Chapter 4:  "Second First Impressions"

Chris was the first of the two to wake the next morning. He opened his eyes cautiously and looked around until he recognized his surroundings. He was on Annie's couch.

He was lying with his head on the headrest and his legs still planted on the carpeting in her living room. Annie was lying on his lap, in the same position she was the night before when Chris was playing with her hair.

He gently lifted her upper body so that he could ease out off the couch. When he was finally standing, he stretched his taut muscles before looking down at Annie and smiling. He knew a good nights sleep was just what she needed. Her hair was tousled and one arm was thrown haphazardly over the side of the couch. She looked so adorably peaceful.

Leaning down, he pushed the stray strands of hair delicately behind her ear and lightly kissed her temple. He then fixed the afghan tighter around her body and walked into the bathroom.

He took a quick shower and put back on the clothes he was wearing the day before. When he came out of the bathroom, he discovered that Annie was awake and in the process of making coffee for both of them in the kitchen.

"Hey," he greeted her as he walked into the small room and sat on one of the chairs.

"Hey," she responded before turning around and eyeing him wearily, "I see you've made yourself at home and decided to use my shower. There just better be hot water left when I get in."

He sighed and threw his hands up over-dramatically, "You know, I come here when you're sick. I go far beyond the call of duty as a best friend. I make you dinner…"

"You made me Ramen, Chris."

"Whatever. You still ate it, didn't you? I make you dinner and stay with you the whole night and you think that I would be so inconsiderate as to take all of your hot water?" By the end of his speech, his voice had risen and his face was set in an angry frown.

Annie stared at him a moment before finally saying, "Chris, just tell me if there's any hot water left."

He shrugged his shoulders and answered, "There should be," with all the venom gone from his voice.

"Thank you, that's all you had to say you drama queen."

His shoulders furrowed into another shrug as he responded, "Well, you know me. I can never let sleeping dogs lie."

She simply stared back at him until he spoke up again, "That wasn't the right metaphor, was it?"

"No, no it wasn't. Here," she said as she placed a steaming cup of coffee in front to him. He tentatively tasted the hot liquid and after he swallowed, gave his lips a satisfying smack.

"Just the way I like it. How did you remember?" He asked.

"There's nothing terribly difficult to remember about it. I just add way too much sugar," Annie told him.

She sat down on the seat across from him and began sipping her own coffee. "I'm feeling a lot better. You can stop giving me that critical, over-protective look."

"I don't know what…" he stopped talking when Annie raised an eyebrow at him, "So you are feeling better then?"

She smiled a little then and answered, "Yeah, I am. It's all because of you, I swear you have magic fingers."

He smiled wickedly and wiggled his fingers before leaning back in his chair and responding, "Actually, you just have a really sensitive scalp. I didn't do anything."

"Well, either way," she paused a moment and shuddered, "Blahhh….I feel so gross. I haven't taken a shower in almost two days."

"I didn't want to say anything yesterday, Mary, but you did smell pretty nasty. As a matter of fact, I can smell you from all the way over here."

"Two words, Chris…Bite me."

He smiled mischievously and shook his head, "Not when you smell like that, sorry."

Annie crumpled up a napkin next to her and threw as hard as she could at Chris. It landed in the middle of the table. "That's it. I'm going in the shower now. And after that, we're going to the mall, right?"

Chris stared at her for a moment trying to figure out what she was referring to. Finally, recognition shown on his face and he nodded, "Yup. I just have to call the guys and let them know to call me on the cell if they need anything, and then we'll go get you all diva-ed out for JC."

Annie stood up and put her cup in the sink. When she turned back to face Chris, she was smiling, "Ohhh…all diva-ed out, I like that," then after she thought for a moment, "I could be a diva." With that she shimmied out of the room, walking with her hips swaying exaggeratedly back and forth.

Chris watched her with amusement sketched across his features.

While she was in the shower, Annie made sure to rinse and repeat, add conditioner, shave her legs carefully so as to not cause any nicks and use her favorite pear scented body wash. She wanted to make sure she looked as good as possible for JC.

