---

But this is how it really happened:


        Lance smiled sadly, looking away as well. "Bye Justin," he offered softly. He stepped back and studied all of them, smiling. "I'll be your guys' biggest fan," he promised, smiling through the tears that he could feel in his eyes. They all looked at him, and after smiling once more, he turned and hurried to the ticket woman. He couldn't stay one more minute. If he did, he was going to crack.
        He was halfway down the ramp when he heard a strangled cry. "Lance!"
        Lance turned around quickly to see Justin standing at the head of the ramp. He threw something... A small box, at Lance, who caught it easily. Then Justin turned and disappeared.
        Shaking violently, Lance fled down the rest of the ramp, tears streaming down his cheeks as he boarded the plane. He stared down at the little box in his hands, wrapped like from a jewelers, and frowned at it. He turned his gaze out the window, towards the terminal, where Joey, JC, and Chris were all standing at the window, looking longingly at the plane. Justin was sitting down, on the bench behind them, with his head in his hands.
        Lance slowly looked back at the small box and cut the tape holding the white top in place with his nail. A small jewelry case looked back at him, and he shook it out, holding it in his lap and studying it for a minute. Then, slowly, he opened it.
        Justin's diamond earrings glittered back at him.

        Lance settled down in front of the tv with a nervous pit in his stomach. "Today on TRL, we have some very special guests with some very big, very tragic news," Carson told the audience, who made a sound of concern. "Yeah. So, let's welcome, Nsync!"
        Lance felt his heart wrench in his chest as he stared at the four men walking out from the back. Joey was looking sad, Chris had his head down, JC was frowning, and Justin was just... Blank. And he was missing his diamond earrings.
        Well of course he was, they were in Lance's ears.
        He'd gotten them pierced almost as soon as his plane landed. He had gotten them pierced almost as soon as the plane landed, and the fact that they had been in Justin's ears once just made Lance feel all that much better. They even looked decent in his ears, which was nice.
        Lance's family and friends were thrilled to have him back. He'd been there for a little over a week, and while he missed the guys something terrible, he was certainly enjoying the rest. Though secretly, he missed the guys a lot more than he let on when people asked or the guys called.
"Now, you guys have some really big news. I'm guessing it has something to do with why Lance isn't here?" Carson asked.
        "Yeah," JC agreed slowly, his voice sad and his normal smile gone. "There's really no easy way to say this, but Nsync is now Lance-less."
        There were gasps among the crowd of shock and horror. Lance smiled weakly in his living room, staring at his friends, who were all looking like they were on the verge of tears. That actually made Lance even more upset, and soon he was blinking back tears.
        "Lance was very tired," Chris explained slowly, sadly. "This lifestyle just wasn't for him."
        "We're still Nsync," Joey spoke up. "Just not the same Nsync. And we'll still keep bringing you great music, it'll just be a little different."
        "They told us," Justin began slowly, not looking into the camera. "That we were supposed to smile and be cheerful when we came out here, but the truth is that we don't feel like smiling or being cheerful. We just lost one of our best friends, and we miss him." Justin finally raised his eyes, and Lance covered his mouth in horror when he saw how haunted they were. "A lot." Tears sprang to Lance's eyes as he stared at the tv.
         "And just to show that you guys are doing okay, you're going to be singing one of your songs for us, is that right?" Carson asked.
        "Actually," JC hedged. "We were supposed to be singing 'No Strings Attached' after this commercial break. But we... We just lost one of our best friends. And our management is probably going to kill us, but no, we're not." He looked up at the tv. "Lance, man, if you're watching, we really miss you, buddy." He sighed and looked down.
        Chris cleared his throat. "We're going to be in England next week," he told the audience. "We'll be preforming there, and we'll take some footage for you guys of us backstage. But none of us can be cheerful right now."
        "Justin? Where are you going?" Carson's alarmed voice rang through out the studio as they watched Justin standing, ripping off his mic stuff. Lance stared in horror, covering his mouth again.
        "I'm not crying on national television," Justin snapped, wiping his eyes as he pushed past the security to the back. Lance gaped at the scene, then as his friends all apologized quickly and ran off to go help him.
        "Wow," Carson said slowly, looking back at the camera. "Lance, if you're watching, you have four very upset best friends right now."
        Lance nodded, even though Carson couldn't see him. He threw himself onto his couch and began to sob.

