Chapter 5 Classes began and a month passed. With each passing day, Lance fell more in love with his roommate. He tried everything he could to stop the growing feelings but it was unavoidable. He liked everything about Justin. Even the fact he talked in his sleep. To help himself forget his feelings, he threw himself into his classes. Whenever he was in their room with Justin, he buried his head in a textbook. Joey was around a lot too. Justin and him would go play one-on-one down at the rec center every night after dinner. Sometimes, they dragged Lance along and onto to the court, but once they saw how bad he truly was at the game they stopped. Tonight Lance lay on his bed with his notebook and textbook in front of him studying for the test he had the next day. After the test, the rest of the weekend was his. Justin had invited his friend Josh to come and visit him, and Lance was looking forward to meeting Justin's friend after hearing so much about him and talking to him once or twice briefly on the phone. Lance looked up as Justin walked in carrying his gym bag and ball on one arm. "Still studying, man?" "Yep. Big test tomorrow." Lance turned a page in his notebook and looked down at it briefly. With Justin back for the night, it would be hard to study. Lance watched as Justin threw himself on his bed. "I can't wait until tomorrow. It'll be nice to have Josh around for a couple of days." "Yeah. It'll be good to meet him. He seems like a nice guy." Lance closed his textbook. He knew when Justin was hyper like this he didn't stop talking. He thought an hour on the basketball court would have calmed him down, but he could plainly see that wasn't the case. "Don't you have some studying to do, J?" Justin shook his head. "All done. My test isn't til next week, so I can start after Josh leaves Sunday." "Oh, well, I need to get back to my stuff then." Lance picked up his books and walked over to his desk just as the telephone rang. Lance picked it and after a few moments handed it to Justin. "It's Britney." Justin smiled as he jumped off the bed and grabbed the phone from Lance's hand. "Hi, baby." Lance wanted to groan, but didn't. He hated to listen in on these calls between Justin and his girl. It only reminded him of the fact that Justin was straight and would never want him like he wanted him to. Lance sighed as he listened to Justin's side of the conversation. When Justin raised his voice, Lance turned to look at him. "Britney, what the hell are you talking about? Nick Carter? That.. that.... jerk! I've only been gone a month and you've already started seeing someone else." Lance looked back at his books when Justin turned towards him. He didn't want to be so obvious about his eavesdropping. "You could have at least at the decency to tell me in person you know.... Yeah, well Josh wouldn't do your dirty work, huh?.. whatever" Justin hung up the phone quickly. Lance turned back to look at him. "Sorry, J." Justin turned to look at him, but didn't say anything. Lance could see he was obviously upset. Justin reached down for his basketball and began to walk out the door. "Justin, wait up. Want company?" Lance looked down at the books. He should get back to studying, but if Justin was upset, he wanted to be there for him even if it was just to be there silent. Justin shrugged his shoulders. "Thought you had to study for your test tomorrow." "I do, but I can study more later on or in the morning. The class isn't until noon." Lance pulled off his long sleeved shirt and reached for a tank top thrown on the back of his chair. "Let's go. I might even play you a game." At that, Justin smiled and laughed. "Yep, that is the way to cheer me up, Bass. Let me kick your ass all over the court." Lance groaned. "Whatever, Justin. Let's just go before it gets any more dark outside." As they walked down to the basketball courts, Justin actually seemed quite content with his new single status. As he bounced the ball on the ground, he turned towards Lance. "See next time we go to one of Joey's parties, I don't have to be good. I can find me a girl and have some fun. This time I am finding you one too, you know." Lance wanted to tell him that he would be wasting his time. None of the girls interested, and right now the only boy that interested was so not available to him. He had started to tell Justin so many times over the past month that he was gay, but he never could find the words. It shouldn't be that difficult really. The only thing stopping him was the fear that once Justin knew the truth, Justin would not want to be his friend or worst yet his roommate. He would have to tell him eventually before something happened and Justin found out on his own. When they reached the basketball court, Justin stripped off his shirt and started shooting hoops while Lance watched. Justin stopped and threw the ball at him. "Come on Bass. You said you would play with me." Lance threw the ball back at him missing him by a clear distance. "I'll just sit here and watch" And enjoy the view. Justin laughed. "Fine, Bass. I'll kick your ass another day." BACK MENU NEXT