Part 6
They drove back to the hotel in silence, each passenger lost in his own trail of thoughts. Chris and Joey had pretty much the same thing in mind. What they had seen wasn't something they thought they would see. Justin's thought was confused. He didn't know what to do. He had left JC alone with some crazy man. He glanced at Lance who was apparently concentrating on breaking the window by looking at it.

A sigh escaped the young blond lips. He couldn't understand why JC was staying there. Why he needed to be with those people. Wasn't he enough for JC? He thought his love would be enough to bring him back. But he was wrong.

They finally reached the hotel. Justin stopped the car but none of them moved. An awkward silence surrounded them. Lance cleared his throat.

" Johnny is probably pissed right now. So what do we tell him? Do we cancel the rest of the tour?" He turned his head toward his friends.
" I don't know. What should we do? Management is gonna flipped if we cancel the tour." Chris said, very confused about the whole situation.
" We can't really continue without JC. He's kind of a big part of the show." Joey said to Chris. He turned to Lance's direction. " What do you want to do Lance?"
The green eyes met the Italian's eyes, and without blinking replied " I'm not leaving the city. I'm staying here until he come back to me."

Joey nodded and opened his door, feeling trapped in the car. Chris followed his action and soon they were all in the hotel's lobby. As expected Johnny was pacing back and forth in the lobby. As soon as he saw the four walking in, he started to talk quickly and furiously to them. Justin held his hand up.

" Keep it for you okay. We had an emergency. We're sorry we missed whatever was planned today. We have some bad news." Johnny calmed down only to hear what Justin had to say. " We have to cancel the rest of the tour."
" What?" The older man yelled in the lobby, getting the attention. " We can't cancel the tour. It's not even an option."
" Well I'm sorry but you will be two member short because you won't get me out of my room." Lance said coldly and stormed into the elevator. Johnny stood there, stunned by the little outburst he had got from the usually quiet man.
" Anybody care to tell me what it's all about?"

Lance made his way into the room, surprisingly calm. Inside he was burning with desperation. He felt helpless and didn't like it. Usually he was in control. Things were going his way. Now he didn't know what would happen.

He sat on the bed and looked around him. He already missed his friend. He sighed and lay on the bed. His mind was running fast, trying to find a solution. But he was feeling numb and couldn't find any. Slowly, against his will, he felt asleep, curled in the bed.

Joey looked at his sleeping friend. Justin and Chris were still talking with Johnny. The Italian man had discretely sneaked away of the conversation. He didn't like this kind of conversation and he wanted to check on his young friend. What he had seen earlier had scared him. He now understood what was going on with JC. Everything that had happened in the last weeks was making sense now.

Joey had expected to find Lance crying or at least angry about the whole situation. But Lance was sleeping peacefully; obviously dreaming by the movement he was doing in his sleep. Joey didn't have the heart to wake him up so he only stayed beside him, watching. The blond man always looked so innocent when asleep. Like the world couldn't touch him were ever he was.

" Josh…" Lance moaned in his sleep. " I want you…please…"

Joey smirked. Even if he knew he shouldn't listen, he couldn't help it. He didn't move and leaned down to hear more of Lance's dream. Suddenly the look on the sleeping man changed.

" Josh please come with me. No…. no don't stay there. Please Josh…" Lance whimpered, kicking the sheets away furiously.

Joey reached for Lance immediately and shook him awake, not liking the sudden change.

" What?" He asked sleepily and sat up. He turned his head and saw Joey. " Joe, is everything okay?" he asked when he saw the worried look he was receiving.
" I could ask you Lance. You were the one fighting in your sleep. Wanna talk about it?"

Lance looked at his hand, not giving the impression he would answer. But Joey waited patiently, knowing better. Lance wasn't the one you could push in talking. He would talk when he needed and wanted to.

" I thought he would be fine." Lance admitted finally, after minutes of silence. Joey motioned him to go on. So Lance started to tell him what had happened the night before, leaving some details out. The tale wasn't very long but Lance's babbling was making it longer. When he was done, he looked up at his older friend and waited for a reply. Joey remained silent, thinking things over and over.

" Have you told him you love him?" He finally asked.
" Yeah, I think I did. It was pretty obvious." Lance said, unsure if he had said the three big words.
" Are you sure he knows? Maybe he was just insecure and this weird guy took the opportunity to get him. You know JC, he tend to be naive sometimes. He let people control him because he's afraid. Over the years, we all saw him fall in love with you. We hoped he would come out and tell us. And Justin told us JC was afraid you would reject him."
" But I never…" Lance argued. The other man held his hand up.
" I know Lance. But he wasn't sure you loved him." He stated.
" I guess I should have told him clear and loud. And now it's too late." Lance said, hitting the bed in frustration. " I'm going back there. I'll tell him how much I love him and then he'll come back with me." He stood up and was already making his way toward the door when Joey stopped him.
" It's not a good idea Scoop. Not today. You're tired. If you go like this, you won't be able to go through this. You better rest and tomorrow I'll go with you." Lance nodded. Joey's voice wasn't letting him any chance to argue.

They jumped in surprise at the sound of the door opening and the yelling coming from the younger member of the group.

" Joey Fatone! You bastard you left us alone with Johnny." He said, smiling anyway.
" I hate those kind of conversation." Joey defended.
" In opposition of us who 'love' talking with Johnny." Chris said sarcastically, flopping down on the bed. Joey grinned and gave a reassuring hug to Lance before joining Chris on the bed.
" Sorry man. But Poofu here needed some support."

Lance glared at him at the use of the nickname.

" I'll get you Fatone. No one calls me that without a fight." He mumbled playfully, going in the bathroom.

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