Two months later…

“Good morning, beautiful.” Mack opened her eyes the rest of the way and yawned a bit. She rolled onto her side to see JC sitting on top of the covers, reading a book. He looked up and smiled at her before kissing her nose. “How’d you sleep?”

“Better,” Mack replied, stretching her arms over her head.

“Feel sick?” He asked, closing the book.

“Nope. I guess it was just the stomach flu,” she replied before pushing back the covers and going towards her suitcase which was on the opposite side of the hotel room. “Can you believe that two of your Madison Square Garden shows are sold out?”

“I still can’t wrap my head around it,” he admitted, stretching and letting out a little yawn. “Oh, Justin called earlier. He says to meet in the lobby breakfast area so we can hear about the VMA nominations. If we don’t hurry I’m sure Chris is going to eat everything.”

“You can go. I’ll be there in a few,” Mack said as she gathered some clothes in her arms and walked in the direction of the bathroom. She stopped when she lightly felt a tug on he back of her shirt. She turned and looked up at JC. “What?” She asked, grinning a bit at the smile on his face.

“I just wanted to say thanks again, for sticking by me I mean. And for giving me a chance,” he replied. “These past two months have been the best two months of my life.”

“Is it really me or is it because your tour is doing so well that most shows are sold out?” Mack asked with a teasing smile.

“That too,” JC replied before kissing her cheek. “See you downstairs.”

“Mhm.” Mack glanced at the door and waited for it to close before she rushed to the bathroom. She closed and locked the door behind her and moved over to the cabinet by the mirror. She pulled out the box that was sitting behind a few things. She stared at the box for a few seconds before ripping it open and reading the instructions. “Simple enough,” she muttered to herself.

She followed the instructions carefully and used the toilet. Once she was finished she washed her hands and sat on the counter, skimming through US Weekly as she waited. Five minutes, which felt like an eternity to her, she got up the courage to look at the little stick that was sitting on the lid of the toilet. She didn’t even have to cross the room to see what the stick said.

Muttering to herself, she left the bathroom and rushed over to the phone. She pulled it into her lap and dialed a room number. She tapped her fingers on the arm rest of the chair and waited impatiently for someone on the other end to pick up.

“Hello?” Someone finally answered.

“J! Glad I caught you. You aren’t getting ready to leave are you?” Mack asked.

“No, I’m still getting some stuff together so we can leave as soon as breakfast is over,” Justin replied. “You know we still have about seven hours before we get to New York.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said in a distracted tone. “Look, J, we need to talk.”

“Oh no,” he gasped. “Please tell me you’re not going to break up with JC.”

“What? No! Of course not,” Mack said as she shook her head.

Just let out a sigh of relief. “Good. I don’t want a heartbroken C on my hands. If that’s not it then what is it you need to talk about that it can’t wait?”

“It’s something really important.” Mack bit at her bottom lip.

“What is it?” Justin asked, instantly concerned at the tone in her voice.

“Are you sitting down?” She stalled.

“No, should I?”

“Yes. You’re going to want a chair after I tell you.”

“Spit it out, girl! You’re making me nervous!”

“Well…um…” Mack hesitated trying to imagine what he’d do once he found out. Would he be mad? Would he support her? She mentally slapped herself. Of course he’d support her, he’s her best friend. He wouldn’t drop her like that.

“Mack!” Justin yelled.

“I’m pregnant,” Mack finally blurted out.

“What!?”

“Two months.”

“What!?”

Mack could practically hear his frantic breathing on the line. “J, calm down before you pass out due to lack of oxygen!” She ordered.

Mack could practically see Justin rubbing his temples as he sighed. “Uh, you should tell the father. Who is he by the way?”

“You must be joking…” Mack almost laughed with a strange hysterical sound in the back of her throat.

Justin gulped at the slightly insane energy coming off of her. He lightly scooted his seat back a few inches.  “Who is it, Mack?” Justin repeated it quietly.

Mack sighed impatiently, “Don’t waste time acting stupid J.”

Justin blinked, “It isn’t JC’s is it?”

“No, of course not, it’s Joey’s…” Mack growled, “OF COURSE IT’S JC’S YOU DOLT!”

Justin sighed, he really should have just stayed in bed today. “When did this happen?”

Mack sighed herself. “Well, we’ve been pretty serious since we got together. The first time we had sex was a few weeks before tour started but we were protected. Second time was the same night we exposed Bobbie and we weren’t realy careful that time. J, I’m late.”

