One

I lay on the bed unclothed, the fan above us in our tropical room making circles like a merry-go-round.  We'd made love for hours that morning and now I had just gotten out of the shower when he snatched the towel from me and watched me roll on the bed with my wet head and big smile.

"Are you taking that towel?" I asked.

"I like it, it's cool," he shrugged.

"JC's turning you into quite a klepto," I tossed a pillow at him.

"Hey watch it Mrs. Megan Bass, I may feed you to the dolphins out there," he folded up the towel and put it in the suitcase neatly.

"Mrs. Megan Bass, I like the ring of that, I like Mrs. James Lance Bass better," I sat up on my elbows and watched him intently.

"Mmm, I do too,” he leaned down and kissed me.  “Although, if we're going to make our flight on time, I guess I better unpack you something to wear, aye?" he dug around in my suitcase and pulled out a sundress.

I wrinkled my nose, but decided to wear it anyways.

"Guess who's picking us up from the airport?" he asked.

"Do I want to know?" I laughed.

"Guess?" he asked.

"J?"

"No."

"Your mom and dad?"

"Nope, again."

"Oh God, you're having Laurel and Hardy pick us up, aren't you?" I sighed, pulling the long white dress over my body.

"People on the net call them Choey," he joked.

"Nice," I giggled.

"I'm going to go check out, I'll be back in a few, okay?" he leaned over and kissed me gently.

"Okay," I agreed.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Nick slammed down his empty shot glass and looked up at Kevin.

"Alright old man, lemme see what you've got," he joked.

"You think you're funny Carter, don't you?  I've got more stamina than you, deal with it," Kevin took a shot and set it down next to Nick's four empty glasses.

"Y'all need to get a life," AJ huffed and plopped next to the others.

"Some after party, it's more annoying than anything," Howie complained.

"We have to be here for the record label," Brian reminded him.

"Yeah whatever, they don't like us anymore anyway, they like the N Sync hoes better," Nick laughed.

"Nick, knock it off," Howie replied.

"Get over it," Brian added.

Nick just mocked him and asked the bartender for another shot, the corner of his eye catching on Justin and Chris on the other side of the room.  They strolled across the crowd of people towards the group of Backstreeters.

"Where's Bass and Fatone?  We already know Chasez's giving ten dollar blow jobs in the men’s room," Nick chuckled.

"Really, he only charged me ten Carter, guess you got jipped," Justin replied behind him and kept walking.

"Bastard," Nick grumbled.

"Oh Nick, chill out, Jesus," AJ looked around the room, "when can we blow this Popsicle stand anyways?"

"We have to stay to at least one," Kevin watched Nick take another shot.

"Fuck, the alcohol's free, let's stay all night," Nick muttered.

"I bet you can't take any more Carter," Kevin replied.

"That's a stupid bet, I never give up, give me a better bet than that Kev," he insisted.  "Bet me something against those N Sync hoes," he challenged.

Howie turned around and looked at Nick eyeing Justin on the other side of the room.  "No Nicky, don't mess with them," he firmly replied.

"DO IT DAMMITT," Nick's words were slurred.

"Alright," Kevin sat up, his head spinning, "I bet you can't get one of their bitches into bed," he poked Nick in the chest, nearly falling out of his chair.

"See this is why I stopped drinking," AJ reached over and grabbed the shot from Nick's hands before he took another one.  He then put it on the counter behind him.

"Are you insane Kev, I can get any girl into bed," he burped.

"Obviously," Brian muttered.

"If you can't then it's plain and simple, they're a better group," Kevin reasoned.

"Now what kind of fucking retarded notion is that Kevin?" AJ looked at him stupidly.

"It's MINE," Kevin tried pointing to himself put kept laughing.

"No Kevin, leave well enough alone," Howie insisted.

"Shut up D, I can do this," Nick straightened himself out, "we've got that whole Jive bullshit thing to do next weekend, I'm sure their women will be at that, you'll see," Nick started to slide out of his chair, "you'll see."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

I could feel the humidity eat at my skin as we stepped off the plane.

