Fuming and a little scatter minded from her less than pleasant encounter back at the store, Liz had been too confused and somewhat angry to get her mind back to her initial focus: shopping. Trying to collect herself, she just took a seat in the outdoor area where the plaza offered tables that had umbrellas above them and two or three chairs around them. With lips pursed, a headache coming on and fighting the urge to turn back around and bitch-slap the bitch back at the store, Liz was less than friendly when she answered her phone that had started vibrating against her thigh from the front pocket of her jeans.

"Hello?" she answered harshly, running a hand through her hair and still looking back at the glass door of the store she had just walked out of. She could still see the woman at the cashiers table smiling as she greeted another customer.

"Hey," the voice answered slowly. "It's me. What's wrong with you?"

Liz turned back to face the opposite direction and leaned back against the chair. "Em, hey," she sighed. "Sorry, I just... What's up?"

"I called to see how you were doing on the road with the guys before I headed out to a meeting. By the way, where's your recipe for those peanut butter milkshakes you used to make for us? And how many packs of peanuts do I have to buy?"

"Dude, just throw in some peanut butter, some milk and some ice into the damn blender. Add  little  water if it's too lumpy and stir. How much more of a straightforward recipe do you need?" Liz snapped, a little more harshly than she had intended.

"Someone's cranky," Emma mumbled. "I didn't know asking for a way to make peanuts drinkable would upset you that much,"

"I'm sorry," Liz apologized with a sigh. "You just called at a bad time for me,"

"Are you with Josh?" Emma asked. "You want me to hang up?"

"No, no, I'm sorry, don't hang up. And no, I'm not with Josh."

"Then what's up? Why'd you sound so pissed off? You're on tour with your famous boyfriend, aren't you having fun?"

"I'm starting to think my boyfriend is a little too famous actually," Liz muttered.

"What're you talking about now?"

"You want to know why I sound so pissed off? Well I just ran into someone who basically just told me that my famous boyfriend is going to dump me because I'm not giving him a good fuck like the rest of his girlfriends did!" Liz hadn't realized that her voice had gotten louder with every word she had spoken and therefore was completely oblivious to the people strolling by as they took a break from their window shopping to stare at her.

"Wait, someone told you what?"

"Yea! Some chick in one of the stores I was in just came up to me and started talking to me about Josh about what he likes his girls to do and what he likes them to wear and what he does to them when they don't give him what he wants. Can you fucking believe that?!"

"Uh, Lizzie, are you in a public place right now?"

Liz looked around and only then noticed she had drawn attention to herself. She slouched down in her chair before answering. "I'm alone, sitting outside in one of those shopping plazas in Georgia. The guys have an event tomorrow that they forgot to tell me about so I'm stuck here trying to find a decent dress while they're back at the hotel getting ready for their meet n' greet."

"Then lower your voice would you!" Emma hissed. "And who's this chick that told you Josh is going to break up with you? And over sex? Seriously?"

"I don't even know who she is Emma!" Liz cried out into the phone. "I've never met her before in my life! But she knows who I am and apparently she knows Josh well. Really well, the way she made it seem."

"So you're there in the store, and this woman just comes up to you and says ‘Hey, I know you're dating one of the most famous singers in the world right now. That must be really cool. And hey, did you know he dumps girls if they refuse to wet his dick?' Really Lizzie? Does that sound like Josh to you?"

"Well..." Liz started slowly. "Not really, I guess... But she said that, and I quote, ‘Take it from a person with experience with JC Chasez. Give him what he wants or he's going to end things like that', and I end quote. She has no right to talk to me that way and no right to talk to me about whether or not I'm keeping my boyfriend happy in that way!"

"I agree with you there," Emma nodded. "But, you got to remember that right now, Josh is a celebrity. He knows a lot of people. I mean, he's a man and he's been in the public eye since he was what, 14? And he's been hot since way back then so who're we to say that he didn't have the occasional good time with girls before he decided to commit himself to a real relationship? It was probably one of his jealous ex girlfriends that saw pictures of you guys on the internet or something."

"But Josh would never break up with a girl just because she wasn't giving him sex. He just isn't that kind of person," Liz insisted.

"Maybe she was just fling," Emma suggested. "I'm sure he's had his fair share of girls in the past and the occasional carefree good time but none of them compare to what he has with you Liz, you know that."

Liz stopped to think for a moment. "Do you think he's happy with me?"

"What?"

