Danielle and Alissa made all their arrangements and left early on Friday morning. Carrie had been ecstatic that Alissa was going to be visiting and ever more excited at the prospect of meeting her boys.

Alissa had originally intended to stay with Carrie at her apartment, but Chris was convinced it would be more convenient if they stayed at the same hotel as the group. Carrie had agreed immediately and then spent her time convincing Alissa, who wasn't sure if she wanted to be that close to the guys. Carrie had assured her that everything would be fine, and Alissa had eventually relented.

Carrie had also offered to pick them up at the airport so that she wouldn't end up waiting for them at the hotel by herself. Alissa was happy enough to be getting off the plane to a familiar face, and not a taxi-cab.

After quick introductions, the trio rushed to the hotel, where Carrie and Alissa picked up the key cards to the room they had decided to share, and Danielle got the spare for Chris' room. Each group member was staying on a separate floor of the hotel, and Alissa and Carrie's room was on the same floor as Lance's, much to Carrie's delight. Danielle got off the elevator first, telling them that she'd call in a few minutes to let them know what was going on, since the guys had a rare night off.

The elevator stopped at their floor and when the doors opened they stepped out, face to face with Lance.

"Alissa! Hey!"

"Lance, hi. How ya been?" Alissa had an urge to hug him, but she didn't want to seem to familiar. She really hadn't know him that long, and hadn't seen him in nearly 2 months, but she was strangely comfortable around him.

"Good. Chris mentioned you might be coming." He smiled at Carrie, who seemed quite stunned. "And this is your best friend, Carrie, who's actually a fan." Alissa watched Carrie's eyes widen.

"Alissa! You told them that?" Alissa rolled her eyes.

"DUH! How else would I explain my *NSync expertise, seeing that I'm a Backstreet fan?" She looked back at Lance, who seemed to be quite amused with the girl's exchange. "Where are you off to?"

"Joey's having some kind of dilemma. Hopefully this won't take long. Which room are you in?" Alissa glanced at her key card.

"808."

"Cool. I'll see you later." The minute the elevator door closed behind him, Carrie squealed.

"Ohmigawd, �Liss. That was. . . ohmigawd!" Alissa laughed at her friend and then tried using her sternest tone.

"Please, try to remember Miss Dern, that we are mature adults, and that we are actually WITH these people and therefore can not react as if we are fans. We must behave in a civilized manner at all times." Carrie groaned as she waited for Alissa to open the door to their room.

"C'mon, �Liss. Let me have SOME fun."

"Believe me, with this group, that shouldn't be a problem."

They had just set down their stuff and flopped on the large beds when there was a knock on the door.

"Hold on!" Alissa didn't want to move, but she knew if she let Carrie answer the door, there would be bigger problems.

"�Lissa!" She was immediately surrounded in a hug.

"JC! Good to see you too." She smiled, suddenly a little uncomfortable with seeing him again, after the way the last time had ended.

"How have you been?"

"Good. Busy, but that's cool. Tour's going good huh? I've been reading the reviews." He was about to answer when Alissa felt something hit her in the back of the head.

"HELLO! People who don't know people over here." Alissa turned to smile briefly at Carrie.

"Obviously people have gotten over their momentary lack of speaking ability from earlier." Carrie glared playfully at Alissa.

"That's because that was my fave, this is just JC. . ." Carrie's voice trailed off as she realized what she had said, and her face flushed.

"Again, I'm just JC. I'm gonna get a complex." He shook his head.

"Aaw, poor baby. JC, girl-with-foot-in-mouth-disease is Carrie."

"I figured. You obviously already caught up with Lance, huh?" Carrie looked like she was going to kill Alissa.

"You told them THAT too? That's it, I'm not leaving the room. Ya'll can just leave me here." Carrie dug her feet into the bed where she was still sitting and tried to look immovable. JC wandered closer to her.

"Sure you'll leave the room. We're all going out tonight, and you're coming."

"Make me!" Alissa was amazed at her friend's ease with JC. She heard Carrie squeal as JC picked her up over his shoulder, and then her turned to Alissa.

