A Helping Hand
Author's Note- once again, an excellent idea by DJ! This is borderline with the girlfriend thing (which you know I hate), so to make up for it, I'll throw in some ass kicking!
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"So come and take a ride, take a space ride with the cow- Ow!"
"Stop the music! Chris, what's your problem?" DJ, the choreographer asked.
"No problem," Chris said, wincing as he got off Joey. "My wrist just gave out."
"God, can't you do anything right?" DJ asked. "We've been working on this dance all day and I know you are capable of doing a backflip."
"Sorry," Chris mumbled, rubbing his wrist. He glared at DJ and she glared right back.
"Okay, let's try this again," DJ instructed. "Do it right this time," she said, looking at Chris.
Chris sighed and tried to ignore her. She wasn't trying to be mean; in fact most of the time shy was shy and kept to herself. 'It must just be her time of the month," he thought as the music began.
The others looked at DJ without the same compassion. Most of the time she was sweet, they agreed, but her words were very hurtful at times.
When they started dancing again, DJ's smile returned. She cheered the guys on as they went through the dance, and Chris successfully landed his backflip. As soon as the song was over, she clapped. "Great job guys!" she smiled, patting Justin on the back. "That's a wrap!"
"Thank God," Joey whispered.
"I'll see you tomorrow at nine!" DJ said.
"Nine? That early?" J.C. whined.
"Yeah, and if you're late, you don't get a break."
"That's not fair!" Joey argued. "Whose stupid idea was that?"
DJ backed up a step and said, "Look, I'm sorry. That's just what I was told."
Seeing a hint of fright in her pretty face, Joey apologized. "Its not you're fault. Don't worry about it." He followed the others out the door and onto the sunny, empty parking lot.
"I will never understand her," Lance said. "One minute, she's slamming us and the next she's practically in tears!"
"Her birthday I tomorrow," Chris interrupted. "I was thinking we could maybe have a surprise party for her."
"After the way she just treated you?" J.C. asked.
"She was right though. I should have been able to do it."
"You also could have broken your wrist, but that wouldn't have mattered to her," Justin said.
"That doesn't mean she shouldn't have a birthday tomorrow," Chris said quietly.
After a few seconds of silence, Joey said, "Fine! We'll have a party for her. But don't think I like her."
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The guys were up half the night decorating the dance room for DJ's party. They figured since they had to be there at nine, they might as well party. When they were done decorating, colors clashed and streamers were slightly torn, but it looked cheerful enough. They figured after the rehearsal, they would bring her a cake and presents and stay long enough to show her they cared.
DJ arrived late, and when she walked in the dance room she found the five young men asleep on the floor.
Her mouth dropped opened at the sight. The room looked beautiful, or so she would tell them. DJ was touched. Not even her husband had done anything like this. Tears filled her eyes as Joey slowly woke up, then kicked Justin awake.
Once they were all awake, they yelled, "Happy Birthday!"
DJ cried with joy. "Thanks guys," she sniffed, wiping her eyes. "No one had ever done anything like this for me."
"That's why we're here," Chris smiled, getting up.
"Yeah, this is just our little way of thanking you for being our choreographer. After rehearsal we want to give you your presents," Lance said.
"You guys shouldn't have," DJ said. "I was so mean to you yesterday…I don't deserve any of this."
"Whatever," Justin smiled. "You're part of the Nsync family now."
DJ smiled back, but was interrupted when her cell phone rang. She picked it up and answered, "Hello?"
DJ's face grew frightened and she backed away from the guys. She began whispering her apologies on the phone and kept her eyes glued to the floor. "I'm sorry…I'll clean it up when I get home…I can't come now…but the guys…" She looked up to the guys quickly, then back down to the floor. "I'll try…okay."
"What's wrong?" Chris asked sincerely.
"I need to go, if that's okay with you guys," DJ asked. To the others, it sounded like a plea.
"Uh, sure, I guess, but what about your party?" J.C. asked.
"I'm sorry, can we do it later?" DJ asked, starting to go.
"Wait, do you need help or anything?" Chris asked, picking up on DJ's uneasiness.
"Um, I think I'll be fine," DJ said, putting some thought into it first. She seemed reluctant to turn him down.
"Okay," Chris said, already having no intention of listening to her.
"Thanks again guys," DJ said, adding a slight smile. "I'll be back later."
DJ went out into the parking lot, unaware that Chris was following her. He couldn't help it, he was just the kind of person that cared about everyone and he could tell when something was wrong. And something was very wrong with DJ.
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DJ arrived home in ten minutes flat. That was the deadline anyway. If her 30-year-old husband needed his twenty eight-year-old wife to do something for him, the time allotted was ten minutes. So DJ hurried home as usual, trying to imagine what Dave needed now. He never hit her, for which she was thankful, but his words hurt her feeling so much she felt like she had been hit. He made her feel like dirt, and she was to the point where she was starting to believe him. Sometimes the anger she had for Dave bled out to other people, like yesterday with the guys. And that's why she hated him.
