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4 o'clock PM (Orlando, FL)

It seemed like Melissa had just closed her eyes when Lance began shaking her awake; telling her that the plane had just landed.

"Are you seri-" She began, but was cut off as a deep yawn took a hold of her, "Excuse me..how long have I been out?"

Shrugging, Lance moved his eyes from the commotion that was going on beside him, to glance back at Melissa; smiling as he watched her try to pat her unkept hair down, "Not sure. I just remember waking up fifteen minutes ago-to find you drooling all over my shirt."

"Whatever, I do not dro-" Melissa began-but almost immediately afterwards-ended up closing her mouth; realizing Lance was smiling at her smugly, while pointing to a spot on his shoulder. A spot which, no thanks to her drool, of course-was now slightly bluer than the rest of his sweatshirt. "Oops."

Chuckling softly, Lance shook his head-before picking the carry on bag he had brought with him-up off the floor; placing it on his lap. "Don't mention it...in the next couple of weeks, I'm sure you'll get your share of drool, and other more disturbing body fluids-thrown at you from the rest of the guys."

Cringing at the thought, Melissa placed her journal-that she had fallen asleep holding onto-in her own carry on bag, before she turned to Lance; raising an eyebrow in wonderment, "Is it really that bad?"

Slightly chuckling, before standing up; seeing that Mike was giving them the go ahead to step off the plane, Lance waited until Melissa had picked up her bag-and was standing in front of him-before answering her question.

"You have no idea."

It wasn't until they had stepped off the plane, gotten their luggage, and were now seated in the back of Mike's-too tinted for his own good-Ford explorer, before Melissa commented on Lance's previous statement. "Should I be scared?"

Turning his head, from where he was staring out the window; watching as they were exiting the airport parking lot. Lance raised an eyebrow at the girl beside him, "Should you be scared of what?"

Rolling her eyes, at her vagueness rather than at his question, Melissa pointed a finger towards Lance, "You. Mike. The guys. I mean...you really haven't told me much about them. Or yourself for that matter. And, not to sound rude, but I sort've feel like I'm walking into this with my eyes closed."

At the realization that Melissa really didn't know anything about the rest of the guys, or himself-personal wise, Lance felt like answering: That's because you are. Instead, after biting his lower lip slightly, Lance turned his body so he was focusing all his attention on her, "Well, what do you want to know?"

Sighing, Melissa shrugged, "Anything. Everything. I don't know...just something. Maybe like their names for starters."

Chuckling at her statement, Lance nodded at her request, before opening his mouth; beginning to fill her in on who the other four guys of N'sync were, how they had all met, and anything else that he figured she'd want to know before meeting them. And even something's that he figured she probably hadn't wanted to know at all.

Which probably had disgusted her by knowing so.

"So, where are we now?"

By the time Lance had finished slightly singing the praises of his friends, they had already reached their destination, and Mike was waiting for them to get out of his truck.

"Right now...." Lance began, pausing briefly to open the door beside him. Afterwards waiting for Melissa to step out on his side, before closing the door to the truck; telling Mike they'd see him back there in an hour, "we're at the WEG compound. One of Jive's studios."

As soon as the comment slipped passed his lips, he couldn't help but chuckle as he noticed the surprised look evident on Melissa's face.

Knowing what she was thinking, Lance gave her a reassuring look before making his way up the stairs, towards the studio doors. "Don't worry, we're not here for you to sing. Atleast...not today, anyway."

Nodding, slightly relieved, as she caught up with Lance, who was quickly making his way pass the studio entrance. Melissa threw him a questioning stare; which he in return raised an eyebrow at, "So, what are we doing here?"

Not bothering to answer right away, Lance paused to smile and wave at the familiar people he knew in the lobby-before continuing down the hallway. Melissa, all the while, inwardly wondering if any of them got paid a little extra for working weekends.

"We're actually here for you to meet the guys. Considering, Justin's plane touched down a little over two hours ago, they should all be around here somewhere."

"Are they mentally stable?" Melissa asked, as they walked around a corner.

