Not Real. Duh.

It's been a long time, a really long time, and I know this chapter isn't even that long, but it was as much as I could do right now. Sorry to Elf Girl, I sent two replies to your email but they were both returned to me! Silly E-mail. I know the title is small, on my Works copy it's size 72, but on HTML, that's as big as I can seem to make it. Soon, I'll learn how to use the computer better.

JC woke to the sound of a phone ringing, a phone that was ringing loudly.

"What the fuck?!" He growled, sure he had disconnected the hotel phone the night before. A cursory glance revealed that the irritating noise was coming from his cell phone, which he had left on top of the dresser the night before.

JC sighed; he really didn't want to move. Lance was curled up next to him, head on JC's chest, sleeping peacefully and smiling a smug little grin, one that JC found irresistibly adorable.

The phone didn't stop ringing.

JC restrained himself from cursing again for fear of waking Lance. He gently slid out from underneath the covers and seized the phone, hitting the answer button violently.

"Hello?" He asked, stepping into the closet so that there wasn't any chance Lance would be woken up by the racket.

JC was immediately greeted by an extremely obnoxious voice on the other end of the line.

"No, I didn't get the message." JC replied calmly when the irate man finished yelling. "Because I hung up! It was 4 a.m.! Who the hell is this?" JC controlled his voice with some degree of difficulty.

"This is your manager Joshua." The voice on the other end of the line said coldly, and JC sighed heavily. Those words never failed to take the wind out of his sails. "Now, tell me again why you chose not to accept the message last night?"

JC waited a moment, counting to ten to cool himself down. "Because it was very late, and Lance and I were both asleep at the time." He replied, and then immediately smacked himself on the forehead for being so stupid. Management had paid for five rooms this time, one for each of them. They were not supposed to be sharing.

"Why, exactly, are you and Lance sleeping in the same room?" The man asked sharply, irritated.

JC's mind flew through the various excuses. `Lance has been having bad dreams the last few nights? No, they might send him to a therapist. I've been having nightmares lately? No, same problem. Justin had a guest? No, they'd think I meant the type of guest who wouldn't need another bed. They would be even less happy about that, I imagine.' JC sighed.

He knew that he couldn't stay silent for much longer without raising suspicion. "Joey's brother showed up!" He blurted out, for lack of any better excuse. "So I gave him my room, and slept with Lance." `Oh fuck, not the right thing to say.' "On Lance's couch, I mean." JC prayed he wouldn't be asked why he hadn't slept on his own couch.

Fortunately for him, the man was appeased.

"Anyway, the reason we called last night was to let you know that the entire band needs to be here at 8 a.m. for a news briefing."

JC glanced at the clock; 8:45. `Well God Dammit!' The day had just began, and already it wasn't going well.

"Ok, well sorry about that." JC knew his only safe course of action was to act apologetic and make amends. "Do you still want us to come in?" He asked, and got a scorching reply from the other end of the line.

"Fine fine fine, we'll be there as soon as possible. But," JC hesitated, looking towards the bed, where Lance was still sleeping peacefully. "Do all five of us have to be there?"

"Why wouldn't all five of you be here?" He asked suspiciously. "Is something wrong?"

"Uhh, well..." JC really didn't want to wake Lance up, he looked like such an angel, lying there like that in the middle of all those covers. "Lance is feeling a little under the weather." JC paused for a moment, thinking. "And so is Justin." He added quickly, knowing Joey would feel the same way about waking Justin up as JC did about rousing Lance.

"Are they okay? Will they be able to perform tonight?" The man sounded very concerned, and JC wanted to hit him through the phone.

`Why is it that they only care when they think one of us will miss a performance?' He wondered, but kept his tact and did not say it aloud.

"Yes, I'm sure they will be fine for tonight. It's only a little chill, but they need some extra rest, so that they can be in top form. After all, we wouldn't want to disappoint the fans."

"The fans, yes, of course. Well, that's fine then, why don't you, Joey, and Chris come in, and then you can let the other two know what's going on later."

