Looking Forward/Moving Back *Chapter 1* -- Fictional Getdown

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Date Posted: 22:54:37 02/20/03 Thu
Author: Z
Subject: Looking Forward/Moving Back *Chapter 1*

Chapter 1
January 13, 2003

"Beautiful, Hannah, simply beautiful," Marc raved incessantly. "Your form is spectacular!"

Hannah smiled graciously as she struck the final pose. She had spent all of yesterday trying to perfect her moves and it was nice to see it showed. The last bars of the music played out and Hannah stepped out of the pose. She leaned down to grab her towel and bottle of water.

"Marc, you're too kind." Hannah wiped her face and beamed. If someone had told her two years ago that she would be an assistant to Marc Wellington, one of the dance industry's top choreographers, she would have laughed in disbelief.

"Only because you're the best dancer I've come across in a long time. You dance like an angel. You should see how mean I am to all those horrible people with two left feet. Be a doll and help me up," Marc said as he struggled to balance his body with a heavy cast on his left leg. Hannah quickly stepped forward and lent her arm for Marc to grab on to. Unfortunately, Marc had suffered a nasty spill a few weeks ago, which resulted in a hairline fracture on his left tibia. Dancing with a cast up to his knee was out of the questions. That was why Marc had recruited his best student to serve as his assistant in choreographing and teaching the members of NSYNC their new dance routines.

"Oh no, it's true," a voice wailed from the entrance of the studio. Hannah turned her head to see a man wearing a black baseball cap with brown, highlighted curls sticking out from underneath. He had a lean built with a chiseled face. Hannah knew she had seen his picture around, but she couldn't put a name to the face. He strolled into the small dance studio, holding a cup of coffee in his hand and a black bag on his shoulder. He was dressed in a white muscle shirt and black mesh pants. He had an extremely relaxed air about him.

"Josh! Aren't you a pleasant sight to see this morning! And yes, the rumors are true. Don't worry though, you know I won't let my boys down." Marc hobbled towards JC to give him a handshake. While the two men greeted each other, Hannah made her way to the far corner of the room. She sat herself down against the wall and pulled out her Sociology textbook. It was 9:47 and Marc had asked the guys to be at the studio by 10. Hannah figured that they rest of the group would be arriving shortly and until then, Marc wouldn't be requiring her assistance. It would be good to get caught up on some reading her classes, even if it was for 10 minutes.

"Of course not. We can't wait to see what you have in store for us," JC said excitedly. He saw the young woman sitting in the corner, but didn't say anything.

"We? You seem to be 4 people short of 'we', honey." Marc said, grinning at JC. The two of them started walking towards the couch that sat against the wall. JC helped support Marc as he tried to walk without his crutches.

�Marc, how many times do I have to tell you that I am not short,� Chris stated loudly as he entered the studio, followed by Lance and Joey.

�Christopher, I would never call you short.� Marc brought his hand up to his heart in a dramatic gesture. �You tower above the others in your�personality.�

�I think I�m beginning to figure out how you broke that leg of yours,� Chris said slyly. The three walked over to where JC and Marc were seated. They all exchanged quick handshake/hugs, before setting their belongings around the couch.

�Oh hush. Now I think we�re missing the curly haired one. Where�s Justin?�

�Probably just getting his lazy ass out of bed,� Joey said speaking up. He carefully eyed the brunette in the corner, trying to figure out why she was there.

�Oh but it�s such a cute lazy ass,� Marc said in a dreamy voice before cracking a smile. �Oh I must remember to separate the personal from the professional. Damn my morals.�

�Morning.� Justin strolled into the studio. Marc and the other four guys turned to greet him.

�Good morning, Sunshine,� Marc said cheerily. �Are you ready to shake your bon bon?�

Justin looked at Marc and grinned broadly. �You bet I am.�

�Whoa, Justin�s in a good mood this morning,� Lance said with a chuckle.

�Yeah, man, what�s up with that?� Chris gave Justin a questioning look.

