-9-

Lance heard Brianna’s giggling before he came to his senses and realized that she was sitting on his back. He felt something cold and wet on his cheek and flinched jut slightly, the giggling sounding more gleeful. Cracking open an eye, he groaned in the back of his throat when the bright sunlight hit his face.

“Uncle Lance.” Brianna’s sweet voice floated to his ears. “Are you awake?”

“I am now,” Lance replied, slowly rolling over, being careful not to buck her off of him. He moved to rest his back against the arm rest of the couch, propping up his legs to hold his goddaughter in place. He wiped at his cheek with his arm. “What was that?”

“Popsicle,” Briana replied, lifting the cherry red cold treat to her mouth. “You were asleep.”

“I know,” Lance replied, giving her a smile. He lifted his arms to tickle her sides, but instantly dropped them back down to his sides, feeling the energy rush out of them. They felt like sandbags were pushing down on them and all he did was lift his arms. Lance closed his eyes for a brief moment, letting out a sigh through his nose.

“Are you going back to sleep?” Brianna asked.

“No, I’m not,” Lance replied, opening his eyes. He gave her a peaceful smile. “Can I have a lick?” He chuckled as he watched Brianna’s face twist into a look of disgust. “No, you have cooties. Boys have cooties.”

“Nuh-uh, girls have cooties,” Lance protested. Brianna shook her head back and forth, hair wildly swinging around her face. Lance laughed out loud before allowing himself to lift his arms to brush her hair out of her face.

With all the working out he has done, he wondered when his muscles would build up enough to get used to all the work. They didn’t hurt as much as they had when he first started out. He could barely lift his legs to climb the stairs to get to sleep, could barely lift his arms to brush his teeth, to lift a glass of juice to his lips, and all he looked forward to was lying down and not moving.

“Where’s your friend?” Brianna asked, suddenly changing the subject. Lance loved the girl to death, but her need to constantly be saying something, was hard to keep up with. She was young, she was at that age where she was curious about everything, which he loved, but she was hard to keep up with at times.

“My friend?” Lance repeated. He gave a teasing smile. “You know Ace is working at the studio today.”

“Noooo, not Auntie Annie, your friend Jake,” Brianna said with a small huff of annoyance. She was a little woman that was for sure. “Daddy says you and your friend got into a fight. Was he your best friend?”

Lance let out a sigh through his nose. In short, the answer was “Yes” Jake was indeed his best friend, but at the same time, no one was closer to him than his *NSYNC brothers, his sister, Annaleigh, and Darren. He and Jake were friends before they started dating, at Lance’s request taking things slow to get to know each other before sliding into a relationship. Things worked well between the two of them, until he got cold feet.

Lance could see where he was at fault in the whole situation. He was happy in his relationship and happy to be out with his closest friends. While he willingly gave his story to People Magazine, he also felt like he had no other choice but to tell the truth or to stay trapped in the corner he had inadvertently been pushed into.

As soon as he hung up after the phone interview he felt a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders, up until he had started to read the negative comments. He had always been worried about what people thought about him whether or not he was gay and whether or not he was famous; everybody did. While he tried to practice what he preached (to focus on the positive and not the negatives) he was only human, and there was only so much he could ignore.

“Yes, he was my best friend,” Lance replied with a nod of his head.

“Well, one time, me and my best friend got into a fight because she pulled the head off of my Barbie doll,” Brianna said through licks of her Popsicle and loud smacks of her lips. “So I pulled off the head of her Troll doll. We were friends again after that.”

Lance let out a loud laugh. “Thanks, Honey Bee, but I don’t think ripping off his head will help,” he said, sitting up, carefully cradling her against his chest as he did so. Brianna just shrugged before sliding off of him, humming to herself as she skipped into the kitchen.

He smiled to himself as he got to his feet, following behind her to find Annaleigh and Joey in his kitchen. Joey was leaning back in a chair, hugging a near empty bowl of cake batter to his chest, and Annaleigh was leaning over the table as she mixed together a chocolate mix.