`What is going on?' JC wondered, but did not say it aloud. "Yes, okay, that should be fine, we'll be there as soon as possible." He listened patiently. "About a half-hour. All right, good bye then." JC hung up and looked around. He really didn't want to go. `At least I got Lance out of it.' He decided, and tried to think of what he should do first.

`Go wake Joey and Chris.' JC thought, but did not move. He felt an odd reluctance to leave the room.

"Josh, it's ok, Lance won't wake up while you're gone, and he won't be worried even if he does. He knows that you'll come back." JC comforted himself aloud and with that thought in mind quietly left the room. He knocked softly on Joey's door, then again, louder. He heard shuffling and muttering, but it was a few minutes before the door was opened even a crack.

"What?" Joey asked, a little grumpy.

"Management called, we have to go in to see them. Now."

Joey's mouth opened, and he looked like he wanted to swear; he controlled himself admirably though, and he did not utter even a single dirty word.

"All of us?" He asked instead, looking behind him towards the bed. JC almost laughed; he had been expecting that.

"No. They wanted us all, but I said Lance and Justin were feeling a bit sick, so he said they could stay."

Joey looked a little appeased. "Ok, well that's good at least. When do we need to leave?"

"As soon as possible."

"Ok, give me about ten minutes to shower and dress, and I'll meet you out here, ok?"

"All right, I'll go wake Chris and then get in the shower myself."

"Sounds good." Joey shut the door. JC hoped he wouldn't fall back to sleep.

He didn't have much success at getting Chris to open his door. He had none at all, in fact.

JC grumbled, digging into his pocket for Chris' keycard, which he had thought to grab off the dresser in his own room.

Chris was sleeping peacefully. With a smile on his face. He didn't look nearly as cute as Lance.

JC was still reluctant to wake the older man though; JC knew how Chris much liked his sleep. Almost as much as JC himself did.

"Okay Chris, you lucked out this time." He said quietly, shutting the door. After all, he figured, it wouldn't make much of a difference if it was just two instead of only three.

JC went back to his room and quickly showered. He skipped shaving, knowing Joey would be dressed and waiting, ready to go. He grabbed his watch and wallet on the way out, but then hesitated. He wanted to kiss Lance goodbye, but hated to wake the blonde, especially just as he was about to leave.

Finally, JC settled for a light kiss on Lance's cheek. He pressed his lips softly against the fair skin, and stroked a hand gently through his boyfriend's hair.

Lance stirred. "Josh?" He murmured gently, arching his back just the tiniest bit, smiling slightly.

"Shh sweetie don't wake up, I just wanted to kiss you goodbye, not wake you up babe."

A vague frown passed across Lance's sleepy face. "Goodbye?" He asked in a small voice. "Where are you going?"

"I just have to go out for a little bit, I'll be back real soon ok, I promise."

"Oh, ok."

"Now, will you go back to sleep for me like a good little Lancey boy?" JC asked, smiling, and Lance did the same.

"Yeah, ok." He murmured, and settled back down, letting JC cover him up. The brunette kissed the smaller boy once more and slipped out the door.

`Thank God Lance falls asleep so easily.' JC thought, and smiled.

"Hey, you ready?" He asked, seeing Joey.

"Yeah, I guess so." Joey said, pulling on his jacket. He looked disturbed, and JC wondered if he was worried about the upcoming meeting.

"What's wrong?" He asked, squinting at the older man.

"Nothing. No, it's stupid really, it's just, well, I hate to desert Justin like this."

"Well, we won't be gone for long." JC reasoned, but it did not look like that made Joey feel any better. "Well do you want to go kiss him goodbye?" JC asked. "That's what I did with Lance." He explained, smiling.

Justin was a heavier sleeper than Lance, so JC did not think he would even wake up.

Joey looked a bit happier at the suggestion, and said he would be right back. When he emerged a few minutes later he looked better, though a tad embarrassed.

"What?" JC asked, curious.

"I accidentally woke him up." Joey said, and JC chuckled.

"I woke Lance up too." He laughed. "I got him back to sleep pretty quickly though."

"Yeah, me too." Joey smiled at his friend. He liked this boyfriend stuff, it was fun.

"So what do you think this meeting is about anyway?" Joey asked, curious.

