I'm so sorry this chapter took so long. I ran into some family troubles and I had to go home to straighten it out. But everything's back to normal now and so this story should get back on track.
Thank you so much to everyone who e-mailed me! That's the best motivation of all (besides the intrinsic). I really appreciate feedback of any kind, so don't hesitate to e-mail me if you want to!
Usual disclaimer - 'N Sync isn't gay blah blah blah. Sorry if you get offended, then please don't read this. Thanks.
JC sat down in the center of the bed and watched Justin lean over the sink as he brushed his teeth. There was something so cute and charming about the way he held his toothbrush, JC had to smile to himself.
"Today was a long day, wasn't it? Whoever thought that standing around in someone else's clothes and smiling until your face is going to fall off would be so exhausting?"
Justin made some sort of noise to voice his agreement. He spat a mouthful of toothpaste out into the sink.
"Baby, what do you want to do tonight?" JC asked absentmindedly.
Justin rinsed his mouth out and turned to JC. "Let's just watch a movie and make out or somethin'."
JC laughed. "Could we be more high school, Justin?"
Justin walked out of the bathroom. "Hey, I never really got to go to a real high school, you know. I'm making up for lost time."
"I never knew any boys in high school as sweet and red-hot as you."
Justin flashed him a grin and sat down in JC's lap facing him. "And I never knew any boys as sweet and red-hot as you," he countered, wrapping his legs around JC's waist.
JC leaned forward and kissed him on the lips briefly. "You're all minty-fresh. And a movie sounds great, sweetie."
"What about the making out?" Justin asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Um, that sounds okay, too, I guess ..." JC joked.
Justin smacked JC lightly on the shoulder. "I'm offering you my body, and could you be more unenthusiastic?" he said, smiling.
JC responded by pressing his lips against Justin's. He parted his lips and pushed his tongue into Justin's mouth. "Does that sound like a no?" he asked when they pulled apart.
"That sounded like a 'maybe someone's going to get laid tonight.'"
JC laughed. "Oh, it looks like I'm not the only one who can joke around."
Justin touched the side of JC's face and looked down. "Maybe I'm not joking. We'll see later."
JC ran his fingers through Justin's hair. "Okay. It doesn't matter though."
"I like it when you do that," Justin said. "I like the way it feels."
"Oh you do, huh?" JC played with his curls some more. "How about this?" JC gently pushed Justin's head down a bit and planted a series of kisses on the top of his head, his soft lips making contact with Justin's curls.
"JC, stop!" Justin yelled, laughing and making no attempt to break away. JC tipped Justin's chin back up.
"I like the way that feels, too." JC smiled and kissed Justin's forehead.
Justin took JC's hands in his and interlaced their fingers. "I love you, Josh."
"I love you, too."
Justin smiled faintly. "You know me, and you love me. You know my ins and outs, my deepest secrets, my darkest thoughts. You know what I'm thinking even before I do, and all of my imperfections and flaws. And you love me anyway. You know who I really am, and you still love me. I can't tell you how much that means to me, and how that makes me feel."
He shifted his gaze away and bit his lower lip. "You make it so easy for me to love you," JC replied.
Justin's eyes focused back on JC's face. He looked into those warm blue eyes filled with sincerity and choked back tears. Justin let go of JC's hands and pulled him into a tight hug.
"Things get so crazy sometimes," he said, almost in a desperate tone, "and sometimes I don't have the energy to keep going. But then I look over at you, and I know that I have all that I need."
JC rubbed Justin's back slowly. "I know, honey, I don't know how I would do this without you."
"I used to think that I would never find love," Justin said softly, with his cheek resting on JC's shoulder so he was speaking mostly into JC's left ear. "I thought that I would never find someone who could actually love me. I don't have that many people in my life - people that are close to me, people that I even want to be close to me. Hardly anyone really knows me at all. Everyone just knows Justin from 'N Sync. People love me as Justin from 'N Sync."
Justin paused before continuing. "But you love me just for me," Justin said, sighing contently.
JC just held him reassuringly, holding Justin tighter even. He almost felt like he was holding a child in his arms.
But he supposed that he was. Justin was more than four years younger than him, and although very mature for his age, he possessed some very childlike qualities far beyond the baby face and the unassuming smile.
Justin was basically a kid looking for someone to love him and someone to love. The business had jaded all five of them to the point where they just couldn't trust anyone anymore. Trust was something people had to earn from them. But once you earned Justin's trust, he would look at you openly and lovingly. He would trust you with his life and his heart. Justin was an innocent and unsuspecting person by nature. His difficult life had turned that part of him off, but people he loved and trusted could turn that back on like a light switch.
JC remembered a conversation that he had had with Chris when he and Justin had first become a couple. It had been six months ago, but it seemed so short in retrospect.
"You're two of my best friends in the whole world, man," Chris had said. "You're two of my brothers. I love you guys, and I only want to see you happy. I want the best for you."
"Thank you, Chris," JC had replied lamely, not sure of where Chris was heading.
"I love you two, not just as individuals, but as a couple, too. I know you can make Justin happy, and I know he can make you happy. So I feel like I have to warn you."
"Wait a minute. Warn me? About what?"
Chris had an uncertain expression on his face. He scratched the back of his head. "I don't know if I should say anything because this isn't my business. But I'm gonna say it anyway. I know that your relationship is only going to get deeper and more intense as time goes by. Right now, things are just getting started, but soon you'll both be in love, and you're going to swear that you're each other's whole world.
