“Where are we going?” Ami asked for what seemed like the fifteenth time. 

“I told you, the studio.” Darcie told her, “Take a right up here.” 

“But the recording studio is another twenty minutes from here.”  

“I never said we were going to the recording studio.” Darcie said, “Take your next left.” 

“Then where are we going?”

“Dance studio.”

“The dance studio?” Ami said, “But Lance said it was closed to everyone but Jive employees.”

“Yep, and we’re technically Jive employees since we’re their assistants.” Darcie pointed out. “It’s that big brown building up there.”

“What if we get into trouble?”

“Stop being such a weenie.” Darcie teased, “I have passes to get us in, plus I have the promotional packet that the boys need to look over.” 

Ami shook her head and took the passes from Darcie as they pulled up to the gate. “Sometimes I think you take your job a little too seriously.” 

Darcie smirked and played with the edge of the envelope in her lap, “If it ever comes down to the day that being an assistant means I have to buy Justin’s underwear then I’ll quit.” 

Ami laughed, “Why do I have the feeling that the promotional packet isn’t the only reason we’re going to the studio.” 

“No way.” Darcie exclaimed, “You’ve never seen them in concert, and believe me, seeing the concert after seeing them learn and practice the steps makes it much better. Not to mention it’s entertaining to see them snap at each other only to make up five minutes later.” 

“And?” Ami said, knowing there was more. 

“We get to watch six extremely gorgeous men shake their money makers.”  

“Six?” 

“Have you not seen the choreographer?” Darcie asked, “He may be 17 but the boy is gifted when it comes to dancing.” 

Ami rolled her eyes as she pulled into a parking space and grabbed her bags, “Sometimes I wonder about your brain.”  

“I love you too, bitch.” Darcie teased as they walked into the studio. 

The receptionist looked up from her magazine and gave both girls a hard stare. “You had to wear those pants didn’t you?” 

Darcie looked down at the black bondage pants Chris had bought her for Christmas. “I happen to love these pants so yes, I did.” 

“Can I help you ladies?” The woman at the desk demanded.

”No, we have an appointment down at studio five.” Darcie told her as she moved to be buzzed through the doors.  

“I’m sure.” The woman said as she stood up. “I’m afraid I need you girls to leave.” 

“We went from ladies to girls in a matter of two minutes, think we can be demoted to children next?” Darcie asked Ami, “Look lady, obviously we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t supposed to be considering you guys have the Incredible Hulk working at the gate.” 

“I’m not amused young lady.” 

“Young lady, is that worse then girl?” Darcie asked. 

“Darcie you aren’t helping the situation.” Ami muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“Listen ma’am I don’t want to be rude,” Darcie ignored the snort that came from Ami, “But if you really don’t believe me, here are our security passes and if you think they’re forged then please phone down to studio five and you can deal with the five men who will be extremely cranky to know that they aren’t receiving their tour information on time.” 

The woman rolled her eyes as she examined the security passes, “Make sure you go straight to studio five, there are other people that are busy with work in the other studios.” 

“I’ll be sure to refrain from hunting down AJ McLean and ravishing him.” Darcie said, “I already have a boy band member for that.” 

Darcie caught the way Ami pressed a hand to her lips to keep in the giggle that was bursting to come out.

The door buzzed and Darcie yanked it open, sending the receptionist one more dirty look before stepping through it. The clinking of the metal on Darcie’s pants was the only sound in the hallway as the girls made their way down to the hallway. 

“It’s so quiet.” Ami said softly. 

“All the rooms are sound proof.” Darcie told her. 

They reached studio five and Darcie swung the door open, the sound of “God Must Have Spent” hitting their ears. The girls walked in quietly waving to the boys through the mirror. Joey and Chris winked, Justin waved, and Lance blew them both a kiss while JC simply nodded.  

“Can I help you?” Wade asked, coming over to them. 

“I’m Darcie, this is Ami.” Darcie told him, “The guy’s personal assistants.” 

“And JC’s girlfriend.” Wade said eyeing Darcie. 

“He told you?” Darcie said in surprise. 