"Think she's convinced?" Alissa shook her head.

"I don't know." Carrie squealed again, as JC flipped her off his shoulder on to the bed.

"Okay, I"ll go, I'll go."

The whole group ended up at another club of Joey's choice. Carrie was having the time of her life, and was amazed at how little she really knew about the guys she thought she knew everything about.

Alissa was glad Carrie was getting along so well with everybody as she sat alone at a table watching her friend. Carrie had danced with JC and Lance, who she wasn't letting out of her sight, the entire time they'd been there.

Alissa hadn't been paying attention when she felt somebody sit down next to her. Looking over she noticed Carrie must have released her grip on Lance. Alissa immediately looked at Carrie, seeing that she was still dancing with JC.

"I think she found a new favorite." Alissa smiled wondering if JC had moved on to Carrie. "Hey, what's up with hiding in the corner?" Alissa looked at Lance, seeing the smile on his face and in his eyes.

"Who's hiding? You knew where I was." Lance laughed at her repetition of what he had told her those weeks before.

"So what happened to the girl who danced nonstop?" Alissa absently played with the glass sitting on the table in front of her.

"She stayed home. I'm just here for Carrie." Lance looked at her curiously.

"It's none of my business, but is it JC?" Alissa looked up sharply. "Nobody knows anything, he wouldn't talk. I just put it together." Lance motioned to JC and Carrie. "Don't let it wreck your day, Alissa." He motioned to JC. "He's not."

"That's not it. . ." she started to protest, but Lance grabbed her hand and pulled her to the dance floor.

Carrie grinned widely when she noticed the pair. "Alissa! I thought you were becoming a wallflower." She pulled her over to whisper in her ear. "I am having so much fun. Thank you." She hugged Alissa quickly before turning back to JC.

Alissa turned her attention back to Lance who instantly got her dancing and put her in a better mood. They danced for a while before a slower song started and Carrie tapped Alissa's shoulder.

Alissa knew what Carrie wanted and motioned to Lance. "He's all yours." She started to walk away when JC grabbed her elbow.

"C'mon, �Lissa." He pulled her close and Alissa felt herself tense up involuntarily. "Relax, it's all good." He lifted her chin to make her look at him. "Friends, remember?"

She nodded and smiled, feeling better now that he'd said it, and she relaxed into his arms.

Chris and Danielle had left long before everyone else decided that their night was over. Joey and Justin wanted to stick around when JC, Carrie, Lance and Alissa decided to leave, but eventually decided that they might as well leave with the group.

The girls went straight back to their room because at 2 am there wasn't much else they wanted to do. They'd only been there a few minutes when Carrie pulled out her portable CD player. She proceeded to set up the mini speakers while Alissa watched, shaking her head. Carrie finished and turned around, taking in the look on Alissa's face.

"What?! I need tunes." She pushed play, filling the room with the sound of "Bye Bye Bye." Alissa groaned and watched her friend until she went into the bathroom, before pulling out her own CD. As Carrie stepped out the beats of Larger Than Life greeted her.

"NO WAY!" She hit Alissa with the nearest pillow.

"Oh you are SO dead!" Alissa picked up the nearest pillow and hit her friend, just as there was a knock on the door. "Hold on," she motioned for a moment of peace to Carrie as she ran to the door.

"Hey JC, whatsup?" He started to answer when Alissa instinctively ducked and he got hit with a flying pillow. He shook his head.

"That's it!" Alissa stepped aside as JC attacked Carrie. The two girls had ganged up and were attacking JC when a voice from the hall caught Alissa's attention. The door was still open and she stopped in mid swing realizing Lance was watching.

"What are you smiling at, Bass?" Alissa threw the pillow in her hand at him, but it was a hideous throw. Alissa had to laugh as Lance watched it fall. Then he picked it up and walked into the room, shutting the door.

"You guys are loud. I could hear you in my room." Alissa batted him over the head.

"Your room is next door, you dork." JC and Carrie suddenly stopped fighting.

