9:42 PM.

Shit.

JC had been sitting in his car for a little over five minutes, parked outside of the large, automatic black gate that led into his driveway in an attempt to come up with an excuse worth believing. Still, at almost three quarters of an hour late, he had to admit that he wasn't sure if any excuse he came up with would even be one worth saying.

As far as Katrina knew via text message, he simply was ‘not home' and that she should go ahead and ‘relax without me for a bit.'

With a silent sigh, he stretched his hand out to the gate operator to punch in the six digit code that permitted him entry. As his Mercedes pulled into the space next to Katrina's Prius, JC reluctantly opened the car door to let himself out. He adjusted his appearance so that the bulge in his jeans that hadn't been taken care of wouldn't completely give him away.

He unlocked his front door and gently closed it behind him so that he wouldn't disrupt the silence that had settled throughout the house.

He walked a few steps further and poked his head into the living room and flicked on the lights. Every piece of furniture seemed to be untouched. Was Katrina even here?

JC furrowed his eyebrows, and turned around to head into the kitchen. He had only taken four steps into the room when the high pitched scream of a cat bellowed right before him and caused him to jump back in terror.

"Shit!" JC cried out, his heart rate speeding. "Jesus Christ."

The cat quickly dashed off to hide below one of the tall, wooden stools in fear of the man whose size ten shoe had just mashed down on its short tail and whose loud voice had scared them into seeking safety.

"Pix, I didn't see you there," JC groaned apologetically as he squatted nearby to where the small animal was whimpering.

"Pixel?" Katrina's voice echoed outside in the foyer. She hurriedly paced into the kitchen, only halting when she noticed JC. A broad smile came over her face.

"Hey, you're home," she greeted him. "I thought I heard someone."

"Yeah, I just got here," JC nodded. "Um, we may have a little situation down here."

Katrina's face immediately fell when she paused and heard the soft cries of her pet and spotted her curled under the stool.

"JC!" Katrina yelled at him as she got down on all fours next to him. "You scared her again, didn't you?"

JC winced. "I didn't see her tail when I walked in here."

Katrina swatted his arm and slowly lured the frightened cat out of her hiding place and into her cradling arms. She gently stroked her fur with her fingers.

"At least I've stepped on her tail enough times for you to know that she'll be fine within a few minutes," JC offered with a light chuckle.

Katrina rolled her eyes, while they both rose to their feet. "Did you apologize to her?"

JC leaned his head so that he was at eye level with the pet. "I'm sorry I stepped on your tail... Again."

"Never mind," Katrina said, turning away with a teasing smile. "She's tired of your apologies. You're already almost an hour late."

JC felt his mouth go dry. "Look, Kat, I can explain, really."

"You don't have to," she shrugged. "I can guess why you're late, anyway."

"I'm sorry, really," JC insisted. "It's just-"

 "There was a car accident on the highway," Katrina informed him.

Fortunately, Katrina interrupted his sentence just when JC himself didn't know how he was going to finish it.

She continued. "Traffic's been building up ever since. Were you at the studio?"

"Well, yeah," JC answered.

"Yeah, it's along that route. Did you see anything?"

He shook his head sincerely.

"Well, that's why there was probably so much traffic on your way home. I'm glad you're back though."

"I walked in and the place was so quiet," JC told her. "Where were you?"

"In the dining room," she replied. "On my laptop."

JC nodded as he walked past her to reenter the foyer. Katrina followed. He immediately aimed for the staircase while she went straight ahead to where the dining room was behind the corner.

"I really need to take a shower," he told her. "I really, really need to get in the shower. Are you okay down here for a little while?"

"We'll just make it a full hour."

JC smiled. "I'll be back down in a bit."

"Come find me when you're done."

*

Nothing short of twenty minutes later, JC waltzed into his dining room. His hair was soaked, his sweats were on, the area beneath his pants was far more relaxed, and his mouth was half full.

"Hey, Kat," he called out to her from the doorway as he chewed a large square of brownie. He held up a small, white box that was filled with the dessert. "Dih you bing dese o'er?"

Katrina lifted her head from the laptop. "Yeah, they're for you."

"What kind are they?" JC asked, finally swallowing. "They're really sweet."

"Cheesecake, fudge brownies from Starbucks," she told him. "I brought you over a coffee too but you took so long to get here I drank it."

"Good call."

He took a seat right beside her at the large, twelve chair dining table. He broke off half of another brownie from in the box and held it up in front of her?

"Share?" he offered.

"I'm alright," Katrina decline politely. "I bought a cheese Danish."

