Chapter Five

  “Hey Lance?” Joey asked as he walked to the bathroom and leaned against the doorframe.
  “What?” he asked as he was brushing his teeth.
  “Can I ask you the biggest favor?”
  He paused and looked up at him with his brush still dangling from his mouth. “Depends,” he said and then continued.
  “Well, um…ahem…do you think you could possibly stay in JC’s room…or hey maybe Michele’s room tonight.”
  He spit and rinsed out his mouth and dapped it with a towel. “Swap rooms?”
  He grinned. “Yeah.”
  “So you can be with Georgia.”
  His grinned widened and he nodded. “Uh-huh.”
  He sighed. “Joey, I…”
  “Great it’s settled!” he said and then tugged him out of the bathroom and pushed him out the door.
  “Hey! I haven’t even answered yet…Joey I’m not fully dressed yet…”
  “You look fine,” he said and then pushed him out the door. “Tell Georgia to come in whenever.”
  “Did someone say my name?” she asked as she came out of the other room. She looked at Lance to see him standing there with only a pair of navy blue sweat pants and grim look on his face. “Did you get kicked out?”
  “Yes,” he grumbled. “But hey…that’s okay! You two go have fun! Jeez.”
  Georgia giggled as she ran past Lance and jumped in his arms. Joey laughed as he caught her and stumbled backwards. Lance flinched when the door was slammed in his face. He let out a chuckle as he shook his head. “Unbelievable,” he said and then walked to JC’s room.
  He opened the door to see JC in bed working on his laptop. JC looked up at him. “Hey, what’s up?”
  Lance noticed that JC was in a queen sized bed and not a king sized bed. “Not a chance in hell,” he mumbled and then closed the door behind him.
  “Well, that was rude,” he mumbled and then turned his attention back to the laptop.
  Lance knocked softly on the other door. “Come in,” he heard Michele say.
  He smiled as he opened the door and saw Michele laying on the bed watching TV. “Hey there.”
  Michele’s mouth dropped at the sight of his bare chest. He was wearing his pants low on his hips and his feet were bare. He looked delectable, she thought with an evil grin. “Well, hey. What brings you here.”
  “Um,” he said as he walked towards her and sat next to her on the bed. “I’m kind of in a jam.”
  She turned off the TV and sat up. “What’s up?”
  “Well, let’s just say Georgia won’t be returning this evening.”
  She laughed. “They kicked you out!”
  He chuckled. “Yup.”
  “Well, you know I wouldn’t mind you staying here, but it wouldn’t be right to ask Sydney to leave.”
  He grinned as he leaned forward and rested his hand on the other side of her. “She could stay with JC.”
  She gave him a look of warning. “Now that wouldn’t be good.”
  He shrugged. “They’re friends, right?”
  “Well, yeah but…”
  “I’m sure she’ll understand,” he said as he leaned closer to her.
  “I know what’s your trying to do,” she said as she leaned back. “And it’s NOT going to work.”
  He grinned. “Really?” he asked in his deep voice.
  “Oh, don’t use your voice like that,” she warned. “That’s not playing fair.”
  He grinned. “Sorry, I can’t help it. It’s natural.”
  “Uh-huh,” she said still suspicious of his actions. “You know, this could be a good thing for Sydney and JC to share a room.”
  Lance was shocked at her change of heart. “Why?”
  “This is perfect,” she said as she smiled up at him. “JC is the perfect man for the job.”
  “Uhh, what job? I’m confused.”
  “Well, it’s not a mystery that those two are attracted to each other.”
  He rolled his eyes. “Well, duh, but she has a boyfriend.”
  “I would hardly call Brad a boyfriend,” she said with a disgusting sigh. “Brad treats her like crap, but Sydney for some reason keeps going back to him. We wanted to take her away from him for a week, and hopefully have him run into someone that could take her mind off of him. Show her a good time.”
  “And JC is the man to do it,” Lance said.
