Within a few days time, Joey and I were stealing kisses backstage and sneaking on to each others’ buses. Joey was everything I needed at that point in my life. He was cute, he was sweet, he treated me like a princess, and he was a total goofball, which kind of made him seem like the “anti-Kevin.” It was perfect. All too soon, though, our few short weeks touring with N’Sync were over and we were going back (my popular demand, I might add) on tour with the Backstreet Boys. While the rest of the girls had forged friendships with the other members of N’Sync, Joey and I were the only ones that were hearbroken with the turn of events.

He and I were standing outside of Forever’s tour bus after the last N’Sync show we opened for. “I don’t want you go to.” He pouted and snaked his arms around my waist, pulling me close so that our hip bones were touching. I wrapped my arms around his neck and laid my head on his chest as he bent his head down to kiss my hair before resting his chin on top of my head.

“I don’t want me to go either. These past few weeks have been amazing, Joe.” I sniffled and buried my face in the large Superman emblem on his t-shirt.

“Hey.” He loosened his grip on my waist and pulled my face up with his hands so that I was looking at him. “Don’t cry. I don’t plan on saying goodbye to you for a long, long time, okay?” He grinned and tilted my head upwards then pressed his lips to mine. We kissed for literally about five minutes until we were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing her throat behind us. We pulled apart reluctantly and turned in the direction of the offending cough.

“Sorry guys, but you’re uh, blocking the door to the bus.” Mel’s eyes danced in amusement as she slung a duffel bag over her shoulder and started walking towards us.
Joey grinned sheepishly and grabbed both of my hands. Then he took three gigantic steps backwards along the side of the bus, dragging me along with him as I giggled. “This better?” he asked Mel.

“Yes, much.” She rolled her eyes and tromped up the stairs.

“Good. Now where were we?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively as he jerked me closer to him. I laughed and interlaced my fingers with his, squeezing both of his hands as I stood up on my tip-toes to kiss him again. He smiled against my lips and squeezed back. “See you in New York?”

“Absolutely.” I nodded excitedly. We were playing Radio City Music Hall in ten days and N’Sync had a couple days off around that time, so Joey was going to meet us there.
“Do you think it would be okay if I came to TRL with you? I mean, I’d of course bring Kenny and hide backstage, but I don’t want to miss seeing you experience it for the first time.”

Did I mention we were scheduled to make a TRL appearance? We’d recorded a video a couple months earlier for what would become our first single, and when our management sent it to MTV, they were immediately interested because we’d spent the past several months opening up for the two biggest up and coming pop groups in the industry. Yeah, it was kind of huge.

“I’d like that,” I answered with a nod.

“Good, because I was coming anyway,” he said with a smirk. “Then there’s the issue of the VMAs,” he continued on.

“Joey, I don’t even know if we’re going. I mean, the tour is stopping for a couple days so the guys can go, of course, but...”

“But I want you to go. With me. Please?” He pouted and conjured up some tears into those big, brown puppy-dog eyes.

I rolled my eyes at his acting skills and sighed. “I’ll think about it, okay? Have you even run this by Johnny?”

“Nope, and I don’t really care what he thinks about it. I want to take my girlfriend to the VMAs with me.” He pulled me into a tight hug and squeezed hard. I could barely breathe, but squeezed him back just as hard. His breath was warm against my hair. “I’m going to miss you like crazy as it is. If we’re going to be in the same city, I want to be able to spend every moment I possibly can with you.” He broke away and held my shoulders at arm’s length staring intently into my eyes. “Promise me you’ll consider it, okay?”

I smiled. “Yeah, I will,” I answered nodding eagerly.

“Emily!” Amelia poked her head out the bus door. “They sent me to tell you it’s time to go,” she said apologetically.

“Okay, just a minute.” I turned back to Joey, taking in a deep breath and letting it out shakily.

“No crying, remember?” Joey plastered on a smile and brushed a lone tear away from just underneath my eye with his thumb. I nodded and gulped down the lump in my throat. He ran his hand down my arm to my hand, grasping it in his. Then, he pulled me to him and planted a hard kiss on my lips. “See you soon, okay?”

“See you soon.” I turned to get on the bus, but he tightened his grip on my hand and pulled me back to him, wrapping his arm around my waist possessively. He kissed me again, this time a little softer and slower, and with a little tongue.

“Come on!” This time it was Cassie standing in the doorway of the bus with her arms crossed over her chest. “We’re going to be late.”

“I’ve got to go, Joe.” I said with a frown. He reluctantly let go of me and I started walking towards the bus.

“Just one more kiss.” He grabbed my hand again and jerked me towards him as I laughed. He planted a quick kiss on my lips, then on my cheek, and finally let me go to board the bus.