JC silently savored the treat while his guest continued to tend to her keyboard. With a small sigh, he shoved the box to the next side of the table and laid down his head, his cheek resting against the hard surface.

"You're not entertaining me," he grumbled, and Katrina couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you tired?" she asked. She let one hand rest on his back, soothingly rubbing up and down and ever so often threading her fingers through the hair at the top of his neck. "You're supposed to be entertaining me, if anything."

"I had a long day," JC admitted.

"Me too, bud. Mall hours are the worst on Saturdays."

"What're you doing there?" he asked with his face still flat against the wood.

Katrina's eyes twinkled, but she closed the laptop. "Nothing important."

"Lies," JC hissed, teasingly. "C'mon."

She flashed him a grin. "Do you really care though?"

"If it causes a smile like that, then it sounds like I should care."

"Well," Katrina began. "It's nothing incredible or anything."

"I'm going to smash your face with a brownie just now," JC warned her. "And then lick the chocolate off of you if you don't stop beating around the bush."

"Okay," she said. "If you must know, I finally completed my first, original, fifty two chapter work of fiction that I've been working on for the past two years. It's finally done."

JC smiled. "That's great, SmartieKat. Good job."

"Thanks," she murmured, bashfully looking down at her nails on the table.

"When I can I read the full thing?" JC asked as he sat up.

"You get to read my original work when I get to hear your original tracks," she responded confidently.

"Katrina..." His voice trailed off.

"You never let me hear anything so why should I let you read?"

"I haven't recorded anything recently," JC whined, returning his attention to his snack.

"Lies," she mocked him. She sat crossed legged on the cushioned chair and smiled. "I don't exactly want you to read it, anyway. It's just sitting there now so I have something to motivate me to write more."

"Why don't you send it in to a publisher or something like that? Or hire an editor and see what happens?"

"Heck no," Katrina said, partly horrified "I'd never do that. No one ever puts their first piece of work out there. You're just asking for more criticism."

JC wordlessly stared at the wall directly opposite to him. He waited a few moments before speaking up again. "I really haven't recorded much of anything lately, you know."

"So what the hell do you do in the studio all day when you're in there by yourself?"

"Write," he insisted. "And make phone calls to other producers and sometimes play with the equipment to the point where I start breaking things. I haven't sung anything of my own for months. There's no inspiration anymore."

"Man, your fans must hate you sometimes."

JC had to laugh. "Yea, probably. The ones that care, at least."

Katrina used to opportunity to punch his arm. JC opened to mouth to protest but she stopped him. "That one was on behalf of your fans- Me included."

JC shrugged. "Maybe some inspiration will strike with a hot Parisian or British girl in the summer."

"Bring me back a baguette and some scones. A nice, educated guy with an accent who's six feet tall with brown hair wouldn't displease me either."

JC thought for a moment before turning his head to face her. "You want to go down to the basement?"

She crinkled her eyebrows. "What for?"

"I'll sing one verse of a song for you that I had written for Kate, if you let me read your novel."

"I wrote fifty two chapters, sweetie," Katrina reminded him as she ran the back of her index finger over the side of his face. "Twenty seconds worth of music from a full album I've never heard isn't going to cut it."

"I'll play the chorus too?" JC suggested.

"And the bridge."

"God, woman," JC muttered.

"Let's go," she told him excitedly as she got off the chair but JC got a hold of her wrist.

"Not yet," he laughed. "You have to open the documents to your story first and send them to me."

"Not a chance," Katrina snorted. "You have the mind of a con artist when you and I make deals. You would play me nothing if I sent it to you now."

"Fine, we'll draw straws," he said seriously. "Or do you want to rock, paper, scissors for it?"

"No, you pick rock all the time."

"That's because you always choose the scissors on the first round!"

Just as Katrina was about to defend herself in the midst of their discussion, another one of Pixel's high pitched screams reverberated from the far outside of the room.

Katrina flinched. "JC, if you seriously injured my cat I swear I'm going to make you pay the bill for the next vet visit."

JC exhaled noisily and followed her purposeful march to the exit. He was slowly trailing behind until he spotted the animal and looked up to where she was staring on the long staircase.

"Pix!" Katrina hollered, and her pet immediately ran over to where she was standing.

JC took a few rapid steps in front of her to stand at the base of the carpeted steps. "Hey!" he roared. "Stop!"

The figure stopped and turned to look down at him, one hand on her hip and the other on the banister.

He continued to yell. "Lisa, what the hell are you doing in my house?"

Katrina walked up behind him and peered over his shoulder at the woman. "What's going on? Did she break in?"

"We work together," Lisa smiled sweetly, her eyes a dark shade of green.