  “Exactly,” she said as she slapped his thigh. “This is the perfect opportunity, too…oh I hear her coming…quick kiss me.”
  His eyes widened. “What? Michele, what are…”
  “Oh for cryin out loud,” she said as she cupped the back of his neck and muffled his words as their lips met. She rested her head on the pillow and pulled him down with her as their lips stayed locked.
  Sydney walked out of the bathroom after brushing her teeth and changing in her pajamas and stopped when she saw the couple kissing on the bed. Sydney cleared her throat. “Uhh…hi…remember me?”
  Lance pulled back and they both looked at her. “SYDney!” Michele exclaimed, “JUST the person we’re looking for.”
  She arched a brow. “Yeah, sure,” she said.
  Lance grinned up at her. “Joey kicked me out, and Georgia moved in.”
  She folded her arms around her chest. “I see. And your point is?”
  Lance turned red. “Well…I…was kind of sort of hoping that…”
  “That he’d room with me,” Michele finished for her.
  Her eyes widened. “And where would that leave me.”
  “Ahem…in JC’s room,” Lance said and when she saw the evil look in her eyes, he quickly buried his head in the crook of Michele’s shoulder as if he was well hidden.
  “I don’t THINK so,” Sydney said.
  Michele gave her a pleading look. “Please, Syd,” she said and then her eyes widened when Lance captured her ear with his mouth. “Syd, I will be you’re best friend forever, just PLEASE do this for me.”
  She sighed. “Oh, all right,” she said as she stormed to the door. “You two lovebirds have fun.”
  “We will,” Lance said with a chuckle.
  Michele giggled. “Nice touch there, Lance. I wasn’t expecting that.”
  He grinned down at her. “You liked that?”
  “Shut up, cutie and kiss me,” she laughed.
  “Gladly,” he said as he rolled her on her back and then muffled her laugh with his mouth.
  Sydney rolled her eyes as she heard the giggles. “This is SO not cool,” she said and then walked to JC’s room. She took a deep breath before knocking softly on the door.
  “Come in,” JC mumbled as he kept his eyes on the computer screen. He didn’t even look up when the door opened. “What do you want Lance?”
  “I’m not Lance.”
  JC looked up when he heard her voice. “Syd.”
  She smiled a little. “Hi. What are you working on?”
  “I was just chatting with my mom,” he said as he closed his laptop.
  “Oh, well don’t stop,” she said quickly. “I…”
  “No, it’s okay, she just left,” he said and then placed the computer on the bedside table. “So what’s up?”
  She nervously ran her fingers through her hair. JC noticed she was nervous about something. She looked cute in her pajamas. She had on a pair of plaid pants that were green and blue and a fitted white cotton shirt. She wore her hair down and she bounced up and down as she bit her fingernails. “Syd? You okay?”
  “What? Oh, yeah I’m fine.”
  “Did you want to talk to me about something?” he asked.
  “Uh, yeah…I mean no…I mean…well, sort of.”
  “What’s up?”
  “Well, uh….I’m afraid we have to sleep together.”
  His eyes widened. “SLEEP together?”
  She cleared her throat. “Well, not that kind of sleep, but yeah we have to share the same room, cause I got kicked out.”
  “I see. And who moved in?”
  “Uhh, Lance…cause he got kicked out of Joey’s.”
  “And Georgia moved in, okay I see the pattern here.”
  “You know…I could always sleep downstairs and…”
  “I don’t think so,” JC said as he stood up. “I’m not about to let you sleep down there with four oversized men.”
  She winced. “I forgot.”
  “Here, you take the bed and I’ll camp out on the floor,” he said as he grabbed a pillow off of it.
  “No, I’ll sleep on the floor, JC, this is your…”
  “Sydney, please,” he said with a sigh. “What kind of guy would I be if I slept on the bed and made you sleep on the floor? Come on now.”
  “Okay,” she said quietly and then walked to the bed as he plopped the pillow on the floor and sprawled out. “Do you not have a blanket?”
