Background info:
2 years ago when Lance and the rest of the guys hit it big, he broke up with his high school sweetheart, Kelly. She had gone away to college and he was on the road all the time.~*~Los Angeles, CA~*~
Kelly sat on the bottom bunk of the beds that her and her roommate, Sarah, shared. She looked up when she saw Sarah enter the room. "Hey--" she said, glancing up from her english book.
Sarah placed down her heavy bag and took a deep breath. "God, I need a shower." Sarah walked over to their stereo system and pressed the power button. After she realized what song was on the radio, she glanced at Kelly, who once again looked up from her book. "Is that--"
Kelly listened for a few more seconds. "Oh, my God! That's Lance's group! This has to be from their new CD."
"I bet you wish you hadn't broke up now, don't you?" Sarah teased her as she sat down next to Kelly.
"I don't know. I mean, he probably has girls all over him all the time. And how would I trust him to be faithful? What do you say we gather up the girls and hit the club tonight?" Kelly asked Sarah.
"Sure, but let me take a shower first. Give me an hour and you go talk to the girls." Sarah stood up. "Watch out guys because here we come!"
Kelly just laughed at her. Everytime they went out to the club Sarah was looking for a man. "All right. Just hurry up! I need to take a shower, too!"
~*~A Club~*~
**2 hours later**
Joey, Lance, JC, and Justin walked into this club. They all stopped short of the bar and glanced around. "Look at all these women!" Joey said.
The three other guys just shook their head at him. They all knew Joey was an incredible flirt. "There's one looking your way right now," Justin told him.
"Excuse me--" Joey laughed as he walked toward a thin, blonde near the bar.
The rest of the three guys walked over to a booth and took a seat. Justin looked toward the dance floor when he saw a group of girls dancing. "Check them out--"
JC and Lance both looked toward the dance floor where Justin had pointed. "They look like they need some company."
Just as JC was going to get up, Lance saw one of the girls turn their direction. He saw the sparkling blue eyes, the bright smile that could light up a room. He saw something he hadn't seen for so long. "Whoa--"
JC sat back down and looked over at Lance. "What?"
Justin looked in the direction that Lance was looking at. "Lance, that girl looks--"
"Yeah, I know. That girl is Kelly. It just has to be," he said as he continued to stare.
JC looked over at Lance. "You mean the ex from high school?"
Lance just nodded at him. "I'll be right back," he said as he got up from the booth. He walked over to the group of girls and stood behind the girl he had been staring at. And after a few seconds, she turned around.
Kelly looked up at him and was speechless. She couldn't believe he was standing in front of her. "Lance? Oh, my God!" She didn't know what to do, so she wrapped her arms around him.
After a long embrace, they both pulled apart. "You look great. After all this time you can still light up a room," Lance told her.
"And you can still make my heart skip a beat," she replied to him as her eyes locked his.
Chapter 2:
Lance and Kelly continued to stare at one another for a few more seconds. "I can't believe how great you look," Kelly told him.
Lance politely looked her over. "You do, too. If possible, maybe even more beautiful. But I'd never forget those eyes or that bright smile. That smile makes your whole face light up."
Kelly wasn't sure what to say. She wasn't sure if he even remembered her after all this time. This made her feel good. He always did that for her - he always made her feel good. "I thought you forgot about me. I mean, you're this big famous person now." She laughed.
Lance just smiled with a slight embarrassement. "Stop it. I could never forget you. Ever."
Kelly just smiled at him. Kelly turned around to introduce Lance to her friends, but they were gone. She turned back to Lance. "My friends ditched me, I guess."
"Come on, let me introduce you to the guys," Lance said as he held out his hand.
Kelly glanced at him and then glanced down at his hand. She slowly placed her hand in his without breaking the eye contact. "All right."
Lance led Kelly over to the booth where Justin and JC sat. Lance stood behind Kelly and looked at the two guys. "Guys, this is Kelly."
