This is the fifth part of "Lost and Found". It is a collaboration between RJ, author of N'Sync and RJ, and Mike, author of "Nick and Justin. We must say, it is a lot of fun writing this series and we hope you're enjoying it as much as we are. Please send all comments and suggestions to mikenrj@hotmail.com. We love mail!
Now the legal stuff. This story is purely a work of fiction. We do not mean to imply anything about the sexuality of anyone involved, in either band. That said, enjoy!
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J.C. and AJ walked out of the elevator leaning on one another. Their eyes were almost completely shut and the black circles could be clearly seen from a distance.
They stumbled down the hallways to their rooms. "I can't believe the fucker got buy us." AJ said with a monotone voice and finished it with a yawn.
"Maybe he got by when we dosed off." J.C. tried to give some type of answer but was exhausted from being up all night.
"No, I would have known he was there. Lets just get a half an hour nap and then get ready."
"Good idea. I will meet you downstairs."
Brian walked down the hallway from his room to the elevators and passed AJ and J.C.
"You two look like shit!" Brian slugged AJs arm.
"Well I'll tell you this, I feel like shit. Need sleep and then a shower. If you see Joey, tell him I want to talk with him." AJ then closed the door not waiting for a response from anyone.
"I am assuming then Joey didn't come home?" Brian said with some anger and emotion in his voice.
"You are correct." J.C. replied plainly as he just let the door swing. Brian walked in and continued to talk to J.C. even though J.C. was undressing and getting into bed.
"I know you are tired, but I just have a quick question for you. Has Justin mentioned anything to you about Nick?" Brian's voice was now different.
J.C. was so tired he couldn't tell what Brian was really getting at, but out of pure reflex he replied with his answer.
"Not to my knowledge other than just how nice Nick has been when I have been busy recently. That is all that I&" J.C. fell asleep. Brian walked over pulled the covers over J.C.'s body and then turned and left the room with a slight smile.
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Justin awoke and saw the room just as he had left it. Nothing was changed, except the CD player had stopped. He saw the time and figured he might as well get up. He rolled over expecting to find Joey next to him, but didn't. He started to frown. "Where is he?"
He checked the phone and there were no messages. Justin wiped the small tear away and decided it must have been for the best. Joey obviously just had a really great time and didn't want to disturb Justin.
Justin walked into the bathroom and saw Joey's shaving kit still closed. Justin broke down again. He looked up into the mirror and tried to pick himself up. 'Come on, don't let this get to you, he probably is down stairs.' Justin tried and he did stop crying. He took a shower and finished getting dressed. He stood in front of the door to the hallway and he sighed lowly once, took a deep breath and opened the door. He lifted a foot to take a step and quickly put it back down. He screamed out a yell that traveled the hall and was filled with joy. At his feet were two roses and a note.
He quickly picked up the note and fumbled with it as he unfolded the paper.
Hey, I know its been hard lately, so I hope that these make up for some of the problems. I want you to know that I do care about you.
Anon.
Justin looked closer and saw that their was a name the had been erased and replaced with Anon.
Justin was shocked and confused. He loved the flowers, but he didn't know what was going on. He collapsed in the doorway and broke down in tears. He was crying more out of confusion than anything else. He wanted to know who was behind it all.
Nick's door swung open and he was standing there in a t-shirt and boxers. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and saw Justin on the floor in tears. His heart broke. He didn't want to see Justin hurt anymore.
"Justin what is it? What is a matter?" "Nothing, well it is just that I am completely confused right now. I have this wonderful sweet caring anonymous person, whom I thought was Joey and then now Joey isn't here and the note is."
Nick no longer was paying that much attention to the facts as his mind raced for ways to make Justin feel better. He finally blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"Um.. Joey did leave it. He is downstairs. Yeah, you see he was here earlier and didn't want to bug you, so he left this and now is downstairs."
"Really? But you just got up, how could you know where he is?" "Oh, well, uh, he was so loud I woke up before that is why I am so tired now. I am going to go back to bed now. Gnite."
