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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Justin thought about the letter as the limo streamed along the highway. He noticed the capital letters throughout the writing and started to write them down in order on the paper. Lance was sitting next to Justin and noticed that Justin had already written down L A N and C, and was about to write down E. Lance started to sweat. He was not ready for Justin to figure it out, because he hadn't thought about what he would do after that. An idea sprang to his head and he moved with it, like a child who spilled on the carpet thinking of anything to get the stain out.
"Um.. Justin hey, what are we going to work on first when we get there today?"
Justin put down the note and looked over at Lance, who was smiling awkwardly and wiping his head.
"Um.. I think we are going to work on what we are going to perform tonight, you know, just like we usually do before a concert."
"Oh, yeah you are right." Lance giggled slightly, noticing how stupid he had sounded with that idea.
Justin wasn't trying to be harsh, but there was no other way to reply to that question. Justin turned his head back to the paper in front of him that was lying on top of the magazine. Lance saw that Justin was re reading the note and smiling. Lance once again began to freak and became extremely edgy. Just when he was going to be desperate and make an even larger fool of himself, his thoughts were cut short by Joey's voice.
Joey had moved around in the limo, and was now sitting on the other side of Justin. Justin quickly folded the note and put it away in the magazine, not denying its existence, but not freely sharing it with anyone anymore.
"Honey what is a matter, you haven't been acting your cheerful self after this morning. You left so fast and then now you have an attitude. What is it?"
"Joey, really, nothing is a matter ok?"
"I know what it is.."
"You do?" Justin looked and sounded shocked.
"Yeah, it was the sex right?"
Chris now moaned and turned his head away from the two lovers and tried to stick it out the window. Lance shifted in his seat and J.C. simply cranked the volume on his cd player and looked out the opposite window.
"The sex?" Justin looked awkwardly at Joey.
"Yeah, the sex this morning wasn't as fantabulous as usual so that is why you are upset with me. Was it that it got to boring? No, I know, I didn't let you be on the top enough?"
"Oh, exactly Joey, gee, you hit that one right on the head of the pin!" Justin laughed sarcastically.
"Well if it wasn't you then what is the problem?"
"What do you mean it wasn't me?" Justin now becoming a little angered.
"Well, I said the sex must have been bad this morning and if it was, that must have been your fault, so I said if it wasn't you what was it?" Joey's cocky attitude just continued and he thought nothing of it. Justin decided he would fight fire with an atomic bomb.
"Oh yeah, I get it now. Really Joey, it is nothing, and by the way, where is your bracelet you usually where on your left arm?"
"Oh it.."
"It's not in the hotel room, I looked for it, and it wasn't anywhere else in the hotel for that matter, I asked. Oh, and it isn't in our previous limos, cause you had it yesterday afternoon, before you left. So Joey? Where is it? I was just curious, cause it always looked cute on you and I thought that you said that the bracelet symbolized us because of the way the chain was linked together, the links were beautiful and strong is how I think you put it." Justin smiled devilishly on the inside, but his face showed a caring, loving, warm smile to his lover Joey.
"Well, I thought, you see.. Remember yesterday honey, when I went to hang out with my brother for a while?"
"Yeah, by the way, I never asked how was that?"
"It was fun we went out and saw a movie" Joey couldn't believe he was able to create these ideas so fast. He was proud of himself.
"Really? What movie?"
"Oh it was something stupid, I don't remember the title even."
"Oh yeah, of course." Justin mumbled out, being even more hurt now that Joey was still lying to him and not even ashamed of it.
"Anyway J, we finished the show and then on the way out I noticed it was missing from my arm, at which point I looked around and saw that it had slid into my pocket. I must have just left it there and not put it back yet."
"Well, as long as you have it, I am happy, cause you liked that one always."
"Um.. not to break up a really interesting conversation nor disturb to love birds," Chris was talking and Justin suddenly felt ill as Chris continued, followed by J.C.'s comments.
"..so as I was saying, we are here now and we all need to get some work done."
"You know Chris, if you don't move, I think I am gonna puke, I gotta get out of this car," J.C. was trying to joke to get the spirits up, but Justin wasn't in the mood, Joey was oblivious to the real truth and Lance had his mind set on not letting Justin find out before Lance was ready.
