Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 09:02:27 -0500
From: Lightwind17@mindspring.com
Subject: taken for granted, chapter 2

	HI!!!!!! Hello all you guys and girls. Ok, I know I told some of
you that I would have this out by LAST Friday, and I apologize. I got busy
at work and woke up Sunday sick as a dog. Am still sick as I'm writing this
actually, but I really wanted to get this part out.
	I just wanted to send a VERY heartfelt thank you to all those
wonderful people that emailed me and told me that they liked the story. And
again I apologize for not living up to my part of the deal and doing this
by Friday. But to you guys I just want to say thank you so much!! Also, I'm
not sure, but there was one person who had emailed me, and when I went to
reply my computer had major fits. So I don't know if the message went
through or not. If you did email me and I didn't reply, I'm really sorry.
	Here is where I want to say major THANKS to my new friend Steve,
he's the author of "My Lance." READ IT! Seriously thought, it's a great
story. He helped me lots on this story, he's a really nice guy. Also to
Cassie, thanks hon, love you LOTS!!
	Ok, this story is not real. No aspect of it is real other than the
fact that the members of N'sync, real people. The actions that they take in
this story, and the actions of anyone else mentioned are made from my own
head. Also I don't think that the Olympian gods are real, to my knowledge
they aren't, but if I can believe in the Christian God, and someone else
believes in another religion, than I say, more power to you.
	And also, this story WILL (eventually) contain material of a
homosexual nature. This means holding hands, kissing, and sex. As far as
I'm aware in the USA you have to 18 years old to read this, so if you are
reading this, and like it, don't get caught.
	However, to those that are reading this, and like it, or even those
that DON'T like it, email me at lightwind17@mindspring.com. You can also
find me on the AOL instant messenger as firesong18, or lightwind17, and my
ICQ number, when I use it, is 9005689. Enjoy!!



Dawn

	As the sun awoke banishing the darkness of night into only the
memories of those alive, another did as well. His dreams that night had
been filled with the scent of flowers, gardens, and a lover that had
satisfied him in every way he could think of.
	The light of the sun gently kissed his face, outlining it against
the pillow upon which he slept. It's gentle light against his eyes cause
him to mumble in his sleep, and softly open one eye. The way the light fell
up on his face, cause light to be reflected off of the sapphire orb that
appeared beneath the lid.
	The orb was immediately drawn to the single red rose that lay upon
the pillow next to him shining in the dawn's light. A smile, much as the
one the night before when he first beheld the rose spread across his face,
as he remembered the note.
	"Well Jc, looks like you found yourself an admirer. Now, who could
it be? It has to be someone with access to the room...of course that does
actually include every single working member of the hotel, as I'm pretty
sure each one has a master key. It could be a member of the band, but I
don't think so. If it's one of the guys it could only be Justin or Lance,
as Chris and Joey, as far as I know, are 100% straight. Hell Jc, with your
luck it's just some fan that got into your room somehow. Going to have to
call the hotel security to make sure it's tightened on the floor."
	With a sigh Jc sat up in the bed and was about to throw the rose
away, when something made him stop. The note. He dimly remembered the night
before thinking that there were clues in it somehow. He reached over to the
end table where he had left it and quickly rescanned it.
	He turned the words over and over in his mind, however he couldn't
decipher what he was sure were some pretty obvious clues. Maybe he'd ask
Justin. Jc knew he wasn't a complete idiot, he also knew he was fairly
smart, however on some things such as this, his mind always drew a blank.
	Sighing one last time, he put the note down, and went to get out of
bed when a flash of pain in his hand caused him to recoil quickly, so
quickly he overbalanced himself and fell right out of the bed.
	"Smooth Jc, real smooth."
	He looked at his hand and found there holes, about four of them in
a sort of jagged line. He looked up on the bed and saw the rose with drops
of blood around it. His blood.
	"Guess what they say is true...love does hurt, and it hasn't even
begun yet. Sheesh!"
	Shaking his head, he went to the bathroom to prepare for his day,
and to look to see if there were any bandages in the room.

