Lottery Winner

Hi everyone...

In order to accommodate people who are asking me about notification lists, I've finally created an YahooGroup (Gods, Yahoo is like the Borg!) to do so: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Dale_writings

As always, Gabriella is my main cheerleader. Mark has also been great. I've even inspired him! Check out his story "Blind Date", it's also here in the Boyband section.

I love email, so feel free to drop me a line with your thoughts on the story.

My story is hosted on another website. Here's it is: http://railwayshoes.net/hosted

It's partway down the site, just look for "Lottery Winner". There's lots of other great stories there so check them out.

DISCLAIMER: The names of the people are fictional (well, except for the members of the group). This is a fictional story that came right out of my own mind. I have no knowledge if any member of N Sync are gay or whatever. That being said, please enjoy the story and remember-- write me!!! (Especially write me if you're a member of the group! GRIN)

Thanks guys and gals, Hope you like it.

Dale

--THE LOTTERY WINNER...Ch 53--

Dale smiled. "Hi Lance. Good to see you. How are things?"

"Don't be cute Dale." Lance glared at Dale, then turned to smile at Mark. "Hi Mark. Do you have anything to drink?"

"Sure Lance. What do you want?"

"Water?"

"No problem. I'll leave you two alone to talk." Mark excused himself to go get something for Lance to drink. He delayed in the kitchen as long as he could, then finally headed back into the living room... fully expecting to find someone either crying or dead.

Instead, Dale and Lance were sitting across from each other, not speaking. Mark went to Lance and handed him the water.

"Lance, Mark can fill you in. Mark? I'm going to head home. You can come over later if you want." Dale got up and was heading towards the door when Lance said something.

"Joey's there. He's depressed too."

Dale closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the door. "I know."

Dale did good. He didn't feel the tears start until he got behind the wheel. His cell phone began ringing when he was about five minutes away from the house.

"Hello, this is Dale."

"It's me."

Dale felt himself smile. "Wow Lance. You don't sound quite so pissy now. What's wrong? Didn't you like what Mark told you?"

Lance snorted. "Okay, I deserve that. I'm sorry. I really am."

Dead silence...

"Dale? Are you there?"

"Yeah blondie, I am. Apology accepted. I have to let you go though, I'm getting ready to pull in to the driveway."

"Dale. Talk to Joey. Please. I hate seeing you guys like this."

"I'll talk to you later." Dale ended the call, and silently finished the drive. He pulled up into the driveway just as Joey came out of the garage.

Joey stood, staring at Dale as the car pulled up. He didn't say anything until Dale got out.

"Hi."

"Hey."

They stood there for a few minutes just staring at each other. Finally Joey found his voice. "So, how did your vocal lesson go today?"

"It went okay. Ted wants me to start thinking of songs to record for the demo. I have to come up with 5 songs that 'showcase my range'. I know one I want to do, after that I don't know."

"Which one do you want to do?"

Dale started up the walkway to the front door. "Robbie Williams' song called 'Rock DJ'. It's got a good beat and it's a good use of range."

Joey smiled. "Love that song. The video's not bad either. He's kind of cute. But he does take more off than I normally like a guy to do."

They made small talk as they walked through the house into the kitchen. Dale fixed himself a soda and went to sit out on the deck. A few minutes later Joey came out.

"You should do something that makes you stand out. Don't be like everyone else and do something that's too 'poppy' sounding. Lance played a demo the other day that was kind of cool. A girl redid a Talking Heads song. It wasn't half bad."

Dale thoughtfully took a drink. "How about I do 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart'? Not the dance mix that Nikki French did but the original version." He giggled wickedly as he looked out over the yard. "I know. I can do 'These Boots Are Made For Walking'!"

"Those are good choices Dale. Don't like the song themes, but they're good.

You could really do well with them."

Joey turned and walked inside.

"Excuse me? What do you mean you don't like the themes?" Dale got up and followed him. Joey was sitting on the kitchen counter.