Twenty minutes later when she was out of the shower, she wrapped a fluffy lavender towel around her body and wiped the steam off the mirror to see her reflection. I must be crazy to be doing this. I need a life in the worst way. She braced her hands on either side of the sink and hung her head. All of a sudden, she heard Chris' angry shouts from the other room. He was obviously on the telephone.

"This is absolutely ridiculous!…Yeah, I know it's your job, but for God's sake I'm almost thirty years old, I should be allowed to go to the mall by myself if I want to…It's only the mall!…Justin's done it before!…Well that boy has too much hair as it is, what's a few chunks pulled out in the whole grand scheme of things?…Come on!…Fine, you can come, but I'm not going to be happy about it…Man, don't tell me I'm whining, I'm pissed off as it is. All I want to do is spend a day with Mary…That was different, she was sick yesterday!…Alright, I'm hanging up the phone now, you can meet us at the mall by the food courts at 11:00…I'll be there man! Don't you trust me?…I'll wear a hat!…Ahhh! Fine! Be here in a half an hour then."

Annie laughed quietly to herself. Chris could make her feel better even when he wasn't trying to. She heard him jam down on the 'off ' button and a second later there was knock on the bathroom door, "Are you decent Mary?"

"Yeah, come in."

Chris threw the door opened and Annie immediately noticed how red his face was. "You will not believe this Mary, but security has to come with us to the mall. All I ask for is one day…one day! But no. One of them, probably Nate, is coming over to pick us up. I'm really sor…" he words were stopped short when he noticed that Annie was scantily clad in only a terrycloth towel.

"Whoa there! Skimpy! Forget about the mall, we've found what you're gonna wear when you go to see…" Annie slapped his on the shoulder playfully, "…JC."

"Get outta here so I can finish getting ready. Go! Out!" Annie attempted to push Chris out the door, while he made a half-hearted attempt to stay in and watch her.

Suddenly, Chris put his nose down to her shoulder and sniffed, "What do you have on?"

"It's pear scented body wash," she told him, while still trying to push him out of the bathroom.

"God, it smells really good," Chris said, taking another long sniff at the crook of her neck. She jumped at the feeling it caused on that sensitive area of flesh and pushed even harder when Chris laughed at her.

"Geez, I'll let you borrow it if you just get out!" With that, she gave him one more good push that sent him out the door.

15 minutes later, Annie was completely dressed. She was wearing comfortable, bootlegged blue jeans with a plain red sweater. Her hair was still damp from her shower, and she wore it down with two small barrettes in the front, because she hated when her hair got in her eyes.

"I'm ready," she declared as she finally stepped out of the bathroom.

"And looking as beautiful and stylish as ever. Now all we have to do is wait for my shadow, and we can get out of here," Chris answered, the last part coming out bitterly.

Annie smiled and shook her head in response. The loud buzz that sounded in the apartment told them that Nate had, indeed, arrived. "Let's blow this pop stand." Annie said as she grabbed her purse and they both left.

They arrived at the large mall 15 minutes later, and Chris, Annie and Nate stepped out the large van Nate had picked them up in.

The three walked into the mall, strolling confidently through the food court; Chris now wearing a baseball hat to cover his hair and shadow his features. Suddenly, Chris turned around and faced Nate.

"Keep your distance man. I love you, but keep your distance."

Nate crossed his arms and let Annie and Chris further their distance from him before continuing to follow them.

"You don't have to be so rude, Chris," Annie hissed.

"You have no idea Mary. No idea."

Annie glanced up at him with confusion written all over her face. She was about to ask him about his comment when he pointed to a store right ahead of them. She followed where his fingers were pointing to see The Gap right in front of her.

"JC's a Gap man?" Annie asked skeptically.

Chris nodded his head enthusiastically while grabbing her hand to drag her into the store. "Call him Mellow Yellow," he cracked, referring to the overplayed commercial.

Annie rolled her eyes and let herself be brought into the store. She looked around at all the three-quarter shirts and Capri pants littering the whole room. "Ok, where do we start?"

"Uhhh…I'd say the dresses. You've got great legs, Mary," Chris said headed toward that section.

