My Big Break

Disclaimer: Don't read this if you're not supposed to. One more word: Fiction. (Good enough? I think so...)

Notes: 1) Let me know what you think! Writermurf@hotmail.com

1. Thanks to those of you who have taken time out to e-mail me.

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My REALLY, REALLY Big Break (Damn, I'm a Lucky Bastard) Part 4 - This part has two titles:

1. Premature Ending

2. (I'm Schizophrenic.) [And So Am I.] (You'll hopefully get why it has this title as you read...)

+++++++++++++ The end of the last chapter...

"Okay, well, Nick, I like you. And I was wondering, well, would you like to go out sometime?"

"Why, Mr. Bass, are you asking me out on a date?"

"Yeah, yeah I am, what do you say?"

"Well, I don't know, I have to think about it for a while..."

"Okay, well, just let me know when you've decided," he said a little disappointed.

"I've thought enough - sure I'll go out with you."

"Really?"

"Sure, why not? If we decide we don't like each other, at the very least it's a story I can tell my adopted grandchildren."

"Oh, so that's all I am is a story you can tell your adopted grandchildren?"

"Sure, I'm sure the grandkids will ask how I met their grandfather at some point." I said catching him by surprise.

"Um..."

"Relax, Lance, I was just joking - I'm not planning that far ahead. If we have fun, we do and we'll go further, if we don't, we don't and we'll know we're better friends."

"Okay."

"So what do you wanna do? - 'cause I'm not a cheap date, you know."

"I was afraid of that..." he said laughing.

"Tell you what, we'll figure that stuff out later, let's go see what's going on in the back."

"Sounds good to me," he said as he stood up and held out his hand to help me up.

++++++++++++++++++ Part 4 Starts Now... ++++++++++++++++++

After a few more hours hanging out on the bus, we finally got to the hotel - it was going on 9:00pm. What a way to spend a day - cooped up on a bus. Now I know why those 'Go RV'ing' commercials never really did anything for me.

In our immense boredom - to be honest in my, Mary's and my dancer's immense boredom, 'N Sync was kind of used to sitting on a bus for extended periods - we decided to name the bus. You know, like people call Winebegos, Whinnies. We decided that our bus needed a name. It took us an hour to come up with the perfect one - 'Hell.' Simple, but appropriate. That won out over 'Bob' (the driver's name), 'Pimp Mobile' (which Joey wanted), 'Willy' (Mel wanted), and my personal favorite, 'Xslay Knancy' which JC came up with using the same rule as how they came up with 'N Sync.

"It's pronounced, 'Slay Nancy,' because the 'X' and 'K' are silent." JC said.

"Justin, smack him for me will ya?" I said.

"Your wish is my command," he said smacking JC upside the head.

"What? I like it," JC said.

So, like I said, we decided on 'Hell.' Other than naming the bus, we played a bunch of traditional road games that I found myself quickly trying to lose so I could be spared the agony (Does everyone remember Four Letter Words and the Licence Plate game? - if you don't, e-mail the author and he'll explain 'em to ya!).

Lance and I decided that we'd have a room service dinner together tonight, but that wasn't going to be our date, we'd actually go out for that. So we went to his room and ordered some food and watched some TV while we waited. Dinner came and went - it was nothing special, just room service. We just talked about 'get to know you stuff,' like where we were from, our childhoods, how we got into music, and other crap along those lines.

I stayed with Lance like I had the other night. And again, we didn't do anything - just slept. He woke me about 8:00am because we had a concert that night and we had a lot of stuff to do before then.

We were all up and ready to head out at 9:00am. We had a radio interview at 9:30, then we had a autograph signing at 11:00. That lasted an hour, then we broke for lunch. At 1:30, we were at the arena doing sound checks, etc to get ready for the concert. I was still out of commission as far as dancing goes, but we decided that since we had more time, we would re-work some of the dances. That took us the better part of the afternoon. At 5:00 we went back to the hotel for dinner and to clean up before the show. We had to be back at the arena at 7:00 - show time was 8:00.

The concert went well, better than the last anyway. We were all a little more on, and we had a little less on our minds. After the concert, we headed back to the hotel to pack, then got on the bus, for a lovely night on the road. Our next concert was tomorrow night.

The day was pretty similar to the one before it, except no hotel - we used the arena to get showered and stuff. We had a couple of interviews, sound checks, etc., then the concert, the back on the bus. It was pretty tiring, partly because all concerts are tiring, but mostly because a night on the bus is not really a good night of sleep. The bus is just too noisy and bumpy to really get a good nights sleep - but we all tried our best.

