~~~~~*~~~~~

Not more than fifteen minutes later, the showdown between the girls and the security team was over. JC, Lance and Justin hastily moved away from the window and gestured over to Joey and Chris that the two women were making their way back into the building.

Although neither Chris nor Joey made any immediate attempts to move, the three other men quickly dispersed throughout the room and tried to find ways of making themselves look busy. The last thing they wanted was for the girls to suspect that they'd been spying on them.

"Watch out, Joe. Giddy's on her way back up," Chris warned his friend as he rapped his hands on both of Joey's shoulders. "If she sees you tryin' to get into her computer we'll be looking for a replacement by the end of the week."

Laughing at his own joke, Chris headed across the room to find himself a seat on the arm of the couch, which was now being occupied by JC, Lance and Justin. They were trying—and failing—to look as though they'd been sitting there the whole time. Inconspicuous they certainly were not.

It was a few more minutes before the men heard the sound of laughter in the stairwell outside the office and they exchanged a glance amongst themselves as they strained to overhear the girls' conversation. They hadn't been expecting the women to return in such a good mood.

"I can't believe they fell for the 'we know Justin' trick," Clare muttered as she entered the office with a giggling Libby following closely behind. "It's only the oldest trick in the book!"

"But they do know Justin, Clare," Libby sniggered sarcastically. "Cut them some slack."

Clare glanced over her shoulder at Libby and smirked. Sometimes the nerve of the fans was almost too much to bear, and the girls had to find a way to laugh about it or risk going crazy. "Well, they should've visited him at home then, shouldn't they!" Clare chuckled back.

Libby sniggered at the idea. "They didn't seriously think we'd swallow that crap, did they?"

Libby looked up and noticed for the first time the five pairs of eyes who were all staring at her from various positions around the room. "Oh, jeez," she muttered. "Are you still here? You'd think me and Clare were the only ones who did any work around here."

Noticing that Joey was still sitting behind her desk with his hands suspiciously close to her laptop keyboard, Clare made a beeline towards him as a frown crossed her face. Although he'd carefully placed the flap down on the computer so that she wouldn't suspect what he'd been up to, Clare wasn't that easily fooled.

Standing behind the chair, Clare gave it a hefty shove forward to encourage Joey to get up. "Come on, Fat One, outta my seat. I've got work to do."

When he didn't move, Clare reached forward and playfully flicked his right ear with her middle finger.

"Ouch!" Joey hissed as he reached up to rub at his stinging earlobe and narrowed his eyes at her over his shoulder. "That hurt, Giddy."

"It was meant to," Clare giggled as she gave the chair another hefty shove. "Now, move it!"

Libby smiled to herself as she watched Joey deliberately climb out of Clare's chair at a snail like pace. He hammed it up as he headed over towards the couch, where the other members of the group had gathered, purposefully dragging his feet the whole way. Catching her eye, Joey pouted at Libby in an attempt to get some sympathy but Libby only laughed at him.

"I'd better get back to work, too," Libby said reluctantly as she noticed that Clare had already resumed her position behind her desk and was once again typing away at her keyboard. "Do ya' realise we've received one–hundred applications this week alone for membership to this fan club? You'd think these fans would realise their mistake and join the Backstreet Boys fan club instead!" Libby grinned and shot a glance over at the men to gauge their reaction to her joke.

"What?" Clare exclaimed as she leaned back in her chair and grinned over at Libby. "You mean this isn't the BSB club?" She covered her mouth with one hand and gasped dramatically. "Oh, my God! I think I've made a terrible mistake!"

"Ooh, she thinks she's so funny, doesn't she!" Joey sneered playfully as he shot Clare a withering look. 

Clare grinned back at him and shook her head playfully. "Can it, Kevin."

Clare knew that the men could handle a few jokes about the Backstreet Boys. Although in public they were considered to be 'rivals', there was no real bad blood between the  groups. In fact, on occasions they'd even hung out socially together.

