Lost and Found Series

Title: Lost and Found Author: Jezebel the Temptress Feedback: eh_oh_po@yahoo.com

Disclaimers: I do not know any of the celebrities mentioned herein, this has no element of truth to it. This is no reflection on their true sexualities or personalities of any people mentioned. If you are underage for your area or if it is illegal for you to look at this why not go somewhere else, if you don't like the thought of two men together in a loving, sexual way this isn't for you either.

"Chris, I'm sorry..." Dre said, not wanting to look up to meet Chris' eye. "I swear I only turned my back for a minute..."

Chris face went from his usual affable smile to as white as a sheet.

"Where is she?" Chris asked, his voice as level as he could keep it.

"I swear, I didn't mean to do it..."

"Damn it Dre, I don't care about any of that, just tell me where she is?" Chris shouted angrily, drawing attention from other guests at the hotel. "You swore that you would look after her."

"I'm sorry man, we looked everywhere but she was gone. I'm sure that she'll turn up..." Dre said, trying to placate his boss.

"You're fired." Chris said emotionlessly as he turned to leave.

"What?" Dre asked, now he was angry. "You can't do that."

"Dre," Chris said, without turning. "I trusted you when I put my life into your hands and in the past you came through for me, but you screwed up when you let her out of your sight for a minute. She's my life."

"She's a dog."

"She's everything." Chris replied flatly as he headed towards the elevators. "Clear your stuff out by the morning. " He flung over his shoulder. "The tour is moving on tomorrow and you won't be coming with us."

Chris was shaking by the time he made it to their floor, he hadn't wanted to fall apart while he was downstairs in public but now that he was safely contained in the prison that his life had become he knew it was okay to fall apart. Anything that happened here was just between Nsync and if they heard Justin crying for his Momma or Lance sobbing because he was homesick, they didn't mention it and if they heard Chris crying because the last ties to his life were lost to him they wouldn't mention that either.

"Chris? You okay?" Joey asked as he saw his friend leaning against the wall outside his room. It was a little too early for drinking, but you didn't know these days, not after what had happened to Alex.

"She's gone." Chris said blankly, not looking at Joey as he spoke and making Joey question if he was talking to him or not. "Koriya's gone."

"Gone where?" Joey asked for a moment, trying to think over what they had done that day.

The dog was on tour with them because Chris refused to leave her behind, he had lost too much already because of leaving it behind, he said, he wasn't going to do that again. They all agreed because everyone had to have an outlet, and if that was Chris' then no one complained. At least he had not turned to drugs, alcohol or groupies to vent his pain.

It was only when Joey thought back over the day that he realised Chris had been complaining that he hadn't had a chance to walk the dog and that security said it wasn't safe for him to take her outside because of the fans.

"Didn't Dre take her out?" Joey asked, he knew that sometimes security did that, to appease Chris and save them clearing any messes backstage.

"He turned his back and she was gone." Chris said, his voice still empty. "What if something bad has happened?" Chris asked. "She's so little and if she's..." He trailed off then as the tears began to fall.

Joey wrapped his friend in a warm hug and prayed that they would find the dog alive and well. "She'll be okay." Joey said as he rubbed Chris' back, he just hoped that she was. Otherwise he didn't know what Chris might do.

Koriya was more than a dog to Chris, she was his baby, the only one that he was likely to have given his lifestyle. She had been a gift from Jon, one of Chris' sometimes partners, the only guy that Chris said he had ever loved. The pair of them had an on again/off again relationship that Chris had thought could last forever.

Jon had walked out a week before the last tour, leaving Chris at home to decide what meant more to him, touring or his lover. Chris had chosen the band and gone out on tour, truly believing that Jon would be back again. Jon had been shot a week later for getting involved with a domestic disturbance. Nsync was his life and Chris had continued the tour, not even having time to grieve because there was still ten concerts to play before they went home. Since then Koriya had been the last link that Chris had to his lover and was possibly the last link Chris had with reality.

Joey could only hope that she was safe, otherwise Chris might crash completely from the loss and that was not something any of them wanted.

Trey was half way around his usual jogging route when he heard it first, a small whimper that reminded him of a sleeping baby. He ignored it - shaking his head and realising that he just needed to get out more. When it came a second time he slowed his pace and turned his head. There was little way that a child could get here, even if they wanted to, the bushes were quite dense and that was one of the reasons that he jogged through these woods. It was only when he heard a rustling that he realised that the whimper was coming from beneath a small thorny bush.

It was far too low to the ground for a child to get under there, but it could be a small animal. Trey, ever the animal lover, looked down to see if he could help and was surprised to see that it was a small dog, no larger than a puppy would be and that it appeared to be tired and hungry.

Trey immediately reached under the bush, paying no attention to barbs of the plant, and pulled the dog out. At first he wanted to curse the person that would abandon a dog out here to die but then he saw the tag around the tan leather collar and wondered if the little dog was really just lost.

He shucked his jacket, not caring that this meant he would now get damp, and wrapped his priceless bundle in it, hoping that there was no real harm done. Taking it carefully now he slowly made his way back the way he had come and home to his apartment, watchful that his bundle was safe and warm in his arms.

Trey couldn't help thinking that out there somewhere was probably someone that really missed this dog, and if there wasn't, well, he'd always wanted to be a dog owner.

Chris was quieter than usual that night as they met for their pre-concert meet and greet. It was an indication of his true professionalism that he had come out at all. Joey had expected them to have to call off the concert so that Chris could go out and start looking for Koriya first but he said that Nsync came first and that they could find Koriya later. They all tried not to notice how hollow Chris' voice was when he said "Nsync comes first."

The four others tried as much as they could to pick up the slack of the usual jokey way that Chris interacted with his fans. They added more smiles, more hugs and more chatter to their usual repertoires and tried not to worry that Chris was going to fall apart.

If Chris wanted the show to go on then no one was going to argue with him but they had already postponed their departure for a few more hours in case Koriya turned up and there was a few extra people from the tour out looking for her.

This could not end up being just one more sacrifice Chris had made for the band.

Trey was surprised with his little bundle, she seemed to perk up almost straight away when he got her in out of the dirty hiding place she had found. Almost like a child would after it had been hurt. He smiled at that analogy - after all she was a small dog and didn't look much older than a few years.

"So, we ought to get you something to eat, huh?" Trey asked, as if she could understand him. Koriya yipped at him playfully and Trey laughed. "I guess that is a yes, princess."

He carried her into his small kitchen and placed her on the counter top while he sorted through the fridge. There was some cold chicken that he supposed she could eat if he deboned it. He should have thought to pick up some dog food really but he could do that in the morning. He also realised that he should probably call in sick for the night, he didn't want to leave her alone in the empty apartment while he went out to work. It wasn't as if the other men didn't call in sick sometimes because of the women in their lives.

Koriya tried not to slide on the shiny surface but she wanted to see what this stranger was doing, gradually she skittered her way across to him, just in time to feel him pick her up again and carry her, and the plate of chicken into the other room.

Koriya tucked into the treat that he had put down in his lap as Trey grabbed the phone and made a few calls to get cover for his job that night.

He fingered the soft leather collar that the dog wore and sighed. He supposed there was another call that he should be making as well, but a part of him already wondered if he could send this cute dog back to whoever had left her behind. If she was his he wouldn't ever let her walk away - Could he entrust her back into the care of someone that could?

The five boys were backstage, coming down after a surprisingly good concert, they had expected to have to cover for Chris as they had done at the meet and greet but it seemed as soon as he got onstage the music took over and there were no mistakes. So if he was morbidly quiet now that they were changing to head back to the hotel no one was going to say a word.

The ringing of a cell phone broke the silence and they were all willing to forget the rule about having them turned off because it did so.

Justin reached under the pile of stage clothes that he had just stripped off to find the offending item. He was surprised when he pulled out not his own but Chris' phone.

Chris reached for it instinctively and they all waited to see if this was some news. They had not told him about the search they had instigated but if Koriya had been found he wouldn't care.

"Hello?" Chris answered. Remembering all they had been told about never identifying themselves in case a fan somehow got their number.

"I have your dog." A voice replied flatly.

"Oh God." Chris said emotionally. "Is she okay, Please...?"

"She's fine." The voice replied. "Can I ask where I ought to bring her?" He said, still cold and detached.

"I'm staying at the Plaza, its..." Chris tried desperately to remember where the hotel was, or how to give directions to it. He didn't know the city well but the sooner they got back there the sooner he and his baby girl could be reunited.

"I know where it is." The voice replied bitterly. "I'll bring her over in an hour."

Then the phone went dead and Chris wondered how he was supposed to know who it would be that was bringing back his baby.

"Was that Lonnie?" Justin asked softly. Knowing that they had trusted only the most senior security to organising the search for Koriya.

"No, it was some guy, he said that he'd bring her back to the hotel." Chris said. "She's okay." The second was said with a sigh of relief.

Joey thanked God that the prayers he sent up earlier had been answered. He didn't care if this guy wanted a huge reward when he found out that this was Chris' dog, they would pay it, because the crisis was averted.

Trey hung up the phone and petted the small dog, wondering why she had evoked such strong emotion in him. He hadn't meant to be so hostile when he spoke to her owner but he had to wonder why she had been left to wander on her own. When he heard that the guy was staying at the Plaza it seemed to make sense, but that was still no reason to be rude. Just because the guy was rich didn't mean that he had meant for her to get lost.

Trey knew that if he was going to get to the other side of the town in an hour he would have to go fast. He couldn't take a dog on the bus and it might be a while if he walked it. If he was going to get there when he said he would they would have to leave soon and he was likely to have to carry the dog a lot of the way. She was rested up a little but even he knew enough about animals to know that a small girl like her couldn't walk that far. She was a pug, not a greyhound and asking her to walk two miles in the cool, damp evening was a little much.

Koriya whimpered slightly as he took away the plate that she had been happily licking but he knew that they had to go. No doubt she was used to gourmet meals like this every day but wouldn't be used to walking far.

Maybe he would carry her the whole way, in which case they would have to leave now.

Trey pulled on his battered leather jacket, wrapping her in the same hooded sweater he had worn out running, the one that he had carried her in before and checking he had his wallet and keys he headed out.

He only hoped that the guy was worth leaving her with. Once he got into the Plaza he thought it might be more difficult to leave with her still in his arms.

Chris paced impatiently in the lobby of the hotel as he waited for someone, anyone, that looked as if Koriya might be in their custody. He had been waiting for an hour now and he wondered if this person was not going to show up. Maybe they had seen him from outside and realised that they could hold Koriya to ransom when they found out that he was famous. Chris didn't mind really, he would pay anything to get his little girl back in his life. She was the closest thing to a child that he would ever have and he didn't care if people thought that she was spoiled because he loved her.

Just as he was about to turn to continue his pacing he heard the commotion at the door with security.

"I swear, I'm here to meet someone." The voice said, it was softer than he had heard before, less harsh, but he knew instantly that it was the same voice. "He's waiting in the lobby for me."

"And what is his name?" The doorman asked.

"I don't know that..." The voice replied.

Chris walked towards the exit, ignoring the looks from security, and towards the voice.

"Ah, I'm glad that you could make it." Chris said warmly as he smiled at the man that was carrying a precious bundle under his arm. "It's okay, he's a friend of ours." Chris said to the doorman.

"I'm sorry." The man said almost immediately. "You understand that we have to be cautious."

"Yeah." The man replied. "I guess."

"Come in." Chris invited. "We'll get you settled."

He waited a moment before the man was inside, placing a gentle hand at his back and guiding him towards the sofas that were set to one side of the hotel lobby. Alec, one of the security guards assigned to Chris, took a step forward but Chris waved him and his partner back, and knowing the fate of Dre earlier that day they were inclined to take the order without argument.

"So, I guess this is your dog." The guy said, opening the jumper that he had in his arms to reveal a sleeping Koriya.

Chris reached his arms out instinctively but the other man didn't hand her over. Chris pulled his arms back and nodded.

"Thank you for bringing her back to me." Chris replied. "You can't know what this means to me."

"I can work it out." Trey replied. "She kinda grows on a guy."

This was said with a smile and Chris realised that Koriya had captured this man's heart just as she had his own. Chris smiled at that. He shouldn't have worried about her really, he supposed that wherever she ended up Koriya would land on her feet.

"Yeah, she can be a little demanding sometimes, but she's worth it, you know?" Chris asked.

Trey nodded.

"She certainly demanded my attention when I found her." Trey replied. "I don't think I could have walked past her even if I wanted to."

Chris felt automatically guilty, he looked down at the obviously exhausted dog that lay asleep in the guy's arms and realised that they both had been through it a bit that evening. Chris himself was running on pure adrenaline but he supposed that it was late for anyone else. He wondered if he ought to be offering this man more than just a hotel lobby.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners?" Chris asked. "Here you are bringing my baby back to me and I didn't even ask your name or offer you a drink. I'm Chris, by the way."

"It's Trey. And I'm fine." He replied. Trey took one final look at the dog in his arms and then let out a soft sigh, reaching out to Chris. "Here." He said, handing her over.

It was going to be hard for Trey to let her go, he had fallen in love with her in the short space of time that he had known her. Still, he had met her owner and was certain that there was no mistreatment taking place. Koriya was in safe hands and he knew that this man, staying in the Plaza, obviously was in a much better situation to take care of her than he would be. Besides, it wasn't as if his land lord would let him keep a pet even if he wanted to.

Chris nodded and reached to take her from Trey's arms. Koriya barely stirred as they did so.

