"So, what's up my beautiful companion?" Lance asked Sam, plopping down beside her in her convertible.
"Absolutely nothing." She said sullenly.
"And why, exactly is that, when the night is so young and wonderful?" Lance asked, making her laugh.
"Well, since you must know, my dear Lance, there is nothing going on tonight. No parties, no gatherings, nothing. Looks like a night of sitting here, in the parking lot of the Dairy Queen, and hoping people gather here as usual." She explained, while changing the radio station every few seconds.
"Hmmm�.that does sound desperate doesn't it." Lance said, rubbing his chin in an exaggerated manner. "Whatever shall we do to correct the situation?"
"If I knew that, I wouldn't be sitting here." Sam said, turning her head to give Lance a 'look'.
"Right. So, there's nothing going on, no fun to be had. So, you know what we do?" Lance said getting out of the car.
"What?" Sam said, following him.
"We make our own." Lance smirked and led the way over to a group from school, who accepted them into their small gathering with welcome arms.
~*~
"Tell me again why we're here?" Josh asked, looking out the window of Joey's car, tapping his fingers along to the rhythm of the song on the radio.
"Because, I want to have fun, and even if the only thing you want to do is sit in your dark little room and sulk because you've been a shit for the past 3 years, I'm not going to let you." Joey explained calmly, as he turned into the parking lot of the Dairy Queen.
Josh looked over at his friend, wishing looks really could kill. "I was not sitting in my room sulking. I was having a quiet evening at home. And why come to the Dairy Queen anyway, you already said there was nothing happening tonight."
"Because, my dear friend," Joey started, pulling into a parking spot. "The lovely Sam is here. Where she is there is always a party. Not to mention Lance is with her tonight, so it's bound to be fun." Joey said, and with a smirk left the car, going to troll the lot for anything that might be happening.
With a great sigh, Josh reluctantly got out of the car, making sure to slam the door as hard as he could. As he followed Joey through the parking lot, Josh noticed most of the cars were empty, and one look through the window of the ice cream shop told him no one was really in there. "Wonder where everyone is?"
"Don't know, but there's music from the back, so we can check out what's happening back there. If it's a bust, we can go do something else." Joey said, not even turning to look at his friend.
The music got louder as they approached, and they could hear cat calls and whistles from the people surrounding a pickup truck in the corner. As they got closer, they could see there was close to twenty people gathered around.
"Holy shit! Look at that!" Joey exclaimed, when he got a position where he could see.
Josh looked through the groups of people. His jaw nearly hit the floor at what he saw. There, in the bed of the truck, was Sam and Lance, dancing to some song on the radio. Josh had never seen anyone move like that. Sam was dancing with the same fluid movements she did everything with, but Lance. Lance was dancing like the music was moving through him, living inside of him. His movements were fluid, and precise, but quick and�Josh didn't even know how to describe it.
Lance had Sam pulled up against him as they moved together to the music. His eyes closed, he didn't even register the crowed gathered around. He just let the rhythm take him and forgot everything else.
The crowd cheered louder when Lance pulled Sam even closer, lowering their bodies at the knees as they danced against each other. Slowly, he brought them back up, quickly spinning her, then dipping her deeply as the song ended. The crowed went wild for a few minutes after the song died.
Lance started after the song ended, coming back to himself. He looked around at the crowed, blushing when he realized what he'd done. Pushing it all back behind the face he'd made for himself, Lance quickly let go of Sam, the both of them bowing to the crowd, before Lance jumped down and lowered Sam from the bed of the truck.
"Wow, guys. That was absolutely amazing." Joey said coming up to them from where he'd pushed his and Josh's way up to the front of the group.
"Nah, was just dancing." Lance said, his face beet red, from the exertion and the embarrassment of being watched by such a large group of people. He looked around when the music started again, watching as everyone started dancing around them.
"Looks like we made that fun you were talking about, Lance." Sam said, laughing at the blush on Lance's cheeks.
"Yep, told ya. Ya got to make your own fun when there is none readily at hand." Lance said, smiling, trying to push away his embarrassment.
"I heard that man. Looks like you done a good job too." Joey said as he disappeared into the sea of bodies, going to make some fun of his own.
"That boy is insatiable." Josh said, staying there with Sam and Lance.
"But that's the only way to be." Lance said with a laugh.
"I'll be back. I have to visit the little girls room." Sam said, stepping away from them.
"Yeah, we really appreciate you sharing, Sam." Lance said, laughing.
