January 15th, 2000

“Ooof,” Lance grunted. “Not again, Just.” He glared up at Justin as he started bouncing up and down on his bed, his curls flying through the air. “I already told you and Chris, I’m not playing ‘The Floor Is Lava’ again; not if you’re going to use me as a stepping stone. Didn’t you and Chris play enough last night?”

Their lives were starting to get busy all over again. Last night they had flown out to Hollywood to attend a part for Teen People to get their name out there before the release of Bye Bye Bye on the 17th. They had an inkling that the song would do well and that people would enjoy it, but wouldn’t really know until about a week after the song was released. It was a scary, but exciting moment at the same time.

While Joey and JC immediately crashed as soon as they got back to the compound, Lance had stayed up a little while longer to tell Annaleigh all about the party as she had to stay behind to rehearse, before heading to bed. Justin and Chris, as usual, continued to feed off the buzz and excitement from the party and tried to burn off the excess energy by any means possible.

“No, you dork!” Justin said as he stopped jumping. He reached for the extra pillow on Lance’s bed and smacked him in the face with it. “Come on, today’s a big day. It’s our day off! Our last day off until—“

“The AMAs,” Lance finished for Justin, now wide awake. They had a full day of dress rehearsal the next day, and then the awards the day after.

It was finally happening; the fans were getting to see what they’ve been working on for months. They were all incredibly proud of what they’ve been accomplishing; they couldn’t wait to have everybody experience it with them.

Of course, that meant a boatload of interviews and photo shoots were going to be rolling in and they’d have to get through each one with as much energy as possible. That started to get pretty hard to do after getting the same questions over and over again. And he knew, for sure, that this time they’d constantly be bombarded with questions about Lou.

Not that he could really blame them. It was a shock for himself, his friends, and his family; for anybody to hear about what was going on. What was even more surprising was, not only did it happen to them; it had also happened with the Backstreet Boys. Who knew what other bands from Orlando, managed by Lou had gone through the same thing. Who knew just how much money had had been collecting while they were working their asses off?

At the same time, no one could ever really talk about it. Signing the Non-Disclosure Agreement, they couldn’t even talk to their closest friends and family in specific details about what had happened. Lance wasn’t really sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing; on the one hand, he wanted everyone to know just how bad of a businessman Lou was, but on the other, it was kind of embarrassing. How did they not notice something was going on?

“We’re taking Anna to Disney World, remember?” Justin asked, still jumping up and down. “Come on, let’s get going. She has the day off, too.” He jumped backwards off of Lance’s bed and landed on the floor with a thump. “Come on!”

“I’m comin’, I’m comin’,” Lance replied, lifting his hands to rub at his eyes. “Hold your horses, would ya? I jus’ got up.”

“Uh oh, your accent’s coming,” Justin said with a teasing grin. “I’m making ya mad, aren’t I?” Lance sighed before allowing a small chuckle shake his shoulders. Sometimes, he couldn’t understand how Justin, or Chris for that matter, had so much energy.

“Get out so I can change,” Lance said, running a hand over his face.

“When was anybody gonna to tell me I’m performin’ at the gosh darn AMAs?!”

“Or maybe not,” Lance replied as Justin’s eyes widened. “Quick! Lock the door.” Justin looked like he was going to move in that direction and hesitated. “Trust me, Just, you haven’t seen her when she’s mad. She’ll throw all that Southern hospitality stuff out the window.”

“But—“

“Trust me, all that ‘never act ugly in public’ crap doesn’t matter if you make her mad enough,” Lance said in a warning tone, barely talking above a whisper. “Trust me; she’s great at hiding her emotions until she explodes. Literally. Lock the door.”

“Too late,” Annaleigh said, as she barged into the room, practically popping a door sized hole into the wall as she pushed it open. Lance could practically feel the annoyance radiating off of her body despite the sweet smile on her face. “Justin. James.”

“Oh, God, you’re like my mom,” Justin groaned, making a face, watching as Annaleigh crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot.

“Worse,” Lance said as he removed the blankets and sheets from around his waist, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. “She’s my mom.” Not that he could blame her; his mom had been around for her more than her own mother had been at times. Lance put his hands up defensively. “I know you’re mad but-”

“I’m not mad,” Annaleigh replied, her eyebrows shooting up. “I’m irked, I’m bugged, I’m peeved, I’m—“

“Scared,” Lance finished for her, quickly pinpointing the underlying emotion sitting in her brown eyes.