Trey rolled his arms, trying to regain the feeling in them as he realised that he had been in the same position for more than an hour. He would be sore in the morning.

"Thank you." Chris said again. "Are you sure you don't want anything?"

"I'm cool." Trey replied. "To be honest, I should get going. I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow and it's a long walk home."

"Walk?" Chris asked. "Surely you can't think that you'll walk home at this time of night."

"It's not so late." Trey replied, feeling a little self conscious now. Of course, a guy like this, that could afford to stay in such an expensive hotel would be able afford to cab it everywhere. That was if he didn't have his own chauffeur driven car.

"I suppose." Chris replied. It was only eleven and a lot of people stayed up later than that. "I still feel like I dragged you out here to bring Koriya back. At least let me buy you a drink or something. I'll have a car take you back when we're done."

Trey was torn. It would be good to have a drink and see that Koriya really was alright but he didn't want to stay too late and he wasn't sure how comfortable he would be about accepting a lift from this man, or his driver.

"Okay." Trey heard himself say.

"Good." Chris said. "I'll just take Koriya up and get her settled...unless..."

"What?" Trey asked when the sentence remained unfinished.

"Do you want to come up?" Chris asked, not sure why he was inviting this man into his life. He barely knew him, and yet his heart told him that he owed this man a lot more than a drink.

"Sure." Trey said. It would better than hanging out in a smoky bar at least, he hated to admit it but he was pretty tired out from the walk there and it would be good to rest in the luxury of one of the rooms before he had to head out again.

So they proceeded to the elevator, the two men each wondered what on earth he was getting himself and Koriya peacefully sleeping.

Trey had to admit that this was a nice hotel, he could almost rationalize the extortionate amount that Chris must be paying to stay in a hotel like this. If you had the money it must be nice to be able to afford this. He hadn't asked if Chris was here on business or pleasure either so maybe there was some huge corporation that was picking up the tab.

"It's a nice place." Trey said conversationally as they exited the elevator and stepped into a wide corridor which had plants and pictures along it's length.

"It's nothing compared to being at home." Chris replied wistfully. "After a while you begin to loathe hotels, no matter how plush they are."

"You travel a lot then?" Trey asked, it sounded like it. That didn't sound like the sort of environment that you should have a dog in and it certainly explained why Chris had chosen a lap dog over a retriever or a Labrador. At least Koriya didn't need a lot of space to run around in, because even if she had it she wouldn't run very far.

Chris turned to look at him, his eyes bugging slightly as if he had two heads or something.

"You mean you didn't recognise me?" Chris asked taken aback by that. A look flickered across Chris' face and then he shook his head, as if trying to clear it. "Sorry, I've spent too long on tour, of course you don't recognise me, you're a twenty something man not a hormonal teenage girl."

Trey frowned, still not sure what Chris was talking about.

"I'm in a band." Chris replied.

"Really?" Trey asked. "Anyone I might have heard of?"

"Nsync?" Chris replied.

Trey shook his head.

Chris smiled.

"Nope. I didn't think so." Chris said. "Don't worry, I'm thinking that you prefer something a little more adult."

"To be honest I don't really listen to much other than the radio, and I don't really know what that is half the time." Trey replied with an inward cringe as to how dumb that made him sound. The truth was he didn't really have a lot of time for music because it wasn't his thing. He was pretty easy if he liked something he would listen to it.

"That's okay." Chris said. "If I wasn't in the industry I don't think that I would know a lot about it either. So, what do you do?" Chris asked as they stopped outside a door and Chris pulled out a key card. "You're obviously not a music critic."

Trey waited a moment, allowing Chris to usher him inside before he answered.

"I do a bit of everything." Trey replied.

"Really?" Chris asked interested.

Trey sighed. It looked like he wouldn't get away with a cop out answer, which told him he was going to have to tell Chris the entire truth.

"At the moment I have three jobs." Trey replied. "I work days in a deli and nights as a security guard. Some evenings and weekends I also waiter."

"Wow, that's a lot of jobs." Chris replied.

"It keeps me busy." Trey replied.

Chris nodded. He understood busy. Being in Nsync he could have invented busy, it wasn't like they hadn't pulled eighteen hour days to get where they were today. And even now some days on tour they were lucky if they got five of the recommended eight hours sleep.

"Sounds interesting at any rate." Chris replied as he settled Koriya into the basket that was obvious left out for her. It looked comfortable and Trey had to admit it was just further evidence that Chris really was a careful dog owner and that this had just been a one off incident.

"Not exactly interesting work, but it pays the bills." Trey replied. "At least it will for as long as I'm in town."

"Not planning on staying long?" Chris asked, interested. He had always said that if he could he would settle in one place. It was too much being on the road, travelling and never being able to set down roots anywhere.

"I never do." Trey replied. "My Mom was a bit of an adventurer and I guess it rubbed off on me. I've never really settled in one place. My ex-boyfriend told me that I was a 'boat without anchor', whatever that is supposed to mean."

Chris went a little pale as he heard that and Trey wondered if he had said the wrong thing. He was open about who he was and while he didn't think that he should rub people's faces in it he didn't want to lie to people who he was. Sometimes he forgot that not everyone was as accepting of homosexuality as he was.

"Can...Can I get you a drink?" Chris asked, suddenly very interested in the mini bar.

"Sure, I'll have a coke." Trey said. "Unless you've changed your mind about the drink." He wanted to give Chris the way out without having to say anything. This was after all a stranger and Trey didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable.

"No, I just..." Chris cut off whatever he was about to say and turned to grab two cans out of the small fridge. "Coke it is." He said. "Have a seat."

"Thanks." Trey said, sitting down first so that Chris could decide how much distance he would need. Trey knew that straight guys could be intimidated once they knew he was gay. Sometimes it was just easier to leave things as they were.

The pair of them sat in silence for a while. Trey sipped his coke, not wanting to leave too quickly but also not really feeling that comfortable in starting a conversation. He wasn't really a people person. He'd never really stayed any place long enough to make friends or even learn the finer points of small talk. Koriya slept through it all, apparently still worn from her grand day out. Finally it was Chris that broke the silence.

"Why did you split up?" Chris asked.

Trey looked up at him, not sure if he was hearing things now.

"You said ex-boyfriend. Why did you split up?"

"I moved on." Trey replied. "Same as always, I get an itch and it doesn't go away. Eventually I wind up moving on so that I don't go crazy."

"I wish that I knew what that was like." Chris replied reflectively. "We're usually so busy travelling that we don't have the time to stay in one place long enough to get used to the time zone, let alone to get bored of it."

"Must be hard. Never knowing where you're going to be the next week." Trey agreed. "It must be tough on your relationships too."

Chris' face darkened slightly and for a moment Trey wondered if he had said the wrong thing, or wandered into territory that you just shouldn't mention around strangers. It surprised him how much he had already opened up to Chris that night considering they barely knew each other.

"Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to get what you want." Chris replied.

"That's kind of harsh." Trey replied. "But I guess you're is right. We can't have everything that we want."

Chris sighed. He wished that he could have had his cake and eaten it, that he could have taken Jon on tour with him so that his lover would not have been in the wrong place that night and wouldn't have gotten involved with the two people that were arguin. He wouldn't have gotten shot and he would still be there for him. But Jon hated travelling, he hated seeing what he viewed as Chris working himself into an early grave and he definitely hated the fact that they barely saw each other. Chris wished that he could have had everything he wanted, if he could then Jon would still be alive and whether or not they were still together Chris would know that he was happy.

Trey sensed that there was something more to this than he was seeing but didn't want to pry. He wondered if he ought to leave. He was about to make his excuses when Chris dropped the bombshell.

"I wonder sometimes if I made the right sacrifices, though. I mean, do you ever question if your wanderlust isn't really ruining your chances of finding someone?" Chris asked. "If you found 'The One' would you be able to settle down?"

"I don't know." Trey replied honestly. "I don't think that I've found him yet."

"I did. I found the perfect person, but the problem was that he made me choose between him and my career and I chose the group." Chris said. "I wonder though if I made the wrong decision."

Trey had heard the words. He heard 'he' and 'him' and realised that Chris hadn't reacted badly towards him because he was at least bisexual if not gay himself. Sexuality obviously wasn't something that Chris spoke about as easily as Trey did, maybe because he couldn't be so open.

"By the time I started to question that I'd made the wrong decision it was too late." Chris continued. "He was gone."

"Why didn't he tour with you?" Trey asked. "I mean, unless the group didn't like him or something."

"Jon was never one for travelling." Chris said. "He was a hometown boy. I don't think he ever left Florida his entire life."

"Well then, maybe it was the right thing to do." Trey replied. "It sounds as if the two of you wanted different things out of life. Sometimes, no matter how much you care for a person it just isn't meant to be."

Chris was intrigued by this. No one had ever really disagreed with him about Jon before, they certainly hadn't told him that Jon and he weren't right for each other. Admittedly Trey had never known Jon but maybe he was right. Chris had loved him, but Jon had never really returned that love, Chris had just hoped that one day it would develop between them. Was he mourning Jon or the fact that they would never have that chance?

Trey took his silence as a bad sign, not realising that Chris was just thinking.

"I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have..."

"No." Chris said. "I think you might be right." He sounded surprised when he said the words. "I just, I never thought of it that way before."

Trey smiled. Maybe he was useful for something after all. He reached to take a sip of his soda and was surprised to see that he had drunk it all. He hadn't remembered that, when he checked his watch he realised that it was gone midnight and that he really ought to get going.

"Wow. It's late." Trey said as he set aside the empty soda can. "I guess I should get going."

"Oh." Chris replied. "Yeah, I guess... unless..." Chris paused, not really sure of what he was saying. He wanted to invite Trey to stay but didn't know how well it would be received. He just didn't want Trey to leave just yet. Despite the fact that they had just met he felt as if Trey had told him more about himself in a few hours than some people could in a lifetime. "Unless you want to stay."

It was Trey's turn to be surprised now. He hadn't expected that, to be honest he wasn't sure what he had expected when he first met Chris but it certainly wasn't this.

"We have a few spare rooms on the floor, a perk of the job, and like you said it's late. You shouldn't really travel this late." Chris said. "We could maybe get breakfast or something before I leave."

Trey tried not to blush as he realised that he wasn't being propositioned, this was just Chris, being nice and courteous and not wanting him to return home so late. He probably didn't want to wake his driver anyway.

Trey found that he didn't want to leave.

"Okay." Trey said. "I guess it is a little late to get a cab."

"Great." Chris said, conscious that he sounded a little too eager for Trey to be staying. "Did you want me to show you your room now or..." He trailed off, leaving it up to Trey to decide.

"Not unless you're tired." Trey replied. "I'm used to working nights so I can stay up a bit longer."

It was a clear invitation to continue their conversation and Chris took it, grabbing it with both hands like a drowning man would a life raft. For some reason it felt as if Trey had done more for Chris than just returning Koriya to him, in fact Chris felt as if Trey was truly being a friend and unlike so many other people in their industry it was for no apparent ulterior motive. Even if it was only for a few more hours Chris wanted to continue speaking with his new friend.

Trey wasn't sure why he was enjoying being with Chris so much, usually his life revolved around work and planning where his next travels would take him or what he wanted to do next. He had never really been a people person and had never settled anywhere long enough to make lasting connections, and yet that night, in that hotel room, he felt as if he had connected with Chris.

There was no tension between them and Trey felt as if they were old friends, as if he could tell Chris all of his secrets and that Chris could trust him with his. He knew that Chris felt the same way when they continued to talk about former loves and Chris began to open up about what Jon had really meant to him.

"People don't seem to understand that I loved him as much as I did." Chris said frustratedly "They think that because we weren't living together and that we weren't always exclusive that somehow I loved him less." His voice faltered slightly but Trey sensed that Chris hadn't finished yet. "They don't get it, they don't know what he meant to me..."

Chris stopped, his voice wavering as his throat closed and the tears threatened to fall. It was as if something about losing Koriya had opened the flood gates and Chris wondered now if he would be able to keep them shut.

"Shh..." Trey said, shifting closer to Chris and holding him in a one armed embrace. Chris buried himself in the strong arms, wanting, for a moment at least, to forget the pain and feel the comfort that Trey was offering.

Trey said no more, there was something within him that told him that Chris needed to let this out and that nothing he could say would help anyway. Sometimes it is not words that we need to share with someone, but a silence, and that was all Trey could offer. It seemed to be exactly what Chris required as he cried himself out safely enclosed in Trey's arms.

When Chris shed the last tear that he had in him he pulled back. He was slightly embarassed that he had fallen apart on this virtual stranger but when he saw only compassion in Trey's eyes he knew that there was no need to be self-conscious. Trey would not say anything.

"Sorry." Chris said, still feeling the need to apologise. This can't have been what Trey expected when he offered to spend the night. Maybe he had been looking to get lucky and now Chris had cried all over him about his ex-boyfriend.

"Don't be." Trey replied. "You looked like you needed it."

Chris nodded meekly but still wasn't sure what to say.

"Maybe this is a good point for me to say goodnight." Trey suggested as he tried to fill the silence that hung between them.

"I..." Chris wanted to stop him, wanted to reject the suggestion but he wondered if he had any right. He could not stop Trey if the other man wanted to leave. He had no hold over him.

"Unless you want me to stay." Trey added, a little softer and more uncertain.

There was a double meaning to his choice of phrase and it did not pass Chris by. He thought for a moment and realised that he did want Trey to stay, but not just to be his friend, he wanted to see into the soul of this man and he wanted anything that Trey was willing to give to him.

"I'd like that." Chris replied.

