“Once more, guys,” Wade told them as the music started over. “Joey, stay focused.”
Joey glared at their choreographer as a bead of sweat ran down the side of his face. It had been a week and he felt much like he had when he'd come home the first night and all of Melissa's stuff was gone. Empty. And then if that wasn't enough, Kristen had demanded to talk to him the next day, making rehearsals a joke. Wade had pushed Joey the hardest and he'd balked, walking out of practice. Now he was almost in step with the others, watching the mirror and himself carefully. Keep breathing in and out, he told himself. Things had to get better. He caught Wade giving him a nod, jerking his head slightly in response. He was breathing hard when the music stopped, looking at his band mates.
“Looks good, that's all for today,” Wade told them, watching Joey go grab a water.
“You wanna go out tonight?” Justin asked Joey as he flopped down beside him, taking a big gulp of water. “Me, Chris and JC were gonna go to a club or two. Might be good to get out of the house.”
“Can't,” Joey replied, grabbing a towel Chris had tossed him. “Kristen wants me to help her find an apartment. She's pissed because I won't let her move in. Then screamed at me because I threw it back in her face we weren't shacking up,” Joey shrugged. “I made it plain the reason I was doing this...” his voice trailed off and he got quiet.
Justin let Joey sit there a minute before jostling the other man. “You know Rachel drug Mel off to the beach near Cocoa. She'd tried to drag her farther off, but she protested,” Justin rolled his eyes, pulling up a picture Melissa had sent him. It was a self portrait of her and Rachel with the beach behind them, both smiling. He showed it to Joey. “Seems like someone stole a jersey before they left,” he told him with a smirk.
Joey looked at the picture and couldn't help the smile that touched the corners of his mouth. “I told her to take a couple of them,” he said, trying not to sound emotional about it. It was one of his favorites, his Knights jersey that said Phat-One on the back. “She looks like she's having fun.”
Justin just shrugged, closing his phone. “They're shopping and eating and shit. Girl stuff, dawg. You letting Kristen get an apartment near you?” he held up his hands in defeat when Joey glared at him.
“Just wonderin', man. Jesus..”
“How about you just drop the subject, Timberlake? It's not like I don't get fifty fucking texts an hour of apartments she's found or baby furniture or clothes or god knows what that would be 'nice' to have. Not to mention, 'When are we getting engaged? I want to get married before I start to show.'” Joey voice grew louder, making the rest of the guys stop and look at him. “And while I'm on the subject, who in the FUCK came up with the set list? Which one of you thought it would be funny to put 'I Thought She Knew' on there? Who's the genuis who did that, huh?” His eyes swept over the four of them as they all looked at each other and then him. “You think I wanna sing that song? Why don't you just cut my fucking heart out on stage? Look at Joe, poor Joe, let's just gut him now while he can't feel anything.”
At that moment, Lance's phone rang and he groaned, since it wasn't on silent. “Gone” was playing;it was his sister. He didn't even look at Joey as he hit end, turning it on vibrate and slipped it back in his pocket.
“I don't want to know, do I?” Joey growled as Lance shook his head slightly.
“Joey, we tried to talk to management about the set list, and about that song,” JC said, hoping to calm his friend down. “We were told that since the set list has been decided already, we can't change it once it goes through them. And none of us added it...”
“We tried to get it taken off,” Chris chimed in, watching Joey pace. “I can always sing your part too,” he suggested.
“Oh yeah, like that will help. Sit there and listen to you sing my part while all the fans wonder why the hell I'm not singing it?”
“Then sing it,” Justin taunted him. “Sing it right now for all of us. Your part.” He knew Joey couldn't do it, getting up in Joey's face after he got flipped off. “You're gonna sing the fucking song, man. Cause we all know the reason behind it. Think of it this way, it's a big unknown fuck you to Kristen. You get to sing a song about your girl...and no one knows it but us.”
The other three guys looked at Justin as if he'd grown three other heads. It was the best reverse psychology they'd ever heard and it must have worked because even though there was still a twitch in Joey's eye, he slowly nodded. “That's the only reason then. I'm gonna sing the hell out of it,” he told them all, tossing his water bottle in the trash before leaving.
“What the hell was that, Justin?” JC asked after the door shut.
“It was motivation,” Justin told JC, grinning. “He'll do it if he thinks its for a good reason...all I have to do is refer back to Mel and he's putty in my hands.”
“It sounds a little like blackmail,” Chris told him, sitting down in one of the chairs, “I mean, is it fair? He's in a messed up place right now.”
“That's not likely to change for a while, guys. I say,” Lance blew a breath out and ran a hand over his face, “I say if it gets him through all this other shit, we go with Justin's idea.”