"�Liss, I've got an idea." Carried motioned for Alissa to follow her toward the door, where they whispered for a minute, then Alissa shook her head. Lance and JC looked at each other, then back at the girls, wondering what was going on. "C'mon, �Liss, it'll be fun. COME ON!" Carrie whined trying to persuade Alissa to her plan. Alissa finally relented to stop Carrie from whining, and Carrie marched back over to where she had been sitting, a triumphant grin on her face.

She looked at the two guys and then back at Alissa. "Okay, so maybe it's a dumb idea." JC whacked her with a pillow that he still held in his hand.

"Speak already." Carrie wound up to hit JC again.

"Slumber party." Everybody looked at Carrie. "What? I said it was dumb." Alissa giggled.

"You are the only person I know who would think of having an actual slumber party with your favorite music group." She knew her friend had nothing but innocent intentions with the suggestion, which is what made it so strange. "I mean, hello, like I wouldn't like to have a slumber party with certain members of Backstreet, but it isn't exactly sleep I'd be thinking about." JC and Lance looked strangely at Alissa. "What? You think girl's don't think about that?" She gave Carrie a knowing look and rolled her eyes, "Boys..." Both girls burst into laughter.

The phone rang and Alissa went to reach for it until, she was attacked by JC who grabbed it before she could. "Hello, nuthouse!" She punched his arm, and laughed when he pretended it actually hurt. "Ya, Justin, Lance is here too." Lance looked up and shrugged. "Slumber party in the girls room." Carrie and Alissa looked at each other in horror. "Seriously." Alissa tried to motion to JC, telling him, no. JC made a face at her and she knew it was a lost cause. "Alright. See ya." He hung up the phone.

"JC! What are you doing?"

"What?"

"Now Justin's coming here too?"

"And Joey," he said as he picked up a magazine that Carrie had thrown on the bedside table. "They've got food."

"Oh, that's fine then. We can just cram 6 people in this room because they have food."

"�Liss lighten up." Carrie taunted her friend. Alissa stuck out her tongue at Carrie.

"Hey Lance, check it out." JC held up a picture of Justin from the magazine. "He's so cuu-uu-u-ute." Carrie tried to grab the magazine before JC noticed that the Lance page was marked. "Oooooh Lance. Look, a bookmark. You're special." Carrie glared at JC, and snatched the magazine as Alissa got up to answer the door.

Justin pushed his way into the room, "The party has arrived."

"Hello, rude much, Just?" Joey looked at Alissa's t-shirt.

"Anybody else see this?" Alissa looked down to see what he meant and then grinned realizing she was wearing her BSB shirt.

"You got a problem with it?" Alissa shut the door and hopped back onto the bed.

There was a loud chorus from the rest of the room. "YES!"

"What?"

"Where do you want us to start?" Carrie turned to the guys.

"No fair, five against one. I must have my fair chance to speak." Carrie dismissed her with a wave of her hand.

"Let's see. Guys? Suggestions?" Carrie looked between the four of them, and they all shrugged, not knowing what they could or couldn't say. "Okay, Howie and the winking. What is UP with that? And that greasy ponytail. Cut it off already." Alissa said nothing, knowing Carrie was working her way up the list. Start off slow with Howie, and work up to Nick. She waited for Carrie to say more.

"Brian, what can be said. He is just too damn sweet, he carries that damn ugly little dog around with him everywhere. And that accent . . ."

"Hey, the accent is cute. Sounds a little like somebody in this room." Alissa and Carrie looked at Lance, who looked around as if to say �Leave me out of this'.

"Oh, but this one is MUCH cuter. And what's up with tattoo boy? Does he think that's attractive?" And that multi-colored rainbow hair? YUCK!" Alissa laughed when Joey ducked, trying to hide the highly visible red ends on his own hair.

"Exhibit A!" Alissa motioned to him. "And although exhibit B isn't here, it was awfully bad for a while. Much better now though." Alissa flipped the magazine open to a picture taken when Chris still had dreds. Carrie nodded, considering the argument.

"The we come to Kevin, who although admittedly is a very good dresser, wore a SKIRT on national television. Need I say more?" Alissa nodded.

