Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 22:55:22 EST From: Papito6187@aol.com Subject: Rob and Lance 38 I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!! Didyah miss me? Well, before we get on with our show, I'd just like to say thanks to all the authors who nominated me in the Nifty awards. Personally, I don't care whether I win or not for a few reasons. One, I don't write for the purpose of winning an online award. Two, I have some good competition this time, some of which are my friends and whose stories I've helped them out with, and the others whose stories I read and enjoy myself. If you vote for me fine, if you don't fine, either way, I'm still gonna write my stories until I don't have anything to write anymore. So now that I've said my piece about that, the words you've been waiting for... ON WITH THE SHOW!!!! When we last left our hero... "So, I'm a little nervous, but.. I gotta go and do it." "Don't worry, I'll be safely 10 feet behind you." "Oh, gee thanks!" "You know I'm jus fuckin wit yah! Of course I'll be there.. I'll just make sure I move before I get caught in the crossfire!" "Oh, that's it! I'm SO gonna kick your ass now!" JC got up from the table and ran for the elevator. I chased him and when I got to the doors, I punched him a few times in his arm. We were laughing the whole way down to Lance's room. Once we were outside, I calmed myself down and said, "Ok, before we go in there, I just wanna say this." "What?" "Thank you." "For what?" "For helping me deal. I'd probably be crying a river somewhere drowning in my fear and sorrows if it hadn't been for you." "Hey, that would make a good line in a song!" "You can have it." "Thanks!" He said pulling out a tape recorder he had in his pocket and saying the line into it. "Ok, that was... weird." "Ask me to explain later. You've got a family to meet!" And now..... the continuation. As we stepped in the room, three people turned towards the door. Those three were Jim, Diane and Stacy Bass. Diane came towards me and gave me a hug. She then turned to Josh and did the same. He went to the others and greeted them then said, "Well, I gotta go talk to my girlfriend for a second, I'll leave you guys alone." As he walked passed me I gave him a death stare from hell and he just smiled and smacked my back, pushing me forward. Diane put her hand on my back and guided me towards the middle of the room. "Rob, this is my husband Jim, and my daughter Stacy. This is Rob." Diane said introducing me to the others. Stacy came over and gave me a hug and said, "It's so good to finally meet you! Lance is always talking about you." Jim was the next to come over, he stuck his hand out and I shook it while he said, "Hello son, it's nice to finally meet you, although I wish it were under better circumstances." "Yeah, especially after what happened last time." Diane added. "I said I was sorry!" Lance said from his bed, now awake. "Nobody asked you!" Diane and I said at the same time, causing a laugh from the four of us except Lance. "Oh sure, come here to see him, forget about your sick son in the hospital bed." Lance said with a smile on his face. We all turned towards the bed and made our way there. Diane took his hand and asked, "How are you feelin darlin?" "I've been better. I've just got some pain in my stomach and head. This new medication they gave me is workin pretty well." Lance said, his southern accent coming out thicker than normal. Noticing that, I lightly giggled, "Yes, I know. When I get around my family, my accent gets stronger!" While we started to laugh, Lynn and Paul walked in. [NOTE: Just a reminder, Jonathan is NOT Lynn's son. He's Randy's (Justin's Dad's) son.] "Diane, Jim, Stacy!" Lynn said, "I didn't expect you here so soon!" "Hey there Lynn, Paul!" Diane said, greeting the Harless'. "How is he?" Lynn asked. "Ask him yourself, he's awake." "Hey Lance sweetie, how are you?" "I'm good. Could be better though." "Are you feelin ok?" Paul asked. "Aside from a killer headache and my stomach about to explode, yeah." "They put him on some new medication, it seems to be working." I said. "That's what caused this right? The other medicine he was on?" Lynn asked. "Yeah, he got an allergic reaction, and instead of making him better, it made it worse. They wanna keep him overnight for observation, then they'll probably let him go tomorrow." "I just hope that this doesn't hit the press too fast!" Paul said, "That's the last thing any of us need is for a mob to break out!" "Lord knows I hated that when Ricky was in the hospital!" "The fans mean well." Lance said. "Yeah, but sometimes they mean a little TOO well!" Lynn said. The room was filled with a good vibe, as serious as Lance's condition