"We've been together for over a year despite that one big fight we had. We love each other and he treats me like no one else in the world matters to him when we're together. I can actually see a future with him Emma. But we haven't had sex yet. What if that's the final puzzle piece to our relationship and I'm the one keeping us away from it? What if he's disappointed that he isn't getting anything but lip action from me?"

"Liz, listen to me," Emma said firmly. "You are letting some bitch who claims she's had experience with your boyfriend get to your head when for all you know she's just trying to get to you. Liz, has Josh ever, in the time you two have been together, pressured you into doing anything you didn't want to do?"

"No, but... But what if he's just that way because he's trying to be a good guy? What if he decides this isn't the kind of relationship he wants and he goes looking somewhere else for what I'm not giving him..." Her heart broke at the thought.

"Liz, get out of there and go talk to Josh about this. I really think you need to at this point. Just sort out who the girl was and why she may have told you the things that she did. Of course, if I were you I was gonna go back in there and bitch-slap the bitch herself who started talking about my man but that's just me," she giggled. "Personally, I think Josh loves you too much to make you feel like that. He's waiting for you and besides that one night he lost his mind, I don't think he'd do anything that you wouldn't want to do."

"But that one night was the night of our fight," Liz reasoned slowly. "Emma when we had our fight we had practically broken up and Josh just jumped at his free chance of getting laid by someone else! He went out and got what I hadn't been giving him for all that time!"

"Elizabeth," Emma said in a warning tone. "I'm telling you, you're over thinking this. I mean are you going to let some chick who you don't even know and who doesn't even know you and probably doesn't know Josh either get to you like this?" she asked. "Forget what she said and go get that dress you were looking for in the first place and then go back to your boyfriend and talk to him. I mean, what do want to do? Let her affect you so bad that you're going to give in and screw Josh tonight just to secure your chances of staying with him?"

Liz's head shot up as an idea pushed its way into her head. "Not to necessarily secure my chances but..." her voice trailed off. "If I can show Josh how much I love him, and that I can make him feel just as good as his ex girlfriends did, then maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea if we were to-"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Emma interrupted and Liz could just picture her holding up her hands as though she was trying to stop a car from driving as though she was directing traffic. "You're not thinking about having sex with him tonight, are you Lizzie? I mean I was just kidding about going screwing him tonight to secure your chances!"

"It's just sex," Liz shrugged. "And I love Josh more than anything in this world. I want him to be happy with our relationship. I know he loves me and he's been patient. Maybe it's time I reward him... If I had to lose my virginity to anyone then I'd give it to Josh, no doubt."

"You always said that you wanted to wait for marriage though. Don't cross your boundaries now." Emma insisted. "I know you love him but don't have sex with him out wanting to convince yourself that you're better than what he's experienced before  or whatever. Do it because you think it's right in your eyes and when you think it's special."

"You lost your virginity freshman year of college," Liz snorted.

"And I remember all four minutes of it," Emma grinned.

Liz laughed. "Daniel Taylor was a lucky guy,"

"So was his brother," Emma mumbled and Liz gasped. "-but my sex history is beyond the point! C'mon Lizzie, seriously. I'm telling you, sex is great but you and I are two different people. I was ready for it and you just don't seem to be. At least not right now,"

"Yea well, maybe I am ready for it," her eyes settled on a mannequin in one of the stores opposite to where she was sitting. ‘Lovers Lane', was the name. "And tonight, Josh is going to get a little early birthday gift,"

"Lizzie you're not actually going to-"

"I got to go," she said, getting up from the chair.

 "No, Lizzie wait, I-"

"Bye Em!" Liz finished happily and with a smile.

** ** ** **

1 hour later

By the time Liz had gotten back to the hotel, *NSYNC had already been ushered down to the room where at least three hundred to four hundred giddy fans were waiting with their CDs, autograph books and cameras. JC, as reluctant as he was and as worried as he was that Liz hadn't called him or returned to the hotel, put on a smile and greeted his fans. He took pictures and signed autographs for them and had short, polite conversations with whoever asked him a question. Since he couldn't be the one to go out and wait for her to return, he had sent out the next best thing.

"Hey Lonnie," Liz grinned, walking up to the large, bald man who sat on one of the couches in the reception area, flipping through a Fitness magazine. She held a small pink gift bag in one of her hands. "What're you doing out here?"

"JC sent me out here when you didn't call him," Lonnie informed her, getting up. "He was worried about you,"

Liz smiled. She'd thank him for his concern later. "I'm great, nothing to worry about. Just got some shopping done, is all."

"Will you like to go straight up to your room now or you want me to take you down to where the guys are doing their thing so JC can see that you're here with his own eyes?"

