Quietly opening the door, Lance looked out in the hallway to see if the way was clear.
Not seeing his captor, Lance quickly snuck out into the hallway and began making his way towards the door, slowing only when he reached the living room and heard music.
Wondering why JC would have the radio on now when he was so against it earlier, Lance started listening in and was surprise to discover that it wasn’t the radio at all, but in fact it was JC.
Here and now
Is the way I live
Unafraid of what life gives
And there have been times in my life
I couldn’t see a difference
In pain or in joy,
or sun or in rain,
it just seemed the same
But I’m only human
Branded by ambition
But I’m going to make it
Here and now
Is the way I live
With an open heart and mind
“Why did you stop singing?” asked Lance quietly walking into the room, surprising JC.
“How did you get untied?!” exclaimed JC.
“My question first,” ordered Lance. “Why did you stop? You sounded great!”
“I can’t remember the rest,” admitted JC sadly. “Ever since my parents kicked me out I’ve only been able to practice a little here and there.”
“Have you ever thought about perusing a music career?” asked Lance as he walked over to JC and sat next to him on the piano bench.
“When I was young and stupid,” laughed JC sadly. “I had been studying music since I was a kid, but my parents decided to end that dream for me.”
“So?” asked Lance annoyed. “You’re what? Twenty-five?”
“Twenty-six.”
“Fine, twenty-six,” replied Lance rolling his eyes in the process. “The point is you’re old even to not care what your parents think!”
“It’s not that easy,” sighed JC. “I never had the opportunities that other kids had. . . that you had.”
“I wasn’t always rich you know,” grumbled Lance. “I too came from a middle class family and not once did I let my parents interfere in my dreams!”
“But did they kick you out at seventeen because you were gay?” asked JC sadly before turning his attention back to the piano.
“I’m sorry,” whispered Lance, surprising himself that he actually met it. When his own parents had discovered that he was gay, there was a lot of yelling involved but not once did Lance think that they would throw him out.
“You know you’ve never answered my question on how you became untied,” remind JC, wanting to chance the topic.
“You tied my wrists too loose,” replied Lance softly. “I thought I could escape, but then I heard you singing . . .”
“You probably could of made it,” admitted JC with a small smile. “I’ve always been known to lose myself in my music.”
“Yeah, but then I remembered you had my keys and I didn’t really feel like walking into town with just boxers on . . .”
“Sorry about that,” smiled JC weakly. “I didn’t plan any of this. My brother might still have clothes here somewhere from the last time he visited our grandparents. I haven’t seen him in years though so I don’t know what size he is.”
“Look tomorrow,” suggested Lance while shrugging his shoulders. “I’m kinda tired now anyways.”
“I’m going to have to find some other way to keep you here then,” informed JC. “I can’t risk you trying to escape again.”
“Josh,” sighed Lance, rolling his eyes. “I could have escaped by now if I had wanted to and you wouldn’t have even noticed. What makes you think I’m going to change my mind over night?”
“I can’t take that chance,” whispered JC.
*~*~*
“Explain it to me again. Why are we sharing a bed?”
“Because I sleep like a cat,” informed JC. “Every move you make, I’ll know about it.”
“Just stay on your side for the bed,” grumbled Lance. “The last thing I want is to wake up with you drooling against me.”
“Don’t worry,” sighed JC, rolling his body over so he was no longer facing Lance. Soon they were both fast asleep.
*~*~*
Early the next morning, Lance woke as sunlight started to stream though the crack in the curtains.
At first Lance didn’t know where he was. All he knew was that her was in a strange room and that there was a comforting warmth pressed up against his side.
Then it all came crashing back to him.
Turning his head slightly Lance was about to yell at JC, but two things stopped him from doing just that. One, he realized that somehow they had both gravitated to the middle of the bed during the night and two was the fact that JC took Lance’s breath away as he soundly slept.
Mentally kicking himself, Lance wondered how he didn’t notice it before. But then he remembered that JC had the skit mask on the entire time in the car and Lance had been too pissed by the time they arrived at the beach house when he had removed the mask to notice.
Sighing, Lance rolled away from JC’s warm body and crawled out of the bed. As he looked back at JC to see if he woke up the older man, Lance grinned as JC groaned and slid closer to Lance’s side of the bed, trying to find the missing warmth. Finally JC gave up and wrapped his arms around Lance’s pillow, hugging it tightly against his chest.
‘What’s happening to me?’ wondered Lance as he tried to forget about how cute JC looked. Needing to get away from the room, Lance wandered into the kitchen in search of food. ‘I should be freaking out because I’ve been kidnapped, but I’ve never felt his alive before!’
Finding only can goods and instant coffee in the kitchen, Lance knew they would have to go out to buy some food.
Making himself a cup of coffee, Lance began searching the various bedrooms until he found the one that looked like it belonged to a young man.
Rolling his eyes at the poster of a half-naked woman on the wall, Lance quickly yanked open the doors to the dresser and was rewarded with it being full of clothes.
Collecting a pair of jeans, t-shirt and some clean boxers, Lance carried the clothes into the bathroom where he had a quick shower before dressing in the clothes. The clothes were a little big but they would do for the time being.
Walking back into the kitchen Lance only had a few more moments of quiet before JC rushed out of the bedroom thinking that Lance had escaped.
“I’m right here,” spoke Lance calmly with a grin on his face as JC skidded to a stop at the doorway to the kitchen.
“Sleep like a cat, eh?” asked Lance, his grin growing bigger.
“I see you’ve found Tyler’s things,” replied JC ignoring Lance’s mocking.
“Yeah,” nodded Lance. “They’re a little big but I can buy some clothes in my own size this afternoon when we go out.”
“We’re not going out,” replied JC, shaking his head.
“We have no food, Josh,” sighed Lance, pointing to the empty cupboards he had left open. “We need to go out and buy some food.”
“We’ll eat the can stuff.”
“Josh!” sighed Lance dramatically. “I’ll be with out the entire time and besides my idiot friends probably haven’t even noticed I’m missing yet! It’s best to go now than a few weeks or months from now.”
“I can’t afford it, okay,” replied JC quietly, avoiding Lance’s eyes. He tired unsuccessfully to hide his embarrassment.
“I’ll pay for it,” shrugged Lance.
“With what?” asked JC in surprise. “All your credit cards and money are back at your place.”
“I keep an emergency card in a secret compartment in my car,” informed Lance.
“I’ll get dressed then,” replied JC, forcing a smile. ‘It must be nice, being rich,’ he thought as he wandered back into the bedroom
*~*~*
“Lance! No!” protested JC two hours later. After buying the food, Lance drove to a store where they could buy some new clothes. After picking out various items for himself, Lance was determined with buying JC some clothes as well.
“All you have is what you’re wearing!” argued Lance as he tossed two pairs of jeans of JC’s size into the cart along with some t-shirts.
“I can wear Tyler’s stuff!”
“Yeah right,” snorted Lance. “His clothes are big on me! You’d be swimming in them!”
“Fine!” sighed JC in no mood to argue. He however vowed to pay Lance back if he ever figured a way out of this mess.