Everything Has Changed

Chapter 1

The guilt of letting her leave still lingers with him to this day. He would dream about an alternate reality where he would have ran after her and begged her to stay, or even a reality where he wasn't famous at all, living a quiet life with her, away from the chaos of the rest of the world. But his true reality would settle in the morning snatching away these dreams from him almost as quickly as they appeared. There were certain times where he thought about disappearing from the music industry forever, and just going back to the way it was before him and the guys met Lou and signed with Trans Continental. When he and Justin would record demos together in Nashville. The days where he could feel like a normal person, without worrying about strangers shoving a camera in his face everywhere he went. Sure, there was the occasional fan that would recognize him from The Mickey Mouse Club, but that was nothing compared to now. But, as much as Jc would like to delude himself, he knows that his career with the guys and his music was much too important to just throw away. That's why he tries to avoid romantic relationships as much as possible, because he knows that they will get tired of his fame and his attention, and they will get hurt because he can't be there for them when they need him to. It hurt him to be so aware of this. He wished he could be blissfully unaware of the hurt he causes his loved ones because of his job. It haunted him, but he would never let all of the bullshit he's been through go to waste. Not for anyone or anything.

"Earth to Jc, Earth to Jc. Are you with us commander Jc" Justin spouted in a robotic voice, waving his hand in front of his face. Jc let his thoughts float away as he came back to reality. "We're hereeee" Chris singingly shouted as the bus pulled up to the front of the hotel. Jc got up to grab his backpack and suitcase, and waited for their security guards to get in front of them so they could get off of the bus. They each got off one at a time, one guard in front of them and one behind. "Damn this place is nice" Jc exclaimed as he looked around. The front entrance had a grand glass door leading into the hotel, and there was a rose garden right in the center of the driveway that displayed great stone statues that looked as if they were stolen straight from an Ancient Greek museum. "Well that's the plus of being famous, we get to stay in these lavish hotels every week" Joey responds, patting his back as they continue to walk in.

The inside of the hotel was even grander than the outside. There were red velvet chairs aligning the lobby, with crystal clear chandeliers dangling from the ceiling. A slight smile formed across Jc's face as he looked around the hotel lobby in awe. The whole architecture of the building was a beautiful blend of rustic charm mixed with old-fashioned luxury. It was a nice change of style compared to the bright, ultra-modern, sleek hotels they were used to staying at, especially for Jc, who had a special place in his heart for old and rustic architecture. There was something about the charm of the warm color pallets and the slight creak of the floorboards that made him feel truly at home, especially because he's always anywhere but.

The woman at the front desk seemed to know exactly who they were, as she handed the guys's tour manager all of their room cards without any hesitation. The five were led to the elevator and taken to the 4th floor. Jc was handed his room card, and, to his surprise, he didn't have to share a room with any of the other guys this time around. "Finally I don't have to share a room with your stinky ass, Jc" Justin joked. Jc laughed sarcastically. "Justin we both know I smell like flowers all day, every day. You on the other hand..." Jc ran quickly down the hall to his room, as he hears Justin shout "I SMELL LIKE VANILLA PERFUME! ALL THE GIRLS LOVE IT!" Jc quickly swipes his card, and slams the door behind him, breathing heavily and laughing against the door.

The hotel room looked similar to the lobby, with the same exact crystal chandelier hanging above the king-sized bed, and velvet furniture throughout. Wooden arches led into every room, with seemingly no expense spared in terms of the decorations. Not even Jc's multi-million dollar house looked like anything like this.

After he was done taking in the sights of his room, he set his bag and suitcase inside the small closet of the hotel before walking over to the bed. "Man, for a luxury hotel, they couldn't afford to put in a closet bigger than a fridge?" he thought to himself as he plopped down on the bed, letting the silkiness of the velvet comforter wash over his body.

It wasn't long before he began thinking about Evelyn again. That seemed to be the only thing his mind would let him think about when he was alone. "No, Jc. Your not gonna mentally torture yourself like this the night before this show" he said to himself. "There's no point. It's done. It's over. There's nothing you can do about it." But it didn't matter how many self pep-talks he gave himself, it was only a matter of time before he was right back to square one. The only time he wasn't replaying his alternate fantasies of what could have been is when he had a distraction, and usually that distraction was going out and getting so black-out drunk that he couldn't even remember who Evelyn was until he woke up the next morning. The thrill of the club only provided him with a momentary rush of carelessness and forgetfulness, only for his thoughts to come knocking on the door of his brain again once he recovered. It was a cycle that he knew wasn't healthy for him, but, in his mind, there was no other option.

Almost as if perfectly on cue, Joey knocked on his door. "Hey me and Chris are gonna go to this club downtown. Wanna come?" Jc thought about his offer for a moment. He almost immediately said yes, desperate for an escape from the torture of his own brain, but a wave of sense, for the first time in what feels like forever, came to him. There was no way that Jc would want to perform tomorrows show with a hangover, especially because he has to sing and dance for 2 hours straight. "No, your not gonna go. Your just gonna have to deal with it yourself this time" he mumbled quietly to himself. Joey knocked on the door again. "Jc, you in there?" "Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna go tonight Joey. Have fun though, and don't get too drunk. We don't need you stumbling on stage tomorrow." Jc could hear Joey scoff through the door. "Okay dad, whatever you say" he replies before walking away. Jc sighs before grabbing the T.V remote and flipping through the available channels. "You're just going to have to deal with it sober" he affirmed to himself before sinking back into the bed.

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Jc tossed and turned in his bed, the luxurious bedding that was perfectly laid across the bed was now crumpled up and about half way off of the bed. He had tried everything to distract himself. He watched T.V, read some of a book, listening to music, but it was no use. "I should have just went to the club with Joey" he thought. "I could have been multiple drinks deep by now and forgotten all about her."

After a few more minutes of unsuccessful sleep attempts, he decided that he couldn't take it anymore. He got up and switched his pajama pants out for jeans, and put a hoodie on over his t-shirt. He needed to be out, away from here, doing anything else. He wasn't going to go to the club. As self-destructive as Jc could be, he was smart enough to know that if he caved in to his urges to go and get drunk, he would pay the price. He had decided to leave and go on a walk to look around at the area to hopefully clear his mind. Usually the adrenaline rush of trying to go unrecognized and escape paparazzi, especially without security, was enough to keep him and his mind occupied.

He grabbed a beanie from his suitcase and slid it over his head. As he walked out his room door, he put his hood on as well for an extra veil of protection. He made eye contact with the man working the front desk so he knew it was him, and opened the double doors out of the hotel.