"And if it doesn't work," Chris cut in, a smile playing at his lips. "Well it's justin's fault. After all, it was his idea"
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Lance sat on JC's couch fiddling with his phone. The other three were playing Mario Kart and he'd opted out of this game. His phone rang and he raised an eyebrow at the number, coming up as 'Cocoa, Florida'. He almost hit the end button, but something told him to answer.
“Hello?” he said, grabbing the remote and turning it down so he could hear. “Where are you, Rach?”
“She's probably calling from jail,” Justin said, his eyes never leaving the television.
“They haven't been gone long enough to be in jail,” Chris told him, hitting buttons. “Take that, Chasez.”
“This is Rachel and Melissa we're talking about, you've witnessed them in action,” JC replied, looking at Lance and frowing at the look on his face.
“Those two need a warning when they go out,” Chris said with a grin, his eyes not leaving the television.
“No shit,” Justin muttered, grinding his teeth when Chris beat him, flipping him off.
“It must not be good.” JC looked back to Lance, wondering what was going on.
“What do you mean you're in jail? How did you get in jail?!” Lance yelled, standing up and pacing as Justin whooped with glee.
“I told you they were in jail!” Justin crowed, pointing at Lance, laughing.
“Shut up, Timberlake,” Lance said, not being able to hear. “What happened? How much did you have to drink?”
Lance listened, not sure he was able to believe what he was hearing. His girlfriend and sister were in jail. After drinking no less. “So you quit counting drinks....” his voice trailed off as he dug in his pocket for his keys. “She punched someone? Or you did? Both?! You so owe me for this.” Lance's face blushed as Rachel told him what she'd do to make it up to him. “You are drunk aren't you?” he chided, not even looking at his friends. “I'll be there in a couple hours. Love you.” He closed the phone and sighed, his eyes meeting his friends. They were all standing there, waiting to hear the news.
“What happened?” Chris asked, only hearing Lance's side. He was going, if nothing else to see Rachel and Melissa in a drunk tank in a jail.
“Did they start a bar brawl?” Justin asked, his curiosity up as to what had happened.
“Apparently, my girlfriend and my sister had some admirers at the club.-”
“Well they are hot,” Justin interrupted, smiling wider at Lance's glare.
“And after them drinking, the guys thought it would be funny to start mouthing those 'gay boy bands' that were playing,” Lance finished, sighing.
“Oh hell no,” Justin said, his grin widening. “Melly gave them a beat down?”
“She and Rachel both told them off from what I could gather. Then when they mouthed more, they got in a couple of punches. I think there was more to it than that, but..being drunk,” Lance sighed, “She said something about the police wanting to talk to whoever came and picked them up.”
“I just want to see the mug shots,” Chris said, getting hit in the back of the head by JC. “What?”
“This isn't funny,” JC said. “You want us to come with?”
Lance shrugged, “Might as well. Someone has to call Joey. Not it!” he said just as quickly.
“Not it,” chimed Chris and JC, leaving Justin standing there.
“Why the fuck does it have to be me? Why does he even need to know? We'll tell him tomorrow.” Justin said, walking out the door with the others and getting into the vehicle with the most room, which was Chris' Pathfinder. “He'll be mad.”
“Like that's different any other time this week,” Chris pointed out as he backed out of the driveway. “He's not handling this well. I mean, it's cool he's gonna be a Dad. Sucks that it has to be with Kristen.”
“You know he'll be more pissed if you don't call him,” JC told Justin. “You don't have to give any details, just tell him the girls got into some trouble and we're going to get them out.”
“That sounds fucking whack, dawg,” Justin dialed Joey's number and hit end, not wanting to leave a voicemail. “I'll try him later,” he said, putting the phone in his pocket. He was almost glad that his friend hadn't answered, not wanting to tell him that his ex-girlfriend was in jail. It was hard to think of Melissa as Joey's ex, but it was just the way the cards were dealt at the time.
*^*^*^*^*^*^
“We're in jail, Rach. Like real jail. 'Cops' meets 'Law & Order' meets 'The First 48' jail,” Melissa told her friend. “Your grandfather will send me to live in the middle of the Indian Ocean on an oil rig.” Melissa sat next to Rachel, not believing they were there.
“No he won't. They didn't even take our pictures or fingerprint us,” Rachel said. She was still plenty drunk, but at least was thinking halfway right. “Lance said he'd be here in a couple hours.”
“You called Lance?” Melissa yelled, burying her face in her hands. “He'll tell me I get to stay here to learn a lesson. 'I told you not to drink'...” she mimicked him, shaking her head. “At least it wasn't Joey. You didn't call Joey did you?”
Rachel watched her friend's lip quiver and leaned her head back on the wall and groaned. “No, Mel. I didn't call Joey. You're saying your ex-boyfriend being called would be worse than your brother?”
“I don't know,” she said, groaning covering her face. “This year has sucked and we're only a week into it. I can't wait to see what else happens. I mean, it can't get worse. I don't really think it can.”
