Lance lied against several pillows propping him up against the headboard of his bed. He stared at the wall across the room, his eyes not really focusing on anything as he let his mind wander. It was hard to believe twenty-four hours ago he'd been completely ignorant of Vanessa's plans for him and what lengths she'd gone to in order to make sure they played out like she'd wanted. Given everything that'd happened, it was amazing things hadn't turned out worse than they did.

Really, the four of them probably would've died if Justin hadn't showed up, walking in like they'd been expecting him. His sudden appearance had thrown off Vanessa enough for Chris to push back against her and destroy the pearl necklace, which had resulted in her immediate death. Almost instantly, the crushing feeling against Lance's chest had disappeared and left him gasping for air as relief flooded his body. Near him JC had done the same thing, coughing against the sudden influx of oxygen back into his starved lungs.

But all of it could've been avoided if he hadn't fallen for Vanessa. He couldn't even explain what it'd been about her that'd drawn him to her, had made him so enamored with her. Yes, she'd been a strikingly beautiful woman, but he wasn't so shallow that looks were all he looked for in a girl. Her personality hadn't exactly been stellar either, acting aloof and cold a lot of the time, especially around the guys. It made sense now that he knew she hadn't really loved him - or been human for that matter - but there'd been something about her that'd attracted him to her.

Could it be he'd been blinded to her faults by the simple fact he was lonely and she was the first woman he could see himself with in a while? He couldn't deny that something had sparked inside of him when he'd seen her and recognized that she was flirting with him. But he hadn't exactly been completely blind to her negative qualities, having gotten into a fight with her when she'd suggested the guys hated her and didn't really want to see him happy. Looking back now, that should've been a warning sign to him. Instead, he'd just brushed it off as her misunderstanding the closeness between the five of them. After all, it wouldn't have been the first time a potential girlfriend was put off by just how close and in each other's business they were.

Lance sighed. There was no doubt they'd lucked out, and hopefully his next girlfriend wouldn't try to kill them or use them to make herself more powerful. The whole thing was so out there he wouldn't have believed it if it hadn't happened to him. Then he had the weakness in his body to serve as a constant reminder of what they'd gone through. For now anyway.

Even though he hadn't been seen by a doctor, they were all confident that he was going to be fine. From what Vanessa had explained about the unborn baby she was carrying stealing nutrients from him, it sounded like all he needed was to rest and eat enough to put on some of the weight he'd lost. He'd only lost a few pounds, but it was a lot given the short amount of time she'd been using his body to provide the fetus with what it needed to grow. It certainly wasn't as bad as what JC had gone through though.

Chris had taken him to the ER shortly after Vanessa had disappeared in combination of fire and smoke. JC had had a hard time catching his breath, looking very much in pain and it'd been something that had them all worried. Not to mention no doctor's office was open at ten o'clock in the evening. Naturally, JC had tried to protest, but Chris gave him a look that said it was pointless to argue.

"You refused to get checked out until you knew Lance was okay. Lance is safe now so it's time to haul you off to the doctor," Chris had said.

JC had scowled, but hadn't said anything else which for Lance was a true testament to how crappy he must've been feeling.

Before any of them could offer to accompany them to the hospital, Chris had already pushed JC towards the front door and told them they'd be back in a few. They'd had no time to protest as the door had closed behind them, and honestly Lance had known it wouldn't be best thing for him to be there considering how exhausted he felt. Really, it hadn't been a good idea for all of them to go as they usually always got recognized when the five of them were out together and this was certainly one thing they didn't want the press getting wind of. So Joey and Justin had helped Lance back to bed and that'd been the end of it.

Despite the fact that Lance had slept several hours since he'd helped JC escape from Vanessa and what'd transpired in the bedroom just a day earlier, he'd fallen asleep rather quickly. A glance at the clock told him that'd been hours ago, and it was just getting on five in the morning. He hadn't woken up at all so he had no idea when Chris and JC had gotten back, but surely they had returned by now.

Lance slipped out of bed, feeling an indescribable need to make sure JC was okay. He carefully made his way down the hall, doing his best not to make too much noise and wake the other sleeping occupants. Normally they were pretty heavy sleepers, but Lance wasn't sure how much that'd changed given what'd happened earlier - if they purposely trying to be on alert for anything weird. Not that they expected anything to happen, but he had a feeling none of them would really feel like it was completely over until the sun came up...which consequently was just minutes away.

