Jennifer turned the car into the driveway.  As she shifted into park, she glanced back at Lance in the rearview mirror.  He was still looking out the window, a thoughtful look on his face.  “Lance?” she interrupted his thoughts.  “We’re home.”

“Oh,” Lance gathered himself.  “Thanks, Jen.  You too, JC.  I owe you guys one.”

“No prob.  Go take care of business,” JC grinned and sent Lance on his way.  Lance walked quickly up the walkway and through the open front door.  Jennifer and JC remained in the car for a few minutes longer.  JC turned to Jennifer.  She was watching Lance walk inside the house.

“Sweetheart,” JC whispered.

Jennifer turned to him with a dreamy look in her eyes.  “Yes?”

JC smiled.  “Spill your guts, honey.  What do you know?”

“What’ll you give me if I tell?”

JC’s smile widened.  “This.”  He pulled her close and kissed her thoroughly.  His fingers plunged into her hair as her hands came up to frame his face.  They kept on kissing, not noticing the five pairs of eyes watching from the front porch.

They pulled away from each other reluctantly.  JC brushed Jennifer’s hair away from her face.  “So?  Will you tell me now?”

“Oh, I was going to tell you before, I was just wondering what I could get out of you,” she said with a smirk.  JC twisted her ear playfully.  “Ow!” she cried, rubbing her ear.  “That hurt,” she pouted.

JC raised an eyebrow.  “I’ll make it feel better.”  He tucked her hair behind her ear and began nuzzling her earlobe.  Jennifer’s eyes drifted closed.

“Mmm,” Jennifer sighed.  “If you keep this up, I may not tell you anything.”

“Should I stop?”

“No.”  Jennifer pulled away again to gaze into JC’s eyes.  A movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention.  “Well, it looks like we have an audience.”  Both Jennifer and JC looked over towards the front door.  Kathy, Justin, Lance, Joey, and Chris were applauding and yelling comments like, “Good show!” and “Don’t stop on our account!”  Chris even had a sign that read, “Don’t forget protection!”

JC got out of the car first.  “You know, Chris, you really should leave that ‘protect yourself’ campaign alone.” JC yelled to him.  “We’re not doing anything like that.”

“I know, I’m just making sure you remember,” Chris yelled back.  “You never know when you might be caught in that situation.”

JC only shook his head.  He rounded the front of the car and opened Jennifer’s door for her.  She took his extended hand and allowed him to help her out of the car.  “Such a gentleman,” she remarked as he closed the door.  “And pretty good-looking, too.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” he replied, taking her arm and placing it in the crook of his.  They turned to walk to the house.  As they made their way up the walkway, Justin, Lance, Joey, and Chris all started humming the “Wedding March,” and Kathy started throwing birdseed.  Jennifer and JC both laughed good-naturedly.

“Maybe someday…” Jennifer began.

“But we’re still young,” JC finished for her.  After a good laugh, everyone went back inside, then settled themselves in the living room.  Just as everyone was getting comfortable, the phone rang.

Jennifer jumped back up.  “I’ll get it.”  She walked into the kitchen and picked up the receiver on the third ring.  “Hello?”

“Hey, Jen.”  It was her ex-boyfriend, Dave.  They had broken up two years ago, and it wasn’t an amicable breakup.  They had gotten into a huge fight and both vowed never to speak to the other again.  One year after, Jennifer had met JC, but she knew Dave had stayed single ever since.

“Dave?  What are you doing calling me?  And how did you get my unlisted number?”

“Well, it’s nice to speak to you again, too.”  Dave replied sarcastically.

“We said we would never speak to each other again, so you better start answering my questions,” Jennifer threatened.

“Fine.  I got your number by calling your home in Oregon.  I told your parents I needed to get a hold of you, and they, for some reason, didn’t know who I was.  Did you forget to mention we were together back then?” Dave raised his voice over the phone.

“They wouldn’t have understood back then.”

“Oh, but they know about you and Mr. Singing Star, right?”

“That’s none of your business,” Jennifer defended herself.

“Fine.  So anyway, I’m calling because I’m going to be in Orlando in a few days.  I want to see you again.”

“WHAT?”  Jennifer’s voice raised enough to have everyone coming into the kitchen.  Concerned, JC walked over to her and put his arms around her waist.  Jennifer leaned back against him and closed her eyes.

“I said I want to see you again,” Dave repeated.

“Why the hell would I agree to meet you?”

“Come on, Jen.  We need to talk face to face one last time.  Besides, there’s something important I want to talk to you about.”

“It can’t be that important.”

“Yes, it is.  Come on, Jen, just one meeting.”

“Can I think about it and let you know later?”

“Well, I need to know now.”

“Why?” Jennifer persisted.  Kathy caught Jennifer’s eye, and Jennifer shook her head slightly.

“Just because.”

“Fine.  I’ll give you five minutes, and it has to be in a public place,” Jennifer demanded.