Liz giggled. "Uh, just tell JC that I'm okay and to meet me up in our room as soon as he can when the meet n greet is done. Please," she smiled up at Lonnie.

The body guard looked down at the bag and back at Liz before giving her a wink and nodding. She blushed and slowly hid her hands behind her back. "Will do Lizzie," He dug around in his pocket. "Here," he handed her a room key. "Room 693,"

She took the key and high-fived the man before walking away. "Thanks Lonnie!"

** ** ** **

35 mins. later

"I can do this... I love him... It's about time we did this... I love him... I can do this..." she kept repeating the words over and over to herself as she placed her hands on either side of the sink and looked at herself in the large hotel bathroom mirror. She had been in the same position for the past ten minutes trying to calm herself. As much as she was excited, she couldn't help but fight the urge of throwing up when she looked at her almost naked reflection in the mirror and knew that soon enough, she'd no longer be the same. Physically and emotionally. I mean, here she was in her early twenties with a pop star boyfriend, and she was still a virgin. Well, not for much longer she wasn't. She eyed herself in the mirror once more.

"I love him... I can do this..." Those words would be put to the test six seconds later when she heard the door of the hotel room open then close and she knew only one other person had the key.

Wearing nothing but a black, lacey, bikini-like piece of lingerie, Liz couldn't help but feel her pores raise and body stiffen when she heard a familiar voice call out her name.

"Lizzie?" he called out. "Baby you in here?"

"I-I'm in the bathroom Josh," she called out as a response, frantically applying a final coat of gloss and giving her hair the last flip it needed to achieve that perfect volume. "Gimme a minute alright?"

"Okay," he answered, and by the closeness of his voice, she knew he was in the bedroom connected to the bathroom she stood in.

Taking one last breath to soothe her nervousness she grabbed one of his oversized t shirts she had taken out of his suitcase a while ago and threw it over herself so that her body was covered, except for her long, smooth, and bare legs.

"Showtime," she thought as she gave herself one last check in the mirror before unlocking the door and creeping out slowly and silently.

"Jace?" she asked aloud, not seeing him in the room. "Jace?" she asked out, louder this time.

"Hey," he grinned.

Startled, she spun around to look at where the voice had come from. He stood in the doorway of the hotel room, a bottle of water in his hand and a smile on his face.

"Wow," he commented, stepping closer up to her. "You know, I don't think I've ever told you this before but you look smokin' hot in my old t shirts. You should wear'em more often."

She smiled, kissing him sweetly on the lips. "It's more comfortable than those jeans and tank tops I wear all the time so I thought ‘Why not?'"

"Cool," He nodded, kissing her once more before walking over to the dresser and placing the water on top. He looked at his watch. "But uh, babe as great as you look to me right about now I think you should change,"

She frowned. "Why?"

 "There's a cute little restaurant the hotel has downstairs and I thought you'd like to try it for dinner."

Liz shrugged, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around his waist from behind as he tried fixing his hair in the mirror. "I'm not that hungry tonight,"

JC frowned, turning around to look at her. "I thought after all that shopping today and the meet n' greet finishing late and everything you'd be starving. We haven't eaten since this morning when you made breakfast. And the restaurant looks great."

"Why don't we just use room service tonight?" she batted her eyelashes and slowly ran her hands over his clothed chest. She spoke slowly. "We can stay in and order movie and have some fun..."

JC smiled and looked at her. "Well if that's what you want, then okay."

She nodded.

"Are any of the guys coming up here tonight?" she asked innocently.

JC shook his head. "I don't think so. They're all over the place in this hotel so I doubt they'd care what I'm doing..." He winced as he rolled his shoulders and rotated his neck. "Not that I'd want to do much. The back of my neck is killing me. You know, I'm starting to think I have really bad posture when I-"

He stopped talking when she gently pressed her index finger against his lips to silent him.

"Let me help you fix it then." She took his hand and slowly led them over to the bed. "Sit," she commanded, nodding at the bed.

JC did as was asked and took a seat on the edge of the bed. His hands rested in lap. She smiled and ran around to the other side and crept up behind him. She knelt down on the bed and put her hands on either side of his shoulders and started putting pressure on the area as her fingers and palm deliciously but gently dug into his skin through the sweater he wore.

"Feeling any better yet baby?" she asked as she lowered her lips to his ear level. JC had to bite down on his bottom lip to keep from groaning when her tongue came flicked against the very bottom of his ear lobe.

"You should be a masseuse Lizzie," he complimented. "Where'd you learn how to do this?"

