That atmosphere was loud and crazy at the Orlando Arena. The boys jogged off the stage after performing the last song of the night, Bye Bye Bye. They could hear the roaring crowd as they clapped, screamed and stomped their feet.
"Wow," JC breathed as he used a white towel to mop his face. He took the offered bottle of water and gulped hungrily.
It's great to be home," Chris said as took a seat on one on of the trunks used to store the stage equipment. He took a big drink of his own water. No matter where the band had performed, there was no better place than performing in your home town, in front of friends and family. There would never be anything more satisfying.
The crowd still carried on and the guys finished their water and picked up their microphones. They took a moment to calm their breathing from the fast-paced two hour performance.
"Ready?" Justin asked the group. At their nods, the group made their way back out onto the stage, much to the delight of the crowd.
The crowd screamed louder then before, screaming with delight. They yelled, clapped their hands, pumped their fists in the air, waved their hands around. It was quite a ruckus. They guys loved every minute of it. The tiredness from the show forgotten as the fans screamed their names.
Lance touched a few hands as they reached out toward the group, noticing as the rest of the guys did the same. He smiled and winked at a couple,chuckling as he noticed their reactions. It still amazed him every time a girl cried when he smiled at her or touched her hand.
"Orlandooooooo" Justin yelled into his microphone causing the crowd to go wild. "You know we couldn't leave without at least one more song."
"You guys have been awesome tonight," Joey followed. "It's always great to come home."
"I don't know," JC started, looking at over the thousands of people standing. Flashbulbs flickered wildly. He wiggled his fingers at a girl waved desperately at him. "You think we should perform another song?"
His questioned garnered more screams and yells in affirmation.
"I don't know," Chris answered after the screams and yells as somewhat quieted. "It doesn't sound like it."
"I think Orlando can do better than that," Justin's voice rang out and the band grinned as they listened as the crowd got even louder. "Orlando sure knows how to make you feel loved." He grinned as he heard two female voices distinctively scream out, 'We love you Justin!'. "I love you too." That made the crowd cheer louder.
The band members looked at each other and nodded and the music started and JC started to sing.
"Lie in your arms, so close together, didn't know just what I had. Now I toss and turn, cause i'm with out you, how I'm missing you so bad."
Joey looked out into the crowd, smiling and winking at Melissa as he sang. Of course it garnered screams for him from other fans, watching her mouth the words. He couldn't help it that he thought it was funny to think of her as a fan as well, being able to separate him from the music. That he was a real person. The past two months had made him realize that he'd missed that more than anything. The woman that saw him just as Joey.
“He is so obvious,” Rachel leaned in and said, watching the guys say their goodbye's to their fans.
“Obvious what?” Melissa asked, trying to make Lance laugh now that he was on her side of the stage.
“I am locking the two of you in a closet and throwing away the key,” Rachel muttered, a slight smile on her face. She'd had a great time at the concert, and was still amazed at the amount of people that were packed in there, mostly preteen adolescent girls and quite a few older teens and their moms who had come to see NSYNC. It was absolute craziness. Her mind wandered to Lance and what she'd agreed to do. The being affectionate part and genuinely liking Lance wasn't going to be the hard part. She was just afraid of things coming out before he wanted them to. What it might mean for him, for the group. “Let's head backstage,” she told Melissa, as the two girls headed towards security to be let back as the last strains of the song was ending.
“I think I will be deaf in the morning,” Melissa said, her ears ringing, a huge smile on her face. She screamed when she was grabbed from behind, turning around to smack whoever it was and being pulled into a hug by Joey. “You jerk,” she said playfully, smacking him on the shoulder.
“You know you like it,” he responded, holding her for a second and then letting her go. “Meeting in twenty minutes,” Joey told her, moving past her, giving her arm a squeeze.
Melissa watched him go into their dressing rooms where the showers were, knowing they'd all want to be clean and a little more relaxed before they got down to what Lance wanted to talk about, as well as the schedule for recording.
“I'm gonna go see if they have a Pepsi and something to snack on over in catering,” Rachel told her, seeing Travis coming towards them. She put on her best 'good girl' face and walked past him, saying hi. She still didn't miss him look her up and down, rolling her eyes when she heard him speak to Melissa.
“Hey babe,” Travis said, pulling her close and giving her a kiss. “You want to go get something to eat when we're done?” he asked, looking her over, hoping she'd say they could go back to her place or do something.
“I would, but I have a meeting I got asked to be at,” she replied, winding her fingers through his. “How long are you staying now that the tour's over?” She knew he'd been talking about going back home for a while before the new tour started, having to reapply for the job before the new tour started.