“Which is why, we’re going to Disney World,” Justin said with a bright smile, putting his arms around her shoulders, “to take your mind off of it. We didn’t want to tell you because we didn’t want you to freak out…” He paused for a moment. “More than you already have, anyway.”

“Besides, we’ve had the stage and everything planned out for a few months, now,” Lance quickly jumped in to explain, keeping a close eye on her expression. “You’ll either be in a pit or behind a curtain playing, no one will see you.”

“Not like they pay attention to who plays the music anyway,” Justin muttered. Annaleigh elbowed him in the side and Lance shot him an annoyed look. “What?” His eyes widened. “I’m just saying.” He then gave Lance a pointed look. “You know I’m right.”

“Despite that, we wouldn’t have anything if it wasn’t for you guys playing,” Lance said, trying to reassure his friend. “We do appreciate everything you guys do.” He hiked an eyebrow in Justin’s direction. “Right?”

“Right,” Justin replied, nodding his head, his curls flying back and forth. “Anyway, we have these awesome marionettes shaped like us, right?” He held out his hands and wiggled his fingers, moving his hands up and down. “And we have this screen showing these hands like puppeteers going the whole time as if they’re making us and our back up dancers move. And our backup dances are floating off the ground on these wires! It’s the bomb.”

“You’ll be fine,” Lance said to Annaleigh, moving past her to get to his closet. He pulled the doors open and reached for a pair of jeans. He turned to face her as he slid his legs into his jeans. He started to jump up and down as he pulled them up over his hips before buttoning them. “You’ve been practicing ‘Bye Bye Bye’ non-stop for a week, you’ll have no problem with it.”

“And if you mess up, no one will be able to see you,” Justin said with a bright smile, getting another jab to his side.

“Justin!” Lance said with a frown.

“I’m just sayin’,” Justin replied. He then put his arm on top of Annaleigh’s head. “Ok, girl, how ‘bout this; I get one of your dad’s albums and we’ll play it in the car on the way.” Annaleigh’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at him. “And I’ll buy you the biggest funnel cake you can eat.”

“Hmm, fried food,” Lance said, his words dripping with sarcasm. “You really know how to charm a southern girl.” Justin just smiled.

Annaleigh then finally broke down into a smile as she looked up at him. “You’re lucky you’re a charmer, Timberlake,” she replied. “But, I would like some warnin’ on somethin’ as big as that next time, ok? Or else you’d really see what I’m like when I’m mad.”

Lance pressed his lips together; feeling a pain of guilt hit his stomach. He wanted so badly to tell her about her dad, and about her half brother, but he and Darren had promised his dad he wouldn’t say anything.

A part of him wanted to be the loyal and trustworthy son, but another part of him wanted to be the best friend she could always count on. They could tell each other everything, but even he knew that something like this could mess absolutely everything up. Given the recent changes in her life, it was best to just keep quiet until the time was right.

Justin put his hands up defensively a he backed away towards the door. “Might be a good time to tell you that you could be walking the red carpet with us,” he said before turning and rushing out of the room.

“What?” Annaleigh yelped, peering after him. She then turned towards Lance, her eyes widening. “Naw, I can’ do that.”

“You want to be in the *NSYNC band performing in front of thousands of people a night and you’re worried about walking down a red carpet?” Lance asked. He started shifting through his closet, looking at shirts. “For a pageant girl, you’re really self-conscious.”

“Ex-pageant girl,” Annaleigh instantly corrected him. He didn’t have to turn around to know that she had crossed her arms over her chest, shifting her weight to one leg, popping out her hip.

“My mistake,” Lance replied with a short laugh, reaching for a shirt.

“That’s not your color,” Annaleigh said, stepping up beside him, gently slapping at his wrist, stopping him from grabbing a teal shirt. “Boy, I swear, you forgot how ta dress yourself now that ya got people doin’ it for ya.”

“Ha, freakin’, ha,” Lance said in a monotone.

“You know I’m right,” Annaleigh replied, handing him a short-sleeved navy t-shirt.

“And you know I’m right, you just don’t want to have to say anything about it,” Lance said with a sigh, taking the shirt from her with a nod of thanks.

