JC, Chris, and Joey pulled up to an unfamiliar building. On the way there, Chris had explained to him that Justin booked the studio for the next four days for their rehearsal. JC couldn’t help but groan due to the disgust he felt towards Justin. What? Just because he rents out a studio he thinks he’s better than us? We used to do that, JC thought to himself. Joey and Chris tried to ignore JC’s obvious discontent by blaring music for the rest of the ride.
“Hey everyone, long time no see!” Lance waved from the other end of the room. It was a long room with mirrors on one side. It looked more like a warehouse than a studio.
Lance stopped fiddling with the sound system and rushed toward his friends. Joey and Chris welcomed him with open arms and JC couldn’t help but join in on the group hug. Despite everything he felt against them after their unofficial disbanding, he really did miss their company.
“Don’t forget about me, guys!” A familiar voice shouted from the entrance. The quartet let go of each other to see who it was.
JC went stiff as soon as he heard the voice. He didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. Joey, Lance, and Chris all greeted Justin with genuine fervor while JC stood where he was, still refusing to look in Justin’s direction.
“JC, how you doing man?” Justin held out a hand.
The other three watched nervously as they waited for JC to react to Justin’s gesture. JC didn’t have them wait too long as he reached out to shake Justin’s hand. “Just like I said on the phone, I’m alright.”
Justin grinned, taking JC’s response as a sign that everything would be okay for now. He was well aware of JC’s bitterness when he decided to go solo. He could even remember a few times where JC didn’t try to hide his efforts to spite Justin. All that but Justin never held any ill will toward JC.
“Cool, now how about we get started on the routine?” Justin clapped his hands together as he gathered the four men around him.
They listened intently as Justin quickly explained which songs they were to perform and how the corresponding choreography would be. JC tried not to show it but he was really glad they were all back together. Despite his slight annoyance of how Justin was doing all the planning, he couldn’t wait to practice with them again.
“Awesome, so we’re doing a medley of Girlfriend, Gone, Bye Bye Bye, No Strings Attached, and Tearin’ Up My Heart. This is gonna super sick. One Direction would have to take notes!” Chris exclaimed.
“That’s a lot…” Joey whined. His years after *NSYNC didn’t exactly provide him with the opportunities to stay in shape or keep up with the latest dance moves. In his defense, his voice was still as great as ever.
“No worries, Joe. I’ll help you keep up.” Lance patted his best friend’s shoulder.
Joey smirked, “You? When we first became a group, you didn’t even know how to dance!”
“Alright, you two. Let’s do this.” JC was itching to start dancing.
Justin ran toward the sound system and hit play. The first few seconds of Gone sent chills through JC’s body. He hasn’t listened to any of there songs in years and now that he was with them again, he couldn’t help but scream. “Woo! This is what I’m talking about!”
The others were thrown off with JC’s sudden outburst but they didn’t stop to question him. They all danced vigorously as each variation of their songs filled the room. Joey in particular was heaving non-stop but he still pushed through. He watched as the others danced almost effortlessly, making him wish that he did better with keeping himself fit throughout the years.
The adrenaline rushed through JC’s body with every move. He felt like he was on top of the world. Everything was familiar to him again; he didn’t have to worry about failure or how he was going to get through the next day. He had forgotten the feeling of how it was to be in control of his life again.
Finally, their last round of rehearsal came to a halt. At this point, they were all drenched and exhausted. Joey and Chris dropped to the floor, trying to catch their breath while Lance and Justin walked off their fatigue. JC stood still. Just like that, his sense of euphoria was gone.
“Are we really done?” JC asked.
Justin looked at his watched and smirked, “I hope so. It’s nearly midnight.”
“Midnight? Aw man, Kelly’s gonna have my ass for this. I was supposed to watch the kids tonight.” Joey tried to sit up but that resulted in him falling back down on the ground.
“Yeesh, get yourself together man.” Lance held out a hand to pull Joey up.
“One more time.” JC said.
The four looked at him, confused. “What?” They all breathed out.
“We should try this one more time.” JC repeated.
“Aren’t you tired, man?” Chris asked as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.
“We haven’t done this in a while. Don’t you all want to make sure Justin doesn’t get embarrassed?” JC’s eyes threw daggers at Justin.
Justin knew that today was too good to be true. He couldn’t remember a time in the past few years where JC didn’t try to down him whenever they were together.
“I think the guys are tired.” Justin looked at Joey, Chris, and Lance as they stared at him with pleading eyes.
JC clenched his fists. He didn’t want the day to end. “Well, let’s all just have a drink then.”
“Um… JC?” Lance was so quiet it was a surprise that JC even heard him. “If it’s alright with you, I think I’m just gonna head home. Michael’s probably waiting up for me.”
“Yeah, and I have to go see Kelly and the kids.” Joey added.
“Joey’s my ride home.” Chris blurted the moment JC looked at him.
JC didn’t even want to hear Justin’s reasoning for not wanting to spend more time with him. Fine, I don’t need you guys. He thought. “I’ll see you guys.” JC managed to get out through gritted teeth.
The four watched as he stomped out of the studio and into the darkness. “Didn’t he come with you guys?” Lance asked as he directed his question to Chris and Joey. They nodded as they watched the door for JC to come back but after a few moments, they figured that he probably found a cab home.
“He really is different, isn’t he?” Justin was clearly speaking to himself but he said it loud enough for the others to hear.
Chris and Joey looked at each other nervously. They were both trying to decide whether or not they should tell Justin and Lance about JC’s haggard appearance and spilled beer they found when they went to pick him up. Joey let out a sigh before turning to Lance and Justin, “Chris and I found a spilled beer bottle in his living room.”
“He also looked hideous. That was a newly shaved JC you just saw.” Chris added.
“Really? That’s not like him at all.” Lance crossed his arms. “He’s usually really clean and he doesn’t usually drink unless there some sort of occasion.”
“Do you think he’s taken up drinking as a new hobby?” Justin asked, concerned.
“I wouldn’t be surprised. We all know the different hobbies he’s picked up since we went our separate ways.” Joey responded.
Justin rubbed his neck. He couldn’t help but feel guilty about what was happening to JC. He knew leaving the group was a contributory factor to JC’s behavior lately. “I’m sorry, guys…” Justin said.
“For what?” Chris’ head popped out of the towel he was using to wipe his face.
“For leaving you all up in the air like that. For everything.”
Joey walked over to Justin and gave him a playful punch on the arm. “There, that’s what you get.”
Justin appreciated Joey’s attempt at trying to lighten the mood but he couldn’t stop himself from feeling bad.
“Don’t worry about it, man. We’re all good. JC’s the only one that really got hit hard with the break up. I ain’t mad at ya.” Joey explained.
“Me neither.” Lance interjected.
Chris nodded, still trying to wipe off all the sweat from his body.
“If it makes you feel better, I’ll go check on him tomorrow. See what’s up. He just needs a little Joey in his life.”
Justin smiled. “Yeah, that’d be cool.”
“He just needs a little Joey in his life? Man, I thought I was the gay one.” Lance’s laughter was joined by Justin and Chris who were both trying to hold it in from the moment Joey said it.
“Har, har. Very funny.” Joey rolled his eyes. “Let’s go, Chris.”
