Tests of Friendship

Chapter Fourteen

Well, we're almost at the end. The final ever chapter of Tests of Friendship. It's been great, almost a year since I first wrote chapter one.

It's been a blast! I will miss this story, it's provided me with many hours of entertaining and enjoyable writing. Alas however,all things must come to an end. I've made some great friendships, the best, through this story, and hopefully I'll continue to make friendships through Nifty. The Project' will be running for another few more chapters, and I have another story, more along the lines of this one rather than The Project', which I will start work on during the summer holidays. Your email comments are always welcome to trekster2@hotmail.com or trekkiead@yahoo.com. I love emails, so don't be shy, even if you just want to tell me how much you hate the story, or send me death threats about what happens in the next few lines.... Please, I didn't do it!! Legal, don't read it if you are not legally allowed to do so in your country of residence. This story implies nothing about the characters involved, and those who are real, touch wood, will continue to thrive for a long time to come.

The driver of the BMW jumped out the car, running towards the young man, who he could now see had curly hair. As he reached him, two doctors were running outside of the hospital doors with a stretcher. They held the driver back as they looked at the man lying on the ground. After a few seconds, they backed off their efforts, sad looks glancing their faces. "What happened?" one of the doctors said.

"I'm so sorry, I was driving along, he just ran straight out in front of me, I tried to stop, but he was too close, everything was too quick, I just...." The driver said rapidly, before noticing the looks on the doctors faces. "He's.. he's dead isn't he?" He said, very slowly and quietly. A nod was the only response he received.

"If you could come inside sir, the police will want to see you. A porter could park your car for you."

"Thank you." He said, just walking inside, devastated by what had happened.

"Mr Bass, it looks like Simon will be ok, we've managed to stabilise his condition for the time being."

"Thank God, I'll call Justin, he must be worried sick." Lance said, pulling out his cell phone, and walking out the ward. He dialled Justin's number and let it ring.

The doctor heard the phone ringing, and pulled it out of the young man's pocket. "Hello?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have the wrong number."

"Possibly not sir. I'm Doctor Franks. I'm afraid the owner of this phone has been in an accident."

"What, where, is Justin ok?"

"I think you better come down to the hospital sir."

"I'm already there, Justin was coming to visit a friend."

"I think it would be best if you came down to the ER." The doctor said, his tone telling Lance something was very seriously wrong. Lance instantly set off down the corridor, not waiting for the lift to arrive, just diving down the stairs at lightening speed. He ran into the ER, and went to the reception.

"I'm looking for a Doctor Franks." He said, a little out of breath.

"He's the man standing over by the doorway." The lady answered, pointing over towards the outside door. As soon as Lance looked, he ran out towards the doctor, who was standing at the doorway of the ER, facing in towards the hospital.

"I'm Lance Bass, on the phone. Justin, what's happened to Justin!?"

"Perhaps it would be better if we go inside?"

"No, what happened!"

"I'm afraid their was an accident, he was running to the hospital, and ran out in front of a car. What relation are you to him?"

"I'm his band mate, we're in a pop group. What's happened to him!"

"I'm afraid he died on impact sir."

"What, no. He can't be dead, that can't have happened, it must have been someone else, he had Justin's phone. No, Justin can't be dead, he's not, it's a mistake." Lance said, breaking down in tears, falling onto his knees in the middle of the ER. The doctor leaned down, vainly trying to comfort him.

"Come on, I'll take you to the relatives' room." He said, helping Lance to his feet. "Do you have the contact numbers of who I should call?"

"His mom, Lynn Then JC, he's on his way to the hospital now, thn Chris and Joey." Lance said, trying to dry his eyes, writing down the numbers on the pad the Doctor was holding out.

"I know this may seem hard for you, but we need someone to identify the body. It would save a lot of heart ache if we were to call everyone, and it turns out it isn't Justin."]

"Yeah, I'll do it. Where is he?"

"Follow me sir." The doctor said, leading Lance down the corridor into a largish room, with just the one person lying on the bed. The doctor pulled back the sheet, and Lance just nodded once, before running out the room, his eyes freely streaming tears down his face. How could this happen, Simon is on the verge of death, but then for Justin to die, he couldn't die. It's Justin, Justin doesn't die, he's always going to be there, he can't go away.

He just didn't know what to do.

"Hello, is this Lynn?"

"Yes, who is it speaking?"

"I'm Doctor Matthew Franks at the Orange County Medical Centre. I'm afraid there's been an accident."

"What, is it Simon?"

"No ma'am, I'm afraid it's your son, Justin."

"What, what's happened!" She said anxiously.

"Perhaps it would be best for you to come down to the hospital?"

"What's wrong?"

"As I said per..."

"What's happened to him, it's serious isn't it."

"I'm afraid he was knocked down by a car, if you would just come down to the hospital."

"I'm on my way." Lynn said, just dropping the phone, and running out to her car.

"Hello, I'm calling for a JC?"

"That's me."

