Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 19:17:09 -0700
From: dkstories@cox.net
Subject: A Phone Call 14

Legal Stuff: I don't know NSYNC or any other celebrity mentioned.  While
real people are the basis of characters, they are characters here and do
not represent the real lives, thoughts, or feelings of the real people.
Again, these are characters based on them, not the real people themselves.
If you are too young, or live in a location where it is illegal to read
stories that include love between men, read no further!  Like that would
have ever stopped me...


A Phone Call - Chapter 14.

What was the phone call about?  Well, it seemed that a childhood friend of
James had been in a bad car accident and passed away.  The caller was his
mother, who had nothing but nasty words for me, starting with `child
molester'.  Poor James must have gotten an earful from her.  I couldn't go
with him to the funeral because I was needed on set.  Nathan was torn,
because he liked James and wanted to go with him, but he also wanted to be
on set with Rupert and learn about directing.  James decided for him by
telling him he had to stay.

It was depressing being at the airport again, saying goodbye to James as he
entered the terminal flanked by Justin and Josh.  They were going with him.
Nathan and I drove to the studio lot in silence, but as soon as we entered
the soundstage, he was away from me and connected at the hip to Rupert
Wainwright.  I had to endure the sympathies and well-wishes from everyone
because of the events over the past two days.  By mid-morning, though we
were in business shooting footage.  This week we were actually filming
scenes from Day Two, Hour One.  I couldn't help but get excited by what I
saw.

Life settled into a routine after that.  James came back a week later, so
pissed off at his mother that he put his Mississippi home up for sale.  He
declared he never wanted to speak to her again.  It bugged me, but I knew
better than to get involved.  NSYNC worked in a sound studio in LA while
Nathan and I were at the set.  When I wasn't on the set, I dropped Nathan
off and went about my meetings.  JMS had me involved in every aspect of
production and I was swamped.

However, life was quickly becoming good.  Nathan and I picked out a
therapist for him, and he met with her once a week.  There were problems.
He loved making a mess in the bathroom and didn't want to clean it up.  He
met some neighborhood kids and became friends with them, missing his
curfew.  He tried to blow it off and ended up getting fined his entire
allowance for the week by cursing at me, and then was grounded when he
threw Justin's PS2 across the room.

Overall though, he slipped into our lives and was soon a steady fixture for
us.  James soon began traveling again, but this time it was a little
different.  He'd hired an executive for FreeLance and so had less duties
there.  A couple of his acts were taking off and bringing in good income.
I spent some free time developing my plot lines for the first season,
reviewing submittals for the episodes I would not be writing, and writing
some of those that I would be doing myself.  Filming went well, and
watching the dailies was amazing.  I also was amazed at what Manuel's
company was producing.  It fit so seamlessly with what we were filming that
I couldn't believe how nice things were.  Within two months, filming on the
mini-series was complete.

That was when I shifted into turbo gear.  Nathan was still coming with me
to work every day, but now he was learning post-production.  I split my
time between post-production and preparation for the series itself.  We'd
begin filming of the series three weeks before the airing of the
mini-series, and then air it two weeks after.  That would give us four
episodes in the can, and we'd repeat the mini-series again before showing
four more new episodes in the November sweeps.  This gave us two runs of
the first batch of episodes to build a fan base and viewers during the late
August/early September run.  It also gave us more time to film episodes so
we could show new ones between November and December.  Then repeats in
January, with new episodes in February and part of March.  We'd end the
season with new shows in May.

Confusing, yes?  You should hear the Sales staff try to explain how
commercial time is sold.  I lost it after a few minutes and just let them
ramble on.  Maybe Nathan would understand what they are talking about.  The
days passed quickly.  I missed James whenever he wasn't around, but I was
too busy to become depressed about our lengthy separation.

Time passed, and it soon became the time that my creation, my mini-series
was going to air on television.  It looked good.  We'd screened it for
studio staff and a select group of industry reporters.  Bet you think they
were all people who'd been following the progress and writing raving
reviews of our work so far. Guess what? You're partially correct.  Half of
them were, the other half were those who had been most critical of the
Studio over the last year.

I was so happy when every single one of them gave my work a thumbs
up. Sure, there were elements they critiqued, some of which we decided to
fix at the last minute.  Yet, not a one of them said it was a waste of
time.  I was on cloud nine that night. Guess what made it perfect?  James
was in town and we had a nice quiet night while Nathan spent the night next
door with Josh and Manuel.

School started for Nathan, and he was pissed at not being able to hang out
around the set.  We had fought over what school we was to attend.  I wanted
private, he wanted public.  He won.  He also seemed to love it, so I didn't
bitch too much.

Manuel, Nathan and I were all invited to listen to some finished tracks of
NSYNC's new album.  They had not yet decided on a title when we listened to
them.  They were different, they sounded more grown up, or at least that's
what Manuel said: "NSYNC is all grown up!" Guess what?  The guys loved what
he said and decided that would be their new title: "NSYNC All Grown Up".
They were targeting the 18-24 crowd now, older than the younger groups
which were currently being ruled by hip-hop.  Nathan also got his weekend
in Orlando.  He decided he loved Disneyworld, and wanted us to move into
the Orlando house permanently.  The house was a teenager's wet dream.  He
even asked how we could move it to LA when he realized us living in Orlando
full time wasn't going to happen.