As Lance got out of the car, he stayed back as to be the last one walking, so he could talk to himself. "I can't believe you were so dumb as to write those caps, he will surely know it now, I mean it isn't even jumbled, geez how lame can you actually be, I mean.."
AJ interrupted his lament as he bounded up next to Lance. "The wonderful thing about tiggers, is that tiggers are wonderful things, their eyes are made of buttons and their tales are made of.." AJ stopped his singing and bouncing to let Lance finish. "..springs."
"Very good Lance. Now, next we will be working on how to non-invasively remove this bug that has crawled up your ass and is permanently making you a bitch to be around."
Lance couldn't help himself, he broke out in a laugh and AJ smiled widely. "What ever it be Lance, you will be able to figure it out, but you cant do it alone."
"Ok AJ, but tell me this, how did you know something was wrong and that I wasn't just acting like a bitch?" Lance said quietly in order to infer to AJ that it was between him and AJ only.
"Well, good friends like me, just happen to pick these things up, AND you can't act worth shit!" Again the two burst into laughter as they continued the short walk to the arena.
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Everyone else had piled out of the car, except for Nick, Brian and Kevin.
Kevin got up and started to walk out and turned back to face his cousin. "Talk to him and tell him.." he stepped out of the car and then proceeded to walk towards the arena catching up to Howie. Nick was asleep in the limo and Brian had said about 3 words between the hotel and here.
He leaned over to Nick and gently rubbed his hand along Nick's cheek. Nick stirred slightly and Brian quickly removed his hand from Nick's warm soft face as a child would from the cookie jar, after hearing footsteps. After Nick didn't wake up, Brian looked down at Nick's green polo and khakis and once again rubbed his hand along Nick's face and continued it down along his arm to his thigh and finally stopping at his knee. A gentle caressing rub that was repeated a few times, causing Nick to emit a small moan and finally stir as to awake himself looking at Brian in the face. Nick smiled slightly, stretched and looked out the door to the arena.
"Where is everyone else?"
"They already went inside to get ready, and I am sure Fatima is gonna kick some ass this morning."
Nick laughed slightly and then looked back at Brian.
"So then what are you doing here?"
"Well I uh.. didn't want you to wake up alone and worry where everyone else was, so I decided I would just stick around here and walk in with you or whatever."
"Kinda like a loving big brother.." Nick cracked himself up and Brian smiled awkwardly.
Nick sat up and jumped out of the limo and poked his head back in. "Now who is the slow poke? Are you ready to accompany me to the arena?"
Brian joked along with Nick this time and they both laughed as they walked towards the arena.
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"Justin - what is your problem?" Fatima was shouting at him from across the stage as she looked at his bad dancing and in general un "nsync-ness"
"Sorry." He said as his head lowered.
Fatima turned the music down slightly and sighed heavily. Everyone knew this meant she was tired. She continued to tear at Justin. "Sorry? Your right your sorry. You have messed up every single song so far."
"I was just thinking about other things Fatima, I said I was sorry."
"If you are busy thinking, then think of this visual - my foot up your ass!"
"Ok.." Justin pouted even more now and tried hard to get his mind off of what was worrying him. Joey and him had never been truly meant for each other, probably everyone could have seen that, yet still Justin and Joey did have their moments like all couples do. Justin held onto these moments and didn't want to lose them, moments when Joey first told Justin he loved him, when Joey and Justin held each other through a rain storm outside their window, when Joey told Justin that their relationship was like the bracelet on his wrist, the links ever intertwined as to never separate. Moments like these swirled through his mind as if he were looking at a rippling pond. These images were not alone. Intermixed were the times with Nick and Lance and J.C.
Nick talking at the airport, rubbing his back, the kiss. J.C. being a friend and being there to talk about anything. Finally Lance, always able to cheer Justin up, the time at that concert when Justin didn't feel well and the only one that could make him laugh was Lance, with his antics and goofiness.
Justin finally came back to reality to hear Fatima say "Take 5 and Justin, maybe you should take 15."
"Thanks" he mumbled back.
Fatima slid her bag across the floor and bellowed for BSB to come up on the stage. Nick bounded up the stairs followed by the rest.
"Hey Nick" Fatima called out. Nick came over and asked her what was up.
"I have a question, since you are the young one." He blushed slightly and then smiled.