"My name is Doctor Franks, at the Orange Country Medical Centre. I'm afraid there's been an accident."

"What, how's Simon?"

"Simon's fine, he's up in his ward. It's Justin."

"Oh my God, what's happened?"

"If you could come round the hospital sir?"

"I'm on my way!" JC said, he was already in his car heading towards the hospital at the time, and quickly made his way there.

"Hello, I'm calling for Joey or Chris?" The doctor said, only having the first names giving to him by Lance.

"This is Joey? Who is this?"

"I'm Doctor Franks at the Orange County Medical Centre. Justin was involved in a car accident. If you could come down immediately?"

"We're on our way!" Joey said, the sense of urgency causing Chris to stop playing with Jonathan and stand up. "It's Justin, we've gotta go to the hospital." Joey said quietly to Chris, who picked up Jonathan as they ran out to the car.

JC was the first to arrive, and the Doctor caught on to who he was as he ran to the reception.

"Are you JC?"

"Yeah, what's happened?"

"If you'd like to follow me, the others should be here soon." The doctor said, leading JC into the room were Lance was sitting. As soon as Lance saw JC he ran over and grabbed onto him, hugging him tightly.

"What's happened Lance?"

"Justin's dead." Lance sobbed out. For a second, JC stopped breathing, the words Lance had spoken not fully sunk in.

"What?"

"He's dead JC."

"But... what happened?"

"Perhaps it would be best to wait for the others to get here, I don't want you to have to go through this each time someone arrives."

"Yeah." JC said, his hands shaking. "Are they on their way?"

"Yes. I'll leave you two for a minute." He said, walking out the room. The doctor saw four people, three adults and one child run in next, and he heard them ask about Justin at the desk. Lynn picked up Justin in her arms, the doctor walking over.

"Lynn? I'm Doctor Franks."

"What's happened, where's Justin!?"

"I think it would be best for me to show you to the relatives room. Perhaps your son would like to go and wait with one of the nurses?" The doctor said, trying to convey that Jonathen probably shouldn't hear this. Lynn nodded, as a nurse walked over and took Jonathan off her. Lynn gave him a kiss, telling him she'd be out in a minute. The doctor lead them through to the room where the others were waiting.

As soon as Lynn walked in, JC walkd over and hugged her, as Lane had done to him.

"What's happened Josh?"

"It's Justin he's... he's dead Lynn."

"What?"

"He was hit by a car, he's dead."

"What, how, when?"

"Justin was running into the hospital, apparently he'd had a call that Simon Williams had suffered a heart attack. He ran straight out in front of a car, his neck was broken on impact, he was dead before he even touched the ground."

"He ran out in front of it?"

"Yes, the driver of the car is in quite a bad state, but there was nothing he could have done.. The police are talking to the driver now I think, I don't really know what happened, only what I'd been told. He could have been speeding, we don't know yet."

"Oh." Lynn said, before she latched onto JC for comfort. Chris and Joey were just stunned, no one could believe that Justin was dead. All the followed was completely stunned silence, as everyone just sat in the room, JC and Lance doing their best to comfort Lynn, who was still crying.

"I'll leave you alone now. If you have any question, or would like to see Justin, just go ask at the desk for them to page me." The doctor said, walking out the room.

"How could this have happened. What was he doing running out like that."

"I called him, Simon took a turn for the worse, Justin must have just been trying to get to him." Lance said, his voice quivering as he spoke. And they all just sat there, in silence, some of them crying, som just in shock.

After about twenty minutes, Chris made the first move.

"I guess I should call management. They need to know." Chris said, pulling out his cell phone. "Does anyone mind?" People just shook their heads, so Chris pressed the speed dial number. Chris told them what had happened, and was told someone would come down to the hospital immediately.

"Jonathan., he's still with the nurse. I've got to go and get him!" Lynn said suddenly, as she ran out the room and looked for the nurse that had Jonathan. She was directed down to the creche, and found Jonathan sitting with the nurse who was looking after him, reading a book on her knee. Lynn walked over and picked him up, giving him a hug. "Thank you for looking after him."

"That's no problem, he's a very well mannered boy."

"Thank you." Lynn said, her eyes running a little again. She walked with Jonathan back to the room, and sat him down on her knee.

"Where's Justin mom?"

"He's... Their was an accident Jon, Justin's gone to sleep now." Lynn said quietly.

"Oh, when will he be up, I want to see him."

"Justin won't be getting up darling, he's gone to sleep forever." Lynn said holding Jonathan in her arms.

"Oh, is he dead?" Jonathan said sadly, but not fully comprehending the meaning of what he was saying.

"Yes darling, he's dead." Lynn said, rocking Jonathan slightly in her arms.

"I won't see him again then will I? He won't be able to play with me anymore."

"No, you won't be able to see him anymore, but he'll be keeping an eye on you, he'll make sure you're ok. Justin's gone to Heaven now." Lynn said, forcing a slight smile for Jonathan's sake. She pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped the tears from her eyes, before dabbing Jonathan's eyes dry, a few tears running down his face.

