The next week flew by like none other. One day Kristi was watching TRL with Beth and Michelle before they had to go to the venue.
The news man came on and was giving the celebrity scoop. “And ladies, I have some bad news. Mr. JC Chasez from *NSYNC is officially taken. An anonymous source sent us these pictures”“ pictures of JC and Kristi kissing in the elevator, and pictures of them in New York City appeared on the screen “”of JC and his girlfriend, Kristi Goslen, who is the dance captain for *NSYNC’s current Pop Odyssey tour…They’re not engaged”yet”but you have to be serious with the person you were caught making-out with at your own CD release party…”
That was all Kristi needed to hear. Her breathing was shallow and ragged. Hadn’t JC said they were going public their way? This was not the way it was supposed to happen. Kristi didn’t even know if her friends from Illinois knew about her and JC. Michelle and Beth were looking at her, concerned.
Kristi grabbed her cell phone and dialed. Praying that he was taking a break from interviews or something, Kristi waited while it rang. Just when she was about to give up, an out-of-breath voice answered. “Kristi, hi, what’s up?”
She took a breath, trying to calm down. “It’s out.”
“What’s out?”
“Us…it must have been that ass Luis. There are pictures of us kissing in the elevator and in New York…”
JC’s face lost all color. Why had he trusted Luis? He could hear Kristi trying to keep herself together, holding back tears. He had to stay calm for Kristi. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Can you manage? Are Michelle and Beth there?”
“Yes.” Kristi said quietly.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can, ok?” JC hung up.
Kristi turned to her friends. “He’s coming back as soon as he can.”
“Ok,” Beth said, taking charge. “Well, we’re not watching anymore of this,” she turned off the TV.
JC was seething. He was used to this, he could handle a stunt like this; but to put Kristi through that…It just happened that they were at Teen People. Lucky him.
While JC was searching for his body guard, Mike, he ran into Justin. “Hey man, what’s wrong?” Justin could tell immediately something was up.
“It’s out.” JC saw from the confused look he’d have to be clearer. “Pictures of me and Kristi kissing and on our date in NYC showed up on TV today.”
“Shit…”
“Yeah, and the only person who could have that picture of us kissing is Luis.”
“Luis down the hall?”
“Yeah. Thanks, you saved me from running around looking for him. You don’t happen to know where Mike is, do you?”
“No,” Justin said. “What do you need to tell him? I can go find Mike while you give Luis hell.”
A few minutes later, JC was striding down the hall, thinking about what he was going to say to Luis when he faced him. JC was so angry; he wouldn’t have been surprised if steam was coming out of his ears.
He reached the double doors and wrenched one open. Luis was there, talking with Joey and Lance.
“Luis, we need to talk.” Luis turned towards him. “Remember that deal we had?” Luis nodded. He knew what was coming. Luis was trying to suppress a smug smile, but it wasn’t working. That was the last straw for JC. “SO WHY THE HELL DID I JUST GET A PHONE CALL FROM MY GIRLFRIEND SAYING PICTURES, ONE SPECIFIC PICTURE ONLY YOU HAD, SHOWED UP ON TV?”
“Something came up.” Luis shrugged it off, and started turning towards Joey and Lance, but JC had walked up to him, stopping him.
“YOU BETTER EXPLAIN YOURSELF!”
“Someone offered me something better than just the inside scoop when they were ready.” Luis said calmly. JC was right; Luis had no heart.
“YOU HEARTLESS BASTARD! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO US? TO KRISTI? I CAN HANDLE THIS CRAP, BUT WE’VE BARELY BEEN DATING FOR TWO MONTHS!”
“If you’ve only been dating for two months, why did you ask her to move in?”
JC stood, quiet for a moment. How did Luis know about that? “That is none of your business.”
“I think it is, since I’m getting paid to report your love life.”
JC lost every bit of composure he had left, if any. “YOU ARE SCUM! STAY AWAY FROM ME, STAY AWAY FROM KRISTI, AND YOU MIGHT KEEP ALL OF YOUR FINGERS…”
“Aw, is the little pop star threatening me? Actually, maybe I’ll give Kristi a call, I hear she’s easy”“
JC didn’t need to hear anymore. He closed the distance between him and Luis, and punched Luis in the face. But one punch wasn’t good enough. He threw three or four more until Mike had grabbed his arms, while Joey and Lance got Luis.
“Thanks guys,” Luis gasped to Joey and Lance.
“You think we did that for you?” Joey asked, astounded. Lance looked disgusted.
Luis’s lip and nose were bleeding, and JC was pretty sure he had given him a black eye.
“Stay away from me and Kristi, and if you print one more thing, I’ll sue you for false advertisement”“
“What if what I print is true?”
“I have one of the best lawyers in Orlando. And don’t think I won’t hesitate to get more.” JC shook his head, collecting his thoughts. “You are pathetic. I actually feel sorry for you; you have to dig into other people’s lives for self-fulfillment. Are you living vicariously through us?” Luis didn’t answer, and JC turned to Mike. “I need to get back to the hotel”now.”
“C’mon man, let’s go.” Mike said.
Once JC and Mike had left the room, Luis turned back to Lance and Joey. “So where were we?”
The two looked at each other and left, disgusted at Luis.
Half an hour later, there was a knock on the girls’ hotel room door.
Michelle answered it, and ushered JC in.
“How’s she doing?”
“Better than I would be.” Michelle answered honestly.
“Kris, hun, it’s me…” JC said tentatively at the bathroom door.
Kristi was in the bathroom, listening to someone speak on her cell phone, sitting in the tub. JC was not even going ask; he just entered the room, shut the door, and sat on the toilet.
“Mom, I have to go. I love you too, bye.” Kristi clicked the off button, closed her eyes, sighed, and then turned to face JC.