“Can I lick the spoon?” Lance asked, half-sarcastically, half-truthfully.

“Sure,” Annaleigh replied.

“Hey, you said I could,” Joey said, setting the four legs of his chair down onto the linoleum floor with a thump.

“You have the bowl,” Lance pointed out towards him. Joey widened his eyes as if saying ‘So?’ before making a show of dragging his finger through the bowl of batter, sticking it on his tongue. Lance rolled his eyes as Brianna let out a giggle.

“Here’s a simple way ta deal with this,” Annaleigh said as she lifted the spoon out of the bowl, carefully placing it against the cake pan. She poured the batter into three rounded pans before holding the bowl out towards Lance. “You get this bowl, and Bee gets the spoon.”

“Yayyy,” Brianna cheered, taking the spoon in her free hand before hurrying over to her dad’s side.

He reached down with one arm and lifted her into his lap before pressing a kiss to the back of her head. Lance smiled as he watched the exchange. If there was something he had always wanted, it was to have kids and felt that he was, in a way, taking away from his mother when he had come out to her.

“By the way, you missed a call from your doctor while you was sleepin’,” Annaleigh said. Lance paused, a finger in his mouth. He swallowed the sweet batter before wiping his spit covered finger off on his pants leg. “Said ta call him back as soon as you can.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Lance replied, waving his hand in the air. He didn’t have to look at his friends to know that they were silently exchanging glances. “I had cancelled my appointment for a physical; I just need to reschedule it, that’s all.”

If it only was that simple, Lance thought to himself. Although that did remind him that he did need to get a physical for himself. Then he quickly realized that he would need to avoid doing so for as long as he possibly could. Even at the smallest doctor’s appointments, he regularly got his blood pressure checked; that was sure to be noticeable to…oh, any doctor on the planet.

“Gotta show off those guns, eh?” Joey asked, making a show of flexing the arm muscles of his free hand. “Yeah, can’t keep these puppies strapped in.”

“Is that how you snagged Kelly, Joe?” Annaleigh asked with a small sigh, humoring him.

“Don’ worry ‘bout it,” Joey replied with the best accent he could muster, earning a laugh from everyone in the room with Brianna accenting with a, “Daddy, you’re funny.”

“I’ll call him back while I’m out,” Lance said as he glanced at he turned his wrist to look at his watch.

“Where are you goin’?” Annaleigh asked, giving him a look of confusion.

“Getting your birthday gift,” Lance quickly replied, shooting Joey a warning look. Joey liked seeing people happy and in a lot of instances would ruin surprises due to his excitement to see how happy people would get because of it. “You’re heading into the studio with JC today, right?”

“Right,” Annaleigh replied before removing the apron from around her waist. “I should get goin’ or else I’m goin’ ta get stuck in traffic again.” She set her apron down onto the counter before making her way out of the kitchen. “Joey, the only thin’ I need you to do is to put the cakes into the oven when the stove lights goes off, ok? After they bake for forty minutes, take them out, wait for them to cool, and then put icing on them. “

“I’ll be back in enough time to make sure he doesn’t take a bit out of any of them,” Lance said to her. “Besides, out of the two of ‘em, I think Brianna would be the one you’d really have to worry about.” Brianna just giggled, pressing her red stained, brown rimmed lips together. “Have fun in the studio.”

“Thanks for lettin’ me borrow your kitchen,” she replied, moving to give him a kiss on the cheek. “I’d do it back at the apartment, but Gabriel is worse than Joey when I bake.” Annaleigh quickly shouted a farewell before hurrying out the front door. Lance then turned back towards Joey and pointed a warning finger at him. “I know how you are on a tour bus,” he said to him. “Don’t mess up my house.”

“Am I at least allowed to decorate for the party?” Joey asked, sticking out his bottom lip. Lance felt his lips curl up into a smile.

