Casey rolled over and blinked against the sunlight shining through the just slightly opened blinds. Waking up in her own bed, in her own room, was wonderful.

She waits in the driveway until the cab backs out and drives off. After adjusting the brown weekender bag on her shoulder, she approaches the front door with a grin. It's nearly one in the morning and she's imaging the looks on her parents' faces. She rings the doorbell and knocks twice in rapid succession.

She counts slowly. Thirty seconds go by, and behind the frosted glass of the entryway, she can see the tell tale illumination of a light going on somewhere. Another ten seconds tick by and the light comes on over the porch. Two seconds later her mother flings open the front door.

"Casey Angelina Whitaker!" Elizabeth Whitaker pulls her daughter into the house and into a tight hug. "What are you doing here? And why are you alone? It's too late for you to be out by yourself."

Still tucked in her mother's embrace, Casey rolls her eyes. "I wanted to surprise you," she says, pulling away. "Surprise!"

It had taken nearly forty-five minutes, but she was finally able to convince her parents that she was fine, and the impromptu flight home hadn't been booked because she was under undue stress. All of the commotion woke up her little brother, and he was all too happy to create a makeshift sleeping pallet in her room with loads of blankets and pillows. She peeked over the edge of the bed, smiling at the lump on the floor beside her. The soft up and down motion in the center of the mass told her that Matty was still sleeping peacefully beneath it. She was happy to be home.

She snuggled back down beneath the covers, closing her eyes, when her cell phone rang shrilly from beside her. She fumbled and almost dropped it, trying to silence it before it disturbed her little brother. She looked at the name of the display, groaning inwardly.

"Hi, Dara," she whispered. "What's up?" She slipped from beneath the covers and out of the bed, and tiptoed out into the hall so as not to wake her brother.

"Casey, I know it's early, "Dara replied. "But I wanted to know what time you plan on getting here. We need to go over your agenda for the day. And some other things."

Casey made a face and pulled the phone away from her ear to check the time. "Um...well, I was actually kind of hoping I could just meet you straight at Rosemont for soundcheck, but..." She sighed. "I can be there in an hour or so, I guess. I need to jump in the shower."

From the other end Casey heard some papers being shuffled. "That's fine," Dara said, sounding distracted. "I'm just going to send Bruce or Christoff to come get you. You should be ready by the time they make it to you."

"You're leaving?"

Casey whirled around at the sound of the voice behind her. Matt was awake, sleepily rubbing his eyes. "Hey, kiddo. Hold on a sec." To her manager she said, "OK, Dara. I'll see you soon." She ended the call and approached her brother, affectionately rubbing the top of his head.

"Yeah, Matty, duty calls." She smiled even as he scowled at her.

"I thought we were gonna get to hang out while you're here." He crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.

She wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Well...do you want to come with me? You'll probably be doing a lot of waiting around but--"

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "I'm gonna go get dressed!" With that, he practically skipped down the hall to his own room.

Casey chuckled and shook her head, walking in the other direction to her parents door. She knocked softly and heard a muffled voice tell her to come in.

"Morning, Kid. I thought you planned on sleeping in?" Casey's dad looked at her through the mirror as he adjusted his tie.

She smiled and climbed onto her parents' bed, tucking her feet underneath her. "That was the plan, Dad, but Dara had other ideas. She needs me to come to the hotel. I told Matty he could come with if he wanted so I figured I'd see if Mom wants to come, too."

He finished with his tie and turned to face Casey. "She should be out of the bathroom soon." He watched her for a moment as she picked up the remote and aimlessly flipped through television channels. "Are you sure everything's OK, Honey?"

That question was coming at her from everywhere these days. She tossed him a distracted smile, not moving her eyes from the TV. "I'm fine, Daddio. Aces."