“I'll be here until the end of the week, depending on everything. You need to show me around some more, maybe we can go to Disney World or Universal Studios,” he suggested, leaning down to whisper in her ear, “and maybe some alone time.”
Melissa gave him a grin, not sure how she felt about the sex, but not wanting to shut him down right then. “I'll see if they'll let me off a day or two. I'm supposed to go with Joey tomorrow to get my hair done...” it was a totally innocent comment and she was surprised when Travis glared at her and shook his head. “What? I told him way back I'd go have my hair done...”
“I thought you were fighting with him, that you weren't speaking,” Travis told her, letting her out of his embrace most of the way.
“He apologized,” Melissa replied, stepping back. “Don't be jealous, Trav.”
“Jealous? I'm not jealous, Mel. The guy reads comic books and dyes his hair stupid colors. I could care less if you're friends with him...but it seems funny to me you weren't talking to him and now you're going on a date,” he snapped, folding his arms across his chest.
“It's not a date!” she hissed. “You're the only guy I'm dating! I hardly think going to get my hair done qualifies as a date.”
“Then it must qualify as something. Are you going to spend the whole day with him?”
“He never said. Why are you acting like this? Are you pissed because I can't come see you in Minnesota until Thanksgiving break?”
“Something like that. I realized you'll be with everyone else except me. It pisses me off that you don't seem really worried about it, about us. How do you think that makes me feel?”
“I don't know,” Melissa said, looking him over, swallowing hard. She was confused, wanting to break up with him, but knew that was only part of her problem. She hadn't told Joey how she felt, not going to guess how Joey felt about her. Plus the fact he was still dating Kristen.
Neither one of them heard the door open to the dressing room and Chris stuck his head out.
“Uh, Mel...” he said, looking at her and Travis, neither one of them looking happy.
Melissa sighed, listening to Travis' walkie talkie go off, asking where he was. “I'll wait for you to get done and we can go to dinner,” she said softly after he'd answered, telling them he'd be there in a few minutes.
Travis nodded, kissing her cheek. “Just remember, you're my girlfriend.”
Melissa stood there a few seconds, then looked at Chris. “Yeah?” she said, pushing down the emotions she was feeling, knowing it was probably time for the meeting.
“We heard voices, I was sent to make sure you were okay,” he replied, coming out to where she was, pulling her to him. “What was the problem?”
“Nothing, Kirkpatrick. Just stupid stuff...”
“You wouldn't be fighting if it was stupid,” Chris told her, raising an eyebrow, pulling her along to the room where catering was. “Help me grab stuff.” They joined Rachel, gathering up drinks and snacks and the three of them walked back to the dressing room. “I found the girls,” he yelled like Melissa and Rachel had been lost.
Rachel shook her head at him and sat down between Lance and JC, giving Lance a smile. “You okay?” she asked softly, watching him fiddle with his phone.
“Yeah, for the most part,” he replied softly. His hair was still wet from the shower, in clean jeans and a t-shirt, much like the rest of his buddies. “Thanks again, Rach.”
“What are friends for?” Rachel took a drink of her Pepsi and looked around the room. She was sure that the guys in the room were all going to take the announcement in stride.
“Let's start this,” JC said, waiting until they were all settled. “We have a couple weeks off and then come back to record. We've all had a chance to listen to the demo's and what's been written and agreed on the song list.” There was discussion of studio times and other things pertaining to recording and performing, including starting to look at venues for shows.
“I want some time off to see family this year for the holidays,” Joey said, watching as they all nodded. “I don't care to go sing for something, maybe take a day, but I'm not killing myself. If we all talk to management and they don't listen, I'm going to pitch a bitch.”
“No shit,” Justin said, sitting back. “Recording, cool. Practice, fine..time away from my homies...No bueno. Going to Memphis this year and you fuckers better come for bowling night. It's the night after Christmas and they close the place down. Bring friends if you want, just be there.”
The discussion went on a bit longer on official business and then Lance cleared his throat. He was nervous, giving Rachel a glance, relieved when she took his hand. “I..I gotta tell you guys something. Well, part of you...it might be something you know already,” he eyed them all, blowing out a breath. “I'm gay...And I'm tired of you all not knowing. Or at least me being out with it with all of you. I don't want it to go farther than us. I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet..That's why Rachel's graciously agreed to be my girlfriend. Well, in theory only.”
