The alarm was an unpleasant sound the next morning. It screeched quite early, waking the couple from their blissful sleep. JC thought he had a hard time waking up in the morning but he soon found out that his girlfriend had him beat in that area. He managed to get himself up, showered and dressed before she even rolled over. He was supposed to meet the guys in the lobby in fifteen minutes but Mollie needed to be up to go collect Johanna from the airport.
“Babe,” he said, nudging her for the twentieth time. She responded with a groan as she rolled away from him, taking the blanket with her. Her butt peeked out from under the comforter and he bent down, pinching it between his teeth.
“Ow!” She squealed, sitting straight up and rubbing the spot he bit. “Did you just bite my ass?”
“You have to get up or Johanna will kill us both. If that’s what it takes to wake you up then, I gotta do what I gotta do,” he said, hands raised in innocence.
“What time is it?”
“8:00.”
“Shit,” she muttered, “I’d better get moving…but now my ass hurts.”
“Well,” JC said, bending over and placing a kiss on the red spot that had developed. “Now it’s all better. Now get up woman!”
Mollie dragged herself out of bed, happy that she woke up and took a shower last night while JC was sleeping. It saved her a step. She tamed the wild waves that were her hair and put some makeup on. Slipping into jeans and a cute top, she grabbed her purse just in time to walk JC down to the lobby. They found that most of the guys were assembled, they were waiting on Lance. Mollie checked her watch and realized she had to hurry to the airport.
“Here are the keys to the rental. Please be careful with it,” JC lectured.
“Okay, dad. Now kiss me,” she replied, puckering her lips. JC placed a quick kiss on her lips, eliciting gags and dry heaves from the peanut gallery.
“It’s like watching my sister make out with my brother,” Justin said, his face twisted in disgust.
“Nobody’s making out. Did you forget what making out was with Britney being away from you for so long?” Mollie took a jab at Justin who feigned a look of hurt. JC walked Mollie out the door, handing her the keys to the sporty little car he'd rented for their time in Vegas.
"So, Lonnie is coming with you..." JC began.
"NO!" Mollie whined. "No offense Lon," she added, directing her comment to the large man standing beside JC. "Babe, I can't discuss recent events with Jo if Lonnie's hanging in the backseat. Besides, you're not coming so there won't be any mob scene."
"You obviously don't read internet gossip, plus our fans know this charity extravaganza is happening this weekend, they'll be on the lookout for other celebrities coming if for it. But I'll let you go if you want. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Mollie cocked an eyebrow at her boyfriend. Sometimes he could be so protective. She got into the car and headed to the airport, which wasn't too far from the hotel and the arena. When she got out of the car at the airport, she did notice a small crowd gathered by the doors, but she slipped her sunglasses on and thought nothing of it. As she approached, she saw they were all young girls and they all took notice of her arrival. Once she got safely inside the doors of the airport, Mollie smiled to herself. She told him nothing would happen. Taking her sunglasses off, she scanned the board and saw Johanna's flight had landed already. She looked around, standing on her tippy toes to see over tall people and spotted her friend's dark head of hair running towards her. Mollie met her halfway and the two practically jumped into each other’s arms.
“I can’t believe you’re here, I’m so excited!” Mollie practically screamed.
“Me too! You look so different,” Johanna replied, stepping back to examine her friend. “I leave you for a few weeks and you become a woman.”
“Shut up, Jo.”
“You do look different though Moll. I’m happy for you.”
“Let’s break up this Lifetime moment before I cry. We have to get going so we have time to stop at the hotel before the events start.”
The girls walked arm and arm out the doors and were immediately swarmed by the group of girls who Mollie spotted on her way in. They were talking so loudly and snapping photos. Mollie was shocked and was sure they were confusing them for someone else. Mollie smiled politely and held Johanna’s arm tighter as they made their way to the car. The girls slipped into the car and Mollie managed to back out and leave the parking lot quickly.
“What the hell was that?”
“JC was right,” Mollie grumbled. “He said that people have picked up on the fact that we’re together. I didn’t believe him.”
“Jeez, who cares about you walking out of the airport?” Johanna joked.
“Can you believe he wanted me to bring one of the security guards? Please don’t tell him it was as bad as it was. I don’t want him to win the argument.”
“I don’t know, having a big bad security guard would’ve made me feel pretty badass.”
It didn’t take long for them to get to the hotel. Mollie got Johanna on the same floor as them and they headed straight for it so she could drop off her bags. When they opened the door, they found a bouquet of flowers waiting for Johanna.
“Johanna- welcome to Vegas! -JC and the guys,” she read. Looking up at Mollie she continued, “Is he serious?”
“You make it so hard for him! He’s trying to win you over too! It’s not like I have parents to impress, there’s just you,” Mollie said. “And he thinks now that he’s de-virginized me, that you’d dislike him even more.”
“Well, it’s kind of funny to see him squirm,” Johanna mused, dropping her bags and following Mollie out the door.
“Promise me you’ll be nice this weekend. I love him,” Mollie said.
“I’ll try.”
When they got to the arena, it was packed. As they walked towards the entrance, Mollie slipped her all access pass around her neck and handed one to Johanna. They slipped in a side entrance and found Lonnie who led them backstage. Johanna kept slapping Mollie’s arms every time they passed a celebrity. She was glad her friend was so excited but she was happier when she saw her boyfriend again, in a locker room chatting with a man she didn’t recognize. She stood off to one side of the room, not wanting to interrupt and after a minute or two he caught her eye. He excused himself from his conversation and made his way towards her. He slipped a kiss on her cheek before pulling Johanna into a hug.
