Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 00:43:17 +0000 From: Angel1313@att.net Subject: Devotion Ch.10 Devotion Chapter Ten: Drunken Little Ditty Disclaimer: Yes! I finally got to name a chapter "Drunken Little Ditty!" *cough* Anyway, I'm not *NSYNC, I don't know them, and I don't know anything about their sexuality, either. Moving right along, please feel free to send me feedback at Angel1313@att.net Thanks!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Ten: Drunken Little Ditty "So," Joey asked, sitting down across from JC and Justin. "Did you two do any dancing?" Justin blushed. He turned to look at JC, and was surprised by what he saw. The older man looked as if he was about to cry. Justin couldn't imagine why; then it his him; maybe JC thought he was mocking his sexuality by dancing with him. If only he knew how the nineteen year-old really felt! "Well?" Joey prompted. "Um, yeah, we danced," JC finally mumbled. "Together?" Lance asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. JC's face fell. He didn't really know how to answer that. Yes, he and Justin had danced together, but no, Justin hadn't necessarily wanted to. Justin had been watching his best friend carefully. He had seen how distraught the brunette had looked when Lance had asked about them dancing together. Had it been that bad? Had JC really thought that he was just teasing him? "Nevermind," Lance finally said, laughing nervously. He shot a look at Joey to see if he noticed how strangely their two bandmates were acting. However, Lance was disappointed, but not really surprised, to see Joey checking out some women a few tables over, completely missing the current goings on of his own table. Despite himself, Lance smiled. /Typical Joey./ After a few more moments passed in silence, Joey finally got up to go to the table he had been watching. Lance laughed at his friend a little before turning back to the two men across from him. JC sat stirring his drink mindlessly, and Justin was watching the older man's face intently. Suddenly Justin slid out of the booth. "I think I'm going to go to the bathroom," he explained to the questioning looks of Lance and JC. "You *think* you're going to go?" Lance teased. "Uh, yeah," Justin replied quickly, still not realizing his mistake. After a moment, he corrected, "Oh, I meant that I'm going to go to the bathroom." With that, he hurried off. "Either he really has to go, or something's really bothering him," Lance mused. JC continued to stir his drink. After a moment, he stood up and announced that he was going to get another drink. Watching him leave, Lance began to wonder what was going on. /What happened on the dance floor?/ he thought to himself. /When I found Justin coming back, he was alone, and he looked about ready to cry. Then, Joey brings it up and the two suddenly get silent. Then they both get up and leave me here.../ Lance shut his eyes tightly shut, trying to stop his train of thought from heading in that direction. But it was no use. /...all alone. As usual./ Lance sighed. He just had to get up and do something. Glancing around the room, Lance quickly found a pretty girl who was sitting by herself. Deciding to take a chance, he got up to go talk to her. Joshua Chasez returned to the booth he and the other guys were using only to find it unoccupied. Shrugging, he sat down with his tray of drinks and began to get hopelessly drunk. By the time one A.M. arrived- the time the guys agreed on meeting to go home- the members of *NSYNC began to gather at the booth they had been using. There they found JC, his head laying in his arms on the table, out cold. Justin immediately began to panic, shaking JC like mad. "Josh?" he called. "Josh! Wake up!" Joey laughed. Justin glared at him, so the flame-haired man explained, "Take a look at the table, Curly. See all of those glasses? None of us have been back here, so that means that all..." Joey trailed off for a moment to count the drinks. "Six of those belonged to JC." "Six?!" Justin exclaimed. "And those aren't coke glasses," Chris observed. "Do you think he's okay? Do you think he has alcohol poisoning?" Justin questioned the other three frantically. "Yo, Curly, calm down," Joey reassured his friend. "He's going to be fine. JC doesn't drink the real hard-core stuff. He'll be all right in the morning...except for the killer hangover he's sure to have." Justin nodded, but he didn't feel any relief. Gazing down at his best friend, he gently began to run his hand through the soft brown hair that crowned his head. "Why would you do this Josh?" He whispered. Joey, Lance, and Chris all exchanged similar looks of distress. Justin was clearly in pain, and JC was, perhaps more clearly, in pain as well. Lance was