Part Two

    Bailey glanced at her watch one last time as she trotted up the steps to the nursing home. She was ten minutes late and it was all her stupid teacher's fault. First off, she held the class ten minutes over and then she wanted to talk to her about her grades. It was her Finite class, and math was her weakest subject. Plus, she couldn't help it if her teacher didn't know how to teach crap. Luckily no one was around so she picked up her pace and noticed that Lance's door was open. "Sorry I'm late but....." Her sentence was cut off when she ran into something big and hard and her head vibrated from pain as it smacked against another head.
    "OW," James said in shock as he placed his hands on her waist to steady them. "Damn, you're a hard headed one, Miss Winters."
    Bailey rubbed her head in pain. "Sorry....I was in a hurry."
    "So I noticed," he said and then looked down at her. "Are you okay?"
    "Yeah," she winced and then looked up at him. She then realized that her body was touching practically every inch of his and their faces were only inches apart. "I....uh..."
    "Bailey, you're here."
    Bailey and James pulled apart quickly and turned to see Lance being pushed out of the bathroom by a nurse. "Yeah...hi Lance, sorry I'm late."
    "That's quite all right, I'm just glad you made it....is something wrong?" he asked when both Bailey and James touched their heads and winced.
    "No, Pops....we just had a little head on collision."
    "Literally," Bailey mumbled.
    He laughed. "That's what you kids get for always being in a damn hurry. I swear kids these days feel like they have to rush everything."
    "That's us Pops," James said as he closed the door after the nurse walked out.
    "Well, Bailey," Lance said. "Should we get started?"
    "Sure, but first....I brought you something," she said as she pulled a brown paper bag from her handbag.
    "You did?"
    "Yep....when you told me yesterday that your mom use to take you and Stacey to McDonalds, I thought I'd surprise you with a cheeseburger and some fries."
    His eyes widened. "You didn't," he said with excitement.
    "Sure did....two cheeseburgers and fries...just like you said you liked."
    "Oh, Bailey, you are my angel," he sighed as he opened the bag and smelled his childhood. "I haven't had this stuff in years....Doctors wouldn't let me."
    She smiled. "Well, I won't tell."
    James walked behind her and leaned towards her. "Bribary....nice work," he said softly so his Pops couldn't hear.
    She gasped and then turned to him angrily and stared at him to let him know that he had crossed the line. She then turned back to Lance and sat in front of him while he took his first bite. "Is it good?"
    "Mmm, damn that's good," he said with a mouthful. "So much better then the crap they give me here."
    "Well, I'm glad you like it."
    "Like it? I love it. Me and the guys lived at McDonalds?"
    "Guys?" she asked as she pulled out her recorder and set it on the table.
    "Yeah, my friends," he said and then took another healthy bite. "JC, Justin, Joey, Chris....us five hellions."
    She let out a laugh. "And did you guys grow up together?"
    He set down his burger. "In a way, yes....we met when we were young...I was....fifteen? No, no..sixteen."
    "What brought you together?"
    He smiled. "Simple....a dream we all shared....a dream that we would make music and become something monumental."
    She smiled. "And did you accomplish this dream?"
    He chuckled. "Oh, hell yeah we did."
    Her eyes widened. "Really? So, you guys were in a group?"
    "Yeah, a music group.....you know that group out right now....can't remember their name, but it's five guys...one of them the lead singer is pretty young and..."
    "Oh, the Kryptonics??" she asked. "I have their CD."
    "Yeah, yeah..them...we were like the Krpytonics.....only we had talent."
    "HEY!" she said. "I take offence to that."
    He laughed. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry....well we were like them, only we were a lot different, and more...musical I guess you could say."
    "So, you had millions of girls screaming...I LOVE YOU LANCE!"
    "Oh, that's an understatement, my dear," he chuckled.
    She smiled. "What was the name of the band?"
    "NSYNC....we were called NSYNC."

    Lance yawned tiredly as he stepped out of his parents car and stretched after the long drive from the airport. He was dead tired, he thought as he rubbed his eyes while he staggered towards the building. "Lance, wake up," his dad said as he lightly shook him. "Don't want to show a bad first impression, do you?"
    "No sir," he said and then shook his body to wake him up.
    "This is a waste of time," Diane Bass sighed as they walked into the building.
    "Mom," he groaned as they walked down the hallway. "You know how bad I want this."
    "I know," she huffed. "But you're only sixteen and..."
    "Dear," Jim interrupted her. "Let's just have an open mind like we promised him and see if these guys are any good, okay?"
    "You're right," she sighed. "I'm just scared for my baby."
    "I'll be fine, Mom," he said. "These guys parents are going through the same thing you know?"
    "I know, I know."
    "I think this is it," Jim said and then opened the door and saw a few people standing around.
    Lance stood there in awe. The room was a small auditorium and a few seats were filled and some people were walking across the small stage. He noticed two guys sitting at the edge of the stage laughing and smiling about something. One guy had brown hair and the other guys hair was covered by a North Carolina hat.
    "See, hun," Jim said to his wife. "They seem normal to me."
    "JOEY!"
    Every person in the audience turned to a short dark headed man who had anger in his eyes. "WHAT?" They then shifted their eyes to the other dark headed man who was sitting on the other side of the stage.
    "You better run, cuz I'm gonna kill you!"
    "Whatever it is, Chris, I didn't do it!"
    "Oh really? So you didn't hook up with that girl we met last night....the one you know I liked!"
    "Oh," he said. "Er...No?"
    "Wrong answer...I just called her to ask her out and she told me everything."
    "Oh..I....um, well..ya see.....you know it's funny I....I gotta go!" he said and then ran across the stage.
    "Oh, no you don't!" Chris warned as he ran up on stage and ran after them.
    "Guys, could you knock it off for one second," the guy in the NC hat yelled. "The new guy just got here."
    "Hi new guy," Chris said right before he jumped on Joey's back and tackled him on the stage.
    "Um....hi," he said shyly as he walked up to the stage.
    "How ya doin, man," the guy in the hat said as he shook his hand. "My vocal coach said some good things about you."
    "Yeah, I talked to him...said great things about you guys," he said with a smile. "Um...what's with those two?"
    The brown haired guy waved it off. "Don't mind them, they're idiots."
    "I'm Justin Timberlake," the other guy said. "I don't know if Frank told you."
    "Yeah, and you guys were on the Mickey Mouse Club, too."
    "Yeah, my name is Josh Chasez," the brown haired guy said. "But people call me JC."