"What do you mean you didn't get the boy! How could one little boy manage to loose you!"

"Well, this guy,he..."

"I DON'T CARE! You fucked up big time! We had the ideal opportunity presenting itself here, we could have been rolling in it, but on, you couldn't grab a five year old boy even!"

"In all..."

"Get out, I don't even want to see you. If you got the kid, we could have asked for a million easily, and you know it would have been paid! The whole reason we chose them is because it was a young kid, one other guy there, how hard could it have been! We'll just have to rethink this, we can't try to do the same thing though, we'll have to select someone else, spy on them for a month to know when to best attack. Just get out." The man shouted to the two attackers from earlier. His appearance wasn't quite what one would suspect however, he was earing a well tailored, expensive looking suit, and in all appearances, looked like any other middle age business man you would expect to see round the bankers district of Orlando. One distinctive thing was the uniquely styled gold ring resting on his finger. The design was that of a 3 dimensional tiger leaping out from the ring.

"Hi guys, Lynn." Mike said, as he walked into the waiting room, his voice throught with sadness. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what to say." Mike was their contact from Jive who they normally dealt with. "I need to talk some things over with you though. We need to call a press conference soon, I know it hurts, but things need to be done. Are you guys upto it?" The guys exchanged looks for a second, before answering.

"Yeah, we'll do a press conference, the fans need to know." Lance said.

"And what about Simon? Is he still ok?"

"Yeah, he's still in the intensive care upstairs. They don't know whether he'll pull through or not though."

"We can't tell Simon, not yet, it would devastate him, if he can hear us, he might just give up." Lynn said quickly. "We'll tell him when he wakes up."

"Hell, it's all his fault this happened!"

"Chris! Don't you dare say that! This is not Simon's fault!" Lynn shouted at him.

"Well, would he have been runnin.."

"Shut up Chris, this is nobody's fault, so don't go laying blame everywhere! It was a terrible, terrible accident, but no one's fault!" Lynn shouted angrily at him. A few moments uncomfortable silence followed.

"Ok guys, I'll go to my car and organise a press conference. It's too short notice for tonight, but I'll arrange it for tomorrow morning, if that's ok with you guys?"

"That's fine Mike. Can't you put an announcement out now or something though?"

"Well, we could make the evening TV news if we put a statement out that Justin has died. Do you want me to try and set that up?"

"Thanks Mike." Lance said, as he walked out the room. Jonathan had fallen asleep on Lynn's knee now, cuddling up against her.

"And the top story of the evening, Justin Timberlake, of the massively successful boy band *NSYNC has died in a car accident earlier today. No further details are available right now, other than there will be a press conference tomorrow morning. We will bring you more news at it becomes available." Was the line echoed across virtually every news station in the country. Thousands of teenage girls were crying in front of their TV sets at the news, as long with quite the number of guys. No one had forseen his, could have forseen this coming. A lot of people cried themselves to sleep that night. The news filtered across the Atlantic and reached the morning papers of Europe and Asia just a few hours later. It was at that point Lynn realised Randell hadn't been contacted, he would have just heard it on the news.

Almost as soon as the report was over, Lynn's own cell phone started to ring. Lynn explained everything that had happened, and heavily apologised for not calling. Randall was coming straight down though on the next plane.

The night went very slowly for everyone, all of them still attempting to comprehend that Justin, their friend, son, companion, was dead, was lying on a bed in the morque, his life pulled away for no reason. No one could sleep that night, they all went back to their respective places, JC and Lance staying with Lynn and Jonathan to help her. At about 3am, Lynn came down to the living room, and went through the photo album, looking at all the pictures of Justin, from a baby till only the other week. Why did Justin have to be taken away from her, what did he do to deserve that! Lynn eventually cried herself to sleep by 4am in the morning, her dreams plaguing her with images of her son dying. Similar dreams cursed the other four memebers of NSync who eventually managed to drift of to sleep at a similar time. Randall was arriving at 10am the following morning, and then they would make the funeral arrangements, Mike had offered to help their in organising a private ceremony, only those close to Justin would be attending. Paul was out of town for a couple of days, and Lynn didn't know where to contact him, he'd flown over to Europe, and his cell phone wouldn't work, and she wasn't certain which hotel he was staying at.

The following day brought the press conference. The four NSync guys were taken down to the conference centre where everything had been organised. The date given to the press was 11am, and all the papers and TV stations had arrived far earlier in the morning. The four guys and Mike came out on time, and told the press the full details of the incident, excluding the fact that Justin was running to the hospital to visit his boyfriend, but rather just a friend. They'd been talking about whether to tell the press that Justin was gay, but decided to hold of on that, at least for the time being.

The number of emails and letters of sorrow and support was nothing short of astounding, thousands, if not millions of mails were sent over the next few days, everyone was taken aback by the massive show of support that was received from all their fans world wide. As many as possible were passed on, and the guys did their very best to look at as many of the letters as possible.

