Interlude #4—Old and In Control

 

            Lance and Justin embraced each other in the parking lot, running together from their separate buses into a joyous hug of homecoming and emotion.  After they parted, they remained close together, arms slug around each other’s shoulders.

            “It’s a thing of beauty,” Lance murmured.

            “That it is.  That it is,” Justin replied.

            Chris piped up from where he was standing in front of one of the buses.  “It’s a Waffle House, you dorks.”

            “It’s gorgeous,” Justin whispered, a little reverentially.

            “Jesus, Mary and Joseph,” Chris shook his head.  “It’s a restaurant.  Not even.  It’s a diner.  Only not really.  It’s . . . it’s . . .”

            “It’s a Waffle House,” Lance said, his voice traced with a little something that sounded a little too much like awe to Joey.

            “Oh, for Christ sakes.  If we’re gonna eat at 2:30 in the morning, let’s eat already,” Chris said, moving bodily past Lance and Justin’s almost-religious looking vigil.  Joey followed, not saying much of anything.

            “They do serve something other than waffles, right?” JC asked.  “Not that I don’t like waffles.  I like waffles.  They’re good food.  I just think I’d rather have French toast right now.  Do they serve French toast?  Are they not going to like it if I don’t have waffles?”

            “It’s really true, isn’t it?” Justin asked.

            Lance nodded.  “Maryland really isn’t the south.”

 

 

            The five of them managed to squeeze together in the booth, Chris, JC and Joey on one side, Lance and Justin on the other, because Chris had said it was best to leave the freaks to themselves on their own side of the table.  Joey leaned over the table opposite Justin.

            “Chris is a little cranky,” he stage whispered conspiratorially.

            “That’s because he was sleeping when we stopped,” Justin whispered back.

            “But we only finished the show a couple of hours ago.”

            “Yeah, but Chris is getting kind of old.  The shows take a lot of out of him.”

            “We might have to start pushing up our start times,” Joey whispered.

            JC was valiantly trying to stifle giggles, and failing rather miserably, his body shaking against Joey’s.

            “That wouldn’t be fair to our opening acts,” Justin argued.

            “But what are we going to do if Chris can’t stay awake past nine o’clock?”

            “I’m ignoring you stupid fucks, so you might as well knock it off,” Chris said from behind his menu.

            JC shook even harder against Joey.

            “Maybe we’ll have to cut the length of our show,” Justin suggested.

            “But that’s not fair to the fans,” Joey pointed out.

            “You’re right, we might have to start earlier.”

            “Like, what, three in the afternoon?”

            “Yeah.  But we have to make reasonably sure that most schools would be out.  Maybe four?”

            “That’s true.  Wouldn’t want the kiddies skipping school now would we?”

            “Absolutely not.  We have to have a stay in school message.”

            “Because we’re role models and shit.”

            “Exactly.”

            “But what about the fans who work?  Shouldn’t we schedule the concert after they’d get out of work?” Joey asked.

            “We have fans who are old enough to work?” Justin replied.

            The waitress walked up before Joey could answer.  “Thank fucking God,” Chris said.  “I thought the two of them would never shut up.”

            Joey and Justin looked gave each other significant looks.  JC laughed out loud.

            Chris put down his menu.  “I’d like the number 7.  With sausage.  And coffee.”

            “Otherwise, he’ll fall asleep at the table,” Justin informed the waitress.  Chris managed to take a swipe at Justin with his menu before he handed it to the waitress.

            They went around the table giving their orders. “What can I get you, sugar?”  she asked Lance, who was ordering last. 

“The number two, waffles with hash browns and bacon on the side.  Can I get an order of grits, too, and tea, not coffee?” he replied.

            “Whatever you want.  I’ll be back with y’all’s food in a minute,” she collected Lance’s menu and left.  Lance turned to Justin with glee.

            “She called me sugar!”

            “I know!  And she said y’all!” Justin high-fived Lance.

            “Freaks,” Chris said. 

Joey shot him a look.  “Are you sure you should be having sausage at this time of night?” he asked.  “You know that disagrees with you sometimes.”

“Shut up, Joe,” Chris said, not all that good-naturedly. 

“Really, Chris, you need to watch that kind of stuff.  Your body isn’t what it used to be, you know.”

“Joey,” Lance said, his voice low and warning. 

