“You do not have that many good cards, Chris. You suck at poker,” Melissa told him, eyeing the remaining cards and the ones laid down. They'd been on the road for an hour, headed to New York. She'd gotten suckered into playing the game when Lance got up and left.

“I'm calling,” Chris said, laying his cards down, “read 'em and weep.”

Melissa glared at him and laid hers down, shaking her head. “That was just dumb luck.”

“Or just dumb,” JC said with a laugh. “I'm out, Justin needed me to look over a song he was writing.”

Chris, Joey and Melissa watched him leave, then started shuffling the cards back in the deck. Melissa was relieved that Kristen had said she was going to find a quiet spot and call her friends and her mother, not wanting to spend four hours on a bus entertaining Joey's girlfriend.

“So,” Chris asked, dealing out cards again, looking at the both of them,” how about we play truth or dare poker.”

“Really?” Joey asked, shaking his head. “That's the dumbest thing I think I've heard today.”

“Just because you're too much of a chicken shit to do anything. Mel will do it, won't you?” Chris asked, a big smile coming to his face. He knew the one downside to being the only female on the bus most of the time was that she tried to prove herself. And going along with their stupid antics was one of the things she did. Not to fit in or to prove anything, but because it was actually fun.

“Whatever,” she replied. “You haven't come up with anything yet that I haven't done, so this should be a piece of cake.” Melissa fiddled with her hair, pulling it back and securing it with a ponytail and adjusted her glasses.

“If she's in, I'm in,” Joey told them, watching Chris deal the cards. He picked them up and grinned. If he won, he'd give his buddy hell.

The game ended quick though, with Chris winning. His eyes narrowed at them, a sly grin coming to his face. “Truth or dare, Fatone.”

“Dare,” Joey replied, not worried in the least.

“I dare you to kiss her,” he said, pointing to Melissa. He grinned wider when they both just looked at him as if he'd asked both of them to drink poison. “You two aren't attracted to each other right? So it shouldn't be a problem.” He leaned back in his chair and watched, waiting.

“Fuck this,” Joey spat, getting up quickly. “I'm going to the back.” He wasn't about to kiss his best friend, especially not on the bus or in front of anyone. The thing that made it worse was that he did want to kiss her, and Joey was afraid if he did that he might not want to stop.

“It's just a kiss, Joey. I mean, it's not going to hurt anything.” Melissa, got up, standing in front of him, her hands resting lightly on his chest. Her green eyes met his brown ones and Melissa prayed her hands wouldn't start trembling.

“She wants you to kiss her, man. You better do it before she decides she wants nothing to do with your ass and becomes my best friend...it's a dare,” their friend told them both.

Joey swallowed hard, looking around before looking back down at Melissa. His undoing was her biting her lip, a nervous habit that she did as she gave him a small smile. “What's one kiss going to hurt?” he rumbled, pulling her closer. “It's just a stupid game.” The rest of Joey's body and his brain weren't on board with the thoughts coming out of his mouth. His hands did what they wanted in a span of a few seconds, one hand holding Mel's cheek, his fingers brushing her ear while the other was resting on the small of her back.

Melissa's heart was jackrabbiting out of her chest once her body was flush with Joey's. All the noise of the bus had left and all she saw was her friend. Her arms went around his neck. “One kiss,” she whispered, waiting for him to make the first move.

Joey barely nodded, brushing his lips against hers. Her lips were soft, and warm and he looked at her, not waiting before claiming Melissa's mouth once again. This time he didn't hold back, kissing her long and hard. Joey didn't care that Chris was watching, groaning a little when he felt a tug on his hair, moving his head to where she had better access.

Melissa smiled against his lips, returning Joey's kiss with fervor. This wouldn't ever happen again, so she was going to enjoy it. Her hands found their favorite spot, making Joey's hair a mess. She opened her eyes once or twice just to peek and make sure she really was kissing her best friend.

“What the fuck is going on up in here?” Justin exclaimed, ignoring Chris' nonverbal cues to leave them alone, not sure what to think himself. He grinned wider when the couple jumped apart. “Tell me what the hell that was, dawg.”

