Author: Angel

Email: NikkaWhat@Hotmail.com

Pairing: Lance & JC (of course!)

Disclaimer: Umm duh, of course I don't know (or own, too bad though) N'sync, (or any other boy bands I might happen to mention throughout the rest of the story) if I did I'd be out with them, trying to make sure they fall in love with me, (or at least desire me) not sitting here! So no I'm not implying anything and no I don't know anything either.

Message from the Author: Hey everybody, well I'm disappointed in all y'all out there! I only got one single email about the last post, I don't think anybody out there loves me anymore! But oh well, I like this story too much to stop writing it so I'll just keep on no matter what happens probably, and I'm proud of myself cus this chapter is longer than either of the previous ones! Oh, and in a couple of the things JC says he's like thinking things as well so they're in italics and inside the single quotes which are inside the double quotes, if that made any sense. Oh, also, I would like to dedicate this chapter to Corey who has been like so great the last couple weeks, so thanks to Corey, even though he hasn't even read the story yet! lol, well, as always, enjoy!

Chris never was good at keeping secrets. Ever. All four of the other guys knew this, meaning they didn't willingly tell him anything unless it was a time of dire need. Only then could he be trusted to keep it to himself. So, seeing as how this wasn't one of those times, he spilled everything he had seen to the other two guys as soon as he arrived at the room that Justin and JC were supposed to be sharing, where they had all agreed to meet for breakfast this morning. However, he decided to omit any mention of Brian, which made the story quite a bit less funny but still a piece of juicy gossip. When he'd finished reciting the conversation he had had with JC, Joey looked amused if a bit troubled while Justin just looked pissed.

`God, dead audience this morning,' Chris thought, `I might as well have stayed with JC, at least that was interesting...'

By the time 5 minutes had gone by they were all draped across various pieces of furniture, doing their own little things, waiting for room service to get here or Lance and JC to show up. Chris was on his cell chatting happily away with his newest girlfriend, who everyone but Chris absolutely hated, while Joey made faces at himself in the mirror, trying to figure out a way to cheer up Justin, who had been sitting in the middle of one of the beds staring off into space with a frown ever since Chris had finished his little story.

`That's weird,' Joey reflected, `do you think there could be something going on between the two of them?' But he didn't really think so. Joey's instincts had always been right in the past so he figured they probably were now too.

`JC better treat Lance right if they do get together, if he doesn't he'll be hearing from me.' Joey thought to himself, dead serious. He knew all of what had happened between Lance and Brian and he had no intention of letting THAT happen again. `I could probably take him in a fight,' Joey decided, sizing up JC as he stepped into the room.

********

JC felt 3 sets of eyes on him as he shut the door and he knew he would find all of the guy's eyes drilling into him as soon as he looked up, and sure enough he was right. Chris especially, who was still smirking at him, although he did look a little nervous as well.

`Probably thinks I'll bring up the Brian thing in front of the other guys, well no need to worry Chris, I don't know if they have any idea either so I'll keep my mouth shut for now. Doesn't matter anyway though, I doubt I'll be able to get anything else out of you anyhow...' JC thought and then turned his glance to Joey, who looked like he was trying to decide how hard a punch it would take to knock JC down. `What's with him?' JC wondered, but didn't really give it much thought, turning to Justin instead. Justin looked...pouty, like a 5 year old whose had a favorite toy dangled in front of his face, almost within his reach, and then thrown out the window by a cruel older sibling, never to be his again.

The fact that he'd been in the room almost a full minute now and they all had yet to say hello to him was not a good sign, JC decided. It let him know that Chris had probably already told them what he had seen.

"So-" he began, only to be immediately cut off by Justin.

"What's going on between you and Lance?"

"Wha-me and Lance- N-n-nothing," JC stuttered. He knew he shouldn't have been surprised by Justin's question but of course he was anyway. Thankfully, before Justin could respond Joey popped in with his own opinion.

"Listen up JC, I don't care what's going on between you and Lance one way or the other but I swear to god if you hurt him, in ANY way, I will hunt you down and-"

"Whoa! Whoa, Joey, cool the rage man! Jeez! Nothing is going on between me and Lance `Unfortunately' and even if there was `In my dreams' I would never EVER do anything that would hurt him, you should know that Joe, I love him. `That's certainly the truth.' Just like I love all you guys." `Well, maybe not in exactly the same way.' He thought.

Joey remained suspicious but decided to let it go for now. He'd have plenty of time to beat his point into JC later if it came to that, which he hoped it wouldn't.

"All right, I'll believe you I guess, come on, group hug everybody," so they all moved to the center of the room, more just piling themselves onto JC than really hugging him. Afterwards, Justin took hold of JC and held him at arms length.

"So there's really nothing going on between you and Lance?"

"Justin, I swear, there's nothing going on between the two of us," `Yet,' he added to himself, and then they hugged once more and all the weirdness was gone again and everything was right between them.

`That's been happening far too much lately,' JC thought. He knew he usually exaggerated about things like this but honestly it was true. Things had been weird off and on between the 4 of them for a couple months now, ever since he had come out to the band.

`Well, almost the band, everybody but Lance.' He had asked the other guys not to mention it either, because once Lance knew, JC would have to confront his real feelings for Lance, something he hadn't been ready to do at the time.

`It's a good thing they all took it so well,' JC thought. `Otherwise they would have run and told Lance immediately.' He remembered how surprised and happy he'd been by how well they had all reacted. Chris had made it into a big joke, which with Chris meant he was totally cool about it, and Justin had actually been relieved to finally find out what had been bothering JC these past few months.