Annaleigh pursed her lips for a moment before planting her hands on her hips. “Because then it’d make it all too real,” she replied. Lance gave her a confused look before pulling the shirt up over his head. “Everythin’.”

“That’s not a bad thing is it?” Lance asked. “You’ve always said it yourself, you wanted to get out of Clinton, see what the world had to offer you.”

“Yeah, but now I wanna go back,” Annaleigh replied, crossing her arms over her chest, resting her back against the compressed folded doors of his closet. “With the AMAs, with everythin’ I kinda feel like I was caught with my pants down. I mean, I knew what I was signin’ up for, but I don’ think I really know what I’m signin’ up for.”

Lance moved to sit down on his bed, the mattress bouncing slightly as he clasped his hands in his lap. There was really no way for him to explain to her exactly what was going to happen because he could never entirely explain what it was like being in *NSYNC. The only people who really knew were JC, Justin, Joey, and Chris. That was part of the reason why they were so close, why they were brothers; there was no one else in the world that knew what they were going through.

Sure there were a handful of other boy bands out there, namely the Backstreet Boys, that were going through similar things. But there was no one who was going through the exact same things as them. They were on a special journey; one he didn’t think would ever stop twisting and turning but he would enjoy the ride as long as it lasted.

*NSYNC was growing in popularity by the day, bringing more pressures to continue making good music, but also bringing more excitement to starting their new journey doing what they wanted to do. The best part was that he could do it with his best friend. It was scary for him at first, but luckily for her, she’d have someone from home to help her out.

 “You’re signing up to start your life: leaving your parent drama behind, never having to worry if they’re going to be fighting or reconciling, and seeing if this is something you really want to do,” Lance replied. “You can be an entirely different person, or discover yourself.” He then pointed a warning finger in her direction. “But, you can’t cut out Clinton all together; I mean it’s your home and you can only run away from it for so long before you start to miss it and its people. I mean, your dad was the one who really got you into music.”

“Yeah, and then I followed you and Darren around, doin’ whatever you two do,” Annaleigh replied, waving her hand in the air. Lance watched as she tucked her hand back into her crossed arms before shrugging her shoulders. “You know me; I don’ like bein’ left behind or left outta things. I always felt that way and you always made sure to include me in things.”

“Aw, it’s no big deal,” Lance replied, waving a hand in the air. “Don’t tell D but you make life a lot more interesting.”

A small smile came to Annaleigh’s face as she dropped her gaze to the floor. She used her shoulder to brush her hair out of her face before looking back up at him. “I remember after Miss Diane told ya ‘bout my parents fightin’ all the time,” she said, lifting her gaze to look at him, “you’d come over to my house every day to make sure I was ok, draggin’ Darren along with ya.”

“You never seemed to have a problem with that,” Lance replied, hiking an eyebrow before relaxing into a smile. “In his case anyway.”

“Aw, hush,” Annaleigh said, making a face after she clicked her tongue. Lance chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “’Sides, I shouldn’t be talkin’ ‘bout this right now, y’alls song is bein’ released at the AMAs in two days and you’re up for an award. That’s huge.”

“Yeah, you’re going to see what Lance the Superstar is all about,” Lance replied, buffing his finger nails on his chest.

“Oh, so you mean I can watch all you boys crash and burn tryin’ ta pick up the ladies?” Annaleigh asked as she lifted her hand up to her forehead making an ‘L’ before mouthing the word, “Loser.”

Lance put his hand to his forehead, using his index, middle, and ring finger into the shape of a ‘W’ mouthing back, “Whatever.” He relaxed into a grin as he dropped his hand into his lap. “We better hurry if you want to hit as many of the ride s at Disney as possible. You still have homework to do, young lady.” Annaleigh stuck her tongue out at him.

Annaleigh had always hated being the youngest in any situation. Luckily, Justin was about her age, a little less than a year older. Lance made it a point to tease her about it any chance he got. Justin was almost done with his school work for his senior year, while Annaleigh was finishing up her Junior year.

“Don’t remind me,” Annaleigh said with a roll of her eyes. “You’re not being a great example Mr. College Dropout.”

Lance chuckled, scratching the side of his jaw. Finishing high school was easy enough, he was already in his senior year by the time *NSYNC started. All he had to do was take a few classes through a program at a local college, but doing the same for college was harder. He had at least gone through one semester, but as the popularity of his band grew, school went by the wayside.

