Sheryl was thinking about the decision she had made to leave her sister behind. She had thought of nothing since they had hit the interstate, almost thirty minutes before. She tried to drown out the feelings of guilt that were washing over her. But it was useless. She knew that she had done something that needed to be done. She needed to face her problems, not hide behind something else. Still, Sheryl couldn't help but think is she should have done it in another way.

"Oh shit!" Sheryl exclaimed, hitting the steering wheel of her compact car. She reached for her cell phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello?" Came the deep voice on the other end.

"Lance, we need to go back." Sheryl said, trying to fight the horrible thoughts she was thinking about herself.

"Why?" Lance asked confused. "Did you forget something?"

"Yea, I forgot something. My sister. She doesn't know where she is going. I didn't even think about that." Sheryl said, cursing herself.

"Well, someone already thought about that. Justin stayed behind with her. He said, he would help her finish re-packing and that they would be there shortly after we get there." Lance told her, a hint of a smile in his voice.

"Oh thank God. I thought she would try to find it on her own and get lost." Sheryl said, sighing with relief.

"Why did you do that?" Lance asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Do what?" Sheryl asked as she switched lanes to get behind JC's Jeep.

"Leave her there like that." Lance said, following her lead with his 4-runner.

"I lost my temper, I guess. I just wanted her to face her fears and not hide behind things. That isn't going to help her." Sheryl said, her voice flat.

"You treated her like a child. She looked so lost when you walked away from her Sheryl." Lance said, trying to understand, but failing.

"Well, if she acts like a child, then I am going to treat her like a child." Sheryl said, defensively.

"But she is a grown woman. You don't need to treat her like a four-year-old. She needs you now. She doesn't need another mother. She needs a friend. She needs her sister." Lance said, getting frustrated with her attitude.

"Lance, when you are in my position then you tell me how to act until then, don't!' Sheryl shouted into the phone.

"I just think you should have handled it differently. She is scared, Sheryl. She is so terrified. You can see it in her eyes. She doesn't need to feel like you are abandoning her now, when she needs you the most!" Lance shouted back, drawing shocked and curious stares from Joey.

"Don't tell me what to do, Lance. And don't tell me what Sadie needs." Sheryl said, and slammed her phone down angrily.

"Damn it!" Lance shouted, shutting his phone of and throwing it in the back of the truck. He heard it hit a couple of boxes before falling on the floor. He didn't care.

"What was that all about?" Joey asked, almost scared that he would receive some of Lance's anger.

"Nothing." Lance said, through clenched teeth. He took a deep breath to try and collect himself. He then cursed himself again. "Damn it. Joey can you climb back there and find my phone? I need to call Justin and check on him and Sadie." Lance asked, now feeling like an idiot for losing his temper like he had.

"Sure, you know, if I still had mine you could use it, but thanks to you and Chris, I don't. Just thought I would let you know." Joey said, taking off his seat belt and climbing over the seat carefully, making his way to the back.

"For once Joey, I don't really care about the upholstery. Just don't tear it. Dirt I can clean, tears I have to pay for." Lance said, still laughing at what Joey had reminded him of.

"Like you couldn't afford it." Joey said, rolling his eyes at him in the rear view mirror. Lance just chuckled. Joey had a way of lightening anyone's mood. That was one of the things that he loved about his friend. Never a dull or sad day. Not with Joey around anyway.

"Uh, Lance, since I don't have my seatbelt back on yet, do you mind staying in your lane of traffic?" Joey asked, his voice strained as he braced himself.

"Sorry, I drifted there for a moment." Lance apologized, forcing himself to focus on the road.

"I don't think you were talking about physically, so do you want to tell me what you thought was so important to think about right now?" Joey asked, handing Lance his cell phone and buckling his own seatbelt again.

"I was just thinking about the way things used to be, you know. Touring and singing and recording. The way we all used to be. I miss it, Man." Lance said, his heart aching for the way things once were.

"I know what you mean man, but Justin is getting better so fast. He is already in the booth recording. He is getting back into the swing of things. We all are. I have seen him dancing too, when he thinks no one is watching. He still has that same determination that he always had, his confidence just isn't there yet. He's been getting better about listening to our old songs too. He was actually doing Tearin' Up My Heart, day before yesterday. It won't be much longer. We will be right back out there, singing our asses off and standing in front of thousands of screaming girls in no time." Joey said, his tone light but serious.