was, we were trying to make light of it and keep a happy mood going. The jokes that were going around from the time the whole thing had started had helped a great deal, and if it weren't for that, everybody would just be really depressed. Our good time was interrupted by Lew who came in and said, "Hey guys.. I'd hate to ruin the moment, but Travis just walked in with Johnny Wright." "Oh great! Just what we need!" I said. "Why? What happened?" Diane asked. "Nothing, we'll fill you in later." Lance said. "They're on their way to the room." Lew said. "Just thought I'd warn you." "Thanks Lew!" I said. Once Lew exited the room, Travis and Johnny walked in. Travis was the first to speak, "Hello everybody. Hey Lance! How's our patient?" "He could be better!" I said giving Travis a death stare. "Could we have a word with Lance in private please?" "No." We all said at the same time. "We're all his family, anything you have to say to him, he'll just wind up telling us anyway." Stacy said. "Especially after what you pulled at the venue, if you think I'm going to let you scold Lance for being sick, you're fu.. Just stupid!" I said about to curse, but then realizing I was in the presence of Lance's parents. "What did he pull at the venue?" Diane asked. "He tried to make Lance go on anyway, even though he was passing out and throwing up all over the place." "What?!?" They all said including Johnny. "I was just doing my job, something he should've thought about before.." Travis started. "Before what? Before he went off and got sick? Oh yeah, he REALLY had some control over that!" I said raising my voice. "You better watch it loverboy!" "Is that a threat? You think you have ANY control over me and my career? Well guess what, the only thing you could possibly do is throw me off this tour. And if you did, not only would you disappoint MY fans, but you'd be losing a HELL of a lot of money, and I'd just go and hop on another tour! And even before that would happen, none of the guys, OR Johnny would LET you even TRY something like that!" I yelled, putting Travis in his place. While this was going on, the rest of N Sync had formed outside of Lance's room and were listening to me go off on Travis. "And if I wasn't SO worried about Lance right now, I'd see to it that you were FIRED for risking the life of one of your clients! BUT. that's just me, and that's not in my hands, now is it? Now what was it that you wanted to talk to Lance about?" Johnny Wright was for the most part quiet up until this point, he tried to calm me down and said, "I assure you, that there are going to be measures taken against Travis for his actions. But right now, we just wanted to wish Lance the best and hope that he gets better." By the look in Johnny's eyes, I could see that he knew I was no joke. They left the room and passed the guys in the hall. My former manager of a month (that was before my contract was finalized and I was signed onto The Firm) knew that he really didn't have any control over me, and the only thing he really could do was kick me off the tour, but he also knew that I made some valid points. If they kicked me off the tour, they would lose a small amount of fan-base, which meant they would lose money. Even if they disregarded that, and still went through with it, it wouldn't hurt my career. He knew that I was a hot thing at the moment, and my popularity was growing by the day, if he even tried to do that, not only would another tour pick me up, but it would look bad on his part. I had the ball in my court and I was taking full advantage of it. The guys outside were amazed at how I told Travis and Johnny off. It made them start to think about where they stood. Little did any of us know that it would lead to an N Sync revolution with the message "Fuck TransCon" implanted in their minds. The guys entered the room all with a shocked look on their face. Chris was the first to break the tension filled silence in the room. "You had them pissing in their pants!" We all laughed and I started to blush. "Well, let that be a lesson to everybody, you can only push me so far before I snap and go off on yah!" I said as the laughter died down. "It's getting late, and we all need some rest." Diane said. "I'm staying here." I said. "Well, I think the rest of us should all get back home. We'll go back to Lance's, and the rest of you get home. Rob will call us if anything happens." They all tried to object, but Diane persisted. After one last visit from everybody, they all headed home. Melissa and Lew went back with JC, Justin, Chris, Lynn and Paul. Joey went home and Jim, Diane and Stacy went to Lance's house. Although we weren't in Orlando, we weren't far from it either, so it wasn't a long