“What, you think I’m going to kidnap you or something?” Dave asked incredulously.

“I’m just covering all my bases.”

“Fine, then you can’t bring anyone else, especially not your boyfriend.”

Jennifer took a deep breath.  “Okay.  So when are you going to be here?”

“Saturday.  Three days from today.”

“Fine.  Saturday, one o’clock, in the park downtown.”

“Okay.”

Jennifer hung up the phone without saying goodbye.  She turned in JC’s arms and pressed her face into his shirtfront.  JC felt her chest rising and falling with every deep breath she took.

“Jen?”  Lance asked.  He, along with Kathy, Justin, Chris, and Joey, had been sitting at the kitchen table as Jennifer talked on the phone.  “Is everything okay?”

Jennifer sighed and turned back around.  She and JC walked to the table.  He sat down in the last empty chair and pulled her onto his lap.  He started rubbing her back as she answered.  “Not really.”

“What happened, sweetie?” JC asked.

Jennifer immediately curled herself up in JC’s lap.  He put his arms around her to comfort her.  She took a deep breath and said, “My ex-boyfriend just called.”  She felt JC immediately tense up at the mention of those words; he wasn’t too fond of Dave after hearing what Dave did to her during their relationship.  Because of that, Jennifer had been wary at first to get into another relationship when JC came along, but he broke down her defenses gradually to make his way into her heart.

“You mean Dave?” Kathy asked.  She had known everything that happened between Jennifer and Dave, since Jennifer told her every detail during the relationship.

“Yeah.”

“What’s he doing calling you?” Justin asked.  JC had told the rest of the guys everything after he and Jennifer got together.

“He said he’d be in Orlando on Saturday.  He wants me to meet him.”

“No,” JC said forcefully.  “I don’t want you seeing him, not unless we’re all there with you.”

“I already told him I’d meet him alone,” Jennifer explained, “because he was so insistent that I meet him and that I was to go alone.  So I told him I’d meet him in the park downtown,” she paused as an idea popped into her mind, “where y’all will be watching from afar.”

Chris spoke up.  “Are you sure this is the right thing to do?”

“It’s got to be,” Jennifer reasoned.  “He said he had something important to talk to me about, and after this last time, we would never have to have contact with each other again.”

“But are you sure you can trust him?” Joey asked.

“I did before,” Jennifer murmured, head hanging low.

“I don’t care,” JC replied, raising his voice.  “He’s out of your life, and he has no right to ask you to meet him anytime, anyplace, for any reason!”  Jennifer slid off his lap as he stood up to pace the floor.  “He has some nerve, calling you up like this and asking you to meet him.  Who does he think he is, anyway?”

Jennifer got up and wrapped her arms around his waist.  “Honey, please.  I should do this.  I need to tell him to his face that it’s over.  I mean, he knows we’re together…”

JC cut her off.  “Well, then if he knows we’re together, why does he have to meet you?  He should have gotten the idea that you and him are over.”

An idea popped into Jennifer’s head at JC’s comment.  “Do you think he wants to get back together with me because I’m unavailable now?” Jennifer asked carefully.

“Why else would he call?”

“JC, you know nothing can break us up.”

“I know, but…”

“But nothing.  I love you, do you understand me?  I love you, and no one could ever change that.” Jennifer reached up, pulled JC’s face to hers, and kissed him firmly.

JC sighed and dropped his forehead to hers.  “I love you, too.”

“Then we don’t have to worry about anything.  When I meet him, I know you guys will be there in the park, too, just not near me.  I know you’ll make sure he doesn’t try anything.”

“Well…okay,” JC agreed, still hesitant.

“We’ll talk about it more later.  I’m in the mood for something fun.  What time is it now?” Jennifer tried to lighten the mood in the kitchen.

“It’s three now,” Lance answered.

“Okay, we should probably leave for the airport around five-thirty, so we’ve got about two and a half hours to hang out.  Oh, but before that, I’d like to know where you guys are staying while you’re back in Orlando.”

“I’m staying with my parents, and Chris is staying with us there,” Justin said.  Chris nodded in agreement.

“I’ll be at home, too,” Joey put in.

“Got my apartment,” Lance added.

Jennifer looked over at JC.  “I know where you’re staying,” she said with a wink.  JC grinned back.

“How about you guys stay here for tonight?” Kathy offered.  “It’s the first time we’ve seen you in months, so why not stay here so we can catch up?”  That way, she thought to herself, Lance and I could talk all night.

“I’m up for that,” Lance agreed quickly.  That way, he thought to himself, Kathy and I could talk all night.

Justin, Joey, and Chris also agreed.

“Okay, great!  There’s one bedroom upstairs, which is usually mine, but since I’m using the master bedroom, the one upstairs is free,” Jennifer explained.  “There’s a queen-sized bed in there, so two of you can stay in there.  There’s also the guest bedroom downstairs, which also has a queen.  Two of you can stay down there, too.”