"I know, Joey. I know." Lance said, picking his cell phone up again. He pressed the number for the speed dial and waited while the line rang on the other end.

"Yea?" Justin asked into the receiver.

"Curly, I know your mother taught you how to answer a phone, and I don't think 'Yea' was in there anywhere." Lance said, laughing into the phone, his previous mood pushed aside.

"Hey Lance. What's going on?" Justin asked, looking down at the girl in his arms.

"That's what I was calling to find out. Are you guys on the interstate yet?" Lance asked, glancing in his rear view mirror before switching lanes.

"Actually we haven't left the apartment yet. We kinda ran into a little problem, but we will be getting out of here in a little while." Justin said, stroking the soft, short brown hair of the girl who had fallen into a fitful sleep in his lap.

"What kind of problem?" Lance asked worriedly.

"Sadie, she kinda had an emotional moment and then fell asleep. I know how little she sleeps so I wanted her to rest for a little while, but I was about to wake her up. I think a nightmare is starting and she needs that less than she needs sleep." Justin commented, noticing the way her eye brows furrowed and the pained expression on her face. "Call Sheryl and let her know we may be a couple hours late. I will probably drive, so it shouldn't be much later than planned."

"I will. You guys be careful and don't get into trouble." Lance said, smiling to himself. If he knew Justin, and he did, they would make record time back to Orlando. They said their good byes and hung up. "Call Sheryl for me and tell her that they are going to be a little later than planned and not to worry." Lance said, handing Joey the phone.

"Why don't you call her?" Joey asked, knowingly.

"Because I doubt she would talk to me right now and I don't blame her." Lance said, still holding the phone out to his friend.

"Then why don't you call her anyway and apologize?" Joey suggested, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Joe, come on man." Lance said, pleading with him.

"Nope. You did it, you fix it." Joey said, smiling as he turned back to looking out the window.

Lance grumbled to himself as he dialed the number, keeping his eyes on the road the entire time. He listened to the phone ring on the other end before she answered.

"Hello?" he voice came through to his ear.

"Sheryl, just don't hang up on me. OK?' Lance said, not wanting her to think that he was mad at her.

"I'm not. Lance I'm really�" she started before he interrupted her.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things to you. I don't know what you're going through and I don't even begin to understand how you feel. I shouldn't be sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong." Lance said, feeling better now that he had said what had been on his mind since they last talked.

"I shouldn't have snapped at you though. You were just being concerned, and I thank you for that. She needs people to care about her and worry about her." Sheryl said, her voice quiet.

"So do you, Sheryl. And we do you know. We worry about you too. I can't imagine how all of this is affecting you. But you know we are here for you. Both of you." Lance said, his voice smooth and calm. Sincerity in his tone.

"I know and I really appreciate it. Have you talked to her. I couldn't get her cell. I think she may have packed it in her fog this morning." Sheryl said, laughing to herself.

"Well, I haven't heard it ringing and I doubt it is with the living room stuff. We would have heard it. I bet JC and Chris are going crazy trying to figure out what it is that keeps ringing." Lance said, laughing openly at the image of Chris rummaging through boxes in the back of the Jeep while JC drove. "But yea, I just talked to Justin. He said that they were going to be later than they planned. She started crying. She is really scared. I don't know all of the details, but she cried herself to sleep and Justin was about to wake her when I called. He said he thinks she was starting to have a nightmare. He said he would probably drive." Lance informed her, knowing that she would be worried about Sadie driving if she were physically and emotionally drained. "She's going to get through this, Sheryl. You both are, and we are here to help anyway we can." Lance said, knowing what she was thinking.

"Thank you." Sheryl whispered, hanging up the phone and laying it beside her. She took a deep breath to steady herself, and continued down the road to their new home in Orlando.

Justin pulled up in front of the large building that held his apartment as well as Sheryl and Sadie's new home. It was a tall black building with a lot of windows. Sadie couldn't believe it. She had never seen a place that looked as nice as this. She couldn't imagine what the inside looked like.

"Justin, this place looks really expensive. How can we afford to live here?" Sadie asked, when he opened the door for her.

"Well, Chris and I have investments in the building and we talked the land lord down on the price. I know he couldn't afford to lose the money that we have put into this place." Justin said, laughing at her awed expression as she gazed up at the building.

"You guys really shouldn't have done that. We could have stayed somewhere else." Sadie said, looking at Justin as he opened the back of her SUV and took out a few boxes.