“Wow,” Justin said after a few moments. “Can't say it's not a total surprise but at the same time...We got your back, dawg.” He got up and hugged Lance. “No one disses on my brother from another mother, you feel me?”
Lance laughed, hugging Justin back, before JC hugged him and Rachel both. “Just let us know if you need anything...”
“Like a date night or time alone,” Chris told them with a smile, hugging the two of them. “I mean, what's a good relationship without a date night.”
“You've never been on a date, how would you know?” Joey teased Chris, taking the punch to the kidney before hugging Lance. “I love you, brother. You know that.”
“I know,” Lance told him, feeling better than he had in a long time. They all talked about it, agreeing that Rachel should try and come on tour some after it was underway, and that any media coverage with her would have the same back story. She was his sister's best friend and they gradually fell in love over the years, finally making it a relationship.
“Ya want to go out with us to get something to eat?” Lance asked Rachel as the guys rounded up their stuff. It would give them time to get to know one another better, not that they didn't, but just a good chance to hang out.
“Yeah, love to,” Rachel told him, standing up and grabbing her Pepsi bottle to throw away. She shouldered her purse and looked over at Melissa who was playing thumb wrestling with Joey. “Shall we go gather up thing 1 and thing 2?”
“Nah, they'll leave when they figure out they're the only ones here.” Lance laughed, hollering at Joey, making him lose.
“Damn it, Bass...” Joey said when he felt Melissa's thumb grab his and she laughed. “Cheater.”
“Whatever you big loser. You going to eat with everyone?” she asked, moving away when he tried to grab her and throw her over his shoulder. Melissa knew it was adrenaline, that he'd be behaved later in public.
“Yeah, you're going too right?” Joey asked her, getting close enough to wrap his arms around her and pull her into him. “Please,” he said, sticking his lip out and batting his eyes. He knew it would work, it did every time.
Melissa looked at him, resting her forehead on his chest. “I can't. I told Travis I would go out to eat with him.” She hated telling Joey no, but knew she'd promised Travis she would go with him.
“Bring him along,” Joey looked to see the other guys not paying attention and let his lips graze her forehead. He did it once more, reaching up to caress her cheek, letting his mouth stay against her hairline, breathing in her shampoo and whatever hair product she had on for a moment.
Melissa pulled away after a moment, giving Joey a smile. “You're just trying to get me in trouble.”
Joey laughed and tweeked her nose gently. “Trouble is my middle name,” he let her go reluctantly. “Go eat with your boyfriend. I'll pick you up tomorrow around ten.” The possessive monster Joey kept under wraps was wanting out. He watched her tell the other guys and Rachel goodbye, grab her purse and go out the door. He wanted it to be him that she was meeting, that was going to drive her home. His train of thought stopped when he heard his name, grabbing his bag and heading out with the others.
“You glad to be home, man?” Justin asked Joey, grinning as the warm night air hit them, all heading for Lance and Chris' cars that they'd driven respectively. JC and Rachel were going with Lance and their voices carried over the almost empty parking lot.
“Always. You gonna stay here or head to Memphis?” he asked, getting into Chris' car as the two drivers talked about where they were going, with Mo and Allan following in another car for security.
Justin hopped in the front seat, turning around to talk to Joey. “Heading to Memphis after the weekend. Trace is itching for us to just go hang out and shit,” he said, referring to his friend since childhood. “Brit's gonna come up too, do some shopping with Mom and whatever. What are you gonna do, dawg?”
“Hang out in Orlando probably. Go see my brother and sister and stuff.”
“Don't lie, Fatone,” Chris said, getting into the car after they decided to go to a local Denny's to eat. “You're going to be over at Lance's sitting on his couch with his sister, laughing your ass off at stupid crap that no one understands but the two of you.”
A smile played at Joey's lips as he shrugged, playing with his phone. “So what are you gonna do about it?”
“You shouldn't be so selfish,” Chris told him as he got into the turn lane, “it's like you wanna keep her all to yourself. It's like you're in love with her.”
Joey didn't answer, just kept the thoughts to himself as Chris and Justin broke into some random song. He didn't know how he was going to pull it off, but he was determined to tell Melissa how he felt about her at a time when he could do it and not make either one of them feel guilty. That meant he'd have to break up with Kristen, which was slowly becoming more clear. His heart was slowly telling his mind that he wasn't in the right place. He chuckled when he realized they were singing Cher. “You need help.”
“Says the pot to the kettle, man,” Justin told him, still singing.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
“You've been quiet back there, JC,” Lance said as they got into the turn lane to go down the street Denny's was.