"Sleep?" Trey suggested, his eyes flicking to the large bed that stood to one side of the room.

Chris nodded, standing shyly in a way that belied his thirty years. He suddenly felt like a virginal teenager on prom night and wondered where this was coming from. Trey had not mentioned sex, he had mentioned sleeping, the two were completely different. Chris wasn't even sure if he could get it up if he wanted to because of the worry and emotional exhaustion of the previous day.

Trey stretched slightly, rolling his shoulders before standing and heading towards the bed.

Chris watched for a moment, seeing Trey shuck his pants and top shirt but leave on the undergarments that he wore underneath. When he was sure that there was nothing sexual about the offer, Chris too headed for the bed, removing his own shirt and pants and leaving on his underwear.

The pair of them turned down the bed slowly, climbing in before lying side by side. They remained rigid and Chris was beginning to wonder if this was not such a bright idea. Trey looked over at him for a moment, as if he was going to say something and then looked away.

"Trey?" Chris asked softly, after a moment's thought.

"Yeah?" Trey replied.

"Can I kiss you?" Chris asked, closing his eyes when he heard the intake of breath and realised that, yes, he had actually said that aloud.

His answer came in a soft brush of lips across his, barely a hint of a kiss that was gone before he could open his eyes. For a moment he wondered if he had imagined the whole thing in his half asleep state but then he felt the strong arms of his bed partner pull him close to Trey's now relaxed body.

Chris relaxed too, taking a few deep breathes and then allowing his breathing to settle into short patterns. Before he knew it he was asleep, held in the strong arms of a man that made him want to believe in love again.

"Chris man, you are in so much trouble, you were meant to come over last night and tell me how things went with the dognapper..." A voice called as Trey felt the bed move below him.

Trey tried to hold himself in and forget that he was in a stranger's bed, apparently alone except for the energetic man that had bounded into the room and sat at the foot of the bed. His only thanks were that he was partially covered by the bedclothes and that they hadn't worked out yet that he wasn't Chris.

The thanks to whatever god died on his lips as the blankets were pulled away from him and landed on the floor, a gasp of shock told him that he had been found out and Trey rolled over to face his attacker.

"You're not Chris." The young man pointed out.

Trey resisted the urge to reply 'well, duh' and instead tried to gauge what, other than surprise, the reaction meant.

"No, I'm not." Trey replied, wondering for the first time where Chris actually was. He heard the trickle of running water and assumed that Chris was in the bathroom, not thinking that he might wake up and wonder where he was. "I think that he's in the shower."

"Who...?" The intruder began, only pausing when the shower shut off and he decided not to continue questioning him, perhaps deciding to wait for Chris' explanation instead.

Trey didn't want to wait. He moved from the bed, finding his pants from the night before and pulling them on.

"Trey? You 'wake?" Chris asked, as he stepped into the bedroom, wearing only a towel and a smile on his face.

"'Morning." Trey said as he headed for Chris, he eyed him up and down slowly, checking out the way that his new friend looked in the little he was wearing and then made eye contact allowing his gaze to trail to the third person in the room when he was sure that Chris' gaze would follow his. "You have a guest. I'm going to wash up and I'll leave you to it."

With that Trey left for the safety of the bathroom, feeling like a coward and hoping that Chris would deal with the interloper on their privacy. Somehow Trey knew whatever happened he was back in reality and that he wouldn't recapture the magic of the night before.

Chris waited until Trey had left, then dropped his towel and headed for his case.

"So, what can I do for you this morning Justin?" Chris asked as he rooted through his case for something clean to wear. He had been on the road too long with five other young men to worry about nudity, especially around his brothers.

"Who was that?" Justin asked, nodding towards the bathroom to emphasise who he meant. Chris rolled his eyes, it was obvious from Justin's tone that he didn't approve.

"That is Trey." Chris replied, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, or as if Justin should know who he was. "He brought Koriya home last night, we talked and it got late, so he stayed."

"You slept with the dognapper?" Justin asked, scandalised.

Chris shook his head.

"We only slept Justin. It's not as if I haven't shared your bed often enough."

"Yeah, but nothing happened between us." Justin said quickly, showing his heterosexual male pride as he did so, it was obvious that he thought Trey was something more than a friend.

"Nothing sexual happened with Trey and I either." Chris said with a smile. He remembered the kiss that they had shared last night, but that hadn't been overtly sexual, it was no prelude to sex, it was just a nice, sweet kiss.

Justin noted the reaction and wondered what it was that had his best friend smiling like that. He hadn't seen a real smile grace Chris' face for the longest time and he wondered if Trey brought out this reaction. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to get to know this guy after all. Chris deserved someone that would make him happy.

"Was this just a one-off?" Justin asked. "Or are you guys like friends now?"

"I hope that we're friends." Chris said as his smile faded a little. He had only just met Trey, and he knew that the tour was moving on, but he hoped that he and Trey could hook up again, maybe next time he was there or sooner if he could persuade Trey to visit.

"Well, as long as you and the pup are okay." Justin said. "Breakfast is in Josh's room in twenty, I'll leave you to get ready." And without another word Justin was gone.

It was obvious to Chris that he wanted to do more than allow Chris some privacy to dress, he wanted to give Chris and Trey some time alone. As Chris heard the bathroom door open and Trey exit he was glad that Justin was gone. He wanted a little more time alone with Trey before they had to leave.

Trey left the bathroom expecting to face a barrage of criticism or accusations. He should have known better than to stay the night with a stranger but it apparently he didn't learn from past mistakes. He had hoped that what he had found with Chris was not over yet.

When he came out to find only Chris he was surprised. His friend had been seen off easily. Trey just hoped that there was no damage done.

"Hey." Trey tried cheerfully. "Everything okay?"

"Sure." Chris replied with a smile. "I think Justin was just a little surprised to see me with someone else."

"It wasn't that you were with a man?" Trey questioned, wanting to know if he had dropped Chris in it by being caught in his bed.

"No." Chris replied. "God, no. The guys have known about me from the start. They're okay with it, I mean, Justin doesn't really understand the appeal of men but he is okay with the fact that I do."

Trey nodded, heading further into the room and reaching for the creased shirt he had worn the night before. It was a little dirty but he would have to wear it given the fact that he had nothing else with him. He hadn't expected to stay the night and realised, with a frown, that he was already late for work anyway. Thankfully he was pretty sure that his boss would let him off easy - it wasn't as if he was planning on sticking around much longer anyway.

"We're all getting together for breakfast in a bit..." Chris began, wondering how to invite Trey along.

"I can be gone in a second." Trey replied plainly.

"Actually, I wondered if you wanted to come with me." Chris said. "It won't be much, just room service, but you don't want to head out on an empty stomach."

Trey paused, studying Chris and trying to work out where this was headed. Chris would be leaving soon and Trey wondered what this was about. He wanted to be friends with Chris but there really was no point delaying the inevitable. Trey was as upfront about everything else as he was about his sexuality and he couldn't deal with the pussyfooting around that the pair of them were doing, at least not on only a few hours sleep.

"Where exactly is this headed, Chris?" Trey asked bluntly. "I mean what happens after breakfast?"

"We're leaving." Chris replied softly.

"Maybe we should just say goodbye now." Trey replied.

He didn't want to, but there was no point even starting to get emotionally involved with Chris if he was leaving soon anyway.

"I don't want you to go." Chris replied, his voice even softer than before. "Not yet."

"What do you want Chris?" Trey asked. "Do you want us to be friends? Fuck buddies? What?"

"I thought..." Chris tried, but his voice gave up on him. He swallowed audibly and then tried again. "I want us to be friends. I thought that we could hook up next time I'm in town."

"I won't be here." Trey answered, not meaning for it to come out as coldly as it did. "I'm moving on soon, not sure where I'm going."

"Why?" Chris asked. He hadn't seen a lot of this place but it didn't seem so bad. It didn't sound as if Trey had been there long and yet he was moving on already.

"It feels like the right time." Trey replied.

Chris wondered what Trey's life must be like, never staying anywhere for long, not because work dictated it but just because he chose to. It seemed alien to Chris, who would give anything to stay in one place for more than a week at a time, and who would give anything to have some place that he could permanently call home.

"Where do you want to go?" Chris asked, hoping to at least get a rough idea of where Trey would be.

"I don't know. I'll most likely move around a bit before I settle again, but I think it'll be a small town this time, somewhere familial." Trey replied. He was tired of the anonymity of the city and wanted somewhere that would treat him like a guest for a few weeks. Before he had settled here he had worked on a ranch for a few months and he had been happy there. There was bound to be a harvest somewhere that would need extra hands. "Somewhere I can get a job easily and make a little more money before moving on again."

Chris hated to think of Trey living in some backwater town where no one knew him and where no one would even bother to ask. Then an idea struck Chris and he smiled, it seemed like the most obvious solution in the world and he didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before.

"Come with us." Chris said. "We travel a lot, we're a small family and I know that you would fit in if you give us a chance."

"You're kidding, right?" Trey asked him, looking at him as if he had two heads.

"Come to breakfast, meet the guys, and if you like us, give it a chance. If nothing else you can get free passage to the next town." Chris replied.

When Chris put it like that it sounded almost sane, as if it was something that people did every day. Trey couldn't help but be a little suspicious. He was a normal, regular guy, stuff like this didn't happen to him. If he was honest with himself this didn't sound as if it was just a free trip, there was no such thing as 'at no cost' in a world where everything and everything had a price.

"Why are you doing this?" Trey asked. "Really, I mean?"

"I want to be your friend." Chris replied honestly. "And I don't want to lose you just yet."

It sounded logical and a voice at the back of Trey's head told him that it was only breakfast, he could back out afterwards if he wanted to. There was a part of him that wanted to believe what Chris was saying, and that didn't want to lose Chris either, at least not just yet. So, despite his misgivings about it all, Trey agreed.

"Okay." Trey answered. "But I'm not making any promises. I'm just coming to meet your friends."

"Great." Chris said, grinning as if the decision had already been made.

Trey saw the look on Chris' face and wondered if he had missed something important.

Why did he feel like he had just signed up for something he hadn't bargained for?

The Suite where they were all gathered for breakfast was the exact mirror of Chris', which made sense because it was directly opposite. Trey was glad for at least this basic familiarity as he faced the most important meal of the day with these strangers. If nothing else at least he knew where all of the exit points were.

"Hey guys." Chris said with a smile as he entered the room after Trey.

"Hi." Justin said with a small nod to Trey.

"Guys, this is Trey. Trey, you've met Justin, this is Josh, Lance and Joey." Chris said as he pointed out the other people in the room. "Trey is coming with us for a bit." Chris said, not asking but telling them that it was going to happen.

Trey wondered for a moment what their reactions would be, but it seemed as if no one cared. Maybe this was something that Chris did a lot, just picked up random men to take on tour with them, although from the talk the night before Trey would be surprised if that were true. Perhaps it was just that Justin had prepared them for this, which begged the question of who they thought he was.

"It's good to meet you all." Trey said politely. He really didn't know who they were but it was good to be civil, they were Chris' friends after all and if he decided to take Chris up on his offer and travel with them it would be best if they at least got along.

"You want something to eat?" Chris asked.

Trey smiled and nodded, moving towards the small buffet that had been set up on two trolley carts and taking a plate.

"Help yourself." Chris nudged as Trey paused, taking in all that was on offer.

Trey took some toast and fruit, not usually one for breakfast and then waited for Chris before taking a seat next to him. Chris smiled over at him as he took his first bite and Trey wondered what it was that he was missing, it wasn't until he looked up that he realised that all eyes were on him. They obviously were more interested than they were letting on about who he was and what he was doing with them but they were either too polite to ask or didn't want to risk pushing him away. Trey was happy to just eat breakfast in peace, he had a little thinking to do and he could do with some quiet time to figure things out.

"I thought you were going to come with us." Chris said as Trey packed up his things to leave.

"I am." Trey said. He was too.

He had done a lot of thinking over breakfast and knew that he was being handed this opportunity and that things like this didn't come along all the time. If he had been naive enough to believe in something like fate then Trey would have said that Chris inviting him out on tour was his destiny. As it was Trey was going with another old chestnut, that you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Then why are you leaving?" Chris asked.

"Because I still have to pack up my things." Trey said. "And unlike you, Mr. Superstar, I don't have someone to do it for me."

"But you're coming back, right?" Chris asked, sounding more like an insecure child than the grown man that Trey knew him to be. Trey wondered where this insecurity came from, it couldn't just be from Jon's death.

"Of course I am." Trey said indulgantly. "I'll even bring you back a surprise if you're good."

"I'm sorry, it's just..." Chris began, realising how it must sound. He hadn't meant to make it sound as if he had any hold on Trey, it was not as if they were in a relationship or anything but he wanted more and he didn't want Trey to leave him just yet. Not like all of the others.

"It's okay." Trey said with a small smile. "It's nice to feel wanted."

Trey moved to Chris then and placed a soft kiss on his mouth, not meant as a seduction or a goodbye but as a 'see you later' type of kiss.

"I'll see you at midday." Trey said. "Don't leave without me."

"I won't." Chris promised and it was a promise he was going to keep. Even if the others went on without him he was not going to leave Trey behind. That brief kiss had been more than a friendly one to Chris, he had seen it as a promise of things to come and he hoped that in the coming weeks, as Trey travelled with them, it would be a promise that Trey would keep.

