Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 20:53:53 -0800 (PST) From: AJ Shukla Subject: Josh and Just/7-8 ****Hey Everyone! I'm Back! Hope I left you on a cliffhanger. I hope I still have all my readers out there. And if I haven't replied to your e-mails I'm sorry. I try to but for the last couple of days I've been really really busy. So please all of you do write me and don't get mad if I don't reply your e-mails for a while. Anyways. I hope you like the story so far and if you don't I'm sorry. Could you please tell me why? I guess that's all. On with the story. Josh and Just 7 Justin stood in the kitchen looking down terrified at what he held in his hands. He Quickly dropped the box of roses and threw down the card before trying to leave the room. JC stepped in front of him and pulled him into a hug. "What's wrong?" JC asked as he saw the horror filled look upon Justin's face. "Why does this have to happen to me? Why can't it be someone else?" Justin said hugging JC tighter. Lynn scurried over to the fallen box and read the note. She sighed and looked up to JC. "You know Justin it's probably a big joke." Lynn claimed as she picked up the mess and placed it in the garbage can. "Yeah Justin. It's just some big stupid joke." Lance agreed. "Or it could be real. What if he's out and what if he's after me. What if he's in Orlando. Somewhere near the studio or in our neighborhood. What if he's in the house right now?" Justin asked as he desperately tried to hold back his tears. JC guided him toward a stool near the counter and sat him down. "Justin. No one is going to get you. You have me and all the guys with you constantly. There is no way that he's going to be able to come within breathing distance of you. Cause no one breathes on my Justin and gets away with it." JC tried to joke. Justin cracked a smile and nodded. He looked up at JC and gave him a small kiss on the lips. As their lips met Randall, Lisa, and Paul walked into the kitchen. "Hey Lynn is Justin up...?" Randall stopped when he saw Justin and JC kissing. Justin pulled back and looked at his parents and then back to JC. Justin stood and walked out of the room. "Umm. Randall. Lisa. Paul. I think you guys should sit down." JC sighed. "I wonder how it's going down there?" Joey asked. He laid down on Justin's bed and scrutinized the ceiling. He looked over to Chris who was lounged out on the futon looking nervously at a magazine. Lance straddled a chair as he looked at nothing at all. "I'm not quite sure. Everything seems pretty quiet down there. Not much going on. So I'm taking that as good." Lance replied. "Maybe they killed each other." Chris suggested. "Hey you guys? Can I hang out here? They are all talking about what's going to happen in the future and all." Laura said as she walked into the room. She plopped down on the bed and laid down next to Joey. "Joey what are you looking at?" Laura asked as she searched for what he was staring at. "So what else happened down there?" Lance asked. "Well they covered "What if the media finds out", "Will this affect your career", "Was it because of the rape", "Who else knows", "Lynn Why didn't you tell us, we have a right to know what goes on in out son's life", and "I guess if it has to be this way then JC is perfect for you"." Laura explained. "Wow they have gone through a lot. Does it seem like they are all supportive?" Chris asked. "I don't know Mom and Dad seem to be supportive. Lisa thinks it's alright. But Paul seems all quiet and everything." Laura replied. "He is so uptight sometimes. I bet you he's probably thinking that having a step-son who's gay is going to be bad for his clients to know about." Joey stated. "He's not that bad he's just a little too into his work and not enough into Justin and Laura. He makes Lynn happy and I think that's good." Chris retorted. They sat silently for a little bit while just listening to the radio which was playing on Justin's nightstand. Chris looked toward the door when JC and Justin walked in. "What's up?" Joey asked. "Not much. We just basically did a whole lot of explaining." JC responded. Justin silently took a seat on the futon next to Chris. He let out a silent sigh and rested his head on Chris's shoulder. "Hey Curly. You need to take it easy. Tomorrow will be our day of fun. Nothing to worry about. Just us, the munchkins and maybe the parents at Universal." Chris said in an attempt to cheer Justin up. "I don't know if I wanna go out tomorrow. That guy is still out there. Following me." Justin said as he released a shudder. He looked over at the bed and saw JC's eyes looking at him in return. Justin gave a small smile. JC mouthed the words `I Love You'. "You know it's a late night. You guys have been down there talking with them for like two hours and we do got to get up early so let's head to bed." Joey said hopping off the bed. Chris hopped off the futon onto the floor where an air mattress was set up for him. Joey laid down on the cushion mattress next to him. Lance made himself comfortable on the futon while Justin got up and looked through his drawers for something to sleep in. "Goodnight everyone." Laura said as she stood up. She received a response from everyone while she left the room with Justin. "Goodnight Justin." Laura said, beginning to go downstairs. "Goodnight Princess. See you tomorrow