Part 6


Justin stretched and looked out the window to see the familiar scenery of Orlando whizzing by.  The bus would drop them off at the "*NSYNC Compound" as they liked to call it , and each of the guys would fly home out of Orlando.  Wonder where I'll be flying home to, Justin thought.

He was supposed to stay with JC during their two week vacation.  The two planned on working on a few new songs, but mostly looked forward to just kicking back and relaxing at JC's new place.  Now it seemed like Justin would be going home to Tennessee instead of spending two weeks in LA.

"Looks like we're almost there, boys!"  Chris came bounding towards Justin, a smile plastered on his face.  "I get to see my babies! Yay!"

"Chris, I swear sometimes you think those dogs are people," Lance laughed from behind Chris. Chris pouted.

"They treat me better than you guys do! They don't talk back!"

Justin laughed and shook his head, shoving Chris out of the way as he stood up.  He noticed JC's bunk was empty and went to find him.

JC was sitting by the window, head bobbing up and down to the the music playing on his head set, eyes closed.

I should talk to him, Justin thought. Figure out what's going on my living arrangements.  Taking a deep breath, Justin sat down beside JC.  JC jumped a little, then took his head set off and looked at the floor.

"Hey," Justin said.

"Hey."

"Look..uh...I was just wondering...um..."

"You were wondering if I still wanted you to come to LA."  

"Yeah...how did you know?"

JC laughed a little, still not looking at Justin.  "Because I was wondering the same thing--do I still want you to come to LA."

"So...do you?"

JC sighed heavily, looking out the window again.  "Yeah, Justin.  I still want you to come to LA."

A wave a relief swept over Justin, and he tried to keep from smiling.

"Are you sure? I don't want to make you feel..." he searched for the right word. "Uncomfortable."

"I'm sure."

Justin couldn't hold his smile in any longer.  "Ok," he said.  "And Jace?"

"Yeah, J?"

"I really am sorry."

*******************************************************************************

"Justin."

Justin's eyes fluttered, but stayed closed.

"Justin!" JC nudged him in the ribs with a sharp elbow and Justin jumped.

"Wha--?" He opened his eyes and looked around. Still on the plane.

"We're here, man. Wake up."  JC stood up and grabbed his bag, walking off the plane without waiting for Justin.

Justin found JC waiting at the gate, arms crossed, looking at the floor.

"Thanks for waiting," Justin said quietly as he brushed by him.

JC didn't respond, only turned and followed him to the baggage claim.  He pulled his hat lower on his head so as not to draw attention to himself.  He was not in the mood to be mobbed by hundreds of teenage girls right now.

Justin was about 10 feet in front of him, and JC deliberately stayed back.  He was pissed off, and he didn't feel like talking to anyone, let alone the person who had made him question who he was.

The two grabbed their bags and headed outside, where a limo was waiting to pick them up.  Justin got in first, which suited JC just fine;  getting in second gave him the option to sit across from, not next to, Justin.

They rode in complete silence, JC hiding under his hat, Justin glancing over at him every few minutes. When they arrived at JC's house, JC jumped out first, grabbed his bags, and went to unlock the door.

Justin watched him go and sighed. I never should have come here, he thought. JC doesn't want me here. He just didn't want to hurt my feelings.

Justin trudged up the walk and into the house.   "Josh?" he called.  JC poked his head around the corner.  "Where do you want my stuff?"

"Doesn't matter. There's 4 rooms upstairs; pick one. My stuff's already in my room, so that's the only one you can't have."  He disappeared again, and Justin walked up the stairs, throwing his things in the first room he found.  He heard the TV downstairs and headed back to see what JC was doing.

"You're watching 'Star Wars' AGAIN?" Justin asked, a small grin on his face.

"Looks like it," JC replied.

"Mind if I watch?"

"Free country..." JC mumbled, turning up the volume.

Justin sighed and plopped down on the couch next to JC.  Apparently it was too close for JC's comfort, because he moved away slightly.  

Justin couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed the remote for JC's hand and flipped off the TV.

"What the hell are you doing?" JC growled, lunging for the remote.

Justin threw the remote across the room before JC could grab it.  

"Justin, what the fuck!'

"Josh...we HAVE to talk about this."

"What's to talk about? I'm tired and crabby. That's it."  JC frowned and looked away from Justin's penetrating gaze.  

"You know that's not what I'm talking about, JC.  We have to talk about what happened."

JC didn't respond, just pulled his hat over his eyes and folded his arms.

"Nothing to talk about there, either."

"Josh...we...well, you know what we did. I don't need to say it. Don't you think we need to talk about that?" Justn asked softly, not wanting to upset JC anymore than he already was.  

"We fucked around, Justin. So what?  We were drunk, it was a mistake. Let's never talk about it again."

The words cut into Justin like a knife.  A mistake?  It was a mistake?  How could JC say that?  He'd told Justin that he loved him!  And now it was a mistake? Hot tears welled up in Justin's eyes, and he tried to blink them away.

JC looked up at Justin's wet eyes.  He shook his head, whispered, "I'm sorry," and retreated to his room, slamming the door behind him.



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