`Or at least a part of it.' JC thought. And Joey had looked.... thoughtful.

`He's been doing that far too much lately,' JC decided. `I'm sure he knows something I don't, something I probably should know. Oh well, plenty of time to talk to him about it after breakfast.'

"So, what's for breakfast?" He asked as they parted from the hug. They all turned to Justin who just looked blank.

"How should I know? I didn't order it." Justin said when he saw that they were all looking at him.

Chris groaned heavily.

"Well you were supposed to!" Joey said, exasperated.

"I was?"

"Umm Yeah! It's your room that we decided to meet in, which means your supposed to be the one to order breakfast, it always works that way Justin!"

"Oh, well I kinda just figured JC would take care of it, he usually does," Justin replied, starting to pout again.

"Well, the sooner we order it the sooner we'll be eating it so what does everybody want?" JC asked as he picked up the phone. They all told him and he repeated it to the friendly women who picked up at the room service desk.

"All right guys, the food should be here in about 20 minutes," he said, after hanging up the phone. So they all just sat around talking softly to each other about whatever: the tour, how hungry they were, just stuff. When the food arrived Joey practically attacked the poor bellhop he was so starved. JC just laughed and tipped the kid before wheeling the food cart into the room but holding off the guys while he piled some food on a plate for Lance and put another plate on over it to cover the food and keep it warm.

"What's that for?" Chris asked him.

"For Lance, I'm gonna take it to him after I eat." JC said, then quickly wolfed down a donut in 2 bites and downed a glass of milk in just a slurp before standing up, saying goodbye along with a reminder that they were meeting in the lobby in an hour and a half and to not be late before heading to the door, while the guys looked on with mouths wide open.

********

Lance woke up and felt the weight of another body laying next to him in bed.

`Brian,' he thought, as his breath caught in his throat. But when he opened his eyes it was only JC staring back at him.

"Hey sleepyhead," JC whispered.

"Hey, hi, what are you doing here?" Lance replied, a light drawl echoing through his deep voice.

JC laughed, Lance still had a bit of a drawl from growing up in Mississippi and he forgot to hide it when he first woke up, he was always embarrassed about it but JC thought it was incredibly sexy.

"You slept through breakfast so I thought I'd bring you some."

"Oh, thanks, but why didn't you just wake me?"

"Well, after what happened last night I figured you could use the extra sleep."

`Last night? What happened last night?' Lance wondered. But then it came back to him and he started crying all over again. JC was shocked by Lance's reaction but instinctively he moved closer to Lance on the bed, taking him into his arms and rubbing his back, just like he used to do when his little brother would come to him after a bad dream back home.

"Lance, baby, it's ok, I'm here now, I won't let anything happen to you."

`What's JC talking about?' Lance thought, in between sobs.

"We all have nightmares sometimes Lance, it's nothing to be scared of, it was just a dream, it can't hurt you now that you're awake." `How funny, this is the exact thing I always said to Tyler back home.' JC thought.

"A-a n-nightmare?" Lance stuttered out, looking up at JC with confusion in his eyes.

"Yeah, y'know a bad dream," JC said, smiling down at Lance.

`He, he thinks it was just a nightmare, a bad dream, he doesn't know, he doesn't know at all, he doesn't know...' Lance thought, sending out a silent prayer of thanks to whoever up there was listening. For, in fact, it hadn't been a nightmare at all. `Well, the first part was I guess, but not the last part, not the part I didn't want to wake up from, the part I never wanted to leave,'

They had all been there in the dream, the whole band, and he had told them his secret, that he was.... was gay. And then the horrible part had started. Justin got up and left, Joey had looked disgusted, and Chris, Chris had called him, a-a dirty faggot boy, and that was when Lance had started to cry. To sob actually, and beg them not to leave, not to go, but they left anyway, one by one, no matter how frenzied his pleas became. All but JC. JC had stayed, and held him, letting Lance fold into his body, wrapping himself up in JC and just crying, crying because there was nothing else he could do. And then JC had gripped Lance's waist and hoisted him up, and kissed him, kissed him so tenderly, so passionately, that he melted into JC's arms and never wanted him to leave. He had hooked his legs around JC's waist, and JC had laid them down on the bed, and for that one amazing moment everything was perfect. But then Brian had shown up. Pounding on the door, maybe drunk, maybe not, it didn't matter, it was always the same no matter what. He had yelled for Lance to come to him, just like always, and Lance had almost gone. But then JC had squeezed his hand and Lance had found his courage. He had gone to the door with JC by his side and told Brian no, that it was over, that he wasn't welcome anymore, that Lance would never again be his. All words he had said before, but this time he meant them, knew he meant them, knew he wouldn't let Brian back into his life ever again. Afterwards JC had held him, and they had kept on kissing, and it was so good, better than it had ever been with Brian, better than it ever could be. And he had been so proud of himself. But then he had woken up, and seen JC sitting over him, and had known it was all a dream, that he hadn't come out, hadn't kissed JC, and hadn't pushed Brian away.

`But JC doesn't know, thank god, he doesn't have a clue and he doesn't hate me, I haven't lost him, not yet anyway.' Lance thought.

`He's not pulling away, maybe, maybe he doesn't mind me holding him like this? I wish we could stay like this forever....but, I'm never going to get a better chance to tell him than this, it might as well be now anyway,' JC thought to himself. He meant to tell Lance everything, that he was gay, that he was hopelessly in love with Lance, that if Lance wanted him to leave he would but that Lance was the only one for him, that he would always always love him, no matter what happened between them. He meant to say all that and more but when he opened his mouth all that came out was:

"Lance, who's Brian?"