"Well, the other guys spend all of their time at our place anyway, when they aren't in the studio or busy with their other things. We just figured this would cut down on travel time." Justin explained handing a box to her. She took it and followed him inside, past a doorman and to the elevator. In the lobby, there was a desk where a doorman sat. He nodded to Justin as they past, Justin saying hello to him. The lobby was beautiful with black walls, modern art pieces hanging on the walls, and a very large oriental looking rug covering the center of the floor. Justin pushed the button for the elevator and waited for it to arrive.

"Why are you guys doing all of this for us? I mean you haven't known us for more than a week and already you are doing things for us that no one ever has. Why?" Sadie asked, looking at him puzzled.

"Truthfully, I don't really know. All that I do know is since we met you, we have started to feel like our old selves again. We are hanging out and laughing. I haven't done that in a long time and it feels good to be doing it again. I am able to talk to you and you know what I am saying. You understand it. Maybe not completely, but you have some idea of what I am feeling. And your sister, well, she is perfect for this group of rejects that we have formed. She can keep us in line, but have fun with us at the same time. We need someone like her around." Justin told her. He smiled when he stopped. The elevator dinged, announcing the arrival of the car. Justin motioned for Sadie to go in first. She did so and then he entered pressing the button for the sixth floor.

"I have just never met someone who is as open and willing to do the things that the five of you have done for us. It is like we have known you for years." Sadie said, still looking at him, as if studying him for some sort of flaw in his character.

"Well, as far as I know, we have always been like this. We love to help people and don't you dare take that the wrong way. We are friends and like I said before, we love to do things to help friends out when they need it." Justin said, then leaned closer to her, his breath brushing against her ear. She ignored the shivers that the simple act brought to her spine. "Besides, I think Lance likes your sister." Justin said, laughing a little before drawing back from her. Sadie burst with laughter.

"What is so funny about that?" Justin asked, laughing with her.

"Sheryl would explode if she knew that. She would die a happy woman probably." Sadie said, shifting the box so that she could wipe the water from her eyes that had formed from her laughter.

"Why do you think that?" Justin asked curiously.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later." Sadie said, as they arrived on their floor. They stepped out of the elevator, Justin leading her to her new home. He walked through the partially opened door, pushing it open all the way. Sadie stepped into a large living room, boxes scattered over almost every flat surface and some not so flat surfaces.

"Hey guys! Anyone here?" Sadie called through the spacious apartment, her voice making the bare room sound hollow.

"We're out here!" She heard her sister call back to her. She followed the sound of the voice, Justin close behind her, grinning from ear to ear. He quickly stepped up beside her when they neared the door so that he could see her expression. Her jaw practically fell to the floor when she saw what was on the other side of the door. She was faced with a view of the city of Orlando. The tall buildings looming in the distance and the busy streets bellow them. True, a city is not one of the most gorgeous views in the world, but this view was breath taking to Sadie and her sister who were from a small town in the middle of Nowheresville, North Carolina.

Sadie stepped out onto the balcony where Sheryl and the other guys were standing, talking in the dusk of the evening. She was oblivious to the slight laughter from the man behind her. He couldn't help himself. He also knew that had the guys seen her initial response to seeing the view and the balcony, they would also be laughing. He reached his hand out and placed it on her shoulder. She turned to look at him, her mouth still hanging open.

"You might catch flies with your mouth hanging open like that." He told her stifling his laughter, while putting a finger under her chin to close her mouth. When she realized what he had said, and that he was trying not to laugh at her, she narrowed her eyes and glared at him for a moment before turning back to the others who hadn't seen them standing there yet.

Sadie sat there for a moment taking it all in. The colors of the sky were amazing. The orange and reds in the sunset looked like something only seen in a romance film. She couldn't believe that she would be able to look at this view everyday for the next couple of months.

"Sadie, can you believe this view? If this doesn't inspire you to write, then I don't know what would." Sheryl said, smiling at her and then turning to say something to JC, who was standing beside her. Sadie stepped out onto the crowded balcony and looked down at the street. The cars past quietly below them, the people hurriedly walking back and forth bellow them.

"I could stay out here forever." Sadie half whispered, to no one in particular.

"I think you might catch cold, not to mention you would never get anything unpacked." Joey informed her, startling her out of her dream like state. She jumped when she heard his voice close to her ear. She turned her head slightly to find his chin resting on her shoulder.

