"Coming Out Of the Dark"
Author's Note: Yes, I am trying another story. The last one I wrote was "Everything I Own", which had a lot of errors in it. I did want to continue that story, but decided that it would be better to start off fresh than to continue that one.
Disclaimer: I really hate doing these. This story is just a figment of my warped imagination. As far as I know, nobody that is mentioned in this story is gay, bi, lesbian, or whatever. Then again, I do have my strong suspicions about more than one person that is mentioned in this story. Please e-mail me with comments, suggestions, pictures of any person mentioned in this story, etc. Please send any comments to christopher_bass@yahoo.com. You can also ICQ me at 39096226 or AOL IM me. My AOL IM name is DazFan2000.
CHAPTER ONE
It was October 15th. JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone were in the hospital. They had received a call from their management a few hours ago that Thomas Morrison, a friend of theirs, was found unconscious in his apartment in Portland, Oregon.
The three of them were spending some down time after the first leg of their smash "No Strings Attached" tour together just relaxing at Justin's house. While they were on tour, Justin had asked one of the people on their management team to look for a house for himself and JC. He decided months earlier that it was time for him to move out of the house he shared with his mother Lynn and the rest of his family. It was also the house that JC lived in, so he discussed moving into their own house with JC before telling his family that he was going to be moving out once the first leg of the tour was over. Lynn was worried that she would see her first born son even less if he were to move out, but Justin was able to convince her that he would still visit as often as he could.
JC, Justin, and Joey were sitting in the living room, watching a copy of "Broken Heart's Club" on video. The movie hadn't yet been released widely in theaters, but Justin and JC wanted to see the movie. They couldn't go to the theater because every time they would go to the movies, fans would swamp them. Most of their fans were very considerate, only wanting an autograph. However, there were some fans that were very aggressive when confronting members of the group. It was because of those fans that it could be very difficult for any of the guys to go out and have fun in public. JC wanted to see the movie because he thought Dean Cain was one of the hottest actors he had ever seen, while Justin thought Andrew Keegan was equally gorgeous.
Joey, being the only totally heterosexual member of *N Sync, didn't necessarily want to watch the movie, but accepted Justin and JC's invitation because he was feeling very lonely. He often felt like the proverbial "fifth wheel" as Justin and JC had been lovers for a few months now and Lance and Chris had just celebrated their six-month anniversary. Lance and Chris were on a cruise that was going to Mexico. Johnny Wright had been able to speak with JC on the phone and let them know that Thomas was in the hospital. JC, Joey, and Justin flew immediately to Portland. Johnny had a limo waiting for them to quickly shuttle them off to the hospital. The driver would also be delivering their luggage to the hotel they would be staying at. Johnny knew that because Thomas was such a close friend to the group, they would not be spending that much time at the hotel and would try to sleep at the hospital. Johnny put his foot down at that point. He wanted his guys to get a good amount of sleep each night so when the tour would start up again, they wouldn't be dragging their feet.
Thomas had been a big fan of the guys from the first time he saw their video for "I Want You Back". Thomas, at 33 years of age, was several years older than their usual fan. Lance had met Thomas four months ago when the group was performing in Portland. It was during "This I Promise You" when part of the stage was moving through the aisle, allowing the thousands of screaming teenage girls to scream even louder as they got a chance to see their favorite *N Sync member up close. Thomas was a huge fan of the group, but never felt the need to scream throughout the concert. He paid good money for the ticket, so he wanted to listen to the music.
FLASHBACK...
He was initially upset that he wasn't able to get a seat closer to the stage, but now was thrilled because he would be closer to the guys than he had initially thought he would ever be. He loved all five guys, but Lance and JC were by far his favorites. It was both Lance and JC that were closest to him.
At first he glanced at Lance as the stage was moving closer and closer to him. Thomas' and Lance's eyes met. Lance got lost in Thomas' eyes and almost forgot where he was. JC noticed this and sang very loud in Lance's ear to get his attention back to the concert. Lance blushed deeply and finished the song.
The guys ran backstage to change clothing for their next number. Justin went out first, doing his impersonation of a drum set. It was almost like a "Dueling Drums" with the percussionist. As Justin was wowing the crowd, JC was laying into Lance for almost losing his train of thought.
"What's with you, Scoop? You've never lost it like that!" JC shouted.
"I'm sorry, Josh." Lance timidly answered. "I don't know what happened to me."
JC saw Chris rush off close to the stage to listen for their cue. "Which guy was it?" he whispered, soft enough so that only Lance heard.
Lance blushed deeper than he had ever blushed before. "What are you talking about?"
JC replied, "Lance, it's OK to look, as long as you don't touch or even want to touch."
Lance still acted dumb, which normally was very hard for him. "Josh, what the fuck..."
JC interrupted and decided to say it bluntly. "Lance, I saw you look at that guy in the audience just now. He was pretty cute, but remember you are with Chris. Don't hurt him or you will have three guys hunting you for game."
