Falling Into Love

Stacy and Leah jumped up after Jana and followed her into the back room. The guys on the bus looked at each and went straight for the window. As they looked out they saw Chris pushing Heather off of him. "What are you doing??"   He asked. The kiss had surprised him but as soon as he was out of the shock
he pushed her off.

"I got your letter and it made me think about how stupid I was to give you up. I regret it so much. I'm sorry I made a huge mistake do you think we can start over? You said I would always hold a place in your heart. Was that true?"

"Yes I meant it. You will always be a part of me cause you were a very important part of my life this past year. Things have changed though. You may regret it but that doesn't change things. I've moved on. I was hurting bad after you broke up with me then Jana came into my life and she helped me realize that going after someone who broke up with me was stupid. If they didn't realize who I was then they never would. She accepts me for who I am now. This was your decision though. You did this and I can't say that I'm sorry you did it cause if you hadn't I wouldn't have met her."

"You can't mean that Chris. I thought you said we had something special." Heather was trying anything to keep him. She couldn't believe she ever broke up with him.

"We did, but that's gone now." Chris turned and went back into the room leaving her standing there confused. The guys backed away from the window before he came in.

"Are you ok?" Lance asked.

"Yeah. If this happened a couple weeks ago I couldn't have handled it but knowing Jana was in here waiting on me I was able to tell Heather goodbye. Speaking of, where is Jana?"

"Back there," Joey said pointing to the closed door in the back. "she saw you and Heather kissing." Chris ran to the back before Joey even finished the sentence. He knocked on the door.

"Jana? Please Jana, I need to talk to you." Jana was crying on Leah's shoulder.

"Tell him I don't want to talk to him. Tell him Heather's probably out there waiting on him why doesn't he just run to her." Jana said through her tears. Stacy walked out to talk to him while Leah talked to Jana.

"Jana, what happened out there?" Leah asked

"He told me he was done with her. She was in the past. Then he goes and....and....and...." Jana can't bear to even say it. Leah leans over and holds her.

"And what?" Leah prompts.

"He kissed her!" Jana blurted out. Leah hugged her again. She knew her friend was hurting and she couldn't stand it.

When Stacy stepped out of the room Chris was standing there. She knew he heard what Jana said. She saw the hurt in his eyes. He tried to go in but she stopped him. "Give her a little time." They sat down on the nearest bed. "What happened out there?" She asked him.

"I walked out and before I knew it Heather was kissing me. I was so surprised it rook me a second to push her off. I guess Jana saw this. I pushed her off tho! I did!" He said. Stacy could always tell what Chris was really feeling. He's readable and right now she knew he was being completely sincere. "She told me she regreted breaking up with me and wanted to try again. I told her no. I had moved on. I could only do that cause Jana was here waiting for me. Why did she have to come and ruin things?"
Stacy could see he was holding back tears. She put her arm around him.

"You need to tell her this. Let me go try to talk to her." Chris just nodded. Stacy left him there and went in to try to talk to Jana. Lance, JC, Justin, and Joey saw Stacy leave him and went back there to sit with him.  They knew he probably wouldn't want to talk but would appreciate them just being there.

"Jana," Stacy started. Jana looked up at Stacy. "I think you really need to talk to him."

"Why should I?? So he can tell me about kissing her??"

"No, he didn't kiss her, she kissed him. He pushed her away. Please let him come in and explain." Jana looked up at Stacy again, she knew Stacy wouldn't lie to her. Jana finally agreed to see him. Stacy and Leah walked out and told Chris he could come in. As he entered he saw Jana standing there with her back to him.

"Jana?"

"What?" She responded without turning around.

Stacy and Leah sat down on the bunk with the other guys. "I wonder what their saying?" Justin said breaking the silence. He looked at everyone and they shrugged their shoulders. Then he looked at Joey and they both nodded. They knew exactly what the other was thinking. They both jumped up and practically tripped over each other to get to the door. They pressed their ears next to it trying to hear what's being said.

"JUSTIN! JOEY!" Stacy said in a harsh whisper. "You can't listen to their private conversation! If they want you to know what they say they will tell you!" Both Stacy and Leah were appalled they were doing this.

"Guys their right you can't listen like that." Lance said walking towards the kitchen in the front. "These make it a LOT easier!" He said holding up 4 glasses."

