Chris led Jess down the hall towards the elevators.
"I hope you don't mind, but we have a chaperone today. Since it couldn't be avoided, I made sure it was someone you knew all ready," he said, indicating Bryan.
"Hey Bryan!"
"Hi Miss C. You ready for your big day?"
"I don't know. He hasn't told me where we're going."
"Well, don't look at me. I'm just an innocent bystander. My job is just to protect the two of you from swarming fans, I stay out of the date."
Chris smirked. "Nice try, Jess."
She shrugged. "Can't blame a girl for trying."
Chris didn't release her hand at all, not even when they got into the car. Jess looked out the window, trying to take in all the sights.
"So, what are we doing today?" she asked.
"Ah, Jessamyn, the question is not what are we doing today, the question is what aren't we doing today?" He handed her a brochure for Navy Pier.
"How did you know I wanted to go to Navy Pier? Oh man, that sister of yours has a big mouth!"
He smiled. "Yeah, she does. Something you might want to know is that if you want to keep something a secret, you don't tell Taylor. By the way, she said that if I screw things up, she's disowning me and keeping you." He chuckled.
"Well, I guess you'd better not screw up then, huh?" she laughed at him.
"Guess not." He smiled as he squeezed her hand.
Before they got out of the car at the Navy Pier, Bryan went over his ground rules.
"OK, you two, look here. I'm more than willing to stay in the background and give you the space you need, but if you ditch me, there will be hell to pay. Understand?"
They both nodded.
He smiled at them. "Now go and have yourselves a good date."
Chris pulled Jess out of the car after him and hit the pavement running. "What should we do first?"
Jess laughed. "Oh my goodness, I forgot that you are really a five year old trapped in a grown up body!"
Chris pouted. "I'm going to ignore that remark. Oh! Look over there, a maze! Come on!" He pulled Jess towards the building.
"I don't know about this, Chris," she said apprehensively. She had this thing about dark, enclosed spaces. Claustrophobia.
"Pleeeeze?" He pouted some more. "What if I promise to hold your hand the whole time?"
"Hmmm," she gave it some thought. "The whole time?" He nodded. "OK, I'll do it."
Chris purchased the tickets, and they started their way through the wacky maze. Jess had a killer grip on Chris's hand and held onto his arm with her other hand. Chris wasn't complaining about the closeness, in fact, he rather enjoyed it. He put one hand in the small of her back and nudged her forward. Every time something unexpected happened, Jess would yelp and hold tighter to Chris. She felt silly because she really wasn't like this normally, but the close space and not knowing what was going to happen next unnerved her. By the time they got out of the maze, Chris had to pry her fingers off his arm.
"Are you OK?" He was genuinely concerned.
"Yep, fine. Never better." She babbled.
"Liar. Remind me never to take you to a haunted house." He smirked.
"Not a problem. You couldn't get me in a haunted house."
"So, what should we do next?" He looked around. "Why don't you pick?"
Jess looked at the brochure in her hand. "How about the Children's Museum? That sounds pretty tame."
Chris read the brochure over her shoulder. "Hey, are you implying something about my intellect? It says here it's geared to five to ten year olds!"
"Chris, I would never underestimate your intellect like that! I love stuff geared to kids-I'm a children's writer, or did you forget that?" She felt terrible that he would think that.
He laughed. "Gotcha!"
"You're such a brat!" She scolded.
"Yeah, but that's why you like me," he replied while giving her a squeeze.
"Ha! That's what you think!" was her retort.
They went into the Children's Museum and wandered through the exhibits that interested them. Jess stopped a little longer than Chris at one point, and he walked into a hallway full of ten year olds on a field trip. A group of girls looked at him, then looked back at each other. "You ask him" "No, you do it!" One of the girls was pushed forward, and she looked at Chris.
"Ummm, hi!" she said.
"Hi," he replied with a smile.
"Are you Chris Kirkpatrick?" she asked timidly.
He nodded, "Yeah, I am. What's your name?"
"Erin," she replied.
"Hi, Erin," he smiled at her, then took a step closer to her, "See that lady over there?" He asked.
She nodded.
"Isn't she pretty?" Erin nodded again. "I'm on a date with her. Our first date. Can you keep it a secret that I'm here?" Erin thought about it for a minute, then nodded.
"Tell you what," Chris went on. "See that big guy following me?" He pointed to Bryan.
"Yep," Erin said.
