Falling for an Old Friend

Thanks to all those who gave me some constructive criticism of my first installment. This is my first time trying my hand at fiction, so if you have any comments or criticisms, please feel free to e-mail me: auto337794@hushmail.com

Thanks!

DISCLAIMER:

This story is fiction and is not intended to imply anything about the true sexuality of Lance Bass, or anyone mentioned, or any personal knowledge about their private lives. This is copyright 2002 by the author.

FALLING FOR AN OLD FRIEND PART 2

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I was jolted awake by something. As my consciousness slowly came to me, I could sense that sunlight coming through the window. My eyes slowly opened. I was lying on my stomach with my mouth open - a small pool of drool was on the pillow. 'Uh, jeese, where am I?' I thought to myself.

I slowly raised my head and looked around the room. The room had the familiar red motif of most Marriott hotels. Jim apparently had just left - the noise that woke me was probably him closing the door behind him. 'What time is it?' A glance over at the clock on the table told me that it was 9:13. My vision was a little blurry - I didn't take my contacts out the night before.

I sat up and threw my feet over the edge of the bed. Immediately I felt the familiar stomach upset of a hangover. Coffee or milk always seemed to help. Thankfully this room had one of those little coffee machines, so I walked over to it wearing only my boxers and got the thing going. The sweet smell of coffee filled the room as I headed over to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

Standing under the warmth of the hot water in the shower, my thoughts wandered to what happened last night. Jim came out to me. That had to take a lot of courage on his part, but maybe the alcohol had something to do with it. What about my own feelings? Maybe now would be a good time to come out to him too and let him know that he's not alone. He must be terribly conflicted inside - he has no one else around him that would understand. 'Maybe we should talk when he gets back.'

Finishing up the shower, I walked back into the room with a towel around my waist. Jim's comb and shaving gear were sitting there on the vanity, so I helped myself. I gelled up my hair and spread the shaving cream on my face. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. I walked over and opened up. I recognized the guy, he was one of the band members. He just looked at me with shock on his face. He was slightly taller than me with very short hair. He had one of those black wife-beaters on so his defined arms were prominently showing. There I was, standing in the doorway nothing but a towel on with a half-shaved face, in his bandmate's doorway.

"Um, who are you?" he said.

"I'm Matt, a friend of Jim's"

He looked a little confused. "Jim?"

"Oh, yeah, I mean Lance. He and I grew up together, so I call him Jim."

"Well, anyways. Where's Lance?"

"I think he took off for a while, he said he had a couple of interviews this morning, then he and I were going to go to breakfast somewhere."

"Ok, well, when you see him can you have him give me a call?" he asked.

"Sure. Uh, I'm sorry, but what's your name?"

With a chuckle he said "Justin. Sorry, I'm Justin Timberlake." He stretched his hand out and shook mine.

"Nice to meet you Justin, I'm Matt Vos."

"Good to meet ya, Matt. Well, I'll let you finish up. See ya later."

"I'll give Jim the message. Later." I said as I closed the door. He seemed like a nice guy. He was pretty good looking too.

I finished shaving and got dressed in my day-old clothes. Wearing the same thing two days in a row always made me feel a little gross, but oh well, what choice do I have?

The coffee was finished and I poured myself a cup, filling the thing with loads of creamer and sugar. I gulped it down, knowing that the faster I got something into my stomach, the faster this hangover would go away.

I made my way over to the gigantic king sized bed, sat down, and watched TV for a few minutes. It was twenty to ten already, I was hoping that Jim would get back pretty quick so I could get my car back, plus my stomach was growling from hunger.

It was another ten minutes when Jim unlocked the door and walked in.

"Hey, 'mornin." He said.

"Hey, how's it going?"

"Eh, you know, same old. Radio stations wanting interviews, asking the same questions as everyone else."

"Probably gets boring, huh?"

"Yeh, it can be, but sometimes I have fun with the answers. I always like to see how fast something I say gets around the rumor mill. Are you hungover at all?" He asked.

"A little. My stomach is pissed off, but the coffee is helping."

"I was too, but I'm feeling better now. Actually, I'm really hungry. Do you want to go eat?"

"Sure," I said, "but do you mind if we go get my car from the bar, then I can drive."

"Ok, I'll call a cab." He walked over to the phone, called the front desk, and requested a taxi to the side entrance. He hung up, "It'll be here in a few minutes, let's go on downstairs and wait."

On the way down in the elevator, Jim broke the silence, "I just want to let you know that I'm really glad to see you again. It's been so long since we've hung out. It gets pretty lonely on tour. I don't even get to the see the other guys in the group too much, we're all on our own schedules until we hit the stage."

"It's good to see you again too, Jim. Moving to Atlanta has made it hard to make new friends. You know me, a total introvert. We need to keep in touch more often."

