Summary: Nick is struggling to make it day by day. Justin is trying to survive stardom. They both live two very different lives, but when they meet on a cold winters night a friendship begins. Will there be more then friendship? Do opposites really attract?

Paring: Justin/Nick (Timbernick)

Rating: PG-13 and Up

Warning: This is slash, meaning there will be male/male sexual relations mentioned in the story. Also, this story should also get a HET warning for those of you that don't like HET content. There are other couples in this story other then Justin and Nick and a few of them happen to be male/female couples. If you don't want to read chapters with explicit HET content then go ahead and scroll down to read the EDITED chapters.

Authors Note: I am really grateful to have a great friend writing this story with me. How we have it worked out is that I write whatever Nick says, and my good friend Kris writes all of Justin's lines. If this is confusing, or if you have any questions about the format feel free to e-mail me and I'll try and help clear anything up.

Status: Incomplete

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It was a Tuesday evening so things were pretty calm and quiet in the small bar. Its location being sort of out of the way, so many people didn’t know it was there. Music was playing out of an old 50s style jumbo and an older couple was dancing to some strange old song. Sighing, nick the only bar tender leaned against the counter. Only five people had even stopped by the bar that night, mostly everybody busy playing pool and talking. Yes, it was a very boring night.

Justin walked out the front door of his five-star hotel, and zipped his heavy jacket up to his chin in an attempt to fight off the biting cold wind as he headed down the sidewalk. By himself. No body guards. No groupies or tag-along. No one. The only thing he wanted at the moment was to step out of his hectic, high-class life, and into some calm, quiet solitude.

"Nick I need you to work till three tonight." Robert Collins, the bars owner told his young employee.

Nick almost started to protest when he remembered that this month was his little brother's birthday and needed the money for a gift. "Sure thing Rob, I would be happy to."

Rob smiled and patted Nick on the arm before going back to his office. Leaving Nick alone once again.

Justin shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his way-too-expensive jacket, and continued his slow stroll down the street. Even though he was in the heart of Indianapolis, it was a weeknight...and after midnight...so there weren't many people around. That was much to Justin's liking. After months of touring with only a handful of days off, he wanted to be as far away from people as possible.

Nick handed the older man the drink he had asked for before flopping back down at the stool he had behind the counter. He had been there since One that afternoon was beyond beat at this point. Before he knew it he found his eyes dropping closed.

After walking aimlessly for a while, Justin came upon a small little hole-in-the-wall pub that looked to be very local and family-owned. Figuring that it wasn't a place that hormonal, neurotic college girls would frequent, Justin jogged across the street and headed into the bar...a small bell jingling over the door as he opened it.

Even though the bar was located on the wall by the door, Nick hadn’t heard the bell ring. By this point he was resting his head down on the counter, snoring softly.

Justin stopped a few feet inside the door, and took a look around the quaint pub as he unzipped his jacket. He smiled at the fact that the place was practically empty...as well as at the site of the adorable older couple dancing...then tugged his gray stocking cap down over his cold ears as he made his way over to the bar. Justin draped his coat over the back of one of the bar stools, and then sighed quietly as he sat down.

"No Aaron, you can't have the last jelly doughnut." Nick mumbled in his sleep, still totally unaware of Justin sitting down practically in front of him.

Justin raised an eyebrow as he diverted his gaze to the head resting on the bar...wondering how much the bartender had been drinking.

"Carter! Wake your ass up, you've got a customer." Robert barked before diapering into his office once again.

Nick's head shot up and looked over at the man sitting at the bar. Trying to get his Barings as quick as possible he got up off the stool. "Can I help you?" he asked before whipping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Justin chuckled softly. "Uhh...yeah...can I get a Jack and Coke...just a little ice?"

Still trying to wake up Nick walked to the glasses and started to mix the other man his drink. "I'm sorry about that, I hope you weren’t sitting here long." he said apologetically as he handed Justin his drink.

Justin shook his head as he took the drink. "Nah, man...don't worry about it."

It was then that Nick got a good look at the man sitting in front of him. He tried to keep his cool; he didn’t need to be a screaming freak of a fan. His sisters would make fun of him for being 23 with a preteen crush. Taking a deep breath he smiled at the man and walked over to start checking the inventory on the bottles. The whole time jumping up and down inside. Justin Timberlake was at his bar!

Justin took a long sip of his drink before setting it down on the bar. He relaxed back in his seat and looked up to watch Sports Center on the small TV on the wall behind the bar. He was completely enjoying the moment. He couldn't remember the last time he'd experienced something so...quiet.

Nick turned around to look at Justin, thinking he had to say something to him. He would kill himself later if he didn’t take the opportunity. "Bet it feels nice to just take a break, huh?" he asked, hoping he wasn’t making a total fool of himself.

Justin took his eyes off the TV, and looked down at the young bartender. "Yeah," he said simply...giving him a small smile before looking back at the television. It didn't even dawn on him that the man's comment indicated that he knew who Justin was.

Nick sighed, he was a little disappointed that Justin hadn’t said more, but then again why would he. Going back to his own stool he sat down. Scanning the whole bar he noticed that there was only one other person still there and that was Jerry a regular who at this point was passed out, practically falling out of his chair.

Justin emptied his glass, and then set it down as he looked at the bartender. "Can I get another one, please?"

Nick nodded and stood up, grabbing Justin's cup and refilling it. "In town for a concert?" he asked, trying again. He wasn’t really sure why the other man was in town, if there was a concert he would of heard about it and had been there trying to win front row tickets with the rest of the teenage girls.

Justin nodded...and looked back up at the TV as he responded. "Yeah...just a small club show tomorrow night."

Eyes going wide. How did he not know about that? He checked online at least twice a day for the Justin news. "Really?" he asked, and then cleared his throat, trying to hide the excitement in his voice. "Teats nice." he blushed bright read.

Justin nodded again without looking away from the television. "Yeah...kind of a last minute thing...they stuck it in the middle of all my other shows. Some contest winner thing, I guess," he said with a shrug.

Nodding his head, sighing a little. "Oh I see." he said, sitting back down.

Justin picked up his glass and drank down half of his rum and Coke...his attention focused on the basketball highlights on TV.

"Who's winning?" Nick asked, getting slightly bored, all he wanted to do was go home and go to sleep.

Justin looked back over at the young man and chuckled. "No one...it's not a game. It's just recaps on Sports Center."

Blushing and biting his lower lip in embarrassment. "Oh, ok." Nick whispered, looking down at the counter.

Justin studied the bartender's face for a moment...wondering what was making him blush and fluster like that. He shook his head a bit, and then went back to watching TV.

Getting back up Nick grabbed a rag out of the sink and started to clean off the counter. Now trying to forget Justin was even there. It was making him nervous and act strange.

Justin sighed quietly...handing his empty glass over for another refill. Now that he'd opened his big mouth, he was obligated to ask...even though he'd wanted to avoid people and conversation. "Why do you feel stupid?"

Nick shook his head “It's not important, don’t worry about it. You just relax like you came here for." He said, taking the glass to refill it.

Justin nodded slowly...toying with a napkin on the bar while he waited for his drink.

Nick handed Justin his drink back. "Probably need it more then anybody, relaxation I mean."

Justin just shrugged as he took the glass and took a long drink.

At that point Nick gave up talking to the other man and walked to the other end of the bar, cleaning again.

Justin drank down the rest of his drink, and then sat back in his chair again...his attention returning to the television program. After a few minutes, he glanced to the other end of the bar. "Can I get a shot of Amaretto when you have a chance?"

Smiling, still wanting to be friendly Nick nodded. Tossing down the rag he whipped his hands on his jeans before grabbing a glass and pouring the liquid into it. "Here you go."

Justin smiled as he took the glass. "Thanks," he said before drinking down half of the warm liquor. "Damn," he said as he set the glass down. "..It’s so cold out there I'm still chilled to the bone. I ain't used to this shit."

Laughing a little bit. "This is nothing; it's supposed to get in the teens tomorrow."

Justin rolled his eyes. "Hopefully I'll be outta here right after the show, then."

Nick shrugged his shoulders. "It really isn't that bad unless you're out in it. Its days like that when I’m glad to be at work. My apartment freezes like crazy, pipes and all."

Justin shook his head. "THAT must suck. I don't think I could handle that. My body's not built for that stuff."

Nick nodded his head. "Makes sense, you've lived in the south your whole life. Not used to these northern winters."

Justin raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know that?"

This caused Nick to blush bright read. "Would believe me if I said lucky guess?"

Justin smirked. "No," he replied simply before drinking down the rest of his shot.

Nick shrugged his shoulders, trying to keep his composure. "Okay, so what if I knew you were born in Tennessee, everybody must know that."

Justin shrugged...again pushing an empty glass over for another refill. "Not everybody. My fans, maybe."

Nick took Justin's glass and went to refill it again. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Justin watched the young man as he refilled his glass. "So...are you?"

Sucking in a deep breath he handed Justin his glass back. "Am I what?" he asked trying to play dumb.

"A fan?"

Nick wasn’t sure how to answer that question. So, he just went for being blunt and honest. "Sure, you've got a great voice."

Justin smiled as he lifted his glass. "Thanks," he said before drinking down all of the warm, creamy liquor.

Yawning, Nick looked down at his watch and groaned. It was only a little after one, he still had two hours to go. "You're welcome."

"Am I...uhh...keeping you from closing? I know it's late."

Smiling and shaking his head. "No, we don’t close until three, and lucky me I get to close, and then open tomorrow." Nick said sighing.

"Why do ya'll stay open so late if no one's in here?"

Nick laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, probably because of him." he said pointing at Jerry who was snoring loudly. "Robert my boss insists that he won’t keep coming if we close before he can pass out."

Justin looked over his shoulder at the man and chuckled. "So is he gonna just sleep til three?"

"Normally we have to drag him out into the freezing cold and then he wakes up and scampers off to whatever hole he lives in." Nick laughed. "It's been the same way for the last five years I’ve been working here."

Justin widened his eyes. "Five years?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah, Robert is a friend of my grandpa’s; he got me the job even though it probably wasn’t too legal at the time."

Justin nodded. "I see."

"Definitely not as exciting as touring around the world all the time." Nick added, smiling a little.

Justin shrugged...looking down at his empty glass as he ran a finger over its rim. "It IS exciting...to a point."

Looking down to see Justin's empty glass. "Do you want more?" Nick asked, and then added. "But it can get lonely and tiring too I’m sure. I mean not getting to see your family, not being able to go to normal places without being spotted. I mean hell its gotta be bad if you end up in this dump, and are even staying here to listen to my crazy ass."

Justin just nodded...as if responding with a 'yes' to everything the young bartender was saying.

"Which is why I’ll leave you alone now. You try to get away from people like me." Nick said slightly sad, he didn’t want to leave Justin alone but he knew it was best. So he decided to walk around the bar to make sure everything was okay and up to par.

Justin watched him for a moment before speaking. "Nah...It’s OK. I mean...it's not like you ambushed be the second you realized who I was."

"I don’t really get fans that do that. That just turns you off and makes you want to run." Nick mumbled from under a table where he was trying to figure out why the table was wobbling.

"Yeah...it does," Justin said...turning in his seat a bit to look at the man. "I mean...I love my fans, but they can drive me crazy sometimes."

Nick nodded as he scooted out from under the table. "Yeah I know what you mean, I mean I don’t really know but I’ve seen you're fans, they can be insane. I mean some of those girls would fuck you right there on the side walk if they could."

Justin laughed. "Yeah...I know. They've tried."

Nick laughed too, the image going through his head. "Pretty daring some of them. I could never do that." he said, not realizing what he just said.

Justin barely caught the comment, so it just rolled off his back. "I'll take that refill when you have a minute," he said...turning back around to face the bar.

Nick nodded, testing the table what still wobbled. "Stupid thing." he grumbled before going back to get Justin's glass and refill it again, he wasn’t even paying attention to how many refills he had given the other man.

"You do everything around here, don't you?"

Nick shook his head. "Not everything, mostly it's just the bar, but since we haven’t gotten much business the last few months Rob has let some people go. So I tend the bar and make sure stuff is working ok, and clean if thing are really bad. IF not then we just wait until Friday when the cleaning people come."

Justin nodded as he took his drink...then looked toward the door when he heard the little bell ring. He groaned softly and looked down at the bar when he saw two college aged-looking girls walk in. He sipped his drink, set it down, then tugged his stocking cap down a bit lower on his head.

