Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2003 11:37:15 -0500
From: Writer Boy <writerboy69@hotmail.com>
Subject: rebound - part 27

Obligatory warnings and disclaimers:

1) If reading this is in any way illegal where you are or at your age, or
you don't want to read about male/male relationships, go away. You
shouldn't be here.

2) I don't know any of the celebrities in this story, and this story in no
way is meant to imply anything about their sexualities, personalities, or
anything else.  This is a work of pure fiction.

Questions and commentary can be sent to "writerboy69@hotmail.com". I enjoy
constructive criticism, praise, and rational discussion. I do not enjoy
flames, and will not tolerate them.

That said, we now continue.

***

"Chris, there's a call for you," Kelly said from the sidewalk, startling me
as I drifted across the pool on a float.

Joey's pool gave new meaning to the word massive. I wasn't sure how big it
was, but it was practically a pond, sprawling out behind his house. He told
me that after the next tour he was going to have it drained so that they
could expand it some more. I was somewhere near the middle of it on a
float, sunglasses on, wearing a pair of trunks.  Nearby, Justin was also
floating, paddling his float toward me anytime we got more than a few feet
from each other as if he didn't want to let me out of his sight. He wasn't
being clingy or anything. He'd just been close by, touching me in quick
little ways, all day, since we'd gotten up this morning. He'd held my hand
while we'd eaten breakfast, and we'd played around a lot in the water,
splashing each other and doing races, before settling onto the floats.

"Who is it?" I asked, wondering who knew I was here. If it was on Kelly's
phone, rather than my cell, it would also have to be someone who knew
Joey's number.

"Just come get the phone," Kelly said, smiling, as she set the cordless
down on the table.  "I have to finish lunch before Bree gets up from her
nap."

Joey had to meet with some producers today, to talk about an upcoming
television project or something he was looking into, which left Justin and
I to our own devices around the house. Kelly was watching Bree, but the two
of them had been out at the pool with us for a while, Brianna looking cute
as a button in her little water wings, before Kelly took her in for her
nap. I hadn't really been paying much attention to the two of them, anyway,
because the sight of Justin in his trunks kept distracting me. Every time I
turned around I'd see a flash of wet shoulder, or water droplets trickling
down his chest, or something else that would keep me from getting out of
the water for a few more minutes. I'd been half hard all day, just watching
him, and he knew it, too. A couple times when he'd swum by he'd given my
crotch a little squeeze and chuckled, or he'd swum up behind me and I'd
felt how excited he was as he hugged me from behind.

"You're so damn sexy," he'd whisper, his voice low and husky, as he held me
from behind, his hands on my chest or my abs, holding me to him. Then he'd
dunk me, displaying all the romantic finesse of a frat boy.

I heard him now, behind me somewhere, sliding off of his float and into the
water. Before I could wonder what he was doing he came up underneath my
float, flipping it and dumping me into the pool as I screamed in outrage
and Kelly burst out laughing. I saw him, briefly, under the water, all
smiles as he kicked away from me, and when I surfaced he was laughing,
floating in place a few feet away.

"You brat," I began, pushing my wet bangs out of my eyes.

"I was just trying to help you off the float," he said innocently,
grinning, his hair slicked down. He practically sparkled. "Better go get
the phone."

"And you better dive down there and get my sunglasses," I said, swimming
away from him. After the hell day we'd had yesterday it was nice just to
have a quiet day to be with Justin, and the Florida sunshine was a welcome
change from Boston. I was feeling pretty content as I pulled myself out of
the pool, ignoring the whistle behind me as I shook my hair and pushed it
back. Maybe Justin didn't have to worry about such things with his almost
buzz cut, but those of us with actual hair on our heads did. I picked up
the phone, watching Justin disappear beneath the water. "Hello?"

"Is this the bitch who's fuckin' my man?" a sharply accented female
screamed in my ear.  I almost dropped the phone. "Answer me, skank! Don't
make me cut you the fuck up!"

Justin surfaced with my sunglasses in hand, holding them above his head
like a trophy as I stared at him in shock. He caught my expression and
started to swim toward me.

