“Y’all heard from JC lately?” Lance looked over at Chris and Joey while he was preparing their lunches.

Chris shook his head while Joey stared blankly at the table. He couldn’t help but shake the feeling that JC was at home drinking himself to death. He also wasn’t sure whether or not he should express his concerns with the others, knowing it was probably not his place. Something in the back of his mind kept him from saying anything to the others the night JC stormed off from the after party. Joey had attributed JC’s attitude to an upset stomach when everyone asked where he’d ran off to.

“Alright here’s your sandwiches my brothers, dig in.” Lance placed each man’s respective sandwiches on the table in front of them and while Chris immediately took a bite out of his, Joey continued to sit without even looking at the food.

“Helloooooo?” Chris snapped his fingers in Joey’s face, catching his attention.

“What?” Joey asked, annoyed.

“Are you alright? Aren’t you hungry?” Chris said in between bites.

“What’s wrong?” Lance added.

Joey bit his lip, thinking if he should spill the contents of his brain to the others. Why the hell not? He thought. “I’m just worried about JC.” He turned to Chris after addressing Lance. “Do you remember when we went to pick him up for rehearsals and he was all crazy looking?

Chris swallowed the contents in his mouth before nodding. “Ah yes, caveman JC. What of it?”

“Well, I went back to his place to check on him. I found out that he doesn’t eat much and the only liquids in his diet are alcoholic. He was also really defensive when I tried to get him to cut down on the drinks.” Joey explained. A part of him was still debating whether or not to mention JC’s disorientation that night.

The other two men just blinked, unsure of what to think of Joey’s confession. Chris nervously took another bite of his sandwich and then proceeded to slouch onto the table. A few moments passed by for them to let the details sink in.

“So you think he’s been drinking these past few days? That doesn’t sound like him.” Lance raised an eyebrow. He couldn’t even picture JC with a bottle in his hand. The JC he knew was as clean as a whistle.

“You’d be surprised, dude.” Chris finished off his sandwich and licked some sauce off his fingers. “What do we do now?”

Joey’s lips pursed while he took a moment to think things through. He knew for sure that JC would kick him out if he showed up at his place again only to lecture him about his drinking habits. “Let’s go see how our old friend’s doing.” Joey eyed Chris and Lance who seemed to have been thinking the same thing Joey stated out loud.

Lance grabbed his keys and headed toward the door while the other two followed suit. “We’ll take my car.”

***

“Damn it!” JC yelled as he spilled vodka onto the carpet. His frustrations with the other night’s bad luck came rushing back to him. He gritted his teeth as he reached for another glass to pour more vodka.

His thoughts cursed Justin. Every time he thought of why he wasn’t getting anywhere in his life, he always came to the conclusion that it was all Justin’s fault. From NSYNC’s disbanding to the other night’s failure to network, it was all Justin’s doing.

Justin cut their performance in half at the last minute. He was almost sure that Justin did it on purpose. They were all promised a lengthy performance – even worked their asses off – only to be told that everything they’ve lost sleep over for the weeks leading up to the VMA’s was “too long,” and had to be reduced. JC blamed the cut for being the reason why he couldn’t talk anyone into working with him. His stage time was too short and he reasoned with himself that no one got the chance to see that he still had what it took to be in the business.

The pain started to shoot up and down his left side again but he ignored it. JC downed a couple shots before deciding that the glass was no longer necessary. He gripped the bottle in his hand as he made his way into the living room, grabbing the remote but never turning on the TV. He leaned back into the couch and let out a sigh as he closed his eyes.

It wasn’t too long before he heard a knock on the door. He stayed in his current position, hoping that whoever it was would just leave if he didn’t answer the door. A few seconds went by before another knock came… and another… and then another.

“Fuck,” he groaned as he got up. He looked through the peep hole and cursed some more while trumping the urge to just walk away and not let them in.

“Hey, buddy!” Chris walked in and gave JC a big hug. He scrunched his nose when he got a whiff of JC’s smell. He smelled like he hadn’t showered for days. Chris backed off as normal as he could while trying to keep himself from gasping for fresh air.

Lance hugged JC next after Chris, then Joey. JC only halfheartedly returned their affection and that bothered Lance a little bit. He looked over JC and the idea of him taking on the appearance of a drunken caveman a few weeks prior was starting to become a little more visible in his head – especially with the bottle of vodka still gripped in JC’s hand.

“What are you all doing here?” JC asked. He was in no mood to entertain and watching Lance and Joey casually sit on his couch while Chris looked through his DVD collection made him quickly regret the decision to let them in. He took note of the two paper bags that were cradled in Joey’s arms.

“Yikes, sounds an awful like you don’t want us around.” Chris feigned a hurt reaction while grasping his chest.

JC looked at the three men as they waited for him to respond. He really didn’t want them around but he couldn’t find the perfect way to say it without hurting their feelings. “No… I just wasn’t expecting company.”

“Well we’re here now and we brought goodies!” Lance reached into one of the bags that Joey was holding and pulled out hotdogs and buns. “A little birdie told me that you haven’t stocked up on food so now I’m here to make you have something to eat.” Lance grinned, holding the food in each hand.

JC glared at Joey and wondered what else he told the guys about his last visit. Joey shrugged and gave him a small smile as he followed Lance into the kitchen. Chris busied himself with looking through JC’s DVD’s again as soon as he realized it was just him and JC in the living room. He wasn’t sure how to act around JC knowing that he hasn’t been himself lately. He let out a sigh of relief as he looked out the corner of his eye and saw JC turn around to meet up with Lance and Joey. When he was sure JC was gone, he plopped onto the couch and tried to sort out his emotions.