Trey spent the entire cab ride back to his apartment wondering what he was doing. He had persuaded himself that he was going with Chris but now that he was out of the intense gaze of those hazel eyes and had only a memory of the haunted look in them he wondered as if he was making a huge mistake. He had agreed to go now and knew that he couldn't back out of it but a part of him wondered if it wasn't a gut reaction to the intimacies that they had shared the night before - it had been more than Trey had shared with some of the men he had considered partners and Chris was a complete stranger.

"We're here." The gruff cabbie said as they pulled up outside Trey's apartment block.

Trey nodded, handing him a $30 and then sliding out. It had been a $29.50 fare but he didn't think that the driver deserved that much of a tip when there fare was already so much.

Trey had a lot more to think about than the niceties of city life if he was going to pack up all of his belongings in two hours. He usually travelled light but he had more than a few items that he would have to offload if he was going to make it to the hotel in time, he supposed that a lot of it could be thrown out, he could always buy new with the money he would save on bus fare and rent in the next week or two.

Making his way inside the first thing that Trey did was sort out his backpack and holdall. He then headed to the bedroom and packed all of the clothes that he owned into them, adding his sheets and towels on top. He rolled his sleeping bag and gathered the rest of his meagre possessions before moving to the rest of the house. It was depressing that after less than an hour he had packed away the few other items that he wanted to take with him into a box and that he had a small amount of time to tidy around before calling another cab to return to the hotel.

As he hauled the box and two bags into the back of the cab Trey took one last moment to look back at the small apartment that he had lived in for a while. It was hardly a home, but then nowhere ever was, he had a new place to go to and turning to face front he realised that there was no good looking back. Whether he had made the right decision or not didn't matter now. He was on the move and not sure where he was headed - thegeneral story of his life.

Chris was waiting outside the hotel and knew the moment that Trey arrived because they waved his cab through the barricades. Chris had already warned the police and local security that he would be coming and he was glad that they had let him through - the last thing he wanted was Trey's first impression of the tour to be one of repression and defence.

Chris didn't know why but what Trey thought of them mattered to him. Trey was going on tour with them and Chris didn't want him feeling uncomfortable. The longer that Trey travelled with them the longer Chris had to get to know him and maybe build the type of relationship with Trey that he wanted. He felt a rare connection with the other man and he wanted to develop that. It would also be good to have someone that understood him on tour. The others tried but they would never know the added pressures of being gay and in love.

"I got it." Chris said as Trey reached for his wallet.

Chris paid the cab driver and added a healthy tip before grabbing one of the bags that Trey carried.

"Is this everything?" Chris asked disbelievingly at the box and two bags that Trey carried. Justin packed more than this for a day trip, it surprised him that such a small amount represented all Trey's worldy goods.

"I like to travel light." Trey replied plainly. There was no point in trying to hide the fact that he wasn't the richest person in the world, or that he was to all intents and purposes homeless.

"Maybe you could teach the boys a thing or two." Chris replied with a small smile, not wanting Trey to feel awkward. "They have way too much stuff on tour."

"And you don't?" A voice asked.

Trey turned to see Chris's bandmate Josh standing a short distance away. Trey wondered if he had been sent to find them or if he had chosen to seek them out himself. His answer came in JC's next words.

"The drivers are getting ready to go and wanted to know if there is anything you want stored." Josh said to Trey. "We tend to put anything major into one of the storage trucks to give us more space on the buses."

"It's cool." Chris replied. "I've got spare room on my bus anyway and like me, Trey travels light."

"Okay." Josh said with a curt nod. "We leave in ten."

Chris nodded in response, watching as his friend walked away before turning to Trey.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Sure." Trey said, wondering if he knew what he was letting himself in for.

"It's just me on our bus." Chris began to explain. "The others tend to share but they don't like to share when I have Koriya with me. She has a taste for designer clothes and shoes and I don't mean that she likes to wear them."

"No worries of her going for my stuff then." Trey replied self-critically. "So it should be alright if we share."

Chris again realised just how far apart they were in their jobs and incomes but the gap would not be too large when it came to cultures because of Chris' own origins. At least he hoped that would be the case.

The bus was larger than Trey had expected. It wasn't like the greyhounds that he had travelled on in his youth, this was more like a house on wheels. There was a small lounge at the front of the bus, a small kitchenette in the middle and then at the back there was a large bed with a television and DVD player embedded into the wall.

Chris looked at it for a moment and realised the problem. There was one bed. Usually it didn't matter to him because he travelled alone but with someone else this could get a little embarassing.

"I didn't think about this too well, did I?" Chris said self-conciously as he surveyed the space. "We can swop with one of the others..." Chris said, although he wasn't sure if that would work.

"This is fine." Trey replied. "It's not like we didn't share last night."

"I know." Chris replied. "I just don't want you to think that I planned it this way or anything. I know it looks bad, but..."

"It's fine, really." Trey reassured him. "There is plenty of room and if you're alright with sharing then I have no problems with it."

Chris nodded and then helped Trey stow his few possessions into one of the cupboards above the bed. Trey thought that they were quite clever because they latched on the outside so that things would not fall on them as they slept.

"We move out in five." A call came from the front of the bus. Trey had forgotten that there would be a driver on there with them. "We're towards the back of the convoy."

"Okay." Chris called back, before turning back to Trey.

Trey seemed deep in thought about something and it was only as he thought it over that Chris realised what it must be.

"Don't worry. We have to have two drivers and a security guy on board as standard, but they mostly stay at the front of the bus. There are a couple of bunks opposite the lounge area down there and they camp out there. Give it a few days and it'll feel like they're not even there."

"Where is our first stop?" Trey asked.

"Thinking about getting off already?" Chris joked, but there was a sense of uneasiness in his voice as if he wondered how long Trey would be with them.

"Nah." Trey replied. "Just want to get a feeling for where we're likely to end up."

"Houston, I think." Chris said. "Or maybe Dallas. We're Texas bound at any rate."

"Cool." Trey replied, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

"You want to watch a movie?" Chris asked, sensing that they needed something to fill in a little more time. "I have the Godfather Trilogy around here somewhere - I haven't seen it in a while."

"Sure." Trey agreed, not wanting to tell Chris that he had never actually seen all three of the films. He had somehow missed out on that rite of passage as a young man. It might be an idea to take this chance to see them now for the first time.

So they settled down to watch the classic movie, barely noticing as they joined the procession of trucks and buses that pulled away from the hotel, and relaxed for the start of their journey.

Four hours later Trey turned off the second movie and looked over to see that Chris was half asleep, he roused when Trey stood to turn off the television and moved, groaning as he did so.

"Sorry, I thought you were asleep." Trey said, misunderstanding Chris' groan. Trey thought that it was disaproval but it was actually discomfort.

"It's not that." Chris said. "I think I fell asleep at an odd angle."

As if for emphasis Chris rolled his shoulders and let out a slightly louder moan. He was in pain and it looked to Trey as if he had strained something. He couldn't have Chris' band mates thinking that he had injured their fifth member.

"Lie down." Trey said softly.

Chris eyed him for a moment and then nodded, laying on his stomach on the large bed and obliging Trey's order. Trey moved up the bed slightly, not wanting Chris to feel too uncomfortable, and began to work on Chris' shoulders and neck. Trey had done various jobs in his time and had picked up a lot of skills. He'd had a job in a salon once and while there had picked up a few tips from their masseuse, he hoped that he had not forgotten too much of it.

Chris moaned softly, but it was less from pain this time and Trey could feel the muscles beneath his hands relaxing. He was glad that he could help Chris out with this, it made their friendship seem more reciprocal.

"That is so good." Chris commented as Trey continued to work out the tension in his shoulders.

Trey was glad that he was helping. It wasn't too much of a chore to have Chris laid out underneath him either. His cock was especially happy at the idea, perhaps a little too happy.

"That should be okay now." Trey said, moving more suddenly than he had meant to as he stepped back from Chris' body and moved away from the bed. He had been a little perturbed by the hard on that was growing in his pants and didn't want to worry Chris.

Chris rolled over slowly, looking up at Trey with a questioning look. It appeared that Trey was not the only one that had been affected by the brief moment of contact because under the questions was a sense of lust in Chris' eyes.

A moment passed between the two of them when their desire was read and understood but neither of them voiced it and slowly Trey moved back towards Chris, taking a place beside him and lying down.

"What time do we get in?" Trey asked.

"Around 2 am." Chris replied.

That was over 8 hours away. Trey wasn't sure if they would last that long in this confined space.

"I might have a nap." Chris said. "Is that okay?"

Trey realised that Chris must feel like he had to play the hospitable host. It was fine with Trey if Chris slept, it might even ease the awkwardness between them.

"Sure." Trey replied. "I'll probably read a book or something."

"Cool." Chris replied, rolling until he was on his side and grabbing a pillow to put under his head. Trey watched him for a moment, as if wondering whether Chris was really going to sleep, when he heard his breath even out and sleep overtake Chris he was glad. At least Chris had truthfully been tired.

Trey reached for his backpack, taking out the book that he had been reading and settled in, pausing every few minutes to watch Chris sleep. About an hour later Trey gave up the pretence of reading and instead joined Chris in his slumber. At least in sleep none of the uneasiness that had passed between them was there.

The two men were woken a few hours later by a sudden jolt as the bus came to a stop. It was only just getting dark outside, and was a lot earlier than 2am, and Trey wondered why they were stopping when this clearly wasn't the hotel.

"Fuel stop." Chris said, rolling over and out of the bed. He stretched and yawned, his T-shirt rising up slightly as he did so, then moved down the bus to the front.

Trey wasn't exactly sure where Chris was going, or whether he should follow but he was glad of the moment's peace. He had felt comfortable around Chris until he had offered him a massage and now it was difficult to be around him. Trey wondered how he could get over that and back to the easy friendship that he had wanted to build with Chris. He was still contemplating that when his peaceful time alone was shattered when Chris stormed back in and punched the wall.

"Chris, what's wrong?" Trey asked.

"Damn stupid security." Chris said moodily.

"What?" Trey asked, wondering if he had missed something.

"Apparently there is a coach of girl scouts at the rest stop. It would be too much of a risk for us to go out there so we're stuck on the bus while they refuel." Chris said. "I can't even take Koriya out."

"Can't security do it for you?" Trey asked.

Chris paled slightly and Trey wondered why. Surely Chris trusted these men, after all, they were there to protect him. How could they protect him if he didn't trust them to do so?

"She was out with one of our security guys when she got lost." Chris said. "I don't think that I'm ready to trust her to anyone else at the moment."

"What about me?" Trey asked softly. "Do you trust me?"

Chris turned to him, eyes wide as if he was asking so much more that whether or not he would trust Trey with his dog, the answer was immediately apparent to Chris. Yes.

"Would you take her out?" Chris asked. "She only needs a few minutes to do her business."

"Sure." Trey said. "If security will let me out."

"I'll make sure that they do." Chris said adamantly as he again moved to the front of the bus.

Trey pulled on his shoes and grabbed his jacket, not sure how warm it would be in the cool of evening. He wasn't being completely selfless in taking Koriya out, it would give him a chance to continue his thinking about Chris and himself and he had already fallen in love with the little dog.

"They say that you've got twenty minutes." Chris said as Trey came out with Koriya and her leash in his hand. "Lonnie is going to hook us up with some food too, so you might want to put in an order before you go. I'm getting a cheeseburger and fries."

"Sounds good." Trey replied. "I'll have the same."

"Look after her for me." Chris said as a parting shot.

Trey turned.

"You don't even have to ask."

And as Chris watched Trey walk out he wondered how he was going to squash his growing feelings for the other man. Trey wasn't the type to settle down and he was probably going to leave them as soon as they hit the next town. There was no way that Chris could see to keep this man in his life and falling for him anymore would just lead to heart break. The big question was how to stop his feelings now before he got hurt. Denying love was never an easy thing to do.

Trey wasn't easily intimidated by anyone, he had spent a lot of his life travelling on greyhound buses or hitchiking from one place to another and he had learned early on to defend himself and his property, but even he had to admit that it was daunting to be shadowed by a large black man that looked like he would be too big for any normal NFL team.

It was a little ridiculous when he thought about it. Trey was under no illusions that the man was not there for his safety but to make sure that Koriya made it back in one piece. She must be the only dog in the world to have her own team of bodyguard's ready to follow her wherever she had to go. Koriya was also completely oblivious to the fact that she had this much attention. She was happy to run around after her own tail and yip at the passers by.

Trey took her for a few trips around the small picnic area at the rest stop, making sure that she did her business and that the exercise she got was enough to nearly wear her out, then he went to make a pit stop of his own. Before going he made certain that Koriya was safely back on the bus. He still had five minutes of his twenty minute deadline and went inside the small store attached to the gas station to buy some essential supplies.

When he returned he found that Chris was laying on the bed, Koriya cuddled close to him, and looking slightly worried.

"Hey." Trey said softly as if to make his presence known. "Is the little princess making sure that you haven't forgotten her?"

"Something like that." Chris said, giving Koriya a reassuring stroke before picking her up and taking her back to her basket. He didn't look at Trey as he did so and Trey wondered for a moment if he had done something wrong.

Chris paused for a moment, as if having some kind of internal debate and then turned to Trey with a small smile.

"You wore her out." He said as he watched the small pup snuffle around in her basket as if settling down to go to sleep. She finally curled in on herself and stilled, already asleep.

"I think that she was already pretty tired." Trey replied, wondering what it was that Chris had been thinking about. "I got some snacks too." He added. "I'm amazed at the lack of real food that you have on this bus."

"We're supposed to stay healthy on tour." Chris replied.

"Yeah, but what is this life without chips and chocolate?" Trey answered rhetorically.

