How his kisses taste sweet like wine
And how he always makes your heart skip a beat,
Every time he walks by...
"Come on Bre, we've been walking around the mall all day. You spent almost all your money and I'm not surprised, look how many bags your making me hold..." He whined holding up about fifty bags. "Can we please just go back to your house..." Lance moved his eyebrows up and down mischieviously. "I can think of a couple of things that I'd MUCH rather do with you than kill my feet shopping."
Brenna looked up at him from the rack of clothes and smiled. "I'm sure you can, I wouldn't be surprised by anything your sick mind comes up with these days." She laughed "I swear, those boys have corrupted my sweet, innocent Jamie."
Lance puffed up his chest and gave her a macho man look. "I am not sweet and innocent."
"Whatever..." she said and took him by his arm. " I don't like this store, come on Lance, I only have one more store left to go to. I still have to get an outfit for when Mark graduates on Friday night. This new store is supposed to be off the hook. They sell Guess, Fubu, Tommy Hilfiger, Armani and whole bunch of other designer clothes." She said walking into the store and immediately running to the rack with halter tops. "I want to thank you again Lance for coming shopping with me and for agreeing to go with me to the graduation on Friday, you know how I hate going dateless ANYWHERE, I really wish JC was here though, I really miss him. I will be eternally grateful that you set us up Lance." She said while looking at different outfits and holding them up, then checking the price tag and frowning. "With prices like these, I'll never be able to get an outfit for Friday."
Lance was looking through another rack and he smiled with triumph when he saw a red tube dress that was sooo Brenna. It was right in her price range too. "How about this one Bre? You would look stunning in it and you have just enough money to get it." He smiled again 'and I never set you and JC up. You guys just kind of ended up together against my will.'
Brenna walked up to him and took the dress, when she saw what the designer was, she grimaced "Abercrombie & Fitch? What do you think I am Lance? Destitute?" she asked. Lance knew that she wouldn't be caught dead in A&F.
'Beautiful? That you are Bre, that you are..." He thought sadly. 'But mine? I wish you were, boy I wish you were.' "Look Bre, it's not like you have a whole bunch of options, you spent almost all of your money."
"Oh, I have a choice all right." She said with a gleam in her eye. "I've got this credit card here that Jace gave to me to use." She said pulling it out of her pocket and going to the cash register to buy the outfit that she picked out. She bought it and her and Lance walked to her car.
"I just wish that Jace could see me in this dress." She said putting the bag in the trunk and sighing.
Lance fought back the urge to roll his eyes. "Babydoll, the more you think about him, the more you're going to miss him. Besides, I came all the way to Mississippi to visit my best friend, not some love sick puppy that claims to be her." He teased. "Lance I know and I'm sorry. It's just you can never understand how I feel, you've never been in love. It's like each time I kiss him, it's like I'm kissing him for the first time, it's that same WONDERFUL feeling." She said smiling "And every time he walks into the room, I get these awful butterflies in my stomach and my heart skips a beat and my palms get all sweaty." She said wiping her hands just thinking about it. "I love him SO much." She turned and looked at Lance sadly and sighed. "But Lance, you can never know that feeling unless you open up! Take a chance in life...let yourself love!"
'I've already done that once and look where it got me? She ended up falling in love with my best friend.' He thought.
"I know!" Brenna suddenly blurted out.
"What? What do you know?" Lanced looked at her strangely but then smiled.
"A blind date! That's the answer! One of my friends just moved here from California and she's been looking for some quote, unquote "Dateworthy" guys" She giggled and made the quotes with her hands. "It's way too perfect! You guys can go together to Mark's graduation!" She said excitedly.
"I don't...know. Bre, this isn't such a great idea. Besides, you wanted me to go with you to the graduation on Friday...so that you wouldn't be dateless."
"Don't worry about me Poofoo, I'll be fine"
'That's my Bre, always doing anything for her friends. But, I don't know if I could pretend to be attracted to another woman when the woman I want more than anything to be with is the only one who has ever been in my heart and ever will be.' "Really Bre, you don't have to do this, we can just go together." 'Besides, it's only you that I want to go with anyway.'
"No Lance, I'm going to do this. I owe it to you since you set me and JC up." She insisted.