Throughout all the years he’d known JC, he’d never been around JC like this. He knew that the band’s separation wasn’t exactly something JC agreed with but he never thought it would impact him this much. Chris wasn’t necessarily living the lavish lifestyle he enjoyed with NSYNC but he was happy with what he had, nonetheless. He knew Justin played a small role in JC’s transformation but he, along with Lance and Joey, were supportive of Justin’s decision. He couldn’t understand why JC had such a rough time accepting that the group was no longer together and to just enjoy or make the most of what he still had. “You’re throwing it all away,” Chris muttered.

JC watched as Lance and Joey fussed with the groceries. He took a long drink when Joey looked at him. It was the best he could do without flipping Joey off. He didn’t appreciate having the guys know of his situation especially since Joey showed up uninvited the last time… much like this time. He could tell that Joey was trying suppress his irritation and that satisfied him for the moment.

Lance watched as JC gave Joey death stares. Joey was now making an effort to keep his eyes on the food. Lance cleared his throat, “So Josh, how do you like your hotdogs?”

“I’m not hungry.” JC mumbled as he kept his eyes on Joey.

“It’s nearly three in the afternoon. You’ve got to be hungry!” Lance tried his best to remove the tension between his friends. At this moment, he wondered where Chris was since he figured it would’ve been much easier to spark up a conversation with both Chris and Joey in the same room.

“Well, I’m not hungry.” JC repeated.

Joey looked up at JC, then at Lance, then back at JC. “But Lance made an effort to bring you stuff. You’d hurt his feelings if you don’t eat.”

JC’s mouth curled up into a mischievous smile as he took another long drink from the bottle before taking a place between Joey and Lance. “Alright, I’ll eat something. But I’ll make it myself.”

“Thank you, kindly.” Lance smiled.

JC waited for Lance leave him and Joey at the counter to set the food on the table and take a seat before whispering to Joey. “What else did you tell them?”

Joey glanced over to where Lance was and then looked back at his food before answering. “I just told them you didn’t have food, that’s all.”

“Did you tell them that I was a loser?”

“No.” Joey did his best to keep his voice down as he responded to JC’s bizarre question. Lance was still busy at the dining table, shooting off texts.

“Did you tell them that I couldn’t take care of myself anymore? That you’re afraid that I’m becoming an alcoholic?” JC shoved Joey’s arm, causing Joey to drop some food.

“Hey, calm down. I don’t mean any harm!” Joey’s voice was starting to rise. Lance saw what was happening and went to go look for Chris.

“You think I’m an alcoholic, don’t you? That’s why you’re all here. Does Justin know?” JC shoved Joey again, harder this time.

“We’re just worried about you. Why the hell does it matter if Justin knows or not?” Joey’s fists were clenched as he tried to not let his anger get the best of him.

“Does Justin know?!”  JC yelled as he shoved Joey again.

Lance and Chris ran into the kitchen to see Joey shove JC back. They wanted to get in between them and break it up but their limbs were frozen in place. JC came back and socked Joey right in the mouth, causing him to spit out blood. Lance was now behind Joey, trying to hold him back while Chris was making a run to JC.

Joey got out of Lance’s grasp and rammed into JC. JC fell back as his arm knocked the bottle of vodka onto the floor, smashing into pieces. JC stayed down trying to get the strength to get back up again. He grasped his side as the pain started to flare up again.

“I told you to cut this shit out!” Joey yelled as he reached to pick up JC.

JC met Joey’s eyes and used his free hand to take a hit at Joey. Joey screeched as he stepped back, pressing his hand against his stomach. “Fuck!”

“Joey!” Lance grabbed a towel and pressed it onto Joey’s wound.

“What the hell did you do?!” Chris picked up JC from the ground and threw him against the wall.

JC tried to catch his breath as Chris pinned him to the wall. He now felt something wet, along with a dull pain in the hand he used to hit Joey. He looked down to see that he was clenching onto a piece of broken glass that was cutting into his skin. His eyes widened as he realized what he had done.

Chris looked down and saw the bloody glass. “You stabbed him with that thing?! What the hell is wrong with you?!” Chris stepped back and looked at Joey, trying to register what just happened.

JC’s eyes were glued on Joey who was now sitting on the floor, wincing in pain, with Lance beside him. Tears were falling from Joey’s eyes as he yelped each time Lance tried to tend the wound. Lance’s hands were trembling, his face pale. Chris frantically grabbed another towel, trying to help Lance clean up the blood. Joey’s breathing was starting to become more and more haggard with sweat dripping from his face. The blood kept coming.

“It’s not stopping. We have to go to the hospital!” Lance’s voice was shaking just as much as his body was. He tried to hold back his tears as Chris and Lance helped Joey up.

Chris looked back at JC before they left the kitchen. He was still, almost lifeless, with the glass still in his hand. “Josh, let’s go! Look at him, he won’t stop bleeding!” Chris pleaded, also fighting back tears.

JC looked straight at Joey who was trying hard to keep himself up. “It fucking hurts!” He groaned before completely passing out.

“Fuck!” Chris yelled as he and Lance held onto Joey to keep him from falling. “Let’s go!”

JC stood watching them carry Joey out of the kitchen. As soon as he heard the front door close, he dropped the glass as he fell to his knees. Joey’s blood was in a small pool in front of him, with drops leading out of the kitchen. His body violently shook as tears streamed down his face. He repeatedly punched the ground, cutting his hands as he hit pieces of glass. JC looked up to the ceiling and screamed at the top of his lungs, ignoring the pain in his side and in his hands, before letting his body hit the floor.

He breathed rapidly as his vision started to blur. “Joey…” He muttered before everything went black.