| Love Is |
| ~Love is a bottle of Advil and a cold wash rag. Lance groaned softly, leaning his cheek against the cold porcelain of the toilet seat and squeezing his eyes shut. His stomach was doing cartwheels inside of him, and his head felt like a thousand screws were being driven into his skull, and then given a few good turns for good measure. Every time he opened his eyes, the room spun and he felt the bile start to rise in his throat. 'Please God,' he begged silently. 'If you ever loved me at all, even just a little bit, kill me now.' He felt a warm hand rub circles on his back, and it soothed him, if only just a little bit. He felt his head being tipped back, and then something wet and cold being laid on his forehead. He shivered, but didn't open his eyes. He felt strong arms slip behind his back and under his knees, and then lift him up. Lance groaned loudly, curling into as much of a ball as he could and feeding off of the warmth coming from the body holding him. He felt himself being lowered, and then his body touching soft sheets and a fluffy pillow. He felt someone taking off his shoes and socks, and then his pants, leaving him burning up in only boxers and a thin T-shirt. He opened his eyes, his green ones immediately looking into worried blue ones. "How do you feel?" whispered JC. He smacked a hand over his face and shook his head. "Sorry," he blushed, "stupid question." Lance gave him a shaky smile, reaching out for his hand and giving it a weak squeeze. JC smiled softly, readjusting the wash rag on Lance's forehead. "Can you sit up?" Lance nodded, digging the heels of his hands into the mattress and pushing himself up into a sitting position. JC handed him a glass of ice water and three Advil. "That should help your headache," he said softly. "Oh!" He turned around, grabbing a straw from the bedside table and slipping it into Lance's water. "Drink up." Lance smiled, popping the pills into his mouth and swallowing them with a gulp of water. JC took his cup when he was finished, and helped him lay down. He kissed Lance's forehead softly. "Get some sleep baby," he whispered, running his fingers through Lance's crooked spikes. Lance yawned tiredly. "Sleep with me?" he asked. "I sleep better when you're with me." JC nodded, stripping down to his shirt and boxers and carefully sliding into bed next to Lance. He wrapped his arms around his lover, and kissed his hot cheek. Lance curled into him, despite his fever. "Love you," he mumbled, before drifting off to sleep. ~*~ ~Love is a personal note in your lunch. JC sighed loudly, running a hand over his face and slouching in his seat. He had gone to the studio to try and finish the last touchups on a song for the group's next album, but things just weren't coming along. After four hours of sharp notes and a little buzzing noise he couldn't seem to get off the track, he finally gave up. He still had a few hours until Lance expected him home, so he decided to try and write some new material. At 1:30, he looked down at the paper in front of him. Words were crossed out and circled, there was whiteout all over the page, and a large ink stain in the corner where his pen had leaked. He sighed, counting the words that were still visible on the page. "Seven?" he cried. "I've been writing for two hours straight, and I only have *seven* words that I can use? What the fuck?" He sighed, balling up the paper in his hand and tossing it into the pile of paper spilling out of the trashcan. He looked at the clock again and shrugged. "Lunch time," he decided, grabbing the brown paper sack sitting next to him on his desk. He grinned as he remembered Lance's words from the morning when he had argued that he didn't need a lunch. "Oh come on Josh!" Lance had laughed, grabbing some bread to make him a sandwich. "I know you, okay? I know how focused and stubborn you get when you're at the studio, and I *know* that you won't even think about eating unless the food is sitting right next to you. You need to eat more anyway." JC had shaken his head. "I will order some lunch later, okay? I promise." Lance laughed. "Yeah. Sure you will Josh." He handed him the paper bag and grinned. "Here you go." JC glared at him, taking the bag from Lance's hand. "Care to make a bet Mr. Bass?" he asked. "I bet you that I will remember to eat lunch. If I do, you have to do *whatever* I want for the rest of the day." Lance grinned, raising his eyebrows in amusement. "You're on," he said. "The same goes for you. If you forget and have to eat the lunch I made you, I win and *you* have to do anything that *I* want." He held out his hand, and with a smirk, JC shook it. JC chuckled as he bit into his sandwich. 'Hey, what Lance doesn't know won't hurt him,' he mused. 'Or me, for that matter.' He felt his teeth sink into the bread and lunch meat, but not go all the way through. 'What the hell?' JC clamped his teeth down and pulled his head back, pulling a folded up piece of paper out of the sandwich. He spit out the piece of sandwich in his mouth, staring at the paper in his hand. He opened it up, and read what was written: 'Hey there sexy. Guess what? I won the bet! *evil laugh* Prepare to do whatever I want when you get home, my pretty little slave. *MUAH* ~Love, Lance' JC groaned, dropping the note and banging his head against the table. ~*~ ~Love is expecting the unexpected. JC whistled as he opened the front door to his and Lance's house, dropping his keys on the counter and his coat on the coat rack. He had thought about his and Lance's bet since he had found the note in his sandwich, and the more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He knew what *he* would have done with Lance had he won the bet, so he couldn't wait to see what Lance had planned. "Baby, I'm home!" he yelled. "Come claim your slave for the day!" He heard footsteps in the hallway, and then Lance's smirking face came in to view. He hugged JC and kissed his cheek, but by now he was grinning and shaking his head. "I knew you wouldn't eat unless I made you that lunch," said Lance. "I told you so." JC shrugged, kissing up Lance's neck. "You know me so well," he whispered into Lance's ear. Lance giggled, kissing JC's sweetly on the lips before pulling back. "Yes, I do," he grinned. "And now, love, you are mine. Come with me." JC allowed Lance to drag him upstairs, his blood all ready pumping quickly through his veins and his groin tightening in anticipation. When Lance pulled him into their bedroom, JC couldn't keep the grin off his face. When he was dragged into the bathroom, he was surprised, but *extremely* excited. 