Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 17:28:28 -0400
From: Rachel <rel24@drexel.edu>
Subject: Choices chapter 30

Disclaimer: oh this is about 'nsync...and I have no clue if they're gay or
straight...it's just a story so it's not the truth...and ya know...if
you're not allowed to read this don't.

Author's notes at the end.


Chapter 30


	Lance held Jean-Michel's hand tightly as they walked up the steps
to his no, correction, their new house in Miami. Adam and Eve were right
behind them dragging Summer along. She had picked them up from the airport.

	Lance looked over at Jean for a moment before opening the door. He
smiled at him, relieved to see a smile back. This trip to Miami was to save
Jean this time.

	"I hope you like what I did with the place Jim. I wasn't sure what
to do in your bedroom so I just had a little fun." Summer said as she
followed them inside. She let go of the leashes, letting the dogs go.

	"I'm sure it's fine honey." He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I
think we're going to go unpack."

	Summer nodded, having been informed by Lance what was going on with
Jean. She knew that they were going to need a lot of alone time.

	"Dinner will be ready around 8. I'm staying with Missy tonight so
I'll see you guys tomorrow."

	Jean smiled weakly at her. "Thank you Summer." He picked up a
suitcase and headed up the steps.

	Lance hugged her tightly. "Have fun with Missy honey. I'll see you
later."

	She grinned. "So those beasts won't hurt me right?"

	"Of course not. They don't like lesbians for dinner." He shot back
at her, grabbing the other suitcase and heading up after Jean.

	"Which room is ours?" Jean asked him softly, speaking in French. He
had been doing that a lot more lately.

	"The last door on the right."

	Jean pushed the door open and took a sharp breath in. Lance looked
over his shoulder and his jaw dropped.

	Summer had made the room into a little garden practically. A huge
canopy bed was in one corner. Along one wall was a long couch. There were
plants and flowers all over the room. It was beautiful.

	Jean smiled, taking a deep breath, enjoying the sweet perfume of
the air. The floor-to-ceiling windows were open and the balcony had a small
couch on it as well.

	"It is beautiful." He said softly.

	Lance put the suitcase down and reached for Jean-Michel's hand,
pulling him towards him into a hug.

	"I love you." Lance whispered softly.

	Jean's grip around Lance tightened in response. "Let's go sit
outside and talk." Lance said, loosening his arms.

	Jean let go and wiped his cheeks. A few tears had fallen despite
his best efforts to hold them in. He nodded and let Lance lead him to the
balcony.

	"Did anything at all change while you were in France?" Lance asked,
leaning against the balcony.

	"Not much. I have realized that I do not need to be away from you."

	Lance nodded. "That makes me happy. Is Momma still talking?"

	Jean nodded. "Not as much as before. She only talks to me when I am
already very low."

	"What has she been telling you?"

	"The usual. I am worthless. I do not deserve to be loved. I am a
failure." Jean whispered his mother's words softly.

	"Ignore her. She's long dead sweetie. She can't hurt you anymore."
Lance sat next to him, wrapping his arms around Jean's shoulders.

	"But what if she is right?"

	Lance took Jean's face in his hands. "The person I am looking at is
not worthless. He has never failed in any way I've seen. And he obviously
deserves to be loved since I love him with all of my heart."

	Jean shook his head. "What does your father say about all of this?"

	"He tells me that she did love me even though she never seemed to
show any affection towards me. And he tells me that he loves me."

	"Then listen to your father and to me, not to her. Please."

	Lance looked into Jean's soft gray eyes, wishing that he could make
him believe that he was a good person. Most of the time, Jean had no
problem tuning his mother out. He could almost forget the way she had
treated him his whole life.

	But then something or someone like Darren would come along and
destroy all of the progress Jean had made in his life, returning him to a
time in his life where his mother controlled him.

	The past three weeks had been rough. Kevin and AJ had gotten
married three days ago. Lance had spent the entire time they were in
Vermont trying to hide the fact that Jean-Michel was going slowly insane.