It had been a marketing strategy devised by the record label to publically compare the two groups, in the hope that a fan rivalry might develop which could, in turn, lead to increased record sales for all. When it came down to it, it was mostly about money.

It wasn't something that the girls of the fan club, nor the guys in *NSYNC, felt completely comfortable with, but they couldn't afford to throw their weight around until *NSYNC was more established as a group. They realised that for now—until they had a few hit albums under their belt—they'd have to simply bite their tongues and go along with whatever the label considered best. But that didn't mean that it was easy.

In the meantime they handled any tensions that they might feel about the 'rivalry' in their usual way—with humour. It didn't stop Clare and Libby teasing them relentlessly about it, however.

"Kevin? Really?" Joey remarked with a nasty smirk on his face as he got to his feet and headed straight towards Clare's desk.

"She’s dissin’ ya, man," Chris sniggered as he watched the exchange between Joey and Clare.

"Says the AJ clone," Clare teased as she leaned past Joey's body to smirk at Chris.

"Ooh, I think this girl needs to be taught a lesson," Joey said as he shot a sideways glance at Chris. He turned back around to face Clare and grinned mischievously.

To ward him off in case he tried anything funny, Clare spread her hands out in front of her and watched his movements carefully in case he tried to grab her. Joey enjoyed embarrassing the women by trying to pick them up and throw them over his shoulder which he—but not the women—found hilariously funny. Clare had learned over time to be wary whenever Joey approached her unexpectedly.

Anticipating Joey's plan, Chris quickly made his way around to the opposite side of Clare's desk so that he could successfully block off any routes she had for escaping. Chris made sure to keep out of Clare's eye–line so that she didn't notice him until it was already too late.

Clare realised that her options were now severely limited, and so made a rushed and very ungraceful attempt to slip out from underneath her desk. This put her in the perfect position to be caught by Lane, who had sneakily rushed around to catch her before she could get away. Lance reached for Clare's wrists and pulled her through the small gap under the desk before wrapping both her own arms around herself like a strait–jacket.

"Oh, God," Clare laughed in embarrassment as her cheeks began to flush. I must look a complete sight, she groaned inwardly. And of course, JC is here to witness this humiliating moment. Wonderful.

"Who are you, anyway?" Clare asked Lance as she tried to divert the attention away from herself. "I don't remember there being two blondes in BSB!"

"Oh, you've done it now," Lance told Clare as he chuckled close to her ear. He quickly released her arms, making it possible for him to begin tickling her just beneath her ribs. He knew that Clare was ridiculously ticklish and that she would be paralysed with giggles almost immediately. Across the room, both JC and Justin roared with laughter at the sight of Clare collapsing against Lance as she gave way to her uncontrollable laughter.

"Stop!" She spluttered through gasps for air. "You know how I... hate... being... tickled!"

"You know what to do, Clare," Chris told her as he wiggled a finger at her as though she were a naughty child. "You have to retract it."

"That's right," Lance agreed. "You have to take it back."

"No way, Poofu," Clare replied, using one of Lance's old childhood nicknames that she knew he hated. Nothing embarrassed him more than the mention of the word 'Poofu'.

"You know it won't stop till you take it back," Joey added as he came to Lance's aid and began to join in with the tickling. At the feel of two pairs of hands at her waist, Clare made an attempt to break free but was unable to coordinate her actions due to her helpless giggling.

"Libby, help me!" Clare shrieked as she looked desperately around the room for her friend.

Libby had sensibly remained in the doorway to prevent herself from being dragged into the tickle fest. She knew that she should help her friend, but she was having far too much fun being a spectator.

"ELI… ZA… BETH!"

After watching Clare squirm for a few more seconds, Libby decided that enough was enough. She took a few tentative steps towards where Clare was being held captive but kept her eyes firmly fixed on Lance and Joey just in case one of them decided to grab her. Libby wasn't sure how she was supposed to grapple both Lance and Joey away from Clare at the same time, but she knew that she had to at least try.

