Boys10

Despite all of the inner turmoil going through everyone's heads, the next couple of days were pretty normal. Each of the guys acted like nothing was wrong, while just the oppsite was going on. Lance watched Justin secretly, choosing to love from afar instead of getting his heart broken. JC hung out with Justin, but not as much lately. He knew he was acting like a coward by not telling Justin how he really felt, but he wasn't ready to face his best friend just yet. So instead, he ended up spending most of his time with the least likely person in the group. Joey was surprised, to say the least, when JC started hanging out with him all the time, and he wondered why he didn't want to be around Lance more. Nonetheless, he wouldn't trade his time with JC for anything.

As for Justin, he appeared to be closing himself off from the group as time went on, when in reality he was just confused and trying to sort things out in his mind. A million thoughts and questions raced through his mind every time he saw Lance, so many in fact that he wasn't sure *what* to think anymore. Did Lance love him? Why hadn't he responded to the letter yet? And the more recent one, did Lance even *get* his letter? Sometimes it was too much to handle, but instead of going to the one person he knew would make it all better, he went to Chris.

Chris was a goofy guy, but he was always very serious when it came to his best friends. He knew all there was to know about each of them, and that gave Justin comfort, to know that Chris was always there for him with eager ears, an open mind, and the occasional shoulder to cry on.

~*~
Justin sighed and hugged his pillow to his body, staring at the blank TV screen. He didn't feel like watching anything that was on, but he needed something to focus on; something to make him feel like he could handle the things that were spinning out of control in his life. He stared at the clock and sighed. '7:00, and another night that could've been spent in Lance's arms, but instead spent alone in a drafty hotel room,' he thought. It was still very early, but he decided to go to sleep. It was the only time he could let down his guard and love Lance without shame or fear of rejection. He snuggled down deep into the comforters, and turned with his back to the door.

What couldn't have been more than a few minutes later, he heard the door open. He smiled slightly, still not close to sleep at all, and automatically moved over in bed. Chris had been coming into his room every night since they started hanging out more. Chris had no idea about his feelings for Lance, and for now Justin wanted to keep it that way.

The first night Chris slept with him, they had talked non-stop for the first few hours, reminiscing about old times and laughing loudly. The second night and since then, Chris just slipped into Justin's room, usually just after Justin had gone to bed, and snuggled up behind him. Justin noticed that Chris only slept with him when he was at his lowest, almost as if he knew about the emotional battles that raged inside of him. Still, nothing was said and nothing done except a friendly arm thrown over Justin's waist. And in the morning, Chris was gone and Justin felt oddly better. They never spoke and couldn't see each other at all in the darknees, but he liked it that way. While he knew he could never fall in love with Chris, it felt good to be held by someone. Anyone.

~*~
Joey downed the rest of his beer and shifted his hands lower on the hips of some anonymous girl he was dancing with. She had slightly curly brown hair with blonde streaks, pink pouty lips, a lean, well-built frame, and a pair of bright blue eyes. She looked oddly familiar, like someone he knew, but Joey was either too out of it or too drunk to remember who.

"Hey, you wanna get out of here?" she whispered lowly, biting gently on his earlobe and grinding against his crotch. Joey bit his lip to keep from moaning out loud. His eyes wandered the club, automatically falling on another lean figure that he knew better than his own.

JC was moving to the music, his head thrown back and pink lips slightly parted. There were two girls facing him and dancing rather close, but there were also two very good-looking men nearby, the four of them forming an almost-circle around JC. He was dancing with them all, far enough in between to go either way but not really wanting to choose. Joey noticed he was really dancing *by* them rather than *with* them, but they didn't know that. He looked back down at the girl he was with. She really was quite attractive, but not what he wanted.

"Sorry," he said, "not tonight."

She shrugged, running her hand over his crotch and giving it a light squeeze before dancing away. Joey let out a breath and headed for the bar. He ordered another beer and turned to watch JC some more, enjoying the view.

~*~
Justin sighed. He usually fell asleep soon after Chris came, but tonight he couldn't; not yet. There was too much on his mind and he need to talk to somebody. He rolled onto his back, choosing to stare at the ceiling instead of at his friend, and whispered cautiously.

"Chris?"

They were both silent for a moment, before Justin heard a low, sleepy grunt come from somewhere in the darkness. He took that as a sign to continue.

"I ... I need to tell you something," whispered Justin. He swallowed and wondered why he was nervous. "Okay? But don't say anything. I just need to get something off my chest."

Justin felt the bed shift, then a tentative hand touch his blanketed stomach and start to rub soothingly. He sighed and reveled in the warmth before continuing.

"I know I've been ignoring everyone lately, except you, but there's a reason. I ..." Justin sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. 'Why is this so hard?' he wondered. 'Chris is your friend. He won't hate you. It's not like you're telling Lance you love him, right?' Justin let out a breath and a soft hiccup before speaking again. "I'm in love with Lance."

The hand stopped mid-stroke on his stomach, and Justin felt ashamed as tears jumped to his eyes. He shrugged off the hand and turned to roll away, but a pair of strong arms wrapped around his torso stopped him. He felt another body shift behind him and hold him tightly, protectively, as he finally let the tears fall.

~*~
He heard the birds chirping outside of the hotel window before he was fully awake. The sun was peeking through a slit in the shades, and a bright ray of light was shining on his face. His eyes fluttered open slowly, and he squinted against the light. Yawning and stretching his body, he remembered the person next to him. Justin was lying on his arm, and memories of last night flooded him, pushing unconsciousness out of his mind. 'I'm in love with Lance.'

He sighed and slowly pulled his arm out from under the younger man, being extra careful not to wake him. He ran a hand through his hair and headed for the door, slipping on his shoes he had left by the bathroom last night. Taking one last look at Justin to make sure he was still asleep, he left the room.

~*~
Lance leaned against Justin's closed door and sighed, a small smile playing on his lips.

'Justin's in love with me.'