“Joey where the hell are you?” Kristen snarled into her phone on the voice mail to Joey. She'd called twice before now with no answer and they had an appointment to go to the courthouse and go pick up the marriage license and he was supposed to take her out to eat. Kristen looked around Joey's house, glad that he'd been gone most of the time. She'd taken it upon herself to decorate and buy things she thought would look good. He'd even not protested when she started buying groceries to bring over. It was healthy stuff, getting rid of the pizza and beer routine, the Chinese food found it's way to the trash can the next day. Joey had slimmed up a little in the past couple of weeks. And with her mother's help, she'd gotten wedding invitations mailed out after having Joey's mom and sister help with addresses from their side of the family. She rolled her eyes when her phone finally rang. “What are you doing, we're supposed to go get our marriage license...”
Joey stood outside of the door to rehearsals rubbing his forehead. “Shit. Kris, we can't go today. We have to get at least half of this done tonight or Wade's going to make us run stairs until we puke.”
“You're so full of it, Joey,” Kristen told him, sighing. “You know what, nevermind. We'll just call everyone and tell them the wedding got moved back because you were too busy to take an hour out of your schedule to go to the courthouse with me...Maybe you can explain it to our kid why you didn't want to get married before they were born.”
"Don't start Kristen," Joey pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache beginning to form. "You know this is a busy time. We have been busting our asses to learn a new routine for the tour not to mention we have a video to shoot thrown into the middle of it. I fly out to Los Angeles in a couple days... I have a schedule to keep that I can't just run out in the middle of the day with a 'sorry guys, gotta go'."
"Is this what's it's going to be like when the baby is born?" Kristen shot back, her own anger raising. "Sorry kid, but I got to go sing and dance?"
Joey breathed deep and closed his eyes, counting in his head. "This is my job Kristen. You know this is what I do and you know there will have to be sacrifices." He looked up with the door opened and Lance stuck his head out. He held up a finger in his direction. They had been given a ten minute break which he had used calling her.
“I have lunch break later. Meet me down there and then we can grab something to eat. I'll call you..it'll be at least another couple of hours,” he said quickly, walking in behind Lance. “I've gotta get off the phone,” he bristled when her voice told him she loved him. “Yeah, love you too.” He tossed his phone in his bag as he walked by, ignoring Wade's look.
“I thought marriage was supposed to be a happy time,” Wade said, raising an eyebrow when Joey glared. “So I've been wrong before, we're starting at the top with Celebrity,” he said, hitting the play button and watching the guys all in position in the mirror. “Chris, shoulders back. JC, good. Justin, bring your left leg in. Lance, scoot a foot to your right. Joey, smile. Millions of girls are not paying to see you look pissed off.”
“What about pissed on?” Chris asked with a grin as they started dancing, laughing at the look Joey gave him in the mirror.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*
“I need your drivers license, social security card, and birth certificate,” the lady behind the desk at the County Clerk's office said, looking annoyed when Joey cussed. “Hold on,” he said, ignoring Kristen's snort, pulling his phone out. His birth certificate was at his house. “Janine, are you at home?” he asked his sister as he went into the hallway, groaning when she wasn't. “I need my birth certificate..it's at the house.”
“Call Mom or Dad, or Steve,” she suggested. “Can you tell them exactly where it is?”
Joey figured it was in the fireproof safe in the master bedroom closet. “Yeah, I think so.”He saw Kristen looking pissed and waving him back in the door. “I'll try them in a minute,” he hung up and looked at his fiance. “What?”
“Nothing...I thought you'd have remembered the stuff for us to get married.”
“Don't start. I'm going to call and see if my Mom can bring it,” Joey said, calling his mother. It took her half an hour, but he grinned big when his mother pulled in and parked, hugging her.
“You're sure about this?” Phyllis Fatone asked Joey softly as she hugged him. It was no problem getting the information, but she'd sat there a few minutes in the chair in the master bedroom, trying to get a handle on her feelings about the situation. As much as she loved the thought of a grandbaby, she wanted her son happy as well.