Management called Mary on the bus and told her that they had made me an appointment with a psychologist as I had requested. It was for about 10:00 the next morning, and it'd last an hour, which meant I should be back at the hotel by about 11:30 or so. I wasn't too keen on the idea of seeing a bunch of different shrinks on the road, but my managers said that if I found someone I really liked, they'd see what they could do to get them to come to me.

We got to our hotel about 3:00am. And we had a relatively light day today - no concert at least. I had the appointment, but if I wanted, I could come back and take a nap after it. Again, I spent the night with Lance.

He woke me up about 8:30am so I could get breakfast before my appointment. I got my shower and had breakfast without saying much. Truth be told I was a little nervous about going to a shrink. I mean, I was about to bare my soul to this person who I didn't know at all about how I felt about being raped when I couldn't even tell my friends - and they all knew what happened.

About 9:30am, I went down to the limo that would take me to my session. About twenty minutes later, we pulled up in front of this upscale, little office building. It stood about 3, maybe 4, stories tall, and all black-tinted windows, like it seems most new buildings are. The doctors office - Dr. Janie Horowitz - was on the second floor. I walked into the building and up to the receptionist, and, after verifying I had an appointment, she told me where to go. I took the elevator up, which opened right into Dr. Horowitz's reception area.

"Mr. Mason?" The receptionist asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Dr. Horowitz will see you now. Follow me." She said as she got up and started walking down a short hallway. She knocked and opened the door at the same time, then said into the room, "Dr. Horowitz, Mr. Mason is here to see you."

"Send him in," Came from the room.

The receptionist motioned for me to enter, which I did, then she shut the door behind me.

"Mr. Mason, nice to meet you," Dr. Horowitz said extending her hand, "I'm Dr. Janie Horowitz."

"Nick, please, I'm not old enough to be a 'Mister' yet," I smiled, "Good to meet you too, Dr. Horowitz." Truth be told, I wouldn't have been upset if I never really had to meet this woman in a professional manor. Not that I had anything against this woman in particular, it's just that if a few nights ago hadn't happened, I wouldn't be seeing her now - and that would be okay with me.

The doctor was rather attractive, her slender figure standing about 5'8" with shoulder-length brown hair, neatly tucked behind her ears. Her brown eyes were perfectly placed around small nose and her lips matched the rest of her face perfectly. She wore glasses that gave her a thoughtful look. All-in-all, on the straight man's 'do-able scale' she was probably about an seven, maybe eight, out of ten.

"Please call me Janie. Now I understand you had a traumatic experience recently, which is why you're seeking my help..." She started. And now I think I'll have to stop typing what we talked about - you know that whole Doctor/Patient confidentiality thing. (Well, that and the author is a lazy ass who doesn't feel like coming up with shit to write about my conversation with my shrink. :) [I heard that!] (Just shut up and type, Bryan) [Drop the attitude Nick, or I'll make 'em wait a few more weeks for the next section!] (Told you he was a lazy ass!)

She was easy to talk to and my nervousness quickly disappeared. We talked about what happened, how that has affected me, and my budding relationship with Lance (although, to be on the safe side, I didn't tell actually tell her I was starting to date Lance, just 'Someone' - even though I knew she couldn't talk about it without my consent). The hour flew by pretty quickly and I felt a lot better just by telling someone what had happened from my point of view. She suggested that I tell my friends what had happened, but I wasn't too sure if I wanted to - or if I was ready. But she told me to think about, which I would. Before I left, she gave me a phone number where she could be reached if I needed to talk, and I had her sign a couple of papers for me.

After leaving the building, I found the limo waiting for me, so I hopped in and headed back to the hotel. I rode the elevator to our floor and walked down the hallway, listening for noise. Surprise, surprise, I heard the most noise coming from Lance's room.

I knocked on the door, actually I pounded on the door, if I was going to do this, I had to start out just right. I heard a "Jesus Christ, break down the door why don't you?" come from the room. I heard someone start opening the handle and I just pushed the door open and burst into the room like I was on a sugar high that had been supplemented with a bottle of No Doze chased by couple of liters of Jolt Cola (in other words, I was hyper) [No shit, Nick, I think they got that] (Fuck Off) [Potty mouth].

Anyway, I burst into the room all hyper.(Happy?) [You have no idea...] I was jumping up and down and stuff. Then I looked at who had opened the door - it was Justin. He was now on his ass after being pushed back by my entrance.

"Jesus, Nick! You trying to kill me?" He asked.

