Hi again, not very good huh? I realise that but hey I'm trying. Anyway, anybody know who Steve is yet? I'm quite sure most if not all of you do. I know its bad but I can take it, let me know how bad. Until next time, take care all.
Disclaimer: This is a work of FICTION. As such, it does not imply anything about the true sexualities or anything else for that matter of the celebrities mentioned in the story. This story contains homosexual themes. If you are below the legal age to read such material, please leave. If such material offends you, go away. If it is illegal to view such material where you leave, go somewhere else.
Going with the flow Chapter 2 --------------------
Now I'm usually a very cool and accommodating person, but if there was one thing I hated during a holiday, it was to be roused from sleep up by someone or something besides my biological clock. So when the phone rang I was of course, very pissed off. This was especially so when I had left instructions that I was not to be disturbed unless there was an emergency.
"Yeah what?" I yelled into the phone before it even reached my ear.
"Ummm Steve, this is JC from last night. My friends and I were just wondering if you would like join us for breakfast."
I was trying very hard to keep from swearing. First they keep me up all night, and then they wake me up to have breakfast. Did they think I was like one of their crazed fans or something? Since I wasn't going to get anymore sleep anyway, and it appeared that this particular boy-band wouldn't leave me alone until I've had breakfast with them at least, I agreed.
"Great Steve. We're in suite 302."
"Right, across the hall," I replied, trying to put as much sarcasm as I could into those four words. "I'll be there in 15 minutes."
"Gee that's right, I totally forgot. Anyway we'll see you in 15 then. Bye."
I couldn't help but smile as I put the phone down. The guy was suddenly anxious to hang up the phone. So, there not as thick headed as I thought.
I was ready in ten minutes. Since I wasn't meeting anybody that I wanted to impress, dressed casually. I choose a blue t-shirt and a pair of faded jeans. With that I made my way to the other suite on the floor.
I knocked twice on the door and waited. The door opened almost immediately. "Good morning JC. What's for breakfast?" I asked in my most cheery tone as he stepped aside to let me in.
"Anything you like?" he replied sheepishly, leading me to the living area. While the suite was identical to mine, it was much larger. Of course, it was meant to house five people so that was no surprise. As we approached the living room, I heard hushed whispers.
"Why the hell did we have to invite some stranger over here? He could be some psycho stalker for all we know."
"Calm down Just, somehow I doubt he's like that. And you know as well as I do that we have to talk to him about last night. Besides, he saved my ass remember?"
With that we reached our destination. JC cleared his throat and they all hushed up. I saw that the other members of NSYNC were in the room. Justin and Chris were sitting on the sofa with their breakfast in hand while Joey and Lance were seated at the mini-bar. They all looked like they were dressed for company.
"Guys this is Steve," JC introduced them to me. They all got up and introduced themselves. Justin didn't say much and it was clear that he didn't trust me. Unlike Joey and Chris and were already treating me like friend. Finally, Lance came over and just hugged me.
"Thank you," he whispered in my ear. When he pulled back, I say his eyes for the first time. I lost myself in those green eyes for a moment. In them, I saw pain and hurt but I also saw hope. He must have saw the same in my eyes because we just stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.
The moment was lost when JC once again cleared his throat. I smiled at him and turned towards the table where the food was laid out. I took a piece of toast, some eggs and some bacon and poured myself some coffee. Knowing they wanted to talk, I sat down on the floor by the sofa and dug in. They just exchanged glances with each other and steal occasional glances at me. The tension was uncomfortable to say the least but I just ignored them and ate. I wasn't the one with something to say.
After a while it became obvious that no one was going to say anything so I put my plate the table and got up, "It's been fun boys, but breakfast is over so I should be leaving.
"Wait Steve,"
I looked over my shoulder, "Yes?"
"Do you mind staying a while? We wanna talk to you and maybe we can get to know each other?" Justin said.
Now that surprised me. I would have expected anyone else to say something but not Justin. "Okay, what did you want to talk about?"
"For starters, you know who we are right?" He asked, trying to keep the nervousness from his voice.
"Yes, you are five guys who happen to be in sync," I said with a smile. I was rewarded with a short laugh from all of them. The tension eased a little then heightened again as they realized what my words could mean. "Hey guys, you don't have to worry about what happened last night or where I met Lance, I won't tell a soul," as I said this my gaze fell directly on Lance. They all looked like they had something to say but I cut them off, "Believe it or not that's up to you but that's all you're going to get from me." I didn't really want to go to deeply into the reasons so I just left it at that and prayed that it was good enough.
"Then I guess we'll have to take your word for it. So tell us about yourself," Lance said.
