December 12th, 1999

Clinton, Mississippi

Lance sighed as he rolled over in his bed, squeezing his eyes shut when the bright, golden sun shined through the curtains on his windows. He rubbed at his eyes with his knuckles and then scratched at his bare chest with his hand before dropping his arms down at his sides, smiling happily.

He was in his bed back in Clinton, Mississippi as he and the rest of *NSYNC took a break from their tour to spend two weeks free from compact schedules, smelly tour buses, and lack of sleep. It got hard from time to time, but he wouldn’t want to do anything else other than sing and perform. It was such a rush that sometimes he would be up for hours after a performance, his mind racing, reliving every moment.

Returning home was the greatest reward; he got to see his family and friends and was able to relax and sleep in as much as he wanted. There wasn’t any snow on the ground yet-Clinton was a very beautiful place in the wintertime-but he hoped to have a white Christmas nonetheless. Christmas was six days away, but he was he was in the Christmas spirit as soon as he set foot in his house.

The room was warm and inviting basking in the glow of the fire crackling in the fireplace. The sweet smell of apple pie reached his nose, making his mouth water and his stomach growl in anticipation of taking a large bite out of the dessert. Soft Christmas music was playing and the decorated tree sat in the corner, its rainbow colored lights glowing brightly.

It was good to be home.

Lance closed his eyes, lying in bed for a few moments longer before finally getting up, stretching his arms over his head. He scratched the back of his head and made his way over to his suitcase, flipping the top open with his foot. He quickly changed and headed out of his room, following the sound of clinking plates and silverware into the kitchen.

“Morning,” Lance muttered, blinking the sleep away from his eyes as he stepped up behind his mom, who was unpacking the dishwasher, to give her a kiss on the cheek.

“How’d you sleep?” Diane Bass asked, turning around to face her son to give him a hug in greeting.

“Like a baby,” Lance replied with a smile and a little bit of a laugh as he moved to sit down at the kitchen table. He reached for the fruit bowl and grabbed an apple, taking a large bite out of it. “I talked to Darren last night, I’m going to head out with him in a little while.”

“That’s nice, sweetie,” Diane replied as she resumed putting up the dishes. “What are you two planning on doing?”

“He’s helping with the church’s Christmas showcase,” Lance replied, chewing around his bite of apple, “singing and helping Bob Westbrook with vocals. I thought I’d head down and see how everything was going, catch up with some people.” He took another bite of his apple. “Maybe see if I could help out since it’d be too late for me to join.”

“Oh, I’m sure they’d give you a spot, Lance,” Diane replied, giving her son a warm smile over her shoulder. “You haven’t performed in the church showcase in a few years now.”

Lance nodded. I haven’t done a lot in a couple years, he thought to himself as he looked around the kitchen. “Mom” he said as he started to roll the apple around in his hand. She made a noise in the back of her throat showing that she heard him. She repeated the noise when he didn’t answer right away. “Have you…talked to Ace recently?”

“Uh, yeah, she dropped by a couple days ago,” Diane replied, pushing the now empty drawer to the dishwasher before turning around to face him. “She’s in the church performance, too.” Lance slowly nodded. “She’s doing ok. She’s really grown up to be a wonderful young lady and really helpful around here when both you and Stacey are gone.” A fond smile came to her face and she shook her head. “Bless her heart. But, now I have both my babies coming home.”

“When will Stace be here?” Lance asked, feeling himself perk up at the mention of his sister.

He really loved his sister and tried to spend as much  time with her as possible whenever they were together. Due to his touring schedule, he didn’t have a lot of time to spend with her, but whenever they were together, it was like they were kids again and all he wanted to do was follow her around and to have her attention as well, she enjoyed hearing about his time out on the road. Stacey Bass was the person he went to for advice, and when the final court day came to fruition, she was able to calm his nerves and to keep him confident from states away.

“She’ll be getting home in a few days,” Diane replied as she heard the front door open and a male voice called out. “We’re in here, Darren.”