"No, I'm just excited. It's a shame you didn't land on your head, Helmet."

"What? Man, you REALLY need to switch to decaf."

"Yuck, Helmet, you should know by now I hate coffee."

"Why the hell do you keep calling me Helmet?"

"Have you looked in a mirror lately? - GET A HAIRCUT."

"So I take it your appointment went well?" Lance asked amused.

"Yeah it went great. See, first, um, I walked into, um, first, I walked into this office, then, then," I was trying to sound like an excited little three or four year old who was trying to recount an exciting day. "Then, I got to the doctor's floor, right, and um, then, I saw the receptionist, and then, then, she led me into the doctors office. She was like 'Hi' and I was like 'Hi,' and next we talked about stuff, and like, just talked, and then, then we talked some more and that like lasted for, like um, an hour or whatever, and next, next she said like 'Bye,' and I said like 'Bye,' and then, then she gave me these!" I said waving around the papers I had her sign and jumping up and down excitedly.

"I'll amuse him," Alex said to everyone else, then turned to me, "What are the papers?"

"They're, um, they're, these really cool, things, like, um, they're. D'you know what they are?"

"No, that's why I asked." He said slowly.

"They're well, I'm crazy!" I said jumping up and down.

"Tell us something we didn't already know!" Tina piped up.

"No, what I mean, is now it official! See!" I said waving my papers in front of her face.

"Cool!" She said ripping them out of my hands so she could actually see them, "Does this mean we can commit you?"

I stopped jumping and became very serious as I glared at her, "No, it means that I can kill you and get away with it." I smiled evilly for a couple of seconds then proceeded to start jumping up and down again.

"Hey, Chris and Joey, wanna go get into trouble?"

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Chris said with a gleam in his eye, "Where can I get some crazy papers?"

"Just like, go to a doctor and have 'em sign 'em for ya!"

"Chris you don't need papers, you could get off on the insanity plea without them - we got your back," JC laughed.

"I'm in, what kind of trouble did you have in mind, Nick?" Joey said.

"Well, first we ditch the losers here," I said motioning around the room, "Then we just find whatever trouble we can."

"Hey! I'm not a loser!" Lance protested.

"Okay, wanna come?" I said.

"Not really."

"Then, sorry, you're a loser," I said holding my right hand to my forehead in the 'L' shape.

"Anybody else in?" I asked.

"I could use some trouble," JC said.

"Sounds good to me," Justin chimed in.

"Cool, JC and Helmet are in. Okay, is it just the five of us?" I asked the others. After not getting any response, I said, "Let's go, guys! Later losers!"

They got up and we headed to the door, the other four turned before leaving, "See ya, losers!"

"Just get out already, damn!" Alex said laughing.

We walked down to the elevators and decided to try and figure out what to do.

"What do you guys want to do?" I asked.

"I dunno, we could hit a mall." Justin said.

"That's an idea, Helmet."

"Could you please not call me that?"

"You don't like it?"

"No, I don't."

"Then, sorry, Helmet, but no." I said with a laugh.

Justin began to sulk.

"Come on, Helmet, he's just playing," JC said with a laugh.

"I hate you guys," Justin said, trying to hide a smile.

"We're sorry, Helmet," Joey said.

"God, you guys suck. I'm going to come up with the most hideous nickname for you, Nick."

"You can try, but I had some pretty bad ones, so they don't faze me much anymore, Helmet," I laughed, "So what do you guys think - the mall?"

"Sounds good, we can play with the rent-a-cops minds." Joey said.

"Like there's anything to play with," Chris laughed.

"Just remember you have to be back by six," Justin said.

"What?" I said confused. JC nudged Justin in the side and gave him a look - I knew something was up. I pushed the stop button on the elevator and stood in front of the panel. "Why do I have to be back by six, Justin?" I said looking him in the eye.

"Not you, uh, I meant JC and I," he stammered out glancing around for help.

"Oh, why do JC and you have to be back by six, then?"

"Oh, we have, are, uh, that is, we're going out tonight."

"You guys are going out on a date?"

"Yeah." I knew he was lying.

"I didn't realize you were gay, Justin."

"I'm bi."

"Really, well, why don't you kiss JC then."

"Um, well, I don't feel like it."

"You don't feel like it or you're straight?"

"Don't feel like it, why don't you kiss him?"

"Okay," I said as I practically leapt on JC and kissed him full on the lips with a little tongue action. When I released, I asked Justin, "Jealous?" Then I almost fell backwards, JC was a REALLY good kisser. Joey kind of caught me and laughed a little.