Rachel didn't answer for a few minutes, letting the emotions settle before she said anything. A smile came to her lips. “You know that saying? Best friends are sitting there in jail next to you saying 'That was fun, let's do it again'.” She let out a laugh when Melissa did, not being able to stop laughing after a bit, both of them drunk and sitting in jail suddenly was the funniest thing ever. “You called a guy a scruffy looking nerf herder, Mel,” she gasped for air as her friend leaned on her.
“It's..Star Wars,” Melissa replied, wiping her eyes, pausing to take a breath. “Oh god..We drank way too much. This one time, at Justin's...” she cracked up again, holding her stomach. It was twenty minutes later, Melissa sat up, looking at Rach. “You know, this place has good acoustics. For being tile...” she got up, making a face like Joey would. “We like to sing in bathrooms, any place with tile...and now, a jail cell.”
“Hey hey....Bye bye bye,” Melissa sang loudly, her voice echoing off the walls, making her grin. She was doing some of the dance moves, making up others as Rachel laughed. “Bye bye don't wanna be a fool for you, just another player in your game for two. Come on, Rach, this sounds awesome.”
The officer that brought them in looked at his partner, shaking his head slightly. “Now I've officially seen it all. I can't wait until her brother gets here,” he said, smiling as the video camera caught it.
“I thought they were supposed to sit and be quiet. Not sing boy band songs,” the young rookie said, looking concerned at the drunk tank where the girls were now both singing and dancing, doing more improving than actual dancing.
“We didn't arrest them, Thomas. We're just giving them a safe place to sober up until their ride gets here. Besides, what are they hurting?”
"Our ears?" Thomas grinned.
“You are Aero-Sync, You are NSYNCA-Smith,” Melissa yelled at Rachel who was saluting her as they mocked the Superbowl performance, laughing hysterically as they made fun of the commercial, pretending to pee and then running to the other side where the bars were.
“Saiiiiling, takes me awayyyyyy,” Rachel sang, with Melissa joining in. “Wave your hands, make an ocean of people,” she said in her best Chris voice.
Then Melissa grinned and looked at Rachel. “Eat eat eat, all day long..” Rachel caught on and started drumming a rhythm. “Eat eat eat while I sing this song. Eat eat eat..”
“Goldfish taste real good,” Rachel chimed in as she drummed.
“Eat eat eat..In the neighborhood. Oh god,” they both collapsed on the floor, holding each other and laughing.
“You know, I'm glad we're here,” Melissa said after a moment wiping a tear from her eye. “I can cross this off the bucket list,” she joked, shaking her head.
“It was on mine too,” Rachel told her, sitting there, knowing they were drunk and being stupid.
"Just the two of us," Mel said staring off.
"Up against the wall,' Rachel echoed and the two started giggling.
"I wonder how many song titles we can put together to make sentences?" Melissa said.
"Let's try it."
“Here we go,” Melissa said, the first song that came to her head, not as fast as usual since she was inebriated.
“I need love,” Rachel said, hoping that her friend would come up with something good.
“Just don't tell me that.” Melissa laughed as they kept going, getting more outrageous.
“You Drive Me Crazy...Tell Me, Tell Me Baby...Underneath My Tree..Digital Get Down.”
"All I Want Is You... Home For Christmas...Under My Tree," Rachel laughed as she added, "Bringin' Da Noise"
Melissa dissolved into giggles. It took a few seconds before she added her own, "This I Promise You... That Thing You Do... Makes Me Ill."
Rachel cradled her stomach as she laughed. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she was unable to stop. "Oh God..." She breathed. "So funny!"
"I Want You back."
"Up Against The Wall"
"The Two Of Us."
"Up Against The Wall"
"I Just Wanna Be With You"
"Up Against The Wall"
"It's Gonna Be Me," Melissa glared at her friend. "If you say, 'Up Against The Wall' one more fucking time..."
The two fell into silence each trying to hold back their laughter.
"Up Against The Wall" they said at the same time breaking into giggles.
"I can't help it, it goes with everything," Rachel replied. "Are you gonna be there."
"Up Against The Wall," Melissa retorted, making Rachel roll her eyes.
Rachel replied, “Are you gonna be there.”
Silence filled the cell before they both shouted out, laughing. "Up Against The wall."
They were quiet for a few minutes before Melissa cleared her throat. “Here's an appropriate song,” she told Rachel, smiling. “Lying in your arms, so close together, didn't know just what I had.”
s*^*^*^*^^*^*^**^
Chris pulled into the parking lot of the police station and looked over at Lance. “You know we're all going in,” he told his friend. “We didn't drive two hours to just sit in the car while you go see what the girls are doing.”
“Yeah, dawg. I wanna see you go postal or somethin',” Justin told Lance, not caring he got a glare.
“Just make sure they're okay before you start griping,” JC added, all of them exiting the car.
