Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 20:41:35 +0000
From: Stephanie M
Subject: Mom Knows Best 1-15 Betaed version

Title: Mom Knows Best
Author: Stephanie M
Fandom: BSB/Nsync
Main Pairing: Nick/Justin
Disclaimer: This story is complete fiction and is does not imply anything
about the sexuality of the celebrities mentioned herein. Once again, this
story is fiction, i.e. not true. Just call it a product of an overactive
imagination.
Status: WIP
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Nick and Justin discover that sometimes your mom can know you
better than you know yourself.

Part 1

"Mom, why are you doing this?" Justin whined as his mom started fussing with
his clothes, making sure he looked perfect.

"You need someone in your life. You're going to love him and he understands
what its like to have a crazy schedule." Lynn answered as she looked at her
son critically, he looked great, but he was missing something.

Lynn said as she rummaged through her son's jewellery, "Put this on! Wipe
that frown off your face. Nicholas is just what you need."

Justin put on the Chinese love pendent and smiled, he was glad his mom had
taken the news that he was gay so well but she was driving him crazy.

"Nicholas, that sounds like a dork's name." Justin complained as he grabbed
his coat.

Lynn said as she looked around the room, "It's a nice name for a nice man.
Have you got the white rose?"

"What kind of man tells his date to carry a white rose?" Justin asked as he
picked up the flower.

"He's going to be carrying one as well so quit complaining! It was my idea
actually."

"It was a good idea, really mom. Why do I have to meet him at the marina?"
Justin said quickly, not wanting to make his mom mad.

"Because it's romantic. Now go before you're late." Lynn said as she rushed
Justin out the room.
*******
Justin drove towards the marina wondering just why he had agreed to this
blind date. Oh yeah, his mom had nagged but she had looked so happy when he
said yes.

But Nicholas, the very name suggested that his date was going to be some
boring businessman or worse. How had his mom decided on a date? Did she just
pick a name at random, or had seen actually discussed it? Justin didn't know
which was worse.

Spying the turn in, Justin quickly parked his car and head towards the
marina carrying the white rose and feeling like an idiot. He was relieved
that there didn't appear to be anyone there.

Justin stopped as he saw a tall man carrying a white rose. The man was
wearing black pants and a baby blue shirt. Justin sighed when he realised
his date was facing the opposite way, looking out at the water. Taking a
deep breath, Justin walked towards the man, wanting to turn away at each
step.

"Are you Nicholas?" Justin asked not sure what answer he wanted.

The man replied as he turned around, "You can call me Nick."

Justin stared at the man's face in shock. He couldn't believe his eyes. Was
it all part of some weird joke? How had his mom known about his feelings? He
hadn't told anyone.

Blinking Justin said, "Fuck, it's really you! I thought I was seeing
things."

"Sorry, I'm such a disappointment (!) Let me guess, your mom set you up on a
blind date?" Nick Carter replied with a grin. He smiled softly at the
shocked look on Justin's face.

"Yeah. You're gay!" Justin said that closed his mouth wishing he could take
back his words.

Thinking to himself that Justin looked great Nick said, "Yes, you too?"

"Yeah, want to walk?" Justin answered grinning at the other man, figuring he
may as well make the most of it.

Nick swallowed at the look Justin gave him, "I'd like that. My boat is
nearby. Feel like going sailing, Justin?"

Justin nodded and the pair started walking. They didn't talk, too wrapped up
in their thoughts and feelings. The night was turning out to be a lot more
exciting than either of them had imagined.
*******
"So, have you told anyone you're gay?" Nick asked as he passed Justin a
glass of champagne.

"Only my mom and her husband. How about you?" Justin answered as he watched
Nick take out a bowl of strawberries. They were one of his favourite fruits,
looked like their moms had organised everything.

"My mom and Kev. I kinda had to tell him, he heard me talking to my mom
about tonight." Nick said, watching Justin slowly eat a strawberry. Justin
was practically driving him insane with desire as he watched every move of
the younger man's mouth.

Justin shivered as his felt Nick watching him; he didn't know how to tell
Nick how he felt. He really liked Nick but didn't want to move too fast, he
wanted more than a one-night stand. If that was all he wanted, there were
less complicated ways to get a guy.

"Want to watch a movie?" Nick suggested not wanting to make Justin
uncomfortable.

"That'd be great. What have you got?" Justin said as he settled back into
the chair, relieved to see Nick apparently was after a real relationship.

"How about You've Got Mail or French Kiss?" Nick suggested, sure the movies
were perfect date material, not too soppy and funny.

"How about You've Got Mail? I've never seen it and it's supposed to be
good." Justin said with a smile.

"Cool, want some popcorn?" Nick said as he took the DVD from its case.

"Sure, anything I can help with?" Justin said, thinking to himself that he
had seen a side to Nick, he hadn't even known existed.

"That's okay; you just sit there and look cute." Nick answered as he walked
to the small kitchen.

Justin patted the space next to him when Nick walked into the room, a large
bowl of steaming popcorn in his hands.

Nick started the movie and the pair moved to sit comfortably. Justin
eventually ended up sitting with his head on Nick's chest. The pair smiled
at each other when their eyes met, before shyly looking away.

"That was great!" Justin said from his place on Nick's chest, feeling
comfortable. The sound of the other man's heartbeat was soothing and caused
shivers to spread up his spine.

"So did I meet your expectations?" Nick asked Justin as he switched off the
film; the pair sat in silence, the moonlight illuminating the dark room.

Justin said with a smirk, "You were better. I thought I'd end up meeting
some boring businessman."

"Oh. Would you mind if I asked you out again?" Nick said as he looked down
at Justin. The pair stared into each other's eyes, breaking apart with a
blush.

Justin said as he looked at his watch, "I'd love it. I hate to do this but I
have to go."

"That's okay; I've got to report to my mom. She ordered me to tell her
everything." Nick said with a wry grin, their moms had been right this time.

Justin said haltingly, "So do I. Can I have your phone number?"

"Sure, I'll write it down for you." Nick said as he reached into his pocket
and took out a notepad.

"Thanks, here's mine ***-****-****." Justin recited his number.

"I'll walk you up to your car." Nick said as Justin stood.

Justin looked at Nick, and hesitantly held out his hand. His heart started
thumping as Nick took his hand with a sexy grin, but then he thought that
every look from Nick was sexy.

The pair walked in silence, sneaking looks at each other. Justin was amazed
that Nick was actually with him, he had secretly fantasised about dating the
blonde Backstreet Boy. Nick was happy that Justin was holding his hand, but
a part of his mind asked if everything would still seem so wonderful in the
morning.

"Thanks, I'll call you tomorrow." Justin said as they reached his car.

"Can I kiss you, Justin?" Nick asked, hoping and praying Justin would say
yes.

Justin didn't answer; instead, he touched Nick's lips with his own. The kiss
was hesitant at first, as they tasted each other. Nick tongue slowly
caressed Justin's lips, begging entry. Justin immediately opened his mouth
and their tongues duelled. The sound of a car caused the pair to break
apart, realising where they were.

"Goodnight, Nick. Thanks for a wonderful time." Justin said still panting.

"It was my pleasure." Nick answered, as Justin got into his car.

Nick watched Justin's car drive away, taking out his notebook he looked
again at Justin's phone number in disbelief. A part of him was in shock over
what happened, unable believe he had actually been on a date with Justin.

Getting into his car, Nick quickly drove way already making plans. As he
drove, he went over the events of the night, remembering the way Justin had
looked at him. Was it possible that Justin had feelings for him? Feelings of
love like Nick had hidden for the last two years.

Part 2

"So how did it go?" Jane Carter asked as she picked up the phone,
recognising her eldest son's phone number.

"It was great! Why didn't you tell me I was meeting Justin?" Nick said
excitedly as he walked into the lounge, flopping down on the couch.

Jane replied a grin in her voice, "You'd have gotten all nervous and refused
to go. So what did you think of him?"

"He looked gorgeous. He asked for my number. Do you think he'll call? What
if he doesn't?" Nick said his voice changing from happy to nervous.

"He'll call. Now what happened?" Jane said as she sat down, ready to hear
all the details.

Nick said before yawning, "He looked a little shocked to see me, not half as
shocked as I was though. I suggested we go to my boat, as we planned. We
talked and watched a movie but he had to leave early. Nsync have got a
recording tomorrow, I'll call him after that."

Hearing how tired her son was Jane Carter said, "Sounds like you had a good
time. Why don't you go to bed? You can tell me everything tomorrow."

"Sure, thanks for doing this mom." Nick said, smiling when she simply said
she loved him.

Ending the call, Nick quickly went over to his computer connecting to the
Internet. Within minutes he had managed to organise everything, hopefully,
Justin would like his gift. Nick just wanted to show Justin how much he had
enjoyed their date and how much he wanted to see the younger man again.
*******
"Justin! Get up, there's something here for you!" Lynn shouted up to her
son, smirking when she imagined the look on his face.

"I'm up. What do you mean there's something for me?" Justin said as he
walked down the stairs, rubbing one hand over his face.

He stopped and stared at the large vase of flowers in front of him. He
blinked; sure he was seeing things. He gaped when they stayed there. Walking
over to the vase of white roses, he picked up the card, his face changing to
a broad grin.

Justin,

Thanks for a perfect night.
Thinking of you,

N.

"Looks like he likes you." Lynn said with a grin, she had known her and
Jane's plan would work.

"Yeah, it does. You think I should call him, to say thanks?" Justin said as
Lynn opened the door.

"Nice flowers. Who are they from?" Joey asked as he walked inside the house
followed by the three other Nsync members.

"No one." Justin replied quickly, a blush on his face.

Chris remarked as he grabbed the card from Justin's hand, "Doesn't look like
no one."

"Give that back!" Justin shouted angrily as Chris read the card out to the
others.

JC said with a playful grin, "Looks like Curly's got a new girlfriend. Who's
N?"

"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell." Justin said haughtily, in reality, he
was too scared to tell them anything.

"Enough torturing Justin, we've got to go or we'll be late." Lance said a
mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

Joey said as the five walked out the door, "I'm sure we'll meet *her* soon
enough."

Justin looked at Joey in shock, was it just him or had Joey stressed the
word her. Did Joey know about him?

On the way out, Justin grabbed a rose carrying it with him. He wanted to
have a little something to help him feel close to Nick. Justin knew he was
in trouble, he had already fallen for the Backstreet Boy, he just hoped that
Nick felt the same way.
*******
"Justin, its Nick Carter." Nick said aloud, feeling ridiculous as he
practised what he was going to say when he actually called Justin. He didn't
want Justin to think he was an idiot.

"Hi, it's Nick. I was just calling to see if you wanted to meet me again?"
Nick tried before groaning, he sounded like a desperate man.

Okay, he was desperate but he didn't want Justin to know he had spent the
day pining over him. Taking a deep breath, Nick picked up the phone and
dialled Justin's number from memory. He groaned as there were four rings, he
was about to put it down as he heard a breathless voice.

"Justin's phone, what do you want?" A man said, clearly out of breath.

Nick was silent, wondering who had answered Justin's phone. Swallowing, Nick
said, "Is Justin there? Tell him it's his friend from the marina."

"Sure, I'll get him." Came the reply, Nick could hear someone yelling,
"Justin, phone! Someone you met at the marina?"

Knowing who it was from the description Justin shouted, "Give me the damn
phone, Joey!"

As he walked away from the rest of his group Justin said, "Hey, sorry about
that idiot. Joey's in one of his moods. Thanks for the flowers, they're
wonderful. I'm guessing it was you who sent the roses to the studio as
well?"

Feeling happier at hearing Justin's voice Nick said, "Yeah, just wanted to
let you know I was thinking of you. Would you like to come out on a date
with me again?"

"I'd love that; I'll call you as soon as I get back home. Thanks for
calling; it was great to hear from you."

"You promise to call?" Nick asked sounding both hopeful and afraid.

Justin said as he ended the call, "I promise. Talk to you later, Nicky."
*******
"So, who was that?" Lance asked as he walked outside with Justin. He had
promised to give the younger man a ride back. In reality, he simply wanted
to find out what Justin was hiding.

"A close friend, he's really great." Justin said as he fastened his
seatbelt, hating the fact that he had to lie about Nick.

"You can tell me anything, if you need to talk. I'll always be here for you,
Justin." Lance said sincerely, looking over at Justin.

"I know. You okay, Lance?" Justin asked as they drove through the streets.

Lance said looking at Justin anxiously, "Why do you ask?"

"You've been a little off today; you kept looking at Josh like you're angry
at him or something."

"I'm okay, just got a few things to work out. So are you calling the
mysterious N tonight?" Lance quickly changed the subject, not wanting Justin
to get too close.

Justin grinned widely as he said, "Yeah, I promised to. You know something.
I don't think I've been this happy for a while."

"Happiness is fleeting." Lance said bitterly, as he stopped the car. Seeing
Justin's concerned look he continued, "I'll see you in a couple of days,
I've got some things to work out."

"Okay, Scoop. I'm here if you need me." Justin said as he got out the car,
skipping into the house.
*******
"Nick here," Nick said as he grabbed the phone, still out of breath from
running.

As he closed the door of his bedroom Justin replied, "Hi, Nick. You sound a
little out of breath; I didn't interrupt you, did I?"

"I was in the shower. So how've you been today?" Nick answered with a grin.

Justin froze as images of Nick in the shower flashed into his mind. Shaking
his head he blushed, "I've been great, it helped that I had this to look
forward to."

"Thanks. Are you doing anything tomorrow night?" Nick said hopefully.

"Not that I know of," Justin answered as he lay back in bed.

Nick said excitedly, "Great, how about we go out then?"

"That would be great. Where are we going?" Justin said, unable to contain
his excitement.

"It's a surprise. Dress smart-casual. I'll pick you up at six," Nick replied
with an enigmatic grin.

Not wanting to end the call Justin said, "Okay. So what did you do today?"

"Not much just hung around the house. I did a few paintings and played a few
computer games." Nick answered, not telling Justin that the drawings had
been of him.

"So you like to paint, so do I. What do you paint?" Justin said, happy that
they had found something else in common.

Nick answered, "Depends on my mood, mainly people and landscapes. I love
painting the ocean."

"Did you talk to your mom about last night?" Justin asked, wondering how
much Nick had told his mom.

"Yeah, she likes you. She seemed a little smug. Did your mom tell you why
they had set us up together?" Nick said, wondering if his mom had revealed
his feelings for Justin.

"She said I needed someone in my life and that you were perfect." Justin
answered, hoping that his mom was right.

"So am I perfect for you?" Nick asked playfully, he didn't want Justin to
know he was being serious.

Justin answered softly, "Yeah, I think so."

"I'm going to have to go; someone's knocking on the door." Nick didn't want
one of his friends walking in and finding out about him and Justin.

"Okay, bye Nick. I look forward to seeing you." Justin said with a sigh.

"Bye, Just." Nick answered as he opened the door.
*******
"Who were you on the phone to?" Brian asked as he noticed the look in his
best friend's eyes. Nick was hiding something and Brian made it his mission
to find out what.

"Just a friend, not that I mind but what are you doing here?" Nick asked
confused by Brian's appearance. He had thought Brian would be spending their
day off with his family.

Wondering why Nick was suddenly avoiding his eyes Brian explained, "Thought
I'd see what you were doing. I called you last night and you weren't here."

"I had to see someone. Any idea what this meeting's for tomorrow?" Nick
said, quickly changing the subject.

"Kev wouldn't tell me, he just smiled and said it was about our next tour."
Brian replied with a grin, knowing that Kevin must be planning something
big.

"Oh, want to play ball?" Nick asked as he grabbed the basketball from its
place on the floor.

Brian said with a carefree smile, "Sure, it's been a while since we hung
out."
*******
The next day found Kevin waiting sitting in the meeting room at Jive,
staring at his three group mates and wondering how Nick always managed to be
late for every meeting. If he didn't know better, Kevin would swear he was
doing it on purpose.

"Sorry, I'm late. I slept in." Nick said as he ran through the door, it was
the truth but he didn't want to tell them why he slept in. He didn't think
they'd take the news that he overslept because he had spent the night
fantasising about Justin too well.
"Sit down, Nick. Now that you're here we can begin." Kevin said with a
tolerant smile.

The Jive representative said, "We've decided to make your next tour a little
different." Seeing the impatient looks he continued, "I realise this is a
little late but it was a matter of security. You are going to be going on a
joint tour, later two more acts will join you."

"The group joining us on the tour is Nsync." Kevin sat back, ready for the
explosions.

Howie said thoughtfully, "It will be good for us if we do a joint tour and
they're not that bad. It'll be good to hang out with Chris again."

"Have you forgotten that we hate them? They're our rivals." AJ snarled, not
noticing the brief flash of rage in Nick's eyes.

Brian said in outrage, "You mean the tour that we're starting in a less than
two months? Isn't it a little late to be telling us this? We don't even
spend any time with them."

"Do they know we're going on tour with them?" Nick asked wondering why
Justin hadn't mentioned anything.

"Lance Bass knows the rest of the group will be informed in a meeting in two
days." The Jive rep said giving them a stern look.

"To help everyone get along, each of us will be sharing a room with one of
Nsync guys. I'm going to call Lance Bass and finalise everything. You can go
now the meeting's over." Kevin said grinning as Nick ran from the room.
*******
Nick waited until he was outside the Jive headquarters to dial Justin's
number. He couldn't wait to tell Justin the news.

"Justin, you'll never believe what Kev just told us!" Nick said excitedly as
he walked towards his car.

"It can't be something too bad, you sound happy." Justin stated
thoughtfully.

"We're going on tour together; it's some battle of the bands thing. You know
what that means?" Nick said with a grin.

Justin said a smile in his voice, "We'll be able to see each other everyday.
Man, I've got to thank whoever organised this."

"You and me both. Are you ready for tonight?" Nick said while fastening his
seatbelt.

"Yeah! Are you going to tell me where we're going?" Justin didn't know what
clothes to wear. Nick had said dress smart casual but their ideas of what
was smart were probably different.

Nick answered with a laugh, "It's a surprise." It seemed that Justin was the
same as him when it came to surprises.

Part 3

Justin flung open his wardrobe, quickly throwing shirts onto the bed as he
tried to find something to wear. He wanted something that looked good but
was suitable for whatever Nick had planned.

Grabbing his black pants and his baby blue shirt, Justin held them up to the
mirror critically. They looked okay to him but what would Nick think? That
was the question foremost in his mind; he didn't want to wear something that
Nick would hate.

Justin placed the shirt on the bed and picked up the green one, he had to
admit that the dark green looked good with his eyes but would Nick pay
attention to such a small detail? Picking up the discarded blue shirt,
Justin decided that he was going to wear it, otherwise he would spend the
whole night getting changed and he only had...an hour left to get ready.
Rushing into the shower, Justin couldn't help but think that Nick was
probably already dressed and waiting around calmly.

In reality, nothing was further from the truth.
*******
"Why have you called me over, Nick?" Kevin asked worried, the door was
unlocked. He walked into Nick's apartment to find the younger man nowhere to
be seen.

Kevin said as he walked through the house, "Nick? Where are you? If this is
some sort of joke, I'm going to kill you."

Kevin walked into the bedroom to find the room even more of a mess than
normal, clothes all over the place and the drawers were open. It looked like
someone had ransacked the place.

"Calm down, man. You look like you're about to have a heart attack." Nick
said smirking a little when Kevin jumped at the sound of his voice.

Kevin said as he glared at Nick, "You left your door open, I thought
something had happened. What have I told you about locking the door?"

Nick ignored the lecture; he was used to them by now. This time it was
lecture number 63, being careful. He thought it was a little over the top,
he had left the door open but it had slipped his mind which had been a
little preoccupied about his upcoming date! The date he had waited years
for!

Interrupting Nick said, "Thanks for coming over Kev. I need your help to
find something to wear tonight, something that looks good but doesn't look
like I spent hours choosing what to wear."

"You told me to come over right away to help you find something to wear (!)"
Kevin said in disbelief, from the sound of Nick he had thought it was
important.

"Please, Kev. It's my first date with a guy and I want to make a good
impression." Nick said giving the trademark puppy dog eyes. They never
failed with Kevin.

"Is this the same guy your mom set you up with?" Kevin asked, letting out a
sigh, it looked like he wasn't going to get away unless he helped.

"Yeah, he's great. I met him last night and asked him out tonight." Nick
replied a grin on his face as he remembered the shocked look on Justin's
face.

"Look, I don't really care what you wear." Kevin said, seeing Nick was just
going to bug him until he gave in Kevin continued, "Just wear your black
pants and your white turtleneck, no one can go wrong with white and black."

"You think? Thanks, I knew I could count on you." Nick said smirking at the
startled look Kevin gave him.

Kevin said gently, "Look, be careful. You might like this guy but we don't
know what he's really like. Are you going to take your bodyguard with you?"
He didn't think he would be able to live with himself if something happed to
Nick because of him.

"I'm not taking security; I want this to be like a normal date. Don't worry,
I'm not stupid." Nick said as he dressed, excited over the evening to come.

"I'm not saying you're stupid but I don't want something to happen to you."
Kevin retorted, seeing Nick's stubborn looked he said, "At least stay
somewhere with a lot of people."

