Still a little shaken from his dream, Lance walked to the bedroom door and opened it, then walked down the stairs slowly. He rubbed his eyes as he walked into the living room. Joey looked up and said,

"Afternoon Lance."

Lance grunted and plopped down on the couch, then stood up again and said.

"I need to go take a shower. Can I use yours Justin?"

Justin nodded and Lance went up to JC's room and got the clothes he had worn the night before and went into Justin's bathroom. He quickly took a shower and did everything he needed to do. He then came out of Justin's bathroom and looked down at the guys, he saw JC had gotten out of his shower and was walking across the living room into the kitchen. Lance bounced down the stairs in a good mood.

"Feel better?" Chris asked with a smile.

Lance nodded cheerfully and sat down and watched TV.

"So what are we going to do today fellas?" Joey asked as he looked at the guys.

"Let's go to the mall." JC said as he stepped into the room.

Lance looked at JC. He was wearing a tank top, and a pair of overalls.

"If you say so farmer Josh." Justin joked.

"I wouldn't be laughin Justin. They're yours." JC said with a smile.

Justin's face turned red as he looked towards the TV. All the guys started to laugh as Justin started getting pissed.

"Oh come on Curly, you know I'm only kidding with you. If I didn't like them I wouldn't have borrowed them." JC said as he sat next to Justin.

Justin simply muttered,

"I know."

JC looked down the couch and saw Lance sitting there. He had just come out of the shower and his hair was still wet. He had on the same cloths as the night before and JC started to stare at him.

"JC? . . . JC?!" Justin snapped his fingers in front of JC.

JC finally snapped out of his trance.

"What?" he said with a shake of his head.

"Dude, do you want to go to the mall?"

JC looked back at Justin.

"Yeah, of course I do numb nuts."

Justin looked at Lance and said,

"Well we're taking your car."

"Why my car?" Lance asked kinda of angry.

"Because you idiot, yours is the only one big enough to carry all five of us." Joey said with laughter.

Lance gave him the evil eye.

"So are we going?" Chris asked as he stood up, his dreadlocks falling from out in front of his face.

JC stood as Lance reluctantly pulled his car keys out.

"Let's go." he said as he started for the door.

All the guys started to run as JC yelled,

"SHOT GUN!"

Lance laughed as they all piled into his 4runner. He climbed into the driver's side and saw JC sitting there. Lance smiled as he started the car and JC had a sense of accomplishment on his face.

The ride to the mall was pretty silent, aside for the fact that JC and Justin were trying to kill each other. Joey and Chris started to sing some annoying songs as Lance drove fast to get to the mall. Just as they were pulling up to the mall, a car pulled out in front of them. Lance hit the breaks and Justin and JC both flew forward as the car came to a quick stop. JC rubbed his arm and then looked at Justin

"Yo Just are you ok?!?" He asked as he helped Justin off the floor.

Justin simple looked out the front window and yelled,

"WHY DON'T YOU FUCKIN LEARN TO DRIVE?"

The other car sped off and Lance pulled into the parking spot where the other car was. Joey looked at JC's arm and said,

"Holy shit dude check out your arm!"

JC looked down and there was a huge bruise there. Lance quickly came around the front of the car to see it. JC looked down at his arm then looked at Joey. He put the bruise up to his face and said,

"You wanna kiss it and make it better?"

Joey smiled and poked the bruise.

"Aahh, you little bitch that hurt."

Joey and Chris laughed as they started to walk for the mall. Justin smiled at JC as he started to walk behind them.

Lance took JC by the arm and looked at the bruise more closely.

"Aw, Lance I didn't know you cared." JC said jokingly.

Lance looked up at him without a smile.

"We need to get you to the first aid station." Lance said as he started to pull JC to the door that said first aid.

JC pulled away from him.

"I'll be fine. I've been through worse."

Lance looked back at him.

"So you want this thing that big?"

JC looked back down at his arm. It had swelled and was about half and inch high.

"Oh fuck!"

Lance grabbed JC's hand. It was a little cold and got colder as JC worried about his arm. Lance started to laugh at the look on JC's face. Lance new he was going to be ok, but it would be good to get some ice on it. They walked into the first aid building and a nurse walked up to them. The woman was about 5 foot 10 and very pretty, with blonde hair and brown eyes. She smiled at Lance and JC.

"May I help you?" she said in a sweet voice.

Lance smiled back.

"My friend here hurt his arm cause he's dumb." Lance said just as sweet.