The door to the guest room JC was sleeping in was partially open, and Lance gently pushed it open the rest of the way. He found he hadn't needed to worry about being quiet though as JC was awake, staring at something on the other side of the room. It took Lance a second to realize it was the alarm clock he was staring at, his body tense and rigid. He frowned but then it instantly clicked; JC was making sure it was truly over and that he didn't turn into a cat again.

A tense moment passed as the red numbers rolled to five o'clock, but after a very long minute, nothing happened. There was an almost audible sigh of relief from the bed and the anxiety seemed to drain from JC, his body sinking into the soft mattress beneath him. Though, Lance didn't miss the brief pinch to JC's features as he winced in pain.

"You okay?" he asked quietly as he slowly took a step towards the bed, trying not to scare JC.

"Yeah," JC breathed, trying to hold back a grimace as he shifted on the bed so he could look at Lance. "You're supposed to be resting."

Lance raised an eyebrow and returned, "So are you."

JC shook his head slightly. "I couldn't. Not until..."

"Not until you knew for sure you wouldn't transform again," Lance finished for him, gently lowering himself onto the foot of the bed.

"She completely transferred the curse to me. I didn't know if...there was no guarantee it would stop just because she's dead."

Lance nodded. It made sense and he couldn't believe he hadn't thought about it before. He'd just assumed that whatever awful things Vanessa had done to him and his friends would reverse. He wondered if Justin's infection had vanished or if he would still have to take his medicine for a few weeks. But he supposed it didn't matter if the infection was gone, it was probably a good idea to continue with the medicine just in case. It was a miracle none of them needed anything more than rest.

"Well, looks like you're safe now," Lance said, sending out a heartfelt thanks to the powers that be. He had no idea what the hell they would've done if JC had still been bound to that curse.

"You too," JC replied, looking at him meaningfully.

Lance stared at JC, realizing just how much he'd put on the line for him. Yes, he'd had to put up with his body being under Vanessa's control, lending itself to host her ex-lover's soul and drained of life for her fetus. But JC had tried to warn him that Vanessa wasn't who she'd seemed. He'd put himself in an awkward position, trying to tell him despite the fact Vanessa was there and knowing what kind of a reaction he would get. Of course neither of them had known at that point just what she was capable of, but JC certainly hadn't gotten off easy there. If anything, Lance wondered if Vanessa had done it not just to make sure he stayed in line, but to punish JC for trying to warn him and mess up her plans. Whatever the reason, JC had sure paid for it.

"What'd the doctor say?" Lance asked.

"I'm fine."

Lance gave JC a disbelieving look, knowing how much pain he'd seemed to be in when he and Chris had left. Outwardly there'd been no real signs of damage, but that pain had to have come from somewhere and pain from sources that couldn't be seen were often more serious. Though, he realized it couldn't be too serious or else JC wouldn't have been released from the hospital.

JC held Lance's gaze for several seconds before he finally broke. "Okay. That's not exactly what the doctor said. He said I was going to be fine."

"And in the mean time?"

"In the mean time I have to take it easy. I have a couple of cracked ribs, severe bruising to my left kidney, and a slight concussion," JC admitted. "But all things considered, it could've been much worse."

All things considered. Yeah, they'd definitely gotten off easy - all of them. It seemed like a miracle that JC hadn't broken anything given how terrible that tumble down the stairs had looked. Luck had certainly been on their side in the end.

"I'm sorry," Lance said, frowning as he watched JC shift uncomfortably on the bed. He was lying on his back, but if he'd cracked a rib, it probably wouldn't help to roll over onto his side. The whole thing made Lance feel incredibly guilty since he'd latched onto Vanessa so tightly and made her a constant part of their lives over the last week.

JC started to move like he was going to sit up, but he ended up settling for just lifting his head up to look at Lance better. "You have nothing to be sorry for. None of this was your fault."

Lance shook his head. "If I hadn't been attracted to her..."

"She would've gone after someone else," JC finished. "Besides, I was the one to bring her into our lives. So if anyone's to blame, it's me."

"It's not like you knew the cat you adopted was really a demon or whatever she was. What happened is pretty unprecedented."

JC let out a short laugh. "I think that's a bit of an understatement."

Lance chuckled himself. "I'm definitely going to be more careful with the next girl I hook up with. Probably will be a while for the next one anyway."

