Date: Wed, 01 Dec 1999 14:00:46 PST From: Brain King Subject: Loving Lance 3 Loving Lance Chapter 3 By: Jeremy W. Sorry this installment took forever. School has been keeping me really busy. All the usual stuff applies, this story isn't meant to imply anything about the sexuality of any member of 'N Sync. If you aren't 18 or whatever the legal age is in your area, you shouldn't be reading this. And if you are offended by homosexual material you might oughta leave. And why are you on Nifty? I would also like to mention a few of my favorite stories on Nifty, "Brian and Me" by DLS, "Lance in Shining Armour" by Scotty, and of course "Brian and Justin' and "Just Beginning" by JM. These are all great stories and the authors are great guys. If you haven't checked them out yet, by all means do. This is my first time writing a story of this kind so please bear with me. I have no idea how often I will be able to get them out because college tends to keep me pretty busy. I'd love to get some feedback on this story, positive or negative. Drop me a line at brainking@hotmail.com. On with the story! I felt the bright sunlight piercing through my eyelids as I slowly returned to consciousness. A glance at the clock told me that it was 7:35, plenty of time before the limo showed up. After a long, spine-popping stretch, I eased out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. I turned on the water to the right temperature and turned to the mirror. 'Hmm, better shave,' I thought to myself. As the bathroom filled with steam, I slipped out of my clothes and into the shower. The warm water washed the last of the sleep from my eyes and I began looking forward to the day ahead. After stepping out of the shower and drying off, I grabbed my shaving cream and razor and went to work on my two-day growth of facial hair. Upon completion, I patched the numerous self-inflicted nicks with toilet paper and proceeded to order breakfast. As I ate my morning meal, I flipped to CMT on the television and watched some country videos for a while. At 8:50, I made a final check in the mirror and went downstairs to wait on the limo. It pulled up at exactly 9:00 and I hopped in and began my trip to the studio. When I arrived, I walked to the front desk and ask the receptionist on duty where I might find 'N Sync. She gave me a skeptical look and said, "Sorry, I can't give out that information." "But, I'm supposed to go watch them in the studio today," I replied. "Yeah, you and every girl in the tri-state area," she answered disdainfully. "There must be some kind of list or something that my name would be on," I said sharply. I was really beginning to get frustrated. "OK, fine. Let's see some I.D.," she growled. After checking my name against the list, she looked up sheepishly and said, "Sorry about that, go right ahead. They are in studio 5B." "That's perfectly OK," I replied with a condescending smile. I found studio 5B after getting lost about three times, but I wasn't about to go back and ask her for directions. I peered in the window and saw the guys sitting around having something to drink. "Hey," I said as I burst in the door. "Aren't you bums supposed to be working?" "Unlike some people, we've been hear for several hours already and we're taking a break," Joey answered smugly. "Did you find your way here alright?" Lance asked. "Yeah, but I had some trouble with the receptionist," I replied. "She seemed to think I was a crazed fan or something." "You mean, you're not?" asked Chris with a giggle. "Fan, yes. Crazed, only when I don't get my way. As a matter of fact, I was about to get crazed on her before she came around." "OK guys, break times over," JC said. "Jeremy, you can stay here in the control booth with Mike." Just then, a thirty-something looking guy walked in and JC said, "Speak of the devil. Mike, this a friend of ours whose gonna be watching us in action today." I shook his hand and introduced myself. The guys went back into the sound booth and Mike settled in at the control board. "So, have you known the guys long?" he asked me. "Actually, I'm a contest winner that they just met a couple of days ago," I replied. "We hung out together yesterday and the day before. "Really?" he asked with a surprised look. "Most of the time they come in here and talk about how much of a chore it was to mess with the contest winners." "Well, I guess that makes me feel good," I said while a grin broke across my face. As the guys began to lay down some vocals, Mike explained everything that he was doing. It was really very interesting and I was soon caught up in the recording