"Excuse me?" I asked, completely baffled. This girl sounded hardcore. "Who
is this?"

"I asked you a question, bitch!" she screeched. "You fuckin' my man?"

Justin pulled himself up out of the pool and stared at me, curious, his
head cocked to the side in that way he had. I was staring at him, unsure of
how to respond to the phone call, when I heard the patio door open behind
me.

"I asked you a question," someone said from behind me, and I turned to see
Britney Spears walking out of the house, grinning widely and holding a cell
phone to her ear.  This was the hardcore gangster bitch I was afraid of?

"Britney!" Justin squealed, running toward her. She held up her hands,
hanging up the phone as she stepped back.

"You're wet!" she screeched, giggling. "Don't touch me!"

"I thought you liked it wet," Justin said, making a pouty face.

"You'll never know," she said, giggling. She turned to me, smiling widely,
as Justin took my hand. "So, you're the boyfriend. I'm Britney Spears, the
girlfriend."

"Hi," I said uncertainly, glancing at Justin.

We hadn't talked about Britney at all since the second day I hung out with
him, and all he'd said then was that they were good friends and that the
relationship between them, much discussed in media circles, was more or
less a big sham. Beyond that, though, we'd never mentioned her again. I
didn't know whose team she was on, what she was doing here, or how,
exactly, she and I were supposed to relate to each other.

"Brit, this is Chris Vanderhall," Justin said, grinning as I shook
Britney's hand. She looked exactly like she did in pictures or on
television, which could be both a good and a bad thing. She was pretty, and
she was glamorous, but she wore just a little too much makeup for my
taste. Then again, what the hell did I know? Millions of boys, and probably
even some girls, would kill to be where I was. "He's, um, he makes me
really happy."

"I see that," she said, giggling. "You're glowin' like a pregnant chick."

Kelly called out from the open kitchen door.

"You're letting the air conditioning out!" she said, and I almost called
her a mom before realizing that it was true. "Brit, you staying for lunch?
Joey said he'd be back."

"If y'all don't mind," Britney answered, closing the door. She took my free
hand and led me over to one of the chairs. Justin and I sat, and she sat
across from us, primly holding her knees together and folding her hands on
top of them. "So, Chris, tell me all about yourself."

"Wait, what are you doing here?" Justin asked. "I thought you were doing
tour stuff."

"We're between legs, baby," she said, shaking her head at him. "I told you
that like five times. I needed to fly down to see my Jive people today,
though, and then I'm back to LA tomorrow. I didn't want to swing through,
though, without seeing my baby's baby."

OK, what the hell? I was trying not to be possessive of Justin, and to just
take things as they came. He told me that he missed being best friends with
his only serious boyfriend ever, and I hadn't said a word. He'd left me
sitting in a strange living room for over an hour while he did stuff with
his friends, and I didn't say anything. Now, though, his sex symbol
girlfriend, the self proclaimed "slave for you", was hanging all over him
and calling him baby, and I didn't know what to think, especially when she
reached out and put her hand on his knee, caressing it. He'd told me he was
gay, but had he told her? That knee was mine, damn it. I wasn't answering
any of her questions until she answered some of mine.

"You know that you two aren't really dating, right?" I demanded bluntly,
staring at her.  "He's gay. Really gay."

As soon as I said it, I felt like an idiot. The two of them stared at me
for a second, mouths hanging open in surprise, and then burst out laughing,
rocking back and forth on their seats.

"You two aren't really dating!" Britney squealed in a fake, dopey sounding
kind of voice.  She followed it with more laughter.

"He's really really gay!" Justin squeaked, rubbing at his eyes. "I love
it!"

I wasn't staying for this. I stood, meaning to go back into the house to
somehow salvage some of my dignity (no, I had no idea how), and Justin
grabbed my arm.

"Oh, babe, come on," he said, tugging at me. Britney was still snickering
behind her hand, but she was trying to stop, and Justin was looking up at
me seriously, swallowing his giggles. "Don't be like that. It was just."