“Look,” Lance said, sliding off of his bed, allowing his feet to touch the floor with a soft thump. “I know things weren’t great with us when I got back home last month, and I know I missed out on a lot when you needed me around, but I’ll always be here for you.” He put his hands on her shoulders, gently shaking her. “I promise you, you’ll be ok.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Lance,” Annaleigh replied as a half smile came to her face. She prodded him in the chest with her finger. “Because I can guarantee you, I might throw up at the AMAs tomorrow.”

“Well, then I’d still be right, because you’ll be ok afterwards,” Lance replied with a shrug and a smug smile. He then put his arm around her shoulder, leading her out of his room. “Just like you’ll be ok after throwing up after riding Splash Mountain twenty thousand times in a row.” He pulled her towards him in a hug, rubbing his hand up and down her arm. “Seriously though, I know I wasn’t there when everything with your mom happened—“

“I…actually, I want ta apologize ‘bout that,” Annaleigh said, interrupting Lance as she stepped out from underneath his arm, brushing her hair back behind her ears. “It wasn’ fair for me to put all that on ya jus’ cause you were out there doin’ what I couldn’ do.”

 She slapped her arms down by her sides before hooking her thumbs into the belt loops of her jeans. “Everythin’ was jus’ happenin’ so quickly; you were gone, mom left, D was goin’ off to college,” Annaleigh explained. Lance crossed his arms over his chest as he listened to her. “I felt like everyone was leavin’ so I didn’ want to let anyone back in if they did come back.” Lance opened his mouth to protest, but quickly closed it when she put a hand up in the air. “It wasn’ fair to you at all to take all my anger and confusion and whatever else, directed towards my mom out on everybody else. I mean with the two a y’all, at least I knew you were leavin’.”

“Ace—“

“Hold on,” Annaleigh said quietly and Lance nodded his head. She twisted her mouth to the side. “I jus’ missed ya, ok?” She then stuck her bottom lip out into an exaggerated pout, earning a small laugh from Lance. “I jus’ wanted my friend back.”

“You never lost him,” Lance replied, moving to press his forehead against hers. “Or D for that matter. You just have to have faith that things will work out for you.” Just like I have to have faith that things between us won’t end badly when you find out about your dad.

“Hurry up and get in the car!” they could hear Chris shouting as footsteps were heard pounding down the hall outside of Lance’s door. “We’ll eat breakfast on the way. Disney World! Disney World!”

“I wonder who’s more excited; him or Justin,” Annaleigh said with a small laugh.

“Both,” Lance replied, deadpan. “I’ll meet you out in the car. I still need to brush my teeth and shower. If I’m lucky, Chris will give me at least half a minute before dragging me out.”

Annaleigh laughed through her nose, rolling her eyes, before making her way out of his room. Lance followed her out into the hall, grabbing a towel from the linen closet before making his way into the bathroom. He quickly showered and changed before grabbing his wallet and joining his friends in the car.

“So nothing happened between you and Lance?” Joey asked as Lance climbed into the back row of seats in the car. Joey reached for the door handle and slammed the door shut. “At all?”

“Well, I came in at an interesting point of the conversation,” Lance commented, reaching for the seat belt. “The answer’s ‘no’ by the way, Joe.”

Annaleigh turned away from the window as JC pulled the car out of the driveway to face the Italian sitting next to her. “Of all the years I’ve known Lance, nothin’ has happened between us.” She then craned her neck to peer into the back row of seats to lock eyes with Lance. “Right?”

“Right,” Lance immediately replied.

“I don’t believe that,” Chris said from the front seat, angling the rearview mirror to look at her.

“Hey!” JC said, slapping at his friend’s hand. “I need that!” He reached his hand up to adjust the mirror back into its proper place. “I mean, not unless you want me to drive off the road and get us all killed.”

“That’ll be a headline to read,” Justin said with a bark of laughter. He capped his hands together once before spreading them out in the air, as if smoothing down paper. “ ‘Famous Boy Band Dies En Route to Happiest Place on Earth’. “

“So you’ve never—“

“No, Joey, I haven’,” Annaleigh said, interrupting Joey. “I’m not sweet on Lance at all.” She was silent for a moment before twisting her mouth to the side. “Besides, I’ve been a little too preoccupied with our other friend, Darren.”