    "Woah, wait," Bailey interuptted. "Chasez? Isn't that what you said your wife's name was."
    He nodded. "That's right. JC was her brother."
    "Ohhh," she said as she nodded. "And how did he feel about that?"
    He chuckled. "He didn't know for a long time...no one did."
    "What happened when he found out?" she asked intrigued.
    "Well, we are a long way from that," Lance told her. "Let's not skip ahead here."
    "Right, I'm sorry," she said. "Go ahead."
    "Well, as I was saying....."

    "You must be Lance," a overweight man with thinning gray hair said. "I'm Lou."
    "Oh, hey," he said as he shook the man's hand. "I don't know exactly what I'm doing here."
    Lou laughed. "That's quite all right, we won't keep you in the dark. Let's first see how you guys sing together. Chris, Joey....would you stop that for one second and get over here."
    Chris gave Joey one last punch before trotting over to them, with Joey limping behind him. "Meet Lance guys."
    Chris shook hands with Lance and then Joey. "Nice to meet you," Lance said with a smile.
    "Okay, first off...we gotta hear you guys sing," Lou said. "So....go on up to the microphones and give me a little happy birthday."
    The guys filled in on Lance to give him an idea of what note to be in and once he got it he nodded his head and the guys took their positions.
    Diane and Jim Bass sat down in one of the seats as the guys were getting ready to sing. Joey started to and the rest followed him with five part harmony, leaving Diane and Jim in shock. Their sound was perfect, their pitch was perfect, they looked perfect.....it was all together....perfect. "Honey," Jim sighed.
    "I know," she said as she shook her head in amazement. "He just has to do this, they sound....just perfect."

    Bailey smiled. "Even your parents couldn't deny the magic, huh?"
    Lance shook his head. "No, they sure couldn't. Mom was afraid for me....but she was so supportive and so great. Both of my parents were."
    "So, what happened next?" she asked eagerly.
    "We signed a record deal in Europe and basically blew up."
    "In Europe? Oh, was it not just fabulous. Did you go to Paris?"
    Lance chuckled at her excitement. "Many of times, yes."
    "Oh, I want to go so bad," Bailey exclaimed. "I've taken french in college."
    "Really now?" Lance asked. "You and JC would have gotten along. He likes to use french to lure the ladies."
    "Was he fluent?"
    "Nah, just knew enough to make the ladies come running. All it took was one phrase in french, and the girls came to him....we hated him for it. We had no idea what he was saying, and neither did the women, but they loved it."
    She smiled softly at him and took a breath before she asked the next question. "Are any of the guys still around?"
    Lance's smile faded and he looked down at his lap. "Just one...but I haven't seen him since my wife died....his sister."
    Bailey reached out and grabbed his wrinkled hand that was resting on his knee. "JC."
    He nodded. "Right," he said with a nod. "My wife died two years ago....I was sixty-eight and JC was a couple of years older." He let out a little laugh. "I'm younger than the guy and I'm in a wheelchair and he looks like he's fifty....the bastard."
    Even though there was hostility there, she could tell he still cared for him. "How come you lost touch with him?"
    "It was too hard on us," Lance said. "We had to watch so many people die....JC and myself. Our wives, the guys and their wives. We were so close, Bai....and when Chris passed away...it was all down hill."
    "He was the oldest, right?" Bailey asked.
    "Yeah, but he acted like the youngest," he said with a laugh. "He even managed to make a joke seconds before he died."
    Bailey casually wiped a tear away from his cheek as she let out a laugh. "He sounds like a hoot."
    "He was crazy," he laughed. "Every one loved Chris...he could make any situation funny." He sighed. "But anyway...JC and I decided it would be best not to see each other, because the pain is too hard. We were the last left and we said goodbye the same day I said goodbye to my wife and JC said goodbye to his sister."
    "Do you miss him?" she asked. "Ever wonder about him?"
    "Sure I do," he said. "It was his idea to stay away. I didn't want to be alone, but I understood what he was feeling."
    Bailey shook her head. "But it just doesn't seem fair. I mean, you two should spend every day that ya'll have left together."
    "I know...I know," he said and gave her a sad smile. "But he doesn't want that....and I have to respect that."
    "I don't understand," she said. "Why...."
    "JC, can't handle watching me die....just like he watched his wife die....and his sister."
    Bailey's eyes opened in shock..."Wha...What?" she asked not understanding right.
    "I'm dying, Bailey," he said as he squeezed her hand. "It's almost my time."

Part Three