This story involves members of the bands NSYNC. I am in no way implying anything about the sexuality of any of their members. This is purely a fictional story. Enjoy!
Please send any comments and/or suggestions to jaclarke@hotmail.com (ICQ #7964029)
Ryan and Lance - Part 7
"It's so good to be home again," Lance said happily as he sat down on the couch in the living room. "Those hospital bags were so uncomfortable."
"Hey, how else do you think they can get the patients out of there fast," Ryan replied with a smile.
"Good point." Lance grinned at Ryan. Over the past few days he had grown very fond of Ryan. He didn't know why but he felt so close to him even though he didn't really know him.
At this time, Scottie came running into the living room and jumped onto the couch beside Lance. He gave him a big hug and had a big smile on him. "Welcome home, Lance!"
"Thanks, Scottie. I've missed ya."
"You did? Me too!! And especially Ryan!!"
Ryan turned beet red with embarrassment from Scottie's comment. Lance chuckled a bit at Ryan's reaction.
"So what are you guys up to today?"
"Well, it's almost noon now, and I was thinking of getting Scottie registered for school. I mean, he's gotta go back to school as soon as possible."
"That's a good idea. I hear that some of the schools have programs that start in June, so Scottie doesn't have to wait until September."
"Yeah, I was thinking of the same thing."
"I'll go with you," Lance announced.
"Shouldn't you be home getting some rest?"
"I've had plenty of rest. I can't sit around doing nothing all day, you know."
Ryan chuckled. "Yes, I've heard you're quite the workaholic."
Lance pretended to look shocked. "From who?"
"From reliable sources," Ryan smiled, teasing Lance a bit.
"Don't you worry, Ryan, I'll get you and whoever's been spreading false information about me." They drove to a nearby school and parked in the visitor parking. "I hear this is a pretty good school. They have great facilities and the staff is really good."
"Cool. I wonder if they'd have space."
"We'll just have to find out, I guess."
They walked into the main office and headed to the reception desk. The receptionist looked up and nearly fainted. "Oh my god, you...you...you're from NYSNC!!"
Lance blushed a bit and felt uncomfortable with the commotion he was causing. "Yeah...actually, I'm hear to enrol a friend of mine for school."
"Oh, sure...come right this way," she answered. "Oh, Mr. Bass, could you..." Lance smiled, grabbed a pen from his jacket, and signed his autograph on the desk pad. "Thank you so much!!!" She was hysterical, and Ryan was afraid she would faint any minute.
The enrolment process was quick and painless. And half an hour later, they were again in Lance's car, looking for a place to go. "So it must be cool to have people ask you for autographs and stuff," Ryan remarked.
"Yeah, it's kinda neat, although sometimes it gets to be a little too much," Lance answered. "So where are we off to next?"
"I don't know. Anywhere you want to go?"
"Well, we've got Scottie enrolled for school. How 'bout you?"
"Oh, yeah, now I remember. I want to go to the mall."
"You forgot to get something the other day?"
"Nah, I want to go and see if any of the stores are hiring."
Lance gave him a puzzled look.
"Well, I was thinking of getting a job so I can pay you back and at least pay you a small rent for staying at your place," Ryan explained.
"I thought we've already covered this, Ryan."
"I just don't feel right that you're doing all of this for us and I'm not doing anything."
"Look, Ryan, I treat you as my friend...that's why I'm doing this. I'm not looking for anything in return," Lance answered.
"But..."
"Well, I suppose there is a way that you can pay me back..."
"What? How?"
"Hey, calm down, Ryan," Lance laughed a bit. "The other night you said that you had one semester of high school to finish right?"
"Yeah? And?"
"Well, you can pay me back by going back and finishing that last semester of high school and getting your diploma."
"That's not paying you back!!"
"Listen, Ryan. Money may be important in life, but an education is just as important. You're so close to finishing, so don't give it up now. Do this for yourself...finish school and then we'll decide on what to do, okay?"
Ryan gave Lance's advice some thought. "How did he ever get so mature?" he thought. His admiration of Lance was growing steadily.
"Okay. I promise you that I'll finish high school and THEN I'll start paying you back."
"It's a deal then."
"OK, good job, guys," Jim announced as the guys finished another run-through of 'I Drive Myself Crazy.'
"Can we go yet?" Chris whined.
"Oh alright, I'll let you off early today. So I'll see you guys in a few days."
"Great!" Joey responded.
"Lance, can you come to my office so I can go over a few things with you?"
"Sure, I'll be right there." Lance gathered his stuff and followed Jim to his office.