"You've got me on that. Although he'd look good in a paper bag." She noticed Justin cringe at the mental image. "I can't think of anything that quite compares. Even I didn't like that skirt though. All that's left now is the babies, Carrie. Hit me with the good stuff." JC reached over to pick on Justin after the �babies' comment and Justin shot a glare in her direction.

"I've got three points. He's fat. He's got some nasty hair issues, I mean do something about those roots. And he's dating that �ho. Obviously he is as dumb as he looks." Alissa nodded. Carrie had met Mandy once, and she had not left a favorable impression.

"Okay, so I can't argue on the last part, my baby's not too bright, although dating Mandy has nothing to do with it, but he's anything but fat. He's just a large man." She stressed the word man, which made Carrie giggle. "I think that about covers the fat issue." She rushed on and in her effort to defend her baby, she didn't think about who was listening before she spoke.

"As for hair issues, there are worse problems than roots, just consider pube boy, . . ." Alissa stopped, and squeezed her eyes shut, praying that she hadn't just said that.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Justin getting up, and pulling the baseball cap he'd been wearing backwards, tighter onto his head. Alissa looked at Carrie, hoping her friend would help her out.

Carrie shrugged and jumped up. "MUSIC!" She popped in a CD and started singing along in her worst karaoke voice, highly amusing JC, Lance, and Joey. Alissa looked back at Justin who was stepping out the door. She heard Joey join Carrie in her rendition of the Grease megamix and got up to follow Justin.

She expected him to be partway down the hall when she opened the door, but instead she nearly tripped on him sitting against the wall just outside. "Justin?" She wasn't really surprised when he didn't look up. She slid down to sit against the wall beside him. "Justin, I'm sorry. It's a thing Carrie and I have done forever, since before I knew you. It's not personal." Alissa felt worse when he looked up. "Aaw, Just. Your hair's cute."

"Damn curls. I've always hated them."

"They're not that bad. In fact, they were really cute in that one picture." He looked at her curiously.

"Which one?" Alissa smiled.

"That one I showed you that was so cute, remember?" Justin rolled his eyes and then covered his face before laughing.

"Aah, �Liss. I was TWELVE."

"I know but you were such a cutie."

"Are you making fun of me?" He looked at her, with the cutest look on his face.

"Me? Never... you're smiling so it can't be that bad." He reached out to shove her over.

"Hey no fair! Having you around is worse than having a little brother." She sat back up and shoved him back, before giving him a hug. "C'mon, let's go back in and see how they're wrecking the place."

They were barely in the door when Carrie yelled at Alissa, "�Liss, put in the first CD in my case, kay?"

"Alright." Alissa flipped open the case and chuckled to herself as she put the CD in the player. The guys didn't know what they were in for.

Alissa and Carrie were giggling madly when the song started. The four guys groaned when they heard the first notes of "I'll Never Break Your Heart." The girls took turns singing the lines, making as little effort as possible to stay in key. By the time the song ended everybody was laughing hysterically. Carrie and Alissa had been �massacring' their favorite songs for years. Alissa turned to the guys as Carrie switched CDS.

"Don't laugh too hard, now it's your turn." Carrie punched the play button and "Tearin' Up My Heart" filled the room. Alissa sang Justin's part, and Carrie sang JC's, and eventually the guys joined them, taking turns trying to drown each other out.

When the song ended, Carrie and Alissa collapsed on the beds, laughing. It took a minute before Alissa could speak, but by the time she did everyone had calmed down considerably.

"I have a question. How come Lance never gets to sing?" The guys looked at each other.

"I sing," Lance said matter-of-factly.

"No, no no, I know you sing, I mean you never, EVER get leads. That is SO unfair. There is far too much air time for the boy wonder over here." Alissa grabbed Justin in a loose headlock, and giggled.

"I'm the bass-line." He looked strangely at Alissa when she giggled again. "That's what I do."

"Ironic isn't it? Bass, bass." She couldn't stop giggling. Carrie muffled her by putting her hand over Alissa's mouth.

"So, what do we do now?"

�1997 - 2002 [email protected], Intelexual productions