JC sighed. "I don't know. I can't even imagine anything that they would want to yell at us for, so, like, I don't know. He said it was a news briefing."

"Oh, just a news briefing? That's ok then, it'll probably be just them telling us what interviews and shit we have to do this week."

JC smiled. "I hope so." He was silent for a moment and stared off into space, a dreamy look plastered on his face.

Joey poked him. "Are you thinking about making out with Lance in that coat closet again?"

JC laughed, a bit startled. "How did you know?" He asked.

The other man shrugged. "Well, if I was you, that's what I would be thinking about anytime anyone mentioned the word interview, so I just figured." They both laughed.

"So how are things going with you and Justin?" JC asked as they stepped into the elevator.

Joey smiled. "Really great." He said, a huge goofy grin on his face.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, last night was really amazing, cus we went to dinner, and we shared a piece of cake, and then we went for a walk in this beautiful park." Joey sighed happily and leaned against the elevator wall.

"That's awesome." JC clouted his friend on the back as they walked through the elevator doors and out into the lobby.

"Your limo is waiting out front, sirs." A bellboy called from the door, opening it for them.

"Thanks." They both smiled and nodded at the boy, remembering to tip him later when they had the time.

JC stepped into the limo first, followed by Joey, and they made small talk about various unimportant matters as they proceeded to management's offices. The woman at the front desk said they were being awaited in the front conference room, and JC sighed. Being awaited was never a good thing.

"Hello gentleman, please take a seat." A man whom JC didn't recognize said briskly as they entered the room. His eyes narrowed when he saw it was only the two of them. "I had been informed that three of you would be attending this meeting." He said sourly, pursing his lips.

"Yeah, well, that didn't work out." Joey replied harshly, wanting to make this meeting as short as possible. The man looked greatly offended however, and JC tried to explain.

"We needed Chris to stay at the hotel to take care of the boys. They're sick." He said reasonably, trying to smile.

The man grudgingly offered an understanding nod. "I assume that you two will deliver the news to them later then?"

Joey was about to growl again, but JC put a hand on the other man's arm, restraining him.

"Just as soon as you deliver it to us." He said cheerfully, smiling, and pinched Joey, who softened his glare.

The man looked at them suspiciously but decided to continue anyway. "Well, for starters, there will be some changes in your tour schedule and routine." He paused, looking at them both.

JC tried his best to look attentive, and offered another small smile.

"Such as?" Joey asked, politely this time, when the man didn't seem about to continue.

"First off, your label-mate and good friend," He emphasized the words to get his point across. "Britney Spears, will be dropping in from time to time."

"Okay, well that's cool, Brit's a nice chick." Joey said, feeling a little more relaxed. He silently prayed that that was all the news for today.

"What for though?" JC asked, a little confused. After all, the man hadn't said she would performing with them.

"For good PR and publicity." He replied briskly, though his tone hinted that there were other reasons. "She will be with you on the dates highlighted in yellow." He passed them each sheets of paper with a list of their tour dates. Some dates had been left plain, while other were followed by yellow, or even blue marks.

"Some of these don't look right." Joey mumbled, pointing at the dates and locations. JC had to agree, it looked like several of their early summer concerts had been canceled in favor of later ones.

"As you've noticed, some of the dates may seem different, this is because your tour has been combined with that of another act again this summer, and those added dates were ones which they had a previous commitment to. The blue marks denote when you will be performing together, the ones left plain will go on as planned, with just your opening act as accompaniment."

The back of JC's mind whispered that the fact the man had not yet mentioned the name of this other act meant they wouldn't like it, but he tried to push that thought from his mind.

Joey evidently wondered the same, for he asked: "Who's the other act?"

The man hesitated a moment, fidgeting. He knew they wouldn't be happy. "The Backstreet Boys."

JC sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Again!?" Joey spluttered. "We just toured with them last summer! Wasn't that enough!?!" He didn't have many fond memories of their joint tour with the Backstreet Boys, none of the members of their group did.

JC thought that he wouldn't mind seeing Kevin again, but even imagining Lance, Justin, and Nick being in the same room together again made him shudder. There had been some major trauma between those three.

"How many tour dates do we have with them?" JC asked flinchingly, while Joey went on stuttering.