Nick's head also turned to the door when he heard the bell ring. He was surprised to see the girls walk into the room. Whipping his hands on his pants again he smiled. "Can I help you ladies?" he asked trying to be polite and distract them from Justin, just in case.

Justin propped his elbows up on the bar and leaned forward in his seat...resting his head in his hands to try and hide his face nonchalantly. It wasn't like him to hide from fans...but he was just looking for a break that night.

"It was really starting to snow out there, thought we would come in and get warm for a few minutes." One of the girls said, looking around the bar with a look of disgust on her face when her eyes landed on Jerry.

Nick shoved his hands in his pockets. "Do you want anything to drink?" he asked, still being polite.

Justin cleared his throat as he listened to the bartender talk with the girls.

The other girl elbowed her friend and whispered something at her. "Actually, we're just going to go. Thanks anyway." she said before pulling the other girl out the door.

Nick let out a deep breath and leaned back against the bar. "That was weird; I guess the weather has gotten worse."

Justin looked over his shoulder at the door the girls had just gone through. "That WAS weird. Wonder why they left so quickly."

Nick shrugged. "Maybe they felt weird because there weren’t very many people. I mean if I was a young girl I would be kind of worried to be in a room with only two other guys."

Justin shrugged. "Guess that's true."

"Either way at least they didn’t see you and throw themselves at ya." Nick said laughing. "They were good looking though, could have been fun."

Justin chuckled. "I didn't even get a good enough look."

Nick laughed. "I didn’t really either, just trying to make conversation."

"Oh," Justin said...then stretched a bit before reaching into the pocket of his jeans for his wallet. "Well...I guess if the weather's pickin up I should head back to the hotel. How much do I owe you?"

Nicks eyes went wide. He couldn’t remember how many drinks the guy had, had. "Uhh, it's on the house."

Justin shook his head as he reached into his wallet. "Nah...no way," he said...then pulled a hundred dollar bill out and tossed it on the bar. "That oughtta cover it."

Nick's eyes went even wider and his mouth opened slightly. "Fuck no, that’s way too much. Thirty dollars would have covered it and probably then some." he said handing the bill back to its owner.

Justin shook his head again as he stood up and slipped into his jacket. "No...keep it. Thanks for the drinks...and the conversation...and keeping my identity on the down low."

Nick smiled. "It wasn’t a problem, I was happy for the company."

Justin smiled as he zipped up his coat. "Thanks again."

"You're welcome." Nick said waving at the man. "Oh and Justin."

"Yeah...?"

"My name is Nick...if you well wanted to know...which you probably didn’t." He said, blushing a little.

Justin smiled...bringing the zipper of his coat up to his chin. "Nice to meet you, Nick," he said...extending his right hand.

Using his own right hand Nick shook Justin's hand, for the first time touching the man he dreamed of. "Nice to meet you too, Justin."

Justin smiled again, then headed for the door. He turned and gave Nick a quick wave before heading out into the cold.

Nick waved back and then slumped against the bar. His sisters were not going to believe this when they found out. He let out a deep laugh and shook his head.

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After calling around all morning Nick finally found out where Justin's show was that night. Practically begging Robert he finally got the night off, so after going home and changing into tight faded jeans, with some holes in the knees and a tight t-shirt Nick made his way to the club. It was a two hours before the show was due to start. Walking up to the door where they were selling tickets. "Hey I would like to get tickets for the concert tonight." he told the man.

The young man behind the window looked up at Nick and smiled politely. "Sorry. There are no tickets available for the show."

Nick sighed. "Are they sold out?" he asked sounding disappointed.

"There were never tickets on sale. It's an exclusive show for radio contest winners."

Feeling even more disappointed Nick sighed again and started to turn and leave, when something hit him. "I know Justin, could you just ask him if he will let Nick have tickets."

The guy in the ticket booth couldn't help but laugh. "Come on, dude. Do you know how many people that supposedly know Justin have been around here tonight...? Yeah...right."

Taking a deep breath Nick closed his eyes and walked down the steps. He promised himself he wasn’t going to be a crazy fan. He knew when he couldn’t get in some place. Stopping to lean against the side of the building he tried to think of what to do next. It had taken him almost an hour to get to the club, now he didn’t know how he was going to get back.

Shortly after Nick had left the ticket booth, a rather large black man who was wearing a black leather jacket and micro phoned headphones stepped out of the large bus that was parked just down the street. He then spent a few minutes checking out the area and making sure that all crowds of fans were barricaded and guarded by police. He occasionally spoke into his microphone as he worked.

*Hearing somebody talking near him. Nick leaned over to look around the corner to see everybody setting up for the show. He saw the fans standing behind the barricades and smiled a little. He wasn’t barricaded, but nits not like he was going to take advantage of that anyway. Slowly he moved away from the shadows of the building and tried to get away before somebody spotted him.*

Justin's body guard headed back to the bus, and spoke into the microphone one final time before taking his position outside the bus's closed door.

Nick made his way to the other side of the barricade, thinking it was better then nothing. Finding a spot towards the front he got comfortable and waited. Wishing he could go inside and watch the show, but since he couldn’t he would just stand here.

Moments later, the bus's door opened, and three more security guards came out...followed by Justin...then three more body guards. Justin started dutifully smiling and waving at the fans as his security team immediately started ushering him across the street toward the club.

Nick stood just smiling, not screaming like the millions of girls and some guys were doing next to him. He was just happy to be standing there. He wished Justin would see him and recognize him but he wouldn’t be surprised if he never remembered him.

Justin stopped to whisper something to one of his body guards...then the security suddenly escorted him over to the barricades, where he started signing some autographs...his plastered-on smile never leaving his face.

Nick couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Justin's face. He could tell a fake smile when he saw one. Since he didn’t have anything to sign he moved out of the way for a few ten year old girls.

Justin chatted with a couple young girls, and then moved further down the line...his security sticking to him like glue.

Nick got a little nervous when Justin started moving closer to where he was standing. Most of the girls by him were very young and shorter, so he probably stood out like crazy.

Justin signed for the ten year olds standing by Nick, and then looked up to meet his eyes. Smiling brightly at the sight of a familiar face, he said, "Hey...what are YOU doing here?"

Nick looked behind him quickly and then back at Justin. Just shocked to actually have him talk to him. "I came to see you, just like the rest of these pubescent young ladies, you mean I don’t fit in?" he said smiling back.

Justin laughed sincerely at that. "Actually...you stick out like a sore thumb."

Nick laughed too and looked around nervously. "I just wanted to come see you, even if it was just from back in the back."

Justin nodded slowly...his eyes on Nick as he tried to decide what to make of his comment. "Oh..." he started slowly. "..Well...did you umm...want an autograph, or sumthin?"

Nick shrugged. "I didn’t bring anything for you to sign...besides, these girls are more important." He said, pointing to all the young girls around, a few looking at him with mean looks on their faces for taking Justin's time.

Justin chuckled. "Aight, then," he said...then gave a small wave as he headed off toward another group of girls with his security. "Nice seeing you."

Nick smiled and waved back. "Nice seeing you too." he said before pulling his coat around his body tighter, the night was starting to get really cold. Now it was time to figure out how he was going to get home. He had used the last of his cash to get the bus to the club. He had found out he needed more money then he thought he did for the bus ride, leaving him without any to get home. Shoving his hands in his pockets he started to walk away.

Justin finally headed for the club with his security...talking quietly with his head body guard as they walked. Once Justin was safely inside, a member of his security team went back out to the street, and started following Nick. "Excise me...sir...?"

Nick tensed up when he heard somebody follow him and started to walk faster. When the person said something he stopped and turned around. "I don’t have any money...or anything else you would want, so please just leave me alone." he practically begged, not recognizing the body guard.

The man laughed...knowing he was big and black, but wondering how his expensive clothes and leather coast made him look like a beggar. "I'm with Justin," he said...holding his tour ID up, and hoping Nick turned back to look at it.

Nick let out a deep breath that he didn’t even know he had been holding. "Oh, sorry...haven’t had the best of luck with people trying to steel shit from me." he admitted, and then got confused. "Why did you need me?"

The man reached into a pocket on the inside of his jacket and pulled out an envelope. "JT thought you might like to see the show tonight," he said...handing the envelope over to Nick. Inside was a ticket to the concert, as well as a pass to the after party in the club's VIP section.

Taking the envelope with shaky hands Nick opened it to see all the things inside. His eyes going wide. "This is way too much...why me?" he asked, totally shocked

The man shrugged. "I don't know, man. Justin asked me to give it to you...so I did."

Nick smiled at the man and nodded. "Well thank you. Saved me from having to hitchhike a way home." he said laughing.

The security guard laughed. "No problem, man. The doors open in about a half hour, so you may as well go get in line with everyone else. Its general admission...first come, first served...and them girls'll be fighting their way to the front."

Nick laughed some more. "They can have the front; I’m a little too old to be killing people to get in front." With that Nick waved and headed towards the line to wait.

The man waved, and then slipped his headphones on as he headed back into the club.

Nick was sure his hands, nose and ears were going to fall off by the time the line started to move inside. He hadn’t brought gloves or a hat, because his little brother had needed them. He was more then ready to go inside, even if he was almost being trampled over by crazy women. This was one reason why he was glad he was gay...didn’t have to worry about all the crazy girls.

Justin approached Mike after his sound check...speaking after taking a long swig from his water bottle. "Hey, man...did you get those tickets to that guy?" The security guard nodded. "Yeah. Who IS he, anyway?" Justin shrugged as he dropped onto the sofa in his dressing room. "Just some guy...a bartender I met last night. He seems like a fan...and seems cool...so I just decided to be nice."

Nick leaned back against the far wall of the rather small club. It definitely wasn’t big enough for a concert like this, but the girls who were jumping around and screaming with their friends didn’t seem to mind. Nick smiled at the thought of his sisters doing the same thing when they had gone to a few concerts of their own.

Justin pulled on a fresh t-shirt as he finished getting ready for the show...then sat down and started flipping through a magazine as he absently warmed up his vocal chords.

Nick had to laugh when he saw some poor guy standing with what he assumed to be his girlfriend. The guy looked beyond bored. "Guy doesn’t know good music." he mumbled to himself, happy that his body was finally warming up a bit.

Justin looked up when his road manager came in and told him that he had five minutes to show time. He glanced down at his watch to see that it was, indeed, almost midnight. Meanwhile, his band and backup singers took to the small stage and started getting the crowd hyped up.

Nick looked towards the stage when the band began to play. He then started to get a little hyped up himself. It wasn’t until that point when he realized that he was actually at a Justin Timberlake concert.

The band continued on for a few minutes...and then finally introduced Justin. He took to the stage...smiling and waving at the screaming crowd.

Nick couldn’t help but scream himself, really getting into the concert now. He knew he probably looked insane but didn’t care, he was having fun.

After Justin finished greeting the crowd and getting settled on stage, he got into his first song...'Like I Love You'...putting a bit of a rock vise into the song as he sang with all his energy.

Nick found himself singing along to the song at the top of his lungs like everybody else in the room. His family and friends had said he had a good voice, but he never understood it.

Justin continued singing heartily...dutifully pointing out ladies in the crowd to go along with his lyrics.

Nick smiled at the way Justin interacted with his fans. He knew that Justin probably got annoyed at being famous, but at times like this he knew just loved it all the same.

Justin transitioned smoothly from one song to the next...filling the club with excitement. He was in his element. He like small club shows the best...because the environment allowed him to be himself...and get as up close and personal as possible with his fans. It also allowed him to play some guitar and piano for a song here and there...chit-chat with the audience to an extent, and even curse and act a little inappropriate once in a while.

Nick laughed as Justin acted like...well Justin. He wasn’t pretending to be something he wasn’t. Nick really enjoyed that. It was a lot different then the last JT concert he had been too and for the better. He his heart melted as Justin played the instruments. He himself knowing some guitar made it even more special. Even though he wanted to move closer to the stage just as much as the other fans in the room, he still stayed in the back, feeling like that was were he belonged.

Justin sang most of 'Rock Your Body'...then as the band played a dance break; he broke into a whole bunch of his self-choreographed moves along with the techno-slash-disco beat. The expression on his face was a combination of sex and concentration...the tip of his tongue poking out of his mouth a few times...and he made sure to tease the crowd a couple times by pulling his sweaty t-shirt up just a bit to give a peek at his stomach.

