Devotion Chapter Twenty-Six: The Calm Before the Storm
Disclaimer: Oops! Last chapter I accidentally called Lynn "Mrs. Timberlake," not "Mrs. Harliss." >.< Let's all pretend that I wasn't half asleep when I wrote it, and let me by with that stupid mistake. Sorry! Oh, and sorry that this is so late, but it's starting to heat up, so hopefully I'll get inspired again! Feel free to write to me and try to get me to write, I'd appreciate it! -Angel1313 ^_^
"It's a little early, don't you think? They still have some time to sleep." "Don't worry, Lynn," Chris reassured the blonde, knocking on the door. "They've had plenty of time." "Plus," Joey chuckled. "I think I can hear JC singing, so we should be fine." Everyone paused to listen, and the words to "I Wanna Love You Forever" came drifting to their ears. "Jessica Simpson?" Chris laughed. "This is too good." "They've got music playing, too. They'll never hear us, so why don't I just let us in?" Lance offered. Grinning at the Mississippian, Chris said, "I'm so glad you have that key." Joey turned to Mrs. Harliss. "Not to imply anything, but I think you'd better let us go in first." "Oh, don't worry," Lynn laughed. "But thanks for being so considerate, Joseph." Lance motioned for everyone to be quiet, and he slowly opened the door. The music became louder, but they also heard the shower running. The door to the bathroom was open, and JC was leaning against its frame, casually flipping through a magazine, his back to the other members of *NSYNC. "I wanna love you forever, And this is all I'm asking of you: Ten thousand lifetimes together. Is that so much for you to do?" Sang JC. To the surprise of the four people in the other doorway, Justin's voice came to answer: "Cause from the moment that I saw your face, And felt the fire from your sweet embrace, I swear I knew: I'm gonna love you forever." "How cute, they're singing to each other," Lance giggled. "Do you think Justin always showers with the door open?" Chris pointed out. "I mean, JC seems pretty casual about it." "Hey, at least they're not in there together," Joey replied. "That's right, they'd better not be in there together," Lynn interjected sternly. "Not with his mother around, I'd hope." "Not with any of us around," Chris muttered. "What's wrong with two guys showering together?" Lance asked defensively. "Nothing!" Chris insisted, holding his hands up. "I'm totally fine with it. I was just kidding!" "You'd better have been, Kirkpatrick," Joey threatened. "What?" JC suddenly called, but as the three other people in the room turned to the brunette in surprise, they saw that he was looking into the bathroom. "Yeah, sure," he continued. With that, the twenty-four year-old set down his magazine on the counter and headed into the bathroom. "Whoa!" Joey exclaimed. "What do you think is going on?" "Well," Lance noted. "The shower's off, so it shouldn't be anything *too* bad." "Boys, Joshua and my son aren't really in a relationship," Lynn informed the young men. "I think you're mistaken," Chris argued. "You're not around them as much as we are. And let's just say that we don't call them the `lovebirds' for nothing." "I think Lynn may be right," Lance countered. "I mean, I was so sure that they were together, but then they started acting all weird. I think they had a fight or something." Suddenly Justin could be heard giggling loudly. "You leave my towel alone, bad boy," he scolded the older man. Raising his eyebrows, Chris said, "I think it's `or something.'" Nodding mutely, the other three agreed. Finally, Joey spoke. "Don't you think we should, um, let them know we're here, or uh, something?" "I think that would be a good idea," Mrs. Harliss agreed quickly. "Okay," Lance commanded, quickly taking charge. "Everyone make like we just came in, okay? We'll send Joe here to see what's going on, because we all know he's the loudest. All right?" "What?!" Joey protested. "Why do I have to go?" "Just do it!" Lance sighed, pushing the brunette towards the bathroom. "Hello?" Lynn called loudly. "Anyone in here?" "We're in the bathroom!" Justin called back. Just then, JC stuck his head out the door, to see Joey making his way over. "Hi, everyone," the twenty-four year-old greeted cheerfully. "I'm just helping Curly get his braids out." "OH!" Joey exclaimed loudly. "That makes so much more sense." Forcing a fake laugh, Lance covered, "Yeah, Joey thought that Justin's hair was naturally like that or something." Continuing to speak rapidly so Joey couldn't contradict him, Lance added, "Why did he braid his hair if he was only going to have it like that for a day anyway?" "He was deep conditioning it," JC explained. "And