"Joey?"

"Dale, do you realize this is the most we've talked since we got back from the trip?"

"I know." Dale walked up to Joey, but didn't hug him. "Am I being a bitch?"

Joey snorted. "If I say yes will you still love me?" Dale wiped the tear away that was running down Joey's cheek. "I fucked up. I know I did. I just hope I didn't lose you because of it."

Dale took Joey's hand, and squeezed it. "You could never lose me. No matter how insane either of us act." Dale leaned in and gave Joey a quick kiss on the lips. "I have to work this out for myself though... can you respect that and give me time?"

Joey didn't say anything, just nodded. After a few minutes he spoke. "So, where are you going to go cut your demo?"

"I don't know yet. I have to figure out the songs then go find the karaoke tracks to back them."

"Karaoke? No way." Joey jumped down from the counter and went to the phone. He smiled at Dale and dialed a number. "Johnny? It's Joey. I have a favor to ask." Joey walked into the other room, leaving Dale alone in the kitchen. He refreshed his and Joey's drinks and went to the living room. Joey was just finishing up the conversation.

"Okay Dale, you're all set."

Dale smiled as he handed Joey the drink. "All set for what?"

"When you get ready to do your demo the band will play the music."

Dale sat down. "The band? Your touring band?"

"Yep. I want you to have only the best. These guys are good. Before you argue I'm paying for it."

"No way Joey! I can't allow that."

Joey walked over and straddled Dale's legs. "Honey, you should know by now that I do what I want for those I want to help." He leaned down and kissed Dale. "Face it buddy. You're stuck with me. Just make sure you don't forget me when you get a music career going."

Dale laughed, squeezing Joey's hand. "I'm not that good."

Joey's smile fell off his face. "I don't want to ever hear you say that again. Dale, you have an incredible voice. You were given a gift, and I'm glad you're making use of it."

Joey sat back on the coffee table, and gently ran a finger along Dale's cheek. "I can't believe I smacked you. I never do anything like that."

"Joey. It's going to take time to get past that. I know you want me to just fall into your arms... but you hit me. I survived an abusive relationship, so it affects me a bit more than it probably should."

"But Dale..."

"I know Joey. You have to realize though, there was a loss of trust. It takes time to restore that."

Joey wiped a tear from his eye as he let out a sigh. "What can I do?"

Dale stared at Joey for a few minutes, not saying a word. Finally he went up to Joey and took his hand. "Come with me."

Joey let Dale lead him from the kitchen, wondering where they were going.

"Close your eyes Joe." Joey closed his eyes, knowing that Dale wouldn't do anything to hurt him. He stepped when Dale told him to, and turned where Dale told him to turn.

"Okay Joey, open your eyes."

Joey smiled as he opened them. "We're in the bedroom."

Dale let go of Joey's hand and sat on the bed. "Joey, will you sleep with me? I don't mean sex... just sleep. Because I need your arms around me now." The tears started falling from Dale's eyes, and he didn't care.

Joey didn't hesitate. He walked around the bed and crawled behind Dale. Dale slid onto his side, and Joey put his arm over Dale, pulling him back into his arms.

"Shhh. It's okay baby. I'm here." Dale's cell phone started ringing, but Joey ignored it. Dale cried himself out and fell asleep, Joey protecting him in his arms. A little while later, Joey fell asleep.

Joey woke up a few hours later and lay there for a bit watching Dale sleep. Dale abruptly opened his eyes and stared at him.

"Hi Dale."

Dale smiled. "Hey."

"Your phone rang earlier."

Dale was stretching as he got out of bed. "It did? Okay." He pulled open the phone and checked the voicemail. He giggled as he finished and shut off the phone. "It was Lance. He's upset."

"What'd you do?"

"He was mad at me for being mad at you... so I had Mark tell him what happened on the cruise."

Joey stopped in his tracks. "Mark knows?" He tried to sound nonchalant as he asked the question, but failed.