Memories

	"Thank you SO much! Yes, to a Joshua Chasez in room 268. Noon? Ok,
than you very much."
	Lance hit the end button and fell back on the bed giggling with
glee. The florist would deliver 4 - dozen long stemmed red roses to Jc's
room at noon, when the band was at rehearsal. He quickly called the front
desk to authorize the delivery, and ordered them that this was to be
totally kept under wraps, and that if it was, a big tip would be on the
bill for them. The receptionist quickly agreed.
	Lance was about to dissolve into another giggle fit when there was
a knock on the door.
	"Come in!"
	The door opened and Chris peeked his head around it, and than Joey
did the same above Chris's head.
	"Breakfast?"
	Lance looked at them in confusion, and than horror as he remembered
he had forgotten to remember to order the breakfast. He had been so caught
up in finding a florist that still had flowers this close to Valentine's
Day that he had forgotten to order breakfast.
	"Guys I'm sorry, I had to make a few phone calls, and I forgot to
order breakfast."
	He quickly reached for his phone to call down, when Chris ran
across the room and grabbed his wrist.
	"Lance...umm...that must have been a very important phone call, as
breakfast is in my room today. Are you sure you are ok? I've never seen you
so out of it before. Are you feeling ok?
	Lance looked at Chris in total confusion. Breakfast was normally in
his room, and he now vaguely remembered a conversation with Chris about
having breakfast in his room instead.
	"I, um, yeah I'm fine. My mind is just filled with so many details
at the moment. Organizing, planning, getting things together..."
	Joey looked at Chris, and than at Lance.
	"Lance, what's going on...Chris is right I've never seen you like
this before. What is going on in that complicated little head of yours?"
	Lance looked at his two friends, as they looked back at him in
concern. He could remember the fear he had felt about coming out to
them. He still remembered how they had reacted when he had told them he was
gay.


	Lance sat with fear pounding in his chest. He had already told
Justin, and Justin had given him his full support, and had even offered to
be there for him when he told Chris and Joey, but Lance had refused. He
wanted to do this by himself.
	"Guys, I have something important to tell you. I know it's probably
not something you want to hear, and I'm sorry but I can't change that."
	By this point Joey and Chris were staring intently at Lance. Their
full attention felt to the young man like two giant microscopes trying to
peal away the layers of his mind and soul, revealing everything and leaving
him as nothing but an empty shell.
	"I...I'm..."
	Chris leaned over and grabbed Lance's right hand, while Joey
grabbed the left.
	"Lance, you can tell us. Whatever it is we're with you
man. Brothers forever."
	Lance smiled at Chris's words. He just hoped he felt that way when
this was done. Why hadn't he asked Justin to come, he should have accepted
his friend's offer of comfort and support. Why hadn't he taken it?
	"I'm not sure how to really say this, I never really thought it
would be this hard."
	Joey leaned forward a bit earnestly.
	"Just blurt it out Lance. Just let your lips go without any
interference from your head. Just like Chris."
	Joey's attempt to make Lance laugh failed, though he did crack a
smile. Chris also cracked something, Joey's shoulder.
	"Ouch!"
	"Shut up you goof. Can't you see this is hard enough on him without
your lame sense of humor."
	"Hey at least I'm trying here, unlike you."
	Lance looked at the two, they had let go of his hands and were
bickering with each other, just like always.
	"What do you want me to do? Jump on him and tickle him? I'm sure
that'll make him shout out what's going on."
	In a small voice Lance interjected, "I'm gay."
	"No I don't think tickling him would work very good. He'd probably
pass out in the process."
	"There you go again. Did you pick that up from another show?
General Hospital this time?"
	In a slightly louder voice this time, "I'm gay."
	"I'm not the one who got upset cause what's his face got in a car
crash and doesn't remember which one he proposed to first. And also that
what's her face is suing the one guy cause he slept with her daughter at
the same time she slept with him."
	"Hey don't go knocking my show. At least I don't get upset when
Gargamel or Azriel captures a smurf.
	Lance had had enough. This time he practically shouted, "I'm Gay!"
	The two looked at each him, than at each other.
	"Whatever. Chris, now, what's for dinner?"
	"Well like old Mother Hubbard my cupboard is bare. So why not take
out? Chinese anyone?"
	"Sounds good to me. What do you want Lance?"
	Lance looked at the two of them like they were from another planet,
which at this point he wasn't ready to discount.
	"Didn't you hear what I just said?"
	Joey snorted.
	"Of course we heard what you said. You are gay. Now, what do you
want from the Chinese place?"
	Now Lance was totally floored.
	"Maybe I should try that again..."
	Chris quickly shook his head.
	"Nah, we heard you. It's just that you are still Lance to us. No
different than you were yesterday, or five minutes ago. Like I said
brothers forever."
	"Well...there's one other thing", Joey said with a small grin.
	"What's that?"
	"We've known this for about 3 years. From when we caught you
springing a boner when Justin came out of the pool the one time, topless
and dripping wet."
	Lance's face turned crimson. Though he couldn't remember the
incident in question, he knew that he had gotten hard staring at Justin
quite a few times.
	Chris just grinned at the expression on Lance's face. He than got
up and hugged him, and Joey quickly joined him. Chris gently wiped at the
tears that ran down Lance's face.
	"Now Scoop, one quick thing."
	"What's that?"
	"What do you want for dinner?"


