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More than a Gift Part 1

Ch. 1 "Ugh! No!" Lizzy cried in frustration. "That's not good either!" She was in a crowded Chicago mall. The sounds of the season were all around her. Christmas shoppers adorned every corner of every store in the mall. Lizzy and Kim were two that added to that crowd. They were getting last minute shopping done before heading home for the holidays. College had let out for break and the girls were heading out on the next flight back to Miami. "Oh, Kim I'm going crazy!" Lizzy said dropping her bags in the floor and plopping on a bench next to the window of a music store. "But I thought you told me he loved jazz." Kim said sitting next to Lizzy. "Yeah, but getting him music books is so unoriginal. He'll probably get the same thing from fans all over the world!" Lizzy dropped her head in her hands and sighed. "Oh Liz!" Kim said putting her hand on her shoulder. Lizzy was in the mall looking for the last present on her list. She had bought presents for all her friends and family. She felt like Santa Clause when she packed all the gifts into a suitcase. There was one missing though and that was the gift that needed to be extra special. "Liz don't worry about it! JC will love anything you give him! A lump of coal will be like a diamond in his eyes if the tag says it's from you." "I know, I just want to get him the perfect gift! This means so much to me! Our first Christmas as a couple and it's gotta be perfect." Lizzy and JC had established a meaningful relationship after Halloween. Everything that had happened had brought them together. They were so happy together and even though they hadn't seen each other face to face since then, the phone calls and e-mails increased the anticipation. And, the anticipation increased the desire. "Ok Liz! Let's think! We have three hours till our plane leaves for Miami. We need to get out of this mall in an hour and with the perfect gift for your man." Kim said standing and searching the mall with her eyes. "Ok." Lizzy said dragging herself out of the bench. "Uh, CDs?" Kim began. "I wouldn't know which to get." "Clothes?" "He has a bigger closet than me." "Jewelry?" "He always wears his Leo necklace." "A book?" "That's too boring!" "A gift certificate." "That's too impersonal!" Kim rolled her eyes. "Well then we sure are stuck then, aren't we Liz?" Lizzy fell back onto the bench. "I know!" she cried in desperation. Lizzy leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. This was such a hard gift to purchase. It had to be sentimental and perfect. This was the first gift she would be buying JC and on such a special holiday. She cared for JC more than any of the gifts in the mall could express. She didn't know what to do. "Come on Liz!" Kim said extending her hand to help Lizzy up. "Lets go get a Cappuccino in the food court. Maybe an idea will come to you if you get some caffeine into your system. "I guess!" She got up and followed Kim. Ch. 2 After and hour of roaming the mall, Lizzy still found nothing. She had to be pulled out of the mall kicking and screaming. She cried all the way to the airport on Kim's shoulder. She hadn't found a gift. She was so scared she would have nothing to give JC. It was December 24 and her and Kim were due to arrive at Miami International Airport at five in the afternoon. Lizzy was going to spend Christmas Eve with her huge family like she always did every year. Then, Christmas morning at around noon, she was getting picked up. Lizzy was headed on a trip for the remainder of the winter break. Lizzy, Jessie, Kristin, Michelle, Matt, and the NSYNC guys were going to spend a week in New Jersey. They were all dying to go skiing and they decided to take a trip together to spend time together. Kristin and Lizzy wanted to spend time with Lance and JC before they embarked on their tour. The guys were headlining a winter tour to promote the album they had been recording. This was the last chance the girls had of seeing the guys before they left for three months. Kim's dad picked Lizzy and Kim up at the airport and dropped Lizzy off at her aunts house where her entire family had gathered. "Bye Kim!" Lizzy said giving her best friend a hug. "Bye sweetie!" Kim said getting back into the car. "Sorry about the present." "It's ok!" Lizzy said. "I'll see ya in a week!" Kim nodded. "Merry Christmas!" Kim's dad called. "Thank you!" Lizzy smiled and turned to walk to the front door. Kim's dad drove away and Lizzy rang the door bell. She could hear her family chatting inside and she could smell the Cuban Christmas food cooking. The door suddenly swung open and there was her uncle standing with the two dogs at his feet. "Ah-Lizabeth!" He shouted. He always called her that. She had no idea why. "Hey there!" Lizzy said as she kissed her uncle on the cheek and gave him a