'I did not set you up.' "Well...Ok." He knew arguing with her was no use because she was just as stubborn as he was. "Great!" She said excitedly, but then she frowned. "I just wish JC was here to go with me. I mean...I understand that he misses his family, but I just really want to spend time with him. We haven't been together in six months. SIX WHOLE LONELY MONTHS!" She said, suddenly upset, as she stopped the car in front of her house. "That's funny, I'm pretty sure that I turned out my bedroom light before I left."
And when you're feeling down
He'll pick you up
He'll hold you close when you're making love
He's everything you've been dreaming of
Oh baby
She cautiously walked into her house with Lance right by her side. She tiptoed to the bedroom door and screamed when she saw what lay inside. "OH MY GOD!!! Jace!!! I thought you were going to visit your family!" She said and then ran to hug him. "I am... just not for another week. I needed to see you princess." He said desperately laying kisses down the side of her neck. "I love you so much!"
"I love you too Jace, I'm so glad that you're here." She said kissing him on his lips. Lance watched the commotion and felt his already broken heart break a little more.
Brenna suddenly stopped kissing JC and she pulled away. Lance's eyes filled with hope. "But...what? Wait...how'd you I never gave you a key." She said very confused. JC gave her a sheepish smile "I signed a couple autographs for your land lady's kids." Bre laughed then. "Gee, I feel secure knowing that any famous person can walk up and sign a couple autographs and get into my house." But she shrugged it off. "Your wonderful, you know that Jace? I've never met anybody as wonderful as you, even in my dreams nobody can compare to you." She said "It still feels like a dream when I'm in your arms. Show me that it's not a dream Jace?" She said holding him.
"I think I can do that" He said, kissing her lips passionately. "I've got a surprise for you this week." A gleam was in his eye and Brenna got suspicious. "What is it?"
"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you princess?" He ran his fingers through her wavy black hair and looked into her dark almond shaped eyes. "Believe me, it's a good surprise not a bad one, okay princess? Now...where were we?" He grinned "I believe we were right about here." She said. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and kissing his lips. Neither one of them remembered the third member in the room.
'I have to get out of here.' Lance opened the bedroom door and quietly let himself out.
I wish you'd look at me that way,
You're beautiful eyes looking deep into mine
Telling me more than any words could say
But you don't even know I'm alive
Baby to you
All I am
Is the invisible man
Lance walked into Brenna's living room passing pictures that were on the wall in the hallway along the way. One picture in particular caught his attention. It was a picture of Brenna when she was fifteen, the day before he left her to move to Orlando and pursue his career as NSYNC's Lance Bass. They had gone to the carnival together. One particular conversation played in his mind over and over again.
*****Flashback*****
"Jamie, I can't believe that you're leaving me!" She said with tears in her eyes. "Best friends are supposed to stick together remember?" He hated to see her this way and he felt horrible for being the cause of it. But he had to follow his dreams even if it meant leaving the women he loved behind.
"I know Babydoll and we are Best friends, we always will be. I promise."
"But my parents...there's no way I can stay here and put up with them without you here with me!" She pleaded one last time. She hated her parents and was always fighting with them over something. Whenever she couldn't take it anymore, she always ran to Lance for comfort.
"I know that it's gonna be hard for you Bre. And I know your going to want to give up....But don't. I promise you that one day soon, I'm going to come and take you away from everything. We'll run away and get married!" He joked.
But Brenna was serious. "Really?"
"Uh-huh" He said sincerely " and I'm going to give you this to prove it." He pulled a locket out of his pocket. "There's a picture of me and you in there. Whenever you get lonely, you can look at this locket and remember the good times we had together. Whenever you feel like you can't take it anymore, look at this locket and remember my promise." He handed the locket to her and kissed her on the cheek. "See, I've got one too." He said, pulling an identical locket out from under his shirt. "And I'll look at it when I'm lonely and remember you." Brenna wiped her tears and put the locket around her neck. She closed her eyes and willed herself not to cry again. "I'm going to miss you Jamie...I love you."
*****End Flashback*****
Lance pulled the locket out from under his shirt, he hadn't taken it off even once since that day. He opened it up and smiled at the picture inside. A solitary tear hit the aged picture, a tear he didn't know he had been holding back. He heard laughter from a nearby bedroom and the sound of two lovers who were making up for lost time. Another tear escaped his eye and landed on the gold locket that was so close to his heart, as he whispered "I love you too Babydoll...I love you too.�
Part Two