Dale shrugged. "Mark caught me at a weak moment. We'd just left practice and I was feeling a bit weak. He thought it was funny."

Joey laughed. "Figures. What'd Lance say?"

"He apologized for being shitty to me. He tried talking to me just before I pulled up, but I wouldn't let him. That was one of his 'where are you I'm worried' calls."

"Ah yes... I know them well. You should call him back. Are you hungry? I can order a pizza or something."

Dale smiled at Joey. "That sounds good. Whatever kind you want to get is fine with me." Dale dialed Lance's number on his cell while Joey went downstairs to place an order for pizza to get delivered.

"Hello?"

"Lance? It's Dale."

"Thank god! Dale, where are you?"

"Um. At the house. Why?"

"I was worried when you wouldn't talk to me earlier."

"Lance. Sometimes I just don't feel like talking. Now if there's nothing else Joey and I are getting pizza delivered."

"You two are talking? Dale I'm so glad."

"Hey Lance where are you anyway?"

"Oh, um... I'm still at Mark's."

"Oh. So what're you up to?"

"What? Up to? Nothing. Why?"

Dale laughed. "Geez Lance, if I didn't know better I'd say you sound guilty about something."

Dead silence on the phone.

"Okay Lance, I'm out of here. Say hi to Mark for me."

"Will do Dale. Bye for now." Lance hung up the phone and looked at Mark. He leaned in and placed a kiss on his lips. "Dale says hi."

Mark stretched out to grab his pants, which had been thrown over the back of the couch. "Oh, um. Okay... thanks."

"So what're you doing tonight Mark?"

Mark was distinctly uneasy. "Tonight? Um, I don't know... why?"

"Well, Chris won't be back in town for another few days, do you want to get together and do something?" Lance ran his hand up Mark's arm, gently squeezing it at the bicep.

"I don't know. Give me a call in a few hours."

Lance let himself out of the house. As soon as the door closed behind him Mark went and sat on the couch.

"Great... now what?"

"I don't care how often I see that movie, I still love it." Dale stretched languidly as he got up from lying on the floor. "You wanna watch Two now?"

Joey hit stop on the DVD player. "Gotta love the classics. Superman definitely is a must see. Hey, did I tell you I met Christopher Reeve? Met him and his wife at a charity event a few years ago."

Dale grinned. "I remember seeing the pic. I thought it was great you got to meet the man who played a character so dear to you."

"Aw... you were thinking of me even then. Hey, you want me to go heat up the pizza? There's a couple of slices left."

"Sure. Can you get me some more wine?" Dale held his glass out for Joey and went to swap out the DVD in the player.

"Dale? Can you come give me a hand in the kitchen? I need a couple of extra hands."

Dale giggled as he walked into the other room. "What do you need me to carry?"

"Can you bring the wine and the bottle?"

Dale arched his eyebrow. "A whole new bottle? You trying to get me drunk Mister Fatone?"

Joey grinned and leaned into Dale. "Well duh." Joey softly kissed Dale, then headed back out to the living room.

Halfway through the movie Dale began nodding off on Joey. The fingers on Joey's left hand were softly playing with Dale's hair. "Baby, you want to head to bed?"

Dale smiled as he looked at Joey. "Nah, I'm comfortable here. You make a great pillow."

Joey pretended to pout. "Is that all I'm good for?"

Dale propped himself up on his shoulder to look at Joey. He didn't say anything for a few minutes. "You're good for a couple of other things." He leaned in and softly kissed Joey on the lips. Breaking the kiss he giggled. "A racket up the ass... you're too twisted for words." Dale kissed Joey again, and slipped his tongue between Joey's lips. He broke the kiss just as Joey began getting into it. "Okay, time to finish the movie."

Shortly after that, the movie ended. Joey cleaned up as Dale shut the house down for the night. As they crawled into bed, Joey hesitantly wrapped his arms around Dale. He smiled as Dale pulled him tight.

"Dale, do you think I can go with you to your lesson tomorrow?"