“How are you doing?” JC asked, honestly concerned.
“Better. I’ve already cried, so I’m done with that. I just talked to my mom; she’s been getting calls since that aired asking if she knew and that stuff.”
“Did she?” JC asked. He had told his parents, but his end of the story was a little less sticky than Kristi’s.
“Yeah, but she didn’t want to tell anyone anything without me knowing. I told her it was ok. It was basically my friends from high school and people I grew up with calling.”
JC got up, took his coat off, and made his way to the tub. “Scoot over Kris, we’re talking.”
“I don’t have a choice?” Kristi asked playfully. JC was so glad she wasn’t ready to dump him because of this.
JC sat down on the other side of the tub. “Wow, I didn’t realize bathtubs were this roomy. Anyways, it was Luis. He happened to be there today, and had a little…talk”“
“Talk? Talk my ass.”
“Ok, I yelled, he acted like a bastard, and I threw some punches.”
“Jayce! What if he presses charges…?”
“He won’t.”
“But still, you still shouldn’t have punched him! You’re sinking to his level”“
“He said you were easy.”
Kristi’s face became like stone. “What?” She caught her breath. “I don’t care about what he thinks, as long as he doesn’t publish it.” Her tone changed completely. “But Jayce, you fought for my honor! That’s so sweet. Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Anyways, I don’t think he’ll be publishing anything about us anytime soon.”
“Ok, I was just so shocked and I didn’t know”“
“It’s ok, I’m glad you called me.” He looked over towards his coat. “I brought you a present. It’s underneath my coat.”
She glanced at him before jumping up to get whatever he had brought. “Ben & Jerry’s Fish Food! Thank you! I’ll go get some spoons!”
Kristi was back in a flash, since the kitchen unit was right around the corner. She stepped to get back into the tub, and instead of going back to her side, she sat in the ‘v’ of JC’s legs, handing him a spoon.
They ate their way through the pint of ice cream. Eventually, the container with two spoons lay on the floor beside the tub, and Kristi and JC were kissing in the tub. Yes, the two were quite the pair.
There was a knock on the door. “Guys,” It was Michelle. “We need to go to the venue now. Everything ok?”
“We’re coming!” JC called back. He managed to get up first, somehow, and helped Kristi out of the tub. The two joined Beth and Michelle in the elevator, going to the van. JC felt so happy and confident about their relationship; this was the first major obstacle, and in his opinion, they had passed with flying colors.
The rest of the week was relatively uneventful, especially compared to the TRL disaster. Luckily, the fans didn’t seem to care; they still loved JC. There was the same amount of signs at concerts, the same noise level whenever he sang. JC was actually glad they were in the open, it made everything easier in the long run. Kristi really hadn’t seen a difference yet, although she didn’t think that would last long.
“I’m so tired!” Kristi declared as she rested her head on JC’s shoulder. They were in JC’s hotel room, although he insisted on calling it ‘their’ hotel room. Kristi even got her own keys now! (She still got keys for the girls’ room too) They were leaning against the headboard, watching some late night movie.
“Me too, but before you go to sleep, we need to talk about something…”
Kristi gave him a look. Then it all came back to her… “Oh yeah! I really do want to live with you during the break, but I think I need a couple of days home, first.” JC looked disappointed, so Kristi continued to explain herself. “I need to sort my mail, water plants, do laundry, and catch up on sleep. I’ll get all of this done faster if I’m home.”
“Makes sense,” JC said, even though he didn’t seem too happy about it.
“I think I’ll need about two days.” JC’s eyes widened in surprise at that. He thought she was going to wait half-way through the break. “Is that ok?”
“That’s perfect!” JC said. “That’ll give me time to get rid of anything embarrassing…”
“Like what?” Kristi asked playfully.
“Nothing you’ll see…”
Kristi threw her keys onto the counter, hit her answering machine ‘play’ button, and kicked her luggage through the door. She was home. Three months can sometimes feel like forever.
She collapsed onto her couch, still listening to her messages, knowing that if it was important, the person would have called her cell phone. In between messages from Newsweek and the garage that had fixed her car were several hang-up calls. Kristi tried not to think too much of them, but they were all from the day after the TRL incident.
Shaking her head, Kristi got up and dragged her luggage into her bedroom. She didn’t realize how much she would miss JC, and they’d been separated for about an hour. It was that plus missing the touring atmosphere that made Kristi want to get everything she needed to do done as soon as possible so she could go live with JC.
This was a weird feeling for Kristi; she felt safe and protected when she was with him. She was happy and knew she was loved, even though they hadn’t actually said the words yet. It was scary, yes; she was getting in deep, into territory she had never been before. What if he broke her heart? What if she broke his? Kristi didn’t think she could live with herself if she did. And what would happen once the tour was over? JC would probably lay low in Orlando for a while, but Kristi would need to find another tour; it was her job. What if he didn’t like being away from her? Kristi was getting nervous.
She snatched the phone from the bedside table and dialed JC’s cell number; he wouldn’t be home yet. *NSYNC had a meeting after arriving at Jive, going over the schedule for break. She wasn’t sure why they called it break; there were still tons of rehearsals and scheduled appearances. It was a euphemism.
“Hello?”
“JC…I”you…what if…?” Kristi couldn’t get her thoughts out.
“What?” JC chuckled.
“What if after the tour, I go on another and you stay in Orlando?” Kristi said quickly.
“Don’t be silly. I’ll call you every night and all of that. Don’t worry about it.” He added. “We’ll go there once that happens.” Kristi nodded even though JC couldn’t see her. “Did you get home ok?”
“Yes, I can do some things on my own, despite popular opinion.” JC laughed.
