Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 00:19:41 EDT
From: THRAWN5678@aol.com
Subject: You'll Never Guess Who Ran Into Me Today- Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't know anybody from N Sync, though I'd sure like to, and thus
this story is fiction and is not intended to imply anything about the true
sexuality of the celebrities mentioned or any personal knowledge about their
private lives. This story should not be read by anybody who is not legally
allowed to read it.. So if you're underage, leave right now!!

Author's Notes: Well, I realize that I have totally slowed down here. But such
is life. I've been a lot busier, what with work and school, and I haven't been
in the mood to write. My muse seems to have taken a holiday.. But I'll try to
do better in the future.. And mentioning Monty Python, I believe everybody
should watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail. What did you say? You've already
seen it? Then watch it again!! I'd appreciate you sending in your feedback in
regards to the two issues at the bottom of the page. Your feedback could very
well determine how the story goes. Send your feedback, as well as any comments
and suggestions to me, at THRAWN5678@aol.com.

I would like to thank everybody who has sent me feedback, about last chapter,
and the previous chapters. I have to thank my editor, Ryan. And also Chris, a
special someone. Also, thanx go out to my food and drink dude, Jeremy, and the
Fashion dude, JC. How would I get through some of this without you two? Even
though Jeremy is ungrateful, even when I gave him a cameo appearance in that
last chapter. He seems to think Jeremy the waiter wasn't worthy of him.. :P
Finally, thanx go out to Josh, Mark, and all those whose insights have helped
me, or at least kept me partially sane. (That's the maximum it will go; I gave
up on full sanity years ago. It's not as much fun) And I want to provide some
encouragement to Adam and Nick. Just do something, already!! Finally, I want to
thank all those who nominated me for a BBSA award. I have no idea how they come
up with the final ballot, but I know that not every story nominated gets on
there, since a friend of mine nominated this story and his for a category, and
neither story was on the ballot. Go figure, right? Well, I don't care about
that much, since I don't write to win awards. I write because I find it
enjoyable, and I can use my stories or whatever I'm writing to get out some
ideas that have been in my head for quite some time. All the feedback you send
me is like candy to me, and boosts my ego, and causes me to write more...
needless to say, I haven't gotten much for the last chapter, and that perturbs
me because I thought I did rather well on it..

The Squall Thrawn Book Club (much better than Oprah's)
Jamie's Romance (a great Justin story)
Millenium Love (a Brian Littrell story)
My Surprise Romance (a Lance story)
My New Life (a Lance story)
Lance in Shining Armour (umm, a Lance story?)
Lance's Story (a Lance/JC story and a spinoff of Jamie's Romance)
Twist of Fate (a Lance story)
Blind Date (a Lance story)
Nick and Ashley (a Nick Carter/Ashley from O-Town story by ND)
Music Shatters Ice (primarily a Lance story)
Encounter in the Sand (a Justin story, written by my good friend Jeremy)
and many more!! But I can't remember the names of them...I'll put them down as
I remember them...

*******************************************************************************

You'll Never Guess Who Ran Into Me Today
by Squall Thrawn

Previously on Never Guess...

Ryan woke up, feeling very safe in secure in Lance's arms. Lance was still
lightly sleeping, which Ryan quickly remedied with a kiss on Lance's lips.
Lance smiled, opened his eyes, and kissed Ryan back. They started to get more
passionate, using their tongues. Then JC cleared his throat. They stopped,
looking up at JC.

"Hey, guys, could you get a room and do this without a bunch of straight guys
watching?" asked JC, but with a grin. Lance just smiled, and allowed Ryan to
get up. The two of them made a beeline to the door, waving goodnight to the
others. JC, Joey, and Justin were all heading towards the door when Lance and
Ryan made it out the door.

They made their way to Lance's room, where they quickly undressed, clad only in
their boxers. They got into bed and quickly fell asleep, Lance's arms once
again around Ryan as they drifted off into peaceful slumber.

-----

A member of NSync tossed and turned in his bed. No matter what, he couldn't get
Ryan out of his head. He ran his fingers through his curly hair. 'I love you,
Ryan,' thought Justin. 'I'll find a way to win you away from Lance.'

*******************************************************************************

Chapter 17

"So, guys, do you have anything more you want to say to our listening
audience?"

"Everybody, come to the concert tonight, and God Bless America!" said Joey,
speaking for the rest of N Sync.

"Alright!! I'm Guy Phillips, and I've been talking with the hit group, N Sync,
here on Y 98 FM!" The announcer signed off. "Thanks, guys, I appreciate it!!"

"No problem!!" said Chris. "You got those two tickets for your daughters,
right?"

