Twist of Fate

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ~Jeff Kaiser~ Author, Twist of Fate

kaiser_goof@hotmail.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

*Yes yes, I know, I'm such a terrible person for not writing, or answering emails, or all the evil things I've done. However, I've had to prioritize things in my life over the past few (8?) months since I last submitted a chapter, and school, etc. had to come first.

*But alas, all is well! I'm alive, I'm FINISHED with school (finally), life is AWESOME, and I'm writing again.

*I want to thank those that have emailed me, and apologize to them for not responding. Effective now, I'll be checking my email a little more frequently, so you can be assured a response. I'd also like to thank all the friends I've made through Nifty, and all the encouragement they've provided for me even when I wasn't writing. You are too many to name, so I'll just give ya mad props.

***NOTE: I've included some snippits from the previous chapter as an intro to this chapter, but honestly... I had to re-read the whole second half to remember where I was (it's been that long). If you really want to pick up smoothly, AT LEAST go read ch's 16-17 again.

*DISCLAIMER: Yup, the story is about that yucky gay stuff, and about a certain cutie from a certain boy band. But it's freakin' fiction... that means 'not true', and I dare not make any claims or assumptions about his sexuality (although looking at the cover of NSync's new album, I don't know how he could be anything other than a flaming homosexual). With that, I invite those of legal age to continue reading my little epoc.

*I'd love to get back in touch with folks I've not spoken with forever. If you have a sec, drop me a line! Enjoy the chapter, and stay on my tail to keep writing, k?

~Jeff kaiser_goof@hotmail.com

A little peek at what's been going on in Twist of Fate...

• • • • • "What did you just say?" JC could barely whisper. Lance took a deep breath while closing his eyes, and laid it all out on the line. Now was the moment of truth, and he was embracing it. Lance opened his eyes and looked at JC, along with the rest of the band in the background.

"I love Billy very much, and Billy is my boyfriend..." Lance took another deep breath. "and I.........am gay."

• • • • • THUD. Lance and Justin both dropped their travel bags on the floor, and I locked the hotel room door behind me. Lance laid down on the bed, Justin sat in a chair, and I sat down on the edge of the mattress, looking at Lance.

"So, what happened?" I asked after a moment of silence. Lance and Justin shared another glance, and Lance finally spoke up.

"Well...... everyone knows about you." A small frown appeared and disappeared from my face, and I nodded.

"Figured."

"And...... everyone knows about me." This was more of a shock, seeing as I didn't get that impression at ALL from listening through the dressing room door.

"Excuse me???" Lance nodded slowly, and continued.

"And............ everyone now knows about... ... us."

• • • • • "Jessica, thank you so much... for everything," Lance said as he stood up and reached for a hug. Jessica obliged Lance, followed by hugs from myself and even Justin.

"Guys, it's my pleasure... I'm just glad I've found some good friends here on tour. Besides, I LOVE to hang out with gay people! We can go shopping together, and do each other's nails, and try on sweaters, and exfoliate, and..." Jessica's verbal rampage was cut short with a few smacks from a near-by pillow, compliments of ME.

• • • • • I thought that, eventually, I'd get a phone call or an email or a note saying that he's found someone else, or that he simply didn't love me anymore. But after what he did today? How he stood up for me, defended me, and defended US? No, I KNOW there's a strong love there. More importantly, I know that the love is two-way. Standing there, hugging in that hotel room, Lance and I were becoming one--not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. Lance was mine, and I now truly knew that I was his... and if I had any say in the matter, that wasn't going to change for a long, long time.

=========================== And now, the 18th chapter of Twist of Fate:

"I love you, Billy." With my eyes closed, I smiled and responded.

"I love you too, Goof." Lance pulled back a little bit, withdrawing his arms from around my waist. He reached up towards my neck and face, and my hands involuntarily retreated to his waist. I watched him as he was apparently inspecting my face, perhaps for defects.

"Man, you are so damn cute!" Lance said. Without hesitation, I immediately blushed and looked down. Lance continued, "especially when you blush!" Lance's sudden explosion of energy and flirtatiousness caught me off-guard, especially with the evening he had to endure. Still, I didn't complain, and I had to respond.

"Oh yeah, well I'm not as cute as you!" I know, terrible comeback.