“How’s that ‘to do’ list coming?”
“Well, I have this really important thing I want to do, so I’m thinking about pulling an all-nighter to get everything done.”
“Really? Call me when you’re ready or start packing or something.”
“You’re hanging up?”
“Kristi, I have to go do laundry and get ready for you too.”
“You do your own laundry?” She laughed.
“I’m hanging up now…”
24 hours later, Kristi was excitedly packing for JC’s. He was going to be there any minute to help her finish packing. Kristi was proud of herself; she had done four tremendous loads of laundry, thrown away all of her dead plants, gone through all of her mail, and managed to sleep for 10 hours. She also had a surprise for JC.
There was a buzz in her apartment; Kristi hurried to buzz JC in.
A few minutes later, a knock on the door was accompanied by, “Kris, it’s me!”
“Door’s open!”
JC made his way through her apartment towards her bedroom. He hadn’t been there in forever. He wrapped an arm around Kristi’s waist and turned her around for a kiss.
“Hello” He said.
“Hello yourself.”
“So,” JC clapped his hands together. “What can I help you with?”
“Nothing really, I’m almost done. I just like some eye candy while I work.”
JC laughed and flung himself onto her bed. Looking casually through her stuff, he picked up a bikini and said, “Kris, you know I won’t be able to control myself when you’re wearing this.”
Kristi glanced at what he was holding. “I know. That’s why I bought it. Beth convinced me.”
“I’ll have to send Beth a thank you…”
“Instead of messing up my packing, go get that paper bag on the dresser.” JC did what he was told. “Open it…it’s a present for you.”
JC opened the bag and pulled out a key with a bow tied on it. He was happily surprised. “It’s your house key.” He said, half asking a question, and half making a statement.
“Apartment key, but same difference…” JC didn’t say anything so Kristi continued to ramble. “I thought since I was living with you…It makes sense…I thought”“ JC silenced her with a kiss.
“I love it. Best present ever.” He smiled. “I guess it kind of takes the surprise out of my present…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key.
“The one I gave you had a bow on it.”
He gave her a very childish look, but Kristi thought it was adorable.
“Are you almost done? I want to give you the grand tour of the house while it’s light out!” JC looked incredibly excited. Then it struck Kristi; she had never been to JC’s house.
Kristi went to her dresser, pulled out a few more things, shoved them into her suitcase, and announced, “Done!”
“Finally!” JC exclaimed. He grabbed the rolling suitcase and duffle bag, heading towards the door. “Do you need to say good-bye to anything?” He asked jokingly.
“Very funny…let’s go!” There was a knot in the bottom of Kristi’s stomach. She was thinking it was because of excitement, but a tiny voice in the back of her head knew it wasn’t.
JC pushed open the front door, and said, “Ta-da!”
The inside of the house seemed very simple compared the greatness of the size. They were in a cozy living room with couches and chairs, a table, and a fireplace.
“Where should I put my stuff?” Kristi asked.
“We can take care of that later…I want to show you around…”
JC led her all over the house, showing her different rooms. He showed her the backyard, complete with a pool and hot tub. He enjoyed watching the ‘wow’ looks on Kristi’s face. He knew that Kristi’s apartment was smaller than his first floor, but he knew that wouldn’t matter.
He saved the best two rooms for last. “This is my recording studio,” JC began as he headed down the stairs towards what would be in most houses, the basement.
“You have a recording studio in your house?!”
“Yeah,” JC said like it was nothing. “And not just anyone is allowed down here.”
“Ooh, I already have special privileges!” They were arriving at the bottom of the stairs, and Kristi’s mouth dropped. If she had been showed a picture of JC’s studio and one at Jive Records, she wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.
“Come here.” JC was sitting at the mixing board. “I want you to listen to what ‘The Two of Us’ sounded like before we laid it down at Jive.” He fiddled with some buttons, and JC’s voice came out of speakers around the room. She could hear the piano in the background, computer sounding instruments, and the choppiness of the recording.
“You are incredible” was all Kristi could manage when the song was done. She couldn’t believe JC had written that song. “Who did you write it about?” Kristi asked tentatively. She didn’t know anything about his previous relationships.
“Not about any specific person,” He began truthfully. “I wrote it a while after I broke up with my ex. I was lonely and I just started writing about the type of person I wanted to be in a relationship with, and how that relationship would be.” JC smiled at her. “Ready for the last, and in my opinion, best room?”
Kristi grinned and took the hand JC offered, allowing herself to be steered up the stairs. She knew she had made the right decision in coming here.
*NSYNC had two more days off before they resumed meetings, while the dancers had an additional day. Kristi was still running back to her apartment regularly, as all of her mail went there. The past few days, she had done it while JC was out or busy; although he knew she needed to do that, JC wasn’t ecstatic.
“Good morning,” JC said in a sing-songy voice, waking Kristi up.
“5 more minutes.” Kristi rolled over.
“No can do…we have to be at the studio in an hour.”
Kristi sat up. She knew very well it took half an hour to get to the studio, and it took her a while to eat breakfast.
“I’m making breakfast downstairs, so come down when you’re ready.” He kissed her, and said, “Ew, morning breath…” then went downstairs.
Kristi slowly got out of bed, thinking how great JC was to her. She walked over to her suitcase, as she still hadn’t bothered to unpack. JC wasn’t too happy about this either, but reasoned that it was because they were leaving to tour again in a few weeks; Kristi hurriedly agreed with this. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to unpack, but hopefully she’d find out.
Kristi began getting dressed, thinking about the upcoming weeks. Today, they’d be rehearsing the show and the guys would be choosing what song they would be performing at the Video Music Awards. Then this afternoon, Wade would choreograph the song, the guys had a press conference or something of that sort, and Kristi was going shopping with Beth, Michelle, and Lauren; she had to buy something for the award show!
