WildHearts20

Lance sighed wistfully at the familiar scenery and suppressed a shudder, if only for Josh's sake.

'I remember that house,' he thought silently, leaning his head against the cold glass of the window. 'I remember that very tree. Oh God, there's the school..."

Lance sighed, a wave of memories flooding him all at once and causing a small shiver to shake his body. Josh glanced at Lance in the passenger's seat next to him, reaching out and running a comforting hand up and down his back.

"Cold, baby?" he asked. Lance shook his head. "Then what's wrong?"

Lance sighed, sitting up in the seat and staring at his hands.

"Do you remember," he began, "when Chris first hired me?"

Josh smiled, a slight sparkle in his eye. "How could I forget?" he asked. "It's not everyday I fall in love at first sight."

Lance's head snapped up, his mouth wide open.

"Bullshit!" he said.

Josh laughed, his eyes wide in surprise. "James Lance!" he scolded playfully. "Watch your mouth."

Lance grinned and shrugged. "Hey, I'm not a little boy anymore."

Josh eyed him up and down, before returning his gaze to the road. "No, you sure as hell aren't," he said.

Lance blushed, trying to ignore the double meaning in his words. He coughed and glared at Josh's profile.

"Anyway," he said, getting quiet, "do you also remember how I said I didn't have any family?" Josh nodded. "Yeah, well, that isn't exactly true."

"How so?"

"I have a sister," said Lance, smiling slightly. "Oh, and my mother's still alive too."

Josh bit back a shocked laugh, sensing that Lance was serious about the subject.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," he observed.

Lance shrugged. "She was never really my mother," he said quietly. "She gave birth to me, supposedly, but that's as far as it goes. Blood doesn't always equal love."

Josh nodded. "Yeah, I know the feeling." Lance looked at him and he smiled slightly. "Not really with my folks, I never really knew them before they died. But ya know, the whole thing with Chris and I. We just never clicked, until recently."

Lance nodded. "Stacy and I ... were okay, I guess. We were more like two people who lived together than siblings, but she was cool at times. Never ratted me out unless she would get in trouble."

Josh chuckled, his eyes following Lance's to a sign they were passing.
'WELCOME TO JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI.'

"So, this is kind of like a return to home thing, right?"

Lance shrugged. "More like a blast from the past," he said, smiling at Josh. "You are my home now. Where you go, I go."

Josh winked and grabbed his hand, giving it a light squeeze as they continued on down the dirt road.

~*~
Lance swallowed thickly, tugging the cowboy hat down further on his head. He had no idea there would be this many people attending a rodeo in Hickville, Mississippi, and he certainly hadn't counted on knowing around 80% of them. Squatting down and pretending to shine his boots, he eyed the stands of people. He saw relatives, a few he even liked, plenty of kids from school, their parents, old teachers... Lance gaped at the second row.

"Well, I'll be damned if that ain't Justin Timberlake himself," he mumbled, shaking his head. Chewing on a finger nail, he glared at the ground. 'No, I don't care about him anymore,' he thought. 'I have Josh now, and he's all I need.'

Lance grinned and stood up. For once in his life, he didn't care what others thought of him. Deciding that it was better for his nerves if he ignored everyone in the audience for now, Lance found Joey and joked around with him while Britney performed her tricks. After she was all done and got a lot of cheering from the people, especially from Justin and his crew, Lance took a deep breath.

'Well, here goes nothing,' he thought, starting to climb up the gate and onto Toby's back. He half expected them to start booing right away, and nearly fell off the horse in shock when he heard raucous cheering and a few 'Go Lance!' chants being screamed from random people. He grinned and waited for the whistle.

As soon as he heard it, he gripped his legs around Toby's waist and was off like a rocket. Toby seemed to sense the importance of that certain performance, and he and Lance did their best to put on one hell of a show. Lance rode longer than he ever had before, but he figured he better fall off soon if he didn't want to look like a show off. So, locking his elbows in, he allowed his right leg to hang loose. As expected, Toby reared up, a move that could have allowed Lance to easily drop off his back. Instead, he stumbled slightly, landing on his knees. When he was satisfied with the amount of dirt on him, he got up and sprinted for the side.

To say he was shocked when he received a standing ovation, would be the understatement on the year. He was surprised that they remembered him, amazed that they liked him, and shocked speechless when he saw that not only was Justin one of the people standing, but right in the front row and off to the side, his mother was too.

~*~
"Are you sure about this Lance?" asked Josh.

Lance rolled his eyes and punched Josh's arm playfully.

"For the hundredth time," he said dramatically, although the grin on his face said differently, "I'm sure. I want to go back home. Back to *our* home."

Josh smiled, but still looked doubtful. "I'm just making sure," he said carefully, climbing into the passenger's seat of the truck as Lance took the driver's seat. "Who knows when we'll be back in Mississippi again."

Lance nodded. "I know that," he said. "I'm just not ready yet. I mean, I still can't believe it's been a year since I first left, but still." He shrugged. "She saw me Josh. She and Justin both did. They *know* I'm a real rider now, and that I finally made something of myself. That's enough for now."

Josh smiled, giving his knee a light squeeze. "You know I love you right?"

Lance nodded, leaning over and giving Josh a quick peck on the lips.

"Always," he whispered. "*You* are the reason that this wild heart will never be broken."

THE END