JC Chasez stepped out into the daylight. After spending hours in the studio watching the rough cut of a movie he was scoring, he had to squint at the bright California sun. Being on this particular lot wasn’t easy. The ghosts of his past mistakes haunted it.

Abbie. He’d shared their first kiss not ten feet from where he stood. Sweet, giving Abbie. He’d been a fool to think she’d come to her senses and seek him out. An arrogant, prideful fool. When he had tried to find her months later, she had disappeared. If she had left a trail a mile wide, as Lance had said, the months of silence had covered it completely. Little Abbie, his heart still ached for her after all this time. Did she hear his music and know she was his inspiration? For the songs of deepest love and the deepest pain.

And Lance…He’d lost Lance, too. Once the blonde returned from Russia, he turned to film and television producing. The book he’d written about his adventures in space had been a hot seller. JC had heard a rumor that at one time, he had been married and had a kid. Lance had become very good at keeping his personal life private.

In fact, after the supposed ‘tour break’ in 2002, nothing was ever the same from *NSYNC. Justin’s solo album did well enough he was convinced he didn’t need to share the spotlight. Joey had finally done a film to prove how good an actor he was. His career as a character actor was still going strong. Chris had gone beyond Fumanskeeto he was now deciding clothing trends and making them happen.

And JC – He’d been the only one willing to be in *NSYNC again. He had made the greatest hits album happen. When no one else wanted to go back into the studio, as promised, he’d remixed tracks that had never been released to add to the standards. The album cover was all individual shots. He’d never been able to get all of them in the same place at once. The record had been done well, but *NSYNC had faded away from lack of interest on anyone’s part.

JC decided he’s stay behind the scenes – writing and producing. He’d even had a shot at a Grammy and Oscar for a song he had written for a previous film. His career was on solid footing. His personal life was empty. Occasionally, a woman or man came into his life. No one stayed. He grunted as the words echoed in his head. Maybe that’s what they’ll write on my headstone, he thought grimly, No one stayed.

“JC!” A familiar low male voice called.

Lance?

JC turned to see a man, a woman, and a child.

The child ran towards the man as he opened his arms.

“Jessica Chaseza, you are going to be the death of me!” the woman announced teasingly, catching up to the girl.

Abbie?

Disbelievingly, JC approached the trio as the blonde man swung the dark haired child up in his strong arms.

The little girl hugged his neck in greeting.

“I missed you,” the little girl declared.

“Well, we’ll have to convince Mommy not to take you on anymore trips.”

It was Lance. Albeit older. What was he? Nearly thirty?

The child had wavy, dark brown hair with a mind of its own.

“Oh, no. I liked visiting Grandma and Grandad,” the child stated.

“I know.” Lance put an arm around the woman, kissing her warmly. “Mom and Dad enjoyed having her,” he told her.

“They are wonderful with her,” she said, laying her head on his shoulder.

It was Abbie. Oh, God, and she was even more beautiful than he remembered.

Lance? Abbie? Together and they had a child? A million emotions ripped through JC – none of them pleasant.

The child – JC – turned large blue eyes at the fierce stranger who watched them. “Mommy, why is that man staring at us?”