hug. Buster and Lucy the dogs started jumping up and down and wagging their tales greeting Lizzy. "Hey guys! My puppies! How are you?!" Lizzy asked in a baby voice. She loved her Aunt's dogs. She treated them like her own. Suddenly Lizzy's mom came running into the living room. She heard her daughter's voice and she couldn't resist. "My sweetie!" Lizzy's mom ran and grabbed her in a huge hug! "Mom!" Lizzy choked out. "I missed you!" The rest of the family heard the commotion and came running into the room. Lizzy's grandmother was next in line. "Mi. nina!" Lizzy's grandmother called as she took her face and gave it a huge kiss on the forehead. "Abuela!" Lizzy called. These Cuban reunions were always so long and joyful. She was so happy to see her family again. No matter how much she tried to adjust to life on her own, she couldn't stand being without her family. After going down the line and greeting everyone there, The family headed to the backyard to eat. Lizzy sat with her mom, dad, and her sister, Katherine to catch up on what was happening. "So tell me," Lizzy's dad began. Lizzy cut him off cause she knew what he was going to ask. "Classes are great dad. I feel good about my finals and my editor at the newspaper is really impressed with my work." She said with a smirk. "Well, good! I'm proud of you." Her dad replied while taking a sip of his wine. Lizzy's other grandmother came up behind her and set a plate in front of her. "Toma mama!" she said grabbing her cheeks. "Tienes que comer. Te estas poniendo muy flaca!" She then went back to her table. Before her, Lizzy had a plate piled high with roasted pork, rice, black beans, the works. Lizzy made a face. "Why does grandma always insist on filling me up at these get togethers?" She said as she pushed the plate out of her site. "Doesn't she know I don't eat meat and I hate black beans and rice?" She asked her mother as she took a piece of Cuban bread. "Yes sweetie, I just think she's still in denial." Lizzy's mom said cutting her salad. Lizzy rolled her eyes and began to nibble on the bread as she had every year since she realized how much she hated pork and meat in general. "Well I have a question." Her sixteen year old sister asked. "Shoot blondie." Lizzy said. Lizzy and her sister were as different as night and day. Katherine was blonde and skinny and shy around anyone that weren't friends or family. Lizzy was brunette and average and friendly to everyone. "What's up with you and JC?" Lizzy smiled. She would never forget when she told her sister the story of her and JC on the phone. The screaming didn't stop for five minutes. Katherine was a pretty big NSYNC fan and the fact that her sister knew them and was dating one was so exciting for her. "Well, we're really happy together. I can't wait to see him tomorrow." Lizzy's mom swallowed. "Oh that's right! We get to meet him face to face tomorrow." Lizzy's mom had talked to him on the phone once to get to know the man her daughter was in love with. JC had called to introduce himself and according to him, all went well. "Oh no mom! Should I be scared?" Lizzy asked. "No! We just want to see what this guy is all about." Her dad said in a typical fatherly tone. "Dad please don't scare him away." Lizzy said with smile. "I won't!" Her dad grinned devilishly. Katherine laughed along with her dad. "Oh don't pay attention to them!" her mom comforted. "Oh well, It doesn't matter, after he sees that I don't have a present for him, he'll jet for sure!" Katherine's eyes widened. "You don't have a present for your boyfriend?" She asked shocked. "I had my boyfriend's present a month ago!" She said proudly. "This is different. He is so hard to shop for. And this has to be perfect." Lizzy's mom looked at Lizzy at that moment with the face of a person with an idea. "What's that face mom?" Lizzy asked anxious and worried at the same time. "I've had something saved for you for just this occasion." "Really?!" Lizzy asked excitedly. Her mother nodded. "We'll get it later tonight when we get back to the house." And with that in mind. They went back to dinner. Ch. 3 Lizzy was in her room throwing some new clothes into her suitcase. She had just opened her presents from her parents and her mom had basically bought her a new wardrobe. She was sitting on the suitcase to try and close it as Katherine sat on her bed talking. "So, you're just gonna leave me here with mom and dad while you go party and ski with friends and five hot guys?" she whined. "You got it! Wow your smarter than I thought!" Lizzy said with a sarcastic smile. "I hate you!" she said punching her on the arm. "Well, if you hate me so much than I'll just take that Christmas present back." Lizzy said grabbing for the tickets in her hand. "No!" Katherine yelled jumping up and running to the other side of the room. Lizzy had bought her sister two tickets to the