Nick closed the door and laid his back against it. 'Why did I say that? I haven't seen Joey. Why?' He looked up at the ceiling as if trying to find an answer. He wiped the single tear away from his eye and walked to his bed. He laid down in the bed and rolled over trying to go back to sleep. He looked back at the ceiling and started speaking as if he was talking to someone in the room. 'don't fuck up now, Joey. I hope your downstairs. Goodbye Justin.' Nick rolled over again and the tears slid down his cheek. He fell asleep.
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Lance and Brian were sitting at a table near the lobby in the hotel café with Kevin. They had both gotten up early and ran into each other downstairs.
"and so the guy says, I getting a fax!" Lance and Brian start cracking up. "That was a good joke kev." "Thanks, my dad told me last time I talked to him." "This has been a really kewl morning" Lance smiled. "I know what you.. Is that Joey walking in?" Lance turned around and looked to where Brian was pointing.
"YES! You are right, that is him."
Lance called over to Joey to get him to come to the table. Joey did not hear him and kept walking towards the elevators.
The three followed with their eyes over to the elevators and watched in shock as the doors opened and Justin popped out.
Justin saw Joey and ran to him and grabbed him into a hug.
Brian turned back to Lance and tried to continue the conversation. "Gee Lance, I feel bad, Justin doesn't know anything about last night and well, he is going to get burned, and he is going to get burned bad."
Lance turned back to face Brian and Kevin and had two wells of tears. He wiped them away and cleared his throat. "Your right guys, he is going be hurt hard."
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The elevators opened again and Nick stepped out. Nick saw Joey and Justin talking on a couch and Nick walked past them and headed to the table where the three guys were sitting. Kevin saw Nick coming over and an idea sprung into his head.
"Hey Nick, wanna join us?" "Um sure." Nick sat down next to Brian and Kevin smiled slyly.
Kevin decided to put his idea into plan. "Oh wow, look at the time, Lance and I gotta bolt."
"We do?" Kevin smacked Lance under the table.
"Oh, yeah we do. I gotta wash my hair again and then the flower thing, um yeah I gotta go with Kevin."
"Sorry, it's the coffee, it always does this to him." Kevin joked and then the both stood and walked towards the elevators, the whole time Lance talking to Kevin to figure out what just happened.
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"Last night's talk was fun. So did you sleep well?" Brian smiled as he asked his questions.
Nick still had part of his mind devoted to the Justin problem. He wasn't focusing on the conversation at hand, and his replies were half-hearted. "Yeah, it was ok."
When Nick didn't look up or return the smile, Brian's faded. "Nick, come on, talk to me, what is wrong?"
Nick didnt say anything for a second, but merely grabbed the glass of juice that was in front of him. He took a deep gulp and swallowed it all very slowly, trying to hide all signs of emotion. "It's nothing Brian," he finally said quietly.
"Nick, I've known you long enough to know when something is bothering you. Now please tell me." He paused and tried to look into Nick's mind. "You can tell me anything," he added quietly.
"I did either a really good thing or a really bad thing," Nick said quietly.
"I told Justin that Joey left him flowers outside his door. Ya see, Justin woke up and their were flowers and a note outside his door. And he was crying because he had thought they were form Joey all along, but Joey was no where to be seen this morning. So I told him that Joey left them so that he'd feel better."
Brian sat and listened to everything very intently. 'Justin may end up staying with Joey,' he thought happily to himself. 'That means that Nick could be mine.' He smiled widely in spite of himself and had to look down at the table.
"Why are you smiling like that," Nick asked sadly.
Brian looked confused for a moment and fumbled for an excuse. "Oh it's nothing. It's just that this sounds like the plot to a sitcom. Except for the whole gay thing that is," he said with a laugh.
Nick smiled weakly and gave a short laugh. "I guess you're right," he said finally. He looked up and stared Brian right in the eyes and squinted.
