Joey,
Chris and Lance looked at them as if they were crazy. JC and Justin exchanged a
glance. Maybe they were crazy after all. But they’d agreed that telling the
others in the group was the right thing to do.
“Reincarnation?” Joey pondered. JC nodded.
“And they lived here?” Lance said, eyes skimming the kitchen where they all
sat. Justin nodded.
They all looked at Chris, waiting for his question regarding the announcement.
“Got any beer?” Chris asked. The others laughed, and Joey slugged Chris in
the arm. “What?” Chris said, rubbing the spot. “I’m thirsty.”
“So what exactly makes you think this reincarnation idea?” Lance asked. The
most logical one in the group, Lance would be the hardest to convince.
“I found a picture here of us, I mean, them from the twenties,” Justin began.
“Not to mention the weird stuff happening in the house itself,” JC continued.
“And we did some research here in LA,” Justin explained.
“Plus we called some places in Chicago,” JC interjected.
“We haven’t found anything there yet…”
“But we think when they moved to LA...”
“They might have taken different names…”
“Because there’s no listing of them in LA officially…
“But we know they were here…”
“And they were lovers even back then..”
“But they couldn’t be open about it either…”
“But the one thing we do know…”
“And it’s the freakiest thing of all…”
“Was that they looked exactly like us!” they finished in unison.
Again, they were met with blank stares. “Can we see the picture?” Lance
asked.
“Oh, sorry,” Justin apologized. He took the photograph of the other Josh and
Justin out of the envelope and handed it to Lance. Lance looked at the photo,
then at JC and Justin, then at the photo once more before handing it over to
Joey.
Joey did the same thing, adding a low whistle of surprise. He handed it to
Chris.
Chris gave the photo a quick glance. “Interesting.”
“That’s all you can say?” Justin asked. “Interesting?”
“What more do you want? Applause?” Chris leaned back in his chair. “You
two did a good job with the vintage clothes, but posing in front of the train
was a stroke of genius.”
JC’s eyes narrowed. “You think we’re faking this?”
“I think it’s a possibility,” Chris said, locking his gaze with JC’s as
his voice dropped menacingly. “And I think I’m still waiting for my beer,
Chasez.”
“Ohh, aren’t you scary,” Joey joked, rising from the table and going to
pull a six-pack from the fridge. “Here’s you beer,” he said, picking up
one for himself from the pack. “What else did you find?” he asked.
Justin pulled out the first clipping from the newspaper, and the third one, the
article that showed the house. For some reason he was felt hesitant to show them
the one at the police station…the one of the other Josh and the other Chris.
He stole a glance at JC, who nodded slightly, signaling he agreed with
Justin’s decision. He smiled at JC, but his smile froze when he turned away
and looked at Chris.
A Chris whose own eyes were filled with venom and hate. And all of it aimed at
Justin. Justin was prevented from
saying anything by the ringing of the doorbell.
“Pizza!” Joey exclaimed, running to get the door. He was soon back with the
pies, and with Johnny, who was in town for meetings. Justin quickly scooped up
the articles and photos, shaking his head at his band mates. No need to mention
this to an outsider just yet.
“So,
you want to tell me what’s going on with you and Justin?” Johnny asked.
JC looked at the manager quickly, then turned away, placing the empty pizza
boxes in the trash. No way anything ever escaped Johnny’s notice. Why did they
even try? “No, not yet,” he answered, hoping Johnny would be satisfied with
that.
Johnny reached out a hand, stopping JC’s movements. “You’re not in any
kind of trouble are you?”
“No, of course not,” JC assured him.
“Justin?”
JC shook his head. “No, he’s not in trouble either.” He covered Johnny’s
hand with his own, to reassure the worried man. “It’s kind of a family thing,
but nothing we can’t handle.”
“I’m always here,” Johnny said. “If you need anything.”
JC nodded. “We know.” He moved to the table to gather the plates they’d
used. “I don’t’ think we’ve told you this enough, but you’ve been
great about all this.” JC waved the plates around.
Johnny nodded in understanding. “Well, considering it was a done deal before I
even entered the picture, there was not really any objection I could make.” He
moved to leave the kitchen. “You two love each other, anyone can see that.”
JC smiled at Johnny. “More than anything,” he concurred.
“Then that’s all that matters.” With that, Johnny left the kitchen.
JC busied himself washing the dishes, humming to himself a new song he was
working on. He worked happily for a bit, but suddenly stopped. Dispite the hot
water running over his hands, JC suddenly felt a cold chill run across him,
turning quickly.
“Hey, sorry I startled you,” Chris said. He was standing close to JC at the
sink, beer in hand. “Just wondered what you and Johnny were talking about.”
“Oh, the usual,” JC said, feeling uncomfortable with Chris so close. “Songs, tours, Justin.”
Chris
nodded. “Yeah, Justin.” He moved a bit closer to JC. “You two are really
happy about this reincarnations sh!t, aren’t you?”
JC blinked. “I wouldn’t exactly say happy. Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Chris said. “Could give you some kind of feeling of
inevitability…that you and Justin have always belonged together.”
“We do belong together,” JC assured Chris, turning off the water after
rinsing the last dish, but unable to put it in the dish drainer. Chris had
gotten even closer and was now blocking his.
“Do you?” Once again, Chris’ voice dropped. JC watched as he lifted a hand
toward JC. “I wonder…why didn’t you give anyone else a chance?” The hand
tangled in JC’s hair, running through the long curls.
JC fought to keep his composure when all he wanted to do was run. “A chance
with who?” he asked.