The elevator doors opened. He continued, "You're right. Hey, We're in town until Monday, the next show isn't until Tuesday. Do you think you'd have time to hang out more this weekend before I have to take off?"

"Sure," I said. "I don't have anything going on today or tomorrow, but I do have to work Monday."

"Cool, sounds good. You'll have to show me the sights in Atlanta."

"Ha, like I know what the sights are, I don't make it out much."

"Oh well," he replied. "You could at least show me your house."

"Ok, sounds like a plan." I said.

We walked out the side door and the cab was already waiting. Jim put his hat and sunglasses back on as we drove past the front doors, which had fewer waiting fans than the night before.

We stopped in front of the bar we drank at the night before and my truck was sitting there, parked on the street. Thankfully it was still in one piece. We got in and made our way to Denny's for some breakfast. "Do you have anything else going on today?" I asked him.

"Not really, just some more interviews, but I can do those over my cellphone." He held it up to show me, but then he looked at it and realized that it was dead. "Shit, the battery must have died. Damn, I didn't plug it in last night. I was so shitfaced I forgot."

"Well, I've got mine with me if you need to make any calls." I replied.

"Ok, thanks. Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure," I said, "just name it."

"I'd appreciate it if you could not tell anyone about our conversation last night. I don't need that rumor getting out." He said with a dead serious face.

I looked into his green eyes. "Jim, your secret is safe with me. Come on, we're still best friends, right? I'd never do anything to hurt you like that."

"I really appreciate it. This is something I need to come to terms with before I can tell anyone else. That's if I ever tell anyone else. I don't know how I could face my family. It really isn't too bad just putting on a show, but it'd be nice to be myself once in a while, you know? For once I'd like to be able to say out loud 'Damn, he's got a great body' instead of just keeping it to myself all the time."

"Dude, you can be yourself around me any time. It's no problem on my end. You can comment on anyone you want when I'm with you. Feel free to be yourself."

"It won't make you uncomfortable?"

"Nope. I'm pretty hard to offend. Hell, we're both Tauruses, remember? It takes a lot to piss us off."

"Yeh, you're right." He said with a reassured voice. "I forget how much we have in common."

We sat for a few minutes in silence. The highway was jammed up, apparently there was an accident ahead. "So... Matt... you have a nice ass." He looked at me with an eyebrow cocked and a grin on his face.

"What?" I asked as I turned my head to look at him.

"Ha! Just kidding, I just wanted to test you out." We both laughed out loud.

"What a dork." I replied. "But you're right about my ass, it's simply irresistible."

"Whatever." He replied. "I didn't even realize you had an ass."

"Are you calling me a flat ass? Huh?"

"You? Flat ass? Never. Would I say such a thing?"

"If it made you an extra million, probably." I said sarcastically.

"Well, you know? You're right. In fact, I'd call you about anything if someone paid me for it."

"Yeah, I'll pay ya. With a punch, right in the face." I said with my best mafia voice.

"Ha! I'd like to see you try. Remember your pathetic attempt at beating me up after a party in eleventh grade. You were pissed at me for getting your car stuck in the mud after going off the road." He replied.

"Whatever. I was wasted and could barely stand up. I could beat your ass now. Besides, you're in a boy band, that means you're a wimp."

"Ooh, now I'm scared. A boy band basher. You know, the guys who bash us most are the ones who are the closet queers."

"Yeah right, you just can't handle the truth. You're a pansy." I said in a taunting voice.

He just gave me the finger.

Just then we turned off the highway to the exit and spotted the restaurant.

"We'll continue this later, pansy." I said with a grin on my face.

We arrived at Denny's and walked in. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea, there were a lot of eyes on Jim all the sudden. We walked over to a booth in the corner and he sat with his back to everyone.

"This constant recognition must be a pain in the ass." I said.

"Yep, it can be pretty annoying. But I kinda like the attention. As long as they don't get violent, I'm ok with it. I mean, without the fans I wouldn't have a job, right?"

"You're right. I'm glad you recognize that. There are so many celebrities that come off as total assholes."

"Yeh, I know. I've met most of them." He said with a chuckle.

I engorged myself in breakfast and started feeling better. Jim had mostly eggs and bacon. "I've got to keep the protein level high," He said with a grin. "To keep up my girlish figure." We both laughed. 'God, he's cute.' I couldn't help but think to myself. Everything about him was perfect - his spiked hair, his eyes, his smile - even his laugh.

We were about to get up and he grabbed the bill. "I'm paying for this one." He said with a smug look. "You picked up the tap last night."

"Ah, fine. But I get the next meal." I replied.

We headed off to my house and got there about a half hour later. It's a pretty decent place. I bought it in the suburbs when I first moved here. I'm not one to spend a lot of money on unnecessary stuff, so it's just right for me. It's a two story with four bedrooms, but they aren't big bedrooms. The basement is refinished and I turned it into a big recreation area. My giant HDTV is on one end and a pool table on the other.