Justin and JC both said hi. "Have a seat," Justin told her.
Kelly moved into the booth and then Lance sat down. She was a little overwhelmed. Here she was sitting at a table with some of the guys from NSYNC. She glanced over at Lance and just smiled when she saw him looking back at her.
"So, do you have any good dirt on our pal here?" JC questioned. He laughed when he saw Lance shoot him a look.
Kelly laughed and looked at Lance. "He probably has more on me than I have on him. I don't know how he is now, but back in high school he was full of surprises."
"Oh, he's still that way," Justin chimed in. "We've heard a lot about you, though."
Kelly wrinkled up her nose. "Lance--" She said as she looked over at him.
"What?" Lance smiled. "I just told them a few stories. Like the time I took you horseback riding for the first time. Remember that?"
Kelly laughed and her face turned a little red. "You didn't? Oh, my God." She turned to face Lance, and they pointed at each other. "I fell off the horse!" She laughed.
"And you wouldn't let me pick you back up. You were so stubborn," Lance laughed.
JC and Justin both looked at the two of them. They were both a little shocked by how comfortable they still seemed to be together after a few years. "You had a lot of good times, huh?" JC asked.
Lance and Kelly both smiled at each other. "A lot of good times," they said in unison.
JC and Justin decided it was time to excuse themselves. "We'll see you guys later." They both got up from the booth.
"Ok," Lance nodded. When JC and Justin left, Lance turned toward Kelly. "I've thought about you a lot lately. I wondered what you looked like and if you were happy."
"I did the same. I also wondered if we would still be together if I hadn't been the one to give up so easily," she whispered.
"And what did you come up with?" Lance asked her.
"I never really came up with an answer. You're always on the road and you've got all these girls surrounding you all the time. The only thing that I did come up with is that I miss what we had," she told him.
"I miss it, too," Lance replied. He looked into her eyes and moved his head a little closer to hers. Their lips inched closer, but before they touched they were interrupted.
"Kel, I'm sorry to interrupt, but Julie is sick. We're going to take her home. Are you coming with us?" Sarah asked her.
"Yeah, I better. I'll meet you guys out in the car in a few minutes," Kelly told Sarah. Sarah nodded and then walked away.
Kelly turned toward Lance. She hated to leave, just when they were in the middle of a conversation. "I'm sorry."
"It's all right," Lance told her.
Kelly reached out and touched his hand. "It's been so great to see you, and talk about old times. It's good to see that you haven't changed that much. I just wish--"
Lance placed his hand on her soft skin. "You whish, what?"
"I just wish we had more time together. But it's ok. I'll give you my number, so use it, ok?" She smiled as she touched his chest for a brief moment. Kelly wrote down her number on a sheet of paper and placed it in Lance's hand. Lance grabbed her hand, and the two looked at each other. Once again, Lance reached in and this time their lips met. After a few sweet and tender kisses, they pulled apart. Kelly didn't want this moment to ever end. She placed her forhead against his and they just sat there for a few moments.
Finally, Kelly pulled back. "I really have to go," she told him. She gave him one last kiss and slipped out of the booth. She knew if she didn't leave quick, then she wouldn't be able to. As she neared the door she glanced back at him one last time. "Thank you," she thought to herself. Then she disappeared from the club.
JC and Justin saw Kelly leave, so they walked back over to Lance. They both sat in the booth. Justin noticed the paper that Lance had in his hand. "What's that?" He asked.
Lance looked down at the paper. "Oh, she gave me her number."
"Are you going to call her?" JC asked him.
"You know, seeing her again stirred up so many memories and feelings. Like what we had really wasn't over," Lance told the guys. "I don't know."
"We could tell. I have to tell you that you two look great together. You'd make a great couple," Justin told him.
"I'm gonna head out, ok? I need to think before things get crazy tomorrow. I'll just take a cab back to the hotel," He told them. He got up from the booth.