“Welcome back to Orlando,” I squinted at the blistering feeling on my skin.

Lance’s hand held mine tightly, his dark hat pulled over his eyes as we made our way into the terminal.  Sure enough, there was Joey, in a big old straw hat, TRYING to look inconspicuous.  Then Chris, who had on one of those baseball hats with the twirly-spinny thing on top, going around in circles like tweetle-dee and tweetle-dum.  It was colored in an array of rainbow shades and I couldn’t help but bust out with a snort as we approached them.

“Mr. and Mrs. Poofu, welcome home from the Bahamas,” Chris threw his arms around us both.

“Thanks Chris, but you both look like a bunch of dorks,” Lance flicked Chris’s hat.

“Hey we resent that…sorta,” Joey replied.

“So, what’s on the agenda?”  Lance asked.

“Things aren’t too busy, we told the record company and Johnny that you wouldn’t be back till now, so nothing’s booked until next weekend,” Chris grabbed my bag for me and pretended to be able to carry it, but the rock-solid bag nearly made him fall over on the floor.

Joey laughed and grabbed it instead.

“So what’s next weekend?” Lance asked as we made our way to the limo.

“A party with Jive.  Their ten year anniversary or some shit like that and everyone who isn’t dying has to go,” Joey shrugged.

“Oh no, Jup has to see Brit,” Lance laughed.

“Yeah, it’s going to be entertaining.  They’re actually holding it in a hotel, so that should be fun,” Chris added.

“Yeah, good food,” Joey rubbed his stomach.

“Gosh Fatone, always thinking about your tummy,” I laughed.

“Hey at least I’m not Chris who is excited about riding in the glass elevators,” Joey retorted.

Lance and I both just laughed at Chris.  

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x   

“So how was the trip you guys?”  JC asked as I set out some beers for the guys.  We’d been home a few days and JC and Justin had come over to basically bother us.  It was good though, Lance had missed them a lot.

Joey and Chris soon found their way over as well and we ended up just sitting around drinking and chatting.       

“It was good, we went scuba diving and sightseeing,” I replied as I sat down on the floor in front of Lance.

“Doesn’t sound like much for the Bahamas,” Justin raised his eyebrow.

“Yeah they were sightseeing in their bedroom,” Chris snorted.

I turned around and looked up at Lance, whose green eyes smiled brightly down at mine.  His fingers played with my long brown hair as I reached beside me and smacked Chris.

“Hey, we’re newlyweds, okay?” Lance shrugged and sipped on his beer.

The phone rang from the other room.

“I’ll be right back, don’t eat all the chips,” I smacked Joey’s hand away as I passed.

He made a pouty face.

“She’s a feisty one Bass, is she good in bed?” Joey dipped a chip in guacamole.

“You’ll never know Joe,” he shook his head.

“Damn.”

“So what time is this shindig on Saturday?” Lance looked at JC.

“I think the cars arrive at five to pick us up.  We do the mingling thing till about 6.30 and then dinner and after-dinner cocktails.  It should be over by midnight,” JC took a swig of his Coke.

“Cool,” Lance nodded as I entered the room.

“Which one of your girls is going?” I looked at all of them.

“Kelly’s going with me,” Joey replied.

“Kristy decided to go with me, even though she wants the record to show we’re not together,” Chris replied.

I looked at JC and Justin.

“I think Em is going to come with me,” JC replied.

All eyes were on Justin.

“I don’t know man, I think I’m going solo,” he answered.

“Why Ju?” Lance asked.

“No one I really want to take.  Unless Chris wants to dump Kristy and be my date,” he wriggled his eyebrows at Chris.

“Hey I like that idea,” Chris answered, “okay Justy, we’re going together,” they both started laughing.

“Oh gosh you two are horrible,” Lance laughed.

“We know.”

Two