"If you and your friends leave your school information with him, I'll get all the guys to autograph pictures for your entire class. How does that sound?"
"Really? I'd have kept it a secret anyway, Chris, but that would be so cool!"
"No problem, Sweetie! Thanks!" He bent down and kissed Erin on the cheek.
Jess came over just as he was straightening back up.
"Kissing another woman while you're out with me?" She pretended to be shocked.
Erin shook her head, "It's nothing like that; he really, really likes you!"
Jess looked at Erin, "Really, really?"
Erin nodded emphatically. "Yeah, he told me so."
Jess gave an exaggerated sigh, "Well then I guess I'd better give him a second chance, huh?"
Erin smiled. "Yeah."
The class moved on to another part of the museum. "Bye Erin," Chris called.
"Bye Chris!" she smiled knowing her friends were dying to know what had transpired.
Chris turned to Bryan and explained the promise he had made to Erin. Bryan went off in search of the teacher and Chris faced Jess. "Sweetie, I'm so sorry that happened."
"Why? I know how all this pop star thing works, Chris. Besides, you handled it really well. You were gracious and you made her day."
"I'm glad you feel that way," he said.
"Yeah, well ask me again after it's happened about twenty times or so, maybe I will have changed my opinion." Chris laughed and put his arm around her shoulder.
They took their time looking at the exhibit on dinosaurs and when Bryan rejoined them, they left the museum.
By this time, they were hungry, and Chris had brought a picnic lunch with him. He retrieved it from the car and they walked along the pier to the gardens. He found a secluded spot, and they sat down on a bench to eat.
"Wow, Chris, you thought of everything," Jess commented as she watched him pull items out of the basket.
He shrugged, "Well, I had lots of time to plan, and I wanted this to be a great date. I know it seems like a lot for a first date, but I figure with our schedules, it's more like the first four or five dates rolled into one, don't you?"
She looked at him blankly. "Huh?"
"Well, I mean, if we were in the same town, I'd ask you out on a date, and if it went well, I'd try to see you more often. This date is going great, and I know it will be at least a month before I see you again. Oh man, I'm bumming myself out."
She smiled, "Chris, can we just enjoy today first?" He nodded. "Besides, you forget I am a freelance author. I can take time off and travel when I want. I just take my work with me."
"Oh yeah!" He grinned. "That is just too cool!"
They ate their lunch and sat watching boats moving around the pier. It was a beautiful day to just sit and watch the world go by. Chris slipped his arm around Jess's back. She smiled and snuggled closer to him, putting her head on his shoulder.
"This feels right, doesn't it?" He asked contentedly.
"Yeah," she smiled up into his eyes. "You know, earlier, when I told Justin I was nervous, he said that we fit. Now I see what he means. We do fit."
"You were nervous?"
"Yeah, I was. I didn't think we'd go out until you came home, so I wasn't expecting this to happen so soon and then well, yeah, I've got a lot on my mind right now."
"I'm sorry I sprung this on you. I just really wanted to surprise you. And, I know that you've been hurt before. One thing I can promise you is that I will NOT treat you badly. I can't promise I will never hurt you, but I will do my best not to, and if I ever do, I will do everything I can to make it better."
Jess had a couple of tears in her eyes. "Chris, you're just too sweet. Thank you."
He kissed the tip of her nose. "Wanna know a secret? I was nervous too. I really didn't want to blow this. We've been friends for a long time, and I was afraid that it would jeopardize our friendship, but I think we'll be fine."
They sat a while longer, each with an arm around the other's back, just enjoying the closeness and companionship. Chris decided he had been sitting for long enough, so he pulled Jess up by her hand.
"Come on, there's a really cool place I want to check out! Taylor thought you'd love it."
He led her quickly back down the pier, zigging and zagging through the oncoming pedestrians. He came to a sudden stop, causing her to bump into him.
"Oof! Sorry, Chris."
"Hey, don't apologize. It was my fault for slamming on the brakes, but you know you don't have to apologize for getting close to me, I don't mind a bit!" He gave her an impish grin, raising his eyebrows.
"Oh, please," she groaned, dropping his hand. She looked up to see where it was they had stopped. "Build a Bear Workshop...hmmm, Taylor was right, this looks like a neat place."
This time, she led the way. Jess headed for the first bear display, picking them up one at a time and giving them a hug. "Oh, you're just too cute!"
"Jess, are you talking to the bears?"