        "Get off of me," Justin snapped, pushing at the attendants that tried to fix his running makeup. "I'm not going back out there."
        "Justin," JC begged, grabbing his hands. "I know that you're upset about Lance. We're all upset about Lance. But we've got to move on, otherwise our careers are going to be ruined!"
        "You didn't make him quit!" Justin hissed at him. "You have no idea what it means to be upset about Lance's leaving!"
        JC sighed. "He didn't quit because of you, Justin. He was tired."
        Justin glared at him. "Don't be dumb, Josh," he growled darkly. JC flinched and looked helplessly up at Joey and Chris.
        Chris leaned forward and hugged Justin tightly. "I miss him too," Chris whispered softly.
        "Me too," Joey added, hugging Justin's other side.
        JC sighed, then wrapped his arms around Justin's waist. "Me too," he repeated.
        Justin covered his face in his hands to conceal his tears. "Me most."

        Justin watched sharply as Chris hung up the hotel phone. They were all waiting for Chris' report, but Chris was just gazing down at the carpet.
        "He says he's doing well," Chris told them softly. "He wanted to know how England is."
        "Did you tell him, 'sucky without you'?" Joey sighed drearily.
        "No," Chris answered. "He's happy, guys. He really sounds happy. He mentioned dating this one girl casually... Emile, or something like that. He says she's really nice. And he's still doing FreeLance, and he's working at his best friends' convenient store. He laughed when he told me about it. He said that it's a lot of fun, because he works with all of his friends and everyone knows each other, so they don't do anything all day." Chris dropped his chin to his hand. "How come he doesn't miss us as much as we miss him?"
        "He does," JC assured him, hugging him tightly. "He's just... He's enjoying the rest. When it catches up with him, he'll call."
        "Whatever, Jace," Justin muttered, standing. "I'm going to bed." He carefully avoided their piercing gazes as he left, going into his room and throwing himself onto the bed. He would not cry tonight. Not this time. So what if Lance was happy? So what if Lance was dating? So what if it wasn't him?
        So what if Justin didn't feel quite complete anymore?
        He had done it. He had chased Lance away. The other guys knew it, too, but they were just nice about it. They were as angry at Justin as Justin was. They were secretly blaming him. It was all Justin's fault. Justin had made Lance go away. Justin had ruined everything. And they all hated him for it. They did. But the worst part was that Justin did, too.
        Justin looked over at the clock and stared in disbelief. In the blink of an eye, it had gone from around 8 to 1:30. Where had the time gone?
        Justin sat up quickly as he suddenly realized what he was missing. He clenched his teeth and jumped to his feet, furiously packing his bags back up. He was getting back what was his, no matter what. He stormed out of the room when he was packed and banged on JC's door for several minutes. He didn't care who he woke up. He was getting his friends awake at all costs.
        Wait, this was dumb, he had a key.
        Justin stuck the key in the lock, waited for the green, and threw the door open. He stormed into the bedroom, threw back the covers, and shook JC furiously.
        "Huh? Wha...?" JC asked, looking confused and blinking a few times as Justin turned on the light. "Ow. Justin? What're you...?"
        "Get ready. We're going."
        "We're what?" JC asked disorientedly. "What're you talking about?"
        "We're getting him back. Get dressed." Justin threw a pair of pants and shirt at JC. "Move it!" he bellowed.
        JC jumped into action.
        Justin strode to Joey's room, pounded a few times, then used the other key. He went to Joey's bedroom, shook Joey awake, and threw clothes at him.
        "Where're we going?" Joey asked, yawning even as he pulled his shirt on backwards.
        "We're getting him back. Get packed."
        "But we've got a concert--" Joey protested sleepily, looking down in confusion at his shirt.
        "Who gives a fuck about the concert?" Justin shouted back, so loudly that Joey jumped and looked up at him with wide, astonished eyes. "Now move your ass or we're leaving you behind! And fix your shirt, it's on backwards!" With that, Justin stalked out of there and to Chris' room. He pounded once, gave up, and unlocked the door, going into Chris' bedroom.
        Chris was sitting on the bed, packed, dressed, and ready to go with a smile. "Let's go!" he exclaimed cheerfully, jumping to his feet. "We're getting Lance back, we're getting Lance back!"
        "Damn straight we are," Justin muttered, turning and walking out of the room. "Whether he likes it or not."