"Funny as shit!" Britney squealed, giggling again. I gritted my teeth,
biting back the urge to ask her just how funny shit was. Maybe it was a
Southern thing. I let Justin pull me back down onto the chair and kiss the
side of my neck.

"Is my baby jealous?" he asked, kissing his way up toward my ear.

"No," I answered. That was a lie. "Yes. I dunno."

"I think it's cute!" Britney said, making one of her faces. I'd noticed
that she only seemed to have about three expressions, and just rotated
them. That "Crossroads" movie was really going to suck.

"And I think it's sexy," Justin said.

"Not in front of the children," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder and
nodding my head toward Britney. Justin sighed, but leaned back, taking my
hand again. "But seriously, what is it with you two?"

"I told you," Justin began. "She's my best friend."

"And he's my baby," Britney answered. "He'll always be my sweetie, even if,
you know, he rides the bologna pony."

I couldn't help but laugh. Kelly opened the door and leaned out.

"Lunch is almost ready if you guys want to clean up a little," she said.

The sun had mostly dried us, but we smelled like chlorine, and I wanted to
go shower off and at least put a shirt on before we ate anything. Britney
went inside to help Kelly get the food, and Kelly kind of left her with it
and went to go wake up Brianna.  Justin followed me to the bathroom like an
eager puppy, his hands all over my chest and my ass as he whispered in my
ear that really, the two of us should save water and hop in the shower
together. I let him pull my trunks off, almost tripping me as we staggered
into the bathroom giggling, kicking designer flip flops off as we went, and
I twisted on the water as he tossed his own trunks aside.

"You're so fucking hot," Justin growled, pinning me against the back wall
of the shower.

The water splashed down on us, coursing over us as Justin cranked the how
water dial and filled the shower with steam. His skin, tan, tattooed, slid
over mine, and I thought again about how smooth he was. His hard cock was
poking me in the abs, jabbing at me the same way his tongue was jabbing
into my mouth, and I sighed against him, wondering where this had come
from. He'd been all over me all day, but not like this. He wanted me, not
Britney, me, and I wondered if the thought of jealousy was a turn on for
him. The minute I'd turned bitchy he'd been ready to roll, and we'd never
make it to lunch at this rate, especially not with the way he was attacking
my neck.  That was probably a jealousy thing, too, like he had to make sure
everyone knew I was his. I grabbed his head and pushed it away, bringing
his mouth back up to mine so he wouldn't take it as rejection, but honestly
I had enough marks there already.

"Chris," Justin whimpered, driving his hips against me. I looked down to
see his cock rubbing against mine, sliding along my stomach, the head all
red and hard and slick under the water.

"Justin, we have to go down for lunch," I said, chewing on his bottom lip.
He liked that, and I knew he did.

His hands were still all over me, clutching at my shoulders, squeezing my
ass, pulling at my arms or head or hair. I was hard, too, but I could wait,
even though I wasn't sure how I could even think that with Justin naked and
pressed against me right here, but his friends were at the table, in the
kitchen, waking their kids and getting lunch ready and waiting for us, and
I didn't want to walk down there after some crushingly obvious interval,
all glowing yet shower wrinkled with a new set of bites laid on top of all
the old ones. At the same time, though, I didn't really want to leave my
boyfriend like this, needy and unsatisfied. I grabbed his shaft, wrapping
my fingers around it, feeling how thick and hard he was as he throbbed
under my fingers, and began to jerk him off, ducking my head down to chew
on his neck for a change.

Justin yelped above me, his face tightening, his voice tightening too, and
he pulled at my shoulders as he jerked against me. I whispered dirty things
into his ear as I did it, telling him how hot and hard he was, and what I'd
like to do to him later. I told him things about his body, and how much it
turned me on, and about his cock, and how badly I wanted it. I told him he
was beautiful, and hot, and sexy, and when I leaned in, squeezing him hard
and telling him he was mine as I bit and sucked at his earlobe, he yelped
and tightened and came, hard, all over my stomach. Justin's orgasm rocked
through him, rolling over him like an earthquake, causing him to gasp as
his muscles tightened and his abs contracted and his knees buckled, and
when it was over I held him as he tried to catch his breath against me, his
bright blue eyes closed.