As she made her way towards her friend, Libby suddenly felt the sensation of being hoisted off of the floor and she let out a squeal of protest as the ground unexpectedly disappeared from beneath her feet. A familiar deep chuckle next to her ear revealed the identity of her captor, and Libby began to violently kick her legs out in front of her in an attempt to unsteady his hold on her.

"Nooo... Chris!" Libby screeched at an almost ear–splitting volume. "Put me down!" She demanded in her most threatening voice but it failed to have any affect.

"No can do," Chris said through his laughter as he swung Libby gently from side to side. He was the shortest of the men in the group, but that didn't mean that Chris was the weakest. "Clare must pay for her sins," he explained. "We mustn't get in the way of justice, Libs."

"Justice, my ass," Clare gasped from across the room as she neared exhaustion from all the laughing and wriggling that she'd been doing. "Okay, okay, I take it back. There, are you happy?"

"What do you take back?" Lance asked Clare as he and Joey tentatively removed their hands for a moment of relief as she prepared her apology.

"The sneakers I got last week?" Clare remarked as she slapped away their arms and hands as they once again began to reach for her.

"Wrong," Joey said as he and Lance resumed their assault.

"You’re not… the …Backstreet… Boys," Clare spluttered.

"Yeah, you're more like the Spice Girls," Libby sniggered under her breath as she aimed a backwards kick in the direction of Chris' groin. He masterfully dodged the blow by swinging her to the side once again and Libby let out a huff of defeat. Chris tightened his grip around her chest in response to her insult.

"Chris!" Libby squeaked as she renewed her wriggling in an attempt to get free. "Do you mind not pushing my boobs into my back? They're actually at a size I'm happy with!"

At her words Chris looked meaningfully over at Justin and laughed as the younger man's cheeks began to flame with embarrassment. Libby deliberately avoided looking anywhere near Justin and mentally swore at Chris for humiliating her so in front of him.

"Who are we?" Joey began to chant loudly before glancing around at his band mates for backup. Pretty soon the room was filled with their voices repeating the same words over and over again.

"*NSYNC!" Clare yelled to be heard over the top of them. "Quit already! I said it! You're *NSYNC."

Almost immediately the tickling stopped and both Joey and Lance turned to each other and exchanged a rowdy high five.

"There now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Justin quipped from across the room, earning himself a glare from Clare in response. Clare attempted—in as ladylike a way as possible—to rearrange her two–piece work suit, which had become dishevelled in all the chaos and deliberately avoided meeting any of their eyes.

"Okay, Christopher. Time to put me down now," Libby said in a strained voice from where Chris was still holding her up off of the ground.

"Say Chris is king!" Chris insisted with a smirk as he once again swung Libby from side to side. He wouldn't admit it out loud but the muscles in his arms were already burning with the strain of lifting her, and it was getting harder for him to maintain the smile on his face.

"In your dreams!" Libby retaliated with a snort.

"Say it or you don’t get down."

"Like you're going to be able to do this all day," Libby replied with a laugh. "I know how much I weigh, Kirkpatrick, and I can guarantee that it's going to start hurting soon."

"Yeah," Chris admitted with a relieved sigh as he placed her back onto her feet and stretched his arms out in front of him to ease his cramping muscles. "You're getting heavy."

"Well, thanks for nothin’, Lib!" Clare remarked as she finished rearranging her clothes and glanced over at her friend.

"Sorry, but I kinda got held up," Libby said pointedly as she shot another glare at Chris.

"So is anyone up for some ballin'?" Justin asked the group after detecting the tension that was beginning to form between the two women. The tickling and lifting had been a joke, but the girls' embarrassment was all too real and Justin was glad to have an opportunity to change the subject.

General utterances of agreement filled the room and before too long the men were on their feet and heading out of the office to go down to the outdoor basketball court. The girls, meanwhile, stayed behind.

Although they were allowed to use the Compound facilities, Libby and Clare always tried to remember that they were on corporate property and weren't meant to spend their working hours playing around with the members of *NSYNC.

