JC stared at the picture of him and Danielle. She was sitting in his lap on a lawn chair. It was taken at a picnic in the summer. They were both tanned and wearing shorts and tee-shirts. They were smiling; not only with their mouths, but you could see the happiness deep in their eyes. Neither one of them was looking at the camera though. They were completely wrapped up in each other.
"Don't tell me you're looking at that picture again, JC" Justin said.
"I miss her, J," JC responded.
"I know," Justin said. "We've got a long day tomorrow though, try to get some sleep."
"Right. Good night, J." He pulled the curtain to his bunk closed, but he couldn't sleep.
I can't remember the last time that we kissed good-bye
All our "I love you's" were just not enough to survive
Something your eyes never told me
But it's only now too plain to see
Brilliant disguise when you hold me
And I'm free
They had broken up a year ago and he still didn't know why. They had been the perfect couple. Even after Nsync got famous, it didn't affect their relationship. The media, the hours in the studio, the months on tour;
Nothing could touch their relationship. They meant everything to each other.
They understood each other like nobody else did. Without even speaking,
they could read each others minds just by looking into one another's eyes.
I've been thinking and here's what I've come to conclude
Sometimes the distance is more than two people can use
But how could I have known girl
It was time and not space you would need
Darling tonight I could hold you and you would know
But would you believe
Danielle sighed. "What's wrong?" asked Jaci, her roommate.
"Oh, nothing," said Danielle, like she always did.
"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?" Jaci asked.
Danielle nodded and tried hard not to cry. "I miss him. I miss his hands. And how he would just keep them on the small of my back to let me
know he was there and that he'd never let anything happen to me. And his
eyes. His eyes always said so much...."
There's a light in your eyes that I used to see
There's a place in your heart where I used to be
Was I wrong to assume that you were waiting for me
There's a light in your eyes
Did you leave that light burning for me
"Maybe you should call him," Jaci suggested.
Danielle shook her head. "It's too late. There's nothing left."
"Danielle, what happened between you two? I never did understand?" Jaci asked.
Danielle thought for a minute. "I don't know. We were so good. I could always see myself in his eyes. He was on tour and away for long
periods of time, but we always got through that. And then one day he came
back and I looked in his eyes... and I wasn't there anymore."
"Danielle, I know you still love him. Maybe he feels the same way. There's always a chance that you could pick up right where you left off..." said Jaci.
Danielle shook her head to clear the subject. "Did you bring the paper in?" she asked.
"Um.. yeah..." Jaci hesitated.
"What?" Danielle looked at Jaci suspiciously, sensing that she was trying to hide something. When Jaci didn't respond, Danielle went over to the counter and picked it up herself.
'Nsync Begins Tour In Tampa
Beneath the headline was a picture of all 5 guys, JC right in the center. Danielle threw the paper down and walked out of the room.
Cards and phone calls and photograph pictures of you
Constant reminder of all the things you get used to
Is there a chance in hell or heaven
That there's still something here to build on
Or do you just pick up the pieces after they fall
But after all
"I drive myself craaaazaay, wanting you the way that I do, wanting you the way that I do.... JC, sing!"
........
"JC!"
"Oh, sorry guys..." JC had not been paying attention.
"Cut the music!" Johnny yelled out. He was getting frustrated with JC's lack of attention that day, but he knew something was wrong. "Guys, take a break."
"JC, what is it?" Lance asked.
JC locked his hands behind his head and blew air out of his cheeks. "It's her..." he said. "It's being here..."
The rest of the guys looked a little confused. They knew who "she" was, but they weren't quite sure what JC was talking about.
"She lives here," Justin quietly filled them in.
JC walked away from the rest of the group into an area in the back. Justin followed him. "Would you just call her already?"
"Justin, it's been a year. I can't just call her out of nowhere," He paused, lost in thought. "She used to say the sweetest things to me... She always knew what to say. Then one time we were away on tour. I came back and the words had just changed. That's when she broke up with me. So why would she want to hear from me now?"
"Well, you could either call her now, after a year and see if she wants to hear from you. Or you could wait another year or two and let more and more time pass, never knowing." Justin said. After that, he turned and walked away, leaving JC by himself.
There's a light in your eyes that I used to see
And a song in the words that you spoke to me
Was I wrong to believe in your melody
There's a light in your eyes
Did you leave that light burning for me
JC stared after Justin, knowing he was right. If he was going to do this, he had to do it now before it really was too late. But what would she say?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Danielle was laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Jaci had gone out a little while ago, so she was all alone when the phone rang. She rolled over and picked up the extension next to her bed.