Chris smiled and watched as Trey poured out a small treasure trove of forbidden treats onto the bed.

"I thought that we could have some while we watch the rest of the film." Trey said encouragingly.

Chris smiled and nodded.

He was glad that Trey was at least making an effort to recapture the friendship that they had so easily grown. If that was what Trey wanted then he would go for that too.

While Trey had been out Chris had done some thinking of his own. He had decided that he could cope with just being friends with Trey and that it was probably for the best anyway. He was glad that Trey seemed to think the same way. It would make this whole thing a lot easier. Now, if he could only think of a way to get Trey to stay...

Still, that was a thought for another night. For the moment Trey was still there and they were going to watch the movie. It wasn't much but it was a start...

The start of what Chris hoped would grow to be a good friendship.

Chris had not been wrong when he said that they were due at the hotel at 2am. By the time the convoy dropped them off at the hotel it was dark outside and Trey was beginning to wonder why they were even renting rooms at the hotel. They could have saved on the costs and just parked at the venue. When Trey said as much to Chris his new friend laughed good naturedly.

"We have to have a base." Chris explained. "A lot of our interviews and stuff will be held at the hotel, so it's not just somewhere to crash, and we actually get to stay here tonight after the show is done."

"I thought you moved on after each concert." Trey replied.

Chris smiled.

"Not always." He answered. "We actually like to sleep in a real bed every now and then."

Trey had nodded at that, a yawn cutting off any further question that he might have had, he was about to say something further when security came on board the bus and told them that they could go inside. Bags would be brought up later, Trey was told as he shouldered his back pack, he ignored the polite security guard and headed in with his bag anyway. He still didn't trust people fully enough to let someone else carry his bag.

Chris smiled at the exchange and wondered if Trey had ever had anyone to do anything for him in his life. Chris knew what it was like to grow up with barely anything, but he was also used to a little more luxury in his life now. There were also some things that just made sense, like letting the large men do the heavy lifting. He wondered if Trey would be with them long enough to learn that.

Trey was surprised to see that he had his own room when they got inside. He would have thought that it would take time to organise but apparently when you were as successful as Nsync obviously were you could make sure that things got done more quickly.

It felt almost alien to say goodnight to Chris in the hallway and retire to his own room after having spent the last two days in such close proximity to him. The large bed also felt empty when he flopped down on it. Trey wondered how he had so quickly gotten to the point that he missed Chris.

Trey had spent a lot of his life being self-sufficient. His mother, when she was actually there to take care of him, was a free spirit, someone that travelled wherever the wind took her and had dragged her son with her. At least most of the time. After Trey had turned 14 he had spent more and more time with friends of his mother and often lived on his own while she went off for a few days to some retreat or other. He had never felt lonely and had grown to the point that he was comfortable on his own.

Why now did he feel so lonely?

It was a troubling thought but even this could not keep him from the exhaustion of the day as it caught up with him.

Trey had no idea what the plans for the next day were as far as the band were concerned but he didn't much care. All he wanted to do for the moment was sleep and put the thoughts that troubled him to the back of his mind.

Trey was rudely woken early the next morning by a commotion outside his door. He rolled over for a moment, willing his neighbours to keep the noise down so that he could get an extra few minutes sleep before realising that the bed was too comfortable for his usual apartments. As the last vestiges of sleep faded he began to remember what had happened over the last few days and that the disturbance outside must be his new friends.

Checking his watch Trey could barely believe that it was just before seven. They had not gotten in until around two and the boys were already up and by the sounds of it raring to go.

He was about to see about going back to sleep when he heard a click as someone tried his door. Trey was not brainless and had spent too many years living alone to trust that kind of sound. He reached for the bedside table unplugging the lamp and arming himself with it. He didn't know who was trying to break in to his suite but they would get a rude awakening when they did.

He was standing at the side of the door, lamp in one hand ready to defend himself when he heard the familiar voice.

"Shhh..." Chris said, as if talking to a small child. "I'm nearly there."

Trey smiled, realising how silly it was to think he was being burgled when there was so much security on hand. He placed the lamp on the table next to the door and reached for the bolt, unlocking the door. A startled Chris nearly fell through the door as he found that it was suddenly open in front of him. He was surprised to see that Trey was concious, let alone up and apparently alert enough to answer the door.

"Hi." Chris said, slightly sheepishly.

Trey looked behind him, trying to see who he had been talking to and realised that Koriya was at Chris' feet hiding behind him as if scared of what was inside. She took a brief sniff and when she realised that this was Trey, her new friend, yipped excitedly.

"I'm sorry, she's been acting up since we got in last night. I have to go out and I wondered if...Could you maybe..."

"I'd love to puppysit." Trey said with a small smile. "It's not as if there is a lot more I can do."

Chris nodded, feeling a little stupid for having invited Trey on tour without thinking what the other man could do while he was out working. He hadn't really put a lot of thought into inviting Trey along with them but it was the only way he could think to keep Trey in his life and so far it was working out okay. Hopefully it would continue to do so.

"Yo Dawg. We gotta motor." Someone shouted down the corridor, sounding as if they were already heading out.

"I'm sorry to just dump her on you." Chris said, already backing out of the room.

"It's fine." Trey said. He wasn't really one for volunteering but he didn't mind doing this for Chris.

"Here's a spare key to my room, all of her food and toys and stuff are already in there, I would have sorted them out but I thought she would be alright with us today..." Chris said.

"Go." Trey ordered, leaning down to pick Koriya up so that he could usher Chris out of the door. Chris nodded, turned away then turned back to Trey and placed an unexpected kiss on his cheek.

"Thanks." Chris said again before turning and finally walking away.

Trey let out a small sigh, smiling slightly when Koriya did the same.

"What do you say we get a little more sleep?" Trey asked.

Koriya didn't answer but Trey decided to take that as a yes, she seemed content enough when he placed her next to him on his large bed and stretched out to get some more sleep. She certainly didn't complain.

Trey woke a few hours later when he felt something cold and wet on his face. He opened his eyes and realised that Chris' baby was apparently awake and wanting attention.

He groaned slightly before sitting up and patting Koriya distractedly. Checking his watch Trey realised that it was just after eleven and that Koriya was probably hungry and wanting to get out. He stroked her softly before leaving her behind on his bed and shuffling towards the bathroom.

Koriya yipped, apparently not liking the fact that she was being left behind.

"I'm just going to shower and change and then we'll get you some food and maybe see about a walk." Trey said.

There was no response, not that he was expecting one, but it made him wonder if she had understood him because she did not protest again. Trey rolled his eyes and wondered when he had started caring that much about a dog. He shut the bathroom door behind him and decided to have a shower and shave and take his time over it. He would not be dictated to by a puppy, no matter how cute she was.

It felt good to have a proper shower after the day on the tour bus and to have as much hot water as he liked was a novelty that Trey would have to get used to. Usually he lived in apartments that didn't always have hot water, and when they did it was limited, it was good to know that the hotel had a limitless supply and that it was at his disposal.

Trey soaped himself, wanting to take his time and enjoy the luxury while it was there, as he did so his mind turned to the last few days and what had taken him out of his previous circumstances.

It felt as if a lot of what had happened was a dream. If someone had asked him a few days before what he would be doing in a few days time, he would not have seen himself on tour with a band, especially not one that was as famous and Chris'. Meeting Chris felt like a dream too, or at least a fantasy, he didn't expect to start falling for Koriya's owner when he found her that day in the park. There was some indescribable quality about the older man that made Trey like him. Maybe it was his vulnerability or the fact that he wore his heart on his sleeve in a similar way to Trey or perhaps it was just that he was someone that made Trey smile. Whatever it was Trey knew that he was in danger of falling deeper than he should for the older man.

Thoughts of Chris had caused Trey to harden and he wondered if it was wrong to think about him in that way. Chris was his friend and apart from a few chaste kisses and that one not-so-innocent massage they had not shared any real intimacies. Yet Trey couldn't help but reach for the erection that was building as he thought more about Chris. He wrapped his hand around his length and wondered what it would be like if that was Chris' hand stroking him. Would that beard tickle if Chris gave him a blow job?

As Trey slowly masturbated he thought of his new friend and how he hoped that they would not always be friends. He let out a shuddering breath at that thought and came all over the pristine white tiles of the hotel shower.

Trey rinsed off. He felt a little guilty about what he had just done but didn't why, it was not as if it had hurt anyone.

He shut off the shower and rubbed himself down with a towel.

He had spent enough time with his thoughts. There was a puppy that needed walking and he knew he had to work out what he was going to do next. As much as he would like to he could stay with the tour forever and he certainly did not want to outstay his welcome.

Koriya was waiting by the door for him, apparently having sensed that they were about to go out.

Trey wished that he had it as easy as she did.

Chris swore as he checked his watch, he hadn't realised how late they were running until he did so. It had been a nightmare of a day that started out with Koriya not wanting to go out, followed by an interviewer that overran and a photographer that continually wanted "just one more shot". They would be lucky to get an hour to relax before they were due at the venue and Chris had hoped to relieve Trey of the responsibility he had dumped on him earlier that morning and get a chance to chat with his new friend. Chris was so eager to get away that he headed to the elevator without even waiting to be dismissed.

"Hey..." The photographer called. "I thought that we were going to try for a shot of all of you together before you left."

"Sorry." Chris threw over his shoulder as he continued on his path. "Time's up and I have somewhere else to be."

Behind him Chris could hear the others apologising for him as they always did but he didn't really care. Some days he hated this aspect of his job and there was only so much patience you could give someone before they got to your last nerve. If he was going to be in any fit state to go on stage later that day then he needed to rest and relax a little and he would not do that with a photographer snapping away.

"Chris, wait for me." Lonnie chided as he stepped up behind his charge for the day. "You know that you can't go anywhere without security." Chris sighed. "You want to tell me what that hissy fit was in aid of?" Lonnie added as they stepped into the elevator.

Chris knew that he didn't have to answer the question. Lonnie worked for them and he didn't have to answer to him but he felt that he ought to explain so that the crew didn't worry too much about him going off the rails. There was already talk that he had lost it after he fired Dre and Chris didn't want anyone else feeling threatened.

"I just need to get my head together before we go back out there." Chris said. "And that guy was really starting to get on my nerves."

"I'll get it sorted." Lonnie said plainly. "He won't get access again."

Chris looked at Lonnie as if he had grown a second head. Usually they didn't make such rulings unless someone was rude or intrusive.

"You're not the only one that felt used down there, kid." Lonnie said. "I think that you were the only one pushed far enough to act on it."

"Thanks." Chris said, feeling better that he had not overreacted. "Will you tell the others I'll meet them at the venue?"

"I'll come by and pick you up in an hour." Lonnie said as they hit their floor. He made no attempt to follow Chris now that he was in the secure setting of the Nsync camp and Chris was glad of that. All he wanted to do was chill and it was hard to do that with security following your every move.

Without even thinking about it Chris knocked on Trey's door and hoped that his new friend was in. After a few moments there was a brief scuffle and the door opened just a crack, when Trey saw it was him the door opened wider and he smiled.

"Hey." Trey said sounding surprised but not unhappy to see him. "I wasn't expecting you back so soon, I thought that you had a concert to play tonight."

"We got a little downtime before we head out." Chris explained. Trey nodded.

"I guess you want to see Koriya then." Trey enquired. "She's inside sleeping. Apparently that is her favourite thing to do."

Chris paused at the door for a moment before stepping in, taking in the tidyness of the room with the exception of the bed where Koriya slept. There was evidence of room service and Chris felt guilty as he realised that Trey had been stuck inside all day puppysitting while he had been off at work.

"Did you want me to take her?" Chris asked as he watched Trey return to the sofa where he was obviously watching TV. "It can't be much fun for you having been cooped up in here all day watching her."

"We managed okay." Trey replied. "Koriya and I went for a short walk earlier and I picked up a book and some magazines, we watched a little television and that's about it. To be honest it was quite nice to have some time to myself for once, I haven't had that in a while."

Chris laughed amiably. "I know how that feels. I can't remember the last time I had a day where I could just do nothing."

"I try to get some downtime every so often but usually it is because I am between jobs or places to live rather than because I wanted to take the day off." Trey replied. "It was nice not having to worry about that."

"Have you thought any more about where you might go or what you might do next?" Chris asked. "Not that I'm trying to get rid of you or anything." He quickly qualified the question so that Trey would feel no pressure to leave. He wanted to have him stay as long as possible but didn't want Trey to know that.

"Actually, I thought that I might hang out with you for a while, if that is okay." Trey said. "I'll puppysit as much as you need and maybe I could help out a bit too. I'm not saying that I'm a great dancer or lighting engineer but I've done a lot of jobs and can turn myself to almost anything."

"That'd be great." Chris replied as a smile lit up his face. He had wanted to get to know Trey a little better and it looked like he was going to get that chance. It would be good to have a friend outside the group again.

Trey returned Chris' smile and was glad that he had the chance to stay. He had meant it when he said that he wanted to stay around and it would give him a chance to take a break from his usually busy life. Trey was not afraid of a little hard work and was more than willing to pitch in with the tour but he wanted to take stock of things and work out what he was going to do next.

Chris covered his mouth and tried to stifle a yawn as he realised just how true it was that he was tired. He was supposed to be resting up for the concert but he also wanted to spend more time with Trey. He had been looking forward to seeing him all day and now he was about to fall asleep on him.

"Sorry." Trey said as he looked down at the unmade bed. "You probably want to rest up, and here I am chatting away as if we have all the time in the world. You only came here to get your dog and..."