�Just feels like a good day today, I guess. How's the leg, man?"

"As good as it can be. Itches like hell, though."

"Remember, only put things you can pull out. Short pencils and toothpicks aren't good choices," Chris quipped.

"Yeah, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out," JC said as he hit Chris on the back of the head.

"What? I was speaking from experience," Chris said innocently. "You should have seen the stuff that came out when the doctor cut open my cast." Everyone else laughed at Chris as he looked back and forth at them with a perplexed look on his face.

Hannah looked up from her book to see what all the noise was about. To her surprise, the group had grown from 2 to 6 since the last time she had checked. She figured everyone had arrived and that Marc would need her assistance soon, so she put her book away and stood up.

�Okay, boys, since you�re all here now, we can begin! Hannah, come join me.� Hanna quickly walked over to the other side of the studio and stood behind Marc. �Everyone, this is Hannah. Hannah this is Lance, Joey, Josh, Chris and of course, Justin.�

Hannah gave each guy a nod of acknowledgement. When her eyes landed Justin, she froze. The hair was a little shorter and darker; the curls were a little more subdued, but there was no mistaking the eyes. When he smiled at her, Hannah became even surer, this was Justin Randall Timberlake all grown up. Hannah quickly diverted her stare from Justin to Marc so he wouldn't notice her staring.

Marc�s voice filtered into Hannah�s consciousness as he explained Hannah�s role to the guys, but Hannah paid no attention. Her mind rushed back to a long forgotten memory.

�Do you think it�ll be hard to be really popular with a name like Timberlake?� Justin asked seriously, sitting along side Hannah in a large waiting room filled with chairs.

�Nah. It�s cool because it�s different. Wouldn�t it be funny if you got so famous where everyone would be like Justin Timberlake this and Justin Timberlake that? Oh and just so you know, I�m not gonna by any of your stuff.�

�Why not?�

�Cuz you should give your friends free copies. Besides, dancers don�t make that much money.�

�Hmm, I�ll think about it,� Justin responded with a sly grin. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a lady step into the room. �Hey, the lady�s coming out.�

Hannah suddenly remembered why she was there. It was an audition for a local dance team. Being there with Justin always made her forget her nervousness while she waited for her turn.

�Hannah Taylor?� the woman called out.

Justin reached his hand out and gave Hannah a reassuring squeeze.

�Knock �em dead, Hannah banana.�

Hannah smiled as the memory of Justin�s nickname for her came back. She hadn�t thought about that nickname in a long time.

�God was smiling down on me the day she asked me to be her mentor in the world of choreography,� Marc beamed. Hannah came back to the present and blushed at Marc�s flattery.

Justin noticed Hannah's face change shades as Marc continued to praise her. What caught his attention right away was the fact that she looked really young for Marc to be speaking so highly of her. She looked like one of their fans more than anything else, at least by her age. Justin kept his eyes on Hannah, while Marc told them how she would be teaching them the dance steps. While Marc was talking, Justin noticed Hannah get a faraway gaze in her eyes. Justin couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking of.

�Wow, man, if she�s so good, we might not even notice you�re not here,� Chris said with a smile.

�Well, if she can get you to dance, I just may retire,� Marc responded quickly.

�Ohhh, busted!� Joey called out, laughing.

�Okay, enough of this chit chat, let's get to dancing so you can see this angel in action. Hannah will run through the first routine that I want you to learn so you can see it in its entirety and then we�ll begin breaking it down. Any questions?�

The guys all shook their heads �no� and Hannah knew it was her turn in the spotlight. The guys in the room had worked with some of the music world�s best choreographers and dancers, so her solo performance was a bit daunting. Trying not to give it too much thought, Hannah positioned herself for the opening of the song. Marc hit play on the CD player and stood back to watch Hannah like a proud parent.

Hannah had practiced the routine so many times that she didn�t even have to think about it. Instead, she let her mind wander back to Justin. She wondered if he would even remember her. The greeting she had gotten seemed to indicate that she was just another dancer for him and in a way, she preferred it to be that way. It would make things less complicated. Before Hannah knew it, the song came to an end and she stood in front of the guys, on her knees.