"Uh huh!" was Lance's response.

"Nuh uh!" was mine.

"Uh huh!"

"Nuh uh!"

We both rolled our eyes as we realized how pathetic we were acting. Lance kept talking.

"You're so cute, you make me want to...... do this..." Lance leaned in and planted a kiss on my lips.

"I'm okay with that, you know," I responded as our lips parted.

"In that case......" Lance said, right before closing in again and initiating a nice smooch. Our lips met and locked, then moved around as if searching for the right groove. The kiss was not wild and passionate, but rather soft and loving. Our tongues stayed put and our lips worked to gently caress each other's mouth. This went on for a few minutes, until Lance broke off. I was somewhat disappointed, and began to pout (this pout session was complete with lower lip out and all).

"Oh, put that away," he said of my lip as he leaned forward to jokingly bite it. "If we were to keep kissing, I wouldn't be able to give you that backrub I owed you!" I smiled, looking forward to some touchy touchy from the Lance-meister.

"I'm okay with that, too!" Lance directed me to the bed, where he made me lay down on my stomach. I put my hands together under my head, and turned so I could see Lance climb up onto the bed. He seemed to be moving towards the back of the bed, so I had trouble tracking him and figuring out what was going on. However, the pressure on my feet was a pretty clear indication of what was going on.

THUD. One shoe hit the ground. THUD. There's my other shoe! Now in my stocking feet, I got a great view of Lance's back (and backSIDE) as he swiveled his legs off the bed and removed his own shoes. He turned back around to me and raised his eyebrows a few times. Hehe... I couldn't help but laugh.

Within moments, I felt a pressure on my butt, and I knew Lance was getting in position. I was looking forward to this time, but I had no idea how wonderful a backrub was going to feel until Lance's fingers actually made contact with my shoulders and started kneading my muscles through my shirt.

"UUUUUUGHH..." I groaned out, and Lance immediately pulled his fingers off.

"I'm sorry!" was his response.

"NO NO NO NO!! It was a good uuuugh, not a bad uuuugh. Don't worry, I'll tell you if it's a bad uuuuuughh. Ohh, that felt so wonderful!" Lance snickered lightly, and proceeded with his therapy.

Oh, I can't even start to describe how good it felt! The stress of the past week on tour, COMBINED with the stress from that night seemed to have tightened me up into this tense ball of muscle. His hands were like a pro's, perfect and relaxing. Lance started with the muscles in my neck, then moved down into the shoulder blades. His fingers rolled and pressed the flesh back and forth, loosening and releasing weeks of tension. His masterful hands moved down into my shoulders and biceps, and I absolutely turned into jelly.

"Dude, you're tight! Are you okay? Feeling any stress lately?" I tried to answer him with a straight response (straight?), but only sarcasm came out.

"No no, I've been TOTALLY at peace the last month. NOTHING big going on in MY life!......" Lance groaned his disapproval to my response, but kept massaging. After working my arms, he started rubbing the muscles down my back. You know, those ones that usually keep you upright and help you bend when you're calm, but tighten up hard as a brick when you're stressed?

"Uuuuuugh...," I moaned. Lance paused for a second, and I rapidly clarified in a loud tone. "Good uuuugh!... GOOD uuuuugh!..." I said with a strained voice, as if every muscle in my body simultaneously twitched. OH, it hurt, but felt SO good. Come on baby, make it hurt so good, sometimes love don't feel like it should... OH, SORRY. 80's lyrics flashback there. MOVING ON...

It felt as if Lance was pressing on my back like he would type on a keyboard... using all fingers and spreading out the force, not just pressing all at one spot. YEP, Lance was hired for GOOD. "Ya know, I can't really do my job like this," Lance said, taking his hands off my back. Surprised by his sudden comment, I groaned,

"Arrrugh?????"

"Yeah, you see, I'm trying to massage the muscles in your back, but I can't really see the muscles because... well, your shirt is in the way." I saw the mischievous grin on his face, so I played along.

"Oh really? Well, what do you propose to do about that, Mr. Bass?"

