When they got to the airport and were led out to the plane, Mollie and JC grabbed the last row, claiming they wanted to take a nap and be away from the chatter.  Takeoff was smooth and the pair grabbed a blanket to share when they were passed out.  Everyone else began to talk but JC and Mollie were quiet.  JC took his notebook out and they took turns writing notes back and forth to each other.  It took a more serious turn then Mollie expected, after all they had only known each other for a few months.

JC: You already told me about Nana and your parents…what about exes? 

Mollie: I’ll tell if you tell…just the last one.

JC: Last ex was Bobbie.  She wanted her own entertainment career.  I did everything to help her, used all of my contacts and connections.  In the end I felt like I was way more into the relationship than she was.  There’s only so long you can hang on when you’re not getting what you need back. 

Mollie: Did you love her?

JC: At the time, I thought I did…but after I got over it I realized I couldn’t have loved someone who didn’t love me. 

Mollie: Sure you could have.

JC:  I just know that wasn’t love.  Trust me.  Your turn. 

Mollie:  His name was Michael…not Mike or Mikey, he hated nicknames.  He was a horrible person and I was kind of traumatized by the whole thing.

Mollie stopped writing, unsure of how to explain Michael or if JC wanted to hear the long story of her past.

JC:  Will you tell me?

Mollie:  It’s a long story so…bear with me if I ramble.   Michael and I started dating freshman year of college.  He was really great, he played hockey and he was really smart.  I always felt like he was smarter than me.  Like I would never know everything he knew. 

He started to get angry.  Little things would set him off:  like if I was late meeting him somewhere or he forgot to submit a small homework assignment.  The first time he hit me I think I was just in such shock it didn’t sink it.

JC grabbed her hand to stop her from writing and gave her a look to convey his disbelief.  She shook him off, needing to write it all before she got too upset to finish.

Mollie:  I had been complaining that he hadn’t called me in a few days and he just went off about how I needed to learn my place in his life and next thing I know, he slapped me across the face.  I think I just stared at him with my mouth open and before I could say anything he was hugging me and whispering apologies and reasons.  I just left and went straight to bed, I didn’t want Johanna to see any mark on my face, and I cried. 

In the next few weeks he was so apologetic and he seemed to be less stressed so I just wrote it off as a one-time mistake.  But then he pushed me up against a wall and clenched my arms so tight I had to wear long sleeves for two weeks the bruises were so bad.  Something just kept me hanging on.  I guess I had figured we’d been together so long and all of my friends were starting to get engaged and I felt like if I didn’t stay with Michael, I wouldn’t be doing what I was supposed to do.

He would push me a lot and he punched me twice.  Johanna was starting to get suspicious.  I was wearing more makeup than I usually did, I was quiet, didn’t want to go out ever.  I think she knew but she didn’t want to risk fighting with me about it unless she had obvious proof, and I covered it up so well.  Until one day I never showed up at our dorm room. 

I told her I was going to meet up with Michael at his dorm room to talk about spring break plans.  When I got there he was so mad, it was like he was another person.  He started calling me names and when I tried to leave he grabbed my shoulders and threw me to the ground.  I knocked into the corner of his bed and cut my face open.  That just made him angrier.  He started screaming about getting blood on the floor and kicked me over and over.  When I started crying, he got on top of me and punched me in the mouth to shut me up.  My lip busted open and I couldn’t stop.  He punched me again and hit my eye.  I could feel it swell shut immediately. 

They told me Johanna had gotten worried when it got late and she hadn’t heard from me.  She came over to Michael’s dorm and got the RA to open the door.  They found me passed out and bloody so they got me to the hospital and called the cops. 

The next thing I know, I woke up in a hospital bed.  I was so sore.  He’d broken two ribs and my wrist was broken, nobody knows how that happened.  The police arrested him and I had to go to court and testify against him.  He started screaming at me after I testified and they had to remove him from the court room.  He was screaming “You ruined my life!  You’re a lying bitch, the truth will come out.”

It took me a long time to be able to do anything alone, even though I have a restraining order against him.  Eventually I made it through my senior dance performance with a cast on my wrist and after that I tried to get back to normal.  Then Nana died and I felt like I had nothing left.  So I ran away.

JC: To our secluded paradise.

Mollie: Yup.  And I rescued Boo, who used to have an owner that was like Michael, and I learned that I could be okay by myself and that I didn’t need to be afraid of Michael all of the time.  I’m still nervous sometimes when I’m out and I feel someone looking at me a little too long or I see someone that looks like him. 

I haven’t been with anyone since him and I wasn’t really living my life until Johanna pushed me to start dancing again and I met you.  Now, dancing every day, meeting new people…being treated nicely by a guy…it’s feeling more like the life I should be living.