�We have to do that?� Lance asked in a worried tone.

�Yes, what do you think?� Marc asked excitedly.

�It�s great and Hannah, that was some awesome dancing, but how are we going to do THAT?� Lance asked again.

�Oh don�t worry, it�s really simple to learn,� Hannah said, speaking up for the first time.

�Sure, for you it,� Chris said in a sarcastic tone, but with a smile on his face.

�I bet I can teach you the routine in 3 days,� Hannah said assuredly.

�You�re on! What�s the wager?� Chris started to get excited.

�Umm, how about, whoever loses has to do one thing for the winner. Winner�s choice and it can be anything.�

�Whoa, that�s a pretty big wager, are you sure you want to risk that, Hannah?� JC said with amusement. �I mean, you don�t know Chris, his mind works in weird ways.�

�I�d be worried if I thought I�d lose.�

�That�s my girl!� Marc said from his position on the side. �Okay, everyone on your feet. And remember, you listen to Hannah, she knows what she�s doing since she helped me choreograph the routines as well. I'm going to leave you guys in capable hands. If there's any problem, let me know, but I'm sure there won't be. And I'll see all of you in a couple of days, my sweets."

�Okay,� Hannah said positioning herself in front of the guys who were lined up with 3 in front and 2 in back. �We�ll start with the chorus and worry about positioning later. There's a rest for 4 counts before the chorus. So it�s 1-2-3-4, and then follow me. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5-6-7-8!� After Hannah ran through the first 8 count, she repeated the steps, with the guys moving along with her. "Okay, again." This time Hannah turned around to see how much they had picked up. Justin seemed to have no trouble, but she had remembered Justin being good at dancing when he was younger. JC and Joey were doing okay too. She noticed that Chris and Lance stood in back, trying not to be too noticeable. �Wait, hold on. I want Chris and Lance up front.�

Chris groaned and dropped his shoulders. Lance grimaced as well.

�Oh come on, it�s not so bad. I just can�t see you two back there. Besides, I have to make sure that I win the bet. And don�t worry, I don�t bite either.� Hannah locked arms with Lance and Chris and dragged them up to the front before beginning again.

Five hours of dancing later, the group chugged at their water bottles and wiped the sweat off their faces. Hannah felt energized, but she knew the others were getting tired. She didn�t want to push them too much the first day, otherwise they might not come back. Hannah had been impressed with the dedication they put into their dancing.

�Okay, that�s it for today!� Hannah said in a chirpy voice. �I�ll see you guys here tomorrow, at 10.�

�Why are you not tired like the rest of us?� Justin asked with a groan. He had been staying in shape during the group's hiatus, but learning new choreography was mentally tiring as well as physically.

�Oh this is nothing, I dance at least 10 hours a day. Just because you�re leaving, doesn�t mean I am.� Hannah responded to Justin, but she didn�t look at him.

Justin noticed that her tone was different towards him than the others but he brushed it off. During rehearsals, he was having his own thoughts about Hannah. Mainly ones he knew he couldn�t afford to have. He couldn�t put his finger on it, but the bottom line was that this dancer intrigued him.

�Well, why don't you join us for a mid afternoon meal?" JC asked graciously.

Hannah turned to face JC and pondered the invitation for a second. Her eyes wandered over to Justin for a quick glance and she knew it would be a bad idea.

�I�m sorry, I can�t, but thanks for the offer. I have a lot of things to take care of.� Hannah tried to be polite about her refusal. The guys gathered up their belongings and waved good-bye to Hannah. Justin lingered in the dance studio a little bit longer before following the others.

___________________________________________________________"Man, that was some first day for rehearsals!" Chris sighed loudly as he fell back onto his couch. "It's official, I've forgotten how to dance."