Lance got to his feet, a large smile coming to his face as his best friend, Darren Dale, walked into the kitchen. He set his apple down onto the table and wrapped his arms around Darren in a tight hug, slapping his back. “Man, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

“Shoot, you’re telling me,” Darren replied, clapping Lance’s arm. He looked Lance up and down, let out a whistle, and shook his head, all the while grinning. “You look great; lost a little weight, and your hair’s blonder than I remember.”

“Better than being orange,” Lance replied, reaching up to touch his gelled hair and Darren laughed. Shortly before *NSYNC’s showcase at Pleasure Island in Orlando, Florida, he had to get his brown locks dyed (or rather bleached) blonde. However, it turned out more orange than blonde. After a while, the hair stylists managed to get it to become the color they wanted, and it did look pretty good after a while. It just took him a little while for him to get used to seeing himself with blonde hair and eyebrows. “So, how are you?”

“I’m great,” Darren replied before stepping over towards Diane to give her a kiss on the cheek in greeting. “I’m more interested to hear about you, though.  Congrats on the court case by the way. Shoot, when I heard about it-“ he trailed off shaking his head, “that man just pulled the wool over y’alls eyes.”

Don’t remind me, Lance thought with a frown, glancing over at his mom out of the corner of his eye.  She raised her eyebrows and shrugged in a “What-can-you-do?” kind of way.

“I thought the trial would be as easy as sliding off a greasy log backward,” Darren continued, still shaking his head. “Man got what he deserves though, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah,” Lance agreed with a nod. He reached for his apple and took another bite out of it. “Let me get my shoes and coat I’ll be ready to go.” He stepped over to her mom and gave her another kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you later, mom.”

“Make sure you’re back in time for dinner,” Diane said with a warm smile. “Your father should be home by then.”

“Ok,” Lance replied before hurrying out of the kitchen. He headed back up to his room to grab his shoes, keys, and wallet before heading back down the stairs. He shouted “Bye” to his mom before following Darren out of the house, down the porch steps, and across the driveway to his truck.

Lance let out a low whistle, shaking his head as he looked at the very muddy and rusty truck that sat in the driveway. “You still drive this thing?” he asked, looking it up and down. “I’m surprised it hasn’t lost its tail pipe at least.”

“Aw, hush,” Darren replied with a roll of his eyes. He walked over to the back of the truck and gave it an affectionate slap. “My girl ain’t given me any problems yet. What about you?”

Lance rolled his eyes as he stepped up to the passenger seat. He popped open the door and climbed into the truck, slamming the door shut behind him. “Very funny,” he commented with a shake of his head. “You know I don’t have a girlfriend or anything.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t want a girlfriend, it was simply because he was just too busy. With rehearsals and studio work, and touring, he’d barely have any time to entertain a girl. That’s not to say that girls didn’t want to entertain him. There were plenty of hopefuls that tried to sneak onto tour buses and in hotel rooms and dressing rooms and he had to give them all credit for their persistence. He found it odd and a little scary, but he knew they wouldn’t be anywhere if it wasn’t for their fans.

“Anyway, did you wait long for me to get here?” Darren asked as he put his keys into the ignition, starting the truck.

A blast of warm air hit Lance in the face as he pulled his seat belt across his chest. Darren reached for the radio to turn down the volume before putting on his seatbelt, shifting the vehicle into reverse and backed out of the Bass family driveway.

“Nah, I just got up,” Lance replied before letting out a yawn before looking over at his friend again.

He couldn’t believe how much he had changed over the time he had been gone. He remembered Darren to wear the latest styles; wearing Nike or Reebok sneakers, cargo pants, and skate tees. Now, instead of wearing the t-shirts and shorts, he wore a leather jacket over a pale blue button down shirt, jeans, and still wore Nike shoes. He had gained a little weight—he was rounder around the cheeks and the middle.

“So tell me everything, man,” Darren said as he pulled out onto the road. “I haven’t seen you in months; what’s been going on?”

“Just happy,” Lance replied with a small laugh. “Just happy man, especially these last few weeks of tour considering everything.” Darren gave a nod of his head. “I can’t wait to go back out and work on new music without Lou. It’ll be great.” He then sighed. “Sorry, I keep making this all about what happened out there, I want to know what happened here. Has Clinton changed?”