drive. Well, Lance has been out of the hospital for a good week and a half now. Lew went back to work, Melissa went back to school, and Lance's family went back to Mississippi. He's doing much better now. The new medication has really worked. After they finished their last tour dates for the month of May, the guys got a two-week vacation for Lance to recover and also to continue work on the new album. I on the other hand, am in Europe doing some promotional work. I'm gonna be here for about another 5 days, then head back to the states to do Jay Leno. My single has hit the number one spot on the Billboards list, and my album is at number three, and expected to climb up to number two, right behind the Backstreet Boys new album, which by the way is totally kick ass! After I do Leno, I go into the studio with the guys to produce Bye bye bye. I think something's going on between the guys and their label. They won't confirm or deny anything, but there just seems to be some tension ever since the Lance incident. Leno was a hit! I performed two songs on the show, "The one I want" and my new single that should be coming out next week, "Gonna get down". The show was supposed to hype up the release of my new single, and it worked. According to my publicist, people have been trying to request "Gonna get down" on the radio ever since the show. They said that they were gonna push up the release of the single two days early. It'll be released on the radio starting with (Yes, my favorite radio station) Z100. And they have this contest going on where everyone who is caller 100 will get an advanced copy of the single signed by me, and will qualify to go to the Blockbuster Awards as my date, it's called the "Gonna get down with Rob" contest. I've been in LA for a little while now, doing some promotional stuff for the album. The guys are gonna arrive in a couple of days so we can work on Bye bye bye. When I got to the studio, the guys were all glad to see me, especially this one really cute blond guy. "ROB!" Justin yelled running to give me a hug. "Hey Jus!" I said being crushed. "Um... Justin?" "Yeah?" "I can't breathe!" "Oh! My bad!" he said letting go. "Thanks!" "Hey Roberto!" JC said coming up from behind me. "Hey Joshua!" "Sup Rob!" Chris said from a chair he was sitting in. "Hey!" "ROB!" Joey said jumping on my back. "AAH!" I said flipping him off. "Idiot! Don't do that!" The guys started cracking up and Joey's face got redder than his hair. I turned around and saw the man I had been waiting to see forever. "Hey you!" I said grabbing him and pulling him away from any pedestrian viewer that might happen to walk by. I kissed him passionately and said, "Now I can work!" "Speaking of work. You were hot on Leno!" Lance said. "Thank you, thank you!" I said bowing as they applauded. "You should've seen him! I had to practically hold him back from humping the TV!" JC said laughing his heart out. "Shut up!" Lance said blushing. "Aaaaw.... so cute when he blushes!" I said pinching his cheeks. "Ok, enough of that! Let's get down to business!" "Sir yes sir!" Chris said saluting me. "At ease private!" "Wow.. No parental supervision! I like this!" Justin said. "Yeah, but before we start this, we gotta wait for the engineer!" I said. "Who are they and when are they coming?" Chris asked. "Sorry I'm late guys! Traffic was killer!" A female voice said entering the room. "Hey!" I said giving her a hug. "Y'all remember Kim right?" "Ain't she one of your dancers?" Joey asked with a seductive smile. "Yes... BUT she's multi talented! She knows more about producing and engineering than I do!" "Just a lil bit!" Kim said. "I'll be right back, I'm gonna go get some water and then we'll be ready to go." She left the room and I got the same look from everybody, "what the fuck are you doing?! "Um.. Rob? Not that I don't trust your judgment, but. don't you think we should use a professional for this?" JC asked. "You mean someone who's had a few years experience, and knows the ins and outs of recording process?" "Yeah." "I got one then! She's a great engineer! Everything I've learned I've learned from her and one of my teachers. She interned at a recording studio for like 2 years." "So why is she a dancer?" Chris asked. "Like he said, I'm multi talented!" She said entering the studio. "Yeah, so don't worry, I wouldn't have picked her if I didn't trust her!" I said. "Yeah, now get your pretty little butts in there and put on your headphones, we need to get your levels!" "Yes ma'am!" Joey said turning around and heading into the studio. "His butt is FAR from little!" Chris said following Joey. "Yeah, Justin's the only one with a little butt!" Lance said. "Shut up! You know you like my little butt!" Justin