Black Eyes, Blue Tears 12/? Author: Stephanie M Summary: AJ discovers the truth behind Lance and JC's intense relationship. Feedback: This is not my normal type of story, I'd love to hear what everyone thinks. Disclaimer: This is entirely fiction i.e. not true. I don't know Nsync or the Backstreet Boys. The story is the result of a warped mind. Warnings: JC bashing-sorry if that upsets anyone. Discussion of abuse and rape. Status: WIP
Part 12
AJ slowly opened the door, Lance hiding behind him. It had been four hours since the AJ had joined Lance in the bathroom and sang to him. Four hours during which the pair had simply held each other, taking comfort from the other's presence.
"Lance, I'm sorry for doing that to you." Brian said anxiously as he looked at the pair, noticing that Lance was hiding from them again.
Lance asked ignoring the blonde, "Can we go back to our room, Alex?"
AJ said seriously, "That might be a little difficult seeing how we no longer have a door on the room. Give me a sec and I'll get another room."
"I've arranged for you to have room 1055. It's down the corridor," Kevin said handing AJ a key with a smile at Lance.
Lance smiled shyly at Kevin saying, "Thank you. I'm happy for you and Justin."
"Are you sure you don't want to hang out with us for a while?" Joey said trying to get back the friendship he used to have with Lance.
Lance said nervously, "E...Er...N...Not right now."
"Okay. Just remember that you can talk to me about anything," Joey said with a grin moving to hug Lance.
AJ glared at Joey causing the man to back away seeing that Lance was now pasted against AJ in fear. Joey knew it was ridiculous but he couldn't help but feel angry at AJ for taking Lance away from him.
"Come on, sweetheart." AJ said not reacting to Lance holding onto his top. He gently smiled at the younger man, holding out one hand and letting Lance decide what to do next.
`AJ is so great about everything. He doesn't even yell at me,' Lance thought amazed. Lance looked at the hand, taking it and smiling thankfully at AJ.
The pair walked out the room oblivious to looks on the faces of their friends.
Brian and Joey looked at each other in a mix of shock and awe. They had never imagined AJ could be so tender.
Nick broke the silence, "It's amazing how he does that, isn't it?"
"The way he knows what to do without threatening Lance? Yeah, I wonder how he knows?" Chris said in admiration.
Joey said thoughtfully, "I think he's going on instinct but it seems to be working. Did you hear about the MTV report?"
Kevin said angrily, "Jive wants Lance to hold a conference tomorrow, they are ignoring Johnny's suggestion to leave him alone."
"What did you expect? They don't care about us, they never have." Brian said with a resigned sigh.
Kevin said apologetically, "I told Jive that Lance isn't going to be there but they threatened to sue him for breach of contract."
"Basically, he has no choice. That's what you're saying." Chris said glaring at Kevin as if it was his fault.
"Yeah, that's what Kev's saying. Now who's going to break the news?" Nick said seriously, looking at the others.
Imagining AJ's response Kevin said, "I will. You know that AJ's going to freak."
"Can you blame him? He loves Lance and knows more than any of us how it's affecting Lance." Joey said reasonably. He didn't like the idea of Lance facing the feeding frenzy that was the press. Hell, he'd seen sharks friendly than the press.
"I'll be back in a couple of minutes. Can one of you see about getting a restraining order on JC? Just in case he doesn't go to jail."
"You really think that's going to happen?" Justin asked Kevin worriedly.
Kevin sighed, "I hope not but we have to be ready for anything."
"I'll call." Chris said wanting to do everything he could to help his green-eyed friend.
AJ looked at the younger man who was half asleep in his arms. He was worried, all Lance seemed to do was sleep. Surely that was a sign that something was wrong? He froze wondering if he should ask Lance about getting a blood test. He didn't know how he could ask, but if there was even a chance of JC having given Lance something they had to know.
The sound of someone knocking on the door woke Lance up. At first the man stayed still, not knowing where he was, and whose arms were around him. As memory slowly returned he looked up to find AJ looking at him with a weird expression on his face.
On seeing Lance looking at him AJ quickly smiled not wanting Lance to guess at what he was thinking. Hearing someone knock on the door again AJ said, "James, can you get up for a second? I need to answer the door. It could be important."
Lance did as AJ asked, lying back down on the sofa, looking at the door anxiously. He was confused when Kevin walked in. Why was Kevin checking up on them? They had only left the others a couple of minutes ago.
