~*~

“Go on, go on, go on leave me breathless.” Lance groaned audibly from his position on the hotel bed from underneath a multitude of cold washcloths wishing he had something handy to throw at the radio. He raised his arm to change the radio setting on the clock and another groan spilled from his mouth, wincing in the pain the small movement caused.

“Fucking Joey, fucking Mr. Bright Idea sonofabitch,” he grumbled as he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

*

They were in New York City-again-which excited all of them, most of all Joey.

“Guys, the weather’s great. I wanna take you on a walking tour of the city.” It was a Wednesday in early May with nothing planned for the day so the other four men quickly agreed.

Somewhere between Bensonhurst and the Bronx Lance began to feel…

“Hey man, you’re looking a little pink,” Justin pointed out. Lance looked down at his arms and thought they looked fine…nicely bronzed.

“Take off the sunglasses Scoop.” Oh. Well, he did look a little pink but no big deal.

“Did you put on sunscreen,” JC asked, his usual mother hen self.

“No. Why would I need it? We’re in the city not the beach,” Lance snapped.

“Now young man, an albino such as yourself must never leave the house without some sort of protection from the sun,” Chris mocked.

“Bite me, “ Lance said. “I’m fine.”

*

That was at 12:12 pm. By 2:43 the redness had developed further and by five, Lance was throwing up in the Bronx Zoo.

“Sun poisoning, mild case,” deduced the hotel doctor. Had Lance not been so dizzy with his skin tightening by the minute-it felt like an army of ants crawling on his arms and face-he would’ve felt like an ass. Well, he still did, but Lance found comfort in blaming Joey.

**

A knock on his door interrupted Lance’s quasi-nap and though he had meant to shout “Come In” it was more of a “Cunnn eennhhh.” Whoever was on the other side was apparently fluent in “Lance Sunburn-ese and the door opened slowly.

“Hey Lance, how are you feeling?” Joey approached the bed slowly with a bottle of Power-Ade and another bottle of green goo.

“It’s Aloe. The doctor said it’d help your skin feel less hot. And the drink is so you don’t get any more dehydrated.”

“This is all your fault you know,” Lance croaked through chapped, swollen lips. Joey opened his mouth to protest but instead nodded. He hated that Lance was so miserable and wanted to help him feel better. And if that meant taking the blame for UV Rays, the hole in the Ozone layer and Lance’s lack of melanin, so be it.

“Can I do anything,” Joey said shyly. He met Lance’s gaze and Lance grinned.

“Could you, you know, help me with that aloe stuff?”