I.
Beautiful dawn
Lights up the shore for me.
There is nothing else in the world,
I'd rather wake up and see (with you).
Beautiful dawn
I'm just chasing time again.
Thought I would die a lonely man, in endless night.
The harsh thumping of music filled the small convention center with the lyrics of New Kids on the Block as bodies mingled for the first time in fifteen years. Old friends were reunited, old lovers were given a glimpse into the life of their past significant other, and enemies reconciled their differences after over a decade of opposition. For JC Chasez it was a time for him to be normal, to fall back into the past and wonder what would have happened if fame had passed him by.
It had been fifteen years since he had stepped through the threshold of his old high school and he was rather excited to see old friends again. Many of them had faded into the life of normalcy but he had opted for a different route. He was sure most of them knew who he was back in the carefree days of adolescence. There wasn’t one person who didn’t watch The Mickey Mouse Club and his first few weeks of school were spent signing autographs and trying to find teenagers who wanted to be his friend because they saw him as an interesting individual, and not a pip squeak celebrity.
But he was sure that those few rebels who boycotted the show knew him from another time in his life, the four years he spent at the top of the music industry “ his image plastered on every public surface known to man.
Now the speeding train of his fame and fortune was coming to a slow halt. He had done the solo album, he had done the touring, but found that he was still in the shadow of his equally, if not more talented band mate, Justin Timberlake. It wasn’t that he minded because JC never wanted to be the type of celebrity that Justin was. He was perfectly fine with disappearing into the crowd of anonymity. Which was why he was here. JC wanted to come full circle with his fame, go back to the root of it and bid farewell before fading away into a life of the ordinary.
But he didn’t expect her to show up.
She always looked a vision, even back in high school. Her hair was always perfect, she was up on the latest styles, and she was always a friend to everyone. Back then she was his perfect girl and even now she still fit the bill.
He had been following her career from afar, she was an up and coming photo journalist for dozens of periodicals and he had seen her pictures grace the covers of so many prestigious magazines it was impossible to count them all. But even after all the critical acclaim she received for a photo, she was still the same Elizabeth Parker, and still his first love.
She saw him watching her and she hurried over, a smile on her face as she hugged him tightly, her melodious laughter melting his heart. She hadn’t changed since the last time he saw her. She still had the same childish face, the same features that had made her so appealing fifteen years ago. Her brown eyes were dancing in the dim light of the room and her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into its trademark ponytail. It was amazing how little she had changed and yet she still made his heart soar.
“Josh! Long time no see, how are you?” she asked breathlessly as she smoothed the folds of her black skirt, the genuine happiness of her smile blinding him. He grinned and rubbed the back of his neck, something he found he always did when he found himself becoming shy.
“I’m doing alright, what about you?” he muttered and he saw that she had to step a bit closer to hear him over the pounding music of Salt N’ Peppa.
“Surviving,” she responded with a quirky grin before they fell into the old memories of high school past. It was a surreal experience for JC to actually be carrying out a conversation with a girl after his failed attempts to rectify failed relationships over the years.
He had been with Bobbie, he had his time with Tara, and Eva had betrayed him the worst of all. Being in a relationship had always meant something special to him, whether it was for a week, month, or even years. He always thought the connection between two people was the most important thing in any kind of relationship. Too bad the communication lines had been severed between him and the rest of the female population for good.
His parents were growing worried, most of his friends and other men his age were finally settling down. Joey had been married for a year, he had his daughter, Justin was getting over Britney and had Cameron, Lance still deemed himself too busy for any kind of romance, and Chris was forever claiming his bachelorhood until he married a big breasted porn star well into his eighties. But JC was still having his relationship problems and it was when he was listening to his worried mother’s voice that he began to wonder if he was going to be truly alone. Of course the fans would always love him, but they would soon move on to a younger and more handsome version of himself, leaving him just a few inches away from the spotlight he once stood in.
His clock was ticking and he was still in darkness.
Beautiful dawn
Melt with the stars again.
Do you remember the day when my journey began?
Will you remember the end (of time)?
Beautiful dawn
You're just blowing my mind again.
Thought I was born to endless night, until you shine.
