The rest of the evening had been uneventful for the most part. They guys had all been upset that Johnny couldn’t be there for the opening show, but they knew that he was just too busy. Grace’s words had been eating at Jamie all night, and she knew that she needed to tell Justin, but she was almost starting to believe Grace…maybe Justin wouldn’t believe her. She paced the floor of the bus, waiting for the guys to load. They were on their way back to the venue for the show, but something had held them up. The doors opened and someone stepped on, Jamie turned and started talking, assuming it was Justin.

 “J I really need to talk to you about Gr…” She stopped when she noticed that it wasn’t Justin standing there. In fact, it was Dave, and if looks could kill, Jamie would be dead.

            “Hello Miss Tanning, I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.” He offered her hand and Jamie took in reluctantly.

            “Hi…” She pulled back as fast as she could; not liking the way Dave was sizing her up.

            “So…how are you? I hope that you’re enjoying your stay on the tour.” He walked over and sat down at the table and eyed Jamie carefully.

            “If you’re going to threaten me again, you can skip it. Grace already told me that I need to watch my step, and if that’s all you wanted to say, you can leave.” Dave threw back his head and laughed, giving Jamie the chills.

            “Oh naive little child. I’m not here to threaten you…but I would like to ask you a favor.” He waited until he knew he had her full attention before he rose to his feet and got right in her face. “Grace has worked VERY hard to get to the position she’s in, and I don’t appreciate stupid little children messing up that opportunity. So, it would be in your best interest to stay out of our way, because you never know when something might come up and you suddenly have to leave the tour.”

            “Is that a threat, Mr. Malloy?” Jamie’s eyes flashed with anger. It wasn’t even the first full day and she had already been threatened twice.

            “No…it’s a guarantee.” He sneered at her and stormed off the bus, knocking into JC and Lance on his way out.

            “What was that all about, Jamie?” Lance noted the look of fire in her eyes and suddenly grew very suspicious.

            “Nothing. Just a few hot heads that think they own the world.” Her eyes searched for Justin and as soon as he walked on the bus she ran to him and grabbed his hand, bringing him to the back of the bus.

            “Hey James.” He said smoothly, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

            “Justin, we need to talk.”

Jamie paced the floor and Justin watched her with growing concern. She was chewing on her fingers rapidly and she looked ready explode. Justin reached out and grabbed her hand from her mouth, causing her to stop and look at him.

            “What’s wrong James? What happened?” They rocked as the bus started to move and Justin caught Jamie before she fell. He led her to the couch and pulled her down with him. “Talk to me James.” Her eyes searched the room and she was struggling with weather or not to tell him what had happened.

When she didn’t speak right away Justin decided to start for her.

           “James, if you’re worried about the touring and the fans, you shouldn’t be. It’s a bit rough to start off, but you should get used to it soon enough. And I’m always here for you, understood?” She nodded her head and was about to start talking but he cut her off. “I know that the crowds can be overwhelming, but we have very good security and I will make sure that you’re kept safe.”

Jamie sat back as he rambled; giving his macho “I’ll be your knight in shining armor” speech and she just let him talk. Justin had this need to feel in control, and if this was helping him, she wasn’t going to be the one to get in the way. When he finally stopped talking and she thought she might be able to get a word in, there was a knock at the door and Lance poked his head in.

            “Justin, we’ve just pulled in. We’re getting off in about a minute.” He nodded and Lance shut the door again.

            “Are you ready for this?” He grabbed Jamie’s hand and kissed her fingers.

            “Justin I still need to talk to…” He placed a finger to her lips to silence her.

            “Shhh…It’s going to be OK.” Jamie started to speak again, trying to tell him that that wasn’t her problem, but he was called from the front of the bus. “I have to go now. Wait a few minutes here and Andy will take you inside. I got you a VIP booth.” He kissed her softly before running out the door. Jamie sat back down on the couch with a sigh and covered her hands with her face.