"Well," Lance answered as he stuck his hands under my shirt, "I think we need to lose this shirt of yours." Surprised at this newfound forwardness of my boyfriend, it took me a moment to respond. However, what options did I have? (1) Have Lance take off my shirt and touch my bare skin with his hands, or (2) ... hmmm, DARN! Couldn't think of another option!!

"Hey, you're the pro. If you think we need to lose the shirt, then methinks it's GONE." Lance then proceeded to slowly slide my shirt towards my head.

"Lift up your arms," Lance said. I, of course, willingly obliged. I placed my head back on my hands, and caught a glimpse of my shirt being hurled across the room. My my my! I closed my eyes, then felt the wonderful sensation of Lance's skin on mine. The backrub continued unabated for about 20 more minutes, during which time Lance managed to roll and knead every square inch of my back, neck, and arms. He even massaged my hands. Oh, it was heavenly! I'm just glad I was lying on my STOMACH, versus my back. We'd have a BIT of a problem if that were the case!

"Okay, all done!" Lance said as he hopped off my back and onto the floor. He maneuvered himself to the front of the bed, so we were face-to-face. Well, sorta. My head was still sideways on my hands, my eyes closed. I groggily opened my eyes and turned towards Lance, bummed that the backrub was over.

"That was sooooo nice... Now I guess I have to pay you back for that, eh?" I said as I unsuccessfully tried to lift myself up with my arms.

"Nononononono... Not tonight. I'm sure I probably owed you that. You've got the next one, but it'll be some other day. Right now, I just want to be with you... and I want to give you something I've been waiting to give you all day."

"What's that?"

"This..." Lance said as he leaned in towards my face. His eyes slowly closed, and I took the cue to have my eyes do the same. Moments later, our lips met. It's amazing how, after a hundred kisses, along comes a kiss that feels like the first one all over again. This was one of those. His lips were so soft, so perfect. Not too forceful, not too weak. This kiss was commanding, and worthy of a Hollywood camera crew. I reached up to caress his neck, and he echoed my motion by moving his hand to rest on my shoulders. The sensations were incredible, and having Lance's mouth on mine drove me wild! Our tongues began to dance, feeling the texture of each other's mouths.

"Oh, you already gave me one of those," I said as I broke the kiss momentarily to catch a breath. Lance shrugged, and he just looked so delicious! I had no choice but to immediately resume. I created a little suction on his mouth, and pulled his lower lip into my mouth, sucking on it gently. Lance moaned quietly, and I made a note in my "What Makes Lance Go Crazy" mental notebook. We continued this spit swapping for a while more, until Lance had a different idea about our activities. Lance broke the kiss and said,

"Come here." He grabbed my arms and helped me sit up. Me? I continued to play along. This new side of Lance was driving me crazy! As soon as I was sitting up, he gave me a gentle shove, and I fell backwards towards the pillows. Once my head hit the pillows, however, Lance wasted no time. He was instantly on the bed, picking up the kiss where he left off. I was on my back, Lance was on his stomach to my left, and we were engaged in what I might consider to be the most passionate kiss we've ever shared. Lance's left hand was caressing my neck and shoulders, although he occasionally got sloppy and brushed his hands over my chest. At one point, his hand rested over my pecs and I could feel his fingers start to migrate towards my nipples. Before I knew it, I had Lance's mouth on mine, and his fingers gently rubbing my nipples. I was starting to get intoxicated by the new sensations, and even more so by this completely unexpected behavior from Lance. It took all my will power to do what I did next, but I just had to know something...

"Who are you and what did you do to my boyfriend?" I asked playfully through the kiss, causing Lance to pull his head back and look at me strangely.

"What do you mean?" Lance could see the smile on my face, but could also sense that there was something going on in my head that inspired a comment like that. He took his hands off my chest as I reached down with my arms and propped myself against the headboard of the bed.

"Well... it's just that... I guess I'm not used to seeing such a... playful side of you. All of a sudden tonight, you're goofier than ever, totally frisky, and... It's not a BAD thing, don't get me wrong!! I guess it's just not what I would have expected from you considering the night you've had... I dunno........." My voice trailed off as I shrugged and stared at Lance, seeing if I was making any sense. He didn't stare back at me as if I had a third eye in the middle of my head, so I guess I was getting through to him.