"That might help you win your bet," Lance said with a grin. For the next two weeks or so, Lance was going to be crashing at Chris's house while they rehearsed for their TV special. Last time Lance had been in town, he had stayed with JC. JC was at his own house, as were Justin and Joey. Their hiatus as a group was officially over and this TV special was going to serve as their announcement of return to everyone concerned.

It didn't really matter who was staying where because when all five guys were in town, they were never apart for too long. Lance had flow in last night, so the group had to delay their customary welcoming party. After tonight, every friend of the guys within the city limits of Orlando, and some beyond, would be gathering at JC's house at 8:00 pm. It didn't matter that they had to be at rehearsals tomorrow morning; the 'We're back in town' bash was a must.

"Marc has come up with some routine though. That dancer chick doesn't know what she's getting herself into. Poor thing," Chris said with an evil grin adorning his face.

"No chance of taking it easy on her?"

"Nope. She's asking for it. She was a cocky little thing, dontcha think?"

"Just because she challenged you doesn't make her cocky. Chris, it�s a little thing called confidence," Lance said, rolling his eyes. "I'm surprised she's so young, or maybe she just looks it. Real quite too, I'm surprised she had the balls to make a wager with you."

"I'm surprised she didn't take C up on his offer for lunch with us. If she's as old as she looks, I would have thought she'd jump for joy to have lunch with us."

"Who's cocky now?" Lance asked with a smile. He ignored the 'you know what I mean' look on Chris's face. "I'm going to go take a shower while you try to breathe normally again, old man."

Chris grabbed a throw pillow off the couch and flung it at Lance. Lance tried to duck and walk about of the family room at the same time, but Chris still managed to hit him on his shoulder with the pillow.

"You be careful, albino, I might just come and flush the toilet while you're in the shower!"

"If you can get off the couch maybe," Lance retorted from inside the guest bedroom. Chris heard the shower being turned on and he imagined getting back at Lance for his remark, but his body wouldn�t cooperate. Dance rehearsals were probably his least favorite thing overall because it took a lot out of him in the process. Once all the dances had been learned, it became much easier. Chris didn't mean to be difficult, but dancing didn't come as naturally to him as it did to Justin or Joey. With a huge sigh, Chris lifted himself off the couch and headed to his own room to shower and change for tonight's soiree.

Hannah trudged into her small apartment. She had a total of 30 minutes to shower, change and be in her car if she wanted to make it to her music therapy class on time. She had been late last week and the professor had used her as an example for the other students to see what to not do. That had been a very humiliating experience for Hannah and she didn't want to repeat it.

The shower was one of the quickest Hannah had taken. She didn't bother to put anything in her hair, settling for a tight, wet bun as she stepped out of the shower. Next she threw on a pair knit gray pants and a hooded black T-shirt. Grabbing the bag she had packed and set by the door the night before, Hannah was out of her apartment 20 minutes after she had entered. Her hair was still wet enough where it constantly began dripping annoyingly on her neck. When she got into her car, Hannah wiped the base of her neck with one of the many towels she had accumulated in her car. She always made mental notes to haul the towels up to her apartment and wash them out, but there never seemed to be any time. Hannah was running low on her towels in her closet and she knew she'd have to finally cave in and make time for laundry.

Much to Hannah's dismay, she found herself caught in some early evening traffic. It was still early for full-blown rush hour, but at the rate she was going now, Hannah would be late to her class once again.

"Great, just great," Hannah muttered under her breath as she scanned the line of cars in front her, trying to decide if switching lanes would be a good idea or not. Luckily after she passed by an exit ramp, the traffic lightened up and she was once again off on a decent speed towards the UCF campus. It was 5:40 already and Hannah still had to try to find parking. All the way through campus, Hannah prayed silently that she'd find a parking spot near her classroom building. Someone up there must have been listening to her because as she turned down a row of parking, a car started backing out of a spot. Hannah wasted no time in claiming the spot as hers and ran out of her car, barely stopping to lock it behind her.

As Hannah slid into her chair, she saw the professor walk in. Hannah smiled inwardly with relief. She could feel the beads of sweat forming on her face from her excursion, but at least she had made it on time. Pulling out a water bottle from her bag, Hannah drank it quickly, hoping to cool herself down.

