chapter4-6

CHAPTER 4

Justin was standing in Joey�s doorway silently, �Um, can I come in?�

�Oh, yeah, of course J,� Joey said, wondering what could be worrying his friend this much. �Ok,� Justin thought, �this is it.�

�Well, what you said last night got me thinking�� Justin started.

�About me being gay?� Joey asked. Justin admired Joey for being so comfortable with himself since he told everyone.

�Yeah�.because I�m bi,� Justin admitted. Joey�s breath caught in his throat. �No way,� he thought, �this isn�t happening.�

�Really?� Joey asked.

�Yeah, I�ve known ever since the group started. I just thought I should tell you because, well because I�ve felt like a wuss since you told us last night. I should�ve told you all earlier, but I was scared,� Justin confessed.

�Yeah, I know how you feel, believe me,� Joey said.

Lance was in shock. How the hell had Chris figured him out? As if he�d read Lance�s mind, Chris said, �I came in to ask you if you wanted to go clubbing one night and you were in the shower. So I sat down on your bed to wait. And your journal was open and I saw the words �I think I�m gay.� I didn�t read anything else, I swear. They just popped out at me. I never said anything because I figured you didn�t want me to know,� Chris finished.

�I can�t believe�.why didn�t you�.what have I done?� Lance finally got out.

�Well, Joey is miserable. And I think JC and Justin are mad at you, � Chris told Lance.

�W� wh.. what about you?� Lance asked cautiously.

�I don�t know. I still don�t understand why you would call Joey all those horrible things if you are gay too,� Chris said with a sigh, �I don�t want to be mad at you.�

�I don�t know, Chris. I honestly don�t know. And you know what the worst thing about all this is?� he asked Chris.

�What?� Chris wondered aloud.

�I think I love him,� Lance said so softly that Chris thought he was hearing things.

CHAPTER 5

�This is too good to be true,� Joey thought, �the man I love might love me too.� He wasn�t sure what to do next. �You ok Joey?� Justin asked.

�What? Oh yeah, I�m fine. Just thinking,� Joey said, coming out of his trance.

�About what?� Justin questioned further.

�Lance,� Joey lied. He didn�t want to tell Justin just yet.

�Oh,� Justin sighed, �I forgot about that for a few minutes.�

�It�s kinda hard to forget when you�re the one he attacked,� Joey said softly.

�Yeah, but remember Joe, he will hate me too when he finds out that I�m bi,� Justin reminded Joey, �We can get through this together.�

�Ok. And Justin?�

�Yes?�

�Thank you for telling me,� Joey said smiling at the one he had come to love.

�Thank you for giving me the courage to tell you. I should probably tell the other guys? What do you think?� Justin asked.

�That might be good. Well, you should at least tell Chris and JC. I�ll come with you if you want,� Joey offered.

�Ok,� Justin said, �is now a good time?�

�As good as any� Chris first?� Joey suggested.

�Yeah, Chris first�.� Justin trailed off.

Chris was now the one who was in shock. First of all, he couldn�t believe that Lance loved Joey. But once he got over the shock of that, he was confused. Why had Lance yelled all those horrible names at Joey if he loved him?

�Ok, I know this doesn�t make sense,� Lance started.

�You can say that again,� Chris mumbled.

�And I can�t explain. Because I have no idea what made me do that. But I made him hate me. I made the man I love hate me. What�s wrong with me Chris?� Lance asked with tears clouding his usually sparkling green eyes.

�Come here Lance,� Chris said, wrapping his arms around the younger man, �I�m sure Joey doesn�t hate you. Remember, he thinks you hate him. You can fix this Lance.� Lance�s sobs halted Chris�s words and Chris hugged him tighter. �What is going on,� Chris thought to himself.