"And that's great, I'm so happy for you. I'm happy for me because I get to watch two of my favorite people fall in love -"
"Chris, I don't understand what you're trying to tell me."
"I'll get to the point, I'm sorry," Chris apologized. "Justin's an emotional person. I know you know that, but I don't know how much you'll see that when you're the focal point of all of his emotions. I'm not just asking you ... I'm begging you, JC, please be careful with him. The last thing I want to see is either of you get hurt. Justin thinks with his heart, and not always with his head. You have to think with your head when he won't. That's the only way you're going to make it."
JC nodded in understanding. He knew what Chris was talking about. "Don't worry about it too much, Chris. I'll protect him no matter what it takes. I know how he can get ... I'll do anything I can to make him happy. I love to see that smile on his face and the sparkle in his eyes. I want to be able to see that every day."
JC snapped back to reality when Justin's face suddenly appeared before him. He had lifted his head off JC's shoulder. "So do you want to order some room service or something? Maybe an ice cream sundae? We could share ..." Justin mockingly batted his eyelashes at him flirtatiously.
"Sure honey."
Justin leapt off JC's lap and reached for the phone. Chris' words echoed once more in JC's head.
"He thinks with his heart, and not always with his head. You have to think with your head when he won't. That's the only way you're going to make it."
JC silently sighed as he listened to Justin politely order some dessert. Whatever he had to do to make their relationship work, he would do, JC vowed to himself. Justin deserved that much.
Lance was jarred out of his thoughts when the phone rang. "Hello?" he said into the receiver.
"Hey Lance, I'm about to go clubbing, maybe hit a bar or two. Wanna come?"
"No, that's okay, Joey, I think I'm going to stay in tonight. Tired and everything. Thanks for asking though."
"No problem. If you decide you want to come out later, call my cell and come meet us, okay? I don't know how I'll do with the ladies without you there to ooze out your Southern charm."
Lance laughed. "Somehow I get the feeling you'll do just fine on your own, Joey."
"Alright, but it's no fun going out without all of us. I'm gonna be hoping you call all night to join us. Well, until I have my sixth body shot or so.
Then I won't even remember your name."
"Okay, Joey. Now you behave yourself."
"I won't do anything you wouldn't do. Which would be ... everything."
"Shut the hell up, Joey!" Lance yelled while laughing. "Have a good time."
Joey laughed also. "I always do."
Lance hung up the phone when he heard the dial tone. "You only feel lonely because you MAKE yourself lonely," he said to himself out loud. "You could have gone out with Joey and had a great time. But no, you have to stay in all night by yourself."
He sighed. He knew that Justin had suffered through some terribly lonely periods in the past. Being so young and virtually on his own had taken a toll on him. How had Justin gotten through it? Lance asked himself.
Oh right. He had JC there to comfort him. Justin had someone who was there for him. Even before they had realized their deeper feelings for one another, it was obvious they had a special bond.
And Lance wanted something like that, too. He didn't want to settle for superficial company when he wanted something real. Chris and Danielle had something real. So did Justin and JC. Joey didn't seem to mind flighty girls and getting phone numbers from women he would never call back. But that's not what Lance wanted.
That's what it came down to. Lance was at a point in his life when he wanted companionship, especially since they were constantly on tour, always busy with something. He wanted something stable, something he could count on. Someone that he could tell about his favorite toy when he was five, how much he missed his family, his hopes and dreams ... He used to talk to Justin like that.
But not anymore. Lance knew that Justin didn't have time for that kind of stuff anymore. And he wasn't jealous, he really wasn't. He just missed his best friend.
Lance picked up the remote control and turned on the television. A rerun of Friends was on. Settling back into his pillows, he closed his eyes and let Matthew Perry's sardonic remarks lull him to sleep.
Justin scooped up some ice cream with the spoon and aimed it towards JC's waiting mouth.
"Yummy," JC drawled. "It tastes almost as good as you do."
"That's quite a compliment," Justin replied, swallowing some whipped cream. He dipped a finger into the dish, dragging it through the pool of chocolate syrup and warm caramel that had gathered at the bottom. Justin held his finger out to JC, who sucked on it sweetly.
"I wish every day could be like this. Sometimes I wish we had a normal life, like a normal couple."
JC stopped sucking on Justin's finger, who pulled it out of JC's mouth. "If we had a normal life, we wouldn't have room service to make our sundaes for us."
Justin smirked at him. "I think I could deal with making my own food."
"And I think we're all done with dessert," JC remarked.
Justin set the ice cream on the night stand. "We're not done yet." He pulled his white T-shirt over his head. "Are you still hungry?"
JC smiled. "Well, now I am."
Justin gently pushed JC's shoulders back so that he was lying on the bed. Climbing on top of him, he kissed the tip of JC's nose and worked his way down to his neck. Justin lightly bit the skin on JC's neck, inducing sighs of pleasure from him.
He moved back up and kissed JC passionately, their tongues meeting. Justin broke the kiss to look into JC's eyes.
"I take it back," JC said.
"You take what back?" Justin asked, confused.
"When I said that ice cream tastes almost as good as you," JC elaborated. "Forget it. It doesn't even come close."
Justin smiled and leaned in for another kiss.
So that's Chapter Two. I hope you liked it and I hope you thought it was worth the (long) wait. I appreciate any and all e-mails that I get, and I do reply to everyone! Thank you for all your support and I'll get the third chapter out much faster than this one took.