“I knew it,” Justin shouted, leaning forward in his seat to slap the back of her head rest. “I knew all those years ago there was something going on with you two.” He rested his chin on his arms as he folded them against the back of her seat. A grin came to his face before he used his thumb to motion towards Annaleigh and Lance. “So, y’all haven’t even kissed or anything?”

“Why does it matter?” Lance all but snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb.

“Geeze, Grumpy, it’s just a question,” Justin said, slumping back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. “Maybe it’s a good thing we’re going to Disney, he’ll fit right in with the other dwarves.” He nodded his head towards the back of Chris’s seat. “You can join Dopey.”  Chris merely lifted his hand into the air, giving Justin the finger.

“Yeah, what’s with the at-ti-tude?” Joey asked, snapping for emphasis with each syllable before he turned around to face his friend. “You ok?”

“Yeah, it’s just…” Lance trailed off, sighing through his nose. He pressed his lips tightly together, feeling his fingers slowly curl into a fist. Just what, Lance? You’re not interested in her? But, why aren’t you? Because she’s been your friend for years? And because  of that, it’d be too weird? “Why does it matter?”

“Maybe because you’ve been friends since, like, forever,” Justin replied.

“So have you and C, but I don’t see you two into each other,” Lance said with a snort.

“Depends on who you ask,” Joey instantly replied, earning a round of “Ohhhhs” from Chris and Annaleigh as JC practically shouted an obviously exaggerated, “Ha. Ha. Ha.”

Lance looked up and the caught the quick flash of JC’s blue eyes in the rear view mirror and he felt himself quickly swallow, and choke on, the spit in his mouth. Or is it too weird because you’re more than just not interested in her?

“I didn’t mean to snap. People just ask that question all the time, that’s all,” he replied. “Besides, she hadn’t even had her first kiss until right before she got out here to audition.”

A loud gasp rushed past Annaleigh’s lips as she whirled around to face Lance, eyes wide. “James!” she cried as Justin let out a cackle, clapping his hands together.

“What?” he asked, his eyes widening as well. He felt a stab of guilt hit his stomach, and he tried to show Annaleigh his apology with his eyes. “It helps prove my point.”

He watched as Annaleigh’s eyes narrowed slightly. “This comin’ from the guy who got his first kiss at a game of spin the bottle and practically ate off Missy Williamson’s face,” Annaleigh replied, slowly smiling. “He was so eager, bless his heart.”

“Ooh, burn!” Chris called from the passenger seat.

Lance hiked an eyebrow, feeling his lips twitch upwards into a challenging smile. “Also coming from the girl who chickened out and had the guy kiss her cheek,” he replied. Annaleigh opened and closed her mouth for a moment.

“Shut up, Poofu!” Annaleigh snapped and Lance briefly scowled at her, running his hand over his face as it burned with embarrassment. JC, Chris, Joey, and Justin all burst out laughing. Annaleigh gave him a look of triumph as she turned to face the front of the car.

There was silence for a moment until Chris said, “So nothing really happened between you—“

“Shut up, Chris.”

“Ok, we’ve been on Dumbo, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Peter Pan’s Flight, and Pirate’s of the Caribbean,” Justin said as he twisted and turned the Magic Kingdom map in his hand. “If we want to go to the Animal Kingdom next, we have to go…that way.”

“Can we get something to eat first?” Joey asked, rubbing his hands up and down his stomach.

“And have you puke on the back of my head after we hit the coasters? Again? I don’t think so,” JC replied, using his finger to push his sunglasses up his nose. He clapped his hands together. “Come on, let’s hit Island of Adventures; The Hulk awaits.”

“I’m up for anything that keeps my feet on the ground,” Chris said, putting his hand in the air.

Annaleigh was surprised that someone as crazy and energetic as Chris was afraid of heights. The boys had warned her, but it was quickly put into perspective when he practically caused a scene every time Justin purposefully made Dumbo float higher and higher into the air.

“Well, Justin owes me some funnel cake,” Annaleigh said as she brushed her hair back from her face. “So, I’m voting for food.”

“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Joey said with a smile as he put his arm around her. “How ‘bout this; we get some food and the rest of you go check out some more rides.” He glanced at his watch. “Meet back here in about—“

Suddenly, a loud scream hit the air.