"Chris and Justin just live right upstairs?" Sadie asked, looking back out over the city. Joey nodded his head against her shoulder. "I bet the view is even better from up there." She hypothesized, shrugging her shoulders. She nearly jumped right over the rail when Joey let out a yelp of pain. She calmed herself and rubbed her offended ear before turning around to him. "What in the world is wrong with you?"

"You have the boniest shoulder. How in the world do you keep it from poking through your own skin? That thing could be lethal." Joey said, rubbing his chin and eyeing the offensive shoulder. Sadie shrugged her shoulders again.

"Sorry, I can't do anything about my body structure. You would have to talk to my parents about that. They are the ones that gave it to me. You should see Sheryl's shoulders, and her knees. Those things are lethal weapons." Sadie told them and laughed as they all covered their sensitive areas, not bothering to be shy about it.

"Don't worry. You are all safe for now. I am in a really good and relaxed after a view like that skyline. I could get used to this." Sheryl said, walking back inside and crashing on the sofa in the cluttered living room.

"You had better get used to it. After a couple of months, we may not let you guys leave." Lance commented, sitting in a recliner next to the couch.

"After a couple of months in a place like this I may not want to leave." Sheryl said, laughing with him.

"Did you get your room squared away, Sissy?" Sheena asked her sister, leaning over the back of the couch to look at her upside down.

"Yea, except for the things in the closet. I still have to do that. We pretty much got your room done too. You may want to switch some things around, but everything is in there and put up. And, just so that you know, when I say switching things around, I don't mean throwing all of your clothes on the floor. I am not cleaning up after you." Sheryl said, in a firm yet loving tone.

"Yes, Mother. I wouldn't dream of making you clean up after me. That would mean that hell has frozen over. I don't think that that will happen soon." Sadie laughed as she made her way down the hallway. Sheryl and the five guys jumped up and were right behind her.

Sadie stopped when she opened the door and nearly past out from laughing so hard. 'I told them to mix it up. They did a pretty good job of doing that.' Sadie thought to herself as she surveyed the room. The furniture was classic black, he TV and stereo on the small entertainment center against on wall, while her bed was across from it on the other wall. The headboard against the wall and the bed itself stretched out to the center of the room. There was on dresser against another wall. The sheets and blanket on her bed were that of the one and only superman. The large S emblem covering the comforter and pillow cases. Directly above the headboard of the bed was a large, blue piece of cloth. Carolina blue to be exact, with a very large picture of the Carolina Tarheels mascot in the middle. There really wasn't anything out of the ordinary in the room that she could tell, but just the thought of what would have happened had she left it up to either one of them in particular.

"Do you like it?" JC asked from behind her.

"Well, I would have picked this furniture as well JC, and I love the sheets, Joey, and Justin, we have the same taste in college teams I see, though I am more partial to the football team than the basketball team." Sadie told them, hugging them all in turn and thanking them for decorating her room for her.

"Well the sheets and banner are on loan, so just return them whenever you get tired of them." Justin told her when he hugged her.

"Thank you guys for everything." Sadie said, almost feeling as if she wanted to cry at how nice they had been to them in the short time that they had known each other.

"I put you clothes away, Kid, but like with me I didn't put anything in the closet." Sheryl said, letting out an exasperated sigh and glaring at the four men who had been with her all day.

"What is it with you and closets? Are you scared of these closets or something?" Sadie asked, laughing at her sister's expression.

"No. Actually four grown men practically cried when I tried to open the closets. They wouldn't let me near them until you go here." Sheryl said, turning to the guys. "Since she is here now, can WE PLEASE put our clothes in the closet?" Sheryl asked, practically whining at them. Joey and Chris began grinning from ear to ear.

"Yea, sure go on ahead." They told her innocently. The two sisters eyed them for a moment before going into their rooms and opening their closets to put their clothes away. The both started laughing at the same time.

"I can't believe the ego trips you must have been on when you did this. OH MY GOD, I do not want this on my door." Sheryl was hollering through her room.

"What do you mean, you don't want it on your door? You don't love us anymore?" Chris asked, peeking in her room.

"It's not that, but you know how it is with posters. It looks like the eyes are following you around all of the time. I am not dressing in here with that thing on my door. I don't even keep pictures of family in my room for that very reason. It is as if they are watching everything you're doing. I can't stand that it freaks me out." Sheryl said, eyeing the poster as she laughed.