I nudged him aside a little, leaving his head on my shoulder, so that I
could rinse off, and by the time I was done he had recovered himself and
started kissing my neck again, softly. He reached for my cock, but froze
when I took his wrist and pulled his hand away.  He was holding my face
with his other hand, and he turned it toward him. I looked up into his eyes
and saw that he was confused, and also looked a little scared, as if he
thought he'd done something wrong.

"We don't have time," I said lightly, leaning forward to kiss him.

"Yeah we do," Justin said, dropping to his knees before I could stop him.
Honestly, I didn't really want to stop him all that much, but I was giving
it a good faith effort.

All my thoughts of making lunch on time, or close to it, quickly
disappeared and Justin's lips slid down my shaft. He swallowed the head and
kept going, drawing me into him, sucking hard. I leaned back against the
wall, thankful for the support, and Justin held me up by the hips, too,
keeping his hands there as he bobbed up and down on me.  I was ok with
drawing things out, usually, but this was all about getting done in a
hurry, and I was already so close that I knew Justin wouldn't be down there
long. Speeding me along was apparently his thought, too. While he was
sucking me, humming and swallowing and washing his tongue over me, one of
his hands crept around to my ass, and my eyes popped open as I felt
Justin's index finger pop inside me. At the same time I felt my body
tensing up, and then he pressed hard on my prostate as I gasped and almost
collapsed above him. My knees were shaking, I couldn't breathe, and I felt
myself shooting down his throat like I'd never cum before.

Justin caught me as my knees buckled, and he held me up as I opened my eyes
and smiled at him. He held my face in his hands and all I wanted to do was
kiss him, so I did.  The inside of his mouth was hot and wet and a little
salty, and he pressed my body against his as he tilted my head back and
slowly fucked my mouth with his tongue. I felt his cock, half hard, twitch,
and knew that we really didn't have time for this. We'd both finished up,
and we still needed to make it to lunch, so I reached behind him and turned
the water off. He pulled off of my mouth and smiled at me, tiny droplets
coursing down his face from his hair, beading on his forehead and dripping
off of his nose and onto me.

"So much for saving water," he said, grinning. I kissed his chin.

"Let's go get dressed, kid," I smiled back, pulling the curtain open.

I didn't think we'd really taken that much longer than we should have, but
we were still greeted with whistles and catcalls when we came trudging
slowly toward the table, holding hands. It didn't help that we were
blushing, a red flush the crept all the way down my neck, and when I looked
over I saw that Justin's shoulders, shining under his sleeveless top, were
reddening as well. Bri was already strapped into her high chair, and
Britney just snickered as we tried to slink in unnoticed. Joey, who had
come back for lunch as promised, was having none of that, though.

"That was like the longest shower ever!" he practically yelled. Maybe it
just sounded loud because we were both so guilty. "We're gonna have to tour
again just to pay my damn water bill after that one. What were you guys
doing in that bathroom?"

"Like you just have no idea," Kelly said, rolling her eyes as she pushed
the salad bowl toward me. Britney was snickering.

"Yeah, Joey," I said, lifting my chin toward him as Justin just continued
to blush and look down. "Why don't you tell us where babies come from?"

"They don't come from whatever you two were doing," he answered, laughing.

"You're right," Justin said, looking up finally. He winked at
Britney. "They don't come from washing."

"Washing?" Joey squealed, his shoulders shaking with laughter. "I'd say the
only thing that got washed in there was."

"Enough!" Kelly said sharply, and we all snickered as she nodded her head
toward Bri.  "Little pitchers, big ears, and all that."

"Sorry," I said, not wanting to be accused of stunting Bri's development or
something.

"Sorry," Justin added, still blushing.

"Yeah, sorry," Joey said finally.

"No you're not," Britney said, giggling, and we all cracked up.