"Oh good thinking!" Justin said as Lance handed one to Justin and Joey he offered the fourth to JC.

"You want?" Lance asked.

"You know it!" The four guys positioned themselves around the door. Stacy and Leah continued to protest.

"You can't listen to them!" Leah said again.

"If you would quit yakking we could!" Joey said teasingly. Stacy and Leah looked at each other defeated.

"Fine," Stacy said. She walked up to the front and returned a minute later with two more glasses. "We can't beat 'em, we might as well join 'em."   She handed Leah one of the glasses and they climbed onto the two top bunks and leaned over to listen at the door.

Chris kept rambling on saying anything and everything that came to mind.    Jana still didn't turn around. He told her he was sorry numerous times. He didn't know what else to do. "I don't know where this relationship will lead but I want to try it. See what happens." She still hadn't turned around.  "Jana, say something. Please." She slowly started to turn around to face him. Tears started to fall down her face.

"I can't, I don't know what to say." A smile spread across her face.
This time her tears were tears of joy. She walked over to Chris and he took her into a warm embrace. He tilted her head up to look into her eyes. He slowly bends his head down till their lips meet.

"I can't hear anything." Justin said.

"Thats because they aren't talking." JC responded. "Wait I hear something. What is that??"

"Sounds like..." Lance started. The door opened and the guys all fell into the room. Stacy and Leah were able to catch themselves before they fell off. "...footsteps." He finished.

"So, everything ok?" Joey asked while standing up like nothing happened.

Chris and Jana just looked at them. "Like you really need to ask."
Chris said as he put his arm around her.

"Well, maybe we heard a few little things here and there." Justin said giving his million dollar smile. Everyone cracked up.

"Well, I don't mean to break up this fun time but my family is going to be expecting us soon. And ya'll HAVE to stay for dinner. My father and cousin are grilling hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone." Leah told them. They all headed off the bus to a waiting van. They wanted to draw as little attention to them as possible.

As they piled out of the van Leah's family came out of the house. Her mother and father were first. "Leah, Jana!" Cecilia, Leah's mother, said.  They went over to her and gave her a hug.

"Mom, it's so good to see you again!" Leah said. Jana gave her a hug hello also. Cecilia was like a second mother to Jana, she was over there so often. Leah then went and gave her father a hug as Angela, her sister came out of the house. Jana saw her first.

"ANGIE!" Jana yelled.

"HEFFER!" Angela yelled back. They gave each other a hug. Leah didn't think anything odd about this exchange but noticed the guys and Stacy did.  They were all kinda laughing at it. Chris came up to Jana after her and Angela let go.

"Heffer??" He asked her.

"It's said in love!" Angela told him. Chris just smiled. By this time the rest of Leah's family had made it out of the house.

"Okay introduction time. This is my mom, Cecilia, my dad, Freddie, and my sister, Angela. That's her boyfriend Andrew behind her. This is my cousin, Georgette, her husband Dave, and their two sons, Will and Andrew. Ok now for this side. This is Chris, Joey, JC, Justin, Lance, and Lance's fianc�e, Stacy." Leah said pointing to each person in turn. Everyone said hello and quickly got semi-acquainted.

"Well, come on Leah and we'll put yours and Jana's stuff away."
Georgette said. "Then you can get washed up and help us with dinner." She turned and led everyone into the house. Jana and Leah would be sharing a room while there. The guys helped them take all their stuff to the room then went out to the living room with everyone else. Once Jana and Leah were settled down they joined them.

"…and this was Leah during her stripper phase." They heard Angela say.   Then everyone started laughing. Jana looked over and Leah's whole face had turned bright red.

"Oh crap, Angela, what are you showing them??" Leah asked. She looked over and of course JC was sitting directly to the right of Angela seeing it all. Angela then turned the album around so Leah could see it and right in the middle of the page was a picture of Leah running around topless. Leah snatched the pictures away. JC stood up next to her and put his arm around her.

"It's ok honey, you were adorable." JC said. Cecilia and Freddie looked at each other, Leah hadn't said anything about dating one of the guys.  Georgette and Cecilia got up to go finish preparing dinner. Jana, Stacy, Leah, and Angela all got up to help while the guys went outside to check the grill.