Ryan walked into the studio as the rest of the guys were just chatting. "That sounded really cool!"
"Hey Ryan. Thanks!"
"Where's Scottie?"
"He's at home doing his homework. Where's Lance?"
"He's with Jim going over a few things. Anyways, I've gotta run...got a date tonight," JC replied. "Nice seeing ya again, Ryan."
"But..." Ryan called after JC but he was already out the door.
"Well, we should get going too if we are going to hit the clubs," Justin said to Chris and Joey.
"Yeah, you're right," Joey answered. "Talk to ya later, Ryan. Lance shouldn't be too long."
"But...Just..." It was too late, they were already out the door. Ryan sighed. "How could you guys forget?" he said to himself.
Lance came back a few minutes later. "Ryan! Funny seeing you here. Got out of school early today?"
"Well, Mr. Bass, it's actually 5:00 already," Ryan said with a smirk.
"Well, sorrryy if I was too into my job," Lance replied with a grin. "Where's everyone?"
"Uh...JC had a date, and the rest of the guys went clubbing."
"Oh," Lance replied as his smile faded somewhat. "Well, let's get going too."
They arrived home in about 25 minutes and as they entered the house, Scottie can running to greet them.
"Hey Scottie, how's it going?" Lance asked as he picked Scottie up and spun him around, causing him to giggle.
"School was fun today, Lance. The teacher said I was a good helper!"
"That's great, Scottie!! I told you that the teachers would love you!" Scottie giggled some more at that comment.
"What do you want to have for dinner tonight?" Lance asked Ryan. "I'll go pick some things up at the grocery store.
"You don't have to worry about that tonight, Lance," Ryan answered.
"Huh?" Lance said with a confused look. Ryan smiled and walked into the kitchen.
Out of curiosity, Lance followed Ryan into the kitchen. He was met with a set table with dinner all prepared. "Wow! When did you do all this?"
"Hey, I get off school at 2, remember? I've had plenty of time."
The three of them sat down at the table and began eating. "This is good, Ryan! Really good!"
"I'm not as good a cook as you are, Lance, but I can still cook up a few things!" Ryan said with a smile.
"Ryan, this is really good! You've gotta give me the recipe for this."
"Nope, I can't give away the secret. If you want to eat this, you'll just have to let me do the cooking."
"Oh, so that's the way it is, huh?"
"Yep."
Lance playfully punched Ryan on the shoulder. Scottie came running into the kitchen with a box wrapped in gift-wrapping paper and handed it to Lance.
"What's this?" Lance asked, confused again.
"Happy birthday, Lance!" Ryan and Scottie both said.
Lance was visibly touched by the gesture. "Thanks, guys...you didn't have to do this you know."
"I know," Ryan answered, "but we wanted to. I hope you like it."
Lance opened the box and took out a replica of a 17th-century French sword. "Wow! Where did you find this??"
"I take it that you like it?" Ryan asked hopefully.
"Like it? I love it!! Thanks so much!!" Lance said excitedly. After a few moments, Lance's smile faded again as he was overcome with sadness once more.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing..."
Ryan knew that Lance was sad that none of the guys remembered his birthday. "I'm sure the guys will remember...it's still early in the night."
Lance nodded and smiled at Ryan. "Well, you did the cooking, so let me do the dishes."
"By all means, go right ahead!!"
"Hey, you're supposed to offer to do the dishes too!! Just kidding..." Ryan helped Lance bring the dishes to the sink and he stayed to help dry the dishes. Once the dishes were done, Lance grabbed a whole pile of paper and began to look through them, making notes as he was going along. Ryan ran upstairs and picked up the phone, dialing Justin's cell phone.
"Justin here..."
"It's Ryan. Where the hell are you guys???" Ryan whispered, not wanting Lance to hear.
"At the club, why?"
"Hello, what's the date today???"
"May 3?"
"No, you fool, May 4!!"
"Big deal...OH MY GOD!!! It's May 4!!!" Justin screamed. Ryan had to take the phone away from his ear to keep his hearing. "Oh my god, we're so stupid!!! We'll be right over."
"Well, you better get a hold of JC fast," Ryan warned.
"Will do!"
"Oh man..." Lance groaned as he stared at the huge pile of papers in front of him, "I'm never gonna get this done."
"You want some coffee to keep you awake?" Ryan offered.
"Good idea, make it extra strong."
Ryan poured Lance a cup and sat in a chair across from him. "So why is it that you're always the one stuck with all the paperwork?"
"'Cause I'm the only one without a life..." Lance said jokingly.