She giggled. "Don't worry about that. I'm just glad I can make you feel better,"

"Definitely baby,"

She continued for a few more seconds before she decided to put his little massage on hold. Before JC could ask why she'd stopped, Liz had already moved from her position behind and had crawled up next to him, swinging a leg over his lap so that now she was straddling him and her hands were locked behind his neck.

"You mind if I do it in this position?" she asked with a coy smile.

JC's hands moved over her bare thighs and could feel a stirring already starting to brew in the pit of his stomach. He immediately shook his head ‘no'.

Her hands snaked their way into his hair before moving around behind his neck and around his shoulders. All the while, she was planting kisses in that spot she knew drove him crazy beneath the belt. That spot right underneath the ear in the crook of his neck and she could feel exactly how he felt about it from the way the area she was sitting on, on his denim jeans had drastically gotten a lot more firm.

"Boy I'm glad that you're not a professional masseuse," he murmured, trying hard not to grip his hips too tightly.

"Why's that?"

"'Cause then this way I know I don't have to share this kind of treatment that you're giving me with anyone else."

She giggled, stopping to plant a kiss upon his lips and slowly grind her body against his. As a virgin, she had no idea what she was doing, or if she was doing it right, but by the way she felt the hard bulge in his pants strain against the zip, she had a feeling he was enjoying it. Whatever ‘it' was she was doing...

JC pulled away, his eyes closed and his breathing had become slightly heavier than before. "Shit," he muttered, letting his head fall back a little. "Lizzie what are you-

She cut him off again when she swallowed his words and pushed him to lay on his back, she still on top of him on the comforter.

JC's hands were now holding her from behind her thighs and she pressed her core against the bulge in his pants. She pulled away momentarily as JC tried to catch his breath while he watched her, speechless. She crossed her arms at the bottom of the oversized shirt and pulled it off with ease, throwing it behind her and silently hitting the floor.

So now, here she was, in only a bra and underwear, straddling JC on the bed inside of his hotel room as he just looked up at her, dumbfounded.  She forced herself to maintain the grin on her face when all she really wanted to do was jump off him and run back into the bathroom. But she was in way too deep to turn back around the situation now.

"You like?" she asked him, her hands moving slowly around on his chest and over his shoulders.

"U-Uh... I..." JC stammered, struggling to keep his eyes on hers when the rest of her almost bare body was on top of him. "T-This isn't your usual s-sleeping attire,"

Smirking, she pushed his sweater further up his body and JC just pulled it off, throwing it beside them on the pillows.

JC rolled them over so that now he was on top of her, and started sucking on the flesh of her neck which triggered a series of moans and whimpers from Liz. Remembering that she was the one who had initiated their present situation, she wanted to be in control. She pushed against his shoulders and rolled them back so now she was on top of him. She started rocking slowly against him as he captured her bottom lip between his and started sucking on it. It wasn't until Liz started fumbling around with his belt buckle did JC realize what they were about to do, or in this case, in the midst of doing.

"Lizzie!" he pulled away immediately and she looked up at him, startled.

"What's wrong?"

"W-What're you doing?"

"What does it look like we're doing Josh? I mean if you don't know then..."

JC studied her. "Lizzie, we can't. We just... we can't do this. It's not right."

"What's the matter Jace?" she did her best to speak seductively as she leaned in closer to him. "You don't want to-" She licked his neck. "...Hold me, caress me, give in to me," She sang softly as she quoted his song.

JC groaned quietly, wanting nothing more than to rip the little bit of clothes she had on and pin her to the bed, fucking her in all the ways he knew she'd like. But he knew better than to do that. He knew her too well than to do that.

"No... Baby, we can't."

She pulled away slowly, and looked at him. "You don't want me, do you?" she asked quietly.

He looked at her incredulously and gripped her hips, pressing her down hard onto him so that she could feel the hardness of his manhood straining the crotch of his jeans, threatening to burst open the zip.

"Do you not feel that?" he asked her."Do you not feel how badly I want to do this with you?"

"Then why won't you cooperate with me?" She threw up her hands in exasperation. "I'm here literally throwing myself at you and you're resisting me!"

"Lizzie, what you want us to do right now can only happen once in your lifetime. Don't you want it to be special, you know, when we're married? Right now, I can't do this to you unless I know it's for the right reasons."

"What the fuck are the ‘right reasons' Josh? As far as I'm concerned the only reason I need is that I love you. Is it wrong that I love you now?"

"No! No, no, Liz you're twisting my words."

"Then un-twist them quickly so we can get back to doing what we were doing,"

JC sighed. "What I mean is, is that I know that you've always wanted to wait for marriage and now here you are randomly implying that you've changed your mind all of a sudden? I don't get that part."