	Their relationship with each other was strange. Lance had made
peace with himself during his time in Miami with Summer's help. Jean was
extremely withdrawn. He didn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone. He
spent most of his time sitting out back digging in the garden. When he
wasn't doing that, he was sleeping or clutching to Lance.

	Two days before they flew to Vermont, Summer had called and told
Lance that the house was ready for him. The two of them talked for sometime
and decided to get Jean-Michel out of the house and into another
setting. She made plans for them to be there later that week.

	"James." Jean broke Lance's train of thought. "Yes sweetie?"

	"Can we go in the pool?"

	Lance smiled. "Of course we can. I'll go unpack our swimsuits."

	"Is Summer still here?"

	"I don't know. Why?"

	"I do not feel like putting on a bathing suit. Will you go in the
pool without one as well?"

	Lance looked at Jean-Michel in surprise. "Sure. I'll do the naked
swimming thing with you."

	Jean-Michel grinned at him. "It is beautiful down here James. Will
you take me out to the places you went to while you stayed here?"

	"If you want to go out to the clubs and party on South Beach, I
will take you there. Anything you want sweetie."

	"Then let us stop thinking about what is wrong and enjoy our new
home. Will you show me around?"

	"Of course." Lance reached for Jean-Michel's hand, wondering where
these swiftly changing requests were coming from. It didn't really matter
to Lance what they did, as long as being there helped Jean.



	"Pick up your end more Chris!" Justin shouted as he struggled under
the weight of the sofa. Chris groaned as he tried to lift the end more. It
slid out of his grasp and crashed to the floor. Justin let go of his end
and let it fall as well.

	Breathing heavily, Chris flopped down on the sofa. "It looks just
fine here." He said, closing his eyes.

	"I agree." Justin said sitting down as well. Joey and JC had
decided that they were going to move into JC's house so they had
volunteered Justin, Chris, and Daniel to help them move everything out of
Joey's house. Howie and Brian were coming over later to help them out, but
they had to wait until Ben got home from school and Ameena came home from
work.

	"Hey we're not paying you two to sleep." Joey said jokingly.

	"You're not paying us at all." Justin shot back. "Beer is payment
remember. That's what you guys agreed to."

	"How come we're carrying a sofa and you're carrying one little
box?" Chris whined.

	"Because this box happens to contain all the Superman comics I
own. I don't trust any of you with these babies."

	"Where is the sofa going anyway Joey? JC's already got two sofas in
the living room."

	"It's going in the back den. We're getting rid of the old one in
there."

	Chris groaned. "That's so far."

	"I know. Can't we just leave it here?" Justin whined.

	"Nope. It's kind of blocking the hallway Curly." JC said as he put
down the chair he was carrying.

	"Whose up for a break?" Chris asked, trying to delay the inevitable
as long as possible.

	JC and Joey exchanged glances. "Okay. Let's go have a beer or
two. Then it's back to work."

	"I can agree to that." Chris said, hauling himself off the
sofa. "Coming Curly?"

	"I'm pretty comfortable where I am. I'll join you guys in a few."
Justin said closing his eyes as he spoke.

	"I'll bring a beer out to you Curly." JC said with a grin, ruffling
Justin's hair as he squeezed past the sofa.

	"Thanks Josh."

	JC followed Joey and Chris into the kitchen. He stopped at the foot
of the stairs.

	"Hey Daniel!" He shouted up the steps. "Yea JC?"

	"We're stopping and grabbing a beer. You joining?" Daniel looked
out of the guest room where they had put Joey's bed. He was currently
fighting with a dresser.

	"Yup. Be right there." Daniel pushed the dresser as hard as he
could. It slid about three more inches to the right. Now he could get all
the way out of the bedroom.

	Chris took a long drink of his Corona. Joey turned around, holding
the slice of lime he had cut. Laughing he handed it to Chris.

	"You couldn't even wait for the lime?"

	"It tastes just fine without it. Besides I really needed it." Chris
grinned. "Damn that hits the spot."

