| Some Things Never Change- Early Morning/Late Night Blues |
| 4 |
| �Where�s your better half at Joe?� Justin punched Joey in the shoulder. �Cassidy? Back at the hotel. Lance�s suave moves didn�t work the way we�d hoped they would.� He teased Lance. �Hey, I told you it wouldn�t work, don�t blame me!� Lance through his arms up in defense. All five of the guys were all out having a night on the town at some of the hottest dance clubs in downtown Denver. Justin, Lance, Joey, and JC were all sitting around a table sipping their choice of alcohol. �Lets go find us some ladies Justin!� Joey motioned with his head for him to follow him onto the dance floor. �I think that�s my que,� Justin finished off his drink and stood up, �come on Poofoo, we�ll show you how it�s done.� Lance rolled his eyes and stood up as well, �You comin� Jace?� JC shook his head, �Nah, I think I�ll head back to the hotel, hang out with Cassidy or whatever.� Lance furrowed his eyebrows and checked his watch, �You sure man? It�s only like� 12:30.� �Yeah, I�m pretty tired. You guys just remember what Johnny said, no later than 3:00!� �Yes sir, we�ll remember!� Lance signaled a salute above his head. JC waved his goodbyes to everyone and left with Tiny, one of the security guards, back to the hotel. When they arrived, JC said his goodnights to the guards, and strolled up to Cassidy�s door. He knocked once, and received no answer. Knocked again, no answer. Looking around nervously, he walked back to the elevators. �Hey guys, have you seen Cassidy? She�s not answering her door,� he asked Tiny and Mike. Mike answered him, �She left like an hour ago, seemed to be in a big hurry or something. I thought she was going to catch up with you guys.� JC paused for a moment to think about what he said, �No, she didn�t,� he said slowly, �But thanks anyways, catch ya�ll in the morning.� Having nothing better to do with his time, JC went to his room to go to sleep. It would be another long day tomorrow. Only a few more days of the tour, and then a nice long and well deserved break. He couldn�t wait to sleep in and sit at home and do nothing. *~*~*~* �You better slow down miss.� Cassidy�s slurred words are all that answered, �I fine, leaf me alone!� she slapped at the bartender�s hands as he tried to clear out all her empty shot glasses. He eyes her suspiciously and whispered to another bartender. �Mam, is there anyone we can call to come pick you up?� Cassidy was only half listening to his question. She was becoming extremely dizzy and could barely stand up as she got ready to leave. �There�s nobody,� she half whispered, half slurred. Stumbling out of the bar, Cassidy, with the small amount of sense that she had in her state of mind, hoped to find her way back to the hotel. At the moment though, she couldn�t care if she got hit by a bus while crossing the street, nothing really mattered to her anymore. *~*~*~* JC turned to look at the clock for what had to be the tenth time in 5 minutes. No matter how much he tossed and turned, sleep wouldn�t come. He was fine until the rest of the guys had come back at 3, rowdier than ever, waking up the whole floor. He sighed and threw off the covers. He would never be able to perform tomorrow if this is how his night was gonna go. He squinted at the numbers on the clock.. 4:05. �Oh my god,� he whispered. Rubbing his face to get rid of the sleepiness, he stood up, put on his slippers, grabbed his room key, and walked out the door. �What�s up Jace?� Tiny looked at him funny. �I�m going for a walk, I can�t sleep,� he pushed the down button for the elevator. Tiny stood up and grabbed his coat, JC held his hand out for him to stop. �Nah, you stay here, I�m just gonna walk around the hotel is all.� Tiny didn�t look like he wanted to trust him, but he sat back down anyways. �You sure?� he eyed him. JC stepped onto the elevator, �Yeah, I�m sure, I wont be too long. I promise.� The elevator doors closed at his last words. The doors opened up at the main lobby. A young girl was flipping through a magazine at the front desk alone. She looked up when she heard the elevator doors ding. Her eyes widened in shock at the sight of him at first, but slowly returned to normal when she saw how sleepy he looked. �Can I help you?� she politely asked. He jumped a bit when he heard her voice echo on the large floor. �Oh umm.. no thanks. Just going for a walk,� he smiled at her and turned to go stand by a fire near some couches. She stuttered a bit in reply, �Can I, um, uh, can I have an, have an autograph?