JULY, 2017

Hannah let herself sigh as soon as the phone picked up on the other side.

“Hey! What’s up?” Jade answered cheerfully.

“Jade...What am I doing?” 

Jade knew Hannah all too well. 

“Well...I’m not a mindreader, but I’m guessing...Freaking out?”

Hannah nodded unseen “A little bit, yeah....San Diego is amazing. I’m happy here. Why am I leaving?”

Jade smiled softly before she spoke “...Because you need to stop running away from what you want...You deserve this, Hannah.”

“It’s just ...happening so fast. It feels like this has taken years, and now...It’s everything at once.”

“When it rains, it pours…” Jade chirped.

“Well..It’s snowing…” Hannah replied dramatically.

“Han, breathe...This is a GOOD thing and it’s gonna be amazing because its taken long enough. It’s where you belong. You NEED to do this, and I KNOW you want to...”

“What if it doesn’t work out?”

“It WILL. It’s gonna be different this time…”

Hannah sighed “I hope you’re right.”

“You packed?”

“Almost...Movers need to finish helping with the furniture.”

Jade heard a small crash on the other end, followed by a muffled voice.

“Shit,” Hannah sighed “I gotta go...You still coming in two weeks?”

“Of course! You know I wouldn’t miss it…”

Hannah smiled. “Thanks, Jade. I’ll see you soon.”

****

JC sat on his couch, mindlessly scrolling tv channels until his own face was staring back at him.

“Former *NSyncer JC Chasez is ‘Tearin’ Up Our Hearts’ again in the new Nettflix comedy ’Opening Night’ by playing...himself? The former frontman joins a star studded cast, led by Topher Grace, to bring us a not so subtle take on the world of theater. Spotted at the film’s LA premiere, he was seen cozying up to a new mystery woman…”

JC sighed as he changed the channel. Yeah...A mystery woman he hadn’t called, texted, or spoken to in 2 weeks. She had never been serious. Eric had thought it would be a good idea to appear “settled at his age.”

Too bad she was never going to be someone he settled with. They had had fun, at least.

JC looked down to his phone on the coffee table as a notification flashed across it. JUSTIN. Not the group chat. Weird. 

“Have you seen this?? This is HANNAH, Hannah, right?”

JC enlarged the photo that had just loaded. It looked like a flyer for an event, but as he looked at it, his heart briefly stopped. There she was. Staring up at him in a professional, black and white shot. A little older, but definitely her. Hannah. He squinted, trying to read the details.

JOIN US FOR AN INTIMATE SIGNING EVENT WITH HANNAH MARTIN, AUTHOR OF NY TIMES BESTSELLER “UNATTACHED.”

JC’s mouth fell open. NY Times Best Seller?!

“Holy shit, Hannah…” he smiled. She had done it. 

Moving back to the text field, he replied.

“Wow! Yeah...That’s her. This is awesome!”

“You should go…”

“To the signing?”

“Yeah, man….Why not?”

“J…”

“You were together 3 years, dude...It’s probably about you. :p “

“Ha...Ha. I doubt it, J...She’s not like that.”

“You should still go…”

JC stared at his phone, enlarging the photo again. He found a smile again, thinking of her as a published author-a bestselling author. 

Beverly Center. Sunday Afternoon. 

He scrolled to his calendar. Completely free. Before he could talk himself out of it, he dialed.

“Eric? Yeah hi...Listen...Can you get me a car...This Sunday...Around 3:30...Uh,” he chuckled “Funny you should ask…”

**

JC walked to the side entrance, patting the VIP sticker on his chest to make sure it was visible and in place. Eric had pulled some strings just to be safe, but he was still a little nervous. He pulled his light blue Dodgers cap low around his eyes, ducking his head as he made his way into the small greenroom backstage. He had been there all of 5 minutes when a familiar voice called to him, eyes wide. 

“JC??” she squealed in a low whisper. 

JC smiled, shaking his head “Hi Jade…”

“How did you,” she shook her head smirking “Eric!...Does she know you’re here?”” she asked him, knowing she didn’t have to say who.

“Uhhh...No. Actually, Justin saw the event flyer...Let me know.”

“Wow. Random! Geez...She’s gonna be ...surprised,” Jade laughed.

JC bit his lip. “Yeah uh...Was this a bad idea?”

Jade smiled reassuringly at him. “No. It’s not like she hates you. And it was what...5 years ago or something?” Jade stared at him “It was really cool of you to come…”

‘I hope she thinks so…” he chuckled. 

Jade’s eyes lit up suddenly “Actually...I have an idea.” An almost evil grin spread across her face. She walked over to a stack of books, grabbing one and walking back to hand it to him.

“Oh uh...Thanks...I read it...This week.”

Jade giggled “Cool...Not the point...Go out there.”

JC’s eyes got wide. “What??”

“It’s almost over. Not that many people out there by now...Go get in line…”

“Jade...That’s ridiculous.”

She shrugged. “Or it’s cute. Come on don’t you wanna see the look on her face?”

JC smirked. “Yeah, kinda…”

Jade clapped her hands together. “Yay...Go!”

JC shook his head at her. Still a bit of a troublemaker, that one. “Fine. I’m going,” he caved, holding the book on one hand.

JC slipped out to the signing area. Head down, he walked quickly to the line. Sure enough, he was at the end of it. The woman in front of him smiled politely at him in greeting, doing a quick double take as she processed his face. JC smiled back, pulling his hat lower and giving her a subtle warning with his eyes. She grinned at him quietly, a short giggle as she nodded in acknowledgement before turning around. His nerves got stronger and stronger as he waited, nearly chewing a hole into his bottom lip as the line slowly moved forward. 

Looking up briefly, he found himself next in line, pausing behind a small stantion. He mentally laughed at himself, much more used to being on the other side in these situations. 

As he approached her, he kept his head low. He watched as she politely turned to a handler, mumbling something he couldn’t quite make out. He had seen the look she had on her face many times before. She was tired. Effortless and focused, but mentally a bit worn out. He knew the feeling. 

She kept her head down as he placed his book on the table in front of her. 

“Who should I make this out to?” she asked as standard.

He smiled, lifting his head a little. “Make it out to Jace…”

Her head snapped up at the sound of his voice, that name. A slow smile and an immediate blush lit up her face.

“Um...Hi…”

“Hey Annie…” He smiled back at her “Congratulations…”

“Thank you...Uh...Am I actually signing this?” she teased, lifting the book a little.

He grinned at her. “Of course. This is a big deal.”

She smirked, looking down to scribble her signature. Looking back up to hand him the book, she noticed the VIP sticker on his chest. 

“Are you sticking around?”

“Do you want me to?”

She smiled. “...Yeah...I do.”