"Yeah, thanks a lot, guys! I'm sure they'll appreciate them!!" Guy Phillips
shook the hands of all of the members of N Sync, as they filed out of the
booth. They made their way down the hall, to the garage where their limo and
security detail were waiting. They got into the limo, which would take them to
the music store that was their next destination. As they were riding along, JC
noticed that Lance looked worried and a tad lost.

"What's the matter, Scoop, are you missing him already?" asked JC. "It's just
a few hours, and it'll be longer when we continue the tour."

"I know that, Josh," said Lance, grimacing. "I'm just a bit worried about Ryan
right now. He's meeting his friend Chris for an early lunch, and he's basically
gotta come out to him, since his friend's first question is going to be why
Ryan isn't living with his mother anymore."

"And you're afraid that this Chris person is going to react the same way as
Greg and Ryan's mother did?"

"Yeah. I know, I sound like a mother hen, worrying like this," said Lance,
chuckling slightly.

"Well, you're worried about him," said JC. "However, unless you want to lose
Ryan, you need to step back a bit."

"What do you mean, Josh?" asked Lance, frowning.

"Well, you know what they say about rebound relationships. I'm not saying that
this one is going to turn out the same way as they usually do, but you might
want to think about this. A relationship is between equals. You lean on his
shoulder, he leans on your shoulder. He's been leaning an awful lot on your
shoulder lately. I mean, he has been through a lot in the past 48 hours or so.
But you have to let him solve his own problems, give him some advice and
support, and just let him know that you'll be there for him no matter what.
Otherwise, before long, he's not going to deal with his own problems, but will
just let you solve them for him. And that is what is going to ruin your
relationship. So let Ryan deal with his friend Chris. If his friend accepts
him, great. If not, just remind him that he has four new brothers that accept
him for who he is. Not to mention you, who's probably his biggest fan."

"Wow. Thanks, Josh," said Lance. "If we ever get out of this business, you
would do wonderfully as a counselor for relationships and marriages."

"Haha. I think that the average person on the street isn't as accepting as you
are, so they'd probably argue with anything I said. And I wouldn't do this for
anybody I didn't genuinely care about. Anyway, I'm not finished with you four
yet!"

-----

"So, Ryan, have you gotten any new Playstation 2 games since we've last
talked?" asked Chris. The two guys were eating at a nearby McDonalds'. They
had both decided on the cheap solution to lunch, both being a tad short of
funds. So far, Chris had deftly avoided the whole subject about Ryan's problem,
and had been making small talk that had nothing to do with Ryan's housing
problems, or anything that had come up.

"Well, I bought Final Fantasy X and Metal Gear Solid 2," said Ryan. "They're
both great games. Final Fantasy X's probably one of the best video games I've
ever played."

"That's awesome," said Chris, grinning, knowing that Ryan had an exacting
taste in video games, and that a game that Ryan proclaimed good was bound to
be a real winner. Then, he composed himself and put on a serious face. "Umm,
Ryan, I don't mean to pry, but..."

"You're curious as to what happened that would cause me to no longer be living
with my mother," said Ryan, easily guessing what was on Chris's mind.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine," Chris said hastily.

"No, that's ok, Chris," Ryan replied, sighing. "I think it's probably best if
I just get it all out in the open. But I do appreciate how you've been trying
to avoid the subject. Anyway, the reason why I'm no longer living with my
mother. Two days ago, I told Greg something he didn't want to hear, and he
exploded. I told him that-"

"That you're gay?" Chris surmised.

"You knew?!" exclaimed Ryan.

"Ryan, before I went away to college, we were as close as brothers. I realize
that we've drifted apart since then, but I still consider you the brother I
never had. Besides, it was fairly obvious to me, that only that could be the
reason why your mother kicked you out of the house. And there were a few more
indicators..."

"Like what?" asked Ryan, curious as to if he had been as transparent as Chris
made it seem.

"Well, let's see. I saw you making out with Mike Palin one time, at the Fourth
of July party my parents threw. You two were in the shed, and I was coming to
get you, because the parents were ready for dessert. I just spotted the two of
you kissing, and turned around and told the parents that I couldn't find you.
I also made sure that nobody headed to the shed while you were there, so that
nobody else would see you two. I didn't say anything because I figured you
would tell me when you were ready to."

"Thanks for covering for me, Chris," said Ryan. "As it was, my mother had her
own fireworks display of sorts when she found out the truth."

"How did she find out?" asked Chris.

"I told Greg that I was gay. He shouted a few insults at me, accused me of
trying to jump in his pants, then ended our friendship. My mother heard his
shouts."

"That bastard!" exclaimed Chris angrily. "I can't believe that he would have
the audacity to insult you because you're gay!! Him, of all people!!"

"What do you mean, Chris?" asked Ryan, confused. "Why is it so shocking that
Greg would be homophobic?" Ryan shrugged. "Lots of people are," He concluded
sadly.