"I'll catch up," Chris said to the other men as he watched them depart without him. "I've gotta run something by Gid'."

Clare waited until everyone else had gone before looking up at the elder man as he stood awkwardly by her desk. She raised a questioning eyebrow at him but he refused to meet her eyes until he was sure that everyone, including Libby, was out of earshot.

It was rare for Chris to spend much time alone with the females of the fan club. That, combined with the serious expression on his face made Clare realise immediately that something was up. She watched him curiously for several minutes before realising that he was waiting for her to speak first.

"Okay, Lucky, spit it out. I don't have all day," Clare said with a slight chuckle.

Chris let out a deep sigh and muttered awkwardly under his breath, "Lately I'm finding myself attracted to this woman..."

Clare tried her best to hide her surprise. In the nearly two years since she'd known him, Chris had rarely—if ever—offered up personal information about himself to her so readily. He was more of a man's man, and usually kept his relationship with the women in his life borderline friendly at best.

"Okay," Clare stammered, "may I ask why you're telling me this?" Oh, God, please don't let it be me.

"Do you think I should ask her out?" Chris asked as he dodged her question. Clare sat back in her seat and looked up at him helplessly. Surely he didn't expect her to answer such a loaded question without any of the information?

"Chris, I couldn't possibly answer that. I don't even know who you're talking about!"

"Well, it doesn't really matter. The point is, should I ask someone out on a date or not?"

Clare considered his words once again before answering. "Are you asking me for my professional opinion as an employee of RCA, or as a friend?" Clare asked unsure whether it was the reputation of the group that he was concerned about or something much more personal.

"Yeah, 'cause if it's personal advice that you're looking for then I'd go and ask somewhere else," Libby chimed in from the doorway.

Both Chris and Clare's heads snapped around to face her simultaneously and Libby realised for the first time that she may have interrupted something not meant for her ears. Shrugging innocently, Libby gestured at Clare's wide open office door. "Sorry but the door was open and I couldn't find my stapler."

Clare's eyes flicked up to scan Chris' face but she could tell at once that he'd already shut down. Whatever it was that he'd been trying to say would have to wait for another occasion.

"Nice one, Lib," Clare muttered as Chris left the room without another word. Libby pulled a sheepish face at her friend as she watched him leave.

"Whoops," Libby mumbled as she made her way across the room to perch on the end of Clare's desk. "But I was right. What do you know about relationships? You've had what... one in the past year?"

"He’d be better off asking your advice then would he, Elizabeth?"

Libby let out a snort of amusement and rolled her eyes. "Fair point. I guess neither of us is particularly qualified to give out relationship advice."

"In my defence, I don't have time for boyfriends," Clare said confidently, ignoring the niggling voice in her head that told her otherwise. At her words Libby shot her a knowing, sideways grin.

Clare hadn’t had many boyfriends in recent months because she did genuinely have a busy job. However, that was more of an excuse than a reason. She didn't go on many dates, or make much of an effort to get to know new people because she was already madly in love with someone. And that someone was JC.

Clare was head–over–heels crazy about him, but far too terrified to ever admit her feelings to anyone other than Libby. Even though she had a niggling feeling that he might feel the same way about her, Clare had never broached the subject with him. Every day they flirted and teased each other but it never crossed into anything other than 'friends' territory.

Although it was painful for Clare not to be able to act on her feelings, it also meant that she could remain in her comfort zone and dream about the day that they might finally get together. All without having to deal with any of the messy, painful emotions that were involved in being in a relationship.

"You’re never gonna have a boyfriend, then?" Libby asked as she nudged Clare on the shoulder and raised a mocking eyebrow.

Clare narrowed her eyes playfully and laughed. "Shut it, you!"