The two weeks before the airing of my show, I spent with the media.  A lot
of interviews, a lot of questions.  Nathan came up a lot, as did my lawsuit
against his Aunt for defamation.  It was settled with a written admission
by her and Nathan's sister of their false reports.  She was even prosecuted
by the DA for providing false information to the police and was sentenced
to 600 hours of community service.  Oh yeah, the officer who called me a
faggot?  He was demoted.  All in all, a good resolution.  Life for us had
reached a hectic, but manageable pace. Things weren't perfect, but they
were good.

The night finally arrived.  Tonight was the night that I would find out
what people thought about my show.  Nervous?  Me?  Can we say train wreck?
James was laughing so hard as I tried to fix the jacket on my Tuxedo that I
ended up frowning at him.  He looked good in his own tux, as did Nathan.
We rode in the limo from the studio, joined by Josh and Manuel, as well as
Justin.  Chris and Joey were bringing their ladies separately.  Justin was
still single.  Okay, he was turning into a player and just didn't feel like
having a date tonight.  He had plenty of ladies to choose from.

The studio had rented a huge theatre to show the first two hours of my
show.  It was like a big movie premiere, complete with red carpet.  Oh,
yeah, and reporters.  Lots of them.  They took pictures of us galore, and I
answered many questions.  We finally left them behind and sat as a group.
I had James on my right, and Nathan on my left.

Never watch your own work.  I noticed every little mistake, and thought of
hundreds of things to do better.  James even leaned over and told me to
stop it and just enjoy the show.  How could I?  However, I did notice
everyone laughing at the right spots, and even a few sniffles towards the
end.  After it was over, the room stood in a standing ovation.  I took a
bow with Rupert, JMS, Luke, and the main stars who were all there.

We all went to the after-show party and had a great time.  Nathan was
enthusiastic about some of the stars there his age, and actually struck up
some friendships with them.  Both James and I got a little tipsy, and snuck
away for a few moments.  We went out a side door, and danced to the faint
music from inside, wrapped in each others arms.  We had a good time dancing
like that, enjoying our closeness.  I smiled as James pulled my head down
to his and brought me into a deep, lingering kiss.

That was when I was blinded by a flash of light, and heard the familiar
sounds of feet running down the street.  I groaned, and James started
cussing.  We looked at each other, and then started laughing.  We couldn't
stop.  We ended up sinking to the ground and leaning against each other,
laughing so hard we couldn't stop.  That was how Josh and Manuel found us
when they came out for the same reason we did.  Fortunately for them, we
warned them before they too got caught.  Josh shrugged, then started
laughing.  Manuel looked pissed.

Of course, of the four of us, he was the one most worried about being
outed.  Go figure.

After a while, we all went back inside and gathered up the important
players.  In addition to the guys, there was Nathan, Tom, JMS, Luke, and
Johnny Wright (he'd flown out here after I invited him personally.  He
seemed pleased by the invitation.).  In a side room, James and I told them
what had happened.  I was shocked when Johnny shrugged.

"It was bound to happen sometime." He said after a moment.  "I mean, you're
not exactly low profile, and Lance is in love with you, so we've been
preparing for it.  We have the spin all ready to go.  We'll just fill in
the blanks for the specifics of how it happened.  Josh, you want to do this
at the same time?"

"Not yet." Josh said as Manuel violently shook his head no.

"Okay.  We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what actually gets printed
if anything, then we'll go from there.  Now, get back out there and have a
good time!"

We went home at midnight.  Poor Nathan, he just threw his tux on the floor
as he disrobed.  Justin saw him doing that and started chewing him out.  It
was almost funny.  Almost.  I finally told Justin he'd said enough and sent
him to bed.  I just looked at Nathan and held up five fingers.  He knew
that his allowance had just been deducted.  It was actually the first time
in two weeks that had happened.

The next morning, we woke up and scrambled to the store to get all the
papers we could.  Guess what?  Nothing.  We breathed a sigh of relief.  I
went into the studio offices where Marketing Mark told me that there had
not been a peep about the kiss.  Maybe it was just a fan.  I headed to
Tom's office and he showed me the preliminary ratings figures.  Then he
handed me a check.

I pinched myself.

My show had been the #1 rated show of the night.  The ratings were so high
that nothing even came close!  I know it was a Sunday night and not many
good shows were on...but even our wildest projections didn't come this
close.  The check was just as unbelievable.

"Most of our advertising contracts have a clause in them that the price of
spots for the second and third episodes are based on a sliding scale from
the previous night's ratings.  That check there is your percentage of the
revenues from the first night, and second night.  Now, the studio is
wanting to draw up a contract for 23 episodes on season two, and they are
demanding at least 10 scripts be yours.  Should our lawyers draft it up?"

