Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2001 02:11:04 +0000 From: Angel1313@att.net Subject: Devotion 41 Devotion Chapter Forty-One: "Stifling Defense" disclaimer: Yes, it's fiction. notes: A little late, I admit, but I was going crazy writing the thing on notebook paper over my break. I know, I know... but I'm just better at typing! >.< Anyway, here it is -- unedited! So I hope it's readable. At least I remembered to spell check! =P Oh, and happy birthday to Aerika! ^_^ Luv ya, hon! -Angel ^_^ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Forty-One: "Stifling Defense" "Okay, I made more popcorn, but it was the last two bags," Lance announced, walking into the small TV area. "Now, I put it into two bowls, so we're going to have to share, okay?" Chris shook his head. "I'm stuffed from the first bag." Joey glared at him. JC reached up and Lance gave him one of the bowls, saying, "Now, remember to share that with Justin." Smiling, JC replied, "Of course." Justin, who was sitting on the floor with the brunet, leaned against the bed. "Why do we always have to watch scary movies?" he complained. "If you don't want to watch, you don't have to," Chris reminded the young man. "But we know that you want to," Joey put in with a sly smile. "What?" Justin asked, feeling as though he had been insulted, but not entirely sure as to how. Lance rolled his eyes and took a seat beside the New Yorker. "Ignore him," he told Justin, shaking his head at Joey, who immediately dove for the popcorn. "That's what I was planning on doing," Justin laughed, deciding to let it go. "Shh, it's starting!" Chris hissed from where he was sprawled across the small couch in front of the TV. "Why does he get the couch all to himself?" Justin muttered, scooting closer to JC. "You can come and sit with me if you'd like," the eldest member of *NSYNC offered, sounding surprisingly sincere. "I'll move over." Justin smiled. "Naw, it's okay. I'm fine here on the cold, hard, floor." "Here's a blanket, now can it," Lance growled, tossing a comforter onto JC and Justin's heads from where he and Joey were sharing the bed. JC began to laugh and Justin quickly joined in. "I just got popcorn all over my lap," the brunet chuckled. "I'll help clean it up," Justin said, leaning over to pick up some of the fallen kernels that were scattered around his bandmate. Lance raised his eyebrows and met Joey's eyes in the silence that followed. "I didn't mean - that is, I wasn't implying-" Justin began, fumbling about with his words in his embarrassment. JC continued to laugh. "Curly, it's fine. I know what you meant." Hesitantly, Justin returned the older man's smile. "Thanks, Josh," he whispered. Looking away immediately afterwards, the blonde quickly continued to pick up the scattered popcorn. Silently, JC joined him. Lance's gaze turned confused, and Joey simply shrugged. Throwing an arm around his concerned bandmate, the New Yorker whispered, "Hey, sometimes it's best if you just butt out." Lance sighed. "Yeah," he reluctantly agreed. "I guess I can relate." Joey laughed, and Chris shushed everyone again. JC responded by throwing a kernel of popcorn at the older man. "Hey, he's had more then his share already," Joey whined. "Oh, be quiet already," Lance chided. "You've had more then your share, too. Three of the bags were already gone, and I don't recall you sharing any of them with me, Joseph." "But I only had one bag!" the New Yorker insisted. "Then who ate them?" Lance countered, folding his arms across his chest. Chris groaned. "Can we *please* just watch the damned movie?" "I bet you took them!" Joey accused. Burying his head in his hands, Chris replied, "Joey, I promise you that I didn't take the popcorn. Now, can we discuss this later? We're missing the movie!" "Maybe we just shouldn't watch it," Justin suggested hopefully, settling back against the bed, the popcorn having been cleaned up. "Maybe you should go to your room and watch some chick-flick with JC," Joey shot back. This time it was Lance who buried his head in his hands. "Please God, tell me JC didn't hear that." "Excuse me?" JC replied, sounding eerily calm. Justin was a different matter. "Joey, I am going to count to three, and if you haven't apologized by then, I am going to come over there and kick your ass back to New York, understand?" "I'm sorry, Justin, I was just saying that if you don't want to watch the movie, you don't have to. You could find something that you'd enjoy more, and maybe you would want to watch it with JC. I mean, you do everything with JC," Joey rambled, speaking so rapidly he was almost difficult to understand. Lance sighed. "Oh, please tell me they didn't understand that last part." Again, Lance was disappointed. Justin stood up, folding his arms across his chest. "Are you saying that it's a bad thing that I spend a lot of time with JC? Do you think that means that we like to watch chick flicks? Do you think that because JC's gay he's feminine? And that because I hang out with him, I am too? Is that what you're trying to say here, Joey? Because last time *I* checked, *you* were the one in the relationship with a man, so maybe you should tell me about some of these stereotypes you keep spouting." Joey's mouth opened and shut in a few silent moments, but the New Yorker could think of nothing to say. The silence grew and the tension made it awkward for everyone to sit through. Finally, JC spoke. "Baby, why don't you come and watch the movie?" he said softly, reaching up and gently pulling the younger man to him. Reluctantly Justin let himself be pulled down to sit next to the brunet. He sat stiffly, his blood still boiling over Joey, until JC slipped his arm around the younger man's waist again. "Just relax and enjoy the movie," he soothed. "Forget about Joey; he's not important right now." Justin sighed and leaned heavily against the older man. "Thanks, Josh," he whispered. "I love you." JC immediately stiffened. Standing up so abruptly that Justin fell over, the brunet announced, "You know what? My back is bothering me a bit from sitting on this hardwood floor. I think I'm just gonna go back to my place and rest before rehearsal tonight." Without waiting for a response, JC turned and walked out of the hotel room, leaving his bandmates stunned. In a heartbeat, Justin was up and out the door as well. "Josh, wait!" he called, his voice breaking. "Talk to me, please!" But by the time he got to his bandmate's room, the door was already closed. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to hold back his tears, the teen turned and walked across the hall to his own room. Lance, who had gotten up to close the door to his own hotel room, sighed as he saw Justin enter his room alone. Slowly, the Mississippian walked back to his bed where Joey was looking expectantly at him. "They're in separate rooms," he said in answer. Joey let out his breath in a whoosh before muttering, "Damn. Not again." There was another moment of silence before Chris said, "Well, at least now I can watch this movie in peace." In response, his two companions that were still in the room each threw a pillow at him. Chris laughed, but he too was worried about his friends. The three quickly lapsed into silence again, each wrapped in his own thoughts. The movie continued to play, unnoticed by the men supposedly watching it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Afterword: Admittedly not the direction I was planning on going in exactly, but don't worry; there are some things I have to take care of before Josh and Just can live happily ever after. Soon enough it will be smooth sailing. ^_^ Anyway, I'd really love to hear from you, so please feel free to send me feedback (Angel1313@att.net) and thank you to those who do. You know how much you mean to me ^_^ Thanks for reading! -Angel ^_^