"But you like it when I share." Sam said coyly. "Want me to bring ya something back from inside?"
"Sure, a Coke will be fine. Josh, you want anything?"
"Ahh, yeah, a Coke would be great." Josh said, reaching into his pocket.
"Nah, man. I got. Drinks are one me. This time." Lance clarified at Sam's happy look.
"Party pooper." Sam pouted as she took the money and turned to go inside.
"Thanks." Josh said, not sure how to keep the conversation going.
"No problem." Lance said with a shrug. Lance looked around at the people milling and dancing around the parking lot. So far, it'd been a fun night. He'd never expected to have this much fun.
"So�" Josh started, wanting to say something, do something besides just stand there.
"I was thinking." Lance interrupted. "I was pretty cold earlier. I mean, I guess I've forgiven Joey for all that shit you guys used to pull on me. I shouldn't have been like that earlier this week." Lance said, never actually looking at Josh.
Josh looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet. All week, he'd been wondering why Lance had forgiven Joey and not him. Lance hadn't even as must as looked in his direction when they sat at the lunch table together with Sam, Joey and Justin, much less said anything to him
"You had every right to be mad at me. Joey would have never pulled that crap if I hadn't goaded him into it. I was a real shit to you. I would expect you to be mad. And I realize that even though you have changed, and you can't deny that, you are still the same person you have always been, and I'm sorry for what I did. I know I was wrong." Josh said, looking at Lance the entire time.
Lance looked up at Josh when he was finished, surprised to actually get an apology out of him. He expected that Josh would either start in on him again, or just let it go, ignore it ever existed. He was prepared to just pretend like it never happened. He could always use another friend, but to actually get an admission of guilt, an apology? Lance hadn't expected that.
"I'll tell ya a secret." Lance said, leaning in closer to Josh. Confused, Josh leaned in closer to hear him. "I haven't actually changed. When I was dancing up there with Sam, I was scared shitless. I seriously thought I was gonna puke for a minute." Lance whispered.
Josh, completely shocked by Lance confessing that to him, stood in silence for a minute, before he burst out laughing. Lance followed him. Everyone needed show a little trust every once in a while to gain some. That's how Sam found them a minute later, doubled over laughing.
"Did I miss something?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
~*~
As the night wore on, Lance, Sam, Josh and Joey hung out and got to know each other better. They found they had a lot in common and some things that they would never see eye to eye on.
"You can't seriously tell me you prefer Luke to Han Solo. I mean, come on! Luke was a total dipshit. He didn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. And talk about stuck up, sheesh, I know scarecrows with less stuck up their butts." Lance said, leaning against Joey's car.
"Oh, come on. All Han did was fly a ship. Luke had the force man. He blew up the Death Star, and took on Vader and the Emperor all by himself." Josh argued.
"What?! You can NOT be serious. Han shot Vader out of the way so Luke could even get to the Death Star, and Luke didn't even defeat the Emperor OR Vader. Vader killed the Emperor, and in turn, killed himself." Lance shot back.
"How long is this going to go on?" Sam asked Joey.
"Knowing Josh, for eternity. If Lance is anything like him about it, it could be longer." Joey said, sighing and rolling his eyes.
"Ok. That's it. I've had enough. It's late and I'm going home." Sam announced, sliding down from her position sitting on Joey's hood.
Lance stopped mid-sentence and looked down at his watch. "Shit, it's really late. I need to get home, too." He walked over to where Sam was waiting. "It's been fun guys. I'll see ya later." Lance said, and with a smile and a wave, both he and Sam were gone.
Joey sighed and slid into his car. He knew they weren't leaving yet, but really wanted to sit down, and NOT on the hood of his car. "So, you and Lance seem to be getting along better."
"Yeah, we talked, decided to put the past behind us and maybe start over." Josh told him leaning against the open door.
"That's great. He's a pretty cool guy." Joey said.
"Yeah, he is."
"He's changed a lot."
"Yeah., he has."
"But he's still a lot the same."
"Yeah, he is."
"And he has a nice ass."
"Yeah, he�wait a second! That wasn't fair, and what are you doing checking out his ass?" Josh asked, outraged to have been tricked.
Joey laughed loudly. "Oh, the look on your face. That was good."
"That was evil, Joe. Pure evil." Josh said, glaring at his friend.
"Yeah, but it was funny as hell. You should have see the look on�" Joey stopped, his eyebrows furrowing as he stood up out of the car.
"What the hell was that?" Josh asked, turning to walk in the direction the noise had come from.