process. Before I knew it, the guys were back in the control booth and the rough draft of the song was finished. "So, what did you think?" Lance asked as he sat down. "Well, I'm not much of a ballad lover," I replied. "But the lyrics were very sweet." As they began to gather up their stuff, I glanced at my watch and saw that it was 2:30. I had been sitting there for five hours! "Thanks for the help Mike," Justin said as we walked out the door. "See you next week." "Must have food!" Joey began to moan as we started down the hall. "Brain beginning to shut down from lack of nutrition." "Yeah, right!" laughed Chris. "Everyone knows that your brain quit working a long time ago. But you are right, I'm starving." "How about we swing by a fast-food place on the way to my house and then go play some basketball," Justin suggested. "Good idea," said Lance. "There's a McDonald's just a couple blocks from here." We arrived at the restaurant and pulled up to the drive-thru window and I burst into a fit of laughter. Only after a solid minute of giggling was I able to answer the puzzled stares of the guys. "The site of a limo at McDonald's is just too ironic and when you are inside the limo, it's even funnier," I said. My statement was met with blank looks. "Well, it strikes me as funny anyway." "I guess that we've just gotten so used to it that we don't give it a second thought," Lance replied. We picked up our food and the rest of the trip was made in silence as it was greedily devoured. As we pulled into the drive a Justin's house, his face lit up. "My mom's home," he cheered. "Where's she been?" I asked. "That's right, you haven't met her," he replied. "She's been out of town on business. After climbing out of the limo, we were met at the door by a blond woman in her forties. She gave all the guys a hug, beginning with Justin. He stepped back and said, "Mom, this is Jeremy. He was the contest winner that flew in the say after you left. Jeremy, this is my Mom, Lynn. "Hello," she greeted me warmly. "I can't believe that guys haven't driven you up the wall yet. They're all like sons to me and I can't stand more than a few hours at a time." This was followed by a chorus of "Lynn!" and a single indignant "Mom!" I uttered a short laugh and said, "I think I like you already. Anybody who can get these guys is all right in my book." We followed her back into the house and Justin retrieved a basketball from the closet. "You realize that we aren't really dressed for basketball," I announced. "That's OK," replied Justin. "All the guys keep a couple of changes of clothes here. If it's OK with Lance, you can probably where some of his since you're about the same size." I was going to be wearing Lance's clothes! I was in heaven. I tried to keep the excitement from my voice as I said, "That sounds good to me." We proceeded back into the bedrooms and Lance grabbed a pair of Adidas shorts and a white t-shirt to wear. I went into the bathroom and closed the door. After taking off my own clothes, I held Lance's shirt up to my face and took a deep breath. The shirt still smelled the crisp, intoxicating odor that was Lance. I quickly finished changing and made my way out to the living room where everyone was gathered. Lynn caught us and said that was going into town and wouldn't be back for a while. Justin led us out to the basketball court behind the house and opened the gate in the fence. After we had all filed onto the court, he turned and said, "We're finally gonna have even teams with Jeremy here." "Yeah," quipped Joey. "Now the good team doesn't get stuck with Lance as a handicap!" Lance stuck his tongue out at Joey as JC said, "How about me, Joey, and Jeremy versus Justin, Chris, and Lance?" "Let's get it on!" Chris yelled. "But since we have Lance, we get the ball first." Justin dribbled the ball to the top of the key and the game began. JC matched up with Justin, Joey with Chris, and I was left to guard Lance. I couldn't have been any happier about that arrangement. The game was pretty one-sided at first, with Justin and Chris simply ignoring Lance and making several quick baskets. When Lance did manage to get the ball, I guarded him very closely, and he quickly passed the ball to one of his teammates. JC, Joey and I started to make a comeback in the last half of the game. I noticed that Lance seemed to bump into me an awful lot when he was guarding me, but I wrote it off as a lack of coordination. When he had the ball however, my "accidental" bumps and touches were very deliberate. We were tied at 29, the winner being the team that reached 30 first. Lance had his head