~~~~~*~~~~~

Justin was feeling considerably sorry for himself.

"Why is it that when the women in this place have a problem, I’m the one who gets all the abuse?" He asked Joey and Lance as he bounced a basketball onto the court before catching it and throwing it towards the hoop. It turned out that the group didn't have enough players for a proper game of basketball, and so they were taking it in turns to shoot at the basket.

"It must be that face," Lance said with a smile as he watched the ball fly through the air and land in the centre of the hoop.

"That face?" Joey asked as he joined Lance in teasing the youngster. "Nah, It couldn’t be that face. Not the face of one so young."

"C’mon guys, I’m serious!" Justin exclaimed as he collected the ball from where it had bounced away from the basket and tossed it towards Joey. "Every time I walk into a room that Libby’s in she walks out. What’s the deal?"

Lance and Joey exchanged a look as Joey lined up his shot.

"It's simple, she’s in love with you," Lance said matter–of–factly as he smiled at Justin.

"She’s always down on me. She won’t stay ‘round me for longer than five minutes at a time. Yeah, I can see how you would come up with that," Justin replied dryly.

The three men watched as Joey threw the ball in the direction of the basket. It also shot straight through the centre of the hoop.

"I’m telling ya, that’s just her way of hiding it," Lance continued.

"Sometimes she looks at me like she hates me," Justin told him, his eyes wide and serious.

"She doesn’t hate you," Joey said as he collected the ball and bounced it once before jumping up to sink it through the basket once again.

"What would you call it then?"

"It’s love, man," Lance replied with a smile as Joey released his hands from the hoop and landed on his feet with a grunt, the ball bouncing beside him a few seconds later.

"No way," Justin said, shaking his head as he went to retrieve the ball for Lance's turn. "I'm tellin' ya, you're way off."

~~~~~*~~~~~

Libby took a few steps backwards away from the tall storage cabinet in the corner of Clare's office, reading aloud from the competition entry that she was holding in one hand. In the other hand, she held a fistful of coloured paperclips, which she had just collected from inside the cupboard.

Both her and Clare had spent the past hour or so going through the applications for a competition that they’d organised to find *NSYNC's 'biggest fan'. The competition was aimed at eleven to eighteen year old fans, and each entry required a photograph and a minimum twenty word summary of why the applicant felt they deserved to meet *NSYNC.

"I wanna meet *NSYNC because JC is my life. I have posters of him all over my bedroom walls, and he is always coming into my dreams at night," Libby sniggered as she read aloud. She looked up to meet Clare's eyes with a grin.

"So that's where he's been disappearing off to," Clare replied dryly.

"Did someone say something?" JC asked unexpectedly as he put his head around the open doorframe and smiled at both of the women. Clare tried her best not to react to his sudden appearance, but she felt her palms begin to sweat at his arrival and she immediately straightened up her posture. Fortunately, only Libby noticed the change in her.

"We're just going over the competition entries," Libby told him pleasantly as she waved the sheets of paper in her hand by way of explanation. "There's one here for you," she said before re–reading the application aloud. Both women watched and waited for JC's reaction, but he shrugged it off with his usual good–humour.

"What can I say? Women find me irresistible!" JC said with an unaffected shrug.

Libby sniggered and rolled her eyes. "I dunno," she said as she scrunched her nose up, regarding his face carefully. "I think I could resist. You're not that cute."

"Clearly a few fans would disagree with you there," JC quipped back with a grin.

Clare watched the exchange between her friend and JC and contemplated whether or not to join in. Normally she would avoid any conversation that touched anywhere near personal feelings, or whether someone was attractive or not, but she felt in this instance that remaining silent only made her seem more conspicuous.

"Maybe if he spent less time on his hair and more time in the gym?" Clare remarked with a smirk, enjoying the look of pretend hurt that crossed JC's face at her words. She was only teasing him, but Clare knew that her comment would deliver a very small sting.

Everyone who knew JC was aware that he spent hardly any time on his hair, and yet it always appeared perfectly coiffed. This left him open to relentless mocking from the other members of *NSYNC. And despite the many hours that he spent working out in the gym, rehearsing in boiling hot dance studios and performing under glaring lights, JC's body refused to deliver much evidence of all of his hard work. He was tall, thin, and lean and he hated it.

"Ouch," JC replied as he shook his head bashfully and looked up at Clare though his lashes. "You got me."

~~~~~*~~~~~

Later that afternoon, Libby left the confines of Clare's office to return to her own a little further down the hall. Despite getting a good start on the huge pile of applications that she'd had to sort through and keeping herself busy during the morning, she'd still found herself drifting off occasionally as her problems with Dan came to the forefront of her mind.

It was stupid really. She wasn't an idiot, and she knew the way that Dan was treating her wasn't right. What she couldn't work out was why she was allowing him to behave in such a way without her doing something about it.

Her previous relationships hadn't been perfect, and obviously they hadn't lasted the distance, but Libby had never allowed herself to be disrespected so blatantly before. Deep down she knew that it was wrong and that she shouldn't remain in such a toxic relationship but neither could she consider herself completely blameless in the matter.

After all, she did have feelings for Justin. And even though she hadn't—and wouldn't—act on those feelings, she was still aware that she wasn't being one–hundred percent truthful with Dan either.