Annaleigh jumped, her hands flying up to cover her ears as a second and third shriek hit the air, mixing together as the sound of footsteps thundered towards them becoming a cacophony of noise that jarred her.  She was knocked from all sides as tall girls, short girls, mothers being pulled by their daughters, and girls in hysterics rushed past her, swarming *NSYNC.

 Shouts of “I love you” and the boys’ names hit the air. It wasn’t long until Annaleigh could barely see a foot in front of her. She just stood idly by, waiting for the scene unfold, jaw dropped in shock. People were shoving each other, jumping up and down, and swarming around snapping pictures with their disposable cameras.

Of course they’d be stopped, she thought to herself. Everyone knows they live here in Orlando. And they’ve kinda been livin’ on the down low since the trial.

 Annaleigh grunted, feeling something hit her hard in the back. “Who are you?” a girl asked between waving her hands to dry her wet cheeks with the napkin that Joey had just signed.
 
“Me?” she asked, her eyes popping open as she jabbed her finger into her chest. “Oh, I’m…I’m nobody, darlin’. Don’t worry ‘bout me.”
 
“She’s Lance’s friend from home,” Joey replied, pointing in her direction with the pen in his hand.

“Yeah, she’s working with us,” Lance called over the loud noise. “She’s our new touring bassist. That’s Annaleigh Carr.”

“Uhh—“

“Oh. My. God!” a shriek blasted Annaleigh’s ear drums. She pulled her facial features together so quickly, she was sure she could’ve given herself a permanent face lift. At least, that was before the girl decided to re-arrange her face by shoving her notepad and pen into Annaleigh’s cheek and nose. “Can I have your autograph, too?”

“Uhhh—“

“Me too!”

“Sign one for me, too!”

Annaleigh removed the pen—which was practically being shoved into her nostril and cornea—from the girl’s hand and took the notepad and tried to bring excitement her posture and face as possible. She quickly scribbled out her name in a flourish. She managed to get a brief glance at it before another notebook was shoved into her face. Do people carry these gosh darn things around wit’ them all day?
 
Question after question was thrown her way all about the boys and working with *NSYNC, and everything about the new album, and, and, and. Her head started to throb. Everyone was crushing in tighter and tighter around her, desperately trying to get closer to the musicians. She was burning up; there was too much body heat (and the heat from the Orlando sun).

Before she knew it, the fans were gone talking and shrieking excitedly, tightly clutching their autographs, glancing repeatedly back at them. Annaleigh watched them go, her bottom lip shaking just slightly. She barely heard whatever it was that the boys had decided upon doing next until she realized she was following Joey on autopilot.

Her ears were ringing; muffling the voices and sounds of shrieks from the rides and attractions around her. Minutes later, a cold wave washed over her as she sat down in the shade, across from Joey who started munching on a funnel cake as if everything that had just happened didn’t happen.

“Gu vanna bide?” he asked, his mouthful, pushing the plate towards her.

“Thank ya, kindly,” Annaleigh replied, trying to push a smile to her face. She reached out with shaky fingers, ripping off a piece of the powdered sugar covered treat.

“Are you ok?” Joey asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as he licked the white powder from his lips before reaching up to adjust the backwards baseball cap on his head.
 
“That was scary,” Annaleigh replied, feeling her shoulders slump as tears pricked at her eyes. “If that’s what this is gonna to be like, I don’ wanna do it.” She shook her head back and forth, her dark tresses gently hitting her cheeks. “I wanna go home, Joe.”

“Awww,” Joey said quietly. His lips pulled down in the corner into a frown. “It’s ok, Anna. I’ll admit, we haven’t been doing the best job at preparing you for everything.”

“I don’ want ta slow you guys down,” Annaleigh said, lifting her arm to wipe at her tears. “Maybe my dad was right. Maybe this isn’ for me.” She let out a shaky breath of air. “I shoulda jus’ stayed home.”

“We all get homesick, especially when we first started out,” Joey explained, his cheerful attitude slowly changing to one of compassion. “It’s why Lance had called for his mom to fly out to Germany less than a week after we first started.” He let out a small laugh. “We practically attacked each other to get to the phone to call our parent every chance we got. Not that that’s any different than how we are, now.”