Nick thought he was going to die when Justin even started doing Rock You're Body. That was his favorite JT song, but when Justin started dancing with the look of pure sex on his face, Nick was gone. By the time Justin was lifting his shirt up, Nick was leaning back against the counter more, afraid his legs were going to give out. The smoky sweaty smell of the club starting to get to him, but it was a good feeling. He couldn’t remember the last time he has been so happy, had such a great time.

Justin paused after the song to talk and laugh with the crowd a bit...then went into a rock rendition of 'Cry Me a River.' He gave it a little 'adult' flavor to the song by replacing the word 'girl' with 'bitch' a couple times...and putting raw emotion into his voice.

Nick was enjoying himself so much that he hadn’t noticed while singing and kind of dancing along to the music he had moved closer towards the front of the crowd. A few of the girls getting into it and dancing along with him.

Justin took a seat on a stool to sing a medley of *NSYNC songs he'd written. After his last song of the evening, he waved goodbye to the crowd, thanked them over and over, and blew a few kisses. He then made his way back to his dressing room to get showered before the after party.

Once the concert was over, and most of the people filed out, there were just a few who were supposed to stay for the after party. This was when Nick felt the most out of place. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Not really wanting to stand around looking like the idiot he felt like, he walked over to the bar and sat down. The bar tender asked him if he wanted a drink but he turned him down. Sure, he could use a beer but without the money that wasn’t really going to happen. Instead he just sat and watched people mingle.

"What's going on out there, Lonnie?" Justin asked one of his guards as he pulled on a clean t-shirt and tied on some sneakers. The man shrugged. "All the teenies are gone. Just the band and singers...your dancers...some local radio people...the usual. You should be straight just making a quick appearance. We could be on the road in an hour." Justin nodded in response...tugging a baby blue Tennessee Titans baseball cap onto his head.

As time went on Nick started to feel more and more out of place. People were looking at him weird, and whispering to each other. After a while he figured out that most of the people there were part of Justin's tour crew, so an outside would spike their curiosity. Seriously considering leaving Nick stood up to put his coat back on.

About a half hour after the end of the show, Justin finally slipped out into the VIP room...surrounded by four of his men. It wasn't until after the security had scoped the area that they laid off a bit...and Justin started walking around freely and mingling with people.

As Nick got up he saw Justin walk into the room with his body guards. Nick recognized the man who had given him the passes and smiled a little. It was a nice offer and he had enjoyed the concert but now it was time to go back to his boring lower class life. Shoving his hands into his jeans pockets he started to walk to the door, still trying to figure how he was going to get home.

Justin looked up from the conversation he was having with one of his dancers, and saw Nick heading toward the door. He was almost surprised to see him...because with all of the excitement of the show, he'd even forgotten he'd invited him. He excused himself from the young girl, and walked toward Nick. "Hey, Nick..." he called after him.

Nick stopped when he heard the voice. He knew who it was right away; nobody could mistake Justin's voice. Turning around slowly he put on a small smile. "Hi, Justin."

Justin smiled brightly...his face still flushed with adrenaline. "Hey. So...you came to the show, huh?" he asked...shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

Nick smiled more and nodded. "Uh huh, and it was absolutely fabulous." he said with a little more energy then he probably should. The die hard fan showing.

Justin chuckled softly. "Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Shouldn't you be like mingling with the radio people and you're crew? I mean they are here for you." Nick said pointing around the room at the people. Seriously feeling like he was intruding in on something he shouldn’t be.

Justin shrugged. "Same shit, different day," he said casually.

Nick nodded, still glancing around nervously. "I feel really out of place." he admitted with a nervous chuckle.

Justin shrugged again. "Don't. They're all normal people...cool people. Well...MY people, anyway. I can't speak for the locals."

Nick laughed. "They would have to be cool since they are working with you." he said, blushing bright red when he figured out what he said.

Justin smiled almost shyly. "So...I'm gonna get a drink. Can I get you anything?"

Nick shook his head. "It's strange getting drinks from other places." he lied.

"Are you sure?" Justin asked curiously. "I mean...my people go through these joints with a fine tooth comb. I'm sure it's safe."

Taking a deep breath. "I don’t have the money for it." he admitted, feeling like a shit.

Justin shrugged yet again...thinking nothing of it. "I offered...means I'm buyin."

Nick shook his head again. "You gave me a like 60 dollar tip last night. I couldn’t ask you to do that."

"You didn't ask," Justin said simply...then turned and headed over to the bar.

'Come on Carter, you're being asked to have drinks with Justin Timberlake, just do it.' His mind screamed. Finally giving in he walked after Justin.

Justin took a seat at the bar to wait for the bartender...who was currently serving a few of his band members.

Nick stopped next to Justin and took his coat off. Setting it on the floor next to the stool he sat down. "Thanks." he said a little okwordly

"No problem," Justin assured Nick. When the bartender came over to him...and asked what he wanted in a flirty fassion...he ordered a Jack and Coke, and then turned to Nick. "What are you having?"

Nick thought for a second. "I'll have the same." He answered simply

Justin nodded at the bartender, and then she threw him a wink and went off to get their drinks.

Nick watched the bar tender walk away and started to laugh. "I think somebody likes you."

Justin laughed and shook his head. "What else is new?" he couldn't help but say.

Nick laughed more. "Good point, you've probably got you're share of girls going after you."

"You might say that."

Nervously tapping his fingers on the bar, Nick looked around to the people mingling around. "Where are you off to next?" he asked kind of out of the blue.

Justin shrugged as he took his drink from the bartender. "I have no idea. It all just blurs together after a while."

Taking his own drink Nick nodded. "I'm sure it does, even though I have no idea what it would be like. Me, I have never been out side of Indiana. Haven’t really been outside the city limits much either."

"Sometimes I kinda wish it was like that for me. I really miss home sometimes."

"I can understand that." Nick said as he took a sip of his drink, the famous 'Carter' smile on his face the whole time.

Justin shook his head slowly. "I don't think you COULD understand. I mean...no offense. But I'm NEVER home. I mean...I'm missing my little brothers growing up."

Nick bit his bottom lip. He knew Justin was right. He didn’t know what it was like. "You're right, I don’t. I just meant that I can see how touring and not seeing you're family, or being home can be terrible. Me, my younger brother lives with me most of the time because my parents forget he's even alive sometimes." he shook his head. "But don’t mind that, I’m just saying that I would die if I didn’t see my family."

Justin nodded. "It's hard...but I do what I can. I go home whenever I have a couple days free...and I fly them out every once in a while."

Nick smiled. "That's great; I bet they are happy to see you. I mean you're probably their idol. I know I would have thought of my older brother like that when I was 10 and 7. That is if I had a brother. “He rambled.

Justin caught Nick's mention of his brothers' ages, and turned to look at him. "Wow...I guess you ARE a fan. Either that or a stalker," he joked with a laugh.

"Is there a difference between the two?" Nick asked with a smirk, trying to keep his cool.

Justin laughed. "Not always...unfortunately."

Nick laughed along with Justin and took another sip of his drink. "Well, don’t worry I wont be trying to steel your underwear and smell it every night before I go to bed." he said making a face.

Justin made a face, as well. "That's disgusting," he said before taking a drink from his glass.

Nick shrugged as he finished off his drink. "Hey I’ve read some pretty nasty things online that girl’s do." he said, not really paying much attention to what he was saying. He may work in a bar, but drinking wasn’t something Nick did often, since drinking wasn’t allowed while he worked, and he was doing that almost 24-7. Because of this it didn’t take much to get Nick tipsy, even one drink was

Beginning to make his brain a bit hazy.

Justin chuckled and finished off his drink. "Really? What kinda stuff have you read? I wonder how much of it is true."

Getting a look of concentration on his face, Nick tried to remember. "I read about this one girl who didn’t take a shower for almost a year because you kissed her on the cheek at one of you're concerts."

"No shower for a year? That can't be true?" Justin said as he flagged down the waitress for more drinks.

Nick shrugged. "I sure hope it isn't true." Trying to think of something else. "Do I need to even mention now many things I’ve read where this young girl says she's having you're kid. A friend of my sisters came back from an NSYNC concert you did a few years back and said she got knocked up from you...which we don’t believe cuz the kid she had was like half black and she has perfect pail skin."

Justin couldn't help but laugh. "Trust me...no fan has EVER been knocked up by me."

Nick laughed more. "I even read a story online about you knocking up a guy once." he said taking a sip of another drink that was set down in front of him, the bar tender even winking at him as she walked away. "That was beyond strange, but then again that fan fiction stuff is pretty insane sometimes." he said, once again not really paying any attention to what he was saying.

Justin drank down half of his cocktail before he responded. "You read that shit?"

Blushing bright read he shook his head. "Uh...no of course not." he lied; looking down at the counter, the little specks in the tile now seemed quite interesting.

Justin laughed out loud as he looked over at Nick. "Yes you do."

Nick looked up, still blushing like a tomato. "So what if I do."

Justin shrugged and widened his eyes as he looked into his glass. "Hey...that's all you, man," he said...then sipped his drink.

Nick sighed and finished off his second drink. His body going almost beyond buzzing with just the small amount of alcohol. "I really liked the way you redid the songs for the concert tonight." he said, trying to change the subject. He didn’t want the good conversation to end because he had said something stupid.

Justin smiled. "Thanks. Its kinda fun to do em up a little different for these shows. You can get away with a lot more when the crowd's 21-plus."

Nick laughed. "Yeah, seems more realistic if you ask me. I mean you need to get off that good boy, for the little girls, image sometimes." He laughed. "I mean if you have to do that all the time you might believe it."

"Are you trying to say you don't think I'm a good boy?" Justin teased...then turned to one of his dancers who'd just approached him. He smiled as he reached out to return her hug and kiss.

Nick watched Justin interact with the dancer and smiled a little. Wanting to give them some time he turned back to the bar tender to get another drink, even though it wasn't smart on his part, but he really didn’t care.

Justin talked with the girl fro a minute about how she enjoyed the show and her night off, then turned back to Nick...his arm still around the petite brunette's waist. "Hey, Nick...this is Kelly...one of my dancers. Kel...this is Nick."

Nick smiled sweetly. "Nice to meet you, Kelly." His eyes moved to the arm around girl's waist and for some reason felt a few pains of jealously go through him. He knew it was totally ridiculous, but he couldn’t stop them.

Kelly reached a hand out to shake Nick's...a beautiful smile on her face. "Nice to meet you, too. You from around here?" She asked...her other arm wrapping around Justin's neck as he went about ordering a round of drinks for the three of them.

Nick nodded his head. "Yup, born and raised Indiana boy here." he said smiling back even more. She was a sweet girl. "Bet you are dying to get out of here just as much as he is." he said pointing at Justin. "The cold can be pretty brutal."

The girl shook her head as she leaned against Justin...making room for someone else to step up to the bar. "Nah...I don't mind it. I'm actually from Boston, so I'm used to it being this cold...if not colder."

"Good to know that not everybody is a wimp like Justin." Nick said, smirking, looking at Justin to show he was totally joking.

"Hey...I am NOT a wimp," Justin protested...pulling Kelly closer to him. "Besides..." he teased with a chuckle. "I got people to keep me warm when I'm cold," he joked...then playfully kissed Kelly's neck...causing her to giggle. "You know it, baby," she replied.

Nick laughed a little even though he felt like running away. Lucky you, me I’ve got a broken space heater and a 15 year old cat to keep me warm." he said trying to keep the spunk he had going.

Justin made a face as he lifted his drink to take a sip. "I don't do cats. I think they're mean," he said as Kelly kissed him on the cheek and went off to talk to someone else.

Nick nodded in agreement. "Normally I hate cats too; this is the only cat in the world that I can stand. Had him since I was a kid and he is my loyal companion. Probably the only thing that is alive that has stuck by me over the years." Nick said smiling. "But yeah, normally I would agree with you on the cat thing."

Justin nodded and finished off his drink...then checked his watch. "Wow...it's close to three. I should probably get with my security. I'm sure we're heading out soon." He took out his wallet and threw a few bills onto the bar before he got up off his chair.

Nick looked down at his watch and noticed that Justin was right. "Oh, yeah, probably want to get leaving I’m sure." he said trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"Probably have to make it somewhere by tomorrow afternoon...so..."

Nick nodded. "Yeah, makes sense. I have to be at work in...” he paused to look down at his watch again. “Oh, three hours." Once again starting to freak out inside because he had no idea how he was going to get to his side of town again.

"Why do ya'll open that bar at 6am?" Justin asked curiously as he adjusted the cap on his head.