"Somewhat. Well....atleast JC and I-"

Stopping as he realized Melissa wasn't standing beside him anymore. Lance turned around-noticing her a few steps behind him; standing in front of a closed door-looking through it's two way window. "Melissa?"

Receiving no response in return, Lance sighed before making his way back down the hallway; wondering what had Melissa so spell bound. "What are you staring a-"

Cutting himself off, Lance chuckled as he saw what had muted Melissa. Or rather yet, who had muted Melissa.

"I don't believe them."

Turning away, from watching the mentally confusing display in front of her, Melissa raised an eyebrow at her manager. "You know them?"

Of course he knows them

It was a stupid question, really. One that Melissa was waiting for Lance to roll his eyes at. But instead, he did her one better by nodding before smiling and chuckling, once again. "Oh yeah. Let the introductions begin."

"Wait a minute, those are..?"

That was the only thing she could get out before Lance opened the door, in front of them, and they were both greeted by surprised greetings.

"LANSTEN!"

It had taken her a few seconds, but after absentmindedly putting her hands to her ears-making sure they were still there-Melissa was finally able to focus in on what was going on around her.

"Lance! Buddy! We missed you!"

Watching as her manager was picked up into a bear hug, and then put back down-only to be lifted right back up again by another older man. Melissa couldn't help but smile; amused.

"Chris. Put. Me. Down."

After the slight rough request, Melissa watched as Chris quickly spun Lance around a couple of times, before finally doing as he was asked. Afterwards, while watching Lance regain his footing, she figured he was about to yell at the older man. But was slightly surprised when instead of hearing angry remarks coming from his mouth, she heard Lance's deep laughter-his deep bass-filled laughter.

"Thanks Chris, you really know how to listen." Lance joked, causing the man to shrug.

"Well, I never said my ears were the best part of me." Chris retorted smugly, grinning until another voice filled the room. This one being southern, Melissa assumed.

"That's because their not. It's your height."

Turning her head slightly, Melissa watched as a younger looking male stood up from his spot-leaning against the wall across from her-before making his way towards the group of men; giving Lance a slight hug. One that she noted wasn't as big as the others-but just as long.

"Good to see you, Scoop."

"You too, J." Lance responsed-and even though it was a short greeting, Melissa suspected by her manager's grin that the curly haired man in front of her, J-as he was called-was the closest of the group to Lance.

Watching for a few minutes as the four men in front of her began to catch up, Melissa silently wondered if Lance had forgotten she was there. Well, that is, she was wondering if he had forgotten she was there. That is until the man-that she hadn't caught a name of-spoke up; confirming her suspicions.

"Scoop, you forgetting about someone?"

Furrowing his eyebrows slightly at the question, Lance followed Joey's gaze until his line of vision landed on Melissa.

Realizing he had almost forgotten about her, he mentally sent her a silent apology as they locked eyes with one another; one that she returned with a reassuring, yet hesitant, shrug.

"Sorry about that," He said, apologizing once again-this time out loud.

Taking a few steps foreword, until he was right in front of Melissa; Lance placed his hand on the small of her back. Slightly pushing her further into the room. "Guys, I'd like you to meet FreeLance's new popstar, Melissa Alano. Melissa, I'd like you to meet Justin, Chris, and Joey. Three-fifths of Nsync."

Nervously smiling as each one of them shook her hand, vigorously. Melissa couldn't help but think back to the conversation in the car-where Lance had animatedly talked about each one of his friends; causing her to feel like she had somewhat already knew each one of the guys in front of her. Well, in a small sort've way.

There was Justin, better known to Lance as J: who was somewhat like the star of the group. Not just because of the fact that he was the baby, but because of his blonde hair, blue eyes, and his I'm-too-good-at-everything-I do, but-don't-like-to-talk-about-it personality.

Then there was Chris: The supposed grandpa of the group. He was the oldest member of *N'sync-beating out the second oldest by six years; but also the youngest at heart of the group. Making pulling pranks and telling corny jokes his top two priorities.

And second to last, there was Joey: who Lance defined as the Italian Romeo of the group. He was raised in Brooklyn, and had the whole accent and look down; but under that, Melissa was assured he had a big heart.