“It will be okay Mack. You might not be, drugstore tests can be wrong. Besides, we don’t know how JC will act. I’ll always be here for you if you ever need help.”

“Thank you, Justin.”

~*~*~

JC took the elevator down to the lobby and took the time to think back on all that’s happened to him. He smiled at the thought of his friends going to Bobbie’s hotel room and cornering her, making her confess to what she did, and getting it on video camera. He could practically see the shocked look on her face once she found out that she was exposed.

When they got back to the venue and showed them the video tape he was speechless for the first time in his life. He didn’t know what to do or say first. He wanted to laugh at the fact that she was easily exposed, he wanted to thank the guys for helping free him from her clutches, and he definitely wanted to just grab Mack and kiss her.

JC smiled to himself as the elevator doors opened. The guys have proved time and time again that they were there for him, that they were his brothers. He had no clue how he was going to make it up to them, to pay them back somehow.

“’Bout time you get your ass outta bed,” Chris commented as soon as he saw JC walking across the lobby. “Where’s your better half?” He joked.

“Changing,” JC replied, ignoring the jab. “We were talking earlier. I still can’t believe that two of our Madison Square Garden shows are sold out and it’s going to be turned into an HBO special.”

“I know, I can’t wait,” Lance agreed. “This means we can’t make many mistakes.”

“Any mistakes,” JC corrected him. “We have to be perfect.”

“You’re asking too much out of us, Jace,” Joey spoke up. “Nobody’s perfect you know. So what if we make a small mistake? I’m sure no one will notice that much.”

“You’d be surprised,” JC replied.

“Well not everyone is as perceptive as you are so stop freaking us out about it and take a trip to Chill-adelphia.”

JC lifted his eyebrow but Joey ignored him as he looked around. “Where are they? I’m itching to read the nominations.”

“Who cares about them? Let’s crack that baby open!” Chris dove across the table and grabbed the letter that was addressed to them and pulled it out of Lance’s hands. He ripped the envelope open and scanned the list with his eyes so fast that he looked like a mental patient. “Whoa!” He cried out. “Bye Bye Bye is nomimated in six categories!”

“Six!?” JC, Lance, and Joey cried out in unison.

“Are you sure?” Lance finally gasped.

“Six what?” Justin asked as he and Mack walked over to the ground, their eyes filled with confusion.

“Bye Bye Bye has been nominated in six different categories for the VMAs,” Joey replied.

“We’re nominated for Video of the Year, Best Group Video, Best Pop Video, Best Dance Video, Viewer’s Choice, and Best Choreography in a Video,” Lance read over Chris’ shoulders.

“Oh, babe, we’ll totally win the last one,” JC said as he turned around and grasped Mack’s hand. She smiled a bit and nodded. He gently tugged her hand and pulled her onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek.

“What should we do for the awards?” Justin asked excitedly as he sat down in the only empty chair.

“Do we really need to think about that now?” Lance asked. “We should focus on this week’s shows.”

“Yeah, but we can at least dream about the perfect performance for it,” Joey agreed before turning to Justin. “What if we did a medley? That’d be pretty cool. We can start it out with a slow song, like This I Promise You, and then we can go into Bye Bye Bye and It’s Gonna Be Me because those are our first two singles and they’re doing pretty well. The fans seem to love those songs the most.”

“Yeah, but I’m getting kinda bored with the choreography,” Justin said as he leaned back in his chair. He glanced over at Mack who was glaring at him and he grinned sheepishly. “I don’t mean it like that, I mean we should switch it up a bit, like change the tempo or the style of the song.”

“Guys, we really should focus for tonight’s show,” JC stressed.

“Fine, be a party pooper like always,” Chris said with an eye roll before looking at his watch. “We should split anyway, the buses pull out in fifteen minutes.”

“Let me guess you haven’t packed anything yet have you?” He squinted at Chris.

“Nope,” he admitted. “I figured now would be as good as a time as any.” He pushed back his chair and walked back through the lobby to the elevators.

“We should go help him, it’s going to take a while,” Lance said as he nudged Joey. He nodded in agreement and the two followed Chris.

“So what took you two so long?” JC asked, turning to Justin who lifted his spoon full of cereal to his mouth.

He lowered it slowly and looked over at JC. His eyes flickered over to Mack briefly and then looked back at him. Justin shrugged. “We were just talking.” He shoved the spoon in his mouth and pulled it out empty. He chewed rapidly before swallowing and asking, “Why? You keeping tabs on us or something?”

