Jess and Kelly hung out backstage during the performance. They spent part of their time behind the scenes, watching all the chaos that went into making the show so spectacular; the rest of the time they sat in the dressing room and talked.
From time to time one or more of the guys would run in for his quick change between sets. When Chris came in the first time, he placed a quick kiss on Jess's cheek while running by her. She laughed as she wiped the sweaty spot he left behind.
"You did <i>not<i> just wipe off my kiss, did you?" Chris teased as he changed shirts.
"Not the kiss," she giggled, "Just the extra perspiration. Of course, if I planned that right, I should have wiped it on a towel and listed it on eBay."
Chris shook his head. "If you want to eBay something, give them Lance's phone number and address. He won't mind."
"Hey!" Lance hollered as he ran by them.
Chris leaned down and kissed Jess again, lingering against her lips until he had to leave. "Did you read it yet?" he asked as he pulled away.
"Not yet, I was waiting until I had some time alone."
"OK. Just don't forget."
"I won't!" she called after him as he ran out of the room.
Just before the end of the show, Bryan came to escort Jess to the bus. She said goodbye to Kelly and the two girls promised to keep in touch and get together again as soon as they could.
Jess had barely cleared off a spot and gotten settled on the couch when the JC came hopping up the bus steps.
"Hey, Chicky. How are you?" he laughed.
"I'm fine, but you seem to be bouncing off the walls," she couldn't help but laugh in return.
"I am, indeed," he grinned as he sat down beside her. "Whatchya doin'?" he asked as he bounced in his seat.
She rolled her eyes. "Why do I have the feeling that you're going to tell me?"
Lance thumped up the bus steps next. "So, did you tell her?"
"When have I had the chance, Lance?" JC responded sarcastically.
"Oh no, what are you guys up to?" Jess looked more than a little leery.
"What makes you think we're up to something?" Justin asked as he followed Lance.
"Because, Justin, dear, I've known you all for far too long to not know when you're up to something," she shook her head. "Honestly, you guys don't do subtle very well. Would one of you just tell me?"
"Sheesh, well if you're gonna be that way about it, maybe we'll just leave you alone," Justin rolled his eyes, pretending to be offended.
"Fine with me. Good night, guys." Jess stood up and headed for the bunks.
"Not so fast there, you!" JC wrapped an arm around her waist before she got too far. "We're playing truth or dare. You've never played with us and we thought it would be fun."
"Oh boy," Jess replied cynically. "Can't wait. Surely there must be other things we can do."
"Sure there are," Lance smiled, "But we're not doing them."
JC, Justin and Lance got things together to prepare for their late night game. Jess looked on, feeling her stomach tie up in knots. She'd heard rumours about their games and she really wasn't looking forward to participating. When Lance pulled a cooler out of the fridge for her, she was glad to take a long swig of it. Hopefully the alcohol would help her relax.
Joey and Chris soon joined them, and bus got underway. Jess was on one bench, between Joey and JC. Chris, Lance and Justin sat across the table. The game started off at a leisurely pace with fairly innocuous questions about first crushes or kisses and simple dares. Jess felt herself relax. If this was all they were doing, she was going to be fine.
It was Joey's turn. "JC, truth or dare?"
JC smirked, "I got nothin' to hide. Truth."
Joey grinned archly and rubbed his hands together; he'd obviously spent some time working on his question. "OK, Jace, this afternoon at the greet, Jess said she'd never kissed you before. Other than the friendly kisses we've all seen you share, have you ever kissed Jess?"
JC actually blushed. In truth, he was more embarrassed for Jess than for himself. "Uh, one time, I kissed her-yeah, once, just once! She was complaining that she'd never been kissed, so I kissed her and it was the most awkward thing I've done in my entire life." He buried his face on the table.
Justin and Joey cracked up laughing.
"Gee, thanks, Josh. Kissing me was the most awkward thing?" Jess shoved his head off the table.
