Blank~ Continued
"Joey, let them in," J.C. said, sighing.
'This should be interesting,' he thought.
The Backstreet Boys filed into the hotel room; each of them dressed in dark colored clothes. A.J. was in mostly leather, while the others were dressed somewhat sensibly. They approached the confused Chris, who was protected by the alarmed Busta.
"We heard what happened," Kevin started, "and we just wanted to see how you were doing."
"I'm fine," Chris replied cautiously. "Who are you again?"
Kevin looked to the J.C., Lance and Justin, confused.
"He's got amnesia," J.C. said with out looking up.
"Oh," Kevin said, looking back to Chris. "I guess it's a good thing we did stop by then, right?" he asked, nudging Brian.
"Don't listen to them," Joey said, going over to Chris. "Whatever they say, they're lying."
"Now now," A.J. said, stepping up to Joey. "You don't even know what we were going to say. I think you might want to back down before you open your big mouth again."
"Shut up, Alex," Joey mocked. "You don't scare me."
"No?" A.J. asked. "You scare the shit out of me."
"Guys, knock it off," Kevin said, stepping in between them. "We're here to see that Chris and Justin are okay, not to pick fights."
"Why do you care?" Justin asked from his spot at the table.
"We're only human," Howie said, going over to join Justin, J.C. and Lance.
"Besides," A.J. said. "We need someone to accuse of copying us."
"Oh, thanks," Lance said, rolling his eyes.
A.J. grinned, his eyes covered by dark sunglasses. "No problem."
"We're the Backstreet Boys," Kevin explained to Chris. "We're kinda like your arch enemies because people always compare us and say we're the same. All the teenage girls are either your fans or our fans, and they're constantly putting each other down."
Chris studied the three guys that were in front of him, still not remembering them. "So we hate each other?" he asked.
"In a way, yeah, I guess," Brian said.
"But you wanted to come see us?"
"Yeah," Nick said, leaning on Brian's shoulder.
"We do still care about you guys," Kevin clarified. "We all came from the same place, and I guess a tiny part of us respects you guys."
"Well wasn't that sweet," Joey said, interrupting. "Wish I could say the same, goodbye!"
"Joey," Chris started. "They were being nice to us."
"They're brain washing you," Joey argued. "They treat us like dirt because they know they'll never be number one on TRL as long as we have a video out."
"Only because all your fans are half your age with nothing better to do than get on the Internet and vote once for every state," A.J. shot back.
"And how would you know?" Joey asked.
A.J. faltered. "I guessed," he replied. "Let's get out of here," he said to the others.
"Nice talking to ya," Kevin said to Chris before A.J. dragged him away.
"You too," Chris smiled, watching the group leave.
Joey saw them out the door, and before he shut it he yelled down the hallway, "Yeah, you guys are sexual…HOMOsexual!"
He was answered by A.J. flipping him off as they got in the elevator.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Assholes," J.C. muttered after Joey came in and shut the door.
"Can you believe them?" Joey asked, sitting on the couch. "Trying to brainwash Chris into liking them…"
"That's a new low," Lance agreed.
"They seemed nice," Chris spoke up.
"Just wait for when it comes time for the next award show," Justin said, now reading a magic eye book. "We get prank calls from 'anonymous' callers and dead animals in the mail."
"Seriously?" Chris asked.
"Not the dead animal part," J.C. laughed.
Then there was another knock on the door, and Joey cursed as he got up to open it. He yanked the door open and yelled, "What the hell do you want now?"
Only it wasn't five young men who were staring back, mouths open. It was three blonde-hair brothers.
"Maybe we should come back another time," Isaac said, starting to go.
Joey blushed, then turned back to the others. "False alarm, its only Hanson," he announced.
"Yeah, it's only us," Taylor said, smiling.
"Um, come in," Joey said, stepping away from the door.
The three blondes stepped inside, then were greeted by the other Nsyncers. "Hey guys, what's up? Sorry about Joey there, we just had a visit by the Backdoor boys."
"It's cool," Taylor replied. "We were just coming to see how you guys were. We heard about the accident and decided to fly out and see you."
"That was nice," J.C. said, looking at Chris. He looked about ready to fall asleep, but these kids did come all the way to New York to see them.
The teens looked in the direction J.C. was, and found Chris drifting off. "Is he okay?" Isaac asked as Zac sat beside Justin and stared at the hologram book too.
"Long day," Lance smiled.
J.C. managed half a smile too, then said, "He's got amnesia and can't remember anything but his name and the fact he's close to Justin."
"Wow," Taylor said softly. "Will he ever get his memory back?"