"Dude! They've got a pool!" Chris said when they walked out the door. "Better hide all the Jell-o!" All the guys just laughed at him.

"Why?" Dave asked.

"Well," Justin started. "Joey's always wanted to fill a pool with
Jell-o. We're not quite sure why."

"Ok, yeah, we'll definately have to forego on any Jell-o while you boys are here." Everyone laughed at this.

Will and Andrew were playing with their toys on the other side of the yard. Chris walked over to them and sat down and started playing.

"Jana, Stacy, you've got to see this!" Leah said looking out of the window. Jana and Stacy rushed over to see what was going on. When they looked out of the window they saw all the guys playing tag with the boys.  Chris was helping Andrew stay away from Lance by carrying him around on his back. JC was helping Will over on the other side. "Oh my gosh, that's the sexiest thing a guy can do. Play with kids." Jana and Stacy both agreed.

"It's so sweet and adorable!" Jana said. They continued to watch the scene outside and Georgette noticed the staring.

"Are ya'll going to help us or just sit there and drool??" She said snapping them out of it. They all apoligized and got back to what they were doing. "So, we know that Stacy is with Lance, but who do you two like??"  She asked pointing to Leah and Jana. They looked at each other and laughed.

"I don't think it's who likes who I think it's who dates who. Right??"  Cecilia said looking directly at Leah.

"You caught me. I was going to tell you I just hadn't had the chance to yet. I'm sure you've guessed that I'm dating JC. We've only gone out a few times, but, mom, he's wonderful. I don't know where things will go with us but I do know I'll have a great time figuring it all out." Leah said. A huge smile spread across her face.

"Honey, I'm just glad that you are happy." Cecilia reached over and gave her eldest daughter a hug. "What about you Jana? Are you dating any of them?"

"Well, I don't think 'dating' is the right word since we haven't gone on any official dates, but, Chris and I are talking." Jana said smiling to herself thinking about waking up that morning in his arms. They went on preparing dinner and talking about what all had gone on that past week.

***An Hour Later***

Everyone started getting up to put their dishes away. "That was a great meal! We don't get home made meals too often these days." Chris said.

"Yeah, you really miss it out on the road." Justin said. "Especially my grandmother's peach cobbler."

"Thanks for letting us invade your home this evening." Lance started. "But, we've gotta go get ready for the show now." The guys said their goodbye's and headed out. Leah, Jana, and Stacy were going to stick around  o a little while longer. Leah wanted to visit with her family some so they decided not to go to the concert that evening but would meet up with the guys afterward. They walked the guys out and watched them drive off.

"We've got one more day with them." Jana said as they went back into the house.

"One day and one night." Leah corrected. Stacy put her arm around both girls and they walked inside.

***Van***

JC and Chris watched untill they couldn't even see the house. They rode in silence untill they got where they were going. JC handed the money over to Dre and he ran into the store for them. He came back and the guys all looked at the purchase. "They are perfect." Chris said.

"Good night everyone!" Justin said one last time and they all ran off the stage. They went straight for the showers.

When they came back out the girls were there waiting on them. They stood to greet them. Chris came up and put his arm around Jana. "So what do you want to do on our last night together?"

"Are there any limitations to this offer??" She asked staring into his deep brown eyes.

"None at all."

"Well, what I really want to do is spend it alone. Just you and I.
Don't get me wrong I love the other guys and all but I want you all to myself tonight."

"If that's what you want, that's what you'll get. Wait right here."
Chris said and ran up ahead. He explained to JC what they planned to do and then returned to Jana. "Alright. I told them that I would bring you home later."

"So where are we gonna go?" Jana asked.

"I have the perfect place. We just need to make one stop." Chris said as he laced his fingers with Jana's and they headed out to his car.

***Next 2 Scenes Happen Simultaneously***

After making a stop at the grocery store Chris drove Jana down to the beach. He had also gotten a blanket for them to sit on. Jana couldn't stop looking at Chris. 'Our meeting was pure fate.' She thought to herself. Chris saw her looking at him. "What is it?" He asked. "Do I have something on my face??" He asked wiping his cheeks. Jana blushed from being caught staring.

"No, I was just thinking about how lucky I was to have met you."