"Add $50,000 per script." I said. "And I'll sign."

"Um, actually, they upped it to $200,000 per script already." He said,
coughing a little.

"Did I say 50?  I meant a hundred." I deadpanned.  He laughed at my joke.
His attorney had the paperwork to Judy within a few hours and I went to her
office to sign them.  I stopped over at FreeLance, gave Peter my check and
told him to take care of getting it to my accountant for me.  He buzzed
James who was in the office.

"Mr. Bass, your millionaire boyfriend is here." He was right, even after
taxes, FreeLance's cut, and al l that other stuff, I was now a millionaire.
Kissing James has never been so wonderful.  I don't think either of us got
anything done, and I hoped Peter had earplugs.  Somehow I don't think he
would want to have heard what we were yelling to each other.  When we left
around 4:00 that afternoon, we noticed a note on the outside of the door.
It seems Peter took an early lunch and wasn't coming back.  James smiled
and mentioned he'd pay Peter for the time anyway.  Good PA's were hard to
find.  I knew that by this time Peter was actually being very well paid for
his work, but he deserved every penny.

NSYNC would be releasing their album in November (Christmas shopping
season!) at the same time the DVD of the min-series would be on sale.  They
were going to run a short tour in December and January to promote the
album, with a longer tour starting in the next April.  Between now and
then, they were hitting every show, every appearance they could both
together and separately.  I was actually amazed that neither of us had
duties tonight.  Tomorrow I was going to be on Leno to hype the last part
of the mini-series, and to show clips of the first part of the series.  As
a family, the three of us watched the middle episode at home that night,
and I was a lot less critical.  I was also a lot more passionate with James
that night.

The next day, Nathan was at school when I went into the studio accompanied
by James.  The lucky guy had the day off and chose to spend it with me.  My
visit to Tom's office was greeted with a HUGE smile.  When he handed me the
figures, and another check, I couldn't help but dance.  We'd added 10% on
to the figures.  I was holding a check worth $682,000.  Altogether, the
studio had now earned four times what they invested, as much as a major
movie release!  Okay, NOW I was a famous Hollywood writer and producer.

Poor Peter.  He received over three hundred phone calls for me that day.
James and I decided to hire someone to help him out now.  We were talking
about this with Tom's secretary when Tom buzzed her and told her to send us
back inside.  James' cell rang at the same time, and he answered it as we
went inside.  Tom handed me a printout of an e-mail.  James' conversation
was with Johnny Wright, who had apparently received the same thing.

The picture wasn't so bad. Actually we looked quite good kissing in our
tuxedos.  The e-mail was from the Enquirer asking for any comments on the
picture they had purchased and would be printing tomorrow.  That meeting
lasted for the entire morning, and into the afternoon.  Luckily, Tom
catered for us so I wasn't starving as we stumbled out of the studio around
1:00 p.m.  I needed to get to the NBC lots for the Leno show.  We'd already
called Josh who would pick up Nathan.  Originally we'd planned for James to
do it, but he was going to be busy.

"Nervous?" I asked him as I drove.

"Worse than you at the premiere." He said with a soft laugh.

"Damn, that's bad." I agreed.  "Look, James, we can make a story up about
this.  I can move out with Nathan and..."

"NO!" James shouted, making me swerve.  "I am NOT going to lose you."

"You wouldn't be losing me.  We'd just have to cut back on seeing each
other every time you're in LA."

"Is that what you want?" He mumbled, looking down.  "Don't want the mystery
of your dating life finally solved?"

"What I want to do is go on national television and tell everyone in the
world that you are the most loving, caring, gentle, and sexiest person I've
ever met." I told him.

"Sexiest?" He said, looking up, a small smile forming on his perfect lips.

"Yes, sexiest.  Ricky Martin has nothing on you." I said.

"Oh, god you just compared me to Ricky Martin." He groaned.

"He was in a boy-band too." I laughed.

"Yeah, you say that now, but you've never seen him naked." James laughed.
I coughed and he stared at me. "Tell me you haven't?"

"Uh, eight years ago?" I said softly.

"So, you know what you mean when you said I'm sexier than he is?" James
said, catching me by surprise.  I was expecting jealousy.

"You're not..." I began then faltered.

"Upset?  No.  I've talked to Chad and Luke and a few others.  They have
some wild stories to tell about you.  You can't help it that you were a
slut back then, sleeping with a house full of marines, partying with the
stars, disappearing into the desert with a car full of pilots, all that is
the past.  Besides, you should hear my reputation now. I've done the
impossible and got the biggest slut Hollywood's ever seen to settle down
and be my bitch."

"You...did...not...just...call...me...a...bitch!" I stuttered out between
laughs.

"Yes, you are MY bitch and I love you." James said. Our hands were
intertwined between us, and he raised them to kiss the back of mine.  It
felt so good, here we were in my convertible, in broad daylight, and he
showed me affection.  Maybe this would all go good after all.

