(Based on the song "Slide" by Dido)
"Endless nights without you, tears into my soul....." Justin started to sing as they began to record the first song of the new album. "This pain I feel inside, you will never know...."
"This sounds nice!" October whispered to Erica as they stood inside the control room.
Justin continued, "The words you said to me, burn inside my heart. I never knew that you would tear us apart...."
October and Erica stood there until they finished recording the song. They had completed it the first time through which they were very excited about. They were given a fifteen minute break when someone from the office came into the studio to tell Joey that he had a phone call.
"You guys sounded good!" October said to JC as he met up with her out in the hall. Lance and Erica walked down the hall.
"Thanks!" he replied and gave her a kiss. "We have so much to do yet. It'll take about a month to get the album perfect and then we have to do a video for our first single and get that out before we go on tour!" he explained as they started to walk down the hall.
"Did you want anything to drink?" Lance asked Erica as they walked into the lunch room of the building.
"No, I'm fine" she replied as he grabbed a water out of the machine.
"So, did you like Without You?" he asked as they walked back down the hall.
"Yeah! It was a really nice ballad. I can't wait to hear the rest of the songs!" she replied as they met up with October and JC by the studio door.
"Did you guys talk to Joey at all?" JC asked them with a puzzled look on his face.
"No, we didnt even see him. Why?" Lance answered.
"Well, he stormed back here from the lobby. He didn't look too happy" he informed them.
"Come on guys! We need to start again!" someone yelled from inside the studio. They walked inside and went into the recording room. Joey stood outside the recording room to talk to one of the producers while the others waited. His face was concerning yet serious and made the guys uneasy.
"Ok, lets continue with One Last Time!" one of the men yelled through the microphone and cued JC to sing.
"One last time...thats all that I ask from you..." JC started to sing before the music came on. "One last time....thats all that i want you to do....." A dance beat started and they continued to sing.
They had finished and were excited that they completed the song the first time through again, everyone, except Joey anyway. He stormed out once again and the recording was halted for the day.
"What is his problem?" JC said with an attitude to Chris, who was standing beside him.
"Who knows?" Chris threw his hands up in the air and walked away.
"Wanna go for a walk with me?" Lance asked Erica as they walked out into the hall.
"But, won't people notice you?" she asked inquizitevly.
"Well, we can hide!" he laughed
"This ice cream is so good!" Erica exclaimed as she took a lick of her mint chocolate chip.
"Wanna try some of mine?" Lance joked with her as he stuck his finger into his ice cream and put it on her nose.
"Lance!" she exclaimed and sat down on a park bench.
"Shh! Someone might hear you!" Lance put his finger up to his lips and tried not to laugh.
"Oh yea. Sorry!" she apologized as she wiped the ice cream off of her face.
"This was fun" he stopped laughing and became calm. He looked into her eyes as the wind blew her blonde hair away from her face.
"Yeah it was. Thank you for making me laugh. It's been awhile since I felt at ease. I think it was a good idea to get out of New York for a bit. Everything has turned around for the better" Erica looked at him and then looked across the field at the sun setting.
"How has it turned around?" he questioned and moved closer to her.
"Well, I've been able to put everything behind. I've got a clear mind, I can laugh and be happy. I can move on. Most of all, I've gotten to know you alot more than I thought I would" she replied, wiping her hair away from her face.
"I hope that's good!" he quickly joked with her but became serious again.
"Yeah. Im glad that I realized what was right there before I lost it" she answered with a smile as she leaned over and kissed him. His lips were soft and warm and still tasted like sweet cookie dough.
"Aaahhhhh! It's Lance!" some girls started to scream from far away. Lance and Erica broke away and turned toward the sound. About ten girls were running their way. Lance and Erica jumped up and took off.
"I wonder when Erica will be back" October said as she looked out the living room window.
"Don't worry about her, you have me now!" JC replied as he put his arms around her waist and stood behind her.
"Yeah, I know. It's just that I worry about her alot. She took the whole thing in New York alot harder than I did, even though she didn't show it" she turned around and faced him.