“Yes. Thanks for bringing this,” Joey held the piece of paper and hugged her once more. “Smile, Mom.”
“I should be telling you that,” she goosed Joey in the ribs and smiled at Kristen who was waiting on the steps. “How are you dear?”
“Hi, Mrs. Fatone,” Kristen greeted the older woman giving her a light squeeze. “I'm alright, I was just surprised Joey didn't bring everything.”
“It's not like I'm sitting at home every day..I was in Miami last night after rehearsals doing a photo shoot,” Joey told her as he gave the clerk the rest of his information. Ten minutes later he was getting a reciept for a marriage license, handing it to his mother. “You can hold on to this and bring it back home after we get married right?” he asked, watching her nod. “Great. Thanks, Mom. I gotta get back to rehearsals.” He kissed her and then kissed Kristen. “You happy now?” he asked, smiling at little at her smiling. It was better than listening to her gripe.
“Not that you have to run off, but it's work. Maybe your mom and I can go do some shopping or something since you have to go,” Kristen grinned when Phyllis nodded. She waved by to Joey, smiling when he drove off. She had his black Visa and had planned on using it even before his mother showed up. “There's this cute baby store I saw downtown,” she told her almost mother in law, putting a hand on her stomach, telling her the name of it. “They had some of the most adorable things for a boy or girl.”
Phyllis just nodded. She'd heard of the store and thought it was over priced. Not that she didn't want good things for her first grandchild, but there was such as thing as something good and being ridiculous. However, she wasn't willing to argue with the younger woman. “I'll meet you there and maybe then we can have some lunch. I'll call Joe and have him meet us then.”
“Alright. It will be some good family bonding time,” she said brightly, going to get in her car.
“Oh, Joseph what have you done?” Phyllis muttered after she'd gotten in her own vehicle and turned it on. The whole family wanted to like Kristen, but it was still hard for Phyllis. She could tell her son was holding back his real emotions and she knew he was hurting. She also knew that Kristen was a completely different person than Melissa. It wasn't fair to compare the two, but Phyllis caught herself doing it and trying not to. She had to love Kristen for who she was. And that was Joey's soon to be wife and mother of his child. She called up the one person she talked to when she needed honest advice. “Sofia, how are you?”
“I'm well, mia cara. What is on your mind?” the older woman had a smile in her voice.
“Would it be wrong of me to not like my future daughter in law? Is that allowed?” she asked, afraid of hearing the answer. She was sure Sofia wasn't her biggest fan when she and Joe Senior got married, but it hadn't ever been a bad or strained relationship between them.
“Si, it is allowed. I got my invitation in the mail...I thought about replying that I wouldn't be attending..however I thought about my Joey's face if his Nona was no in presence and it hurt my heart. So I will be there, even if it's with reservations.” Sofia informed her daughter in law, sighing. “If he has happiness, that is all I wish for. And a healthy baby,” she added, talking a bit more about other family and what was going on in New York. “Take care, mia cara. Tell my Joey his Nona said she loves him.”
Phyllis smiled, nodding even though the other woman couldn't see. “I will. See you in a few weeks.” She hung up and sat there in the parking lot, putting a smile on her face and saying a quick prayer for everything to go right as she got out of the car.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
“Okay, Joey get on the middle lift,” Wade told him as they were underneath the stage, a couple of the stage hands there to help with practicing the entrance to the first song. The lifts had been sticking once in a great while and all of the guys were trying to work the kinks out of it. The stage set up had been replicated in Los Angeles and the group was there rehearsing.
Joey had been on the lifts ten minutes before and nothing significant had happened and he wasn't expecting it to now. It was easy, the lift shot him up onto the stage as he helped momentum and jumped, making the effect bigger. “Let 'er rip,” he told them. When it did nothing, he stood there, wondering what was wrong. All at once, the lift shot up and Joey's leg got caught between it and the metal part around it. “Oh fuck! Stop the damn thing!” Joey yelled as pain shot through his leg and he tried to yank it free. It took a minute, and he laid there holding his leg as the workers got it free.