***

The interview with the newspaper now over, all five members of *NSYNC were settling back at the hotel with a couple of hours to spare before having to leave for soundcheck. JC was in his room, organizing what had been left haphazardly earlier in the morning. As he tidied up, he talked to his parents and siblings, checking in on their lives and updating them about his. For him, it seemed that his stories were a lot of the same old, same old. A new city, hours on the road, and funny things that happened as he traveled around and did what he loved with his four best friends. He was much more interested in what was going on in the lives of his family and friends. As much as he loved what he was doing, he sometimes missed normalcy. Hearing from his loved ones was like a lifeline back to the real world.

He casually mentioned something to his mother about Casey; it was an offhand remark, recalling something amusing that had happened with her. His mother brought up the fact that, up until that point, he hadn't had much, if anything at all, to say about *NSYNC's latest opening act. He made up something about discovering that they had a lot in common--which, he told himself, wasn't necessarily an outright lie. His mom was glad to hear that they were getting along, and they continued the conversation by moving on to other topics.

With the phone calls done and the room back in order, JC lay back on the bed, eyes closing. He passed out almost immediately upon boarding the bus after the show and he was still exhausted by the time they rolled into the parking lot of Chicago's Omni Hotel at around four in the morning. But once he was settled in his hotel room, his sleep had been fitful. He'd fallen back to sleep easily enough, but woke up every hour or so in discomfort. He'd gotten too hot, then too cold. He'd broken into a cold sweat and had a headache. Around six-thirty in the morning he gave up, opting to get up and shower. Now his lack of sleep was catching up with him.

On top of his exhaustion, he still hadn't heard from Casey and it was weighing on his mind in a big way. But sleep was winning, and in moments he was dozing.

Fifteen minutes into his nap, his phone rang. He grabbed it and answered without bothering to read the display. "Hello," he grumbled.

"I woke you. I'm sorry," Casey said timidly.

He exhaled and opened his eyes. "Casey. Hey."

He was glad to hear from her, couldn't even pretend otherwise. But he was also...not necessarily annoyed, but close to. She wanted to go home and spend the night in her own bed, in her own house, with her own family. There was nothing wrong with that; in fact, everything was right with it. But the secrecy and avoiding his phone calls and leaving without saying a word was just...unnecessary.

"Sorry. Um...I'll call--"

"No," he interrupted, rubbing his eyes. "No, it's fine. Really. I had just fallen asleep so... What's up? Where are you?"

"Same place as you, actually. I'm here in the hotel. In Dara's room right now." Her voice was timid.

"Since when?"

"About an hour ago." She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry I left without saying anything, JC."

"You don't have to be sorry, Case." He inhaled before choosing his words carefully. "Is everything OK? With us, I mean. I thought it was. After we talked the other night."

"I, um...hold on one sec, JC."

He heard rustling on the phone, and then muffled voices. There was the sound of more movement, and then Casey came back on the line.

"Sorry about that," she said quietly. "Listen, everything is fine with us, OK? But, um, can we talk later? Before the show maybe? My brother and mom are kind of hanging out right now, and I have soundcheck and the autograph signing at Sam Goody, but...well, I can try and sneak away before we have to be at the venue."

"Uh..." JC glanced at his watch. "What time's the Sam Goody thing?"

"Um, like one, I think?"

"How about after that?" he suggested.

"Sure. Um, what room are you in?"

He chuckled. "Uh, well, actually we're in room 1430. I talked to Everett last night. I, um...is that still OK?"

She made a small sound that was not quite a sigh. "It's more than OK, JC. I'll...I'll talk to you soon, OK?"

He heard something catch in her voice but he let it go. "Talk to you later, Casey."

JC ended the call and shut his eyes again. This girl is going to drive me crazy.

***

"Wow!" Matthew breathed, eyes almost cartoonishly wide. "This is so awesome!" He looked around the bus's lounge, and stopped on the huge TV on the wall.

Casey flopped onto the couch. "Yeah, it is pretty awesome."