JC pointed his arm to the girl and she briefly looked at it.

"Well I think all you need is an ice pack and you will be fine Mr. Chasez."

JC smiled and said,

"You know who we are?"

The woman cocked an eyebrow.

"Of course you're only plastered all over my daughter's wall."

Lance and JC smiled.

"I'll be right back with your ice pack."

As she turned around and walked off, Lance noticed that there was a tattoo on her ankle. It looked like a T with several lines around it.

JC looked at Lance checking out the nurse's legs. JC kind of got a little jealous and depressed, but didn't show it.

"Damn she is hot!" JC said.

Lance looked up, smiled and said,

"Yeah not too bad."

JC looked back as the nurse walked back in and said,

"Mr. Chasez can I get you to sit on the table?"

JC looked at the nurse then complied. He hopped up on the table.

"Now this may sting a little bit." She said as she placed the ice pack on JC's arm.

He hissed in pain. His heart started to pump with adrenaline, then the pain stopped. She took a rubber band out, placed it on the ice pack and said,

"All fixed, feel better?"

JC looked at her and smiled.

"Yeah thanks." He said as he hopped off the table.

"So how much do we owe you." Lance asked.

The nurse smiled and said,

"Well, my daughter would kill me if I didn't get your . . ."

"Oh it's no problem!" Lance interrupted as he pulled out a pen.

"Do you have anything for us to write on, like a piece of paper or something?"

She smiled really big and handed them some sticky notes. They both signed it and handed it to her.

"Thank you gentlemen." She said as she smiled and started to walk off.

"Hey how much do we owe you?" JC asked as he looked at his arm.

"Oh you will pay me later." She said with an almost evil smile.

JC mouthed the word "weird" and Lance agreed. They walked out of the door and then into the main section of the mall.

"So where to?" Lance asked.

JC started to walk forward and look around. He pointed with his bad arm and said,

"There!"

Lance looked over and saw a gothic shop.

"There?!?" Lance asked.

"Yes there!"

He pulled Lance along as they walked into the store and started to look around.

"Oh kick ass." JC said as he walked over to a book sitting on a table at the front of the store.

Lance followed walking deeper into the store. They looked at the book. It looked old, it had what looked like a brown leather cover and a symbol that looked like the one on the back of that woman's leg. JC ran his fingers over the book and felt it. Lance began to further explore the store. He came upon lots of . . . interesting stuff. There was a hat that caught his interest. It was black with a silver spike on it and said,

"A certified Vampire whoopasser."

Lance laughed at the hat and bought it. He looked around the store for JC and found him over by a mirror. JC stood looking in it and just staring off. He saw some strange images in the mirror. A good-looking guy, about 17 years old, was seemingly trying to seduce JC.  He kept motioning for JC to come through the glass. JC raised his hand toward the glass and was about to touch it.

"Ok, I'm ready to go." Lance said walking up to JC, who he noticed had the book in his hand. "JC?" he said as he waved his hand in front of JC's eyes.

"Oh! Hey . . . Lance! Sorry I was just looking at this mirror. What did you buy?" Lance gave him a weird look and showed him the hat. JC smiled as he walked to the front counter. "How much for this book?"

The girl looked at him then rolled her eyes.

"Forty bucks." she said in a monotone voice.

JC handed her forty bucks and she put the book in a bag for him. Satisfied with what he bought, the two friends walked out of the store.

"Now where?" Lance asked.

JC looked at him and said,

"I picked the last store you pick the next one."

Lance smiled as they started to walk up the upper levels.

"There!"

JC looked and saw a window that had a bunch of medieval weapons. He smiled as he looked at Lance. Lance was giving him puppy dog eyes. His heart started to melt, those green eyes of his ran right through his soul.

"Ok, let's go." He said as he ran with Lance into the store.

Lance looked around the store. It was filled with swords and axes, and various other hand to hand combat weapons. As Lance walked around the store, he noticed something that he really liked. It was an old cutlass saber, about 3 feet long and weighed about 4 pounds.

"She's a bute ain't she?" A man asked as Lance was looking at the details.

Lance quickly turned around and asked,

"Yeah, how much?"

"Oh about $159." The man said with an Irish accent as Lance kept looking at it.

JC looked around the weapons shop out of Lance's sight. He looked at an axe that was about 5 feet long with and oak handle and a huge blade. He picked it up and walked around the corner to see Lance holding a sword.

"Hey Lance?" he said as Lance looked around and saw JC holding the axe, "You think it's me?"