Kristi arrived in the kitchen with her bag packed. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and went to look at what JC was cooking: eggs and pancakes. “Smells good, Jayce.”
“Thanks!” JC smiled, flipping some pancakes. “Little did you know that you were moving in with an experienced chef!”
“Yeah, well, compared to me, almost anyone is a good cook.” Both laughed and Kristi went to get some plates, silverware, and cups. She pulled the orange juice and syrup out of the fridge.
JC came hurrying over with the food and said, “We need to eat kind of quick today, we have to leave soon.”
JC and Kristi arrived hand-in-hand at the studio, just in time for rehearsal. They greeted their friends as if they hadn’t seen them in a year rather than a few days. Kristi caught a glance at Wade, and he looked pissed.
“If you guys are ready to work…” He hissed.
Everyone knew not to cross Wade’s path today. They got ready for the opening number and someone walked into the studio. JC nearly fell with surprise. What was she doing here?
“’Morning honey.” She kissed Wade. JC felt himself getting dizzy. This was the last thing he expected. Rachel was here, in the studio, watching him perform songs he had written about her. Kristi saw this look of shock on JC’s face, but she couldn’t figure out what had caused it.
The music started and Kristi had to elbow JC to get him moving. The first songs went smoothly, but when they reached “Just Don’t Tell Me That”, there was a burning fire in JC’s eyes.
You like to be seen
At every party at the Playboy Mansion
Fun, sad
I know I gotta draw the line
You wanna be in the flashes of light
Holding me tight
With your phony laugh
I guess you gotta be photographed
You can say it's real
But I know where's it's at
Just don't tell me that
You were gonna love me
I don't wanna hear it, baby
You don't gotta tell me that
It's gonna be your last lie
No baby, I won't go for that
Even if you did say
You were gonna be there
I don't want you back
Cause it's not about love
Just don’t tell me that...
JC’s look spelled out disgust. Kristi glanced at the girl, and she seemed to have a smug smile on her face. What was going on?
You like to drive in my Jag
And spend, every dollar of my credit, baby
Guess, what hit me with your golden eye
I guess you wanna be part of the ride
Live with the night
But I've seen it through
I've had enough of being close to you
You can say it's real
But I know where it's at
Just don't tell me that
You were gonna love me
I don't wanna hear it, baby
You don't have tell me that
It's gonna be your last lie
No baby, I won't go for that
Even if you did say
You were gonna be there
I don't want you back
Cause it's not about love
Just don’t tell me that...
No, no
It's not about love
No, no
You wanna be in the flashes of light
Holding me tight
Girl, it's all up to you
But whatever you do
I don't wanna hear it
You're not gonna love me
I won't go for that
It just won't happen
Even if you say
You were gonna be there
I don't want you back
Cause it's not about love
Just don't tell me that
You were gonna love me
I don't wanna hear it, baby
You don't gotta tell me that
It's gonna be your last lie
No baby, I won't go for that
Even if you did say
You were gonna be there
I don't want you back
Cause it's not about love
Just don’t tell me that...
JC’s eyes could have set the wall on fire. Kristi needed to talk to him; even if she didn’t get answers, JC needed to calm down. However, the music kept going, so she kept dancing.
JC seemed to have calmed down some during the next few songs. Kristi was starting to think that episode had been a one time occurrence, when the music for “The Game is Over” came on. JC went into a frenzy again, but maintaining enough of his composure to perform.
Invincible
Is what you think you are
But you're so typical
Oh you think that your a star
You act like everyone revolves around you
Baby you dropped the ball
But now the game is through
JC was staring directly at this girl, who was glued to Wade’s side. Kristi was trying desperately to figure out what was going on, but as they were in the middle of a song, her attempts were pointless.
'Cause you tried to play both sides
You got caught up in your lies
And now you're running...
You're running out of time
You played yourself
Did ya did ya did ya did ya think you could really find love from someone else?
You're making moves you're gonna lose
You know you played yourself
And now you think you think you can get one by me
But you'll never win but you'll never win
Try again 'cause the game is over
The game is over
None of the other guys seemed to be surprised at JC’s reaction to this girl; they all recognized her. Kristi had a sinking feeling in her stomach; this must be JC’s ex.
Take it personal
'Cause I did when you cheated on me
You may be beautiful
But there's more that the eye can't see
You're so predictable
The way you calculate each move
Heads I win and tails you loose
Because you don't have the right to choose
The sinking feeling doubled in Kristi’s stomach; this girl must have cheated on JC. Who could do that to him? He is the sweetest person Kristi had ever met, even with that month when they weren’t on good terms.
'Cause you tried to play both sides
You got caught up in your lies
And now you're running
You're running out of time
You played yourself
Did ya did ya did ya did ya think you could really find love from someone else?
You're making moves you're gonna lose
You know you played yourself
And now you thinkin you thinkin you can get one by me
But you'll never win but you'll never win
Try again the game is over
How could you think you could do me like that?
Running behind my back?
How could you do me like that?
Now the game is over
How could you think you could do me like that?
Treat me like that… treat me like that
Played yourself
Did ya did ya did ya did ya think you could really find love from someone else?
You're making moves you're gonna lose
You know you played yourself (Played yourself)
And now you think you think you can get one by me
But you'll never win but you'll never win
Try again 'cause the game is over
You played yourself
Did ya did ya did ya did ya think you could really find love from someone else
You're making moves you're gonna lose
You know you played yourself
And now you think you think you can get one by me
But you'll never win but you'll never win
Try again the game is over
Game over
JC was breathing heavy, ready for the rehearsal to be over. Kristi looked around at the other guys, and they were not thrilled of the presence of this girl either. Everyone was relieved to hear Wade yell, “Break!”