        Lance yawned sleepily as he looked at the clock. It was 1:42 a.m.! Who would be knocking on his door?! No... Someone was pounding on his door. He frowned in worry and hurried out of bed, raking his hands through his messy hair as he walked down the hallway and to the front door.
        "Who is it?" he asked, not bothering to look in the peep hole even as he opened the door. His friends had covered it up with a "Lance" sign and he hadn't taken it down yet. He stopped short and stared at the four men on his front stoop in shock. Justin looked pissed, Joey looked tired, JC was smiling, and Chris was grinning broadly. "I thought you guys were in England," Lance said, utterly bewildered and stunned. Not to mention embarassed. He must have looked terrible after just waking up. He was a mess, and they looked perfect. Except Joey, who looked like he was wearing his shirt inside out.
        "We were," Justin snapped, stepping inside the house. "But you have something of mine."
        "I do?" Lance asked in confusion. "You all flew to another continent so you could get something back from me?" He followed Justin to the bedroom, and his friends followed him, shutting the door behind them. "I could have just mailed it to you, or waited 'til you came back or something..."
        Justin completely ignored him as he scanned Lance's bedroom. He must have found what he was looking for, because he strode over to the dresser of drawers. Lance looked at his other friends, who just shrugged, and then turned back to Justin, who was picking up his wallet. Lance frowned in confusion, and then Justin opened it, searched through a stack of pictures that Lance had in his wallet, and pulled one out. He dropped the wallet back on the dresser, walked back to the doorway, and held up the picture of Lance at 16.
        "Mine," he stated firmly, to Lance's utter bewilderment. His eyes landed on Lance's ears, and then his thumbs ran over Lance's earrings--Justin's earrings. Then he was backing Lance against the door and kissing him.
        Lance had never been more startled in his entire life. He uttered a small sound of protest, then wrapped his arms around Justin, kissing him back. Justin covered Lance's body, holding him firmly, and then he was stepping back, the angry look in his eyes gone. Lance just blinked and stared at him. He glanced at the other three, who were just smiling, and then back to Justin.
        "Did I miss something?" Lance finally asked, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat quickly and tried again. "What are you guys doing here? And why did you just kiss me?"
        "You're coming back with us," Justin told him matter-of-factly. "And because I wanted to."
        "Wait," Lance ordered, caught off guard. "I'm what?"
        "Coming back with us," Justin repeated. "I don't care about some little southern priss that you're dating here, or some stupid grocer job that you've got, or whatever it is that you're doing. I miss you, the guys miss you, and you're coming back with us if we have to drag you kicking and screaming. And with the mood I'm in, don't think I won't do it."
        "He has been in a mood all night," JC spoke up conversationally to Lance. "Like, he wouldn't talk to any of us on the plane ride over, and then when we were trying to get transportation here, he actually bought a limo because they said that was the only way we were going to get here at this hour without waiting for another hour. I mean, Justin Timberlake is now the proud owner of his own long black stretch limo."
        Lance stared at JC, then looked at Joey and Chris, then back to Justin, then back to Joey. "Joey, why is your shirt on inside out?" he asked finally, shaking his head and laughing softly. "I swear. Can you guys not take care of yourselves?" He turned to the closet and dragged out his suitcase without looking at them. "I'm gone for two weeks and Joey, you can't even get dressed correctly. Is this some new fashion thing you're trying? 'Cause it pretty much sucks."
        Joey looked down at himself and grumbled, "Justin told me it was on backwards. I was tired. Sue me. He woke us up at 1:30 and told us to get our asses out of bed."
        "I know the feeling," Lance drawled, tossing some clothes into his suitcase from his drawers as he looked up at Justin. Justin was smiling slightly, his hands tucked into his back pockets. "Is it a nice limo?" he asked.
        Justin grinned. "Yeah. Nice limo."
        "You gonna sell it?"
        Justin shrugged. "I dunno. Depends on how much money I can make off of it. It's got my name of it. Girls will pay big bucks to ride in that."
        "Oh yeah, especially the one I've been seeing," Lance assured him, making a face at a long sleeved pink tee shirt. "What the hell is this?" he demanded, turning on his friends and holding it up. "It's pink. I don't own any pink clothes."
        They all raised their eyebrows at him.
        Lance flushed and quickly threw it into the drawer. "It's not what you're thinking," he told them haistly. "I haven't... I mean... We aren't..." In exasperation he threw his hands up into the air. "I've been home for two weeks, guys! I'm not a slut!"
        They all laughed, reached out, and hugged him.