Nick smiled and shook his head. "Sorry, forgot to mention I also work at Starbucks until around three in the afternoon, except for the days I open the bar, then I get off at One." he explained.

Justin nodded. "Oh...I see. Well...you should probably be going, then."

Nick nodded back and reached down to grab his worn out Columbia Sportswear coat. "Yeah, and thanks for everything. The tickets and passes. Oh and the drinks to. It was really kind of you. Cuz you didn’t have to do any of that."

Justin shrugged. "Not a problem. I enjoyed myself...and I'm glad you liked the show."

Nick smiled and blushed. "It was the best." Taking a deep breath he zipped up his coat and headed to the door, not wanting to know what the weather was like for his probably two hour walk home.

"Do you um...want me to have them call you a cab, or something?" Justin asked...not sure if Nick had a ride home.

Nick's pride getting the best of him he shook his head. "Thanks, but I’ll be ok. I could use the fresh air." he said, smiling a little.

Justin nodded. "OK," he said...adjusting his hat again. Realizing that Nick was one of the coolest, most normal people he'd met in a while...he didn't want to just let him leave. "Hey Nick...you have like...and email address, or sumthin?"

Shocked that Justin would ask him that Nick nodded his head slowly. "Yeah..." he answered, not really sure why he was asking.

Justin shrugged. "I just thought maybe we could...like...keep in touch."

This caused Nick's eyes to go wide and his smile doing pretty much the same thing. "Really...ok well yeah my e-mail is..." he was about to rattle off his e-mail when he remembered what it was and blushed right away.

Justin, meanwhile, grabbed a pen and a cocktail napkin off the bar, and handed them to Nick so he could write it down.

Nick took a deep breath and looked down at the napkin. He was torn between what to do. 'You're going to lose him if you don’t!' his mind screamed. Listening to his mind he quickly wrote down '[email protected]' onto the napkin and handed it back to Justin.

Justin smiled as he took the napkin from Nick...then folded it and slipped it into his back pocket without looking at it. "Great. I'll email you some time."

Nick smiled and nodded. "Sure, it’s been great getting to know you Justin."

Justin reached out to shake Nick's hand. "Yeah...you too."

Nick reached out his hand and shook Justin's. Tiny little shocks running through his body at just the small amount of contact. "Hope you're trip to the next city is a good one, and not too cold."

Justin chuckled as he turned and headed for his security to leave. "Yeah...me too," he replied...then allowed his team to escort him out to his waiting bus.

Nick watched Justin leave with a big smile on his face. He could care less that he had to walk home in the weather they were having. His body was warm enough with the throughs and memories he had of the past two days.

As soon as Justin got onto the bus, he went right to the bathroom to brush his teeth and get ready to sleep the trip away. Once he was washed up, he headed for his bed...emptying his pockets on the way. When he pulled out the napkin with Nick's email address on it, he opened it and took a look. [email protected] 'What the fuck?' he thought as he stared at the napkin in disbelief. 'Is he for real? Is the guy gay?' Justin took a deep breath and shook his head as he crumpled the paper up and threw it into the small trash can. "Hell no," he mumbled as he flopped onto his bed and closed his eyes. He'd finally met someone he thought was cool...who turned out to be a psycho stalker who wanted Justin's body. 'Problem,' he thought. 'I'm straight...right?'

Pulling his coat around him as much as possible, Nick made his way out into the dark cold early morning. The snow was coming down pretty hard, but he thought how much worse it could be. Taking one last deep breath he started the long trek home. Images of the concert and what happened after still going through his head. Those images were the only thing that was keeping him going.

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Justin took a deep breath and let it out in the form of a long sigh. He couldn't sleep, and he didn't know why. Since the light from the sun was suddenly shining through the slits in the mini blinds...and severely getting on his nerves...he climbed out of bed, and made his way to the small bathroom. Justin then stepped in to take the five-minute shower that the hot water heater would allow him.

Nick was trying his hardest not to fall asleep as he shift at Starbucks went on. He had been working for five hours now and his body was screaming at him to go lie down. By the time he had gotten to his side of town the night before it was five minutes before his shift was supposed to start. He didn’t even have time to go home and change his clothes before starting work. Seeing another customer walk up to the counter he noticed it was Robert. "Hey man." he greeted his other employer. "Did you do ok without me last night?"

Robert Looked at Nick and smiled. "Yeah and it looks like I will have to do without you again tonight, I can tell you're dead on your feet. Take the night off and get some rest. Oh, and I'll have a mocha with whipped cream please."

Nick smiled at the older man and took his order, happy he wouldn’t have to work that night. "Thanks man."

Justin showered quickly, and then dried off before throwing on a clean t-shirt and sweats. Once he was dressed, he stood in the doorway of the tiny bedroom, and stared down the length of the empty bus. He was suddenly wishing that he had someone on board to talk to, or something...because it seemed awfully lonely for some reason. With another sigh, Justin padded off to the kitchen area, and started a pot of coffee.

Nick stood behind the counter and watched the people mingle. He watched a young gay couple talking in the corner and his heart sunk. He wanted nothing more then to be like them, to be able to have somebody he could spend his time with. 'Don’t kid yourself Carter, you don’t even have time to spend for yourself.' his mind yelled at him.

Justin took his cup of coffee to the bus's lounge, and started flipping through the channels on the satellite television. He stopped on the morning news on CNN, but ended up changing it when he realized how depressing everything was sounding. When he finally ended up on the cartoon network, he curled up to watch 'The Flintstones.'

"Hey Carter, you're outa here." Manny called as he walked back to the back of the shop.

Nick hopped off the stool he was sitting on and followed him to the back. "Sorry I wasn’t really on the ball this morning, Man."

Manny laughed. "Don't worry about it kid, I heard who was in town last night, wasn’t expecting to see you too awake this morning."

Nick blushed bright red, like he did every time

Justin Timberlake was mentioned. Manny was the only person who knows about Nick's crush on the singer. "Still, I'm sorry; I'll be more rested tomorrow, got the night off to just bum around."

Manny patted Nick on the back. "Good for you, see ya tomorrow."

"See ya." Nick said as he too walked out the back door into the freezing cold afternoon.

It didn't take Justin too long to get bored of cartoons. He swore sometimes that he had A.D.D. He turned off the television. Then, after refilling his coffee mug, he went up to the front of the bus, and sat down on the seat closest to the driver. "Mornin, James," he drawled before sipping from his mug.

"You're up early," the middle-aged man replied.

James had been with Justin since early on in his *NSYNC days and Justin really liked him and felt comfortable with him. There was something very fatherly about him. "Yeah...I know," Justin answered. "I couldn't really sleep."

Nick made his way down the street to his apartment, ever once and a while stopping to look in shop windows. He wasn’t really sure why he did that, since every day the window displays were the same. Guess it was just a tradition of sorts. Shoving his hands in the pockets of his tight jeans he continued the twenty minute walk, humming 'Rock You're Body' as he walked.

Justin chatted with James for a while about the previous night's show, and then about their next destination...which he found out was Boston. It turned out that his next show actually wasn't until the following night, and that the drive from Indianapolis to Boston was about fifteen hours. Justin dreaded the thought. To make matters worse, James informed Justin that there was a major Nor’easter hitting New England, which meant they were going to run into some serious snow...therefore prolonging the ride. Justin groaned as he got up from his seat, and went back to the kitchen area for some more coffee and some cereal. 'This is gonna suck,' he thought as he poured some Apple Jacks into a bowl.

Once Nick got home Benny met him at the door meowing loudly. "Hey there guy, I know, daddy wasn't home last night and you're mad." he said reaching down to pet the gray tabby. "But I'll be home tonight, so we can cuddle." He walked into the kitchen and filled the cat's bowl before going into his bedroom to strip out of the filthy clothes. Once in sweats and an old t-shirt he flopped down on the couch, intent on getting a few hour sleep.

After he finished his breakfast, Justin grabbed a blanket and a pillow, and curled up on the couch to watch some more TV. As soon as he got comfortable enough...and the gears in his mind stopped some of their turning...Justin was able to fall into a deep sleep for a few hours.

Nick woke with a start a few hours later to the sound of jack hammers working outside his apartment building. "Fucking, shit!" he groaned and jumped up to look out the window. "Can't you idiots see that it’s fucking snowing outside!" he yelled even though the other men couldn’t hear him. Taking a deep breath he ran his hands through his hair and turned to look around the room. "Alright, so no sleep, now what?" Seeing his computer he shrugged and walked over to it. Turning it on he logged onto the net and started looking through the different groups he belonged to. Totally forgetting to look for an e-mail from Justin.

When the bus stopped for fuel, it was as if Justin's body sensed the stopping of the motion...and he woke up almost immediately. He craned his head to look toward the front of the bus, and smiled weakly at the body guard standing by the door. A member of his security team always stepped onto the bus with him when it was stopped. Justin sighed as he threw his blanket off, and then got up to go use the bathroom.

Nick giggled out loud at the story he was reading. Some of the girls who wrote this stuff were pretty far out there. He didn’t get why they kept writing stories about Justin being gay. The guy was perfectly straight, and it takes a gay guy to know these things. Nick had seen Justin last night with his dancers and at the part after word. The man was definitely not gay. Still, it was rather hot to read the stories, so Nick continued to sit there, petting Benny on his lap and reading the stories.

Justin went to the bathroom, and then went out to talk to Lonnie for a bit. As soon as the man left his bus and went back to the security team's bus...which always followed directly behind Justin's...the young man felt lonely again. He hated these long-ass rides. It used to be WAY different when he toured with the guys...and he had Chris and Joey to entertain him.

Nick continued to read stories about Justin being in either straight or gay relationships. Each one making Nick feel more and more lonely. Sure, he liked being along every once and a while but sometimes he just wished he could have what those guys at the coffee shop had, or what Justin has in these stories. Ever since his parents disowned him six years ago he had been on his own. Even when Aaron lived with him it was lonely. Aaron wasn’t the company he craved.

When the bus started moving again, Justin got his laptop out, and took it over to the table in the kitchen area. He slid into the booth, and stretched his arms high above his head while he waited for the computer to boot up. The first thing he did was check his email. He smiled when he saw messages from his parents and brothers, and some of his friends back home. He was glad that they all kept their word when it came to keeping in touch, because contact with the people close to him was important. He took his time in answering back each one of the emails. Justin thought this whole new wireless internet thing was great.

Nick cursed his old beat up computer when he tried to get into a web page and didn’t like him for it. When the 'blue screen from hell' came on he felt like throwing the piece of shit onto the floor. Instead he turned it off and then turned it back on. Leaning back he prayed a silent prayer that it booted up alright. When it did he logged back online.

Once Justin had replied to all of his emails, he surfed the web for a while...reading some reviews of his last few shows, checking out some sports news, and reading the latest tabloid gossip on his ever-so-interesting life. 'They need to lay off this Cameron shit, already,' he thought...shaking his head as he read. Sure...that whole thing was fun while it lasted...but it didn't last very long.

She SO wasn't right for him...and it was never meant to be. None of the relationships Justin had had in his short life had been meant to be.

Thinking he would do something a little different Nick went into a tabloid newspaper site, seeing some stuff about Justin, Nick logged into it, thinking he should give his own opinion. "I think the whole Cameron thing was over rated. Do you people honestly think Justin was happy?"[email protected]. Once he submitted that he went back to reading other things.

When he was done reading a few bull-shit stories, Justin slid out of the booth and went back to his bed. He dropped down onto it and picked up the phone...deciding to call over to his dancers' bus...just to talk to a few people and kill some time.

Nick's eyes started to droop again as he read more stories. Resting his head down on his computer desk he closed his eyes. Right as he was about to fall into a deep sleep the door opened and the blonde teenager came bounding into the room. "Nicky, you're home!"

Nick groaned and turned to look at his brother. "Yeah, I'm home. Thought you were staying with mom and dad tonight?"

Aaron shook his head. "They told me that if I'm going to stay with you, then I've gota stay with you, so here I am."

Nick tried to be happy about that idea, but the only thing he could think about was how the hell he was going to support both of them. "Sounds great, now get to you're homework."

Aaron glared at Nick and headed into the bedroom to do just that.

Nick laughed. "You're too easy kid." he mumbled before turning back to the screen.

Justin killed an hour or so on the phone, then groaned when he looked at the clock and saw that it was only two in the afternoon...and he still had hours of travel time ahead of him. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling as he thought about Nick for a moment. One of the dancers had asked about him on the phone, so that, naturally had brought him into Justin's mind.

