Loving Lance Chapter 4 By: Jeremy W.
All the usual stuff applies, this story isn't meant to imply anything about the sexuality of any member of 'N Sync. If you aren't 18 or whatever the legal age is in your area, you shouldn't be reading this. And if you are offended by homosexual material you might oughta leave.
I would also like to mention a few of my favorite stories on Nifty, "Brian and Me" by DLS, "Lance in Shining Armour" by Scotty, and "Studio in the Country" by Michael. These are all great stories and the authors are great guys. If you haven't checked them out yet, by all means do.
I'm really sorry that I took so long to get this installment out, but my life's been pretty hectic lately. I'd love to get some feedback on this story, positive or negative. Drop me a line at brainking@hotmail.com.
Chapter 4
For the second time in less than 10 seconds, I panicked. I flung the bathroom door open and hurtled into the hall, nearly slamming into Lance in the process. Heedless of the cries of "Wait, Jeremy!" coming from behind me, I opened the last door in the hallway and scrambled into the room. As soon as I was sure that no one was in the room with me, I locked the door and sank to my knees.
The tears that had been forming in my eyes began to spill over my cheeks like a river in flood. I crawled to the corner of what appeared to be the guest bedroom and curled up into a sobbing ball. Questions began to come unbidden to my mind. Did Lance hate me for what he now knew me to be? Did he know about Justin and JC? Did they hate me for finding out about them?
Someone started pounding on the door of the room and yelling for me to open it. I was unable to distinguish who was calling because of the violent sobs that were wracking my body. Suddenly the knocking and yelling stopped and the sound of my crying filled the room. Then I heard a door opening, but I didn't have the strength to look up. "Good thing he didn't realize that this bedroom adjoins the one next to it," Justin whispered softly.
A pair of strong arms enfolded my body and held me until my sobs began to lessen. A gentle hand raised my chin until I was looking directly into Lance's pale green eyes. He brushed the tears off of my cheeks with his thumbs and a smile graced his face when he saw recognition in my eyes. Then, to my utter shock and amazed joy, he brushed his lips against mine in a tender kiss.
The emotions that rushed through my brain were totally indescribable. Gently, Lance pulled away and broke the heavenly connection. Over his shoulder I saw Justin and JC standing together with their arms around each other's waist and broad smiles on their faces.
"I've wanted to do that since the first day we met," Lance whispered huskily into my ear.
"Me too," I giggled. "And here we've wasted all this time together just being friends."
Justin and JC quietly left the room as Lance helped me to my feet and guided me over to the bed. As we sat down, he gave me a quick peck on the cheek and said, "The guys and I were all talking earlier and we all agreed that we like you a lot. Especially me," he said with a wink. "As a matter of fact, we like you so much that we want you to go on tour with us as our personal assistant."
I was astounded. I was pretty sure that the guys had had a good time with me, but I didn't know that they liked me to that extent. "It sounds like a great offer," I said. "But I don't really know anything about being a personal assistant."
Lance replied, "All that you would do would be to be our interface with management and help us keep our schedules straight. The last guy that the company hired to do the job was all right, but he just wasn't any fun to be around."
"I have to be in school for a few more weeks," I said. "Is that gonna be a problem?"
"Not at all," Lance told me. "The tour doesn't start for about a month. So, are you interested?" he questioned.
"You better believe it," I said with a smile. "When else in my life am I gonna get the chance to work with some of the hottest guys in show biz?" With that, I leaned in and gently pressed my lips to his. After several seconds of bliss, I pulled back and said, "Now I think that we should talk about us."
"In these past few days, I've started to have feelings for you," Lance said. "I know it seems kinda sudden, but I'd like it if we could become more than friends."
"I think I'd like that too," I replied. "As a matter of fact, one of the main reasons I entered the contest was because I had a major crush on you. And actually meeting you has made me like you even more. Don't get me wrong," I added. "I really like your music too, but your being so cute was a big influence."
Lance blushed and said, "Thanks, you're not so bad yourself." He went on, "As you've probably already figured out, Justin and JC are a couple. Joey and Chris know that the three of us are gay and they don't have a problem with it."
"Do you think that they know about me?" I asked. Inside I was wondering if they would still want me to go on tour with them if they knew that Lance and I were fast becoming a couple.
"Well, I'm not sure, but they do know that I like you a lot." Lance replied. "For straight guys, they have pretty good gaydar. They knew about Justin and me before we told them, but none of us suspected JC."
I laughed as I said, "I always wondered about you three, but I was pretty sure that Joey and Chris were straight. No self-respecting gay guy would do that to their hair."
"What time does your flight leave tomorrow?" Lance asked.
"The plane takes off at 3:30, so I figured that I better be at the airport by 3:00." I replied. "I'm not the most experienced air traveler and I tend to get lost easily in airports."