"Okay, Kev." Nick answered, thinking that would be a little difficult
considering the fact that he and Justin were supposed to be enemies.

Wanting to know just how long he was going to have to cope with a crazy Nick
Kevin asked, "So what time are you meeting this mystery guy?"

"I've got to leave now; I'm picking him up at six." Nick said as he grabbed
his coat and ushered Kevin out the house, not wanting to be late.
******
Nick took a quick look in the mirror before getting out the car, he was ten
minutes early but he hoped Justin wouldn't mind. It wasn't his fault that
Justin had been the only thing on his mind; besides, it was better to be
early than be late.

Opening the door Lynn said, "Nice to meet you Nick, please call me Lynn. My,
don't you look handsome. Come on in, Justin will be down in a minute."

She smiled widely at the way that Nick was anxiously shuffling his feet. She
was a little shocked, as she had always assumed Nick was outgoing and
excitable.

"Thanks, Lynn. How've you been? My mom told me to tell you she told you so."
Nick said with a shy smile, remembering the message his mom had ordered him
to give.

Lynn replied smiling at the startled look in Nick's eyes, "I'll call her
tonight. So, what are your plans? I asked Justin but he said that you
refused to tell him."

"I'd like to know that too." Justin said, making everyone turn to look at
him. He smiled as Nick gaped at him.

Nick looked at Justin amazed at how stunning the man looked; he shook his
head to clear the haze of lust, not wanting to look like a gaping idiot.

Nick said flashing a smile at Justin's pout, "You look gorgeous, Justin. I
already told you it's a surprise, so you'll have to wait."

"Well, off you go then. Be careful boys." Lynn said as she led the pair to
the door, all the time congratulating herself on the success of her and
Jane's plan.

"Goodbye, Lynn. It was great to meet you." Nick said as he walked out the
door, smiling when Justin took his hand.

"Bye, mom. Don't worry, we'll be okay." Justin said as he joined Nick,
kissing his mom on the cheek.
*******
"You look really great tonight." Justin said as Nick drove, delighting in
Nick's blush.

Glancing at Justin Nick said, "Thanks. I hope you don't mind but I arranged
for us to have a meal at Lorena's then go to a show. I already made a
promise to go about a year ago. It was organised by a friend of mine for the
U. It's by a group of singers and dancers our age and no one will think
anything of us being there; I normally got to the rehearsals."

"Sound great; are you sure they won't think it weird that we're going there
together?" Justin said, not wanting anything to spoil their evening.

Nick replied confidently, "Positive, most of them think they're too cool to
admit they listen to our music. Anyway, they'll just think we're the
celebrity guests. I guess I should tell you that the show is by the Gay,
Lesbian, and Bisexual Society at the U."

"So, most of them won't be upset if we act like a couple, good idea." Justin
said, raising his eyebrow, looked like Nick could be devious when he wanted
to be.

Nick answered with a cheeky grin, "I think so."
*******
The rest of the drive was spent in silence. The pair content to soak up the
feeling of being together; an indescribable sense of peace filling their
bodies.

Nick quickly parked the car at Lorena's and quickly walked round to Justin's
side opening the door for him. Justin just looked at him shocked before
smiling and getting out.

"My name is Jessica; I'm the hostess here at Lorena's. Can I help you,
Sirs?" The hostess asked as the pair walked inside the restaurant.

Nick said smiling at her, "We've got a reservation for two at six thirty
under the name of Carter."

"Right this way Mr Carter, Mr Timberlake." She replied as she led them to a
secluded table at the back.

"Your waiter this evening is Joseph, if you have any problems please don't
hesitate to tell me." The hostess replied as she left, seeing another couple
waiting.

Justin asked pleased that everything was going okay, "Can you believe that?
She didn't say anything!"

"Yeah, she was great." Nick replied as he passed Justin the menu, freezing
when their fingers met.

"Are you gentlemen ready to order?" A tall, slim, brunette man said as he
walked over, with his notepad open.

At Justin's nod, Nick said, "Yes. I'll have the Cajun chicken and a diet
Pepsi."

"I'll have the same but with a Seven Up." Justin said as Joseph looked at
him.

Joseph replied, "Very good, Sir. I'll bring your drinks over straight away."

They waited until he was out of earshot before continuing their
conversation. They talked about nothing and everything, sharing fears,
hopes, and dreams.

"Did I ever tell you how much I wanted to call you when I first met you at
the talent show?" Justin said, referring to the talent show they had both
entered.

"I was going to call you but I figured you wouldn't want to hear from me."
Nick said, leaning in to speak to Justin.

"How come there are all these rumours about you and Britney?" Nick asked the
question had been bothering him all day. A part of his mind kept whispering
that Justin really wanted to go out with her and their date was just a sick
joke.

Justin explained nervously, "I used to date her three years ago. She
actually told me to stop being an idiot and admit I was gay, after we had
been going out together for six months. She's like my sister; it was her who
came up with the whole dating plan to stop anyone thinking I was gay. She
did it all to protect me, we've agreed that when we both find someone or
when I feel ready we'll tell the truth, until then she's content to play the
part of my girlfriend."

"She sounds great. Does this mean I'll have to watch what I say around her?"
Nick said, but before Justin could answer their food arrived.

"Here you go, Sir." Joseph said as he placed the plates on the table, all
the time gazing at Justin.

`How dare he put the moves on my Justin!' Nick thought as he glared at the
oblivious waiter.

"Thanks." Justin said not looking up, this Joseph was beginning to get on
his nerves.

"Can you believe that? I'm going to have a little talk with him." Nick said
to Justin as he looked at the waiter's retreating figure.

Amused at Nick's jealously Justin replied, "Chill Nicky, I'm not interested
in him. There's only one man I'm interested in and he's sitting with me."

"I think that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." Nick said as
he reached under the table and quickly squeezed Justin's hand.

Justin smiled and the pair started eating stopping to make impressions of
their waiter. Justin had to admit the guy had been a little obvious; usually
the guys that tried to get one of them would be a little more discrete.

"Shouldn't we get going, it's almost seven. What time is that show?" Justin
asked as he finished his soda.

"Seven thirty but it won't take long to get there. I was thinking we could
walk. If that's okay with you?" Nick replied, thinking it was a perfect
night to spend with someone you cared about...someone you loved.

Hoping that Nick didn't notice the way he had spent the night watching him
Justin said, "That's okay with me. Want to go now? That way we can take our
time and if we get there early we might be able to avoid getting mobbed."

Nick said with a grin, "Sure, Bella is looking forward to meeting you."

"That'll be $150, Mr Carter. I hope everything was satisfactory," The
hostess said as she walked over, having seen the way Joseph had behaved.

"Everything was great." Nick replied as he passed over his credit card.

"Thank you, I'm glad you had a good time." Jessica replied with a wide
smile.

The night air was cool, with just the hint of rain to come. Nick was just
relieved that for once everything appeared to be going perfect. He walked
next to Justin, so close their shoulders brushed. As they walked, the pair
shared stories about their friends, their feelings about Lou and what about
each other.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Nick asked once again as they stopped outside a
large building. If it was going to make Justin uncomfortable, he would
rather just miss it and send his apologies; maybe he could get Kevin to go
instead?

Justin answered as they walked inside, "Its fine. It's great that you're
doing this, besides I like this caring side of you."

Part 4

"Nick!"  Shouted an excited voice as a brunette woman jumped on his
shoulders, messing up his hair.

"Hi to you, too. Just, this Isabella Lewis; the most enchanting girl in the
US." Nick said as she jumped off his shoulders, blushing.

Isabella said led the two through the corridors, "Ignore the idiot, my name
is Bella. I'm only friends with him because I'm the only one who will put up
with him. Nice to meet you, Justin. I take it you're here for the show.
You're a little early, want to come backstage? Maybe you can help calm some
of them down." She started smirking at the looks the men were giving each
other, when they thought she couldn't see.

"I doubt that, Bella." Nick said, remembering how hyperactive the group was.

"So how long have you known Nick? Got any good stories?" Justin asked,
ignoring the look of dread on Nick's face.

Isabella said breaking into hysterical laughter, "About four years as for
stories I've got a few. Hey, do you want to hear about the time Brian and I
glued Kevin to the chair? What about the time Nick was showing some dance
moves at the U and fell flat on his face? I don't think I've ever seen him
so red!"

"It was your fault! If you hadn't been pulling faces at me, I wouldn't have
fallen." Nick said heatedly, glaring at Bella.

"Yeah, right (!)" Bella replied, as they walked through a large door marked,
Private.
*******
"Listen up, everybody! Justin and Nick are going to give you a few tips to
help you calm down. Lord, knows you need it!" Bella shouted as she walked
into the room, unsurprised to find everyone staring at the men beside her.

"I guess the most important thing is to have fun. If you don't enjoy then
the audience won't either." Nick said, quickly, not wanting anyone to notice
the look he had been giving Justin.

Flashing the smile that sold millions Justin said, "Yeah, don't worry about
screwing up or you will. The most important thing is to have fun."

"That's it everyone, time to get changed. Has anyone seen Jason?" Bella
shouted as she looked around the large room.

A petite black girl offered with a grin, "He's in the toilet being sick."

"Why are you all still standing here? Time to get moving!" Bella shouted,
seeing that everyone was too busy staring at Nick and Justin.

"Talk about a slave driver (!)" A tall blonde teen said as he walked into
the room.

"Jason, you feeling okay?" Bella said concerned, making Justin stare at her
shocked at the sudden change in her mood.

Blushing Jason said, "Never better. Hey, aren't you two Nick Carter and
Justin Timberlake?"

"Yeah, so what are you doing in the concert?" Nick said, hoping Jason wasn't
going to go all star struck.

Jason said excitedly, "I'm a singer. Are you two going to sing?"

"Maybe." Justin said with an enigmatic smile.

"Ten minutes, everyone." Bella said as she hurried the pop stars out the
door.

"You okay, Nick?" asked Justin, wondering what had caused the other man to
look so pensive.

"Yeah, I was just thinking. Jason reminds me of how I used to be a couple of
years ago." Nick said, hoping Justin wouldn't be mad that he was thinking
about the teen.

Giving Nick puppy dog eyes Justin asked, "Would you mind if we performed a
quick song later?"

"Sure, it might help them raise some more money." Nick said as they walked
into the
Auditorium.

Nick showed his tickets to the usher, who quickly led them to the VIP
section with a polite smile. The pair thanked her as they sat down, noticing
that the room was already half-full.

"So, have you told any of the others about me?" Justin whispered as he
looked at Nick.

Nick said with a grin, "Nah, I told Kev that I was meeting the guy my mom
set me up with. He wanted me to bring security and ordered me to stay in
places with a lot of people. I think he thought you were a crazed fan or
something." He wanted to keep their relationship private for a while; a
relationship was difficult enough with two people never mind ten.

Giving a mischievous smirk Justin said, "Can you imagine the looks we would
have got if we brought security? We wouldn't have had any time alone, and
someone would have spotted us."

"Kev would have had kittens!" Nick said, the pair looked at each other and
started laughing loudly drawing looks from the rest of the audience.

The pair ignored the looks; they were used to people staring at them by now.
It had become such a part of their life that they didn't even think about
it. The people soon turned away, talking amongst themselves. The lights went
out as the show began, Jason walked out wearing black pants and a black top,
with the words Love Knows No Gender written on in blue sequins. With a grin,
he looked out the audience and started sing, Chained To You by Savage
Garden.

As he sang the last note, Bella walked out dressed in a red cat suit behind
her stood five others, the six danced for thirty minutes to Jessica Simpson.
At the end of the dance, Bella flashed Nick a grin; the choice of music was
a joke between them.

"Now, please welcome two of my close friends who have agreed to sing for us
tonight, Justin Timberlake and Nick Carter!" Bella said as she stood up.

The couple quickly stood and made their way to the stage, their movements
followed by a spotlight. As they stepped onto the stage, there was rapturous
applause and whistles. Nick smiled, as Justin grabbed a couple of mikes from
the stagehand and passed one to Nick.

Nick said with a grin, "Hey everyone, it's great to see such a large
turnout. Sorry for not being dressed for a performance but we were only
supposed to be doing the raffle."

"Talk about yourself, I always look good!" Justin said winking at the
audience.

Thinking quickly Nick asked, "So what do you want to sing tonight, Just?"

Justin said with a smile, "Anything, as long as it's not a Backstreet or
Nsync song. I don't think we want to put them to sleep."

The audience laughed at the clear show of camaraderie between them, each one
surprised at how close the pair seemed.

"Men!" Bella said as she walked out grinning widely as she continued, "I'll
pick the song for you, how about Where You Are?"

"Works for me." Justin replied for the pair, as the band quickly came on
stage.

Within seconds the band was playing the introduction. The audience held
their breath, knowing they were the first to hear the pop stars sing
together. A few people smiled as if they knew a secret as they looked at the
pair, suspecting and hoping they were a couple.

Nick looked at Justin as he sang, "There are times I swear I know you're
here When I forget about my fears Feeling you my dear Watching over me My
hope sees What the future will bring When you wrap me in your wings And take
me where you are Where you and I will breath together Once again We'll be
dancin' in the moonlight Just like we used to do And you'll be smiling back
at me Only then will I be free When I can be Where you are."

"And I can see your face Your kiss I still can taste Not a memory erased"
Justin sang, giving the older man a grin.

"Oh I see your star Shining down on me And I'd so anything" Nick sang, his
voice full of love.

"If I could just Be right there where you are," Justin sang, feeling that he
had found a song that suited him and Nick.

Nick and Justin sang their voices intertwined as if they were destined to
sing together, "Where you and I will breathe together Once again We'll be
dancin' in the moonlight  Just like we used to do And you'll be smiling back
at me Only then will I be free When I can be Where you are"

"So take me where you are," Justin, sang his voice strong and sure.

Nick gave Justin a flirtatious wink, "Now baby there are times When
selfishly I'm wishing that you Were here with me So I can wipe the tears
>From your eyes and make you see That every night while you are dreamin' I'm
here to guard you from afar."

"And everytime I feel alone I close me eyes and dream of Where you are,"
Justin sang with everything he had.

"Where you and I will breathe together Once again We'll be dancin' in the
moonlight Just like we used to do And you'll be smiling back at me Only then
will I be free When I can be Where you are," Justin sang, looking at Nick
the whole time.

"Baby I still believe Oh I've got to believe I will touch you that sweet day
That you take me there Where you are I still believe" Nick and Justin sang,
stopping to stare at each other seconds before the thunderous applause.

Bella said as she took their hands, "Thanks for a wonderful performance!
Justin and Nick are going to come back up later and pick the lucky winner of
a holiday in Europe. Nick Carter and Justin Timberlake, everybody."

The pair smiled at the audience before bowing, they had forgotten about
their audience. While they were singing each only had eyes for the other,
everything but them had ceased to exist. The pair went backstage, feeling
they needed some time away from the audience, the curious looks.
*******
"Told you they were a couple!" A tall blonde teen declared as she took the
money from the hand of the girl next to her.

"I don't believe you, ask them!" The other girl demanded as Nick and Justin
walked through the door.

"So are you two dating or what?" The blonde asked, causing the couple to
stare at her.

`She's certainly direct', Nick thought to himself as Justin replied, "We're
close friends."

The couple hung backstage for the rest of the show, content to simply hand
around people their own age, people who treated them like they were normal
human beings instead of pop stars.

"Get your sexy butts out there, time to do the tickets." Bella said,
giggling at the shocked look on Justin's face.

As the two walked out the audience one again applauded, each person was
tightly holding their tickets waiting on the edge of their seats.
Thankfully, there didn't seem to be as many curious looks this time.

Nick smiled and pulled a ticket out of the hat, "The lucky winner is number
342."

The winner was a girl aged about 19 who looked ready to faint and was
blushing furiously. Nick and Justin moved to take the woman's hands as they
started up the steps.

"What's your name?" Nick said with a grin.

"I'm Kelly Murphy." The younger girl gasped out, never taking her eyes off
Justin.

"Congratulations, I hope you enjoy the holiday." Justin said sincerely.

"Thanks, it was nice to meet you." Kelly said, hugging Justin.

Bella said as she walked out, "Thank you for coming, remember that love is a
gift."

Seconds after she finished speaking the people filed out of the auditorium,
giving the celebrities on the stage no further thought. Kelly hugged Justin
one last time before leaving. Nick growled, on hearing him Bella started
laughing, the sounded echoed in the now empty room.

Not wanting to make the pair uncomfortable Bella offered, "Want to come to
the after show party?"

"Maybe another time, we've got to get going." Nick said looking at Justin,
hoping the other man wouldn't mind missing the party.

Bella said as she walked the pair out the back entrance, "Okay, just give me
a call whenever. Justin, you've got a good man there - most of the time!"
*******
"So what do you want to do now?" Nick asked as they walked out into the
night air. Thankfully they had missed the rain, although not by much judging
by the puddles on the ground.

Justin asked hopefully, "Can we go back to your place?"

"Sure, although my room is a bit of a mess." Nick said happily.

"So is mine, most of the time." Justin replied cockily, wondering just what
Nick was expecting them to do once they arrived at the apartment.

"Want to drive?" Nick offered as they walked towards the car in a
comfortable silence, enjoying the feeling of being with someone they had
come to care for, perhaps even love.

Catching the keys Justin grinned, "That'd be great! You'll have to give me
directions, though."

Nick switched on the radio, and the sweet sound of Only You (And You Alone)
filled the car, Nick smiled thinking to himself that the song was perfect
for him and Justin. It described the way he felt for Justin, that the other
man was the only one for him.

Justin gently leaned over and took Nick's hand in his own, shivering when
Nick started caressing Justin's hand with his own.

Justin asked as they stopped outside a non descript house, "This is a nice
place. Have you got a place in Orlando as well?"

"Yeah, it's not too bad. Luckily I don't get mobbed to often." Nick answered
opening the door and letting Justin walk in.

Not knowing what to say Nick offered, "Want something to drink?" He just
hoped Justin didn't expect them to sleep together that night anyway.

"Sure, I'll have a diet Coke." Justin said, not wanting to drink, as he
didn't know just what he would say or do if he got drunk.

Nick said as he walked into the kitchen, "Just make yourself comfortable."

Justin looked around; walking over to all the pictures on the wall he was
surprised by how many there were of Brian and Kevin.

`Did all the pictures mean that Nick had feelings for one of the cousins?'
Justin snorted at that thought; it was probably just because Nick was close
to them, the same way he was with JC and Lance.

"So what do you think of my little photo collection?"

Justin turned in shock; he hadn't heard Nick approach.

"They are nice; you have a lot of Brian and Kevin." Justin said, his voice
making it clear that it was a question not a statement.

Nick said taking Justin's hand in his, "Yeah, Bri's more like my brother
than a best friend and Kev's always been kind of a father. Would you dance
with me?"

"I'd love to." Justin answered, moving into Nick's arms.

Nick picked up the remote for his CD player and sultry jazz started playing.
The couple started dancing slowly, their bodies fitting together like a
jigsaw puzzle. Justin placed his head on Nick's chest, smiling at the sound
of Nick's thundering heartbeat.

Justin commented as he looked up at Nick, "This is nice."

"It's perfect." Nick answered as he simply started to sway with Justin,
uncaring what song was playing; they had their own music.

"You look a little tired, Just. You want me to take you back?" Nick said as
he noticed how the younger man was struggling to keep his eyes open.

"What time is it?" Justin asked dazedly as he looked down at his watch,
"Shit, its 2.00 a.m. Can I stay here? It might be a little dangerous for us
to drive back now."

"Sure, I'm afraid there's only one bedroom. I converted the two spare
bedrooms to a studio and a games room." Nick said as he gently picked Justin
up and carried his precious cargo into the bedroom.

Nick quickly changed Justin into a pair of pyjamas taking care not to look
at Justin. He didn't want to take advantage of Justin like that, it would be
wrong. After making sure Justin was tightly covered in bed; Nick changed and
wondered just how he was supposed to sleep knowing Justin was just a couple
of inches away. He might be tired but he wasn't dead. Nick got into bed and
gave a happy sigh as Justin spooned him.

Part 5

Justin started to stretch as he awoke, feeling arms around him he froze.
Opening his eyes he looked over and saw Nick, everything came flooding back
to him. Justin just gave a contented smile; he had thought the whole thing
was just a delicious dream.

As much as he was enjoying being held by Nick, the call of nature was too
strong to deny. Justin gently got out of bed, grinning when Nick moaned and
squeezed Justin's pillow. Justin went the toilet and walked back into the
bedroom; seeing that it was 11 a.m. he set about making breakfast. He walked
down to the kitchen and started searching, happy when he discovered that
Nick apparently loved cereal as much as he did.

Nick woke to find he was alone. He looked at the space in the bed next to
him in alarm, had he made Justin uncomfortable? The smell of food assaulted
his senses and Nick smiled, realising that Justin hadn't left, as he had
feared.

"Something smells wonderful! What are you making?" Nick said as he snaked
his arms around Justin's waist.

Relaxing into Nick's embrace Justin answered, "Nothing much just some French
toast, bacon, eggs and pancakes. You shouldn't have got up; I was going give
you breakfast in bed."

"Sorry, have you called your mom?" Nick said as he sat down at the table.