“No, I was just curious.” JC knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. “Why’re you so jumpy?”

“I’m not jumpy. What’s with the interrogation?”

“I just asked you a question, I hardly call that interrogation,” JC said with an eye roll. He looked up at Mack who was standing out a window with a distant look in her eye. “You ok, honey?” He asked, lifting one of her hands to his mouth and kissed it before rubbing the back of it with his thumb.

“Mhm,” she replied looking down at him. “I’m just a little tired. I’m still not really used to bus time yet.”

“You’ve been sick almost every day last week too,” JC added. “Maybe you should take a break today? We can run rehearsals by ourselves. Stay on the bus and rest. We’ll get you when the show stars.” Mack opened her mouth to protest. “I insist,” he interrupted her. “You need to rest and get better. I’m not going to take no for an answer, ok?”

“Fiiiine,” Mack grumbled.

“I’ll make sure Chris doesn’t bother you,” Justin told her with a smile. She nodded her thanks and got off JC’s lap.

“I’ll go check on them. Somehow I doubt that they’re actually helping Chris with his packing.”

JC watched his girlfriend practically run out of the lobby before rounding on Justin. “Ok, what’s going on?” he demanded.

“Waddya mean?” Justin feigned innocence as he shoved another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

“I mean you two are acting funny,” JC replied. “I want to know what’s up. We don’t keep secrets from each other, man.”

Justin swallowed and messed with the milk that was in his bowl. “Uhhh….this is something you should really talk to her about.”

“Well it seems important enough that she’d tell you before she’d tell me.”

“I’m her best friend.”

“She’s my girlfriend.”

“I get that, really I do, but if she feels more comfortable telling me something before she tells you don’t blow up at me about it. Just wait for her to come to you, OK?”

JC sighed. “I know you’re right. It’s just…I don’t know, I’m afraid I guess.”

“Afraid of what?” Justin asked with his mouthful, causing some milk to spray out and hit JC in the face. Justin sheepishly smiled as milk dribbled down his chin. “Sow-wee.”

“S’all right.” JC wiped his face with a napkin. “I mean my longest relationship was with Bobbie and we lasted for only a year and–”

“You don’t have to worry about Mack cheating on your or anything,” Justin said as he wiped his chin. “The girl’s been infatuated with you since she was twelve.” JC’s lip twitched into a smile. “You two are perfect for each other. You’re like…two halves of one person.”

“Oh that’s very poetic,” JC said with an eye roll.

“All I’m saying is that you should show her how much you love her and  reinforce that fact.”

“How do you propose I do that?” JC questioned. Justin turned to him and lifted his eyebrows. JC gave him a confused look before his mouth slowly opened and formed into a smile. “I have an idea.”

~*~*~

“Everyone decent?” Mack called from the other side of the door.

“Man, you’ve seen us in only boxers, why are you suddenly so shy?” Chris asked as she came into the dressing room as he buttoned up his shirt.

“For all I know you could’ve been planning on mooning me or something,” she replied dryly.

Chris stayed silent for a couple of seconds. “I never thought of that but it’s a very good idea. Thanks!”

Joey rolled his eyes and shoved Chris a little bit. “Do you know where Jace is? We have ten minutes ‘till show time and we still haven’t hackied yet.”

Mack groaned. “God, why the hell’s he always so late?”

“Dunno, he’s your boyfriend, not mine.”

“That doesn’t mean I keep tabs on him. I didn’t implant a tracking device on him or something.”

“You should, we’d know where he was half of the time,” Justin replied. “Although most of the time he’s sleeping so I don’t know how a tracking device would help.”

“Do you guys always talk behind my back when I’m out of the room?” JC asked as he came in, dropping his bag in the corner.

“It’s a lot more fun than talking about you in front of your face.” Justin shrugged. JC shoved his shoulder and went over to his stuff. “You’re sticking around, right?”

“No J, I’m scheduled to jump out of a burning building,” Mack said with an eye roll.

“Hey, I don’t need your back talk, missy.”

“Missy?” Lance repeated with an eye roll.

Justin sighed heavily. “I was raised being taught not to mistreat women in anyway.”

“And for good reason.” Mack shoved her hands into her pockets. “Yeah, I’m sticking around. I don’t have anything else to do besides go deaf from the screaming fans like always.”

“I think this show is going to be a little different,” Lance said.