DJ got out of her car and started running inside, then stopped. She turned around and saw Chris getting out of his car with every intent on following her. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a harsh whisper.
"I'm following you," Chris replied simply.
"I can see that," DJ said. "But why?"
"You looked like you wanted company," Chris said.
"You can't stay," DJ said, suddenly remembering the time.
"Why not? Got some big sec-"
"Chris, go home!" DJ said louder. She started inching her way to the door, but Chris remained where he was.
"DJ, if you need help-"
"Chris, get out of here!" DJ yelled. "Go back to the warehouse." With that, DJ turned and went in her house.
Chris remained where he was for a few seconds, trying to decide if his feeling should be hurt or not. Then he sighed once and turned to leave. Something was definitely up, and he cared about DJ too much to let this go under his nose. But he also didn't want to make things worse, so for now he would let it drop.
"So what happened?" Justin asked as Chris pulled in the parking lot.
"Nothing," Chris replied. "She sent me back here and said to wait."
"She said to wait for her? What does she think we are, a bunch of old dogs?"
Justin said. "This is unbelievable. Screw this, I'm going home."
"Justin, don't," Chris said. "Just wait here a little while. I know something's wrong with her, but she won't tell me. I'm gonna find out if it kills me."
"The way you act sometimes, you probably will end up dead. Her husband is probably an axe murderer and he'll chop you into little two inch pieces and scatter you all over the docks," Justin said. "Then you'll wish you didn't care about people so much."
Chris got out of the car. "Justin, knock it off. Besides, he'd have to go through you first."
"Me? Why me?"
"Because you know you'd follow me wherever I went and stick your nose where it don't belong."
"I do not!"
"Yes you do. Now are you staying or not?"
"Fine, I'll stay. But not because you told me to." Justin pouted.
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DJ wiped her tears as she got out of the car and headed into the warehouse. She was tired of Dave yelling at her and making her clean up after him, but she didn't want to involve any of the guys in her life. It was too complicated already.
She went inside, not expecting the guys to still be there. She had no right to yell at Chris the way she did, and she was sure he would never show up again. But sure enough, when she opened the heavy door of the warehouse, the five young men were sitting on the floor, I Spy.
Justin saw DJ enter and said sarcastically, "I spy something that doesn't care about us."
"I'm so sorry guys," DJ apologized as she went over to them. "It was an emergency."
Chris scanned her body for bruises, but found none. "So what was so important?"
"Nothing really," DJ replied, pulling her clipboard out of her duffel bag. "Let's get to work, okay?"
The guys grumbled as they got up, but obeyed anyway.
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"No, no, no!" DJ yelled as Lance fumbled to catch up from the step he missed. "If you guys don't want to do this, then say so now and we'll stop."
They panted as the looked at her in shock. "We've been going non-stop for three hours now, what do you expect?" Justin asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"I expect to be working with professionals that can handle this type of work," DJ replied. "You guys are just a bunch of lazy young men."
No one said anything for a few seconds that seemed like an eternity. They couldn't believe she was talking to them like this. "What?" J.C. asked.
"You guys are just a bunch of lazy, big-egotistical singers that get paid way too much," DJ challenged.
"Goodbye," J.C. replied.
DJ looked at them in shock as Justin said; "You're fired. Your check is in the mail."
DJ's hard outer shell shattered. "What?" she asked. "You're firing me?"
"We already did," Joey said.
"Oh my God," she whispered, turning away. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and she didn't want the guys to see. 'I did it again,' she thought. 'I released my anger on someone else, and this time I cost me my job. God, I really am a loser.'
Slowly, she picked up her duffel bag and went outside. All the fire that was in her was gone now, and all that remained was wet ashes. Even the sun couldn't warm her as she crossed the parking lot and got in her car, then drove off with out looking back. She hated going home, but there was no where else for her to go and since she felt like crap now, she might as well get called that.
But if she had looked back, she would have seen who was following her.
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Chris watched DJ trudge out the door and felt a pang of sympathy. He grabbed the present he got her, which was a specially made FumanSkeeto cheerleader skirt with Nsync stitched near the bottom. He started to follow her out when Justin stopped him.
"What are you doing?" Justin asked. "She doesn't deserve anything after that little performance."
"I think that 'little performance' makes her deserve it all the more," Chris argued, pulling loose from Justin's grip.
"Why?" Lance asked.
"Can't you see it in her eyes?" Chris asked. "She's not making those things up, she's repeating them. She goes into a trance and starts spouting things out and she doesn't even know what they are until she's already said them."
"So what are you saying, that she's off the hook and we should hire her back?"
"I'm saying it's not her fault. Someone's been pounding that stuff into her head, and I've got a good idea who."
With that, Chris left to follow DJ.
