Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 21:34:29 -0400
From: Writer Boy <writerboy69@hotmail.com>
Subject: rebound - part 34

Obligatory warnings and disclaimers:

1) If reading this is in any way illegal where you are or at your age, or
you don't want to read about male/male relationships, go away. You
shouldn't be here.

2) I don't know any of the celebrities in this story, and this story in no
way is meant to imply anything about their sexualities, personalities, or
anything else.  This is a work of pure fiction.

Questions and commentary can be sent to "writerboy69@hotmail.com". I enjoy
constructive criticism, praise, and rational discussion. I do not enjoy
flames, and will not tolerate them.

That said, we now continue.

***

I turned around and realized that Johnny and Joey were still watching me.
Behind them, the three bodyguards still at the house were whispering to
each other, but I couldn't get a feel for what exactly they were so amused
by. Their expressions didn't offer any clues. I guess, as professionals,
they were obligated to worry about Chris's safety, so they couldn't be too
happy that he'd gotten kneed in the nuts while they were guarding him, even
if their boss had stayed their hands. On the other hand, though, they
weren't looking at me like they were upset with me. I guess slapping
someone as arrogant, snotty, and downright pissy as Chris around was
probably something they'd dreamed of at one point or another. I know it
would have been if I had to work for him.

Johnny and Joey's expressions, on the other hand, were fairly simple to
decipher, even with Joey's beard in the way. Johnny had this amused, tiny
little smile on, like he'd just finished watching an extremely intricate
circus performance, something that would leave you both appreciative of the
effort but also entertained by the spectacle.  Joey, on the other hand,
looked completely stunned, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide. He
closed it as I walked over, his jaw clicking audibly, and he blinked,
looking back and forth between Johnny and I.

"What?" I asked, waiting to hear him say something stupid.

"Nothing," he said, holding up his hands. "Just remind me never to fuck
with you, ok?"

"It wasn't that bad," I said, rolling my eyes as we began walking back
around the house. I could hear Justin and Lance laughing somewhere, and the
tap of a club hitting a golf ball.

"Wasn't that bad?" Joey asked, surprised. "Dude, I think you sterilized
him!  And that was nothing compared to JC's mafia kiss of death there in
the driveway. What the hell was that?"

I thought I knew the answer to that one, but didn't want to say it. That
mafia kiss of death, as Joey had called it, was JC proving that he really
wasn't over Justin. Sure, he'd been concerned about Chris, but the emotion
he'd shown toward Justin being hurt went way beyond that.

Maybe I shouldn't have talked to him about Justin after all.

"It was definitely interesting," Johnny said softly, still smiling that
little cherub grin. He was a big guy, a little on the heavy side, and the
overall impression he gave off, summed up in just one word, was jovial. He
seemed like the kind of person who might burst into laughter at any moment,
and, looking in his eyes, you could see that it would be infectious. If
Johnny laughed, you'd have no choice but to laugh along with him. "Then
again, I figured it would be. I've heard quite a bit about you, Chris, and
I was really looking forward to seeing you today."

"Was it all that you hoped for and more?" I asked, smiling.

"Oh, definitely," Johnny said, smiling back, a wide, toothy grin below his
thin mustache.  "I've heard a lot about you."

"I could say the same about you," I said, playing it coy. Johnny seemed to
recognize it, and smiled again. "It was all good, though I bet you can't
say the same."

Johnny laughed at that, his grin breaking even wider in the bright
sunshine.  Joey shook his head and started walking over to Justin and
Lance, calling for Bri. She heard him, her head whipping around, and she
charged toward him. Justin and Lance looked up, Justin holding a golf club
as Lance stood next to him, watching intently as Justin pointed at
something and gestured at the club and ball again, probably explaining
something about the swing and drive and his handicap, or some other
collection of golfing terms that I couldn't understand because I didn't
play the game. I wondered if Lance did.  If not, he was getting even more
bonus points from me.

"Wanna trade stories?" Johnny asked, gesturing at the table and chairs near
us, where several bottles of water and soda were still sitting out,
sweating in the sun. His smile made the whole thing seem kind of naughty,
like two coworkers hunching over the copier to trade office gossip, and I
had to grin.