The other guys had been watching from the back of the stage and rushed over to their friend.
“Fuck dawg, it looks bad,” Justin told him, looking worried. They had a physician on hand who was there almost as quick as the rest of the band.
“Can you move your leg?” Chris asked as the doctor was questioning Joey.
“We're taking you to the ER by ambulance.”
“Great,” Joey groaned, not really caring, other than he wanted to quit hurting. His leg looked gruesome and hurt like hell. He looked at the worried faces of his four friends. “It's just a flesh wound,” he tried to joke, yelling when he tried to put weight on it, not wanting to be picked up and put on the gurney at the end of the stage. He started sweating and relented as his friends helped him.
“Who do you want me to call?” Lance asked, his phone in hand after they'd gotten Joey over to the gurney and EMTs.
“Call my parents...” he gave Lance a look, sighing. “And Kristen I guess.”
Joey was instructed to lay back and he was put into the ambulance as the medical personnel asked him questions about his medical history. He answered all of them, except for when he had a tetanus shot. He knew it was probably when he was little. The blood didn't bother him, but the deep wound in his leg did. “Hey Rick, glad you could come with me.”
The security guy smiled and nodded. “It's my job, man. Besides, there's always something. This is better than the time you got stuck on the bus with no air conditioning and girls were swarming. That was awful. This is easy compared to that.”
“God that bus got rank fast,” Joey said, remembering them not wanting to open the door for fresh air. He grimaced as they moved his leg. “Fuck that hurts!” he said, looking at the EMT. “Ya gonna give me any pain medication?”
“Not until we get to the hospital and see how the wound is. I think we can just clean it and bandage it up after stitches. It's a deep wound but not big. They'll probably want to do an X-Ray to see if its broken.”
“My whole leg's throbbing and he says it's just a flesh wound,” Joey rolled his eyes at Rick and sighed as the ambulance stopped. “I'm not signing shit unless it's papers from the hospital,” he called out to the other man who stepped off the ambulance ahead of him. Right now he wasn't Joey Fatone, celebrity. He didn't want the attention, just to be treated and go to the hotel.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Lance's phone rang and he sighed. He'd been fielding phone calls for the last two hours from their manager Johnny, Kristen and Joe Senior. He didn't mind, but it was getting old fast. They were sitting in a waiting room that was separate from the other part of the hospital. Wade and the rest of the guys were there, along with Mo and one of their PR people.
“Hello?” he said, listening to the voice on the other end. “Slow down, Mel. Take a deep breath,” Lance told her, putting his hand on his head. Of course he should have called his sister, figuring someone else did. His eyes snapped to Justin's. “He told you WHAT?”
Justin looked away from Lance, “It was a joke, dawg. I didn't know she'd freak the fuck out,” he started before Lance hit him hard in the shoulder.
“What did you do?” JC asked, his eyes wide as Lance left the waiting room with Mo.
“I called Mel and told her Joey was hurt. Then informed her they had to use a sawz all to get his leg free.”
“Jackass,” Chris huffed.
“Bite me if she can't take a joke,” Justin muttered, flopping back in his chair as Mo came back without Lance.
*^*^*^*^*
“He's fine, Melissa. I'm looking at him right now. His leg is intact, just bandaged,” Lance said as he stepped into Joey's room, bumping fists with Rick. “They're giving him some pain meds...Yes, I will kill Justin.”
Joey looked at Lance, “What did he do?” Joey asked, holding his hand out for the phone. “Gimme the phone, Bass.” He didn't care that right now he wasn't feeling any pain and that he world was spinning. “Talk to me, Bambina.”
“I'm going to kill that curly haired freak. He told me you were hurt! And that your leg had to be cut with a sawz all and you were in surgery!” Melissa's voice rose as she talked, mad and scared. “Are you alright?”
Joey half smiled at her voice. “Nothing a little pain management won't fix. I get a break from Wade's slave driving and watch tv all day for the next few days. They're giving me meds and a cane.”
“Old man,” Melissa teased, listening to him chuckle. “Need me to send you some depends too?”