Getting into the NBC lot with an unexpected guest is a pain in the ass.
However when Leno's producer found out it was a member of NSYNC with me,
she passed along her approval immediately.  When we got to right lot, she
met us and was asking James if he'd consent to be a guest.  They'd just had
a cancellation.  He of course agreed, since it fit into the plans for the
night.  She told us that I was on second, after ROBIN of all people! I
rushed to his dressing room and got a hearty hug from him.  James entered
and also got a hug.  We caught up on each other since I hadn't talked to
him in months.  Would you believe he'd talked to my grandmother more
recently than I had?  The nerve of the guy!

He asked James how he'd been and that's when we told him about the picture
and recent e-mail.  We also told him our plan after swearing him to
secrecy.  He thought our plan was going to be hilarious, so he eagerly
agreed to participate.  That was when Leno came in for his pre-show chat.
He was surprised to see all of us there together, and thanked James for
agreeing to a last minute appearance.  He then asked if we all knew each
other, and Robin immediately told him that he was an old friend of my
family.  We chatted for about twenty minutes about minor things, Leno
giving a rough sketch of what he'd be asking, confirming the clips for my
show.  It was a pleasant conversation and he even asked if I minded him
referencing my sexuality. I told him to go for it and he seemed happy.
Maybe he had a joke planned, but I had plans of our own.

After he left, the make-up people came in, taking James and I to our
separate dressing rooms.  We'd even brought outfits that were in the car.
I don't know why we both brought outfits this morning, since he hadn't
planned on being on-air, but I was glad we did.  While they make-up person
fixed me up to look good on television, and the hair stylist tweaked my
hair (I liked that perm from San Diego so much that I kept it every time I
got my hair done).  James and I met in the green room, the only people in
there except one of the show's assistants.  We nervously sipped at some
water while Leno went through his opening monologue.  He even made a joke
about my show!  It was funny and got some good laughs, including the two of
us.

As he ended his dialogue, he announced his guests for the night.  I
actually liked what he had to say, and James smiled.  I felt much more at
ease when he squeezed my shoulder affectionately.  I still got nervous
before going on television.

I looked at the clock on the wall and realized that the taping of the show
would be over only after the evening news broadcasts, which made me feel
better.  The last part of the mini-series before the news really broke, and
more than likely Leno would get a good draw with Robin Williams and myself
as his announced guests.

They came back from commercial, and Robin was brought out.  They spoke for
a good five minutes about Robin's current projects before Jay Leno asked
him about me.

"So, I understand that you and our next guest have a shared past?" Leno
stated.

"Yeah." Robin said, smiling.  "He seduced me the first time I met him and I
haven't been the same since."

Okay, even I was shocked.  You could feel the air being sucked out of the
room as people drew in deep breaths all at the same time.  Poor Leno looked
pole-axed.  Robin just smiled.

"Geez, I didn't think the joke was THAT bad." Robin exclaimed, laughing a
little.  You could feel the air rushing back into the room as people let
out that deep breath and a few giggled nervously.

"Seriously, though." Robin continued, smiling when he said serious.  "I met
him when he was just a kid..."

Robin retold the story of meeting my Aunt, Mother, and Grandmother in
Tahoe, then of meeting me later.  Then he got really embarrassing.  He told
the story of my 15th birthday party where I got drunk and puked all over
the back patio.  Then he told the story of how my grandmother called him
when I `came out' the family.  By the time he was done, the audience was
laughing and sniffling at a few of the things he said.

"I thought we were supposed to be talking about YOU." Leno said after a
while.

"Sorry, but Davey's family has been a part of my life and I love the fact
that he's had the success he's earned. I'm as proud of him as his family
is." Robin said with a smile.

"Well, on that note, it's time to pay the bills.  We'll be right back after
this with Davey Young, creator of "Ganymede!"

The assistant chose that moment to get my attention and walk me out to the
stage.  I was put into position to enter from behind the curtain, and had
to take several deep breaths.  I'd done this before, but suddenly I was
more nervous than I'd ever been.  Okay, I'd done television before, but
never what was about to happen.  They came back from commercial, and I
could hear my name being announced.  I was really surprised to see the
audience standing and clapping as I came onstage.  I waved for a few
moments, and they cheered louder.  Okay, at this point I was really
unsettled.  I walked over to the platform as Jay rose from his desk to
shake my hand.  Robin stood up and gave me a bear hug.  That was when I sat
down, feeling the microphone's battery pack digging into my lower back.

"So, Dave, how does it feel to have your show be the #1 rated event for two
nights in a row?" Jay asked me.

"My god, Jay, I can't even begin to describe how I feel.  I feel like I'm
on top of the world at the moment.  But I have to say, the idea was mine,
but bringing it to fruition was a team effort.  JMS, Luke Perry, Rupert
Wainwright, everyone on the cast, and all the people at Korvan Studios have
as much credit in the success as I do."

"Wasn't this a big risk for Korvan Studios?"

