The blare of the alarm startled him out of his dream.

He sat up, tangled in the white sheets of the hotel bed. Wisps of the dream still floated through his head, but he really couldn�t make sense out of it. He remembered a girl with blue eyes, a green bottle, a grassy field and feeling quite content. Contentment wasn�t a feeling that translated into his real life, as of late.

Shoving his hand through the knots in his hair, and failing rather spectacularly at it, he disentangled himself from the sheets. He swung his feet onto the cold floor and proceeded to head into the bathroom. Flipping the switch to the overhead light on, he took a hard look at his face.

He noticed the bags underneath his eyes had gotten darker and smoother. His eyelids were rimmed in red. His green eyes blinked blankly back at his appraisal. There were the lines around his mouth, nose and across his forehead. His hair was sticking on end, in an attempt to escape his head. His white t-shirt, which he had thrown on last night, was twisted to the side and bunched on one side. His boxers were riding low on his hips. For some reason, he had one sock on.

He had no clue where its partner was at the moment.

Deciding that a shower was in order, he pulled his shirt and boxers off. He turned on the faucet for the hot water and then the knob for the shower itself. He almost forgot to take off the one sock, but remembered at the last second. After the cleaning process was over, he headed into the bedroom again to search for some clothes. The ringing of his cell phone startled him and he dropped the towel he had wrapped around his waist. Cursing softly under his breath, he picked up the towel and went to go answer the phone.

�Hello?� he spat out.

The person on the other end chuckled and said, �Have a bad night, Jimmy?�

�Bad� was not the word he would have used, but it would do for the moment.

�You could say that. What�s with the phone call? We aren�t supposed to be at rehearsals until 1. Oh, and don�t call me Jimmy, alright Fatone?�

Joey chuckled again and just replied; �You know I say it with much love, Lance.�

Lance just rolled his eyes and asked his question again.

�Why are you calling me?�

Joey got semi-serious and finally answered Lance.

�I scheduled a meeting for just us guys before rehearsals. No bodyguards. No publicists. Just us. It�s going to be at 12:30. We all need to talk.�

Lance suddenly felt a chill go down his spine. Joey never used that tone of voice unless something bad had happened or was going to happen.

�It sounds serious. What�s up?� he asked tentatively.

Joey didn�t respond at first.

�It�s not serious per se. It�s just something I need to get off my chest before we start this tour. That�s all. Will you be there?�

Lance felt the migraine that had come on full force yesterday slowly returning. He pinched his nose, willing the pain to go away.

�Yah, I�ll be there. You know I will.�

Joey just sighed and said, �Thanks. I�ll see you in the conference room then at 12:30. Bye Bass.�

*-------

After Joey hung up, Lance just sat down on his bed and started to worry.

He did that a lot he knew.

But he couldn�t help it.

And Joey�s tone of voice and insistence for this particular meeting was not helping his current state of mind.

After a couple of minutes, he decided to get up and get dressed. He still had a couple of hours until the �dreaded meeting� and he wanted to go for a walk to clear his head. He put his tennis shoes on and grabbed his coat, cell phone and wallet before leaving the room.

Proceeding to the elevators, he began to sort in his head all the reasons Joey might have for calling this meeting. He knew that they had all been under a lot of pressure these past eight months.

First there had been the album and tour.

Then September eleventh had occurred and stress levels just seemed to rise after that. Chris� need for medication to fly and his own fears of flying just seemed to make things worse. The arrival of his movie and its subsequent failure still left a bad taste in his mouth. Then there were the tribute concerts, Atlantis, the Secret Santa contest, the Chili�s commercials, all the awards shows, the Olympics, and then finally the Grammy�s.

And now the second leg of their tour was about to begin.

He was tired, and had been for almost a year now. He didn�t know if he could handle one more situation in which he would have paste on his best smile and make do. He just wanted some peace for a while. And he just hoped that whatever Joey had to say to the group that everything would be all right in the end.

The spring air felt crisp and Lance couldn�t help but breathe it in. The first stop in the tour was Portland, Oregon. Lance liked visiting the Northwest because of the trees lining practically every street, the mountains always in the distance and the feeling of history that permeated everything.

He had found a park near the hotel and was currently walking along one of the many paths that crisscrossed it. There were only a couple of people in the park and Lance wasn�t complaining. He ambled for a bit, going over things in his head.

Looking at his watch, he saw that it was getting close to 12:30, so he got off the bench and walked back to the hotel. It would be all right. Joey would say what he needed to say and then they would do the tour. Everything would be all right. And maybe, just maybe, he would start to actually feel his age, not twenty years older.

Joey was pacing in the conference room. He had his hands in his pockets and he was chewing on his bottom lip.

He hadn�t been this nervous since Brianna had been born. It was stupid for him to be worried, but there it was.

They had to understand. He wouldn�t think otherwise.

He knew that they would probably think he had gone off the deep end, since he had never said anything like this before. But that was okay. As long as they really listened to what he had to say, he didn�t care.

He looked up when he heard the door open. JC walked in, gave him a tight smile, and sat down in one of the chairs at the table.