"You broke into my house!" JC exclaimed.

"Yeah, well you sort of ran out of mine tonight as though the bed was on fire!"

JC stared at her in disbelief.

"You know," Katrina whispered into his ear. "For a guy with millions of dollars in the bank, you have pretty shitty alarm systems."

JC shot her a glare before stepping onto the first to look up at the woman. "I told you I would call you tomorrow," he reminded her, his voice compressed.

"So you could come home on time to the girlfriend you lied to me about tonight?"

"She's not my-" JC began to explain but Lisa had interrupted him just as she began to walk down the stairs. Her eyes were fixated on Katrina.

"Did your boyfriend tell you where he was tonight?" she questioned.

"Lisa-" JC spoke up but he was stopped when a hand was held up in front of him.

Katrina had remained quiet but intrigued.

Lisa continued. "He was halfway through foreplay with me when all of a sudden he ran out after his phone went off. I'm just going to assume that was you."

"You said you were at the studio, JC," Katrina recapped calmly.

"We were," he promised. "Things just got a little out of hand and we went back to her place."

"That's why you were late," she concluded. "No wonder."

"Kat, I know we were supposed to hang out t-"

"I think he forgot," Lisa but in.

Katrina redirected her attention back to the young woman. "You do know that you're trespassing on private property that you are not welcome on."

The woman looked at Katrina, stunned with her jaw dropped.

"How did you even get in here?" JC inquired.

"I scaled your wall and your front door was unlocked. Tyler gave me your address."

"Leave, now. You're insane."

Lisa gave a small smile but shook her head. "No, not really. I just wanted to let you know that lying isn't something that goes down well with me."

"Yeah, me either," Katrina muttered.

"She's not my girlfriend," JC pledged. "And you need to leave right now or find another producer to finish your song.

"You're her producer?"

JC ignored the comment. "If you don't go, I'll have to report you for intrusion."

"I'll see you Monday then, boss," Lisa smiled.

The click-clacking of heels on the tiles and a bold wave goodbye from the door were the final memories Katrina hoped she'd have of one of the few women she had ever been confronted by thanks to her abnormally close association with JC.

 She carefully set her squirming cat on the floor before crossing her arms across her chest.

"I can explain," were JC's first words but Katrina simply smiled.

"No, you can't."

"I'm sorry."

"You're always sorry."

"I didn't want you to get mad at me for thinking that you coming over tonight wasn't a priority. I was just smothered in work all day."

"And also by a beautiful woman's breasts that seemed to drain every brain cell that aids with your recollection? Telling the truth is only as hard as you make it, JC."

JC frowned and walked up to her and held her arms at the side. "You and I hanging out together is a priority to me, Kat. I just suck sometimes."

"You suck too much of the time."

JC fought a smile. "Pun intended?"

"Yes."

"Please, please don't stay mad," he pleaded. "I did leave her place to come back here."

"Am I supposed to feel some sort of honor for that?"

"No, I'm just telling you that between sleeping with her and keeping a promise with you, I chose you, okay?"

Katrina studied him for a few seconds before shaking his grip off her arms. "Your sweet talk stopped flattering me a long time ago, Chasez."

"Don't leave yet."

"Any other woman would have left this house you know, JC."

"Yeah, but you love me so you forgive me faster, right?" he hoped.

Katrina grimaced as JC gave her a light kiss on the cheek.

"From one best friend to the other," he told her. "I'm really sorry that I lied to you and that I forgot and I was late."

"That girl, as crazy as she was for breaking in here, you should send her an apology for leaving her hanging like that."

"I'll take care of her. What about you?"

Her lips were pursed as she thought before heaving a soft sigh. "Alright, alright. We'll forget about it."

"Thank you for letting me off the hook," JC beamed as he took her hand in his. "Do you still want to go down to the studio or should we go look online for better alarm systems?"

"I should be played the entire album for this."

JC smiled. "Keep dreaming."

*

"Your backyard smells like a Mexican restaurant," Katrina noted as she dipped a ranch chip into a bowl of salsa.

We need some Kahlúa to top it off."

JC bit into one of the eight tacos him and Katrina had decided to whip up at midnight before reaching for his Coke. It had been well over three hours since his uninvited guest had invaded and sparked tension between the two, but JC was thankful that Katrina had not brought up the incident since. He had even turned off his phone to avoid the messages he knew he would be receiving from Tyler.

Instead, the time went by with the help of music, a couple television shows, YouTube, twenty seven embarrassingly competitive games of Go Fish and a late night Mexican picnic eaten out by the pool in 17°C weather.