"Fifteen." The man said tonelessly, staring into the wall behind them.

"Oh GOD." Joey moaned aloud. "Is there no mercy???"

JC thought it funny, but evidently the stranger did not, for he glared at them and tossed thick packets towards their end of the table. "In there you will find song lists, performance numbers, and hotel-stay information. That will be all for today gentleman, thank you for coming in." It was a clear dismissal, one which JC took gladly, quickly bidding the man goodbye.

He pulled Joey from the room.

******

"Justin?" Lance poked his head around his best friend's hotel room door, pushing it slightly open.

"Yeah?" Justin's sleep-filled voice echoed out through a pile of blankets heaped on the bed.

"Is your boyfriend gone?" Lance asked, stepping into the room.

"No, no he's right..." Justin trailed off as he moved the covers over, frowning at Joey's absence. "Uh yeah I guess he is gone."

"So is JC." Lance said quietly, and slipped over to the bed. Justin held up the corner of the comforter and Lance slipped under, close to Justin. "They're coming back, right?" Lance looked suddenly scared.

"Yeah, of course they are, they probably just went out for coffee or something and didn't want to wake us." He slipped his hand into Lance's, squeezing gently. "What would make you think they wouldn't?"

"I don't know, I mean, nothing is wrong between us or anything, it's just, this morning, when I woke up, I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach, like something bad was going to happen, you know?"

Justin nodded, he knew the kind of feeling Lance meant. "Well don't worry, whatever it was, it wasn't about them, or any of us, ok?"

"Ok." Lance said it quietly, and Justin reached over to hug him.

"Ok?" He asked again, squeezing Lance's shoulders.

"Ok." Lance was a bit louder this time, more forceful, more believing.

"Good. Now, you wanna go surprise Chris and get in bed with him?" Justin's eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Ok!" Lance laughed, his worries forgotten.

*********

JC sighed as the phone continued to ring, and the answering service picked up. He clicked the off button on his phone, disconnecting the call. "No one's answering, so they are either asleep still or out somewhere." He reported to Joey, who was relaxing on the other side of the limo.

"Ok, well, uh, do you want to grab some breakfast just the two of us then?" The reason JC had been calling the boys was to invite them out to breakfast, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Yeah I suppose it couldn't hurt, obviously they aren't overly worried or anything about us not being there." JC smiled.

"Yeah, cool." Joey felt his stomach rumbling even as he spoke. "Let's make it quick though, I don't want to be gone much longer."

JC silently agreed.

He wondered why Lance hadn't answered the phone.

*********

"Chrissy??" Lance whispered softly into Chris's ear.

"Chris, wake up hun, wake up." Justin ran a finger over Chris's limp arm, and smiled.

The older man showed no response, even after Lance curled up close to him under the covers. Justin was wondering whether or not to lick him when Chris began to stir.

Justin still couldn't decide.

**********

Chris was having an awfully good dream, one he didn't want to be woken up from. In his dream someone nice and warm, a beautiful girl, he imagined, was curled up next to him, breathing hot against his skin. Another was at his side, running light fingers over his arm.

Suddenly he felt something on his face, something that felt wet. And real.

Chris jerked up out of his light sleep. "Justin! What the hell are you doing here!?!" He asked, startled as he spotted the boy sitting on his bed.

Then he heard the laughing. "Lance?" He was more perplexed now as he lifted the covers and spotted Lance curled up at his side.

Suddenly he realized what his dream had been about. "Oh my god, you two little evil gay boys!" He hollered, trying not to laugh as he beat Justin and Lance with a pillow. Justin rolled off the bed to get away, but Lance somehow managed to slip almost entirely underneath Chris, so that the brunette couldn't hit Lance without hitting himself too.

"All right all right, you little mignons of the anti-Christ, what do you have to say for yourselves?" Chris stood up on the bed and crossed his arms, glowering down at the two, looking for all the world like a stern older brother.

Lance started to laugh harder. "It was all his idea." He said, pointing at Justin in between fits of giggles.

"I believe it." Chris grumbled. "Ok you little twerps, since I'm up anyway, who wants to go get breakfast with me? I have a serious craving for some Micky D's."