down when Justin sent a hard pass in his direction. Chris noticed that Lance didn't see it coming, so he yelled out his name to get his attention. Just as Lance raised his head, the ball slammed into his temple and he dropped like a rock. I was the first one at his side since I had been guarding him and I gently shook his shoulders as I called his name. Just as the other guys reached us, his eyes fluttered open and he softly whispered, "Jeremy?" "It's OK Lance, we're here." I said. "Do you think you need to go to the hospital?" He shook his head and then grimaced at the pain that it had cause him. "It's not that bad, I think I just think I need to lay down for a little while." he replied. "Let's get him into the house and out of this hot sun." Justin said. Since I was the closest to him, I slid my arms under his back and legs and slowly picked him up. "I can walk on my own," he protested. "Maybe you can," I answered. "But I'm not gonna take a chance on you falling and hurting yourself even more if you try." "OK, fine," he said resignedly. As I turned towards to house, he reached up and wrapped his arm around my neck for more support. Once inside, I placed him on the couch and sent Justin to get a cold rag to put on his head and told JC to get him some aspirin and something to drink. I don't know why I was the one who took charge, I guess they were all just too shocked. When Justin returned with the rag I said, "Why don't you call the doctor, just to make sure there isn't something else we should do?" JC came in with the aspirin and I eased Lance into a sitting position so he could take it more easily. Lance was being very quiet and I was becoming more worried when he said, "Justin is gonna blame himself for this when it wasn't really his fault. JC, when he comes back in, I want you to talk to him about it." This eased some of my fears about him falling unconscious. Joey and Chris retrieved pillows from Justin's bedroom to make Lance more comfortable and I sat on the floor in front of the coach. Justin re-entered the room and announced, "The doctor said not to let him fall asleep for about eight hours in case he has a concussion and that if he starts to show other symptoms like delirium, that we should bring him in immediately." The stricken look on Justin's face as he relayed this information told me that Lance's guess had been right on the money. JC walked to his side and guided him into the kitchen for a talk. Lance smiled at me and said, "Thanks for taking charge and getting them all going in the right directions. I think that you'd make a good nurse." "No problem," I replied. "My sister is a nurse and she's in the Air Force. I think that I get my controlling attitude from her." When JC and Justin returned from the kitchen, Justin rushed to Lance's side and began apologizing profusely. Lance sagely answered, "Justin, I don't blame you for this cause it isn't your fault. If I had been paying attention, this never would have happened." Justin still didn't seemed convinced, but he at least slowed down the rate of his apologies. "Why don't we watch some TV?" Joey suggested. He turned it on and flipped through the channels until he arrived at MTV. TRL happened to be on, so we began watching the day's top ten videos. As Britney Spears' "Crazy," the number three video, ended, I said in my best valley girl voice, "I bet those cute guys from 'N Sync are at number two." "Number two?" exclaimed Chris. "Nobody is better than us!" "Not according to the people who vote on TRL," I said with a laugh. "The Backstreet Boys have been number one for a while." This produced a chorus of boos. "We'll see about that after Chris and I host next week," Joey announced. "I'll cry and make everyone feel sorry for us." After TRL ended, JC found a Godzilla marathon that he wanted to watch and I happily agreed. I've always been a fan of those old, cheesy movies. They're just so bad that they're good. Lance was beginning to feel better and soon he reported that his headache had stopped altogether. At about 5:30, Joey returned from the den where he and Chris had been playing Nintendo and announced, "I'm hungry. Can we order out for pizza?" "OK," said JC. "I'll go phone in the order. What does everybody want?" "Pepperoni," replied Justin. "Canadian bacon for me," Lance answered. "Cheese," was Chris' distant cry from the den. "I want barbecue," Joey said. "Chicken," I stated. "What?" JC said as a quizzical expression appeared on his face. "You've never had a chicken pizza?" I replied with an equally confused look. "It's great. They grill it and chop it into little chunks