~*~Outside the Club~*~
Kelly found the girls in the front and hopped in their white convertable. She looked back and saw Lance come out of the club. "Sarah, just drive. Please." She said. Kelly placed her face in her hands and started to cry.
Lance spotted them drive off. All he could do was watch her drive away from him once again. 'Can I let you go once again?' he asked himself.
Chapter 3:
**1 week later**
Kelly, Sarah, and Julie walked down their dorm hallway. "God, he is such a jerk! Like we don't have enough tests to study for. He really needed to add another," Kelly complained.
"I know. I heard he is the worst," Sarah replied.
"Oh, great. We have so much to look forward to," Julie added and they all laughed.
Kelly and Sarah walked into their room and Julie walked down the hall to hers. Kelly placed her bookbag on the chair, and then sat on her bed. Sarah sat next to her and turned on MTV. And low and behold NSYNC came on. Kelly just smiled at how good Lance looked. "Doesn't he look great, Sar?"
Sarah hugged her friend. "Real good. I still can't believe we ran into him that night. Have you heard from him yet?"
Kelly just shook her head. "No." Kelly took the remote and shut off the TV. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Sarah nodded as she turned toward her friend.
"Am I crazy? I just can't stop thinking about him and that kiss we shared--" Kelly began.
"Wait, wait, wait. He kissed you? Excuse me?" Sarah asked her. She saw the grin on Kelly's face. "Kel--"
"It was the most amazing kiss. I could have just melted in his arms," Kelly sighed.
~*~Mississippi~*~
Lance saw his Mom in the kitchen, so he walked out of the living room and walked over to her. "Guess who I saw last week?"
Lance's Mom looked at him. "Who?"
"Kelly Johnson," he finally said. He saw his Mom stop what she was doing and smile.
"How is she?" She asked as she sat at the table.
Lance joined his Mom at the table. "She's great. She looked--" He paused. "She looked so amazing."
She saw the look in his eye. "Honey?"
"I don't know. It was like we hadn't been apart. We still had that connection. I know that sounds crazy--" Lance told her.
She reached out and grabbed his hand. "That's not crazy. I always thought when you guys ended it that something wasn't right. Is she single?"
"Mom--" Lance laughed. He knew she wasn't going to let it go now.
"Well?" She pushed.
"I don't know. We had a really good time together, though. She did give me her number," He said.
"Why don't you go call her. You can use the phone in our room," she smiled.
Lance just shook his head. He stood up and started to walk away from the kitchen.
"Tell her I said hi," Lance's Mom called out.
"All right--" He said as he walked into his parents room. He shut the door and picked up the cordless phone. He took out the piece of paper out of his jeans, and sat on the bed. Lance dialed the number and sat back as he waited for someone to pick up. After a few rings someone answered. "Is Kelly there? Ok, thanks."
Lance waited for Kelly to get on the phone. "Kel? It's Lance."
"Hi! You didn't lose my number," she laughed. Even though it had only been a week, she felt like teasing him.
"Nope. Kept it with me everyday," Lance told her.
"I've been thinking about you. I hope that doesn't freak you out," Kelly told him. She didn't want to make him go run the other way.
"No, because I've been doing the same thing," Lance admitted to her.
"You have? I couldn't stop thinking about our kiss," she told him.
"I know. I can still feel it," he whispered into the phone. Lance smiled at the memory.
Chapter 4:
Lance and Kelly spent the next hour talking on the phone. Lance glanced over at the alarm clock and couldn't believe what time it was. "I can't believe we've been talking for an hour."
Kelly looked down at her watch. "Oh, my God. I hate to let you go, but I have to get going. I have to meet my group in about 5 minutes because some won't be around this weekend. I hope we can talk again soon."
"Of course. I'm going to be home for two more days, then I'm off for another tour. I know my Mom and Dad would really like to see you again. And I'd really like to see you again, too. If I had a ticket waiting for you at the airport and I picked you up, would you be able to come out this weekend?" He asked her.
"This weekend?" She asked, trying not to seem too excited.