	"So all the girls went shopping?" JC asked, taking the Corona that
Joey handed him.

	"Yeah. Dani, Sarah, Britney, and Leighanne took the girls
shopping. I think they just want to spend my money." Chris laughed.

	"I think Brit was going to buy shoes." Daniel said sitting down at
the table. "Not that she doesn't have enough shoes already."

	"How many is she up to now?" Joey asked handing him a beer.

	"52 pairs. I own three. What do you do with 52 pairs of shoes?" He
asked.

	Justin wandered into the room. "The scary thing is she wears all of
them." He yawned and grabbed a beer from the counter. "You'll get used to
the fact you need a closet just for her shoes eventually."

	Daniel shuddered. "That's a scary thought."

	Justin laughed. "You wanted to date her." Daniel nodded. "And I'm
enjoying myself. That girl is a wild woman."

	"Ewww!" Chris said loudly at the thought of Britney and Daniel
having sex.

	"Why are you saying Eww Chris? He's right you know. Brit is a wild
woman." Justin said knowing how much that bothered Chris.

	"Lalala! I can't hear you." Chris put his hands over his ears and
sang loudly. "Quit it moron." JC poked him in the side and Chris stuck his
tongue out at him.

	Joey put his arms around JC and gave him a kiss on the cheek. JC
grinned and took another drink.

	"So when are you guys going back into the studio?" Chris asked,
trying to appear excited about it. He was a little upset because he wasn't
going too.

	"Whenever Lance and Jean-Michel get back." Justin squeezed Chris'
shoulder. Chris smiled at him.

	"Let's make a promise guys." Joey said, raising his beer up. The
other four did the same.

	"We'll always be friends and we'll always help each other move."

	Justin began to laugh. "What's so funny?" Daniel asked him. "Joey
never offers to help anyone move. When I moved in, he continently 'threw'
his back out. Of course he was all better the next day when we went
clubbing."

	"Aw shut up Justin." Joey blushed. "I did hurt my back you know."

	"Whatever." Justin grinned reaching over and tapping his beer
against Joey's. "Now next time I move you will help right?"

	"If my back's ok." Joey grinned happily when everyone laughed. He
was having so much fun lately hanging out with his friends. This was great.

	"Hey bet time." Justin said in a sing-song voice. All eyes turned
to him with interest.

	Justin looked at the beer bottle for a moment. "Winner gets to
decide what he has to move. Loser has to move the heavy stuff."

	"So what's the bet Justin?" Daniel asked with interest. He didn't
want to have to fight with anymore bedroom furniture.

	"I don't know if I like the sound of that." Joey said, since he had
the most to lose. He was moving all the light stuff.

	"Whoever can chug a Corona wins. Whoever spills the Corona loses."
Justin said with a satisfied smile on his face. His experience with Corona
was that it wasn't a chugging beer.

	"I can do that. I'll take that bet." Joey said. Everyone else
chimed in their participation.

	Justin got up and opened five new beers. "I'm leaving the lime out
because it makes it harder. Let's go."

	He handed the beers out. "Who's judging?"

	Justin shrugged. "Honesty rules."

	"Okay."

	Justin looked around at the other guys. "Ready. Set. Go." They
tipped their beers back and began to drink.

	The first to start choking was JC. He stopped drinking and watched
as the beer rose to the top of the bottle. It stopped just before it began
to spill over.

	Daniel was the next to go. His foamed a lot and started to run down
the side, but he licked it up. JC saw that and nodded. That wasn't counted
as a spill.

	Justin, Chris, and Joey were going strong. Suddenly Joey began to
cough and beer came out his nose.

	"You lose my dear." JC said with a grin as he rubbed his back. "But
I coughed. That doesn't count."

	"Yes it does. Sorry Joey." Daniel said with a grin, turning his
attention back to Chris and Justin.

	"Done." Chris said, putting the bottle on the table. "Me too."
Justin put his down as well.

