Chapter 1

Zoë, sat on the plane lost in thought.  Her heart was racing, they had just made the announcement they’d be landing soon.  She was so excited to see her dear friend.  Besides, seeing him at her parent’s funeral it had been a year or two prior since she’d seen him.  They wrote and spoke on the phone frequently to keep in touch but things were so different now.

Her whole way there all she could think about was all the good times they’d had growing up.  Until, of coarse he went and moved to Florida.  All the stuff their families had done together.  How close they were.  Then her thoughts drifted back to her parents.  She tried to remain focused on the good things.  She was going to see Josh.  She was going to be able to hang out with him and catch up on everything in his life.  But her parents kept creeping back into her thoughts.  How could someone be so sad and so excited at the same time?

When the plane landed and Zoë exited the plane, she made her way through the crowd of people looking for someone holding her name on a sing.  JC, had told her that he wouldn’t be able to pick her up because he had a meeting that afternoon, but that a driver would be there to pick her up and take her back to his house.

She looked and looked and couldn’t see anyone holding a sign with her name.  “Oh great!  Now I’m stuck here in this freakin’ airport, in a totally strange city.” she, thought to herself.  So she pulled her cell phone out to call JC and find out where the hell the driver or whoever was that was supposed to pick her up.

She dialed the number and pressed send and placed the phone up to her ear.  “Who are YOU calling?” a chipper familiar voice came from behind her.

Zoë, turned to see JC standing behind her with a cheesy grin on his face.  “I was calling your ass to find out where my ride was!” she, smiled closing her phone and shoving it back into her pocket.

“Well, I’m right here silly!” JC, said moving closer to her and grabbing her backpack out of her hands and placing it on the floor before pulling her into a hug.

“I thought you had a meeting!” Zoë, scolded as she pulled back from his hug.

JC, shot her an evil grin and raised his eyebrow.  “I lied!”

“I’m glad.  I missed you, Josh!”

“I missed you too!” he, said pulling her in for another tight hug, then let her go and grabbed her backpack off the floor.   “Let’s got get the rest of your bags so we can get out of this place before we make a scene.  Which reminds me!” he, said spinning around.  “Mike, this is my Best Friend Zoë, and Zoë this is my security guy Mike.”

“Nice to meet you Mike!” Zoë, said extending her hand to shake his.

“Pleasure is mine, Zoë.  Now let’s get a move on, before we make a scene like J said.”

The three of them made their way to the baggage claim area, and then out to the limo that was waiting for them.  “A limo, Josh?  Why on earth did you bring a limo to pick me up in?  If you were trying to keep a low profile you’re not doing a very good job!” Zoë, said shaking her head as they walked up to the limo and Mike started loading her bags into the trunk.

“Hey, I wanted to pick you up in style!  I’m sure it’s not every day you get picked up by a celebrity at the airport.” he, joked.

“Oh, I see your head’s blown up on me!  Anyone got a pin so I can pop it!” she, said looking around not really talking to anyone.

“Ha Ha, always the funny one.  Get in the car and shutup.” JC, said gently pushing towards the door.

On the ride back to JC’s house it was pretty silent.  Zoë, was feeling a little out of place it was weird being with JC in the back of a limo.  She just didn’t think of him as a celebrity, he was just Josh to her.  But here he was picking her up from the airport in a limo, with a bodyguard no less.

Tired of the silence and the awkwardness that was creeping over her, Zoë decided to initiate a conversation.  “So what the plan from here?”

“Well, we’re going back to my house, and we’ll get you settle in and go from there.  I know you’re probably tired from your plane ride and everything but the guys were wanting to get together tonight and go clubbin’.  Do you think you’d be up for that?”

“I don’t know.  I’m not really into clubs these days.” Zoë, said looking off out the window.

“Aw, come on.  We’ll have a good time.” he, pouted.  “Besides all the guys wanna see you.  They haven’t seen you in a while.”

Zoë, rolled her eyes at JC’s pore attempt at a pout.  “The guys don’t even know me all like that.  Why do they wanna see me?”

“Zoë, they know you!  You’ve met them!  Besides, I can’t just go out with them and leave you home, so you’ve gotta come with us.”

“I thought this started out as an option.”