Annaleigh let out a small laugh, sniffling. “But, you have now what Justin and Lance had back then to help them out,” Joey pointed out before smacking his lips after licking his thumb free from the powdered sugar. “You have a piece of home with you.”

“Lance,” Annaleigh said as more of a question and Joey nodded his head.

“He talked a lot about you this past couple months, you know,” Joey said, He lifted his hand to remove the hat from his head, siding his fingers through his red hair. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” Annaleigh replied with a nod of her head.

“Why’d you audition to be part of the *NSYNC band?” Joey asked, his eyebrows knitting together just slightly to form a look of curiosity. “You knew you’d be travelling and would be away from home for a long time.”

“For a lot of reasons,” Annaleigh replied, reaching for a napkin, dabbing at her eyes. “I wanted ta see what y’alls life is like.” She gave a shrug of her shoulders, starting to twist the napkin in between her fingers. She let out a shaky breath of air before resting her elbow onto the table, pressing her mouth into the heel of her palm.

“I wanted ta have somethin’ that we could do together like old times. I jus’ didn’ know how hard it was gonna be or what y’all had ta go through. I shoulda just listened ta my mom and dad; they warned me that this wasn’ what I wanted ta do. People aren’ like that back home. I mean, no one’s even goin’ ta see me at the AMAs, they won’ even know I’m playin’ with y’all, no one—“

“It’ll take a little while to get used to, but soon it’ll really fuel you and keep you going,” Joey said, putting his hands up defensively. “We all appreciate everything you do and we’re enjoying having you in the house and sharing this experience with us.”

“You just like my cooking,” Annaleigh mumbled and Joey chuckled.

“I’m not denying that,” Joey replied, his eyebrows shooting up just slightly, a grin coming to his face. He then slapped his stomach with his hands. “You definitely know how to make an Italian a happy man.” Annaleigh smiled, bowing her head. “And you have a great smile, natural talent, and you’re fun to be around. You’ve already put in so much work, it’d be a shame to let it go to waste.”

“I don’ know—“

“You’ll make me very sad if you don’t stay,” Joey said, sticking out his bottom lip into a pout. “I’m enjoying getting to know you better…and your food.” Annaleigh let out a tinkling laugh. “And we’d miss your energy around the house. Everything will be ok; we’ll make sure of it.”

“Joe—“

“Please?” Joey asked, clasping his hands together. “For me?” His eyes widened slightly. “For Lance! He was really excited at the idea of you working with us and you know he wouldn’t suggest you to be a part of the band if he didn’t believe in you and your talent.” A thoughtful look crossed his face. “So, I guess the question is why don’t you believe in yourself?”

Because the only people who ever believe in me leave me, Annaleigh thought with a sigh. “Nothing I guess,” she said quietly. “I’m just scared.

“So were we,” Joey replied. “So are we. After everything with Lou; it’s like we’re starting over again; we have to prove that we can do this ourselves.” He reached out a hand and gently tapped the bottom of her chin, angling her head up to look at him. “We can do it together; that’s why we’re called *NSYNC. Not just because of our harmonies and dancing, but because we’re in sync in every aspect of our life; we’re always there to back each other up and now you’re part of our family. OK?”

Annaleigh nodded her head, smiling freely. “Thanks, Joe Joe,” she said, drying her cheeks. “I appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it,” Joey replied before reaching for the plate of partially eaten funnel cake. He ripped off a chunk before handing it to her and ripping off a second. “Cheers to the *NSYNC family.”

“Cheers,” Annaleigh said with a smile, tapping her chunk of funnel cake against his before popping it into her mouth. She chewed happily, licking the powdered sugar off her fingers. “So, what’s this Hulk ride JC really wants to go on?”

“It’s the coolest ride,” Joey replied, his eyes lighting up.

“Apart from the Superman ride you mean?” Annaleigh asked, eyeing the red hat on his head. Joey just smiled, shrugging his shoulders.

“The ride starts with Bruce Banner’s voice over the whole ride talking about this experiment that he’s been working on, right?” Joey asked. “And then it malfunctions and you start hearing the roller coaster make these mechanical sounds because the machine is to stop himself from turning into the Hulk. Then you hear these screams of terror and the ride propels your cart from 0-60 in, like, two seconds.”

Sounds jus' like my life, Annaleigh thought with a smile. As long as she had someone there to hold her hand during the scary parts, she was sure she’d be ok.