The entire entourage of buses and trucks converged on Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after nearly six hours on the road. They'd made one pit stop that Casey had slept through; she was disappointed to find out that JC had been looking for her.

"I wonder what he wanted," she commented to Jasmine. "I mean, what exactly did he say?"

Jasmine smiled knowingly. "He asked where you were, and we told him you were asleep. I offered to go get you and he said to let you sleep and that he'd, and I quote, 'get at' you later."

Casey couldn't hide her smile.

Jasmine shook her head with a laugh. "I'm sure he will, too, but in the mean time let's get soundcheck done. I'm starving!"

***

The First Union Center was huge inside and out; there were a handful of dressing rooms as well as meeting rooms. The event staff had done a spectacular job of working with Everett to make sure that there was space for everyone to relax before the show, including a humongous spread put together by the craft services team. There had been a flurry of activity after soundcheck and JC hadn't yet had a chance to catch up with Casey. He was in a dressing room the size of a moderately spacious studio apartment, along with his bandmates and some bodyguards. Justin, Chris, Donnie and Eric were crowded around a TV playing Gran Turismo 2. Lance, Joey, Tiny and Everett were involved in a card game.

JC was perched in an overstuffed chair off by himself; Seal could be heard coming through his headphones. He had been dozing off and on but a particularly raucous cry from the gamers had awakened him. He sat up in his chair and stretched his arms overhead, yawned, and then looked at his watch; there were more than two hours before showtime, which meant he had at least an hour before they began their pre-show ritual. He placed his headphones on the table to his left and looked around the room and at everyone engaged in their various activities. Without being noticed, he slipped out of the nearest door.

***

Casey was in her dressing room with her headphones on; knowing she couldn't hear a thing, Jasmine got up to answer the knock at the door. She smiled and gestured behind her. "She's over there," she said to the not-completely-unexpected visitor.

Casey jumped at the tap on her shoulder and was surprised--and pleased-- to look up into a pair of blue eyes framed by long, dark eyelashes. "Hey." She slid her headphones off and around her neck and smiled. "What are you doing here?"

JC, dressed in a pair of baggy black warm up pants and a long sleeved white tee, scooted onto the couch directly opposite the chair she was sitting in. "I was dozing and then I wasn't, and then I decided to come see what you were doing." He glanced around the room. "It's a helluva lot quieter in your room than ours."

Jasmine cleared her throat. "So, um, we're gonna go. So you guys can...talk or whatever. Right guys?" She gave Mike and Lawrence pointed looks and they immediately nodded their agreement.

"Yeah. We'll be back later," Mike said.

"Much later," Lawrence added.

"You guys don't have to--" Before JC could finish his sentence the three dancers quickly vacated the room, leaving him and Casey alone. "--go." He looked at her and laughed.

"That's their not very subtle way of giving us privacy," she said with a wry smile. "Ever since they found out about us they've spent literal hours discussing the logistics of us having sex on the bus. And taking bets as to when it's going to happen."

He snickered. "Yeah, well, it wouldn't be the first time."

Casey raised an eyebrow at him. "You've had sex on the bus before?"

He grinned at the surprise in her voice. "I didn't say that; I just meant it's happened before."

She sat back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest, amusement on her face. "So you're saying you haven't had sex on your tour bus?"

JC averted his eyes, trying not to smile. "I didn't say that, either."

"So what are you saying then?"

"I'm saying," he said, biting his lip against the laugh that threatened to bubble over, "that I'm pleading the fifth."

Casey leaned over and poked his knee. "I think there's a story there somewhere."

"Maybe," he murmured in agreement, a smile at the corner of his lips. "What about you?" He noticed the way her eyes briefly darkened at the question.

"Nope," she said simply, leaning back against the plush cushions of the chair. "So what's up?"

Her brusque change of subject didn't go unnoticed but he let it go again. He shrugged. "It dawned on me that I have no idea what your pre-show routine is--outside of the part that you join us for."

After Justin, Chris, Joey, Lance and JC went through their pre-show ritual together and with their band, it was customary to bring all the available crew, from roadies to makeup and wardrobe, to the folks who handled staging and props, to the opening act or acts, if there was more than one, for a prayer, and a massive all-hands in pre-show yell, before the members of *NSYNC went around with the hacky sack. It worked to amp everyone up, as well as to remind each and every person there of how integral and important they were to the functioning of the whole.

"And I don't know." He held his palms up and smiled somewhat timidly. "I guess now seemed as good a time as any to come find out."