Nick found himself just looking at the hotmail main page as if he was expecting somebody to write. For the life of him he couldn’t figure out who. That’s when Justin popped into his mind. He had totally forgotten that he had given Justin his e-mail the night before. Laughing a little he shoo his head. "He won’t e-mail me."

"Who won’t e-mail you?"

Nick turned to see Aaron standing in the doorway. "Nobody."

Justin sighed. He was a bit bothered by the whole situation. Nick was a nice guy. He was...normal. And from what Justin could tell, he was cool...and they seemed to get along OK. So then...why did Justin throw his email address in the trash? Just because he thought he was gay? Justin wasn't like that. He wasn't homophobic at all. 'Because he's gay...and wants ME,' Justin thought with another sigh.

Thinking more about it Nick wondered what Justin thought of his e-mail. He hadn't thought about it until the moment he was going to write it down. God, things were going so great, he didn’t really want to out himself right then and there. But then again he really wanted the other man to e-mail him. Sighing he knew he screwed himself up and managed to make himself look like some freaky crazy fan who only wanted to get into his pants.

Justin eventually got out of the bed, and went over to the trash can. He bent over and plucked out the napkin he'd dropped in there the night before...and took another look at Nick's email address. 'What the hell,' he thought. 'Maybe he IS gay...but whatever. We can be friends if he doesn't go psycho stalker on me.' With that, Justin went back to his computer and re-opened his email account.

Aaron looked at Nick and shrugged. "Ok, whatever, I'm going to head down the street to play pool with Mike and Johnny."

Nick nodded. "Be back before ten, you've got school tomorrow."

Rolling his eyes Aaron walked out the door, once again leaving Nick all alone.

Justin typed Nick's email address onto the screen then wrote his message:

Once Justin sent the message, he got up and went over to the couch...getting back under his blanket to watch some more cartoons.

Nick noticed the e-mail right away. Breaking out of his daze he opened it and thought he was going to faint when he began to read it. "Holy shit." he exclaimed. He read it over and couldn’t help but smile like crazy. He knew he would look egger but he didn’t care. Sitting straighter in his chair he wrote him back.

When 'Underdog' was over, Justin got up off the couch to peek through the blinds and look out the window. The snow was started to fall in...well...wherever the hell they were...so he decided to go back to the computer and look up the weather conditions in Boston. He got distracted from his task, though when he saw that he had a new email message. He clicked on it to see that it was from Nick...and read the message over. Figuring that it would give him something to do, Justin sighed on to his AOL messenger, and added Nick's name to his buddy list. He decided to IM him

Nick thought he might as well sign into his AOL messenger just in case. Knowing it was probably a long shot that Justin would have added him he did it anyway.

(After sending his last message, Justin read over the last few lines...wondering why they hell he was talking about this stuff with this guy he hardly knew. 'Whatever,' he thought. 'It can't hurt.' For some reason, Nick was the first person he'd met in a while that he felt comfortable talking with.)

('Why am I telling him this shit?' Nick's mind yelled at him. He shrugged and just thought he wouldn’t think about it anymore. He would just talk like normal and hope Justin wouldn’t want to run away and hide.)

Justin squirmed out of the bunk to go get his cell phone so that he could plug the number into it.

Justin put the number into his phone book, then turned the phone off.

Justin signed off his messenger, then turned his computer off before turning his phone back on and dialing his father's house to talk to his brothers. As he got into the conversation, he cuddled back under the comforter and got cozy.

Nick sighed off and turned his computer off. Walking over to the couch he turned on the TV and began to watch Shawshank Redemption. Pulling a blanket up to his chin he snuggled up and got comfy to watch one of his favorite movies.

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The next day Nick was having probably one of the worst days of his life. After telling Justin that he didn't get sick, that's exactly what happened. He woke up with a fever and felt like shit. Calling in to Starbucks was easy, Manny understanding and telling him to get better. It was when he called the bar that things got ugly. He didn't think he had ever heard Robert yell so much in his life.

After talking to the man, trying to get him to change his mind for half an hour Nick hung up the phone, jobless. Sure, he was planning on quitting anyway, but not until after he got something else. Now, he was lying in bed, bored out of his mind and needing a friend something fierce. Not really thinking about what he was doing he got up and padded his way into the living room. Opening up the binder he got out Justin's number and quickly dialed it before he lost the nerve.

Justin pulled his attention away from the television, and reached for his ringing cell phone on the couch beside him. He checked the caller ID, and then flipped the phone open when he saw that it was Nick. "Hello...?"

"Hey...I hope I'm not bothering you." Came Nick's soft, sick voice. He was weak and it was taking all his energy to hold the phone up.

"No...I'm just sitting on my ass watching TV. What's up? You don't sound so good."

"I think you jinxed me." Nick laughed and then coughed. "I woke up this morning feel like shit."

"Damn...that sucks."

"Yeah it sure does, but what sucks even more so is that Rob didn't like the idea of me taking the day off again." Nick sighed, he didn't get why the old man had been so mad at him. Part of him wondered if the feud between Rob and his parents had gotten over finally. Which probably means Rob knew his secret...and wouldn't have a fag working in his bar.

"He didn't like that you were sick? What'd he say about it?"

"All he said was that I missed too much the last few days and that he wasn't going to have any of it." Nick laughed again, but this time it wasn't a happy sounding laugh. "Which is a crock of shit."

"You mean...he fired you?"

"Yeah, told me not to come back. I was feeling so nasty I didn't have the energy to fight back anymore."

"Damn, Nick...that sucks," Justin said. He felt horrible. He knew that Nick was struggling to make ends meat, so losing this job was going to be rough on him. "But...I thought your boss was like...a family friend, or something?"

Yeah, but you know how my family and I are. The only reason he was still letting me work there was because he hadn’t spoken to my father for years. They got in some crazy fight like eight years ago and haven’t talked since. I have a feeling that changed...and my homophobic father...told my homophobic boss a little piece of information and its bye, bye Nicky." Nick knew he was sounding crazy, but he honestly had no idea what was going to happen now.

"Wow. Shit, man...I almost feel like this is my fault. If you hadn't have met me, you wouldn't have missed work the other night for the show...and wouldn't have gotten sick walking in the snow for three hours..."

Nick laughed, a friendlier laugh. "Don't blame yourself, Justin. What happened with me meeting you was a once in a lifetime thing. I don't regret any of it.”

"You say that 'once in a lifetime' stuff like you're never gonna see me again."

"I don't know if I will ever see you again." Nick pointed out, walking over to sit down on the couch, trying to get the blanket on himself to make the chills go away.

"Of course you will. Just cuz I don't get to see my friends too often doesn't mean I totally forget about them."

Nick smiled as he lied down. "I just wasn't sure you really thought of me as that kind of friend."

"Sure I do. I mean...I know we just met, and all...but you're cool...and real and honest...and I like you."

Nick tried not to let those words hit him in the wrong way, but he couldn't help but feel a little shiver run through him. He knew Justin didn't mean it like that, but he could still dream. "I like you too Justin...and it's a whole new kind of like once I met you. You're a really great guy."

Justin smiled as he sank down on the plush couch a bit. "Thanks. That's nice to hear. I appreciate it when people can value the REAL me."

"I like the real you better then the fake you. Seems less...well fake." Nick laughed and then started to cough again.

Justin chuckled. "I don't think of it as being fake so much as I do...well...wanting to please the fans...and the media."

"You should be able to please the fans with just being who you are. Now the media, well they don't know shit."

"No...they really don't."

"They don't understand that they're hurting people when they say the things they do. I think they need to really think what it would be like for somebody to badmouth their family and see how it feels." Nick said as he wiggled around still trying to get warm under the blankets. It was still snowing like crazy outside and the windows were drafty.

"Yeah...but all they care about is getting the story...even if it's bullshit."

NickyCman says:

"Yeah, which is stupid." Nick said, trying his hardest to keep his teeth from chattering when he talked.

Justin got up and went over to his hotel suite's large glass window that overlooked the snow-covered city. Suddenly...he had a thought. He was lonely...and Nick was jobless and depressed. So... "Hey Nick...you think you're too sick to travel?"

"Travel?" Nick asked, confused.

Justin chuckled. "Yeah...to Boston."

"Why would I want to go to Boston? It's still cold as a fucking iceberg there." Nick joked, sitting up on the couch.

Justin laughed again. "Yeah...that's definitely true. But...at least the snow's stopped."

Nick looked towards the window. "Wish I could say that about here."

"Is the airport open?"

Up until his point he was sure Justin had been kidding. "I think so..." he paused and took a deep breath. "You really want me to come to Boston?"

"Sure...why not? I mean...my family can't come out and visit this weekend...and I'm bored as hell because they moved my show up two nights cuz of the weather. And you...well you're kinda bummed out over everything right now...sounds like you could use a little vacation."

Nick couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I could...I'll have to make sure Aaron can go some place though."

"Well...if he can't go home, or you can't find somewhere for him to stay...just bring him."

Nick got up and headed into his bedroom. "I don't know how good of company I'm going to be being sick and all...and I don't want you to get sick...but if you still want me to come...I will."

Justin chuckled. "If it's just a cold, hopefully it won't last that long. Load up and drugs, and sleep through the flight."

"How exactly am I going to get this flight?" Nick asked, not sure how this was going to work.

"At the airport."

Nick laughed and rolled his eyes. "I know that, I meant how am I going to get the tickets."

"Don't worry about any of that. I'll have my people make all the arrangements. I'll just need your full name, address and date of birth," Justin said...going over to the desk for a pen and paper.

"Okay...Well, I'm Nickolas...that's N I C K O L A S...Gene Carter...1456 NE Halmquest AVE. Indianapolis Indiana. Birth-date January 28th 1980."

Justin jotted down all of Nick's info...making sure to get everything right. "Do you know if you'll be bringing Aaron?"

Nick thought for a second. "Hold on a minute, I'm gunna go get my cell and call my parents to see if they can take him for the weekend." With that nick got up and walked to his cell, dialing his parents number.

Justin took a seat at the desk while he waited. He was excited that Nick was going to come and visit. It would kill his boredom, and allow them to get to know each other better.

Five minutes later Nick came back to the phone. "He's going to my grandparent’s house...so we don't have to worry about him."

"OK. So let me make a few calls, and I'll get back to you in a bit."

"Sure, I'll be here getting packed." Nick said, going into his room to grab a bag to put stuff in. He couldn't believe this was happening.

"Cool...talk to you in a bit." With that, Justin hung up, and went about getting in touch with his travel team to make arrangements for Nick.

Nick went about getting things packed up and making sure Benny had enough food for the rest of the day. He then used his cell to call a neighbor to come and take care of the old cat.

About fifteen minutes went by before Justin finally called Nick back. He collapsed onto the couch while it rang.

Nick picked up the phone as he got a bottle of water out of the fridge. "Hello?"

"Hey, Nick...Its Justin."

Nick smiled automatically. "Hey, did you figure anything out?"

"Yup...everything's all set," Justin said...glancing at the clock to see that it was just about ten in the morning. "Only thing is...your flight's at 12:30...so there's a cab on the way to your place right now to take you to the airport. Sorry for the short notice."

"It's okay I'm already packed and already got Mr. Robbins to come and take care of Benny. All I have to do is call Aaron to tell him what's going on."

"OK. All you need to do is go to the main Delta counter at the airport and give them your license. They'll have your boarding pass for you, and tell you what gate to go to and all that. The flight's only an hour and a half, so you're supposed to land here around two o'clock."

Nick made sure he knew what he was supposed to do, and wrote down a few things so he wouldn't forget. "Ok, and will somebody be there to get me when I come in?"

"Yeah...there will be a car at the airport for you to take you to the hotel. They're getting a room all set for you here, too."

"Thanks Justin...I really appreciate all of this." Nick said as he made sure he was all ready to go when the car came.

"No problem. Have a safe trip...and I'll see you in a while."

"See ya." With that Nick hung up the phone and called Aaron. He told his brother that he was going to visit a friend and that grandma and grandpa would be watching him. As soon as he hung up the phone the car was there so he grabbed his bag and headed out into the cold afternoon air. The drive to the airport was a good one and the process inside the airport went smoothly too. before he knew it he was inside the plane ready to fly to Boston.

When he got off the phone with Nick, Justin called his road manager to make sure that his schedule for the next few days was what he thought it was...and it was. He had that night and the next night off...and then finally the club show in Boston. Once everything was settled, he went into the suite's luxurious bathroom for a long soak in the jacuzzi tub.