        "Hey, Lance?"
        Lance looked up as JC entered his hotel room and smiled, pushing aside his papers and taking off his glasses. "Hey, Jace. What's up?"
        JC sank down into the chair beside him. "Can we talk?"
        Lance nodded and frowned slightly. "Absolutely. What's on your mind?"
        JC stared at him pointedly. "Justin."
        Lance flushed and looked at the carpet. "What about him?"
        "He follows you like a god damn puppy, Lance, and you just treat him like you treat all of us. I know that you don't think of him like you think of all of us, so what are you doing? You've been back for two months! Why haven't you reacted?"
        Lance frowned at him, absently twisting one of the diamond earrings in his ear. "JC, it's much more complicated than that--"
        "Only because you want it to be," JC retorted. He tried a different tactic. "Lance, he loves you. He was so miserable without you. You saw that TRL. He actually left the stage crying. Do you know how much flack he took for that?"
        "Not to mention the fines you guys got?" Lance returned evenly. He held up the papers. "I'm still going through the contracts. I think that I can get your guys' money back." He was fairly certain that he could. He was onto something, he just knew it.
        "Look, Lance--" JC didn't finish, but kissed him instead. Lance uttered a protest and pushed JC off in disbelief, his eyes wide.
        "What was that for?" Lance exclaimed, shocked.
        JC smiled. "I'm just proving my point. It's nothing personal, Lance."
        "What point? And how does it involve you kissing me?" Lance touched his lips, stunned.
        JC laughed. "The point that if you didn't want Justin to kiss you, you would have pushed him off. But we all saw you clearly not push him off. And Justin... Right now, he's the happiest he's ever been. Just by following you around, Lance. Imagine what he'd be like if you were actually responding to him."
        Lance frowned at him. "You're going someplace with this, Jace. Spit it out already."
        JC sighed. "You know exactly where I'm going with it, Lance. You're just not willing to accept it."
        Lance stared at him.
        JC sighed again, leaning down and lightly kissing Lance's cheek. "See you at dinner," he told Lance, then turned and walked out. Lance stared after him in disbelief for a long time.

