Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 18:21:27 +0000 From: Angel1313 Subject: Devotion ch.9 Devotion Chapter Nine: Tonight We Dance Disclaimer: Back again! I don't even think that anyone reads these anymore. Well, if you *do* then here it is- I don't know/own/have anything to do with *NSYNC. And yes, I do always use the little star and not an apostrophe before the "n" in "nsync." =P Go figure. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Nine: Tonight We Dance "We're here!" Chris exclaimed, stepping out of the taxi. "Finally," Joey said, rolling his eyes. "Took you long enough." "I tried to hurry but the old man's legs gave out on him and I ended up having to carry him the whole way," Lance joked, promptly receiving a smack from Chris. "Hey, weren't you ever taught to respect your elders?" JC laughed. "Ease up on Chris, Lance." "Yeah!" Chris chimed in. After a pause he added, "Hey, why *don't* you guys treat me more like the elder. Elders in lion prides get all the women." "Because you *don't* get any women?" Justin replied, but only JC heard. The two began to laugh. Lance rolled his eyes at the randomness of the oldest member of *NSYNC. "And he's not even drunk yet," he muttered. Joey laughed. "That's right!" he exclaimed. "The fun is yet to begin!" Justin sighed. There they went, always getting drunk when they went out to clubs. Justin never joined in; JC wouldn't let him. Not that JC himself was a particularly heavy drinker. In fact, Justin had only seen him get *really* drunk once or twice. However, he'd been tipsy on more then one occasion. "Josh," The nineteen year-old whispered as they entered the club. "Would you do me a favor tonight?" JC turned to the young man next to him. "Sure, Curly. Anything," he responded immediately, looking at his friend with concern. Justin smiled. "It's nothing too serious, don't worry. It's just that I don't want you to-" The blonde was cut off by a burly looking bouncer, who announced, "All right, you're in. Right this way, please." "What's with the special treatment," JC asked, turning away from Justin. "I thought we were just going to hang out at the bar and stuff." "Joey decided that we should go VIP," Lance explained. "Oh," JC said. "Cool." Justin decided that he'd just have to talk to JC after they got into the VIP section. He was going to ask the twenty-four year-old to not drink that night, or to at least limit himself to one or two alcoholic drinks. Preferably one. It wasn't that JC couldn't hold his liquor, it was just that with what he usually drank at clubs, it was defiantly the fewer the better. Justin smiled a little. He probably knew JC's limits better then JC did. Then again, it was probably only because he was the only one sober enough to remember stuff like that, when it happened. "So guys," Lance began as the five of them sat down in a booth together. "What do ya'll wanna do first?" "Let's get some drinks!" Joey exclaimed. "I think I'm gonna hit the dance floor," JC stated at the same time. /At least he's not going straight to the liquor like Joey,/ Justin thought with a sigh. He was staring at the table disapprovingly until he felt someone tugging on his arm. "C'mon, Curly," JC urged, pulling his friend out of the booth. "You're coming with me to the dance floor `cause there's no way I'm letting you stay here and order drinks with Joey," the older man laughed. Justin smiled at the brunette. "I'd love to dance with you, Josh," he insisted. "You don't need to drag me!" JC immediately dropped the blonde's arm, his cheeks flushing slightly. "Sorry," he apologized quickly. "You were just in your own world there, staring at the table or something, and-" Justin laughed again and placed a hand on the older man's shoulder. "It's all right, Josh," he said, giving his friend a reassuring smile. JC relaxed and returned Justin's smile. He didn't know why he was so nervous. /Maybe it's because he said he'd love to dance *with you,*/ A voice in the back of the brunette's mind answered. JC quickly pushed the thought from his head. Justin was straight and he had to learn to deal with it. Making a big deal out of things like that was only going to make things more difficult for the twenty-four year old. "Hey, before you go, what do you guys want to drink?" Joey asked quickly. "Oh, I'd like a rum and coke to start the evening off," JC replied. "Me, too," Justin tried. Joey was about to agree, but JC shook his head. "Make that a plain coke," Justin said with a sigh. Joey just laughed. "Come get us when the drinks arrive," JC yelled over his shoulder as he headed to the dance floor with his best friend. "Sure thing," Joey called back, heading over to the bar to place the orders. JC and Justin made their way over to the dance floor. "C'mon," JC said, taking Justin's hand. The nineteen year-old was surprised, but he let the brunette lead him to the center of the crowd. Once they were surrounded by people swaying every which way to the music, JC dropped the younger man's hand. Justin frowned a bit, despite himself. This went unnoticed by JC, who had been turned away, looking at something else at the moment. When he looked back, he saw a smile on the blonde's angelic face. "So, you gonna dance, or are you just gonna stand there?" Justin teased the older man, shoving his shoulder playfully. JC smiled and said, "You're not doing much dancing there yourself, Curly." The two laughed together before beginning to sway along with the rhythm of the song playing. As they got more into the dance, JC decided to be a little bold. He timidly reached out a hand and placed it gently on Justin's hip, causing them to move together. Justin glanced down at JC's hand before meeting the older man's eyes. JC looked slightly nervous. The blonde smiled widely at him, and was quickly rewarded by a returning smile. The two continued to dance at the same distance, never skipping a beat. Inwardly, however, Justin was bouncing around from the energy JC's touch filled him with. /I can't believe we're actually dancing together!!