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all," said Chris hastily, trying to plot damage
control after his slip of the tongue. He tried to change the subject. "So,
that incident, the autumn before last, wasn't an attempted mugging, was it?"

Ryan shook his head. "No, I just said that because the real reason was just
too touchy a subject to talk about at the time. I didn't want anybody to find
out the real reason. Though I knew that Mike had figured it out, and I guess
you did too. You did give me a few suspicious looks, but you never said a
word."

"Ryan, I told you that I was going to wait until you told me. If I pressed you
on that, you probably would have eventually told me. You know, I had been
worrying about something like this would happen when I left for college. I
mean, you usually hid things well, but then you would do something that would
make it rather obvious. Like the incident with Mike in the shed. My heart was
in my throat when my mother called and told me that you were unconscious and
in the hospital. I probably broke every speed limit from Cape Girardeau to St.
Louis. Ryan, you're like a brother to me. I was soo terrified that we were
going to lose you before I found out when I got to the hospital that you were
going to be ok." Chris patted Ryan's shoulder.

"Thanks, Chris," said Ryan emotionally. "Thank you so much for being so
understanding of me and for being there for me. I really appreciated how you
came from SEMO to visit me in the hospital."

"Just to confirm something, Ryan," said Chris,"that Brandon guy who was with
Mike at the hospital, he was Mike's boyfriend, right?" Ryan nodded. "I thought
so. They're about as good as you are about hiding things. They were pretty
good at hiding things around your mother, but you didn't hear about the
incident in the waiting room, did you? A doctor and three nurses found them
making out pretty passionately. I heard one of the nurses talking about it
later. It seems they were getting pretty involved, and the people there were
too embarrassed to say anything. I believe that Mike got his hand all the way
into Brandon's shorts when he fell out of his chair and noticed the small
audience."

Ryan roared with laughter. "I wish I could have seen the look on Mike's face
when he noticed all those people watching him with Brandon!!" Then Ryan
remembered something. "Hey, Chris, you said there were several indications to
you that I was gay. You only named one."

"True, true, that I did," said Chris, nodding. "I knew you were gay, because
we can usually tell who else is one of us."

Ryan's mouth fell open in shock. "You mean..."

"Yes, Ryan, I'm gay too," said Chris with a serious look on his face.

"Wow, Chris," said Ryan, stunned. "So this whole time, you've known this and
you haven't told me?"

"Well, I thought that if I told you I was gay, you would feel pressured to
come out to me as well. At least, that was my thinking at the time. Later, I
thought that if I waited all this time, then told you, you would be mad for me
not revealing it sooner. I just wish now that I hadn't made that decision. I
should have been here to support you through all this. But I told myself to
wait until you told me. Though after all this, it was I who actually said it.
Ironic, isn't it?"

"Yeah, very. But I'm just glad it's all out in the open. I'll admit, your
support would have been invaluable, but what's done is in the past, and we
can't dwell on it."

"True, true. Want to hear another irony? None of us ever told each other a
nything, but in our group of friends, there were four gay guys. I knew about
you and Mike, but neither of you said anything to me, nor did I say anything
to you."

Ryan looked confused again. "Four? I thought there was only three: Me, you,
and Mike. Or was there somebody else?"

"Oh, my bad," said Chris hastily. "I meant three."

"Well, I guess so, but if you meant three, you should have instead said five,
just like King Arthur in the Holy Grail."

"You're right, Ryan," said Chris, laughing. "So, where are you staying at,
Ryan?"

Ryan grinned. "You'd never believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"Ok, here's what happened last night. After I walked out of Wal-mart because
of my co-workers' rude comments because Greg told them that I was gay, I drove
around for a while. I rode the Metrolink for a while, then walked around
downtown St. Louis for a while. I realize now that that's really dangerous,
but I wasn't thinking at the time. I started to cross a street, and a car was
coming right for me."

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Chris. "Are you ok? You didn't get hit, did you?"

"I would be in the hospital again if that had happened. I don't plan on going
back to the hospital again, especially as the result of a car accident. The
person driving managed to brake in time, since I basically was just standing
there like a deer in the headlights. After I woke up: I fainted right after he
missed me by an inch or two, we talked, he invited me up to his room to talk,
and now I'm staying with him."

"What?!" yelled Chris. "You're staying with a complete stranger, who you've
never seen before in your life?! How could you?!"

"Well, Chris, he was very gentlemanly, and very, very hot. And, I have seen
him before. So have you."

"Then, who is this so-called Knight in Shining Armor?" asked Chris skeptically.

"I believe he's known by many as Lance Bass of N Sync." said Ryan.

"Are you serious?!" exclaimed Chris excitedly. "Come on, tell me the truth!"

"I am!" laughed Ryan. "Honest to God, I am staying in the same hotel room as
Lance Bass of N Sync. And I'd appreciate it if you kept it down, too. People
are looking over here an awful lot, since you can't keep your voice down."