Nick slept through most of the flight, which was good because he was sure his sinuses wouldn't have liked him too much if he had been awake. He awoke when the seatbelt light came on and the passengers were told they were landing. After landing Nick grabbed his one bag and walked through the foreign airport.

At the bottom of the escalator were a bunch of drivers all holding signs with names on them. One man...dressed in a black suite, long black coat and hat...held a sign with Nick's name.

Nick went down the escalator and saw the man with the sign. He couldn’t help but laugh at how crazy this was. Never in his wildest dreams would have expected this to happen. He walked up to the man and smiled. "Hey, I'm Nick."

The man smiled. "Good afternoon, Mr. Carter. May I take your bag?" he asked...reaching for it.

Nick hesitated for a second but handed the man his bag. "Thanks." he said nervously, not sure how he was supposed to act around somebody like this.

"Right this way, Sir," the man said...then led Nick out the airport exit, and to the shiny black town car that was waiting. He opened the backseat door for Nick.

"Thanks." Nick said again as he climbed into the car. This was all so unreal. Getting buckled in, Nick looked out the window at the snow covered ground. "At least something to make me feel like home." he mumbled to himself.

The driver put Nick's bag in the trunk, then got into the car himself, and began the drive to the hotel. "Did you have a good flight, Sir?" he asked in a friendly tone.

"I slept through most of it; I've got a little bit of a cold." Nick explained with a sniffle.

"A lot of that going around, lately," the driver replied.

Nick nodded in agreement. "Tell me about it, and the weather isn't helping much."

They arrived at the Four Seasons Hotel in about a half hour. The driver parked the car and opened the door for Nick before taking his bag out of the car and handing it over to one of the hotel's bellhops.

Nick looked up at the big hotel with wide eyes. "Whoa." he whispered before turning to either the bellhop of the driver to figure out what he was supposed to do next.

The driver smiled at Nick. "Have a good trip, Sir," he said before getting back into the car. The bellhop then spoke. "Right this way, Sir. I'll take you to check in."

Nick nodded and followed the man into the hotel. "I feel like I’m in a movie or something." he said softly, laughing a little bit.

The bellhop laughed as he took Nick to the registration desk inside the elegant lobby. The clerk behind the desk gave Nick a bright smile. "Good afternoon, Sir," she greeted politely. "Have you a reservation?"

"Uhh, yeah for Nick Carter." Nick stated nervously.

The woman nodded, and pulled up Nick's info on the computer. "Driver's license please, Sir."

Nick pulled his walled out of his back pocket and took his drivers license out, handing it to the woman.

The women tapped a few keys, then pulled a few pages out of the printer before giving Nick his license back. "OK, Mr. Carter. You're in room 237 on the second floor," she told him...handing him a receipt of sorts, a hotel directory and a key card. "Do you need assistance to your room with your luggage?"

Nick shook his head. "No thank you I think I can manage." he said politely.

The clerk smiled. "OK, Sir. Oh...and this was left for you," she said...handing Nick a note scribbled on some hotel stationary. "Enjoy your stay, Mr. Carter." The note was written by Justin: 'Hey Nick...hope you had a good flight. When you get settled, stop by and see me...room 612. -Justin.'

Nick smiled as he read the note. Smiling again at the woman he walked to the elevator and took it up to the second floor. Humming as he walked down the hall he found his room and unlocked the door. What he found inside made his mouth literally fall open. "Holy shit!" he exclaimed as he walked around the very elegant room. Flopping down on the bed he wiggled around. "Comfy." he said to himself. He then went to check out everything else in the room finding it beyond what he would have expected.

Once he had a run of the place he thought he would do what Justin said and pay him a visit. Looking at the not again to check the room number he headed out of the room and back to the elevator. This time taking it up to the sixth floor. Once there he walked to find room 612. Once he did he took a

deep breath and knocked on the door. His hands automatically going into his pockets.

After his bath, Justin had dressed in some jeans and a t-shirt, and then just sat around playing video games while he waited for Nick. When he finally heard a knock on the door, he shut off his X-Box, and got up to go open the door. He smiled when he saw Nick. "Hey...you made it."

Nick smiled back and nodded. "Yup, I made it...I think. But I'm not really so sure cuz I feel like I'm in heaven." he laughed.

Justin chuckled as he stepped aside to let Nick into his suite. "Why's that?"

Nick walked into the room and once again looked around at the decor with wide eyes. "Cuz I've never seen such pretty stuff...I'm going to find myself sleeping on the floor because I will be scared to get anything dirty."

Justin laughed as he closed the door. "Don't be ridiculous." He stepped into the parlor and returned to his seat on the couch. "So how was your flight? Must have been your first time on a plane, huh...since you never left Indiana?"

Nick nodded. "Yup, first time on a plane...and it was good I slept through most of it. Which is probably a good thing since I'm sure having your head stuffed up wouldn't feel too good with the pressure of the cabin."

"No...it doesn't. Been there, done that."

Nick reached up to scratch his head as he continued to look around this room. "This place is incredible."

Justin shrugged with a chuckle. "It is...but I've seen nicer," he said honestly. "Have a seat."

Nick walked over to the couch and sat down. "Yeah, I'm sure you have...so you have nothing planned for the weekend?"

Justin shook his head. "Nope...they moved my show to Sunday night because of the storm."

"You should see the snow at my house, it's coming down like crazy, and at least you guys are having a break." Nick pointed out as he looked out the window.

"Well...now you're getting a break from it, too," Justin said...looking over at Nick and noting the look of wonderment on his face.

Nick nodded and smiled. "Yup, and I get a room with heat for a little while, that should be nice." he laughed.

Justin shook his head slowly. "I can't imagine living like that," he admitted quietly. "But then again...I guess that's cuz I'm spoiled."

Nick rolled his eyes and turned from the window to face Justin. "Stop saying that...you're not spoiled...at least not in a bad way. It's ok to live nicely. Plus it's not like you were born into money, you've worked for what you have."

Justin nodded. "That's definitely true...but still unfair. I mean...YOU work hard, too."

Nick nodded back, Justing was right on that account. "Yeah, but people don't think that giving out coffee and alcohol is worth getting millions for."

Justin shrugged...rubbing his hands together. "Guess not."

For the first time Nick really took a good look at Justin which probably wasn't such a good idea. Justin looked incredible in his jeans and t-shirt. Taking a deep breath Nick rubbed his hands on his jean clad thighs nervously.

Justin noticed Nick's deep breath, and looked over at him. "You OK? Feelin aight?"

Nick shook himself from his thoughts and looked at Justin for a second before nodding. "Yeah, I'm fine." 'You've gota keep yourself together Carter, if you're going to handle being alone with him for the whole weekend. Prove to him you're not like all the other fans.' he told himself.

Justin nodded. "Hey...why don't you go to your room and take a nap to rest your cold, and I'll give you a call later for dinner?"

Nick thought about this for a second and nodded. "Yeah, probably a good idea." Slowly he got off the couch, once again feeling feverish and just plain nasty. "See ya in a bit."

"OK," Justin said...getting up and walking Nick to the door. "Get some rest."

Opening the door Nick walked out into the hallway. "Bye." he said waving before walking down the hall to the elevator.

Justin waved to Nick...then went back to the couch and his X-Box.

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Nick woke up with a start, at first it took him a while to figure out why, but then he felt the sweat dripping down his back and knew why. Taking a deep breath he whipped the sweat from his forehead and took a few deep breaths. At first he thought the sweat was from the fever returning, but then remembered the intense dream he had been having. Groaning he flopped back in bed, trying to erase the images of the dream from his brain. He didn't need to be having sex dreams about Justin when the man was in the same hotel room. "Fuckity fuck." he grumbled, closing his eyes trying to get control of himself.

After Nick had left his suite, Justin spent a little while playing basketball on his X-Box, then curled up on the comfy sofa for a nap. By the time he woke up it was dark, so he turned on some lights...then headed to the bathroom for a shower before dinner.

After a few minutes Nick finally got himself out of bed and made his way into the bathroom for a nice cold shower. Grabbing some of the hotel soap he began to soap his body down as he still tried to get the images from his dream out of his head. "God, I'm pathetic." he said out loud to the empty shower walls.

Justin hummed to himself as he washed up and rubbed some shampoo through his short curls. When he finished showering, he dried off, sprayed on some of his cologne, and then put on some clean jeans, a wife beater and a baby blue button-down shirt before going back out to the parlor to put

Once Nick was done with his shower he finally felt more human. Going into his room he dressed in clean jeans, a wife beater and a black button-down shirt. Looking at himself in the mirror he had to admit he didn’t look half bad. Thinking he would call Justin to say he was awake, and figure out about dinner, he walked to the phone and dialed up to Justin's room.

Justin finished tying his sneaker, and then got up to go answer the hotel phone. "Hello...?" he greeted as he took a seat in the chair beside the end table.

"Hey...just thought I would call and say I'm awake." Nick said as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Oh...hi. Do you feel better now that you've slept?"

Nick thought back to what had happened while he was sleeping, and felt himself start to blush. "Yeah a little bit, but what really helped was a shower." (A nice cold shower) he thought to himself.

"Well that's good. So...are you hungry?"

Nick felt his stomach grown and giggled a little bit. "Yeah, I haven't eaten anything yet today."

"Alright...cool," Justin said as he opened the drawer to pull out the room service menu. "I was thinking maybe we could order in...Cuz as awful as it sounds; I really don't feel like dealing with people tonight."

Nick giggled again. "That makes sense...so you want me to come up to you're room?"

Mista13181JT says:

"Sure...that's cool."

Nick hopped off the bed and walked to grab his shoes. "Okay, cool. I'll be up there in about five minutes...later." With that Nick hung up the phone and went about putting his tennis shoes on.

Justin hung up, and then took the menu back over to the couch with him. He tossed the menu onto the coffee table as he turned his X-Box back on...and resumed the basketball game he'd been playing earlier.

Five minutes later Nick walked down the sixth floor hallway and to Justin's room. Taking a deep breath he knocked on the door, praying to all that is holy that he could keep himself under control as not to embarrass either him or Justin.

Justin paused his game, and then go up to go answer the door. He smiled at Nick as he stepped aside to let him in. "Hey...you look better."

Smiling back Nick walked into the room. "Thanks, I'm a little worried now of how I looked earlier if you say I look better." he giggled as he walked to sit down on the couch.

Justin chuckled as he followed Nick to the couch. "Nah...You were fine."

Nick looked at the TV to see the X-BOX still going. "Watcha playing?"

Justin glanced at the TV as he sat down. "NBA Primetime."

Nick nodded. "That sounds cool. Did you bring this thing with you, or did the hotel have it?"

Justin shook his head. "No...It’s mine. I take it everywhere."

Nick giggled. "I should of known something like that...I think I'm slipping."

Justin laughed and looked at Nick. "Or...maybe you're not as much of a stalker as we thought."

Blushing, Nick shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe not...maybe actually knowing you has taken away my stalker ness."

Justin chuckled. "I'm sure that's a good thing. Ya know...I'm honestly surprised that you're not more star struck."

"It's taking all my will power not to be." Nick smirked and started to laugh.

Justin raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Nick shrugged again. "I can be a pretty good teenage girl if I want to be...but then you would kick my ass outa here and I wouldn't get my dinner."

Justin laughed. "Yeah...maybe."

"Yeah maybe I can be a good teenage girl...or yeah maybe you would kick me out?" Nick asked, laughing along with Justin.

"Hmmm...both?"

Nick started to scream. "Oh my god, it's Justin Timberlake!" he yelled in his best high pitched voice as he pounced on Justin. His point was to be funny.

Justin laughed as he pushed Nick off of him. "OK, OK...I get it."

Nick giggled and sat back on the couch. "Okay, I think I've got myself under control again."

"God...I hope so," Justin joked...giving Nick a fake evil eye.

Nick smirked. "What you didn't like me jumping all over you?" He joked right along.

Justin chuckled. "No...I didn't. That's totally stalkerish."

"Hmm...then I should get a new stalker tactic. Like sit over here on the other end of the couch with binoculars." Nick moved to the far end of the couch and put his hands over his eyes like binoculars.

"OK...now THAT'S just freaky," Justin said...then laughed as he leaned over to get the room service menu off the coffee table.

