Lance swallowed and looked over Rachel's final touches. Her hair looked perfect and she looked like she'd fallen out of an issue of a magazine. The clothes were all name brand that Lance knew cost more than Kristen had blown from Joey's account. He smiled at the heels and pulled Rachel close. “You look gorgeous. I'll have to get Josh and we'll both have to kill a few guys,” he leaned in and kissed her, watching her blow out a breath.
“This is just the look. You haven't seen the attitude yet. It's what makes the Weatherly social status like those in The Hamptons and the old Hollywood money, the mafia ties...” Rachel's voice trailed off. “I guess I'm not as much of a hard-ass as I thought. I want to see Joey smile...”she leaned on Lance's chest, her forehead resting on him. “Your sister said she's going to kill you, by the way. Did you know your grandparents are in California?”
Lance groaned and closed his eyes, “No. I should have thought about what I was telling my Grandma but I didn't. That's probably why she hasn't texted me back.”
“I wouldn't text you back either. You're a mean brother,” Rachel told him, giving him one more kiss before slipping out of his arms. She gave him a smile and then looked him up and down like he wasn't worth her time. Rachel watched Lance's brow furrow in confusion for a moment.
“You are deadly, Rachel Weatherly,” Lance told her, holding the door open.
“I expect to be treated like a queen when I return...by all of you. Even Joey should be paying homage.”
“I think Joe will just be happy to have a thought in his head that's not something about the baby or his wife.”
“What about Mel?” Rachel asked, pausing.
“I don't know,” Lance said softly, shrugging. “He doesn't even talk about her to me. Not even to Justin...but anyways, we'll drag him out later for a good time.”
“Someone better have a good time for what I'm gonna go through today,” Rachel told him, tossing her head once more before walking down to where Joey and Kristen's room was. She knew the walk, the one that made her look like she was every bit the oil tycoon heiress that she was. It was hard not to smirk at Lance's intake of breath when she'd turned and walked away, knowing that he was male and the view he was seeing was of her ass in the jeans she was in, accompanied with the heels. She smiled even wider when Joey opened the door and she had to shut his mouth. “It's just part of the show, Fatoney,” Rachel whispered, giving him a one armed hug, squeezing him a little tighter when he didn't let go.
Kristen came out of the bathroom and she almost made a snide remark until she remembered that Rachel was paying for this shopping trip. Besides that, it wasn't like Rachel wanted Joey. “Are you ready?” she asked Rachel as the two of them parted and Kristen laced her fingers through Joey's. “How do I look, babe?”
“You look good, Kris,” Joey told her, noting that she did look good. At least as good as she could being pregnant and trying to wear a shirt that showed off her assets and not her stomach. “Have fun,” he kissed her chastely on the lips, letting her go and giving her a smile. The door shut after the women left and Joey collapsed on the bed and let out a long groan. He laid there wondering why his whole body hurt and then he realized why. He'd been tensed up since this morning. Joey's mind flittered back to the conversation where his wife had hurled the words at him about baby names. A slight smirk crossed his face.
“What are you doing?” Joey asked Melissa, seeing her write down something, hiding the paper from him. “I wanna see, Bass.” His eyebrow raised when she shook her head, finally picking her up out of the recliner and throwing her over his shoulder. Amid her shouts of protest as he carried her to the couch and dropped her unceremoniously on it, he'd gotten the paper and smoothed it out as she glared at him. He looked at the list of names and then at her. “You're scaring me, Melly...” he said, raising an eyebrow.
“I'm not pregnant, sheesh. It's just...I was thinking,” she shrugged, reaching up and pulling on his hand for him to sit beside her. It was a couple days after Christmas and she'd gotten asked when they could expect the pitter patter of little Fatone feet. She and Joey weren't trying to have a baby, but she just wanted to write down names. “See any you like?” she asked, snuggling into Joey.
“Eva Sofia has a nice ring to it,” Joey replied after looking over the names. “And if it's a boy he can be Joseph Anthony Fatone, III. We can call him Trey.”