"Since you don't have to leave until the afternoon, why don't you stay here tonight?" Lance queried. "I don't think that Joey is staying tonight, so there's an extra bedroom open."
"Sounds good to me." I said. "Let's go tell the guys that everything's alright so they won't be worrying."
After another quick peck on the lips, Lance and I stood and walked into the hall. As we went through the bedroom door, Lance reached down and grabbed my hand. I smiled and gave his hand a small squeeze as we proceeded to the living room.
As we entered, Justin and JC looked up from where they were sitting on the couch and saw our linked hands. They grinned and made room for us to sit beside them. "Joey, Chris, you guys should stop stuffing your faces and come here for a minute." Justin yelled towards the kitchen.
Chris walked in still munching on the last few bites of a piece of pizza and he was followed a few seconds later by Joey, who was downing a glass of soda. "I've got some good news," Lance announced. "Jeremy has decided to take us up on our offer to be our personal assistant during the tour."
"That's great!" Joey exclaimed. He eyed our joined hands and continued, "I was wondering how long it would take you two to get together. Lance told us that he liked you and I figured the feeling was reciprocated since you've been making calf eyes at him all week."
"Was I really that obvious?" I asked.
Justin and JC quickly assured me that they had no idea and Chris added his sentiment to theirs. "I didn't know about the other guys," Joey said. "But I was sure that Lance didn't know. I'm just quick to pick up on these things, I guess."
"It's because you're such a flirt yourself," Chris chuckled. "You've had enough practice getting slapped by girls to know the signs."
"I'm glad for you two and I hope everything works out," JC said. "I know that Lance has been pretty lonely lately. I hope ya'll are as happy together as Justin and I." He and Justin exchanged a loving glance.
"Sorry about shocking you earlier when you walked in on us," Justin apologized. "We should have locked the door, but we were in a hurry since we had been on the town tonight and we didn't have a chance to be alone."
"That's OK," I smiled. "I'll just make sure and knock before I go into the bathroom again."
"It's getting late," Joey stated. "I guess I'll be heading home. Are we doing anything tomorrow?"
"Why don't we go swimming in the pool tomorrow?" Justin suggested. "You can just come back over whenever you get up." Turning to me he asked, "What about you Jeremy?"
"I think I'm gonna stay the night here if that's OK with you," I answered.
A resounding "OOOOHHHH" came from the other guys. "In the extra bedroom," I said with a mock glare.
"That's fine with me," replied Justin. "What time do you have to leave tomorrow?"
"I guess I'll have to leave here about 2:30 to get back to the hotel and then to the airport in time for my flight," I said.
"Night, guys. I'll see you in the morning," Joey said as he headed out the door.
"I think I'll be going to bed now too," Chris announced. "Sweet dreams, guys."
As he walked into the hallway, JC and Justin stood from the couch and walked back towards their room with a wave in our direction. I turned to Lance and said, "I know you're tired from everything today and I probably won't get any sleep on the plane tomorrow so maybe we should hit the hay too."
Lance showed me to the extra bedroom and paused at the door. "Thanks for taking care of me today when I got hurt," he said.
"It was definitely my pleasure," I replied. "I liked the feel of you in my arms when I carried you into the house."
"Then let's try it again," Lance said as he pulled me into his arms. Our lips came together and meshed for what seemed like an eternity, but was still too short for my taste.
"Goodnight," I said breathlessly after Lance withdrew.
As we slowly slid apart, Lance whispered, "Night, sweetie." I turned back into the room and he made his way to his own.
The next morning Justin woke me by tapping his finger on my forehead. "I figured you might wanna wake Lance up," Justin said as I returned to consciousness. "Breakfast is whatever you can find in the kitchen."
I climbed out of bed and quickly dressed. I crept silently down the hall to the door of Lance's room, which was slightly ajar. I peeked inside to see Lance still wrapped up in the sheets, soundly asleep. I tiptoed to the edge of the bed and gently pulled the sheet off of Lance's chest and began to tickle his sides. His eyes quickly popped open and he started to say something but I quickly sealed his lips with my own. Then he surprised me by reaching up behind me and pulling me down on the mattress beside him. This started a wrestling match that lasted for several minutes and ended up with Lance sitting on my chest while I begged for mercy.
As Lance laughed in triumph, I pointed to the large bulge in his boxers and said, "Watch where you're pointing that thing, you could put somebody's eye out."
His face turned beet red and he quickly jumped off of me and pulled on some pants. I was still giggling as I hopped off of the bed and slapped him on the butt as he bent down to pick up a shirt. After getting my laughter under control I said, "Good morning, sunshine."
He stood up and gave me a peck on the cheek as he said, "Good morning to you too. You could have woken me up a little more gently though."
"Where's the fun in that?" I questioned as we headed for the kitchen. All we were able to find was cereal and oatmeal. I opted for the peanut butter Captain Crunch while Lance decided on Golden Grahams. As we were sitting down at the table, Justin came in from outside.
