~~~~~*~~~~~

"Has anyone tried contacting Clare recently?" Jamie asked Chris, Joey and Lance who had gathered in her office during their break between vocal sessions.

"I tried calling her this morning but her cell is off," Chris replied.

"Justin's been getting though. He said he spoke to her last night," Lance said. "But I think they arranged a time to talk so that he could update her on Libby."

As he said this, the door to Jamie's office opened slightly and Lisa peered her head through, an apologetic smile on her face. "I'm looking for Joe..." she said before realising that he was already inside. "Oh," she muttered and rolled her eyes, "there you are." Lisa walked across the room and into Joey's outstretched arms.

Lisa had the day off from lectures, and so she'd told Joey that she'd head to the Compound after having a lie–in. She'd been wandering around the Compound for ten minutes looking for him.

"How are you feeling?" Jamie asked Lisa, knowing how unwell she'd been for the past few weeks. Like everyone else, Jamie was worried, but Lisa got tetchy when people fussed over her and so she'd tried to keep her concerns to herself.

"Well, I haven't thrown up yet and I've been awake for three hours! Maybe I am finally getting better?" She said dryly and rolled her eyes. She was so fed with feeling unwell.

"Must be a weird sickness bug or something?" Jamie suggested with a sympathetic smile.

Yeah, I guess." Lisa replied before glancing at Lance who was staring down at the floor, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Lisa nudged Joey with her elbow and pointed at Lance before giggling.

"What's up with his face?" She asked with a chuckle.

"Same thing that's wrong with JC," Joey responded playfully. "His woman's deserted him!"

Lance's head snapped up, and he narrowed his eyes at Joey. "She hasn't deserted me!" he said tetchily.

"Has she or has she not gone back to Missouri?" Chris asked him with a snigger.

Lance turned and glowered at Chris. "Her mother is ill."

"Oh, God help us!" Jamie said with a roll of her eyes. "She's only been gone a week and look at him!"

Lisa sniggered. "Imagine what he'll be like after a month!"

~~~~~*~~~~~

"Well, don't all say 'hi' at once!" Sara teased from the doorway of the games room where all of *NSYNC were gathered killing time until her arrival and their inevitable return to day–long choreography run–throughs. As soon as they recognised her voice, all their heads snapped around to face her and she beamed at them. She'd missed their goofy faces.

"How was the vacation?" Justin asked from where he stood lining up the white ball on the pool table for his break.

Sara smiled. "It was good. We had a lot of fun," she said, trying not to think about the nights Clare had spent crying on the balcony. "We might even do it again someday."

"Did ya' bring up back anything?" Joey asked as he watched Justin send the white ball flying into the pocket.

"Of course," she answered with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Your gift is a return to dance rehearsals with me," she quipped, crossing the room and finding herself a spare seat on the couch next to JC.

"Wow!" Joey replied sarcastically. "What a treat!"

"Watch it, Fatone!" Sara chuckled as she narrowed her eyes playfully at him. "I don't want any lip from you."

Watching the exchange between Joey and Sara, Chris decided to ask the question that he knew everyone else—and especially JC—was too afraid to ask.

"Has Clare gone home to unpack?" Chris asked in what he hoped was a nonchalant way. It was a working day, after all, and the last he'd heard, Clare was meant to be returning to work that morning.

"Actually, no..." Sara muttered sheepishly and ran a hand through her hair, avoiding JC's eyes. "She didn't come back with me."

Justin looked up from where he was lining up another shot and frowned. "What?"

Sara knew that Clare had been keeping in regular contact with Justin during the holiday, and so she wasn't surprised that he was shocked by the news. But Clare had insisted on not telling anyone other than Jason and Sara her plans. She knew if the rest of the group found out then they would worry, or worse, try to change her mind.

"She's coming back though, right?" Chris asked, meeting Sara's gaze with a no–nonsense stare.

"Of course. She just needs a little more time."

