JC did call the next afternoon, but Alissa had woken up with a serious headache and didn't feel like doing much of anything. She could hear the disappointment in JC's voice when she explained, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She made a promise to go out the next time he was around. She hung up the phone after offering her apologies and went right back to sleep.

She woke again a couple of hours later, feeling much better. She considered trying to track JC down, but decided against the effort of it, and settled herself in front of the TV.

She was getting up to get something to eat when her doorbell rang. She checked the peephole and sighed.

"Hi JC, what're you doing here?" He shuffled his feet and handed her the pizza box in his hand.

"I thought maybe you hadn't eaten and I was hoping you were feeling better." He smiled uncertainly, and Alissa knew she couldn't turn him away.

"Okay, so get in here." His smile widened a little.

"So are you okay now? Because I could go." Alissa shook her head. Although she wasn't comfortable, not knowing what his intentions were, she could use the company and he was already there.

"I'm fine. Have a seat."

They ate the pizza and eventually decided to watch a movie that had started on TV. There was a somewhat awkward silence when the movie ended, at least for Alissa. She fidgeted, because she could feel JC watching her. Alissa pretended to watch the commercials while she thought. It bothered her that she had this intuition about JC, but that she couldn't tell for sure whether she was right or not. Suddenly she realized how long they'd been quiet and tried to start a conversation.

"So, you go back to Florida tomorrow?" JC nodded. "Too bad. I've had a lot of fun hanging with all you guys. Even if you are *NSync." She smiled when JC rolled his eyes. "Although I'm sure you'll be back . . ." Alissa was silenced as JC leaned forward and kissed her. At first she didn't react, then she put her hand gently on his chest to keep his distance.

"No, JC." Something in his eyes questioned her without the need for words. Alissa tried to come up with the right thing to say. "You are such a great guy. You've been so sweet and some girl will be so lucky. But she's not me. I just don't feel it. I'm sorry." JC looked away, but not before Alissa saw the hurt in his eyes. She felt terrible, knowing that she'd caused it and she reached to pull him into a hug. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lead you on, if I did. You're just so sweet. . ." She pulled away and looked at JC who gave her a weak smile.

"At least you're honest. You could have kept this going for a while." Alissa shook her head.

"I couldn't do that to you." She took a breath and decided to continue with what she was thinking. "I'd like to stay friends, JC." JC laughed half-heartedly.

"Joey would call that the kiss of death. But . . ."

"But you're not Joey."

"No, I'm not, so I guess, that will have to do." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Can I ask you something?" Alissa nodded, curious. "Is it Lance?"

"Lance for what?" Alissa was thoroughly confused.

"That you're interested in. You seem to have some kind of connection to him." Alissa smiled and thought how odd that sounded.

"No. He's Carrie's favorite, so I guess because I hear about him the most I was drawn more to him. Familiarity or something." JC seemed to accept her explanation and he got up.

"I think I'll go. It's been a rough night."

"Aw, JC. I feel bad now." He smiled at her.

"It's not your fault. I should make sure I fall for someone who's falling for me. That's all." He leaned to kiss her cheek when they got to her front door. "Night �Lissa."

"Night JC." She shut the door, and then leaned back against it, wondering what she'd done. She slid her back down the door and sat motionless a few minutes before getting up and dialing Carrie's number.

"�Lo?"

"Hi Care."

"Hey Backstreet Girl! You ready to give the full report? I've been waiting."

"Mm hmm, sure." Carrie waited for her to go on.

"�Liss? Are you okay? I expected you to still be riding a high from your evening with the stars."

"I should be. I would be if . . ." Alissa didn't know how to explain what had happened.

"What is it �Liss? You sound really bad, what's going on?" Alissa didn't know how to start the story but before she knew it she was pouring out all the details of the evening. When she finished, she waited for Carrie to react.

There was silence on the line, while Carrie soaked it all in. "Wow, �Liss."

"Exactly. Now what do I do?" Carrie sighed.

"I would love to give you an easy answer, but I guess there's nothing you can do now."

"I know. I just hope I haven't lost a friend."

"You got attached awful quick, �Liss. It's only been a few days." Alissa made no answer. "Besides, you still got me! What more do you need?" Alissa couldn't help but giggle. Somehow she knew that Carrie would make her feel at least a little better.

"Yes, thank you for reminding me that I still have my best friend the psycho *NSync fan."

"Damn straight. And I got mine, the obsessive Backstreet, quasi *NSync fan."

"HOLD ON! I never said I was a fan."

"Oh right. You've got to stay loyal to your B-rok and Nicky-poo." Alissa laughed loudly.

"Did I tell you I saw them?"

"What do I care? You were there with MY guys. I want details!"

Alissa got a small flower delivery from JC the next day with a card that read only one word: Friends. After that she didn't hear from any of them for several weeks. She had thought once or twice about asking Danielle how the guys were doing, but decided against it, and moved on. She had stopped worrying about the incident with JC, and Carrie and her had gone back to arguing over which group was better, because the *NSync guys had gone back to being Alissa's Boys so-called �enemy' now that they weren't around.

About a month and a half later, Danielle popped into Alissa's office. "Hey Alissa, you got a minute?" Alissa looked around her at the work spread on her desk and then shrugged.

"Sure. What's up?"

"Well, Chris and I were talking." She stopped. "Wait, have you heard from any of the guys?" Danielle looked like she wasn't sure exactly how to say what she was intending.

"No. Just work stuff from Chris. Should I have?"

"I guess not. Have you ever seen them in concert?" Alissa smiled as she remembered.

"Ya, Carrie dragged me to see them. Then I returned the favor." Danielle laughed.

"What else are best friends for?" Alissa was still wondering what all the questions were about. "Okay, so I'm going to fly out and meet them on the weekend, and ... would you like to come?"

"That would be . . . interesting. Where are they going to be?"

"Boston."

"Seriously? That's where Carrie is. I'm surprised she isn't seeing them. I could visit her at the same time." Danielle looked pleased.

"Great! So you'll come?"

"Sure."

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