Melissa opened one eye when her hotel phone rang, reaching over for it. “Hello?” she mumbled, having gotten to the hotel room and crashing out.

“Hey, we got done a little early, Travis said, listening to his girlfriend try and wake up. “You want to get up and go do something and then eat?” He waved at a couple of his buddies on the crew as he walked around back where the equipment was.

“Sure. Give me a bit to get ready and then I'll grab a taxi and come down to the arena and we can go.” They talked a few more minutes before getting off the phone and making herself get out of bed. She'd be coming back there tonight, which was nice. No unpacking and packing back up in the span of a few hours. Flipping the light on, she opened her suitcase and sighed, seeing her toiletries bag open. Her toothpaste was missing. “Joey,” she mumbled, grabbing her key card. He'd told her he'd gotten into her stuff while they were on the bus.

Joey heard a knock on the door and barely opened his eyes. “What? Go away...” he said, the room dark and freezing cold. The person knocked again and he got up, barely opening the door. “Yeah?” he said, looking at Melissa looking disheveled as well.

“I need my toothpaste, Fatone.” Melissa felt a blast of cold air when he answered, goosebumps coming up on her skin.

“Oh. Yeah.” Joey opened the door wider for her to come in. “Kristen is shopping,” he said by way of explanation, turning on the bathroom light, going back to bed. He listened to his friend rummage around. “You find it?”

Melissa sighed. Joey was a hair product whore, and with all his other stuff, she just ended dumping it out on the counter. “It was on the bottom,” she said, going to put everything back, smelling his cologne. “You're almost out of smell good stuff.”

“Yep. Get more later,” he grunted, his eyes closed. He felt the bed move a minute later and he sighed. “Melly, I want sleep.” Joey was really tired and knew he'd be grumpy later if he didn't get rest. Her hands found his hair and he smiled, relaxing as she rubbed and messed with his hair. “You're one in a million.”

“More like one in a googleplex,” Melissa said, scooting closer to him to get warm. She listened to Joey get back to sleep as she rubbed his head, smiling when he started snoring. She made it back to her room and got ready, excited about going out with her boyfriend. Travis was more serious than her most of the time, but they got along well. It took her about half an hour to shower and get ready, calling a cab. She waved at her boyfriend when the cab pulled up to the back of where the show was going to be. “Hey,” she said, giving him a kiss after he got in. “What do you want to do?”

“I don't care, long as it involves food sometime in between now and then,” he replied, the driver suggesting restaurants as they drove along. “You want to go look at some shops?” Travis smiled as Melissa nodded. They got out downtown, going in a few different places.

Melissa bought some things for her mother and some of her friends and relatives. She spotted a t-shirt store and drug Travis in. She snickered when she saw an old NSYNC t-shirt. “Lance hated that photo shoot. He was sick and they kept telling him to smile. He told me he wanted to give the guy the finger.”

Travis laughed as they looked through shirts, each of them grabbing a couple they liked. He raised an eyebrow when Melissa cheered, pulling out a Superman t-shirt. “I take it you're feeding Joey's obsession?” he asked, shaking his head.

“It's an unwritten rule,” she said, pulling out another shirt as well. “I know he doesn't have these.” It didn't bother Melissa at all to shop for Joey or any of the other guys, grabbing the rest of them a shirt as well. “I know they can get most of their stuff for free or whatever, but it's fun to shop.”

“Women and shopping should be considered a sporting event,” Travis said as they went to the register. He grabbed the bags and they continued on. All too soon it was time to head back to the arena. “Dinner was good...” Travis said, his arm around his girlfriend, a smile on his face.

“That was great. I'm glad I got that recipe from them for the dessert.”

Travis looked at her, a little confused. “You told me you didn't like to cook.”

“I don't. My mom will make it,” she replied, shrugging. Melissa didn't mind cleaning, and could cook, she just preferred not to. And if truth be told, when she and Lance were home, Lance cooked. Or Joey came over and cooked, but she had yet to tell Travis that. They'd been together a couple of months, but she still wanted to keep her friendship with Joey separate from her and Travis' relationship.

Travis nodded, grabbing some of the bags as they got out. They showed their passes and got into the back where people were already milling around, getting things ready.

“I'll see you later?” Melissa asked him, taking the bags when they got to the door marked NSYNC. She could hear voices and knew at least part of the guys were there.

“Yeah, I'll call you when I'm done.” Travis leaned in and kissed Melissa, deepening the kiss, neither one of the them hearing the door open.

Melissa kissed Travis back, jumping when she realized they were being watched. She blushed furiously and told her boyfriend bye.

“Ooooo...Melly was kissing a boy...” JC said, grabbing a bag and looking down in it. “Where's my present?” he asked her, pouting like a little kid.

“I didn't get you nothing, JC,” she said, taking her bag back, then rummaging through it. “Here, you big baby,” she said, handing him the t-shirt.

