| Chapter 1 |
| Lance yawned softly, his arms reaching above his head as he stretched in bed.He shivered as the cool air hit his naked chest, and he reached beside him to snuggle with the warm body next to him. When his arm hit the mattress instead of someone's stomach, Lance finally opened his eyes. He sighed quietly, seeing nothing but the wrinkled sheets and a lopsided pillow. 'Alone in bed again,' he thought. 'This is starting to become too much of a habit.' Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, Lance slipped his feet into his slippers and grabbed a shirt from off the floor. The smell of faint but masculine cologne invaded his senses as the material of the shirt brushed against his face, and he groaned. 'Of course I had to grab *his* shirt,' he thought with a sigh. Running a hand through his spikes, he headed for the bathroom. He quickly brushed his teeth and splashed his face with cold water. Running a hand over his chin, he shrugged and decided a shave wouldn't be necessary. 'Besides,' he thought, 'didn't Justin once say he liked a little scruff on a man?' Lance grinned, and for the first time in a while, actually felt a flutter of excitement in the pit of his stomach. 'God Bass, get a hold on yourself,' he thought as he took the stairs down two at a time. 'You're acting like a giddy school girl.' Turning the corner, Lance paused in the kitchen doorway, a small smile on his face. As expected, Justin was hunched over a bowl of cereal, a spoon in one hand and the morning newspaper in the other. He was wearing one of his good suits, and Lance sighed, admiring how handsome he looked all dressed up, his golden curls arranged perfectly on top of his head. Smiling, Lance padded into the kitchen, dropping a kiss on the top of Justin's head as he headed for the fridge. "Morning baby," he said cheerfully. Justin grunted into his orange juice, pulling his head back slightly from Lance's lips. "Lance, please," he said, slightly annoyed. "Do you know how long it took me to get my hair like this? About a friggin hour, that's how long." He sighed, wiping the milk off his lips with a napkin. "I am seriously thinking of shaving my head. God, it would be so much easier that way. What do you think?" Lance cringed, glad his back was to Justin so his lover wouldn't see his reaction. He loved Justin's curls, especially at night when they would lie together and Lance could run his fingers through them while Justin slept. Lance sighed. At least, that's what they *used* to do. "I like your hair," Lance said, offering Justin a smile, which he didn't return. "Easy for you to say," Justin sighed, turning back to his paper, "your hair takes five minutes to prepare." Lance frowned, hurt by Justin's comment. He always tried to look his best for Justin, even if nobody else would see him all day, and this was the thanks he got? "So sorry we don't all have perfectly curly hair like you," Lance said, slightly bitter. He heard Justin sigh, and it made him even angrier. Before he could snap back at him though, he felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his waist as he was buttering his bread. Justin grabbed Lance's hands, making him put down the butter knife as he kissed up his neck. "I'm sorry baby, I didn't mean anything by it," Justin said. "Please don't be mad at me." Lance sighed softly, arching his neck to give Justin's lips better access to his throat. "I'm not mad," he said quietly, "anymore." Justin chuckled into the crook of Lance's neck, making Lance giggle. Pulling back, Justin leaned his forehead against Lance's, lacing their fingers together. Lance kissed his lips, looking him up and down. "Why are you so dressed up today?" he asked. "You look good." Justin grinned, spinning around to give Lance the full view. "Thank you, thank you," he said, using the kitchen as a runway to model the suit for Lance. "I've got an important meeting today. We just signed a new singer to the label, and I'm meeting with him for lunch. You know, show him around, get him settled in, stuff like that." Lance nodded, crossing his arms across his chest as a sign that he was listening and interested. "And he's a singer you say?" he asked. Justin nodded. "Have you heard him sing yet?" "Kind of," Justin answered, rummaging around in the fridge for more orange juice. "I've heard his demo tape. It's a little rough, as expected, but man can this guy belt out a tune. I definitely think he'll be good for the label. We might even get around to having him sing for us today." Lance smiled. "Cool." He stuck out his lower lip, faking a pout. "So I guess this means we can't have lunch together, huh?" Justin grinned, kissing away Lance's pouty lower lip. "Sorry babe, I don't want to scare this guy off." Lance laughed, smacking Justin's arm. "That was mean," he said, laughing as he tried to push Justin away. "Just for that I don't think you deserve a good-bye kiss." Justin cackled evilly, pinning Lance's arms down as he kissed all over his face. Lance giggled, giving into Justin right away. Justin wrapped his arms around Lance's back, his eyes catching the time on his watch out of the corner of his eye. "Oh shit!" he said, pulling back quickly and causing Lance to stumble forward. Lance watched Justin race around the room, looking for his keys. "What's wrong?" "I'm going to be late," Justin said, and Lance caught the slight snappish tone his voice had taken on. 'Relax,' he told himself, 'he just doesn't want to be late. That's all.' He tried to catch Justin as he whizzed by, and finally succeeded as Justin grabbed his briefcase and was heading for the door. "Call me later, okay?" he asked. "I'll either be here or over at Joey's. I'll have my cell phone all day though, okay?" Justin nodded, giving Lance a chaste kiss good-bye. He winced as he pulled back. "I think you need to shave Lance," he said, waving slightly as he left the kitchen. Lance sighed as he heard the front door slam. A few minutes later, he heard Justin drive away in his Mercedes. He ran a hand over the scruff on his chin. 'Well, so much for that idea,' he thought with a sigh. Catching a whiff of something, he turned towards the toaster where his toast was burning. His eyes widened and he ran over to the counter, unplugging the machine and dumping his burnt breakfast out on the counter. "What a great day this is going to be," he sighed. |