"Hello?" she said. When there was no answer, she repeated herself. She was about to hang up when a response came.
"Danielle?"
The word hung in the air for a moment as Danielle's breath caught in her throat. It had been a year since she had heard that voice. And for the past year, it was the only one she wanted to hear. But now that it was happening, she was afraid.
"Danielle? Are you there?" the voice said.
"I'm sorry, you must have the wrong number," she said, about to put the phone down.
"No, Wait! Okay, if this isn't Danielle, can you please give her a message for me?" JC knew very well that it was Danielle, but he didn't want to push anything.
"I guess," Danielle agreed.
"Can you tell her that I'm in town and that...." JC swallowed hard, "that I want to see her."
Danielle choked back a sob.
"If she can, I'd like her to meet me at 8:00 tomorrow night at Iris's. She knows where it is."
Danielle tried hard to control her voice. "Okay, I'll tell her."
"Tell her I'll wait there for her, but if she doesn't come, I won't call again."
"Okay," said Danielle.
"Thanks," JC said. He wanted to say so much more. Tell her right then that he still loved her and that he needed her. Before he could even say good bye though, Danielle had hung up the phone.
JC was glad that he had called, but he was terrified that Danielle wouldn't show up. The whole time that he hadn't called her, he wasn't sure if there could be something more between them. Now he would know, and he was afraid it would be the answer he didn't want to hear. He made up his mind though that no matter what, he would tell her he still loved her.
It's been awhile since I've seen you so how have you been
Did you get my letter I wrote you, but I did not send
I tried to call your old number
But the voice that I heard on the phone
I recognized but she told me the number was wrong
JC's palms were sweaty as he opened the door to the restaurant. What if she didn't show? It was ten to 8. He got himself a table where he could see the door, ordered a drink and waited. He waited for 20 minutes. Danielle wasn't there. He had given her time in case she was running late, but she never ran late. She had always been on time for everything.
Should I keep on waiting or does love keep on fading away
Danielle looked at the clock next to her bed. It was 8:10. She sighed, still not sure what to do. She glanced at the clock once more. 8:12. "I love him," she said out loud. Impulsively, she grabbed her jacket and keys and headed out the door. She knew she was late and JC wouldn't wait long because he knew her well enough to know she was never late. She jumped in her silver Pontiac and sped off in the direction of Iris's.
Fading away
It was 8:30. She wasn't coming. His head hanging down, he grabbed his coat and walked out the door. He had been driving no more than 5 minutes when he came to a line of traffic that was backed up as far as he could see.
It inched along slowly for miles. After a while, JC could make out police lights. Apparently there had been an accident. It looked like a car had gone off the road and ran into a guardrail. As he got closer, he could see that the car was silver. What was left of it anyway. His heart nearly
stopped in his chest and he immediately felt sick to his stomach. "No," he
said. He got out of the car, oblivious to the honking around him. He
started slowly towards the accident and broke into a run as he got closer.
There was an ambulance there, but it wasn't moving. The doors were open and
when he looked inside all of his worst fears came true.
Danielle was lying on the stretcher. The paramedics saw him and saw from his eyes that he knew her.
"I'm sorry," one of them said, "there's nothing we can do now."
JC felt as though he'd just been punched in the stomach. Tears stung his eyes like fire. "Can I...." he trailed off. All he wanted to do was hold her. The paramedic nodded, and stepped out of the vehicle, leaving them alone.
JC held onto her hand and stroked her hair with his other hand. "Danielle?" he whispered. "Can you hear me?"
Slowly, her eyes fluttered open. "JC?" she asked very weakly.
"Shhh. Don't speak," he said, seeing how much pain it caused her. He tried to be strong so that she wouldn't be afraid. "I'm so sorry, Danielle. If I had only called sooner, if only..."
Danielle winced in pain, trying to hide it from JC.
"Oh God. Danielle, I love you. I've always loved you. You mean more to me than anything in this world." JC could no longer hold back his tears.
"JC, I..." Danielle tried to speak, but then her chest heaved for the last time and her eyes closed. Those eyes that had always spoken so much to JC. The eyes that he had dreamed about for the past year that he was without her. They closed and JC would never see them again.
There's a light in your eyes but it's too dark to see
And a pain in my heart where you used to be
Guess I was wrong to assume that you weren't waiting here for me
There's a light in my eyes
And I'll leave that light burning for thee