said. "My girlfriend likes my big butt!" JC said patting his ass. "Ok, enough with the ass comments!" I said. "Well, you got the biggest ass of all of us Rob!" Joey said into the mic. "Don't make me hurt you Human Torch!" "Yeah, could you put your hat back on Joey? Your hair is kinda blindin me!" Kim said holding her hand up in front of her eyes. "Yeah, you're gonna set off the sprinklers!" Justin said. At that moment, I knew that there weren't going to be any other problems as far as getting along. There was a sudden click between us all. "Ok, start singin somethin Justin!" I said. He started to sing "All I have to give" and Kim and I started to laugh. "That's good." She said. "Josh, your turn!" I said. He started to sing "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, which in turn got the rest of us started. We started singing along and the guys joined in and we wasted about 5 minutes. "Ok, ok, ok! Focus!" I said bringing the session back under control. "Chris, sing something that won't get us joining in." We went through the rest of the guys without going off on a tangent. Once we got the levels, we played the track for them once so they could hear it. "Yo Rob, that track is PHAT!" Justin said. "Thanks, just listen to it though." I said. "For real though Rob, that track is just awesome!" Kim said. "Thanks, I worked on it for about 2 or 3 months before I finally got it right." "That reminds me of that song we did in school!" "I know!" "Took the whole term to finally finish, and we didn't even get to record all of it." "Which reminds me, I'm thinking of getting that track and using it for my next album." "Word?" "Yup! And of course, you're gonna sing it with me!" "No I'm not!" "Yes you are!" "No, why don't you get one of your singers, or some famous chick? Get Britney!" "Hell no!" "Um... then get." "Kim!" "What?" "No, I'm getting Kim!" "Grr!" "Anyways, back to the guys!" I pushed the intercom button and said, "Ok, so you got a feel for it? You wanna run through it one time or just go straight into it?" "Whatta yah say guys? Wanna just do it or practice it once?" JC asked. "I personally don't give a fuck cause I got it down!" "Let's go through it once." Justin said. "Yeah." The guys agreed. "Ok, so we'll go through it once and then record." I said. After taking the my finger off the intercom button, I said to Kim, "Record it anyway, let's see how they do." "I was thinking that anyway." We started the track again and unbeknownst to the guys, recorded it. JC's verse was off the hook, but that was cause he's known the song for awhile. The whole take was great except for only a couple of parts where it could've been better. That would be taken care of on the second take. Once we finished it, I told them to come in the control room. "Wassup?" Josh asked. "That was hot!" I said, "Good thing I recorded it anyway!" "What?!" They all said. "Yup, we recorded it. I want you to hear it and I'm gonna make some comments, and I expect you to do the same." They weren't mad, but they just wanted to know when they were recording. They were for the most part happy with the recording. There were parts that we agreed that needed to do over, and that was the hook, and the bridge. "Also, on the point two, I want Justin and Josh to harmonize. When Justin sings it the first time, Josh, you're gonna harmonize. And when you sing the melody the second time, Justin, you're gonna harmonize. You pick the interval. Also, this time when we record." "Do some add lib?" Justin asked. "Yeah." Kim said. "That's what it's lacking, the add lib is what truly makes it yours." "Yeah, ok. so come on, let's do this!" They went back into the booth and put their headphones back on. "Ok, here we go, one more time.. Oh. sorry, wrong song!" I said causing them to laugh. After the second take, it was perfect, the only thing I had to do was the editing, which I was open to suggestions from them for. "One thing I'm gonna do is put a more filtered sound on that `Bye bye', and also put it at the beginning. Oh, I liked that `oh, oh' that you did between the hook and the second verse, I'm gonna put that at the beginning right before the first verse as well. Well, you'll see what I mean when I do it." I said. "Don't you think that'll be too much with the add lib he already did?" Lance asked. "No, it'll work." Kim said. "This is gonna be hot!" Joey said. "YO!!!!!!" I said jumping up from my chair. "I just had an idea!" "Uh oh." they all said. "Fuck you all and go die! Nah, for real! You know what would be hot?" "What?" they all asked. "Ok, play the track." Kim pushed play it and we heard the beginning of the song, "Now listen to this!" As Josh started his verse, I started singing it along in the lower