Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1999 12:57:06 PST From: Jason Clarke Subject: Ryan and Lance - Part 10 This story involves members of the bands NSYNC. I am in no way implying anything about the sexuality of any of their members. This is purely a fictional story. Enjoy! Please send any comments and/or suggestions to jaclarke@hotmail.com (ICQ #7964029) * * * * * * * * * * * * Ryan and Lance - Part 10 After lunch, everyone sang their hearts out and they went through several songs in a few short hours. With the tension between Chris and Lance gone, the group dynamics improved markedly during practice. "Guys, let call it a day, I'm dead tired!" Joey whined. "Yeah, I don't think I can sing anymore..." Chris agreed. The rest of the guys (except for Lance) were somewhat surprised to hear Chris joining in the conversation again. (Of course, they weren't aware of the conversation during lunch between Lance and Chris.) "I suppose we should stop now. It's getting kinda late," JC concluded. "Okay, why don't you guys go freshen up and I'll get going on dinner," Lance suggested. "You need any help, Scoop?" "Nah, I'll manage. Be at my place around 6?" "Cool," everyone said. * * * * * * * * * * * * "Ryan, when did you get a new car?" Mindy asked curiously. "Oh, it's not mine. Just borrowed it from my friend for the day." "It's a really nice car!" "Yeah, it is. Speaking of which, I should go and return the car to him." "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, I guess." "Cool," Ryan replied. He liked Mindy. She was really friendly and she has helped him ease back into school life. He switched on the radio and it was playing 'I Want You Back.' Ryan smiled and sang along as he drove Lance's car back to the studio. As he arrived, he saw Lance walking along the sidewalk. He pulled the 4Runner up beside Lance and honked. Turning around, Lance smiled as he saw Ryan. "Hey, what's up?" Lance asked. "Nothing much. Glad I caught you before you left. Wouldn't want you to walk home." "You didn't have to drive down here just to return the car. I could've taken the bus or something." "Excuse me? Lance Bass of NSYNC taking the bus?" "What's so surprising about that?" Lance asked. "I do it once in a while." "Really?" "Yep. But since you are already here, I'm not one to refuse a ride!" he said with his sexy smile that melted Ryan's heart. "Could you stop by at the supermarket so I can pick up a few things for dinner?" "No prob." They found a parking space without much problem and walked towards the supermarket. Along the way, several girls recognized Lance and asked for autographs which Lance was more than happy to give. The blond singer also helped an elderly lady carry her groceries to her car, an action that really impressed Ryan. Once inside the supermarket, Ryan just followed Lance around as he picked up the things he needed. Stopping by the produce section, Lance began chatting with a young man working there. "Rob, how's it going?" "Hey Lance! I'm doing good. It's been a while!!" "Yeah, I'm back in town for a few weeks...and you were on break the last time I was in." "So everything going well?" "Yep. How's Jon?" "He's doing a lot better now." Then, Rob looked past Lance and noticed Ryan standing beside him, looking for peanut butter. He dropped what he was doing and walked closer. "Oh my god...Ryan??" Ryan turned around slowly. "Rob?? I can't believe it's you!!" he said excitedly. They two guys gave each other a big hug. "Oh man, I still can't believe it!" "Yeah. It's been so long...ever since..." Rob paused, not knowing how to continue. "It's okay, Rob, I'm okay now," Ryan reassured his friend. "So how have you been?" "I've been doing okay. Things are finally looking up a bit." "That's good to hear. You and Jamie still a couple?" "Yep. She's been great. She'll be so happy to see you again, you know!" "Yeah, we should get together one of these days." Lance walked up to the two guys and gently made his presence known. "I take it that you two know each other?" he said with a grin. "Oops, sorry, forgot you were here, Lance," Ryan replied with a teasing grin. "Can you be more blunt?" Lance pretended to look hurt, causing all three guys to laugh. "So how on earth did you get to know Lance here?" Rob asked with curiosity. "It's a long story...but let's just say that Lance here has done a lot for me and Scottie." Lance blushed slightly at this comment. "How 'bout you?" "Well, I've been working here for a while now, and every now and then, I would see Lance come here to get stuff. At first, I didn't dare approach him but he was really really friendly and easy to get along with, so as time passed, we kinda got to know each other better." They chatted for a few more minutes before parting ways. Ryan looked really happy as they were sitting in the car heading home. "So you and Rob must've been really close, huh?" Lance mused. "Yeah, he was one of my closest friends in high school. He's a really nice guy." "I can relate. He's really cool." Pausing a bit, Lance continued. "So how's school going? Everything alright?" "Yeah, the workload's getting heavier but I think I'll manage. I hate my economics course though. Just not very good at it, I guess." "Having problems with the shifting graphs?" Lance asked casually. "Yeah, I sometimes get lost trying to figure out what to do with each graph." "Don't worry, it takes a bit of time but you'll get the hang of it." Once they got home, Lance began to prepare dinner while Ryan started to do his homework. Scottie helped Lance set the table and stayed by the singer's side, asking him silly questions to which Lance answered very patiently. Ryan glanced up at the two boys and smiled, grateful that Lance was so good to Scottie. Being the efficient person that he was, Lance finished preparing dinner