/ Justin thought excitedly. He was staring at JC's deep blue eyes when the older man turned his head towards Justin's own. Their eyes locked, and the continued to dance subconsciously, neither one noticing anything but the other person. Suddenly the music slowed down. His gaze unwavering, JC gently pulled Justin to him. Justin sighed in bliss as their bodies pressed together. Sliding his arms around JC's neck, Justin gave the brunette a quick hug, which was returned by the older man. Justin smiled happily as he enjoyed the feeling of his best friend's arms around his waist. The two began to rock back and forth gently to the soft melody of the ballad. JC smiled to himself. With the smoke and dim lights of the club no one would be able to tell who they were. Or that it was two guys dancing, for that matter. Suddenly, the brunette was filled with sadness. Yes, Justin was dancing with him, and yes it felt so *right,* but when it came down to it, that didn't really matter much. Justin was still straight. /Maybe he's just humoring me,/ JC thought sadly to himself. "Just," he whispered, keeping his voice soft so as to not ruin the moment. "Thank you." "It's my pleasure, believe me," Justin murmured back, but his voice was swallowed up by the noise around the two as the song changed once again to a fast-paced dance song. The two quickly broke apart. More accurately, JC abruptly pulled away. Having not heard Justin's response, he took what he thought to be a lack thereof as a negative sign. He knew that he had read too much into the dance. Inwardly cursing himself, the brunette muttered, "Let's go see if Joey got the drinks yet." As JC was weaving through the crowd, Justin stood quietly where he was, tears springing forth unbidden to his bright blue eyes. "But you asked Joey to come get us," he whispered to the retreating back of his best friend. /I *knew* he wasn't attracted to me,/ the nineteen year-old thought glumly. /Why do I keep setting myself up for these let downs?/ Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Justin finally set off after JC. "Yep, the drinks just arrived. In fact, I just sent Lance to go get you," Joey explained, handing a drink to JC. "I don't know if it's the one with rum or not, but it's defiantly a coke, so you and Just can work that one out," he added. JC nodded his thanks before taking the drink. He took a sip. "It's defiantly the plain coke," he announced. Just then, Lance returned to the table with Justin in toe. Lance looked concerned, and Justin seemed to be a bit down. Joey noted this to himself before smiling and offering greetings to the two. JC turned to the pair and held out the coke to the younger of the two. "Here, this is yours Justin," he explained. Justin took the drink from his friend's out-stretched hand. "How do you know?" He asked, taking a sip. "I had a sip myself," the older man explained. Justin smiled. /So he used the straw?/ he thought, giggling a bit at how childish he was being. JC smiled back at him, glad to see his friend happy. Lance and Joey both looked a bit relieved. "Say," JC began, moving to sit down at the booth. "What happened to Chris?" "He's off dancing," Lance explained. "Some girl came over and asked him, so he went." "Yeah," Joey chimed in. "She was hot, too." "I think you've had too much to drink, Joe. She was nasty!" Lance exclaimed with a laugh. "Yeah right," Joey retorted. "You're just jealous of Chris." Lance laughed again, but this time it had a hollow ring to it. JC glanced at Justin, who had slid into the booth beside him. The teen, who had already been looking at his friend, simply shrugged before turning to look at Lance. "You okay, man?" JC asked Lance, looking at the younger man with concern. Justin nodded to explain that he wanted to know as well, and Lance shot them both a sad smile. "I'm fine," he claimed. JC and Justin exchanged skeptical looks, so Lance laughed lightly. "Really," he added, trying to sound convincing. Justin opened his mouth to protest, but JC leaned over to him so his mouth was right next to the younger man's ear. "Let it go for now, Curly," the brunette whispered, his breath hot on Justin's neck. Justin blushed and completely forgot what he was going to say to Lance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I know it's sort of an odd place to end, but I needed to have a different chapter for the rest of the night....Don't ask, it'll make sense later. If you're still confused (aren't we all?) then feel free to write to me at Angel1313@att.net Hell, you can write to me even if you're *not* confused! Thanks!!