octave, "Sounds phat right?" "Yeah." They all said. "Now, Lance, you sing it." "Um.. ok." He did as told, and the end product was even better than when I had done it. "That's hot!" Kim said, "Get in there! We're recording it!" "S'ok with you guys?" Lance asked. "Yeah, go!" JC said pushing him into the booth. "Oh shit!" "What now?" Justin asked. "Before I forget, tomorrow's that fitting for the clothes for the Blockbuster awards right?" I asked with sudden realization. "Yeah, we gotta be there by 4. I don't know about you though." Lance said. "I think I gotta be there by 2. Then I gotta call into Z100, I get to call the winner of that contest." "Don't get jealous Lance!" Chris said laughing. "What contest?" Kim asked. "Some thing with Z100, they're having a contest which the winner will be my date for the Blockbuster awards." I said. "Oh." "What time is it?" "About 10 to 8." Justin said. "Ok, after we finish this, let's get the hell outta here!" Lance went into the booth and we recorded the part. As proved, it was hot! After we did the final mix down, we were done for the night. The next day I was in my limo on my way to the fitting, I called up Z100 in time for the 5 o'clock whistle. I called up the winner, some girl who was about 16 and surprised her by telling her she had won. Little did I know that it was me who would be surprised when I met her. When I got to the fitting, I wound up choosing a dark blue suit with a black dress shirt and dark blue tie for the awards. I'm presenting for best new group, which the guys are nominated for. I'm hoping that they win, and I get to give them the award, that'd be totally kick ass! The suckiest part of this whole thing is that the guys and I are in two different hotels. I'm meeting up with Danielle and Lance later on tonight. That should be pretty interesting, considering they're supposedly dating. He even went to her prom with her, which is funny considering it was during his recuperation time. I objected at first only because he was supposed to be resting, but he had promised her this a long time ago, so my guilt got the better of me and told him that I wouldn't be mad and that they should have a good time. I then proceeded to call Danielle and warn her, that if he died, it'd be on her head and I'd have to hunt her down and kill her. She laughed and we had a good conversation after that. We're all meeting up at this restaurant then we're gonna go wherever the night takes us. Danielle is bringing Trina McGee-Davis (Angela) along so it'll be even and look like we're going on a double date. I'd met Trina when I was last in LA, she was pretty cool, but I didn't really get to hang out with her. "So where are we going now?" I asked after we left the restaurant. "Wanna go clubbin?" Trina asked. "I dunno, you guys feel up to it?" "Not really." Lance said. "Come on Lance!" Danielle said. "Yeah, come on!" I seconded. "Fine, outnumbered I guess. Let's go!" "That's my baby!" "Not tonight. Tonight, he's my baby according to the nice photographers following us." Danielle said grabbing Lance by the arm. "Shit! You lucky Topanga! But I'm warnin you! You hurt him, I'll kill you!" I said in a melodramatic voice to which they laughed at. "Ok, so now that we know we're being followed, Rob, you give me your arm, and Lance, you keep a hold of Danielle's." Trina said as we got near Danielle's car. "Can we at least sit next to each other in the car?" I said in a mock child's voice. "No, you have your date to play with!" Danielle said. "But she's a giiiiiiiiiirl! Eeeeew! She has cooties!" "You're so stupid!" "Thank you!" I said taking a bow. "Don't encourage him!" Lance said. "I don't need any encouragement, you should know that by now." "Sad, but true." "You're just mad cause everybody likes me more than they like you!" I said sticking my tongue out at him. "You know where you can stick that!" "Oh yeah! Show me baby!" "Now boys, don't make me have to send you two home!" Trina said. "Hey, I don't mind!" "Ok... EW!" We all were cracking up when we got into the car and on the way to the club. We were let in with ease and got to the club just as the party was starting. We danced the night away and had some fun. Around 1:30, I saw a flash of fluorescent red hair. I broke away from Trina and followed the flaming head. Sure enough, just as I had suspected, it was Joey. I ran up to him and he was surprised to see me. He was there with his brother who had just flown out to get ready for the tour. Steve wasn't too thrilled to see me, but he at least faked it. I let Joey get his mack on and returned to Trina, Lance and Danielle. I told them who was here and they said that they knew. Lance went over to go say hi, and I danced with Danielle. "So, Steve