morning." Justin claimed as he headed into the bathroom. As Justin walked back into the room he saw nothing but the things illuminated by the moonlight shining through uncovered window. He looked around the room and saw that everyone had pretty much laid down. Joey was snuggled in his burrito of blankets as he hugged his pillow tightly. Chris laid on his back while he snored softly. Lance slept on his stomach as he blankets continued to slide of his legs. He would continually have to pick them up again while fighting to stay asleep. Justin carefully made his way to the futon and picked up Lance's comforter and placed it snuggly around his band mate. He looked out the window where the moonlight shined through and gazed at the serene street outside. His eyes were caught by a man across the street leaning under the lamppost. He smoked a cigarette as he looked straight toward Justin's window. The light bounced in all directions but still managed to cover his face in the shadows. Justin ran over to his bed where JC silently laid in an uncomfortable position, obviously trying to wait for Justin to join him. "JC! Hurry there is someone outside! Come on!" Justin said waking JC with a start. JC managed to follow Justin back toward the window. He gazed outside and saw nothing but the calm street in the middle of the night. "Justin. There is no one out there. You are just freaked out about this whole stalker thing, He will not hurt you. I'll make sure of that. We all will. Okay?" JC asked as he pulled Justin into a hug. "But Josh! I saw him out there!!" Justin replied. Lance woke up and looked around. "What happened? Who's hurt?" Lance asked quickly, looking around the room. "Nothing Lance. Go back to sleep." JC whispered softly. Lance complied while Justin looked out the window, searching for what he saw. "Justin. Even if you did see him. It couldn't have been that man. He's locked away for a long, long, long, long time. Now why don't you just get some sleep." JC tried to persuade. Justin sighed and walked over to the bed. He pulled back the covers and laid himself down as he faced the window with worry. JC tucked him in before walking around the bed and getting in himself. He held Justin from behind and stayed awake. While Justin slowly fell into sleep. `I hate seeing him go through this. He doesn't deserve any of this. It was all my fault that it happened to him. I should have waited up for him and walked with him to the movies.' JC thought as he softly hummed a song to help Justin into slumber. He ran his fingers through Justin's curls and rested his cheek against Justin's. He lifted his head to give Justin a kiss on the forehead before laying back down. "I love you Justin." JC whispered. He silently followed Justin into sleep. Justin let out silent cough which caused him to wake up. He slowly opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the pale moonlight that continued to shine through the clear, undisturbed window. There was a light scratching of a tree against the window that could be heard. Justin slowly looked toward the window expecting to see the white lunar light splash against the bare tree branches that was right outside his window. He looked up to see a man peering into the window at him. He gasped and turned to JC for help. He shook JC quickly, while trying to keep his eyes on the man. "Wuh?" JC asked in a hoarse voice, still not getting up. Justin quickly turned toward JC and shook him. "JC. Look!" Justin said. JC popped up and looked toward the window which Justin was pointing at. He looked to see the white moon glistening back at him. "What Just? I don't see anything." JC replied as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked toward Justin who situated himself along the edge of the bed. He sat as his feet touched the ground. His elbows rested against his knees while his face rested in his hands. JC let out an exasperated sigh and inched next to Justin. "Justin what did you see?" JC asked as he wrapped an arm around Justin's shoulder. "I saw him. he was looking into the window. Watching me. Watching us. Josh am I going crazy?" Justin let out a desperate sob. JC shook his head and pulled Justin into a tight hug. "Just. It'll be okay. He's not here and he will not get you. I'm going to make sure of that." JC claimed. He kissed Justin's forehead and continued to hug him. "Thanks Josh. You've been a big help. I don't know how I would ever go on without you. You or the guys." Justin whispered. "I know. An I will continue to be here until we are both old and gray." JC said. He laid down and pulled Justin down next to him. Justin faced JC while he laid on his side. JC did the same, facing Justin. "JC can we just talk for a little bit? I'm not ready to go to sleep." Justin asked. "Yeah sure. Do you remember we used t do this when we were on MMC together. You always couldn't sleep because you were homesick, or scared, or nervous and you would always crawl into my bed. Tony was there, Dale was there, Blake was there, but no you would crawl into my bed." JC stated. "It was because I felt safer around you. You were the one that first kind of showed me around and made sure I knew everything. You made sure I wouldn't get picked on by the older guys especially TJ. Oh I hated him." Justin reminisced. "It was because you took his spot on that routine one