The funeral occured six days later, Justin's friends and family were present, from his school friends wit whom he'd remained in contact, four of the Backstreet Boys. In total, about 80 or so people were attending the service. All the four Nsync guys, along with Lynn and Randall all gave short speeches. Most peple where crying as the coffin barers carried Justin's coffin out to the grave, His family and band mates all throwing a handfull of soil onto the grave, followed by a single rose. Paul Harliss had arrived home two days previously, and was standing at Lynn's side comforting her, as Randall's wife was with him.

The next month went very slowly, all activities for NSync were called off, although management promised that the group wouldn't break up. Lance and JC visited Simon at the hospital every day, sometimes staying for hours. Joey also came by, a few times a week, and even Chris visited a few times. The doctors were more hopeful that Simon would recover, the swelling had gone down, and now it was just a matter of time. The only question hanging over them was whether he'd suffered brain damage or not. Still, there was no way of predicting when he'd wake up from the coma however.

32 days had passed since the tragic death of Justin, Simon was still in a coma in the hospital ward, and now, the future of NSync had to be decided upon. The group was continuing, that was made clear, but in what form. One question played on everyone's mind, would someone else fill in for Justin's previous position, or would the group continue with just the four of them. No one could ever replace him, that was made clear, but without Justin, that only left them with the one lead singer. The four guys, along with three senior representatives from Jive, were all seated round a large conference table in Orlando discussing that very problem, along with their manager, Johnny Wright.

"In all honesty, and I know you won't like this much, but you guys need the two lead singers, you need a young person in the group. Justin can't be replaced, we all know that, but we can have someone do their best. Imagine what it would be like coming into the job, taking Justin's job."

"It is time to move on, let the past go just a little. You all say how much you want NSync to continue, and quite frankly, you're signed up for it in your contract. The best chances are to have another, new, young, lead singer."

"We thought it would be best to proceed by placing an advert in several major US news papers, as well as on news stations, asking for people between 17-19 with good looks and a suitable singing voice, and then to hold auditions around the country to those who we like from sample tapes. We'll narrow it down to about twenty or so people, before you get to meet them and see them yourselves. How does that sound to you?" The third person said as they cycled round the top of the table.

"We realise that a new member is required, and yes, your idea about how to get one sounds fine. I think we'' like to see more than twenty or so finalists. If you're holding auditions around the country, you'll have a lot of people applying. I think we'd like to be in on every stage, from narrowing down on some of the sample tapes, to area auditions. Maybe 100 finalists for us to meet even, over a few days. The singing voice isn't all that counts, we need to get on with whoever fills in." Lance said, the ringing of his mobile phone interrupting him. "I'm sorry." Lance said, glancing at the number on the display. "Do you mind if I just accept this?"

"Go right ahead." Lance walked to the corner of the room and pressed the dial button.

"Hello Mr. Bass, I'm Doctor Harwood at the hospital, Mr. Williams has just regained consciousness, he's asked for you to be called."

"Thank God! I'll be right over!" Lance said loudly, hanging up the phone. "Guys, it's Simon, he's awake!"

"We can resume this meeting at a later time, I'm sure you'll all want to go down to the hospital now. I'll get in contact with you to arrange a time." The older guy said, standing up as they all ran out, Johhny Wright staying in the room with the Jive reps.

"What do we tell Simon, do we tell him about Justin?" Joey asked as they ran down to Lance's BMW parked outside.

"Yeah, he'll know something's wrong anyway." Lance said sadly, as he quickly hopped into the drivers seat. They reached the hospital in just a few minutes, before proceeding up to the ward where Simon had been moved almost two weeks ago from intensive care.

"Hey Simon." Lance said as he pooked his head round the door.

"Hi Lance, long time no see I've been told."

"You've been out of it for over a month, we were really scared for you at first." Lance said, as Chris walked in and closed the door.

"Where's Justin?" Simon asked, expecting him to walk in after Chris. Lance reached out and took hold of Simon's hand. "What happened?"

"There was an accident Simon."

"What kind of accident?" Simon replied, his voice become quieter, more nervous.

"Justin was coming to see you, and stepped out in front of a car. The driver was speeding and on a mobile phone, and just couldn't stop in time. He hit Justin."

"Where is he! Is he alright!?" Simon replied, the anxiety in his voice growing by the second. The tears in Lance's eyes told Simon all he needed to know, as he closed his eyes, tightening his grip on Lance's hand. "When?"

"32 days ago."

"And the driver?"

"He was charged with driving without due care and attention, he's got a six month jail sentence and $1000 fine."

"Oh." Simon replied, trying to keep his emotions bottled up. "How did he..."

"The impact broke his neck, he was dead before he hit the ground they think."

"I see." Simon replied, his hands shaking, barely able to speak, stuttering out his words.