She didn’t know what to do. She knew that she should probably tell someone, but who was going to believe her? All the guys thought that Grace was a sweetheart, and no one knew Dave. She also knew that she didn’t want to get kicked off the tour. The whole reason she moved to Orlando was Justin, and being thousands of miles away from him wasn’t her idea of fun. She needed a life outside of Justin, that was obvious, but it just wasn’t that time. Right now they both just wanted each other.

A knock sounded on the door and she looked up to see Andy, one of the body guards. For some reason Andy and James had a very fast friendship and he was like her big brother. Always ready to stand up for her, and more than willing to tease her.  He smiled at her and held out a hand.

            “Come my darling…The Prince awaits your presence.” Jamie rolled her eyes and laughed.

            “Andy…You are the worlds biggest dork.”

            “Maybe so…but I am the dork that saves your boyfriend’s scrawny ass.” He flashed a grin and Jamie slapped his arm.

            “Play nice.”

            “Yes Ma’am.” Their banter went back and forth until they reached the booth and Andy led her to her seat. “Get ready sweet stuff…you’re about to see one of the best shows on earth.”

 ~*~

Andy hadn’t been joking. Jamie’s head was still spinning from everything that she had seen. Granted she had watched some of the rehearsals, but she hadn’t seen the finished product until tonight.

The energy and passion that the guys emitted was unparallel. It was awe-inspiring to watch them in their element. They loved the music, they loved the videos…but most of all they loved the stage. To see their faces light up when their fans reacted or sang along was amazing. Jamie knew why their shows were some of the best. It was because you couldn’t find another group of guys that loved what they did more than NSYNC did.

Jamie sat on the bus waiting for the guys to load. She tapped her foot humming one of the songs she had heard that night. She watched as Grace and Dave passed by the bus and a chill shout through her. Even though the windows were tinted and she knew that they couldn’t see her, Dave looked right at her as they passed. The man was scary and that’s all there was to it. She had no idea what she had done to piss the two of them off, but it must have been pretty big.

This brought on another problem to Jamie. Should she tell Justin, or shouldn't she? One of two things would happen. Justin would blow up and go on a man hunt for Dave’s head, or he would laugh and say that Jamie was imagining things. Neither of which she liked very much.  

What Jamie really needed was some good, strong guidance. She spotted her cell phone and a thought popped into her head. She grabbed the phone and quickly dialed a few numbers, pressing it to her ear quickly.

           “Hello?” A groggy voice sounded on the other end and Jamie realized how late it was.

            “Hey Luke, sorry to wake you.” She heard him groan and shift, fumbling with the phone. She could almost see him turning to look at the clock and scratching his head.

            “What time is it? Jesus James…it’s past midnight. What the hell do you want?” Jamie laughed.

            “Gee, thanks for asking. I’m do great Luke, no nothing’s wrong. You have absolutely no need to worry.” Luke grumbled some more before answering her sarcastic remark.

            “Jamie, it’s 12 friggen 30 in the morning and I need my beauty rest. If it were an emergency you would have skipped the niceties already. Now what do you want?”

            “Someone’s got their panties in a bunch. I’m sorry it’s so late; I just needed to talk to someone.”

            “God James…you’re on a tour with five men and however many servants they have…can’t you talk to one of them?”

            “It’s not the same…besides; I can’t annoy them like I can you.” She heard him grunt a reply and she laughed.

            “So…what do you want to talk about? Everything is OK, right?” Jamie sighed. This was the tough part. Does she tell Luke, does she tell Justin…does she just keep her mouth shut? Going against her better judgment, she decided to say nothing.

            “Everything is great. They guys are awesome, you need to see the show Luke, it’s enough to make you weak in the knees. Oh, and JC…Mmm Mmm, what that boy can do on stage.”

            “Really?” Jamie laughed at the excitement in his voice and could imagine him drooling over the thought of JC.