the braids just made it less messy, so I offered to do it for him last night." "Wait," Chris laughed. "Let me get this straight. Last night you did Justin's hair?" When JC nodded, the twenty-eight year-old broke off into a fit of laughter. "What?" JC snapped, and Chris covered his mouth, trying to contain himself. "Josh?" Justin asked, stepping into view. The nineteen year-old had a towel wrapped around his waist, but was otherwise uncovered. Roughly half of his head was still braided, and the other half was matted down, as it was still wet. At the sight of him, even Lance couldn't help but giggle a little. Ignoring them, JC turned to the younger man. "Yes?" he replied. "Could you finish my hair?" the blonde asked shyly. "I, um, am having difficulty taking the braids out myself." "Of course," the twenty-four year-old agreed immediately. "That's why you asked in the first place, isn't it?" Smiling, Justin nodded. Suddenly, JC leaned foreword and took the younger man's hand. He then led the blonde to kitchen table. Pulling out a chair, he commanded, "Sit." Justin sat down sideways in the chair, facing his mother and the other three members of *NSYNC. JC quickly began to work on the remaining braids in the young man's hair. "So," Joey spoke up, breaking the silence that had fallen over the group. "Do you and JC always sing Jessica Simpson songs?" "What?!" Justin exclaimed. "When did you hear that?!" "Joey!" Lance and Chris hissed, glaring at the New Yorker. "How long were you in here before you said anything?" JC questioned the group, now growling at Joey. "Oh, well, we could hear you from outside. That's why Lance used his key; we knew you couldn't hear us," Chris was quick to cover. "Besides," Lynn added, smiling at the two young men. "I think that it's sweet that you two sing together. However," she took a more stern tone, looking directly at her son. "I *am* a little concerned that you shower with the door open." "Uh," Justin stammered. "I, um, ow!" "Sorry," JC apologized quickly. He began to lean down to kiss the top of the blonde's head, as he always did when he pulled on the younger man's hair too hard, when he thought better of it. Justin, who was expecting the brunette to "kiss it and make it better" began to pout. Folding his arms across his chest, Justin complained, "Josh, you pulled on my hair! Aren't you going to do anything about it?" Looking at the nineteen year-old strangely, Chris stated, "Um, he apologized. What more do you want?" "Justin," JC hissed through clenched teeth. "I don't think your mom wants me to." "Fine," Justin muttered darkly. JC sighed. What was he supposed to do? He didn't want to be on bad terms with his best friend's mother, but he didn't want Justin to be angry with him, either. Suddenly, Justin's face brightened. Standing up abruptly, he announced, "Then we're just going to finish this in the other room!" "What?" the other five people in the room asked simultaneously. Grabbing the brunette's hand, Justin began pulling him towards the bathroom. "C'mon, Josh," he prodded. "Let's go!" As he was being dragged away, JC forced a laugh and said, "I don't know what's gotten into him, really! A-heh-heh-heh!" Once the two of them were in the bathroom, Justin firmly shut the door. "Now," he began, hopping up to sit on the counter. "How about you kiss it and make it better?" "Just, I can't reach your head if you sit up there," JC pointed out, amusement dancing in his azure eyes. "Then why don't you just kiss me somewhere else?" the nineteen year-old suggested, greatly closing the distance between himself and his best friend. /Don't panic,/ JC told himself. /You can stay in control! There are four people in the other room, don't do anything stupid!/ "I love you Josh," Justin breathed, finally leaning foreword and pressing his lips against the brunette's in a tender caress. Involuntarily moving to slid his arms around the younger man's waist, JC leaned into the kiss, sucking gently on the nineteen year-old's bottom lip. As Justin slowly parted his lips, allowing JC's tongue access to the inside of his mouth, the twenty-four year-old's brain began to catch up with his body. Pulling back abruptly, he looked into the blonde's desire-filled eyes, and whispered, "Oh, shit," before bolting from the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Damn! I know that Justy shouldn't have kissed JC, but I just couldn't help it! I'm frustrated with the fact that they can't get together yet, and, well, so is Justin! Having Lynn there is going to make it interesting, though! I'll try to get them ready for the VMAs by the next chapter, LoL. Sorry this is going so slowly! -Angel1313 ^_^