“Naw, ‘course not,” Darren replied with a shake of his head, dropping an arm from the steering wheel so he was driving with one hand. “Same old Clinton, just like you left it.”

Lance twisted his mouth to the side. Just like you left it. Worded that way, it was like he had abandoned his own home. In a way he had, after a while, every time he had time off while touring Europe he’d mainly stay in Orlando if not head home for a couple of days. Orlando was where they had their start; he, Justin, JC, Joey, and Chris all lived together.

“You always said you wanted your singing to take you out of Clinton,” Darren continued, “and you’ve been able to do it.” He then switched hands on the steering wheel and punched Lance’s shoulder. “And you’ve managed to keep a level head throughout everything.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t have gotten this far if you didn’t take the time to show me the ropes,” Lance replied with a shake of his head. “With Showstoppers and everything.”

“Yeah, I remember you tagging along to everything,” Darren said as the two of them started to laugh, “both you and Ace.”

Well, now that we’re on that topic, Lance thought to himself. “How’s she been doing?” Lance asked.

“Don’t you know?” Darren asked, shooting him a curious look as he pulled up to a red light. “I thought the two of you were always talkin’.”

“I kinda lost contact with her when everything got really crazy,” Lance slowly replied as a rush of guilt washed over him. “But, she’s doing well?”

Being in Germany and touring Europe with their schedules it was hard to be in contact with everybody. Justin’s mom was with them and Lance’s mom joined them after a week he was so homesick. JC, Joey, and Chris were homesick as well, but they tried hard not to show it but they called home just as much as the two of them.

“Yeah,” Darren replied as he moved his foot onto the gas pedal, rolling the car forward as the light turned green. “You’ll see her at rehearsals today. She’s playing the bass for the live band for the little kids’ skit. “Lance blinked in surprise. “Yeah, she was playing the drums for the church band for a little while. She started staying late to watch some of the kids in daycare and just started asking Mr. Ellis about it and he jus’ started teachin’ her. She’s gotten good.” He was silent for a moment. “Can’t believe y’all fell out, although, that would explain a lot.”

“Explain what?” Lance asked, looking over at him. Darren lifted a hand to scratch the side of his jaw.

“She just went through a rough spell at home, that’s all,” Darren replied before glancing over at him. “Her dad got let go from the contracting company after he broke his ankle during work. She’d been runnin’ round trying to find a job or two to help out. She’s wanted to get out of Clinton jus’ as badly as you do, but now she’s kinda-“

“Stuck, yeah,” Lance finished for him, nodding his head.

Lance stepped through the doors of the church and was instantly greeted with warm, glowing candles, red bows tied up to the ends of pews, small Christmas trees adorned with lights in the windows, and a whole bunch of people running around and shouting at each other.

Kids ran up and down pews shrieking and laughing, some older kids running after them, and parents running after them telling them to slow down. Some women with disheveled hair hurried about with tape measures around their necks, holding long pieces of fabric in their hand, lips pressed tightly together to hold up the pins that stuck out of their mouths. An older couple were setting up a table of refreshments and snacks, and loud organ music was echoing through the halls. Lance could hear singing somewhere in the back.

And he loved it. He remembered all the late night rehearsals getting ready for the Christmas shows, going through songs over and over and over again until it was perfect, and just being in the Christmas mood with everyone around him. That’s what Christmas was to him; spending time with his friends and family and everyone in the community.

“Oh, Bob’s over there,” Darren said, nudging Lance in the side before pointing towards the front of the church. “Come on.” Lance followed Darren around the back of the church, making his way towards the front.

A group of kids were standing near the alter where additions were extended out, making the stage bigger. They were all talking, shouting over each other to be heard as Bob Westbrook sat at the piano, trying to quiet everyone down.

Darren stuck his index fingers in his mouth and let out a loud, shrill whistle which caught everyone’s attention. Some of the kids shrieked with laughter as others groaned, slapping their small hands over their ears. “Mr. Westbrook has been tryin’ to get y’alls attention,” Darren said as he walked forward, arms crossed over his chest. “Better behave or I’ll attach you to the pews by your fingernails.”

