By the time Friday rolled around, Jenna had begun to perk up and was actually looking forward to JC’s barbeque. She had even decided to skip her traditional desert making duties and decided to make her mom’s famous potato salad. When she got to JC’s, almost everyone was there. She greeted everyone as she walked into the kitchen to put her salad on the bar. Justin, Chris, and Lance were huddled around the chips and salsa, a staple at any NSync party no matter what was for dinner. Justin gave Jenna a hug then asked her to weigh in on the discussion the guys were having. “So, do you thing it’s wrong to double dip?”
“Um…well, with the girls I don’t care, but a party like this with people you don’t know very well, I think it’s gross.” Jenna said as she grabbed for a chip and broke off a corner to eat.
“But,” Chris began, “those same hands are all reaching in the bowl for the chips. Don’t you think whatever germs you’d get from the dip, you’d get in the bowl?”
“Spit’s different than hand germs.” Jenna said as she reached for another chip.
“How so?” Lance asked.
“Well, spit is gross if exchanged over food, and it’s visible. The germs on your hands are unseen so easily ignored.” She then dipped her chip in the salsa and ate it.
“Did you just double dip?” Justin asked jokingly.
“No!” Jenna tried to look appalled, but couldn’t help but smile.
“No, you did!” Lance said as he grabbed her wrist trying not to smile. “We were just talking about how gross that is and you go and do it.”
Jenna shook herself free. “I didn’t. You need to grow up Bass.” Justin laughed. “You too!” Jenna gave Justin a dirty look, punched him in the arm then turned to get a beer from the fridge.
“I was just joking with her.” Lance said to Justin.
He just shrugged his shoulders. “You two are strange.”
The muffled sound of Smooth Criminal started to come from Jenna’s purse on JC’s microwave. “Your phone’s ringing, Jenn.” Chris said as he reached in and looked at the caller ID that displayed the words ‘Lane cell.’ “Oooh, it’s Lane!” He pushed the talk button to answer Jenna’s phone before she could grab it out of his hand. “Hello Lane! How’s my favorite reporter?”
“Give me my phone, Chris!”
“Um, Chris…hi…can I talk to Jenna?”
Chris could here cars in the background and what he thought was a siren. “You don’t want to talk to me?”
“No, no. I do, it’s just…um…I just really need to talk to Jenna. It’s really important.” Lane sniffed and Chris’ face went serious.
“Sure, here you go.” He handed the phone to Jenna.
“It’s about time Chris.” Jenna said as she took her phone from him. “Hey Lane. What’s up?”
“Where are you?” Jenna could also hear sirens in the background.
“At JC’s. Where are you?” Jenna walked into JC’s den, where no one was, to be able to hear Lane better.
“I’m at the hospital.” Lane sniffled again.
“You’re where? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Jenna sat down in a nearby chair to keep from passing out as her head spun.
“I’m fine Jenn, but Robin…and Joel…the baby. There was a car wreck and Jenn…Jenn you need to get down here.” Lane then broke down and all Jenna could hear was her sobbing.
She was silent for a moment, trying to let everything sink in. When she began to speak, Lane calmed down. “Okay. I’ll get a flight out of here as soon as I can. I’ll be there soon, I promise.” Lane nodded even though Jenna couldn’t see her. “I’m gonna go. I’ll call as soon as I can.” Jenna hung up her phone and just looked at it until the tears filled her eyes and everything was blurry. She tried to blink them away, but ended up just breaking down.
Lance walked into JC’s den, after being asked by all the guys to come to a truce with Jenna. When he saw Jenna with her knees pulled up to her chest, shaking he thought about leaving to get Kelly. As he began to back up, Lance bumped into a coffee table, causing Jenna to look up. She mouthed the word ‘shit’ then put her head back on her knees and cried harder. Lance walked over in front of Jenna and as kindly as he could asked, “What’s wrong?” Jenna just shook her head but didn’t look up. “Jenna, what happened? Is everything okay?”
Jenna looked up at Lance with mascara running down her cheeks. “No, everything’s not okay!” She reached for the Kleenex Lance was handing her, but did her best to not make eye contact with him.
Lance kneeled down in front of Jenna, trying to make her look at him. “What happened? That was Lane on the phone, right? Is she okay?” Lance put his hand on Jenna’s leg, trying to reassure her that he cared.
“Don’t touch me!” Jenna pushed his hand off of her. “Lane’s fine. It’s…it’s…” Jenna began to cry. “You don’t care. Why should I tell you?”
