~~~~~*~~~~~

"A little birdy told me that someone kissed someone else yesterday," Clare chuckled to Jamie and Sara as they sat in Jamie's office the next day during their morning coffee break. Clare grinned as Jamie raised her eyebrows before smiling and placing her coffee mug back onto the table without taking a sip.

"Really?” She beamed. “And who might that be I wonder?"

"You and JC?" Sara asked with a gasp and both Clare and Jamie spun around to look at her in alarm.

“What?” Clare squeaked in disgust.

"No!" Jamie exclaimed causing Sara to laugh and hold her hands up defensively in front of her face.

"Sorry, I just..."

"What?" Clare snapped.

"I just thought that maybe—”

"What? That I'd lost my mind?"

"No."

"That we'd stumbled into an alternate reality?"

"No," Sara said with a laugh.

"Then what?"

"I just thought that you both had this angry, crazy sexual tension thing going on and that it might've found itself an outlet."

Clare stared at her in horror for a second before sneering and crossing her arms moodily across her chest. "Not if my life depended on it," she said, "I can't believe you'd think that.”

"There was a time when the thought of kissing JC wasn't as repulsive to you," Jamie reminded Clare playfully before turning to wink conspiratorially at Sara.

"Well then I must've finally come to my senses."

"So if you're not talking about you and JC, then who?" Sara asked.

"Justin and Libby!" Jamie squeaked excitedly before Clare even had a chance to speak. Jamie’s face lit up, and she stared at Clare with wide eyes, waiting for Clare to confirm the news.

Clare stared at Jamie in confusion, a surprised frown crossing her face. There was no way that Jamie could’ve heard already…

"Really?" Sara gasped and Clare nodded although her face remained tight with tension. She felt riled by Sara's assumption. As if she would kiss JC...

"When did this happen?" Jamie asked as she once again lifted her coffee mug to take a sip. She grinned at Clare over the rim of the cup, unable to fight her glee. After all, everyone had been waiting for Justin to say something to Libby since the day she’d regained consciousness. It’d only been a matter of time.

"Yesterday morning. After he drove her home from the hospital."

"Finally," Jamie grinned. "So they’re officially together now?"

"I guess so,” Clare replied. “To be honest, I haven't really had a chance to grill her on the details. She only mentioned it casually a few minutes before I left for work and there wasn't really time to grill her about it. Not like Libby I must say. I would’ve expected her to be bouncing around the apartment singing at the top of her voice."

Both Jamie and Sara exchanged a glance, grinning.

"I think it's sweet,” Sara said. “About time I must say."

"Yeah, kinda sad though really. Don't you think?" Jamie asked her as the reality of Libby and Justin’s situation sunk in. Thanks to her role in planning it, the tour was rarely far from Jamie’s thoughts.

"Sad?" Clare said in surprise.

"Yeah, I mean he'll be leaving on tour soon. They won't have a lot of time together before he has to go."

"I know,” Clare said, anticipating how hard it would be for her friend to say goodbye to Justin after such an emotional reunion. “I keep forgetting how close the tour is now. It's going to be really strange not seeing you all for three months. I'm really going to miss you all."

"Oh, come on, Clare. We'll be back before you know it. Three months isn't that long!" Sara reminded her with a chuckle.

"It's a quarter of a year,” Clare corrected her. "A lot can change in that amount of time."

"You say that as though you won't be here when we get back," Jamie said, her suspicions rising and she eyed Clare suspiciously. Jamie knew that Clare had been understandably melancholy about her situation with JC, but ever since her return from Miami, there had been a darker undercurrent of unhappiness to her, despite Libby’s miraculous recovery. Jamie was concerned, but whenever she broached the ‘JC subject’, Clare immediately shut down and got angry. Despite her friends’ attempts to bring it up at suitable opportunities, Clare still wouldn’t listen to anyone regarding anything to do with JC. It was starting to get on everyone’s nerves.

Clare let out a deep breath and glanced from Jamie to Sara and back again. “Well…” she began. “Actually I might not be." She held her breath, awaiting their inevitable reaction.  

"What?" Sara asked as she searched Clare's eyes for answers before turning to glance at Jamie in confusion. She gauged from the blank expression on Jamie’s face that she, too, was confused.

"You aren't serious, are you?" Jamie asked Clare. She frowned as Clare met her eyes. "Is this about him?"

Clare gave a wry smile at Jamie’s ability to see right through her. She really knew her too well.  

Clare had made her decision to leave the club not long after her arrival in Spain. She’d come to the decision that despite the pain that she would initially feel, it would be a lot easier to forgive and forget JC when she didn't have to see him.