“This time, I think you seriously bumped your head. I am not naming a kid that mouthful of a name that I have to yell when I get mad at you just to call him some stupid nickname,” Melissa told him, sitting up to kiss Joey on the lips. Soon the piece of paper was forgotten as they got involved with each other. “Are you trying to seduce me?” she murmured as Joey's lips found her neck, making her moan when his tongue snaked along her jugular vein to her earlobe. “You know what happens when you do this right?”
“Your clothes come off a little faster,” Joey whispered and grinned as Melissa smacked him on the shoulder. “We're practicing...maybe we can have enough kids to name them all the names on your list.”
Melissa barked a laugh as Joey pulled her shirt up and off her. “All we'd do is have sex and take care of kids.”
“Bambina, you make that sound like a bad thing..” Joey's hands ran over her body and to her stomach.
“I didn't say it was bad.”
The knock on the door brought Joey out of his memory and he got up and answered it, letting Justin in. “What's up Timberlake?” he asked, watching Justin sit down in the chair next to the small table that was in there
“Nothin' dawg. Just wanted to see you while the “wife” is out,” Justin made a face at the word. “What were you doing?” he asked, looking at his friend. He couldn't help but notice that Joey looked tired. And sad.
“Just thinking,” Joey told him, going to grab his wallet and cell phone and cigarettes. “You know, me smoking is your damn fault. But it was either this or drinking and I figure a nicotine fix is better than a whiskey one. We going or not?” he asked, not wanting to be asked what he was thinking about. It wasn't anyone's business that he kept memories of Melissa close at hand, letting them run rampant when he could.
“Yeah, let's go round up the others,” Justin told him, knocking on doors and grinning when Chris emerged in just a towel. “You can't go like that, dude.”
“No shit. I thought we still had some time,” he told them, folding his arms over his chest. He flipped off Justin when he took a picture. “Who are you sending that to?” he asked when Justin laughed.
“California,” Justin grinned when he got a reply. “She said you need a tan.”
“He needs a lot more than a tan,” Joey said, getting punched in the shoulder from Chris as he walked back into his room to get dressed. “You need a woman, Kirkpatrick.”
“I'm working on it,” Chris said through the muffle of the door, coming back out a few minutes later, dressed except for pulling a long sleeve shirt over his head. He looked at the rest of the guys and at security who was going to go with them. “I think we can all agree that wherever we go needs to have food and fun,” he said as the others agreed.
“I don't care as long as we can semi be left alone while we eat,” JC said, hating being interrupted while eating for an autograph. He'd oblige them, but it seemed like when one person asked, there was always two or three more behind them until he went back to cold food.
“So. Food and fun,” Lance said, trying to think of somewhere. “How about Dave & Buster's? They're closed for a little while between lunch and dinner, but I'm sure there are still people working.”
“I'll give them a good tip if they'll let us in and keep it quiet.” Joey checked his bank balance on his phone and cringed a little. It wasn't the fact that Kristen spent money, just that he had no idea why she felt the need to spend so much in one whack. He was thankful Rachel had gotten this shopping trip, texting her to see if she'd pick him up a couple t-shirts and a hat. Kristen would come back with something he'd never wear and Joey knew Rachel would get him something decent. He paid attention enough to hear Mo on the phone talking to the manager and they would be treated right if they came to eat and have fun for a few hours.
“Come on, Fatone,” JC clapped Joey's back, giving him a smile. “Let's go have some fun.”
Joey nodded, slipping his phone down in his pocket. “Let's hit the road. I'm ordering the biggest steak they have and about four sides.”
“That's our Joey!” Lance cheered as they all made their way to the elevators.
“I don't care what you order, but dude, if we dance and you get sick, I'm laughing my ass off,” Justin told him, high fiving Chris. It was nice to see Joey in a good mood, even if the smile didn't meet his eyes.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Rachel looked at her phone and replied to her texts, smiling at Joey's. She almost told him about asking his wife, but instead told him yes. She'd seen Kristen's taste in clothes and knew Joey was destined for “worst dressed male celebrity” if she was allowed to shop. “Let's go in here,” she said after walking a few moments and seeing a comic book store at the end of one of the entrances coming into the mall.