He took a seat across from her and continued to gaze around the room in awe. "So you just sit back here and play video games the whole time you're driving?"

She laughed. "Not me so much, but the others do. It passes the time."

"Your dad's going to meet us at the arena tonight. He's coming straight from work." Elizabeth Whitaker entered the room and took a seat next to her daughter.

Casey nodded. "OK." She picked up her phone and began tapping on it. "I'll let Everett know. Someone will probably have to come down to get him. Um..." Her fingers continued to fly across her qwerty pad. "I'm giving him your number so you guys can coordinate how to get Daddy up to the skybox."

"Ok." Her mom watched as Matt turned on the XBOX and searched through the stack of games next to the console. "Don't get too comfortable, Matthew; Casey's going to be leaving soon, right?"

Casey chuckled. "How about I hire you to be my p.a., Mom? You know my schedule better than I do." So far she was doing well without a personal assistant, but if her schedule picked up anymore, Dara had already suggested it may be time to begin thinking of hiring someone.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, knowing her daughter was joking. If it were up to her, she definitely would be on the road with her; Casey knew that. "Don't tempt me, honey. I feel like you need someone keeping an eye on you."

Casey looked down at her phone. "I've got about forty-five minutes before we need to get going."

"See, Mom, I have plenty of time to play." Matthew barely glanced over as the game loaded and he began setting up for play.

Casey watched her brother play for a moment before looking up and catching her mother's eye. She could tell there was something she wanted to say to her, away from the keen ears of her little brother. "I'm thirsty. How ‘bout you, Mom? Will you be OK here for a minute, Matty?"

The little boy grunted his response, eyes glued to the game in front of him.

Casey and her mother got up and made their way back to the kitchenette at the front of the bus. She grabbed a couple of water bottles from the fridge and joined her mother, who was already perched at the small table.

"So you know you guys don't have to stick around for the record store, right?" Casey uncapped her bottle and took a long drag. "It's gonna be an hour and change of you guys sitting around watching me sign autographs and take pictures. I already told Matty it wasn't going to be any fun."

The older woman nodded. "He told me. We'll probably leave from your soundcheck, grab some lunch, and meet you back at the arena."

Casey leaned back against the cushions and blew out a breath. "I can't believe I'm gonna be performing at the freaking Rosemont Horizon." She shook her head in disbelief. "All of the shows I've seen there and I'm going to be onstage."

Her mom grinned broadly. "I'm so proud of you, sweetie. We all are."

In addition to her immediate family, just about all of Casey's local extended family, as well as a few friends were going to be attending the show that evening. The thought of it kind of made her head spin.

She smiled. "Let's hope you're still proud after tonight. Hopefully I don't completely screw everything up."

"You won't, honey," her mom said with a knowing smile. "You'll be great." She stared at her daughter for a moment, her smile slipping slightly. "What's going on, Case?"

Casey avoided her mother's gaze and picked at the label of her water bottle. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Elizabeth began in exasperation, "you flew home last night because you just felt like it, so you say. And since your meeting with Dara this morning you've seemed on edge."

The meeting with Dara had been mostly uneventful, but her manager had informed her that she'd likely be spending the next couple of weeks on the road with her. Though she didn't say it, Casey knew it was so she could keep an eye on her.  

"I just wanted to be home, Mom. That's all. And as for Dara..." She shrugged. "She's spending some time on the tour. Which is...it's fine."

The elder Whitaker pursed her lips and sat back with her arms crossed. "You don't sound like it's fine."

Casey shook her head slightly. "It's fine, Mom. I'm fine. Everything is fine."

Elizabeth watched her for a moment, and Casey pretended not to notice. "Are you sleeping at home again tonight?" she asked her daughter. "You have an afterparty, right?"

"Yeah, probably not. I know Matty's going to be disappointed, but it's going to be late when we leave the club. And then I've got to do a call-in radio thing at like, seven a.m. The club is closer to the hotel so I'll probably just spend the night there."