	Lance's mind was brought back to the present by Chris's gentle
shaking.
	"Lance, I'm serious dude. Are you ok? You are normally so together
and organized on a level I can't even dream about. Now what is going on?"
	Lance was tempted to answer them. He knew that neither of them
would tell Jc, but he also knew that neither were good actors and would
probably spill the beans somehow.
	He smiled and shook his head.
	"I'm fine, just got a lot on my mind. Now...where's that
breakfast?"
	He stood quickly and walked to Chris's room, leaving a confused
Joey and Chris behind him.

The Trials of Love

	Justin smiled as he hung up the phone after lying to Jc about whom
the flowers could have been from. The practice today had been
ruling. Darren was normally cool, but today he had been like a man
possessed. Giving them few breaks, and those that he had, he had timed to
the precise second, and not one moment longer than he had said.
	Justin groaned and got off the bed and headed toward the
shower. While he was in there his cell phone started ringing. The caller id
showed a number that would have had Justin leaping for the phone had he
seen it. As it was his voice mail picked it up.
	Oblivious to the goings on in the other room Justin sighed softly
as he slipped into the hot shower and let the pounding water wash his cares
away. He couldn't wait till his next break. He wanted to go home so badly
he could almost taste it.
	He loved to travel don't get him wrong. But sometimes all he wanted
to do was sit at home surrounded by family, friends and loved ones, and
just relax, go to the movies, play basketball. He loved N'sync dearly, but
sometimes the longing for a normal life almost drove him to tears.
	Thinking of loved ones sent his mind whirling into memories, and
promises. For family and friends weren't the only reason to go home. His
mind focused on an image of soft fawn eyes, silky black hair, and cream
skin. A voice that could lull him to a sleep so comfortable and deep, even
across the long distances via the telephone. He couldn't wait to hold his
lover close again and kiss those soft sensuous lips, and wake up with the
love of his life next to him. He smiled at himself, and quickly got out of
the shower before he stayed in there longer than he planned.
	He quickly toweled off and went back into the bedroom to change. On
his way to his closet he heard a "beep." Turning around quickly he saw his
pager, and upon closer inspection saw '1 page' displayed on it. Pushing the
buttons to bring up the number he saw his cell phone number, which meant
that someone had left a voice message for him.
	He picked up the phone to check when he saw "1 missed call" he
pushed the down button and "1 new number" came up. Pushing the down one
more time revealed a number that sent his heart to soaring. He was tempted
to ignore the voice mail and just call, but he had learned that that often
put him out of a loop that wouldn't have happened had he checked his
messages first.
	Thus decided he dialed the number to access his voice mail, and
entered his code to access it.
	"Welcome 'Justin Timberlake.' You have '1' new message. 6:30 pm."
	"Justin, this is Kyle.  I was going to wait until you came down in
a few weeks to say this, but to save me some time cleaning up the mess, I'm
going to do this now. This is something that has been burning inside of me
for a long time, about 4 months actually.
	"Justin for the past 4 months I've been seeing someone else,
someone, who totally unlike you, is someone that can be there for me more
than a few weeks out of the year. Someone who I don't have to spend a
fortune in long distance on, someone who I don't have to stop and think of
what time it is where they are. He's someone that cares for me more than
his job.
	"I don't think you do. In all honesty, I think that despite all
your claims, and proofs to the contrary, you are just a liar. A very gifted
actor and performer is what you are. I'm ending this here and now. I've
changed my email address so don't try that, and if you call my cell phone
I'll have you arrested for harassment, and wouldn't that look wonderful for
your career. Justin Timberlake arrested for harassing his ex -
boyfriend. Than your precious career will be worth less than our
relationship.
	"Enjoy your life asshole. Oh, and by the way, thanks for your
virginity. It was sweet."
	Justin simply sat there with no expression on his face. Not shock,
nor anger. Not pain, nor grief. Simply nothing. The phone fell from his
lifeless fingers, as his unseeing eyes stared blankly as images of the past
swirled up out of the mists of memory.
	He saw his first meeting with Kyle, felt their first kiss, how
sweet and pure. His ears rang with the memory of the first time Kyle had
said, "I love you Justin." Tears sprang to his eyes at those words, spoken
so softly and fearfully. The memory of how he had felt after hearing those
words. How his heart had seemed to reach to the sky.
	His hands twitched as he remembered the first time they had had
sex, no, made love. The gentle touch of his lover's hand as it moved across
his skin. The smoothness of Kyle's flesh, baby soft, under his hand, and
the sensations that each had given to the other.
	Justin had always sworn he would only have sex with someone he
loved. He had given Kyle his virginity to Kyle in every way, and Kyle had
given him his. It had been sweet, and perfect in every way.
	As the memories rippled through Justin's mind, something else
happened. The pain and agony of the suddenly missing bond of love in his
heart, exploded. The explosion ripped through his body causing him to
collapse on the floor in dry, heaving, sobs. His mind whirled around unable
to find purchase on anything as his world shattered into multihued crystals
that reflected back at him a life times worth of sorrow.
	Inside his heart, something else was happening. The delicate bonds
of love and friendship were warping out of control as the pain of love
betrayed surged through them. Shattering the bonds like fragile
crystal. All bonds but a precious few: those to his family, and band
mates. And not even those bonds had escaped unscathed.