"Come on, you can cry." Lance said, leaning over and embracing Simon in a hug, as he burst out in tears. Why did Justin have to die, why couldn't have just been killed by the attackers, that way Justin would have never even come to the hospital that day. Justin was the kindest person he knew, why him! How many things could go wrong in just the space of a few days. What would he do, Justin was the one who offered him a home, where would he stay now?

"Don't worry Simon, you're still more than welcome to stay at Lynn's place, she's made that more than clear." JC spoke up, evidently reading my mind. I just managed a meek nod in return, not being able to even talk now. "Do you know when you're allowed out of here?" JC asked again, his eyes full of sympathy. I just shook my head, as I attempted to get my voice back.

"A few days at least, it depends on how well they think I'm doing."

"Ok then. But don't worry, now Justin's gone, we're not going to dump you or anything, you're are friend, and we'll support you for as long as we need to." JC said. Simon had now released Lance from the embrace, and struggled into a less laid back position. He regained his composure a little, before continuing. "What's happening with NSync now?"

"We were at a meeting when we got the call you were awake. They're going to try and find a new member."

"Jonathan, what happened!" Simon said suddenly, for some reason, the attack on the house not instantly coming to mind.

"Jonathan was fine, thanks to you. You tripped the guy up as he left, and then he kicked you a couple of times more, knocking you out. Jonathan managed to run off and hide. You were in a real bad state though, we didn't think you were going to make it at first."

"I know, the doctor was talking to me before you came in, he said how lucky I was to pull through, and then not to have any brain damage or amnesia." Simon said, half heartedly. He wasn't suer how lucky he was now, his boyfriend, one of the few pople he'd ever trusted, was dead, because of him.

If he'd never even come into his life, Justin would still be alive; they must all blame him.

"I'm sorry guys." Simon said quietly.

"What for? You've not done anything!" JC said.

"It's my fault, if I'd never come into Justin's life, he'd still be alive."

"Don't even talk like that! I'd never seen Justin so happy! It's not your fault, it was an accident, you can't go blaming yourself!" JC almost shouted at him. "I'm sorry, I just don't want you blaming yourself, it's no one's fault. If blame has to go anywhere, it's for the driver who was driving too fast. If he was going at the speed limit, then Justin might have pulled through, or if he wasn't on his phone even. But he was, so there's no point dredging in the past. It's happened, and there's nothing we can do about it. No one blames you though, Justin loved you, and he'd hate it if we were to lay any blame on your for this." JC said, shushing Simon before he could say anymore. He managed a meek laugh at that, before nodding in appreciation.

"Anyway, you guys can go back and finish your meeting, I'll be fine, trust me."

"But we can't lea..."

"You can go and finish your meeting, and come back and see me later or tomorrow if you like. I'll be fine. I'm glad you all came, but you can go and work out the future of NSync now! Are you still here?" Simon said, smiling a little. In truth, he wanted to be alone now. Not that he wasn't grateful, he really was, but he needed some time alone to think about things, about how his boyfriend, his lover, was no longer with him. So much had happened in such a short time, finding Justin had been the best thing in his life, the other items were purely little blips in comparison, but this, he couldn't remember living before Justin. Justin was the one that was going to help him through his epilepsy, but now, he was gone. The others had known him for years though, Simon had only known him a matter of weeks. They would be hurting just as much as him, and they've known for 30 days! He had to pull himself together!

One week later:

"Boyband *NSYNC, who's lead singer Justin Timberlake died in a tragic accident last month, have put out an appeal, for a new member. Anyone who is interested should have a look on the NSync website at www.nsync.com, or call 1-800-BE-NSYNC. They're looking for guys between 17-19, who have a good singing voice. If you think you'd fit the bill, check it out." This was the article placed in the major newspapers, as well as on major TV news programs. The demand was large, thousands of calls being logged in the first day, as well as visits to the website.

What had been arranged was the people would call the number and get full details, and if interested, send in a demo sound file over the internet, leave as a message on the phone system, or mail on audio cassette. By the end of the week, about 12000 sound demos were received, and being listened to by Jive staff, and some of the good ones by NSync. It took a week to go through the demo cassettes, narrowing it down to a list of 1000 people, who would be sent requests to go to auditions. The guys had planned a rolling tour across the country, doing the auditions personally. Simon accompanied them. At each stop across the country, most of the people, although great singers, just weren't cut out for it. By the time they'd reached their final top, they had about 80 people for the final rehearsals, they would be flown to Orlando on behalf of Jive.

Now they were at San Diego, the final stop on their tour across America, with hopefully another ten people to send to the finals. Their was quite a large turn out, about 200 people in the area were invited, and almost 150 actually turned up on the day. They had rented the conference facilities of a large hotel, with the five NSync guys, as well as members of management, and Simon, in one room, hearing all the people, with the others waiting in another.

The first 30 or so were all good singers, but they just weren't what was being sought after. Just as they were giving up hope of beign able to choose some finalists one singer made them perk up. A guy named Zach walked in the room, and took a seat in the one empty chair.

