“Are you sure that you are ok with this?” JC asked Kelly on their way to the cafeteria.

“About her moving in with you? I’m gonna miss her, Josh. But, I want her to be happy, and you definitely fit that bill. She has never been happier.” 

“Thanks for coming up last night. It really helped. She slept well after we got all that paperwork taken care of.  “ 

“I’m just glad we got it all taken care of before her mom could do something stupid.” 

"Yeah, I was worried about that,” he said, sitting down at a table, and she sat down across from him. 

"She did say no. " he said, looking kinda sad.

"I thought that may happen. Don't  be disappointed, Josh. Wait for the right time. I'm sure you will get the answer you want."

"I already have a plan." 

“I wanna talk to her once she wakes up, just us girls.”

“You’re gonna talk sex, aren’t you?” JC asked, rolling his eyes.

“I’m dying to know…”*

“Well, I’m sure as hell not telling you.”

“You’d tell Justin, though.  Any of the guys, if they asked.”

“We don’t really do that anymore, we’re all in established relationships, it’s pretty much implied.”

“If a woman at Jenna’s old church would tell younger women about answering the door for her husband wearing nothing but plastic wrap, or another woman sending a racy email and it popping up when her husband was in the middle of a presentation, you guys must talk about it, too…”

“Wow, ummm, those are some interesting situations.”

“You’re picturing both of those in your head, aren’t you?  Especially getting an email or text everyone in a meeting could see saying she’d be wearing nothing when you got home…”

JC couldn’t ignore the stirring between his legs as Kelly gave him a mental image.  “I’m still not talking about this with you.”

“I’m sure if Jenna’s feeling up to it, you could close her door and have some fun here in the hospital…”

“I’m good, thanks.  Once I get her back to my place, we’ll play things by ear.  That’s all you’re getting out of me.”

“As long as Jenna’s getting more out of you, that’s the important thing,” Kelly smirked.  “You know she never dreamed this would happen.  As much as she wanted it to, she never wanted to come between you and Jen.  That might be part of why she said no earlier, getting what she thought you and Jen should have had.”

“As much as I loved Jen, I never saw that with anyone.”

“Not even Eva?”

“Well, no one since her.  But with Jenna, I dunno.  Something about her makes me want those things.  I want Liam, getting married, seeing her in a beautiful dress as we promise the rest of our lives together.  However long that may be.”

Kelly took his hand gently.  “She’ll be ok. I have a feeling about this. For you two to find each other, be this happy, it’s not just for a short time. I can feel it. I really think that dream is a premonition.”

“Liam? Yeah, me too. That’s why it didn’t scare me.  Honestly I think that’s when I knew just how much I love her, and want everything with her.  I know it’s fast, but it feels right.”

“I’m gonna go check on her,” Kelly said, starting to stand up. 

“I’ll tell you, if it’ll help her get more sleep…”

“It’s not the same from the guy. You’ll hype yourself up. Doesn’t take nearly as much for you to enjoy it as it does for us.”

“She enjoyed it, trust me,” he smiled, a pink rush to his cheeks.  “It wasn’t what I expected it to be, as far as when, how, but it was what she wanted.”

“Yeah, I need to hear it from her,” Kelly laughed. 

“She said the rumors are true; you’re not going to take my word for it?”

“Oh, I am.  But it’s different. Would you rather hear about Justin and Jess from Jess, or from Justin?”

“Fair point, I suppose. Don’t wake her up to ask, though.”

“Deal.  I need to get home at some point. You probably should, too. Take a shower, change your clothes.  Get things ready for her to come home tomorrow.”

“Like what?”

“Start with some of her clothes. Not that she’ll need them, I’m sure,” Kelly giggled. “Grab stuff she’ll need, things you think she might want.”

“Any tips on that?”

Kelly smiled. “Look through the drawer on her nightstand. It’ll give you a better idea, I’m sure…”

“Why am I afraid to know?”

“Nothing to be afraid of, hopefully get some use out of. I’m sure you’ll come up with something…”

JC shook his head, standing up before heading to his car.  He sat in his Jeep for a moment.  Let’s find out how much of a freak she is. Damn it, Kelly…

…

He went to Jenna’s apartment first, since it was closer to the hospital.  He grabbed her pajamas and a few things out of drawers in her dresser and from her closet. He grabbed her clothes hamper and would do her laundry while he walked Bronson and took a shower.  

He eyed the nightstand, particularly the drawer within it. He felt bad opening it without her permission, but he figured he’d see what was inside sooner or later.  He saw a thick book on top of her nightstand, a simple cover with a nature scene for the background and the title of the book. He opened the book to where the bookmark was, his eyes widening as he realized it was a love scene. He read a little, curious about what women liked about romance books. 