"Well, yeah. If you can't-- I understand," Lance told her. He wasn't sure about what he was doing, but he knew having her come out would help him decide. It would give him a chance to know if what he was feeling was right, or for that matter-- real.
"No, no. I want to come. Are you sure about this, Lance? I just--" Kelly didn't know what she wanted to say exactly.
"Kel, I think we need to figure things out. I can tell you've been thinking about me as much as I have about you. Just come home, and we'll see what happens. All right?" Lance asked.
"Ok. I can take a morning flight, so you can schedule that then. And I'll see you in the afternoon. And Lance?" Kelly said softly.
"Yeah?" Lance replied back.
"I can't wait to see you," she told him.
"Me, either. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night," He said and then they both hung up the phone. Lance heard a knock at his parents bedroom door. "Come in--"
Lance's Mom, Diane, peeked her head inside. "Oh, you're off." She walked in and shut the door. "Have a good talk?"
"Yeah, real good. She's going to spend the next two days with us. I'm going to pick her up at the aiport tomorrow afternoon," Lance told her. "I don't want to leave for the tour without knowing where me and Kel stand."
Diane sat down on the bed next to Lance. "I think that's good. It's been so long since I've seen her. I can't wait. We should have a cookout tomorrow night when she comes. How does that sound, honey?"
Lance shrugged his shoulders. "Sounds good. But Mom, please don't try and push us back together. I have no idea what is going to happen. Even if we want to be together, we proabably won't rush into it. All right?"
Diane just smiled at her son. "I promise." She got up and headed toward the door. "Oh, Kelly can sleep in your sisters room." She smiled and left the room.
Lance just shook his head. He knew that whatever happened this weekend, it was going to be interesting. He wasn't sure if being with Kelly was what he wanted. But he needed to know if what he was feeling for Kelly was part of the past, or if he really felt it now.
~*~Los Angeles, CA~*~
**11 P.M.**
Kelly walked into her dorm room and found Sarah working on the computer.
"No hot date tonight?" Kelly joked with her best friend and roommate.
Sarah glared at her friend and then looked back at her computer. "I don't have time for dating this weekend. So if you want to go out, don't look in my direction. I'm way behind."
Kelly placed down at her bag, and sat down on the chair that was near the desk. "Sar, I kinda wanted to talk to you about that. I won't be around this weekend after all."
Sarah continued to look at her computer screen. "You won't? Are you going to see your parents in Arizonia?"
"Uh--no. I'm going to spend the weekend with Lance and his family--" Kelly blurted out.
Sarah's jaw just about dropped to the floor. She looked away from the computer screen and directly at Kelly. "Excuse me? When did this happen?"
"Today, actually. Remember when he called?" Sarah nodded. "Well, we ended up talking for over an hour. And he asked me to come," Kelly said with a big smile. "I think he wanted to figure some things out between us before he goes on the road," Kelly's smile faded quickly.
Sarah scooted her chair next to Kelly. "Kel, what are you going to do?"
"What do you mean?" Kelly asked her.
"You know what I mean. Do you want to be with him again?" Sarah asked her, eventhough she was pretty sure she knew the answer.
Kelly just sat there in peace and quiet for a few minutes. "I don't know. The feelings that I had for him just came rushing back to me the moment I laid eyes on him again. And right now it just hurts."
"What does he say? I mean, obviously he wants to figure it out. But did he say anything?" Sarah pondered.
"Well, we didn't talk too much about what we were feeling. I know he's been thinking about us and our kiss--" Kelly told her.
"He's obviously done more than think about it. He asked you to come and spend time with his family," Sarah said.
Kelly just shook her head. "No. For him, it's just like-- let's go home. It's just easier for him to figure things out on his home front. And I'm from there, too-- so it's like home base. Sarah, I don't know what's ahead for us, if anything. He's on the road all the time. I would have to do some major thinking about whether we should work things out or not. All I do know is that he makes me feel things I haven't felt in a long time, you know?"