"Sure," I said, pulling out a chair. I glanced down the yard and saw Joey
carrying Bri back toward Lance and Justin, and Justin was shading his eyes,
his head turned toward me. I waved to show him I was ok, and I could see
his smile from the patio.  Joey said something, and Justin's laugh carried
across the yard. I cracked open one of the water bottles and raised my
eyebrows in surprise as Johnny reached into a refrigerator near the table
and pulled out a bottle of Corona.

"Want one?" he asked, holding the bottle out toward me. I took it, still
smiling, and he handed me a bottle opener, too.

"Beer? That's not very wholesome and boybandy," I said, watching him pull
out another one and a lime.

"The reporter's gone," he said, chuckling, as he pulled out a pocketknife.
He sliced the lime into wedges as I popped open our beers. Corona without
lime was, well, unspeakable. "So, Chris Vanderhall, you're Justin's new
boyfriend. The only boyfriend Justin's ever had, I might add, besides
JC. You're filling some interesting shoes, Mr.  Vanderhall."

"I'm not trying to fill any shoes," I said, not really sharply, but
definitely firm. "I'd rather wear my own than fill someone else's."

"Well put," Johnny said, sipping his beer. "So, who goes first?"

"I will," I said. Johnny seemed nice, and he'd let me assault one of his
guys already, so I guess he wasn't going to do anything to me
outright. Justin trusted him, and thought the world of him, so I decided
that the least I could do after the hospitality he'd shown was to be honest
with him. "I know that you're the manager who doesn't try to screw the guys
out of everything they deserve, unlike the previous one. I know that
Justin, and I guess the others, respects you, and they think the world of
you. I also know that you've never given Justin or JC any shit about being
gay, at least not that Justin knows about, and that means a lot to
Justin. I know that you don't coddle them, and that you make sure they do
what they're supposed to, but I also know that they trust you, and that
you've always repaid it in kind. That about sum it up?"

Johnny blinked in surprise, and then broke into chuckling again, sipping
his beer and shaking his head.

"Yeah, I think that does just about sum it up," he said, laughing. "That's
a better snapshot of Johnny Wright than most reporters give, actually. You
hear all that from Justin?"

"More or less," I said, nodding. We'd talked about Johnny a couple of
times, and one night Justin had explained the entire lawsuit and everything
else with Lou, too, although he referred to him as The Bastard like it was
a proper noun. "Did I get anything wrong?"

"Not really," Johnny said. A breeze was starting to come up, and I wondered
what Justin and I were going to do for dinner. I'd leave that one in his
hands, depending on how he really felt and whether or not he was still
fronting for the guys. "I mean, you left out the personal stuff, but for
the most part you have it all there. Now you, on the other hand, I really
can't put into a tiny little snap like that."

"I guess I could take that as a compliment," I said, sipping my beer. I was
trying to get a feeling for Johnny, like I did for everyone. Just because
we trusted him didn't automatically make him my friend, and he had more of
an interest in watching out for the guys than he did in watching out for me
with the guys. On the other hand, for now, at least, my happiness was more
or less tied to Justin's, so I guess that afforded me a little bit of
protection.

Johnny was studying me, as if weighing his answer. I knew he had to be
smart, in addition to all the other nice qualities Justin rattled off about
him. You didn't get to be where and who he was without having the brains to
back it up, and, in much the same way that I felt it every time JC looked
at me, I felt like Johnny was weighing me, breaking me down in his head
into my component parts and trying to figure out what kind of box I should
be in. I gathered that it was a little more difficult than he thought it
should be, and wondered if I should be proud.

"You probably could," he said, betraying nothing. How was I supposed to
dissect him if he didn't give me any clues to what he was getting from me?
Maybe I was just thinking way too much, like I tended to do with
everything. He smiled again, and I smiled back.  "Information about you,
Chris, comes from many different sources, and that makes it a little hard
to decide who to listen to."

"Sources?" I asked, skeptical. Not another one. "What kind of sources?"

"I didn't hire an investigator like Lynn, if that's what you're asking?"
Johnny said, smiling still. "She tried to share her findings, though,
between screaming and telling me that I was to do everything I could, no
matter what the cost, to get you away from Justin and keep you there."

"You're not trying very hard," I said, laughing and waving at Justin again
as he threw me another glance. He smiled and waved back, and then went back
to tapping his ball around while he continued talking with Joey and
Lance. "Unless you've got some kind of surprise coming, and this talk is
just the warmup to that."

