AN: Cause sometimes I like doing cliche storylines and because I like JC's new song. Give the story a shot. Maybe I'll surprise all of us. *************************** Blindsided: Chapter 1 *************************** It was never supposed to happen. Johnny had hired her because she wasn’t pretty. Because she was short and wore glasses and was slightly overweight. Because she was professional and could work hard and wouldn’t be overwhelmed by being in the presence of five superstars who would get a grandma’s libido raging. They were *NSYNC, Kings of Pop, Golden Men of the Music World. On top of the world. They were beyond her from the beginning and she knew it. Had always known it. And it had never really bothered her. She hadn’t dated much in high school. Never was asked. Dated a few scattered interests in college but nothing serious. Laura Danon was happy with who she was though. She was young, smart, and successful. Romance could, would have to, come later. She wasn’t going to devote herself to hormones when hard work would get her farther. There was someone out there for her; she was content with the idea that it might take him awhile to arrive. In the mean time she did her job, and did it well. She was, officially, Johnny Wright’s assistant. Unofficially, she was *NSYNC’s. *********************************************************************************** “Justin, Justin, honey, what do you want for lunch?” She tried to shake him awake from his exhausted sleep on the couch in the lounge of the recording studio and he growled, batting at her ineffectively. Months of practice let her duck his flailing hands. Or almost, duck them. A fist caught her in a glancing blow off the mouth and she cursed vividly, fighting back sudden tears. “Shit, Laura, you okay?” She stood, still reeling, and faintly registered the concern warmth of the hands that cupped her face. “Come on baby, look at me, you okay?” “I’m fine, I think,” she managed to say through an already bruising and swollen lip. Chris cursed as he got a good look at her mouth. “Little bastard, let’s go get some ice and then I’m kicking his ass.” “No, Chris, its okay, really, it is. Its not like he was trying.” “Good thing, or he’d be a dead little bastard.” Laura managed a small smile as Chris lead her towards the kitchen. She tried to protest as he shushed her and lifted her up on the counter with ease that made her blush. Laura Danon was not a small woman despite her height. He rummaged around in the freezer before procuring ice cubes wrapped in a towel. He held it to her lip and she hissed abruptly at the contact. “Its okay baby, it’ll stop stinging soon.” “Thanks Chris,” she said softly as his dark eyes studied her critically. Justin appeared in the doorway, sleep tousled and grumpy. “I’m hungry, what happened to lunch?” Laura had been around the boys long enough to expect Chris’s reaction. He launched himself at the still befuddled Justin, hairy fists flying without doing any lasting harm. The younger man cursed and tried to duck the blows but Chris was more than quick enough to make up for his size and age. The hitting stopped when Justin ended up on the floor, arms over his head to defend himself. “Dammit Chris, what the hell is wrong with you?!” Chris rocked back on his heels and glared at his band mate. “Nothing is wrong with me. Laura on the other hand, was on the receiving of one of your sleeping temper tantrums.” Justins’ too blue eyes blinked heavily and focused on the woman they knew as their personal assistant. His startled gaze grew wide and large. “Oh holy shit,” he breathed and was in front of her in a heartbeat. “Laura, I’m so sorry… I did that.” He babbled as he touched her face in concern. Laura blushed and shot Chris a dirty look as he chortled behind her. She, along with the greater population of America with a vagina, had had a crush on Justin Timberlake, once. Laura had been painfully shy her first month on the job, and Chris, despite his fanatic amounts of energy and extreme spontaneity, had befriended their shy assistant. It hadn’t taken long before they had become fast friends, and before Chris had weaseled one of her more mortifying secrets out. She rarely regretted her closeness with Chris Kirkpatrick because she was usually smart enough not to allow him to put her in a position of potential embarrassment. Some mornings she just wasn’t quick enough. She was months over her fascination with “the Baby”, but Chris, despite his many faults, had a perfect memory for details. Unfortunately. “Justin, JuJu, I’m fine, really.” He settled down a bit but still fidgeted before her, large calloused hands touching and flitting and reassuring. If she had learned anything in her time with the boys, it was that they were all very touch oriented people. That, more than anything, was what Laura had had to adjust to. In her time with Johnny and *NSYNC she had transformed and grown so much. They had made her a part of the family and she treasured the closeness, not because they were celebrities, but because all five of them, Johnny, and the entire crew, were good people. It was difficult to find genuinely good people now days. “But, Laura, I did that! I hit you…” “And you’re sorry.” He nodded miserably. “I’m a sorry excuse for a man…” “Justin.” “You don’t understand Laura, you DON’T hit women, you NEVER lay a hand on a woman. Its so, so wrong…” She shut him up by grabbing his concerned hands with her own and kissing the knuckles. “It was an accident JuJu, I know that. You know me. Do you really think I’d be so willing to forgive you if I thought you meant to hit me, huh?” He flushed scarlet and shook his head again, no less miserable but a hell of a lot less guilty. His stomach rumbling made her laugh and he jumped. “Come on, lets go get lunch orders, all right?” He nodded a third time and meekly followed as she hopped off the counter. A tug on her shirt paused Laura Danon long enough for Justin to link his hand firmly in hers. She smiled a little at his timidness and dragged him her, patience exhausted and lip still swollen and throbbing. Chris watched them depart with a small smile of his own and the roll of his eyes. The Baby had been properly chastised by him and forgiven by Laura. Joey and Lance would give him hell and JC would totally, totally, flip out. After all, Joshua Chasez was in love with her. *********************************************************************************** JC was a unique individual. Chris, unlike the rest of the world, knew that. Jayce was also always a little out there. He had a tendency to live with his head in the clouds, dancing to a beat that no one, literally, could hear. Music was C’s life and breath. He lived for the melodies that sang in his head. He lived for artistry, and for the beauty he saw in the world around him. And he was utterly captivated by their assistant. Chris, more than any of them, was friends with Laura. She was reserved, hardly shy, but very self contained. He had drawn her out of her shell, to an extent, but Chris doubted that he understood her on any level deeper than she let him. Josh lived for beauty in every shape and form and he saw what Chris and few others did, that Laura Danon had a beautiful, beautiful soul, not matter how much she tried to hide from the world. Jayce had quietly pined after their assistant for months and Chris hoped, truly, truly hoped, that he would come to his senses soon and tell the woman of his dreams that she was the woman of his dreams. Even if the rest of the world thought they were crazy. Even though the rest of the world already thought Jayce was a little crazy. They’d be good together, Chris knew they would, they just had to get together.