Chapter 10

~~~~~~~ The Next Day May 25, 2000~~~~~~~~

Madison slowly came awake to the sound of knocking. She wanted to ignore it and stay in the comfortable position she was in. She was curled up with a warm, firm pressure against her back. A familiar smell surrounded her and she inhaled deeply and sighed. When the knocking on the door continued, Madison startled awake completely at the realization that she wasnÕt in bed alone. She looked down at the strong male arms that enclosed her body and turned herself within his arms.

ÒJC,Ó she questioned him softly trying not to startle him awake. ÒJC, wake up.Ó He mumbled something unrecognizable and pulled her closer to him. He nuzzled her neck and lightly pressed a kiss to it causing her to giggle in response. JCÕs lips proceeded to move from her neck upwards to her lips, gently teasing her own with his. He lightly took her bottom lip within his lips and nibbled it, resulting in a gasp escaping her lips. He took advantage of the moment and slid his tongue into her mouth to deepen the kiss. MadisonÕs arms moved around his neck. JC took this for encouragement and tipped her body back so that he was now lying fully on top of her. He gripped her hips in his hands and pulled her legs to wrap around him. Madison moaned in response and her eyes opened to look at him. When she realized he was still half asleep she gasped his name, ÒJC!Ó

JC moaned ÒMadisonÓ still in his sleep and continued rubbing his body along hers. Nice to know she still turned him on in his sleep, and that he wasnÕt fantasizing about someone else that was more glamorous than her. The banging on the door continued waking Lauren.

ÒUgh! Who the heck is at the door,Ó Lauren mumbled and glanced at the clock on the side table next to her, Òat 7 oÕclock in the morning.Ó Madison started at the sound of her friendÕs voice, sleeping in the next bed. Madison tried to push JC off of her, since this was not something she wanted to do when they werenÕt alone.

ÒCan you check Lauren? IÕm a little stuck at the moment,Ó Madison questioned from her position underneath JC, trying to wiggle her body free.

ÒYeah,Ó Lauren sighed. ÒI got it.Ó She walked over to the door and pried it open a few inches. ÒWhat do you want? ItÕs only 7 in the morning.Ó

ÒHave you seen JC? He didnÕt come back to the room last night, and weÕre supposed to leave for a radio interview in less than 30 minutes,Ó Justin questioned from his position at the door, ÒJohnnyÕs going to flip if heÕs not ready to go.Ó Instead of answering Lauren held the door open for him and allowed him to pass, before shutting it and flopping back down on her bed. Justin walked further into the room, and saw JC passed out in the other bed.

ÒC man, wake up! WeÕve got to go in less than 30 minutes,Ó Justin explained to the sleeping man. He received no response, until Madison popped her head up from beneath him.

ÒA little help here Justin,Ó she sighed. Justin walked over to the bed and chuckled when he saw MadisonÕs small frame encompassed by JC. Justin pushed JC slightly to the side allowing MadisonÕs body to slide free, but resulting in groaned Ògo awayÓ from JC.

ÒOh the positions you two get into,Ó Justin chuckled briefly, before Madison whacked him in the arm. ÒFine, fineÉ JC dude wake up,Ó Justin urged poking him in the back. JC just swatted the younger man away. Justin huffed, ÒJC if you donÕt wake up, JohnnyÕs gonna call it quits for Maddy and you.Ó JC sat up too quickly in the bed and wound up falling on his ass on the floor. Madison let out a little giggle, which quickly captured JCÕs attention.

ÒShit! I wasnÕt supposed to fall asleep,Ó he mumbled between his hands as he let his body fall back against the floor.

ÒWell, you still might have a shot at no one finding out if you get your ass up off that floor and get changedÉ You have about 20 minutes left before we have to leave for the interview,Ó Justin advised him.

JC sprang up from the floor quickly. ÒIÕll see you later baby. Sorry to leave like this, but I got to go.Ó He pressed a quick kiss against MadisonÕs lips and she gave him a soft smile and a shake of her head before pushing him towards the door.Ó

ÒSee ya baby doll,Ó Justin called to her following after JC. ÒTell Lauren I said bye,Ó he received a quick wave from Lauren in response.

When the guys were out the door, Lauren mumbled to Madison that she took a picture for her and it was in her camera. Madison picked up the camera from the side table between them and clicked play to view the recent pictures she smiled at the picture Lauren captured. It was definitely a picture she wanted to keep, and so she quickly hooked the camera up to her laptop to download it into her personal files, in case it got deleted from the camera. She closed everything up and lay back on her own bed again sighing to herself, before nodding off back to sleep.