"Look, Josh. " Lance explained. "You don't have to worry about my hurting Chris. Yes, this guy was pretty cute, but that's not why I was staring at him. I know this is going to sound strange, but I felt some kind of connection with him. I think God is telling me that this guy is gonna make a huge impact in my life."
JC was surprised that Lance was having these thoughts. Yes, JC was definitely the "daddy" of the group, but everyone could count on Lance on being the most sensible of the five of them. "But..."
Chris came up to JC and Lance. "Whatever you guys were talking about, discuss it later! We have to get back out there!" He kissed his lover lightly then went back on stage.
JC mouthed the words "later" to Lance before heading back onstage.
AFTER THE CONCERT...
The guys were relaxing in Joey's hotel room after the concert. Many times they went clubbing after a show, but Chris was the only one who wanted to go out that night. He was outvoted. Everyone else just wanted to get a good night's rest. It was a very hard concert, yet one of their best on this tour.
Before heading off to bed, JC wanted to talk to Lance more about Thomas.
However, Joey beat him to it. "Josh, why were you singing in Lance's ear during 'This I Promise You'? Should J be jealous?"
"Of course not, Joe. I was just bringing Lance's attention back to the show." JC replied.
"I noticed that Lance was out of it during that song. What's up with that, Scoop?" Justin added.
"We've all met friends at one city or another, right?" Lance asked. Everyone agreed. Lance continued. "Well, tonight I saw someone. Our eyes met and there was some sort of connection between the two of us."
Chris was stunned. Was his boyfriend falling out of love with him? "Baby, is there something you need to tell me?"
Lance was mad at himself for upsetting someone he loved so much. He rushed to his side and hugged him tight. "Darling, no! God's just telling me that he's supposed to be in my life. I don't know his name or anything else about him, but he's supposed to be a major part of my life. I need to find him."
"But, Lance, this guy might be a total freak. Worse, he might be a crazed fan and wants one or all of us dead." Chris said.
"I knew someone would say it, so right before our last song, I pointed the guy out to one of our security people. I asked him to track down this guy, what his name was, and everything he could dig up on him, including any police record. He should be back any time." Lance adamantly said.
While waiting for the security guy to come back to the hotel, all the five friends did was fight about Thomas. About 30 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Lance got up off of a chair and opened the door. The security guy, whose name was Andy, was at the door. "Great, you're back! What did you find out?"
Andy replied, "He's as clean as a whistle. His name is Thomas Morrison. He's 33 years old, works for an insurance company in the downtown area, is a major theater buff, and even lives in an apartment building right next to the arena we were at."
Lance's eyes brightened when he learned where Thomas lived. Justin saw the look and expressed his concern. "No, Lance. You are not going to this guy's apartment. Yes, this guy looks like he is on the level. If you want to meet him, it will be at him workplace, where there are a lot of people." Lance smiled at Justin's willingness to let him meet Thomas. "And we all go with you. We will discuss this in the morning. I am exhausted."
Chris, JC, Justin, Lance, and Andy left Joey's room. Chris and Lance were about to go into their room. Lance turned around, looked at Justin and smiled. "J?" he asked Justin.
"Yeah, Scoop?" Justin said from the door to his room.
"Thanks." Lance smiled brighter. Justin smiled back, then went into his room.
END OF FLASHBACK...
"Josh? Josh?" Joey tried to get JC's attention. He finally was able to.
"What's up, Joe? Did the doctor stop by with news about Thomas?"
"Nothing yet. You just seemed out of it. What were you thinking about?" Joey asked.
"I was just thinking about how we all first met Thomas...and how Lance was so right about his making a huge impact in Lance's life."
Joey and Justin nodded their heads.
"Do you think Thomas will be alright?" Justin asked.
"Physically, he probably will." JC replied.
Justin and Joey were confused. "What do you mean by that?" Justin asked.
"I've gotten a lot closer to Thomas than any of us, Lance excluded. I think I know him pretty well, even in such a short time. I know why he is here, even before the doctors come and tell us."
"Why is he here?" Justin asked.
"He tried to kill himself. He fell in love with Lance at first sight, maybe even before he met us all at his job. Lance mentioned the connection made when their eyes met at that concert. Thomas might have fallen for Lance at that moment." JC replied.
"How do you think Lance feels about him?"
"I don't know. Something tells me Lance loves him, too, but doesn't want to hurt Chris."
Suddenly, a doctor approaches the three guys. "Are you friends of Thomas Morrison?" JC nodded his head. "You can see him now. Physically, he is a little weak, but will make a full recovery."
"And emotionally?" JC asked, his voice quivering in fear.
"Let's just say he's gonna need his friends now, more than he ever has in his whole life." the doctor replied.
"Why is he here, doc?" Joey asked. "What made him do what he did?"
TO BE CONTINUED
OK, that was just Chapter 1 of my story. There isn't any sex yet, though there could be in a future chapter. Again, if you have any comments, good or bad, please e-mail them to christopher_bass@yahoo.com. Reader feedback definitely keeps all of us authors going!