"Of course," she replied. "Bears are people too."
"OK, hun, if you say so. Hey, let's build a bear. I'm going to build one just like me. You make one like you, then we will swap, deal?"
"Deal," she replied and they shook on it.
Both started with the Curly bear. Chris made Jess go ahead at the next station. She had to pick a sound. Hmmm. Jess listened to all of them. Some of them were funny and some were downright scary. She ended up choosing the Monkey because it sounded most like a laugh. She liked to laugh, so it fit. She moved on to the next station where she was given a fabric heart. She was told to hold it in her hands to warm it and make a wish. Jess looked over at Chris where he was choosing his sound. She caught his eye, winked at him and gave the little heart a kiss before making her wish.
Chris caught up with her at the stuffing station. "Hey, cutie, what was your wish?"
"Nope, sorry, can't tell you." She teased.
"That's OK, I'll bet you made the same wish I did," he squeezed her hand.
The attendant handed Jess back her bear. "Here you are, Miss. Give him a hug to see if it's right."
Jess snuggled her bear, then passed it to Chris, "What do you think?"
Chris, never taking his eyes off Jess, squeezed the bear and handed it back, "Perfect."
She felt a jolt of electricity go through her. She knew he wasn't talking about the bear. She sat down to stitch up her bear, trying to cool herself down. Who turned up the heat? Chris brought his now stuffed bear to her.
"Wanna give him the hug test?" He asked.
"I'd rather hug you," she grinned, "but let me see. Yep, he's good."
Chris looked at Jess with his jaw wide open. "Are you flirting with me? I like it."
When both bears were stitched up, they moved on to the fluffing station. Chris got a little wild with the air fluffer, sticking his head under the blower to see what would happen to his hair.
One of the employees shook her head, "Don't worry," she said to Jess, "All the kids do that when they're here."
Chris shot her a look that said, "See? I'm perfectly normal!"
The next station was the name station. Jess took a while trying to think up a good name for the bear that was supposed to represent her. Chris was surprisingly quick and his bear's birth certificate was printed out first.
He moved on to the clothing while Jess pondered her bear's name a bit longer. "Hey Jess," Chris called, "Look, Bearboxers! Cool. My bear is totally wearing those!"
Jess shook her head, trying to avoid eye contact with the people who were in the store. "That's great, Chris, I don't think quite everyone heard that."
"Aw, come on honey, it's just bear underwear!" He came and put an arm around her shoulder. "Come on, let's get your bear some underpants too!"
Jess made a fast selection in that department and moved on to the shirts. She chose a white T shirt which said "Hug Freely" and had a bear head coloured like the Canadian flag. She loved hugs, so it was perfect. She dressed her bear in a denim skirt with the flag on it. The sandals she picked out were white. She put some flowers on each of the bear's ears and found a pair of glasses for her too. She stepped back to admire her handy work.
Chris had been very secretive about his bear project. He didn't let Jess see any of it, promising she could have it later. It didn't bother her as much as he hoped it would, but it was driving him nuts that he couldn't see what she was doing either.
Jess got to the cash desk before Chris did. He tried to hand his credit card over to the employee, but Jess swatted him back. "I don't think so! If I'm giving this to you, I'm paying for it."
Chris was going to argue, but he stopped and thought about it for a second, "OK."
They took their bears to the car. Chris locked them in the trunk, giving the key to Bryan so that neither of them could try to discover the other's secret.
"So, now what?" Jess asked.
Chris pulled the Navy Pier brochure out of his pocket. "Your turn to decide."
Jess took the flyer and studied it for a couple of minutes. "Well, first I need to know how long we're planning on being here."
Chris looked at his watch. "Well, it's about one o'clock. Um, let's say we finish up with the Pier around four."
"Then what?"
"Jess, you know that information is only given out on a need to know basis."
"Hmm, the Museum of Stained Glass sounds interesting, but we've already done a museum today and I wouldn't want you to think that I'm a geek or anything, so let's go and check out the rides."
"Aw, sweetie, I already know you're a geek," Chris gave her a sugary smile.
She elbowed him in the gut. "Oh yeah? Just for that, I'll make you go on the Ferris wheel!"
"Nice try. You're afraid of heights too," he smirked.
"Oh yeah. Well, I'm sure I'll think of something."
Jess took Chris's hand in hers as they walked along the pier towards the rides. They went on the carousel first. Their horses were side by side, and they pretended they were racing. People around them just looked at them like they were crazy.