Which left the last N'sync-er, besides Lance, who seemed to be missing in action at the moment. A fact that no one, up until that point, had spoken up about. "Um, isn't there another one of you guys?"

At Melissa's question, Lance, for the first time, realized that there was, indeed, one person missing from the group. One person who he hadn't gotten a chance to speak with while in New Orleans, "Yeah, there is. I thought you guys said you'd all meet us here at five. Where's JC?"

One by one, each of the three men, in front of him, looked at each other wordlessly-trying to persuade one of the other two to deliver the, what Lance assumed to be, bad news. A fact that Lance, who didn't like secrets, wasn't very happy about. "Guys, what's going on?"

Fortunately for the three of them, or better yet UNfortuantly for the five of them, before any of them had a chance to open their mouths and respond, the door behind Melissa opened, and the missing person walked in.

Quickly setting his sights on the brunette in front of him.

Noticing that everyone's eyes were on her-or better yet, noticing that everyone's eyes were on the person behind her. Melissa turned around, only to be met by a slightly darkened glare. One coming from a man who looked to be strangely three sizes too small for his own clothing-height not included, of course.

"Jace! We were just talking about you."

Thankful that Lance had spoken up, and the unfamiliar man had moved his eyes from her, Melissa inwardly let out a sigh of relief.

One that she soon realized was let out too soon.

"Good to see I've been missed." JC responded, before turning his eyes back towards Melissa, "Is this the little song bird I've heard you've signed?"

After pausing briefly, noting the sarcasm in his voice. Melissa could feel-rather than see-Lance nod from behind. And as he spoke up, telling JC that that's exactly who Melissa was, Melissa could hear the slight confusion in his voice. Mentally telling her that the man, glaring down at her at the moment, was usually not like this.

Thank God

"So, can you play?"

Realizing he was, now, talking to her, rather than just staring at her, Melissa furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, "Play what?"

"The Ukulele." JC retorted sarcastically, rolling his eyes in emphasis, "What do you think? The Piano! Geez! Lance, you sure know how to pick them."

"JC!"

Melissa didn't even have to turn around to know that the four men, behind her, were throwing their own glares at JC; each one of them having voiced their opinions of the man as they screamed out his name.

"Dude, that was totally uncalled for."

Not wanting there to be a fight because of her, Melissa turned slightly so she was sort've in a refereeing position. Then, as if to say it's okay, she put up a hand in front of Lance. Shaking her head as she silenced everyone from saying anything. "It's all right."

"No, it's-"Lance began, but Melissa, knowing what he was going to say, cut him off before he could do so.

"Lance, you said so yourself: by having you as my manager, I'm going to have to prove to a lot of people that I can actually sing."

"Yeah, but-" Lance began, only to be immediately cut off-once again.

"But you shouldn't have to prove anything to us. If Lance says you're good, then we already know it's true."

Turning towards Justin, the person who had stated the last comment, Melissa couldn't help but silently pat herself on the back; seeing that she had been right about the connection between him and her manager.

"I might not know you that well, Justin, but I know that's not true." Melissa said, causing him to open his mouth in protest. But shortly afterwards-ending up having to shut it just as quickly; not wanting to interrupt her as she went on, "Even though you believe Lance is telling the truth, and never would admit other wise-out loud. You guys still want to hear me sing. If not to shut your friend up, than to please that little part of you that thinks there could be a small chance Lance might've jumped the gun a little on this one."

Opening his mouth, only to shut it, once again; telling Melissa that she was indeed correct. Justin nodded his head, before flashing Lance an apologetic smile. One which was followed by similar smiles from Chris and Joey.

Watching as Lance nodded his head in a That's OK, Melissa turned towards JC, who didn't seem to be fazed at all by her speech.

Shooting him a mock-looking grin, she met his glare head on, before telling him to lead the way.

A comment which she got out of him a: With pleasure, smirk.

Absentmindedly watching as Melissa silently tinkered with the piano keys in front of her-after beforehand telling them it was her way of warming up-Lance couldn't help but inwardly curse out the man standing beside him. Wondering just who in the hell he thought he was.