Up till now she hadn't wanted to say anything to her colleagues and friends until she’d secured herself another job, but she knew that time was running out. She only had a short amount of time to be able to tell them all in person, which is what she wanted to do. They deserved that, at least.

Clare had lined up a few interviews for the coming week, and she was hopeful that she'd be able to hand in her notice of resignation by the following Monday.

"I just can't work around him," Clare said honestly. "You've seen me this past week; I've been so forgetful and unprofessional, biting his head off all the time. Not to mention I'm dreading her walking through the door at any minute, which is bound to happen at some point. I can't keep putting myself through this, and so I've decided to be brave and look for something else."

"Does Libby know?" Sara asked immediately. She couldn’t believe that Clare wouldn’t have told Libby such big news, but then Clare had become very protective of Libby recently, and she was trying her best to shelter her from bad news. It was one of the reasons why no one had mentioned anything to Libby about the truth behind what had happened between JC and Clare. Even Justin was cautious about upsetting Libby with the truth. They all knew that Libby would do whatever it took to make Clare listen to JC, but that she’d probably affect her recovery by doing so. Everyone was content to keep Libby wrapped deeply in cotton wool for as long as possible.

"No, I haven't told anyone. You're the first ones to know, actually."

"Will you tell the guys?" Jamie asked abruptly, knowing how much it would shock and hurt the members of *NSYNC if Clare just upped and left unexpectedly.

"I guess they'll probably find out, but it won't be from me. Unlike you guys, I think it would be better for them to hear it from Johnny when they're occupied with the tour."

"I don't know, Clare," Sara said, pulling a face at Jamie. "I think they'd be pretty hurt to not hear it from you—"

"Damn right they'll be hurt!" Chris's voice bellowed from just inside the doorway. All three women jumped at the unexpected sound of his voice.

"Oh, God," Clare groaned as she realised that Chris had overheard all their conversation. Now there was no way she'd be able to leave without a fuss. It was exactly what she hadn’t wanted to happen.

"How could you think about quitting?” Chris barked as he stormed across the room towards Clare, his hands waving around erratically by his side. “This is crazy! You love your job, and this thing with JC will blow over—"

"No, Chris," Clare told him firmly. "You can't talk me around this time. I've made my decision. Yes, I love my job, and you know I love you all, but I have to do what's right for my life. Leaving feels like the right thing to do."

"Johnny won't accept your resignation. I'll talk to him. We won't let you quit."

"He'll have to accept it. I have job interviews lined up all week, and as soon as I'm accepted I'll be leaving."

"And if you don't get a job?" he challenged, his eyes flashing with anger. Although he seemed to be furious, Jamie knew him well enough to know that it was hurt rather than actual fury that was firing his reaction. No one would be more hurt than Chris to hear that Clare was leaving. Although Clare didn’t know it, Chris had been doing all he could to convince JC to keep trying to get through to Clare. He really had been doing all he could to fight her corner for her.

"Then I'll look for another one until I do,” Clare said stubbornly.

"This doesn't make sense," Chris said in a bitter voice. "You know you'll regret this. There's no way this is anything more than a split second decision, and therefore you’ll change your mind back just as quickly."

Clare failed to see the concern in Chris’ eyes, and immediately saw red. She hated the accusation that she hadn’t thought through her decision, and especially that he thought it centred completely around JC. There was an element of truth to it, of course, but she’d never admit that aloud. What if she really did just fancy a change? Was that really so hard to believe?

"I've made up my mind, Chris, and it has nothing to do with you. I'm leaving. I've made my decision. It's done. You wonder why I want to leave? This right now! I want to live my own life for a change, not run around continually after you lot for the rest of my life. I'm done!"

Clare threw her hands up in the air and shoved past him, striding angrily towards the door. She wasn’t going to stand there and let him talk a hole in her defence. She was leaving, and there was nothing that he could say or do to change her mind.

"Nice one, Chris!" Sara muttered as Clare disappeared from sight. "If you hadn't charged in like a bull in a china shop then maybe we could have talked her around.”

Chris turned to meet Jamie’s eyes, and an unspoken message passed between them. They’d have their work cut out trying to convince Clare to stay, but no matter what it took, they had to try.