The ride finished, and both insisted they had won the race. They asked Bryan for his unbiased opinion.
"Oh no, I told you two that I was not getting involved in the date, and I meant it."
Before they could cajole Bryan into giving them a better answer, Chris's cel phone rang.
"What the? I told everyone not to call me today-Hello?"
Chris wandered away from them to take his call. He came back a minute later. "Jess, it's for you. I'm going to get us a drink. Would you like a Coke?" She nodded and mouthed ‘yes please' as she took the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, Babe! How's your date going?"
"Josh? Why are you calling me in the middle of my date?"
"Just checking in to make sure he's being a gentleman."
"Of course he's being a gentleman. Chris couldn't be anything but!"
JC laughed. "I know. I just really wanted to see how you were doing."
She sighed. "Josh, what is going on? What do you really want to know?"
"Come on, Jess, I know how nervous you were this morning, I'm just checking to see how you're doing, see if you need any of my expert advice, you know."
"Joshua, I truly appreciate your concern, but I'm on a date! Do you call Justin when he's on a date to see how he's doing? I don't think so!"
"I'm sorry honey. You're right. I'll let you go, but if you need to talk, you know how to get a hold of me."
"Yes, Josh, I do. I'll talk to you after my date and tell you all about it, OK? But for now, I'll just tell you it's going well. Now I'm going to hang up, OK?" She closed the phone without waiting for an answer. She wasn't sure which direction Chris and Bryan had gone in, so she decided to stay where she was and wait for them to find her. She leaned against the railing and looked out at the boats.
"Jess?" She lifted her head up at the sound of the familiar voice.
"Kelly?"
"What are you doing here?" they asked each other at the same time as they hugged each other. Kelly was Joey's girlfriend and the two girls had been pushed together a lot when the boys first started out. They had become fast friends.
"I've been visiting Joe for a few days. I didn't come to the show this morning because I was afraid you'd see me and spoil your surprise. I heard they really got you, huh?"
"I'll say! I can't believe all five of them actually kept a secret. It must have just about killed them."
Joey wandered up behind Kelly and put his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. "Yeah, Jess, it was pretty bad. I'm just glad it's over. Hey, where's Chris?"
Kelly looked over her shoulder at Joey. "Chris? Why would Jess know where Chris is?"
"'Cause she's here with him," Joey responded.
"Ohhhh!" Kelly looked back to Jess. "You and Chris got a little somethin'-somethin' goin' on?"
If looks could kill, then Joey would have had a corpse on his hands, lucky for Kelly, Chris appeared then.
"Hey, Sweetie, here's your drink."
"Thanks, Chris. Here's your phone." She took the cup he was holding and gladly had a long drink from it.
"Hey Kelly!" Chris gave her a hug, careful not to spill his own drink on her. "Joe," the two men did one of their complicated handshakes, and then Chris stepped back to stand by Jess. He took her hand in his. An awkward silence ensued.
"So, you guys tried the maze yet?" Chris asked.
Kelly was still too stunned to reply. Joey shook his head, "No, not yet. We were thinking of it. Did you try it? Was it any good?"
After a couple more minutes of small talk in which the guys did most of the talking, the two couples parted. As Kelly walked away from Jess, she mouthed, "we need to talk!" Jess nodded and went with Chris.
Chris and Jess wandered aimlessly around the pier hand in hand. "How's JC?" he asked.
"Ugh. I'm so sorry, Chris. I can't believe he called."
Chris smiled. "Don't worry about it. You should see what I'm like when one of my sisters is out on a date."
Jess laughed at the thought of Chris harassing his sisters. "Those poor girls."
"Yeah, I tend to drive them nuts, but it's only because I love them. And JC is only overprotective because he loves you too."
The two continued walking in silence, enjoying the day and the company. Jess looked at Chris, amazed that she was with him and that he seemed to like her. Chris caught her staring. "What?" he asked with a laugh.
She shook her head to refocus her thoughts, "Sorry. I'm just thinking about what a great day this has been. Thanks, Chris."
"Oh, Sweetie, the day's not over yet! But I'm having a great time too." He stopped and pulled her into his arms. For a second, she thought he was going to kiss her, but she didn't want it to happen in front of all these people. He seemed to sense that and just gave her an affectionate squeeze.