"Hi, Zach." Lance spoke up, trying to set him at ease. It was clear he was nervous in front of the panel of people.

"Hi guys." Zach replied smiling, reaching out to shake their hands. That took them a little by suprise, the first person to have done that.

"So, how about you tell us a little about yourself?"

"Well, I'm 19, I live here in San Diego in my own apartment. I'm currently at UCSD, studying computer science. Well, what exactly would you like to know?"

"Hobbies, what you do in your free time, stuff like that."

"Ok, well, hobbies. it won't be much of a surprise that i like computers or I wouldn't study it besides the computers I love to exercise, I tend to be outside a lot, meeting and mingling with people. I'm really a people person. I'm not really shy, though i'm really nervous right now - guess that can be expected eh? Besides all that, i'm fond of your music, but that goes without saying. I've brought some tapes of my singing, or i could sing for you right now if you'd like? I'll stop babbling now, do you guys have any questions that you want to ask me? "How about your family? significant others?" Lance asked, smiling at Zach's attitude. "Well my family lives in San Diego." Zach said, pausing a moment, "As I was saying, my family lives in Newark. I have one older brother, who I love dearly. My parents and I get along well enough not to cause any trouble for me." "What do you mean by that?" Joey said inquisitively. "That's kinda personal, if you don't mind" Zach said uncomfortably. "maybe we'll talk about it later okay? My parents are a bit of a sore point."

"Any relationships?" Simon spoke up for the first time, studying the young man in front of him.

"Well, not really. I broke up a little while ago."

"Uhhuh. How about you give us a little live singing now then?"

"Sure. Anything you'd like me to do?"

"Well, preferably an N Sync number, one of Justin's parts."

"Ok then." Zach said. Simon was going to ask what song, and then get some music, but before he had a chance Zach started singing `God Must Have Spent...' acapella. All the guys, slightly surprised, just sat back and listened as he sang his way through the first verse, before them moving on to sing JC's part, before finally stopping. He was awarded with a little applause, causing him to blush thoroughly, before he sat back down again.

"That was great thank you." Simon said, a slight smile gracing his face. Of all the people they'd seen, this was the one.

A week later, the final 16 people for the role were all sitting in a large room in Orlando. All 18 or 19, all handsome, all tall, all good singers. Only one would leave the room with the job they all desired however. After a couple of minutes of waiting, a Jive rep walked into the room.

"Mornin' guys. Sorry to have you all here so early, in fact, we're a little late." He said, glancing at his watch, the time a little after 9am. "Basically, we've got all the four guys, and a few others from the group and Jive, in rooms down the hall. We're going to take the first eight of you, and you're all going to cycle round, and then we'll take the other eight of you."

"First up, if we take the eight closest the door, if you'll follow me." The man said, leading the way down the hall. One of the group was Zach, along with another from California, and the whole of the US. They were all shown into one of the rooms, and took a seat.

"Morning Zach." Simon said from the other side of the desk.

"Hi."

"First off, we've not been properly introduced. My name is Simon Williams, yes, I'm English, and no, you've probably never seen or heard of me before." He said smiling.

"I was trying to figure out who you might be since I saw you. You're one of the Jive guys?"

"No, not exactly. I'm more of a friend I suppose."

"Oh, ok." Zach said, his tone and expression displaying a little confusion.

"Don't worry, you'll have a better idea of what's going on later. We'll be making a press announcement after we've chosen the new band member."

"Er... ok then." Zach said, causing Simon to laugh a little.

"Ok, mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Fire away."

"Obviously I'm going to ask about your family after last time. You say they are a bit of a sore spot?"

"Well, we don't get along all to well usually."

"Why's that?"

"I'm not really certain how to say this. I'm afraid it might blow my chances of getting in, but at the same time, I don't want to hide anything from you."

"As long as it's nothing like you're a vicious axe murderer or something, it won't be a problem." Simon said smiling.

"Well, let's get it over with. I'm gay."

"I see, and you're parents have a problem with that I take it?"

"Yeah, they weren't all too happy when I came out to them. I moved out, or rather, was kicked out. My bro is the only guy out the family who's really supported me."

"Ok then."

"It is a problem isn't it, with me being gay and all?"

"No, not at all. I don't think anyone would have a problem being gay. And, if you so desired, In fact, if you so desired, management wouldn't go all out to make sure it's covered up either."

"What, they don't have a problem with a gay person in the band?"

"No, they don't. Just between you and me, I'm gay, and no one in the group minds." Simon said, and he firmly believed that now. Since Justin's death, Chris had changed his attitude towards Simon radically, and had endeavoured to become a good friend.

"Wow! You're gay, I mean, well, I just didn't..." Zach started stuttering, interrupted by a good belt of laughter from Simon.

"Tell ya what, since we've got another 15 minutes, how about you just talk to me about your childhood and all, so I know and understand you a little better?"