Casey watched him for a moment. "I'm glad you did," she said.   

"So do you have a routine? I thought I heard you singing when I came in."

Casey pulled her legs up to cross them in the chair. "Yeah, that's part of it," she nodded. "I go through some vocal warm ups and then we--Lawrence, Mike, and Jazz and me--do yoga."

He raised an eyebrow. "Yoga? Seriously?"

She laughed. "Yes, seriously. Don't knock it, dude. Mike's been into yoga for, like, ever, and it's just relaxing and stretching and, I don't know, it kind of calms me down before a show."

He nodded, eyebrow still raised. "Yoga, huh? That's cool." He paused a moment, staring into space, and then looked back at Casey with something like intrigue on his face. "So, um, I hear yoga makes you pretty flexible."

She threw her head back and laughed.

"What?" he asked wide-eyed. "I just...I've heard that, I mean."

"Have you now?" she asked, brown eyes sparkling.

"Yeah. Maybe you could show me something sometime. Some of the, ah, poses that you do."

She snickered at his completely innocent expression, knowing that the motivation behind the question was anything but. "Maybe."

He chuckled and for a moment, they stared at one another, not speaking.

JC finally cleared his throat. "So, um, I don't want to keep you if you have a whole thing that you do."

Casey shook her head slowly. "No, we've got plenty of time. Like I said I'm glad you came by."

"Me, too," he murmured. "Although I'd be even more glad if you weren't sitting all the way over there."

A shiver traveled down her spine and she looked up to see him gazing at her intensely. She inhaled slowly, pushed out of the chair she was in, and slid onto the cushion next to him. "Is this better?" she asked quietly.

He nodded, his fingers already on her cheek and moving to the back of her neck. "Much," he breathed, before leaning in to kiss her.  

***

On the road, each day blended into the one before it. For the next three weeks they drove from one city to the next, sometimes with a night or two stopover in a hotel, and sometimes straight through. In their downtime Casey and JC spent more time together, and not all of it in bed. They talked music and found they were inspired by many of the same artists. She introduced him to musicians he had never heard of, and he was all too happy to answer all of her eager questions about more of the behind the scenes side of the recording process. They talked about other things, and found a sort of kindred spirit in the other.

JC found her seemingly nonstop energy fascinating. She was always in motion, tapping a foot, pacing when she talked. And even if she was sitting, she was usually moving ever-so-slightly to the beat of the music that she said was constantly playing in her head. And she talked virtually nonstop. It was a quirk that occasionally exhausted him, but mostly he found endearing. She flitted from topic to topic, often interrupting herself in the midst of sentence to follow a thread of thought in another direction. Her external energy reminded him of the internal energy he had, that was often belied by his laid-back, quiet exterior.

JC was, Casey decided, something of a study in opposite. As anyone who ever saw him perform could attest to, onstage he was the physical embodiment of intensity and boldness. Offstage, however, he was calm, relaxed, and borderline shy.  Beneath that surface, she also found that he was a deep thinker with a lot of interests. As quiet and unassuming as he could be when in the midst of a group of people, she was intrigued with how different he could be one on one. When given the opportunity, he had lots of ideas about all sorts of things, and he loved to talk about it all. She enjoyed listening to him wax philosophically about world affairs and current events, art and music. She loved flipping through his photos of *NSYNC's international travels while he told her about the people they met, the sights they took in, and the food they ate. His perspective on his life experiences so far, positive and negative, and the way in which he wanted to impact the world with it all was refreshing and intriguing to her. He was, she thought, kind of a visionary. And one of the most genuinely positive people she'd ever met. He was also prone to rambling and moments of completely zoning out in the middle of a conversation. He was often on his own internal tangent and so was the last to get the joke. She didn't tell him, but she even found that adorable.

They were subjected to only mild ribbing, and it was mostly at the hands of Justin and Chris, and occasionally, in the form of a lewd joke or comment, from Joey. Outside of that, no one on the tour seemed particularly surprised that they were suddenly spending time together, and Casey was particularly vexed about it. Everyone seemed to take it as a matter of course.

"Um, Genevieve asked me to give this to you." Genevieve was the tour's hair stylist.  He knelt down next to his bag and stood back up, extending a bottle of conditioner toward her.  

Casey stared at the bottle for half a second before taking it. "Oh. Ok." She tossed it onto the bed. The night before she had mentioned to Genevieve that her regular conditioner seemed to be leaving her curls dry and dull and she asked if she had anything else she could use.