"Well, what is up with Justin? I thought you might know a little since you two are the youngest."
"Um.. Nothing really Fatima, he is just sorting through a lot of junk."
"Yeah, that is what he said. Boy, I thought you were in on the info."
"Sorry Fatima, this one I guess I am just outta the loop." Nick turned and smiled devilishly. He knew all that had happened, but he didn't feel he should spill the beans yet.
Fatima started to warm the guys up as J.C. found his way over to an exhausted Justin with a bottle of water in his hand.
"Hey you, you look really tired." J.C. plopped down and Justin didn't even break his usual warm smile. J.C. frowned a little because he knew something was wrong.
"Justin, talk to me. What did that note say? What is up between you and Joey, I have never seen you so edgy."
"Well I haven't told anyone yet, but you are my best friend so I know I can trust you. Nick and I got real close and things got a little weird. I have been getting these notes from an admirer, but it is turning out to no be Joey, and it isn't Nick either, because he is getting his own notes, and well, I think it is Lance, but I am not sure. The last note had capital letters scattered within it and I think they spelled out Lance. The notes themselves have been so sweet and directly from the heart that anyone would love them. Besides that, Joey is cheating on me and I just found out by listening to a voice mail message that I wasn't supposed to hear and.."
Justin stopped talking as J.C. reached over and grabbed him into a hug.
"I am here for you curly. I always have and always will be I never am going to stand by and let you get hurt. Ever, I promise. I mean the last thing I want is for you to get caught in a crossfire and have your heart torn apart even more." Justin smiled up at J.C.
J.C. pulled back slightly and looked at Justin. "Well, tell me this though, if it turns out to be Lance, then what?"
"I don't know, I haven't thought that far ahead." "Well I would say, think about it, but not now. We have work to do and Fatima will kick your ass if you mess up anymore."
"OK, I will think about it later, and Josh?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for everything. I owe you one."
"You owe me nothing. I owe you and remember my door is always open."
=====
The rehearsals proceeded really well after that and soon the groups were in their separate dressing rooms for relaxation and to get ready for the show.
The N Sync group all had changed into their basic outfit which went under the rest of the clothes for this show and they filed out of the room to go wind down with a little hackey.
Justin had decided to take a nap while the rest got changed. He stood up from the couch he was lying on and reached into his backpack and looked at the note from earlier, now closed and sitting on top of 2 of the petals from the flower he received earlier. Justin smiled brightly and thought to himself, `It can't be Lance, can it?' He proceeded to finish getting ready.
He removed his shirt and stepped out of his pants. His defined body was shown off by the mirror and lights in the room. Silently Joey entered and walked up behind Justin. Joey reached his arms around Justin and kissed Justin's neck gently and softly. Justin turned around and before he could protest, Joey already had Justin in a passionate kiss. Joey's tongue worked its way into Justin's mouth and Justin slid his hands down Joey's back to his arms and finally his wrists.
"I am sorry if I was rude earlier." Joey said softly as the kiss broke.
Justin didn't reply, his eyes noticed the silver bracelet now on his lovers arm, when his hands had slid down to Joey's wrists. "You found it?"
"What?" Joey asked with no concern to anything.
"The bracelet?"
"Oh, my uh.. brother brought it over from the hotel."
Justin backed away quickly from Joey and looked in utter shock. "You are kidding me right? You had it all along right? Please if you love me, tell me you found it here and you had it all along." Justin couldn't believe that Ricky or Rodger or whatever his name was had been here to see Joey at the rehearsal. Justin's mind flipped through the good and then the bad images of Joey's and their relationship like a rolodex searching for a number, never stopping at one image, but a collage of them all.
"No honey, honestly, he just was here and he was going to come meet you, but he uh.. had to jet." Joey told the truth. He was just their, just not whom Justin thought he was.
"Honey?" Justin asked with a dagger in his voice.
"Yeah, I always call you honey J, what is the matter?" Joey reached his left hand out to touch Justin's face and Justin's own hand swung up and side swiped Joey's arm, almost as a reflex. The two collided so powerfully that the bracelet on Joey's arm came a part. The links were separated and the bracelet fell to the ground in two pieces.
They both stared down at the lump of silver on the ground and Justin let a single tear run down his cheek.