Kristen rolled her eyes and looked at Rachel. “Seriously? We just spent five hundred dollars in some really good stores and you want to go in there?” She followed Rachel and sneered at the kid working there that had big glasses and was wearing an Avengers t-shirt.
Rachel gave the kid a smile and went to the apparel section. She found a few shirts Joey would like. One was a Superman shirt with the 'S' on it. Another said “Cape at the dry cleaners” and the last one made her laugh hard. It was something Melissa would have bought Joey had she been here. It said F.B.I. Female Body Inspector.
“Who are you getting those for?” Kristen asked as Rachel laughed, grabbing a hat that had the X-Men logo on it. “They already have enough clothes from photo shoots and stuff.”
Rachel looked at what was in her hands and then at Kristen. Was she crazy? Most of the clothes they were offered they turned down or gave to charity. Only the clothes they really liked got kept. “They don't keep all of that. A lot of it goes to charity.”
“My husband needs to start keeping some of his stuff. He won't let me get rid of anything that is in his closet and his taste in dress clothes... It's worse than living with a kid,” Kristen said, as she watched Rachel rifle through the comics that were used. The guy came over and watched her.
“You buying for you or a friend?” he asked her, anxious to help.
“A couple of friends actually,” Rachel told him, thinking of Chris and Joey. Chris liked Avengers and Hulk, while Joey went for Superman. “Do you have anything older?” She watched him nod and go around the checkout counter to pull out a stack of comics and bring them back over.
“These were brought in a few days ago. Someone passed away and these were in the attic. I'm not even sure I can put a real price on them. This one,” he held up and old Superman comic, “will go for six hundred bucks easy.”
“I'll give you cash for all of them if you'll make me a deal,” Rachel told him as he looked at her as if she'd gone crazy. It wasn't about the money. It was about the look Joey would get on his face that she wanted to capture, that smile he'd give. One that she hadn't seen since early New Year's Eve.
Kristen's eyes narrowed at Rachel and she started to open her mouth until she thought about it. She wasn't having to buy Joey stupid things like t-shirts and comics. And he wasn't wasting money on them. She smiled wide at Rachel as she paid for the purchases. “Now that we're done here...I say we go to a salon. I'm in need of a mani-pedi. I saw a place that was on the way here that looked really trendy.”
Rachel let the driver open the trunk of one of the rentals and fought the urge to claw Kristen's eyes out. The woman spent money like it was a sporting event. “Yeah, we can make that our last big thing we do. I'm sure the guys aren't done yet,” she fired a text off to Lance asking what they were doing. She received a picture in return that showed Joey and JC playing laser tag against Justin and Mo. A big smile was on his face.
She swallowed her feelings about Kristen as she got in next to the woman. It was hard for Rachel to find something to talk about with her, since all Kristen had talked about was herself for the most part. Or the baby. It wasn't that Rachel didn't like babies or the thought of kids, but it made her cringe when Kristen had remarked she hoped the kid would look like her and not Joey. Rachel wanted to turn and ask why she didn't want the baby to look like its father but just let her go on. Until Kristen asked her what she thought. “If the kid looked like Joey, you'd have a kid with a great smile and that nose...” she said, shrugging.
“He's hairy and is probably going to lose part of his hair when he gets older. Ew,” Kristen made a face.
Rachel chuckled only because it was the only thing she could do. “Then why did you marry him?” she asked as Kristen scoffed at her question.
“Why else would you marry a guy like Joey? I mean, if he wasn't in NSYNC, he'd be just some guy singing at Disney World or Universal every weekend for a couple hundred bucks, maybe a wedding or something. If he hadn't have met me...He'd just be with your friend.” Kristen shrugged as if it was no big deal that she'd come in and broken the two of them apart, that there were no feelings involved. “I mean, I know they were going to get married and everything, but I seriously doubt Melanie could have kept up with Joey's lifestyle.”