After regaining some composure, I said, "Wow, JC, you're really good at that," causing him to blush, then I turned to Justin and asked, "Why in God's name would you NOT want to kiss him?" My mind was full of thoughts that I was with the wrong member of 'N Sync after that kiss, but Lance wasn't a bad kisser himself, so I put those thoughts out of my mind.

I knew Justin was straight, he knew he was straight, I just really wanted to see if I could get him to kiss JC - and I was pretty sure that JC wasn't going to mind judging by the grin on his face.

"So, why do I have to be back by six?" I asked again.

"Okay, fine, JC and I don't have a date-"

"No shit. Really?"

"-But I can't tell you why."

"What does Lance have planned?"

"Nothing..."

"Fine, oh and by the way, that whole kissing JC thing doesn't leave this elevator." I said as I pushed the button to start the elevator again.

We got to the lobby and headed out front where we got a cab to the nearest mall. We had some fun at the mall, we really were acting a little nuts for a mall, and we did almost get kicked out. We started out fine, just walking around, but then Justin wanted to go into a department store - Nordstrom's, I think - and that's when all hell broke loose. We decided to play Hide and Seek in the clothes racks, which is apparently a no-no in Nordstrom's, because we did get kicked out of there. So we went a terrorized a few other stores before lunch.

We had a (read this next word with as much sarcasm as you can muster while rolling your eyes) wonderful lunch in the food court. After that, we decided to see a movie. I felt for the people in front of us as Chris bought some Goobers on his way in. Let's just say that he didn't eat many of them. After the movie, we walked around the mall a little longer before deciding that we had about as much fun in the mall as we were able to, so we decided to head back to the hotel, after all, it was just after five, and I apparently had to be back by six.

When we got back to the hotel, it was about 5:30. We decided to see where everyone was, so we went to Lance's room and knocked. A couple of seconds later Lance opened the door.

"Hi Lance."

"Hi Nick, guys. Um, did they tell you anything about tonight?"

"No, just that Justin and JC have a date and therefore they had to be back by six, why?"

"Uh, Justin and JC have a date?" He said to me but looked at them with a funny expression.

"He pulled out at the last minute," JC said pointing to Justin.

"Okay, whatever," Lance said shaking his head a little. "Nick, would you like to have dinner with me?"

"Sure."

"Good. Go get cleaned up and come back dressed up."

"Um, okay. Two questions. One, since you obviously have something planned already, where are we going, and, two, how dressed up is dressed up?"

"One, it's a surprise, and two, a suit and tie."

"How long do I get to get ready?"

He looked at his watch, then said, "You have about 45 minutes."

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit." And I headed off down the hall to my room to get ready.

I got showered and dressed wondering where Lance was planning on taking me for what was going to be our first official date. I got back down to his room with about five minutes to spare. I knocked on the door and he opened it a few seconds later sporting a really nice dark grey suit, black shirt and a dark red tie that looked great on him.

"You look great, Lance."

"Thanks, you're not so bad yourself."

"I know." I said laughing.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever dated someone as conceded as you are," he chuckled.

"That's just one of my many fine qualities."

"Modesty is clearly another."

"Clearly. So where are you taking me, Mr. Bass?"

"First, as I said earlier, it's a surprise, and second, don't call me Mr. Bass, it makes me feel old."

"Kay, Junior." I laughed.

"Not that either - how about, James."

"James, what are we making up names now? How about you call me Keith."

"No, we're not making up names," he sighed dramatically, "James is my real first name, Lance is my middle name."

"I did not know that - wow, you learn something new everyday. Why do you go by Lance?"

"I just like it better."

"So, you don't want me to call you Mr. Bass, because, essentially, you don't like it. But James is alright? It's all so much clearer now..."

"Just shut up," he laughed, "You can call me Lance, or you can call me James, if you like that better, just don't call me late for dinner!" He laughed at his own joke(?) then looked down at his watch and added, "Which we're gonna be if we don't get going."

"Okay, let's get going then." I said heading for the door.

We walked down the hall and passed JC's open door, where everyone else was. We popped our heads in and said bye. And we were greeted with few whistles.

"We know we're hot," I laughed.

"That's my conceded boyfriend," Lance laughed, then stopped and looked at me as if to ask if his calling me his boyfriend was okay - which it was.

"You know it babe, let's go before they get jealous of our beauty." I laughed.

"Just get out already!" JC called from the bed.

"Love you, too, JC!" I called back as we started walking down the hall again.