"Ooo me me!" Lance shouted, springing up on the bed.

"Cool. What about you, twerp number two, want to come along?"

"Naw. I'll stay here so that if the guys get back I can tell them where you two are."

"Ok. Well we won't be gone long, just going to drive through, pick up food for all you hoodlums and come on back." Chris replied, slipping on a sweatshirt and grabbing his keys. "Lets go." He gestured at Lance, who looked startled.

"Right now? But I'm not showered or dressed nice or anything..." Lance trailed off when he realized Chris was glaring at him.

"It's bad enough that you woke me up before I wanted to be even vaguely aware of the world, I'm not going to wait for you to make yourself pretty before I get to eat. Now stop being such a girl and lets go."

Lance stuck out his tongue but did as he was asked, slipping into one of the sweaters that was hanging from the rack by the door. "Fine, just for that I'm going to wear you sweater and get blonde hair all over it." When his hair wasn't gelled, Lance was notorious for shedding it all over everything. Sometimes his friends were amazed he had any left.

Chris just shook his head. "Girl." He muttered, turning to walk into the hallway.

"Hey!" Lance followed him, shutting the door.

Justin tried not to laugh.

**********

They hadn't yet pulled out of the parking garage when Chris turned his head towards the passenger seat.

"Lance?"

"Uhuh?" The blonde replied absently, flipping through Chris's CD case.

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

Lance closed the case and turned towards Chris, who was looking directly at him. "What do you mean?" He asked softly, wondering what it was that Chris didn't understand.

"I mean, I know you're dating or whatever, but I also know that you guys haven't been going out that long and already you're like, you know, you're..." Chris substituted crude hand gestures for the words that he could not speak. "I mean, haven't you?"

"Yes, we have. Do you have a problem with us doing that?" Lance's voice was quiet, and Chris realized that he sounded scared.

"No!" Chris reached out and laid a comforting hand on Lance's arm. "I mean no, of course not, what you guys do in your own room is your own business, but, I mean, Lance, you're so young, and there are a lot of things you don't know about him, and, and I just have to know, did JC push you into having sex with him?"

Lance almost laughed then, he so glad that that was Chris's only concern. "No, he didn't, not at all, you don't even have to worry about that." Lance permitted himself a tiny smile. "It was completely consensual, I wanted it just as much as he did. There were even a few times that we started, but I decided, practically in the middle of it, that I wasn't ready, and he stopped the minute I said anything at all."

Chris exhaled heavily, relieved. "Ok, good."

Lance laughed, cocking his head to one side. "Were you really that worried about it?"

"Yes." Chris admitted. "It's just that you and Justin are both practically still kids, and here you are, both with older, more experienced, sex-fiend boyfriends!"

"Chris! Those are your two best-friends that you're calling sex-fiends!"

"I know, and that's exactly why I can. I'm the one that's with them when we go to the 21 and over clubs and have to leave you kids at home. They are always dancing up a storm, getting with every hot piece of anything in sight." Chris directed his eyes towards Lance. "Of course, you two are the only boys that I've ever seen them deem hot enough to take the time sexing up."

Lance smiled, gratified. "Well anyway, you don't have to worry about me. I'm nearly 20 years old now you know, plenty old enough to take care of myself." Lance thought he heard Chris snort and mutter something, but chose to ignore it. "And JC's only two years older than me anyway!" This time the muttering from Chris's direction was louder. Lance glared at him. "And as for Justin, he and Joey haven't even come close to doing anything more than some over-the-clothes groping, ok?"

"All right, well that makes me feel a little better, though not much."

Lance restrained his laughter.

They rode in silence for a few minutes, until a thought suddenly struck Lance. "Hey Chris?"

"Yeah?"

"What you said about those clubs, they don't do that stuff anymore when you three go, do they?"

Chris directed a sarcastic glance Lance's way. "Lance, try and think back to the last time I could get Joey and JC to leave a hotel without you two unless one, or both of you, expressly commanded it?"

Lance thought....and thought...and thought. "Oh. So you guys haven't even been to a club lately?"

"Not since you managed to sink your little biters into JC."