"How come she gave it to you?" She placed one hand on her hip. "I mean, not that I mind. It's just...well, she didn't mention it when she was doing my hair last night."

JC shrugged and sat heavily on the bed. "She said she forgot and she figured I'd see you before she did again so..." He picked up the bottle and looked at the ingredients.

"It's weird, don't you think?"

"The conditioner?" He blinked up at her, forehead wrinkled.

She smiled wryly. "No, just the...I don't know. No one really says anything about...us."

"What are they supposed to say?" He glanced at the conditioner again before setting it on the nightstand next to the bed.

Casey shrugged. "It's not that they're supposed to say anything. I just figured they would. Everyone knew, before, that we didn't like each other."

JC coughed and dipped his head. "I never said I didn't like you."

"You acted like it." She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.

"I could say the same about you," he countered.

"If I acted like I didn't like you, it's only because you acted that way first."  

JC made a small sound of frustration and rubbed one hand across his face. "Casey, I--"

"Never mind," she said, shaking her head.

He watched her quietly for a moment. Whenever they came too near the subject of Orlando and what came before, she changed it.

She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and began typing on it. "Why'd Genevieve think you'd see me before she would?"

"I didn't ask her, Case." He held his hands palms up and shrugged again. "I assume because we don't have a show tonight, which means you won't be in her chair again until tomorrow night."

"Yeah, but..." She stopped tapping on the keys and looked up at him expectantly. "How'd she know I would see you before tomorrow's show?"

JC cocked his head to one side and regarded her curiously. "I don't think it's any big secret that we spend most nights together."

"We don't spend every night together," she mumbled. "I, um..." She looked down at her phone again before looking back at him. "I have to get going."

JC blinked slowly and held up the forgotten bottle of conditioner. "Are you taking this with you?"

She smiled sheepishly. "I figured I'd be showering here later, so..."

"What was that about not spending every night together?" He smirked up at her.

She turned on her heel and waved at him as she headed for the door. "We didn't spend last night together, and after tonight who knows. We have a show every night for almost a week. See you later, JC."

***

After five straight nights of shows, they were in Charlotte, North Carolina with a night off and a hotel room. JC opened his eyes and looked at Casey still sleeping against his chest. His fingers absently skidded across her back. She stirred, and he thought she was going to wake up. Instead, she sighed and settled back down against him, keeping her eyes closed. They sometimes spent days on the road, stopping for a show, and loading right back up on the bus as soon as it was over. But usually, on the nights not spent on the bus, Casey stayed with him in his hotel room.

The past month was a whirlwind and he almost didn't want to analyze it too much. Whatever was happening, he was determined to sit back and just enjoy himself. And for the most part, he was thoroughly enjoying himself, while enjoying her. For the most part. But the longer he watched her sleep, the more the other thoughts began to creep in, little by little. The thoughts that wondered ‘what next.' The thoughts that told him that maybe things were moving a little fast, all things considered. The thoughts that still wanted to know what happened with Tony. With a sigh, he willed all of those thoughts away.  

She stirred again and mumbled something against him, bringing a smile to his face. Despite the drama of the first couple of months of the tour, he was finding that being with her was supremely easy, easy in a way he hadn't experienced in a long time. As much as he wanted to stay tangled up with her, he knew he needed to wake her. It was almost noon and if no one was looking for them yet, he knew they soon would be. Still, he figured he could get dressed and let her sleep for a little bit longer. It was his fault, he reasoned with a self-congratulatory smirk, that she was getting so little sleep these days. He tried to extricate himself from under Casey without waking her, without luck.

"Hi." She smiled, opening her eyes to look at him.

"Hi back," he said. He kissed the top of her head.

"I like this," Casey mumbled sleepily.

"You like what?" He was pretty sure he knew the answer, but he wanted to hear her say it nonetheless.

She froze, realizing she had spoken aloud. "Um, I just meant . . ."

He smiled. "I do, too." And he did like it, waking up wrapped around her. He liked it maybe more than he should have, considering the timing.

She bit her bottom lip and didn't move from her position against him.

"We should probably get up. It's almost noon." He didn't want to move anymore than she did, but it was time.

With a sigh, she let him up and rolled over to grab her phone from the nightstand.  "Lovely," she muttered. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"What's wrong?" JC yawned as he pulled on a pair of sweatpants.

She waved her hand vaguely. "Dara's been calling me. It's fine. She's in town today and I guess she's gonna be sticking around for the next few dates."

