“Angela,” a voice whispered in her ear. “It’s time to get up.” 

Angela groaned as she buried her head against her bed. It wasn’t until she felt a rumble beneath her cheek that she realized that her “bed” was JC’s chest. JC kissed the top of her head. 

“C’mon, we’re at the hotel,” JC said. 

Angela slowly opened her eyes and turned her head so she was looking up into JC’s blue eyes. “Morning,” she said sleepily. 

JC smiled. “Good morning.” 

They shared a quick kiss before Angela said, “Wow. I can’t believe we fell asleep on the floor.” 

“Well, you were tired,” JC said as Angela pulled away from JC and slowly stood up. 

“But you could’ve woken me up. We didn’t have to sleep on the floor,” she said. 

“I know, but I didn’t mind. The floor’s actually kind of comfortable,” JC said. 

“It’s a good thing I don’t mind sleeping on hard surfaces,” Angela replied. 

“Hey.” JC grabbed Angela’s arm as she went to leave the bus. “Are you okay?” 

Angela tilted her head as she turned to look at him. “Of course. Why do you ask?” 

“I could practically hear the wheels turning in your head while we were watching the movie last night. Then you kept on waking up through the night,” JC explained. 

“I just have some things on my mind,” Angela said. 

“Like what?” JC asked. 

“JC, we really should head into the hotel. You need to eat breakfast before the photo shoot,” Angela replied, not wanting to have this conversation with JC. 

“Angela, I want to know what’s on your mind, and we’re not leaving this bus until you tell me,” JC said as he crossed his arms. 

Angela sighed as she thought for a minute. She contemplated telling JC about Tony, but she quickly dismissed that idea. Instead she said, “I guess I’m still a little bugged about the article, and I’ve been trying to come up with an idea to pull together the photo shoot.” 

JC stared at her for a minute as if he were determining if she was sincere or not. Finally after a minute he nodded and said, “OK.” 

His reaction made Angela think that he didn’t totally believe her. It seemed that he had been suspicious of her behavior for the past couple days now. She knew that she would have to try not to do anything that would make JC even more suspicious. 

Together the two of them left the bus and entered the hotel’s lobby. It was still kind of early in the morning so there weren’t any fans around. They managed to get an elevator right away and rode up to the eighth floor alone. 

JC went to join the group in Lance’s room for breakfast, but stopped when he noticed that Angela wasn’t following him. “Where are you going?” 

“I need to change real fast and finish setting up for the photo shoot. I’ll see you guys in about a half hour,” Angela explained. 

“You want me to bring you a donut or anything?” JC asked. 

Angela shook her head. “I’m not very hungry.” She saw JC frown and added, “I’ll eat a big lunch. Besides, you know I’m not much of a breakfast person.” 

“All right,” JC said as he nodded. “I’ll see you in a little bit then.” 

He walked up to her and kissed her before he knocked on Lance’s door. Angela slipped the card key for her room into the slot and opened the door. She found her bag next to the bed and grabbed a change of clothes out of it. 

Fifteen minutes later she was showered and changed. She then left her room and headed to the roof, which was where the photo shoot would be. She spent the next ten minutes adjusting her camera to make sure that it was on the right settings. Just as she was finishing up, the guys of *NSYNC had arrived. 

“Why are we on the roof?” Joey asked. 

“Well, I thought that it would be interesting. You guys are wearing light breezy clothing that will make for a nice shot when the wind blows. Plus we have the city as a backdrop,” Angela explained. 

“I get that, but why does it have to be on the roof?” Chris complained. “You could’ve gotten the same results in a park or something on solid ground.” 

“No, I couldn’t have. Now go stand over there next to JC,” Angela told Chris. 

The photo shoot took about an hour and a half. It probably could’ve been done in an hour, but Angela had to keep stopping to get Chris to stand near the edge. By the end of it she owed him 100 dollars because she had promised him 10 dollars every time he held a pose and did what he was told. 

JC walked up to Angela and wrapped an arm around her waist. “The guys are hungry, so I’m going to head out for some lunch. Do you want to come with me?” 

Angela shook her head. “I should really get this pictures developed.” 

“Okay,” JC said looking a little disappointed. 