He introduced them around, much to the delight of Johanna who found herself flirting with a rapper off in a corner. JC pulled his girl out into the hallway, stealing some alone time before the madness began.
“Is it strange that you’ve only been away from me for two hours and I missed you?” he muttered between light kisses on her jawline.
“If it is then we’re both strange,” she replied, pressing her lips to his. “Listen babe, I was thinking I’d bunk with Jo tonight.” JC let out a groan. “We’ve got some catching up to do and besides, isn’t there some rule about no sex before a big game?”
“That would matter if I was a professional athlete…which I’m not.”
“Baby. You have me all day every day. You can spare one night,” she reasoned.
“It’ll be a rough night but I’ll try.”
“It’ll just make the victory sex that much better,” she purred against his lips, her tongue darting out to lick them.
“Break it up! This is a family event!”
Lance’s deep voice spooked Mollie and she pulled back laughing. She found Johanna and the pair bid the boys adieu, going to find their seats in the arena. They watched on in amusement as the boys and all of these big name celebrities went through a bunch of silly challenges. It was nice to see the guys let their hair down in front of the fans. It gave the fans a glimpse at what she got to see every day. She knew they were exhausted from the schedule on the road but they never let it show.
Their personalities shined even more off stage. Joey was the big goof, willing to make a fool out of himself for a laugh. Lance was kind of shy but good natured about everything. Chris was…well crazy and Justin was the showman. JC was more reserved, joining in the fun but not hogging the spotlight. They were really great with their fans too. Mollie didn’t usually get to see them with their fans. The dancers were in hair and makeup while the guys did meet and greets so that when the guys were done, they could get ready right away. It was nice to see them hugging the kids and waving to everyone.
By the end of the event, Mollie and Johanna were crying from laughing so hard. They sat in their seats as the audience cleared out, many stopping to sneak in a picture with their favorite celebrity. When most everyone was gone, they made their way down to the floor. The Nsync guys were thanking the other celebs and saying goodbye until all that was left was them, Britney, Johanna and Mollie.
“So, ladies. We’ve decided, since so many of us have friends and significant others here this weekend and because we’re usually too busy on tour to actually hang out with each other, tonight we’d have a family dinner,” Justin announced, looking around for reactions. “We’ve already set it up with the hotel, so everyone go get cleaned up and looking sharp.”
The group chatted amongst themselves as they got ready to leave. Lance wandered over to where they stood and joined their conversation.
“Johanna,” Lance started, “May I escort you to family dinner this evening?”
“Are you just asking me because we’re the only two single people here?” Johanna asked, earning herself an elbow to the ribs from Mollie.
“Well…yeah, but I like you, we get along so why not right?”
“Alright then Mr. Bass, it’s a date.”
“Now if you’ll excuse us gentlemen, we have got to go get ready. You’ll pick us up at Johanna’s room at seven,” Mollie said, looping her arm through her friends and leading her out to the car.
After a pit stop in Mollie’s room to grab a few things, the girls headed to Johanna’s. After they showered, they helped each other do their hair before separating to do their makeup. Johanna carefully applied her makeup in the bathroom mirror, while Mollie sat on the floor in front of the mirrored closet doors.
“This reminds me of prom night,” Mollie said, breaking the silence that had fallen over them.
“When we got ready at your house? That ended up being the worst night ever!”
“I know, right?! At least we’ve seriously upgraded our dates. I think JC and Lance are way better than Andrew and Steve.”
“Oh my god!” Johanna exclaimed. “They were such nerds, I don’t know why we didn’t just go by ourselves. We would have had so much more fun.”
“Yeah we would have,” Mollie said, putting away her makeup and standing up to get dressed. She slipped on her dress, a purple chiffon number with a sweet heart top and floaty skirt, and headed over to check on Johanna. “Can I just say I’m glad I actually have boobs to fill out my dress now?”
Johanna let out a belly laugh, remembering how awkward they looked in high school. She admired her friend for figuring out her life and putting it back on track after everything she’d been through and she felt like seeing her today with her new friends and boyfriend really ignited something within her.
“I think I want to quit my job.” It came out in one breath, just tumbling out of her mouth. Johanna didn’t intend to tell her friend like this but here it was.
“Where did that come from?” Mollie was shocked at her friend’s admission.
“I’ve been really unhappy lately Molls. After everything went south with Mark, I realized that after you left, I focused on him and without him, all I have in New York is this job I hate. After seeing you blossom from when you first auditioned to the show in Jersey to now, I realized you’re living your dream,” Johanna explained. “And I’m so proud of you for that. I know how hard it was for you to get back to yourself after everything. I just feel like I’m in a rut and I want what you have. I want to love my job. I want to find love. I just want more than what I’m doing now.”
“Do it.”
“What?” Johanna was surprised by her reaction.
“Do it. This tour and meeting JC, getting the opportunities I’ve gotten…it’s made me realize the time I was wasting being sad about Michael and Grams. At some point you either sink into your depression or you escape from it and that’s what I did by getting this job. And it’s turned into more than I could have ever hoped,” Mollie answered. She sighed. “I don’t want you to let your life pass you by like I did. I want you to take your life and put it in whatever direction you want it to go…and if that means you take time off to figure it out, then so be it. I’ve got a house and some money saved, thanks to Grams. You can come live with me.”
“Well someone has had a revelation. Thank you for the offer. Let me start with telling my dad first.”
“Oooohhh…Papa Ramos won’t be too happy about this. Hopefully Mama Ramos can rein him in?” Mollie mused.
“Let’s hope so.”