Justin said as he served the food, "Fuck! I forgot I was supposed to go home
last night. She's probably really worried. I'll call her after breakfast."

"This looks great!" Nick said eagerly as he started to eat.

Justin smiled, "I can't make much apart from breakfast."

The pair ate in silence, sneaking looks at the other when they thought the
other wasn't looking.

`So much for the uncomfortable morning after,' Nick thought to himself as he
drank his orange juice.

As he stood up Nick said, "I'm going to go and get dressed while you phone
your mom. Do you want to hang out today?"

"I'd like that. Can I borrow some clothes?" Justin replied giving Nick a
pleading look.

"Yeah, take what you want." Nick answered as he left the room, stopping to
give Justin a quick kiss on the cheek.
*******
"Mom, it's me. I hope I didn't worry you, I spent the night with Nick."
Justin said as he heard his mom pick up the phone.

`Oh God, how far have they gone? Have they slept together?' Lynn thought to
herself even as she answered, "That's nice, did you have a good time?"

Not wanting to mention their surprise performance Justin gushed, "It was
wonderful; we had dinner than we went to a show by people our age. No one
really cared whether we were a couple or not. Then we came back to Nick's
place, danced, and held each other for a couple of hours before going to
bed."

"I'm so glad. Are you going to be back here soon?" Lynn asked; thinking
about how happy Jane would be once she heard about how the plan went.

Remembering the way Lance had looked the last time he had seen him Justin
said, "We're going to hang out for a while. I want to spend some time with
Nick seeing how we've got interviews and recordings for the next month or
so. Has Lance called?"

"No, were you expecting him to?" Lynn couldn't help but feel worried, Justin
sounded like he was anxious about Lance, and she had come to care for all of
Nsync as if they were her sons.

"He just said he might call..." Justin stopped speaking as Nick walked into
the room, wearing a tight T-shirt that clearly showed his muscles and a pair
of tight blue jeans.

Justin returned to the phone as he heard his mom ask, "Justin? Justin, are
you there?"

"Sorry, I got distracted." Justin said, still staring at Nick.

Lynn didn't think she wanted to know, not from the way her son sounded.
Knowing Justin she guessed that it was something to do with Nick. She
grinned as she realised that she had never heard her boy sound so happy...so
in love.

"I'll talk to you later, Justin. Don't worry about coming back tonight, I
can take care of the place for you." Lynn said, thinking how much she would
enjoy the time to herself even if she had only gone to LA to see Justin.

"Thanks, love you mom." Justin said as he put down the phone and managed to
drag his eyes from Nick's body.

Nick was busy reading a comic apparently oblivious to the hungry looks
Justin was giving him. Nick stopped reading as he felt Justin start to kiss
his neck, very quickly his body started to react; his neck had always been
one of his erogenous zones.

"Justin, stop kissing my neck!" Nick said seeing the hurt look on Justin's
face; he blurted, "I love you but I want to take things slow."

Nick said truthfully, "Oh shit! Justin, I'm SO sorry, I shouldn't have said
anything. I know it's too soon, and I'm not expecting you to say anything
back. " He didn't want Justin to say the words if he didn't mean them.

"That's okay. I'm going to get changed." Justin said before walking out the
room. He didn't want to tell Nick that he loved him, knowing that once he
said those words everything would change.

Nick just stared at the wall unable to believe what had just happened. He
was sure that he had lost Justin; the younger man was probably busy freaking
out in the bedroom. He switched on the MTV and stared at it, not really
seeing it.

That was how Justin found him when he walked down the stairs to the lounge,
as he looked at Nick's unmoving figure he wondered what had happened. Had
Nick had some bad news while he was busy getting dressed?

"Nick, Nick! Are you okay?" Justin asked, moving so that he was looking
straight into Nick's eyes.

Nick exclaimed in amazement, "Y...You're still here!" He had figured Justin
would have left by now.

Justin answered in confusion, "Yeah, I told you I was going to get changed.
How come you're so upset?"

"I thought you would go because of what I said." Nick answered truthfully,
unable to think of a lie.

Justin queried, "Why would I leave because you said you loved me? You want
to go and hang out?"

"No reason, you feel like going to play some b-ball?" Nick said, picking up
the basketball from its home on the shelf.

"Sure, can we leave our phones here? I don't want the others to wreck our
time together," said Justin, placing his phone on the table.

Nick thought that was a good idea and switching off his phone, he placed it
next to next to Justin's cell. Nick picked up a bag from its placed on the
floor, and placed a can of Pepsi inside it. Passing Justin a baseball cap he
placed another on his head and the pair walked out the door. The whole time
Nick was wondering why Justin was so eager for them to have time alone.
*******
The game was fierce, but fun. As they played Nick thought to himself that it
was a great game, and it provided the perfect excuse for him to touch Justin
in public. As Nick threw the ball into the hoop, there was the sound of
clapping. Breathlessly Nick and Justin turned around to find they had an
audience.

A tall friendly looking black girl said as she walked over, "Looks like you
white boys can play after all."

"Yeah, imagine that (!)" Justin replied sarcastically unhappy at having his
time with Nick interrupted.

The girl asked gesturing to the boy next to her, "How about you two against
the two of us?"

"We'd like to but we've got to meet someone." Justin said quickly, not
feeling like he wanted to share Nick with anyone.

Catching on quickly Nick smiled apologetically saying, "Sorry, maybe we can
play another time."
*******
Nick and Justin left the court seconds later, each one flushed from the
game. As they walked, Nick took a can from his bag and passed it to Justin
who opened it and took a long drink before returning it to Nick.

"Want to go to the mall?" Nick questioned after taking a long cool drink.

"Yeah! I love shopping. I saw these great shoes at The Footlocker the other
day." Justin said, enthusiastically.

"Want to walk or take a cab?" Nick questioned as they reached the end of the
street.

Justin said, "We can walk."

Justin put one hand around Nick's shoulders making it look more like an
innocent display of friendship than a loving touch. The pair arrived at the
mall, relieved to see it wasn't too busy as it was a Thursday afternoon.
Nick remembered just how eager Justin had been about the shoes so he steered
the younger man towards The Footlocker.

He watched amused as Justin gushed over the shoes, grabbing fours pairs,
which Nick thought were identical to each other. Nick grabbed a pair of
black and red trainers and tried them on, knowing that it would probably
take Justin hours to choose a pair.

"What do you think of these?" Justin asked as he walked over, wearing blue
and red Nike trainers.

Nick replied with a seductive smile, "They look good, but then anything
would look good on you."

"Thanks, babe. Now seriously should I get these or the blue and white ones?"
Justin said thoughtfully, oblivious to the adoring grin Nick was giving him.

"Honestly, they both look great although I prefer the ones you are wearing
now." Nick said taking off the trainers he had tried on.

Justin asked pointing to the pair Nick was holding, "Okay, I'm going to get
these ones! Are you getting those?"

"Yeah. Where do you want to go next?" Nick answered as they walked over to
the counter.

Thankfully, the woman behind the counter was in her late forties and didn't
bother to look at them. Justin got his trainers first, handing over his
credit card and trying not to react as Nick was whispering in his ear.

Nick smirked as Justin adjusted his pants to hide the prominent bulge.
Paying for his trainers Nick walked out of the store, placing his arm around
Justin's shoulders and grinning at the obvious joy on Justin's face.

Justin said a challenge in his face, "How about going to the arcade and
playing a few computer games? I want to see of your as good as your rep
makes out!"

"Oh, I'm good." Nick replied leering at Justin, causing the younger singer
to blush as he realised what he had said.

"Come on then! First one there gets to choose the game!" Justin said
laughing as he ran towards the arcade.

Nick quickly chased after Justin, overjoyed to see that Justin was as in
touch with his inner child as he was. It was great to see that Justin was
just as capable of being spontaneous and carefree as Nick was himself.

When Nick caught up with Justin, the other man was waiting by a video game;
looking closer Nick could see that it was Tekken 3. He smiled widely; he
loved that game and was confident he would win.

Justin said as he put his coins in the game, "Get ready to lose, Nicky!"

"In your dreams, JT." Nick replied as he chose his character.

Then there was no time for conversations as the pair worked furiously;
pressing the buttons and moving the joysticks with practiced ease. As they
fought, Nick started to reassess his previous thoughts, it was clear that
Justin was as good if not better than he was.

"Round one to me!" Justin said triumphantly as he took Nick down in one
quick move.

Nick grinned, "You were lucky, that's all."

The next round went to Nick, causing the pair to look at each other and
laugh. Then they returned their attention to the screen each one determined
to win. The fight was fast and furious; Justin won at the last minute by
using a spinning kick.

"Want to grab something to eat?" Justin offered as they walked out.

Nick said throwing Justin a carefree grin, "Yeah, Mexican?"

"Sure. I know this great little place about ten minutes away." Justin said
as they walked out the mall.

A girl screamed just as they reached the exit, "OhmyGod, its Justin
Timberlake!"

"It's Nick, Nick Carter!" Another girl squealed even louder.

The pair looked at each other and started running; looking back they weren't
surprised to see a large mob of screaming fans. Nick spotted a nearby bar
and ran inside. Gently pulling, Justin in after him.

Justin said breathlessly, "I'm thinking maybe we should just go back to your
place."

"Maybe, or do you want to go to the beach?" Nick replied eagerly.

Justin stopped to consider the question. He wanted to spend time with Nick
just doing the normal couple things but he didn't feel like hiding from mobs
the whole day.

Justin said thoughtfully, "How about we order take out and go back to yours?
That way we can spend time together without having to worry about the fans."

"Sure, I know this great Mexican place that delivers." Nick said as they
cautiously walked back outside.

Justin stopped a cab and held the door open for Nick, getting inside he gave
Nick's address and relaxed knowing no one would spot them now.
*******
Kevin looked at the paper in front of him in shock. He couldn't believe what
he was seeing; how could Nick be so stupid? It was the National Enquirer for
God's sake!

Dropping the paper onto the table, he picked up the phone and dialled Nick's
home number. Getting no answer, he hung up the phone and quickly rang his
friend's mobile number only to get the voicemail.

"Nick, its Kevin. There's something you should see, I'm coming over to your
place." Kevin said into the phone, hoping Nick would check his voicemail.

Grabbing his car keys, Kevin headed out the door, intending to wait at
Nick's until the younger man got home. After all Nick had to go home
sometime, Kevin rationalised.

Part 6

Justin relaxed into the chair as he waited for Nick to return, the older
singer had said something about a request before disappearing. He couldn't
help but wonder just what Nick had planned this time, and whether it was a
good idea to let Nick decide his fate.

"Justin, could I ask a favour of you?" Nick said avoiding Justin's eyes.

Justin couldn't help but feel nervous as he saw the way Nick was acting.
Smiling he said, "Sure, just what kind of favour?"

"I was wondering if I could paint you. You don't have to say yes it was just
a suggestion."

Justin said thoughtfully, "I guess, I don't have to be naked do I?"

"NO! Of course not, I just wanted to paint the real you rather than..." Nick
said his voice trailing off so that Justin could not hear him.

His curiosity peaked Justin asked, "Rather than what?"

Nick answered shuffling nervously, "Rather than having to just use my
imagination like on the others. You think I'm sick, don't you?"

Justin smiled as he realised Nick had actually been painting him, the very
thought made him tingle. He couldn't believe Nick found him interesting
enough to spend time painting him.

Grinning he said, "I think it's sweet. How long have you been painting me
then?

"Not long, about a year and a half. Do you want to see them?" Nick asked
calming now that he realised Justin wasn't about to run out of the house
screaming.

Justin said looking down at his clothes, "Yeah. Do you want me to get
changed so you can paint me?"

"No need, you look fantastic, as always." Nick answered as he led the way to
the studio.
*******
The studio was actually a large bedroom that he had converted; the room was
perfect to paint in due to the wonderful lighting. Strewn around the room
where various paintings either patiently waiting to be placed in their
rightful home or unfinished.

On the walls were paintings the rest of the Backstreet Boys and of Justin.
There were ten paintings of Justin including five portraits; the other five
where simply inspired by his imagination. They depicted Justin in a number
of situations; his favourite one was of Justin watching the sunset.

Justin looked at the pictures in shock, he hadn't known Nick was so
attracted to him, even as he looked at them Justin couldn't help but feel
awe at the apparent depth of Nick's feelings. It was obvious from the
pictures that Nick had strong feelings for him and would do whatever was
necessary to keep him happy.

"These are great, if you've had feelings for me for so long why didn't you
say something?" Justin wondered aloud,

Nick sat down, looking at Justin's face as he pleaded his case. "I thought
you were happy with Britney and there was no indication that you were gay.
Besides, I wanted to be your friend more than I wanted a relationship."

"Oh, so you weren't just pretending to be my friend then?" Justin asked,
voicing the suspicions that lingered in his mind.

Nick looked at Justin in disbelief, "No, I'd never do anything so cruel to
you."

"That's good to here, so where do you want me?" Justin said, blushing at the
lust in Nick's eyes.

`Anywhere' Nick thought to himself but he only said, "How about the chair?
Just act natural."

Justin quickly moved to sit on the chair, he watched with rapt attention as
Nick started painting. He couldn't quite hide the shiver of desire as Nick
started to look him over; he loved the feel of Nick's eyes on his body.

They had been working for thirty minutes when there was a loud banging on
the door, wiping the paint from his hands Nick flashed Justin an apologetic
smile. He walked out to answer the door frowning at the interruption.

"Yeah?" Nick said as he opened the door to find an angry Kevin who looked
ready to knock the door down.

Kevin said sound both angry and afraid, "I need to talk to you, inside now!"

Nick held the door open, shivering as he looked at Kevin. He had never seen
the older man look quite like that and it scared him. If Kevin was so upset,
it could only mean something had gone seriously wrong but what Nick didn't
know.

"You okay, babe?" Justin's voice carried into the room seconds before the
man came into view.
*******
Justin froze as he looked at Kevin realising that he had given the game
away. It was one thing for Kevin to know Nick was gay but it was another for
Kevin to know about him and their relationship.

"Oops." Justin said as he sat down next to Nick, who immediately wrapped his
arms around Justin's shaking body.

Kevin said more resigned than anything else, "It's okay, that's kind of what
I wanted to talk to you about. Have you seen the National Enquirer today?"

"We haven't had time; we didn't get up till late and spent the day hanging
out." Nick answered, not really thinking about what he was saying.

Taking the magazine out of his jacket Kevin said, "Oh. There's something you
need to see."

Nick quickly grabbed it and started reading, Justin reading it over his
shoulder. When they got to the second page the couple froze. The headline
read, Forbidden Love Revealed: Nick and Justin - the Hottest Couple in Pop!
There were several pictures taken from their performance at the GLB show the
night before.

Justin couldn't believe they had been so stupid! They should have known
better, after spending so much time under the watchful eyes of the press.

Nick on the other hand was worried about how it would affect their
relationship, would Justin want to finish it now?

"What do we do?" Justin asked desperately, tightly holding Nick's hand.

Thinking on his feet Kevin answered, "We're going to have a press conference
tomorrow at eight and deny everything. We'll just say you were helping some
friends, which is true. If anyone asks why you were together we'll just say
you were collaborating on a song for the joint tour."

"I guess I should call the rest of my group." Justin commented as he
switched on his cell.

Immediately there was a loud ringing, answering it Justin was relieved to
hear JC's voice.

Not liking the fact that Justin was spending time with someone outside the
group JC said, "Where have you been Curly? Your mom said you where at a
friend's place when I called earlier."

Taking a deep breath Justin replied, "Yeah, I was hanging out with someone.
Have you seen the National Enquirer today?"

"That's why I was calling. How come you were singing with Nick Carter?" JC
asked, hoping he wasn't losing his best friend.

Hoping JC wouldn't probe any further Justin answered, "It was at a concert
for the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Society at the U, I was helping a
friend."

"I guess that explains it, what are you doing about the paper?" JC asked,
knowing Justin was hiding something.

"Nick and I are going to hold a press conference," Justin said honestly.

JC frowned at the phone, "Okay, Jive wants us all to meet them in an hour."

"I thought this was our downtime! Okay, I'll meet you at Jive." Justin said
scowling as he finished the call.

"What's up?" Nick asked seeing the angry look on his love's face.

Justin pouted, "I've got to meet Jive in an hour. I'm going to have to get
back home, pick up my car, and drive there."

"I can take you." Nick offered, not seeing the point in taking Justin home
just to fetch a car, plus if he drove Justin they could spend more time
together.

Kevin said seriously, "No, you can't. That would be more trouble than it's
worth, it would raise too many questions."

Nick said sadly, "I guess I had better take you back then."

Hearing the sadness in Nick's voice, Justin chirped, "Yeah, I'll come back
here as soon as I've finished."

"Wait a sec I forgot something," Justin said as they reached the door.

Nick said looking at Justin in confusion, "What did you forget?"

"I forgot to give you a kiss goodbye," Justin said cheekily capturing Nick's
lips in a passionate kiss, they broke apart as Kevin coughed loudly.

"Thanks for the show guys (!) You have to get going." Kevin said grinning at
the happy pair; he didn't think he had ever seen Nick look so alive.
*******
The drive to Justin's home in LA was spent in silence, each one too consumed
by their fears and thoughts to talk. Each one was wondering just how they
were going to cope with the added pressure on them now that people suspected
their relationship. Would they be able to have a relationship with the eyes
of the world watching, not to mention their friends?

"I'll see you, as soon as the meeting's over. It shouldn't last long,"
Justin said as Nick stopped the car.

"I hope not, I'll have dinner ready for when you," Nick said grinning at the
surprised look n Justin's eyes.

"You cook, too? Oh, you're definitely a keeper," Justin said as he opened
the door.

"I'll see you later, then." Nick said seconds before Justin closed the door
behind him.

Justin watched Nick drive away before fetching his own car, taking a deep
breath when he considered just how the others were going to react.
*******
Johnny said as everyone sat down, "Now that you're all here we can discuss
the purpose of this meeting. I take it you have all seen today's National
Enquirer?"

"Yeah, just why were you hanging out with Carter anyway?" Joey asked Justin
with a grin.

Justin answered calmly, "We were talking about writing some songs together
when Nick remembered he had to perform for a friend of his at the GLB show.
I asked if I could help, seeing how it was for a good cause."

Looking Justin in the eyes Chris answered, "I guess that makes sense."

"Why were you thinking of writing together?" JC asked his voice carried a
hint of jealousy.

"Oh, for the joint tour we're doing in six weeks." Justin said, realising
that his prior knowledge of the tour could come in handy.

"What tour?" JC, Joey, and Chris asked in unison while Lance simply glared
at him.

Not wanting to reveal their relationship yet as he was sure it would jinx
them Justin said quickly, "Sorry, I forgot you didn't know about it. Nick
told me about it when we were talking the other day. I figured it would be
good if we wrote something together, kind of show that we're not at war with
Backstreet."

"Now back to the paper. I want you to hold a press conference tomorrow at
noon." Johnny said looking at Nsync.

Justin answered with an apologetic grin, "Nick and I have already agreed to
do one tomorrow at eight."

"Of course you have. Just why didn't anyone tell me this?" Johnny said half
to himself.

Justin said eager to get back to Nick, "Sorry, it just skipped my mind. Have
we finished? I've got to meet someone."

"Yeah, sure. You can leave, Justin." Johnny said, laughing when Justin
bolted out the room.
*******
Johnny said seriously, "Now that he's gone I want to talk to you four. I
need you to keep an eye on him, he's acting secretive and out of character."

"What do you thinks wrong with him?" Joey queried worried at the prospect of
his younger brother being in trouble.

JC said thoughtfully, "He was hiding something when I called him early and
avoided meeting my eyes all through the meeting."

"If I didn't know better I would think he was on drugs or something." Chris
said thinking aloud.

JC answered angrily, "Drugs? Justin wouldn't do something as stupid as
that."

"He's just in love. Justin told me the other day he's never been this happy
before." Lance said, but it was clear the others didn't believe him.

Joey answered sceptically, "Maybe but I think we should watch him just in
case."
********
Meanwhile Justin was driving towards Nick's place, hoping he would be able
to convince the other man to continue the painting. It had felt kind of
erotic to know that Nick was staring at him, watching his every move.

Quickly dialling Nick's number Justin said as he heard the phone being
picked up, "I'm on my way. You want me to bring anything?"

Stirring the pot Nick said, "Only you. Did everything go okay?"

Justin pulled into Nick's driveway, "I think Johnny's upset that we've
already organised a press conference. I had to tell them I already knew
about the joint tour so Lance is a little angry."

"Don't worry, everything will work out okay," Nick answered as he walked to
open the door.

Seeing Justin Nick said into the phone, "I'll have to go, my gorgeous date
is waiting."

"Gorgeous, am I? You're not that bad yourself," Justin hung up his phone and
pushed Nick back into the house.

"You honour me, kind sir." Nick replied bowing with a grin.

"I know." Justin said seriously, "Something smell's great, what is it?"

"Nothing much, chicken in peppercorn sauce. I tried it in Paris once and it
was great."

"Has Kevin gone home?" Justin said wanting to know if they had to share
their time together.