Joey's eyes met Justin's and then went to Melissa's. He couldn't do this right now. As much as his heart told him to just jump, he was holding back. His girlfriend was on the bus and his best friend was...he wasn't sure. “It was just a damn game. Chris dared me to kiss Mel, so I did. It didn't mean anything.” His heart twisted at those last words, knowing it was an outright lie.

Melissa swallowed hard, her eyes glossing over. “Yeah,” she said, her arms holding herself, nodding slightly. “It was nothing, Justin,” she quickly wiped away a tear and made her way to where the bunks were before more tears fell.

Chris and Justin both watched Melissa leave and then both of them looked at Joey. “You might wanna go, uh, take care of that,” Chris said quietly, getting up. He wasn't sure what was going on, but the twilight zone seemed to be a safer place than the bus right now.

“Take care of what?” Joey asked, his brain still a little fuzzy from the kiss.

“Dude, I'm Switzerland. Nice boner, Fatone. Looks like it didn't mean anything to the rest of you either,” Justin told him, folding his arms over his chest. “I gotta say though, I've never seen you kiss a woman like that before. That was fuckin' epic.”

“Screw off,” Joey growled at Justin, making his way to the bathroom. He wasn't embarrassed, but it was awkward, especially now since he had kissed Mel. They'd always been comfortable with one another, always touching or goofing off physically. He'd put his arm around her,hug her and kiss her cheek in telling her goodbye. The feel of her lips on his came back to his mind and he felt the bulge in his pants harden a bit more and he slipped a hand down in his underwear, readjusting. God help him if someone knocked on the door in the next fifteen minutes.

Kristen didn't hear what was said or know exactly what was going on, but the look on Joey's face as he stomped toward the bathroom and then the look on Chris' face was enough to make her curious. She pursed her lips and paused, hearing sniffling coming from the bunk across the narrow hall from where Joey's was. She pulled the curtain back slightly. “You alright?” she asked, her hand on her hip. “I hope Joey talked to you and you decided to back off. He's mine, he doesn't want anything to do with you.”

Melissa blinked, wiping tears. She scooted out and got out of the bunk, crossing her arms. “It wasn't anything like that,” she said, her voice soft. “And besides that, I'm not doing anything with Joey, he's my friend.”

Kristen laughed, circling Melissa. “Oh honey, don't lie. Beneath those frumpy t-shirts and jeans you want to be beautiful and you want him to notice you. You wish you had the looks and body, but it's just not going to happen. He's happy with me.”

JC stopped, hearing women's voices. It was like watching a trainwreck waiting to happen and he wasn't sure what to do, standing there. He'd been on the receiving end of a verbal bash and knew how his friend felt as the insults went on.

“If he was happy with you, then he wouldn't have kissed me!” Melissa yelled at the other woman, listening to all she could. “That's right, he kissed me!” Melissa couldn't believe she was telling Kristen this, for a second watching the other woman get mad. The slap to her face shocked her and she stood there in shock, her face stinging.

“Even an ugly tramp gets lucky once,” Kristen spat out, unwilling to listen to anymore after slapping the shorter girl. She wasn't about to be swayed by something like that, not willing to lose Joey to some girl who was just his friend. “You better leave us alone.”

Joey stopped behind JC, feeling better than he did a bit ago, frowning when he heard voices. “What's going on?” he asked JC, the other guys getting up as the voices got louder. When JC rushed forward, Joey did too.

“Fucking that's enough!” he yelled before the women could get in an actual fist fight, holding Melissa off from behind him. Joey glad JC was there, hearing his friend grunt, probably from a kick. Kristen tried to get around him, but Joey shoved her back. “What kind of bullshit brought this on?” he said, his voice dripping venom. Joey's eyes narrowed at the two women, keeping them apart. “Jesus freaking Christ, we're on a goddamn bus and this is not some damn wrestling pay per view! Now what happened?,” Joey asked loudly, shaking his head when they both started to talk. “Ya know what, I don't wanna know!”

His eyes narrowed at Kristen as she grumbled, glaring at Melissa. “I'll drop you so fast you'll be in Pittsburgh before we get to New York. I can make it happen.” Joey turned to look at Melissa, not missing the fact that her cheek was very red with a handprint on it. “Don't do this to me, bambina,” he said softly, hating it when a tear ran down her cheek. Joey blew a breath out, looking at both women. “I see so much as you glare in the other person's direction, you're both on my list.”