They heard kids' laughter. Chris led the way as they followed the sound towards the park at the entrance to the pier. Jess saw the fountain before Chris did. She handed her purse to Bryan and pulled ahead of Chris. She pulled him into the middle of the fountains just as the water started to shoot up high. When Chris realized what she had done, he chased after her. The two wove around the kids, trying to stay out of the water. Jess was trying to keep her distance from Chris. He was soaked, and she was only a little damp around the edges. The wetter he got, the harder Jess laughed. Her laughter slowed her down and Chris caught her. He wrapped her in a big wet hug and while she was enjoying the embrace, he guided her over a water spout so that when the next blast came through it, she was drenched from head to toe. So there they were, totally wet and totally wrapped up in each other. Suddenly they realized that everyone was watching them. Chris took Jess's hand and led her out of the fountain.
Bryan met them at the edge of the fountain and directed them away from the crowd of onlookers. There were a couple of people mumbling, "isn't that? No, it couldn't be." He wanted to make sure he got the two of them out of there before someone realized that it really was the person they thought it couldn't be.
Jess and Chris laughed all the way back to the car. The time in the fountain bonded them more closely together because they where able to be kids together and to just let loose and be themselves. Bryan drove them back to Chris's hotel.
As they walked through the lobby to the elevator, they could feel people staring at them. It was only to be expected since they were dripping on the carpets. Chris and Jess walked with their heads up, acting as if everything was normal with them.
Chris stopped in front of a door and passed Jess a key card.
"What's this?" she asked.
"It looks like a key, Jess."
"Very funny, smartass. Why are you giving it to me?"
"It's the key to your room."
"Uh, no, my room is in that other hotel you were at this morning."
"Not any more," he smiled as he took the key out of her hand and used it to open the door. "When JC called this afternoon, he was just letting me know that he got everything moved here." Chris nudged Jess ahead of him into the room. She looked around and saw all of her stuff there. Josh was peeking out from behind the door that connected her room to his.
"Surprise?" he asked weakly.
Jess groaned. "You went through my stuff?" She turned to Chris, "And you let him? What is the matter with you two?" She flopped down and sat on the bed.
Chris shot JC a look that clearly said, "What do we do now?"
JC came into the room. "Jessie? Don't be mad at Chris. This was my idea. I wanted to have you close by. I didn't look at any of your private stuff, honest!"
Jess huffed. "Did you get everything? You didn't leave any thing there, did you? Wait! Where's my laptop? And all my notes and research?" She jumped up and started rooting through her belongings.
"Jess, I got everything. I know how careful you are with your writing stuff." JC put his hands on her shoulder. "Please, Babe, don't be mad," he pleaded.
"OK, Josh. I'm sorry I flipped out on you," she looked at Chris, "And you too. I just don't like the feeling that you two are plotting against me."
Josh looked at Chris. "Um, speaking of plotting..."
She rolled her eyes, "Oh no, now what?"
"Well, I was hoping you might change your vacation plans and come on the road with us. I really miss you and I know how much you would love to spend time with Chris..." he left off hopefully.
"I don't know, Josh. I mean, I'd love to spend the time on tour with you guys, but Chris and I have only been on one date, and I don't want to make it awkward. Besides, I don't even know if he'd want me around that much."
"Are you kidding? I'd love to have you on tour with us. It would be great! But, Jess, I hate to be the one to tell you, we've only been on half a date. We've got dinner reservations in about an hour and a half."
Jess looked up at Chris. "Dinner? Are you sure you're not sick of me yet?"
"Of course not. I'm having a great time. Don't turn me down now," he looked at her with his big brown eyes, knowing that they were his secret weapon.
She threw her hands up in the air. "OK, fine. I'll go to dinner with you," she nodded at Chris, then turned to JC, "and I'll go on tour with you. Everybody happy now? Any thing else the two of you want to tell me?"
"Just that you're beautiful," Chris smiled at her. He took her hands and pulled her to him. "I'll be back in about an hour to pick you up, OK?" He put a hand on the back of her neck and tipped her head towards him. He kissed her forehead and gave her a quick hug.
"Wait! Chris, where are we going? How should I dress?"
"Wear something sexy!" He called over his shoulder as he closed the door behind him.
Author's Chapter Notes:
This chapter is fun, hope you like it. If i ever get to visit Chicago, I'm totally going to Navy Pier! It looks like a lot of fun.
Story Tags: celebritysync jc chris