He looked back up at Joey, and Joey had a confused look on his face.
"Joey, I will be out in a second, let me finish getting dressed, alone. We can talk after I am done."
"OK, but don't you want to maybe fool around a little before the show like we used to? I could rub your shoulders, like you always liked. We haven't done that for a while and maybe I thought you would want to."
Justin didn't want to think of the past memories now, he just wanted to be alone. Joey took the silent response as a no and left the room and waited outside for Justin to emerge. The bracelet remained on the floor to be dealt with after the show. Justin picked up his clothes for the show and put them on. He turned and sat on the couch still stunned from the events.
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"That was a great show guys," Kevin yelled as everyone ran offstage and back towards the dressing area. "Now, is we can just keep that up for another 50 or so, everything will be great."
Howie shoved him playfully. "Don't think that far ahead, it'll give me a headache."
"Yea," Nick replied, thinking sadly about what would happen once the tour was over. "Don't talk about the end so close to the beginning."
"Ok. Christ if I had known everyone was gonna be so touchy I never would've opened my mouth," Kevin said with a grin.
"Hey J, you alright," Chris asked as he saw Justin trailing behind the group.
Justin jumped a bit. "Yea, I'm fine," he replied with a fake smile. "Couldn't be worse," he added under his breath.
Brian ran up towards Nick. "So, we still grabbing dinner tonight," he asked a little too hopefully.
"Huh," Nick said absorbed in his own thoughts.
"I asked if we were still having dinner tonight," Brian asked in a smaller voice.
"Oh, yea," Nick replied. "Of course we are. As soon as we can get cleaned up we'll head out somewhere."
Brian smiled widely. "Cool. I'll hurry up for a change then." With that, he jogged down the hall to the dressing room. Kevin slowed his pace a bit and sighed loudly, throwing a glance over at Nick.
"What's up Kev," Nick asked when he saw Kevin's gaze on him.
Kevin shook his head. "It's nothing. Just..." He looked closer at Nick and saw him throw a glance at Justin and slow his pace more. "Just be careful," he finished as he totally lost Nick's attention.
Justin was now trailing far behind the rest. Joey was on his cell phone, talking to his "brother". Nick walked past him quickly and straight over to Justin.
"Why so glum," he asked as he stared down at the spot on the floor Justin was staring at.
Justin just shook his head and kept walking. He turned his head and saw Nick's head turn to face his. He smiled lightly. Nick stuck his tongue out which made Justin start to giggle. "Ok, you can stop now. I'm fine really."
"Come on J. Do you really think I'm gonna believe that," Nick said as they kept walking, a few paces behind the group.
"This isn't the easiest thing to explain," Justin began. He took a deep breath and began to tell Nick about the message he had heard on the phone. Nick simply stood where he was, too shocked to speak.
"Oh wow," he said slowly. He looked at Justin who simply nodded. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know," Justin replied hesitantly. "I know we aren't supposed to be together. I do. What we had was wonderful for a time, but, it's over." Jusitn had a tear in his eye as he said that. nick went to put his arm around Justin, but as they were still relatively in public, quickly put it back down.
"Do you want to talk tonight? I was going to have dinner with Brian, but I can cancel."
"No, don't do that," Justin protested quickly. "You can't run to my rescue every time I have a problem."
"But I want to," Nick said slowly without making eye contact with Justin.
Justin smiled. "And that's why I love you. But I need to try to deal with this myself right now. You go out and have fun. We may end up talking later, who knows. I guess first I should talk to Joey."
"Will you call me if you need me," Nick asked, his eyes wide, lip pouted.
Justin smiled widely. "I promise."
Nick gave him the warmest smile he could muster before running ahead to his dressing room to get changed.
=====
"It's kind of dark in this place isn't it," Nick said as his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit restaurant Brian had chosen.
"It's kind of romantic if you ask me," Brian said with a grin.
Nick shrugged. "Yea, I guess." The waitress came over and took their drink orders, Nick getting a coke, Brian getting a glass of wine. "Not too many of those now. Can't have you getting tipsy on me."
"Aw, would that be so bad," Brian said, a bit flirtatiously. Nick laughed a little and looked down at his menu.
"I want chicken," he said after glancing over the menu.