  “No, the guys downstairs have all the extra blankets,” he said as he shifted to get comfortable.
  She sighed. “JC, you’re never going to get to sleep. Just…come up here, we’ll both sleep on the bed.”
  “That’s okay,” he said as he shifted and turned his back to her.
  “JC, come on. It’s freezing without a blanket.”
  He closed his eyes and sighed. She was right, he was already shaking it was so cold. But the thought sharing a bed with her didn’t do well with him at all. He sat up and looked at her. The soft light from the lamp was glowing around her and she looked so welcoming that he almost leaped up into her arms right then. “Are you sure?” he finally asked.
  She smiled. “Of course. The bed is more then big enough. And I don’t want you to freeze.”
  “Okay, if your sure,” he said as he got up and the pulled back the covers.
  “Are you going to be on your laptop anymore, or can I turn out the lights.”
  “Go for it,” he said as he snuggled into the covers.
  She clicked off the light and the darkness swallowed them hole. All you could hear were the springs under the mattress squeaking as they got comfortable. At one point his left foot touched her right one and he quickly pulled back as if he had touched fire. “Sorry,” he mumbled in the dark.
  “That’s okay,” she said as she lay still on her back and looked up at the ceiling.
  “This mattress kind of swoops inward a little,” he said awkwardly as he kept sliding closer to Sydney.
  “Yeah, I noticed that last night,” she said as she tried to scoot away, but kept sliding closer to him.
  He closed his eyes and bit his lip when their shoulders touched and then seconds later their hips touched. They both didn’t bother to move, because they would just slide right back where they were. JC finally sighed. “Night, Syd.”
  “Good night,” she said softly and closed her eyes only to open them seconds later. He was too close and the tension between them was unbearable. “JC?”
  There was no answer for a while and she thought he might be asleep but then he finally answered. “Yeah?”
  “Do you think she’s pretty?” she asked and then shifted to her side, with her back facing his.
  JC looked over at her back and wanted nothing more then to turn on his side and pull her against him. But he couldn’t do that. He told her that he would be her friend and he was going to stick to that promise. “Pretty?” he finally asked. “Ahem…oh yeah she was beautiful. Those big puckered lips and bright orange hair was such a turn on.”
  Sydney chuckled when he realized he was talking about Cindy Lou. “That’s not who I meant,” she laughed.
  “I was dying to run my fingers through her crusty hair,” he continued as her laughter grew stronger. “And boy can that girl move, I mean she can really shake it.”
  “JC,” she laughed as she pulled her pillow from under her head and swatted him in the face.
  He laughed as put his hands over his face to dodge her blows. “Cindy Lou is my dream woman,” he continued as she kept hitting him with her pillow. “She’s my little firecracker.”
  “You are SO not funny, JC,” she laughed.
  “Okay, you wanna play rough,” he said and then reached for his pillow hit her against her side.
  “Hey!” she said as she dodged the blow before hitting him back.
  “You started it,” he laughed as went back and forth from dodging her blows and swatting her back.
  Finally, after several more blows with flying pillows JC finally grabbed her pillow out of her hands. “Truce, truce,” he said quickly while she tried to get the pillow back.
  They were both up on their knees now and they were facing each other. She put her hands on her hip. “Fine…truce. Can I have my pillow now?”
  He eyed her. “Will you behave?”
  She sighed. “Yes, I will, just gimme.”
  He grinned as he handed her the pillow and then pushed her lightly so she’d fall back on the bed. “Now, go to sleep.”
  “Oh, you are so pushing it, pretty boy,” she warned.
  He just chuckled as he sprawled out on his stomach and got comfortable. “Yeah, yeah.”
  “But I guess I’ll let it pass this once,” she said as she shifted on her side and faced him.
  He peeked one eye open and looked at her. “Gee, thanks.”
  She lifted her head up and rested it against the palm of her hand. “You never answered my question.”