"I understand. We will just take back our expensive autographed poster and you don't have to worry about it." Joey said, reaching up to take the picture off of her door.

"Joseph Anthony Fatone, JR. If you touch that poster, you are a dead man. I may not like it, but I guess I can always close the closet when I dress. I wouldn't want you to think that you were rejected. What would that do for your ego?" Sheryl said, eyeing him.

"I knew you really liked us. You really, really like us." Joey said, grabbing her into a huge hug and squeezing her tightly before setting her back on the ground. She looked out the door to see Sadie running down the hall.

"Where are you going, Sadie?" Sheryl called to her, pushing past Joey and into the hall.

"I'll be right back. I need to get something from the car." Sadie told her at the door when she stopped and winked.

"Is that what was in that flat box? I thought you would have put it in one of those tubes. You know, taken it out of the frame." Sheryl said, sarcastically. Sadie waved and started down the hall to the elevators.

"Where is she going?" Justin asked, confusion written all over her face.

"She left her most prized possession in the car. She is just going to get it and bring it up." Sheryl told them, making herself comfortable on the couch once again.

"The only thing left in the car was a large flat box. What's in it?" Justin asked, his eyes glowing with curiousity.

"Nothing really, just something from her teen days. Something that she would probably die for." Sheryl said, playing it up that they had no clue as to what she was talking about. "She'll show you when she gets back, I'm sure." Sheryl said, trying not to smile or laugh. "Did you guys put a poster on her door too?" She asked glancing around the room.

"Guilty as charged." JC admitted. "We have to stoke our own egos somehow. Otherwise we would waste away." He defended.

"I can understand that. After all, you are men. No further explanation needed." Sheryl said, her head leaned back on the couch and her eyes shut. She didn't see the five pillows coming her way.

When Sadie stepped back in the apartment, she saw her sister getting pummeled by five guys with pillows. "I can't believe this!" Sadie yelled into the room, her face full of shock and disgust. The five guys turned to her and were stunned by her glare that was directed at them.

"Is there something wrong, Sadie?" Justin asked, cautiously.

"Damn, right something's wrong. You guys are beating the crap out of MY sister with MY pillows and you didn't even let me in on it. That is just not right." Sadie said, the started laughing at the shocked, guilty and then confused expressions on their faces.

"So what's in the box?" Chris asked, jumping over the rented couch and vaulting over to her. He hopped up and down excitedly.

"I don't know if I should tell you now. I feel so betrayed, but I might consider forgiveness if someone would take this way too wide for me thing into my room for me and put it on my bed. Do you know how hard it is to walk with that thing?" Sadie asked, as Chris took it from her and started down the hall. The box was half her height and almost as wide. Sheryl and the guys followed Sadie, who was following Chris to her room.

"I kinda feel bad about you guys putting that poster in here now. I really didn't expect it. I mean, I liked BSB for so long and then you guys came along. I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of it." Sadie said, a guilty look on her face. All five male jaws hit the floor.

"BSB? Sheryl said you would probably die for that. BSB?" Chris started, then looked at his hands and began wiping them on his pants. "And I actually carried it. I can't believe this."

Sadie didn't say anything, but kept her guilty look on her face. She caught site of Sheryl behind them and Sheryl winked at her. Sadie opened the box and pulled out a large picture frame.

Sadie took a deep breath and turned the picture around so that the guys could see it. She and her sister burst into laughter at the look on all five of their faces.

"What? Did you actually think that I would lug a picture of the Backstreet Boys around. Don't get me wrong, I like them and all, but come on. The only reason that I carry this around is because it is autographed and my Mom and Dad gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday." Sadie said, after regaining her composure.

"You had us scared there for a minute. I thought we were actually friends with a BSB groupie." Chris joked, rubbing imaginary sweat off of his forehead.

"If I were a BSB groupie, you wouldn't like me? What kind of egotistical crap is that?" Sadie asked, sounding hurt.

"That sounded really horrible, Chris. I don't think we want to be friends with you anyway." Sheryl said, flinging her hair over her shoulder and storming out of the room, Sadie following behind her.

"Wait! I didn't mean it like that!" Chris called after them, rushing out the door.

"He has already gone and stuck his foot in his mouth." Lance said, rolling his eyes and heading out the door into the living room where he could here laughing and yelling. The rest of the group followed him out.

Chapter 6

Chapter 8