Dale grinned as he pulled Joey tight, kissing him. "I'd like that. Mark probably has better things to do anyway."

"Oh hell yeah... oh shit. HERE IT COMES! AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Mark screamed as the cum shot out of him... and down Lance's throat.

After a couple of noisy swallows, Lance came up for air. "Damn that was nice." Lance threw himself on the bed next to Mark. "I'm glad you were home tonight. I needed this."

Mark turned onto his side, facing Lance. "So, when does Chris get back in town?"

"Oh he comes back tomorrow. We're supposed to do a couple of interviews and then be free in the afternoon. I don't know what he'll want to do yet."

Mark just grunted, not saying a word. Lance looked at his watch, then got out of the bed to get dressed. "I should get going, supposed to give FreeLance a call tomorrow to go over some stuff on my schedule." He turned to Mark with a gleam in his eye. "Quickie for the road?"

"You should get going, don't want to miss your call."

"HHmm... you're probably right. Okay, I'm out of here. Talk to you later." Lance leaned in and gave Mark a passionate kiss, then let himself out of the house.

Mark tried sleeping... but sleep didn't come easily.

BEEPBEEPBEEP BEEPBEEPBEEP

Joey cracked an eyelid. He swung his arm around and turned the alarm off. He started falling asleep when he felt Dale move in front of him. Joey smiled as Dale murmured quietly and snuggled back into Joey's body heat.

"What time is it?"

Joey glanced at the clock. "It's eight o'clock. What time is your vocal work today?"

Dale turned over and moved into Joey's arms. "He wants me there at eleven."

Dale grinned as he kissed Joey. "This is nice. I've missed this the past few weeks."

Joey laughed as he hugged Dale. "So does this mean I'm forgiven?"

"I dunno yet, let me think about it while you kiss me some more." Dale leaned in and Joey passionately kissed him.

"Baby, I'm sorry I upset you. I don't know what I was thinking."

Dale stroked Joey's cheek. "You weren't. That's part of the reason why I love you so much. You don't overanalyze like I do. So what's on your agenda for today?"

"You mean besides going with you today? Nothing really. Was going to call Steve and maybe go hang out." He leaned in and kissed Dale softly.

The two lovers lay in bed, just enjoying being with each other, until Dale finally crawled out to go shower and get ready for his voice lesson. Joey didn't join Dale in the shower, but hopped in as soon as Dale had finished. Dale went downstairs to fix breakfast while Joey showered.

"How do you want your eggs sugar?"

"Anyway you want to give them to me Dale..." Joey snickered as he went back to showering.

Dale checked himself in the mirror and absently flicked lint off the shirt. He whistled as he went downstairs to cook. He got out a couple of dishes and began cooking. By the time Joey came down Dale had a pretty good spread cooked: toast, scrambled eggs, hash browns and sausage. Joey whistled as he walked around the corner and went to kiss Dale.

"Damn Dale, you trying to keep me fat and sassy or something?"

Dale grinned as he kissed Joey and ran a finger along Joey's jawline. "You're beautiful just the way you are. I just decided to cook for both of us. I hope you like it." Dale fixed two plates and carried them to the table.

"What do you want to drink?"

Dale turned around and saw Joey pouring a glass of orange juice. "Just water. Don't want to drink milk, that seems to make me sound funny when I sing."

Joey said something about the lactic acid causing a buildup on the vocal chords, and then grinned when he saw the look on Dale's face. "What? Just because I'm pretty doesn't mean I don't know some things. Contrary to popular belief Lance isn't the only smart one in the group." He smiled to take the sting out of his words, then attacked the breakfast that Dale had cooked.

Dale stared in wonder at Joey, then went on to finish his breakfast. Joey excused himself to make a few phone calls after he finished, Dale hummed to himself as he cleaned up. He started the dishwasher and smiled as he felt Joey wrapping his arms around him. He leaned back into Joey's body and groaned as he felt Joey nuzzle his neck. Joey's left hand slowly worked up Dale's body and began playing with his nipple while the right hand slid into his pants. Joey began kissing the earlobe and Dale felt himself harden.