  He groaned tiredly. “Syd, I want sleep.”
  “Then just answer the question.”
  He rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine,” he said as he shifted to his side and copied her position. “She’s not my type. She wore too much make up, too much perfume and she was trash. She flirted almost TOO much and her skirt was two sizes too small. Let’s see what else…umm…oh you were so right, they are NOT real and…”
  Sydney chuckled. “I knew it.”
  “She had really bad breath, she was too clingy, her hips made this weird clicking sound when she moved and she wasn’t…”
  “What?” she asked when he stopped talking. “Don’t stop now you’re on a roll.”
  His hand reached for her in the dark and he felt her jump lightly when he ran his fingers slowly caressed her cheek. “She wasn’t you, Syd. She wasn’t you.”
  Her heart started to race and her breath quickened. She heard his words but they weren’t quite registering. He was so close and she could hear his heavy breathing as he trailed his finger over her cheek, down her jaw line and then she gasped when his thumb lazily caressed her lips. “JC, I…”
  “I know,” he said softly as he pulled his hands away. “I’m sorry. Good night, Syd.”
  Syd closed her eyes as he turned his back to her and she felt the tear slip away from her. She wiped it away and then rested her head on her pillow and stared at his back. He was only inches away since the mattress swooped in wards and she was dying to reach out and touch him. When she said his name, she wasn’t saying it for him to stop. She wanted him to kiss her.
  But he pulled away before she could finish. Now, it was too late. She should be relieved that he stopped before anything could happen. But why did she feel so empty?

  Georgia opened her eyes the next morning, and forgot where she was at first, but the warmth beside her jogged her memory. She smiled as she remembered last night. They were both so goofy with each other; she had never had that much fun.
  After he kicked the door closed last night, they both stumbled backwards as they gave quick kisses. They had laughed as they collapsed on the bed and he kissed her blindly as they rolled with each other on the bed. He eventually pinned her down and started to tickle her. She had bucked and laughed beneath him, but he gave no mercy. She squeezed in a couple of pokes at his side, but he was too fast for her.
  He had eventually called a truce and collapsed next to her with a sigh. “Man, you wear me out,” he said with a breath and she just laughed as he took her in his arms and kissed her softly.
  They hadn’t said another word after that, and the last thing she remembered before she fell asleep was how safe and warm he felt in her arms.
  She looked over her shoulder to see him still sleeping sound asleep. They were sharing a pillow and his face was nestled in her curly hair. He looked sweet when he slept, almost like an innocent little boy. She slowly pulled back the covers and grabbed the hand that was drooped over her waist. She was almost free and about to stand up when all of the sudden he leaped up and yanked her back down on the bed. “Joey!” she laughed as she squirmed trying to get away. “You scared me.”
  “Where do you think YOUR going, little lady,” he said as he pulled her back to him. “I’m going to take a shower.”
  He chuckled. “Can I come?”
  She slapped his arm that was around him. “Joey Fatone, behave yourself!”
  He laughed as he pulled her on her back so he could lean over her and gave her a soft kiss. “It was worth a shot.”
  She chuckled against his lips and then sighed when he turned his head to the side and deepened the kiss. She reached up and put a hand against his rough cheek, and then ran her fingers up until they disappeared into his hair. “Okay…Jo…I gotta go and…take a shower.”
  “Not yet,” he said as he ran his lips down her jaw line and then nuzzled her neck.
  “Joey,” she sighed. “I gotta go and…” She gasped when he nibbled on her earlobe. “Ah hell, the shower can wait.”

  Later, much later, Georgia hopped in the shower and Joey stepped out of the room. He still had on his superman boxers and a white t-shirt. He walked over to Lance and Michele’s room and knocked on the door.
  Lance mumbled a curse when he heard the knock. “GO AWAY!” he yelled and then tiredly pulled the blanket back over him and Michele.
  “Wake up!” Joey yelled. “RISE and SHINE!”
