Alice retrieved the dangling phone that had long since given up on beeping and dialed Jordyn at the front desk, asking for the aforementioned snack and a new side table lamp. Not listening to JC, Alice then busied herself cleaning up the room, knowing this was the only real thing she could do to help him in this moment.

Someone from the maintenance crew arrived with the lamp and helped her clean up the room fresh as new, quickly washing the wall of the tea stains and vacuuming the carpet. Fresh sheets were even provided for the bed and in no time, the room didn’t even look like any damage had been done. Alice gave a long sigh as she looked around and internally made the same observation, wishing it was just that easy to clean up her own life as it had been the room. Her thigh began it’s dull ache and reminded her that was wishful thinking.

JC was in the shower and oblivious to what was occurring outside. His mind was still reeling from the events of the evening and he was feeling helpless to do anything. Eric wanted to handle this quietly until he knew what they were dealing with so a call to the lawyers or a statement on social media seemed out of the question. He didn’t want fans to think he was ok with this either, however.

He lived a quiet life now, kept his business private and low key. He still worked, maybe not as much as he’d like as of late, but his creativity, his art, was still in him even if it now got put into different artists or even just in a notebook, never to be seen again. That creative output was so important to him and being on this retreat made that all the clearer. So why would someone invade that privacy and that space? He felt used, like a commodity instead of a person, one of the many reasons he’d stepped away from the spotlight in the first place.

JC wasn’t any closer to figuring out what to do at the end of his shower than he was at the beginning. With a heavy sigh, he shut off the water and toweled off, getting changed and heading back into the room.

There he was greeted with Alice sitting in the same position but in pajamas, a large tray of assorted fruits and dipping sauces next to her. JC could smell the fresh tea sitting in a new pot atop the dresser and shook his head with a smile. “I told you not to clean up.”

“I had help, don’t worry,” Alice reassured him as she pointed his phone in her direction. “Cool if I pick the movie this time?”

“No horror movies,” JC pointed out as he grabbed the phone from her and queued up the streaming service.

Eric called in the middle of them watching Anchorman but Alice convinced JC to let it go to voicemail. It was already past 10pm and they both knew there was nothing that could be done at this hour anyway. Whatever news Eric had would probably upset JC more, Alice reasoned, so it could wait until morning.

Full of chocolate covered everything, Alice and JC were finally relaxed as the movie ended. “Feeling better?” Alice asked as she ran a finger through JC’s hair as he lay curled up on her side.

“Better is a bit optimistic of a term but I’ll give you calmer.”

“That’s all I can ask for,” she kissed the top of his head before climbing out from under the covers they’d somehow managed to get into. “You’ve had an intense day. Time for you to get some sleep, it’s late.”

“Right, yeah…” JC frowned, his hand absently running over the sheet that Alice had just vacated. “It’s just, I was thinking, maybe you could…stay.”

“Stay? Like stay the night?” Alice quickly felt her heartbeat in her throat.

“I mean, only if you’re ok with it. Just as friends, obviously.”

“Right, obviously,” Alice swallowed hard. She eyed the bed and while every ounce of her wanted to run, she carefully climbed back in. She was making a bigger deal of this than it was, she told herself. That didn’t stop her body from tensing as JC cuddled back into his previous spot and sighed contentedly. It was obvious to Alice JC was just in need of some comfort and let herself slowly relax as she rubbed his back.

“Thank you,” JC said just above a whisper, his arm draping over her stomach.

“Sure, no problem,” she choked out, looking down at him and the way he clung to her. It was different than any scenario she’d ever imagined but it didn’t make it any less exciting that it was happening.

“Dude, I’m a dick!” JC suddenly looked up. “I never asked how everything went with Vivienne.”

“Oh yeah,” Alice chuckled, feeling like that experience was now weeks instead of hours ago. “It was…it was good. She certainly knows what she’s doing. Lots of crying was had.”

“Did you puke?”

“Thankfully not.”

A small pause hung in the air. “It’s been a long day today,” JC thought out loud.

“That’s probably an understatement and precisely why we both need to get to bed.”

“I’m oddly not tired. My body is but the hamster in my brain is burning the midnight oil.”

“I’ve certainly been there,” Alice teased. “What do you want, a bedtime story? A warm glass of milk? A lullaby?”

“You know, I haven’t heard you sing yet,” JC grinned.

“There’s a reason for that,” Alice shot back. “Bedtime story it is.”