NSYNC concert. It was sold out but JC had helped Lizzy get her hand on two for her sister. Lizzy smiled as she started applying some make-up in front of her mirror. There was a sudden beep in the front yard. Katherine ran to the window to see who it was. "It's a black Acura." She said as she squinted her eyes to see better. "And… oh my god! Joey just stepped outta the driver's side!" She said turning back to Lizzy. "Well what did you expect? I told you them and the girls would be coming for me!" She replied. The doorbell then rang. "I'll get it!" They heard their dad say. Lizzy eyes then went wide. "Uh oh!" Katherine said laughing. "If JC's the one at the door, he's in trouble." "Oh shoot!" Lizzy said capping her mascara. She ran out of her room and intercepted her dad at the door. She opened it and there was Chris. "Merry Christmas!" He said extending his arms. Lizzy looked over his shoulders and spotted JC just getting out of the car. She passed Chris and ran to JC. "Nice to see you too!" Chris yelled. JC had his back to her and was facing the car. She ran and jumped on his back! "JC!" She yelled. JC fell forward with Lizzy on top of him. He started to laugh. "Hey!" She kissed him. He pulled her off though when he spotted her dad out of the corner of his eye. He jumped up and helped her up too. JC extended his hand. "Merry Christmas sir!" They shook hands. Lizzy's mom came out of the house at that moment. "You've got him trained well if he calls your dad sir!" her mom said with a smile. Lizzy cut in. "JC, this is my mom and dad." She said "It's nice to finally meet you face to face." Her mom replied. "Same here!" JC said shaking her hand as well. "See it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be." Lizzy's mom said glancing at Lizzy with a smirk. "Funny mom!" The rest of the guys stepped towards Lizzy and JC. "Mom, Dad, this is Chris, Joey, Lance, and Justin." She said pointing each of them. Everyone shook hands as Jessie, Kristin, and Michelle stepped out of the car. "Chica Mia!" Kristin yelled. As she hugged Lizzy. "Hey there!" Lizzy said greeting each of the girls. "Oh no! Don't tell me I don't get a hug!" Lizzy heard someone say from inside the car. Lizzy looked and the door opened to reveal Ryan stepping out. "Ryan!" Lizzy squealed. She ran and gave him a huge hug. "JC, you are one lucky man! This girl gives the best hugs!" JC smiled. "What are you doing here?!" Lizzy asked excited. Everyone looked at Michelle. "Well…" she looked disappointed. "Matt couldn't go cause he had a Med-School exam to finish." "Yeah and Dania left to spend the break with her family so she couldn't take Matt's place." Kristin said. Ryan got annoyed. "Yeah, and after they called everyone they knew, they finally called me and thought, hey, he's better than wasting a plane ticket!" He said with a laugh. "Oh please!" Lizzy said. "That's not true! I'm so happy you're going." Lizzy's dad came out with her two suitcases. "Here you go." He handed Lizzy the suitcases. "Thanks dad!" Lizzy said giving them to JC to put in the car. "Well, this is it!" Lizzy went to hug her mother goodbye but her mom stopped. "Wait, where's your sister?" She said looking around. "Yeah, I would've sworn she'd be the first one out here." Lizzy said looking around. "Blondie?!" Lizzy called into the house. Ryan ran into the house. "Ryan we're out of ice cream!" Lizzy yelled knowing Ryan's obsession with ice cream. They all laughed and stood waiting. Two seconds later Ryan came running out with Katherine draped over his shoulder. "Found her!" He yelled as he set her in front of Lizzy and the guys. "Funny Ryan!" Katherine said all red-faced. "Shy aren't we?" Jessie asked. "Guys, this is my sister Katherine." She shook all their hands with a huge smile on her face. She couldn't believe she was standing before NSYNC. Joey then spoke up. "Well, if your Katherine, then this stuff is for you." Joey reached into the car window and pulled out a gift bag. "Merry Christmas!" He said handing her the gift. She opened it and pulled out and envelop and a CD. "The envelop has two backstage passes to our concert." Lance said. "Yeah and the CD is our new CD. You get it before it comes out." Chris said proudly. "It's signed. Your sister told us you were a fan so we thought we'd get you this since you're being such a good sport about us stealing her away for a week." JC said taking Lizzy by the waist. "Oh you can have her I don't care!" Katherine said staring in awe at her gifts. "Hey careful what you say! I'm the reason you have those gifts!" Lizzy said playfully. Katherine hugged her sister. "Thanks guys!" She said still blushing. "I don't mean to be such a pest, but we gotta catch our flight." Jessie said ushering everyone to the car. They all said goodbye to Lizzy's family, waved, and started to get in. "Bye mom, dad, blondie" Lizzy said kissing her