Annie stared at him; slightly shocked at the casual way he said that last statement, before finally following him. She stood back while Chris critically examined every dress. He picked out several that he liked. One was black and sleeveless with a small Chinese pattern on it. Another was navy blue and dotted with flowers of a slightly lighter shade of blue. They managed to pick out three pairs of Capri pants of varying colors and several three-quarter-length shirts in red, blue and purple. After thirty minutes, Chris was satisfied with the things he had picked out.

"Ok, well, what are we keeping?" Annie asked, eyeing the large amount of clothes in their possession.

"What are you talking about?" Chris responded.

"Unless you plan on giving me a raise, there is no way I kind afford all of this. Pick like 4 things and we'll put the rest back," Annie said firmly.

Chris sighed and shook his head. "Mary, am I NOT a big music star? I think I can afford a few outfits for a friend."

"No, no, no. You are not paying for me to impress JC, its not going to happen. I only need one pair of pants and all of these shirts are basically the same thing so…" Chris put a finger on her lips to silence her.

"Consider it an early birthday gift, Mary," he said while taking the clothes out of her hands.

"My birthday isn't until July," Annie reasoned, taking the clothes back out of his grasp.

"Very early then," he answered and tried to regain control of the outfits.

When she didn't loosen her grip on them he exclaimed loudly, "Mary!"

They heard someone clear their throat and they turned around to see Nate at the entrance of the store. He motioned with his eyes and they saw that the people in the store had stopped what they were doing to watch the two of them.

Annie let go of the clothes and hissed between clenched teeth, "Fine, you can split the cost with me, but you ARE NOT buying me a birthday gift."

Chris shrugged his shoulders, "I've got no problem with that whatsoever."

"Let's just pay for this stuff," Annie said as they approached the register. The woman who's nametag read 'Kristen' rang up their total and Annie and Chris split the cost down to the last cent. Annie wouldn't have it any other way.

As they were about to leave the store, a young girl, no more than twelve years old, timidly approached Chris. She tapped him on the shoulder, and when he turned around, the girl's eyes widened. "Ummm…you're Chris from 'N Sync, right?"

Chris smiled sweetly down at the girl in front of him, "Yes, I am. What's your…"

"He's not signing autographs," a voice announced from behind Chris. He spun around to see Nate standing with his arms folded over his chest.

"I think I can manage just this one," Chris replied before shooting Annie an angry glance and rolling his eyes at the girl in front of him who giggled.

"Now, what's your name?" He asked, continuing their conversation.

"Umm…Hillary," the young girl stuttered before blushing.

"Well, Umm…Hillary, what can I do for you?" Chris asked as he grinned.

The girl giggled again and held her receipt up, "Can you sign this?"

"Sure," he agreed and took the paper from the girl. He pulled a pen out of his pocket and quickly scribbled a message. Annie watched as the girl fell even more in love with Chris than she was before. She smiled tenderly when she thought about how good Chris had been with her.

"Here ya go," Chris said as he handed the receipt back to her. Annie craned her neck to read the message he'd written on it.

To Umm…Hillary,
Stay 'N Sync!
Chris Kirkpatrick

"Thank you," Hillary said before turning around and going back to her mother.

Once she had left, Chris looked over at Nate who had resumed his position at the stores entrance. "Can you believe him Mary? That girl was like ten years old and he treated her like an international terrorist or something."

"He was doing his job Chris," Annie reasoned sensibly.

Chris sighed deeply and ran a tired hand over his eyes, "I know. I know. It's just…with everything that's been happening…the lawsuit and the new album and everything…I feel like the entire world is focused on me, you know? I just…I need my space. It's getting claustrophobic just being who I am right now. That's why I stayed at your house yesterday and why I wanted to be alone with you today. I just wanted to be normal for a little while. I guess that was too much to ask for though."

Annie stared up at her best friend whose usually cheerful and carefree demeanor had changed distinctly in the last two minutes. She placed both hands on either side of his face, and for a moment they stood looking into each other's eyes. She was always the messed up one, and on the rare occasions she had to comfort Chris, she was constantly afraid of not being able to care for him the way he cared for her. He was such a strong person and she always felt like she was weak. But right then, in that mall in the middle of the afternoon, her best friend needed her help. And she'd be damned if she didn't try her hardest to give it to him.