"Don't let any of your fans hear that, especially those teenage girls!" Ryan laughed.
"But seriously, Lance, you should slow down a bit. Don't you think you're taking on way too much?"
"Hey, someone's gotta get this done."
"Still, you're too young to be all stressed out. I mean, you're only 20...so start acting your age for once!" Ryan teased Lance as he continued to watch the blond singer go through pile after pile of documents.
"You are starting to sound a lot like Justin, and that's scary!"
The doorbell rang at that moment and Ryan went to get the door. He opened it to see JC, Justin, Joey, and Chris there with an embarrassed look on their faces. "'Bout time, you guys!!" Ryan scolded.
"Sorry...it totally slipped our minds. But thanks for reminding us," Justin whispered.
"Who is it, Ryan?" Lance called from the kitchen. When Ryan didn't answer, Lance got up and went to the front door to see who it was. He was surprised to see the guys standing there. "What's going on? I thought you guys went clubbing?"
"We did, but we weren't planning to stay there the whole night, Scoop!" Chris began
"I mean, it IS your birthday today. Our Lance is turning 19!!" Joey continued.
Lance blushed a bit and smiled. "You guys didn't have to leave just for this, you know..."
"We know, but we don't wanna miss such an occasion. I mean, we don't get to see Scoop on the dance floor that often, you know," Justin added.
"What dance floor?"
"You," JC said, pointing to Lance, "are coming to a club with us tonight and you're gonna dance your heart out."
"I am?"
"Of course! Right, Ryan?"
"Uh...yeah, of course you are, Lance, it's your birthday!!"
Lance gave Ryan the 'I thought you were on my side' look before finally giving in. "Oh alright."
"Great, let's go!!" Chris said excitedly.
The club was crowded but everyone was so into the dancing and very few people realized that NSYNC was there. Lance danced for a bit before heading back to the table with the rest of the guys.
"Scoop, I must say that your dancing has improved since your last birthday," Justin remarked.
"Why thank you, Justin...I think," Lance answered.
"I didn't know you could dance so well, Ryan!"
"Well, I haven't done it in so long I was kinda rusty. But yeah, I used to do a lot of dancing. I took dancing lessons for a few years."
"Cool," JC replied. "Many you can give Scoop here some extra lessons."
Everyone laughed and continued chatting. They were so into the conversation that they didn't notice someone walking up to the table. "Hello Lance, it's been a while."
Lance turned around to see Eric smiling at him. For a moment, Lance froze and his mind blanked. After a few seconds, Lance regained his composure and stood up to face Eric. "What the fuck do you want?"
Everyone was taken aback by Lance's reaction, since no one knew of the relationship between Lance and Eric. However, everyone knew that this confrontation was heading towards an ugly conclusion.
"Well, we haven't seen each other so long so I thought we could chat for a while," Eric continued with a smile.
"There's nothing to talk about. Just get out of my sight."
"Aw, come on, Lance. Don't be a poor sport."
"I said GET OUT!" Lance shouted. Luckily, the music in the club was so loud that other people couldn't hear the heated argument that was going on.
JC got up and tried to get Lance to calm down, but was instead pushed aside by Lance. Sensing that the situation was about to get worse, Justin and Ryan got up to help JC restrain Lance. The blond singer's face was red with anger and he struggled not to cry.
Eric reached out and grabbed Lance's arm. "Hey, why don't we go over there and just chat for a little while. Please?"
"Get your fucking hands off of me, you fucking bastard!!" Lance yelled. He pushed Eric aside and ran out of the club, tears streaming down his face. "Fuck you, Eric," Lance said to himself, "why can't you just leave me alone??"
JC and Ryan immediately ran after Lance, with the others following close behind. Outside the club, however, Lance was nowhere to be found. "Fuck!" JC yelled. "Where could he have gone??"
"Let's split up," Ryan suggested.
"OK, we'll meet back at Lance's house," JC ordered.
Everyone went separate ways to search for Lance.
"What the hell just happened?" JC asked himself as he drove his car around the area in search of Lance. "And who was that guy??"
Hiding in one of the alleys, Lance could see everyone splitting up to look for him. He slowly sat down on the ground and buried his face in his hands, sobbing quietly. His sobbing prevented him from hearing someone entering the alley.
"Lance?" The young singer looked up and there in the entrance of the alley stood Ryan...
...to be continued....
Hope you enjoyed this segment. Let me know what you think!!
As always, I'd love to hear any comments/ideas/questions. Please e-mail me at jaclarke@hotmail.com (ICQ #7964029)