“What about me? I want one,” Chris said quickly, hopping over the couch. “You better have brought enough to share.”

“I did,” she told him, pulling out their shirts. She looked around, not seeing Joey and frowned. “Where's Fatone?” She raised an eyebrow when they all suddenly wouldn't look at her and Lance's face reddened.

“When we knocked on his door...uh..” Lance stammered, shrugging, leaving it for someone else to tell.

“They were doing some horizontal mambo shit,” Justin chimed in, kissing her cheek quickly. “Thanks for the shirt, chica.”

“Ah. Okay then,” she said, biting her bottom lip. She took out the Superman shirts and laid them over the chair he'd sit in for make up. She kept telling herself not to get upset, that it's what couples did when they were in love and in a relationship. She and Joey had never kissed, but they were always touching in some way, however nothing romantic. “I'm gonna go watch Brit practice,” she told them, leaving her stuff by Lance's chair.

The four men watched the younger girl leave and then looked at Joey's chair.

“If he sucks tonight, I'm kicking his ass,” Justin said after a minute, going over and looking at Joey's shirts. He whistled at one. “How many friends buy you a shirt that's seventy five bucks?”

Lance was busy messing with his phone when his head snapped up. “I can't even get her to buy a pair of jeans for fifty,” he looked at his shirt, seeing the price tag. It wasn't cheap either. His sister didn't get paid to come on tour but he always put money in her account, since she did so much stuff for them that others didn't have time for. Especially running to the store for day to day crap. Not that they didn't go shopping, but when you just needed deodorant or toothpaste, it was easier to send her in rather than cause a riot. “She bought herself some stuff too,” he said, looking in the bag next to his chair.

Melissa was sitting in the front row watching Britney Spears warm up and dance, singing along softly to “Oops I Did It Again”. She waved to the blonde girl when Britney waved at her, then shook her head when she motioned for her to get up on stage.

“Come on,” Britney said, waiting for Lance's sister. “You know the moves right?” she said, teaching her a bit for continuing, having fun goofing off.

Melissa didn't know all the moves but enough to keep up when they were going slow, knowing there was no way she would do this if people were watching, or the crowd that was going to be there later, filled to the last seat with screaming fans.

“We're late,” Joey told Kristen, aggravated that he'd told her they didn't have time to have sex but she wouldn't take no for an answer. He paused when he saw Melissa on stage with Britney, shaking her hips to “I'm a Slave 4 U” then singing the chorus with Britney as the other girl laughed. Joey swallowed quickly as one of Brit's back up dancers grabbed her to dance with them. He found Kristen glaring at him.

“What are you doing?” she asked, watching Joey watch them on stage. “I asked you if we were doing something after the show...”

“It will probably be a group thing,” he told her, giving her a kiss. “I gotta go get ready and then we'll be out to warm up.” His eyes drifted back to his best friend, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. “What's up?” he asked the rest of the group when he got into the dressing room, watching them all get quiet.

“I tried calling you five times,” Chris said, sighing. “Glad you could freaking make it.”

“Don't bust my balls,” Joey retorted, grabbing the shirts off the back of his chair. “Where'd these come from?” he asked, grinning at the shirts.

“Mel. She got us all something, so don't go getting the big head. 'Cept she didn't spend a hundred and fifty bucks on anyone else,” Justin said with a grin. “I guess she figures we can all go shopping, other than you of course. Your clothes matching skills suck.”

Joey laughed, playing off the fact, but he was stoked to have some new threads, especially ones he would wear a lot. “Cool,” he said, taking the button up and slipping it on over the t-shirt he had on after removing the tag. “You should know your sister was up on stage with Britney,” he told Lance. “Shaking her hips,” he added, chuckling at his friends astonished look.

“And the worst part is, dawg, that you noticed,” Justin told him before they left the dressing room.

“I have a girlfriend,” he reminded the rest of the guys as they went towards the stage.

“I just want to know if you're reminding us or yourself.” Justin's voice was quiet, close to Joey's ear. “You can be in love with two people at once. That's all I'm saying, dude.”

Joey just nodded, his eyes going to the front row where his best friend was, giving a big grin and pulling her up onto the stage when she came bounding up to see him. “Thanks for the shirts,” he told her, pulling her in for a hug.

Melissa wrapped her arms around Joey, laughing when he tickled her, trying to get away. “Sing my song,” she said between breaths, finally getting away.

“You heard the lady, Justin. She wants her song,” Joey announced, grinning.

“What's it worth to you?” Chris asked, raising an eyebrow as they sang rounds of do-re-mi.

“I'll let Joey dye part of my hair purple,” she told them, a smile spreading across her face. Joey had been begging her to let him take her to dye her hair some outrageous color. He'd done his all red before, and he always had teased her about coloring her hair.

“Purple hair,” JC replied, looking at the other four, nodding. “You do that and buy us dinner one night and we have a deal.”

