Date: Sat, 04 Nov 2000 02:17:52 +0000
From: Angel1313@att.net
Subject: Devotion ch.30

Devotion
Chapter Thirty:
One More Night

Disclaimer: Hey! I'm back! I hope you like this chapter. It's really short,
I realize that, but it sort of goes off on a tangent that the story has, so
I didn't want to spend *too* much time on it. Oh, yeah, I forgot this is
the disclaimer! Um, I have nothing to do with *NSYNC, etc, etc, etc. (And
what a disclaimer it was! =P) Enjoy! -Angel1313 ^_^

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Chapter Thrity:
One More Night

	"So they took off, huh?" Chris asked Britney, who had joined the
rest at the group at a large table. Bobbie came along as well.
	"It's about time they talked, don't you think?" Lance added.
	"Yeah," Britney sighed. "I just wish that I hadn't messed up
earlier. Justin was really angry. He told me that-" looking at the three
members of *NSYNC, and then their dates, Britney wisely decided to shut
up. "You know what? I don't feel like reliving it right now. I'll tell you
guys later."
	"Nice save," Bobbie whispered to the teen queen. Britney smiled at
her. They'd patched things up quickly, since they had both been trying to
protect the men they loved.
	"Oh my gosh!" Britney exclaimed, catching a glimpse of Joey's
watch. "Is it two already? I've got a flight at seven tomorrow! I've really
got to get going."
	"Yeah, we should all probably be turning in," Lance agreed, getting
up. Everyone said their good nights and good byes, and the three members of
*NSYNC elected to go home separately, so they could spend a little more
time with their dates.

	"Lance?" Joey called quietly into the dark room.
	"Yeah?" Came the groggy reply.
	"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," the brunette quickly
apologized.
	"Naw, it's fine," the Mississippian reassured him. "I was up
anyway. What do you need?"
	"I um," Joey stuttered. "I was just wondering if maybe we could
talk."
	"Joey, it's four in the morning. Is it something that's really
important, or something that can wait until I've gotten some sleep?" Lance
growled crankily.
	"It was nothing, never mind," Joey said quickly, but the
disappointment in his voice was enough to bring the Mississippian out of
bed.
	"Joey," he said, moving to sit on his bandmate's bed. "What's
wrong?"
	"It's nothing, really," Joey tried, attempting to laugh it off.
	Lance wasn't fooled. "C'mon, Joey. I'm awake now. Tell me what's
bothering you."
	"Look," Joey sighed, deciding that it was best to just come out
with it. "I've been doing a lot of thinking."
	"That's unusual," Lance joked. "What about?"
	Remaining serious, the brunette answered, "About us. And what we
had, and could have had, and might still be able to have."
	"Joey..." Lance said quietly, the pain in his voice striking pain
into Joey's own heart.
	"Scoop, I was watching you with Meredith tonight, and I just... I
don't know! I just didn't like it," the New Yorker tried to explain.
	"You didn't like it?" Lance shot back. "Well, to bad `cause you had
your chance. You're the one who didn't want to commit. You're the one who
broke it off with *me.* Don't give me this `I don't like it when you see
other people' bull, `cause it's not gonna fly, understand?"
	Joey was slightly taken aback. He thought that Lance *wanted* to
get together. Clearly when he had claimed to be perfectly okay with the
situation, he hadn't mean it. Joey now feared that he had strained their
relationship even more.
	"Lance, I'm not asking to get together, not yet, anyway. I just
wanted to let you know that I was wrong when I said we should stop seeing
each other. I know that you don't want to hear that right now, but I miss
what we had, Lance. I miss having you as..." Joey's voice trailed off as he
couldn't think of what to call his bandmate.
	"As what?" Lance spat at the older man. "See? You don't even know
what I was. I wasn't your boyfriend, I wasn't your best friend, so what
does that leave us with? A casual fling? A quick fuck?"
	Eyes widening from the usage of bad language from the normally
docile Lance Bass, Joey reassured, "No! No, nothing like that. We were
friends and lovers, we just weren't dating exclusively."
	"And now you want to take that step?" Lance asked, clearly
skeptical of the older man.
	"Yes, well, maybe. I don't know! I just know that I liked it a lot
better when we were comfortable around each other. When we could cuddle or
just hang out, it didn't matter. When we were whatever we wanted to be,
without commitments or standards and without giving what we had a name,"
Joey explained.
	Lance didn't look pleased, "Oh, I get it. Your date won't give you
any, so you came crawling back to me, hoping to rekindle our
`relationship.' Sorry, Joe, but that ain't gonna cut it. I'm worth more
then that."
	"Scoop, you're not listening to me!" the New Yorker protested. "I
don't want to sleep with you; I just want to be close again. I mean close
to you as friends, not close to sleeping with you. I didn't mean close to
sleeping with you."
	Smiling despite himself, Lance laughed, "I know what you meant,
Joey."
	Growing a little more confident at the sight of the smile and sound
of the laughter, Joey continued, "I'd just like for us to stop fighting,
for us to at least be able to get along. I know that it's going to take a
while to get back to where we were, but I'd really like to try, Scoop. I
miss having you in my life."
	"Joey, I've never been *out* of your life. Maybe you just stopped
making time for me," Lance suggested.
	"Lance, *please*! I'm sorry, okay? I don't know what else to say!"
Joey exclaimed.
	Getting up, Lance returned to his own bed. "I just need some time,
Joey. You hurt me. Deeply. Do you even realize that? I'm not really looking
forward to having that happen again. Things aren't ever going to be the way
they used to be. They might get close, but I'm not going to let you play
with my heart again. If you really want commitment, *then* come see me. I'm
still not making any promises, though," he told his bandmate.
	"Lance, I want commitment," Joey whispered. He did. He was sure of
it. He wanted Lance, and if it meant that he would have Lance and *only*
Lance, for the first time, Joey was willing to do that.
	"Not tonight, Joe. I know you're horny, but not tonight. Give me
more time," the blonde replied tiredly.
	"I'm serious, Lance," Joey insisted. When he got no reply, he
asked, "How long, Scoop? Another night? Another week?"
	Sighing, Lance replied, "I don't know, Joe. Maybe one more night,
maybe never. I'd just like to get some sleep now."
	A few minutes passed in silence until Joey could hear his
bandmate's breathing even-out, indicating that the Mississippian was
asleep.
	"Goodnight, Scoop," Joey whispered to his sleeping friend. "I love
you."

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Well, there it is. To be honest, I never thought I'd make it to
ch.30. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with this story from the start, you
mean the world to me. Feedback is always appreciated, and don't worry;
you'll get to see Josh and Just next chapter. I just had to deal with Lance
and Joey first. -Angel1313 ^_^