We got to the elevator, pushed down, and waited for the next car.

"So where we goin'?" I asked. I decided that if I was annoying enough he'd give up and just tell me.

"You'll find out."

"But wouldn't it be much simpler to just tell me?"

"Nope."

"But what if I don't like the place that you're taking me - in that case telling me now would save you the embarrassment of taking me somewhere that I don't like."

"I know you like where we're going."

The elevator doors opened and we got in. We were the only ones in the car.

"And how do you know that?" I asked.

"I do my homework."

"Why is that about the most unappealing answer you could've given me right now?"

"I don't know - what weren't you a good student?"

"No, I was a alright student, but that doesn't mean that homework was very high on my list of things to do - and now I feel like maybe this date was like a chore or something, you know, it was just 'homework,'" Okay so the annoying thing wasn't working, we'll try guilt.

"I didn't mean it that way, I'm sorry - wait, you're just saying that, I'm still not telling you where we're going - guilt won't get that from me." Damn, he figured me out.

"Guilt? Would I do that?"

"Yes."

"You suck. I don't think I want to date you anymore," I said turning away from him.

"Okay, we'll just head back upstairs then." He said going to push another button on the elevator panel.

"Touch that panel and I break your fingers."

"Touchy, touchy." He said pulling way from the panel.

"Will pouting work?"

"I doubt it," he laughed.

"You really suck now."

"Do you really wanna know?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll tell you," he said sighing, "in about twenty minutes when we get there."

"You think you're a funny bastard, don't ya?"

"I know I'm funny."

"Nah, you're just a bastard."

"I'm hurt." he said putting a hand on his chest.

"I know what would ease the pain."

"And what, pray tell, would that be?"

"You telling me where we're going."

"Some how I doubt doing that would make me any less of a bastard."

"Sure it would, trust me."

"Yeah, right."

Finally the damn-slow elevator got to the lobby and we got out. I followed Lance out of the lobby to the limo that was waiting for us. We got in and the driver shut the door behind us. He got in and pulled away from the curb. He knew where we were going. I decided to see if I could get it out of him.

"Excuse me?" I said to the driver.

"Yes, sir?" He said.

"Please, call me Nick."

"Okay, Nick, what can I do for you?"

"Can you tell me where we're going?"

"No, he can't." Lance said, cutting the driver off.

"No, I guess I can't," he said laughing a little.

"There's a fifty in it for ya." I said.

"There's a hundred in it for him if he keeps his mouth shut."

"One fifty."

"Two hundred."

"Two fifty."

"Three hundred."

"Fine! Don't tell me - But make sure he gives you you're three hundred." I sat back and smiled. "Told ya I wasn't a cheap date." I laughed.

"Now who's the bastard?"

"You are. See, you could have saved yourself three hundred bucks by just telling me on the elevator." I put a triumphant look on my face.

He leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Three hundred is a bargain, I planned on giving him five." He laughed as he pulled away.

"You really do suck," I laughed. "I hope that you still are planning on it, too."

"Now more than ever."

"So what are we doing tonight, just dinner, or do you have something else planned as well?"

"You'll see..."

"You know a good relationship is built on honesty, trust, and openness."

"I know."

"So, since I'd like this to be a good relationship, I'll tell you something, if you tell me something. It'll be an even exchange."

"What do you have to tell me?"

"Nothing, until you tell me where we're going and what we're doing tonight."

"How do I know that you actually have something worth telling me?"

"It's called trust. And you better hurry, offer ends when we get to wherever we're going."

He thought about it for a minute.

"Nah, I'll just keep it a secret."

"Okay, you're loss."

"So, what were you gonna tell me?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing, like what?"

"Nothing, like nothing."

Just then the limo stopped.

"Are we here?" I asked.

"Yup."

I looked out the window. We were at, at a Burger King drive thru.

"Um, James, you know we're at a Burger King, right?"

"Yup."

"You took me to a Burger King on our first date?" I asked. He nodded, grinning.

"You took me, in a limo, to a Burger King on our first date?" I asked. He nodded, grinning bigger.

"You took me, in a limo, to Burger King on our first date, wearing suits?" I asked. He nodded, grinning as big as he could.

"There's no way in hell I'm telling you what I was going to tell you." I said.

"Fine, but what do you want to eat?" He said still grinning.

"You're not serious, are you?"

"Yes, we have to order, wha'cha'want?"

"Uh, you are serious aren't you..."

"Yes," he said turning to the speaker and ordering a Whopper meal.