"Bring this boy a chicken," Brian yelled as a waitress passed by. She gave them both a funny look before hurrying off to her station. Nick laughed loudly. "What horrible service," Brian added with a grin.
"Why are you in such a great mood tonight," Nick asked with a laugh.
Brian thought for a moment and then shrugged. "Well, I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with you recently. You know...alone. It just feels good to not have to compete with everyone else for your attention."
"Aw Bri! You're gonna make me cry here," Nick replied, faking a fit of tears. Brian gave him a playful smack.
"Will you stop? I'm being serious!" Brian laughed a bit and watched as the waitress returned with their drinks. She took their dinner orders and ran off quickly. "Now come on, doesn't this feel nice?"
Nick nodded and gave a slow smile. "Yea, I guess it does. I have missed you." Brian smiled and started to lean over when he heard something that nearly made his heart stop.
"Nick! Brian! What are you doing here?" Chris and Joey walked over quickly and pulled two chairs to the table. The waitress came by and they quickly grabbed some tables.
"We were actually having a dinner alone," Brian said in a meek voice, hoping they would get the hint.
"Oh that's cool," Joey said as he glanced at the menu. "Hey, think the pasta is good here?"
"Hey Joey, how's Justin doing," Nick asked suddenly. Brian felt his heart sink in his chest as Joey's eyes flew up.
"He's alright I suppose, he has been acting kinda strange all day. He's got this bitchy attitude all of a sudden."
"I wonder why." Chris chimed in but not trying to be too obvious, knowing of Joey's adventures the previous evening.
"If I didn't know how manly he really was, I would say he was suffering from PMS. He said he wanted some rest, so I thought I'd grab something. My um.. brother was unavailable tonight, busy with some friends he met here, so I called up Chris and said lets go, no need for me to stay at home." Joey said, while eating some of the bread off the table.
Nick simply nodded. He threw a glance over to Brian who was frowning. 'Why me,' Brian thought to himself as the waitress walked over again.
=====
"Why the hell did I let him leave," Justin scolded himself as he stormed around the room. "He's cheating on me. How could he be cheating on me." Justin walked over to the mirror and stared at himself. "I guess I'm not as attractive as those teen magazines say I am," he said with a frown. He examined his body, his face, his hair. "Maybe he doesn't like this color. Maybe I should die it. Am I too thin? Should I be working out more? I shouldn't have to change for anyone, right?" Questions and doubts rang throughout his mind as he stood gazing through the mirror. "What's wrong with me?" He saw tears well up in his eyes. He turned angrily away from the mirror and threw himself onto the bed, lying only in his athletic shorts. "I have to tell him. It's over. It's defintely over," he said to himself. "I don't want it to be over," he cried into the pillow. He oscillated between his decisions of it being over and it not being over, like the pendulum of a clock. He continued to cry until finally, he fell asleep.
=====
"That was a great dinner," Joey said as he pushed his chair back.
"Oh I know," Chris replied. "I couldn't eat another thing."
Brian sat frowning and looking longingly at Nick. Nick mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' when he saw Brian's face. Brian smiled weakly and sighed heavily. "Well, I'm going to go take care of the check," Brian said as he began to stand. Chris quickly put his hand on Brian's arm.
"Listen, this ones on me," Chris said as he pulled out his wallet. "Me and Joey are going to head back to the hotel, so we'll see you guys tomorrow, ok?"
Brian was about to protest about the check when Chris and Joey ran off. Brian glanced back at Nick and frowned. "You look tired. Maybe we should head back to the hotel."
"Actually, I'm kind of in the mood for some ice cream. Wanna get some? The hotel's got this great ice cream place in it. It stays open late."
Brian's smile seemed to cover his entire face. "Well then what are we waiting for?"
=====
Brian fumbled with the key to his room as he tried to balance his ice cream come. "I told you three scoops was too much Bri," Nick laughed loudly.
"Well remind me to never doubt you again next time," Brian replied as he finally got the door open. "Voila!" He stood out of the way and allowed Nick to enter first. Nick walked immediately over to the bed and sat down on the side, slowly eating his mint chocolate chip ice cream with a spoon.
"This is really good stuff," Nick said as he swallowed some.
Brian merely smiled and nodded, licking at his cone. He sat down on the bed next to Nick and grinned. "I did have a good time tonight. Well…after Joey and Chris left at least.
