Justin rolled his eyes, "It's not that early, Lance. You just slept in later."

Lance looked at his watch and a big grin spread across his face. "I guess I did, didn't I?"

It was quiet for a bit until Justin finished his eggs. "So, you and Joey have been pretty close lately, huh?" he asked.

Lance blinked at the question and shrugged. "Yeah," he said, and picked up a menu. They were getting close. Ever since the night Justin found them sleeping in the same bed, they had been sharing a hotel room. They didn't sleep in the same bed every night, but more and more often, after kissing goodnight and crawling into their separate spaces, one would eventually give in and seek the warmth of the other. They made out sometimes, giggling until they finally settled in each others arms. And on a couple occasions, they masturbated together -- eyes focused on bitten lips, swiftly moving hands.

None of the guys questioned their involvement, they just let it be. They didn't question when they held hands on the bus, or when they danced a little bit too close at the club. It hadn't even been a topic of conversation until this morning.

Justin shoved a piece of French toast in his mouth and tilted his head. "I don't want you to get hurt," he said.

"I'm not going to get hurt," Lance said, even though he was still worried that he might.

"I'm just saying," Justin started, still chewing his food. "You know Joey as well as I do -- he's a womanizer. And you're..." he smirked, "not a woman." He continued eating and chuckled like he had just realized how funny he was.

"Thanks, thanks," Lance said, folding his hands on the table and leaned forward. "After all these years, now you tell me I'm not a woman?"

Justin dabbed at the syrup that had dripped on his shirt. "I'm talking about your 'plumbing' this time, silly," he said. "Other than the fact that you have a dick, you're all girl." Justin laughed again.

Lance rolled his eyes. "I am not."

Justin continued to laugh at his newfound comedic skills as Joey walked up to the table. "Hey sweetheart," Justin said, snickered, and took a sip of his orange juice.

Joey whapped him on the back of the head, causing Justin to spit his juice back into the glass. "Nobody calls me sweetheart." He frowned, then sat down next to Lance and smiled. "Unless Lance wants to..." He placed a hand on Lance's cheek and pulled his face close.

The kiss was one that shouldn't have had a witness. Lance watched Justin slowly put his glass down out of the corner of his eye, then he closed his eyes and allowed himself to be kissed. Justin could clearly see Joey's tongue work its way in and out of Lance's mouth, and his hand rub the inside of one of Lance's thighs. Justin coughed and ahemed and they broke apart before their waitress could also get an eyeful. Lance ordered the same thing Justin was having and Joey just asked for coffee.

The waitress left and Justin glared at them. "I don't mean to rain on your gay parade," he said, and laughed at himself yet again. "But you guys might want to keep that kissyface stuff to a minimum in public."

"Bah," Joey said. He found Lance's hand and held it tightly so that Justin could see. "No one will care. And besides, you know our policy...'Deny Everything.' It seems to work every time you get caught with someone other than Britney."

All the humor drained out of Justin's face. Lance put his hand over his mouth so Justin couldn't see him smile when he snickered. "Ha, ha, Fatone," Justin said. "Just for that, I'm leaving you with the bill." Justin wiped his mouth with the paper napkin sitting on his lap, then plunked it down on his plate. He stood up and leaned over the table. "You two just...be careful."

When Justin was out of earshot, Lance poked Joey in the side. "You didn't need to kiss me in front of him. Especially like that," Lance said.

"Ah, he deserves it," Joey said. The waitress brought Lance his orange juice and Joey his coffee. Joey nodded at her before continuing. "Besides, you didn't really seem to mind." He nuzzled into Lance's neck to make his point.

"Justin is right though, you know," Lance said. "We're going to have to start being more discreet. Especially since we're getting..." The waitress came back with his breakfast and he hesitated. "getting...you know."

"Yeah," Joey said.

Lance thanked the waitress, and waited until she walked away again before he spoke. "What are we, anyway? Are we dating? Are we...what?"

"We're together," Joey said and put an arm around him.

"Good," Lance said, and buttered his French toast. "I was beginning to wonder about that."

"Oh, Lance," Joey said. His hand slipped down around Lance's waist and he rubbed at his hip. "I haven't been sure of what we are either, but just know that I'm NOT playing games with you."

"No, I didn't think that, not really," Lance said. "But Joey, we haven't even talked about this yet."

"And we should," Joey said. "We should talk."

"How about tonight then?" Lance said. "After we get back from that silly photo shoot we have to do."

"Sounds good. It's a date," Joey said. He made a big production of checking that no one was looking, then kissed Lance softly before letting him finish his breakfast.

After the photo shoot, which was pretty standard and mostly boring, except for the fact that they got to touch each other a lot, they went back to their hotel room. They hadn't said a word to each other since the elevator -- a nervous twitching had seized the both of them, rendering them silent. Inside, they sat down facing each other on opposite beds.

"So," Lance said and traced a finger over the pattern on the comforter.

"So," Joey said.

"So, we're together," Lance said.

"Yeah. Together. Like, dating," Joey said.

"Okay. I've never really dated a guy before," Lance said.

"Neither have I," Joey said.

Silence drifted around the room for a moment, then Lance met up with Joey's eyes.

"Have you ever had sex with a guy before?" Lance asked.

"Nope," Joey said.

"Neither have I," Lance said.

"I've only ever kissed a guy," Joey said. "That and what I've done with you." He smiled widely at that thought.

"I've kissed a couple of guys, made out a little," Lance said. "And then, the you know, with you."

"So."

"So."

"Are we getting serious then?" Joey asked.

"I think so -- I mean, yes, I'd like to," Lance said. A slight blush creeped up his face.

Joey thought it made him look somewhat cherubic, and reached over to brush across his cheek. "Good," he said.

With that, Joey pounced on Lance, pushing him back on the bed, and assaulted him with licking and tickling. And despite the fact that the Fatone tongue can be a dangerous and paralyzing weapon, Lance eventually gained the upper hand and wrestled his way on top of Joey and pinned down his arms.

Joey took a few exhausted breaths as Lance laughed and wiggled around in between his legs. "Okay, you win. Now let me go," he said.

"Sure thing sweetheart," Lance said and kissed the tip of Joey's nose before letting go of his arms.

Joey rolled them both over then slid off Lance. He stood by the side of the bed and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. Clothing was then thrown necessarily around the room, as skin needed to feel skin -- lips needed to find nipples and navels, and hands needed to slide down smooth backs and tease the underside of arms.

They ended up on their sides, facing each other, both stroking slowly in order to try and outlast the other. This time though, Joey leaned down and briefly sucked on the tip of Lance's penis. He pulled back and smiled as Lance's body spasmed.

"Oh, you bastard," Lance said, but had thrown his head back and was smiling.

Another few swift strokes, and Joey joined in the ecstasy. And afterwards, as he laid his head on Lance's chest, hearing every heartbeat with perfect clarity, he thought that it wouldn't be too bad to be called 'bastard,' even though 'sweetheart' had come off Lance's lips sounding like bread and honey -- he had tasted it in Lance's mouth and found it lingering in the back of his throat, just for him.

End.