Lance just nodded, not quite believing what he was doing, going to get his girlfriend and sister out of jail. He hoped they'd sobered up. They got in the door and stopped. There was the regular noises of calls coming in, of people shuffling around and the police scanner and then two female voices singing.
“Thank God. They've been singing for an hour,” Officer Thomas told them, leading the four of them towards where the girls were, the singing getting louder. “I think your playlist has been updated,” he told Lance, shrugging.
“Whhhhhyyyy didn't I know it, Whhhyyyyy didn't I show it,” Rachel belted, hanging onto the bars, belting JC's part as loud as she could with Melissa backing her up.
The girls didn't realize they had an audience turning their backs to the outside starting on another song.
“I want my baby back,” Melissa sang in her best JC voice.
“I want my baby back,” Rachel echoed singing Justin's part, smiling as they both sang Lance's part.
“I want my baby back, baby back, baby back,” Melissa said, doing Joey's walk from the Chili's commerical.
“Tell me you got that,” Justin whispered to Chris as his friend brought out his phone to video it, both of them laughing at the girls and at JC's stunned expression. “This is so going on the NSYNC site.”
“Are they always like this?” The old man asked Lance, raising an eyebrow as they walked towards the drunk tank.
Crazy? Yes." Lance answered. "Drunk? No."
"Time to go," he opened the door to the cell. "Concert's over."
Melissa and Rachel whirled around hearing the door of the cell clang open. They teetered at the sudden movement, their stomachs rolling. They held onto each other so they wouldn't hit the floor. Upon seeing who was standing on the other side of the bars waiting for them, they broke out in smiles.
"Lance!"
"The ladies, they love you," Chris said as he closed his phone and stuffed it in his pocket.
Lance watched as they walked from the cell, clearly using each other as a crutch. His anger had somewhat faded after finding out the story that had led them to being in the drunk tank in the first place. "Are you alright?" He asked reaching out for Rachel. He gripped her upper arm, keeping her steady before pulling her to him.
"Chica," Justin smiled, wrapping an arm around Melissa's shoulder as she leaned into him. "It's illegal to have this much fun without me."
"This was strictly an innie trip, not an outtie," Melissa smiled up at him, her eyes glazed with drunkenness.
Justin laughed out loud before pressing a kiss to the side of Melissa's head. "I love you, Chica." He held onto her, leading her through the maze of desks toward the door that lead outside. A round of applause followed them out.
"What do they know?" Rachel scoffed, stumbling slightly out the door causing Lance to tighten his hold on her. "We owned that shit."
"Owned that shit," Melissa echoed.
"You alright?" Lance asked as they made it to Chris's vehicle. Instead of getting into the car, they converged around, forming a circle.
"I feel like we drank a gallon of vodka," Rachel admitted, her head leaning against Lance's chest, her arms wrapped loosely around his waist. "I think we had more fun in jail, than we did at the club."
"No kidding," Melissa spoke up, lifting her head from Justin's shoulder. "Next time we'll skip the club and go directly to jail."
Rachel lifted her head and looked at Melissa, her mouth opened to reply but Lance's voice quickly cut her off.
"I don't think so."
"Spoilsport."
"What happened?" JC asked, eying Rachel up and down carefully. He didn't want to admit that he was slightly jealous of her standing in Lance's arms. Jealous that Lance had been the first person she called from jail. Jealous that Lance had been the one she noticed in the jail cell. Jealous that she had gone straight to Lance. It wasn't something he wanted to think of right now. "Were they arrested?"
"No," Lance said ignoring Chris's 'damn'.
"Hey man, let's get them back to their hotel," Justin broke in before Lance could tell them the events. They guys glanced around for the first time noticing the stares they were getting. When they made eye contact, the cops staring quickly went about their business. "How are we going to do this?"
Chris looked at his car before looking at his friends. There was one less seat. "Looks like someone's sitting on someone's lap. I'll drive." He took the keys from Lance.
"Rachel can sit on Lance's lap, Mel in the middle. I'll sit next to Mel and JC, you can sit up front." Justin issued out seating arrangements. He walked Melissa around the back of the vehicle, helping her climb in and scooting her to the middle before he climbed in after her.
"This outta be fun," Rachel grinned. She released Lance so he could climb into the vehicle. She swayed a little when her anchor left but was quickly righted again against a warm body. She glanced up and grinned seeing JC. "Hi."
"Hi," JC said, unable to keep the smile off his face. He held her to his side, his arm resting on her hip, holding her steady. When Lance was ready, he walked Rachel to the car and helped her in. When she was situated, he shut the door. He pushed down the jealousy down as he walked behind the vehicle to climb into the passenger seat.
"So what happened James," Chris turned the radio completely down so they could talk. He pulled from the police station driving slowly and followed the directions Rachel had given to their hotel. The last thing they needed was to be pulled over.
