Joey sleepily staggered down the hall and flopped down at the table.  He grunted his assent when JC offered him a coffee and nodded his thanks in JC's direction when a mug was slid across the table and into his waiting hands.

After pouring a coffee for himself, JC slid into the seat opposite Joey.  "So, did she tell you about the nightmares?"  he asked nonchalantly.

Joey just about spit his coffee across the table.  "You knew?"

JC nodded.  "Of course I knew.  Whether she likes it or not, I know Jess inside out.  She's been acting the same way she used to when she was getting nightmares.  It's been awhile since she's had them, but it's not totally unexpected, especially with all the stress she's been under."

Joey panicked, "JC, you cannot tell her you know.  She really thinks that she's hidden it from you."

"Relax, Joe.  I know my girl," JC sighed.  "She thinks she's protecting me; I won't tell her."  He looked down at his coffee cup.  "Honestly, I'm happy that she's comfortable talking to you about it.  That means she's making some progress.  I don't expect you to give me details, but encourage her to go back to her psychiatrist if you get the chance."


Chris was making the most of his time holding Jess.  He just couldn't get enough of her.  He gently stroked her hair.  Breathing deeply, he caught a whiff of her shampoo.  He couldn't quite place the scent, but it was a flowery type of smell that he always associated with her.  He'd have to ask her later what it actually was.

Jess started squirming in his arms.  He tried to calm her, but before he could whisper the soothing words he wanted to, she was awake.  She stared at him like she didn't know him, then she blinked a couple times and seemed to get her bearings.

"Chris?"  She pulled away from him and rubbed her hands across her face.  "What happened to Joey?"

He tried not to show his disappointment in her brushing him off and asking about another guy.  "Uh, he had to, uh pee, so I took over for him.  You OK?"

"Yeah, great.  Where's Joey now?"  She looked around the room.

"I think he's in the kitchen," Chris shrugged.

"OK, thanks."  She got up quickly and stopped short in the doorway when she saw Joey sitting with JC.

"Good morning, Jess!" Justin called to her as he joined the others.
 
"Yeah, right, morning," she replied as she accepted the quick one armed hug he gave her.

"Where are we heading today?" she asked no one in particular.

JC answered her.  "We'll be at the hotel in about..." he looked at his watch, "twenty minutes.  We pretty much have enough time to drop our stuff and get in the vans to go to the photo shoot."

"Oh, well, have fun, guys.  I guess I'll catch up with you later," she shrugged.

"You wish, Jess," Justin laughed.  "You're in this photo shoot with us."

She frowned.   "How is that possible?"

JC shrugged.  "I dunno.  Johnny said people were looking for you to model, didn't he?"

"Yeah, whatever," she smirked.  "I figured that was just an excuse to keep me on tour with you guys."

It was Joey's turn to chuckle. "Yeah, right, Jess.  Do you think Johnny would really go through all that paperwork if he didn't have to?  You're modelling, girl.  Lance has your contract somewhere and I know you signed it."

"Why would Lance have my contract?" she was confused now.

Joey coughed.  "You did read it before you signed it, didn't you?"  Jess just rolled her eyes at him.  "How did you miss the part that Lance is managing you?"

Sarcastic Jess emerged.  "I don't know, Joe, how about the fact that last I heard from anyone, Johnny was my temporary manager.  Nothing was said at all about Lance."

"Relax, Jess," Lance joined them at the table.  "Johnny and I work together.  These guys are just giving you a hard time.  Do you have any questions about the shoot?"

"Yeah, do I have to go?"  she smiled.  "OK, I'm just kidding.  Just give me the basics.  What is it for, what do I do, that kind of stuff.  And, seriously, why would anyone want me to be a model for them?"

Lance rolled his eyes and sighed.  "Jess, didn't we just go through a lot of press and stuff about how guys like regular girls, not stick thin models?"  Apparently Sarcastic Lance was also making an appearance.  "Why do you think they hired you?  Really, girl, just because you're not a size two doesn't mean that you are not beautiful.  So stop with the attitude, OK?"

Jess looked down at her hands which were folded on the table.  "I'm sorry, Lance.  It just feels weird that people are accepting me as I am and not trying to tell me that I'm not thin enough."