“Yeah, fine,” Lance replied, waving his hand in the air. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Oh, hey, Lance?” Joey called after him. Lance stopped in the doorway and turned back to face his friend. “I’m sorry about Jake and everything.” He shifted Brianna in his lap as she started to wiggle out of his grasp. “I’m glad you’re doing better.”

“Yeah, me too,” Lance quietly replied, knocking his knuckles on the doorframe. He blinked his thanks to Joey before making his way out of the room.

He hurried to the front door, stopping to slide his feet into his shoes before grabbing his car keys from the jar sitting on the table by the front door. Minutes later, he was on the road, sun shining through his front windshield, singing along to the music playing through Sirius Radio, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel for affect before pulling into the parking lot of Bellos. Just like before a chime went off as he stepped over the threshold, alerting Michael of his presence.

“Hey,” Michael greeted him, setting the canvas and paintbrush in his hands down onto the floor. He wiped his paint covered fingers off on his jeans before he lifted his hand in a wave. “Just in time. I was going to call you about the guitar but then I realized I didn’t have your number. It’s a good thing you dropped by.”

“Oh.” Lance blinked an apology. “Well, you said you’d have the guitar done by today, so…”

“I’m a man of my word.” Michael shrugged his shoulders and it was then that Lance noticed how tight his shirt was against his body. He could practically see the muscles rippling under the fabric. “I said I’d have it done in enough time for you. Let me go get it.”

“Thanks,” Lance replied as he walked up to the back counter. He rapped his knuckles on the glass as Michael made his way into the back room. “What were you working on when I came in? It looked cool.”

“It’s just a start of something,” Michael called back. “I haven’t figured out what exactly, though.”

“Well, if it’s anything else like the other stuff around here, I’m sure it’ll look great,” Lance replied. From where he could see him in the back, Michael paused for a moment to look at him before disappearing around the side of a shelf calling out a “Thanks” in his direction.

“Here you go,” Michael said as he carefully carried the guitar out of the back of the store, handing it to him over the counter. “If she doesn’t like it, we have a money back guarantee—“

“She’ll like it, trust me,” Lance replied in awe as he looked over the guitar. He ran his fingers over the words and pictures, blinking in surprise at how smooth the surface of the musical instrument felt to him. It looked like the outlines of the images were popping off of the guitar. “This is amazing.”

“Well, I hope she likes it,” Michael replied as he moved to the cash register, punching in the price of the work before it spit out a total. “If you could, and you don’t have to…tell me what her reaction is? This is one of the first big projects of this kind I’ve done here.” Lance carefully set the guitar down onto the floor, leaning it up against the counter before he pulled his wallet out of his pocket, passing over a credit card.

“Why don’t you see her reaction for yourself?” Lance slowly asked. Michael paused in taking the small card from Lance, his fingers brushing against his just slightly. A fluttery feeling instantly formed in the pit of Lance’s stomach as he pulled his hand back. He busied himself by sliding his fingers over the strings of the bass guitar. “I mean, if you’re not busy here or anything. Her party is tonight.” He then looked up at him. “We have cake.”

He had to fight the urge to cringe, to make a face at the words that came out of his mouth. Leave it to Joey to still have an influence on him. A stupid one at that. To bribe someone with cake? Really? He wouldn’t be surprised, or blame the guy for thinking that was one of the funniest things he had heard if his half smile was any indicator of that.

“Lucky for me, I love cake,” Michael commented, his eyebrow twitching slightly. “Sure I can come. Better than being alone in this place for another night.” He twisted his mouth to the side slightly. “I’ll just be in a place with people I don’t know, well, apart from you…I guess.” He broke off into a small laugh before sliding the credit card through the reader before handing it back to him. “Are you sure it’s ok? Your friend might not like some random guy at her party.”

“Well…I’m inviting you, so you’re not really random,” Lance replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “If you want to go, I mean.”

“I do,” Michael said, finally giving a bright smile. “Thanks.”

“Sure.” Lance could feel himself smiling as well. Silence fell over the two of them save for the cash register spitting out the receipt for the work done on the guitar. Michael ripped the receipt out of the register before sliding it across the counter top towards him, slapping a pen down next to it. As he signed, Michael slid a blank sheet of paper towards him. “What’s this for?”