"You shouldn't let this deter you," JC said. "You said it yourself, this was a freak thing. The odds of you running into another demon-like woman are pretty slim."

"I know, but I'm not ready to get back out there. Probably won't be for a while."

JC looked at him with understanding in his eyes. "Just as long as you don't give up. I still believe there's someone out there for you."

Instantly, Lance's mind flashed back to the conversation he and JC had had back when JC had tried to present the cat to him as something to take his mind off Dirk. JC had said something similar then, and it was a certainty to him. But he never seemed to think the same thing should apply to him.

"I won't give up if you won't," Lance said.

JC met his eyes and nodded once. "Okay," he agreed quietly.

As Lance looked into those deep blue eyes, he could see some of the pain he kept hidden from them - both physical and emotional. It'd become alarmingly clear to them over the last month just how much JC kept from them, but they would continue to do their best to read him and help him deal. Though, Lance felt like he could honestly say the pain from Emma seemed to have disappeared, leaving behind just the physical kind from his injuries. And that was certainly something they could help him with.

"Get some sleep," Lance said, his voice barely above a whisper.

JC's eyes were half closed as he replied, "You too."

JC's breathing evened out and his eyes slid the rest of the way closed, finally giving into sleep he'd deprived himself of over the last twenty-four hours. Rising from the edge of the bed, Lance headed back to his room to join him in what he hoped would be a restful sleep.

***********

When Justin woke up the late morning sun was streaming into the guest room he occupied, and the house was quiet. It wasn't all that unnatural as Lance's house always had a calm, quiet vibe to it as Lance had begun to his whatever free time he had to work on his new management company. But the silence that Justin was experiencing now was almost eerie because there didn't seem to be any real signs of life, that his friends were up and about. Though, it was still kind of early, especially for Lance and JC who'd seemed to have gone through quite an ordeal in the last twenty-four hours.

Justin had demanded to know what'd happened, forcing Joey and Lance to tell him after Chris had taken JC to the hospital to get checked out. But he'd quickly discovered he hadn't really wanted to know; it was certainly hard to believe. In fact, his mind had been inclined to believe it was just an elaborate joke the guys were playing on him. Though that had been dismissed pretty fast as he realized JC and Lance would never hurt themselves for a joke or even fake being hurt and worrying the rest of them. Still, what Joey and Lance had told him about Vanessa being some kind of a demon and transferring her cat curse to JC all sounded so fantastical.

But it'd been reality. A twisted reality maybe, but it'd been real. Something that had been driven home with Justin knowing just how much of a bind all four of them had been in when he'd walked into the kitchen. Of course, he'd had no idea at the time what he was walking into.

Kim had left the house a few hours before to work a night shift at the hospital and he'd been going out of his mind with boredom, especially since he'd been confined to a bed for several days in the hospital. So he'd tried calling JC and when he didn't answer, he'd tried the others. When no one had picked up, he'd thought it was weird, but he hadn't thought anything was wrong. He'd just figured they'd gone out together or maybe had even done separate things, which was how he'd ended up at Lance's. Lance was always the one that seemed to know everyone's schedule even when they were just on vacation. So he'd definitely been completely caught off guard when he saw three of his friends on the floor and Chris with his hand in the sink with the garbage disposal running.

Justin shuddered, thinking about what could've happened...and not just to Chris but to the rest of them as well. JC and Lance had both looked pretty shaky, and he hadn't been entirely convinced with Chris's assessment that all Lance needed was rest and a few good meals. Though when he'd heard the whole story of what'd happened, he'd wondered if Lance had gotten off kind of easy in a way. Then again, JC's injuries had been mostly physical while Lance's had a definite emotional component to it where he'd no doubt second guess every woman that came up to him for a while.

Suddenly, Justin shot up and all but leaped from the bed to snatch his phone of the dresser. He hadn't bothered to call Kim to let her know he was staying at Lance's; she must have freaked when she'd come home to find him gone. So it was with a bit of reluctance that he called her, but he knew it had to be done.

When she answered, she'd sounded tired like she'd just woken up herself, but immediately moved into pissed. Justin found out that Chris had called her last night, telling her they were hanging and having a boys night. He was thankful that his friend had had the foresight to do so, no doubt having done it as he was waiting for JC in the ER. So after a lot of apologizing, he hung up the phone five minutes later feeling relieved that she hadn't threatened to kill him. He'd definitely have to make it up to her later.