"No, I'm the lucky one here." He took her hand in his again. "We're here." They got out of the car and Jana looked out on the ocean.

"It's beautiful the way that the moon reflects on the water." She said.

"It's beauty is nothing compaed to yours." She didn't know what to say. They stared deeply into one anothers eyes. He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. "Want to go for a walk?" He asked. All she could manage was a nod. H grabbed the stuff from the car and they carried it down to the beach. They took off their shoes and socks and went for a walk along the water's edge. They walked silently hand in hand. "Jana, I'm going to miss you so much when you're gone." He told her. "I know that technically this is our first date but I knew that you were someone special the day we first met. I know there is going to be a huge emptiness after you've gone."

"I know what you mean Chris. I'm going to miss you too." He stopped where they were and brought her into a hug. She started to cry once again. She felt so safe in his arms. She didn't want him to let go. They stood like that untill Jana pulled back. She took his hand and they turned to go back to where they had left all of their stuff. "So what all did you get at the store?" Jana asked as they sat down on the blanket.

"Oh, just some of your favorite little things." Chris said as he pulled out the food.

"Chris, it's perfect. Thank you for everything." She leaned over and gave him a kiss. "Thank you not only for tonight but for this whole week. It's been absolutely wonderful."

"You're welcome. I can't think of anyone I'd rather have done it for." Chris told her. They finished eating and packed it all back up. "Are you ready to go back?"

"No not yet. Can we just sit out here for a little while?"

"Of course. Actually there was something I wanted to give you. Wait here." Chris jumped up and ran back to the car. He came back carrying two boxes. One a little smaller than the other. "The guys and I were talking and we all agreed that you and Leah deserved this." He handed her the smaller box. She opened it up and couldn't believe what she saw.

"Oh Chris it's beautiful." She held up the necklace. It was just like the one their manager gave them when they first went platinum.

"There are only 9 of these in existence. You, Leah, and Stacy have three of them. Ya'll are honorary members of *Nsync." He said as he put the necklace on her. "That gift was from the group but this one is from me." He pulled out the larger box and handed it to her.

Jana took the gift and opened it up. Inside was a beautiful picture frame with a picture of him and her on stage at the Ft. Lauderdale concert. Jana picked it up and looked at it in the light. "Oh, Chris thank you so much!"

"There's more." Chris said. Jana looked down in the box and there was another much smaller velvet box. She picked it up and opened it. Lying inside was a beautiful silver ring. "It's a cladagh ring," he explained "an Irish wedding ring. The heart is for love, the crown is for loyalty, and the hands are for friendship. When worn on your right hand crown in it's a friendship ring. Right hand crown facing out you are with a very special someone, and left hand crown out means you want your love and friendship with that person to reign forever, never to be seperated. I was hoping you would wear it like this." He said slipping it on her right hand crown out.

Chapter 25:

***Hotel Room***

After Chris and Jana left everyone else went to the hotel room. Leah sat next to JC his arm around her. "This is what I'm going to miss most. Justin holding you." He whispered to her. She moved in close to him and just smiled. Joey was the last one to the shower and was just coming out. "So what are we going to do tonight?" He asked towling his hair dry.

"Let's go dancing!" Justin suggested. Everyone thought it would be a good idea so Leah and Stacy went to change clothes. They planned to meet the guys in the lobby in 15 minutes.

"Here these will look good on you." Stacy said handing Leah a skirt and shirt of hers. All of Leah's stuff was at Georgette's house so she had to borrow. They finished changing and went downstairs. The guys were already down there. Stacy walked over to Lance immediately. "You look great." They said at the same time, they laughed at each other then kissed.

Leah walked over to JC, "Hey baby." Leah said. "Do you mind if we take a seperate car? Clubs aren't really my thing."

"Thats cool I understand. You say the word and we're outta there." JC said taking her hand and following everyone else out of the hotel. They all piled into the cars and headed out to the club. When they got there there was a line of people waiting to get in. Dre hopped out first to go talk to the bouncer. A few minutes later Dre and the bouncer were escorting them all in. There were lots of gasps from the crowd and even a few screams. Leah and Stacy made it in first because the guys were constantly being stopped for autographs and hugs and other things like that.