hates you too huh?" she asked. "Yeah, how'd you know?" "He hated me too." "Damn, if he wanted Lance so badly, why didn't he just try something?" "He did! But Lance didn't want him." "Oh shit!" "Yup." "Oh well, too bad for him!" "Yup." "Danielle?" "Yeah?" "Did you and Lance fuck when you were messing?" "Um.. did he tell you we did?" "No, but I never asked." "Um.." "You did didn't you?" "Um.." "Don't worry, I'm not gonna get mad or anything. It's all in the past. I just wanted to know." "Yeah.. We kinda did." "He's good ain't he?!" "Um...." She said blushing. "Go ahead, admit it!" "YEAH!" "So why didn't it work out between you two?" "I dunno.." "Yeah you do." "Well.. there were a lot of things." "Like?" "For one thing, the schedules. I was either always on set, and he was always on tour. Even when we were only messing around, it was a problem. But I guess the main reason was, more and more, he became like my brother. It was funny, we went from friends that flirt, to friends that fuck, to becoming like siblings." "How did that happen?" "I remember, it was after him and Trey broke up. He came out to LA and we went back to my place. We were on the couch, and he was telling me about everything that had happened. He was crying and feeling really bad, I was stroking the side of his face as he laid his head on my chest. He looked up at me with this sort of look in his eyes, we kissed and we didn't feel anything. There was nothing there. All the passion and lust that used to be there had faded away. It was after that that we both knew that we would never be anything more than friends. You know what I mean?" "More than you know!" "How so?" She asked as the song that we were dancing to, had now finished. "Come with me to the bar and I'll tell you." We walked over to the bar, ordered a couple of drinks, I paid and began my story. "You know who Melissa is right?" "Yeah, Josh's girlfriend." "Yeah, also my best friend." "Yeah, that's right." "Well, for a very long time we liked each other. I'm talkin about from like 7 to like 13 or somethin. The funniest thing about it was that everybody knew we liked each other except for us." "What do you mean?" "She didn't know if I liked her or not, and I didn't know if she liked me or not. It got so bad on my part to the point of me falling in love with her." "And she didn't know?" "Nope. It was like that up until like 7th grade. We used to talk to each other every day on the phone. Anyway, during 8th grade, she got a boyfriend." "Awww man. that must've killed you." "A little bit. a whole lot. It was the thing that forced me to move on. Well, her boyfriend was a huge asshole. He hated me." "Why?" "Cause he knew that we used to like each other, and he thought that I still liked her. He never even met me. It got so bad that he didn't like her talking to me, and even though we were best friends, and she was like, `I don't care what he says', we didn't talk as much. Our everyday conversations turned into once a week, up until she once asked me, `Why do you call me so much? Stop calling me all the time.' I was like ok.. um, you're my best friend. But anyway, we didn't talk much. Like once a month or so, never saw her, always thought about her though. This lasted all till I got my first and only girlfriend to this day." "Aaah. the infamous psycho bitch!" "Yup, that's her! Anyway, when I told her, she was really happy. She told her man, and he thought that I was making it up just to prove that I didn't like her anymore. Well, with my new relationship beginning, hers was ending. They finally broke up, thank god, and our friendship became a little stronger. Well, throughout those years of me being with my psychotic ex, I became blinded by love and didn't see that she was holding me back from being who I really was and doing what I wanted to do." "How so?" "Well, she didn't believe I was bisexual. She thought that it was just a phase, she tried to tell me I wasn't. I knew I was, I just had to wait for her to accept it, which she finally did after awhile. Also telling me that she couldn't see herself marrying a singer. She wanted to become some politician and couldn't marry a singer. So, I said that I'd become a music teacher. I also was planning to attend college around where she was going. All stupid things that I shouldn't have done, but now have learned from." "Bitch!" "Yup! Anyways, after our wonderful break up, I started to think about things, decided that I'd become who I wanted to be and never let anyone decide for me. Anyways, after that, Melissa was there for me the most. Our friendship became the closest it had ever been before that. We sometimes reflected on our past and wondered why we didn't do anything with each other, and