Boys14

Joey collapsed onto his bed, not sure if he had the energy to get undressed. After a long day, he had carried JC all the way from the bus and into the hotel room. *Then*, he had carried Chris, too. He lifted his head and groaned when it hurt. Lying back down, he sighed and smiled as he thought of the day's events.

~*~
The guys had all wanted to visit the zoo, and once security caught up with them and gave them a stern lecture, complete with Lonnie wagging his finger in Lance's face, they got to go. Chris immediately hopped on Lonnie's back, pretending to ride him like the mechanical bulls in their concerts.

"Giddy up Lonnie!" yelled Chris, kicking his heels into Lonnie's sides.

Lonnie growled and stood perfectly still, his eyes narrowed as everyone else laughed.

"Dammit Chris, I swear if you don't get your Ritalin-needing ass off of my back, I'm gonna smack you," he growled. Chris ignored him and managed to get a ride all the way to the lion's cage before Lonnie body slammed him on the grass.

The guys laughed. Justin was bouncing with excitement, his little boy
features really shining through as he tugged on Lance's sleeve.

"Lance! Come on! Come with me to see the hippos!"

Lance was reluctant, but one pouty face from Justin and he caved. The two of them wandered off with Dre trailing behind them. Joey was about to speak before he felt himself being pulled in the other direction, and he allowed JC to drag him to the monkey cages. He smiled as he saw JC bouncing with excitement, just as Justin had been doing. When JC turned to him with the biggest grin on his face, Joey fell all over again.

"Isn't this fun?" he had asked, almost squeaking.

Joey laughed and shrugged. "If you say so." He looked at all of the spider monkeys, chimps, and apes in the cages. "Hey look," he said pointing, "I think that one's Chris's uncle. Ooh yes, and that one's Aunt Betsy for *sure*!"

JC giggled into his hand. "That's mean," he said with a grin.

Joey shrugged. His stomach growled loudly and he rubbed it. "Hey Jace, how about we get something to..."

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" JC was bouncing and pointing to something across from them. Joey turned and saw a hawk trainer with a large, brown and white hawk on her arm, allowing some people to hold the bird on their arm and feed it. He turned and was met with JC's goofy grin and sparkling eyes. Joey looked back at the hawk, or more importantly, it's sharp claws, and back at JC.

"Oh hell no," he said backing away. "No, no, a thousand times no!"

"But Joey..."

"No."

"Please?"

"Uh-uh. Not gonna happen."

JC latched himself onto Joey's arm and pouted, sniffling loudly. "Pwease, Joey?" he begged in his little boy voice. "Pwetty, pwetty pweeeeeeease?"

"No."

"I'll love you forever and ever and ever!"

"Well..."

JC grinned to himself and blew on Joey's ear, whispering, "I'll give you a little kiss..."

Joey moaned softly, ready to give JC *anything* he wanted. A house? Yes. A car? Sure. Five minutes with a large, vicious, rat-eating bird? Why the hell not. Joey sighed and grabbed JC's hand, lacing their fingers together.

"Lead the way," he sighed.

JC squealed and dragged Joey, who was busy praying, to the bird cages. He pushed his way through the crowd, leaving Joey to apologize to everyone.

"Sorry ... so sorry ... forgive him, he forgot his pills ... sorry ..."

Joey sighed as he made it up front and next to JC. "Okay Jace, hold the mini-vulture, feed it, and lets go."

JC turned to him with mischievous eyes and an innocent grin. "Me? Oh no, Joey, you've got it all wrong. I want *you* to hold it!"

"What!?" Joey yelled, all ready turning to leave. "No. Hell no!"

"Mommy, he said hell!" a little girl with blonde pigtails squeaked. The
mother glared at Joey and lead her daughter away to the turtle exhibit.

Joey sighed. "This day just keeps getting better and better," he grumbled.

"Please Joey?" Joey turned around and right into JC's pleading face. "I just wanna feed it, maybe pet it a little. I-I'm too chicken to hold it," he whispered, a blush staining his cheeks.

Joey was actually considering it. "Five minutes ... that's it?" At JC's nod, he smiled. "Okay, I'll hold the damn- uh, the darn thing."

JC grinned happily. Joey held out his arm and let the lady slip a large,
heavy glove onto his right arm. He listened with half an ear as she gave him a pep talk.

"...and she's perfectly harmless, as long as you don't pull on her wings."

JC's eyes were wide with fascination. "What happens when you do that?" he whispered.

"It depends," the trainer answered. "But one time, a little boy did that ... pulled her wings ..." She paused mid-thought, like she forgot the rest, "I think the hospital said his eyebrows grew back ... and he's only got one more month of therapy left."

JC was fascinated, while Joey was two seconds from running away, kiss or no kiss. Before he could, the trainer held out her arm and the hawk stepped onto Joey's gloved arm. JC squealed with delight, his eyes growing large with fascination. He reached a cautious hand out and petted the bird with soft, slow strokes.

"Joey," he whispered, "isn't this the *coolest* thing?"

Joey nodded, his eyes permanently fixed on the hawk's sharp beak. "Yeah," he swallowed, "cool."

JC got to feed the hawk a piece of fish before it got restless and started flapping it's wings. JC dropped the rest of the fish and latched himself onto Joey's free arm tightly. Joey thought he might faint.

~*~
"That was so cool," JC gushed an hour later, still holding onto Joey's arm and nibbling on some cotton candy. "I mean, I was kind of scared, but not. How about you Joey? You were great!"

Joey puffed up his chest slightly. "Nah, I wasn't scared," he said calmly. "It was just a little bird with a razor sharp claws and a pointy beak ... no biggy."

JC stopped and batted his eyelashes. "My hero," he sighed. He looked around, and seeing no one, kissed Joey quickly and softly on the lips. He pulled back and smiled at Joey, who had his eyes closed. When he opened them, they just stared at each other, smiling slightly.

"Hey guys!"

They both pulled apart quickly when Justin came bouncing up to them, dragging Lance behind him. He grinned obliviously at them, showing off his stuffed zebra.

"Lance won it for me!" he beamed.

Lance nodded and sighed. "Yep. At fifty cents a ball, it only cost me
seventy-five dollars."

JC and Joey laughed, both in humor and relief that they hadn't been caught.

'Especially since I haven't told Justin I don't love him,' thought JC.

'Especially since JC hasn't told Lance he doesn't love him,' thought Joey.

They both made nervous eye contact as Justin and Lance chased each other around the area, not sure what to do next.

~*~
Joey sighed, staring at JC's sleeping form through the dark. His heart and his mind were both being twisted in several different directions, and he had no idea what to do next. The kiss at the zoo had confirmed it.

"There's no way around it," he whispered to himself. "I, Joseph Anthony Fatone, am in love with Joshua Scott Chasez."

He sighed to himself, closing his eyes to go to sleep. A soft voice in the dark stopped him.

"I love you too, Joey."