Lance opened his mouth to speak, paused for a second, closed his mouth, then opened it again. "I think I know what you mean. I mean, I see it too... it's weird, but I feel totally energized and excited and happy and... I don't know, I feel like a huge stress has been lifted off me. I know that totally sounds corny, but... people know about me, and about US, and I don't have to worry about stressing over it anymore. It's like I'm free now, and can continue on with my life. I feel like I was on hold for so long, sorta like I was frozen. Tied up. Chained to something that wasn't me. I wasn't myself, I couldn't be. Now I feel like the real me can come out... LITERALLY come out." Lance and I both had surprised looks on our faces from his diatribe.

"My my, there's a lot going on inside that head of yours," I said, reaching up and lightly knocking my fingers on his skull.

"Hehe...... That's nothing compared to my thoughts about you... and how much I want to show you that I love you, and how much you mean to me, and how happy I am that I now get to show you off to all my friends without being ashamed, and how wonderful it is that you're here, and how wonderful YOU are, and what a great kisser you are, and how gorgeous you are... especially without your shirt on," Lance said as he reached up and squeezed my left nipple. I had closed my eyes to listen to his heart-melting words, and I gasped so hard at the unexpected clamp on the nip that the windows must have bent inwards from the change in air pressure in the hotel room.

"Gal... geez... oh!" I sputtered out, trying to catch my breath. "You see, like THAT! What is that? Where did that come from? You'da never done that before!" Lance just grinned widely and snickered an evil laugh.

"Am I hearing any complaints?" My eyes bugged out and I shook my head fervently.

"NonononooNONONNONO, not at all! Nope, not a word from me. It's just... different and unexpected."

Lance quickly raised and lowered his eyebrow a few times and said, "Well, expect the unexpected. I think I might have a few tricks up my sleeve."

I ran my hands up his arms and just underneath his sleeves, squeezing his biceps muscle. Oh, he was so beautiful. I was rewarded as Lance flexed his arm muscles, pressing my hand tightly against the fabric of his shirt as his arm swelled.

"Aoooh!," I said as my eyes rolled back into my head. He drove me wild by flexing his muscles while I had my hands on them. I opened my eyes to enjoy the sight, and I then realized that there existed a distinct disadvantage between me and Lance. I reached around Lance's chest and rolled both of us over so he was now on his back, and I was on my stomach.

The twist surprised him, and he asked, "What was that for?" Now the mischievous look was in MY eye!

"Well my friend, something here isn't very fair... You see, I'm shirtless, but you still seem to have yours on." Staring into his eyes and relishing this newfound friskiness, I also added, "Plus, you said you have some tricks up your sleeve... and, well, let's just say that I really want to see those tricks..." I finished my sentence by tugging on the bottom of his shirt.

"Oh do you now?" Lance responded, raising an eyebrow. I nodded slowly as I slid his shirt up towards his neck. Lance showed his approval to this action by voluntarily raising his arms above his head, and closing his eyes as I slipped his T-shirt past his head and off his arms. This motion struck a cord in me, seeing as Lance and I had never really gotten this... how do you describe it... well, blatantly sensual... I mean, sure we've seen each other shirtless, and even touched each other shirtless, but... this was far different. I was enjoying every moment of it, though.

Some of Lance's goofy energy was starting to rub off on me. Instead of tossing the shirt across the room like Lance did, I opened the neck hole and stuck it on my head, inside out, like an unrolled turban. Lance took one look at it and just busted up.

"Salaam, Billy-san," he said.

"Now where was I?" The answer came as soon as I bowed down to my demi-god, grabbed his face lightly, used my fingers to close his eyelids, and gently placed my lips on his. Lance tried to get some immediate action, but a slight squeeze from my hands and a retreat of my lips showed him I was in charge.

"Shhhhhh," I indicated quietly. Lance understood, and became complacent. I moved back into the kiss, this time extending my tongue into his mouth. Lance's mouth, which had become voluntarily paralyzed, became a great terrain to be explored. I ran my tongue across his teeth, pressing it up underneath his upper lip, brushing it along his upper gums. Another groan from Lance indicated that I was doing a good thing, and another mental note was made. My tongue continued to explore his mouth, checking out his teeth, the roof of his mouth, his cheeks, and his tongue. Unnngh! There is nothing like feeling the texture of his tongue when it's just sitting there in his mouth. Our activities were definitely getting me excited, and by Lance's facial expressions, I could tell they weren't the most boring experiences that he had ever encountered. Our kiss continued for a while more, until Lance made another bold move.