"Ohmygod... that feels wonderful." Dale turned around to kiss Joey, and Joey pulled back.

"Ready to go?"

Dale glared at him. "Bitch... that's not nice. Remind me to get a headache tonight. Just let me grab the CDs for backing tracks." Dale went into the living room and grabbed a couple of CDs.

Joey just smiled and winked at Dale. "You love me and you know it. Come on cutie, let's go to your vocal lesson." As they were walking down to the driveway, Joey said he'd drive. The two men harmonized as they wove through traffic. Joey couldn't help but compliment Dale. He'd come a long way in the past few weeks... hell he sounded like he could fit right into the N'Sync harmonies without any problems.

"You know, Annie was right. You do have a great voice." Joey reached over and squeezed Dale's hand gently. They sat in silence the rest of the drive, but it was a good silence.

Ted, Dale's vocal instructor, was just pulling up in front of the compound when they arrived.

"Hey Dale. Joey! Haven't seen you in awhile, how's things?"

"Same ol' Ted, how's things with Tiffany?"

"She's pregnant, so I'm now dealing with the joys of unusual cravings. Last night it was garlic pickles and chocolate whipped cream."

"Oh my, that's kinky."

Ted blushed. "So, um... Dale. You figure out what you want to do on your demo yet?"

"I've got a couple of ideas. I brought the CDs so we can try them with the backing tracks."

"Great! Come on, let's get going."

Three hours later Dale was on the verge of collapse. Ted had shot down a few of Dale's song ideas for the demo... but on the whole it went well. Dale worked with Ted and Joey and had chosen five songs. They made arrangements with the band to come into the studio and the date had been set for the coming weekend. The run-throughs of the songs took awhile, and Ted kept stopping and adjusting harmonics and the rhythms of a couple of songs so they would sound new and fresh.

"Okay Dale, think that's it for today." Ted got up and stretched, and grinned as Dale grabbed a bottle of water and drank most of it.

"Jesus, I'm sore."

Joey laughed. "Welcome to my world. You sounded really good though. What do you think Ted? Six months until we hear him on MTV?"

"It depends on how quickly he gets signed."

Dale couldn't help but laugh. "Guys, shouldn't I worry about recording the demo and, providing it DOESN'T suck, getting someone to listen to it?"

Ted and Joey exchanged a glance. "Dale. You do realize how good you sound don't you?"

Dale snorted. "Whatever.

"Dale, get over it. You have serious potential. When we record your tracks in the studio for the demo you'll see. Okay now, we have to scoot. Ted, we'll see you soon." Joey grabbed Dale's arm and pulled him from the room.

"Bye Ted, see you this weekend! Dammit Joey where are we going?"

"You'll see." Joey pulled Dale out to the Acura, and waited to kiss him until they had the doors shut. "Oh baby, I can't believe how good you are."

Dale grinned. "Well it's not like I don't get enough of hearing you say THAT." Dale curled his fingers in Joey's hair and pulled him into a tighter kiss.

Dale turned on his cell phone, and it beeped that he had three messages. He began checking them when it began ringing again.

"Hello?"

"Dale, it's Mark. You at home?"

"Hey Mark, actually no I'm not. Joey and I just got done with my vocal. What's up?'

"Can you swing by the house? I need to talk." Mark sounded seriously depressed.

"Hang on a second." Dale covered the phone with his hand. "It's Mark. Can we swing by his place?"

"Sure. We'll be there in about ten minutes."

"Mark? Be there in ten. You okay?"

"No."

CLICK

The doorbell rings, and Mark goes to answer it.

"Oh. Hi Chris. Come on in."

Chris Kirkpatrick came slowly into Mark's house. "Hi Mark, how's things?"

"Um, okay. How're you?"

"Same ol' here. I am confused about something though."

"Oh? What's that?"

"Why you slept with Lance."