	"Looks like Joey's lifting the heavy stuff." Chris said. "I think I
saw some pillows in the truck Justin."

	"Yeah. I think we can handle lifting those."

	Daniel and JC were laughing quietly as Joey just pouted. Chris and
Justin started laughing at the expression on his face. Slowly a grin
started to form at the corners of his mouth. When he couldn't help it any
longer, Joey burst out laughing as well.

	That was were they were when Howie and Brian came over, sitting at
the kitchen table, laughing and drinking beer. And the sofa still hadn't
been moved.





One year later...


	"What do we have to bring to the barbeque?" Joey asked
JC. "Mmmphf." JC mumbled in his sleep.

	"Would you please wake up?" Joey shook his gently. JC opened one
eye and peered up at him. "Why am I awake?"

	"Because it's 11:30 in the morning and we are supposed to be going
over to Chris' at 5."

	"5! I have plenty of time to sleep." JC rolled over and closed his
eyes.

	"Joshua get up." Joey said angrily. JC sighed and sat
up. "Everything okay sweetie?"

	"Yeah I guess." Joey mumbled. "I talked to my mom for a bit this
morning."

	"How's Phyllis doing today?"

	"She's back on the sinning bandwagon so basically she went back and
forth between yelling and praying the entire time we talked."

	"Oh Joey." JC gathered his boyfriend into a hug. "She'll come
around eventually."

	"It's been a year and nine months since I told her and she still
hasn't come around."

	JC rubbed his back wishing he could make Joey's pain go away
somehow.

	"Let's just forget about her for now. We have a party to get ready
for." JC tried to lighten the situation.

	"What are we supposed to bring? I don't remember." Joey asked
softly his face still buried in JC's shoulder.

	"I think we're supposed to bring a dessert."

	"Okay." Joey whispered.



	Haley grabbed a ball from the toy chest and ran into the kitchen.

	"Mommy! Play ball with me."

	Danielle turned to look at her daughter. "Not right now
sweetie. Mommy's busy."

	"I want to play ball now!" Haley stomped her foot against the
ground.

	"Haley Marie Kirkpatrick. I told you I couldn't play right now. If
you keep this up, you'll go to your room for the evening." She turned back
around.

	Haley put her mad face on, scrunching up her nose and turning her
mouth down. Danielle didn't even turn around this time.

	"Haley Marie." She said in a stern voice. Even at two and a half,
Haley knew not to disobey the voice.

	"Where's Micah?" Haley asked. "Micah is out back with Daddy. Why
don't you go outside too? Mommy's got work to do."

	The doorbell rang. Danielle sighed and began to wipe her hands
off. Haley turned and flew down the hall to answer the door. She turned the
knob and peeked outside.

	"Who is it?" She asked, one eye visible through the crack in the
door.

	"It's Uncle Justin and Aunt Sarah." Justin said, bending down to
look her in the eye.

	"Uncle Justin!" Haley shouted, flinging the door open. Justin
picked up the girl and spun around.

	"Haley Marie. Did you just open that door yourself?" Dani asked
sternly, her hands on her hips. Haley hid her face in Justin's shoulder.

	"She did ask who it was first." Sarah said, stepping forward to
give Dani a kiss on the cheek. Dani kissed her back, giving her friend a
quick hug.

	"Haley I'm glad you asked who it was first, but next time please
wait for Mommy to open the door."

	"Okay Mommy. Put me down Uncle Justin." Justin put her on the
ground and she took off to the backyard.

	"How are you this fine evening Danielle?" Justin asked giving her a
peck on the lips.

	"Exhausted. I had three lectures today not to mention my office
hours which were packed. I got home and Chris had attempted to get
everything started for tonight."

	"Uh oh. What did he burn up this time?" Justin asked as the three
of them walked into the kitchen.

	"Just the curtains again." Danielle gestured to the window. "It
wouldn't be a big deal if he didn't panic and call the fire department. I'm
thinking of teaching the girls how to use the fire extinguisher since their
fire-prone father can't figure it out."