"You know, scoop, if you have anything to say to me, you could say it now. Preferably out loud."

Before Lance got a chance to retort that anything he had to say at the moment, JC probably wouldn't want to hear-Melissa cut in; switching the subject.

For the moment, anyways.

"So, what do you guys want to hear? Something original or....."

Before any of the guys could speak up, JC piped up; making sure everyone remembered it was his idea to get her to do this in the first place, "There's no telling what you'd make us listen to-if given the chance, so how about a cover song."

"JC, man that's enough!"

"Hey, I'm just speaking the truth." He responded, flashing Justin and the rest of the guys a mock looking innocent grin. "It'll be easier for us to judge her on."

Sighing at JC's comment, knowing his argument was correct. Melissa met Lance's slightly angry glare; mentally telling him that it was okay; even though every part of her knew it wasn't.

"All right, well...this is a song my Mom used to sing to me before-"

"Please no sympathy stories."

"JC!" Lance said, threateningly, before turning around to face Melissa. He didn't bother to say anymore, but everyone else in the room, including Melissa, figured it was more than enough to get his point across-as JC quickly shut up.

As Melissa began the chorus of Mariah Carey's 'Hero, Lance couldn't help but grin outwardly; noticing that his and each one of his friend's expressions had gone from angry to surprised in two seconds flat.

Hell, if Lance hadn't thought he was imagining things, he could've sworn he'd even seen an impressed smile flash across JC's face-one which had unfortunately left JC's features as soon as he'd caught Lance grinning at him.

It's a long road When you face the world alone
No one reaches out a hand
For you to ho-

"That's enough."

Closing her mouth around the next word, Melissa looked up, slightly stunned. Even though most of the guys-including Lance-had impressed smiles written across their faces, JC was still looking at her with an icy glare; one which made her want to quote the famous line: If looks could kill...

"So, um what did you think?" She asked, after a second-noticing that no one was giving her an evaluation. Well, no one was giving her an out loud evaluation, anyway.

"I think.." JC began-in a harsh tone; one which was cut off as Chris began clapping.

A contagious style of clapping which Joey immediately got into-followed by Justin, and than surprisingly by Lance, as well.

"You were awesome, kid...."

"Ya kicked MAJOR tush." Joey chimed in.

"One of the best female performances I've ever seen."

Blushing slightly, Melissa couldn't help but smile genuinely at the compliments. But her grin, soon, faltered as she noticed JC making his way out of the room, from the corner of her eye.

Monday, March 13, 2000

The night before, after being reassured that JC's behavior towards her wasn't a reflection on her part at all-considering he'd been acting the same way towards everyone else before Melissa and Lance had even bothered to show up. Melissa had spent the majority of the evening getting to know the other guys of N'sync better-sans Lance, of course, who she figured was always in business mode. He had to make a couple of brief phone calls to his manager-ones, unfortunately, regarding her career.

After saying good-bye to the guys, and leaving the compound around ten, Lance had filled her in on the phone conversations, and explained that starting the next day, while Lance and the rest of N'sync would be preparing for the release of their upcoming album, she'd be preparing for her slight interview, on Friday, with FreeLance's recording producers. A fact that she wasn't too pleased about, but reluctantly had to agree on.

Afterwards, on the way to the hotel-she'd be staying in until they could find a suitable enough apartment for her, Lance and Melissa had continued discussing their schedules and how'd they'd interact with one another through the week; making it a little after one in the morning before they finally called it a night.

That fact causing Melissa to grimace; knowing she'd have to be up by eight thirty the next morning, and that fact causing her to groan when her cellphone decided to go off an hour before her wake up call planned to.

"H'lo?"

"Is that any way to greet your mother?"

My mother?

Without bothering to open her eyes, Melissa furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Afterwards, briefly taking in what the female on the other line said, before popping her eyes wide open; causing her body to snap up in response.

"Excuse me?"

"You're excused."

Forgetting the shock she had felt at the woman's previous words, Melissa smiled genuinely as she heard the familiar cackle on the other line; telling her who it was without her even having to ask.

"Sam, do you have any idea what time it is?"

