Devotion Chapter Thirty: One More Night
Disclaimer: Hey! I'm back! I hope you like this chapter. It's really short, I realize that, but it sort of goes off on a tangent that the story has, so I didn't want to spend too much time on it. Oh, yeah, I forgot this is the disclaimer! Um, I have nothing to do with *NSYNC, etc, etc, etc. (And what a disclaimer it was! =P) Enjoy! -Angel1313 ^_^
Chapter Thrity: One More Night "So they took off, huh?" Chris asked Britney, who had joined the rest at the group at a large table. Bobbie came along as well. "It's about time they talked, don't you think?" Lance added. "Yeah," Britney sighed. "I just wish that I hadn't messed up earlier. Justin was really angry. He told me that-" looking at the three members of *NSYNC, and then their dates, Britney wisely decided to shut up. "You know what? I don't feel like reliving it right now. I'll tell you guys later." "Nice save," Bobbie whispered to the teen queen. Britney smiled at her. They'd patched things up quickly, since they had both been trying to protect the men they loved. "Oh my gosh!" Britney exclaimed, catching a glimpse of Joey's watch. "Is it two already? I've got a flight at seven tomorrow! I've really got to get going." "Yeah, we should all probably be turning in," Lance agreed, getting up. Everyone said their good nights and good byes, and the three members of *NSYNC elected to go home separately, so they could spend a little more time with their dates. "Lance?" Joey called quietly into the dark room. "Yeah?" Came the groggy reply. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," the brunette quickly apologized. "Naw, it's fine," the Mississippian reassured him. "I was up anyway. What do you need?" "I um," Joey stuttered. "I was just wondering if maybe we could talk." "Joey, it's four in the morning. Is it something that's really important, or something that can wait until I've gotten some sleep?" Lance growled crankily. "It was nothing, never mind," Joey said quickly, but the disappointment in his voice was enough to bring the Mississippian out of bed. "Joey," he said, moving to sit on his bandmate's bed. "What's wrong?" "It's nothing, really," Joey tried, attempting to laugh it off. Lance wasn't fooled. "C'mon, Joey. I'm awake now. Tell me what's bothering you." "Look," Joey sighed, deciding that it was best to just come out with it. "I've been doing a lot of thinking." "That's unusual," Lance joked. "What about?" Remaining serious, the brunette answered, "About us. And what we had, and could have had, and might still be able to have." "Joey..." Lance said quietly, the pain in his voice striking pain into Joey's own heart. "Scoop, I was watching you with Meredith tonight, and I just... I don't know! I just didn't like it," the New Yorker tried to explain. "You didn't like it?" Lance shot back. "Well, to bad `cause you had your chance. You're the one who didn't want to commit. You're the one who broke it off with *me.* Don't give me this `I don't like it when you see other people' bull, `cause it's not gonna fly, understand?" Joey was slightly taken aback. He thought that Lance *wanted* to get together. Clearly when he had claimed to be perfectly okay with the situation, he hadn't mean it. Joey now feared that he had strained their relationship even more. "Lance, I'm not asking to get together, not yet, anyway. I just wanted to let you know that I was wrong when I said we should stop seeing each other. I know that you don't want to hear that right now, but I miss what we had, Lance. I miss having you as..." Joey's voice trailed off as he couldn't think of what to call his bandmate. "As what?" Lance spat at the older man. "See? You don't even know what I was. I wasn't your boyfriend, I wasn't your best friend, so what does that leave us with? A casual fling? A quick fuck?" Eyes widening from the usage of bad language from the normally docile Lance Bass, Joey reassured, "No! No, nothing like that. We were friends and lovers, we just weren't dating exclusively." "And now you want to take that step?" Lance asked, clearly skeptical of the older man. "Yes, well, maybe. I don't know! I just know that I liked it a lot better when we were comfortable around each other. When we could cuddle or just hang out, it didn't matter. When we were whatever we wanted to be, without commitments or standards and without giving what we had a name," Joey explained. Lance didn't look pleased, "Oh, I get it. Your date won't give you any, so you came crawling back to me, hoping to rekindle our `relationship.' Sorry, Joe, but that ain't gonna cut it. I'm worth more then that." "Scoop, you're not listening to me!" the New Yorker protested. "I don't want to sleep with you; I just want to be close again. I mean close to you as friends, not close to sleeping with you. I didn't mean close to sleeping with you." Smiling despite himself, Lance laughed, "I know what you meant, Joey." Growing a little more confident at the sight of the smile and sound of the laughter, Joey continued, "I'd just like for us to stop fighting, for us to at least be able to get along. I know that it's going to take a while to get back to where we were, but I'd really like to try, Scoop. I miss having you in my life." "Joey, I've never been *out* of your life. Maybe you just stopped making time for me," Lance suggested. "Lance, *please*! I'm sorry, okay? I don't know what else to say!" Joey exclaimed. Getting up, Lance returned to his own bed. "I just need some time, Joey. You hurt me. Deeply. Do you even realize that? I'm not really looking forward to having that happen again. Things aren't ever going to be the way they used to be. They might get close, but I'm not going to let you play with my heart again. If you really want commitment, *then* come see me. I'm still not making any promises, though," he told his bandmate. "Lance, I want commitment," Joey whispered. He did. He was sure of it. He wanted Lance, and if it meant that he would have Lance and *only* Lance, for the first time, Joey was willing to do that. "Not tonight, Joe. I know you're horny, but not tonight. Give me more time," the blonde replied tiredly. "I'm serious, Lance," Joey insisted. When he got no reply, he asked, "How long, Scoop? Another night? Another week?" Sighing, Lance replied, "I don't know, Joe. Maybe one more night, maybe never. I'd just like to get some sleep now." A few minutes passed in silence until Joey could hear his bandmate's breathing even-out, indicating that the Mississippian was asleep. "Goodnight, Scoop," Joey whispered to his sleeping friend. "I love you." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, there it is. To be honest, I never thought I'd make it to ch.30. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with this story from the start, you mean the world to me. Feedback is always appreciated, and don't worry; you'll get to see Josh and Just next chapter. I just had to deal with Lance and Joey first. -Angel1313 ^_^