Nick giggled and put his hands down. "Sorry, cold meds make me kinda loopy"

Justin shook his head as he opened the menu and started looking it over. "Hmm...what do you feel like eating?"

Shrugging, Nick scooted closer to Justin so he could too look at the menu. "I have no idea, I'm like at that point where I'm beyond hungry and everything looks good."

Justin handed Nick the menu. "Well...order whatever you want."

Nick took the menu and started to look over it. Smiling big when he saw his favorite food. "I'll have the chicken strips and French fries...with lots of ranch dressing on the side." he said, licking his lips. "Yummy."

Justin made a face. "That's it? With all the incredible stuff on this menu, THAT'S all you're gonna have?"

Nick blushed and nodded. "That's probably my favorite thing to eat in the whole wide world and I haven't had it in years...I’ll go for expensive and exotic tomorrow night."

Justin chuckled. "OK, then...how about a salad with it...and dessert?"

Nick looked down the menu at the desserts. “Sure salad and a piece of chocolate moose cake."

"Cool," Justin said...taking back the menu to look at it himself.

Sighing Nick leaned back on the couch and stretched his arms over his head. "I better not get too used to this treatment or I'm going to feel really weird at home." he giggled, his right hand going to scratch his stomach.

Justin shrugged as he read the menu. "Just think of it as a fancy vacation."

"Very fancy vacation." Nick pointed out as he sat up straighter.

Justin closed the menu, and turned his head to look over at Nick. "Are you...like...uncomfortable?" he asked sincerely.

Nick shook his head. "Nah, I mean this is a little strange, but not uncomfortable in a bad way like I would want to go home or something."

Justin nodded. "OK," he said...then got up to go over to the phone to place their order. Along with Nick's food, he ordered chicken parmesan, a Cesar salad and apple crisp for himself...and an expensive bottle of red wine.

Nick giggled when he heard Justin ask for the wine. He knew a lot about wines since his father liked to collect wine for a hobby. "Very fancy Mr. Timberlake."

Justin turned to look at Nick after he put the menu away in the drawer. "The wine?" he asked...then shrugged. "I hardly ever drink it...but it's nice with dinner every once in a while."

Nick nodded in agreement. "Sure that makes sense. My parents used to have it with dinner all the time. By the time I was 10 they were giving it to me too. That is until they found out that it only took me like two sips to get fucked up." He laughed.

Justin walked back over to the couch to sit down. "They gave you wine when you were ten?"

"Yeah, my dad is a big wine buff, thought since his father did it for him he should for me. Guess holding your liquor at a young age is a sign of being a real man or some shit...which I failed." Nick said rolling his eyes as he turned on the couch so one of his legs was under him the other one still dangling off the side.

Justin looked over at Nick for a second before he spoke. "Do you really think you're not a real man cuz you're...ya know...gay?"

Nick shook his head. "I don't think that...I mean I’m just as much of a man as you are. It's my father who thinks because I'm gay I'm not a real man. I think he expects me to one day show up at the house with boobs wearing a dress."

Justin raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

Nick couldn't help but laugh at the look on Justin's face. "Just because he thinks it...doesn't mean I will. I won't be caught dead wearing a dress, let alone boobs." he shivered at the idea.

Justin shook his head. "No...I KNOW that. I just can't believe he really thinks like that. I mean...I know what it's like to have an asshole father, but I don't even think MY dad is THAT ignorant."

"Try coming out to him and you might find out how ignorant he really is." Nick sighed; sometimes he still couldn't believe some of the shit his father had said to him over the years. "But, I don't really give a rat’s ass about it anymore; he made the choice to say he only has one son, so that's how it's going to be."

Justin dropped his head back against the couch and just thought about it all for a bit. "Unbelievable."

Nick nodded. "Yeah it is pretty unbelievable, but it's my life." he said as he slipped his shoes off and pulled his legs up onto the couch, planning on getting comfy.

Justin turned his head to look at Nick again. "So...not that it's any of my business...but...what are you gonna do now...I mean...without that job, and all?"

Nick looked down at his lap for a second. "I honestly have no idea. I'll either take on a longer shift at Starbucks, or I'll start looking for something else once I get back."

"Well...what are you gonna do until you get on your feet? You have to take care of you...AND your brother."

"Pray that my savings account holds out and tell Aaron to eat most of his food at school." Nick laughed, as he tried to hide how worried he really was about the whole situation.

Justin stared up at the ceiling, and was quiet for a short while before he finally spoke. "I can help out, ya know."

I couldn't have you helping me out that much. I mean it's sweet but I couldn’t." he said, his pride coming into play big time.

"Why not?" Justin asked...dropping his head to the side to look at Nick. "I mean...if it's cuz you're proud...or don't like handouts...forget about that. No one has to know."

"But I would know. I've managed to survive totally on my own for the last six fucking years and I can keep doing it just fine!" Nick exclaimed, looking down at his lap again, tears coming to his eyes when he realized he had just yelled at Justin when he was just trying to help. Also, he knew Justin was right and he was wrong, there was no way he was going to make it.

Justin sat up and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry...you're right," he said quietly before getting up...and going to use the bathroom. He took a deep breath as soon as he'd closed the bathroom door. He felt like such an asshole. He'd never meant to offend Nick.

Nick looked up when he felt Justin get up off the couch. Tears fell from his eyes and down his cheeks as he watched him walk to the bathroom. After a few minutes he got up and walked to the bathroom door. "Justin...I...I'm sorry." he said through the door, feeling like a complete asshole.

Justin washed his hands, and then opened the door...giving Nick a small smile. "Don't be sorry. I understand. I should just mind my own business."

Nick sniffed and shook his head. "You're right though...I don't know how I’m going to make it...I'm not sure what you had in mind when you said you could help...but I'll take it...for Aaron's sake...if you're still offering."

"Of course I am. Look...I know it's all happening kinda fast, but I like you...and I consider you a friend. So...yes...I wanna help."

Nick smiled slightly as his right hand moved up to whip his eyes. "O...ok then."

Justin reached into the bathroom and grabbed a few tissues, then handed them to Nick before walking past him to answer the knock at the door.

Nick stepped into the bathroom to whip his eyes and wash his face off. He could hear Justin talking to the person at the door and used that time to take a deep breath and try to compose himself. His head was swimming with all the new information he had gained the last few days, it was almost becoming too much to grasp.

Justin signed the credit card receipt for the meal. and after the server brought the cart in, he gave him an ample cash tip. Once the server was gone, Justin took a seat at the small dining table to wait for Nick.

Once he felt at least a little more presentable Nick walked out of the bathroom. "Something smells good." he said as he sat down across from Justin, a small smile on his face.

Justin studied Nick for a second. "Are you alright?"

Nick nodded as he took the cover off of his food. "Yeah, just a little overwhelmed I think." he admitted.

Justin nodded slowly...then uncovered his meal. Before he started eating, he popped the cork out of the wine bottle, and filled both glasses.

Nick smiled and took his glass, taking a small sip. "This is really good...thanks."

Justin smiled after sipping his wine. "You're welcome. I hope you enjoy your dinner," he said before digging into his own.

Putting his glass down Nick picked up one of his chicken strips and dipped it into the ranch sauce. Taking a big bite he moaned and giggled. "Now THIS is good."

Justin laughed. "Glad you like it," he said before taking a bite of his salad.

Nick moaned again as he chewed. Wiggling around in his seat with a big smile on his face. "I could cum this is so good." he joked, as he continued to do a happy dance in his chair.

Justin raised an eyebrow...stopping his wine glass half way to his lips.

Seeing the look on Justin's face caused Nick to crack up laughing. "I'm totally joking, Justin."

Justin laughed. "I hope so," he said before finally sipping his wine.

Nick made a face as he really thought about how nasty that could be. "Okay now I’m going to shut up before I say anything else gross." he laughed, taking a big sip of his wine, almost drinking it all.

Justin chuckled. "Good idea," he said...going back to his chicken parmesan.

For the next few minutes Nick ate his chicken strips without saying anything. After refilling his glass he took another big sip and swallowed it. "So, what is the rest of your crew doing...like the dancers and stuff?"

Justin shrugged. "I don't know...they kinda do their own things most of the time. They have a lot of free time because of all the club shows. Most of the shows don't have stages big enough for me to have them on stage. They're just with me because we have a few of those radio station Christmas shows coming up...ya know...with a bunch of big acts...and most of them are big arena shows."

Nick nodded and took another sip of his wine, totally forgetting how much of it he was drinking. "Yeah, that makes sense; I bet they enjoy the break."

Justin nodded...pouring himself another glass of wine. "They do. I mean...we all hang out together sometimes. But most nights I'm too tired to go out clubbin and stuff."

Nick raised an eyebrow at this. "You don't go out clubbing much?"

Justin shrugged. "Once in a while. Just not as much as most people think I do, I guess."

Nick nodded. "Yeah...well being a party freak isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"Speaking from experience?"

Nick made a face and nodded. "Yeah, when I was first living on my own I used to go down to this club every night and go at it. I guess in a way I was just trying to get back at my parents by doing the things they never wanted me to do. But after a year of doing all that shit I finally got myself back on track...thankfully."

"Well...it's good that you stopped when you did. I mean...you turned out pretty good."

Nick blushed bright red, some from the comment, and some from becoming a little buzzed from the alcohol. "Thanks...”

"You're welcome. It's a shame your parents can't see it."

Nick shrugged as he munched on a fry. "Yeah well their loss right."

"Definitely."

Nick smiled and giggled a little. "Aren’t you full of compliments tonight."

Justin shrugged. "Not really...it's true."

Nick felt a shiver go through his body and down to his groin and tried his best to ignore it by taking another sip of his wine. "Well, thanks...you're a really great guy too Justin...the world is missing out when they don't get to see the real you."

Justin shrugged again. "That's OK, though...because honestly...I don't want everyone to know me...just the people I WANT to know me."

Nick thought about that for a second, which wasn't all that easy when his brain was beginning to get a little hazy. "Yeah, that makes sense...I think." he giggled.

Justin chuckled. "What I mean is...like...I don't know...maybe I can't explain it." He laughed again as he refilled both wine glasses...emptying the bottle. Wine always got to him a lot faster than other forms of alcohol because he rarely drank it.

Nick giggled again and took a sip from the newly filled glass. "How's your chicken pasta junk?"

Justin laughed. "It's good," he said...looking down at his nearly-empty plate. "I'm full, though."

Nick looked down at his own almost empty plate. "Yup, me too. Don't think I could eat another fry."

"You shouldn't, then...especially if you're still sick. And whatever you do...with the wine...don't take anymore cold medicine tonight."

Looking at Justin funny Nick nodded. "Yeah...but why?"

"Cuz you might pass out and never wake up."

Nick giggled. "Oh, that's a very, very, very good reason not to take anymore cold medicine."

Justin laughed. "Yeah...maybe you shouldn't have anymore wine, either," he said...noticing that Nick was definitely tipsy.

Nick stood up. "Why not, I’m fine." he said as he almost fell over his own feet.

"Yeah...I don't think so. Maybe you should take a seat on the couch."

Thinking about that for a second, Nick agreed and stumbled his way over to the couch and flopped onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. "Told you I don't do well with liquor."

Justin chuckled as he got up and poured some water from the picture into a glass. "Guess not," he said...handing the glass to Nick.

Nick took the glass and chugged it down before sitting up on the couch. "So, Justin what’s in the plan for tonight?"

Justin shrugged as he sipped his wine. "I don't know... told you before I really don't have any plans. Besides...this is YOUR vacation. What do YOU wanna do?"

Nick shrugged. "I dunno, I mean to go out we would need body guards right?"

Justin nodded. "Definitely. People know I'm here."

Nick couldn’t help but giggle at how crazy that sounded. "I never really thought about how ridiculous it is to be a fan...I mean honestly why chase after another human being like they are God?"

Justin chuckled as he sat beside Nick on the couch...wine glass in hand. "Cuz I'm hot...and they want me."

Nick looked over at Justin and giggled some more. "That's definitely a true statement."

"Everywhere I go...its crazy. I mean...yeah...sometimes it's nice...the attention, and all. But it just gets so overwhelming."

Nodding Nick reached over and snatched Justin's glass from his hand, taking a sip from it. "I bet it can be flattering sometimes...but I get how it could be overwhelming too." he said, smirking as he took a drink.

Justin nodded. "I can't even go to a restaurant with my family...or on a date...or even alone...without people interrupting my meal."

Nick made a face as he gave Justin his glass back. "That's just mean, why is it so interesting to watch somebody eat...you are human ya know."