“Actually Joey was teasing him about you earlier.” Wade said, “Have a seat, they’re just going through the old stuff before I teach them all the new dances.” 

Ami's eyes widened as they sat on the floor and watched the guys. While the rest of the guys were smoothly swaying back and forth to the gentle beat of the song, JC was bobbing up and down as he moved from side to side.  "Is he always so...I don't even know how to describe it."
 
"The word is bouncy, and yes he is." Darcie muttered, "Justin is all about the pop locking, he's really smooth. Lance you can practically see counting the steps, Chris gets into it, but doesn't over do it. Joey is a total ham and JC is a spazz."
 
"I am not a spazz." JC snapped. 

Darcie's eyebrow arched, "You did not just raise your voice to me."
 
"JC's cuuuuuuutttttt." Joey sang. 

Darcie scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, “Right, cause there’s so much to cut him from at this point.” 

“Burn!” The other four guys yelled out laughing. 

Ami jumped beside Darcie as her cell phone went off. She quickly left the room so that she could hear the person on the other line. When she returned she had to wave her hand in front of Darcie’s face a few times before she got her attention. 

“Your mom phoned, she needs me to go run some errands for her.” Ami told her. 

“Why you and not me?” Darcie asked. 

“She didn’t say, maybe something she was too embarrassed to tell her daughter about?” Ami told her as she picked up her bag, “Do you want me to come back and get you?” 

Darcie shook her head, “JC usually stays later then the other guys so I’ll just have one of them drop me off at home.” 

“Okay, I’ll see you later tonight then.” Ami said, blowing the guys a kiss before leaving. 

~ * ~ 

JC had been at the studio for going on twelve hours. He had gotten there an hour before the others had to get his body back into working mode and now he had been there for almost three hours after the others had called it quits.  

Justin had waited around with Darcie waiting for him to finish, but when it became apparent that he wouldn’t be finishing up any time soon Justin told him that he was taking his car keys and to call him when he wanted to be picked up. 

JC turned at the sound of the studio door opening and watched as Ami strolled in, "Hey Aims, Darcie left about an hour ago."
 
Ami flipped the lock to the door and stared silently at him for several long minutes, "I'm not here to see Darcie, I'm here to see you."
 
JC took a step back, "Oh, excited about the tour?"
 
"Don't be cute and don't change the subject." Ami told him, "I'm sure you know why I want to talk to you."
 
"To give me another 'You hurt her, I hurt you' speech?" JC sighed, "I've had to listen to the guys already."
 
"Yes, but coming from me it will be completely different." Ami said, pulling a chair to her and sitting between JC and the door.
 
"Alright, I'm listening."
 
"I'm not going to tell you to watch yourself and be perfect like I'm sure the guys did because, frankly, you're not perfect. You're bound to hurt her and she's bound to hurt you. It's the way relationships work." Ami told him, watching him sit down and begin stretching out his tired muscles, "You'll fight, you'll say things that you don't mean, you'll do things that you won't mean, it's human nature."
 
"I thought that you came in here to lecture me, not tell me things I already know."
 
Ami's eyebrow arched much like Darcie's did when she wasn't impressed with something, "I'm getting there. What you need to remember through all of this is what Darcie has been through in the past few years."
 
"I know what she's been through."
 
"No, you've been told what happened to her." Ami snapped, "Even I don't know what she’s been through and I was there when it happened."
 
"What do you mean?"
 
"The only one who knows what she’s been through is Darcie. She's the one who knows what she felt, what she saw, what she heard." Ami said with a sigh, "Let me tell you what I know about what happened."
 
"We had about two weeks or so before we were supposed to fly to Orlando, actually less then that because we were planning on flying out and surprising you guys, so we really only had two days." Ami began quietly, "We had made lists of stuff that we needed and we were heading to the store to get them. It was stupid stuff really, extra toothbrushes, hair products, toothpaste, all stuff we could have gotten in Orlando."
 
Ami let out a bitter laugh that sent chills down JC's spine, "There's been so many times that I've wondered that if we had just waited until the next morning, everything would have been fine. I remember Darcie checking the baby gate that was in the doorway of the room we kept Bronx in, making sure that he wouldn't get in her dads way. We were at the front door and she called back to Samantha to see if she needed anything while we were out. It was habit of course, but Sam always managed to think of something she would
need.
 