Michael merely regarded him for a moment before he chuckled lightly. “I’m going to need your address for the party,” he replied and Lance instantly felt his face heat up. How could he not think of that himself? “And your phone number; just in case I get lost on the way or something.”

“Right, no problem,” Lance replied, moving to quickly scribble out his address and phone number on the slip of paper. He set the pen down with a click and took the second copy of the receipt, sticking it into his wallet. “So, I’ll…see you later, then? Party starts around 5:30.”

“Yeah, I’ll be over right after I close up,” Michael replied, making a popping sound with his ‘p’ as he gave a single nod of his head.

“Great.” Lance reached for the guitar and turned on his heels making his way out of the store.

As soon as he left the store, he let out a breath of air, wishing the sun wasn’t bearing down on him making him burn up even more than he already was. Climbing into the car, he noticed his heart had started beating rapidly. Medical condition be damned.

“We spent two hours in the studio with ya, an’ ya didn’ say anythin’,” Annaleigh said to JC slowly shaking her head back and forth, pointing her icing covered fork at him. “You’re on my bad list, now.”

“Oof, I remember that from touring,” JC commented, slicing into his piece of cake with his fork. “Chris was barely ever off that list.” He then gave her his usual boyish, charming smile. “Besides, you can blame Lance and Darren for that one; they’ve been working on this for months.”

“Yeah, well they could’ve at least let me in on that we’re celebrating my birthday too,” Gabriel muttered, a look of mock annoyance on his face. “That way I wouldn’t have felt so bad that barely anyone did anything on my birthday.” He then reached over to his sister’s plate and pinched a chunk of cake off her plate, earning a slap on the wrist from her fork.

“No, we’re jus’ celebratin’ the most important birthday,” Annaleigh replied before she stuck her tongue out at him. He did the same; his tongue stained a green-ish color. JC laughed. Gabriel’s birthday being two weeks before hers, they celebrated their birthdays together for a couple of years until work and location made it easier to celebrate separately.

Annaleigh and Gabriel had spent a good deal of time in the studio with JC that day; partly to record some of his tracks before working on their own music. There wasn’t anyone else that would give them studio time to record some demos and they couldn’t get the same kind of quality recording on a computer.

Creating and touring with her own album was something she had always wanted to do and had gotten firsthand experience in what went on with making an album as she worked as part of NSYNC’s live band. Only she had been doing everything in the background, like she always did everything, following in her friends’ footsteps, but never forging a path of her own. Until now. It was easier when she wasn’t front and center.

Luckily, she had friends to help her out. Not that she was taking advantage of JC or Justin and their studio time. She just got some time of her own in compensation for helping them out with their own music. Nevertheless, *NSYNC made making an album look easy.

“Thanks for comin’, C,” Annaleigh said turning back towards him. She looked around the group of party goers--who had about an hour beforehand had surprised the two of them with a surprise party—and spotted Chris Kirkpatrick dancing wildly with Brianna, with Justin standing off in the corner, talking to some other guests. “All of you.”

“Of course,” JC replied. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

Annaleigh gave the best smile she could muster, but it was weird for her to have five boys who were the best friend she could ever have be happy to see each other, but also seem to try and do their best to not talk out how everything had ended. If there was one thing she could say for sure, though, they really meant it when they said that they’d support each other and would always be brothers. She didn’t know how she could doubt that, they had been through a lot together.

“You only turn 25 once,” JC replied with a peaceful smile. “Don’t worry about it.” He then lowered his voice slightly. “So, um, I wanted to thank you for keeping me updated with everything, but I was wondering how he’s doing? He’s been a bit off to me.”

“Why don’ you go over there and ask ‘im yourself, Cowboy?” Annaleigh asked, gently shoving his shoulder. She gave him a small smile, showing that she wasn’t really trying to get rid of him. She was just tired of getting that question over and over again.