"People just seem to forget that, I guess...or just disregard it. The don't realize how disrespectful they're being."

"Speaking from a fan's point of view I guess I can understand. I mean you listen or watch that person all the time and dream of seeing them...then when you finally do I think something inside you snaps and all common sense goes out the window."

"That didn't happen with you, though."

Nick giggled. "Well, from what I gathered is, if you want the person to actually want to talk to you, act normal and they might act normal back."

Justin chuckled. "So...how did you really wanna act that night I came into the bar?"

"Do my teenage girl impression and jump on you...tell you to take me to your hotel room and make me yours." Nick said smirking and laughing, hoping Justin could tell he was joking...even though deep down that wasn't exactly too far from the truth.

Justin raised an eyebrow. "Good thing you DIDN'T pull that shit...cuz you wouldda got your ass beat."

Nick laughed more. "Exactly why I didn't cuz I don’t think old Jerry would have been able to save me."

Justin laughed as he finished off his wine, and then put the empty glass on the coffee table. "Never."

"I'm glad I didn't do that mostly because I wouldn't be here right now, actually getting to know you."

"No...you definitely wouldn't."

Nick looked at Justin for a minute, and it was the first time that he took in what he was wearing. The baby blue shirt looked incredible, not to mention the jeans that fit perfectly. It was at that very moment he wished he hadn't drank that wine, because he couldn't seem to keep his eyes from staring and wondering.

"Let me ask you something..." Justin suddenly said...staring at the empty wine glass on the table.

Hearing Justin talk shook Nick from his thoughts and he moved his eyes back to Justin's face. "Go ahead."

"What am I really like? I mean...how different is the REAL me from what the fans think I am?"

Nick too a few seconds to think about that. "Well, you definitely aren't stuck up and snobby like some people thing. You're really down to earth and a lot of fun to hang around. You aren't the big party freak like some think...not to mention you're a lot cuter in person." Nick said, smiling sheepishly.

Justin chuckled somewhat nervously...trying to take Nick's 'cute' comment as simply friendly. "I'm just curious; ya know...cuz I've never really made a friend out of a fan before. The only close friends I have are ones I had before all this started."

Nick nodded. "I understand...and I will tell you I haven't found anything I don't like since I've gotten to know the real you. I've never been disappointed."

Justin laughed again. "That's cuz you don't know that much about me yet."

Nick turned on the couch, moving so he was sitting cross-legged looking at Justin. "So, tell me something I wouldn't get to see online and then I’ll tell you something about me...get to know each other better." He smiled. "And I promise I won’t post any of this online, whatever you say is totally between us."

Justin looked at Nick. "As cool as you are...and as much as I like you...that's still kinda hard for me to believe. Paranoia...ya know?"

Nick tried not to let his face fall and nodded. "Yeah, I understand, it's cool."

Justin looked down at his hands as he twiddled his thumbs. "When I can't sleep at night...sometimes...I sing quietly. Like...singing myself to sleep."

Nick smiled big his eyes going wide. "No shit! I do the same thing sometimes...It's really comforting and gets my mind off of stuff."

Justin laughed softly. "Yeah."

Nick thought for a second, thinking of something to tell Justin. "Johnny Depp was the first guy I ever had a crush on...something about his long hair when I was 10 and watching What's Eating Gilbert Grape made me first realize that I thought he was hot." he said blushing.

Justin laughed. "That's crazy."

Nick giggled and shrugged. "Hey, I must have not been too stupid cuz now the guy is like People magazines' Sexiest Man Alive."

Justin rolled his eyes playfully. "Oh...and I guess you just happened not to notice that I made the list the last two years."

"Really, you were there? I was too busy looking at Brad Pitt and Nick Lachey." Nick giggled, smirking.

Justin gave Nick a fake glare. "I'm sorry to inform you that Nick Lachey was NOT on the list."

Nick busted up laughing. "Really, he wasn’t...well that isn't fare now that guy is fucking hot." he said grabbing a pillow to hide his face as he cracked up laughing even more.

Justin rolled his eyes again. "Oh Lord," he drawled.

Nick couldn’t help but groan on the other side of the pillow. Justin drawling made him weak in the knees and his pants a little tighter then he would have liked. Peaking his eyes over the edge of the pillow he giggled a little. "You're picture isn't in that magazine." he said, his voice a little deeper then normal.

"Of course it is...AND in the hottest bachelors’ issue."

Nick giggled again. "Well it isn't in mine...cuz I cut it out and it's under my pillow at home." He said quickly before covering his face up again.

Justin looked at Nick with wide eyes. "Get the hell outta here," he said in disbelief.

Nick blushed even more behind the pillow. "I'm not kidding."

"Wow..." Justin said with a nervous, surprised laugh. "Now you're startin to scare me."

Nick removed the pillow from his face and looked at Justin a little scared himself. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No...I just. I mean...this is weird. I've like...gotten letters and shit from gay fans...but that's it. I never hear...stuff...like this."

Nick giggled. "I don't like take it out and kiss it or something. I just have it there cuz that way if somebody comes over the wont see it. Plus Benny happens to like chewing you up for some reason."

"Well isn't THAT nice."

Busing up laughing Nick fell backwards on the couch looking up at the ceiling again. "I guess he doesn't like Justin's, just like you don't like cats."

"Whatever...I won't take it personally."

Nick continued to look up at the ceiling and sighed. "I wish you could trust me more, but I understand why you don't."

Justin turned to look over at Nick's profile. "I wish I could, too."

Nick sat up a bit to look over at Justin. "Ask me any question you want. Maybe if you know more about me, it'll help." he said shrugging.

Justin shrugged. "I don't know. There are a lot of things I'm curious about...but I don't wanna be nosey."

Nick giggled and sat up all the way, going back to sitting Indian style facing Justin. "Don't think about being nosy and just ask."

"OK...well...did you ever have a relationship with a girl before you decided you were gay...or were you too young?"

"I dated a few girls when I was in junior high and high school. Mostly because I was trying pretend, since I knew how my parents felt about the whole thing."

Justin nodded slowly. "Have you had a lot of serious relationships with guys?"

Nick had to laugh at that question. "I've never had a serious relationship with a guy...actually since my clubbing days like 5 years ago I haven't been with a guy."

"What?" Justin asked...a mild look of surprise on his face.

"I've been too busy working my ass off to fool around let alone be in a relationship." Nick said sadly.

"Oh...I see."

"So right now I think my fifteen year old brother is getting more then I am." Nick said making a face and giggling.

"That's a scary thought."

Nick pouted. "Yes, scary and very, very sad." he said, his pout turning into a smile.

"Have you...ya know...been with a lot of guys?"

Taking a deep breath, Nick nodded. "When you're blonde and seventeen you're like fresh bait for guys down in the area I was living in at the time. I used to go into gay clubs and probably be with like six or seven people a night...sometimes right out in the middle of the dance floor. I wanted so badly to belong that I would have done anything."

Justin looked at Nick...wide-eyed and curious...as he leaned back against the arm of the couch. "When you say...be with...you mean...you had sex...with six or seven people a night?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah, had sex...or sucked off around that many people a night. I was like the hot new kid and everybody wanted me. When you're seventeen and before that point never really wanted by anybody, you jump at the opportunity."

"Wow..."

Blushing a little, Nick looked down at his lap for a second before looking up. "Nothing I’m proud of...it was seriously a scary time."

"And dangerous. Have you...like...had yourself checked out?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah I got myself tested for all kinds of shit once I got myself together. I still go in once a year for HIV tests cuz they recommend it, just in case something didn't show up." he smiled a little. "God must have been watching this little blonde twink well, because I checked out perfectly fine."

Justin let out a quiet sigh of relief on his friend's behalf. "Well...you were lucky."

"Very, very lucky." Nick said smiling again. "That's why I said being a party freak is definitely over rated."

"Yeah...I guess it is," Justin said quietly.

Clearing his throat Nick put a hand on Justin's knee without thinking about it. "Okay new topic before we all get so depressed we fall asleep." he giggled.

Justin chuckled...thinking nothing of Nick's hand on his knee. He really didn't even notice it. "Well...we could talk about MY sex life...it's not COMPLETELY depressing."

Nick laughed. "I wasn't going to mention it because when I did online you pretty much chewed my head off." he smiled.

"I did not."

"I asked who was the weirdest celebrity you had sex with and you told me 'Nice try.'" Nick reminded him.

"That's not chewing your head off. Besides...depends on what you meant by weird."

Nick laughed and shrugged. "I don't know...somebody I wouldn't expect."

"Christina...but maybe you DID expect that."

Images of Justin and Christina went through his head and he smiled. "Not really, but then again when you're on tour with somebody it's probably pretty easy to have feelings for somebody, sexual or otherwise."

Justin shrugged. "I guess so."

Nick thought about what he said for a second and laughed. "I meant girls on tour with you...wasn't meaning like your fellow NSYNC buddies." he said, thinking he should correct himself.

Justin made a face. "Eww...I wasn't even THINKING that."

Nick busted up laughing and shrugged. "You may say eww...me on the other hand." he smirked and wiggled his eyebrows, feeling like making Justin squirm a little.

"Well...too bad I'm not gonna tell you which one's gay, then."

Nick put on the famous 'Carter' pout in an instant. "Law...pretty, pretty pweeze."

Justin shook his head. "Nope."

Nick continued to pout. "You mean." he said sounding like a little kid.

"Oh well...I'm still not gonna tell you. Which means you'll never know which one of them it was that kissed me once."

Nick's eyes opened wide. "He kissed you??"

Justin nodded. "Yup...sure did."

A small moan escaped Nick's throat at the images that were going through his head. Taking a deep breath he ran his hands through his hair nervously. He wondered if Justin could tell how flustered he was getting at just the idea of another man kissing Justin. "How did that happen?" he asked, hoping the other man couldn't hear how his voice had lowered a whole octave.

Justin cleared his throat a bit nervously. "No big deal...lots of alcohol involved. Can we get back to my sex life, now?"

Nick had to laugh. "Of course...but I thought we were still on that topic?" he smirked, teasing Justin.

"No...definitely not."

"I know...I’m just messing with you...so what information about your sex life do you wana share with me?"

Justin shrugged. "There's not much to tell, really. Britney was first...and she fucked me over...then it was one of my dancers...then Christina...then Cameron..."

Nick made a face at the thought of Justin and Cameron together. "Sorry, but that concept is nasty." he giggled.

Justin laughed bitterly. "Yeah...unfortunately...I feel that way now, too."

"Not good in bed?" Nick teased as he tried to make sure his mind didn't think too much of Justin in bed with anybody. He wanted to keep his jeans looking normal if he could help it.

Justin shook his head thoughtfully. "Naw...nuthin like that."

Nick nodded, not wanting to question Justin about that, thinking it was probably a touchy subject. "Ever fucked any fans or groupies?"

Justin shook his head. "Nah...I don't mess with that."

"Probably for the best...that's actually pretty nasty if you think about how many ten year old like your music." Nick made a face, when really he was thinking how bad that was because now he had one less thing going for him...not only was he gay but he was a fan...well no action for Nicky.

"Yeah...that's just wrong," Justin said through a yawn...rubbing a hand over his head.

Nick smiled over at Justin. "Getting sleepy?"

"Yeah...I think so," Justin said...standing up and stretching his arms above his head. "So...what do you wanna do tomorrow?"

Nick shrugged. "I don't know it's really up to you since you're the one that has to watch out for fans and shit."

"Yeah...but like I said...it's YOUR vacation."

"Well for one I want to sleep in and then I don't know maybe we can meet up for breakfast and think of what we want to do then?" he suggested.

Justin nodded. "OK...sounds good. You need all the sleep you can get so you feel better."

Laughing Nick nodded. "Yeah, I actually forgot I was sick." he said blushing as he reached over to grab his shoes and slipped them on.

Justin laughed...stretching again. "It's the wine."

"Alcohol, the wonder drug...not!" Nick giggled as he stood up, stretching his arms over his head.

Justin chuckled. "Go sleep it off...and call me when you wake up."

Nick walked towards the door, still stumbling a little bit. "I will do that...you get some sleep to, Jus."

Justin opened the door for Nick. "I will...g'night."

Nick walked out the door before turning around and smiling a 100 watt smile at Justin. "Night, and thanks again!" With that Nick turned back and round and stumbled his way down the hall.

Justin waved at Nick, and then disappeared into his room.

End of Chapters One - Five