Lance smiled when Darren got a burst of giggles in reply. “Mr. Darren, you always say that,” a boy with fiery red hair all but shouted, thrusting his hand into the air, “but you never go through with it.”

“Just watch, one day I might,” Darren replied, dropping his voice, leaning towards the boy, a teasing smile on his face. The boy instantly shut up and Darren smiled, straightening.

“Thanks, Darren, but next time I suggest you don’t threaten the kids,” Bob Westbrook said with a warm smile as he got up from the piano bench, making his way over to the two boys. “Lance, my boy. How are you?”

“I’m good,” Lance replied with a smile as he was pulled into a hug. He clapped the man on the back before taking a step back from him. “Just glad to be home.” He then clapped his hands together. “Thought I’d stick around and see how things were going down here, maybe find a way to help out.”

“Bless your heart,” Bob said with a laugh, shaking his head. “We could always use help around here, as you know. Mr. Ellis should be back soon, he had to run an errand.” He then waved his arm towards the kids whose attention were now back on each other. “The kids are working hard; real hard. I can spot some that can really take their talents far. Like you, huh? Congratulations on everything, Lance. You’re making everyone here proud. Mighty proud.”

“Well thank you, Mr. W,” Lance replied taking his hand, shaking it vigorously. “We all try our best. We’re just glad people are enjoying what we’re working on.”

“That’s a good way of thinking about it, son,” Bob replied, “but I didn’t doubt your talent for one second. Not one second, d’you hear?”

“I hear,” Lance replied with a nod.

“Alright, well, I should get back to work,” Bob said with a nod over at the kids. “I’d love to have you stick around and see what you think of their performance.” He gently jostled Lance. “See if I could bring in some choreography, eh?”

Lance blushed.

“He wouldn’t be the best at that, Bob, boy’s got two left feet,” a girl with dark brown hair pulled up into a side ponytail, said as she brushed past Lance, carrying a boy in her arms. “Surprised he could even make it off the plane in one piece.”

Lance turned when he heard the voice and he felt his jaw drop when he recognized Annaleigh ‘Ace’ Carr standing in front of him. She had definitely grown up since he’d last seen her, when she was 15 years old. He remembered his first day in Orlando, when he sang the Star Spangled Banner with the other boys, she had started crying because she knew then and there that he wouldn’t go back home to Mississippi for a long time. She looked so young then, but now…

Annaleigh had always been known to be “one of the guys”, she followed Darren and Lance around everywhere, wanting to join in on what they were doing; fishing, sports, heading out to the Back of the 80, everything and she held her own, well. She was always known for her pigtails and baseball caps if not for her sports jerseys and baggy jeans. Those had all been lost for  a jean jacket over top a graphic t-shirt, purple shorts—which Lance was surprised to see her wearing despite the winter chill outside—and white Nikes with red laces. He could see she was wearing some makeup; maybe some lipstick and eye shadow which made her eyes pop even more as did her freckles.

"Ace," Lance said. He didn’t know whether to hug her or not. She raised her eyebrows as she looked over at him. "How are you?"

"Can't complain,” she replied before shifting the boy’s weight in her arms before turning to Bob. “Aiden got into the old Cheez-Its at snack time. He just threw up; his mom is on her way to get him.” She then nodded towards Darren. “Chippendale.”

Darren made a noise with the back of his throat, rolling his eyes at the name although he chuckled good naturedly.

“She still calls you that?” Lance asked, laughing.

“Better than Lance-Ass,” Darren instantly shot back. Lance stopped laughing. He had a point.

The boy in Annaleigh’s arms made a whimpering sound, burying his face into her neck. She then looked over at the two of them before carrying him up to the front of the church, setting the small boy down in a pew.

“Well, that went well,” Darren commented. He gave a small sigh. “Seems like the Three Musketeers have drifted apart, huh?” Lance gave a small nod. “I’ve looked out for her like you asked, by the way.” Lance looked over at him and gave a grateful smile.