	"I don't know how you put up with him Dani." Justin popped a carrot
in his mouth. Sarah pulled a beer out of the fridge for herself.

	"The same way you did touring with him for years. Take a deep
breath and remember that he doesn't mean to do stupid things. The stupid
things just happen to him for some reason."

	"Hello? We're here!"

	"We're in the kitchen Lance!" Danielle shouted. Lance poked his
head in grinning at them happily.

	"Guess who we brought."

	"Luna." Justin said smugly.

	Lance pouted. "You're not supposed to actually guess Justin."

	He walked into the kitchen followed by Jean-Michel who was carrying
the baby. Granted Luna was 2 now, but she was still the baby in the
Backstreet family. Well at least until March when Leighanne was due.

	"Where's Summer at Lance?" Sarah asked as she gave him a kiss on
the cheek.

	"She had to fly home to take care of some business."

	"Her girlfriend made another booty call?" Justin joked with him.

	Lance smiled and shook his head. "Yes Missy made a booty call. It's
not like you haven't done it before."

	"Yeah but you forget Lance, I'm the one who makes the booty calls
not Justin." Sarah said jokingly, causing Justin to blush deeply.

	"I make booty calls to you." He whispered. "I know you do. Lance
doesn't though."

	"The girls are out back with Chris if you want to take Luna out to
play with them Jean." Danielle said when she noticed how much Luna was
squirming in his arms.

	"That sounds like a good idea. I will see all of you out back."
Jean left the room after giving Lance a peck on the cheek.

	"So are the newlyweds here yet?" Lance asked grabbing a beer from
the fridge.

	"Yup, they're out back." Dani pushed past him to get into the
fridge herself.

	"How's Britney feeling?"

	"Fat. She's eight months pregnant Lance." Danielle snapped at him.

	She wasn't all that thrilled about Britney rejoining the group as a
friend now. Britney had apologized many times to her about what she had
said in the past. Especially after she found herself pregnant without being
married to Daniel. They had gotten married three weeks ago though.

	"Would you guys please get out of my kitchen so we can have some
food for tonight? I have a lot of work to do." Danielle asked as politely
as possible.

	"No problem Dani. Want me to stick around or are you okay?" Sarah
asked as she gently pushed Justin towards the door.

	"I could use a hand Sarah. Thanks." She smiled gratefully at the
other woman.

	"Okay Justin and Lance scat. Take a couple beers for the others and
get out of here."

	Sarah pushed them out of the room. Justin kissed her quickly as she
shut the door behind them.

	"They can be such pains in the ass sometimes." Sarah said as she
reached for a plate of hamburgers.

	"Tell me about it. Would you believe they are a lot better then
they used to be? They were terrible."

	Sarah shook her head. "It's hard to imagine what it was like before
Chris left the band. I mean I didn't know the guys before then, so 'Nsync
being just the four of them seems normal."

	Danielle sighed. "You've seen the five of them together. They are
all crazy when they get together. I thank God everyday for Jean-Michel."

	"Why Jean?"

	"Because Jean kept them in line really well. The craziness that
occurred before Jean-Michel joined the tours was insane. The guys used to
have contests where they had to break into other hotel rooms and steal
something. It was just a lot of stupid stuff."

	Sarah opened the refrigerator and pulled out the plates of
ribs. One for Lance and one for the rest of them, like usual.

	"Does Chris miss it?"

	Danielle turned to look at her. "Some days I catch him staring at
some of the pictures we have of the five of them performing. He has this
lost look in his eyes. He'll never admit it, but he misses it more then he
knows."

	She turned away. "If he could go back to it, I think he would."
Danielle closed her eyes. "Sarah I'm pregnant again."

	Sarah took a sharp breath in. "Oh Dani." She said softly. "Does
Chris know yet?"

	Danielle nodded. "I told him last night."

	"Is he..." Sarah didn't know what to ask. "Okay?"

	Danielle shrugged. "Well this will make baby number 4. The girls
are two and a half. Micah is eight months. The new baby is due in April."