Lance put his hand under Jenna’s chin and made her look him in the eyes. “I do care. Jenn, please tell me what’s going on?”
Jenna let out a sigh then reluctantly told Lance what Lane said. “Something happened to Robin and Joel, her husband. They were in a car wreck. Lane said something about the baby and that I needed to get home.” Another tear ran down Jenna’s cheek and Lance wiped it away with his thumb. Jenna then stood up, almost knocking Lance over. “I’ve gotta go. I’ve gotta get home.”
Lance stood up and grabbed Jenna’s arm. “You’re not going alone. Not like this.”
She shook Lance off and started to walk towards the kitchen to get her purse. “Lance, stop it! I need to get home.” Jenna dashed in the kitchen, grabbed her purse then started for the door. Lance followed her to her car and got in the passengers side when she unlocked the door. “What are you doing?”
“I’m not letting you go alone. You’re too upset to make this trip by yourself.” Lance buckled up and waited for Jenna to start her car.
“Lance, I know you think you can save the world, but I don’t need you. I don’t need your help. All I need is to get home and be with my friends.”
Lance pulled out his cell phone and began to dial the airport’s number. “You can’t get a last minute flight that you can afford for today. I can. Now you can take my help and drive to get packed or you can spend every last cent you have and hope you can fly out by tomorrow. You choose.”
Jenna huffed, but cranked her car and began to drive to her house. As she opened her door to her house, Lance was finalizing a flight. Jenna walked into her bedroom to begin to pack. When Lance finished his phone call, he walked into Jenna’s room and started folding clothes she had thrown on the bed. “I don’t need your help.” Jenna said as she ripped a pair of jeans out of his hands.
Lance fought back his urges to gripe at her and calmly said, “The flight leaves in an hour and a half. You should be in Dallas by ten tonight. Do you want me to call David so he can use the other ticket?”
“No! I don’t need you to call anyone. Why did you get two tickets anyway?” Jenna walked into her bathroom to get more things to pack.
Lance rolled his eyes but did the best he could to not fight with Jenna. “I got two tickets because I told you that you shouldn’t go alone. If you don’t want David to go with you, then I’m going to go. You get no say in this Jenna. I’m not letting you go alone so quit fighting it.”
Jenna threw the last few items in her suitcase. “Fine. Come if you want. I don’t care.” Jenna zipped up her bag and began to walk towards her front door.
Lance followed her. “Are you sure you don’t want David to come with you? I’m sure he could get the time off…”
Jenna interrupted, “We broke up, okay! Like a week ago, so no I don’t want to call him. If I have to have someone come with me, then you’re the guy for the job. Can I leave now?”
Lance grabbed Jenna’s keys off her bar. “Yes, but I need to pack a few things and I’m driving.”
“Fine.” Jenna walked out the door and waited for Lance to pop her trunk so she could put her suitcase in it. Jenna was quiet while Lance packed, made hotel reservations and told both Johnny and JC what was going on. She didn’t speak again until she called Lane and her parents with the finalized plans. They were twenty minutes into the flight before Jenna mumbled something to Lance.
“What’d you say?” Lance asked as he turned his attention ways from the window.
“Thank you.” Jenna grudgingly repeated. “Thanks for doing all this for me…you didn’t have to.” Jenna nervously shifted in her seat.
“Your welcome.” Lance couldn’t help but smile at the first real positive moment they shared in months. “Jenna, you know if you want to talk…about this…or anything, you can.” Lance trailed off.
“I know.” Jenna nodded then leaned back in her seat and shut her eyes. The rest of the plane ride was in silence, although every so often someone would walk up to Lance and ask for an autograph.
When they got to the airport, Jenna’s parents were waiting outside the gate to pick them up. They all walked down to the luggage carousel to get their bags then got in Mr. Sutherland’s car to drive to the hotel that Lance had booked for them both.
“I’m sorry now that we went ahead and redid your room, honey. If we had of known…” Jenna’s mom choked back a sob.
“It’s alright, mom. Don’t worry about it. The hotel is closer to the hospital anyway. It’s alright.” Lance and Jenna dropped their stuff off in the room and then got back in the car to go to the hospital.
Jenna’s parents took her straight to ICU and were met outside of Robin’s door by Lane. The girls hugged then Lane looked over at Lance. “What’s he doing here?”
Jenna looked at Lance the back to Lane. “Long story. He’s persistent. What happened?”