There was a brief pause before the older woman spoke up again; telling Melissa she knew exactly what time it was, "It's six forty-five in the morning. Twenty minutes before your usual work time, and almost eleven hours after you were supposed to call me last night. So, as I see it, you deserved this phone call cuz you have a lot of explaining to do, don't-you-think?"

Slightly amused by the words, Melissa couldn't help but let out the laughter she had-everytime Sam was around, "Aren't you supposed to be..oh, I don't know, working?"

There was a sigh on the other end, before Sam answered the question, "Yeah, but that's the beauty of having your boss call at five a.m-telling you he wont be coming in for the day. You get to slack off, take early lunches, and let the new girl handle all the work-while you sit on your butt all day; and gossip on the phone with your girlfriends."

Once again, laughing slightly; knowing that's exactly what Sam would be doing for the rest of the day, Melissa couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows in questioning; wondering if girlfriends was what her and Sam were to each other at the moment.

"So, stop procrastinating, already, and tell me about the marvelous lifestyle you're living now. There's got to be like, what, musicians and fine caviar everywhere, right?"

Looking around her small hotel room, Melissa couldn't help but snicker slightly. If this was any resemblance to what a celeberity-lifestyle looked like, than she and almost everyone she knew, unknowingly, had been a celebrity all their lives. "Well, not exactly. There's really not a lot to tell. I mean, my plane got in around four yesterday, and Lance and I mostly hung out at the compound with the rest of the guys last night-and...that's about it."

"That's about it?" Sam retorted, after a couple of seconds, her tone completely laced with disbelief, "You hung out with the guys from N'sync last night, and it was nothing major? Honey, you have to spill. I want details, dammit."

Laughing amused, yet, afterwards, rolling her eyes; not knowing what the big deal was, Melissa began to tell Sam the *details* of what happened the night before. Only stopping when Sam interrupted her to ask questions.

"So, you're telling me that after he basically ripped you a new one, you told him off by impressing the hell outta him?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Melissa nodded; even though she knew Sam couldn't see her, "I guess you could say that. But I don't really know if I impressed him, persay, I just think I sort've made him angrier. He walked out after my performance."

Their was a brief pause, before Sam's cackling laughter took over the line, once again, "Honey, not only did you impress the A-hole, but you also pissed him off by showing him that you do have what it takes to make it in the business. Hell, I would've been pissed off my damn self if you had embarrassed me in front of all my friends, including the one and only Mr-yummy-in-my-tummy-Lance Bass. But, that's not the point. The point is: don't worry about it. I mean, it's his problem, not yours."

Ignoring what Sam had said about her manager, Melissa analyzed the other words the older woman had said. He's pissed at me because I proved him wrong...now it makes sense.

"You're right!"

"I know I'm right...about what though?"

Laughing, slightly, Melissa stood up from her spot on the bed; working out the kinks in her legs, "You're right about his attitude towards me. I mean, just because I showed him that I AM good enough, he's pissed off at me-and I shouldn't let that phase me. I mean, it's not 'my' problem, and he's the one who needs to get over himself. Not me."

"There you go! NOW that's the spirit!" Sam said, causing Melissa to laugh; wondering if her friend was ever in one of the high school pep squads.

After a few more minutes of chatting with Sam about her weekly schedule, and when she'd have time to call Sam back in the following week; Melissa glanced towards the bedroom clock; noticing they had been on the phone for almost an hour, "Well, I hate to cut this short, Sam, but I have to be at the compound in an hour, so-"

"No, don't make excuses, it's okay. You have no time for the small people. I understand." Sam interrupted; trying her hardest to make her voice sound like she was about to cry, but her attempt ended up giving away as her cackling laughter took effect, "Just call me when you have a chance, all right?"

Shaking her head at her friend's silliness, Melissa silently agreed, "All right, will do. Have fun sitting on your lazy butt all day, and I'll call you, hopefully, tonight."

"All right. Bye-bye now."

Waiting for the click on the other end, Melissa smiled; feeling that with Sam's words of encouragement, and her Mom looking out for her from above, she really could do it on her own.

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