"Nope, no surprises," Johnny said, spreading his hands expansively. "I'll
tell you the same thing I told Lynn, which is that I don't work for her. I
work for the guys, and they work for me, and part of that is that we trust
each other to make responsible decisions.  >From what I've heard so far,
everybody's been really careful. Justin told me what you did for him in
Boston, getting him out of the hotel without getting caught by those
reporters, and you did a hell of a job for an amateur. I also know that
Justin went after you, rather than the other way around, which leaves your
motives a little less questionable, and I told Lynn that. I guess she's
heard it from Justin, too, but maybe it will sink in with repetition."

"I'm sure she didn't take hearing that well," I said, smiling.

"Not especially, no, but she was already pissed off, so that was like
throwing matches on a bonfire," Johnny chuckled. "I asked her a couple of
questions, and then told her I'd take her wishes under advisement, and
would talk to Justin about them. Of course, then Chris called, to let me
know all sorts of things about what a gold digging opportunist you were,
and how you were going to bring about the downfall of the band."

He said "downfall of the band" in such quaking, apocalyptic terms that I
knew Chris must have ranted and raved as much as Lynn had, and that Johnny
had discounted it just as quickly and completely.

"That's me, the pale rider on the pale horse, bringing about the end of
Nsync," I said, laughing. Johnny laughed with me, and I figured everything
was going to be all right. We were on the same page after all. "Actually,
I'm not planning anything of the kind. I didn't even think I was supposed
to come today, but Justin and Joey both insisted that it would be fine, and
Joey wanted help keeping an eye on Bri. I don't want anything, you know,
any repercussions, to come back on Justin or any of the other guys. OK, on
Justin, Joey, or Lance. OK, and maybe JC. I don't really care if anything
happens to Chris."

"I'm willing to bet that's mutual," Johnny said, laughing. "I will say that
Justin, of course, gives a completely glowing report of Saint Chris, who
saved him from depression, but, you know, he might not be the most unbiased
source of information about you. Joey, on the other hand, and Kelly, have
both vouched for you as a halfway decent person, and even Lance said you
were polite, if a little confrontational."

"High praise from Lance," I said, shrugging. I realized my bottle was
empty, and got up to get another. "Another?"

"Sure," Johnny said, catching it as I tossed it lightly from the
refrigerator. "Look, Chris, I love my guys, and I wouldn't want anything to
happen to them. As long as we all keep that in mind, I really don't care
what they do in their personal lives. They all know the rules, and what is
and isn't allowed. And before you look at me like that, they decide what's
allowed, for the most part. JC and Justin are in the closet by group
decision, not by mine. As I was saying, though, what they want is up to
them, and I really don't care as long as everyone is happy. Are we on the
same page?"

"I think we are," I said, reaching for another wedge of lime. I smiled
again, shading my eyes from the sun, wondering where I'd set my sunglasses
down as I leaned back against the counter. "You want to get those forms
now?"

"Sure," Johnny answered, standing. "Be right back."

I watched him walk into the house and smiled as a familiar hand reached
around me to rub my stomach. At the same time, I felt someone's nose
sliding along my neck and then across my hairline. I looked down at the
arm, noting the blond hair, feeling the almost sharp edged press of a dog
tag, worn for the shoot, in the middle of my back. The familiar scent of
Justin's aftershave drifted up to my nose as he leaned forward, drawing me
against him with that hand on my stomach as he rested his head on my
shoulder, his cheek to mine. His other hand was still holding his golf
club, and it tapped against my shoe.

"Hey baby," I whispered, laying my hand over his, rubbing the back of his
hand with my thumb.

"How'd you know it was me?" he whispered. "It could have been anybody."

"Really?" I asked. "Joey doesn't swing that way, the arm's the wrong color
for Johnny, and I'm not sure Lance swings at all. If it wasn't you, I don't
know who else it would be."

Justin sighed against me, his body shifting a little, and I smiled. His
face, against mine, couldn't be seen clearly, his eye so close it was just
a blur in the corner of my vision, but I knew the expression he must have.

"Don't make that face," I said, smiling, my cheek pressing more tightly
against his as my face moved. "I don't have to see you to know it's
there. I knew it was you because I always know it's you, silly."