"Good evening everyone, lets begin with today's lecture." Hannah pulled out her notebook and settled in for two hours of music therapy class. Usually, Hannah found the subject thoroughly interesting, but after today's events, class didn't hold a candle up to meeting Justin again. As much as Hannah tried to focus on what her professor was saying about clinical applications of music therapy, Justin kept popping back into her head. Never in a million years did she think that she'd be running into him again. Hannah had even forgotten that year of her life until she saw Justin's face this morning. After that, all sorts of memories had come rushing back to her.

"Thanks for coming with me, Hannah," Justin said with a smile. Hannah could tell he was putting on a brave face when he was probably petrified on the inside. She knew because she felt the same way when she was at an audition. Justin always acted really confident and everyone, including him, knew that he was beyond talented, but there was something very nerve-wracking about auditions.

"Justin, please, if you thank me one more time, I'm going to tape you're mouth shut and you can explain what happened to the judges. Besides, why would I pass up a trip to Orlando?"

"Well, excuuuse me for being polite."

"You Southerners and you're damn politeness."

"Pshh, whether you like it or not, you're becoming one of us. I heard you say y'all the other day," Justin said with a smirk on his face. A look of horror crossed Hannah's face, which made Justin's smirk broaden into a full-blown smile.

"Oh you did not just say what I think you said. I did not, will not, EVER, say y'all!" Hannah mockingly glared at Justin. She couldn't remember saying y'all, but it was possible. Ever since she had moved to Tennessee, she had been hanging out with Justin and his family. It wasn't totally impossible that their accents were rubbing off on her.

"Uh huh. Next time I'm going to tape you and then you won't be able to do deny it." Justin crossed his arms smugly and Hannah couldn't think of anything to say back. At least Justin had gotten his mind off the audition. Hannah's parents had let her come to Orlando with Justin's mom and a few of Justin's friends. Everyone wanted to show their support for Justin, but only Hannah accompanied Justin to the audition because it was a special thing they shared. Justin came to Hannah's auditions and Hannah came to all of his, it was understood by both families no matter where the audition was.

"Hey, Justin? I thought I recognized the 'fro," a young man with dark brown hair said, approaching the area where Hannah and Justin sat.

"Chris! How are you?" Justin stood up excitedly and gave the man a hug. Hannah stayed in her seat, not sure who this guy was.

"I�m good! Fancy meeting you here," Chris said with a chuckle. "How's being back home going?"

"It's good. I joined the basketball team!" Justin suddenly remembered his manners and turned to Hannah. "Chris meet Hannah. Hannah this is Chris. We've gotten to know each other through all these auditions."

"Hey, nice to meet you," Hannah said politely.

"Same here. Hey, you don't talk like Justin, are you sure you're from Hicksville?" Hannah couldn't help but smile at Chris's pixie like looks. He had an air of humor around him and she could immediately see why he and Justin were friends.

"Nah, I haven't been corrupted yet," Hannah joked.

"Hey hey, I'm not a hick!" Justin said, almost wailing.

That made Hannah and Chris crack up even more and Justin stuck out his lower lip in a pout while his two friends continued laughing at his expense.

"Okay, so that wraps up chapter 3. Does anyone have any questions?"

Hannah looked up from the spot she had been staring at and saw a chalkboard full of notes. Her notebook page was completely blank and to her dismay, the professor was erasing everything to make room for the next chapter's notes.

Crap, that's going to take a couple of hours I don't have to learn on my own, Hannah thought as she forced herself to focus on the next chapters notes. As she wrote diligently, something suddenly clicked in her head. She realized that the Chris she met this morning was the same guy she had met at that audition. Hannah figured the two of them must have gotten together sometime after that and formed the band somehow. With that last thought, Hannah completely turned her attention to her current class and didn't let her mind wander back to this morning in her next class either. She had too much work to do and she couldn't afford getting behind.