“Lance has been a little off,” Gabriel commented as soon as JC was out of ear shot.

“I’ve noticed, too,” Annaleigh replied, looping her arm through her brother’s leaning into his side, steering him into the kitchen. “But, he’s been takin’ on a lot with the kick boxin’.”

“His sudden interest in it, you mean,” Gabriel corrected her. “I mean you had a good reason to start.”

“And he doesn’?” Annaleigh asked. “He wants to be able to defend himself, like me. He got jumped, Gabe.” Gabriel made a face. He hated it when she called him that, and he made it a point to do it as much as possible. “It’d make anyone want to be able to take care of themselves, especially because of the backlash of comin’ out.”

“No, I know,” Gabriel said with a sigh, pushing the kitchen doors open, setting his plate down onto the island. “I’m just worried about him, we all are. Maybe take the training down a notch? He’s been looking pretty tired lately.”

“Yeah, ok,” Annaleigh agreed, making a bee line for the trash can, dropping her paper plate and plastic fork into it, now not in the mood for the cake. She turned and stopped short when she spotted Michael standing at the back of the kitchen, looking out across the vast backyard. “Oh, hi.”

Michael turned, looking as startled as if he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “I’m sorry,” he said, running a hand down his shirt front, smoothing it. “I was just…” He trailed off. “I don’t really know anybody in there.”

“That’s ok,” Annaleigh replied, giving him a peaceful smile. “This is my brother, Gabriel and Gabriel this is Michael. He was the one that did the guitar for me. Lance invited him.” Michael shifted his weight from foot to foot, giving a brief smile.

“Oh, wow,” Gabriel said with a smile, offering his hand towards Michael. “That art was really amazing.” Michael took his hand and shook it. “S’great to meet you.”

Annaleigh angled her head in Gabriel’s direction. “You'll hear people call him Briar,” she said to him. “But he usually goes by Gabriel.” Michael’s smile relaxed slightly and he shook Gabriel’s hand harder.

"It's one of my middle names," Gabriel explained with a shrug.

“I was wonderin’ if it’s not too much ta ask, if I could commission you for a painting.”

“Really?” Michael asked, his eyes popping open before a grateful smile crossed his face. “Yeah, of course. Thanks!” He then snapped his fingers. “I kind of heard your conversation…I know a few kick boxers in town…they have a fight going on soon. I can see if I can get tickets for you guys.” He then paused, regaining his composure. “I mean, if you all wanted to go.”

Annaleigh exchanged glances with Gabriel, holding back a smile. He was thinking the exact same thing she was thinking, she was sure: Did he mean, if Lance wanted to go? Whether or not the two of them had noticed, she could sense some sort of connection between the two of them as soon as Lance had introduced him to her. Not that she could blame him, Michael was a very handsome man. Combining that with how shy he was, anybody would be lucky to snatch him up.

“Just, uh, let me know how many tickets to try and get,” Michael said, trailing off as he swung his hands forward to clasp them together. “Yeah.”

“Yeah, we’d be happy to take you up on that offer,” Gabriel said, elbowing Annaleigh in the side. Michael slid his hands into his jeans pockets, smiling a satisfied smile as he rocked back and forth on his heels.

She looked over at him and he gave a small wink, which would probably look more like an eye twitch to anybody else. She was already one step ahead of him, noticing how…natural he looked standing in the kitchen, as if he had been living there for a while.

“Hey, y’alls parents are here,” Darren said as he and Jasmine slipped into the kitchen. Their attendance to celebrate their party was a big surprise to the two of them as their friends had stated that they were busy with work to fly out. “All three of ‘em.”

“I know it’s weird, but that’s not grounds for the face yer makin’ is it?” Annaleigh asked with a laugh, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You wouldn’ be sayin’ that if ya saw who came in after ‘em,” Jasmine said in a grave tone, reaching out her hand to squeeze Annaleigh’s elbow. She then started talking rapid-fire in true Jazzy fashion. “I don’ even think he was invited, I mean no one wants him here, an’ it’s not like anyone here would really be open ta talkin’ ta him, but he insisted on getting the chance ta talk ta ya so—“

“Half the speed, please,” Gabriel said, blinking rapidly, confusion on his face before turning towards Darren.