“Alright, smartass. I'm fine, Melly. I promise. And the cane's not for my age,” Joey told her, listening to her fuss over him before telling her he'd talk to her later and handed the phone back to Lance. He listened to his friend talk and then say goodbye. “She'll be alright,” he told Lance, leaning back against the bed.
“I know. This sucks though, we have that video shoot for Pop. You can't dance. We can't have an NSYNC video with four people.” Lance wasn't worried about anyone being mad that Joey was hurt, just that logistically they needed all five NSYNC members to be present.
“I will use the Force and channel my Jedi powers,” Joey told Lance with a chuckle, groaning as his phone rang. “Dear god, what do you people want?” he asked the object as it rang and he answered. “Yes? I'm fine, Kristen. It's just a deep gaping hole in my leg. They're putting stitches in it. No, I'm not coming home,” Joey listened to her talk and telling her he loved her before hanging up. “They don't show this shit on VH1 and MTV,” he muttered. The only coherent thought he had was that he wanted out of the hospital, awkwardly pulling his shorts on with the nurses' help. “If I'd have known my leg was going to try and detach itself from the rest of my body, I would have worn my Superman chonies,” he told the nurse, getting her to smile.
“He's even worse when he's not drugged,” Rick informed her, holding the wheelchair for Joey, listening to him cuss when his leg got accidently jostled around. “You got it, Joe?”
“We're ready to rock and roll. Let's get the rest of the circus and blow this joint.” Joey had his phone and wallet, along with his prescriptions and discharge papers. “I wish your sister was here,” he told Lance, handing him the prescriptions. “She could go get this shit without causing a fuss. Now we gotta send Laurie,” Joey gave her a small smile.
“Oh Joey. It's my job,” Laurie told Joey, patting his shoulder.
“What meds am I allergic to?” Joey asked her, smirking when she paused, hitting speed dial on his phone. “What am I allergic to?” he said to the phone, having put it on speaker.
“Amoxicillan and sulfa,” they heard Melissa's voice say.
“Okay, thanks Bambina. Talk at you later,” Joey said, hitting end on the phone. “See? Easier.”
Laurie just rolled her eyes and smiled. She knew Joey was in a mood and drugged. She'd take a lot of shit before she got pissy with the guys and they knew it, not trying to make her mad on purpose. “I'll make sure I know that now.”
“Works for me, just get me to the hotel. I have date with a pain pill and the back of my eyelids.”
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
“Chris said there was a meeting?” Justin asked, coming in from his room to Lance's, seeing the other three guys sitting at the small table beside the bed. Their rooms were all on the same hallway, with the rest of their entourage on the floor and security roaming the hall.
“Yeah,” JC nodded as the youngest member of NSYNC sat down on the end of the bed. “There is no way around doing the shoot for this video. Wayne has everyting set up to roll tomorrow and we have to do this even if Joey can't do anything.”
“How in the fuck do you think that'll happen?” Justin asked, getting up when there was a knock on the door. It was Wade and he sat next to Justin, listening to them talk.
“Joey will have to do some of the stuff, the head shots for the video and close ups. But...” JC's eyes met Wade's. “Wade suggested something earlier.”
“I can be Joey's body double. We're almost the same height and weight. I know the dance moves,” Wade explained to all of them, waiting to hear what they would think.
“If that's what we have to do then that will work,” Lance said, giving their choreographer a smile and thumbs up. “And don't forget MTV will be doing a making of the video starting tomorrow. We get video cameras to take around...”
“I don't want to see anyone's ass crack on tv,” JC said, glaring at Chris.
“You should be telling that to Joey,” Chris said, trying to look innocent.
“So, the plan is to have Wade do the body stuff and Joey do the up close shots,” Justin said, the plan coming together in his head. “Has Wayne okayed the idea?” he asked.
“I talked to him for a few minutes earlier,” Chris told Justin. “He was open to the whole thing, but wanted all of our input. He said the show must go on. I shudder to think of the sleep I'll be missing the next couple of days.”