Rachel dug her fingernails into her palms and prayed to every patron saint she knew that no one would miss Kristen if she just happened to drown her in the water that was there for the pedicures. The only thing that stopped her was that the baby was Joey's and it was because of that Rachel just shrugged. “I guess we'll never know,” she told the other woman, looking away and wiping tears quickly.
Kristen just smiled when the car stopped at the salon and they got out. She went in first, telling the girl who they were and once it was confirmed by Rachel who she was, it was as if the salon velvet ropes had parted. She was grinning ear to ear and telling everyone would listen about her and Joey dating and that they were just meant to be together and that they were so happy. “I'm sure he's going to be a wonderful father,” she told the girl doing her nails. “We broke up for a little while you know, and it was awful being apart...I found out I was pregnant and knew right then we had to get back together,” she batted her eyes sweetly at the girl who returned the smile and looked at Rachel.
“So is your friend here going to talk you into getting something done with your hair?” she girl asked Rachel who was a couple of tables away, getting her own nails done. “You need something shorter with some darker tones I think.”
“I don't think”” Rachel started, but got cut off.
“You should try something different, Rach,” Kristen schmoozed, smiling at her sweetly. “Keep that man of yours around.”
“That's not a problem, Kris. Lance is very happy where he's at. He wouldn't care if I got a purple mohawk, but I prefer my hair long and it's naturally blonde so I'm good.” Rachel gave her a cutsie smile back and then gave a soft sigh. She missed Melissa, who would have already told them they both wanted bowl cuts like Moe off of The Three Stooges. She'd have been the one trying to convince Melissa to come into a place like this. Rachel's lip quivered as she thought of “Beauty School Dropout” playing in the background. Her heart also ached for Joey now that she'd been around Kristen. The phrase 'wolf in sheep's clothing' had never been more accurate.
“You know your friend talks a lot more than you do,” the girl told Rachel, trying to get her to open up some.
“Yes, she does,” Rachel replied, turning her attention back to what Kristen was saying and she heard JC's name come up.
“I'm not sure who he's on the phone with all the time. I'm sure there's at least two girls, maybe three...I mean, I don't try to nose into other people's business of course,” she looked innocently at the woman and then at Rachel, giving her a wink. “JC's a great guy, just too shy for my tastes. I have a friend that I'd like to set him up with. I think she'd pull him out of his whole shy 'thing'.”
Rachel winced as she bit the inside of her lip to keep from saying anything. She'd gladly spend the rest of her life in prison if one of Kristen's friends even rolled her eye towards JC. She wouldn't let anything like that happen, even if she was Lance's girlfriend.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
“How was shopping?” Lance asked, putting down the remote when Rachel dropped her bags and let her purse fall with them, looking like she could burst into tears. “Rachel...” he went to her and held her as she let out a sob. He stroked her hair and his heart broke as she cried more, not knowing what it was about. “Shhhh, Rach...it's okay,” he whispered, walking them both towards the bed.
“It's not,” Rachel said, wiping her face with the palm of her hand, laying her head on Lance's chest, listening to his heart beat. She felt better when his arms wrapped around her tighter. She winced at the slight pain in her right arm when it stretched around Lance's middle. The doctor had told her she could quit wearing her arm brace after the cast had come off, just to be careful moving it too much for the first few days. She'd taken it off earlier that day.
“She married Joey for the money. She doesn't care about him, doesn't love him. The bitch even said she hoped the baby doesn't look like him. I wanted to stomp her ass...if she hadn't been pregnant...” Rachel's teeth clenched together and her voice got dangerously low. “If one of her friends even looks at Josh the wrong way...” she let it drop off and looked at Lance. “I'm not sure what's going on, but somehow I don't think it's all Joey's doing.”