"Yeah, he said that if we ever need to talk, all we have to do is call him."
Nick said, not mentioning Kevin's embarrassing warning to, "Be careful, and
always use protection."

As they walked out into the kitchen Justin said, "That was nice of him. He
really looks out for you, doesn't he?"

Nick smiled as he thought of his friend, "Yeah, he kind of had to. Kevin is
the self-appointed father but sometimes I think it's too much for him. I get
the feeling that he would like to escape the responsibility every once in a
while."

"I never thought about it that way, maybe I should talk to the others and
see if we can share the responsibility instead of Lance handling it all."
Justin was starting to feel guilty as he thought about how much pressure was
on Lance as the organiser of the Nsync.

Nick said as he stirred the food, "It's a good idea maybe we can take it in
turns on the next tour. We'll have to mention it to the others and see what
they think. I don't think we should tell Kev and Lance or they'll assume we
think they can't do their job properly."

Justin said shyly, "Yeah, we don't want to upset them. I was thinking could
you finish the portrait of me. I like the idea of you painting me."

Wanting to surprise his love Nick said, "After we've eaten, why don't you go
into the living room while I organise everything?"

"I think I'll check out MTV and see what they are saying about the article.
If you need my help just give me a yell." Justin quickly walked into the
lounge.

Just as Nick was about to serve the food his phone started ringing, looking
at his caller id he found it was Howie. He didn't really want to answer the
phone but knew that if he didn't the older man would just continue to ring
until he answered.

"What do you want D?" Nick said as he walked into the lounge, putting one
arm around Justin as he sat next to the younger man on the couch.

Howie said softly already knowing Nick was in a mood, "I just wanted to make
sure you were okay. Brian said he was trying to phone you all day and got no
answer. I was worried you might have been freaking out about the stuff in
the National Enquirer."

"Why would I be freaking out about it?" Nick asked wondering how long Howie
intended to bend his ear.

Howie said calmly, "You know because they think you're a perverted fag."

"A fag? Look, I've got to go Howie; I've got a friend over." Nick said
disgusted at what he had just heard. He didn't give Howie a chance to answer
as he ended the call and took the phone off the hook.

"You okay, babe?" Justin said gently, seeing the pain in Nick's eyes.

Afraid and angry Nick said, "No, he said asked if I was worried in case
people thought I was a perverted fag. How could he say that! Does this mean
he'll hate me when I tell him the truth?"

Justin held Nick tightly, "He's your friend, when he realises how much he
hurt you, he'll say sorry and feel really guilty. I don't know why he said
that but some people aren't too accepting of people like us."

"I just didn't think Howie was like that or that I might lose him when I
come out," Nick said his tears slowly falling onto Justin's top.

Looking down Justin said, "Do you want to stop seeing me? It might make your
life easier and you might be happier." It would break his heart but would do
anything to save Nick from being hurt.

"No, you're the most important part of my life! I love you Justin. I don't
think I could survive without you!" Nick swore, hoping Justin wasn't
suggesting this just so he could end the relationship.

Justin said, "I don't either. I couldn't cope if I lost you, I love you too
much." He closed his mouth with an audible snap as he realised he said those
three little words.

Nick moved quickly and kissed Justin, overjoyed at what he had just heard.
Nick ran his tongue over Justin's teeth causing the younger man to shudder.
The pair kissed gently, reaffirming their love and doing their best to
comfort the other. Each one knowing that they had just overcome a major
obstacle in their relationship. The smell of smoke caused the pair to break
part. Nick ran into the kitchen to find his meal had burnt while he had been
distracted by Justin's considerable lures.

"I guess we'll have to settle for takeout. I'll call that Mexican place I
mentioned earlier," Nick said as he picked up the phone and pressed number
six on his speed dial.

"Hi, it's Nick Carter. Can I have two of my usual...? Thanks," Nick said
smiling over at Justin.

"You call so often you have a usual?" Justin asked in amazement, he didn't
eat that well but he didn't think he was as bad as Nick, yet.

"What can I say? I can't cook that well." Nick said, with an embarrassed
grin.

Justin grinned, "Yet you cooked for me, I feel really special. So how long
will the food be?"

"About twenty minutes, so we have plenty of time to get everything perfect."
Nick answered, motioning for Justin to follow him.

Justin was amazed as Nick grabbed candles from various places around the
house and told him to place them on the floor. There were about twenty
candles altogether, looking at them closely he could see that they were
sandalwood and jasmine.

"Now for the music!" Nick said as he walked back into the lounge carrying
three CDs.

Placing them in the CD changer he pressed start and the sounds of
Beethoven's Fur Elise filled the room. There was a knock on the door,
picking up his wallet Nick walked to the door and took the bags from the
laden delivery girl.

Silently Nick walked back to the Justin, shocked to see the room was bathed
in a dim light, which served to make the room look magical. The music only
made the room romantic. Placing the cartons on the floor he passed Justin
some chops sticks and the pair ate, feeding the other with a grin. They
laughed and joked the whole time feeling more comfortable with each other,
now that an invisible barrier had been broken.

Part 7

"You okay, Nick?" Brian asked into the phone, wondering why he hadn't seen
Nick the day before.

It was almost as if Nick was avoiding him.

"Yeah, I'm great. How's Leigh?" Nick asked as he traced patterns on Justin's
stomach.

"She's great; we're going to go shopping later. Do you want to come?" Brian
replied eager to spend time with his best friend.

"Nah, I've got other plans." Nick answered, smiling at Justin as the younger
man woke up and looked up at him adoringly.

"Oh. You ready for the press conference?" Brian said worried that he wasn't
going to be there for Nick.

Not ready to talk to Howie Nick said, "Yeah, can you do me a favour? If
Howie calls can you tell him you haven't spoken to me?" He was angry and
wasn't sure he would be able to stop from losing his temper if he spoke to
Howie.

Nick couldn't forget the hate and disgust in Howie's voice when the older
man had asked if he was worried about people thinking he was a "fag." He
hated that word; it made being gay sound sordid and dirty.

Brian was confused at Nick's behaviour, "Why don't you want to speak to
Howie?"

"He said something that upset me. What do you think about the article?" Nick
said, wanting to know how his best friend felt about the chance of him being
gay.

"It's stupid and unbelievable. As if, you could be gay! Never mind dating
Timberlake, I know you've got better taste than that." Brian laughed, he
heard Nick talking to someone and listened in his curiosity peaked.

"Stop that, love." Nick said laughing, as he covered the mouthpiece.

"I've discovered your secret now, Nicky." Justin said as he gently touched
Nick's ticklish spots.

Smiling as Justin gave him a mischievous smile Nick said, "Stop! Stop,
please love, just let me talk to Bri. Then we can play all you want."

"Nick...Nick you there?" Brian asked, wondering just who Nick's latest girl
was.

Nick said quickly, "Sorry about that Bri, I just wandered off for a minute."

"That's okay. I'll talk to you later." Brian said quickly, intending to
phone Kevin to find out if his cousin knew about Nick's latest girl.
*******
"That wasn't fair, Just." Nick said as lay down and glared at his boyfriend.

Justin said pouting, "How was I supposed to resist when I saw you lying
there?"

"Time?" Nick asked not wanting to move until they had to.

Justin looked up at the clock, "Six. Just why did Brian call so early? We
could have stayed in bed for another thirty minutes at least."

Nick said apologetically, "Probably to get me up. I'm normally late for
everything."

"Oh, you think we can share a room on the tour?" Justin asked as he got out
of bed, knowing he needed to start getting ready.

"I hope so, I'll talk to Kev and see if I can sort it out." Nick hoped that
Kevin would let them, and that it wouldn't cause to many strange looks from
their friends.
*******
"Now that we're all here we can start the press conference. Nick and Justin
are going to read a statement and then answer some questions." Kevin said as
everyone looked at him for direction.

Nick said looking straight ahead, "We would just like to say that we are
shocked by the article in the National Enquirer. We were at the show to
perform as a favour to a friend of ours."

"We are not now nor have we ever dated each other. We are just friends."
Justin finished with a grin, while his heart screamed for him to reveal the
truth, not to deny their love.

A bleach blonde man asked, "What to you have to say about the reports of you
two having an intimate meal at Lorena's the night of the concert?"

"We were just having something to eat before our performance to discuss the
song we are writing together." Justin answered calmly not showing that he
was lying through his teeth.

A woman with a strong Scottish accent asked, "Is this song going to be on a
Backstreet album or an Nsync album?"

Nick answered thinking on his toes, "That hasn't been decided yet. The song
is still in its planning stages so that isn't one of our main concerns."

"Susan Ellis from MTV, I have a couple of questions. Why are you writing a
song together? You are rivals and enemies." A gothic looking woman said,
looking at them in confusion.

Feeling Justin grin beside him Nick answered, "Despite what everyone thinks
we are not enemies. While it may be true that our groups are rivals we are
friends and felt, a joint song would be a good idea. We have similar styles
and ideas."

Justin finished with a laugh, "Our groups are going to perform a joint tour
in six weeks; the song is just a way for us to show that we are not at war
with each other. Even if this idiot keeps dissing my clothes."

"I didn't diss your clothes, I dissed both our clothes," Nick retorted with
a grin.

"Yeah right (!) You just don't want to admit I have more style than you,"
Justin said forgetting their audience.

"In your dreams, Just," Nick answered quickly, thinking that Justin looked
better than he did.

The press couldn't help but smile at the playful banter, something they had
never imagined they would see. The two groups had denied that they hated
each other but had never really been seen acting friendly together - unless
you counted Nsync's support of AJ's rehab.

"So are either of you gay?" A pushy British reporter asked, sure that the
pair were hiding something.

Nick answered for both of them, "No, we're not."

"Okay, one last question and then we've got to go." Kevin said, thinking to
himself that the questions were getting a little close to home.

"What do the rest of your groups think about the rumours?" The British
reporter asked again, ignoring the glares from the rest of the reporters.

"Lance and Chris aren't bothered by them, JC and Joey think its ridiculous,"
Justin said, thinking over his friends' reactions.

"So do Bri and Kev. I haven't talked to any of the others about it," Nick
flashed the grin that sold millions.

"Thank you all for coming," Kevin said as he led the two younger singers out
the room.
*******
With a grin Nick pleaded, "Kev, will you come back to my place? We want to
talk to you about something."

"Sure, I told you I'm here for both of you. If you need my help at any time,
just call." Kevin said, laughing at Justin's look of surprise.

Justin commented to Nick as they fastened their seatbelts, "You know we'll
have to be a little more careful in future."

"I'll definitely have to stop the looks I give you." Nick said sounding a
little disappointed.

"You can look at me all you want when we're alone." Justin said quickly, not
noticing the way Kevin's eyes widened.

Kevin asked with a grin, "So your moms set you up?"

Justin leaned over to grab Nick's hand, "Yeah, mom said she thought Nick
would be perfect for me. She was right."

"If only all parents were so easy going with their gay kids." Nick said
remembering what he had heard from some people at the GLB.

Kevin stopped the car and wondered just how the pair had gotten so lucky to
have such supportive parents. He only hoped that their groups would be as
supportive, he couldn't help but think there was going to be trouble.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Kevin asked as he sat down on
the armchair opposite the couple. He wondered what it would be like for them
when they had to stop being so affectionate; they were already sitting on
each other's laps.

"It's about the tour..." Nick began but didn't know how to continue.

Justin finished, "We were wondering if you could fix it so we can share a
room."

"You already are, Jive figured if you two were in the same room together you
could bond." Kevin laughed at the look of shock on their faces.

Nick asked nervously, "They won't change their mind because of the article,
will they?"

"I don't think so. You know Brian called me and asked what girl you're
seeing." Kevin said conversationally.

Nick said anxiously, "He must have heard us this morning."

Justin said with a triumphant grin, "This might be a good thing. Why don't
you say that you're seeing someone called Justine Thompson? That way you can
still phone me and he won't bat an eyelid at you calling someone Just."

"And we need a girlfriend for you after the flowers. You can say you're
dating someone called Nicola Harris and her nickname is Nikki." Nick grinned
it was close enough to the truth to work.

Justin finished, "Yeah, and they are best friends, that'll work if anyone
sees us together."

"That could work and it's not too complicated." Kevin commented amazed at
how fast the pair worked out a cover.

Nick said with an impish grin, "Don't say anything Kev, we'll answer any
questions."

"That way you aren't too involved and you can deny knowing anything about
our girlfriends," Justin said with a snicker.

Kevin said, "Thanks. You do realise that you'll have to write a song now,
right? I'll have to go I'm supposed to meet my darling wife for shopping."

"Bye, Kev." The pair said in unison.

Kevin hugged each one before leaving, giving Justin a card with both his
numbers on it. He had meant it when he had told the pair he would be there.
He laughed at the thought that he had just got his first son in law.
*******
"Any idea what we're supposed to do for a song?" Justin asked grinning at
the look of confusion on Nick's face.

Nick complained, "No, I could kill Kev for putting all this pressure on us."

"It's alright, love. How hard can it be?" Justin said ignoring the glare
Nick sent him.

Nick said with a laugh, "You do know you just jinxed us, right?"

Justin said kissing Nick's cheek before looking around for a pen and paper,
"Think of it this way, this song gives us the perfect excuse to spend time
together. Besides, if it's good the others will leave us alone to write."

"Here you go." Nick said as he reached over to his backpack and took out a
pad of paper and a pen.

Five hours later they had a rough idea for two songs and even some words.
They read over the songs and grinned at each other.

Embrace The Night © Stephanie Macura 2001

To the world we're only friends,
No one looks behind the masks,
No one sees the love we share,
But they wouldn't understand us.

Away from the harsh spotlights,
Away from the world of pain,
We are free to be ourselves,
To kiss and caress free from fear.

(chorus)
So come to me in the night,
Just wait until the sun's gone from the sky,
In the night we can love each other,
Let's embrace the night.
(end chorus)

I know it hurts to hide our feelings,
But I'll do anything to be with you,
I'm willing to be your secret lover,
Until the day we can be free.

Lets spend just one night together,
Just the night...please don't turn away,
Can't you see my love burning bright?
Spend this time with me until the morning light

(repeat chorus x2)

It's Over © Stephanie Macura 2001

We once spent hours just talking about nothing,
Now you won't even say two words to me,
But I can see the truth in your eyes,
We're just not meant to be.

I'll always care for you but I don't love you,
I can't handle all the arguments,
I'm tired of all the pain.
We just hurt each other.

(Chorus)
Can you see that we've reached the end?
We don't love each other,
It'd be wrong to stay together.
We both know it's over.
(end chorus)

Can you see the only answer is to break up?
I can tell you feel the same by the look in your eyes,
It needs to be done now before we hate each other.

Can you see what this is doing to me?
So I'm saying those two little words,
Words we both know are true,
So I'm telling you it's over.

(repeat chorus)
END SONG

"You know the second one is kind of depressing." Justin commented looking at
Nick in askance.

Nick grinned, "Yeah, but we needed something depressing to go with the other
happy one."

"Think the others will believe us if we tell them that we working on them
for weeks?" Justin said with a grin.

"I hope so, I can't write anymore." Nick said with a sigh.

The doorbell rang, causing the pair to look up. Neither could be bothered
moving, they were too comfortable. Justin was idly playing with Nick's hair
as Nick's head lay on his chest.

A man shouted in shock as he walked in and saw the pair, "What the fuck?!?"

Part 8

Justin quickly moved to catch Nick, as the blonde almost fell to the floor
in shock. What where they going to do now? It was a disaster!

"Er...Hi?" Nick said with a grin, hoping to defuse the tension.

It didn't work.

AJ hissed, "Don't hi me. What are you doing with him?" Didn't they realise
what this was going to do to their groups?

Nick stuck out his chin defiantly, "We're dating. I love him and he loves
me." No one was going to take Justin from him. Not when he'd just found the
other part of his soul.

"You do realise what this is going to do to our careers if this gets out?"
AJ said, running out of steam when he saw the way Justin was looking at
Nick.

Justin said quickly, "We're not going to let it get out." He was surprised
at how calm AJ was,
he didn't seem bothered by the fact that they were gay.

"You can't even manage to keep it a secret from your own friends. Anyone
else know?" AJ said as he sat down, smirking when Justin sat down with his
head on Nick's shoulder.

Justin said fiercely, "We didn't think you were just going to walk in!"
There was no way he was going to sit there while AJ took Nick from him.

"Our moms and Kev." Nick answered his question, grinning at the way Justin
was defending them.

"Your moms? How did they find out?" AJ just hoped they hadn't walked in on
them like he had. Even for the most understanding mom that would probably be
too much.

Nick laughed at AJ's shocked look, "They set us up on a blind date."

"So, I guess they're okay with it," AJ said half to himself.

Justin smiled at the memory, "Mom was practically jumping for joy when I
told her that their plan worked."

"What are these?" AJ picked up the notepad and quickly read the songs
looking at them in worry, "You're breaking up?"

"No!" Nick and Justin shouted in anger.

AJ gestured to the song, "But this song is all about breaking up with
someone."

Nick said quickly, "It was about a guy I went out with years ago."

"You still have feelings for this guy?" Justin's eyes pinned Nick to the
spot.

"I'm going to get a drink." AJ said, feeling a little uncomfortable.

Nick pleaded, "Of course not! I love you, Justin."

"Sorry for getting so jealous. I just don't want to lose you." Justin gently
kissed his Nick.

Nick said sincerely, "You won't lose me. You're not going to get rid of me
that easy, Justin Randal Timberlake."

"You promise?" Justin said, his eyes shining with hope.

Nick said seriously, "You and I forever, Justin."

"You and I forever, Nick." Justin repeated his eyes sparkling with unspent
tears.

AJ said with a smile, "God, you two are so sickly sweet, it's disgusting."

"You're just jealous that you can't find someone as wonderful as Justin."
Nick said with a laugh.

Laughing out loud AJ thought, `Maybe you're right.'

"You going to tell the others?" AJ asked wanting to know if had to keep it a
secret.

"No, we want it to be us for a while." Justin answered looking at Nick and
remembering Nick's fear that Howie would desert him.

"I guess I could help you keep it quiet. What did Kev say?" AJ knew that
Kevin's opinion was important to Nick.

He couldn't believe how cool Kevin had been about them Nick answered, "He
told us that if we ever need someone to talk to he's there and warned us to
be careful."

"I'm here if you need to talk as well. Have you talked to D, yet?" AJ asked,
the other man had asked him to make sure Nick wasn't in a mood with him.

Nick said stubbornly, "No, and I don't want to."

"You're going to have to talk to him sometime." Justin reasoned, not liking
the thought that he was coming between Nick and his friends.

"I know but not yet." Nick said making it clear that the subject was
finished.

"I guess I'll get going and give you some alone time together," AJ said
standing and giving them a fake smile.

Justin exchanged a quick look with Nick, it just didn't feel right to leave
AJ alone when the other man was obviously unhappy.

Justin offered, "Why don't you hang out with us?"

"Yeah, I want to see if you can beat Justin at the Nintendo." Nick said
eagerly.

"I guess I could stay a while. You don't mind do you?" AJ asked pleased that
he wouldn't have to spend another day alone.

Justin said with a friendly grin, "Of course not."
******
"I won again! I'm *so* the best!" AJ yelled in triumph, as Justin just
rolled his eyes.

Justin said with a smirk, "Yeah, and you're *so* modest."

"You're just a bad loser," AJ said smirking at the younger singer.

Looking up from his drawing pad Nick said, "God, you sound like five year
olds."

"What you drawing?" AJ asked, pulling the pad out of Nick's hands.

Looking at Justin who just smiled at him knowingly Nick said quickly, "Just
a portrait."

"Can't you think of anything but Justin?" AJ said as he threw the pad at
Justin in disgust.

"This is great, Nicky," Justin said as he looked at the picture. It was so
lifelike and sensual.

Nick met Justin's eyes shyly, "You think so?"

"Yeah, although I don't look anywhere near as sexy as that," Justin said
with a laugh.

"You're the most attractive and sexy person in the world!" Nick said, losing
himself in Justin's eyes.

"Anyone want something to eat?" Justin asked as he pulled away from Nick's
bewitching eyes not wanting to make AJ feel like a third wheel.

AJ said looking at Nick, "Yeah, have you actually got anything edible in?"

After thinking a few minutes Nick said, "I've got cereal."

"I guess we're going shopping then," Justin said with a grin.

"Who's car do you want to take?" AJ asked, it didn't really make much sense
for all of them to drive.

"We can take mine," Justin offered as he grabbed his leather jacket.

"Don't forget these!" AJ said as he threw the others a baseball cap.

Nick grumbled as he put his on, "God I hate wearing these!"
********
Lance was talking to one of his closest friends; and they'd never even met
in person, although they spent hour talking on the phone. All he knew about
Ben was that he was 24, lived in Boston and had just come out.

Ben had become his closest friend, the one person to whom he confessed
everything, apart from his identity. As far as Ben knew his name was James
and he worked for a record company; all of which was true even if he did
miss out a few details.

Ben said worried, "Jamie, what's wrong? You're quiet, even for you."

"Nothing and everything," Lance said with a sigh.

"That tells me a lot (!)" Ben replied quickly making Lance grin.

Lance said thoughtfully, "Someone said that J was gay, the others didn't
take it too well."

