Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2002 15:37:48 +0000
From: Stephanie M
Subject: Mom Knows Best 10/?

Title: Mom Knows Best 10/?
Author: Stephanie M
Fandom: BSB/Nysnc
Pairing: Nick/Justin
Summary: Nick and Justin discover that sometimes your mom can know you
better than you know yourself.
Notes: For Lee who sat there at 2 a.m. listening to my rants about the
story.
Disclaimer: See part 1.

Part 10

It turned out that Nick had been telling the truth he was an awful cook but
the meal was edible even if it was a little crispy. `Lasagne was supposed to
be a little crunchy right?' Justin thought to himself as he swallowed the
last mouthful of food.

"That was great," Justin said hoping he sounded sincere.

"Nice try, it was terrible. Looks like we'll be ordering all our meals in
future." Nick grinned appreciating Justin's attempt to make him feel better,
even if it didn't work.

Remembering Justin's earlier request Nick said, "Want to finish the painting
now? It shouldn't take too long."

Justin said smirking, "That would be great."

"I'll just get some candles to make sure we have the right lighting, "Nick
said as he made a detour to the kitchen.

Justin smirked; he was going to make things a little more exciting. He
quickly removed his clothes and sat on the chair wondering how Nick would
react.

"You're naked!" Nick exclaimed as he walked into the bedroom to find Justin
sitting on the chair with only a piece of blue fabric covering his groin.

Justin smiled at the shock in Nick's eyes saying, "Yeah! I thought it would
be a nice change, and I like the idea of you doing a nude painting of me."

Wondering if this was Justin's revenge for the sir comment earlier, Nick
smiled. He worked quickly, placing a blank canvas on the easel before
closing the blind and lighting the candles. By the time he was finished the
dim light only emphasised the beauty of the young man in front of him. Nick
picked up the charcoal and started to draw Justin's form. He knew it would
take a few sittings before he would complete the painting.

Justin looked smirked as he felt Nick's eyes on him, he briefly wondered if
Nick had always paid so much attention to him? He was sitting as still as
possible while Nick finished the portrait he had started the previous day,
before Kevin had come round and destroyed their private moment.

Nick knew he was supposed to be painting the breathtaking man in front of
him but he felt there was no way he could do Justin justice. Not to mention
he was enjoying examining every inch of Justin from his blue eyes to the
beautiful feet. Nick couldn't help but grin, at the thought that he even
found Justin's feet beautiful.

"You okay, love?" Justin asked seeing Nick's eyes glaze over.

"Wha...Oh yeah. I was just thinking that there is no way I can ever make you
look as beautiful as really you are," Nick said as he looked over at Justin.

Justin loved Nick's romantic side he felt himself blush as he said, "You're
so sweet, Nicky."
*******
Lance couldn't believe the way Ben had dropped everything to help him, even
flying to LA! He was constantly amazed at how generous and loving his friend
was-he only hoped that Ben would let him help whenever Ben was in pain or
trouble. He quickly accessed an email marked-I'm here, Jamie.

Jamie,

I'm just going into work for my last shift before I come to see you in LA.
If you need me call anytime, until six am anyway! I thought I'd take this
little opportunity to tell you to stop worrying. Everything will be okay!
I'll make sure that no one hurts you, at least not without paying for it.

Love,
Ben.

Lance quickly closed the email and started planning just what they would do
when Ben got here. He would make sure that they had a good time, in between
the various photo-shoots and interviews Nsync had over the weekend.

The tour was to start in five weeks and three days, so they would have no
free time for the next month or so He just knew that Wade and Fatima would
give them a gruelling schedule they always did. Backstreet and Nsync had TRL
on Tuesday followed by various magazines and television shows for three
weeks followed by two weeks of rehearsal-otherwise known as torture-for him
anyway.
*******
Kevin spent the night reliving his wife's betrayal in his dreams, each time
hearing her say she had never loved him. He couldn't believe how much she
had changed, or how foolish he had been-why didn't he see what was
happening?