"No." Chris interupted. "I didn't just come for Koriya. I wanted to see you as well."

"Thanks." Trey said after a moment. "Did you want to lie down?"

Chris wondered for a moment if he had stepped through the looking glass because he certainly wasn't in the right world anymore. Had Trey just invited him to bed?

"I don't think that Koriya is going to move any time soon and you look like you're about to drop." Trey added. Chris realised that he had meant for him to stay so he would be closer to his dog and blushed faintly at his mistake. "I know that she is a great cuddler."

Chris felt a tingle run through him at the thought that he could be in Trey's bed. It wasn't Koriya that he wanted to share it with though.

"She's not the only one." Chris replied softly.

Trey smiled and Chris' blush deepened as he realised that he must have been heard. Trey didn't laugh at him or demand that he leave him instead he simply held out a hand and Chris took it.

"If you want that too all you have to do is ask." Trey said as he pulled Chris to him and wrapped his arms around him. "I might not be in the band but I know how lonely things get when you're travelling."

Chris nodded against the soft material of Trey's T-shirt and took a shaky breath as tears he did not even know were there brimmed in his eyes. Through some masterful manouvering Trey managed to move them so that they were near the bed and without pulling away for a second got them laying down. Chris pulled away for a moment, not wanting to squash Koriya in the tumble but he needn't have worried because Trey had it under control. The pair of them face to face on the bed with Trey still holding Chris as if they were lovers and not friends.

Chris opened his mouth to say something, wanting to ask what they were doing or where this was going but before he could speak Trey silenced him with a gentle kiss.

"Get some rest." Trey instructed him. "You'll need your strength for tonight."

And as Chris rested he wondered whether that had been an unintentional slip or if Trey meant for something else to happen that night. He hoped that it was the latter.

A gentle tap on the door woke Chris almost an hour later, he had not even realised that he had fallen asleep until he roused wrapped around Trey. It was impossible to slide out from the embrace without waking his friend and so he had to gently nudge Trey in the hope that he would wake up. Thankfully there was a second louder knock at the door and this seemed to pull Trey from his sleep.

"Hi." Chris said softly, smiling as he leaned down and stole a brief kiss from Trey. When it was returned without question Chris' smile grew. "I have to go."

"Come by later?" Trey asked. There had already been a promise of something more between them and Chris knew that this was an invitation. If he turned it down Chris didn't think that Trey would offer again because he knew the man closely guarded his heart.

"Sure." Chris replied easily. "Unless you want to come with us."

"I'd like to, but I don't want to leave Koriya on her own." Trey said, looking at the still sleeping dog. Chris' heart swelled as he realised that Trey cared for her as much as he did, usually people thought that he was a bit mad to dote that much about a dog.

"She'll be fine out on the bus for a few hours." Chris said. "I'll ask Lonnie to stop by and check on her when he does his rounds."

Chris wasn't sure that he could trust just anyone with Koriya but Lonnie was the head of their security team for a reason, he was good at his job and understood how important Koriya was to Chris, he would guard her as if she was a member of the band and Chris knew that meant guarding her with his life.

"If you're sure it is okay..." Trey replied. "It might be nice to see what it is that you do for a living."

Chris nodded, checking himself over to make sure that he wasn't too rumpled and then answered the door. JC stood on the other side with his hand raised as if he was ready to knock for a third time.

"Thank God." JC said. "I was about to send out a search party for you, we have to get going."

"Lonnie said that he would get me." Chris said. "I was coming."

"I know." Josh replied. "But I thought that we could talk on the way over."

Chris knew what was coming, there would be a lecture about his behaviour earlier and a sermon about public vs private image that he had already heard a thousand times before. It didn't matter that Chris was thirty years old and the oldest in the group they still treated him as if he was 5.

"Trey is coming to see the show tonight." Chris said. "It's okay if he travels with us isn't it?"

"Sure." Josh said, giving Trey a friendly smile. "You'll have to let us know what you think."

"I'm not sure that I'll be a good judge." Trey responded self-conciously. "I've never really been to a concert before so I don't know what to expect."

Josh laughed as he turned to walk towards the lifts, expecting Chris and Trey to follow.

"Just think of a High School Prom with less boys and more screaming." JC said.

"Thanks." Trey said half-heartedly. "That helps a lot."

Chris turned to look at him, a frown crossing his face as he realised that Trey wasn't being facetious but sarcastic. Trey shrugged.

"I didn't go to Prom when I was at High School." Trey said. "I'm lucky I even made it through High School."

Josh, who was still within hearing distance, wondered if there was a story there that he didn't know. He thought briefly about having Lonnie look into Trey's background, it wouldn't hurt to get at least a low level security check on him, they would know more about him then in case things between Chris and Trey got serious.

Chris could imagine that travelling a lot made it hard on getting an education. They had certainly seen that with Justin and Lance. He felt glad that at least he had been able to finish regular schooling before he had hit the road.

Chris would give it 110% that night to make sure Trey enjoyed himself. Hopefully the concert that evening would, in some small way, make up for all the rites of teenage passage that Trey had missed.

Trey watched the hive of activity backstage as people busied themselves with preparing for the show and wondered if he was in the way. He stood off to one corner of the dressing room and settled for brief glances with Chris as his new friend tried to get ready to go on stage.

There was wardrobe and make up appointments to be kept and then a brief moment to breathe before checking the sound levels. Trey was starting to feel as if he should have stayed back at the hotel when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hi, you must be Trey." The large black man said with a small smile. It was the first time that any of the security had identified him by name and Trey wasn't sure if that made him feel safe or threatened. "Chris asked me to keep an eye out for you tonight, while they're busy. Did you want to go up front and watch them rehearse?"

"Can I?" Trey asked. "I don't want to get in the way."

Lonnie laughed and shook his head.

"To be honest you'll be less in the way up front than you will be back here and you might get an idea for the enormity of the group from out there." Lonnie said. "There will be a few girls up front, mostly competition winners, but we'll be sure to seat you away from them."

"Chris mentioned staying to see the show." Trey said. He had never been to a concert before, at least not anything of this scale, and was looking forward to it. "Will it be okay to do that too?"

"Sure." Lonnie replied. "We'll set you up in the sound booth away from the crowds if you want, unless you're afraid of heights."

"Not especially." Trey replied. "I've done a few jobs that involved heights and it was never a problem before."

"Really?" Lonnie asked, interested.

"Yeah, on a few building sites and as a rigger once for a cable company..."

Lonnie took Trey up front and showed him the sound booth with ideas brewing in his head about how they might be able to use the kid in the set up crew. Everyone on tour pulled their weight and Chris had been making noises about finding Trey a job. Lonnie might just have the perfect one for him.

Trey was amazed at the size of the Arena they were playing at when he got into the sound booth. It was above the main crowd and from his vantage point he could see all of the stage, as well as the audience which seemed to be made up of a majority of teenage and twentysomething girls. There were a surprising number of young men in the audience as well though and Trey realised that the band had a wider appeal than he had first thought. They were also a lot more famous than he had thought possible because he knew that this was not the only date that they were playing.

The stage was a complex set with various different levels and ramps and stairs which went off in all different directions. Trey realised this must be so that the band could move around on stage and give everyone an equal view of the performance. There was a lot more that went into the planning of this than he would have thought and Trey wondered how many people it took to put the whole thing together.

"You must be Trey." Someone said as they entered the booth and took their place next to him. "You want to take a seat?"

"Sure." Trey replied. He wasn't sure who this was but he seemed familiar.

"I'm Steve, I work video for the tour." The guy said, holding out a hand, which Trey shook. "Lonnie asked me to give you a brief run down of things on the tour from the crew side of things and thought that I might be able to give you a different perspective."

"Okay." Trey replied, he still really wasn't sure why Lonnie had asked this guy to talk to him.

"Sorry, I should mention that I'm Joey's brother." Steve added. "You had that 'I've seen you somewhere before' look about you. Don't worry, I get it all the time."

"Sorry." Trey replied belatedly.

"It's okay." Steve replied with a smile. "Lonnie mentioned that you might be up for doing a little work while you're with us. He also said that you had experience of rigging. I'm sure that we can find you something to do around here. They could always use a spare pair of hands to put the set together."

"I worked for a cable company fixing phone cables a few years back, and I worked in a theatre once out in LA." Trey said.

The truth was there weren't any jobs that he had not turned his hand to except maybe being a doctor or lawyer. Anything that had a basic skill set and he could pick up quickly Trey had done. He liked to try a range of jobs while he worked out what he wanted to do with his life. It also meant that he had worked with a lot of different people and again that was something he enjoyed. Trey had to admit that he had never really pictured himself working for a pop group on tour but he hadn't thought he would meet someone like Chris either.

"Well, tonight you should probably just concentrate on taking in the show, there'll be plenty of time for us to start working you hard tommorow." Steve said with a small smile. "Have you ever seen the boys play before?"

"I've never been to a concert before." Trey confided.

"Well, you certainly picked a good one for your first." Steve replied. "I may be a little biased because my brother is in the band but I think this is about the best show I've seen. It's certainly the best and biggest that the boys have ever done."

There was no time for anymore words as Steve's walkie talkie blipped and he had to get back to work. Trey decided that Steve was right. It was time to sit back and enjoy the show.

Chris was sure that this was the best ever concert that he had played, sometimes he would miss a beat or skip a note because he was too tired or not paying attention but that night he wanted to make it perfect and with Trey in the crowd he had an extra incentive to do it.

The other boys were hitting every note as well and they all seemed more upbeat. Chris wondered if it was because they had worried about him before that night. He knew that his heart had not been in it so much since Jon had died but for the first time that night he was beginning to feel some of the old spark he had felt from performing. The words of the songs held meaning again and Chris was remembering what it was like to be in love.

As he heard the first chords of Falling he realised that this more than any other was a song that he wanted to sing for Trey. Chris had written the song about Jon, about when he had first realised that he was falling in love with him but he felt the same way about Trey now. Trey had somehow managed to make Chris open his heart again and he had touched his life in some inexplicable way. The song only mentioned "Girl" because the record company did not want anyone to think that one of their members might be gay.

Chris wondered what Trey would think if he knew that Chris was singing to him. He didn't want to scare his friend away but he was paying particular attention to the front of stage where he assumed Trey would be.

Trey was watching from the sound stage and wondering what it would be like to have Chris singing those words directly to him. He knew that it was absurd because that was probably what every teenage girl in the audience was thinking but he had reason to consider it to be true. Of course Chris had not said anything about feeling more than friendship towards Trey but his advances had not been pushed aside and that was at least grounds for hope.

Trey knew that his history with relationships was not stellar. He had his fair share of broken hearts and failed dreams but that didn't stop him hoping that this time it could be different. Chris seemed to understand his wandering spirit and perhaps he would not try to cage him as others had done. Chris was not looking for anything serious and neither was Trey but that didn't mean that they couldn't have a relationship built on love.

Trey had not had someone who he felt as close to as he did with Chris in a long time. Surely that meant something.

Trey couldn't wait to get back to the hotel and find out what. As Nsync finished their last song he was already on his way backstage and to the bus to find out.

The bus took them back to the hotel for an overnight stay before they moved on again. For the first time Chris was glad that they had an overnight stop and would be travelling for most of the next day. Usually he preferred overnight travel but he had plans that night and they involved a bed.

Trey and Chris didn't talk on the trip back to the hotel, they were too busy thinking about what would happen when they made it up to Trey's room.

They managed to get in without much fuss and Chris made a show of saying goodnight to the boys before following Trey inside. Trey knew that they must know what he and Chris were going to do but it didn't bother him. Justin had even offered to take Koriya for the night and had done so with a small smile.

"So, alone at last..." Trey saod as he shut the bedroom door closed behind them and stepped into the room. "Did you want..."

Before he could finish his sentence Trey found that he had a tongue in his mouth other than his own. Chris was kissing him with a fervour that one would expect from a dying man being given a reprieve. Trey wondered how long Chris had been starving for attention to get this level of need.

Chris manouvered them to the bed, pulling Trey down to lay on top of him as he fell backwards and through some mystery of physics managing to stay in the kiss as he did so.

Trey was surprised at the strength of passion that ran through Chris. He had hoped that they would further their relationship that night but Chris was fumbling with his clothes as they tussled on the bed and Trey could feel a healthy erection straining against the zipper of Chris' jeans.

They may end up going further than either thought.

Chris paused a moment to catch his breath and Trey took advantage of this momentary weakness and turned over almost completely so that instead of on top he now lay next to Chris on the bed.

As they moved on the bed their cocks brushed together and caused Chris to groan again. Trey took a chance and leaned down, allowing his lips to find Chris' and kissing him with an openmouthed kiss. Trey fell into the kiss, his eyes half closed with the passion of the moment. Chris too was getting into the kiss and was instinctively rubbing against Trey as he did so.

Trey knew that their first time together should be something more than just this furtive grope but it felt far too good and they were far too gone to stop, so instead he moved a hand down and pushed away their clothes as best he could. He fumbled with his own pants but soon found that Chris' hands were there to help him undress. If it was going to be like this he at least wanted some part in their completion and there was a lot to be said for a handjob if it was done right.

Trey collected a little of the precum on his fingers before rubbing his hand over first Chris' erection and then his own. It did not take long to build up a rhythm that they both seemed happy with and after a moment they were kissing in earnest again while Trey's hand was moving against their members and slowly driving them both insane.

Chris gasped as he felt his balls tighten and shot his load, Trey, who had been watching his new friend as he did so came a moment later, just the look of ecstasy on Chris's face was enough to bring out his own climax.