She made her decision, then, and nodded her head. She glanced back over at Nate and saw his back was to them as he watched the people entering the store. "Go in a dressing room."

His eyebrows knit in confusion and he stared at her a moment before saying, "What?"

"Just go! Get in there." She gave him a push in the direction and he slowly made his way to the first dressing room. As he was about to walk in, he gave Annie one last skeptical look.

When he was safely in the room, Annie called the attention of a sales lady. As the woman approached, Annie grabbed the first shirt she saw in order to avoid looking suspicious.

The far too cheerful woman, most likely working on commission, smiled widely when she reached Annie.

"Hi! What can I do for you today?" She asked enthusiastically.

Annie reached in her pocket and pulled out her last thirty dollars. "I need you to do me a favor."

Annie crept silently behind a large rack of coats, where she could see Nate, but he couldn't see her. She waited for what seemed like hours in her spot as Nate watched the entrance intently.

Finally, she saw the woman, no longer wearing her name tag as Annie had requested, run back into the store. When she was standing directly in the middle of the room, she yelled loudly, "You guys will never guess what happened! I got an autograph from Chris from 'N Sync! He's inside Nike Town right now!"

She watched as Nate spun around on his heel and searched the inside of the store. He looked around The Gap with wild eyes for his charge and Annie smiled. She wasn't the only one who knew how sneaky Chris could be, and she was banking on that.

She felt a little remorse when she saw the panicked look in Nate's eyes, but Chris needed to have some freedom. Even if it was only for a couple of hours.

When she saw Nate take off in the direction of Nike Town, she made her move. She began knocking wildly on the dressing room door. Chris emerged a second later wearing a wide smile. "Mary, what did you…"

"No time, let's go." She grabbed his arm and rushed him out of the store. They ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction that Nate had gone in until they reached the movie theatre.

"Wait, Mary, stop," Chris said as he pulled her still moving form back to him.

"What for?" She asked and followed Chris' gaze to see the movie listings, "This is what you want to do? Catch a flick?"

Chris' smile grew as he looked over the movies the theatre was showing, "Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've been able to see a movie?"

"Well, if that's what you want to do…" Annie said uncertainly.

"It is. Come on."

A little over two hours later, a small car pulled into the parking lot of the local mall. Two extremely large black men stepped out of it. Both lumbered commandingly to a third already waiting at the entrance.

"What the hell happened? How did you lose him?" The tallest and angriest one asked.

Nate shook his head, "I have no idea, Lonnie. I swear to God, he was inside the store one minute and then gone the next." Nate had a stupefied expression on his face.

"How are we supposed to explain this to…" Lonnie's words trailed off as two dark haired figures caught his eyes, "Well I'll be damned."

The other men turned to see Chris and Annie casually strolling toward them.

"Nate, there you are buddy. And Lonnie, House, good to see you guys," Chris said innocently.

Relief and frustration were written all over Nate's face, "You…boy, there isn't a word yet to describe the kind of dead you are."

Chris smiled confidently, "Well, while you figure it out, we're going to be in the van."

As the two walked passed, Annie nodded her head and said, "Gentlemen, so nice to see you again."

The three bodyguards shook their heads in amusement. "Those two together are the scourge of my existence," Lonnie said, only half-kidding.

On the way home, Nate drove the van silently and Chris and Annie sat in the back. Chris glanced over at Annie with a small smile on his face.

"You know what, Mary?"

She turned to look at him questioningly, "Hmmm?"

"You're perfect. You know that right?" Chris said sincerely.

Annie began blushing and she modestly looked away, "Oh please, don't over-exaggerate Chris."

Annie looked up to see Nate watching them from the rear-view mirror. When he caught her gaze, he quickly turned away.

"No, I'm serious. I don't know another person, much less woman, who would have done that for me."

"Then you're damn lucky to have me as your best friend," Annie said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Ahhh…that I am, Mary. That I am."

They arrived at Annie's building some ten minutes after their exchange and both Chris and Annie went in. Once they entered the apartment, they walked into the living room.

"Ok, what do I wear when I see him today?" Annie asked, holding up her Gap bag full of clothes.