After the Pleasure Island showcase, there was downtime where nothing was happening with *NSYNC and Lance and Annaleigh had returned home to Mississippi. Lance continued on with school work and working his way towards graduation when he was called back out to Orlando to continue working with the badn again, preparing for tour. After a while of nothing happenign further, he was packing up to go back to Mississippi whenhe found himself flying off to Germany. Everyone had turned up at the airport to see the boys off, but he had asked Darren to make sure Annaleigh would be ok while he was gone.

It was fun having her around in Orlando when he and the rest of the guys were working towards the showcase—with both her and his mom around, it was like he had a piece of home with him—but they all knew they’d have to move on to bigger and better things at some point in their lives. Darren was like his brother and if he entrusted anyone to be sure Annaleigh was ok, it’d be him. They were the Three Musketeers after all.

“She’ll come around, you know that,” Darren continued when Lance didn’t say anything, “considering it is you and we’re the Three Musketeers, after all. Finally back together again.”

“Yeah,” Lance agreed, putting a smile to his face as Bob tried to get the kids’ attention again. “I’m going to talk to her, so I’ll let you get to work.” Darren clapped him on the shoulder before Lance made his way over to the pew that his old friend was sitting in, holding Aiden in her arms, gently rocking him. “I remember you used to say you hated kids.”

“Yeah, but then I remembered that I used to be one,” Annaleigh replied, resting her chin on top of the boy’s head. She then looked over at him, looking him up and down. "S’been a while." She tilted her head to the side. “Lost your accent.”

With his natural deep voice, no one would really know that he had a southern accent. There were some cases (if he got mad enough, or if he spoke some southern phrases) where people would pick up on it. Being out of the country for so long, it didn’t surprise him if he had lost his accent. It was returning home for an extended period of time and then going back to do things with the group did he realize he started to pick up on it again. It was the cause of a lot of jokes from Joey, Chris, and Justin.

"So…I heard about your dad," Lance said quietly. He searched her face, but she didn’t show any emotion on her face. “Is everything ok?”

"Yeah, everything’s fine,” Annaleigh replied with a shrug.

Lance pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a heavy sigh. They’d been friends since he was 10, he didn’t think this would be so hard. All of his other friends had no problem with being out of touch with him for a while. But, she had always been a different, kind of stubborn, and challenging kind of girl, in a good way. It was because of that, he knew that it wasn’t going to be easy to get back on her good side.

"Come on, Ace, talk to me," he said, turning to lift a leg onto the pew. “Remember when I was 12 and you were 10, we got mad at each other and didn’t talk for a week? You said it was the worst week of your life.” He paused, spotting a hint of a smile come to her face. “It’s weird to hear you so quiet.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Are you saying I talk too much?” she asked as her eyes narrowed slightly. She then sniffed and put her nose up into the air. “Shows how much you know, being gone and all.”

"I saw you in Washington,” Lance said, deciding to change the subject, “at the trial. Why didn’t you come say anything?”

“With all those guards, no thanks,” Annaleigh said with a snort and then froze.

Lance gave a half smile. Gotcha, he thought to himself. So she was there. “So you’re a fan of our music?” he asked.

Annaleigh let out a sigh through her nose. “I was there to hear the five of you sing together for the first time, Lance, of course I’m a fan,” she replied quietly. She bobbed her head from side to side. “I dragged Darren to any of yours shows here in Miss. You guys are good. We both knew you’d do something big with your life.”

“You will too, I know it,” Lance said with a smile.

“Aiden?”

Annaleigh turned in her seat to see a tired and disheveled looking woman, dragging two screaming kids by their hands down the aisle of the church. Annaleigh got to her feet and Lance did the same, wanting to continue their conversation.

“So…it’s Christmas time,” Lance said to Annaleigh, getting her attention again. “We always go out caroling on Christmas Eve…you coming? I mean, I don’t know if you have plans but, you’re welcome to join my family.” He knew he was rambling, but he couldn’t help it. It was weird to think he had to try and be friends with a friend again. “And then have hot chocolate at my place and open each other’s gifts?”

Annaleigh’s eyes suddenly shined for a moment as she adjusted Aiden’s weight again, giving a hint of a smile. “I guess I could swing by, but who said I got you a gift?” she said after a moment of silence before turning towards the woman. “Welcome home, Lance.”

Lance smiled.