Now that he was up, he figured he'd make his way downstairs to see what Lance had to eat and check on his friends along the way. He opened the bedroom door and silently walked out into the hall, navigating down the carpeted floor. There were a couple of bedrooms he peeked into on his way, Joey snoring softly in one of them. Lance's bedroom was at the end of the hall and he could see from the partially open door that he was still in his bed. But Chris and JC obviously weren't.

Justin walked down the stairs and immediately heard noises coming from the backside of the house where the kitchen and living room were. He turned the corner and walked into the open area between the two rooms and saw Chris at the kitchen counter, making a pot of coffee.

"Morning," Chris said, nodding to him briefly before he went back to filling the coffee pot with water.

"Where's JC?" Justin asked. "He's not in any of the bedrooms upstairs."

Chris put the coffee pot in its original place and hit a bit. Then he turned to look at him. "Have you tried the study?"

Justin frowned. "Why would he be in there?"

Chris shrugged and said, "I thought I'd spotted him in there earlier."

Justin mumbled his thanks, already heading back towards the front of the house where the study was. The door was open and almost instantly his eyes fell on JC who looked to be asleep in the cushy leather chair Lance had positioned in front of his desk. He shook his head as he approached his friend.

"Jace," he said, reaching out a hand to gently shake his shoulder.

JC moaned, trying to move out of his grip, but there was nowhere for him to go. When he realized this, he practically whined, "What?"

Justin couldn't help but grin at JC's reluctance to wake up. "You should go up to bed. You're going to get stiff if you stay in that chair."

JC shifted and his face pulled up in a grimace. "Too late," he groaned, reluctantly opening his eyes as he stretched slightly.

"Why are you down here anyway?"

"Had trouble getting comfortable upstairs," JC said, shifting again and Justin winced in sympathy when he heard something crack. "Thought the chair would put less pressure on my...on everything that hurts."

Justin took in JC's appearance. His hair and clothes were mussed, the baggy t-shirt that belonged to Chris making JC's thin frame look even smaller. Add in the sleepy, red-rimmed eyes and JC looked like a little boy that'd stayed up past his bedtime. Generally, he looked fine, but Justin was worried about more than physical health.

"That chick certainly did a number on you," Justin said.

JC shook his head slightly. "Lance had it worse."

"You both had it pretty rough. Let's just leave it at that."

JC said nothing. He just sighed and closed his eyes. Justin watched him breathe for a few seconds, remembering what Chris had told him about what the doctor had told him to look for signs that things weren't improving. Thankfully, his breathing didn't seem compromised too much from the cracked ribs, which was the key thing they'd been instructed to be on the lookout for. It didn't do much to quell his concern though.

"You okay?" Justin asked.

JC slowly opened his eyes to look at him. "Yeah. I'm fine."

Justin sighed. He hadn't expected any other answer, but he was getting really tired of hearing the words "I'm fine" come from JC's lips. "You know it won't kill you to tell the truth for once," Justin told him.

"I am," JC said, his voice lacking all of the anger Justin would've expected to hear. Maybe he was too tired to really be angry. JC looked him in the eye. "Seriously. I get you're worried, but I swear if the pain worsens you'll be one of the first to know."

"And all the other stuff?"

"What other stuff?" JC asked, frowning slightly.

"You haven't really talked about what happened. I don't want you to hang onto feelings you shouldn't be having. Like guilt," Justin said.

JC sighed again. "It just happened, Justin. It's only been, what? Twelve hours?"

"I know, and I'm not saying you have to talk about it now. But I don't want you putting it off forever," Justin said. "I mean, you haven't even really talked about Emma."

JC shook his head again. "I did. Sort of. Chris made me get some things off my chest the other day."

"Oh," Justin said, kind of thrown by that. He'd had no idea Chris had talked to JC. Of course he'd figured it was only a matter of time, especially since they'd been under the same roof and it was hard to avoid Chris when he was on a mission. Being in the hospital for a few days had put him so out of the loop.

"And honestly," JC continued, "I'm over it. What she did was shitty, but it doesn't change what happened. I just want to move on."

"Are you sure?"

"No, I want to keep feeling like crap," JC said sarcastically. He took a breath and then said more calmly, "As strange as it sounds, what happened put things in perspective for me. I realized I'm not the only one who's been in some pretty messed up relationships. Everyone has their share of crappy relationships before they find the person they're meant to be with."