Anger

	When dark clouds had swiftly gathered, obscuring the shining sun,
and pushed by bitter icy winds, no one took much notice. They were by the
sea, and had many mountain ranges, that often played havoc with the natural
weather system. At least, that is what the scientists would say.
	The truth however, would not only have shocked and dismayed those
scientists, as well as setting the basic principles of science on its ear.
	For the reason that those clouds had gathered swiftly and without
warning, was the glowing figure that stood at the heart of the storm. Ivory
wings spread out and softly moving, held up the figure that shined with an
angry red light.
	His screams ripped outward and became the booming thunder. Each
flap of a wing gave birth to an icy wind that chilled a mortal to the
soul. Each angry gesture spawned a glittering bolt of lightning that
streaked across the sky.
	It had been over a millennia, since this figure had felt such
anger. It burned though him, consuming ever fiber of his being. He wanted
nothing more than to release the storm of all constraints and send it
screaming across the face of Greece. The only thing that stopped him was
that he knew the repercussions of such an action would be most severe.
	He whirled to summon another bolt of lightning when an intense
feeling that he had never before felt, radiated outward from the center of
his chest. This feeling was so intense that it caused his wings to stop
beating, and his concentration to fail utterly. This combination forced the
young Olympian to do something he had never done in his memory. He fell.
	He curled into a tight ball on the way down, as the intense feeling
seemed to get stronger each passing moment. It continued to bloom in
intensity till it erupted in such a way that had his entire body spasming.
	As the speed intensified, it began to intrude on the young god's
consciousness that even an immortal body would not be immune to pain when
he slammed into the earth beneath him. Thus, gathering all consciousness he
could, he teleported to his palace, leaving nothing but a few white
feathers to mark his existence, as the storm he had generated, slowly
receded back to the sea.
	He appeared in his throne room, yet because of the swiftness of the
travel, he had missed his throne by a few feet. Again, not something he had
done in countless centuries. He thus crawled to his glittering throne,
still grasping his chest in pain. Unable to think of what to do, he sent
out a call to his mother, hoping she would hurry.
	She did. Goddess of carnal Love though she might be, his mother
shared one thing with mortal women when it came to her child, a fierce
protectiveness that had challenged even Zeus's anger.
	Appearing quicker than a thought, Aphrodite was dressed in warrior
garb. The Romans had called her Venus, and under that name she had received
the honor of a planet. Before him stood not Aphrodite, gentle Goddess of
Love, but the Roman Venus, the Warrior.
	"Cupid, what is wrong? Why do you sit there like a mortal howling
in pain?"
	"Pain mother? Is that what this is? I have no idea. I was standing
in a storm and than this intense feeling ripped through my body. It was
more than I could stand. I fell out of the sky and had to make a forced
teleport to get to the palace, and I still missed my throne."