before any of the other guys arrived. He went upstairs for a few moments before coming back into the kitchen with a huge pile of papers. He placed a textbook on the table in front of Ryan along with a few pieces of paper. Glancing up from his work, Ryan noticed that Lance was wearing glasses. "Whoa!! Is this a new image or something that you're trying to create?" Ryan said with surprise. "Haha, very funny, Ryan. I usually wear these when I'm reading. My eyes get tired really easily and I have a bit of near-sightedness." "Well, you certainly look a lot different with these glasses," Ryan observed. "You look so...businesslike." Lance chuckled at Ryan's comments and began looking through the paperwork. "Oh, you might want to take a look at that textbook," Lance said while reading through the documents. "It explains the concepts pretty well." Ryan's eyes turned to the pile of paper that Lance left on top of the textbook. "Oh yeah, those were some of the notes and stuff that I kept from my economics class. You might find it useful." "Hey, you never told me you were a straight A student!" Ryan exclaimed, obviously very impressed with this intellectual side of Lance. "Didn't want you to think I was a geek or something," Lance joked. Ryan looked thoughtful for a minute. "Hmm...Poofu the geek...Nah, wouldn't work," he concluded with a smirk. "Okay, that's it!! You're gonna get it now!!" Lance announced with mock anger. As he began chasing Ryan around, the doorbell rang. "Saved by the bell!" Ryan laughed as he went to open the door. "What took you guys so long? I'm starved." "Sorry," JC began, "but Justin here forgot his wallet at home so we had to go back to get it." "Hey, I was in a rush," Justin defended himself. "And hey, Scoop hasn't even complained that we're late yet, so there!" Lance walked out of the kitchen to greet the guys. "What took so long?" he asked, obviously missing the first part of the conversation. "Nothing," Justin quickly answered. "We had to wait for Chris to finish doing his hair! And what's with the glasses, Mr. Intellectual?" Chris began chasing after Justin around the house while everyone else watched in amusement. "Children!" Lance finally called out, "can we eat now??" Justin and Chris stopped chasing each other and said together, "Yes, mommy!" Everyone laughed and headed to the dining room, where they were treated to a delicious feast of southern fried chicken (aka Chicken a la Lance). Scottie had the time of his life as he bombarded the guys with questions. They all loved Scottie and found him very adorable. "So what do you think, Ryan?" Justin asked as Lance went to the kitchen to get dessert. "Awesome, awesome, awesome," Ryan replied. "How on earth do you manage to stay so skinny when you have Lance going on tour with you guys?" "Oh, Lance never makes anything for me on tour," he answered before receiving a playful smack to the head by Lance. "If you mother hears this, she'll kill me," Lance remarked. Again, everyone laughed at the comment and Ryan felt the most relaxing atmosphere between him and the guys than ever before. After dinner, Lance began to do the dishes and Ryan came into the kitchen to help. "Hey, it's alright, Ryan. What don't you go and chat with the guys. It'll give them a chance to get to know you better." "You sure?" "Positive," Lance replied. Ryan nodded and headed out to the living room where everyone else was chatting. Not long after, JC came into the kitchen. "There's root beer in the fridge if you want, JC." "Nah, I'm fine," he answered as he picked up the dishes and began drying them. "It's okay, JC. You don't have to get your hands wet." "Hey, we can't let you do all the work," he said warmly. "Thanks for dinner, by the way." "No prob, JC. You know I'll gladly do it anytime." "I know. Just wanted to let you know that we appreciate it a lot." JC paused for a moment while drying the dishes. "So you seem a lot happier the last little while." "Yeah, I guess the last little while was just too stressful and all. Things are getting back on track now." "You never did tell me why you were so upset the morning after we got back from the tour." "It's nothing," Lance answered softly, trying to avoid the subject. He didn't want to go back into this subject again but something told him JC wasn't going to give up this time until he found out. "Lance, we're your friends. You can tell us anything, you know." Lance sighed. He could feel his depressed side overcoming him slowly but surely. "You're right. I really should talk to you about it...alone." "Fine with me. I'm all ears." "Come up to my room. Just in case anyone else walks in." Lance walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs, with JC following close behind. "What could be so horrible that Lance can't tell all of us?" JC thought to himself as he walked up the stairs. Lance closed the door to his room and locked it. "Take a seat, JC. I think you'll need it." JC nervously took a seat by the desk. He was beginning to fear what Lance was about to tell him, but he tried his best to look normal. "Before I say anything, I want you to promise me that you'll not tell anyone else until I'm ready. Not even to the rest of the guys." "Okay, Lance, you have my word." Lance nodded and he sat on his bed. "I hope that you won't hate me for this, but I'll understand if you do. I never meant to keep this from you..." "What is it?" JC asked. He could see Lance beginning to sweat and the blond singer was obviously nervous and dreading this. "JC, I'm gay," Lance said flatly, his eyes afraid to meet JC's gaze. JC sat on his bed and stared at Lance in shock. ...to be continued.... Hope you enjoyed this segment. Let me know what you think!! As always, I'd love to hear any comments/ideas/questions. Please e-mail me at jaclarke@hotmail.com (ICQ #7964029)