"What do you mean didn't take it too well?" Ben asked a sick feeling in his
stomach.

Lance replied pacing, "They acted fine when he was with us but as soon as he
left Joe and Josh started making jokes and saying that they didn't want
someone who was gay on the road with us."

"Oh, and you're afraid they'll do that to you if you come out to them?" Ben
knew it was always a possibility.

Lance sighed, "Yeah, I mean what if they hate me? I almost told Josh I was
gay a couple of days ago but I chickened out at the last minute."

Thinking back on his own experiences Ben said, "I'm probably the worst
person to be asking for advice since my coming out was a disaster. But if
you're living a lie then you're not really living."

"So I should tell them?" Lance asked, he wanted to tell his friends but he
was just afraid that he would loose them.

As he sat down in the chair Ben said, "That's really your choice. I'm here
if you need someone to talk to, I know how hard it is to come out to your
family. You want me to fly out and give you some moral support?"

"You wouldn't mind?" Lance asked hopefully, he didn't think he could cope
alone.

"Of course not. Wait a sec, Jamie." Ben replied typing on his computer,
within minutes he had booked a flight.

"You don't know how much this means to me, Ben. Don't worry about somewhere
to stay-you can stay at my place. I'll meet you at the airport, okay?" Lance
said feeling a little happier.

"My flight will arrive in LA at 11.15 tomorrow night. You sure it's no
trouble, me staying with you?" Ben said not wanting to make his friend feel
uncomfortable.

"Positive. Now I'll finally get to see if you're as grumpy in the mornings
as you always say." Lance laughed, feeling more at ease than he had been for
days.

Ben said happily, "I'll wear a Robbie Williams T-Shirt so you recognise me.
I'll have go, got to tell my boss I'm taking a little vacation. I'll see you
tomorrow!"

"Okay, see you tomorrow. Hope everything goes okay!" Lance said putting the
phone down with a grin.
*******
"I'll have to go. I'm supposed to meet Sarah." AJ said with a grin as he
looked at the clock.

Justin said with a maniacal gleam in his eye, "You wanna hang tomorrow? I
feel like going shopping."

"You always want to go shopping," Nick gave Justin an indulgent smile.

"Your point being?" Justin asked confused.

"Nothing, just stating a fact." Nick answered rolling his eyes.

Pleased that Justin was being so friendly AJ said, "That'd be good, I need
to get some clothes for touring anyway."

As he let AJ out Nick said, "We'll call you tomorrow, then."

"Okay. I'm sorry for being such an ass earlier," AJ said as he left the
house.

"That's okay. I understand that it's a shock," Nick said as he hugged AJ.

Part 9

Nick looked over at Justin and wondered just how they were going to keep
their relationship a secret from their friends. It was hard enough to stop
himself from touching Justin when they were in public, he didn't like the
thought of having to pretend with their friends as well.

"Quit brooding," Justin said as he read his book.

Nick retorted quickly, "I'm not brooding, I'm just thinking about stuff."

"Yeah, right (!) If it bothers you so much we can tell them." Justin said
not wanting Nick feel uncomfortable with their friends.

"I think we have to while we're on tour. Can we just keep it a secret until
then?" Nick said as he wrapped his arms around his lover's waist.

Justin replied leaning against Nick, "If that's what you want, babe. We
should tell our groups together, I don't think I can do it without you."

"We'll tell them together," Nick said with a smile.

"No more talking about coming out," Justin said as he closed his book.

Already knowing where they were heading Nick teased, "What do you want to
talk about then?"

"No more talking period." Justin answered as he pushed Nick down on the sofa
and started kissing his way down Nick's neck.

Nick shivered as Justin slowly unfastened the buttons of his shirt gently
tweaking a nipple while sucking and just nipping the other one. Justin
simply looked up at him and smirked.

"I thought we were going to take this slow." Nick commented not sure whether
he wanted to kiss or kill Justin for putting him in this position.

Justin grinned, "We are, I won't even touch below your waist."

Nick sighed, "Why doesn't that make me feel better?"

"Maybe you read my mind?" Justin said with a laugh.

"Okay, you're in charge, baby." Nick said with an exaggerated sigh.

"Of course I am, love. Now close your eyes." Justin instructed grinning when
Nick did so with little more than a mischievous grin.

Justin quickly moved the rest of Nick's shirt out the way and looked at the
man in front of him, completely at his mercy. He felt humbled by the
complete trust and faith Nick had in him, he only hoped he could live up to
Nick's expectations.

<Beep, beep, beep>

Justin snarled as he picked up the phone, "What do you want!"

"You okay, Curly?" Lance asked wondering why the young singer sounded so
mad.

"I was doing something important. What's up?" Justin replied as he sat back
watching Nick put his shirt on.

Lance said quickly, "I just wanted to tell you that a friend of mine is
flying in tomorrow night and ask if we can meet up on Sunday?"

"Sure, what time?" Justin said wondering why Lance sounded so strange.

Looking through his organiser Lance replied, "Around 13:00 at Paris Cafe?"

"Fine with me, everything okay?" Justin said concerned.

"Everything's fine. I want Backstreet to meet us as well. I've already
phoned Kevin and told him about the meeting but figured I should call
everyone separately so that no one forgets. Do you have Nick Carter's phone
number?"

"I'm at Nick's. We're working on a couple of songs so I can tell him."
Justin said, not wanting to get interrupted again.

Lance said apologetically, "Oh God, I'm sorry for interrupting you! I know
how much Josh hates it when he's trying to write."

"That's okay, it's hard but we're getting there." Justin replied mentally
groaning at his words.

"I'll see you later. Don't forget Paris Cafe at 13:00 on Sunday." Lance said
ending the call feeling a little calmer now that he had spoken to his
friend.
*******
"Everything okay?" Nick asked seeing the worry in Justin's eyes.

Justin said as he moved onto Nick's lap, "I'm not sure. Lance sounds like
he's been crying."

"I'm sure he'll come to you if he needs any help." Nick said trying to cheer
his boyfriend up.

Justin said absently, "Yeah. We have to meet him at the Paris Cafe at 13:00
on Sunday. He wants Backstreet and Nsync to meet up for some reason."

"Any idea why?" Nick asked wanting to know if it was possible Lance knew
about them.

Justin said with a grin, "He probably just wants us to get together so we
can become friends, our groups don't really spend much time together. I'm
still mad that he interrupted us."

"I'm kind of happy that he interrupted us. I want to take things slow, I
don't want to spoil our relationship cause we rushed." Nick said looking
into Justin's eyes.

Justin pouted, "I guess you're right, but I can't help it if you're so
irresistible."

"Think of it this way, it will make our first time so much better if we
wait." Nick said knowing it would be difficult to keep his hands to himself.

Justin pleaded, "But we can still make out and stuff, right?"

"Yeah. I just don't want us to make love until we are both ready." Nick said
gently cupping Justin's face.

"You're right, and we've got forever." Justin said with a wide grin.

Nick said as placed his head on Justin's chest, "God, AJ was right, we are
sappy!"

"We're in love so we're allowed to be sappy!" Justin declared as he picked
up his book.

Nick asked looking up at Justin adoringly, "Read to me?"

"Whatever you want, love." Justin said as he turned to the start of the
Harry Potter book and started reading aloud.

Halfway through Justin's voice started to go so Nick took over. Justin was
amazed at the way Nick was reading to him, giving each of the characters a
different voice. Nick's captivating voice made the story come alive.
*******
"Kev, are you okay?" AJ asked as he opened the door of his hotel room to
find the older man swaying slightly with tears streaming down his face.

Kevin asked ignoring AJ's question, "Can I come in?"

"Sure, Train." AJ helped Kevin to one of the chairs, kicking the door behind
him.

Kevin said staring down at the floor, "I'm sorry for coming here but I
needed someone to talk to."

"It's okay, you know I'm always here for you." AJ vowed as he just held his
friend.

Kevin said before breaking into tears, "I was supposed to be in a meeting
for a couple of hours but the guy's wife went into labour so it was
cancelled. I went home and I found Kristen fucking some guy, she said she
loved him."

`That slut, how could she do this to him?' AJ thought as he held his friend,
rubbing soothing circles on his back, something his mom had done with him
whenever he was upset.

"Did she see you?" AJ asked wanting to know if she was going to be hassling
everyone.

Kevin replied looking up at his friend, "No, she was looking at him the
whole time. I just ran out the house and drove here."

Thinking carefully AJ said, "You're staying here until we figure out what to
do about her. I'm staying here for a couple of days before going back to
Orlando, you can come back with me."

"Thanks Alex." Kevin said softly losing all strength as the full impact of
what had happened hit him.

AJ swallowed, "Let's get you to bed, Boo."

AJ carried Kevin to the bed and gently undressed him, placing him inside the
covers. He looked down at his friend shocked at how vulnerable and lost
Kevin looked. He quickly found his and Kevin's cell phones and switched them
off; the last thing he wanted was for Kristen to call. Placing a Do Not
Disturb sign on the door, AJ quickly got into the bed tightly holding onto
his suffering friend.

"Thanks for being here, Alex." Kevin whispered as he cried feeling safe as
AJ held him.
*******
Hours later, AJ gently sneaked his way out of the bed. He looked down at
Kevin and sighed, he had never seen his friend look so weary. At least he
could make sure Kevin was looked after while he was healing from Kristen's
betrayal. Picking up his phone he moved over to the other side of the room,
so he could talk without waking up the sleeping man.

"I can't meet you tonight, I've got to look after a friend," AJ said lowly
into the phone.

Sarah said whined, "But I haven't seen you in months and you promised."

"I'm sorry but I'm can't let him down." AJ said knowing he could never leave
Kevin when he was in so much pain.

Sarah replied, "I've had enough of this. If your friend means so much to you
then why don't you marry him? We're over."

Before AJ could reply all he could hear was the dial tone, Sarah had hung
up. He could understand where she was coming from but felt angry that she
didn't understand that his friends were important to him. He couldn't let
one of his friends suffer alone, that would be against his very nature.
*******
JC was looking at the phone in a mix of confusion and worry, Lance had just
informed him that Backstreet and Nsync had to meet at the Paris Cafe on
Sunday. That wasn't what worried him; it was how Lance had sounded. It
seemed almost as if Lance was hiding something from him? Which was stupid,
right? Lance would never hide anything from him; he was one of Lance's best
friends.

JC couldn't help but feel thankful that the whole mess about Justin and Nick
dating was finished with. As if Curly could be gay! No friend of his would
ever be gay!

`I know how to spot a fag a mile away anyway,' JC thought to himself with a
grin.

Tomorrow he would call Nick and warn the younger singer to keep anyway from
Justin. That way they could make sure that there were no more rumours and he
would have his best friend all to himself.
*******
"I like this. Us being together without having to worry about someone
spotting us." Justin commented as Nick started the soft music.

"Yeah, if only we could always be like this." Nick sighed as he tightened
his hold on Justin. There was no way he was going to let anyone take Justin
away, not even his friends.

Justin looked at Nick anxiously and said, "Would you come back to Orlando
with me? I want to introduce you to my brother. Hopefully it'll go okay, I
still haven't told him I'm gay yet."

"I'd like to meet him. He'll be okay with it, don't worry." Nick gave a
quick grin.

Justin laughed, "Not to totally spoil the moment but can we get something to
eat?"

"I can cook unless you want to order in. It'll take about an hour but it'll
taste great." Nick gave a cocky grin.

"Sounds great, I'm sure anything you make will be wonderful." Justin said
sincerely, besides how bad a cook could Nick be?

"You're going to give me a really big ego with all these compliments." Nick
said as he stood, gently kissing Justin's lips.

"Get into that kitchen and make me something to eat!" Justin said trying to
be serious but ruined it by grinning.

"Sir, yes, Sir!" Nick said with a quick salute as he walked out to the
kitchen.

`You're really trying to make this hard on me, aren't you?' Justin thought
as he willed his erection to disappear.

Part 10

It turned out that Nick had been telling the truth he was an awful cook but
the meal was edible even if it was a little crispy.

`Lasagne is supposed to be a little crunchy, right?' Justin thought to
himself as he swallowed the last mouthful of food.

"That was great," Justin said hoping he sounded sincere.

"Nice try, it was terrible. Looks like we'll be ordering all our meals in
future." Nick grinned appreciating Justin's attempt to make him feel better,
even if it didn't work.

Remembering Justin's earlier request Nick said, "Want to finish the painting
now? It shouldn't take too long."

Justin said smirking, "That would be great."

"I'll just get some candles to make sure we have the right lighting, " Nick
said as he made a detour to the kitchen.

Justin smirked; he was going to make things a little more exciting. He
quickly removed his clothes and sat on the chair wondering how Nick would
react.

"You're naked!" Nick exclaimed as he walked into the bedroom to find Justin
sitting on the chair with only a piece of blue fabric covering his groin.

Justin smiled at the shock in Nick's eyes saying, "Yeah! I thought it would
be a nice change, and I like the idea of you doing a nude painting of me."

Wondering if this was revenge for the sir comment earlier, Nick smiled. He
worked quickly, placing a blank canvas on the easel before closing the blind
and lighting the candles. By the time he was finished the dim light only
emphasised the beauty of the young man in front of him. Nick picked up the
charcoal and started to draw Justin's form. He knew it would take a few
sittings before he would complete the painting.

Justin smirked as he felt Nick's eyes on him, he briefly wondered if Nick
had always paid so much attention to him? He was sitting as still as
possible while Nick finished the portrait he had started the previous day,
before Kevin had come round and destroyed their private moment.

Nick knew he was supposed to be painting the breathtaking man in front of
him but he felt there was no way he could do Justin justice. Not to mention
he was enjoying examining every inch of Justin from his blue eyes to the
beautiful feet. Nick couldn't help but grin, at the thought that he even
found Justin's feet beautiful.

"You okay, love?" Justin asked seeing Nick's eyes glaze over.

"Wha?.........Oh yeah. I was just thinking that there is no way I can ever make
you look as beautiful as really you are," Nick said as he looked over at
Justin.

Justin loved Nick's romantic side he felt himself blush as he said, "You're
so sweet, Nicky."
*******
Lance couldn't believe the way Ben had dropped everything to help him, even
flying to LA! He was constantly amazed at how generous and loving his friend
was - he only hoped that Ben would let him help whenever Ben was in pain or
trouble. He quickly accessed an email marked - I'm here, Jamie.

Jamie,

I'm just going into work for my last shift before I come to see you in LA.
If you need me call anytime, until six am anyway! I thought I'd take this
little opportunity to tell you to stop worrying. Everything will be okay!
I'll make sure that no one hurts you, without paying for it.

Love,
Ben.

Lance quickly closed the email and started planning just what they would do
when Ben got here. He would make sure that they had a good time, in between
the various photo-shoots and interviews Nsync had over the weekend.

The tour was to start in five weeks and three days, so they would have no
free time for the next month or so. He just knew Wade and Fatima would give
them a gruelling schedule, they always did. Backstreet and Nsync had TRL on
Tuesday followed by various magazines and television shows for three weeks
followed by two weeks of rehearsal - otherwise known as torture - for him
anyway.
*******
Kevin spent the night reliving his wife's betrayal in his dreams, each time
hearing her say she had never loved him. He couldn't believe how much she
had changed, or how foolish he had been - why didn't he see what was
happening?

AJ looked down at his sleeping friend and sighed, "It's okay, Boo. I'll make
sure she doesn't hurt you ever again."

AJ had never imagined Kristen would cheat on Kevin. He knew that Kevin was
still deeply in love with his wife and that he must be reliving the whole
experience but hopefully Kevin could get through it as long as he had help.
AJ just hoped Kevin would accept help, he knew how stubborn Kevin could be;
it was one of his most annoying qualities.
*******
Howie was worried. He had tried dialling Nick's home number as well as his
friend's cell to no avail. He just wanted to find out why Nick wouldn't talk
to him. It wasn't like he had said anything wrong!

Picking up the phone he dialled AJ's cell, he had made AJ promise to find
out why Nick was so upset. AJ was supposed to call him at 8 pm and it was
now eleven what had happened to make all his friends avoid him.

Another thing that had annoyed him was that Lance Bass had called him to
make sure he would attend some meeting on Sunday. Apparently both Backstreet
and Nsync had to go which meant it had to be about the tour but why couldn't
it wait? He was busy enjoying the only down time they would get for a while.
********
Saturday
********
Kristen was frantically dialling every number she could think of, Kevin
hadn't come home the night before and she was worried. Okay, she didn't love
him anymore but that didn't mean she didn't care about him.

Kristen asked tapping her nails on the table, "Have you heard from Kev?"

"No, isn't he with you?" Brian couldn't understand why Kevin hadn't gone
home after the meeting.

Kristen sighed saying, "He didn't come home after the meeting. I've already
checked all the hospitals."

"I'll call the others and tell them to look for him." Brian said quickly
hanging up the phone.

Brian quickly dialled Nick's house only to get a busy tone. He looked at the
phone in shock wondering who could Nick be on the phone to this early in the
morning? Brian knew that his best friend hated waking up early, especially
on a Saturday.
*******
Justin blinked and registering the noise said, "Babe, answer the phone."

Nick groaned at the ringing in his head spoiling one his favourite dreams
about Justin. Realising that the ringing was real he picked up the phone,
looking over at Justin with a grin.

Nick covered a yawn as he said; "Nick Carter, here. What's up?"

JC said calmly, "This is JC from Nsync, I wanted to talk to you about
Justin."

"Oh hi, JC. What about Justin?" Nick asked hoping and praying that Justin's
best friend hadn't figured out their relationship, not yet.

Justin looked up at Nick, feeling the older man's body tense and gently
caressed Nick's shoulders letting his boyfriend know that he was there. He
only hoped JC wouldn't do something stupid he had a feeling Nick had a bad
temper when he was protecting someone.

JC said positive that Nick would agree, "I just wanted to tell you that
because of all the rumours, I don't want you to have any contact with
Justin."

Nick unable to believe what he was hearing shouted, "What! You don't even
want me to talk to Justin?"

Nick couldn't believe that JC was calmly telling him to stay away from
Justin, even before he knew the truth. If this was how JC was acting when he
thought they were only friends what would he say when he discovered they
were dating?

"You're not to talk to him unless we're at an interview or on stage." JC
said wondering why Nick was questioning him on this.

"It's none of your business who I talk to. If I want to spend time with
Justin, I will." Nick said slamming the phone down and taking it off the
hook.

Justin looked up at Nick, having figured out what was happening from what
his boyfriend had said. He couldn't stand the thought of losing one of his
best friends. Justin loved his best friend and prayed Josh wouldn't force
him to choose. He felt sure that he would choose Nick; Nick was the missing
part of him, what he needed to make him complete.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Justin asked Nick, afraid that he was going
to lose his friends. Justin had thought JC didn't care about the rumours but
obviously he did if his order to Nick was anything to go by.

Nick answered quickly, "I don't know but I'm here for you. I'm not going to
let anyone keep us apart, love."

"I love you, babe." Justin said softly as he kissed Nick, wanting to forget
about everyone and everything else for the moment.

Part 11

*Meanwhile in a hotel across town*

Kevin looked around the room in shock, why was he in a hotel room? He froze
as images of the previous day flooded his mind, how could he have been so
blind? Why didn't he see Kristen wasn't in love with him or that she was
cheating on him?

"Kev, I've called for some food. I figured you could do with something to
eat," AJ said as he walked into the room fresh out of the shower.

"I'm sorry for using you as a pillow last night. Thank you for everything,"
Kevin said, he honestly didn't think he would have coped if AJ hadn't been
there for him.

"I'm always here for you, bro." AJ said with a grin as the older man walked
into the bathroom.

Kevin simply smiled his first sincere smile since discovering his wife's
betrayal. That was one thing he loved about his fellow Backstreet Boys, they
had a bond that went beyond friendship and even family.

<Ring, Ring, Ring>

"Yeah?" AJ picked up the phone as he opened the door and his bodyguard
wheeled in the food cart.

"It's me, why didn't you call me yesterday?"  Howie said determined to find
out why his friends were ignoring him.

AJ answered with a sigh, "I was going to but something came up. Nick's okay,
he'll talk to you soon."

Remembering the worried call from Brian Howie asked, "Did Brian call you,
yet?"

"Nah, what's wrong?" AJ wondered if Brian had found out about Nick and
Justin.

Howie sighed knowing AJ wouldn't take his news well, "Kev's missing. He
didn't get home after a meeting yesterday and Kristen's worried. She's
already checked all the hospitals. We're all going to search for Kev, call
as soon as you have any news."

"I'll call you as soon as I have anything," AJ said quickly before ending
the call.

Kevin walked in the room, wearing a robe; he didn't have any clean clothes
to wear. Not that he felt like getting dressed; all he wanted was to wallow
in bed for the rest of the day. He started placing food on a plate, not
wanting to discuss what had happened until he had too, the pain was too
fresh.

AJ sighed as he sat down knowing Kevin wouldn't like what he had to say, "We
may have a problem. Kristen phoned Bri and said that you're missing. He and
the others are out looking for you. We have to phone them and let them know
that you're alive and safe at least. Ya know what Rok's like, he's probably
thinking the worst."

"I'll phone him later but what if he asks about Kristen?" Kevin said feeling
lost, for the worst time in his life he didn't have control, didn't know
what to do.