Melissa felt utterly stupid, leaning back against JC. Her face hurt, her pride was hurt as well as her heart. She was fooling herself in thinking that the kiss meant anything, only in her mind it did. It was a fantasy, something that wasn't real. She was too old to believe in that sort of thing, this confirmed it. “Let me go,” she told JC, going to the back, not even looking at anyone. She stood on the couch and got the first aid kit out of the cabinet above the couch, sitting back down with it. Sniffling, Melissa sat there a few minutes, letting tears fall.

“You know we love you, Melly,” Justin said softly, sitting down next to her on the couch, pulling her in for a hug. “You're our girl.”

“Thanks Timberlatke,” she said, chuckling at butchering his last name. “It was just stupid. I feel stupid..” Melissa's voice trailed off, listening to the television play the news. She wiped tears that threatened to fall, giving her brother a small smile as he walked into the back.

“Forget about her,” Lance told his sister, putting his arm around her comfortingly, “we're going to be in New York City in a couple of hours and we'll be doing a show. You'll be front and center for it all.”

Melissa nodded, biting her lip and sighing. She knew Lance was trying to distract her and get her mind on something else. She thought about what she'd want to do in the city and wished it were winter so they could go ice skating at Rockefeller Plaza. However now it was the end of July, so that wasn't going to happen. As her grandmother would tell her, she had to buck up.

Letting her thoughts weave in and out as she listened to the conversation between the guys coming and going, Melissa did frown about one thing. Joey hadn't shown up in the back, which meant he was with her. The little green monster was still not gone she silently acknowledged. Getting up, she paused. “I'm taking a nap. No messing with me,” she eyed Justin with a glare.

“Wouldn't dream of it. Scout's fuckin' honor,” he replied, saluting her.

“That's what I'm afraid of,” Melissa muttered, making her way to her bunk and climbing in, shutting the curtain.

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

The rest of the afternoon and the show seemed to last forever. Not that it was a bad thing, but Melissa Bass just wished for once in her life she wasn't where she was right then. She'd have gladly been at her and Lance's house they shared, or working a job or even visiting relatives in Mississippi. Anything was better than standing there looking at something you couldn't have. And the kiss she and Joey shared made it all that worse. Those feelings fought to rise to the surface, but were squashed every time Kristen came into view. As much as she wanted Joey, she'd take the friendship. It was worth much more than a stupid kiss.

“What was that you said?” Travis asked her, looking at his girlfriend oddly over the noise of the crowd. He'd been told that he was off tonight after the show, so he grabbed a seat next to Melissa to enjoy the concert, not having been in the front very much to see what all the screaming and noise was about. His girlfriend was acting a bit off, but he figured it was just the tour and maybe woman stuff he knew nothing about. Then she started muttering to herself and he had no clue. “You said something about a kiss...” he prompted, shrugging when she shook her head and shrugged.

“I have no clue,” Melissa told him, wondering what the hell she was doing talking out loud “Damn you Joey,” she said even quieter, sticking out her tongue at her friend as he sang to that side of the stage, getting a grin from him as she found Travis' hand and grabbed it

Joey watched Melissa talk to her boyfriend and smiled at her gesture, then moved on before he could think too much. Thinking was always bad for him, especially if it was about something serious. The serious part of it was that he didn't like his best friend holding Travis James' hand. Even more he didn't like it when she kissed the other guy. That wasn't right, he told himself thinking of his own girlfriend. He and Melissa were both seeing other people. That didn't mean they couldn't be friends, it just meant he couldn't kiss her anymore. He glared at Chris across from him, wondering if the other man had a clue about what he'd done. Joey doubted it, trying to pay attention to what song they were singing instead of his feelings.

“I've loved you forever, in lifetimes before. And I'll promise you never will you hurt anymore,” he heard JC sing, glancing back at his best friend and then his girlfriend. Justin was right, but he'd never admit it. You could love two people at the same time, but Joey's problem was that one of them didn't know how he felt. And that person wasn't the one he was with.