“That's no damn lie,” JC groaned, running a hand through his hair. “So if we're good, gentlemen, I'm calling it a night.” He stood up and went to his room. JC picked up his phone and responded to his texts, grinning at the last one he'd received. 'I'll trade you a music video for a firm that hasn't had books correct since '98. Grandpa's going to go off...looks like a Big Gulp night'. He shouldn't feel so happy Rachel had texted him, but he enjoyed their banter.
'Don't work too hard. All work and no play makes it boring. Did you hear Joey hurt his leg?'
JC stripped off his shirt and jeans, kicking them off next to his suitcase, grabbing a pair of shorts and his toothbrush. His phone beeped and he smiled at the reply.
'What do you think? Had to play Dr. Phil for an hour.'
JC got ready for bed and snuggled under the covers. He looked at his phone again and sent off a text. 'Tough situation for everyone involved. Hard to act happy for Joey'
'I know. Lend a shoulder to Mel, then smile for Joey like he hadn't broken my best friend's heart.It's rough, C'
'She's lucky to have you as a friend. Got an early morning. Burn some midnight oil for me, Rach.' His phone buzzed and he smiled. 'Sweet dreams Josh' was the reply.
JC hadn't had much time to really think about his and Rachel's “relationship”. It wasn't anything more than friendship, but in his mind he wanted there to be more. His imagination kept going off where it didn't need to. He knew the reason for Rachel being with Lance and wondered just how much of it was them pretending and if any of it could be real. And that little jealous part of him came out. He'd enjoyed the time he'd gotten to spend with Rachel on New Year's, wishing that could happen more often. It had been a long time since he'd wanted to even think about having a girlfriend, not wanting the hassle or insecurity of someone else if a fan hugged him a little too tightly or he hugged another friend that was female. He looked over his messages and smiled. Rachel was different. Now if he could just get his mind from going down the road it had no business going, it would be just fine.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Rachel rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock down at the bottom of her computer. It was nearing three in the morning. When she'd told JC goodnight via text, she'd fielded more texts from Melissa and a few from Lance. She'd finally told both of the Bass siblings she had to get to work, leaving her phone on silent and plugged in on the kitchen counter. She'd come home to work, the first time she'd been there in a while since she and Lance had started dating. It felt almost odd, other than most of her stuff was there. It was quiet, no sports or reality show on television and people going in and out from Lance's. She was glad when she got to the end of the year for the business and made sure all of the discrepancies had been tabbed and marked. She double checked her figures and emailed it all to her grandfather's secretary to print out and be on his desk by the latest at 8 a.m that morning. Shutting her computer, Rachel got up and went to her phone. “10 text messages and three missed calls...geez,” she muttered, scrolling through her phone. Two texts from Lance, eight from Melissa. Then she got to her voice mail and hit 1 to retrieve them.
“Rachel, I need you to fly out to Los Angeles first thing tomorrow to go see about the books at a couple new firms. One is in Thousand Oaks and the other is over in Hollywood. Harold said he was available to fly you out on one of the company jets, just call the airport. Your hotel is paid for until Wednesday,” he gave her the information of the hotel and car rental. He knew he had secretaries and PR people to do this sort of thing, but Rachel knew as her grandfather, he wanted to tell her himself what he wanted. She wrote down what she needed to know and closed her phone. At least if she was up early, maybe she could talk to Lance before they got started shooting for the day.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
“You're up,” Lance said, surprised when Rachel answered her phone and looked at the time. “Your last text was around three this morning.” It was almost five in the morning in California.
“I know, I'm packing a bag to come to Cali and do some work. My grandfather summoned me to hop across the U.S. I'm so lucky I get to do this,” she said sarcastically, tossing some pants into her open suitcase. “I should just go get the bag that's packed at your place. Drag your sister along.”
“She's up already,” Lance remarked, listening to Rachel chuckle. “I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was eating ice cream and watching old NSYNC videos. Do you think she needs to talk to someone?” he asked, grabbing his watch and slipping it on before buckling the clasp.