AJ said thoughtfully, "You may have to tell him, but we'll all help you. Ya
know that."

"I guess." Kevin answered as he picked up the phone and dialled his cousin's
number.

"Yeah?" Brian said distractedly busy trying to think of places Kevin could
be.

Kevin said apologetically, "Bri? It's me, I'm sorry for worrying you."

Brian said angrily, "Sorry? I've been worried sick, and as for Kristen..."

Kevin snarled, "Don't ever mention her again! I got home early from my
meeting yesterday and found her having sex with some guy in our bedroom! She
said that she loved him!"

Brian offered in shock, "I'm so sorry Kev. You want me to come and stay with
you a while?"

"I'm staying with AJ then we're going to Orlando after the interview. You
know about the meeting at the Paris Cafe tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll be there. I'll call the others and let them know you're okay. If
you need me just call." Brian said getting the idea that his cousin wasn't
going to discuss what had happened with him, anyway.
********
When they finally surfaced for air Justin asked, "If JC's like this when he
just thinks we're friends, what'll happen when we tell him we're in love
with each other?"

"Honestly? I don't know, maybe he'll come round. He loves you so he won't do
anything to hurt you," Nick said hoping he sounded more confident than he
felt.

Justin commented, "Ya really think so? It looks like our relationship is
going to cause us some problems with our friends."

Nick grinned, "Maybe at first but they'll come round, they're more than
friends, they're part of our family. They'll see that love is love, and
should be cherished no matter what form it takes."

"That's beautiful, Nicky." Justin said wrapping his arms around Nick's form.

"Thanks, babe. Look, we shouldn't just wallow here, feel like going out?"
Nick said trying to shake of the depressing mood.

Sighing Justin said, "Yeah I guess, we won't get much downtime once we start
the promotional stuff. Feel like coming back to my place? We hang out there
for a change, you never did get to look around properly."

"Sure, your mom gonna to be there?" Nick asked with a mischievous grin, he
knew his own mom was probably busy gloating over bringing the two of them
together.

Justin smirked, "Yeah, but she'll leave us alone. She understands that we
won't be able to spend a lot of time alone once we start the tour."

Nick looked at Justin in alarm; he hadn't considered that. Nick said sadly,
"You think so? At least we're sharing a room, so we can sleep together. I'm
sure Kev and AJ won't mind covering for us at first."

Trying to cheer his boyfriend up Justin said quickly, "And it won't be
forever. I mean we're going to tell the guys soon after we start the tour,
right?"

Nick swallowed and hoped Justin would agree with him, "We've got just over
five weeks before we start the tour, so we should tell them before we go.
That way we can work though any problems before we go on the road, and it
won't spoil the show for the fans."

"Good idea. What if we tell them in a couple of weeks? After we've started
rehearsal?" Justin said with a grin.

"Yeah, that'll be okay." Nick said as he tapped Justin's arms lightly, to
signal the other man to move.

"I'll go shower and you can make breakfast!" Justin said with a laugh, as he
stood pulling Nick up after him.

Nick said arching an eyebrow, "You do remember my attempt at cooking last
night?"

"Yeah, stick to something simple!" Justin answered kissing Nick lightly
before running into the bathroom.

"Something simple, he says! You can't get any simpler than lasagne and I
messed that up!" Nick said with a groan as he walked to the kitchen.

Justin just grinned hearing Nick's loud complaints, he jumped into the
shower and waked quickly, ignoring the erection that was making itself
known. For some reason, it didn't feel right with Nick just downstairs,
unbidden the thought came to his mind, that maybe he should ask Nick to come
up and they could jerk off together.

"You okay in there, babe?" Nick shouted from outside the bathroom.

Justin replied quickly, "Yeah, I'll be out soon."
******
"You look great, honey!" Nick said as his boyfriend walked in the room
wearing jeans and a red shirt.

Justin said with a grin as he sat down, "Thanks, I hope you don't mind me
borrowing some of your clothes. Want to pack a bag? That way we can stay at
my place for a couple of days."

"That'd be great. We still going back to Orlando after the interview on
Tuesday?" Nick asked as he served Justin breakfast, grinning as he fed
Justin each spoonful.

Swallowing his mouthful of food Justin answered, "Yeah, as long as nothing
comes up."

Justin decided to follow Nick's lead and slowly fed Nick the pancakes,
stopping to give Nick a kiss after the older man finished each mouthful.

Justin laughed as he pushed the plate away, "The others are never going to
believe I actually talk before breakfast."

Nick stopped to think for a second, "Oh yeah, I heard about that. What can I
say? It must be my wonderful personality."

"It's not your personality I'm interested in," Justin leered, pulling Nick
onto his lap when the other man stood to collect the dishes.

Nick flashed a teasing grin, "What is it? My car? Or maybe my taste in
clothes?"

"It's your wonderful eyes. Your devastatingly addictive mouth," Justin said
kissing the other man's eyelids and lips softly. Grinning he continued, "I
love the way you seem to glow when you look at me, the way you think of me
before you, the way you are constantly aware of me, my thoughts and
feelings."

"You're everything to me, honey. Don't forget that J-love, okay?" Nick
gently kissed Justin, groaning when he felt Justin's erection jut against
his crack.

Justin said with a groan, "I think you should get off my lap now, babe.
Otherwise nothing is going to stop me from taking you here on the table."

Nick just smiled in understanding and started to collect the dishes. He
loaded them into the dishwasher and turned around.

Nick said quickly, "I'll go and get ready while you phone your mom. It's not
polite to walk in without warning her, even if it is your place."

"Sure babe." Justin said with a fond smile as Nick left the room.
*******
Picking up his cell phone, Justin quickly dialled his home number wondering
if his mom would be offended if he asked her to go back to Orlando. He loved
his mom but he wanted to make the most of his downtime left with Nick.

"Mom? It's me. I just wanted to tell you that Nick and I are coming back to
my place for a couple of days." Justin said as he heard his mom's distinct
voice.

"Thanks for telling me. Have you eaten? I can leave some breakfast for you,"
Lynn said with a grin.

"That's alright, Nicky made breakfast." Justin said wondering how to voice
his thoughts.

Lynn said looking at her organiser, "I'm afraid I won't be able to spend any
time with you. I've got a meeting with Tranquil in half an hour and my plane
back to Orlando leaves at 12:00."

Justin said with a grin, "That's okay, we can talk another time. Can Nick
come back to Orlando with me?"

Lynn said quickly, "Of course, I take it he's staying with us?"

"Yeah, I'm going to tell Jon about us." Justin said nervously.

Lynn said confidently, "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be okay with
everything."

"You think? I mean it can be a little much to take in so young."

"Trust me, Jonathon will be fine. He just wants to see you happy, and he'll
be overjoyed to have someone else to play the Playstation with, he's gotten
a little tired of beating you." Lynn laughed as she remembered the way
Justin had pouted at his last defeat at his brother's hands.

Justin said with a laugh, "Thanks for reassuring me. Nick said that it'll be
okay but I couldn't help worrying."

"See, I told you he would be great for you." Lynn said with a knowing grin.

"Maybe I'll learn to take your advice more often. See you mom!" Justin said
winding up the call, knowing his mother would have to leave soon for her
meeting.

"Take care, love you." Lynn said ending the call.
*******
"Want to go to the beach later? We'll be okay as long as we're careful."
Justin asked his boyfriend who was wearing a shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Yeah, that might be fun." Nick answered placing a small backpack on the
floor as he quickly put on his trainers.

"Think we can hide out from everyone for the rest of the day?" Justin asked
as he also put on his shoes.

Nick asked curiously, "Not sure but we can try. What did your mom say when
you told her we're going back to your place?"

"She said that she's sorry but she won't be able to spend time with us.
She's got a meeting with a new group and then she's got to get her plane
back to Orlando."

"You okay with that?" Nick asked knowing that he didn't like it when he
missed seeing his family.

"Yeah, I'll see her when we go back to Orlando." Justin said standing up.

"Why don't we take your car? It makes more sense seeing how it's just the
two of us." Nick said picking up his cell phone and giving Justin his.

"Okay." Justin replied walking outside with Nick, both of them wearing
baseball caps.
********
"What do you want to do now?" Justin asked after he had finished the tour of
his house.

"As long as you're with me, I don't care." Nick said with a laugh.

"Can we go to bed for a couple of hours?" Justin asked, while pulling Nick
towards the bedroom.

"Seems like you've already made your mind up, love." Nick commented with a
grin, he didn't object mainly because he was tired.

Justin just smiled and quickly undressed as they walked up the stairs. He
threw his clothes on the floor and ignored Nick's appreciative grin. He knew
that he was acting a little stupid but it was the first time in years he
could relax and be himself. Before he had always been afraid that if he
showed who he really was people would find out he was gay and hate him.

Nick smiled as he walked to the bedroom at a more sedate pace to find Justin
naked sprawled out on the bed watching him like a hawk.

"Nicky, don't come any closer. I want you to strip for me." Justin said
running his eyes over Nick's body.

"Whatever you want, love." Nick said with a flirtatious grin, which widened
as Justin switched on the stereo and Madonna's Vogue blasted out.

Nick started to undress slowly moving to the music. As he took off each
article of clothing he threw them to Justin. As he unfastened the zipper of
his jeans, Nick smirked seeing the erection his boyfriend was sporting. Nick
stood there in his underwear wondering what he should do now. Working on
instinct, Nick pushed his boyfriend down on the bed and took the erect cock
in his mouth.

Running his tongue down the length, Nick took the throbbing cock into his
mouth. He bobbed up and down, gently squeezing Justin's balls at the same
time. He was addicted to the taste of his lover, loving the flavour that was
uniquely Justin. He grinned as Justin thrust into his mouth, whimpering and
moaning.

Feeling Justin about to come, Nick reached up and squeezed his lover's
nipple hard. Justin came with a loud moan and Nick eagerly swallowed every
drop, sucking until his lover's cock was limp. Letting the cock fall from
his mouth, Nick roughly pulled Justin into a kiss, letting the exhausted man
taste himself.

"That was great! What about you?" Justin said as he regained the power of
speech.

Nick smiled, "Not something we have to worry about. I came just from
feeling, and watching you. You were so breathtakingly beautiful when you
came."

"Wow! Can we sleep now?" Justin said pulling Nick on top of him.

"Yeah, love you." Nick said as he pulled the covers from the floor where
Justin had thrown them earlier.

"Love you, too." Justin said with a smile, loving the feel of Nick on top of
him.

Nick just smiled relishing the feeling of Justin underneath him. It felt
strangely comforting to know that Justin was underneath him, safe.

Part 12

LA Airport - Saturday night

Ben sighed; he hated flying but couldn't let his friend suffer alone. Like
the fact that he was falling in love with Jamie didn't figure into his
actions at all!

He quickly walked off the plane and started towards Customs before he could
get there he was stopped by a young woman.

Smiling the woman said, "Excuse me, Sir. I'm with airport security, and I
have a message for you. Jamie asked if you would go to the private waiting
area. He left a note for you and said he'll be along in a couple of
minutes."

"Thanks, can you give me the note?" Ben answered smiling as he took the
piece of paper and ran his fingers across it.

Ben,

There's some group arriving and the airport is going to be chaos. Knowing
how much you hate enclosed spaces; I've arranged to meet you in the VIP
area.

Love,
Jamie

As she directed him towards the room, the security guard couldn't help but
wonder about the mysterious Jamie the attractive man at her side was
supposed to meet. This Jamie obviously wielded a lot of power if the way the
airport had quickly complied with his requests was anything to go by.

"Hi, I'm Ben. Don't worry I won't be here long." Ben said politely, feeling
people staring at him.

A tired looking brunette said angrily, "What's this idiot fucking doing
here? This is supposed to be a restricted area!"

A slightly annoyed blonde replied with a sigh, "Quit being such an ass,
Jacob."

Ashley just looked at the stranger, who looked like he had just walked out
of a movie screen. Ben was about 5ft 10" with brown hair down to his
shoulders and a bronze suntan. He was dressed in tight black jeans and a
figure hugging emerald green tank top, but what was most stunning was the
black wire framed sunglasses that only served to create an air of mystery.

"Get the fuck out of here now! Or I'll call security and remove you." Jacob
said invading Ben's personal space.

Ben was starting to get slightly annoyed that these insensitive morons had
wrecked what had been a fairly good day for him considering his previous
experiences. Before Ben could do anything the door creaked open and a hyper
man quickly hugged him.

Thinking his friend was a lot cuter than he had imagined Lance said, "Benny!
Sorry, I wasn't here to meet you! How was the flight? These *people* aren't
causing you trouble are they?"

"It's okay, nerve-wrecking and no," Ben answered with a wide grin.

Lance sighed, "I really tried to get here on time but I got had to fill in a
pile of paperwork so you could wait here. Ready to go?"

Ben replied with a smirk, "Yeah, I can't wait to get to bed."

Lance bounced on his heels excitedly, "I moved the bedroom round to make
sure it gets the most positive energy."

Touched at how much trouble Lance was going to for him Ben said softly, "You
didn't have to do that, darlin'. Jamie, can we get going? I hate airports."

Lance quickly picked up the small case at Ben's feet and led the way out of
the room his arm around Ben's shoulders. As they walked Lance talked
animatedly about just what they would do now that Ben had arrived.

Trevor asked the room in shock, "Did we really see that?"

"Yeah. Got to admit that Ben's cute," Ashley said thoughtfully.

"That accent is great! There's nothing like a sexy Irish accent," Dan said
with a dreamy smile.

Erik said with a laugh, "Don't even think about going after Lance Bass'
lover. We already have enough problems with the other boybands as it is."

Ashley said hopefully, "You sure it's his lover? Ben could be his cousin or
something."

Jacob said sarcastically,  "A cousin that calls him darlin'? Yeah right (!)"

Dan wondered aloud, "He's so cute, what's he doing with Lance Bass?"

"I mean it! Behave! I don't think Lance will like you drooling all over his
man," Erik said firmly hoping they would pay attention to him.

Dan asked the question that had been bothering him, "What's the deal with
the glasses?"

"Maybe he has to avoid being recognised. He could be a model, he's
attractive enough," Jacob commented smirking at the incredulous looks his
friends gave him.

"You're gay?" Ashley questioned in shock, why hadn't Jake told him?

Jacob winked, "Bi, it's a recent thing. I met this guy at a party and the
rest is history!"

"Who did you meet?" Ashley asked excitedly.

"Just a guy," Jacob answered with an enigmatic smile.

"Enough of this, let's just get going." Erik said as he spotted their
bodyguards heading back in.
********
"So when are we meeting your friends?" Ben asked as he fastened his
seatbelt, thankful that Jamie was as kind as he had imagined.

"Tomorrow, at 13:00 in a little cafe. Thanks again for coming here," Lance
said as he drove, sneaking looks at the other man.

"You needed me," Ben simply said with a grin.

"What do you want to do tonight?" Lance asked as he pulled up to his home.

Ben said softly, "Can we talk? Can I ask you a question?"

Worried Lance said quickly, "Sure, what's wrong?"

"I just wondered why you're living in LA? You said that your home is in
Orlando."

"It is, but for my job I have a small place here. It's small and with two
bedrooms but it's great!" Lance explained with a grin relieved he hadn't
accidentally upset his friend.

Lance quickly got out of the car, and moved round to the passenger side,
taking Ben's arm he led the way to the apartment. The two men walked in
silence, not feeling the need to make small talk.

"This is totally weird since this is the first time I've met you. Can I
touch your face?" Ben said nervously as Lance pulled him down to sit beside
him on the sofa.

"Sure, all you had to do was ask." Lance replied, taking Ben's hand in his
and putting it on his cheek.

Ben smiled in thanks and slowly ran his fingers over his friend's face,
committing the details to memory. He smiled unable to believe Jamie was so
considerate; few people could be bothered to make the extra effort with him.
He had basically three real friends that he could confide in, and trust
absolutely. Jamie was perhaps the most important of these friends, the fact
that Jamie was allowing him to map his face made Ben's heart flutter.

Bens sighed, "I know we planned to go out tonight but I'm still exhausted
after working that 12 hour shift at the morgue."

"Rough night?" Lance asked putting an arm around his friend's shoulder.

"Yeah, and Kay wasn't too happy about my little vacation."

Lance said worried, "Oh. You've still got your job, right?"

"Yes, of course." Ben lied through his teeth, not wanting his friend to feel
guilty. "I hate to do this but can you show me where the bedroom is? I'm
going to collapse if I don't get some sleep soon!"

"Your room is just next door to mine. If you need me for anything, just
call." Lance said as he took Ben's hand and led the way to the bedrooms.

"Oh, wait a sec. Feel the door in front of you!" Lance said excitedly as
they stopped outside the bedroom door.

Ben laughed a wide smile on his face as he felt the words Ben's Room on the
door in Braille. He had never thought someone he had only just met would do
such a wonderful thing, actually consider his feelings and go out of their
way to make him comfortable. It was weird how something so small could mean
so much.

Ben said happily, "You don't know what this means to me!"

Lance shrugged, "It's nothing, I just thought it could make everything
easier for you."

The pair continued their journey into the bedroom, Ben carefully noting just
what direction he was walking and how many steps there were to the bed. As
he felt the bed bang against his knees he sat down waiting for Lance to join
him.

"You going to be okay, in here? I mean, if you want you could share my bed
with me?" Lance said feeling a blush form on his cheeks.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Thanks for doing this, Jamie." Ben said lightly
kissing Lance on the cheek.

Lance stood with a sigh, "I'll go now and let you sleep. I've left a small
list of just where all the rooms are from here it's on the small cabinet to
your right. Your case is next to it."

"Don't worry, I'll be okay. Night Jamie," Ben said with a grin hugging his
friend tightly then, hearing the door close as Lance walked out the bedroom.

Ben quickly undressed and curled up in the covers, sighing when he inhaled
the faint scent of Lance's cologne.
***********
Sunday
***********
Nick smiled at Justin as the younger man drove towards the Paris Cafe. He
knew his boyfriend was convinced that the meeting was just about the two
groups getting together to talk but something felt wrong about that idea.

Nick was abruptly shaken from his thoughts when Justin stopped the car just
a couple of minutes walk from the meeting place. As the couple headed
towards the cafe, Nick noted that Kevin's car wasn't there making him worry.

Looking at the occupants of the room, Nick stopped in shock as he spied a
familiar face. It was Ben, the first person he had met who told him it was
okay to be gay. He was shocked to see that Ben had his arm around Lance's
shoulder, did that mean they were a couple?

"Benny? I can't believe you're here!" Nick shouted in excitement as he
hugged the older man.

"Nick? It's been a long time, how's everything?" Ben said with a welcoming
smile.

Justin glared at the stranger who was hugging HIS Nick; he couldn't repress
the surge of anger and jealousy. How dare this man try and take away
something that belonged to him! Nick was his and there was no way he would
let Nick go without a fight.

"Great. Can I talk to you later?" Nick said seeing Justin was getting a
little jealous.

"Sure!" Ben said knowing that he couldn't get caught up with Nick right now.
He was there to help Lance, not to renew old friendships.

Moving back to Justin, Nick placed a discrete hand on his boyfriend's back
seeing that the younger man was angry and jealous.

"You don't have to worry, babe. I love you," Nick whispered not wanting
anyone to overhear the conversation.

Justin whispered moodily, "I'm not worried. I just didn't like him touching
something that belongs to me."

"Belongs to you?" Nick asked in a mix of desire and amusement.

Justin realised that he was getting a little possessive and that it might
turn Nick against him. With a nervous smile Justin said quickly, "Nick, I
mean...er..."

Nick smiled seeing the panic on Justin's face, "That's kind of sweet, babe.
Just remember that means you belong to me!" It turned him on to see Justin's
possessive side, he wanted to belong to Justin and wanted the younger man to
belong to him.
*******
"Can I have your attention?" Lance asked, standing in the middle of the
room, thankful of Ben's arm around his shoulder.

Taking a deep breath, Lance looked at his friends and prayed they would
accept him once they knew the truth. Confident and calm not showing the
panic he held inside Lance said, "There's something I need to tell you, I'm
gay."

"Stay away from me you fucking fag!" JC shouted as Lance worriedly looked at
him.

"You're what?" Chris shouted in a mix of anger and shock.

"A fag? Oh great," Howie said full of disgust.

Knowing how much courage it took to say those two words Justin smiled,
"Thanks for telling us, I know it was hard for you."

AJ said sitting down, "That's nice. Can we get something to eat?" He didn't
care about the sexuality of his friends; all he cared about was that they
were happy.

"I'm here if you need to talk," Nick offered admiring Lance's strength.

"I take it you know that you have to be careful?" Kevin said knowing how
damaging it could be for Nsync.

"That's fine with me," Brian said with a grin.

Angry that his friend had kept it a secret Joey said, "Why didn't you tell
us sooner?"

"I was afraid that you would hate me. I thought that you would look at me
differently. I was worried that you wouldn't take it too well."

"I wonder why (!)" Justin said sarcastically glaring at JC.

Smiling AJ said, "Now that we've talked about that, why don't we all just
relax and get to know each other."

"I'm not staying here with that pervert!" JC shouted before angrily leaving
the cafe, slamming the door after him.