High; running wild among all the stars above.
Sometimes it's hard to believe you remember me.
“Did you hear a word I just said?” Elizabeth questioned as she nudged him on the shoulder. He looked down at her and shook his head before she rolled her eyes and pointed towards the small stage that had been set up in the small convention center.
“Do you remember Charlie Grey?” she questioned and JC nodded, “That’s him.”
“What…no that isn’t,” JC said as he did a double take at the man chatting to one of the old shop teachers. Charlie Grey had been the star quarterback of their high school, was every girl’s dream, and one of JC’s worst enemies. But the overweight, balding man standing there next to the stage was the exact opposite of what Charlie Grey had been “ lean, muscular, and handsome and now the shadow of his former glory had been shattered and was now in broken pieces on the ground.
“God I had the biggest crush on him,” he heard her mutter and he merely smiled.
“I had the biggest crush on you. I still do,” he thought to himself but he kept his feelings quiet. It never did well to dwell on the past and he was almost positive she had someone back home waiting for her. Most girls like her usually did.
A shift in the music caused Elizabeth to gasp before she grabbed onto JC’s forearm, his stomach fluttering slightly, “Do you remember this song?” she questioned as a vaguely familiar Boys II Men song flowed out of the speakers. He nodded slightly before she pulled him out towards the dance floor that had been set up in front of the stage.
JC slowly allowed his left hand to touch her waist as her right hand slid gently into his. They began their slow twirl around the dance floor, leaving JC to wonder why she was able to fit so perfectly in his arms.
They stayed silent for a while, the pair of them letting the words cascade through the air and into their waiting ears. “This song reminds me of graduation,” she stated simply as they continued their slow dance around the floor, “But you didn’t walk with the rest of us,” she added with a small sigh.
JC nodded his head. That was right, the show had been cancelled a few months before that and he had been given an offer to work with some musicians up in Nashville right after the show’s last taping. He had agreed of course, and left without so much as a second thought, leaving old high school friends and family behind without so much as a goodbye.
“Of course after that there was no stopping you. You were always one to go after your dreams. Always ambitious, but then again you still are,” she added with a small sigh and JC found that he could only nod again. What was it about her that made him speechless?
“Well you were never one to give up. I saw your cover on The National Geographic last month,” he replied lamely. It really was an exquisite piece of art, the camera angle alone of the flower was remarkable and he became surprised when she merely giggled.
“Can I tell you a secret? That was a mistake. I tripped and pressed the shutter by accident. It just happened to be the best picture I took. Everything that’s happened to me has been a giant mistake but that never happened with you. It’s going to be surprising to see where you end up once everything is said and done. You have such an interesting life JC and it’s only going to get even more interesting. You’ll see.”
JC chuckled and looked down at his feet. Leave it to Elizabeth to be overly modest about a talent that had evidentially been inside of her since birth. She responded by closing the distance between them, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder. He could feel his heart leap up into his throat and he adjusted his hand to hold her more closely.
Was this what she meant by things getting more interesting?
Will you be my shoulder when I'm grey and older?
Promise me tomorrow starts with you,
Getting high; running wild among all the stars above.
Sometimes it's hard to believe you remember me
They stayed in that position for a long time, the two ignoring the calls of recognition from old classmates, teachers, and coaches. They had found their small little world and they were completely satisfied with keeping it to themselves for a while.
It didn’t strike JC odd at any time that after fifteen years of being apart, he could come clean and quietly admit his feelings towards a woman who he hadn’t seen for more than half of his life. In the back of his mind she had always been there, the perfect model of who he wanted to spend his time with, share all his secrets with, and start his day with. Elizabeth had been one of his closest friends in high school, allowing him a sense of normalcy in his life even though he was performing in front of a live studio audience every day after school. She always managed to lend him a helpful ear whenever he was having problems on the set, or at school but they never crossed that line of friendship even though they knew back then what could have been waiting for them should they decide to step over that forbidden line.
Yes he had gone through the high profile girlfriends, she had her set of boyfriends who never really cared, and they both had been hurt time and time again. It had to have been a matter of time until their paths crossed again.
Who knew it would be back at the beginning?