“She talks to me all the time. Mel will be alright. She's having to relearn how to do everything. It's like those people that lose a limb and have to relearn how to walk.”
"That sounds about right," Lance broke in. "You know Joey and Mel have been close since practically the very beginning of the group. It's always been Joey and Melissa; Melissa and Joey. Now that Joey's getting married," he stumbled across the word. He tried desperately to be happy for his friend, and he did wish him the best. But he just couldn't make himself be as happy as he should have been; not when it was tearing his little sister up.
"Yeah," Rachel's voice softened."It's gonna be rough. Mel's going to have to learn she can't turn to Joey like she has in the past. I know she knows it's over, but I don't think it's really truly hit her yet."
"That's what I'm worried about," Lance said honestly. "It will hit her that it's over and Joey's not coming back. I just hope that either you or I will be around her when it does. But with the tour coming up..." he let his voice trail off. His sister was going to be alone a lot. Normally she'd be on tour with them, not for the whole thing but a good majority of the dates she'd be there. And now, with what had happened between her and Joey, he wasn't sure if she'd come to any of them. And with him dating Rachel, Rachel would be coming along for a good majority of the shows.
"This sucks," Rachel sighed and sunk to her bed. The suitcase next to her. "Makes me never want to fall in love."
"You don't love me!" Lance's voice rose in shock. "What a horrible thing to say over the phone! I can't believe this..." He kept going causing Rachel to start laughing.
"You're a dork," Rachel said with laughter in her voice. "Of course I love you. But I'll love you even more if you can spare me thirty minutes later tonight."
"Oh baby," Lance's voice dropped. He grinned into the receiver. "Be a lot longer than that. I'm not sure if I could be offended by your laughter or not." He said as he listened to Rachel laugh. "I'm not sure I can give you thirty; I don't know how this is really going to work today with Joey not being able to shoot the full video. But I could probably give you at least five...ten if you're real lucky."
"Deal," Rachel said. The past couple of days had been lonely without Lance around. And that was strange. She hasn't realized just how much time they had been spending together either in person or on the phone or via text. "I think I'll bring Mel with me. Maybe that will cheer her up some."
“MTV's starting the 'Making The Video' thing today. Joey's whacked out on meds right now but I think he'll be up and around later. They can go commiserate together.”
“Put them together and pull them back apart. Not the best idea ever,” Rachel told him as she studied her suitcase, satisfied with what was in there. “Or it might be a good idea. Least neither one of them will be moping and have that 'my whole world ended' look. I'll let you know. I need to get off here,if I'm gonna drag Mel with me; I need to leave even sooner. See ya in a few hours. Love you, Lance.”
“Love you too, call me when you land.”
Rachel hung up and then called Melissa. “Pack a bag, you're going with me.”
“I hope it's to the Bermuda Triangle. Drop me off there,” she told her, getting off her bed and grabbing clothes. “Do I need anything fancy?” she asked, having no idea where she was being whisked off to. Melissa wanted to tell her no, but she didn't think she could stand being stuck at the house with no one in town besides her parents. She'd given though to going to Mississippi and seeing her grandparents, but this sounded like more an escape.
“No. I'm going to work and dropping you off at a video shoot. You can baby sit Joey,” Rachel replied, waiting to see how that went over.
“He's a grown man. I'm sure he's got all the help he needs,” Melissa's heart pounded, not sure how she felt. She'd gotten the wedding invitation in the mail and still hadn't opened it to respond with an RSVP. All of her things from Joey's except for her clothes were still boxed up, sitting in a corner in her room. “I'll go I guess. It will be good to see the guys...Sober that is.”
“Don't sound so excited. Kristen's not there, no one will care that you are there. Enjoy it,” Rachel told her, getting into her car. “I'm on my way to get you, be ready.”
