"Hmm?" Unhurriedly, JC looked up from the book he seemingly had been reading for the last twenty minutes - oh yes, his years of practice certainly paid off.

Justin got up from where he had been digging through his suitcase in search of a T-shirt to wear. "Could I borrow your blue shirt? The one with the red logo? I always loved that one." Of course I did, I love every single one of your clothes, especially when you're wearing them.

"Well... I guess, but I wore it yesterday, so..."

"Doesn't matter." That's the reason why I want to wear it today. But you wouldn't want to hear that, would you? Nope, you wouldn't.

JC shrugged. "Well, if you really want to..."

"Yes!"

The older man closed the book and placed it on the nightstand of Justin's bed where he had been lying, then came to his feet and padded over to his own suitcase to retrieve the shirt for his friend, all the while secretly watching the half dressed curly-head. Soon, he had to direct his undivided attention at the task at hand, though: As always, his suitcase was a mess, or, as he would rather describe it: Creative chaos.

How long does it take you to find a shirt in a stuffed suitcase? Well, it depends. If you're lucky, then the shirt's the first thing you see when you open the lid. And if you're unlucky, then it's the last thing you get your hands on, when almost the whole content of you suitcase is already spread all over the floor. JC wasn't lucky. When one of the other guys knocked to tell them to get ready - judging by the rapid, almost techno-beat like knocking, it was Chris -, Justin had just joined JC in repacking his luggage, an apologetic look on his face.

Without bothering to turn around, the curly haired man yelled over his shoulder. "Give us a minute, we'll be out in no time at all."

The knocking didn't stop, if ever, it only increased in volume and speed.

Justin and JC, almost finished with the suitcase, exchanged a glance, half amused, half annoyed. "You know, if he keeps this up any longer, he'll have a heart attack. He's approaching old age, after all..."

The dark-haired man couldn't help but grin happily, not because of Justin's comment, but because of the bright smile covering his friend's face. "So what do you say? Do we save his life or do we let him have his share of time in the hospital?"

Justin frowned in thoughts. "That's hard to decide, don't you think so? If we save his life, he has to be forever grateful. We could force him to make us breakfast and stuff. But if he's in the hospital, we might get some time off.... Free time or a slave, free time or a slave..."

All of a sudden, the pounding at the door stopped, then, after a moment of odd silence, Lance's voice rang through the thick wood. "Justin! JC! Out! Now!"

Lance hardly ever used his authority to give orders, but when he did, nobody hesitated to obey immediately. So, only the tenth of a second later, both Justin and JC were out in the corridor, suitcases in their hands and all together about twenty minutes late.

***

"Look who decided to show up!"

Sprawled on the sofa, remote control in his left hand, Joey had already made himself comfortable in the living room of the bus.

"Sorry." the two lead singers of 'N Sync exclaimed in unison, then let their bags drop to the floor.

"What about breakfast?" Justin, leaning against the doorframe, looked around at the rest of the band, then noticed Lance's eyes on him. "What?" he asked slightly uncomfortable, this time directed at the green-eyed bass singer.

Lance shrugged. "Nothing. It's just that I thought I've already seen this shirt on JC."

"You did." the mentioned one confirmed nonchalantly. "I wore it yesterday."

"Oh, okay."

"So, what was that about breakfast?" Justin brought everyone's attention back to his first question.

"That's up to you, J. The rest of us already ate, but I think there's still some cereal left. Just look in the kitchen."

"K. You coming, Josh?" Not awaiting the answer, Justin bounced out of the living room, JC following closely behind.

***

"Jay-ceeee!"

The scream, though not earsplitting, echoed through the bus and caused JC to look up from the piece of paper he was currently scribbling on. Within a few seconds, he had crumbled it up and tossed it towards the garbage can, the blinking of an eye later, Justin was bursting into the kitchen.

"They're making me watch horror movies. Can you watch them with me? Please? Josh?"

Justin was no longer the fourteen-year old child, and he was aware of it. So was everyone else, especially JC - and boy, was he aware of it! But there were a few situations that could make Justin retreat to about half of his age, and one of those certain situations was whenever horror movies were concerned. He wasn't really afraid of them, but he just liked someone to hold his hand while watching. Or, more precisely, he liked JC to hold his hand while watching them. Not that the latter minded. It didn't even take the puppy dog face to make the older one stand up and follow the blonde out of the kitchen.

Lance, passing them on his way to get a soda, just grinned. "Have fun. Oh, and JC? Don't let him squash your hand, or you won't be able to hold your micro tonight."

***

Lance's eyes were following him since the afternoon of the day. At first, JC had thought nothing of it, but after a while, it became hard to ignore the prying green eyes that seemed to follow his every move, but most of all - and that was the part which scared JC -, Lance seemed to take in every single one of the looks JC was giving Justin when he thought that no one would notice. During the day, the questioning expression Lance's eyes held had changed, and by now the Mississippian was smiling openly whenever JC dared to look at him.

Like just now, for example. It had been an all to familiar thing to do for JC, almost something he would call a daily routine: First, he would step out of the limo that brought them to the hotel after their show, and then he would turn around and watch Justin emerge, his gaze lingering on his friend while the curly head was still turned towards the inside of the limo, usually in order to throw some playful insult back at Joey. Only that this time, Lance had gotten out before JC and the latter didn't remember the bass singer's presence until it was too late. By then, the smiling and all too knowing green eyes had already seen what they weren't supposed to see.

It wasn't until they were out of the elevator and walking towards their rooms when Lance approached JC and Justin who were talking animatedly about an upcoming basketball game.

"Hey, Justin, JC, I know you always share a room when there aren't enough rooms for everyone to get a single, but JC and I kinda have to talk about some business, so I think it would be best if we changed the arrangements. It's only for tonight, though. Is that okay?"

JC inwardly tensed. Was this what he thought it was?

On Justin's face, a scowl appeared, but was quickly wiped off, not more than a fleeting indication of how he was feeling. "Can't Josh come to your room to talk, and then come back to our room later?"

"I don't know, Just." JC wanted to go back to Justin's and his own room, he really did, but he didn't know yet what to expect from his talk with Lance. "This might take quite some time, and I don't want you to not get enough sleep because of me. I might wake you up when I come back or something."

That's a little late, Josh, I am already lacking sleep because of you. "You know that I don't mind. And we always share a room."

"Yeah..." JC was ready to cave in, but Lance beat him to it.

"I think that would be okay, too. Just don't stay up, Curly, it probably will be a while until JC and I are finished."

"Could I come along?"

Oh God, please, no! Not that. Had JC been tense before, then this was nothing compared to how he felt after Justin's innocent request. But once again, Lance made the decision for him.

"I don't think that would be a good idea, Justin. Not that I would mind having you around, but you look as if you didn't get enough sleep last night. And I won't allow you to stay up for too long two days in a row."

The youngest of the three band members who still remained in the corridor - Joey and Chris had already left for their rooms, mumbling tired goodnights - hung his head in defeat, a tiny pout appearing on his face. For a much too short second, while dumping his luggage in their room, JC squeezed his younger friend's hand even though he felt uncomfortable knowing that Lance was waiting for him in the doorway, watching him.

And knowing.

Knowing...

The only thing that kept JC from freaking out and hiding somewhere where no one would ever be able to find him was the understanding smile that he was sure he had seen in Lance's eyes. If he hadn't imagined it.

***********