Whatup, peeps! (hehe-- a little Justin there.)  It's Harrison with the 3rd installment as well as my usual complaint about the sheer difficulty of putting words to a page (so here it is: putting words on a page is sheerly difficult *lol*).  Hope you all like it!

For those of you who're interested in a little personal info, I don't know why but I've recently fallen in love with the song Sailing by our fave five.  JC does an excellent job vocalizing.  I must listen to it, like, 30 times a day.  Sad huh?

A huge shoutout to the author of Xtreme NSYNC, Billy Burrew, if you're readin' this man, you have one cool story there.  Love the X-Men.  Also to Zack, author of Model Romance, you drew me in, you have me at your mercy, now update faster pleeaase?  (Like I should talk! *lol*)  Finally to Rune Therin, author of NSYNC-Saga, love it.  Just love it.  (I thought Lews killed all his family?  You must have the luck of the Dark One himself! *heh*)

***Disclaimer:  The author (das'me!) does not claim any sure knowledge of the sexual preferences of any of the members of *NSYNC (though he's way convinced JC's gay, aren't you?).  If this sort of fiction is illegal where you live or you are underage, then, please do not read this.  (or at least hide it really really well.  You don't want your mom to find it now, do you?)

Chapter 3

    Justin looked at his watch as he and JC left the mall.  Four o'clock.  He sighed in relief.  They'd be home before rush hour.

    JC glanced at Justin and suppressed a smirk.  He just couldn't forget how outraged Justin had been earlier.  He'd been so mad he bought an entirely new outfit and threw what he'd been wearing in the trash.  Feeling really good, he moved his bags to his left hand and threw his right arm around Justin's shoulders.

    Justin glanced at him in surprise.

    JC grinned at him and said, "Thanks, Just."

    Justin looked puzzled.

    JC removed his arm from Justin's shoulders and slowly began edging away.  When he judged was far enough away, he said, "That was the best laugh I'd had in years."

    Justin's expression hardened.  "Thin ice, Shah-zaay."

    JC pretended not to hear and went on.  "I can't wait to tell your mom how you looked."  Then he began to imitate Justin, using his hands to simulate how Justin's hair looked and to disarrange his clothing.  Then he put on his dumbest expression and  scratched his head elaborately.  Then he grunted, "Duh, I'm Justin Timberlake and I'm clueless.  Duh."

    He was far enough away that when Justin came after him he was able to outdistance the younger boy easily.  They dodged among the cars for a bit and arrived breathless at opposite sides of Justin's car.

    Justin leaned against the roof the Benzinator and panted at JC, "You are so dead, Chasez."

    JC was torn between breathlessness and triumphant laughter so he just stuck his tongue out at Justin.

    Justin winked at him and said, "You always promise but you never deliver JC."  Then as JC stood there in confusion at his statement he quickly unlocked the doors and jumped in.

    JC recovered his wits too late as he heard the doors lock as reached for the door handle.  He could see Justin grinning at him through the window.  He shouted, "Sometimes Curly, I really wonder which team you bat for!  I promise but I don't deliver?"  Justin showed his tongue again..  He sighed and began loudly demanding that Justin open the door, more because Justin expected it than because he was really angry.

    Justin leaned back on the seat and listened to JC rant outside for  few minutes but eventually felt sorry for him and unlocked the doors.  JC promptly got in and sarcastically said, "Finally."

    Justin just looked at him and smirked.  JC looked at him and gave a huge sigh.  He waved his hand at the window and said in a weary voice, "Just drive, Curly."

    Justin began to drive out of the parking lot but he made sure that JC got the full effect of his triumphant smile.

    JC glanced at him and said in irritation, "You are such a child sometimes, Justin."

    Justin's smile grew wider and he replied, "I'm choosin' to ignore that last crack, seein' as it came from a person who might be walkin' home.  Hint."

    JC was about to reply with a scathing remark but a black leather wallet lying at his feet caught his attention.  He picked it up and asked Justin, "What's this?"

    Justin glanced at it and, just to be annoying, said, "A wallet."

    "Oh, ha-ha.  Fun-ny."  JC retorted.  "Whose is it?"

    Justin said, "Open it and find out, Dumbo."

    "Y'know, I'm startin' t'think this whole *NSYNC this was a big mistake."  Then he murmured just loud enough for Justin to hear, "Or at least you were."

    Justin stuck his tongue out again.

    "You always promise but you never deliver, Justin."

    Justin's head snapped around, a startled expression comically scrunching his face.

    JC smirked at him and waved his hand at the road.  "Drive Justin."  Then he let out a quiet snigger and opened the wallet.

    "Justin,"  Justin turned his head slightly at his puzzled tone.  "You know anybody named Tristan Gregory Hernandez Lim?"