~~~~~*~~~~~

Since coming out of the hospital, Libby had spent most of her time resting in her bedroom as directed by the medical team at the hospital. She was still taking it easy, and—ironically—she still needed lots of sleep just to get through the day. Although she knew the reasons for this, Libby was quickly becoming frustrated with her inability to jump straight back into her normal life. She hadn't anticipated the fact that even though she'd been discharged she would still be doing exactly the same things she'd been doing in the hospital, only in her own apartment instead.

Clare had understood Libby's frustration, and had done everything she could to make her routine feel as normal as possible. Even going as far as to get one of the guys to carry the heavy TV from the living room into Libby's bedroom for her to watch while Clare was out at work. It was a small gesture, but one that Libby greatly appreciated.

Most of the time Libby sat propped up in bed, either watching monotonous daytime TV or reading the magazines that Lisa and Jamie had purchased for her. Her bedroom had gone from being cluttered with textbooks and notepads to resembling a newsstand. Not that she was complaining. Anything to stop her from staring at the same four walls for hours on end was a bonus.

But the highlight of her day was when Justin turned up—usually at lunchtime, or early evening when he'd return from rehearsals. The tour was only weeks away now, and even though the choreography they were going over wasn't new, the group was still spending most of their days running over it again and again to lock it into their minds. There wouldn't be time to learn anything out on the road, and any mistakes would be very noticeable once they were performing night after night. It was very much a case of learn it now or let everyone down later.

Justin was exhausted but was still riding the wave of relief and joy that Libby was awake, which seemed to be helping him find the energy to devote all of his precious time off to her. Not that he minded. Clare realised that she should feel very fortunate that he was kept busy during the day. Without the tour to prepare for she wondered if Justin would ever leave their apartment at all.

Libby and Clare were pretty much running an 'open house' arrangement when Clare was back from work. Libby was so starved for company after being left alone all day that it wasn't a problem having a crowd of people over in the evenings. Especially as they would usually bring with them ready–to–eat food, which Clare would heat up and divide between whoever was there. Clare was always grateful for an excuse not to cook.

Libby would then demand that everyone congregate in her room—she was still too weak to venture far from her room, with the only exception being toilet breaks—which was fortunately large enough to house a crowd. She'd listen with eager ears as her friends described their days at work, a funny story they'd heard on the radio, or even just chatter idly about the 'old days', which really weren't that old at all.

Libby would sit there with a kilowatt grin on her face, her eyes dancing between each familiar face until her lids became heavy, her voice slurred and the crowd would discreetly disperse to let her get some rest. She was usually fast asleep before they'd even all left the room.

Tonight was such a night.

Justin had come over a little after seven, bringing with him Lisa and Joey, who'd lovingly prepared a chicken and pasta bake—one of Libby's favourites—for them all to enjoy. After clearing up afterwards, they'd all descended into Libby's room, and were in the process of lounging around and chatting amicably when a loud pounding on the front door disturbed them.

Clare exchanged glances with Justin and Lisa, before getting to her feet. "I better get that," she mumbled as she answered Libby's questioning look with a shrug and shuffled along the hallway to answer the door.

As soon as the door was opened, she wished that she hadn't bothered. "Oh, no."

"You're quitting?" JC yelled as Clare backed away from the door with a roll of her eyes. Ever since Chris had overheard her conversation with Sara and Jamie, Clare had been waiting for this moment. She'd known that despite what had gone down between her and JC, he still wouldn't be happy about her leaving her job, and he’d doubtless feel the need to confront her about it. Now was that moment.

Clare turned and prepared to head back towards Libby's room, not bothering to look at JC, let alone close the door either in his face, or after he'd entered the apartment. She didn't care if he stayed or left. She had nothing to say to him either way.

Hearing the confrontation from inside Libby's bedroom, Joey exchanged a look with Justin and shook his head, silencing the younger man who had opened his mouth to speak. Joey hadn't wanted to say anything about it in front of Libby, but he, too, had heard about Clare's plans to leave, and he’d also been awaiting JC's reaction when he finally found out. Joey knew that Chris would warn his band mate about Clare's plans, and he hadn't envied Chris for being the bearer of such news.