"Um, well, I guess, get me one as well." This had to be the strangest thing I've ever witnessed - Lance was going to pay for a limo, and tip the driver five hundred dollars, but we went to a Burger King.

I was jerked back to reality by Lance handing me a bag.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Um, yeah, I'm okay... Um, just one thing, please tell me that we didn't get all dressed up just to go to a Burger King?"

"You don't like Burger King? Alex said that you liked Burger King."

"I like Burger King just fine, but..."

"But, what?"

"Um, well, I guess this is just about the LAST thing I expected that's all..."

"Well, let's eat."

Okay, this was really getting to me. Here we were in a fucking limo, in fucking suits, eating fucking Burger King - I don't think I can stress that enough. It would have been completely different if he told me to put on jeans and a sweatshirt, then we got a taxi to drive us to the Burger King, then we actually ate inside the restaurant. But no, we got dressed up, driven in a limo, then went through the DRIVE THRU! I was beginning to feel that he was embarrassed to be seen out with me, even though no one would know that we were on a date. This was bothering me more and more as I ate my burger, trying not to drop any on my suit.

I looked up from my meal to see that we were back to the hotel. And then there the hotel went. Well, I guess my evening of surprises wasn't over yet, maybe we were going to a McDonald's to get a McFlurry for dessert. I finished up my meal pretty much as Lance was finishing up his, and I had to say something.

"Where we going now? McDonald's?"

"If you want, but that's not what I had in mind."

"Wendy's then?"

"No, our trip will not include any more fast food restaurants."

"So, then can you enlighten me as to where we're going? If you tell me, I promise I'll still act surprised when we get there."

"That's alright, I'd rather see the real surprise, than a fake one."

I groaned inwardly, all I could think was 'Didn't he get enough of the surprised look at Burger King?'

Anyway, most of the rest of the limo ride was spent in silence. I was silent because I was getting more and more nervous about my next 'Surprise,' and I think Lance was beginning to get a little nervous about if his plan was as wonderful as he originally thought is was or if he should have talked to me about it ahead of time.

About fifteen-twenty minutes later, the limo stopped. I looked out my window, and looked at the sign on the building. It said 'Les Miserables,' and had a picture of a young girl standing in front of a French flag. Maybe this part of the evening wasn't going to be so bad after all.

The driver came around to my side of the car and opened the door. I got out followed by Lance.

"Here we are." Lance said.

"So we're seeing 'Les Mis,' huh?"

"Yup, is that okay?" he asked unsure.

"Sure it is, I love 'Les Mis,' I've seen it twice already."

We went up to the ticket booth, where Lance asked for the tickets he had reserved earlier. We then made our way into the theater. It was a very nice, old theater, but well maintained. It was very ornate, and that gave it character. It seemed to me to be one of those buildings that you might like to go in, just to go in and look around, not because you were seeing something there.

Anyway, the usher showed us to our seats. They were in the middle of the orchestra section, and we could see really well. I was kind of surprised that he was able to get tickets on such short notice, but he did, and that's all I cared about.

"James," I said, "In case I forget later, thank you for this evening. I have to admit, in case you couldn't tell, the whole Burger King thing REALLY scared me, but this is a beautiful recovery."

"Um, your welcome, I think." He said chuckling.

"Well, think of it from my point of view - you don't know where your going, just that you're wearing a suit and you're riding in a limo. Then you stop at a Burger King, what would you be thinking?"

He started to laugh, "I guess you're right, that would be a little weird."

"You're telling me..." I laughed.

Just then the house lights flashed signaling everyone to take their seats. Lance and I sat back and got comfortable while we waited for the performance to begin.

It was a great performance. The musical was excellent (again), the cast was wonderful, and the company was superb. I saw him steal a few glances at me during the performance, and surely I stole my fair share of him, but we were both engrossed in the show. I shed tears a few times during the performance, but so did most people. We gave the performers a well-deserved standing ovation, then we headed back out to the limo to go back to the hotel.

"That was wonderful, thank you for bringing me," I told Lance once we were back in the limo.

"It was my pleasure. Did you really have fun tonight?"

"As much fun as one can when crying their eyes out over multiple deaths," I laughed.

"Yeah," He laughed, "A lot of people died in that show didn't they?"

"Yup. I've seen that show now 3 times, and, you know, I still can't figure out why it's called Les Miserables..." I said sarcastically.

"Hmmm, me neither... ...everyone seemed so happy..." he smiled.

"Oh yeah, happy, right up until they died anyway." I laughed.

