Act 2 , Scene I

They found a rather hidden corner in the party to talk. No
paparazzi, no other groups to interrupt them, not even their own
groups could find them.

        And Joey's plan backfired.

        Because, for some weird reason, Chris wasn't a jerk.

        Chris wasn't even a bad guy. Chris was fun, and had cool ideas, and could listen and didn't laugh at Joey when Joey told him about Meredith and DiCapahochee… He was a cool friend. And then they talked about Playstation games, and movies and comic books and even when Chris was a Spider Man fan, still he and Joey had fun.

        And as much as Joey wanted to deny it, Chris' eyes kept
mesmerizing him.

"You think you'll win?" Chris suddenly asked, looking at the way in which people were starting to leave to the award ceremony. "Your three videos are good."

        Joey looked at him, surprised. Those were words he never
expected to hear from a Backstreet Boy. "I guess 'It's gonna be
me' has a chance, but 'This I promise you' is not everyone's taste… Plus, your two videos are good too…"

"You've seen them?" Chris laughed, shaking his head. "I dunno…
In Shape of my Heart I look like Oliver Twist asking for more gruel… and The Call is… that one was weird."

"Yeah. I never figured Kevin Richardson was a drag queen." Joey
answered, managing to look serious for two or three seconds, before collapsing with laughter.

* * *

        Chris hadn't wanted the party to end. He had found Joey, and against all odds, Joey had become his friend. They had talked about everything, and, if only for a couple of hours, it had been as if he wasn't Chris K. from Backstreet Boys, as if he was just a regular guy.

        He found out that Joey had worked at Universal more or less at the same time he had, around the time when he had meet Kevin and together had started the idea that would become Backstreet Boys, and that, regardless of what Lou Pearlman had said, *N Sync had a similar origin. Instead of Chris and Kevin making a group, it had been JC and Joey.

        That had been a surprise, because it meant that all the Backstreet /*N Sync hate was almost unfounded. Almost, because there was too much water under that bridge for his bandmates to forget.

        When the party was about to end, Chris had apologized and went to find his own group. Joey had smiled, a smile that said volumes to Chris, and left too…

"Good luck, Your Majesty!" Joey had said, jokingly. And Chris had understood, making a big flourish and answering back "Break a leg, Sir Dydimus!"

        During the awards, instead of breaking his neck to find Joey, he had been able to concentrate on his job. They had sang 'The call', receiving a big ovation when he, forgetting all the rehearsals, had launched in a rap version of the chorus instead of the harmonics that were so talked about. He knew Kevin was going to have his head for it, but since Nick and AJ had joined in his small improv moment, Chris knew it was all right.

        *N Sync had sang No Strings Attached, and Chris had frowned, because he couldn't really hear Joey's voice in that.

        He tried to convince himself that he wasn't frowning because of what Brian had said about the lyrics.

        At the end, things were more or less balanced. Backstreet Boys won with Shape of my Heart for Best Ballad Video, *N sync's It's gonna be me, won for Best Pop Video, and the Best Male Group Video award was won by Blink 182's "All the Small things." Chris loved that video, but was starting to believe that someone upstairs was making a lot of money out of getting Backstreet Boys against *N Sync.

* * *

        Two months passed before he saw Chris again, but Joey had other worries in his head. Namely, the dreams that were getting more and more frequent.

        Only that now, he didn't chase Meredith around the forest. In fact, Meredith had more or less disappeared from his subconscious mind.

        No, he wasn't chasing Meredith, or any girl.

        He was playing hide and seek with the brown eyed stranger in the forest. Because sometimes, Joey was running away from the stranger, and others, he was chasing the elusive stranger.

        His dreams were starting to make no sense at all.

        And he had tried to talk to the others about it, but Howie was too busy trying to convince Jhonny to let him write for the next album, and talking to JC was next to impossible because every word he said ended up in a cheesy song, and Justin… Justin was not exactly the guy you went to when you had a problem.

        Which left Lance.

        And Joey was nervous about asking Lance, because Lance had always been the butt of the insults the Backstreet Boys said
against them.

        So, no good.

        But he still needed to talk to someone.

        So, against his best judgment he grabbed his cell phone and started dialing.