We walked up to the front door I fumbled with my key to open it up. We walked into the living room, which I keep sparsely furnished, but it has the high ceilings, since it's about 100 years old. "Nice place." Jim commented.

"Right, nothing close to your mansion."

"Ah, come on, just let me be a normal guy for once, a friend without all the money. I like your house, why can't I make a comment?" He replied, slightly annoyed.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I'm sure you get enough shit when you're on the road all the time. I want you to relax and enjoy a couple days off. I'll call a few friends from work to see if they want to come over for a barbecue tonight. We can have a little private party without all the annoying groupies following you around. Does that sound ok?"

"Sure, it sounds great. It's so rare these days that I just get to hang around normal people. A steak on the grill sounds awesome." He said as a smile returned to his face.

'Damn, he's almost always smiling. That smile is killing me.'

"Cool, then make yourself at home. Here's the TV remote and help yourself to anything in the fridge. I'm gonna make a couple of calls."

I walked into the room I've designated as my office. It has my computer, desk, and bookshelves. I make a couple calls to some friends and let them know that I've got an old friend in town for a couple of days and that I'm having a party tonight. I let them know that they can bring a few people.

Jim walks into the room while I'm on the phone and whispers, "Matt, I need to make a call, I've got another interview in about 10 minutes."

"Hold on a sec." I say as I return to the conversation and let my friend know that I need to go

I leave Jim to his calls and wander into the other room.

People started arriving at around six in the evening. They started trickling in with the beer, steaks, and small dishes to pass. I introduced Jim to them all simply as a friend from High School visiting the area for a couple of days. No one recognized him until Kent arrived. Kent's a coworker of mine who makes no bones about being gay. He's open about it, but not to the point of annoying anyone. He doesn't walk around telling everyone he's gay. He's a pretty masculine guy, not really my type of personality, but he's a lot of fun to be around. Not only that, but he has a great body. One of those perfect round butts and a well-built upper body. As soon as I introduced Jim to Kent, Kent immediately recognized him.

"Are you Lance from Nsync?"

"Uh, yeah, that's me."

"Oh my God! You're my favorite! This is so cool! Matt, you didn't mention that you knew Lance Bass!"

"Well, I don't think of him as Lance Bass, he's my friend Jim, and that's it." I replied.

"Well Jim, it's nice to meet you." Kent shook Jim's hand.

"I'll get you a beer, maybe you two can chat." I walked off to the kitchen to grab a beer for Kent. I returned and the two were striking up quite a conversation. Kent wanted to know everything about being in a boy band and Jim enjoyed talking about it. The three of us stood there and talked for a few minutes when one of my other friends yelled out "Time for the steak!"

We all made it out onto the back porch and got in line for our steaks. It was a beautiful evening. The sun was just setting and the sky was all shades of orange and red. I sat next to Jim at one of the tables on my back deck. "How's the party going?" I asked him.

"Great, you've got a lot of cool people you work with. It's nice to get away from everything for a while. Everyone just treats me normal, no ass kissing. This is more relaxing than a vacation."

"Cool, I'm glad you're having a good time. We're going to play some poker after dinner, you wanna join in?"

"Nah, I'm not a big fan of gambling. But I bet I can down more booze than you tonight!" He said with a sly look on his face.

"Ha, you drink me under the table? You're on." I walked over to the cooler and grabbed two more beers. "It starts now."

We sat there for a while, joking and laughing over our beers. Of course, as we drank more everything seemed to get funnier. I found myself more and more attracted to him. 'Should I tell him? There are too many people around, maybe I should wait until later. But it feels so right now, we're really connecting tonight. But there are still people around, I should wait.' All kinds of thoughts were going through my head.

"Time for poker Matt, you in?" Someone butted in and asked.

"Sure, who all is playing?"

"There's three of us. We're playing with dollars."

"Ok, I'll be right in."

I asked Jim If he wanted to play again. He said he's hang out on the deck and chat with the other people. I walked back in, but turned around and looked at Jim, "I'm on number six!" He looked at me and smiled, "But I'm on number eight!" I laughed out loud.

I was starting to feel a buzz from the beer, so I started drinking and rum and coke. I took a seat at the table and began the game. I'm not too good at poker when I'm wasted, but we were having fun and making all kinds of noise. I was losing my ass - It's hard to keep a poker face when I can't stop laughing at stupid jokes.

The TV was on in the background, tuned to MTV. "Hey, who turned on MTV? Do they even have music on MTV any more?" I yelled across the room.

No one answered. Oh well. I was in the middle of a hand when an MTV news report came on. I could hear the story "In other news, Nsync's Justin Timberlake is rumored to have broken up with his pop diva girlfriend..."