"Meaning not at all since we started going out? Not even once?" Lance was a little startled, he hadn't realized that.

"Nope, not that I can recall." Chris sounded bummed, and Lance couldn't blame him.

He decided he would have a little talk with his boyfriend.

********

"Babe? Babe where are you?" Joey called out as he entered the hotel room and Justin was not immediately apparent.

"In here!" The reply came from the enormous walk-in closet.

"Babe, I know you love this closet, but you can't spend all your time in here just admiring your clothes." Joey smiled mischievously, and Justin jabbed him lightly in the ribs.

"Shush-up you."

Joey laughed and wrapped his arms around the younger boy. "Mmm sexy boy." He whispered, nipping at Justin's ear lobe from behind.

"Ahh." Justin sighed delicately as Joey's hand slipped around his waist, pressing into his hipbones and cradling him softly as they kissed.

"Joey, did you brush your teeth before you came in here? You're all minty fresh."

Joey laughed. "No, I had a piece of gum after breakfast, in anticipation of the kissing." He smirked.

"Oh? So you were sure I was going to give it up so easily?"

"Yeah, I figured so." Joey grinned.

"Jerk." Justin laughed happily, and kissed Joey one last time on the lips. "Anyway, so where were you guys this morning?"

"Management called us in. They wanted us all, but we didn't want you two to get woken up, so...." Joey trailed off, not really sure whether Justin was upset about being left behind in their room, all alone.

"So you let us sleep." Justin finished for him. "That was sweet Joe, thanks." Justin flashed a smile and turned back towards his clothes, trying to decide on an outfit for the day.

"You're welcome." Joey smiled and slipped his arms around Justin. "So you weren't scared or worried or anything baby?"

"Me? Oh, no, not really. I knew you had just gone out for a moment for whatever reason and would be back soon. Lance though, he was really scared at first, he actually came in and asked me if the two of you were coming back, like he thought you had left for real, you know, for forever."

"He, he did?" There was a catch in Joey's voice that Justin did not hear.

"Yeah, but he felt better after I told him both of you would, at least I think he did. It's really sad, though, that the past messed him up so bad, he's still haunted by it, you know, what Bri-" Justin stopped abruptly as he realized what he was about to say, wondering whether or not Joey already knew. Lance had never mentioned whether or not anyone else in the band had found out his secret.

"Yes, I know." Joey said softly, quietly, leaning down so that he could wrap his arms around Justin's smaller frame, leaning his chin on Justin's shoulder.

"Oh."

JC entered the room then, saving them from having to discuss the matter further.

"Guys?" He called out, looking around.

"In here!" They chorused at the same time, trying to bring back the smiles and cheer.

JC crossed the room. "Why are you two in the closet?" He asked, a confused look on his face as he pushed open the door that had accidentally swung shut.

Justin put on his best pout and crossed his arms over his chest. "Because Joey says that he's not allowed to kiss other boys in front of his family."

JC laughed heartily, though Joey only looked troubled. JC cuffed Justin gently with the back of his hand. "Not that closet you dork, this one, the actual closet, why are you both in here?"

"I'm trying to pick out some clothes for today." Justin shrugged and went back to looking.

JC crossed glances with Joey, rolling his eyes. `I should have known.' He mouthed, and Joey had to suppress a laugh.

Justin, hearing his sharp intake of breath, looked up suspiciously. "What, what is it?" He asked, but did not receive a response.

"Anyway, I came in here cus I can't find my boyfriend. Either of you two know where he is?"

"Oh yeah, I was supposed to tell you that he and Chris went out to get some McDonalds."

JC looked about ready to ask another question when they heard the elevator at the end of their private floor ding loudly.

"And here they are!" Justin sounded as pleased as if he had made them appear on cue all by himself.

"We're back!" Chris's voice echoed through the room.

JC grinned and rushed out into the hall. "Baby!" He picked Lance up and swung him around, smooching him softly on the lips. "I missed you." He said solemnly as he set the younger boy on the ground.

Justin discreetly shoved the other two men into the room, trying to give JC and Lance some privacy. Joey and Chris didn't mind; after all, Chris was the one with the bag of food.