Justin knocked on Chris�s door and looked over his shoulder to flash a quick smile at Joey. �I can do this,� he told himself silently, �Chris didn�t reject Joey, and he won�t reject me.�

�I don�t think he�s here,� Joey concluded, �lets try JC and you can tell Chris later.�

�Ok,� Justin agreed. They both walked 2 doors down to JC�s room, pausing for a short moment when they heard Lance�s sobs coming from his room, but continuing as quickly as they had stopped. Justin wondered what Lance would be crying about, he�d always had a soft spot for Lance, but he didn�t want to upset Joey so he kept walking. He knocked on JC�s door and JC answered quickly.

�Hey guys, ready to do something? I was thinking we could go to a movie or something. Or we could just rent one and watch it here�� JC voice trailed off as he saw the serious look on Justin�s face. �What�s up J?�

�I need to talk to you, C,� Justin said, his voice wavering.

�All right, come in,� JC said.

�Ever since Joey told us that he�s gay last night, I�ve been thinking and I decided I need to tell you something,� Justin started.

�Ok,� JC agreed, a little confused.

�I�m bi,� Justin confessed.

�Bi?� JC asked.

�Yeah, as in bisexual,� Justin said, blushing.

�Ohhh�. You guys aren�t� you know� dating are you?� JC wondered out loud after he got over the shock.

�Oh God, no, C,� Justin told him.

�Ok,� JC said. They then began talking about what movie they would rent. But Joey was lost in thought. �What did he mean by Oh God, no?� Joey wondered.

CHAPTER 6

A little while later, Lance�s sobs had turned to sniffles and he began to fall asleep. �Chris,� he said, his voice breaking, �will you stay with me until I fall asleep? I need to know that at least one of my friends doesn�t hate me.�

�Sure Lance,� Chris said, but Lance was already asleep. Chris sat there for a while longer thinking about everything that had happened over the last 24 hours. Just yesterday they had all been happy and joking around until Joey told them his news. No, he wasn�t blaming it all on Joey, because Joey can�t help how he feels. Chris still couldn�t understand why Lance would do that to Joey, but he felt bad for the boy. He didn�t know how long Lance had felt that way about Joey, but it must have been hard. Especially since his parents had pounded into his head that gay people were sinners. Chris looked at Lance�s sleeping body, patted his shoulder, and headed back to his room.

As soon as Chris had returned to his room, he heard a knock on his door. �What now?� he mumbled to himself. He opened his door to see Justin, JC, and Joey standing in the hallway. �Come in,� he said to them.

�Where were you about an hour ago? We came here but there was no answer,� Justin asked.

�Oh, I was over in Lance�s room,� Chris said before he could stop himself. He saw Joey flinch when he said Lance�s name and Justin and JC�s eyes were flashing with anger. �I am still mad at him, I just went in their to ask him something�� Chris tried to explain.

�It�s ok Chris, I�m not going to ban you from HIM or anything,� Joey said.

�I know, Joe, I just� I dunno� So what are you guys doing here?� Chris said, changing the subject.

�I have something to tell you,� Justin said, speaking up.

�Ok, come on in,� Chris replied.

�All right, I�m just going to say it� I�m bisexual Chris,� Justin blurted out.

�You are? Woah� So are you and Joey�?� Chris asked.

Joey gave Justin a quick glance before answering for him, �Nope, we aren�t together.� �But we should be,� he added to himself.

Lance woke from his restless sleep to find himself on the couch in his hotel room. He noticed that Chris was gone immediately and almost started crying again. But then he realized that he had only asked Chris to stay until he fell asleep and he was sure Chris had done that. It was about 2:00 in the afternoon and he was bored. He knew he couldn�t do anything with the guys, except maybe Chris, and he couldn�t find anything else to do. �Being bored sucks,� he mumbled to himself. He decided to go down to the hotel restaurant to get something to eat since he hadn�t eaten anything all day. Before leaving his hotel room he made sure none of the guys were in the hallway. He ran quickly to the elevator and went downstairs.

�So, are you going to talk to Lance, Joey?� Chris asked randomly in the middle of their movie.

�What? No, why would I? He hates me, remember?� Joey snapped.

�Joe, you know he didn�t mean it. I talked to him and he feels really bad,� Chris told Joey.

�Then he can come to me,� Joey finalized.