Kristi immediately went over to JC, who was talking with Justin in a hushed voice, concerned. “Jayce, what’s going on?” Kristi asked as she slipped her hand in his.
Justin knew that JC still hadn’t told her, so he excused himself, leaving JC and Kristi to talk.
“Well,” JC began. “That girl, Rachel, she’s my ex. She…umm…” JC didn’t want to say it, but he had to, Kristi deserved the truth. “She cheated on me.” Why did it hurt so much to say? It’s embarrassing…I couldn’t keep my woman.
“I figured that.” JC was puzzled. “The songs basically gave it away.” Kristi pulled him into a hug, “I’m so sorry. You don’t deserve that.”
“But I do?” Kristi and JC froze, hearing that voice. Kristi slowly turned around.
“Excuse me Wade; is there something I can do for you?”
Malice glowed in his eyes. “Actually…I need help rearranging the ‘Pop’ choreography to fit the Radio City Music Hall Stage this afternoon.”
“Well, sorry, I can’t, I’m busy.” Kristi went to walk away when a hand grabbed her arm, stopping her.
“But you’re the dance captain…”
Kristi took her free hand, removed Wade’s from her arm and said, “First, you’re a big boy”do it yourself. And second, nowhere does it say in my contract that I need to help you choreograph routines.” Wade went to argue, but Kristi kept going. “Do you really want me here this afternoon? I’ll be so depressed, I was supposed to go shopping, and I’ll be whining…”
“Fine.” Wade looked even madder.
Before either could walk away, Rachel stuck her hand out. “Hi, I’m Rachel, Wade’s girlfriend.”
Kristi shook her hand, and felt Rachel trying to break hers. “I’m Kristi, tour dance captain and JC’s girlfriend.”
Rachel turned around in a huff, and walked to the other side of the room. JC shook his head, smiled, and pulled Kristi towards the group, getting further away from the negativity in the room.
“Wow, that girl is a bitch!” Rachel vented, across the room, glaring at Kristi.
“Hey, watch it!” Wade said. As mad as he was at Kristi, he didn’t want her to find out that while she had been with JC, he was badmouthing her.
“Sorry, no wonder why he likes her. She’s gorgeous, feisty…”
“So now you know what we’re up against.”
“Yeah,” Rachel’s look softened. “I haven’t seen JC this happy in a long time…including while we were dating.” She was looking at JC laughing with Joey and Justin, catching glances at Kristi who was with Michelle, Beth, Lauren, and Meghan planning their shopping excursion.
“But you can make him happy…” Wade said, making sure Rachel wasn’t going to back out of the plan.
“Of course!”
The last half of the show was much less eventful; they ran through the numbers flawlessly.
The girls were getting ready to leave, when JC caught up with Kristi, pulling her aside. “I’m not really good at this thing,” JC began, “but I want you to buy whatever you think will make every other guy there jealous.” He began to pull out his wallet, but Kristi stopped him.
“Jayce, thank you, that’s really sweet, but I think I can manage.” She added, “I’ll call you before I buy anything, though, ok? I can even use Michelle’s phone! She has a camera in it!”
“Ok, Kris.” He kissed her good bye, and then ran to catch up with the guys.
The girls were in their fifth store, looking for dresses. Kristi was the only one actually going to the VMA’s, but who said the others couldn’t have some fun and try things on?
Kristi walked out of her dressing room and stood on the raised ground in front of a panel of mirrors. Lauren dropped the magazine she had been looking at, gasped and squealed, “Girls, I think we found one! Come out here, now!”
Two dressing room doors flung open, and they were speechless. Kristi stared at them, a bit self-conscious, in a red halter dress that reached the floor. There was a slit starting at the floor and reaching dangerously close to her hips.
“It’s gorgeous!” Beth squeaked. She was in a black dress, holding the back with her hands because she had run out half way through putting it on.
“Strike a pose!” Michelle said; she was reaching into her bag, pulling out her phone.
“We don’t allow pictures”“ the attendant was saying.
“Well,” Lauren started, “JC wants to see what dress his girlfriend is buying so he can tell her whether it’s appropriate for the VMA’s.”
The attendant wasn’t ready to give up. “How do I know this is JC Chasez’s girlfriend?”
Kristi shook her head. “So I guess you’re the only one in America who hasn’t seen pictures of us.” Kristi turned to her friends, “Maybe we should call up our good friend Luis from Teen People and have him fax the pictures over…”
The attendant gave up.
“Pose for you man!” Kristi put one hand behind her head and one on her hip. Michelle took a picture, and then showed it to Kristi before sending it.
“Wow,” Kristi said. Everyone stared at her. “What? I didn’t realize it…hugged…me so well.” She turned to Michelle. “What are you waiting for, send it to him!”
JC’s phone started vibrating while Ron was lecturing them about who knows what. He took it out and opened the file; his eyes widened. “Holy Shit” JC muttered under his breath and then groaned.
Justin was sitting next to him. “What?” JC showed him the picture. “Damn. She’s fine.”
JC shook his head and said, “Remember that girl, Kate Summers?” He then turned to Ron, raised his hand, and said, “Ron, I have to go to the bathroom!” in the whiniest voice he could manage.
Ron rolled his eyes and waved him off, continuing his lecture.
JC jogged around the corner and dialed Kristi’s cell phone.
Kristi was trying on shoes with the dress when her phone rang. She smiled and answered, “Will this make the other guys jealous?”
“Well,” JC said huskily, “You’ve already made Justin think about leaving Kate.”
“Oh, but she’s such a sweetheart!”
“Yeah, anyways, buy that dress. Now. I love it.”
“Really? Me too. I’m looking for matching shoes now.”