"Absolutely." I answered.  These were well rehearsed answers.  "They had
made some big mess-ups with previous shows, losing credibility with viewers
and with the people who make the shows.  They had to regain that trust, and
they chose to do with my script.  They've been extremely hands off, and I
think that allowed us to be edgier, more dramatic than we would have been
otherwise."

"So, tonight's the last episode?"

"Of the mini-series, yes.  The actual series is in production, with the
first two episodes in the can.  The first will be shown in two weeks time."

"Now, the studio has ordered one full season, correct?

"Wrong, Jay.  As of this morning, a contract has been signed for TWO
seasons." I said, smiling.  People cheered at that, and I waived towards
them.

"So, let's see this clip you brought.  What's it from?" He asked. I
explained the clip as they set it up, and the audience reacted well to what
they saw.  That made me happy.  We went to commercial break, and Jay warned
me he was going to ask some personal questions.  Robin gave me a bad time
about not having a cameo for him in the show, then we came back from
commercial.

"So, I understand you got arrested a few months ago?" Jay asked, and I was
shocked he was asking such a hardball question.

"Yes," I said slowly.  Robin looked a little angry.  "The case was
dismissed at pre-trial. The police had gone off on bad evidence and
overreacted."

"That must have been hard to accept, that you were arrested for something
you didn't do and those who did just sat back and laughed."

"Jay, no one laughed." I said seriously.  "A police officer was demoted,
the DA issued a written apology, as did Social Services.  The person who
initiated the complaint with false information was given 600 hours of
community service and settled a lawsuit with me."

"How much did you get?" Jay asked.

"I got a letter of apology admitting what she had done." I said simply.

"No money?"

"None. I have all the money I need, and she needs her money as it is to
defend her husband who has been convicted of the crime she accused me of."

"Wow. I'm glad everything worked out fine for you though." He said.  I also
noticed a change in the audience.  If anything, I seemed to have gotten
some respect from them out of this questioning. Okay, maybe Leno would not
be on my `never again' list.

"It did, eventually.  Nathan's home where he's happy.  He's doing damn good
in school. Straight A's!  He's also involved in year book staff at his
school and the Film Club.  I swear he keeps me on my toes so often that I
would be bored without him around."

"Sounds like a regular parent to me." Jay said, smiling.  Ah, there had
been a point to this after all.

"I try to be." I answered honestly.  "He's had a tough life and I want to
his teenage years as normal for him as I can."

"That's good.  You know, when you first came to Hollywood, there were
rumors going around about you and Chad Allen.  Are you two still together?
What does Nathan think about him?

"Chad?" I asked, laughing. "Sorry, Jay.  We've never been more than
friends.  Nathan's met Chad and loves him. Hell, my friends get along with
Nathan better than I do, because I'm the one who has to discipline him.
They all just spoil him!"

"You and every other parent say the same thing." Jay said, with a chuckle.
"So, there's no one special in your life?"

"Didn't say that, Jay."  I explained smugly.  "I just said Chad's not the
one.  I've been in a relationship for a little over six months and couldn't
be happier."

"What?!" Jay nearly shouted.  "You've been in a relationship in Hollywood
for six months and the story hasn't leaked?  Who is he?"

"Well, I might tell you later." I said slyly. I swear, you could hear all
the chairs creak as the entire audience leaned forward.  "But I want to ask
for a big favor."

"What, I'll.." Jay started, but I caught him off.

"I would like ask that no one will leak the identity until after the show
airs tonight.  It's just five hours.  You can use anything in a promo,
except for the actual identity, or hint of identity of my boyfriend.  We
want to surprise people."

"Hmmm." Jay said, pretending to think about it.  "If any of my staff leaks,
they're fired, and you have my promise.  Audience?"

Their clapping and shouts said yes!

"Okay, so spill." Jay said, wraggling his eyebrows.

"I will, later in the show.  I promise. "

"Well, we have to go to commercial now, so let's bring out the third guest
after this break."  Jay said then turned to me.  "You drive a hard
bargain."

"Jay, why are we actually taking a commercial break when this is being
taped?"

"Something to do with it being easier to produce.  Plus it gives us time to
chat.," He said as the producer counted down from 30.

"Can I introduce Lance?" I asked him.  He stared at me surprised, then
agreed.

"Welcome back folks, to introduce our third guest for tonight's show, Dave
Young has requested the honor." Jay said motioning to me.  I stood up,
pointed theatrically to the curtain where I knew a very nervous James was
standing.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome James Lance Bass of NSYNC!" I
shouted. James came out from the curtain and stopped to waive at the
audience.  As he waived, he turned to me and I winked.  He nodded.

"I just wanted to let all of you know." I started to say in that loud
voice.  They quieted down immediately.  I heard a few gasps from some of
the more intelligent members of the audience.  "That ever since I met him,
I have never ceased to be amazed by how smart, caring, wonderful, and
downright sexy a person James is.  We met six months ago, and I must say
that ever since then, I've been the luckiest man on earth to have him as my
boyfriend."