"This could get bad..." Justin said.

"What's going on?" Libby asked, the confusion evident in her voice. She poked at Justin's shoulder as he half–lay, half–sat beside her on the bed, his upper body supported by her pillows, and he turned his head to look at her. Libby raised an eyebrow and gestured at her half–closed bedroom door. "What’s going on?" She hissed as she gave his shoulder another shove.

Justin raised his hand, and was about to speak when Lisa shushed him loudly. "I wanna hear!" she hissed as she got up to stand closer to the door.

"Who told you?" Clare asked angrily as she turned to scowl at JC. She'd stopped outside her bedroom door, and wasn't planning on taking another step whilst he was still talking. She hadn't yet told Libby about her plans to leave, and she didn't want JC, in his anger, to be the one to spill the beans.

Although Clare had said the words aloud anyway, there was really no need for her to ask such a question. It was blindingly obvious who had told. Chris.

"Who'd you think?" JC snapped back with a roll of his eyes. "Thanks for letting me be the last one to know, by the way. I assume the fact that Chris felt the need to tell me means that everyone else knows, and you just didn't bother to tell me. I really appreciate that.”

"Why should I tell you?" Clare asked with a sneer.

"'Cause I deserve to know, don't you think?"

Clare let out a bitter laugh and shuffled back until she was leaning against her bedroom door. This exchange was draining the last of what little energy she had left at the end of the day, but she didn't want to appear weak before him. She lifted her chin defiantly and held her head high. "No, not really," she spat. "There are lots of things that you deserve, but not that."

JC let out an angry growl, chewed down onto his bottom lip and punched one rolled up fist into his other open palm. Clare tried her best not to wince at the sound of his anger.

"For God's sake! Will you just let me explain woman?!" he bellowed.

"No!" Clare shouted back, her voice rising a decibel. "How many times do I have to tell you? It doesn't matter!"

"Yes, it does! It changes everything!"

"Not for me. The damage is done, I'm moving on. That's all there is to say."

JC rolled his eyes and took an angry step towards her. Clare knew better than to be afraid—he'd never hurt her—but it was hard not to react to the desperation and fury in his eyes. Clearly he was finding it hard to keep a lid on his emotions, which was very unlike him. When needed JC usually had no problem shutting down, and he could easily show only the side of him that people wanted to see. It was a part of his job, after all, and he'd been doing it well since he was a child.

"So you're running away again," JC said and gave a knowing nod of his head as though he had her completely worked out. "That figures."

Clare saw red, both at his words and at the fact he seemed to think that he knew her so well. He knew nothing about the person she'd become in the past few months. "What's that supposed to mean?" she spat as her cheeks flushed an angry red.

"That you run when things get rough," JC continued. "Before when you couldn't face me you left for two weeks. Now I try to talk to you and you make it virtually impossible for me, and now you're quitting. It's just totally predictable behaviour, Clare. I can't believe I didn't see it all along. And I suppose you're secretly hoping that I'll chase after you—"

"Like hell I am!" Clare roared, the furnace of her anger having been stoked by his words. "You stay the hell away from me. Once my resignation is accepted, I'm gone. It's finished. Done."

"Resignation?" Libby whispered to Justin in a shaky breath. She hated hearing her friends arguing at the best of times, but this was something else. She'd never heard Clare or JC raise their voices at anyone like this before. She was trying hard to fight it, but the sound of their raised voices alone made her want to cry. And that was before she considered the raging headache that she'd woken up to after her last nap.

Libby stared at Justin's blue eyes in shock. "Did you know about this?" she asked him.

He pulled a face. "Well..."

"Shhh!" Lisa hissed again, silencing them both.

"Finished? My ass! You know you won't be able to move on that easily, Clare. Whatever you may think and however much you may hate me, you know you love your job. You're leaving because you're hurt about what happened between us; nothing more and nothing less!" JC flashed her a nasty, smug grin and folded his arms across his chest.

Clare scowled at him. "That's where you're wrong. Not everything revolves around you, Joshua Chasez, despite what you may think! I'm ready for a change. It's high time I moved on, and there's nothing to stop me from doing just that."