JC coughed. He hated this part. “And you can manage…umm…financially?”
“Well, I may ruin my credit, but who cares?”
JC laughed and said, “I’ll see you tonight, Kris.”
“Bye Jayce!”
The guys ended up staying at Jive longer than they had anticipated. Wade had worked out the choreography and decided to start teaching it to them. So not only was JC tired, he was extremely sore.
He opened his front door to see Kristi, freshly showered, lounging on the couch, reading. She’s beautiful. How did he get so lucky? “Honey, I’m home!”
Kristi jumped at his voice, surprised to see him. “Hey! I thought you might have decided to spend the night there!”
“Oh, that would have made Johnny and Ron too happy.”
“Do you want some dinner?” Kristi got up and headed towards the kitchen.
“You cooked?” JC asked, shocked.
“Hell no. I made you a sandwich!” She said proudly.
After JC had finished his sandwich and gave Kristi the inside scoop on the new dance they were learning, JC asked slyly, “What’s for desert?”
Kristi giggled and responded, “Ice cream…you have tons and tons of toppings too! Why do you have all of that crap?”
“I just always bought it, and we never used it all…”
Kristi and JC made ice cream sundaes and ate them as though they were little kids. Once the bowls were in the sink, Kristi said, “I’m so full! If I keep eating here, I’m going to lose my girlish figure!”
“That wouldn’t be good…” Kristi turned towards him, feigning being shocked.
“What happened to seeing beyond what a girl looks like?”
“That’s true,” JC began. “But you just bought a dress that is killer, and do you want to have to find another one?” Kristi couldn’t argue with that. “Speaking of killer dresses, can I see yours?”
JC blinked, not believing what he saw. Kristi looked even better in person; the dress hugged every curve of her body, accenting her slim hour-glass figure.
Kristi took JC’s stares as uncertainty and began babbling, “I thought I’d wear my hair on top of my head, like I did at the CD release party…If you don’t like it, I can always take it back…”
“No! Don’t ever return that dress…even when we’re old and gray.” Kristi did a double take…did he just say when they’re old?
JC got up from the bed and wrapped his arms around Kristi’s waist. She decided to push what JC had just said to the back of her mind. “I absolutely love the dress. I don’t think I’ll be able to focus on the show at all.” Kristi blushed and he kissed her deeply. “Now, can we see what this dress looks like on the floor?”
Kristi laughed and JC raised his eyebrows. “After it’s on the floor, though, we need to hang it up. That dress cost more than one month rent for my apartment.”
“You guys! We need to get this done…now!” Wade was yelling, again. At rehearsal the next day, the group was going through the concert again, and then would be working on the award show performance after lunch. “Guys, I know you like the girls well enough, but during the songs that are about bad things, you need to look pissed at them! Convey your emotions! Act a little…And same with the other songs. Like during ‘It’s Gonna Be Me’, you have to be looking at your girl like they are your whole world…” Wade trailed off.
“Let’s try ‘It’s Gonna Be Me’, then we’ll continue with ‘Just Got Paid’, and the rest of the concert.”
Everyone got ready right away, not wanting to give Wade another reason to yell.
You might've been hurt, babe
That ain't no lie
You've seen them all come and go, oh..
I remember you told me
That it made you believe in
No man, no cry
Maybe that's why
Every little thing I do
Never seems enough for you
You don't wanna lose it again
But I'm not like them
Baby, when you finally,
Get to love somebody
Guess what,
It's gonna be me..
JC wasn’t trying to make Wade mad, but Kristi whispered to him, “This should have been our song…” and JC broke out grinning; they were making faces at each other.
You've got no choice, babe
But to move on, and you know
There ain't no time to waste
You're just too blind (too blind), to see
But in the end, ya know it's gonna be me
You can't deny
So just tell me why
Every little thing I do
Never seems enough for you
You don't wanna lose it again
But I'm not like them
Baby, when you finally
Get to love somebody (somebody)
Guess what (guess what)
It's gonna be me
Everyone was laughing by now. They were trying to have fun; and girls like guys with a sense of humor, right?
There comes a day
When I'll be the one, you'll see..
It's gonna-gonna-gonna-gonna-gonna
It's gonna be me
All that I do
Is not enough for you
Don't wanna lose it
But I'm not like that
When finally (finally)
You get to love
Guess what (guess what)
Every little thing I do
Never seems enough for you (for you babe)
You don't wanna lose it again (don't wanna lose it)
But I'm not like them
Baby, when you finally
Get to love somebody (love..)
Guess what (guess what)
It's gonna be me
“Well, I’m glad you guys are at least having fun.” Wade spat at them.
“Wade, we can do all of this…we have been for the past three months.” Joey said.
“Can’t you just make sure we’re dancing right?” Lance asked.
“Sorry, no…I want you guys to amazing.” Wade glanced at Kristi; she was giggling at something JC had whispered in her ear. Wade couldn’t take it anymore. “We’re going to go over one more song, have lunch early, and then start on the award show…”
“Sweet!” Justin was excited to be getting a break sooner than they had planned. “What song?”
“’See Right Through You’” Wade said. A minute later he was starting the music, everyone scrambling to get into place.
Tell me what kind of girl would want to play me?
Tear me down and try to break me?
Baby how could you betray me
After all I've done for you
Took you there, bought you this
Now it's not enough babe
You better get your story straight
Tell me why you wanna play
I've had enough
These games they gotta stop
About to get pissed off
You had to keep leading me on, baby
I thought you had me fooled but I see right through you
JC knew better than to do anything to piss Wade off. He had obviously chosen this song for a reason, JC had a feeling he knew why; and he didn’t want Wade to show it to the world. He concentrated on giving Kristi looks of loathing. It wasn’t working.