Okay, the air did get sucked out of the room again. This time there was
also a thud as Jay Leno fell out of his chair.  The second thud was Robin
Williams falling out of his after laughing at Jay.  The third thud was me
hitting the floor as James ran to me, jumped on top of me and started
kissing me. I lost my balance as we fell.  So there, we were, three guests
and the host of the show lying on the floor as the audience prepared to
pass out from failing to breathe.  James stopped kissing me long enough for
me to raise my head and say "No, we're NOT joking!"

That did it.  Robin had just gotten back up when he fell down again.  Jay
had gotten in to his chair and just put his head into his hands, blushing.
James finally stood up, helping me to my feet.  We sat in the two chairs
closest to Jay, and moved them closer to each other so that we were
comfortable as we held hands on national television.

"Uh, Jay, silent air time is bad air time." I said in a very teasing tone.

"I'm going to be hearing about falling out of my chair forever!" Jay almost
wailed, setting off another round of laughing.  "Okay, so let's get this
right.  You, Lance Bass, are dating Davey Young.?"

"Yup." James said, smiling and squeezing my hand.  "I'm the luckiest guy on
earth to have him as my partner."

"You said this has been going on for six months?" Jay asked, and we nodded.
"How'd you meet?"

James answered that question.  He talked about buying his home, then being
told that some asshole in the City wouldn't let him move in.  It was weird
hearing his version of the story, and I blushed a couple of times, most
notably as he talked about our first kiss.

"What about the rest of NSYNC?" Jay asked after James was done.  "Do they
know you're coming out on national television?"

"Yeah." James said, still smiling.  "They've known about me for years.  Two
nights ago at the premier party for Dave's show, we snuck outside and
danced together.  It was so romantic, and we really needed to be close.  I
kissed him and someone took a picture of the kiss.  They sold it to a paper
who is going to run the story.  I don't like the idea of contributing to
tabloid's business, and we had already decided we'd come out sometime so it
just seemed the right time.  Everyone, both at Korvan and Jive have been
extremely supportive."

"Aren't you worried this will hurt sales for your new album?"

"Of course, who wouldn't be?" James answered honestly. "But I'm not going
to lie to the fans anymore.  I'm not going to deny the picture that was
taken.  In fact, if I can get a good enough copy, I want to frame it.  We
look damn sexy in those tuxes.  The fans can either accept me as I am, and
like our music, or not.  It's their choice and they will vote with their
pocketbook.  As for me, my relationship with Dave is far more important,
and raising Nathan as well.  I would give up my career for either of them."

"Well, folks, there you have it, Hollywood's newest couple.  Best of luck
to both of you.  Now, it's time for a break and when we come back our
musical guest, Matchbox 20!"

We went to commercial, and Jay was positively ecstatic that we'd given him
this opportunity for a scoop.  He promised us he'd do everything he could
to keep a lid on the story until his show aired that night.  Matchbox 20
got set up and did an amazing number.  After they were done, they came to
sit down while Jay talked to them. They surprised us by hugging both of us
and giving their support.

James got a little upset at how long the hug lasted between Rob Thomas and
I.  He got a little more upset when he looked at my lap.  You see, well, a
few weeks ago we were talking about crushes, and I admitted to having a big
crush on Rob Thomas.  I still did, but I loved James more.  I knew I'd have
make it up to him later that night.  Jay finished the show and we went
backstage to get the make-up off.  Somehow, I ended up next to Rob, who is
also from the Phoenix area, so we were chatting about locations there as
our make-up was removed.  Before he left, he gave me his phone number and
invited James and I to a party he was having the next night.

We got home late, after going out to eat.  James was a little withdrawn,
and I knew what was bugging him.  When we got home, he went into the room
to lie down before we watched the broadcast of the Leno show.  I called
Tom, Johnny, Josh (and asked him to keep Nathan for the night), then went
into the bedroom. He just looked at me.  I smiled at him, slowly taking off
each item of clothing I was wearing.  He was frowning when I started, and
as I slipped the red bikini briefs off, he was still frowning.  I wasn't
convinced though, because he had an awful big lump in his pants.

That was when I kneeled down next to him, on both knees.  I took his hand
and started kissing it gently, then moved up his arm slowly. By the time I
got to his shoulder, his frown was long gone.

"He's a crush.  You're the man I love, and the only man I want to sleep
with." I whispered.  He answered, not with words, but by pulling me onto
the bed.  Passion flared in his eyes and I knew this was going to be an
exciting round .

We missed Leno.  We were otherwise occupied.

We also thought the earthquake was just us, so we didn't stop.

***

The End.


***

Just kidding, here's the rest!

***

We woke up to Josh pounding on the bedroom door.  That was when he told us
there'd been an earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale.  Some of the
stuff in our room had fallen off shelves and the kitchen was a mess, but
things didn't look too bad.  James went to check the other bedrooms.  I
heard him scream and came running.  He was in front of Nathan's room, a
look of horror on his face.  I looked inside and had to laugh.