"Jen? Yeah, it's me, Joey… Look… Could you do me a favor? I
need to get the phone of the hotel where the Backs are staying.
What? No, no it's not for a prank… I swear. It's kind of important… C'mon, you can trust me…"

* * *

        Chris had been having dreams.

        He didn't talk about that a lot, especially not with the guys. They all had their own problems to deal with, and Chris didn't want to add more grief to their lives.

        But they were really strange.

        He was in a forest, running. Sometimes, he was chasing
something, someone who was barging in the quietness of the
forest. But Chris didn't know what it was, because he only got the chance to see a glimpse of a red mane. Some other times, he was running away, running away from the red manned thing,
because he knew that if he was caught, he would not want to be free again.

        Some nights, he dreaded going to sleep, because he knew he was going to dream. But other nights he was actually looking
forward that dream, because he wanted to know who or what was hiding in the forest of his subconscious.

"You O.k, C?" AJ sat next to him in the coach, his dark glasses hiding his eyes. "You seem a little out of it today."

"Just watching the passing cars, AJ." Chris smiled. "How long till we get to… Where are we playing now?"

"Kansas. And long enough." AJ was serious, Chris could tell. They
were alone in the bus, since Nick had gone to bother Brian and Kevin for a while. "C'mon. Spill it, C. What's going on?"

"I don't know what do you mean." Chris tried to stall, but AJ's next words took all the fight away from him.

"I saw you with Fatone at the VMA."

"Shit."

"No kidding." AJ agreed, taking off his glasses. "Now tell me, what was that all about? Was he bothering you? Or…"

"We were just talking, AJ." Chris interrupted. He didn't want to
hear a rant about how bad *N sync was. "We… he… we're friends. And he's not as bad as Nick or Brian say all *N Sync members are… he's cool…"

"Friends?" AJ lifted an eyebrow, and shook his head. "You're
playing with fire, Chris. Maybe you're right, and he's cool… but..
If the others find out…"

"I know, AJ. I know."

* * *

        All of Joey's efforts to get Chris' phone were useless. Apparently, no one trusted a BSB phone in the hands of an *N Syncer.

        And so, another month passed before he saw Chris and his brown eyes again.

        In circumstances that made him think that perhaps there was a lot more to the Backstreet / *N Sync hate than just a couple of pissed off members.

        Because somehow, *N Sync and the Backstreet Boys had ended up in the same hotel, just before a charity event. Just a floor away.

        Which meant that, for some freak reason, Joey was in the room exactly below Chris.

        And the way in which he found out was a lot weirder, because he was alone in the room -he was supposed to share with Lance, but Lance was off at Justin's room to discuss something and Joey wasn't in the mood for a group meeting- when room service came in.

        Room service that he hadn't ordered but had managed to get past security.

        Which included, hidden under the naptkin below the hamburger, a note from AJ McLean.

"Fatone:

I don't know why or how, but it seems that one of my friends consider you a friend, and he's been banging his head
trying to contact you. We're right upstairs from you, and, if my sources are right, your room is just above his. He's alone this time, as we all are sharing other rooms.

Again, I don't know why he trust you, but let me warn you. You hurt him, you die.

                McLean."

* * *

        Chris woke up to the sound of something hitting on the doors that lead to the balcony. Curious, he managed to forget his fear of heights for long enough to come out, open the door, and look down.

        Right into Joey Fatone's sparkling eyes.

"Joey?"

"Hi, Chris!"

"What are you doing?" Despite his shock, Chris smiled. He was
talking to Joey, and everything was going to be all right.

"Would you believe that I cannot call your floor from my room?"
Joey answered, shaking his head. "I just wanted to hang around… You free?"

"Can't leave my room man. Security is tight…"

"Ok. Move over…"

"WHAT?!" Chris asked, but did as was told, and suddenly, a rope
made out of knotted sheets fall next to him.

"Tie that to the balcony!" Joey called, and Chris obeyed. In just
mere minutes, Joey was huffing next to him, between laughing
and trying to talk .

"You're insane." Chris shook his head, letting him inside the room.
"Do you know what will happen if my bandmates find you here?"

"If it's AJ, I'll be safe." Joey answered, handing Chris a note. Chris read it, and started laughing again.

        And despite all his misgivings, for a moment he could believe everything was going to be all right.