    "That's his wallet?"  Justin asked, startled.

    "I take it you do know him?"  JC asked wryly.  "There doesn't seem to be any money in this wallet."  He continued in puzzlement.

    "Hmm.  That's weird.  I'll ask him 'bout it later."

    "You're gonna see him later?"  Curiosity colored JC's voice.

    Justin rolled his eyes at JC in the rearview mirror.  "Du-uh!  I'm gonna have to return the wallet."  Justin inwardly smiled.  He was certainly gettin' back at JC.

    JC was about to reply when Justin gave a small cry of pleasure and turned the radio up.  "Hey, " the younger boy exclaimed, "It's the mammal song!"  Then he began to sing along, "You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals, so lets do it like they do on the Discover channel."

    JC interrupted, "Just... It's not called the 'Mammal Song'.  It's 'The Bad Touch' by the Bloodhound Gang."

    "Whatever!"  Justin exclaimed in some irritation.

    "Not whatever Justin."  He continued pedantically, "We should respect other people's music.  Certainly we want them to respect ours, right?"  JC continued in the same vein for some time, completely ruining Justin's enjoyment of the song.  JC secretly smiled.  That ought to pay him back for the car thing.

    A short while later they pulled up to Justin's house.  Justin keyed the garage door to open and drove in.

    "JC?"

    "Hmm?"  JC said distractedly while getting out of the car.

    Justin grabbed the wallet on the dashboard and said, "Carry my bags up for me, kay?  I gotta return this."  He waved the wallet in the air.

    "Okay.  See you later."

    Justin left the driveway and began walking up the street to Tristan's house.  The route was so familiar he could have done it in his sleep.  Mr.  Ingelbar's house and then the Grangers' and then the Lims'.  He stood staring at for a few minutes.  It hadn't changed at all.  Even the repainting was done in the same colors.  The big tree in front, the tree, was just the same.  He peered up through the leaves and saw Tristan's big bedroom window was open, as always.  He felt a sudden urge to climb the tree and pop in through the window, just like in the old days.  He gave a wistful sigh as he walked up to the door and rang the bell.

    Margaret Lim answered the door a few minutes later.  She blinked a few times when she saw Justin but surpass gave way to a wide smile of pleasure.  Justin noted with some astonishment that the smile banished decades from her face, revealing that in her youth, Mrs. Lim had been a very beautiful woman.

    Mrs. Lim stepped away from the door and said, "Come in Justin."  Then a teasing glint appeared in her eye as she said, "When I told you to come by more often, I didn't expect you to visit the next day.  I must say you are a very good boy."

    Justin felt a strange nervousness and an unaccounted reluctance to enter seize him.  He fidgeted uncomfortably and showed Mrs. Lim the wallet left in his car.

    "I just came over to drop this off, Aunt Mags.  It's Tristan's."  He made a move to give her the wallet.

    Mrs. Lim's left eyebrow twitched ever-so-slightly but all she said was, "Oh well, he's right upstairs.  You know the way, don't you."  Then she began to make her way gracefully to the kitchen, waving one hand towards the stairs.  Then she added, "Don't forget to close the door, okay?"  She had totally not seen or ignored his reluctance to come in.

    Justin hesitantly crossed the threshold and shut the door.  He looked around at the living room and was seized by a fierce nostalgia.  Most of the furniture was different but  they were placed in the same locations as the old furnishings.  The antique oak cabinet with the curious knick-knacks, the dining table half-glimpsed through the archway to the dining room, the mirror over the fireplace and a hundred other things each called up memories.  He had spent a significant part of his childhood in this house.  Sometimes it seemed he had spent more time here than at home.
    Justin took one last look around and began to move.  The ghosts of the past kept him company as he made his way slowly up the stairs.

TBC....

    Well.  Hope y'all like it.  It took a really long time to write coz I read this story in Nifty that just blew me away.  All these authors were recommending it so I finally read it.  I confess I broke down crying when I finished it coz it was SO good.  Then I went SHIT!  It had almost exactly the same ending as my story (we even sorta had the same reason for writing the damn things).  So at this point I would like to say that my story's been bouncing around in my head since late March and I read this author's story like, June 1 or sumthin'.  Honest.  I even thought of canceling this story *coz I felt SO bad*, but I talked myself out of it.  I started this story for ME and me alone (plus all those great people who emailed encouragement, thnx peeps!)
    With that said, I would like to give major props and thanks to my bud K-OS who is the inspiration for Tristan (with some changes) and the incomparable Aliana who'll be showin' up sometime soon.  Sorry K but you're gay in this story so no LiLi for you! *heh* BUT!  You still like Sailing so it's all good.
    Again, thanks to all of you who took the time to respond to my story.  You are all very much appreciated.