| Chapters 25-27 |
| CHAPTER 25 �Jace,� Lance said, smiling up at his boyfriend of a little over a month, almost laughing at his JC�s nervous rambling, but then deciding against it. JC would probably get upset, and that�s not what Lance wanted to do. JC was just so adorable when he was worried. �Yeah?� JC asked, wondering what Lance would say. �I could never find anyone better than you,� Lance confessed sincerely, using his hand to turn JC�s head to face him. When JC remained silent, Lance continued, �And Jace?� �Yes?� JC sighed happily, thinking about what Lance just said. �I love you,� he whispered, looking through JC�s eyes, straight to his soul. JC couldn�t say anything, he was frozen. Lance was surprised to see tears coming from JC�s eyes after a moment. �What�s wrong Josh?� he asked, concerned. �I love you too Lance,� JC sighed, �I was just praying that you would say that.� �I can say it again if you�d like,� Lance suggested, wiping all the tears from JC�s face. He had a huge goofy smile planted on his face. �Ok,� JC said shyly. �I love you Josh,� Lance stated proudly. �I love it when you say that,� JC informed Lance, bringing him in for a kiss. **** The guys had that day off, so they were all trying to decide what to do with their free time. Chris wanted to spend time with Dani, so he called her and went off his separate way. Justin decided that he wanted a new pair of shoes, so he and Joey decided to go to the mall. JC and Lance didn�t answer the door when Justin knocked, planning to ask them to go to the mall, so Justin figured they were still asleep. The truth was, they were so into the kiss that confirmed their commitment to each other, that they didn�t even hear Justin knocking. As soon as Justin returned to his room, Joey knocked on his door and then went to find a bodyguard. Once they found one to accompany them, they headed to the nearest mall. When they arrived at the mall, which was only a few minutes from their hotel, Joey got out of the car, letting go of Justin�s hand. Justin pouted, even though he knew that they wouldn�t be able to be affectionate in public. He wished that gay couples weren�t frowned upon by most people, and that he and Joey could just be a regular couple outside of their hotel room. But he knew that he and Joey would never be normal individuals to the world, let alone be a normal couple in the world�s eyes. He ignored his thoughts and turned to Joey to ask where he wanted to go first. Joey didn�t really care, so they headed to the FootLocker so Justin could get a new pair of shoes. Joey teased him the whole way about not needing any more shoes, but Justin just shrugged off the teasing. He wasn�t totally with it anyway. Part of his mind still lingered on that girl. The girl who knew. **** Liz was bored. None of her friends were home. Her brother wasn�t even home to bug her. Her parents had gone off somewhere for the weekend, leaving her home alone with the exception of her brother, who was never home anyway. She could find anything to do around the house. �Maybe shopping will get me in a better mood,� she thought, �especially since it�s not my money.� She looked over at the counter where her parents had left some spending money for her while they were gone. �I might as well get some new clothes and some CDs while I can,� she thought, grabbing her car keys and heading to the mall downtown. **** Joey was getting very sick of waiting for Justin to pick out the perfect new pair of shoes. He told Justin to go to The Gap when he was done and then walked across the mall to find it. There weren�t many people in this mall, not to mention this town and Joey was grateful of that. They�d brought along two bodyguards just in case, but there weren�t really any younger people here anyway. He entered The Gap and began to look around, but froze when he felt someone�s eyes on him. He turned around to see a girl who looked about 20 staring at him. �Oh great,� he thought, �I�ve been spotted.� But the girl didn�t come over. She kept looking through the clothes in front of her, looking up at Joey every once and a while. Joey jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He relaxed when he realized that it was just Justin. �Hey Joe, find anything good in here?