“You sonuvabitch.”
Throwing off the hands reaching for him, he stumbled towards his room and slammed the door. The three visitors turned to look at Lance, who sank against the door and slid to the floor.
“Joey, what have you done?” He dropped his head into his hands.
“Lance.” Chris’ voice was close to his ear then he was wrapped in a familiar embrace.
Another pair of arms encircled them, and he was cocooned in warmth. When JC and Chris leaned back, Lance looked over at Joey, who was huddled in a corner of the sofa. The three men on the floor stood up and spread out a bit.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to tell them.”
“Don’t blame him, man. We wouldn’t let him leave our hotel room without knowing where he was going. We were kinda worried, to be honest. He’s been seeing you guys everywhere, and we thought it was just another…” Chris waved his hands around in the air before he turned back to the young man he thought he had lost.
“Why? Why did you do this?” The relief he felt was suddenly overshadowed by anger.
He slowly advanced on Lance, fury radiating off him. “Joey spouted some bullshit about vampires and Justin nearly dying and not getting older and…”
Justin suddenly appeared in front of them, his body a shield in front of Lance. Chris’ voice ended in a squeak as a large hand grabbed a handful of material and lifted him off the ground.
“Justin, pô-lo para baixo. {Justin, put him down.}” Lance was calm, even as the tension level rose. He curled his fingers around his friend’s bicep, squeezing gently.
Setting Chris back on his feet, Justin watched as the other man scrambled towards Joey. “Eu não os quero aqui. Eu não posso fazer este outra vez. {I don’t want them here. I can’t do this again.}”
Turning away, the young man sank to the floor and leaned against a wall and buried his face in his arms. Lance moved up behind him and wrapped his arms around the young man.
“Será aprovado. Está indo ser fino. {It will be okay. It’s going to be fine.}”
“what the hell are they saying?” JC whispered to Joey and Chris as he watched the two men.
Lance looked up at them. “I told Justin everything’s going to be okay.”
“You couldn’t have heard me.” He looked around at his friends, knowing the thumping music from the apartment below had covered his words.
“I hear a lot of things. I see a lot of things.” Lance shrugged elegantly as he continued to stroke Justin’s hair. “You really shouldn’t have come. This is just going to make everything harder in the long run when we leave again.”
“What do you mean leave? You’re alive, you’re here, things can get back to normal.”
Justin snorted from the safety of Lance’s arms then turned to look at his former band mates. “Didn’t you listen to anything Joey said?”
Chris rolled his eyes. “That vampire shit? C’mon, man, you need a better story than…”
His eyes grew wide, and he shrank back as Justin’s eyes glowed and his face changed, sharp fangs appearing in his mouth.
“Oh fuck.”
JC and Joey were dumbstruck by the change. Lance sighed and gently slapped the back of Justin’s head.
“Stop showing off.”
Justin’s face changed back instantly, appearing as he always did. He ducked his head in apology. “Sorry.”
Lance looked up at the three men practically sitting in each other’s laps on the sofa. Unwrapping himself from Justin, he got up and grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels and three glasses from the bartop that separated the kitchen and the living room. Pouring a healthy shot in each one, he passed them out and watched as each man tossed the alcohol back with a quick gulp.
“Better?” The deep voice held laughter, but he poured another round for them.
“Uh, you’re not having one?” Chris eyed him over his glass. “Or can you not drink it?”
“We had some beers after our set this evening. I don’t think I need any more alcohol.” Lance set the bottle on the coffee table and left it uncapped so that his friends could refill.
“So, how much did Joey tell you?”
JC looked between the men, not quite sure where to let his gaze settle. “Well, he told us that you’re really old, and that Justin almost died and you…um…what did he call it?”
“Embraced.” Chris offered the word as he reached out to grab the whisky. Looking at the items in both hands, he set the glass aside and drank straight from the bottle.
“Yeah, embraced Justin. Then you guys died.” JC stopped abruptly as he remembered that awful phone call telling him that two of his best friends were dead.
Standing, he walked over to Justin and pulled the young man into his arms, hugging him tightly. He began to cry, burying his face in Justin’s neck as he cried tears of relief. Justin hiccupped once then wrapped his arms around JC in a tight hug. Lance watched them, his heart aching for all that they had left behind.
When the hugs were finally over, the five men gathered around the coffee table and listened as Lance once again explained everything that had led up to Justin’s embrace. Then Justin talked about the places they had been and the people they had meet and the things they had done.
“So, now we’ve got this gig over at a bar called the Starlight Lounge. Viki’s the owner, and she’s really cool. Dionne and Gabrielle are the waitresses, and they’re cool, too.”
“Sounds like you want to take them home.” Chris raised an eyebrow.
