Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 02:57:11 +0000
From: Angel1313@att.net
Subject: Devotion ch.26

Devotion
Chapter Twenty-Six:
The Calm Before the Storm

Disclaimer: Oops! Last chapter I accidentally called Lynn
"Mrs. Timberlake," not "Mrs. Harliss." >.< Let's all pretend that I
*wasn't* half asleep when I wrote it, and let me by with that stupid
mistake. Sorry! Oh, and sorry that this is so late, but it's starting to
heat up, so hopefully I'll get inspired again! Feel free to write to me and
try to get me to write, I'd appreciate it! -Angel1313 ^_^

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Chapter Twenty-Six:
The Calm Before the Storm

	"It's a little early, don't you think? They still have some time to
sleep."
	"Don't worry, Lynn," Chris reassured the blonde, knocking on the
door. "They've had plenty of time."
	"Plus," Joey chuckled. "I think I can hear JC singing, so we should
be fine."
	Everyone paused to listen, and the words to "I Wanna Love You
Forever" came drifting to their ears.
	"Jessica Simpson?" Chris laughed. "This is too good."
	"They've got music playing, too. They'll never hear us, so why
don't I just let us in?" Lance offered.
	Grinning at the Mississippian, Chris said, "I'm so glad you have
that key."
	Joey turned to Mrs. Harliss. "Not to imply anything, but I think
you'd better let us go in first."
	"Oh, don't worry," Lynn laughed. "But thanks for being so
considerate, Joseph."
	Lance motioned for everyone to be quiet, and he slowly opened the
door. The music became louder, but they also heard the shower running. The
door to the bathroom was open, and JC was leaning against its frame,
casually flipping through a magazine, his back to the other members of
*NSYNC.
	"I wanna love you forever,
	And this is all I'm asking of you:
	Ten thousand lifetimes together.
	Is that so much for you to do?" Sang JC.
	To the surprise of the four people in the other doorway, Justin's
voice came to answer:
	"Cause from the moment that I saw your face,
	And felt the fire from your sweet embrace,
	I swear I knew:
	I'm gonna love you forever."
	"How cute, they're singing to each other," Lance giggled.
	"Do you think Justin always showers with the door open?" Chris
pointed out. "I mean, JC seems pretty casual about it."
	"Hey, at least they're not in there together," Joey replied.
	"That's right, they'd better not be in there together," Lynn
interjected sternly. "Not with his mother around, I'd hope."
	"Not with any of us around," Chris muttered.
	"What's wrong with two guys showering together?" Lance asked
defensively.
	"Nothing!" Chris insisted, holding his hands up. "I'm totally fine
with it. I was just kidding!"
	"You'd better have been, Kirkpatrick," Joey threatened.
	"What?" JC suddenly called, but as the three other people in the
room turned to the brunette in surprise, they saw that he was looking into
the bathroom. "Yeah, sure," he continued. With that, the twenty-four
year-old set down his magazine on the counter and headed into the bathroom.
	"Whoa!" Joey exclaimed. "What do you think is going on?"
	"Well," Lance noted. "The shower's off, so it shouldn't be anything
*too* bad."
	"Boys, Joshua and my son aren't really in a relationship," Lynn
informed the young men.
	"I think you're mistaken," Chris argued. "You're not around them as
much as we are. And let's just say that we don't call them the `lovebirds'
for nothing."
	"I think Lynn may be right," Lance countered. "I mean, I was so
sure that they were together, but then they started acting all weird. I
think they had a fight or something."
	Suddenly Justin could be heard giggling loudly. "You leave my towel
alone, bad boy," he scolded the older man.
	Raising his eyebrows, Chris said, "I think it's `or something.'"
	Nodding mutely, the other three agreed. Finally, Joey spoke. "Don't
you think we should, um, let them know we're here, or uh, something?"
	"I think that would be a good idea," Mrs. Harliss agreed quickly.
	"Okay," Lance commanded, quickly taking charge. "Everyone make like
we just came in, okay? We'll send Joe here to see what's going on, because
we all know he's the loudest. All right?"
	"What?!" Joey protested. "Why do I have to go?"
	"Just do it!" Lance sighed, pushing the brunette towards the
bathroom.
	"Hello?" Lynn called loudly. "Anyone in here?"
	"We're in the bathroom!" Justin called back.
	Just then, JC stuck his head out the door, to see Joey making his
way over. "Hi, everyone," the twenty-four year-old greeted cheerfully. "I'm
just helping Curly get his braids out."
	"OH!" Joey exclaimed loudly. "That makes so much more sense."
	Forcing a fake laugh, Lance covered, "Yeah, Joey thought that
Justin's hair was naturally like that or something." Continuing to speak
rapidly so Joey couldn't contradict him, Lance added, "Why did he braid his