� she blushed when the words came out. He chuckled at her nervousness and walked over to the desk. �No problem,� he signed his name and a small message on hotel stationary then handed it to her. �Thanks,� she regained her composure. He continued his way over to the fireplace. Maybe if I warm up a bit, I�ll get sleepy and I can finally go back to bed. He looked around at the lobby. It was rather big and extremely luxurious. A large fire was burning in front of him and three Victorian couches were settled on a giant fancy rug. There was another sitting area across the room, directly next to the front desk. Those chairs and tables surrounded a table full of tourist information booklets and magazines. On the other side of the front desk, was the elevator next to a table with refreshments, compliments of the hotel. Only the best for the best JC thought sarcastically. JC had been there only for about 10 minutes thinking quietly, when he heard some voices growing considerably loud outside the door onto the streets. *~*~*~* �I have a room here, let me in you over-weight bastard!� Cassidy shouted at the hotel guard standing at the doors. She had managed to find her way back to the Hilton, but the guard standing watch wouldn�t let her in without a key (which she couldn�t seem to find). �If you don�t have a key to your room and you�re not on this list I have, I can�t let you in! So please mam, you need to leave before I call more security!� The guard grabbed ahold of her wrist and jerked her roughly to the side of the sidewalk. She scoffed her heels into the cement and tried her best to break his grip. �Stop it! Let go of me! Will you just listen to me?!� Cassidy started beating her fists into the man�s arms and kicking at his feet. �Mam, you�re really starting to make me mad!� he held onto both of her wrists and pushed back her frantic form. �I can get you fired for this you know! You stupid, overbearing, control freak wannabe, son of a--!� �Cassidy! What has gotten into you?� JC�s furious voice echoed on the streets. JC was standing at the door with his hands on his hips, looking angrier than Cassidy had ever seen him. The guard let go of her arm immediately, and she jerked herself away from him. �Mr. Chasez, I apologize deeply if this young woman has disturbed you sir, I was just trying to get rid of her myself. She doesn�t seem�� �She�s with me, I�ll take care of her,� JC grabbed Cassidy�s upper arm and yanked her inside the hotel, �I�d appreciate it if you wouldn�t mention this to anyone as well.� �Yes of course sir,� the guard promised, and shut the door behind them. �Let go of me JC! You�re not the boss of me! You can�t control me!� She pushed his arms away from her, in turn making her stumble backwards onto the floor. �Believe it or not Cassidy, I AM your boss, whether you like it or not!� The girl at the front desk stood up from her chair and looked over at them. �Do you guys need any help?� she offered. Cassidy stood up and brushed herself off while laughing. �Help us? Help US? I�m sure you would love to help JC here, Mr. Mighty Rich and Famous Nsync member! Wouldn�t we all love to get a piece of him!� The girl had a confused look on her face, �I, I didn�t mean it like that, I just meant that�� �Oh of course sweetheart! Don�t we all�� �Stop it!� JC yelled through gritted teeth. He stopped for a moment to calm himself, and in a quieter, but just as demanding voice, �Just stop it Cassidy, right now! Get in the elevator!� He turned to look at the girl, �I am sooo sorry for her behavior, I�ll make it up to you somehow.� And he stepped into the elevator with Cassidy, whom had slouched down in the corner of it. The elevator ride up to their floor was silent as JC was so angry he was biting his tongue to keep from saying something he�d regret later, and the alocohol in Cassidy�s blood was slowly starting to wear off. Tiny and Mike stood up quickly when JC and Cassidy stepped off the elevator together. With Cassidy�s blood shot eyes, and JC�s body seething with anger, both of the guards knew something was up right away. �Cassidy�. JC, what�s up you guys?� Mike asked while closely examining them. JC shot him a look that said �don�t ask�, �Do you have an extra key to Cassidy�s room, she lost her copy.