“I’ll go with you!” Lance volunteered. 

“All right.” JC turned to look at Angela. “What do you want us to bring you back?” 

“A chicken sandwich, fries, and oh! A vanilla shake,” Angela said. 

“OK. We’ll be back soon,” JC said. 

“See you guys later,” Lance said. 

“Don’t forget to bring back my apple pie!” Joey yelled after them. 

Joey, Chris, and Justin all returned to their floor where they hung out in Joey’s room playing video games. Angela found a room that she was able to turn into a dark room where she could develop the pictures from the photo shoot. 

Angela was halfway through developing the pictures when her cell phone went off. She jumped and tried to grab a towel to dry her hands quickly before she answered the phone. 

“I’m coming. I’m coming,” she told the phone that was vibrating in her pocket. She managed to dry off her hands and answer it before it stopped ringing. 

“Hello?” 

“Hi. Do you know a Mr. Joshua Chasez and a Mr. James Bass?” the voice on the other line asked. 

“Yes. Who is this?” Angela asked. 

“This is Nurse Mary from St. Joseph’s Hospital.” 

Angela’s face drained of color. “What happened?” 

“Your friends were brought in a few minutes ago. It was a car accident,” Nurse Mary said. 

“Oh my God. I’ll be right there,” Angela said. She didn’t even bother to wait for an answer before she hung up the phone. 

She knew the first thing she had to do was go tell Justin, Joey, and Chris what was going on. She wasted no time. She left the room leaving both the finished and unfinished pictures there. She ran into the stairwell where she ran down five flights of stairs to get to the floor they were on. 

She made to it Joey’s room and wasted no time knocking on the door. As soon as Justin opened the door Angela dragged him into the hall. “C’mon, guys,” she called after Joey and Chris. “We need to go!” 

“Wait a minute!” Justin said as he stopped and forced Angela to stop too. “Where are we going?” 

Joey and Chris came out into the hall. “Yeah, what’s going on?” 

“We need to get to the hospital. JC and Lance were in a car accident,” Angela said. She tried to walk away to head out, but Justin tugged her back into place. 

“What?” Chris asked. 

“How do you know?” Joey asked. 

“I got a call from this nurse at St. Joseph’s. She said they just came in a few minutes ago. We need to get moving!” Angela answered. 

“All right. There’s a car out back. I’ll drive,” Justin said. 

So the four of them ran downstairs and behind the hotel to the parking lot where a rental car was waiting. They had thought about grabbing a bodyguard, but knew that would take too much time. Besides, they didn’t think they would be getting mobbed at the hospital since no one would know they would be there.

Justin drove as fast as he could to the hospital. The ride there was completely silent. Each person was wrapped up in their own thoughts praying that Lance and JC were okay. About fifteen minutes later they arrived at the hospital. Justin parked the car and the four of them sprinted into the hospital to the front desk. 

The nurse stationed there looked up when they approached. “Can I help you?” 

“Yeah, we got a call that two of our friends were brought in a little while ago,” Angela said. 

“Names?” she asked. 

“JC…uh Joshua Chasez and La—James Bass,” Justin said. 

The nurse typed the names into the computer. “Yes, here they are. Car accident. They don’t have a room number, so they must still be with the doctor. You can go upstairs to the waiting room to wait for the doctor.” 

“Thanks,” Joey said. They took the elevator up to the second floor. The waiting room was empty so they could sit anywhere. The guys sat down, but Angela was too worried to do so. 

The silence that had fallen between them during the car ride returned. Angela paced around the waiting room. After a few minutes she stopped and turned to Joey. 

“I hope your apple pie was worth it!” 

Joey looked up at her in surprise. As soon as Angela caught the look on his face she knew that she snapped. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry, Joey. This isn’t your fault. I’m just driving myself crazy. I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” Joey said. He didn’t really take what she said to heart. He knew that she was just worried. 

Angela was about to go back to pacing when the doctor walked in. “Are you all here for Joshua Chasez and James Bass?” 

“Yes,” Chris said as he stood up from his seat. Joey and Justin did the same. The four of them moved closer to the doctor. 

“How are they?” Angela asked. 