� Justin asked. �Yeah, I found some stuff that would look great on you,� Joey responded, looking away from the girl. �Cool,� Justin responded, following Joey to a different rack of clothing, never noticing the girl that was staring at the pair. **** Liz couldn�t believe her luck. Justin and Joey were standing together right in front of her. She knew that she had to make her move soon because she would probably never have this opportunity again. She panicked when she lost sight of them, but then looked over to the door to see them leaving the store. She dropped the clothes that she was going to buy, and followed them out the door. She could buy the clothes later, but she�d already forgotten that they existed. She noticed that they were going over to the food court and decided that she could use something to eat too. She sat a little ways away from them, because she didn�t want Joey to realize she was following them. He�d seen her staring at him in The Gap after all. She ordered a taco from Taco Bell and sat down to continue watching Justin and Joey interact. The mall was almost deserted with the exception of a few elderly people, but she could tell that they were being cautious. She could also see the little touches they gave and the small smiles that followed. She wasn�t imagining it after all. She smiled in delight. This was for real. **** Justin and Joey both ordered two hamburgers and fries from Burger King before sitting down to eat. They talked about whatever, but neither of them were really totally there. Justin was thinking about that damn girl from the concert again. Joey was thinking about that girl from The Gap. There was something about her, but he couldn�t figure out what it was. But he didn�t see her at a table in the corner, watching them, and he didn�t see her follow them as they headed to another store. **** JC and Lance decided to spend the day lying in bed, watching movies in each other�s arms. JC had fallen back asleep, leaving Lance with his thoughts. Lance was in heaven. After he and JC had had their little talk this morning he felt so much better. He had been very nervous about telling JC he loved him. He hadn�t exactly planned it, but had wanted to tell JC soon. When JC started talking about the seriousness of their relationship, Lance knew that it was a now or never kind of thing. He knew he wouldn�t be able to get up the nerve to bring up their relationship again. So he just went with his heart, and told JC how it felt. And when JC had started crying, he�d been very worried. Ok, he�d been more than worried. He felt his heart break, because he thought he�d caused JC pain in some way. But when JC said it back, Lance felt like he was on top of the world. And he loved that feeling. It was such a new and different feeling. He�d never felt this way about anyone before and he hoped that this relationship would last. If not, he would not only loose his love, but he would loose one of the best friends he�d ever had. CHAPTER 26 Justin was looking around in some random store that Joey had wandered in. The clothing looked pretty damn scary to him and so did the guy working there. He had about 20 different tattoos and other body mutilating objects scattered all over his body and Justin was sure there were more hiding underneath the dark clothing he wore. He�d never seen this store before and wondered what it was called. He saw �Hot Topic� written on one of the shirts, so he guessed that was the name of the store. He looked over at Joey, who was trying to decide which color hair dye to buy next, and made a face. He hated when Joey dyed his hair. He liked it just like it was now, kind of long, with blonde tips. But Joey would do whatever he wanted, so Justin just went with it. **** Liz stood outside of Hot Topic, watching Justin watch Joey. She was trying to get the courage to go into the store. She was definitely not gothic, and she never would be. But she needed to go in there. She needed to give Justin and Joey what they deserved. She kicked herself for even considering not entering the store. She had waited so long for this day and she couldn�t back out now. Not when she had the opportunity right in front of her. Liz pulled the small piece of paper out of her purse, the one she kept in there just in case she had a chance to give it to either Justin or Joey. She took a deep breath and walked slowly into the store. Neither Justin nor Joey noticed her, which was a plus. She pretended to look around, saying �no thanks� when the guy who worked there asked if she needed help. She wandered around a little more, trying to find her courage. Finally, she made her way over to Justin. He didn�t even notice her standing next to him; he was busy staring at Joey, who was now discussing hair dyes with the guy who had the tattoos. She waited for a minute, admiring the obviously loving stare that Justin was directing at Joey. She wasn�t exactly sure how she was going to do this, so she stood there a minute trying to decide what to do. She decided to just walk by, shoving the paper into his hand, and keep walking. She wouldn�t go far, because she wanted to see his reaction to it. Justin was still spaced out, so she figured now was the best time. She slowly walked past him, putting the small paper into his hands as she passed. She kept walking until she got to a rack of clothes a few feet away and watched. **** Justin broke out of his trance as something was shoved into his hands. He looked down to see that he was now holding a piece of paper. Then he looked up, trying to figure out how it got there. He didn�t see anyone in front of