Johnny had arranged for the boys to have a few hours of coaching before they were due to humiliate themselves on the football pitch. The boys all hung around talking and waiting for the coach to show up. “Come on guys how bad can it be? I mean we’re sporty people I’m sure we’ll pick it up, it’s just running around with a ball” “Justin, Lance sucks at basketball, a game we’ve played thousands of times!” “O.K. I see your point” “Hey!” Lance didn’t know who to hit first, so he settled on giving them what he hoped was a ‘just watch it’ glance but which was actually more like ‘shut up or you all don’t get any’ glance. Just as they reached a lull in the conversation a tall, well-built man sporting a very strange hairstyle strolled into the room along with Johnny. He looked the five men up and down and then looked at Johnny skeptically. “Your guys have never played?” “No but they’re quick learners” “Who are they playing against?” “It’s a surprise but believe me they’ll want to win” Johnny stepped into the middle of the room and started introducing the other man. “Guys this is really special because this is a charity match so I’d like you to meet David Beckham, the England team captain” “Nsync looked very unimpressed” “Hmmm, this guy is more famous in England than you are Justin. He’s married to a Spice Girl and is known as Britain’s real royalty, his house is even dubbed Beckingham Palace” “Which Spice Girl?” “It doesn’t matter just listen to what he has to say” As David opened his mouth to begin his opening speech, Joey started to snigger at the man’s squeaky high voice, which was so in contrast with his physical appearance. David stopped and looked Joey squarely in the eye “Come on then get it over with, yes I have a strange voice, deal with it” After just half an hour the guys were exhausted not to mention the fact that their heads were stuffed full of new rules to be learnt, offside, free kicks, penalties and yellow cards, all started to spin in their heads. “Wait… explain the offside rule again” “Lance I’ve explained this a million times… an attacking player can not be closer to the opponents goal than their last defender when the ball is played to them” “Which means?” David started to shuffle them round “If you were here and JC kicks you the ball you would be offside but not if you were here, got it?” After a further hour they were all ready to give up and Johnny took pity on them and let them go, but before they all left JC had a question “Is it true that after matches you all get in a communal bath?” “Yeah it is… maybe you should fix your mind on that when you’re playing tomorrow!” David winked and left leaving the boys practically asleep standing up. They slowly made there way to their hotel and went straight to their respective rooms, each of them taking a quick shower before falling in to bed. The last coherent thought Chris had before he fell asleep was ‘mass genocide is the most exhausting activity one can engage in… except for soccer’ he fell asleep with a smile on his face vowing to watch ‘Dogma’ again soon. They woke up on the day of the match muscles aching and not wanting to start the day. It seemed that all the rules that they’d learnt the previous day had evaporated from their brains and they just wanted the stupid match over with. Joey walked into Lance’s room and pinned him against the wall. Lance was hardly awake, his hair was flat on one side and he looked sleepy and pliant. Joey leaned against Lance all his weight pressing against the younger boy and whispered hotly in his ear “Just wait for the team bath… I’m gonna make you scream” Lance smiled a lazy, big grin and replied “Oh yeah? Let’s see if you have the stamina” “I always have the stamina for you” “Bring it on darlin’” Lance drawled in that deep southern accent that he knew drove Joey crazy and true to form Joey surged forward and kissed him on the lips, quickly deepening the kiss as he panted into the blonde boys mouth. Too quickly for either of their liking, Justin’s voice could be heard on the other side of the door “Give it a rest you two, save it for the game” They both groaned with frustration but broke apart and headed for the door. The boys made their way downstairs stopping in the lobby to talk to fans and sign autographs. Then were ushered on and in to the waiting limo. “I wonder if that Beckham guy is going to be there?” “Probably for the press at least” They reached the venue and were blinded by flashbulbs and British accents… “David over here… David is it true you are Victoria are having another baby?” David posed and preened and the photographers would not stop snapping, then an extremely slim brunette woman, who the boys all recognized from the Spice Girls brief career in the states, joined him. The flashbulbs doubled and the shouting got louder. As Nsync joined them the American journalists also started shouting for them to turn this way and that, it turned into a media frenzy and all of them were quickly escorted inside the venue. “Wow! That was intense” David looked at them like they were insane and said “If you think that’s intense I’m guessing you haven’t had much dealing with the British tabloids” Victoria looked around and said ‘hi’ and they all shook hands, she turned to look at David and her eyes lit up “I’m gonna go wait in the stands honey, you show them how it’s done” She turned and walked away and then the torture began. As they were warming up they got a big surprise, strolling out on to the indoor court were the Backstreet Boys. “Hi pussy’s ready for us to whip your asses?” “Yeah in your dreams Carter” “Actually yeah!” Nick winked at Justin who turned a bright shade of red then JC suddenly mumbled “Hell I’d pay to see THAT!” Everybody looked at him and he realized that he’d made that comment out loud and looked suitably embarrassed. “Come on then boys and let the game commence!”