"I don't know! Do I look like a woman to you?" Chris asked defensively.

She stared at him strangely and then replied, "Chris, you picked the clothes out."

He rolled his eyes at her, "That's because I know the kind of stuff JC likes to see woman wear. You'll have to pick out what you'll look best in. I'm not exactly in touch with my feminine side." He paused a moment, then added, "And keep your hair down, it makes your cheekbones look higher."

Annie cracked a half-smile before nodding and heading toward the bathroom, "Yeah, ok Chris."

Annie walked out of the bathroom wearing the blue dress with a matching blue sweater over it. She wore black nylons and flattering black dress shoes. "I'm going to freeze my ass off Chris."

"Please, you're going to be outside for like five minutes. You'll live. Besides…you look really great," Chris said before nodding in agreement at the outfit she'd chosen.

"Thanks," Annie answered shyly as she eyed her reflection in the television. She did look…different, if anything. The playful dress what a drastic change from the pantsuits JC usually saw her in. And if that was what it would take to get JC to notice her, than it was worth a little cold.

"Ok, we have the outfit, and now we need the attitude. C, man, he looks for confidence in a woman. Someone who will just go up to him and ask him to dinner. Straight out, no skirting around it. That's how you've got to be. And before you say anything, I know you can't be like that right away. It will be like a growth process. But when we get there today, you just go up to him and…start a conversation. I know you know how to have a conversation, Mary. Lord knows I've heard you talk my ear off enough times to be absolutely certain about that."

"Just…start a conversation," Annie said incredulously. Chris nodded his head in silent agreement. "What do I say to him, Chris? I've never even really talked to him in the two years I've known him. Won't he think it's a little strange that I'm talking to him now?"

"No, he'll think you're interested in him. Are you listening to me? That's what he wants, someone not afraid to start the first conversation. It will intrigue him," Chris explained.

"Right. Ok. What do I say to him?" Annie demanded.

"How about 'hi'? Talk about some new song you heard on the radio that you liked, or a good restaurant you've been to. Tell him you want to have wild, monkey sex with him. Oh wait, forget about that last part, it seems a bit too forward. But any of that other stuff with do," Chris joked.

"Wow. You're so funny, Chris. I'm glad you're finding my non-existent love life very humorous," Annie said.

"And I'm glad you're glad," Chris answered, "Now let's get going. I have to be at our little makeshift studio in like forty-five minutes and I don't really know how to get there."

"Alright, let's head 'em up and move 'em out," Annie remarked as she and Chris headed to the door.

As they were leaving, Chris turned to Annie and said, "You know, every time we leave your apartment, you have to make some cheesy comment like that last one."

"I do try. You know I'm going to think of more on purpose now, right?"

"I know. I know," Chris said as he closed the door.

They arrived in the "studio" which was really a warehouse turned into a large room for the boys to practice. Chris was the first member to arrive, and as soon as he did, he was nabbed by Johnny who had to 'talk to him'.

Annie walked nonchalantly into the studio without Chris. She immediately came face to face with JC, who was just arriving himself. Her palms automatically began to sweat.

"Oh, hey Annie," he greeted her cheerfully. He didn't seem to notice the change in her apparel.

"Hey…hey JC," she answered.

He then gave her a mischievous grin and said, "I heard about your little trip to the mall today."

Annie's eyes widened and her cheeks grew red from embarrassment. "What…what did you hear about it?"

"That you and Chris completely ditched Nate," JC told her.

Relief flooded Annie's body and her hand went up to her heart, "Oh, you heard that part."

"Well, what other part is there?" JC asked.

"No, nothing. There's nothing else. That was it," Annie stuttered.

"Right. Well, I've got to get going. So I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you JC," Annie said.

As he was walking, Annie remembered what Chris said about starting a conversation and felt like an idiot. She had the perfect opportunity. Before she could stop herself, she called out his name. He turned around and waited expectantly for what she needed.

"Ummm…see you later." You already said that!

He gave her a confused smile and waved as he left her once again.

Annie wanted to drop dead right there. All that hard work and she'd somehow managed to ruin the whole thing in the first thirty seconds. She walked dejectedly to the other side of the warehouse where Lance's girlfriend was sitting on a folding chair.