We chit-chatted about the show some more and then fell into a comfortable silence. He leaned up against me and I put my arm around him pulling him closer. We pretty much stayed that way until we got back to the hotel a little while later.

After getting out of the limo, Lance tipped Tom (I found out that was the driver's name), and we headed into the hotel and to the elevator. When we got to our floor, we didn't hear any noise, so we figured that everyone headed out for a night on the town. I headed down to my room, to change into something more comfortable, while Lance went to his room to do the same. Ten minutes later, I headed down to Lance's room.

"James-e-poo..." I said as I opened the door to his room.

"Call me that again and I'll smack you!" was the response that came from the bathroom.

"Sure thing Lance-e-poo."

"Get out!" He laughed.

"Bye!" I said turning towards the door.

"Wait!" he said bolting out of the bathroom with toothpaste still dribbling down his chin.

"That's attractive," I said pointing to the white foam around his mouth.

"Isn't it? Let me go finish up."

"Please do."

I sat down on the couch and turned on the TV to see if I could find anything on. When Lance came out of the bathroom a minute or two later, I was still flipping, so I turned the TV off.

"Nothing good on?" He asked me.

"Nope."

"Does that surprise you?"

"Nope."

"Can you say anything besides, 'Nope?'"

"Nope."

"Wanna go to bed?"

"Nope."

"Wanna kiss me?"

As much as it hurt, "Nope."

"Fine, be that way."

"Nope."

"Do you know how annoying you are?"

"Nope." I said smiling.

"I'm not talking to you anymore."

"Promise?" I laughed.

"You're such an ass."

"But I'm cute."

"I guess I can't argue with that."

"I know."

"Boy, we gotta do something about that ego of yours before you need help carrying it around," he laughed.

"You wanna go to bed?" I asked.

"Nope." He said smiling.

"Wanna make love to me?"

He almost blurted out 'Nope,' but then he registered what I said.

"Um, are you sure you're ready?"

"Nope." I smiled.

"Bastard."

"Yup. Come on let's go to bed, and no, I'm not ready, but I did get you to not say 'Nope' now didn't I?"

We got into his bed and snuggled up to each other. We kissed, and kissed, and kissed some more, but then decided that we really were tired so we should get some sleep. So I spooned up against him and we drifted off into a nice, peaceful sleep.

The next couple days were hectic - concert preparation in the day, then the concert, then on the bus to the next city for another concert the next day. Lance and I didn't get to see much of each other during the day, and when we got back to the bus at night, all we wanted to do was go to sleep - but at least we did that together.

Finally, we had another day off - well, not off, just no concert. It was Sunday. Tonight was Lance's "Seventh Heaven" performance.

I was ready - ready to do what I needed to do to make him believe that he was good at acting - no matter how he actually was.

Everyone had met for dinner then we all headed up to our suite to watch the show.

Lance was excited. It was cool, he was so proud of it. We were all happy for him - and we really wanted to see him to a good job.

So we all made ourselves comfortable around the TV and waited for the show to start. We all sat and watched it. To be honest, I had a very hard time not laughing at him, and his attempt at acting. The man practically spent the whole show lip-locked. It was almost unbearable to hear him say his few lines. I think I was visibly cringing - and I noticed I wasn't the only one.

The show was coming to an end, and I was steeling myself for the biggest lie I'd ever told - that he was a good actor.

"So what'd you guys think?" Lanced asked the room.

"It was cool," Justin said vaguely. My guess was that was his way out of lying - the 'it' could have been anything in his head.

"Yeah," Alex said.

"What'd you think, sweetie?" Lance asked me.

"You were, um, great," I said. DAMN, couldn't do it. I consider myself a pretty good liar when I need to be, but not THAT good - hell, I don't even think President Clinton could lie THAT well. Lance just looked at me.

"I'm, uh, on the couch tonight, aren't I?" I said laughing.

"Got that right." Everyone in the room laughed. He then turned to everyone, "Was it really that bad?"

To save everyone else, I decided to respond with humor, "Um, Lance, at the risk of never sharing a bed again... Yes." Everyone giggled a little at my attempt at lightening the situation, "I mean, you were pretty much just sucking face with what's-her-name the whole show. Although, granted, you did that well, and knowing how you swing, I'd say some acting was involved there. But..."

"What Nick's trying to say is, well, stick to your day job." JC 'helped' with a laugh.

"You guys suck! You can't even be happy for me! You're just jealous!" Lance shouted getting up to go to the bedroom. Apparently, he did find us humorous.