"Hey Kev." AJ said in greeting, moving so that the older man could get inside the room.
Kevin knew they wouldn't like his news but he hoped they wouldn't blame him for what he had to say, "Jive said Lance has to hold a press conference. We've already said that they should leave him alone, but they won't listen. They said if he doesn't they will sue him for breach of contract."
"I have to t...tell everyone...w...what JC did?" Lance asked looking at AJ in desperation.
AJ frowned at the idea thinking fast he said, "No. Tell Jive Lance can't say anything until after the court case. That way we can deal with them later."
"That might work. Are you going to get the police to back you up on that?" Kevin said with a smirk.
AJ smiled at Lance "I'll call Detective Harris and get her to back us up. I think she'll do it, she seems to like you."
"She's nice. The DA is going to call today about when I have to go and discuss my testimony with him." Lance said nervously biting his lip.
Kevin said quickly, "I'm sure everything will be fine. You want me to call the DA's office and see when they're going to come by?"
AJ looked at Lance when the man nodded AJ said, "That would be great Kev. Thanks."
Kevin smiled and left the room intending on making his phone call.
"NO! Please not him!" Nick shouted in despair.
Nick didn't even notice when Howie slowly pried the phone from his grip, concerned that someone had upset the blonde.
Howie asked angrily, "Hi, this is a friend of Nick's. Can I ask what you said to him?"
A woman replied politely, "This is Chicago General I had to inform Mr Carter that his fiancé was killed in a car crash. Mr Carter was the only contact listed."
Howie felt terrible for how he had acted. He said softly, "Thank you for calling."
"Nicky?" Howie said gently opening his arms.
Nick desperately clung to the older man as he cried over the loss of the most important person in his life. Howie didn't say anything, just gently ran his fingers through the blonde's hair. He didn't know how this was going to affect his friend, he hadn't even known Nick was engaged! He did know however, that Nick would only have gotten engaged if he believed the relationship would last and if he loved the man with everything that he was.
It was then that Brian barged into the room happily humming, relieved that everything seemed to be going okay. He stopped at the scene before him and looked at Howie in askance. The older man just shook his head before turning his attentions back to the man in his arms.
"Why did it have to happen to him?" Nick asked hoarse from crying.
Howie said honestly, "I don't know, Nick."
"Did she tell you how it happened?" Nick said needing to know.
Howie didn't know how the knowledge would help but he answered, "He was in a car crash."
"Who are you talking about?" Brian said angrily.
Nick shouted, "My fiancé. He was killed a couple of hours ago."
"I'm sorry, Nick." Brian said guiltily.
Brian went to hold his friend but Nick only held on tighter to Howie. Brian couldn't understand Nick's reaction but accepted it. He left the room in silence and walked to Kevin's room. He would have to tell everyone that Nick and Howie couldn't make it to the restaurant.
There was a loud beeping noise as Nick's phone went off. It took out of his pocket and looked at the number in shock unable to believe what he was seeing. The number was identified as his fiancé's cell phone.
"Hello?" Nick answered on automaton.
"What's wrong, babe?" A man asked worried at Nick's tone.
Nick said hopefully, "Ben? That really you?"
"Yeah. Why?" Ben answered confused why his lover was even asking.
"I just got a call telling me you had been killed in a car crash."
Ben shouted angrily, "What the fuck? Baby, I was in a car crash but I just got a few bruises. I'll be at your hotel in five minutes."
"God, I can't wait to see you." Nick said seriously. He smiled when Ben said I love you before hanging up the phone.
"He's not dead!" Nick said excitedly as he jumped up in the air.
Howie said happily relieved, "That's great!"
"Yeah! He's going to be here in a couple of minutes so you can all meet him!!" Nick said running over to the mirror.
`I look a mess,' Nick thought noticing his red eyes puffy from crying. He ran into the bathroom and washed his face with cold water. He was straightening out his clothes when there was a distinctive knock of three raps followed by a two second pause and one more rap.
Nick ran over to the door and fell into the arms of his lover. He kissed Ben hungrily remembering how just minutes ago he had thought he would never be able to do this again. He would never feel Ben's lips on his, or the peace of being in Ben's arms.
"I love you, baby." Ben said seriously when they broke apart with a grin.
Nick answered immediately, "Not as much as I love you."