"Annie, baby. How ya doing after your little excursion at the mall?"

Annie tried to smile at the pretty young woman sitting in front of her through her pain, "Hey SJ. How are you? Where's Lance?"

In Annie's opinion, Stephanie Jane Wilkins was absolutely beautiful, one of those people who should be named Naomi or Desiree or something. She stood a powerful 5' 7'' inches, with a shapely and well-defined figure, and she had the deepest mahogany skin and almond shaped eyes Annie had ever seen. Her thick mane of black hair was secured in an infinite amount of tiny braids that Annie thought had to take her whole days just to redo.

She was dressed casually in a pair of wide-legged jeans and an incredibly comfortable looking knitted sweater. Even with no make-up and little too no effort on her appearance, she looked stunning.

Lance had met her in a club in New York some eight months ago. Annie wasn't sure about everything that had ensued between them, SJ was always pretty vague about the details she gave, but somehow, they managed to get together. It was always humorous to see the two of them interact; they made such an odd couple.

Virtually everything about SJ and Lance clashed; their race naturally, but more importantly, their personalities, their upbringing and their ideals. But somehow, through all that, their relationship had persevered, and Annie knew that they loved each other more than anything.

SJ and Annie had eventually bonded over their similar situations, and SJ had become one of Annie's only girl friends. They weren't to the giggly, sharing everything, friends 'til forever stage of friendship, but Annie did value her company. She always made sure to drag Annie to one of the clubs she hung out at once every two weeks or so, just so she'd stop sulking when Chris was on tour, or so she wouldn't suffocate in all the work she tended to bury herself in.

"He gave me this address and told me to meet him here. I'm going to kick his ass because he's so late. And how am I? First of all, I'm pissed that you haven't called me in like…what? Is it three weeks now? And second, what is this I hear about you and Chris breakin' the rules? You starting to come over to the wild side, Annie? Is it time to teach you the secret handshake?" SJ questioned.

Annie laughed at her spunk, but it still didn't cheer her sour mood over, in her opinion, completely massacring any chance she ever had with JC. "Umm…it wasn't a big deal really. We snuck around Nate and went to see a movie."

SJ eyed her curiously before stating, "You look a little distracted, Annie. And what's with the new clothes?"

Annie forced herself to focus on SJ and their conversation, instead of the much darker thoughts she was having at the moment.

"Yeah…I was just thinking about how much Johnny's probably reaming him out right now, and this whole thing was my idea," Annie lied. That wasn't what was really on her mind, but it was something she'd been feeling guilty about since the drive home from the mall. She avoided talk of her clothes and SJ didn't press it.

"Nah…Chris is a man, he can take it. Now if it were Lance, I wouldn't be so sure."

Annie laughed then, a genuine laugh, as she shook her head playfully at SJ. "You know you love that man, Stephanie Jane. Don't deny it."

SJ groaned loudly and sunk deeper into her chair, "Sometimes I wonder why. I mean, look at me! I'm sitting here bored out of my mind in a secluded warehouse somewhere in Bu-fu Land just so I can spend some quality time with him. How pathetic am I?"

"You're IN LOVE SJ. You should be grateful, not everyone knows what that feels like," Annie lectured, a hint of self-pity coming through her voice.

"Oh please sistah, now don't even start. You know what my feelings are with you on that," SJ warned.

SJ was convinced that Annie and Chris were destined to be together. Annie tried to explain the complex angles of their relationship. SJ wasn't the first person to suggest a deeper relationship between her and Chris, and she wasn't the first to scoff at Annie's explanation either.

"Yeah, I know. And I don't know how many times I have to tell you that we're JUST friends," Annie said exaggeratedly.

"Mary, I'm shocked. And with all the time and effort I put into the wedding proposal…" Chris said, coming up behind her.

"Hey Chris, what happened with Johnny?" Annie asked.

Chris shrugged, "Eehh…he gave me my slap on the wrist and sent me on my way. No big deal."

As Chris finished his statement, Justin, Joey and Lance bounded into the studio, talking animatedly.