"Guys kept flirting with them and buying them drinks. They were pretty toasted when one of the guys that were buying drinks mouthed the guys Rachel and Melissa were hanging with..." Lance broke off when he saw JC twist in the passenger seat to look at him. He caught Chris's gaze in the rear view mirror and could feel Justin looking at him.
"You make us sound like sluts, Lance," Melissa mumbled. She rested her head on Justin's neck, pressed against him so to give her brother and best friend room.
"You gotta be getting some to be a slut," Rachel mumbled against Lance's neck. She had her head resting on Lance's shoulder, her face pressed against his neck. Her legs tangled with either Lance's or Melissa's, she didn't know whose or even care. Lance had both his arms firmly wrapped around her making sure she wouldn't slip off his lap.
Lance felt his face heat and knew he was blushing. "Quiet, you." He told her before continuing. "Apparently they befriended some gay guys. After they started making slurs to them, they started in on guys that sing in bands-"
"They called Joey a cocksucking fag and a fat bastard," Melissa interrupted him. "And before that it was about gang banging on the tour bus. How you screwed girls in all sorts of cities." Tears formed in her eyes and she turned her body toward Justin. He brought his arms up, consoling her.
"Men too." Rachel added. "Said you were card carrying, venereal diseased ridden, can't sing worth a fuck faggots. We took exception to the can't sing worth a fuck."
"Thanks... I think." Chris said, his own anger growing.
"So you couldn't just leave?" JC asked Rachel, feeling bad for them. He knew they heard worse. It was something they all were used to. It was just one of the downsides of being a 'celebrity'. He just wished they didn't have to deal with it. He would gladly take being called that all day long if it meant Rachel didn't have to be subjected to it. It was as if she was being punished just because she knew them.
"We were going to call a cab," Rachel told him, the hum of the tires of the vehicle combined with Lance's warmth made her eyes heavy and she allowed them to slip close. Her stomach was starting to protest the mixture of alcohol and liquor and she prayed she could hold off until she got to the hotel. "Tim and Andrew - they were the good guys - were going to call one but-"
"The jackwagon made a comment I didn't like so I punched him."
"It was nice," Rachel let her lips drift into a smile as her eyes remained closed. "She broke his nose."
"That's my girl," Justin grinned.
"Of course the cops got called then, because his friend didn't like the fact that I had punched his friend and started yelling and getting up into my face," Melissa continued on with the story. There was a small smile on her face despite her tear stained cheeks.
"So I took him out," Rachel's face slipped into a full blown smile. "He never saw it coming."
"You two are never allowed out by yourselves again," Lance chided them. "The last thing I expected to get was a call to come get you out of jail."
"You should have known better," Rachel shifted in Lance's lap, getting more comfortable. She sighed softly, relaxing against him once more. "I am sorry though; we didn't mean to get into a fight and end up in jail."
"You're just an overachiever Rach," Chris said as he pulled into the hotel where the girls were staying.
"The only reason you two didn't get arrested was because the two guys you hit didn't want to make it known they got their noses broken by girls and there was an off duty cop who saw the whole thing. He was the one who called the cops that took you and Melissa in. They were his friends."
While Justin and Lance took both girls in the hotel to get them settled in their room, Chris and JC sat in the silence of the car. "You know we got a harder rehearsal today than yesterday, right? Wade's gonna eat us for lunch."
"Our asses are gonna be draggin'," JC ran a hand over his face, suppressing a yawn. It was going to be a very hard day on all of them. They had to get back to Orlando and get at least some semblance of sleep before they had to be back at the studio. "Maybe he won't be on Joey's ass so hard if we all suck."
“Wade pushes Joey because he knows how he is...but once Joey gets it, it's there,” Chris pointed out, watching Justin and Lance come back both of them talking. “I got video of Rachel and Melissa singing,” he told JC with a smirk. “That should be good for them to watch in a couple of days.”
“You and Justin aren't right in the head. They probably won't even remember that...I don't even want to think about the stupid crap you've done when you aren't drunk.”
Chris laughed and looked at JC as his friends got in the car. “It's all a part of my charming personality.”
*^*^*^*^*^*^
“Wakey wakey eggs and bakey,” Justin sang loudly into his phone, cackling and then hanging up. “They will hate me later,” he told the rest of the group as he smiled, tossing his phone back over into his bag. “You look like shit, dawg,” he said to Joey, who sat there next to his bag staring off into space.
“I couldn't sleep...” Joey's voice trailed off. He wasn't going to blurt out that his bed was empty and he missed his best friend. And that he'd stay up late just so he wouldn't dream because his dreams held the person he wanted to be with, not the person he was currently 'with'.That thought made his skin crawl. “Did you guys have fun last night?” he missed Justin's smirk but looked up with Chris laughed.
“We had lots of fun. Women were calling us from jail,” Chris said as Lance groaned.
