THWACK!
Jess gritted her teeth and held in the stream of expletives she was dying to let out as she rubbed her head.
"Break out the ice packs, Jess is up!" Joey called from the front of the bus. The rest of the guys laughed. Bumping her head on the bunk was not an uncommon experience for Jess. In fact, when she had worked on tour, one of the medics duct taped an extra pillow to the ceiling over Jess's bunk so she wouldn't get a concussion.
"Don't you think you'd feel better if you just let loose and cussed up a storm?" Lance asked as he came back to check on her.
"Probably, but I'd hate to ruin your image of me," she smirked as she rubbed her aching head.
"Not likely to happen!" Lance laughed and dodged out of the way when he saw Jess's elbow coming at him.
"Jessie-Bear," Chris cooed as he came down the aisle. "Are you OK? Show Doctor Chris where your boo-boo is." He sat on the bunk beside her and took her face in his hands.
Jess groaned. "Thanks, Chris, but I'm fine."
"No, you're not fine. Let me see so I can kiss it better," he pouted.
She laughed. "Fine, Chris. It hurts here." She touched the spot at the top of her head where a lump was starting to form. He kissed it gently and then pulled back.
"There, all better," he smiled. "Oh, wait, I think you got a bump here too." Chris tipped her head and kissed her nose. His grin turned mischievous, "And is that a bump there, on your lips too?"
"OK, I'm out of here," Lance announced.
Chris grinned, "Finally, I get you all to myself." He leaned in to kiss her.
"Jess, here's that ice pack," Joey shouted. He caught the look on Chris's face. "Oh, sorry, man. Boy, is this ever going to be an awkward trip." Joey returned back to the front of the bus.
Chris shrugged his shoulders and placed the ice pack gently on Jess's bump. "How's that?" he asked as he put his arm around her shoulder and drew her closer to him.
"Freaking' cold!" she giggled. "Really, Chris, I'm fine." She tried to pull away, but he held her fast.
"Just let the ice-pack do its work, OK? Besides, I'm enjoying holding you." He smiled.
Jess laughed and let him have his way. They sat together for a few minutes, not saying anything, just enjoying the togetherness. Jess let herself melt in his arms and wasn't all that surprised when Chris leaned in to kiss her. She couldn't believe how right this felt, and that scared her. Her life up to this point was one giant screw up; with the exception of her friendship with Josh and her new-found career as a freelance writer, things didn't tend to go her way. The more she thought about it, the more she tensed up.
Chris broke their kiss. "You're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"You're selling yourself short, trying not to get your hopes up, trying to believe that you don't deserve any happiness in your life. You're totally over thinking this." He got up. She could see that he was hurt, maybe frustrated too. "Jess, I've got to tell you, I've got incredibly strong feelings for you, but if you don't believe good things can happen to you, how is this ever going to work?" He went back to the front of the bus.
"Dammit, I've done it now," Jess muttered under her breath. A few tears slipped down her cheeks, but she ignored them and clung to her teddy bear. She heard a rustle from above and saw Josh's legs as he came down from the top bunk.
"Hey," he said softly. "You know he's right."
"I know," she whispered as she cried into his chest. "That's what makes it hurt."
Chris had joined the others near the front of the bus. He reached out for the second game controller, and the look on his face told them to leave him alone. He challenged Justin and then Joey to a match. His eyes never left the screen, and his jaw was set in a determined way.
Jess pulled herself together. She balanced herself carefully and splashed her face with cold water in the bathroom. It always drove her nuts that the back of the bus where the bathroom was located swayed so much. There was no way she was going to attempt to put on any make-up to cover up her tear stains. She didn't think it was worth the possibility of losing an eye.
When she was satisfied that she at least looked a little better, she returned to the bunk to straighten it up. She did a double take when she saw the photos that lined the bunk. Figures. She had chosen Chris's bunk. She sighed and folded up the quilt. She smoothed the blankets out and refluffed the pillow. She moved her backpack and teddy bear to JC's bed and left the still unopened letter under Chris's pillow. She knew what she had to do, but she still had to get through the day. Later she would tell Josh and Chris. For now, they were almost at their destination, so she went up to the front of the bus and joined everyone else.
Just as she was about to take a seat, the bus took a corner sharply. She was thrown off balance and landed smack in Lance's lap. Jess's face was bright red and everyone was laughing. She apologized profusely to Lance and tried to get up quickly.
"No, stay here," he said quietly to her. "I've missed you."
She laughed. "Lance, how could you possibly have missed me? You guys call me daily, email me constantly..."
"You say that like it's a bad thing!" he teased.
"I don't mean it that way. You know I love you guys. And, I've missed my little Lancey-poo too." She put her head on his shoulder.
"Got plans for lunch?"
"Nope."
"Well, you do now. We're having lunch together. We'll grab something at craft services and find somewhere quiet where we can talk."
"OK, sounds good." She got up and found her own seat next to Kelly's. The two girls talked for the remainder of the trip and made plans to see the show together from the audience that night. Jess hadn't seen this tour yet, and she wanted to see it as the fans did. She wasn't too sure about seeing Chris perform, but she decided she'd just have to suck it up.
They arrived at the venue and everyone disembarked the bus. Kelly and Jess ran the gauntlet of fans with the help of the guys' security. A few fans noticed them, but most were only interested in the guys. They stayed outside for a few minutes signing autographs and giving hugs. When they came in, Lance strolled up to Jess and took her hand.
"Come on girl, lunch awaits us," he smiled as he pulled her to the craft services area. She didn't see the jealous look that Chris shot Lance's way, and it was just as well.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry it's taken me so long to update. My characters were not co-operating, but I think I've got them back on track now. (fingers crossed!)
Story Tags: celebritysync jc chris