"Do I have something in my teeth," Brian asked with a laugh as he brought his hand up to his mouth.
Nick smiled, but kept his face fixated on Brian's. He looked deep into his eyes as if thinking they would reveal something to him. "Brian..." he said slowly as he lowered his eyes back to the table.
"Yes Nick," Brian said lowly as the smile left his face.
Nick opened his mouth and then stopped. He shook his head and frowned a bit. Then he looked up and tried to smile. "It's nothing. Forget it," Nick said quickly.
"No, what is it," Brian said quickly, eagerly.
Nick paused and frowned again. "I was just gonna say...we, uh...." He stopped again and looked down. "We should get going, huh?"
Brian frowned a bit as well. "Yea, I guess so."
Nick got up slowly and walked away from the table, not waiting for Brian. Brian sat in his seat for a minute, watching Nick as he left. "There's something else bothering him," Brian said quietly to himself and eventually started his way to the elevators.
Justin woke up feeling the wamth of Joey's arms around him. He snuggled closer to Joey's chest and let out a long sigh. He looked up a little at his lover's sleeping face and smiled widely. He snuggled close and closed his eyes. 'He does love me,' he thought as he remembered their love making just a little while before. After Justin saw Joey in the lobby, he had brought Joey back up to their room. Joey had seemed a little hesitant at first, but was soon very into the swing of things. Their love making had been slow and passionate, the way it had been in the beginning of their relationship. Joey had even held Justin afterwards, something that Justin loved more than anything. Now he was just enjoying the feel of Joey's arms around him.
Joey soon awoke. He stretched and gave a long yawn. He untangled himself from Justin and smiled down at him. "You look just like a baby like that, you know that?" Justin laughed loudly at Joey's words and gave a big smile.
Joey yawned again and then started to stand. "I'm gonna grab a shower. Can you order me some food? I'm starving."
"Well you did work up quite an appetite," Justin said with a laugh. Joey smiled and kissed him lightly on the cheek before heading off into the bathroom.
Justin lay where he was and smiled happily. After a moment he rolled over to pick up the phone and order them some food. The message light on the phone was on. "I didn't think we were that loud," Justin laughed to himself as he thought they must have been to engrossed in their love making to hear the phone. He pressed the button to hear the message and almost stopped breathing.
"Hey Joey, it's Rick. I had the best time last night. Too bad you had to run off so early this morning. I understand about Justin and all, but it's hard just the same. I love you Joey. Do you think I can see you again sometime today, or maybe tomorrow? Oh, and again, thank you so much for the bracelet. I love it so much. Well, I guess I should go before I get too sappy here. Love you. Call me."
Justin shook a little as he hung up the phone. He tried to catch his breath but was unsuccessful. He stood up slowly from the bed and threw on a pair of boxers as the tears began to stream down his face. He yanked on a T-shirt violently and ran out of the room. He slammed the door behind him and instinctively ran to Nick's room. He knocked on the door loudly and waited for a reply. None came.
"Nick, it's Justin. Please open up," he weeped loudly. No response came. He slid down the wall and curled up tightly into a ball.
Nick stepped out of the elevator of rubbed his eyes wearily. He thought back to his breakfast with Brian and sighed loudly. "What the hell is bothering me," he asked himself quietly. He started to walk down the hall when he stopped and looked. "What the hell..." he asked as he ran down the hall. He stopped when he saw the bundle outside of his room. "Justin," he said quietly as he dropped to the floor. He shook him a bit and saw that he was crying hysterically. 'This is gonna be really bad,' he thought to himself. He unlocked his door and held it open as he scooped Justin up in his arms. Brian stepped out of the elevator and saw Justin a mess in Nicks arms. He walked quietly down the hallway trying to hear what they were saying, but he didnt want them to know he was there. Nick entered the room and let the door close behind him. He gently placed Justin down on the bed and put a blanket over him. He sat down on the edge of the bed next to him and began to lightly storke his hair. Just as the door was almost closed, Brian heard the two begin their conversation. Nick looked at the hurt and helpless Justin and tried to comfort him with his voice. "Justin, what's wrong?"