“Jail? How did they get your number?” Joey looked concerned as the other four looked at him.
Lance glared at Chris. He was going to kill him later. It was going to be a long, slow and agonizing death. "Rachel and Melissa went to a club in Cocoa Beach last night. They got a little tipsy and got into a fight. The guys didn't take kindly to the fact that they were with us and had befriended some guys at the club who bat for the same team."
"So they fought with them?"
"Broke their noses," Justin stated proudly.
"An off duty cop saw the whole thing. Melissa didn't like the comment one of them made about 'gay boy bands' and you. Of course if the guy knew anything about you, he'd know you were a boob freak." Lance joked, trying to lighten the mood. "My sister brought blood and Rachel backed her up. They were taken to jail to sober up..."
"And to protect the other patrons at the club," Chris quipped.
"To sober up until I got there to pick them up. They weren't arrested or anything. No charges were filed."
Chris pulled out his phone and the video, handing it to Joey. “The other cop that was there said they'd sang for about an hour. First time anyone's sang NSYNC in the drunk tank,” he hit play and Rachel's JC impersonation played. “It was hilarious.”
Joey watched, wanting to chuckle at the girls and how silly they were being, but at the same time, he was worried. He'd watched Melissa deal with things she didn't want to and she did it all about the same. She ran away from it. He didn't want to think about her running from it to a bottle of alcohol. Although from what Lance had said, it wasn't intentional. “That's not right, Kirkpatrick. They'll both be mad if they know you have this,” he told Chris, handing him back his phone, shaking his head a little.
JC looked at the other two men. If that was the only reaction Joey had to something even he thought was funny, something was seriously wrong. He sent off a quick text to Rachel. 'U ok? Wade's getting ready to whip us into shape. Let me know..'
*^*^*^*^*^*^
“I'm never drinking again,” Rachel moaned as she rolled over, opening one eye to study the clock on the nightstand. It was almost noon and she felt like her mouth was full of cotton. She studied the bottle of water and tylenol beside it. She remembered being brought back to the hotel and talking to Lance and singing a little, but most of it was fuzzy. She sat up and groaned, picking up the note under the bottle of pills. She smiled at Lance's note, grabbing her phone and seeing her text messages. Her smile grew bigger as she looked at the one from JC, texting him back.
'Miserable. I am never drinking again, C.'
After sending the text to JC, she quickly typed out another one to Lance.
'I'm alive...barely. I'm not sure how I ended up in my hotel room. Everything's fuzzy.'
Rachel looked over at Melissa who was still asleep. She got up and made her way over to her friend's bed, glad the trip was only a few feet, her phone in her hands. “Scoot over,” she told Melissa when her friend groaned and the movement of the bed.
“Officer, did you get the number of that vodka bottle that hit me last night?” Melissa asked, scooting over and putting an arm over her face. “How did we get here? I vaguely remember something about Chris driving?”
Rachel's phone beeped and she looked at it, smiling. 'Rumor has it you serenaded the jail. Will be our next album. NSYNC live from Cocoa Beach Inmate Facility' Justin sent. “Oh God.”
“What?” Melissa asked, wondering why Rachel was grumbling under her breath.
“Seems that we gave a concert last night,” Rachel sent a text back to Justin. 'Look out Johnny Cash'.
“I don't remember a concert,” Melissa said, rolling over to face Rachel, groaning and burying her head in her arms and the comforter. “Wait. I remember singing Bye Bye Bye..I think.” She rolled back over and reached for her phone to check for messages. She had one from Joey. 'Call me' was all it said. Melissa closed it out. “Guess they told Joey.”
“Why? How do you know?” Rachel laughed at the message from JC. 'When you drink half the bar. It happens.'
'Jealous?' she typed back adding a smiley face. The way her stomach felt she was jealous that JC and Lance hadn't drank. She pulled up Lance's messages. 'Your sister is awake and somewhat coherent.'
'I can out drink you. So no, not jealous. Wade's pissy. We all suck today' JC replied. 'Talk later'
Rachel typed back 'Okay' to him and smiled at Lance's reply 'Did she decide she wasn't drinking anymore?'
“You drinking any more?” Rachel asked, realizing she still hadn't gotten an answer about her first question.
“Not today,” Melissa said, smiling. “And Joey texted me. All it said was call me. Not, are you alright...he's pissed.”
“He could be busy,” Rachel tried to make it better, but frowned when Melissa sat up and shook her head.
“His busy would be, 'Are you okay? Wade sucks ass today..busy'” she explained, sighing, sending a text back to Joey.
'U R mad.'
'Talk later, Wade taking phones. Pissed is better word.'
“I told you,” Melissa said, showing Rachel before tossing her phone on the nightstand and watched it slide off onto the floor. “Fuck it,” she gave the phone the finger.
The two of them laid there in silence, save for an occasional moan when sunlight came through the curtains the wrong way. “What do you remember?” Melissa asked Rachel, bits and pieces coming back to her.