"That's what I like to hear," he said, kissing the side of my neck, just
once, quickly and lightly. "You and Johnny getting along?"

"Yeah," I answered, watching Johnny approach through the window. "We've
been talking about you."

"My favorite subject," Justin said, chuckling. I could feel the mat of
tight muscle that made up his torso flexing and unflexing against my back
through our shirts.  I caught a little glimpse of his sleeve, and saw that
he had finally changed back into his own t-shirt.

"Self centered brat," I said, trying to spin away from him. He held tightly
to me, and we did a kind of dancing half turn across the patio, both
laughing, Justin holding onto his club and me keeping my beer from
spilling. As we turned we saw Joey and Lance standing at the edge of the
patio, both smiling, although Lance's was a little tight. Bri was resting
on Joey's hip, her eyes closed as her head lolled against his chest.

"Hey guys," Joey said, his grin huge. "Sorry to interrupt, but the little
one here is all tuckered out, so I'm gonna take her home. I know that Kelly
was going to make a lasagna tonight. Are you guys coming home for dinner,
or out?"

"I think we'll eat in tonight," Justin said, smiling. It was such a change
to see him happy, to see him at the end of a good day when nothing had gone
really wrong and nobody had made him cry. "I want to spend some quality
time with my baby."

"Could you guys pick up some salad on the way?" Joey asked. Justin nodded,
and Joey shrugged. "I'll see you shortly, then?"

"As soon as we finish up here," Justin said, nodding again. He was still
holding me against him, not possessively, just companionably, and I relaxed
against him. Our eyes all ticked toward the house as Johnny opened the back
door, holding a stack of papers and a pen, now wearing a tiny little pair
of round glasses. "Chris just has to sign his stuff, and then we'll head
straight home."

Lance cleared his throat, a quiet little noise, and swallowed as we all
looked at him. His eyes rolled slowly back and forth from Justin to me and
back again.

"Do you guys, um, do you mind if I, uh, come over for dinner tonight?" he
asked quietly, his bass voice somehow even lower, a little unsure. I felt
Justin tense just a little, but then he let it go as Lance continued. "I
thought maybe we could have some dinner, watch a movie, hang out, you
know?"

"I think I'd like that," Justin answered, just as quiet. I didn't say
anything, but I was intrigued. I gave Lance a smile, though, as Joey tapped
him on the shoulder.

"Come on," he said, nodding off toward the cars with his head. "You can
follow me home."

The two of them walked off toward the parking area, heading back toward the
cars, and Justin and I turned to Johnny, who was sitting at the table,
waiting, with everything neatly arranged in front of him. He was still
smiling, and still working on that beer, but the glasses somehow made him
look a little more professional, a little more managerial, and Justin and I
sat across from him, still holding hands. I sipped my beer again and looked
down at the papers, wondering what we were waiting for.

"Let's go, guys," I said, shrugging. They both smiled, apparently waiting
for me.  "Dinner's going to get cold."

"Quick, get those forms out," Justin said, grinning. "The way to my man's
heart is through his stomach."

We all laughed, and Johnny motioned for me to come around to his side of
the table.  There were a lot more forms than I thought there would be,
multiple copies and carbon forms and everything else. There was a copy for
me, a copy for Johnny, a copy for Justin, a copy for their lawyers, and I
wondered if maybe there was a general copy for anyone else who might want
one, too. Justin paid attention, reading things along with me to make sure
there weren't any extra clauses or anything that he hadn't agreed to, but
he trusted Johnny. The fact that Johnny went through every page with me,
explaining every paragraph, rather than just passing it to me and telling
me to sign, got him even more points in my book. I considered myself a
fairly intelligent person, but there were words and terms in here that left
my head spinning, and I was glad to have both of them to explain it to me.

When we were done Johnny tapped me on the shoulder, telling me not to be a
stranger, before he went off to go meet his girl for dinner. I wasn't sure
if the girl was a wife or a fiance or what, since he and Justin just both
referred to her as "girl", but they said it in an affectionate way. Justin
carried his clubs back to the car, both of us just kind of light and happy,
and then on the way back to Joey's we stopped at a grocery store.  When
Justin realized that he didn't have a bodyguard he begged me to go into the
store while he stayed in the car, and I agreed after much pleading and
handholding and tickling. There wasn't any kissing, though. We were, after
all, sort of in public, and one never knew when the wrong person would look
through the windshield and recognize him, even with his sunglasses and a
beat up cap from the back seat on.