JC shrugged. “Just relaxing. I'm not one to tell ya what to do, but what if Rachel falls for you Lance? I mean, yeah, so you're gay. Doesn't mean Rach doesn't have feelings in it.”
Rachel turned to look at JC, giving him a small smile. JC was always looking out for the group, and how everyone was doing and how it would affect NSYNC as a whole. He was the perfectionist that drove them all crazy. “I know Lance is gay. I know that his feelings are completely platonic and I'm fine with that. I agreed to do this because I'm not looking for a man who's interested in me like a real boyfriend. We're fine with it, JC.”
“Long as you're happy,” JC told her, getting out when Lance parked.
Rachel gave Lance a smile, “Shall we?” she asked, watching him nod. It wasn't anything they hadn't done before, walking with his arm over her shoulder, but she did note that he held her just a bit closer and tighter, his hand on the small of her back as Lance let her go ahead of him in the door after security had went in first. “Such a gentleman.”
Lance chuckled at Rachel and laced his fingers through hers. “I try. Don't tell my sister that, she'll disagree.”
“Look who she hangs out with,” Rachel said, casting an eye over at Joey who was busy with his phone. “Put that thing down. It gives you brain tumors.”
Joey stuck his tongue out at Rachel and went back to his phone, putting it up after sending a text message, grinning. “There, I'm done. No one should be texting...” his phone went off, the words 'Bye Bye Bye' playing. “Damn it.”
“Give me the phone. I'm not sitting next to you while you play on your phone. Mel can live five seconds without telling you something. If she wanted to talk to you, she should have come with us,” Rachel held her hand out and to get Joey's phone, putting it on silent and handing it back to him with a smile as Joey gave her a sad look, like he got told to put his comic books away. “You'll be alright.”
They were all seated, talking amongst themselves about the tour, about their plans for the next few months during recording when they had free time. Rachel and Lance found themselves in a conversation about weekend trips.
“Grandpa wants me to go up to New York City for a couple days as my birthday present. Stay in a really nice hotel. You could come too, if you wanted. Might be fun, and it would get a little more oomph to the whole relationship part.”
Lance nodded slowly, taking a drink of his Coke. “It sounds fun. Just as long as my sister knows you aren't dumping her for me.”
“I'm not, trust me. We're going to Vegas when I get back from New York. I planned it around her spring break,” Rachel explained, reaching over for his hand. It felt comfortable and knew the more she did it now, that the habit would be in place once it was time for them to be a couple in front of media and fans. “We can stay in Manhattan and run around. Or just hang out.”
“I'll make sure to keep the weekend free then. Don't go thinking you're the only one that can plan dates, woman,” Lance told her with a grin.
“You'll just have to let me check my social calendar, since it's brimming with so many things,” Rachel told him sarcastically, rolling her eyes. “Just let me know when you're free and most of the time I can do something. Unless your sister's planned something.”
Their food came and they all ate, the table growing semi-quiet as they concentrated on their food.
*^**^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
“Sorry about earlier,” Travis said, stealing one of Melissa's fries as they sat at McDonald's. “It just pissed me off when I thought about you not caring that I was only gonna be here until the end of the week. I might not get my job back with NSYNC, ya know?”
Melissa nodded, dipping her nugget into honey and munched on it. When Travis said out to eat she'd been thinking somewhere else, but he'd pulled into McDonald's. “And I told you, it's not a date with Joey. It's getting my hair done..something I get done every few months or so. We'll go out to Disney or Universal before you leave . I still have classes and stuff this week, Trav. I care about us...I mean, I'm missing my Thanksgiving with my family to fly up to Minneapolis.”
“You could have invited me down here,” Travis said, taking a big bite of Big Mac.
“I said something about it and you insisted I come up there,” she told him, eating the last of her fries before they got stolen. “We'll discuss it when it's closer to time. Just make sure your Mom knows I can't cook.”
Travis smirked, shaking his head. “I'll let her know not to let you near the kitchen. It'll be fun, babe. I promise...You gonna drop me off at the hotel after this? You could come up..”
Melissa thought about telling him no, but then she'd have to listen to him gripe. She had an early class tomorrow before she would be home for Joey to get her. It was hard to sort out her feelings, wondering if it was due to all of the emotions and everything with the tour ending, her lack of sleep and everything else. She loved Travis, and was going to miss him once he was gone. “Yeah, I can come up for a few minutes.”