It’s porn, but with words, JC chuckled to himself. He closed the book, slowly opening the drawer.  He blushed a little at seeing the items within the drawer, realizing she needed something if no man had touched her in that many years.  It was nothing too shocking, seeing as it was just her, nothing that needed a partner to use. His mind flitted to things he had, curious whether she would be interested or not.

He took the book but left the drawer alone, hoping she wouldn’t need to use any of it unless absolutely necessary, more than willing to take their place.

…

“Your boyfriend went home, now spill…” Kelly said, sitting down next to Jenna.

“Shouldn’t you be going home?” Jenna whined. 

“Tell me, then I’ll leave.”

“Incredible. That’s it, go home.”

“Ok, JC gave me more than THAT,” Kelly laughed. 

“He told you?” Jenna asked, surprised. 

“The usual; ‘she enjoyed it’, but nothing specific.”

“I initiated, asking him to. I don’t think he would have in the moment otherwise.”

“Get it, girl!”

Jenna gave her a look. “He did things no one has done before, or at least not done well…”

“Oral?” Kelly asked. Jenna’s face turned bright red. “Get it, GIRL!  What else?”

“It was kinda slow, but also kinda passionate.  I felt so cared for, taken care of.  Sexy but sweet at the same time. That was basically as soon as he got there. We relaxed for a bit, fell asleep. Then I woke up and he had gone into the living room.  I could tell he’d been crying about everything, not able to sleep.  Then I couldn’t sleep either, so we took a shower.”

“Shower sex, oooh.”

“No sex, but god was it incredible to feel his hands on me, washing me. It was so intimate without being sex, it was incredible.”

“I’m gonna assume, but please tell me he was naked, not just in his chonies.”

“He was naked.  I don’t know what I had imagined him to look like, but damn.  Not the 20 something that lived in my head, but I’m not complaining.  It easily could have turned to shower sex, believe me.”

“Do you think you will once you get to his place tomorrow? Sorry, your place.  You’re gonna live with JC Chasez…”

“I don’t know about the sex part. On the one hand, it’s JC.  On the other hand, I’m still not feeling up to doing a lot, you know?”

“Sounds like he’d do all the work,” Kelly smirked.

“I don’t doubt it, but I don’t know that I’ll feel up to it for a few days.”

“I wonder what he’s into…”

“I’m not telling you once I find out.”

“Spoiled sport.  You think he’s into anything weird? I mean, based on his songs…”

“I don’t know. I’m starting to rethink this relationship…”

“Girl, you have every woman’s dream at your fingertips. Don’t you dare let him go.”

“It was never the plan to have him like this, but I’m not planning on letting him go. He asked me to marry him, and I said no. Am I stupid?”

“Maybe a little, but it’s only been a week of being together.  He told me he was gonna propose, that his mom and Justin supported the idea, I make three,” Kelly said.  “I told him you’d say no.  He’s already got a plan for the next time, I just have no clue what it is.”

“I wanted to say yes, but I can’t put him through this, Kelly.  What if I only have a few more months?  What if things turn before we can even GET married?  For him to go through all of that just for things to end…”

“Jenna, it won’t.  I’ll tell you what I told him.  I have a good feeling about this.  You weren’t put in each other’s lives for a quick flash and burn.  You’re going to have a long and happy life together.  You dreamed about Liam, that has to have meant something.  It’s part of what made JC realize he wants to marry you.  The thought of marriage and kids doesn’t scare him, not with you.  That MEANS something, Jenna.  Everything is going to be fine.”

“He really wants this?  He’s been the consummate bachelor, having girlfriends but nothing beyond that.”

“He does.  Even if this is a worst case scenario, which it isn’t, he’s in this with you the whole way.  He didn’t say this, but I think it’s true regardless; he’d rather be married to you for one day than spend the rest of his life not married to you.  Normally I’d make a comment on how you broke this wild stallion, but this is the real deal, Jenna.  He is seriously in love with you, whether you want it or not.”

“I definitely want it,” Jenna smiled.  “I’ve waited my whole life to feel like this, and it being JC is just icing on the cake.”  

…

JC’s phone rang as he closed the garage door. He slipped his phone out of his pocket, opening the door to the inside of the house and hearing Bronson thundering to meet him in the kitchen.  He set down all the stuff in his hands on the floor and sat down next to his dog and scratched his ears. 

His phone began to ring again and he looked at the screen, a smile spread along his lips.  It was a facetime from Autumn.

He slid the icon to the right and said, “Hello.”

“Hey there. You are hard to get a hold of...” 

He got up off the floor, picked up Jenna's bag, and took it upstairs to his, their, bedroom.

“I’m sorry about that. I’ve had a lot going on lately,” he said as he moved into the closet, making space for some of Jenna’s stuff.

“I heard.”

He came out of the closet, knowing that this was the part of the conversation he was not going to deal with.  He sat on the end of his bed and said, “Go ahead. Everyone else is telling me I’m nuts. You might as well get it over with.”