"Josh you're killing-"

"I don't care if I'm killing the moment," he rolled his eyes. "What's gotten into you that would just make you want to do this tonight?"

"Is it that you just don't think I'll be good at it so you're avoiding doing it with me?"

"I just told you that that's not the reason! I just want to know what came over you!"

Liz sighed and looked away. Neither of them really bothering to take notice at the fact that they were both halfway naked and she was on him.

JC pulled her down closer to him and slowly rolled them over. "You know that I want to do this..."

"Then why won't you-"

"I know that I want to do this... But I also know that you don't." he told her softly. "I can see it in your eyes Lizzie. You're not ready, no matter how much you try to push yourself. I know you want to wait for a more special moment for us... And I'm fine with that."

"Yea, so you say," she muttered.

JC got up off her and ran a hand through his hair. He sat up straight on the bed and watched as she did the same. "What does that mean?"

"Are you really happy in our relationship Josh? Honestly?"

JC frowned. "What in the hell kind of question is that? You know that I love you Liz. Where's all this coming from?"

"I ran in to someone today," she said quietly. "While I was at the plaza."

"So you ran into someone and that made you question my love for you?"

"The person I ran into told me she knew you Josh. And then she started telling me all sorts of shit about you breaking up with your girlfriends if they don't give you sex and that she's had experience with you and that if I don't give you what you want, you're going to go looking for it from somebody else and-"

JC held up his hands to stop her. "Lizzie, who was this person?"

"I don't know, okay?! I just know that I didn't want to be one of those girlfriends whose boyfriends are unhappy with them because of not giving you what you want and have been so patient for. I felt like I owe it to you somehow because I don't want you think that I don't love you just because we weren't having sex."

"Baby you don't owe me anything," JC said to her, moving closer on the bed to where she sat. "And I don't know who this person is but I don't love you any less just because we haven't consummated our relationship yet and I am so sorry if I gave you that impression."

"You didn't," Liz shook her head. "But what the woman at the store told me... It got me to thinking that you were going to break up with me or that you were going to be unhappy with our relationship if I didn't let you get in my pants at one point."

"Who was this woman is what I'd like to know," JC muttered. "What was the name of the store? Maybe I can get someone to track her down and I can sue her for harassment or something."

Liz giggled. "No, don't do that. But the name of the store was ‘Couture by Shannon' or ‘Shannon's Couture' or something like that. That's one store I won't be going back to that's for sure,"

JC frowned, rubbing his chin. "Couture by Shannon," JC said aloud. "I don't think I know a Shan- Wait a minute,"

"What?"

JC closed his eyes and was tapping his fingers on his knee as he repeated the name to himself in an almost inaudible tone. "Shannon, Shannon, Shannon, Shannon, SHANNON!" he snapped his fingers. "Sharon Stodartson! She owns a clothing store here in Georgia! About your height, brown hair, kind of grey eyes. Really skinny?"

Liz nodded. "Well who is she?"

"God, I dated her for a month or two a few years ago before the time me and Allison were together."

"And the sex part?"

"Well when we were going out, there was one night we were out somewhere, I think it was either at a movie or the food court in the mall or something, when she told me that she was a virgin and didn't intend on having sex with me. I had met Allison a couple days after that and we started talking and what happened was that I ended up breaking up with Shannon because I was more interested in Allison and it just so happened that, well, Allison has a lot more exper-"

"-A slut," Liz concluded bluntly.

"Exactly," JC nodded. "So when she found out that I was with someone who wasn't a virgin and at the time I wasn't a virgin either, I guess she just thought I broke up with her because I wasn't going to get sex from her and I just turned to someone else for it, which is all wrong. But, I guess she still resents me for it."

"Well now I feel stupid," Liz mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

JC took her hand. "I would never make you do anything with me that made you feel uncomfortable Lizzie. You should have talked to me instead of trying to rape me,"

She laughed. "You liked it while it lasted,"

"Oh I definitely liked seeing you in that little number," he winked.

She realized she was still lying there in the lingerie and her face turned red. "Uh..." she forgot she had thrown the t shirt to the floor and JC knew she was a little more exposed in front of him that she was comfortable with at the moment.

"Here," he handed her his sweater that was next to him. "Put this on or I'm going to ‘lose it' if you know what I mean,"

She nodded, thankful as she pulled on the sweater.