JC was smiling and Lance started to laugh.

"You know JC, I think that axe was meant for someone a little more . . . man like." Lance said. JC looked at him and gave him a fake evil look.

JC went and put the axe back and started to look around more. There was a shield that was so shinny he could see his reflection in it. JC started to stare into the shield. As he stared, all of a sudden the same person he'd seen in the mirror from the gothic store appeared again. He was doing the same thing as before, beckoning to JC. Suddenly a figure appeared behind him, it was Lance, the man in the reflection then opened his mouth and hissed. JC quickly jumped and turned around.

"Jesus Lance, you scared the fuck out of me!"

Lance smiled and said,

"Ready to go?"

JC looked down and noticed Lance holding a sword.

"You didn't buy that did you?" he said with a somewhat annoyed voice.

"Yeah why?" Lance asked somewhat scared.

JC just smiled and said,

"Ok let's go."

Lance went and put the sword down on the counter and walked out.

"We will ship this to your house as soon as possible Mr. Bass." The Irish man said.

Lance looked back at him and smiled, then followed JC out. They were walking though the mall and stopped by a few more stores. JC bought a couple of shirts and Lance got some video game books.

"Are you hungry?" Lance asked as he grabbed his belly.

JC nodded and they headed for the food court.

When they got there they could see Justin, Joey, and Chris sitting at a table. JC and Lance laughed at how many bags were scattered all around them.

"You guys buy way too much!" Lance said with a laugh.

Justin stuck his tongue out as JC went to get some food for him and Lance.

"So what did y'all buy Lance?" Chris asked with a smile.

"Oh not much." Lance said avoiding eye contact.

"Lance?" Joey said as he looked down under his sunglasses.

"Ok, I bought a hat, some books and a . . . sword."

All the guys looked up and him.

"You bought a sword?" Justin asked as he held some fries in his hand.

Lance kind of looked away and saw JC coming back with some food.

"What did you get?" he asked hoping it would change the subject.

It wasn't really that embarrassing, but he still didn't like the fact that the guys would make fun of him for it. JC looked down at the food.

"Two number ones." JC said as he looked back at Lance.

Lance grabbed the bag and started to chow down. JC smiled at him and stared for a couple of seconds before he caught himself. Justin was eating when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. When he looked down he saw a little boy about four years old holding a marker and an *NSYNC CD. Justin smiled at the cute little boy and took the pen and CD. Joey and Chris looked over at Justin signing the CD, then looked down at the little boy. JC and Lance did the same, and Justin handed the CD to Joey, Joey to Chris, Chris to Lance, Lance to JC. The little boy followed the CD around the table watching every move the guys made. When the little boy got to JC, he saw that some of JC's fries had fallen out of the box. He looked back up at JC then back down at the fries, then back up at JC. JC noticed this and acted like nothing was going on. He saw Lance out of the corner of his eye smiling at the little boy and before JC could even react, the boy had stolen his fries causing JC to look down at the boy really quick.

"Hey?! Did you steal my fries?" JC said in a fake angry voice, to which the little boy laughed and said,

"No!"

JC looked at him.

"Oh ok." He handed the CD to the little boy, who took off running towards his mom who was smiling.

"You know, that's what makes this all worth while." Chris said.

The guys nodded and then Justin said,

"Oh Chris you're so sentimental!"

Chris looked at him and mouthed,

"Fuck you."

Justin smiled and said,

"Later."

All the guys laughed as they got up and left the food court. They were on their way back to Lance's car when the nurse came up to JC and said,

"So how's the arm?"

JC jumped at the quick approach.

"Oh . . . God you scared me! It's much better, thanks." JC said with a smile.

"Well that's good. Hey I was going to go to ‘The Lair’ tonight, you wanna come?"

JC froze in fear, he had managed to forget about the night before, but she brought back the memory.

"Well um . . . No, I'm like really beat. But thanks for asking." he said in an almost seductive voice.

She got a sad look on he face and said,

"Ok, well just thought I'd ask."

She smiled and walked off and JC looked up to the sun set. He thought it was pretty cool, there were shades of red and pink, some orange and still a little blue.

"Yo Romeo?!" JC heard Joey yell. "Are we going or are you going to stay there and get laid?"

JC laughed at the comment and jumped in the back of Lance's 4runner. Lance started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"So what are we doing tonight guys?" Lance asked as they got on the highway.

"Lets go clubbin." Joey said.

"Sounds good to me." Chris said almost right after Joey said that.