'Ooh, perhaps a hot bath or shower for two?' he wondered, licking his lips. Suddenly, Lance turned around, nibbling on JC's earlobe. "Close your eyes," he whispered, and JC was all too happy to comply. Shutting his eyes, JC listened carefully for any noises that would give away what Lance had planned for him. He heard the shower door being pulled back, and he grinned. He felt Lance open his hands, and place something in them. JC moved his fingers, trying to feel the objects out. 'Ooh damn, there's two bottles,' he thought. 'Lube? Maybe. But why would we use lube in the shower? And what's this ... gloves! Holy shit, rubber gloves. Ooh my baby's getting kinky...' "Okay Josh," Lance said, bringing JC out of his thoughts, "open your eyes." JC opened his eyes excitedly, looking down at the items in his hands. "Huh?" he said in confusion. "What is this?" He held up the bottles, examining the labels on them. "409? Pine Sol? These aren't lube." If possible, the grin on Lance's face grew wider, and for once JC saw how evil it looked. If he looked close enough, he could almost imagine the little red horns sprouting from the mass of blonde spikes on Lance's head. "You're right," said Lance, "it's not. You, my dear, are going to clean the showers." JC's mouth fell open. 'Excuse me?' He must have not heard right. 'Clean the *showers*? What about the sex?' "You're kidding right?" he laughed shortly. "This is just a joke. Haha?" Lance laughed, patting JC's back. "Sorry babe, it's no joke," he smiled sweetly. "I was going to clean the showers today, but since I now have my very own slave, *you* can do it!" He gave a stunned JC a light peck on the cheek, and skipped out of the room. He returned shortly though, poking his head inside. "Oh, and when you're done you can start on the toilets. Thanks sweetie! Love you!" And with that, he was gone. ~*~ ~Love is lending a helping hand. JC grumbled the entire time he cleaned the showers. At first, his complaints were usually, "I hate this. I hate this. I hate this." After it took him an hour to get the first coat of soap scum off of the walls, it became, "I fucking hate this. I fucking hate this. I fucking hate this." Once, Lance had come in to check on him. Peering over his lover's shoulder, Lance pointed to a corner of the shower. "You missed a spot," he chirped helpfully, and then left the room. Since then, JC had been chanting, "Fucking Lance. Fucking Lance. Fucking Lance." JC sighed, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his arm. Finally, he was done with the showers. Turning around, he nearly sobbed when he saw the toilets. 'That's it,' he thought. 'I am *so* not putting out tonight.' He got down on his knees, and with a heavy sigh and a frown, began scrubbing the toilets. He turned when he heard a noise, and saw Lance walking into the room with a pair of gloves and a bucket of soapy water. "Oh goody," said JC sarcastically. "Have you brought me more supplies? God fucking bless you." Lance smiled at him, and JC noticed it was no longer the evil smile. "Nah," said Lance, "you've done enough. I'll take over now." He nodded towards the door. "Justin called a bit ago, wanting to know if you wanted to go shoot hoops. You go ahead. I'll finish up here." JC smiled, standing up and taking the bucket from Lance's hands. "Nah, that's okay," he said. "I'd rather help you." Lance looked surprised, but smiled nonetheless. Together, they finished the job in twenty minutes flat. ~*~ ~Love is unconditional. Lance frowned, his eyes glued to the TV in front of him. As the seconds ticked by, his frown just deepened and his eyes grew sadder. JC walked into the room, sifting through the mail. He glanced up, cocking his head at the look on Lance's face. "What's wrong Lance?" he asked, sitting down beside him on the couch and patting his knee. Lance sighed, but didn't look at him. "They're laughing at me." JC was confused. "Who?" Lance didn't reply, but picked up the remote control and turned up the volume on the TV. "And here's my problem," Carson was saying, "what kind of state is 'N SYNC in, if they can afford to lose Lance for six months?" He turned to a girl in the audience. "What's that? Yeah, they have Justin." He laughed, and Lance sighed. "Oh Lance," said JC, hugging his lover to him and rubbing his back, "screw them baby. You do what you want to do. It's your dream, not theirs." "I'm not going," came the soft reply. "What?" Lance tilted his head back, looking at JC with big, watery green eyes. "I'm not going to space," he sniffled. "Apparently, I never really was. The Russians basically laughed their asses off, saying that MirCorp doesn't know what they're talking about." He sighed. "Why do I even dream at all? People just laugh at me anyway. Why bother?" "Hey hey, that's no way to talk," said JC, tilting Lance's face up to look at him. "So this one thing didn't work out. There are lots of other things you can do as a side project to 'N SYNC." "I wanted to act too," said Lance. "You know how that went." JC sighed, kissing the top of Lance's head and hugging the younger man tighter. "How can you love a loser like me?" asked Lance, his voice muffled by JC's shirt. "You are not a loser," said JC firmly. "You are Lance Bass, the most amazing man in the world. No, you are not an astronaut or an actor; you're just you. And I love you no matter what." "But why?" asked Lance, really wanting to know. JC smiled, lacing his fingers with Lance's and kissing the knuckles. "Because," he said simply, "that's what love is." THE END |
| written by Robin |