        "I did it!" Lance exclaimed, rushing into Chris' room waving the contracts. Four heads lifted and looked at him in confusion and surprise. "I did it, I did it, I did it!" He hadn't been this excited since... Since... Well, he didn't know.
        "You did what?" JC asked finally, impatiently.
        Lance proudly held up their contracts for them to see. "I got a hold of the lawyers, and Jive, and it turns out that you guys can't be fined for one of the group members leaving! It's under contract that if you don't preform, you get fined, but if you lose someone, you get compensated. So really, they owe you money!" He turned the papers to face him again. "Approximately 23 thousand, actually." He looked up at them excitedly. "I told you they couldn't do this!"
        "Lance," Joey broke in slowly. "We're glad that you're all happy and stuff, but really, we're just excited that you got your contract back. The last thing we want is to cause more trouble."
        Lance frowned at him, his smile dying. "But you guys got cheated..."
        "It was money well spent," Chris assured him.
        "And besides," Justin scoffed. "It was just a small amount of money. Barely skimmed the surface of how much we've got."
        Lance dropped down onto the couch beside Justin unhappily. "But you can have it back--" he protested.
        "We don't want it," JC told him.
        "We just want you," Chris agreed.
        Lance sighed and tossed the papers onto the table, dropping his head to his knees. "You know, you guys are really supposed to be working with me, not against me."
        Justin patted his back, laughing. "We are. Just not in this."
        "Ugh. You guys are really annoying sometimes," Lance sighed. "Here I go and do all this really hard work to try and get you your money back, and you tell me to forget about it."
        "Normally we'd be thrilled," Joey objected. Lance lifted his head to look at him. "But they were nice enough to give you back your contract. Don't bite the hand that feeds."
        "But they bit first!" Lance reminded desperately.
        Justin just laughed and patted his back again. "Get over it, Lance."
        Lance sighed. "Well now I've got to go call the lawyers and tell them to forget it." He stood, taking Justin's hand as he did and holding it behind him, snatching up the papers off the table at the same time. He dragged Justin out of the room, calling to his friends without looking back. "Don't order for us, I'm taking Justin out!"
        "You are?" Justin asked, confused, as he stood behind Lance as Lance unlocked his room. They stepped inside as Justin continued. "Shouldn't I be taking you out since you like, did this really great--"
        Lance cut him off by forcing his mouth onto Justin's.
        Justin responded immediately, wrapping his arms firmly around Lance. His grip was desperate and passionate and perfect. He was perfect. Lance reached into Justin's back pocket, feeling Justin stiffen in surprise, then yanked out Justin's wallet, holding it up so he could see while still kissing him, removed the picture of Justin at fourteen, placed the wallet back in Justin's pocket, and pulled away just enough to look into Justin's eyes.
        "Mine," Lance told him softly, holding up the picture for Justin to see.
        Justin glanced at it, then back at Lance, and then kissed him again. "You can have anything you want," Justin whispered to him inbetween kisses. "I'll give you anything."
        Lance nearly sighed out loud. "Just you," he whispered back. "I just want you."
        Justin moaned softly and captured Lance's lips with his own. "I love you," Justin told him softly as Lance kissed his neck. "I love you so much."
        "I love you too," Lance promised. Justin kissed him again, and then Lance lost all conscious thought.

        "And I will take, you in my arms, and hold you right where you belong. 'Til the day my life is through, this I promise you..."
        Lance smiled over at Justin as Justin sang to the crowd. Justin winked back at him, causing a light blush to form on Lance's cheeks. The other guys were trying not to smile as they all sang.
        When it was JC's solo, Justin came over and wrapped an arm on one of Lance's shoulders, letting his fingers lightly brush Lance's chest. Lance shot him a mock-glare, but it didn't last when Justin winked at him again. He was a sucker for those baby blues.
        The song came to a close and they all hurried off the stage, being handed towels and water bottles as people backstage congratulated them. Lance twisted his towel and smacked Justin with it lightly in the butt. Justin turned around and laughed, wrapping his arms around Lance tightly and hugging him from the back as they staggered to the locker room. Lance liked moving that song to the end for this tour. Justin always sang it to him, and then he could cuddle with Justin afterwards.
        Justin placed a playful kiss on Lance's lips as they all entered the locker room. Lance grinned up at him and laughed as well, hugging him tightly before dropping onto the couch in exhaustion. A second later Justin flopped down on top of him and they both laughed.
        "You two are sickening," JC told them, grinning. "You would never know to look at you that you've been together for, what? A year? Year and a half?"
        "Year and 8 months!" Lance declared against Justin's chest, which was what was in front of him.
        Justin laughed and sat up, on Lance's stomach. "And 15 days," he added.
        "14," Lance objected sing-songingly.
        Justin glanced down at him. "15."
        "14."
        "15."
        "14."
        "15!"
        "14!"
        "I'm telling you, it's 15!"
        "And I'm telling you, it's 14!"
        "It is not!"
        Lance beckoned Justin to lean down, and when Justin did, he whispered in Justin's ear. Justin blushed and sat back up.
        "Okay. It's 14."
        Lance burst out laughing while the other guys just shook their heads.
        "We don't want to know," Joey told them firmly, laughing.
        Lance grinned, but it was Justin who spoke. "Good. 'Cause we weren't gonna tell you anyway!"
        "You mean Lance," Joey corrected teasingly. "He was the one who had to remind you."
        Justin snickered. "Trust me, Joe, I didn't forget."
        Lance laughed out loud. Justin glanced down at him again, grinning, and dropped onto the couch behind him, on his side, and cuddled up to him.
        "I love you," Justin told him softly, smiling gently.
        Lance looked up into his eyes, grinned, and kissed him lightly. "I love you, too."

~~~~END~~~~

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