�What�s this all about, Joey?� he asked.

Joey just smiled and replied, �You�ll see when everyone else gets here, k?�

JC just nodded and started to tap his fingers on the table.

Joey tried not to laugh.

He knew JC couldn�t stand not knowing what was going on. He didn�t like surprises. Joey just hoped that JC would appreciate what he would eventually tell him.

A few minutes later, Justin walked in and Chris followed soon after. Lance was the last one in the room. He looked like he had been outside. His cheeks were red and his hair was mussed from the wind. He took off his jacket and found a seat next to Chris. He looked up at Joey and said, �Okay, Joe. What�s going on?�

Joey could hear the weariness in Lance�s voice and he sighed.

He had noticed that Lance had been pulling away from the group.

He had noticed that Lance had been pulling back from him too and it hurt a little bit. Though they were all friends, for some reason, Lance and himself had become really close. But whatever closeness they had, had disappeared over the past year and Joey didn�t know how to get it back.He knew that he had been wrapped up in his new family life and other outside projects. But Lance had also been withdrawing into himself, and Joey didn�t know how to reach him. He hoped this meeting would change things.

�The thing is, I�ve noticed that we�ve been kind of, ermm, well overwhelmed lately. We�ve all been under a lot of stress and it�s starting to show. We don�t talk anymore about the stupid shit we go through. We just pretend that nothing is wrong and keep doing what we always do. I�m getting sick of it. I don�t want to start this tour off on a sour note. I want to have a good time. I don�t think any of us have felt like ourselves lately, and personally, I think that fucking sucks. It�s up to us to figure this shit out. We need to do this. Otherwise, I�m afraid we are just going to resent everything going on during this tour. And it will show. So, what do you guys think? Am I completely coming out of left field with this?�

After there had been silence for a minute or two, Joey finally spoke again.

�Look, I know what you all must be thinking. What is 'happy go-lucky' Joey doing worrying about this for? Well, I�m worrying about this because you guys are my best friends. I know we use that line a lot in the teenie mags, but it�s true. You guys are the ones I turn to when my life seems completely out of control. You were the first ones I told about Kelly being pregnant. You were the first ones I told about my fears during the whole 'Lou debacle.' I didn�t think much about all this when I joined the group. I thought it would be a fun way to make some extra cash. I think we all know that we didn�t expect it to turn into what it is today.

Shit, most of the time, during the early days, I kept expecting someone to come along and tap me on the shoulder to tell me I needed to go back to my real life. Then this group became my real life. And you guys are not the type of friends I would have picked either. We are all so completely different; it�s scary. But then I got to know each of you. I got to see why this group would go all the way.

No matter what the publicists, managers, agents, producers, and whoever else says, it�s always been us. We decide if we are going to let this whole thing drag us down or not. Yah, we could stop being popular tomorrow. And there wouldn�t be a damn thing we could do about it. But the thing is, I�m not as worried about that as I used to be. I�m worried what�s going to happen to us, our friendships, if we don�t anything to save them. Because I know we may not always be in this group, and a part of me is actually glad of that. But I do know that I will never tire of singing and I will never tire of being your friend. You can call me a chick if you want�"

�But I care about this. They�ve taken a lot away from us. But they haven�t taken us away from us. I know I�m probably not making much sense. But you guys have to see what I�m talking about, right? I just think we need to make an effort to have some fun this time. Yah it�s our job, but it used to be fun too. I think we�ve forgotten about that. And I think if we remember it, then maybe, it won�t matter what happens to the group or the business of NSYNC. Because we�ll know we tried and had a good time. I miss being with my friends. I feel like I�ve been with my band mates and my business partners for too long. I do love you guys. You can moan and groan all you want. But it�s the truth.

Stunned silence met him as he looked across the table. Chris looked chagrined. JC was surreptitiously trying to wipe some tears away. Justin was looking off into space, with an intense glare on his face. And Lance was still looking at his hands, resting in his lap. Lance spoke first.

�And, well, you�re right. I know I�m bad about burying myself in things and not talking about it to you guys. But you are wrong if you don�t think that I love this group. It�s my baby and it always has been. I guess I don�t like bringing up all the problems. I like to think they can be ignored. But they never really go away. They just get put someplace else. I don�t know why things have been so bad lately. Things in the world have been bad lately, I guess. Though that�s not really an excuse. I promise though to work towards getting someplace better. No matter what happens, and no matter what anyone says to the contrary, you guys are my brothers. The only ones I have. And I�m grateful for that. I thank God a lot for you guys. And so, I think you�re right. We need to find a way to make this tour more fun. Less stressful. I mean, how hard can that be?�

�I know. But I have been pretty withdrawn lately. I don�t know why. I think I�ve just been trying to regroup. And I was really worried before I came to the meeting. But you know what? I�m not anymore. I know I still have some things to work through. But I feel better knowing that I�m not the only one worrying about things. I just hope we can start over or pick up where we left off. So to speak. What do you say?�

Song lyrics by Shakira

One (Sequel to Good Times).