AJ looked down at his sleeping friend and sighed, "It's okay, Boo. I'll make
sure she doesn't hurt you ever again."

AJ had never imagined Kristen would cheat on Kevin. He knew that Kevin was
still deeply in love with his wife and that he must be reliving the whole
experience but hopefully Kevin could get through it as long as he had help.
AJ just hoped Kevin would accept help, he knew how stubborn Kevin could be;
it was one of his most annoying qualities.
*******
Howie was worried. He had tried dialling Nick's home number as well as his
friend's cell to no avail. He just wanted to find out why Nick wouldn't talk
to him. It wasn't like had said anything wrong!

Picking up the phone he dialled AJ's cell, he had made AJ promise to find
out why Nick was so upset. AJ was supposed to call him at 8 pm and it was
now eleven what had happened to make all his friends avoid him.

Another thing that had annoyed him was that Lance Bass had called him to
make sure he would attend some meeting on Sunday. Apparently both Backstreet
and Nsync had to go which meant it had to be about the tour but why couldn't
it wait? He was busy enjoying the only down time they would get for a while.
********
The next day found Kristen busy dialling every number she could think of,
Kevin hadn't come home the night before and she was worried. Okay, she
didn't love him anymore but that didn't mean she didn't care about him.

"Have you heard from Kev?" Kristen asked tapping her nails on the table.

"No, isn't he with you?" Brian couldn't understand why Kevin hadn't gone
home after the meeting.

She sighed saying, "He didn't come home after the meeting. I've already
checked all the hospitals."

"I'll call the others and tell them to look for him." Brian said quickly
hanging up the phone.

Brian quickly dialled Nick's house only to get a busy tone. He looked at the
phone in shock wondering who could Nick be on the phone to this early in the
morning? Brian knew that his best friend hated waking up early, especially
on a Saturday.
*******
Justin blinked and registering the noise said, "Babe, answer the phone."

Nick groaned at the ringing in his head spoiling one his favourite dreams
about Justin. Realising that the ringing was real he picked up the phone,
looking over at Justin with a grin.

Nick covered a yawn as he said; "This is Nick Carter, here. What's up?"

JC said calmly, "This is JC from Nsync, I wanted to talk to you about
Justin."

"Oh hi, JC. What about Justin?" Nick asked hoping and praying that Justin's
best friend hadn't figured out their relationship, not yet.

Justin looked up at Nick, feeling the older man's body tense and gently
caressed Nick's shoulders letting his boyfriend know that he was there. He
only hoped that JC wouldn't do something stupid he had a feeling Nick had a
bad temper when he was protecting someone.

"I just wanted to tell you that because of all the rumours, I don't want you
to have any contact with Justin." JC said positive that Nick would agree,
sure that he was right.

Nick unable to believe what he was hearing shouted, "What! You're trying to
tell me that you don't even what me to talk to Justin?"

Nick couldn't believe that JC was calmly telling him to stay away from
Justin, before he even knew the truth. If this was how JC was acting when he
thought they were only friends what would he say when he discovered they
were dating?

"You're not to talk to him unless we're at an interview or on stage but
that's it." JC said wondering why Nick was questioning him on this.

"It's none of your business who I talk to. If I want to spend time with
Justin, I will." Nick said slamming the phone down and taking it off the
hook.

Justin looked up at Nick, having figured out what was happening from what
his boyfriend had said. He couldn't stand the thought of losing one of his
best friends. Justin loved his best friend and prayed Josh wouldn't force
him choose. He felt sure that he would choose Nick; Nick was the missing
part of him, what he needed to make him complete.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Justin asked Nick, afraid that he was going
to lose his friends. Justin had thought JC didn't care about the rumours but
obviously he did if his order to Nick was anything to go by.

Nick answered quickly, "I don't know but I'm here for you. I'm not going to
let anyone keep us apart, love."

"I love you, babe." Justin said softly as he kissed Nick, wanting to forget
about everyone and everything else for the moment.