It was nice being there like that, sitting around a table with a group of
friends laughing, and I knew that Justin appreciated it, too. For me, it
was kind of what I needed. I hadn't realized how much I would miss the
kids, and the bookstore, and everything else until I'd left. I'd only been
gone for a day, but it was the first time I hadn't been there in years.
Right now I could close my eyes and tell you exactly who would be working,
where in the store they'd be, and what customers would be there. I could
tell you what they'd be ordering, how long they'd stay, and what they might
be interested in buying.  I could tell you what else was going on in the
store, in front of the store, and on the whole block. I missed my safety
net, my friends and my house and everything else, and it was really nice to
be here and be so easily accepted into theirs. It was obvious that they all
knew each other, and that they liked each other, no matter what Justin had
said about Joey. I felt privileged to be included in this, to see this part
of them that I was sure a lot of people never did.

After lunch Joey invited Justin and I to shoot some hoops on the little
court out back, but Justin passed, wanting to talk to Britney and catch up
again before she had to go. She could only stay for another hour or so,
anyway, and I didn't want to cut in on their time, so I took Joey up on his
offer. It was obvious after only a few minutes that he was much more
skilled than I was, but Joey was kind, and went easy on me. Justin and
Britney cheered from the sidelines, clapping wildly each time I scored a
basket, as if they both knew I was hopelessly outclassed, and I was glad
for the save when Kelly came out with a pitcher of iced tea and a bunch of
glasses. It was all a little too happy family, somehow, and I asked Kelly
about it as Joey chugged a tall glass of tea. He might be better, but I'd
still given him a hell of a workout.

Take that, pop star.

"Are you always home like this?" I asked. Kelly laughed as Justin blotted
at my head with a towel.

"God, no," she answered, grinning. "I've been working at home a lot since
Bri was born.  I just want her to be a little older before I go back full
time. If I do need to go in for something, a meeting or something like
that, Joey's mom usually comes over to watch her, or I just drop her by
their house."

"Cool," I said, shrugging.

We all looked up as the doorbell rang. I still hadn't gotten over the fact
that Joey didn't even have a butler, although there was a bodyguard on duty
in the foyer.  Everyone kind of ignored him, which struck me as odd, but I
just followed what they did in this regard.  Still, he didn't answer the
door for them, and we all looked at each other.

"I'll get it," Brit said, standing. "I have to get going, anyway. Chris, it
was nice meeting you after all the phone calls."

"You, too," I said, standing. I held out my hand, but she gave me a quick
hug, instead.  Over her shoulder I mouthed "Phone calls?" to Justin, and he
just grinned.

"I always call Brit," Justin said, winking at me as she let go. He took her
shoulder.  "Come on, I'll walk you out."

"Bye Joey, Kell, Bri," Britney said, blowing Bri a kiss. Kelly and Joey
waved, telling her to take care, as the two of them walked into the house.

"Kelly said Brit got you good on the phone," Joey said, laughing.

"I helped," Kelly added, scooping up Bri, who was chattering about the
pool.  "Let's go get your water wings, ok?"

"Yeah," I said quietly, watching the door to the house. What did the two of
them talk about on these phone calls? And when had Justin managed to
squeeze in so many phone calls to others without me noticing?

"Hey, Chris," Joey said, watching me. "They're best friends. There's
nothing for you to worry about there."

"Sorry," I said, blushing a little. "I'm being stupid."

"I don't think so," Joey said. "I mean, the two of them act like they're
dating, all the time.  That's why it's so convincing. But really, it's like
Justin said. They're just best friends.  Half the time Britney says that
he's her best girlfriend."

"And she's ok with that?" I asked. "I mean, it's not like she can date
anyone else, at least not publicly, if everyone thinks she's dating
Justin. It must be really hard for her."

"They're both ok with it," Joey said, shrugging. "She does it for him, and
really it helps both of them, careerwise. Brit doesn't date much, either,
because she's so focused on her career, and honestly, she'd do anything for
Justin. He'd do anything for her, too, and this way it keeps people from,
you know, speculating too much about JC and Justin spending so much time
together."

"I wouldn't say it keeps them rumor free," I disagreed, thinking about some
of the things I'd read on the internet. Joey smiled.

"I know what you're thinking of, but this helps," he said, laughing. We
both looked up as we heard a door slam inside the house, and then a woman
started yelling.