"The doctors didn't know. He is remembering parts of things the more we talk to him," J.C. replied.
"Do you want us to go?" Isaac asked.
"No, you came all the way to see us, you can stay. Who knows, maybe you'll help him," J.C. smiled.
Taylor looked at Justin and his younger brother and noticed the Nsync caricatures that were drawn on Justin's cast. "Those are good," he said, moving closer to Justin and studying the silly pictures.
"Thanks," Justin smiled. "I drew them."
"I like them a lot," Taylor repeated. "You could sell your cast when you get it off. Probably get a hundred easy."
Justin laughed. "I like this kid," he said to J.C.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris woke with a start, breathing hard. The light from the hotel room blinded him temporarily, and he blinked to get used to the harsh light. The others were looking at him with worry and they watched as he wiped a layer of sweat from his forehead. "Horses," he said, swallowing and coating his dry throat with saliva. "I'm not found of horses."
The others cracked up, remembering how they all rode horses for the shooting of their video, 'For the Girl Who has Everything.' Chris wasn't too found of the gentle creatures, and was happy just riding the stray dogs. Eventually he mounted a horse, but clung to it the whole time they ran down the beach, afraid he would fall and hurt himself.
"Yeah, you are kind of afraid of them," Lance laughed.
"You have a horse," Chris replied, focusing on Lance. "Tyler? Titan?"
"Toby," Lance said, still smiling.
"I didn't know you had a horse," Taylor said, re-announcing their presence.
Lance nodded as Chris asked, "Who are you kids?"
"We're Hanson," Taylor replied, a little annoyed at being referred to as a 'kid.' "We were big before you guys even showed you're faces in the states."
Chris looked to Justin a bit offended, but Justin just nodded. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know…"
"Hey, it's okay," Taylor smiled. "It happens quite often."
Chris looked at Joey, who was watching TV. For some reason, a though hit him. "Wait a minute, I thought I had long hair!"
Joey looked at him confused. "Why are you looking at me?" he asked.
"You did have long hair," Justin said. "It was in braids. But you got lice and had to cut it."
Zac started laughing, looking at how his brothers had also cut their hair.
"I did?" Chris asked, placing a hand on his head.
"No," Justin smiled. "You just wanted to take a break from the braids," he said.
"And the ladies love it," Joey said, raising his eyebrows.
"God," Chris sighed. "I'm never going to remember my life! This sucks! I keep getting things mixed up!"
"Hey, at least you're remembering," Zac said.
"And we're not helping you the way we should be," Justin said, handing his book to Zac.
"Don't blame yourself-" Chris started, but he was cut off by when the phone rang.
Justin grabbed it and answered, "Hello?"
"Hey, Justin? This is Catherine from make up."
"Oh, yeah. What's up?"
"Well, I got word from the boss that even with your and Chris's accident, you have to do a show tonight."
"What?! But- we can't! Chris would have to memorize all the songs in…" he squinted at the VCR. "Four hours!?"
"Sorry sweetie, that's what he said. I don't think it's fair either, but the show must go on. The tickets are for rain or shine, and he thinks it would only hurt you to skip it."
Justin grew red with anger. "I can't believe this! This is insane. Fine, tell him we'll work on it. But if we can't do it, it's not our problem. He made an impossible demand, even for us."
Catherine laughed lightly. "I have faith in you," she said. "I hope I'll see you later." With that, she hung up.
"What's up?" J.C. asked.
Justin looked at Chris and sighed. "We have four hours to cram all the songs into his head for our concert tonight."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~v
Taylor finished off his fifth Dr. Pepper and lay on the table beside Zac's head. Zac had fallen asleep half an hour ago, extremely bored by hearing the same songs over and over. Isaac had practiced finding the figure in the Magic Eye book so well, he could actually find one, turn the page then see the next right away.
Taylor already knew most of Nsync's songs, as did all the brothers, but they didn't say anything to prevent Chris from becoming hopeless. Taylor was close to nodding off himself, but jerked his head up and opened his eyes.
"Okay, one more time, then we'll move on, okay?" J.C. asked, sighing.
"Look guys, I'm sorry I can't learn this faster-" Chris started, sensing J.C.'s frustration.
"No, I'm not mad," J.C. said, looking Chris in the eyes. "I just think this is so stupid how we have to have a concert tonight. Now let's give this one more shot."
"It's tearin' up my heart when I'm with you, and when we are apart, I feel it too…"
The guys began Tearin' Up My heart accapella, then added the music from one of their CDs. After all the time they had spent, Chris had most of the songs down, which they attributed to his musical savant (extreme talent).