� Tiny frowned at their nervous behavior, and nodded in reply to his question, then fished through a set of keys to the rooms, �Here, this should be it, right?� Cassidy snatched it from his hand and walked straight to her door without another word to anyone. JC closed his eyes and silently counted to 10 in his head to keep from losing his temper. �Thanks Tiny, we appreciate it,� JC said as he walked away after Cassidy. Tiny and Mike looked at each other with raised eyebrows. �Something�s up,� Mike spoke for both of them. Tiny nodded his head in agreement as they watched JC sneak through Cassidy�s shutting door. *~*~*~* Cassidy kicked off her shoes lazily, tore off her jacket, then threw it across the room onto the ground. She was just going to take off her shirt when she noticed JC standing across her room, staring at her cell phone, in pieces, on the floor. �What are you doing in here?� she glared at him hard, then took off her shirt anyways. JC looked down at her bra, but looked back up to her face quickly and blushed, even through his anger. �Get out JC! This is my room!� she shouted across the room and pointed at the door to motion for him to leave. He stood there with a blank expression on his face, showing no emotion. �Leave! Get out! I don�t want you here! � she continued to yell at him. Cassidy threw her discarded shirt at him. �Get out! I want you out! This is my room! I want you out! You have no right to be here!� JC�s face clouded with disgust, and quicker than she could have ever imagined, he had walked across the room to stand directly in front of her. �No right to be here?� he shouted in her face. He then, in his anger, grabbed her shoulder and pushed her up against the wall, keeping her pinned there with his arm across her collarbone. Cassidy�s eyes dilated with fear at his sudden outburst and her stomach dropped in fright. Her shoulders ached from being pushed into the wall. She turned her head away from his piercing eyes as he continued to shout at her. �I have EVERY right to be here Cassidy! It�s you that has NO right to dissappear from the hotel, giving no word to anyone of your where-abouts, and then coming back completely drunk out of your mind, calling the hotel security guard names while hitting and kicking at him on the street at four-o�clock in the morning!!� JC sucked in a breath of air to continue, ignoring the tears streaming down her face, �Tell me Cassidy! Just what was so important at that bar that you HAD to go to, that you had to lie to us about not wanting to go out at all tonight? Huh? What Cassidy? Tell me! I have to know! What is horrible in your life that made you go out and get so damn drunk you were lucky to make it back to the hotel alive?? WHAT?� �EVERYTHING!� she screamed in his face before he could continue to provoke her anymore with his words. JC looked so shocked at first, he could do nothing but stand there with his mouth open. He then realized what he was doing and let go of her before he hurt her anymore. Mascara was smeared under her eyes as fresh tears continued to fall. She shoved JC�s body away from her as hard as she could and threw a stack of brochures at his slumped form. He hadn�t meant to be so harsh with her, he had only wanted to get through to her that they were all there for her, and cared for her very deeply. �Just get out,� Cassidy whispered so quietly JC could barely hear her. All energy was drained from both people at the shouting match. Most likely they�d woken up others with their screaming and arguing, but they�d deal with that later. JC�s eyes watered at the sight of her dull eyes. The fight she was once known for always having inside of her, was nowhere to be seen. Only a very pale and lifeless girl existed in the place of the former girl. He shuffled to the door and left without another word. Only then did Cassidy truly break down into tears that engulfed her entire being. She cried out of anger, of sadness, of loneliness, and of grief for the state of mind she�d put herself in. Depression was gripping her with a tight fist from her insides, and she was afraid that after all that she�d experienced in only the past 24 hours, she was at a point of no return and beyond help. She lay there in bed, struck with thoughts of sadness, for another hour, until she finally fell asleep out of exhaustion. |
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| Chapter 5 |
| Chapter 3 |