Trey fell exhausted and sated beside his lover.

For Chris it had been a while since he had felt any hand but his own on his cock and despite the relatively vanilla sex they had shared it was special. Chris felt that he was falling for Trey in a big way and wondered if there would be more encounters like that as the tour progressed. He hoped that he was more than just a one off to Trey.

"Wow." Trey said, when he finally regained the ability to speak.

"Yeah." Chris replied with a sigh.

"We should probably clean up and get some sleep." Trey said as he tried to fight the post sexual haze to sit up and do something other than fall asleep covered in spunk and still half naked from their hurried encounter. He had no inclination to move but wondered if Chris would be going back to his own room now that they had done the deed.

"I guess." Chris said, sitting up and pulling off his shirt and pants. He paused a moment before pushing away his boxers too, using them to wipe the excess come from his chest and thighs. When Chris was done he reached over and started to finish undressing Trey.

Trey did not object.

Soon the pair of them were naked and Chris was wiping away the rest of Trey's seed with his shirt. Their clothes were a mess but neither one really minded, instead they lay side by side on the hotel bed wondering what should come next. Neither was quite ready for round two and at Chris' age he knew it could take a while but he didn't know if Trey was a snuggler or not.

After a moment Trey rolled over and threw an arm over Chris.

"I don't know if you know this, but someone told me today that I give great cuddle." He said. "Want to try it out?"

"Sure." Chris replied, relaxing into the loose embrace. He let out a yawn and closed his eyes. He was going to stay so they might as well get some rest.

"Is this okay?" Trey asked softly.

"Great." Chris said sleepily.

"Good, because if you think I give good cuddle you should see me giving head." Trey said.

Chris opened his eyes again, not sure that he had heard that correctly but Trey was already feigning sleep.

Chris supposed that he would have to wait and see if that were true.

Trey hadn't meant for them to fall asleep, he had wanted to do so much more with his evening in with Chris but it seemed as if they were both more tired than they had thought and slept right through.

At around seven the next morning Trey heard his alarm sound and leaned over to turn it off. It took him a moment to re-orient himself and realise where he was. When he saw Chris drooling into his pillow with a crease mark across his face he had to smile. He looked just like Koriya when she was asleep. They did say that owners look like their pets.

Trey took a moment to watch Chris sleeping and then pulled himself from the bed and headed for a shower.

They were supposed to be up and out before nine and he wanted to take a shower before they left. He would wake Chris when he got out and send him back to his own room but he knew that with the day that was ahead Chris could do with a few extra minutes sleep. He had been exhausted the day before and Trey didn't want to disturb him without need.

Who knew when they would next get a chance to rest?

The next venue was similar to the last and Trey wondered if there was a set plan for concert halls and arenas. He supposed it could just be that they had only chosen the ones which were large enough to house Nsync's impressive set.

The trip to the next venue of the tour had been tiring and Trey had ended up travelling a large part of the way on his own as Chris had to do a few interviews with the rest of the band. Management had made it perfectly clear that Trey was not welcome because there would be too many questions about who he was.

Now he was on a tour of the new venue so that he could start work. They were going over what needed to be erected and how it would be done. A lot of the larger items were already done because the crew had travelled ahead of the band but there was still plenty of work left before the boys could take the stage.

Trey realised that he was going to see less of Chris while he was working but it would give him something to do. Trey had worked his entire life and would not have felt comfortable to live off of Chris, despite Chris' protestations that he do exactly that. Trey didn't mind lending a hand and the extra paycheck that he was earning would come in handy. The job did not pay a lot but it would be enough that he would be able to afford to go out in his time off and at least pay his way. That was something that was incredibly important to Trey and he hoped that Chris understood that.

There would no doubt be time for them to spend together after the concerts and before they moved on again.

Trey was looking forward to that time when it came.

As it turned out the rest of the tour was a series of snatched moments, hurried sex and a few lesiurely trips between venues. It was the long haul journeys that Trey came to look forward to most because it meant that he and Chris could spend more time together and actually talk about things and make slow and tender love.

The relationship between the pair blossomed over the next few weeks as they continued to journey across America but they never discussed the one thing that was constantly on both of their minds, even as it loomed closer.

Trey had said that he would be moving on at the end of the tour but as he grew closer to Chris he wondered if he couldn't settle down and finally find a place that he wanted to call home. The problem was that he had never mentioned anything permanent with Chris and he was pretty sure that Chris' heart still belonged to Jon.

Chris too was having thoughts of what would happen when Trey left. He had not thought he would get so attached to the other man and yet as soon as he thought about losing Trey he felt a gaping hole in his life that Trey had filled. Chris didn't miss Jon as much anymore and while he would always love him he knew that he had to move on and he hoped that he would be able to do that with Trey.

The problem was that Trey was a wanderer. He never settled anywhere for long and at each new city stop they made Chris had to wonder if this would be the place where Trey would disembark. Chris was jealous in some ways because there were times when he wanted to leave the tour behind but he was also nervous because he was not sure how he would cope when Trey left.

Chris started to make plans for Trey leaving at the end of the tour. He hoped that if he showed Trey how much he meant to him then he would come back to visit. Chris didn't think for a moment that it would be enough but it was the most he could hope for.

"Woo Hoo!" Chris shouted as their coach passed a sign welcoming them to Florida. They were on the final stretch towards home after the last concert on the tour and he was glad to be home. He didn't want to think about the fact that Trey was leaving him in a few hours and instead chose to concentrate on the three days he had off before he was heading back into the studio.

"Glad to be home?" Trey asked, not wanting to think through the implications of Chris' return to the home that he had shared with Jon.

"It'll be good to have some time off." Chris said. "It's amazing how much you miss just having time to yourself."

"Yeah." Trey said softly. He had hoped that the pair of them could spend some time together but apparently Chris wanted to be alone sooner than he thought. "I know what you mean."

"I bet you're ready to move on too." Chris said. "It can't have been easy being tied down to one job for so long."

Trey knew now that Chris was trying to get rid of him. He knew how to take a hint.

"Actually, I've worked longer in some places than others. I stayed in LA for about six months once."

"Yeah?" Chris asked, not wanting to build his hopes up too much that Trey might want to stay with him. "What made you stay?"

"I met someone." Trey replied, Chris nodded. "No, not like that. She was a waitress, working night shift at a bar/restaurant that I worked in. Kira." Trey said as he got lost in the memory. "She was so ambitious, knew that she wanted to be an actress and was taking classes during the day to get there. We shared a room for a time while she worked on her big break."

"What happened?" Chris asked, instinctively knowing that there was some reason that Trey was there with him instead of still living in that Will and Grace style existance in LA.

"The big break came." Trey replied wistfully.

"Kira became an actress?" Chris asked, trying to think of any famous actresses he knew with that name.

"Nope." Trey answered with a small smile. "She discovered another ambition. She met Ash and decided that she wanted to settle down instead. She has done a little modelling but is a happily married mother of two now. I guess that she grew up and I moved on. I wasn't ready to grow up and give up the single life."

Chris knew how Kira felt. He had wanted to settle down with Jon and wished that his former lover had wanted the same. Things would have been different then. He wished that Trey wanted the same now because he wanted nothing more than to settle down with Trey and hope that they could grow up together but Trey hadn't wanted to give up the single life - he had just said as much.

Trey wondered if he had said too much when Chris didn't respond immediately, he was about to retract his statement when the driver spoke and interupted his chance.

"We'll be arriving at the Compound in approxiametely fifteen minutes." The driver said. Chris had not realised how far they had come until he heard that. "Security reports a small fan presence but nothing too large. I would ask that you keep away from the windows for safekeeping."

"Please keep your hands inside the car at all times." Trey mimicked as the driver stopped speaking. Chris smiled. He would miss Trey's comments, they were a breath of fresh air just when he was wondering how many more years he could spend on the road.

"I should probably get my stuff together." Chris said. "There is a lot of stuff on this bus and I know that most of it is mine."

Trey nodded, his own bags were meticulously packed and stowed on one of the spare bunks. He had only four bags but that was twice as many as he had brought on tour. Staying in one place he had acquired more clothes and souvenirs from his travels than usual and knew that some of them would have to stay behind when he moved on again. Part of him wondered if he wanted that to be anytime soon though. It might be worth staying for a while.

Chris wanted some alone time but that didn't bother him. Trey would be able to sort out a job and an apartment in Orlando and maybe the pair of them could stay in touch. Trey hoped that they would at least be friends. He felt an attachment to Chris and he hoped that his friend felt the same way.

Trey looked out of the window (from a safe distance) and spied the hotels, bars and restaurants that they passed. There would be an overabundance of jobs available to him in the local area and Trey was almost certain that he could make a go of it. Perhaps he would ask Steve for a reference too.

He didn't want to let Chris in on his plans just yet in case they fell through but he hoped that after Chris had taken a little time to himself he would be happy that Trey had decided to stay.

There was no time for further discussion as the coach slowed and pulled through a large gate into an area which could only be described as a Compound. This must be the base of Nsync operations that he had heard so much about.

They pulled into a near empty parking lot where three other coaches were already parked. To one side there was a small collection of cars and people milling around them, no doubt the friends and families who were there to welcome the wanderers home. Trey felt a pang of jealousy as he saw this. There was no one to greet him in each new place that he travelled too and for the first time he saw the loneliness of his life in clear focus. Usually Trey could gloss over the anxieties by telling himself he was gaining more experience than anyone else he may meet but as he saw the smiling, hopeful faces he realised that he was missing that.

Perhaps, if Chris would let him, he might finally have found someone that would greet his return.

Chris sighed as they came to a halt in the car park. He had known that this moment was coming but had not wanted it to come so soon. There was so much that he wanted to say and do but he had not found the time or the words to do it.

Now he had no time left.

There were no words left to say.

Trey was going to leave him and Chris knew that he could do nothing but stand by and watch it happen. He had nothing to offer Trey and he couldn't give him what he deserved. In some ways it would be better for both of them if Trey left now and saved them both any more pain.

Chris checked outside the window and saw the other boys families. His mother and sisters would not be there. They rarely came out to greet him because he had told them that he was too old for that. It was also because his mother had disapproved of Jon and he usually met Chris. This time Chris had specifically asked them to stay away.

It was not that he did not want to introduce Trey to his family but rather that there was no point them meeting him when he was moving on. Chris had told his mother that he would be by in a day or so once he was settled. He hadn't added that he needed the time alone to get used to being alone again.

There was a car waiting for Chris though and he smiled when he saw it. He hoped that in some small way it would help to ease the pain of Trey's departure.

"You ready to go?" Trey asked as he gathered his bags around him. Koriya yipped at his feet as he headed for the door and Chris grabbed her, clipping on her leash and handing her over to security.

Trey saw this and realised that he wouldn't see the little dog again. It was a shame because he would have liked to say goodbye. He had gotten used to having her around and if he were honest he had fallen for her over the last weeks. If he were honest he had fallen for her owner too but he wasn't that honest with himself.

"Sure." Chris said, leaving his bags and knowing that they would be shipped to his house later that day with the rest of the things he had acquired on tour.

Chris watched Trey disembark and move a short distance away before tossing his bags and pausing. Trey wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now and was surprised when Chris followed him.

"I know that you've probably made plans but I thought I would help out a bit." Chris said as he pulled a keychain from his pocket and handed it to Trey. For one brief moment Trey wondered if Chris was asking him to move in, then he noticed that it was a car key and not a house key that he was being handed. "I know that you usually take the bus but having seen your personnel file I also know that you can drive."

"Yeah." Trey said, acknowledging that like most teenagers he had acquired his licence, however unlike his friends in High School he hadn't really ever owned a car.

"Well, I wanted to give you something as a going away present and I thought..." Chris began.

"You bought me a car." Trey said flatly.

"Yeah, I thought... I wanted to get you an all terrain vehicle in case you decide to settle somewhere with hills or something." Chris said. Explaining why he had purchased an Escalade rather than anything flashier. He wondered if Trey would have preferred the Mercedes Benz that Justin had been eyeing or another sports car. The SUV had seemed more practical.

"Thanks." Trey replied, his voice still flat and emotionless. He hadn't realised until he saw the car that this was Chris' way of buying him off. Trey had been a lot of things in his lifetime but he had never been a whore and that was how Chris had made him feel. "I guess I should get going." Trey said, taking his bags and heading towards his new car.

Chris wanted to stop him. Wanted to say all of the things that were inside his head just waiting to come out but he couldn't.

What right did he have to ask Trey to stay?

It had been three days since they had gotten back from tour and Justin was worried. He had not heard a words from Chris and worse still he knew from his Mom that neither had Bev. He knew that Chris was bummed about Trey moving on but he hadn't seen Chris this upset since Jon had died.

None of them really thought that Chris and Trey were that serious. It was most likely just a case of Trey using Chris for a free ride and none of the boys had really taken the time to bond with Trey. He was a tour romance, like so many of them had, and after the buses pulled into the Compound he would be gone and Chris would be free to move on too.

The problem appeared to be that Chris was not moving on, in fact he was not doing anything at the moment. Justin knew that he should have kept a closer eye on his friend but he had been tied up with his own relationship issues and had not thought to worry about Chris. The man was over thirty and definitely old enough to look after his own lovelife, Justin had thought, now he realised that Chris wasn't so able to guard his own heart and that he had ended up getting hurt. Perhaps he should pay Chris a visit and see for himself that the man moved on.

Justin paid Chris a visit that afternoon. He was surprised when Chris didn't answer the door straight away so used his key to get in. Justin knew that something was awry when the alarm beeped until he disabled it.