"Neither am I!" Howie said not looking at anyone in the room.

"Do you want to come back to my place and we can talk about it?" Justin said
with a quick smile at the clearly upset Lance.

"That would be great! Is it okay if Ben comes as well?" Lance said relieved
that some of his friends weren't angry with him.

"Sure. Come on guys!" Nick said and the four left quickly.
*******
"Did anyone else find that a little strange?" Joey asked the room at large,
wondering why Nick had just invited himself and why Justin had let him.

Brian said quickly, "Yeah, and they drove here together."

Remembering his promise to the young couple AJ said quickly, "They were up
all night working on the songs they're writing. Nick told me that they're
having a few problems with them."

"Just how does Nick know this Ben?" Chris asked wondering if Lance was
dating the stranger. He wanted to make sure that this Ben wouldn't take
advantage of Lance.

"They met in Ireland. Ben hung out with Nick for a while." Kevin said
wondering about the nature of Nick's relationship with Ben. He didn't think
Justin would be too happy if Ben was Nick's ex-boyfriend.
*******
"You okay, Jamie?" Ben asked feeling Lance tense suddenly.

Lance sighed, "I was just thinking about what my parents are going to say."

"Not everyone reacts like my family did. Don't assume they'll hate you," Ben
said comfortingly.

Lance didn't say anything, thinking that maybe he should listen to Ben. His
friend had been right before.

"You planning on coming out to your boss as well, Jamie?" Ben asked
wondering if he should stay in LA longer.

Justin laughed, "His boss?"

Lance glared at Justin and said to Ben, "There's something that you have to
know."

"You can tell me anything, I'm always going to be here for you." Ben said
feeling the small shakes wracking his friend's body.

Lance asked, "You know who Nsync is?" At Ben's nod he continued, "I'm in
Nsync, my full name is James Lance Bass!"

"Yeah, right. Whatever you say!" Ben laughed amused at his friend's idea of
a joke.

Justin said with an incredulous look, "Don't you believe your own eyes,
Ben?" He stopped speaking when Nick shook his head and Lance glared.

Ben laughed, "I'm blind so in this case my eyes wouldn't be much use."

"Oh, I'm sorry for saying that," Justin said with a blush.

Ben said quickly, "Don't worry about it. It's not something you can see just
by looking at me. Most people think the shades are part of my image."

"Where are you staying, Benny?" Nick asked as they drove wondering just why
Lance had decided to walk.

Ben grinned, "With Jamie, I'll have to go back to Boston in five days."

Nick asked in confusion, "Since when did you move to Boston?"

Ben gave a rueful smile as he said, "Since I was kicked out the house. I
came out to ma eighteen months ago. The next day she had the priest give me
a talk on how being gay is a sin. When I told her there was nothing she
could do to change me she kicked me out. I moved over here about a month
after that."

"I tried calling you but your mom said that you didn't want to speak to me."
Nick said carefully not wanting to upset Ben.

Trying to explain Ben said quickly, "She's convinced my association with
boy-bands made me gay. She wouldn't let me talk to anyone from the music
industry. She deleted all the numbers from phone, address book and my
computer. I lost your number and couldn't convince anyone that I really knew
you so I couldn't get your new number."

"I guess that explains it." Nick said with a smirk.
*********
Part 13

"Is Nick gay?" Lance asked Justin while they were in the kitchen supposedly
to get some drinks.

"Why do you think he is?" Justin asked nervously looking through the door at
his boyfriend who was talking quietly to Ben.

Lance said calmly, "Ben said he dated someone called Nick about three years
ago, which was when Nick said he first met Ben so...I just figured it made
sense."

"You think Ben's Nick's ex-boyfriend?" Justin said worried as he realised
Ben was the one Nick had written It's Over for and obviously Nick still had
strong feelings for Ben.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll ask Nick myself." Lance said wondering why
Justin was looking so scared.

Justin nodded and the pair walked back in the lounge where Ben and Nick were
still talking in hushed tones. It was obvious that the conversation had
upset Nick, from the way the singer was acting.

Nick said angrily, "I can't believe you haven't told Lance! He obviously
cares for you, Ben. You do realise that he's going to freak when he finds
out, right?"

"Yeah, but I can't let him feel guilty. I'll just have to get another job,"
Ben defended himself knowing Nick could be rather annoying when he was
right.

Nick said thoughtfully, "You want to work with us? We can always do with a
little more help on the tour. How come you were working in the morgue
anyway?"

"I needed money to pay for my course. Nicky, I'm not going to sponge off
you," Ben said with a small smile.

"You wouldn't be," Nick said eagerly, having missed Ben more than he thought
possible.

"I said no and I mean it." Ben said ending the argument, with a shrug he
continued, "I've kind of got an offer for a job. The only thing is that it
would mean leaving college."

"How do you feel about that?" Nick said knowing that Ben needed to think it
through before making a decision.

Ben gave a rueful smile, "I've gone off the idea of dancing, anyway. It's a
modelling job, I don't know why they want me but they said if I want a job
all I have to do is call."

"Because you're beautiful, please call them," Nick said not seeing a problem
with it.

Ben said with a grin, "I will, later. Oh, guess who I'm sharing my apartment
with! Sarah! She moved over a couple about five months ago apparently ma
kind of lost it after I left."

"Should I still guess? Is she still on her goth kick?" Nick asked with a
laugh.

Ben smirked, "Yeah. She started a support group for people who have friends
that are boyband fans!"

"Here you go, Nicky." Justin gave Nick the glass of Coke taking the seat
next to his boyfriend. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous and
although it was a little childish Justin wasn't going to let Ben anywhere
near his man.

Ben smiled understanding the relationship between Nick and the youngest
member of Nsync at that statement. Nick only let people he was close to call
him Nicky. Ben also noticed the possessive and loving undertones in Justin's
voice.

"Are you gay Nick?" Lance asked suddenly breaking the comfortable silence.

Nick gaped at Lance looking at Justin in confusion, "Wh...what?"

Lance smiled reassuringly, "It's just a feeling. I'm not going to be angry
at you, I'm gay remember?"

Nick said taking a deep breath, "Yeah, I'm gay but not a lot of people
know."

"Did you date Ben?" Lance asked wondering why his heart clenched at the very
thought.

Looking at his boyfriend Nick said worriedly, "Er...yeah. It was a little over
three years ago."

Justin knew Nick was looking at him but all he could feel was panic that he
would loose Nick.

Sensing the tension between the secret couple Ben said quickly, "Jamie, can
I talk to you alone?"

"Sure," Lance said walking over to Ben and leading the man to the master
bedroom.
*******
"Justy, I was going to tell you about Benny when we got back to your place."
Nick pleaded worried that Justin was angry.

Ignoring the stab of fear that pierced his heart Justin asked, "Are you in
love with him?"

Nick said quickly, "NO! You're the one I'm in love with, the one I will
always be in love with. Benny is one of my closest friends, I love him as a
friend but that's all."

"I believe you. It's a little bit weird being in the same room as your first
ex-boyfriend. It makes me feel jealous and afraid, I mean he's gorgeous."

"He's not as attractive as you though, no one is." Nick said softly kissing
Justin's mouth.
*******
"Jamie, I was going to tell you this later but Nick said I should tell you
now. So here goes, I was fired from my job for coming here but it doesn't
matter."

Lance felt angry and hurt, "WHAT? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to burden you with my stuff when you had your own problems.
Anyway, I've got another job lined up so don't worry about it."

"Oh, is it another secretary job?" Lance asked curiosity getting the better
of him.

Ben smiled self-consciously, "Nah, it's a modelling job. Someone called
Johnny is in charge of the company but he seems like a nice guy from what
I've heard of him on the phone."

"You didn't mind me asking about your relationship with Nick, right? I get
the idea that there's more to his relationship with Justin than just
friendship."

Ben said thoughtfully, "It's best not to ask them about it right away. It's
nice to keep a relationship private at first."

"I guess. Let's go back in." Lance said holding the door open for Ben.
*******
Lance gaped in shock when he walked in to find Justin and Nick making out
apparently lost in each other.

Justin was on top of Nick, kissing his way down the older man's neck.  He
had his hands in the loops of Nick's jeans and was apparently trying to
devour the blue-eyed singer. Lance couldn't believe they were making out in
his house; surely they should have a little more discretion?

"Did you hear something, babe?" Justin asked breaking the kiss.

Nick's eyes widened as he looked up to find Lance and Ben in the room,
"Er...we've done it again, baby."

"Let me guess, Lance?" Justin said with a sigh as he buried his face in
Nick's chest.

"Yeah. We really have to pick better places to make out. At least it's your
fault this time since you dived on top of me."

"I didn't hear you complaining, Nicky." Justin commented with a small pout.

Nick answered with a leer, "Sweetheart, I'll take you any place I can get
you."

"Excuse me, guys?" Lance said a little annoyed at being ignored.

"My turn I guess. Okay, Nick and I are in love with each other." Justin said
nervously, would Lance accept his relationship with one of their rivals.

Lance smirked, "I had kind of realised that (!) That explains the photos
anyway."

"It was our first date!" Justin said with a wry laugh.

Nick said embarrassed, "I guess I should have been a little more discrete. I
was too happy that the man I had been after for years was finally mine."

"Years, babe?" Justin asked confused.

Nick smiled, "I've been in love with you for about two years. I didn't say
anything because of Britney!"

"Brit doesn't deserve to be treated like this," Lance said angry with Justin
for cheating on the young woman.

Justin said quickly, "I'm not cheating on her. She knows I'm gay but she
agreed to pose as my girlfriend."

"Er...are you two going to tell the others?" Ben asked knowing it wouldn't go
down very well, if the reaction to Lance's coming out was anything to go by.

Justin nodded, "Yeah. In a couple of weeks, after we've gone back to see mom
in Orlando."

"You're going to come out to her?" Lance asked shocked that Justin was doing
everything so fast. The younger man had only had a first date with Nick a
couple of days ago, and had already decided that he was in love with the
other man.

Justin answered, "Don't need too, she already knows."

"It was our moms who set us up," Nick finished with a grin. He didn't think
he could have coped if his mother had disowned him.

Lance just gaped at them, having assumed that Lynn would be against
homosexuality. He knew that religion was important to Lynn, as it was to his
own family. Lance knew that his parents probably wouldn't accept his
sexuality because of their strict religious beliefs.

Part 14

Kevin looked over at AJ with a small smile; the younger man had been there
ever since Kevin had appeared outside AJ's door in a wreck. In the two days
since the meeting where Lance had come out Kevin had only spent a few hours
alone. It felt as if AJ really understood and Kevin needed that more than
anything else.

"What's wrong?" AJ asked not taking his eyes away from the road.

Kevin blushed quickly searching for something to say, "Nothing. I was just
wondering what we're going to do about Nick and Justin."

AJ said thoughtfully, "They love each other and nothing we can say or do
will change that. It makes sense in a way, the two heartthrobs of the groups
getting together. This way they don't have to worry about someone trying to
use them for their fame."

"Yeah. They're lucky though," Kevin said wistfully.

Kevin thought he and Kristen would be together forever but he was wrong.  He
could clearly remember having doubts on their wedding day. He had put it
down to wedding day jitters. What he remembered most of all about that day
was thinking that AJ looked gorgeous before reminding himself of an oath he
made privately years ago, don't *ever* have sex with your band-mates.

Intruding on Kevin's thoughts AJ asked, "You think we should call D again?"

Kevin said with a sigh, "There's no point, he won't to listen to *anyone*.
He won't answer my calls and Nick said JC's doing the same thing with
Nsync."

AJ nodded and headed towards the studio. Thinking back to their hotel room
AJ wondered if he should get another room for Kevin before they headed to
Orlando but shrugged away the idea. Kevin would need someone there, and AJ
was more than willing to be there for the older man. He had always wanted to
help when Kevin was upset but too often the man had insisted that he didn't
need anyone, that he was the strong one.

AJ said seriously, "Think we should give Nick and Justin another talk on
being careful?"

Kevin shook his head, "They know, I think they just lost themselves in the
moment."

"It must be nice to do that. I don't think I've ever felt that way," AJ said
in a wistful tone.

"Yeah, I hope they can get through Ben's appearance."

"I still think you're wrong about him being Nick's ex." AJ said making Kevin
roll his eyes.

Kevin had spent the last two days trying to convince AJ that Nick and Ben
had been involved. AJ refused to believe him, insisting that they would have
seen some sign.

"I'm not. God, the tour will be a disaster if Nick and Justin break up!"
Kevin said as he opened the door.
*******
Nick looked at his lover and smirked, Justin looked like he wanted to deck
JC. A sentiment Nick could understand. He wondered what they were going to
do about JC and Howie when they were on tour. It didn't seem fair on the
fans to have the groups arguing this way.

"So how do you feel about the latest rumours about you and Justin, Nick?"
Carson asked going straight for the throat.

Nick smiled, "I don't really think about them. Its something we're used to,
people can think what they want."

"Interesting. What does Britney think of the rumours, Justin?" Carson asked
trying to get some reaction from them.

Justin said with a shrug, "She doesn't care about them. None of us do,
rumours are part of the business."

"What's planned for the tour?" Carson asked getting away from the taboo
topic.

Lance grinned as he answered, "We're going to do a couple of numbers
together and there are some original songs."

"You should hear the ones TimberNick wrote, they're great!" AJ said
enthusiastically, elbowing Nick at the same time.

"TimberNick?" Carson questioned in confusion.

"He means Nick and I," Justin answered with a smile looking at Nick for a
second before both burst into laughter.

"So is that your writing name?" Carson asked smiling at them.

"No! Its just a nickname." Nick answered for both of them.

"A rather unusual one, seeing how it combines both your names." Carson said
giving them a pointed look.

Justin shrugged, "We've got unusual friends. Its because of the rumours and
because we've have been hanging together a lot while we're writing the
songs."

"Now we've got some questions for you from the audience." Carson said
turning to a nearby tall redhead girl.

The girl blushed, "I was just wondering if you were planning on doing any
solos, Lance."

Lance thought about the question before saying. "Not yet, but the
arrangement of show hasn't been finalised."

"I was wondering what you all think about the stories your fans write about
you." A teenage boy about seventeen asked, his voice carrying through the
studio.

"They're interesting." Kevin said honestly.

Chris nodded, "Yeah. In a way it shows how much our fans care about us."

JC smiled at the audience, "I like that our fans care about us so much, that
they care enough to imagine how we would behave in different situations."

Carson asked wanting to regain control of the show, "So when is the first
tour date?"

"Three weeks today in Orlando -" Nick said not reacting when Justin
interrupted him.

Justin said enthusiastically, "It'll be great to play in our home town!"

"Sounds great!" Carson said as the show cut to the advertisements.

The groups thanked Carson for the interview before leaving the studio for to
the airport as the groups were all going to Orlando for the next the next
week for interviews. Lance, Kevin, AJ, Nick and Justin were in the first car
while the others drove behind them in the second. They all agreed it was
probably a bad idea for the gay members of the groups to be that close to
Howie and JC, it was safest for everybody that way. Nick couldn't help but
feel sorry for the others who had to put up with JC and Howie.

"Are you going to tell the others about you two?" Kevin asked the cuddling
couple.

Nick nodded, "After we've finished rehearsals so we can make sure the fans
get a decent show. It wouldn't be fair to them otherwise."

"Does JC know that Nick is staying with you?" Lance asked worried as he
imagined the older man's reaction.

Justin sighed, "Yeah. He's not happy about it. He told Nick to stay away
from me."

"I need to talk to Johnny about getting Ben onto our floor." Lance said
absently.

"Why?" Kevin questioned worried, thinking about the possibility of Nick and
Justin breaking up like he feared.

Nick answered with a sigh, "Oh, he's coming on tour for a while. He's just
lost his job and could do with a break."

"How did that happen?" AJ questioned shocked for when he had met the man
years ago Ben had seemed to be the man who took his responsibilities
seriously.

Lance blushed, "My fault. I called him and said I needed his help. He came
here for me and his boss wasn't happy."

"He's gone to sort everything out with his sister. She'll take care of
everything after he comes out."

"What does he do?" Kevin asked wondering if they could get the man a job.
That way he could make sure Ben kept away from Nick and Justin.

Justin smiled, "He worked in the morgue writing up the reports but he has
got an appointment to see a modelling agency. With his looks he shouldn't
find it difficult to get a job with them."

"How are you doing Kev?" Nick asked worried about how Kevin was coping after
Kristen's betrayal.

"Okay. Luckily I haven't been alone through everything. I filed for divorce
yesterday." Kevin said smiling at AJ and missing Justin's questioning look
at Nick.

"Who's joining us later?" Nick said changing the subject.

"As for as I know it's O-Town and Britney. Have you told her about you two?"
Kevin said carefully.

Justin shrugged, "Not yet. She won't care."

Kevin didn't say anything taking the younger man's word for it. He guessed
Nick and Justin must have talked about it because Nick hadn't freaked like
he had expected. He knew Nick tended to be pretty possessive about his
partners; they all were in a way.
*******
"Hey, Benny. How did it go?"  Sarah asked as she picked up her phone with a
grin.

Ben smiled, "Okay. Jaime is apparently Lance Bass out of Nsync and I met up
with Nick."

"Oh. You going to be okay with seeing Nick? I know how much you loved him."
Sarah asked concerned.

Ben shrugged, "Nick's with someone and he's happy. Anyway, Jamie is who I'm
interested in."

"Is he as nice as you thought?" Sarah asked seeing the need to change the
subject.

"Yeah. He even said I could sleep in his room if I was worried about being
in a new environment. I told him about what happened with Kay, he was a
little mad and I think he's feeling guilty. I'm coming back home in a couple
of days and then we can join them on tour if we want."

Sarah smirked, "That sounds interesting. I think I'll stay here. You go and
have a good time, you've still got da's money if you need it."

Feeling the watch he was wearing Ben grinned saying, "I will. I've got to
go, we're about to go to Orlando were I'm going to hang with them. Jamie got
a few bad reactions so I think he needs me around as a friend not a love
interest."

"Okay. Be careful and call me if you need anything. You know Lance might not
need a lover for a while."

"I know. See you, sis." Ben said hanging up the phone and waiting
expectantly.

"Hey Benny!" Justin shouted excitedly as they walked into the VIP room of
the airport to find the man waiting.

"Hi J. We should go. The plane will ready in a couple of minutes." Ben said
with smile.

"How are you? Not worrying about the flight?" Lance said putting an arm
around the older man's shoulders.

Ben smirked, "What's to worry about being in a piece of metal thousands of
feet in the air? How many times have I told you that if God meant for us to
fly he would give his wings?"

"Just what I didn't want to hear!" Brian said with a groan, he hated flying
at the best of times.

"The plane is ready, gentlemen." A young woman said walking into the room
and leading the way out.

The eleven boarded the plane with Lance, Ben and Brian sitting together so
they could keep Howie and JC away. The pair still treated Lance coldly and
no one could be sure how they would react to Lance being so close to Ben.
Opposite the three Nick and Justin sat with Chris who was immediately put on
his headphones. Kevin and AJ sat together talking quietly amongst themselves
causing Joey who with was sitting with them to feel like a third wheel. JC
and Howie were sitting at the back where they couldn't see Lance, which had
been a deliberate move on the behalf of their friends.

Part 15

*6 p.m. Tuesday Night*

Kevin looked over at Ben who was sitting by his side in the car. Their
friends were inside McDonalds getting something to eat but he had taken the
chance to check out the younger man. He needed to make sure Ben wasn't going
to take advantage of the others.

"I thought you were going back to Boston?" Kevin asked Ben suspiciously.

Ben shrugged, "I am going back to my place in a couple of days to pack and
sort everything out. My sister said she'll take care of my place and the
modelling agency has an office in Orlando."

"Oh. How come you agreed to go on tour with us?" Kevin said wanting to know
the man's intentions.

"The others wouldn't take no for an answer. How are you?" Ben answered not
understanding why Kevin was interrogating him.

"What makes you say that?" Kevin said in a mix of anger and shock.

Ben grinned, "You sound a little sad. I was wondering if I could help you."

"Its personal." Kevin said turning to look out the window.

"I figured as much. I just figured I could give you a fresh perspective
seeing how I'm not that close to you but it doesn't matter."

"Maybe later. So are you seeing anyone?" Kevin asked changing the subject
quickly.

Ben smirked, "No. There is one guy I'm interested in but I don't think we'll
be getting together. There are a few things that need to be sorted out."

"Its not Nick is it? He's happy with Justin." Kevin said knowing the man
must know about the couple from the way the pair had behaved around him.

Ben laughed, "Nick was...is, special to me. He was the first man I ever loved
but that doesn't mean I want him back. We've both changed too much for that
to happen. I'm sick of all this pussy-footing around, Kevin. Just tell me
what you really want to know."

Kevin said narrowing his eyes, "Okay. I want to know why you are here."

Ben grinned saying calmly, "My name is Ben O'Keefe. I'm 24 and originally
from Ireland but I live in Boston now. I met Jaime, or Lance through an
Internet chat room about Roswell. I came to LA so I could help Jamie because
he was worried about coming out. I only found out who he was when he told me
on Sunday after the meeting."

Kevin started at the man, "Give me one reason why I should believe anything
you're telling me?"

