August 2013

Becca stepped out of the limo clad in jeans and a sweatshirt. Josh, dressed in black sweats from head to toe, was behind her holding two-year-old Lucas and after him, Dylan, now twelve. The last time Becca had been to an awards show had been 2008 when she’d been invited to the Daytime Emmy’s with a producer friend. Her career had all but stopped since she and Josh had gotten married. The only shows she still did were local productions or dinner theatre down in South Florida every so often. Her role of being a mother to Dylan and Lucas and a wife to Josh had been more than she had expected and all that she wanted. She thought it wouldn’t be as different after they were married. They’d lived together long enough that she already felt married. But it was different, indeed. He was her husband and for the first six months of marriage, Becca loved hearing it roll off her tongue when she’d talk to her friends or family about Josh. What was even better was that after three years, Becca still felt as giddy as a newlywed or so it seemed to her. After Lucas had been born, it had only added to the joy she felt every time she looked at her husband.

The call from Justin had come just a week prior to the MTV VMA’s. He was being honored and wanted to reunite the band. Josh had wholeheartedly agreed and Becca was ecstatic for her husband and the other band members. It would also be fun to see them all together again after so many years. She was excited to meet Chris’ fiancé, Lance’s boyfriend, and see Jessica Biel again after all these years. She had actually had coffee a few times with Justin’s wife back when Jessica had been on 7th Heaven and Becca was doing Sarah. Josh was excited for the reunion and for his kids to see what it was he used to do. It was because of ‘Nsync that he’d met Becca in the first place.

“We’re supposed to be in a big dressing area or at least that’s what Justin’s text said,” Josh told Becca, as the family made their way to the back of the arena.

“Is Briahna gonna be back there, too?” Dylan asked, looking up from a game on her phone.

“She should be. Joey told me he was bringing her and Kloey backstage so you and Lucas could be entertained,” Josh shifted Lucas to his other hip and smiled at his daughter. She was the exact age of many of his fans from back when ‘Nsync had been in their hey day. Her celebrity crushes were all the members of One Direction, Justin Bieber, and she idolized Selena Gomez, along with Briahna. Josh had once stopped outside of Dylan’s room to see her and Briahna dancing and singing along with one of Gomez’s tracks and they both possessed the stage savvy of their father’s, or so Josh thought. He had already prepared himself for the day when Dylan asked about going on an audition.

Becca followed her husband down the long corridor and spotted several celebrities heading in all different directions. It sure had changed from the time she had come as Josh’s date back in 2000. Back then they were the A-listers and were being pushed and prodded for autographs by B and C-list celebs. Today, they were the B-listers, though Becca couldn’t care less. She’d had her time and she knew that Josh would much rather be producing and behind the scenes than on the stage.

“C!” Justin called to Josh from one of the dressing rooms at the end of the hall. “Shit, man, is that Baby Dylan?!”

Dylan looked up from her phone and at her mother. “Mom, I thought you said Daddy couldn’t say that word in front of me!” she hissed to Becca.

“Honey, that’s Daddy’s rule, not Justin’s,” Becca said quietly. Then she smiled at Justin. “Hey, Justin. Yes, this is Dylan. She’s twelve now.”

“God, I remember when she was in diapers,” Justin walked out of his dressing room and over to Dylan. “Hi. I’m Justin.” He shook her hand and Dylan smiled at him.

“I remember you,” she told him.

Justin turned to Josh. “And who’s this little man?”

“This is Lucas. He’s two,” Josh squeezed Lucas and kissed his cheek. “Lucas, can you say hi to Justin.”

“Hi,” Lucas said softly.

“Cute kids,” Justin mused. “You guys are the first ones here. Everyone’s gonna be waiting in the room down the hall if you want to go on down there. I’ve arranged for snacks and drinks. I’ll be down in a minute.”