"Oh, shit. Justin Timberlake. I was supposed to have Jim call Justin." I felt terrible that I forgot. Everyone just looked at me like 'what the hell is he talking about?' I got up and walked out into the back yard and looked for Jim. He wasn't there, so I walked back in, figuring he was in the bathroom or something. I checked but he wasn't there. I walked through the house, bumping into the walls as I walked, and checked the spare bedroom. I could tell someone was there in the dark, so I flipped on the light and said "Jim?"

My heart sank. There he was, clearly startled, pulling away from a kiss with Kent. The man I've been lusting over these last couple of days standing there making out with my friend. I was crushed. "What the..." was all I could mutter.

"Shit, Matt, I'm sorry. We were just - uh -" Jim started stammering. He turned red and just looked down. Kent's arms were still wrapped around Jim's waste, but Jim realized it and pulled away.

"Matt, I'm sorry, we shouldn't have been - in your house -" Kent tried to apologize.

"Um, guys, no biggie... I just couldn't find Jim... I..." I was still having a hard time talking. It was so painful to think about. My heart suddenly felt so empty. "I was gonna tell Jim to call Justin."

"Justin? How do he let you know?" Jim asked.

"He, uh, came to your room before you came back this mornin. I talked to him..."

"Crap, he's probably gonna be pissed." Jim quickly walked past me out of the room toward my office to use the phone. Kent just looked at me and winked with a grin. He thought he was being funny, but I couldn't have been more pissed at him. I'm sure my face turned red from anger as I walked back out.

I followed Jim's voice to my office and walked in. He was on the phone with Justin. Jim was raising his voice a little, "I said I didn't know! He didn't give me the message until just now." There was a pause, "Justin, why are you being such an asshole? It's not my fault." Another pause, "Fuck, the world isn't going to end! So I missed one damn interview. What do you want me to do?" Jim looked up at me as he listened to Justin yelling. His eyes quickly met with mine and then he looked back down at the floor. "Justin, calm the hell down! Just fucking go to bed and we'll talk about this tomorrow."

With that he hung up. "Matt, Justin's pissed. I'm a little pissed too. We were having an interview with MTV this afternoon and he needed to let me know. It was a pretty big deal because it was about our next album. Now people are wondering 'where's Lance? Why wasn't he with the other guys?' You should have given me the message."

"Shit, Jim. I'm sorry. I have a terrible memory for giving people message. I feel so bad. I'm really sorry."

"Well, I'll live, but Justin's pretty mad."

There was a silence between us. We stared at each other for a few moments. His green eyes were just killing me inside.

"Matt - "

"Jim - "

We started talking simultaneously. I stopped, "oh, sorry, what?"

He replied, "nevermind, what were you going to say?"

"Well, I just wanted to say I'm sorry again. I still feel bad."

"Oh, nah. Forget about it. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been making out with your friend in your house. You're probably a little grossed out."

That couldn't have been further from the truth. I was jealous as hell all of the sudden. Jim was mine, and Kent beat me to it. 'Dammit! Why do these opportunities always slip from me so easily?' This beer was really working on me and I wanted Jim so bad. I started, "Jim, I... I just need to tell you something."

He took another swig from his beer, "What is it?"

"I... I... this is so hard for me. But I'm gay too."

His jaw dropped. "Oh my god, Matt. Really? Seriously?"

Saying that was so foreign for me. I couldn't believe I just said it. There was a pause. "Uh, yeah. I am. I'm attracted to you too."

He walked over to me and just gave me a huge hug. He turned his head, still embracing me, and said "Matt, I've always been so alone." I could tell he was getting a little choked up. I was feeling the same way. It was probably to booze, but suddenly I felt pretty emotional too.

"Jim, I feel closer to you now than ever. God, I'm so glad I have you."

We just stood there for a minute. "Let me get rid of everyone and we can talk some more," I said.

I walked out to the other room and told everyone that Jim had to be up early the next morning, so he needed to go to bed. There were only a few people left anyways, including Kent. Kent was most reluctant to go. He asked me if he could come back over tomorrow, but I said I'd let him know, "Jim's got a pretty busy schedule." I was screaming in my own head, 'get out now!'

As the last person left, I went back into the living room and sat down next to Jim, "Jim..."

"Yeah?"

I just leaned over and pressed my lips against his. It was like electricity shooting through my body. Here I was kissing Jim, the hottest guy I've ever known, the one person on Earth I felt that really understood me. He pressed back and put his hand on the back of my head.

I pulled away from the kiss. "Is this something we should be doing? Maybe we should think about this first."

"But for the first time in my life I feel open," He replied. We both sat there for a moment as he thought. "You're right, we should sleep on this. We're both pretty lit right now. I don't want to do anything I'll regret."

I agreed. We just hugged for a few moments and then broke away. "I'll get your bed ready. You can stay in the spare bedroom tonight."

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