Justin blushed, and the other four laughed. Pouting, he looked at Lance. “Gabrielle’s got a thing for Lance.”
It was his turn to blush, and he reached out to swat Justin’s knee. “Yeah, well, the way you’re hitting on her, I’m not surprised she likes me better.”
“Maybe we need to check this place out.” JC leaned back on his hands, stretching his legs out in front of him.
“It’s nice. Good food, and the entertainment ain’t bad.” Joey chuckled as two pillows came flying at him.
They talked and brought everyone up to date on everything that had been happening in their lives. Justin was alternately happy and sad at the news about his family. Lance squeezed his knee in assurance, and the young man smiled gratefully. Joey was the first to yawn, which started a chain reaction.
“You guys mind if we crash here?” Chris stretched out on his stomach, wrapping his arms around a pillow.
“Naw, you’re good. You need anything? We’ve got extra pillows and blankets.” Justin stood up and walked down the hall to the closet.
“Um. You’re not going out?” Joey looked back and forth between them.
“Not since we went last night. We’re good for a while.” Lance smiled before hugging everyone and heading off to his room.
Justin smiled shyly and traipsed off to his room after handing out pallet material. The three men in the living room quickly made up their beds. Chris stripped down to his boxers and looked at Joey.
“What did you mean about them going out?”
“They went out last night and didn’t come back until close to dawn. Hunting, I think.” He closed his eyes against the thought.
JC and Chris looked at each other and shivered slightly before settling down on the blankets.
Repeating the previous morning, there was a pot of coffee brewed on the counter when Joey stumbled into the kitchen. He picked up the Superman cup and filled it, sitting down at the table. JC stumbled in a few minutes later, eyeing Joey before filling his own cup. They sat in silence for a little while. Justin walked in and nodded at them, then grabbed his cereal and milk and sat down to eat. Chris walked into the kitchen and grabbed a cup of coffee, spinning a chair around and sitting in it backwards as he watched his friends.
The front door opened, and Lance strolled in with a paper and a bag of muffins from the bakery down the street. He dropped the bag in the center of the table and grabbed a cup of coffee for himself before sitting down. Looking around, he shook his head and sighed, reaching into the bag to get a chocolate chip muffin. That seemed to be the spark to get everyone going, and four other hands reached for a muffin.
The silence was comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. The phone rang, and Justin sighed in relief at something breaking the quiet. He reached over and grabbed it.
“Hello?”
“Hey, G. No, that’s fine. What time and where? Sure, ‘kay. Bye.” He laid the receiver on the table and looked at Lance.
“Gabrielle wants us to meet them at the mall food court at 1:00 to talk to Joshua.”
JC looked up. “Hunh?”
Lance chuckled. “Gabrielle’s son is named Joshua. She wants us to talk to him about the music business since we’ve had a little experience with it.”
“What’d you tell her?” Chris stopped chewing and looked at the two men sitting across from him.
“Just that we used to have a record deal and it fell through. They don’t know who we are.”
“Can I…uh…go with you?” JC looked back and forth between the two men.
Lance and Justin shared a look.
/Is this going to cause a problem?/
/What are the chances Joshua was an *N Sync fan?/
Justin smiled before looking over at JC. “Sure, why not. You heading back to your hotel to get changed?”
The older man nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be back around noon.”
That was the signal for everyone to get up and get the day started. There were somewhat awkward hugs all around, but there were smiles, too.
“You guys playing tonight?”
“Yep. Wednesday through Saturday.”
“Kewl. We’ll be there.” Chris smiled as he followed the other two out the door.
Justin closed it behind his friends and leaned against it, staring at Lance. “I don’t know how I’m going to say goodbye again.”
Lance nodded once in agreement. “It never gets any easier, J.”
They each headed for their rooms to get ready for the day.
At noon, JC showed up at the apartment and watched television as Lance and Justin finished getting ready. By 12:30, they were heading for the EL to get to the mall. JC found it amusing and relaxing to just walk onto a subway and not worry about getting mobbed by fans. Out of all the things that had changed in the past two years, he was the most happy about that.
Holding onto a strap, he looked at his friends. Justin’s skin was a soft ivory, paler than JC could ever remember him being. He was still muscular, his body moving with fluid grace that brought back memories of long hours in the rehearsal studio as they went over dance step after dance step after dance step. The long mahogany curls were startling, nothing like the buzz cut he had a few years ago, but they suited him, the dark red making his eyes even bluer. The mustache and goatee were just as hard to get used to, and JC remembered all the grief they had given the young man when he wore the scruff on his chin before…he closed his eyes and tried not to remember that awful day—or the days that followed.