Ben shrugged, "There's no reason for you to believe me. I don't expect you
to trust me right away but maybe you should take the chance to know me
first. I might not be the ideal person you want around but I'm not leaving
unless Jamie asks me to. Who you rooming with for the tour?"

"Nick and Justin, AJ and Lance, JC and Brian, Howie and Joey then Chris and
I. However I plan to have my own room, I'll just say explain that I've got a
lot of work to do and I need some space."

"Its worth a try I suppose." Ben said with a shrug.

The pair fell into an uncomfortable silence not knowing each other well
enough to really talk and not wanting to bother making small talk. Kevin was
too worried about what he was going to do about Kristen. He knew he could
never trust her again but he didn't know if she would agree to the divorce.
*******
"How you coping with everything Bass?" AJ asked with a grin as he and Lance
walked outside where the Nsyncer was watching the children playing.

"Hey, McLean. I'm doing okay, kinda dreading the tour if I have to put up
with JC behaving like this. I'm still the same guy; he just knows something
else about me."

AJ laughed, "They're just too stupid to see. So who's your dream guy?"

"Never thought I would be having this conversation with you!"

"I'm full of surprises, Lance." AJ said with a smirk.

"I'm beginning to see that. Do you mind Ben coming on tour with us?"

AJ said reassuringly, "Your boyfriend is more than welcome, sometimes its
nice to bring a lover on tour with you. It stops you feeling so lonely."

"He's not my boyfriend. He's a friend, perhaps the best one I've got."

"Sometimes a good friend is worth a million lovers." AJ said as they walked
back out to the car where Kevin and Ben were sitting in silence.

"Any sign of the lovebirds yet?" Kevin asked wearily.

Lance shook his head, "Nah. They went into the bathroom almost an hour ago
so we'll be lucky if they ever come out. The guards are standing outside the
bathroom just in case."

Ben said with a wicked smile, "Maybe someone should go get them? You can't
take the chance that they're caught in a...revealing position."

"Even they wouldn't fuck in McDonalds." Lance said with a laugh causing AJ
and Kevin to look at him.

"God, what an amateur (!) I'll get the kiddies." Kevin said to the blonde
before getting out the car.

Kevin walked into the toilets and knocked loudly. He sighed when the only
sound was an abortive laugh. Signally for the bodyguards to continue
covering the door, Kevin walked inside and rolled his eyes at the sight
before him.

Justin had Nick pushed up against the wall and was busy kissing the life out
of his lover. Kevin couldn't help but think they could have picked a better
place but since it was part of being in love he decided to let it go.

Kevin said seriously, "Guys, we're waiting to go and people might start to
notice something is going on seeing how you've been in here almost an hour."

"Okay. You feeling any better, Kev?"

"I'm fine. We need to get going." Kevin said abruptly not wanting to discuss
his feelings. All he wanted was to be left alone so he could get his
emotions under control.

"Sure. What do you think of Benny?" Nick grinned at his friend.

Kevin shrugged, "He's okay, I guess. I just think it's a little weird that
he was so quick to come on tour with us."

Justin said quickly, "He only agreed because we all asked. He isn't out to
take advantage of us."

"You don't know that. Let's go, we're supposed to meet the others soon."

Nick groaned, "I can't handle them right now. I swear if JC or Howie say one
more word about how gay people are sick perverts, I'm going to kill them."

Kevin said seriously, "They just need to see being gay doesn't change who
you are. However its probably a good idea to keep them away from Lance, and
you guys for a while after you tell them. When *are* you going to tell
them?"

"In two days, after I've told the rest of my family." Justin said with a
smile, holding Nick's hand.

Kevin nodded, "Okay. The others will be okay and I'm sure they'll come round
eventually."

"Maybe but we haven't got an eternity." Nick sighed knowing he couldn't
handle all the stress.

"How's Lance holding up?" Kevin asked as they walked outside, Nick and
Justin walking so close their arms brushed together.

Justin said honestly, "Not good. This hurt him more than he admits. Josh is
his best friend."

"Benny will help him. Its not like Lance is alone now, we're here for him."
Nick said helpfully as they walked outside.

The three walked outside and got into the car, heading straight for Lance's
house where the two groups were meeting to go over the arrangements for the
tour. He just hoped no one would argue about the room assignments and that
Johnny would let him room together. He couldn't handle having to pretend to
be happy all the time.
*******
Brian asked with a grin, "So what's so important we had to meet here?"

Kevin addressed the room at large, "We're all doubling up for the tour. The
powers that be have decided it will help everyone become friends. Its in age
order so the room assignments are as follows; Nick and Justin, Lance and AJ,
JC and Brian, Howie and Joey then Chris and I. The arrangements might change
because I've got a lot of work so I might get my own room."

"Why should we have to room together when you and Chris get your own rooms?"
Howie said indignantly.

Kevin shrugged, "I just felt it wouldn't be fair on Chris if I'm up all
hours working."

Lance said seriously, "I've arranged for Ben to have a room on the same
floor as us for the duration of the tour."

"We don't want your boyfriend on tour with us!" Howie said sternly.

Ben laughed, "I'm not his boyfriend. I'm just a mate."

Brian shouted, "Quit arguing. So what if he's gay! Just keep quiet and don't
cause any problems on tour. You know what would happen if the press found
out!"

Everyone fell silent knowing just how much damage it would do to their
careers. Their careers would be over, it was harsh but each knew just how
fickle the public were. Finally JC broke the silence saying, "I'm going
outside to think for a while."

"I'll come with you." Ben said seeing the chance to talk to the other man.

"I'll help you out then." JC said knowing he couldn't leave the man to
struggle outside by himself.
*******
Once they had both sat down on the grass Ben asked calmly, "Why are you so
angry with Lance for being gay?"

JC sighed, "Its weird because I could always tell when someone was gay but I
couldn't with Lance. It shocked me when he said he's gay. I was always
taught being gay was wrong, it made you evil but Lance isn't evil. He's one
of the nicest men I've ever met."

Ben said seriously, "I've always thought that being gay isn't wrong or
right. People are just what they are. Let's face it, no one would chose to
be gay considering the way gay people are treated. Lance is a good man who
cares whether he loves a man or a woman. Surely the only thing that matters
is that he's happy."

"I guess. So it's not wrong to be gay?" JC said softly, hesitantly.

Ben could only give his opinion on the subject. He said passionately, "I
don't think it is, I know a some priests who agree with me. Some gay
catholic friends of mine were even married a couple of months ago. Does that
help?"

"It does actually. I need to apologise to him."

Ben nodded, "Yeah. Can I ask you some questions?"

Shrugging JC said, "I guess."

"Okay. You have to answer right away."

JC nodded waiting expectantly. He was slightly worried about the look on the
man's face. Just what was Ben going to ask him?

Ben said quickly, "Red or Blue?"

"Blue."

Ben asked, "Cat or dog?"

"Cat."

"BMW or Mercedes?" Ben said grinning when JC responded quickly.

Not taking any time to ponder his answer JC said, "BMW."

Ben nodded saying, "Pop or Rock?"

JC answered quickly, "Rock."

`I'm getting closer,' Ben thought as he asked, "Singing or Writing?"

"Writing."

Ben asked the question the whole game had been leading up to, "Are you gay?"

"Yes." JC said before breaking down in tears. Getting hold of himself he
said, "God, I've never told anyone that before."

Ben nodded half to himself as he responded, "I thought as much. Why did you
have a go at Lance?"

JC laughed lowly, "Sounds ridiculous but I was jealous that he could be so
at ease with himself. I was angry that he could accept being gay so easily.
I've been fighting with this for years."

"Everyone fights with it for a while. Some people never come to terms with
it but those who do feel better when they can be true to themselves."

"Can you not tell everyone until I'm ready to tell them myself?"

"Of course. You should tell them soon though, it might make Lance understand
why you were so upset."

"Thanks for talking to me." JC said seriously as he stood to walk inside. He
placed one arm around Ben's shoulders and kept it there to Ben's shock.

Thinking it was a good sign Ben didn't pull away. It was slightly unusual as
most people just grabbed his hand when they were directing him somewhere. He
was still thinking about JC's strange behaviour when they walked inside.

JC said honestly, "I need to apologise to you, Lance. I'm sorry for what I
said. I don't hate you, I could never hate you."

"That's okay. It was just a shock." Lance said as he moved to stand in front
of the man.

JC said loud enough to be heard by the others in the room, "There's
something I need to tell you. Don't hate me for it but...I..."

"You can do it, JC." Ben whispered just loud enough for the man to hear him.

Taking a deep breath JC said, "I'm gay."

Chris exclaimed, "WHAT?"

"Why did you treat Lance like that?!" Justin shouted in a mix of confusion
and anger,

Ben whistled. Once he had everyone's attention he said, "If you all be quiet
I'm sure he will answer all your questions."

"I have no excuse for treating you like that Lance. I was angry and jealous.
I was jealous that you could accept something so easily that I've been
fighting for years."

"I can understand how that feels. I need some time to deal with this. What
made you tell us that you're gay?"

Looking at the man he still had one arm around JC admitted, "Ben. He
explained to me there's nothing wrong with being gay. He made me see that
being gay didn't make me evil. Being gay doesn't make me wrong or dirty. I
just am what I am.

"I could have told you that!" Lance said with a laugh.

"Anyone else need to come out?" Chris said looking at the room at large. He
missed the nervous looks Justin and Nick gave each other.

AJ grinned, "No? Then we can get back to business."

"We're going to sing songs from all our CDs and a couple Nick and Justin
have written. We'll go over the exact arrangement along with the dances in
rehearsal with Wade and Fatima in three weeks. O-Town and Britney will be
joining us then. Are you two going to come out to them?"

Lance nodded, "There's no point hiding it when they'll just find out later
on during the tour."

"Okay. Now we need to look over the songs Nick and Justin have wrote. Have
you got them?"

Justin nodded as he started looking around in Nick's backpack. Feeling the
leather notebook, he grinned and took out his prize. He passed the book to
Nick who quickly rummaged through the pages before stopping when he found
the songs.

Howie read them quickly before saying, "They're good."

"We have to make a few minor changes to them." Justin said as he looked over
the songs carefully.

Lance said shocked, "What changes?"

Nick grabbed his pen and he and Justin started writing quickly so the songs
looked a little different and presented the finished product to their
friends.

Embrace The Night © Stephanie Macura 2001

To the world we're only friends,
No one looks behind the masks,
No one sees the love we share,
But they wouldn't understand us.

Away from the curious eyes and harsh spotlight,
Away from the world of pain and hate,
We are free to be ourselves,
To kiss and caress free from fear.

Chorus

So come to me in the night,
Just wait until the sun's gone from the sky,
In the night we can love each other,
Let's embrace the night, baby.

End chorus

I know it hurts to hide our feelings,
But I'll do anything to be with you,
I'm willing to be your secret lover,
Until the day we can be free.

Chorus x 1

All I can say is that I need you here,
I can't imagine living without you,
You are my guide when I'm lost,
I love you more than life so please, baby.

Lets spend just one night together,
Just the night...please don't turn away,
Can't you see my love burning bright?
Spend this time with me until the morning light

Repeat chorus x 2

END SONG

It's Over © Stephanie Macura 2001

We once spent hours just talking about nothing,
Now you won't even say two words to me,
But I can see the truth in your eyes,
We're just not meant to be.

(Chorus)
Can you see that we've reached the end?
We don't love each other,
It'd be wrong to stay together.
We both know it's over.
(end chorus)

I'll always care for you but I don't love you,
I can't handle all the arguments,
I'm tired of all the pain.
We just hurt each other.

Chorus x 1

This charade isn't fair on either of us,
Can you see the only answer is to break up?
I can tell you feel the same by the look in your eyes,
It needs to be done now before we hate each other.

Chorus x 1

Can you see what this is doing to me?
So I'm saying those two little words,
Words we both know are true,
So I'm telling you it's over.

Chorus x 1
END SONG

"What's the arrangement for them?" AJ asked looking the songs over
carefully.

Nick shrugged, "I was thinking of making Embrace The Night a solo."

JC interrupted, "Its more of a duet song really. How about you and Justin
singing it since you wrote it?"

Kevin nodded saying, "It's Over sounds like it would be good for Lance, AJ,
Chris and Brian."

Lance said carefully, "Ben can give us his opinion. Since he's neutral, he's
probably a good person to ask."

"Fine with me." Ben said with a shrug.

The session started after Nick and Justin hummed through the music they had
in mind. Nick and Justin sang Embrace The Night softly. Their voices were
full of passion and meaning. The song changed to sound more like a
conversation between two lovers.

Nick started the song, "To the world we're only friends,
No one looks behind the masks,
No one sees the love we share,
But they wouldn't understand us."

Justin started quickly, "Away from the curious eyes and harsh spotlight,
Away from the world of pain and hate,
We are free to be ourselves,
To kiss and caress free from fear."

They sang the chorus together, "So come to me in the night,
Just wait until the sun's gone from the sky,
In the night we can love each other,
Let's embrace the night, baby."

Closing his eyes Justin sang, "I know it hurts to hide our feelings,
But I'll do anything to be with you,
I'm willing to be your secret lover,
Until the day we can be free."

Nick winked at Justin as the pair sang the chorus, "So come to me in the
night,
Just wait until the sun's gone from the sky,
In the night we can love each other,
Let's embrace the night, baby."

Nick grinned, "All I can say is that I need you here,
I can't imagine living without you,
You are my guide when I'm lost,
I love you more than life so please, baby."

"Lets spend just one night together,
Just the night...please don't turn away,
Can't you see my love burning bright?
Spend this time with me until the morning light."

Justin finished the song, "So come to me in the night,
Just wait until the sun's gone from the sky,
In the night we can love each other,
Let's embrace the night, baby."

As Justin sang the last line of the chorus Nick sang, "Let's embrace the
night, baby."
Come on, embrace the night."

Brian grinned at them, "That was great, guys."

"Thanks." Justin said for both of them as they turned to look at Ben.

Ben shrugged, "It was good. Although I think it would be better as a solo."

Howie nodded in agreement, "Who do you think should sing it?"

Ben said, "Nick. Its great for his voice." Needing to explain he said, "Then
Justin can sing. We may as well take advantage of all the rumours about you
two. The song right after it should be It's Over. It shows two different
types of love, relationships, which will go great together. A song of an all
encompassing love and a song of a dying love."

Brian yawned, "Okay. We can go over the music later."

Kevin nodded saying, "We can meet up tomorrow. Everyone looks a little
tired."

"I'm going to stay at a hotel." Ben said with a quick grin.

Lance said quickly, "Why don't you stay with me? There's plenty of room."

Hearing the worry in his friend's tone Ben grinned, "Jaime, I'd like to stay
in hotel. I've got some plans to make. I'll be fine, I promise. I'll call
you as soon as I'm settled."

"Okay." Lance said reluctantly knowing the man wasn't going to change his
mind.

The group dispersed quickly, each too tired to continue small talk. They had
all been up at 5 am that morning and the flight had taken it out of them.

"You need a lift to a hotel?" Kevin asked Ben once they were outside.

"That would great." Ben said as Kevin led the way to his car, which his
bodyguard had driven to Lance's place.

They drove to a hotel in silence both too caught up in their thoughts to
speak. Ben was wondering how he could help Kevin. It sounded like the man
was in a lot of pain and Ben honestly believed what his grandmother had told
him, a problem shared is a problem halved.

When they arrived at their hotel Kevin helped Ben out the car and into the
reception. He told Ben to wait as he booked some rooms.

Kevin said politely, "I'd like to book two hotel rooms for tonight, please."

The concierge blushed, "I'm sorry but we only have one room. Could you two
gentlemen possibly share?"

"That will be fine." Kevin said wanting nothing more than to sleep. He
collected the key and walked over to where Ben was waiting.

"We'll have to share a room. That won't be a problem for you, right?"

Ben blushed faintly, "That'll be fine. Erm...when we get up there could you
please give me a brief description of the layout. I'd prefer not to fall
over and break my neck."

"Of course." Kevin said as he led the way to the elevator, one hand on Ben's
arm.

Once they arrived at their room, Kevin walked inside pulling the other man
in behind him. He groaned realising there was only one bed. True it was a
massive bed but still he didn't want to sleep with the man seeing how he had
nightmares every night since walking in on Kristen having sex with some guy.
Grinning he explained the layout to Ben wanting to see what the man would
suggest.

Ben said reassuringly. "Look it's a big bed. I'm not going to jump you or
anything. I'm more than capable of sharing a bed with someone without having
sex with them."

"Fine by me." Kevin said quickly before exactly how many steps there were to
all the features. He sat Ben down while he scouted out the rest of the room.

When he returned to the room Ben asked, "You feel like talking to me, yet?"

"Not really but I need to talk with someone."

"Okay. Why are you getting divorced from your wife?"

"I got home last week to find her fucking some guy. I can't be with her now.
She cheated on me."

"What else is bothering you?"

"I'm just angry that I didn't see what she was doing. I don't know why she
did it. Maybe it was my fault for leaving her alone so often."

"She knew what your job was before she fell in love with you. That shouldn't
have been a problem for her."

"I know. I feel embarrassed because of what happened. I gave up so much when
I married her."

"What do you mean?" Ben said confused.

"There was a man I could have been happy with. A man I was in love with but
I never told him because I wanted to make everyone happy. So I got married
to Kristen and repressed any feelings I ever had for any man."

Remembering his life in Ireland Ben sighed, "That's not a good thing to do.
I understand why you did though. You need to live for you not for other
people. I spent years denying I was gay because it didn't fit in with my
mother's expectations of me. I almost killed myself because of it. That's
how I was blinded. I got drunk and drove into a tree four years ago. I
didn't kill myself but I ended up blind. After the accident I came to terms
with my sexuality and knew that I had to do what would make me happy."

"So you had already come out when you met Nick?" Kevin said amazed at how
much he was discovering about the man.

Ben shook his head, "No. I did that over about eighteen months ago. My ma
sent the priest around to give me a talk on how being gay was wrong. About a
month ago I moved over here to live with some friends and then my sister
joined me. I miss my ma but I'm not going to apologise for who I am."

"I understand what you mean," Kevin said with a grin.

Ben said happily, "Thanks. I've had enough of all this talking can we go to
bed."

Kevin nodded. When he realised the man couldn't see him Kevin said, "Sure.
Thanks for listening to me, Ben."

"My pleasure." Ben said honestly as he closed his eyes settling down to
sleep.

They both quickly undressed before getting into the bed careful to make sure
their bodies didn't touch. Kevin closed his eyes and fell asleep almost
right away to the shock of Ben who grinned before picking up his phone.

Ben quickly pressed the speed dial saying, "Hey, Jaime. I'm at a hotel. Just
thought I'd call and let you know I got here okay."

"Thanks for calling. Where are you staying?"

"No idea. Kevin just drove me to some hotel and booked a room."

Lance exclaimed, "You're sharing a room with him!"

"Yeah. There was only one room available." Ben said nonchalantly.

"Oh. You going to be okay getting to the modelling agency tomorrow?"

Ben said excitedly, "Yeah. Who knows they may actually put me on their
books!"

Lance said reassuringly, "I'm sure they will. It won't cause any problems in
your career will it? Being on tour with us?"

His accent getting stronger Ben said, "Quit worrying, darlin' I'll be okay."

"If you say so. How did you manage to get Josh to come out?"

Ben simply shrugged, "He just needed someone neutral to talk to. It's going
to be difficult for him, he's being fighting this for a while."

"I figured so. I'll talk to him about it." Lance said quickly making a
mental note to do so. It would help him understand what had happened.

"Sounds like a good idea. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Come to my place at about six. We should have finished with all the
interviews by then."

"I'll be there. Night, Jaime." Ben said with a grinning widely.

"Night Ben." Lance said ending the call with a sigh.
*******
Justin grinned at his lover as the man sneaked into his room. His mother had
originally given them their own rooms saying it was just until they told
Jonathon the truth but the pair couldn't stand the thought of sleeping
alone.

The only solution they could think of was for Nick to sneak into Justin's
room when everyone was asleep. If the worst happened and Jonathon discovered
them in bed together it would just mean they had to tell him a little
earlier.

"You like this sneaking around, don't you?" Justin said with a grin at Nick.

Nick blushed, "Kinda. Its just like in our song, spending just the night
wrapped in each others arms."

"You think everyone will figure out that the song's about a gay
relationship?" Justin said nervously.

Nick didn't have any idea how people would see the story. Trying to be as
reassuring as possible he said, "Maybe, they might think it's about how fame
means you give up any chance of a private life."

"I guess. I think we should come out to the others sooner than we planned."

"Is this because JC came out?" Nick said suspiciously. He wanted them to
come out because they wanted people to see them happy together not out of
duty to a friend.

Justin protested, "No! It's because I want to be with you in front of our
friends. I hate having to pretend with them. Everyone seemed to take the
news about JC calmly."

"True, D didn't even say anything. You think we should talk to him about
it?"

Justin spoke from the heart, "Yeah. I can't stand the thought of him
treating you like he's been treating Lance."

"It was probably just shock. He'll be okay."

"I hope you're right, love." Justin said seriously as he pulled the covers
around their naked bodies.

End Part 15