___________________________________________________________"Ok, C, I'm leaving for your place now," Joey said into the phone as he clasped his watch on his wrist. "Do you need me to pick up anything on the way?" It was only 6:30, but the guys had agreed to meet early at JC's house for any last minute preparations.

"No, I think I have everything covered. What time did you tell the servers to get here?"

"Shit, was I supposed to do that?" Joey asked, bracing himself for JC's response.

"What?! Are you serious? You didn't call the servers like I asked??" JC yelled, panicking quickly.

"Chill, man, I'm just yanking your chain. They should be there at 7:30. Anything else?"

"Yeah call a doctor, I think I just had a minor heart attack," JC responded sarcastically.

"Man, you're like friggin Martha Stewart, just without the lawsuit," Joey joked.

"Yeah and you're a regular Chris Rock. Just get your ass over here."

"Love you too, buddy," Joey said before hanging up with a smile. JC was just too easy to mess with, especially when it came to parties at his house. He could be really anal about them, but in the end it was worth it because it made everything much more enjoyable. Joey felt his stomach growling at the thought of the food JC might have ordered. Grabbing his jacket, Joey headed out of his room. He stuck his head into Kelly's room. "Hey, Kel, I'm on my way out." Kelly was at her desk, working on something. When Joey entered, she motioned him to be quiet while pointing to Briana's crib.

"She's sleeping," Kelly said in a hushed tone. Joey tiptoed over to the crib and looked lovingly at his daughter. Leaning down, Joey gently kissed her on her forehead and smiled when he saw her stir in her sleep.

"I'm sorry you can't come with me tonight," Joey said, quietly walking over to Kelly.

"Yeah, I've got too much work to do, but you have fun and tell the guys I said hi. I'm sure I'll see them over here soon enough."

"Yeah, probably," Joey said sheepishly. "Okay, bye and don't work too hard!" Joey waved good bye before heading downstairs and out the door.

"JC, man, these hor d'oeuvres are fantastic!" Justin exclaimed, popping another meat filled patty into his mouth. His hand being slapped away from the tray greeted him.

"Those are for the guests, if you don't mind," JC said, taking the tray away from Justin.

"Well, I'm a guest!" Justin said adamantly.

"You're not important enough to eat these then. Go keep yourself busy until everyone else gets here."

"Well, I never!" Justin said in with a huff. He retreated into the living room where JC had the servers set out some trays. He happily walked towards them, getting ready to try the meatballs.

"Stay away from the food in the living room too!" JC called out just as Justin was about to grab a few toothpicks.

"Ugh, you suck man!" Justin attention turned to the front door where he saw Lance and Chris enter. "Oh good you guys are here. Maybe you can talk some sense into JC."

"What is he not letting you eat the food again?" Chris asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe." Justin said shortly.

"Just wait until everyone gets here." Lance took his jacket and Chris's jacket into the spare room and tossed them on the bed. It was unusually cold in Orlando, but not as bad as it was up north.

"But I'm HUNGRY!" Justin wailed.

"So am I, where's the food!" Joey entered and Justin smiled happily.

"Finally, someone who's on my side. You hold JC back and I'll grab the food. We can meet up in the study!" Justin said, rubbing his hands together. "Besides after today's hard rehearsal, I think we deserve it."

"Oh right, like you grudgingly got through today's rehearsals," Joey said, rolling his eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Justin asked as the two of them headed towards the kitchen, leaving Lance and Chris in the living room.

"I saw you ogling the new dance teacher. Not that I blame you, she was cute."

"I was not ogling anyone. I don't know what you're talking about."

"If you say so, but I know a crush when I see one." Joey gave Justin a knowing smile before walking up to JC and greeting him. Justin didn't give Joey's words a second thought because him having a crush was absurd. Right now in his life, girls weren't a top priority. In fact, they weren't even on his list at all. He was young and if anything, he learned from his last relationship that he needed to have fun and enjoy the things around him, not worry about finding his life partner now. Right now, Justin was all about the music and he was happy that way.

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