him, so he turned around, scanning the store. Then he saw her. �Holy shit, it�s the girl from the concert. The girl who might know,� he thought to himself. They made eye contact and then he looked away, a little freaked out. Was she a stalker or something? Then he remembered the paper in his hand. He opened the folded paper, read what it said, and gasped. **** JC woke up a few hours later. He tried to roll over, but something � or someone, rather � was blocking his way. He opened his eyes to see Lance laying on his stomach, his limbs sprawled all over the place and his head resting on JC�s chest. JC smiled, remembering Lance�s earlier confession. If someone had told him a month ago that he�d be laying here with Lances asleep on top of him, thinking about their relationship, he would have laughed. JC figured that hew as bi because he still found women attractive. But now he was with Lance so he wasn�t sure what he was. He laid there for a few more minutes, lost in his thoughts, before he decided to wake Lance up. He figured he might as well wake him up because he was sick of laying there and if he tried to get up with out waking Lance up, Lance would wake up anyway. Lance was laying on one of his arms so he trailed his hand up Lance�s spine to his neck, while ducking his head lower to kiss Lance�s eyelids, nose, and lips. Sure enough, Lance woke, mumbling something. His eyes focused slowly and he looked up to see JC with a big smile on his face. Lance slid up his body to be in a better position to return JC�s kiss. �I like being woken up this way,� Lance said, grinning at JC. �Oh yeah?� JC teased, �I�ll have to remember that.� �Yeah, baby,� Lance responded, making contact with JC�s lips one more time before getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom. �Hey Lance, I need to talk to you about something when you�re done in there,� JC said. �All right. Are you ok Jace?� Lance asked, concerned. �Yeah, I�m great. We just need to talk about something,� JC assured him. �Ok, I�ll be done soon,� Lance replied, disappearing behind the bathroom door. JC soon heard the shower start and he rolled over, stretching out his tired muscles. While he was thinking about their relationship, he had remembered something they still had to talk about and wondered if Lance was as worried about it as he was. **** Liz watched as Justin read the paper. She smiled as his jaw dropped and she heard his gasp. His eyes were wide as he looked up at her, wide with fear. He was frozen, he couldn�t move. She watched him for a couple more minutes and then saw Joey walking over. She could hear their conversation as they spoke. �Hey Justin, what�s up? You look like you just saw a ghost,� Joey joked, laughing at Justin�s expression. Justin didn�t say a word. He just turn around and pointed, pointed at the girl. Joey wasn�t sure what to think, so he followed Justin�s gaze and when he saw the girl from The Gap, he couldn�t figure out why Justin would point at her. �What�s going on Justin?� Joey asked curiously. Justin still couldn�t make out any understandable sentences, �I can�t, oh my, what the, who does, I don�t�� �Huh?� Joey asked, �what is wrong with you, J?� �That girl,� Justin breathed out, still holding the scrap of paper. �Yeah, I got that much, what about her?� Joey questioned, very curious now as to why Justin was so flustered. �She�s the one,� Justin said softly. �The one?� Joey exclaimed, �could you be any more vague?� �At the concert,� Justin said, thinking he was clarifying it for Joey. �Well, you�re going to have to do better than that Just, because there are about 50,000 girls at a concert,� Joey replied. He would be laughing if he wasn�t so worried about Justin�s mental state. �The one, Joey. The one who knows,� Justin almost yelled. �You�re joking,� Joey accused, �that�s not funny Justin, don�t freak me out like that again. Ok, I admit, you are a good actor, I�ll stop teasing you about that. Now stop joking around.� �I�m not, just look,� Justin defended himself, thrusting the paper into Joey�s hand. Joey took the paper, rolling his eyes, and looked down to read it. He look uninterested as he finished and looked up, �very funny, now will you stop?� �I. Am. Not. Joking. Joey,� Justin said pronouncing each syllable of each word before continuing, �see that girl over there?� �Yeah, what about her already?� Joey asked, frustrated because he wasn�t getting any clear answers. �She gave it to me. Don�t look at me like that. I�m dead serious, Joe,� Justin said, and Joey gasped as he saw the look on Justin�s face. �She knows about us?� Joey asked, confused, �how could she? We�ve been so careful?� �I know, that�s what I thought,� Justin replied. �Well maybe we should ask her, talk to her. Make sure she won�t tell,� Joey suggested. �Good idea,� Justin said, turning around, looking for the girl. But she was gone. �Shit, where�d she go?