*Exclusive girlfriend talk with the guys*

So imagine 'Nsync's state of shock when they walk into a grocery store or by a newsstand only to spot a magazine announcing to the world that one of the babes behind "I Drive Myself Crazy" is about to-gulp-tie the knot! "We've been coupled with a lot of girls by the press," 20-year-old Lance laughs, "like Britney Spears, Melissa Joan Hart, Jennifer Paige, and Lene Nystrom from Aqua." All of which, he confirms, is so not true!

As a matter of fact, these always on-the-go guys-who, like you, are dying to see their sophmore album hit record stores in October-can't even think about having super-serious sweethearts right now. "It's hard to be serious with someone and then have to say, 'Hey, I'll be gone for a couple of months. I'll see you later," confesses 22-year-old Joey Fatone who's been non-stop jetting with his songmates for the past year-and-a-half in support of the group's 1998 self-titled debut album.

Joey's nutty groupmate Chris agrees: having to do that would break their hearts as much as any girl's. "When we're touring and stuff, we've got crazy hours," says Chris. "We're working until one or two in the morning, and then we have to wake up at 5 a.m. to take a flight."

Why then, you wonder, do you keep hearing rumors about their love lives? Lance guesses that when the truth just isn't juicy enough for some people, they stretch it like a piece of saltwater taffy. Take, for example, the report that he and Boy Meets World star Danielle Fishel are a sizzlin'-hot couple. Not the case. "We're just dating. We are not," he stresses, "girlfriend and boyfriend."

Yikes! Did he just say he was dating her? For those of you who were just pummeled by a wave of panic, we wanna give you the lowdown on the difference between dating and being a full-fledged couple, so your hearts can start beating again. (Well thank God because I was just about to crap my pants on that one.) You see, Lance makes the important distinction because dating is not nearly as serious as, say, going around with each other. It's more like casually hanging out as friends whenever they happen to be in the same town. (Uh huh, I'm buying that.)

Coupledom, on the other hand, is much more serious. So serious, says Justin Timberlake, that when he finally finds that extra-special someone, he's gonna want to settle down and spend as much time with her as possible. "She'll be the first thought that will go into your head when you wake up and the last thought that goes into your head before you go to sleep," the 18-year-old gushes about his dream girl. "When it happens to me, I'll just know." (Oh my gosh, that was really sweet. Ahhhh let's all give Justy props for being such a sweet guy.)

Unfortunately, even though these babely bachelors have yet to find those special someones who make their harts race faster than the Indianapolis 500, some people still can't pass up the opportunity to spread rumors. "All you have to do is show up with a girl and bang, you're a couple," an irritated Lance tells BOP. He recalls, "We were on the Sabrina The Teenage Witch show, and people automatically connected us with Melissa Joan Hart."

And that can be extra frustrating for these five guys. "You know, it's normal for us to hang out with other people in the business," says Justin. "We have similar interests, we share the same things." Naturally, that gives the movie stars and musicians the upper hand in winning these honey's hearts (in other words you're out of the running), right? Not accouriding to JC, "Most of us wanna date 'normal' girls," the 22-year-old says, "We don't want to date somebody in the business because it's too hard, When you do that, you're never going to see them because they're away when you're home and vise-versa. If you have a non-famous girlfriend, you can actually run into them from time to time."

Unfortunately, says JC, you'll usually only hear about it when these guys are going out with other stars. "The press doesn't want you to have a 'normal' girlfriend," he says. "If you're seen with someone they don't know, they assume it's a friend. But if you're out with a celebrity, you're immediately a loving couple." (Ok I'm confused. Why is it unfortunate that the press doesn't find out when they have a 'normal' girlfriend. Wouldn't that be a good thing? I guess what he's saying is, "you people will never know who our real girlfriends are because they're not famous so haha." Power to the 'normal' girls.)

As you can see 'Nsync gets just as anxious and annoyed as you do when they suddenly read or hear about their supposed relationships. And like you, these guys just like to hang out with their friends-both girls and boys-and have fun!

That was just a beautiful article don't you think? Oh well, it was worth reading just to hear Justin crank out another sweet line about love.

He's just a little Romeo ain't he?