"I'm sorry Josh,"

"I can wait Lizzie. You don't even have to worry about that. I can wait for the moment where we both know we're in this forever but right now, it's not what you want, and if it's not fun for you, it isn't going to be much fun for me," he smiled at her. "There is nothing in this world that I want that any girl but you can't give to me, even if you can't give it to me right now."

"I love you Joshua," Liz hugged him.

He kissed the top of her head. "I love you too,"

"One more question, but you don't have to answer it if you don't want to."

"Shoot," JC said, pulling away.

"How many, uh, ‘partners' have you had before you and I got together?" She wasn't sure if it was any of her business to know but she was still curious.

"I'm clean, don't worry," he chuckled. "But uh, before you, I don't know the actual number. I mean, it's not like, forty women or anything like that but I did have the flings and maybe only two one night stands here and there but what I can tell you, is that what I have with you now, is way more than what I had with all of them combined."

"Okay," she responded, satisfied with the answer.

"Did you get your dress for tomorrow?"

She slapped her forehead and gasped. "Dammit, I didn't! Gosh, I was too focused on seducing you tonight that I forgot I was supposed to get something to wear for tomorrow!"

"Come on, there's got to be a couple stores around here somewhere where we can find you something sexy to wear, don't worry about it."

"Still up for that dinner you wanted to have?"

He shrugged. "If you want to, we'll go. I just thought the food would be good."

"Then let's get me a dress real quick and we can try out that restaurant."

JC grinned. "It's a date,"

She smiled. "I'll just go change,"

"Preferably into your own clothes,"

"Shut up," she giggled. "Hey Josh?"

"What?" He laughed, getting of the bed.

"Thank you for being the wonderful way that you are,"

"You got it babe,"

** * ** **

2 months later- October

"He's gonna do it isn't he," Justin grinned.

"He's so gonna do it!" Lance nodded in.

"Dude, he's gonna do it!" Chris yelled.

"You don't know fuck," JC muttered, scrambling around his bedroom picking up shirts he had flung onto the floor and rushing over to his dresser to get his keys as well as to give himself the occasional mirror check to ensure that each frosted tip strand of hair stood up and looked presentable.

"Where's my phone?" JC asked, frantically patting his empty jean pockets. "Where the hell is my-"

"Here," Lance tossed him the flip cell phone from across the room. "I was trying to beat your score on that snake game you have,"

JC rolled his eyes and stuffed the phone into his front pocket.

"Dude you didn't even buy the Playboy channel?" Joey asked, disgustedly tossing Justin the remote.

"And you don't even have any food either," Chris remarked. "So it's not even like we can go raid through your fridge and eat anything besides pop-tarts, frozen pizzas and cartons of ice-cream."

"Hey, you guys have your own houses and you all knew that I was busy tonight!" JC defended himself. "So I don't know why the hell you're all here, over at my place."

"We got nothing to do and Orlando's boring," Justin said simply from JC's bed, never taking his eyes off the basketball game that showed on the flat screen on the wall. "And don't worry, tomorrow we're taking over Lance's house and then Joey's before we leave for LA on Thursday."

JC sighed, taking up one of the men's cologne bottles Emma had given him for his birthday and spraying himself with it as he reminded his friends of a few of his rules whenever they were around. "Just don't mess up anything while I'm gone. If you use the bathroom, flush the toilet, if you go in the pool, try not to pee in it, if you do something in the living room, take off your shoes before putting your feet on the coffee table, if you want to heat up something in the microwave, don't burn down my kitchen and if you're staying here in the room, don't go through any of my stuff. Got it?"

"Yes JC," they replied in monotone unison.

"Cool," he kept spraying.

"God, that's enough!" Chris cried out, coughing. "What're you trying to do? Stifle her in the car on her birthday? Shit..."

"I look okay though?" JC asked nervously, holding his arms out at his sides as he faced his friends. "Think she'll like it?"

"I think she already likes you JC so don't worry about it," Lance chuckled.

"I like that black blazer though," Joey complimented. "Where'd you get it?"

"Liz got it for me for my birthday, remember? That and this," he held up his wrist which sported a gold watch with small diamonds along the circumference.

Looking at the watch, JC noticed that the time was 6:43 and he was supposed to pick Liz up at 7 sharp. (He had put in the ‘sharp' part when he told her that he was taking her out). "I'm late," he muttered. His head snapped up and he looked at his friends. Chris and Justin comfortably sitting on his bed watching the TV, Lance on the chair flipping through some book a fan had given to JC and Joey on the floor.

"You guys need to be out of here by eight," JC warned them. "8:15 at the latest. I'm bringing Liz back here so you guys can't be here."