“You gonna read me one of those fan fics you spoke about earlier?”

“Absolutely not!” Alice moved back, making JC giggle. 

“Come on, indulge me.”

“You got a phone. You wanna look, that’s on you,” Alice informed him. JC smiled and pulled out his phone, starting to google. “Oh for God’s sake, this is a bad choice,” Alice started to laugh.

“What’s a Wattpad?” JC asked.

“Give me the phone,” Alice yanked it out of his hand as JC continued to laugh. “If you insist on doing this, at least let me find you one that isn’t directly about you.”

“You mean, you’ve read stories about the other guys?” JC said in mock disbelief. “I can’t believe you’d cheat on me like this.”

“Do you want more psychological damage or not?” Alice gave him a stern look.

“Well, when you put it that way…” JC chuckled. “Uhhhh, how smutty are we getting here?”

“You asked for this so…” Alice raised her eyebrows then laughed. “I’ll go easy on you. Something fairly banal.” JC smiled and nestled back into Alice. “This is absolutely insane, you know this, right?”

“Seems to be how the week is going. Might as well keep up the momentum,” JC reasoned.

Alice shook her head and against all of her better judgement, began to read. “”Claudia, give it up. You are not going to hook up with JC Chasez,” Gabrielle told her friend.”

“Wait wait wait,” JC looked up. “I thought you said no to the smutty.”

“Technically I said I’d go easy on you. The smutty won’t happen before you fall asleep, with any luck,” Alice smirked. JC laid his head back down as Alice continued. “The girls and their friend Theresa had somehow miraculously acquired backstage passes for the *NSYNC show that night.”

“No backstory, no explanation, just going right in, huh?” JC chuckled.

“No one cares about the fictional girls, we just want to get to the parts about you guys,” Alice explained, completely amused by this entire conversation. “May I continue?”

“Please,” JC laughed.

“”I can control myself,” Claudia said as they arrived at the dressing room door. She gave a knock and the door opened to reveal Joey Fatone on the other side.”

“Are you sure the smutty part doesn’t happen until later?” JC questioned. “Starting with Joey does not bode well for this remaining PG for long.”

“It’s fiction, not real life,” Alice teased as she continued. “”Hi, I’m Gabrielle and these are my friends Claudia and Theresa,” Gabrielle introduced them as the boys introduced themselves back.”

“At least we’re polite,” JC interjected again.

“Claudia was doing good until she got to JC. She looked straight into his bright blue eyes and let a little “ohmygod” escape her lips.”

“Oh for God sakes,” the real JC laughed. “They’re eyeballs. They are the same as everyone else’s.”

“Hate to remind you but one look into your eyes and I had to run the hundred meter dash to escape them,” Alice joked.

“Pretty sure that wasn’t just about my eyes,” JC laughed then stared up at Alice, looking directly into her eyes in return. “See, you’re fine,” he said after a few moments.

“Yeah, storytime is over,” Alice tried to laugh off as she wriggled out of JC’s embrace to plug in the phone and kill the lights. She wasn’t sure if he was simply joking around or testing her but considering he was still making his way through the immediate aftermath of his album leak, getting turned on by him seemed like an exceptionally bad decision. Doubly so if they were going to spend the night in the same bed.

JC pouted outwardly but from the way he felt Alice’s heart speed up, he knew he was butting up right to the line. He was actually a little proud of her for knowing the boundaries better than he did and for keeping him in check. He was lonely and hurt and while he was immensely grateful that Alice agreed to stay the night, he would be lying if he didn’t wish it was Jen. Knowing how Alice felt, he had to do a better job of not accidentally leading her on. They were just friends and only friends, he reminded himself as he tucked into the covers, no matter how much he thought about crossing that line as of late.

“Thank you for staying,” JC whispered as he felt Alice settle in next to him.

“Not a problem,” she said, her back toward him. She could handle staying the night but seeing him laying there, his prone body restful and exactly where she’d always hoped he would be…she didn’t trust herself. The flame that was JC Chasez was getting harder and harder to resist touching and in this case, she meant that literally.

Alice’s eyes popped open as she felt JC’s hand land on her hip. It was loose, probably just where he was used to placing it, but Alice’s whole body began to tingle. She had no idea how she was expected to sleep when she finally had her dream man in bed with her yet she couldn’t make any moves to complete the fantasy. All she could do was lie there and think about it as JC’s breath grew heavier behind her and his palm laid heavier on her body. It was a feeling she never wanted to forget.