"Sam didn't respond to Darcie's question, which was strange since she had been in the kitchen. I don't know if you were ever at Darcie's house in Toronto, but the kitchen was at the back of the house, you could see it from where we were standing. I thought maybe she hadn't heard us so Darcie went to look for her while I stayed at the front of the house.
 
"I saw Bronx jump over the baby gate and I figured I would go catch him before Jeremy spotted him and when I walked into the kitchen Jeremy was holding Darcie's arm and Bronx was growling. She asked me to take him outside so I grabbed his collar and when I turned I saw Sam lying on the floor. It was stupid of me not to get out and call the cops, but I was worried about her so I went to check on her. I remember Darcie letting out this cry, I had never heard a sound like that before and it scared the hell out of me.
 
"Bronx started pulling at me, trying to get loose and I remember thinking he was going to tear my arm off. Sam seemed to come too; maybe it was instinct, knowing her daughter was in danger. The two of them were pleading with him to let her go and I just sat there, watching it all. I remember him pulling the gun and I must have let go of Bronx when I screamed because the next thing I knew was the gun went off and Bronx was tossed backwards from the impact. All I kept thinking was 'I have to do something, I can't let him die'.
 
"As I sat there pressing my hand to the bullet wound, listening to that poor dog whine and cry and still struggle to get to Darcie to protect her, all I thought about was how many times I had made fun of her for how she treated that dog. She always told me that it was the only connection that she had to you guys at all times, and I knew how heartbroken she'd be if he died."
 
JC stood up and crossed the room to Ami, wiping her tears off her cheeks. "There's nothing you could have done Aims."
 
"I know, but it was the look on her face." Ami said, "I'll never forget the look on her face, or the sound of her voice as she yelled at Jeremy. When he turned the gun on her, I thought for sure that she was going to be dead. I couldn't even do anything when the gun went off, I just sat there staring like an idiot, trying to grasp what it was that just went on. That was when Sam started pushing me, begging me to get help. They thought that I went to a neighbours but I just went out back and phoned from my cell phone, listening to Sam beg Darcie to talk to her, to say anything. I had just finished giving the operator the address when the gun went off again.
 
"After that I heard him screaming my name and he went for the front of the house. I went back in and Darcie was just laying there, Sam was awake and petting her hair, we both thought she was gone. I grabbed a towel and pressed it to her shoulder. Do you have any idea what it's like to know that your friend's life depends on you? What it feels like to have to feel and watch blood seeping up to your hand even thought you're trying everything you can to make it stop flowing? Of course you don't, that's what makes what I have to say far more important then what even Chris could have possibly told you."
 
"I get it." JC said quietly.
 
"No you don't." Ami told him, "You may love her, but she is the world to me. She has been there through the roughest patches of my life and she will always be there for me for whatever else I might have to face, just like I'll be there for her."
 
"I wouldn't expect any less." JC insisted.

"I'm not finished JC." Ami snapped, "If you hurt her, I swear to every God out there that I will make your life hell. I won't do it by yelling at you, or causing you pain, but I will make sure that she stays far away from you, because I know that will be more painful to you then any pain any of the guys could cause you."
 
JC stared up at her in shock as the full impact of her words hit him, "If it ever comes to that, I hope you will."
 
Ami smiled and leaned forward and kissed his cheek, "Good, now go get showered cause you kinda smell and then you're taking me out to dinner."
 
"Asking me out on a date?" JC teased, "What would Darcie say."
 
Ami shrugged, "She'd just get me back with Justin, after she grilled me for all the details."
 
JC shook his head, "You two are so much alike it's scary."
 
Ami smirked and slid her chair out of the way to pass, "Don't I know it. Sometimes I think we need to spend less time together. Now go, I’m hungry and you don’t want to see me get cranky on your ass.” 

JC laughed and grabbed his things, “Give me twenty minutes.” 

“You have ten.” Ami called after him as he walked out, “God help me not to maul that boy when he gets out of that shower. Think of Justin Ami, think of Justin.”