"Ok, so we go clubbing, but which club?" Lance said.

The guys started to think.

"What about the Jumper?" Justin said.

"No cause all they do is play our songs and BSB." Lance said.

"Inferno?" Joey stammered out. "NO!" All the guys said in sync. [No pun intended]

"Hey I got it!" JC said, "There is a new club called, ‘Light’. It's supposed to be like totally kick ass."

All the guys looked at each other.

"Ok." Lance said.

"Where is it . . ." JC tried to remember the address. "6789 Ruratan."

JC shouted out as the number popped into his head. Lance turned of the highway and went onto Ruratan. They got out of the car and there were no other cars around.

"Gee great nightclub Josh." Joey said as he looked up the side of the building.

JC glared at Joey and started to walk for the door. Lance followed and so did all the others. It was about 9, they had left around 7, but considering Lance got lost five times, they were lucky they got there at all. As they got closer they could hear some music. They opened the door and a man approached them. He was about as tall as Justin, and had more muscle then any of the guys.

"May I help you?" He asked in a normal sounding voice.

"Um . . . yeah." Chris said, "We're trying to find the nightclub called Light?"

The man stared at them and said,

"Just straight down the hall."

"Thank you." Justin said as he winked at the man.

The man grabbed Justin by the arm.

"Hey, maybe you and me could dance a little later."

Justin's face went into complete shock and JC started to smile, but tried not to laugh.

"Um . . . Yeah sure, why not?" Justin said with a smile.

They started to walk down the hall and Justin started to laugh, followed by JC, Lance, Joey and Chris. They came up to two huge blue doors and Justin pushed them open. Music came blasting out; it was just a dance mix. There were lots of people; most of them were on the dance floor. Some of them could dance well, while others just danced to have fun. Lance looked around then started to walk for the bar.

"Hey buddy!" a female voice shouted.

Lance turned around and saw a girl standing somewhat close to him. All the other guys looked over and went and stood next to Lance. The girl was short and kinda chubby, but pretty though with a big bright smile. She looked at all the guys then back at Lance.

"Are you guys in a group?" she asked.

"What?" Lance said as he got closer.

"Are you guys in a group?" she said louder.

Lance pointed to his ears and shook his head. She moved her head as if she was annoyed, but continued to smile. She grabbed Lance by the hand and pulled him out of the room. The other guys followed and they got back into the well lit and quieter hallway.

"Are you guys in a group, or are you all paying separately?" She asked with a smile.

"Huh? No . . . I'm kidding. We're paying separately." Joey said.

She looked at him and smiled bigger.

"Ok, well then its Ten bucks."

Each of the guys handed her ten bucks and started to go back into the room. She grabbed Joey by the arm.

"Yo studs! You need to hear the rules first." The guys looked at her then walked back to her. "Ok this is the first level. It's the dance hall where all of today's music is played. Then the next level after that is the jazz room. That's were all the soft music is played both of these rooms are sound proof so none of the other music bleeds through. Then on the top level is what is called the kissing room." She said looking at Joey.

"The kissing room?" Justin asked.

"Oh, it's in case you meet a girl, or guy, whichever you prefer. You can go up and make out with them. Its pretty cool."

JC looked at Lance and thought. 'Go to the Jazz level Lance.' JC always loved quiet music, it gave him a kind of a peaceful feeling. He looked around the guys.

"Those are the rules?" Chris asked with a smile.

She nodded.

"Oh by the way, my name is Maggie."

Right then a group of girls came out. They were wearing the normal nighttime attire.

"Oh look its Maggots, and she's flirting with the guys again."

They all laughed as they pushed her out of the way.

"So you guys want to dance?" One said as she walked up to Justin.

Another one walked up to Lance, and then one to JC. Maggie began to get tears in her eyes and she turned back toward the big blue doors.

"No thanks, I told Maggie I would dance with her." JC said.

He pushed the girl out of the way and stuck out his arm. Then Lance, Justin, and Joey walked over to her, put their arms around her. Lance wiped a tear that had fallen down her face.

"See we like our girls to have a little class." Joey said with a smile.

The girls huffed and walked off. Maggie looked up at the guys and smiled.

"Thanks. Well you guys have fun." She said as she pulled away from JC's arm and went under the other guys’ arms, and started to walk though the big doors.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

She turned back around and looked at Joey, who had made the comment.

"Um, I'm going to go sit at my table." She said with a shocked kinda look.

"Oh no your not." JC said as he walked towards her.