Remember the posters I bought Nathan, and how he had planned to rotate
them?  Last week was all near naked girls (get it gay boy with posters that
straight boys would drool over...yeah I just smirked at them as well).
Well, he'd changed them again.  This time the walls were covered with every
poster of the Backstreet Boys he could find.

"That...that TRAITOR!" James shouted.  Nathan had come in just at that
moment and started howling with laughter.  That set me off, and Josh just
had to come over and look.  He turned around and smacked Nathan lightly on
the back of the head.  Together, he and James entered Nathan's room and
began to literally tear the posters down.  Then they took great pleasure in
tearing them into tiny bits, then tossing the bits into the air.  As they
finished, they exited Nathan's bedroom and went into the kitchen to start
picking up.

"Oh, Nathan?" James said as he passed us.  "Clean your room.  Dave, since
you paid for them, you can help."

Okay, it took Nathan a while to stop laughing, and even longer to clean his
room.  I was in enough trouble and didn't need to make it worse.  Of
course, James and I probably needed to make-up now.  That thought caused me
to leave the room, telling Nathan to finish up by himself.  I went into the
kitchen, grabbed James and carried him into our room.  I ignored the groans
coming from Josh and Nathan.  I did however, remember to turn on the CD
player.  I have no idea where I got the idea of making love with Eminem
playing, but we both seemed to like it a lot.

You know, when we emerged, freshly cleaned from the shower, the condo was
spotless.  I couldn't help but smile.  Of course we turned the television
on as Nathan fixed lunch (yes, we were teaching him how to cook. He was
already better than Josh, but well, so was a 5 year old).

Isn't life ironic?  (wait, isn't that a song?)  James and I reveal our
relationship to the world in a spectacular manner and what happens?  An
Earthquake.  We didn't even get a mention on MTV News!

It might be funny enough to laugh at one day, but for now James was pulling
his hair out.  Josh had gone to the store and gotten the newspapers.  Guess
what?  Even the Enquirer didn't run the story.  We didn't know whether to
laugh or cry.  In fact, I started to think we'd had a shared dream.  That
was until the phone rang and it was Rob Thomas.  I talked to him a few
minutes, he was laughing about it as well.  He asked if I was going to the
party that night, and I declined.  I was pretty sure James wouldn't want to
go.

The phone rang again, and this time it was Johnny Wright.  He talked to
James for a few minutes, then James shared the gist of the conversation.
MTV was going to start running a piece about last night's Leno show
starting in the next hour.  They wanted to interview NSYNC to get responses
from them about James' coming out.  They also wanted me there as well.  It
was set up for the TRL East Coast broadcast, which meant we had thirty
minutes to get downtown.

We made it, barely.  MTV's west coast facilities are, shall we say...um
skimpy?  It was enough however, for the six of us to fit in front of a
camera that was connected to a satellite link.  Well, we managed to fit
because James was in my lap.  I wasn't sure how MTV's audience would react
to that, but I wasn't about to let Justin sit in my lap (he tried the
little imp!).  Okay, I found out later that they were purposely herding us
into a small space.  They did have more room than they gave us, but they
were cramping us on purpose.  I think they wanted Lance sitting on my lap,
leaning forward.  I kind of figured that out when I saw the video feed.  It
looked like we were getting ready to go at it right there.  What was worse
was the fact that I had a boner the entire time he was in my lap. He just
does that to me!

You know, I can't even remember the name of the guy who was hosting the
show.  It wasn't Carson, who I had been expecting.  It was Mark, or was it
John?  I don't know.  He was just the MTV guy.  We were pancaked (you know,
make-up for T.V.) and wired for microphones, then thrust into this little
room.  We finally got seated (I dumped Justin on the floor when he tried to
sit in my lap but you probably figured that from the first time I mentioned
it.  Have I mentioned how much he bugged me at that moment?").  By that
time, MTV had already run the clip from Leno of our kiss, then they
announced that NSYNC `plus' was in their LA studios.  The earpiece they'd
given me was filled with the cheers of their largely female studio
audience.

"Hi TRL!" All the guys said in unison, leaving me a lame "Uh, Hi MTV"
totally out of sync with them.  For some reason they broke up laughing and
James banged his elbow against my cheek.

"Ow" I muttered, causing more laughter from the guy.

"Lance, you beating on your boyfriend again?" Chris moaned loudly.

"Hi guys." MTV dude said in a voice way too cheerful.  "Welcome back to
TRL."

"Always a pleasure." Justin said with his smarmy grin.  "Even if we had to
bring the big lug with us."

"You're just pissed because I wouldn't let you sit in my lap, pretty boy."
I kidded him.

"Well, I guess I don't need to ask if all of you get along with Lance's
boyfriend." MTV Guy said with a little laugh.

"Him?  You mean Mr. Big Shot Director.  Naw, we don't like him." Joey said
with a straight face.

"He's like family." Josh said with a smile.

"So, what brought about the coming out on Leno last night? MTV guy asked.