Libby swallowed audibly and met Justin's eyes, her own filling with tears. A pained, sympathetic expression appeared on his face. He was angry with Clare. Furious with JC. Why did they have to do this here and upset Libby like this? This was no place to have this kind of discussion, and it wasn't fair of either of them to make Libby listen to it.

"Ouch," Libby whispered in a trembling voice as she attempted to keep a brave smile on her face. Even though she realised that the words had been said in anger, she was deeply hurt. Did Clare really feel that way? Was she really planning on upping and leaving? And why hadn't she said anything about it up till now? Especially to her. Weren't they supposed to be best friends? Best friends who told each everything?

Justin reached out and pulled Libby snugly into his arms. He planted a kiss on her temple before lifting his chin and tucking her head into the crook of his neck. "She doesn't mean you, my sweetheart," he said softly as he felt Libby nestle into his chest.

Both Lisa and Joey exchanged a glance.

"We better do something before this gets out of hand," Joey said as he stood and pulled Lisa to her feet after him. They both tentatively left the room, pulling the door closed behind them to leave Justin to console Libby in peace.

"Guys come on, don't do this here," Joey said calmly as entered the hallway with an anxious looking Lisa following closely behind. "You're upsetting Libby."

For the first time, Clare realised that Libby had probably overheard all of their argument and she felt shame colour her cheeks. This was exactly what she hadn't wanted to have happen. Now not only had she likely upset Libby, but her friend would know that she'd been keeping secrets from her. It was everything she’d been trying to protect Libby from, and it was all JC’s fault.

Clare turned to scowl at JC, putting the blame completely on his shoulders for getting her so angry, and she saw a fleetingly similar expression of shame and embarrassment on his face.

"You can leave," she muttered, her voice quieter and yet still filled with venom. "There's nothing for you here now, JC."

JC met her eyes and stared at her for what felt like an endless moment. At the intensity of his stare, Clare felt her hands begin to shake.

"You know what?" he said eventually, all emotion now devoid from his voice. His eyes dropped from her eyes to her bare feet and then back again in a sweeping glance. In that moment Clare felt completely worthless, as though he’d studied her minutely and still considered her below him. "I'm beginning to think that maybe there never was."

Joey was quick to react. He planted a hand on JC's chest and gave a firm shove towards the front door. "Alright," he muttered, and Clare was surprised by the stern tone of his voice. He sounded like a parent who'd overheard their child say something that had disappointed them deeply, and they were almost too upset to be able to talk about it. "Walk away, man. You need to cool off."

Lisa arrived at Clare's side and slipped her hand into Clare's shaking, clammy palm. Clare turned her head to look at her, her mouth still extended into a shocked grimace. Lisa nodded and ran her other hand soothingly up and down Clare's arm. Words weren’t necessary. It hadn't been easy to watch, and Lisa could only guess as to how Clare was feeling.