"I had the pool guy come by to make sure the pool was clean," he announced.
"It's been a while since we've swam in it and I figured it was getting pretty bad. Besides, he's pretty cute too."
"I heard that," said JC as he stumbled in the room. His hair was wild and he was wearing boxers and a wifebeater.
"I just said that he was cute," Justin smiled. "He's nothing compared to you, my hunky stud. Now get over here and give me a kiss." As Justin bent in close to JC, he suddenly made a gagging sound and quickly pulled away. "Whoa, now that's some nasty morning breath."
JC sheepishly walked to the cabinet and poured himself a bowl of cereal. He said, "You're lucky I'm even awake at this ungodly hour. Whoever heard of getting up at 9:00 when you don't have to."
We were all laughing when the phone rang. Justin answered and spoke for a minute before hanging up. "That was Joey," he explained. "He said that he'll be here in about an hour."
Chris was the last to join us at the table, but he had already been awake for a while and showered.
"I think I'll go get a shower myself," I said. "Does anybody have any swim trunks that I could borrow? All my stuff is back at the hotel."
"I've got some that you can wear," Lance said. "They're in the third drawer in my room."
"Thanks babe," I said. I planted a kiss on his lips and made my way into the back of the house. After grabbing the swim trunks, I went to the bathroom and adjusted the water to the right temperature. As I was lathering my hair, I began thinking about the tour.
As soon as I got back to school, I was going to have to call my parents and tell them. They probably wouldn't be happy with the idea, but they let me make my own decisions, even if they didn't agree with them. I made a mental note to ask Lance about the details of the job, like salary and benefits.
When I finished in the shower, I put on Lance's trunks and an old T-shirt that I had also found in Lance's dresser. I headed back towards the living room and met Lance coming down the hall. He told me that he was getting in the shower and he'd meet me out by the pool when he was done.
JC had showered in the other bathroom at the same time I was and he and Justin were already outside. "I've decided to grill some hamburgers for lunch," Justin informed me. "How do you like yours?
"Anywhere from medium rare to well done is fine with me," I replied.
Chris came running from the house and slammed into JC causing JC to fall over the edge and into the pool. As Chris stood laughing at poolside, JC reached up and grabbed his ankles, pulling him in too. Justin and I eyed each other warily. We began circling each other, trying to get in a position to push the other into the pool. Just as I was about to get him, I saw a blur out of the corner of my eye and Lance tackled Justin, sending them both flying into the pool.
"Oh Lance, my hero!" I said in my best Southern belle accent. "You sacrificed yourself for little ol' me."
I pulled off the T-shirt and dove into the pool. Joey arrived soon and we got into a game of pool basketball. The teams were the same as when we had played before and the game was pretty much even the whole time. Lance, Justin, and Chris ended up winning. We challenged them to a rematch, but they decided to quit while they were ahead.
By then it was nearly time for lunch so Justin climbed out of the pool to start the grill. I volunteered to help since I enjoy cooking and he assigned me the task of making salad. As I was searching through the cabinets in the kitchen for the proper ingredients, I felt a pair of strong arms wrap and me and pull into to a broad, firm chest. I whispered softly, "Joey, we can't let Lance find out about us."
"Oh really," came a deep voice from behind me.
I spun around quickly and gasped, "Lance, it's you!" But I couldn't keep a straight face for long and I ended up giggling.
"You're not funny, you know," Lance said with a grin. He kissed me softly and then asked how he could help.
"Well, I'm sure you're familiar with this kitchen," I said. "Help me find the stuff I need to make salad dressing. After we gathered up all the ingredients, we mixed them up and stuck them in the fridge. Then we sliced up lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and tomatoes with a little bit of diced onion thrown in.
The burgers were nearly done by that time, so we carried everything outside and set it on the picnic table on the patio. Chris, Joey and JC climbed from the pool and lined up by Justin to get their burgers. We all ended up eating two burgers and a large bowl of salad each. I was definitely too stuffed to swim for a while, so I announced that I was gonna get some sun.
"That sounds like a good idea to me too," said Lance. We went inside and retrieved the sun block so we wouldn't fry to a crisp. After we greased each other up, we lay down in two pool chairs and held hands. Soon, the combination of the food and the warm sun put me to sleep.
I woke with a start about 30 minutes later as Chris jumped from the diving board with a loud scream. The first thing I noticed was that my chair had gotten a lot more crowded. Sometime during my nap, Lance had migrated from his chair to mine and he had fallen asleep also. I raised my head from Lance's chest, which I had been sleeping on, and gave him a small kiss.
"Let's not waste my last bit of time here with sleep," I said.
"You just had to remind me that you'll be leaving soon," Lance moaned. "I wish you could stay a little longer. We've barely had any time together.
