Chapter 26 By the time Saturday rolled around, Justin was ready to come back to school. Thanksgiving had been horrible. All his family kept asking him who he was seeing. He got tired of keeping up the lie, and almost blurted it out at the dinner table.  When his mom dropped him off at the dorm, he was so excited to be back and seeing Lance, that he had to try and calm himself so his mother wouldn't notice anything. As his mother drove away, he waved before turning to run up the stairs and up to his room. When he walked into his room, he expected to find Lance waiting for him, but he was nowhere to be found. He quickly unpacked, and decided to take a nap as he waited for Lance to come back from wherever he had went to. He laid on Lance's bed letting the scent that was Lance to flow over him. He had just seen him days before, but it felt much longer. He closed his eyes as he sighed falling into a light sleep. About half an hour later, Lance walked into the room. The first thing he noticed was Justin sound asleep on his bed. He had hoped to be back before Justin got home, but the events of the morning had prevented that. He reached up and touched his eye gingerly. He knew once Justin saw him, he would freak. Taking his jacket off, he walked over to the bed and lightly touched Justin's back rubbing it softly. Justin smiled still alseep. As Lance continued to run his fingers up and down Justin's spine, the younger boy slowly opened his eyes. Smiling he turned onto his back, but the smile quickly faded as he got a good look at Lance's face. Reaching up , he touched his check moving Lance's head slightly so he could get a better look. "What the hell happened to your eye?" Lance sighed. "I got into a little fight with someone." Justin sat up in bed and wrapped his arms around Lance's waist. "Who?" Lance looked dow not wanting to say, but knew Justin wouldn't let up. "Joey," he whispered. Justin pulled back from Lance and got up from the bed. Beginning to pace, he cursed under his breath softly looking back at Lance every few seconds. "Why the hell did he hit you?" Lance stood up and stopped in front of Justin putting his hands out so that Justin would stop pacing. "Justin, I confronted him." Justin looked shocked. "What? Why?" "I knew he was a good friend to you the first couple of months. I thought if I could talk to him maybe he eould change his mind about you and us. I was wrong. It's seems his beliefs about gay people run very deep." Justin reached out and touched the skin next to Lance's eye gingerly. "Still doesn't explain why he hit you." Lance sighed. "I'm stubborn, that's why. I wouldn't give up. Finally pissed him off, and he went off and punched me." Justin turned towards the window and looked out for a few minutes silent. When he turned backs toward Lance, he frowned. "Damn him. I'm going to kick his ass." Justin began to walk toward the room door, but Lance reached out and stopped him. "Don't baby. I'm fine. You going after him will only make this whole thing worse." "But, Lance," Justin said with a small pout. "Justin, just leave it okay," he said pulling Justin closer to him so he could wrap his arms around his waist. "I'm glad you're back." "Me, too. I missed you. I know I just saw you on Wednesday, but it felt like a month." Justin lowered his head into the crook of Lance's neck. "Same here, baby, but now your back until Christmas break." Justin sighed. "Don't remind me about that. How am I going to be away from you for three weeks?" "I don't know how we'll do it, but it shouldn't be too bad. I'll come up and visit again," Lance said pressing his lips to Justin's neck. "You better. I think I will tell my mom over break." Lance looked up. "You're sure you want to do that?" "Yeah, I think I should," Justin said nodding slightly. "Want me to be there with you?" "No. I don't want to throw it all at her at once." Lance laughed. "Good idea." "Christmas should be interesting," Justin said laughing as he pulled Lance down to the bed. changes 25 menu changes 27