JC:  I’m glad I met you.  Don’t get freaked out by me saying this but I really have strong feelings for you and I’m so glad you’re coming on this tour so we can get to know each other even better.

Mollie just smiled up at him.  She had tears rolling down her cheeks from reliving her story but she felt relieved that it was out there and she wouldn’t have to explain to JC why she acted certain ways.  He would understand.  JC reached over and wiped her tears with his thumbs.  He laced their hands together under the blanket and Mollie drifted off to sleep.

Lance got up to use the restroom a short time later.  As he walked past the last row, he noticed JC and Mollie, both asleep.  Mollie’s face was red and tear-stained while JC leaned towards her.  Lance was confused by their closeness.  He knew they were friends, probably more so than the guys were than any of the dancers, but still.  There was something intimate about the way they slept.  He glanced down and saw interlocked hands hanging out from beneath the blanket they shared.  Lance smiled, knowingly.  JC had never been very good at hiding things.  Lance pulled the blanket down so it once again covered their hands.  If they wanted to keep secrets, Lance wasn’t about to spoil it.

When the pair woke up, they were on the ground in Orlando.  Everyone wanted to stop home before getting on the bus early the next day.  JC and Mollie hopped in a car meant just for JC after he insisted they share the car, explaining to everyone the funny coincidence of their addresses.   After arriving back at JC’s house, they dragged Mollie’s bags over from her house so they’d be ready to go in the morning.  Then Mollie insisted they head to the supermarket.

“You have absolutely nothing in your fridge!  Or cabinets!  How do you live?”  She opened and closed every cabinet, finding not even one bag of chips. 

“I get takeout.  Molls, I cleaned everything out before we left.  I figured we would just get takeout tonight.  Besides, I can think of plenty of things to do while we wait,” he said, sneaking up behind her and snaking his arms around her waist.

“We're going to be eating take out and restaurant food for the next three months.  Don't you want a home cooked meal?  Something fresh?"  She was borderline whining but she didn't care.  Surviving on fast food for the next few months was going to be rough. 

"If it's that important to you, then fine, you can cook.  But again, I don't have any food here."

"I'll just run to the store really quick.  It's no big deal," she added, slipping her feet back into her sneakers. 

"I'll come with," JC added.  Before he could get up and put his shoes on, he noted the questioning look on her face.  "What?"

"Should we be going out in public together?  I've never dated a famous person before, I don't know the rules." 

"There are no rules, babe.  Nobody ever gives me a second look at the grocery store.  With my hat on, I'm barely recognizable."

"Fine, but you're driving," Mollie said.

She followed him out to the driveway and waited as the garage door opened automatically.  Inside the garage were two cars, one a silver sedan that you could tell was expensive but wasn't too flashy.  The other was a red little sports car, obviously expensive and attention grabbing.  JC walked over to the red one.

"And nobody notices you when you drive this to the grocery store?" Mollie wondered aloud. 

"I usually take the other one but I won't get to drive this for a while and I like it, get in you're gonna love it."

    Mollie did love it.  It was fast and sleek and she could tell why he enjoyed driving it.  She laughed as they pulled into the parking lot and JC shut off the engine.  They wandered around the store for a while, JC grabbing sweets and other junk while Mollie tried to pull together ingredients for a healthy dinner.  It was harder than shopping with a child.  There was a ring from Mollie's phone and she answered it as JC perused the chip selection for the bus ride tomorrow.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mollie, this is Johnny Wright, *Nsync's manager.  I met you at the rehearsals." 

"Hi Johnny, what's up," Mollie asked, stressing the Johnny part in hopes that JC would behave while she was on the phone.

"I was just going over last minute preparations for the tour and noticed that I didn't have a signed contract from you.  I noticed on your try-out forms that you live right by JC, I'm just going to send the guys' bus to come and get you tomorrow instead of the dancer’s bus and we can go over it then.  I just need you to sign it before the show." 

"Oh sure, no problem.  I must have been out of the room when you came to get the contracts signed.  I'll see you tomorrow to look them over."

"Sounds good, bye Mollie."

Mollie hung up the phone and found her boyfriend eating from a bag of pretzels in the cart.  She shook her head at him and they continued on their way.

"So apparently I never signed a contract," Mollie said, relaying her conversation to JC. 

"Oh it's probably no big deal.  Standard stuff, what we're paying you, how long the commitment it and that you can't talk about us to the public or we'll sue the shit out of you."

"What?!" Mollie said, laughing. 

"It's true.  We had someone on the "Strings" tour that went to a tabloid and was selling all kinds of information about us.  So now there's a clause in the contracts that say if you sell stories about us then we fire you and sue you for damages.  I don't know what else is in there but I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.  Now let’s go baby, I’m hungry!”  He leaned down and snuck in a kiss when no one was looking.  They headed to the checkout and headed home.