"This is the one thing I hate about going out." Stacy said to Leah. "We can't go anywhere without being stopped." The guys finally made it through with Dre's help. They finally found a table and sat down.

"I'm going to go get a drink, anybody want one?" Justin asked standing up. Everyone put in their orders and Joey left with Justin to get the drinks.

"Do you want to dance?" JC asked Leah.

"Uh, not right now." Leah told him. Lance and Stacy got up and made their way to the dance floor. Justin came back with some of the drinks just a few minutes later.

"C dude! There are some fine women up in this place!" Justin said putting down the drinks he was holding. "These two next to the bar, it was like whoa!" Just then Joey came back with the rest.

"Justin, man, did you see those women?" Joey asked smiling.

"Oh yeah, lets go dance." Justin said and him and Joey went off to the dance floor. As they got out on the floor the song ended and *Nsync's song God Must Have Spent came on. JC looked at Leah again and this time she agreed before he even asked. They stood up and he led her to the dance floor. As the words of the song filled the room JC began to sing to Leah. She put her head on his shoulder. She heard Lance somewhere behind her singing to Stacy. This was their song. She began to forget about everything going on around her and concentrated on JC. To her he had the most beautiful voice in the world. She looked up into his beautiful blue eyes and just smiled at him. When the song was over he lifted her head and gave her a gentle kiss. Soon though reality came crashing back to her as Blink 182's song All The Small Things came over the system and people started dancing around and bumping into her.

"Can we go back to the table now??" Leah practically shouted. Without waiting for an answer she headed back.

"Leah! Wait!" JC called after her. She kept walking to the table and he followed her. She sat down and took a sip of her drink as he caught up with her. "What's wrong??" He asked.

She looked up at him, "I'm sorry I know you want to dance and if you want to go back out there I'll understand. I get a cab or something to take me back to the hotel. The thing is I'm a bit claustrophobic." She told him.

"You're right I do want to dance, but, I want to dance with you." He took her hand. "Wait right here ok?" Leah just nodded. JC went back out onto the dance floor and found Lance and Stacy. "Hey guys, Leah and I are going to head out. I'll see ya back at the hotel room later." JC went back to Leah, he took her hand and led her out of the club through the back so they wouldn't be bothered quite as much.

"So where are we going?" Leah asked as they got back into the car.

"It's a surprise." He told her with a smile.

"Ugh, I hate surprises." She said under her breath.

"What?" JC asked.

"Nothing." She smiled back at him. A few minutes later he parked the car in an abandoned parking lot. He jumped out and ran to her side of the car and opened the door for her. He left the lights and the radio on. He then led her in front of the car and they began to dance to the music.

"This is what I wanted. You and I dancing. I don't need some big club with loud music and lots of people. I just need you." He told her. She laid her head back on his shoulder. He began to softly sing along with the radio. Before long Leah was completely lost in JC. She forgot about him leaving the next day and that she had to get back home. She was shaken back by the DJ on the radio when he said that it was almost two in the morning.

"JC! We've gotta get back to my aunts house! They'll kill me if they find out I'm in an abandoned lot at two in the morning." They got in the car and he took her home. "Thanks for a wonderful night." Leah said as they pulled into the drive, "It was perfect."

"It was only perfect because I was with you. But, before you get out there's something I want to give you." He reached into the back seat and pulled out two boxes. She opened the first one up and it was the same necklace Chris had given Jana. JC explained the meaning behind it and put it on her. Then he handed her the second box. "This one is from me." When she opened the box her eyes lit up.

"JC are these what I think they are??" Leah pulled out the gift.

"Yup, those are the tulips I gave you on our first date. I took a couple of them away from your bouquet while you weren't looking." He had them pressed into a picture frame. Inside the frame was a picture of him and her at the Ft. Lauderdale concert and on the bottom of the frame there were two dates engraved. March 14, 2000 and March 23, 2000.

"The day we met and our first date." Leah said touching the engraving.

"You remembered." JC said looking into her eyes.

"How could I forget two of the best days of my life?" Leah said. JC leaned in and gave her a deep passionate kiss goodnight. She went inside still flying high after another wonderful evening with JC. As she got to the room though she noticed Jana wasn't home yet. She knew that Jana and Chris both liked to stay out late but it was getting a little too late. She decided to call her cell phone to see where she was.