"Sorry," Chris apologized. "It's just, I shouldn't really tell you this, but
I've had a crush on him for a while now."

"Well," said Ryan, trying not to give up his and Lance's secret without
Lance's approval, "I can tell you that Lance isn't on the lookout for a
relationship. He's dating right now."

"So who's the lucky girl?" asked Chris, unaware of the reality of the
situation.

"Haha. Sorry, my friend, I've been sworn to secrecy unless I get Ja- Lance's
consent." Inside, Ryan was laughing. This was just too funny.

"So, ummm, Ryan, I have a small favor to ask," said Chris timidly.

"You want tickets to the concert tonight, right?" asked Ryan with a grin on
his face.

"If it's not too much trouble," said Chris hastily.

"How would a backstage pass sound to you?" asked Ryan simply, knowing how
Chris would react.

"Wow!!!" yelled Chris loudly. He stood up and did a little happy dance.

"Chris, please sit down, Chris, please," said Ryan, his face red from
embarrassment at Chris's antics. "Chris, sit down in the chair, CHRIS, SIT
DOWN IN THE CHAIR!"

Finally realizing what Ryan was saying, Chris finally looked around, saw
everybody looking at him, and sat down, his face a bright crimson.

"I guess I'll take that as a yes," said Ryan, smiling. "Arrive at the Adam's
Mark around 5:30 or so. We'll go over to Savvis together. That way, you won't
have to fight the traffic afterwards, and we can hang out with the guys a bit
more."

"The guys?" asked Chris, still pumped. "Are you that good friends with them?"

"Yeah," said Ryan. "I've acquired a bunch of new brothers, who know about me,
and still accept me."

"That's great, Ryan," said Chris. "But remember, I've got first claim on being
the eldest brother, since I've known you longer!"

"Well, Chris, you're gonna have to fight with the other Chris about this. He's
older than you, and all of them have promised to do horrible things to anybody
who hurts me. They're awfully protective, and I don't think Chris is going to
let the eldest brother position go easily."

"Well, I never imagined that I'd be fighting over the position with a member
of N Sync." Chris looked at his watch. "Hey, Ryan, I've got some errands to
run, and I still have to get ready for tonight."

"That's fine. I was going to join the guys for lunch, anyway. They don't get
much free time, so I wanted to spend it with them to brighten their day. We
had to get up at six am this morning, ya know."

"Wow. Well, I'll see you in a while, Ryan. I'll be at the Adam's Mark around
5:30 or so."

"Ok, I'll give them your name so that you won't get chased away."

"Thanks, Ryan, for the tickets and backstage pass," said Chris, standing up.
Ryan stood up as well. "You make sure to keep in touch. And if you need to
stay somewhere so that you can continue school, I'm sure my parents would be
glad to let you stay with them. They already know about me, and they're ok
with it."

"I appreciate it, Chris. I'll keep that in mind," said Ryan, as the two guys
cleaned up their table and headed towards their cars. "I haven't figured
anything out yet about that, but I may indeed end up staying with your
parents, if they'll let me. Thanks a lot, Chris, for everything." Ryan gave
Chris a quick hug, one of comradeship and brotherhood.

"Hey, that's what 'brothers' are for, Ryan," said Chris. He returned the hug.
"I'll see you later tonight."

"Alright, drive safely, Chris," said Ryan. The two boys got into their cars,
and drove away to their respective destinations, Chris heading off to take
care of errands, Ryan heading back to the Adam's Mark to meet the guys.

*******************************************************************************

More exciting revelations!! Sorry for the delay, but I should be starting to
write more now that I have some more time, and I've gotten back in the mood
for writing.

There are two references to Monty Python in this chapter. One is obvious, but
the other isn't. If anybody knows the other, e-mail me first, and you'll get
a reward of sorts.

Also, there's a bit of a reward for anybody who can correctly guess the secret
Chris is keeping from Ryan. There are two clues here, and a few more scattered
throughout the story.

Finally, there are two questions I would like answered so that I can plan some
of the major parts of the story:

1. We have seen that Justin is in love with Ryan, but Ryan and Lance are
together. How should this work out? Here are some possibilities:
(1)Justin meets somebody at the concert that night and gets together with them,
forgetting his feelings for Ryan, (2)Justin pines away for Ryan for a while,
maybe tries a plot or two, eventually realizes that Ryan isn't meant for him
and gets together with somebody else, (3) Justin manages to woo Ryan away from
Lance (if you pick this, give me a bit to go on cause I have no idea at this
time how I can act on this one), or (4) Something other than what I suggested.

2. How should Britney be portrayed? Bitchy? Kind? Friendly? Backstabbing?
Other?

Squall Thrawn
THRAWN5678@aol.com