"Ok then. Well, where to begin? I guess the easiest point to begin talking about my childhood is how the situation with my parents came to be. As you know I'm 19. I've known for some time that I'm gay. Unfortunately I've always known that my parents aren't too keen on gay people. Needless to say I've been going through a bunch of problems. I've tried to deny that I'm gay, I kept that up that one for ages. It was not until I talked to other gay people on the internet that I realised that being gay is not a choice you make. It's a part of who you are. My parents almost had me convinced it was wrong." "After that realisation I've been searching for ways to come clean with my past and most importantly, with my family. After long thought I decided I should tell my brother first. Of all people he would be the one that would be the most supportive. My brother and I have had a very good relationship. If there would be one person that would support me it would be him, I hoped at least." Zach said, pausing for a moment before continuing. "It turned out that I wasn't mistaken. It took him some time to get used to the idea. He always made it very clear that he loved me no matter what during that period. That was very important to me. Unfortunately my parents didn't feel the same. I talked about it with my brother and decided that the best way to tell them was to just get it all out in the open. I would lay low for a while and my brother would work on their feelings to accept my being gay. Neither my brother or I expected such a violent reaction from my parents. They decided to kick me out the same day I told them I was gay. They're still not ok about it now even. We're on speaking terms, but that is only because my brother pushed my parents to try and understand what I was going through. At least they are speaking to me now I guess. They helped me buy my apartment, since they didn't want my living with them yet though." "I see. Now i understand more about your reluctance to share that story about your parents. That is quite something to deal with. If you ever want anybody to talk to, you know where to find me." Simon said compassionately. "You're the first person outside my parents and brother I've ever told. Thanks for listening." Zach said, grinning a little. "No problem. How about the rest of your life, other than that?" "The rest of my life is easy compared to this :-) I was born and raised in San Diego. I finished highschool last year, and started college. I was in this little high school band for a couple of years or so. It was never big time, just a little group of us, performing now and again, mainly to the school. Nothing like being in a big group like this though... I just hope I'm ready for something like that. "Don't worry about that. You'll do just fine Zach. The guys don't bite or anything, well... no, the guys don't bite or anything. They'll help you get integrated. Obviously you'll be doing a lot of TV things quite soon, a hell of a lot of practice and rehearsals. You have the same vocal range as Justin, and obviously will be taking over his parts. I honestly can't see you having any problems." Simon said, his voice hesitating slightly as he mentioned Justin again. Even now, several months down the line, every time he closed his eyes, every time he went to sleep at night; it was Justin who occupied his thoughts, it was Justin he saw standing there, smiling. Why did life have to be so cruel. "Thanks." Zach said, snapping Simon back to reality. "Something wrong?" "No no... I was just thinking. Where were we... Oh yes, do you have any other brothers or sisters?" "Besides my brother I've got two younger sisters - 9 and 10. They believe what my parents tell them, and they barely even talk to me now, they think I'm bad and all. I can't blame them for that, but I've still been cut off from my younger sisters - that really hurts me. Fortunately my older brother keeps me informed of what they are doing and gives them messages from me. So I have as much contact with them as can be allowed right now. But if I got this new job, hopefully it should change some things between me and my parents. There big and famous son, splattered all over the front pages. You said earlier that management might not even mind if I were `out'?" "Yeah. I think you need to make a descision on that matter. If you are going to admit to it, but you're not quite ready, you obviously don't ever want to lie to the fans and all. Questions like that pop up, it's bound to happen. You can dodge them, you can give meaningless answers, you can say you're gay. Either way, you need to know how you want to deal with those situations. It may be possible for you to have it all in the open if you were to join the group. In the end, that's something that you would work out with management if you were offered the place. I'm sure you're aware there's a lot of paperwork to be done, and issues such as sexuality will be covered in that." "Yeah. Well, all this is very hypothetical, I've not even got the job yet. There's a lot of other people trying for this position -- I still can't believe I've even got this far." "You are in my opinion the best candidate I've seen from the preliminary trials. I've not spoken to any of the others yet in detail. Time will tell Zach. Anyway, our time is now up. It was a pleasure meeting you." Simon said, rising from his chair to shake Zach's hand across the table. As Zach stood up he glanced down at the notes Simon had been taken throughout the interview. "Don't worry, nothing bad." Simon said laughing a little. "You speak German?" Zach asked, as he looked at page of notes, which Simon had scribbled down. "Yeah. It's to stop prying eyes from reading what I'm writing." Simon said with a grin, as they shook hands. "It was nice talking to you Simon. Thanks for listening." "No problem mate. If you go out the door, and wait outside the next room down, they should be done in a minute if not already." Simon said, walking from the desk to open the door. As Zach walked out, Simon gestured for the next person, already sitting outside to come in. "Hello, you must be Clive?"

The following day:

"Ok, everyone has interviewed all the finalists. Now we just have to decide on one person. This is mainly your choice guys, so what I was thinking first off if we all just say which candidate you preferred most, and then we'll talk about why." The tall man in a suit said, Thomas John Welsh, some high up guy or other from Jive. "Shall we start with you Lance?"