"Yea yea, we'll leave eventually," Justin said. "But you should leave now... Don't want to keep Liz waiting on her birthday,"

JC nodded, giving himself one last look in the mirror. He was satisfied with the black blazer he chose to wear with his white undershirt, specifically because she had given it to him and he went with dark blue, denim jeans and black dress shoes.

"Out by eight," JC reminded them, pointing his finger and turning around. "I'll talk to you guys later," He said to them, walking out the door.

"Hey Jace! Wait!" Chris yelled out.

"What?" JC yelled back, seeing that he was already at the top of the steps.

"You got the ring?"

JC stopped and dipped his hand into the pocket of his blazer, feeling the small box that rested there. A smile crept upon his face as he continued down the stairs. "Got it!"

** ** **

"I forgot how great your ass looks when you wear those jeans," Liz giggled as she watched as JC closed the passenger door for her and walked around the car to get back into the driver's seat.

JC laughed, hearing her comment and he leaned over to kiss her before buckling his seatbelt. "Well  couldn't keep my eyes off your body all through dinner. You in that dress should be a sin by itself," He ran his fingers slowly up her leg but only up to the point where her black dress had cut at her mid thigh. "You looked beautiful tonight baby,"

She smiled, entwining their hands. "Thank you for another great birthday. Dinner was amazing so thank you. But that restaurant seemed really... High class and expensive Josh. You didn't have to do all that and that steak probably cost just as much as-"

"It's your birthday and nothing's too good for my girl so don't even worry about it," JC smiled, interrupting her. "I love that you're having a great night. I am too,"

"I really am," she sighed contently. "But my favorite part of my day was just being able to spend it with the guy I love. The dining out and dressing fancy tonight was all great but the best part is just being with you."

"Well then are you ready to head back to my place?" he asked. "The next event I have planned is over there,"

She laughed. "Josh, you always make such a big deal for my birthday! All these little events you always have planned. You kill me sometimes,"

He leaned back against the leather seat and spoke softly. "Yea, well you kill me every time I look into your eyes,"

"How so?"

"Because whenever I do the scariest feeling comes over me and I'm just overwhelmed by the feeling that comes over me whenever I realize that you're mine. You honestly have no idea how much I love you Liz. And I'm glad I could spend this day and celebrate with you. It means a lot to me that I'm here too,"

She smiled. "That's sweet Jace, thank you. And I love you too baby... So much,"

They finished that little conversation with a wet kiss and JC started up the car to take the route home.

*

"Please tell me they're not here, please tell me they're not here, please tell me they're not here," JC pleaded silently to himself as he pulled into his driveway. He prayed that the guys had left because he knew that if they were still there that there'd be a lot of noise coming from inside the house and he didn't want anything unnecessary to come and ruin the romantic night he and Liz were having. There were no other cars in the driveway and from the outside, it looked as though all the lights were turned off.

"Thank God," he mumbled under his breath in relief.

"What?" Liz asked.

"Oh, nothing, don't worry." He smiled to her, shutting off the engine and getting out of the car. Working quickly, he had gotten around the car to her side to open the door by the time she had just gotten off the seatbelt. He put out his hand to lead her out the car. "At your service my lovely lady,"

She giggled, getting out of the car and letting JC lead the way. But she got a little confused when he started walking along the house toward the back instead of actually entering through the front door.

"Why are we passing through the back baby?" she asked, trying not to fall in the heels she wore as they walked through the grass.

JC shrugged, maintaining the hold on her hand. "It's a beautiful night and I'm with a beautiful birthday girl so how about we just spend some time out here instead of just being locked up in the house?"

"Okay," she agreed.

They got to the backyard and Liz smiled as she watched as the moon's light glistened off the water's surface of the pool and out by the lake. A cool breeze blew by and JC put his arm around her as they kept walking. The smell of both their perfumes along with the smell of the pool and the grass in the midst of the night circulated and mixed in the air. Only the sound of the leaves rustling could be heard and the otherwise dark backyard was illuminated only by the gleam of the moonlight. Well, that, and something else.

Liz gasped softly when she saw that the wooden dock leading out to the lake was decorated with little, dark orange lights that aligned the sides. JC had had them placed there the day before and he hadn't tried them out to see if they'd work until just now. Thankfully, they did and luck seemed to be on his side tonight.

"It's so beautiful out there," she said softly, admiring the pleasant scenery from the distance.

"Then let's go check it out," JC grinned, leading her further out on the property and they walked in comfortable silence straight up to the edge of the dock.

