Boys9

JC sighed, squeezing his eyes shut tight in annoyance and repeating the same two sentences over and over again in his head. 'I should have stayed with Justin, I will not punch Chris, I should have stayed with Justin, I will not punch Chris, I should have...' Suddenly, his entire body bounced and he almost fell off the bed. He grabbed the comforter on Chris's bed and whirled his head around to glare at his older friend.

Chris was jumping back and forth from both beds in his hotel room,
breathlessly singing any song that popped into his head and occasionally interrupting himself.

"Oh, I wish I was an Oscar Meyer wiener. That it was I'd truly love to beeeeee! Cause if I was an Oscar Meyer wiener ... everyone would be in love with me!" He took a deep breath, still leaping from bed to bed, and started singing again. "My bologna has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R! My bologna has a second name, it's M-E-Y-E-R! Oh, I love to eat it everyday and if you ask me why I'll saaaaaaaaaaay ... cause Oscar Meyer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A!"

JC bit into the pillow he was hugging to keep from screaming, and tried to think happy thoughts. 'I will not go crazy, I will not kill my best friend, I will not go crazy, but maybe if I just stick one leg out while he's jumping in the air ... no! I will not kill my best friend, I will not go crazy, I will not..."

"Mommy, wow! I'm a big kid now!"

'...will not go crazy, I will not kill my best friend ...'

"...cause Backstreet's back, all right!"

"That's it!" JC yelled, jumping up and tackling Chris to the bed. "Fuck happy thoughts! I'm gonna wring your neck!"

Chris grinned the best he could with JC's hands around his neck and yelled, "Don't hate! Participate!"

Chris tangled his legs in JC's and easily flipped him over. However, JC was a lot stronger than he looked and had one hell of a death grip on Chris's arms. So when Chris flipped JC, JC rolled off the bed, taking Chris with him. They both laid there silently for a few seconds before Chris spoke, neither of them moving at all.

"JC?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"You hurt?"

JC was silent as he assessed the damage. He bent his arms a little, kicked his legs, and gave a quick thrust with his hips into the air.

"Nope," he answered.

"And the package?"

JC reached down to make sure. "Yep, still there."

~*~
Justin jumped when he heard a loud crash from the room next to his, Chris's room. Justin had heard JC come into the room about an hour ago, saying that he needed a place to crash for a little while so Joey could talk with Lance. Justin had frowned to himself and wondered why JC hadn't asked to stay with him. Then he heard Chris start to sing the most annoying songs he could think of and Justin grinned to himself, thinking that it was JC's punishment for not coming to him.

Justin sighed and flopped back onto his bed. He was lonely and suddenly wished more than ever that Lance would reply to his letter. He was pretty sure the letter was gone from the laptop ... no, he was *damn* sure it was gone because he had checked it twenty-thousand times all ready. So why, why, WHY hadn't he heard anything yet? Justin closed his eyes and silently tried to will the tears away.

'Maybe I was wrong,' he thought. 'Maybe Lance doesn't have feelings for me after all. I probably freaked him out or something and now he's avoiding a confrontation or something.' Justin thought about it and shook his head. 'No, that couldn't be it. Lance has been acting just like he always has with me, and hell, we flirt all the time! If he was freaked, I would notice no matter how hard he tries to hide it.' Sigh. 'God Lance, can't you just *get* it before I go crazy? Do I have to tattoo 'I Want Your Sex' on my forehead before you get a clue?' Justin giggled, but sobered up quickly as another thought occurred to him.

'What if he didn't get the letter?' he thought, sitting up in bed. His eyes widened as he thought of something else.

'If Lance didn't get the letter ... then who did?'