“I remember meeting Tim and Andrew, we weren't that drunk then,” Rachel told her, with Melissa nodding.
*^*^*^*^*^*^
Rachel and Melissa went into the club, opting for a table that was somewhat out of the way of the main line of traffic from the bars to the dance floor, but close enough they wouldn't be forgotten by the waitress that was coming around taking orders. They'd both dressed in 'club' attire. Rachel had opted for a long sleeved form fitting plum sweater that showed off a bit of cleavage and some jeans that hugged her body and some knee high boots that made her a couple inches taller. Melissa had found a black shirt with the shoulders cut out, the sleeves fluttered past her elbows and rhinestones going from one cut in the shoulder fanning out across the breasts underneath and tapering off around the other side, wearing some distressed jeans and boots as well, some that she could walk and dance in, the heel not as tall as Rachel's. Both women had their hair styled and make up done, glamming it up. Rachel's diamond necklace from Lance gave off twinkles as the lights that were in the club hit it.
“What are you gonna have?” Melissa half yelled at Rachel as they studied the menu. “I'm ordering a Corona with Lime and the beef fajita nachos,” she grinned when Rachel made a face.
“I'm having a strawberry daquiri and the steak,” Rachel told her friend as the people watched. Rachel was glad to have her friend away from Orlando and to see Melissa finally smiling. It might have also had something to do with the insane amount they'd spent on clothes, bags littering the floor around both of their beds, spilling into the closet where their suitcases were and even into the bathroom. Rachel didn't care what it took, just anything to get Melissa to think about something other than Joey for a little while.
“You gonna dance?” Melissa grinned wide when 'It's Gonna Be Me' came on, getting up. They'd been there long enough to buy two rounds of drinks and had another round bought for them by a couple guys sitting a few tables away. “Come on, Rach. Please!” Melissa stuck her bottom lip out, doing a few of the moves. “I'll do them right here and embarrass you,” she threatened, cheering when Rachel finished off her drink and got up.
Rachel and Melissa made their way to the dance floor, both of them joining in the mesh of bodies dancing, both of them singing along to the song, doing the part with a few other girls where the guys did the lean and then the “It's gonna, gonna, gonna, gonna, gonna be me,” where they all had their own part to sing and pop up. Then Melissa started dancing with a very handsome guy, both of them talking over the music, introducing themselves and Rachel shook her head. Melissa could make friends easily, or at least just someone to talk to. It took her longer to trust people, but as far as just starting a conversation, she was good at it.
“This is Tim,” Melissa yelled at Rachel as they got in line to do the Cha Cha slide, “his partner Andrew's just watching,” she said, pointing out another man who gave them all a wave. A couple dances later, they all left the dance floor and decided to sit with Tim and Andrew.
“This is Rachel and Melissa,” Tim introduced the girls and then Andrew, ordering them all a round of drinks as they talked, people watching.
“These are from the guys across the way,” the waitress pointed out as she set drinks down in front of Rachel and Melissa. They didn't really want to turn down a free drink, knowing they came to drink and have fun.
“Please tell me you ladies are going to call a cab,” Tim said, watching them down drinks with bravado.
“In a little while,” Rachel told him, giving him a smile. She was feeling very good, and tipsy. She looked over at Melissa who was talking to Andrew. “Mind if I ask how long you've been together?”
“Not at all,” Tim said reaching under the table to grab his boyfriend's hand. “We've been together for six months. It's still not...acceptable in most places, but we've decided we just don't care. What about you and your girlfriend?”
Rachel gave him a wide eyed look and shook her head. “Mel and I are best friends, but not together. I have a boyfriend and Mel's recently single.” Lance would get a laugh out of it that someone asked if she and his sister were a couple.
“All the good guys are either taken or gay,” Melissa told Tim, making him shrug and Andrew laughed.
*^*^*^*^*^*^
“That's when it gets a little hazy,” Rachel admitted, sitting up once more. Her stomach growled and she couldn't believe it but she was hungry. “I vote we order room service and just hang out here for the day. Go down to the pool later,” she suggested, smiling after Melissa nodded. They perused the menu and decided on something light for lunch. After putting in the order, Rachel looked at their room.
“I'm going to take a shower and then pick up some of this stuff..at least my stuff got shoved into one corner,” she teased Melissa, laughing at the middle finger. “Sorry, you aren't my type,” Rachel told Melissa, shoving her goodnaturedly before getting up and going to grab some clothes. “I smell like an ashtray and a brewery. How attractive.”
“I doubt the guys minded,” Melissa waved her friend off, smiling wider. “But yeah, go take a shower. You reek,” she called out as Rachel shut the bathroom door.
