As usual, I do not know *NSYNC, I don't know if they're gay, I have no affiliation with any people who work for them and all of this is purely a fantasy in my own head.
- Previously on Danny and Lance -
"Danny please, can we just talk--"
"Lance. Just go."
He looked at me, completely crushed, grabbed his bags and ran out, slamming the door behind him. I fell onto the couch and start bawling my eyes out.
We never spoke again.
CHAPTER SEVEN
TWO YEARS LATER
"Danny I need that production update ASAP."
"One more minute, and it'll be done."
Today was a crazy day. It was Friday, the movie we were working on was about to shoot some of its biggest scenes this weekend, and we had a lot of paperwork to get done before that. My boss, the producer of this big film, was in high stress mode, and as his right hand man, I had to do ten things at once to keep him happy. Don't get me wrong, I loved the work it was just hard sometimes. But it was the weekend, and he said I wouldn't have to work at all if we got everything done so I was doing my best to make that happen.
The day dragged on, but around 6:30 I managed to finish everything. As I was walking to my car I just shook my head in amusement. It had been nine months since I moved to Los Angeles, and already I was working on one of the upcoming summer blockbuster movies. I was definitely fortunate to have landed this job after interning with this company, that's for sure.
As I got in my car I let the week drift away. It was my first whole weekend off in a while, and I was stoked. I went home and kicked back for a while, ate dinner, and got ready to go out. I was going to a local bar with my friends Mark and Jon who I hadn't seen in forever. Mark used to date Anna my best friend, but they both realized it wasn't going to work. Mark and I hit it off pretty well during that time, and luckily they ended on good terms so we could hang out. Jon was a roommate I had in college, he was also straight, but it didn't matter to either of us. I wasn't the kind of guy who had to only go to gay clubs; I just wanted to be around good people.
There's nothing like a good, stiff martini. I was enjoying mine while looking around the bar. It was pretty busy tonight and I couldn't figure out why. Everyone seemed to be gathered in one corner. As I was watching the crowd I saw the back of someone's head that looked vaguely familiar. It was dark so I figured I was just seeing things. Then the figure turned around and saw me. His smile faded into a look of shock, then back into a hearty smile as he raced over to me. I felt like a deer caught in headlights.
"DANNY!" he exclaimed as he came and gave me a big hug, "How you been man!?"
This was awkward.
"JC! Holy shit man what's it been like 2 years?"
"At least! What are you doing these days? Do you live here?"
"Uh...yeah, I do live here now, what's going on with you?"
"Aw it's my birthday man. Some people wanted to take me out to party it up."
"So that's why it's so busy in here, huh?"
"Yeah we have a tendency to take over things," he said smiling. He just looked at me for a second and then continued, "It really is great to see you. We need to catch up! Tell you what, it's 10ish right now, why don't we meet by the door at 11:30 huh? We can go grab some coffee or something. That cool?"
"Uh..." I said still kind of in shock. "Sure. Yeah I guess that's ok."
"Sweet. You better be there or I'll come find ya!" he said as he walked back into the crowd.
"Ok..." I trailed off.
"Dude do you know who that was?" exclaimed Jon. I didn't even think how strange it would be for Jon and Mark to see me talking to JC Chasez, since they never knew about me and Lance or even that I knew *NSYNC.
"Yeah. Yeah, I do," I said, snapping out of my shock. "That's JC Chasez. We used to be friends a while back."
Mark's mouth dropped open. "And you never told us this because..."
"Because I couldn't. There's a reason you guys, I just can't say"
"Oh. My. God. Were you dating someone in the band?!" asked an excited Jon.
"SHHHHH! Keep your voice down!" I said, looking to see if anyone heard. Both of them laughed heartily, knowing they had guessed right. For two straight guys, they were very gossipy.
Eleven-thirty rolled around and I told the guys I'd see them later. I went to the door and sure enough, I saw JC saying goodbye to people and he came over to meet me. We left and went down the street to a small coffee house that was pretty empty and sat down. We caught up on each other's lives: I had graduated college then moved to Los Angeles and was now working at a film company; he had gone on tour more with the group, took a break, and was releasing his own album in a few months time. Eventually our conversation kind of died down, and I could tell he wanted to talk about something, so I just went ahead and asked it.
"So. How's Lance?"
"He's good," JC replied. "He was pretty torn up about what happened between you guys, for a very long time. But he got back to normal, though he hasn't dated anyone since then. He's been keeping busy with his production company and other business ventures."
"Good. I'm glad..." I said while staring at my coffee. "I was worried, you know? After we broke up, I was pretty messed up myself, I just didn't know how to handle it. I can't believe so much time has passed since it happened. Two years....."
"You should consider seeing him," JC said. "I know he'd like that."
"I don't know..."
"Listen. I'm having a big party on Saturday night at my house, and I want you to come. Bring anyone you want. The guys will be there, and I know Justin, Joey and Chris would love to see you too. There'll be tons of people there, and if you and Lance don't want to talk then you can mingle with others."
"Still...I just don't know if I'd be comfortable..."
"Hey. It's my birthday and this is all I want. Please come?" he asked while making big puppy dog eyes.
That got a giggle out of me and I finally agreed. He was happy and we finished up our conversation.
Saturday night arrived and I found myself at the door of a beautiful mansion in the Hollywood Hills with Anna. We were all decked out in party clothes and she could tell I was nervous.
"Babe calm down, I'm sure everything will be fine. Don't worry."
"Easy to say my friend, easy to say." She squeezed my hand for support.
"Well whatever happens, you HAVE to introduce me to Justin!!! I LOVE HIM!"
I laughed. "Ok calm down stalker."
"Um whatever Mr. Lance Bass Poster On The Back Of His Door for two years!"
"Ha ha ha very funny. Let's just go in ok?"
She smiled, grabbed my arm and we walked in. JC apparently had a lot of friends, because the place was packed! Still enough room to move around, but lots of people all over the place! I looked around to see who was there, and saw Joey already heading over to us.
"DANNY!" he yelled. He was very excited to see me.
"JOEY! What's up man!? It's been forever! How are you?"
"I'm great! Man I'm so happy you came. JC told us he ran into you and we were stoked to hear you were coming."
"Yeah, I'm glad I ca--"
"DANNY MY MAN!!!" Justin exclaimed as he walked towards me along with Chris. He enveloped me in a manly hug which I heartily returned. It was really good to see these guys, I forgot how fun they were. I felt someone squeeze my hand and I turned to see Anna who was almost bursting with excitement.
"Ah, allow me to introduce my best friend, Anna. Joey, Chris, Justin (I winked at him when I said this, and I could tell he knew what I was indicating) this is Anna. Anna, these are the guys.
"HI IT'S SO NICE TO MEET YOU!" she shouted, obviously very excited. The guys laughed and all gave her a hug.
"Hey I'm always up to hang with a fly lady, why don't you come with me for a while huh?" asked Justin.
I could tell she was about to pee in her pants with excitement, and I smiled. She went off with him, and I was left with the other two guys.
"So you guys knew I was coming, huh?"
"Yeah, JC told us..." said Chris. "Lance doesn't though, we weren't sure if he'd come if he knew."
"Well he knows now," I replied.
They both turned to look at what I was staring at. There, across the room, Lance Bass stood staring back at me.