"Yea, I know what you mean," Nick replied, thinking back to what Justin had told him earlier about Joey cheating. "That was kind of rude I guess. But with ten of us, I guess we can't expect to get too much privacy."
"Well, sometimes we can," Brian said with a grin as he scooted a little closer to Nick. Nick laughed a bit and kept eating his ice cream.
"But you know what I mean. I guess sometimes I want a little more privacy."
Brian sighed heavily. "Touring is hard. I mean, there's not a lot of time for family, even less for friends outside of the group. You never know where you're going to be next." He paused for a second. "But sometimes relationships can work out well."
"I guess," Nick said with a frown. He stared into his cup of ice cream and saw that most of it had melted. Brian was just leaning closer to give nick a hug when Nick abruptly stood up and walked over to the garbage can. Brian toppled over, spilling his ice cream on his shirt. When Nick turned around he saw the look on Brian's face and broke out into hysterics. "Did lil Brian spill his ice cream," Nick asked in a baby voice. Brian grinned a bit and nodded sheepishly as a three-year old might. "OK, Daddy will make it better." He quickly walked over to the bathroom and grabbed a towel. He came back in and stared at Brian. "You may want to take your shirt off," Nick said with a laugh.
"Yes sir," Brian said as he quickly removed his shirt. Nick grabbed the shirt Brian had just removed and tossed it into the corner. He began to rub the towel over Brian's chest, cleaning off the moisture that was left from the ice cream. Brain looked at Nick longingly and let a small whimper escape his lips. Nick quickly looked at his face and smiled warmly. Brain smiled back and sighed. "That feels really good."
"Well I try my best," Nick replied with a laugh. Brian raised his hand slowly and took hold of Nick's. He breathed a little heavier and began to lean forward. Nick hesitated at first, but soon was leaning in himself. Brian felt a jolt as his lips touched Nick. He began to shake a little as his lips parted and his tongue entered Nick's mouth. He could feel Nick shaking as well. Brian put on arm behind Nick's back and pulled him a little closer. The kiss continued for close to a minute before Nick finally pulled away.
He stared at Brian too shocked for words. He quickly stood and backed towards the door slowly. He turned quickly closing the door tightly behind him. He stood in the hall for a minute, not sure of what to do. `Brian gay?', he thought to himself. His mind clicked as he thought of the only place he could go. He was crying slightly as he walked down the hall towards Justin's room.
He stood outside for a second before finally deciding to knock. He stood outside, listening for some sound from inside. He knocked again a bit harder. "Justin?"
Justin woke up to the noise, and pulled on his thermal beige top. He walked groggily towards the door, his own eyes a bit tear stained. He opened the door slowly and saw Nick standing on the other side.
"Nick? What's the matter?" Justin rubbed the sleep from his eyes and a little moisture as well.
"Um, can I come in," Nick asked, pleading in his voice.
"Of course," Justin said as he stood to one side to let Nick in. Nick quickly entered and Justin shut the door behind them. No one saw as Brian, with a crushed heart, stepped back into his room from the hall and shut the door behind him, except for Lance. They didn't him either, when the elevator doors opened and he stepped out of them, a new note in his hand, which had within it, the final chapter to his admiration for Justin. He felt his eyes tear over as he entered the hallway, tearing the letter up as the doors closed behind him.
=====
"I am so sorry about waking you up Justin."
"Don't worry about it, I told you we would end up talking again. Just tell me, what's a matter?"
"It's Brian, no it's me, no, I dunno." Nick said as he looked down at his shoes.
"OK, first off, this sounds like a long tale, so I am ordering us some ice cream. Ice Cream always makes everything seem better." Justin smiled and walked towards the phone, completely oblivious to Nick's streams of tears running down his face, as Nick thought of the ice cream he had just had. "Yeah, ice cream would be great." Nick sniffled out.
=====
"AJ! I am so glad I ran into you." Chris said as he pushed up his sunglasses and walked over to where AJ was sitting.
"Gee, aren't we happy. What is up?"
"Nothing much, but I needed to talk to you about Joey."
"You just missed him. He said he was going to see Justin, so I let him go without talking a lot."
The lobby was busy with people and no one noticed Joey sitting at the bar with his "brother".