time. But you were like my little brother. I wouldn't have wanted Tyler to be lost out there. Plus you were always around." JC laughed. "Well I had to hide from Christina. She was always trying to get me to go out with her. She was nice and all but she was like head over heels. So I always tried to dodge her by hanging with you guys." Justin explained. "And it was cool. I liked having you around." JC replied. Justin gave him a smile before kissing him slightly. "Do you think it's risky for two best friends to be dating?" Justin asked. "No I don't. Because I know you so well that I know when something goes wrong. And I can fix it before it gets worst." JC responded. "Huh?" Justin asked in confusion. "Never mind. Oh hey there is an MMC reunion or something. I don't know. I think we are going to go see a play of Nikki's or something. So we should probably head to that. And we'll bring the guys and Brittany. It will be cool. I can't wait to see Keri. Can you believe that she's still going out with Tony?" JC asked. He didn't receive a response. He looked over to Justin who was fast asleep. JC let out a small laugh and kissed Justin before bringing the blankets up around his love. Once again Justin woke up in the middle of the night. This time a cold draft had waken him from sleep. He let out a shudder as he sat up in bed. He looked around his room. Joey and Chris slept peacefully on the floor while Lance was quietly sleeping on the futon with the open curtains blowing over him. He turned and saw JC was fast asleep. He looked at the open window once again. "Oh my god! He's in the house!" Justin yelled. JC popped up along with Joey. Chris shot out of bed and took a fighting position as Lance sat up in confusion. JC scurried to turn on the lights. A loud groan shot through the room as the light struck everyone painfully. As their eyes adjusted to the light they all looked toward Justin who was sitting in a horrified state. "What's wrong Just?" Chris asked. "Who opened the window?" Justin asked. "I thought it was one of you because you were climbing all over the futon to open it. At one point you stuck your foot right by my head. Now which one of you has those boots on?" Lance asked grumpily. Everyone gave him a confused look. "What? One of you climbed on top of the futon to open the window and when you were coming down you stuck your shoe covered foot right in front of my face. You thought I was asleep but with all the noise you made I was awake. Now who did it?" Lance asked. "Oh god he's in the house!" Justin claimed as he nervously walked around the room. "Who? Who's in the house?" JC asked. "Don't you remember. That man I saw standing at the lamppost. And the man I saw looking through the window. He came right through the window." Justin said pacing until JC came up to pull him into a hug. "Justin this is a second story room. How is he going to get in here. And wasn't the window locked?" JC asked. "There is a tree outside so if someone did come in they could have climbed that. And the window was open today so the person who closed it could have forgotten to lock it." Joey recalled. "Shut up Joey!" JC said softly through gritted teeth. He looked from Joey to Justin and back to Joey. Joey soon realized what he had just said. "Ohh but he probably fell and hurt himself. No one can climb that tree. Remember we tried once and Chris broke his arm." Joey tried to fix. "Maybe not. Look at this." Lance said as he held up a rope. Justin turned pale at the sight of the rope. "Okay. Okay. This is what we are going to do. Justin you stay here with Lance and call for help. Chris you go get Jonathan and Steven and Laura. Get them here. Whoever this is, the person could be crazy. JC and I will go get the parents and search the house. Got it? Good." Joey said taking control. Lance picked up the phone and dialed frantically. "Just. Stay here and don't worry. Okay? I love you." JC said kissing Justin softly. "I love you too." Justin responded. `Did I just say I love him? I guess I do! I love JC !' Justin thought. JC gave him a smile before rushing out of the door. "Ahhhhh!" Justin's head snapped toward the door. "That was Jonathan!" Justin screamed. He rushed out of the door and straight toward Jonathan's room. Lance chased after Justin. "Justin stay here." Joey said trying to hold Justin back. "Let me go! That's my brother." Justin said pushing Joey aside to rush into the room. He flipped on the lights and saw Jonathan in the arms of a man with his hand over Jonathan's mouth. Justin looked at the man and noticed he had never seen him before in his life. "Hello Justin." The man smiled. "Let go of my brother." Justin replied in anger. "All I want is to relive that night where you and I shared so much." The man replied. "I've never seen you in my life!" Justin replied inching forward. Jonathan quickly bit into the man's hand causing the man to drop him. Jonathan scurried over to JC who was behind Justin and hugged him tightly. JC held the child closely. Joey quickly tackled the man and pinned him to the floor. The man threw Joey off and rushed to the window. He struggled to open it but soon did before Chris could get to him. He jumped out of the window and feel to the ground. He landed with a crash and began to hobbled away. Justin heard the sounds of sirens becoming very clear. The next sound