	Danielle began to chop the cucumber in front of her. "I never had
any clue I was going to be this fertile."

	"Umm...Dani. This is going to sound rude but remember I'm your best
friend."

	"Why don't Chris and I use protection?"

	Sarah's jaw dropped. "Uh yeah."

	"The condom has broken three times." Danielle said with a sardonic
tone in her voice. "And this is my third pregnancy."

	"I can't take the Pill so there goes the back-up. Apparently Chris'
boys are strong swimmers."

	"So I guess Chris is going to continue to be a house bitch for
awhile."

	"Actually Chris started his masters program a few weeks ago. He's
going to get his MS in Psychology."

	"How's the babysitting going Scoop?" Justin asked as the two of
them headed out back.

	"I never thought I would enjoy it as much as I am. I'm really going
to miss Luna when Howie and Ameena get home."

	"So are you going to have kids now?" Justin asked.

	"Jean and I talked about it last night. We aren't going to until
after 'Nsync is finished. But yeah we are going to have kids."

	Lance blushed as Justin grinned at him. "So when are the two of you
going to tie the knot? I can't wait to be someone's best man."

	"We're not going to. Neither of us feel like we need to be
married. I guess we both feel the way Dani does on the subject. The paper
isn't needed."

	Lance pushed open the patio door and he and Justin walked
into...chaos.

	"Kira let go of that!" Chris shouted as he ran after his
daughter. She laughed hysterically as he tripped over a chair and landed
flat on his face.

	Britney was holding Micah who was crying loudly. Jean had Luna in
one arm and Haley in the other as the two of them tried to hit each other.

	"Oh no! The food!" Daniel shouted as he grabbed the tongs and tried
to pull the food off the grill as flames leapt up.

	Justin and Lance exchanged glances. Nodding, Lance took off after
Kira, cutting her off before she could drop whatever she had in her hand in
the pool. Justin went over to the grill and helped Daniel out, pouring a
glass of soda on the fire. Chris picked himself up and took Haley from
Jean-Michel.

	"You are both in big trouble." Chris said to Haley and Kira
angrily. He took Kira from Lance and stalked inside, leaving everyone else
outside.

	"Umm...what happened?" Justin asked, taking Micah from Britney.

	Britney sighed. "Kira stole Micah's toy. Haley hit Luna the moment
Jean put her on the ground. Luna fought back. Chris took off after Kira. I
tried to comfort Micah. Jean tried to separate Haley and Luna while Daniel
tried to put out the fire."

	"So it sounds like a fun afternoon for all." Lance said dully. He
took Luna from Jean-Michel who handed her over gratefully. He rubbed his
shoulder briefly. Luna had kicked him pretty hard.

	"How are you feeling Britney?" Justin asked, leaning over to give
her a kiss on the cheek. He sat down in the chair next to her.

	"Not bad. I'm exhausted though. I am really glad that I decided to
skip the awards this year."

	"Oh tell me about it. Not having that pressure to perform and act
all perfect is great." Justin grinned as he tickled Micah, making the baby
finally laugh.

	Sarah pushed open the patio door and looked at Justin and Britney
laughing with each other. A pang of jealousy swept over her momentarily
when she saw them sitting together holding the baby. Just two years ago,
that was what was supposed to happen. Justin and Britney forever.

	But two years is a long time. Britney was married and expecting a
baby. And she and Justin were engaged. So Sarah pushed aside her jealousy
and headed over to Justin.

	"Hey sweetie." She said, throwing her arms around his neck and
kissing his cheek. She reached down and tickled Micah.

	"Hey Rainbow." Justin grinned happily his face lighting up at the
sound of her voice.

	Chris came walking back out holding a beer.

	"So where did you put the girls?" Jean asked him. Luna was sitting
on the ground playing quietly with a ball.

	"Kira is currently residing in the upstairs linen closet. Haley is
in the closet next to the downstairs bathroom." Chris said walking over to
the barbeque.