“Thanks for making me feel better,” Melissa replied to Rachel, half teasing. She knew her friend didn't mean it like that, she knew the guys would care, just that the media wouldn't. “I'll see you in a little bit,” she told Rachel and hung up. Most of the clothes she and Rachel had gotten on their trip from Cocoa were still in their bags. She ripped off tags and stickers, tossing them in and grabbing her make up bag. Whatever she didn't bring she could buy. “Not like it matters,” she paused, fingering her ring on the chain. Melissa wanted to see Joey so much it hurt. At the same time, she wanted to go hide. She wanted to avoid him and the rest of the guys just to not have to think about what she was missing in her life. A crazy thought came to her and she wondered how it would work if she went through with it. Three thousand miles was a long ways to be from her friends and family. At the same time, she wouldn't have to be in a place that held so many memories. They were good memories, but when it came down to it, that's all they were. Things that had happened in the past that weren't going to be reclaimed except in her mind. She grabbed her phone charger and put it in her purse, sending out a text to her brother. 'Coming to CA with Rachel. Look out L.A.'
'If it's anything like Cocoa Beach, L.A. Might be in trouble.'
*^*^*^*^*^*^*
“Run, Christopher! Haul your ass!” Justin yelled at his friend as he chased him down with the golf cart, the video camera going. Mo and Rick were riding along, laughing as Chris yelled, trying to outwit Justin. “See? That's how you get work done around here, dawg,” he told the camera, smiling before he shut it off.
It had been a long day so far with Wade filling in for Joey. They'd gotten part of the shooting done and were now taking a break, the catering truck busy with everyone getting lunch. His eyes widened when he saw a familiar face sitting between Lance and JC. “Chica de mi vida,” Justin said, hugging her from behind, kissing her cheek. “When did you get here? How? No one told me you were flying out.”
Melissa hugged Justin back sort of since she hadn't turned around, shrugging since her mouth was full of food. “I didn't know either. Rachel told me to pack and so I did. Here I am,” she said with a smile after she'd swallowed.
Chris came bouncing in, a big smile on his face. “Joe's here!” he said, stopping short when he saw Melissa, running over to her and shoving Justin out of the way. “Melly! The band is back together again!”
“One of these days I'm so kicking your ass,” Justin told him, going out to find Joey, smiling when he spotted his friend. “Oh Joey,” he pretended to tear up, hugging his friend, slapping him on the back. “How's the cane? You can always beat someone with it.”
Joey smirked. “Beats the shot in the ass I got earlier. Where's lunch? I came at the right damn time.” Truth was, Joey was tired of sitting in the hotel room and didn't care if he was handicapped, he was getting out of that place.
“No shit, you won't believe who's here.”
Joey raised an eyebrow skeptically at the youngest band member. “Do you mean that in a good way or bad?” He couldn't ever tell as he hobbled towards where tables had been set up, hearing laughter and shouts. Pausing, he leaned on his cane at seeing Melissa sitting there. He swallowed hard, seeing her, a smile coming to his face.
“That's our Joey,” Justin murmured to himself, catching the other man's smile. He watched Melissa wiggle her fingers at him. She got up, making her way over to Joey before he got to where they were. He noted the slight pause between them before Joey opened his arms and Melissa melted into his embrace.
“Think she wants these?” Chris asked, watching them but grabbing Melissa's open bag of Lays.
“Nah. She's good,” Lance said, smiling. He grabbed his phone and snapped a picture and sent it to Rachel. 'Mission accomplished. Beauty and The Gimp.'
'Insanely jealous right now!' Rachel texted Lance, grinning at the picture.
He chuckled, raising an eyebrow as he typed.'That you're not hugging Joey?'
'That I'm not there! I'm gonna be seeing numbers in my sleep tonight.'
“You're okay.” Melissa said it as she looked Joey over carefully, grimacing at the bandage when he pulled up his jeans. “You're sure?” she couldn't keep the worry out of her voice watching him walk with the cane over to the table with food laid out.
“They call me Gimp Along Fatone,” Joey said, grabbing what he wanted to make a sub sandwich with, finally handing it to Melissa since she was putting everything on it anyway. “I can fix it, Bambina,” he told her after she asked what he wanted to drink.