Joey gave JC another shove, and the pair of them disappeared out of the front door. Clare could just about make out Joey muttering something to JC before the door closed behind them, and she was left with Lisa, trying to catch her breath and understand what had just happened.

~~~~~*~~~~~

"Okay!" Joey said as he followed JC to his jeep and climbed into the passenger seat beside him. He turned to JC, his face deadly serious. "Now listen. Clare isn't going to change her mind about leaving—"

"But I've got to try!" JC said, slamming his hand onto the steering wheel in frustration.

"Listen to me!" Joey complained loudly. "I haven't finished yet. She doesn't know all the details, does she? She still thinks you and Alyson are together because no one has been able to tell her differently, right?"

"Because she's stubborn and won't listen, yeah.”

"Okay, well if she won't listen to you, and she doesn't want to hear it from us then we were thinking—"

"Who's we?" JC asked, eyeing Joey suspiciously.

"Just wait to hear me out before you ask questions," Joey told him. "We thought that maybe we could work on convincing her and Libby to come with us on tour!"

JC stared at Joey incredulously, but Joey didn't seem to notice. He continued relaying the plan, unaware of his friend's obvious contempt for his words. "It's a perfect way for Justin to spend more time with Libby, and gives you a chance to wear Clare down."

"Right," JC muttered as he rolled his eyes. "We can't convince her not to quit," he quipped dryly, "but I'm sure it'll be easy to talk her into sharing a tour bus with us for several months. Great plan, Joe.”

"It is a great plan!" Joey argued, his voice raising an octave, causing JC to question the true mastermind behind ‘the plan'. Up till now he'd put it down to something that Chris would dream up, but now that Joey was acting so defensively, JC had begun to change his mind...

"Come on, Joe. You know that won't work. There's no way in hell that Clare will agree to that, and Libby has only just come out of hospital. She's not up to flying, let alone travelling. She couldn't tour with us, it’s a stupid idea."

"It's not Libby that you have to worry about," Joey said. "Justin will handle the arrangements with all the doctors and stuff. And as for Clare, it doesn't matter if she agrees or not."

JC narrowed his eyes. "It doesn't?"

"We're gonna kidnap her!" Joey chuckled manically, his eyes bright with glee. Once again JC stared at him in horror. All the time that he'd been listening to his friends' plan, JC had held a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, they were onto something. But now that he knew that they were plotting nothing but smoke, that their plan was in fact completely lame, not to mention impossible, he was losing patience.

"Joe..." he sighed in frustration.

"No! Don't Joe me! This has to work!"

"Why?"

"Because it has to!"

"Great," JC muttered sarcastically. "I think you're overlooking a few crucial points, though," he said, and held up his right hand to tick off the points one by one. "One, what you're planning is illegal. Two, there's no way you'll be able to get Clare onto a plane without her screaming blue murder and alerting someone. And three, she's handing, or has handed in her resignation. She'll no longer be working for the label, and therefore she’ll have nothing to do while on tour. What will stop her from booking a flight straight home again?"

Joey shook his head, a smug smile crossing his face, and JC realised that he knew something that he didn't.

"Nah, nah, nah," Joey said, "That's all been handled. Chris called Johnny earlier, and asked him to disregard Clare's resignation letter. He said that she was struggling to come to terms with all the extra workload with the tour, not to mention Libby's recovery, and that she hadn't been thinking straight when she wrote the letter. He made Johnny believe that he was acting in her best interests, and that if she resigned she'd only come to regret it later. Johnny had no qualms dismissing her request to resign. He even promised Chris not to bring it up with her to spare her embarrassment!"

Despite feeling slightly uncomfortable over the way things were being handled, JC couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the idea of Chris calling Johnny and feigning concern for Clare. It had been a risky move, but it’d clearly played out into their hands. If his friends had managed to pull that part of the plan off then maybe it wasn't such a crazy idea after all.

"—Plus, we've figured that if we get stuck in a corner, we just say to Clare that Libby wants to go home to visit her family for a while, and she needs someone to travel with her. There's no way she'd be able to refuse a request like that. Especially if it comes directly from Libby."

"So Libby's in on it? I mean, she knows?"

Joey pulled a face and grimaced sheepishly. “Well..… no.”

JC shook his head and snorted in amusement. Just one look at Joey revealed how pleased he was with his plan, and JC knew that it would take a lot to try to undermine his faith in it working. He knew that he should probably try, but there was something so deliciously tempting about the plan. Especially as he wouldn't have to get his hands dirty.

"You're crazy," JC said eventually and sniggered. "Clare’ll kill us when she finds out."

Joey pretended not to hear. He'd already thought about every angle, and was way too involved to start back at phase one now.

"So you're in?" he asked, his eyebrows raised encouragingly, and a wide grin on his face. He seemed to feel confident that JC would be more than willing to help.

"No way," JC chuckled. "She hates me enough as it is. You and your secret accomplice are on your own I'm afraid."

Joey rolled his eyes but didn't seem too put off. He'd had to do a lot of persuading to convince Justin of the plan's benefits, but it had been worthwhile in the end. And even Lance had been willing to get involved, which had to stand for something. Lance was a true southern gentleman and rarely turned to the dark side.

"Come on, JC. Don't you want a chance to make it right with Clare?"

JC let out a heavy sigh and glowered straight ahead through the windscreen. "Of course I do," he said, "you know I do."

"Great!" Joey said cheerfully taking JC's words as enough of an affirmative for him to go ahead. "It's all sorted then. All the preparations are well under way, so now we just have to wait it out."

JC turned back to gawp at him. Well under way? What was that about? Would they have carried on regardless even if he'd told them it was a terrible idea and he wanted nothing to do with it? It seemed so.

Joey rubbed his hands together gleefully and winked at JC. "This is going to be great!"

~~~~~*~~~~~