“Good,” he said, their conversation turning to other things, his mind wrapping around the fact that he was there instead of Joey. And he'd gotten her to agree to come to his parents home for a major holiday. “You ready?” Travis asked, grabbing the tray with their trash on it after she nodded. His arm slipped around her and pulled her close for a kiss before he unlocked her door. “Wish you weren't school. Sorta makes it hard to just take a trip whenever.”
“It'll make it more special then,” Melissa told him, kissing him back. At least, that's what she was hoping as she got into her car. She ignored her phone buzzing with a text message, telling herself she'd get to it later.
*^*^*^*^*^*^^*^*^*^
“What are you doing tomorrow?” Lance asked Rachel after they'd dropped JC off. He lived in the same neighborhood as him, and they both waved once more as JC opened the front door of his house, laughing at his yell of satisfaction at being home.
“Nothing, probably. Other than looking over some of the books for Grandpa. See if I can earn some of that money he keeps insisting I have for my accounting degree,” the told Lance with a smile. Rachel worked, mostly from home and on her own hours, but she couldn't turn down her grandfather when he asked, knowing how picky he was. “Why?”
“I was just wondering if you wanted to come over and have dinner. I'm cooking,” Lance offered, hating to cook for just him since he figured Melissa would be camped out at Joey's.
“A man that can cook. My hero,” Rachel told him, nodding yes. “Do you have mad kitchen skills?”
“I'm as good as Joey..which reminds me, if he didn't clean up his mess, I'm kicking his ass. What do you like to eat? I mean, I know pretty much, but anything you want special?”
“Chicken Parmesan with spaghetti and some garlic bread,” Rachel told him as Lance made his way over to her place. She still lived with her parents out of convenience, but had a whole bottom to herself with it's own door like an apartment.
“We can eat and watch a movie or something. Go for a swim in the pool,” Lance said, looking forward to it. “I think I'm going to sleep most of the day. Having nothing to do sounds really great.”
“I bet it will be. Not having to be up at a certain time or answer questions for an interview,” Rachel leaned over and kissed Lance's cheek softly. “I told you it would go fine,” she smiled, “you were so worried. And for the record, the show kicked ass tonight.”
“It did,” Lance replied, grabbing her hand and letting his lips graze it. “See you tomorrow night, Rachel.”
“Sleep well,”she replied, walking over to her door and the flood light came on, allowing her to punch in the code to her security alarm and unlock the door. She waved to him when she was safely in, a smile crossing her face when he waved back. Rachel shut the door and leaned back against it, wondering what she would do without her friends, or the better question, what wouldn't she do for them?
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
1:52 am found Joey awake and staring at his phone. He rolled over in his bed, growling at the last message he'd received. It was from seven minutes ago. 'Just got home' was the text and he'd been awake to get it. He hit send on his phone and listened to the phone ring and a soft hello. “Are you okay?” were the first words out of Joey's mouth, no greeting.
“I'm fine, Joey. Are you okay? You aren't asleep yet,” Melissa sat on her bed and then flopped back on it, trying to snuggle with her pillow. She'd actually gotten home before she sent the text, taking a shower and cleaning up.
“Someone didn't answer me after about the third time. I'm allowed to worry...” his voice trailed off, trying to tramp down the jealousy.
“I'm fine, I'm home..snuggled up with my pillow.”
“Lucky damn pillow,” he teased, trying to relax. “Did you get your homework done tonight?” Joey heard her chuckle, knowing the answer was a no. “Get it done. You're doing good.”
“I'm not failing only because of you...” she yawned, sighing. “Sing me to sleep, Fatone. You haven't done that in a while.”
“Any certain request?” he asked, sitting up a bit more so he could breathe correctly while singing.
“I don't care, just sing.”
A song popped into Joey's head and he smiled, humming the intro music before singing.“She'll only come out at night, lean and hungry tight, nothing to do, I've seen her here before. She's sitting with you but her eyes are on the door...” He sang the rest of the verse and chorus, stopping when he heard her laughing. “What? You didn't like it?”
“Only you would think to sing me to sleep with 'Maneater'. See you in the morning.”
Joey closed his phone and plugged it in and sat in on the nightstand, laying back down with his arms propped behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He'd be lucky if he slept tonight, his mind full. The last time he looked at the clock it was almost four and sleep took him, a soft snore coming from him. “Mel,” he mumbled, rolling over a slight smile on his face, never waking up.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Mad props to my girl jr88freak for helping me with the first little blurb on this chapter. I blame Ryan Seacrest for my writers block. Why? I guess because I can. ;) Enjoy all the updating.
Story Tags: joey
