I opened my eyes, and looked at JC's still figure lying in the bed. He looked so peaceful. Too peaceful. I shook him, my hand still holding onto his. I got nothing, so I started to shake him harder, trying not to panic. He was just asleep. His hand was so cold, though. "JC! JC wake up, come on!" I said, feeling the tears coming to my eyes. "No... JC, you have to wake up! I need you here with me, please wake up!" The tears were there now, coming faster and faster, as I continued to shake JC. His hand now felt like ice in mine. He was dead...
"Lance! Lance, wake up!"
My eyes shot open and I sat up, gasping for air. I looked around, and saw that I was in my room in my parents house. "Are you okay?" JC asked. I nodded and fell into his arms, holding him as tight as I could. I needed to make sure that he really was real. "I... I was having a nightmare," I whispered. "What did you dream about?" he asked quietly. "You died," I told him, glad that I could tell the truth.
"Well, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere, I promise."
I had to choke back a sob at that. He had no idea.
*
"So, what are you boys going to do today?" Mom asked as we both munched on our cereal.
"Ask JC, he's the one who has the itinerary," I said, grinning.
JC gave me a mock angry look and turned to my mom, saying, "We were planning on going swimming, then going to dinner and catching a movie. Hey, why don't you and Jim join us for dinner and the movie?" JC asked. I groaned inwardly. I couldn't give JC small kisses or hold his hand in the movie theater if my parents were there.
Mom smiled and said, "That sounds wonderful. I'll see if Jim wants to go." I smiled at my mom, but gave JC a gentle kick under the table. Mom left the kitchen and before I could say anything, JC said, "They're your parents, and they want to spend some time with you. Not that I blame them." He gave me a small smile and I couldn't stay mad at him. I never really was to begin with.
"Besides, we have that whole lake you told me about to ourselves. You said no one ever goes there, and it'll be just you and me, alone, in water..." JC trailed off, but he got his message across. We both hurriedly ate the rest of our cereal.
*
"It's freezing!" JC exclaimed, pulling his foot back out of the lake.
"Don't tell me that you've never been swimming in a lake," I said, pulling off my shoes and sitting next to him on the edge of the small, wooden walkway.
"The sun shines on it, it should be warm!" I laughed and kissed his cheek, telling him he was the cutest thing. That made him blush.
"I promise you that you'll get used to it."
JC just shook his head and grabbed the side of the walkway. I guess he thought I might push him in or something.
"Okay then," I said, getting up. "I'll just swim without you." I walked backwards until it looked like I was far enough, then I started running and dove off the end of the walkway into the water of the lake. JC was right, it was freezing. I came up right in front of the walkway, wanting to grab JC's feet, but he wasn't there anymore. I looked around, but I couldn't see him anywhere.
"JC?" I called out, knowing that he was just trying to scare me. It was working.
Before I could call for him again, two hands went over my eyes. "Uhh.... the lake monster?" I guessed with a grin. JC pulled his hands off my eyes and turned me around, pulling me into a gentle kiss. Well, it started out gentle, but soon we were both getting into it, and I could feel his tongue probing my mouth. I opened it, and soon we were frenching like there was no tomorrow.
His hands moved off my arms and into my hair, and I sank into the water because he was no longer holding me up, and our kiss broke.
"I can't touch here without my the bottom half of my face going underwater" I said, wading in the water. "I can," JC told me. I gave him a look. "You're taller than me." He smiled and pulled me closer to the shore with him. "Can you touch now?" he asked, and I nodded. We started kissing again, and I could've stayed there all day.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have all day. We had a dinner date with my parents.
*
"So boys, when is the new album coming out, and when do you start your next tour?" Dad asked before taking a bite of his steak.
"Jim, they just finished their last tour. The poor dears need to rest," Mom said, ruffling my hair, and I felt my cheeks flush. I hated it when she treated me like a little kid.
"Well, Lance and I leave on Monday so we can make it to the studio to start recording, and I'm pretty sure that another tour wont be for about a year or so, until we promote at least two songs from the new album. Besides, the radio stations are still taking songs off of `No Strings Attached', so I think we're going to wait a little bit," JC said, and I smiled. He was always eager to talk about anything to do with our music.
"It‘s obvious that you guys are at the top. Think you‘ll start to go back down?" Dad asked, and Mom smacked his arm. "You sound like someone giving an interview, Jim. Why don't you ask normal father questions?" I laughed inwardly and said, "Don't worry Dad, we don't bite." JC and Mom laughed, and Dad just looked amused.
"I think as long as we have our fans, their support, and a good song, we'll keep going up. And when we do start to go down, all of us will have each other," JC told my dad, and I got the double meaning from his last words.
We’d have each other.
"So, what movie are we going to see?" Dad asked. "I don't know dear, we're just going to see what's playing." And maybe my parents would sit alone, so I could have JC all to myself.
Yeah, and maybe ‘Bye, Bye, Bye’ wasn’t a hit.
*
We ended up seeing `Nurse Betty', with Chris Rock and Renee Zelwigger. I was surprised that the movie was still in theaters, they had released it in late September of 2000. It was a good movie, though, funny as hell. And JC and I got to hold hands briefly, so that was good.
On the drive home, I looked out the window and thought about the past two days. JC and I had gotten together. -Together-. It was still hard to believe, like I was going to wake up any second and find out that it was all a dream. Then again, I wasn't exactly in reality. I came back from the past that should've happened to create a new past. So did that make this the right past? I wasn’t sure. It didn't matter to me that much, though.
All that mattered was JC, who loved me just like I loved him. Wonderful, beautiful, sexy JC.
Who would die in less than a year, and there wasn't a thing I could do to stop it.
His hand was lightly rubbing the top of mine, out of the sight of my parents. That was another thing I was thinking about, telling my parents about me and JC. And after seeing what JC's parents had done to him when he had told them that he was gay, I was really nervous. It had to be done, though.
And if they turned me away, or told me that they'd still accept me if I didn't date JC, then I'd let them leave my life.
I’d give up everything for JC.
And I wouldn’t give him up for anything.
*