"Sounded like Sam, yelling at someone." Joey said, closing his door as he walked towards where the noise had come. "Come on, let's check."
Josh just followed.
~*~
"Tonight was fun, huh?" Sam said as they walked through the now darkened parking lot. She wished they hadn't parked on the other side from where everyone else was.
"Yeah, I had a blast. Thanks for asking me to come." Lance said, genuinely happy that he came out that night.
"You and Josh seemed to have put things behind you. I'm glad you guys are trying to get along now." Sam said, putting her arm around Lance's waist to hug him. She couldn't believe she'd spent years missing out on a friend like him.
"Yeah. I feel better, ya know. Now that things aren't so strained between us. I just figured I needed to let the past go. No sense in holding a grudge, and all that, right?" Lance said, hugging her back.
"Exactly." Sam said with a smile.
The smile quickly vanished when she was grabbed from behind. Her scream was cut short abruptly when a hand covered her mouth. She looked over, even as she struggled and saw someone straddling Lance's waist from where he lay on the ground.
"Fucking faggot. Traipsing around here, corrupting the normal people. Piece of shit. Think you can just come in here with a new look and things would be different?" the man said through clenched teeth, hitting Lance anywhere he could as he ranted at him.
Lance pushed against the man above him, trying to dislodge him. He was able to get enough momentum in his hips to flip them over, hitting the other man, trying to get him to let go so he could get back to his feet. The man was tenacious though, and his grip on Lance held, even as they rolled around on the ground.
"Shit man, there's people coming! Let's get outta here." The man holding Sam said, fighting to hold on to her as she struggled.
Sam prayed they'd either just leave, or someone would get there an stop this. Lance was just barely holding his own and she could see blood running from his nose. Tears escaped her eyes as the man ignored his partner and kept on trying to beat Lance.
"Shit. I'm outta here." Suddenly, Sam was thrown into two people knocking them all down to the ground.
"Sam, you ok?" she heard Joey ask. She nodded, and looked over to where Lance was still fighting. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Josh start running to them, before she was sat up and Joey was running after him.
Joey waded in, avoiding punches as he and Josh tried to separate the two. Finally, minutes later, Joey had the guy pulled away, while Josh was trying to restrain Lance. Joey threw the guy away from him, and blocked his way, his hands against the guy's chest when he tried to get back at Lance.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Joey yelled at the guy. By this time, they'd drawn a crowed, but Joey ignored them. When he didn't get an answer from the guy, he pushed him toward a few friends that were standing near by. Glaring at him over his shoulder, he walked over to where Josh and Sam were trying to calm Lance down.
"You ok, man?" Joey asked, turning Lance's face towards him so he could see the damage. "Man you look like you went a few rounds with Holyfield." Joey said, trying to lighten up the situation.
"Joe, watch it!" Someone yelled from the crowd.
Joey turned just in time to dodge the punch aimed at the back of his head. The weight of the guy and his momentum, knocked them all back to the ground.
"Shit!" Lance screamed, before quickly untangling himself from the group and pouncing on the retreating man. He jumped on his back, knocking them both to the ground before he began to beat him into unconsciousness.
"Lance! Stop!" Sam yelled, pulling with all her might to get her friend away from the other guy. She was joined by several pairs of hands, restraining the flailing body.
"He's out man. Leave it." Josh said from somewhere beside him. In the distance, Lance could hear sirens approaching.
Lance angrily shrugged the hands off him and walked away from the group, Sam, Joey and Josh following him. "It just never stops does it? I changed everything about me to make this stop and it doesn't matter. Nothing changes."
Josh looked away, not knowing what to say, knowing he was one of the ones who used to do this to Lance. Not to this degree and never with physical harm, but he knew what Lance meant.
"Lance man, you ok?" Joey asked, stopping the blonde from walking further way.
"Dude had a knife. Sliced my arm, probably needs stitches." Lance said, showing the gash to Joey, before clamping his hand back on it to stop the blood, hissing at the pain.
"What the hell happened here?" Justin could be heard as he made his way through the crowd as the cops showed up.
"Some guy jumped Lance and Sam." Josh explained when Justin got to them.
"I need stitches and I'm gonna have quite a few bruises, but other wise, I'm fine." Lance said, sighing as he sagged against his car. "It just never stops, Justin. I tried so hard, and it won't stop." Lance said, looking at his friend with tears in his eyes.
Justin hugged his friend to him tightly, letting him cry, away from the prying eyes of the crowd.