Everyone began talking about rooming, and soon it was decided that Lance and Justin would take the room upstairs, leaving Joey and Chris to take the room downstairs.  No one asked where JC was going to stay – he would be in the master bedroom with Jennifer.  Everyone dispersed to bring their things to their respective rooms, and JC followed Jennifer into the master bedroom.  As soon as she was inside, she collapsed onto the bed.  He sat down next to her.

“Are you okay?” JC asked quietly.

“Yeah, I will be,” Jennifer answered.

“You know, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to…I’m just not looking forward to it, that’s all.”  Jennifer fell back to lie on the bed and closed her eyes.

“Look, Jennifer,” he waited until she looked over at him, then took her hand.  “I just want you to be happy.”

“I am happy, with you.”

JC smiled.  “I’m happy with you, too.  I just don’t want to see you unhappy like this.”

Jennifer tried to smile at him.  “I won’t be unhappy after Saturday, after I get through this.”

“After we get through this,” JC corrected her.

“Yes.  After we get through this.”  Jennifer smiled up at him, and he leaned down to kiss her.  Just as their lips were about to meet, there was a knock at the door.  JC groaned and whispered, “We’re going to have a moment alone if it kills me.”

Jennifer laughed and sat up.  “Come in,” she yelled through the door.

Chris peered around the door.  “Hey, you two.  Justin suggested we swim in the pool for a while, and we were wondering if you were going to come out and join us.”

“We’ll be right there,” JC promised.

“Okay.”  Chris shut the door quietly.

“I think I’d like to take a nap,” Jennifer murmured, her eyelids drooping.

JC scooped her up, brought her around the bed, and laid her down.  He started singing to her to help her fall asleep.

“Your love is like a river, peaceful and deep, your soul is like a secret that I never could keep…”

Jennifer’s eyelids fluttered and closed.  JC brushed her hair away from her face and gazed at her.

“When I look into your eyes, I know that it’s true, God must have spent a little more time on you…”

When Jennifer’s breathing evened out, he knew she had fallen asleep.  He watched her for a few more minutes, then changed into his swimming trunks and joined the others in the backyard.

“Where’s Jen?” Kathy asked from the edge of the pool.

“She’s taking a nap,” JC answered before diving in.

“You know, she didn’t look so hot after that phone call,” Lance mentioned.

“No kidding.  Who does Dave think he is anyway?” Chris spoke up.

“Yeah, he knows about you and Jen, JC, so why would he have any business calling her?” Joey said.

“Heck if I know,” JC shrugged, treading water.

“You don’t really think he’s trying to steal her back from you…right?” Justin asked carefully, not wanting to get JC riled up again.

“No.  I won’t let him do that.  She loves me, and I love her.  Nothing can get between us.”  JC took a deep breath and swam across the bottom of the pool.

Kathy, JC, Justin, Lance, Joey, and Chris continued to talk about Jennifer as they were swimming.  No one noticed Jennifer standing at her window, listening to their conversation.  She had awakened a few minutes after JC had joined the others outside.  She had heard everything.  What am I going to do? she thought.  What does Dave want?  Why me?  With a tear sliding down her cheek, she turned away from the window and got back into bed.  She closed her eyes and willed herself to go to sleep.

**

Two hours later, Kathy and the guys came back inside.  JC walked into the master bedroom to check on Jennifer.  She was in bed, lying in the same position he left her in.  He went to the bed, leaned over, and kissed her forehead.  “Wake up, sleepyhead,” he whispered.

Jennifer stirred and sighed deeply.  “Hi,” she said with a smile.  “What time is it?”

“It’s five.”

“Okay.”  She started to get up, but JC gently pushed her back onto the bed.

Jennifer frowned slightly.  “Um, if we’re going to pick up Derrick, I need to start getting ready,” she told him.

“Just give me a minute, okay?”  JC looked deeply into her eyes.  “How do you feel?”

“I feel fine,” she said, raising a hand to his cheek.  “That nap helped.”

“Good.  One more thing…”

“What’s that?”

JC kissed her.  “You look so cute when you’re sleeping.”  He grinned.

She laughed.  “Go take a shower.  You smell like chlorine.”

“Would you wash my back?” he asked with a wink.

“Go!”  Jennifer pushed him playfully towards the bathroom.

**

A half-hour later, everyone had gathered in the living room.  They were trying to figure out if everyone could pile into one vehicle.

“There’s seven of us,” Justin pointed out.  “Either some of us don’t go, or we get a van.”

“Where are we going to get a van?” Joey asked.

“Um, hello,” Jennifer raised her voice so she could be heard.  Everyone looked at her.  “My parents do have an eight-seater van in the garage.”

“Well, why didn’t you say anything earlier?” Chris asked impatiently.

“Because no one asked,” Jennifer joked.

Laughing, the group walked outside as Jennifer pulled the van into the driveway.  They piled in and headed for the airport.