[chapter twenty-four]

(The following weekend)

"So much for laid-back and relaxed, huh?" Caitlin asked loudly over the blaring music to Jon, who was standing beside her.

"You didn't really think we'd let you get away with that, did you?" Jon asked with a grin.

"I suppose not. I can't believe you guys did all this though!" Caitlin exclaimed, looking around the house.

"Anything for you, baby girl." Jon said with a smile. "You want another drink?"

"That would be great. While you do that, I'm going to track down Alex and argue about the music selection." Caitlin replied.

"Good luck getting to the stereo." Jon said.

Caitlin grinned, then started walking across the room to the stereo. On her way, she greeted and chatted with everyone who was gathering within her home--all of whom were dancing, eating, socializing, or watching the football game on TV.

Alex had taken it upon himself to throw Caitlin a birthday party, and in the process had invited some of her colleagues from the library, friends from the navy base, the Nsyncers, and several of their friends from Jive records, and even some of the neighbors Caitlin had gotten to know over the last few months. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, and Caitlin couldn't believe how many friends she'd really made in Orlando, or how happy she was that Alex had done all this for her.

She finally made her way to the stereo across the room, where Alex was acting as an impromptu deejay. After some animated discussion, they selected some mutually agreeable CDs, then Caitlin wandered out to the patio, where JC and Justin were deep in discussion with several of Alex's friends from the base about the upcoming basketball season. When JC saw Caitlin approach, he held out his hand to her, and she walked over to stand beside him, slipping her hand in his in the process.

"Having fun?" JC asked softly with a smile.

"I'm having a blast. I can't believe NO ONE told me about this!" Caitlin exclaimed.

"Surprise." JC replied happily.

"So, Caitlin. Anyone given you your birthday spankings yet?" Todd, one of Alex's bunkmates, asked.

"Are you offering?" Caitlin flirted innocently.

"You know how long I've wanted to get on that ass." He said with a teasing leer.

"Ooh baby. You make is sound awfully tempting but...no dice." Caitlin said, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Tease." Todd replied.

"I'm a flirt, but not a tease. There's a difference." She replied with a grin.

"Ha!" JC interjected. "I'd say you were both, sweet baby girl."

"Shh." Caitlin said in a stage whisper. "Don't blow my cover."

The assembled group laughed, and slowly broke apart to find more food, or to socialize with some of the people inside. JC led Caitlin away from the party to the edge of the patio, where no one was near them.

"I wanted to give you one of your birthday presents." JC said, blushing slightly.

"One of?" Caitlin asked, incredulous. "Um, I think you've already gone above and beyond in the gift-giving department."

"This one is special." JC said shyly.

"Honey? Why are you blushing?" Caitlin asked, laying her hand on his cheek softly.

"Uh. Well, this is kind of a silly gift, but it means a lot to me." JC said, holding out a small gift-wrapped box.

Caitlin took it, with a puzzled look on her face. She carefully ripped open the paper, and slowly opened the lid of the box. Sitting inside was a simple bracelet of blue beads. Caitlin's mind reeled. She vaguely remembered reading on the internet an interview with JC from years ago, when Nsync was just starting out. In it, he stated that he had a bead bracelet he had made a long time ago, and he planned to give it to the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with. Her eyes quickly shifted to JC's wrist, where he normally wore a blue bead bracelet and a red woven bracelet. His wrist had only the red bracelet on it.

Her eyes filled with tears, and she hoped she wasn't reading too much into the gift. She hadn't remembered the story about the bracelet until that moment, and perhaps it was just another rampant internet rumour. Either way, she was touched that he had given him something of his, whether it held this deeper meaning or not.

"I made this a long time ago." JC started softly. "I always vowed that I would give it the woman...the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with."

Tears spilled down Caitlin's cheeks as he reaffirmed that the story she had read so long ago was true. She carefully slid the bracelet onto her right wrist, then looked up into JC's eyes, a blue that almost perfectly matched the blue of the bracelet she now wore. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly.

Holding her tightly, JC buried his face in her shoulder. "I love you Caitlin." He murmured softly.

"I love you too."

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