A Thousand Suns
Indigo
***
After JC got rid of the girl that management had stuck him with for three years, he fell into the worst depression of his adult life. He'd done it without their consent, and now he was the only member of Nsync who was visibly "single"; he was also gayer than a male hairstylist in a Frisco beauty parlor. It wasn't fair, he thought. Lance was gay too, what's more, he was part of the relationship, why did JC have to catch all the flack?
Because Lance doesn't flame with the fire of a thousand suns, he told himself, whenever this question arose in his mind. Well it wasn't his fault Lance had to act all straight! He found it rather attractive, actually; he'd always wanted to have a man's man, and after they switched roles in the relationship he'd gotten one.
But now Lance had the fake girlfriend, and JC was left to fend for himself at awards shows, while Lance walked smugly by with Laura on his arm, shooting JC looks that plainly said "I got the sweeter end of the deal." JC could very well get the same thing; all he had to do was tell management, and they would take care of staging the whole "reconciliation" thing for the benefit of the media.
But it was in JC's very nature to flame, and what's more, it was in his nature to avoid girls as much as possible. He'd come to hate them with a passion in his youth; now that he'd reached the ripe old age of twenty-five, the hatred had subsided, diminishing to tolerance. He was still very much into guys, however, and the thought of being with a girl made him shudder uncontrollably for a good five minutes.
By now he'd gotten over the depression that came with management pushing him ever more into the background (they'd started calling it "The Justin Timberlake Show" in secret), and he was ready to face the world, a brand-new, flaming-to-the-roots-of-his-highlighted-hair Joshua Scott Chasez, boyband member and proud homosexual (to only his nearest and dearest, of course). He was altogether pleased with himself that he hadn't given in to management's demands, like Lance had; JC didn't mind this, as long as the boy knew who to come home to. And man did he come HOME.
But all in all, JC wasn't quite satisfied. So he came up with The Plan, for lack of a better term, and let only Lance and the others in on his little conspiracy. Oh, and Susie, the wardrobe mistress, who had to be informed so she could get the new stock ready. JC was dearly looking forward to this--he'd designed some of the outfits himself.
***
Opportunity #1 arose sooner than expected, at the premiere of Lance's new "movie", On The Line. Laura had to be present, of course, and Lance was glad that he would be staying as far away from JC as possible; Lance was content to cuddle him in secret, when the world wasn't watching him and his horrific clothes.
JC certainly entered with a bang. He wore a dark denim jacket with matching tight jeans--which wouldn't have been so bad, had it not been for the diamond-encrusted hearts scattered all over the two pieces. He didn't need anything else, really, to look as girl-rific as possible, but just to make sure, he'd styled his hair extra-carefully earlier that day, framing his face with soft golden strands. The effect was priceless; people at the premiere thought Lance was laughing at his own superb acting on the screen, when he WAS in fact giggling at the denim-clad young man who'd insisted on sitting next to him. He didn't mind the outfit quite so much as he should have; JC looked extremely hot in those jeans.
Opportunity #2 came at their next benefit concert. They'd decided to go with the clothes from the tour, much to JC's delight and Lance's chagrin. He didn't think it could get any worse than when JC emerged from the changing room, dressed in white from head to toe. The top was sleeveless, the pants flared, and as if that wasn't bad enough, he'd gotten Susie to stitch on monstrous yellow and red tulips which shot up from the ankles, clinging to JC's legs. He looked like a cross between Saturday Night Fever and Strawberry Shortcake; this time Lance didn't giggle, he could only moan in dismay at his man's choice of garb. But what could he do? This was The Plan, and Lance felt that he owed it to JC; he'd been going around with Laura a lot more recently.
Management was reacting quietly but swiftly to this sudden onslaught of JC-flaming. Though they couldn't stop him from wearing the clothes, they COULD hit JC where it hurt most and avoid releasing any of his songs from the album, choosing instead to go with "Girlfriend" as the third and perhaps final single. Justin felt bad for his longtime pal, of course, and Lance knew how much it was hurting JC; but he obstinately refused to ditch the femme fashion, and Justin could do nothing to convince JC otherwise. Lance could only kiss him and tell him he was doing the right thing; though privately he couldn't imagine how doing the right thing involved wearing tight pink shirts to almost every informal outing the group had.
The third and last opportunity was to come in early January, at the American Music Awards. Lance was expecting a spectacular ending to JC's period of revenge; he couldn't want for anything less, not after JC's infamous stunt with the black fur that left fans reeling (and JC hadn't even contrived The Plan then). He was expecting magic, fire, and perhaps another pair of tight pants, which he thought were the best part of this whole affair.
January rolled around, and soon it was the night of the awards. The group sat in the Bass-Chasez hotel room, eagerly awaiting the entrance of JC from the bathroom. They heard the lock click and the handle being turned, and all four waited with bated breath as the door swung open to reveal JC wearing...
"A SUIT?" Lance half-yelled, jumping up and crossing the room to stand in front of his boyfriend with flailing arms. "THAT'S what you're wearing? Where are the sparkles? Where are the sequins? WHERE'S THE FLAME??" He bellowed, turning JC around and half-expecting to see a few stray sequins decorating the seat of his pants. When he found none, he turned JC the right way around and glared at him, waiting for an explanation. JC was only too ready to give it.
"Don't you SEE, Lance?" He said excitedly, crackling with energy. "This is the PERFECT ruse! Once the fans see my sudden change in wardrobe, they'll KNOW something's up and if they're SMART, they'll figure out that management MADE me do it! And then they'll think, 'Wow, he really IS gay!' and it'll be GREAT!" He was so confident in his little finale that Lance didn't have the heart to tell him he was being an idiot.
Oh well, Lance thought to himself, as the elevator doors opened out into the lobby and JC stepped forward, walking ever-so-gracefully with slightly swaying hips. At least the pants are tight.
***
fiction