“Your parents didn’t tell you?” Jenna shook her head. “I guess ya’ll didn’t know all the details, did you? Well,” Lane took a deep breath. “Robin and Joel were on their way to the grocery store this morning. Apparently some guy didn’t see the light turn red and ran it at like forty-five miles per hour. He hit the driver’s side and…and…” Lane began to get choked up. “He killed Joel. They said on impact.”
“And Robin?” Jenna began to cry again.
“Robin’s okay, but she lost the baby.” Mr. Sutherland said when he realized Lane couldn’t finish the story.
“They’re moving her to a regular room soon.” Lane finally got out.
“Oh my god!” Jenna said almost in a whisper. She then wiped her eyes and did her best to pull herself together. “Does Melissa know?”
“Yeah, she’s in there with her right now.” Lane said wiping her own tears.
“Can I go in?” Jenna cautiously looked at the door.
“Yeah. She wanted to see you as soon as you got here.” Lane opened the door so Jenna could walk in. Jenna lightly knocked on the door and peeked in, seeing Melissa sitting beside Robin’s bed, talking to her.
“Hey Jenn!” Melissa stood up and hugged her friend. “When’d you get here?”
“About twenty minutes ago.” Jenna looked over at Robin, who was smiling, but had cuts on her face. “Hi. How are you feeling?” Jenna walked over and held Robin’s hand.
Robin let out a week laugh but a tear escaped down her cheek. “I’ve been better. I’m glad you’re here.” She closed her eyes to keep from crying again.
Jenna took a breath, suppressing her emotions, and smiled at Robin. “Me too. I got here as soon as I could.”
The girls just stood in silence letting Robin know that they were there for her, until a nurse walked in. “Well, you’ve got a room full now, don’t you? And a cute one standing outside.” Robin looked questioningly at the girls as Jenna mouthed ‘Lance.’ “You ready to move to a regular room?” Robin nodded. “Okay girls, you can follow us up.” The nurse ushered in two orderlies and they rolled Robin’s bed up three floors with her visitors following.
When they got her settled in her room, the nurse said it was time for Robin to get some rest. “Can someone stay here with me?” Robin asked. “I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
“Yeah sweetie. But only one person. Sorry ladies.” The nurse replied. “You all decide and I’ll get a blanket and pillow for whoever the winner is.”
The three girls just looked at each other, not wanting to fight over who got to stay, but all wanting to be there that night. Robin could tell that they weren’t going to say anything, so she spoke up. “I hope ya’ll don’t mind, but I’d like Jenna to stay tonight. Maybe if we spent the night catching up, I won’t have to think about…about…”Robin’s voice caught in her throat.
The girls exchanged looks then Melissa spoke up. “If that’s what you want, Robin, then that’s fine.” Melissa smiled and let then out a little laugh. “But, I get tomorrow night.”
“I get the one after that.” Lane raised her hand to emphasis her statement.
All the girls smiled at each other and exchanged hugs. Everyone said goodnight to Robin and Lance told Jenna he’d come back with some clothes for her to sleep in and change into for the next day. Jenna and Robin talked and caught up for about an hour. When Robin started to yawn, Jenna went to change clothes for bed. The room was silent for a while with the only noise being the girls breathing and the rhythmic beeping of Robin’s heart monitor. Robin looked over towards Jenna’s bed and asked, “Jenna…what do I do now?”
Jenna sat up and leaned on one elbow to face Robin’s voice. “Honestly, I don’t know. You could always move down to Florida and live with me.”
“Jenn, you’re just starting to get settled into that life. You don’t want me there to mess things up.”
“Girl, are you crazy? I would have all three of you down there, if I could. You just say the word and my home will be our home.”
Robin let out a sigh. “Maybe I should stay here for a while, until things aren’t as fresh. Then I’ll think about it, okay?”
Jenna laid back down on her bed. “Whenever you’re ready, you just say the word.” The two girls laid on their beds, listening to the beep until they feel asleep.
The next morning, Jenna got up and got changed before everyone started to come over. Once Lane and Melissa got to the hospital, the three girls spent the day trying to keep Robin’s spirits up. Lance spent a little bit of the day at the hospital, but wanted to let the girls have their time. The doctor came in that evening and said that he was only going to keep Robin for two more days then release her to go home. That brightened the day until the night nurse said it was time for visitors to go. Everyone said their goodbyes and Lance and Jenna went to her parents’ house for an hour to visit. When Lance and Jenna finally got to the hotel, all Jenna wanted to do was take a hot shower and go to bed. When she came out of the bathroom in her pajamas and her wet hair down, she could smell the dinner Lance had ordered up. She saw that on the table was two servings and Lance pulled out a chair. “Ordered us some chicken. Sit down.”