"Someone managed to get a picture of us smooching outside of Dave's premier
party. They sold the story to the Enquirer.  We all decided that it would
be better to do it on our terms than on theirs.  Besides, this way we got
to make Jay Leno fall off of his chair" James said.  Apparently the studio
audience thought it was funny because they laughed.  They roared even
louder when Justin opened his mouth.

"You would have thought he'd been Punk'd." Justin muttered somewhat
bitterly.  Apparently he still held a grudge against the MTV show, even
though they'd helped him get payback.  Oh well, so goes life in the
celebrity arena.  Wait a minute!  Did this mean I was now eligible for such
treatment?

"Well, your fans here in New York wanted to ask you guys a few questions,
so first at the mic is Jessica from Hershey, Pennsylvania.

"Lance, I was wondering if you were turned gay by meeting Dave?" the young
girl asked.

"No, Jessica.  I knew I was gay long before I ever met Dave.  It took me a
long time to accept it, but I'm a lot happier being honest with myself, and
with you fans." James told her, and the audience.

"Hi, I'm Megan from Denver, Colorado." The next girl began.  "I wanted to
ask Lance if Dave was his first boyfriend."

"No," James answered.  "Dave is not my first boyfriend.  Don't ask me who
it was, it's up to him if he wants it to be known.

Okay, it took an extreme effort of will not to look at Josh at this point,
but I didn't.  I shifted a little, James was gaining a little weight, and
my leg was starting to fall asleep. He felt me move under him and just
ground his butt into me more.  I held back the moan that wanted to escape
my lips.

"Hi, I'm Sheila, from Stockton, California and I wanted to ask Dave if
Lance was a good lover."

"Don't get them started!" Chris wailed, covering his eyes.

"Oh god, no, I've already been scarred for life!" Joey grumbled, covering
his mouth.

"My poor viriginal ears!" Justin moaned, covering his ears.  Josh just
smiled.

I knew I was blushing.  I could feel my face turning red.  James started
laughing.  He laughed so hard that he fell forward.  I stood up to help
him, then realized I was wearing tight pants with a hard on.  I sat down
hard, and the chair collapsed.  Oh sure, was anyone sympathetic?  No, the
rest of the guys cracked up laughing.  James got himself standing back up,
helped me off the floor and we got the chair re-set.  By the time we got
ourselves back in place, the guys had calmed down, although they were still
giggling.  The next question stopped all laughing immediately.

"Hi, I'm Jen from North Carolina." This girl said in a thick accent.
"Aren't y'all worried that you're going to be burning in hell and that
you're promoting an unhealthy lifestyle? I've already burned all my NSYNC
CDs."

"We're sorry to hear that." Chris said immediately.

"We hate losing fans, but sometimes it's better than the alternative."
Justin said coldly.

"God will judge us all at the end, and I'm not afraid to face him now."
James said softly, his voice growing in strength as he continued.  "I live
my life, loving the man I'm with. I'm faithful to him, and he's faithful to
me. I hope we spend the rest of our lives together and I thank God everyday
for bringing him into my life."

"Okay, well that about does it for the show!" MTV guy said.  He then went
on to announce the number three video and we were off the air.
Immediately, all the guys rallied around James and I, making sure that we
weren't too bummed out by the last question.  They pointed out that it was
one of many fans and most of them had been supportive.  It helped, a
little.  I wondered how many girls across the nation were tearing up their
NSYNC posters and crying their hearts out they would now never be
Mrs. Bass.

Oh well, he's mine.  They can't have them.  We all made our way out of the
studio and headed back to the vstd.  We were making plans for dinner when
James' cell phone rang.  I knew from his face that it was not a good phone
call.  Sure enough, his mother's yelling was loud enough for me to hear
her.  The two of us got into my car, everyone else was in the SUV.  I drove
out of the parking lot, heading home as he continued his phone call.  He
listened to her, tried to get a word in, but she kept on running over him.
He finally hung up and turned his phone off.  I reached over and squeezed
his thigh.  He leaned over until his head rested on my shoulder.

"Tell me this is all worth it." He begged.

"James, open the glove compartment." I told him softly.  He did.  He saw it
immediately and pulled it out.  I pulled the car over and took the box from
him.  I'd bought it two months ago, and had not yet found the right time.
Well, there's no time like the present. I opened the box and pulled the
platinum ring out.  It had an emerald surrounded by diamonds and was the
most beautiful of all those I'd looked at. I looked deep in his eyes, saw
the love there and knew this was the right thing.

"James Lance Bass," I started, taking his hand and sliding the ring onto
his left finger.  "I love you with all my heart.  You've turned my life
around and made it so much better.  Would you do me the honor of spending
the rest of our lives together?  Would you be my partner in life, in love?

"Oh god, Dave." James whispered, tears in his eyes as he looked down at the
ring on his finger.  "I will, I will."

We hugged there, on the side of some street in LA, confident that we would
be together until we died.

All in all, it was a pretty eventful day, and one I would always remember
with a smile.

Too bad it had to end sometime.

***

To be continued, and yes, I am a tease.