            “You should come out. I miss you Luke…I need my partner in crime.” She picked at the fabric on the couch and watched as the guys ran from the arena toward the bus.

            “How about I fly out tomorrow? Where will you be?” All the guys bounded onto the bus and Justin came over to Jamie, trying to give her a hug. She pushed him away and laughed at his pouting face.

            “We’ll be in Phoenix tomorrow.”

            “OK, I’ll call you later with my flight times. Be careful James…and have fun OK?” Jamie said her goodbyes, hung up the phone and pushed Justin away again, laughing.

            “You smell! Ugh! J, you’re all sweaty.”

            “I just danced for two hours…you try it.”

            “No thank you.” Justin stopped trying to hug Jamie, sitting back against the couch. He watched as she went and put her cell phone in her bag. She seemed strange.

            “Who was on the phone?”

            “Luke. He’s going to meet us tomorrow, in Phoenix.” Justin nodded and motioned for Jamie to come to him.

            “What did you think of tonight?”

            “God Justin…it was incredible.” He

watched as she gushed about the show and he grinned.

            “I’m glad you liked it. Thank you James.” He kissed her cheek gently and squeezed her hand. She smiled at him and she knew that she had made the right decision. Although she was still unsure of so much, this felt right. Justin felt right, the whole situation just felt like it fit and Jamie was happy with the way things were going.

Jamie pressed her cell phone tighter to her head and covered her other ear with her free hand. She tried to move as far away from the incessant screaming as possible but it seemed to surround her.

            “Jamie, where the hell are you?”

            “I’m in the middle of racing hormones and training bras…where else would I be. Hold on a second Luke.” Jamie followed closely behind Andy as he led her inside the venue. The noise dropped a few decibels and Jamie said a silent thanks.

            “Ok…I’m back, what time does your flight get in?”

            “Midnight, I’ll be at gate 57.” She heard a flight attendant tell him he needed to shut his phone off and the Luke’s voice came back onto the line. “Jamie, I have to go…I’ll see you later tonight. Love you girl.”

            “OK Luke, have a safe flight.” She hung up the phone and started down the hallway towards Justin dressing room.

She looked down at her cell phone when it started to beep and suddenly crashed into someone coming down the hallway.

            “Oh! I’m so sorry…” She looked up to see Grace and she was suddenly frightened.

            “Jamie! I’m glad I found you…I wanted to apologize for the way I acted the other day. I don’t know what came over me; I mean…I think it was just the stress of the first day and the fact that I’ve been warned so many times about not doing anything to compromise the guys and their reputations.” Jamie couldn’t believe her ears. Was this the same person?

            “I ah…thanks…I think.” She looked Grace over carefully and took a slight step back.

            “I know you must think I’m a total bitch, and I’m so sorry…” Jamie didn’t know if she wanted to believe the whole innocent act, but she didn’t really have much of a choice in the matter. She decided that she should just let things go and they should both just go in their separate directions.

            “That’s all right Grace, it happens to the best of us. I need to go now, but I’ll see you around.” Grace had already started walking down the hall with her nose in some papers but she waved to show that she had heard Jamie and kept on going.

            “That was strange.” Jamie shook her head and continued on her way to Justin’s dressing room.

Dave pulled Grace into a room and closed the door quickly.

           “What did you just say to Jamie?” He watched as Grace’s eyes widened at Dave’s condescending tone.

            “I apologized for the other day. I realized that I was being extremely judgmental and I might as well try and be nice to her. She is my own flesh and blood.” Dave’s eyes flared with anger and for a moment he looked possessed.

            “Why did you do that?!” Grace took a few steps backwards and reached for the door handle.

            “What the hell has gotten into you? Since when did you care what I did? And besides, isn’t it better that we’re not fighting? I can’t hate her for something she hasn’t done.” Dave pulled at his hair and Grace was beginning to worry.

            “Well…I guess it might be better that you apologized. Now she can’t go saying anything…” He started mumbling to himself and it wasn’t pretty.