"You know what I mean!" he retorted. "The minute our lips touched, it felt funny. We both knew we were only ever going to be friends and we laughed about it."
"Of course we laughed. Given the fact that I had no idea it was coming, and we banged our heads together, it was pretty darn funny."
"Just to reassure you, Jess, there is nothing awkward about the way you kiss," Chris winked at her across the table.
"OK, too much information!" Lance cried. "Quick, C, who is your victim?"
JC's eyes met Jess's. "Truth or dare, babygirl?"
Shit. She saw the look in his eye. She was in trouble. He was up to something. She usually chose truth because she'd rather answer an embarrassing question than have to do something horrible. She thought she'd fake JC out so she swallowed hard and blurted, "Dare!"
JC merely grinned. That wasn't the response she had hoped for. He had her right where he had wanted her all along. "All right then, I dare you to tell Chris what happened that makes you scared of relationships."
Her face paled. Her stomach fell. This couldn't be happening. Her best friend wouldn't do something like this to her.
She glared at him. "JC, that isn't fair."
If she hadn't been so angry and terrified, she would have laughed to hear Justin say, "Oh shit, she's pissed! I've never heard her call him JC!"
JC got up from the table and drew her with him. He tried to take her hand. She pulled away. He met her eyes and she saw the sadness there. He took her hand again, holding it between both of his. "Jessie, I'll be right here. We all love you, and I know you want to talk about it."
Chris stood up. "Jess, you don't have to do this. When you're ready, we'll talk. You don't have to prove anything to me tonight."
Jess turned back to the group at the table and gave Chris a forced, teary-eyed smile. She shook her head, "No, it's OK. He's right, I do want you to know, all of you."
Chris slowly sat down again, "Only if you're sure, OK?"
Jess nodded, "OK." She took her spot next to Joey and took a couple of deep breaths to help her gain control of her tears. JC squeezed her hand. She looked at him. "Where do I start, Josh?"
"Wherever you want, sweetie."
She nodded, took another deep breath and started. "OK. You know when Josh had that family emergency and had to leave the tour for a couple days, back when you first started touring here?" She scanned the group and saw them nodding. "I was the emergency. Josh came to be with me." Jess saw the surprise register on their faces. "Um, uh, I was in the hospital and Josh was listed as my emergency contact, and he came to be with me." She took a shivering breath, trying to keep her head. Joey saw her pained expression and squeezed her shoulder, letting her know he was with her and that he cared.
"I was in the hospital because...wait, I'm going to have to go back farther first." Jess pinched the bridge of her nose. "Well, shit. You probably guessed by the fact that I never talk about it that I had a fucked up childhood. My family was the dictionary definition of dysfunctional. I never really knew my mother; my father told me she left us when I was a baby, which may or may not be true. My father was a piece of work on his own. He acquired the knack of finding women who would take care of us, figuring that they'd be the one to tame him and complete our ‘happy' little family. He wasn't a nice guy and I really don't want to talk about it, but when he up and left me with my third stepmother, I was sixteen and I wasn't surprised. I was used to being a kid that no one wanted; I was like that old piece of furniture that wouldn't fit in with the décor in the new house, so you just leave it behind when you move. Problem is the new owners don't know what to do with the furniture either, so it gets put out on the curb. Barb didn't throw me out, but she made sure that I knew that she didn't really want me either. So, when this new guy a couple years older than me moved into our building and started paying attention to me, I ate it up and didn't notice the red flags that someone less naïve definitely would have picked up on.
"We went out a few times and our relationship got very physical very quickly. He kept pushing me to do more than I wanted to. I was always able to stop things before they went too far until the night he put me in the hospital." She wiped her sleeve across her eyes, not noticing the horror on the men's faces. Jess took a deep breath and started to sob.
JC pulled her close. "It's OK, Jessie, it's OK." He rubbed her back in a slow circular motion, trying to calm her. "Do you want me to take over?"
Jess shook her head slowly. "No," she whispered, "Just give me a minute."