"I know you worry about her, but she is with Lance. She'll be fine with him" he kissed her forehead.
"Speaking of Lance, they are getting alot closer dont ya think?" she asked, breaking away from him and walking to the couch.
"Yeah, but I think that its a good thing. I'm glad to see them getting along" he followed her to the couch and sat down.
"Im really tired!" she exclaimed through a yawn and propped her head on JC's shoulder.
"Yeah, me too!" he replied and put his arm around her and turned the tv on with the other hand.
"I wonder what was wrong with Joey today" she asked as she put her arm around JC's stomach.
"I don't know but I hope he gets out of his funk. We have too much work to do. We cant be messin' around like that!" he answered just as Lance and Erica ran through the front door. JC and October jumped up and followed them to the kitchen.
"Whats going on?" October asked them as they stood in the kitchen panting like they have just ran a marathon.
"Some girls noticed Lance and chased us from the park!" Erica answered through breaths.
"That's like ten blocks from here!" JC exclaimed. Joey walked up to them to see what the commotion was.
"What's going on? Ya'll are loud and I'm tryin' to sleep!" he said rudely and with an attitude.
"Well, excuse me!" Lance exaggerated and walked out of the kitchen. Erica and October followed. JC stood in front of him, alone.
"Can you get out of my way or do I have to move you?" Joey said, sounding irritated.
"Man, what is your problem?" JC started to get pissed.
"You are going to be my problem soon if you dont move!" he yelled in his face. JC walked away from the refrigerator and looked back at him.
"Why are you acting like such an ass?" JC asked, almost inviting an intervention. Joey poked his head out from the fridge and the light from inside illuminated the cold stare that he gave him. "Yeah, whatever!" JC finished and walked away.
"Ok! Let's start again!" One of the producers yelled through the microphone. They were recording another club song, "Once Again", and had gone over it for the fifth time.
"Yo, I can't deal with this!" Justin whispered to JC about Joey messing up the song over and over again.
"Tell me about it! If he messes up one more time...." JC stopped abruptly when the music started to come on.
But, again, Joey messed up the chorus and the music was halted. This time JC went off.
"Goddamit! Would you just fucking sing!" JC screamed, unable to hold his anger anymore. Everyone stared with an open jaw at what came out of JC's mouth.
"Screw you!" Joey yelled back and was about to take off towards the door when JC grabbed him.
"Yo, I don't know what the hell your problem has been this week but you are really messin up this whole thing!" JC exclaimed, turning Joey around.
"You better just back off!" Joey looked at him with fire in his eyes.
"Or what?" JC challenged, holding out his arms.
"C'mon guys, stop!" Justin interrupted them as the rest of the guys walked over to them. The other guys in the control room opened the door and stood there, not knowing what was going on. October and Erica stood behind them, their stomachs tying up in knots at seeing two best friends hating each other.
"No! We need to finish this!" JC replied to Justin who now stood behind him.
"So, what do you need to finish, hotshot?" Joey provoked.
"Go to hell!" JC replied in anger and pushed him into the wall. Joey jumped back and punched JC's jaw but was met quickly with repeated punches until he got Joey onto the ground. From there he kicked and stomped. Not knowing really what was propelling him to attack his best friend. Nothing but rage from his brick wall attitude he had given him and the rest of the group the past week.
"JC!" October screamed but she couldn't see much with the other guys in her way.
"Stop, JC!" Justin yelled as he grabbed his arms to pull him away so he would stop kicking Joey who now was laying motionless on the ground. Lance helped Justin as Chris and some of the other men leaned down to Joey.
"Get him out of here now!" One of the men said and Lance and Justin led him down to the breakroom. October and Erica followed.
"What the hell did I do?" JC asked as he sat down, putting his head in his hands. October sat beside him and rubbed her hand on his back.
"I knew you were pissed but I didn't think you'd beat the tar out of him!" Justin said as he paced the room.