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DJ got out of her car and slowly started up the sidewalk to her house. Then she saw her husband in the backyard digging something up. DJ started to turn off the sidewalk when she heard a car pull up behind her. She turned around and saw Chris, who got out of the car and up the sidewalk to meet her.
Chris held out the present as he got closer to her. When he stood in front of her, he smiled, "Happy Birthday."
DJ looked down at the present in shock. Then she looked him in the eyes and started crying. "Chris, what's wrong with you? Every time I treat you like shit you always come back for more! I can't believe you still talk to me. You must be pretty messed up in the head."
Chris's smile never faded. "I'm not coming back for more, I'm trying to fix the problem," he said. "Now open your present."
DJ was still crying as she took the present. "Thank you," she said as she opened it. Then she tucked the box under one arm as she held the skirt up to herself. "I love it," she whispered, smiling even though her tears were still flowing.
"I knew you would," Chris replied, stepping forward and giving her a hug.
DJ cried on his chest, feeling the warmth of his body under his shirt. He rubbed her back as she cried, sniffing every so often so she wouldn't mess up his shirt. It had been years since she felt this loved. Even since she hugged someone that never made fun of her. She never wanted to release her tight grasp on the back of his shirt, but a sudden yell made her jump.
"DJ!"
She let go of Chris and turned to see Dave marching out of the fence and coming straight for her. And Chris.
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"DJ, what on God's green earth do you think you're doing?" Dave asked, coming to a halt in front of her and Chris.
"It's my birthday," DJ replied.
"And that gives you a reason to cheat on me?"
"We were just hugging," she said, looking at the ground.
Dave turned his attention to Chris. "And you the hell are you?" he snapped.
"I'm DJ's friend," Chris replied. "I gave her a birthday present."
"What, your dick?" Dave replied, making DJ cringe.
"No, a skirt," Chris said, looking him in the eyes. "Probably more than she got from you."
"Damn straight," Dave said. "Why should that cheating bitch get anything from me?"
"Watch your mouth," Chris said, stepping up to Dave. "She didn't to a damn thing."
Dave turned to DJ and ordered, "Get in the house now."
DJ remained where she was, but it wouldn't take too much to get her going.
"She doesn't have to go anywhere," Chris argued, realizing later that that's when he bit off more than he could chew.
"She has to do what I tell her," Dave replied, glaring at Chris for undermining him.
"No she doesn't" Chris said firmly.
"And who the hell do you think you are, coming over here and telling me what I can and can't do? You're no more that a lazy, big-egotistical singer who gets paid way too much!"
Chris had enough. He snapped. A surge of protections and adrenaline swept through him, spurring him into motion and he lunged, knocking Dave flat on his back. Chris laid into him, pummeling Dave from both sides with his fists. DJ yelled for Chris to stop, but neither man listened.
Once Dave got his bearings, he easily flipped the shorter and lighter Chris onto his back. Chris suddenly found himself on his back and in the back of his mind he heard the screech of tires as someone pulled up on the street. Then his ears rang with pain as Dave landed a blow to Chris's head and one to the stomach before Chris brought his knee up in defense and hit Dave in the crotch.
Dave yelped and rolled over, allowing Chris to kneel over him again. But before Chris could, Dave returned the same move as Chris had just done on him. This time Chris yelped and crumpled to the ground, and instantly Dave was straddling him. Chris saw Dave's fist pull back and prepared for the blow.
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Chris watched Dave's iron fist fly towards his face, but was surprised when he never felt the blow. Chris looked into the sun and saw Joey pulling Dave off him. With one good swing, Joey punched Dave in the face and sent the man to the ground, where he lay still.
DJ was at Chris's side, along with J.C. Chris pulled himself into a sitting position, regretting it when pain ripped through his stomach. And a couple inches southwards.
"Are you okay?" DJ asked, beating J.C. to it.
"Nothing a little ice won't cure," Chris whispered, placing a hand on his throbbing manhood and hunching over on the grass.
"What happened?" Justin asked, watching Joey lightly kick Dave's unconscious body.
"Chris stood up for me," DJ replied.
"Why?" Joey asked. "I mean, not like that, but why did he have to?"
"Dave harasses me," DJ said, getting it out in the open. "He verbally abuses me, an until now I was too weak to do anything."
"Is that right?" Lance asked Chris, mostly out of spite.
Chris nodded with out looking up as J.C. roughly pulled him to his feet.
"So what are you going to do know?" Justin asked.
"I'm going to get a divorce," she stated with the pride and self-confidence that Chris had given her.
Chris looked up at her with shock. "Really?"
"Yes. As soon as possible, too," DJ smiled.
"Well let's go then!" J.C. exclaimed, smacking Chris in the stomach as he started to the car.
Chris bent over in pain then found DJ helping him up. When he looked at her, she smiled and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for what you did today," she smiled. "How will I repay you?"
"Ice," Chris whispered.
Finnis!
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