Their feet dangled in the cool water as they sat side by side. JC's pool and outdoor lights were the only luminosities among the darkness.

"I've got to take you to Mexico someday," he told her, wiping the side of his mouth with a napkin. "This is great but you've got to try the real thing."

"That sounds like a lot of driving," she replied tentatively.

He rolled his eyes. "Plane, Katrina, on a plane."

"How about you do that and ship me some guacamole instead?"

"One day," he promised. "One day I'll tie you up and put you on your first flight."

"I'll kick you in the nuts, that's what I'll do." She chuckled as some more sour cream from another bite of a taco spread across his chin and upper lip. She used her fingers to wipe some of it off and placed them in her mouth. "You don't eat like this when you're at the Grammy's, goodness."

"That's ‘cause I'm not in a public, high class place with a woman who's wearing a two thousand dollar dress so I don't have to worry about spilling anything and then getting yelled at."

"Well, I can't promise you won't get yelled at but it is your hoodie I'm wearing."

JC smiled at her. "We should make these late night picnics a regular thing."

"As long as you don't forget," she said in a sing song voice and JC nudged her. "I sort of wish you had a good girlfriend right now, you know."

He looked at her, bewildered. "Why?"

Katrina shrugged.  "I can't take you for pedicures and have girl talk about Johnny Depp or go dress shopping with. I need someone else for that sort of stuff."

JC looked at her. "I feel insulted," he proclaimed. "I am man enough to go for a pedicure, just so you know, we can talk about Johnny Depp- I've met him a few times, great guy- and why on Earth would you want to go dress shopping?"

"I have this thing to go to in a couple weeks for Memorial Day weekend," she explained with a noticeable groan. "It's formal."

JC leaned back on his hands so that they sank into the slightly damp grass behind him and he stared at her uncertainly. He slowly waited for her to continue only to find her staring back at him in the same way.

"Well, are you going to tell me what you're doing for Memorial Day weekend?" JC asked exasperatedly. "Man, you'd think stuff like this would come up when we talk for all this time."

"Sean and Lindsay are renewing their vows for their ten year wedding anniversary that Sunday. I have to go, obviously. And it's formal, and I don't own any long, beautiful gowns if you haven't noticed."

"So you're spending that weekend in San Diego?"

"I'm staying with Sean and Linds and of course I'm going to meet all their friends and see their friends' kids and then see my mom who's going to ask me why I don't have any kids or a husband or a New York Times' bestseller."

JC rested an assuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't think so negatively about it, come on. It's only for a few days."

"I get to see Cody and Cindy again so that's the upside."

"And you have an excuse to get all fancy."

"I should probably look for something to wear from next week, shouldn't I?"

JC agreed. "I'll come with you to get something. I know a lot of women around town who run fashion boutiques here in Hollywood."

Katrina lifted her eyebrows in surprise. "You want to come dress shopping with me?"

"Yeah, I don't mind."

"Are you sure that Lance is the gay member of *NSYNC?" she queried.

JC paid no attention to her teasing as he reached for his next taco. "Who's your escort?"

"Pixel," she responded, and JC immediately began to laugh, triggering a domino effect of coughs.

"Your mother is *cough* going *cough* to *cough* love that," he got out, swallowing hard.

"Thanks for the reminder."

"Why don't you let me come with you?" JC asked, his eyes settling on hers seriously. "We'll have a good time down in San Diego."

"No, JC," Katrina refused. "You probably have huge plans to go out to some club or after party. This shit is my family. And I'm staying with my brother."

"Lindsay loves me!" JC exclaimed. "She'd love it if I was a guest at her house for a few days."

"Confident man, aren't you?"

"I know my effect on women."

"Sean hates you," Katrina giggled. "You know that."

"But you love me, his wife loves me, his kids love me, hell, even your mom likes me," JC told her. "You know that. We're adults here. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I was your date."

"I'm repeating this," Katrina recurred. "You would be staying in the home of my brother and his wife, with two children, and probably sharing the guest bedroom with me."

"Do you want me to come?"

"Maybe it would make it easier around my mother, I suppose," Katrina admitted. "It's from the Friday to Monday, Jace."

"I've got plenty of friends in San Diego. If I go with you, I get an excuse to have a hell of a time down there with my best friend and take the happy couple with us to a few parties. I'm happy to come if you want me to."

A small smile crept over her lips. "You'll stick it out with me?"

"I have lots of suits," JC said. "We need to get you a dress."

"You're really taking me dress shopping?"

"Let's consider it my apology to you for tonight."

"How's your schedule for this coming Thursday then?"

JC grinned. "How's your schedule looking for tomorrow?"