“Well, it was until you picked the wrong answer.  Now, it’s no longer and option.  Now it’s a you’re going and that’s it.”  he, said with a nod as if that would set it in stone.

“OK, DAD!” the words slipped from her mouth before she even realized it, but once she did a frown suddenly appeared on her face, and JC noticed right away.

He scooted closer to her on the seat and wrapped his arm around her in a protective hug.  “It’s ok Zo, it’s all gonna be ok.  We’ll go out tonight and have fun.  You need to get your mind off of things!  Besides we haven’t really gotten the chance to party together.” he, said with a wicked smiled, while raising his eyebrows up and down trying to make her smile and take her mind off of things.

Zoë, couldn’t help but laugh at the silly expression on his face.  “OK, I’ll go, since I obviously have no choice!”

“GOOD!  It’s settled then.”

They talked the remaining way to JC’s house about the club they were going to go to.  JC, telling her over and over that she was going to have a blast.  Especially, when she seen Chris and Joey trying to dance.  He was making up all kinds of silly comments about the two trying to keep her in a good spirits about going.

Once, they arrived at his house JC and Mike grabbed her bags from the trunk and carried them into the house and up to what would be her room during her stay there.  Zoë, was amazed by the house.  It was so huge.  Probably three or four of her house back in Maryland put together.  “Why do you need all of this space for just you?” she, asked as they walked through the house.

“Well, it’s not just for me anymore is it?” JC, said back.

“Well, I’m not staying with you forever, and you’ve had this house for a year or two now!  Why this big of a house for just you?”

“For when I have friends and family come stay with me.  It’s good to have extra room.  Besides I always said I wanted a big house, and now I’ve got me a big house!”

“Seems like a waste to me!” Zoë, said as they came to her door.

“Oh, quit your bitchin’ would ya!” JC, laughed, as well did Mike.  “Now, this is your room!” JC, said opening the door.

They walked inside the room, and Zoë’s jaw dropped nearly to the floor.  The room was huge.  It had a large cherry queen sized canopy bed, with matching cherry nightstands on both sides.  Along with matching cherry dresser, and chest drawer.  There was a large cherry desk situated in the corn of the room completely setup with a computer and all the things that went with it.  The room was decorated in mint green and rosy pink colors.  “OH MY GOD!” was the only words she could get to come out of her mouth as she wandered into the room, twirling in a little circle as she took everything in.

“I knew you loved cherry wood, and that your favorite colors were mint green and rose pink.  Mom, actually came down and did all of the decorating.  I figured she’d know more about what a girl would want in her room, so I just told her what you liked and she went to town.  Do you like it?” JC, asked as he walked towards her feeling very proud.  He was more than sure from her expression that she loved it.

“It’s amazing.  But you really didn’t have to do all this.  I’m only going to be staying here for a short while.  A simple bed would have done fine!” she, said still looking around the room in awe.

“Well, I wanted you to be comfortable.  So do you like it?”

“Of coarse I like it Josh!  It’s better than my room back home.  It’s like twice as big as my room back home!  But I feel kinda bad that you went to all this trouble to do all this when I’m only gonna be here for a short while.”

“Well, you don’t have to rush off.  It’s gonna take a couple months for you to save up cash for an apartment and stuff.  So I figured you should at least have something you like.  Besides it wasn’t a lot of trouble.  I hired people to do everything, mom just coordinated it all.”

“Oh yeah that makes me feel better.  I’m sure you spent even more going that route than if you’d of done it yourself!  You’ve gotta add this to my tab!” Zoë, said nodding her head as she looked around.

“Tab?” Mike, questioned.

“She thinks she’s gonna pay me back for all this stuff.” JC, snickered to Mike.

“I don’t think ANYTHING, Joshua Scott Chasez!  I KNOW I’m gonna pay you back!” Zoë, said turning to face the men.

“OK, fine if that’s what you want.  I’ll add it to your tab!” JC, agreed not wanting to argue with her about it, but as soon as she turned her back to him to go further into the room he looked at Mike and gave him an “yeah right” look, and Mike just chuckled to himself.

“Well, you settle in, I’m gonna go make some calls, and I’m sure Mike’s got some errands to run before he has to deal with all of us tonight.” JC, said as he turned to leave the room and then looked at Mike for an answer.