Lance looked at Rachel's tear stained mad face and blew a breath out. Kristen had no idea she'd made the mistake of thinking Rachel was just going to overlook what she said and how she acted because Rachel had taken her shopping. He also knew it was dangerous to write the other woman off if she was really trying to do something. “We can't just accuse her of making Joey not talk to my sister. He'll back her because that's his wife...even if he doubts her. That's what a good man does,” Lance told Rachel and gave her a small smile. “He was our old Joey for a few hours. Didn't even reach for a smoke until we were on the way back here. He said they keep his nerves steady.”
Rachel nodded, slipping from his arms. She wasn't going to accuse Kristen of anything, at least not now. It wasn't worth making anyone more upset or getting the microscope drawn in closer when she and Lance were trying to be as real as possible. However, she did fire off a text to JC, asking him to come to Lance's room. She waited for a reply before she looked at Lance. “Josh is coming over for a few minutes. I'm not going to tell him everything, but I am going to tell him about Kristen wanting to set one of her friends up with him.”
Lance went to answer the door when someone knocked and let JC in. He gave him a small smile as he shut the door and went and sat down in a chair and watched JC and Rachel embraced.
“What's the 9-1-1 text for?” JC asked, letting Rachel go but still close enough to hold her hand, concerned when he got the text. He frowned at seeing the tear tracks that went down her face.
No one would think it was weird him going to Lance's room, which he was glad for. However if they saw how close he and Rachel were standing, they might question it.
“Kristen is going to try and set you up with a friend of hers,” a jealous tone came out in Rachel's voice and she frowned with JC's mouth curved into a smile. “I don't think it's funny Joshua.”
Josh pulled Rachel back to him and pressed his lips on hers. One of his hands cradled the back of her head and held her there until he broke off the kiss, his blue eyes staring into hers. “Do you think I'm going anywhere, Rachel?” he asked softly, looking over at Lance. “Lance would kick my ass. And besides that, I don't want any of her friends to even think they can get me. I'll tell her no thanks.”
“She's convinced that she can get you out of your 'shy' state that you stay in. I didn't tell her that you just wanted to be left alone and didn't want all of the attention aside from what you do on stage and what you have to do,” Rachel told him, leading him over to where Lance was sitting. Rachel smiled as JC sat down next to her with Lance on her other side. “I have to say I'm a lucky woman. I have two guys that care about me...”
“That will never stop,” Lance told her, putting his arm around her.
JC nodded, running a hand through his hair. “We're gonna have to be like the three musketeers meets James Bond with all of this.”
Rachel rolled her eyes at JC. “Why is it every guy thing has to have James Bond in it?”
“Because,” Lance told her with a big grin. “Bond got all the chicks.”
“And he had a lot of sex,” JC added, his smile getting wider.
Rachel got up and turned to face the two of them, shaking hear head. “Gay or straight, you men are all the same. Sex on the brain.”
“That's not true. It's only about every few minutes or so,” JC told Rachel a matter of factly.
“Only you, C, would be the perfectionist about sex.” Rachel's mouth went a little dry as JC arched an eyebrow at her and smirked.
“I treat it like I do my music. I'll just leave it at that,” JC told her, getting up and giving her the barest whisper of a kiss. “We're on the same bus again tonight,” he whispered, chuckling at her blush. “Don't forget sound check is in a couple of hours, Lance,” he reminded his friend who nodded as he left.
“I don't know whether to be jealous or in awe,” Lance told Rachel, watching her stare at the now closed door as he got up and pulled her in and let her head rest on his shoulder. “Makes me want to see if I can make you all hot and bothered like that.”
Rachel raised up her head and gave him a smile. “Of course you can. It's the gay factor. Gay guys are hotter just because they are gay and therefore unobtainable by the female sex. You're still the hottest thing going besides Mr. Chasez.”
“Somehow, I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not.”
“It is, I promise,” Rachel told him, kissing his cheek. She was positively giddy at the prospect of spending more time with JC. Rachel just prayed it would all work out, not like the possible train wreck she could see in her mind if things went wrong.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Part 2..yay! Please review. I love hearing your thoughts on the story.
Story Tags: joey