Lance threw his arms around JC. "I missed you too, even if you were only gone a couple hours." He said softly.

JC jerked his head back, surprised to hear the mixture of real fear and relief creeping through Lance's voice. "Baby, are you ok?"

"No, I mean yes, I mean, oh it's stupid I know, I was just worried." Lance cast down his eyes, but JC hugged him tighter.

"Hun I'm sorry, I wouldn't have left except for management, and it was so early, I didn't want to wake you."

"I know, I know. I'm dumb. But next time, just wake me up for a little while, ok?"

"Ok." JC kissed him gently on the forehead and then released him, though he kept a firm grip on Lance's hand. "And I did try that, I hope you know, but you just fell right back to sleep babe!"

"Yeah sure." Lance smiled. "So you had to go in and talk to management huh?"

JC nodded yes.

"What did they want?"

"Nothing important really, we can all talk about it later." JC replied, not wanting Lance to trouble himself with a single worry.

"Ok." They let the conversation fall to silence, moving across the hall.

"Hey," Lance stopped walking right before the doorway, pulling JC back. "I love you."

JC released Lance's hand and wrapped his arm around the blonde's waist as tight as he could, pulling him close. "I love you too."

*********

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Chris asked, finishing off his breakfast.

"Tosh Tosh I want to meet Tosh!" Justin shouted over a mouthful of Egg McMuffin.

"Jeez Just, say it, don't spray it." Chris said, brushing away the crumbs that Justin had spit on him. "Though if there's nothing else pressing to do today, I wouldn't mind going to see this girl."

"Yeah, it would be fun, going to the florist." Lance looked up at JC, whose lap he happened to be sitting in.

"I'm guessing that look means you want more flowers?" JC laughed.

"Yes please." Lance smiled sweetly and kissed his boyfriend on the cheek.

"If I do buy you some more, are you gunna give me some sugar?" JC asked, wiggling his hips around underneath of Lance.

"Yes yes, there will be enough sugar to go around." Lance teased.

JC began to pout. "I don't want it to `go around', I want it all for myself."

"Hmm, well ok, I guess so." Lance laughed and smoothed back JC's hair, gently untangling a small knot. JC smiled and buried his face in the nook of Lance's neck, inhaling deeply.

"Mmm baby, you smell like...me? Are you wearing my cologne?" He asked, a smile crinkling the skin around his eyes at the thought.

"No, it's just the sweater I have on, it's yours, you wore it yesterday." Lance replied dreamily, running his hands through JC's short, un-gelled hair.

"Why in the world are you wearing the sweater I wore yesterday?? Isn't it dirty?"

"Not very." Lance replied, picking at it. "Besides, it smells good, woodsy and minty kind of, like you. Whenever I breathe deep and smell it, I always imagine us gone away from here, in a little cabin in the middle of nowhere, and nobody knows where we are. You'd be building up the fire, and I'd be cooking dinner and looking for extra blankets. It'd be cold up there..." Lance trailed off, and JC knew if he looked up Lance would be staring somewhere off above his head, contemplating empty space, just dreaming, imagining the way things would be.

They sat that way for a while, not participating in the conversation of the others, just sitting peacefully, JC's long, limber arms clasped around his boyfriend's small waist. Soon JC realized that Lance had fallen asleep, and was breathing lightly as his head drooped towards JC's chest.

"Hey JC?....JC??" Justin asked, raising his voice slightly when he could not get his friend's attention.

JC tore his eyes away from Lance's sleep-smoothed brow to focus on Justin.

"Yeah?"

"I was asking if you want to go with us to the florist to meet Tosh?"

"Oh, no, not really, I've already met her, I think I'll just stay here."

Justin looked surprised for a moment, but he quickly realized that Lance had fallen asleep.

"Do you mind if we go without you?"

"No, of course I don't mind, I think I'll just take Lance off to bed, he must still be tired. You guys go. Have fun, ok?"

Justin smiled. "Ok."

JC picked Lance up gently and walked quietly out of the room, smiling, intent on getting his boyfriend back to bed.

Justin sprung up off the couch. He was ready to meet the mystery girl.

********

I hope you liked it.

-Angel