"This really is a beautiful night," Liz nodded as she spoke softly. "It's perfect,"

"Yea, it is," JC murmured, pulling her close to him in a hug and kissing the side of her head. He smiled when he felt her relax against him and rest her head on his shoulder.

"You wanna dance?"

She lifted her head and raised her eyebrows. "There's no music,"

"We don't need music to dance you know," he started moving with her in a slow rhythm as he hummed a random tune that he just kept going along with. If anything, she seemed to liked it.

"You're an incredible man Josh," she told him, looking into his eyes and her nails gently scraping the back of his neck as they kept moving.

"And you're an incredible woman Lizzie," he returned. "No one has ever made me as happy as you have in my life and I mean that. I thank God every single day for making me feel like the luckiest guy in the world just knowing that I have you in my life."

"Yea, well I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I'm in my most favorite place in the world right now,"

"On a boating dock on a breezy Sunday night at your boyfriend's house on your birthday?"

"A lot simpler than that actually," she snuggled her head into the crook of his neck and sighed happily. "In your arms,"

He held her tighter and kissed her dark brown hair against her head. "And I love having you in my arms,"

"I wish this night didn't have to end," she mumbled, her words a little muffled. "I wish I could stay in your arms forever,"

"Would you?" JC asked quietly. She pulled away a little and looked up at him. He continued. "Would you do that? Would you let me hold you in my arms forever? No matter what?"

"Definitely," she said against his lips before kissing him. JC felt his heart race up and he swallowed.

"I can do this... I love her... I want her to be mine... I love her... I can do this..." he repeated the words to himself over and over for a few seconds before placing a few strands of her hair behind her ear.

"Uh," he cleared his throat. "Are you uh, ready for your final present of the night babe?"

A breeze blew by and she shivered, the wind blowing up her dress a little higher up her legs and her hair blowing in different directions. JC was momentarily dumbfounded by the natural beauty she presented in the wake of the moonlight.

"What else is there?"

"Close your eyes and you'll find out," he said.

She did as was told and closed her eyes. JC took a silent but deep breath as he looked at her standing before him and he knew that this was it. This was their moment and it was either now or never for him.

Slowly getting down on his left knee, he pulled out the velvet box from inside the pocket of his blazer and opened it to reveal the engagement ring that was cushioned nicely in the box. The exquisite ring that featured princess cut diamonds radiating from the Ascher shaped centerpiece mounted with 12K of white gold. He only prayed it she'd like it, seeing that he had picked it out by himself.

"Lizzie?" he asked softly.

"What?" she giggled.

"When you feel me take you hand, open your eyes, alright?"

"Alright," she said slowly.

"I love you," he smiled. "And I never want you to have any favorite place in this world besides being in my arms because that's when we're both happiest and I don't want to go a day for the rest of my life not feeling you close to me or holding you close. I love you and I want you to know that I'm willing to spend the rest of my life trying to make you feel for me what I feel for you when I hear your voice or see your face or feel your touch."

He reached for her left hand and she opened her eyes, only to come face to face with the ring that JC held up to her. "Elizabeth..."

Her mouth was slightly open but she managed to respond.

"Yea?" she squeaked.

"Will you marry me?

She studied his face, the ring, then back to his face. "Josh... Oh my God..." she said softly in astonishment."Are you being serious?"

"110% serious," he nodded, his eyes locked onto hers.

She quickly brushed away a tear that had trickled down her cheek and she sniffled. Looking at him for a brief moment and then nodding her head enthusiastically. "Yes," she grinned. "Absolutely yes,"

JC had to take a second to understand that her answer was ‘yes' but when he did, the largest grin spread across his face as he took out the ring and slipped it on to her ring finger. (A perfect fit by the way.)

Getting up from on his knee, he pressed his lips to hers and lifted her off the ground, actually spinning her around quickly before setting her back on the wooden surface.

"I love you so much Lizzie," he said into her ear softly. "And I don't want to spend another moment in my life without you by my side,"

"I love you Josh," She smiled against his shoulder and kissed him passionately before cupping his face in her hands and looking at him. "And I don't want to spend another moment without you by my side either."

"You won't ever have to babe," he promised her. "It's you and me forever,"

She giggled, a few more happy tears falling. "I love you so much, you know that?"

He laughed lightly. "I love you too Lizzie... Forever and always...."

She smiled at him.

"Happy Birthday baby," he kissed her forehead. "I've been carrying around that ring for months now,"

"It's beautiful Josh, thank you," she extended out her hand to admire the diamond then back at him. "It's absolutely perfect,"

"I'm glad you liked it then,"

"I love it... And I love you much, much more..."