“I heard that,” Rachel hollered back, turning the water on and letting it get hot. She studied her reflection in the mirror and was glad the streaks of mascara would wash off. She thought of Lance and JC seeing her last night and wondered if it mattered to them how she looked. It didn't, she knew, but it still was a question she wondered. Thinking of JC, she let a smile slip out that she couldn't wear in public. He was worried about her. He'd come with Lance to make sure she was alright. Of course Justin and Chris had too, so it wasn't that big of a deal, but still. Rachel sighed contentedly when the hot water hit her, the dull thud of her hangover headache lessening as she stood there, letting the steam build in the bathroom.
Melissa laid on the bed, fiddling with her phone. She knew the guys would have a break for lunch and she sighed. “Better now than later,” she muttered, hitting Joey's number in her call list. She listened to it ring and almost hang up before his voicemail came on when she heard it pick up.
“Joey has left the building, please deposit twenty five cents to continue,” Chris said, moving to where Joey couldn't get his phone.
“Chris, give the phone to Joey,” she said, not feeling like playing games.
Chris made a face and handed it over. “Be nice,” he said, not missing the look Joey gave him.
“One minute,” Joey said, making his way out of the studio to sit outside in an alley with a bench there. It was surrounded by other buildings and cut off from the public and no one else was out there. “Now...How are you?”
Melissa wanted to cry at Joey's words, even if the tone of his voice had a bite to it. “I'm fine, Joey-”
“Getting drunk enough to get into a fight and go to jail is NOT fine, Melissa Nicole! You better be fucking glad I didn't get called or you and Rachel would have been home last night. Do you know what could have happened to you? Do you?” he yelled, taking his frustrations out on her, needing some outlet.
She started to answer but was interrupted again before she could protest.
“If those guys would have gotten a hold of you,” Joey's voice shook as tears came. “I can't think about it...Or you had alcohol poisoning...or got sick and passed out. You or Rachel either one could have died. Do you even realize that?” Joey's voice was softer. “I know, Bambina. I know it feels like your world is the most fucked up place right now, cause mine is.”
“It's more than fucked up, Joey. It's like my soul is missing. And I can't get it back,” Melissa confessed, her voice quiet. “And no, last night, we weren't thinking about what could happen. We were getting free drinks, ya know? Guys were flirting with us...”
“Flirting how?” Joey's voice became pissed again.
“Nevermind,” Melissa said, curling up in bed. “I can't do this, Joey. I can't pretend to be happy when I'm not.”
“Welcome to my own personal Hell, Melly. We're in the same boat.”
She heard Joey's phone beep and him cuss. “I'll let you go, I know you're busy. Thanks for talking to me.”
“You could call you know...just to say hi,” Joey told her, muttering under his breath as his phone beeped again.
“It's easier if I don't. I can try to pretend your phone doesn't work and then I can forget you were mine and now you aren't.”
Joey nodded, not sure he understood, but if that's what she wanted. Of course if she asked him to cut his own heart out, he'd find something to do it with. The broken plastic spoon on the ground would work. “Okay then. Take care, Melly. I...” he had to stop himself from saying I love you, even though he did. “I'll see you later.”
“See ya, Joey.” Melissa hung up before he could, shoving her phone off the bed and listened to it thump on the carpet. “Ain't no lie, baby bye bye bye,” she sang quietly, sitting up and reigning in her tears before Rachel got out of the shower. She had to be happy, or at least look that way for her friend. Before she could dwell too much on the conversation between her and Joey, there was a knock on the door.
“Eat eat eat, all day long,” Melissa sang out loudly after the food had been set in the room and Rachel had cracked the bathroom door.
“Eat all you want, just no more alcohol,” Rachel admonished coming out in some capri's and a tshirt, her hair wrapped in a towel. She grabbed a piece of fruit and nibbled it.
“At least not until next time,” Melissa chuckled, throwing a grape at Rachel.
The phone rang and Rachel answered it, brightening up some when she listened to whatever the other person was saying, telling them thank you and hanging up. “Well, seems like we have friends in high places,” she told Melissa, who just nodded, waiting for her to go on. “The off duty cop that was at the club last night called and said he just dropped off my vehicle in the parking lot and the keys were in an envelope at the front desk.”
“I will never ask a cop if he wants a donut again,” Melissa said, crossing her heart as she tried not to laugh. “But I will ask if he wants a large Farve.”
“You're awful, Mel,” Rachel shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder if you weren't adopted from Chris' family. I mean, since you and him seem to have the same sick sense of humor. Actually, that's all the guys.”
“Come to the dark side, Rachel,” Melissa said, passing her hand in front of Rachel.
“I'm already there, I'm trying to get out.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Okay..if you don't comment on any other chapter, I would love to know what you think of this one. I loved writing this chapter. Jr88freak (Rach) helped some with the ideas and writing out the banter in jail. Thanks to the guys for doing some of the funny stuff for us to copy. Enjoy!!!
Story Tags: joey