	"You're joking right Chris?" Lance asked, horrified that Chris
would lock them in a closet.

	"Of course I am. They're in their room." Chris chuckled. "I would
never put the kids in a closet."

	Joey looked at JC, waiting for him to open the car door. "Are you
going to get out?"

	JC shrugged. "I want to go back home."

	Joey sighed and got back in the car. "What's wrong Josh?"

	"I just don't feel like hanging out with everyone today. I want to
sit at home and write."

	Joey looked out the window at Chris' house. JC had been very
anti-social since the tour ended two months ago. Joey was beginning to feel
like JC didn't want to be a part of anything.

	"Let's just go inside Joey." JC said softly. He knew from Joey's
expression that Joey was upset that he didn't want to participate in
anything that involved their friends.

	Joey looked over at him again. "All right lets go." He opened the
car door again. Joey looked at him again, slamming the door behind him and
stalking up the steps, holding the tray of brownies they had brought for
dessert.

	JC sighed and got out of the car.

	"Hi everyone. We're here. The party can start!" Joey said jokingly,
putting the brownies on the table.

	"Great. The show is going to start in about 10 minutes so grab a
beer and pull up a spot in front of the TV." Chris said, gesturing to the
living room.

	"Is everyone else already here?"

	"Yup. You guys are late."

	JC stood in the doorway and watched Chris and Joey talk. He wished
he could shake these strange feelings he had been having lately. He wasn't
excited or that interested in doing anything lately. Maybe he should get
his therapist to put him back on medication.

	"Josh. Give me a hug!" Dani said happily, grabbing JC from
behind. He laughed and turned around, lifting the smaller woman into a hug.

	"Grab some food. The interview is starting soon."

	JC nodded and let her drag him into the kitchen. Tonight was the
MTV Video Music Awards. They had declined to go this year, letting the
Backstreet Boys have all the attention.

	Tonight was their final performance. Backstreet was over after
their performance on the awards. There was a special interview before the
show with the guys.

	All this had been announced last week. The Boys had told them about
six months ago though so they had time to decide what they wanted to do
about the awards show.

	It had been an easy decision. The time off would be great. If they
won anything, they had asked Blink-182 to accept it for them.

	The living room was crowded now that everyone was here. Britney sat
on the couch next to Sarah. Justin and Daniel were on the floor in front of
them. Lance and Jean-Michel were sitting at the table off to the
side. Micah was sitting in his high chair next to them. Lance was feeding
him some applesauce. Kira, Haley, and Luna were sitting next to Chris and
Danielle. JC and Joey took a spot on the floor as well.

	Chris put the TV on mute for a moment. It was a commercial break in
the interview.

	"Guys. Can I say something?" The room quieted down and they all
looked at him.

	"You all are great. I guess watching our friends say good-bye to
their careers has got me a little mushy. We had a lot of fun. Thanks for
all agreeing to be in 'Nsync when I had that crazy idea so long ago."

	"Hey Chris. If we had known what was in store for us." JC
paused. "We all would have still said yes."

	Chris sat back down and took a sip of his beer.  He looked around
at all of his friends.  His eyes fell last on Dani, and a smile crossed his
face. It was in that moment that he realized that he had everything he had
always wanted. His thoughts turned to his future, and he wondered what it
held for him and those around him.  Would they remain friends?  Would their
lives stay as close as they had been until now?  He couldn't really say.
But, he knew that, for now, everything was great.  He smiled again to
himself as he turned back to the TV to watch the Backstreet Boys take a
giant leap into their own futures.


			THE END


--Well another one bites the dust. Hope that everyone is doing great. It's
been fun. There will be an epilogue type deal posted in Escape. I am not
putting any set date on this. It might be months from now, so don't hold
your breath. You will find out what happens over the years. I promise.

Oh if you feel like it, check out the new story 'Little Earthquakes.' It's
only one chapter so far so it's not much yet.

So I'll see ya guys around. Email me if you feel like it.

	Rachel