"I'm not any happier about it than you are, sweetie," I answered. "But school will be out in just a few weeks and we can talk on the phone until then."
Lance made a whimpering sound and I nuzzled my head to his chest to try and comfort him. The others noticed that we were awake and urged us to get back in the pool for a while. We jumped in and goofed around for another half-hour or so before climbing out and drying off.
After changing back into normal clothes, we met in the living room and played Nintendo 64 for a while. During the time that Lance and I weren't playing, I sat on the floor and Lance was on the couch behind me with his arms draped down across my chest.
At 2:00, I stood up and announced that it was about time for me to leave. Lance stood up and said, "I'm gonna go back to the hotel with you to gather up your stuff, and then I'll drive you to the airport."
"We wanna see you off too," JC said. "How about we meet you two at the airport at 3:00?"
"Sounds good to me," I replied. Lance and I went out to his 4-Runner and climbed inside. As we headed to the hotel, I remembered to ask him more about the job.
"What are the benefits of the job?" I questioned.
"Well, you get to be around me a lot," Lance smiled. "And it's full medical and dental and you also get life insurance while we're on tour."
"What about the salary?" I queried.
"I'm not exactly sure," he said. "I think it's somewhere in the area of $500 per week."
"And what will I be doing?" I added.
"You'll be with us most of the time," Lance said. "You'll help us keep track of appearances and appointments. Most of the time when management wants to tell us something, they'll call you and have you tell us."
"That doesn't sound too hard," I said happily.
"I'll have all the paperwork ready for you to sign by the week that school ends," Lance stated. "That way, you can come down here as soon as school is out."
"Well, I don't know about that," I said. "I really need to spend at least a little time with my family between now and the start of the tour. If I didn't, I'd feel really bad."
"I understand," Lance answered. "I'm the same way with my family. As a matter of fact, I'll probably spend most of my time between now and the start of the tour at home."
We pulled up to the front of my hotel and quickly went inside. When we got to the door of my room, Lance said, "You know, when we were here the other night, I really wanted to kiss you."
"I hoped so, cause I really wanted to kiss you too," I said. "So why don't we make up for it?" I pulled him into the room with one hand and shut the door with the other.
We hugged and kissed for several minutes before I decided that if we were ever gonna get to the airport on time, we should really pack up my stuff. Lance gathered my things from the bathroom while I stuffed clothes into my suitcase. I was barely able to shut it after we added all the things that I had bought to bring back to people.
We went downstairs and checked out. I thanked the concierge for his hospitality and we carried my bags out to the 4-Runner. On the way to the airport Lance filled me in on more details of my job. After getting to the airport it didn't take us long to spot the guys. They were wearing their disguises again and Justin had brought Lance's along.
They were able to take me straight to my gate because they knew the airport like the back of their hands. We still had 20 minutes or so before time for me to board and we spent most of it in idle talk. As the first call to board my flight came from the speakers, the guys told me how much they'd enjoyed the time that I spent with them and how much they were looking forward to seeing me again when the tour started.
"But I'm sure Lance will be looking forward to it a lot more than the rest of us," Joey chuckled. "We'll leave you two alone now so you can say goodbye."
I turned to Lance and said, "I know this is hard, but I'll call you as soon as I get home."
"You'd better," he replied.
I noticed tears shining in his eyes as I bent to grab my carry-on bag. I gave him a long hug and when I pulled back he looked a little better.
"Bye," we whispered at the same time.
As I walked towards the gate, I looked back to see a puppy dog expression on Lance's face. I nearly lost it at that point, but I knew that I needed to be strong for Lance. I waved one last time and handed my ticket to the attendant.
Contrary to what I had told Lance the night before, I slept most of the flight home. After picking up my bags from the carousel, I walked outside to find Jed waiting for me.
"Well, how was it?" he asked.
"It was great!" I exclaimed. "You'll never believe what happened. They all liked me so much that they asked me to go on tour with them as their personal assistant."
"Wow, you must have made some impression on them," he said. "How did things go with Lance?"
"What do you mean?" I asked nervously. "I guess Lance liked me alright." "You know what I mean Jeremy," he replied. "I've known about you for a while now. Every time they were on TV you HAD to be watching it. And you always paid special attention when Lance was on the screen."
I was totally dumbfounded. I didn't think that anyone at home had any idea about me.
"Don't worry, I don't have a problem with it," he assured me. "So, did anything happen?"
"Well," I said with a smile. "We're dating now."
"You work pretty fast when you put your mind to it," Jed chuckled.
"I'll tell you all about it on the ride back to campus," I said. We headed to his truck and back into my life of classes and tests.
Thanks for reading guys. Again, I'm sorry this installment took so long to get out. I couldn't do anything over Christmas break and then when I got back to school the new semester started and I had to get back in the groove of things. Send comments or complaints to: brainking@hotmail.com