� Joey asked. �I don�t know, but we have to find her,� Justin said, looking down at the note once more before darting out of the store, Joey right behind him. CHAPTER 27 Lance came out of the bathroom twenty minutes later smelling nice and fresh. He sat down beside JC and turned to look at his boyfriend. �So what are we going to talk about? You regret what we said last night, don�t you? I didn�t mean to pressure you into saying it. I�m so sorry Josh,� Lance rambled on and on, showing JC all of his insecurities. �Lance, baby, calm down. I�d never regret saying �I love you� because I do. I love you with all my heart and I don�t think � no- I�ll never stop. So don�t worry about that. I wanted to talk to you about our parents. We should probably tell them about us,� JC ended, watching his boyfriend closely. �Oh Josh, I�m so sorry! I didn�t mean to doubt your love. It�s just so amazing that you love me back. And I�ve been thinking about our parents lately too. You think we should tell them?� Lance asked. �Yeah, they should know about us, especially since we are going home in a few days and we will probably call each other a lot,� JC answered. �Ok, so should we tell them over the phone? Or in person?� Lance wondered aloud. �I think in person would be best, but I think we should do it together. I want to be there for you and I was hoping you could be there for me too. Why don�t you come to my house instead of going right to Mississippi and then after we tell my parents, we can go tell yours,� JC suggested, making it clear that he�d thought about this a lot. �Sounds good,� Lance agreed, already beginning to worry about his parent�s reactions. He no longer had to worry about JC�s love, but now he was afraid his parents would disown him. **** �Shit!� Justin thought to himself, �where the hell did she go? How does she know about us? I can�t believe this!� He stopped running as he reached the store entrance. There she was, sitting on a bench, looking nervous. Justin froze again. He didn�t know what to say. Joey ran into Justin when he stopped suddenly, pushing Justin towards the girl. Joey also stopped when he saw her. She stood up and went to them since they didn�t seem to be moving towards her. �Um,� Justin started. �How did you know?� Joey wondered aloud, interrupting Justin�s stuttering, as he looked down one more time at the tiny piece of paper in Justin�s hand. I know about you two. You know what I�m talking about Why hide? You are so great together. **Liz Liz froze for a moment, a little star struck. Two fifths of her favorite band were standing right in front of her. It was unbelievable. But she knew she had to explain herself. �I just notice all the small things most than other people,� she said, looking up at the worried pair. She felt bad for freaking them out. �Small things?� Justin asked. �Yeah, glances, winks, little touches, things like that,� Liz explained, seeing both of them blush. �But we�ve been so careful,� Joey said. �Don�t worry, I�m not going to tell anyone. But I do really think you are great together. You should come out to the world. You�d be surprised at how many fans would stay loyal and accept you for who you are inside. It doesn�t matter that you�re gay, or bi, or whatever you two are. In the end, all that matters is the music. Which is great by the way,� Liz finished her speech, looking for a reaction from the two men in front of her. �How do you know that? You don�t know that every one of our fans wouldn�t hate us,� Justin exploded, fire in his eyes. Joey grabbed his arm, trying to get his attention while Liz stepped back. She figured that she shouldn�t mention that she knew many, many people that hoped they were together or that fans of only JC, Lance, or Chris probably wouldn�t give a shit. So she just stood, wondering what Justin would say next. But he just stalked down the mall and went into FootLocker. �Sorry about that,� Joey apologized, �I don�t know what�s wrong with him.� �It�s ok, although it wasn�t what I expected,� Liz replied. �He�s never what you expect,� Joey said, looking lost in thought. �I�m not surprised,� Liz responded, �I�m sorry to interrupt your mall trip.� �No problem. It�s good to know at least one fan accepts us. I�ve been trying to convice Justin to come out to the world, but he doesn�t listen,� Joey told her sighing, �it would be so much easier if everyone knew.� �I�m sorry, I wish I could help,� Liz said. �Actually, there is something you could do,� Joey replied with a smile. He looked around, making sure Justin wasn�t within earshot. Just in case, he leaned to whisper his idea in Liz�s ear. Liz smiled and nodded. �I�ll see what I can do.� She took out a piece of paper for him to write on. She looked down at it and smiled when he�d finished. She now had Joey�s e-mail and phone number. She said goodbye to Joey after promising to go home and start �the plan� right away. She was excited. She sat down on the bench in the mall, took out her journal, and wrote. |