Part 8

"Soo, about my birthday…" Justin began as he sat on Josh's bed, bouncing excitedly. It was two days until his birthday and he desperately wanted to know what Josh was getting him, if anything.

Josh laughed at Justin's impatience. "Last time I checked it was January twenty-ninth. So, until that calendar says that it's the thirty-first, I'm not telling you."

Justin rolled his eyes. He hated the suspense. He watched as Josh got dressed for convocation, his heart swelling with love for the older brunette. Josh turned around from the mirror and smiled at Justin, swatting his butt playfully.

"Shouldn't you be getting up? Last time I checked, all students were required to go to convocation. Especially lowly freshmen." Josh teased. Justin pouted. He hated to be reminded of his underclassman status. Josh eventually prodded Justin out of bed to get dressed as he left to get to convocation early so he could pick out what he was playing that morning. Justin headed back to his room to find Nick, Tyler, Chris, and Lance already there.

"Who is this young man? He looks strangely familiar, but I can't quite place him." Chris joked.

"I know. You spend so much time in Josh's room, I was beginning to wonder if you still remembered where your room was." added Nick.

Justin dismissed them with a wave of his hand. "Whatever. I am now going to ignore you idiots and get dressed for convocation." He walked into the bathroom, clothes in hand.

Tyler looked at the clock. "Hurry up. You've only got twenty minutes. We're gonna head out and save you a seat," he yelled through the bathroom door. He started to walk out, Chris and Nick behind him. "Hey, Lance you coming?"

Lance shook his head. "Nah, I think I'll stay here with Justin. We'll see y'all later." he replied. They all nodded and headed out to the chapel. Justin emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later, looking clean and refreshed.

"Hey man, where'd everyone go?" he asked, bending down to retrieve his shoes from underneath the bed. Lance leaned over to peek, but straightened up when Justin found them.

"Ty said that they're saving us a seat. Weren't you listening?" Lance asked, laughing.

Justin shook his head. "No, man. For the next two days, unless y'all asses are talking about parties or presents, I ain't hearing a thing." Lance laughed again and threw his arm around Justin's shoulders.

"Well, as for presents, don't worry about that. But we do need to worry about getting to convocation on time, so let's hurry up, birthday boy."

_ _ _

"So, have you decided what you're getting lover boy for his birthday yet?" Kevin asked, leaning against the organ as Josh shuffled through the sheet music.

"Yeah. I'm taking him to the Lakers-Celtics game. I've got courtside seats. The Lakers are his favorite team, he'll love it." Josh said, a smile creeping across his features. Then he realized whom he was talking to. "Hold on, why do you care? Last I checked, to you Justin was the spawn of the devil."

Kevin shrugged. "No, I'm not fond of the punk. But he seems to make you happy, and since you're my best friend, I want you to be happy. And…" Kevin trailed off, looking sheepish.

"What?" Josh prodded.

"Well, I didn't want to say anything until I was sure but…you know how you said it seems like he's been wanting more right? Like sexually? Well, lately it just seems that he's been awfully close to the Bass kid. And well, remember all the things he let you do last year? I'm just thinking…"

"Spit it out, Richardson." Josh hissed between clenched teeth, his eyes darkening.

"Look, the Bass kid has a thing for him. He's a cute kid, why not? And up until recently, that hasn't even been an issue. I mean, it's Lance Bass. The kid doesn't have shit on you. But your boy's getting curious and Lance is a freaky bottom bitch. He'd let Justin do all the things that he wanted to do to him and then some. You might need to have something better than a damn basketball under your sleeve for a present."

Josh was about to tell Kevin that he was seriously delusional when the sight of Justin caught his eye. What he saw next though, made his blood boil. It was Lance, with his arm casually draped around Justin, firmly pressed to his side. Josh clenched his fists to stop himself from hopping over some pews and forcibly removing Lance from Justin.

Kevin saw what--- or rather who--- Josh was glowering at, he smirked. "See what I mean? You've got a problem. But I've got the perfect solution. One that keeps Justin happy, and lets you keep your precious control."

Josh turned his glare to Kevin. "Go away. I've got to play soon," he ordered.

Kevin walked away, but he knew that everything was coming into place.

_ _ _

Later that day, Justin burst into Josh's room practically glowing. "Look at what Lance got me!" he announced, brandishing a pair of sneakers. Josh's grip tightened around his pencil as he forced a smile. Justin pushed Josh's books aside and sat on the desk, straddling Josh's body.

"Lance knows how I hate to wait for anything, so he told me that I could get my present early. Look! And these are not just any sneakers. These are the same sneakers that Michael Jordan wore when he won his first championship in 1991! They're autographed too! I know they must have cost a fortune, but Lance said that he knows some people, so it didn't matter. Can you believe it?" Justin rambled, his face flushed in excitement.

Josh wanted to cut Lance's heart out with a spoon. A plastic one. And then feed it to his mother. Well, he'd be damned if Lance was going to outdo him. He reached into his desk and pulled out an envelope with a red ribbon tied around it.

"Well, I was going to save this until your birthday, but you're just determined to have your presents early, so here."

Justin's body was strumming with excitement as he tore the envelope open. His mouth dropped open as he pulled out the tickets, his eyes growing wide. "Josh, are these…courtside?" he asked hoarsely.

Josh nodded. "We're going to be right behind the Laker bench. Well, that is if you want to take me."

Justin threw his arms around Josh so tightly, Josh thought that he might break. "Of course I want to take you! Who else would I take? Josh, this is wonderful! I thought after the shoes that my birthday couldn't get any better…but this! I'm gonna be close enough to smell the sweat on Kobe Bryant's body! Thank you so, so much, Josh. You're the greatest." Justin gushed, choking with emotion on the end. He went to Josh's bed and laid down, suddenly tired. "You and Lance give the best presents in the world."

That statement bothered Josh. Well, the whole thing about Lance and Justin bothered Josh. As he looked on at Justin getting comfortable in his bed, he picked up his phone and dialed. When it was answered, Josh whispered in to the phone, "Hey, Kev, you know that thing that you were talking about earlier today? Well, I'm ready to listen."

Justin however was oblivious to all of this. He was on cloud nine. He had been convinced that Josh wasn't going to get him anything for his birthday, or at the least, something sex related, but this was the greatest present, but not only because Justin was going to be close enough to touch the players on his favorite team. It was also the fact that it was going to be him and Josh, together, watching a basketball game like a real couple. And that thought made Justin warm inside.

Yep, Justin thought as he drifted off to sleep, this is going to be the best birthday ever.

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