"There's not much to tell really. I'm 23 years old. I'm currently on holiday from Ireland, I'm suppose you can call me a musician and as you probably know already, I'm gay but not many people know that so I know what it's like," I said as I looked Lance in the eyes.
"Musician huh? Cool. Kinda like us," Chris said, his first real words since we met.
"Yes, but I'm nowhere near where you guys are," I said with a smile.
"What exactly do you do?"
"Well, like you, I'm in a group, I sing a bit and write music sometimes."
"Maybe you can write something for us sometime. I mean I'm sure you're damn good cause that suite you're in must cost a bomb," Lance said. I chuckled as the others glared at him. Realising his mistake he blushed. "I'm so sorry, that didn't come out right did it?"
"No I didn't but don't worry I know what you mean." He was still blushing slightly. He was so cute with his cheeks pink that I couldn't help but laugh out loud. They all looked at me like I was crazy or something. Now it was my turn to blush. Lance started laughing at that point. I seems that he had caught on. The others were really worried now. They looked back and forth between Lance and me and started to chuckle as well. Okay, so they were not that worried.
"Well, I make quite a good living actually, playing the local scene and I like to think some of my songs are not that bad. And I have been saving up for this." I was exactly lying was I? I have been planning this trip for a while and I sure as hell needed it.
Suddenly I was tackled from behind. Bloody hell, I knew this routine well enough. I've had my fair share of it. Before I knew it I was wrestling with Justin and Joey while the other three just laughed their heads off. Like I said, I was used to this so I managed to hold my on for a while but there was no way I was going to win when it was two against one. One thing the little impromptu wrestling match did was it got rid of lingering traces of tension and we just relaxed and talked.
"So, we all know why I'm here, what are you boys doing here?"
"Awww and here I thought you were a fan," Justin was giggling at his own comment. "We have a concert tonight."
"Concert eh? That sounds like fun. All I get to do is a few gigs here and there but I love it."
"Yeah man, its just great to be up on stage doing what you love and having people just loving you back," JC said glancing at his wrist, "Sorry to cut this short guys but we really have to go. It's nice meeting you Steve, we're probably holding your vacation anyway. Thanks again and I think I speak for all of us when I say we trust you."
We all got up and they all offered me their hands again. Joey took it a step further and pulled me into a bear hug. When I got to Lance, I gave him a hug. Nothing special, I just wanted to reassure him again and let him know were we friends. He hugged back.
I headed back to my suite while my new friends (?) went towards the elevator. Just as I was about to enter, JC came running towards me. This was getting to be a habit of his. "Hey Steve, you wanna come to the concert later? We can just hang out after or something."
"Sure, I'm free tonight anyway and it's been a while since I've been to a concert anyway," I replied.
"Cool, I won't keep ya here any longer. I'll leave you a ticket and a backstage pass at the reception desk. We'll see ya tonight then."
'Well that went well, what do I do now?' I asked myself. It was just about noon. I decided to just go for another one of my walks since I didn't feel like staying in anyway.
Meanwhile...
"So what do you guys think about Steve?" Chris asked as their limo sped of to the concert centre.
"He seems like a nice guy, I mean he did do me a big favor and he knew who we were and he was way cool about it."
"Yeah, but maybe he's just not a fan. Think we can trust him? He may be gay but he doesn't have much to lose if he outed you Lance," Justin said, pointing out the obvious.
"I know Just, but I have this feeling that I can trust him. Come on guys, you all know what I'm talking about, I know you felt it too."
"I agree with Lance. I think we can trust him. Come to think of it it's not like we have much of a choice anyway," Joey said as the others nodded in agreement.
"You wanna talk bout last night Lansten? Why the hell did you run off like that? Scared the shit out of us man," JC said concern in his voice. They had been holding off this discussion for long enough. The incident the night before was just the tip of the iceberg. Lance had not been himself for the past few weeks.
"There's nothing to talk about," Lance said squirming in his seat, "I just got drunk and did something stupid. Sorry guys."
"Lance, we're not really mad at you about last night. You know that we're okay with you being gay and all that. You were drunk, it happens. You didn't get caught, well actually you did but what we wanna know is what's bothering you," Justin said reaching over to squeeze Lance's shoulder, "You've been out of it for weeks now. We worry about you a lot. You know we're there for you right?"
"It's nothing really. I just have a lot on my mind lately." From the looks on their faces Lance could see that his friends were not satisfied with his answer. "Okay, put it this way, I just wish I was straight and normal like everybody else. I hate that I have to hide and live a lie. No relationships and worst of all no love," he screamed finally letting out what was in his chest. The others were stunned at this outburst but they understood. There wasn't much they could say or do so they just gathered round and hugged the now sobbing Lance.