"Well, I think you guys are ready to go tonight," Isaac said after they had finished the nearly perfect song.
Chris sighed, giving a slight smile. "Yeah, we can do it," he said, placing a hand on Justin's shoulder.
"Okay then," Lance said, getting up. "Let's get ready."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Night had fallen, and anticipation grew for the day-late concert. Girls had packed themselves in the amphitheater, and the smell of perfume and sparkling of glitter flooded the senses. A local radio station had already arrived and was keeping the girls from screaming their longing for the boyband.
Backstage, nervousness was choking Chris. He took another aspirin in hopes of putting out the fire in his side. Justin's wrist was killing him, but his excitement acted as a natural painkiller. Chris tried to act cool around the others. Clearly they had no anxiety about the concert. And if they had such faith in him, maybe he could actually do it. Catherine was fixing his hair as he stared at himself growing white in the mirror. The others were getting into their costumes and saying whatever came to mind.
"Are you okay?" Catherine asked, looking at Chris in the mirror from her position behind him.
"I guess," he sighed, taking a deep, calming breath. "Just nervous I guess. This is my first time on stage, you know."
"Yeah, I guess it would be," Catherine smiled, charmed at his sweetness.
"You ready?" Joey asked, tossing the religious Hackey-sac at Chris.
Chris flinched and caught it, holding the bean-filled ball with bewilderment. "What's this for?" he asked, looking at the striped ball.
"It's a game we always play before a concert," Justin explained.
"You kick the ball to each other," Lance added.
"Oh, well that sounds easy enough," Chris smiled, getting up. He joined his friends, and handed the ball to Justin. "You go first," he said.
Justin took the ball, noticing Chris's uneasiness. Justin realized how important he was to Chris, being the only person Chris felt like he could trust. Chris looked at the others with the eyes of an outsider, and Justin knew how he must feel. The flame that had once burned greatly within Chris had been blown out, but a small flicker of light was glowing deep inside, growing bigger everyday.
Justin raised his foot to meet the ball, showing Chris how to kick it. Joey kicked it to Lance, who kicked it to J.C. Chris watched as the ball sailed to him, and he kicked it successfully, getting some confidence. He caught Justin's smile and returned it happily.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a friendly game of Hackey sack, the guys returned to the matter at hand; the concert. In the last remaining minutes, they went through the beginnings of each of the songs rather quickly. "I guess this is it," Justin smiled, patting Chris on the back.
Chris sighed to calm his nerves. "Here goes nothing, right?" he asked, attempting humor.
"Just go with your instincts," J.C. said. "And don't look directly at the girls."
"Okay guys, you're on in a second," Catherine said, coming up behind them.
Just as she finished, the DJ announced them, giving them their cue. The guys ran onstage smiling brightly. They waved at the girls, who screamed deafly. The spotlights followed their movements across the stage and flashes went off all across the sea of girls. Posters were held high although their scream drowned out screams for the individual guys.
The guys turned their microphones and earpieces on and lined up along the stage. Thankfully Chris had remembered most of the dances, and quickly learned what he had forgot. Forgetting about J.C.'s advice, Chris looked out into the crowd and spotted the Hanson brothers. His eyes wandered among the girls and he could almost smell the estrogen that lingered around them. He wasn't as nervous as he thought he'd be, which surprised him.
The music had started, and he threw all his attention into remembering the words and dance moves at the same time. The dancing proved the hardest, trying to keep up with the others. Once or twice he missed a step, but if the others noticed, they didn't call him on it. By the end of 'I Want You Back,' he was out of breath and grateful to be able to lip sync it. Often time's people despised them for it, but they didn't realize it was physically impossible to sing and dance that hard for the whole concert. They tried to sing as much as they could, but no one can sing and dance that much with only a couple-second break in between each song. Sometimes they just pre-recorded parts of a song, giving them enough time to get a good breath. They never completely lip-synched a concert.
The concert was almost over, and the last song caught Chris by surprise. It was slow, and he only faintly remembered it. He looked to Justin worriedly. Justin caught his frightened look and moved next to Chris as he clapped to the beat. J.C. had begun singing, and Chris still wasn't remembering it. 'Follow me,' Justin mouthed, nodding towards his hands as he clapped. Chris slowly started to clap, then got lost when the guys did some simple movements; pointing up, then down, then out to the audience.
Chris looked behind him and saw the large screen that was showing their music video. It was black and white, and looked to be about a mother and son. He looked to the others, who were watching him curiously as they kept singing. He grew red as he felt the thousands of eyes upon him. His heart rate quickened and his breathing shortened.