Look into my eyes
Tell me what you see
I see a man who thought you loved me
you played me like a fool but I see right through you
I look into your eyes
I'll tell you what I see
I see a girl ran game on me
You thought you had me fooled but I see right through you
Tell me girl what's his name
What'd he do to take you?
Does he freak you the way that I do?
Cause you know that I know how to
When he leaves you don't come crying back to me
Cause I'll be moving on you see
and you'll just be a memory
I think I've had enough
These games they gotta stop
About to get pissed off
You had to keep leading me on, baby
You thought you had me fooled but I see right through you
“Stop the music!” Wade screamed, even though he had the stereo remote. “Everyone, down here, now.” They all moved silently off the stage. “Kristi, you stay.”
Kristi was not looking forward to what was going to happen. From the look on JC’s face, he wasn’t either.
“Kristi and I are going to show you what this should look like.” He turned to Kristi. “We’re starting right before JC’s verse.”
Her face turned white. She knew exactly what was going on. In this sequence, JC would advance on her, as if he were trying to corner her. Then on “freak” he would half jump, half lean into her and say, “Cause you know that I know how to” like a whisper. The rest of the verse was just dancing near each other, but required eye contact and harsh looks.
Tell me girl what's his name
What'd he do to take you?
Does he freak you the way that I do?
Cause you know that I know how to
When he leaves you don't come crying back to me
Cause I'll be moving on you see
and you'll just be a memory
I think I've had enough
With every passing moment, Wade got angrier, and Kristi more scared. She had never seen him like this; it was as if he was possessed. Every step he took was bigger than necessary, his face in hers, mouthing the words. Then on “freak” he practically jumped onto her. Kristi’s face had lost all color, and she trying hard to stop trembling. On “Cause you know that I know how to”, Wade glanced at JC and then smiled at Kristi. What was going on? When would this stop?
Just then, the music stopped. Justin was at the stereo, his eyes blazing. His anger could not come close to matching JC’s though.
Wade composed himself and began, “See that emotion showing through?” Everyone glanced shiftily at the floor. Wade’s voice started to tremble a little, but he continued. “She deserves what she gets because she cheated on you! And if she comes back to apologize, who says she’s not going to do it again? That’s why you won’t take her back!” Wade kept going, despite the angry glares from the others. Kristi gave a faint whimper from his side. “She’s cheating scum and doesn’t deserve any of this! Cheating…scum…” Everyone knew Wade was not talking about the song.
JC was making his way to the stage to make Wade be quiet. Before he got there, the room was filled with a deafening smack. Kristi had gotten there first.
She had red patches on her cheeks and Wade was holding the side of his face. “Don’t you ever,” She began, “ever treat anyone like that! You are the rudest and most immature person I have ever met! If you’re mad at me, fine, I can deal with it. But don’t you ever, ever bring it out here.” Kristi turned and marched out of the room. JC looked at Wade, and then went after her.
“I guess break is earlier than we all thought.” Joey said. And slowly, they all made their way out of the room for lunch, leaving Wade standing on stage, holding his face.
That didn’t go well, Wade thought.
Rehearsal was tense after lunch; no one was too happy with Wade. Why weren’t they mad at Kristi too? She’s the one who had hit him. Man, that girl has some power. He entered the rehearsal room to see Kristi sitting on JC’s lap talking to Justin and”Wade had to look a second time to make sure he was seeing correctly”Kate Summers, who had arrived during lunch.
Wade broke up the conversation. “Guys, show the girls what you learned yesterday!”
Kate joined the girl dancers against the wall, excitedly waiting to see what the guys were going to do.
They lined up along the side of a taped-off stage; they started off stage. The music started and they ran onto stage, getting ready.
Overall, the parts they knew didn’t look too bad. They danced energetically and sang strongly. The stage dimensions were a bit of an issue; there was one point when JC almost “fell off” (since the stage was just tape right now). Kristi had a feeling Wade didn’t care too much about that.
“Girls, I’m going to show you your parts first, and then we can try it with the guys…”
By the end of that very long day, everyone knew their parts, although it did need a lot of work. Kristi couldn’t wait to get out of there; she still couldn’t get over what Wade had said and she had hit him!
“Kristi, JC!” Justin called from across the parking lot. The two of them had booked it out of there, with good reason. “What are you guys doing for dinner tonight?”
Kristi looked at JC. Anything that concerned food was a JC issue. He thought for a minute, and then said, “Going over to your house?”
“Correct!” Justin smiled. “Go home and shower first, I don’t want you stinking up the house!”
“We’ll call on our way over!” Kristi yelled over her shoulder. JC grabbed her hand and they headed for his jeep.
“Take your time! There’s no need to conserve water!” Justin chuckled at his own joke.
Kristi blushed and bumped into JC’s side. He whispered in her ear, “Why don’t we conserve water just to piss him off?”
She knew how to play JC. “I think I’ll pass…I’d rather shower with a skunk…”
He dropped his bag and started to chase Kristi. She squealed and tried to run away from JC, but he grabbed her around the waist. Kristi didn’t give up; she kept trying to jump out of his arms. JC decided she deserved more than that, so he began tickling Kristi.
“Jayce, stop! You know I’m ticklish!”
“Obviously…”
Kristi fell to the ground laughing; JC fell right on top of her.
“Oof…get off of me!”
“Not until you admit I smell better than a skunk!”
Kristi managed to hold out for another moment before yelling, “Fine! You smell better than a skunk!”
Happy with that answer, JC got up then held out his hand to help Kristi up.
In the car, JC said, “Sorry Kris, but I had to. Do you know how damaging it is to my ego to hear you say something like that?”
“Does this mean I have to shower with you?”