"Ya know what? You'd probably be more comfortable if... you were right here, rather than laying by my side," Lance said, as he patted his stomach. He wanted me to lay on top of him as we made out! Surprised, yet willing to follow his suggestion, I responded,

"Are you sure?" A smile from Lance gave me his answer. I cautiously lifted my left leg over Lance's waist and slid myself on top of him. Lance spread his legs a bit, and my waist and legs slid down into the space formed. There we were, bare chest to bare chest, face to face, in the most intimate position to date. Any complaints? NOPE!

The kiss-fest continued, with hands flying in every direction. Lance wrapped his arms around me, rubbing his hands on my shoulders and back. My hands traveled down his sides, feeling his beautiful skin with my fingers. I managed to raise myself a few inches in order to get my hands in to touch Lance's chest. The perfect combination of toned muscle and the SLIGHTEST layer of baby fat made for quite the sensual, tactile experience as I rubbed and touched his chest and nipples. Once, I unconsciously stuck my fingers below his belt at the hip and tugged gently on his boxers. This only made both of us crazier, and I think we both realized we were skating on thin ice. Our activities didn't change, however, until Lance, in a moment of unconscious passion, reached down the small of my back and slid his hands pretty far into my pants, UNDER my boxers.

We both froze, my hands on his shoulders, his hands on my bare heiney, looking at each other eye-to-eye. This glance lasted a long time as we communicated volumes about what we were thinking. Lance finally closed his eyes, almost in defeat, and slowly removed his hands from the back of my pants.

"I think we need to talk," Lance finally said, his hands finding a safer location around my back. I nodded, and shifted my weight, rolling sideways out of his lap.

"Yeah, I think we should." Lance sighed, grabbed my hand, looked me in the eyes, and spoke.

"We've been together for nearly five months, and they've been the best months of my life! A lot of that time we haven't been together, and it's awesome that I now have you here in my life, close to me." I smiled.

"I know, I feel like joining the tour has made a world of difference for us... I'm so glad I'm here... with you."

"Well, we're here in a bit of a dilemma... you see, I'm REALLY attracted to you, Billy. I mean REEEEEALLY. You're here without a shirt and you look gorgeous... I'm here without a shirt, we've got this hotel room all to ourselves, we don't have to get up early, and honestly...... I......" Lance seemed to be struggling with his words, but I knew what he was going for.

"Lance, trust me, I know what you're saying. I'm very turned on by you right now, and I'm just about ready to devour you! But..."

"Yeah, but... Billy, as much as I...... well, want to do 'something' right now, I............" I continued his sentence.

"......you're scared about doing something you'd regret......"

"......yeah!" Lance answered. "and I don't want to do something that would hurt us, or specifically YOU......"

"...you don't want to wake up tomorrow morning and wish you hadn't done... whatever it was you might do..."

"...might do tonight......" Lance's voice trailed off as we both came to the realization that we were seeing eye to eye on this thing. I shook my hand free from his and reached to his face. Leaning in towards him, I kissed him on the forehead and said,

"Thank you. Thank you SO much for caring. It's one of the many reasons I love you!" I slid back down, and had Lance looking at me.

"I love you too, Billy... I love you so much. I don't want anything to hurt our relationship, especially this." Lance then reached forward, put his hands on my shoulders, and pulled me into a hug.

There we sat, two people that cared for each other immensely, sharing a very special embrace. Love can be shown in many ways. Sometimes, it can be shown by making 'love'. Sometimes, however, a stronger statement can be made by abstaining. I knew that, for now, at that moment, we had made the right decision.

"Lance?" I said after what seemed like many minutes of silence. No answer. "Lance??" I said a little louder.

"Uhhuh?" He responded groggily. Apparently, Lance had dozed off! How cute...

"As much as I don't want to do this, I think...... well, considering everything that happened tonight and what the guys are thinking, and the fact that we're both DEAD tired...... I think I should head over to my own room......" Lance sighed in defeat.

