Part 1

Justin was practically vibrating with excitement as he got off the phone. Tyler, Nick, and Chris were only about twenty minutes away and he couldn't wait to see them. Even after a year at Yale, they were still the best friends that he ever had. Since graduating from Olmwood, he had only seen the three of them once, both at football games. Nick and Chris had matriculated to Columbia and Tyler to Harvard, and the four kept in touch mostly through e-mails and occasional phone calls. Nick, missing two of his best friends (he and Chris were still roommates), decided that instead of flying back to school or having their parents take them, that they could drive back together, a road trip of sorts up the Atlantic coast.

Since Tyler was the last stop, they were using one of his father's cars, a Ford Excursion, to ensure that they had enough room for the four of them and their luggage. Justin ran his hand over his shaved head, a hairstyle he had begun sporting in college, and pulled his luggage to the front door.

"I swear, we never get to see you, and then when you leave, you're practically running out the door," admonished Lynn, Justin's mother.

Justin smiled ruefully. "It's not that, Mom. It's just I got so used to living with these guys for four years, well, three in Chris's case since he's a year older, and they're like brothers to me. I really haven't gotten to see them since we graduated from high school."

Just then the doorbell rang and Justin almost ran over his mother to get to it. He swung open the door to see Chris and Nick. "Guys!" he yelled, as he was engulfed by two overenthusiastic bear hugs. He pried himself away from them and grabbed his bags. "So, where's Ty?" he asked as he headed for the door.

Nick and Chris both practically leapt in front of him. "Yeah, Justin, we have to talk about that." Nick began.

"He's here isn't he? I heard his voice when you called me." Justin asked, concerned.

"Yeah, well, he's not the only one that's here. Joey Fatone, remember him? He's joining us." Chris informed him.

"Joey? It'll be nice to see him again," said Justin. He and Joey hadn't been the best of friends, but Justin had always thought that he was a cool, down to earth guy. He knew that he was good friends with both Chris and Tyler. "Didn't he graduate?"

"Yeah, but he's going to Yale for law school. He was at Princeton. But, also, Justin…" Chris began, but was cut off by Tyler sticking his head into the door.

"So have you told him yet?" Tyler asked, before Justin grabbed him into a big hug. Tyler looked up at him. "Justin! I didn't even see you there!" He rubbed his hand against Justin's stubbly head. "Hey, what happened to the bird's nest?"

Justin laughed. "Had to do something different. The ladies like it, and quite a few of the guys, too. And if you're asking if they told me about Joey, then yeah, I know. Let's head out."

Tyler shot the other two boys a look. Nick shrugged. "We were trying before you barged in here," he protested.

Tyler grabbed Justin's shoulder and steered him to the nearest seat. "I think you may need to sit down for this," he warned. Justin gave him a look, but sat down. Tyler took a big breath before he began. "I see they've told you about Joey, but not the reason Joey's here. My mom and dad, as much as they love me, refused to let me take the Excursion on a road trip with just you guys. They felt that I needed more adult supervision, and I compromised with them. I needed someone older, someone they'd trust, but not someone who would cramp our style."

Justin nodded. "Ok, and so, you brought Joey. Understood. Can we go to the car now?" Justin started to get up but was restrained by Tyler.

"No, we can't go now. My parents didn't choose Joey, Justin, they chose Josh."

Justin could feel the color draining out of his face. "So you mean…"

"I mean that right now, Josh is sitting in the driver's seat of that car, waiting for us to get you so we can leave. I know that I should've told you earlier, but I was afraid that if I did, you wouldn't come, and I didn't want to do this thing without my best friend." Tyler explained, pacing.

"Plus, we thought that it might be good for you two to talk, you know. Get some closure…" Nick began but was cut off by Justin.

"No." Justin growled, his eyes narrowed into slits. "Listen, I'm going to come with you because you're my best friends and I haven't really seen you in a year, and I'm not going to let that bastard ruin the good time I'm determined to have. But I don't have shit to say to him."

"Okayyy…well let's go." Nick said after an awkward silence. They helped Justin grab his bags and headed out the door…

…and straight into Josh.

Justin cursed his traitorous body for getting hard as soon as Josh had gotten into view. He had let his hair grow out and it was starting to curl at the edges, and he was wearing a pair of wire rimmed glasses that just added to the allure. The years had been really good to Josh Chasez and Justin cursed whatever deity that made Josh even better looking at twenty-one than he'd been at seventeen.

"I was wondering if you guys were gonna come out of there any time soon." Josh said. His eyes flickered up to Justin and Justin felt a small irrational thrill at the fact that he was now taller than Josh. "Hi, Justin." Josh said to him as his eyes quickly ran down Justin's body.

Justin tried to suppress the shiver that he got from the weight of that gaze, but it was to no avail. "Hi, Josh. I see you let your hair grow out," he greeted and then cursed himself for talking so much. He wasn't trying to make conversation with the man.

Josh gave a small smile. "Yeah, and it ended up that I have curly hair. Who knew?" His gaze traveled to Justin's hair. "Speaking of curls…"

"Yeah," Justin said sheepishly, running a hand over his head. "Well, you knew that I always hated them."

"Yeah…" Josh said dreamily, remembering a conversation they had a long time ago. This Justin was different though. Older, sexier. "You've grown up, Justin." Josh said before retreating into the car.

Yes, Justin, you are older, Justin thought. You're no longer the fourteen year old that fell in love with him or the fifteen year old that cried for weeks after finding out about his betrayal. You're nineteen, and Joshua Chasez can no longer get to you. As he followed his friends into the SUV, he wondered why his mantra sounded hollow to him.

Part 2 >>>
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