Our errand run successfully, we arrived at Joey's house to much fanfare and
applause, as Kelly had insisted on holding dinner for us. Joey slapped me
on the back as Justin set his clubs down in a corner, laughing at the
boisterousness of his greeting.

"It's about time! Thank," Joey paused as our three sets of eyes all ticked
down to Bri, charging across the room to wrap her arms around Justin's leg,
and we remembered Kelly's frequent admonitions about little pitchers with
big ears, "Gosh you guys are back.  I'm starving."

"Joey, will you knock it off?" Kelly yelled from the kitchen. "You've got a
long way to go before you starve!"

Justin and I snickered, blushing, afraid to meet Joey's eyes as he carried
Bri toward the dining room, grumbling under his breath, and as we followed
him we ran into Lance. He smiled, a little shyly, and none of us really
knew what to say. It was suddenly awkward, and I didn't want that, didn't
want anything to get in the way of the rush of good feelings Justin was
having, so I held my hand out to Lance.

"Thanks for coming to dinner," I said brightly. "I've really been waiting
for a chance to talk to you some more."

"Thanks for having me," Lance said, as if we weren't all guests in Joey's
house. His grin was wide, almost seeming too big for his face, but his grip
was firm, not as tentative as his manner seemed. Justin smiled, and gave
Lance a pat on the shoulder.

"Let's go eat, dude," he said, grinning.

Welcoming Lance like that had definitely been the best icebreaking move I
could have thought of, because there wasn't a single moment of tension for
the rest of the night. We told Kelly all about how the shoot had gone, and
what we'd thought. We all laughed as Joey talked about the photographer
trying to get him to wear eyeliner, to "bring out" his eyes, and Joey
almost blinding himself with the pencil trying to evade it.  Justin smirked
his way through an account of looking left at the camera, left away from
the camera, left serious, and left subtle.

"What does that mean, anyway?" he asked, as we shook with laughter. "How
can you just be subtle? Don't you have to subtly be something, like subtle
humor or subtle sarcasm or something? How can I just be subtle?"

"Got me," Kelly said, shaking her head. "Maybe he just meant subtly Justin
Timberlake?"

"There's no subtle about that," Joey said, shaking his head. "Justin
Timberlake is as subtle as a flatbed full of spotlights."

"Hey," I said, squeezing Justin's hand. "Lay off. Some of us like Justin
just the way he is, ok?"

Justin kissed me on the cheek, a light, almost chaste kiss, while everyone
else awwwed and snickered. I remembered that we might be making Lance a
little bit uncomfortable, since there were rules among the guys about
public displays of gay affection, but he was looking studiously away. When
we finished, Justin going back to his plate, Lance looked up at me and gave
me a small smile, without teeth, and I gave him a similar one back. I was
elated to think that he might be a little accepting, no matter how baffling
it was, but didn't want him to think I was gloating or reveling in my
sinful lifestyle or something.

"What did you think of the interview, Chris?" Kelly asked, startling me out
of my thoughts.

"Well, are they all like that?" I asked, shrugging.

"What do you mean?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, I thought it was pretty average," Justin added, nodding.

"But those questions," I said, shaking my head. "I mean, some of them were
good, but the others? Best sound effect?"

"Anything Joey makes," Lance answered for Kelly. She laughed, smacking Joey
on the arm.

"You make terrible sound effects," she said, shaking her head.

"We didn't say they were good ones," Justin laughed. Bri was laughing, too,
even though she didn't get any of the jokes or have any idea what we were
laughing at.

"That wasn't half as bad as Lance's answer!" Joey chortled, rocking back
and forth in his seat as Lance flushed brick red, all the way up his
forehead and into his hairline. "Janet Jackson naked? What was up with
that? Diane Bass's little boy Lance never used to give answers like that!"

We all laughed as Lance somehow got inexplicably even redder, and when he
finally answered it was all I could do not to wet my pants.

"God's creatures come into the world naked, and they're all beautiful,"
Lance said, his deep bass voice resonant with amusement. "Janet Jackson is
one of God's creatures, and I'd just like a chance to appreciate that."