Annie saw the look of extreme happiness that appeared on SJ's face, but it was immediately replaced with a look of distaste as she stood up and folded her arms over her chest.

When Lance saw SJ, he stopped talking and smiled brightly, "Hello Steph." Lance was the only person SJ allowed to call her by her real name.

"You're late," SJ replied by way of greeting.

"I'm sorry. The guys and I got caught up in basketball game," Lance apologized.

SJ rolled her eyes and shook her head, "You know as well as I do that you can't play basketball, Lance." Justin, Joey and Chris began snickering under their breath while SJ continued, "Here I am, taking time out of my busy schedule to come here and see you, and you don't even have the decency to be on time? I could be doing much more productive things than waiting here for your ass to show up."

Lance raised his eyebrows in amusement as he began to slowly walk towards SJ. "Oh really? What types of things?"

SJ froze for a moment before attempting to cover her tracks, "Just things! Like laundry or the dishes or homework or something."

"Yeah, that sounds like a lot more fun than being here with me," Lance said in mock seriousness as he continued moving closer to her.

SJ began stepping backwards, the nearer Lance got to her. "That's right. And I am so mad at you right now." She tried to say it with conviction, but all the harshness was gone from her voice.

"Oh really?" Lance asked.

SJ finally felt herself hit the wall and Lance didn't hesitate. He threw his arms up on either side of body, pinning her to the wall. Though the look in her eyes told Annie she wouldn't move even if given the option.

"Well," Lance said as he dipped his head down and kissed the tip of her nose, "I'm really sorry, Steph."

SJ sighed contently before shaking her head and answering, "No, don't think so baby. That cute act isn't going to work on me."

The others in the room watched in amusement as Lance leaned in next to SJ's ear and whispered something they couldn't hear. She giggled and then stopped herself and shook her head again.

"I'm mad at you," she said as Lance kissed her earlobe. "I'm mad at you!" She tried again, this time her forehead was kissed tenderly. "I'm sooo mad at you!" Lance kissed the corner of her mouth and she groaned, "Dammit! Just let me be mad at you!"

Lance chuckled and answered, his deep baritone even huskier than usual, "But I hate it when you're mad at me, Stephie. You know that."

"Oh forget it," SJ said as she grabbed Lance's head and pulled him to her in a deep kiss.

In the back, Joey and Justin started to whistle and holler, but it didn't bother the couple.  However, when the door opened and a voice called out, "What the hell is going on?" Lance and SJ stopped kissing and the whole group of them turned to see JC staring at them strangely.

Seeing him again made Annie remember their encounter a few minutes before and she groaned. "Chris, I need to talk to you for a second." She grabbed him by the shirt and led him to the corner of the room.

"What's up, Mary?" Chris asked when she stopped pulling him.

"You will not believe what I did, Chris," she began and then proceeded to regale him with all the details of her meeting with JC. When she was finished, Chris shrugged his shoulders.

"What's your point, Mary?" He inquired.

Annie's eyes widened, "I made an idiot out of myself!" She motioned up and down her body dramatically, "And he didn't even notice the clothes!"

Chris put hands on her forearms and attempted to calm her down, "Listen to me. He probably was in too much of a hurry to even notice anything ok? You have to catch him today when we take a break to eat dinner. Then he'll be completely focused on you and you can impress him, ok? I'll even help you out a little. You didn't ruin anything, Mary."

At about 6:00, someone brought back enough take out food for everyone in the small warehouse. The five members of 'N Sync were famished and so they naturally got to pick out their food first.

Annie was too nervous to eat; she knew this was her big moment. She saw JC sitting alone on the floor eating a submarine sandwich, and she quietly approached him. Chris was positioned several feet behind him and he was smiling encouragingly at Annie, motioning for her to go faster.

"Hi JC."

He looked up from his food then and noticed she was there. JC quickly swallowed the bite he had in his mouth and smiled, "Hey!" He patted the ground next to him and Annie sat down.

"So how's the practicing going?" Annie asked, happy she found an interesting topic to discuss.

"It's ok. Tiring. I thought that this lawsuit would at least give us some vacation time, but I guess not," JC replied and Annie nodded in understanding. If it was one thing these guys earned, it was a break.