“With you, of course,” Chris explained. “Not with the pretty boy. He seems
a bit too timid for my taste.”
“Chris, what are you talking about?” JC asked, pulling away from his friend.
His movement was stopped as Chris tightened his fist in JC’s hair. “Chris,
you’re hurting me.”
“I always seem to do that,” Chris murmured, tugging JC closer to him. “Why
do you make me hurt you?”
JC watched as Chris’ face came closer, then slammed the plate he was holding
against the sink. The sound of the shattering dish was enough to snap Chris out
of whatever had held him and he released JC’s hair and backed away. Without a
word, he turned and walked out of the kitchen, brushing past Justin as the
younger man entered. Justin had just reached JC when they heard the front door
slam shut.
The
sunlight streaming though the windows was rudely pushing JC awake. He fought
against it, pulling the sheet over his head to block the light. Unfortunately,
he site under the sheet did nothing to help him fall back to sleep. In fact, he
was wide awake now, and ready to explore the bounty he’d just found.
Justin sighed as he felt JC’s mouth moving on his chest. He opened his eyes
just as JC’s head popped out from under the sheet, a mischievous glint in his
icy blue eyes.
“Hello, gorgeous,” JC said, licking lightly across Justin’s skin, moving
up his body slowly. “How’d you sleep?”
Justin smiled, running his hands down JC’s back. “Surprisingly good,” he
said, feeling the warm skin of his lover. Justin shifted around, pushing his
growing erection against JC. “I expected more dreams last night, but luckily,
none came.” He reached down and pulled JC in for a kiss. “How about you?”
JC licked and nibbled the offered lips before answering. “None that I can
remember,” he said, rubbing his own engorged cock against his lover. “I
think that episode with Chris in the kitchen scared away any dreams I might have
had.” JC shuddered at the memory.
Justin stroked the older man comfortingly. “Forget it,” he said, flipping JC
over onto his back and hovering over him. “Let me love you now…that’ll be
a good memory for the day.”
JC reached up and brought Justin’s mouth down to his own. “I think that’s
the best idea you’ve ever had,” he said, circling the boy’s lips before
plunging his tongue inside.
Justin answered the kiss hotly, his own tongue exploring his lover’s mouth as
his hands were busy below. He grasped JC’s cock, rubbing the sensitive flesh
with a warm hand. He ended the kiss, intent on moving his mouth to where his
hand was to pleasure them both when a voice called out.
“HELLO?”
The front door slammed, and the lovers locked eyes as they recognized the owner
of the voice.
“You guys still in bed?” Britney called up the stairs. They heard footsteps
climbing, and with a moan Justin rolled off JC just as the door to the bedroom
opened. “You ARE still in bed!” she exclaimed in astonishment.
“Cripes, Britney!” JC exclaimed, sitting up and glaring at the girl in the
doorway. Justin burrowed under the covers, trying to ignore her. “Just come on
in, why don’t you?”
“Oh, don’t be such a grump.” She left the doorway and headed for the bed,
crawling onto it and maneuvering her way between the two men. “Maybe you
shouldn’t have given me a key if you didn’t want me over.”
JC arched a brow. “That was for emergencies,” he declared.
Britney waved away the distinction. “That may be, but what I have here is
vitally important.”
“Let’s hope it’s a plane ticket for her,” Justin murmured from under the
sheet.
Britney sighed, peeling the sheet away from Justin and smacking the back of his
head. “No, it’s not a plane ticket, but you may want one after you see what
it is.” She rummaged in her purse, pulling out some papers. “I did some
research last night, and found out about you two, or rather the other you two,
on some web sites about Chicago’s history.”
Justin sat up quickly at that, but was too slow. JC had already grabbed the
papers. He scanned the sheets, noting the information came from The Chicago
Historical Society. There a small item from the “Hot Places during
Prohibition” section of the web site.
Clubs were popular places during the ‘Roaring Twenties’ and Chicago was
no different. In fact, the city was a hotbed of illicit activity with
speakeasy’s and ‘gin joints’ prevalent. One such was The Deuces. Such
clubs offered music, dancing, and of course, illegal alcohol.
The article went on with descriptions of the clubs, but JC had stopped reading.
His attention was caught by the photograph on the second page. It showed, again,
the other JC and Justin, but this time the men were standing in front of The
Deuces. He handed the papers to Justin. “Britney…this is fantastic,” he
said when he finally found his voice.
JC watched as Justin read the article and scanned the picture. The younger man
looked up in astonishment. “It’s really true,” Justin said, sitting back
against the pillows.
Britney nodded. “It sure seems that way,” she said. “Oh, I almost
forgot!” Once again, she rummaged through her purse. “Here,” she
exclaimed, handing JC another slip of paper.
He looked at it, then at her. “Harriet Logan?”
Britney nodded. “I spoke with her this morning. Supposedly she knows
everything there is to know about Chicago in the twenties.” The girl shoved
her purse out of the way, and leaned against the pillows. “She’s expecting
us tomorrow.”
“Us?” JC asked.
“Tomorrow?” Justin inquired.
Britney nodded. “I’ve already gotten the tickets, and cleared it with
security.” She looked at the men expectantly.
Justin shrugged, and JC shook his head in resignation. “Then I suggest you
leave so we can get ready,” he said, then let out a huff as Britney launched
herself at him, hugging tight.
“Yippee!” she exclaimed, scrambling off the bed and grabbing her purse.
“My bags are in the car, so I’ll go down and start some coffee.” She ran
out of the room, only to run right back. “Wheels up in two hours!”