"He'll be a little upset, but he'll understand," her mother replied. "I think he'll want to come back for tomorrow's show, though. You're leaving straight for Grand Rapids after tomorrow's show, right?"

Casey chuckled, marveling at her mother's ability to remember details. "I have to check with Everett to be sure, but I think the buses are pulling out right away. Maybe after the radio thing we could have brunch in my hotel?"

"I'd like that, and so would your dad and Matt." Casey's mom agreed with a smile and nod. "You seem happier lately, honey. I'm glad."

Casey smiled slightly. "Perfect segue," she muttered under breath.

If she'd been preoccupied after her meeting with Dara, it was more about the issue of JC than anything else. She and her mother were close, and keeping him a secret felt like lying. She wasn't planning on going into detail about the nature of their relationship, but she could at least let her mother know that they were no longer...at odds.

"I am happier lately," she said, nodding.

Her mom watched her intently. "Is there a particular reason for it?"

Thinking of JC and hoping she didn't blush, she tried to meet her mom's eyes but faltered under her gaze. "Ah, just...you know...things are going well. I, um...well, you know how I told you that JC and I didn't really talk or anything?"

Elizabeth nodded. "I remember."

"Well, we...I don't know. We talk now. He's, um, he's really cool, actually." She glanced at her mom and blushed. "So, that's good."

Mrs. Whitaker nodded with a light smile. "That's great, honey. What happened to turn things around?"

"Uh..." Casey wracked her brain trying to come up with a plausible explanation. "We, just, um, you know, kind of accidentally ran into each other one night. And from there we...just started talking. Turns out we have a lot in common."

Elizabeth watched her daughter, the small smile still in place. "Well, whatever's got you smiling more these days, I'm glad for it."

Casey bit her lip to keep the smirk off her face. "Thanks, Mom."

***

Elizabeth smiled up as she watched her daughter from a few rows back. Casey and her dancers were assembled onstage and running through the choreography and staging for her performance. Roadies and various other crew members were moving around everywhere, setting things up, adjusting things; the scene was one of controlled chaos. She shook her head in awe and pride. Her daughter had always wanted this, and she was making it happen. She glanced over at Matty where he sat to her left, kicking his legs listlessly in his chair.

"When's this gonna be over, Mom?" he asked, clearly not impressed. He leaned closer to his mother so he could be heard over the music and other chatter happening onstage and beyond. "And when are we actually gonna be able to spend some time with Casey?"

She smiled. "She'll be done in a few minutes, honey. And I know you want to spend time with your sister, but we talked about this, right?"

Matt blew out a defiant breath. "I know, I know. She's not home on vacation; she's home to work. But still...this sucks, Mom."

She raised a cautioning gaze at him. "Language, Matthew."

"Sorry, Mom." He didn't sound the slightest bit sorry. "So after this Casey has her signing? Then what? Do we get to hang out with her then?"

Casey's mom nodded, slowly. "Yep, she has her signing, and she said you didn't really want to go to that."

His shoulders sagged. "Sitting around in a room while she signs autographs for a million people doesn't sound fun to me, Mom."

She chuckled. "Me either, kiddo. She has a little time before she needs to be at Sam Goody so we figured we'll hang out while she gets ready, and then when she leaves we'll go to lunch. After that we'll come back here."

"And she's coming back here, too, right? After she leaves the store?"

"Right now, as far as I know, yes. But, honey, you know...let's just play it by ear, OK?"

Matt blew out a frustrated breath and looked up at his sister, waving back when she waved at him. "What about tonight? Is she spending the night at home?"

"Um," Mrs. Whitaker began slowly. "I don't know, hon, but I don't think so." He began to grumble and she interrupted him. "Matt, she has something she has to do after the show tonight and it's probably going to be late when she's done. She also has some things to do first thing in the morning so really, it makes sense for her to stay in the hotel, downtown, so she can be close to everything she needs to do."