“Shut up and let me do it. I can actually make a damn sandwich. I can't cook anything,” Melissa stuck her tongue out at him, shooing his hand away. “Besides that, I burned eggs again.”
“What?” Lance asked, his eyebrows raised. “Is that why the fans were on in the kitchen and living room last week? God...” he shook his head as Joey sat down on the end, scooting around to where his leg was protected from people walking around.
“Don't bitch, Lance,” Joey said, sighing at the sandwich. Not too much mayo and all the veggies he liked. “Better than the burnt offerings she tried to serve me. That chicken was black.”
“Burnt offerings. Yum,” JC quipped, watching Melissa's face turn red. “Maybe you should take those cooking lessons Justin got you for Christmas.”
Melissa nodded and sighed. “I might. Not much point in it now is there?” She let that thought die and sighed, catching a whiff of Joey's cologne. “I thought you were milking it today,” she told him, bumping his shoulder.
“Nah. Had to come keep Wayne in line. Besides, there's lots of hot girls here. I'm sitting by the hottest one,” Joey told her, throwing an arm around Melissa's shoulders and leaning on her, offering up his chocolate macadamia nut cookie.
'Does that line actually work?" Chris asked, happy to see Joey acting somewhat normal. At least he was in a better mood then he had been recently. It was nice to see the 'real' Joey come out.
"Not for you. You need a lot more help than that," Joey grinned when Chris flipped him the bird.
“Quit buttering me up,” Melissa told him, taking the cookie. “You want something,” she narrowed her eyes at Joey. “What do you want, Fatoney?”
Joey leaned in and smiled. “Hair sex,” he whispered, giving her his best begging look when he moved back to where they were just like they were before.
“You fed me a cookie and called me hot...I deserve more than that,” Melissa ate the cookie and wiped her hands on a napkin.
“I'm injured in the line of duty,” he stuck his bottom lip out, moving to put his head on Melissa's shoulder, pouting. Joey groaned when he felt that familiar tug, moving so his face was buried in her neck. “God this is great,” he muttered, feeling her fingers wind through his hair and rub his head down to the spot behind his ears and back up.
Lance shook his head at the two of them. “That shouldn't be legal in public,” he told them, getting up to throw away his trash. “Wayne wants you over to the set in fifteen Joe.” He got a wave in acknowledgment and motioned for the other guys to follow, none of them having their cameras open to film anything for the “Making of” bit.
“You're spoiled,” Melissa said after ten minutes, surprised to feel his lips brush hers neck and then whisper across her lips. “Joey...” she whispered, letting him kiss her again before she pulled away. She hated to be the voice of reason, wanting his lips to linger on hers. “Wayne needs you.”
“I know,” he said, getting up and lacing his fingers through hers. “Limp along with me.”
“Nice shirt,” she told him as they walked. 'Orgasm Donor' was on the front. “Is that an advertisement or what?” Melissa watched him give her a look and she blushed. “You're a perv, Fatone.”
“My shirt's the truth. You know from personal experience,” Joey said, squeezing her hand. “I miss ya, Melly. Bad.”
“I miss you too,” Melissa and Joey walked along in silence and she untangled her fingers from his when she saw Wayne coming towards them. It was then she made her decision. She gave him a warm smile and kissed Joey's cheek, ruffling his hair before he could get into where the set was. “Work hard. I'm going to go find Rachel and see if she's almost done. I hear Rodeo Drive calling my name.” She knew they wouldn't hit the famous shopping mecca in Los Angeles, but it was an excuse to get away and put her plan in motion.
“Alright. Have fun, Bambina. I have no idea when we'll be done,” he gestured to the whole set. “You're the best,” he told her, tugging at her hair and waving as she left. “Have no fear, I am back,” Joey yelled to Wade, grinning as he got his first look at the set with everything there. He felt better than he had in a long time, even with a bum leg as he made his way around the set.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Enjoy this chapter. Thank you all so much for reading and for those who review, you make my day!! So glad I found this site and am excited to post more on this story and other things. Thanks to my beta as well, not sure what I would do without her.
Story Tags: joey