he heard shook the whole house. It was the sound of gunshots being fired. Justin ran to the window and saw a police car with an officer pointing his gun at the man who was now face down on the ground. He turned away from the scene and buried his face into JC's chest. Josh and Just 8 "You know I don't want to go on tour tomorrow." Chris complained as he packed his suitcase. He put the last T-shirt in and tried frantically to close the suitcase. Lance decided to lend a helping hand by hopping onto the suitcase and sitting it on it. Chris easily zipped up the bag and lugged it out of the room. Justin laughed at the two and continued to pack. He looked around and saw no on in the room. "There you are. Lookin' as fine as can be, in your fancy car. I can tell you're lookin at me. What ya wanna do? Are you just gonna sit there and stare. Baby talk to me. Tell me what's on your mind baby. Oh baby bring it all to me. But I don't need no fancy cars or diamond rings. Oh baby bring it all to me. Give me your time your love your space your energy." Justin sang to himself while he placed clothes into his suitcase. "Baby what's the deal. Would I be to forward if I told you how I feel. That's just the way I do my thang. So for real. Are you feelin' my Tims, my baggy jeans, my thug appeal. Do you like it when a man can keep it real?" JC sang from the doorway. Justin twirled around and smiled and JC in embarrassment. JC walked toward Justin and wrapped his arms around his lean waist. Justin leaned forward and made contact with JC's lips. Justin caressed JC's top lip with his two thin, yet full lips. JC softly let his tongue slip out and move into Justin's mouth. Justin caressed the intruder with his own as they stood in an embrace. "Ahem! If you don't mind? You are standing in the way." Joey said as he stood right behind JC. JC laughed while attempting to keep the kiss with Justin. "Excuse me!! I'm trying to get by here." Joey claimed. JC stopped the kiss. He turned around and looked at Joey. "Joey look around. We are standing in the middle of the room. We are not blocking you. You can walk on either side of us." JC stated. "I know I was just kidding." Joey snickered as he smacked JC's stomach with his hand. "We never get any time alone you know that? It's always us two and the three of them." JC joked. "Would you want it any other way?" Justin asked. giving JC's cheek a kiss. JC pondered for a second before shaking his head. "Come on you two. We have to go. I think we have to meet up with Britney right now." Lance said, popping in his head. "Hey everyone we're leaving!" Justin yelled from the door. Lynn came rushing down the stairs with Steven in her arms. Randall walked in with Jonathan clutching onto his finger. Lisa walked in beside him along with Paul and Laura. "Okay bye Mom. I'll see you soon. Maybe at JC's if you come up for that one weekend I was telling you about." Justin said hugging his mom. "Okay sweety. Call me okay?" Lynn asked. "I'll make sure he does." Lance said, patting Justin on the shoulder. "Thanks Lance. And take care yourself. All of you take care. I want to see you all when I come up to Virginia." Lynn said, beginning to get weepy eyed. "Oh Lynn!" JC said pulling her into a hug. Lynn hugged JC back and then pulled away to look up at him. "And take care of my baby okay?" She asked of JC. "Sure thing Lynn." JC said smiling back. "Bye son." Randall said, giving Justin a big hug. "Bye Dad." Justin said in return. Justin gave Paul a hug as well as Lisa. "Justin?" Laura asked. "Yeah Princess?" Justin asked in return. "You're not going to forget about my BSB autograph are you?" Laura inquired. Justin cracked a smile and gave her a hug. "I love you too." Justin responded. "Justin!" Laura claimed. "I won't." Justin laughed. "I love you." Laura said giving him a big hug. Justin smiled and kissed her forehead. "Bye Justin!" Jonathan said grabbing onto Justin's leg. "Bye buddy. I'll miss you. You have to call me and the guys sometime okay?" Justin said scooping the boy up. "I will. When you come back? Will you bring JC and Joey and Lance and Chris?" Jonathan asked hopefully. "I will." Justin promised. Jonathan smiled and walked back to his father's leg. "Okay bye baby Steven. You call too." Justin said tickling the boy. "Okay I guess we will see you guys later. And I'll call when I land wherever we go first." Justin said. He waved to them as they walked out to the limo that was waiting for them. Britney sat in the executive style seat that adorned the heavy oak table that filled the room. She looked through the Teen People with Christina Aguilera and smiled as she saw her friend in ridiculous poses. She continued to flip the page until she stopped at a picture of `N Sync. She looked at the five and smiled. `They are so cute together. Five big boys acting like two year olds.' She thought as she predicted all the memories she'll make on the tour. Her lifted her head at the sound of a soft knock on the door. The door slid open and JC poked his head in. "Hello. Have you seen a little teenage girl around here who would run around with her sidekick, Christina, always trying to get with my best friend?" JC asked as he looked at Britney. Britney broke a smile and stood up. She walked over to JC before being pulled into his arms for a hug. "You've grown." JC laughed as he lifted