“Yeah, I have a few things to do before I have to baby-sit tonight.” he, joked.

“I’ll be downstairs if you need me!” JC, said as he shut the door behind him.

Zoë, wandered around the room, pulling out the drawers and looking through everything.  She couldn’t believe JC had done all that for her.  Although, she should have suspected it.

Once, she was over the initial shock of the room and had thoroughly investigated the large walk in closet and the adjoining bathroom, she began unpacking.  Putting her clothing away in the closet and dressers.

An hour later JC, noticed that Zoë still hadn’t come down from her room so he decided to go check on her and see if she needed some help unpacking.  He knocked on the door and waited on her to tell him to come in before entering the room.

“Getting situated?” he, asked as he walked towards her bed noticing that the suitcases she had laid out were almost empty.

“Yeah, I’ve about got all my clothes put away.” she, said as she refolded some jeans she’d taken out of a suitcase and placed them in a drawer.

“Anything I can help with?”

“No, I’ve got it.  But thanks!” she, smiled at him.

JC, looked down at one of the suitcases and noticed a large 8 x 10 framed picture.  “Can I?” he, asked before removing it.  Zoë, nodded as she grabbed the final articles of clothing from her suitcase and headed for the closet to hang them up.

JC, looked at the photo.  It was a picture of Zoë and her parents at her High School Graduation.  She was in the middle of her parents and they were all smiling from ear to ear.  JC, couldn’t help but smile at how happy they all looked.  He looked up at Zoë, and his smile turned into a frown as he noticed she didn’t seem to have the bounce in her step that she once did.  Nor that sparkle in her eye that was so evident in the picture with her parents.  He was suddenly overwhelmed with sadness for his best friend.  He had no way of knowing, nor did he want to know how badly she must be hurting inside from losing her parents.

JC, placed the photo back where he got it and made his way to the closet where Zoë was hanging her last shirt.  “So what are you going to wear tonight?” he, asked looking at her hanging clothes.  “I know you’re not gonna wear that frumpy shirt and jeans.  You gotta dress up!”

Zoë, turned and looked at him oddly for a second.  “What do you mean dress up?”

“You know clubbin’ clothes.  You can’t go in with a baggy t-shirt and baggy jeans!”

“And why not?  Afraid I’ll ruin your image or something?” she, sneered.

“NO!  But you gotta dress up.  It’ll be more fun that way!  Let me see what you got!” he, said as he started sorting through her clothes.  “No, No, No, and HELL NO!”

Zoë, glared at him.  “Do you have a problem with my clothes?”

“Well….” he, started but Zoë quickly shoved him in the arm.  “Your clothes are fine, Zo.  If you’re living in the country!” he, laughed.

“You did not just say that!” she, said as she playfully punched him in his arm.

“Well, don’t you ever go out?  I mean you’ve got all these winter clothes in here!  You can’t be wearing all the sweatshirts and flannels and stuff, Zoë!  This is Florida!  You need some new clothes!”

“Well, hello I’ve lived in Maryland all my life!  I have other clothes, I  just don’t know if you’d consider them clubbin’ clothes though.”

“Well, show me what you got!” JC, laughed.

Zoë, let out an exasperated sigh and walked out to the dressers she’d been stuffing things in when he walked in.  She searched through a couple drawers and then pulled out a pair of black slacks.  “See” she, said as she held them up.

“Those are office clothes!” JC, laughed, and then grabbed her by her arm and began to pull her out of the room.  “Come on we’re going shopping!”

“But I gotta finish unpacking!” she, protested.

“You can do that later, come one!  We need to find you something to wear tonight!  I can’t believe you don’t have any clubbin’ clothes.  I know they have clubs in Maryland!” he, sighed.

“JC, you know full well that I’m not into all that stuff.  I mean things are different back there.  We just go in jeans and stuff.  We don’t dress up all flashy.”

JC, stopped dead in his tracks.  “Did you just call me JC?” he, asked looking at her like she was crazy.

“Well, I’m sure that’s what everyone else calls you so I figured I might as well get used to it.  So at least I can keep up with the conversations.” Zoë, shrugged.

“Whatever, come on!” he, said tugging at her arm again.