	Aphrodite, no Venus, stood there angrily, with her eyes snapping
fire in pure rage. Someone, somewhere, somehow, had harmed her son, an
action that held a dear cost.
	"Cupid, this is what mortals call pain. We are normally immune to
this sensation outside of rather mild discomfort, which we can ignore at
will. I can't think of what could have caused this to happen to you."
	When Cupid opened his mouth to address his mother, an image
appeared in his mind. A boy of golden locks, with aqua eyes, that were at
the moment shedding a river of tears. He held up his hand to quite his
mother before he lost the image.
	He concentrated on that face, and felt his mind streaking across
the world to find the mortal in question. Quickly information began to
enter into his mind. Including the events of the past half hour.
	He knew what the pain was. He now knew what had caused this awful
sensation to rip through his being. This mortal, who had been put through
agony immeasurable, had ripped almost all aspects of love from his
heart. Those few bonds that had survived had been the strongest, and even
they were now nothing more than a gossamer spider's web, in the midst of a
storm. Soon to would those bonds break, if any stress was applied to them
at all.
	Than cupid saw something else that had his eyes open in
terror. Should the threads that hold the love this mortal holds for others
break...he would forever more be unable to forge any new bonds with anyone,
past or present. This emptiness wouldn't allow family or friends, and would
plunge the young man into a depression so deep, he would never come out of
it, for he would not grasp any helpful hand.
	For a moment, Cupid's eyes watered, and a single crystal tear slid
down his cheek. Sympathy and concern for this mortal blossomed inside his
breast, to be quickly squelched by anger.
	Acting quicker than a though, he searched out this "Kyle," and
found him wrapped in the arms of his new love. Disguising his voice in the
breeze for only the lover's ears, he whispered,
	"He betrayed one who loved him more than life itself. He crushed
the heart of one who would have given his life for him. Crushed it without
a moment's regret. How can you be so sure he won't do the same to you?"
	Pulling his attention back to Mount Olympus, where his mother stood
anxiously, he sat up from his throne and strode over to his balcony.
	"As the mortal's say, that was the straw that broke the camel's
back..."


	Ok...so how was it? What exactly does Cupid mean with that "that
was the straw that broke the camel's back" thing? Will Lance and Jc manage
to survive? How will Justin be changed by the loss of Kyle, and the
resulting internal pain to his "love connections"? Stick around and find
out.
	Also, I want to apologize to those that got confused on the name
changing in the part with Aphrodite/Venus. Basically I got emailed by a few
people who told me, that Aphrodite's son was Eros, in Greek Mythology, and
Venus's son would be Cupid in Roman Myth. They are right. * shakes his head
shamed* I knew that, but I was a victim of Hercules and Xena, who use
Aphrodite and Cupid. Oh well, thanks for correcting me, I hope that this
cleared that up. Basically what I'm trying to do is that they are one in
the same deity, just different names in different areas.