hair if he was only going to have it like that for a day anyway?"
	"He was deep conditioning it," JC explained. "And the braids just
made it less messy, so I offered to do it for him last night."
	"Wait," Chris laughed. "Let me get this straight. Last night you
did Justin's hair?" When JC nodded, the twenty-eight year-old broke off
into a fit of laughter.
	"What?" JC snapped, and Chris covered his mouth, trying to contain
himself.
	"Josh?" Justin asked, stepping into view.
	The nineteen year-old had a towel wrapped around his waist, but was
otherwise uncovered. Roughly half of his head was still braided, and the
other half was matted down, as it was still wet. At the sight of him, even
Lance couldn't help but giggle a little.
	Ignoring them, JC turned to the younger man. "Yes?" he replied.
	"Could you finish my hair?" the blonde asked shyly. "I, um, am
having difficulty taking the braids out myself."
	"Of course," the twenty-four year-old agreed immediately. "That's
why you asked in the first place, isn't it?"
	Smiling, Justin nodded.
	Suddenly, JC leaned foreword and took the younger man's hand. He
then led the blonde to kitchen table. Pulling out a chair, he commanded,
"Sit."
	Justin sat down sideways in the chair, facing his mother and the
other three members of *NSYNC. JC quickly began to work on the remaining
braids in the young man's hair.
	"So," Joey spoke up, breaking the silence that had fallen over the
group. "Do you and JC always sing Jessica Simpson songs?"
	"What?!" Justin exclaimed. "When did you hear that?!"
	"Joey!" Lance and Chris hissed, glaring at the New Yorker.
	"How long were you in here before you said anything?" JC questioned
the group, now growling at Joey.
	"Oh, well, we could hear you from outside. That's why Lance used
his key; we knew you couldn't hear us," Chris was quick to cover.
	"Besides," Lynn added, smiling at the two young men. "I think that
it's sweet that you two sing together. However," she took a more stern
tone, looking directly at her son. "I *am* a little concerned that you
shower with the door open."
	"Uh," Justin stammered. "I, um, ow!"
	"Sorry," JC apologized quickly. He began to lean down to kiss the
top of the blonde's head, as he always did when he pulled on the younger
man's hair too hard, when he thought better of it. Justin, who was
expecting the brunette to "kiss it and make it better" began to pout.
	Folding his arms across his chest, Justin complained, "Josh, you
pulled on my hair! Aren't you going to do anything about it?"
	Looking at the nineteen year-old strangely, Chris stated, "Um, he
apologized. What more do you want?"
	"Justin," JC hissed through clenched teeth. "I don't think your mom
wants me to."
	"Fine," Justin muttered darkly.
	JC sighed. What was he supposed to do? He didn't want to be on bad
terms with his best friend's mother, but he didn't want Justin to be angry
with him, either.
	Suddenly, Justin's face brightened. Standing up abruptly, he
announced, "Then we're just going to finish this in the other room!"
	"What?" the other five people in the room asked simultaneously.
	Grabbing the brunette's hand, Justin began pulling him towards the
bathroom. "C'mon, Josh," he prodded. "Let's go!"
	As he was being dragged away, JC forced a laugh and said, "I don't
know what's gotten into him, really! A-heh-heh-heh!"
	Once the two of them were in the bathroom, Justin firmly shut the
door. "Now," he began, hopping up to sit on the counter. "How about you
kiss it and make it better?"
	"Just, I can't reach your head if you sit up there," JC pointed
out, amusement dancing in his azure eyes.
	"Then why don't you just kiss me somewhere else?" the nineteen
year-old suggested, greatly closing the distance between himself and his
best friend.
	/Don't panic,/ JC told himself. /You can stay in control! There are
four people in the other room, don't do anything stupid!/
	"I love you Josh," Justin breathed, finally leaning foreword and
pressing his lips against the brunette's in a tender caress.
	Involuntarily moving to slid his arms around the younger man's
waist, JC leaned into the kiss, sucking gently on the nineteen year-old's
bottom lip. As Justin slowly parted his lips, allowing JC's tongue access
to the inside of his mouth, the twenty-four year-old's brain began to catch
up with his body. Pulling back abruptly, he looked into the blonde's
desire-filled eyes, and whispered, "Oh, shit," before bolting from the
room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Damn! I know that Justy shouldn't have kissed JC, but I just couldn't help
it! I'm frustrated with the fact that they can't get together yet, and,
well, so is Justin! Having Lynn there is going to make it interesting,
though! I'll try to get them ready for the VMAs by the next chapter,
LoL. Sorry this is going so slowly! -Angel1313 ^_^