Oddity

Justin thinks in even numbers. They're easy to divide, and they appear more often in life. Either this or that. Black or white. Ten fingers and toes, two eyes, two ears, etc. Noah took two of each animal on the ark.

Life makes more sense in even numbers, it's how things were meant to be. He's never had to deal with odd numbers before. Not really, anyway. When he was little, he remembers without meaning to, he'd stop on an even number with whatever he was doing. Arranging things meant leaving them in perfect symmetry, balanced. And there was a lot of either-or, mostly with winning things. He either won the contest or he didn't. He got the part, or he wasn't what they were looking for.

He lost his balance when Chris suggested making the group. At first he was fine, until Chris said "five-part harmony". This threw him off. Why do you need five singers when there are only four parts to sing? Surely the fifth singer would be superfluous. Barber shop quartets have four singers. Those Madrigal Christmas carolers in Dinseyworld have four singers. Why should their gig be different?

Then one of the guys left, and Justin felt right again, even if it was the bass singer and now they were missing that "round sound" JC was always saying they had. They were four, the way it ought to be. Except his mom had made up the name and was really bent on keeping them a five member group (because SYNC doesn't have the same ring, and they can't very well be NSYC, can they?), so she went to his vocal coach and got them a fifth member. His name was Lance and he wasn't from Orlando and he was weird and he was quiet. And it was almost like he wasn't there at all, so Justin was mostly ok with him.

Chris made up for it, though. He was always making jokes and being loud and attracting attention. Justin didn't like him at all at first. He was erratic and unpredictable and he was odd. Very odd indeed. Chris was everything Justin wasn't; odd where Justin was even.

But he was funny. Justin liked that. He found himself trying hard to be around him just about every chance he got, which was a lot. And it turned out Chris knew how to be serious. When he sat still for long enough Justin could see the things he didn't like to show people. Chris was a really smart guy. He even went to college and studied psychology. That was why Justin couldn't hide anything from Chris, he thought. He knew how to analyze people. When Justin was sad Chris was right there, and he knew what to say and even helped Justin see what was really making him upset, and it usually wasn't what he'd originally thought it was.

One time Justin went to the roof of a hotel with Chris and they both ran around behind air ducts, and hide and seek is kind of scary at night on a dark roof. They spooked each other at the same time, screaming loudly into the night. They got in trouble, but Justin had never had so much fun. He didn't sleep that night since Chris was his roommate. They ordered an entire dessert cart and stayed up late watching The Thing, which is really cheesy, but Chris made sound effects and knew the parts that were supposed to be scary, so he'd try to scare Justin at those times. It worked once or twice, but after that Justin only laughed.

Justin really liked being around Chris. And Chris liked being around Justin, too. So it only made sense that when they got back to the States, Chris would move in. They couldn't get by with as much at home, though. Lynn was cool, but Chris was still a guest, in a sense. He acted like it, too. This was when Justin got to see in action just how smart Chris was. He knew just how to act in every situation. Justin wanted to be like Chris when he grew up.

On tour again, Chris and Justin played pranks on the other guys. JC slept like the dead, so they got him the most. Shaving cream was an amazing thing; they found hundreds of ways to use it on him. Once they even bleached JC's hair, just a little in the front. He hated it at first but then he decided it looked really good and kept it that way. Lance didn't laugh at their jokes, even the ones that weren't on him. They got him the least. Joey was the most fun. He always got them back. It was a big war that started out on the tour bus, but then they started getting each other before shows. The crew quickly learned that if Justin and Chris were being quiet, something was about to happen so they had better stay out of the way.

Chris and Justin spent most of their free time together. Justin loved him a lot. He wasn't sure just how he loved him yet. But he knew he did in some sense. They got motorcycles together and rode into the country, chasing ducks off the road and doing tricks. Justin was still serious, though, and he rode his bike like the men he'd seen from his mom's car when he was little. Chris was still a goon, and he liked to act crazy on his bike. Once they had too much fun laughing at Chris and his funny ways of riding a bike, and they got lost. Justin didn't want to stop and ask, because if they'd just turn around they'd find their way home, right? Chris was serious for a tiny bit and when they were eating in some random truck stop diner, he asked the waitress where they were.

They were really far from home. A cheap motel next to the diner had more than enough vacancies, and they stayed there. While Justin showered Chris called home and explained to Lynn, who wasn't thrilled but still liked that at least Justin was with Chris and not alone. Justin came out of the bathroom and whined that the water from the pipes was brown. Chris laughed, because Justin had never lived the trashy life, not that it was always a good thing. In this case, Justin needed to know that brown water isn't bad for you, and Chris proved his point by taking a really long shower.

The TV was snowy from broken rabbit ears, and the clock radio only picked up Spanish stations, except for a gospel one and something Chris called bluegrass. Justin thought that one sounded more like yodeling, but they ended up keeping it tuned to that just to fill the silence, because for once, there was just nothing to do. No one to play pranks on, nothing on TV, no room service...nothing.

There was only one bed, and they laid on top of the covers because Chris said they should. They tried to sleep, but Chris couldn't sleep, and he poked Justin to keep him awake. Justin was tired, and even a little sore because they really had ridden too far that day, and Chris called Justin a wimp. That was just a tiny jab at Justin's ego, so he made an effort to stay awake after that.

But Justin was bored, and he said so. Chris said he never got bored, ever, because there's always something to do in every situation. Justin asked him like what. And Chris said, "let's make out."

Justin flinched back a little and half sat up with his elbow underneath him and he looked a little scared, but then he was curious and he still didn't say anything, because what if this was one of Chris's pranks? It would be a dirty one, and very much not his style. But still...--and then Chris was reaching up and using one hand on Justin's shoulder so Justin was laying down again. And they were kissing.

Justin was a little unsteady at first, because sure he'd been kissed before; he and Britney kissed sometimes on the set at Disney, and then some fans on tour made it hard for him to say no to a make out session, but those were girls. And is kissing the same no matter who it is or do you kiss a guy differently than a girl? Justin didn't think about this for long because Chris started using his tongue and Justin decided that yes, you do kiss guys differently, or maybe those girls were just bad kissers. And except for one of Chris's hands, which found it's home in the general vicinity of Justin's hip, all they did was kiss. It was really fun, too.

The next day they acted the same as always, they thought. The ride home went faster than the ride there for some reason, and they were only a half hour late for rehearsals. Everything was fine.

But on tour they noticed it, especially after JC said something. They didn't mention what happened at that motel to anyone, not even each other. Justin thought about that night a whole lot, but he wasn't sure if Chris did too. Until JC said something, and they noticed it. They were flirting with each other.

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