“Not that there’s anything wrong with that, you know.  It’s just that as we age, sometimes our bodies change and what we thought we could eat, what we could eat when we were younger, doesn’t affect us the same way.  Right, Chris?”

JC was practically strumming next to Joey, he was so nervous.  Joey could feel the tension in JC’s small arm movements.

“I left my wallet on the bus,” Chris said, sliding easily out of the booth from his seat on the aisle.  The door jingled as it closed behind him.

“Fucker,” Lance directed at Joey, the word slipping out easily and slapping Joey lightly with reprimand and, at the same time, forgiveness.

 

 

Joey found Chris standing outside on the steps to the restaurant.  There were only a few cars in the parking lot, aside from their buses, and Joey thought that most of those probably belonged to the staff.  There weren’t a lot of customers here in Brownstation, Tennessee at almost three in the morning on a Thursday.  Walking up to Chris, Joey had the sudden thought that if Chris smoked, he’d be doing that right now.

“If Lance sent you out here to apologize, you might as well go back inside,” Chris said suddenly.

“Nope, just needed some air.  Jayce is doing his Jerry Lewis impression, and it was starting to get to me,” Joey said.

Chris snorted.

“You’re not too old for me,” Joey added.

Chris scuffed the toe of his sneaker against the concrete and sighed.

“I mean, too old for Justin, maybe, I mean, that’s almost a decade there, and besides, that’s Justin.  That kid probably believes Britney’s pr that she’s a virgin.”

“And you’re not Justin,” Chris said.

“No, I’m not.  I’ve been around more blocks than just Johnny’s compound,” Joey replied.

Chris sighed again.  He didn’t sigh very often, and here he’d done it twice in the last two minutes.  “You’re pressing this because why?”

“Because I like you.  Because we’re friends and I know you.  Because you’re sexy as all fuck and I want to screw you senseless.  Stuff like that.”

Chris’ eyes were dark and unreadable when he looked up.  “Stuff like that,” he repeated.

“Yeah.  My turn for a question.  Why are you playing the age card?  Worried that you can’t keep up with me?”  Joey smiled, but mostly he was dead serious, if not about the keeping up with him part.

Chris shrugged.  “Dunno.  It’s easy.”

Joey flung his arms wide open and his head back towards the night sky.  “It’s a miracle!  Chris Kirkpatrick speaks the truth!  The first time around! And without making it sound like a joke!  Praise be to the glory above!” he shouted.  He looked back to Chris.

“Why do you need an easy excuse?”

“You said a question.  No plurality involved there, Joe,” Chris said, and Joey knew that he wasn’t going to get much more out of Chris this way.  For all of his hyper activity, when Chris wanted to keep things to himself, he more than knew how.

“Fine.  So now we try this my way,” Joey said.  Chris cocked his head to the side, puzzled, until Joey moved forward and body checked him into the railing behind him.

Joey grabbed Chris’ waist as if he were hanging on for dear life, and pressed his lips against Chris’ slightly chapped lips.  Chris tasted a little bitter, a little like the salt left over from sweat, and Joey knew Chris hadn’t brushed his teeth before he went to bed.  Joey pressed insistently with his tongue, but Chris didn’t open his mouth until Joey roughly shoved his thigh between Chris’ slightly parted legs.  Then his mouth opened, pliant and willing, letting Joey’s tongue feel and touch and taste until Joey didn’t know if he was dizzy from lack of air or from other, less tangible reasons.  Joey broke the kiss as roughly as he started it, letting his beard brush against Chris’ own facial hair.

Joey gulped in some air.  “See, my way isn’t so bad, is it?”

Chris shook his head.  “I.  No.  No, it’s not.”

“Kind of hot, huh?”

“I’m not going to admit to that, Fatone,” Chris said, and when he did, he sounded like himself again.

“So you’re going to drop the age thing, right?”

“Um.”

“And you’re going to let me kiss you whenever I want, right?”

“Well.”

Joey pulled Chris closer, so close that Chris could feel Joey against him, already hard.

And admittedly, possibly, hot. “And other things, too, right?”

Chris lifted an eyebrow.  “You think you can handle me?”

“I know I can,” Joey said.

“We’ll see.  I am older than you are,” Chris said, smiling, before he kissed Joey right back.