sure that they had a relationship that was more intimate than friendship, but he also thought that it was brand-new. Chris was beginning to put things together, and even Joey was sure that there was *something* going on between the two of them, even if he didn't know what it was. It didn't take a genius to figure out that there was something special about the chemistry between the two young musicians. "Why don't we take him home," Lance suggested as the silence dragged on. Justin nodded mutely, and Joey and Chris went to pay for the group's drinks and check to make sure the limo was around, respectively. Turning back to Justin, Lance offered to help the blonde with JC. "We could support him between the two of us," he suggested. "I'm fine," Justin snapped. Lance raised his eyebrows in surprise, but he didn't say anything. JC began to stir. "Justin?" he mumbled. Justin's face immediately softened. "I'm right here, Josh," he whispered to the brunette, leaning down so that his head was level with the older man's. JC started to slump over again, but Justin stopped him. "C'mon, Josh. You just need to walk out of the club. Then you can sleep. I'll help you, Josh. Here, lean on me, and we'll get you home," he coaxed. Lance smiled. Justin could be so sweet sometimes. He was a completely different person when it came to JC, it seemed. Just a moment before he had been rude to Lance, but then he turned around and was an angel with JC. It was so obvious that he loved him. Lance couldn't imagine what could have come between the two. The ride back to the hotel was uneventful. Lance, Joey, and Chris sat in silence as they observed the two other members of *NSYNC. JC had fallen back asleep, either that or he had passed out again, no one was really sure, with his head in the nineteen year-old's lap. Justin was singing "This I Promise You" quietly as he gently stroked the older man's cheek. Once they got JC out of the limo and into the elevator, Justin gave up trying to get him to walk. Picking the older man up, and cradling him gently in his arms, Justin explained, "No one's going to be around up here, and he can hardly stand up, let alone walk." The other three just nodded. Lance, who still had a key, helped Justin with the door. After he turned on the lights for the younger man, who was making his way over to one of the beds, he reminded Justin of the schedule for later that day. "We don't need to be in the dance studio until two, so you should let Josh sleep," Lance suggested, his voice barely above a whisper. "What?" Justin asked quickly, his head snapping around. "I said you should let him sleep," Lance repeated, his voice clearly expressing his confusion. "I'll call you guys around one if I haven't heard from you." Justin turned back to the man he had just placed on the bed in front of him. "Fine, whatever," he muttered. Still unsure as to what he had done to set the nineteen year-old off, Lance said, "Goodnight, Justin," before quickly heading out the door. Once he heard the door softly click into place, Justin began to get JC undressed. After he had gotten the older man's shoes and socks off, the brunette began to stir. "Josh," Justin whispered as the older man's eyes connected with his. "We've got to get you undressed, all right? C'mon and help me get your pants off." Justin began to blush. That hadn't exactly come out as he had hoped it would. Silently, JC complied. Once the older man was down to his boxers and a muscle tee shirt, Justin helped him into a pair of pajama pants. After he had gotten changed himself, Justin headed back over to JC, who had gotten under the covers of his bed. "Goodnight, Josh," he whispered, about to go over to his own bed. "Justin," JC called quietly, his hand reaching out and grabbing the younger man's arm. Justin turned around. It was the first time JC had spoken since they had been in the club. "Justin," he repeated, his eyes, though slightly unfocused, were pleading with the blonde. "Stay with me. Just tonight. Please, Justin. I need you." Justin fell to his knees, his legs suddenly weak. Kissing JC softly on his forehead, the blonde's eyes began to fill with tears as he whispered, "Of course, Josh. I need you, too." With that, Justin crawled into bed beside the older man. To his surprise, JC rolled over and wrapped his arms around the younger man. Turning so he faced the brunette, Justin laid his head against JC's chest. He was soon lulled to sleep by the steady rhythm of his best friend's heart. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Can you feel it? They're going to get together soon! *pretends not to hear the choruses of "finally!"* Well, feel free to write to me, you know I love it!! My address is Angel1313@att.net Thanks for reading!!