  “Ignore him,” she murmured as she turned toward him and snuggled to his warmth.
  “If he wants to live another day, he will go away,” he said as he closed his eyes and pulled her close.
  It was silent for about five seconds, but then the knock came again and on a sigh Lance threw the blanket off of them. “I’m gonna kill him,” he said and then charged to the door and opened the door. “WHAT?”
  He grinned. “Hiya, are ya’ll up?”
  Lance clinched his jaw as he stared at him. “Well, we are now, thanks to you.”
  He grinned over his shoulder and stared at Michele who was still in bed. “Morning, Michele.”
  “I’m gonna kill you,” she mumbled.
  He chuckled. “You’re so sweet.”
  “And you’re awfully chipper this morning, you must have had a pretty good morning.”
  He grinned. “That I did my friend.”
  “And maybe a certain someone would have too, if another certain someone didn’t WAKE US UP!!”
  “Ahh,” he said as he covered his ears. “SoooRY! Wanna bug JC and Sydney with me?”
  He grinned forgetting he was mad. “Love to!” he said and then turned to Michele. “Wanna join us?”
  “No, I want to go back to sleep,” she muffled in her pillow.
  He shrugged. “Okay, let’s go have some fun.”
  The two of them opened the door slowly and it creaked only a little bit. They saw two lifeless humps under the covers. “This is going to be classic,” Joey whispered.
  They walked closer to the bed to see JC lying on his stomach and his right leg was hanging out of the covers. His right hand was at his side and his left arm was resting over Sydney’s stomach. She was on her back, but her head was to the side and their faces were only inches apart.
  “Ahhh,” Lance sighed. “That’s a Kodak moment, if I ever saw one.”
  Joey chuckled. “Yeah, oh…shh…wait!” he said when JC moved.
  JC let out a tired moan as he shifted on his side and the movement caused him to slide closer to her. Sydney sensed his warmth and then sighed as she turned toward him and her face was buried against his bare chest.
  Joey and Lance quietly chuckled and then both nodded to give the go ahead. Joey held up his fingers as he slowly counted to three. On three, they both jumped up on the bed. “WAKE UP!!”
  JC flinched and his eyes popped wide open as he lifted his head off the pillow. He rubbed his tired eyes and looked up at Joey and Lance who were jumping on the bed. “Ya’ll are the spawn of Satan,” he mumbled and then collapsed his head back on the pillow.
  “Hey, no fair!” Joey said as he put his feet on either side of Sydney and moved his feet back and forth. “She didn’t even flinch.”
  “I have 3 older brothers,” she mumbled, too tired to even notice that the movement of the mattress was pressing her against JC. “I’m use to it.”
  “Knock it off, guys,” he said annoyed as he wrapped an arm around her as if he was protecting her.
  “Okay, I think we’ve done enough,” Lance said with a satisfying nod.
  “Yes, we sure did,” he said and then shook his hand. “Good work, partner.”
  “You, too,” he said and then they both jumped out of bed and stumbled out of their room.
  JC mumbled a curse as he collapsed his head back on the pillow. “Idiots. I’m surrounded by idiots.”
  “Mmm-hmm,” she mumbled still not caring or noticing that she was snuggling so close to him.
  But JC finally noticed. He felt her warm breath caressing his bare skin and her whole body was snuggled up right against his. He could tell she had fallen back asleep, because her body was relaxed and her breathing was slow. He swallowed hard while he gazed down at her and the started to lightly strum his fingers through her soft hair. He bent down and lightly kissed the top of her head, before he slowly tried to make his way out of the bed.
  The minute he was an inch away from her, she let out a whiney moan as she wrapped her arm around him and snuggled closer so he couldn’t leave. He cursed softly as he looked up at the ceiling. “This is SO not good,” he said as he sighed and relaxed his body against hers. He closed his eyes and felt him growing tired again. With another sigh, he lazily dragged his hand over her waist and rubbed her back as he drifted off to sleep.

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