“Wade’s here,” he replied after a moment of silence.

Annaleigh felt her heart drop into her stomach, but not for the reason a lot of people would probably think. She didn’t harbor any ill feelings towards Wade. Over the course of NSYNC’s No Strings Attached and PopOdyssey tours, she got to know him well and understand his reasons behind his actions. Everyone else just saw the guy who had abused.

“If you want him gone, I can ask him ta leave,” Darren said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

Annaleigh didn't say anything as she stepped past them, making her way back into the party, remembering to lift her hand in a wave in Michaell’s direction.

“If he won’t I will,” Gabriel said, following behind her.

Annaleigh instantly spotted the familiar head of hair that belonged to Wade Robson and made a beeline towards him. She grabbed Wade by the elbow, dragging him from the center of the room, through the foyer, and into the quiet dining room.

“Hey,” Wade said to her as soon as he let her go. “Happy Birthday.” He handed her the wrapped box that he held in his hands. “There’s a gift for Gabriel too, but I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t want it.”

“Yeah,” Annaleigh agreed, setting the box down onto the table. “How’d you even know about this party?”

“Things in Hollywood don’t stay a secret for too long,” Wade replied, reaching up to stroke the hair on his chin. “You know that.” Annaleigh just nodded her head. “I know I came out of the blue but…I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for what I had done to you.”

“You’ve already told me that,” Annaleigh replied, pushing her hair back with her hands. “You know I don’t blame you.” She took a step closer towards him, lowering her voice. “And you know you shouldn’t blame yourself for…you know, being touched when you were a kid.”

“No, no, I know,” Wade replied. He clasped his hands behind his head, letting out a sigh through his nose. “I wanted to apologize for…screwing things up with you. I mean, when I told you it was hard for me to be in a relationship because of it, it wasn’t just a line.” He briefly closed his eyes, letting out a breath of air. “I wanted to apologize to you if I had caused the same thing for you; that same fear.”

Annaleigh stayed silent, peering back at him. That was not what she had expected him to say at all, not that she really could guess what it is that he wanted to say at all. She scratched the back of her neck, looking away from him. She wasn’t afraid she just didn’t have any time for a relationship…for the last four years. She was focused on her job, on her music that was all.

She could only believe herself for so long, or try to convince others. But, it wasn’t just him. Her parents’ marriage had fallen apart, and Lance and Jake weren’t together anymore, and then everything with her and Wade…and all because someone hurt the other. Who’s to say she wouldn’t end up doing that to someone she loved? She didn’t think the risk was worth it although if anyone else thought the risk was worth the reward, more power to them.

“I…thanks,” Annaleigh replied, taken aback for a moment. “Wade, you didn’t have to come here to tell me that…and risk getting a beat down from, well, everybody.”

When everything had come to light, and she had told *NSYNC that she wasn't going to press charges or antyhing, they all rightfully had gotten mad and tried to talk her out of it, but she didn't explain everything ot them. She trusted that their trust in her was enough.

He still worked with them for the PopOdyssey/Celebrity tour and with that album, but their friendship had changed. It was a bit more tense, but they still viewed Wade as family and they still had that work ethic with him that resulted in success. As they drifted apart, they didn't talk to him as much, and Wade buried himself in his work.

“Yes, I did,” Wade said with a nod of his head. “It’s part of my therapy.” Annaleigh gave him a confused look. “I’ve finally taken your advice and getting help. I’m talking about it, and I said that I’d apologize to everybody I hurt so…” He opened his arms as if saying ‘ta da’, giving her a tight lipped smile.

“I’m glad you’re getting help, Wade, but I don’t think I can get them to stop being worried,” Annaleigh replied, waving her hand in the air, indicating the other side of the house. He put his hands up, shaking his head back and forth before gently grasping her arms.

