“Isn’t this great?” Justin laughed as he plopped onto one of the couches. “Sharing fame and fortune with my best friends, what more could I ask for?”

“There’s definitely nothing better than this.” Chris responded, falling onto the couch in almost the same fashion as Justin.

JC took in the sight of the two men smugly leaning back in their seats. Joey and Lance were in the kitchen cooking dinner for tonight. It was Joey’s turn to cook for the guys and he swore a million times that he’s prepared this particular dish enough for him to not screw it up but Lance lingered to make sure that nothing went wrong.

“Dude, you don’t have to watch me. I won’t poison the food.” Joey tried shooing Lance away.

“Just pretend I’m not here.” Lance leaned against the wall and watched Joey without batting an eye. Joey was preparing Italian Halibut Chowder, a soup that he claimed that he’s mastered way before he joined the band. The last time it was Joey’s turn to cook, Lance got food poisoning. As soon as he found out that Joey was going to be cooking with fish, he did everything he could to make sure that Joey prepared it well enough.

JC joined them in the kitchen after he grew tired of watching Justin and Chris fuss over the remote. “Let’s give him another chance, Lance.” He suggested while patting Lance’s shoulder.

Joey blew a raspberry at Lance. “Thanks, JC. At least SOMEONE believes in me.”

Lance’s face curled in disgust. “Dude, your spit missiles just landed in the food!”

JC laughed as he watched Lance try to snatch the ladle from Joey. “Lemme have it! Give it to me, Joey!” Lance tried as hard as he could but he was no match for the bigger man. In his defeat, Lance slouched out of the kitchen to join Justin and Chris who had finally settled on a channel to watch.

“Let me help you with that, Joe.” JC held out his hand but Joey just looked at him with disappointment.

“Oh man, not you too.” Joey rolled his eyes.

JC couldn’t help but remember that night. Mostly because that was probably one of the nights that he was the most content with his life. The biggest thing he and the boys would worry about was thoroughly checking their food before eating it whenever it was Joey’s turn to cook. He never had to worry about the next day because he knew that he would wake up a member of one of the greatest boy bands of their generation (and probably more generations to come) and continue on with the rest of the day.

He kicked himself for not being prepared for the worst. He was always great at cherishing things in the moment but never thought of his future. He loved his friends, he loved his life; he never found the need to think negatively about how one day, all that bliss would no longer be reality for him.

JC took a long sip from his beer as his mind lingered to other memories.

“This hiatus is for us to try new things in between now and when our next album comes out. That’s what we agreed on, Josh.”

JC pursed his lips at Lance’s remark. Yes, that was what they agreed on. But Justin was acting like he was never going to come back to them and that really messed with JC’s mind. “He makes it seem like he doesn’t need us. What of *NSYNC? What about us?”

This time Joey stepped in, “Well, we had our run and it was glorious. I’m sure our fans will always be there to support us if we ever came back on the scene. Plus, I’m set on marrying Kelly. We already have Briahna and once we marry, I want to be the best husband and father figure I can be for them.”

JC turned to face Joey in disbelief. “You’re okay with this?”

“We all are,” Chris spoke up. “Justin’s really talented and who are we to stop him from achieving something that could change his life for the better? It’s not like he forgot about us.”

“He constantly bashes on his boy band history. What’s that say to you?”

“So you’re saying there’s not one itty-bitty part of you that’s a little blah about us being in a boy band? We always made fun of our boy band title, why is it bothering you now?” Joey chuckled.

“We even called ourselves a vocal group to differentiate us from a boy band.” Lance added.

JC couldn’t believe his ears. It was hard for him to believe that his friends were okay with the idea that their run as *NSYNC was over. He remembered agreeing to take a small break however nowhere in his memories could he recall agreeing to a definite break. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as he let out a deep sigh before looking at the others again.

“So… what now?” JC relented.

The three men looked at each other before answering in unison. “We move on.”

***

JC awoke to the pounding of fists to a door and familiar voices calling out his name. “JC? JC! You there?” He was faced down on the floor with a puddle of his beer next to his arm. Coming back to his senses, JC figured that he had blacked out again although he didn’t remember when exactly it happened.

He stumbled to his feet to open the door. Joey and Chris were both smiling from ear to ear before they leaped forward to hug their friend. “Yeesh, what’s up with you?” Chris surveyed JC after letting go of him.

“Yeah dude, you look homeless.” Joey added.

JC took a moment to look himself up and down. He couldn’t help but agree with Chris so he didn’t even try to defend himself.

Joey’s nose curled up as he stared at an unkempt JC. “Dude… how’ve you been?” He tried hard to not make a statement about his appearance but his face wasn’t helping at all.

“Oh, you know… I’m good.” JC responded softly, rubbing his neck.

There was a long silence afterwards. Joey and Chris’ initial excitement seemed non-existent as they continued to wonder about their friend’s personal hygiene. JC was clearly not taking care of himself; something that they weren’t used to seeing since JC was always the cleanest when they were together.

“I’m gonna go clean up, then. Sorry guys, when are we supposed to be at the rehearsal?”

“In an hour.” Joey replies.

JC turned on his heel and disappeared into one of the hallways as Joey and Chris looked at each other, still unable to register how different JC seemed. Chris picked up the Shock Top bottle on the floor, barely just noticing the wet spot on the carpet. “Shock Top?... His main choice was always Mike’s Hard Lemonade.” A fake laugh escaped his mouth.

Joey took the bottle from Chris and tossed it between his hands. “Yeah, he never was much of a drinker.”

“Alright, let’s go.” JC cleaned up well. He was the most dressed up out of the three of them and it was only for rehearsal. He wore a nice sweater and a pair of Nike sweats. His hair was gelled back and he even shaved. Joey was only wearing an old, baggy shirt and shorts while Chris wore a tank top, a hat, and shorts.

“Right, let’s get outta here.” Joey hid the bottle behind his back while he waited for JC to step out the door first. Once he was certain that JC wouldn’t notice, he tossed the bottle back on the floor where Chris had picked it up.