“I’m not hungry.” Jenna said as she rummaged around in her suitcase for her hairdryer.
“Come on. Eat then you can make yourself pretty.” Lance softly grabbed her arm.
“I’m not hungry!” Jenna said stronger. “I just want to dry my hair and go to bed.”
Lance let out a sigh. “Jenna, you need to eat. I haven’t seen you put anything in you other than water since JC’s. That’s too long to not eat. Please sit down with me.” Lance sat down at his plate and looked at Jenna, eyes pleading.
“I can’t Lance. You don’t understand.” Jenna sat down, hairdryer in hand, and began to cry. Lance scooted his chair around the table, took the hairdryer out of her hands, pulled her into his chest and just let her cry until she was ready to talk. After about five minutes, Jenna pulled back and wiped her eyes.
“You wanna talk?” Lance asked.
Jenna shook her head no but began to talk. “Why her? Why did this have to happen to Robin? She has so many things to look forward to. Joel was so great. Treated her good. They were so happy about the baby. Why?” Jenna looked at Lance expecting an answer.
Lance tried to think of something profound to say but couldn’t find the words. “I don’t know why, Jenn. I’m sorry. Things just happen, you know.” They both just sat in silence for a little while then Lance spoke up. “Some people are only meant to be in your life for a short period of time. Maybe, there’s a bigger reason we just don’t see yet.”
Jenna sighed. “I can’t handle this right now. Can we change the topic?”
Lance nodded his head. “Can we talk about us?”
“What about us?” Jenna looked up at Lance and tucked her damp hair behind her ears.
“Why can’t we be civil? We’ve been fighting for months.”
“Well,” Jenna leaned back in her chair and pulled her feet up. “It all started when you decided that I couldn’t date.”
“I never said that.” Lance defended himself.
“No, but you made it known that you couldn’t stand that I was with David.”
“You changed when you started dating him. I was just reacting. Plus, he wasn’t good enough for you.” Lance scooted his chair back to give them space.
“I changed! You mean I quit paying attention to you twenty-four/seven.” Jenna rolled her eyes. “And reacting my ass. It seemed like you wanted to be perpetually pissed off at me. And he was to good enough for me. In fact, he was too good.”
“Then why’d you two break up?”
Jenna just looked at Lance, trying to find an answer. “We broke up because…because it just wasn’t working. He wanted more than I wanted to give.”
“That’s bull, Jenn and you know it.” Lance leaned forward. “Why’d you break up?” Jenna kept opening her mouth, but couldn’t seem to get a sentence out. “Why?”
Jenna dropped her eyes from Lance’s gaze. “Because I got into it to get over someone and it ended up making things worse. I was basically using him and I hate myself for it.” Jenna looked back up at Lance. “Are you happy? I now feel worse.” Lance leaned into Jenna, put both hands on her cheeks and kissed her. She pushed him away and drew up in her chair. Softly she spoke, “What do you think you’re doing?”
Lance scooted his chair back in and put his hands on her legs. “I fought with you because I was jealous. You had spent so much time just hanging with me and then one day you just up and start having a life with someone else. I hated it! I didn’t want to share. I guess that’s when I realized I liked you. Like really liked you and that just made me madder. You were so happy living your life without us anymore.” Lance looked down at the floor for a moment then back up at Jenna. “I acted badly. I’m sorry.”
“You weren’t alone in the fights, you know.”
Lance chuckled. “No, you had a few good ones yourself. I’m really sorry Jenna. And…I guess…I was wondering if maybe we could…you know…have a go at it? Well, shit…could we just start over?”
Jenna shook her head. “Start over? No, I can’t start over. But,” she smiled at him. “We can pick up were we left off. Forget all the evil things we said. Be friends again and go from there.”
Lance nodded. “That sounds fair.” He then leaned in to kiss Jenna again, but she pushed him away.
“I can’t do this, Lance. There’s too much going on right now. With Robin and just ending it with David. I need some space. Just give me some time to deal with all this, okay?”
Lance nodded and smiled at Jenna as he grabbed her hands. “Okay Jenn. I understand. But you need to understand that yes, I’ll give you time, but I won’t give you space. I’m not going to let either of us screw this up again.” He then pulled her into a hug. Jenna was tense against him, but soon took a deep breath of that scent she loved from the beginning and relaxed into his embrace.
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