"What the hell?" I asked, as we both stood.

"You open this door and talk to me, Justin!" the woman yelled, and I took
off into the house, Joey on my heels.

Charging down the hallway, calling Justin's name, I jerked to a stop
outside our room.  The door was closed, and Britney was standing in the
hallway, helplessly wringing her hands, as a short woman with curly blond
hair hammered on the bedroom door with her closed fist.

"Justin?" I called.

"Brit?" Joey asked.

"You!" the woman yelled, turning to glare at me. "You're the one fucking
with my baby!"

This must be Justin's mom. She stalked toward me, her heels clacking on the
floor, and fury was stamped all over her face. Her eyes flashed as she
advanced on me, and Britney shrank back against the wall. I could hear
nothing from inside our room, but assumed that Justin had fled to escape
her.

"Who do you think you are?" she yelled at me. "What have you been telling
him? You don't know who you're fucking with! I don't want you anywhere near
my baby, do you hear me? Do you?"

My jaw worked soundlessly, completely unprepared for this, and Britney put
a tentative hand on the woman's shoulder.

"Lynn," she began meekly, and Lynn turned to glare at her.

"Kell, take Bri out to the pool, please," Joey yelled, turning. The
bodyguard filled the hallway, and Joey gave him a little headshake. "It's
ok, Craig. Mrs. Harless is just upset, that's all."

"Get off me!" Lynn hissed, pulling away from Britney. She turned back to
me.  "I mean it.  You leave Justin alone and go back to Boston. You don't
touch him, you don't talk to him, you don't come anywhere near him! We've
worked too hard for some nobody to just come in and take advantage of him
like this! You leave my baby alone, you stupid fucking queer! You leave him
alone."

"Stop it," Justin said sharply, opening the door. His face was red, and he
was obviously upset, but he pushed past his mother and took my arm, pulling
me against him. "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about, and you
don't ever, ever talk to Chris that way. Ever! Do you hear me?"

"Baby, I just want what's best for you," Lynn said soothingly, suddenly all
sunshine and smiles, but Justin was having none of it.

"I mean it!" he said sharply, biting the words off, his jaw snapping. Lynn
shrank back. I guess she was expecting more of the tearful pleading that
I'd heard during their phonecalls. "Apologize to Chris, and to Joey, and to
Britney, right now, or I'm going to have Craig walk you out."

She glared at him, getting ready to start in on some sort of tirade, and he
cut her off.

"Now!" Justin said. I was standing against him, and he wasn't trembling, or
shaking, or anything else. He was rigid, and his fingers were laced through
mine so tightly it was almost painful.

"It's not necessary," I said finally. There was no point to it. She
wouldn't mean it, and she'd just hold it against me later. He turned to
look at me, and I shook my head. "It's not, Justin."

"Fine," he said, kissing my forehead as he pulled me closer to him. His
heart was pounding through his t-shirt. "Brit, you're gonna be late."

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" she asked, swallowing, her big
eyes darting around everywhere, framed by the thick makeup. "I can
reschedule it."

"No, we'll be fine," he said, patting her shoulder. He kissed her forehead,
too, and guided her gently down the hallway, still holding my hand. "I'll
call you later, Pinky."

"OK, baby," she said, throwing a glance back toward Justin's enraged
mother.  The woman was definitely at a simmering boil. Justin kissed me
again, a quick peck on the lips, and then turned to Joey.

"Can you take Chris to the kitchen or the pool or something, please?" he
asked. "I need to talk to my mom for a while."

"Yeah, no problem," Joey said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I leaned in
close to Justin.

"Are you sure?" I whispered. He stroked the side of my face for a second, a
slow, soft caress, as he let go of my hand.

"Yeah, I just need to talk to her," he whispered. He kissed me again, one
of his firm, purposeful kisses, as if no one else was watching. His mouth
pressed against mine, and I could feel his teeth against mine as his tongue
darted inside. He held my face tightly, looking a little sad, and then let
go. "I love you."

"I'll be right here," I answered, following Joey down the hall.

***

To be continued.