"I don't know why I blew up at him like that! It's just that he provoked me that night in the kitchen and I think I have just been building it up" he sobbed.
"What happened in the kitchen?" Lance asked, looking puzzled.
"That night that you and Erica were running from the fans and you two were in the kitchen. When everyone left I was still standing there with Joey. He had an attitude with me because I was standing in front of the fridge for chrissake!" he started to get irritated again.
"Hey, calm down" October whispered to him just as Chris and one of the men from the studio came into the room.
"Is he ok?" Justin asked quickly.
"Well, not really. We called for an ambulance. I think he has a cracked jaw and some broken ribs. He will have to stay in the hospital tonight" Chris replied.
"Oh my God!" Erica cried in astonishment and put her hand over her mouth.
"JC, um..." the man coughed uncomfortably "We have some problems"
"Like what?" JC looked up at him quickly. The tension in the room became thick.
"Joey said that he is pressing charges against you" he shifted his feet and looked at him.
"Are you serious?" JC gasped.
"Unfortunately, I am. I don't know if he was though. Maybe he said it from anger because he didn't really say, yes he was, he was kind of mumbling, but we have to wait to find out. Until then we have to halt the recording until Joey can get back in the studio. You might as well just go home. We probably wont be recording again for another week. You will all be notified of any further news" he finished from sounding like a commercial and walked out of the room.
"I can't believe this!" JC stood up and punched the table.
"JC!" October jumped from the table shaking. "Let's go home, okay?" she stood up and walked with him out the room. The others followed.
"JC, can I talk to you for a minute?" Justin walked into the living room. JC and October were sitting on the couch.
"I'll leave you two alone. Come up to bed then, hun" October said while standing up. She gave him a kiss and walked out the room.
"Hey, whats up?" he asked concerningly. Justin was looking at him with a somber face.
"I talked to Joey a bit after we got home. He told me why he was being so distant" Justin continued.
"Oh. What did he say?" JC became inquizitive.
"The day that he got that call, it was his mom. She told him that his grandfather had a heart attack" he sighed.
"Oh man!" JC ran his hand through his hair. "Why didn't he just tell us?"
"I don't know. I don't think he really knows either" he paused and took a long breath. "His grandfather died today from complications. He said he was sorry to all of us for acting the way he did. He even said he was sorry to you but he didn't understand why you jumped all on him"
JC just stared at the floor and then closed his eyes. He opened them and looked at Justin. "Did he say anything about the charges?"
"No, he didn't mention anything about that but he said it was all over the TV, though." he quoted what Joey told him, "Fans are outraged at the way you violently attacked Joey"
"Oh my God!" JC replied sarcastically. "So, now everyone hates me!" he started to walk away.
"No, everyone doesn't hate you, we just don't understand why it happened" Justin finished.
JC looked down at the floor again as he sighed. "I'm gonna go to bed" he looked back up at him and walked upstairs.
October layed in bed reading a book and listening to the radio when JC walked in, teary eyed.
"JC, whats wrong?" October put the book down and looked at him. His eyes started to water.
"Joey's grandfather had a heart attack. That is why he was acting weird." he paused and walked over to her. "His grandfather died today and now I feel like shit because I beat up one of my best friends for no reason and now everyone hates me!"
"JC...." she whispered with concern as tears fell from his eyes. "It'll be okay. Come here and lay down" she held out her arms for him and he sat down on the bed.
He layed his head down on her chest and his tears dripped down her bare skin until they met the edge of her lowcut baby tee. She put her hand on his head and played with his hair until he fell asleep. She looked at the clock. It was twelve A.M. She was getting tired but a song started to play on the radio which made her get teary eyed, just listening to the words and how they played a part right now in JC's life. All she wanted to do was comfort him and to make his problems go away. She turned the light off so JC could sleep and continued listening to the song.
October leaned over and turned the radio off. She looked at JC from the bit of light that was shining through the window. He was finally peaceful and happy. Only time would tell his fate. She leaned down and kissed his forehead and drifted off to sleep.