Josh led his family down the very end of the hall to a large open space with plush seats and couches and a plethora of food and drinks lined up and down on a table that seemed to never end. Becca helped herself to a Diet Coke and fixed a small plate of food. She and Dylan sat down together on one of the couches while Josh made a small plate of snacks for Lucas. He sat down opposite Becca, holding Lucas and the plate of food in his lap.

“This is going to bring back a lot of memories,” Becca said to Josh, as he sipped on a beer.

“It already did. You should have seen us at rehearsal yesterday,” he chuckled. “We’re definitely getting old. I thought Joey was going to faint when we were finished.”

Becca giggled and aimlessly played with Dylan’s long, auburn hair. “Dyl, when you were a baby, I used to walk you all over this city in your stroller,”

“I don’t remember living here,” Dylan leaned back against the couch. “I barely remember L.A.”

“Probably a good thing,” Josh muttered and eyed Becca, who shook her head and smirked at him. “Not our best times, huh babe?”

“Oh, I remember you and Mom fighting,” Dylan had caught on to what her parents were trying to hide from her. “But it’s been so long ago and I know you love each other now.”

The truth was, they’d always loved each other. It had just taken ten years for them to realize what the hell they were really fighting for in the first place.

Within a few minutes, the rest of the band members arrived and soon it was as though nothing had really changed. Becca was transported back to a time when she was a young actress on tour with her boyfriend. Stories were told of times past on tour. Jessica and Becca caught up briefly and exchanged cell phone numbers for when Justin was on tour in Orlando. The guys did a hacky sack like they always had before any show. Had it not been for the fact that her children were right there with her, Becca would have started to believe that nothing had actually changed and that she and Josh were still the young twenty-somethings trying to figure out life together.

“Is this crazy or what?” Kelly said to Becca, when the guys had gone to change. “I feel like we’re on tour again. Those were the days, huh?”

Becca nodded. “I still can’t believe it’s been that long,” she replied. “Then again, I sometimes have to remind myself that my daughter is going to be a teenager in a few months.”

Kelly chuckled and looked over at Dylan and Briahna who were peeking down the hallway to see if they could spot one of their celebrity crushes. Joey and Josh had promised them that if they could arrange it, they would let them meet either Justin Bieber or One Direction and the whole time the girls had been together that evening, they’d tried to plot on how to make that best happen.

Forty-five minutes later Becca was sitting in the audience with Dylan and Lucas and Kelly and Briahna and Kloey. Behind them sat Lance’s boyfriend, Michael and Chris’ fiancé, Karly. The anticipation and excitement could be felt throughout the audience and when Justin’s turn was announced, Dylan squealed and grabbed her mother’s hand. Lucas, extremely stimulated by all that was going on around him, was bouncing up and down on Becca’s lap. Becca turned to Kelly and the two women smiled knowingly at each other. Both excited to see their husbands return to the stage but also excited for their children to see their dads in all their glory. Suddenly, the music changed and Becca couldn’t help but grin when the lights hit the five guys and the audience went crazy. Dylan and Briahna stood up to get a better glimpse of their dad’s and all Becca could do was watch Josh. He moved better than all of them combined – she was biased she knew – and Becca couldn’t help but be slightly turned on. He was her husband. Hers. She screamed like one of his fans and jumped up and down with Dylan and Briahna and Kelly. When it was over, it was all she could do to not brush past the crowd to get back and throw her arms around Josh.

“That was amazing!” she exclaimed as soon as everyone had made their way backstage. “Baby, I was so proud of you and I couldn’t stop watching you!”

Josh grinned down at Becca and planted a soft kiss on her lips. “Thanks. It was fun,”

“Dad! You were like One Direction!” was Dylan’s response. “It was so cool!”

“Thanks, baby girl,” Josh kissed the top of Dylan’s head. He looked at Lucas, who was settled in Becca’s arms. “What did you think buddy? Did you like Daddy up there singing?” Lucas only nodded and yawned. “Guess we should get back to the hotel, huh?”

“No way,” Lance interrupted them. “You guys have to go out with us!”

“We don’t have a sitter,” Becca made a gesture towards Dylan and Lucas.