With answers like that, maybe there was hope for the boy after all.

After dinner we moved into the rec room for a movie, bringing bowls of
popcorn and bags of chips. There was a fully stocked bar and refrigerator
in there as well, and we continued casually drinking. I didn't harp on
Justin for having a couple, since we were staying in and no one would see
him, and the two of us almost choked on our beer when Kelly eyed the carpet
speculatively.

"Joey, did you spill something on here?" she asked, staring at the spot
where Justin had given me a blowjob the other day. It couldn't be from
us. Justin swallowed.

"No, why?" Joey asked distractedly, trying to wipe Bri's mouth.

"I think there's a stain of some kind," Kelly answered, scraping her shoe
back and forth over the spot. Honestly I didn't see anything, and she must
have been looking at that spot through random coincidence, but Justin and I
were both completely tensed up, sure that we'd somehow be found out.

"Why don't you just have it steam cleaned?" Justin suggested, his voice a
little brittle. As soon as he finished, he started chugging his beer.

"I guess it has been kind of a while," Kelly said thoughtfully.

"Hey, let's pick out a movie!" I screeched brightly, suddenly aware that
everyone was staring at me. "What? I just want to get watching the movie."

"OK, ok," Joey said, opening the DVD cabinet.

Over mine and Kelly's strong objections the guys ended up picking the first
Star Wars movie, the original one. It had been a few years since I saw it,
and I'd kind of forgotten how young the stars were, and how whiney Luke
was. I made the mistake of making a snide comment, and found myself getting
pelted with handfuls of popcorn as the guys jeered me for "attacking" a
cinema classic. If the rug wasn't stained before, it had to be now that it
had been covered with buttery salted snackfood. Kelly yelled at them to
stop, and Justin explained quietly, whispering in my ear as I lay back
against him on a couch, that Star Wars was the official favorite movie of
Nsync, and that I needed to get to like it if I planned to stick around.

"Or what?" I asked, my hands idly rubbing his thighs. Joey and Kelly were
sharing another couch, Bri tucked into bed a while ago, and Lance was
stretched out on the floor.  "You'll break my knees?"

"I'll withhold sex," Justin whispered.

"Did I mention Star Wars is my favorite movie?" I whispered back, and he
chuckled against me before they all explained that they had filmed a cameo,
during which they would have been unrecognizable anyway, for the newest
one, but it had ended up on the cutting room floor after too many fans of
the movies whined and complained.

By the end of the movie Justin had fallen asleep, breathing softly against
my neck, and I only got him partially roused. He was conscious enough for
me to walk him to bed, and Lance followed behind us. He'd decided to stay
overnight here, in one of the guestrooms, since he'd had a few to drink as
well, and he chuckled as I opened the door and dumped Justin onto the
bed. Justin crawled toward the pillows, mumbling, and I patted him on the
head.

"Chris?" Justin muttered, his mouth squashed against his arm.

"I'll be right back to help you get your shoes off, baby," I said,
standing.  I walked across the hall and tapped at Lance's door, which was
open. He looked up from the bed, untying his shoes. "Just wanted to say
good night."

"You, too," he said, kicking his shoes off. He looked uncomfortable
suddenly, and I realized he didn't want to get undressed in front of me. It
was understandable, and he'd been really, really nice tonight, even though
it must have been a little hard for him.  "Good night."

"Lance, thanks for coming over, and for just, you know, hanging out," I
said. "It means a lot to Justin to have you guys act like that."

"I really do like him, Chris," Lance said, shaking his head. "I mean, I
don't exactly approve of, you know, what you guys do, but Justin's part of
my family, regardless. And I felt kind of like I owed it to you to come
over."

"To me?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah, because of what you did earlier," Lance said. "You didn't have to
talk to JC.  Honestly, you probably shouldn't have. It's in your best
interests to keep the two of them separated as much as possible, and
instead you're trying to get them talking because it will make Justin
happy. I have to respect you for caring enough about him to put your own
worries aside. Besides, if you weren't going to judge him based on like the
one thing you knew about him, then I can't really do that to you, either."

"Wow, thanks," I said, blinking. I hadn't really thought about it that way,
hadn't considered what putting Justin and JC together, and pushing them to
be friends, might really mean.

Maybe I should have.

***

To be continued.