"Yeah, I guess..." Neither he nor I were thrilled about the prospect, but we both knew it would be best, if only for perception. After a few more minutes of cuddling, I sat up and slowly rolled off the bed. "I'll call you tomorrow and we can figure out what to do about this whole mess," Lance commented as I searched for my shirt. "Plus, I'd like to spend some time with you tomorrow." I gave him a 'look' and responded,

"Are you kidding?? You're definitely going to see A LOT of me tomorrow. I'm not going to leave your side!" Lance smiled and nodded, then himself rolled off the bed. With my shirt back on my body, I was ready to go.

"So I'll call you tomorrow?"

"You better!" I said as I reached a hand out. He took mine, and a quick tug from me yanked him into a hug. "I love you, Lance," I said in our embrace.

"You KNOW I love you, too, Billy." Lance pulled apart and initiated our good-night kiss before walking us to the door. "See ya, Doc," he said as he opened the door.

"See ya, Goof..." I said as I slipped out into the hallway. We both hesitated for a moment, but Lance started to slowly close the door. We maintained eye contact until the door latched shut.

CLICK. The door shut behind me in my own hotel room, and I sighed as I realized Lance was not to be found in THIS one. I switched on the lights and got orientated to the new room. It was backwards from the room Lance was in, but it was still pretty simple... bathroom over there, two beds over here, table and TV over there. As wonderful as the amenities were, however, I was only interested in one thing... getting into bed and ending this roller coaster day. Glancing again at the TWO beds in the room, I couldn't help but smile at the fact that Victor ::coughBASTARDcough:: was no longer rooming with me... EVER!

Noticing that my luggage was nowhere to be found (we went directly from the venue to the hotel without getting our bags), I realized that I didn't have a change of clothes, or a toothbrush, or anything. Shrugging my shoulders, I didn't really care, since all I wanted to do was sleep.

"WOW!" I said out loud as I looked at the clock. "2:15am?" I had no idea it had gotten so late. Granted, the show got out late, and we chatted for a while with Justin and Jessica, then Lance and I... well, YOU know... But... 2:15a??

I just rubbed my eyes as I turned off the lights I had just recently turned on. I made a beeline for the bed, and crashed like the Exxon Valdez. I thought I'd have trouble getting to sleep, considering the level of 'activity' during the evening. However, it was enough of a stressful day that I had no problem closing... my eyes and... falling right......to......... sle...............

A loud sound shook me from my sleep. I wasn't well aware of my location or surroundings, so it took me a moment to decide if I was still asleep and dreaming, or if I had actually been brought back into consciousness. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. Okay, I was now aware that someone was pounding on the wall... or was it the door? Yeah, it must be the door. I moaned as I rolled out from under the covers, the cold air from the air conditioner hitting my bare chest. I shivered, but continued my trek towards the door. I assumed it was the hotel delivering my bags, or Jessica to see how I was doing, or something like that. Whoever it was, I wasn't going to be too thrilled about being ripped from my slumber. KNOCK KNOCK.

"I'm coming!" I said loudly as I reached the door. Unlatching the deadbolt and privacy lock, I opened the door. Immediately, I was hit with the intense brilliance of the hallway lighting, and I squinted.

"Hey Billy," I heard, even before my eyes adjusted enough to open them.

"Lance?" I said, blinded. "What are you doing here?" I finally got my eyesight back, and I immediately beheld Lance before me, with the most pathetic puppy dog look on his face.

"I couldn't sleep..." was his response.

"Awwww.... I'm sorry. Why didn't you call me?" I asked, concerned about him but also trying to determine his true intentions for walking down the hall. Lance looked to the ground, sighed, and made eye contact again.

"Billy, I have you here on tour. The whole band knows about you, me, and US. I don't want to be apart from you if I don't have to be."

sigh "So what are you saying?" I asked with a curious look.

"I'd like to be with you tonight." My guy looked so adorable! Without hesitation, I smiled, reaching into the hall and grabbing Lance by the forearm. I gave his arm a squeeze and pulled him gently into the room. A kick to the door caused it to latch shut behind us, leaving the hallway empty once again.

*Ah, the dynamic duo are at it again. More to be revealed in the next chapter!

~Jeff kaiser_goof@hotmail.com