Joey reached over and pressed a tissue into her hand. Jess accepted it. "Thanks, Joe," she murmured before drying her eyes and blowing her nose. "OK, I'm good," she sat up a bit straighter, allowing JC to slide his arm around her to keep contact with her. "Where was I? Oh yeah. We had gone out on a date, and when we got back, he walked me to the door. He knew there was no one home, and he forced his way in. I tried to get him to leave, but he wouldn't go. He kept making advances, and I kept pushing him away. Then he snapped. He slapped me, called me a tease and threatened me. I knew that he wasn't playing games, and I tried to fight him off, but he overpowered me and then he...and then..." She fell back into JC's embrace, letting him envelope her in the safety that she always found when she was with him. "I can't," she whispered. "Josh, I can't."
JC placed a gentle kiss on her temple. "It's OK, babe," he whispered. He made eye contact with the others over her head. "He beat the shit out of her and then tried to rape her. He'd beaten her so badly, he thought he'd killed her, so when he heard Jess's phone ring, he up and left her for dead." JC's voice was strained under all the emotion. "Jess woke up, managed to find the phone and dialled 911 before she passed out again. By the time they called me and I could get there, she'd gone through all the police tests and reports and was all bandaged up and in rough shape," JC sobbed. "She was hurt so bad and it broke my heart to see her like that." JC buried his face in Jess's neck as the two of them let out their still raw emotions about what had happened.
The guys had been silent and they stayed so for another moment. Then Chris sprang to his feet, knocking into the table with a clatter. "I've got to get out of here," he muttered as he shoved past the others.
Later, Justin and Lance would swear that they had heard Jess's heart shatter at that exact moment.
JC looked at Joey, silently asking him to protect Jess. Joey nodded and eased her out of JC's arms and into his own. "Come here, Jessie, I've got you."
Jess curled into Joey, burying her face in his chest. He held her close, smoothing her hair and crooning calming words in her ear.
JC quickly followed Chris. Justin had seen the look on JC's face and was not far behind them; he knew things were not going to go well between them. Lance felt like the third wheel, so he got up to get Jess a bottle of water from the kitchenette. As he opened the fridge, he heard a scuffle going on in the back and decided to investigate.
When he poked his head through the curtain, Lance saw that JC had Chris pinned against the wall by the scruff of his shirt. Justin was doing his best to pull JC off Chris.
"What the hell is your problem, Chris? She shared the thing that she's kept bottled up inside of her for so long and you up and leave?" JC was furious. It was a good thing Justin was holding him back.
"What did you want me to do, Jace? I was ready to explode! I can't believe how much anger that I feel right now. What kind of guy could do that to a woman? How could he hurt my Jessamyn, let alone hurt her so badly that she's afraid of me? I know, Jace, I know why she got so tensed up when I held her closely. She's afraid, she's afraid I might hurt her, isn't she?"
"Hell, yes, she's afraid. Nothing in her life has been easy or turned out well, and she's afraid that nothing ever will. And how the hell do you think she feels now, seeing you run out angry after she tells you her life story?" JC asked calmly.
"What do you mean?" Chris was bewildered. "I'm not angry with her, why would I be angry with her? I'm angry with the so-called man who could do that to her."
"That's not what she thinks," Lance interjected.
"What?" Chris's jaw dropped.
"I just heard her telling Joey that she didn't blame you for being mad at her. She said that she should have known that a relationship with you was too good to be true."
JC loosened his hold on Chris's shirt as Chris's knees buckled and he slid down the wall to the floor, mirroring the tears that were sliding down his cheeks. He ran a hand through his mussed up hair. Only two words escaped his lips, "Oh. Shit."
Author's Chapter Notes:
I finally finished this chapter. It's taken a while because the charaters did not want to work with me. They kept taking the plot to different places and I had to bring them back again. Hopefully the next update won't take so long!
Story Tags: celebritysync jc chris