“You don’t have to,” Wade replied, “in fact I don’t expect you to or expect them to forget what I did. Not for a while, maybe not ever.”

He removed his hands from her arms, and crossed his own arms over his chest. Annaleigh lifted a hand to rub at her arm, trying to rid herself of the feeling of…well she didn’t know what. A muscle in his jaw twitched and he bowed his head slightly before looking back up at her.

“That’s not you, Wade,” Annaleigh said, shaking her head back and forth. “You’re not what you did. You’re an amazin’ choreographer and dancer and it’s somethin’ you live for. I wasn’ goin’ ta take that from you, which is why I didn’ say anythin’ ta Johnny. And you know I didn't fully tell the guys.”

“And I appreciate that more than you know, but, it’s not fair that you allowed me to keep my dream, but I took yours away,” Wade replied. Annaleigh gave him a confused look. “Remember when I had made a comment about you wearing cowboy boots all the time and trying to stick to your Mississippi roots as much as you could?”

“Yeah, I said that you could take the girl out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the girl,” Annaleigh replied with a nod of her head, crossing her arms over her chest. “And I proved that you could do any dance in cowboy boots.”

She couldn’t help but smile at the memory. They hadn’t gotten off on the right foot when she first joined NSYNC, due to her tight grip on the rules of joining the band and how she had been raised, but somehow he had worn her down and their arguments became less of a serious thing and more of a way to flirt.

“So maybe you were more right than you think,” Wade replied and Annaleigh gave him a confused look. “I think you were born to do a lot with your music, not here in California, but back in Mississippi.” Annaleigh opened her mouth to protest, but he kept going. “You told me you wanted to get married at this age, maybe even have a kid, and have your own little family, and be able to support yourself with your music.”

“And I’m working on part of that,” Annaleigh said, her voice a little higher pitched than normal, defensive. She cleared her throat and tried again. “It’s all jus’takin’ a little longer than I thought.”

“You’re not working on the part that’s most important to you, though,” Wade replied, running a hand over his mouth. “You’re a family person, Anna, I know it. If you don’t allow yourself to have someone to share your success with, then what’s the point?” Annaleigh shifted her gaze towards the floor. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know how things were going with me and to apologize again and…to make sure you don’t live in fear as long as I do. So, I’ll go now.”

“Wade…” Annaleigh grabbed his shirt sleeve as he moved past her. He silently peered over at her before stepping towards him, wrapping her arms around his stomach in a hug. Wade stood frozen for a moment before hugging her back. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Wade replied, just as quietly as she said to him. He took a step back from her before indicating the box. “You can open that whenever. You always said never to go to someone’s house empty handed so...”

“I’m surprised you even remember a word I said to you, Mr. Horny-Teenager,” Annaleigh said with a small laugh as she reached for the box. He started making his way to the foyer and she followed him.

“I remember when you were too embarrassed to udder that word,” he commented, reaching for the door knob.

Annaleigh chuckled as she pulled off the wrapping paper to the box. She lifted the top and reached inside to pull out the string to the dream catcher that sat beside a smaller gift wrap covered box. Her lips curled up into a smile as she looked it over.

“It’s beautiful Wade, thank you,” she said, shifting her eyes from the gift to him. “I mean it.”

“I know,” Wade replied as he pulled open the door. “Tell everyone I said ‘hi’.” He sucked in a breath of air, his eyebrows twitching. “Or not.”

“Bye,” Annaleigh replied, setting the dream catcher back into the box.

She lifted her hand in a small wave before placing it on the door, gently closing it behind him. She let out a heavy sigh as she turned to rest her back against the cool door, looking out over those who wanted to spend the day with her and her brother.

Her mouth twisted to the side as her eyes fell on Darren; the one dream she didn’t think she could ever catch. She glanced down at the dream catcher in her hands. She had done too much waiting for her dreams to find her. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and she knew it was going to be scary, but it was time.

She was going to chase after her dreams and finally catch up to them when they had forever felt out of reach.