"Do you think you're going to tell her?" He stopped in his actions to watch her. "About this--us, I mean."

Casey yawned loudly. "What's Johnny said to you about it?"  

"Not much, really." JC pulled a shirt over his head. "Just, you know, that an unplanned pregnancy would be bad for our image so keep it wrapped up, et cetera."

She raised an eyebrow. "He said that? Really?"

JC blushed and scratched his jaw. "Not in so many words, but..." His manager's spiel had been a lot more colorful in actuality, but he thought it best to spare her the specifics.

He shrugged. "He asked what was going on with us," he remarked mildly.

"What'd you say?" she asked, glancing up at him from her phone.

"I told him I didn't know, which is the truth." He affixed his blue eyes on her and she very pointedly looked away.

Despite him bringing it up casually once or twice, they hadn't, in fact, decided what they were--if anything--as of yet, and Casey was clearly in no hurry to label it.

"Anyway," he began again, "he suggested keeping things on the down low for now."

She nodded. "Sage advice."

For a moment JC said nothing but he continued to watch her. He crossed his arms over his chest. "So are you planning on telling Dara?"  

"There's no reason not to at this point, I guess."  

"She's not going to be happy," JC said with a half smile.

Casey stretched before making moves to get out of the bed. "Yeah, well, I guess she'll have to get used to it."

He watched her get dressed for a moment. "Let's go out tonight," he said suddenly. "Just us."

"Are you asking me out on a date, Chasez?" She nodded slowly, the corners of her lips turning up into an amused smile.

JC grinned. "Yeah, I guess I am. As many times as you've let me hit it over the past few weeks I figure I at least owe you dinner." He dodged the pillow that she launched at him, howling with laughter.

***

Casey got out of the shower to the sound of her ringing telephone. She knew who it was and wanted to avoid answering until it was absolutely necessary. In the time she and JC rode the elevator down to her floor and he had left her at her hotel room, the same caller had tried had no less than four times. She dried off quickly and took a deep breath.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Where are you?" Dara demanded on the other end of the phone.

"I'm in my room drying off. I just got out of the shower."

"Casey, you're supposed to be--"

"I know where I'm supposed to be, Dara. It's just after noon." Unbeknownst to her manager, she made a sour face.

"The car will be at the hotel to pick you up at a quarter to one." Dara paused for a beat. "Should I even ask you where you've been?"

Casey closed her eyes. "Probably not now, but we can talk later. I need to finish getting ready, OK?"

"Fine. I'll see you at the studio."

Casey ended the call and flung the phone onto the bed. Her mind was spinning and she knew she needed to get her thoughts under control before going into the studio. JC was still on her mind, although it was now in relation to what Dara's reaction would be to the situation. The fact that he wanted to go out complicated things further. It was one thing for them to sneak around behind hotel doors and backstage hallways; being seen together in public was a whole new ballgame.

She shook her head and went about getting dressed.

***

"Ok, so try this part like this." The balding man at the piano played a few bars until Casey jumped in and sang along.

She was rehearsing a song with Rich Robinson. Since the tour had taken them to Charlotte, she'd finally had a chance to work with the popular producer at his home base; he'd been trying to get together with her for months, but there was always a scheduling conflict. Though he worked out of Los Angeles most often, he was from Charlotte and had a studio there. The timing worked out that they'd have a few hours to work while she was still in North Carolina, with plans to finish at a later date when the tour went through L.A.

What set Rich apart from most of the other pop music producers of the day was his training and study as a classical pianist; he was a musician first, and approached his songwriting and producing from that standpoint first. Casey was beyond thrilled to have a chance to get into the studio with him. He was at the top of her short list of producers she wanted to work with so she was excited and humbled to have the opportunity.

Rich had begun a song already with her in mind. He'd spent some time not only listening to her other recordings, but talking to her a bit. He knew her range, and had constructed the basic melody along with some of the instrument arrangements. He'd jotted down a few lyrical ideas, but, being aware of the control Casey had managed to keep over her music, was prepared to get her input. It surprised him, and impressed the hell out of him as well. She had a reputation for maintaining a superb level of musicianship, and he was looking forward to seeing what they could do together as a team. If all went well with one song, he was already planning the possibility of future collaborations.

After Rich played through the melody a couple of times, Casey began to input lyrical and musical suggestions. Within an hour, they had the song completed and set to work on recording a rough demo.

Dara watched and listened quietly from a loveseat behind the producer's rack as Casey took her position inside the vocal booth. She smiled as she listened to the young woman sing.