“Yep. Sing.” Melissa watched them pull up stools around her. She couldn't help it, blushing a little when they started. “I Thought She Knew” was her favorite song to hear them sing with no back up from the band, just their five voices. Her face flushed a little more when it came to Joey's part, him giving her a wink. When it was done, she clapped, hugging them all. She hugged Joey last, kissing him chaistly on the cheek. “You're the best.”

Joey chuckled, shrugging the kiss off, ignoring the buzzing feeling it gave him. He looked out at the arena and saw that Kristen had made it, standing there with a snarl on her lip. He gave her a wave with the hand holding Melissa at her back, letting his friend go. He'd deal with his girlfriend later, watching the other girl get off the stage and make her way to her usual seat before turning back to them.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Joey winced as Kristen slammed her purse down in the hotel room, cursing when it fell off the table in into the floor. She'd given him the evil eye the rest of the night and announced that she wanted to go straight to the hotel and to bed, not out with everyone else. Joey resigned himself to this fact and told them he was turning in as well. “You gonna tell me what the problem is?” he asked, flopping down across the bed to lean up against the pillows, his hair still damp from the shower after the show.

“Like you don't know!” Kristen huffed, shoving stuff back in her purse. “This whole week, that girl..Meredith, Megan..whatever her name is, Lance's sister, has been hanging on you like she's afraid you're going to run away and never come back. And then she kissed you tonight.”

Joey grabbed the remote and turned the television on, muting it. “Her name's Melissa. I've known her for five years, now, Kris. And before you get huffy, it was a kiss on the cheek. I don't want her romantically...we hang out a lot, we goof off, we have fun.”

“You should tell her that, cause she looks at you like you're George Clooney or Brad Pitt,” Kristen said as she stood up and went to sit on the bed beside Joey. “I'll tell her to back off if you won't.”

Joey snorted and resisted rolling his eyes, turning his head to look at Kristen. “She has a boyfriend she likes a lot. If you can't handle me having friends that are female, then we can end this shit right now. I don't throw my friends away for a piece of ass, and if you'd like to be referred to as more than just that, you better change your attitude really damn quick.” There was only so much bullshit he'd put up with, and he wasn't going to listen to her fume and piss and moan all night.

Kristen's mouth opened and then shut, and Joey could hear her grinding her teeth, taking a deep breath. “Let's order some room service or something. Does that sound alright?” she tried, glad when Joey nodded, grabbing the room service menu. “Sorry, Joey.”

“Yeah. I'll talk to her if you want. We don't realize how stupid we act sometimes,” he said after a minute. Kristen was smart and very pretty, and Joey was first attracted to her body and looks when they met. He didn't really want to break up with her, so he'd just deal with the less volitale relationship. Mel would always be there for him, she'd never had a problem with one of his girlfriends before. Besides that, he reminded himself begrudgingly that she had Travis. He thought Travis was okay, but somewhat of a tool, but if he treated Melissa good then that's what mattered, he reminded himself, grinning as he watched Kristen undress to put on some sleep clothes.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

It was very early in the morning when Melissa made her way back to the hotel. Travis had decided he didn't want to come out, not feeling well after the show. That left her with the rest of the group to go out and eat and hang out. She'd even managed to stop at a Super K-Mart that was open all night. She grabbed her keycard and went to open her door when she heard another open. Smiling, she looked at Joey who was rubbing his face. “Morning. Well, sorta.”

“Hi. I couldn't sleep,” he said, shuffling over to where she was. Joey grunted when Mel messed with his hair, his eyes half closing.

Melissa played with the red tips and then opened her door, holding it open for him. “Come in and I'll get you your stuff. I even got you more toothpaste so you wouldn't steal mine.”

Joey chuckled, going in behind her. “That's half the fun of using yours,” he said, sitting down on her bed, watching her go through stuff. He laughed when he realized he was holding toothpaste, cologne, and a bra. “Uh, Melly..I don't think I need this,” he held it up with one finger, the purple undergarment hanging in front of his face.

“What?” Melissa said, distracted until she turned around, blushing deep red as she snatched it up from him. “Sorry..I..I'll just put it up,” she stammered, shoving it back into a bag. She'd bought a red one too, both of them lacy, but with a little padding. “You weren't supposed to see that.”

“You get embarrassed at the funniest shit,” Joey told her, shaking his head. “I have a girlfriend and a sister...I've seen a bra before.”

“Shut up. I've seen underwear before, that doesn't mean I want to see yours,” she replied, turning around to face Joey, her eyes falling to the shorts he was wearing, her mind churning with the burning question of boxers or briefs.

“Briefs, if you were wondering,” Joey told her, watching her squirm more like he'd read her mind. The conversation he'd had with his girlfriend about telling Melissa to back off a little went to the back of his mind. He loved having someone he could embarrass and harass and not worry about how she was going to take it. That other conversation could wait for another day. Besides that, Joey's mind had wandered to where it wasn't supposed to go again.