family on the cheek. "Bye sweetheart! Call us when you get to Jersey!" her mom said. Lizzy nodded and hopped in the car. "Drive Joey before my mom starts to cry!" Lizzy said as Joey drove off. Ch. 4 "Please fasten your seat belts for take off." The flight attendant said over the speaker. Everyone had settled in their seats for the plane ride to New Jersey. Lizzy was seated next to JC with an empty seat next to them. In front of JC and Lizzy was Justin, Joey, and Chris. Directly across the aisle from the three was Michelle and Jessie with an empty seat next to them. And, finally behind Michelle and Jessie were Lance, Kristin and Ryan. The plane was in the air when the seat belt sign flashed off. "Awe man! Why do I have to sit next to Romeo and Juliet over here?" Ryan whined from next to the window. Kristin and Lance were whispering and giggling to each other. Ryan appeared to be in agony. Everyone laughed. "Awe poor baby!" Jessie turned to say. Ryan made one final frustrated sound before he put his head set and started blasting his CD. He started belting out "Semi-charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind and pretending to play the drums in the air. "Were we bothering him?" Lance asked a little self conscious. Kristin rolled her eyes. "Please!" She said. "With that Third Eye Blind CD blasting in his ears, he wouldn't notice if the plane crashed." All the girls nodded in agreement. "So…" JC turned to Lizzy. "Where are we staying in Jersey?" He asked with a big smile. Lizzy crinkled her forehead when JC asked her that. "Well…" She looked scared to answer. He looked at her and knew immediately something was up. "What is it Lizzy? What happened?" He was afraid to find out. "Promise you won't get mad?" Jessie overheard and looked over to Lizzy. "I don't like how you started that explanation Lizzy." She said a little apprehensive. "I goofed!" She said looking at Jessie then back at JC. "What is it Lizzy?" JC asked getting anxious. "Well, when I told my mom to book the ski cabin for us, I told her… well I gave her…" She couldn't let it out. She was too embarrassed. "What is it?!" Jessie blurted out. "I gave my mom the wrong date of our vacation. I told her we were leaving last weekend instead of this weekend." "And?" JC asked. "Well, when we went to book it for this weekend, it was already reserved to someone else." Lizzy closed her eyes awaiting the screams. "What?!" Jessie busted out. "Lizzy you didn't?!" "What happened?" Justin asked tuning into the conversation along with everyone else. "Lizzy lost our reservation at the ski lodge." Jessie said. "Oh no Lizzy!" Lance said shaking his head. "I can't believe this!" JC said putting his finger to his temple. "So what you're saying is basically that we're stranded when we get to New Jersey?" Kristin asked giving Lizzy a look. "Lizzy, why didn't you tell us before?" JC asked. "Yeah, at least we wouldn't be on a plane on the way to homelessness in a strange state!" Jessie sounded very agitated. Everyone started mumbling and discussing the situation. Lizzy looked around at all the worried faces and rolled her eyes. "Uh, hello are you ever gonna let me finish?" She asked over everyone. The talking ceased and Lizzy spoke up. "I didn't just forget about the fact that we didn't have a place to stay. When I saw that we had lost our cabin, I called my friend Sarah and asked her if we could stay at her house." "We're staying at Sarah's?" Kristin asked excitedly. Sarah was a friend of Lizzy and Kristin's from yearbook. She moved away to New Jersey their sophomore year of high school. Lizzy and Kristin wrote to Sarah often and they managed to stay friends through e-mail and occasional phone calls. Lizzy nodded. "Yeah! Her parents went away to Mexico for winter break cause they were sick of the snow. So when I called, she said to come on up. She was going with her parents, but when I told the company she'd be keeping, she couldn't refuse." Lizzy smiled at the guys. "Once again, *NSYNC saves the day!" Chris said patting himself on the back. "Oh get of yourself Chris!" Lizzy said. "So everything's ok?" Joey asked. Lizzy nodded and looked at JC. "I'm sorry." She said. He smiled. "Don't be!" He said kissing her cheek. "I'm just glad to be going away with you. This is going to be the best break!" Lizzy smiled and kissed him deeply on the lips. "Yeah, just the way I wanna spend a vacation, getting sick!" Chris said referring to Lizzy and JC's display. Everyone went back to what they were doing, when Ryan, who hadn't heard a thing that happened, took off his earphones. "So, where is it we're staying?" Ch. 5 The plane arrived in Newark International Airport at about four in the afternoon. The group got out of the plane and headed to the baggage claim. "Come on guys!" Lizzy said next to JC tapping her foot impatiently. "Why is it taking so long to get your