***At The Beach***

Jana and Chris were still lying on the blanket, she was in his arms. They had spent the past couple of hours talking about anything that popped in their head. Jana's cell phone rang suddenly and both jumped at the noise. "Hello?" Jana said.

"Jana, where are you? It's almost 3 am."

"It's Leah." Jana mouthed to Chris. "It's WHAT time??" Jana said in shock. "Crap, we're on our way back. Leave the door unlocked."

"Ok, see you soon." They hung up and Chris and Jana quickly gathered everything and put it all in the car. When they finally got there it was close to four in the morning. They said good night and Jana went into the house. She knew she would be exhausted the next day, but it was well worth it.

Chapter 26:

Leah woke Jana up the next day around nine o'clock. She knew Jana wouldn't want to get up but there was no way Leah was going to sit around Georgette's house today. It was the last day for them to hang with the guys. She went in and kept trying to wake her up but she would just go back to sleep. "Jana, wake up! This is your last day with Chris do you want to waste it asleep?"

This made Jana sit up in bed. "Oh yeah you're right ok. Let me go shower. I'll be out there in a little while." Jana got up and went in to the bathroom. She took a quick shower and went into the kitchen with Leah who was on the phone.

"Ok, so we'll meet ya'll there in an hour. Right, bye." Leah said and hung up the phone.

"Who are we meeting?" Jana asked.

"The guys for lunch. We have to be there in about an hour so you better finish getting ready." Leah told her. "Jana come on!" Leah yelled. "We 're going to be late!" Jana came rushing into the room still putting her shoe on.

"How do I look?" Jana asked.

"Great now come on!" Leah said practically dragging her out of the room.

"Oh you sound convincing." Jana said.

"Fine, 'oh wow Jana you look great! The best I've EVER seen you!' Now can we go?" Leah said in an irritated voice.
"See now did that hurt??" Jana said following Leah outside. Fortunately traffic wasn't too bad and they made it there relatively on time. They walked in and were escorted to a back privacy room.

"It's about time ya'll got here! We've been waiting a whole FOUR minutes." Justin said teasing them.

"Oh, well, we got abducted by space aliens, but they said our minds were far too advanced for them, but they are going to come looking for you tomorrow." Jana said laughing. All the guys laughed too except for Justin who eventually had to give in.

"Sorry had to do it." Jana said. "Hey where are Lance and Stacy?" Jana asked looking around the table.

"Oh they had wedding stuff to plan, but Stacy said she'd meet up with you after lunch." JC explained. Just then the waitress came to take their drink orders.

***Arena***

"So who are we meeting with first?" Lance asked. As they walked to his car.

"We're going to see this wedding planner Leah's cousin told me about. She's supposed to be really good." Stacy told him.

"Have you figured out what you want for the wedding yet?"

"I was thinking blue and white for the colors. Ya know, have all the bridesmaids in blue and the groomsmen in blue bow ties and cummerbunds. Whatcha think?"

"Sounds good. What about flowers? Red and white roses? I know those are your favorite." Lance said smiling at Stacy.

"Yeah with blue candles everywhere. I know you don't have time to really plan this so how about I do all the grunt work for the wedding and you can do the stuff for the reception. And then we can share our ideas before we finalize anything. That way we'll still both be involved in everything."

"That sounds like a great idea." Lance told her. He took her hand in his as they continued to drive. "What I want most from this day is for it to be everything you have ever dreamed of. There is no limit for this. As long as you are standing there on my left I'll be happy."

After lunch they all went back to the guys hotel room so they could meet up with Lance and change for practice. The girls waited in the main room for the guys to finish. Joey came out first followed by Justin. "So what are you girls up to tonight?" Justin asked.

"Hmmm, not sure yet, probably just hangout and talk. Ya know girl's stuff."

"Oooooo I wanna stay here." Joey said jokingly. They all laughed at him. Chris and JC made it out a few minutes later and they all sat around talking and waiting on Lance and Stacy. A few minutes later Lance and Stacy come rushing into the room.

"Sorry we're late. We got caught up with the wedding planner and then traffic was horrible." Lance said rushing to his room to change. Stacy sat down on the couch next to Joey. Lance came back out and they were ready to go. They all said bye and headed out to the arena.