So she slept.  Mollie fell into a surprisingly peaceful sleep.  She cleared her mind and focused on trying to wake up with open eyes and a new outlook.  When Justin woke her up hours later, she felt well rested but her stomach was grumbly.  It was dark out now, and they had to be in New Orleans by noon the next day.  The GPS revealed that they were in North Carolina.  It seemed that Justin’s need for speed had put them slightly ahead of schedule so they decided to hit the drive through.  They parked in the parking lot and sat at an outdoor table, eating their burgers.  They chatted about the tour, Justin filling Mollie in on the pranks they enjoyed playing on each other.  Mollie was glad she had a friend in Justin.  He was easy to get along with.

            They finished up their food and Mollie hopped back into the driver’s seat.  The quiet dark night helped her think about the days ahead.  She still wasn’t sure how to proceed when it came to JC but she decided she owed him an explanation.  It was the least she could do, no matter what the outcome.  By the early morning light, she felt confident about heading back to rehearsals.  They were counting down the days now and all Mollie wanted was to get going.  She got tired again around 7:30 and pulled into a donut shop.  She left Justin asleep in the car, probably not her brightest idea as he could’ve been recognized.  She bought some coffee and donuts and the boy was awake at the smell of baked goods.

“Sleep good?” Mollie asked, biting into a chocolate frosted donut. 

“I always sleep the best in a moving vehicle.  Where the hell are we?”

“Alabama.  I was going to keep going but I think I need a quick cat nap before we get back on the grind of dance rehearsals.” 

“It’s cool I can finish up.  How much longer does Tammy say?”  Justin had nicknamed the GPS before he fell asleep.

“Tammy says just over 4 hours but knowing the way you drive, we could probably get there in 3.” 

“Grr…I dri…norm-a-wee,” Justin mumbled through a huge bite of jelly donut.

“Sorry, what?” Mollie giggled as she leaned over and wiped the sugar and jelly off his lips and cheeks. 

“I said,” he answered, having swallowed.  “Girl, I drive normally.  So take your catnap because when you wake up, I’m going to be schooling you on how to drive.”

“Maybe I’ll just stay asleep then.”

            Later that afternoon, almost an hour ahead of schedule, they pulled into the car rental place.  Mollie had arranged to drop off the car at a place right next to the hotel they would be staying at during rehearsals.  Justin ran over to the hotel to grab a cart and they unloaded and met Johnny, the guys’ manager, in the lobby.  They were given the last rooms left as they were the final two to arrive.  When they got up to their floor, Justin was thoroughly amused to find they had adjoining rooms.  Justin was bunking with Chris and Mollie would be bunking with Jaime, an assistant makeup artist.

            The pair were feeling a little cramped up from being in the car for so long so they decided to get cleaned up and head over to the rehearsal space to stretch and limber up before work started.  Mollie felt relieved as the hot water hit her skin and after her shower, she loosely braided her hair.  She threw on some black workout pants, a tank top and a zip front hoodie and headed for the door.  Justin was already in the lobby with his bodyguard Mike and they headed out.

            Mollie couldn’t believe her eyes as they pulled up to the stadium.  It was huge and she couldn’t believe they were using it as practice space. 

“I can bring you two to the dressing rooms, they told me no one sees the stage until you’re all here,” Mike explained. 

“Just a peek?” Justin prodded.

            Mike just shook his head and Mollie laughed as they followed him back to the dressing rooms.  The duo began stretching and decided to rev up their hearts with a lap around the building.  By the time they got back, the other guys were pulling up to the building so Mollie and Justin waited for them.

“Oh look it’s our two little road-trippers,” Joey exclaimed as he walked in, leading the group.  Mollie laughed and sat in her middle split on the floor.

“How was the ride?”  Wade asked.

            Justin launched into a story and Mollie laid her chest flat to the floor.  She reached her arms out as far as they would go in front of her before slowly rolling her body back up.  When she had fully extended her arms over her head, she opened her eyes only to find JC’s staring at her.  She bit her lip and gave him a small smile before looking away.

            JC couldn’t figure her out.  She was sending him mixed signals.  One minute she’s kissing him, the next she’s yelling at him in the parking lot.  Then she decided to stop speaking to him all together, now she was smiling at him and biting her lip.  If her goal was to drive him crazy, she had succeeded.  He kept his cool, however.  He felt like she needed to come to him, he wasn’t the one who’d blown up over nothing.  He stashed his stuff off to one side and did a quick warm-up before following the group out the door and out to the stage.

            The stage was better than they had expected.  They really wanted it to be interactive and for there to be opportunities for everyone in the room to see them.  They had accomplished it but the sheer size was a bit intimidating.  JC knew they were going to get the workout of their lives doing this show but he looked forward to it.  They got right into rehearsals, and set out staging everything.  They were doing three days of run-throughs, working out the kinks and changing things that didn’t work on the big stage and then they would be doing dress rehearsals from then until they headed out for opening night.