"AJ he ain't seeing Justin. Justin has been upstairs in his room all night long. Joey went out to dinner with me and we totally crashed Brian and Nick's dinner."
"His ass is grass as soon as I find him!" AJ slammed his hand into the magazine he was reading.
Joey stood up and walked out together with his "brother" to the awaiting car. Lance stepped in from the outside, ignoring Joey and guest and proceeded down towards the elevators.
"Hey Lance, was sup? How is my tigger?" AJ chimed from the couch trying to brighten Lance's gloom.
"Not very bouncy I am afraid." Lance replied sorely without even stopping to talk to his friends.
"Well maybe you can work on permanently getting that bug removed. Try RAID, they make a great repellent!" AJ shouted back. Lance just waved his hand and continued up towards the elevator.
"AJ we have got to do something about this now! I am sick and tired of Joey getting away with this, and Justin was so upset over it all today. You saw how Fatima yelled at him, and how he didn't want to extend the meet and greet like he usually does."
"Your right Chris, but how?"
"Well first off, we need to figure out a way to get Justin to leave Joey. The two need to be separated and NOW!"
"I think that is a good idea. Now, I have noticed that Lance is really a good friend, maybe he could help us with everything, but then again, I don't know, I am not in the group and I only just met you guys really." AJ said, while putting away the magazine. He sighed and pushed his head back into the couch.
=====
"..and then we kissed and I just, I don't know what to do now." Nick finished his tale, never touching his ice cream.
"Wow, you have it tough. Two people fighting for you." Justin said this plainly and without much notice of what he had said.
Nick looked up at Justin who was sitting next to him on the bed and he placed his hand softly on top of Justin's. "Justin I.." Nick started to talk, but his voice was silenced by Justin's finger on his lips. Nick moved his head back slightly and continued. "No, I need to say this."
Justin turned facing Nick completely, still having his hand inside of Nick's.
"Justin I know that we each have feelings for one another, I love you, but I don't think that right now we should act upon them. I am totally confused about everything right now. Since I first saw you, I have felt a certain pull towards you, but now, with Brian, I want to see what his real intentions are. I can't seem to express it completely, but Brian has always been my best friend and now he wants to be more than that maybe. Brian gay? Who would've thought, but now, I don't want to do anything to harshly. I care about you I do, but I think that you and I should remain strictly friends for now, especially since you don't even know many things yet. I still have never figured out my admirer."
Justin had a large grin on his face. No one had ever spoken such words from the heart before. "Nick I feel the same way. I do love you, but I want to know about Joey. I want him to talk to me. I want us to end it or repair it or whatever." Justin looked away but Nick turned his head back. "Most importantly, I want to know if it really is Lance. I want to find out where this is coming from."
"Justin it is the same with Brian. I never had guessed. The other day, we talked and we had joked about being an item, but I mean.."
"Lance has always been able to cheer me up, and his caring touch, like yours, and his little country twang, I just, it seems weird, but I don't know."
"Well, if what I heard from Chris is true, his mom can sure cook!"
"This, this is true." Justin and Nick joked for the first time, still holding hands.
"Justin, have you figured out what you are going to do with Joey and possibly Lance?" Nick asked while shifting around in the bed to lean his back against the wall, shoes off, laying in his sweats on top of the covers.
"I know what I am going to do first, but depending on the results, I have not a clue." Justin laughed slightly, while he moved and ended up laying his head on Nick's chest.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Nick questioned slowly.
"Well, it isn't a bad idea, and I don't want to be alone tonight, if it is ok with you."
"No complaints here."
The two laid there, only one light on in the corner of the room, the radio playing one of Elton John's songs, the words rushing over the two, ".. laughing like children, living like lovers, rolling like thunder, under the covers, I guess that's what they call love .." as they dozed off to sleep, still with Justin's head on Nick's chest and Nick's hand on top of Justin's.
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Brian flipped through the channels on the tv screen, and giving up on anything to see, turned off the tv and was about to his the light switch when a knock at the door was heard.
He stood up and walked briskly over, part of him hoping Nick had returned. When he opened it and saw Lance, his body unfortunately showed his disappointment, unpurposely.
"That bad huh?" Lance said as he stepped in and casually dropped the pieces in the nearest trash can without being noticed.
"Let's just say I have had an awful evening, not at all what I had planned nor hoped for."