what would've happened if we had. Well, we decided that we wouldn't do anything cause it'd be too weird. And it's a good thing too, we couldn't go out with each other. We're too different. We would kill each other if we were to ever go into a relationship or even live with each other. Our relationship has always been the best cause we've always lived away from each other, not too close and only had contact through phone and internet." "Do you have a picture of her?" "Yeah, it's not that good of a picture, but it was taken at a movie theater booth thing. This was actually like a couple of days before I met Lance. I was still a little depressed, but getting over everything. She looks a little different now though. I'll introduce you one day. Either I will or Josh will, either way, you'll meet." "Cool. She's pretty!" "Yup!" "Hey you two! There you are! I've been looking for you!" Lance said nearing the bar. "Hey!" "What're y'all doin?" "Just talkin." Danielle said. "Bout what?" "Nothing that you don't already know." I said. "Y'all were talkin bout me weren't you?" "Yeah, we're planning how we're gonna kill you and take the insurance money." "Yeah, just thinking of the best ways to make it look like an accident." She said. "Oh, I see how it is!" Lance said laughing. "Y'all ready to go?" Trina said joining us. "Yeah, I think so." I said. "What about you?" "Yeah, let's get outta here!" Danielle said. "K, I'm gonna go tell Joe and Steve we'll see them back at the hotel." Lance said walking towards the radiating red hair. "Hey Joe!" He said over the booming bass of the song being played. "JOEY!" "Yeah?" Joey said turning around. "We're leaving now. We'll see you back at the hotel!" "Oh, hey could you give us a ride? I think I'm ready to go too and I spent my money on drinks." "Yeah, sure... there's room. It'll be a little tight, but y'all will fit." "Cool, I'll get Steve." "Cool, we'll meet you out front." Lance walked back over to us and told us that Joey and Steve were joining us. Danielle and I both looked at each other and Lance said, "I wish you guys would stop about that! He doesn't like me!" Danielle and I just continued to give each other a look of, `he'll never get it' and Lance laughed. "Come on, I told them we'd meet them out front." As we got outside, Danielle went to get her car. We waited there for Joey and Steve for about five minutes before we decided to wait in the car. Lance was up front with Danielle and Trina and I were in the back, with her on the driver's side, and me on the passenger's side. After about another five minutes, they came out with Joey leaning on Steve. "Is he drunk?" I asked lowering down the window. "NO!" Joey said a staggering a little. "A little tipsy, I made sure he didn't have that much." Steve said looking at Lance. "Whatever, as long as he doesn't throw up in my car!" Danielle said They got in the back along with me and Trina, Steve sat next to me and Joey was next to the open window. Danielle looked at me through the mirror and I smiled at her. As we drove off, I noticed Steve giving me a not so friendly stare. It was then that I decided that I had to have a little *talk* with Steve and set things *straight* with him, just to sort of *smooth* things out. There wasn't much conversation going on between everybody. Steve was quiet and grillin me, Joey was letting the wind hit him in his face, Danielle occasionally spoke to Lance, and Trina and I sparked up some conversation every once and awhile. We got back to the hotel around a quarter to 3. I wasn't tired in the least, that's cause I go through spells of being tired then like two seconds later I'm wide awake and really hyper. Joey looked like he was about ready to pass out, Lance looked beat and Steve was still grillin me while holding up Joey. After saying goodnight to the girls and thanking them for a great night out, I told Lance to go on up to bed, that I'd help Steve with Joey. Steve said that he had him, but I insisted on helping. I gave a quick kiss to Lance and said that I'd be in the room in a little bit. He agreed, said goodnight to Steve and Joey, then went back to his room. After placing Joey on the bed, I said, "Can I talk to you for a minute out in the hallway Steve?" "Can't it wait till tomorrow, I'm kinda tired." He said obviously not tired, but trying to get rid of me. "Nah, it can't." "Fine, let's go." We went down to where the soda machines were, he got a can of pepsi and I started my little *talk*. "I just wanted to ask that since we're going to be seeing each other practically everyday when we're on tour, if maybe we could put our differences aside and try and become friends. Whatever it is that you don't like about me, we can just start out