"Well, I've been thinking over night and all, and the one guy that really struck me was Zach." As soon as Lance said that, the other guys all nodded. "I don't know, we just seemed to click better than with any of the others."

"I've got to agree with Lance." JC spoke up, followed then by Joey and Chris. "What about you Simon?"

"Definitely. Some of them were just not right for the group, John whatshisname for instance."

"Well guys, from the management perspective, we are more than happy with Zach. There was the slight issue with him, which I don't know if you know about or not, but that is not a problem."

"Issue, you mean the fact he's gay?" Lance spoke out.

"Yes. He told you all?" Everyone round the table nodded.

"That's my doing, I suggested he be as open as possible, and that you guys would definitely like to know that."

"Well, as long as that doesn't pose any problems with you."

"Not at all." Chris spoke up. Simon was still surprised by Chris's sudden change of attitude towards homosexuality, but was happy none the less.

"Well then, I guess that settles that. I was expecting a long discussion, all of you going for different people. They are all still in Orlando, so we can call them immediately. Do you want to call Zach?"

"Sure, how about you call him Simon?" Lance said, the other guys nodding to acknowledge they were ok with that.

"No problem. I've got the phone number of his hotel in my notes." Owen said, flicking through the 20 or so sheets he'd written during the interviews, as well as information he'd been given beforehand. "Here?"

"Yes, he might as well hear the good news immediately." Welsh said, pushing the phone over towards Simon. He picked up the receiver and dialled out the number.

"Good morning, the Swan and Dolphin, how may I help you?" "Oh hello, could you connect me to room 213 please?"

"Of course sir. Please hold." Simon waited a moment as the phone rang, before Zach picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi Zach, this is Simon Williams."

"Oh hi."

"We've had a meeting this morning to decide who would be joining the group.

We've reached a decision I'm afraid. The guys were quite unanimous I'm afraid. You had my support, but I couldn't have changed their decision at all."

"Oh. It was worth a try at least." Zach said, very downhearted.

"Yes, all the guys unanimously voted for a Mr. Whitaker."

"I see... wait..."

"Yes, that's you dummy!" Simon said, smiling. The others laughed as Simon pulled his phone away from his ear as the screams and shouts filled the whole room virtually from the small speaker.

"You're joking?" Zach said after he'd calmed down.

"Nope, everyone voted for you, you're in."

"Wow! I can't believe it."

"Believe it. Here, let me pass you on to the other guys, they want to congratulate you. I know I said they didn't bite, but Lance is looking might dodgy now trying to snatch the phone off me." Simon said, causing everyone but Lance to burst out in laughter.

Four days later:

"And in other news today, boy band sensation *NSYNC announced their new member as Zach Whitaker from San Diego, California. The nineteen your old said he was thrilled to have been chosen as the new group member. The group said they would be giving a press conference on Friday, with a web chat on Saturday evening to introduce the new member to the groups fans."

The End

Or is it?

Well, this is the end of Tests of Friendship'. However, there will be more chapters. This story has now reached it's conclusion. However, I will be releasing one or two more special chapters in the future. I have to say a massive, massive thanks to Tom, Flowerpower' for all those who go in the chatroom. He has been an immense help to me on this chapter, and several hundred words, the whole interview with Zach, are all down to Tom's basic outline. I owe him great thanks there. Look out in future months for a continuation of this story, to show Zach's progress in the group, and to find out whether he does come out or not. Now, the thank yous. Sean -- you helped me proof the early chapters, you were the first ever person to email me, and you have provided me with a lot of encouragement. If you like a bit of mystery and conspiracy, go check out Insecurities'. Jed -- again, you helped me proof the early chapters, you were the second ever person to email me:) You've been a massive help to me, and a great friend. Jeff -- well, what can I say:) You have been the greatest friend I could have ever have wished for. Your friendship is dearly valued. If you haven't, you must check out his great story Twist of Fate' Tom -- again, another great friend I've made through Nifty. All of those who go in the chat room will know Tom, Tommie. He's always provided a critical eye over my stories, as well as proofing, and helping me write them. If it weren't for Tom, this chapter wouldn't be here right now. He helped me sort out the Zach character, a part I'd been stuck on for quite a while. Thank you Tom Chris -- another great friend, this time more recent. Again, you've helped get my butt in gear and write this chapter:) If it weren't for you and Tom, there would be no final chapter as of yet. Go check out his story, Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall'. All those friends in the chatroom -- you're good guys, fun to talk to, and again, a good source of encouragement and friendship. It's funny how something like Nifty, a gay stories archive, has made me the best friendships a person could ever wish for. And finally -- to everyone who has ever emailed me about the story. I've got emails from tens of people since I've been doing this story. Thank you to all of you. Feedback from the readers is a massive reward for me, and I love receiving it. hint hint:) The Project' will be up shortly for all those who read that. Until then -- or until the next chapter of TOF, take care all.