“For the way the car was, they’re fine,” the doctor said. 

“What do you mean?” Justin asked. 

“From what the paramedics that arrived on the scene told me, the car was in pretty bad shape. Their injuries should’ve been much worse than what they were,” the doctor explained. 

“What are their injuries?” Joey asked. 

“Well, let’s start with Mr. Bass. He has a slight concussion and is bruised in his chest area where the seatbelt held him in place. Mr. Chasez has a mild concussion, a broken arm, and his chest is bruised as well, which is remarkable considering the driver’s side had been the side that took the brunt of the impact,” the doctor said. 

“Can we take them home?” Angela asked. 

“Yes. We don’t need to keep them over night,” the doctor said. “I’ll send them out after they fill out the release forms.” 

“Thank you,” Justin said. 

They only had to wait about five minutes before JC and Lance walked into the waiting room. The four of them immediately jumped up to hug JC and Lance. 

“Don’t ever scare us like that again,” Chris said seriously. 

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Angela whispered in JC’s ear as she hugged him. 

“Me too,” JC said. 

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get the hell out of here!” Joey said and he led the six of them out of the hospital. 

“What are you guys going to do about the tour?” Angela asked. 

“We’ll have to talk to Johnny and figure it out,” Lance answered. 

“What exactly happened, dudes?” Justin asked as he looked at JC and Lance through the rear view mirror. 

JC sighed as he ran his non-injured hand through his hair. “It happened so fast. Lance and I had been sitting at this red light. The light turned green and I hit the gas when this car comes out of nowhere and slams into the side of us.” 

“Did the police get him?” Chris asked. 

Lance shook his head. “The guy managed to drive away. He had to have been in a truck to have still been able to drive away like that.” 

Angela knew who caused the accident. It was Tony. Sure, she didn’t really have proof, but she knew it just had to be him. He’s the only one evil enough to have done something so terrible. She now knew what she had to do. 

They arrived at the hotel and they snuck in through the back again. They didn’t want the press to know what happened until they talked to Johnny and got everything worked out. They made it up to their floor without an incident. 

“Let’s go in my room. We can order room service for lunch,” Justin suggested. 

“Sounds good to me,” Joey said. 

“Are you coming guys?” Lance asked JC and Angela seeing that they weren’t following them into Justin’s room. 

“In a minute. I need to talk to Angela first,” JC said. 

Lance nodded in understanding. Angela entered JC’s room first and he closed the door after he entered. 

“What’s wrong?” 

Angela shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just glad you’re okay.” 

“I don’t think that’s it, or at least not all of it. You were pretty quiet in the car,” JC said. 

“I was just doing some thinking,” she said. 

“About what?” JC asked. 

Angela hesitated for a few seconds before she said, “It’s nothing.” 

“Bullshit!” JC said and Angela looked at him in surprise. She hadn’t seen him get pissed off before. “It’s something. And I know it’s something more than you’re glad I’m okay. You’ve been out of it for the past couple of days.” 

“It’s none of your business,” Angela said getting on the defensive. 

“What do you mean it’s none of my business? You’re my girlfriend. Of course it’s my business,” JC said. 

“No, it’s not! I didn’t even want to be your girlfriend. You forced me into it!” Angela yelled. 

JC looked surprised before his eyes narrowed. “You don’t mean that.” 

JC was staring at Angela and she had to look away from his intense gaze. “I do.” 

“Fine. You don’t want to be here then leave. There’s the door,” JC said as he pointed. 

“I’m gone,” Angela said. She opened the door and was about to leave before she stopped and said, “Good-bye, JC.” 

She closed the door and ran into her room. She grabbed her bags and ran out into the hall. Tears were running down her face and she hastily rubbed at her eyes. She felt awful for saying those things to JC, but she knew it had to be done in order to keep him from following her. 

She was leaving. Without her around they wouldn’t be in danger anymore. JC and Lance could’ve been killed because Tony was after her. The only solution she saw was to leave. She was going to keep running until Tony caught up with her, and when he does she would face him on her own. She hailed a cab to take her to the airport before she took one last look at the hotel that held the man she had fallen for. The cab pulled away from the curb and she was gone.