“But I thought you – “Lance started and looked at Josh questioningly.

Josh sighed and smiled at Becca. “Well, honey, I arranged for our kids to go with Joey’s parents tonight and play with their kids. And you and I aren’t gonna go out with everyone. We have a suite waiting for us at the Four Seasons,”

Becca put her hand over her mouth and laughed. “Josh! Are you serious? We’re going to the Four Seasons?!”

“You didn’t think we’d come back to New York and not go, did you?” he pulled Becca into his arms and kissed her lips. “It’ll be like old times, babe.”

Josh had meticulously planned it all out as soon as he’d gotten off the phone with Justin the week before. He knew he couldn’t be in New York, in the city where he’d met Becca, and not go to the hotel where they’d shared their first date. He made the necessary calls to secure the honeymoon suite and had been in touch with Joey and Kelly to find out what they would be doing with their kids after the show. It had all fallen into place so easily that Josh had almost been more excited about his after party with Becca than the reunion with ‘Nsync. Almost.

They hung out for as long as they could with everyone. Goodbyes were exchanged. Josh told Chris he’d see him at his wedding in a few months. Justin thanked them all again, took a few pictures with Dylan and Briahna, and then Josh was pulling Becca into an awaiting limo outside of the arena. They passed by familiar sights, including Becca’s old apartment building. Josh’s arm slid around Becca’s waist and she nestled into him as they watched the city pass them by.

“Thirteen years, baby,” Josh whispered in her ear.

“Thirteen years,” Becca beamed and turned her head to kiss his cheek.

“Did you think we’d last this long?”

“Are you kidding? I figured ‘Nsync would outlast us,”

Josh had to laugh out loud at that. “You’re funny,” his fingers linked through hers and they were quiet until the limo pulled up to the front of the hotel.

Becca started to head for the elevators, but Josh grabbed her hand, leading her towards the bar. She grinned at him and he led her to the table where they’d had their first date.

“If you had known all the hell we’d go through sitting at this table thirteen years ago, would you still have wanted to do it?” Josh asked her, once they’d received their drinks.

“Yes,” Becca answered without hesitation. “It was all worth it, Josh. All of it. To be here with you right now is proof. I mean, I know we wasted a bunch of time and for that I know we’d both like to take it back, but we can’t. And that’s okay.”

“You’re the best thing I’ve ever done, Becca,” he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “You’re better than anything. You and Dylan and Lucas. I don’t ever want you to get tired of me telling you that I love you because I love you so much and so deep.”

“Josh,” Becca was speechless. “Josh, that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“I mean it,” he leaned over to peck her lips and she returned his kiss, cupping his cheeks in her hands. “We can take these drinks upstairs, you know.”

“Mmhm,” Becca kissed him once more. “I love you, Josh. And I’m glad we never ended this thing permanently. I know it was close but I couldn’t ever not be with you.”

“We should come back to New York more often,” Josh said, as he broke away from his wife and stood up. “It’s the city where I first knew I was going to marry you.”

“You did? You knew then?” Becca looked at him inquisitively. “We’d just met. How did you know?”

Josh shrugged. “How could you not be the girl I’d marry? I don’t know. I just knew.”

Becca pressed herself against him after they’d boarded the elevator. “Don’t ever stop telling me you love me and I promise I’ll never get tired of hearing it.” She kissed him sweetly on the lips. “Because it all led up to us, Josh. It’s always been me and you…..”

Becca Chasez looked at her work and smiled. It was finished. She saved the document and immediately called her agent.

“Hi Leo. I just finished the draft. I’ll send it over to Harper and Row as soon as I double check everything,”

“Perfect. What do you think Josh will say? I know he wasn’t crazy about you writing your life story with him at first,”

“I left out enough stuff that I don’t think he’ll have a problem with it. In fact, I think he’ll enjoy the finished product,”

“Great! So, tell me. Did you come up with a name for it?”

Becca bit her lower lip and smiled. “Yes,” she answered. “I’m calling it The Story of Becca and Josh.”