Justin cracked a smile, enjoying the first bit of optimism he heard from JC in a long time. "I could've told you that, dude."

JC rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Timberlake. You got off easy. You found Kim pretty early so you haven't had to go at this for as long as the rest of us."

Justin wanted to laugh and playfully argue JC's point that he'd never had a rough relationship, but he couldn't help thinking this was JC's attempt to deflect the attention off himself again. He wasn't going to let him get off that easy.

"And that's all? You have nothing else from this whole experience you want to talk about?"

Much to Justin's surprise, JC laughed lightly. "What do you want me to say? You want me to tell you what it was like to transform into a cat?" He didn't wait for Justin to answer as he continued, "Well, sorry to disappoint, but I don't remember much."

"Really?" Justin asked. It seemed odd, but maybe it was part of killing her - that JC didn't have to relive what it'd been like.

JC met his gaze. "Really," he said. "And I know you're just asking because you're worried. But you can't hover forever, especially once we get back on the road. You'll have to trust I'll come to you if something's wrong."

"Will you?" Justin asked. "I know the last leg was scary with all the death threats and everything, but you never said a word. It's like you didn't trust us to take care of you."

JC sighed, all of his earlier good humor vanishing. "That's not it. I don't mean to shut you out. We were all going through a lot and we already had so much on our plate that I didn't want to add one more thing to it."

Suddenly, Kim's words came to Justin. He remembered what she'd told him about JC trying to regain control, that that was where his desperation to get things back to normal came from. That he wasn't trying to avoid them or hide things from them.

"You wouldn't be adding to it," Justin said, using JC's words. "We were all going through the same things. It wouldn't have been a big deal to pull us aside if you need to talk. It's what we do to you so we expect the same thing in return."

JC nodded. "I can't promise I'll talk to you about everything, but I won't keep the big stuff to myself either."

"That's all I ask for," Justin said, smiling at JC. He felt much better than he had in a long time, reassured that things would never again get as bad as they were.

***********

"You didn't come over here to tell me to sit down, did you?"

Chris's lips upturned slightly as he joined JC at the railing of the VIP balcony they were in, looking down at the massive crowd beneath them that were grooving to the heavy bass music. The whole group had gone out, meeting up with the couples who'd had dinner alone as Joey and Justin had both tried to make up for the previous night to their girlfriends. There'd been a collective concern about JC going out as he seemed to be in a bit of pain because of his injuries, but he'd stubbornly refused to stay home.

"No," Chris said. "But you probably should. You're supposed to be taking it easy, you know."

"I'm not dancing," JC replied. "Besides, I think standing is less painful."

Chris gave JC a once over, noting the way he was slightly hunched over the railing. Standing obviously didn't take the pain away completely, but he could understand how sitting would be painful considering the huge, ugly bruise JC had on his lower back where his kidney was. Putting pressure on it when sitting probably did aggravate it a bit. And besides the slight grimace, he did look relatively okay.

"I actually came over to ask you what the hell you were thinking," Chris said.

JC turned to look at him, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"I got a call from Johnny earlier," Chris started and almost instantly there was a spark of recognition on JC's face.

"Oh," JC said and it was clear he knew exactly where Chris was going with this.

"So what the hell, JC? As soon as we all split up, you call Johnny?"

They'd all left Lance's a little after lunch, all of them quite sure things were completely over. Chris had dropped Joey and JC at their own houses before heading back to his apartment where he promptly fell back asleep for a few hours. Then he got a call around seven from Johnny telling him that he had the money together to pay off Robert's debt and did he want to tell him about it or let it be anonymous. As Chris hadn't set that up, that'd only left one person in his mind - the person that'd pushed for him to help his father. JC.

JC sighed, glancing back out at the dance floor. "Chris..."

"You shouldn't have done it, JC," Chris said. "You had no right."

JC turned his gaze back on him. "He's your father."

"Which makes it my decision. If I don't want to help him, that's my choice."

"You didn't help him. I did."

"Why? Why the hell do you care so much?" Chris asked. He couldn't figure out why JC was pushing the issue so much, especially considering what his father had done to him - threatening his life with a loaded pistol. That would've been reason enough to not give a shit what happened to him in Chris's book. But not in JC's apparently.

"Because I don't think you should write him off completely," JC said.

"And, what? You think paying off his debt is going to somehow make him a better person? That he'll be in my life more?" Chris challenged. "He'll take the money and run, blow it all, and then be back asking for more."