"Yeah, I can tell. I haven't seen you this happy for a long time. Not since Matt," Sarah told her best friend.
"Even wtih Matt, I didn't feel so many things at once. Lance just brings out feelings in me that I didn't even know were there. In a way I guess I'm just scared to let myself go and feel again. It was hard enough the first time around," Kelly admitted.
Chapter 5:
**2 PM the following day**
Kelly sat in her window seat, and straightened out her hair and refreshened up her lipstick, as the plane started to land in the runway. She wondered if Lance would be waiting for her at the gate or if he would be in the baggage claim.
As people started to get off the plane, she got up. She walked down the aisle and into the terminal. She threw her carry on bag over her shoulder as she looked around for Lance. Kelly was about to head down to the baggage claim when she felt a touch on her shoulder. She quickly turned around. She saw someone standing right before her with a hat and sunglasses on. "Lance?" She whispered.
"Yeah, it's me. Let's go before I get noticed," he whispered to her. "Do you have any other luggage?"
Kelly nodded. "1 bag."
"All right. Let's go get it," Lance said. Him and Kelly walked over to where the baggage claim was located at.
~*~Orlando, FL~*~
Justin, Chris, and Joey were all waiting at the airport for JC and his girlfriend, Leah, to arrive. They were all invited to a cookout at Lance's parents house. "Where is JC?" Joey asked as he looked down at his watch.
"Maybe Leah wasn't ready," Chris replied. "You know how girls are."
"There they come," Justin said as he spotted JC and Leah walking towards them, hand in hand.
JC and Leah finally reached the guys. "I'm sorry guys. I was late getting back from school." Leah said.
All the guys thought that she was a really sweet girl. And they loved to give her a hard time. "No problem. We'll just be fashionably late." Justin smiled.
Jc wrapped his arms around his new girlfriend. "She wanted to look perfect. I think she succeeded, don't you?" He smiled as he planted a kiss on her cheek.
"Let's go--" Chris said. They all made their way to the terminal to get aboard the plane.
~*~Mississippi~*~
Lance smiled over at Kelly as they pulled up into his parents driveway. "Are you all right? You look a little nervous."
Kelly looked over at him. "I am. I haven't seen your parents in so long."
"Believe me they'll be happy to see you. My Mom is really excited." Lance told her as he shut off the engine to his jeep.
Kelly got out of the car and met Lance halfway. Lance laughed when he saw his Mom walk out of the house. "What did I tell ya? She couldn't even wait for us to get inside to see you."
Kelly just laughed at him. "Lance--"
Kelly and Lance approached his Mother. "Look at you! You look so beautiful!" Diane said as she wrapped her arms around Kelly.
Lance just stood back and watched his Mom with Kelly. It was like she was part of the family-- like she belonged there. "Mom--"
Diane let go of Kelly. "Oh, right." She turned back to Kelly. "Did you have a good flight?"
"Yeah, it was great." She looked around the yard. "God, everything pretty much looks the same."
"Pretty much." Diane glanced around the yard, too. "We haven't changed that much."
Kelly walked over to Lance and linked her arms into his. "Either has this guy." Lance just smiled down at her.
Lance's Mom, Diane, just looked at the two of them and smiled. She couldn't help but think how great they looked together. "Wait right here--"
Lance turned to Kelly as his Mom ran in the house. "She is going to be on us all weekend. I can just feel it."
Kelly laughed and rested her head on his shoulder. "Stop it! She's great. She always has been."
Before Lance could say another word, his Mom came out of the house with a camera. "Oh, God."
"Just one picture. I just want one," Diane told her son.
"Lance, you should be used to it. She used to take our picture all the time," Kelly whispered in his ear.
Lance nodded and smiled. He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her, and placed his head next to her cheek. She leaned her body against his chest, and the two of them smiled.
"Oh, you two look so cute. This is definately one for the photo album," She replied as the flash went off.