"Yeah…" There it was, another awkward silence. JC occupied himself with taking another bite of his sandwich. After he swallowed, he asked, "So are you having fun watching us? I'm sure I'd be thrilled to be in your position."

"The way I see it, I should be thankful, you know? Like the kind of thankful when you don't want to eat your dinner and your mother tells you that people in Ethiopia would kill for a piece of your spinach casserole. There are millions of girls who would lie, cheat and steal to be witnessing what I get the 'luxury' of seeing for free. So…thankful," Annie closed her eyes momentarily and hoped she didn't sound like a complete lunatic.

JC laughed lightly and nodded his head in agreement, "I guess you could see it that way."

"Plus I get to see SJ, so that makes it a little better," Annie added.

"Ahhh…yes. SJ. She certainly is a character. What do you think she sees in Lance? She's so flamboyant; I would assume she'd go for Justin or even Joey. But I would never have guessed it would be the country artist manager of the group. Very strange," JC said with a shake of his head.

"I know what you mean. But she definitely sees something there."

There was another silence and Annie started studying her fingernails intently. She could think of absolutely nothing to say. She heard a loud, obnoxious coughing sound and looked up to see Chris mouth the words "ASK HIM OUT" to her.

"Ummm…so anyway, JC. I wanted to talk to you about," he looked at her curiously and waited for her to continue, "Ahem…I wanted to talk to you about…" She really should have thought this part out. She stared up at Chris in panic and he mouthed something to her, but she couldn't catch what it was. Then, he began using the pickle he was eating to try and tell her something. Annie watched as he pressed it with alternating fingers and brought it up to his mouth.

JC was still staring at her with a confused expression, "You wanted to talk to me about…?

Annie watched Chris' weird version of charades a moment more before saying the most obvious thing that came to mind, "I wanted to talk to you about…touching your pickle?"

JC immediately started choking on the soda he had just attempted to swallow and Annie's eyes went wide, as did Chris' when she realized the implications of what she had said. She saw Chris drop his pickle. He shut his eyes and held his stomach while dissolving into silent laughter.

Annie, meanwhile, was growing redder and redder and she wanted to get up and run out of the room. JC finally collected himself and demanded, "What?"

What the hell am I supposed to say? "That's not what I meant. What I was trying to say is…"

"Jazz club," Chris piped up from behind JC. JC turned around to look at Chris curiously, "Annie was telling me about this jazz club she saw in town, and I mentioned that you liked jazz."

"But what was that about touching my…pickle?" JC asked cautiously.

"Lingo, man. Touching the pickle means playing the saxophone," he said, looking directly at Annie who suddenly realized what he was trying to demonstrate with the dill earlier, "Kinda like tickling the ivories is to piano."

JC still looked a little skeptical, but he nodded anyway.

"I was wondering if maybe you'd like to come with me?" Annie asked, praying she sounded airy and uncaring.

"Wouldn't Chris want to go instead?" JC asked.

"Nahh man. That stuff gives me a headache. You two go," Chris answered.

JC shrugged his shoulders, "Well, I've got nothing to do all day tomorrow."

"That sounds great!" Annie exclaimed before she had time to stop herself, "I mean, I'm really excited about checking that place out."

Annie was suddenly on a roll. She was going to go out with JC! Sure, it wasn't technically a date, but it would work. She had the urge not to mess anything up, and she knew that if she stayed with him much longer she'd say something she'd regret.

"Ok, so I'm gonna go. I'll let you get back to your food, the break's almost over anyway." Annie stood up and moved away from where she had been sitting, Chris immediately stood up to follow her.

When they were out of everyone else's earshot, Chris said, "Congratulations, Mary. You did it."

Annie felt her whole body shake with excitement as she jumped into Chris arms, "I sooo did it!"

Meanwhile, Lance and Justin stood on the other side of the studio with Nate, who had a bemused expression on his face, "I don't like doing this."

Justin patted him on the back encouragingly, "It's for his own good. And anyway, this is your job, right?"

"My job is to keep your white asses safe, not be your informant," Nate argued.

"Ohhh, but you're so good at it!" Lance said.

"Whatever man. Just…whatever."

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chapter five