Suddenly he felt dizzy. He swayed slightly, his hand going out and reaching for anything. Justin was at his side, singing but keeping his attention on his friend. Most of the girls were too far away to realize anything was wrong, but the few in the front rows were well aware, including Hanson, who were disguised in hats and sunglasses.
Chris stared blankly out into the crowd, watching the quick scenes that ran through his head. They were various things; the guys at Disney World, at home with his sisters and mother, singing in previous concerts, and just hanging out with the guys. He was lost in his own world, oblivious to everything else. The paramedics had gathered at the side of the stage, waiting for a cue from the others. Not wanting to upset everyone, the guys kept singing, hoping for Chris's 'spell' to get over with.
For a brief moment he came back to reality, as if coming up for a breath of air before more flashbacks flooded his mind. He swayed again, making the others consider stopping the concert. But they were almost done, and they just needed to finish the last song.
Chris's memory came rushing back, like a boomerang that had been thrown days ago and was slamming back into Chris's head, announcing it's late arrival. He came to again, feeling complete. He knew where he was, what he was doing, and more importantly, who he was. A big smile crossed his face and the others returned a relived smile. Justin gave Chris his space, and the oldest member stood his ground proudly. He jumped in for the last line of the song, complete with the motions.
The harmony was finally complete for the first time in the song.
"And God must have spent…a little more time…on you…"
Finnish!
Epilogue:
"So he's totally better?" Taylor asked over the phone.
"Yup, doc said so," Justin replied, squeezing the phone between his shoulder and ear as he studied his new Magic Eye Book.
"That's cool. I'm glad you guys are okay," Taylor said.
"Yeah," Justin said, seeing the pop-out bunny.
"Well, I'll let you go, we got a photo shoot in a few minutes."
"Okay," Justin said, turning the page. "Bye."
"Bye," Taylor replied, hanging up the phone.
Justin hung up the phone and turned his attention back to his book. Just then, Chris went skating by in his rollerblades and snatched the book from Justin's hands.
"Hey!" Justin yelled, jumping up.
"If you look at this long enough, you'll go cross eyed," Chris teased, skating around the couch that Joey was sitting on.
"I don't care! I'll start a new boyband trend, the cross eyed kid, now give it back!" Justin yelled, chasing Chris.
"Gotta catch me," Chris laughed.
"When I do, I'm gonna beat you with my thousand dollar cast!" Justin replied.
"You're really gonna sell that?" Joey asked, getting annoyed at the blurs that kept coming in between him and the TV.
"Hell yeah," Justin smiled, stopping to inspect it.
J.C. and Lance looked at each other and rolled their eyes. "Who would be stupid enough to buy you're used cast?" Lance asked.
"Lots of people," Justin replied, faking a hurt look.
They were interrupted by a knock on the door and Chris and Justin raced to get it. Chris tripped over Joey's suddenly outstretched leg, and he landed on the floor hearing Joey laugh.
He picked himself up and continued to the door, slapping Joey on the top of his head on the way. He stood behind Justin, who ripped the book out of his hands. Chris gave Justin a hurt look as the blonde heartthrob opened the door.
On the other side, wearing looks that announced their disgust for being there, were the Backstreet Boys. "It's us," Nick said, no looking at the Nsyncers.
"Uh, yeah, we can see that," Justin replied, leaning on the door. "What do you want?"
"We, uh, came to see how you were doing," Brian said, looking to his older cousin.
"You already did that once," Justin said flatly.
"Yeah, well, we are doing it again, and since it appears that you're okay, we'll be leaving," AJ said, turning. Kevin stopped him.
"You know, it would mean more if you guys came on your own free will," Chris said, spotting a reporter behind the Boys.
"We are!" Howie said, the first one to look at Chris and Justin.
"You have nothing to do with that?" Justin asked, pointing to the camera.
The Backstreet Boys looked behind them innocently. "I have never seen that person before in my life," Nick said.
"Look," Kevin said, looking at AJ accusingly. "We came to apologize for what we said before."
"Oh, how sweet," Justin mocked.
Kevin looked to Chris. "We were serious about what we said to you though."
Chris looked back at him and nodded. "Thanks."
Brian saw Joey glaring at them and said, "Well, we better get going, got stuff to do and all…"
"Fine, goodbye freaks," Justin teased.
"Back at ya LD," AJ shot back as they started down the hallway.
"Screw you," Justin replied, watching them go. Once they had disappeared in the elevator, he turned to Chris. "What does LD mean?"
"Learning disability," Chris laughed, grabbing Justin around the neck and wrestling him back into the room. They had become whole again, and intended to waste no moment together, because you never knew when it would be taken away from you.
END!
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