"Or it'll give him the opportunity to start over," JC countered. "You're his son, and you're a great guy. He'd be crazy not to want to get to know him."

"Who says I want to get to know him."

JC sighed again. "Chris," he started, but Chris cut him off.

"Do you have any interest in where your biological father is or want to get to know him?"

JC flinched, and Chris almost felt bad for bringing it up as he knew it was a sore topic. There wasn't much JC knew about his biological father and as far as Chris could tell, he'd never wanted to. He'd certainly never been mentioned, but that just drove his point home. If JC didn't want to associate with his estranged father, why should he?

"Okay," JC conceded. "I'm sorry. I just figured that if his debt was paid off, you'd be able to know for sure if he'd really come to you for money. Because if it wasn't, he'd keep reaching out to you."

It was Chris's turn to sigh. He knew JC hadn't meant any harm and just did what he thought was right. Chris had been second guessing how harsh he'd been with his father, not feeling as great as he'd thought he would to have his father out of his life again. He still wasn't sure if he would've changed his mind and given Robert the money, but he couldn't change what'd happened. Maybe Robert would surprise him.

"It's okay," Chris said, throwing an arm over JC's shoulders to show there was no hard feelings. "Just don't do something like that again without talking to me, all right?"

JC nodded. "Promise."

"Good. Now I could use a drink."

Chris steered them back to where the others were sitting, lounging on a huge couch in the shape of a horseshoe. He and JC had just gotten into talking distance when Justin looked up from where he was sitting with Kim.

"Oh good. You're here. I have an announcement," Justin said.

Chris glanced at JC, wondering if he knew what this was about as Justin usually told him everything before he told the rest of them. But JC looked just as confused as he felt. He turned his attention back to his youngest friend, curious what he would say.

"Kim and I are getting married."

Instantly, a heavy silence fell over the group. Chris stared at Justin in surprise and because his arm was still around JC's shoulders he was able to feel the way he stopped breathing for a second. He glanced at Joey and Lance, noticing they seemed just as shocked. None of them really knew what to say because they hadn't seen this coming. At least not this soon.

But it turned out they didn't need to come up with anything to say because Justin and Kim suddenly burst out laughing, clueing Chris in that this was a joke. The others seemed to catch on quickly and there almost seemed to a collective sigh of relief.

"You guys should've seen your face," Justin said, still laughing.

"You're an ass, Timberlake," Joey replied, but he was laughing too.

"That's what you get for talking marriage," Kim said. She glanced at Justin. "Justin and I are the only ones that are supposed to be talking about that."

"And what's the consensus?" Lance asked.

"We're not ready," Justin said, looking at each of them. "And we won't be for a while."

Kim nodded. "We're just going to see how things go. Enjoy where we are now."

"Smart," Kelly said with a smile.

"That's good," Chris agreed. "But I'm so kicking your ass for that little stunt," he told Justin.

"Me too," JC said.

Kim extracted herself from Justin and stood up then. "Well, feel free to do so now. I'm going to bathroom."

Kelly stood up also, saying that she would join her and a few seconds later, the girls disappeared down the stairs to the main floor. Once they were gone, Chris moved to sit next to Justin, pinching him before taking his seat.

"Ow!" Justin yelped. JC chuckled as he sat down next to Lance, and Justin glared at him. "What are you laughing at? This is your fault. You're the one that brought up the idea of me and Kim getting married."

JC shook his head. "That was Lance."

Lance huffed. "Sure, blame it on me," he said, but he was smiling.

Just then a waitress came over, handing each of them a refill of whatever they'd been drinking. Chris pulled out a ten bill and handed it to her, and she flashed him a smile before disappearing. When she was gone, he looked at JC.

"I hope you learned something from this whole thing," he said.

"I learned that I'm better off sticking to my usual," JC replied, holding up his rum and Coke.

Joey laughed. "I don't think that's what he was talking about."

JC's brow furrowed and Chris leaned forward slightly so he could see him better. "Next time you want a pet for yourself or Lance, get a dog."

Everyone burst out laughing, JC included. He glanced at Lance and said, "Don't worry. I'm not getting any pets any time soon."

There was more laughter and drinks as the night wore on, and Chris found that all of their spirits seemed higher than they had in a while. A lot had happened in a week, but they'd all came out of it on the other side okay. And it would stay that way as long as they made sure to keep JC away from animal shelters at all costs.