            “Dave, I think you need to cut down on the caffeine intake and get some more sleep. I have a lot of things I need to get done today so I’ll see you later. Please, get some rest…” She walked backwards out of the door, watching Dave the whole way. She had never seen him this worked up before and she was having a hard time believing that it was because she had said sorry to Jamie.

            “That man has some serious problems.”

Luke watched as Jamie yawned for the fifteenth time since they had gotten in the car. It was now quarter past midnight and she looked beat.

            “Jamie, you look like hell.” She grunted and turned away from the window to give him a dirty look.

            “If you went to bed at 3 in the morning and then had to get up a 6 you’d look like hell too.” He laughed and pulled her into a hug.

            “How is everything going?”

            “Really well, besides the no sleep thing. I never knew Justin could be hyper at 3 in the morning.” She yawned again and was thankful when she could see the venue up ahead.

            “It’s the adrenalin from the show. By the way…how does JC look in the morning? ‘Cause if he looks anything like I want him to…you better lock me away.” At this Jamie laughed. Luke always knew how to make things interesting.

            “Luke, we need to lock you up anyway.” He stuck his tongue out at her and they both laughed.

A few minutes later they hurried into the hotel and made their way to the rooms.

            “I am so tired…why’d you have to get a midnight flight?”

            “Hey…I’m here aren’t I? So where am I staying and is it anywhere near JC?” A door next to them opened and JC and Lance came out of the room.

            “Did I hear my name?” Luke’s jaw dropped to the floor and he turned a slight shade of red.

            “I…no…I was…”

            “T-t-t-today junior.” Jamie tapped his jaw and he shoved her away from him. “Guys, you’ll have to forgive Luke…he’s a little tired. Luke, your room is over here, across the hall, why don’t you get settled.” She shoved a protesting Luke into the room and waved to JC and Lance. “You have a nice night boys.”

Lance shook his head and chuckled. “Those two are really strange.” JC agreed and they both went back into the room.

Jamie laughed as Luke sat down with a huff and pouted. “You’re an ass.” She laughed even harder when she remembered the look on his face and the way he lost all sense of himself.

          “Oh…I’m sorry.” She fought to get her composure and when she had calmed down some she wrapped Luke in a hug. “I’ll make it up to you…promise. All right, I need to get some sleep, and I suggest you do too…we’re up at 6. Good night Luke.” She kissed his cheek gently and left the room, headed for her own.

Jamie opened the door and stopped. She didn’t remember having left the light on. She slowly made her way into the room and smiled when she spotted a sleeping Justin on the bed. A book was resting against his chest and his reading glasses had started to slip down his nose. Jamie crept over to him and removed the glasses slowly, placing them on the bedside table. She then removed the book, marking the page and she kissed him lightly.

           “Hey.” She whispered softly as his eyes fluttered open.

            “What time is it? Did you just get back?” Jamie walked across the room to her bag so she could grab some clothes and Justin propped himself up against the headboard and watched her.

            “It’s almost one. Luke’s flight was late getting in. I just showed him to his room.” She walked into the bathroom, leaving the door open a crack so they could talk.

            “How is he doing?”

            “Pretty good…you should have seen his face when he spotted JC though, God it was hilarious.” She emerged from the bathroom in a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt.

            “Hey! That’s mine!” Jamie walked across the room, throwing herself onto the other side of the bed.

            “Not anymore.” She leaned over him to turn off the light, kissing his cheek lightly on the way by. “I’m going to sleep now…so if you’re staying, sleep. If you’re not staying…then get the hell out.” She clicked off the light and they plunged into sudden darkness.

            “James…think about it,” Justin’s voice was a low whisper as he placed his mouth next to her ear. “Dark hotel room…just you and me…”

            “And if you don’t shut up and let me sleep, those thoughts will never come true…ever.” He laughed at her comment and slid down under the sheets. Reaching for her he grabbed her and hand linked their fingers.

            “Goodnight James.”