"Its Joey Nick, Its Joey.." Justin broke down in tears again. The door shut closed. Brian turned slowly and slumped as he walked back to the elevators. "It... It can't be, not them. What am I gonna do to show Nick?" Brian hit the button for the elevator and the doors slid open. Brian wiped his tears on the slow, quiet ride down and placed on his sunglasses.
He reached the lobby and waved to his cousin. Kevin walked over to meet him. "What up rok?" "You know what Nick is doing right now?" "No, but something tells me you do." "He is with Justin in his room, I think Joey and Justin are over."
"WHAT?" Kevin screamed in a whisper. "That is what I said. I think they are overwith, cause I saw this huge blow up, or the result of one. I dont know. I am gonna get a drink."
Brian walked out to the patio and looked at his watch. 20 minutes until the limos took them to rehearsals and to start the day. He sat down at a table and a waitress took his order. Lance saw him sit down and walked over to the table.
"Hey, whats up? You look like your favorite dream just vanished permanently." Brian laughed a second. "You could say that I guess."
"Wanna talk about it?" "um.. No, thanks though." "OK, well you let me know Brian and as soon as you do, you tell me, cause I am here for you, even though we just met each other a short while ago. I have a feeling we have so much in common."
"More than you know Lance, thanks, I will let you know. Its just.." "Just what?" "like I felt something for someone and I knew things were going to work out between the two of us. I knew that everything was going to be perfect in some sense, until, well never mind."
"Hey Bri, sometimes things look down when you are almost at the top of the hill, ready to look over. I know that things will work out the way they are meant to be and for the best for everyone. It sounds though as if this girl might not know exactly how you feel."
"You could say that, in a sense." "Well Bri, I gotta jet. see you later. I hope everything works out for you," and as Lance walked away from the table he said quietly to himself, "and for me too." "OK Lance, so do I."
Brian thought to himself over and over about what Lance had said to him, 'tell him how you feel, hmm....'
He didn't know what to do. He looked at his watch, paid the tab and walked to where the limos were waiting. As he arrived, he saw Joey talking with J.C. and suddenly Joey rushed by Brian to something behind him, he turned and there was Nick and Justin. Nick had his arms around Justin's shoulders. Justin had on his sunglasses and hat pulled way down.
"Justin what happened? Where did you go?" "Um Joey, its not important right now, what is important is the days work, so we'll talk about this later." Justin sounded firm, determined and disciplined.
Joey and J.C. piled into the one car and Justin turned to face Nick. "Thanks for being there this morning. No one else was." "No prob, that is what friends are for."
'friends' Brian thought.
Justin turned and got in the car.
Brian and Nick walked to their car and Brian built up and structure what he articulately wanted to say, but all he could make out was, "Nick, um, dinner tonight?"
Nick stopped looked at Brian and smiled kinda weakly, "Are you asking if I wanted to have dinner with you this evening?"
"Yup." Brian looked down, but didn't want to bring that much attention to it, because of the few people that knew.
"um... Sure." Nick kinda laughed a little and got in the car. Brian had a permanent smile plastered on his face the entire day.
"Hey Justin, this was in the car when we got in" Chris said as he handed Justin a Crunch bar with a daisy and a note attached. The note was written in a strange handwriting.
Curly -
I just want you to know that I am here for you with what has been happening and I know about this morning. I am here to make you Laugh, to joke, to mAke you smile more and more. I want you to know that you can couNt on me to keep you looking as fresh as a daisy and as sweet as Candy. I lovE you.
Anon
Justin now had no clue, Joey was cheating, Nick never had called him Curly, and what was with this weird writing? Justin sat back and ate the candy thinking.
To be continued...
Well I hope everyone enjoyed part 4. Please send any comments and suggestions to mikenrj@hotmail.com. Until next time!