fresh and." "Yeah, yeah, yeah. whatever. Are you done?" He said cutting me off. That was it, I'd had it with this guy. It was no more mister nice guy. If he wanted to be an asshole, FINE WITH ME! "Ok, look. I don't know why it is you have a problem with me, I don't know why you can't accept that you aren't going to have Lance and I don't know why you keep thinking you will. But I must tell you this, he is MY boyfriend. Now you either have to learn to deal with that, and maybe we can eventually become friends, OR you can keep grillin me, keep thinkin you're gonna get him and just keep foolin yourself into thinking that you actually have a chance!" "Who the hell are YOU to be talkin to ME like that?! You think that just cause you're some new jack and fuckin Lance that you're all big? Well I got news for you, I've seen tons of opening acts start to make it big, then just suddenly drop off the charts forever. You're nothing more than that! You're NOTHING!" "See, that's where you are wrong. I didn't get to where I am by fucking Lance! I got here because unlike a lot of these artists out here now, I have TALENT! I can actually SING! And if you think that you know so much about me or who I am, or what I am capable of, you don't know shit! I came out here to try and settle whatever it is you have against me, but fine, you wanna play it the hard way! And if you think you scare me, or that I'm going to stop going out with Lance on behalf of you, you MUST be smokin somethin! And even if me and him DO break up, you're STILL not gonna have a chance cause HE DON'T WANT YOU!" That last statement pushed it too far, Steve dropped the can of soda and tried to punch me. I blocked his punch, grabbed his wrist and twisted it around his back. "First mistake, you don't wanna mess with me. I don't wanna have to kick your ass. Second mistake, you made the first move so I can hit you and say it was in self-defense. But there are only two reasons for me not doin that. One is cause you've been drinking and aren't fully aware of what you're doing. Two is cause you're Joey's brother, and I don't want to have to beat down one of my best friend's brothers. Now, I'm going to let you go. If you try to hit me again, I won't hesitate to fight back. Do you understand me?" He didn't answer me, so I tightened my grip and repeated myself. "Do you understand me?!" "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" He said grunting in pain. "Fine, now I'm letting you go. Go back to your room, sleep it off, and maybe in the morning you'll reconsider my proposal of trying to become friends." I said letting him go. He grabbed his arm in pain and I started to make my way back to my room. "Oh, and if you ever try and do that again, you'll have more than a sore arm." I continued my way back to my room and Steve just stood there for a few minutes. As I walked back to my room, I saw Chris pop out of his, he dragged me into his room and asked, "What was that all about?" "What?" I asked. "With Steve!" "What did you hear or see?" "I got off the elevator and heard you arguing so I went to see what was going on, then I saw him try to punch you and you grab his arm and twist it." "He's just bein an asshole. He's still jealous of me cause I'm with Lance." "He needs to get over that!" "I know, and that's what I told him. I tried to ask if we could start out new and try and be friends, but he wanted it the hard way. He just learned that I am not one to be messed with! I'm very kind and understanding, but don't push me!" "I thought it was another Justin episode!" "HELL NO!" "Good!" "Where you comin from?" "Just came back from a date." "Ooooh... lemme find out!" "Nah, just some girl who I met last time we were out here." "Anything promising?" "I dunno." "Who is she?" "She's in the `I drive myself crazy' video. The one in my skit." "Oh.... the blonde?" "Yeah." "She's a hottie." "Yup." "Where'd you go?" "To dinner, then just walked around a little bit." "Any fan hassle?" "Nah, was a pretty quiet night. What about you?" "We went out with Topanga and Angela." "Won't Shawn and Corey get jealous?" "Eh.... we could take em!" "Where'd you go?" "We went to dinner then to some club where we wound up bumpin into Joey and Steve." "Joey drunk?" "A little, he's sleepin it off." "That's Joey for yah!" "As long as we didn't have to carry him home all vomit covered." "True." "Anyway, I'm gonna get to bed, Lance is probably wonderin what's taking me so long." "Aight, I'll see you in the morning." "Yeah, night!" TBC... So, what'd yah think? Come on, I know you have some opinion on it. Let me know. Email me at Papito6187@aol.com. Oh, and btw..... if a certain member of a certain boyband happens to be reading this, drop me a letter.