“Damn, I don’t get how they make this seem like such a great thing in the movies,” Joey said as we struggled to find the slightest twinkle in the blank sky. “There’s no stars out here, can you believe that?”

I laughed at his frustration. “Well, that stuff in the movies are probably just camera tricks. Or… you know, they probably go somewhere where there’s few city lights around.”

“But we’re so high up.” We were at the top of a cliff he and I used to always hike up when we were younger. Since he was at rehearsal all day, we ended up driving my truck all the way up and lay in the back to look for stars. It was always on our bucket list but obviously, it wasn’t going too well.

It was nice having this time with him. Ever since he joined NSYNC, our only form of communication was two-minute phone calls if we were lucky enough to have that much time. But he was leaving tomorrow for their tour so we tried to milk out every minute of his free time while he was in town. I really missed him. I was just hoping that my untold feelings for him weren’t going to get the best of me and ruin the night.

“Not much has changed about this place, huh?” Joey said, struggling to sit up. “It’s still as quiet as ever.” The sound of his voice started to die out as he scanned the area. Then he smiled, realizing that the only two people around was us. His smile always made me stop breathing so I looked away before risking any chance of me passing out.

I sat up too. “Yeah, the only thing that’s changed is you. You’ve kind of let yourself go, mister. Shouldn’t all that rehearsal be burning some fat?” I put my hand on his stomach and gave it a little pat. He’s gotten a little porky since he left.

Joey frowned and pushed my hand away. “When you’ve got money, why not spend it on endless amounts of food?” He grunted.

It was quiet for the next few minutes as we stared out into the town. Little lights that we had pegged as cars were zooming around. The wind started to pick up so Joey grabbed some blankets behind us and handed one to me. He continued to stare at me as I wrapped myself up in the blanket.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing, I’m just going to miss you.” He broke his stare.

I felt a sudden heaviness in my chest. “Yeah… I’m going to miss you too.”

There was something that was suddenly different about him. His eyebrows furrowed and his head drooped. Then he started untying his shoelaces only to tie them up again.

I was starting to get a little nervous so I had to ask, “Are you okay?”

“I… I don’t know, actually.” He sighed.

“What is it, Joey?”

“Hannah and I broke up.”

“Isn’t she one of those groupies?”

He looked at me distastefully, “So what if she’s a groupie? She WAS a groupie.”

“Damn it, sorry. You know me, sometimes I don’t have a sensor.” I tried to shrug it off, hoping that he’d still open up to me. “Can I ask why?”

“Alright, that’s where I’m not sure if I should tell you. I don’t even know why I even brought this up.”

“Maybe… it’s because you’re extremely bothered and the only way for you to relax is to express it to your best friend in the whole wide world?” I said while giving him a huge smile and puppy dog eyes.

“Ew, don’t do that.” He laughed.

“At least I got you to laugh. But seriously, what’s up?”

“Uh.. there’s…” Joey stopped talking and looked at me again. His brown eyes were intense yet pleading, at the same time. It was almost as if it was hurting him to talk about it. His gaze sent shivers down my back. “There’s a third party involved. I couldn’t help it.”

I gasped and smacked his shoulder. “Joey, how could you?! I can’t believe you would cheat on her!”

“I never said that I cheated on her!” He whined while rubbing his shoulder, “But I might as well have.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t stop thinking about her.”

“Hannah?”

“No, dumbass. The other girl. You know, for a bartender, you really suck at listening to people. Aren’t heartbroken wash-ups your number one customers?” He was starting to get a little annoyed.

It took a while for me to say anything else. First, I had to get my act together so I could stop saying stupid shit. “Oh… sorry. So uh.. she must really be something, huh?”

He let out a heavy breath, “Sorry Mae, I’m just being a little heartbroken wash-up. But yeah, I guess she is.”

“She’s obviously somewhat of a something enough for you to break up with her.” I kind of wanted to stop talking about it because once again, the great Joey Fatone had his eyes on a girl who wasn’t me.

“She’s great. She’s really great.”

Now I was getting annoyed. “Come on, Joey. If you want this conversation to get somewhere, then you’re going to have to give me more than that. What does she look like? Where’d you meet her? Is she nice? Is she even AWARE of these feelings you have for her?”

“Shoulder length, dark hair but you can’t tell that it’s shoulder length just by looking at her; I met her near an alley; She’s nice, but kind of an airhead; And no, she doesn’t know I have feelings for her.” He answered all of my questions in a manner that made it seem like he had said it a million times before.

“Near an alley… that seems a little… red-flaggish, don’t you think?”

“Not really.” He shrugged. I was expecting him to laugh but he continued to look at me intensely.

“Okay, what is it that you like about her?”

“She’s lots of fun to be with. I don’t have to be Joey of NSYNC when I’m with her. I can just be Joey. She knows a lot about me, if not everything and I know just as much about her. She never has to know where I’m at 24/7 and she doesn’t make me choose between her or my job. I don’t always have to make time for her because we both know that when we do get together, it makes up for all the other lost chances.” He continued to look at me but he was smiling this time.

Suddenly, I realized something that caused my stomach to churn. I looked away and out into the town. Everything sounded familiar but I didn’t want to jump to conclusions so I had to ask one more thing, “Joey… what does she do? What’s her job?”

I didn’t look at him but I saw him freeze in the corner of my eye. He moved around a little and then finally decided to lay back down. He didn’t say anything for a few minutes and I stayed sitting because I was too scared to lay down with him.

Then he finally spoke, “She’s um… a tender.”

My heart was beating faster. “A tender of what?”

“Of bars.” He said languidly.

I froze and I felt my face flush. Oh geez, is he really telling me that I was the reason why he broke up with his girlfriend? The girl that he can’t stop thinking about? The girl that he might as well have cheated on Hannah with? The ‘great. She’s really great,’ girl? I’ve had feelings for him for such a long time that I never imagined he would ever feel the same way. I couldn’t believe it.

I took a few more moments to process things and piece all the information he gave me together. I laid down next to him and stared at the sky. I could feel him looking at me again. He was waiting for a response.

“My hair is shoulder length, but you wouldn’t be able to tell when you first look at me because my hair is always tied up. We met when we were 11 and I had fallen off my bike near the alley by the school and you were there to help me get up. I’m nice, but kind of an airhead. Before right now… I never knew you felt this way. Joey… is it me?” I didn’t want to look at him because I knew that if I did, I would probably start crying.

He held my hand and his touch sent a current of electricity throughout my body. And he spoke, “Yes.”

I looked at him as I started to tear up. “Guess what?” I asked, while our fingers intertwined.

“What?”

“I feel the same way too.” I said, smiling.

He smiled and my breath was taken away once more. “Good.” He mumbled before leaning over and kissing me on the forehead.

I looked back up at the empty sky, “Tonight would have been more perfect if we could at least see one star.” I said.

He laughed and pulled me closer to him. "You're the only star I need tonight."