| Chapter 7 |
| Lance yawned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and stretching his body in his sleeping bag. He sat up to wake Joey, but remembered that it was a Saturday, and his day off. He smiled and laid back down, content in just closing his eyes and sleeping for the rest of the day. He was already wide awake though, and couldn't fall back asleep. Sighing, he sat up and crossed his legs. His thoughts began to drift, and as always, they drifted towards Josh. Lance sighed happily as he thought of his big, bad bronco rider. Josh was by far the most beautiful man he had ever met. On top of that, he was smart, funny, and didn't tease Lance about his feminine looks at all. Bobbie did occasionally, but Lance didn't care what she thought, and one icy glare from Josh usually shut her up. Lance grinned and got up. Saturday was also Josh's day off, and he wanted to make the best of it. Eat a little breakfast, flirt a little, who knows? They might actually get somewhere today. Lance looked at his old clothes and sighed. Josh would never go for him if he dressed in those. Thinking hard, Lance remembered a second hand clothes shop just in town. They had nice looking clothes, and best of all, they fit his budget. Throwing on some old clothes and shoes, Lance grabbed his weekly paycheck and snuck out of the house, walking off towards town. ~*~ Joey, Chris, Josh, Bobbie and Britney were all gathered around the kitchen table of the house they all rented in between shows eating breakfast. Chris was pouring himself some coffee, Joey and Britney were talking quietly, Bobbie was flirting with Josh, and he was ignoring her. "Hey, where's Lance?" asked Josh, looking around the room. Joey grinned, glad that Josh was starting to come around and admit his feelings for Lance. Bobbie looked extremely annoyed, but before she could make a nasty remark, they all heard footsteps entering the kitchen. Joey looked up, his jaw dropping at the sight before him. He looked around the table and saw that everyone else's reaction was the same. Lance walked right by Joey, dressed up in a brand new suit. The store only sold second hand clothes, so it was a cheesy looking light blue one with a bow tie. Joey put a hand over his mouth to keep from choking on the heavy amount of cologne Lance had poured on himself. Lance sat down at the table beside Joey, sipping his coffee and avoiding eye contact with Josh. Bobbie also had a hand over her mouth, but it was to keep from laughing. "Pass the toast, please," said Lance. It was in front of Bobbie, so when she dropped her hand to pass the plate, an amused snort followed by a giggle escaped her mouth. Lance felt his face flush, but he ignored it. He looked down at his sleeve, and noticed a little butter had gotten on it. When he went to grab a napkin to wipe it off, his elbow knocked his glass of milk, which spilled on the table and then onto his left leg. Bobbie was now red in the face from laughing so hard, even though she still had her hand over her mouth. Britney rushed up to help clean up the mess, and Lance felt tears sting the backs of his eyes. He looked up and saw Josh and Chris looking at their plates, and he could tell they were trying hard not to laugh. Lance pushed Britney's hands away and got up from the table. "Excuse me," he said, running from the room. "Lance!" yelled Joey, but he could already here the front door slamming. ~*~ Lance sighed, pumping his legs a little to help the swing he was sitting on move. It was really just a piece of wood attached to two pieces of rope and tied to a tree, but Lance always liked to swing on it to help clear his mind. He had changed back into his regular rags, but he was still embarrassed. He had made a complete fool of himself at breakfast, and Josh had been laughing at him. 'Way to screw things up Bass,' he scolded himself. 'Why do you always have to be such a loser? Maybe Justin Timberlake was right after all.' He felt the swing start to move slightly, and stared at the ground for minute, enjoying being rocked, before looking up at the man behind him. They made eye contact, which Lance dropped with a heavy sigh. The swing stopped and suddenly someone was crouching down in front of him. "Hey now, look at me," said Josh, pushing Lance's chin up with one finger, forcing the younger man to look him in the eye. "Don't worry about in there, okay?" Lance nodded slowly, every nerve in his body focused on the way Josh was running his thumb over Lance's lips. They made eye contact again, just staring at each other and not saying a word. Josh smiled and nodded towards the lake that sat outside the rented house. "You want to go for a little ride?" he asked carefully. "Chris has an old row boat that we can use." Lance bit his lip, mulling it over in his head. He turned to Josh and smiled shyly at him. "Okay," he said. Josh smiled and stood up, holding out his hand and helping Lance out of the swing. Lance expected Josh to drop his hand once they were both standing, but he didn't, and they held hands all the way across the lawn and to the lake. Josh steadied the boat as Lance got in, and pushed them off the shore before jumping in as well. The sun was already beginning to set, casting a golden glow on the lake and everything on it. The oar in Josh's hand cut through the cool water like melted butter, but all he could do was stare at Lance. The evening sun made Lance's skin glow, and a halo of light seemed to appear around the mass of blonde spikes on his head. The sun cast shadows on his face, and made his green eyes gleam with a sparkle that would make any star envious. Josh swallowed nervously, turning his attention away from Lance and to his rowing. He failed it notice Lance look up at him with an evil grin, and before he knew it he was being pushed into the lake. Josh surfaced quickly, shaking the water from his hair and glaring at Lance, who was holding his side from laughing so hard. "Think this is funny, do you?" asked Josh. When Lance nodded through his giggles, Josh grinned and grabbed the side of the boat, pushing it down until it tipped over and Lance fell into the lake beside him. Lance came up quickly, spitting out water and coughing as Josh laughed. Lance glared at him and splashed his face. "That wasn't very funny," he said, although the grin on his face said differently. Josh laughed, splashing Lance as he kicked his feet to keep floating in the water. They splashed each other back and forth, but Lance was quicker and soon had Josh choking on lake water. Josh laughed and grabbed Lance's arms to stop the splashing. The laughing died down, leaving the two of them smiling at each other and still kicking slowly to stay afloat. Josh ran his thumb over Lance's lips again, watching as his eyes fluttered shut. Josh moved closer to Lance, his hands cupping the younger man's face as their lips met. Lance sighed softly into the kiss, his tongue licking at Josh's wet lips carefully and diving in when Josh opened his mouth. Josh stroked Lance's hair as they kissed, and Lance gripped his biceps tightly. They pulled back and smiled at each other, before moving closer and kissing again. ~*~ Chris watched from the window of the house with tight lips as the outlines of two people on the lake, floating next to an overturned rowboat, kissed. He heard a soft cough from the doorway, and turned to look at Britney. "Leave them alone Chris," she said quietly. "They're happy together and-" "I will *not* leave them alone Brit," interrupted Chris, turning back to the window. "I will not let my brother corrupt Lance. Not anymore." |