before they put in on the pizza." "OK," JC said warily. "I think I'm gonna have to try a piece of it." He went into the kitchen and placed the call. Upon his returned, he announced that the pizza would be here in 30 to 45 minutes and sat back down to finish the movie. I noticed that Lance's eyes were beginning to close, so I poked him in the stomach with my finger. This caused him to emit a high-pitched squeak and brought on a laugh from JC. "The area right behind his knee is ticklish," JC said in a conspiratorial voice. I slowly nodded at him and we leapt to the attack. I grabbed Lance's right leg while JC got his left and we began to tickle with all our might. Soon Lance was rolling on the floor in an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Suddenly, he sat up and grabbed his head. JC and I had jumped back and starting to apologize when a devilish grin crossed Lance's face. "Gotcha!" he said triumphantly. "Just for making us worry like that, five more minutes of tickling," said JC. We grabbed him again and he began to fight. Justin hurried over and pinned down his arms. After we'd decided he'd had enough, we released him. "I don't know how and I don't know when, but some day I will get you back for that," Lance announced grimly. The doorbell rang just then, saving JC and I from Lance's wrath. Justin answered it and paid the guy. He carried the pizza into the living room and yelled, "Food's up guys!" We heard a rumble and then Chris and Joey sprinted into the room. "How does everyone feel about going to a club?" Justin asked. Everyone replied affirmatively and went to get dressed in preparation. When we reconvened in the living room, JC informed us that the limo would be here shortly. "I gave them a call while the rest of you slowpokes were still getting dressed," he said with a smile. The limo pulled up to the door and we all climbed inside. Noticing the uneasy expression on my face, Lance asked, "You don't really like going clubbing much do you?" "Well, I've never really done it much, so I want to go tonight just to see," I replied. "Are you sure you are feeling well enough to dance?" I questioned. "Absolutely positive," he answered. We arrived at a club called the Vortex about 30 minutes later. There was a line to get in the door, but when you're with five famous pop stars that doesn't really matter. Once inside, the guys all went straight to the dance floor, but not necessarily by choice in Lance's case. I found a table against the wall and settled in to watch for a while. After a few minutes, Lance managed to free himself from the press of people on the dance floor and he headed for my table. "Why don't you come on out there for a while?" he asked. "I'll stay close by to help make you look good," he giggled. "OK, fine," I agreed with a sigh. Inwardly, I was delighted at the opportunity to dance close to Lance. Out on the floor, Lance stayed even closer than I had imagined, even brushing up against me frequently. At one point, Joey laughingly accused us of dancing together. Nearly three hours of steady dancing had me nearly ready to drop. Everyone decided to call it a night and the limo arrived to take us back to Justin's house. As soon as we got inside, Justin and JC excused themselves to use the bathroom and Chris and Joey headed for the kitchen. Lance half-sat, half-lay down on the couch and I sat beside him. "I must have been more tired than I thought," he said with a yawn. "Well, it's been eight hours now, so I guess that we can safely say that you are all right. Feel free you hit the sack." "Naw, I can at least stay up and talk to you until you head back to your hotel," he said. Despite his words, his eyelids began to droop and he was soon sleeping peacefully on the couch. As a looked down on his angelic face, a sense of peace came over me. Without thinking, I reached out and ran the tips of my fingers down his soft cheek. Then, several things began happening at once. Lance's eyes popped open in surprise just as my brain registered what I had done. "Lance I'm so sorr...Oh my God." I sputtered as I realized what I had revealed. I jumped up from the couch and sprinted from the room. Through the tears forming in my eyes, I blindly ran down the hall and yanked open the door to the bathroom. When I looked up, a gasp escaped my lips at the sight of Justin and JC entwined in a passionate embrace. Thanks for reading the third installment. Once again, I'm really sorry that it took me so long to get it out. Hopefully, the next one will be out before long. Please send comments, questions and death threats to: brainking@hotmail.com.