"I'm sure she won't be able to live without us for long," Lance added, more for JC's benefit than anything else. It hadn't been lost on Lance the tension that had arrived to his band mate’s face, or the fact that his eyes were staring unseeing at the floor. Clearly Sara's news had been the last thing he'd wanted to hear and although he was pretending not to, he was hurt. It was obvious to everyone that Clare's change of plans were just another way for her to avoid seeing him.

"Who could?" Joey grinned, trying to lighten the atmosphere, and everyone in the group—except JC—began to laugh.

"I'm guessing she'd rather live without me," JC said sadly over his friend's laughter and at once the uncomfortable atmosphere was back.

Sara sighed and turned to face him properly for the first time. She could see that he was torn up about something and could only presume that it was something to do with Clare.

"She needs this," she reminded him, firmly but gently. "She's been struggling to deal with everything. I'm sure even you can understand that she needs some distance and time to heal."

Even you. The words sounded so accusing and JC fought back the frown that immediately appeared across his brow. Then he remembered. Like Clare, Sara was out of the loop as to what had happened between him and Alyson. Everyone else knew by now, but he hadn't had a chance to speak to Sara since she'd left for Spain. Doubtless, she'd probably also been hearing from Clare what a jerk he was.

"I really need to talk to her—"

"Like I said, she needs some distance," Sara said, lowering her voice so that the rest of the group couldn't hear. "She needs a chance to get over you. You really need to let her."

"But Sara—"

"He's not with Alyson anymore," Chris said loudly causing both JC and Sara's heads to snap around. They narrowed their eyes at his obvious eavesdropping. Apparently the rest of the group could still hear Sara. Chris met JC's accusing look and shrugged.

"What? It's the truth, isn't it! That's what you've been trying to tell Clare this whole time."

"You're not with her?" Sara asked in confusion as she turned back to JC.

"No, I'm not."

"What happened?" Sara asked, not wanting to pry but needing to know the truth. What could have changed in the last week that would have caused them to split? So much for JC being the member of *NSYNC with the least drama, Sara thought to herself. He'd had a lifetime's worth in just a few short weeks!

"We broke up last Sunday. Apparently the baby she said she was carrying wasn't mine."

"Oh, God,"

"Yeah, exactly."

"I kinda wanna say I'm sorry, but..."

"I know. I think that's how everyone feels."

"So Clare...?"

"I tried to tell her. I rushed to the airport, but you'd already left. I tried calling her cell, but it just went to voicemail each time. 'Sides, it's not really the kind of thing you can say over the phone—"

"Hmm... yeah, I get that."

"I was hoping she'd be back today and we could maybe have gone somewhere to talk about it."

"She's decided to extend her holiday," Sara explained, catching Justin's eye. He nodded in understanding but the confusion was evident in his eyes, even from across the room. "She said she'd call you later," Sara told Justin.

"Where has she gone?" Lance asked quietly.

Sara pulled a face. She knew that someone would ask that. "She's asked me not to say. I think she was worried that someone might try to kidnap her or something."

Chris chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Well, that's that plan out the window," he teased, only half joking.

JC attempted a smile, but it wasn't convincing. He hadn't prepared himself for the possibility that Clare might not return to Orlando with Sara, and now he was feeling even more miserable than before. This morning he'd woken up with butterflies at the thought of seeing her again, even though he'd fully expected that she wouldn't be as thrilled to see him as he was her. His disappointment was hard to swallow.

"So... now I'm back you have a week's worth of rehearsals to look forward to. Yay!"

The men groaned.

"Well, thank you for your enthusiasm!" Sara teased, rolling her eyes. "You could try to sound happy about it, you know!"

"Rehearsals! Yay!" Justin muttered sarcastically.

Although she would normally come back with a bitter retort, Sara threw her head back and laughed. Joey had been right—she had missed them. Even their moaning and complaining. As much as they drove her crazy, Sara agreed with what Joey and Lance had been saying—it wasn't easy to live without them for long.

~~~~~*~~~~~