Lance reached out and patted her hand.  "So, just imagine how all those other regular girls are going to feel when they see a picture of someone like them."

Jess gave him a slow smile, "OK, I get it, Lance."

"Good," Lance returned her smile and moved to sit next to her.  He  talked to her for the rest of the drive about the shoot and what she should expect when she got there.


After running up to her room for a quick change, Jess was ushered out of the hotel by Bryan.  She saw Chris get in the first van, so she held back and got in the second, hoping that he wouldn't notice.  She sat on the back bench and leaned her head against the window.  With her eyes closed, she was hoping that she could pass for being asleep and be left alone.

It worked, but only until a Nerfball hit her in the head.  "What the..?"  She sat up with a confused expression on her face.

"Aw, geez, sorry, Jess!"  Justin called.  "My fault!  I thought Joey was going to catch it."

Jess picked up the ball and aimed it at Justin's head.  Lucky for him, her aim was really bad because she threw it pretty hard.  Joey moved back a seat and sat beside her just as the van was started up.  "Hey, you OK?" he asked quietly.

She met his eyes.  "Sure.  I just got beaned in the head, I had an emotional night with very little sleep and I have to go get my picture taken for some magazine, I'm just peachy!"

Joey laughed and squeezed her shoulder.  "Hey, chin up!  You get to spend the morning with me.  How lucky is that?"

Jess smiled and leaned her head on Joey's shoulder.  "Yeah, I guess one thing is going well for me this morning."

"Of course it is.  So, wanna talk about it?"

"What makes you think I want to talk about anything?" she asked defensively.

"Wellll," he drew the word out for dramatic effect, "you totally blew off your boyfriend this morning.  What's up with that?"

Jess sat up and removed Joey's arm from her shoulder.  "I don't know what you're talking about.  I don't have a boyfriend."

"You could have fooled me," Joey teased.  "Remember I'm the one who caught you two smooching in the hallway after your date."

"One date, Joe.  That's all it was."  She turned away to look out the window so she could avoid his gaze.

"You keep saying that it was one date.  Who are you trying to convince-me or you?"  He tried to get in her face, but she just turned further away from him.

"What difference does it make, Joe?"

"Wait a minute.  What happened between last night and now that is making you so defensive?"

"I'm not defensive!" she turned to face him without even realizing it.

"Uh, yeah, y'are," he tried not to laugh.   

She frowned  "Joey, just shut the fuck up!"

Joey was a little taken aback.  It was unusual for Jess to snap like this.  He gave her a couple minutes to herself before he broached the subject again.  "So, are you going to tell me what happened?"  Jess sat there, stoically looking straight ahead.  "Jess, did you have a nightmare again?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she said through clenched teeth.

"OK, so you had a nightmare," he replied.  "Now, what happened, same as always?"

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

He shook his head.  "Nope.  Sorry, but when a friend is hurting, I butt in.  So, what happened in the dream?"

She gave up.  "It started the same, but my friend Joey showed up to cheer me on and to coach me in fighting back.  Together, we kicked his ass," a smile creeped across her lips at the thought.

"So what's the problem?" Joey was genuinely confused, especially when he noticed she started to blush.

"Uh...well, after that, you told me how proud you were of me, then you disappeared and Chris appeared."

"O...K?" he was now even more confused.  "Then Chris helped you beat him up some more?"

"No," she whispered.  "Then I started to make out with him."

"And that's a bad thing?"  Joey asked.

"Yeah!" she answered, implying that he was stupid for not understanding that.  "I wanted him.  I wanted him to want me, and he wasn't moving fast enough, so I started to lead him to the bedroom and-Joey, I'm not like that.  I mean I've never done that and I guess I came to my senses and woke myself up."

"Well, now blowing Chris off this morning makes some sense.  Were you embarrassed?  Honey," Joey squeezed her hand, "you know it's OK to be attracted to Chris, don't you?"

"What?  Yeah, I mean, no.  I don't know what I mean!  In the dream, it was all so right, but then I woke up and reality smacked me in the face again."  Before she could complete the thought, the van pulled up behind the other van in front of the studio they were shooting at.

Jess was relieved.  She was more than happy when she was pulled into wardrobe away from the guys.  She really needed a break from all the testosterone for awhile.