Soon, we were making our way past the front of the line at the club, past security, and into the club. Little did JC know, those people were in line for his birthday party. Courtesy of having Justin Timberlake as your best friend and JC Chasez as the birthday boy? Free drinks and food. Did I say food? Free food. Scurrying up to the VIP area, I let JC get acquainted with a few familiar faces.

"Joey?! ......Hey Chris! ......Yo Lance!"

Am I amazing or what? JC was so excited to see his friends and family for his birthday. JC was turning 35 and we were gonna start this night off right.

"Jäger bombs," Justin suggested.

"Bet," JC agreed.

They both turned to look at me. Oh no don't even look this way. Not happening.

"You have either Chris, Joey, or Lance to complete the three amigos, take your pick," I said.

"No, you have to do this Zee, you're 30!" Justin said.

What in the hell is wrong with him? "SHHH! Don't yell that shit out loud," I laughed.

"Peer pressure. It's for my birthday, Zee, come on," JC pleaded. I had two pairs of puppy dog eyes staring at me, and once the other three found out what was going on, I had five pairs. Oh those *NSYNC bastards.

"Fine! Fine. I'll only Jäger bomb, if all five of you do it," I said.

"Deal," Justin said, handing me a shot glass.

We all glanced at one another once we each had a glass in our hand, and waited for Chris to count it off.

"Ready? 3....2....1!"

I knocked the drink back and swallowed, feeling the burn as it went down my throat and settled in my chest. I coughed, smacking my chest, until the burn finally eased. JC grabbed my hand and pulled me down to the dance-floor. Rihanna's "What's My Name" was being spun by the DJ and I was more than happy to follow him.

I felt those strong hands pull my hips tightly against the front of his body and I was only hoping that no one was watching what was about to occur. I lifted my arms, placing my hands behind his neck and slowly rolled my body to the beat. His fingers grazed across my stomach, matching his hips to the motion I created. His breath was warm on my neck, somehow blowing its' way into my ear.

I thought I was safe until his teeth were grazing against my neck. I bit my lip, getting turned on by feeling his hands rub up and down my sides, grazing my ass. Speaking of my ass, he was pressed so tightly against it, I think my Leopard print was all over the front of his pants. I could feel every inch of bulge against me and it felt so good, but almost foreign. I hadn't felt him in a long time. I made myself push out all the memories of JC and I in a sweaty embrace. The lights finally went out, and the strobe lights were now illuminating everywhere. JC wasted no time creeping his fingers up the front of my dress and placing them in between my thighs. I didn't want to torture him nor did I want to be free of what he was starting to do, but I pulled away. I kissed his cheek and took his hand, leading us back up to VIP for a drink.

I spent little time talking to anyone, seeing as how I was either dancing or stuffing my face with FREE FOOD. I scoped out another little honey pot that I'd been waiting to dance with, but because he's Mr. Popular with three movies coming out in one year, all the whores were scoping and marking him as territory. Screw that. Mr. Popular belongs to me.

I walked downstairs and across the floor to a dark and discreet area where Justin was dancing. As he saw me approaching him, he kindly told the girl he was dancing with that he would dance with her another time. "My Last" by Big Sean was blaring and almost immediately I found myself pressed against the body of Justin Timberlake. What made dancing with Justin different than dancing with JC? Justin was a sex on the dance floor kind of guy, JC was more of a sex AFTER the dance floor guy. Not that I think either of them are wrong, of course.

Justin had my ass practically nailed against his junk while we were dancing. He had a perfectly solid hard-on. We were literally the naughtiest dance couple on the floor. At one point, he had my back bent over while he went to work. I had to stop his hands from accessing anywhere, but I was lenient about his lips on my neck. Or his hands caressing my body. For ONCE, he's single when we're dancing and I enjoyed every single dirty, slutty second of it.