Chris would not be in his house with the alarm activated and by the looks of the place he had barely been there. There was a pile of suitcases in the hall that Justin knew were Chris' tour luggage and a pile of letters and bills lay unopened on the table. The only thing out of place was a leaflet that Justin didn't recognise for a kennel that Chris used to use for Busta.

Shock was replaced by fear as Justin realised that Chris must have kenneled Koriya before he left. Chris never did that because Jon had given Koriya to him and he felt that sending her away was tantamount to forgetting Jon.

If Koriya was at the kennel then Chris must have planned to be away for a while and he had left word with no one as to where he was.

Justin wondered if Trey had changed his mind and the pair were together. His last clue was the car that Trey would be driving. Justin knew that this was the way to track down Trey, maybe he would know where Chris was.

Chris would have bought the car through Johnny Wright in order to keep his names of the documentation. It was how they had all managed to acquire their cars without the press finding out. Justin prayed that Chris had done this and put in a call to Johnny to explain what was going on. He didn't like ratting Chris out but he was worried and there was not a lot else that he could do.

Maybe with Johnny's resources they would be able to find out where Chris had gone.

Justin sat in Johnny Wright's office the next day and could not believe what he was hearing. John Jennings, the investigator that Johnny Wright used, had easily tracked the car that Chris had purchased for Trey. He'd had a friend in the DMV run the plates and found that it was still registered to the garage where it had been bought. The driver had returned it later the same day it had been delivered and explained that the car was no longer required. They had refunded Chris' money and even apologized. The security cameras at the car showroom had not shown Chris though, they had shown Trey as the person that had returned the car.

Justin was not sure what bothered him more. The fact that Trey had returned the gift of that they now had no way of knowing where he had gone after returning the car. Trey had walked out of the showroom so there was no way that they could even work out where he was staying. Justin assumed that he was staying and that he hadn't just walked to a bus terminal and left. They really had no way of tracking either he or Chris.

John Jennings said that they could only wait and see if there were any charges made to Chris' credit cards or any cash was withdrawn from his account. Justin did not hold out much hope for that because Chris was the kind of guy that could disappear if he wanted to. He hoped that Chris was just taking a breather rather than a hiatus because he didn't know how long the latter would take and he didn't think that they would continue without Chris.

Maybe they should have kept a closer eye on him in the last months. Maybe then this would not have occurred.

Trey had driven away from Chris without looking back, it was only when he reached the end of the road that he realised he had no idea of where he was going, nor any inclination to really leave. He had pulled the car to the side of the road, parking up while he planned his future and as he was checking through the glove box to look for a map he found the details of the garage where the car had been purchased from. Something told Trey that if he left now he had to make a clean break. He could take none of his ties to Chris with him and that included the expensive car which would otherwise be an albatross around his neck, constantly reminding him of what he had left behind.

The first step in moving on was getting rid of the car.

From there Trey had decided he would take it one step at a time.

Getting rid of the car had been easy. The garage owner had even apologised to him for the mix up, when he said it had been delivered by mistake, and offered to replace the car with another one. Trey had declined and instead walked away from the dealership. He had all intentions of hitching a lift out of there and back to the motel where he had stored his possessions, but once he was rid of the car he wondered if he should give up on Chris so easily.

Trey didn't want to make any rash decisions and decided it would be best to lay low for a few days and decide what to do. He had money from the tour and that bought him time. With that time he would decide if he could walk away from the one person that had made him want to change his life.

He hoped in a few days he would have the clarity of thought to know what to do.

Trey spent two days sitting in a hotel room watching TV and thinking. He didn't know why but he didn't want to move on, for once in his life he wanted to stay and see where things were going with Chris. Now all he had to do was find him.

Trey had Chris' address but it was not as easy as he thought to get into the gated complex. He had no way to access the place and the guard at the entrance said that Mr Kirkpatrick was not accepting visitors.

Trey had tried calling but got no answer and on the fourth day he wondered if Chris was just ignoring him and hoping that he would go away.

He was about to turn around and give up when he saw a familiar man drive past in a car, which stopped a few metres ahead of him.

His first thought was whether Justin was going to be less subtle and tell him to leave Chris alone. His second was why had Justin stopped if he didn't want to get out of the car and talk to him.

Justin paused for a few long moments and then headed towards Trey. Trey knew that whatever was going on he was going to find out soon.

Justin had been driving around and thinking about Chris when he realised that he was on his way over to his friend's house. It had been pure coincidence that he had driven past at the moment that Trey was there and he had to wait a moment before he got out, to make sure that it was Trey he had seen and that his overhopeful mind was not just playing tricks on him. When he realised that it was Trey he got out and headed towards him. He hoped that he would finally get some answers as to where Chris had gone.

"Hi." Justin called out to Trey. "Are you here to see Chris? Is he back now?" Justin hoped this meant that Chris was back and that the two of them had just been away for a couple of days.

"Back from where?" Trey asked.

"I assumed..." Justin trailed off as he realised that this probably meant that Trey had not been with Chris the last few days. "You haven't seen Chris since we got back?"

"No." Trey said. "I was just coming by to see him."

"I thought you would be long gone by now." Justin replied. He didn't mention the car but it was what he was thinking about.

"I couldn't leave him." Trey found himself admitting. "He's not answering the phone, and I came by to see him but the guard wouldn't let me in. I guess he doesn't want to see me."

"Chris isn't answering anyone's calls, and he's not there to see you." Justin replied. "The truth is that I don't know where he is. I was hoping that you would be able to tell me."

Trey was confused. He didn't know why Chris would go away and leave the boys that he had given his life for. He had hoped that he would be able to go on with his own life but Nsync did something to you that changed your life and meant that it would never be the same again. Chris had especially done that to Trey and now he realised that he was more than concerned for Chris. He was worried about him.

"Have you tried scouting around the pet stores?" Trey asked. "He'll have to go somewhere to get Koriya's food."

"He put her in a Kennel." Justin replied.

Now Trey was scared. There was no way that Chris would ever kennel his baby unless he was not planning on coming back.

"I know." Justin said. "I couldn't believe it either. The question is, what do we do now?"

Trey sighed, realising that Justin was going to drag him into this.

"The first thing we do is get Koriya." He said. "She can't be left alone out there. Then we need to think about where Chris might go. I assume that you've checked with his Mom that he isn't there."

Justin felt immediately ashamed that he had not even thought to call Bev. Chris could be happily catching up with his family and he would not have thought to contact them. If he was missing then they also had a right to know.

"Okay." Trey said, wondering if Justin had done more than check Chris' house. "You start there and I'll work on a few other places that he might have gone, after we've picked up the princess."

Justin smiled as he heard Trey's nickname for Koriya. She was as much a part of his life as she was Chris'. Justin had never really had much love for the little dog but he realised that Trey loved her as much as Chris did. He probably loved her as much as he loved Chris.

Justin and Trey spent the next day scouring all of the places that they could think of. Justin played down the disappearance to Chris' Mom, not wanting her to worry if it was something more serious, and Johnny started to make discreet enquiries about hiring a detective if they did not find him before the end of the week.

It was only by accident that Trey remembered a conversation he and Chris had about Key West. Chris had said that he had always wanted to travel there while he was at college but had never had the time or money to go. Trey knew that it was a trip he had planned with Jon and wondered if Chris had gone on his own. It couldn't take long to phone the hotels and locate Mr Kirkpatrick, could it?

Trey smiled at the irony of having to ask Justin to borrow his car when only a few days before he was the owner of a top of the range Escalade worth over $100,000. Now he was wishing that he had kept the car because it would be so much easier to use it to find Chris.

Johnny had found a detective that had the right contacts to track Chris' credit cards and so they knew that he was staying at a small hotel on the beach in Key West. It was just off the main road and Trey had to wonder what Chris was doing there all day by himself. He hoped that he was only spending the day on the beach and just wanted some time to himself but he knew it was more than that. Chris had left Koriya behind and he would not have done that unless something was up. Trey prayed to himself that it was not what he feared, that Chris had decided that it was all to much and that he was going to end it.

With the fear of Chris' mental state in his heart, Trey made his way to the room which Chris had booked and tapped nervously on the door.

There was no answer.

Trey wondered if Chris was indeed out at the beach, or that he had gone to take in some of the other sites that the island had to offer but the niggling thoughts in the back of his head that something worse was going on made him knock again. The knock was louder this time, more urgent, and Trey was glad that he got a response.

"Can't you read?" The deep, familiar voice called from inside. "It says 'Do Not Disturb'. I don't need fresh towels and I don't care about swimming with dolphins."

"Open the door, Chris." Trey replied.

There was a scuffle inside, as if Chris had tripped over something in surprise. He swore slightly, stumbled around a little more and then opened the door.

"Trey?" Chris asked, his eyes blinking as he tried to focus on the man on the other side of the door.

Trey took one look at Chris and could see why he was blinking. He wore only boxers and a T-shirt which were stained with various different sauces, possibly from pizza or chinese takeaway and he looked as if he had barely slept. From the smell of him he hadn't washed either. The shades were drawn in the room and Trey was pretty sure that Chris hadn't left the room in days. It looked as though he was trying to shut the world out and ignore the fact that no matter what you did life went on with or without you.

"What are you doing here?" Chris asked when he focused on his friend and realised that he was not imagining things and that he was really here. "I thought that you would be a thousand miles away by now."

"Can we go inside?" Trey asked, knowing that they had a lot to talk about. He didn't want to have this conversation on the doorstep.

Chris took a worrying look over his shoulder at the mess and then nodded. He opened the door further and Trey got his first look at the state of the room. It was obvious that Chris was depressed, there were piles of takeaway cartons and the bed was rumpled. The TV was on low, but it didn't look as if Chris had been watching it.

"Sorry about the mess." Chris said. "I wasn't exactly expecting guests."

"I'm sorry if I'm disturbing your time alone." Trey said. "But Justin was worried when he couldn't get a hold of you."

"Did he send you out here?" Chris asked suspiciously.

"No." Trey replied. "I was worried about you too, especially when I realised that you had kenneled Koriya."

"I..." Chris tried to find some reason for that, but couldn't come up with any. He sat down on the bed and looked defeated.

"It's okay." Trey replied. "She's staying with Justin for a day or so, until we go back."

Chris looked up at him and frowned.

"What do you mean? We?"

"Well, if it's okay with you I was hoping to stay in Orlando for a bit, maybe see some of what this fabulous state has to offer." Trey said. "You have told me a lot about it but I've never really been to Florida."

"I thought you wanted to go off again." Chris said.

"It's funny, I never said that I wanted to leave." Trey said. "But somehow you assumed that I would."

"People generally do." Chris said. He realised that he sounded pathetic and bit his lip. He should have kept quiet, Trey didn't want to hear about his abandonment issues on top of everything else. He probably already thought that Chris was a head case. People always walked out on Chris but he didn't need anyone else to know how pathetic he was.

"I'm not like everyone else." Trey said. "I would have stayed if you asked me, because I thought that we had something special going on."

"I couldn't ask you to stay," Chris said, "but I couldn't ask to come with you either. I always said that if I had to make the decision again, between my heart and my head, that it would be different. I made the choice with Jon and it didn't turn out well, but when it came down to it I chose my career again."

Trey frowned.

"I never asked you to choose between me and your career. I'm not Jon."

"I know." Chris said. "But I couldn't see a way of keeping you."

"All you had to do was give me a reason to stay." Trey said.

There was a silent moment and then Trey spoke again.

"I'm just as much to blame. I could have asked to stay, but I'm so used to my life being transitory. I've never found anything in my life before that made me want to settle in one place."

"And you have now?" Chris asked uncertainly.

"It took me a while to figure it out, but yeah, I have." Trey said. "I think I love you, and if you let me I want to stay here with you and see if we can make this work."

"I think I love you too." Chris said quietly. "Is that enough of a reason to stay?"

"More than enough." Trey replied with a smile. "Now, I think that we ought to head back home and pick up Koriya, but first you need to have a shower and shave."

"Sorry." Chris said, looking down at himself for the first time and heading towards the bathroom. He stopped a few paces from the door. "You are staying for me, aren't you?" He asked. "It's not just my dog that you love is it?"

Chris was trying to make a joke, but Trey's emotions were still too close to the surface for that.

"Chris, I love you for your sense of humour, your good looks and your sense of loyalty. Koriya is just a bonus."

Chris smiled at Trey to show that he approved and Trey shook his head.

"Now, go and shower so that I can show you just how much I care."

Chris didn't need telling twice. The sooner he was clean, the sooner they could head back home.

The problem with driving down to find Chris was that Trey had to follow him all the way home in Justin's car and could not even enjoy the trip as he was still worried about the declarations that they had made in the hotel room. It took the best part of a day to travel back to Chris' house and it was late by the time they arrived. Trey wanted to call Justin, to pick up Koriya and return his car, but Chris said that one more night would not be an issue.

"I want you to myself, just for tonight." Chris said as he unloaded his car. "We can face reality tommorow."

And Trey decided that after nearly losing Chris it was worth giving him what he wanted because if he was honest it was something that he wanted too.

Of course the pair were exhausted after their trip and neither one was capable of doing much more than collapsing into bed when they reached the house - that was enough though, being there with each other.

And as they slept in each other's arms Trey knew that although there was a lot ahead of them they would face it together.

END

Note: This has sat around for nearly a year, waiting for me to post it. I'm sorting through my files, working on what I can and can't complete, and this is as done as it's going to be. There is a second part but I haven't written it yet and truthfully I don't know when I will.