“Why? Did you change some of the choreography and not tell me?” She demanded, somewhat fiercely. She knew the boys wouldn’t dare, not without running it by her first unless someone forgot a step on stage and need to improvise. She was very protective of her dancing and she always claimed that any mistake they make would leave a bad impression on her skills. They knew she was overreacting but they didn’t try and get her to change her mind. After all, their dancing looking amazing because of her.

“No, of course not, we like our limbs,” he replied with a little laugh. “C’mon guys, let’s hacky.”

She moved out of the way so the guys could get into the hallway. She leaned against the wall watching them play, laughing from time to time when they messed up. JC was right when he claimed that they suck at hacky sack.

“Ok guys! Let’s give ‘em a great show!” Justin shouted as he punched his fists into the air and the others hollered in unison.

“Come with us. You know, just to make sure we’re in our harnesses right,” JC said as he held out his hand to his girlfriend. She grasped his hand and followed him around until they got to the area where their harnesses were and they would be lifted into the air before being brought back down which signaled the start of the show and launched them into No Strings Attached. “Wait here.” He grabbed a mic that was held out to him and took an alternate path to the stage. Ear-splitting screams filled the air as he walked onto the stage.

“What is he doing?” Mack hissed.

“Don’t know,” Joey replied, trying to hide his smile.

“I want to thank you all for coming out tonight,” JC addressed the crowd. “Thanks to you this is the first show of our four-day Madison Square Garden show that is sold out.” He paused as the audience screamed. “And you area all to thank for that.” He paused again. “Tonight is a special night for me. As you all may know by now I have the most wonderful girlfriend in the world. I’m glad that she’s our choreographer because I get to spend a lot of time with her since she comes with us on tour. Now, I’d like to bring her out. Mackenzie, would you please come out on stage?”

“What!?” Mack whispered.

“Go! Go!” Justin said as he shoved her but she wouldn’t budge. “For the love of…” He wrapped his arms around her waist and easily lifted her over his shoulder. He took the same path that JC did to get her to the stage. He shuffled across the stage and put her on the ground.

“Thanks J,” JC said to him.

“No problem,” Justin said with a salute and backed away a bit.

“Mack, when I first met you I thought you were this annoying kid that followed me around like Justin did. It was only after a couple of weeks did I realize that I liked the attention you gave me and I enjoyed spending time with you.” He took her hand and gave it a little squeeze as she looked at him in confusion. “A few years later my affection towards you grew and I ended up with a crush on you. The thing is, you were fifteen at the time and it’s weird for a twenty-year-old to like a fifteen year old. But as my feelings grew I learned that you can’t put a limit, an number of sorts on love. I love you, Mackenzie Desrosiers. I know you don’t trust guys that much and it’s hard for you to be in a relationship but I want you to know that I’ll never hurt you. Baby, you’re not the only one. You don’t have to be afraid to fall in love and I know that you’ve hurt in the past but…” he paused and got down on one knee as the audience exploded into cheers, “if you want it here’s my heart…” he paused again to pull a box out of his pocket and opened it, “no strings attached.” He paused once more. “Well, in this case there are strings attached. Mackenzie Desrosiers, will you marry me?”

Her lip twitched slightly as the venue exploded in loud screams. Even the other guys joined in on screaming “Say yes!” and “Don’t make him wait!” She chuckled as JC licked his lips and looked up at her with waiting eyes. “You just had to ask in front of all of these people,” she muttered.

“It’s ‘cause I knew you wouldn’t say no,” JC replied. “So, will you?”

“Of course, dummy,” she laughed.

“Yes!” JC put down his microphone and slipped her ring on her finger before picking her up, spinning her around, and kissing her hard as the place exploded in cheers. He pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. “You easily made me the happiest man on the planet.”

“I’ll bet,” Mack whispered. “About this marriage thing–”

“Don’t worry, honey. We’ll have a nice long engagement,” he interrupted before kissing her forehead.

“No, it’s not that.” She laughed a bit. “It’s just a good thing you asked me ‘cause in about…seven months we were going to have a reason to be married.”

“Seven months?” he repeated. “What do you…?” His eyes slowly widened and his mouth fell open as she smiled and nodded. “I’m going to be a dad?” He whispered. She nodded again. “I’m going to be a dad!” he yelled. Next thing he knew he and Mack were in the center of an *NSYNC group hug being jostled a bit from side to side as the other guys yelled in happiness.

“Ok, ok. Go celebrate by having the best show you’ve ever had,” Mack said as she kissed her fiancé’s cheek.

“Gosh, I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Me too. Now you’re stuck with me whether you like it or not,” she joked. “You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”

“I wouldn’t even dream of trying.”