"You're going to dance with me."

She got tears in her eyes again.

"You meant what you said?"

"I said I was going to dance with her." Justin said pushing JC away from her.

"No I said I was." Chris said rudely.

"No I am!" Lance interrupted, "You guys stand out here and fight. I'm going to go dance with the prettiest girl here." He took Maggie by the hand and led her though the doors.

The guys smiled and followed them through the door. He took Maggie out on the floor and started to dance. She laughed at him, and they started to sway to the music. Then she saw more people crowd around her it was the rest of the guys. They all started dancing and she laughed even harder. They danced for ten minutes till JC gave her a kiss on the cheek, and whispered in her ear,

"Save the last dance for me."

He pulled away and smiled. She blushed and went back to dancing with Joey. JC started to walk up the stairs.

"HEY WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" Lance yelled.

JC looked down and smiled and yelled back,

"THE JAZZ ROOM."

Lance nodded and started up the stairs. JC grew a huge smile on his face and started to walk up the stairs. They got up to the top of the stairs and went through two smaller doors. When the doors shut, the music from downstairs faded. They looked around and it was a small hall way about 5 to 6 feet long. There was a door at the end of it. The two of them walked though the door and into a semi dark room. They could hear the soft cry of a trumpet, and then a piano.

They sat at the table and started to listen to the music play. The room wasn't very crowded but it was still nicely packed. JC looked over at Lance and smiled. He thought about when Lance grabbed his hand and he felt all warm inside. Without thinking he reached over and kissed Lance on the cheek. Then he drew back quickly and looked at Lance. He shook his head and started to get out of his seat. Lance stood and went to follow JC. JC quickly walked to the exit. He had a million things running through his head. Most of which was,

"You stupid fucking asshole! How the fuck could you kiss him like that?"

JC got his hand on the doorknob when someone grabbed his hand. He looked at the hand that had grabbed his. He knew it was Lance's. Lance's hands were so, pretty, nothing misplaced. JC looked up at Lance. Tears began to gather in his eyes. He saw the rage in Lance's eyes.

JC slowly pulled his hand off from the door. He closed his eyes expecting Lance to deck him right across the face. He stood there for about ten seconds waiting for the fist to come smashing across his face. It didn't, he opened his eyes and looked at Lance. Lance still looked pissed.

"JC why the HELL did you kiss me?"

JC couldn't answer. He just looked at Lance. Then he started for the door. When it was about half way open Lance flung his hand out slamming the door back.

"JC talk to me!"

JC just kept looking down. He couldn't look at Lance.

"Josh?!?"

JC sighed as a tear ran down his face.

"Yeah?"

Lance stood and took in the look on JC face. At first Lance was so pissed, he almost couldn't see straight, but as he looked at JC's face he could tell JC really regretted what he did. He looked around the room. No one was staring at them, so he took JC by the hand and led him to a table at the far end of the room.

"Ok . . . now, what's going on in that head of yours?" Lance asked with a smile.

JC didn't look up. A waitress came by and asked,

"So what can I get for you guys to drink?"

"Nothing, thank you." Lance said as he kept his eye on JC.

JC's head popped up, looked at the waitress and said,

"Jack Daniel's."

The woman nodded and then Lance stood up and said,

"Just bring us both some water."

Then JC added,

"And the Jack Daniel's."

Then JC looked back down at the table. The waitress looked at Lance.

Lance shook his head and the waitress replied.

"Ok, I will bring you guys some water."

She walked off and Lance picked JC's head up with his hand. JC was crying hard, but not making any noise.

"Josh what the hell is wrong with you?"

JC looked at Lance and thought to himself,

"Should I tell him how I feel about him? That I want to be with him?" He thought up a lie and said, "It was just one of those things you do without thinking."

Lance sat back in his chair. He had done it on many times with the guys on the bus. Just out of reaction he would slap Justin on the butt, or call Chris or Joey dear. And he actually cried about them. The fact that it could ruin their friendship.

"Just as long as you promise it will never happen again." Lance said with a smile.

JC laughed. He couldn't believe Lance had bought it. He stopped crying, thinking everything was ok, but it wasn't. He still loved Lance and he couldn't hold it in for much longer. Across the room a man sat and watched. He kept his eyes on Lance only taking them off to glare at JC. A woman came over and the man pointed to JC. She nodded and walked over to the table. The man smiled as he eyes grew a yellowish tint.

"Soon, Mr. Bass . . . You will be mine . . ." he said.

TBC . . .