His eyes shifted to Lance, who was staring out the window at the people rushing to their various destinations. Here, the changes were more dramatic. The dark hair reminded him of Lance’s movie, but it was much longer, laying across his shoulders and back. He still kept it messy, but there was a difference in the look—this was more wild, and JC thought it suited his friend well. His friend also had a mustache and goatee that made him more unrecognizable. For a moment, JC wasn’t even sure it was Lance until he saw the soft green eyes watching him. His heart skipped a beat, just for a moment, until the other man smiled and reassured him it wasn’t a dream.
They hopped off the train and walked into the mall, searching the food court for Gabrielle and her son.
“There she is.” Justin pointed her out.
The trio walked over, and she turned around when Justin said hello.
“Ah, the fair Gabrielle.” He swept her into his arms and dipped her, ignoring her laughter and attempts to break free.
“Randy. One of these days I’m gonna take you up on your flirting, and we’re going to see if you’re man enough to handle it.”
“Mom!” The young man beside her dropped his head into his hands.
Justin laughed and returned her to her feet. “Sorry, man. I’m Randy.”
Joshua smiled and held out his hand. “I’m Joshua. Mom’s told me a lot about you.”
“I’m James.” Lance held out his hand to the young man, giving his mother a quick smile.
JC noticed that Gabrielle’s smile was a lot more real when it was aimed at Lance.
“And this is a friend we met a few years ago. Gabrielle, Joshua, this is…”
“JC Chasez.” Joshua’s voice was awed. “Oh, man, I loved that arrangement you did for Aerosmith. It totally rocked.”
“Thanks. I hear you’re interested in music.” JC smiled as they took seats around a table.
“Yeah. I think I get it from Mom here, but I play guitar and sing with a band. We do local gigs. I think we’ll end up doing some frat parties and stuff at UIC when I get there, but I’ve always enjoyed music, and I’d like to see where it takes me.”
“Do any writing of your own?”
The conversation narrowed to the two Joshuas, and Gabrielle looked at Justin and Lance.
“You guys hungry? I was just about to head over and get some lunch.”
“Sure. You coming, Randy?” Lance stood up, pulling her chair out.
“Naw, I’m gonna listen. Bring me back something, okay?” He looked up at the pair before turning back to the discussion.
Lance and Gabrielle nodded and headed for one of the counters.
“Want anything in particular?” Lance scanned the menu.
Gabrielle gave him a quick look and a grin before she also looked up at the lighted board above their heads. Stepping forward, she placed her order and then stepped aside so that Lance could order. As they waited, she turned back to the three men at the table.
“Thank you for coming. It really means a lot to him. Your friend showing up was a definite bonus. I think I’m going to score major Mom points for this.”
“My pleasure. JC happened to be in town and looked us up. It was kind of unexpected, but it’s all good.”
They gathered their trays and took them back to the table, passing out the food. Joshua inhaled his lunch in between questions for the three men, and Gabrielle leaned back in her chair as she watched. JC and Justin took turns answering questions, as Lance watched everyone else. He felt her gaze on him, and when he turned to look at her, he was surprised to see the gentle smile on her lips.
Looking at her with a question in his eyes, she just shook her head and turned back to her son. Glancing at her watch, she realized it was already three. Piling their lunch garbage on the tray, she picked it up and carried it to the garbage can.
“Kiddo, we got to git.”
“Mom.” It was the long-suffering sigh of a teenage boy, and the three men laughed.
“I haven’t heard that in a while.” Randy took a sip of his drink. “Where are you from?”
“Memphis.” Gabrielle smiled as she pulled the keys out of her purse.
“Me, too. Haven’t been there in a long time, though.” His eyes clouded over a bit as he played with his straw.
“Neither have I.” She chuckled as Joshua tried to get her to stay a little longer.
“Sorry, hon. But you’ve got your physics, and I need to pick up groceries before work tonight.” Gabrielle gathered her purse before turning to face the others.
“James, Randy, I’ll see you tonight.” She held out her hand to JC. “JC, it was a pleasure to meet you.”
“Hey, Joshua, you doing anything tonight?” JC studied the two people in front of him.
“No, why?”
“Can you get into the bar where your mom works? I’m gonna go and listen to these guys.”
Joshua turned pleading eyes towards his mother. She raised an eyebrow, and he folded his hands together to beg.
Laughing, she brushed his cheek with her knuckles. “Fine. After you’re finished studying. Don’t come before eight, okay?”
The young man wrapped her in his arms, lifting her off the ground. “Thanks, Mom.”
She smiled at the men. “Thanks again. See you tonight.”
“Bye, G.” Justin waved at them.
“Bye, Gabrielle.” Lance smiled
“Bye. See you tonight.” JC waved also.
When mother and son had disappeared from view, JC turned to the others and cocked an eyebrow. Lance rolled his eyes and walked towards the exit as Justin and JC followed him and laughed.
Table of Contents
Chapter Five