"She just has a stupid party after the show tonight. Why does she have to go? Or at least, why can't I go with her?"

She chuckled sympathetically. "Well, honey, you can't go because you're not eighteen. And as for it just being a party...well, it is, but it's a working party. And you know she would much rather be hanging out with you." She inhaled. "Matt, look at me please."

He grudgingly looked up at his mother. "I know you miss Casey, and sweetie, she misses you, too. She misses all of us. But she has a job to do, OK? And we need to support her in that. So I need you to just try not to show her how disappointed you are, OK?"

Matt narrowed his eyes skeptically. "You want me to lie, Mom?"

She snorted. "No, smart alec, I don't want you to lie. I know you're not happy that you haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with your sister. And I know she knows it, too. I'm just saying, stop complaining, OK? It's hard on her, too."

Matt pouted for a moment before nodding. "OK, Mom. I'll put my game face on."

She smiled and shook her head. "Do that, kiddo."

"Hey!" Casey's voice boomed from the stage. She waved to her mom and brother. "Can you guys come up here, please?"

Casey's mom and brother vacated their seats and headed to the stage, where a stagehand showed them around to the steps on the side.

"You looked bored out there, Matt." Mike laughed as he clapped the younger boy on the shoulder.

"It's cool, little bro. You'll have fun tonight; I guarantee it." Matt shrugged sheepishly as Casey bumped him with her hip. "So I need to jump in the shower and change before I go to Sam Goody, which means I'm going back to the hotel now. You guys eating around here or coming back downtown?" Along with her mom and brother, Casey and her dancers made their way backstage.

"Uh...we'll stay out this way." Elizabeth addressed Casey's dancers. "Did you guys want to join us for lunch? My treat."

"Thanks, Mrs. W," Lawrence said. "I'm gonna hang out around here and check out craft services. I have some phone calls to make and stuff."

Mike nodded his agreement. "Yeah, thank you for the offer but I'm going back to the hotel, too."

"Same here, Mrs. W. I'm gonna nap. Or sit in the hot tub for awhile," Jasmine said.

As they headed down the hall toward an exit, four familiar voices rose from ahead.

"No, man, that's not what I said at all!" came one voice.

"Dude, we all heard you," was another's response.

"Yeah, we did," said someone else.

"Nuh uh," the first voice insisted. "JC will tell you when he gets here. He heard me."

"Hey, guys!" Casey exclaimed, now that Justin, Chris, Joey and Lance were in view, and just a couple of feet in front of her.

Casey's dancers said their hi's and continued on down the hall.

"Hey, real quick, Mom and Matty, I want to introduce you to...well, *NSYNC."

"Since our C isn't here right now, we're technically *NSYN," Chris pointed out. "Which is kind of ironic considering--"

Justin elbowed Chris in the stomach. "Nice to meet you both," he said, extending his hand to Casey's mother and brother.

Casey shot daggers at Chris before shaking her head. "Meet Justin, Chris, Lance and Joey," she said, pointing to each guy in turn. "Where's JC?"

"In the car on a phone call," Justin said, shaking Mrs. Whitaker's and Matt's hands.

Her mother and brother shook hands with the other four men and exchanged pleasantries.

Casey looked down the hall, almost willing JC to emerge. "Well, I guess you'll have to meet JC later," she said to her family when it didn't seem as if he would appear. "Bruce is waving to me from the door so I guess it's time to go."

"See you guys later!" She directed to four of the five members of *NSYNC.

"We'll tell ‘C you were looking for him," Chris called with a smirk.

As they left the building and approached the waiting SUV, Casey felt eyes on her. She glanced to her left to see her mom smirking. She waited until her dancers had piled into the vehicle and stopped. "Why are you looking at me like that, Mom?"

Mrs. Whitaker smiled slightly. "No reason. We'll see you later, honey. Come on, Matt."

Casey watched her mother and brother get into their car, before joining her dancers.