On the drive back to the dorm, the boys were silent. Each lost in their own thoughts. Justin's thoughts kept going back to his mother and her reaction to his coming out. He had never thought she would act that way. She knew all about Josh, and that had never seemed to bother her, but the minute he had told her, the person he had known as his mother had changed.  Then there was Lance going to his house to talk to his mom. With that one action, Lance had gained every ounce of the love. He couldn't believe how lucky he truly was to have found Lance. Up til now, he had held himself back. Letting his worries about the others around him prevent him from showing Lance how much he truly cared for him. Now he would stop doing that. He would live his life how he wanted to. He wouldn't let anyone get in the way of his feelings for Lance. Not his mother. Not Joey. No one. He felt Lance grab his hand gently, and Justin turned his head away from the window, and looked towards Lance. "We're almost there, baby." "Good. I'm tired," Justin said leaning against the headrest. "What were you thinking about just now? You seemed like you were far far away." Justin sighed. "Just stuff. My mom. Joey. Us." Lance held onto Justin's hand tighter. He was still worried that he might lose Justin. It seemed like everyone was against them. He hoped that didn't cause Justin to turn tail and run. They road the rest of the way to the college in silence. When Lance pulled into his parking spot next to the dorm, he looked over and saw Justin had fallen asleep. Reaching out he touched his cheek softly. "We're here, Justin. Wake up." Justin slowly opened his eyes smiling at the face in front of him. How could being in love with this wonderful person be wrong? Glancing away, his smile grew bigger when he recognized the familiar building they were parked next to. "We're home?" Slightly surprised at Justin's choice of words, Lance turned away, and pushed open the door. "Yeah, we're here." Justin reached in back for his bags, and jumped out of his side of the car. "I'm going on up." Lance nodded as he retrieved his own bags. "I'll be there in a second. I need to tell Chris we're here." Taking the steps two at a time, Justin ran into the building. Lance laughed. He was happy that Justin was happy. After locking his car door, he walked into the building and over to Chris' apartment. Knocking on the door, he waited until Chris came to the door. "Hey, Lance.What you doing back?" "Long story. Just wanted to let you know both Justin and I are here." "Okay, man. I'm here if you need anything." Chris started to close his door, but stopped and looked at Lance. "I have been meaning to ask you two something. You don't have to answer, but I just wanted to ask." Lance looked confused, and held onto the strap of his backpack a little tighter. "Um, yeah, okay. What is it?" "You and Justin. Are you two..like...together?" Lance didn't know how to answer that. Poor Chris looked so embarassed even asking him, though, so he smiled. "Yeah, we are." Chris smiled back. "Okay. That's cool." Lance breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know if Justin could have taken another bad reaction. "I'm going to go on up now. Justin has had a rough couple of days." "Sorry to hear that. What happened?" "His mom freaked." "Oh, well you go on then. I'm here if either of you need to talk. I'm familiar with this stuff." "Yeah?" "Yeah, but that story is for another time." Chris pushed away from the door and began to close it. Lance waited for the door to close before walking up the stairs to his room. He had to tell Justin about Chris. It might make him feel better. changes 31 menu changes 33