while continuing the hug. "So have you. Now where are the other four?" Britney asked, looking behind JC to see if they were outside. "Well Chris had to use the bathroom. And so did Joey. Justin is getting some candy from the vending machines and I think Lance is trying to steal some of his." JC said, not quite sure. "Hey Brit!" Justin yelled as he saw her. He pulled her into a hug. "Hey Justin. My, my, my haven't you gotten cuter since the last time I've seen you." Britney said, looking him up and down. "Yeah well. Dream on. I'm taken." Justin grinned. "Who's the lucky girl?" Britney asked. Justin looked down at Britney and smiled. Chris walked into the room and scooped Britney up in his arms. "Christopher! Put me down." Britney demanded in the midst of her hysteric laughter. Chris placed her down only for her to be pulled into another hug by Joey. "What's with you guys and hugging?" Britney asked as she chuckled along with everyone. "Hey what about me?" Lance asked, walking through the door. "What about you?" Chris asked. "I want a hug." Lance complained. "Okay." Justin said pulling Lance into a hug. Lance stood still while Justin hugged him, having a false horror filled face painted. Justin pulled back and smacked Lance in the shoulder. "Well Britney are you ready to go on tour with us?" Justin asked as he bumped the side of his hip with hers. "Not quite exactly. You guys have to go to Big bear California to do the whole MusicTelevision thing. Something about Snow and being In." A man said from the doorway. He was followed by a younger woman who was more trendy and into the current events. The man stood in a three piece suit and held a brief case while the woman wore a flared pair of black pants and a white mid sleeve shirt. The woman was a petite woman. Maybe an inch below Britney's height while the man was about the same as Chris or Joey. "What he means is that you guys have to go to the sierra summit for MTV's Snowed In special. So you'll pretty much start you're your there and it will be on a bus so I'm sorry about that." The woman said as she literally dragged in the man who insisted that the woman not wrinkle his sports jacket. "Umm let me guess? Road Management?" Joey asked. "You guessed it!" The woman replied as she sat down in one of the executive chairs and took off her backpack to toss it on the table. She took the sunglasses form her forehead and placed them in front of her on the table. "Okay he looks like some rich, snobby uptight guy and she looks and acts like...like...like Britney." Justin whispered to JC. "Hey Just. Don't be so quick to judge." JC said whispering into Justin's ear. "Okay we have some things to discuss. About your lives and our policy and all that." The woman said. "Can we know your name first?" JC asked as he took a seat in a chair. "Well I'm Jennie. And this is William. We are your Road Management and we'll be in contact with both your managers frequently." The woman spoke, looking both and Britney and `N Sync. She looked toward William who was organizing his brief case. She rolled her eyes and smiled as she took out a stack of papers from her back pack. "Okay these are contracts. Now it's absolutely necessary that you answer question truthfully. Cause if you don't there will be a lot of turmoil on the tour between band members and/or us. Now I want you guys to answer truthfully because we have to know how to protect this secret. Plus I'm just curious." Jennie said, getting the attention of everyone. " I need to know who, if there is anyone, that you are all dating. I know it's personal but no one but the people in this room will hear about it. And we are all, including you guys, under some privacy contract. I don't know the details but no one can tell the press or any other close friends about others lives and in some cases your own." Jennie said passing out the contracts. Justin received his contract and looked at JC who was reading his.He turned toface everyone else. Joey cast him a look which was full of worry. Lance patted Justin's leg under the table for comfort while Chris mouthed words to him. `You have to tell Britney some time.' Justin made out. Justin nodded and looked back at JC who looked at him. "I guess I'll start. I'm still dating Danielle." Lance said, making his bass voice break the silence in the room. "I'm free." Chris said. "Me too." Joey added. "Me three." Britney claimed. Jennie looked over at Justin who looked nervously around. "Justin?" William waited. "Ummm...I'm dating...ummmm...someone...and it's...JC" *****Welp there you go. I hope you liked it. It took me a while because I was totally busy in school work and activities. Plus I had to edit a film for this club I'm in. Anyway. I thank everyone who sent me e-mail of support and compliments. They really boosted my day. I blushed to some. And oh! The Boy Band awards are coming out soon and I want to thank whoever nominated me. I never thought I would get nominated but I did and I thank you for it. I'm a big fan of JM and his work and if you're reading, I would love to hear what you think of my story. Well for all you readers. I encourage you to start writing . It's fun and you could make anything happen. So try it! I thank you all again and oh!! I hope to have the next installment out in a week or so? Maybe. I dunno I'll see how much time I have. Well CYA!