“It’d be so much faster that way!”
Kristi laughed. “No it wouldn’t! You’d be too…occupied.”
An hour and a half later, Kristi and JC made it to Justin’s house. Kristi had gotten her way; a private shower. She was feeling quite refreshed when they reached Justin’s.
“Hey guys!” Justin called as they entered the backyard. “Glad to see you’ve made it!”
“Kristi, I need to talk to you!” Kate squealed.
“Ok…” Kristi had no idea what about.
“Those two…” JC began. “Kris thinks Kate is a sweetheart.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“J, I need to ask you something. Or more like sound something off of you.”
“Shoot.” Justin said as he flipped the burgers.
“I love Kristi”“
“Obviously…”
“Shut it!” JC tried to put his thoughts into words. “I’ve never felt this way and I want to tell her. But, I mean, we’ve only been dating for two months next week. Is that too soon?”
“Well, you forgot the two months you guys weren’t dating.”
“But we weren’t dating.”
“I know, but you still got to know her. Even that month that you guys weren’t talking…you learned so much about her. She’s strong, determined…”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right…for once in your life…”
“Kate already tells me that, I don’t need someone else too!” Justin paused. “And I’m a lot smarter than I let on!” JC had to give him that, but Justin continued. “I’m happy for you, man. I’m glad you’re happy.”
“Thanks…me too.”
“Chris is proposing to Madi!” Kate couldn’t contain her excitement.
“What? When?” Kristi was so confused. This was out of the blue for her.
“I don’t know, but soon, like before the VMA’s…how exciting is this?”
“Awesome, but shouldn’t she know before I do?”
“You would think so…” Kate explained the plan. “Chris asked Justin and JC to ask us if we’d take her out one night after rehearsal next week. Don’t worry,” Kate added. “It won’t be on your anniversary.” Kristi was about to ask how Kate knew about that, but Kate continued. “Take her out so Chris has time to shower and get everything ready…” She paused again, waiting for a response. “So, are you in?”
“Of course! She’s going to go nuts…getting engaged…”
Dinner was the quite the event. Justin and Kate were so cute together; they kept making jokes and finishing each others’ sentences.
Kristi was determined to get JC back for attacking her in the parking lot. She took her sandal off of her foot and kept sliding it up and down JC’s leg. She could tell from his face that he was trying to ignore it, but he wasn’t doing a good job. Kristi, on the other hand, was interested in the discussion, not giving a second thought about her foot.
“Thanks for dinner, guys!” JC said as he and Kristi were walking towards the car.
“Sorry to leave you with the dishes!” Kristi yelled.
“No you’re not!” Kate said back.
“True…bye!”
JC turned the car off, but didn’t get out. Kristi turned to him and asked, “What are you waiting for?”
“Nothing…just wait a second, ok?”
JC hopped out of the car, ran around the front and opened Kristi’s door. Before Kristi could start to get up, he scooped her up.
“What are you doing?” Kristi squealed.
“Well, since you wouldn’t let me have what I wanted earlier and you kept teasing me during dinner…”
Kristi’s eyes widened and started laughing.
JC finally dropped her onto the bed and said, “Change into that bikini…”
“Mr. Bossy, aren’t we?” Kristi, however, didn’t protest.
A minute later, JC was leading Kristi outside to the hot tub. Life was never boring while living with JC. They both got into the tub and settled down next to each other. JC, determined to get Kristi back, started rubbing her inner thigh. Kristi knew what he was trying to do, but she wouldn’t give in.
“Wow.” She said, trying to distract him. “Look at the stars…they’re beautiful.”
“I know something more beautiful than the stars.” Kristi blushed, but then JC continued, “My jeep.”
Laughing, Kristi said, “If you’re trying to get me into bed, that won’t help.”
“You know you can’t resist the Chasez charm.”
“I can’t? No one told me that.”
Smiling, JC pulled Kristi onto his lap. He ran his fingers through his hair. Kristi, trying to get comfortable, moved around until she was stratteling him. JC groaned. Kristi might last longer than him; not fair!
Kristi, knowing what he was thinking, decided one ego blow per day was enough to keep JC grounded. She started kissing him; JC was in heaven.
His arms wrapped around her body, pressing her closer to him. Kristi’s hands were in JC’s hair again, and he was getting hard. Her body was rubbing against him, and it was driving JC wild. Not only was Kristi an amazing person, she was gorgeous. JC couldn’t get enough of her. His hands sneaked to the tie holding her bikini top on and gave it a tug. Kristi’s top fell off, exposing her chest.
Kristi took her hands out of JC’s hair long enough to put them on top of his, and guide them down her torso to the two ties holding her bottom together. Getting the hint, JC tugged on those too. The feel of his skin against her was too much. He started kissing her neck and she leaned back, groaning. Her hands found the waistband of JC’s trunks, and started tugging. He had to stand up to get the shorts off, but never stopped kissing her.
Once JC’s shorts were off, Kristi broke the kiss to look at him. Was he ready for what she was about to do? The look in his eyes told Kristi he was as hungry as she was. She balanced her weight on her knees, on either side of JC’s lap. She raised herself and bit, and then settled herself so JC was in her. She started moving up and down, groaning from pleasure. Her excitement couldn’t match JC’s. After only a few minutes, he was done.
They were just kissing now, tired and sweaty. The steam rising from the hot tub made the evening more romantic.
Kristi hugged JC, whispering in his ear, “Wow.”
He looked at her. “You could say that.” He didn’t want to say what he was about to say, but he knew he had to. “It’s been a long day, and we have rehearsal tomorrow…”
Kristi kissed him one more time before letting JC get up, and then help her out of the tub. That was something Kristi couldn’t do every night, but she was thoroughly enjoying living with JC.
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