~~~~~~ Later that day ~~~~~~~

ÒJC may I have a word with you,Ó Johnny pulled the young man aside backstage before NSYNC went up for their sound check. They had just returned from their radio interview moments before.

ÒSure, I actually needed to talk with you as well.Ó JC followed his manager into a small room that was set as a temporary office while they were on tour.

ÒJC whatÕs this I hear about you sneaking out of MadisonÕs room first thing in the morning wearing the same clothes you were last night,Ó Johnny questioned him with a sigh. ÒI thought we had an agreement.Ó

ÒIt was actually an accidentÉ I didnÕt intend to fall asleepÉ It just happenedÉ Johnny, we canÕt do this, Madison and IÉ We want to talk to JIVEÉ We donÕt want this to turn into another Justin/Britney fiascoÉ SheÕs already getting torn apart by some of our crazier fans, because they donÕt know what she is to meÉ When we switched to JIVE we werenÕt supposed to be so micromanaged anymoreÉ My personal life should be my personal lifeÉ I think things would be better off all around if we were just up front about our relationship with our fansÉÓ

ÒJC, I know what your saying and I do agree that it would make things easier for everyone around, but what if this has the opposite effect than youÕre expectingÉ What if instead of embracing her as your girlfriend, they turn against her.Ó Johnny tried reasoning with him.

ÒJohnny, itÕs a chance weÕre both willing to takeÉ ItÕs better than all the suppositionsÉ Is she with Justin? Is she with JC? Is she with both? And if some fans have a hard time dealing with the fact that IÕm not single, well than I guess they werenÕt really fans in the first placeÉ I true fan would want me to be happy,Ó JC emphatically added.

ÒOk JC if this is really what you both wantÉ I will have a talk with some of the executives and see what they have to sayÉ ThatÕs the best I can do right now, but until we here back from them you both need to be more carefulÉ There are eyes everywhere around hereÉ Now head on back out to the sound check and IÕll talk to you later,Ó Johnny ushered the young man out the door and then went to make that important call to JIVE.

~~~~~~~ Allure (Back at the Hotel) ~~~~~~~

The girls were all huddled up inside Lauren and MadisonÕs room hanging out and waiting until it was time to head over to sound check. They had a fairly free day today, one of very few. They were taking that small amount of time to paint each otherÕs nails and chat.

ÒI canÕt wait until we head up to New YorkÉ When weÕre there weÕll be meeting up with Rolling Stone magazine to be featured in an up coming issueÉÓ Maria sighed.

ÒI knowÉ You know youÕve made it when youÕre on the cover of Rolling Stone,Ó Tiffany giggled. ÒSo Maddy, I heard JC slept over last night,Ó she sent a smirk to Maria.

ÒUmm yeahÉÓ

ÒSo how was he?Ó Maria urged.

ÒWhat do you mean how was he,Ó Madison looked over at the other girls in confusion.

ÒYou knowÉÓ Kimberly giggled. A deep blush stole over MadisonÕs cheeks when the realization of what they asked her clicked in her brain.

ÒWe uhhÉ We havenÕt done that yet,Ó she replied.

ÒAre you serious?Ó Maria and Tiffany asked at the same time.

ÒWell, weÕve only been dating for about 3 monthsÉ And itÕs not like we get to see each other as often as a regular coupleÉ WeÕre taking things slow, getting to know one another, before we take that stepÉÓ

ÒHmpfÉÓ Tiffany replied. ÒWell if it was me I would have jumped on that right awayÉ Why waste timeÉ Damn with the way he movesÉ HeÕs got to be good in bed.Ó

MadisonÕs blush crept over her cheeks again, ÒwellÉ IÕm not you am I,Ó she replied sarcastically. ÒCan we move onto another topic please?Ó

ÒSo whatÕs going on with you and Justin,Ó Kimberly questioned out of curiosity. Madison and Justin seemed to be really close, and everyone picked up on it, but they didnÕt understand it.

ÒHeÕs like a big brother to me,Ó Madison shrugged. ÒItÕs a love/hate thingÉ He drives me crazy sometimes, but I really care about himÉ HeÕs a great guyÉÓ

The girls continued on talking about random things, until it was time for them to pack up their bags and prepare for their meet and greet and sound check. Tickets had been given away during NSYNCÕs radio interview earlier that morning. They had to make sure everything was ready to go, because they wouldnÕt be returning to the hotel after the show tonight. They were heading straight for the next city on the tour with a day off before the concert the next day.