Howie stared in shock at the identity of Nick's fiancé, it was Ben Affleck. The movie star who was supposedly straight, at least according to what he had heard. Realising they were both staring at him Howie smiled at the pair.
"Hi, I'm Howe." Howie said holding out his hand.
Ben shook the offered hand and said with a grin, "I'm Ben, nice to meet you."
Howie asked as they all sat down, "So how long have you been dating Nick?"
"Two years and don't worry, I'm not going to hurt him." Ben said smiling at Nick and gently stroking the blonde's hand he was clutching with his thumb.
Howie said seriously, "Good, I'd hate to have to kill you. I'll go and let you two have some time together."
"Bye, Howie. Thanks for everything." Nick said with a grin as the man left.
Nick said his eyes shining with unspent tears, "When I got that phone call it felt like a part of me had died. All I could think was that I'd never hold you, never feel your lips on mine."
"I'm sorry, baby. I'm never going to leave you, and even death cannot truly separate us." Ben pulled Nick onto his lap and wrapped his arms around the singer.
Nick smiled, "How long can I keep you for until you have to go back?"
Ben said with a grin, "I haven't got anything planned for at least seven months, I wanted to make sure we had enough time for our honeymoon."
"I can't wait. I know we were going to tell the guys about us tonight when you arrived but I already told them I'm engaged."
"How did you tell them?" Ben asked with a grin, breathing in the scent of his lover.
Nick blushed, "I kinda blurted it out when the others started freaking out over Kev and Justin. I wasn't really paying attention everything has been too chaotic recently."
"Why what's happened?" Ben asked confused knowing it was just supposed to be boring interviews and photo-shoots.
Nick said seriously, "AJ found out JC's been hitting Lance for the last five years. For the last year JC's been raping Lance."
"What's happening about it?" Ben asked the thought that JC wasn't going to be punished made rage burn through his veins.
Nick said worried, "Lance is pressing charges but he's really skittish. When everyone was shouting earlier, Lance ran into the bathroom thinking we were going to hurt him. He doesn't like anyone touching him. He doesn't trust anyone. Lance keeps saying that it was his fault, that JC was only hurting him because he deserved it."
Ben said thoughtfully, "He's been abused for years, it's bound to have screwed up his perceptions. From what I've read a lot of people are frightened and have self esteem problems after they've been raped."
Nick nodded, "I said as much to the guys earlier. I think they're all a little worried because he has become really attached to AJ. I guess we should go tell everyone just who my fiancé is."
Nick smiled at Ben before opening the door of Kevin's room unsurprised to find Nsync there as well as the other Backstreet members. The two groups had gotten closer while they were working to save Lance. He smiled at Lance who was sitting in the corner next to AJ.
Nick coughed and everyone was immediately silent. He said seriously, "I would like you all to meet Ben, my fiancé."
Justin grinned and ran over and pulled Ben into a deep, tender kiss causing gasps from the audience. Ben just kissed back and broke apart with a grin/
"Woah. I wasn't expecting that!" Joey said in shock.
Justin turned to Nick and pouted sexily.
"Come here," Nick said with a grin pulling Justin into a kiss causing even more gasps.
"Nice to meet everyone." Ben said breaking the shocked silence.
Chris asked the room at large, "Did I just see that?"
"Yeah. Er...Kev, aren't you going to do anything?" Brian said looking at the dark haired man.
"Yeah." Kevin said walking purposely toward Ben. Everyone waited expectantly for Kevin to hit the film star and was stunned when he kissed Ben passionately.
"I'll introduce you to everyone, babe." Nick said with a grin, not reacting when Ben placed a hand at the back of his neck.
Nick smiled at the two men in front of him, "This is Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick. Remember the crazy one and the hyper one? They're in Nsync and wish they good be as us."
Ben grinned at the indignant "Hey!" from the two men and looked over to where AJ was sitting with Lance.
"This is AJ McLean." Nick said with a grin.
Ben took the offered hand, "Hi AJ. How are you?"
"I'm good, obviously not as good as you. I guess you already know Kev and Justin?"
"We know each other really well." Ben said with a smirk.
"This is Lance Bass." Nick said smiling at the green-eyed blonde.
Ben smiled gently doing his best to show he wasn't going to hurt the man. "Nice to meet you, Lance."
"Now you're here, Benny, we can go for that meal. If it's okay with everyone?" Kevin said seriously looking around the room.
There were nods all round and the ten men headed back to their rooms to get ready.
End Part 12