"Well if it is any consolation, I haven't been having the greatest evening either. I just got back from walking around this hotel for the past 30 minutes."
"Well, you are more than welcome to hang out here for as long as you like, I was just about to turn off the tv, but maybe you can find something interesting on."
"Thanks Brian, I think I will sit on the couch, in case I fall asleep."
"You can sit on the bed you know, I don't have couties." Brian laughed at his choice of language, as he sounded like a 5th grader.
"Yes you do!" Lance teased back.
The two settled in and started to watch a rerun of SNL. Lance decided to talk first.
"Was Nick's absence unexpected?"
"How do you know?"
"I was in the uh.. hallway." Lance said, without sounding to choked up, still thinking of Justin.
"Yeah, he was with me, and then we uh.. kissed and he ran."
"Well, did he run because he was shocked? Or did he run because he didn't want to be with you?"
"I don't know, and he never said."
Brian thought of how he had just let Lance in on the biggest thing in his life since who knows what, and Lance didn't seem to act too weird, maybe the others will be the same, when and if he eventually told them. The monologue from the guest star, hadn't finished when they were both out cold.
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Nick awoke to the sound of dead air coming from the radio. Justin had rolled off of him during their sleep and it was now 4 in the morning. Nick heard noises coming from the hallway and slowly rolled off the bed and crept to the door as to not awake the sleeping prince.
As he reached the door, he knew it was Joey talking and he could almost hear what he was saying. Nick thought it would be best if he wasn't there when Joey arrived, so he quickly ran back to the bed, tripping over one of the suit cases and picked up his shoes. He leaned in and gently placed a kiss on Justin's cheek. Justin let out a muffled noise and didn't move. Nick held his shoes in one hand and his room key in the other. He opened the door to the hallway, stepped outside and let the door close silently. He stepped across the 5 foot distance to his door and inserted his credit card key. The door clicked and he opened it. Tossing his shoes inside, he decided to look up and see where Joey was. As he raised his head, there in front of the elevators, was Joey and another person, blocked by Joey's body in a deep kiss. The kiss broke and Joey started to talk.
"Goodnight and thanks for a wonderful time. I will try to call you tomw before we leave, but you have my pager number in case I cant make it."
The unknown man's voice could be barely heard by Nick from his position, but Nick made out a few words. "What about Justin? Won't he suspect something?"
"Don't worry, he is young and he doesn't have a clue." Joey leaned forward, gave one last hug and watched his new lover enter the elevator.
Joey turned and Nick ducked into his room, letting the door close behind him.
He walked to the bed and plopped down on the side of it. He pulled open the top drawer and read through the few notes he had received. He smiled widely and placed the notes under his pillow as he laid down. He pulled off his pants and sweatshirt and pulled up the sheet over his body. His mind started to wander as he thought of the many good times he had spent with his best friend Brian. The last image that painted across his eyelids like a movie, was Brian's smooth muscular body. Nick could still feel the warmth and smell his cologne, from when he was helping him with his ice cream just a short time before. Nick rolled over once and slept the rest of the evening peacefully.
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Lance awoke and tried to figure out where he was. The room looked unfamiliar to him, and until he saw Brian, he wondered if he was still in the hotel. Once he saw Brian's body, he remembered everything, including David Spade's bad joke at the end of his monologue. Lance looked at his watch and noticed it was 8 in the morning. He stood and walked out the door, without saying a word or disturbing Brian who was still asleep.
When Lance arrived inside his room, a note was on the floor. He picked up the hotel stationery, that was folded, and read the short note inside.
I think I have figured out who my admirer is, but I am not sure yet. If in case you happen to be him, I am delighted. I want to thank you for the wonderful notes, the good candy and the extremely beautiful blue flower and note at the photo shoot was one of the nicest presents I have ever received.
Maybe you will have the chance to make me laugh every morning, only time will tell.
J
Lance smiled and jumped up and down like a cheerleader. He re read the note once more and looked up into the mirror with a sudden shock. He said outloud to himself, "I never gave him anything at the photo shoot. What blue flower?"
To Be Continued...
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Is it someone else after Justin? Is Brian ever going to tell Nick his true feelings? Is Joey going to get his ass kicked by AJ? Tune in next time, same L & F channel, same L & F time!
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