She knew that her feelings for Justin were completely misplaced and highly ill–considered. He was technically a colleague of hers and a highly famous one at that. Not to mention the fact that he was only eighteen years old, and was the record label's 'golden ticket' thanks to his movie star good looks. The last thing that the label would want would be for their youngest, most appealing lead–singer to find himself a long–term girlfriend. If anything they liked their artists to appear as squeaky–clean and as available as possible, despite how unrealistic that was for a group of men in their early to late twenties.

Libby let out a frustrated sigh as she considered her inability to protect her heart from trouble. From the first day that she'd met Justin she'd known that he would be a problem for her.

There she'd been, straight off the plane from the UK, with everything in her life having been turned upside down only to discover that she'd be working closely with a man who she couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of. Not a good recipe for someone relying on their job so that they could keep their work visa.

Justin's smile, clear blue eyes and athletic body had caught her initial attention but it had been his personality that had kept her interest. He was funny, kind, and had a way of making her smile and laugh even when she didn't feel like it. He'd asked questions about her past and listened carefully to her answers; and had been completely understanding during her first few months in America when she'd felt incredibly homesick and unsettled in her new life. He'd paid her attentions but not in a sleazy way that made her feel uncomfortable, and most importantly, he'd treated her as an equal from the get–go. For some reason she hadn't been expecting that at all.

Even though Libby had never seen an episode of the Mickey Mouse Club, or even heard of the group *NSYNC before she'd moved to the States, she'd still carried with her expectations of Justin Timberlake being an arrogant, cocky, ass. Needless to say, the real Justin had taken her completely by surprise.

In the early days they'd hung out together around the office as they'd gotten to know each other. Then Clare had begun inviting the members of the group back to her and Libby's apartment after work, where they'd all hung out and had a laugh together. It had been there that Libby had discovered that Justin had a childish streak that presented itself at unexpected times. He'd have her crying on the floor with laughter just by pulling a comical face or relaying one of his crazy jokes.

They'd both realised that they shared a similar sense of humour, and being only three months apart in age, they had quite a lot in common despite their different upbringings. Not only this, but Libby soon realised that Justin was crazy talented, which she happened to find incredibly attractive in the opposite sex.

Libby had been several weeks into her new job before she'd heard the group's music for the first time. In fact, she'd almost forgotten their reason for being all together in Florida, even though she'd known that they were from all different places across America, and would have been very unlikely to have crossed paths otherwise.

She'd stopped thinking of them collectively as *NSYNC and instead thought of them as individuals that happened to work together. However, when she'd heard their harmonious sound for the first time she'd known that it was destiny for them to be together as a group to produce such heart–felt music.

Libby enjoyed watching them sing together. There was something about Justin's face in particular when he performed that she liked, and of course, she couldn't deny that she'd enjoyed the sound that they'd produced. If she hadn't started to develop feelings for him before then she certainly had after watching him sing for the first time.

After that she'd found herself seeking him out at work. Subtly, of course, and always with a reason or errand that required his time or attention. She'd never have admitted it to herself then but her feelings had certainly crossed the line between friendship and something more during those early days at the Compound.

As the popularity of the group had grown, and the men had begun to start touring Europe and America with their concerts—sometimes being away for months at a time—Libby had found that she'd begun to miss them. Justin in particular.

At first she'd kept her feelings to herself but eventually she'd confided in Clare, who had been sympathetic and reassuring if a little troubled to hear of her friend's growing feelings for the young man.

Nowadays, Justin was fast becoming one of her very best friends, second only to Clare. Libby considered him to be someone who she could talk to about anything. There was only one exception—Justin never wanted to talk about Dan.

He'd never verbalised his feelings to her but Libby had noticed that there was something in his face when Dan's name was mentioned that prevented her from raising the subject around him, or continuing a conversation already in progress when he appeared.

Not that she was particularly thrilled to hear about his relationships either—and she'd certainly had to struggle her way through that on occasions—but thanks to Justin's unwillingness to discuss anything about her relationship, Libby felt torn between keeping him as a good friend—albeit slightly at a distance—or risking there being an atmosphere between them if she mentioned her boyfriend.

~~~~~*~~~~~