“Eric called me yesterday, all upset about you wanting to marry some homeless teacher or something.  So, I called Jen and got more of the story from her. I would have loved to hear it from you...”

“So you know she left.” 

“Yes. “

“What did she say?”

“That you were in love with that girl you saved back in July.”

He hung his head, and then looked back up at his friend on the phone.

“She was right,” he said. She could hear the sadness in his voice. “I never meant to hurt her. I hope she knows that.”

“I think she does. She wasn’t mad when we talked. She said you were in denial," Autumn replied. 

“I was,“ he said, not knowing what else to say.

“You aren’t anymore, right?” she asked.

“No. Not anymore. “

“What’s her name?”

“Jenna.” 

“Eric is really freaking out about you and Jenna. “ 

 “Yeah, I know. He thinks I’m crazy and that this is just a phase with her. That I don’t love her, and that I will dump her after she gets better. “

“After she gets better?” she said, sounding surprised. “Get better from what?”

“Oh, I’m surprised he didn’t tell you. Jenna has a brain tumor, she just found out about it on Friday, had a biopsy on Saturday, and is still waiting for the results on the biopsy. She is still in the hospital right now.  She also has epilepsy, that’s how we found out about the tumor.  It was giving her more seizures, even being on her medication.  And now we’re just waiting to hear back about the tumor…”

“Oh my god, Josh. No, he didn’t say anything about that. Is she ok?”

“She’s getting better. She is supposed to come home tomorrow. Ummmm… She is coming home, here.”

“You’re moving her into your place? Wow. This is serious. “

“I proposed to her, in the hospital.” he said, getting up and unpacking more of Jenna’s things into the empty drawers in the dresser.

“And?”

“She said no.”

“But she’s still moving in?”

“She didn’t want to marry me in fear of this being cancer. She doesn’t want to put me through it. I told her I didn’t care. I’m here for the long haul.  I just want her to be with me, Autumn.”   

“I just want to see my best friend happy. Justin seems to think that she may be the ‘ONE’ for you.”

“Ah, so you know more than you were letting on to.”

“No.  He said it was your story to tell. But, I needed to talk to you.  I think he was right.”

“Yeah. He has been there for me the last several days. Mom even came out. It was pretty scary when Jenna first came out of surgery and they had her sedated. She was on a ventilator for 24 hours. "

"I wish you'd called me, Josh. That's terrible."

"There is nothing you could have done. Except sit around and wait with me." 

“You know I would have. I need to meet this girl. She has changed you," Autumn said, smiling at him. “For the better.”

JC blushed. “Thanks. I think.” 

“I can tell. Well, I’m gonna get off here. I’ll come by the house sometime next week. Give her time to get used to everything. I can’t wait to meet her, and see you. Love you. “

“Love you too,” he said, waving as she hung up the call. 

He finished unpacking her stuff and put the bag in the closet with the other luggage and went to take a shower. When he got out of the shower his phone was ringing again. This time it was Eric. With dread, he picked up his phone.

“Hello.” 

“What the hell is going on with you? “ Eric asked on the phone.

“Eric, if all you are gonna do is yell at me and tell me I’m crazy, I really see no point in this conversation. So, unless you have something else to say that does not regard my personal life, I’m hanging up.”

“No, Josh. I’m sorry. Please don’t hang up. “

“I’m just gonna come right out and let you know that I asked her to marry me and she said no.” 

“Thank God.” Eric exclaimed.

“ERIC.”

“Sorry. “

“Jenna is moving into my place after she is discharged from the hospital. I want her with me.”

“What about you and JEN?”

“What about it?? I’d say that she made her bed, now she can lay in it.  She ended things. Told me to explore things with Jenna, and now that I am, if she doesn’t like it I can't help her. I love Jenna. She was right. I am in love with her, and I want to marry her and have a life with her, Eric. Not Jen. As much as I don’t want to hurt her, it’s the truth. She knows, Eric. She is the one who told me I was in love with Jenna when I didn’t even realize it.”

“Well, there is the problem that the world does not know about your break up and I have all kinds of gatherings you are making appearances at. What about that?”

“I am slimming down my schedule for the next few weeks, until she is on her feet and working again. So there are some things that I won’t be going to. It’s just the way it is. Her health is the most important thing right now. “

“You aren’t going to miss the Halloween party, right?  That is something that we have been planning for months. You can’t miss that.” 

“It all depends on how she is doing, Eric. “

“Great, let the girl take the lead. “

“It would be the same way if Jen was sick and we were still together. It all depends on what she can or can’t do.  I don’t know yet.”

“Well, let me know when you’re done being pussy whipped and…”

JC dropped the call, refusing to answer when Eric called right back.  He looked around the room, seeing some of her things, or knowing things were in drawers, his house beginning to feel like home again.

He couldn’t wait until Jenna could go home, and they could start their life together.