"Amber!?! What happened? Come in!", JC ushered his cousin toward the living room. "Amber, you're saturated. What happened? Is it Mark?" Amber only managed to nod as the mention of his name brought the tears flooding back.
"You left him? Oh, hey...don't cry", JC said, bringing his arms around her petite frame in a comforting hug.
"You can stay here as long as you want, don't worry about that". Amber smiled her appreciation at her cousin's kind words and gesture.
"Guys, we have a new guest. This is my cousin, Amber, from across town. Amber, this is Joey, Justin, Lance...and, over there is Chris." JC gave the guys a 'Just-don't-ask-right-now' look.
"Oh, great, does she get my room too?" Justin remarked sarcastically. JC shot him a glare.
"Justin, why don't you go with Joey to the airport...the flight lands in a half an hour", JC suggested.
"Right, nice to meet ya Amber..see ya later", Joey smiled at Amber as he dragged a reluctant Justin out of the room.
"You're gonna owe me big time, Joshua Scott Chasez!" Justin called as Joey pulled him out the door.
"Hi Amber, I'm Lance", Lance smiled his friendly Mississippi smile. Amber managed a smile in return but her eyes were drawn to the silent, wild-haired guy sitting by the window, who hadn't moved since she'd arrived.
"Ummm..Chris, my cousin Amber is here. She's gonna be staying for a while."
"Uh-huh", Chris mumbled, not moving.
"Uh..don't worry about him..he's not usually like this. He's...ah..he's just had a rough time..umm..relationship-wise.." JC explained quietly.
'He looks like I feel...miserable.' Amber thought to herself as she stared at the quietly mysterious guy by the window.