I grabbed onto his arm, "Lance, please, we are happy for you. It's great that you got to act on TV and all, but maybe acting's not your thing." I was trying my best to be sympathetic, and not to hurt his feelings anymore, but I also didn't want to try to lie to him again.

He pulled his arm away, glared at me, then finally growled, "Fuck you." The hatred in the tone surprised me and everyone else. Then he walked into the bedroom slamming the door behind him.

I just kind of stood there looking at the door. Alex came up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "It'll be alright, he just needs some time to realize that we aren't out to get him."

"Yeah, by tomorrow, I'm sure he'll be alright, and he'll see that we didn't mean anything by what we said," Justin said.

"Sure thing, Helmet." I said with tears filling up my eyes. I may have just lost him. Granted, we have only been going out for a little while, but I already really cared for him, and losing him was not something that I wanted.

"Well, we better get going." JC said, "Are you sure you're going to be okay? If you want you can crash with me tonight."

"Thanks, but I'm okay here."

"Okay, well, the offer still stands, so if you change your mind, just head on over - you know what room."

"Thanks, I'll see you guys in the morning." With that they left. Our plans for tonight had changed drastically. We were going to go out to a club and celebrate Lance's appearance, but that was definitely out now. Man, we - no, I - really screwed up. It was all my fault if I had just decided to say something vague like Justin, but NO, I had to pinpoint his performance precisely. I decided I needed to go see if he was alright.

I knocked on the bedroom door, "James?" I asked tentatively. After receiving no answer, I knocked again. "Lance?" I tried the door handle and found it to be unlocked. So I opened the door and slowly walked into the dark room. I didn't hear anything. I had to wait for my eyes to adjust so I could see where I was going in the dim light.

Once my eyes had adjusted, I looked at the bed and found it empty. I walked a little further into the room, looking around to see if he was anywhere on the floor, or sitting in one of the few chairs that were arranged around the room. Then I noticed that the balcony door was open, and figured that he must be out there. I walked over to the balcony, and walked through the door. I found him sitting in one of the lounge chairs out there.

"James?"

"What do you want?" He asked coldly.

"James, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said - it came out wrong. Please, I... I'm just sorry."

"Leave me alone."

"If that is what you really want, okay. I'll spend the night in JC's room."

"Fine."

"I'm sorry, ple-"

"Get out." I turned and walked back into the room. Maybe trying to talk to him wasn't such a good idea after all. I grabbed a change of clothes and left the suite. I walked a few doors down and knocked. JC opened the door a few seconds later, and let me in without a word.

"I talked to Lance." I said after a few moments of silence.

"I take it, it didn't go so well..."

I laughed dryly. "You could say that. He told me to leave him alone. Josh, I don't want to lose him over some stupid television appearance," I said hugging JC.

"It's going to be okay. Lance will come to his senses. He'll be better in the morning."

"I hope so..."

"Come on," He said letting go, "Let's get to bed, it'll be okay in the morning."

"Do you want me to sleep on the couch?"

"Nah, I don't bite, unless you want me to," he said, trying to lighten the mood (it didn't work), "and it's a big bed."

"Okay."

"Does Lance know where you are?"

"Yeah, I told him where I was going."

With that we both stripped to our boxers and got into bed.

"Goodnight JC, and thanks."

"'Night Nick, and don't worry, everything will work out."

++++++++++++++++++

To be continued...

Wow, a cliffhanger? As you may or may not know, I don't particularly like cliffhangers. They signify nothing more than the author is going to now drop off the face of the Earth for about 4, maybe 5 months. Well, let me first assure you that this ending was written a long time ago (in fact, I pretty much started with the end and filled in the beginning to get the story here - note to self, probably not the best way to go about writing) and when I wrote it, I didn't consider it a cliffhanger, just a logical place to end this section. And, I still don't consider it a cliffhanger (but maybe that's because I already know what's going to happen because the beginning of the next section is already typed up...). What I'm trying to say is that I don't plan on falling off the face of the Earth for the next few months, so rest assured that the next section will be out sometime soon. Well, maybe 'soon' is a bit too restricting, let me just say that it won't take a few months. :)

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I REALLY didn't expect this section to take me this long to get out, but I've been busy, and just plain haven't felt like writing. But I think I'm getting back on track, so while I may not get the sections out as quickly as I did the first few sections, I hopefully won't take as long as I did with this one.

And finally, did everyone pick up their copy of 'No Strings Attached,' yet?

E-mail me if you liked it or didn't or whatever! Writermurf@hotmail.com Till next time...