suitcases? Sarah is expecting us at five!" She said looking at her watch. "It's four thirty now!" Michelle, Justin, Lance and Chris joined Lizzy and JC with their stuff. Lizzy gave the three of them a "finally!" look and looked out into the massive airport crowd for the others. "Ok, that's three down four to go!" She spotted Ryan walking towards them with his suitcase. "Where's Kristin?!" Lizzy asked in an agitated tone. "Oh, you know Kristin, she's always looking for a bathroom." He said sitting on top of his luggage. Lizzy rolled her eyes. "Ok, so where's Jessie and Joey?" Lizzy asked scanning the crowd. "Probably in another closet." Justin said with a snicker. The rest of them giggled at the comment. Ever since Jessie and Joey were found in each other's arms in the closet of the house they spent Halloween in, the group had the feeling something was going on between them. Joey and Jessie naturally denied everything, but something must've happened in that closet in the eyes of their friends. "Look, there they are." JC said to Lizzy pointing to the carousel. "Jessica!" Lizzy called out. "Elizabeth!" Jessie mocked. "Hurry up! We gotta go!" She yelled. "Calm down Lizzy! I'm not leaving without my luggage!" She said watching all the baggage go past her. Joey stood a few feet away from her looking for his bags as well. He looked at her as she stared at the carousel. Joey never understood why Jessie had pushed him away after the group had found them together. He never even got the chance to talk to her. She wouldn't answer his e-mails and it was surprisingly convenient that whenever he called she was out or in the shower. After a few weeks, he stopped trying. He ignored her like she ignored him. They hadn't spoken on the plane ride or anything. There was a wall between the two of them. Jessie finally spotted a navy blue suitcase. It came by her quickly and she didn't grab it on the first try. She chased after it as it rode on. Joey spotted the same suitcase at the same time and headed in the opposite direction Jessie did. They were headed right for each other, each oblivious to that fact. They went to grab for the same suitcase and crashed into each other. Jessie fell back and Joey did as well. Joey had the suitcase in his hand and Jessie stood angrily. "Joey, may I please have my suitcase?" "Your suitcase?" He asked standing. Jessie nodded. "This is my suitcase." He said confidently. "That's my suitcase!" Jessie shot back a little more annoyed. Joey took the claim tag. "Well, unless you changed your name to Joey Fatone, this isn't your suitcase." Jessie looked confused. She looked at the tag and noticed that the suitcase indeed had Joey's name on it. "Oh." She said flatly. "Boy do I feel stupid." Joey smiled. "That's ok." He looked into her beautiful green eyes. "I'm glad this mishap happened. At least I got to bump into you." Jessie looked at him uncomfortably. "We always seem to be crashing into each other huh?" She said. "Is that a bad thing?" Joey asked stepping closer to her. She looked up at him and stared into his eyes. "No." She whispered as their lips were heading together. They were almost at a lock when Lizzy suddenly walked up to them. "Hello?!" She said angrily. "We need to go! What the hell is taking so long?!" She shouted. "Uh, I can't find my bag." Jessie said flatly. She was actually kind of glad Lizzy interrupted. She got too caught up in the moment. She really didn't want to do something else she'd regret. "Is it navy blue?" Lizzy asked with frustration. Jessie nodded. "Well it's the last one on the carousel dear." Lizzy said pointing at the suitcase. "Oh." Jessie said staring after Joey who was heading towards the others. "Ugh!" Lizzy said grabbing Jessie's suitcase. They headed to the group and Lizzy looked at them. Someone was still missing. "Where is Kristin?!" She whined. Suddenly Kristin came out of the bathroom looking frustrated. "What took so long?" "Well, I couldn't find a stall in peace." Kristin said looking back at the bathroom doors. Three girls stepped out looking at her and giggling. "What are you talking about Kristin?" Lance asked. "Well those little girls over there saw you and me together and were shocked. I immediately thought, great, more Lance fans to threaten my life! They kept following me around the bathroom looking at me and laughing giddily. It got annoying." The group began to laugh. "Hey its not funny! I knew dating Lance meant I'd get death threats, but I didn't know didn't know it meant I wouldn't be able to go to the bathroom in peace!" Kristin said heading for the rent-a-car area in a huff. Lance ran after her. "Oh Kristin! Wait for me!" He said trying hard to keep in the laughter. The rest of the group followed. "It's gonna be a long vacation!" Lizzy said trying to grab her suitcases.

Part 2

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