“Can I help y—“ Justin’s heart stopped beating the moment he met the eyes of the man before him. He fought to keep his legs from giving out, gripping the door for support. JC’s eyes filled with hot tears as he looked at Justin for the first time in over a year. Still just as beautiful, still his Justin. “You lost the curls,” he whispered shakily. Justin couldn’t speak. He stood staring at JC for what seemed like an eternity before he was snapped back into reality by Lance’s voice. “Justin? Who’s at the door?” JC frowned when a blond man appeared, sliding his arm around Justin’s waist. “Hi. Can we help you?” Lance said with a smile. “Wait a minute…you’re JC Chasez, aren’t you? What brings you to this neck of the woods?” he said with a laugh. “Um…I…I should go…I see you’ve…um…” JC’s hands shook as he ran them through his hair. This couldn’t be happening. No. He refused to believe it. Justin was not with someone else. This wasn’t real. It had to be a dream. “Are you ok, man?” Lance asked. “You wanna come in or something, have a cup of coffee?” “I shouldn’t have come, I’m sorry…I…” A single tear slid down JC’s cheek; he took one last look at Justin and walked away. Justin stared after him, his heart pounding wildly, his own eyes glistening with tears. “Wait!” he called, taking a step forward, wiggling from Lance’s grasp. “Wait.” JC stopped in his tracks but didn’t turn around; his shoulders slumped and his head hung sadly. “Josh,” Justin whispered from behind the older man. “Josh.” At that, JC broke down, falling to his knees and sobbing uncontrollably. “Shh,” Justin cooed, kneeling next to him, stroking his hair. “Please don’t cry, Josh. Please.” “It’s really you,” JC choked. “It’s really you.” He reached out for Justin, wincing when Justin pulled away from his grasp. “Josh, don’t. Just…please, don’t. I can’t…” “I’m sorry,” Josh whispered, a fresh stream of tears rushing down his face. “I’m sorry, Justin. I shouldn’t have come.” He scrambled to his feet and slid into his car before Justin had the chance to stop him. As his tires squealed down the street, Justin finally let his own tears fall. “Justin, talk to me,” Lance whispered, grasping Justin’s hands in his own. “You have to talk to me.” Justin remained silent, eyes closed, quiet tears streaming down his cheeks. “Justin, baby, please. Tell me who that was. Tell me what happened.” “I can’t!” Justin snapped, pulling his hands away. “I can’t tell you, because if I tell you, it’ll make it real, and it can’t be real!” “What can’t be real, Justin?” “JOSH! Josh can’t be real! It’s been so long, Lance…so long since I’ve seen him, since I’ve loved him…and now…I have you…and he…” Lance sighed heavily, fighting the fear the was clenching his heart. “Justin…you should see him.” “What?” “You need to see him, Justin. You need to spend time with him, to see if…” He swallowed hard before he said the next words. “To see if you still love him.” Justin’s eyes widened, fear evident behind the sea of blue. “But Lance—“ “Justin, I can’t keep you from your true love, if Josh is that person. I would never do that. I’m not asking you to leave…because I don’t want you to leave. But I want you to see him. For yourself. For me. For him.” “Lance, I don’t want to lose you,” Justin whispered, burying his face in Lance’s neck. “I don’t want to lose you either, Justin,” Lance choked, holding Justin close. “But I don’t want to keep you if you’re in love with someone else.” Justin pulled away and looked into Lance’s eyes. “Thank you, Lance.” Lance just nodded before pulling out his cell phone. “Beth, it’s Lance. Can you get me JC Chasez’s number? It’s important.” “JC, answer the phone,” Britney called from the kitchen. When the phone kept ringing, she sighed and turned from her cooking. “Hello?” “Um…hi, is JC there?” “Can I tell him who’s calling please?” “Yeah, um, this is Lance Bass.” “Lance Bass the director?” Britney said. “That’d be me. Is JC there? I really need to speak with him.” “He’s not really in the mood to talk,” Britney said sadly. “He had a rough day.” “I know. That’s why I’m calling.” “Excuse me?” “Um…Justin. He’s um…staying with me.” Britney nearly dropped the phone and tripped over her own feet in a rush to get to JC. “JC, you need to take this call,” she hissed, one hand over the receiver. “Brit, take a message,” he said, burrowing deeper into his blanket and flipping the channel on the TV. “It’s Justin.” He shot straight up on the couch, eyes wide. “What?” “Well…not Justin exactly…but Lance Bass…the guy he’s staying with.” JC snatched the phone from Britney’s hand and pressed it to his ear. “Hello?” “JC?” “Yeah.” “This is Lance…we, um, kinda met today…when you showed up at my house.” “Yeah.” “Um…Justin’s here…he…wants to talk to you. Are you ok with that?” “Put him on.” A long silence followed; JC thought he would gnaw his own arm off if Justin didn’t say something soon. “Josh?” came a quiet voice. “Justin, is that you?” “Yeah. Yeah, it’s me. Um…do you think…we could like…um…get together?” “Are you sure?” JC asked, trying to contain his happiness. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure. Please?” “I’ll be there in an hour.”