            Rehearsals were intense.  They had to work out the whole opening, which as it turned out, only required a small bit of work from the dancers.  Apparently management felt the dancers would distract from the guys if they were in every number and had cut their involvement down significantly.  So after rehearsing the opening, which required the dancers to walk on the main stage to five platforms, then get dropped below the stage to give the illusion of disappearing.  Then they all watched as the guys rehearsed.   Mollie was impressed with their work ethic and how on point they were.  They had few corrections in terms of dance moves but it was a bit harder for them to get used to the big stage.  Mollie kept to herself over in the corner and went over the next few dances she knew were coming up in the set list.   She hadn’t heard anybody call break and was spooked when she heard a voice behind her.

“You’re always working aren’t you?” JC asked, causing Mollie to jump. 

“Just want to keep up,” she answered, letting out a nervous chuckle.

“Moll, I don’t want to be like this anymore,” he admitted.  “We’re avoiding each other, not talking.  We were friends before I kissed you and if you’ve decided you don’t want to go any further than friends, then I’m okay with that…I just want you back in my life.”  Mollie’s heart began to race as he stepped closer to her, slowly closing the gap between them.  “Can we be us again?”

There he went doing that adorable lip biting thing.  Mollie’s mind went hazy and she opened her mouth to speak but couldn’t find the words.  Instead she found herself leaning up to meet his face, which was leaning closer and closer to hers.  The moment their lips met, Mollie felt the electricity flowing through her, the way it had the first time they’d kissed.  Her hand settled on his waist and pulled him closer to her as his cupped the back of her head.  Just when they were really getting into it, they heard someone clear their throat behind them.  Mollie snapped back to reality and covered her face with her hands when she realized that Wade was watching them.

“We kind of need both of you to start up rehearsals again…this is the first number that requires the dancers,” Wade said, clearly amused at their predicament. 

“Right, we’ll be there in a minute,” JC grumbled.

“No it’s fine we’ll be there now.  We can talk later JC,” Mollie said, feeling the blush radiate in her cheeks as she followed Wade back towards the stage.  Luckily, it seemed as though Wade was the only one who saw them.  The rest of the group was on stage, checking out the props that would be used for the number.

            JC took a moment to compose himself before joining the group.  They would be coming out and playing around with toys before breaking into “It’s Gonna Be Me.”  The group fooled around and the music kicked in and the boys broke out in song.  They had to play around with the toys until the second verse.  Everything was going fine, the girls cleared away the toys and the guys sang the second verse on bouncing balls before the girls cleared those away as well.  The girls ran off stage, as if they were doing the costume change that would happen at this point before they heard their cue from Chris.  The girls danced out to their spots, intermingling with the guys. 

It was hard enough to focus after what just transpired but when Wade switched the formation around and now Mollie was dancing between Justin and JC, all bets were off.  The dance required them to dance up on each other, as if they were in a club and even required a choreographed butt smack.  JC didn’t hold back and made sure to pull Mollie right up to him as they danced.  He was going to make her wish she never avoided him.  By the end of rehearsals, the whole group was tired but they had blocked the whole show.  Whether or not they remembered it was another question.

Mollie quickly left, jumping in the van with the other dancers and sneaking away.  She really wanted a shower and to get away from JC, he clouded her judgment, she couldn’t think around him.

“So, you and JC have mad chemistry,” Crystal noted, turning around from the middle seat.  “What’s up with that?” 

“I don’t know,” Mollie mumbled.

“You guys would be cute together.  And I think he’s single…”  Crystal teased. 

“Well, I’m just here to dance.”

“No reason you can’t have some fun out on the road.  I know this is your first tour girl but, we’ve all done it.  You get lonely out on the road, you’re the only people who know what situation you’re in…” 

“Heh, cute.  But I don’t know about that.  I’m not a casual hookup kind of girl.  Besides, I live next door to JC back home and that would make living there a bit awkward.”

“I didn’t know you lived by him, that’s a coincidence,” Diana chimed in from the front seat.  Diana was a bit of a bitch.  “Must have made getting this job pretty easy.” 

“No, actually.  I didn’t know what the audition was for when I went.  The guys didn’t even pick us, Wade did.”

“Mmhmm,” came the disbelief from Diana. 

“Somebody’s just jealous that JC don’t look at them like he looks at Mollie,” Crystal snapped.

Crystal smiled at Mollie, which made her feel slightly better.  Later on that evening, when she was drying her hair, Mollie was thankful that Crystal seemed okay with the idea of Mollie and JC.  Jaime, her roommate, was yapping away about something or other but Mollie’s head was in la-la-land.  Mollie brushed out her now-dry hair and lay back on her bed, content to sleep for the next few twelve hours, but her stomach had other plans.  She was perusing the room service menu when there was a loud and persistent knock on the door that joined her room with Justin and Chris’s.  She rolled her eyes, figuring it was Justin wanting to hang out but was shocked to find JC’s face when she unlocked the door.