Casey definitely had the raw talent to make her mark on the music world, but Dara wondered if her impulsiveness and stubbornness would hinder her. So far, she had proven that in too many instances, she was headstrong and unwilling to play the game. When it came to the artistic part of her job, Casey gave a hundred and ten percent. However, on other matters, matters equally as important from a business standpoint, she was often so unyielding. Dara continued to sit silently, keeping her face clear of the distress in her thoughts.

***

"You sounded great in there," Dara said sincerely as she and Casey exited the recording studio.

Casey smiled enthusiastically. "Rich is amazing! It's like every time I was trying to explain what I wanted he just reproduced it! Like he was in my head, or something. That song is gonna be so hot!"

They got settled in the car and Dara continued to listen to the younger woman elaborate on the extent of Rich's musical genius. After a few moments, Dara switched gears. "So are you going to tell me where you were this morning? When you didn't answer your cellular I called the hotel room. Jasmine, not surprisingly, said she didn't know where you were."

Casey sighed; she'd been hoping to avoid this part of the conversation until much later, but she could tell Dara wasn't going to drop things so quickly now.

"What's going on with you, Casey? You've been distracted the last few weeks. Cagey, even."

Casey snorted. "Cagey?"

"Cagey," the older woman repeated calmly. "I call you, you don't answer. Or you do answer, but you won't tell me where you are or who you're with."

Casey rolled her eyes and frowned. "Are you managing my personal life or my career? Because as far as I can tell I'm still doing my job. The tour is going well; I'm sure Everett's keeping you in the loop."  

Dara sighed, not liking the turn the conversation was taking. "All I'm saying, Casey, is that a lot has happened in your personal and professional life these past few months. And yes, Everett's keeping me in the loop and your performances have been terrific, and you've kept up the pace wonderfully, especially considering...well, Tony. But I just want to make sure that everything is OK. And if there is a problem, I want to get a handle on it before it becomes a big one."

Casey crossed her arms over her chest. "There's been a lot on my mind, lately. And not just Tony and that whole shitstorm. But I feel good now. I'm OK."

"OK" Dara pursed her lips skeptically. "So, where were you this morning?"

Casey looked her manager square in the eye. "I was with JC. I've been spending, uh, time with him."

Dara raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to the side. "Come again?"

Casey stifled a laugh as she replayed certain parts of the previous evening in her head; she didn't think her manager would appreciate the joke. "JC and I...I guess we're kind of seeing each other. Sort of." She fiddled with the bottom of her shirt.

The older woman was quiet for a moment. "As of when? Because the last you said anything about JC it wasn't good." Dara looked at Casey pointedly.

"It's been going on for a few weeks actually and I know what I said." She shrugged and looked up. "It just different now, OK?"

"Because you're having sex with him?"

Casey flinched and shook her head emphatically. "No. Well, yes, but..." She threw her hands up in frustration. "I know how this sounds, OK? Believe me, I do. And I know that after everything with Tony it makes even less sense."

Dara breathed deeply. "Casey-" she began.

Casey interrupted with a raised hand. "Listen, I know what you're going to say. But trust me, OK? I'm fine. Everything will be fine."

"You know I don't think it's a good idea to mix business with...well, pleasure, if you'll pardon the cliche. Look at what happened with Tony."

"JC is not Tony." She massaged the bridge of her nose. "And there's also nothing I can do for him in terms of his career so the two situations aren't even remotely similar. And I'm a lot less naive about a lot more things than I was...then."  

"Then wasn't that long ago," Dara pointed out quietly. Sighing she said, "You're on tour with him, Casey. Under contract. What happens if things don't work out personally? Not to mention everything else. "

"Everything else like what?" Casey twisted her thumb ring absently.

"The part where you're a new artist, who happens to be young and female. He's very successful, and currently very famous. If it gets out there that you're seeing each other, and usually these kinds of things get out there, there's going to be...chatter. And there are going to be people who will insinuate that you've gotten to where you are because of who you've slept with.

"And although it's unfair, it's the nature of the business when you're a woman. Once you lose your credibility as a serious artist it's damn near impossible to get it back. And considering what happened with Tony..."  

Casey blew out a breath. "I hear you, Dara. I do. I just...I'll be careful, OK?" She turned her head to look out the window, effectively communicating that her participation in the conversation was over. 

Dara said no more, but she was anything but relaxed. She had a nagging feeling that Casey's impetuousness would get her into trouble. Sooner or later.